Mephedrone, also known as 4-methylmethcathinone (4-MMC) or 4-methylephedrone, is a synthetic stimulant drug of the amphetamine and cathinone classes. Slang names include drone,[5] M-CAT,[6] and meow meow.[7] It is chemically similar to the cathinone compounds found in the khat plant of eastern Africa. It comes in the form of tablets or a powder, which users can swallow, snort or inject, producing similar effects to MDMA, amphetamines and cocaine.

 

In addition to its stimulant effects, mephedrone produces side effects, of which teeth grinding is the most common. The metabolism of mephedrone has been studied in rats and humans and the metabolites can be detected in urine after usage. Despite similarities to known neurotoxins such as methamphetamine and cathinone derivatives, mephedrone does not appear to produce neurotoxic effects in the dopamine system of mice.[8]

 

Mephedrone was first synthesised in 1929, but did not become widely known until it was rediscovered in 2003. By 2007, mephedrone was reported to be available for sale on the internet, by 2008 law enforcement agencies had become aware of the compound, and by 2010, it had been reported in most of Europe, becoming particularly prevalent in the United Kingdom. Mephedrone was first made illegal in Israel in 2008, followed by Sweden later that year. In 2010, it was made illegal in many European countries and in December 2010, the EU ruled it illegal. In Australia, New Zealand and the USA, it is considered an analog of other illegal drugs and can be controlled by laws similar to the Federal Analog Act. In September 2011, the USA temporarily classified mephedrone as illegal, in effect from October 2011.

Mephedrone is one of hundreds of designer drugs or legal highs that have been reported in recent years, including artificial chemicals such as synthetic cannabis and semisynthetic substances such as methylhexanamine. These drugs are primarily developed to avoid being controlled by laws against illegal drugs, thus giving them the label of designer drugs.[9] According to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, the synthesis of mephedrone was first reported in 1929 by Saem de Burnaga Sanchez in the Bulletin de la Société Chimique de France, under the name "toluyl-alpha-monomethylaminoethylcetone",[1]:17[10] but the compound remained an obscure product of academia until 2003, when it was "re-discovered" and publicised by an underground chemist on The Hive website, working under the pseudonym "Kinetic".[11] Kinetic posted on the site, "I’ve been bored over the last couple of days and had a few fun reagents lying around, so I thought I’d try and make some 1-(4-methylphenyl)-2-methylaminopropanone hydrochloride, or 4-methylmethcathinone." before going on to describe that after taking it, the user had a "fantastic sense of well-being that I haven’t got from any drug before except my beloved Ecstasy."[12] In interviews Kinetic was described as "a mathematician who used to design sleeping pills for a major pharmaceutical company" and he stated that he was based in Israel when he rediscovered mephedrone.[13][14]

 

A drug similar to mephedrone, containing cathinone, was sold legally in Israel from around 2004, under the name hagigat. When this was made illegal, the cathinone was modified and the new products were sold by the Israeli company, Neorganics.[15][16][17] The products had names such as Neodoves pills, but the range was discontinued in January 2008 after the Israeli government made mephedrone illegal.[5][18][19] The Psychonaut Research Project, an EU organisation that searches the internet for information regarding new drugs, first identified mephedrone in 2008. Their research suggested the drug first became available to purchase on the internet in 2007, when it was also discussed on internet forums.[9][20] Mephedrone was first seized in France in May 2007, after police sent a tablet they assumed to be ecstasy to be analysed, with the discovery published in a paper titled "Is 4-methylephedrone, an "Ecstasy" of the twenty first century?"[21] Mephedrone was reported as having been sold as ecstasy in the Australian city of Cairns, along with ethylcathinone, in 2008.[22][23] An annual survey of regular ecstasy users in Australia in 2010 found 21% of those surveyed had used mephedrone, with 17% having done so in the previous six months. The price they paid per gram varied from A$16 to $320.[3]

 

Europol noted they became aware of it in 2008, after it was found in Denmark, Finland and the UK.[24] The Drug Enforcement Administration noted it was present in the United States in July 2009.[25] By May 2010, mephedrone had been detected in all 22 EU member states that reported to Europol, as well as in Croatia and Norway.[1]:21 The Daily Telegraph reported in April 2009 that it was manufactured in China, but it has since been made illegal there.[26][27] In March 2009, Druglink magazine reported it only cost a "couple of hundred pounds" to synthesise a kilogram of mephedrone,[15] the same month, The Daily Telegraph reported manufacturers were making "huge amounts of money" from selling it.[28] In January 2010, Druglink magazine reported dealers in Britain spent £2,500 to ship one kilogram from China, but could sell it for £10 a gram, making a profit of £7,500.[12][29] A later report, in March 2010, stated the wholesale price of mephedrone was £4000 per kilogram.[30]

 

In March 2011, the International Narcotics Control Board published a report about designer drugs, noting mephedrone was by then being used recreationally in Europe, North America, Southeast Asia, New Zealand and Australia.[31][32]

 

In the UK[edit]

 

The number of samples analysed by the Forensic Science Service of seized MDMA, piperazines and cathinones between the third quarter of 2005 and the first quarter of 2010: MDMA seizures in blue, piperazine seizures in orange and cathinone seizures in purple[33]

Between the summer of 2009 and March 2010, the use of mephedrone grew rapidly in the UK, with it becoming readily available at music festivals, head shops and on the internet.[34] A survey of Mixmag readers in 2009, found it was the fourth most popular street drug in the United Kingdom, behind cannabis, cocaine, and ecstasy.[30] The drug was used by a diverse range of social groups. Whilst the evidence was anecdotal, researchers, charity workers, teachers and users reported widespread and increasing use of the drug in 2009. The drug's rapid growth in popularity was believed to be related to both its availability and legality.[34]

 

Fiona Measham, a criminologist at The University of Lancaster, thought the emergence of mephedrone was also related to the decreasing purity of ecstasy and cocaine on sale in the UK,[34] a view reinforced in a report by the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse.[35] The average cocaine purity fell from 60% in 1999 to 22% in 2009 and about half of ecstasy pills seized in 2009 contained no MDMA,[36] and by June 2010 almost all ecstasy pills seized in the UK contained no MDMA.[37] A similar pattern was observed in the Netherlands, with the number of ecstasy tablets containing no MDMA rising from 10% in mid-2008 to 60% by mid-2009, with mephedrone being detected in 20% of ecstasy tablets by mid-2009.[38] The decrease of MDMA was thought to be partly due to the seizure of 33 tonnes of sassafras oil, the precursor to MDMA, in Cambodia in June 2008, which could have been used to make 245 million doses of MDMA.[12] According to John Ramsey, a toxicologist at St George's, University of London, the emergence of mephedrone was also related to the UK government banning the benzylpiperazine class of drugs in December 2009.[15][39] gamma-Butyrolactone (GBL), another previously "legal high", was also banned in August 2009 despite concerns it would be replaced by other drugs.[40]

 

By December 2009 mephedrone was available on at least 31 websites based in the UK and by March 2010 there were at least 78 online shops, half of which sold amounts of less than 200 grams and half that also sold bulk quantities. The price per gram varied from £9.50 to £14.[1]:11 Between July 2009 and February 2010, UK health professionals accessed the National Poisons Information Service '​s (NPIS) entry on mephedrone 1664 times and made 157 telephone inquiries; the requests increased month on month over this period. In comparison over a similar time period, the entries for cocaine and MDMA were accessed approximately 2400 times.[41] After mephedrone was made illegal the number of inquiries to the NPIS fell substantially, to only 19 in June 2010.[42]

 

Media organisations including the BBC and The Guardian incorrectly reported mephedrone was commonly used as a plant fertiliser. In fact sellers of the drug described it as "plant food" because it was illegal to sell the compound for human consumption.[36] In late 2009 UK newspapers began referring to the drug as meow or miaow (sometimes doubled as meow meow or miaow miaow), a name that was almost unknown on the street at the time.[43] In November 2009, the tabloid newspaper, The Sun published a story stating that a man had ripped off his own scrotum whilst using mephedrone.[44] The story was later shown to be an online joke posted on mephedrone.com, later included in a police report with the caveat that it could be unreliable. The police report was used as a source for the story in The Sun.[45][46] Other myths the media often repeated during 2010 were that mephedrone had led to the deaths of over 20 people, teachers were unable to confiscate the drug from pupils and the government was too slow to ban the drug.[47] Parallels were drawn between the media coverage of mephedrone and a piece of satire by Chris Morris in 1997 on Brass Eye when he tricked public figures into talking of the dangers of taking the fictional legal drug "cake".[46] The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) have suggested that the media coverage of the drug led to its increased usage.[48] Jon Silverman, a former BBC Home Affairs Correspondent, has written two articles discussing how the media had a strong influence over the UK government's drugs policy, particularly in that the government wished to demonstrate they were being "tough" on drugs.[40][49]

 

A survey of 1000 secondary school pupils and university students in Tayside conducted in February 2010 found 20% of them had previously taken mephedrone. Although at the time it was available legally over the internet, only 10% of users reported purchasing it online, with most purchasing it from street dealers. Of those who had used mephedrone, 97% said it was easy or very easy to obtain. Around 50% of users reported at least one negative effect associated with the use of mephedrone, of which teeth grinding is the most common.[50] Detailed interviews with users in Northern Ireland similarly found that few purchased mephedrone online, with most interviewees citing concerns that their address would be traced or that family members could intercept the package.[9]

 

On 30 March 2010, Alan Johnson, the then Home Secretary, announced mephedrone would be made illegal "within weeks" after the ACMD sent him a report on the use of cathinones.[51][52] The legislation would make all cathinones illegal, which Johnson said would "stop unscrupulous manufacturers and others peddling different but similarly harmful drugs".[53] The ACMD had run into problems with the UK Government in 2009 regarding drugs policy, after the government did not follow the advice of the ACMD to reclassify ecstasy and cannabis, culminating in the dismissal of the ACMD chairman, David Nutt, after he reiterated the ACMD's findings in an academic lecture.[54] Several members resigned after he was sacked, and prior to the announcement that mephedrone was to be banned, the trend continued when Dr Polly Taylor resigned, saying she "did not have trust" in the way the government would use the advice given by the ACMD.[55] Eric Carlin, a member of the ACMD and former chairman of the English Drug Education Forum, also resigned after the announcement. He said the decision by the Home Secretary was "unduly based on media and political pressure" and there was "little or no discussion about how our recommendation to classify this drug would be likely to impact on young people's behaviour."[56] Some former members of the ACMD and various charity groups expressed concern over the banning of the drug, arguing it would inevitably criminalise users, particularly young people.[57] Others expressed concern that the drug would be left in the hands of black market dealers, who will only compound the problem.[58] Carlin's resignation was specifically linked to the criminalisation of mephedrone, he stated: "We need to review our entire approach to drugs, dumping the idea that legally-sanctioned punishments for drug users should constitute a main part of the armoury in helping to solve our country’s drug problems. We need to stop harming people who need help and support".[59]

 

The parliamentary debate was held on 8 April, one day after the 2010 general election had been announced, meaning it was during the so-called "wash-up period" when legislation is passed with little scrutiny. Only one hour was spent debating the ban and all three parties agreed, meaning no vote was required.[60] In an interview conducted in July 2010, when he was no longer a minister, Johnson admitted the decision to ban mephedrone was sped up after widespread reporting of deaths caused by the drug, and because the government wished to pass the law before parliament was dissolved prior to the upcoming general election.[40] In January 2011, however, Johnson told the Scunthorpe Telegraph that the decision was based only on information from the ACMD.[61] An editorial in the April 2010 edition of The Lancet questioned the decision to ban mephedrone, saying the ACMD did not have enough evidence to judge the potential harms caused by mephedrone and arguing that policy makers should have sought to understand why young people took it and how they could be influenced to not take it.[48] Evan Harris, then the Liberal Democrat science spokesman, stated the ACMD "was not 'legally constituted'" as required by the Misuse of Drugs Act, when the report on cathinones was published, since after Taylor resigned, it lacked a veterinary surgeon.[53] In the rush to make mephedrone illegal, the act that was passed specified the inactive enantiomer of mephedrone, leaving the active form legal until the loophole was closed in February 2011 by another act of parliament.[62] In Chemistry World, John Mann, professor of chemistry at Queen's University Belfast, suggested the UK create a law similar to the Federal Analog Act of the United States, which would have made mephedrone illegal as an analog of cathinone.[63] In August 2010, James Brokenshire, the Home Office drugs minister, announced plans to create a new category in the Misuse of Drugs Act, through the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill, that would allow new legal highs to be made temporarily illegal, without the need for a vote in parliament or advice from the ACMD, as was required to categorise mephedrone.[64][65][66]

 

According to the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs, after mephedrone was made illegal, a street trade in the drug emerged, with prices around double those prior to the ban, at £20–£25 per gram.[67] In September 2010, Druglink reported the ban had had a mixed effect on mephedrone use, with it decreasing in some areas, remaining similar in others and becoming more prevalent in some areas.[68] In an online survey of 150 users after the ban, 63% said they were continuing to use mephedrone, half of those used the same amount and half said they used less. Compared to previous surveys, more users purchased it from dealers, rather than the internet. The average price per gram was £16, compared to around £10 before the ban.[69] The 2010 Mixmag survey of 2500 nightclubbers found one-quarter had used mephedrone in the previous month, the price had roughly doubled since it was made illegal, and it was more likely to be cut with other substances.[70] Of those who had already used mephedrone prior to the ban, 75% had continued to use it after the ban. Of the various drugs used by the survey participants, users were more likely to have concerns about it.[71] Interviews with users in Northern Ireland also found the price had roughly doubled since it was made illegal, to around £30 a gram. Rather than the price rising due to increased scarcity of the drug, it is thought to have risen for two other reasons. Firstly, dealers knew there was still demand for mephedrone, but were aware the supplies may be exhausted in the future. Secondly, the dealers perceived customers were likely to be willing to pay more for an illegal substance.[9]

 

Professor Shiela Bird, a statistician at the Medical Research Council, suggested the ban of mephedrone may lead to more cocaine-related deaths. In the first six months of 2009, the number of cocaine-related deaths fell for the first time in four years, and fewer soldiers tested positive for cocaine in 2009 than in 2008. She suggested this may have been due to users switching to mephedrone from cocaine, but cautioned that before full figures are available for 2009 and 2010, it will be difficult to determine whether mephedrone saved lives, rather than cost them.[72][73] Other supposedly legal drugs have filled the gap in the market since mephedrone was made illegal, including naphyrone (NRG-1) (since made illegal)[74] and Ivory Wave, which has been found to contain MDPV, a compound made illegal at the same time as mephedrone. However, some products branded as Ivory Wave possibly do not contain MDPV.[75] When tested, some products sold six weeks after mephedrone was banned, advertised as NRG-1, NRG-2 and MDAI, were found to be mephedrone.[76] A Drugscope survey of drugs workers at the end of 2012 reported that mephedrone use was still widespread in the UK and that there increasing reports of problematic users. It was being taken as not only a "poor man's cocaine" but also amongst users of heroin and crack cocaine. Cases of intravenous use were also reported to be on the increase.[77]

 

Effects[edit]

No formal published studies have been conducted into the psychological and/or behavioural effects of mephedrone on humans, nor on animals (from which the potential effects might be extrapolated). As a result, the only information available comes from users themselves and clinical reports of acute mephedrone toxicity.[1]:12 Psychologists at Liverpool John Moores University were to conduct research into the effects of mephedrone on up to 50 students already using the drug, when it was still legal in the UK.[78] At the time the study was proposed, Les Iversen, the chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs called the experiments "pretty unethical".[79] The study was discontinued in August 2010, following the change in the legal status of the drug.[80]

 

Intended effects[edit]

Users have reported that mephedrone causes euphoria, stimulation, an enhanced appreciation for music, an elevated mood, decreased hostility, improved mental function and mild sexual stimulation; these effects are similar to the effects of cocaine, amphetamines and MDMA, and last different amounts of time, depending on the way the drug is taken. When taken orally, users reported they could feel the effects within 15–45 minutes; when snorted, the effects were felt within minutes and peaked within half an hour. The effects last for between two and three hours when taken orally or nasally, but only half an hour if taken intravenously.[1]:12 Of 70 Dutch users of mephedrone, 58 described it as an overall pleasant experience and 12 described it as an unpleasant experience.[38] In a survey of UK users who had previously taken cocaine, most users found it produced a better-quality and longer-lasting high, was less addictive and carried the same risk as using cocaine.[2]

 

Side effects[edit]

The ECMDDA reported mephedrone can cause various unintended side effects including: dilated pupils,[81] poor concentration, teeth grinding, problems focusing visually, poor short-term memory, hallucinations, delusions, and erratic behaviour.[1]:13 They noted the most severe effects appear anecdotally to be linked with high doses or prolonged usage, and the effects may be due to users taking other intoxicants at the same time. Other effects users in internet forums have noted include changes in body temperature, increased heart rate, breathing difficulties, loss of appetite, increased sweating, discolouration of extremities, anxiety, paranoia and depression.[1]:13 When snorted, it can also cause nose bleeds and nose burns.[1]:13[82] A survey conducted by the National Addiction Centre, UK, found 67% of mephedrone users experienced sweating, 51% suffered from headaches, 43% from heart palpitations, 27% from nausea and 15% from cold or blue fingers,[83] indicative of vasoconstriction occurring.[41] Doctors at Guy's Hospital, London reported, of 15 patients they treated after taking mephedrone in 2009, 53% were agitated, 40% had increased heart rates, 20% had systolic hypertension and 20% had seizures; three required treatment with benzodiazepines, predominantly to control their agitation. They reported none of their patients suffered from cold or blue peripheries, contrary to other reports. Nine of the 15 of patients had a Glasgow coma scale (GCS) of 15, indicating they were in a normal mental state, four had a GCS below 8, but these patients all reported using a central nervous system depressant, most commonly GHB, with mephedrone. The patients also reported polydrug use of a variety of compounds.[84]

 

Long-term effects[edit]

Almost nothing is known about the long-term effects of the drug due to the short history of its use.[83] BBC News reported one person who used the drug for 18 months became dependent on the drug, in the end using it twice a week, and had to be admitted to a psychiatric unit after he started experiencing hallucinations, agitation, excitability and mania.[1]:13[85]

 

Typical use and consumption[edit]

Mephedrone can come in the form of capsules, tablets or white powder that users may swallow, snort, inject, smoke or use rectally.[1]:12[2][3] It is sometimes sold mixed with methylone in a product called bubbles in the UK[86] and also mixed with other cathinones, including ethcathinone, butylone, fluoromethcathinone and methedrone.[1]:9 The Guardian reported some users compulsively redose, consuming their whole supply when they only meant to use a small dose,[87] and there have been other similar reports of users craving mephedrone, suggesting it may be addictive.[1]:13[38] A survey conducted in late 2009 by the National Addiction Centre (UK) found 41.3% of readers of Mixmag had used mephedrone in the last month, making it the fourth most popular drug amongst clubbers. Of those, two-thirds snorted the drug and the average dosage per session was 0.9 g; the length of sessions increased as the dosage increased. Users who snorted the drug reported using more per session than those who took it orally (0.97 g compared to 0.74 g) and also reported using it more often (five days per month compared to three days per month).[2] An Irish study of people on a methadone treatment program for heroin addicts found 29 of 209 patients tested positive for mephedrone usage.[88] A study of users in Northern Ireland found they did not equate the fact that mephedrone was legal with it being safe to use. This was contrary to another study in New Zealand, where users of benzylpiperazine thought that because it was legal, it was safe.[9]

 

Harm reduction[edit]

See also: Harm reduction and Responsible drug use

The drugs advice charity Lifeline recommends that to reduce the potential harm caused by using mephedrone, users should only use mephedrone occasionally (less than weekly), use less than 0.5 g per session, dose orally rather than snorting the drug, and avoid mixing it with alcohol and other drugs. Users should also drink plenty of water at sensible intervals while taking the drug, as it causes dehydration.[89]

 

Pharmacology[edit]

The pharmacology and toxicology of mephedrone had not been studied in detail until well after its sale as a designer drug and its addition to controlled drug lists in many countries.[90][91] Writing in the British Medical Journal, psychiatrists stated, given its chemical structure, "mephedrone is likely to stimulate the release of, and then inhibit the reuptake of monoamine neurotransmitters".[81] The cathinone derivatives methcathinone and methylone act in a similar way to amphetamines, mainly acting on catecholamine transporters, so mephedrone is expected also to act in this way. The actions of amphetamines and cathinones are determined by the differences in how they bind to noradrenalin, dopamine and serotonin transporters.[90] Molecular modelling of mephedrone suggests it is more hydrophilic than methyl-amphetamines, which may account for the higher doses required to achieve a similar effect, because mephedrone is less able to cross the blood–brain barrier.[1]:12[92] Mephedrone has a chiral centre, so exists in two forms, called enantiomers; the S form is thought to be more potent than the R form, because this applies to cathinone.[90] Professor David Nutt, former chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) in the UK has said, "people are better off taking ecstasy or amphetamines than those [drugs] we know nothing about" and "Who knows what's in [mephedrone] when you buy it? We don't have a testing system. It could be very dangerous, we just don't know. These chemicals have never been put into animals, let alone humans."[93] Les King, a former member of the ACMD, has stated mephedrone appears to be less potent than amphetamine and ecstasy, but that any benefit associated with this could be negated by users taking larger amounts. He also told the BBC, "all we can say is [mephedrone] is probably as harmful as ecstasy and amphetamines and wait until we have some better scientific evidence to support that."[94]

 

Several articles published near the end of 2011 examined the effects of mephedrone, compared to the similar drugs MDMA and amphetamine in the nucleus accumbens of rats, as well as examining the reinforcing potential of mephedrone. Dopamine and serotonin were collected using microdialysis, and increases in dopamine and serotonin were measured using HPLC. Reward and drug seeking are linked to increases in dopamine concentrations in the nucleus accumbens, and drug half-life plays a role in drug seeking, as well. Based on histological examination, most of the author's probes were in the nucleus accumbens shell. Mephedrone administration caused about a 500% increase in dopamine, and about a 950% increase in serotonin. They reached their peak concentrations at 40 minutes and 20 minutes, respectively, and returned to baseline by 120 minutes after injection. In comparison, MDMA caused a roughly 900% increase in serotonin at 40 minutes, with an insignificant increase in dopamine. Amphetamine administration resulted in about a 400% increase in dopamine, peaking at 40 minutes, with an insignificant increase in serotonin. Analysis of the ratio of the AUC for dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) indicated mephedrone was preferentially a serotonin releaser, with a ratio of 1.22:1 (serotonin vs. dopamine). Additionally, half-lives for the decrease in DA and 5-HT were calculated for each drug. Mephedrone had decay rates of 24.5 minutes and 25.5 minutes, respectively. MDMA had decay values of 302.5 minutes and 47.9 minutes, respectively, while amphetamine values were 51 minutes and 84.1 minutes, respectively. Taken together, these findings show mephedrone induces a massive increase in both DA and 5-HT, combined with rapid clearance. The rapid rise and subsequent fall of DA levels could explain some of the addictive properties mephedrone displays in some users.[95][96]

 

Metabolism[edit]

Based on the analysis of rat and human urine by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, mephedrone is thought to be metabolised by three phase 1 pathways. It can be demethylated to the primary amine (producing compounds 2, 3 and 5), the ketone group can be reduced (producing 3) or the tolyl group can be oxidised (producing 6). Both 5 and 6 are thought to be further metabolised by conjugation to the glucuronide and sulfate derivatives. Knowledge of the primary routes of metabolism should allow the intake of mephedrone to be confirmed by drug tests, as well as more accurate determination of the causes of side effects and potential for toxicity.[97]

 

Deaths[edit]

Sweden[edit]

In 2008, an 18-year-old Swedish woman died in Stockholm after taking mephedrone. The newspaper Svenska Dagbladet reported the woman went into convulsions and turned blue in the face.[104] Doctors reported she was comatose and suffering from hyponatremia and severe hypokalemia; the woman died one and a half days after the onset of symptoms. An autopsy showed severe brain swelling.[105] Mephedrone was scheduled to be classified as a "dangerous substance" in Sweden even before the woman's death at Karolinska University Hospital on 14 December, but the death brought more media attention to the drug. The possession of mephedrone became classified as a criminal offence in Sweden on 15 December 2008.[104]

 

UK[edit]

In 2010, unconfirmed reports speculated about the role mephedrone has played in the deaths of several young people in the UK. By July 2010, mephedrone had been alleged to be involved in 52 fatalities in the UK, but detected in only 38 of these cases. Of the nine that coroners had finished investigating, two were caused directly by mephedrone.[106] The first death reported to be caused by mephedrone use was that of 46-year-old, John Sterling Smith,[107] who had underlying health problems and repeatedly injected the drug.[108] A report in Forensic Science International in August 2010 stated mephedrone intoxication has been recorded as the cause of death in two cases in Scotland. Post mortem samples showed the concentration of mephedrone in their blood was 22 mg/l in one case and 3.3 mg/l in the other.[109] The death of a teenager in the UK in November 2009 was widely reported as being caused by mephedrone, but a report by the coroner concluded she had died from natural causes.[46] In March 2010, the deaths of two teenagers in Scunthorpe were widely reported by the media to be caused by mephedrone. Toxicology reports showed the teenagers had not taken any mephedrone and had died as a result of consuming alcohol and the heroin substitute methadone.[108][110] According to Fiona Measham, a criminologist who is a member of the ACMD, the reporting of the unconfirmed deaths by newspapers followed "the usual cycle of ‘exaggeration, distortion, inaccuracy and sensationalism'" associated with the reporting of recreational drug use.[34]

 

USA[edit]

Mephedrone has been implicated in the death of a 22-year-old male, who had also injected black tar heroin. Mephedrone was found in his blood at a concentration of 0.50 mg/l and in his urine at a concentration of 198 mg/l. The blood concentration of morphine, a metabolite of heroin, was 0.06 mg/l.[111] For comparison, the average blood morphine concentration resulting from deadly overdoses involving only heroin is around 0.34 mg/l.[112]

 

Chemistry[edit]

Appearance[edit]

Mephedrone is a white substance. It is sold most commonly as crystals or a powder, but also in the form of capsules or pills.[21][94] It can have a distinctive odour, reported to range from a synthetic fishy smell[113] to the smell of vanilla and bleach, stale urine, or electric circuit boards.[114]

 

Synthesis[edit]

Mephedrone can be synthesised in several ways. The simplest method, due to the availability of the compounds,[1]:17 is to add 4-methylpropiophenone dissolved in glacial acetic acid to bromine, creating an oil fraction of 4'-methyl-2-bromopropiophenone. The oil fraction can then be dissolved in dichloromethane (CH2Cl2) and drops of the solution added to another solution of CH2Cl2-containing methylamine hydrochloride and triethylamine. Hydrochloric acid (HCl) is then added and the aqueous layer is removed and turned alkaline using sodium hydroxide before the amine is extracted using CH2Cl2. The CH2Cl2 is then evaporated using a vacuum, creating an oil which is then dissolved in a nonaqueous ether. Finally, HCl gas is bubbled through the mixture to produce 4-methylmethcathinone hydrochloride.[18] This method produces a mixture of both enantiomers and requires similar knowledge to that required to synthesise amphetamines and MDMA.[1]:17

  

Mephedrone synthesis scheme from 4-methylpropiophenone

It can also be produced by oxidising the ephedrine analogue 4-methylephedrine using potassium permanganate dissolved in sulfuric acid. Because 4-methylephedrine can be obtained in a specific enantiomeric form, mephedrone consisting of only one enantiomer can be produced. The danger associated with this method is it may cause manganese poisoning if the product is not correctly purified.[1]:17

 

A stereospecific form of (S)-mephedrone could be prepared via Friedel–Crafts acylation. The first step in the synthesis would be to react toluene and (S)-N-trifluoroacetylalanoyl chloride in the presence of aluminium chloride, then deprotect the intermediate with hydrochloric acid-propyl alcohol. This would produce (S)-4-methylcathinone, which could then be methylated to produce mephedrone.[90][115]

 

Purity[edit]

One published study that analysed samples of mephedrone bought using the internet in the UK in 2010 found it was racemic (a mixture of both stereoisomers) and of high purity.[92] An unpublished study of six samples also ordered off the internet in the UK in 2010 found they contained very few organic impurities.[116] Four products sold in Irish head shops were tested in 2010 and were found to contain between 82% and 14% mephedrone, with some products containing benzocaine and caffeine.[117]

 

Legal status[edit]

 

A sample of mephedrone that was confiscated in Oregon, USA, 2009

When mephedrone was rediscovered in 2003, it was not specifically illegal to possess in any country. As its use has increased, many countries have passed legislation making its possession, sale, and manufacture illegal. It was first made illegal in Israel, where it had been found in products such as Neodoves pills, in January 2008.[5] After the death of a young woman in Sweden in December 2008 was linked to the use of mephedrone, it was classified as a hazardous substance a few days later, making it illegal to sell in Sweden. In June 2009, it was classified as a narcotic with the possession of 15 grams or more resulting in a minimum of two years in prison – a longer sentence, gram for gram than given for the possession of cocaine or heroin.[118][119] In December 2008, Denmark also made it illegal[120] and through the Medicines Act of Finland, it was made illegal to possess without a prescription.[121] In November 2009, it was classified as a "narcotic or psychotropic" substance and added to the list of controlled substances in Estonia[122] and made illegal to import into Guernsey along with other legal highs,[123] before being classified as a Class B drug in April 2010.[124] It was classified as a Class C drug in Jersey in December 2009.[125]

 

In 2010, as its use became more prevalent, many countries passed legislation prohibiting mephedrone. It became illegal in Croatia[126] and Germany[127] in January, followed by Romania[128] and the Isle of Man in February.[129] In March 2010, it was classified as an unregulated medicine in the Netherlands, making the sale and distribution of it illegal.[130][131] The importation of mephedrone into the UK was banned on 29 March 2010.[132] The next day, the ACMD in the UK published a report on the cathinones, including mephedrone, and recommended they be classified as Class B drugs. On 7 April 2010, the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (Amendment) Order 2010 was passed by parliament, making mephedrone and other substituted cathinones, Class B drugs from 16 April 2010.[133][134] Prior to the ban taking effect, mephedrone was not covered by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.[26] It was, though, an offence under the Medicines Act to sell it for human consumption, so it was often sold as "plant food" or "bath salts", although it has no use as these products; this, too, was possibly illegal under the Trade Descriptions Act 1968.[52][82][83] In the USA, similar descriptions have been used to describe mephedrone, as well as methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV).[135] In May 2010, the Republic of Ireland made mephedrone illegal,[136][137][138] followed by Belgium,[139] Italy,[140] Lithuania,[141] France[142][143] and Norway[144] in June and Russia in July.[145] In August 2010, Austria[146] and Poland[147] made it illegal and China announced it would be illegal as of 1 September 2010.[27] Mephedrone had been reported to be used in Singapore in February 2010,[148] but it was made illegal in November 2010.[149] In December 2010, following the advice of the EMCDDA, mephedrone was made illegal throughout the EU, a move Switzerland also made shortly afterwards.[150][151] Countries which have not already banned it, such as the Netherlands, Greece and Portugal, will need to change legislation to comply with the EU ruling.[151] In Hungary, a government advisory body recommended mephedrone should be made illegal in August 2010, which was followed, making it illegal in January 2011;[152][153] Spain followed in February 2011.[154] Mexico, by Decree,[155] outlawed mephedrone as a substance "with low or no therapeutical use which pose a serious threat to public health"[156] in 2014.

 

In some countries, mephedrone is not specifically listed as illegal, but is controlled under legislation that makes compounds illegal if they are analogs of drugs already listed. In Australia during 2010, it was not specifically listed as prohibited,[18] but the Australian Federal Police stated it is an analogue to methcathinone and therefore illegal. In February 2010, 22 men were arrested in connection with importing mephedrone.[157] By January 2011, every state in Australia, other than Victoria, had listed it as a controlled drug.[158] In New Zealand, it is not included in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975,[159] but is illegal, as it is similar to controlled substances.[160] In Canada, mephedrone is not explicitly listed in any schedule of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, but "amphetamines, their salts, derivatives, isomers and analogues and salts of derivatives, isomers and analogues" are included in Section 19 of Schedule I of the act. Cathinone and methcathinone are listed in separate sections of Schedule III, while diethylpropion and pyrovalerone (also cathinones), are listed in separate sections of Schedule IV, each without language to capture analogues, isomers, etc.[161] Mephedrone is considered a controlled substance by Health Canada.[162] According to the Canadian Medical Association, mephedrone is grouped with other amphetamines as Schedule I controlled substances.[163] There have been several media reports of the Canadian police seizing mephedrone.[164][165][166] Mephedrone is also currently scheduled in the United States as of 2011. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) states, as an analogue of methcathinone, possession of mephedrone can be controlled by the Federal Analog Act, but according to the Los Angeles Times, this only applies if it is sold for human consumption.[167][168][169] Several cities and states, such as New York,[170] have passed legislation to specifically list mephedrone as illegal, but in most areas it was legal, so long as it is not sold for human consumption, so retailers described it as 'bath salts'.[169] In September 2011, The DEA began using its emergency scheduling authority to temporarily control mephedrone. Except as authorized by law, this action made possessing and selling mephedrone or the products that contain it illegal in the USA for at least one year while the DEA and the United States Department of Health and Human Services conduct further study.[171] Control of these compounds became permanent on 9 July 2012, via passage of the Synthetic Drug Abuse Prevention Act of 2012.[172]

 

A theory of the function of prime numbers in spiral formation and in life in general.

 

The Spiral of Life is a number spiral which forms a cross in the form of a vertical and horizontal axis of numbers. Emerging from a set of alignments 1, 2, and 3 enter like Magi bearing gifts.

 

Before I continue, I should explain that I am describing a 3-dimensional object in largely two dimensions - as a tetraskele of overlapping spirals - so there is some distortion in this simplified description. The graphic highlights the sequences involved in expansion and does not layout an exact physical pathway. Alignments along the south column extend to the finial circle and give rise to a new spiral whose West arm values retrace the steps of the parent spiral's south column. In other words, West describes where the new spiral emerges from the south column after the parent spiral has been rotated 90 degrees clockwise.

 

Viewed in three dimensions, 1, 2 and 3 enter from above as a stem joins an apple; 2 and 3 are so tightly bound they share virtually Identical shaped paths like those of twin stars. Because they share the same location and shape at the spiral center their values are combined to 5 only when considering the spiral's southbound formula for once applied at the start it is felt at every subsequent location. 3 and 4 are the respective centered numbers of the column and the crossbar. They exist one above the other with the interval path of 4 shaped like a near circular spiral staircase.

 

Like the journey of the Magi, the path on which they embark requires them to return along a different route to avoid a collision with the powers that be. Two essential paths emerge. The first path is the spiraling set of natural numbers which may either expand as a disc or move along as a helix.

 

The second path is the straight sequence on a Southern heading which gives birth to the spiraling natural numbers; she is a master chef and more formulaic than the flowing set she spawns. This straight path can be described using two recursive sequences - the Golden Egg sequence and the Fibonacci sequence. Upon reaching the finial circle, her offspring's arm returns in the direction she came but on a different route. The labyrinth offers a visual aid if we can imagine the straight path to her center being connected to a return path at a different elevation. Those are the two ways of describing the paths: one as rotation, and the other as ray. Taken altogether, what appears from the West are the stepping stones to a spiral which begins as a tight central ring and emerges with two more rings before finishing off with the Finial Circle.

 

Spiraling from the center loop at 3 and 4, a pattern of growth is reached in each compass direction by incrementally summing two terms along each axis and adding one. It should be noted that when the formula x + y + 1 = z is reached in one axis it is guaranteed to exist in the other three axes. As a result, four rays of whole number sequences extend outwards from center. Multiply this equation by three and twelve alternating radii of whole number sequences result. (For a look at the six-fold symmetry resulting from this model, explore the purple image "The Pillars of the Holy Cross" in this photo set.)

 

From this arrangement, a Fibonacci sequence (times six) emerges alongside the South column: 6, 12, 18, 30, 48, 78....

 

The Golden Egg Sequence defines the Spiral of Life's path of origin. She is born from the West near the spiral's center and returns Westward (on a different plane) to 88 at the Finial Circle.

 

The formula for the spiral's path of origin, the Golden Egg Sequence, begins with two zeros or "goose eggs" (0 + 0 + 1 = 1 ). (0, 0, 1, 2, 4, 7, 12, 20, 33, 54, 88...) The rays headed East and West form the composite crossbar of Spiral 935. The North and South constitute her prime column. In each compass direction the rays follow the formula x + y + 1 = z.

 

Prime numbers dominate the vertical column between finials 77 and 99. Composite numbers dominate the horizontal crossbar between finials 88 and 112. 7 is the only prime on the crossbar and 9 is the sole composite on the column. Their product (63) marks the start of the second half of the Spiral of Life; 1 to 62 marks her first half. Altogether the two halves underscore a rhythm of 124 intervals punctuated by sets of 76 and 48.

 

The South Column marks the location of key triple composites 77 and 125. The spiral gives rise to successive generations born from a unique relationship among the cross numbers leading to a specific location of regeneration as the South Column passes through the Finial Circle. Triple composite 125 marks this interval; it is an odd composite integer which when divided into two parts separated by one, yields an even part and a composite odd part. Therefore, all three properties - her obvious value and her two parts when separated by one, are all composite. Even-odds are odd numbers which can be divided into an even number and the same even number plus one. The first several triple composites among the even-odds are as follows:

 

49 = 24 + 25

65 = 32 + 33

69 = 34 + 35

77 = 38 + 39

125* = 62 + 63

 

Of these triple composites only 69, 77 and 125 are cross numbers. They are distinguishable by an additional composite feature; the sum of their respective digits are composite since 6 + 9 = 15; 7 + 7 = 14; and 1 + 2 + 5 = 8. Because they possess four composite qualities it seems appropriate to shorten their name from cross-number-triple composites to tetra-composites. (Use Ctrl F "framework" to read more about the triple composites.)

 

* 125 has the property of being in position 1 of 124 in a second generation spiral. A new spiral emerges 90 degrees offset from the previous one. Thus 496 intervals are required to complete one full gyration of the Spiral of Life's wave motion viewed in cross-section as a tetraskele of overlapping spirals.

 

From 77 to 125 the spire known as the Finial Circle has 48 intervals. Presuming a circle (in cross-section) is formed by this arrangement - for instance, by particles arriving at an orbit - there would be a very slight shift to the left of cross and crossbar with the South interval 77 remaining stable. 101 would emerge as the North column finial and 89 and 113 would mark the new East and West crossbar finials. 77 and 125 would emerge one above the other. The point of this is to demonstrate that if we sum the values of the intervals which form two distinct religious symbols - the Star of David, and the Cross of Lorraine - (particularly as shown on the tampion of the submarine Rubis) we find their values both equal 707. In fact, any two bars horizontally crossing the circle at any height will satisfy this result. I include both 77 and 125 in both calculations of 707. A cross with a single crossbar (at any height) will produce a value of 505. The trinity of the sole finial primes 89, 101, and 113 sum to 303.

 

I'd like to stress first and foremost that this spiral is meant to demonstrate mathematical relationships, not mere curiosities. However, if this model can lead to increased pattern recognition then I would be remiss not to point out areas of similitude with real-world objects and symbols. Furthermore, like viewing celebrity look alikes, it may not only provide entertainment but serve to improve memory and perception skills.

 

Mathematics also stands to benefit from this model particularly in the area of sums. The sum of 1 - 100 was a problem which the young Carl Friedrich Gauss found a solution to by adding 1 to 100, then dividing 100 by 2 and finally multiplying 101 x 50 to reach 5050. In the spiral we find this sum is equal to the sum of the finial circle plus 101. Finial circle 77 ~ 125 = 4949 + North finial 101 = 5050. It is also the value of the cross (505) x 10. When Descartes invented the Cartesian coordinate system it opened a new chapter in the history of mathematics. The Spiral of Life is poised to do the same.

 

In ascribing values to symmetric shapes like the cross or the Star of David the end values not only come together but exist one above the other. I refer to this type of sum as a k-sum, or knotted sum since the ends are not unlaced but overlap to form a node, or knot.

 

Are the k-sums of symmetrical points along a spire mathematically relevant? I would argue they are. When we count our fingers, for example, we do not count every joint making up our fingers. If our ancestors had considered the radius and ulna as the two parts of a node at our wrists then they may have counted to 7 using each hand. for a total of 14, the sum of which (1 - 14) would be 3 x 5 x 7 or 77 in base 14. We could easily have ended up with a base 14 system! And yet when you examine your hand, you soon realize all the five digits extend through the palm to form an aligned node of parts, most especially the thumb and pinky.

 

The good news is that considering this model in a different base system would have little but cosmetic impact. A key position marker of the Finial Circle, for instance, does not rely on the "prettiness" of having double digits but in reaching the same ratio of 8/13 in the un-shifted spiral model at each end of the crossbar in relation to the next spire (88/143 and 112/182). Furthermore all the key characteristics of a number such as primality or compositeness remain despite their conversion to any base system. In other words, the numbers representing the Spiral of Life's intervals might look different in a new base but their function and properties would remain exactly the same.

 

Goose eggs and knotted sums. Later in this essay I will be describing the goose eggs as the points of equivalence along the south column where it meets the Finial Circle. I have explained the concept of knotted sums where the ends of sums form a knot or a node along the South column. I have pointed out that if we add 101 to the sum of the Finial Circle (from 77 ~ 125) it equals the sum of 1 ~ 100. However I have not yet given an explanation as to how adding 101 to the sum of the Finial Circle may occur. From a symmetric standpoint it stands to reason if one considers 77/125 as a knot whose sum totals to 202 then an opposite node of a circle connecting them would have the same sum value, 202. We already find 101 at the North but where specifically might an additional 101 come from? One possibility is that it might come from a shared electron path, or another spiral model up-side down in orientation to the first thereby creating a situation where the sum of 1 ~ 100 would be equal to the double-knotted sum of the Finial Circle (sum of 77 ~ 125 plus 101).

 

Introducing the Pythagorean Localization - a Method for Justifying Migration of Cross bar Finial Values to 89 and 113 from 88 and 112.

 

(This method is also called the Pythagorean Shift.) Below we consider column values expressed as an interval of 3 (for example: 36~38 or 37 x 3). Summing two, stacked, column-centered, three-interval arcs and dividing by 2 identifies matches (shown in parenthesis) with the cross bar values on the right. Averaging the localized values with the spiral values leads to the precise adjustment (to 89 and 113) at the exact moments where the cross bar meets the Finial Circle.

 

(37 x 3 + 23 x 3) / 2 = 90 -- 88 (average 89)

(23 x 3 + 13 x 3) / 2 = (54) -- 54 match

(13 x 3 + 9 x 3) / 2 = (33) --- 33 match

(9 x 3 + 3 x 3) / 2 = 18 -----------

(3 x 3 + 5 x 3) / 2 = (12) ------ sum of 3~5; product of center knot 3 & 4.

(5 x 3 + 11 x 3) / 2 = 24 -----------

(11 x 3 + 17 x 3) / 2 = (42) ---- 42 match

(17 x 3 + 29 x 3) / 2 = (69) -- 69 match

(29 x 3 + 47 x 3) / 2 = 114 ----112 (average 113)

 

54, 33 and 42, 69 are the symmetric cross bar values leading to the Finial Circle. I have also marked the value 12 which in this chart lies midway between the four intersecting crossbar values. Perhaps not coincidentally 12 is also the value of the product of column 3 and crossbar 4, the knot at the center of the spiral. It is also the sum of the first three cross values: 3, 4 and 5 - a Pythagorean triple. The values separating 33, 42, 54, and 69 are 9, 12, and 15 also a Pythagorean triple.

 

Holy Pythagoras!

 

Mapping out Pythagorean triplets on the Spiral of Life produces either right triangles or straight lines. Here are some examples of right triangles:

 

3, 4*, 5

5, 12*, 13

7, 24*, 25

8, 15*, 17

9, 40*, 41

11, 60*, 61

12, 35*, 37

13, 84, 85

15, 112*, 113

33, 56*, 75

36, 77, 85*

39, 80*, 89

48*, 55, 73

 

The Pythagorean triplet values are mapped out such that each value represents the location of an angle formed by a triangle connecting the values. An asterisk is used to mark the location of the right angle. We find that most Pythagorean triplets produce an additional right triangle but of different dimensions. In the case of mapping spiral values 8, 15*, and 17 on the Spiral of Life the resulting shape is a 3-4-5 right triangle. Is this an illusion based on a differing perspective? These values promise to be very useful for bringing the shape of the Spiral of Life into clearer focus.

 

For example the cross values seem to indicate nodes and near-circular orbits at the spiral center. 1|2|3|4, 5|11, 7|12, 9|13, and 17|29 are locations where overlap may occur if we consider the three circular knotted spires: one at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; another at 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and the third at 17, 20, 23, 26, 29. One Pythagorean triplet - 20, 21, and 29 stands out because it does not appear to form a square triangle on a flattened out Spiral of Life. Two explanations emerge: the shape of the spire at that location might be different as highly indicated by the cross numbers; or not every Pythagorean triplet forms a right triangle on the Spiral of Life.

 

The justification for the Pythagorean Localization lies in the circular spires and nodes which appear at spiral center. It was a surprise to find the values from 33 to 69 were unaffected by considering the 3-interval column-centered arcs where the overlapping nodes appear. The localization is so-named because it preserves the Pythagorean Triple between intervals 33 and 69.

 

Passion Flower

 

Comparing the Spiral of Life to the string-petaled Passion Flower: the flower has an anchor petal where the south column meets the Finial Circle at 77 and 125 marking the highly composite zone of the spiral. Upon inspection of the flower (in a method and location described below) three grooves may be observed: north, one appears between two petals; east, marking an offset location of the East petal; and west where a notch exactly bifurcates one petal. The notches exist in only 3 of the 4 compass directions while a unique "anchor" petal exists South where there is no visible groove. I will demonstrate mathematically how the south column is a special location of The Holy Grail Spiral of Life, capable of blending, birthing, and other neat stuff. It is the most likely location for a central anchor petal to emerge. On the passion flower it is one of five green leafy petals and is the sole petal which has what can best be described as the flower's eyelash. It is easy to overlook because the eyelash structure is surrounded by a full ring of lashes which we may call her brow. This feature may only be seen after cutting the stem from bottom and clipping the stamen on top; applying pressure to the cut stem from the bottom will invert the bulb revealing the eyelash.

 

A memorable moment of David LaPoint's Primer Fields occurs when he presses a metallic Ping-Pong ball through the hole in his magnetic bowl causing it to shoot out the other end. It was a surprise to find that the flower's hard stamen popped in and out in a similar manner but not completely unexpected as the mathematics of the cross indicates strong congruence when values near center are flipped. Adjacent petals along the horizontal crossbar form a strong triangle. The flower's axis runs above the right petal's midpoint (bottom-view) which corresponds to the gradual counterclockwise shift in Spiral 935's axes with each generation of 124 intervals. Two more petals are located symmetrically on each side of the North Column making a total of five symmetric petals in a strong triangular base. Of course, to view the leafy petals, one must turn the blossom upside-down since her top-view is dominated by a profusion of white and purple strings numbering 88.

 

The Goose that laid the Golden Egg

 

The Spiral of Life's path of origin begins with two goose eggs. These goose eggs represent key points of equivalence. And what we find is that from these two goose eggs emerges a spiral. And from this spiral a column of primes. And on this column sets of equivalent points emerge - one highly overlapping pair at 17 and 23 and a second mature, divided set at 47 and 77.

 

How it works: The sets may be thought of as stages of an emerging wave where division occurs as expansion unfolds. The first sets are immature and overlap considerably and don't precisely align along the column but the final sets are where alignment on the south column occurs and it's here we find our goose eggs. The sets share but one number - 47. Let's take a closer look at these sets and The Rule of Five Cross Numbers.

 

High Five: The Rule of Five Cross Numbers

 

Each of the final two sets along the south column share one mathematical property: The sum of four consecutive cross numbers is equal to the fifth consecutive cross number times three. This is the Rule of Five Cross Numbers where the Cross Numbers in question represent the five digits of a hand. The sum of four consecutive cross values is represented by the four fingers and is equal to the thumb - or fifth cross value - times three. In fact, the sum of the length of all four fingers from tip to knuckle matches the length of one's entire thumb times three.

 

Also try this. Use your hands to separate the 10 digits into two groups, the low five and the high five. First count the low five then count only the four fingers of the high five, "6, 7, 8, and 9." Now add these four numbers together and divide by three - the result is 10 which satisfies the Rule of Five Cross Numbers, As an expression of a successful alignment we might imagine the satisfying of the rule of five - the appearance of the goose eggs - as being celebrated with a "thumbs up" or a "high five". The sets demonstrate how shape is maintained and copied as expansion unfolds uniformly along a central column. The model itself may shed light on how quantum science influences everything - from our language to our biology.

 

An Important Organizing Principle

 

The location where the Rule of Five Cross Numbers applies among the cross values is marked by start and end values along the prime column. Off-column matches of the rule are not shown.

 

(11 + 12 + 13 + 15 = 17 x 3) South Column

(23 + 26 + 29 + 33 = 37 x 3) North Column

 

The final two sets leading to the Finial Circle are the first contiguous sets of the column having starting points of 29 and 47. This contiguity will continue forever beyond the Finial Circle if and only if one condition is met which we will discuss shortly. At this stage, it is worth noting how proportion is maintained as expansion drives the process of individuation.

 

(29 + 33 + 37 + 42 = 47 x 3) South Column

(47 + 54 + 61 + 69 = 77 x 3) South Column

 

This rule of the Cross Numbers is also called the Rule of Five Executives and it highlights points of equivalence directed in a path along the south column as she crosses through the Finial Circle. At 47 the sum of the preceding 4 cross values is equal to the value of 47 repeated 3 times. That's the first point of equivalence or "goose egg". And the same holds true for 77 since 47 + 54 + 61 + 69 = 77 x 3 which brings us to the second goose egg after which a new spiral emerges with a value of 1 at location 125.

 

Additional observations: The values of the new spiral along the south column do not replace the south column values from 125 onward; they exist on a different plane. However the regenerating or motion part of spiral 935 always takes this path. Therefore 124 times the number of generations passed is added to each spiral value. The spiral values which emerge South at location 125 follow the Golden Egg Sequence 1, 2, 4... Most interestingly, subtracting the terms of the Golden Egg Sequence (starting with 1) from the south column values beyond the Finial Circle (from 125) results in a sequence which satisfies the Rule of Five Executives thereafter to infinity. When I first observed this, it was a thrilling moment. I had already known about the "goose eggs" which gave rise to the Golden Egg Sequence; I had known about the smooth prime ring at the Finial Circle (Cntrl F "distribution") broken only by a highly composite opening at 77 / 125. The evidence pointing to the birth of a new Golden Egg Sequence was gathering momentum.

 

The center of the new spiral emerges from above the finial circle's 77th interval as interval 125 comes very close to full circle. Under certain circumstances as when rotations come together at this location a spin is produced and a new spiral emerges. One wave motion of The Spiral of Life requires four generations. Here what I am describing is a basic, ironed-out representation of a cross-section. The kinds of forms that she can take range from the plate to the cone to the cylinder to the Mexican hat and as far as one's imagination can conceive. It is a symbolic representation which nevertheless highlights - by means of measure or sequence - mathematical and physical symmetries. What kind of physical reality does it describe? Rotation.

 

The Spiral of Life gives rise to another ray of origin (and a new spiral) starting from the South column's 125 and this process repeats ad infinitum creating a gyration or wave motion observed in cross-section. In number theory these progressive terms along the axes are called Lucas numbers and are similar to the Fibonacci Sequence with the exception being that a set amount is also added to the previous term. In the illustration, this value is '1'; however, since Spiral-935 is a dynamic model, values other than one will also be explored particularly as the point of origin ebbs and wanes. Spiral 935 is a significant breakthrough in our understanding of life's origin and sheds light on the occurence of tantalizing patterns among the prime numbers. Within this model, symmetry after symmetry ties intimately with the properties of the integers themselves to reveal not only an architecture of all natural numbers but an exceptional understanding of the concepts of zero and one. I invite you to bookmark this page as I will be adding and editing it regularly. The organization of this essay is somewhat spiral. I have placed newer information up top and pushed back previous findings. So you may find areas which repeat or that have been changed.

 

Vertically, there are eleven numbers between 77 and 99 on the above column and ten are prime. The ten prime numbers I refer to as cross primes. The remaining number, 9 is a cross prime square. The ten cross primes and 1 square form pairs opposite each other on the column with the exception of center 3 at the core of the spiral's engine.. The first cross pair are 5, 9 followed by 11, 13, and 17, 23 and 29, 37; finishing with 47, 61. Numbers 77 and 99 I refer to as column finials. 77 is a biprime and 99 is a square prime repdigit which mark the end of the sequence of cross primes. When the column pairs are set as fractions or divisors are being multiplied the finial pair prove themselves to be a very useful set.

 

Horizontally, there exists an eleventh cross prime on Spiral 935's crossbar between finials 88 and 112. It is number 7 and lies just to the left of column center 3. The crossbar has her own centered number - 4 - which one may visualize as being very close to column center 3. Seven is the only prime number on the crossbar. For a more complete understanding of how Spiral-935 evolved please explore Spiral-31 and other images within this photoset.

 

The engine driving Spiral-935 needs priming and an energy source To get it started we simply add the value of 2 to the centered 3 to give it a total value of 5. Then we put the formula to work.

 

The formula is x + y + 1 = z.

 

x, y, and z are 3 numbers on a column segment ascending in value with x equal to or nearest to center 3.

 

Spiral-935 takes its shape from a centered 3-number column segment having values of 9, 3, and 5 from top to bottom - notated as 9-3-5. Starting at the center number 3, we can calculate the next number set (z) in the column using the formula since we are given the initial values for x and y in both directions, namely, 3, 9 moving upward and 3(+2), 5 moving downward.. .

 

moving down the column from center:

(2) +3 + 5 + 1 = 11

5 + 11 + 1 = 17

11 + 17 + 1 = 29

17 + 29 + 1 = 47

29 + 47+ 1 = 77

 

moving up the column from center:

3 + 9 + 1 = 13

9 + 13 + 1 = 23

13 + 23 + 1 = 37

23 + 37 + 1 = 61

37 + 61 + 1 = 99

 

how to create Spiral 935 from zero

 

It is also possible to create Spiral 935 using the formula by starting with '0' for values x and y. This method establishes values for Spiral 935's horizontal axis, or crossbar starting from center and extending right when spiraling counterclockwise, the preferred viewpoint for reasons explained at the end of this essay; (The illustration above spirals clockwise.) Using the formula with starting values of x and y at zero, the progressive values attained are 1, 2, 4, 7, 12, 20, 33, 54, 88, 143, 232, 376, 609, 986, etc. I refer to this series created by the spiral formula, as the Golden Egg sequence as it begins with two "goose eggs" one for x, the other for y.

 

0 + 0 (+1) = 1

0 + 1 (+1) = 2

1 + 2 (+1) = 4

2 + 4 (+1) = 7

.....

Zero Origin relates to the model for "priming" the spiral by adding '2' to the centered 3. The spiral owes her start to a force of attraction between two objects which combine regularly with three to reach a point of equivalence (with five) allowing the spiral to form. The zero/zero start of x and y is thus reflected in the priming formula of (3+2) + 5 + 1 = 11 at column center. The concept of equivalence lies at the heart of Zero. The Fibonacci sequence starts with two equivalent numbers, 1 and 1. In Spiral 935 many Fibonacci sequences are found including the double eleven sequence beginning with 11 and 11

 

The Golden Key

 

Starting from center ANY three consecutive numbers on Spiral 935's column or crossbar may be reduced to one by subtracting the smallest two numbers from the largest. The symmetry of Spiral 935 reaches to the core and through it. Following the formula in reverse reveals other sequences such as the Golden Key sequence linked to the North Column.

 

From Cross to The Golden Key

 

South : 11 - 05 - 01 = 05 ------05 + 05 + 01 = 11-----05 + 11 + 01 = 17

+East : 10 - 04 - 01 = 05 ----->04 + 05 + 01 = 10-----05 + 10 + 01 = 16-----10 + 16 + 01 = 27,

North : 09 - 03 - 01 = 05 ----->03 + 05 + 01 = 09 ---- 05 + 09 + 01 = 15----09 + 15 + 01 = 25<

+West : 07 - 04 - 01 = 02 ----- 04 + 02 + 01 = 07-----02 + 07 + 01 = 10

South : 05 - 03 - 01 = 01------- 03 + 01 + 01 = 05-----01 + 05 + 01 = 07

 

The formula creating the column and crossbar loops through the core to create new sequences intersecting but not on the cross. Associated with the North Column and moving from 9-3-5-9- to 15 the Golden Key sequence forms the triangular shape of a key before straightening and dividing the Finial Circle at her golden mean. The sequence of the Golden Key is

 

9, 3, 5, 9, 15. 25, 41, 67, 109, 177, 287, 465, 753, 1219...

 

At 15 the key sequence makes her final appearance on the cross and at 25 diverges, taking a course close to but moving gradually away from the crossbar. At 109 the hidden sequence intersects the Finial Circle at 111 degrees, dividing the spiral arm exactly at 16 / 26ths.

 

125 - 109 = 16

125 - 099 = 26

-------------->16 / 26

 

This is the precise ratio (0.615384 or 8/13) both crossbar finials reach in relation to their larger cross number. (88/143 and 112/182) This fraction may be expressed as a ratio of the sum of the first two cross numbers + 1 divided by the sum of the first three cross numbers + 1. An interesting relationship with between the golden finial fractions of the crossbar and column has been observed. Subtracting the crossbar finial's 8/13 from the south column finial's 77/125 (.616) and multiplying by 1,000 yields 8/13. .616 divided by crossbar finials 88 and 112 yields exactly .007 and .0055, respectively. These are important Golden Relationships.

 

(.616 - (8/13)) x 1,000 = 8/13

.616 / 88 = .007

.616 / 112 = .0055

.616 = (29 x 08) / 100 x .05 + 1/2 (similar to a formula found on Professor Steven J. Finch's page on the determination of critical value)

 

Astounding Symmetry: Crossbar Squares and the Golden Ratio .616

 

There is one set of 5 crossbar numbers between Finial 88 and Cross Center. We'll call this set A. And another set of 5 crossbar numbers between Finial 112 and Cross Center we'll call set B. If we take the sum of the square values of each set and add to each set the column value 99 located above and directly between each set, then the ratio between set A and B will equal the South Column Finial Ratio of 77/125 or .616.

 

Set A: 7^2 + 12^2 + 20^2 + 33^2 + 54^2 + 99 = 4697

Set B: 10^2 + 15^2 + 26^2 + 42^2 + 69^2 + 99 = 7625

 

4697 / 7625 = 77 / 125 = .616

 

Not only does the hidden Golden Key of Spiral-935 form the shape of a key, it is the master key linking Spiral 935 to the Fibonacci sequence. From 25 onward, one need only subtract the hidden key numbers from the nearest crossbar number to arrive at the Fibonacci sequence.

 

Crossbar values - 15, 26, 42, 69, 112, 182, 295, 478...

The Golden Key - 15, 25, 41, 67, 109, 177, 287, 465...

Fibonacci values - 00, 01, 01, 02, 003, 005, 008, 013...

 

Golden Key Sequence Essentials: Dividing the Spiral in Halves, Thirds, and The Golden Mean

1.) The Golden Key divides the Finial Circle at 111 /180 degrees, the Golden Mean.

2.) The Golden Key and the Golden Egg sequences divide Spiral-93 in half. Golden Egg 54, for example, divides 109 into two whole integers separated by 1: 54 and 55.

3.) The Golden Key divides the spiral rotation into thirds. At the finial circle the rotation is 48 along spiral values (125 - 77 = 48).

 

125 - Golden Key 109 = 16

16 / 48 = 1 / 3

 

The Lost Fibonacci Sequence

 

Comparing opposite sides of the Spiral we find an inverse relationship between Fibonacci and Golden Key formulas. They swap roles. Where the Fibonacci sequence defined the "altitude" lifting off from the crossbar that role belongs to the spiral values, or 'golden egg' values of crossbar 88. Instead of adding the golden egg sequence to the opposite crossbar we subtract it creating a descending ray starting at cross bar values 20 and 33 where the initial values are 0 and 0; then we begin descent with value 1 reducing 54 to 53, The sequence of the Golden Egg is the same spiral formula - only starting with x and y at Zero. Subtracting the Golden Egg sequence from the Crossbar values reveals the Lost Fibonacci Sequence.

 

++88 Crossbar: 20, 33, 54, 88. 143, 232, 376 ,609 ...

++Golden Egg: 00, 00, 01, 02, 004, 007, 012, 020 ...

Lost Fibonacci: 20, 33, 53, 86, 139, 225, 364, 589 ...

 

The Lost Fibonacci Sequence is as much a part of the Fibonacci Sequence as the North Column is a part of The Golden Key Sequence: they are one path having two parts which come together at the core and connect at the cross. To recover the Lost Fibonacci Sequence we backtrack through the Fibonacci sequence using the same rule that applies to cross values between 3 and 5 at the cross center . We add 2 to 3 going out from center and subtract 2 from 3 going in. So 8 - 5 = 3 (-2) = 1. After we've subtracted 2 we have crossed the threshold and may begin adding again with '1' as the new core number: 5 + 1 = 6: 6 + 1 = 7; 7 + 6 = 13; and so on.

 

The Lost Fibonacci Sequence is:

1, 6, 7, 13, 20, 33, 53, 86, 139, 225, 364, 589, 953, 1542, 2495, 4037, 6532, 10569, 17101..

 

Fibonacci sequences and Golden sequences are paired. Where the Golden Key divides one side of the spiral at her golden mean, Lost Fibonacci divides the other. Where Fibonacci defines the "ascent" of the Golden Key on one side, a Golden sequence will define the "descent" on the other. It demonstrates how corresponding formulas may achieve an effect dependent on their location. When placed at opposite locations their roles may reverse.

 

Valentine's Day, Mega-Fibonacci, and The Tressarian Twins Sequence

 

On Valentine's Day 2013 Tressa Montalvo gave birth in Houston, Texas to two sets of identical twins - Ace, Blaine, Cash, and Dylan. The odds of such a birth are said to be one in several million...and to occur on Valentine's Day must make the odds astronomically small.

 

For awhile I've been debating what to call the two sets of twin Fibonacci sequences formed by the cross. Quadronacci or Tetranacci might be nice but they are in current use for sequences having four terms added.. The sequence formed by the cross divides every full rotation into two halves - left and right - one slightly larger than the other however with each half having two equal parts. This unique sequence is the direct product of the cross - representing the organizing forces of attraction.

 

Due to the timing of contemplation I first considered naming it the Beligyre Sequence, an anagram of Lee Rigby, the UK police officer slain by a follower of an evil man whose fantasy to torture and murder his questioning aunt and uncle made its way to nauseating posterity in Surah 111. However, wishing for a more jubilant association, I decided to name the twin set of integers the Tressarian Sequence since it alludes to a double set of twin Fibonacci sequences. I also refer to it as the Tressacci Twin or TT sequence for short recognizing that in shape TT resembles Pi and in name - a sports car from Audi. However if one is willing to part with $700,000 or more then a sports car can be yours that will go from 0 to 60mph in Pi (3.14) seconds - the Ferrari Enzo. Only 400 were made so they are very hard to find.. But every now and then they are abandoned - particularly in countries with stiff debt laws like Dubai.

 

Starting with center 3 and moving to crossbar center 4 establishes the first digit - 1. Moving to South Column 5 offers the second digit - 1. From 5 to Crossbar 7 we arrive at 2 and another 2 brings us to the North Column's 9. From that point forward we continue along the spiral in same manner, making note of the count from one cross value to the next with each one-quarter rotation. The Tressarian Sequence is:

 

1, 1, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 7, 7, 8, 8, 11, 11, 13, 13, 16, 16, 21, 21, 29, 29, 34, 34, 47, 47, 55, 55, 76, 76, 89, 89...

 

The Tressarian Sequence will help explain how the Fibonacci Sequence works in the growth patterns we see in nature. When we observe the sequence in petals, pinecones, or even in the bracts of pineapples we may infer a pattern of twin sequences at work - one for each half of the petal. Once the concept of a twin sequence emerges based on natural forces it is possible to fathom a multiple of twin sequences at work in the creation of a single cone. And that's just the beginning. Spiral-935 has also demonstrated how the Fibonacci Sequence not only appears in spiral shapes but also as a rate of elevation marking successive points of equal division. The implications are that the twin Fibonacci Sequences found imbedded within the Tressarian Sequence may open the door to the discovery of a variety of other growth patterns that have previously been thought unrelated to Fibonacci.

 

Column and Crossbar Center

 

Four represents the centered number in Spiral 935's crossbar as three represents the centered number in the cross column. It is likely the first centered number was two and the center shifted as more numbers gravitated. Spiral-935 differs from other spiral representations which typically use "0" as both the point of origin and centered number of the spiral. My purpose is to describe a spiral of numbers in motion, dynamic, and living. The crossbar values from center to right are: 4, 10, 15, 26, 42, 69, 112, 182, 295, 478, 774, 1253, etc. By lining the columns of values side by side we may extrapolate the vertical column numbers and cross primes by the following method:

 

(4 + 7 - 10) x 2 + 1 = 3

(7 + 12 - 15) x 2 + 1 = 9

(12 + 20 - 26) x 2 + 1 = 13

(20 + 33 - 42) x 2 + 1 = 23

(33 + 54 - 69) x 2 + 1 = 37

(54 + 88 - 112) x 2 + 1 = 61

(88 + 143 - 182) x 2 + 1 = 99

(143 + 232 - 295) x 2 + 1 = 161

(232 + 376 - 478) x 2 + 1 = 261

 

circle versus spiral values at the finial circle The illustration represents a hypothetical tightening of the belt at 77 with the foreshortening of the Finial Circle from 125 to 121. With the discovery of equivalent fractions at the crossbar finials along spiral values I find it useful to consider a compression/expansion model of the belt at the Finial Circle in keeping with spiral values. UPDATE: Continue reading through "evening the odds" for a more complete explanation of the Finial Circle's creation and properties.

 

circle values (77, 88, 99, 110, 121)

(for measuring circle properties between column or crossbar pairs)

121 - 99 = 22 (the count of numbers at 180 degrees of this spire)

22 + 99 = 121 (adding the same amount to form a 360 degree circle)

121 - 77 = 44 (the total count of numbers forming the circle's circumference)

 

spiral values (77, 88, 99, 112, 125)

125 - 99 = 26

26 + 99 = 125

125 - 77 = 48 (the total count of numbers forming the spiral's finial circumference

 

evening the odds at the finial circle

 

Prime symmetry found between the even-odds of the finial circle. First observed in Spiral-935's column, the symmetry of prime numbers occurs at the finial circle in her sum values. Odd numbers may be thought of as the sum of two numbers with a difference of 1 between them. If the lowest of these two numbers is an even number then the inspected number is called an even-odd number. If the lowest number is odd, it's an odd-odd number. From 77 to 125 there are 13 even-odds but only the middle 11 - centered precisely around 101 - share a characteristic which solves the mystery of the finial circle. Between 9 squared and 11 squared lie the eleven even-odds: 81, 85, 89, 93, 97, 101, 105, 109, 113, 117, and 121. Five of the eleven are prime numbers outright and contain no primes in their pairings. The remaining six are each paired with prime numbers. Considering the count in this way (important when translating mathematics to chemistry and biology) brings the even-odd count of prime numbers between 9 squared and 11 squared to 11.

 

If a circle can be created from a spiral one would anticipate the point at which the circle is formed to have weaker bonds which can unlock and join with an adjacent arc to form a circle. The weaker bonds may appear not only in the divisible even numbers (which, in many cases, may have strong bonds) but in the important even-odds. Of course not all even-odds have necessarily weak bonds; however 77 and 125 - nonprimes which are both the sum of consecutive nonprime integers - stand out in their neighborhood.

 

the Holy Grail

 

The numbers below illustrate the framework around which the creation of a circle from a spiral occurs around the stronger bonds between nine squared (81) and eleven squared (121). By viewing the Finial Circle through the lens of her even-odds it reveals a smooth distribution of prime numbers:

 

77 = 38 + 39

81 = 40 + 41prime

85 = 42 + 43prime

89 = 44 + 45 (prime sum)

93 = 46 + 47prime

97 = 48 + 49 (prime sum)

101 = 50 + 51 (prime sum)

105 = 52 + 53prime

109 = 54 + 55 (prime sum)

113 = 56 + 57 (prime sum)

117 = 58 + 59prime

121 = 60 + 61prime

125 = 62 + 63

 

The above represents a close-up of Spiral-935's Finial Circle as seen through the even-odds. 77 and 125 are triple composites. They are actually tetra composites if we consider that each of their digit sums is also composite. In stark contrast, every even-odd number between 77 and 125 either 1.) has a prime part in one of her two parts separated by one (we may call these partial primes) ; or 2.) is a prime number outright. It is worth noting that none of the prime number even-odds along the Finial Circle has a prime part - each one being comprised of two composite parts separated by one. This property gives the Finial Circle her "smoothness" in terms of the distribution of primes.

 

The sum value is 1111. (11 * 101) for the even-odds. (81 - 121)

The sum value is 1212 (12 * 101) for the odd-odds.

The sum value is 1313 (13 * 101) for the even-odds (77 - 125)

The sum of all primes is 813 (271 * 3)

The sum of all 6 non-primes is 298 (81-121)

The sum of all 8 non-primes is 500 (77 - 125)

 

What makes the even-odds and odd-odds relevant?

 

Symmetric patterns are created around them throughout the spiral making adding, dividing, and multiplying much easier - key to making replicas and creating life. The Golden Key Sequence, for example, not only divides the spiral along her Golden Mean but also serves to divide the entire spiral length in nearly equal portions (like a coiled tape measure) - from point of origin 1 (near spiral center 3) to her mid-way point (along the Golden Egg Sequence) and ending at her Golden Key (a ray rising just north of the opposite crossbar).

 

Odd numbers appear every third number on the crossbar extending through the core. A similar pattern exists along the column (comprised exclusively of odd numbers) with odd-odd numbers occurring at every third value from North and through the Golden Key Sequence.) The crossbar center is flanked by odd-odd 7 and odd-even 10. Extending outward odd numbers occur at every third interval, alternating between even-odds and odd-odds.

 

To refresh, the Golden Egg Sequence is the crossbar from Center to 88 and beyond (4, 7, 12, 20, 33, 54, 88, 143, etc.) The Golden Key originates from the North but loops through the center and forms a ray, lifting off from the opposite crossbar at a rate of elevation equal to the ascending Fibonacci Sequence. It is located on the opposite side of the spiral towards 110/112.

 

Dividing the length of Spiral 935 is accomplished by dividing the Golden Key values into two whole integers separated by one. For example Golden Key value 67 divides to 33 (Golden Egg) and 34. Golden Key 109 divides to 54 (Golden Egg) and 55. This organization gives Spiral 935 flexibility and deeply ties the Golden Mean to the ability to grow spiraling structures into nearly equal parts.

 

Most of us are accustomed to counting in ten increments of ten numbers. However, from the start we can see numbers are easily divided between odd and evens. And taking it one step further, between even-odds, odd-evens, odd-odds and even-evens (such as 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively.) Even-odds start at 1 and may be thought of as the primordial numbers - meaning they reflect back to the original '1' ; they are always the first number - of each successive four-number grouping. The first 43 even-odds are:

 

001, 005, 009, 013, 17, 21, 25, 29, 33, 37, 41, 45, 49, 53, 57, 61, 65, 69, 73, 77, 81, 85, 89, 93, 97

101, 105, 109, 113, 117, 121, 125, 129, 133, 137, 141, 145, 149, 153, 157, 161, 165, 169...

 

There are several possible ways of counting the sum of all numbers at the Finial Circle yet whichever method we pick - one number - a factor of every combination of finial sums - stands out - and that number is 41.

 

sum of even-odds -81-121 ---1111

sum of odd-evens- 81-121 ---1000

sum of odd-odds--- 81-121----1010

sum of even-evens-81-121----1020

Total ---------------------------------4141----(41 * 101)

 

41 and prime-hunting

 

Her symmetric properties make 41 a major player in the world of prime-hunting. There are several formulas involving 41 perhaps the least complicated of which is that if you start with any two integers totaling 41; squaring one of them and adding to it the value of the other integer,will most likely result in a prime number - or else a multiple of five (4+1).

 

To commemorate the latest discoveries at the finial circle, I went prime hunting using the above formula with a twist. Instead of two integers summing to 41 I used two integers summing to 4141 (41 x 101). Only 7 of 22 were prime using only the above formula. However I was able to predict primality with 100% accuracy by considering the number of prime numbers that appeared after dividing the last two-digits of the two integers (un-squared) into either two equal parts (odd-evens or even-evens) or two parts separated by 1 (odd-odds or even-odds) If 2 or 3 prime numbers appeared In these parts, the result was prime but If less than 2 prime numbers appeared, the result was not prime.

 

Choosing integers for use in the above formula with sum values of the form 41 x 10101, or 41 x 1010101... has shown positive results in terms of prime prediction. 271 - a prime factor of 813 (271 * 3) - has demonstrated even greater reliability. 813, as you may recall, is the sum total of the prime even-odd numbers and the nonprime even-odd' numbers' prime offspring at the finial circle. Engaging in his recreational exercise allowed me to see that 271 x 41 = 11111, The sum of all even odds at the finial circle is 1111. An early Christmas present. Thank you for being there to observe the mysteries of the finial circle come to light.

 

3.1415, 23, 41, and 8,888

 

Since this area ties in with the Finial Circle I thought to mention another aspect which ties into today's calendar day - Pi Day or 3.14. The Finial Circle is formed around an arc of primes and prime parts between 9 and 11 squared. The place where the circle starts and ends is in an area with a higher degree of compositeness compared with the other numbers at the finial circle. Notably 77 and 125 mark the composite area where the circle forms. If we sum the four numbers from 77 to 80 (1 prior to nine-squared) we arrive at 314, the first three digits of Pi and - due to the compositeness of the location - what I call the "mouth" of the Finial Circle. For a hungry circle, Pi is the perfect order! Happy Pi Day, everybody!

 

Since we have reached a milestone in 8,888 views I wish to explore some properties of this fascinating number in relation to Spiral 935. Pi quite nicely divides 8888 in the following cross number multiples of Pi.

 

8888 / 23 Pi = 123.00 = 3 x 41

8888 / 69 Pi = 41.00

 

No other multiples of PI - cross or otherwise - dvides 8888 so precisely as do the pi multiples of 23. In a related property of Spiral 935 so far it appears that prime column pairings (prime numbers at opposite sides of the column) occur at multiples of 23 of the column height. However testing primality for column pairs at height multiples of 23 requires greater computing power than my laptop offers.

 

Factors of 8888 include 88 and 101 - both located on the Finial Circle.

 

11 x 808 = 8888

88 x 101 = 8888

 

8888 / 70* Pi = 40.41 While 70 is one-off from cross number 69 the resulting fraction is nonetheless pattern-forming; and we see a similar re-occurrence in cross number 112.

8888 / 112 Pi = 25.26

 

About 8888 and 41. I recommend using the search function on this page and noting all the occurrences of 41....in the even-odds for example...or at the finial circle it's in the Finial Circle's upper-bound breakdown of 9 squared, (40 and 41) 81's prime 41. (Compare to the upper-bound breakdown of Finial Circle's 11 squared...121's prime 61.)

 

When multiplied by 77/125 (.616), 8888 yields ((11+11)^2 x 1414 ) / 125

 

Pi The Golden Ratio, zero and the core of spiral-935

 

The circumference of the Finial Circle is 48 along spiral value 112. The foreshortening of the Finial Circe to 44 occurs when ending the spiral formula by adding a half arc equal to the preceding 22-count arc between 77 and 99. 44 divided by pi yields 14 (which is exactly equal to the column height of 14 between spiral numbers 100-124.) The Finial Circle is the only location along the entire column where Pi equals the circumference divided by the diameter when the diameter is defined by the column count . At the core the diameter is compressed and pulsing (not static) and beyond the finials it is rapidly expanding. For the count of column numbers to be equal to the diameter well beyond the finial circle would require Spiral-935's numbers to be moving very fast (creating a helix) and for their speed to be increasing. Also if the numbers represent objects which are very tiny relative to the space between this may alter our perception of the spiral's shape.

 

The Finial Circle itself may be thought of as the "Zero" of Spiral-935. Zero, in this sense, does not mean the absence of anything but rather reaching a point of equivalence. For example at the finials, the Golden Ratio of .61 (and 1.61) is fully reached. Now imagine for a moment we divided every number in Spiral 935 by 100. Everything would essentially be the same - albeit smaller - but notice how the finial circle as It crosses the column would exist between column numbers .61 and 1.61 - phi and PHI, the two ratios of the Divine Proportion.

 

Golden convergence begins at 26/42 on the crossbar and 29/47 on the column. However it fails to fully converge until reaching the finials. (I define the point of golden convergence to be when the first two digits of the mean appear in decimal form .61 at both ends of crossbar and column.) As a rule, all additive sequences resolve to the Golden Ratio except one. The question of convergence then becomes a matter of how and when not if. That is why the location of total golden convergence between column numbers 61 and 161 coupled with Pi at the finials (44/pi = column height 14) presents a memorable confluence of form and event. The only explanation I may provide for this is the unique center of Spiral 935. Among the competing ratios at the core, 3/5 stands out as the centerpiece and at .60 is as close to the Divine Proportion as can be formed by single digits. Indeed, the whole of Spiral 935, with its Finial Circle and vertical column resembles the very symbol of Phi.

 

Subtracting the ratios at the two crossbar finials 88/143 and 112/182 leaves a remainder of zero as both are represented by the repeat decimal .615384. Unique symmetry at the finials can also be found in square calculations. Each set of three square numbers lie on the cross (within both column and crossbar) and end at the finials.

 

4.4121 x 42^2 + 69^2 = 112^2

4.4233 x 29^2 + 47^2 = 77^2

4.4334 x 33^2 + 54^2 = 88^2

4.4411 x 37^2 + 61^2 = 99^2

 

Whole numbers 3, 4, and 5 (3+2) comprise the spiral center. Since the decimal values above all fall within the range of these core numbers I thought to investigate what the core would look like as an initial cube value in the formula. To my surprise, the decimal values converge to a whole number. Spiral 935's inner core may be represented (in formula) by the following three decimal fractions before reaching 5 (the cube root of 5 cubed) at the completion of the spiral's first fifteen digits. ( 5^3 + 10^2 = 15^2) 5 emerges at the center as the relation completes at 15, a location where - in perfect symmetry - the Fibonacci sequence begins at zero.

 

4.44796^3 + 9^2 = 13^2 (column values from center north)

4.56290^3 + 7^2 = 12^2 (cross bar values from center west)

4.57885^3 + 5^2 = 11^2 (column values from center south)

5.00000^3 + 10^2=15^2 (crossbar values from center east)

 

When the value of 5 is reached near the column center it creates a point of equivalency tipped by the addition of 1 to reach 11, the first column number beyond the inner core. (3+2) + 5 + 1 = 11. This may symbolically be represented as two open hands with the 3 longer fingers of each hand curving inward to meet the tips of the shorter fingers to become 5. As the compressed fingertips of both hands meet it expands into a ball of space and energy between them before turning into the symbol for '11' as the hands compress, palms together.

 

88 and the piano numbers

 

The piano numbers appear from 03 to 23 and are of two basic kinds. Those which lie on the cross form the notes of the cross scales while those numbers between the cross (against the field) form the notes of the field scales. Thru 10 all crossbar numbers are counted as field numbers except 7.

 

The cross scales include numbers 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, and 20 [ A, A#, B, C#, D#, F# ]

A five-tone cross scale may be comprised of numbers 13, 15, 17, 20, transitional [ 23 (A) ]

The field scales include numbers 14, 16, 18, 19, 21, and 22 [ C, D, E, F, G, (and G#) ]

 

Most scales can be broadly categorized into these two basic divisions. One interesting feature of both cross and field scales is how they resolve respectively to B Major, C Major, E Major, or alternately, to the chromatic scale. The cross and field scales divide the 88 keys of the piano in the most elegant way possible. Different nuances are imparted when descending versus ascending so be sure to try the scales in both directions. If there exists a more beautiful way than the cross and field scales to bifurcate the 88 piano keys then I am eager to hear it.

 

Alternating between the cross and field scales brings to mind Dizzy Gillespie and Frank Paparellli's "A Night In Tunisia" (lyrics below) given the song's use of half-step up and half-step down chord changes. Written in Texas, it was originally entitled, Interlude after Dizzy noticed the melody he laid down lie at the crossroad of Asiatic and Western scales. It was written during a break from making a short film. Using the bottom of a trash bin as a makeshift table, stool or drum perhaps Dizzy wrote it at a time when the lights of the heavens were just starting to make their appearance.

 

lyrics to 'A Night In Tunisia'

 

The moon is the same moon above you

Aglow with its cool evening light

But shining at night, in Tunisia

Never does it shine so bright

 

The stars are aglow in the heavens

But only the wise understand

That shining at night in Tunisia

They guide you through the desert sand

 

Words fail, to tell a tale

Too exotic to be told

Each nights a deeper night

In a world, ages old

 

The cares of the day seem to vanish

The ending of day brings release

Each wonderful night in Tunisia

Where the nights are filled with peace

 

There are thousands of other songs matching the cross and field scales. The reason I've brought attention to this one is that Dizzy himself recognized that there was something special about this song that had raised it from "the vicissitude of the contingent" to its exalted place "in the realm of metaphysics."

 

Below are a few examples of some highly matching scales.

 

cross scales: (group one) B Major; A# Harmonic Minor; A Prometheus Neopolitan (group two ) D major, E major, A major, E melodic minor, B natural minor and A major pentatonic

 

field scales: C Major; F dim Lydian; D Blues; F Kumoi; D Locrian 2; C Mixolydian flat 6

 

Piano numbers are so-named because the sum of the six-note cross scale numbers is 88 -- a common number of keys on a piano; Interestingly, the sum of the five-note cross scale is also 88. The sum of the field numbers is 110. Subtracting the G# (22, a highly transitional tone) from the field scales, yields a remainder of 88.

 

Eleven through twenty-two (11 - 22) correspond to the 12 tones of the chromatic scale. In the illustration the spiral formula breaks down to allow for a tightening circular ring between 77 and 99 (as opposed to a spiral ring around 125). The result is that 110 appears as a finial at one end of the crossbar (instead of 112) and 88 appears at the other, reflecting the two sums of the piano series represented horizontally, both cross and field.

 

defining attributes and symmetry of the 9-3-5 column)

 

13 - 9 = sum of 3 and 5 divided by 2

11 - 5 = sum of 3 and 9 divided by 2

37 - 23 = sum of 11 and 17 divided by 2

29-17 = sum of 9 and 13 divided by 2

99 - 61 = sum of 29 and 47 divided by 2

77 - 47 = sum of 23 and 37 divided by 2

 

9 - 3 - 1 = 5

5 + 3 + 1 = 9

 

reaching for the stars

 

The column of Spiral 9-3-5 reaches indefinitely upwards and downwards still forming pairs at each end only one pair of which are known prime numbers and the others being odd numbers that can be factored into prime numbers. The occurrence in terms of location and timing of these divisors form patterns that not only are very useful in terms of prediction but also interesting in terms of how they originate. The column numbers can get quite large so to make it easier to put them into categories and discuss them I've given them names in addition to the column height value I have assigned them. The first pair of non-primes appear at a column height of 13 and are 99 and 77. The pair of divisor sets are 3,3,11 and 7,11; 99 and 77 are called trizor 11 and bizor 11 respectively. Of course, 1 is also a divisor, but for the sake of efficiency, I've decided not to reflect that fact in the names since it is well-understood that 1 is a divisor of all integers. Therefore bizor is a number having two divisors (excluding '1") A trizor is a number having three divisors (exluding 1). Other terms are quadzor, pentzor, hexzor and so on. A number following these terms may either be the lowest divisor of that number or the common divisor when describing a set of numbers. For brevity, numbers such as 77 and 99 may both be referred to as zor-11's as they share a common divisor in 11.

 

other attributes of the cross primes and finials

93 = The square root of (112^2 - 88^2 + 99^2 - 77^2 - 23).

93 = The sum of every other cross column prime (starting on 37 and ending on 29 which includes center cross prime 3. The remaining column numbers total 162 or 9^2*2 or 161 plus 1. Eliminating the square 9 results in 153 or 3*51; matching nicely with 3*31 or 93. The sum of prime column numbers is thus 3*31 + 3*51 = 6*41. Subtracting the sum of the South column's alternating primes, 93, from the sum of the North Column's alternating primes, 153, yields 60 which is equal to the repeating cycle of 60 digits on the column in the one's place. So while not evident at first glance, intervals of 10 turn up very significantly from calculations Involving Spiral-935' prime column. Subtracting the lower alternating prime sum 93 from the higher prime sum of 153 plus square 9 yields 69 or 23*3 - equal to the final cross value of Spiral-935 prior to reaching the first finial, 77, at the South Column.

 

93 = The sum of the first three cross primes from the bottom, 47, 29, and 17.

93 = The centered number of the sole trinity of consecutive composite odds - 91, 93, 95 - (bounded by prime numbers 89 and 97.)

48 = The count of integers at the Finial Circle (77 - 124)

76 = The count of integers up to the Finial Circle (1 - 76)

`124 = The total count of the primary integers of Spiral 93 comprising one generation.

41 = The sum of the first five column numbers - (3, 5, 9, 11, and 13.)

31 = The sum of four consecutive cross numbers beginning with 5. ( 5, 7, 9, 10)

42 = The sum of five consecutive cross numbers beginning with 5. (5, 7, 9, 10, 11)

28 = The sum of the first 5 cross numbers - (3, 4, 5, 7, 9)

19 = The sum of the first 4 cross numbers - (3, 4, 5, 7)

121 = The sum of the first three cross primes from the top: 61, 37, and 23.

 

The cross primes (and square) 9, 3, 5, 11, 17 appear to express that the sum of 9, 3, and 5 is equal ( | | ) to 17 which is a true statement. Apparently God has a sense of humor.

255 = The sum of all cross numbers including 9 on the column. In mathematics, 255 is the tenth perfect Totient number the first two Totients being cross prime 3 and cross square 9.

85/255 = 1/3 The numerator, 85, is the sum of all five sexy prime quintuplets: 5, 11, 17, 23, and 29. The denominator, 255, is the sum of all 11 cross numbers on the column (10 primes and one square).

256 = 2^8 The sum of all cross column numbers inside the finial circle including 1. (2 and 4 are a part of the cross bar; 1 and 3 belong to the column.) 1, 2, 3 and 4 form a stem at spiral center which is an extension of the knot at 3 and 4. As a power of 8, 256 is the first zenzizenzizenzic number greater than 1.

 

priming the center to achieve the spiral effect.

 

Priming the center occurs when moving from center 3 to the next column number, 5. We add 2 to center 3 for a total value of 5. Priming and an adequate energy supply are key in allowing spirals to form their shape. From nine to thirteen the numbers appear to rotate with greater distance between them as if being propelled at a higher speed. It is conceivable that by mirroring the rotation of spiral galaxies using numbers it could yield results which reflect the properties of spiral galaxies whose rotation speeds are higher near the center. Some argue the black holes thought to be at the center of spiral galaxies do not exist but are better classified as neutron stars having a magnetic pole with a force of debatable consequence. It has also been proposed that spiral galaxies form from the inside out and begin with a large compressed core which fragments over time. It's helpful to think of the generated numbers of this spiral as intervals marking moments in time like a clock. The prime column produces Fibonacci-like sequences of numbers that mirror real life spirals. The advantage of these cross primes is they describe a sequence that has a beginning, a middle, an ending and can replicate so long as there is an energy source.

 

sign of the cross

 

Going up from center 3 we do not need to add 2 to center 3 because the center has already been "primed" and has added the '2' on its journey south to 5 before heading north to 9. The value of an engine car may be '3' but the added energy output is consumed as it passes through each car and doesn't skip cars. At 77 and 99 Spiral-935 reaches a column height of 13 numbers allowing for the formation of a circular frame around the 10 primes and 1 squared number. I was amazed that after completing its prime column with a pair of twin-digit numbers, the shape of Spiral-935 could either continue spiraling to column number 125 (5 cubed) or alternately - by duplicating her previous half-spire count - converge into a circle at 121 (with 77), at exactly 11 squared! 77 and 99 appear to act as finials for the column marking the end of prime progression in harmony with crossbar finials 88 and 112 (or 110 for the circle) If a strobe were to flash in turns at every multiple of 11 (11, 22, 33, 44....) one may observe how closely the pattern resembles the tradition of the sign of the cross.

 

Merging the spiral with the circle yields a circumference of 44. Continuing hypothetically with the spiral formula (without circle convergence) will reveal other primes and semi-primes but the next pair of prime numbers (one at top and one at the bottom of the column) will occur at a column height of 23 numbers and at a height of 31 numbers we find a prime number on top and a semi-prime below, bizor-31 with a property unique to all column numbers known at this time of correspondence.

 

sexy primes

 

Outside the Finial Circle, prime column pairs are scarce. At a column height of 23 the prime pairs are 863 and 1,109. Another prime pair is located at a column height of 69 (23*3). Within the bounds of the Finials, 23 is also noteworthy for being the last of only two cross primes which are the average of two other cross primes: 11 (5 and 17) and 23 (17 and 29). 11 and 23 are the co-anchors for sexy prmes 5, 11, 17, 23 and 29. Sexy primes are prime numbers separated by 6. They are named after the Latin word for six which is 'sex'. (Nos 1 - 11 in Latin are unum, duae or duo, tres, quattuor, quinque, sex, septem, octo, novem, decem, and undecim.) Remarkably, the five, sexy prime quintuplets are also cross primes given all five of them reside on the cross column. They comprise 50% of all cross primes (excluding cross square 9) and their sum (85) comprises 33.33% of the sum of all column numbers between the fnials (255).

 

At a height of 31 we find the only semi-prime whose divisor 31 matches the column height its circle forms with column numbers 5,921 and 7,607. No perfect prime pair beyond height 23 has ever been found. (Important Update: At a column hei

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

  

Some background:

The Char B1 was a French heavy tank manufactured before World War II. It was conceived as a specialized offensive vehicle, armed with a 75 mm howitzer in the hull. Later a 47 mm gun in a turret was added, to allow it to function also as a Char de Bataille, a ‘battle tank’ fighting enemy armour, equipping the armoured divisions of the Infantry Arm. Starting in the early twenties, its development and production were repeatedly delayed, resulting in a vehicle that was both technologically complex and expensive, and already obsolescent when real mass-production of a derived version, the Char B1 "bis", started in the late thirties.

 

The outer appearance of the Char B1 reflected the fact that development started in the twenties: like the very first tank, the British Mark I tank of World War I, it still had large tracks going around the entire hull and large armour plates protecting the suspension—and like all tanks of that decade it had no welded or cast hull armour. The similarity resulted partly from the fact that the Char B1 was a specialized offensive weapon, a break-through tank optimized for punching a hole into strong defensive entrenchments, so it was designed with good trench-crossing capabilities and therefore the hull and the tracks had considerable length. The French Army thought that dislodging the enemy from a key front sector would decide a campaign, and it prided itself on being the only army in the world having a sufficient number of adequately protected heavy tanks. The exploitation phase of a battle was seen as secondary and best carried out by controlled and methodical movement to ensure superiority in numbers, so that the heavy tank’s mobility was of secondary concern. Although the Char B1 had a reasonably good speed for the time of its conception, no serious efforts were made to improve it when much faster tanks appeared.

 

More important than the tank's limitations in tactical mobility, however, were its limitations in strategic mobility. The low practical range implied the need to refuel very often, limiting its operational capabilities. This again implied that the armoured divisions of the Infantry, the Divisions Cuirassées, were not very effective as a mobile reserve and thus lacked strategic flexibility. They were not created to fulfill such a role in the first place, which was reflected in the small size of the artillery and infantry components of the divisions.

 

Another explanation of the similarity to the British Mark I lies in the Char B1's original specification to create a self-propelled gun able to destroy enemy infantry and artillery. The main weapon of the tank was its 75 mm howitzer, and the entire design of the vehicle was directed to making this gun as effective as possible. When in the early 1930s it became obvious that the Char B1 also had to defeat counterattacking enemy armour, it was too late for a complete redesign. The solution was to add the standard cast APX-1 turret which also equipped the Char D2 and the Somua S35. Like most French tanks of the period the Char B thus had a small one-man turret. The commander not only had to command the tank, but also to aim and load the anti-tank gun, and if he was a unit leader, he had to command his other tanks as well. This was in contrast with the contemporary German, British and to a lesser extent Soviet policy to use two or three-man turret crews, in which these duties were divided amongst several men, or to use dedicated command vehicles.

 

Among the most powerfully armed and armoured tanks of its day, the Char B1 was very effective in direct confrontations with early German armour during the Battle of France. The 60 mm (2.36 in) frontal armor was sloped, giving it an effective strength of near 80 mm (3.15 in), and it proved to be almost invulnerable to the 1940 Panzer II and III as well as the early Panzer IV with its short 75mm close-support gun. There were no real weak spots, and this invulnerability helped the B1 to close on targets, then destroy them with the turret 47 mm (1.85 in) or the brute force of the howitzer HE shells. However, its slow speed and high fuel consumption made it ill-adapted to the war of movement then being fought.

 

In the meantime, plans had taken shape to improve the Char B1, and this led to two developments that eventually entered the hardware stage: A further up-armoured version, the Char B1 "ter", was designed with sloped and welded 70 mm armour, weighing 36.6 tonnes and powered by a 350 hp (260 kW) engine. It was meant to replace the B1 bis to accelerate mass production, a change first intended for the summer of 1940 but later postponed to March 1941 and finally abandoned.

In the course of the redesign, space was provided for a fifth crew member, a "mechanic". Cost was reduced by omitting the complex Neader transmission for aiming the howitzer and giving the hull gun a traverse of five degrees to each side instead. The first prototype was shown in 1937, but only three prototypes could be partly finished before the defeat of France. Serial production was rejected due to the need to build totally new production lines for the much-modified Char B1 ter, so that this development was a dead end, even more so because it did not really cure the vehicle’s weakness of the overburdened commander and the split armament.

 

The latter issues were addressed with another development, a modernized variant of the existing Char B1 bis with a new weapon layout, the Char B1 “tetre”. Work on this variant started in 1936, as an alternative concept to the one-man turret and as an experimental carrier for a new high velocity semi-automatic 75 mm multi-purpose gun with a long barrel. Such a weapon was direly needed, because the biggest caliber of an anti-tank gun was a mere 47 mm, the SA 35 gun. The only recent alternative was the infantry’s 47 mm APX anti-tank gun from 1937, which could pierce 60 mm (2.4 in) at 550 meters (600 yd) or 80 mm (3.1 in) at 180 meters (200 yd), but it had not been adapted to vehicle use yet and was not regarded to be powerful enough to cope with tanks like the Char B1 itself.

 

This new 75 mm tank gun was already under development at the Atelier de Construction de Rueil (ARL) for a new medium 20-ton-tank, the Char G1 from Renault, that was to replace the Char B1. The gun, called “ARL 37”, would be mounted in a new three-man turret, and ARL was developing prototypes of both a turret that could be taken by the Char B1’s and S35’s limited turret ring, as well as the gun itself, which was based on the 75 mm high velocity gun with hydro-pneumatic recoil compensation from the vintage heavy FCM 2C tank

 

The ARL 37 had a mass of 750 kg (1,653.5 lb) and a barrel length of 3,281 mm (129.2 in) with a bore of 43 calibers. Maximum muzzle velocity was 740 m/s (2,400 ft/s). The gun was fitted with an electric firing mechanism and the breech operated semi-automatically. Only one-piece ammunition was used, and both HE and AP rounds could be fired – even though the latter had to developed, too, because no such round was available in 1937/38 yet. However, with early experimental Armour Piercing Capped Ballistic Cap (APCBC) rounds, the ARL 37 was able to penetrate 133 mm (5.2 in) of vertical steel plate at 100 m range, 107 mm (4.2 in) at 1.000 m and still 85 mm (3.3 in) at 2.000 m, making it a powerful anti-tank weapon of its era.

 

Since the new weapon was expected to fire both HE and AP rounds, the Char B1’s howitzer in the hull was omitted, its opening faired over and instead a movable 7.5 mm Reibel machine gun was added in a ball mount, operated by a radio operator who sat next to the driver. Another 7.5mm machine gun was mounted co-axially to the main gun in the turret, which had a cupola and offered space for the rest of the crew: a dedicated commander as well as a gunner and loader team.

The hexagonal turret was cast and had a welded roof as well as a gun mantlet. With its 70 mm frontal armor as well as the tank’s new hull front section, the conversions added a total of four net tons of weight, so that the Char B1 tetre weighed 36 tons. To prevent its performance from deteriorating further, it received the Char B1 ter’s uprated 350 hp (260 kW) engine. The running gear remained unchanged, even though the fully rotating turret made the complex and expensive Neader transmission superfluous, so that it was replaced by a standard heavy-duty piece.

 

Although promising, the Char B1 tetre’s development was slow, delayed by the lack of resources and many teething troubles with the new 75 mm cannon and the turret. When the war broke out in September 1939, production was cleared and began slowly, but focus remained on existing vehicles and weapons. By the time there were perhaps 180 operational B1 and B1 bis in all. They were used for the Sarre offensive, a short-lived burst without serious opposition, with a massive force of 41 divisions and 2.400 tanks. The Char B1 served with the armoured divisions of the infantry, the Divisions Cuirassées (DCr). The First and Second DCR had 69 Char B1s each, the Third 68. These were highly specialized offensive units, to break through fortified positions. The mobile phase of a battle was to be carried out by the Divisions Légères Mécaniques (mechanised light divisions) of the cavalry, equipped with the SOMUA S35.

 

After the German invasion several ad hoc units were formed: the 4e DCr with 52 Char B1s and five autonomous companies (347e, 348e, 349e, 352e and 353e Compagnie Autonome de Chars) with in total 56 tanks: 12 B1s and 44 B1 bis; 28e BCC was reconstituted with 34 tanks. By that time, a very limited number of Char B1 tetre had been produced and delivered to operational units, but their tactical value was low since sufficient 75 mm AP rounds were not available – the tanks had to use primarily the same HE rounds that were fired with the Char B1’s howitzer, and these posed only a limited threat to German tanks, esp. the upgraded Panzer III and IVs. The Char B1 tertre’s potential was never fully exploited, even though most of the tanks were used as command vehicles.

 

The regular French divisions destroyed quite a few German tanks but lacked enough organic infantry and artillery to function as an effective mobile reserve. After the defeat of France, captured Char B1 of all variants would be used by Germany, with some rebuilt as flamethrowers, Munitionspanzer, or mechanized artillery.

  

Specifications:

Crew: Five (driver, radio operator/machine gunner, commander, gunner, loader)

Weight: 36 tonnes (40 short tons, 35 long tons)

Length: 6.98 m (22 ft 10½ in) overall with gun forward

6.37 m (20 ft 11 in) hull only

Width: 2.46 m (8 ft 1 in)

Height: 2.84 m (9 ft 3¾ in)

Ground clearance: 40 cm (1 ft 3¾ in)

Climbing: 93 cm (3 ft ½ in)

Trench crossing: 2,4 m (7 ft 10½ in)

Suspension: Bogies with a mixture of vertical coil and leaf springs

Steering: Double differential

Fuel capacity: 400 liters

 

Armour:

14 to 70 mm (0.55 to 2.75 in)

 

Performance:

28 km/h (17 mph) on road

21 km/h (13 mph) off-road

Operational range: 200 km (124 mi) on road

Power/weight: 9.7 hp/ton

 

Engine:

1× Renault inline 6 cylinder 16.5 litre petrol engine with 350 hp (260 kW)

 

Transmission:

5 forward and 1 rear gear

 

Armament:

1x 75 ARL 37 high-velocity cannon with 94 rounds

2x 7.5 mm (0.295 in) Reibel machine guns with a total of 5,250 rounds

  

The kit and its assembly:.

This fictional Char B1 variant was based on the question what the tank could have looked like if there had been a suitable 75 mm gun available that could replace both its howitzer in the hull and the rather light anti-tank gun in the turret? No such weapon existed in France, but I tried to extrapolate the concept based on the standard Char B1 hull.

 

Two big changes were made: the first concerned the hull howitzer, which was deleted, and its recessed opening faired over with 1 mm styrene sheet and putty. This sound easier as it turned out to be because the suspension for the front right idler wheel had to be retained, and the complex shape of the glacis plate and the opening called for patchwork. A fairing for the co-driver was added as well as a ball mount for the new hull machine gun. New shackles were added to the lower front and, finally, new rows of bolt heads (created with white glue).

 

The turret was completely replaced with a cast turret from a 1943 T-34/76 (Zvezda kit). While its shape and gun mantlet are quite characteristic, I still used it mostly OOB because its size and shape turned out to be a very good match to contemporary French tank turrets. However, the gun barrel was moved and a fairing for a hydro-pneumatic recoil damper was added, as well as a French commander cupola. And an adapter had to be scratched to attach the new turret to the hull, together with small fairings for the wider turret ring.

  

Painting and markings:

I wanted a rather unusual paint scheme for this Char B1 derivative, and found inspiration in an operational museum tank that depicts vehicle “311/Rhin”: it carries a three-tone livery in two greens and brown, instead of the more common sand, dark green and earth brown tones or just two-tone schemes.

 

The colors were adapted to an irregular pattern, and the paints I used were Humbrol 120 (FS 34227, a rather pale interpretation of the tone), 10 (Gloss Dark Brown) and ModelMaster 1764 (FS 34092). As a personal twist, the colors were edged in black, enhancing the contrast.

The markings were puzzled together from various sources in an attempt to create suitable tactical codes of the early 1940 era. The “Ace of Spades” emblem on the turret is, for example, are a marking of the 1st section. The dot in front of the “K” probably indicated a command vehicle, but I am not certain.

 

Some post-shading was done as well as dry-brushing with light earth brown to emphasize edges and details. Then the model was sealed with matt acrylic varnish and received some dusting with grey-brown artist pigments, simulating dust around the running gear.

  

Well, not too much was changed, but the new, bigger turret changes the Char B1’s look considerably – it looks somewhat smaller now? Its new silhouette also reminds me of a duck? Weird, but the conversion worked out well – esp. the modified glacis plate without the howitzer’s recessed opening looks very natural.

 

I'm guessing at the name of this tiny orange Skipper, based on matching up pictures in my butterfly field guide and extrapolating from what I read online about these butterflies having been accidentally introduced into Canada via London, Ontario, in the early part of the 20th century.

 

For further reading, here's a good link: www.cbif.gc.ca/eng/species-bank/butterflies-of-canada/eur...

Take it with the usual grain of salt that should accompany any news of global browser trends, but, extrapolating out from the 2011 trend in StatCounter's Global Stats Chrome appears set to surpass IE as the most-used desktop browser some time next summer. And that will finally end the 13 year domination of the market by Internet Explorer.

 

Though, I'm a little sad that Chrome's market share is also coming at the expense of Firefox.

Wooden frames will have been employed for stretching leather hides. Appropriating or adapting a frame to help move a pregnant woman would not take much insight. The above wooden structure is a very basic unit to once again show a venus figurine in horizontal rather that vertical position, and I would expect real frames to have been far more efficient and complex. Whilst no attempt is made to attain a sense of realism - every attempt is made to procure a sense of reality. Venus figurines may celebrate the care and protection of a pregnant clan member, I think that it is safe to extrapolate that similar strategies will have been employed for the frail, ill and young clan members.

 

Four men might carry a combined weight of 120 kg. A platform for six men may carry 180kg. The importance of diversity within a clan may be measured by the roles for the sleek, the nimble as well as the strong and the stocky. A 70kg pregnant woman would add to the weight of the frame - 30kg of slender and tough lengths of dogwood mixed with wicker weave and cane, which would leave capacity for 20kg to 80kg for rolled leather and fur. (These examples have been picked from a book with white pages so will need to be tuned and tested).

 

AJM 16/3/17

Massimo Vitali, Drum Scan by CastorScan (SMALL CROP)

 

Original picture: www.flickr.com/photos/castorscan/10738367025/

  

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CastorScan's philosophy is completely oriented to provide the highest scan and postproduction

quality on the globe.

  

We work with artists, photographers, agencies, laboratories etc. who demand a state-of-the-art quality at reasonable prices.

  

Our workflow is fully manual and extremely meticulous in any stage.

  

We developed exclusive workflows and profilation systems to obtain unparallel results from our scanners not achievable through semi-automatic and usual workflows.

  

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CastorScan uses the best scanners in circulation, Dainippon Screen SG-8060P Mark II, the best and most advanced scanner ever made, Kodak-Creo IQSmart 3, a high-end flatbed scanner, and Imacon 848.

  

The image quality offered by our Dainippon Screen 8060 scanner is much higher than that achievable with the best flatbed scanners or filmscanners dedicated and superior to that of scanners so-called "virtual drum" (Imacon – Hasselblad,) and, of course, vastly superior to that amateur or prosumer obtained with scanners such as Epson V750 etc .

  

Dainippon Screen SG-8060P Mark II exceeds in quality any other scanner, including Aztek Premier and ICG 380 (in the results, not just in the technical specifications).

  

8060's main features: 12000 dpi, Hi-Q Xenon lamp, 25 apertures, 2 micron

  

Aztek Premier's main features: 8000 dpi, halogen lamp, 18 apertures, 3 micron

  

ICG 380's main features: 12000 dpi, halogen lamp, 9 apertures, 4 micron

  

Some of the features that make the quality of our drum scanners better than any other existing scan system include:

  

The scans performed on a drum scanner are famous for their detail, depth and realism.

Scans are much cleaner and show fewer imperfections than scans obtained from CCD scanners, and thus save many hours of cleaning and spotting in postproduction.

Image acquisition by the drum scanner is optically similar to using a microscopic lens that scans the image point by point with extreme precision and without deformation or distortion of any kind, while other scanners use enlarger lenses (such as the Rodenstock-Linos Magnagon 75mm f8 used in the Hasselblad-Imacon scanners) and have transmission systems with rubber bands: this involves mild but effective micro-strain and micro-geometric image distortions and quality is not uniform between the center and edges.

Drum scanners are exempt from problems of flatness of the originals, since the same are mounted on a perfectly balanced transparent acrylic drum; on the contrary, the dedicated film scanners that scan slides or negatives in their plastic frames are subject to quite significant inaccuracies, as well as the Imacon-Hasselblad scanners, which have their own rubber and plastic holders: they do not guarantee the perfect flatness of the original and therefore a uniform definition between center and edge, especially with medium and large size originals, which instead are guaranteed by drum scanners.

Again, drum scanners allow scanning at high resolution over the entire surface of the cylinder, while for example the Hasselblad Imacon scans are limited to 3200 dpi in 120 format and 2000 dpi in 4x5" format (the resolution of nearly every CCD scanner in the market drops as the size of the original scanned is increased).

Drum scanners allow complete scanning of the whole negative, including the black-orange mask, perforations etc, while using many other scanners a certain percentage of the image is lost because it is covered by frames or holders.

Drum scanners use photomultiplier tubes to record the light signal, which are much more sensitive than CCDs and can record many more nuances and variations in contrast with a lower digital noise.

If you look at a monitor at 100% the detail in shadows and darker areas of a scan made with a CCD scanner, you will notice that the details are not recorded in a clear and clean way, and the colors are more opaque and less differentiated. Additionally the overall tones are much less rich and differentiated.

  

We would like to say a few words about an unscrupulous and deceitful use of technical specifications reported by many manufacturers of consumer and prosumer scanners; very often we read of scanners that promise cheap or relatively cheap “drum scanner” resolutions, 16 bits of color depth, extremely high DMAX: we would like to say that these “nominal” resolutions do not correspond to an actual optical resolution, so that even in low-resolution scanning you can see an enormous gap between drum scanners and these scanners in terms of detail, as well as in terms of DMAX, color range, realism, “quality” of grain. So very often when using these consumer-prosumer scanners at high resolutions, it is normal to get a disproportionate increase of file size in MB but not an increase of detail and quality.

To give a concrete example: a drum scan of a 24x36mm color negative film at 3500 dpi is much more defined than a scan made with mostly CCD scanner at 8000 dpi and a drum scan at 2500 dpi is dramatically clearer than a scan at 2500 dpi provided by a CCD scanner. So be aware and careful with incorrect advertisement.

  

Scans can be performed either dry or liquid-mounted. The wet mounting further improves cleanliness (helps to hide dirt, scratches and blemishes) and plasticity of the image without compromising the original, and in addition by mounting with liquid the film grain is greatly reduced and it looks much softer and more pleasant than the usual "harsh" grain resulting from dry scans.

  

We use Kami SMF 2001 liquid to mount the transparencies and Kami RC 2001 for cleaning the same. Kami SMF 2001 evaporates without leaving traces, unlike the traditional oil scans, ensuring maximum protection for your film. Out of ignorance some people prefer to avoid liquid scanning because they fear that their films will be dirty or damaged: this argument may be plausible only in reference to scans made using mineral oils, which have nothing to do with the specific professional products we use.

We strongly reiterate that your original is in no way compromised by our scanning liquid and will return as you have shipped it, if not cleaner.

  

With respect to scanning from slides:

Our scanners are carefully calibrated with the finest IT8 calibration targets in circulation and with special customized targets in order to ensure that each scan faithfully reproduces the original color richness even in the most subtle nuances, opening and maintaining detail in shadows and highlights. These color profiles allow our scanners to realize their full potential, so we guarantee our customers that even from a chromatic point of view our scans are noticeably better than similar scans made by mostly other scan services in the market.

In addition, we remind you that our 8060 drum scanner is able to read the deepest shadows of slides without digital noise and with much more detail than CCD scanners; also, the color range and color realism are far better.

  

With respect to scanning from color and bw negatives: we want to emphasize the superiority of our drum scans not only in scanning slides, but also in color and bw negative scanning (because of the orange mask and of very low contrast is extremely difficult for any ccd scanner to read the very slight tonal and contrast nuances in the color negative, while a perfectly profiled 8060 drum scanner – also through the analog gain/white calibration - can give back much more realistic images and true colors, sharper and more three-dimensional).

  

In spite of what many claim, a meticulous color profiling is essential not only for scanning slides, but also, and even more, for color negatives. Without it the scan of a color negative will produce chromatic errors rather significant, thus affecting the tonal balance and then the naturalness-pleasantness of the images.

  

More unique than rare, we do not use standardized profiles provided by the software to invert each specific negative film, because they do not take into account parameters and variables such as the type of development, the level of exposure, the type of light etc.,; at the same time we also avoid systems of "artificial intelligence" or other functions provided by semi-automatic scanning softwares, but instead we carry out the inversion in a full manual workflow for each individual picture.

  

In addition, scanning with Imacon-Hasselblad scanners we do not use their proprietary software - Flexcolor – to make color management and color inversion because we strongly believe that our alternative workflow provides much better results, and we are able to prove it with absolute clarity.

  

At each stage of the process we take care of meticulously adjusting the scanning parameters to the characteristics of the originals, to extrapolate the whole range of information possible from any image without "burning" or reductions in the tonal range, and strictly according to our customer's need and taste.

  

By default, we do not apply unsharp mask (USM) in our scans, except on request.

  

To scan reflective originals we follow the same guidelines and guarantee the same quality standard.

  

We guarantee the utmost thoroughness and expertise in the work of scanning and handling of the originals and we provide scans up to 12,000 dpi of resolution, at 16-bit, in RGB, GRAYSCALE, LAB or CMYK color mode; unless otherwise indicated, files are saved with Adobe RGB 1998 or ProPhoto RGB color profile.

  

WWW.CASTORSCAN.COM

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

  

Some background:

The Gloster Glaive was basically a modernized and re-engined variant of the successful, British-built Gloster Gladiator (or Gloster SS.37), the RAF’s final biplane fighter to enter service. The Gladiator was not only widely used by the RAF at the dawn of WWII and in almost every theatre of operations, but also by many other nations. Operators included Norway, Belgium, Sweden, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania or Nationalist China, and while the RAF already opted for more modern monoplanes, Gloster saw the opportunity to sell an updated Gladiator to countries which were not as progressive.

Originally designated Gladiator Mk. IV, the machine received many aerodynamic refinements and the motor was changed from a draggy radial to a liquid-cooled inline engine. The latter was the new Rolls Royce Peregrine, a development of the Kestrel. It was, in its original form, a 21-litre (1,300 cu in) liquid-cooled V-12 aero engine ), delivering 885-horsepower (660 kW). The engine was housed under a streamlined cowling, driving a three blade metal propeller, and was coupled with a ventral radiator bath, reminiscent of the Hawker Fury biplane’s arrangement.

 

Structural improvements included an all-metal monocoque fuselage and stabilizers, as well as new wings and streamlined struts with reduced bracing. The upper wing was enlarged and of all-metal construction, too, while the lower wings were reduced in span and area, almost resulting in a sesquiplane layout. The total wing area was only marginally reduced, though.

The fixed landing gear was retained, but the main wheels were now covered with spats. The pilot still sat in a fully enclosed cockpit, the armament consisted of four machine guns, similar to the Gladiator. But for the Glaive, all Browning machine guns were synchronized and mounted in the fuselage: one pair was placed on top of the cowling, in front of the cockpit. Another pair, much like the Gladiator’s arrangement was placed in the fuselage flanks, below the exhaust outlets.

 

Compared with the Gladiator, the design changes were so fundamental that Gloster eventually decided to allocate a separate designation – also with a view to the type’s foreign marketing, since a new aircraft appeared more attractive than another mark of a pre-war design. For the type’s virgin flight in late 1938 the name “Glaive” was unveiled to the public, and several smaller European air forces immediately showed interest, including Greece, Croatia, Turkey, Portugal and Egypt.

 

Greece was one of the initial customers, and the first of a total of 24 aircraft for the Hellenic Air Force was delivered in early 1939, with 24 more on order (which were never delivered, though). The initial batch arrived just in time, since tension had been building between Greece and Italy since 7 April 1939, when Italian troops occupied Albania. On 28 October 1940, Italy issued an ultimatum to Greece, which was promptly rejected. A few hours later, Italian troops launched an invasion of Greece, initiating the Greco-Italian War.

 

The Hellenic Gloster Glaives were split among three Mirae Dioxeos (Fighter Squadrons): the 21st at Trikala, 22nd at Thessaloniki and 23rd at Larissa. When Italy attacked in October 1940, the British fighter was, together with the PZL 24, the Greeks' only modern type in adequate numbers. However, by late 1940, the Gloster Glaive was already no longer a front-runner despite a powerful powerplant and satisfactory armament. It had no speed advantage over the Fiat Cr.42 nor could it outfly the nimble Italian biplane, and it was much slower than the Macchi MC.200 and the Fiat G.50 it was pitted against. Its agility was the only real advantage against the Italian fighters, whose reliance on the slow firing Breda-SAFAT 12.7mm machine guns proved detrimental.

 

Anyway, on 5 April 1941, German forces invaded Greece and quickly established air superiority. As the Allied troops retreated, British and Hellenic forces covered them, before flying to Crete during the last week of April. There, the refugee aircraft recorded a few claims over twin-engine aircraft before being evacuated to Egypt during the Battle of Crete.

 

Overall, the Glaives performed gallantly during the early period of the conflict, holding their own against impossible numerical odds and despite the fact that their main target were enemy bombers which forced them to fight at a disadvantage against enemy fighters. Italian claims of easy superiority over the Albanian front were vastly over-rated and their kill claims even exceeded the total number of operational fighters on the Greek side. Total Greek fighter losses in combat came to 24 a/c with the Greek fighter pilots claiming 64 confirmed kills and 24 probables (about two third bombers).

 

By April 1941, however, lack of spares and attrition had forced the Hellenic Air Force to merge the surviving seven Glaives with five leftover PZL.24s into one understrength squadron supported by five Gloster Gladiators Mk I & II and the two surviving MB.151s. These fought hopelessly against the Luftwaffe onslaught, and most aircraft were eventually lost on the ground. None of the Hellenic Gloster Glaives survived the conflict.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: two

Length: 8.92m (29 ft 3 in)

Wingspan: 34 ft 0 in (10.36 m)

Height: 11 ft 9 in (3.58 m)

Wing area: 317 ft² (29.4 m²)

Empty weight: 1,295 kg (2,855 lb)

Max takeoff weight: 1,700 kg (3,748 lb)

 

Powerplant:

1× Rolls Royce Peregrine II liquid-cooled V12 inline engine, rated at 940 hp (700 kw)

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 405 km/h (252 mph; 219 kn) at 4,400 m (14,436 ft)

Cruise speed: 345 km/h (214 mph; 186 kn)

Stall speed: 60 mph (52 knots, 96 km/h)

Range: 373 mi (600 km; 324 nmi)

Endurance: 2 hours

Service ceiling: 10,600 m (34,800 ft)

Rate of climb: 2,982 ft/min (15.15 m/s)

Time to altitude: 10.000 ft (3.050 m) in 3 minutes 20 seconds

 

Armament:

4× 0.303 calibre (7.7 mm) M1919 Browning machine guns in the fuselage

Provisions for 6× 10 kg (22 lb) or 4x 20 kg (44 lb) bombs under the lower wings

  

The kit and its assembly:

The fictional Gloster Glaive started quite simple with the idea of replacing the Gladiator’s radial with an inline engine. But this soon did not appear enough for an update – the Peregrine hardly delivered much more power than the former Mercury, so I considered some structural updates, too. Most of them comprised the replacement of former fabric-covered structures, and this led conceptually to a kitbash with only some Gladiator fuselage and tail parts left.

 

The basis is (once more) the very nice Matchbox Gloster Gladiator, but it was heavily modified. As an initial step, fuselage, fin and stabilizers (all OOB parts) lost their rib-and-fabric structure, simply sanded away. A minor detail, but it changes the overall look of the aircraft a lot, making it appear much more modern.

The fuselage was left without the OOB radial, and instead a leftover Merlin front end from an Airfix Hurricane (ca. 1cm long, left over from one of my first whif builds ever, a Hurricane with a radial engine!) was added. The lines match pretty well: the side profile looks sleek, if not elegant, but the Gladiator fuselage turned out to be wider than expected. Some major body work/PSR was necessary to integrate the new nose, but the result looks very good.

 

The liquid-cooled engine necessitated a radiator somewhere on the airframe…! Since I wanted the nose to remain slim and streamlined I eventually placed the radiator bath under the fuselage, much like the arrangement of the Hawker Fury biplane. The radiator itself comes from a late Spitfire (FROG kit).

The exhaust was taken from the Hurricane kit, too, and matching slits dug into the putty nose to take them. The three blade propeller is a mash-up, too: the spinner belongs, IIRC, to an early Spitfire (left over from an AZ Models kit) while the blades came from a damaged Matchbox Brewster Buffalo.

 

The Gladiator’s fuselage flank machine guns were kept and their “bullet channels” extrapolated along the new cowling, running under the new exhaust pipes. Another pair of machine guns were placed on top of the engine – for these, openings were carved into the upper hull and small fairings (similar to the Browning guns in the flanks) added. This arrangement appeared plausible to me, since the Gladiator’s oil cooler was not necessary anymore and the new lower wings (see below) were not big enough anymore to take the Gladiator’s underwing guns. Four MGs in the fuselage appears massive – but there were other types with such an arrangement, e.g. the Avia B-534 with four guns in the flanks and an inline engine.

 

The wings are complete replacements: the upper wing comes from a Heller Curtiss SBC4, while the lower wings as well as the spats (on shortened OOB Gladiator struts) come from an ICM Polikarpov I-153. All struts were scratched. Once the lower wings were in place and the relative position of the upper wing clear, the outer struts were carved from 1mm styrene sheet, using the I-153 design as benchmark. These were glued to the lower wing first, and, once totally dry after 24h, the upper wing was simply glued onto the top and the wing position adjusted. This was left to dry another 24h, and as a final step the four struts above the cowling (using the OOB struts, but as single parts and trimmed for proper fit) were placed. This way, a stable connection is guaranteed – and the result is surprisingly sturdy.

 

Rigging was done with heated sprue material – my personal favorite for this delicate task, and executed before painting the kit started so that the glue could cure and bond well.

  

Painting and markings:

The reason why this aircraft ended in Greek service is a color photograph of a crashed Hellenic Bloch M.B. 152 (coded ‘D 177’, to be specific). I guess that the picture was post-colored, though, because the aircraft of French origin sports rather weird colors: the picture shows a two-tone scheme in a deep, rather reddish chestnut brown and a light green that almost looks like teal. Unique, to say the least... Underside colors couldn’t be identified with certainty in the picture, but appeared like a pale but not too light blue grey.

 

Anyway, I assume that these colors are pure fiction and exaggerated Photoshop work, since the few M.B. 152s delivered to Greece carried AFAIK standard French camouflage (in French Khaki, Chestnut Brown and Blue-Grey on the upper surfaces, and a very light blue-grey from below). I’d assume that the contrast between the grey and green tones was not very obvious in the original photograph, so that the artist, not familiar with WWII paint schemes, replaced both colors with the strange teal tone and massively overmodulated the brown.

 

As weird as it looked, I liked this design and used it as an inspirational benchmark for my Hellenic Glaive build. After all, it’s a fictional aircraft… Upper basic colors are Humbrol 31 (RAF Slate Grey) and 160 (German Camouflage Red Brown), while the undersides became French Dark Blue Grey (ModelMaster Authentics 2105). The result looks rather odd…

Representing a combat-worn aircraft, I applied a thorough black ink wash and did heavier panel shading and dry-brushing on the leading edges, along with some visible touches of aluminum.

 

The Hellenic roundels come from a TL Modellbau aftermarket sheet. The tactical code was puzzled together from single letters, and the Greek “D” was created from single decal strips. For better contrast I used white decals – most Hellenic aircraft of the time had black codes, but the contrast is much better, and I found evidence that some machines actually carried white codes. The small fin flash is another free interpretation. Not every Hellenic aircraft carried these markings, and instead of painting the whole rudder in Greek colors I just applied a small fin flash. This was created with white and blue decal strips, closely matching the roundels’ colors.

 

Finally, after some soot stains around the guns and the exhausts, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish.

  

Modified beyond recognition, perhaps…? The fictional Gloster Glaive looks IMHO good and very modern, just like one of those final biplane designs that were about to be outrun by monoplanes at the brink of WWII.

 

It was a soaking two days at Mt Cook National Park. The low pressure system that hung around the entire country had pretty much blanketed the entire park with a mass of grey clouds leaving nary a space for sunlight to peek through.

Yet, when I woke up in the morning ready to leave with all hope lost, I started to notice a small clearing in the clouds. As I had breakfast, I noticed the cloud cover opening up a bit more. And within an hour, I could see a peak peeking through.

It wasn't the peak that gave the name to the park, Mt Cook, but another glacier inundated peak called Mt Sefton. Looking at this granite monolith rising a couple of thousand metres above where I was covered all around by thick layers of blue ice of the glaciers was just amazing. I could but only extrapolate as to how the rest of the taller peaks in the park looked like.

And I want to return back sometime. For more!

 

Mt Cook National Park

Canterbury NZ

When I was drawing Open Cluster, NGC 2126, its stars both resolved and unresolved, reminded me of JUNIOR, a spaceborne species from Star Trek’s Next Generation (Episode: Galaxy’s Child). The more I stared at the cluster the stronger the connection grew. Lack of sleep? Hyperthermia (it was cold out)? Whatever the cause, this cluster will now and in the future be “Junior” to me.

 

Summary taken from memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Junior_(spaceborne_lifeform)

 

“The creature known only as Junior was a member of a spaceborne species, existing entirely in the vacuum of space. When born, the creature was about 42.1 million cubic meters in volume.

 

In 2367, the crew of the USS Enterprise-D first discovered one such solitary creature orbiting Alpha Omicron VII of the previously uncharted Alpha Omicron star system. The creature's mother was inadvertently killed when minimal-powered phasers were used in self-defense against the creature's aggressiveness. The reason for the aggressiveness was discovered when scans by Lieutenant Commander Data soon revealed that another distinct energy signature was present within the dead creature. It was about to give birth and had understandably attacked the encroaching Enterprise as any mother would. Dr. Beverly Crusher was able to use the ship's phasers once again to perform a Caesarean section, removing the newborn from its parent using a thin beam at 3% power. Once free, the newborn immediately imprinted on the Enterprise as its mother, and attached itself to the secondary hull, where it began feeding on power from the fusion reactors.

 

Soon dubbed Junior, it began a steady drain of the ship's energy, and increased in size 8.5%. It could not be allowed to continue without endangering the ship's life support systems. The crew extrapolated the parent's original course, leading them to a nearby asteroid belt. There, three additional full-grown creatures came out to meet the ship in response to radio emissions from the newborn. The asteroids contained meklinite, a substance which interferes with ships' sensor scans and may explain why the creatures were not previously detected. The asteroids also contained quantities of kefnium, which also comprised an element of the creatures' outer shells and may have been a significant part of their diet.

 

The crew of the Enterprise was able to remove the newborn from the hull (and "wean" it from its "nursing") by altering their engines' energy signatures to a different wavelength from the space-normal background radiation band of 21 centimeters (in other words, "souring" Junior's milk). As it left its surrogate mother, the other entities welcomed the newborn into their midst, and they all proceeded back into the asteroid field together”.

 

To see additional astronomy drawings visit: www.orrastrodrawing.com

 

Massimo Vitali, Drum Scan by CastorScan (SMALL CROP)

 

Original picture: www.flickr.com/photos/castorscan/10738367025/

  

------

  

CastorScan's philosophy is completely oriented to provide the highest scan and postproduction

quality on the globe.

  

We work with artists, photographers, agencies, laboratories etc. who demand a state-of-the-art quality at reasonable prices.

  

Our workflow is fully manual and extremely meticulous in any stage.

  

We developed exclusive workflows and profilation systems to obtain unparallel results from our scanners not achievable through semi-automatic and usual workflows.

  

-----

  

CastorScan uses the best scanners in circulation, Dainippon Screen SG-8060P Mark II, the best and most advanced scanner ever made, Kodak-Creo IQSmart 3, a high-end flatbed scanner, and Imacon 848.

  

The image quality offered by our Dainippon Screen 8060 scanner is much higher than that achievable with the best flatbed scanners or filmscanners dedicated and superior to that of scanners so-called "virtual drum" (Imacon – Hasselblad,) and, of course, vastly superior to that amateur or prosumer obtained with scanners such as Epson V750 etc .

  

Dainippon Screen SG-8060P Mark II exceeds in quality any other scanner, including Aztek Premier and ICG 380 (in the results, not just in the technical specifications).

  

8060's main features: 12000 dpi, Hi-Q Xenon lamp, 25 apertures, 2 micron

  

Aztek Premier's main features: 8000 dpi, halogen lamp, 18 apertures, 3 micron

  

ICG 380's main features: 12000 dpi, halogen lamp, 9 apertures, 4 micron

  

Some of the features that make the quality of our drum scanners better than any other existing scan system include:

  

The scans performed on a drum scanner are famous for their detail, depth and realism.

Scans are much cleaner and show fewer imperfections than scans obtained from CCD scanners, and thus save many hours of cleaning and spotting in postproduction.

Image acquisition by the drum scanner is optically similar to using a microscopic lens that scans the image point by point with extreme precision and without deformation or distortion of any kind, while other scanners use enlarger lenses (such as the Rodenstock-Linos Magnagon 75mm f8 used in the Hasselblad-Imacon scanners) and have transmission systems with rubber bands: this involves mild but effective micro-strain and micro-geometric image distortions and quality is not uniform between the center and edges.

Drum scanners are exempt from problems of flatness of the originals, since the same are mounted on a perfectly balanced transparent acrylic drum; on the contrary, the dedicated film scanners that scan slides or negatives in their plastic frames are subject to quite significant inaccuracies, as well as the Imacon-Hasselblad scanners, which have their own rubber and plastic holders: they do not guarantee the perfect flatness of the original and therefore a uniform definition between center and edge, especially with medium and large size originals, which instead are guaranteed by drum scanners.

Again, drum scanners allow scanning at high resolution over the entire surface of the cylinder, while for example the Hasselblad Imacon scans are limited to 3200 dpi in 120 format and 2000 dpi in 4x5" format (the resolution of nearly every CCD scanner in the market drops as the size of the original scanned is increased).

Drum scanners allow complete scanning of the whole negative, including the black-orange mask, perforations etc, while using many other scanners a certain percentage of the image is lost because it is covered by frames or holders.

Drum scanners use photomultiplier tubes to record the light signal, which are much more sensitive than CCDs and can record many more nuances and variations in contrast with a lower digital noise.

If you look at a monitor at 100% the detail in shadows and darker areas of a scan made with a CCD scanner, you will notice that the details are not recorded in a clear and clean way, and the colors are more opaque and less differentiated. Additionally the overall tones are much less rich and differentiated.

  

We would like to say a few words about an unscrupulous and deceitful use of technical specifications reported by many manufacturers of consumer and prosumer scanners; very often we read of scanners that promise cheap or relatively cheap “drum scanner” resolutions, 16 bits of color depth, extremely high DMAX: we would like to say that these “nominal” resolutions do not correspond to an actual optical resolution, so that even in low-resolution scanning you can see an enormous gap between drum scanners and these scanners in terms of detail, as well as in terms of DMAX, color range, realism, “quality” of grain. So very often when using these consumer-prosumer scanners at high resolutions, it is normal to get a disproportionate increase of file size in MB but not an increase of detail and quality.

To give a concrete example: a drum scan of a 24x36mm color negative film at 3500 dpi is much more defined than a scan made with mostly CCD scanner at 8000 dpi and a drum scan at 2500 dpi is dramatically clearer than a scan at 2500 dpi provided by a CCD scanner. So be aware and careful with incorrect advertisement.

  

Scans can be performed either dry or liquid-mounted. The wet mounting further improves cleanliness (helps to hide dirt, scratches and blemishes) and plasticity of the image without compromising the original, and in addition by mounting with liquid the film grain is greatly reduced and it looks much softer and more pleasant than the usual "harsh" grain resulting from dry scans.

  

We use Kami SMF 2001 liquid to mount the transparencies and Kami RC 2001 for cleaning the same. Kami SMF 2001 evaporates without leaving traces, unlike the traditional oil scans, ensuring maximum protection for your film. Out of ignorance some people prefer to avoid liquid scanning because they fear that their films will be dirty or damaged: this argument may be plausible only in reference to scans made using mineral oils, which have nothing to do with the specific professional products we use.

We strongly reiterate that your original is in no way compromised by our scanning liquid and will return as you have shipped it, if not cleaner.

  

With respect to scanning from slides:

Our scanners are carefully calibrated with the finest IT8 calibration targets in circulation and with special customized targets in order to ensure that each scan faithfully reproduces the original color richness even in the most subtle nuances, opening and maintaining detail in shadows and highlights. These color profiles allow our scanners to realize their full potential, so we guarantee our customers that even from a chromatic point of view our scans are noticeably better than similar scans made by mostly other scan services in the market.

In addition, we remind you that our 8060 drum scanner is able to read the deepest shadows of slides without digital noise and with much more detail than CCD scanners; also, the color range and color realism are far better.

  

With respect to scanning from color and bw negatives: we want to emphasize the superiority of our drum scans not only in scanning slides, but also in color and bw negative scanning (because of the orange mask and of very low contrast is extremely difficult for any ccd scanner to read the very slight tonal and contrast nuances in the color negative, while a perfectly profiled 8060 drum scanner – also through the analog gain/white calibration - can give back much more realistic images and true colors, sharper and more three-dimensional).

  

In spite of what many claim, a meticulous color profiling is essential not only for scanning slides, but also, and even more, for color negatives. Without it the scan of a color negative will produce chromatic errors rather significant, thus affecting the tonal balance and then the naturalness-pleasantness of the images.

  

More unique than rare, we do not use standardized profiles provided by the software to invert each specific negative film, because they do not take into account parameters and variables such as the type of development, the level of exposure, the type of light etc.,; at the same time we also avoid systems of "artificial intelligence" or other functions provided by semi-automatic scanning softwares, but instead we carry out the inversion in a full manual workflow for each individual picture.

  

In addition, scanning with Imacon-Hasselblad scanners we do not use their proprietary software - Flexcolor – to make color management and color inversion because we strongly believe that our alternative workflow provides much better results, and we are able to prove it with absolute clarity.

  

At each stage of the process we take care of meticulously adjusting the scanning parameters to the characteristics of the originals, to extrapolate the whole range of information possible from any image without "burning" or reductions in the tonal range, and strictly according to our customer's need and taste.

  

By default, we do not apply unsharp mask (USM) in our scans, except on request.

  

To scan reflective originals we follow the same guidelines and guarantee the same quality standard.

  

We guarantee the utmost thoroughness and expertise in the work of scanning and handling of the originals and we provide scans up to 12,000 dpi of resolution, at 16-bit, in RGB, GRAYSCALE, LAB or CMYK color mode; unless otherwise indicated, files are saved with Adobe RGB 1998 or ProPhoto RGB color profile.

  

WWW.CASTORSCAN.COM

Gabriele Basilico, Vincenzo Castella, Massimo Vitali. Studio La Città gallery, Verona. Feb 2011

 

-----

 

CastorScan's philosophy is completely oriented to provide the highest scan and postproduction

quality on the globe.

 

We work with artists, photographers, agencies, laboratories etc. who demand a state-of-the-art quality at reasonable prices.

 

Our workflow is fully manual and extremely meticulous in any stage.

 

We developed exclusive workflows and profilation systems to obtain unparallel results from our scanners not achievable through semi-automatic and usual workflows.

  

-----

 

CastorScan uses the best scanners in circulation, Dainippon Screen SG-8060P Mark II, the best and most advanced scanner ever made, Kodak-Creo IQSmart 3, a high-end flatbed scanner, and Imacon 848.

 

The image quality offered by our Dainippon Screen 8060 scanner is much higher than that achievable with the best flatbed scanners or filmscanners dedicated and superior to that of scanners so-called "virtual drum" (Imacon – Hasselblad,) and, of course, vastly superior to that amateur or prosumer obtained with scanners such as Epson V750 etc .

 

Dainippon Screen SG-8060P Mark II exceeds in quality any other scanner, including Aztek Premier and ICG 380 (in the results, not just in the technical specifications).

 

8060's main features: 12000 dpi, Hi-Q Xenon lamp, 25 apertures, 2 micron

 

Aztek Premier's main features: 8000 dpi, halogen lamp, 18 apertures, 3 micron

 

ICG 380's main features: 12000 dpi, halogen lamp, 9 apertures, 4 micron

  

Some of the features that make the quality of our drum scanners better than any other existing scan system include:

 

The scans performed on a drum scanner are famous for their detail, depth and realism.

Scans are much cleaner and show fewer imperfections than scans obtained from CCD scanners, and thus save many hours of cleaning and spotting in postproduction.

Image acquisition by the drum scanner is optically similar to using a microscopic lens that scans the image point by point with extreme precision and without deformation or distortion of any kind, while other scanners use enlarger lenses (such as the Rodenstock-Linos Magnagon 75mm f8 used in the Hasselblad-Imacon scanners) and have transmission systems with rubber bands: this involves mild but effective micro-strain and micro-geometric image distortions and quality is not uniform between the center and edges.

Drum scanners are exempt from problems of flatness of the originals, since the same are mounted on a perfectly balanced transparent acrylic drum; on the contrary, the dedicated film scanners that scan slides or negatives in their plastic frames are subject to quite significant inaccuracies, as well as the Imacon-Hasselblad scanners, which have their own rubber and plastic holders: they do not guarantee the perfect flatness of the original and therefore a uniform definition between center and edge, especially with medium and large size originals, which instead are guaranteed by drum scanners.

Again, drum scanners allow scanning at high resolution over the entire surface of the cylinder, while for example the Hasselblad Imacon scans are limited to 3200 dpi in 120 format and 2000 dpi in 4x5" format (the resolution of nearly every CCD scanner in the market drops as the size of the original scanned is increased).

Drum scanners allow complete scanning of the whole negative, including the black-orange mask, perforations etc, while using many other scanners a certain percentage of the image is lost because it is covered by frames or holders.

Drum scanners use photomultiplier tubes to record the light signal, which are much more sensitive than CCDs and can record many more nuances and variations in contrast with a lower digital noise.

If you look at a monitor at 100% the detail in shadows and darker areas of a scan made with a CCD scanner, you will notice that the details are not recorded in a clear and clean way, and the colors are more opaque and less differentiated. Additionally the overall tones are much less rich and differentiated.

  

We would like to say a few words about an unscrupulous and deceitful use of technical specifications reported by many manufacturers of consumer and prosumer scanners; very often we read of scanners that promise cheap or relatively cheap “drum scanner” resolutions, 16 bits of color depth, extremely high DMAX: we would like to say that these “nominal” resolutions do not correspond to an actual optical resolution, so that even in low-resolution scanning you can see an enormous gap between drum scanners and these scanners in terms of detail, as well as in terms of DMAX, color range, realism, “quality” of grain. So very often when using these consumer-prosumer scanners at high resolutions, it is normal to get a disproportionate increase of file size in MB but not an increase of detail and quality.

To give a concrete example: a drum scan of a 24x36mm color negative film at 3500 dpi is much more defined than a scan made with mostly CCD scanner at 8000 dpi and a drum scan at 2500 dpi is dramatically clearer than a scan at 2500 dpi provided by a CCD scanner. So be aware and careful with incorrect advertisement.

 

Scans can be performed either dry or liquid-mounted. The wet mounting further improves cleanliness (helps to hide dirt, scratches and blemishes) and plasticity of the image without compromising the original, and in addition by mounting with liquid the film grain is greatly reduced and it looks much softer and more pleasant than the usual "harsh" grain resulting from dry scans.

 

We use Kami SMF 2001 liquid to mount the transparencies and Kami RC 2001 for cleaning the same. Kami SMF 2001 evaporates without leaving traces, unlike the traditional oil scans, ensuring maximum protection for your film. Out of ignorance some people prefer to avoid liquid scanning because they fear that their films will be dirty or damaged: this argument may be plausible only in reference to scans made using mineral oils, which have nothing to do with the specific professional products we use.

We strongly reiterate that your original is in no way compromised by our scanning liquid and will return as you have shipped it, if not cleaner.

 

With respect to scanning from slides:

Our scanners are carefully calibrated with the finest IT8 calibration targets in circulation and with special customized targets in order to ensure that each scan faithfully reproduces the original color richness even in the most subtle nuances, opening and maintaining detail in shadows and highlights. These color profiles allow our scanners to realize their full potential, so we guarantee our customers that even from a chromatic point of view our scans are noticeably better than similar scans made by mostly other scan services in the market.

In addition, we remind you that our 8060 drum scanner is able to read the deepest shadows of slides without digital noise and with much more detail than CCD scanners; also, the color range and color realism are far better.

 

With respect to scanning from color and bw negatives: we want to emphasize the superiority of our drum scans not only in scanning slides, but also in color and bw negative scanning (because of the orange mask and of very low contrast is extremely difficult for any ccd scanner to read the very slight tonal and contrast nuances in the color negative, while a perfectly profiled 8060 drum scanner – also through the analog gain/white calibration - can give back much more realistic images and true colors, sharper and more three-dimensional).

 

In spite of what many claim, a meticulous color profiling is essential not only for scanning slides, but also, and even more, for color negatives. Without it the scan of a color negative will produce chromatic errors rather significant, thus affecting the tonal balance and then the naturalness-pleasantness of the images.

  

More unique than rare, we do not use standardized profiles provided by the software to invert each specific negative film, because they do not take into account parameters and variables such as the type of development, the level of exposure, the type of light etc.,; at the same time we also avoid systems of "artificial intelligence" or other functions provided by semi-automatic scanning softwares, but instead we carry out the inversion in a full manual workflow for each individual picture.

 

In addition, scanning with Imacon-Hasselblad scanners we do not use their proprietary software - Flexcolor – to make color management and color inversion because we strongly believe that our alternative workflow provides much better results, and we are able to prove it with absolute clarity.

 

At each stage of the process we take care of meticulously adjusting the scanning parameters to the characteristics of the originals, to extrapolate the whole range of information possible from any image without "burning" or reductions in the tonal range, and strictly according to our customer's need and taste.

 

By default, we do not apply unsharp mask (USM) in our scans, except on request.

 

To scan reflective originals we follow the same guidelines and guarantee the same quality standard.

 

We guarantee the utmost thoroughness and expertise in the work of scanning and handling of the originals and we provide scans up to 12,000 dpi of resolution, at 16-bit, in RGB, GRAYSCALE, LAB or CMYK color mode; unless otherwise indicated, files are saved with Adobe RGB 1998 or ProPhoto RGB color profile.

   

Titan trade paperback

 

"The Steel Tsar" by Michael Moorcock (652 - SF novel - October 26, 2015)

 

"The Steel Tsar" (1981) by Michael Moorcock is book 3 in the trilogy "Oswald Bastable" the other two books are "Warlord of the Air" (1971) book 1 and "The Land Leviathan"(1974) book 2". Just to be accurate the series is also referred to as "Nomad of the Time Streams" a title which I prefer.

 

The "The Steel Tsar" is a departure in theme from books 1 and 2 in that author Moorcock jumps right into the narrative without the detailed introductions of the previous volumes. I found this a less satisfying reading experience and bearing in mind that the book was published six years after book 2 I'm not sure what new readers would make of this. Nonetheless political satire and anti-war sentiments are in the forefront of this "alternate history/reality story. In this novel three factions via for military supremacy in Russia. Oswald Bastable is manipulated to pilot an dirigible by the Steel Tsar - a caricature of Joe Stalin. The Steel Tsar wears a metal mask and "Stalin" is translated as steel in Russian so you see the reference. The Steel Tsar has a stock pile of A-bombs and wants to just blow everything to smithereens. In a short author's note at the end of the book we learn that Bastable literary presents in future "Nomad of the Time Streams" tales will be dispensed with.

 

This science-fiction novel by acclaimed British author Michael Moorcock (b1939 -) falls into the category of "alternate histories" a popular if somewhat overuse SF trope particularly during the last 15 years or so. Moorcock's protagonist in all three novels is Oswald Bastable who has the problematic talent or better yet curse of uncontrolled reentering of the Timestream and reliving alternate political-military histories of the first half of the Twentieth Century.

 

In these three related novels Moorcock refrains from super science extrapolations of war weapons. In fact dirigibles are the weapon of choice in the assorted hostilities and play a critical role throughout all three books. For that reason Steampunk fans hold these books in high esteem.

 

Of great interest to this reader the author integrates himself as a character-narrator in these novels. Utilizing journals, letters and diaries from his grandfather, also named Michael Moorcock, he presents to us readers the adventures of Oswald Bastable. Insofar as there is considerable philosophical-political ruminations by Oswald Bastable one must conclude the author his turned aside from the narrative and is sharing his own closely held beliefs. Moorcock's themes include but are not limited too the madness of war, the ability of messianic madmen to manipulate otherwise sane people to perform horrendous deeds and the destructive force of blind adherence to isms.

 

Michael Moorcock is know and much admired for his talent to integrate characters and themes in his vast body of works spanning over 50 years and 70 plus novels. These three novels written early in his career contain themes, concept and characters that show up in many later works. I am referring to specifically Count von Beck, Mrs. Una Persson, and the Multiverse to name a few.

 

As an introduction to Moorcock's body of works this is a good place to start although I am partial to the Elric and Corum book series.

 

End-of-the-year collages seem to be the in thing, so here's my belated one. In no particular order:

 

1: KC-10

2: Project HAVE SHIVER

3: Cerberus-K lunar space fighter

4: Minifig pickup truck

5: Minifig VFR aircraft

6: Meh car

7: Farm truck

8: Micro space freighter

9: Meh-er van

10: Purple fighter

11: Micropolis expansion

 

But this really isn't accurate. A couple were nearly complete before the year started. The purple fighter started long ago and all that was new about the micropolis setup were two roofs and a river - the rest was just unphotographed. The farm truck was a redux of an old MOC, and the red pickup an extrapolation from the farm truck. Plus, my non-truck automobiles were so weak that I left a couple cars out as unsuccessful builds. I got a couple very pleasing MOCs built, but it really feels like a slow year.

 

Oh well, here's to 2013 (at least the fraction of it I'll spend at home).

Picture by Massimo Vitali

 

Drum scan from 11x14" Kodak Portra 400 NC-3 color negative

Scan by CastorScan

 

Original size: 1,4 Gigabyte

  

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CastorScan's philosophy is completely oriented to provide the highest scan and postproduction

quality on the globe.

 

We work with artists, photographers, agencies, laboratories etc. who demand a state-of-the-art quality at reasonable prices.

 

Our workflow is fully manual and extremely meticulous in any stage.

 

We developed exclusive workflows and profilation systems to obtain unparallel results from our scanners not achievable through semi-automatic and usual workflows.

  

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CastorScan uses the best scanners in circulation, Dainippon Screen SG-8060P Mark II, the best and most advanced scanner ever made, Kodak-Creo IQSmart 3, a high-end flatbed scanner, and Imacon 848.

 

The image quality offered by our Dainippon Screen 8060 scanner is much higher than that achievable with the best flatbed scanners or filmscanners dedicated and superior to that of scanners so-called "virtual drum" (Imacon – Hasselblad,) and, of course, vastly superior to that amateur or prosumer obtained with scanners such as Epson V750 etc .

 

Dainippon Screen SG-8060P Mark II exceeds in quality any other scanner, including Aztek Premier and ICG 380 (in the results, not just in the technical specifications).

 

8060's main features: 12000 dpi, Hi-Q Xenon lamp, 25 apertures, 2 micron

 

Aztek Premier's main features: 8000 dpi, halogen lamp, 18 apertures, 3 micron

 

ICG 380's main features: 12000 dpi, halogen lamp, 9 apertures, 4 micron

  

Some of the features that make the quality of our drum scanners better than any other existing scan system include:

 

The scans performed on a drum scanner are famous for their detail, depth and realism.

Scans are much cleaner and show fewer imperfections than scans obtained from CCD scanners, and thus save many hours of cleaning and spotting in postproduction.

Image acquisition by the drum scanner is optically similar to using a microscopic lens that scans the image point by point with extreme precision and without deformation or distortion of any kind, while other scanners use enlarger lenses (such as the Rodenstock-Linos Magnagon 75mm f8 used in the Hasselblad-Imacon scanners) and have transmission systems with rubber bands: this involves mild but effective micro-strain and micro-geometric image distortions and quality is not uniform between the center and edges.

Drum scanners are exempt from problems of flatness of the originals, since the same are mounted on a perfectly balanced transparent acrylic drum; on the contrary, the dedicated film scanners that scan slides or negatives in their plastic frames are subject to quite significant inaccuracies, as well as the Imacon-Hasselblad scanners, which have their own rubber and plastic holders: they do not guarantee the perfect flatness of the original and therefore a uniform definition between center and edge, especially with medium and large size originals, which instead are guaranteed by drum scanners.

Again, drum scanners allow scanning at high resolution over the entire surface of the cylinder, while for example the Hasselblad Imacon scans are limited to 3200 dpi in 120 format and 2000 dpi in 4x5" format (the resolution of nearly every CCD scanner in the market drops as the size of the original scanned is increased).

Drum scanners allow complete scanning of the whole negative, including the black-orange mask, perforations etc, while using many other scanners a certain percentage of the image is lost because it is covered by frames or holders.

Drum scanners use photomultiplier tubes to record the light signal, which are much more sensitive than CCDs and can record many more nuances and variations in contrast with a lower digital noise.

If you look at a monitor at 100% the detail in shadows and darker areas of a scan made with a CCD scanner, you will notice that the details are not recorded in a clear and clean way, and the colors are more opaque and less differentiated. Additionally the overall tones are much less rich and differentiated.

  

We would like to say a few words about an unscrupulous and deceitful use of technical specifications reported by many manufacturers of consumer and prosumer scanners; very often we read of scanners that promise cheap or relatively cheap “drum scanner” resolutions, 16 bits of color depth, extremely high DMAX: we would like to say that these “nominal” resolutions do not correspond to an actual optical resolution, so that even in low-resolution scanning you can see an enormous gap between drum scanners and these scanners in terms of detail, as well as in terms of DMAX, color range, realism, “quality” of grain. So very often when using these consumer-prosumer scanners at high resolutions, it is normal to get a disproportionate increase of file size in MB but not an increase of detail and quality.

To give a concrete example: a drum scan of a 24x36mm color negative film at 3500 dpi is much more defined than a scan made with mostly CCD scanner at 8000 dpi and a drum scan at 2500 dpi is dramatically clearer than a scan at 2500 dpi provided by a CCD scanner. So be aware and careful with incorrect advertisement.

 

Scans can be performed either dry or liquid-mounted. The wet mounting further improves cleanliness (helps to hide dirt, scratches and blemishes) and plasticity of the image without compromising the original, and in addition by mounting with liquid the film grain is greatly reduced and it looks much softer and more pleasant than the usual "harsh" grain resulting from dry scans.

 

We use Kami SMF 2001 liquid to mount the transparencies and Kami RC 2001 for cleaning the same. Kami SMF 2001 evaporates without leaving traces, unlike the traditional oil scans, ensuring maximum protection for your film. Out of ignorance some people prefer to avoid liquid scanning because they fear that their films will be dirty or damaged: this argument may be plausible only in reference to scans made using mineral oils, which have nothing to do with the specific professional products we use.

We strongly reiterate that your original is in no way compromised by our scanning liquid and will return as you have shipped it, if not cleaner.

 

With respect to scanning from slides:

Our scanners are carefully calibrated with the finest IT8 calibration targets in circulation and with special customized targets in order to ensure that each scan faithfully reproduces the original color richness even in the most subtle nuances, opening and maintaining detail in shadows and highlights. These color profiles allow our scanners to realize their full potential, so we guarantee our customers that even from a chromatic point of view our scans are noticeably better than similar scans made by mostly other scan services in the market.

In addition, we remind you that our 8060 drum scanner is able to read the deepest shadows of slides without digital noise and with much more detail than CCD scanners; also, the color range and color realism are far better.

 

With respect to scanning from color and bw negatives: we want to emphasize the superiority of our drum scans not only in scanning slides, but also in color and bw negative scanning (because of the orange mask and of very low contrast is extremely difficult for any ccd scanner to read the very slight tonal and contrast nuances in the color negative, while a perfectly profiled 8060 drum scanner – also through the analog gain/white calibration - can give back much more realistic images and true colors, sharper and more three-dimensional).

 

In spite of what many claim, a meticulous color profiling is essential not only for scanning slides, but also, and even more, for color negatives. Without it the scan of a color negative will produce chromatic errors rather significant, thus affecting the tonal balance and then the naturalness-pleasantness of the images.

  

More unique than rare, we do not use standardized profiles provided by the software to invert each specific negative film, because they do not take into account parameters and variables such as the type of development, the level of exposure, the type of light etc.,; at the same time we also avoid systems of "artificial intelligence" or other functions provided by semi-automatic scanning softwares, but instead we carry out the inversion in a full manual workflow for each individual picture.

 

In addition, scanning with Imacon-Hasselblad scanners we do not use their proprietary software - Flexcolor – to make color management and color inversion because we strongly believe that our alternative workflow provides much better results, and we are able to prove it with absolute clarity.

 

At each stage of the process we take care of meticulously adjusting the scanning parameters to the characteristics of the originals, to extrapolate the whole range of information possible from any image without "burning" or reductions in the tonal range, and strictly according to our customer's need and taste.

 

By default, we do not apply unsharp mask (USM) in our scans, except on request.

 

To scan reflective originals we follow the same guidelines and guarantee the same quality standard.

 

We guarantee the utmost thoroughness and expertise in the work of scanning and handling of the originals and we provide scans up to 12,000 dpi of resolution, at 16-bit, in RGB, GRAYSCALE, LAB or CMYK color mode; unless otherwise indicated, files are saved with Adobe RGB 1998 or ProPhoto RGB color profile.

 

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On another experimental foray, but with 35mm Arista and use of Rodinal followed by Xtol. Not alot of experience using this film with different developers so had to do some extrapolation. Unfortunately, freezing rain, overcast skies, and temps below 20 degrees F made it more challenging. I did appreciate more sharpness with this combo, but can't really tell about dynamic range given the blah weather. Thanks for the continued inspiration from my fellow flickeranians. Be safe out there.

Titan trade paperback

 

"The Land Leviathan" by Michael Moorcock (651 - SF novel - October 26, 2015)

 

"The Land Leviathan"(1974) by Michael Moorcock is books 2 in the trilogy "Oswald Bastable" the other two books are "Warlord of the Air" (1971) book 1 and "The Steel Tsar"(1981) book 3. Just to be accurate the series is also referred to as "Nomad of the Time Streams" a title which I prefer.

 

In "The Land Leviathan" author Moorcock, a character in the novel no less, go to great lengths to create the background of how he acquired the manuscript that is the Land Leviathan - first a 3 page introduction and then a 37 page prologue and this in a 175 page book (DAW paperback No 178 published January 1976) - then an epilogue and a editor's note. Candidly this makes for an intriguing reading experience especially if you have read book 1"Warlord of the Air". Oswald Barnstable revisits the early 20th Century for the 2nd time to find Gandhi as the ruler of South Africa and the United States a devastated country with a crackpot racist President. Oswald reluctantly joins forced with the notorious despot Cicero Hood the Black Attila.

 

This science-fiction novel by acclaimed British author Michael Moorcock (b1939 -) falls into the category of "alternate histories" a popular if somewhat overuse SF trope particularly during the last 15 years or so. Moorcock's protagonist in all three novels is Oswald Bastable who has the problematic talent or better yet curse of uncontrolled reentering of the Timestream and reliving alternate political-military histories of the first half of the Twentieth Century.

 

In these three related novels Moorcock refrains from super science extrapolations of war weapons. In fact dirigibles are the weapon of choice in the assorted hostilities and play a critical role throughout all three books. For that reason Steampunk fans hold these books in high esteem.

 

Of great interest to this reader the author integrates himself as a character-narrator in these novels. Utilizing journals, letters and diaries from his grandfather, also named Michael Moorcock, he presents to us readers the adventures of Oswald Bastable. Insofar as there is considerable philosophical-political ruminations by Oswald Bastable one must conclude the author his turned aside from the narrative and is sharing his own closely held beliefs. Moorcock's themes include but are not limited too the madness of war, the ability of messianic madmen to manipulate otherwise sane people to perform horrendous deeds and the destructive force of blind adherence to isms.

 

Michael Moorcock is know and much admired for his talent to integrate characters and themes in his vast body of works spanning over 50 years and 70 plus novels. These three novels written early in his career contain themes, concept and characters that show up in many later works. I am referring to specifically Count von Beck, Mrs. Una Persson, and the Multiverse to name a few.

 

As an introduction to Moorcock's body of works this is a good place to start although I am partial to the Elric and Corum book series.

 

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

 

Some background:

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 (NATO reporting name: "Farmer") was a Soviet second-generation, single-seat, twin jet-engine fighter aircraft. It was the first Soviet production aircraft capable of supersonic speeds in level flight. A comparable U.S. "Century Series" fighter was the North American F-100 Super Sabre, although the MiG-19 would primarily oppose the more modern McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II and Republic F-105 Thunderchief over North Vietnam. Furthermore, the North American YF-100 Super Sabre prototype appeared approximately one year after the MiG-19, making the MiG-19 the first operational supersonic jet in the world.

 

On 20 April 1951, OKB-155 was given the order to develop the MiG-17 into a new fighter called "I-340", also known as "SM-1". It was to be powered by two Mikulin AM-5 non-afterburning jet engines, a scaled-down version of the Mikulin AM-3, with 19.6 kN (4,410 lbf) of thrust. The I-340 was supposed to attain 1,160 km/h (725 mph, Mach 0.97) at 2,000 m (6,562 ft), 1,080 km/h (675 mph, Mach 1.0) at 10,000 m (32,808 ft), climb to 10,000 m (32,808 ft) in 2.9 minutes, and have a service ceiling of no less than 17,500 m (57,415 ft).

After several prototypes with many detail improvements, the ministers of the Soviet Union issued the order #286-133 to start serial production on February 17, 1954, at the factories in Gorkiy and Novosibirsk. Factory trials were completed on September 12 the same year, and government trials started on September 30.

 

Initial enthusiasm for the aircraft was dampened by several problems. The most alarming of these was the danger of a midair explosion due to overheating of the fuselage fuel tanks located between the engines. Deployment of airbrakes at high speeds caused a high-g pitch-up. Elevators lacked authority at supersonic speeds. The high landing speed of 230 km/h (145 mph), compared to 160 km/h (100 mph) for the MiG-15, combined with the lack of a two-seat trainer version, slowed pilot transition to the type. Handling problems were addressed with the second prototype, "SM-9/2", which added a third ventral airbrake and introduced all-moving tailplanes with a damper to prevent pilot-induced oscillations at subsonic speeds. It flew on 16 September 1954, and entered production as the MiG-19S.

 

Approximately 5,500 MiG-19's were produced, first in the USSR and in Czechoslovakia as the Avia S-105, but mainly in the People's Republic of China as the Shenyang J-6. The aircraft saw service with a number of other national air forces, including those of Cuba, North Vietnam, Egypt, Pakistan, and North Korea. The aircraft saw combat during the Vietnam War, the 1967 Six Day War, and the 1971 Bangladesh War.

 

However, jet fighter development made huge leaps in the 1960s, and OKB MiG was constantly trying to improve the MiG-19's performance, esp. against fast and high-flying enemies, primarily bombers but also spy planes like the U-2.

 

As the MiG-19S was brought into service with the Soviet air forces in mid-1956, the OKB MiG was continuing the refinement of the SM-1/I-340 fighter. One of these evolutionary paths was the SM-12 (literally, “SM-1, second generation”) family of prototypes, the ultimate extrapolation of the basic MiG-19 design, which eventually led to the MiG-19bis interceptor that filled the gap between the MiG-19S and the following, highly successful MiG-21.

 

The SM-12 first saw life as an exercise in drag reduction by means of new air intake configurations, since the MiG-19’s original intake with rounded lips became inefficient at supersonic speed (its Western rival, the North American F-100, featured a sharp-lipped nose air intake from the start). The first of three prototypes, the SM-12/1, was essentially a MiG-19S with an extended and straight-tapered nose with sharp-lipped orifice and a pointed, two-position shock cone on the intake splitter. The simple arrangement proved to be successful and was further refined.

 

The next evolutionary step, the SM-12/3, differed from its predecessors primarily in two new R3-26 turbojets developed from the earlier power plant by V. N. Sorokin. These each offered an afterburning thrust of 3,600kg, enabling the SM-12/3 to attain speeds ranging between 1,430km/h at sea level, or Mach=1.16, and 1,930km/h at 12,000m, or Mach=1.8, and an altitude of between 17,500 and 18,000m during its test program. This outstanding performance prompted further development with a view to production as a point defense interceptor.

 

Similarly powered by R3-26 engines, and embodying major nose redesign with a larger orifice permitting introduction of a substantial two-position conical centerbody for a TsD-30 radar, a further prototype was completed as the SM-12PM. Discarding the wing root NR-30 cannon of preceding prototypes, the SM-12PM was armed with only two K-5M (RS-2U) beam-riding missiles and entered flight test in 1957. This configuration would become the basis for the MiG-19bis interceptor that eventually was ordered into limited production (see below).

 

However, the SM-12 development line did not stop at this point. At the end of 1958, yet another prototype, the SM-12PMU, joined the experimental fighter family. This had R3M-26 turbojets uprated to 3.800kg with afterburning, but these were further augmented by a U-19D accelerator, which took the form of a permanent ventral pack containing an RU-013 rocket motor and its propellant tanks. Developed by D. D. Sevruk, the RU-013 delivered 3,000kg of additional thrust, and with the aid of this rocket motor, the SM-12PMU attained an altitude of 24,000m and a speed of Mach=1.69. But this effort was to no avail: the decision had been taken meanwhile to manufacture the Ye-7 in series as the MiG-21, and further development of the SM-12 series was therefore discontinued.

 

Nevertheless, since full operational status of the new MiG-21 was expected to remain pending for some time, production of a modified SM-12PM was ordered as a gap filler. Not only would this fighter bridge the performance gap to the Mach 2-capable MiG-21, it also had the benefit of being based on proven technologies and would not require a new basic pilot training.

 

The new aircraft received the official designation MiG-19bis. Compared with the SM-12PM prototype, the MiG-19bis differed in some details and improvements. The SM-12PM’s most significant shortfall was its short range – at full power, it had only a range of 750 km! This could be mended through an additional fuel tank in an enlarged dorsal fairing behind the cockpit. With this internal extra fuel, range could be extended by a further 200 - 250km range, but drop tanks had typically to be carried, too, in order to extend the fighter’ combat radius with two AAMs to 500 km. Specifically for the MiG-19bis, new, supersonic drop tanks (PTB-490) were designed, and these were later adapted for the MiG-21, too.

 

The air intake shock cone was re-contoured and the shifting mechanism improved: Instead of a simple, conical shape, the shock cone now had a more complex curvature with two steps and the intake orifice area was widened to allow a higher airflow rate. The air intake’s efficiency was further optimized through gradual positions of the shock cone.

As a positive side effect, the revised shock cone offered space for an enlarged radar dish, what improved detection range and resolution. The TsD-30 radar for the fighter’s missile-only armament was retained, even though the K-5’s effective range of only 2–6 km (1¼ – 3¾ mi) made it only suitable against slow and large targets like bombers. All guns were deleted in order to save weight or make room for the electronic equipment. The tail section was also changed because the R3M-26 engines and their afterburners were considerably longer than the MiG-19's original RM-5 engines. The exhausts now markedly protruded from the tail section, and the original, characteristic pen nib fairing between the two engines had been modified accordingly.

 

Production started in 1960, but only a total of roundabout 180 MiG-19bis, which received the NATO code "Farmer F", were built and the Soviet Union remained the only operator of the type. The first aircraft entered Soviet Anti-Air Defense in early 1961, and the machines were concentrated in PVO interceptor units around major sites like Moscow, Sewastopol at the Black Sea and Vladivostok in the Far East.

 

With the advent of the MiG-21, though, their career did not last long. Even though many machines were updated to carry the K-13 (the IR-guided AA-2 "Atoll") as well as the improved K-55 AAMs, with no change of the type’s designation, most MiG-19bis were already phased out towards the late 1960s and quickly replaced by 2nd generation MiG-21s as well as heavier and more capable Suchoj interceptors like the Su-9, -11 and -15. By 1972, all MiG-19bis had been retired.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 13.54 m (44 ft 4 in), fuselage only with shock cone in forward position

15.48 m (50 8 ½ in) including pitot

Wingspan: 9 m (29 ft 6 in)

Height: 3.8885 m (12 ft 9 in)

Wing area: 25 m² (269 ft²)

Empty weight: 5,210 kg (11,475 lb)

Loaded weight: 7,890 kg (17,380 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 9,050 kg (19,935 lb)

Fuel capacity: 2,450 l (556 imp gal; 647 US gal) internal;

plus 760 l (170 imp gal; 200 US gal) with 2 drop tanks

 

Powerplant:

2× Sorokin R3M-26 turbojets, rated at 37.2 kN (8,370 lbf) thrust each with afterburning

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 1,380km/h at sea level (Mach=1.16)

1,850km/h at 12,000m (Mach=1.8)

Range: 1,250 km (775 mi; 750 nmi) at 14,000 m (45,000 ft) with 2 × 490 l drop tanks

Combat range: 500 km (312 mi; 270 nmi)

Ferry range: 2,000 km (1,242 mi; 690 nmi)

Service ceiling: 19,750 m (64,690 ft)

Rate of climb: 180 m/s (35,000 ft/min)

Wing loading: 353.3 kg/m² (72.4 lb/ft²)

Thrust/weight: 0.86

 

Armament:

No internal guns.

4× underwing pylons; typically, a pair of PTB-490 drop tanks were carried on the outer pylon pair,

plus a pair of air-to air missiles on the inner pair: initially two radar-guided Kaliningrad K-5M (RS-2US)

AAMs, later two radar-guided K-55 or IR-guided Vympel K-13 (AA-2 'Atoll') AAMs

  

The kit and its assembly:

Another submission for the 2018 Cold War Group Build at whatifmodelers.com, and again the opportunity to build a whiffy model from the project list. But it’s as fictional as one might think, since the SM-12 line of experimental “hybrid” fighters between the MiG-19 and the MiG-21 was real. But none of these aircraft ever made it into serial production, and in real life the MiG-21 showed so much potential that the attempts to improve the MiG-19 were stopped and no operational fighter entered production or service.

 

However, the SM-12, with its elongated nose and the central shock cone, makes a nice model subject, and I imagined what a service aircraft might have looked like? It would IMHO have been close, if not identical, to the SM-12PM, since this was the most refined pure jet fighter in the development family.

 

The basis for the build was a (dead cheap) Mastercraft MiG-19, which is a re-edition of the venerable Kovozávody Prostějov (KP) kit – as a tribute to modern tastes, it comes with (crudely) engraved panel, but it has a horrible fit all over. For instance, there was a 1mm gap between the fuselage and the right wing, the wing halves’ outlines did not match at all and it is questionable if the canopy actually belongs to the kit at all? PSR everywhere. I also had a Plastyk version of this kit on the table some time ago, but it was of a much better quality! O.K., the Mastercraft kit comes cheap, but it’s, to be honest, not a real bargain.

 

Even though the result would not be crisp I did some mods and changes. Internally, a cockpit tub was implanted (OOB there’s just a wacky seat hanging in mid air) plus some serious lead weight in the nose section for a proper stance.

On the outside, the new air intake is the most obvious change. I found a Su-17 intake (from a Mastercraft kit, too) and used a piece from a Matchbox B-17G’s dorsal turret to elongate the nose – it had an almost perfect diameter and a mildly conical shape. Some massive PSR work was necessary to blend the parts together, though.

The tail received new jet nozzles, scratched from steel needle protection covers, and the tail fairing was adjusted according to the real SM-12’s shape.

 

Ordnance was adapted, too: the drop tanks come from a Mastercraft MiG-21, and these supersonic PTB-490 tanks were indeed carried by the real SM-12 prototypes because the uprated engines were very thirsty and the original, teardrop-shaped MiG-19 tanks simply too draggy for the much faster SM-12. As a side note, the real SM-12’s short range was one of the serious factors that prevented the promising type’s production in real life. In order to overcome the poor range weakness I added an enlarged spine (half of a drop tank), inspired by the MiG-21 SMT, that would house an additional internal fuel tank.

 

The R2-SU/K-5 AAMs come from a vintage Mastercraft Soviet aircraft weapon set, which carries a pair of these 1st generation AAMs. While the molds seem to be a bit soft, the missiles look pretty convincing. Their pylons were taken from the kit (OOB they carry unguided AAM pods and are placed behind the main landing gear wells), just reversed and placed on the wings’ leading edges – similar to the real SM-12’s arrangement.

  

Painting and markings:

No surprises. In the Sixties, any PVO aircraft was left in bare metal, so there was hardly an alternative to a NMF finish.

 

Painting started with an all-over coat with acrylic Revell 99 (Aluminum), just the spine tank became light grey (Revell 371) for some contrast, and I painted some di-electric covers in a deep green (Revell 48).

The cockpit interior was painted with a bright mix of Revell 55 and some 48, while the landing gear wells and the back section of the cockpit were painted in a bluish grey (Revell 57).

The landing gear was painted in Steel (unpolished Modelmaster metallizer) and received classic, bright green wheel discs (Humbrol 2). As a small, unusual highlight the pitot boom under the chin received red and white stripes – seen on occasional MiG-19S fighters in Soviet service, and the anti-flutter booms on the stabilizers became bright red, too.

 

After the basic painting was done the kit received a black ink wash. Once this had dried and wiped off with a soft cotton cloth, post shading with various metallizer tones was added in order to liven up the uniform aircraft (including Humbrol’s matt and polished aluminum, and the exhaust section was treated with steel). Some panel lines were emphasized with a thin pencil.

 

Decals were puzzled together from various sources, a Guards badge and a few Russian stencils were added, too. Finally, the kit was sealed with a coat of sheen acrylic varnish (a 2:1 mix of Italeri matt and semi-gloss varnish).

 

The K-5 missiles, last but not least, were painted in aluminum, too, but their end caps (both front and tail section) became off-white.

  

The Mastercraft kit on which this conversion was based is crude, so I did not have high expectations concerning the outcome. But the new nose blends nicely into the MiG-19 fuselage, and the wide spine is a subtle detail that makes the aircraft look more “beefy” and less MiG-19-ish. The different drop tanks – even though they are authentic – visually add further speed. And despite many flaws, I am quite happy with the result of roundabout a week’s work.

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dahon© 2010

 

i feel i didn't get the parliament shot just right, especially with the blown highlights of the clouds... this one definately works better in my opinion..

 

Details:

Taken with the Sigma 10-20mm lens

Shot @ 10mm

1 RAW file ; 4 Extrapolated Exposures [-2,-1,+1,+2]

Combined & Tonemapped throught Photomatix

Minor Sharpening & Crop + Curves adjustment through Photoshop

 

| On Black | my blog.. | my twitter.. |

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

 

Some background:

In October 1951, a heavy tank project was underway to mount an oscillating turret with an automatically loading 120mm Gun on the hull of the 120mm Gun Tank T43. (The T43 would later be serialized as the 120mm Gun Tank M103, America’s last heavy tank.). This was the T57, and the Rheem Manufacturing Company were granted a contract to design and build two pilot turrets and autoloading systems.

During the T57’s development, it became clear that it was feasible to mount a lighter armored version of the T57 turret on the hull of the 90mm Gun Tank T48 (The T48 later became the 90mm Gun Tank M48 Patton). This combination granted the possibility of creating a ‘heavy gun tank’ that was considerably lighter (and therefore more agile and tactically flexible) than any previously designed.

In May 1953, a development project was started to create such a tank. It would be designated the 120mm Gun Tank T77, and another contract was signed with Rheem to create two pilot tanks. The T77 weighed about 50 tons, with armor of the hull being up to 110mm thick. It was originally powered by a 650 hp Continental AVSI-1790-6 V12, air-cooled twin-turbo gasoline engine. This would propel the tank to a speed of 30 mph (48 km/h). The tank was supported on a torsion bar suspension, attached to six road wheels. The drive sprocket was at the rear, while the idler was at the front. The idler wheel was of the compensating type, meaning it was attached to the closest roadwheel by an actuating arm. When the roadwheel reacted to terrain, the idler was pushed out or pulled in, keeping constant track tension. The return of the track was supported by five rollers.

 

The T77 had a crew of four: The driver’s position was standard for M48 hulls, located centrally in the bow at the front of the hull. Arrangements inside the turret were standard, too: The loader was positioned to the left of the gun, the gunner was on the right with the commander behind him.

 

The T77’s oscillating turret could be easily mounted to the unmodified 2.1 m (85 inch) turret ring of the M48 hull, and on other tanks, too. It consisted of two actuating parts: a collar that was attached to the turret ring, allowing 360° horizontal traverse, and a pivoting upper part with a long cylindrical ‘nose’ and a low profile flat bustle that held the gun, which could elevate to a maximum of 15 degrees, and depress 8 degrees. It also held the complex loading mechanism and the turret crew.

Both turret halves utilized cast homogeneous steel armor. The sides of the collar were made to be round and bulbous in shape to protect the trunnions that the upper half pivoted on. Armor around the face was 127mm (5 inches) thick, angled at 60 degrees, what meant an effective 10 in (254 mm) equivalent of RHA at the turret front. Maximum armor strength was 137mm (5.3 inches) on the convex sides of the turret, and this dropped to 51 mm (2 inches) on the bustle.

Though it looked like two, there were actually three hatches in the turret’s roof: There was a small hatch on the left for the loader, and the slightly raised cupola for the commander on the right, which featured six periscopes. These two standard hatches were part of a third large, powered hatch, which took up most of the middle of the roof, granting a larger escape route for the crew but also allowed internal turret equipment to be removed easily. It was also a convenient way to replenish the ammunition storage, even though a use under battle conditions was prohibitive. In front of the loader’s hatch was a periscope, housings for a stereoscopic rangefinder were mounted on the sides of the swiveling turret part, and there was another periscope above the gunner’s position, too. Behind the large hatch was the ejection port for spent cartridges, to its right was the armored housing for the ventilator.

 

The initial Rheem Company turret concept had the gun rigidly mounted to the turret without a recoil system, and the long gun barrel protruded from a narrow nose. The gun featured a quick change barrel but was otherwise basically identical to the 120mm Gun T123E1, the gun being trialed on the T43/M103. However, for the T57/77 turret and the autoloader, it was modified to accept single piece ammunition, unlike the T43/M103, which used separately loading ammo due to the round’s high weight. This new gun was attached to the turret via a conical adapter that surrounded the breech end of the gun. One end screwed directly into the breech, while the front half extended through the ‘nose’ and was secured in place by a large nut. The force created by the firing of the gun and the projectile traveling down the rifled barrel was resisted by rooting the adapter both the breech block and turret ring. As there was no inertia from recoil to automatically open the horizontally sliding breech block, a hydraulic cylinder was introduced. Upon firing the main gun, this hydraulic cylinder was triggered via an electric switch. This new variant of the T123 cannon was designated the 120mm Gun T179. It was fitted with a bore evacuator (fume extractor) and a simple, T-shaped muzzle brake.

A single .30 Caliber (7.62mm) machine gun was mounted coaxially, and another such weapon or a medium 0.5” machine gun could be attached to a mount on the commander’s cupola.

 

Using standard Armor-Piercing Ballistic Cap Tracer Rounds, the T179 was capable of penetrating 221-millimetre (8.7 in) of 30-degree sloped rolled-homogenous armor at 1,000 yards and 196-millimetre (7.7 in) at 2,000 yards. It could also penetrate 124-millimetre (4.9 in) 60-degree sloped rolled-homogenous armor at 1,000 yards and 114-millimetre (4.5 in) at 2,000 yards.

 

The T179’s automatic loader was located below the gun and it gave the weapon a projected rate of fire of 30 rounds per minute, even though this was only of theoretical nature because its cylinder magazine only held 8 rounds. After these had been expended, it had to be manually re-loaded by the crew from the inside, and the cannon could not be operated at that time. Ammunition types such as High-Explosive (HE), High-Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT), Armor Piercing (AP), or Armor-Piercing Ballistic-Capped (APBC) could be fired and be selected from the magazine via a control panel by either the gunner or the tank commander, so that it was possible to quickly adapt to a changing tactical situation – as long as the right rounds had been loaded into the magazine beforehand.

 

The cannon itself was fed by a ramming arm that actuated between positions relative to the breech and magazine, operating in five major steps:

1) The hydraulically operated ramming arm withdrew a round and aligned it with the breach.

2) The rammer then pushed the round into the breach, triggering it to close.

3) Gun was fired.

4) Effect of gun firing trips the electric switch that opens the breech.

5) Rammer picks up a fresh round, at the same time ejecting the spent cartridge through a trap door in the roof of the turret bustle.

 

Beyond the 8 rounds ready-for fire in the magazine, the main gun had only a very limited ammunition supply due to the large size of the 1-piece rounds: only 21 more 120 mm rounds could be stored in the hull and at the base of the turret.

 

After thorough trials, the T77 was, powered by a more fuel-efficient Continental AVDS-1790-2 V12, air-cooled twin-turbo diesel engine with 750 bhp (560 kW), accepted as a replacement for the U.S. Army‘s unloved heavy M103 and introduced as the M77. The first M77s were assembled at the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant in March 1964. However, the M77 was primarily a support vehicle for standard tank units and reserved for special operations. Therefore, the type’s production numbers remained low: only 173 tanks were eventually built until 1968 and exclusively allocated to U.S. Army units in Western Germany, with a focus on West Berlin and Southern Germany (e.g. in the Fulda Gap), where they were to repel assaults from Eastern Germany and defend vital installations or critical bottlenecks.

 

Due to its high rate of fire and long range, the M77 was ideally suited for defensive tasks and hit-and-run tactics. But this was, unfortunately, the type’s only selling point: The oscillating turret turned out to be complex, concerning both handling as well as maintenance, and in practice it did not offer the same weapon stability as the M48’s or the later M60’s conventional design, especially when firing during movement. The cramped interior and the many mechanical parts of the bulky autoloader inside of the turret did not make the tank popular among its crews, either. Several accidents occurred during manoeuvers while the loader tried to refill the magazine under combat pressure. A further weakness was the type’s low ammunition stock and the fact that, despite the autoloader, there was still a loader necessary to feed the magazine. The low ammunition stock also heavily limited the tactical value of the tank: typically, the M77 had to leave its position after expending all of its ammunition and move to a second line position, where the huge one-piece rounds could be replenished under safer conditions. But this bound other resources, e. g. support vehicles, and typically the former position had to be given up or supplanted by another vehicle. Operating the M77 effectively turned out to be a logistic nightmare.

 

During its career, the M77 saw only one major upgrade in the mid-Seventies: The M77A1 was outfitted with a new multi-chamber muzzle brake, muzzle reference and crosswind sensors (the latter was mounted in a small mast on the rear of the turret) and an improved turret stabilization system along with an upgraded turret electrical system. All of these measures were intended to improve the tank’s 1st shot kill probability, esp. at long range. A large AN/VSS-1(V)1 white/IR searchlight was added above the gun barrel, too. All tanks in service were upgraded in this fashion, no new tanks were built. Unlike the M48, neither the M77 nor the Rheem turret or its autoloader system were cleared for export, even though Israel showed interest.

 

In the early Eighties, there were further plans for another upgrade of the M77 fleet to a potential A2 status. This would have introduced a laser rangefinder (instead of the purely optical device) and a solid state M21 ballistic computer with a digital databus. The M21 would have allowed a pre-programmed selection and fire sequence of different ammunition types from the magazine’s chambers, plus better range and super-elevation correction. However, this did not happen because the M77 had become obsolete through the simple depletion of its exotic 120 mm ammunition from the army’s stocks. Therefore, another plan examined the possibilities of replacing the T179 gun with the 105 mm M68 rifled anti-tank gun, a license-built version of the British L7 gun, which had, despite the smaller caliber, a performance comparable to the bigger 120 mm T179. But since the M48 chassis and its armor concept had become outdated by the time, too, the M77A1 fleet was by 1986 fully replaced by the M60A3, the US Army’s new standard MBT.

  

Specifications:

Crew: 4 (commander, driver, loader, gunner)

Weight: 51 tons

Length: 6.946 m (22 ft 9.5 in) hull only, 10,66 m (34 ft 11 in) overall w. gun forward

Width: 3.63 m (11 ft 11 in)

Height: 3.08 m (10 ft 1 in)

Suspension: Torsion-bar

Ground clearance: 1 ft 6.2 in (0.46 m)

Fuel capacity: 385 US gal (1,457 l)

 

Armor:

0.5 – 5.3 in (13 – 137 mm)

 

Performance:

Speed:

- Maximum, road: 30 mph (48 km/h)

- Sustained, road: 25 mph (40 km/h)

- Cross country: 9.3 to 15.5 mph (15 to 25 km/h)

Climbing capability:

- 40% side slope and 60% max grade

- Vertical obstacle of 36 inches (91 cm)

- 102 inches (2.59 m) trench crossing

Fording depth: Unprepared: 4 ft (1.219 m), prepared: 8 ft (2.438 m)

Operational range: 287 ml (463 km) on road

Power/weight: 16.6 hp (12.4 kW)/tonne

 

Engine:

1× Continental AVDS-1790-2 V12, air-cooled twin-turbo diesel engine, 750 bhp (560 kW)

 

Transmission:

General Motors CD-850-3, 2-Fw/1-Rv speed GB

 

Armament:

1× 120 mm T179 L/60 rifled anti-tank gun with an autoloader and a total of 29 rounds

1× co-axial 7.62 mm M240C machine gun with 3.000 rounds

1× .50 cal (12.7 mm) M2 Browning (600 rounds) or .30 cal (7.62 mm) M73 machine

anti-aircraft machine gun (1.000 rounds) on the commander’s cupola with 600 rounds

  

The kit and its assembly:

This is another fictional creation, but, like many of my whif builds, it is rooted in reality and an extrapolation of what could have been. The oscillating tower with the M103’s 120 mm cannon and an autoloader was actually developed, and there were several tank projects that made use of it. The T77 was the final proposal, but, like the T57 on the M103 basis and other designs from the Rheem Company, the T77’s development was arduously slow, so that the project was finally canceled in 1957 by the US Ordnance Department. Two turrets were actually built, though, but they were scrapped in February 1958, and the T77 only existed on paper or in model form.

 

The impulse for this build actually came from a 1:72 resin turret for the T57 project from ModelTrans/Silesian Models. I found the concept cool and the turret had a very futuristic look, so that I bought a set with the vague intention to use it for a mecha conversion someday. Then it gathered dust in the stash, until I recently stumbled upon the 1:72 M103 kit from Dragon and considered a T57 build. But this kit is very rare and expensive, at least here in Germany, so I shelved this plan again. However, I started to play with the idea of a U.S. Army vehicle with a Rheem Company turret. Then I found a Revell M60 kit in the stash and considered it for a whiffy build, but eventually rejected the idea because a turret concept from the late Fifties would hardly make its way onto a tank from the late Seventies or later. When I did further research concerning the Rheem turret, I came across the real T77 project on the basis of the M48, and dug out an ESCI M48A5 from the pile (realizing that I had already hoarded three of them…!), so the M77 project was finally born.

 

Otherwise, the build was a straightforward affair. The T57 turret is a massive resin piece with a separate barrel and very fine surface details. Some of them, delicate lugs, were unfortunately broken off, already OOB but also by me while handling the pieces. They could be easily replaced with brass wire, though, which was also used to add small rails to the collar. The very long and thin barrel was replaced with a white metal aftermarket piece. It’s actually a barrel for a Soviet T-10 with a complex muzzle brake (made from brass), but the size was just fine and looks very good on this fictional tank.

Some details were added to the turret or transplanted from the M48 kit, e. g. the prominent IR searchlight or the machine gun on the commander cupola. Furthermore, I added a textile seal to the gap between the turret sections and to the barrel’s root, made from paper tissue drenched in thinned white glue. The same method was used to create the searchlight cover, too.

 

Since the turret base had a smaller diameter than the M48’s attachment opening, I had to improvise a suitable adapter with styrene strips. The M48A5 hull itself was taken OOB.

  

Painting and markings:

I was happy that I could place this model into a later time frame, so that the U.S. Army’s uniform Olive Drab times were already over. In the 1970s, the US Mobility Equipment Research & Design Command (MERDC) developed a system of camouflage patterns for US Army vehicles. These consisted of a set of standardized patterns for each vehicle, to be used with a set of twelve colours. The local terrain conditions and colours decided which of the paints were to be used, and on which parts of a vehicle. Then, if conditions altered, for example by a change in the weather, or by the unit moving into a new area of operations, the scheme could be quickly adjusted to suit them by replacing only one or two colours by different ones.

For example, if a vehicle was painted in the US & European winter scheme, which had a dark green and a medium brown as its predominant colours, and it started to snow, by overpainting either the green or the brown with white, one of the two snow schemes could be created. This gave a high degree of flexibility, though in practice it was hardly ever actually made use of—most vehicles were painted in one scheme and kept that.

I gave the M77 the “Winter Verdant” MERDC scheme, which was frequently used in Germany. It consists of Forest Green (FS 34079), Earth Red (FS 30117), Sand (FS 30277) and Black (FS 37038). The pattern itself was adapted from the standardized M60 MERDC scheme. Colors used were ModelMaster 1701 and 1710, plus Humbrol 238 and Revell 06. The seals on the turret and the searchlight cover were painted in a faded olive drab, the track segments with a mix of iron, dark grey and red brown.

 

After basic painting with brushes, the kit received a washing with thinned black and red brown acrylic paint. Decals (taken from the ESCI kit) came next, then the model received an overall dry brushing treatment with Humbrol 72 (Khaki Drill) and 168 (Hemp). Finally, everything was sealed with matt acrylic varnish from the rattle can and the lower hull areas were dusted with mineral pigments, simulating dust and mud.

  

Another relatively simple conversion, since only the (oscillating) turret was swapped. However, I was skeptical at first because the turret was originally intended for an M103 hull - but mounting it on a smaller M48 chassis worked well, just like in real life!

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

 

Some background:

In October 1951, a heavy tank project was underway to mount an oscillating turret with an automatically loading 120mm Gun on the hull of the 120mm Gun Tank T43. (The T43 would later be serialized as the 120mm Gun Tank M103, America’s last heavy tank.). This was the T57, and the Rheem Manufacturing Company were granted a contract to design and build two pilot turrets and autoloading systems.

During the T57’s development, it became clear that it was feasible to mount a lighter armored version of the T57 turret on the hull of the 90mm Gun Tank T48 (The T48 later became the 90mm Gun Tank M48 Patton). This combination granted the possibility of creating a ‘heavy gun tank’ that was considerably lighter (and therefore more agile and tactically flexible) than any previously designed.

In May 1953, a development project was started to create such a tank. It would be designated the 120mm Gun Tank T77, and another contract was signed with Rheem to create two pilot tanks. The T77 weighed about 50 tons, with armor of the hull being up to 110mm thick. It was originally powered by a 650 hp Continental AVSI-1790-6 V12, air-cooled twin-turbo gasoline engine. This would propel the tank to a speed of 30 mph (48 km/h). The tank was supported on a torsion bar suspension, attached to six road wheels. The drive sprocket was at the rear, while the idler was at the front. The idler wheel was of the compensating type, meaning it was attached to the closest roadwheel by an actuating arm. When the roadwheel reacted to terrain, the idler was pushed out or pulled in, keeping constant track tension. The return of the track was supported by five rollers.

 

The T77 had a crew of four: The driver’s position was standard for M48 hulls, located centrally in the bow at the front of the hull. Arrangements inside the turret were standard, too: The loader was positioned to the left of the gun, the gunner was on the right with the commander behind him.

 

The T77’s oscillating turret could be easily mounted to the unmodified 2.1 m (85 inch) turret ring of the M48 hull, and on other tanks, too. It consisted of two actuating parts: a collar that was attached to the turret ring, allowing 360° horizontal traverse, and a pivoting upper part with a long cylindrical ‘nose’ and a low profile flat bustle that held the gun, which could elevate to a maximum of 15 degrees, and depress 8 degrees. It also held the complex loading mechanism and the turret crew.

Both turret halves utilized cast homogeneous steel armor. The sides of the collar were made to be round and bulbous in shape to protect the trunnions that the upper half pivoted on. Armor around the face was 127mm (5 inches) thick, angled at 60 degrees, what meant an effective 10 in (254 mm) equivalent of RHA at the turret front. Maximum armor strength was 137mm (5.3 inches) on the convex sides of the turret, and this dropped to 51 mm (2 inches) on the bustle.

Though it looked like two, there were actually three hatches in the turret’s roof: There was a small hatch on the left for the loader, and the slightly raised cupola for the commander on the right, which featured six periscopes. These two standard hatches were part of a third large, powered hatch, which took up most of the middle of the roof, granting a larger escape route for the crew but also allowed internal turret equipment to be removed easily. It was also a convenient way to replenish the ammunition storage, even though a use under battle conditions was prohibitive. In front of the loader’s hatch was a periscope, housings for a stereoscopic rangefinder were mounted on the sides of the swiveling turret part, and there was another periscope above the gunner’s position, too. Behind the large hatch was the ejection port for spent cartridges, to its right was the armored housing for the ventilator.

 

The initial Rheem Company turret concept had the gun rigidly mounted to the turret without a recoil system, and the long gun barrel protruded from a narrow nose. The gun featured a quick change barrel but was otherwise basically identical to the 120mm Gun T123E1, the gun being trialed on the T43/M103. However, for the T57/77 turret and the autoloader, it was modified to accept single piece ammunition, unlike the T43/M103, which used separately loading ammo due to the round’s high weight. This new gun was attached to the turret via a conical adapter that surrounded the breech end of the gun. One end screwed directly into the breech, while the front half extended through the ‘nose’ and was secured in place by a large nut. The force created by the firing of the gun and the projectile traveling down the rifled barrel was resisted by rooting the adapter both the breech block and turret ring. As there was no inertia from recoil to automatically open the horizontally sliding breech block, a hydraulic cylinder was introduced. Upon firing the main gun, this hydraulic cylinder was triggered via an electric switch. This new variant of the T123 cannon was designated the 120mm Gun T179. It was fitted with a bore evacuator (fume extractor) and a simple, T-shaped muzzle brake.

A single .30 Caliber (7.62mm) machine gun was mounted coaxially, and another such weapon or a medium 0.5” machine gun could be attached to a mount on the commander’s cupola.

 

Using standard Armor-Piercing Ballistic Cap Tracer Rounds, the T179 was capable of penetrating 221-millimetre (8.7 in) of 30-degree sloped rolled-homogenous armor at 1,000 yards and 196-millimetre (7.7 in) at 2,000 yards. It could also penetrate 124-millimetre (4.9 in) 60-degree sloped rolled-homogenous armor at 1,000 yards and 114-millimetre (4.5 in) at 2,000 yards.

 

The T179’s automatic loader was located below the gun and it gave the weapon a projected rate of fire of 30 rounds per minute, even though this was only of theoretical nature because its cylinder magazine only held 8 rounds. After these had been expended, it had to be manually re-loaded by the crew from the inside, and the cannon could not be operated at that time. Ammunition types such as High-Explosive (HE), High-Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT), Armor Piercing (AP), or Armor-Piercing Ballistic-Capped (APBC) could be fired and be selected from the magazine via a control panel by either the gunner or the tank commander, so that it was possible to quickly adapt to a changing tactical situation – as long as the right rounds had been loaded into the magazine beforehand.

 

The cannon itself was fed by a ramming arm that actuated between positions relative to the breech and magazine, operating in five major steps:

1) The hydraulically operated ramming arm withdrew a round and aligned it with the breach.

2) The rammer then pushed the round into the breach, triggering it to close.

3) Gun was fired.

4) Effect of gun firing trips the electric switch that opens the breech.

5) Rammer picks up a fresh round, at the same time ejecting the spent cartridge through a trap door in the roof of the turret bustle.

 

Beyond the 8 rounds ready-for fire in the magazine, the main gun had only a very limited ammunition supply due to the large size of the 1-piece rounds: only 21 more 120 mm rounds could be stored in the hull and at the base of the turret.

 

After thorough trials, the T77 was, powered by a more fuel-efficient Continental AVDS-1790-2 V12, air-cooled twin-turbo diesel engine with 750 bhp (560 kW), accepted as a replacement for the U.S. Army‘s unloved heavy M103 and introduced as the M77. The first M77s were assembled at the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant in March 1964. However, the M77 was primarily a support vehicle for standard tank units and reserved for special operations. Therefore, the type’s production numbers remained low: only 173 tanks were eventually built until 1968 and exclusively allocated to U.S. Army units in Western Germany, with a focus on West Berlin and Southern Germany (e.g. in the Fulda Gap), where they were to repel assaults from Eastern Germany and defend vital installations or critical bottlenecks.

 

Due to its high rate of fire and long range, the M77 was ideally suited for defensive tasks and hit-and-run tactics. But this was, unfortunately, the type’s only selling point: The oscillating turret turned out to be complex, concerning both handling as well as maintenance, and in practice it did not offer the same weapon stability as the M48’s or the later M60’s conventional design, especially when firing during movement. The cramped interior and the many mechanical parts of the bulky autoloader inside of the turret did not make the tank popular among its crews, either. Several accidents occurred during manoeuvers while the loader tried to refill the magazine under combat pressure. A further weakness was the type’s low ammunition stock and the fact that, despite the autoloader, there was still a loader necessary to feed the magazine. The low ammunition stock also heavily limited the tactical value of the tank: typically, the M77 had to leave its position after expending all of its ammunition and move to a second line position, where the huge one-piece rounds could be replenished under safer conditions. But this bound other resources, e. g. support vehicles, and typically the former position had to be given up or supplanted by another vehicle. Operating the M77 effectively turned out to be a logistic nightmare.

 

During its career, the M77 saw only one major upgrade in the mid-Seventies: The M77A1 was outfitted with a new multi-chamber muzzle brake, muzzle reference and crosswind sensors (the latter was mounted in a small mast on the rear of the turret) and an improved turret stabilization system along with an upgraded turret electrical system. All of these measures were intended to improve the tank’s 1st shot kill probability, esp. at long range. A large AN/VSS-1(V)1 white/IR searchlight was added above the gun barrel, too. All tanks in service were upgraded in this fashion, no new tanks were built. Unlike the M48, neither the M77 nor the Rheem turret or its autoloader system were cleared for export, even though Israel showed interest.

 

In the early Eighties, there were further plans for another upgrade of the M77 fleet to a potential A2 status. This would have introduced a laser rangefinder (instead of the purely optical device) and a solid state M21 ballistic computer with a digital databus. The M21 would have allowed a pre-programmed selection and fire sequence of different ammunition types from the magazine’s chambers, plus better range and super-elevation correction. However, this did not happen because the M77 had become obsolete through the simple depletion of its exotic 120 mm ammunition from the army’s stocks. Therefore, another plan examined the possibilities of replacing the T179 gun with the 105 mm M68 rifled anti-tank gun, a license-built version of the British L7 gun, which had, despite the smaller caliber, a performance comparable to the bigger 120 mm T179. But since the M48 chassis and its armor concept had become outdated by the time, too, the M77A1 fleet was by 1986 fully replaced by the M60A3, the US Army’s new standard MBT.

  

Specifications:

Crew: 4 (commander, driver, loader, gunner)

Weight: 51 tons

Length: 6.946 m (22 ft 9.5 in) hull only, 10,66 m (34 ft 11 in) overall w. gun forward

Width: 3.63 m (11 ft 11 in)

Height: 3.08 m (10 ft 1 in)

Suspension: Torsion-bar

Ground clearance: 1 ft 6.2 in (0.46 m)

Fuel capacity: 385 US gal (1,457 l)

 

Armor:

0.5 – 5.3 in (13 – 137 mm)

 

Performance:

Speed:

- Maximum, road: 30 mph (48 km/h)

- Sustained, road: 25 mph (40 km/h)

- Cross country: 9.3 to 15.5 mph (15 to 25 km/h)

Climbing capability:

- 40% side slope and 60% max grade

- Vertical obstacle of 36 inches (91 cm)

- 102 inches (2.59 m) trench crossing

Fording depth: Unprepared: 4 ft (1.219 m), prepared: 8 ft (2.438 m)

Operational range: 287 ml (463 km) on road

Power/weight: 16.6 hp (12.4 kW)/tonne

 

Engine:

1× Continental AVDS-1790-2 V12, air-cooled twin-turbo diesel engine, 750 bhp (560 kW)

 

Transmission:

General Motors CD-850-3, 2-Fw/1-Rv speed GB

 

Armament:

1× 120 mm T179 L/60 rifled anti-tank gun with an autoloader and a total of 29 rounds

1× co-axial 7.62 mm M240C machine gun with 3.000 rounds

1× .50 cal (12.7 mm) M2 Browning (600 rounds) or .30 cal (7.62 mm) M73 machine

anti-aircraft machine gun (1.000 rounds) on the commander’s cupola with 600 rounds

  

The kit and its assembly:

This is another fictional creation, but, like many of my whif builds, it is rooted in reality and an extrapolation of what could have been. The oscillating tower with the M103’s 120 mm cannon and an autoloader was actually developed, and there were several tank projects that made use of it. The T77 was the final proposal, but, like the T57 on the M103 basis and other designs from the Rheem Company, the T77’s development was arduously slow, so that the project was finally canceled in 1957 by the US Ordnance Department. Two turrets were actually built, though, but they were scrapped in February 1958, and the T77 only existed on paper or in model form.

 

The impulse for this build actually came from a 1:72 resin turret for the T57 project from ModelTrans/Silesian Models. I found the concept cool and the turret had a very futuristic look, so that I bought a set with the vague intention to use it for a mecha conversion someday. Then it gathered dust in the stash, until I recently stumbled upon the 1:72 M103 kit from Dragon and considered a T57 build. But this kit is very rare and expensive, at least here in Germany, so I shelved this plan again. However, I started to play with the idea of a U.S. Army vehicle with a Rheem Company turret. Then I found a Revell M60 kit in the stash and considered it for a whiffy build, but eventually rejected the idea because a turret concept from the late Fifties would hardly make its way onto a tank from the late Seventies or later. When I did further research concerning the Rheem turret, I came across the real T77 project on the basis of the M48, and dug out an ESCI M48A5 from the pile (realizing that I had already hoarded three of them…!), so the M77 project was finally born.

 

Otherwise, the build was a straightforward affair. The T57 turret is a massive resin piece with a separate barrel and very fine surface details. Some of them, delicate lugs, were unfortunately broken off, already OOB but also by me while handling the pieces. They could be easily replaced with brass wire, though, which was also used to add small rails to the collar. The very long and thin barrel was replaced with a white metal aftermarket piece. It’s actually a barrel for a Soviet T-10 with a complex muzzle brake (made from brass), but the size was just fine and looks very good on this fictional tank.

Some details were added to the turret or transplanted from the M48 kit, e. g. the prominent IR searchlight or the machine gun on the commander cupola. Furthermore, I added a textile seal to the gap between the turret sections and to the barrel’s root, made from paper tissue drenched in thinned white glue. The same method was used to create the searchlight cover, too.

 

Since the turret base had a smaller diameter than the M48’s attachment opening, I had to improvise a suitable adapter with styrene strips. The M48A5 hull itself was taken OOB.

  

Painting and markings:

I was happy that I could place this model into a later time frame, so that the U.S. Army’s uniform Olive Drab times were already over. In the 1970s, the US Mobility Equipment Research & Design Command (MERDC) developed a system of camouflage patterns for US Army vehicles. These consisted of a set of standardized patterns for each vehicle, to be used with a set of twelve colours. The local terrain conditions and colours decided which of the paints were to be used, and on which parts of a vehicle. Then, if conditions altered, for example by a change in the weather, or by the unit moving into a new area of operations, the scheme could be quickly adjusted to suit them by replacing only one or two colours by different ones.

For example, if a vehicle was painted in the US & European winter scheme, which had a dark green and a medium brown as its predominant colours, and it started to snow, by overpainting either the green or the brown with white, one of the two snow schemes could be created. This gave a high degree of flexibility, though in practice it was hardly ever actually made use of—most vehicles were painted in one scheme and kept that.

I gave the M77 the “Winter Verdant” MERDC scheme, which was frequently used in Germany. It consists of Forest Green (FS 34079), Earth Red (FS 30117), Sand (FS 30277) and Black (FS 37038). The pattern itself was adapted from the standardized M60 MERDC scheme. Colors used were ModelMaster 1701 and 1710, plus Humbrol 238 and Revell 06. The seals on the turret and the searchlight cover were painted in a faded olive drab, the track segments with a mix of iron, dark grey and red brown.

 

After basic painting with brushes, the kit received a washing with thinned black and red brown acrylic paint. Decals (taken from the ESCI kit) came next, then the model received an overall dry brushing treatment with Humbrol 72 (Khaki Drill) and 168 (Hemp). Finally, everything was sealed with matt acrylic varnish from the rattle can and the lower hull areas were dusted with mineral pigments, simulating dust and mud.

  

Another relatively simple conversion, since only the (oscillating) turret was swapped. However, I was skeptical at first because the turret was originally intended for an M103 hull - but mounting it on a smaller M48 chassis worked well, just like in real life!

Hmong children pose by the fence made with UXO's. Xiang Kouang, Laos

 

The problem

 

Lao PDR is the most bombed country in the world per capita. More than 1.3 million tonnes of ordnance was dropped on the country between 1964 and 1973. Up to 30 per cent of some types of ordnance did not detonate. Unexploded ordnance (UXO) still contaminates the ground, affecting a quarter of all villages.

 

There were at least 50,000 UXO casualties between 1964 and mid-2008. Accident records for 2008 are not yet complete, but extrapolating the data already available indicates that there may have been a doubling of casualties from 2007, to about 600.

 

UXO contamination also keeps people poor by preventing them from using land. It is therefore is one of the prime factors limiting long-term development in Lao PDR. It diminishes food security and denies access to basic services, resulting in widespread poverty amongst rural populations.

 

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

 

Some background:

In October 1951, a heavy tank project was underway to mount an oscillating turret with an automatically loading 120mm Gun on the hull of the 120mm Gun Tank T43. (The T43 would later be serialized as the 120mm Gun Tank M103, America’s last heavy tank.). This was the T57, and the Rheem Manufacturing Company were granted a contract to design and build two pilot turrets and autoloading systems.

During the T57’s development, it became clear that it was feasible to mount a lighter armored version of the T57 turret on the hull of the 90mm Gun Tank T48 (The T48 later became the 90mm Gun Tank M48 Patton). This combination granted the possibility of creating a ‘heavy gun tank’ that was considerably lighter (and therefore more agile and tactically flexible) than any previously designed.

In May 1953, a development project was started to create such a tank. It would be designated the 120mm Gun Tank T77, and another contract was signed with Rheem to create two pilot tanks. The T77 weighed about 50 tons, with armor of the hull being up to 110mm thick. It was originally powered by a 650 hp Continental AVSI-1790-6 V12, air-cooled twin-turbo gasoline engine. This would propel the tank to a speed of 30 mph (48 km/h). The tank was supported on a torsion bar suspension, attached to six road wheels. The drive sprocket was at the rear, while the idler was at the front. The idler wheel was of the compensating type, meaning it was attached to the closest roadwheel by an actuating arm. When the roadwheel reacted to terrain, the idler was pushed out or pulled in, keeping constant track tension. The return of the track was supported by five rollers.

 

The T77 had a crew of four: The driver’s position was standard for M48 hulls, located centrally in the bow at the front of the hull. Arrangements inside the turret were standard, too: The loader was positioned to the left of the gun, the gunner was on the right with the commander behind him.

 

The T77’s oscillating turret could be easily mounted to the unmodified 2.1 m (85 inch) turret ring of the M48 hull, and on other tanks, too. It consisted of two actuating parts: a collar that was attached to the turret ring, allowing 360° horizontal traverse, and a pivoting upper part with a long cylindrical ‘nose’ and a low profile flat bustle that held the gun, which could elevate to a maximum of 15 degrees, and depress 8 degrees. It also held the complex loading mechanism and the turret crew.

Both turret halves utilized cast homogeneous steel armor. The sides of the collar were made to be round and bulbous in shape to protect the trunnions that the upper half pivoted on. Armor around the face was 127mm (5 inches) thick, angled at 60 degrees, what meant an effective 10 in (254 mm) equivalent of RHA at the turret front. Maximum armor strength was 137mm (5.3 inches) on the convex sides of the turret, and this dropped to 51 mm (2 inches) on the bustle.

Though it looked like two, there were actually three hatches in the turret’s roof: There was a small hatch on the left for the loader, and the slightly raised cupola for the commander on the right, which featured six periscopes. These two standard hatches were part of a third large, powered hatch, which took up most of the middle of the roof, granting a larger escape route for the crew but also allowed internal turret equipment to be removed easily. It was also a convenient way to replenish the ammunition storage, even though a use under battle conditions was prohibitive. In front of the loader’s hatch was a periscope, housings for a stereoscopic rangefinder were mounted on the sides of the swiveling turret part, and there was another periscope above the gunner’s position, too. Behind the large hatch was the ejection port for spent cartridges, to its right was the armored housing for the ventilator.

 

The initial Rheem Company turret concept had the gun rigidly mounted to the turret without a recoil system, and the long gun barrel protruded from a narrow nose. The gun featured a quick change barrel but was otherwise basically identical to the 120mm Gun T123E1, the gun being trialed on the T43/M103. However, for the T57/77 turret and the autoloader, it was modified to accept single piece ammunition, unlike the T43/M103, which used separately loading ammo due to the round’s high weight. This new gun was attached to the turret via a conical adapter that surrounded the breech end of the gun. One end screwed directly into the breech, while the front half extended through the ‘nose’ and was secured in place by a large nut. The force created by the firing of the gun and the projectile traveling down the rifled barrel was resisted by rooting the adapter both the breech block and turret ring. As there was no inertia from recoil to automatically open the horizontally sliding breech block, a hydraulic cylinder was introduced. Upon firing the main gun, this hydraulic cylinder was triggered via an electric switch. This new variant of the T123 cannon was designated the 120mm Gun T179. It was fitted with a bore evacuator (fume extractor) and a simple, T-shaped muzzle brake.

A single .30 Caliber (7.62mm) machine gun was mounted coaxially, and another such weapon or a medium 0.5” machine gun could be attached to a mount on the commander’s cupola.

 

Using standard Armor-Piercing Ballistic Cap Tracer Rounds, the T179 was capable of penetrating 221-millimetre (8.7 in) of 30-degree sloped rolled-homogenous armor at 1,000 yards and 196-millimetre (7.7 in) at 2,000 yards. It could also penetrate 124-millimetre (4.9 in) 60-degree sloped rolled-homogenous armor at 1,000 yards and 114-millimetre (4.5 in) at 2,000 yards.

 

The T179’s automatic loader was located below the gun and it gave the weapon a projected rate of fire of 30 rounds per minute, even though this was only of theoretical nature because its cylinder magazine only held 8 rounds. After these had been expended, it had to be manually re-loaded by the crew from the inside, and the cannon could not be operated at that time. Ammunition types such as High-Explosive (HE), High-Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT), Armor Piercing (AP), or Armor-Piercing Ballistic-Capped (APBC) could be fired and be selected from the magazine via a control panel by either the gunner or the tank commander, so that it was possible to quickly adapt to a changing tactical situation – as long as the right rounds had been loaded into the magazine beforehand.

 

The cannon itself was fed by a ramming arm that actuated between positions relative to the breech and magazine, operating in five major steps:

1) The hydraulically operated ramming arm withdrew a round and aligned it with the breach.

2) The rammer then pushed the round into the breach, triggering it to close.

3) Gun was fired.

4) Effect of gun firing trips the electric switch that opens the breech.

5) Rammer picks up a fresh round, at the same time ejecting the spent cartridge through a trap door in the roof of the turret bustle.

 

Beyond the 8 rounds ready-for fire in the magazine, the main gun had only a very limited ammunition supply due to the large size of the 1-piece rounds: only 21 more 120 mm rounds could be stored in the hull and at the base of the turret.

 

After thorough trials, the T77 was, powered by a more fuel-efficient Continental AVDS-1790-2 V12, air-cooled twin-turbo diesel engine with 750 bhp (560 kW), accepted as a replacement for the U.S. Army‘s unloved heavy M103 and introduced as the M77. The first M77s were assembled at the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant in March 1964. However, the M77 was primarily a support vehicle for standard tank units and reserved for special operations. Therefore, the type’s production numbers remained low: only 173 tanks were eventually built until 1968 and exclusively allocated to U.S. Army units in Western Germany, with a focus on West Berlin and Southern Germany (e.g. in the Fulda Gap), where they were to repel assaults from Eastern Germany and defend vital installations or critical bottlenecks.

 

Due to its high rate of fire and long range, the M77 was ideally suited for defensive tasks and hit-and-run tactics. But this was, unfortunately, the type’s only selling point: The oscillating turret turned out to be complex, concerning both handling as well as maintenance, and in practice it did not offer the same weapon stability as the M48’s or the later M60’s conventional design, especially when firing during movement. The cramped interior and the many mechanical parts of the bulky autoloader inside of the turret did not make the tank popular among its crews, either. Several accidents occurred during manoeuvers while the loader tried to refill the magazine under combat pressure. A further weakness was the type’s low ammunition stock and the fact that, despite the autoloader, there was still a loader necessary to feed the magazine. The low ammunition stock also heavily limited the tactical value of the tank: typically, the M77 had to leave its position after expending all of its ammunition and move to a second line position, where the huge one-piece rounds could be replenished under safer conditions. But this bound other resources, e. g. support vehicles, and typically the former position had to be given up or supplanted by another vehicle. Operating the M77 effectively turned out to be a logistic nightmare.

 

During its career, the M77 saw only one major upgrade in the mid-Seventies: The M77A1 was outfitted with a new multi-chamber muzzle brake, muzzle reference and crosswind sensors (the latter was mounted in a small mast on the rear of the turret) and an improved turret stabilization system along with an upgraded turret electrical system. All of these measures were intended to improve the tank’s 1st shot kill probability, esp. at long range. A large AN/VSS-1(V)1 white/IR searchlight was added above the gun barrel, too. All tanks in service were upgraded in this fashion, no new tanks were built. Unlike the M48, neither the M77 nor the Rheem turret or its autoloader system were cleared for export, even though Israel showed interest.

 

In the early Eighties, there were further plans for another upgrade of the M77 fleet to a potential A2 status. This would have introduced a laser rangefinder (instead of the purely optical device) and a solid state M21 ballistic computer with a digital databus. The M21 would have allowed a pre-programmed selection and fire sequence of different ammunition types from the magazine’s chambers, plus better range and super-elevation correction. However, this did not happen because the M77 had become obsolete through the simple depletion of its exotic 120 mm ammunition from the army’s stocks. Therefore, another plan examined the possibilities of replacing the T179 gun with the 105 mm M68 rifled anti-tank gun, a license-built version of the British L7 gun, which had, despite the smaller caliber, a performance comparable to the bigger 120 mm T179. But since the M48 chassis and its armor concept had become outdated by the time, too, the M77A1 fleet was by 1986 fully replaced by the M60A3, the US Army’s new standard MBT.

  

Specifications:

Crew: 4 (commander, driver, loader, gunner)

Weight: 51 tons

Length: 6.946 m (22 ft 9.5 in) hull only, 10,66 m (34 ft 11 in) overall w. gun forward

Width: 3.63 m (11 ft 11 in)

Height: 3.08 m (10 ft 1 in)

Suspension: Torsion-bar

Ground clearance: 1 ft 6.2 in (0.46 m)

Fuel capacity: 385 US gal (1,457 l)

 

Armor:

0.5 – 5.3 in (13 – 137 mm)

 

Performance:

Speed:

- Maximum, road: 30 mph (48 km/h)

- Sustained, road: 25 mph (40 km/h)

- Cross country: 9.3 to 15.5 mph (15 to 25 km/h)

Climbing capability:

- 40% side slope and 60% max grade

- Vertical obstacle of 36 inches (91 cm)

- 102 inches (2.59 m) trench crossing

Fording depth: Unprepared: 4 ft (1.219 m), prepared: 8 ft (2.438 m)

Operational range: 287 ml (463 km) on road

Power/weight: 16.6 hp (12.4 kW)/tonne

 

Engine:

1× Continental AVDS-1790-2 V12, air-cooled twin-turbo diesel engine, 750 bhp (560 kW)

 

Transmission:

General Motors CD-850-3, 2-Fw/1-Rv speed GB

 

Armament:

1× 120 mm T179 L/60 rifled anti-tank gun with an autoloader and a total of 29 rounds

1× co-axial 7.62 mm M240C machine gun with 3.000 rounds

1× .50 cal (12.7 mm) M2 Browning (600 rounds) or .30 cal (7.62 mm) M73 machine

anti-aircraft machine gun (1.000 rounds) on the commander’s cupola with 600 rounds

  

The kit and its assembly:

This is another fictional creation, but, like many of my whif builds, it is rooted in reality and an extrapolation of what could have been. The oscillating tower with the M103’s 120 mm cannon and an autoloader was actually developed, and there were several tank projects that made use of it. The T77 was the final proposal, but, like the T57 on the M103 basis and other designs from the Rheem Company, the T77’s development was arduously slow, so that the project was finally canceled in 1957 by the US Ordnance Department. Two turrets were actually built, though, but they were scrapped in February 1958, and the T77 only existed on paper or in model form.

 

The impulse for this build actually came from a 1:72 resin turret for the T57 project from ModelTrans/Silesian Models. I found the concept cool and the turret had a very futuristic look, so that I bought a set with the vague intention to use it for a mecha conversion someday. Then it gathered dust in the stash, until I recently stumbled upon the 1:72 M103 kit from Dragon and considered a T57 build. But this kit is very rare and expensive, at least here in Germany, so I shelved this plan again. However, I started to play with the idea of a U.S. Army vehicle with a Rheem Company turret. Then I found a Revell M60 kit in the stash and considered it for a whiffy build, but eventually rejected the idea because a turret concept from the late Fifties would hardly make its way onto a tank from the late Seventies or later. When I did further research concerning the Rheem turret, I came across the real T77 project on the basis of the M48, and dug out an ESCI M48A5 from the pile (realizing that I had already hoarded three of them…!), so the M77 project was finally born.

 

Otherwise, the build was a straightforward affair. The T57 turret is a massive resin piece with a separate barrel and very fine surface details. Some of them, delicate lugs, were unfortunately broken off, already OOB but also by me while handling the pieces. They could be easily replaced with brass wire, though, which was also used to add small rails to the collar. The very long and thin barrel was replaced with a white metal aftermarket piece. It’s actually a barrel for a Soviet T-10 with a complex muzzle brake (made from brass), but the size was just fine and looks very good on this fictional tank.

Some details were added to the turret or transplanted from the M48 kit, e. g. the prominent IR searchlight or the machine gun on the commander cupola. Furthermore, I added a textile seal to the gap between the turret sections and to the barrel’s root, made from paper tissue drenched in thinned white glue. The same method was used to create the searchlight cover, too.

 

Since the turret base had a smaller diameter than the M48’s attachment opening, I had to improvise a suitable adapter with styrene strips. The M48A5 hull itself was taken OOB.

  

Painting and markings:

I was happy that I could place this model into a later time frame, so that the U.S. Army’s uniform Olive Drab times were already over. In the 1970s, the US Mobility Equipment Research & Design Command (MERDC) developed a system of camouflage patterns for US Army vehicles. These consisted of a set of standardized patterns for each vehicle, to be used with a set of twelve colours. The local terrain conditions and colours decided which of the paints were to be used, and on which parts of a vehicle. Then, if conditions altered, for example by a change in the weather, or by the unit moving into a new area of operations, the scheme could be quickly adjusted to suit them by replacing only one or two colours by different ones.

For example, if a vehicle was painted in the US & European winter scheme, which had a dark green and a medium brown as its predominant colours, and it started to snow, by overpainting either the green or the brown with white, one of the two snow schemes could be created. This gave a high degree of flexibility, though in practice it was hardly ever actually made use of—most vehicles were painted in one scheme and kept that.

I gave the M77 the “Winter Verdant” MERDC scheme, which was frequently used in Germany. It consists of Forest Green (FS 34079), Earth Red (FS 30117), Sand (FS 30277) and Black (FS 37038). The pattern itself was adapted from the standardized M60 MERDC scheme. Colors used were ModelMaster 1701 and 1710, plus Humbrol 238 and Revell 06. The seals on the turret and the searchlight cover were painted in a faded olive drab, the track segments with a mix of iron, dark grey and red brown.

 

After basic painting with brushes, the kit received a washing with thinned black and red brown acrylic paint. Decals (taken from the ESCI kit) came next, then the model received an overall dry brushing treatment with Humbrol 72 (Khaki Drill) and 168 (Hemp). Finally, everything was sealed with matt acrylic varnish from the rattle can and the lower hull areas were dusted with mineral pigments, simulating dust and mud.

  

Another relatively simple conversion, since only the (oscillating) turret was swapped. However, I was skeptical at first because the turret was originally intended for an M103 hull - but mounting it on a smaller M48 chassis worked well, just like in real life!

Wandering around University of Toronto, a bit miffed because my planned shots were thwarted by the Pan Am Games closures, I came across this war memorial.

 

From the University of St. Michael's College web site:

 

Over 3401 St. Michael’s Alumni served in the military in the ‘Great War’; 32 died in the line of duty. These numbers may not seem remarkable until one reads the ‘Honour Roll’ in the SMC Year Book of 1918. It is there that Fr. Michael J. Oliver, CSB, 1T0 (BA), teacher and administrator of the high school, and Secretary of the ‘Honour Roll’ tells us some rather astonishing figures. From the school’s inception in 1852, the student body was relatively small, usually numbering 100 to 150 in total. Fr. Oliver states, “only recently, (1910?) owing to an increase in the number of Toronto students, has the number exceeded 200” – now remember this was written in 1918, so even if we extrapolate growth we probably would not exceed 225-235.

 

As well, again quoting Fr. Oliver, “St. Michael’s students/graduates were to a great extent prevented from enlisting by reason of their ‘office’. This affected only college students who, as priests and theological students, had taken ‘orders’. Yet Fr. Oliver says, “we have no hesitation in saying that the following list is not more than half the full number because no organized effort was made to make the list complete.”

 

We must also bear in mind another major fact – up until probably 1900-1910 the student body had significant numbers of Americans. Fr. Oliver says, “In 1905, 30% were from the U.S.; in 1895, 50% and prior to that even a larger number”.

 

It is important here to note therefore, volunteers to the U.S. military are, in the main, not included in the data presented. It was on 2nd February 1917, that President Woodrow Wilson severed diplomatic relations with Germany et al. Subsequently, when the Germans promised aid to Mexico should the Mexicans attack the United States (and British intelligence ensured that the Americans would see this), President Wilson and the U.S. Congress declared war on the 7th April 1917. We shall come back to this matter further on.

 

No form of remembrance for the fallen was provided, until in 1945, St. Michael’s and the Basilian Fathers decided to erect a memorial to all Alumni killed in the Great War. Time passed, but nothing really happened for nearly 40 years. In 1921, The University of Toronto published a Roll of Service 1914-1918 and a ‘Roll of Honour’ for those ‘Killed in Action’ or ‘Died in Service’, but this only encompassed those enrolled in University / College – our High School volunteers and those who died in service received no equal remembrance. As well, Hart House Soldiers Tower on the University campus created its ‘Memorial Archway’ where the names of the known dead from all colleges and faculties are enshrined. (Newman Chapel [St. Thomas Aquinas] also has a small remembrance plaque).

 

However, in late 1985 Fr. William H. O’Brien CSB, 4T3; Lieutenant (Rt’d) Royal Canadian Artillery, decided that such a remembrance had to come to fruition (See Appendix ‘A’). He became the moving spirit that culminated in the memorial carved into the stone of the ‘slype’ between More and Fisher Houses and dedicated to the memory of the 32 alumni of both College and High School who died. It was completed in the November 1988 in time for the Remembrance Day service on 11 November.

 

Subsequently, Fr. Bill, who in retirement had become the archivist at St. Michael’s College School, had a similar ‘Remembrance Wall’ put in place on the outside west wall of the College School chapel. It was dedicated in 2000, a year and a half after his death.

 

St. Michael's College Memorial to the Fallen

If you were to travel to Northern France and Belgium you would find the many memorials in the hundreds of cemeteries that dot the countryside. They hold the graves of most of the more than 66,655 Canadians who never returned from the ‘Great War’ - with close to a third resting in unidentified or unknown graves. The names of those known are cut into their headstones; others show ‘A Soldier of the Great War’ above the cross, and below ‘Known Unto God’. All with no known graves have their names incised in the newly refurbished main memorial at Vimy Ridge (approx 19,000+). As well, there are many war dead, including Canadian, who are buried in multicultural, local church cemeteries and cemeteries of many other mid and northern European countries.

 

According to Wikipedia, "the term slype is a variant of slip in the sense of a narrow passage; in architecture, the name for the covered passage usually found in monasteries or cathedrals between the transept and the chapter house". Learn something every day.

 

This High Dynamic Range 360° panorama was stitched from 162 bracketed photographs with PTGUI Pro, tone-mapped with Photomatix, processed with Color Efex, then touched up in Aperture.

 

Original size: 20000 × 10000 (200.0 MP; 1.04 GB).

 

Location: University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

This is a reprocessed version of this photo. So what has changed in over a year since it was taken?

 

I used a newer version of Digital Photo Professional [DPP] which comes with better noise processing. I got better at Photoshop so I made a single image HDR using the foreground as one shot and the sky as the other. Basically it means I darkened the sky and lightened the foreground and recombined them. I also did some "healing" on the many remaining noise spots to fix some glaring issues.

 

it's still noisy and fuzzy. Part of the fuzziness is due to the tripod and head that I used - it was not the most stable of scenarios.

 

Wondering what that glow is on the horizon? It is from the recently set moon.

 

As I noted in the original posting, the EXIF data claims that this was a 26 minute exposure. I think it was much longer for a number of reasons. The first is that the lens was at 19 mm. On my 40D that lens has a vertical field of view of 60 degrees. Conservatively, 20 degrees of that are sky in this photo.

 

It takes a star at the Celestial Equator one hour to go 15 degrees (and that will be diagonally as shown here). Unfortunately there are no trails that both start and end in this one view, so it is not possible to extrapolate exactly how long the exposure was... but clearly it seems to have been longer than an hour so I'm going to stand by my original 2 hours and 15 minutes statement.

 

You might wonder why I don't know how long this was... the answer is because it was the first time I used my timer to run an exposure this long and I was asleep (well, trying to sleep) at the time. Moreover, the theory is that the internal counter for the exposure time overflowed (lied to me!)... so the exact number is unknown.

 

I'm headed to the high Sierras real soon now and hope to come back with an even nicer version of this style shot. The moon will be very cooperative, setting around midnight.

 

Meanwhile you can take a look at the larger image and smugly note that there is still a lot of noise.

 

Since this image, I seldom take exposures longer than 8 minutes and use a process to stack my long exposures to get composite trails. Noise is less of a problem with shorter exposures, and it is possible to keep the sky glow manageable. I write about this in my BLOG, and teach workshops on my techniques, too.

 

For an example of a stacked shot, see this or this

 

© Copyright 2008,2009 Steven Christenson

All rights reserved.

The Maple is an example of a living fossil, it is un-evolved after millions of years and remains alive today, unchanged from fossil examples.

 

Rapid formation of strata, latest evidence:

www.flickr.com/photos/101536517@N06/sets/72157635944904973/

 

Fossil museum: www.flickr.com/photos/101536517@N06/sets/72157641367196613/

 

The formation of fossils.

What many people don't seem to realise is that all good, intact fossils require rapid burial in sufficient sediment to prevent decay or predatory destruction.

So it is evident that rock containing good, undamaged fossils was laid down rapidly, quite likely in catastrophic conditions.

Another important factor is that many large fossils (tree trunks, large fish, dinosaurs etc.) intersect several or many strata (sometimes called layers) which indicates that multiple strata were formed simultaneously in a single event by grading/segregation of sedimentary particles into distinct layers, and not stratum by stratum over long periods of time or different geological eras, which is the evolutionist's, uniformitarian interpretation of the geological column.

 

Rapid formation of strata, latest evidence:

www.flickr.com/photos/101536517@N06/sets/72157635944904973/

 

Fossil museum: www.flickr.com/photos/101536517@N06/sets/72157641367196613/

 

There is no credible mechanism for progressive evolution.

 

Darwin believed that there was unlimited variability in the gene pool of all creatures and plants.

 

However, the changes possible through selective breeding were known by breeders to be strictly limited.

This was due to the fact that the changes seen in selective breeding were due to the shuffling, deletion and emphasis of genetic information already existing in the gene pool (micro-evolution). There was no viable mechanism for creating new, beneficial, genetic information required to create entirely new structures and features (macro-evolution).

 

Darwin ignored the limits which were well known to breeders (even though he selectively bred pigeons himself, and should have known better). He simply extrapolated the limited, minor changes observed in selective breeding to major, unlimited, progressive changes able to create new structures, organs etc. through natural selection, over millions of years.

Of course, the length of time involved made no difference, the existing, genetic information could not increase of its own accord, no matter how long the timescale.

 

That was a gigantic flaw in Darwinism, and opponents of Darwin's ideas tried to argue that changes were limited, as selective breeding had demonstrated. But because Darwinism had acquired an ideological status, belief in it outweighed the verdict of observational and experimental science, and classical Darwinism became scientific orthodoxy for nearly a century.

 

Opponents continued to argue all this time, that Darwinism was unscientific nonsense, but they were ostracised and ridiculed as cranks, weirdoes or religious fanatics.

Finally however, it was discovered that the opponents of Darwin were perfectly correct - and that constructive, genetic changes require new, additional, genetic information.

This looked like the ignominious end of Darwinism, as there was no credible, natural mechanism able to create new, constructive, genetic information. And Darwinism should have been heading for the dustbin of history,

 

However, rather than ditch the whole idea, the vested interests in Darwinism had become so great, with numerous, lifelong careers and an ideological agenda involved in the Darwinian belief system, a desperate attempt was made to rescue it from its justified demise.

A mechanism had to be invented to explain the origin of new, constructive information.

That invented mechanism was 'mutations'. Mutations are ... genetic, copying MISTAKES.

 

The public had already been convinced that classical Darwinism was a scientific fact, and that anyone who questioned it was a crank, so all that had to be done was to give the impression that the theory had simply been refined and updated in the light of modern science.

The fact that classical Darwinism had been wrong all along, and was fatally flawed from the outset was kept quiet.

The new developments were simply portrayed as the evolution and development of the theory. The impression was given that there was nothing wrong with the idea of progressive (macro) evolution, it had simply evolved in the light of greater knowledge.

 

The new, improved Darwinism became known as Neo-Darwinism.

 

So what is Neo-Darwinism?

It is progressive, macro evolution based on the ludicrous idea that random mutations (accidental, genetic, copying mistakes) selected by natural selection, can provide constructive, genetic information capable of creating entirely new features, structures, organs, and biological systems. Macro evolution is based on a belief in a complete progression from microbes to man through millions of random, genetic, copying MISTAKES. There is no evidence for it whatsoever, it is unscientific nonsense which defies logic.

 

Micro-evolution is simply the small changes which take place, through natural selection or selective breeding, but only within the strict limits of the built-in variability of the existing gene pool. Any changes outside the extent of the existing gene pool requires a credible mechanism for the creation of new, constructive, genetic information, that is what is essential for macro evolution. Micro evolution does not involve or require the creation of any new, genetic information. So micro evolution and macro evolution are entirely different. There is no connection between them at all.

 

Neo-Darwinian, macro evolution is the ridiculous idea that everything in the genome of humans and every living thing past and present (apart from the original genetic information in the very first living cell) is the result of millions of genetic copying mistakes..... mutations ... of mutations .... of mutations.... of mutations .... and so on - and on - and on.

 

In other words, Neo-Darwinism proposes that the complete genome (every scrap of genetic information in the DNA) of every living thing that has ever lived was created by a series ... of mistakes ... of mistakes .... of mistakes .... of mistakes etc. etc.

 

If we look at the whole picture we soon realise that what is actually being proposed by evolutionists is that, apart from the original information in the first living cell - every additional scrap of genetic information for all - features, structures, systems and processes that exist, or have ever existed in living things, such as:

skin, bones, bone joints, shells, flowers, leaves, wings, scales, muscles, fur, hair, teeth, claws, toe and finger nails, horns, beaks, nervous systems, blood, blood vessels, brains, lungs, hearts, digestive systems, vascular systems, liver, kidneys, pancreas, bowels, immune systems, senses, eyes, ears, sex organs, sexual reproduction, sperm, eggs, pollen, the process of metamorphosis, marsupial pouches, marsupial embryo migration, mammary glands, hormone production, melanin etc. .... have been created from scratch, by an incredibly long series of small, accumulated mistakes ... mistake - upon mistake - upon mistake - upon mistake - over and over again, millions of times. That is ... every part, system and process of all living things are the result of literally billions of genetic MISTAKES of MISTAKES, accumulated over many millions of years.

 

So what we are asked to believe is that something like a vascular system, or reproductive organs, developed in small, random, incremental steps, with every step being the result of a copying mistake, and with each step being able to provide a significant survival or reproductive advantage in order to be preserved and become dominant in the gene pool. Incredible!

If you believe that ... you will believe anything.

 

Even worse, evolutionists have yet to cite a single example of a positive, beneficial, mutation which adds constructive information to the genome of any creature. Yet they expect us to believe that we have been converted from an original, single living cell into humans by an accumulation of billions of beneficial mutations (mistakes).

 

Conclusion:

Progressive, microbes-to-man evolution is impossible - there is no credible mechanism to produce all the new, genetic information which is essential for that to take place.

The evolution story is an obvious fairy tale presented as scientific fact.

 

However, nothing has changed - those who dare to question Neo-Darwinism are still portrayed as idiots, retards, cranks, weirdoes, anti-scientific ignoramuses or religious fanatics.

Want to join the club?

 

What about the fossil record?

 

All creatures and plants alive today, which are found as fossils, are the same in their fossil form as the living examples, in spite of the fact that the fossils are claimed to be millions of years old. So all living things today could be called 'living fossils' inasmuch as there is no evidence of any evolutionary changes in the alleged multi-million year timescale. The fossil record shows either extinct species or unchanged species, that is all.

 

The Cambrian Explosion.

Trilobites and other many creatures appeared suddenly in some of the earliest rocks of the fossil record, with no intermediate ancestors. This sudden appearance of a great variety of advanced, fully developed creatures is called the Cambrian Explosion. Trilobites are especially interesting because they have complex eyes, which would need a lot of progressive evolution to develop such advanced features However, there is no evidence of any evolution leading up to the Cambrian Explosion, and that is a serious dilemma for evolutionists.

Trilobites are now thought to be extinct, although it is possible that similar creatures could still exist in unexplored parts of deep oceans.

 

Rapid formation of strata - latest evidence:

www.flickr.com/photos/101536517@N06/sets/72157635944904973/

 

See fossil of a crab unchanged after many millions of years:

www.flickr.com/photos/101536517@N06/12702046604/in/set-72...

 

Fossil museum: www.flickr.com/photos/101536517@N06/sets/72157641367196613/

 

What about all the claimed scientific evidence that evolutionists have found for evolution?

 

The evolutionist 'scientific' method has resulted in a serious decline in scientific integrity, and has given us such scientific abominations as:

 

Piltdown Man (a fake),

Nebraska Man (a pig),

South West Colorado Man (a horse),

Orce man (a donkey),

Embryonic Recapitulation (a fraud),

Archaeoraptor (a fake),

Java Man (a giant gibbon),

Peking Man (a monkey),

The Horse Series (unrelated species cobbled together),

Peppered Moth (faked photographs)

Etc. etc.

 

Anyone can call anything 'science' ... it doesn't make it so.

All these examples were trumpeted by evolutionists as scientific evidence for evolution.

Do we want to trust evolutionists claims about scientific evidence, when they have such an appalling record?

 

Just how good are peer reviews of scientific papers?

www.sciencemag.org/content/342/6154/60.full

www.examiner.com/article/want-to-publish-science-paper-ju...

 

Piltdown Man and Nebraska Man were even used in the famous, Scopes Trial as positive evidence for evolution.

Piltdown Man reigned for over 40 years, as a supreme example of human evolution, before it was exposed as a crudely, fashioned fake.

Is that 'science'?

 

The ludicrous Hopeful Monster Theory and so-called Punctuated Equilibrium (evolution in big jumps) were invented by evolutionists as a desperate attempt to explain away the lack of fossil evidence for evolution. They are proposed methods of evolution which, it is claimed, need no fossil evidence. They are actually an admission that the required fossil evidence does not exist.

 

Piltdown Man... it survived as alleged proof of evolution for over 40 years in evolution textbooks and was taught in schools and universities, it survived peer reviews etc. and was used as supposed irrefutable evidence for evolution at the famous Scopes Trial..

 

Nebraska Man, this was a single tooth of a peccary. it was trumpeted as evidence for the evolution of humans, and artists impressions of an ape-like man appeared in newspapers magazines etc. It was also used as 'scientific' evidence for evolution in the Scopes Trial. Such 'scientific' evidence is enough to make any genuine, respectable scientist weep.

 

South West Colorado Man, another tooth .... of a horse this time... It was presented as evidence for human evolution.

 

Orce man, a fragment of skullcap, which was most likely from a donkey, but even if it was human. such a tiny fragment is certainly not any proof of human evolution as it was made out to be.

 

Embryonic Recapitulation, the evolutionist zealot Ernst Haeckel (who was a hero of Hitler) published fraudulent drawings of embryos and his theory was readily accepted by evolutionists as proof of evolution. Even after he was exposed as a fraudster, evolutionists still continued to use his fraudulent evidence in books and publications on evolution, including school textbooks, until very recently.

 

Archaeoraptor, A so-called feathered dinosaur from the Chinese fossil faking industry. It managed to fool credulous evolutionists, because it was exactly what they were looking for. The evidence fitted the wishful thinking.

 

Java Man, Dubois, the man who discovered Java Man and declared it a human ancestor ..... admitted much later that it was actually a giant gibbon, however, that spoilt the evolution story which had been built up around it, so evolutionists were reluctant to get rid of it, and still maintained it was a human ancestor. Dubois had also 'forgotten' to mention that he found the bones of modern humans at the same site.

 

Peking Man, made up from monkey skulls which were found in an ancient limestone burning industrial site where there were crushed monkey skulls and modern human bones. Drawings were made of Peking Man, but the original skull conveniently disappeared. So that allowed evolutionists to continue to use it as evidence without fear of it ever being debunked.

 

The Horse Series, unrelated species cobbled together, They were from different continents and were in no way a proper series of intermediates, They had different numbers of ribs etc. and the very first in the line, is similar to a creature alive today - the Hyrax.

 

Peppered Moth, moths were glued to trees to fake photographs for the peppered moth evidence. They don't normally rest on trees in daytime. In any case, the selection of a trait which is part of the variability of the existing gene pool, is not progressive evolution. It is just normal, natural selection within limits, which no-one disputes.

 

CastorScan's philosophy is completely oriented to provide the highest scan and postproduction

quality on the globe.

  

We work with artists, photographers, agencies, laboratories etc. who demand a state-of-the-art quality at reasonable prices.

  

Our workflow is fully manual and extremely meticulous in any stage.

  

We developed exclusive workflows and profilation systems to obtain unparallel results from our scanners not achievable through semi-automatic and usual workflows.

  

-----

  

CastorScan uses the best scanners in circulation, Dainippon Screen SG-8060P Mark II, the best and most advanced scanner ever made, Kodak-Creo IQSmart 3, a high-end flatbed scanner, and Imacon 848.

  

The image quality offered by our Dainippon Screen 8060 scanner is much higher than that achievable with the best flatbed scanners or filmscanners dedicated and superior to that of scanners so-called "virtual drum" (Imacon – Hasselblad,) and, of course, vastly superior to that amateur or prosumer obtained with scanners such as Epson V750 etc .

  

Dainippon Screen SG-8060P Mark II exceeds in quality any other scanner, including Aztek Premier and ICG 380 (in the results, not just in the technical specifications).

  

8060's main features: 12000 dpi, Hi-Q Xenon lamp, 25 apertures, 2 micron

  

Aztek Premier's main features: 8000 dpi, halogen lamp, 18 apertures, 3 micron

  

ICG 380's main features: 12000 dpi, halogen lamp, 9 apertures, 4 micron

  

Some of the features that make the quality of our drum scanners better than any other existing scan system include:

  

The scans performed on a drum scanner are famous for their detail, depth and realism.

Scans are much cleaner and show fewer imperfections than scans obtained from CCD scanners, and thus save many hours of cleaning and spotting in postproduction.

Image acquisition by the drum scanner is optically similar to using a microscopic lens that scans the image point by point with extreme precision and without deformation or distortion of any kind, while other scanners use enlarger lenses (such as the Rodenstock-Linos Magnagon 75mm f8 used in the Hasselblad-Imacon scanners) and have transmission systems with rubber bands: this involves mild but effective micro-strain and micro-geometric image distortions and quality is not uniform between the center and edges.

Drum scanners are exempt from problems of flatness of the originals, since the same are mounted on a perfectly balanced transparent acrylic drum; on the contrary, the dedicated film scanners that scan slides or negatives in their plastic frames are subject to quite significant inaccuracies, as well as the Imacon-Hasselblad scanners, which have their own rubber and plastic holders: they do not guarantee the perfect flatness of the original and therefore a uniform definition between center and edge, especially with medium and large size originals, which instead are guaranteed by drum scanners.

Again, drum scanners allow scanning at high resolution over the entire surface of the cylinder, while for example the Hasselblad Imacon scans are limited to 3200 dpi in 120 format and 2000 dpi in 4x5" format (the resolution of nearly every CCD scanner in the market drops as the size of the original scanned is increased).

Drum scanners allow complete scanning of the whole negative, including the black-orange mask, perforations etc, while using many other scanners a certain percentage of the image is lost because it is covered by frames or holders.

Drum scanners use photomultiplier tubes to record the light signal, which are much more sensitive than CCDs and can record many more nuances and variations in contrast with a lower digital noise.

If you look at a monitor at 100% the detail in shadows and darker areas of a scan made with a CCD scanner, you will notice that the details are not recorded in a clear and clean way, and the colors are more opaque and less differentiated. Additionally the overall tones are much less rich and differentiated.

  

We would like to say a few words about an unscrupulous and deceitful use of technical specifications reported by many manufacturers of consumer and prosumer scanners; very often we read of scanners that promise cheap or relatively cheap “drum scanner” resolutions, 16 bits of color depth, extremely high DMAX: we would like to say that these “nominal” resolutions do not correspond to an actual optical resolution, so that even in low-resolution scanning you can see an enormous gap between drum scanners and these scanners in terms of detail, as well as in terms of DMAX, color range, realism, “quality” of grain. So very often when using these consumer-prosumer scanners at high resolutions, it is normal to get a disproportionate increase of file size in MB but not an increase of detail and quality.

To give a concrete example: a drum scan of a 24x36mm color negative film at 3500 dpi is much more defined than a scan made with mostly CCD scanner at 8000 dpi and a drum scan at 2500 dpi is dramatically clearer than a scan at 2500 dpi provided by a CCD scanner. So be aware and careful with incorrect advertisement.

  

Scans can be performed either dry or liquid-mounted. The wet mounting further improves cleanliness (helps to hide dirt, scratches and blemishes) and plasticity of the image without compromising the original, and in addition by mounting with liquid the film grain is greatly reduced and it looks much softer and more pleasant than the usual "harsh" grain resulting from dry scans.

  

We use Kami SMF 2001 liquid to mount the transparencies and Kami RC 2001 for cleaning the same. Kami SMF 2001 evaporates without leaving traces, unlike the traditional oil scans, ensuring maximum protection for your film. Out of ignorance some people prefer to avoid liquid scanning because they fear that their films will be dirty or damaged: this argument may be plausible only in reference to scans made using mineral oils, which have nothing to do with the specific professional products we use.

We strongly reiterate that your original is in no way compromised by our scanning liquid and will return as you have shipped it, if not cleaner.

  

With respect to scanning from slides:

Our scanners are carefully calibrated with the finest IT8 calibration targets in circulation and with special customized targets in order to ensure that each scan faithfully reproduces the original color richness even in the most subtle nuances, opening and maintaining detail in shadows and highlights. These color profiles allow our scanners to realize their full potential, so we guarantee our customers that even from a chromatic point of view our scans are noticeably better than similar scans made by mostly other scan services in the market.

In addition, we remind you that our 8060 drum scanner is able to read the deepest shadows of slides without digital noise and with much more detail than CCD scanners; also, the color range and color realism are far better.

  

With respect to scanning from color and bw negatives: we want to emphasize the superiority of our drum scans not only in scanning slides, but also in color and bw negative scanning (because of the orange mask and of very low contrast is extremely difficult for any ccd scanner to read the very slight tonal and contrast nuances in the color negative, while a perfectly profiled 8060 drum scanner – also through the analog gain/white calibration - can give back much more realistic images and true colors, sharper and more three-dimensional).

  

In spite of what many claim, a meticulous color profiling is essential not only for scanning slides, but also, and even more, for color negatives. Without it the scan of a color negative will produce chromatic errors rather significant, thus affecting the tonal balance and then the naturalness-pleasantness of the images.

  

More unique than rare, we do not use standardized profiles provided by the software to invert each specific negative film, because they do not take into account parameters and variables such as the type of development, the level of exposure, the type of light etc.,; at the same time we also avoid systems of "artificial intelligence" or other functions provided by semi-automatic scanning softwares, but instead we carry out the inversion in a full manual workflow for each individual picture.

  

In addition, scanning with Imacon-Hasselblad scanners we do not use their proprietary software - Flexcolor – to make color management and color inversion because we strongly believe that our alternative workflow provides much better results, and we are able to prove it with absolute clarity.

  

At each stage of the process we take care of meticulously adjusting the scanning parameters to the characteristics of the originals, to extrapolate the whole range of information possible from any image without "burning" or reductions in the tonal range, and strictly according to our customer's need and taste.

  

By default, we do not apply unsharp mask (USM) in our scans, except on request.

  

To scan reflective originals we follow the same guidelines and guarantee the same quality standard.

  

We guarantee the utmost thoroughness and expertise in the work of scanning and handling of the originals and we provide scans up to 12,000 dpi of resolution, at 16-bit, in RGB, GRAYSCALE, LAB or CMYK color mode; unless otherwise indicated, files are saved with Adobe RGB 1998 or ProPhoto RGB color profile.

  

WWW.CASTORSCAN.COM

This is a linocut portrait of American geologist and oceanographic cartographer Marie Tharp (1920-2006), whose pioneering, thorough and complete ocean floor maps made with her partner in science Bruce Heezen revealed the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The mid-ocean ridge itself, based on their 1957 physiographic map, is illustrated behind her, along with the sort of echo sounder or precision depth recorder tracks she used, in front of her. The first edition is a variable run of 10 prints, each 9" by 12" (22.9 cm by 30.5 cm), on white Japanese kozo paper with "chine-collé" teal somegami paper.

 

Tharp had struggled to find the the right university major; she wanted something she could do, and enjoy, but there were not many options for women in her day. More opportunities opened up during WWII and she took the chance to return to school and study geology and then math. Looking for something challenging (but not tedious) she contacted Maurice 'Doc' Ewing at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia, who hired her to draft data, including the thousands of echo sounder profiles they were gathering. Women were still not allowed to participate in research cruises, but they could work with the data. Before long, Heezen came to Lamont and required so much drafting work that Tharp worked exclusively with him.

 

Scientists once imagined the ocean floor as a largely featureless plain. Early depth measurements were taken with lead weights (such as canon balls) and a whole lot of rope! As early as the late 19th century, such laboriously collected datasets began to hint at a broad rise in the centre of the Atlantic. By the mid 20th century, there was a push to try and map these submarine mountains.

 

Tharp spent months painstakingly "plotting, drawing, checking, correcting, redrawing and rechecking" profiles of the North Atlantic. The ship tracks across the Atlantic were a sparse web, but when Tharp compared half a dozen more or less parallel transects she noticed no only the general similarities of the ridge, but a V-shaped notch in the centre of all the profiles. She suspected they coincided because they indicated a rift valley all along the ridge crest. The early ideas about plate tectonics or the "continental drift" theory were still quite controversial and unpopular. Heezen dismissed Tharp's observation as "girl talk" for looking too much like continent drift - as in fact it was indeed a vital piece of the plate tectonics puzzle. We now know that surface of the Earth is itself a jigsaw puzzle of pieces known as tectonic plates, jostling one another at a stately, geological pace. Mid-ocean ridges are underwater volcanic mountain chains which roughly bisect all ocean basins. They are all cut by a rift valley which is the spreading centre. These rifts are where new crust is born, pushing upwards and outward. This drives the two plates on either side slowly apart over geological time. On our own timescales of everyday life, we notice he bumps in this slow ride: the sporadic earthquakes, rather than the slow creep (though today, we can meticulously measure both).

 

Tharp believed the rift was real though her contour maps hadn't convinced Heezen. In 1952, they began working on physiographic maps, which would show seafloor topography as if you were flying just above it, and the water were drained away. These had the advantage of really giving a sense of the variety of geology, from plains to mountains, seamounts to trenches. Also, unlike detailed contour maps, physiographic maps were not US Navy classified information, so Tharp and Heezen would be able to publish what they produced. Further, they were beginning to gather much better precision depth recorder data, which revealed far more features, along with better navigation to plot ships' positions along tracks more accurately. A second project in their research group involved plotting earthquakes, and Heezen insisted they work at the same scale. Heezen then noticed that ocean earthquake epicentre data also formed long lines - and in fact, when one map was placed above the other on a light table they found the earthquakes formed near continous lines right along the Miid-Atlantic ridge right where Tharp had indicated there was a rift valley. Using the earthquake data to extrapolate and plot the rift position where there was no seafloor sounding data, they found that the rift extend landward into the Rift Valley of East Africa - a well-known, easy to observe terrestrial rift valley. Heezen was then convinced. They had discovered a worldwide mid-ocean ridge system, tens of thousands of kilometres long. Tharp was able to mine existing data to show the Mid-Atlantic Ridge extended to the south Atlantic and found similar features in other oceans. These all similarly lined up neatly with earthquake epicentres. Ewing and Heezen announced their findings in 1956. In 1957 Tharp and Heezen published their North Atlantic physiographic map; I've shown my version of their map behind her. The ridge snakes from top to bottom (north to south-south-west), above and almost mimicking the line of her arm.

 

They continued this work, extending to other oceans over the next 25 years, ultimately producing detailed physiographic maps of the world oceans. Their pioneering work mapping the oceanic plate boundaries, and showing their clear alignment with seismic data helped fuel the revolution in geology and geophysics, the paradigm shift of plate tectonics.

 

Tharp's work was largely in the background during her university career, though she won a number of prizes during her retirement and has continued to gain posthumous recognition for the importance of her work and observations. I was very pleased to see her recognized recently in Neil DeGrasse Tyson's Cosmos reboot. I want to bring her incredible insight and excellent work to a wider audience as both artist a

Nikon D1X de 5.47 MP ( 3006 x 1962 )

avec une extrapolation dans LR qui donne au final, une image de 10.5 MP ( 4011x2614 )

voir ici : www.lonestardigital.com/techcorner.htm

$5,500.00 USD

 

===================================================

 

Nikon D1X 5.47 MP ( 3006 x 1962 )

with an extrapolation in LR which gives in the end, a 10.5 MP image ( 4011x2614 )

see here : www.lonestardigital.com/techcorner.htm

$5,500.00 US

 

www.flickr.com/photos/maoby/albums/72157644364384041

Como,Vincenzo Castella's exhibition. 180x300cm LightJet prints: scans by CastorScan

 

N3 LightJet prints 180x300 cm on Kodak Endura Paper

Scans by CastorScan

 

Stampe digitali LightJet 180x300 cm su carta Kodak Endura.

Scansioni da negativi colore Kodak Portra 160NC 12x20 pollici (30x51 cm) realizzate da CastorScan su scanner a tamburo.

  

-----

 

CastorScan's philosophy is completely oriented to provide the highest scan and postproduction

quality on the globe.

 

We work with artists, photographers, agencies, laboratories etc. who demand a state-of-the-art quality at reasonable prices.

 

Our workflow is fully manual and extremely meticulous in any stage.

 

We developed exclusive workflows and profilation systems to obtain unparallel results from our scanners not achievable through semi-automatic and usual workflows.

  

-----

 

CastorScan uses the best scanners in circulation, Dainippon Screen SG-8060P Mark II, the best and most advanced scanner ever made, Kodak-Creo IQSmart 3, a high-end flatbed scanner, and Imacon 848.

 

The image quality offered by our Dainippon Screen 8060 scanner is much higher than that achievable with the best flatbed scanners or filmscanners dedicated and superior to that of scanners so-called "virtual drum" (Imacon – Hasselblad,) and, of course, vastly superior to that amateur or prosumer obtained with scanners such as Epson V750 etc .

 

Dainippon Screen SG-8060P Mark II exceeds in quality any other scanner, including Aztek Premier and ICG 380 (in the results, not just in the technical specifications).

 

8060's main features: 12000 dpi, Hi-Q Xenon lamp, 25 apertures, 2 micron

 

Aztek Premier's main features: 8000 dpi, halogen lamp, 18 apertures, 3 micron

 

ICG 380's main features: 12000 dpi, halogen lamp, 9 apertures, 4 micron

  

Some of the features that make the quality of our drum scanners better than any other existing scan system include:

 

The scans performed on a drum scanner are famous for their detail, depth and realism.

Scans are much cleaner and show fewer imperfections than scans obtained from CCD scanners, and thus save many hours of cleaning and spotting in postproduction.

Image acquisition by the drum scanner is optically similar to using a microscopic lens that scans the image point by point with extreme precision and without deformation or distortion of any kind, while other scanners use enlarger lenses (such as the Rodenstock-Linos Magnagon 75mm f8 used in the Hasselblad-Imacon scanners) and have transmission systems with rubber bands: this involves mild but effective micro-strain and micro-geometric image distortions and quality is not uniform between the center and edges.

Drum scanners are exempt from problems of flatness of the originals, since the same are mounted on a perfectly balanced transparent acrylic drum; on the contrary, the dedicated film scanners that scan slides or negatives in their plastic frames are subject to quite significant inaccuracies, as well as the Imacon-Hasselblad scanners, which have their own rubber and plastic holders: they do not guarantee the perfect flatness of the original and therefore a uniform definition between center and edge, especially with medium and large size originals, which instead are guaranteed by drum scanners.

Again, drum scanners allow scanning at high resolution over the entire surface of the cylinder, while for example the Hasselblad Imacon scans are limited to 3200 dpi in 120 format and 2000 dpi in 4x5" format (the resolution of nearly every CCD scanner in the market drops as the size of the original scanned is increased).

Drum scanners allow complete scanning of the whole negative, including the black-orange mask, perforations etc, while using many other scanners a certain percentage of the image is lost because it is covered by frames or holders.

Drum scanners use photomultiplier tubes to record the light signal, which are much more sensitive than CCDs and can record many more nuances and variations in contrast with a lower digital noise.

If you look at a monitor at 100% the detail in shadows and darker areas of a scan made with a CCD scanner, you will notice that the details are not recorded in a clear and clean way, and the colors are more opaque and less differentiated. Additionally the overall tones are much less rich and differentiated.

  

We would like to say a few words about an unscrupulous and deceitful use of technical specifications reported by many manufacturers of consumer and prosumer scanners; very often we read of scanners that promise cheap or relatively cheap “drum scanner” resolutions, 16 bits of color depth, extremely high DMAX: we would like to say that these “nominal” resolutions do not correspond to an actual optical resolution, so that even in low-resolution scanning you can see an enormous gap between drum scanners and these scanners in terms of detail, as well as in terms of DMAX, color range, realism, “quality” of grain. So very often when using these consumer-prosumer scanners at high resolutions, it is normal to get a disproportionate increase of file size in MB but not an increase of detail and quality.

To give a concrete example: a drum scan of a 24x36mm color negative film at 3500 dpi is much more defined than a scan made with mostly CCD scanner at 8000 dpi and a drum scan at 2500 dpi is dramatically clearer than a scan at 2500 dpi provided by a CCD scanner. So be aware and careful with incorrect advertisement.

 

Scans can be performed either dry or liquid-mounted. The wet mounting further improves cleanliness (helps to hide dirt, scratches and blemishes) and plasticity of the image without compromising the original, and in addition by mounting with liquid the film grain is greatly reduced and it looks much softer and more pleasant than the usual "harsh" grain resulting from dry scans.

 

We use Kami SMF 2001 liquid to mount the transparencies and Kami RC 2001 for cleaning the same. Kami SMF 2001 evaporates without leaving traces, unlike the traditional oil scans, ensuring maximum protection for your film. Out of ignorance some people prefer to avoid liquid scanning because they fear that their films will be dirty or damaged: this argument may be plausible only in reference to scans made using mineral oils, which have nothing to do with the specific professional products we use.

We strongly reiterate that your original is in no way compromised by our scanning liquid and will return as you have shipped it, if not cleaner.

 

With respect to scanning from slides:

Our scanners are carefully calibrated with the finest IT8 calibration targets in circulation and with special customized targets in order to ensure that each scan faithfully reproduces the original color richness even in the most subtle nuances, opening and maintaining detail in shadows and highlights. These color profiles allow our scanners to realize their full potential, so we guarantee our customers that even from a chromatic point of view our scans are noticeably better than similar scans made by mostly other scan services in the market.

In addition, we remind you that our 8060 drum scanner is able to read the deepest shadows of slides without digital noise and with much more detail than CCD scanners; also, the color range and color realism are far better.

 

With respect to scanning from color and bw negatives: we want to emphasize the superiority of our drum scans not only in scanning slides, but also in color and bw negative scanning (because of the orange mask and of very low contrast is extremely difficult for any ccd scanner to read the very slight tonal and contrast nuances in the color negative, while a perfectly profiled 8060 drum scanner – also through the analog gain/white calibration - can give back much more realistic images and true colors, sharper and more three-dimensional).

 

In spite of what many claim, a meticulous color profiling is essential not only for scanning slides, but also, and even more, for color negatives. Without it the scan of a color negative will produce chromatic errors rather significant, thus affecting the tonal balance and then the naturalness-pleasantness of the images.

  

More unique than rare, we do not use standardized profiles provided by the software to invert each specific negative film, because they do not take into account parameters and variables such as the type of development, the level of exposure, the type of light etc.,; at the same time we also avoid systems of "artificial intelligence" or other functions provided by semi-automatic scanning softwares, but instead we carry out the inversion in a full manual workflow for each individual picture.

 

In addition, scanning with Imacon-Hasselblad scanners we do not use their proprietary software - Flexcolor – to make color management and color inversion because we strongly believe that our alternative workflow provides much better results, and we are able to prove it with absolute clarity.

 

At each stage of the process we take care of meticulously adjusting the scanning parameters to the characteristics of the originals, to extrapolate the whole range of information possible from any image without "burning" or reductions in the tonal range, and strictly according to our customer's need and taste.

 

By default, we do not apply unsharp mask (USM) in our scans, except on request.

 

To scan reflective originals we follow the same guidelines and guarantee the same quality standard.

 

We guarantee the utmost thoroughness and expertise in the work of scanning and handling of the originals and we provide scans up to 12,000 dpi of resolution, at 16-bit, in RGB, GRAYSCALE, LAB or CMYK color mode; unless otherwise indicated, files are saved with Adobe RGB 1998 or ProPhoto RGB color profile.

 

WWW.CASTORSCAN.COM

This extended "holiday" has given me a boot in the ass I really wasn't expecting to get right now. I've known for a long time that there was a high chance that my son could end up showing signs of mental illness. It runs on both sides of his family. The signs have been there since he first started talking and whenever he felt really bad about anything he told us he wanted to stab himself with a sword. I don't know what parent's blood wouldn't run cold at hearing their two year old say such a thing, but for a person who went through suicidal periods- hearing him say such things felt like being killed myself.

  

For many years people have advised me not to "project" my own issues onto him. Since I've never told him I ever wanted to kill myself I don't think I was projecting myself onto him much. For years people have said "He's so young, just wait and see." Or they've said "Oh, he's just a normal kid, they all say that kind of stuff." But when I ask directly if their kids have talked like him they have always had to admit that theirs hadn't.

  

With Max's food issues people have consistently insisted that he is just playing us for power and that we're letting him step all over us. We've known differently. People are always trying to make it our own fault or suggest that Max is just being a spoiled kid because poor kids wouldn't ever get to choose what they eat and no kid will choose to starve.

  

But as I have been trying to just watch and listen, wait and see, I have seen him develop more and more into a vibrant version of Philip and I. Most parents would be thrilled because isn't that what so many people want? Little "minnie me's"? Which I think is creepy, but who cares what I think, huh? I never looked for my kid to be exactly like me and I have always been hopeful that in many ways he would not be like me because being me has been a 39 year challenge I wouldn't dream of sticking anyone else with.

  

I honestly don't understand how I managed to talk myself into believing that I could have a baby who wouldn't get my mental illness. But, I have agreed not to sit around mourning what I can't change and feeling like a piece of shit for being selfish enough to have a child.

  

So all these years I've been trying not to jump any gun or race to consign my child to a clinical labeling. But there comes a time when a mother knows better than everyone else- besides a professional psychologist. There comes a time when a mother has seen her child suffer for long enough with something he has little control over and isn't aware of. There comes a time when it hurts too much to watch; unable to help enough, unable to ease through every minute.

  

The truth is pretty hideous: I can't do this without professional help anymore. No, that's not quite the truth that I need to put out there into the light... OK. OK.

  

Parenting has driven me to drink. Most seriously. My goal this year is to lose weight, to drink a lot less beer, and to be healthier both physically and psychologically. Which I am unable to do while my child is so challenging to raise.

  

There. It is said. The horrible ugly is said at last. Having him home so much longer than usual has highlighted some things I've been worried about but which are now so blaringly obvious that if I ignore them any longer and anything bad happens to my boy because of it I won't forgive myself later.

  

The truth is that both my husband and my son need psychological help and yet I'm the only one in the family who is medicated. But never medicated enough and the longer they go without therapy or medication the harder I drink, the less I sleep, the fatter I get. I'm not saying I don't make choices here. But I'm saying that all these choices I am making are allowing me to put off complete mental exhaustion. They are giving me some kind of mental calm that otherwise would be decimated by everyone else's panic attacks in this house.

  

I can't force Philip to get help, and anyway, neither of us have medical insurance and won't be able to afford counseling or extra meds until we do. Or until we're making a lot more money than we seem capable of.

  

Max has medical insurance, however, and so it is time to get him professional help. I have been writing this post for two days now and have wrestled with the question of putting it here on my blog. I know so many people who would think putting something so personal about their kid out there for others to read is a violation of their privacy. There is some merit in that. But this is my story too. And if there is only one thing I can teach him in this life I hope to God it will be to never be ashamed of mental illness.

  

I have decided that telling it here is better. If he's angry at me for doing it when he's older then we can fight it out. Parents who keep this kind of stuff private are rarely spared anger anyway because what I've observed about parenting is that you can never do it right. Cardinal rule: you will fuck it all up.

  

How many other parents have asked themselves the same questions I have? How many other parents have had to make choices and decisions for their children that were terrifying and wished to god it was all easier to talk about? I'm not going to hide it. Someone else out there is wishing they didn't have to feel so alone and wishes they could know what other parents are doing in the same circumstances. God knows I wish I could know more parents who have a child like mine so I can know how they survive it. So I could navigate this terrifying path with a little more light.

  

This week I begin the process of finding a proper psychologist to assess Max because I believe he suffers from OCD and generalized anxiety. I am confident that I am not going to find I'm far wrong. I knew what I suffered from before I got an official diagnosis and I also was not wrong when I guessed my own mother's diagnosis which was confirmed several months ago.

  

I have made the following list to submit to Max's doctor:

   

Fiber Texture Sensitive: he won't wear denim or any slightly stiff cotton. He prefers sweat pants or soft sporty fabrics. Is very disturbed by seams in his clothing if he can feel them.

  

Other texture sensitivities: bumps in his socks he will not tolerate. He'll try on four pairs a morning to find a pair without them. If his clothes don't hang right they will drive him crazy. Mostly he's happiest when he's just in his pajamas at home. Things itch him and hurt him and bother him that seem inconsequential to everyone else. Getting him dressed has been a nightmare since he could fight me over it at 18 months old. Hates hats because they hurt his head.

   

Food Texture Sensitive: nothing mushy, EVER. Crisp textures are the best. When anything that's supposed to be crisp goes even slightly stale he won't eat it. Doesn't like wet textures, for example: if you wash slices of peeled apples because they got crumbs on them he won't eat them. Anything that is sticky is usually despised, especially if it gets on his face, hands, or clothes. Won't eat bread that is too dry and dense nor bread that is too white and squishy.

 

Taste Sensitive: This is a constantly evolving and revolving issue which drives me to drink.* He has such an advanced sense of taste that he can tell the difference between three vanilla ice cream brands. He likes things one day (or maybe for three) and then suddenly it tastes bad. Sometimes we go through periods where everything tastes bad. If you slightly over toast anything he can taste it as burnt.

  

More taste sensitivities: he once claimed for almost two weeks that everything tasted like coffee and it was almost impossible to feed him anything. I still don't know how he knows what coffee tastes like but he says his dad gave him a sip once.

 

Foods can't touch: If there is a microscopic crumb on a piece of peeled apple, he won't eat it. If he thinks his food has come in contact with any other food, he won't eat it. Especially if he suspects that it's come in contact with any of our food. He hates sitting next to other people's food, especially if he can smell it. Won't drink water if the outside of the cup is wet. Won't eat food if there is a drop of water on the plate. Won't eat two kinds of food on the same plate or at the same time. Won't sit at a table to eat meals. Ever since he was a toddler the only way we could get him to pay attention enough to his food to eat it was to let him watch movies while he ate it so that he wasn't really paying attention to it at all.

 

Foods can't be irregular: if an apple has a speck of a brown spot on it, he won't eat it. If there are holes in his bread, he won't eat it. If his egg hangs over his toast, he won't eat it. If an egg has a crispy edge he won't eat it and shivers in repulsion. If the egg has holes in it he won't eat it. If anything doesn't look like it's the right color or the texture is off or some piece of the food is ragged he won't touch it. I once got him to eat an irregular piece of cucumber by making him close his eyes and letting me feed it to him.

 

Other red flag issues: Often demands that we wash our hands before touching his food. Although he doesn't seem overly concerned about germs in general, we were sharing a piece of ice cream pie at a restaurant and he requested his own so that he wouldn't have to worry about touching our "spit area". He won't drink water that has sat around for too long. He won't let you reuse a bowl for a snack unless you wash it first.

 

Doesn't like leaving the house: He says he doesn't like going far from the house because it isn't comfortable. He hates going downtown, out to eat, to most people's houses, to school, to take a trip (unless it's to visit his friend Sam in California), or to go to friends' houses. He prefers friends to come here. If we let him he would stay in his pajamas for weeks on end and never set foot outside.

 

Doesn't play well with others: He really freaks out when people mess with his stuff. If they mess up his "set up" of Legos he treats it like a human rights violation and his friends and family don't like that so much. If they don't play exactly as he directs them to play he freaks out and has what appears to be a panic attack. Or gets angry. And yells. He can always tell when his stuff has been messed with. He arranges everything precisely. His favorite activity every morning (when he was ten months old) was to arrange a stack of videos very neatly and precisely. It was fascinating to watch.

 

He is extremely sensitive: It is the easiest thing in the world to hurt his feelings. Try joking with him. He tries to joke with other people but generally can't tell when they are trying to joke with him and takes offense. If people tease him he takes it seriously and thinks everyone hates him and feels like a horrible outcast. His hurt feelings alternate with retaliatory feelings of revenge.

 

Not overly sensitive to others: A great combination of traits, huh? He has almost no self control when it comes to voicing his opinions and feelings which are often very honest and frank and therefore quite upsetting to everyone. He doesn't understand that this is the same thing that others do that hurt his feelings. He doesn't seem to mean to hurt people and feels bad when you call him on it but continues to say whatever is on his mind at all times.

 

Expresses himself violently: With words. If he feels bad about something he's done he expresses it by saying things like "I should just die" or "I don't even deserve to have a family" or "I'm going to kill myself" or if someone has really hurt him he says things like "I hate so-and-so and will never talk to them again..." or worse yet "If so-and-so does that to me again I will kick him in the balls". Very extreme expression. Self harm has been in his vocabulary since he could talk. He used to bite himself frequently.

 

Odd quirks: He doesn't want to throw anything away. He tries to keep all the packaging to the toys he receives, all the instructions, and even the stupid little ads they always include. He won't throw old toys away either, not even if they're broken. He revealed to me one evening that he thought all his things had feelings and would be upset if he threw them away. He also doesn't like it when I clean the house because when it's clean he's uncomfortable. When the living room is tidy he says it's too "empty" and it bothers him.

 

Physical panic: Whenever he experiences physical pain or discomfort he dives quickly into panic mode in which you can hardly help him because he has already decided nothing can help and he won't let you near, but simultaneously he is screaming that he needs help and why don't you do something?! It doesn't matter if it's something really bad (it sometimes is, like the metal in his eye, and sometimes it's not, like a mild bug bite) his reaction is generally pretty severe. Yet I have seen the kid take the most intense falls from his bike and get up without a flinch even while he's bleeding profusely from the knee.

 

The Negative spiraling: One little thing going wrong in his day or his routine can make him see his entire life as a giant black hole of pain and decide that life is impossible and he sees no choice but to give up. Talking him out of his negative state is as exhausting as it is futile. It is strong and it is real to him. He can extrapolate the miserable outcome of any experience into the worst case scenario before you can take your first swig of beer.

 

Afraid of the dark: Lots of kids are afraid of the dark. Mine is very serious about it. Needs full lights on and prefers the hall lights on as well. He suffers bad nightmares often and this doesn't help. We used to turn the lights off after he went to sleep but he would wake up in the dark and be terrified so often that we haven't dared try that for at least a year or longer. He isn't a good sleeper and never has been, although it's become easier and better over time.

 

Random texture aversions: he hates anything sticky on his skin. He has an extreme aversion to getting blood on his fingers which has been quite an inconvenience since he has a terrible problem with gushing bloody noses. He would rather let the blood drip to the floor and wait until we find him tissues than to put pressure on his nose with his own finger which inevitably gets bloody. Which he then panics about. Not too keen to play on grass. Doesn't like to be barefoot outside, ever. He also will not sleep with flannel because it freaks him out.

 

Routines: All kids seem to thrive on routines but our kid holds firm to our routines as though his life depended on everything being the same at all times, every day. He hates going to new places, especially new places to eat. He hates going to new people's houses. He has daily routines that he will go to great lengths to maintain such as- eating his dessert, then pajamas, then brushing his teeth, then snuggle time. God forbid you ask him to brush his teeth before putting his pajamas on.

 

Deep Worry: He thinks very deeply about everything and unfortunately often worries about things as well and can't let go. When we moved he was really worried about our old cat Ozark who had been buried in our old yard last February. He kept thinking about him being alone there without us and feeling sad and abandoned. He thinks about the universe- galaxies and is very concerned about how they were formed and he wants to understand everything so much and it really disturbs him to get ambiguous answers. He's worried about so many things and there just aren't enough answers.

 

Over this vacation his world has shrunk and because of being snowed in and having a negative experience with a friend at the beginning of it he has not wanted to play with any friends (we've strong armed him anyway) and all he wants to do is remain in his pajamas every single day all day, he wants both his parents to never have to work again so they can stay home with him, and he wants us to play with him. He doesn't want to go outside, play with friends, see anyone but us (and his Grandma).

 

I suddenly saw what was happening- his world just became extremely small. It is very hard to be the only companion of a child. I don't want to be playing Legos and Bionicles for the next ten years. He should be playing with other kids and doing parent/kid things with us like baking cookies, reading, going on hikes, or to the park. I asked him why he never wants to go anywhere and he told me that it's because he isn't comfortable anywhere else. If I let him he will be a confirmed agoraphobic by the time he's nine years old.

 

So few parents understand what it's like to have a child like mine, unless they have a child like mine. The pain I feel for what he goes through and how easily he is misunderstood is like having my heart broken every single day. The wedge it puts between me and other parents makes me lonely and then when I get to talk to a parent who is having similar experiences it's like getting the freshest breath of air but I also feel like I want to monopolize them and suck their energy up because I don't have any of my own anymore so sometimes I keep my distance so I don't scare them off and that's lonely too.**

 

So much good is happening right now. So many positive changes have been finally coming through and I want Max to feel them too but instead he's just getting worse and worse. So while I really want to stop drinking a six pack of beer a night so that I can stop being fat and miserable which isn't how my spirit wants to feel- I am going to have to find a way to make my parenting life a hell of a lot less stressful because I can't parent my child right now on less than six beers a night.

 

Don't any of you dare judge me unless you have gone through what I go through every day. Don't anyone dare dish me up platitudes or tell me that going to alcoholics anonymous will give me the strength to live in a house with two untreated mentally ill people because I already know it aint so. I am never drunk and am not exactly ashamed of doing what I've had to do to not kill myself at the end of the day when it's been one long stream of panic attacks from three directions.

 

Every time I think I've spilled my darkest secrets I seem to find there's more. More. And more.

 

I know what my child needs and it isn't vitamin B12 (though, with his diet it's tempting to suspect a vitamin deficiency- we keep him on a steady supply of multi vitamins usually) nor does he need some metaphysical intervention. What he needs is a professional assessment so his options can be sorted through. He needs more support than he can get from his mentally ill parents. He needs therapy and possibly medication. And if I choose to wait until he's older it could be too late.

 

So along with the rest of my life I'm trying to clean up this year this will also need addressing because it is one of the greatest sources of stress in my life and it's not one that a hot bath can make disappear. If I'm going to reach my goals this year then I have to step up to the plate and stop being afraid of saying what needs to be said, of addressing the thing that scares the goddamn crap out of me. I've listened to other people long enough.

 

I've listened to them and I've listened to Max.

 

Max is this huge light of a person who's gifts are pretty incredible. He will never be like other kids or people because he was born to lead his own brigade. But he won't be able to see or use his own gifts unless his brain is allowed to rest. The greatest way that I can show my love to this amazing child of mine is to show him how to help his brain function better, to show him that having a mental illness can be a pain in the ass but most of us people with mental illnesses are people everyone else needs. We are people who see differently and have the power to show others how to see differently too; through many mediums such as art, science, words, and music. Mental illness can uncover what lies beneath the layers of this human sheen.

 

I am scared to get him an official diagnosis but I'm even more scared of what will happen to us all if I don't.

      

*I wasn't kidding. I'm still not kidding.

  

**A couple of blog friends of mine have been so generous as to share with me their own similar challenges with their kids and I have one local friend who knows what I go through because of her own experience with similar issues and I cannot stress enough how much it means to me when someone talks to me who knows what I have gone through and helps me not feel like an asshole or a failure of a parent. You know who you are- you have made me feel so much less alone and the three of you have offered much needed balm to me- THANK YOU!

The very first sizable Classic Space set I had as a kid was 6928 Uranium Search Vehicle, which I loved. I decided to build an updated version.

 

I made a few intentional changes to the design, but they're all extrapolated from the original. Specifically, the two sections are joined with an articulated tunnel rather than a hinge, and there are modest living quarters (including two beds) inside.

 

Be sure to check out the full set of photos!

I have always been fascinated speculating on what life would have been like inside the walls of Minas Tirith, having often daydreamed about being able to visit this fantasy city. I presume there would be some kind of hierarchy to the levels, with the rulers on the top level, of course.

 

The Main or First level would presumably have traders, crafters, farmers markets, etc. as it would be easiest to get in/out of the city from the First level to the Pelennor Fields and the harbor at Harlond 3 miles south.

 

Population and population density of Minas Tirith has also fascinated me. By T.A. 3019 and the War of the Ring, "horses were seldom seen in the city". Whether this was always the case or not gives some clue as to how many people could conceivably fit inside the city walls.

 

The physical footprint of the city is also a subject of discussion. A larger city could hold more populace in time of need. Tolkien never discussed the horizontal dimensions of Minas Tirith, although fortunately he did provide vertical dimensions.

 

The late Karen Wynn Fonstad took mathematical ratios of Tolkien drawings of Minas Tirith and the Citadel along with the known vertical dimenions, and extrapolated that the city would have been 3,100 feet across, or about 3/5ths of a mile!

 

Artist Alan Lee has presented a denser, more pouplated version of the First Level of Minas Tirith in this now classic drawing - which graced at least one book cover.

 

The architectural style is clearly reflected in the movies, and is a nice cross between our medieval European style, and a "high fantasy" style - yet unique in its own way.

 

The distinctive "ship bow" natural rock partition (with delved tunnel through it) clearly signifies this city as Minas Tirith.

 

The White banner flying from the left steeple places the time period during the Ruling Stewards, somewhere between Third Age 2050 and 3019 (the start of the War of the Ring).

 

I love art details like this that show what (and when) this image is, even though it is zoomed in!

Wandering around University of Toronto, a bit miffed because my planned shots were thwarted by the Pan Am Games closures, I came across this war memorial.

 

From the University of St. Michael's College web site:

 

Over 3401 St. Michael’s Alumni served in the military in the ‘Great War’; 32 died in the line of duty. These numbers may not seem remarkable until one reads the ‘Honour Roll’ in the SMC Year Book of 1918. It is there that Fr. Michael J. Oliver, CSB, 1T0 (BA), teacher and administrator of the high school, and Secretary of the ‘Honour Roll’ tells us some rather astonishing figures. From the school’s inception in 1852, the student body was relatively small, usually numbering 100 to 150 in total. Fr. Oliver states, “only recently, (1910?) owing to an increase in the number of Toronto students, has the number exceeded 200” – now remember this was written in 1918, so even if we extrapolate growth we probably would not exceed 225-235.

 

As well, again quoting Fr. Oliver, “St. Michael’s students/graduates were to a great extent prevented from enlisting by reason of their ‘office’. This affected only college students who, as priests and theological students, had taken ‘orders’. Yet Fr. Oliver says, “we have no hesitation in saying that the following list is not more than half the full number because no organized effort was made to make the list complete.”

 

We must also bear in mind another major fact – up until probably 1900-1910 the student body had significant numbers of Americans. Fr. Oliver says, “In 1905, 30% were from the U.S.; in 1895, 50% and prior to that even a larger number”.

 

It is important here to note therefore, volunteers to the U.S. military are, in the main, not included in the data presented. It was on 2nd February 1917, that President Woodrow Wilson severed diplomatic relations with Germany et al. Subsequently, when the Germans promised aid to Mexico should the Mexicans attack the United States (and British intelligence ensured that the Americans would see this), President Wilson and the U.S. Congress declared war on the 7th April 1917. We shall come back to this matter further on.

 

No form of remembrance for the fallen was provided, until in 1945, St. Michael’s and the Basilian Fathers decided to erect a memorial to all Alumni killed in the Great War. Time passed, but nothing really happened for nearly 40 years. In 1921, The University of Toronto published a Roll of Service 1914-1918 and a ‘Roll of Honour’ for those ‘Killed in Action’ or ‘Died in Service’, but this only encompassed those enrolled in University / College – our High School volunteers and those who died in service received no equal remembrance. As well, Hart House Soldiers Tower on the University campus created its ‘Memorial Archway’ where the names of the known dead from all colleges and faculties are enshrined. (Newman Chapel [St. Thomas Aquinas] also has a small remembrance plaque).

 

However, in late 1985 Fr. William H. O’Brien CSB, 4T3; Lieutenant (Rt’d) Royal Canadian Artillery, decided that such a remembrance had to come to fruition (See Appendix ‘A’). He became the moving spirit that culminated in the memorial carved into the stone of the ‘slype’ between More and Fisher Houses and dedicated to the memory of the 32 alumni of both College and High School who died. It was completed in the November 1988 in time for the Remembrance Day service on 11 November.

 

Subsequently, Fr. Bill, who in retirement had become the archivist at St. Michael’s College School, had a similar ‘Remembrance Wall’ put in place on the outside west wall of the College School chapel. It was dedicated in 2000, a year and a half after his death.

 

St. Michael's College Memorial to the Fallen

If you were to travel to Northern France and Belgium you would find the many memorials in the hundreds of cemeteries that dot the countryside. They hold the graves of most of the more than 66,655 Canadians who never returned from the ‘Great War’ - with close to a third resting in unidentified or unknown graves. The names of those known are cut into their headstones; others show ‘A Soldier of the Great War’ above the cross, and below ‘Known Unto God’. All with no known graves have their names incised in the newly refurbished main memorial at Vimy Ridge (approx 19,000+). As well, there are many war dead, including Canadian, who are buried in multicultural, local church cemeteries and cemeteries of many other mid and northern European countries.

 

According to Wikipedia, "the term slype is a variant of slip in the sense of a narrow passage; in architecture, the name for the covered passage usually found in monasteries or cathedrals between the transept and the chapter house". Learn something every day.

 

This High Dynamic Range 360° panorama was stitched from 162 bracketed photographs with PTGUI Pro, tone-mapped with Photomatix, processed with Color Efex, then touched up in Aperture.

 

Original size: 20000 × 10000 (200.0 MP; 1.04 GB).

 

Location: University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) on ESA’s Solar Orbiter measures the magnetic field near the Sun’s surface and allows the investigation of the Sun’s interior via the technique of helioseismology. In these images, PHI reveals the breadth of information it can unlock.

 

The top left hand image was taken on 18 June 2020 using the PHI Full Disk Telescope. It shows the Sun as it would appear to the naked eye. Currently our nearest star is magnetically quiet, which means that there are no visible sunspots. This is not to say that there are no magnetic fields threading the solar surface and atmosphere.

 

The bottom left image was taken on 28 May 2020 with the PHI, High Resolution Telescope. It is a magnetogram that spans an area of approximately 200 000 km x 200 000 km on the solar surface. The small structures seen are magnetic regions of both north and south polarities, some of which have sizes of a few 1000 km.

 

The bottom right image shows an extrapolation of the magnetic field lines emanating from the magnetic structures into the upper solar atmosphere, which the EUI telescope images.

 

The top right image shows the visible appearance of this patch on the sun’s surface. The granulation pattern represents the up and down flows of hot, electrically charged gas, known as plasma, that occurs under the Sun’s visible surface.

 

Credits: Solar Orbiter/PHI Team/ESA & NASA

On another experimental foray, but with 35mm Arista and use of Rodinal followed by Xtol. Not alot of experience using this film with different developers so had to do some extrapolation. Unfortunately, freezing rain, overcast skies, and temps below 20 degrees F made it more challenging. I did appreciate more sharpness with this combo, but can't really tell about dynamic range given the blah weather. Thanks for the continued inspiration from my fellow flickeranians. Be safe out there.

Scanning 12x20" (30x51 cm) colour negatives on our Dainippon Screen 8060 drum scanner.

 

Like ever, through a completely manual hardware/software scan workflow (manual adjustments, manual color inversion etc.).

 

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CastorScan's philosophy is completely oriented to provide the highest scan and postproduction

quality on the globe.

 

We work with artists, photographers, agencies, laboratories etc. who demand a state-of-the-art quality at reasonable prices.

 

Our workflow is fully manual and extremely meticulous in any stage.

 

We developed exclusive workflows and profilation systems to obtain unparallel results from our scanners not achievable through semi-automatic and usual workflows.

  

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CastorScan uses the best scanners in circulation, Dainippon Screen SG-8060P Mark II, the best and most advanced scanner ever made, Kodak-Creo IQSmart 3, a high-end flatbed scanner, and Imacon 848.

 

The image quality offered by our Dainippon Screen 8060 scanner is much higher than that achievable with the best flatbed scanners or filmscanners dedicated and superior to that of scanners so-called "virtual drum" (Imacon – Hasselblad,) and, of course, vastly superior to that amateur or prosumer obtained with scanners such as Epson V750 etc .

 

Dainippon Screen SG-8060P Mark II exceeds in quality any other scanner, including Aztek Premier and ICG 380 (in the results, not just in the technical specifications).

 

8060's main features: 12000 dpi, Hi-Q Xenon lamp, 25 apertures, 2 micron

 

Aztek Premier's main features: 8000 dpi, halogen lamp, 18 apertures, 3 micron

 

ICG 380's main features: 12000 dpi, halogen lamp, 9 apertures, 4 micron

  

Some of the features that make the quality of our drum scanners better than any other existing scan system include:

 

The scans performed on a drum scanner are famous for their detail, depth and realism.

Scans are much cleaner and show fewer imperfections than scans obtained from CCD scanners, and thus save many hours of cleaning and spotting in postproduction.

Image acquisition by the drum scanner is optically similar to using a microscopic lens that scans the image point by point with extreme precision and without deformation or distortion of any kind, while other scanners use enlarger lenses (such as the Rodenstock-Linos Magnagon 75mm f8 used in the Hasselblad-Imacon scanners) and have transmission systems with rubber bands: this involves mild but effective micro-strain and micro-geometric image distortions and quality is not uniform between the center and edges.

Drum scanners are exempt from problems of flatness of the originals, since the same are mounted on a perfectly balanced transparent acrylic drum; on the contrary, the dedicated film scanners that scan slides or negatives in their plastic frames are subject to quite significant inaccuracies, as well as the Imacon-Hasselblad scanners, which have their own rubber and plastic holders: they do not guarantee the perfect flatness of the original and therefore a uniform definition between center and edge, especially with medium and large size originals, which instead are guaranteed by drum scanners.

Again, drum scanners allow scanning at high resolution over the entire surface of the cylinder, while for example the Hasselblad Imacon scans are limited to 3200 dpi in 120 format and 2000 dpi in 4x5" format (the resolution of nearly every CCD scanner in the market drops as the size of the original scanned is increased).

Drum scanners allow complete scanning of the whole negative, including the black-orange mask, perforations etc, while using many other scanners a certain percentage of the image is lost because it is covered by frames or holders.

Drum scanners use photomultiplier tubes to record the light signal, which are much more sensitive than CCDs and can record many more nuances and variations in contrast with a lower digital noise.

If you look at a monitor at 100% the detail in shadows and darker areas of a scan made with a CCD scanner, you will notice that the details are not recorded in a clear and clean way, and the colors are more opaque and less differentiated. Additionally the overall tones are much less rich and differentiated.

  

We would like to say a few words about an unscrupulous and deceitful use of technical specifications reported by many manufacturers of consumer and prosumer scanners; very often we read of scanners that promise cheap or relatively cheap “drum scanner” resolutions, 16 bits of color depth, extremely high DMAX: we would like to say that these “nominal” resolutions do not correspond to an actual optical resolution, so that even in low-resolution scanning you can see an enormous gap between drum scanners and these scanners in terms of detail, as well as in terms of DMAX, color range, realism, “quality” of grain. So very often when using these consumer-prosumer scanners at high resolutions, it is normal to get a disproportionate increase of file size in MB but not an increase of detail and quality.

To give a concrete example: a drum scan of a 24x36mm color negative film at 3500 dpi is much more defined than a scan made with mostly CCD scanner at 8000 dpi and a drum scan at 2500 dpi is dramatically clearer than a scan at 2500 dpi provided by a CCD scanner. So be aware and careful with incorrect advertisement.

 

Scans can be performed either dry or liquid-mounted. The wet mounting further improves cleanliness (helps to hide dirt, scratches and blemishes) and plasticity of the image without compromising the original, and in addition by mounting with liquid the film grain is greatly reduced and it looks much softer and more pleasant than the usual "harsh" grain resulting from dry scans.

 

We use Kami SMF 2001 liquid to mount the transparencies and Kami RC 2001 for cleaning the same. Kami SMF 2001 evaporates without leaving traces, unlike the traditional oil scans, ensuring maximum protection for your film. Out of ignorance some people prefer to avoid liquid scanning because they fear that their films will be dirty or damaged: this argument may be plausible only in reference to scans made using mineral oils, which have nothing to do with the specific professional products we use.

We strongly reiterate that your original is in no way compromised by our scanning liquid and will return as you have shipped it, if not cleaner.

 

With respect to scanning from slides:

Our scanners are carefully calibrated with the finest IT8 calibration targets in circulation and with special customized targets in order to ensure that each scan faithfully reproduces the original color richness even in the most subtle nuances, opening and maintaining detail in shadows and highlights. These color profiles allow our scanners to realize their full potential, so we guarantee our customers that even from a chromatic point of view our scans are noticeably better than similar scans made by mostly other scan services in the market.

In addition, we remind you that our 8060 drum scanner is able to read the deepest shadows of slides without digital noise and with much more detail than CCD scanners; also, the color range and color realism are far better.

 

With respect to scanning from color and bw negatives: we want to emphasize the superiority of our drum scans not only in scanning slides, but also in color and bw negative scanning (because of the orange mask and of very low contrast is extremely difficult for any ccd scanner to read the very slight tonal and contrast nuances in the color negative, while a perfectly profiled 8060 drum scanner – also through the analog gain/white calibration - can give back much more realistic images and true colors, sharper and more three-dimensional).

 

In spite of what many claim, a meticulous color profiling is essential not only for scanning slides, but also, and even more, for color negatives. Without it the scan of a color negative will produce chromatic errors rather significant, thus affecting the tonal balance and then the naturalness-pleasantness of the images.

  

More unique than rare, we do not use standardized profiles provided by the software to invert each specific negative film, because they do not take into account parameters and variables such as the type of development, the level of exposure, the type of light etc.,; at the same time we also avoid systems of "artificial intelligence" or other functions provided by semi-automatic scanning softwares, but instead we carry out the inversion in a full manual workflow for each individual picture.

 

In addition, scanning with Imacon-Hasselblad scanners we do not use their proprietary software - Flexcolor – to make color management and color inversion because we strongly believe that our alternative workflow provides much better results, and we are able to prove it with absolute clarity.

 

At each stage of the process we take care of meticulously adjusting the scanning parameters to the characteristics of the originals, to extrapolate the whole range of information possible from any image without "burning" or reductions in the tonal range, and strictly according to our customer's need and taste.

 

By default, we do not apply unsharp mask (USM) in our scans, except on request.

 

To scan reflective originals we follow the same guidelines and guarantee the same quality standard.

 

We guarantee the utmost thoroughness and expertise in the work of scanning and handling of the originals and we provide scans up to 12,000 dpi of resolution, at 16-bit, in RGB, GRAYSCALE, LAB or CMYK color mode; unless otherwise indicated, files are saved with Adobe RGB 1998 or ProPhoto RGB color profile.

 

WWW.CASTORSCAN.COM

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

A dabbawala; also spelled as dabbawalla or dabbawallah; is a person in India, most commonly in Mumbai, who is part of a delivery system that collects hot food in lunch boxes from the residences of workers in the late morning, delivers the lunches to the workplace utilizing various modes of transport, predominantly bicycles and the railway trains, and returns the empty boxes back to the customer's residence that afternoon. They are also made use of by prominent meal suppliers in Mumbai where they ferry ready, cooked meals from central kitchens to the customers and back.

 

In Mumbai, most office goers prefer to eat home cooked food rather than eat outside, usually for reasons of taste and hygiene, hence the concept. A number of work-from-home women also supply such home cooked meals, delivering through the dabbawala network.[1]

  

Etymology[edit]

  

A dabba, or Indian-style tiffin box.

  

Box coding

The word "dabbawala" when literally translated, means "one who carries a box". "Dabba" means a box (usually a cylindrical tin or aluminium container), while "wala" is a suffix, denoting a doer or holder of the preceding word.[2] The closest meaning of the dabbawala in English would be the "lunch box delivery man".

 

Origins[edit]

In 1890, Mahadeo Havaji Bachche started a lunch delivery service with about a hundred men.[3] In 1930, he informally attempted to unionize the dabbawallas. Later, a charitable trust was registered in 1956 under the name of Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Trust. The commercial arm of this trust was registered in 1968 as Mumbai Tiffin Box Supplier's Association. The current president of the association is Raghunath Medge.

 

Supply chain[edit]

A collecting dabbawala, usually on bicycle, collects dabbas either from a worker's home or from the dabba makers. As many of the carriers are of limited literacy (the average literacy of Dabbawallahs is 8th grade[4]), the dabbas (boxes) have some sort of distinguishing mark on them, such as a colour or group of symbols.

 

The dabbawala then takes them to a designated sorting place, where he and other collecting dabbawalas sort (and sometimes bundle) the lunch boxes into groups. The grouped boxes are put in the coaches of trains, with markings to identify the destination of the box (usually there is a designated car for the boxes). The markings include the railway station to unload the boxes and the destination building delivery address.

 

At each station, boxes are handed over to a local dabbawala, who delivers them. The empty boxes are collected after lunch or the next day and sent back to the respective houses.

 

Dabbawallas tend to belong to the Varkari sect of Maharashtra and consider Tukaram's teachings of helping each other to be central to their efficiency and motivation.[5]

 

Appearance and coding[edit]

Lunch boxes are usually marked in several ways: (1) abbreviations for collection points, (2) colour code for starting station, (3) number for destination station and (4) markings for handling dabbawala at destination, building and floor.[6]

  

A typical dabbawala lunch.

  

It was estimated in 2007 that the dabbawala industry was still growing by 5-10% per annum.[7]

The dabbawalas have started to embrace technology, and now allow for delivery requests through SMS.[8] A colour-coding system identifies the destination and recipient. Each dabbawala is required to contribute a minimum capital in kind, in the form of two bicycles, a wooden crate for the tiffins, white cotton kurta-pyjamas, and the white Gandhi cap (topi). Each month there is a division of the earnings of each unit.

 

Uninterrupted services[edit]

The service is almost always uninterrupted, even on the days of severe weather such as monsoons. The local dabbawalas and population know each other well, and often form bonds of trust. Dabbawalas are generally well accustomed to the local areas they cater to, and use shortcuts and other low profile routes to deliver their goods on time. Occasionally, people communicate between home and work by putting messages inside the boxes (See: The Lunchbox film); however, with the rise of instant communication such as SMS and instant messaging, this trend is vanishing. Since 1890, when the dabbawalas formally came into existence, none of them had ever gone on strike until 2011 when the members decided to head towards Azad Maidan to support Anna Hazare in his campaign against corruption.[9]

 

Economic analysis[edit]

Each dabbawala, regardless of role, is paid about eight thousand rupees per month. Between 175,000 and 200,000 lunch boxes are moved by 4,500 to 5,000 dabbawalas, all with an extremely small nominal fee and with utmost punctuality.

 

It is frequently claimed that dabbawalas make less than one mistake in every six million deliveries.[10] However, this error rate is conservative as it is estimated from Ragunath Medge, the president of the Mumbai Tiffinmen's Association in 1998, and is not from a rigorous study. Medge told Subrata Chakravarty, the lead author of the 'Fast Food' article by Forbes.[11] that dabbawalas make a mistake "almost never, maybe once every two months" and this statement was extrapolated by Subrata Chakravarty to be a rate of "one mistake in 8 million deliveries." [12]

 

The ABC has produced a documentary on dabbawalas [13] and Prince Charles visited them during his visit to India; he had to fit in with their schedule, since their timing was too precise to permit any flexibility. Charles also invited them to his wedding with Camilla Parker Bowles in London on 9 April 2005. Owing to the tremendous publicity, some of the dabbawalas were invited to give guest lectures in some of the top business schools of India, which is very unusual.

 

The New York Times reported in 2007 that the 125-year-old dabbawala industry continues to grow at a rate of 5–10% per year.[7]

 

Awards, Studies and recognition[edit]

Awards / Accreditations[edit]

ISO 9001:2000 certified by the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand [14]

Studies and accolades[edit]

In 2001, Pawan G. Agrawal carried out his PhD research in " A Study & Logistics & Supply Chain Management of Dabbawala in Mumbai". He often presents his results on the efficiency of Dabbawallas in various fora.[15]

In 2005, the Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad) featured a case study on the Mumbai Dabbawallas from a management perspective of logistics.[16]

In 2010, Harvard Business School added the case study The Dabbawala System: On-Time Delivery, Every Time to their compendium for its high level of service (equivalent of Six Sigma or better) with a low cost and simple operating system.[17]

Six Sigma myth[edit]

It has been frequently asserted that dabbawalas were awarded a Six Sigma certification by Forbes magazine. This is a myth perpetuated by the news media who inferred the accreditation from the 1998 article in Forbes.[18] In 2007, an explanation was provided by the lead author of the article, Subrata Chakravarty in a private email correspondence to Gauri Sanjeev Pathak:

 

"Forbes never certified the dabbawalas as being a six-sigma organization. In fact, I never used the term at all. As you know, six-sigma is a process, not a statistic. But it is commonly associated with a statistic of 3.4 errors per million operations, and that is what caused the confusion … . I was impressed by the efficiency and complexity of the process by which some 175,000 tiffin boxes were sorted, transported, delivered and returned each day by people who were mostly illiterate and unsophisticated. I asked the head of the organization how often they made a mistake. He said almost never, maybe once every two months. Any more than that would be unforgivable to customers. I did the math, which works out to one mistake in 8 million deliveries—or 16 million, since the tiffin carriers are returned home each day. That is the statistic I used. Apparently, at a conference in 2002, a reporter asked the president … whether the tiffinwallahs were a six-sigma organization. He said he didn't know what that was. When told about the 3.4 error-per-million statistic, I'm told he said: "Then we are. Just ask Forbes". The reporter, obviously without having read my story, wrote that Forbes had certified the tiffinwallahs as a six-sigma organization. That phrase was picked up and repeated by other reporters in other stories and now seems to have become part of the folklore."

 

—Subrata Chakravarty, [12]

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

  

Some background:

The Gloster Glaive was basically a modernized and re-engined variant of the successful, British-built Gloster Gladiator (or Gloster SS.37), the RAF’s final biplane fighter to enter service. The Gladiator was not only widely used by the RAF at the dawn of WWII and in almost every theatre of operations, but also by many other nations. Operators included Norway, Belgium, Sweden, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania or Nationalist China, and while the RAF already opted for more modern monoplanes, Gloster saw the opportunity to sell an updated Gladiator to countries which were not as progressive.

Originally designated Gladiator Mk. IV, the machine received many aerodynamic refinements and the motor was changed from a draggy radial to a liquid-cooled inline engine. The latter was the new Rolls Royce Peregrine, a development of the Kestrel. It was, in its original form, a 21-litre (1,300 cu in) liquid-cooled V-12 aero engine ), delivering 885-horsepower (660 kW). The engine was housed under a streamlined cowling, driving a three blade metal propeller, and was coupled with a ventral radiator bath, reminiscent of the Hawker Fury biplane’s arrangement.

 

Structural improvements included an all-metal monocoque fuselage and stabilizers, as well as new wings and streamlined struts with reduced bracing. The upper wing was enlarged and of all-metal construction, too, while the lower wings were reduced in span and area, almost resulting in a sesquiplane layout. The total wing area was only marginally reduced, though.

The fixed landing gear was retained, but the main wheels were now covered with spats. The pilot still sat in a fully enclosed cockpit, the armament consisted of four machine guns, similar to the Gladiator. But for the Glaive, all Browning machine guns were synchronized and mounted in the fuselage: one pair was placed on top of the cowling, in front of the cockpit. Another pair, much like the Gladiator’s arrangement was placed in the fuselage flanks, below the exhaust outlets.

 

Compared with the Gladiator, the design changes were so fundamental that Gloster eventually decided to allocate a separate designation – also with a view to the type’s foreign marketing, since a new aircraft appeared more attractive than another mark of a pre-war design. For the type’s virgin flight in late 1938 the name “Glaive” was unveiled to the public, and several smaller European air forces immediately showed interest, including Greece, Croatia, Turkey, Portugal and Egypt.

 

Greece was one of the initial customers, and the first of a total of 24 aircraft for the Hellenic Air Force was delivered in early 1939, with 24 more on order (which were never delivered, though). The initial batch arrived just in time, since tension had been building between Greece and Italy since 7 April 1939, when Italian troops occupied Albania. On 28 October 1940, Italy issued an ultimatum to Greece, which was promptly rejected. A few hours later, Italian troops launched an invasion of Greece, initiating the Greco-Italian War.

 

The Hellenic Gloster Glaives were split among three Mirae Dioxeos (Fighter Squadrons): the 21st at Trikala, 22nd at Thessaloniki and 23rd at Larissa. When Italy attacked in October 1940, the British fighter was, together with the PZL 24, the Greeks' only modern type in adequate numbers. However, by late 1940, the Gloster Glaive was already no longer a front-runner despite a powerful powerplant and satisfactory armament. It had no speed advantage over the Fiat Cr.42 nor could it outfly the nimble Italian biplane, and it was much slower than the Macchi MC.200 and the Fiat G.50 it was pitted against. Its agility was the only real advantage against the Italian fighters, whose reliance on the slow firing Breda-SAFAT 12.7mm machine guns proved detrimental.

 

Anyway, on 5 April 1941, German forces invaded Greece and quickly established air superiority. As the Allied troops retreated, British and Hellenic forces covered them, before flying to Crete during the last week of April. There, the refugee aircraft recorded a few claims over twin-engine aircraft before being evacuated to Egypt during the Battle of Crete.

 

Overall, the Glaives performed gallantly during the early period of the conflict, holding their own against impossible numerical odds and despite the fact that their main target were enemy bombers which forced them to fight at a disadvantage against enemy fighters. Italian claims of easy superiority over the Albanian front were vastly over-rated and their kill claims even exceeded the total number of operational fighters on the Greek side. Total Greek fighter losses in combat came to 24 a/c with the Greek fighter pilots claiming 64 confirmed kills and 24 probables (about two third bombers).

 

By April 1941, however, lack of spares and attrition had forced the Hellenic Air Force to merge the surviving seven Glaives with five leftover PZL.24s into one understrength squadron supported by five Gloster Gladiators Mk I & II and the two surviving MB.151s. These fought hopelessly against the Luftwaffe onslaught, and most aircraft were eventually lost on the ground. None of the Hellenic Gloster Glaives survived the conflict.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: two

Length: 8.92m (29 ft 3 in)

Wingspan: 34 ft 0 in (10.36 m)

Height: 11 ft 9 in (3.58 m)

Wing area: 317 ft² (29.4 m²)

Empty weight: 1,295 kg (2,855 lb)

Max takeoff weight: 1,700 kg (3,748 lb)

 

Powerplant:

1× Rolls Royce Peregrine II liquid-cooled V12 inline engine, rated at 940 hp (700 kw)

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 405 km/h (252 mph; 219 kn) at 4,400 m (14,436 ft)

Cruise speed: 345 km/h (214 mph; 186 kn)

Stall speed: 60 mph (52 knots, 96 km/h)

Range: 373 mi (600 km; 324 nmi)

Endurance: 2 hours

Service ceiling: 10,600 m (34,800 ft)

Rate of climb: 2,982 ft/min (15.15 m/s)

Time to altitude: 10.000 ft (3.050 m) in 3 minutes 20 seconds

 

Armament:

4× 0.303 calibre (7.7 mm) M1919 Browning machine guns in the fuselage

Provisions for 6× 10 kg (22 lb) or 4x 20 kg (44 lb) bombs under the lower wings

  

The kit and its assembly:

The fictional Gloster Glaive started quite simple with the idea of replacing the Gladiator’s radial with an inline engine. But this soon did not appear enough for an update – the Peregrine hardly delivered much more power than the former Mercury, so I considered some structural updates, too. Most of them comprised the replacement of former fabric-covered structures, and this led conceptually to a kitbash with only some Gladiator fuselage and tail parts left.

 

The basis is (once more) the very nice Matchbox Gloster Gladiator, but it was heavily modified. As an initial step, fuselage, fin and stabilizers (all OOB parts) lost their rib-and-fabric structure, simply sanded away. A minor detail, but it changes the overall look of the aircraft a lot, making it appear much more modern.

The fuselage was left without the OOB radial, and instead a leftover Merlin front end from an Airfix Hurricane (ca. 1cm long, left over from one of my first whif builds ever, a Hurricane with a radial engine!) was added. The lines match pretty well: the side profile looks sleek, if not elegant, but the Gladiator fuselage turned out to be wider than expected. Some major body work/PSR was necessary to integrate the new nose, but the result looks very good.

 

The liquid-cooled engine necessitated a radiator somewhere on the airframe…! Since I wanted the nose to remain slim and streamlined I eventually placed the radiator bath under the fuselage, much like the arrangement of the Hawker Fury biplane. The radiator itself comes from a late Spitfire (FROG kit).

The exhaust was taken from the Hurricane kit, too, and matching slits dug into the putty nose to take them. The three blade propeller is a mash-up, too: the spinner belongs, IIRC, to an early Spitfire (left over from an AZ Models kit) while the blades came from a damaged Matchbox Brewster Buffalo.

 

The Gladiator’s fuselage flank machine guns were kept and their “bullet channels” extrapolated along the new cowling, running under the new exhaust pipes. Another pair of machine guns were placed on top of the engine – for these, openings were carved into the upper hull and small fairings (similar to the Browning guns in the flanks) added. This arrangement appeared plausible to me, since the Gladiator’s oil cooler was not necessary anymore and the new lower wings (see below) were not big enough anymore to take the Gladiator’s underwing guns. Four MGs in the fuselage appears massive – but there were other types with such an arrangement, e.g. the Avia B-534 with four guns in the flanks and an inline engine.

 

The wings are complete replacements: the upper wing comes from a Heller Curtiss SBC4, while the lower wings as well as the spats (on shortened OOB Gladiator struts) come from an ICM Polikarpov I-153. All struts were scratched. Once the lower wings were in place and the relative position of the upper wing clear, the outer struts were carved from 1mm styrene sheet, using the I-153 design as benchmark. These were glued to the lower wing first, and, once totally dry after 24h, the upper wing was simply glued onto the top and the wing position adjusted. This was left to dry another 24h, and as a final step the four struts above the cowling (using the OOB struts, but as single parts and trimmed for proper fit) were placed. This way, a stable connection is guaranteed – and the result is surprisingly sturdy.

 

Rigging was done with heated sprue material – my personal favorite for this delicate task, and executed before painting the kit started so that the glue could cure and bond well.

  

Painting and markings:

The reason why this aircraft ended in Greek service is a color photograph of a crashed Hellenic Bloch M.B. 152 (coded ‘D 177’, to be specific). I guess that the picture was post-colored, though, because the aircraft of French origin sports rather weird colors: the picture shows a two-tone scheme in a deep, rather reddish chestnut brown and a light green that almost looks like teal. Unique, to say the least... Underside colors couldn’t be identified with certainty in the picture, but appeared like a pale but not too light blue grey.

 

Anyway, I assume that these colors are pure fiction and exaggerated Photoshop work, since the few M.B. 152s delivered to Greece carried AFAIK standard French camouflage (in French Khaki, Chestnut Brown and Blue-Grey on the upper surfaces, and a very light blue-grey from below). I’d assume that the contrast between the grey and green tones was not very obvious in the original photograph, so that the artist, not familiar with WWII paint schemes, replaced both colors with the strange teal tone and massively overmodulated the brown.

 

As weird as it looked, I liked this design and used it as an inspirational benchmark for my Hellenic Glaive build. After all, it’s a fictional aircraft… Upper basic colors are Humbrol 31 (RAF Slate Grey) and 160 (German Camouflage Red Brown), while the undersides became French Dark Blue Grey (ModelMaster Authentics 2105). The result looks rather odd…

Representing a combat-worn aircraft, I applied a thorough black ink wash and did heavier panel shading and dry-brushing on the leading edges, along with some visible touches of aluminum.

 

The Hellenic roundels come from a TL Modellbau aftermarket sheet. The tactical code was puzzled together from single letters, and the Greek “D” was created from single decal strips. For better contrast I used white decals – most Hellenic aircraft of the time had black codes, but the contrast is much better, and I found evidence that some machines actually carried white codes. The small fin flash is another free interpretation. Not every Hellenic aircraft carried these markings, and instead of painting the whole rudder in Greek colors I just applied a small fin flash. This was created with white and blue decal strips, closely matching the roundels’ colors.

 

Finally, after some soot stains around the guns and the exhausts, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish.

  

Modified beyond recognition, perhaps…? The fictional Gloster Glaive looks IMHO good and very modern, just like one of those final biplane designs that were about to be outrun by monoplanes at the brink of WWII.

 

The Sarcophagidae family of flies is named after a genus included under it, Sarcophaga, which gets its name from the Greek for "flesh-eater".

 

Flesh-flies frequently give birth to live young (maggots) on corpses of human and other animals, at any stage of decomposition from recently dead through to bloated or decaying (though the latter is more common).

 

The life cycle of flesh-fly larvae has been well researched and is very predictable. Different species prefer bodies in different states of decomposition, and the specific preferences and predictable life cycle timings allow forensic entomologists to understand the progress of decomposition and enables the calculation of the time of death by back extrapolation.

 

This is done by determining the oldest larva of each species present, measuring the ambient temperature and from these values, calculating the earliest possible date and time for deposition of larvae. This yields an approximate time and date of death (d.o.d.) This evidence can be used in forensic entomology investigations and may assist in identification of a corpse by matching the calculated time of death with reports of missing persons. Such evidence has also been used to help identify murderers.

 

Raynox DCR-150 mounted on my Panasonic FZ8.

Photographed at 5:45pm, December 1, 2009. Vigo County, Terre Haute near 10th and Crawford Streets.

 

The following is a recent article from the Dec 1 issue of the Terre Haute Tribune newspaper:

 

Murder mystery: ISU Prof's class counting TH's group of crows

 

By Brian M. Boyce

The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE — If baked crow ever becomes a delicacy, Terre Haute’s in store for an economic boom.

 

“It looks like it will be another 50,000-year, but we don’t know yet,” Indiana State University professor Peter Scott said Monday evening at 10th and Crawford streets, a site he noted was the “old Joker’s Tavern.”

 

Scott’s biology classes began counting the city’s crow population in 1996, documenting the ebb and flow while wondering why the birds choose the city’s rooftops over other locations. Armed with binoculars and clipboards, Scott and students at multiple sites tried to visually group the flying birds and extrapolate flock numbers.

 

Scott himself tabbed 7,000 birds in one five-minute interval, explaining that he judges the space of sky consumed by 100 birds and multiplies out. Another student numbered 570 in the same period before switching off with their partners.

 

Two years ago the count hit 80,000, up significantly from the initial count of 10,000 in 1996. While the numbers are rough estimates, Scott said there is considerable evidence to support a spike in the local population up to at least 45,000 in 2000.

 

Meanwhile, at the boat ramp in Fairbanks Park, Scott’s teaching assistant, Jenny Bodwell, said her group would be there until 6 p.m., “or until we freeze, whichever comes first.”

 

The group reconvenes Wednesday evening for another session of counting crows before number-crunching begins.

 

Bodwell said her primary focus of study is on white-throated sparrows, but over the years she’s become involved in the crow project and finds it interesting.

 

As black spots darted across the sunset, from the banks of the Wabash River into town, Bodwell said there are three theories about why crows cluster on the rooftops of Terre Haute as opposed to trees in the woods.

 

The “heat-island theory,” the “information-sharing theory,” and safety from predators all offer arguments back and forth.

 

The rooftops in town offer islands of heat possibly unmatched in the woods, she said. However, the roosting patterns observed in both the woods and town lead away from that, in her opinion.

 

The idea that crows communicate foraging strategies among themselves is also a possibility she doesn’t particularly support.

 

Safety from predators seems more likely, she said, noting that humans and owls are the crow’s only natural enemies. Crow hunters aren’t allowed to fire shotguns in towns, and the “super intelligent” birds have come to learn this and move to safety, she said.

 

Scott himself said he’s not sure any of the three theories can be completely discarded. The body of research on crows is relatively small, so answers are tough to come by.

 

“They’ve always liked to roost,” he said of crows, noting that groups of 100,000 or more were documented in years prior to the erection of modern towns. “So it’s not a modern phenomenon.”

 

The fact that hunting is not allowed in town is a big plus, he said, but the value of heated rooftops shouldn’t be overlooked. “I don’t know how you rule out those two things,” he said.

 

Kelsey Pearman, a senior majoring in biology, stood in Fairbanks Park trying to visually group the flying crows. “Grouping them together into smaller groups is much easier than singling them out,” she said.

 

Scott said the class will begin compiling the data after Wednesday’s count. How many crows actually exist here always will be a guess, though.

 

“It would be nice to know what it is, but this is just a rough estimate,” he said.

Repost.

Just time for a quick snap afore I head to bed.

 

A quick scan of the random objects around me left me drawn strongly to a single word. On this cheap comb, proudly emblazoned, is the single word 'unbreakable'.

 

I, and people around me, all seem to be caught in regulatory inspections at the moment, which has us all extrapolating to worst case scenarios. In a world where we always seem to be waiting for things to trip us up, and are conscious of our own frailties, maybe we've got something to learn from this comb.

 

'Unbreakable'. I like that.

Vincenzo Castella, Venezia, Giudecca - 2012

   

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CastorScan's philosophy is completely oriented to provide the highest scan and postproduction

quality on the globe.

 

We work with artists, photographers, agencies, laboratories etc. who demand a state-of-the-art quality at reasonable prices.

 

Our workflow is fully manual and extremely meticulous in any stage.

 

We developed exclusive workflows and profilation systems to obtain unparallel results from our scanners not achievable through semi-automatic and usual workflows.

  

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CastorScan uses the best scanners in circulation, Dainippon Screen SG-8060P Mark II, the best and most advanced scanner ever made, Kodak-Creo IQSmart 3, a high-end flatbed scanner, and Imacon 848.

 

The image quality offered by our Dainippon Screen 8060 scanner is much higher than that achievable with the best flatbed scanners or filmscanners dedicated and superior to that of scanners so-called "virtual drum" (Imacon – Hasselblad,) and, of course, vastly superior to that amateur or prosumer obtained with scanners such as Epson V750 etc .

 

Dainippon Screen SG-8060P Mark II exceeds in quality any other scanner, including Aztek Premier and ICG 380 (in the results, not just in the technical specifications).

 

8060's main features: 12000 dpi, Hi-Q Xenon lamp, 25 apertures, 2 micron

 

Aztek Premier's main features: 8000 dpi, halogen lamp, 18 apertures, 3 micron

 

ICG 380's main features: 12000 dpi, halogen lamp, 9 apertures, 4 micron

  

Some of the features that make the quality of our drum scanners better than any other existing scan system include:

 

The scans performed on a drum scanner are famous for their detail, depth and realism.

Scans are much cleaner and show fewer imperfections than scans obtained from CCD scanners, and thus save many hours of cleaning and spotting in postproduction.

Image acquisition by the drum scanner is optically similar to using a microscopic lens that scans the image point by point with extreme precision and without deformation or distortion of any kind, while other scanners use enlarger lenses (such as the Rodenstock-Linos Magnagon 75mm f8 used in the Hasselblad-Imacon scanners) and have transmission systems with rubber bands: this involves mild but effective micro-strain and micro-geometric image distortions and quality is not uniform between the center and edges.

Drum scanners are exempt from problems of flatness of the originals, since the same are mounted on a perfectly balanced transparent acrylic drum; on the contrary, the dedicated film scanners that scan slides or negatives in their plastic frames are subject to quite significant inaccuracies, as well as the Imacon-Hasselblad scanners, which have their own rubber and plastic holders: they do not guarantee the perfect flatness of the original and therefore a uniform definition between center and edge, especially with medium and large size originals, which instead are guaranteed by drum scanners.

Again, drum scanners allow scanning at high resolution over the entire surface of the cylinder, while for example the Hasselblad Imacon scans are limited to 3200 dpi in 120 format and 2000 dpi in 4x5" format (the resolution of nearly every CCD scanner in the market drops as the size of the original scanned is increased).

Drum scanners allow complete scanning of the whole negative, including the black-orange mask, perforations etc, while using many other scanners a certain percentage of the image is lost because it is covered by frames or holders.

Drum scanners use photomultiplier tubes to record the light signal, which are much more sensitive than CCDs and can record many more nuances and variations in contrast with a lower digital noise.

If you look at a monitor at 100% the detail in shadows and darker areas of a scan made with a CCD scanner, you will notice that the details are not recorded in a clear and clean way, and the colors are more opaque and less differentiated. Additionally the overall tones are much less rich and differentiated.

  

We would like to say a few words about an unscrupulous and deceitful use of technical specifications reported by many manufacturers of consumer and prosumer scanners; very often we read of scanners that promise cheap or relatively cheap “drum scanner” resolutions, 16 bits of color depth, extremely high DMAX: we would like to say that these “nominal” resolutions do not correspond to an actual optical resolution, so that even in low-resolution scanning you can see an enormous gap between drum scanners and these scanners in terms of detail, as well as in terms of DMAX, color range, realism, “quality” of grain. So very often when using these consumer-prosumer scanners at high resolutions, it is normal to get a disproportionate increase of file size in MB but not an increase of detail and quality.

To give a concrete example: a drum scan of a 24x36mm color negative film at 3500 dpi is much more defined than a scan made with mostly CCD scanner at 8000 dpi and a drum scan at 2500 dpi is dramatically clearer than a scan at 2500 dpi provided by a CCD scanner. So be aware and careful with incorrect advertisement.

 

Scans can be performed either dry or liquid-mounted. The wet mounting further improves cleanliness (helps to hide dirt, scratches and blemishes) and plasticity of the image without compromising the original, and in addition by mounting with liquid the film grain is greatly reduced and it looks much softer and more pleasant than the usual "harsh" grain resulting from dry scans.

 

We use Kami SMF 2001 liquid to mount the transparencies and Kami RC 2001 for cleaning the same. Kami SMF 2001 evaporates without leaving traces, unlike the traditional oil scans, ensuring maximum protection for your film. Out of ignorance some people prefer to avoid liquid scanning because they fear that their films will be dirty or damaged: this argument may be plausible only in reference to scans made using mineral oils, which have nothing to do with the specific professional products we use.

We strongly reiterate that your original is in no way compromised by our scanning liquid and will return as you have shipped it, if not cleaner.

 

With respect to scanning from slides:

Our scanners are carefully calibrated with the finest IT8 calibration targets in circulation and with special customized targets in order to ensure that each scan faithfully reproduces the original color richness even in the most subtle nuances, opening and maintaining detail in shadows and highlights. These color profiles allow our scanners to realize their full potential, so we guarantee our customers that even from a chromatic point of view our scans are noticeably better than similar scans made by mostly other scan services in the market.

In addition, we remind you that our 8060 drum scanner is able to read the deepest shadows of slides without digital noise and with much more detail than CCD scanners; also, the color range and color realism are far better.

 

With respect to scanning from color and bw negatives: we want to emphasize the superiority of our drum scans not only in scanning slides, but also in color and bw negative scanning (because of the orange mask and of very low contrast is extremely difficult for any ccd scanner to read the very slight tonal and contrast nuances in the color negative, while a perfectly profiled 8060 drum scanner – also through the analog gain/white calibration - can give back much more realistic images and true colors, sharper and more three-dimensional).

 

In spite of what many claim, a meticulous color profiling is essential not only for scanning slides, but also, and even more, for color negatives. Without it the scan of a color negative will produce chromatic errors rather significant, thus affecting the tonal balance and then the naturalness-pleasantness of the images.

  

More unique than rare, we do not use standardized profiles provided by the software to invert each specific negative film, because they do not take into account parameters and variables such as the type of development, the level of exposure, the type of light etc.,; at the same time we also avoid systems of "artificial intelligence" or other functions provided by semi-automatic scanning softwares, but instead we carry out the inversion in a full manual workflow for each individual picture.

 

In addition, scanning with Imacon-Hasselblad scanners we do not use their proprietary software - Flexcolor – to make color management and color inversion because we strongly believe that our alternative workflow provides much better results, and we are able to prove it with absolute clarity.

 

At each stage of the process we take care of meticulously adjusting the scanning parameters to the characteristics of the originals, to extrapolate the whole range of information possible from any image without "burning" or reductions in the tonal range, and strictly according to our customer's need and taste.

 

By default, we do not apply unsharp mask (USM) in our scans, except on request.

 

To scan reflective originals we follow the same guidelines and guarantee the same quality standard.

 

We guarantee the utmost thoroughness and expertise in the work of scanning and handling of the originals and we provide scans up to 12,000 dpi of resolution, at 16-bit, in RGB, GRAYSCALE, LAB or CMYK color mode; unless otherwise indicated, files are saved with Adobe RGB 1998 or ProPhoto RGB color profile.

 

WWW.CASTORSCAN.COM

 

I love the beach in winter - you quite often get it to yourself and mother nature can put on a pretty spectacular show

  

Image available for purchase from www.ballaratheritage.com.au

 

Information from Birds Australia

Hooded Plover

Thinornis rubricollis

For over 20 years concern has been expressed about the status of the Hooded Plover, a medium sized wading bird endemic to southern Australia.

 

Hooded Plovers live on sandy surf beaches, and prefer beaches backed by dunes rather than by cliffs. The species is non-migratory, although recent colour-band sightings have shown that birds will move several hundred kilometres.

 

In one well-studied population in Victoria, the breeding success was so low that it seems likely that populations will continue to decline. The current population estimate suggests there are about 5000-7000 Hooded Plovers in total.

 

Although the species has just been removed from the federal Environment Biodiversity and Protection Act, there are several reasons to believe that the species has a place on the list. These include population declines, and a postgraduate study that has found low breeding success.

 

There are also indications that the species consists of an eastern and western subspecies. Indeed, Hooded Plovers are considered Critically Endangered in NSW where it is now confined to the southern part of the state.

 

Many of the threats faced by Hooded Plovers involve humans, who accidentally crush nests and chicks, disturb the birds when breeding, and allow their dogs to chase and sometimes kill Hooded Plover chicks and eggs. Everybody who visits beaches in southern Australia can help this species by obeying regulations and staying away from Hooded Plovers when possible.

 

According to the Action Plan for Australian Birds 2000, the eastern subspecies of the Hooded Plover is vulnerable, while the western subspecies is near threatened.

 

EPBC Information

Legal StatusTop The current conservation status of the Hooded Plover (eastern), Thinornis rubricollis rubricollis, under Australian and State/Territory Government legislation, is as follows:

 

National: Listed as a Marine species under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

 

New South Wales: Listed as Endangered under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995.

 

Victoria: Listed as Vulnerable under the Advisory List of Threatened Vertebrate Fauna in Victoria 2003; listed as Threatened under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988.

 

South Australia: Listed as Vulnerable under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972.

  

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TaxonomyTop Scientific name: Thinornis rubricollis rubricollis.

 

Common name: Hooded Plover (eastern).

 

Other common names: At the species level, the Hooded Plover T. rubricollis has also been known (historically) as the Hooded Dotterel or Dotterel (Marchant & Higgins 1993).

The taxonomy of the Hooded Plover (eastern) is considered equivocal due to a lack of published evidence (Weston 2006, pers. comm.).

 

The eastern subspecies and its western counterpart, T. r. tregellasi, were first recognized by Mathews (1913-1914), who split the two forms on the basis of size and plumage differences. Contemporary studies have confirmed that plumage and morphological differences exist between the eastern and western populations of the Hooded Plover (Marchant & Higgins 1993; Weston 2006, pers. comm.), and there also appear to be differences in the ecology and habitat of the two forms (Marchant & Higgins 1993).

 

A study comparing the genetics of the eastern and western populations of the Hooded Plover has commenced, but the results of this study are not yet available. The status of the two subspecies will remain unresolved until this study is completed, but the evidence provided above, together with the fact that the two populations are separated by a broad expanse of unsuitable habitat, suggests that there is a strong likelihood that the eastern and western populations represent genuine subspecies (Weston February 2006, pers. comm.).

 

At the species level, the Hooded Plover was recently moved from the genus Charadrius to the genus Thinornis (Christian et al. 1992). It is, therefore, the only species of the genus Thinornis that is endemic to Australia (Christidis & Boles 1994). There has also been some dispute over which specific name, rubricollis or the historical cucullatus, should be used (McAllan & Christidis 1998; Olson 1998).

  

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DescriptionTop The Hooded Plover (eastern) is a stocky, medium-sized plover that is about 20 cm long and weighs approximately 100 g (Marchant & Higgins 1993). Average mass varies slightly depending on whether birds are breeding, and on the stage of the breeding cycle (Weston & Elgar 2005b).

 

Adult males and adult females are alike (Marchant & Higgins 1993); they cannot be distinguished in the field, and live birds have only been sexed genetically (Weston et al. 2004). The adult birds have a black 'hood', a broad white 'collar' across the back of neck that is bordered at the base by a thin strip of black, a blackish stripe that extends across the base of the neck and shoulders to the sides of the breast, pale brownish-grey upperparts (except for some blackish around the tip of the upper-tail) and white underparts. When in flight, black and white colouring is revealed on the distal and posterior regions of the upper wing, and a narrow brownish-grey band can be seen along the trailing edge of the under-wing. The adults have a red bill that is black at tip, red rings around the eyes, brown irises, and dull orange-pink legs and feet (Marchant & Higgins 1993).

 

Juvenile birds differ from the adults by having mainly dull grey-brown colouring on the head (there are small patches of white below the eyes and at the base of the bill, and the chin and throat are whitish or pale grey); lacking the thin strip of black at the base of the collar; lacking the blackish stripe that extends across the base of the neck and shoulders to the sides of the breast (in juveniles, this area is coloured the same as the rest of the upperparts); dark brown edging on the feathers of the upperparts; a bill that is mostly black but that has a small area of fleshy-pink colouring at the base; and pale orange rings around the eyes (Marchant & Higgins 1993).

 

The Hooded Plover (eastern) usually occurs in pairs during the breeding season (Buick & Paton 1989; Schulz 1987a; Weston 1993a) and in small to large flocks (of up to 100 birds) during the non-breeding season (Cooper 1997; Marchant & Higgins 1993; Schulz 1987a; Weston 2006, pers. comm.). Single birds, pairs and small flocks may be observed throughout the year (Buick & Paton 1989; Schulz 1987a; Weston 1993a). The Hooded Plover (eastern) breeds in socially monogamous, solitary pairs (Bransbury 1991a; Marchant & Higgins 1993).

  

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Australian DistributionTop The Hooded Plover (eastern) is widely dispersed on or near sandy beaches in south-eastern Australia. Its range extends from about Jervis Bay in New South Wales to the western reaches of the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, and includes Tasmania and various offshore islands such as Kangaroo Island, King Island and Flinders Island (Barrett et al. 2003; Garnett & Crowley 2000; Marchant & Higgins 1993; Matthews 1913-14). There is also a single confirmed record of the Hooded Plover (eastern) in Queensland (a vagrant juvenile was located on Bribie Island in May 1998) (Cameron & Weston 1999).

 

The extent of occurrence is estimated at 1 500 000 km². This estimate, which is based on published maps, is considered to be of high reliability (Garnett & Crowley 2000).

 

The extent of occurrence is stable at present (Garnett & Crowley 2000), but historical records indicate that a decline occurred during the first half of the 20th century.

 

There are historical records of the Hooded Plover (eastern) from around Sydney (Hindwood & Hoskin 1954; Hoskin 1992; North 1913-14) that are accepted as accurate (Cameron & Weston 1999; McAllan 2001). These records, when compared to the current northern limit of the Hooded Plover (eastern) around Jervis Bay, indicate that the range has contracted southward by an approximate distance of 150 km. This contraction would have resulted in a decrease in the extent of occurrence.

 

However, the contraction in range was possibly much greater. There are a small number of historical reports of the Hooded Plover (eastern) from southern Queensland and New South Wales, summarized in Cameron and Weston (1999). The validity of these reports has been challenged (McAllan 2001) but, if at least some of these reports are accurate, then it is possible that the distribution of the Hooded Plover (eastern) may formerly have extended, probably continuously, from southern Queensland and along the entire New South Wales coast into Victoria. The range may therefore have contracted southward by a distance of more than 900 km (Cameron & Weston 1999) which, if correct, would have resulted in a significant decline in the extent of occurrence.

 

It is likely that the extent of occurrence will decline in future. The ongoing decline in population sizes (e.g. Baird & Dann 2003) is likely to lead to the fragmentation of existing populations and, ultimately, to a contraction in the limits of the distribution, especially in New South Wales (Weston 2006, pers. comm.).

 

The area of occupancy is estimated at 4000 km². This estimate is based on the number of 1 km² grid squares that the Hooded Plover (eastern) is thought to occur in at the time when its population is most constrained. The estimate is considered to be of medium reliability (Garnett & Crowley 2000).

 

Historical records indicate that a decline in the area of occupancy occurred during the first half of the 20th century (see above for details about past contractions in the range and, therefore, declines in the area of occupancy). This decline appears to have continued throughout the latter stages of the 20th century, given that population declines were recorded in Victoria (Baird & Dann 2003; Weston 1993) and Tasmania (Woehler & Park 1997) during the 1980s and 1990s.

 

It had been thought likely that the area of occupancy had stabilized in recent years (Garnett & Crowley 2000). However, contemporary studies have recorded the loss of some breeding territories (Weston 2000), and there is some evidence to indicate that the loss of breeding territories is ongoing. It is likely that the area of occupancy is in slow decline, as a small number of territories disappear each year, and very few new territories are reported (Weston 2006, pers. comm.).

 

There have been no estimates of the number of locations in which the Hooded Plover (eastern) occurs. The wide dispersal of the plovers within their habitats (especially when breeding) makes it difficult for discrete populations and locations to be defined (Weston 2002, pers. comm.). However, the vast majority of birds breed along the coastline and hence are vulnerable to widespread threats such as rises in sea levels and predation by introduced predators (Weston 2005).

 

Adelaide Zoo has bred the Hooded Plover (eastern) in captivity (Weston 2003), and maintains a small number of birds (Weston 2006, pers. comm.).

 

The distribution of the Hooded Plover (eastern) is currently not severely fragmented. Breaks in the distribution do occur where habitat is unsuitable (e.g. coast backed by cliffs), and some beaches appear to be unoccupied. However, records of colour-banded birds show that plovers can readily travel past cliffs, across inlets and bays, and around major promontories (i.e. Wilson's Promontory), and so disjunct habitats such as those described above do not constitute a fragmentation of the population (Weston 2006, pers. comm.).

  

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Surveys ConductedTop The Hooded Plover (eastern) has been subject to many population surveys, including several which have not been properly analysed or published (Weston 2006, pers. comm.). The Australian Wader Studies Group conducts biennial counts of Hooded Plover (eastern) populations during the breeding season. These surveys have taken place along the coasts of New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia (Weston 2003). The species has been most surveyed in Victoria, where counts have been conducted since 1980 (Weston 1993). Counts in other states have been less regular (Weston 2006, pers. comm.).

 

There have also been surveys of Hooded Plover (eastern) populations outside of the breeding season (e.g. Heislers & Weston 1993), but these counts are less numerous and less extensive than those conducted during the breeding season. Regular counts (including some monthly counts) have been conducted at some locations (e.g. Waratah Bay, Kilcunda and Venus Bay in Victoria), but the results of these counts are yet to be analysed (Weston 2006, pers. comm.).

 

It is highly likely, given the number and coverage of surveys that have been conducted, that the current known distribution and (to a lesser extent) current estimated population size are representative of the actual distribution and population size (Weston 2006, pers. comm.).

  

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Population InformationTop The total population size of the Hooded Plover (eastern) is estimated at 3000 breeding birds. This estimate is considered to be of medium reliability (Garnett & Crowley 2000).

 

Although there have been considerable efforts to survey populations of the Hooded Plover (eastern) during the past two decades (e.g. Weston 1993), most of these studies have reported only count results and do not extrapolate to population estimates (Weston 2006, pers. comm.).

 

The Hooded Plover (eastern) has a reasonably continuous distribution and is capable of undertaking relatively long-distance movements (Cameron & Weston 1999). This would suggest that the subspecies is unlikely to occur in genetically-isolated subpopulations. This view is supported by Garnett and Crowley (2000), who estimate that there is a single contiguous (i.e. interbreeding) population.

 

Estimates of regional population sizes are reasonably well known, but are not representative of true subpopulations. The estimated population sizes for each state are 30 to 70 birds in New South Wales ( Keating & Jarman 2003; Morris 1989a; Straw 1995), 460 to 600 birds in Victoria (Murlis 1989; Weston 1995), 1700 to 2000 birds in Tasmania (Bryant 2002; Holdsworth & Park 1993; Newman & Patterson 1984) and 320 to 540 birds in South Australia (Bransbury 1988; Natt & Weston 1995). Population declines have been recorded in New South Wales (Cameron & Weston 1999), Victoria (Baird & Dann 2003; Weston 1993) and Tasmania (Woehler & Park 1997).

 

The total population size of the Hooded Plover (eastern) is likely to be declining (Garnett & Crowley 2000; Weston 2002, pers. comm.). This summation is based on population declines in New South Wales (Cameron & Weston 1999; Keating & Jarman 2003), Victoria (Baird & Dann 2003; Weston 1993) and Tasmania (Woehler & Park 1997) during recent decades, and the fact that the loss of breeding territories appears to be ongoing (Weston 2006, pers. comm.).

 

In New South Wales, it is presumed that the state population declined in association with the southward contraction in range that occurred during the early 20th century (Cameron & Weston 1999; Weston 2006, pers. comm.).

 

In Victoria, population declines have been recorded along several sections of the coastline. This includes a significant decline in the region between San Remo and Darby Beach, which supports the second largest population of Hooded Plovers (eastern) in Victoria (Weston 1993).

 

In Tasmania, survey data collected over a period of fourteen years (1982 to 1996) indicate that the Hooded Plover (eastern) population in Tasmania is declining, and that the rate of population decline appears to be increasing (e.g. the population decreased by an average of 1.6% per annum from 1982 to 1996, and by an average of 4.6% per annum from 1992 to 1996) (Park 1997; Woehler &).

 

There is potential for declines in some populations to be reversed, e.g. active and intense management at Mornington Peninsula National Park in Victoria led to an increase in the formerly declining local Hooded Plover (eastern) population (Dowling & Weston 1999a; Olsen & Weston 2004). However, management efforts such as these are currently limited to only a few sites and locations, and so are unlikely to be sufficient to reverse the general decline in total population size (Weston 2006, pers. comm.).

 

The generation length of the Hooded Plover (eastern) is estimated to be 5 years. This estimate was originally considered to be of low reliability due to a lack of reliable life history data (Garnett & Crowley 2000), but life history data (e.g. age of first breeding, longevity) collected since the estimate was made suggest that 5 years is a reasonable estimate of generation length (Weston 2006, pers. comm.).

 

The dispersed nature of the breeding distribution means that all populations are important, and that loss of any population would result in fragmentation. Range contraction in New South Wales means that maintenance of the easternmost breeding population may be key to halting the contraction (Weston 2006, pers. comm.).

There are no published records of cross-breeding between the Hooded Plover (eastern) and the Hooded Plover (western), or between the Hooded Plover (eastern) and any other species.

  

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Populations in ReservesTop The Atlas of Australian Birds records the Hooded Plover (eastern) in 77 conservation reserves throughout south-eastern Australia since 1998 (n=438 records). Five reserves have had 25 or more records of the plover since 1998: South Bruny National Park, Tasmania (n=48 records); The Lakes National Park, Victoria (n=46 records); Discovery Bay Coastal Park, Victoria (n=32 records); Gippsland Lakes Coastal Park, Victoria (n=28 records); and Calverts Lagoon Conservation Area (n=25 records), Tasmania (Atlas of Australian Birds, unpublished data).

 

In Victoria, it is estimated that approximately 90% of the adult population of Hooded Plovers (eastern) occurs on land owned by Parks Victoria. Seven sites under the management of Parks Victoria contain 5% or more of the estimated Victorian population. These are: Discovery Bay Coastal Park, Eumeralla (Yambuk) Coastal Reserve, Mornington Peninsula National Park, San Remo-Point Smythe Coastal Reserve, Nooramunga Marine and Coastal Park, McLoughlins Beach-Seaspray Coastal Reserve, and Croajingalong National Park (Weston 2003).

 

In Victoria, active management occurs in Mornington Peninsula National Park and Phillip Island Nature Park. In South Australia, informal site-specific work has taken place in reserves in the south-east of the state, where string fences have been erected to prevent vehicles from crushing nests (M.A. Weston 2006, pers. comm.). Active management also occurs in New South Wales, at Inverloch in Victoria, and at sites in Tasmania (Keating & Jarman 2004; M.A. Weston 2006). Some management activity in each of these regions is likely to occur within reserves, but it is not known which specific reserves are involved (M.A.Weston 2006, pers. comm.).

  

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HabitatTop The Hooded Plover (eastern) occurs in coastal areas, on or near high energy sandy beaches. They are generally found close to shore, but may occasionally visit sites located a short distance inland (e.g. lakes near the coast). Hooded Plovers (eastern) mainly inhabit sandy ocean beaches and their adjacent dunes. They have been claimed to have reasonably narrow preferences when it comes to beach habitat, but recent studies suggest that a variety of beach types may be used. Hooded Plovers (eastern) are sometimes found in habitats other than beaches, e.g. on rock platforms, reefs, around near coastal lakes and lagoons.

  

Beaches occupied by Hooded Plovers (eastern) tend to be broad and flat, with a wide wave-wash zone for foraging and much beachcast seaweed, and backed by sparsely-vegetated sand-dunes that provide shelter and foraging and nesting sites (Baird & Dann 2003; Marchant & Higgins 1993; Weston 2000, 2003).

 

They usually avoid beaches that are narrow or steep, that have little seaweed, or that have waves that wash up to the base of the adjacent dunes. They also tend to avoid beaches that lack adjacent dunes, or that have dunes that are bare or heavily vegetated. They are claimed to avoid beaches that have rocky or pebble-covered shores, and sections of coastline that have continous cliffs (Bransbury 1988; Hewish 1989; Lane 1981a; Schulz 1990), but nests are commonly placed on stone-covered beaches at Phillip Island (Baird & Dann 2003), and birds may be found on small beaches surrounded by long lines of cliffs at Cape Otway (Baker-Gabb & Weston 1999).

 

Furthermore, the single study that has been conducted on general habitat preferences of the Hooded Plover (eastern) found that were no differences in the usage (i.e. the densities of birds or nests) of various distinct types of beach (Bear 2000). Further work is required to determine which factors or characteristics influence the use of beach habitats (Weston 2003).

 

The Hooded Plover (eastern) also occurs infrequently in other types of habitat. Hooded Plovers (eastern) visit saline and freshwater lakes and lagoons near the coast, especially during the non-breeding season, but the importance of these sites is not well known (Bransbury 1988; Buick 1985; Marchant & Higgins 1993; Thomas 1968; Weston 2002, pers. comm.). They are also occasionally found in near-shore habitats other than beaches, e.g. on tidal bays and estuaries, on rock platforms, or on rock or sand-covered reefs close to shore (Bransbury 1988; Hewish 1989; Schulz 1986b; Weston & Peter 2004).

  

The Hooded Plover (eastern) may use near-coastal lakes as a refuge from high levels of disturbance on adjacent beaches (Weston 2006, pers. comm.).

  

The Hooded Plover (eastern) does not associate with any other species listed as threatened under the EPBC Act 1999, but it can co-occur with species listed at the state level such as Little Terns Sterna albifrons. It can also occur coincidentally near some other creatures (e.g. shorebirds, seals) that are listed as Marine and/or Migratory species under the EPBC Act 1999 (Weston 2006, pers. comm.).

  

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Life CycleTop Banding studies have shown that the Hooded Plover (eastern) is capable of surviving for more than 16 years in the wild, although the average longevity is less than this (Weston 2000). Most birds begin breeding in the second season after hatching, but some commence breeding in either the first or third seasons after hatching (Baird & Dann 2003; Weston 2000).

  

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FeedingTop The diet of the Hooded Plover (eastern) mainly consists of marine invertebrates (e.g. polychaete worms, molluscs and crustaceans). It also feeds on insects (e.g. beetles, flies, dragonflies) and vegetable material (mostly seeds) (Buick 1985; Schulz 1986b; Schulz et al. 1984).

  

The Hooded Plover (eastern) forages near the shoreline in coastal areas, e.g. on beaches, rock or reef platforms, amongst boulders and dunes, and at lakes close to the coast (Buick 1985; Marchant & Higgins 1993; Schulz 1986b; Schulz et al. 1984; Weston 2006, pers. comm.; Weston & Elgar 2005a). It captures its prey by running across the surface of a foraging substrate and intermittently stopping to peck or probe at prey items (Buick 1985; Schulz 1986b; Weston 2006, pers. comm.). The Hooded Plover (eastern) is capable of foraging during the day or at night (Weston 2006, pers. comm.). The amount of time spent foraging varies between seasons, being greatest in winter and smaller in summer (Buick 1985). The lesser amount of time spent foraging in summer is due in part to the fact that breeding adults sacrifice some foraging time so that they may attend their nests and, more particularly, their broods (i.e. adults forage much less when attending young as compared to attending nests) (Weston & Elgar 2005b).

  

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Movement PatternsTop The Hooded Plover (eastern) is largely sedentary (Weston 2006, pers. comm.), but some birds undertake movements during the non-breeding season, e.g. when congregating together into winter flocks (Bransbury 1985; Marchant & Higgins 1993; Weston 2002, pers. comm.). In one study, Weston and colleagues (2009) observed that most movements were relatively short (5 km), with 60% of movemenbts < 1 km and 95% < 20 km. Also, the extent of coastline used by individual birds averaged 47.8 km (Weston et al. 2009).

 

A major unpublished banding study indicates that adult plovers travel up to 50 km to join non-breeding flocks. The same study also indicates that juveniles are much more mobile than adults, with records of several movements in excess of 100 km (Weston 2006, pers. comm.) and one record of an unprecedented movement of more than 900 km (Cameron & Weston 1999). In one study, travel distances were larger in the non-breeding season, non-breeding adults remained closer to their partners (than breeding adults) and larger flock sizes were observed in the non-breeding season (Weston et al. 2009).

 

The Hooded Plover (eastern) is capable of crossing moderately large stretches of water such as the mouths of Port Phillip and Westernport Bays (Weston 2002, pers. comm.) and the channels of water between mainland Australia and several offshore islands (e.g. Kangaroo Island, Pearson Island) (Dennis 1998, pers. comm.; Eckert 1971; Hornsby 1978). Birds sometimes make local, short-distance movements to inland sites (e.g. lakes behind beaches) or to exposed reefs and inlets (Belcher 1914; Blakers et al. 1984; Emison et al. 1987).

  

Pairs defend territories from other Hooded Plovers (eastern) during the breeding season. These territories, which consist of a small area near the shoreline (e.g. a section of beach and adjacent dunes), are multi-purpose and are used for foraging, roosting and breeding (Weston 2000). The occupancy and, therefore, maintenance of territories declines during the non-breeding season as some birds congregate into winter flocks (Weston 2000; Weston 2006, pers. comm.). Pairs that remain intact generally maintain territories and construct their nests in the same area (i.e. within about 1 km) year after year. Information on the size of territories is only available from central Victoria, where territories ranged in size from 400 m to 1 800 m (Weston 2000). These measures represent the length of the coastline that the territories occupied (as territories are essentially linear in form) (Weston 2006, pers. comm.).

 

No information is available on home ranges, although information from colour-banded birds suggests that birds can wander up to approximately 50 km to join winter flocks (Weston 2006, pers. comm.).

  

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Survey GuidelinesTop The adult plumage of the Hooded Plover (eastern) is distinctive (Marchant & Higgins 1993). However, inexperienced observers, or those with poor or brief views (especially of birds in flight), could mistake Ruddy Turnstones Arenaria interpres for adult Hooded Plovers (eastern) (Cameron & Weston 1999).

 

The juvenile plumage of the Hooded Plover (eastern) is also quite distinctive (Marchant & Higgins 1993). However, juveniles could be confused with Sanderlings Calidris alba, Double-banded Plovers Charadrius bicinctus or Ringed Plovers C. hiaticula (although the Ringed Plover, which breeds in the northern hemisphere, is a rare and accidental visitor to Australia) (Cameron & Weston 1999; Marchant & Higgins 1993). Unattended nestlings of the Hooded Plover (eastern) can be mistaken for chicks of the Red-capped Plover C. ruficapillus (Weston 2003).

 

The detectability of the Hooded Plover (eastern) can vary depending on the type of habitat it is encountered in. In flat and exposed sites such as beaches, plovers and their nests are readily detected by experienced observers (M.A. Weston 2006, pers. comm.). However, plovers sometimes nest or forage in dunes adjacent to beaches (Weston 2003), and in such situations it is possible for some birds or nests to be overlooked, even by experienced observers (M.A. Weston 2006, pers. comm.).

  

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

ThreatsTop Major oil spills could, in theory, cause local extinctions and, consequently, initiate the fragmentation of populations (M.A. Weston 2006, pers. comm.).

  

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Threat Abatement and RecoveryTop Research has shown that local Hooded Plover (eastern) populations can recover if management procedures are introduced to reduce the destruction of nests and chicks and the disturbance of breeding pairs (Dowling & Weston 1999a).

 

The following recovery actions have been completed or are underway (Schulz 1992c; M.A. Weston 2006, pers. comm.):

  

Biennial surveys of populations in Victoria and New South Wales, more frequent monitoring of some populations in Victoria and New South Wales (especially during the breeding season), and less frequent surveys of populations in South Australia and Tasmania.

  

Control programs for foxes and feral dogs and cats along some stretches of coastline.

  

Bans or regulations on domestic dogs at some beaches during the Hooded Plover (eastern) breeding season.

  

On-ground works including fencing and temporary closure of beaches and the use of volunteer wardens (Dodge et al. 2005).

  

Studies to evaluate the effectiveness of management techniques (see Baird & Dann 1999, Dodge et al. 2005, Dowling & Weston 1999a).

  

Preparation of recovery plans for New South Wales and South Australian populations and management plans for Victoria and Tasmania.

  

Education programs, together with the stationing of wardens at beaches that have been closed temporarily, the introduction of signage and general publicity about the Hooded Plover (eastern), to increase public awareness.

 

The following recovery actions have been proposed (M.A. Weston 2006, pers. comm.).

  

Continuation of all existing actions. However, there is a need to expand these actions to include a greater proportion of the range of the Hooded Plover (eastern).

  

More information and research is needed on the efficacy of management techniques such as the use of chick shelters, predator control, effective mechanisms to alter human behaviour on beaches and habitat restoration and maintenance (Weston 2003).

  

Incorporation of the species requirements into planning provisions and coastal management strategies.

  

Greater communication between widely distributed workers.

 

The following government organisations have been involved in the recovery effort for the Hooded Plover (eastern): National Parks and Wildlife Service in New South Wales; the Department of Sustainability and Environment and Parks Victoria in Victoria; the Department of Environment and Heritage in South Australia; and the Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment in Tasmania. Other organizations involved in the recovery effort include the Australian Wader Study Group (Birds Australia), beach management authorities and local governments (Garnett & Crowley 2000; M.A. Weston 2006, pers. comm.).

  

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Major StudiesTop There have been a number of major studies on the Hooded Plover (eastern). A recent review of the literature found that, at the species level, the Hooded Plover had received substantial coverage in 174 publications (122 of which were specific to the eastern subspecies), and that 38 of these 174 publications should be classed as major studies (Weston 2005). All but two of these major studies were conducted on populations of the eastern subspecies (Weston 2006, pers. comm.).

 

The literature review described above was based on all known literature up to early October 2003 (Weston 2005). Some additional major studies have been published since then (e.g. Baird & Dann 2003, Weston & Elgar 2005a, Weston & Elgar 2005b).

  

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Management DocumentationTop A draft Recovery Plan was prepared by Baker-Gabb and Weston (1999).

 

Management documentation has been authored by Urquhart and Teoh (2001), Weston (2003) and Weston and Morrow (2000).

 

A recovery plan for the South Australian population of the Hooded Plover (eastern) is in preparation. In addition, a project is currently underway to produce a manual for the management of beach-nesting birds. This manual is to be released in 2008 (M.A. Weston 2006, pers. comm.).

The Pearson class troopship is the backbone of the Colonial Marine fleet. Used primarily for troop movements and troop assaults, the Pearson Class Troopship is also capable of being retrofitted as a materials transport ship.

 

Like all Colonial Fleet's Faster Than Light (FTL) ships, the Pearson Class Troopship is 'propelled' by a Concentrated Beam of Excited Active Mass, or C-BEAM, of Higgs Boson . The Singularity Skip Drive (SSD) uses these non-zero vacuum expectation value to and extrapolates the Casimir effect to 'skip' between paired particles linked by quantum entanglement along the beam's Poynting vector. Much like climbing a ladder, this allows ships entering from one gate and 'skip' between rungs - light years apart - till eventually reaching the terminus gate.

 

Once out of the C-BEAM, ships use conventional ion thrust to navigate to their destination. As a consequence most of the colonial fleets are within a few days travel of a Gate entry point to allow quick deployments to any of the Gates under Colonial control.

 

While limited in numbers and extremely costly - the C-BEAM gate system allows for faster than light travel securely from entry gate to terminus gate. Thus eliminating the traditional need of ship escorts along hostile sectors. Though this requires the gates to be heavily fortified - as the loss of a gate would cut off the sector for decades.

 

It is rumoured that the Colonial Defense Force maintains a C-BEAM Alert Patrol with an battle fleet perpetually traveling along all paths in a relativistic stasis.

 

The Pearson Class Troopship is capable of landing/deploying on O class or higher planets. The entire division can be loaded as: all Air deployment (space or terrestrial), all Land deployment (for high gravity worlds or urban engagements) or a split between Air/Land deployment.

 

The standard troop assortment consists of:

10 Marine Squads.

4 Marine Specialized units.

1 Engineering Unit

1 Flight Crew

1 Ground crew

 

Standard Air craft assortment:

2- Estoc- Heavy Dropship

4- Flax - Gunships

8 - Baselard - Fighter Interceptors

2 - Dirk - Scout ships

 

Standard Land craft assortment:

2 - Aspis - Heavy Armoured tanks

4 - Scutum - APCs

8 - Parma HUMVEEs

  

[Yay! my first Micro ship :D]

China is a likely winner of the information age supply chain through ecommerce

 

Peace and Ecommerce, A Global Systems View

 

Attending a required Masters class “Policy, Law, and Ethics in Information Management” it was only ethical to admit that I worked three months drafting and publishing policy documents for Microsoft, which was now our current class assignment, to research Web based privacy policies and other related documents such as terms of use, conditions of use, code of conduct and learn more about them, with a diary of examples in the wild, and related materials.

 

The educational idea is that we would then be able to contribute meaningfully to creating policy statements and understand their underlying implications to end users and companies. But I had already done this work professionally, so it would be of questionable value for me to do the coursework on the same topic as if I had never done it before.

 

The instructor of the class, Glenn Von Tersch assigned me to present information on freedom of speech, a topic I fell in love with, and wanted to research more. But for my final research, I needed something else.

 

One of my favorite things to discuss in job interviews, or with anyone in earshot, is that I believe that the networked spread of ecommerce over the Web, filtering into even the poorest nations will aid in understanding through communication; that ecommerce leads to peace. In effect I believed that ecommerce contributes in a direct way to peace because it provides the fuel to grow and maintain the Internet. Also it seemed obvious that people and countries that are invested in and perform transactions with each other are less likely to go war against their own interests. Von Tersch said, “These topics you are interested in have more research value than freedom of speech, because 1st amendment rights have been heavily legislated, written about, and researched.” He mentioned something called “The McDonald’s Effect”, how having a McDonald’s outlet or franchise appears to contribute to peace between countries. So peace and ecommerce became my topic.

 

What I did not expect to discover is in human society war is considered the norm and peace the exception. I did not expect to learn about how ugly the 3rd world poverty creating monster of WTO became according to one economist, even though I live in Seattle where the initial protests were. I was surprised to know how Reganomics theory hangs on, like an old B-grade movie on late night TV, because someone somewhere in the supply chain makes money. I did not expect to find that privacy and intellectual rights are so tightly interwoven, or how they relate to conflict, security, potential world dominance and growth.

 

I had no way to guess that I would enjoy the study of economics – statistical, yes, nicely so, but dull no; as a global topic it is juicy-rotten, full of international spies, botched security, with rogue pirate computer chips, and unintended consequences.

 

Who can accurately predict how patterns of global economics relate to peace, privacy, property rights, policies and their outcome in the one breath away from today, the next 20-40 years? Who would think that China - the nation, McDonalds - the corporation, and Chicago crack dealers and their foot soldiers share so much in common when you view their information through these fascinating multi-dimensional facets?

 

One must be educated to search effectively for information. My knowledge about the nature of search is not just intellectual knowledge; this is conditionalized through my own experience of failure to produce relevant search results within massive library databases.

 

My education began with a simple query on the Web “peace + ecommerce” which returned from Google “Theses on the Balkan War,” by Mike Haynes, from the International Socialism Journal, “Capitalism is inherently a competitively expansionist and therefore conflict-ridden system” , effectively laying the blame for war on the US and Western capitalist nations and on anyone claiming to be fighting a war with good intentions. I read it, thinking I would not see this relate to my project – also surprising very similar material was presented in the global economic books I read later.

 

As mentioned the pursuit of ‘education justifies anything’, like looking at any results, so I also clicked on an article entitled “Dinosaur Extinction linked to change in Dinosaur Culture” I read it, and it made sense that something like author Daniel Quinn’s theory of “The Law of Limited Competition” is an operant factor in global markets today, with war being genocide, and countries struggling to win economically laying waste to the very place they live. A notable example is Beijing, the air pollution capital of the world struggling to host the Olympic Games this year. I stored that URL for future reference. The theory and the reality imply that in the race to catch up and compete in global economics, the Chinese are killing themselves off before they arrive at their desired goal.

 

Then I queried in several of the University of Washington interconnected and extensive library databases on the same thing “peace + ecommerce” and found in all of them, zero returns, “0 Results”. My teacher was surprised and advised me to extrapolate and offer conjecture on what was likely, if few sources were available. I notified a friend studying economics who emailed related articles. Very frustrated I tried related queries and turned up articles on the economies of war . How perverse, I thought. I contacted a librarian through the online tool and chatted with her, explaining my quest. She suggested I query on “economics and public policy”. “How is public policy related to peace and ecommerce?” I asked. “Try Conflict Resolution” she replied.

 

Thus the reason I couldn't find 'peace' is because the term used, in educated facet writers’ metadata which is designed to expose information to search, is 'conflict resolution' or ‘conflict prevention’. Oddly the social implication is that war is the norm. Maybe peace doesn’t exist anywhere. A reason I used 'ecommerce' instead of 'global economics' is due to consulting in that field for technology firms. Searching again returned few meaningful results -- the user interface was strange, very slow, and clunky. I longed for Google .

 

Then I remembered the “McDonald's Effect” our teacher mentioned, and quickly I located a reference on the Web, but it was deeply nested in a staggering number of oddly worded articles. I stopped without uncovering where the concept originated. The next night I searched again, and found the author Thomas Friedman and his related books. I briefly scanned all the related Wikipedia articles. I realized quickly that to become educated enough on my two topics, I had to some understanding of economics. This is because even to scrape by enough to search among the many interrelated topics one needs to know the central facet. Very esoteric topics require specialized language and deep knowledge of the subject.

 

More searches turned up substantial evidence that China lags behind other nations in ecommerce.

 

For years I worked in ecommerce designing interfaces (for Microsoft 2003 and Amazon 2007-2008), and working with supply chain software (as a director of an ecommerce company). But because I didn't realize that one could understand it better, and that it is not as dull as computer science and its requisite cash register receipts , I never tried.

 

The "McDonald's Effect" is named after "The Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention" created by the author Thomas Friedman's slightly in cheek comments and his book, “The Lexus and the Olive Tree” (the update now titled "The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization").

 

Those books led me to order Amazon ecommerce overnight book delivery, and I read, 'The World Is Flat?: A Critical Analysis of New York Times Bestseller by Thomas Friedman', 'Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything' , 'Making Globalization Work' which reports that there is hope in the world for peace. The Nobel Prize winning author helps the reader extrapolate based on significant knowledge of statistics and global economic analysis through his personal, professional, and academic connections.

 

Common Name Academic Name Book Title

 

McDonalds Effect Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention,

 

aka democratic peace theory Lexus and the Olive Tree

 

Dell Theory The Dell Theory of Conflict Prevention The World is Flat, A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century

 

peace conflict prevention

 

ecommerce global economics

 

"In his book, The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Thomas L. Friedman proposed The Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention, observing that no two countries with a McDonald's franchise had ever gone to war with one another, a version of the democratic peace theory."

 

"The Dell Theory stipulates: No two countries that are both part of a major global supply chain, like Dell's, will ever fight a war against each other as long as they are both part of the same global supply chain."

 

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Readings

 

The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas Friedman

 

Larry Page, Google Co-Founder quoted by Thomas Friedman, p. 179, entire paragraph. “The more global Google’s user base becomes, the more powerful a flattener it becomes…”

 

From Friedman’s conversation with Google’s director of operations in China, Kai-Fu Lee, p. 181 entire paragraph ”In time individuals will have the power to find anything in the world at any time on all kinds of devices – and that will be enormously empowering.”

 

The Quiet Crisis, entire pages 368, 369, chapter on research in China, beating out American innovation in research. “The Chinese government gave Microsoft the right to grant post-docs.” “They work through their holidays because their dream is to get to Microsoft.”

 

“What are those?” She said the researchers get them from Microsoft every time they invent something that gets patented. How do you say Ferrari in Chinese.”

 

p. 370 “… whether we are going to implement or China is going to beat us to our own plan.” Council on Creativeness, regarding the Innovate America report, comment to Friedman by Deborah Wince-Smith.

 

Introduction p. X, Thomas Friedman, “Of course the world is not flat. But it isn’t round anymore either. I have been using the simple notion of flatness to describe how more people can plug, play, compete, connect, and collaborate with more equal power than ever before – which is what is happening in the world. … the essential impact of all the technological changes coming together in the world today. … My use of the word flat doesn’t mean equal (as in ‘equal incomes’) and never did. It means equalizing.”

 

The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization by Thomas Friedman

 

Forward to the Anchor Edition, Thomas Friedman, “… my Golden Arches Theory – that no two countries that both have McDonald’s have ever fought a war again each other since they each got their McDonald’s.”

 

p. 7 “When I say that globalization has replaced the Cold War as the defining international system, what exactly do I mean?”

 

p. 8 “The cold war system was symbolized by a single word, the wall … “You can’t handle the truth,” Says Nickleson. “Son we live in a world that has walls…”

 

p. 8 “This Globalization system is also characterized by a single word: the Web. … we have gone from a system built around divisions and walls to a system built around integration and webs.”

 

p. 19 “What is information arbitrage? Arbitrage is a market terms. Technically speaking, it refers to the simultaneous buying and selling of the same securities, commodities or foreign exchange in different markets to predict from unequal prices and unequal information. The successful arbitrageur is a trader that knows…”

 

Chapter 3, p. 29. The Lexus and the Olive Tree

 

Photo: Jerusalem, December 29, 1998: Simon Biton places his cellular phone up to the Western Wall so a relative in France can say a prayer at the holy site. (Photo: Menahem Kahana, Agence France-Presse) [caused my spontaneous tears]

 

p. 47 “advertising jingle “Let us put a bank in your home” … office … newspaper … bookstore … brokerage firm … factory … investment firm … school in our homes.”

 

The World Is Flat?: A Critical Analysis of New York Times Bestseller by Thomas Friedman by Ronald Aronica and Mtetwa Ramdoo

 

Freakonomics [Revised and Expanded]: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

 

Chapter 5 “Why do Drug Dealers Still Live with Their Moms?” p. 89 “So how did the gang work? An awful lot like most American businesses, actually, though perhaps none more so than McDonald’s. In fact, if you were to hold a McDonald’s organizational chart and a Black Disciples org chart side by side, you could hardly tell the difference.”

 

p. 46 “There is a tale, “The ring of Gygnes,” … could any man resist the temptation of evil if he knew his acts could not be witnessed?”

 

p. 58 “Attendance at Klan meetings began to fall … of all the ideas Kennedy thought up to fight bigotry, this campaign was clearly the cleverest. … He turned the Klan’s secrecy against itself by making its private information public: he converted heretofore precious knowledge into ammunition for mockery.”

 

Making Globalization Work by Joseph E. Stiglitz

 

My favorite – the entire book was used to write this paper.

 

Web Resources

 

Please view attached Appendix www.crito.uci.edu/pubs/20... regarding the reasons one study concludes that hold China back in ecommerce.

 

[1] Waiting until the time is right, one is good at something, or has collected all the facts, without making any attempts isn’t effective. I had to begin someplace even if it is incomplete so I started with the World Wide Web. “If something is worth doing well, at all, it is also worth doing poorly.” I am not sure where that quote came from but I read it in an article where someone presented their reasoning.

 

[2] You never know where something will come from in free rights actions or what it will mean later. For example the person at the center of the Alaskan “Bong hits For Jesus” case, Frederick Morse, now teaches English to Chinese students in China. As an adult it appears he has his head on straight in his wish to help others communicate, more so that those he fought in court.

 

From the CNN news article, published June 26, 2007, “In dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens said, "This case began with a silly nonsensical banner, (and) ends with the court inventing out of whole cloth a special First Amendment rule permitting the censorship of any student speech that mentions drugs, so long as someone could perceive that speech to contain a latent pro-drug message." He was backed by Justices David Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.” www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/06/2... downloaded March 13, 2008

 

[3] Pentagon attack last June stole an "amazing amount" of data” Joel Hruska Published: March 06, 2008 - 07:13PM CT Pentagon attack last June stole an "amazing amount" of data... from “blueton tips us to a brief story about recent revelations from the Pentagon which indicate that the attack on their computer network in June 2007 was more serious than they originally claimed. A DoD official recently remarked that the hackers were able to obtain an "amazing amount" of data.

 

We previously discussed rumors that the Chinese People's Liberation Army was behind the attack. “CNN has an article about Chinese hackers who claim to have successfully stolen information from the Pentagon.” Quoting Ars Technica: "The intrusion was first detected during an IT restructuring that was underway at the time. By the time it was detected, malicious code had been in the system for at least two months, and was propagating via a known Windows exploit. The bug spread itself by e-mailing malicious payloads from one system on the network to another." Via email from Jeremy Hansen on Slashdot: News for nerds, stuff that matters

 

[4] “Chinese backdoors "hidden in router firmware" Matthew Sparkes, News [Security], Tuesday 4th March 2008 3:17PM, Tuesday 4th March 2008 Chinese backdoors "hidden in router firmware"... The UK's communication networks could be at risk from Chinese backdoors hidden in firmware, according to a security company.

 

SecureTest believes spyware could be easily built into Asian-manufactured devices such as switches and routers, providing a simple backdoor for companies or governments in the Far East to listen in on communications.

 

"Organisations should change their security policies and procedures immediately," says Ken Munro, managing director of SecureTest. "This is a very real loophole that needs closing. The government needs to act fast."

 

"Would they buy a missile from China, then deploy it untested into a Western missile silo and expect it to function when directed at the Far East? That's essentially what they're doing by installing network infrastructure produced in the Far East, such as switches and routers, untested into government and corporate networks."

 

Late last year MI5 sent a letter to 300 UK companies warning of the threat from Chinese hackers attempting to steal sensitive data. Reports at the time suggested that both Rolls Royce and Royal Dutch Shell had been subjected to "sustained spying assaults".

 

The issue has been debated by government for some time. In 2001, the then foreign secretary Robin Cook, warned that international computer espionage could pose a bigger threat to the UK than terrorism.

 

[5] Chip Piracy Might End With Public Key Cryptography. A Web Exclusive from Windows IT Pro Mark Joseph Edwards, Security News, InstantDoc #98491, Windows IT Pro “A group of researchers from two universities have proposed a way to prevent chip piracy. The technique uses public key cryptography to lock down circuitry.

 

In a whitepaper published this month, Jarrod A. Roy and Igor L. Markov (of the University of Michigan) and Farinaz Koushanfar (of Rice University) outline the problem and details of how their proposed technology will help solve it.

 

Chip designers sometimes outsource manufacturing and that opens the door to piracy, should someone copy the design plans. The copied plans are then used to created 'clone' chips for a wide range of devices, including computers, MP3 players, and more.

 

"Pirated chips are sometimes being sold for pennies, but they are exactly the same as normal chips," said Igor Markov, associate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan. "They were designed in the United States and usually manufactured overseas, where intellectual property law is more lax. Someone copies the blueprints or manufactures the chips without authorization."

 

The groups propose the use of public key cryptography, which would be embedded into circuitry designs. Each chip would produce its own random identification number, which would be generated during an activation phase. Chips would not function until activated, and activation would take place in a manner somewhat similar to that seen with many applications in use today. Via email from Jeremy Hansen.Original source - EPIC: Ending Piracy of Integrated Circuits Jarrod A. Roy, Farinaz Koushanfar‡ and Igor L. Markov, The University of Michigan, Department of EECS, 2260 Hayward Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2121, Rice University, ECE and CS Departments, 6100 South Main, Houston, TX 77005 www.eecs.umich.edu/~imark... March 06, 2008

 

[6] Chapter 5 “Why do Drug Dealers Still Live with Their Moms?” p. 89 “So how did the gang work? An awful lot like most American businesses, actually, though perhaps none more so than McDonald’s. In fact, if you were to hold a McDonald’s organizational chart and a Black Disciples org chart side by side, you could hardly tell the difference.”

 

[7] Mike Haynes, Theses on the Balkan War, “Capitalism is inherently a competitively expansionist and therefore conflict ridden system” Issue 83 of INTERNATIONAL SOCIALISM JOURNAL Published Summer 1999 Copyright © International Socialism, pubs.socialistreviewindex... accessed March 3, 2008.

 

[8] Readings p.7 “When I say that globalization has replaced the Cold War as the defining international system, what exactly do I mean?” p. 8 “The cold war system was symbolized by a single word, the wall … “You can’t handle the truth,” Says Nicholson. “Son we live in a world that has walls…”p. 8 “This Globalization system is also characterized by a single word: the Web. … we have gone from a system built around divisions and walls to a system built around integration and webs.”

 

“What is information arbitrage? Arbitrage is a market term. Technically speaking, it refers to the simultaneous buying and selling of the same securities, commodities or foreign exchange in different markets to predict from unequal prices and unequal information. The successful arbitrageur is a trader that knows…”

 

[9] Shared by miles on Feb 13, 2006 3:39 pm that I located through a Gmail...

 

[10] “As it gears up to host the 2008 Olympic Games Beijing has been awarded an unwelcome new accolade: the air pollution capital of the world.Satellite data has revealed that the city is one of the worst environmental victims of China's spectacular economic growth, which has brought with it air pollution levels that are blamed for more than 400,000 premature deaths a year” Satellite data reveals Beijing as air pollution capital of world

 

[11] “What we call ‘war’ is not all bad,” according to Virginia Johnson a former governmental planning consultant, who reminded me, “Without conflict there is no life. You don’t want 'perfect peace' there is no movement. The human standard is actually what we broadly call 'war'; because without conflict, change, motion, growth we would learn nothing, we would have nothing, we would be dead.” Personal conversation, March 14, 2008, Seattle, Washington

 

[12] Readings Larry Page, Google Co-Founder quoted by Thomas Friedman, p. 179, entire paragraph. “The more global Google’s user base becomes, the more powerful a flattener it becomes…”

 

[13] Ranganathan, faceted classification, Five Laws of Library Science, S. R. Ranganathan - Wikipedia, www.boxesandarrows.com/vi... Personality, Matter, Energy, Space, and Time. (PMEST)

 

Personality—what the object is primarily “about.” This is considered the “main facet.”

 

Matter—the material of the object

 

Energy—the processes or activities that take place in relation to the object

 

Space—where the object happens or exists

 

Time—when the object occurs

 

[14] www.crito.uci.edu/pubs/20...

 

[15] I learned about supply chain management mainly from the supply chain wizard Marc Lamonica, Regional Chief Financial Officer at Sutter Connect, Sutter Shared Services, and our mutual friend Web entrepreneur and ecommerce product engineer Adam Kalsey, and Sacramento State University teacher Stuart Williams, of Blitzkeigsoftware.net, <a href="http://blitzkriegsoftware.net/St..." blitzkriegsoftware.net/St...

 

[16] Introduction to Computer software classes in the 1970s consisted of FORTRAN cash register receipt programming, which is by implication is what ecommerce actually does.

 

[17] Freakonomics is a must read book of comedy and connections.

 

[18] Golden Arches, definition on Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Golden Arches - Wikipedia, accessed March 13, 2008

 

[19] Readings “The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century” by Thomas Friedman, p. 421

 

[20] Readings p. 19 “What is information arbitrage? Arbitrage is a market term. Technically speaking, it refers to the simultaneous buying and selling of the same securities, commodities or foreign exchange in different markets to predict from unequal prices and unequal information. The successful arbitrageur is a trader that knows…”

 

[21] “Conservation groups say acid rain falls on a third of China's territory and 70% of rivers and lakes are so full of toxins they can no longer be used for drinking water.” Satellite data reveals Beijing as air pollution capital of world, Jonathan Watts in Beijing The Guardian, Monday October 31 2005, Satellite data reveals Beijing as air pollution capital of world

 

[22] “…After watching Jobs unveil the iPhone, Alan Kay, a personal computer pioneer who has worked with him, put it this way who has worked with him, put it this way: "Steve understands desire." ... Fortune CNN Magazine March 5, 2008, http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/02/......

 

accessed March 5, 2008

 

[23] Mac Margolis, “How Brazil Reversed the Curse, Latin America used to suffer the deepest gap between rich and poor. Now it is the only region narrowing the divide. Upwardly Mobile: Middle-class Brazilians” How Brazil Reversed the Curse NEWSWEEK Nov 12, 2007 Issue

 

[24] Mike Haynes, Theses on the Balkan War, “Capitalism is inherently a competitively expansionist and therefore conflict ridden system” Issue 83 of INTERNATIONAL SOCIALISM JOURNAL Published Summer 1999 Copyright © International Socialism, pubs.socialistreviewindex... accessed March 3, 2008. “The optimism that the end of the Cold War might lead to a new world order has been shown to be false. The hope that it would release a peace dividend that would enable a new generosity in international relations has been belied by experience, as some of us sadly predicted it would.3 Though the arms burden has declined, there has been no outpouring of aid to Eastern Europe, no new 'Marshall Plan'. The result has been that the burden of change has fallen on the broad masses of the population, wrecking lives across the old Soviet bloc in general and in one of its poorest components in south eastern Europe in particular. According to the World Bank, the number of people living in poverty (defined as having less than $4 a day) in the former Soviet bloc has risen from 14 million in 1990 to 147 million in 1998.4 Worse still, the advanced countries have continued to reduce further the miserly sums they devote to aid to the even poorer areas of the world. The OECD countries are rhetorically committed to an aid target of 0.7 percent of their output. In 1990 they gave 0.35 percent, and by 1997 the figure had fallen to 0.22 percent, with the United States under this heading giving 0.09 percent of its output, a figure in startling contrast to the expenditure devoted to destruction.”5

 

[25] Readings p. 46 “There is a tale, “The ring of Gygnes,” … could any man resist the temptation of evil if he knew his acts could not be witnessed?”

 

[26] Readings p. 58 “Attendance at Klan meetings began to fall … of all the ideas Kennedy thought up to fight bigotry, this campaign was clearly the cleverest. … He turned the Klan’s secrecy against itself by making its private information public: he converted heretofore precious knowledge into ammunition for mockery.”

 

Some of the research in this paper on piracy was provided by Jeremy Hansen of Seattle, Washington, USA. Mr. Hansen's email regarding economics served to inform me on this topic. Teacher: Glenn Von Tersch.

Brick Lane is one of my favorite places to capture candid scenes. Every now and again, the area hosts a number of photo exhibits like this one where I happened to be during its inauguration. As I walked around, I came across this young man close to a portrait of himself and asked him to pose for me. Although it was a simple composition, I found it creative and choose to tell its story.

 

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