The Industrial Revolution from 1820 to 1870 - Essay Example

Only on StudentShare

Extract of sample
The Industrial Revolution from 1820 to 1870

Whereas the first revolution played a role in the invention, development and implementation of spinning and weaving machines for the textile industry, which use water power until the introduction of steam power, it was the second revolution that really changed American economy and society into a modern industrialized state. The process had begun in the 19th century.
Growth in the 19th century was fuelled by many factors: plentiful resources, innovative technology, cheap and efficient energy, swift transportation and labor and capital which were readily available (Wikipedia 2007). In the west, forests, mines and cattle supplied the raw materials for key industries. The rapid expansion of railroads allowed businesses to transport raw materials to and from factories and move products to the cities where the bigger markets lay. Around this time too, a continual flow of European and Asian immigrants arrived in America to seek work. Many found work in the factories and mines.
Advancements in technology shaped and improved production with the invention of the assembly line in a number of industries. This along with new machine tool industries which produced cutting, drilling and milling machineries, hastened manufacturing and production. A series of breakthrough inventions and discoveries such as the phonograph, electric light, telephone, typewriter, automobile and others opened up new industries. ...Show more

The Industrial Revolution from 1820 to 1870 was one of the most important economic developments in the United States. But there were two industrial revolutions. The first began in the late 18th century in the Britain. The second occurred during the mid 19th century in the US and Germany…
Author : kerlukeeula
Save Your Time for More Important Things
Let us write or edit the essay on your topic
"The Industrial Revolution from 1820 to 1870"
with a personal 20% discount.
Grab the best paper

Related Essays

Strategic Management: Industrial revolution
It further brought development n Banking insurance, transport and communication. As you know that the sole proprietorship form of business organization could not meet the growing needs of huge capital and managerial skills required for increased scale of production.
4 pages (1000 words) Essay
Industrial Revolution in America
Steven J. Diner draws on the rich scholarship of recent social history to show how these changes affected Americans of all backgrounds and walks of life, and doing so offers a striking new interpretation of a crucial epoch in our history" (back cover). Diner in his book highlights the most important period in American history known as Industrial Revolution.
5 pages (1250 words) Essay
Second Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution can be characterised under two phases: the First Industrial Revolution and the Second Industrial Revolution. Though there is not clear-cut demarcation between the two, in terms of the effect produced, many a times the two are differentiated on account of the technological advancement and inventions made and more importantly, a shift in the structure and functioning of organisations.
3 pages (750 words) Essay
The British Industrial Revolution
Industrial revolution or industrialisation is an important period that has led to various developments in technological life of the societies. It is a process of social and economic changes in which human groups are transformed from an industrialized society or a pre-industrialised society to an industrialized one.
11 pages (2750 words) Essay
Industrial Revolution
4 pages (1000 words) Essay
Industrial Revolution
4 pages (1000 words) Essay
The Early Industrial Revolution
England may be considered the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. A combination of factors made England particularly suited to the early rise of industrialism, and gave her an advantage over her continental rivals. The Commercial Revolution of the seventeenth and
2 pages (500 words) Essay
Find out how much would it cost
Win a special DISCOUNT!
Your email


Addiction · Chester Bennington · Mental Health · Uncategorized

Chester Bennington a life lost

Linkin Park were a band I loved from the release of their first album Hybrid Theory in 2000. Their music was like nothing else I had ever enjoyed listening to before, Their lyrics were so powerful and the delivery by Chester Bennington was mesmerizing. They made me want to play the CD over and over again.
Throughout the years I bought every album they ever released and their lyrics reached out to me during difficult times. One particular song Braking the habit I listened to when a friend was going through addiction and I was trying to help. It was then I learnt how powerful the hold of addiction was and how you can only help someone if they want to help themselves. You can’t mind them 24  hours a day and their demons will creep in at some stage. Even if you are begging them not to listen and give in, if deep down they don’t want to it’s a fruitless task.

Chester Bennington had struggled with depression and drug and alcohol problems throughout his life and in the end even his wife and 6 children were eventually not enough to stop him from taking his own life on the birthday of Chris Cornell, his dear friend who had taken his own life only months earlier.

Mental health is real, it needs to be talked about and the stigma taken away so people feel they can be open about their problems and not have to deal with them behind closed doors. Chester was in the middle of a huge tour, the band had a new album out and everything was going great. He had everything to live for but sadly that wasn’t enough and who knows maybe if he had felt he could have just taken a step back and allowed himself time to deal with the grief of losing a friend in such a way and got the help he needed he may still be here today.

Chester Bennington was a talent, a star who will always be remembered and my thoughts go out to his family and friends left behind to pick up the pieces and rebuild after the hole im sure he has left in their lives.

“I tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter.”  Linkin Park – In The End

RIP Chester


Playlist: Track 2

This is another great song to go on any writing playlist, though probably only during the first draft. I think of it as the unofficial anthem of NaNoWriMo.

This is the only song on the playlist that’s there to make the act of writing easier. Everything else is about setting or plot or character. This one is just to remind me that writing the first draft is the fun part. And it is. For the most part. It’s everything that comes after that’s painful

For more information: Playlist page.

Diet Update 4

Previous Updates.

Fascist Zeppelins over Catalonia

This is not a forecast so much as a warning. Events in Spain should be reminding us all what a fragile thing democracy is. For anyone who’s missed it while following the aftermath of hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, the various scandals of the Trump administration, the current failures of the Conservative Government in the UK and the horrific mass shooting in Las Vegas here’s a short summary.

Catalonia’s pro independence regional government tries to hold a binding referendum on independence.The national government of Spain declares that the referendum is illegal because it goes against the Spanish constitution. The local government decides to hold the referendum anyway. The national government sends in the army and the Guardia Civil (a military police force) to suppress the vote.  Many people try to vote anyway. In some places Catalan police officers and Firefighters form human shields to try to protect civilians. Violence erupts. The Guardia Civil are accused by independent observers of a disproportionate response including firing rubber bullets and baton rounds into crowds of peaceful protesters, forcibly seizing ballot boxes and interfering with the medical treatment of protesters and  bystanders.

After all this the vote was counted anyway. The result was 90% in favour of independence on 42.3% turnout. Now you could argue that the turnout is a bit low for such an important decision but given that people were being beaten unconscious and shot at for trying to vote it seems pretty high to me.

There’s something very worrying in all this. Why would a democratic government react to local democracy with such force? Why isn’t the rest of Spain up in arms at the very idea? Did Spain really throw off Fascism with the fall of the Franco regime? Is this some alternative Spain where the Fascists never went away leaking through?

For a more sensible overview on this try Another Angry Voice.

If you’re wondering what all this Zeppelin stuff is about check out my Zeppelin page for an explanation.

Playlist: Track 1

Using a Playlist

A while back I wrote a post about how I use playlists to create an appropriate head space for the novel I’m working on. Some people found the post quite useful. With NaNoWriMo approaching and a new novel in the planning phase I thought I’d share the project playlist and how I’m using it.

I don’t have a title for the novel yet so I’m calling it Project Cecil. It’s a nod to one of my favourite writers, Warren Ellis. When he’s working on something that’s under an NDA he gives it a code name so he can talk about it on his blog or his newsletter.

Project Cecil is the straight crime story I was challenged to write. I was having a lot of trouble with it but the process of building the playlist has already been really useful. It’s given me a better handle on my killer and on some of the themes that are probably going to come out. There’s 33 songs on the playlist in it’s current form and I plan to focus on 1-3 songs per post.

That’s the plan but since it might turn out to be as boring as all hell I reserve the right to drop it and post something else instead. The playlist is certainly not the only thing I’m going to be posting over the next couple of months. I have a lot of thoughts about preparation and writing a first draft so expect the blog to be heavy on writing stuff and light on Zeppelins until at least the end of November.

Diet Update 3

Links to the previous updates: Update 1. Update 2

How do I do this again?

I’ve accepted a challenge to try and write a straight* mystery novel. Something with none of the usual weirdness that I like. Something a bit more vanilla. I thought it would be an interesting challenge, like limiting myself to the form of a haiku or a sonnet. I thought it would be fun.

I have a starting point and I have some characters and I have a premise but I don’t know where to go from there. The more I try to find my plot it the more my self-doubt screams at me that I don’t know how to do this.

But I do know how to do this. I know how a plot works. I know how to put one together. A plot is a plot and the supernatural and the fantastic and the weird are just trappings. It’s people and the things they do to each other that drives the plot. That remains the same whether the story takes place in the imagined past, in the alternative present and in all possible futures.

It’s like my self-doubt has latched onto the one thing I’m doing differently this time and is waving it like a fucking flag. Look at this. This is the reason you can’t do this. You should give up. You can’t be a ‘proper’ writer so you should just stop trying.

To my self-doubt I say this, “Shut up, bitch. I am a proper writer. A writer writes. I write. Therefore I am a writer. Sticking the word ‘proper’ in front of it is just a bullshit excuse for gatekeeping. Whatever I do as a writer you’re just going to claim that it doesn’t make me a ‘proper’ writer or a ‘real’ writer. I will write whatever I damn well please.”

Which is all very nice and assertive but I still don’t have a plot.

*Only straight in the sense of not having any of my usual magical or weird science shenanigans. It will definitely still be queer in every other sense.


The Benefits of Memorization in School and Beyond

Many of us have memories of elementary or middle school days when we were standing in front of the class to nervously recite a poem or monologue. Maybe it was the Gettysburg Address or lines of Shakespeare? Whatever it was, the practice of memorization is one that has long been a part of our education. However, in recent years memorization has taken a lot of heat for impeding students’ creative and analytical skills. Though those skills are incredibly important, memorization can still play a critical role in learning and brain development. Below are the top ten reasons to continue memorizing at all stages of life.

Memorization means information is always with you

By memorizing information the knowledge is yours to keep and recall at all times. Through memorization, the brain is trained to retain information more fully and effectively. Memorization also increases your own personal database of facts to draw from at anytime, letting you impress your friends and teachers. The more information you have memorized,  the less you have to Google, and the more impressive and comfortable you look in conversation. Most importantly, memorizing facts and information will help you gain more knowledge to have for your own benefit.

Memorization exercises your brain

As too many of us know from missing a week, a month, or maybe even one too many years at the gym, it’s entirely too easy to lose muscle without regular use. The same is true for the brain. The brain is essentially like a muscle, and it gets exercised when we put forth the effort to memorize new facts and synthesize information. When we are not regularly challenging our minds, it’s abilities will diminish. However, when we are constantly pushing our brains to do more and hold onto more information, it will, just like our endurance improves with consistent running or our strength increases with regular lifting. So get your brain in shape.

Memorization improves neuroplasticity

Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change and grow throughout our lives. Regular learning and memorization allows the brain to never stop changing, which is a great thing. Memorization actually improves the neuroplasticity of the brain. Over a lifetime the brain is capable of reorganizing itself as it gathers new information by creating new neural connections. This allows the mind to respond and adjust to new environments or knowledge. The more you’re memorizing and taking in, the more your brain is growing and improving.

Memorization is important for creativity

Some may argue that memorization inhibits an individual’s creativity; however, the opposite is true. When a person has information memorized, the mind becomes freed up to the mind to think more creatively, expressively, and freely. The more experience and knowledge you have to draw from, the more information and expertise you have to piece together in any creative pursuits. So make some extra room in your brain!

GirlStudyingLaptopHomeworkSchoolEducationMemorization teaches the brain to remember

Memorizing lines of poetry or song lyrics may seem like a simple task, but it can be an incredible aid to help you in the future. Memorizing rather than cramming information helps your brain become more accustomed to retaining information at an ever increasing level. Just as with in anything in life, the more you practice the easier it will become. The more often you train your brain to remember, the more it will be able to remember. Memorizing is a great tool to expand your knowledge and the limits of the brain.

Memorization enhances your capacity for future learning.

Each time you develop a new skill your brain creates what is called a learning or memory schema. This is a mental concept in our minds that is made by our life experiences and new information. The brain relies on that schema to help you learn and accomplish new tasks in the future. If your brain has already memorized the information, your capacity to create and develop schemas will significantly improve, allowing you to learn and retain more and more. Memorization will let you create more connections now and later.

Memorization helps students practice focus

The more you memorize and the younger you start memorizing information has a significant impact on your ability to focus on tasks. Whether it’s work at the office, studying at home for personal enjoyment, or cramming for finals your freshman year of college, focus is essential and difficult to master. The practice of memorization trains your mind to focus on the task before you. The better focus you have the more you can learn and the more you can achieve in the long run. So if you are having trouble focusing, try memorizing more information.

Memorization prevents cognitive decline

Memorization isn’t just a habit to develop during grade school, but is a habit that should be used throughout your life. Research has shown that by regularly going through memorization exercises, you can postpone cognitive decline by years keeping you alert longer. The sharper your mind remains functions the higher quality of life you will be able to maintain and enjoy. Keep your mind sharp by memorizing your favorite song or poem.

pattern-pencilsMemorization of poetry teaches rhythmic patterns

Believe it or not, the nursery rhymes that were recited to you as a kid and maybe memorized yourself will benefit both your writing and creative skills. These rhymes teach your brain the importance of symmetry and balance, allowing you to create and appreciate similar work yourself. Maybe memorization will even help you become the next best poet.

Memorization improves problem solving

Using memorization for problem solving is another contested point by many. It is often used as an argument against memorization in general. But, if you don’t have the knowledge and know-how stored already, you will regret it the day you need it and you will be left searching for a solution. The more you know the more you can solve, and memorization is to thank.

Whether you’re still a student or just looking to improve yourself, take advantage of the benefits of memorization. Your brain and future-self will thank you.


SMART Tourism

Routing Tourists

Imagine a traveller who has a couple of hours to spend in an unfamiliar city, arriving, for instance, at the central train station and having to be at the airport five hours later to catch their outbound flight. They would like to see at least some of the attractions the city has to offer during this time. If we want to recommend suitable venues, we need to address two major aspects. First, the proposed itinerary along certain points of interest (POIs) has to meet the time constraints of the traveller and, secondly, it should be sufficiently interesting and exciting. We are working on an algorithm for computing this kind of itineraries efficiently.


fitness professional

Effectively separating your personal and professional online personas is a true balancing act.
Even for these pros, managing an online presence in 2017 is more challenging than ever.
Should you be coaching or should you be selling? The two may not be as mutually exclusive as you think.
So, you’ve been a trainer for a while and want to take it to the next level? If that is you then read on.
You're a trainer or a coach and you work out on your own...but you're losing motivation! Here are 3 solutions to keep YOU fit and healthy, just like you do for your clientele.


Shakespeare and ethical enterprise provides a set of latest essays via literary students and philosophers contemplating personality and motion in Shakespeare's performs as heuristic versions for the exploration of a few salient difficulties within the box of ethical inquiry. jointly they provide a unified presentation of an rising orientation in Shakespeare reports, drawing on contemporary paintings in ethics, philosophy of brain, and analytic aesthetics to build a strong framework for the severe research of Shakespeare's works.
Contributors recommend new probabilities for the translation of Shakespearean drama through enticing with the wealthy physique of up to date paintings within the box of ethical philosophy, providing major insights for literary feedback, for pedagogy, and likewise for theatrical performance.

Show description

Read or Download Shakespeare and Moral Agency (Continuum Shakespeare Studies) PDF

Similar Literary Criticism books

'Shakespeare loves free ends; Shakespeare additionally loves crimson herrings. ' Stephen Orgel unfastened ends and crimson herrings are the stuff of detective fiction, and less than the scrutiny of grasp sleuths John Sutherland and Cedric Watts Shakespeare's performs demonstrate themselves to be as jam-packed with mysteries as any Agatha Christie novel.

"I love you in accordance with my bond," says Cordelia to her father in King Lear. because the play seems, Cordelia proves to be an exemplary and loving daughter. A bond is either a criminal or monetary legal responsibility, and a connection of mutual love. How are these items attached? In As you're keen on It, Shakespeare describes marriage as a "blessed bond of board and bed": the emotional, non secular, and sexual facets of marriage can't be indifferent from its prestige as a criminal and fiscal agreement.

Shakespeare's Sonnets (Oxford Shakespeare Topics)

The sonnets are one of the such a lot comprehensive and engaging poems within the English language. they're crucial to an knowing of Shakespeare's paintings as a poet and poetic dramatist, and whereas their autobiographical relevance is doubtful, no account of Shakespeare's existence can have enough money to disregard them. such a lot of myths and superstitions have arisen round those poems, touching on for instance to their attainable addressees, to their coherence as a chain, to their dates of composition, to their relation to different poetry of the interval and to Shakespeare's performs, that even the main naïve reader will locate it tricky to learn them with an blameless brain.

Sir Frank Kermode, the British pupil, teacher, and writer, was once an encouraged critic. Forms of consciousness relies on a sequence of 3 lectures he gave on canon formation, or how we elect what artwork to price. The essay on Botticelli strains the artist’s surprising acceptance within the 19th century for purposes that experience extra to do with poetry than portray.

Extra info for Shakespeare and Moral Agency (Continuum Shakespeare Studies)

Show sample text content

Rated 4.33 of 5 – based on 20 votes


“The Belly Rules the Mind”

Recently I was in one of my favorite healthy quick food restaurants called The Chickpea in West Palm Beach. While I was belly rules mindwaiting in line I noticed they painted above the kitchen, “The Belly Rules the Mind”.  I thought as simple as that is, it was quite profound, and wondered if they had any idea how true that statement really is.

So I’d like to share with you just a few ways the belly literally rules the mind. I feel this is important for you to understand the connection between gut health and mood, anxiety, depression, ability to focus, and having high energy. This way when you are experiencing some of these things like anxiety, depression or brain fog, you have an idea where to look first. (Always the belly!)

I like to describe the digestive system or the gut, as the front door to every other system in the body. This is where all of our precious nutrients are absorbed and the majority of wastes are disposed. When this system is not functioning in harmony, it will affect every system from our immunity, to our joints, our liver and brain function.

Matter a fact, the gut has a direct link with the brain and communicates via one of the largest nerves in the body called the Vagus nerve. Many call the gut the ‘second brain’, and is technically known as the Enteric Nervous System.

You know the feeling in your belly you get when you are really excited? It feels like butterflies. Or when you get really nervous or scared, may feel like you are going to poop your pants! These are good examples of this connection. However, the gut actually sends more neurological signals back to the brain then the brain sends to the gut.

“The Belly Rules the Mind”    The Ecosystem Inside our Belly!

Believe it or not, our bodies are made up of 10 times more of bacteria then human cells. That’s a pleasant thought to wrap your mind around. Most of which reside in the gut, the lower part of the digestive tract. About 100 trillion of them actually, and collectively is called your microbiome. They have a lot of important jobs, like protecting the gut lining from pathogens being absorbed into the blood, keeping our immunity strong, giving us the ability to properly digest and absorb nutrients, and is critical in brain cognition.

There is an intricate balance however between the good and bad bacteria. (This is why we take probiotics). The bad bacteria feeds on sugar and creates gas, bloating, constipation and a toxic internal environment when out of balance. Do you ever struggle with strong sugar cravings? This bacteria is so strong, that it will scream for sugar, demanding it to your brain leaving you to battle unruly craving that willpower isn’t a match for.

As this imbalance escalates, the gut lining can be impaired and will start to absorb molecules that it’s not supposed to into the blood stream, like undigested food particles, toxins and pathogens. This creates an immediate inflammatory response that can quietly build up over time. Over 70% of our immune system resides on our intestinal lining to patrol this process.

When the Gut is Toxic, so is the Mind...

Why is this all relevant to the brain? The gut lining contains about 100 million neurons that communicate to the brain!

In addition to that, the gut produces more neurotransmitters then the brain does. Neurotransmitters and chemical messengers in the brain like serotonin and dopamine as well as others. They stimulate the brain for communication. Neurotransmitters control our ability to feel good and be happy verses depressed and anxious, behavior, ability to focus, deal with stress or pain and sway our moods. It’s estimated that 90% of serotonin is produced in the gut and is influenced by bacteria!

So you can imagine when the gut is inflamed, backed up with wastes and toxins and driven by the bad bacteria, how this may affect the neurons and neurotransmitters in the brain. Or even just a slight imbalance in gut microbes

Yet still, gut health is overlooked and often irritated when treating depression and chemical imbalances.  “antidepressant medications called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) increase serotonin levels, it’s little wonder that meds meant to cause chemical changes in the mind often provoke GI issues as a side effect.” States Adam Hadhazy from Scientific American.

In my opinion, the first place to look when feeling anxiety, depression, inability to focus and low energy is optimizing digestion and gut health. Remember I stated in the beginning that it is like the front door to every other system in the body.

Stay tuned for my next article “The Belly Rules the Mind” squeal, “3 Ways to Nourish to a Healthy Belly for a Happy Mind”

Let's Stay in Touch!

Join our Community and stay connected with quick healthy tips and tricks, fresh blogs, special invites and our latest Free eBook!

We value your privacy and would never spam you

If you would like support in optimizing digestive and gut health for brain health, energy, focus mood and overall wellness, I would like to invite to a no obligation ‘Healthy Gut Happy Mind Strategy Session’. Here we will privately discuss how your digestive health may be getting in the way of your ability to maintain weight, energy, focus and overall wellness, as well as plan your next step in your journey towards optimal digestion. Click on the image below to schedule your session now.

Strategy Session

Sources & recommended reading:

Think Twice: How the Guts “Second Brain” Influences Mood and Wellbeing

That Gut Feeling by Dr Siri Carpenter in The American Psychological Association

Gut Microbes Important for Serotonin Production by Catharine Paddock, PhD in Medical News Today


Homestoryconsumer safety › People Will Die Before Self-Driving Cars Save Lives, Report Says

News Story

The promise of self-driving cars is the promise of Silicon Valley to make the world a better place. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who lives in Los Angeles, has made a reasonable argument about this vehicle technology, which he hopes to have available to his customers within 10 years: Humans make terrible drivers, and "1.2 million people that die every year in manual crashes." So-called robot vehicles have a much better record, though there are only a few on the road, in beta mode. Critics of the technology are "killing people," he told reporters last year.

The Santa Monica-based nonprofit Consumer Watchdog doesn't deny that motorists aren't all Lewis Hamiltons. But its new report, "Self-Driving Vehicles: The Threat to Consumers" suggests there could be more deaths with robot cars than without them, at least at first. The report argues that developers of self-driving cars — Tesla and Google are among them — want to make the world a better place ... for them to make money.

"No one disputes that the evolution of motor vehicle technology has the potential to prevent deaths, injuries and property damage," according to the report. "New technologies such as automatic emergency braking, lane keeping, collision warning, and assisted parking are already doing so, and indeed should be made standard equipment in all vehicles."

Consumer Watchdog founder Harvey Rosenfield, who authored the report, says folks like Musk are selling a promise of safety that doesn't exist. "What we're witnessing in the marketplace is a lot of hype and exaggeration driven in large part by financial considerations by companies old and new trying to jockey for position," he says.

These corporations, for example, could secretly embrace profit over safety, according to the report: "These [self-driving] algorithms will be responsible for life and death decisions that will place their financial interests in conflict with their customers’ lives. But Google and other software developers have refused to disclose to the public or regulators the robot values that they are programming into their computers to replace human values and judgment."

They have disclosed, per state mandate, accidents involving their beta-tested automated vehicles in California. Most have been minor, and almost all have been blamed on human error. "If there's an accident they're going to blame the human," Rosenfield says.

The report argues that, because the vehicles will be run by software, which isn't foolproof in less critical applications like laptops, the transportation will be on thin technological ice in any case. It also states that the infrastructure, which would include sensor-lined roads and signs, isn't even close to being rolled out from coast-to-coast. Finally, it says that the more cars are connected, the more they'll be vulnerable to hacking. "If the Russians hacked all of the cars in downtown Los Angeles, that could be deadly," Rosenfield says.

"Given all these unique risks, whatever safety improvements there are, they're going to be accompanied by brand new risks," he says. "Driver-less vehicles are going to be far more risky and pose much bigger safety issues than the cars we have today."

We reached out to Tesla and Google but did not receive a response. Interestingly, another Santa Monica organization, the think tank Rand, concluded in a study in 2014 that automated vehicles would be good for humankind because they would "likely reduce crashes, energy consumption and pollution."


What Makes Photography Art?

Photography has many purposes. It can be used to document something (e.g.. capturing a person’s identity, such as a passport photo, to capturing a moment in time, such as, a war, wedding, or birth). It can be used to sell a person, product or ideological idea. Or it can be art. Most often, despite whatever other purpose photography serves, I believe that photography is art.

Photography as Art

So I ask the age-old question, WHAT MAKES PHOTOGRAPHY ART?

In my opinion, photographic art is photography that is created with the desire to elicit a certain emotional response. I would argue that a passport photo or driver’s license photo is NOT art. Due to very strict photo guidelines (i.e. flat, one-dimensional light; no smiling involved) the photographer does not have any room for creative ability. On the other hand, look at photographic advertising. Are these types of advertisements art? I would argue, YES!

Think about a mouth-watering image of an ice cream cake drizzled in hot fudge or a half-naked woman standing next to a red convertible. For me, the emotional response to the ice cream cake is a positive one, while the half-naked women with elicit thoughts of “That’s oppressive and degrading to women!” But it doesn’t matter. As a chocolate-lover, the ice cream ad is targeting me (and yes, they won me over!) On the other-hand, I’m not in the market to buy a convertible, it just matters if the man that is the target market has the same lustful emotional response to the half-naked woman as I have towards chocolate. The point is, the photographer has an intent to illicit an emotional response to the image.

What about snapshots? Are they art? I’ll answer this question with a question. Why does a person take a snapshot of their family, a monument or landscape even if they have little knowledge of how their camera works? I would suggest it is because the photo will be a reminder to them of that moment in time or a way to share that emotion with their friends and family. So, for that individual, that “snapshot” is art.

The above photo is a photo that I took this past weekend in Drumheller. This is my art. I wanted to elicit a certain mood. For me, I want to know what’s on the other side of the window. What is the person thinking about? What are they longing or hoping for?

Everyday, you, the reader, are bombarded with images. So let me ask the question to you: What makes photography art?

This entry was posted in Uncategorized.

Post a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.


Islamic Invitation Turkey

ISIL Fails again to Prevail over Gov’t Positions in T4 Airbase in Homs

17 December 2016 15:33

The Syrian Army troops repelled another massive ISIL attack on T4 airbase in Eastern Homs province and West of the newly-occupied ancient city of Palmyra (Tadmur), inflicting major losses on the militants.

The ISIL terrorists, after capturing Palmyra, have tried several times to capture T4 airbase which is one of the Syrian army’s most strategic positions in Homs province, but the army soldiers fended off their attack with the back up of the Syrian and Russian fighter jets after several hours of clashes.

Tens of ISIL terrorists lauched heavy attacks from the Northern and Eastern directions to occupy the T4 airbase, but the Syrian army troops backed up by Russian and Syrian aerial support warded off their offensive after killing 40 terrorists.

Hundreds of terrorists launched a large-scale offensive from the Northern, Southern and Eastern directions of the airbase and attacked the Syrian army’s defense lines on Homs-Palmyra and Farqlas-Palmyra roads, but the Syrian army troops and the country’s air force repulsed the attack, killing at least 35 terrorists.

A military source reiterated that the ISIL’s attacks on T4 airbase on Thursday and Friday were the most massive of such offensive on the airbase since the beginning of the new round of attacks by the terrorists.

After fall of Palmyra, the strategic T4 airbase is the main base of the Syrian army troops in Eastern Homs and if the ISIL managed to occupy that, the cities of Quaryatayn, Maheen and even Homs city itself will be at risk of occupation.

ISIL kicked off a large-scale operation on December 8 with thousands of forces in Homs province to take control of Palmyra that was liberated by the Syrian Army in March 2016.

The ISIL took control over some energy fields and strategic heights and approached Palmyra.

The terrorist group finally entered the city of Palmyra on December 10, but the Russian and Syrian forces could repel their attacks, killing hundreds of them. Yet, the terrorists could take the city on late on Sunday.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced that Syrian Army soldiers with aerial support of Russian fighter jets killed over 300 terrorists.

“During the night [December 10], Syrian government forces, actively supported by the Russian Aerospace Forces, repelled all attacks by (ISIL) terrorists on (government positions in) Palmyra. The invading side actively used car bombs, armor and rocket artillery systems,” the ministry’s statement read.

According to Moscow, the Russian warplanes conducted 64 airstrikes on the militants’ positions and reserves, while eleven battle tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, 31 cars with heavy machineguns were destroyed, and over 300 militants were killed.

4,000 fighters of the ISIL carried out again a large-scale offensive against government positions in Palmyra from several flanks and finally managed to capture the city on December 11, while only 800 army soldiers were defending the city and there was no possibility for aerial coverage by the Russian and Syrian warplanes due to bad weather.

The Russia’s center for Syrian reconciliation noted ISIL had moved considerable forces from their stronghold of Raqqa, while more forces and equipment were relocated from Deir Ezzur.

The center cited intelligence data that ISIL had moved up to 5,000 fighters to the cities of Raqqa and Deir Ezzur from the Iraqi stronghold of Mosul.

The Syrian Army, backed by the Syrian and Russian Aerospace Forces, liberated Palmyra in March, 2016, nearly a year after it was captured by ISIL in May 2015.

During the invasion, terrorists had cruelly destroyed a major portion of the historic sites in the city. UNESCO Chief Irina Bokova had warned that ISIL militants in both Iraq and Syria were responsible for “the most brutal and systematic” destruction of the ancient heritage since World War II.

Scroll Up


The Debt Non-Explosion

A conversation I had earlier today suggested that it might be worth pointing out a fact that isn’t as widely known as it should be: namely, that there has not been an explosion in debt over the past few years. There has been a big rise in federal debt, but this has gone along with a collapse in private borrowing, so that overall debt growth has been lower than it was in the pre-crisis years:

Bear this in mind when someone starts ranting about hyperinflation just around the corner thanks to explosive debt growth.


Our megabrain has made a research for you to find Artists, Musicians and bands similar to MERSENARY. Now you know the music similar to MERSENARY to download or buy!

MERSENARY corresponds to the following genres

Uniqueness of an artist

Artists, musicians and bands similar to MERSENARY


Early Spring Hosta

In shade gardens Hosta are emerging with layer upon layer of their green leaves pushing upward from their rhizomes. Hosta is a perennial, herbaceous plant that can grow in either moist or arid soil. This lush plant plays an important role in gardens where light filters through trees. The long, ovate leaves of Hosta are ribbed with prominent veins that reveal a surface upon which light and shadow interact to create a rich texture.

A Little of Hosta History: Hosta originated in the wild in China, Korea and Japan. Japanese landscape architects developed this plant as an essential component of their design. In 1712 the Japanese government gave permission to the Dutch East Indian Trading Company to export Hosta. At this time the plant was not called Hosta. In the 17th century Englebert Kaempfer (1651-1750), a Dutch botanist and physician, first wrote about Hosta. He studied and created botanical drawings of two different Hosta plants. With pre-Linnaean descriptions, Kaempfer named them Gibbooshi, noting that the leaves were “plantain-like”, similar in shape to the leaves of Lilies. The Hosta flowers, as in Lilies, are funnel-shaped.   When Linnaean nomenclature became the style for naming plants, Carl Thunberg (1743-1848), also a physician with the Dutch East Indian Trading Company, renamed the Hosta Aletris and classified it as a member of the genus Hemerocallis. Finally, in 1812 Leopold Tratinick, an Austrian botanist, once again renamed the plant honoring Nicholas Thomas Host, royal physician to Emperor Francis II as well as an avid botanist who studied and published books about grasses. In the late 19th century, Dr. Philipp Franz von Siebold of Leyden University owned a nursery where he cultivated many different types of Hosta. Through his work Hosta gained popularity in Europe. For about 100 years the variety of Hosta remained at around 30 different species. In the mid-late 20th century Hosta cultivars increased to over 2,000 varieties ranging in size, leaf color, variegation and texture.

Milkweed Seed Pods in Autumn

Milkweed Seed Pod III

Spring 2014

Daffodils, crocuses, and hyacinths are blooming. Warm days have replaced frosty mornings, and the rustle of nature is apparent.  New Year’s Day should be the first day of the year when each person becomes aware of nature’s cyclical rejuvenation.

Close up view of Daffodil in Spring

Photograph of early spring daffodil

William Wordsworth’s poem reflects the mood of spring.

The Daffodils

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A Poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

The Beauty of Plants

Plants have universal appeal.  Living in an environment rich with botanical life, humans developed a close relationship with the surrounding vegetation, whose nutritional wealth and diversity enabled mankind to thrive.  As cultures emerged, people began to perceive and celebrate floral beauty.  This aesthetic became a focus for artistic and social expression.  We are fortunate to have eyes and intellect that can interpret form and color in ways that engage our emotions.

Patterns in Nature

A visual exploration of the relationships of patterns in flowers with other forms and structures seen in the physical and natural world.


What is a Servo Control System

A servo control system is one of the most important and widely used forms of control system. Any machine or piece of equipment that has rotating parts will contain one or more servo motor drive control systems. The job of the control system may include:

* Maintaining the speed of a motor within certain limits, even when the load on the output of the motor might vary. This is called regulation.
* Varying the speed of a motor and load according to an externally set programme of values. This is called set point (or reference) tracking.

Servo motors are brushed or brushless DC motors with feedback, typically encoder or resolver. They can be rotary or linear motors. They require a complex closed loop control algorithm (such as the classic PID method). Normally the control loop has to be tuned, and Delta servo motor dither can be a problem.. Due to the added control and feedback, typically servo systems are more expensive than stepper systems.

Our daily lives depend upon servo controllers. Anywhere that there is an electric motor there will be a servo control system to control it. Servo control is very important. The economy of the world depends upon servo control (there are other things to be sure – but stay with me on the control theme). Manufacturing industry would cease without servo systems because factory production lines could not be controlled, transportation would halt because electric traction units would fail, computers would cease because disk drives would not work properly and communications networks would fail because network servers use hard disk drives. Young people would become even more unbearable and they would complain more than they do now, because their music and games systems will not work without servo control.

Servo control systems are that important and it is vital to know about them. So pay attention and sit up straight – you are not on holiday and I am not writing this for the good of my health.

0 kommentarer

Sychronous type AC Servo Motor

The stator consists of a cylindrical frame and a stator core. The stator core is located in the frame and an armature coil is wound around the stator core. The end of the coil is connected with a lead wire and current is provide from the lead wire. The rotor consists of a shaft and a permanent magnet and the permanent magnet is attached to the outside of the shaft. In a synchronous type AC Leadshine servo motor, the magnet is attached to a rotor and an armature coil is wound around the stator unlike the DC servo motor. Therefore, the supply of current is possible from the outside without a stator and a synchronous type AC servo motor is called a “brushless servo motor” because of this structural characteristic. Because this structure makes it possible to cool down a stator core directly from the outside, it is possible to resist an increase in temeprature. Also, because a synchronous type AC servo motor does not have the limitation of maximum velocity due to recification spark, a good characteristic of torque in the high-speed range can be obtained. In additon, because this type of motor has no brush, it can be operated for a long time without maintenace.

Like a DC servo motor, this type of AC servo motor drive uses an optical encoder or a resolver as a detector of rotation velocity. Also, a ferrite magnet or a rate earth magnet is used for the magnet which is built into the rotor and plays the role of a field system.

In this type of AC Servo Motor, because an armature contribution is linearly proportional to torque. Stop is easy and dynamic brake wordks during emergency stop. However, because a permanent magnet is use, the structure is very complex and the detection of position of the rotor is needed. The current from the armature includes high frequency current and the high frequecy current is the source of toruqe ripple and vibration.

580 kommentarer

Mechanical Overview of Servo Motors

Servo motors have serval distinct characteristics that sperate them from their stepper counterparts. The biggest is the lack of direct gearing between the rotor and the output shaft. This eliminates the backlash and cogging behaviors found ins steppers, where there is period of slop between the gear teeth before movement actually begins, and where the shaft continues to move after the Delta servo motor has stopped. This can lead to jerky starts and stops, as well as a time delay in movement. This does not impede static positioning performance markedly, but it presents major issues when on-the-fly velocity changes or hard starts/stops are needed.

A model of a typical radial brushless DC servo motor is shown before in figure 1.1 For a long time, servo motors used brushes to transfer current from the static winding to the rotor, but this would lead to wear on the brushes, in turn shortening the lifespan of the motor. With the advent of electronic motor controllers, the brusheless design was adopted, which uses control electronics to vary the currents phases to the motor’s windings in the same way the brushes do. For the rest of this paper, all mention of mitsubishi servo drives will be of the brusheless type.

Looking at figure 1.1 below, there are several objects of interest. First are the armature windings (held by the stator), which create a magnetic field that travels through the air gap to the permanent magnets on the rotor. Even though there are normally no gears in a servo motor, cogging can still exist, as there are gaps between the magnets on the rotor where the flux decrease, though this only becomes noticeable at low speeds. This type of congging in servos is perhaps more accurately termed “detent torque.” There are two ways to minimize this type of cogging, the most common being the addition of some gearing to the drive shaft. This allow the motor to run at a higher speed out of its cogging region, but does not compromise power output or precision, thought it can induce some backlash. The other way of minimizing cogging is to skew the magnets on the rotor so that a radial line from the center of the rotor always intersects a magnet at least once. When using a motor without gearing, it is known as a direct drive motor. This allows for the best transfer of power to the load, and avoids any of the negative aspects of gearing previously mentioned. A feature in newer servo motors (including the Bodine models used in this thesis) is the use of an ironless stator, which eliminates iron saturation, a situation where the magnetic properities of the iron limit how much current can be applied to the windings. Inducing iron saturation too ofen will cause overheating and possibly damage the winding or magnets. With an ironless stator, rotor magnet skewing is not necessary, as the magnetic fields aren’t influenced by the material of the stator. Also, since the only mechanical connection between the shaft and the body is through the bearings, friction is very low (especialy when using ball bearings).

In high torque motors such as the ones used in this thesis, the rotor actually consists of two plates of permanet magnets sandwiching the stator, which allows for a major increase in torque. This feature only exists in axial flux motors, due to the design where the stator lies in between the rotors, whereas in radial flux servos, the rotor is completely enclosed by the stator. The majority of the heat dissipated from a servo motor comes from the stator, so its outside location adis in cooling. In fact, the main limiting fator in the power of a servo motor is the heat capacity of the stator and the armature windings.

Fasttobuy Servo Motor On Sale In this September

If you are interested in these servo motor, you can click this link:

0 kommentarer

Working principle of servo motor

What’s a Servo?

A Servo is a small device that has an output shaft. This shaft can be positioned to specific angular positions by sending the servo a coded signal. As long as the coded signal exists on the input line, the servo will maintain the angular position of the shaft. As the coded signal changes, the angular position of the shaft changes. In practice, Leadshine servo motor is used in radio controlled airplanes to position control surfaces like the elevators and rudders. They are also used in radio controlled cars, puppets, and of course, robots.

servo motor

A servo motor is a dc, ac, or brushless dc motor combined with a position sensing device(e.g. a digital decoder). In this section, our discussion will be focused on the three-wire mitsubishi servo motors that are often used for controlling surfaces on model airplanes. A three-wire DC servo motor incorporates a DC motor, a geartrain, limit stops beyond which the shaft cannot turn, a potentiometer for position feedback, and an integrated circuit for position control.Of the three wires protruding from the motor casig, one is for power, one is for ground, and one is a control input where a pulse-width signals to what position the motor should servo. As long as the coded signal exists on the input line, the servo will maintain the angular position of the shaft. As the coded signal changes, the angular position of the shaft changes.

Servo Mechanism

It consists of three parts:

Controlled device
Output sensor
Feedback system

It is a closed loop system where it uses positive feedback system to control motion and final position of the shaft. Here the device is controlled by a feedback signal generated by comparing output signal and reference input signal.

Here reference input signal is compared to reference output signal and the third signal is produces by feedback system. And this third signal acts as input signal to control device. This signal is present as long as feedback signal is generated or there is difference between reference input signal and reference output signal. So the main task of servomechanism is to maintain output of a system at desired value at presence of noises.

Working Principle of a Servo Motor

As we know, a small DC motor will rotate with high speed but the torque generated by its rotation will not be enough to move even a light load. This is where the gear system inside a servomechanism comes into picture. The gear mechanism will take high input speed of the motor (fast) and at the output, we will get an output speed which is slower than original input speed but more practical and widely applicable.

A Servo Motor is basically a DC motor (in some special cases it is AC motor) along with some other special purpose components that make a DC motor a servo. In a servo unit, we can find a small DC motor, a potentiometer, gear arrangement and an intelligent circuitry as shown in figure 2. The intelligent circuitry along with the potentiometer makes the servo to rotate according to our needs.

Servo Motor Applications

Servos are found in many places: from toys to home electronics to cars and airplanes. If you have a radio-controlled model car, airplane, or helicopter, you are using at least a few servos. Servos also appear behind the scenes in devices we use every day. Electronic devices such as DVD and Blu-ray Disc players use servos to extend or retract the disc trays. In automobiles, Servos manage the car’s speed: The gas pedal, similar to the volume control on a radio, sends an electrical signal that tells the car’s computer how far down it is pressed.

0 kommentarer

The Advantages and Disvantages of Servo Motors

Servo motors are somewhat more expensive than steppers — perhaps double the price, or more. They are generally just as accurate, if maintained in a proper state of tune, however they rely on encoders to provide positioning information back to the computer. Thus the complexity of the system is at least doubled, with no accuracy advantage, greater initial cost, and more maintenance issues. The “closed loop” rhetoric that some manufacturers play up sounds convincing to the uninitiated, but provides no benefit over a simpler and more reliable stepper system.

Servo motors are available in larger sizes than stepper motors, and powerful ac servo motor are generally used on heavy machines with gantry carriages in the 500 to 1,000 lb range. They offer no advantage whatsoever on lighter machines, such as Torchmate and its competitors.

Servo motor design

A servo by definition is any device with feedback. Servo motors have coils on their stator which are energized in sequence by a brushless servo motor or amplifier, causing rotation (spinning) of the magnetic rotor. In order for the controller to determine what winding to energize next, it must know the current position of the rotor.This sensing is done using either hall sensors or a dual-function encoder.

Servo motor system components

The block diagram of a servo system is identical to the block diagram of a step motor system,although the technology of the components is different.The servo amplifier is the functional equivalent of the step motor drive. As with step motors, functions are often combined by manufacturers.

Advantages of Servo Motors

For applications where high speed and high torque is needed, servo motors shine. Stepper motors peak around speeds of 2,000 RPM, while servo motors are available many times faster. Servo motors also maintain their torque rating at high speed, up to 90% of the rated torque is available from a servo at high speed. Servo motors are also more effecient than stepper motors with efficiencies between 80-90%. A servo motor can supply roughly twice their rated torque for short periods, providing a well of capacity to draw from when needed. In addition, servo motors are quite, available in AC and DC drive, and do not vibrate or suffer from resonance issues.

Some of the advantages of servo motors over stepper motors are as follows:

High intermittent torque
High torque to inertia ratio
High speeds
Work well for velocity control
Available in all sizes

Servo motors are capable of delivering more power than stepper motors, but do require much more complex drive circuitry and positional feedback for accurate positioning. Servo motors are also much more expensive than stepper motors and are often harder to find. Servo motors often require gear boxes, especially for lower speed operation. The requirement for a gearbox and position encoder make servo motor designs more mechanically complex and increase the maintenance requirements for the system. To top it all off, servo motors are more expensive than stepper motors before adding on the cost of a position encoder.

Servos have inherent disadvantages:

• More complex system than step motors
• Motors must be tuned for optimal performance
• More costly system than step motors
• Less torque at lowest speeds compared to step motors
• Non-standard mounting geometries (vary by manufacturer) and shaft diameters
• Less torque than comparably sized step motors at low speeds

Selecting the best motor for your application depends on a few key design criteria for your system including cost, positional accuracy requirements, torque requirements, drive power availability, and acceleration requirements. Overall, servo motors are best for high speed, high torque applications while stepper motors are better suited for lower acceleration, high holding torque applications.

0 kommentarer


June 24, 2011

alemany farm dinner

Once school got out I had more time on my hands, which meant I went volunteering! Alemany Farm was one of the places I had read about on the AmeriCorps Alums blog when I was first moving to San Francisco, and finally I was able to go.

Alemany Farm is located on a plot of land right by the highway and next to some housing projects. The farm was brought into existence (and is maintained) exclusively by volunteers. The produce that is harvested goes to the volunteers and to the people in the neighborhood - the produce can't actually be sold because the land belongs to the city.

After a long and cold/windy afternoon of pulling weeds and pushing wheelbarrows uphill, it came to be harvest time. Veteran volunteers led us in pointing out what and how much could be harvested. Aside from getting free and fresh (literally organic) produce, the whole process really opened my eyes to the variety of vegetables that groceries stores don't sell.

chards & kales

For example, I was able to get multiple kinds of chard and multiple kinds of kale. Many grocery stores don't even have one kind of either. It just goes to show how mass-produced our food is (and also how us Americans only eat certain particular vegetables, if any).

farm produce

I didn't go prepared with a bag or anything, so I ended up taking a planter full of vegetables home. The bounty was rather staggering, and it inspired me to cook a group dinner. In order to figure out what dishes to make with the foreignness of it all, I searched through online recipes for inspiration.

squash blossoms & ground cherries

Because I had squash blossoms (pictured above) and butter lettuce, I decided to make something similar to this salad. (Note: the acorn-like things next to the squash blossoms are ground cherries, which you open up like a present and eat - they taste like citrus-y grape tomatoes).

squash blossom salad

The salad turned out to be easily my favorite dish - creamy avocado, tangy dressing, fresh lettuce, velvety squash blossoms.

bok choy

Then there was bok choy inspired by this recipe. I really just did the fried shallot part (with the addition of some thinly sliced carrot, parsnip and garlic) and sprinkled it on blanched bok choy leaves. What I liked about this dish was just the look (which reminded me of a peacock) - sadly it was missing a sauce that I didn't know how to make and didn't have on hand, the kind they drizzle over Chinese broccoli at dim sum places.

puslane pesto

Next up was purslane, which I had no idea how to use so I substituted it as the basil in pesto. I consulted this recipe just to know what pesto ingredients were, blended everything in a blender and adjusted by taste. I also threw in a couple of spinach leaves from the farm because I didn't find a place to fit them anywhere else.

I was afraid no one would like the pesto because the purslane made it spicy in this wasabi kind of way. But everyone ate it anyway!

sauteed vegetarian

Then there was the chards and kales, which were somewhat inspired by this and this recipe. I wasn't sure how people would take to such serious greens, so I wanted to cook them with bacon, but I did a portion without - just to taste the difference - I was curious how tasty the greens would be without the inherent tastiness of bacon grease.

The vegetarian version had fava beans instead of bacon - which I blanched with the chards and kales. I find that I have a stir-fry methodology: I blanch the hardier vegetables (so they get soft and take to the stir-fry better), then after that's done I start up the fry pan with oil and aromatics (in this case garlic, shallots, fennel seed, italian herbs, cayenne, salt and pepper), then I throw in the vegetables by degree of softness. (I figured that the softer the vegetable the less heat it can take before it wilts and/or fades in color.)

sauteed non-vegetarian

For the non-vegetarian version I omitted the oil - instead I fried up bacon and used the grease. Also I used less aromatics because they weren't needed as much. I think both dishes ended up the same in tastiness, although I could be biased because I do like vegetables a lot.

All in all a successful dinner - seven people were fed and all the produce I brought home got used up. Would love to do it again sometime, if only without the back-bending farm labor...!

June 7, 2011

end of semester

To conclude the semester's work, I leave you with a picture of me practicing for the last practical of the year: chocolate writing.

chocolate inscription

I put in the most effort for this last practical, and I think it paid off.

Congratulations to all of my fellow first-semesters for having made it through!

And congratulations to me for finally making through this semester's worth of blog posts. Now onto non-school but nevertheless food-related stuff!

brotchen rolls

On the last day of kitchen I decided to make something by special request of my dearest Jonas, because he remembered the rolls that he used to get at the bakery back in Germany.

A quick Google search led me to this recipe, which I presented to Chef for approval. I was told to make a double batch and to approximate the ingredients, since we measure ingredients by weight and not by volume.

bread station game plan

(Here I am with my assigned task of rolls, in the last Bread Station game plan of the semester!)

brotchen rolls mise-en-place

This dough was different than all of the other doughs I made because it included meringue (not sure what difference meringue makes in bread though). In terms of ingredients, I used half the amount of yeast the recipe called for, and also it was instant dry yeast instead of active dry yeast (so the yeast-soaking step was omitted).

The dough turned out rather wet, so I had to add a bunch of flour in order to knead it. Then I fermented it and folded it (what the recipe termed "deflating" the dough, or what other recipes will term "punching down").

brotchen dough post-ferment

Then I placed the dough on this metal plate, which goes into the roll machine so it can be shaped into rolls (same process for challah rolls).

brotchen into rolls

I thought it was an amazing coincidence that the roll machine had been made in West Germany, the same place where these rolls originated from.

brotchen rolls portions

Because the dough mass was moist and unwieldy, the rolls didn't come out shaped as nicely as the challah rolls had. Nevermind though, I hand-shaped some and put others through the machine once more.

brotchen rolls baking

The recipe called for an egg white/milk wash, but the one I prepared was accidentally thrown out so the rolls went into the oven without. Chef steamed them in the oven extra though, to make up for it.

brotchen rolls baked

This is how they came out. I had no basis for comparison as to whether or not these looked or tasted right. I thought they tasted like plain dinner rolls, but Jonas liked how they tasted and said they were pretty much like the rolls he had been used to. Und das ist gut!

challah (holla!)

portioned challah

braiding challah

dough braiding (serious)

Here is everybody braiding, all serious-like.

braided challah

eggwashing rolls

challah rolls

Here are the rolls after baking.

challah bread

Originally I wasn't even going to post about grissini, but I felt bad for excluding it.

Grissini is basically what I previously knew as breadsticks, aka long pencil-like sticks that get served in restaurants as appetizers. The grissini we made were studded with different spices/seeds and went to the Pierre Coste Room to be served.

I think it's safe to say that grissini was the persona non grata of bread station. It felt dead and flat compared to the other breads, it was a pain cutting the dough into equal-sized strips, and for all that work the grissini was what most often burned because it was so thin and we never could watch it closely enough.

Once I got creative and decided to twist the grissini into spirals so they weren't just plain sticks. The process took longer than one might have thought.

But the best thing I ever did with grissini was probably gather up the scraps into a pile - grissini brains!!!

brains! (leftover grissini)

In my last post you may have noticed that the bread basket (and the background) contained focaccia bread. Indeed, focaccia bread was something we made about once a week (making enough to last the week) because it was so effort-intensive. In fact, focaccia-making sucked up so much time and effort, the nickname "focaccia-geddon" was coined for the days when we did in fact have to make it.

focaccia dough

Focaccia belongs to the category of enriched dough (dough containing fat) due to it containing copious amounts of oil. Oil, or fat, gets between the gluten molecules and prevents strands from developing - which is why focaccia's texture is fluffy and less like chewy bread.

There are also copious amounts of rosemary and garlic that get mixed in with the dough.

portioning focaccia

Here the focaccia is being portioned into ten pieces, each to eventually take up a whole sheet tray. (Note: I was not involved in the beginning of this process, so I haven't included the recipe, but I intend to make it at home sometime this summer and will likely share the results then.)

pressing focaccia

Once portioned and rested on well-oiled sheet trays, the dough goes through two pressings with about half an hour between each. The first pressing is to spread the dough out evenly, and the second pressing extends the dough to fill the entire sheet tray.

oiling focaccia

Once pressed, the focaccia gets drizzled with salt and more oil, then holes are poked throughout the dough (I assume for venting purposes).

topping focaccia

The toppings vary from one focaccia-geddon to the next, but we chose tomatoes, mushrooms, pickled jalapenos and a shredded cheese blend (with some toppings omitted on some doughs to accommodate for people's preferences).

fresh focaccia

After baking, here they are out of the oven, a little brown but just as delicious. Some were used the same day, others got plastic-wrapped and frozen for the remaining non-focaccia-geddon days of the week.

Then there was ciabatta, another indirect fermentation dough with a starter called biga, made the day before with 3 lb 4 oz bread flour, 26.5 oz water, and a big pinch of instant dry yeast.

The dough itself consisted of 6 lb 11.5 oz bread flour, 0.5 oz instant dry yeast, 90.5 oz water, 4 oz of salt (which I usually dissolved in the water first for even distribution), and 4 lb 14.5 oz of biga. All of this was mixed on low speed for 4 minutes and medium speed for 1 minute, then put into a box for fermentation: 30 minutes, fold, 30 minutes, fold, 15 minutes, done. (The fold for ciabatta is different than other doughs though - instead of folding the corners in and turning over, the dough is folded in half, then half again, then turned over.)

pulling dough

Ciabatta is the most watery of all the doughs, which results in it having the largest and most irregular holes (caused by the water evaporating into steam as the bread bakes). This was why the workbench had to be intensely floured in order for the dough to be turned out - anything else and the dough would just stick to the bench. The shaping of ciabatta is actually more like the pulling of it, and the key is getting an even thickness throughout the pulled dough mass (the tendency is for the edges to be thinner than the middle).

portioning ciabatta

Once the dough mass is pulled to about 2 feet wide and 3.5 feet long, it gets to rest a little, and then we portion it out into 15 loaves.

ciabatta for proofing

Like the other doughs, the portions are transferred to couches and put in the proofer for about an hour. (Side note: somebody remarked that ciabatta dough looks like old lady skin. It is quite true.)

ciabatta loading

Then they're loaded into the oven. Again, given their relatively high moisture content, they're the most difficult to load - the transferring boards are floured to help.

ciabatta from the oven

Once baked, they are taken out with a hoe and put on racks to cool.

ciabatta mitt

One thing I forgot to mention is that much of the baked bread is sliced and served as an accompaniment to the cafeteria entrees. While slicing the ciabatta, I came to a piece at the end of a loaf that had almost no interior (due again to the water evaporating away). I decided it would make a good mitt/boxing glove.

bread basket

And here is an example of the assortment of breads we put out in the cafeteria!

June 5, 2011

Next up was baguette, another indirect fermentation dough with a starter called poolish, which was made the day before with 3 lbs of bread flour, 48 fl oz of water, and a big pinch of instant dry yeast (available at the supermarket).

baguette mise-en-place

Here you have the ingredients for a single batch, but we usually made a double batch: 7lbs of bread flour, 1 oz of instant dry yeast, 6lbs of poolish, 59.5 fl oz of water, and 3.25 oz of salt - enough to yield about twenty 14 oz baguettes. The flour and yeast were mixed together first (so the yeast wouldn't be shocked by the water or killed by the salt), then the others were added and mixed for 4 minutes on low speed and 2 minutes on medium speed.

Fermentation went for 40 minutes, fold, 30 minutes, fold, 20 minutes, done (abbreviated 40 30 20).

portioned baguette

Once done, the dough was portioned into 14 oz pieces and preshaped into oblongs - rolled and folded three times (kind of as you would a letter for the mail, except there there's only two folds) - and rested with the seam side down.

rolling baguettes

Once the last piece of dough was portioned, the first one was about ready to be shaped, so we just went in order, turning the dough pieces over, flattening it, doing the roll and fold thing again (this time with the last seam sealed), then using our hands flat, applying pressure, rolling from the middle outwards until the baguettes were as long as the wooden boards we proofed them on.

baguettes for proofing

The cloth used for prevent the doughs from sticking (to each other and the board) is known as a couche, which coincidentally means "diaper" in French. Anyway, the baguettes on boards went into the proofer for about an hour.

baguettes loaded

Then we loaded them onto the bread oven belt, transferring them first from the cloth to a floured board then from the floured board to the belt (so each baguette's shape would be retained). The baguettes were each slashed diagonally five times with the lame knife, then pushed into the pre-steamed oven.

[Note: these baguettes were slashed once across, differentiating them as the 10 oz Vietnamese banh mi baguettes. The reason why we made these in addition was because I had brought my mom a regular baguette I made and she said they didn't taste like the Vietnamese baguettes we ate growing up. So I asked Chef what the difference was, and he told me to make baguettes with lean dough (direct fermentation dough without a starter), to take out the slight sour taste. He also had me mix the dough on high for a long time to promote gluten development and incorporate lots of air, so the baguette crumb would be tight with lots of small holes, instead of more hollow with irregular holes. The lean dough recipe is basically 10 lbs bread flour, 1.3 oz instant dry yeast, 107 fl oz water, 3.5 oz salt - fermentation 30 30 15.]

baguettes from the oven

The baguettes baked until they were golden, almost brown (I checked the internal temperature just to make sure - 220F), then taken out to cool.

baguettes baked

And there you have it - baguettes!

June 4, 2011

After Plated Desserts and a brief stint as Student Chef, during which time I fetched supplies for everyone, washed ten thousand dishes (which we have to do on the pastry side because the dishwasher's is far away), prepped for Chef's side projects (like the cheese-shredding and horchata-making for the culinary school fundraiser, Wok on the Wild Side), hauled fifty-pound bags of flour and sugar, and generally dug myself into a hole of manual labor / pit of despair... it was time for the hardest station of all - BREAD STATION!

Bread station is intense because everything is time-sensitive, and even with the earlier start of 6am (as opposed to 6:30am for most the other stations) it's hard to fit everything in and get done on time.

On my first day I was assigned to sourdough, which is easier because the time frame is wider: more time between fermentations, and the dough is not baked into bread the day of but, instead, goes into the walk-in refrigerator to sit overnight and further develop the sour taste.

sourdough mise-en-place

The main ingredients are mostly simple: 6 lb 10.5 oz bread flour*, 8.25 oz whole wheat flour, 78 fl oz water, 3.25 oz salt. The difficult part is the 3 lbs of "starter", or the yeast culture, the part that's alive. While for some doughs you simply add yeast at the time that you're making it (direct fermentation), others, like sourdough, have the pre-fermented part (the starter, for indirect fermentation).

*Bread flour has 10-13% protein, whereas all-purpose flour has 8-12%

Making sourdough starter from scratch is different from making other starters (which are just a combination of flour and water and yeast that's allowed to sit overnight). Sourdough starter relies on the yeast that's naturally occurring in the air and on your skin, so the process of making it is rather lengthy, like a week or two. But once it's made, you can literally keep it forever, either in the fridge or even out (providing that you feed it with flour and water daily). Chef's starter has been around for 6 or 7 years, and every day we use 3 lbs of it and use the remaining 1 lb as the base for the starter the next day (adding to it 4 lbs of bread flour, 2 lbs of water, and 1 tbsp salt).

sourdough additions

The mixing process for the dough is very particular: everything except salt mixed for 4 minutes on low speed, then the dough rests for 15 minutes, then add salt and other add-ins (I chose dried cherries and pecans pieces) and mix for 1 minute on low speed and 2 minutes on medium speed.

garlic and cheese sourdough

(Although I chose dried cherries and pecans, savory add-ins were very common, like this roasted garlic and cheddar cheese one made on a different day.)

Once the dough is made, it is put into a oiled, lidded box and left to ferment for an hour. At the end of the hour the dough is "folded" - you take the corners and fold them in toward the middle, then turn the whole dough over - this redistributes all of the yeast/food/heat/ temperature. After another hour and another fold, the dough ferments for another 20 minutes and is ready for portioning by scale.

shaping sourdough

We divide the dough into two 3 lb pieces, three 2 lb pieces, and four or five 1 lb pieces. Then we pre-shape them into rounds. After they rest on the workbench awhile, we shape them into more perfect rounds by gathering our hands around them until our hands touch underneath them (turning the round and doing this another once or twice). Then the rounds are placed upside down in floured baskets and those are wrapped and placed in the walk-in.

loading sourdough

The next day, the sourdoughs are unwrapped and put in the proofer (around 89F and high humidity fridge-like box) for about an hour. Then we load the sourdough by upending the baskets on the bread oven belt (the sourdough coming out neatly due to the baskets having been floured).

sourdough venting

Each round is slashed with a cross (or X, depending on the angle) with a lame (pronounced la-may) knife for decoration and for venting/expansion purposes. Then the bread oven (at 450F) is pre-steamed for three seconds, the doughs are pushed in, and the oven is steamed for another five seconds.

sourdough from the oven

We watch the oven until the bread is done - usually you can tell by the color and/or the sound (a heavy hollow thump when you knock on it), but the other, surefire way to check is by thermometer - 220F and it can be taken out!


Global summary

From FDNAPI Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search

Please also see the 2014 journal article Forensic DNA databases: Ethical and legal standards: A global review.

Sixty four countries have operational forensic DNA databases: Austria, Australia, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Botswana, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Korea (Rep. of), Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Lebanon, Macedonia (FYR), Malaysia, Montenegro, Morocco, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan.

The largest DNA databases are in China (estimated at more than 8 million, less than 1% of the population), the USA (14.3 million, 4.5% of the population) and the United Kingdom (5.7 million, 9% of the population). The UK database is the only one that has reduced in size: removing records from innocent people has not had any negative effect on crime detection rates.

Southern Africa

South Africa has a DNA database which will be expanded following adoption of a new DNA Act in 2013. However, progress in implementing the Act has been slow. Botswana and Namibia also have small DNA databases.

West Africa

There has been some public discussion about establishing a DNA database in Nigeria. According to Interpol, there are also plans to establish a DNA database in Senegal.

East Africa

Mauritius and Tanzania have adopted DNA database legislation: a small database has been established in Mauritius.

According to Interpol, there are plans to build DNA databases in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.

There is also an international plan to build a DNA database of pirates from Somalia.

North Africa and Middle East

According to Interpol, there are DNA databases in Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Lebanon and Tunisia. However, many of these databases appear to be small or aspirational. Qatar adopted DNA database legislation in September 2013.

In 2016, Kuwait became the only country in the world to adopt legislation to put its entire population and all visitors on a DNA database. However, this plan has since been dropped and the law is being revised. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) appears to have dropped previous plans to do so and has instead focused on improving the quality of DNA analysis from crime scenes, whilst maintaining its existing database.

Israel has a criminal DNA database and has created a controversial DNA database of African migrants crossing into Israel from Egypt.

There is a plan build a DNA database in Algeria and a small number of samples have already been collected. At end 2013, Algeria received CODIS DNA database software from the USA. According to Interpol, DNA databases are also planned in Libya, Oman and Syria. Political instability in the region means that it is unlikely all these plans will be realised in the foreseeable future.

The six member countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE) of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have previously discussed plans to exchange fingerprint and security information, potentially including DNA profiles, between states. However, this plan now appears unlikely to be implemented.

US and UK intelligence services have built a database of DNA collected in Afghanistan and Iraq.

According to Interpol, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea (South Korea), Indonesia and Singapore have DNA databases. In South Korea there are reports that prosecutors have been collecting DNA samples from workers convicted of engaging in strikes and other activities.

According to Interpol, the world's third largest DNA database is in China, although it currently contains a small proportion of the country's population. DNA databases in China are operated by individual police forces. China has also established a database to identify missing and vagrant children. There was controversy in 2009 when China began DNA testing nightclub workers in Guangzhou and again in 2013 when police in East China’s Shandong Province sought DNA from about 5,000 male students. There is a separate DNA database in Hong Kong and also in Taiwan.

Malaysia adopted DNA legislation in 2009, but implementation was delayed pending adoption of detailed regulations in 2012. In 2012, DNA evidence submitted by the prosecution in a controversial prosecution of a politician for sodomy was ruled unreliable by a judge who discharged the case.

In India, regional DNA databases have operated since 2000. A bill for a national database was drafted in 2007 and was subsequently revised by an expert committee. In 2015, the Bill was due to move to the Indian Parliament but became controversial due to the lack of adequate safeguards to protect rights and prevent miscarriages of justice. The Department of Biotechnology subsequently held a consultation about the Bill and is considering revisions.

Bangladesh's interim cabinet approved a DNA Database Act in 2013 and received CODIS DNA database software from the USA.

Sri Lanka has a privately-run DNA database but has subsequently established a government laboratory and is planning a DNA database. According to Interpol, Brunei, Vietnam and Pakistan are also planning to set up DNA databases. Vietnam received CODIS DNA database software from the USA in 2015.

In Thailand, lobbyists from Gordon Thomas Honeywell (GTH) circulated draft legislation in 2010 and the Ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with the FBI to build the database in 2013. GTH represent US DNA testing firm Life Technologies (Applied Biosystems). In 2015, the police chief put in charge of the southern provinces bordering Malaysia told Reuters news agency that DNA samples have now been taken from more than 40,000 people in an attempt to tackle insurgency in the area.

In the Philippines, a Bill to create a DNA database was introduced to the Senate in 2013. However, it does not appear to have been adopted.

In 2008, Uzbekistan announced it would put its entire population on a DNA database, but in 2012 it said registration would only be compulsory for people convicted of serious crimes. A draft law was introduced for debate at end 2013. According to Interpol, Uzbekistan already has a DNA database, although it is not clear whether or not legislation has been adopted.

Both Australia and New Zealand have DNA databases. According to Interpol, Fiji is planning a DNA database.

In Australia each state operates its own DNA database and a national system allows profiles to be matched across states. South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory allow DNA profiles taken from innocent people to be retained. In 2008, a man was wrongfully convicted of rape in Melbourne, Victoria on the basis of a match with the DNA database and served a year in prison before being exonerated. In 2012, DNA from an autistic ten year-old boy was included in South Australia's DNA database.

In 2009, new legislation in New Zealand expanded its DNA database. New Zealand is considering an automated searching and sharing system for DNA matches with the United States (similar to agreements signed by many EU countries).

DNA databases in Europe vary widely in size and in the requirements of the legislation adopted.

In 2008, in the case of S. and Marper v. the United Kingdom (known as the Marper case), the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the indefinite retention of innocent people's DNA samples, DNA profiles and fingerprints in England, Wales and Northern Ireland contravened the European Convention on Human Rights. The judgement applies in all 47 member countries of the Council of Europe.

The UK database was the first to be established (in 1995) and is the third largest in the world (after China and the USA), containing a higher proportion of the population than any other country's database. Indefinite retention of innocent people's DNA profiles (introduced in England and Wales in 2001, but not in Scotland) became highly controversial. New legislation was introduced in 2012 to remove innocent people's and some children's records in order to comply with human rights law (the Marper judgment). In 2013, more than 1.7 million DNA profiles were removed from the database and more than 7.75 million stored DNA samples were destroyed. The match rate when a crime scene DNA profile is loaded onto the database has continued to increase, as has the proportion of recorded crimes leading to an outcome recorded by the police (such as someone being charged) following a DNA match. Thus, the new legal safeguards did not cause any reduction in the role of the database in solving crimes. However, some controversy has continued regarding the collection of DNA routinely on arrest, especially from children, retrospective sampling of convicted persons, and retention of data from persons convicted or cautioned for minor offences. In 2011-12 an innocent man spent 5 months in prison in England accused of rape due to contamination of his DNA in a forensic laboratory.

DNA databases currently exist in 26 of the 28 European Union (EU) member states: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

A DNA database is being set up in Ireland, where legislation was adopted in 2014 and samples began to be collected in November 2015. Malta will also need to establish a DNA database to comply with the EU's Pruem Decisions (which require all EU countries to set up DNA databases and implement automated sharing of DNA profile matches across borders) and has received some EU funding to do so.

EU countries must all implement data protection legislation in line with the EU Data Protection Directive.

The inclusion of children and protestors on the DNA database in France has been controversial. Its DNA database law was found constitutional with reservations in 2010. In France, the DNA database has been growing rapidly, more than doubling in size over 5 years: more than 2.6 million individuals now have DNA profiles on the database (4% of the population.

In Germany, critics have questioned the inclusion of some categories of persons on the DNA database and plans to allow automated searches and sharing of DNA profile matches with the USA. In 2009, German police discovered they had been tracking someone they thought was a murderer for two years who turned out to be a woman involved in making cotton buds used for the collection of police DNA samples that were contaminated with her DNA.

The use of DNA evidence in Italy came under international scrutiny in the case of the murder of Meredith Kercher and the subsequent conviction then acquittal of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito.

The law in Denmark was amended to comply with the Marper judgment in 2010. It is unclear whether Estonia and Latvia are yet compliant. It also unclear to what extent Greece and Italy have implemented relatively recent legislation to establish DNA databases.

By end 2014, 21 EU countries had implemented automated searches and sharing of DNA profile matches across borders under the EU Pruem decisions. In 2015, the UK parliament voted to opt back into this agreement, despite concerns that its large database would give rise to large numbers of false profile matches (adventitious matches) occurring by chance with stored crime scene DNA profiles in other countries. Additional safeguards are expected to be implemented before this goes ahead.

According to the Interpol, DNA databases are also planned in the non-EU countries: Albania and Bosnia & Herzogovina (where Republika Srpska has proposed setting up its own database). Interpol reports that Montenegro has a DNA database although legislation there is pending. Montenegro is a candidate country for EU membership, whilst the other two are potential candidate countries. Other EU candidate countries without DNA databases are Serbia and Turkey. These countries will be required to establish DNA databases as part of the process of becoming EU member states.

Two other EU candidate countries already have DNA databases: Iceland and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Other European countries with DNA databases which are not members of the EU are: Norway, Russia, Switzerland and Ukraine. According to Interpol, Liechtenstein is planning a DNA database.

According to Interpol, Belarus has a DNA database, although legislation has not yet been adopted, and a DNA database is planned in Georgia.

Norway and Iceland have agreements with the EU on DNA match sharing across borders.

The world's second largest DNA database (after China's) is in the USA (although it contains a smaller proportion of the population than the UK database). The US federal DNA database (CODIS) was established in 1998 and includes DNA profiles submitted under laws which vary state by state. The Justice for All Act, 2004, expanded the national database by allowing the retention of DNA profiles from anyone charged with a felony offence. The Violence Against Women Act, 2005, allows DNA profiles to be uploaded on arrest, rather than on charge. About half of US states have changed their laws to allow collection of DNA on arrest, a practice which was found to be lawful by the US Supreme Court in 2013 (the Maryland v King case). In some states, DNA profiles taken from arrested persons are automatically removed if the person is innocent of the alleged offence, but in at least 18 states removals only take place in response to individual requests, meaning that most innocent people's DNA profiles are retained indefinitely in those states. Many DNA samples are also retained indefinitely.

According to Interpol, DNA databases have also been established in Argentina,Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Jamaica. Uruguay adopted DNA database legislation in 2011, however it is unclear to what extent this has been implemented.

In Chile, a supreme court judgment in 2012 excluded young offenders from the registry. New legislation was adopted in Brazil in 2012, with a view to expanding the DNA database. Detailed policy on implementation of the new law has been developed and some DNA profiles have been collected. A new law was adopted in Jamaica in 2015. Trinidad & Tobago adopted DNA legislation in 2007, which was revised in 2011, allowing a significantly expanded database.

The British Overseas Territory of Bermuda began setting up a DNA database in 2005, including DNA profiles of innocent people. It has stated that it plans to include its whole population in future, but this plan does not appear to be being implemented.

Panama is developing a DNA database and, according to Interpol, DNA databases are also planned in the Bahamas, Costa Rica, Cuba and Ecuador. Barbados adopted legislation in 2005 but does not appear to have implemented it. Mexico has created a database of police officers, including DNA, and also wishes to establish a DNA database for missing persons.


Sailing again!

Heading from the Faroes towards Iceland. Draken is now back at sea again after the unplanned stop at the Faroe Islands due to weather. Thank you Torshavn for the hospitality!