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The Postcard
A postally unused postcard published by the Photochrom Co. Ltd. The card, which is a glossy real photograph, was printed in Great Britain. The card has a divided back.
Note the motorbike with a sidecar - something that is rarely seen these days in the UK.
The Photochrom Co. Ltd.
The Photochrom Co. Ltd. of London and Royal Tunbridge Wells originally produced Christmas cards before becoming a major publisher and printer of tourist albums, guide books, and postcards.
These mainly captured worldwide views as real photos, or were printed in black & white, monochrome, and color.
They also published many advertising, comic, silhouette, novelty, panoramic, and notable artist-signed cards in named series as well. The huge number of titles that Photochrom produced may well exceed 40,000.
In 1896 they took over Fussli’s London office established three years earlier, and began publishing similar photo-chromolithographic postcards after securing the exclusive English licence for the Swiss photochrom process.
This technique was used to produce a great number of view-cards of both England and Europe. While they captured the same fine details as the Swiss prints, their colours were much softer and reduced.
Apart from their better known photochroms, they produced their Celesque series of view-cards printed in tricolor.
One of the largest unnamed series that Photochrom produced was of view-cards printed in brown rotogravure. Many of these cards were simply hand coloured with a dominant red and blue, which gives these cards a distinct appearance. They are similar to cards produced in their Photogravure and Velvet Finish Series.
Photochrom postcard series include:
-- Night Series - Line block halftone over a blue tint depicting London.
-- Carbofoto Series - Black & white real photo cards.
-- Sepiatone Series - Sepia real photo cards.
-- Grano Series - View-cards printed in black & white.
-- Exclusive Photo-Color Series - View-cards printed in colour.
-- Duotype Process Series - View-cards printed in two tones.
Llandudno
Llandudno is a seaside resort in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. The town's name is derived from its patron saint, Saint Tudno.
Llandudno is the largest seaside resort in Wales, and as early as 1861 was being called 'the Queen of the Welsh Watering Places' (a phrase later also used in connection with Tenby and Aberystwyth; the word 'resort' came a little later).
-- History of Llandudno
The town of Llandudno developed from Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements over many hundreds of years on the slopes of the limestone headland, known to seafarers as the Great Orme and to landsmen as the Creuddyn Peninsula.
The origins in recorded history are with the Manor of Gogarth conveyed by King Edward I to Annan, Bishop of Bangor in 1284.
-- The Great Orme
Mostly owned by Mostyn Estates, the Great Orme is home to several large herds of wild Kashmiri goats originally descended from a pair given by Queen Victoria to Lord Mostyn.
The summit of the Great Orme stands at 679 feet (207 m). The Summit Hotel, now a tourist attraction, was once the home of world middleweight champion boxer Randolph Turpin.
The limestone headland is a haven for flora and fauna, with some rare species such as peregrine falcons and a species of wild cotoneaster (cambricus) which can only be found on the Great Orme.
The sheer limestone cliffs provide ideal nesting conditions for a wide variety of sea birds, including cormorants, shags, guillemots, razorbills, puffins, kittiwakes, fulmars and numerous gulls.
There are several attractions including the Great Orme Tramway and the Llandudno Cable Car that takes tourists to the summit. The Great Orme also has the longest toboggan run in Britain at 750m.
-- The Development of Llandudno
By 1847 the town had grown to a thousand people, served by the new church of St. George, built in 1840. The great majority of the men worked in the copper mines, with others employed in fishing and subsistence agriculture.
In 1848, Owen Williams, an architect and surveyor from Liverpool, presented Lord Mostyn with plans to develop the marshlands behind Llandudno Bay as a holiday resort. These were enthusiastically pursued by Lord Mostyn.
The influence of the Mostyn Estate and its agents over the years was paramount in the development of Llandudno, especially after the appointment of George Felton as surveyor and architect in 1857.
Between 1857 and 1877 much of central Llandudno was developed under Felton's supervision. Felton also undertook architectural design work, including the design and execution of the Holy Trinity Church in Mostyn Street.
The Llandudno and Colwyn Bay Electric Railway operated an electric tramway service between Llandudno and Rhos-on-Sea from 1907, this being extended to Colwyn Bay in 1908. The service closed in 1956.
-- The Beach and The Parade
A beach of sand, shingle and rock curves two miles between the headlands of the Great Orme and the Little Orme.
For most of the length of Llandudno's North Shore there is a wide curving Victorian promenade. The road, collectively known as The Parade, has a different name for each block, and it is on these parades and crescents that many of Llandudno's hotels are built.
-- Llandudno Pier
The pier is on the North Shore. Built in 1878, it is a Grade II listed building.
The pier was extended in 1884 in a landward direction along the side of what was the Baths Hotel (where the Grand Hotel now stands) to provide a new entrance with the Llandudno Pier Pavilion Theatre, thus increasing the pier's length to 2,295 feet (700 m); it is the longest pier in Wales.
Attractions on the pier include a bar, a cafe, amusement arcades, children's fairground rides and an assortment of shops & kiosks.
In the summer, Professor Codman's Punch and Judy show (established in 1860) can be found on the promenade near the entrance to the pier.
-- The Happy Valley
The Happy Valley, a former quarry, was the gift of Lord Mostyn to the town in celebration of the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887. The area was landscaped and developed as gardens, two miniature golf courses, a putting green, a popular open-air theatre and extensive lawns.
Ceremonies connected with the Welsh National Eisteddfod were held there in 1896, and again in 1963.
In June 1969, the Great Orme Cabin Lift, a modern alternative to the tramway, was opened with its base station adjacent to the open-air theatre. The distance to the summit is just over 1 mile (1.6 km), and the four-seater cabins travel at 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h) on a continuous steel cable over 2 miles (3.2 km) long.
It is the longest single-stage cabin lift in Great Britain, and the longest span between pylons is over 1,000 feet (300 m).
The popularity of the 'Happy Valley Entertainers' open-air theatre having declined, the theatre closed in 1985. Likewise the two miniature golf courses closed, and were converted in 1987 to create a 280-metre (920 ft) artificial ski slope and toboggan run. The gardens were extensively restored as part of the resort's millennium celebrations, and remain a major attraction.
-- Marine Drive
The first route round the perimeter of the Great Orme was a footpath constructed in 1858 by Reginald Cust, a trustee of the Mostyn Estate. In 1872 the Great Orme's Head Marine Drive Co. Ltd. was formed to turn the path into a carriage road.
Following bankruptcy, a second company completed the road in 1878. The contractors for the scheme were Messrs Hughes, Morris, Davies, a consortium led by Richard Hughes of Madoc Street, Llandudno.
The road was bought by Llandudno Urban District Council in 1897. The 4 mile (6.4 km) one-way drive starts at the foot of the Happy Valley. After about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) a side road leads to St. Tudno's Church, the Great Orme Bronze Age Copper Mine and the summit of the Great Orme.
Continuing on the Marine Drive the Great Orme Lighthouse (now a small hotel) is passed, and, shortly afterwards on the right, the Rest and Be Thankful Cafe and information centre.
Below the Marine Drive at its western end is the site of the wartime Coast Artillery School (1940–1945), now a scheduled ancient monument.
-- The West Shore
The West Shore is a quiet beach on the estuary of the River Conwy. It was here at Pen Morfa that Alice Liddell (of Alice in Wonderland fame) spent the long summer holidays of her childhood from 1862 to 1871.
There are a few hotels and quiet residential streets. The West Shore is linked to the North Shore by Gloddaeth Avenue and Gloddaeth Street, a wide dual carriageway.
-- Mostyn Street
Running behind the promenade is Mostyn Street, leading to Mostyn Broadway and then Mostyn Avenue. These are the main shopping streets of Llandudno. Mostyn Street accommodates the high street shops, the major high street banks and building societies, two churches, amusement arcades and the town's public library.
The last is the starting point for the Town Trail, a planned walk that facilitates viewing Llandudno in a historical perspective.
-- Victorian Extravaganza
Every year in May bank holiday weekend, Llandudno has a three-day Victorian Carnival, and Mostyn Street becomes a funfair.
Madoc Street and Gloddaeth Street and the Promenade become part of the route each day for a mid-day carnival parade. Also the Bodafon Farm fields become the location of a Festival of Transport for the weekend.
-- Venue Cymru
The North Wales Theatre, Arena and Conference Centre, built in 1994, and extended in 2006 and renamed "Venue Cymru", is located near the centre of the promenade on Penrhyn Crescent.
It is noted for its productions of opera, orchestral concerts, ballet, musical theatre, drama, circus, ice shows and pantomimes.
-- The Llandudno Lifeboat
Until 2017, Llandudno was unique within the United Kingdom in that its lifeboat station was located inland, allowing it to launch with equal facility from either the West Shore or the North Shore as needed.
In 2017, a new lifeboat station was completed, and new, high-speed, offshore and inshore lifeboats, and a modern launching system, were acquired. This station is close to the paddling pool on North Shore.
Llandudno's active volunteer crews are called out more than ever with the rapidly increasing numbers of small pleasure craft sailing in coastal waters. The Llandudno Lifeboat is normally on display on the promenade every Sunday and bank holiday Monday from May until October.
-- The Ancient Parish Church
The ancient parish church dedicated to Saint Tudno stands in a hollow near the northern point of the Great Orme, and is two miles (3 km) from the present town.
It was established as an oratory by Tudno, a 6th.-century monk, but the present church dates from the 12th. century and it is still used on summer Sunday mornings.
-- Llandudno's Links with Mametz and Wormhout
(a) Mametz
The 1st. (North Wales) Brigade was headquartered in Llandudno in December 1914, and included a battalion of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, which had been raised and trained in Llandudno.
Skirting the Fricourt salient, the British 7th. Division took the village of Mametz in the afternoon of the 1st. July 1916. However Mametz Wood to the north-east of the village held great German resistance. This blocked all Allied progress in a northeasterly direction.
After eight days of fierce combat, with heavy losses, did the 38th. Welsh Division capture the wood on the 12th. July 1916.
A monument to the 38th. Welsh Division was inaugurated on the 11th. July 1987. The monument takes the form of a plinth surmounted by a red dragon, the emblem of Wales. With its wings held aloft, it carries in its claws pieces of barbed wire, attesting to the fierce nature of the fighting.
The hostilities brought about the total destruction of Mametz village by shelling. After the war, the people of Llandudno (including returning survivors) contributed generously to the fund for the reconstruction of the village of Mametz.
(b) Wormhout
Llandudno is twinned with the Flemish town of Wormhout which is 10 miles (16 km) from Dunkirk. It was near there that many members of the Llandudno-based 69th. Territorial Regiment were ambushed and taken prisoner.
The Site Mémoire de la Plaine au Bois near Wormhout commemorates the massacre of these prisoners on the 28th. May 1940. The men had been retreating towards Dunkirk ahead of the advancing Germans.
About 100 troops, having run out of ammunition, surrendered to the Germans, assuming that they would be taken prisoner according to the Geneva Convention.
However they were all imprisoned in a small barn, and the SS threw stick-grenades into the building, killing many POW's.
However the grenades failed to kill everyone, largely due to the bravery of two British NCO's, Stanley Moore and Augustus Jennings, who hurled themselves on top of the grenades, using their bodies to shield their comrades from the blast.
In order to finish off the remaining soldiers, the SS fired into the barn with rifles and automatic weapons. A few survived to tell the tale, but no-one was ever indicted for war crimes because of insufficient evidence.
A replica of the barn can be seen at the site of the massacre.
-- Llandudno's Cultural Connections
Matthew Arnold gives a vivid and lengthy description of 1860's Llandudno - and of the ancient tales of Taliesin and Maelgwn Gwynedd that are associated with the local landscape - in the first sections of the preface to 'On the Study of Celtic Literature' (1867).
Llandudno is also used as a location for dramatic scenes in the stage play and film 'Hindle Wakes' by Stanley Houghton, and the 1911 novel, 'The Card', by Arnold Bennett, and its subsequent film version.
Elisabeth of Wied, the Queen Consort of Romania and also known as writer Carmen Sylva, stayed in Llandudno for five weeks in 1890.
On leaving, she described Wales as "A beautiful haven of peace". Translated into Welsh as "Hardd, hafan, hedd", it became the town's official motto.
Other famous people with links to Llandudno include the Victorian statesman John Bright and multi-capped Welsh international footballers Neville Southall, Neil Eardley, Chris Maxwell and Joey Jones.
Australian ex-Prime Minister Billy Hughes attended school in Llandudno. Gordon Borrie QC (Baron Borrie), Director General of the Office of Fair Trading from 1976 to 1992, was educated at the town's John Bright Grammar School when he lived there as a wartime evacuee.
The international art gallery Oriel Mostyn is in Vaughan Street next to the post office. It was built in 1901 to house the art collection of Lady Augusta Mostyn. It was requisitioned in 1914 for use as an army drill hall, and later became a warehouse, before being returned to use as an art gallery in 1979. Following a major revamp the gallery was renamed simply 'Mostyn' in 2010.
Llandudno has its own mini arts festival 'LLAWN' (Llandudno Arts Weekend). It is a mini festival that rediscovers and celebrates Llandudno’s past in rather a unique way; via art, architecture, artefact, sound, performance, and participation.
The festival takes place over three days of a weekend in late September, originally conceived as a way to promote what those in the hospitality sector refer to as the ‘shoulder season’, which means a lull in the tourist calendar.
In January 1984 Brookside character Petra Taylor (Alexandra Pigg) committed suicide in Llandudno.
In 1997, the English cookery programme "Two Fat Ladies" with Jennifer Patterson and Clarissa Dickson Wright filmed an episode in Llandudno.
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Sundeep Bhardwaj Kullu
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Disneyland Magn'Hom Paris
Disneyland Paris comprises two theme parks, a retail, dining and entertainment district, and seven Disney-owned hotels. Operating since 12 April 1992, it was the second Disney resort to open outside the United States (following Tokyo Disney Resort) and the first to be owned and operated by Disney.
Disneyland Paris is owned and operated by French company Euro Disney S.C.A., a public company of which 39.78 percent of its stock is held by The Walt Disney Company, 10 percent by the Saudi Prince Alwaleed and 50.22 percent by other shareholders. The senior leader at the resort is chairman and CEO Philippe Gas.
The complex was a subject of controversy during the periods of negotiation and construction in the late 1980s and early '90s, when a number of prominent French figures voiced their opposition and protests were held by French labour unions and others. A further setback followed the opening of the resort as park attendance, hotel occupancy and revenues fell below projections. The complex was renamed from Euro Disney Resort to Disneyland Paris in 1994. In July 1995, the company saw its first quarterly profit.
A second theme park, Walt Disney Studios Park, opened to the public 16 March 2002.
With 15,405,000 combined visitors to the resort's Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park in the fiscal year of 2009, it is France's and Europe's most visited tourist site.[2]
Background and development
Following the success of Disneyland in Anaheim, California, and the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, plans to build a similar theme park in Europe emerged in 1972. Upon the leadership of E. Cardon Walker, Tokyo Disneyland opened in 1983 in Japan with instant success, forming a catalyst for international expansion. In late 1984 the heads of Disney's theme park division, Dick Nunis and Jim Cora, presented a list of approximately 1,200 possible European locations for the park.[3]
By March 1985, the number of possible locations for the park had been reduced to four; two in France and two in Spain.[4] Both of these nations saw the potential economic advantages of a Disney theme park and competed by offering financing deals to Disney.[5]
Both Spanish sites were located near the Mediterranean Sea and offered a subtropical climate similar to Disney's parks in California and Florida. Disney had also shown interest in a site near Toulon in southern France, not far from Marseille. The pleasing landscape of that region, as well as its climate, made the location a top competitor for what would be called Euro Disneyland. However, thick layers of bedrock were discovered beneath the site, which would render construction too difficult. Finally, a site in the rural town of Marne-la-Vallée was chosen because of its proximity to Paris and its central location in Western Europe. This location was estimated to be no more than a four-hour drive for 68 million people and no more than a two-hour flight for a further 300 million.
Michael Eisner, Disney's CEO at the time, signed the first letter of agreement with the French government for the 20-square-kilometre (4,940-acre) site on 18 December 1985, and the first financial contracts were drawn up during the following spring. The final contract was signed by the leaders of the Walt Disney Company and the French government and territorial collectivities on 24 march 1987. Construction began in August 1988, and in December 1990, an information centre named "Espace Euro Disney" was opened to show the public what was being constructed. Plans for a theme park next to Euro Disneyland based on the entertainment industry, Disney-MGM Studios Europe, quickly went into development, scheduled to open in 1996 with a construction budget of US$2.3 billion.[6] The construction manager was Bovis.[7]
[edit]Hotels, recreation and restaurants
In order to control a maximum of the hotel business, it was decided that 5,200 Disney-owned hotel rooms would be built within the complex. In March 1988, Disney and a council of architects (Frank Gehry, Michael Graves, Robert A.M. Stern, Stanley Tigerman and Robert Venturi) decided on an exclusively American theme in which each hotel would depict a region of the United States. At the time of the opening in April 1992, seven hotels collectively housing 5,800[8] rooms had been built.
By the year 2017, Euro Disney, under the terms specified in its contract with the French government, will be required to finish constructing a total of 18,200 hotel rooms at varying distances from the resort.[9] An entertainment, shopping and dining complex based on Walt Disney World's Downtown Disney was designed by Frank Gehry.
With its towers of oxidised silver and bronze-coloured stainless steel under a canopy of lights, it opened as Festival Disney.[10]
For a projected daily attendance of 55,000, Euro Disney planned to serve an estimated 14,000 people per hour inside the Euro Disneyland park. In order to accomplish this, 29 restaurants were built inside the park (with a further 11 restaurants built at the Euro Disney resort hotels and five at Festival Disney). Menus and prices were varied with an American flavour predominant and Disney's precedent of not serving alcoholic beverages was continued in the park.
2,300 patio seats (30% of park seating) were installed to satisfy Europeans' expected preference of eating outdoors in good weather. In test kitchens at Walt Disney World, recipes were adapted for European tastes. Walter Meyer, executive chef for menu development at Euro Disney and executive chef of food projects development at Walt Disney World noted, "A few things we did need to change, but most of the time people kept telling us, 'Do your own thing. Do what’s American'."[11]
[edit]Recruitment
Unlike Disney's American theme parks, Euro Disney aimed for permanent employees (an estimated requirement of 12,000 for the theme park itself), as opposed to seasonal and temporary part-time employees. Casting centres were set up in Paris, London, Amsterdam. However, it was understood by the French government and Disney that "a concentrated effort would be made to tap into the local French labour market".[5] Disney sought workers with sufficient communication skills, who spoke two European languages (French and one other), and were socially outgoing. Following precedent, Euro Disney set up its own Disney University to train workers. 24,000 people had applied by November 1991.[5]
[edit]Controversies
The prospect of a Disney park in France was a subject of debate and controversy. Critics, who included prominent French intellectuals, denounced what they considered to be the cultural imperialism, or ‘neoprovincialism’ of Euro Disney and felt it would encourage in France an unhealthy American type of consumerism. For others, Euro Disney became a symbol of America within France. On 28 June 1992 a group of French farmers blockaded Euro Disney in protest of farm policies the United States supported at the time.
A journalist in the French newspaper Le Figaro wrote, “I wish with all my heart that the rebels would set fire to [Euro] Disneyland."[12] Ariane Mnouchkine, a Parisian stage director, named the concept a “cultural Chernobyl;”[13] a phrase which would be echoed in the media and grow synonymous with Euro Disney's initial years.
In response, French philosopher Michel Serres noted, "It is not America that is invading us. It is we who adore it, who adopt its fashions and above all, its words." Euro Disney S.C.A.'s then-chairman Robert Fitzpatrick responded, "We didn’t come in and say O.K., we’re going to put a beret and a baguette on Mickey Mouse. We are who we are."[5] It also came to light that Walt Disney’s surname originates from a village in Normandy called Isigny-sur-Mer. Originally d’Isigny ("of Isigny"), it was later Americanized into Disney.
Topics of controversy further included Disney's American managers requiring English to be spoken at all meetings and Disney's appearance code for members of staff, which listed regulations and limitations for the use of make up, facial hair, tattoos, jewellery and more.
French labour unions mounted protests against the appearance code, which they saw as “an attack on individual liberty.” Others criticised Disney as being insensitive to French culture, individualism, and privacy, because restrictions on individual or collective liberties were illegal under French law, unless it could be demonstrated that the restrictions are requisite to the job and do not exceed what is necessary.
Disney countered by saying that a ruling that barred them from imposing such an employment standard could threaten the image and long-term success of the park. "For us, the appearance code has a great effect from a product identification standpoint," said Thor Degelmann, Euro Disney’s personnel director. "Without it we couldn't be presenting the Disney product that people would be expecting."[14]
[edit]Opening day
On 12 April 1992, Euro Disney Resort and its theme park, Euro Disneyland, officially opened. Visitors were warned of chaos on the roads and a government survey indicated that half a million people carried by 90,000 cars might attempt to enter the complex. French radio warned traffic to avoid the area. By midday, the car park was approximately half full, suggesting an attendance level below 25,000. Speculative explanations ranged from people heeding the advice to stay away to the one-day strike that cut the direct RER railway connection to Euro Disney from the centre of Paris.[12]
[edit]Financial, attendance and employment status
In May 1992, entertainment magazine The Hollywood Reporter reported that about 25% of Euro Disney's workforce — approximately 3,000 men and women — had resigned their jobs because of unacceptable working conditions. It also reported that the park's attendance was far behind expectations. However, the disappointing attendance can be at least partly explained by the recession and increased unemployment which was affecting France and indeed most of the rest of the developed world at this time; when construction of the resort began, the economy was still on an upswing.[15]
Euro Disney S.C.A. responded in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, in which Robert Fitzpatrick claimed only 1,000 people had left their jobs. In response to the financial situation, Fitzpatrick ordered that the Disney-MGM Studios Europe project would be put on hiatus until a further decision could be made. Prices at the hotels were reduced.
Despite these efforts, in May 1992, daily park attendance was around 25,000 (some reports give a figure of 30,000) instead of the predicted 60,000. The Euro Disney Company stock price spiralled downwards and on 23 July 1992, Euro Disney announced an expected net loss in its first year of operation of approximately 300 million French francs. During Euro Disney's first winter, hotel occupancy was such that it was decided to close the Newport Bay Club hotel during the season.
Initial hopes were that each visitor would spend around US$33 per day, but near the end of 1992, analysts reckoned spending to be around 12% lower.[16] Efforts to improve attendance included serving alcoholic beverages with meals inside the Euro Disneyland park, in response to a presumed European demand, which began 12 June 1993.[17]
In January 1994, Sanford Litvack, an attorney from New York City and former U.S. Assistant Attorney General, was assigned to be Disney's lead negotiator regarding Euro Disney's future. On 28 February Litvack made an offer (without the consent of Eisner or Frank Wells)[citation needed] to split the debts between Euro Disney's creditors and Disney. After the banks showed interest, Litvack informed Eisner and Wells.[citation needed] On 14 March, the day before the annual shareholders meeting, the banks capitulated to Disney's demands.
The creditor banks bought US$500 million worth of Euro Disney shares, forgave 18 months of interest and deferred interest payments for three years. Disney invested US$750 million into Euro Disney and granted a five-year suspension of royalty payments. In June that same year, Saudi Arabian Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud cut a deal whereby the Walt Disney Company bought 51% of a new US$1.1 billion share issue, the rest being offered to existing shareholders at below-market rates, with the Prince buying any that were not taken up by existing shareholders (up to a 24.5% holding).
[edit]1995 turnaround
On 31 May 1995, a new attraction opened at the theme park. Space Mountain: De la Terre à la Lune had been planned since the inception of Euro Disneyland under the name Discovery Mountain, but was reserved for a revival of public interest. With a redesign of the attraction (which had premiered as Space Mountain at the Walt Disney World Resort's Magic Kingdom in 1975) including a "cannon launch" system, inversions, and an on-ride soundtrack, the US$100 million attraction was dedicated in a ceremony attended by celebrities such as Elton John, Claudia Schiffer and Buzz Aldrin.
On 25 July 1995, Euro Disney S.C.A. reported its first ever quarterly profit of US$35.3 million. On 15 November, the results for the fiscal year ending 30 September were released; in one year the theme park's attendance had climbed from 8.8 million to 10.7 million — an increase of 21%. Hotel occupancy had also climbed from 60 to 68.5%. After debt payments, Disneyland Paris ended the year with a net profit of US$22.8 million.
[edit]2000 onwards
In 2002, Euro Disney S.C.A. and the Walt Disney Company announced another annual profit for Disneyland Paris. However, it then incurred a net loss in the three years following. In 2005, the Walt Disney Company agreed to write off all debt to the Walt Disney Company made by Euro Disney S.C.A.. As of 2007 the park was approximately US$2 billion in debt. In August 2008, Disneyland Paris was the most visited attraction in Europe, receiving more visitors than the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower combined.[18]
Source en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disneyland_Paris
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WORLD IS MY STUDIO sundeepkullu.com
This is a shot from 2011, I'm posting it because it was recently published in "Our State" magazine. That's a North Carolina magazine that focuses on all things concerning North Carolina. My thanks to Our State for publishing one of my shots.
Published by The society of czech bibliophiles in Prague (1986). Woodcut illustrations by Zdeněk Mézl.
Note: I chose this photo, among the five that I uploaded to Flickr on the morning of Mar 30,2012, as my "photo of the day." I could not take my eyes off the giant sneakers the young woman was wearing. Unfortunately, the photo doesn't really show the rather bizarre tights that she was also wearing...
Note: this photo was published in an Mar 29, 2012 issue of Everyblock NYC zipcodes blog titled "10024."
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This is the continuation of a photo-project that I began in the summer of 2008 (which you can see in this Flickr set), and continued throughout 2009, 2010, and 2011 (as shown in this Flickr set, this Flickr set, and this Flickr set): a random collection of "interesting" people in a broad stretch of the Upper West Side of Manhattan -- between 72nd Street and 104th Street, especially along Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue. These are the people in my neighborhood, aka "peeps in the 'hood."
As I indicated when I first started this project nearly four years ago, I don't like to intrude on people's privacy, so I normally use a zoom telephoto lens in order to photograph them while they're still 50-100 feet away from me; but that means I have to continue focusing my attention on the people and activities half a block away, rather than on what's right in front of me. Sometimes I find an empty bench on a busy street corner, and just sit quietly for an hour, watching people hustling past on the other side of the street; they're almost always so busy listening to their iPod, or talking on their cellphone, or daydreaming about something, that they never look up and see me aiming my camera in their direction.
I've also learned that, in many cases, the opportunities for an interesting picture are very fleeting -- literally a matter of a couple of seconds, before the person(s) in question move on, turn away, or stop doing whatever was interesting. So I've learned to keep my camera switched on, and not worry so much about zooming in for a perfectly-framed picture ... after all, once the digital image is uploaded to my computer, it's pretty trivial to crop out the parts unrelated to the main subject. Indeed, some of my most interesting photos have been so-called "hip shots," where I don't even bother to raise the camera up to my eye; I just keep the zoom lens set to the maximum wide-angle aperture, point in the general direction of the subject, and take several shots. As long as I can keep the shutter speed fairly high (which sometimes requires a fairly high ISO setting), I can usually get some fairly crisp shots -- even if the subject is walking in one direction, and I'm walking in the other direction, while I'm snapping the photos.
With only a few exceptions, I've generally avoided photographing bums, drunks, crazies, and homeless people. There are plenty of them around, and they would certainly create some dramatic pictures; but they generally don't want to be photographed, and I don't want to feel like I'm taking advantage of them. There have been a few opportunities to take some "sympathetic" pictures of such people, which might inspire others to reach out and help them. This is one example, and here is another example.
The other thing I've noticed, while carrying on this project for the past four years, is that while there are lots of interesting people to photograph, there are far, far, far more people who are not so interesting. They're probably fine people, and they might even be more interesting than the ones I've photographed ... unfortunately, there was just nothing memorable about them. They're all part of this big, crowded city; but for better or worse, there are an awful lot that you won't see in these Flickr sets of mine...
Thanks to clever marketing campaigns, this vocation developed in the late nineteenth century. The Company Railway PLM (Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée), followed by municipalities and specific, undertook to promote the region through editing called "travel" posters. These were invented by Romanian Frederick Alési Hugo (1849-1906) who lived in Marseille before "mount" in Paris, where he engaged in lithographic printing from 1886 and is developing a technique it reserves the exclusive and that mimics watercolor. Very colorful, these posters show all aspects of the tourist Provence enchanting scenery, famous landmarks, quaint customs. By the 1890s, PLM takes 5,000 copies of the posters in the stations. Alongside non-native to the area artists, designers like Leo Lele Provence (1872-1947) and David Dellepiane (1866-1932) compete imagination to fulfill these orders. Like PLM, other agencies such as the National Shipping Company, founded in 1879 by Marc Fraissinet, publish beautiful posters published by Moullot eldest son in Marseille.Since its foundation, Societe Generale is a tool of modernization of the economy, turned to animation in the financial market and open to technological progress. It is in this capacity that the ambition to be the appointed partner of major projects in the industry. Railway construction is a priority for funding. To this surprising. The contractor Paulin Talabot, one of its founders, has built its reputation by working to develop the network of railways in France, notably through the exploitation of the "Paris-Lyon-Mediterranean" (PLM) - Online ancestor of the train - which has so stimulated the French economy. It was on his initiative that Société Générale, which he is a director (1865-1885), takes the lead in "shipping fever" caused by the industrial revolution.Societe Generale is interested in several Chinese lines and especially to that of Yun-Nan, whose construction allows France to extend its influence in northern Tonkin. In 1899, she participated in the issuance of bonds of Beijing-Hankou, for a railway 1 000 kilometers constructed by the Belgians and the French from 1898 Finally, in 1913, through the Russo-Asiatic Bank she designs projects for rail investment in the Shan-Hsi (Beijing-Setchuen) and Manchuria. Dynamism displayed around the world that prefigured the emergence of a large global banking group ...
Dès sa fondation, Société Générale se veut un outil de la modernisation de l’économie, tourné vers l’animation du marché financier et ouvert aux progrès technologiques. C’est à ce titre qu’elle nourrit l’ambition d’être la partenaire attitrée des grands chantiers de l’industrie. La construction ferroviaire est l’une de ses priorités en matière de financement. À cela, rien de surprenant. L’entrepreneur Paulin Talabot, l’un de ses fondateurs, a assis sa renommée en œuvrant au développement du réseau de chemins de fer en France, notamment à travers l’exploitation de la ligne « Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée » (PLM) – ancêtre de la SNCF – qui a tant stimulé l’économie française. C’est à son initiative que Société Générale, dont il est administrateur (1865-1885), occupe les devants dans la « fièvre des transports » engendrée par la révolution industrielle. À l’échelle nationale, la banque favorise l’extension du réseau ferroviaire de différentes manières. Suivant les cas de figure, elle épaule le lancement de firmes industrielles, par des prises de participations et l’octroi de crédits, ou consent à des emprunts communaux remboursables sur fonds d’État. Au tournant du siècle, elle s’impose, loin devant ses concurrentes, comme la banque de référence dans ce champ d’activité. Le réseau PLM, qui a incité à la circulation des biens et des hommes, lui doit en partie son prolongement, son équipement et son entretien. Cet effort, d’ailleurs, ne se limite pas à assurer la liaison entre la capitale et la Méditerranée à travers l’axe rhodanien. Fidèle à sa raison sociale, Société Générale accompagne la construction de lignes secondaires (Pyrénées, Midi, Médoc, Dauphiné, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, etc.) à l’heure où le plan Freycinet, lancé en 1878, entreprend de désenclaver le territoire national par une série de travaux publics. Devenue l’un des plus grands actionnaires de la Société des chemins de fer économiques, elle prend également une part active dans la construction de routes, de canaux, tramways et chantiers navals. Dès 1883, forte de son expertise, elle s’annonce comme partie prenante lorsque les négociations entre l’État et la Ville de Paris s’intensifient au sujet du projet de métropolitain parisien. Des travaux ambitieux, gages de modernité pour l’époque, auxquels elle s’associera au moment de leur mise en œuvre à la fin des années 1890.La Russie et l’Extrême-Orient ne sont pas négligés, loin s’en faut. Dans l’empire tsariste, Société Générale cherche à investir et à soutenir le développement métallurgique et ferroviaire qu’appellent de leurs vœux Alexandre III et son successeur Nicolas II pour lancer leur pays sur la voie de la modernité. La banque est très présente dans ces opérations qui animent la place parisienne. Elle place en France des titres émis par les sociétés ferroviaires, tandis que sa filiale, la Banque du Nord (1901), devenue la Banque russo-asiatique après sa fusion avec la Banque russo-chinoise en 1910, effectue des avances aux entrepreneurs de travaux. En 1908, elle co-conduit avec Paribas lorsque se monte la compagnie ferroviaire Nord-Donetz. Quelques années plus tard, elle apporte son concours à la construction d’un tronçon du transsibérien. Au-delà, Société Générale s’intéresse à plusieurs lignes chinoises et plus spécialement à celle du Yun-Nan, dont la construction permet à la France d’étendre son influence au nord du Tonkin. En 1899, elle participe à l’émission des obligations du Pékin-Hankéou, pour une voie ferrée de 1 000 kilomètres construite par les Belges et les Français à partir de 1898. Enfin, en 1913, par le biais de la Banque russo-asiatique, elle conçoit des projets d’investissements ferroviaires dans le Shan-Hsi (Pékin-Setchuen) et en Mandchourie. Un dynamisme affiché aux quatre coins du monde qui préfigure déjà l’éclosion d’un grand groupe bancaire mondial…A l’origine du PLM. Le littoral provençal était jadis peu sûr et isolé. Au XIXe siècle, la prise d'Alger (1830) et la colonisation du Maghreb mettent un terme aux raids des pirates barbaresques sur les bords de la Méditerranée, tandis que l'ouverture des lignes du chemin de fer sous la Monarchie de Juillet relie les rives de la Provence orientale à Paris. De riches étrangers prennent l'habitude de venir passer la mauvaise saison sur la "French Riviera", pour laquelle le publiciste Stephen Liégeard (1830-1925) invente le nom de "Côte d'Azur" en 1887 pour qualifier le littoral de Hyères à Gênes (Cf. son ouvrage "La Côte d'Azur" publié à Paris aux éditions Quantin en 1888). Grâce à d'habiles campagnes de promotion, cette vocation se développe dès la fin du XIXe siècle. La Compagnie du Chemin de fer PLM (Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée), suivie par les communes et certains particuliers, entreprend de faire connaître la région grâce à l'édition d'affiches dites "de voyages". Ces dernières ont été inventées par le Roumain Frédéric Hugo d'Alési (1849-1906) qui vécu à Marseille avant de "monter" à Paris où il se lança dans l'impression lithographique à partir de 1886. Il met au point une technique dont il se réserve l'exclusivité et qui imite l'aquarelle. Très colorées, ces affiches révèlent tous les aspects de la Provence touristique : paysages enchanteurs, monuments prestigieux, coutumes pittoresques. Dès les années 1890, le PLM tire à 5.000 exemplaires des affiches placardées dans les gares. Aux côtés des artistes non originaires de la région, les créateurs provençaux comme Léo Lelée (1872-1947) ou encore David Dellepiane (1866-1932) rivalisent d'imagination pour satisfaire ces commandes. A l'instar du PLM, d'autres organismes, comme la Compagnie Nationale de Navigation, créée en 1879 par Marc Fraissinet, publieront de magnifiques affiches éditées par Moullot fils aîné à Marseille.
La Compagnie des Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée (PLM)
La Compagnie des Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée, communément désignée sous le nom de Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée ou bien sous son sigle PLM, est l'une des plus importantes compagnies ferroviaires privées françaises. Elle é été créée le 19 juillet 1857 et sa nationalisation a eu lieu le 1er janvier 1938, lors de la création de la Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français (SNCF).Desservant le Sud-Est de la France, et notamment la Côte d'Azur, la Provence, les Cévennes, et les Alpes, le PLM était la compagnie par excellence des départs en villégiature. La gare parisienne de cette compagnie était la Gare de Lyon. L'époque du PLM a duré quatre-vingt ans et elle a façonné la France moderne en réduisant les distances, rapprochant les hommes et les marchandises, et en modelant les villes et la campagne. PLM était de loin la plus importante des compagnies ferroviaires françaises par son traffic, le nombre de passagers transportés et la taille de son infrasctructure. A partir de 1929, de graves conflits sociaux éclatent dans l'ensemble du secteur ferroviaire. La nécessité de centraliser la gestion des infrastructures, du matériel et du personnel cheminot conduit à la nationalisation de l'ensemble des activités ferroviaires en France avec l'apparition de la SNCF en 1938.L’histoire du PLM est par la suite intimement liée à celle de la Cie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (CIWL) avec qui elle partage de nombreux contrats concernant les grands express de luxe (Orient Express, Côte d’Azur Express, Train Bleu…).La CIWL et la Cie du PLM eurent d’ailleurs de nombreux administrateurs communs au cours de leur histoire, dont Mr Noblemaire qui fut successivement président du PLM puis de la CIWL.La Méditerranée à portée de rail Si la côte d’azur est un lieu de villégiature pour les plus fortunés depuis le XVIIIe siècle, elle devient véritablement un lieu de tourisme au milieu du XIXe siècle. Encore réservée à une très petite minorité composée des classes les plus aisées de France et d’Europe, elle attire cependant de plus en plus de monde dans ses hôtels, casinos et villas plus ou moins luxueuses. Un essor notamment rendu possible par le développement du train à vapeur, qui rapproche la Méditerranée des grandes métropoles européennes, parmi lesquelles Londres ou Paris. Ainsi, et depuis les années 1840, le réseau ferré se développe, de même que les grandes compagnies ferroviaires, publiques et privées, qui exploitent ce dernier. Dans la lignée du PLM (Paris Lyon Marseille) créé en 1857, la Compagnie des wagons-lits voit le jour en 1872, avant d’être rebaptisée Compagnie internationale des wagons-lits et des grands express européens en 1884. L’entreprise française (d’origine belge) spécialisée dans les trains de luxe en wagons-lits salons et restaurants peut ainsi proposer à ses futurs clients un voyage sur le Méditerranée Express, comme en témoigne diverses affiches publicitaires. Une certaine idée du tourisme C’est logiquement par la voie de la publicité murale, elle aussi en plein essor dans les villes d’Europe à la fin du XIXème siècle, que la Compagnie entend séduire les potentiels touristes (français et anglais ici). En déployant de sa vocation commerciale, l’image nous renseigne aussi sur la perception et la représentation alors associées à la côte d’azur et au tourisme « de luxe » qu’elle permet. A ce titre, l’opposition « picturale » et symbolique entre Paris et la Méditerranée est éloquente. Dans un style rappelant celui de Cézanne ou même de Corot, la ville du sud ainsi rêvée présente effectivement un endroit attirant. La Compagnie internationale des wagons-lits et des grands express européens s’adresse à un public très aisé, leur proposant un service de luxe et confortable pour une villégiature de luxe. Le fait que l’affiche concerne aussi bien des anglais n’est pas non plus anodin, renvoyant au tourism et au tourist britanniques, synonymes d’une classe et d’une élégance raffinée que tentent de respecter la délicatesse, la qualité et la stylisation des images. Quant aux signes associés au tourisme sur la côte, ils renvoient à la représentation partagée à l’époque (y compris celui des classes plus modestes). Selon un procédé publicitaire en passe de devenir classique, les affiches du PLM contribuent à ancrer encore davantage ces derniers dans l’imaginaire collectif, tout en s’appuyant sur eux pour stimuler l’envie.Développement des Hotels du PLM et de l’activité touristique. A mesure de son développement, la Cie PLM se développe de plus en plus dans l’hôtellerie et l’organisation de voyages. Elle possède également des société d’autocars permettant d’organiser des visites des sites inaccessibles en train. Les hôtels du PLM se multiplient jusqu’à devenir une des principales chaînes d’hôtels en France, avec certains établissements mythiques. Après la nationalisation des activités ferroviaires en 1938 et la création de la SNCF, la Cie du PLM se recentre sur son activité hôtelière et touristique. Son actionnaire principal, la famille Rothschild, investit dans des grands hôtels et continue à développer cette activité jusqu’au rachat de la société PLM par la Cie des Wagons-Lits, puis la fusion-absorption par le groupe ACCOR dans les années 1990. Les affiches du PLM. Afin de faire la publicité pour ses trains et ses hôtels, la Cie du PLM a ainsi créé une des plus importantes collection d’affiches, commandées auprès d’artistes de talent, qui acquirent une grande notoriété grâce à ces commandes. Le plus doué et le plus connu d’entre eux est sans conteste Rogers Broders dont l’essentiel de l’œuvre est consacrée aux commandes du PLM.Avec plus de 800 affiches recensées, la Collection des affiches du PLM a contribué à façonner une image romantique de la France comme une des principales destinations touristiques à la belle époque. La côte d’Azur doit en grande partie sa renommée mondiale aux efforts commerciaux du PLM pour attirer les touristes fortunés vers les stations des Alpes et de la Côte d’Azur.Les premiers tirages des affiches du PLM sont particulièrement recherchées lors des nombreuses ventes aux enchères d’affiche dans le monde entier, et peuvent atteindre des prix dépassant les 50 000€ pour les plus connues.MÉDAILLE COMMÉMORATIVE DE L’EXPÉDITION DE CHINE 1900-1901 Source : Bibliothèque nationale de France JOURNAL OFFICIEL DE LA RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISETrente-troisième année. — N° 262 Vendredi 27 septembre 1901 - Page 6147.Discours prononcé, le 26 septembre, par M. de Lanessan, ministre de la marine, lors de la réception du général Voyron à Marseille. Mon cher général, Au nom du gouvernement de la République, qui a bien voulu m'en confier l'agréable mission, et au nom de la marine, qui a eu l'honneur d'organiser l'expédition de Chine, je suis heureux de vous souhaiter la bienvenue en France.
Les souhaits que M. le Président de la République vous adressait, à cette même place, au moment de votre départ pour la Chine, ont été pleinement réalisés : vous nous revenez avec les succès militaires et avec la paix.Votre rôle et celui de nos belles troupes de la guerre et de la marine ont été celui qui convenait véritablement aux soldats d'un pays où l'on sait unir le souci de l'humanité aux sentiments du patriotisme le plus ardent. Partout où nos soldats et nos marins ont dû combattre, ils ont donné des exemples de bravoure, de vigueur, d'endurance, qui ont provoqué l'admiration générale et dont nous avons été fort heureux de trouver l'écho dans les rapports et les récits de tous les chefs des troupes étrangères. Après les combats, ils ont montré cette modération qui est le témoignage le moins douteux de la force consciente de soi et la caractéristique d'un peuple dont la prétention est de marcher à la tête de la civilisation. Devant vous, mon cher général, devant vous qui en fûtes le témoin et qui en avez pu suivre sur place l'histoire dans tous ses détails, je veux dire ici brièvement, pour l'édification du pays, quelle fut la conduite de nos marins, de nos soldats et de nos officiers dans les évènements militaires auxquels ils ont pris part. C'est un hommage que le Gouvernement leur doit, et ce sera, si je ne me trompe, la meilleure façon de vous remercier des services que vous-même avez rendus.
C'est d'abord, à Pékin, une poignée de matelots commandés par deux officiers de marine, qui tiennent tête pendant deux mois, du milieu de juin au milieu d'août 1900, dans les établissements français du Pétang et dans la légation de France, aux assauts incessants de rebelles et de réguliers chinois fortement armés et soutenus par de l'artillerie. Au Pétang, l'enseigne de vaisseau Henry et cinq marins sur trente sont tués, sept sont blessés. A la légation de France, les bâtiments qui protègent les défenseurs sont démolis les uns après les autres par l'artillerie ou par les mines souterraines des Chinois ; le jardin se peuple de tombes, et, le jour où le combat cesse, le lieutenant de vaisseau Darcy avait eu autour de lui 11 marins tués et 19 blessés sur un contingent de 45 hommes, et il avait vu tomber, frappé au front par une balle chinoise, le capitaine Labrousse, que les hasards d'un voyage avaient conduit à Pékin et qui sut y faire plus que son devoir.
Après ces deux mois de combats quotidiens, au Pétang comme à la légation de France, le drapeau français flottait invaincu. Honneur à ceux qui moururent en le protégeant ! Honneur aussi à ceux qui le purent remettre intact aux mains de nos officiers lorsque, le 15 août, les troupes françaises entrèrent dans Pékin.Pendant ce temps, à Takou d'abord, puis à Tien-tsin et sur la route de Pékin, nos marins et nos soldats étaient aux prises avec les troupes régulières de la Chine. A Takou, les forts chinois ouvrent le feu sur le Lion, canonnière française, et sur les bâtiments des alliés sans aucun avertissement préalable, leur tuant 23 hommes, en blessant un grand nombre et leur faisant des dégâts importants.
Dans la colonne qui partit de Tien-tsin le 10 juin 1900, sous les ordres de lord Seymour, dans le but de tenter la délivrance de Pékin, la France est représentée par cent marins que commande le capitaine de vaisseau de Marolles. L'amiral anglais a lui-même dit, dans une lettre que je me suis fait, à l'époque, un devoir de rendre publique, la belle conduite tenue par nos marins dans cette expédition infructueuse, mais où les troupes de toutes les nations firent preuve d'une remarquable résistance à la fatigue et d'un superbe sang-froid dans le mauvais destin.Un mois plus tard, à Tien-tsin, un millier de soldats de l'infanterie et de l'artillerie de marine, appelés du Tonkin et de la Cochinchine, témoignent, dès le lendemain de leur débarquement sur le sol chinois, des plus belles qualités militaires. Dédaigneux de la fatigue résultant d'un séjour déjà très long sous le dur climat de l'Indo-Chine, et sans souci de l'insuffisance des ressources que l'on avait pu mettre à leur disposition dans la hâte d'un départ précipité, ces vaillants se conduisirent avec un entrain et une bravoure au-dessus de tout éloge. Le 11 juillet, sous le commandement du colonel de Pélacot, ils assurent la conservation de la gare menacée par les Chinois et que les troupes alliées allaient être contraintes d'abandonner, laissant les concessions européennes à peu près sans défense. Cette victoire de nos troupes est payée par 10 tués et 34 blessés sur un effectif de moins de 400 hommes. Le 13 juillet, ils jouent un rôle capital dans la prise de la ville chinoise fortifiée de Tien-tsin que gardent de nombreuses troupes régulières. Pendant quatorze heures, par une température de 39 degrés et sans même qu'il soit possible de leur envoyer de l'eau potable, ils se battent sans interruption, gagnant pied à pied du terrain vers les remparts de la ville. Ils ont 2 officiers et 23 hommes tués, 10 officiers et 108 hommes blessés sur un effectif d'à peine un millier d'hommes.
Sur un total de 7,000 hommes de troupes des diverses nations qui prirent part aux multiples combats de cette journée, il y eut 800 hommes mis hors de combat. Les nôtres, qui avaient occupé la place d'honneur et fait l'effort le plus direct en vue de la prise de la ville, furent aussi les plus frappés par la mort. Mais la victoire était complète, car, pendant la nuit, alors que nos artilleurs se préparaient à ouvrir la brèche par laquelle on devait pénétrer dans l'enceinte fortifiée, toutes les troupes régulières chinoises, la plupart des Boxers et une grande partie des habitants évacuaient la ville. L'armée chinoise tout entière était complètement démoralisée. Les 20,000 hommes qui avaient été concentrés autour de Peï-tsang, à 12 kilomètres seulement en amont de Tien-tsin, en travers du Peï-Ho et de la voie ferrée, à l'abri de fortifications considérables et avec l'appui d'une artillerie puissante, pour empêcher les alliés de se porter vers Pékin, devaient céder au premier choc. Le 5 août, l'armée chinoise bat en retraite après un combat de quelques heures, dans lequel l'action décisive est exercée par l'artillerie française. Après cette déroute, la marche des alliés sur Pékin et l'entrée dans la capitale de l'empire du Milieu s'effectuaient sans obstacle.Cependant, un autre combat et une autre victoire nous étaient réservés dans la ville même. 600 Français, appuyés par quelques compagnies étrangères, avaient le périlleux devoir de s'emparer du Peï-tsang que gardaient plus de 6,000 réguliers et de nombreux Boxers. Le 16 août, ils en étaient maîtres, après un combat où nous perdions encore 4 hommes et où nous avions de nombreux blessés, dont plusieurs très grièvement.
Grâce à la rapidité et à l'énergie de l'action des troupes européennes, les représentants de l'Europe et les amis qu'elle compte parmi les indigènes étaient désormais à l'abri de toute menace et quelques milliers d'hommes avaient obtenu un résultat pour lequel, un mois auparavant les conseils militaires internationaux, réunis en rade de Takou, estimaient que 40,000 ou 50,000 hommes seraient indispensables.Dans cette belle œuvre de guerre, nos avant-gardes avaient accompli, suivant l'expression d'un ordre du jour adressé aux troupes européennes par le major général russe Stessel, après la prise de Tien-tsin, « des faits d'armes dignes d'être placés à la hauteur des actions célèbres de leurs ancêtres ».
Il ne restait plus qu'à occuper les territoires du Petchili, afin de les mettre à l'abri de toute atteinte des Boxers ou des réguliers chinois, tandis que les représentants de l'Europe, rentrés en jouissance de tous leurs droits après deux mois de souffrances morales et physiques vaillamment supportées, fixeraient les justes réparations auxquelles l'Europe avait droit.C'est à vous, mon cher général, qu'incomba cette tâche dont les difficultés étaient considérables, car il s'agissait, non seulement de réprimer avec énergie toute tentative nouvelle de rébellion ou de résistance, mais encore d'inspirer aux populations paisibles le sentiment qu'elles n'avaient rien à redouter de ces Européens contre lesquels on les avait tant, et depuis si longtemps, excitées, tandis qu'elles en pourraient recevoir l'initiation à tous les progrès économiques, politiques et sociaux de la civilisation.
Malgré la prudence avec laquelle vous avez accompli, mon cher général, la première partie de cette tâche délicate, vous avez eu encore, pendant les diverses opérations faites dans le Petchili, 4 tués, dont 1 officier, et 37 blessés, dont 1 officier. En diverses circonstances, en effet, la résistance des rebelles fut très énergique et nos pertes auraient été beaucoup plus considérables sans les sages précautions que, par vos ordres, prirent nos officiers pour les réduire autant que possible.Quant à la deuxième partie de la mission que vous aviez à remplir, elle l'a été dans des conditions telles que, d'après tous les témoignages venus à ma connaissance, c'est avec une faveur marquée que les populations chinoises accueillaient nos troupes. A défaut de ces témoignages, j'en trouverais encore l'irréfutable preuve dans ce fait que, partout où passaient nos soldats, les villages se hâtaient de hisser le drapeau tricolore sur leurs maisons afin de leur assurer sa protection et que les habitants se portaient de préférence dans les quartiers occupés par nos détachements. Je lis, en effet, dans un rapport du général Bailloud, que partout où sont les troupes françaises « la confiance renaît vite, les habitants rentrent dans les villages qu'ils avaient abandonnés, les marchés s'ouvrent et fonctionnent comme par le passé, et des relations amicales s'établissent entre les populations et les soldats ».Vous-même, mon cher général, en réponse à un commandant de troupes étrangères qui s'étonnait, je pourrais dire qui se plaignait, de voir flotter le drapeau français sur un trop grand nombre de maisons, vous écriviez : « Il nous est difficile d'empêcher les villages chinois d'essayer de trouver une protection sous nos couleurs ; nous avons toujours eu, vis-à-vis des populations paisibles, une attitude qui les a rapprochées de nous ; nous les avons traitées avec douceur et elles savent que leurs biens, leurs propriétés et leurs vies sont en sûreté à côté de nous ; c'est ce qui explique peut-être l'abus des drapeaux français qu'elles ont fait. Pour changer cet état de choses, il faudrait changer l'état d'esprit des populations à notre égard. Mais notre devoir est de continuer, dans la mesure de nos forces, à nous inspirer des idées d'humanité et de justice qui font l'honneur de toutes les nations civilisées et qui font souvent la force de leurs armes ».Dans ce noble et fier langage, mon cher général, vous traduisiez à merveille les sentiments qui animent le soldat français, sentiments dont j'ai pu constater moi-même les manifestations dans nos colonies et qui sont d'autant plus vivaces que leur source se trouve dans le cœur même de la famille française.
Le paysan chinois ne pouvait s'y tromper et c'est son jugement qu'un fin modeleur indigène a exprimé dans les deux charmantes figurines que l'amiral Pottier a bien voulu m'envoyer : un soldat français chaudement enveloppé dans sa longue capote bleue, coiffé d'un béret qui ombrage une figure gaillarde, tient sur ses bras un enfant chinois dont la physionomie s'épanouit en un bon sourire et dont le petit bras entoure le cou du troupier. « Voilà, m'écrit le commandant de notre division de l'Extrême-Orient, l'impression qui restera au pays chinois du passage du corps expéditionnaire français : des hommes bons pour les enfants. »Cette bonté n'a pas été, d'ailleurs, sans profiter à nos troupes : en facilitant leurs relations avec les indigènes, elle a rendu moins triste leur séjour dans les villages si éloignés et si distincts de ceux où ils avaient leurs affections et elle leur a permis d'ajouter sans peine les ressources matérielles du Petchili à celles que le gouvernement la République avait mises à leur disposition.Ceci me conduit, messieurs, à féliciter et remercier ici publiquement les collaborateurs dévoués et habiles qui m'ont assisté dans la préparation et dans l'organisation de l'expédition. Parmi eux, je tiens à féliciter particulièrement le vice-amiral Bien-aimé, chef d'état-major de la marine ; le colonel Famin, directeur des troupes ; le vice-amiral de Beaumont, préfet maritime à Toulon, et le contre-amiral Besson, ancien commandant de la marine à Marseille. Grâce au souci éclairé qu'ils apportèrent dans l'organisation de tous les services du corps expéditionnaire, nos troupes on pu jouir en Chine d'un bien-être tel que, fréquemment, elles purent le faire partager à leurs camarades moins favorisés des autres nations et que leur mortalité à été réduite aux proportions les plus faibles qu'il fût possible d'espérer. En effet, nos pertes par la maladie n'ont même pas atteint deux pour cent, c'est-à-dire qu'elles sont inférieures, dans une très forte proportion, à la moyenne des pertes subies dans toutes les expéditions antérieures. D'un autre côté pendant les traversées d'aller et de retour que les événements nous ont contraints d'effectuer dans les mois les plus chauds de l'année, qui sont aussi ceux où les mauvais temps sévissent avec le plus de rigueur dans les mers de l'Inde et de la Chine, nos pertes n'ont été que de 0,3 p. 100.Départ des troupes de Marseille pour la Chine ( illustration du Petit Journal ).Juge impartial d'une organisation à laquelle il fut entièrement étranger, mais qu'il a pu apprécier dans tous ses détails au cours des laborieuses manœuvres d'embarquement et de débarquement qu'il a dirigées avec tant d'intelligence et d'activité, l'amiral Pottier me donnait, dans son dernier rapport, une appréciation que je tiens à reproduire :« En résumé, disait-il, j'attribue la plupart des critiques qui ont été formulées à une connaissance imparfaite des situations où, de part et d'autre, on s'est trouvé. L'expédition a été organisée sous la pression d'événements qui ne permettaient aucun retard. Les navires de commerce disponibles étaient insuffisants. Sans parler des troupes envoyées d'Indo-Chine, près de 18,000 hommes et plus de 3,000 chevaux et mulets ont souffert, au cours d'une longue traversée, des températures les plus élevées de la mer Rouge. Matériel et vivres, encombrant 79,000 mètres cubes, devaient à tout prix être débarqués en Chine avant l'hivernage. Partout, à Paris, à Marseille, dans le Petchili, on s'est trouvé en présence de grandes difficultés à vaincre. L'opération n'en a pas moins été heureuse et brillante, grâce au zèle de chacun, et le déficit en hommes ne représente que le minimum des pertes auxquelles tout marin devait s'attendre. Sans doute, l'expérience qui vient d'avoir lieu contient des enseignements que nous mettrons à profit ; mais qu'une autre expédition du même genre devienne nécessaire, je souhaite au département qui en aura la direction d'y rencontrer, avec moins d'écueils, le succès dont l'évidence, en face de leurs mécomptes, a frappé les marines étrangères qui nous ont vus à l'œuvre. »Le général Voyron passant le détachement français en revue,à Shanghai ( illustration du Petit Journal ).Vous-même, mon cher général, dans le rapport par lequel vous avez clos l'exposé des actes du corps expéditionnaire, au moment où vous alliez vous séparer de ces troupes que vous aviez si bien conduites et entourées de tant de soins paternels, en indiquant les légitimes récompenses que vous demandiez pour elles, vous exprimiez la même pensée dans des paroles que mes collaborateurs immédiats seront heureux d'entendre reproduire ici, car c'est véritablement à eux qu'elles s'adressent :« J'ose espérer, m'écriviez-vous, que vous, qui avez présidé à l'organisation difficile et rapide du corps expéditionnaire de Chine, qui avez, grâce à votre haute prévoyance, su le doter de tout ce qui devait assurer son succès, vous serez encore une fois son interprète auprès du Gouvernement. Il compte sur cette nouvelle marque de votre haute bienveillance et de votre haute sympathie. »
Le Gouvernement et les Chambres ont bien voulu, mon cher général, entendre vos paroles et accorder au corps expéditionnaire de Chine les récompenses que vous m'aviez demandées pour lui. Je suis heureux de pouvoir aujourd'hui féliciter publiquement tous ceux qui les ont obtenues.Quant aux officiers, soldats et marins qui en été tués au cours de l'expédition de Chine, leurs noms seront publiés au Journal officiel avec l'hommage que j'adresse ici à leurs familles.Dans ces tristes et difficiles circonstances, notre armée et notre marine se sont montrées au plus haut degré dignes de la démocratie qui, depuis trente ans, les a entourées de tant de sympathies et leur a prodigué tant de marques d'intérêt, car elles ont su joindre aux plus belles qualités militaires les plus nobles sentiments d'humanité.Et c'est, j'en suis convaincu, dans cette simple constatation, faite ici au nom du Gouvernement et devant le pays, que vous-même, mon cher général, vous trouverez la récompense la plus digne des éminents services que vous avez rendus à la France et à la République.Tout est fait pour endormir un voyage de rêves à découvrir l'oriental dans la compagnie PLM, les transitaires pour Pékin sont saisis à la descente du train par les tigres-lion de la cité interdite, c'est renversant et émouvant, cette lumière de Marseille c'est le pied.
The Boxer Rebellion targeted both the Manchu dynasty in China and the influence of European powers within China. Though the Boxer Rebellion failed but it did enough to stir up national pride within China itself.In 1895, China had been defeated by Japan. This was a humiliation for the Chinese as Japan had always been considered as a lesser nation to China. China lost control of Korea and Formosa to Japan.Within the elite of Chinese society, it was believed that this defeat was entirely the blame of the Europeans who were dominant in China and that they alone were responsible for China’s defeat. Many Chinese began to feel the same. It was believed that the Europeans were driving China’s domestic and foreign policy and that the situation was getting out of control. By the end of the Nineteenth Century, a strong sense of nationalism swept over China and many wanted to reclaim China for the Chinese. In 1898, these feelings boiled over into rebellion. The rebellion began in north China in the Shantung Province. This province was a German sphere of influence and Germany dominated the rail lines, factories and coal mines that existed in Shantung. The Germans made considerable profits while the Chinese there were paid very poor wages and lived very poor lifestyles.In Shantung, gangs of Chinese people roamed the streets chanting "Kill the Christians" and "Drive out the foreign devils". Germans who lived in Shantung were murdered as were other European missionaries. Those Chinese who had converted to Christianity were also murdered. Those behind the Shantung rebellion belonged to a secret society called Yi Ho Tuan – which meant "Righteous Harmony Fists" when translated into English. This was shorten to Boxers and the rebellion has gone done in history as the Boxer Rebellion. By 1900, the rebellion had started to spread across northern China and included the capital Peking.One of the targets of the Boxers was the Manchu government. They were seen as being little more as unpatriotic stooges of the European ‘masters’ who did nothing for national pride.The inspiration behind the Manchu government was the Empress Dowager. She was nicknamed "Old Buddha" – but never to her face. She had been married to the former emperor and was a very clever person. China was a society where women were ‘kept in their place’, therefore, she was an oddity within that male dominated society. Empress Dowager Tzu realised what was going on and made secret contact with the Boxers offering them her support. This they accepted. This allowed the Boxers to turn their full attention to the Europeans.
Peking had many Europeans living in it in 1900. Their lifestyle was completely different to that of the Chinese who lived in the city. The Europeans effectively treated the Chinese in Peking as their slaves. It was not surprising that the Boxers found many ready supporters in Peking.In June 1900, it became clear that their lives were in danger and many prepared to leave the city. The German ambassador in China wanted to register one final protest at the way the Europeans were being treated in China. As he made his way to the Royal Palace to protest, he was dragged from his sedan chair (being carried by Chinese) and murdered. The message was clear. Even the high and mighty were not safe. The rest of the Europeans crowded into the British Legation for their own safety. They were defended by an assortment of 400 European soldiers and sailors nicknamed the "Carving Knife Brigade" because of their lack of proper weapons. They fought off the Boxers with great bravery who were joined in the attack by troops who guarded the Manchus.The Siege of the Legation lasted for 55 days until an international force marching from Tientsin on the coast managed to relieve them. 66 Europeans had been killed in this time and 150 had been wounded. This type of treatment was unforgivable from a European point of view. America had also been shocked by the treatment of the Europeans.The international force, as a punishment, went of the rampage in Peking – effectively urged on by the officers commanding them. Peking was extensively damaged. The Chinese government was also ordered to pay $450 million in compensation – a vast sum of money for any nation let alone one as poor as China. The European force, now supported by the Manchus, then took its revenge on the Boxers. Those caught were given little mercy and they were beheaded in public. The Manchus were effectively forgiven as was the Dowager Empress despite her apparent treachery. She and her family were allowed to return to the Forbidden Palace in Peking facing no punishment other than European nations re-establishing their authority over the Chinese. She had no other choice but to be compliant.
[Published by the Illustrated Postal Card Co., New York - Germany] Circa 1917.
From the postcard collection of the Ohio County Public Library Archives
▶ Visit the Library's Wheeling History website
The photos on the Ohio County Public Library's Flickr site may be freely used by non-commercial entities for educational and/or research purposes as long as credit is given to the "Ohio County Public Library, Wheeling WV." These photos may not be reproduced in any format for profit or other presentation without the permission of The Ohio County Public Library.
The recipe for this delicious curry is now published on my gourmet webzine :: Richly Spiced Cambodian Chicken Curry
♥
Cambodian cuisine is less known than that of its neighbours, Thailand and Vietnam. It is a colourful cuisine whose style and ingredients reveals strong influences from its neighbouring countries (though less spicy in general) and China. Influences can also be seen from the period of French occupation (including the use of caramel in certain dishes and eating curries with toasted baguette) and India (many Cambodian curries contain Indian curry powder and black pepper as opposed to chilli, which is served separately).
See: www.facebook.com/events/501459483222848/
A rally in Washington, DC in support of the equal health and livelihood of trans people, that included basic information about trans health issues and stories of denied / inappropriate care, as well as hope for the future
Published in Washington State Bans Health Insurance Discrimination Against Transgender People - The New Civil Rights Movement
Published in Transgender? New evidence on the biology of gender identity - Myria
Like Jason Bourne in The Bourne Identity, XIII is a trained fighting machine whose main characteristic is a failing memory. While seeking to discover his concealed past, he stumbles from one adventure to another. The exciting plots of this monumnet of realistic action comic strips are by Jean Van Hamme and the drawings by William Vance. The comic series was first published in 1984 in Spirou magazine.
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A-Nova Music
Saturday, Desember 3rd, 2016
"El Barrio" (NYC)
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A good thing continues
Some six months ago, I posted almost 100 images and a few thoughts I felt were missing from the many existing RX1 reviews. The outpouring of support and interest in that article was very gratifying. When I published, I had used the camera for six full months, enough time to come to a view of its strengths and weaknesses and to produce a small portfolio of good images, but not enough time to see the full picture (pun intended). In the following six months, I have used the camera at least as frequently as in the first six and have produced another small set of good images. It should be noted that my usage of the RX1 in the last six (and especially in the last 3) months has involved less travel and more time with the family and around the house; I will share relatively few of these images but will spend some time sharing my impressions of its functionality for family snapshots as I am sure there is some interest. And let it be said here: one of the primary motivations to purchase the camera was to take more photos with the family, and after one full year I can confidently say: money well spent.
The A7/r game-changer?
In the past six months, Sony have announced and released two full-frame, interchangeable lens cameras that clearly take design cues from the RX1: the A7 and the A7r. These cameras are innovative and highly capable and, as such, are in the midst of taking the photography world by storm. I think they are compelling enough cameras that I wonder whether Sony is wasting its energy continuing to develop further A-mount cameras. Sony deserve credit for a bold strategy—many companies would have been content to allow the success of the the RX1 (and RX1R) generate further sales before pushing further into the white space left unexplored by camera makers with less ambition.This is not the place to detail the relative advantages and disadvantages of the RX1 versus the A7/r except to make the following point. I currently use a Nikon D800 and an RX1: were I to sell both and purchase the A7r + 35mm f/2.8 I would in many ways lose nothing by way of imaging capability or lens compatibility but would pocket the surplus $1250-1750. Indeed this loyal Nikon owner thought long and hard about doing so, which speaks to the strategic importance of these cameras for a company trying to make inroads into a highly concentrated market.Ultimately, I opted to hang onto the two cameras I have (although this decision is one that I revisit time and time again) and continue to use them as I have for the past year. Let me give you a quick flavor of why.
The RX1 is smaller and more discrete
This is a small a point, but my gut reaction to the A7/r was: much smaller than the D800, not as small as the RX1. The EVF atop the A7/r and the larger profile of interchangeable mount lenses means that I would not be able to slip the A7/r into a pocket the way I can the RX1. Further, by virtue of using the EVF and its loud mechanical shutter, the A7/r just isn’t as stealthy as the RX1. Finally, f/2 beats the pants off of f/2.8 at the same or smaller size.At this point, some of you may be saying, “Future Sony releases will allow you to get a body without an EVF and get an f/2 lens that has a slimmer profile, etc, etc.” And that’s just the point: to oversimplify things, the reason I am keeping my RX1 is that Sony currently offers something close to an A7 body without a built-in EVF and with a slimmer profile 35mm f/2.
The D800 has important functional advantages
On the other side of the spectrum, the AF speed of the A7/r just isn’t going to match the D800, especially when the former is equipped with a Nikon lens and F-mount adapter. EVFs cannot yet match the experience of looking through the prism and the lens (I expect they will match soon, but aren’t there yet). What’s more, I have made such an investment in Nikon glass that I can’t yet justify purchasing an adapter for a Sony mount or selling them all for Sony’s offerings (many of which aren’t to market yet).Now, all of these are minor points and I think all of them disappear with an A8r, but they add up to something major: I have two cameras very well suited to two different types of shooting, and I ask myself if I gain or lose by getting something in between—something that wasn’t quite a pocket shooter and something that was quite a DSLR? You can imagine, however, that if I were coming to the market without a D800 and an RX1, that my decision would be far different: dollar for dollar, the A7/r would be a no-brainer.During the moments when I consider selling to grab an A7r, I keep coming back to a thought I had a month or so before the RX1 was announced. At that time I was considering something like the NEX cameras with a ZM 21mm f/2.8 and I said in my head, “I wish someone would make a carry-around camera with a full frame sensor and a fixed 35mm f/2.8 or f/2.” Now you understand how attractive the RX1 is to me and what a ridiculously high bar exists for another camera system to reach.
Okay, so what is different from the last review?
For one, I had an issue with the camera’s AF motor failing to engage and giving me an E61:00 error. I had to send it out to Sony for repairs (via extended warranty and service plan). I detailed my experience with Sony Service here [insert link] and I write to you as a very satisfied customer. That is to say, I have 3 years left on a 4 year + accidental damage warranty and I feel confident enough in that coverage to say that I will have this beauty in working order for at least another 3 years.For two, I’ve spent significantly less time thinking of this camera as a DSLR replacement and have instead started to develop a very different way of shooting with it. The activation barrier to taking a shot with my D800 is quite high. Beyond having to bring a large camera wherever you go and have it in hand, a proper camera takes two hands and full attention to produce an image. I shoot slowly and methodically and often from a tripod with the D800. In contrast, I can pull the RX1 out, pop off the lens cap, line up and take a shot with one hand (often with a toddler in the other). This fosters a totally different type of photography.
My “be-there” camera
The have-everywhere camera that gives DSLR type controls to one-handed shooting lets me pursue images that happen very quickly or images that might not normally meet the standards of “drag-the-DSLR-out-of-the-bag.” Many of those images you’ll see on this post. A full year of shooting and I can say this with great confidence: the RX1 is a terrific mash-up of point-and-shoot and DSLR not just in image quality and features, but primarily in the product it helps me create. To take this thinking a bit further: I find myself even processing images from the RX1 differently than I would from my DSLR. So much so that I have strongly considered starting a tumblr and posting JPEGs directly from the RX1 via my phone or an iPad rather than running the bulk of them through Lightroom, onto Flickr and then on the blog (really this is just a matter of time, stay tuned, and those readers who have experience with tumblr, cloud image storage and editing, etc, etc, please contact me, I want to pick your brain).Put simply, I capture more spontaneous and beautiful “moments” than I might have otherwise. Photography is very much an exercise in “f/8 and be there,” and the RX1 is my go-to “be there” camera.
The family camera
I mentioned earlier that I justified the purchase of the RX1 partly as a camera to be used to document the family moments into which a DSLR doesn’t neatly fit. Over the past year I’ve collected thousands and thousands of family images with the RX1. The cold hard truth is that many of those photos could be better if I’d taken a full DSLR kit with me to the park or the beach or the grocery store each time. The RX1 is a difficult camera to use on a toddler (or any moving subject for that matter); autofocus isn’t as fast as a professional DSLR, it’s difficult to perfectly compose via an LCD (especially in bright sunlight), but despite these shortcomings, it’s been an incredibly useful family camera. There are simply so many beautiful moments where I had the RX1 over my shoulder, ready to go that whatever difficulties exist relative to a DSLR, those pale in comparison to the power of it’s convenience. The best camera is the one in your hand.
Where to go from here.
So what is the value of these RX1 going forward, especially in a world of the A7/r and it’s yet-to-be-born siblings without an EVF and a pancake lens? Frankly, at its current price (which is quite fair when you consider the value of the the body and the lens) I see precious little room for an independent offering versus a mirrorless, interchangeable lens system with the same image quality in a package just as small. That doesn’t mean Sony won’t make an RX2 or an RX1 Mark II (have a look at it’s other product lines to see how many SKUs are maintained despite low demand). Instead, I see the RX1 as a bridge that needed to exist for engineers, managers, and the market to make it to the A7/r and it’s descendants.A Facebook friend recently paid me a great compliment; he said something like, “Justin, via your blog, you’ve sold a ton of RX1 cameras.” Indeed, despite my efforts not to be a salesman, I think he’s right: I have and would continue to recommend this camera.The true value of the RX1 going forward is for those of us who have the thing on our shoulders; and yes, if you have an investment in and a love for a DSLR system, there’s still tremendous value in getting one, slinging it over your shoulder, and heading out into the wide, bright world; A7/r or no, this is just an unbelievably capable camera.
Transactions of the Zoological Society of London
[London] :Published for the Zoological Society of London by Academic Press
Previously published image processed to reveal more detail.
XH558 completed her last flight on 28th October and has now been permanently grounded at Robin Hood (Doncaster/Sheffield) airport due to withdrawal of support from three major backers which resulted in the loss of its certificate of airworthiness.
For further information, including visits and tours, go to the "Vulcan to the Sky" website: www.vulcantothesky.org/
_FX06874dt
All Rights Reserved © 2015 Frederick Roll ~ fjroll.com
Please do not use this image without prior permission
The Postcard
A postcard published by The Coast Publishing Co. of Vancouver B.C. The card was posted in Vancouver on Thursday the 19th. February 1920 to:
Miss Waub,
63, Gore Road,
Victoria Park,
London E.,
England.
The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"Dear G,
Thought you might like to
put this amongst your other
PCs.
Tell Mother to hurry along
and send me a line - it seems
such an age since she last
wrote.
I am comfortably settled at
last in a house of my own.
With lots of love to Wally,
Dad, Mum and Self.
A."
Flumes
A flume is a man-made channel for water in the form of an open declined gravity chute whose walls are raised above the surrounding terrain, in contrast to a trench or ditch.
Flumes are not to be confused with aqueducts, which are built to transport water, rather than transporting materials using flowing water as a flume does. Flumes route water from a diversion dam or weir to a collection location.
Many flumes took the form of wooden troughs elevated on trestles, often following the natural contours of the land. Originating as a part of a mill race, they were later used in the transportation of logs in the logging industry, known as a log flumes. They were also extensively used in hydraulic mining and working placer deposits for gold, tin and other heavy minerals.
George Rose (Actor)
So what else happened on the day the card was posted?
Well, the 19th. February 1920 marked the birth in Bicester, of George Rose.
George Walter Rose was an English actor and singer in theatre and film.
Born the son of a butcher, Rose studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama. After graduation, he was briefly a farmer and secretary. After wartime service and studies at Oxford, he made his Old Vic stage debut in 1946.
George Rose's Acting Career
Rose spent four years with the Old Vic company, and made his Broadway debut in a 1946 production of Henry IV, Part I. George continued to play in New York City and London's West End for the remainder of the decade.
He spent most of the 1950's appearing in broad comedy roles in the UK, later joining the Royal Shakespeare Company.
He returned to Broadway to portray Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing in 1959. Two years later, he co-starred to much acclaim in Robert Bolt's A Man for All Seasons, first in London and then in New York. This included Variety naming him best supporting actor for his portrayal of the Common Man. From then on he appeared primarily in American plays and films.
Rose made his screen debut in Midnight Frolics in 1949 and went on to make more than 30 films. Notable film credits include The Pickwick Papers (1952), Track the Man Down (1955), A Night to Remember (1958), The Flesh and the Fiends (1959), Hawaii (1966), and A New Leaf (1971).
Rose starred in the 1975 television series Beacon Hill, an Americanised version of Upstairs, Downstairs. Other television credits include Naked City, Trials of O'Brien, the mini-series Holocaust (1978), and several appearances on the Hallmark Hall of Fame.
On Broadway, among other roles, he played the First Gravedigger in John Gielgud's 1964 production of Hamlet starring Richard Burton, a suspicious storekeeper in William Hanley's Slow Dance on the Killing Ground (1964), a bitter soldier in Peter Shaffer's Royal Hunt of the Sun (1965), and the detective in Joe Orton's Loot (1968).
His first Tony Award nomination was for his portrayal of Louis Greff, Coco Chanel's friend, in the musical Coco in 1969. In the 1974 comedy My Fat Friend, opposite Lynn Redgrave, he won a Drama Desk Award and received another Tony nomination. In 1976, he finally won a Tony as Alfred P. Doolittle in the Broadway revival of My Fair Lady.
George received further acclaim in the role of General Burgoyne in The Devil's Disciple, as Mr. Darling and Captain Hook in Peter Pan and as one of the replacements for Rex Harrison in The Kingfisher; he won a 1979 Drama Desk Award for the last.
In 1980, he appeared as Major General Stanley in the hit Joe Papp adaptation of The Pirates of Penzance, co-starring Kevin Kline and Linda Ronstadt, being nominated for another Tony award. He also starred in the film adaptation of the production, released in 1983.
Rose won his second Tony in 1986, for Rupert Holmes' musical adaptation of The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Rose was appearing in a national tour of Drood at the time of his death in 1988. His last film role was Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw, in which he voiced the villain Marvin McNasty (and also sang one of the film's songs).
Personal Life and Murder of George Rose
Rose owned a pet lynx, birds and other exotic creatures. He had a music collection numbering around 17,000 records.
In 1984, he purchased a holiday home in Sosúa, Dominican Republic, where he spent much of his time between his performances. Rose was gay and had no immediate family or permanent partner. He reportedly longed to have an heir.
Shortly after moving, he took in a 14-year-old boy whom he supported financially and to whom he planned to leave his estate. He adopted the boy in January 1988.
(No good turn ever goes unpunished - below is a good example of this).
On the 5th. May 1988, during a two-week hiatus from the national tour of Drood, Rose was tortured and beaten to death by his adopted son, the boy's biological father, an uncle, and a friend of the father.
The assailants tried to make the death look like a car accident, but soon confessed to killing Rose. Though all four men were charged and spent time in prison, no trial was ever held, and eventually all were released.
Rose is buried in an unmarked grave in a cemetery near his holiday home in Sosúa.
Published in Silver Kris Magazine, Singapore Air, Sept 07 issue.
www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=191900969&size=l
Pls View Large, Hurghada Egypt
HDR, Photomatix Pro
twixd.
Specimen book published by Dave Greer, 1984:
www.flickr.com/photos/39182740@N04/3687440726/in/album-72...
Nicolette Gray [177] traces this stunning face with complex floral embellishment to Egyptian Ornamented by Bower & Bacon, 1830.
It is clearly different from the wood type design reported by Rob Roy Kelly [97], who illustrates a specimen tradenamed Rose Ornamental shown by Nesbitt in 1838.
Nesbitt, a New York printer, was the distributor of wood types produced by Edwin Allen [1811-1891] of Connecticut [Kelly 38].
Super-strong "Egyptian" letterforms, originated by Figgins in 1815 [Gray 149], are still unbeatable today for irresistible attention-grabbing!
This letterpress typeface has been digitized for posterity by THP Partner Paul Smith of Octopi Fonts: www.myfonts.com/fonts/octopi/egypt-rose/.
More about this font: forums.typeheritage.com/topic/rose-egyptian/
Screen reader users: click this link for accessible mode. Accessible mode has the same essential features but works better with your reader.
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Patent US6506148 - Nervous system manipulation by electromagnetic fields from monitors
Publication number US6506148 B2
Publication type Grant
Application number US 09/872,528
Publication date Jan 14, 2003
Filing date Jun 1, 2001
Priority date Jun 1, 2001
Fee status Paid
Also published as US20020188164
Inventors Hendricus G. Loos
Original Assignee Hendricus G. Loos
Export Citation BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan
Patent Citations (16), Non-Patent Citations (5), Referenced by (3), Classifications (6), Legal Events (3)
External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet
Nervous system manipulation by electromagnetic fields from monitors
US 6506148 B2
Abstract
Physiological effects have been observed in a human subject in response to stimulation of the skin with weak electromagnetic fields that are pulsed with certain frequencies near ½ Hz or 2.4 Hz, such as to excite a sensory resonance. Many computer monitors and TV tubes, when displaying pulsed images, emit pulsed electromagnetic fields of sufficient amplitudes to cause such excitation. It is therefore possible to manipulate the nervous system of a subject by pulsing images displayed on a nearby computer monitor or TV set. For the latter, the image pulsing may be imbedded in the program material, or it may be overlaid by modulating a video stream, either as an RF signal or as a video signal. The image displayed on a computer monitor may be pulsed effectively by a simple computer program. For certain monitors, pulsed electromagnetic fields capable of exciting sensory resonances in nearby subjects may be generated even as the displayed images are pulsed with subliminal intensity.
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Claims(14)
I claim:
1. A method for manipulating the nervous system of a subject located near a monitor, the monitor emitting an electromagnetic field when displaying an image by virtue of the physical display process, the subject having a sensory resonance frequency, the method comprising:
creating a video signal for displaying an image on the monitor, the image having an intensity;
modulating the video signal for pulsing the image intensity with a frequency in the range 0.1 Hz to 15 Hz; and
setting the pulse frequency to the resonance frequency.
2. A computer program for manipulating the nervous system of a subject located near a monitor, the monitor emitting an electromagnetic field when displaying an image by virtue of the physical display process, the subject having cutaneous nerves that fire spontaneously and have spiking patterns, the computer program comprising:
a display routine for displaying an image on the monitor, the image having an intensity;
a pulse routine for pulsing the image intensity with a frequency in the range 0.1 Hz to 15 Hz; and
a frequency routine that can be internally controlled by the subject, for setting the frequency;
whereby the emitted electromagnetic field is pulsed, the cutaneous nerves are exposed to the pulsed electromagnetic field, and the spiking patterns of the nerves acquire a frequency modulation.
3. The computer program of claim 2, wherein the pulsing has an amplitude and the program further comprises an amplitude routine for control of the amplitude by the subject.
4. The computer program of claim 2, wherein the pulse routine comprises:
a timing procedure for timing the pulsing; and
an extrapolation procedure for improving the accuracy of the timing procedure.
5. The computer program of claim 2, further comprising a variability routine for introducing variability in the pulsing.
6. Hardware means for manipulating the nervous system of a subject located near a monitor, the monitor being responsive to a video stream and emitting an electromagnetic field when displaying an image by virtue of the physical display process, the image having an intensity, the subject having cutaneous nerves that fire spontaneously and have spiking patterns, the hardware means comprising:
pulse generator for generating voltage pulses;
means, responsive to the voltage pulses, for modulating the video stream to pulse the image intensity;
whereby the emitted electromagnetic field is pulsed, the cutaneous nerves are exposed to the pulsed electromagnetic field, and the spiking patterns of the nerves acquire a frequency modulation.
7. The hardware means of claim 6, wherein the video stream is a composite video signal that has a pseudo-dc level, and the means for modulating the video stream comprise means for pulsing the pseudo-dc level.
8. The hardware means of claim 6, wherein the video stream is a television broadcast signal, and the means for modulating the video stream comprise means for frequency wobbling of the television broadcast signal.
9. The hardware means of claim 6, wherein the monitor has a brightness adjustment terminal, and the means for modulating the video stream comprise a connection from the pulse generator to the brightness adjustment terminal.
10. A source of video stream for manipulating the nervous system of a subject located near a monitor, the monitor emitting an electromagnetic field when displaying an image by virtue of the physical display process, the subject having cutaneous nerves that fire spontaneously and have spiking patterns, the source of video stream comprising:
means for defining an image on the monitor, the image having an intensity; and
means for subliminally pulsing the image intensity with a frequency in the range 0.1 Hz to 15 Hz;
whereby the emitted electromagnetic field is pulsed, the cutaneous nerves are exposed to the pulsed electromagnetic field, and the spiking patterns of the nerves acquire a frequency modulation.
11. The source of video stream of claim 10 wherein the source is a recording medium that has recorded data, and the means for subliminally pulsing the image intensity comprise an attribute of the recorded data.
12. The source of video stream of claim 10 wherein the source is a computer program, and the means for subliminally pulsing the image intensity comprise a pulse routine.
13. The source of video stream of claim 10 wherein the source is a recording of a physical scene, and the means for subliminally pulsing the image intensity comprise:
pulse generator for generating voltage pulses;
light source for illuminating the scene, the light source having a power level; and
modulation means, responsive to the voltage pulses, for pulsing the power level.
14. The source of video stream of claim 10, wherein the source is a DVD, the video stream comprises a luminance signal and a chrominance signal, and the means for subliminal pulsing of the image intensity comprise means for pulsing the luminance signal.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to the stimulation of the human nervous system by an electromagnetic field applied externally to the body. A neurological effect of external electric fields has been mentioned by Wiener (1958), in a discussion of the bunching of brain waves through nonlinear interactions. The electric field was arranged to provide “a direct electrical driving of the brain”. Wiener describes the field as set up by a 10 Hz alternating voltage of 400 V applied in a room between ceiling and ground. Brennan (1992) describes in U.S. Pat. No. 5,169,380 an apparatus for alleviating disruptions in circadian rythms of a mammal, in which an alternating electric field is applied across the head of the subject by two electrodes placed a short distance from the skin.
A device involving a field electrode as well as a contact electrode is the “Graham Potentializer” mentioned by Hutchison (1991). This relaxation device uses motion, light and sound as well as an alternating electric field applied mainly to the head. The contact electrode is a metal bar in Ohmic contact with the bare feet of the subject, and the field electrode is a hemispherical metal headpiece placed several inches from the subject's head.
In these three electric stimulation methods the external electric field is applied predominantly to the head, so that electric currents are induced in the brain in the physical manner governed by electrodynamics. Such currents can be largely avoided by applying the field not to the head, but rather to skin areas away from the head. Certain cutaneous receptors may then be stimulated and they would provide a signal input into the brain along the natural pathways of afferent nerves. It has been found that, indeed, physiological effects can be induced in this manner by very weak electric fields, if they are pulsed with a frequency near ½ Hz. The observed effects include ptosis of the eyelids, relaxation, drowziness, the feeling of pressure at a centered spot on the lower edge of the brow, seeing moving patterns of dark purple and greenish yellow with the eyes closed, a tonic smile, a tense feeling in the stomach, sudden loose stool, and sexual excitement, depending on the precise frequency used, and the skin area to which the field is applied. The sharp frequency dependence suggests involvement of a resonance mechanism.
It has been found that the resonance can be excited not only by externally applied pulsed electric fields, as discussed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,782,874, 5,899,922, 6,081,744, and 6,167,304, but also by pulsed magnetic fields, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,935,054 and 6,238,333, by weak heat pulses applied to the skin, as discussed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,800,481 and 6,091,994, and by subliminal acoustic pulses, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,017,302. Since the resonance is excited through sensory pathways, it is called a sensory resonance. In addition to the resonance near ½ Hz, a sensory resonance has been found near 2.4 Hz. The latter is characterized by the slowing of certain cortical processes, as discussed in the '481, '922, '302, '744, '944, and '304 patents.
The excitation of sensory resonances through weak heat pulses applied to the skin provides a clue about what is going on neurologically. Cutaneous temperature-sensing receptors are known to fire spontaneously. These nerves spike somewhat randomly around an average rate that depends on skin temperature. Weak heat pulses delivered to the skin in periodic fashion will therefore cause a slight frequency modulation (fm) in the spike patterns generated by the nerves. Since stimulation through other sensory modalities results in similar physiological effects, it is believed that frequency modulation of spontaneous afferent neural spiking patterns occurs there as well.
It is instructive to apply this notion to the stimulation by weak electric field pulses administered to the skin. The externally generated fields induce electric current pulses in the underlying tissue, but the current density is much too small for firing an otherwise quiescent nerve. However, in experiments with adapting stretch receptors of the crayfish, Terzuolo and Bullock (1956) have observed that very small electric fields can suffice for modulating the firing of already active nerves. Such a modulation may occur in the electric field stimulation under discussion.
Further understanding may be gained by considering the electric charges that accumulate on the skin as a result of the induced tissue currents. Ignoring thermodynamics, one would expect the accumulated polarization charges to be confined strictly to the outer surface of the skin. But charge density is caused by a slight excess in positive or negative ions, and thermal motion distributes the ions through a thin layer. This implies that the externally applied electric field actually penetrates a short distance into the tissue, instead of stopping abruptly at the outer skin surface. In this manner a considerable fraction of the applied field may be brought to bear on some cutaneous nerve endings, so that a slight modulation of the type noted by Terzuolo and Bullock may indeed occur.
The mentioned physiological effects are observed only when the strength of the electric field on the skin lies in a certain range, called the effective intensity window. There also is a bulk effect, in that weaker fields suffice when the field is applied to a larger skin area. These effects are discussed in detail in the '922 patent.
Since the spontaneous spiking of the nerves is rather random and the frequency modulation induced by the pulsed field is very shallow, the signal to noise ratio (S/N) for the fm signal contained in the spike trains along the afferent nerves is so small as to make recovery of the fm signal from a single nerve fiber impossibile. But application of the field over a large skin area causes simultaneous stimulation of many cutaneous nerves, and the fm modulation is then coherent from nerve to nerve. Therefore, if the afferent signals are somehow summed in the brain, the fm modulations add while the spikes from different nerves mix and interlace. In this manner the S/N can be increased by appropriate neural processing. The matter is discussed in detail in the '874 patent. Another increase in sensitivity is due to involving a resonance mechanism, wherein considerable neural circuit oscillations can result from weak excitations.
An easily detectable physiological effect of an excited ½ Hz sensory resonance is ptosis of the eyelids. As discussed in the '922 patent, the ptosis test involves first closing the eyes about half way. Holding this eyelid position, the eyes are rolled upward, while giving up voluntary control of the eyelids. The eyelid position is then determined by the state of the autonomic nervous system. Furthermore, the pressure excerted on the eyeballs by the partially closed eyelids increases parasympathetic activity. The eyelid position thereby becomes somewhat labile, as manifested by a slight flutter. The labile state is sensitive to very small shifts in autonomic state. The ptosis influences the extent to which the pupil is hooded by the eyelid, and thus how much light is admitted to the eye. Hence, the depth of the ptosis is seen by the subject, and can be graded on a scale from 0 to 10.
In the initial stages of the excitation of the ½ Hz sensory resonance, a downward drift is detected in the ptosis frequency, defined as the stimulation frequency for which maximum ptosis is obtained. This drift is believed to be caused by changes in the chemical milieu of the resonating neural circuits. It is thought that the resonance causes perturbations of chemical concentrations somewhere in the brain, and that these perturbations spread by diffusion to nearby resonating circuits. This effect, called “chemical detuning”, can be so strong that ptosis is lost altogether when the stimulation frequency is kept constant in the initial stages of the excitation. Since the stimulation then falls somewhat out of tune, the resonance decreases in amplitude and chemical detuning eventually diminishes. This causes the ptosis frequency to shift back up, so that the stimulation is more in tune and the ptosis can develop again. As a result, for fixed stimulation frequencies in a certain range, the ptosis slowly cycles with a frequency of several minutes. The matter is discussed in the '302 patent.
The stimulation frequencies at which specific physiological effects occur depend somewhat on the autonomic nervous system state, and probably on the endocrine state as well.
Weak magnetic fields that are pulsed with a sensory resonance frequency can induce the same physiological effects as pulsed electric fields. Unlike the latter however, the magnetic fields penetrate biological tissue with nearly undiminished strength. Eddy currents in the tissue drive electric charges to the skin, where the charge distributions are subject to thermal smearing in much the same way as in electric field stimulation, so that the same physiological effects develop. Details are discussed in the '054 patent.
SUMMARY
Computer monotors and TV monitors can be made to emit weak low-frequency electromagnetic fields merely by pulsing the intensity of displayed images. Experiments have shown that the ½ Hz sensory resonance can be excited in this manner in a subject near the monitor. The 2.4 Hz sensory resonance can also be excited in this fashion. Hence, a TV monitor or computer monitor can be used to manipulate the nervous system of nearby people.
The implementations of the invention are adapted to the source of video stream that drives the monitor, be it a computer program, a TV broadcast, a video tape or a digital video disc (DVD).
For a computer monitor, the image pulses can be produced by a suitable computer program. The pulse frequency may be controlled through keyboard input, so that the subject can tune to an individual sensory resonance frequency. The pulse amplitude can be controlled as well in this manner. A program written in Visual Basic(R) is particularly suitable for use on computers that run the Windows 95(R) or Windows 98(R) operating system. The structure of such a program is described. Production of periodic pulses requires an accurate timing procedure. Such a procedure is constructed from the GetTimeCount function available in the Application Program Interface (API) of the Windows operating system, together with an extrapolation procedure that improves the timing accuracy.
Pulse variability can be introduced through software, for the purpose of thwarting habituation of the nervous system to the field stimulation, or when the precise resonance frequency is not known. The variability may be a pseudo-random variation within a narrow interval, or it can take the form of a frequency or amplitude sweep in time. The pulse variability may be under control of the subject.
The program that causes a monitor to display a pulsing image may be run on a remote computer that is connected to the user computer by a link; the latter may partly belong to a network, which may be the Internet.
For a TV monitor, the image pulsing may be inherent in the video stream as it flows from the video source, or else the stream may be modulated such as to overlay the pulsing. In the first case, a live TV broadcast can be arranged to have the feature imbedded simply by slightly pulsing the illumination of the scene that is being broadcast. This method can of course also be used in making movies and recording video tapes and DVDs.
Video tapes can be edited such as to overlay the pulsing by means of modulating hardware. A simple modulator is discussed wherein the luminance signal of composite video is pulsed without affecting the chroma signal. The same effect may be introduced at the consumer end, by modulating the video stream that is produced by the video source. A DVD can be edited through software, by introducing pulse-like variations in the digital RGB signals. Image intensity pulses can be overlaid onto the analog component video output of a DVD player by modulating the luminance signal component. Before entering the TV set, a television signal can be modulated such as to cause pulsing of the image intensity by means of a variable delay line that is connected to a pulse generator.
Certain monitors can emit electromagnetic field pulses that excite a sensory resonance in a nearby subject, through image pulses that are so weak as to be subliminal. This is unfortunate since it opens a way for mischievous application of the invention, whereby people are exposed unknowingly to manipulation of their nervous systems for someone else's purposes. Such application would be unethical and is of course not advocated. It is mentioned here in order to alert the public to the possibility of covert abuse that may occur while being online, or while watching TV, a video, or a DVD.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 illustrates the electromagnetic field that emanates from a monitor when the video signal is modulated such as to cause pulses in image intensity, and a nearby subject who is exposed to the field.
FIG. 2 shows a circuit for modulation of a composite video signal for the purpose of pulsing the image intensity.
FIG. 3 shows the circuit for a simple pulse generator.
FIG. 4 illustrates how a pulsed electromagnetic field can be generated with a computer monitor.
FIG. 5 shows a pulsed electromagnetic field that is generated by a television set through modulation of the RF signal input to the TV.
FIG. 6 outlines the structure of a computer program for producing a pulsed image.
FIG. 7 shows an extrapolation procedure introduced for improving timing accuracy of the program of FIG. 6.
FIG. 8 illustrates the action of the extrapolation procedure of FIG. 7.
FIG. 9 shows a subject exposed to a pulsed electromagnetic field emanating from a monitor which is responsive to a program running on a remote computer via a link that involves the Internet.
FIG. 10 shows the block diagram of a circuit for frequency wobbling of a TV signal for the purpose of pulsing the intensity of the image displayed on a TV monitor.
FIG. 11 depicts schematically a recording medium in the form of a video tape with recorded data, and the attribute of the signal that causes the intensity of the displayed image to be pulsed.
FIG. 12 illustrates how image pulsing can be embedded in a video signal by pulsing the illumination of the scene that is being recorded.
FIG. 13 shows a routine that introduces pulse variability into the computer program of FIG. 6.
FIG. 14 shows schematically how a CRT emits an electromagnetic field when the displayed image is pulsed.
FIG. 15 shows how the intensity of the image displayed on a monitor can be pulsed through the brightness control terminal of the monitor.
FIG. 16 illustrates the action of the polarization disc that serves as a model for grounded conductors in the back of a CRT screen.
FIG. 17 shows the circuit for overlaying image intensity pulses on a DVD output.
FIG. 18 shows measured data for pulsed electric fields emitted by two different CRT type monitors, and a comparison with theory.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Computer monitors and TV monitors emit electromagnetic fields. Part of the emission occurs at the low frequencies at which displayed images are changing. For instance, a rythmic pulsing of the intensity of an image causes electromagnetic field emission at the pulse frequency, with a strength proportional to the pulse amplitude. The field is briefly referred to as “screen emission”. In discussing this effect, any part or all what is displayed on the monitor screen is called an image. A monitor of the cathode ray tube (CRT) type has three electron beams, one for each of the basic colors red, green, and blue. The intensity of an image is here defined as
I=∫j dA, (1)
where the integral extends over the image, and
j=jr+jg+jb, (2)
jr, jg, and jb being the electric current densities in the red, green, and blue electron beams at the surface area dA of the image on the screen. The current densities are to be taken in the distributed electron beam model, where the discreteness of pixels and the raster motion of the beams are ignored, and the back of the monitor screen is thought to be irradiated by diffuse electron beams. The beam current densities are then functions of the coordinates x and y over the screen. The model is appropriate since we are interested in the electromagnetic field emision caused by image pulsing with the very low frequencies of sensory resonances, whereas the emissions with the much higher horizontal and vertical sweep frequencies are of no concern. For a CRT the intensity of an image is expressed in millamperes.
For a liquid crystal display (LCD), the current densities in the definition of image intensity are to be replaced by driving voltages, multiplied by the aperture ratio of the device. For an LCD, image intensities are thus expressed in volts.
It will be shown that for a CRT or LCD screen emissions are caused by fluctuations in image intensity. In composite video however, intensity as defined above is not a primary signal feature, but luminance Y is. For any pixel one has
Y=0.299R+0.587G+0.114B, (3)
where R, G, and B are the intensities of the pixel respectively in red, green and blue, normalized such as to range from 0 to 1. The definition (3) was provided by the Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE), in order to account for brightness differences at different colors, as perceived by the human visual system. In composite video the hue of the pixel is determined by the chroma signal or chrominance, which has the components R-Y and B-Y It follows that pulsing pixel luminance while keeping the hue fixed is equivalent to pulsing the pixel intensity, up to an amplitude factor. This fact will be relied upon when modulating a video stream such as to overlay image intensity pulses.
It turns out that the screen emission has a multipole expansion wherein both monopole and dipole contributions are proportional to the rate of change of the intensity I of (1). The higher order multipole contributions are proportional to the rate of change of moments of the current density j over the image, but since these contributions fall off rapidly with distance, they are not of practical importance in the present context. Pulsing the intensity of an image may involve different pulse amplitudes, frequencies, or phases for different parts of the image. Any or all of these features may be under subject control.
The question arises whether the screen emission can be strong enough to excite sensory resonances in people located at normal viewing distances from the monitor. This turns out to be the case, as shown by sensory resonance experiments and independently by measuring the strength of the emitted electric field pulses and comparing the results with the effective intensity window as explored in earlier work.
One-half Hertz sensory resonance experiments have been conducted with the subject positioned at least at normal viewing distance from a 15″ computer monitor that was driven by a computer program written in Visual Basic(R), version 6.0 (VB6). The program produces a pulsed image with uniform luminance and hue over the full screen, except for a few small control buttons and text boxes. In VB6, screen pixel colors are determined by integers R, G, and B, that range from 0 to 255, and set the contributions to the pixel color made by the basic colors red, green, and blue. For a CRT-type monitor, the pixel intensities for the primary colors may depend on the RGB values in a nonlinear manner that will be discussed. In the VB6 program the RGB values are modulated by small pulses ΔR, ΔG, ΔB, with a frequency that can be chosen by the subject or is swept in a predetermined manner. In the sensory resonance experiments mentioned above, the ratios ΔR/R, ΔG/G, and ΔB/B were always smaller than 0.02, so that the image pulses are quite weak. For certain frequencies near ½ Hz, the subject experienced physiological effects that are known to accompany the excitation of the ½ Hz sensory resonance as mentioned in the Background Section. Moreover, the measured field pulse amplitudes fall within the effective intensity window for the ½ Hz resonance, as explored in earlier experiments and discussed in the '874, '744, '922, and '304 patents. Other experiments have shown that the 2.4 Hz sensory resonance can be exited as well by screen emissions from monitors that display pulsed images.
These results confirm that, indeed, the nervous system of a subject can be manipulated through electromagnetic field pulses emitted by a nearby CRT or LCD monitor which displays images with pulsed intensity.
The various implementations of the invention are adapted to the different sources of video stream, such as video tape, DVD, a computer program, or a TV broadcast through free space or cable. In all of these implementations, the subject is exposed to the pulsed electromagnetic field that is generated by the monitor as the result of image intensity pulsing. Certain cutaneous nerves of the subject exhibit spontaneous spiking in patterns which, although rather random, contain sensory information at least in the form of average frequency. Some of these nerves have receptors that respond to the field stimulation by changing their average spiking frequency, so that the spiking patterns of these nerves acquire a frequency modulation, which is conveyed to the brain. The modulation can be particularly effective if it has a frequency at or near a sensory resonance frequency. Such frequencies are expected to lie in the range from 0.1 to 15 Hz.
An embodiment of the invention adapted to a VCR is shown in FIG. 1, where a subject 4 is exposed to a pulsed electric field 3 and a pulsed magnetic field 39 that are emitted by a monitor 2, labeled “MON”, as the result of pulsing the intensity of the displayed image. The image is here generated by a video casette recorder 1, labeled “VCR”, and the pulsing of the image intensity is obtained by modulating the composite video signal from the VCR output. This is done by a video modulator 5, labeled “VM”, which responds to the signal from the pulse generator 6, labeled “GEN”. The frequency and amplitude of the image pulses can be adjusted with the frequency control 7 and amplitude control 8. Frequency and amplitude adjustments can be made by the subject.
The circuit of the video modulator 5 of FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. 2, where the video amplifiers 11 and 12 process the composite video signal that enters at the input terminal 13. The level of the video signal is modulated slowly by injecting a small bias current at the inverting input 17 of the first amplifier 11. This current is caused by voltage pulses supplied at the modulation input 16, and can be adjusted through the potentiometer 15. Since the noninverting input of the amplifier is grounded, the inverting input 17 is kept essentially at ground potential, so that the bias current is is not influenced by the video signal. The inversion of the signal by the first amplifier 11 is undone by the second amplifier 12. The gains of the amplifiers are chosen such as to give a unity overall gain. A slowly varying current injected at the inverting input 17 causes a slow shift in the “pseudo-dc” level of the composite video signal, here defined as the short-term average of the signal. Since the pseudo-dc level of the chroma signal section determines the luminance, the latter is modulated by the injected current pulses. The chroma signal is not affected by the slow modulation of the pseudodc level, since that signal is determined by the amplitude and phase with respect to the color carrier which is locked to the color burst. The effect on the sync pulses and color bursts is of no consequence either if the injected current pulses are very small, as they are in practice. The modulated composite video signal, available at the output 14 in FIG. 2, will thus exhibit a modulated luminance, whereas the chroma signal is unchanged. In the light of the foregoing discussion about luminance and intensity, it follows that the modulator of FIG. 2 causes a pulsing of the image intensity I. It remains to give an example how the pulse signal at the modulation input 16 may be obtained. FIG. 3 shows a pulse generator that is suitable for this purpose, wherein the RC timer 21 (Intersil ICM7555) is hooked up for astable operation and produces a square wave voltage with a frequency that is determined by capacitor 22 and potentiometer 23. The timer 21 is powered by a battery 26, controlled by the switch 27. The square wave voltage at output 25 drives the LED 24, which may be used for monitoring of the pulse frequency, and also serves as power indicator. The pulse output may be rounded in ways that are well known in the art. In the setup of FIG. 1, the output of VCR 1 is connected to the video input 13 of FIG. 2, and the video output 14 is connected to the monitor 2 of FIG. 1.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the image intensity pulsing is caused by a computer program. As shown in FIG. 4, monitor 2, labeled “MON”, is connected to computer 31 labeled “COMPUTER”, which runs a program that produces an image on the monitor and causes the image intensity to be pulsed. The subject 4 can provide input to the computer through the keyboard 32 that is connected to the computer by the connection 33. This input may involve adjustments of the frequency or the amplitude or the variability of the image intensity pulses. In particular, the pulse frequency can be set to a sensory resonance frequency of the subject for the purpose of exciting the resonance.
The structure of a computer program for pulsing image intensity is shown in FIG. 6. The program may be written in Visual Basic(R) version 6.0 (VB6), which involves the graphics interface familiar from the Windows(R) operating system. The images appear as forms equipped with user controls such as command buttons and scroll bars, together with data displays such as text boxes. A compiled VB6 program is an executable file. When activated, the program declares variables and functions to be called from a dynamic link library (DLL) that is attached to the operating system; an initial form load is performed as well. The latter comprises setting the screen color as specified by integers R, G, and B in the range 0 to 255, as mentioned above. In FIG. 6, the initial setting of the screen color is labeled as 50. Another action of the form load routine is the computation 51 of the sine function at eight equally spaced points, I=0 to 7, around the unit circle. These values are needed when modulating the RGB numbers. Unfortunately, the sine function is distorted by the rounding to integer RGB values that occurs in the VB6 program. The image is chosen to fill as much of the screen area as possible, and it has spatially uniform luminance and hue.
The form appearing on the monitor displays a command button for starting and stopping the image pulsing, together with scroll bars 52 and 53 respectively for adjustment of the pulse frequency F and the pulse amplitude A. These pulses could be initiated by a system timer which is activated upon the elapse of a preset time interval. However, timers in VB6 are too inaccurate for the purpose of providing the eight RGB adjustment points in each pulse cycle. An improvement can be obtained by using the GetTickCount function that is available in the Application Program Interface (API) of Windows 95(R) and Windows 98(R). The GetTickCount function returns the system time that has elapsed since starting Windows, expressed in milliseconds. User activation of the start button 54 provides a tick count TN through request 55 and sets the timer interval to TT miliseconds, in step 56. TT was previously calculated in the frequency routine that is activated by changing the frequency, denoted as step 52.
Since VB6 is an event-driven program, the flow chart for the program falls into disjoint pieces. Upon setting the timer interval to TT in step 56, the timer runs in the background while the program may execute subroutines such as adjustment of pulse frequency or amplitude. Upon elapse of the timer interval TT, the timer subroutine 57 starts execution with request 58 for a tick count, and in 59 an upgrade is computed of the time TN for the next point at which the RGB values are to be adjusted. In step 59 the timer is turned off, to be reactivated later in step 67. Step 59 also resets the parameter CR which plays a role in the extrapolation procedure 61 and the condition 60. For ease of understanding at this point, it is best to pretend that the action of 61 is simply to get a tick count, and to consider the loop controled by condition 60 while keeping CR equal to zero. The loop would terminate when the tick count M reaches or exceeds the time TN for the next phase point, at which time the program should adjust the image intensity through steps 63-65. For now step 62 is to be ignored also, since it has to do with the actual extrapolation procedure 61. The increments to the screen colors R1, G1, and B1 at the new phase point are computed according to the sine function, applied with the amplitude A that was set by the user in step 53. The number I that labels the phase point is incremented by unity in step 65, but if this results in I=8 the value is reset to zero in 66. Finally, the timer is reactivated in step 67, initiating a new ⅛-cycle step in the periodic progression of RGB adjustments.
A program written in this way would exhibit a large jitter in the times at which the RGB values are changed. This is due to the lumpiness in the tick counts returned by the GetTickCount function. The lumpiness may be studied separately by running a simple loop with C=GetTickCount, followed by writing the result C to a file. Inspection shows that C has jumped every 14 or 15 milliseconds, between long stretches of constant values. Since for a ½ Hz image intensity modulation the ⅛-cycle phase points are 250 ms apart, the lumpiness of 14 or 15 ms in the tick count would cause considerable inaccuracy. The full extrapolation procedure 61 is introduced in order to diminish the jitter to acceptable levels. The procedure works by refining the heavy-line staircase function shown in FIG. 8, using the slope RR of a recent staircase step to accurately determine the loop count 89 at which the loop controled by 60 needs to be exited. Details of the extrapolation procedure are shown in FIG. 7 and illustrated in FIG. 8. The procedure starts at 70 with both flags off, and CR=0, because of the assignment in 59 or 62 in FIG. 6. A tick count M is obtained at 71, and the remaining time MR to the next phase point is computed in 72. Conditions 77 and 73 are not satisfied and therefore passed vertically in the flow chart, so that only the delay block 74 and the assignments 75 are executed. Condition 60 of FIG. 6 is checked and found to be satisfied, so that the extrapolation procedure is reentered. The process is repeated until the condition 73 is met when the remaining time MR jumps down through the 15 ms level, shown in FIG. 8 as the transition 83. The condition 73 then directs the logic flow to the assignments 76, in which the number DM labeled by 83 is computed, and FLG1 is set. The computation of DM is required for finding the slope RR of the straight-line element 85. One also needs the “Final LM” 86, which is the number of loops traversed from step 83 to the next downward step 84, here shown to cross the MR=0 axis. The final LM is determined after repeatedly incrementing LM through the side loop entered from the FLG1=1 condition 77, which is now satisfied since FLG1 was set in step 76. At the transition 84 the condition 78 is met, so that the assignments 79 are executed. This includes computation of the slope RR of the line element 85, setting FLG2, and resetting FLG1. From here on, the extrapolation procedure increments CR in steps of RR while skipping tick counts until condition 60 of FIG. 6 is violated, the loop is exited, and the RGB values are adjusted.
A delay block 74 is used in order to stretch the time required for traversing the extrapolation procedure. The block can be any computation intensive subroutine such as repeated calculations of tangent and arc tangent functions.
As shown in step 56 of FIG. 6, the timer interval TT is set to 4/10 of the time TA from one RGB adjustment point to the next. Since the timer runs in the background, this arrangement provides an opportunity for execution of other processes such as user adjustment of frequency or amplitude of the pulses.
The adjustment of the frequency and other pulse parameters of the image intensity modulation can be made internally, i.e., within the running program. Such internal control is to be distinguished from the external control provided, for instance, in screen savers. In the latter, the frequency of animation can be modified by the user, but only after having exited the screen saver program. Specifically, in Windows 95(R) or Windows 98(R), to change the animation frequency requires stopping the screen saver execution by moving the mouse, whereafter the frequency may be adjusted through the control panel. The requirement that the control be internal sets the present program apart from so-called banners as well.
The program may be run on a remote computer that is linked to the user computer, as illustrated in FIG. 9. Although the monitor 2, labeled “MON”, is connected to the computer 31′, labeled “COMPUTER”, the program that pulses the images on the monitor 2 runs on the remoter computer 90, labeled “REMOTE COMPUTER”, which is connected to computer 31′ through a link 91 which may in part belong to a network. The network may comprise the Internet 92.
The monitor of a television set emits an electromagnetic field in much the same way as a computer monitor. Hence, a TV may be used to produce screen emissions for the purpose of nervous system manipulation. FIG. 5 shows such an arrangement, where the pulsing of the image intensity is achieved by inducing a small slowly pulsing shift in the frequency of the RF signal that enters from the antenna. This process is here called “frequency wobbling” of the RF signal. In FM TV, a slight slow frequency wobble of the RF signal produces a pseudo-dc signal level fluctuation in the composite video signal, which in turn causes a slight intensity fluctuation of the image displayed on the monitor in the same manner as discussed above for the modulator of FIG. 2. The frequency wobbling is induced by the wobbler 44 of FIG. 5 labeled “RFM”, which is placed in the antenna line 43. The wobbler is driven by the pulse generator 6, labeled “GEN”. The subject can adjust the frequency and the amplitude of the wobble through the tuning control 7 and the amplitude control 41. FIG. 10 shows a block diagram of the frequency wobbler circuit that employs a variable delay line 94, labelled “VDL”. The delay is determined by the signal from pulse generator 6, labelled “GEN”. The frequency of the pulses can be adjusted with the tuning control 7. The amplitude of the pulses is determined by the unit 98, labelled “MD”, and can be adjusted with the amplitude control 41. Optionally, the input to the delay line may be routed through a preprocessor 93, labelled “PRP”, which may comprise a selective RF amplifier and down converter; a complimentary up conversion should then be performed on the delay line output by a postprocessor 95, labelled “POP”. The output 97 is to be connected to the antenna terminal of the TV set.
The action of the variable delay line 94 may be understood as follows. Let periodic pulses with period L be presented at the input. For a fixed delay the pulses would emerge at the output with the same period L. Actually, the time delay T is varied slowly, so that it increases approximately by LdT/dt between the emergence of consecutive pulses at the device output. The pulse period is thus increased approximately by
ΔL=LdT/dt. (4)
In terms of the frequency ∫, Eq. (4) implies approximately
Δ∫/∫=−dT/dt. (5)
For sinusoidal delay T(t) with amplitude b and frequency g, one has
Δ∫/∫=−2πgb cos (2πgt), (6)
which shows the frequency wobbling. The approximation is good for gb<<1, which is satisfied in practice. The relative frequency shift amplitude 2πgb that is required for effective image intensity pulses is very small compared to unity. For a pulse frequency g of the order of 1 Hz, the delay may have to be of the order of a millisecond. To accomodate such long delay values, the delay line may have to be implemented as a digital device. To do so is well within the present art. In that case it is natural to also choose digital implementations for the pulse generator 6 and the pulse amplitude controller 98, either as hardware or as software.
Pulse variability may be introduced for alleviating the need for precise tuning to a resonance frequency. This may be important when sensory resonance frequencies are not precisely known, because of the variation among individuals, or in order to cope with the frequency drift that results from chemical detuning that is discussed in the '874 patent. A field with suitably chosen pulse variability can then be more effective than a fixed frequency field that is out of tune. One may also control tremors and seizures, by interfering with the pathological oscillatory activity of neural circuits that occurs in these disorders. Electromagnetic fields with a pulse variability that results in a narrow spectrum of frequencies around the frequency of the pathological oscillatory activity may then evoke nerve signals that cause phase shifts which diminish or quench the oscillatory activity.
Pulse variability can be introduced as hardware in the manner described in the '304 patent. The variability may also be introduced in the computer program of FIG. 6, by setting FLG3 in step 68, and choosing the amplitude B of the frequency fluctuation. In the variability routine 46, shown in some detail in FIG. 13, FLG3 is detected in step 47, whereupon in steps 48 and 49 the pulse frequency F is modified pseudo randomly by a term proportional to B, every 4th cycle. Optionally, the amplitude of the image intensity pulsing may be modified as well, in similar fashion. Alternatively, the frequency and amplitude may be swept through an adjustable ramp, or according to any suitable schedule, in a manner known to those skilled in the art. The pulse variability may be applied to subliminal image intensity pulses.
When an image is displayed by a TV monitor in response to a TV broadcast, intensity pulses of the image may simply be imbedded in the program material. If the source of video signal is a recording medium, the means for pulsing the image intensity may comprise an attribute of recorded data. The pulsing may be subliminal. For the case of a video signal from a VCR, the pertinent data attribute is illustrated in FIG. 11, which shows a video signal record on part of a video tape 28. Depicted schematically are segments of the video signal in intervals belonging to lines in three image frames at different places along the tape. In each segment, the chroma signal 9 is shown, with its short-term average level 29 represented as a dashed line. The short-term average signal level, also called the pseudo-dc level, represents the luminance of the image pixels. Over each segment, the level is here constant because the image is for simplicity chosen as having a uniform luminance over the screen. However, the level is seen to vary from frame to frame, illustrating a luminance that pulses slowly over time. This is shown in the lower portion of the drawing, wherein the IRE level of the short-term chroma signal average is plotted versus time. The graph further shows a gradual decrease of pulse amplitude in time, illustrating that luminance pulse amplitude variations may also be an attribute of the recorded data on the video tape. As discussed, pulsing the luminance for fixed chrominance results in pulsing of the image intensity.
Data stream attributes that represent image intensity pulses on video tape or in TV signals may be created when producing a video rendition or making a moving picture of a scene, simply by pulsing the illumination of the scene. This is illustrated in FIG. 12, which shows a scene 19 that is recorded with a video camera 18, labelled “VR”. The scene is illuminated with a lamp 20, labelled “LAMP”, energized by an electric current through a cable 36. The current is modulated in pulsing fashion by a modulator 30, labeled “MOD”, which is driven by a pulse generator 6, labelled “GENERATOR”, that produces voltage pulses 35. Again, pulsing the luminance but not the chrominance amounts to pulsing the image intensity.
The brightness of monitors can usually be adjusted by a control, which may be addressable through a brightness adjustment terminal. If the control is of the analog type, the displayed image intensity may be pulsed as shown in FIG. 15, simply by a pulse generator 6, labeled “GEN”, that is connected to the brigthness adjustment terminal 88 of the monitor 2, labeled “MON”. Equivalent action can be provided for digital brightness controls, in ways that are well known in the art.
The analog component video signal from a DVD player may be modulated such as to overlay image intensity pulses in the manner illustrated in FIG. 17. Shown are a DVD player 102, labeled “DVD”, with analog component video output comprised of the luminance Y and chrominance C. The overlay is accomplished simply by shifting the luminance with a voltage pulse from generator 6, labeled “GENERATOR”. The generator output is applied to modulator 106, labeled “SHIFTER”. Since the luminance Y is pulsed without changing the chrominance C, the image intensity is pulsed. The frequency and amplitude of the image intensity pulses can be adjusted respectively with the tuner 7 and amplitude control 107. The modulator 105 has the same structure as the modulator of FIG. 2, and the pulse amplitude control 107 operates the potentiometer 15 of FIG. 2. The same procedure can be followed for editing a DVD such as to overlay image intensity pulses, by processing the modulated luminance signal through an analog-to-digital converter, and recording the resulting digital stream onto a DVD, after appropriate compression. Alternatively, the digital luminance data can be edited by electronic reading of the signal, decompression, altering the digital data by software, and recording the resulting digital signal after proper compression, all in a manner that is well known in the art.
The mechanism whereby a CRT-type monitor emits a pulsed electromagnetic field when pulsing the intensity of an image is illustrated in FIG. 14. The image is produced by an electron beam 10 which impinges upon the backside 88 of the screen, where the collisions excite phosphors that subsequently emit light. In the process, the electron beam deposits electrons 18 on the screen, and these electrons contribute to an electric field 3 labelled “E”. The electrons flow along the conductive backside 88 of the screen to the terminal 99 which is hooked up to the high-voltage supply 40, labelled “HV”. The circuit is completed by the ground connection of the supply, the video amplifier 87, labeled “VA”, and its connection to the cathodes of the CRT. The electron beams of the three electron guns are collectively shown as 10, and together the beams carry a current J. The electric current J flowing through the described circuit induces a magnetic field 39, labeled “B”. Actually, there are a multitude of circuits along which the electron beam current is returned to the CRT cathodes, since on a macroscopic scale the conductive back surface 88 of the screen provides a continuum of paths from the beam impact point to the high-voltage terminal 99. The magnetic fields induced by the currents along these paths partially cancel each other, and the resulting field depends on the location of the pixel that is addressed. Since the beams sweep over the screen through a raster of horizontal lines, the spectrum of the induced magnetic field contains strong peaks at the horizontal and vertical frequencies. However, the interest here is not in fields at those frequencies, but rather in emissions that result from an image pulsing with the very low frequencies appropriate to sensory resonances. For this purpose a diffuse electron current model suffices, in which the pixel discreteness and the raster motion of the electron beams are ignored, so that the beam current becomes diffuse and fills the cone subtended by the displayed image. The resulting low-frequency magnetic field depends on the temporal changes in the intensity distribution over the displayed image. Order-of-magnitude estimates show that the low-frequency magnetic field, although quite small, may be sufficient for the excitation of sensory resonances in subjects located at a normal viewing distance from the monitor.
The monitor also emits a low-frequency electric field at the image pulsing frequency. This field is due in part to the electrons 18 that are deposited on the screen by the electron beams 10. In the diffuse electron beam model, screen conditions are considered functions of the time t and of the Cartesian coordinates x and y over a flat CRT screen.
The screen electrons 18 that are dumped onto the back of the screen by the sum j(x,y,t) of the diffuse current distributions in the red, green, and blue electron beams cause a potential distribution V(x,y,t) which is influenced by the surface conductivity σ on the back of the screen and by capacitances. In the simple model where the screen has a capacitance distribution c(x,y) to ground and mutual capacitances between parts of the screen at different potentials are neglected, a potential distribution V(x,y,t) over the screen implies a surface charge density distribution
q=Vc(x,y), (7)
and gives rise to a current density vector along the screen,
j s=−σgrads V, (8)
where grads is the gradient along the screen surface. Conservation of electric charge implies
j=c{dot over (V)}−div s (σgrad s V), (9)
where the dot over the voltage denotes the time derivative, and divs is the divergence in the screen surface. The partial differential equation (9) requires a boundary condition for the solution V(x,y,t) to be unique. Such a condition is provided by setting the potential at the rim of the screen equal to the fixed anode voltage. This is a good approximation, since the resistance Rr between the screen rim and the anode terminal is chosen small in CRT design, in order to keep the voltage loss JRr to a minimum, and also to limit low-frequency emissions.
Something useful can be learned from special cases with simple solutions. As such, consider a circular CRT screen of radius R with uniform conductivity, showered in the back by a diffuse electron beam with a spatially uniform beam current density that is a constant plus a sinusoidal part with frequency ∫. Since the problem is linear, the voltage V due to the sinusoidal part of the beam current can be considered separately, with the boundary condition that V vanish at the rim of the circular screen. Eq. (9) then simplifies to
V″+V″/r−i2π∫cn V=−Jη/A, r≦R, (10)
where r is a radial coordinate along the screen with its derivative denoted by a prime, η=1/σ is the screen resistivity, A the screen area, J the sinusoidal part of the total beam current, and i=(−1), the imaginary unit. Our interest is in very low pulse frequencies ∫ that are suitable for excitation of sensory resonances. For those frequencies and for practical ranges for c and η, the dimensionless number 2π∫cAη is very much smaller than unity, so that it can be neglected in Eq. (10). The boundary value problem then has the simple solution V ( r ) = J η 4 π ( 1 - ( r / R ) 2 ) . ( 11 )
Figure US06506148-20030114-M00001
In deriving (11) we neglected the mutual capacitance between parts of the screen that are at different potentials. The resulting error in (10) is negligible for the same reason that the i2π∫cAη term in (10) can be neglected.
The potential distribution V(r) of (11) along the screen is of course accompanied by electric charges. The field lines emanating from these charges run mainly to conductors behind the screen that belong to the CRT structure and that are either grounded or connected to circuitry with a low impedance path to ground. In either case the mentioned conductors must be considered grounded in the analysis of charges and fields that result from the pulsed component J of the total electron beam current. The described electric field lines end up in electric charges that may be called polarization charges since they are the result of the polarization of the conductors and circuitry by the screen emission. To estimate the pulsed electric field, a model is chosen where the mentioned conductors are represented together as a grounded perfectly conductive disc of radius R, positioned a short distance δ behind the screen, as depicted in FIG. 16. Since the grounded conductive disc carries polarization charges, it is called the polarization disc. FIG. 16 shows the circular CRT screen 88 and the polarization disc 101, briefly called “plates”. For small distances δ, the capacitance density between the plates of opposite polarity is nearly equal to ε/δ, where ε is the permittivity of free space. The charge distributions on the screen and polarization disc are respectively εV(r)/δ+q0 and −εV(r)/δ+q0, where the εV(r)/δ terms denote opposing charge densities at the end of the dense field lines that run between the two plates. That the part q0 is needed as well will become clear in the sequel.
The charge distributions εV(r)/δ+q0 and −εV(r)/δ+q0 on the two plates have a dipole moment with the density D ( r ) = εV ( r ) = J ηε 4 π ( 1 - ( r / R ) 2 ) , ( 12 )
Figure US06506148-20030114-M00002
directed perpendicular to the screen. Note that the plate separation δ has dropped out. This means that the precise location of the polarization charges is not critical in the present model, and further that δ may be taken as small as desired. Taking δ to zero, one thus arrives at the mathematical model of pulsed dipoles distributed over the circular CRT screen. The field due to the charge distribution q0 will be calculated later.
The electric field induced by the distributed dipoles (12) can be calculated easily for points on the centerline of the screen, with the result E ( z ) = V ( 0 ) R { 2 ρ / R - R / ρ - 2 z / R } , ( 13 )
Figure US06506148-20030114-M00003
where V(0) is the pulse voltage (11) at the screen center, ρ the distance to the rim of the screen, and z the distance to the center of the screen. Note that V(0) pulses harmonically with frequency ∫, because in (11) the sinusoidal part J of the beam current varies in this manner.
The electric field (13) due to the dipole distribution causes a potential distribution V(r)/2 over the screen and a potential distribution of −V(r)/2 over the polarization disc, where V(r) is nonuniform as given by (11). But since the polarization disc is a perfect conductor it cannot support voltage gradients, and therefore cannot have the potential distribution −V(r)/2. Instead, the polarization disc is at ground potential. This is where the charge distribution q0(r) comes in; it must be such as to induce a potential distribution V(r)/2 over the polarization disc. Since the distance between polarization disc and screen vanishes in the mathematical model, the potential distribution V(r)/2 is induced over the screen as well. The total potential over the monitor screen thus becomes V(r) of (11), while the total potential distribution over the polarization disc becomes uniformly zero. Both these potential distributions are as physically required. The electric charges q0 are moved into position by polarization and are partly drawn from the earth through the ground connection of the CRT.
In our model the charge distribution q0 is located at the same place as the dipole distribution, viz., on the plane z=0 within the circle with radius R. At points on the center line of the screen, the electric field due to the monopole distribution q0 is calculated in the following manner. As discussed, the monopoles must be such that they cause a potential φ0 that is equal to V(r)/2 over the disc with radius R centered in the plane z=0. Although the charge distribution q0(r) is uniquely defined by this condition, it cannot be calculated easily in a straightforward manner. The difficulty is circumvented by using an intermediate result derived from Excercise 2 on page 191 of Kellogg (1953), where the charge distribution over a thin disc with uniform potential is given. By using this result one readily finds the potential φ*(z) on the axis of this disc as φ * ( z ) = 2 π V * β ( R 1 ) , ( 14 )
Figure US06506148-20030114-M00004
where β(R1) is the angle subtended by the disc radius R1, as viewed from the point z on the disc axis, and V* is the disc potential. The result is used here in an attempt to construct the potential φ0(z) for a disc with the nonuniform potential V(r)/2, by the ansatz of writing the field as due to a linear combination of abstract discs with various radii R1 and potentials, all centered in the plane z=0. In the ansatz the potential on the symmetry axis is written φ 0 ( z ) = α β ( R ) + b ∫ 0 R β ( R 1 ) W , ( 15 )
Figure US06506148-20030114-M00005
where W is chosen as the function 1−R1 2/R2, and the constants a and b are to be determined such that the potential over the plane z=0 is V(r)/2 for radii r ranging from 0 to R, with V(r) given by (11). Carrying out the integration in (15) gives
φ0(z)=αβ(R)−b{(1+z 2 /R 2)β(R)−|z|/R}. (16)
In order to find the potential over the disc r<R in the plane z=0, the function φ0(z) is expanded in powers of z/R for 0<z<R, whereafter the powers zn are replaced by rnPn(cosθ), where the Pn are Legendre polynomials, and (r,θ) are symmetric spherical coordinates centered at the screen center. This procedure amounts to a continuation of the potential from the z-axis into the half ball r0, in such a manner that the Laplace equation is satisfied. The method is discussed by Morse and Feshbach (1953). The “Laplace continuation” allows calculation of the potential φ0 along the surface of the disc r0, the parts (13) and (19) contribute about equally to the electric field over a practical range of distances z. When going behind the monitor where z is negative the monopole field flips sign so that the two parts nearly cancel each other, and the resulting field is very small. Therefore, in the back of the CRT, errors due to imperfections in the theory are relatively large. Moreover our model, which pretends that the polarization charges are all located on the polarization disc, fails to account for the electric field flux that escapes from the outer regions of the back of the screen to the earth or whatever conductors happen to be present in the vincinity of the CRT. This flaw has relatively more serious consequences in the back than in front of the monitor.
Screen emissions in front of a CRT can be cut dramatically by using a grounded conductive transparent shield that is placed over the screen or applied as a coating. Along the lines of our model, the shield amounts to a polarization disc in front of the screen, so that the latter is now sandwiched between to grounded discs. The screen has the pulsed potential distribution V(r) of (11), but no electric flux can escape. The model may be modified by choosing the polarization disc in the back somewhat smaller than the screen disc, by a fraction that serves as a free parameter. The fraction may then be determined from a fit to measured fields, by minimizing the relative standard deviation between experiment and theory.
In each of the electron beams of a CRT, the beam current is a nonlinear function of the driving voltage, i.e., the voltage between cathode and control grid. Since this function is needed in the normalization procedure, it was measured for the 15″ computer monitor that has been used in the ½ Hz sensory resonance experiments and the electric field measurements. Although the beam current density j can be determined, it is easier to measure the luminance, by reading a light meter that is brought right up to the monitor screen. With the RGB values in the VB6 program taken as the same integer K, the luminance of a uniform image is proportional to the image intensity I. The luminance of a uniform image was measured for various values of K. The results were fitted with
I=c 1 K γ, (20)
where c1 is a constant. The best fit, with 6.18% relative standard deviation, was obtained for γ=2.32.
Screen emissions also occur for liquid crystal displays (LCD). The pulsed electric fields may have considerable amplitude for LCDs that have their driving electrodes on opposite sides of the liquid crystal cell, for passive matrix as well as for active matrix design, such as thin film technology (TFT). For arrangements with in-plane switching (IPS) however, the driving electrodes are positioned in a single plane, so that the screen emission is very small. For arrangements other than IPS, the electric field is closely approximated by the frin
Some recent publications of my pictures. Update time...
JP Delahaye's paper in March 2013 issue of "Pour la Science"
Cocorosie
BSP Kingston
Kingston, New York
September 26th, 2015
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ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
Published!
My photo of Trafalgar Square was published as the the lead image in an article on London in the Italian magazine "Meridiani" (no. 206)
Funny thing is, this image was submitted to +Getty Images (Through "GettyWants") and was rejected by them! Their loss & my gain, in the long run! I negotiated the fee for myself :)
(Because it was across two pages, I couldn't scan it, so here is a photo!) The original can be seen here goo.gl/ZELPt
#publlished
This little booklet, written by Gill, was published by Faber but printed at Gill & Hague's press in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.
This photo is published under Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike Licence, means you are free to use this photo with attribution under same licence. When giving attribution, please use following;
Owner: Thai National Parks
Link: www.thainationalparks.com/khao-yai-national-park/guided-tours
Thanks to www.flickr.com/photos/michaelbarnes/ for the cover preview.
Photosho is a new All Canadian content independent Magazine put together by Mike and Rachel Barnes thanks guys for choosing my photo .
For more info on the magazine Here is there flickr group www.flickr.com/groups/photosho/ and the magazines web site www.photosho.ca/issue1.html
I have permission to publish this photo which was taken by Tess Zagorski in Melbourne, Australia at Rod Laver Arena on 29 Oct 2009
Move cursor into the photo,now RIGHT click; now select ORIGINAL; you will need to use the horizontal & vertical scroll bars to see the entire HIGH RESOLUTION photo
You will be able to count Cord's nose hairs, if you are into that sort of thing
I am told that Cord is a voracious reader & can intelligently discuss most any subject you bring up.
MUSICOGRAPHY Here is a list of all the DVD's Cord appears in, with the most recent on top....
Maastricht V aka Under the Stars
Home For Christmas
And The Waltz Goes On
Fiesta Mexicana aka The World of André Rieu
Roses From The South
Maastricht 4 aka A Midsummer night's Dream
My African Dream
Live in Australia
I lost my heart in Heidelberg
#19 Blue Danube - Violin, Cord & Agnes both stand, turn to look at each other, & flirt while playing.
Live in Sydney 2009
#18 Blue Danube - 01:32:15 Agnes & Cord stand up & play their violins while looking at & flirting with each other
Live in Maastricht 3
Live in Australia
Live in Maastricht 2
Live in Dresden aka Semperoper aka Dancing Through the Skies aka Ich tanze mit dir in den Himmel hinein aka Wedding at the Opera
#6 Cord gets his ear cut off by Figaro (He is the perfect stooge & is long overdue to have the spotlight shined on him. Everyone will always know & remember Cord, as the guy that got his ear cut off.)
#19 Adieu mein kleinner Gardeoffizier - several close ups show Cord to be a happy, happy guy.
André Rieu Live in Maastricht II DVD
Wonderland aka Eftling
Live in Vienna
André Rieu on his way to New York DVD
Romance DVD
New York Memories aka Live in New York aka Live At Radio City Music Hall
Live inVienna
Schönbrunn
Songs From My Heart aka Live in Maastricht
Christmas Around the World DVD
New Years Eve in Vienna aka Silvester in Wien
#14 Chianti Lied - Karlien & Cord look at each other & flirt while playing
New Years Eve Punsch aka Silvester Punsch
Flying Dutchman DVD
Christmas with André DVD
=============================================
Romantic Paradise aka Tuscany
Same sound track, different Album covers/photos
===============================================
Live in Dublin DVD
#19 Chianti Song - Blows a cross eyed kiss to everyone. Never seen before, or since.
100 Years of Strauss
Dreaming DVD
Gala Concert
Walzertraum(PAL only) DVD
Royal Albert Hall
La vie est belle DVD
Here is a link to a Review of Live in Dresden DVD, which includes photos & details on Cord.
andrerieufan.com/2009/11/13/do-not-publish.aspx
If you have any uncompressed, high resolution photos of Andre or any JSO member & would like to share them with us, please add them as an attachment to email:
southpawbc-photosATyahoo.com...substitute the @ sign for the letters AT
Three of my photos are in the Alaska Pocket Wildlife Guide available at ultimaterivers.com. Nice guide with viewing tips and locations for Alaska's birds and mammals.
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Mathew Brady took this photo on March 27, 1863 and it was published as a stereoview from the Brady negative by E & H.T. Anthony around the same year. The delegation of Indians from the Southern Plains with their interpreter, John Smith, met with President Lincoln at the height of the Civil War. The purpose was to secure peaceful relations and dissuade the Indians from joining forces with the Confederacy.
Seated in the front row are, left to right – Standing in Water, War Bonnet and Lean Bear of the Cheyenne; and Yellow Wolf, Kiowa, who wears a large silver Peace Medal given to his tribe by President Thomas Jefferson. Two Indian men and two women are seated in the middle row and seven Indian men stand in the last row. In the back, obscured behind the figure of John Smith, two top hats reveal the presence of other visitors. At left, partially hidden by a potted plant is a young boy wearing a hat seen in profile regarding the Indian visitors.
Less than two years after this historic photograph, all four Indian Peace delegates seated in the front row were dead. Yellow Wolf succumbed to pneumonia days later and was buried with his Peace Medal in Congressional Cemetery. War Bonnet and Standing in Water were killed by the Colorado Territory Militia in the Sand Creek Massacre on November 29, 1864. On May 16, 1864, mistaken for a hostile, Lean Bear protested that he had “visited the home of the white Father” but fell under a volley from the same militia. [From the Journal of the White House Historical Association, Washington, D.C. November 25, 2009]
(Note: An inexpensive viewer can turn the side-by-side images on the computer screen into a 3-D image. The viewer is available from the following source: