Normally priced about $20, Home Controls has been offering a huge savings on the PLM01 X10 Lamp Module. We started the sale a few weeks ago with several hundred of these very popular modules. And wow, have they been popular because we’re down just a few dozen. Now is the time to get yours before supplies are gone!

The X10 Lamp Module is the simplest and most effective way to control your household incandescent lights. Lighting control is simply a plug-in away. The X10 Lamp Module plugs into any standard 120V household outlet and gives you the ability to remotely control any incandescent light you plug into the Module (up to 300 watts). The Lamp Module is actually a Receiver that Responds to X10 Signals generated by X10 Controllers elsewhere on the electrical power lines. Simply dial in any House Code and Unit Code you choose for each Module and away you go! Don’t worry about losing manual control of the lamp… it will function normally even with the Module in place. The Lamp Module is the foundation of your home lighting system. The PLM01 features Automatic Gain Control (AGC).

• Save here. Sale valid while supplies last!

Saturday (5/12/09)

went to Lincoln by train with Keith. we caught the train after 2pm. walked around the Xmas fair for a few hours. it was such a christmassy experience. really felt like christmas was already here. after we had walked thruout the whole fair we went back to the train station to catch the train back to notts. had to wait a while for them to couple 2 trains together coz there was just this huge number of ppl trying to catch the same train.

went home, showered, changed and ordered pizza for dinner. then we went to Terracotta at 10.30pm. met up with Dave, Jaqui and two of Dave’s friends. Tommy was working too. he made me a drink called Beijing Breeze. really really yummy i had two that night. karaoke-ed our hearts out for a few hrs. finally went home at 3am.

Monday (7/12/09)

our Auditing, Governance and Scandals assignment was due. handed in. so to ‘celebrate’ we went to the Three Wheatsheaves for a celebratory drink. walked over with Kieran and Mat to meet up with Dan.

Tuesday (8/12/09)

had our final lecture of Semester 1. Advanced Financial Reporting. Kieran came up with the idea of wearing santa hats for the lecture. so all 4 of us wore santa hats. hehe. must’ve been a sight. all 4 of us sitting in a row with the hats.

Wednesday (9/12/09)

went to the city. got a haircut. woman who cut my hair is from Ipoh. random woman. started quizzing me abt Keith when she saw his picture on my ipod. came home, chilled, and now have a bloody migraine. napped for a while from 7-9pm. gonna study a bit then sleep summore.

photos:

Ein Gastbeitrag von Claudia Sünder, Vorsitzende der ASF Baden-Württemberg und neu gewählte Beisitzerin im Landesvorstand der SPD Baden-Württemberg:

Sowohl auf der Bundes- als auch auf der baden-württembergischen Landesebene ist ein gemeinsamer Antrag der AGs gescheitert, den Weg zu ebnen, um Arbeitsgemeinschaften als stimmberechtigte Mitglieder in den jeweiligen Vorständen aufzunehmen.

In der Debatte wurde mit den größten Kanonen (dies betrifft nicht das Format der RednerInnen) auf Spatzen (auch dies wird dem Format der FürsprecherInnen nicht gerecht) geschossen. Als Gegenargument galt eine in schrillen Tönen gemalte Aushebelung der Demokratie, Aufblähung des Landesvorstands und Bürokratisierung.

Argumente dafür: Beteiligung auf Augenhöhe, Übernahme von Verantwortung, Wertschätzung für die Arbeit der AGs. (Logische Voraussetzung: AGs müssen eine bestimmte Anzahl X aktiver Mitglieder nachweisen, um diesen Anspruch zu rechtfertigen.) Ein Vorschlag dazu sollte vom Landesvorstand ausgearbeitet werden. Als Befürworterin des Antrags bin ich nicht beratungsresistent.

Bislang teile ich die Ängste in keiner Weise und halte im Gegenzug die Synergieeffekte für beachtlich, das Signal für den Umgang miteinander für notwendig. In den Arbeitsgemeinschaften wird inhaltliche Arbeit geleistet, finden viele Kontakte in den vorpolitischen Raum statt.

Im Gegensatz zu einer ebenso verbreiteten wie beliebten Strategie ging es bei diesem Antrag nicht um das Fortkommen Einzelner, sondern um die Anerkennung Vieler. Vielleicht gibt es hier den ein oder anderen Kommentar, der schlauer macht … ich bin gespannt.

Im Moment bin ich der Auffassung, dass eine wertvolle Chance aus schnöder Angst vor (nicht nachvollziehbarem) Machtverlust vertan wurde. Und meine gute Freundin Demokratie schüttelt ein wenig ratlos den Kopf und meint, sie hätte sich über etwas mehr Mut sehr gefreut.

I like to play point-and-click games at Adventure Game Studio.  The games usually are very good and they are made by whoever.  The games are quite addictive.  Last night I forwent my devotional time because I played one of these games until it was time for me to go to bed.  It was the first time in a while that I did that and I did miss it.There is a free game engine that the people at Adventure Game Studio wrote.  I think the only condition for using it is to post a link and description on the website.  You can make commercial games with it but I think that you should probably get a better game engine for that.  For a hobby, it kind of makes sense.

I had the software on my computer a while ago.  I never got anywhere though.  The storyline and logic puzzles are probably more central to the game than the programming part.  Therefore, it is a good idea to have a good idea first.  My first tries with making a game were met with failure because I didn’t have a storyline, wasn’t that dedicated to the project, and unfamiliarity with Flash when I was experimenting with Flash.

It seems like the good games take about three years.  That was how much time a previous game that I played took.  Even though I didn’t like it all that much (too mazey with several different rooms that looked nearly the same on each “level”), it was well done.  That is how much time the game that I played last night took.

That game was written by a 8-year-old!  He probably had help with the logic puzzles and most of the actual game.  However, he hand-drew all the scenes and all the animated sections.  For example a waterwheel spins with probably 3 or 4 different drawings.  Most full-length games, I have to consult (okay, rely on) a walkthrough about 1/2 of the way through the game.  This was no exception.  The puzzles make sense once I know how to do them.  (Sometimes I’m baffled after the walkthrough with solutions that do not make sense.)

He could have used some help with spelling.  Spelling was atrocious. In practically every dialog box from talking to another character, there are several spelling errors.  Probably I shouldn’t be too hard on him; he’s a 8-year-old after all.  If he was older and still writing like this, then that would be a problem.  I guess its kind of how I was raised: to automatically notice spelling errors.  I notice every misspelled and mis-capitalized error on the song lyrics at my church.

So this site is definitely worth checking in out.  Try the Ben Jordan: Paranormal Investigator series.  Also the game that I played last night was “Life of D. Duck II.”  Perhaps I should play number one now.

One of my favourite point and click adventures of all time has to be the completely brilliant The Day of the Tentacle from Lucas Arts. I cannot count the number of times I have played through this fantastic game.

As most people know, Day of the Tentacle was a sequal to the very first SCUMM adventure worked on by none other than the famous Ron Gilbert, first and foremost known for the Monkey Island games. Tim Schafer was also involved in both projects, and I am talking of course about none other than Maniac Mansion.

Some illuminated heads over at the AGS community has made it their task to remake Maniac Mansion in the style of the fabilous Day of the Tentacle. Maniac Mansion has been remade before, but not in the hilarious graphical style of its sequal.

From what has been released of the material, it looks like a crispy, yet classic looking version of the beloved masterpiece. The developers are wished the best of luck.

This ought to be good new for any nostalgic fan of the old school adventures. The developers are German, but they promise to create an English version once the production is finished. I, for one, can’t wait to play Maniac Mansion DOTT-style.

Those damn dirty contractors.

Each night, KBR throws out garbage cans full of food.  Contractors are not allowed to take food out of the Dining Facility.  I suppose the US Army thinks that Contractors get paid enough and they should be satisfied.  Contractors don’t need any extra benefits like taking all of that fabulous food out of the Dining Facility.  The US Army would rather throw it all in the garbage.

The message here is what?

“Fuck Contractors!  We’d rather throw all that extra food in the garbage than let them take a few scraps back to their rooms to eat.”

Typical Army bullshit.

The guy who made this rule is probably a pissed off Master Sergeant who wound up a Contractor after he retired.

That’s usually what happens.

I’ve seen it hundreds of times.  The biggest assholes that I’ve had to deal with overseas while contracting with the Army were guys who came to you at the end of their tour of duty begging for a job.  If it were up to me, I’d not hire one of them.

Bunch of hypocritical assholes all.  Fuck ‘em.

Hoje daremos continuidade à história dos motores Cosworth na Fórmula Um. Para quem ainda não leu a primeira parte, aqui esta o link.

No final da década de 70 e início dos anos 80, o motor Ford-Cosworth já não conseguia mais fazer frente aos motores turbo, que foram introduzidos pela Renault na década de 70.

Com isso, a Cosworth começou a estudar algumas modificações no motor DFV, e em 1983 foi lançada uma nova versão, o DFY. Os cabeçotes foram reformulados e os dutos de admissão e escape foram ampliados. Além disso, um novo coletor de admissão, feito de magnésio, foi introduzido. Essas mudanças reduziram o peso do motor a 307 kg, produzindo 520 cv.

Rosberg e sua Williams em 1983

Os primeiros motores com essa nova configuração foram entregues para as equipes McLaren e Willians, em 1983, para o GP francês daquele ano.

A versão DFY passou por outras alterações, como um novo desenho da cabeça do cilindro, diminuindo o ângulo em que o motor era construido. Um novo virabrequim foi produzido e pistões de alumínio alargados também foram utilizados, diminuindo ainda mais o peso do motor.  A curva de potência do motor já tinha sido completamente alterada, com potência utilizável disponíveis a partir de 6000 a 11.300 rpm. Sete destes novos motores foram construídos para a Tyrrell.

Neste ponto da história temos um ponto controverso. Uns dizem que o motor ainda tinha a denominação DFV, outros achavam que era DFY. Por isso muitos creditam à Alboreto a última vitória de um DFV e outros falam que foi a única vitória de um DFY. O GP em questão é o de Detroit, de 1983, citado na primeira parte da história.

Porém, nenhumas dessas atualizações deram ao motor capacidade de derrotar os motores turbos. Por causa disso, o motor DFY foi utilizado somente por equipes pequenas até o ano 1985, quando a Cosworth começou a desenvolver o projeto do motor V6 turbo, juntamente com a Ford.

Bellof e sua Tyrrell em 1984

O renascimento

Porém, no final da temporada de 1986, a FIA (ou ainda era FISA?) anunciou que os motores turbo seriam banidos da F1 depois da temporada de 1988. Também foi introduzido em 1987 o campeonato Jim Clark Cup e o Troféo Colin Chapman, que foi desenvolvido para as equipes que corriam com os motores aspirados naturalmente.

Com isso, a Cosworth foi forçada a reativar o projeto dos motores aspirados, resultando na versão DFZ, uma versão atualizada do projeto DFY. Houve um aumento na capacidade volumétrica do motor, passando para 3,5 litros. Como resultado, o motor rendia cerca de 560cv.

Claro que ele não era nenhuma maravilha, até porque eles tinham também seu motor turbo com a Ford. O projeto DFZ, na verdade, era uma medida temporária para a Cosworth se adaptar a nova realidade que a F1 seria a partir de 89, e foi concebido justamente para atender a demanda das equipes pequenas. March, AGS, Coloni, Lola e Larrousse utilizaram os motores DFZ.

Jonathan Palmer acabou vencendo o Jim Clark Cup e a Tyrrell ficou com o Troféo Colin Chapman. O motor foi usado durante toda as temporadas de 87 e 88.

Palmer e sua Tyrrell 1987

Em 1987 a equipe Benetton operava juntamente com a Ford e eles queriam entrar de vez na briga pelo campeonato. Como o motor DFZ era muito ruim em comparação aos motores Honda e Renault e o turbo seria banido, o DFZ passou por profundas modificações entre 1988 e 1989, nascendo assim a versão DFR. Superficialmente, a versão DFR manteve somente o design e a arquitetura de construção do motor, 90° V8. O resto todo era novo. Dessa forma, a Benetton acabou sendo a grande beneficiada,  recebeu a versão do motor em meados de 1989 e acabou vencendo o GP do Japão daquele ano, com Alessandro Nanini. A Benetton manteve um contrato de fidelidade durante os anos de 89 e 90.

O motor ficou na F1 até o ano de 1991, quando os novos motores de cabeçote móvel e válvulas pneumáticas, com uma capacidade maior de rotação, deu fim aos motores DFR. A última corrida foi o GP da austrália daquele ano, com as equipes Footwork, Fondmetal, Larrousse, entre outras.

Gianni Morbidelli e sua Minardi em 1990.

Bom, por hoje encerramos a segunda parte da história da Cosworth e a série DFV e suas variações. Mais para frente falaremos dos motores Ford-Cosworth que foram utilizados na década de 90.

Espero que tenham gostado das informações desta segunda parte.

Hvar er hægt að byrja hvar er upphafið og hvar er endirinn. Ef maður ætlar að ræða ástand lands og heimsmála þá er það svo yfirmáta fíflalegt, glæpsamlegt og spillt að það er varla hægt að byrja því alltaf poppa upp nýjar hugsanir sem maður þyrfti að koma að og síðan að garga hátt til að fá útrás fyrir innibirgða reiði, óréttlætis, hneykslunar og skammar tilfinningu.

Að maður þurfi að upplifa aðra eins tíma. Blessuð börnin sem eru að alast upp núna hvernig er búið að fara með það, eyðileggja ánægjuna af að vera Íslendingar því það verður fyrir þau, í nánustu framtíð allavega, litið á þau eitthvað í líkingu við eins og litið var á Þjóðverja eftir stríð, sem pakk. En það er svo sem ekki þannig að alþjóðlega samfélagið það er stórþjóðirnar séu mikið skárri. Það má kannski skilja Hollendinga og Breta að þeir hafi ekki treyst Íslendingum til þess að standa við skuldbindingar sínar eftir að “við” fórum þar um allt með drulluskítuga bússurnar en að allir hafi fylgt þeim eftir og að þeir geti haldið með annarri hendinni um hengingar ólina og hinni stjórnað alþjóðasamfélaginu er eitthvað sem maður bjóst ekki við. Nú er ég ekki að segja að þeir hafi ekki haft rétt á sinni kröfu. En ef Bretar og Hollendingar geta stjórnað alþjóðastofnunum sér í hag hvernig haga þá td. Þjóðverjar, Frakkar að maður talar nú ekki um Bandaríkin sér í öllum nefndum og ráðum sem raunverulega ráða heiminum. Það er náttúrulega auðséð að það er ekkert val fyrir aðrar þjóðir en að bukta sig og beygja fyrir herrunum. Í þessu ljósi er fróðlegt að velta fyrir sér stöðu smærri og fáttækari ríkja í Afríku, Asíu og Suður Ameríku. Þau hafa náttúrulega ekkert að segja.

En ef ég sný mér nú á heimaslóðir. Þá er einkennilegt að sjá að það virðist vera fyrirmunað að það geti farið fram heilbrigð hreinsun. Hin ráðandi öfl og hin fyrrum ráðandi öfl haga sér nákvæmlega eins og áður það er öllu tjaldað til að ná fram réttum úrslitum og síðan er togað í alla spotta sem var búið að hnýta og allir leggjast á eitt til að vermda sína hagsmuni. Það virðist öllum vera sama um þjóðarhag, lífskjör, almenning, samfélagskerfið, og heilbrigða skynsemi. Öllu er fórnað fyrir minn hag. Hvort sem það eru aðilar vinnumarkaðarins, verslunarmenn, nýjir bankastjórnendur, gamlir bankasjórnendur, Framsóknarmenn, Sjálfstæðismenn, Vinstri grænir, Samfylkingin að maður tali nú ekki um “nýja” fólkið Borgara, Hreyfinguna. Allt gasprar þetta lærðar kennisetningar til að koma sínu fram. Reyndar er skárra að hafa Samfylkinguna og VG við stjórnvöldin núna þar sem þau hafa jú í stefnuskrá sinni að hlúa að þessum gildum sem almennt eru talin vera hagstæð almenningi og ættu þar af leiðandi að endingu að vera nær skástu niðurstöðunni en margur annar.

Allstaðar er sama sagan ég heimta meira ég á rétt á að fá allt og mikið meira. Hvort sem það eru fyrrum bankamenn, sauðfjárbændur, ættfræði grúskarar lyfjafyrirtæki eða gosdrykkjaframleiðendur. Ef ég tryði á guð myndi ég segja Guð blessi Ísland en þar sem ég trúi ekki á almáttugan guð, enda hvernig getur hann verið til, ætli hann hefði ekki meint það sem einhver hafði eftir honum “og það er fullkomnað” .  Ég segi bara vonandi verður næsta kynslóð eitthvað skárri.

Det är inte lätt att vara inburad för ett mord i en lätt dystopisk framtid.
Speciellt inte då man dessutom är oskyldig och reaktorn där du gör ditt straffarbete råkar ut för en kraftig olycka som hotar spränga allt närliggande liv till småbitar och dessutom fångar dig tillsammans med din inte allt för gladlynte övervakare. Ett faktum som blir väldigt tydligt i det korta, men smått underbara sci-fi-äventyret “Reactor 09″. I rollen som den oskyldigt dömde och bittre Clyde är du den ende med någon som helst kunskap om hur olyckan kan stoppas, och det är upp till dig att hitta på ett sätt att föra er båda ut ifrån reaktorn levande, vilket visar sig vara lättare sagt än gjort.

Det som gör “Reactor 09″ speciellt, förutom den ögonbedövande vackra lo-res-grafiken, den snyggt hanterade handlingen och en stämningsfull atmosfär är främst sättet som dina val i spelet hanteras. Det gäller nämligen inte bara att ta sig ut, du måste även hela tiden lyckas få din övervakare att lita på dig, och spelet håller konstant koll på hur du lyckas via en “tillits-mätare” som minskar eller stiger beroende på vilka val du gör. Ett koncept som gjorts många gånger, och som har sina klara begränsningar, men som här fungerar bättre än något annat exempel jag spelat. Det finns med andra ord flera olika sätt att slutföra spelet på, något som ger det hela ett intressant djup och banar väg för flera omspelningar.

“Reactor 09″ är trots en något kort längd ett snyggt och extremt stämningsfullt äventyrsspel med en välskriven handling. Med andra ord väl värt en nedladdning. “Reactor 09″ är gratis och kan laddas ner här.

Lo sviluppo dell’AGS (Alliance Ground Surveillance), il nuovo sistema di sorveglianza terrestre della NATO, ha generato divisioni insanabili all’interno dell’Alleanza Atlantica. Alla firma del Programme Memorandum of Understanding (PMOU) che segna i confini legali, organizzativi e finanziari del sistema d’intelligence, si sono presentati infatti solo 15 dei paesi membri dell’organizzazione nord-atlantica. Si tratta di Bulgaria, Canada, Danimarca, Estonia, Germania, Italia, Lettonia, Lituania, Lussemburgo, Norvegia, Repubblica Ceca, Romania, Slovacchia, Slovenia e Stati Uniti d’America. Per la gestione e il coordinamento delle attività di sviluppo e implementazione dell’AGS, le nazioni aderenti al PMOU hanno dato vita a due nuove agenzie, la NATO AGS Management Organisation (NAGSMO) e la NATO AGS Management Agency (NAGSMA). Il Comando Supremo Atlantico di Bruxelles ha inoltre comunicato che la piena capacità del sistema di sorveglianza terrestre sarà raggiunta entro il 2012, anticipando di un anno i tempi previsti.
Nel corso della riunione dei Ministri della Difesa della NATO di Cracovia, il 19 e 20 febbraio 2009, è stata formalizzata la scelta della stazione aeronavale di Sigonella quale “principale base operativa” dell’AGS. “Abbiamo scelto questa base dopo un’attenta valutazione e per la sua centralità strategica nel Mediterraneo che le consentirà di concentrare in quella zona le forze d’intelligence italiane, della NATO e internazionali”, ha dichiarato il Capo di Stato Maggiore della Difesa, generale Vincenzo Camporini. Nella grande infrastruttura militare siciliana saranno ospitati i sistemi di comando e di controllo del’AGS, centralizzando le attività di raccolta d’informazioni ed analisi di comunicazioni, segnali e strumentazioni straniere. Sigonella si trasforma così in un’immensa centrale di spionaggio, un “Grande Orecchio”, della NATO capace di spiare, 24 ore al giorno, un’area che si estende dai Balcani al Caucaso e dall’Africa al Golfo Persico.
La stazione aeronavale ospiterà inoltre la componente di volo del sistema di sorveglianza, costituita da sei sofisticati velivoli senza pilota (UAV). In un comunicato stampa del 25 settembre scorso, gli alti comandi NATO hanno spiegato che “il segmento aereo dell’AGS Core sarà basato sulla versione Block 40 dell’aereo “RQ-4B Global Hawk” di produzione statunitense, dotato di un’autonomia di volo superiore alle 30 ore ed in grado di raggiungere i 60.000 piedi di altezza, in qualsiasi condizione meteorologica”.
(…)
“Grazie all’Alliance Ground Surveillance, la NATO acquisirà una considerevole flessibilità nell’impiego della propria capacità di sorveglianza di vaste aree di territorio in modo da adattarla alle reali necessità operative”, ha dichiarato Peter C. W. Flory, vicesegretario generale per gli Investimenti alla difesa dell’Alleanza Atlantica. “L’AGS è essenziale per accrescere la capacità di pronto intervento in supporto delle forze NATO per tutta le loro possibili future operazioni. L’AGS sarà un elemento chiave per assicurare l’assunzione delle decisioni politiche dell’Alleanza e la realizzazione dei piani militari”. Il nuovo sistema non è però un mero mezzo di intercettazione e di spionaggio. Come è stato riconosciuto dal Capo di Stato Maggiore italiano, generale Camporini, nella base di Sigonella sarà allestito un “più avanzato sistema SIGINT”. Il SIGINT, acronimo di Signals Intelligence, è lo strumento d’eccellenza di ogni “guerra preventiva” e ha una funzione determinante per scatenare il “first strike”, convenzionale o nucleare che sia. Una delle articolazioni SIGINT è la cosiddetta ELINT – Electronic Intelligence, che si occupa in particolare d’individuare la posizione di radar, navi, strutture di comando e controllo, sistemi antiaerei e missilistici, con lo scopo di pianificarne la distruzione in caso di conflitto.
Nonostante l’accelerazione inferta al piano di sviluppo dell’AGS, il Comando NATO di Bruxelles ha chiesto un maggiore impegno collettivo ai paesi membri. “La partecipazione al programma resta aperto agli altri Alleati interessati”, ha dichiarato il vicesegretario Peter C. W. Flory, invitando apertamente i partner dell’Europa occidentale e la Polonia a rientrare nell’AGS. Originariamente, il piano di sviluppo del sistema di sorveglianza vedeva associate 23 nazioni.
(…)
Con l’AGS, inevitabilmente, sarà dato nuovo impulso ai processi di militarizzazione del territorio siciliano. Per il funzionamento degli aerei senza pilota e della nuova supercentrale di spionaggio, il ministro della difesa Ignazio La Russa ha annunciato l’arrivo nell’isola di un “NATO Force Command di 800 uomini, con le rispettive famiglie”. È prevedibile che saranno presto avviati i lavori per realizzare nuovi complessi abitativi per il personale in forza alla stazione aeronavale. I consigli comunali di Motta Sant’Anastasia (Catania) e Lentini (Siracusa) hanno già adottato quattro progetti di variante ai piani regolatori per l’insediamento di residence e villaggi ad uso esclusivo dei militari statunitensi e NATO.
Dovrebbe essere ormai questione di giorni l’arrivo a Sigonella del plotone di 4-5 velivoli RQ-4B “Global Hawk” dell’US Air Force, destinati ad operare in Europa, Medio oriente e nel continente africano. Nella base siciliana sarà pure realizzato il Global Hawk Aircraft Maintanance and Operations Complex, il complesso per le operazioni di manutenzione degli aerei senza pilota. Il progetto, da finanziare con il budget 2010 dell’Air Force Military Construction, Family Hosusing and base Realignment and Closure Programs, è stato definito di “alto valore strategico” da Kathleen Ferguson, vicesegretaria della Difesa, in occasione della sua audizione davanti al Congresso, il 3 giugno 2009.
(…)
Lo scorso anno, il Pentagono ha assegnato alla Northrop Grumman il piano di sviluppo dei nuovi velivoli senza pilota che saranno utilizzati dalle forze navali. Con la prima tranche del programma, a partire del 2015 saranno forniti 68 “Global Hawk” in versione modificata rispetto a quelli già operativi con l’US Air Force. Spesa prevista 1,16 miliardi di dollari. “Una quarantina di questi velivoli UAV saranno dislocati in cinque siti: Kaneohe, Hawaii; Jacksonville, Florida; Sigonella, Italia; Diego Garcia, Oceano Indiano, e Kadena, Okinawa”, hanno dichiarato i portavoce del Dipartimento della Difesa. “Ad essi, nelle differenti missioni navali in tutte le aree del mondo, si affiancheranno i velivoli con pilota P-8 Multi-Mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA), che stanno sostituendo i P-3 Orion in servizio dal 1962”. L’US Navy ha già preannunciato che le “front lines” per la dislocazione dei nuovi P-8 saranno le stazioni aeronavali di Diego Garcia, Souda Bay (Grecia); Masirah (Oman); Keflavik (Islanda), Roosevelt Roads (Porto Rico) e l’immancabile Sigonella.

Da A Sigonella la megacentrale di spionaggio NATO, di Antonio Mazzeo.

Der Themenbaum findet sich in Flaschenpost 26.

Der Themenbaum ist die theoretische Auffaltung der

Organisation. Alle die beim Aufbau der Piratenpartei

mitmachen, können hier alle eigenen Ambitionen

verorten. Finden, wo eine Idee hinpasst.

Bislang sind die AGs der Piraten der sozio-kulturelle

Ort, wo ehrenamtlich diskutiert und gearbeitet wird.

Die Selbstfindung der Piratenpartei muss auf die

Piratensatzung und das BGB eingespielt werden.

&

As jewelry professionals we hear all kinds of stories, and I mean all kinds.  And just about very day we have at least one that makes us go, “hmmm.” In addition to our posts about gemological facts, jewelry history and myths, we’re also going to share some of these strange and amusing stories. Here’s one of the most recent ones.

We had a gentleman — we’ll call him Dan — inquiring about loose diamonds. He started the conversation by telling us that he had been looking at diamond rings at Sam’s Club and he wanted to know if we are competitively priced with Sam’s. Our sales associate, Heather, said that yes, our prices are competitive but we carry higher-quality goods than Sam’s so we aren’t comparing apples to apples.

Dan continued by saying that Sam’s has a “fine” line that includes $10,000 diamond rings that come with GFI certificatiaons, so some of their diamonds probably are the same as ours. Heather said she was not familiar with GFI and that diamond grades can vary significantly depending on who is doing the grading. She said many of the stones sold at our store come with GIA (Gemological Institute of America) or AGS (American Gem Society) laboratory certificates. She explained that GIA and AGS are independent laboratories that have been around for many years and are the most reputable and well-known for diamond grading. In addition to the grades that GIA and AGS assign to the diamonds, our appraiser — who is a graduate gemologist educated through GIA — inspects and grades all the diamonds that go out on our sales floor to insure that they really are what we tell you they are. Heather further told Dan that a lot of jewelry manufacturers will create their own certificates to make their jewelry look higher-quality than it actually is, rather than using an independent lab that will have less bias and grade it accurately.

After viewing three loose diamonds with GIA certificates and discussing possible solitaire mountings, Dan said he needed to write down the prices and go back to Sam’s to make sure he was getting a good deal for his money if he purchased a diamond from us. Although he wanted to support local businesses he wanted to make sure he wasn’t getting “ripped off.”

Heather reminded Dan that our store provides better jewelry service than Sam’s — afterall, we are a jewelry store. In addition to higher-quality merchandise, we provide services like customization, ring sizing, a complimentary appraisal, free lifetime inspection and professional cleaning. Our sales associates are specifically trained in diamonds so they can help you find the perfect diamond.

With an independent jeweler like us, you’re not limited to the mass-produced goods available at Sam’s and we can do a special search to find a diamond that fits all of your parameters. Price is not the only factor when purchasing jewelry. You should also consider the quality of the materials including the metal and diamond (yes, the 4Cs: color, cut, clarity and carat weight), as well as the quality of the setting job and the services included.

If price is your only concern, perhaps Sam’s Club is right for you. But if you don’t want to wait for someone to finish handing out meat samples before they can help you find a mediocre jewelry item, head to a locally-owned independent jeweler to find exquisite jewelry that will become a family heirloom. If the store is anything like our 65-year-old family business, it is not looking to rip you off by jacking up prices. Our store wouldn’t be around after all these years if we were in the habit of ripping people off.

And if you’re wondering what Dan decided, we don’t know! He’s still thinking about it. He came back to talk to Heather, but ended up talking to Kaylee since it was Heather’s day off. He asked Kaylee all the same questions and she provided all the same information. We’ll let you know what happens, but we’re guessing price is going to get him.

So I’ve been on the job here at Larimer County, CO for a few weeks.  I got called off a week and a half for jury duty and now I’m back getting my GIS on.  For anyone who has served as a juror on a hardcore, mind wrenching criminal trial, you’ll know how freakin hard it is for a week or so to get your nice cozy life back.  Anyway, task number one:  Load AGS 931 onto one of our production servers.  No problem, I’ve done this a thousand and one times… at my old job.   [sound of loud annoying "gotcha" buzzer in ear]

After doing the install, post install and post post install I fire up the .Net web AGS Manager.  Great, no problems.  Then I kick off ArcCatalog, try to create an admin connection to the newly reconfigured GIS server and BLAMMO!  I get the dreaded “Access Denied: Either the SOM service on machine xxx is not started or the user attempting this connection is not a member of the agsuser or agsadmin group and cannot be granted access to the SOM” error.

Ok, no problem, I’ll just make sure my user account is a member of the agsadmin group.  Yup, sure is.

Five hours later with very little hair left on my head, I stumble across the solution(s).

First thing (thanks to mind numbing amount of reading on ESRI forums) was to go into Component Services on the server and enable (it was disabled) Distributed COM as in the following diagram.

Enable Distributed COM on this computer

I reboot the server, fire up ArcCatalog, attempt to create GIS server admin connection and now I get a new error.  OK, progress.  The new error simply says, “Access Denied“.

I then get the bright idea to checkout the user settings on our other production AGS server and find that ArcGISSOC/SOM/WebServices accounts are all members of the Administrators group.

I duplicate that configuration, reboot and presto, ArcCatalog can now administer GIS services on the AGS931 server.

Moral of this story?  Hope to JackD that when you do a full reinstall of ArcGIS Server, you find the solution to your inevitable problems before you decide that throwing yourself under the loud, annoying train right outside your window would be a less painful solution.

Cut graded dossier certificate

Lots of light loss (red) in an ideal cut diamond

Very little light loss (red) in a nice ideal cut diamond

This question has been posed by several people from time to time, and most people think it is true.

The answer is no, they are NOT all the same.

The actual answer is more complicated. On paper based on the certificates they come with they may appear to be the same but there are differences.  Sometimes the differences are major.

Even AGS (American Gem Society) and GIA (Gemological Institute of America) two of the most accurate and respected grading laboratories do not have the same criteria to determine the ideal cut. It is our observation is that AGS is stricter in their cut grading than GIA.

There are several machines that will visually assess light return and light loss in a diamond. They are the Idealscope, Firescope, our Diamond Photoscope and equipment by GCAL (Gem Certification and Assessment Lab).

Using these equipment you can actually determine which of several ideal cut diamonds are better. The range can actually be quite diverse and with the naked eye once you know what to look for you can actually see the difference.

To choose just by looking at the certificate information is not the best method to buy your diamond if you are looking for the nicest one. You should have someone with access to one of the previously mentioned equipment to verify the best light return before you pay for that diamond if you want the most beautiful, brilliant, fiery diamond.

Russell Oshita,
The Diamond Specialists Inc.
Diamonds Hawaii