View allAll Photos Tagged monitoring
A Beautiful Mertens Water monitor taken in Litchfield National Park NT. Was very friendly and had little fear of my wife and I
Samsung U24E590D monitor pixels closeup - blur due to not using tripod.
Nikon D610 - Zhongyi Mitakon 20mm f/2.0 4.5X Super Macro Lens
The USS Monitor was the revolutionary all iron design with the world's first nautical rotating gun turret. It was designed by John Ericsson and financed and promoted to the Navy by Madison's Cornelius Scranton Bushnell. When the Union learned that the Confederates were building an iron clad ship to fight against Federal blockades of Southern ports, it quickly countered with the Monitor. See www.madisonhistory.org/uss-monitor/ for the whole story. The Monitor's most notable engagement was against the CSS Virginia (a.k.a USS Merrimack) during America's Civil War at Hampton Roads, Va. in March of 1862.
This is a large (1/4"=1' scale) museum-quality wooden model of the USS Monitor in its battle-ready appearance. The model was built in the early 1970's by Arthur G. Henning, Inc, 17 South 3rd Ave., Mount Vernon, NY 10550, to exact measurements from archival blueprints. It is a duplicate of the model ship on display at the Smithsonian, which the Henning firm also produced. According to the firm, ours has more detail inside the turret. The ship model includes an anchor and the Ericsson-designed propellor. Painted flat black with red-lead colored hull. The ship model is 43 1/2" long X 10 3/4" wide X 6 1/2" high. It was commissioned by Dr. Philip S. Platt, a previous MHS President, in 1974 for $1,200. It was donated by him to be part of the 1974 MHS exhibit about Cornelius Bushnell and the Monitor.
ACC# 1974.016.002
See other USS Monitor-related images at flic.kr/s/aHBqjzRDR2. (Photo credit - Bob Gundersen www.flickr.com/photos/bobphoto51/albums)
Photoshop across 3 monitors, 3984x1050 res. 2 seperate 3 exposures +-2 stop, both hdred then stitched in photo shop,
The average American teenager sends an average in excess of 100 SMS text messages every day. A shocking 20 % of teenagers admit they have sent or posted nude or seminude 'zexting' images, possibly a serious zex crime. Eighty percent of all car crashes in the United States involve distracted drivers, destroying the lives of thousands of teenagers each year.
Parents are responsible to both defend their kids, and to discover what they are doing, and where they are doing it. Checking kids can be done easily and fairly. Keep in mind that tracking and monitoring of devices should include computers, smartphones and tablets.
Many spy phone software programs are especially refined and made available by reasonably reliable companies; however sadly the great majority of offers come from unsecured sellers or other types of shady characters making false promises. Monitoring software is a basic term for the various types of plans widely available to be able to document personal computer or smartphone activity. Meanings vary depending upon use and objective of spy phone applications as opposed to a technical classification. There are a variety of methods used by coders in designing spyware, used on cell phones also called spyphone software.
Many people may use spy in their terminology when they refer to valid monitoring of cell phones. There are a lot of valid reasons to Track Cell Phone and communications content.
Not only is Parental Monitoring acceptable, and Employee Monitoring acceptable, they are mandated. If not legally, then morally and ethically; given that parents and employers are empowered to moderate tragedy and liability that originate from cell phone misuse or the need for protection. Authority comes with accountability. On the plus side there is something to keep in mind is usually that spy phone software packages require authorization. A number of spy phone software packages can be sent to the phone remotely, yet are unable to be installed or activated. Staff Monitoring responsibility goes beyond productivity and policy compliance; guarding against insider threats and other misuse is very important and Cyberbullying and zexual Harassment remain considerable issues for companies. Employers, Parents and just about anyone rely on cell phone spy phone software programs to get a handle on data loss prevention, when in case their phones are lost or stolen. Parental responsibly means knowing where kids are and what they are doing with their phones and computers. Parental Monitoring Youth Cell phone Usage: Parents and guardians use cell phone spy phone software programs to get a handle on distracted drivers, zexting, predators, excessive use.
The lace monitor or lace goanna is a member of the monitor lizard family and are the second-largest monitor in Australia after the perentie.
Australian Reptile Park, Somersby, NSW, Australia
The Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis), also known as the Komodo monitor, is a large species of lizard found in the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Motang, and Padar. A member of the monitor lizard family Varanidae, it is the largest living species of lizard, growing to a maximum length of 3 metres in rare cases and weighing up to approximately 70 kilograms.
Their unusually large size has been attributed to island gigantism, since no other carnivorous animals fill the niche on the islands where they live. However, recent research suggests the large size of Komodo dragons may be better understood as representative of a relict population of very large varanid lizards that once lived across Indonesia and Australia, most of which, along with other megafauna, died out after the Pleistocene. Fossils very similar to V. komodoensis have been found in Australia dating to greater than 3.8 million years ago, and its body size remained stable on Flores, one of the handful of Indonesian islands where it is currently found, over the last 900,000 years, "a time marked by major faunal turnovers, extinction of the island's megafauna, and the arrival of early hominids by 880 ka [kiloannums]."
As a result of their size, these lizards dominate the ecosystems in which they live. Komodo dragons hunt and ambush prey including invertebrates, birds, and mammals. It has been claimed that they have a venomous bite; there are two glands in the lower jaw which secrete several toxic proteins. The biological significance of these proteins is disputed, but the glands have been shown to secrete an anticoagulant. Komodo dragon group behaviour in hunting is exceptional in the reptile world. The diet of big Komodo dragons mainly consists of deer, though they also eat considerable amounts of carrion. Komodo dragons also occasionally attack humans in the area of West Manggarai Regency where they live in Indonesia.
Mating begins between May and August, and the eggs are laid in September. About 20 eggs are deposited in abandoned megapode nests or in a self-dug nesting hole. The eggs are incubated for seven to eight months, hatching in April, when insects are most plentiful. Young Komodo dragons are vulnerable and therefore dwell in trees, safe from predators and cannibalistic adults. They take 8 to 9 years to mature, and are estimated to live up to 30 years.
Komodo dragons were first recorded by Western scientists in 1910. Their large size and fearsome reputation make them popular zoo exhibits. In the wild, their range has contracted due to human activities, and they are listed as vulnerable by the IUCN. They are protected under Indonesian law, and a national park, Komodo National Park, was founded to aid protection efforts.
ETYMOLOGY
The Komodo dragon is also known as the Komodo monitor or the Komodo Island monitor in scientific literature, although this is not very common. To the natives of Komodo Island, it is referred to as ora, buaya darat (land crocodile), or biawak raksasa (giant monitor).
EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY
The evolutionary development of the Komodo dragon started with the Varanus genus, which originated in Asia about 40 million years ago and migrated to Australia. Around 15 million years ago, a collision between Australia and Southeast Asia allowed the varanids to move into what is now the Indonesian archipelago, extending their range as far east as the island of Timor. The Komodo dragon was believed to have differentiated from its Australian ancestors 4 million years ago. However, recent fossil evidence from Queensland suggests the Komodo dragon evolved in Australia before spreading to Indonesia. Dramatic lowering of sea level during the last glacial period uncovered extensive stretches of continental shelf that the Komodo dragon colonized, becoming isolated in their present island range as sea levels rose afterwards.
DESCRIPTION
In the wild, an adult Komodo dragon usually weighs around 70 kg, although captive specimens often weigh more. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, an average adult male will weigh 79 to 91 kg and measure 2.59 m, while an average female will weigh 68 to 73 kg and measure 2.29 m. The largest verified wild specimen was 3.13 m long and weighed 166 kg, including undigested food. The Komodo dragon has a tail as long as its body, as well as about 60 frequently replaced, serrated teeth that can measure up to 2.5 cm in length. Its saliva is frequently blood-tinged, because its teeth are almost completely covered by gingival tissue that is naturally lacerated during feeding. This creates an ideal culture for the bacteria that live in its mouth. It also has a long, yellow, deeply forked tongue. Komodo dragon skin is reinforced by armoured scales, which contain tiny bones called osteoderms that function as a sort of natural chain-mail. This rugged hide makes Komodo dragon skin poorly suited for making into leather.
SENSES
As with other Varanids, Komodo dragons have only a single ear bone, the stapes, for transferring vibrations from the tympanic membrane to the cochlea. This arrangement means they are likely restricted to sounds in the 400 to 2,000 hertz range, compared to humans who hear between 20 and 20,000 hertz. It was formerly thought to be deaf when a study reported no agitation in wild Komodo dragons in response to whispers, raised voices, or shouts. This was disputed when London Zoological Garden employee Joan Proctor trained a captive specimen to come out to feed at the sound of her voice, even when she could not be seen.
The Komodo dragon can see objects as far away as 300 m, but because its retinas only contain cones, it is thought to have poor night vision. The Komodo dragon is able to see in color, but has poor visual discrimination of stationary objects.
The Komodo dragon uses its tongue to detect, taste, and smell stimuli, as with many other reptiles, with the vomeronasal sense using the Jacobson's organ, rather than using the nostrils. With the help of a favorable wind and its habit of swinging its head from side to side as it walks, a Komodo dragon may be able to detect carrion from 4–9.5 km away. It only has a few taste buds in the back of its throat. Its scales, some of which are reinforced with bone, have sensory plaques connected to nerves to facilitate its sense of touch. The scales around the ears, lips, chin, and soles of the feet may have three or more sensory plaques.
BEHAVIOUR AND ECOLOGY
The Komodo dragon prefers hot and dry places, and typically lives in dry, open grassland, savanna, and tropical forest at low elevations. As an ectotherm, it is most active in the day, although it exhibits some nocturnal activity. Komodo dragons are solitary, coming together only to breed and eat. They are capable of running rapidly in brief sprints up to 20 km/h, diving up to 4.5 m, and climbing trees proficiently when young through use of their strong claws. To catch out-of-reach prey, the Komodo dragon may stand on its hind legs and use its tail as a support. As it matures, its claws are used primarily as weapons, as its great size makes climbing impractical.
For shelter, the Komodo dragon digs holes that can measure from 1–3 m wide with its powerful forelimbs and claws. Because of its large size and habit of sleeping in these burrows, it is able to conserve body heat throughout the night and minimize its basking period the morning after. The Komodo dragon hunts in the afternoon, but stays in the shade during the hottest part of the day. These special resting places, usually located on ridges with cool sea breezes, are marked with droppings and are cleared of vegetation. They serve as strategic locations from which to ambush deer.
DIET
Komodo dragons are carnivores. Although they eat mostly carrion, they will also ambush live prey with a stealthy approach. When suitable prey arrives near a dragon's ambush site, it will suddenly charge at the animal and go for the underside or the throat. It is able to locate its prey using its keen sense of smell, which can locate a dead or dying animal from a range of up to 9.5 km. Komodo dragons have been observed knocking down large pigs and deer with their strong tails.
Komodo dragons eat by tearing large chunks of flesh and swallowing them whole while holding the carcass down with their forelegs. For smaller prey up to the size of a goat, their loosely articulated jaws, flexible skulls, and expandable stomachs allow them to swallow prey whole. The vegetable contents of the stomach and intestines are typically avoided. Copious amounts of red saliva the Komodo dragons produce help to lubricate the food, but swallowing is still a long process (15–20 minutes to swallow a goat). A Komodo dragon may attempt to speed up the process by ramming the carcass against a tree to force it down its throat, sometimes ramming so forcefully, the tree is knocked down. To prevent itself from suffocating while swallowing, it breathes using a small tube under the tongue that connects to the lungs. After eating up to 80% of its body weight in one meal, it drags itself to a sunny location to speed digestion, as the food could rot and poison the dragon if left undigested for too long. Because of their slow metabolism, large dragons can survive on as little as 12 meals a year. After digestion, the Komodo dragon regurgitates a mass of horns, hair, and teeth known as the gastric pellet, which is covered in malodorous mucus. After regurgitating the gastric pellet, it rubs its face in the dirt or on bushes to get rid of the mucus, suggesting, like humans, it does not relish the scent of its own excretions.
The largest animals eat first, while the smaller ones follow a hierarchy. The largest male asserts his dominance and the smaller males show their submission by use of body language and rumbling hisses. Dragons of equal size may resort to "wrestling". Losers usually retreat, though they have been known to be killed and eaten by victors.
The Komodo dragon's diet is wide-ranging, and includes invertebrates, other reptiles (including smaller Komodo dragons), birds, bird eggs, small mammals, monkeys, wild boar, goats, deer, horses, and water buffalo. Young Komodos will eat insects, eggs, geckos, and small mammals. Occasionally, they consume humans and human corpses, digging up bodies from shallow graves. This habit of raiding graves caused the villagers of Komodo to move their graves from sandy to clay ground and pile rocks on top of them to deter the lizards. The Komodo dragon may have evolved to feed on the extinct dwarf elephant Stegodon that once lived on Flores, according to evolutionary biologist Jared Diamond.
The Komodo dragon drinks by sucking water into its mouth via buccal pumping (a process also used for respiration), lifting its head, and letting the water run down its throat.
SALIVA
Auffenberg described the Komodo dragon as having septic pathogens in its saliva (he described the saliva as "reddish and copious"), specifically the bacteria E. coli, Staphylococcus sp., Providencia sp., Proteus morgani, and P. mirabilis. He noted, while these pathogens can be found in the mouths of wild Komodo dragons, they disappear from the mouths of captive animals, due to cleaner diets and the use of antibiotics. This was verified by taking mucous samples from the external gum surfaces of the upper jaws of two freshly captured individuals. Saliva samples were analyzed by researchers at the University of Texas, who found 57 strains of bacteria growing in the mouths of three wild Komodo dragons, including Pasteurella multocida. The rapid growth of these bacteria was noted by Fredeking: "Normally it takes about three days for a sample of P. multocida to cover a Petri dish; ours took eight hours. We were very taken aback by how virulent these strains were". This study supported the observation that wounds inflicted by the Komodo dragon are often associated with sepsis and subsequent infections in prey animals. How the Komodo dragon is unaffected by these virulent bacteria remains a mystery.Research in 2013 suggested that the bacteria in the mouths of komodo dragons are ordinary and similar to those found in other carnivores. They actually have surprisingly good mouth hygiene. As Bryan Fry put it: "After they are done feeding, they will spend 10 to 15 minutes lip-licking and rubbing their head in the leaves to clean their mouth... Unlike people have been led to believe, they do not have chunks of rotting flesh from their meals on their teeth, cultivating bacteria." The observation of prey dying of sepsis would then be explained by the natural instinct of water buffalos, who are not native to the islands where the Komodo dragon lives, to run into water when attacked. The warm, feces filled water would then cause the infections. The study used samples from 16 captive dragons (10 adults and six neonates) from three U.S. zoos.
VENOM
In late 2005, researchers at the University of Melbourne speculated the perentie (Varanus giganteus), other species of monitors, and agamids may be somewhat venomous. The team believes the immediate effects of bites from these lizards were caused by mild envenomation. Bites on human digits by a lace monitor (V. varius), a Komodo dragon, and a spotted tree monitor (V. scalaris) all produced similar effects: rapid swelling, localized disruption of blood clotting, and shooting pain up to the elbow, with some symptoms lasting for several hours.
In 2009, the same researchers published further evidence demonstrating Komodo dragons possess a venomous bite. MRI scans of a preserved skull showed the presence of two glands in the lower jaw. The researchers extracted one of these glands from the head of a terminally ill specimen in the Singapore Zoological Gardens, and found it secreted several different toxic proteins. The known functions of these proteins include inhibition of blood clotting, lowering of blood pressure, muscle paralysis, and the induction of hypothermia, leading to shock and loss of consciousness in envenomated prey. As a result of the discovery, the previous theory that bacteria were responsible for the deaths of Komodo victims was disputed.
Kurt Schwenk, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Connecticut, finds the discovery of these glands intriguing, but considers most of the evidence for venom in the study to be "meaningless, irrelevant, incorrect or falsely misleading". Even if the lizards have venom-like proteins in their mouths, Schwenk argues, they may be using them for a different function, and he doubts venom is necessary to explain the effect of a Komodo dragon bite, arguing that shock and blood loss are the primary factors.
Other scientists such as Washington State University's Biologist Kenneth V. Kardong and Toxicologists Scott A. Weinstein and Tamara L. Smith, have stated that this allegation of venom glands "has had the effect of underestimating the variety of complex roles played by oral secretions in the biology of reptiles, produced a very narrow view of oral secretions and resulted in misinterpretation of reptilian evolution". According to these scientists "reptilian oral secretions contribute to many biological roles other than to quickly dispatch prey". These researchers concluded that, "Calling all in this clade venomous implies an overall potential danger that does not exist, misleads in the assessment of medical risks, and confuses the biological assessment of squamate biochemical systems".
REPRODUCTION
Mating occurs between May and August, with the eggs laid in September. During this period, males fight over females and territory by grappling with one another upon their hind legs, with the loser eventually being pinned to the ground. These males may vomit or defecate when preparing for the fight. The winner of the fight will then flick his long tongue at the female to gain information about her receptivity. Females are antagonistic and resist with their claws and teeth during the early phases of courtship. Therefore, the male must fully restrain the female during coitus to avoid being hurt. Other courtship displays include males rubbing their chins on the female, hard scratches to the back, and licking. Copulation occurs when the male inserts one of his hemipenes into the female's cloaca. Komodo dragons may be monogamous and form "pair bonds", a rare behavior for lizards. Female Komodos lay their eggs from August to September and may use several types of locality; in one study, 60% laid their eggs in the nests of orange-footed scrubfowl (a moundbuilder or megapode), 20% on ground level and 20% in hilly areas. The females make many camouflage nests/holes to prevent other dragons from eating the eggs. Clutches contain an average of 20 eggs, which have an incubation period of 7–8 months. Hatching is an exhausting effort for the neonates, which break out of their eggshells with an egg tooth that falls off soon after. After cutting themselves out, the hatchlings may lie in their eggshells for hours before starting to dig out of the nest. They are born quite defenseless and are vulnerable to predation. Sixteen youngsters from a single nest were on average 46.5 cm long and weighed 105.1 grams. Young Komodo dragons spend much of their first few years in trees, where they are relatively safe from predators, including cannibalistic adults, as juvenile dragons make up 10% of their diets. The habit of cannibalism may be advantageous in sustaining the large size of adults, as medium-sized prey on the islands is rare. When the young approach a kill, they roll around in fecal matter and rest in the intestines of eviscerated animals to deter these hungry adults. Komodo dragons take approximately three to five years to mature, and may live for up to 50 years.
PARTHENOGENESIS
A Komodo dragon at London Zoo named Sungai laid a clutch of eggs in late 2005 after being separated from male company for more than two years. Scientists initially assumed she had been able to store sperm from her earlier encounter with a male, an adaptation known as superfecundation. On 20 December 2006, it was reported that Flora, a captive Komodo dragon living in the Chester Zoo in England, was the second known Komodo dragon to have laid unfertilized eggs: she laid 11 eggs, and seven of them hatched, all of them male. Scientists at Liverpool University in England performed genetic tests on three eggs that collapsed after being moved to an incubator, and verified Flora had never been in physical contact with a male dragon. After Flora's eggs' condition had been discovered, testing showed Sungai's eggs were also produced without outside fertilization. On 31 January 2008, the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, Kansas, became the first zoo in the Americas to document parthenogenesis in Komodo dragons. The zoo has two adult female Komodo dragons, one of which laid about 17 eggs on 19–20 May 2007. Only two eggs were incubated and hatched due to space issues; the first hatched on 31 January 2008, while the second hatched on 1 February. Both hatchlings were males.
Komodo dragons have the ZW chromosomal sex-determination system, as opposed to the mammalian XY system. Male progeny prove Flora's unfertilized eggs were haploid (n) and doubled their chromosomes later to become diploid (2n) (by being fertilized by a polar body, or by chromosome duplication without cell division), rather than by her laying diploid eggs by one of the meiosis reduction-divisions in her ovaries failing. When a female Komodo dragon (with ZW sex chromosomes) reproduces in this manner, she provides her progeny with only one chromosome from each of her pairs of chromosomes, including only one of her two sex chromosomes. This single set of chromosomes is duplicated in the egg, which develops parthenogenetically. Eggs receiving a Z chromosome become ZZ (male); those receiving a W chromosome become WW and fail to develop, meaning that only males are produced by parthenogenesis in this species.
It has been hypothesized that this reproductive adaptation allows a single female to enter an isolated ecological niche (such as an island) and by parthenogenesis produce male offspring, thereby establishing a sexually reproducing population (via reproduction with her offspring that can result in both male and female young). Despite the advantages of such an adaptation, zoos are cautioned that parthenogenesis may be detrimental to genetic diversity.
HISTORY
DISCOVERY BY THE WESTERN WORLD
Komodo dragons were first documented by Europeans in 1910, when rumors of a "land crocodile" reached Lieutenant van Steyn van Hensbroek of the Dutch colonial administration. Widespread notoriety came after 1912, when Peter Ouwens, the director of the Zoological Museum at Bogor, Java, published a paper on the topic after receiving a photo and a skin from the lieutenant, as well as two other specimens from a collector. The first two live Komodo dragons to arrive in Europe were exhibited in the Reptile House at London Zoo when it opened in 1927. Joan Beauchamp Procter made some of the earliest observations of these animals in captivity and she demonstrated the behaviour of one of these animals at a Scientific Meeting of the Zoological Society of London in 1928. The Komodo dragon was the driving factor for an expedition to Komodo Island by W. Douglas Burden in 1926. After returning with 12 preserved specimens and 2 live ones, this expedition provided the inspiration for the 1933 movie King Kong. It was also Burden who coined the common name "Komodo dragon." Three of his specimens were stuffed and are still on display in the American Museum of Natural History.
STUDIES
The Dutch, realizing the limited number of individuals in the wild, outlawed sport hunting and heavily limited the number of individuals taken for scientific study. Collecting expeditions ground to a halt with the occurrence of World War II, not resuming until the 1950s and 1960s, when studies examined the Komodo dragon's feeding behavior, reproduction, and body temperature. At around this time, an expedition was planned in which a long-term study of the Komodo dragon would be undertaken. This task was given to the Auffenberg family, who stayed on Komodo Island for 11 months in 1969. During their stay, Walter Auffenberg and his assistant Putra Sastrawan captured and tagged more than 50 Komodo dragons. The research from the Auffenberg expedition would prove to be enormously influential in raising Komodo dragons in captivity. Research after that of the Auffenberg family has shed more light on the nature of the Komodo dragon, with biologists such as Claudio Ciofi continuing to study the creatures.
CONSERVATION
The Komodo dragon is a vulnerable species and is on the IUCN Red List. There are approximately 4,000 to 5,000 living Komodo dragons in the wild. Their populations are restricted to the islands of Gili Motang (100), Gili Dasami (100), Rinca (1,300), Komodo (1,700), and Flores (perhaps 2,000). However, there are concerns that there may presently be only 350 breeding females. To address these concerns, the Komodo National Park was founded in 1980 to protect Komodo dragon populations on islands including Komodo, Rinca, and Padar. Later, the Wae Wuul and Wolo Tado Reserves were opened on Flores to aid with Komodo dragon conservation.
Komodo dragons avoid encounters with humans. Juveniles are very shy and will flee quickly into a hideout if a human comes closer than about 100 metres. Older animals will also retreat from humans from a shorter distance away. If cornered, they will react aggressively by gaping their mouth, hissing, and swinging their tail. If they are disturbed further, they may start an attack and bite. Although there are anecdotes of unprovoked Komodo dragons attacking or preying on humans, most of these reports are either not reputable or caused by defensive bites. Only a very few cases are truly the result of unprovoked attacks by abnormal individuals, which lost their fear towards humans.
Volcanic activity, earthquakes, loss of habitat, fire, loss of prey due to poaching, tourism, and illegal poaching of the dragons themselves have all contributed to the vulnerable status of the Komodo dragon. Under Appendix I of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species), commercial trade of skins or specimens is illegal.
On Padar, a former population of the Komodo dragon became extinct, of which the last individuals were seen in 1975. It is widely assumed that the Komodo dragon died out on Padar after a strong decline of the populations of large ungulate prey, for which poaching was most likely responsible.
IN CAPTIVITY
Komodo dragons have long been great zoo attractions, where their size and reputation make them popular exhibits. They are, however, rare in zoos because they are susceptible to infection and parasitic disease if captured from the wild, and do not readily reproduce. As of May 2009, there were 13 European, 2 African, 35 North American, 1 Singaporean, and 2 Australian institutions that kept Komodo dragons.
The first Komodo dragons were displayed at London Zoo in 1927. A Komodo dragon was exhibited in 1934 at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., but it lived for only two years. More attempts to exhibit Komodo dragons were made, but the lifespan of these animals was very short, averaging five years in the National Zoological Park. Studies done by Walter Auffenberg, which were documented in his book The Behavioral Ecology of the Komodo Monitor, eventually allowed for more successful managing and reproducing of the dragons in captivity.
A variety of behaviors have been observed from captive specimens. Most individuals are relatively tame within a short time, and are capable of recognizing individual humans and discriminating between familiar keepers. Komodo dragons have also been observed to engage in play with a variety of objects, including shovels, cans, plastic rings, and shoes. This behavior does not seem to be "food-motivated predatory behavior".
Even seemingly docile dragons may become unpredictably aggressive, especially when the animal's territory is invaded by someone unfamiliar. In June 2001, a Komodo dragon seriously injured Phil Bronstein, the then husband of actress Sharon Stone, when he entered its enclosure at the Los Angeles Zoo after being invited in by its keeper. Bronstein was bitten on his bare foot, as the keeper had told him to take off his white shoes and socks, which the keeper stated could potentially excite the Komodo dragon as they were the same color as the white rats the zoo fed the dragon. Although he escaped, Bronstein needed to have several tendons in his foot reattached surgically.
IN POPULARE CULTURE
Komodo dragons are used as a main theme in Komodo (1999), Curse of the Komodo (2004) and Komodo vs. Cobra (2005).
The comedy team of Bob and Ray performed a popular sketch entitled "The Komodo Dragon Expert."
The plot of the 1990 film, The Freshman, involves a university freshman, an aging mobster and a Komodo dragon.
In the 2012 James Bond film Skyfall, one of the Chinese henchmen in a casino that Bond visits in Macau is overtaken, dragged off and presumably killed by a Komodo dragon.
WIKIPEDIA
I photographed this Blackthroat Monitor Lizard at the Cape Fear Serpentarium in Wilmington, North Carolina. These are large lizards. Adults can reach 6 feet in length and can weigh 50 lbs. Because this lizard was asleep and not moving, I was able to bracket three exposures for this HDR image. Apparently, this animal has little venom and a bite is not too bad unless the venom is "chewed in!"
With a watchful look, a Spiny-tailed Monitor stalks its enclosure at La Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes in Paris, France.
Heavily monitored Thaipusam festival in Singapore : no smoking, no alcohol and NO MUSIC? Seriously ?
Quiet, inhibited parade when i took this picture around noon. Fortunately, the evening part of the festival became apparently rowdier and fervent...
Festival de Thaipusam 2015 lourdement encadré à Singapour : pas de cigarette, pas d'alcool et PAS DE MUSIQUE? Sérieusement ?
Une parade calme et dépeuplée quand j'ai pris ce cliché dans le temps de midi. Heureusement, la partie nocturne du défilé est apparemment devenue plus bruyante et fervente...
Fujifilm X-E1 + Fujinon 35mm. Multiexposure mode. N(atura)H film simulation. ƒ/2. iso 400. 1/4000. No alteration / pas de retouche.
top row:
2 x Acer Ferrari 20 inches; LCD's (3360 x 2100)
bottom row:
1 x Dell 20 inches; (1200 x 1600 portrait)
1 x Dell 24 inches; (1920 x 1200 landscape)
1 x Dell 20 inches; (1200 x 1600 portrait)
Taken with a Blackberry 9700. January 2010
Custom Monitor barn built in Yelm, WA by Stable Systems, Inc, a Washington barn design and barn construction company.
Photos from a review of the LG 23ET83 touchscreen monitor. The full review can be found at: bit.ly/18MKo8T
Got a good deal on Dell's 24" LED backlit monitor. The color balance isn't the same, so it will take a bit of tweaking to match them up, but so far it's rather nice.
Also, the resolution is "HD" so that means 1920x1080 instead of the other monitor's 1920x1200. That's okay, I can deal with the loss of 230,400 pixels (1920x120) - Roughly the equivalent to the top and bottom XFCE panels.
To show the use of the multimemory plugin in Munin to monitor easily memory leak. As this Perl services was processing around 5000 DNS answers per second, I finally figured out that the the issue was coming from a specific Perl module use (Date::Manip). That's another good reason to extend munin to match your needs.
www.foo.be/cgi-bin/wiki.pl/2011-03-05_Monitoring_Memory_o...
My first quick (before going home from work) attempt at a transparent monitor picture. Colors are bad, the monitor background image is blurry and the monitor placement (or camera position) could be better. I'll make other attempts some other time.
LCD monitor is a display device, the most common form of outut device- present output visually, typically on some type of computer screen.
During the time the North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Company operated, as many as eight monitors were in use at the same time. Fashioned after Civil War cannons, the large monitors could weigh as much as 1 1/2 tons. The large monitors in the Diggins were capable of using 25 million gallons of water in a 24 hour period or over one million gallons an hour. The wooden box toward the rear of the monitor was loaded with rock to raise the barrel of the monitor and act as a counter balance created by the bucking water pressure leaving the nozzle.
The blasting power of a monitor or water cannon came from elevation drop alone. No mechanical devices were used. The water that came from a nearby resovoir exited in large pipes then graduated down in size until they reached the monitor and through a 10 inch nozzle. A large monitor would blast water at approximately 5,000 pounds per square inch, enough pressure to move a boulder the size of a small car. Different sizes of monitors had various functions. Large monitors were used to bring down the mountain, while small monitors were used to keep the debris moving down the sluice or long toms used to collect the gold and then on to the final exit point.
The miner that operated the monitor was known at the “piper.” He was paid the most for he had to know how to operate that big monster properly. If he didn’t, cave-ins occurred catching men unprepared thus causing injury and even death.
Legend has it that a miner with a dirty shovel set his tool into the stream of the water exiting from the cannon and the force of the water against the shovel moved the monitor’s aim with the greatest of ease and thus led to the invention of the ball and socket design we know today.
Monitors were made at the Joshua Hendy and the Parke and Lacy Company in San Francisco. Also monitors and hydraulic equipment were made locally in the Nevada City Foundry. The Malakoff mine pit on the San Juan Ridge is a testimony to the avarice that was part of the California gold rush, and to one of the nation's first environmental protection measures.
In 1850 there was little gold left in streams. Miners began to discover gold in old riverbeds and on mountainsides high above the streams. In 1851, three miners headed northeast of what is now Nevada City for a less crowded area to prospect. One miner went back to town with a pocket full of gold nuggets for supplies and was followed back by many prospectors. These followers, however, did not find any gold and declared the area "Humbug", thus the stream was so named "Humbug Creek". Around 1852, settlers began to arrive in the area and the town of "Humbug" sprang up. These miners could not decide how to move the dirt to a place where there was water.
By 1853 miners invented a new method of mining called hydraulic mining. Dams were built high in the mountains. The water traveled from the reservoirs through a wooden canal called a flume that was up to forty-five miles long. The water ran swiftly to the canvas hoses and nozzles called monitors waiting in the old river beds. The miners would aim the monitors at the hillsides to wash the gravel into huge sluices. Over time the monitors became bigger and more powerful. Their force was so great they could toss a fifty pound rock like a cannonball or even kill a person. Over 300 Chinese worked on this project and two Chinese settlements existed in North Bloomfield (Humbug).
In the late 1860s, the towns of Marysville and Yuba City were buried under 25 feet of mud and rock, and Sacramento flooded repeatedly. The farmers in the valleys complained about the tailings that flooded their land and ruined their crops. Thousands of acres of rich farmland and property were destroyed as a result of hydraulic mining.
By 1876, the mine was in full operation with 7 giant water cannons working around the clock. The town had grown to a population of around 2000 with various business and daily stage service.
In 1880, electric lights were installed in the mine and the world’s first long distance telephone line was developed to service the mine, passing through North Bloomfield as it made its way from French Corral to Bowman Lake.
By 1883, San Francisco Bay was estimated to be filling with silt at a rate of one foot per year. Debris, silt, and millions of gallons of water used daily by the mine caused extensive flooding, prompting Sacramento valley farmers to file the lawsuit Woodruff v. North Bloomfield Mining and Gravel Company. On January 7, 1884 Judge Lorenzo Sawyer declared hydraulic mining illegal.
Copyright © All Rights Reserved Images are the property of Prairie Fire Imaging and may not be reproduced without permission