Cyrus Vance Jr. during the inaugural National Prosecutorial Summit, October 21, 2014.
For most of his eight years as Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus Vance Jr. has kept a low enough profile that politicos pause a second at the mention of his name, remembering that he isn’t his father, the Washington wise man who served as Jimmy Carter’s secretary of state. Junior’s biggest initiative has been effective but characteristically wonkish: applying data analysis to crime-fighting.
Cy Jr.’s name recognition certainly has skyrocketed in the past two weeks. He’s under fire as never before, accused of bad judgment and dubious ethics. First came news that he’d dropped a 2012 criminal investigation of Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. over their misleading statements to prospective condo buyers—after a conversation with Trump family lawyer Marc Kasowitz, one of the largest donors to Vance’s political campaigns (Vance has said that Kasowitz and the contributions “had no influence whatsoever on my decision-making in the case”). Then The New Yorker, as part of a devastating story by Ronan Farrow, released two minutes of audio, recorded in 2015 by the New York Police Department, in which Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, now accused by more than two dozen women of sexual harassment and assault, essentially admits to groping a 22-year-old Filipina-Italian model and actress, Ambra Battilana Gutierrez.
A spokeswoman for Vance said the Strauss-Kahn episode did not affect the office’s subsequent pursuit of sexual-assault cases “in the slightest,” and pointed to other high-profile defendants who have been successfully prosecuted, for similar offenses, by the district attorney. Yet with Weinstein’s piggishness finally exposed, Vance is enduring the harshest glare of his low-key tenure, with his competence and ethics questioned. Not that he’s in danger of losing his job anytime soon: he ran unopposed in New York’s Democratic primary in September, and next month, in the general election, Cyrus Vance Jr. will face only a long-shot write-in opponent.


After the box leaked online earlier this week, Lego has officially taken the wraps off its Simpsons set.
The Lego Simpsons set is coming, officially confirmed by Lego: the house at 742 Evergreen Terrace has been turned into a massive 2325-piece set, with six minifigs: the five members of the Simpsons family and Ned Flanders.
The house itself is hinged, and the roof is removable, so that you can recreate some of your favourite Simpsons moments (except, perhaps, "various eggs"), with the rooms fully kitted out with furniture, appliances and accessories.
The set also includes a barbecue for Homer, a skateboard ramp for Bart and the pink Simpsons family car.
A lot of the pieces seem to have been custom-moulded for the set, too, including the minifigs themselves, Bart's skateboard and Homer's (well, Ned's) wheelbarrow.
Additionally, a Lego-themed Simpsons episode will air in May.
The set will go on sale on 1 February in the US and Europe, retailing for US$199.99. In Australia, it will be available online as of 1 February, and available in stores as of May 2014. Pricing has yet to be announced, but we estimate it will be somewhere in the realm of AU$300.
Meanwhile, you can check out more pics of the set here and here.


School Shooters Are Rarely Female. What Does That Mean for Schools?
Police arrested a 12-year-old girl suspected of shooting two students in the classroom of Salvador Castro Middle School in Los Angeles Thursday morning. Later that evening, they said they believed the shooting was unintentional and that the student had been booked on charges of negligent discharge of a firearm, the Los Angeles Times reported.
But before police shared details of the shooting or the suspect's motive, her gender stood out in news reports.
School shooting suspects are almost always male. Why is that? And what does it mean for school safety?
For much of the day Thursday, the incident seemed like a typical school shooting, apart from the gender and young age of the suspected shooter.
A 15-year-old boy was in critical but stable condition with a gunshot wound to the head, and a 15-year-old girl was in fair condition after she was shot in the wrist, police said in a press conference Thursday afternoon. Three others, an adult and two students, suffered more minor abrasion injuries, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Police later said they believed the girl discharged the semiautomatic handgun unintentionally.
"Someone decided to bring a gun, I guess someone was accidentally playing around with it," a student told the Times. "They thought it was a fake gun."
Police arrested the suspect and evacuated students from the school before launching an investigation. Officials had not named the suspect by Thursday evening.
While it is rare, there have also been female suspects in intentional school shootings.
There's a common misconception that school attackers are all young, white, socially isolated men who play too many violent video games. But school safety experts have said that profile is far too narrow and that schools need to be responsive to the safety concerns and social and emotional needs presented by all students to create a safe environment.
But it is striking that most school shootings, and most mass shootings in general, are perpetrated by male suspects. An Education Week analysis of news reports found four incidents where at least one person was injured as the result of a shooting at a K-12 school or school-related event in 2018. Of those incidents, only the Los Angeles shooting involved a female suspect. The trend is even starker looking back through years of data collected by other organizations; only a handful of identified suspects are women or girls.
"Most violent crime is perpetrated by males," said Peter Langman, a psychologist who studies school shootings and has authored several books about them. "The fact that school shooters are typically male is part of the overall phenomenon of violence being a predominantly male phenomenon."
In the case of "rampage shootings," perpetrators often have a sense of "damaged masculinity," which Langman defines as a sense of failure or inadequacy in parts of their life that they have linked to male identity, like sexuality or physical strength, he said.
Some bullying researchers have also said concerns about heterosexual, masculine gender norms can feed bullying problems among male students. They've urged schools to adopt bullying policies that prohibit harassment on the basis of real or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity.
"There is actually no stereotype," Dewey Cornell, the director of the Youth Violence Project at the University of Virginia said in 2014. "There is a human tendency to look for predictive factors, but if we apply those to the general population, we will find many false positives."
"A 2002 report by the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center, prepared after the agency analyzed 37 school attacks that occurred between 1974 and 2000, concluded that "there is no accurate or useful 'profile' of students who engaged in targeted school violence."
Acts of school violence have been carried out by attackers of all races, ages, disciplinary histories, and family backgrounds. And, though perpetrators are typically male, women have also played roles in mass attacks, experts on such incidents say.
In the events analyzed, attackers fell all along the social spectrum, from popular students to "loners," the Secret Service report said.
While the agency didn't find common demographic threads, it did note some psychological trends among attackers: Many "felt bullied, persecuted, or injured by others prior to the attack," many had a history of suicide attempts or feelings of depression or desperation, and most had no history of criminal behavior.
And, in 31 of the 37 events studied by the Secret Service, shooters told at least one person about their plans beforehand, the report said. Threat-assessment experts say that such "leakage" is common, and that attackers often leave more subtle clues that they are distressed, even if they don't explicitly detail their plans in conversations."
So, while most shooters are male, schools should seek to be aware of the needs of all students, working to create a supportive environment and reduce social isolation, safety experts said. That's because school shooters don't usually "just snap," and often hint at their plans in advance. Addressing school climate concerns is important for the educational success of all students, even if they don't have a violent intent, researchers say.
Police provided very few details about the circumstances behind the Los Angeles shooting Thursday, and they did not say if the school had any previous concerns about the student they arrested, how she obtained the weapon, or how she came to fire it in school.
Cornell has worked to develop a threat-assessment model that schools can use to respond to such concerns. Education Week's Lisa Stark recently interviewed Cornell for this piece she did for the PBS Newshour about preventing school violence.


‘Tis the season to eat, drink and be merry, but if your primary interest is in that second verb there, you’ll need a cache of cheery Yuletide cocktails. With nods to seasonal favorites (hello, Mr. Nutmeg), festive twists on old classics and quirky concoctions sure make you host(ess) of the year, you can’t go wrong with this compilation of “spirited” drinks.
Cranberries are a staple of the holiday season. In fact, according to Michigan State University, it’s likely the tart red fruit graced the first Thanksgiving table (but likely not in the jellied form often enjoyed today). Don’t stand by while those cranberries play second fiddle to turkey all season long. This festive martini from Cheers to the Host combines smooth Gentleman Jack with tart cranberry juice, then tops it all off with a splash of sweet ginger ale for a martini that’s anything but dirty.
With the pressure of hosting the perfect holiday soiree, you’ve got more to worry about than your beverage cart (although, to be honest, that’s likely what’s most important to your guests). This simple cocktail is easy on the grocery list and puts a sweet spotlight on a seasonal standard: ginger. Combine Gentleman Jack with either ginger ale or ginger beer (there’s a difference, as explained in the recipe), then top with a squeeze of fresh lime. It’s a crowd pleaser you’ll never have to sweat over.
It may be the season’s most divisive flavor, but those who love eggnog really love eggnog. But the same old cocktail year after year can get tired, so put a twist on (but not a twist in, because, gross) your eggnog this year by spiking it with something unexpected. This version from All Recipes adds whiskey to the traditional rum for an unexpected delight. Sprinkle with a little nutmeg and you’ll be sure to thrill your guests — well, the ones who like eggnog, anyway.
It’s the holiday season, so you can do things you usually don’t — like opt for an espresso cocktail rather than the same old espresso after dinner (or lunch, no judgment here). This luscious cocktail from Drink Me embraces everyone’s favorite vices: coffee, cream, vanilla and really good whiskey. Combine Gentleman Jack with vanilla sugar syrup, espresso and coffee cream liqueur for a good shake. Dust with chocolate shavings if your celebration calls for a little (more) indulgence.
The weather outside is frightful, so a hot cocktail is more than delightful — it’s practically required. Redbook calls this recipe one of the coziest cocktails for cold weekends. Bonus: It’s easy to make, with no shaker required! Combining whiskey, vermouth, taverna and maple syrup with hot water, this drink certainly goes down smooth. Stand by tradition and serve this in a canning jar, or get cozy with your favorite holiday mug. And feel free to make a little extra — there’s a long winter ahead.
If apples, oranges, cloves and cinnamon sticks don’t say “I’m never venturing out into the snow ever again,” then what does? These flavors will make you want to stay in all evening — especially if you opt for the warm version. This recipe from Mollie Stone’s Markets mixes the coziest flavors of the year — cinnamon, cloves and apple cider — with Gentleman Jack for a festive drink you can serve warm or cold. Just simmer the ingredients together and you’re ready to drink and be merry (the “eat” part is optional).


An FBI agent issuing a search warrant for a man wanted for murder was shot in an apartment in Las Vegas on Tuesday evening, KTNV 13 reports.
The agent, who has not yet been identified, was wearing a protective vest and did not sustain serious injuries, the ABC affiliate reported.
The FBI was serving a warrant at the Sonoma Shadows Apartment complex when the suspect fired a gun from a window, striking the agent, according to KTNV 13.
The suspect was taken into custody following a standoff with authorities.
Posted: 5/22/13 at 9:39 AM under FBI, News Story.


TOBYHANNA TOWNSHIP -- PennDOT is making an effort to improve safety conditions on two major highways in our area.
On Monday, crews began installing guide rails along Interstate 380 in Monroe County to prevent vehicles from crossing over the median and into oncoming traffic. PennDOT also plans to place them along Interstate 80 in Monroe and Carbon Counties.
PennDOT is placing the new guide rails along the interstates in an effort to prevent drivers from crossing over the medians and into the opposite lanes.
"I definitely think it's something that should have been done a long time ago, but as long as they're getting it done now, definitely,” said Jennifer Greeley from Tobyhanna.
“I drive down that road and cars are really crazy and like I said, you're a good driver, but you don't know good the other driver is, and next thing you know, there goes an accident,” said Diana Cruz from Tobyhanna.
The guide rails are going in after several crossover crashes resulted in deaths on those highways.
One horrific crash happened in June 2015 on Interstate 380 near the Tobyhanna exit. Investigators say a trailer tractor crossed over from the southbound lanes into the northbound lanes, causing a tour bus carrying tourists from Italy to hit the rig's trailer. The bus driver and two of his passengers died.
“It was a horrible, horrible accident, so I think it's a good thing. It's about time, don't you think?” said Mary Anne Katz from East Stroudsburg.
“That was terrible, the bus burned completely. That was horrible,” said Nathan Thomas from Tobyhanna.
Last November, two children and a man died after the man's box truck crossed into the opposite lanes, hitting the car with the children on Interstate 80 at the Tannersville exit.
“It's just sad. Every day in the newspaper or the news, it's just somebody from our community, somebody that the kids go to school with, somebody that you see in the supermarket,” said Greeley.
PennDOT says this is $2.1 million project, and it will be installing a mixture of concrete barriers, cable guide rails, and traditional guide rails.
Great job PENNDOT. Keep up the great work.
Would have been timely in May of 2015.
It’s always after the fact, isn’t it?
They can save money by putting up one barrier down the center of the median, instead of on both sides.


News items related to DMD DataTrac Suite as issued by the Send2Press Newswire service on behalf of the noted news source.
SAN DIEGO, Calif. (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Del Mar DataTrac (DMD), the leading provider of affordable mortgage lending automation solutions, and an industry pioneer in business intelligence, paperless lending, and loan process workflow tools, has named John Aslanian vice president of sales. Aslanian has been DMD’s director of sales since 2007.


McChord, who started the online security company Datto in 2007 in his father's basement, will step down as CEO.
McChord, who started the online security company in 2007 in his father's basement, will step down as CEO.
Austin McChord will step down as CEO of Datto, the computer data protection company he founded 11 years ago that has grown into a $1 billion industry giant.
McChord, 32, a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology, founded Total Data Protection Solutions, which later became Datto, as a college student in his father’s basement in 2007. The company provides data backup and disaster recovery services and products.
Since then, the company, which is headquartered in Connecticut, has grown to employ hundreds of employees and was one of Inc. 500 fastest growing companies for several years running.
It opened an office in Rochester in 2014, and currently employs 225 people in the area, and a total of more than 1,400 employees in 22 offices globally.
While McChord is stepping down as CEO in November and will have "much less of a role in the day-to-day business," he is going to remain on Datto’s board, he said Tuesday.
"The decision I made was a very personal one," he said. "I've basically done Datto my entire life. It's been a 24/7, 365 job. And a life that is just Datto is not a life well lived."
Datto was acquired almost exactly a year ago by Vista Equity Partners and merged with Autotask Corp. McChord became CEO of the new company.
Datto is in a strong place right now, said McChord, making it possible for him to step aside.
In the coming months and years, he plans to help lift up other early stage companies, potentially others coming out of RIT, he said.
"I basically want to help the next two or three Austin McChords build big, awesome, exciting things," he said.
Datto President and Chief Operations Officer Tim Weller will fill in as CEO in the interim, and is a candidate in a larger CEO search, said McChord.
McChord wrote a note to employees about the news, praising them for their work and dedication to Datto, and saying that the identity of the company lies with the employees.
McChord’s instincts in fostering his fledgling company in the early years helped grow Datto into what it is today. He earned a series of patents for innovations that enabled the company to ensure its customers would not lose their critical information. It promised to restore the data almost immediately if disaster struck.
That principle was put to the test in 2012 when Hurricane Sandy knocked one client offline, a high-frequency trading firm. McChord says Datto had them restored and back in business in a matter of minutes.
More: Who is Austin McChord?
He has won multiple awards and accolades during his time with Datto, including a spot on the Forbes “30 under 30” list in 2015.
He has been heavily involved at RIT as a speaker and benefactor — he donated $50 million to the university last year to help fund the school’s entrepreneurship, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence programs and facilities. That was the largest single donation in the school’s history.
“I would not be here if it were not for my time at RIT," said McChord at the time. "This is where I first had the idea of starting my company."
McCord hopes he will have more time now to build relationships with RIT staff and students, and help facilitate future business success stories out of the university, he said Tuesday.
Datto, was the region’s first START-UP NY company when it opened in downtown Rochester four years ago. The company recently unveiled a new space in The Metropolitan, complete with a slide and sleeping pods.
"I continue to be an enormous advocate in Rochester....and of course Datto continues to hire and grow in Rochester as well," he said. The space has the capacity for 350 to 400 employees, and there are about 120 positions open in Rochester right now, said McChord.
Weller echoed that sentiment, saying that Rochester has been a "phenomenal location for us."
"It's part of the fabric," Weller said.
Includes reporting from Sean Lahman and Meaghan McDermott.


We are somewhere in the jungle, deep in the heart of the cinematic and moral darkness that the movie industry has made of Vietnam. We are in the land of "Rambo: First Blood II" (citywide). Ominous Jerry Goldsmith music throbs. The air reeks with sweat and tangled foliage. A squad of Soviets is searching for one man, one walking hunk of slaughter and vengeance: John Rambo--beside whom Superman is a wimp and James Bond a Piccadilly hairdresser.
Their tread is soft, their faces wary. Rambo, armed with nothing but a knife, and bow and arrow, has already wasted at least a hundred of their best. He is obviously no one to be trifled with.
One of the soldiers pauses by an embankment of pure mud. Suddenly, the mud stirs. The mud breathes. The mud glares angrily at the marauding Soviet. The mud reaches out with one tawny mud-arm, throttles the invader and sends a hunting knife deep into his chest. Blood and mud commingle, and at last we see: This is no ordinary mudbank, this is the indefatigable Rambo, in another of his multitudinous (if muddy) disguises--Rambo the mud-man, battalion of one.
The absurdity of this sequence should alert you to the movie surrounding it. "Rambo" is an inane sequel to a fairly good melodrama; another example of an attempt to repeat an earlier success that goes wildly out of scale.
In "First Blood," Sylvester Stallone's Rambo was a disconsolate Vietnam vet who, pushed too far in a small Northwestern town, battled to the death with its police, and nearly won.
Somehow--perhaps because of Stallone's taciturn charisma, perhaps care in the direction, perhaps sheer speed--this incredible tale was made plausible. But nothing on earth, not even narration by Walter Cronkite, could perform that miracle here.
Now, Rambo is not battling a mere town, a mere police force, a mere highway patrol. Now he is battling the combined Soviet and Vietnamese armies--and his own Washington superiors as well. And, from Stallone's glower when he asks Green Beret commander Richard Crenna, "Are they gonna let us win this time?" we see that only "they" could stop him. Hand this man a switchblade and he could carve off the U.S.S.R. with one stroke and hurl it into space.
That's the problem with the movie. If a character can seemingly do anything, it's hard to feel tension or concern about his fate. (At least, Superman had kryptonite.) We are left with nothing but detached aesthetic appreciation: watching Rambo race through several million dollars worth of explosions and aerial attacks, coruscant fireballs billowing everywhere and bodies flying hither and yon. Except for anyone irretrievably into violent power fantasies, this will probably soon pall.
There's more than an addled premise (Rambo alone rescuing America's MIAs). There's the sort of love interest you thought vanished with Debra Paget's old Indian robes: the alleged Vietnamese guide Co Bao (Julia Nickson), who wears mascara and guerrilla pantaloons, has light eyes and speaks dialogue of the "we go now, forget me never" variety.
One cannot call the film unprofessional. The cast is good, Jack Cardiff photographs Acapulco (disguised as Indochina) stunningly, Mark Goldblatt and Mark Helfrich edit with machine-gun crispness and a dozen stunt men and pilots continually raise the hair on your head. Director George Cosmatos ("The Cassandra Crossing") marshals these forces with the gusto of a Westmoreland, the warmth of a Patton, the wit of a Zhukov.
But "Rambo" is a movie with absolutely no inner life. It's a series of exhortations punctuated by bomb bursts. (The screenplay, co-written by Stallone and "The Terminator's" James Cameron, oddly combines Cameron's zingy paranoia with Stallone's muscle-flexing optimism.) At the end, when Rambo, asked what he wants out of life, screams hoarsely that America must recognize and accept Vietnam vets, it seems less a logical response from a fatigued (and mud-spattered) hero than Stallone yelling his guts out to audiences everywhere.
Wouldn't it be nobler testimonial to the men who suffered in Vietnam to recognize their non-combatant contributions and to help them in battling scourges like indifference and Agent Orange-related diseases, rather than dream up multimillion-dollar fantasies about winning a war that ended more than a decade ago?
'RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD II' A Tri-Star release. Producer Buzz Feitshans. Director George Cosmatos. Script Sylvester Stallone, James Cameron. Executive producers Mario Kassar, Andrew Vajna. Camera Jack Cardiff. Music Jerry Goldsmith. Editors Mark Goldblatt, Mark Helfrich. Production designer Bill Kenney. Costumes Tom Bronson. Helicopter unit director Peter MacDonald. With Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Charles Napier, Steven Berkoff, Julia Nickson, Martin Kove, George Kee Cheung.


Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare said on Friday he will start a 'satyagraha' in New Delhi on the first day of winter session, for the passage of Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had assured to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill in the last monsoon session. But the central government did not present the bill in Rajya Sabha as assured, Hazare said at his Ralegan Siddhi village about 40 km from Ahmednagar.
"I will start a hunger strike at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi and the people must agitate in their tehsil, DM's offices, till we get a strong Jan Lokpal," said the activist, who is busy making micro plans for his forthcoming nationwide agitation for the anti-corruption Bill.
Hazare appealed to the nation and the youths to organise a non-violent 'satyagraha' along with him, similar to the one he took up on August 16, 2011.
The subsequent popular agitation had forced the government to convene a special meet of Parliament, which passed a resolution, agreeing with three of his crucial demands.
The septuagenarian demanded that the prime minister should urge the President to convene a special session of Parliament as the Bill is pending for close to two years after being passed in Lok Sabha.
After being passed in the Lok Sabha in December 2011, the nill was referred to a select committee of the Rajya Sabha, which is yet to submit its report.
The government lacks the will to stop corruption and bring in Jan Lokpal Bill, while it has passed lot of other bills like on food security, land, election reforms, pension, etc, Hazare lamented. The activist had earlier this year toured the country after the formation of Jantantra Morcha.


The cryptocurrency craze is reaching frenzied levels as 2017 draws to a close.
Barely in the cents when trading was started at the beginning of this decade, the price of the signature currency - bitcoin - has jumped some twentyfold this year from nearly US$ 1,000 to surge past the US$20,000 mark.
While monetary authorities in various parts of the world are sounding the alarm about the intrinsic value of cryptocurrencies, there is a lesser-known danger posed by these "cryptos" (as they are sometimes known). Beneath the veneer of a fast buck, little attention is paid to the exact magnitude of energy that is required round the clock to churn out such currencies.
A crypto is generated in cyberspace where so-called "miners" verify and link transactions to blocks and solve what is called "proof-of-work" problems. These are complicated mathematical problems that get increasingly harder to solve. Miners thus have to demonstrate the work done to find a "hash" that is acceptable and this is shown through the amount of processing power used. In other words, the value of a crypto comes from the computations done.
Therein lies the problem. Computer processing in itself is energy intensive. To create cryptos, much electricity is needed to run the processors. In addition, these emit much heat when in operation. Huge fans are needed to cool the systems so that they do not break down, and this causes even more energy to be used.
The ongoing race is for the miners to have the fastest processors to solve problems of escalating difficulty. In the beginning, consumer-grade systems such as graphics processing units could be used to generate cryptos. But this is not possible now and professional miners currently deploy high-end application-specific integrated circuit chips which are solely dedicated for crypto-mining.
The race for cryptos has reached a stage where a whole new industry of cryptocurrency mining is being spawned.
China alone accounts for 58 per cent of the bitcoin mines. But the "dirty secret" is that many of these mines run on electricity from coal, which is a most environmentally unfriendly source of energy (in total, China gets 60 per cent of its electricity from coal). As an illustration, there is a mine in Inner Mongolia, a province of China, which has eight metal warehouses, each 100m long, with a total of 25,000 computers just to mine bitcoins. Interestingly, there are also clusters of mines in the provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan that tap the on-site sources of hydroelectricity.
Other countries are chasing the crypto trophy too. It is reported that the Russians are seriously keen on dominating crypto mining. We are facing a stage where massive amounts of energy will be consumed for the creation of cryptos. This goes beyond the bitcoin itself. In fact, there are now more than 1,300 types of cryptos and the number is increasing rapidly given the ongoing rage of ICOs - initial coin offerings.
So how much energy is actually utilised in the production of cryptocurrencies, particularly bitcoins? As a quick gauge, a single bitcoin transaction has been reported to use the same amount of energy to power nine homes in the United States for one day.
The total computing power amassed by the bitcoin network is some 100,000 times larger than the world's 500 fastest supercomputers put together.
In terms of energy amount, the bitcoin hardware taps some 31 terawatt-hours per year (1 terawatt is 1 trillion watts or 1 million million watts). This amount is greater than the energy usage of 150 countries or three-quarters of all countries in the world.
The even worse news is that the energy consumption of bitcoins is rising at an increasing rate per day. As of now, this rate is estimated to be 450 gigawatts per day (1 gigawatt is 1 billion watts).
As a related worry, there are even cases where cyber criminals are using "botnets" to exploit the processing power of their victims' computers through hidden software embedded in popular websites. There are probably about 220 such websites that carry these software with a global reach of some 500 million users. In other words, half a billion people may be unwittingly mining cryptos for other people who exploit free computing power for their illegitimate benefits.
But the greatest worry is what will happen if cryptos' ravenous appetite for power continues unchecked. According to one projection by Digiconomist, a cryptocurrency publication, more energy will be exhausted by bitcoins than the whole of the US by July 2019, and the entire world's energy consumption will be surpassed by the end of 2020.
Let's compare crypto transactions with those of traditional credit cards. Digiconomist estimated that the present Visa payment system uses the energy equivalent of 50,000 US households to run 350 million transactions, while bitcoin uses the energy equivalent of 2.8 million US households to run 350,000 transactions. In other words, bitcoin transactions are 56,000 times more energy hungry than Visa's.
So the whole crypto craze is not just about the rise and rise of prices. It is also about the fallout from crypto mining's massive and ever-increasing demand for energy. While some analysts disagree with Digiconomist's projection, there is no dispute over crypto mining's very serious - and rising - drain on energy resources.
With all the rhetoric and efforts expended to mitigate global warming and climate change, it seems quite out of place that we forget about the elephant in the room, namely bitcoin. While the miners and speculators are laughing all the way to the bank, the rest of us are paying the price for their free-riding on the environment.
the bitcoin hardware taps some 31 terawatt-hours per year. This amount is greater than the energy usage of 150 countries or three-quarters of all countries in the world.
Naturally, regulation is the solution for any problem that has an externality where costs are borne by others. This is indeed the case for pollution, as we see in carbon taxes or carbon trading schemes.
But cryptos are difficult to regulate as it is difficult to ring-fence the transactions. Tax, in particular, is not feasible. Buyers and sellers will find any jurisdiction that offers the best deal and, in cyberspace, locating such havens is not difficult.
A new global financial order is probably necessary for effective monitoring of crypto advancements before the planet experiences a burnout. That's probably a tall order given the transboundary nature of the problem, not to mention its virtual dimension.
Governments around the world can try to band together and outlaw cryptos altogether but that may not be possible given the inherent nature of the underlying technology. Indeed, cryptos riding on the so-called blockchain approach may have reached the point of no return.
Cryptos are here to stay. The damage their creation is likely to inflict on energy and environmental sustainability is real. We cannot stand by and watch while crypto-scrapers dig for profits at our expense. While they have their blockchains, we lose our food chains.
As individual consumers, we can probably do our bit to protect the world. So, before we buy that bitcoin, think again. •The writer is director of the Centre for Governance, Institutions and Organisations at NUS Business School, National University of Singapore. The centre conducts studies in corporate governance and sustainability.


Ronald B. Lund, 64 years old, died suddenly in his home, July 22, 2013. He was bon in Taunton, son of the late Melvin and Natalie ( Hammond) Lund. He was the beloved husband of Cheryl (Belenger) Lund. Ron was retired from the TMLP where he was a Laboratory Group Supervisor. He was employed by the TMLP for 36 years. He was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed camping and fishing. Besides his wife, Cheryl, he is survived by his daughter Sherry A. Lund and her husband Michael Bagge of Berkley. He is the brother of Janis Mathieu of Taunton and he is also the uncle of several. Relatives and friends are invited to attend Visiting hours on Friday evening Aug. 2, 2013, from 6-8PM, in the Crapo-Hathaway Funeral Home, 350 Somerset Ave., ( Route 138 South) Taunton. To light a candle, get directions or to access the memorial register, go to www.hathawayfunerals.com.
Jose M. Vieira, husband of Ana M. (Dias) Vieira, died at his Taunton home on July 26, 2013. He was 75. Born and raised in St. Michael, Azores, he the son of the late Augusto and Maria Carmo (Dias) Vieira. He moved to the US in 1959, and later settled in Taunton in 1972. Employed by the former Copper Craft Guild for several years, Jose later worked as a gold melter for Stern & Leach of Attleboro, retiring in 2002. He was a communicant of Saint Anthony Church. A sports fan, Jose especially enjoyed soccer, wrestling and hockey. His favorite pastime was spending time with his family, especially his grandchildren. In addition to his wife of Taunton, he leaves two sons, George and Peter Vieira, both of Taunton; a daughter, Tina (Vieira) Bloom and her husband Matthew of Taunton; four grandchildren, Ashley Evans, Noah and Lucas Bloom, and Victoria Vieira; and several nieces and nephews. He was also the brother of the late Maria Leite, Fatima Cabral and Antonio Vieira. His funeral will be held from the Silva Funeral Home, 80 Broadway, Taunton on Wednesday, July 31st at 8 a.m. followed by a funeral mass at St. Anthony Church at 9 a.m. Burial will be at St. Joseph Cemetery. Relatives and friends are invited to attend. Calling Hours will be held at the funeral home on Tuesday July 30th from 5 to 8 p.m. www.silvafuneralhome.com.


Rubber stamp likely in early 2015.
NBN Co expects to have reached a deal to resign its $11.2 billion definitive agreements with Telstra by the end of the year, with the network builder’s chief executive today revealing the two had reached material agreement on the new contract.
The Coalition Government had originally promised to have the historic renegotiation complete by mid-2014, but Telstra boss David Thodey recently said he expected the discussions to continue into 2015.
The signing of the new contract will be vital for the Coalition’s rollout of its new multi-technology mix NBN, which replaces the former predominantly FTTP-approach with a mixture of network technologies - including a larger focus on fibre-to-the-node using Telstra’s infrastructure.
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull in February said the deal would be done “certainly by the middle of the year”, but delays in negotiations relating to where the responsibility for certain issues lies; the regulatory issue of the TPG fibre-to-the-basement threat; and the technical guidelines for the MTM, such as who maintains the last leg of copper lines stretched the discussions out.
The ACCC has since ruled TPG’s rollout of FTTB in capital cities was not in breach of NBN anti-cherry picking provisions, while the federal government is planning to force telcos undertaking such efforts to functionally separate their wholesale and retail businesses and offer rival service providers regulated wholesale services.
At the network builder’s first quarter results briefing today, NBN Co chief executive Bill Morrow said the new agreement was “very close to being signed” and the issue now was more around specific language included in the contract rather than any material differences.
He said he expected the deal to be signed before the end of the year, and the following regulatory and government approvals to stretch into 2015.
NBN Co is also working to resign its $834 million (in today's value) contract with Optus for its HFC network, which Morrow expected would be completed at the same time as the new Telstra deal.
NBN Co reported revenue growth of 32 percent to $29 million for its first quarter of fiscal 2015, and a 16 percent boost in serviceable premises to 639,927 as at the end of September. End users with an active service came in 27 percent higher at 266,984.
When questioned on the discrepancy in the amount of serviceable premises compared to those taking up the service - especially given NBN Co’s goal of 70 percent penetration for the 8 million premises to be connected by 2020 - Morrow said the penetration rate within the 15 FSAMs to be switched off copper indicated the “signs were positive” that the company would reach that goal.
He also revealed NBN Co had integrated all its 121 points of interconnect, and expected the remainder of the transit network - which will link all the POIs with 54,000 kilometres of fibre - to be completed this year.
Morrow also trumpeted the company’s FTTN trial in the NSW suburb of Umina, claiming previously announced average peak download and upload speeds of 90Mbps and 36Mbps respectively.
However, NBN Co chief customer officer John Simon revealed those premises were located close to the node - between 300 and 500 metres away - and the speeds fell to around 50Mbps when the premise was located between 700 and 800 metres out.
He stressed it was an “early trial” on a limited number of customers, and NBN Co would be able to achieve a more accurate statistical sample when it commercialises the nodes later next year.
“Obviously as you go further away, the line rate on the copper drops,” Simon said.
Chief operating officer Greg Adcock emphasised that only four of the customers involved in the trial were receiving speeds under 50 Mbps.
“This is a trial and we are learning,” he said.
“We do have an obligation set by the Government that 90 percent of the fixed-line footprint will be at 50Mbps and no-one will be less than 25Mbps,” CEO Morrow said.
NBN Co reported capital expenditure of $677 million for the period - with a total of $6.3 million so far in the project - and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $252 million.
Operating expenses came in at $281 million, while the company received $997 million worth of Government funding, bringing its total of the allocated $29.5 billion so far to $9.4 billion.
Average revenue per use grew four percent to $39.


This is the third directorial of photographer turned director, Shine.
The wait for Poomaram is not over. The film won’t come as expected on March 9. The latest post by lead actor Kalidas Jayaram on Facebook says the movie would be released in the same month, on a different date. This is his debut in Malayalam. “Due to come technical problems, release of Poomaram on March 9 has slightly been extended,” the post reads.
The Abrid Shine film has been in news and trolls since it has inordinately been delayed for reasons unknown. Poomaram started rolling in 2016. Two songs from the movie were out in the meantime and both were instant hits on YouTube and social media. After a long wait, Kalidas himself had announced in February that the movie is slated for a release on March 9, putting speculations to rest.
This is the third directorial of photographer turned director, Shine. Kalidas made his Kolly debut with Meen Kuzhambum Mann Paanaiyum in 2016. He has one more film, Oru Pakka Kathai, awaiting release. Poomaram also has Kunchacko Boban, Manju Warrier and Meera Jasmine on board.


The total VR market will generate $5.1 billion this year, new report claims.
2016 is poised to be the year that virtual reality really gets going, as Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR, and HTC Vive are all scheduled to make their commercial debuts this year. Now, research group SuperData has put out a report (via IGN) that provides some predictions for how well the systems will sell this year.
According to the report, Europe will lead the way with $1.9 billion in VR sales (hardware, accessories, and software) during 2016. The North American market will hit the No. 2 spot with $1.5 billion, while Asia ($1.1 billion) and the rest of the world ($0.6 billion) will follow.
Put together, the VR industry will generate $5.1 billion in 2016, according to SuperData's report.
That's up from $660 million in 2015, when headsets were only available to developers. SuperData added that it expects the VR market to swell to $8.9 billion in 2017 and climb to $12.3 billion in 2018.
In terms of sales by model, SuperData predicts that "light" mobile VR experiences, such as Google Cardboard, will lead the charge with 27.1 million units sold in 2016. Oculus Rift and HTC Vive are estimated to sell a combined 6.6 million units, "Premium" mobile VR devices like Samsung Gear VR will move 2.5 million units, while Sony's PlayStation VR will come in last with 1.9 million.
By the end of 2016, there VR market will reach an install base of 55.8 million consumers, SuperData said.
"Looking at the consumer market in more detail, we observe that especially younger consumer groups show a strong interest in virtual reality," SuperData said in the report. "However, this consumer group does do not have the spending power necessary to support high-end devices. It is the more mature demographics that have the disposable income, with 18-54-year-olds saying they're willing to spend around $280 for hardware. Likewise, emerging markets like China are volume-reliant since average user revenue is low. Platform holders will initially heavily subsidize their hardware to build up significant market share."
The report also sheds some light on gamer interest by genre. Action leads the way, followed by Action-Adventure, Adventure, FPS, and RPG. Another slide from the report speaks to the level of interest people have in VR and how much money they'd be willing to spend on a device.
Take a look at both charts below to learn more.
The full report, "Virtual Reality Market Brief," is available as a free download here.
SuperData compiled its market estimates from a "consortium of providers," including developers, publishers, and payment service providers. The player behavior and sentiment information, meanwhile, was gathered from a survey of a 557 "qualified" US respondents in November and December 2015.
Oculus Rift preorders open later today. You can reserve a device without paying upfront--and doing so puts you at the front of the line to get an Oculus Touch controller when they ship later in the year.


A man from Alsip has been charged with the fatal shooting of a 33-year-old man in the South Chicago neighborhood, police said.
Brandon Ewing, 24, of the 3700 block of West 119th Street in the south suburb, is accused of shooting Kevin Sanders around 11:10 p.m. Friday in a courtyard between buildings in the 8700 block of South Burley Avenue on the Far South Side, police said.
Sanders suffered several gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at Advocate Trinity Medical Center around midnight Saturday, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. His address was listed as 8900 block of South Mackinaw Avenue.
Prosecutors said that Ewing and Sanders had got into an argument inside the hallway. A witness tried to calm Ewing down, but a short time later the witness saw him with a weapon in his hand.
Sanders exited the building and began to walk towards Ewing who had placed the gun in his waistband. The two began to exchange words again and according to witnesses, Ewing pulled out a gun and fired several shots into Sanders' lower body, prosecutors said.
Sanders fell to the ground and then Ewing stood over him and fired more shots, prosecutors said.
The shooting drew a crowd of angry people out onto the street, where they loudly called for retribution against the man suspected of the killing. Some demanded Ewing to come out of the apartment where he was hiding, prosecutors said.
Police were called to the scene and found Ewing hiding under a bed in an apartment. A semi-automatic handgun was found in the stove of the same apartment, prosecutors said.
Ewing admitted to police that he fired the weapon more than once and that he was outside with Sanders, prosecutors said.
Today Ewing limped into court in a hospital gown and at one point lifted his leg to show Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil his bandaged right thigh. His attorney, Assistant Public Defender Marijane Placek said Ewing shot Sanders in self defense in what essentially was "a shootout."
"This is a case where it is better to be tried by 12 than to be carried by six," Placek told the judge.
Prosecutors said the location of the shell casings found at the scene did not corroborate Ewing's version of events.


Would you kiss a dog?
Heart Breakfast - answering the big questions... like, "Would you kiss a dog?"
Charlie's Boyfriend loves a good snog... the problem is, it's not with her - it's with a dog!
Debra Ludlow-Wilson yeah they are so kissable.. all that fur and the lovely eyes.. plant a kiss right between their eyes!
Alice Trew It is disgusting Charlie!! I love my dog and I give them hugs but the moment they lick me I'm like Ewwwwwwww!!!!!!
Check out Charlie's fella getting off with a pooch!!
Seeing this, you guys decided to show us you kissing your furry friends!!
Chris says, "i've no problem with this.....it's a sign of love and affection...but you do need a flanel close by"
And meet Abbie, puckering up for her King Charles!!


President Bidhya Devi Bhandari is leaving for New York tomorrow, leading a delegation to the High-Level Event on Women in Power being hosted by the President of the UN General Assembly Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces.
Bhandari will address the event on March 12 on the theme of ‘How Women Leaders Change the World’. In the evening of March 11, Bhandari will attend a welcome dinner to be hosted by Garces in honour of women heads of state/government.
On the sidelines of the high-level event, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Garces will call on Bhandari at the UN Secretariat. Bhandari will also hold bilateral meetings with the President of Estonia Kersti Kaljulaid and the President of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic. On the same day, former prime minister of Ireland Mary Robinson will call on Bhandari, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Bhandari will visit the Permanent Mission of Nepal to the UN in New York on March 13. Ambassador of Nepal to the US Arjun Kumar Karki and Permanent Representative of Nepal to the UN Amrit Bahadur Rai will jointly host a reception in Bhandari’s honour.
The president’s delegation comprises Minister of Women, Children and Senior Citizens Tham Maya Thapa; Chairperson of the Parliamentary Women and Social Committee Niru Devi Pal; expert at the Office of the President Laxmi Kumari Karki; Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi; Secretary at the Office of the President Binod KC; Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies Yam Kumari Khatiwada; and other senior officials from the Office of the President, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens of the Government of Nepal.
President Bhandari will return home on March 14.


DETROIT (WXYZ) — Thanks to your help, 7 Action News is celebrating Detroit's Most Wanted 1 00th Capture.
Week after week, our Ann Marie LaFlamme has teamed up with law enforcement to shine light on dangerous criminals. And with your help, the U.S. Marshals have put 100 fugitives in jail.
We invited the U.S. Marshals and members of the DFAT team to Broadcast House Thursday in honor of their efforts to take criminals off the streets and keep our neighborhoods and families safe.
Throughout the day, you'll hear from victims whose lives were changed forever. In 2018, Latisha Battle says her ex-boyfriend, Deron Davis , snuck into her bedroom in the middle of the night and tried to kill her while she was asleep in bed.
Davis was captured in Kansas after U.S. Marshals received a viewer tip.
"I'm strong again, that I can walk down the street knowing ain't nobody gonna touch me or harm me," Battle told Action News.
You'll also hear from local officials discussing the community impact and even revisit our quickest captures.
Stay with 7 Action News all day Thursday to celebrate Detroit's Most Wanted 100th Capture.


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She's been flying back and forth between New York and South Africa every week as she films The Giver.
But the strain of the international travel appeared to have little to no affect on Katie Holmes as she took a break from shooting in Cape Town, on Friday, perhaps thanks to some well applied make-up.
The 34-year-old looked remarkably rested and relaxed as she checked her phone in-between scenes on set of the adaptation of the classic children's novel.
The actress sported a brown leather trench coat as she leaned against a building during her break.
Scrolling through her phone, Katie did belie a hint of fatigue while keeping warm in a pair of motorcycle boots.
Completing her costume was a pair of jeans as she wore her dark locks in a snug bun.
The star has been making the gruelling flight between the two continents - which takes a minimum of 18 hours - regularly so she can spend time with daughter Suri, seven, on the weekends but still be back to film her new movie during the week.
But it was only two days prior that Katie was spotted struggling to stifle a series of yawns as she emerged from hair and makeup on the Cape Town set on Wednesday.
While she was about to step in front of a camera, the Thank You For Smoking star seemed like she was having trouble just putting one foot in front of the other.
Chatting to the production crew, the actress looked over some additional lines as she shuffled along in a long white robe that she wore over a pair of grey pants and grey T-shirt.
The star certainly looked different from when she stepped off the plane the day before on Tuesday.
With not a spot of makeup on and with her locks hardly brushed, she looked like she was far from ready for her closeup.
Poorly fitting jeans and nondescript sweater didn't help elevate her appearance.
The dressed down look was a sharp contrast to the cover girl look she proudly showed off in Manhattan just three days earlier.
With groomed hair and nicely applied lip gloss and eye makeup, she sparkled, looking every bit the glamorous movie star that she is.
But the dedicated actress is clearly intent upon giving her all to The Giver, which is based on the controversial best-selling novel by Lois Lowry.
The book, and now the film, tells the story about a society which has gone to great - and sinister - extremes to make everything equal and peaceful.
The science fiction film is based around Jonas (played by Brenton Thwaites), who learns of the real world outside his idyllic life.
Katie plays his mother, while True Blood star Alexander Skarsgard portrays his father.
The children's novel initially created controversy with many criticising the inappropriateness of the subject matter for children.
The Giver is slated for release on August 15 2014.


The women’s U.S. gymnastic team is expected to bring home the gold from the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro this summer, and apparently Tumblr users are taking on the task of reporting the sport where mainstream media has failed.
Another popular site actually titled The Gymternet was begun by Laura Hopkins, who had previously worked in a law firm and has now been hired by NBC as a gymnastics researcher for their digital broadcast team in Rio for the Games.
Anecdotes like Maroney’s about smiling through her pain are less and less acceptably relegated to the shadows: the audience for gymnastics coverage won’t settle for it. You can and should read the rest of Reeves article here.


Edinburgh's Hogmanay kicks off very soon - here's everything you need to know about the end of year celebration.
When and where does the Torchlight Procession take place?
In recent years the Torchlight Procession has served as an opening ceremony of sorts for Edinburgh's world renowned New Year celebrations. This year the event takes place at 7pm on December 30.
The event has three starting points this year; St Giles Street, South Bridge and North Bridge and will culminate in a spectacular gathering at Holyrood Park, at which torchbearers will form the distinctive shape of Scotland.
14 wooden sculptures representing regions of Scotland and created by the nation's youth will also be set ablaze in a celebration of Scotland's Year of Young People.
Who is playing at the Concert in the Gardens?
The capital's garden party with a difference has boasted to-class talent from far and wide to celebrate previous Hogmanays.
And this year is no different with Glasgow Indie-rock legends Franz Ferdinand set to entertain revellers at this year's gig.
They will be supported by bands Metronomy and Free Love.
Tickets for the event cost between £65 and £75 - you can buy them here.
When does the Street Party kick off and who is playing?
The Street Part hosted by Johnnie Walker gets underway at £7.30pm on New Years Eve with stages set up on Castle Street, South St David Street and by Waverley Station.
With Gerry Cinnamon and DJ Judge Jules the standout acts performing this year.
Meute, Vistas, Elephant Sessions, Miracle Glass Company, Trendy Wendy and The Mac Twins will also be performing at the ticketed event.
Are there any Ceilidhs I can get involved with?
If you want to see the year off in style and enjoy a rousing rendition of Auld Lang Syne then there are a couple options.
The Ceilidh Under the Castle takes place in the West Street Gardens in the shadow of Edinburgh's most famous landmark, with several celebrated ceilidh bands taking part in the festivities. Tickets come in at £60.
Alternatively you can wait till New Year's Day and take part in the family-friendly First Footers Ceilidh at 12.30pm at McEwan's Hall. The event is free, but tickets must be ordered in advance.
Read more about the Ceilidh Under the Castle here and the First Footers Ceilidh here.
Young ones can enjoy the festivities and still be tucked up in bed before the bells at the Bairns Afore event.
And what about New Years Day?
The notorious annual Loony Dook will take place from 12.30pm, with 'Dookers' welcome to march the length of South Queensferry High Street before diving into the Forth.
Alternatively you can take in some traditional Scottish music at the McEwan Hall with Capercaille set to play from 4.30pm. Later in the day Galician multi-instrumentalist Carlos Nunez will be hosting a concert also at McEwan Hall, with tickets available from £28.


Dietrich Bonhoeffer has always been one of my great heroes of the faith. Such appreciation, of course, hardly makes me distinct. Bonhoeffer, the German pastor-theologian who opposed the Nazis and was executed in a concentration camp, is passionately admired by millions of Christians.
One could even compare him to Athanasius, the defender of Christ's divinity whose brave stance also drew state persecution. The fourth-century bishop's unflinching willingness to defy even emperors and their armies was honored with the title "Athanasius contra mundum" (against the world).
Charles Marsh's welcome biography, Strange Glory: A Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Knopf), paints a painstaking portrait of a faithful disciple every bit as resolute against Aryanism as Athanasius was against Arians. Marsh's exquisite eye for detail reveals the sheer unlikelihood of Bonhoeffer's emergence as the boldest opponent of efforts to Nazify the German church.
Athanasius was bishop of Alexandria, the most powerful ecclesiastical figure in the Eastern empire. He wielded so much influence that emperors were afraid of opposing him too forcefully, lest they provoke a popular uprising.
But what power did Bonhoeffer wield in 1933? He was 27 years old, financially dependent on his parents, and virtually bereft of experience in the working world. His sole professional appointment was an unpaid, non-tenure-track position as a voluntary lecturer. Adjunct professors don't normally stand athwart emperors.
May 2014, Vol. 58, No. 4, Pg 53, "The Human Bonhoeffer"


The Michigan Chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society had nearly 200 boats lined up in the Black River between Seventh and 10th streets. The previous record for an ACBS International Boat Show was 146.
It's unlikely they would ever see so many beautiful powerboats in one place again.
Tim and Colette Carlsen of St. Clair check out two 1959 Chris-Craft Silver Arrows during the Antique and Classic Boat Society International Boat Show on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018.
Claude Simpson came from Almont on Saturday "to look at the old Chris-Crafts.
"I think they're beautiful boats," he said. "I wish I was 20 years old — I'd buy one.
"It's a shame when you get enough money to buy one, you're too old to have one."
Tim and Colette Carlson, of St. Clair, were admiring not one, but twin 1959 Chris-Craft Silver Arrows. The boats have the same styling as passenger cars from the era, with wide tailfins and two-tone paint jobs.
"We just came to see the beautiful boats," Tim Carlsen said.
They were enjoying the diversity of watercraft at the Antique and Classic Boat Society International Boat Show.
"We were just talking about how extraordinary it is," Colette Carlsen said. "There are so many boats here we haven't seen before."
The Impulse gleams during the Antique and Classic Boat Society International Boat Show on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018.
Ken Bessey of Tawas and his family and friends got a ride in the Rum Runner, which started life as a 1949 Hacker-Craft triple cockpit, but was converted to a commuter-style boat in 2005.
"It was great," Bessey said about the experience. "It's a beautiful boat, and it runs great."
Nine-year-old Mason Halsey was enjoying a pop in the stern of the America, a 1961 Matthews cruiser owned by David Maize of Harsens Island.
"It's fun to ride in," Mason said. "It has a loud engine. That's what I like."
Mike Weber, of Marine City, and Ken Radjewski, of Harsens Island, both own antique boats, but they left them at home to come enjoy the Port Huron show.
Radjewski said he owns a 1956 Chris-Craft skiff.
"It was my Dad's, and when my Dad passed away, I took them over and bought the boathouse and the boat," he said. "It's just a hobby."
He said he hadn't seen such a display of antique boats before.
"I've been to them in Florida," Radjewski said. "I've been to them in Algonac, and I've been to them Up North.
"This is the biggest display I've ever seen."
Larry and Glenda Day came from Clarkston to look at the boats.
The Wave Trotter heads out with riders during the Antique and Classic Boat Society International Boat Show on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018.
"We both love the woodworking," Glenda Day said, "and this is an awesome display of that."
Michael and Chris Flood brought two boats up from Clay Township, a 1972 Chris-Craft Commander and a 1937 Hacker-Craft triple cockpit.
"It's incredible," Michael Flood said about the show. "I had no idea it would turn out so good."
Tim Butson, a custom boat builder from Bobcaygeon, Ontario, brought a Muskoka-style boat called Impulse to the show. He said the watercraft is modeled on a gentleman's Gold Cup raceboat from the late 1920s.
"It's a wonderful venue," he said. "We've been to a number of international shows before.
"(But) this one is extremely unique because of the amount of big boats in the show. It's something that is completely different from the normal boat show."


Trump hugs a US flag at a rally in October.
One of the United States' most important defense alliances may be unraveled or reoriented by President-elect Donald Trump after he takes office, based on a review of his campaign statements, in a shake-up that would affect the country's longtime role as a global police officer.
It's a position that aligns closely with that of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose spokesman said on Thursday that Putin and Trump "set out the same main foreign policy principles, and that is incredible."
"It is phenomenal how close they are to one another when it comes to their conceptual approach to foreign policy," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in comments broadcast by Russian state TV's Channel One.
"And that is probably a good basis for our moderate optimism that they will at least be able to start a dialogue to start to clear out the Augean stables in our bilateral relations," he said.
Peskov's comments came after reports emerged Thursday morning that the Trump campaign had been in contact with the Kremlin before the election.
Trump has questioned the value of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization along the campaign trail. He has postulated that the US should not be obligated to come to the defense of its NATO allies if they "aren't paying their bills."
Notably, President Barack Obama has also criticized some NATO members in the past for not paying their fair share, and many foreign policy experts have argued that member countries should be pressured by the US to contribute more to the organization's operating costs.
An Abrams main battle tank for US troops deployed in the Baltics as part of NATO's Operation Atlantic Resolve.
But none has gone as far as to suggest, as Trump has, that the US disengage from the alliance completely because some of its members are not living up to various financial obligations.
As many experts say, the value of being allied with strategically positioned nations around the world — and being perceived as a global leader — far outweighs the financial losses that the US might incur from picking up some of the slack.
"Sooner or later, the mess created by a disengaged US will become a threat to the US itself, and the US will have to clean it up eventually to a much larger cost," Magnus Petersson, the head of the Centre for Transatlantic Studies at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, told NBC earlier this year.
Ian Bremmer, president of the political risk firm Eurasia Group, wrote in an article published Wednesday that a disengaged America and weakened NATO would lead to a strengthened Asian bloc capable of providing an alternative to "lower-tier allies" looking for protection.
Between May and July of this year, the Russians heightened their military posture throughout Europe and spurred talk of a renewed intervention in Ukraine.
The country stopped short of provoking an armed NATO response, but it warned Europe that it could find itself in Russia's "crosshairs" if NATO didn't back down from plans to conduct war games in the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
US Army soldiers guard as Air Force F-22 Raptor fighters are parked in the military air base in Siauliai, Lithuania.
"The newer members of NATO — and especially the Baltics — have reason to be very concerned," Stephen Biddle, an adjunct senior fellow for defense policy at the Council on Foreign Relations and professor of political science at George Washington University, told Business Insider on Wednesday.
"They're not rich enough or big enough to defend themselves against the Russians, and a Trump administration's willingness to help them is very unclear," he said.
It's more unclear given Trump's stated admiration for Putin, as well as his apparent desire to work more closely with Russia to fight terrorism once he takes office.
From threats about pulling out of NATO to altering the GOP's policy on Ukraine— which has long called for arming Ukrainian soldiers against pro-Russian rebels — Trump's rhetoric has consistently aligned with a narrative that continues to overwhelm the collective Russian psyche: namely, that the US is overly meddlesome and "globalist."
US-Russia relations are now at their lowest point since the end of the Cold War, largely because of two major Russian interventions, in Crimea and in Syria, since 2014.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg congratulated Trump on his election victory in a statement on Wednesday. But he reminded the president-elect of the "solemn" and "unconditioned" commitment all NATO members have to the organization.
"NATO's security guarantee is a treaty commitment," said Stoltenberg, who cautioned over the summer that NATO's security depends on US security, and vice versa.
"All allies have made a solemn commitment to defend each other," he said. 'This is something absolutely unconditioned."


Christian formation is the lifelong process of growing in our relationship with God, self, others, and all creation. Every experience in our lives can provide us with the opportunity to express our faith; the challenge we face is recognizing these opportunities and learning ways to live a sometimes countercultural life in a secular world.
Convene, coordinate, and facilitate gatherings of young adult and campus ministry leaders and youth ministers for leadership development, networking, discernment and support.
Build and sustain relationships within the networks of leaders and possible partners.
We have offices in Minnesota, Massachusetts and at the Church Center in New York City. We travel frequently but have an extraordinary Team Associate, Valerie Harris ([email protected]), who always knows where we are, what we’re up to, and can often answer your questions and respond to your needs when we are unavailable. Please feel free to contact us any time via phone or email.
Where and How Do You Experience Community?
Time to Get Out and Play!
How Do You Share the Easter Story?
How Can Episcopal Faith Communities Help Address Issues Faced by Older Adults?
How do you Engage the Bible?
Lesson Plans Focus on the Life and Work of Martin Luther King Jr.
When do you notice the Holy Spirit working through you in your teaching?
What is on Your Fall Reading List?
What is on your summer reading list?
Are you entering the Making Your Mark video contest?
What Do You Know About the Older Adult Ministry Taskforce?
What is the changing ministry of grandparents?
Does Christianity foster intergenerational communities?
Who is Missing From Your Pews?
What Curricula Do You Use?
Easter was last Sunday - now what do we do?
Let us "examine our own cultural attitudes toward violence"
What are you doing for World Mission Sunday?
What Can You Do to Stop Human Trafficking?
Do adults dare to dream in courageous ways?
How do our children dream?


CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian police on Sunday arrested the author of a book about Egypt's economy on charges of publishing false news, security sources and the author's wife said.
Abdul Khalik Farouk's detention came days after local media reported that draft copies of his book, "Is Egypt Really a Poor Country?", which includes criticism of the government's economic policies, were seized by authorities from a publisher.
A spokesman for Egypt's interior ministry could not immediately be reached for comment. Two security sources said Farouk was arrested on orders of the public prosecutor. The public prosecutor's office and the book's publisher could not immediately be reached for comment late on Sunday.
Farouk's wife told Reuters that three policemen who took him from their home in a Cairo suburb told her they were detaining him in connection with the book.
Since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power in 2014, Egypt has seen a crackdown on dissent that activists say is unprecedented in the country's modern history.


As the car that practically spearheaded Toyota’s rise as the country’s best-selling automotive brand, the Toyota Vios needs little introduction. It’s the modern day ‘people’s car,’ attracting car shoppers with its affordability, easy maintenance, and of course, its Toyota badge. There was just one problem: its NZ engine, now more than a decade old, was starting to show its age. In terms of fuel economy, it wasn’t keeping up with the competition, and consumers were starting to notice. Toyota isn’t the country’s top automotive marque for nothing, however, and they’ve been keenly listening in to their costumers’ wants and needs. Their response comes in the form of the Vios’ new powertrain — Toyota’s Dual VVT-I 1NR-FE engine paired with a CVT transmission. Let’s take a deeper look to see what else has changed.
The Toyota Vios hasn’t changed its looks much since 2013, and that’s a testament to how well the design holds up over time. Its well-proportioned silhouette is complemented by a large grille, flanked by two chrome-plated foglamp housings. At the rear, the trunk’s chrome strip extends its design across the rear tail lights. It’s a nice touch and shows some attention to detail which you don’t normally see in entry level vehicles. A small spoiler highlights the rear, giving the Vios a touch of sporty attitude. It’s an easy design to play around with, though its looks would be much improved with wheels larger than the 15-inch alloys it comes with.
If you’ve got a keen eye, you’ll notice some slight changes with the interior. There are new silver highlights on the AVT touchscreen and shift knob, and brushed aluminum details on the dash and door panels. The soft-touch plastics and leather stitched-style treatment on the dash enhance the premium level of the cabin, to the point where you’ll almost forget you’re in a B-segment vehicle. Typical of Toyota, the interior build quality is remarkable to a car in this price category. Buttons and knobs feel solid to the touch, and the instrument cluster is clear and highly legible. There’s also ample space at the rear for three medium-sized adults, while two large adults will have nothing to complain about. The Vios’ steering wheel still doesn’t support telescopic adjustments, but getting into a comfortable driving position wasn’t a problem at all.
On paper, Toyota’s new NR engine seems like a step down from the old NZ power plant. At 108hp and 140Nm of torque, the new engine has slightly less torque than its predecessor. Whatever the specs are on paper, it’s a different story in the driver’s seat. The engine response is noticeably quicker at low speeds compared to the previous model. Where you once had to get the revs going to gain speed, acceleration happens at a more linear pace, and the Vios feels perfectly at home cruising at speeds of 100 km/h without any drama.
The CVT transmission does take a bit of driving excitement away, but is a sensible addition to the Vios, given its practical nature. The end goal is, after all, improved fuel economy. So how does it do? Thanks to the Dual VVT-I engine (which adjusts timings on both intake and exhaust camshafts) and CVT transmission, the Toyota Vios achieves an average of 10 kilometers per liter on mixed city and highway driving conditions. On pure highway conditions, 15 kilometers per liter is easily attainable. Goal achieved? We certainly think so.
Many have tried to take a slice of the B-segment pie away from the Vios, but Toyota now has all the bases covered and locked down. The Vios offers driver and passenger airbags, complete connectivity to Bluetooth and MirrorLink devices, as well as six speakers, which is a lot of value for a sub-P1M car. With improved fuel efficiency, trustworthy Toyota reliability, and a P902,000 price tag, practicality simply doesn’t get any better than this.
The Philippines sells 300,000 brand new vehicles a year without retiring the same number of older cars. That’s one of the reasons why we have traffic gridlock.
1.3 engine at 10km per liter?
Prado is 2.7 and consume the same.
This is what old engine is ma konsumo.


Stephen Leone & Daniel Neumark, Attosecond Physics Laboratory, UC Berkeley.
he entire semiconductor industry, not to mention Silicon Valley, is built on the propensity of electrons in silicon to get kicked out of their atomic shells and become free. These mobile electrons are routed and switched though transistors, carrying the digital information that characterizes our age. An international team of physicists and chemists based at the University of California, Berkeley, has for the first time taken snapshots of this ephemeral event using attosecond pulses of soft x-ray light lasting only a few billionths of a billionth of a second.
While earlier femtosecond lasers were unable to resolve the jump from the valence shell of the silicon atom across the band-gap into the conduction electron region, the new experiments now show that this transition takes less than 450 attoseconds.
"Though this excitation step is too fast for traditional experiments, our novel technique allowed us to record individual snapshots that can be composed into a 'movie' revealing the timing sequence of the process," explains Stephen Leone, UC Berkeley professor of chemistry and physics.
Leone, his UC Berkeley colleagues and collaborators from the Ludwig-Maximilians Universität in Munich, Germany, the University of Tsukuba, Japan, and the Molecular Foundry at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory report their achievement in the Dec. 12 issue of the journal Science.
Leone notes that more than a century has elapsed since the discovery that light can make certain materials conductive. The first movie of this transition follows the excitation of electrons across the band-gap in silicon with the help of attosecond extreme ultraviolet (XUV) spectroscopy, developed in the Attosecond Physics Laboratory run by Leone and Daniel Neumark, UC Berkeley professor of chemistry.
In semiconducting materials, electrons are initially localized around the individual atoms forming the crystal and thus cannot move or contribute to electrical currents. When light hits these materials or a voltage is applied, some of the electrons absorb energy and get excited into mobile states in which the electrons can move through the material. The localized electrons take a "quantum jump" into the conduction band, tunneling through the barrier that normally keeps them bound to atoms.
These mobile electrons make the semiconductor material conductive so that an applied voltage results in a flowing current. This behavior allows engineers to make silicon switches, known as transistors, which have become the basis of all digital electronics.
The researchers used attosecond XUV spectroscopy like an attosecond stop watch to follow the electron's transition. They exposed a silicon crystal to ultrashort flashes of visible light emitted by a laser source. The subsequent illumination with x-ray-pulses of only a few tens of attoseconds (10-18 seconds) in duration allowed the researchers to take snapshots of the evolution of the excitation process triggered by the laser pulses.
Unambiguous interpretation of the experimental data was facilitated by a series of supercomputer simulations carried out by researchers at the University of Tsukuba and the Molecular Foundry. The simulations modeled both the excitation process and the subsequent interaction of x-ray pulses with the silicon crystal.
The excitation of a semiconductor with light is traditionally conceived as a process involving two distinct events. First, the electrons absorb light and get excited. Afterwards, the lattice, composed of the individual atoms in the crystal, rearranges in response to this redistribution of electrons, turning part of the absorbed energy into heat carried by vibrational waves called phonons.
In analyzing their data, the team found clear indications that this hypothesis is true. They showed that initially, only the electrons react to the impinging light while the atomic lattice remains unaffected. Long after the excitation laser pulse has left the sample -- some 60 femtoseconds later -- they observed the onset of a collective movement of the atoms, that is, phonons. This is near the 64 femtosecond period of the fastest lattice vibrations.
Based on current theory, the researchers calculated that the lattice spacing rebounded about 6 picometers (10-12 meters) as a result of the electron jump, consistent with other estimates.
"These results represent a clean example of attosecond science applied to a complex and fundamentally important system," Neumark says.
The unprecedented temporal resolution of this attosecond technology will allow scientists to resolve extremely brief electronic processes in solids that to date seemed too fast to be approached experimentally, says Martin Schultze, who was a guest researcher in Leone's lab last year, visiting from the Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München. This poses new challenges to the theory of light-matter interactions, including the excitation step, its timescale and the interpretation of experimental x-ray spectra.
"But here is also an advantage," Schultze adds. "With our ultrashort excitation and probing pulses, the atoms in the crystal can be considered frozen during the interaction. That eases the theoretical treatment a lot."


of The Drew Carey Show at 8 p.m. and Whose Line Is It Anyway? at 8:30 p.m.
usual Monday-night comedy lineup and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
adults 18 through 49 and 18 through 34.
Adults 18 through 49: ABC 7.2/20, CBS 4.0/11, Fox 2.6/7 and NBC 2.3/6.
Adults 25 through 54: ABC 7.7/19; CBS 5.0/12; NBC and Fox 2.4/6.
Adults 18 through 34: ABC 6.8/21, Fox 2.7/9, CBS 2.7/8 and NBC 2.3/7.


Oxford United Women have signed midfielder Lauren Haynes from Aston Villa ahead of the WSL 2 season.
Former Bristol Academy player Haynes made 15 appearances for Villa last season in their second-tier campaign.
The 20-year-old, from nearby Bicester, will combine playing with developing her coaching qualifications.
"The gap from the end of last season and start of this season seems way too long and I can't wait to get going again," Haynes told the club's website.


Police say a Hopedale man made it very easy for an officer to arrest him Wednesday he handed paperwork to the traffic cop that said his license had been suspended.
Nykolas Karl Rosenberger, 20, was arrested after the 4:43 p.m. stop. He was originally pulled over for speeding, police spokesman Lt. Paul Shastany said.
Officer Keith Strange was on Click It or Ticket patrol when Rosenberger drove by him near Brigham Street and Warren Road. Police say Rosenberg's vehicle was traveling 41 mph in a 25 mph zone.
When Strange asked for Rosenberger's license and registration, Rosenberger said he had left his license at work.
"He said he had a letter from the Registry (of Motor Vehicles) in his glove compartment that proved who he was and had his license number," Shastany said.
The Registry letter showed that his license had been suspended for too many accidents subject to insurance surcharges.
"He basically gave the hammer and nails to the officer to seal his coffin," Shastany said.
Rosenberger, of 34 Inman St., was charged with driving with a suspended license and driving without a license. He was also cited for speeding.
Rosenberger was released without bail after his Framingham District Court arraignment yesterday and is due back in court June 27 for a pretrial conference.


Los Angeles ABC O&O KABC-TV has launched a Tumblr page.
“We’ll give you some insight to the newsroom and give you the latest Southern California news, and turn to ABC7 for breaking news and weather forecasts,” the station says on its Tumblr page.
While many TV stations are firmly on board with social media services such as Twitter and Facebook, Tumblr hasn’t quite broken into the graces of TV newsrooms.


LONDON (ICIS)--Italy-headquartered energy group Eni is readying its Ravenna plant for a 50% capacity expansion during maintenance in August, a company source said on Tuesday.
The Ravenna site on the Adriatic coast, between Venice and San Marino, can produce either methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) or ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE) and is currently geared to make the former.
Ravenna has a capacity of 140,000 tonnes, according to the ICIS Plants and Projects database, and so a 50% increase would lift this to around 210,000 tonnes.
Lasting for two and a half months, the expansion will allow the plant to more fully cater to Eni’s northern Italian refineries’ needs.
It is understood these currently require extra MTBE to be bought, beyond Ravenna’s current output.
Whether the plant will be run at full level once the expansion is complete will depend on the availability of the feedstock for MTBE, Raffinate-1, which is still uncertain, suggested the source.
This is a reference to a possible tightening availability of C4 streams thanks to a potential switch in the production process upstream which has previously taken place during the summer.
There has typically been a swap away from using naphtha cracking, and instead cracking the heating fuel liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) which is often cheaper during summer months because it is in less demand. This produces less crude C4, which is where Raffinate-1 comes from.
Availability of Raffinate-1 would therefore typically be down during the summer, as suggested by another MTBE seller in the past week.
However this seasonal swing is believed to have smoothed out in recent years, with crackers finding LPG to have consistently provided better margins throughout the whole of the year.


There are the rivalries that infect the heart, never to be repeated. If you loved the Brooklyn Dodgers then you hated the Giants. And here, if you cheer for Magallanes, then you despise Caracas.
Edgardo Alfonzo, the Mets' rising star, is the third baseman for Magallanes, the team situated in this city, and for years, his older brother Edgar played for Caracas -- the big brother of all cities in Venezuela, the capital, a two-hour drive east of here. The Alfonzos competed ferociously in the winter league, feeding the feud.
In that crucible, Edgardo Alfonzo developed the skills that have turned him into a budding star in New York, the major market in the major leagues. He hit .315 last season, ranked second in the National League with a .417 batting average with runners in scoring position, and finished second in Gold Glove Award voting, behind San Diego's Ken Caminiti. Eligible for salary arbitration this winter, he is in a position to make a great deal of money. In large measure, he has Edgar and the rivalry with his brother to thank for that.
In one game between Magallanes and Caracas, Edgardo charged a slow grounder hit by his brother, fielded it near the mound and threw spectacularly to first for the out, glancing pointedly at Edgar afterward.
An inning or two later, Edgardo slammed a line drive destined for the left-field corner, until speared by Edgar Alfonzo, the Caracas diving third baseman.
Having restored order, Edgar grinned, and Caracas fans excitedly waved their flags and blew into noisemakers. They understood the feud: Caracas vs. Magallanes, Edgar vs. Edgardo. But they could not see all the layers in the dense relationship between rival siblings.
''It's something that's hard to put into words,'' said Edgardo, the youngest of four Alfonzo children, sitting last week in Villa Madrid, a restaurant here.
Edgar, the first-born, came along in 1967, the year after his parents met and married, in a case of love at first sight. Edgar Alfonzo Sr. was on a job when he met Mercedes Pino, and in spite of the objections of her mother, they married within four months. Edgar Sr. drove a truck for a medical supplier, keeping him away from home in the small town of Miranda (population: 1,000) until late at night, or a week or two at a time.
He casually followed the careers of the best Venezuelan baseball players, such as Luis Aparicio and Vic Davalillo, but he did not play the game. Rather, he played jacks, gambling for money as a teen-ager. Baseball, he thought, was something only tots should play, certainly not a prospective vocation.
For growing boys, baseball was a waste of valuable time, he thought, a lure away from school and the education that could prove pivotal in their lives. The children of Edgar and Mercedes would concentrate on their school and go to a university; he would see to that.
But Edgar Jr. could not forget about baseball, and when his father's job took him out of Miranda, the boy would sneak off to play. Mercedes Alfonzo knew what her oldest son was doing, but never told her husband. When Edgar Sr. returned from work, Edgar could only sit home and wince over the thought of his friends playing nearby.
But the periods of inactivity hardly dulled his skills. By the time he was 14, Edgar was playing baseball with young adults, 20 or 21 years old, and one afternoon, before an important game, a handful of them went to the Alfonzo house to speak with Edgar Sr. Your son is a very good player, one of them told the father, and you should come watch him play today.
Edgar Sr. agreed, and the boy, distracted by the presence of his father and feeling as if this was a one-day audition, struck out three times. He returned home crestfallen, certain that his father would be furious.
''I know you were nervous because I was there,'' Edgar Sr. told his son, and they made a deal: Edgar Jr. had one year to prove himself. If he could not, he would quit baseball for good and then concentrate on school. Attending a game shortly thereafter, Edgar Sr. found himself being pestered by a friend convinced of Edgar's greatness. His friend bet Edgar Sr. that the boy would hit a home run that day, and when Edgar did so, his father lost a six pack of beer. Happily.
Within three years, Edgar Jr. signed a contract to play for Caracas. The first time the skinny teen-ager appeared on television in Miranda, Edgardo could hear his neighbors yelling in their houses, shouting, laughing. Asked last week about the moment, their father paused, his eyes watering. ''My first son,'' he said in Spanish, before looking down.
Pride surged through Edgardo, then 11 years old, tempered by concern for his brother's success. ''I was hoping nobody would hit a ball to him,'' Edgardo recalled.
To Edgardo, who was still playing in the sandlots, his older brother was a hero, someone to emulate. They had always been close. On those rare moments they bickered, their father would admonish them. You must not fight, Edgar Sr. would say. You are brothers.
Edgar signed with the California Angels when he was 17, and his departure for the United States was traumatic, with all the Alfonzos gathered at the airport in Caracas. He called home three times his first day away, homesick, but, his father recalled, he sounded both sad and excited. Edgar was pursuing his dream.
He would return to Miranda every fall, sharing his used equipment and experience with his two brothers. Even when Edgardo was little, Edgar was sure his little brother would be a great player. He remembers watching Edgardo play a Little League game when he was 11. Twice Edgardo stopped grounders with a dive and rose to make wicked throws, and the line drives off his bat generated a peculiar sound.
Edgar gradually climbed through the minors, establishing himself as a useful utility player. But his batting average fluctuated, injuries hampered him, and he did not have the speed to steal bases or the power to hit home runs consistently. In 1990, he had 2 hits in 11 at-bats for Class AAA Edmonton, and thereafter, his career bogged down in the minor leagues.
His kid brother, Edgardo, playing shortstop and second base, turned 17 in 1990, and thought about signing with Caracas. Edgar, then 23, encouraged him to consider all his options. Another team would have more opportunity; Caracas had a logjam of older players. Edgardo signed to play with Magallanes in Venezuela, and with the Mets in the United States. Edgar bragged to his manager with Caracas, Phil Regan, that Edgardo would be a terrific player.
That summer, Tamargo said, it became apparent Edgardo would be a good major league player or better.
That summer, Edgar realized that his career might stall in the minor leagues or worse. He was playing for Class AA Bowie, in the Baltimore organization, in the same league as his brother. The first time Bowie played at Binghamton, Edgar went to Edgardo's small, shared apartment for dinner.
Edgar Alfonzo, now 30, lives with his wife and children in Texas, and departed Monday to play in Taiwan. After three major league seasons, Edgardo Alfonzo, now 24, is a celebrity in Venezuela, his stature approaching that of Andres Galarraga of the Atlanta Braves. The first time Alfonzo played for Magallanes this season, fans at Jose Bernardo Perez Stadium stood and cheered. At the Villa Madrid, patrons and waiters occasionally interrupt him as he discusses Edgar.


— It’s not quite Eloise at the Plaza, but Olivia the Pig had a good thing going in the Village. The star of the children’s book (and now television) series, and her author Ian Falconer, had been living in a townhouse at 45 West 9th Street for the past three years, purchased for $4.6 million. According to city records, the house sold for $4.1 million back in May, though the deal was only filed yesterday. The original asking price, from Sept. 22 (one week after Lehman filed for bankruptcy, it should be noted) was $7.1 million. The buyer was Kirat Singh, a managing director at Bank of America, and Yue Chen. There hasn’t been a new Olivia book since Olivia Helps with Christmas in 2007, but Mr. Falconer’s new collaboration with David Sedaris, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary, should help make up for his loss on the house.
— Congrats to Elliman super-broker Dolly Lenz. Following yesterday’s big news that there’d been a split between her team and the storied-but-troubled Apthorp, Lenz finally sold a spectacularly remade limestone townhouse at 123 East 61st Street, according to city records. The house was purchased back in 2007 for $7.9 million, had a brand-new facade put on — “rich mahogany-clad bay windows and high ironwork entrance gate convey classic Upper East Side elegance,” according to Ms. Lenz’ listing — and was then put back on the market in February of last year for $17.5 million. That not being the best time for such a sale, the price was knocked down to $13.95 million in July 2009. The final price was $12.1 million, well below asking but still representing a handsome profit, even after renovations. There is one catch: The place still needs a full interior reno.


Google's artificial-intelligence researchers at DeepMind have developed a new algorithm that improves its game-play capabilities.
After mastering dozens of 2D Atari games, and whopping humans at Go, Google's DeepMind artificial intelligence (AI) is now taking on new 3D navigation and puzzle-solving games.
One of these new games that DeepMind's AI agents are tackling is ant soccer, in which it's learned how to chase down a ball, dribble, and then score a goal.
What's impressive, DeepMind's David Silver explained in a blogpost, is that its AI is capable of solving the ant soccer challenge "without any prior knowledge of the dynamics", reflecting recent advances it's made in 'reinforcement learning' (RL), or learning through trial and error.
To get these results, DeepMind has combined RL with deep learning of neural networks and its Deep Q-Network (DQN), an algorithm that stores a bot's experiences and estimates rewards it can expect after taking a particular action.
It was this algorithm that allowed it to master dozens of 2D games on an Atari 2600, but Silver says it's now developed a far better version of the algorithm.
For example, it can now train a single neural network to learn multiple Atari games. The technique is also being used to power recommendations in Google.
"We have also built a massively distributed deep RL system, known as Gorila, that utilises the Google Cloud platform to speed up training time by an order of magnitude; this system has been applied to recommender systems within Google," Silver noted.
However, the ability to learn how to play soccer comes from DeepMind's newly developed 'asynchronous actor-critic algorithm, A3C', which the company set out in a revised paper last week, demonstrating that it could use standard multi-core CPUs to surpass GPU-based algorithms at solving motor-control problems and navigating random 3D mazes using visual input.
"It achieves state-of-the-art results, using a fraction of the training time of DQN and a fraction of the resource consumption of Gorila," Silver noted.
DeepMind is testing this against Labyrinth, "a challenging suite of 3D navigation and puzzle-solving environments". The agents only use visual cues to figure out the map to "discover and exploit" rewards, Silver said.
"Amazingly, the A3C algorithm achieves human-level performance, out of the box, on many Labyrinth tasks," he wrote.


ORLANDO, Fla. -- While Lenny Wilkens was speaking with reporters outside of the Milk House Gym at Walt Disney World, New York Knicks president and head coach Isiah Thomas, the man who fired Wilkens two years ago, hugged the Hall of Fame coach and before a short conversation.
Perhaps Thomas was sharing with Wilkens the Knicks' interest in acquiring Rashard Lewis. According to NBA insiders, the Knicks could make the Sonics a sign-and-trade offer for Lewis that could include Seattle natives Nate Robinson and Jamal Crawford.
Crawford is owed $35 million over the next four seasons, and the Knicks could add Robinson's contract or that of Channing Frye to come within 75 percent of a new Lewis deal, per rules of the collective bargaining agreement.
Wilkens said Tuesday that the Sonics plan to sign Lewis, who opted out of his contract Friday and will be an unrestricted free agent July 1. To execute a sign-and-trade, the Sonics would have to sign Lewis to a new contract and then trade him.
The Sonics have the advantage in re-signing Lewis because they can offer him a six-year deal, compared with five for other clubs, and give Lewis 10.5 percent increases per season, compared with 8 percent for other clubs.
" He is a young player who was having a great year, and he wants to explore the market," Wilkens said. "Yes (there are plans to re-sign him). He is an asset for us. We still want him, and we're going to try everything we can get him signed."
The Knicks, however, have made Lewis a major priority. They sorely lack a scoring small forward but would have to unload one of their unwanted contracts -- Crawford, Jerome James, Quentin Richardson, Malik Rose -- to acquire a quality player.
It's uncertain whether the Sonics would be interested in Crawford because of his contract and history of erratic shooting. He averaged 17.6 points per game this season but shot just 40 percent.
WILLIAMS ABSENT: Former Roosevelt High standout Marcus Williams will not participate in the pre-draft camp and is not on the list of players set to take physicals. Williams, who has hired agent Rob Pelinka after two years at Arizona, is projected as the 23rd pick by Draftexpress. com and is not included in ESPN. com's first-round mock draft.
Williams' absence is curious considering he is trying to rebuild his image after an unceremonious exit from Arizona. Williams has been partially blamed for the Wildcats' chemistry issues last season, which resulted in a first-round NCAA Tournament exit. Washington's Spencer Hawes and Eastern Washington's Rodney Stuckey are on the list of "physicals only" players.
WORDS OF AIR: Dressed in baggy jeans, sporting headphones around his neck and a tan shirt, Michael Jordan, Charlotte Bobcats president and resident greatest player on Earth, left the Milk House Gym, walked past Wilkens and said, "Good luck, kiddo," before walking off. ... Draft prospects, who went through drills Tuesday evening, will start playing games Wednesday. Among those assigned to rosters are former Franklin High and Oregon point guard Aaron Brooks and former Garfield and Nevada guard Marcelus Kemp.