Business and IT Glossary  > Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) extends the abilities of its human counterparts and can search, read, understand, and categorize various sets of unstructured data faster than any human or team can. As a computer science discipline, AI traces its roots to the 1956 Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence, which brought together leading academic and industry researchers to attack a simply stated problem with a bold premise:

From the original research funding proposal by McCarthy (Dartmouth), Minsky (Harvard), Rochester (IBM), and Shannon (Bell Labs).

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Have blessed samhain

Samhain is the third and final harvest festival of nuts and seeds.  It is pronounced “Sah-win” or “sow-in”.  Samhain is a Gaelic festival marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter or the “darker half” of the year. It is also known as “Day of the Dead” or “All Hallows Eve”.  It is celebrated from sunset on 31 October to sunset on 1 November, which is nearly halfway between the Autumn Equinox and the Winter Solstice.  Some modern pagans consider it the “witches new year”, though other traditions simply recognize Samhain as the end of the year.  It’s energy is death and transformation.  Customs include jack o’lanterns, spirit plate, ancestor altar, divination, and costumes.  The colors associated with Samhain are orange, black, and indigo.  Tools used during this holy day are votive candles, magic mirror, cauldron, pumpkins, and divination tools.

Traditionally Samhain was a time to take stock of the herds and food supplies.  Cattle were brought down to the winter pastures after six months in the higher summer pastures.  It was also the time to choose which animals would need to be slaughtered for the winter.  This custom is still observed by many who farm and raise livestock because it is when meat will keep since the freeze has come and also since the summer grass is gone and searching for provisions/food is no longer possible.  In may places, Samhain coincides with the end of the growing season.  Vegetation dies back with killing frosts, and therefore literally, death is in the air.

Rituals include bonfires, dancing, divination, healing, honoring ancestors, thanksgiving, releasing old, foreseeing future, understanding death and rebirth.  Bonfires were lit on hilltops at Samhain and there were rituals involving them.  It is believed that the fires (as well as the smoke and their ashes) were deemed to have protective and cleansing powers.  In some places boys asked for bonfire fuel from each house in the village.  When the fire was lit, one after another of the youths laid himself down on the ground as near to the fire as possible so as not to be burned, and in such a  position as to let the smoke roll over him.  The others ran through the smoke and jumped over him.  When the bonfire samhain candlesburnt down, they scattered the ashes, competing eagerly with each other who should scatter the most.  Sometimes, two bonfires would be built side by side and the people, sometimes with their livestock, would walk between them as a cleansing ritual.  The bones of slaughtered cattle were said to have been cast upon bonfires.  People also took ashes from the bonfire back to their homes.  In northern Scotland, they carried burning fir around their fields to protect them.  In some places, people doused their hearth fires on Samhain nights.  Each family then solemnly re-lit its hearth from the communal bonfire, thus bonding the families of the village together.

Samhain is seen as a good time to perform any divination as well.  The bonfires were also used in divination rituals.  A ring of stone was laid around the fire to represent each person  and everyone who ran around it with a torch.  In the morning, the stones were examined and if any was mislaid it was said that the person for whom it was set would not live out the year.  At household festivities throughout the Gaelic region and Wales, there were many rituals intended to divine the future of those gathered, especially with regard to death and marriage.

Seasonal foods such as apples and nuts were often used in these rituals.  Apples were peeled, the peel, tossed over  the shoulder, and its shape examined to see if it formed the first letter of the future spouse’s name.  Nuts were roasted on the hearth and their behavior interpreted… if the nuts stayed together, so would the couple.  Egg whites were dropped in the water, and the shapes foretold the number of future children.  Children would also chase crows and divine some of these things from the number of birds or the direction they flew.

Herbs used at this time included: Rosemary, for remembrance of our ancestors, Mullein seeds, for abundance, Mugwort to aid in divination, rue, calendula, sunflower petals and seeds, pumpkin seeds, apples and apple seeds, turnip seeds, sage, wormwood, tarragon, bay leaf, almond, hazelnut, passion flower, pine needles, nettle, garlic, and mandrake root.  Stones associated with this time are:  black obsidian, smoky quartz, jet, amber, pyrite, garnet, granite, clear quartz, marble, gold, diamond, iron, steel, ruby, hematite, and brass.  Decorations include gourds, pumpkins, apples, Autumn leaves, and nuts.

pumpkin houseSamhain is one of the original festivals behind the holiday we know as Halloween.  Some of Halloween’s most common traditions are rooted in Samhain’s harvest festival roots, such as the carving of pumpkin and bobbing for apples.  The traditional illumination for guisers or pranksters on this night in some places was provided by turnips or beets, hollowed out to act as lanterns and often carved with grotesque faces to represent spirits or goblins.  They may have also been used to protect oneself from harmful spirits.  In some places, young people dressed as the opposite gender.  In Scotland, young men went house-to-house with masked, veiled, painted, or blackened faces, often threatening to do mischief it they were not welcomed.  This was common in the 16th century in the Scottish countryside and persisted into the 20th century.  It is suggested that the blackened faces comes from using the bonfire’s ashes for protection.

Irish and Scottish immigration, which popularized Halloween in North America, had a strong tradition of disguising and pranks.  As it was believed that faeries, witches, and demons roamed the Earth on Samhain, food and drink were customarily set out to make them less hostile or angry.  later on, people began dressing up as these creatures and claiming the goodies for themselves, sometimes performing antics or tricks in exchange for food and drink.  This practice called mumming evolved into trick-or-treating, or it may have come from the custom of going door-to-door collecting food for Samhain feast or fuel for Samhain’s bonfire and/or offerings.

Samhain (like Beltane) was the time when the doorways to the Otherworld opened, allowing the spirits and the dead to come into our world and this facilitates contact and communication with the Dead.  That is when it was believed that demons, faeries, and spirits of all kind would freely roam about.  Some would perform tricks, like the spirits of those who were murdered and who were looking for revenge.  The souls of the dead were also thought to revisit their homes.  Places were set tat the dinner table or by the fire to welcome them.  Some celebrate Samhain with a ritual to guide the dead home by opening a western-facing door or window and placing a candle by the opening.  many pagans still follow this tradition to this day.

samhain AncestorsBut while Beltane is a festival for the living, Samhain is essentially, a festival for the dead.  In the simpler yet brutal times that so many early people lived in, death was commonplace, whether it was the death of livestock through disease, the extremely frequent deaths of women during childbirth, or the death of young infants from common childhood illness.  There was always a lot of deaths going on in a given year.  Samhain was a time to really sit down around the fireplace, connect with your surviving loved ones, and pay tribute to those beloved members of your “tribe” whom you lost over the past year.  For some, Samhain is when we honor ancestors who came before us.

It’s easier to talk to the dead, have lucid dreams in which you connect with the dead, and to spiritually commune with those who have passed during Samhain.  The connection or “veil” between the physical world and the spiritual dimensions is thinner, which makes this type pf psychic contact much easier.  The only other time when this is easy are the three days after someone dies, because for three days their spirit is still hanging out on the earth plane and they will often have a lot to say if you can sit down and get past your own grief and “listen” to them.  For those who have lost loved ones in the past year, Samhain rituals can be an opportunity to bring closure to grieving and to further adjust to their being in the Otherworld by spiritually communing with them.  This is the perfect time to celebrate their memory.  Hopefully, they will communicate back with you to offer any advice or guidance.

You could find yourself remembering people you have had major relationships with.  Relationships which have ended, even if that person didn’t actually die.  maybe the relationship “died” and you’re still processing the emotions related to the experience.  You could be going back and forth emotionally, feeling love for the person one minute and anger the next.  Try to center yourself, connect with “Great Spirit” or your “Infinite, Eternal Self”, or loving the energy of the Universe and reach a place of emotional equilibrium.  Let go of hatred, release fear, and try to expel the toxic energy of anger and grief from your system as best as you can.  Some words to meditate include: remember, appreciate, love, release, transform, and transmute.

samhain decoration


Hybrid Orbitals

by James

in Organic Chemistry 1

Summary of today’s discussion on hybrid orbitals!

[Note: This post was co-authored with Matthew Pierce of Organic Chemistry Solutions.  Ask Matt about scheduling an online tutoring session here. ]

In the last post on the structure of methane we asked how we know that methane is tetrahedral.

Based on the orbitals of carbon (2s and 2p) we might have naively expected three of the C-H bonds to line up along the x, y, and z axes, respectively, and have the other one at some arbitrary angle (like 135° or so)

But then, as so often happens in science, our beautiful intuitive hypothesis was destroyed by some annoying experimental facts:

  • methane has no measurable dipole moment (our “reasonable” structure, below left, would be expected to have a measurable dipole moment)
  • the crystal structure of diamond is tetrahedral, with identical bond lengths and angles between carbons of 109.5 degrees. This isn’t what we’d expect if we were dealing with bonds between “pure” 2s and 2p orbitals!

In retrospect, the geometry makes sense. It happens that 109.5 degrees is the orientation that maximizes the distance between each of the four bonding pairs, and thus minimizes their repulsive interactions. In other words, the geometry is a direct consequence of “opposite charges attract, like charges repel”.

But how do we describe the orbitals that are used to give that bond angle?

This is a real chin-scratcher. They can’t be pure 2s orbitals (there’s only one 2s orbital, anyway). And they can’t be pure p orbitals, since the p orbitals are aligned at 90° to each other.

So what the heck kind of orbitals are they?

Hybrid Orbitals

Linus Pauling asked this same question back in his classic treatise, the Nature of the Chemical Bond (1931) [pdf] which in large measure won him the 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Pauling’s solution to this dilemma, which we still apply today, was the following:

  • None of the bonding orbitals in methane are 100% s or 100% p. Instead, they are hybrid orbitals that each have partial s character and partial p character.
  • The three 2p orbitals and the single 2s orbital hybridize (i.e., mix) to create four hybrid sp3 orbitals, which are arranged tetrahedrally around the central carbon atom.
  • Each of the four hybrid orbitals has 25% s-character and 75% p-character.
  • In the case of methane, each of these sp3 hybrid orbitals overlaps with a 1s orbital from hydrogen to form the C-H bonds

I’ll be honest here.  Many students don’t like this explanation.

Certainly, it’s confusing at first.  Why?

I think that when we initially learn about orbitals, we intuitively think of them as containers – sort of like atomic Tupperware for holding electrons that happen to come in a variety of cutesy shapes.

Electrons, then,  can be imagined to behave like the “fruits”  that rattle around in these containers (strict limit: 2 per container!). It’s not so surprising to our intuition when we learn that they can move from container to container within an atom or even leave the atom altogether.

What is surprising is when we open up the fridge and find that our cute little sphere- and dumbbell-shaped Tupperware containers  have changed their shape and merged their properties with each other!   This violates our intuition about how containers behave!

What the…?! Hybridized tupperware containers?

This is the quantum world, folks!  If this doesn’t mystify you… it f*&king should!

Going forward, I don’t ask that you understand or even “believe in” hybridization on a deep mathematical or theoretical level. That’s not necessary for our purposes [Pauling was a great teacher. You can always read the original Pauling paper, here, if you choose]

I merely advise that you try to suspend your disbelief going forward, because using this hybridization model will help us rationalize a lot of molecular structure, geometry, and behaviour.

A Pop Analogy: Hybrid Soda

Before we dive in any further, here’s what I consider to be a helpful little analogy (thx, Steven) that might help to get the point across.

  • Imagine you have four bottles of pop: one bottle of Sprite (S)  and three bottles of Pepsi (P).
  • Now imagine pouring them out, mixing them all together, and then re-filling each bottle with the mixture.
  • The Law of Conservation of Pop says that you still have four bottles worth of liquid. But now the pop is neither pure Sprite or pure Pepsi; it is a hybrid between the two.
  • Specifically, each bottle now has 25% Sprite character and 75% Pepsi character.
  • We can call this “hybrid” pop, if you like, sp3

That’s a little bit like what has happened to our 2s and 2p orbitals. By mixing the 2s and three 2p orbitals, we now have four orbitals which have 25% s character and 75% p character. (Although, importantly, it’s the shapes of the bottles that are changing, not just the contents).

The final step is to arrange these four orbitals at the corners of a tetrahedron, which allows for the maximum distance between the four electron pairs (like charges repel!)

How does this rationalization help us?

  • It explains the tetrahedral molecular geometry of methane, with 4 identical H–C–H bond angles (109.5°)
  • It explains the 4 identical C–H bond lengths (and bond strengths) in methane
  • It explains the lack of a dipole moment in methane, since the tetrahedral arrangement of the electron pairs allows for all partial charges to cancel (i.e. the vectors sum to zero)
  • The model even helps to rationalize how certain reactions occur, which we won’t go into right now  [e.g. backside attack in the SN2 reaction occurs into the empty “antibonding” orbital 180° to the bonding C–H orbital, if you’ve been reading ahead]

sp3 Hybridization Accurately Describes The Arrangement Of Atoms In (First-Row) Elements Bonded To Four Atoms…

This doesn’t just apply to methane. It applies to any situation where a (first-row) element is bonded to four atoms. Obviously tetrahedral carbon is the most prominent example we will explore, but it also applies to tetrahedral nitrogen [e.g. NH4(+)] and even tetrahedral boron [e.g. BF4(-)].

…As Well As Situations Where The Number of [Atoms + Lone Pairs] Equals 4

The tetrahedral arrangement of the orbitals holds even when one or more pairs of electrons is a non-bonded lone pair (If you’ve run across VSEPR theory, which most people have by the time that they arrive in organic chem, this shouldn’t come as a shock.)

For instance, ammonia (NH3), the “methyl anion” (CH3 – ) and the hydronium ion (H3O+) all have a central atom with 4 pairs of electrons:  3 pairs of bonding electrons and one pair of non-bonded electrons. As we’ve seen, the ideal geometry for arranging four pairs of electrons  is tetrahedral, which makes the hybridization of the central atom sp3.  This leaves the molecule with a “piano stool” arrangement of atoms about the central atom, which we call “trigonal pyramidal” geometry.

Another way of putting it is that the central atom has tetrahedral orbital geometry (sp3) and trigonal planar molecular geometry.

An interesting fact is that the bond angles in these are compressed from the ideal angle of 109.5°. The H-N-H bond angles in ammonia, for instance, are 107 degrees. We rationalize this as being due to the fact that a non-bonded lone pair is more repulsive than a “normal” bonding pair – likely because it’s closer to the atom and exerts a stronger influence.

This deviation from “ideal” bond angles is even greater in H2O (water) which has two lone pairs. The hybridization is still sp3, the orbital geometry is still tetrahedral, but the shape (“molecular geometry”) of the resulting molecule is “bent”.

Indeed, one of the notable achievements of Pauling’s hybridization model is that it correctly accounts for the dipole moment of water. If water were perfectly “linear”, as many of us might have naively assumed before we learned any chemistry,  the dipoles would cancel each other out.

Another example of “bent” geometry is found in the amide anion NH2 which has two lone pairs on nitrogen.

A quick table might help to summarize everything we’ve established about sp3 hybridization:

sp2 Hybridization

Let’s go back to our pop-bottle analogy. Say we only mix our Sprite with two bottles of Pepsi, not three.

What does that leave us with?

This gives us three hybrid bottles of pop, and one leftover unhybridized bottle.

By analogy,  if we mix the 2s orbital with two 2p orbitals, we obtain three sp2 hybrid orbitals, and one left over, unhybridized p orbital.

When these three sp2 orbitals are filled with electron pairs, the bond angle that maximizes their distance apart is 120°.

This gives us a “trigonal planar” arrangement of sp2 orbitals, with the unhybridized p orbital at right angles to the plane. It kind of resembles a Mercedes Benz symbol.

A classic example of this trigonal planar geometry is seen in borane, BH, which has three pairs of bonding electrons arranged at 120° to each other.  The trigonal planar geometry is also found in carbocations, such as the methyl cation, CH3.

You might wonder: where  is the unhybridized p orbital?

At right angles to the plane. Recall that each of the three p orbitals are at right angles to each other. So whichever two p-orbitals hybridize, the third (leftover) p orbital will be at right angles to the plane that they form (just like the z axis is perpendicular to the xy plane)

In the case of BH3 and carbocations, the unhybridized p-orbital is empty.

There is another very common situation where sp2 geometry is observed, however. If adjacent atoms have single electrons in unhybridized p-orbitals, and if those p-orbitals can overlap, a bond can result. This is a phenomenon known as “pi-bonding“.  (We’ll have a lot more to say about it later.)

Pi bonds – which are often just called, “double bonds” – require an unhybridized p orbital in order to form.

The carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen atoms in the examples below, which all have pi bonds (double bonds) are sp2 hybridized. The orbitals are separated by angles of approximately 120°.

Note that lone pairs can be in sp2-hybridized orbitals, just as we saw in NH3 and H2O in the case of sp3 hybridization. Also note that in the midde molecule (formaldehyde), the oxygen has two lone pairs (each in sp2 hybridized orbitals) and in the top right molecule the nitrogen has a single lone pair in a sp2 hybridized orbital.

When a lone pair is present, the bond angles will be slightly less than 120° since the lone pair can be thought of taking up more “room”.

sp Hybridization

Let’s examine the last possible case. What if only one p orbital hybridizes with the s orbital?

This gives us two hybrid ” sp ” orbitals separated by the maximum angle apart: 180 degrees. We call this arrangement, “linear”. Each hybrid sp orbital has 50% s character and 50% p character.

The two unhybridized p-orbitals are each at right angles to the sp hybrid orbitals.

For instance, here’s what the orbitals look like in beryllium chloride (BeCl2) where the  Cl-Be-Cl bond angle is 180°. If we consider the Cl-Be-Cl bond to be along the x-axis, the two (unhybridized) p-orbitals will be along the y and z axes, respectively.

sp-hybridization is more commonly observed in situations where there are two pi bonds on a single atom. The most prominent examples are “triple bonds”,  as seen in alkynes, nitriles, and carbon monoxide (CO). In these cases, not only are the carbon atoms sp-hybridized, but so are the nitrogen (in nitriles) and oxygen (in carbon monoxide) atoms.

Note also that lone pairs can be in sp-hybridized orbitals, as seen in nitriles and carbon monoxide.

sp-hybridization is not exclusive to triple bonded atoms – for example, the central carbons in allene and ketene participate in two pi bonds and are therefore sp-hybridized – but triple bonds are the most immediately recognizable examples.

OK. Here are the main points of this unintentionally very long post:

  • Electron pairs repel. In the absence of orbital hybridization, the bond angles around CH4 would be confined to the geometry of the p-orbitals (90°).  It’s energetically favorable for the s and p orbitals to hybridize to form sp3 orbitals which results in a greater separation of the electron pairs and bond angles of 109° (i.e. at the apices of a tetrahedron).  This also holds for central atoms with non-bonding electron pairs such as NH3 and H2O.
  • When only two p orbitals participate in hybridization, three sp hybrid orbitals result that adopt a trigonal planar orbital geometry. The remaining (unhybridized) p orbital, which is at right angles to the trigonal plane,  can either be empty (as in BH3) or singly-occupied (as seen in molecules containing pi bonds).
  • When only one p orbital participates in hybridization, the result is two sp hybrid orbitals and a linear orbital geometry. The two remaining p orbitals are available for pi-bonding (as in triply-bonded organic compounds such as alkynes and nitriles) or can be empty (as in BeCl2).
  • Note that the number of orbitals around the central atom is always 4. Orbitals are neither created nor destroyed by hybridization; they are merely transformed.

In the next post we will just provide a super simple trick for quickly determining the hybridization of a central atom.

Thanks again to Matt for co-authoring. Ask Matt about scheduling an online tutoring session here.

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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }

Thank you James (and also Matt) for another really illustrative post.

Another thing that has always bugged me, which is also related to this topic, is the hybridization of Oxygen (especially explaining the bond angle of 104.5° for water).
I have spoken to a lot of people and professors and it seems that the opinions on this are pretty much split.

On the one hand, there is people saying that Oxygen hybridizes just as Carbon does and that the two lone pairs push the angle from 109.5° to 104.5°.

On the other hand, people claim that the s and p-orbitals of Oxygen are energetically too far apart to hybridize and this model is just an easy but inaccurate explanation.
According to this, the two Hydrogens bond to two p-orbitals at an angle of 90°, but due to repulsion don’t sit exactly on the p-axes but are slightly off (104.5°), resulting in a poorer orbital overlap (unfavorable, but more favorable than hybridization).

A third approach i have heard is bent’s rule (Henry bent), which says that in an sp^n hybrid-orbital, n does not have to be a whole integer. So the orbitals for the lone pairs would have more s-character (because closer to the nucleus) and for the Hydrogens more p-character (because further away from nucleus).

Maybe some day, if you have the time and resources you could discuss this topic.
I would really be interested in your take on this.

Best regards from Austria.

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Policy Example: Decision Making

Cooperative decision-making

Decisions are made on a consensus basis. Within the framework of the Cooperative Association Act, which gives members the right to vote, directors work to consensus at meetings of the board of directors, and general meetings work to consensus except where the Act requires a vote with a specific majority. At any time, however, a member may require a vote, at which point a vote is taken at any meeting. The group values its consensus decision making, and members are trained in the process and value of consensus decision-making.


Tibet Climate12/20/2012

 In fact, the Tibetan climate is not as harsh as many people imagine it to be. It is suitable for travel to Tibet from April to early November, and the best time is August and September. But if you only stay in Lhasa, you can go there any time of the year.

Sun radiation is extremely strong in Tibet. The sunlight in Lhasa is so intense that the city is called Sunlight City. The thin air can neither block off nor retain heat so that the temperature extremes can be met in daytime and the same night respectively in Tibet. However it is not impossible to visit the holy snow land. May through October is the golden season for visiting Lhasa, Shigatse, Shannan, Nyingchi and other places in southern Tibet.

Most annual rainfall comes in the rainy season that starts from June to September. Usually it rains at night in Lhasa, Shigatse and Chamdo area. The rainfall may block roads and make travel difficult but the scenery at the time will be the best.

With the exception of southeastern Tibet, Tibet's windy season lasts from November to May of the following year, with strong winds in February and March.

Here is some more specific information in different areas of Tibet:
Lhasa - Shigatse - Lhatse - Tingri - Nyalan: Along the Friendship highway is basically in good conditions year around. But from December to February, the thawed road could make some trouble. Try to avoid August - landslide could happen in the rainy season.

Ali (Mt.Kailash): Even without climate restrictions, this area is already inhospitable. Big rain and snow could make the journey worse. However, for those determined tourists, the appropriate time is May, June, July, September and October.

Eastern Tibet: Don't go to this area in July or August (the rainy season) because the rain could ruin the road, and make terrible landslides. In winter, the road could be frozen.

Northern Tibet: With the average altitude of 4,500m, this area offers very limited time for tourists. Summer (July to August) is the prime time to enjoy the great plain in northern Tibet.


The parking valets in Portland
are dressed as vaqueros.
Black shirts, vests and sombreros.
They hit their hat brims
sliding behind the wheels
of the cars they park.
In the rain, they sag
and drip tears of black dye.
In the rare sun,
they make them sweat
and break out.
It’s tough
being a cowboy
in Portland.

Raud Kennedy

If you've any comment on this poem, Raud Kennedy would be pleased to hear from you.


Holy Warriors, Episode 1 of Werewolves of New Idria (A Novella) – by John E Chadwell

A New Breed of Werewolf!
In the year 1063, a nineteen-year-old Spanish knight fought alongside the legendary El Cid against the Moors. After the battle near Graus, a Moorish village in Spain, El Cid blessed Roberto Aceves de Burgos and gave him a gift of the magical sword, Tizona, and told the boy that his father was dying and he must return home to Burgos.
On the journey home, the young knight was attacked by an infamous highwayman and werewolf. Aceves survived the attack, though badly wounded. He was convinced that he would eventually be transformed into a beast of evil. But a wondrous being appeared, healed his wounds and told him that his future was not ordained, that it was his choice to accept God’s grace and serve on the side of good rather than evil.
Aceves chose to fight evil and became an eternal Holy Warrior. He and his descendants fought for justice over the next nine centuries throughout Europe and into the Americas, always in secret, for they are still feared as werewolves.
One day, he and his clan were captured by a young army officer, George Patton, who offered them the chance to come out of the dark and serve in the open as the nation’s first Special Forces. They agreed and soon became known for their bravery and ferocity in battle during both World Wars and through Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Aceves clan eventually settled on a ranch in California’s Diablo Mountains, near the abandoned mining town of New Idria. In nearby Hollister, the annual motorcycle rally was taking place when a gang called The Devil’s Demons arrived. The gang’s leader was a demon, Satan’s own kin, seeking revenge and the destruction of the Werewolves of New Idria. When werewolves and demons came together in the toxic remains of New Idria, it was a battle to the death and the transformation of one to a divine creature.
This novella is based on the graphic novel of the same name. Based on this, I am not sure if there will be further episodes in the series. There is no mention of this at the end of the book or anywhere I can find.
This novel and the graphic novel lives up to its premise of a new breed of werewolf.
After being bitten by Marcelino, a first generation werewolf, Roberto is fearful that he would be transformed into the same and therefore live a life of evil. However, having his wounds healed by Niniane, a fae, who she describes herself as a creation of God, encourages Roberto to accept God's grace as to use his transformation into a werewolf for good by being a warrior of God. The rest of the story follows Roberto over the next many hundreds of years as his family of werewolves grows and all become God's Holy Warriors. It culminates in the present age where one of the Nephilim who has possessed the body of Apollo Slayier, a fellow soldier who fought with Christian, Roberto's grandson in a previous war decades ago. Here the final fight ensues culminating in the defeat of this Nephilim and his band of human warriors.
It was this premise that drew me to this novella. It shows a lot of promise for future episodes. However, I don't feel it converted well from graphic novel to written novel. The spiritual aspects are there and they are good, it is just that converting the story line from the graphic novel leaves the plot of this novella a bit thin and disjointed. This is evidenced by single chapters outlining the various historical ages that Roberto and his family have lived through since being transformed into werewolves and having their lives prolonged to hundreds of years instead of the mere double figures that we are used to. These chapters are not connected or flow into each other leading to this part of the plot being disjointed. This story then comes into its own when this history of Roberto's life over the centuries since becoming Holy Warrior catches up to the present age where the battle between Nephilim/demon possessed Apollo Slayier and Roberto and his family unfolds.

The author has portrayed the fight scenes at the beginning of the plot where Roberto fights Marcelino very action packed and the especially the same at the end of the novella with the battle between the Nephilim and Roberto's family. This adds strength to the plot.

I would have liked to have had more inclusion and development of the elements of spiritual warfare of Roberto and his family and their faith in God, the history of the Nephilim and their origins. It would have also been better for the plot continuity if the chapters outlining the centuries of Roberto's life and family as Holy Warriors were connected showing further plot lines that showed the development of them as Holy Warriors.

As I have said, this series shows a lot of promise. I would love to see further episodes with the improvements I have mentioned.
Recommended only if you like a Christian take on the werewolf genre.

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Mrs. Scotto Celebrating Her 100th Birthday,But Why She Refuses To Retire Will Inspire You!!!

We are glad to introduce to you one of the oldest active educators in the United States, Mrs. Scotto. A lot of generations have been influenced by this great teacher. After graduating St. Ephrem’s Elementary School in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn she had finished studies at the college and returned to her school as a teacher of math. These days Mrs. Scotto is a math bee coach, she helps kids multiply, divide and solve equations in their minds in matter of seconds. She and her story is a true inspiration. The most amazing thing is how sharp her mind still is. We can only hope to look as good as she does at her age. Please, share her awesome story.

Mrs. Scotto’s secret is staying busy and helping other people. Working with kids and feeling needed makes her feel complete, makes her feel younger. She believes that when you help someone, you help yourself. Mrs. Scotto says her work made her who she is today. The funny thing is that all of her five children have already retired from their respective professions. As the body changes with age, so does the brain. Elderly people are bad with orientation, their memory gets worse, their attentional abilities decline. However, it is possible to delay the effects of aging of the brain. People that have high level of education, stay intellectually engaged (read, do crossword puzzles) and maintaine social and friendship networks, just like Mrs. Scotto, are able to preserve their brain. It is also important to exercise and stay on a healthy diet, including omega-3 fatty acids, and protective antioxidants. Just like your muscles and joints, brain needs exercise. If you want to have great memory and keep your mental abilities when you grow to be old, don’t turn your brain into a sloth.

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Drapeau, M. (2006). Non-coincidental pleiotropy of pigmentation, brain, and behavior and its evolution. PHILICA.COM Observation number 18.

Mark D. Drapeauconfirmed userThis person has donated to Philica (Department of Biology, New York University)

Published in neuro.philica.com

Since the beginning of modern genetics a century ago, mutants causing changes in cuticle, fur, or skin pigmentation have been associated with alterations in animal behavior. The connection has commonly been considered coincidence. However, the more recent discoveries of neural pigmentation gene expression (e.g. Drapeau et al. 2003) suggest that these genes have genuine functions in the brain. This classical genetic pattern â€“ a non-coincidental pleiotropy of pigmentation, brain, and behavior â€“ is common. Why?

I hypothesize that the evolution of a pigmentation gene product to a neural function may have occurred as follows. First, assuming that primitive organismal pigmentation predated the evolution of a complex central nervous system (CNS), the pleiotropic genes under consideration most likely first had a pigmentation function. Second, during CNS evolution along more complex lineages, some external pigmented cells were utilized internally. (Pigmented nerves containing melanin may be a consequence of this.) Three, after pigmentation genes were functioning (unnecessarily) in the CNS, their protein products were relatively unconstrained and free to evolve new functions while retaining an ancient pigmentation function. These novel brain functions are observed today as being required for normal adult animal behavior.

Pigmentation genes may have a tendency to be required for sex-limited behaviors. Because animal coloration is very often sex-specific (e.g. ducks, butterflies, peacocks), pigmentation genes are under sex-specific control at a transcriptional level. (There is some empirical evidence for this in model organisms.) Hence, since these particular genes would not have to evolve sex-specific regulation in the brain ‘de novo’, we may expect them to play sex-specific roles in the brain and behavior. One example is the requirement of the ‘yellow’ gene for the male courtship ritual of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (e.g. Drapeau et al. 2003, 2006).

Observation circumstances
This observation stems from my Ph.D. dissertation research on a gene required for both pigmentation and behavior in fruit flies, early informal talks with B. Fuller at UC-Irvine, and many discussions with additional scientists who have done extensive work on genes required for pigmentation, behavior, or both.

Drapeau, M. D., Radovic, A., Wittkopp, P. J., & Long, A. D. (2003). A gene necessary for normal male courtship, yellow, acts downstream of fruitless in the Drosophila melanogaster larval brain. Journal of Neurobiology, 55, 53-72.

Drapeau, M. D., Cyran, S. A., Viering, M. M., Geyer, P. K., & Long, A. D. (2006). A cis-regulatory sequence within the yellow locus of Drosophila melanogaster required for normal male mating success. Genetics, 172, 1009-1030.

Information about this Observation
This Observation has not yet been peer-reviewed

Published on Wednesday 26th July, 2006 at 14:32:26.

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PComp Week 2

The assignment for this week is to make a switch. I forgot to buy batteries so I decided to use Arduino.

I tried placing two lights in various ways. But their illuminance are different. Then my peers told me I should use a different way to connect them together, or I should bring in a resistance.

Finally I gave up the extra light and designed my simple switch.

It works like this:

When Cupid’s arrow hits someone’s heart, something will turn green. (Dark joke: In China, “wearing green hat” means your spouse cheating on you.)

ICM Week 1

As a liberal arts student, I always thought computation is far from my life. When I first saw “Javascript” in the “Language” part of my sister’s resume, it was surprising to me because I never realize that computation could be considered as a kind of language. My undergrad major was Chinese language and literature, and I’m always interested in exploring various ways to convey my ideas. I love beautiful languages, and I think that is the initial reason why I became interested in computing.

It should be a computational project which made this term. And I like the animation Renaissance from the Inspiration page, it seems both realistic and artistic.

When I was creating my sketches, based on what I drew during class (a sunset on mountains), I tried making gradient color for the background to make the image more artistic. It reminded me to my experience when I was a Sophomore, learning an off-campus bartender class. There’s a classic cocktail Tequila Sunrise, and it asked us to make reddish orange color by using orange juice and grenadine syrup. I’m fascinated by the color magic so I wish to do the achieve the same effect through Javascript.

tequila-sunrise(I need to calm down after seeing my peers’ excellent homework)

But it was hard for me to accomplish it without knowing deeper languages. I found most things I need from the reference page, but I think I could make it better. Finally I made it very simple like a child’s drawing – just as the same level as my javascript. I tried using both web editor and the software P5.js, they worked in the same way but I prefer using the software, because I would feel safer editing something on my own computer, instead of editing it through internet.

Here’s the link of what I drew: http://www.lintanxi.com/Stanlyn.Lu-week1/

And here’s the link of my sketch: https://alpha.editor.p5js.org/projects/BkShKHd3

PComp Week 1

Physical Computing is to build interactive physical systems by using both software and hardware.

Interactivity, which is the balanced involvement of inputting, programming and outputting, is the main point that makes for good physical interaction.

The animations on the big screens (at hotel playground or some parks), are very good digital technologies, but people cannot interact with these animations, so they would not be considered as interactive.

Nowadays, Interactivity becomes a popular concept, but most people don’t understand it in a right way. Interaction is something between two equal creatures, involving the process of alternatively inputting, processing and outputting. For human beings, it’s like listening, thinking and speaking. For human & computer interactions, it also calls for instant communications.

Traditional forms, like reading books, watching videos, listening to musics – none of these activities can be considered as interactive. Even people will be emotionally impressed, their feelings will be considered as reaction, rather than interaction, because the works they are watching/listening never replies them. If we are going to develop computer programs, interactivity is the main point that we should emphasize.

Interactivity so important that it can lead to the next technology revolution, and it is still waiting for people to explore more functions in the future.


Anno Dracula (1992)

In an alternate history of the fictional universe of Dracula, Van Helsing has failed, Dracula has taken control of Queen Victoria and also over all of Great Britain, and things settle down in GB after some time. Slowly vampires become part of everyday life, until someone begins to kill hookers who were also vampires. The very old vampire Genevieve Dieudonne and Charles Beauregard trie to find out who’s behind the homicides.

One thing that’s cool about the novel is how Newman mentions other fictional characters whose stories were written at the same time, like Sherlock Holmes and others. The vampire Genevieve Dieudonne is also the main character of some novels written by Newman under the pseudonym of Jack Yeovil in the Warhammer scenario, probably a rare case of multiple personalities over different strands of reality. Newman successfully captures the essence of the what we think today as the Victorian era, makes it interesting and brings it alive. The story is excellent and the ending leaves nothing to be desired, one of Newman’s best books.


Join to Simply Philosophy online community. Open your mind, post your thoughts, think critically!

Ownership and Theft

We know that stealing is wrong. We also know that individuals can own things. But is taking from someone always stealing? If not, then when is it stealing? Clarification of these issues is necessary to further understand the nature of ownership. Taking is not always stealing. Sometimes, taking what belongs to another is morally permissible. This means that no one has an absolute right to property....


Datasheet | December 8, 2009

Product Sheet: Virtualized iSCSI SAN: Dell™ EqualLogic™ PS6010S

The Dell™ EqualLogic™ PS6010S is a virtualized iSCSI SAN that combines intelligence and automation with fault tolerance to provide simplified administration, rapid deployment, enterprise performance and reliability, and seamless scalability. The PS6010S with Solid State Disk (SSD) drives provides exceptional random IOPS performance with very low latency. With either 8 or 16 SSD drives, and up to 1.6TB† per array, the PS6010S is designed as a cost-effective SSD option for the highest priority applications with moderate-sized data requirements. The PS6010 line features a redesigned 2 (two) 10GbE port controller delivering up to 10x the bandwidth per port and 2.5x the bandwidth per array compared to previous generations.

The PS6010S is an intelligent storage array that is designed to provide rapid installation, simple management, and seamless expansion. All PS Series storage arrays include SAN configuration features and capabilities that sense network connections, automatically build RAID sets, and conduct system health checks to help ensure that all components are fully functional. A PS6010S is designed to be installed, configured, and serving storage in less than one hour.


Neka Art Museum

Neka Art Museum was opened in 1982 and is named after a Balinese teacher Suteja Neka who collected paintings as a means of artistic documentation. Nowadays the museum has a great selection of works from many famous Balinese artists and expats who have lived here and influenced local artists. The Neka Art Museum collection is displayed in several buildings patterned after Balinese architecture. The main structures are for the permanent display of the government registered collection. Another building is used for temporary exhibitions. The Neka Art Museum has achieved high standards as a museum of international standing. By July of 1997 it covered an area of 9150 square metres, with 2580 square meters of floor space. The buildings are well maintained and the artworks are displayed and organized historically. The collection continues to grow over the years with over three - hundred pieces.

How to Get To Neka Museum

  1. 45 minutes from Sanur Beach
  2. 60 minutes from Kuta Beach
  3. 5 minutes from Ubud

What You Can See Around Neka Museum

  2. Penataran Sasih Temple is located about 4 kilometers east of the centre of Ubud. This was one of the Pejeng kingdom. In the inner courtyard, high up in a pavilion and difficult to see, is a huge bronze drum known as the “moon of Pejeng”.
  4. Goa Gajah (Elephant Cave) Temple (elephant cave) located two kilometers east of Ubud , this complex overlooks the Petanu river and consists of a SiSwati rock-cut cave, a bathing place, a monks’ chamber, a number of Buddhists rock cut Stupa and statues , and several foundations.


Ortiz threatened with a lawsuit because of possible revenge Joshua Klitschko

Ортис угрожает судебным иском из-за возможного реванша Джошуа с Кличко

Luis Ortiz

Luis Ortiz wants as quickly as possible to host the championship match.

Team supertyazhelovesa Cuban Luis Ortiz is ready to sue the WBA, if the organization will allow Anthony Joshua to hold a rematch with Wladimir Klitschko before the fight with the Cuban.

“He can date whoever he wants, but the promoter Jorge Carmenate says that he has a letter with the contractual obligations to the WBA. And if they break, we won the case for violation of Muhammad Ali for deliberate harm to the career of a boxer,” said Jimenez.

Note that Ortiz is the mandatory Challenger for the WBA belt in the heavyweight division, which is owned by Joshua.

According to the materials:


Tuesday 17 October 2017

Making WB more than just a Leaving Cert question

Modern teaching tools keep Yeats fresh. By Michelle McDonagh

Sarah O'Connell, English teacher.
Sarah O'Connell, English teacher.
A typical Yeats question on the Leaving Certificate.

He has been described as the greatest poet in the history of Ireland with his themes, images, symbols and metaphors reflecting his personal experience, as well as his nation's experience during one of its most troubled times. Yet teaching Yeats to contemporary teenagers living in a very different reality to his can be a challenge.

Adrian Paterson, lecturer in English at NUI Galway and a member of the Yeats2015 steering committee suggests that Yeats today is "respected rather than loved".

"His unassailable position on the Leaving Cert syllabus has not resulted in the universal affection of schoolchildren, among whom this self-confessed "smiling public man" walked and dreamed of loves and loss," he writes.

Paterson says Yeats is viewed as lofty, aloof and abstract when in fact, he was engaged, committed and sensual.

"But we don't have to like Yeats to listen. We don't have to agree with him to learn something," he notes.

Deirdre Pierse, English teacher at the all-girls Mercy College Sligo says that Sligo is a great place to explore the poetry of Yeats steeped as it is with references to his work and surrounded by the landscape that inspired much of his writing.

"Here at Mercy College, most of my students have already been introduced to Yeats in national school so they aren't phased by his archaic language. Many feel a close affinity to him and are eager to delve further into his poems, connect with his work on some sort of personal level and take ownership of it," she notes.

Pierse says that at Junior Cert level, she and her students focus on Yeats's dominant themes, rich imagery and the musicality of his poetry.

"'The Lake Isle of Innisfree' is a great launching pad for any student into the world of WB Yeats," says Pierse. "The girls can easily relate to the theme of escapism. After reading the poem aloud a few times, I'll ask the girls to imagine their very own utopia. This can prompt lively discussion and an interesting sharing of ideas. Soon the students feel that they have something in common with the poet and his work starts to resonate with them. We often write our own poems modelled on the illustrious line, 'I will arise and go now...' The results are always varied, creative and often entertaining."

Similarly the theme of unrequited love engages the Mercy College girl students. Pierse comments: "Let's face it, we've all been there! On reading 'He wishes for the Cloths of Heaven' and 'When you are old', we discuss his infatuation with Maud Gonne. My students responded well to the illustrations of Annie West who is famous for her humorous depictions of Yeats and his decades-long adolescent crush. Her book Yeats in Love is a must-have for any Yeats enthusiast."

The fact that Yeats exposes his feelings so publicly through his poems lends him credibility, says Pierse.

"He's no longer a bronze statue perched outside the Ulster Bank or a mural down town, he's a lonely soul looking for love and the girls get that. We playfully imagine his modern day equivalent trolling his beloved on Facebook or tweeting relentlessly about matters of the heart."

The Sligo teacher gets her students to consider the themes of love, escapism, nature, politics and ageing that run through Yeats's poetry and to indulge in both his rich visual and aural imagery.

"We memorise the shorter poems so that we can carry them with us and quote freely when certain feelings are triggered or memories evoked... Poetry isn't just for Junior Cert, it's for life. It's good to have a party piece and with WB under your belt, you can't go wrong," she says.

Ms Pierse's third years are currently working on a production of 'He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven' to a well-known Irish air while her second years are busy creating a piece of animation and a video to accompany his poem.

"My hope for my students is that they form some sort of personal response to his work and that ultimately they enjoy it and other forms of poetry. I hope they empathise with Yeats and enjoy the pictures he has painted in their young and vibrant minds. In his own words 'Education is not the filling of the pail, but the lighting of a fire',"

Diarmaid O'Conghaile, English teacher at St Joseph's Patrician College (the Bish) in Galway says that teaching Yeats is a learning curve.

"The poems do need deciphering, you need to research them. Yeats prided himself on writing everyman's poetry, he felt if it was not accessible to the ordinary Irishman, he was somehow failing yet you really need to know the context that poems like 'Easter 1916' and 'September 1913' were written in and the ordinary guy in the street at the time might not necessarily have known this. He was a member of the Anglo Irish ascendency while many ordinary people were trying to make a living on a half-acre of potatoes at the time or working in the mills."

If it was hard for the ordinary man of Yeats's own time to understand the meaning behind his words, then O'Conghaile notes, it is even harder to make them relevant and meaningful to teenage lads in Galway in 2015 who are working towards a points-based Leaving Cert.

"I teach in an urban school where the lads are under massive pressure with one foot in a virtual reality. They know what it's like to feel frenetic, dissipated, disembodied from the world around them and not at peace with themselves after coming off a computer game after three hours.

"I compare this to how Yeats felt when he became tired of urban life and yearned for the peace of 'The Lake Isle of Innisfree' and they find that easy to relate to."

Sarah O'Connell, English teacher at all-girls Loreto Abbey, Dalkey uses social media to make Yeats more "teen friendly". Through her teacher twitter account @_Tweecher_, she tweets quotes from Yeats and articles about him.

"There's a big buzz about him at the moment because of the Yeats2015 celebrations - he was trending on Twitter yesterday. By tweeting about him, I bring him into the girls' domain and make him more relevant and topical for them. His themes are quite universal and timeless and the girls can identify with his sense of needing to escape a busy hectic life and get away."

Irish Independent

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Where did the breach take place? Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage, Alaska.

How many victims? As many as 250 cancer patients seen between August 2005 and May of this year.

What kind of personal information? Names, birth dates, medical record numbers, referrals and diagnoses. Some data may have included Social Security numbers or addresses.

What happened? A laptop went missing at a conference for cancer doctors, but there is no evidence of theft.

What was the response? The hospital on Friday began calling affected parties.

Details: The hospital is trying to determine whether any policies were violated leading to the laptop's disappearance.

Quote: "We are very sorry for the concern that this will cause these patients." - Hospital spokeswoman Becky Hultberg

Source: "Hospital loses laptop with patient information," The Associated Press, Aug. 13.


Easy-Bake Oven enters Toy Hall of Fame

  1. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15652390/
  2. 3 Comments

  3. by   VivaLasViejas
    I got one of the very first Easy Bake ovens for Christmas when I was a little girl. I think it took like 2 hours to bake a cupcake, but I remember the feeling of accomplishment I had when it finally came out. :spin:

    Ah, memories............
  4. by   smk1
    my daughter is currently baking a cake in hers...
  5. by   URO-RN
    Over the past 40 years there have been 11 EASY-BAKE Oven models. Since 1963, each revision reflected the colors and oven styles of their day. Here are some fun facts to tickle your EASY-BAKE I.Q.:


About Us

GALANGAL-14Galangal Restaurant's goal is to offer you a culinary journey through our authentic Vietnamese cuisine and traditional street food.
Unlike many other restaurants in town we don’t strive to adapt our recipes to western tastes, rather we strictly comply with traditional cooking methods using only the freshest ingredients available from local markets.
Offering our street food concept in a clean a safe environment is what makes Galangal a unique dining experience.
Build your confidence with local cuisine by selecting one of our three dining options:
Street food buffet: witness our skilled chefs crafting amazing dishes before your eyes as you select as much as you can eat
Tasting menus: Foods from the sea, land, or vegetarian 6 course dinner specially catered to your choosing from our signature dishes.
A la carte: including all the dishes from the menu.

Unwind on our terrace bar with our hand-crafted cocktails and enjoy a relaxing environment with friends any time of the day.


It's right in front of you!

It's right in front of you tests you on advanced prepositions.

In English we say, somewhat emphatically, 'It's right in front of you!' when something someone's looking for is (as we also say) 'staring them in the face'.

As usual, in this Quiz the Answers are all there ... but which ones?

  1. Which of these makes the LEAST reasonable sense?
    'The suspect parcel was ... ... in the middle of the crowded mainline station concourse.'
    The package (presumably a terrorist bomb) was LEFT ( = abandoned, prior to it detonating; Answer 1), RIGHT (Answer 2) in the precise spot where its blast would inflict most damage, or thereabouts (Answer 3); nobody with the commitment to do such a thing would set about it 'vaguely' (Answer 4), for sure!
  2. Which of these would be the LEAST natural way of completing the sentence?
    'If we let the children off the coach without any instructions, they'll be ... ... the park within ten minutes.'
    The first three Answers are acceptable (No.3 perhaps fractionally less good), but Answer 4 suggests a mode of distribution more like the spreading of a single, solid or viscous layer (e.g. a blanket, or butter and/or jam on a slice of toast), rather than that individual children or small groups would be 'dotted' or 'stippled' (good word: look it up!) through the grounds.
  3. Which Answer completes this sentence most helpfully?
    'There's a wall-switch ... ... behind the machine.'
    Answer 1 is too vague, Answer 3 doesn't make geometrical sense, and 'over' (Answer 4) suggests somewhere further away than the context leads us to expect (the machine is nearby, yet the switch is 'over there' ... beyond the machine perhaps, rather than just behind it?).
  4. This time only ONE answer makes plausible sense: which is it?
    'Someone's bike has been ... ... in the middle of the hallway again.'
    It might even have been 'left out' (i.e. not put away, or projecting across where people may need to walk), but no such Answer was offered. The bike may indeed have been left, right in the middle ~ odd though the double pun may seem!
  5. Which is the correct (if perhaps insensitive) idiom to complete this emphatic sentence?
    'It's not every day that you witness a traffic accident happening ... ... in front of your window.'
    These are all good English noise words (including the breaking glass in Answer 3), but for some reason the standard version is Answer 2.
  6. Choose the answer which completes the sentence in good, accurate and idiomatic English.
    His parents had built him a wonderful tree-house ... ... the leafy canopy of the big oak, ... ... the bottom of their wonderful garden.
    The tree-house is 'up' off the ground, yet still 'under' the main body of the tree, so these terms consecutively make good sense. Even if the tree (and house) is downhill as seen from the main building itself, 'down under' (Answer 2) does not sound right.
    The construction of the tree-house would indeed have involved moving and installing parts upwards and into the tree, but English would not bother with the 'into' preposition (Answer 3; confirming a sense of motion, as in where German would use the Accusative Case in preference to the Dative); while 'way up' (Answer 4) sounds rather too high for safety, and would need to be expressed as 'way up in the tree'.
    The second-blank Answers were all mostly reasonable but only Answer 1 offers a good pair.
  7. You have a problem with your domestic plumbing and someone arrives to help. Which of these versions would you be LEAST likely to tell them?
    'All I can tell you is that the valve you're looking for is ... ... '
    Any of the word-orders other than Answer 4 will do the trick fine here.
  8. Choose the answer which completes the sentence in good, accurate and idiomatic English.
    The washroom is ... ... along the corridor to your left.
    The point of the adverb here is to emphasise the shortness of distance, rather than the precision of the directions!
  9. Which of these does NOT offer a sensible ending to the sentence?
    'The penalty handed down by the judge to the criminal was just ... ... '
    'Just' can (originally) mean 'having the quality of justice' (as in Answer 1) or, adverbially, 'merely' (Answer 3) or 'virtually' (Answer 2). We do have a phrase 'Just a moment' (Answer 4), but that does not make relevant sense in the context.
  10. You are visiting a tall building and ask, on the ground floor, for directions to where (precisely) you are going.
    Which of these remarks would suggest the highest position within the building?
    Answer 1 is really quite vague; Answer 2 clearly enough suggests your destination is not on a very high floor; Answer 3 suggests that it is 'far, but not all that far' from the top (perhaps within the range of 25 to 15% below the top); but 'quite near' (Answer 4) appears to suggest a range just that little bit closer still. After all, it does not contain any contradictory negative element.

Author: Ian Miles

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You’ve waited for months to get approval on a new marketing video. A video production team is lined up. The location and talent is locked in. Your social media calendar is coordinated for distribution. Everything is on track for a product launch.

Then it happens. Your worst fear: someone makes a decision that changes the plan. All your hard work is pushed back. The ripple effect has begun.

We’ve seen it all before. Changes in scripts, timelines, location, deadlines and other last minute details in all stages of video production. This can propel your video production team into chaos, scrambling to reschedule and adjust plans. You’re hoping that the change you are requesting won’t throw everything off the rails.

We don’t let that happen to our clients. We adjust and stick to our commitment to your project.

Adaptability is a lot of hard work and teamwork. When you are a client of Manley Films & Media, no matter how big or small your project, our promise is to provide the best experience you have ever had with a marketing partner. Staying on the cutting edge, constant improvement, and detailed attention to every client is our goal.

We understand that every project has a lot of moving parts could require last minute changes. Our top priority is creating a superior quality video for every client, on time. When a change comes along, we’re adaptable.


A Vegan Diet is Safe for Children

Vegan Diet for Kids

Research initiated by myself and completed by graduates of Cousens’ School of Holistic Wellness, involving 119 vegan children, whose diets comprised an average of 80% live food and 20% vegan cooked food, suggests that a vegan, live-food diet is quite safe for children. Vegan parents, who ate approximately 80% live food during gestation, had newborns with an average in the upper 58th percentile for weight. These newborns were in the upper 88th percentile for length, and their body mass index (BMI, comparing weight to height) was in the upper 71st percentile.

Although height, weight, and BMI do not entirely define health status, they are strong indicators of normal growth and development—indisputable, concrete correlations between a live-food vegan cuisine and general health. We have a most objective basis for discussion about how live-food and vegan children are doing compared to the U.S. and world population (per World Health Organization data). The upper-percentile birth weights, heights, and BMIs for newborns clearly indicate that women with an 80% live-food vegan diet bring forth very healthy, above-average babies in the overall upper third percentile of BMI.

The study was continued to include babies from ages one to ten months on a spectrum from plant-source-only cooked food to up to 80% live vegan food. Again, these infants compared well to omnivorous infants both in the U.S. and worldwide. The babies who lived on an 80% live- food vegan diet ranked high compared to the general population. Their weight was in the 83rd percentile; their height was in the 86th percentile; and their BMI was in the 67th percentile. These basic growth data, again, strongly indicate that the 80% live-food vegan diet provided excellent support to the development and growth process from age one to ten months. Most of those mothers were breastfeeding, which also speaks to the nutritional quality of the breast milk. These high scores were obtained even though, in general, breastfed children temporarily have normal dips in their growth curves at this age. Fifty-two children were also followed from the ages of one to four years. Again, on a spectrum from a cooked vegan diet to an 80% live-food vegan diet, their weight increased to the 94th percentile (the top 6%).

At four years of age, these children’s height was in the 65th percentile, and their BMI was in the 67th percentile. These are strong scores that indicate a better than normal growth and development. Based on this research, it is safe to conclude that these vegan and/or live-food children were at least in the top third of the U.S. child population in basic physical development. Although 119 children is a modestly small sample, it is the only evidence available on the topic. Many of the other opinions on this topic seemed to be based on fear, biases of the dominant omnivore culture, and social myth. We would love to do a much larger study, but it is hard to get parents to go public because of their concerns about the threatening biases of most public agencies against vegan and live-food children.

Our data was compared to populations analyzed by the CDC and WHO. The American Dietetic Association has said that vegetarian children and adults obtain twice the amount of adequate protein for one’s daily needs. Harvard researchers have stated that it is difficult for a vegetarian to move into protein deficiency if they avoid an excess of fruit and sweets—which is also advised by an intelligent, science-based diet. The Lancet, a renowned British medical journal, stated that vegetarian protein is no longer considered second-class; vegetarian protein is actually safer and healthier than meat protein, and less likely to cause insulin resistance. If one tends to eat junk food, one will have an inadequate diet whether vegan, vegetarian, or omnivorous. But it is virtually impossible not to get enough protein if one eats enough healthy, natural, whole, unrefined foods.

We can comfortably and scientifically say, with the only study available, that vegan, live-food babies, at least until the first four years (the limits of this study), stay in the top third of the general population in height, weight, and BMI. It’s interesting that this population is heavier than the average population, where children are eating junk food, meat, etc.—an obesity-causing diet. This even more strongly indicates the efficacy of the diet in supporting children’s growth.

The overall data strongly suggests that a long-term, scientifically based, organic, vegan diet is the safest diet for ourselves and our children. As previously mentioned, dietary patterns established between the ages of four and eight are more likely to be maintained over a lifetime. The earlier we start our children on a scientifically organized, vegan, organic diet, the higher probability they will have of living longer and healthier, as well as uplifting the overall web of life on the planet.


About Jining Travel

Introduction:Jining City in the southwest of Shandong Province, it has two city areas, three cities and seven counties. It is an area of 11,000 square kilometers, the population is 8.22 million. The..

Districts: Jinan Dezhou Dongying Jiaozhou Jining Laixi Liaocheng Linyi Penglai Qingdao Qufu Rizhao Taian Weifang Weihai Yantai Zibo Shouguang Binzhou DongE

Attractions: Swan Lake Pearl Fount Mencius’s Temple Golden Sand Beach Touring Resort Shendiao Mountain Natural Reservation of wild animals Braised Prawn in Soy Sauce Fried Two Scispy Ingrdients Weihai International Seawater Beach Braised Chicken,Dezhou Style Feed Horse Island Tourism Resort

Jining Maps

Jining Introduction

Jining City in the southwest of Shandong Province, it has two city areas, three cities and seven counties. It is an area of 11,000 square kilometers, the population is 8.22 million. The eastern is mountains, and the central and western is plains, depressions and lakes.There are many rivers cutting into net. The transportation of it is very convenient. The direction of the river named Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and two railways, which are the Beijing-Shanghai railway and the Beijing-Kowloon Railway,is north to south. In the east-west direction,there are Yanzhou-Shijiazhuang and Jin-Xin railway. The airport has opened saveral routes, such as the Jining to Beijing, to Guangzhou, to Shanghai, to Jinan, to Qingdao and so on.

Jining known as "a land of Confucius and Mencius" and " small Suzhou in north". Its tourism industry has a late start. Since the reform and opening up, it has gradually developed, and now, the industry formed a certain scale. The five elements that are eating, housing, tour, shopping and entertainment, have been greatly improved.

Jining Traffic

Jining has  Jining airport, there are  regular flights to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Qingdao and other major domestic cities. Except the  Jining airport, you can also travel to Jining firstly flying  to Jinan by plane , and then take a bus from Jinan to Jining.

Jining railway station is in the southern urban areas of Jining. You can take No. 2, 3 , 4, 5, 9, 11, 12 and 301 Buses,and get off at the Railway Station. Yanzhou Station Tel :0537-3462522.

Taxi in major tourist cities of Jining has  taxi services. The starting fee is differnt,  the starting price of the Xiali is five yuan, Santana (or Jetta)  is six yuan, and after 2 km the price is 1.3 yuan per km.

Jining Festivals

International Confucius Cultural Festival of China

International Confucius Cultural Festival in Qufu , is one of the "China Tourism Festival Highlights". In each of the birthday of Confucius during that calendar from September 26 to October 10, it will be held in the birthplace of the Yellow Emperor Xuan Yuan ancestor of the Chinese nation, where is also the hometown of Confucius, and is a famous historical and cultural relics held in Qufu in Shandong Province.

Jining Service Telephones

Jining bus rental company Tel:0537-2383045
Jining car rental company complaint Tel :0537-2347949
Shandong Province Tourism Complaint Tel :86-82963423
Jining City Complaints Tel :0537-2235006
Zoucheng City Tourism Complaint Tel: 0537 -5231112
Yanzhou Shi Tourism Complaint Tel: 0537-3436508
Wei Shanxian Tourism Complaint Tel : 0537-8223613
Liangshan County Tourism complaint Tel :0537-7322965
Wenshang County Tourism complaint Tel :0537-7212015
Si Shuixian Tourism complaint Tel :0537-4235369
Jiaxiang County Tourism complaint Tel :0537-6853102


AKASHA/AKASHA PRINCIPLE - the spiritual ether (or Aether); the omnipresent fifth occult element which embraces the other four- earth, air, fire, and water; and from which they stem. This is the realm of "pattern" or causality, from which the realm the normally thought of "five senses manifests. Some define it is the "other" of the "two worlds" that the witch or magician walks between.

ALEXANDRIANS - Contemporary Witches who recieve their initiation into an Alexandrian tradition, and who, in general, adhere to their principles.

ANKH - The crux ansata or looped cross, the ancient hieroglyph for Life, widely used as a symbol of occultism in genderal. When combined with a five-petalled rose it is a badge of the Alexandrians (q.v.),

ARADIA - Daughter of the Goddess Diana, and a name for the Goddess used by Italian Witches or Strega, commonly used in
many Wiccan traditions today.

ASPECTING - Any advanced magickal activity in which a practitioner manifests a particular aspect of the Goddess or God, in thought, feelings, behavior, appearance, etc.; Often as a direct result of a "Drawing Down". Often a minor variation of this phenomena occurs with the selection of a "Magical Name", of Craft Name.

ASPECTS - Forms, facets, or personas of Deity: for example, Brighid, Iseult,Eos, and Kore are all aspects of the Maiden, and the Maiden is an aspect of the Goddess.

ASTRAL BODY - The psychic 'double' of the physical body, consisting of substance more tenuous than matter, but having denser than the mind or spirit.

ASTRAL PLANE - The level of being and consciousness on which tge astral body (q.v.) functions. It covers a broad spectrum, the 'lower astral' corresponding closely to the physical plane, the 'upper astral' approaching the purely mental.

ASTRAL PROJECTION - The art of transferring consciousness from the physical to the astral body (q.v.), so that one perceives and moves about in the astral plane (q.v.) while the physical body remains inert.

ATHAME - The Witches black-handled knife, double edged dagger. It is used purely as a ritual tool. Principally used to cast and dissolve the circle, for which purposes it is interchangeable with the magic sword. A tool of the "Element" of Fire in the Georgian Tradition and some others.

BELTANE - May Eve festival. One of the Ancient Celtic "Fire Festivals." on this night, the cattle were driven between two bonfires to protect them from disease. Couples wishing for fertility would " jump the fires" on Beltane night. Also the traditional Sabbath where the rule of the "Wheel of the Year" is returned to the Goddess. This Festival also marks the transition point of the threefold Goddess energies from those of Maiden to Mother.

BOOK OF SHADOWS - Traditionally hand copied book of rituals, recipes, training techniques, guidelines, and other materials deemed important to a Witch or a coven. Each tradition has it's own standard version of the Book and each Witch's book will be different as he or she adds to it with time from many different sources. Only another Witch can see your book of shadows. Also, traditionally, it may never leave your hands or possession until death, when it should be destroyed, or (in some traditions) returned to the coven to be disposed of.

BURNING TIMES - a term used by some Witches for the period of persecution in the Middle Ages and later. It is in fact a misnomer in some places, as Witches were only burned in Scotland, and on the continent of Europe. In England and the U.S., they were hanged.

CABALA - The ancient Hebrew system of esoteric philosophy centering around the Tree of Life. Probably the biddest single influence on the Western Occult Traditions. (Also spelled Kabbala, Qabala, etc.)

CANDLEMAS - Festival held on Feb. 1. One of the 4 Celtic "Fire Festivals". Commemorates the changing of the Goddess from the Crone to the Maiden. Celebrates the first signs of Spring. Also called "Imbolc" (the old Celtic name). This is the seasonal change where the first signs of spring and the return of the sun are noted, i.e. the first sprouting of leaves, the sprouting of the Crocus flowers etc. In other words, it is the festival commemorating the successful passing of winter and the beginning of the agricultural year. This Festival also marks the transition point of the threefold Goddess energies from those of Crone to Maiden.

CARDINAL POINTS - North, South, East, and West, marked in the Georgian Tradition by candles of green, red, yellow, and blue, respectively. The Circle is drawn to connect these four points.

CHALICE - one of the tools of the Witch. Placed on the altar to represent the element of Water.

CHARGE OF THE GODDESS - The Traditional words of the Goddess or God to her or His followers, or "hidden children". Normally declaimed by the HPS at every coven Circle.

CIRCLE - the area in which the magickal worship and spells takes place. Can also be used to designate a particular group of Witches or Pagans such as "Silver Acorn Circle".

CONE OF POWER - The collective power raised in the circle by the Witches assembled, and sent out into the world to work magick, is usually visualized as being retained and built in the form of a "cone" prior to release.

COVEN - an organized group of Witches, led by a High Priestess and/or a High Priest who meet regularly for worship and fellowship. The traditional membership is 13, (ideally 6 women, 6 men and the HPs) but in fact most covens number considerably less. 3 is the minimum in the Georgian Tradition. In Middle English, "Covin" a group of confederates; In Old French "Covine" a band or group with a single purpose; Latin "Com"-together, "Venire"-to come or move.

COVENSTEAD - regular meeting place for a coven. Usually the home of the High Priestess or High Priest.

COWAN - a non-Witch. Formerly used in a very derogatory manner. Still used in Masonic Ritual to indicate the non-initiate and/or pretender to "real craft". Not often used today among most Witches.

COYOTE ENERGY - trickster energies. Named for the American Indian Trickster, Coyote, who tricks man into learning what he needs to learn. Applies to one who constantly jokes and clowns. Also applies to the concept of "Holy Fool" in many traditions.

CROSS QUARTER DAYS - The modern name for the Celtic Fire Festivals of Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane, and Lammas.

DEOSIL - clockwise, or sunwise. Traditional direction for working "building" magick. 'White' Circles are alays cast and banished deosil, in the Northern Hemisphere at least. South of the Equator, where the sun moves anti-clockwise, there are good arguments for casting and banishing anti-clockwise. (see also Widdershins.)

DRAWING DOWN THE MOON - Ritual invocation of the spirit of the Goddess into the body of the High Priestess by the High

DIVINATION - magical method of exploration or inquiry into a situation via such methods as Tarot cards, runestones, I- Ching, etc.

ELEMENTS - Earth, air, fire, and water, plus spirit, which includes them all. These are regarded as realms or categories of nature (both material and non-material) and are not to be confused with the physicists table of elements, which the modern witch, of course, accepts.

ESBAT- weekly or biweekly meeting of a coven. Traditionally held either on the full moon or the new moon.

FAMILIARS - Either a Witch's pet animal which has been trained to be a magickal helper, or an artificially created "elemental" which performs the same functions as the animal friend.
FIVEFOLD KISS, FIVEFOLD SALUTE - The Witches' ritual salute, with kisses; (1) on each foot, (2) on each knee, (3) above
the pubic hair, (4) on each breast, and (5) on the lips - really 8 kisses in all. It is only used within the Circle, but the words that go with it are the origin of "Blessed Be."
GARDNERIANS - Tradition of Witchcraft descended from the teachings of Gerald Gardner.
GNOMES - an "entity" or "elemental" that dwells in the plane of Earth or is associated with the EARTH Element.
GREAT RITE - The rite which is the main feature of the third degree initiation, and which is also laid down for certain festivals. It is sexual in nature, but may be `actual' (and private to the couples concerned) or symbolic, as the participantswish.
HALLOWS - name used by some traditions for Samhain, or Halloween

HANDFASTING - Wiccan equivalent of a wedding. It can be made legal if the Priestess and/or Priest are registered as clergy with the local authorities, or it may only be considered binding within the coven.

HIGH PRIEST/ESS - Technically speaking, a Witch who has received the 3rd. degree initiation. More usually, the male and female leaders of a coven.

IMBOLC - Celtic name for Candlemas.

INVOCATION - The ritual "calling-in" of an entity (or energies) higher than human, either for communication with the caller through a medium or by visible manifestation or else to enter into a human body as in the Drawing Down the Moon. In some traditions, a Prayer.

LAMMAS - August 1st. Witch Festival. The Old Celtic name for this festival is Lughnassadh. It is the Festival of the First Fruits, and is the first of the 3 harvests. This festival also marks the change of the Threefold Goddess energies from that of Mother to Crone.

MAIDEN - An appointment held by one of the women of the coven. She is virtually the assistant High Priestess. This term is also the descriptive term used to describe the first of the aspects of the Threefold Goddess Energies (Maiden, Mother, and Crone). It is traditionally associated with the Waxing Moon, and the period from Imbolc (Candlemas) to Beltane (May eve) where the energies are those of initiating, beginning, and creation.

OLD RELIGION/OLD WAYS - another name for the Craft.

PAGANING/WICCANING - Presentation of an infant to the Circle and to the Gods.
PENTACLE - a disc shaped talisman; in particular, the metal disc which represents the earth element among the witch's working tools.

PENTAGRAM - The five-pointed star. With a single point uppermost, it represents the human being. Inverted, with two points uppermost, it can have Satanist associations; but not necessarily. Some traditions of Wicca use the inverted pentagram to signify an initiate of the second degree.

QUARTERS - The North, East, South, and West parts of a magickal circle or other ritual area. (See also "Watchtowers")

REDE - rule or law.

SABBAT - one of the Eight festivals or high holy days of Wicca.

SALAMANDER - an entity that dwells in the realm of Fire.

SAMHAIN - The festival of remembrance for the dead, held on the eve of Nov. 1st. It is the last of the three harvests. This festival also marks the transition of rulership of the "Wheel of the Year from that of the Goddess to that of the God.

SCRYING - divination, usually using such methods as crystal gazing, or divination via incense smoke, or water as opposed to tarot or other manipulative means.

SPELL - a prayer, or verbal direction of magickal energies toward the accomplishment of some goal.

SUMMONER - The male officer of the coven who corresponds to the Maiden. He is the assistant High Priest.

SYLPH - an "entity" or "elemental" that dwells in the plane of Air or is associated with the AIR Element.

TRADITIONS - any of the various "sects" of Wicca such as Gardnerian, Alexandrian, Georgian, Seax, etc.

UNDINE - an "entity" or "elemental" that dwells in the plane of Water or is associated with the WATER Element.

WAND - A rod or staff that is prepared so that it may be used for magickal or psychic purposes, usually to project some form of power.

WARLOCK - a term coined in the Burning Times. It was used to denote a traitor to the Craft, or one who had betrayed the followers of the Old Religion. It's origin is Scottish. Because of the negative connotations, it is not used by most Wiccans today.

WATCH TOWERS - Originally from the Enochian branch of Ceremonial Magick, now incorporated into many "Traditions" of Wicca, these are the four elemental "directions" or "quarters" (corresponding to the appropriate points on the compass) called to protect the Circle during its establishment. Each of them have a correspondence between the compass point, an element, and (varying amongst different traditions) color associated with them.

WICCA - the name most modern day Witches use for the Craft. It comes from the Anglo-Saxon word Wicce, meaning to bend or to shape, and, "Wise One.". This is the root word from which we get wicker.

WIDDERSHINS - counter clock wise. Used for "tearing down" oe BANISHING magick.
WHITE HANDLED KNIFE - the working knife of a Witch. It is used to carve candles, and for fashioning the other tools. Traditionally, it can only be used in a Circle.