A steep cliff, jutting to unparalleled heights, blocks the sun from our cold limbs. It is barren, unscalable, unyielding stone. Our rocky valley is unreached by far off places.

I often contemplate the meaning of our existance here, my family and me. Why do we choose to live in this desolate valley, scratching out our living in the cold stony earth?

We have lived here for centuries, creating our little life where there should be none, and with each successive generation our history is passed on, to our children and our children's children in a never-ending cycle.

My grandmother is the storyteller of our tiny stone hut village. Tonight, she will gather all of us together around the fire and look at us with her leathery, wrinkled face, smiling on us all. Her hair will be as it has always been, white, sticking out in all directions as though a gust of wind had swirled around her, causing it to tangle.

Around her weak frame will be wrapped the shawl of the of the storyteller, which has been passed down through the centuries, each storyteller leaving their mark and passing it on to the next, deep into the obscurity of time.

With her, she will carry the storyteller's staff, carved with animals, faces, scenes, all from stories that have been passed down through many generations. Each storyteller, when they inherit the staff, carves their own story into it for coming generations to see. One day I will inherit that staff, and in my spare thoughts, I wonder how my story will read.

I sit on the hill, overlooking the whole valley, watching the other children play, all much younger than me, nephews, neices, cousins... my sister's children and those of my aunts and uncles.

I am the youngest of my generation, sixteen summers, almost a woman. This winter, I will marry my cousin, Tehrumaron, who is five years older than me. He is handsome, I suppose, but I feel a strange restlessness toward the idea. At the end of the year, I will cease having the freedom of childhood. As wife, I have to put away childish dreams and take on the responsibilities of womanhood. I will do everything that has been expected of me since birth.

Is that all I am made for? I ask myself, to be a wife and mother? To never travel beyond the valley? Is this the only life I'll ever know?


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Scuds: mobile missiles that sow terror

By AFP - Dec 13,2012 - Last updated at Dec 13,2012

WASHINGTON — The mobile, medium-range Scud missile, which US officials say Syria’s embattled regime has fired on rebels, is a fearful, indiscriminate weapon with a bloody history in the region.

The Soviet-designed missiles can carry a warhead of up to 1,000 kilogrammes but, owing to their relative inaccuracy, have more often been used to sow terror in cities than to scatter armies in the field.

The missiles can be equipped with conventional, chemical or nuclear warheads and their arrival on the battlefield will increase fears that Bashar Assad’s increasingly beleaguered regime could turn to desperate measures.

Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein famously lobbed dozens of the relatively unsophisticated Scuds at Israel and Saudi Arabia during the 1990-91 Gulf War as US-led troops expelled his forces from Kuwait, but he caused few casualties.

Allied aircraft — along with US and British special forces on the ground — struggled to take out Saddam’s mobile Scuds, which were hidden in gullies and culverts and quickly shifted out of sight after night launches.

The Scud missile was originally developed by the Soviet Union in the 1950s with help from captured German scientists, and was based on the Nazi V-2 rocket fired on London during World War II, according to Jane’s Defence Review.

Other countries, including North Korea, Egypt, Iran, Iraq and Syria are believed to have developed their own versions of the ballistic missile — which can be transported by and fired from trucks — after the end of the Cold War.

The rockets were first used in combat during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, and during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s both sides rained Scud missiles down on civilian targets in the so-called “War of the Cities”.

Smaller numbers were used during wars in Afghanistan, Yemen and Chechnya in the 1990s, and Libyan strongman Muammar Qadhafi’s forces fired at least two Scud missiles last year during the NATO-backed rebellion that overthrew him.

Scud-type missiles are usually about 11 metres long and have a range of roughly 300 kilometres, though some versions can strike beyond 500 kilometres. However, they lack the accuracy of so-called smart bombs.

North Korea is believed to have developed more modern versions of the Soviet Scud missile and to have exported hundreds of the so-called Scud-C and Scud-D rockets to the Middle East and Africa.

Syria is believed to possess the so-called Scud-D or Hwasong-7, the latest North Korean model, which carries a smaller payload of 500 kilogrammes but can travel farther, up to 800 kilometres, according to Jane’s.

The Scuds would be of little use troops battling rebels in the streets of major cities like Damascus or Aleppo, but could be used to target military bases seized by rebels or to sow panic in towns or neighbourhoods.

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The ground realities should not be ignored

By : Business Standard

Will rich farmers, a class which never even pays income tax, be brought under the ambit of the inheritance tax?

With the fiscal deficit rising, the government is under pressure to moblise revenue. The recent telecom spectrum auction has not fetched the government enough revenue. Tax collection as a percentage of the GDP is low and our finance minister is adept in identifying new avenues to improve collection. In 2005, during his earlier tenure, he introduced the fringe benefit tax. Now, he could be looking at inheritance tax.

The Indian economy has been growing with a 32 per cent saving rate and the number of rich people is also increasing. The prices of real estate and gold have increased manifold in the recent past. These are good factors for the FM to explore the tax levy.

It is a tax levied on the wealth passed on to legal heirs upon the death of their parent. Many developed countries such as the US, the UK, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland and Germany levy this tax. The primary objective is redistribution of wealth.

The government collects this tax upon the death of the individual and spends it for the welfare of the public. In other countries, there are threshold limits for it, beyond which it is levied at progressive rates. The rate is low when the wealth passes on to close relatives such as spouse, children, etc, and will go up when it goes to other relatives (uncles, aunties, nephews, etc), and the rate will be even more if the wealth passes to other legal heirs. Some countries also have a gift tax. In other words, whether you transfer assets during your lifetime or after death, there is a tax on the transfer. Further, some of these countries also have wealth tax and/or estate duty.

In India, there used to be an estate duty levy, abolished in the mid-1980s. Currently, we have wealth tax, which is levied at the rate of one per cent on net wealth exceeding Rs 30 lakh. But collection from such a tax is not that great. There also used to be a gift tax in India, which was abolished in the late 1990s. However, lately, certain gifts from strangers have been made taxable in the hands of the recipient. Gifts from close relatives still continue to be tax-exempt.

Several factors need to be considered before introducing inheritance tax in India. One, there is a huge gap between the rich and the poor. The middle class segment is growing at a faster pace. Developed countries impose this tax at a high rate, but they have a smaller population base and strong social security systems. But in India, there is no strong social security system and this growing working class would easily get hurt if they are not properly protected.

In India, farmers, including the rich ones, do not pay any income tax on their agricultural income. Will rich farmers, a class which never even paid income tax, be brought under the ambit of this tax? These realities cannot be ignored by the finance minister.

Certain Budget changes such as provisions relating to the General Anti Avoidance Rules and amendments with retrospective effect were not well received by the business community and they have dampened the market sentiment. This forced the government to review those changes before implementation, in order to improve the general business confidence and environment. Therefore, it would be a good idea if the government brings out a discussion paper on this tax to seek public opinion. China brought out rules for it in 2002, but it has not levied an inheritance tax so far. Countries such as Australia, Brazil and Russia do not have the tax. If Chidambaram decides to go for the tax, the ground realities, as discussed above, should not be ignored.

The government has already proposed a simplified tax regime such as a direct taxes code and a goods and services tax. This should also be kept in mind before bringing in the levy.

Kuldip Kumar
ED, Tax & Regulatory Services, PwC India

(Views expressed are personal)

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Weird Stuff

10 Notable People Thought To Be Immortal

Theodoros II

Common sense tells us that everything dies. But rather than face that dark truth, humankind continues to believe in alternative sources of infinite life and these ten stories are no exception to this rule.

The Three Nephites

3 Nephites

The stories of the Three Nephites comprise one of the most striking religious legends in the United States. Bearing some resemblance to stories of the prophet Elijah in Jewish lore, or of the Christian saints in the Catholic tradition, the Three Nephite accounts are nevertheless distinctly Mormon. The members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known as Mormons, believe that Jesus Christ visited America after his resurrection and chose 12 apostles from among an ancient group of people there called the Nephites to help spread his Gospel message in the new world. Three of those apostles asked Jesus to change them from human beings into angels and let them remain on Earth until the end of the world so they could help people in need wherever they traveled on the planet, according to the Book of Mormon. Those three translated beings (people who have become angels) are known as the Three Nephites, and stories about their appearances have become a popular part of Mormon lore.

32 Eos And Memnon1350537451133

In Greek mythology, Memnon was an Ethiopian king (probably the most popular figure of African heritage in Greek mythology) and son of Tithonus and Eos. During his life he was thought to be an immortal, while as a warrior he was considered to be inferior only to Achilles. At the Trojan War, he brought an army to Troy’s defense but he was killed by Achilles in retribution for killing Antilochus. The death of Memnon echoes that of Hector, another defender of Troy whom Achilles also killed out of revenge for a fallen comrade, Patroclus. Memnon’s death is related at length in the lost epic Aethiopis, composed after The Iliad around the 7th century B.C. Quintus of Smyrna records Memnon’s death in Posthomerica. His death is also described in Philostratus’ Imagines. Memnon’s story might not be very popular, but it’s definitely one of the most intense to read if the chance is given.

Leonard Jones

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Leonard Jones wasn’t an immortal of course and he knew it very well. He was not a very successful politician either, but like most politicians he had the power of convincing others. No matter how unbelievable it might sound to us now, the fact is that he ran his political campaign on the platform of his immortality, and what’s even more odd is that he convinced a lot of people who subsequently voted for him.

The eccentric American who was born in Kentucky in 1797, repeatedly ran for President of the United States and Governor of Kentucky, citing his self-proclaimed immortality as his main political argument. According to Mr. Jones immortality could be achieved through prayer and fasting. He obviously didn’t do enough of these two, because he died from Pneumonia on August 30, 1868 at the young age (for an immortal) of 71.

Achilles Artclon.Com Coypel Charles-Antoine-Zzz-Fury Of Achilles

Many historians today would agree that Achilles existed and Homer just exaggerated his warrior-skills and accomplishments. Most scholars nowadays believe that Troy itself was no imaginary Shangri-la but a real city, and that the Trojan War indeed happened. Archaeologists who have been digging into the myth of Homer’s poem, believe the legendary war may have been a process rather than a single event and most (if not all) figures mentioned by Homer, indeed existed.

Back to our topic, according to the myths, Achilles was dipped into the river Styx as a baby by his mother to gain impenetrable skin against any weapons, so he was practically invincible . . . Until the moment that Paris decided to poison his heel, which his mother held onto him by. It is generally believed that Achilles was shot in the heel with an arrow and the tendon of the heel has become known as Achilles Tendon and the term Achilles’ Heel has become a metaphor for vulnerability of any sort, after the story of the great epic warrior.

Nicolas Flamel

If you’re into mysteries, magic and adventures, then you should definitely check out the story of Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel. In Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Nicholas Flamel is featured as the creator of the “Philosopher’s Stone.” Because this stone allows its owner to live forever, it must be protected from falling into the hands of the evil Lord Voldemort.

Although Harry Potter is fictional, Frenchman Nicolas Flamel lived during the late 14th and early 15th centuries. A scholar and scribe, Flamel devoted his life to understanding the text of a mysterious book filled with encoded alchemical symbols that some believed held the secrets of the Philosopher’s Stone. Many myths surround Flamel, including the belief that he successfully created the Stone. His death in 1417 didn’t hurt that myth, and his quest for the Philosopher’s Stone lives on in his writings. Although modern scholarship has cast doubt on the authenticity of alchemical texts ascribed to him, he remains an important figure in the alchemical world.

Wandering Jew

Apr22 Wand Jew2-724447

Count of St. Germain

Count Of St Germain1

Enigmatic and attractive, the young count’s skin seemed not to have experienced the passage of time. He used to move from one place to another every moment, taking with him the great secret of his personality, as captivating as it was mysterious. Myths, legends and speculations about St. Germain began to be widespread in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and continue today. They include beliefs that he is immortal, the Wandering Jew, an alchemist with the “Elixir of Life”, and that he prophesied the French Revolution. The Count of St. Germain has been variously described as a courtier, adventurer, charlatan, inventor, alchemist, pianist, violinist and amateur composer, but his story remains one of the biggest mysteries to this day.

After a charmed life of meeting leaders and dignitaries from around the globe, in 1779 the mysterious count arrived in Eckenförde, Germany, where—according to some official records—he passed away in his residence there in the year 1784; however, there is no tombstone in that town bearing his name. Almost 200 years after his death, Richard Chanfray, a French magician and singer claimed to be the Count of St. Germain, but unfortunately he died too.

Annibale Carracci - The Choice Of Heracles - Wga4416

Qin Shi Huang

The Mystery Of Qin Shi Huangdi’s Mausoleum 4

Qin Shi Huang, the founder of the Qin dynasty, is until this day best remembered as the person who gave China a face. His marvelous construction of the Great Wall and the famous Terra cotta Army are both known to everyone in the world. He was one of the most significant Chinese emperors, shaping the country’s history and culture. The people around him, heavily influenced by his great accomplishments started to believe that he was immortal and he tried to make it come true.

According to legend, in his search for eternal life, Qin Shihuang sent one of his servants to find the secret of immortality. The servant, Xu Fudong set sail eastward with thousands of young boys and girls. They never returned to China, perhaps because they feared punishment for failing the mission. Legend says that they found and populated the island we now know as Japan. Qin Shihuang died at the age of 50 in 210 B.C. He died of a quick and lethal disease and proved to his dedicated followers that he was as mortal as every other human being.

Theodoros II

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Neural development

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Redirected from Developmental neuroscience

Neural development comprises the processes that generate, shape, and reshape the nervous system, from the earliest stages of embryogenesis to the final years of life. The study of neural development aims to describe the cellular basis of brain development and to address the underlying mechanisms. The field draws on both neuroscience and developmental biology to provide insight into the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which complex nervous systems develop. Defects in neural development can lead to cognitive, motor, and intellectual disability, as well as neurological disorders such as autism, Rett syndrome, and mental retardation.

Overview of brain developmentEdit

The brain emerges during embryonic development from the neural tube, an early embryonic structure. The most anterior part of the neural tube is called the telencephalon, which expands rapidly due to cell proliferation, and eventually gives rise to the brain. Gradually some of the cells stop dividing and differentiate into neurons and glial cells, which are the main cellular components of the brain. The newly generated neurons migrate to different parts of the developing brain to self-organize into different brain structures. Once the neurons have reached their regional positions, they extend axons and dendrites, which allow them to communicate with other neurons via synapses. Synaptic communication between neurons leads to the establishment of functional neural circuits that mediate sensory and motor procesing, and underlie behavior.

Development of nervous system

Highly schematic flowchart of human brain development.

Aspects of neural developmentEdit

Neural inductionEdit

During early embyonic development the ectoderm becomes specified to give rise to the epidermis (skin) and the neural plate. The conversion of undifferentiated ectoderm to neuro-ectoderm requires signals from the mesoderm. At the onset of gastrulation presumptive mesodermal cells move through the dorsal blastopore lip and form a layer in between the endoderm and the ectoderm. These mesodermal cells that migrate along the dorsal midline give rise to a structure called the notochord. Ectodermal cells overlying the notochord develop into the neural plate in response to a signal to a diffusible signal produced by the notochord. The remainder of the ectoderm gives rise to the epidermis (skin). The ability of the mesoderm to convert the overlying ectoderm into neural tissue is called Neural Induction.

The neural plate folds outwards during the third week of gestation to form the neural groove. Beginning in the future neck region, the neural folds of this groove close to create the neural tube. The formation of the neural tube from the ectoderm is called Neurulation. The anterior (front) part of the neural tube is called the basal plate; the posterior (rear) part is called the alar plate. The hollow interior is called the neural canal. By the end of the fourth week of gestation, the open ends of the neural tube (the neuropores) close off.[1]

Identification of neural inducers

A transplanted blastopore lip can convert ectoderm into neural tissue and is said to have an inductive effect. Neural Inducers are molecules that can induce the expression of neural genes in ectoderm explants without inducing mesodermal genes as well. Neural induction is often studied in Xenopus embryos since they have a simple body pattern and there are good markers to distinguish between neural and non-neural tissue. Examples of Neural Inducers are the molecules Noggin and Chordin.

When embryonic ectodermal cells are cultured at low density in the absence of mesodermal cells) they undergo neural differentiation (express neural genes), suggesting that neural differentiation is the default fate of ectodermal cells. In explant cultures (which allow direct cell-cell interactions) the same cells differentiate into epidermis. This is due to the action of BMP4 (a TGF-β family protein) that induces ectodermal cultures to differentiate into epidermis. During neural induction, Noggin and Chordin are produced by the dorsal mesoderm (notochord) and diffuse into the overlying ectoderm to inhibit the activity of BMP4. This inhibition of BMP4 causes the cells to differentiate into neural cells.

Late in the fourth week, the superior part of the neural tube flexes at the level of the future midbrain—the mesencephalon. Above the mesencephalon is the prosencephalon (future forebrain) and beneath it is the rhombencephalon (future hindbrain).

The optical vesicle (which will eventually become the optic nerve, retina and iris) forms at the basal plate of the prosencephalon. The alar plate of the prosencephalon expands to form the cerebral hemispheres (the telencephalon) whilst its basal plate becomes the diencephalon. Finally, the optic vesicle grows to form an optic outgrowth.

Patterning of the nervous systemEdit

Dorsoventral axis [2]

The ventral half of the neural plate is controlled by the notochord, which acts as the 'organiser'. The dorsal half is controlled by the ectoderm plate which flanks the neural plate on either side.

Ectoderm follows a default pathway to become neural tissue. Evidence for this comes from single, cultured cells of ectoderm which go on to form neural tissue. This is postulated to be because of a lack of BMPs, which are blocked by the organiser. The organiser may produce molecules such as follistatin, noggin and chordin which inhibit BMPs.

The ventral neural tube is patterned by Shh from the notochord, which acts as the inducing tissue. The Shh inducer causes differentiation of the floor plate. Shh-null tissue fails to generate all cell types in the ventral tube, suggesting Shh is necessary for its induction. The hypothesised mechanism suggests that Shh binds patched, relieving patched inhibition of smoothend, leading to activation of gli transcription factors.

In this context Shh acts as a morphogen - it induces cell differentiation dependent on its concentration. At low concentrations it forms ventral interneurones, at higher concentrations it induced motor neurone development, and at highest concentrations it induces floor plate differentiation. Failure of Shh-modulated differentiation causes haloprosencephaly.

The dorsal neural tube is patterned by BMPs from the epidermal ectoderm flanking the neural plate. These induce sensory interneurones by activating Sr/Thr kinases and altering SMAD transcription factor levels.

Rostrocaudal axis

Dorsoventral induction of ventral tissue expresses characteristic forebran tissue. Other signals manipulate posterior tissues differentiation, including FGF and retinoic acid.

The hindbrain, for example, is patterned by Hox genes, which are expressed in overlapping domains along the anteroposterior axis. The 5' genes in this cluster and expressed most posteriorly. Hoxb-1 is expressed in rhombomere 4 and gives rise to the facial nerve. Without this Hoxb-1 expression, a nerve which is similar to the trigeminal nerve arises.

Neuronal migrationEdit

Main article: Neuronal migration
File:Corticogenesis in a wild-type mouse.gif

File:Interneuron-radial glial interactions in the developing cerebral cortex.png

Radial migration Neuronal precursor cells proliferate in the ventricular zone of the developing neocortex. The first postmitotic cells to migrate form the preplate which are destined to become Cajal-Retzius cells and subplate neurons. These cells do so by somal translocation. Neurons migrating with this mode of locomotion are bipolar and attachs the leading edge of the process to the pia. The soma is then transported to the pial surface by nucleokinesis, a process by which a microtubule "cage" around the nucleus elongates and contracts in association with the centrosome to guide the nucleus to its final destination.[4] Radial glia, whose fibers serve as a scaffolding for migrating cells, can itself divide[5] or translocate to the cortical plate and differentiate either into astrocytes or neurons.[6] Somal translocation can occur at any time during development.[3]

Subsequent waves of neurons split the preplate by migrating along radial glial fibres to form the cortical plate. Each wave of migrating cells travel past their predecessors forming layers in an inside-out manner, meaning that the youngest neurons are the closest to the surface.[7][8] It is estimated that glial guided migration represents 90% of migrating neurons in human and about 75% in rodents.[9]

Others modes of migration There is also a method of neuronal migration called multipolar migration.[10][11] This is seen in multipolar cells, which are abundantly present in the cortical intermediate zone. They do not resemble the cells migrating by locomotion or somal translocation. Instead these multipolar cells express neuronal markers and extend multiple thin processes in various directions independently of the radial glial fibers.[10]

Neurotrophic factorsEdit

Synapse formationEdit

In the mature synapse each muscle fiber is innervated by one motor neuron. However, during development many of the fibers are innervated by multiple axons. Lichtman and colleagues have studied the process of synapses elimination. This is an activity-dependent event. Partial blockage of the receptor leads to retraction of corresponding presynaptic terminals.

Neuroligins and SynCAM as synaptogenic signals: Sudhof, Serafini, Scheiffele and colleagues have shown that neuroligins and SynCAM can act as factors that will induce presynaptic differentiation. Neuroligins are concentrated at the postsynaptic site and act via neurexins concentrated in the presynaptic axons. SynCAM is a cell adhesion molecule that is present in both pre- and post-synaptic membranes.

Synapse eliminationEdit

Several motorneurones compete for each neuromuscular junction, but only one survives till adulthood. Competition in vitro has been shown to involve a limited neurotrophic substance that is released, or that neural activity infers advantage to strong post-synaptic connections by giving resistance to a toxin also released upon nerve stimulation. In vivo it is suggested that muscle fibres select the strongest neuron through a retrograde signal.

See alsoEdit

  1. Estomih Mtui; Gregory Gruener (2006). Clinical Neuroanatomy and Neuroscience, 1, Philadelphia: Saunders.
  2. Jessell, Thomas M.; Kandel, Eric R.; Schwartz, James H. (2000). "Chapter 55" Principles of neural science, 4th, New York: McGraw-Hill.

External linksEdit

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Written by Steven S. Zumdahl

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Written by Steven S. Zumdahl

oxide, any of a large and important class of chemical compounds in which oxygen is combined with another element. With the exception of the lighter inert gases (helium [He], neon [Ne], argon [Ar], and krypton [Kr]), oxygen (O) forms at least one binary oxide with each of the elements.

Both metals and nonmetals can attain their highest oxidation states (i.e., donate their maximum number of available valence electrons) in compounds with oxygen. The alkali metals and the alkaline earth metals, as well as the transition metals and the posttransition metals (in their lower oxidation states), form ionic oxides—i.e., compounds that contain the O2− anion. Metals with high oxidation states form oxides whose bonds have a more covalent nature. Nonmetals also form covalent oxides, which are usually molecular in character. A smooth variation from ionic to covalent in the type of bonding in oxides is observed as the periodic table is traversed from the metals on the left to the nonmetals on the right. This same variation is observed in the reaction of oxides with water and the resulting acid-base character of the products. Ionic metal oxides react with water to give hydroxides (compounds containing the OH ion) and resultant basic solutions, whereas most nonmetal oxides react with water to form acids and resultant acidic solutions (see the table).

Periodic variation of the properties of oxides of the elements of the third period
group 1 group 2 group 13 group 14 group 15 group 16 group 17
reaction of oxides with water and the acid-base character of hydroxides Na2O gives NaOH (strong base) MgO gives
Mg(OH)2 (weak base)
Al2O3 nonreacting SiO2 nonreacting P4O10 gives H3PO4 (weak acid) SO3 gives H2SO4 (strong acid) Cl2O7 gives HClO4 (strong acid)
bonding in oxides Na2O ionic MgO ionic Al2O3
SiO2 covalent P4O10 covalent SO3 covalent Cl2O7 covalent
Source: From W. Robinson, J. Odom, and H. Holtzclaw, Jr., Chemistry: Concepts and Models, D.C. Heath and Co., 1992.

Certain organic compounds react with oxygen or other oxidizing agents to produce substances called oxides. Thus, amines, phosphines, and sulfides form amine oxides, phosphine oxides, and sulfoxides, respectively, in which the oxygen atom is covalently bonded to the nitrogen, phosphorus, or sulfur atom. The so-called olefin oxides are cyclic ethers.

Metal oxides

Metal oxides are crystalline solids that contain a metal cation and an oxide anion. They typically react with water to form bases or with acids to form salts.

The alkali metals and alkaline earth metals form three different types of binary oxygen compounds: (1) oxides, containing oxide ions, O2−, (2) peroxides, containing peroxide ions, O22−, which contain oxygen-oxygen covalent single bonds, and (3) superoxides, containing superoxide ions, O2, which also have oxygen-oxygen covalent bonds but with one fewer negative charge than peroxide ions. Alkali metals (which have a +1 oxidation state) form oxides, M2O, peroxides, M2O2, and superoxides, MO2. (M represents a metal atom.) The alkaline earth metals (with a +2 oxidation state) form only oxides, MO, and peroxides, MO2. All the alkali metal oxides can be prepared by heating the corresponding metal nitrate with the elemental metal.2MNO3 + 10M + heat → 6M2O + N2 A general preparation of the alkaline earth oxides involves heating the metal carbonates.MCO3 + heat → MO + CO2 Both alkali metal oxides and alkaline earth metal oxides are ionic and react with water to form basic solutions of the metal hydroxide.M2O + H2O → 2MOH (where M = group 1 metal)MO + H2O → M(OH)2 (where M = group 2 metal) Thus, these compounds are often called basic oxides. In accord with their basic behaviour, they react with acids in typical acid-base reactions to produce salts and water; for example,M2O + 2HCl → 2MCl + H2O (where M = group 1 metal). These reactions are also often called neutralization reactions. The most important basic oxides are magnesium oxide (MgO), a good thermal conductor and electrical insulator that is used in firebrick and thermal insulation, and calcium oxide (CaO), also called quicklime or lime, used extensively in the steel industry and in water purification.

Periodic trends of the oxides have been thoroughly studied. In any given period, the bonding in oxides progresses from ionic to covalent, and their acid-base character goes from strongly basic through weakly basic, amphoteric, weakly acidic, and finally strongly acidic. In general, basicity increases down a group (e.g., in the alkaline earth oxides, BeO < MgO < CaO < SrO < BaO). Acidity increases with increasing oxidation number of the element. For example, of the five oxides of manganese, MnO (in which manganese has an oxidation state of +2) is the least acidic and Mn2O7 (which contains Mn7+) the most acidic. Oxides of the transition metals with oxidation numbers of +1, +2, and +3 are ionic compounds consisting of metal ions and oxide ions. Those transition metal oxides with oxidation numbers +4, +5, +6, and +7 behave as covalent compounds containing covalent metal-oxygen bonds. As a general rule, the ionic transition metal oxides are basic. That is, they will react with aqueous acids to form solutions of salts and water; for example,CoO + 2H3O+ → Co2+ + 3H2O. The oxides with oxidation numbers of +5, +6, and +7 are acidic and react with solutions of hydroxide to form salts and water; for example,CrO3 + 2OH- → CrO42− + H2O. Those oxides with +4 oxidation numbers are generally amphoteric (from Greek amphoteros, “in both ways”), meaning that these compounds can behave either as acids or as bases. Amphoteric oxides dissolve not only in acidic solutions but also in basic solutions. For example, vanadium oxide (VO2) is an amphoteric oxide, dissolving in acid to give the blue vanadyl ion, [VO]2+, and in base to yield the yellow-brown hypovanadate ion, [V4O9]2−. Amphoterism among the main group oxides is primarily found with the metalloidal elements or their close neighbours.

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Exhibitions: Life, Death, and Transformation in the Americas

Ladle with Skull

Skull imagery is usually associated with the Tánis (Hamatsa) ceremony practiced by the Heiltsuk and Kwakwawa’wakw people. Young males are initiated into the community during a four-part ritual in which they are symbolically transformed from flesh-eating cannibals, a state equated with death, into well-behaved members of society. The skull thus symbolizes the rebirth of initiates as they come back from the dead. Skull items such as this one are sometimes used during the final stages of the ceremony: ritual feeding of the skull possibly by special ceremonial spoons such as this precede a ceremonial meal for the initiates.


Home FBI Records/FOIA Overview Privacy

Overview Privacy

Description of the Privacy Act

The Privacy Act of 1974 (Title 5, U.S. Code, Section 552) establishes a code of fair information practices that governs the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of personally identifiable information about individuals. The purpose of the law is to balance the government’s need to maintain information about individuals with the rights of individuals to be protected against unwarranted invasions of their privacy from the collection and disclosure of these records by federal agencies. Unlike the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act is not a disclosure Act.

The Privacy Act allows individuals—a citizen of the U.S. or an alien lawfully admitted to the U.S. for permanent residence—to request records that are retrievable by name and/or personal identifiers. It also allows individuals to use a representative to make a request on their behalf and/or to request records on the behalf of a minor child or someone who is mentally incompetent if they are that person’s legal guardian or are acting in their best interest.

The focus of the Act is on four basic policy objectives:

  1. To restrict disclosures of personally identifiable records maintained by agencies;
  2. To grant individuals increased rights of access to agency records maintained on themselves;
  3. To grant individuals the right to see amendment of agency records maintained on themselves upon a showing that the records are not accurate, relevant, timely, or complete; and
  4. To establish a code of “fair information practices” that requires agencies to comply with statutory norms for collection, maintenance, and dissemination of records.

The Act applies only to federal agencies in the executive branch of the federal government (including the Executive Office of the President) such as the Department of Justice (DOJ) and as part of the DOJ, the FBI. Generally, the Act does not apply to state and local governments or to private companies, unless such entities are involved in a computer matching program with the federal government or are under contract to maintain an agency-approved system of records for an agency. A system of records is a group of records in the agency’s control from which information is retrieved by a unique identifier—such as a name, date of birth, home address, Social Security number, or some other identifying number or symbol. Only U. S. citizens and aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence may request access to, copies of, or correction of their personal information being maintained by the federal government that is not timely, accurate, relevant, or complete. The Privacy Act requires that agencies give the public notice of their systems of records by publication in the Federal Register.

Records kept on individuals that are not retrieved by a unique identifier are not subject to the Act. The Act provides that agencies may not maintain information on individuals about how they exercise their First Amendment rights, unless maintenance of that information is specifically authorized by statute or relates to a law enforcement activity.

The Act requires each agency to maintain only such information about an individual that is relevant and necessary to accomplish a purpose of the agency required to be accomplished by statute or by executive order of the President and to collect information to the greatest extent practicable directly from the individual.


Ohio Resource Center

Ohio's Academic Content Standards in English Language Arts

Phonemic Awareness, Word Recognition and Fluency Standard

Students in the primary grades learn to recognize and decode printed words, developing the skills that are the foundations for independent reading. They discover the alphabetic principle (sound-symbol match) and learn to use it in figuring out new words. They build a stock of sight words that helps them to read quickly and accurately with comprehension. By the end of the third grade, they demonstrate fluent oral reading, varying their intonation and timing as appropriate for the text.

Acquisition of Vocabulary Standard

Students acquire vocabulary through exposure to language-rich situations, such as reading books and other texts and conversing with adults and peers. They use context clues, as well as direct explanations provided by others, to gain new words. They learn to apply word analysis skills to build and extend their own vocabulary. As students progress through the grades, they become more proficient in applying their knowledge of words (origins, parts, relationships, meanings) to acquire specialized vocabulary that aids comprehension.

Reading Process: Concepts of Print, Comprehension Strategies and Self-Monitoring Strategies Standard

Students develop and learn to apply strategies that help them to comprehend and interpret informational and literary texts. Reading and learning to read are problem-solving processes that require strategies for the reader to make sense of written language and remain engaged with texts. Beginners develop basic concepts about print (e.g., that print holds meaning) and how books work (e.g., text organization). As strategic readers, students learn to analyze and evalute texts to demonstrate their understanding of text. Additionally, students learn to self-monitor their own comprehension by asking and answering questions about the text, self-correcting errors and assessing their own understanding. They apply these strategies effectively to assigned and self-selected texts read in and out of the classroom.

Reading Applications: Informational, Technical and Persuasive Text Standard

Students gain information from reading for the purposes of learning about a subject, doing a job, making decisions and accomplishing a task. Students need to apply the reading process to various types of informational texts, including essays, magazines, newspapers, textbooks, instruction manuals, consumer and workplace documents, reference materials, multimedia and electronic resources. They learn to attend to text features, such as titles, subtitles and visual aids, to make predictions and build text knowledge. They learn to read diagrams, charts, graphs, maps and displays in text as sources of additional information. Students use their knowledge of text structure to organize content information, analyze it and draw inferences from it. Strategic readers learn to recognize arguments, bias, stereotyping and propaganda in informational text sources.

Reading Applications: Literary Text Standard

Students enhance their understanding of the human story by reading literary texts that represent a variety of authors, cultures and eras. They learn to apply the reading process to the various genres of literature, including fables, tales, short stories, novels, poetry and drama. They demonstrate their comprehension by describing and discussing the elements of literature (e.g., setting, character and plot), analyzing the author's use of language (e.g., word choice and figurative language), comparing and contrasting texts, inferring theme and meaning and responding to text in critical and creative ways. Strategic readers learn to explain, analyze and critique literary text to achieve deep understanding.

Writing Process Standard

Students' writing develops when they regularly engage in the major phases of the writing process. The writing process includes the phases of prewriting, drafting, revising and editing and publishing. They learn to plan their writing for different purposes and audiences. They learn to apply their writing skills in increasingly sophisticated ways to create and produce compositions that reflect effective word and grammatical choices. Students develop revision strategies to improve the content, organization and language of their writing. Students also develop editing skills to improve writing conventions.

Writing Applications Standard

Students need to understand that various types of writing require different language, formatting and special vocabulary. Writing serves many purposes across the curriculum and takes various forms. Beginning writers learn about the various purposes of writing; they attempt and use a small range of familiar forms (e.g., letters). Developing writers are able to select text forms to suit purpose and audience. They can explain why some text forms are more suited to a purpose than others and begin to use content-specific vocabulary to achieve their communication goals. Proficient writers control effectively the language and structural features of a large repertoire of text forms. They deliberately choose vocabulary to enhance text and structure their writing according to audience and purpose.

Writing Conventions Standard

Students learn to master writing conventions through exposure to good models and opportunities for practice. Writing conventions include spelling, punctuation, grammar and other conventions associated with forms of written text. They learn the purpose of punctuation: to clarify sentence meaning and help readers know how writing might sound aloud. They develop and extend their understanding of the spelling system, using a range of strategies for spelling words correctly and using newly learned vocabulary in their writing. They grow more skillful at using the grammatical structures of English to effectively communicate ideas in writing and to express themselves.

Research Standard

Students define and investigate self-selected or assigned issues, topics and problems. They locate, select and make use of relevant information from a variety of media, reference and technological sources. Students use an appropriate form to communicate their findings.

Communications: Oral and Visual Standard

Students learn to communicate effectively through exposure to good models and opportunities for practice. By speaking, listening and providing and interpreting visual images, they learn to apply their communication skills in increasingly sophisticated ways. Students learn to deliver presentations that effectively convey information and persuade or entertain audiences. Proficient speakers control language and deliberately choose vocabulary to clarify points and adjust presentations according to audience and purpose.


Forgotten Racial Equality: Implicit Bias, Decision-Making and Misremembering

To test the theory, the author conducted an empirical study that examined how people remember legally relevant facts. In the study, participants read two short stories resembling legal cases—one about a fight and another about an employment termination. The race of the characters in the stories was varied so that some participants read about African Americans, some read about Hawaiians, and others read about Caucasians. Participants were later asked to recall facts of the stories. Results of this recall task indicated that people systematically misremembered legally relevant facts in racially biased ways. For example, participants who read about an African American or Hawaiian involved in a fight were significantly more likely to remember aggressive actions from the fight, compared to participants who read about a Caucasian. Participants even sometimes generated false memories about the African American, erroneously believing that he had engaged in aggressive behaviors when he had not. Other results indicated that implicit memory biases are not related to consciously racist attitudes or preferences—even less “racist” people manifested systematic implicit racial biases. The results strongly support the theory that implicit memory biases operate in the legal setting, and that they operate without the conscious knowledge of judges or jurors.

The extension of an implicit racial bias model to legal decision-making raises concerns about the legal system’s ability to achieve social justice, as well as the cultural responsibility for implicit racial biases. Evidence on biases and stereotypes indicates that they are formed early, automatically, and based on cultural forces. Attempts to “debias” implicit racism have been mixed—reducing harms temporarily is possible but longer term change is resistant to scientific efforts. Thus, the only foolproof suggestion to eliminate implicit racial biases is for cultural change to occur over time and through coordinated efforts. In the meantime, however, the author argues that a variety of temporary debiasing measures must be taken.

Civil Rights and Discrimination | Law and Society | Psychology and Psychiatry

Date of this Version

August 2006


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1x Evolution, Data Optimized. 1xEV-DO devotes a 1.25 MHz channel for packet data traffic and yields transmission rates of up to 2.4 Mbps.

1x Radio Transmission Technology. 1X is 21 times more efficient than analog cellular and four times more efficient than TDMA networks. 1X networks can provide rates of up to 144 Kbps for packet data and an average throughput range of 60-90 Kbps on a loaded network.

Third Generation. The phase of development that followed the first generation (1G) and second generation (2G) in wireless communications. Phase 1G produced the first true mobile phone systems (known as “cellular mobile radio telephone”) that operated on analog networks for voice traffic only. Phase 2G produced digital network technology that provides voice and data traffic services. 2.5G refers to technology that is more advanced than 2G, but does not meet the requirements of 3G. Phase 3G provides increased voice and data capacity over the 2G and 2.5G networks at a minimum of 144 Kbps.

The specifications issued by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). This family of specifications transmits data over the air on an unlicensed frequency with wireless access points that connect to an Ethernet hub or server. This allows for wireless transmissions over relatively short distances (approximately 100 feet). The family of 802.11 specifications includes: 802.11a – Operates on the 5 GHz band and uses an OFDM modulation scheme. This specification applies to wireless ATM systems and is used in access hubs. 802.11b – Operates on the 2.4 GHz band and uses DSSS for signal modulation. Offers wireless transmissions at up to 11 Mbps. 802.11g – Also operates on the 2.4 GHz band, but allows for faster data rates than 802.11b. It is compatible with both 802.11a and 802.11b and uses similar modulation techniques for both standards. Offers wireless transmission at up to 54 Mbps.

Advanced Mobile Phone Service. The standard system for analog signal cellular telephone service used in the United States and other countries. AMPS uses frequency ranges within the 800 and 900 MHz spectrum for cellular telephone.

Google's operating system for mobile devices. With the growing number of Android handsets, third party developers port their applications to the Android operating system. Famous applications that have been converted to the Android operating system include Shazam, Backgrounds, and WeatherBug. The Android operating system has also been considered important enough by a lot of the most popular internet sites and services to create native android applications. These include MySpace™, Facebook®, and Twitter™.

A short-range (approximately 10 meters) wireless communication technology that transmits both voice and data between phones, computers and other devices. Operates on the 2.45 GHz frequency band and provides data transmission rates of up to 10 Mbps.

Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless. An application development platform that makes it possible for developers to create portable applications that will work on wireless devices. Users can then download designated applications (e.g., ringtones, games, content, enhanced email, location positioning, etc.) from their carrier networks to their BREW-enabled phones.

Code-Division Multiple Access. A digital wireless technology that works by converting speech into digital information and then transmitting it as a radio signal over a wireless network. CDMA is compatible with other cellular technologies, which allows for nationwide roaming.

CDMA2000 1X
See 1xRTT.

A set of specifications that supports mobile voice and data communications at speeds ranging from 144 Kbps to 2 Mbps. The CDMA2000 family includes CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 1xEV-DO and CDMA2000 1xEV-DV standards. It is also known as IS-2000.

CompactFlash Card. A memory card that uses flash memory to store data on a smaller memory card for a wide variety of computing devices (e.g., digital cameras, desktop computers and PDAs). The CF card measures 43x36 mm (about the size of a matchbook) and is available with storage capacities ranging up to 1 GB or at higher capacities for higher prices. There are two different types of CF cards for different capacities, Type I and Type II, which has more capacity. Adapters can be used with CF cards for access through a standard diskette drive, USB port or PC card slot.

Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor. The semiconductor technology used in the transistors that are manufactured into most of today’s computer microchips and imaging products. CMOS transistors use almost no power when not needed, which allows the digital camera systems found in wireless handheld devices to run longer on batteries. In camera phones, digital cameras or video cameras, CMOS can be used as the “eye” that senses light focused on its surface, like electronic film.

Compact Media Extension. Software for wireless devices that provides support for applications requiring time-synchronized multimedia outputs of MIDI-based music, text, graphics, animation and voice.

Color Super Twisted Nematic. See STN.

Daylight Savings Time Patch
Congress changed the dates for Daylight Saving Time (DST) in the United States in 2007. Canada adopted similar DST dates. These changes could cause clocks and Microsoft Outlook calendar appointments on Windows Mobile-powered devices to display incorrect times for March 11 – April 1 and October 28 – November 4. To learn more about updating your data device, click here.

Dual Band
Wireless devices that are equipped to operate on either the 800 MHz or 1900 MHz frequencies and can switch back and forth between these bands.

Enhanced 911. Rules that seek to improve the effectiveness and reliability of wireless 911 service by providing 911 dispatchers with location information on wireless 911 calls. The E911 program is divided into two parts – Phase I and Phase II. Phase I requires service providers to report the telephone number of a wireless 911 caller and the location of the antenna that received the call. Phase II requires wireless service providers to provide location information within 50 to 100 meters. Phase II is to be completed by December 31, 2005.

Enhanced Data GSM Environment. An upgrade to GSM wireless service that triples data speeds over standard GPRS. EDGE is designed to deliver data at rates of up to 384 Kbps and enable the delivery of multimedia and other broadband applications to mobile phone and computer users.

A string of text characters that are meant to represent an emotional state. For example: :-) = smiley face, :-( = frowney face, ;-) = winkey face (used for sarcasm) and :-/ = wry face (used for wry humor).

Enhanced Messaging Service. Based on SMS (Short Message Service), EMS is a wireless service that allows users to send and receive messages that include small pictures, animations, sound effects and text. EMS messages can be exchanged between phones regardless of model or make as long as they support the EMS standard. Non-EMS supported mobile phones treat EMS messages like SMS text messages and only display text items.

Flash Memory
Also known as “flash RAM,” flash memory is a type of constantly powered nonvolatile memory that can be erased and reprogrammed in units of memory called blocks. It is called flash memory because the microchip is organized so that a section of memory cells is erased in a single action or “flash.” Flash memory retains information without electrical power and therefore is used in removable memory cards so data can be retained when the device is turned off.

Gigabyte. When referring to disk storage capacities it usually means 1000 MB.

General Packet Radio Services. An upgrade to the GSM network that provides data rates of up to 115 Kbps and continuous connection to the Internet for mobile phone and computer users. It is considered a 2.5G technology and is an evolutionary step EDGE.

Global Positioning System. A global navigation system developed by the U.S. Department of Defense that uses a constellation of satellites to pinpoint the geographic location of ground receivers with an accuracy of 10 to 100 meters. GPS receivers can be used to relate location with other information, such as traffic or weather conditions.

A technology solution that combines GPS and wireless network infrastructure to provide enhanced position location services. GPSOne accelerates the location determination process and provides industry-leading accuracy for callers’ E911 or GPS-enabled commercial applications.

Global System for Mobile Communication. A digital mobile telephone system that is based on TDMA technology and is widely used in Europe and other parts of the world. GSM operates at either the 850 MHz or 1900 MHz frequency band in the United States, Canada and most of the Americas, and 900 MHz and 1800 MHz in most other parts of the world.

Graphical User Interface. Pronounced GOO-ee, it is a graphical (as opposed to textual) user interface to a computer. Elements of a GUI include such things as windows, pull-down menus, buttons, scroll bars, iconic images, wizards and the mouse. Examples of familiar GUIs are the Mac or the Windows operating systems and their applications.

Hot Spot
A wireless access point (e.g., a coffee shop, bookstore, airport or hotel) where users can establish a WLAN or “Wi-Fi” connection with their service provider, but of limited coverage (approximately 100 feet).

Also known as Evolved High-Speed Packet Access is a wireless broadband standard defined. HSPA+ provides higher data speeds.

Infrared Radiation. A technology that uses energy in the region of the electromagnetic radiation spectrum at wavelengths longer than those of visible light, but shorter than those of radio waves. It is typically used to transmit data through the air, for short distances, in a straight line or beam. It can be used to wirelessly connect various devices such as phones, computers and printers. For an IR connection to succeed, the infrared ports of communicating devices must be nearby and aimed at each other.

Java 2 Micro Edition. A technology that allows programmers to use the Java programming language and related tools to develop programs for mobile wireless devices. It is geared toward small, user-installable software applications such as games, specific functions, corporate-based applications or other custom written applications, and can be Internet-enabled, which allows for real-time transmissions over the Internet.

Introduced by Sun Microsystems in 1995, Java is a programming language that was expressly designed for use in the distributed environment of the Internet, but simpler than C++ language. It enforces an object-oriented programming model and can be used to create complete applications for a single computer or to be distributed among servers and a network. It can also be used to build a small application module for use as part of a web page.

Local Area Network. A group of computers and associated devices that share the resources of a single processor or server within a small geographic area, such as within an office building. A LAN can serve two or three users or many thousands of users.

Liquid Crystal Display. A technology used for displays in small computer devices. LCDs block light instead of emitting it, which allows them to be thinner CRT displays and consume less power than LED or gas-display displays.

Light-Emitting Diode. A semiconductor device that emits visible light when an electric current passes through it. Mostly monochromatic, LEDs are common on small devices for service or message lights, for LCD backlights and as device key backlights.

Megabyte. One million bytes, or 1,048,576 bytes in decimal notation.

Megabits per second. One million bits per second.

One million pixels and a unit of measurement for image sensing capacity in digital cameras. Typically, more megapixels in a camera will result in better resolution when printing the image. For example, a digital camera with a 1.3 megapixel resolution will print a good quality 4x3 inch print at 300 dpi (dots per inch).

Megahertz. One million hertz or cycles per second. Wireless mobile communications within the United States operate on several MHz bands, including 800 MHz and 1900 MHz bands.

A format for removable flash memory cards. SD is an acronym of Secure Digital. The cards are commonly used in cellular phones, as well as in some newer handheld GPS devices, portable media players, digital audio players, expandable USB flash memory drives, and digital cameras.

Microsoft® ActiveSync®
The synchronization software for Windows Mobile-based Pocket PCs and smartphones, with enhanced security features for improved desktop synchronization.

Microsoft Outlook® Mobile
A mobile version of Microsoft’s email client and personal information manager program, called Outlook, specifically designed and formatted for the Windows Phone operating system.

Musical Instrument Digital Interface. A protocol designed for recording and playing back music on digital synthesizers. It is used as an industry-standard, efficient file format for describing music. MIDI files are very small in size, but lack specific sound control.

Multimedia Message Service. An enhanced short message service for mobile wireless devices, it allows video clips, photos, graphics, audio clips, longer text or a combination thereof to be transmitted. MMS-enabled phones are generally backward-compatible with SMS and EMS.

Music on Demand. A feature that provides a mobile library of audio clips that may be downloaded to a user’s wireless device.

MPEG Layer 3. A standard developed by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) digital audio compression and a file format. This technology can compress a sound sequence into a very small file, which allows digital music to be transmitted and stored efficiently, while still preserving the original level of sound quality when it is played.

Moving Picture Experts Group. A family of standards for digital video and digital audio compression.

Operating System. The software that manages the basic operations of a computer system. The OS controls memory apportionment, the order and method of handling tasks and the flow of data to and from the main processor and peripherals. Examples of common operating systems are Windows, UNIX and Symbian.

PC Card
A card device that operates as a wireless modem on PCs or wireless communication devices. A PC card is compatible with the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) PC Card standard.

Personal Computer Memory Card International Association. An industry group organized in 1989 to promote standards for a credit card-size memory or input/output device for personal computers.

The basic unit of programmable color on a computer display or in a computer image.

Pocket Internet Explorer®
A mobile version of Microsoft’s web browser program, called Internet Explorer, specifically designed and formatted for the Pocket PC operating system.

Polyphonic Ringtone
A ringtone for mobile phones that is produced by playing several tones simultaneously (rather than a series of single or monophonic tones), which produces a more natural and realistic sound. Polyphonic ringtones can be downloaded from websites to a mobile phone.

Quarter VGA. A resolution of 320x240 pixels, or one-quarter the area of VGA resolution (640x480 pixels), that is used on handheld devices.

QWERTY Keyboard
Pronounced KWEHR-tee, a QWERTY keyboard is the standard typewriter and computer keyboard in countries that use a Latin-based alphabet and refers to the first six letters on the upper row of the keyboard.

Random Access Memory. The place in a computer where the operating system, application programs and data in current use are kept so that they can be quickly reached by the computer’s processor.

Read-Only Memory. A computer’s built-in memory that can only be read, not written to, and contains the programming that allows your computer to be “booted up” or regenerated each time you turn it on.

Secure Digital. A tiny memory card, approximately the size of a postage stamp, used to make storage portable among various devices (e.g., mobile phones, PDAs, digital cameras, personal computers, etc.). SD cards have a high data transfer rate and low battery consumption, which makes them ideal portable devices, and use flash memory that does not require a power source to retain stored data.

Secure Digital Input/Output. A card format that provides additional functionality to devices with SD card slot. Examples include Wi-Fi and Bluetooth adapters, GPS receivers, digital cameras and wireless networking cards.

Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory. The generic name for various kinds of DRAM that are synchronized with the clock speed that the microprocessor is optimized for. This tends to increase the number of instructions that the processor can perform in a given time.

Service Provider
The wireless service carrier or operator that provides communication services and content for mobile device users. Examples include Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and AT&T.

Subscriber Identity Module. A removable “smartcard” chip built into GSM devices that can identify the user, the services to which the user subscribes and store data, such as telephone numbers and addresses.

A category of mobile phones that provides integrated wireless data and voice capabilities on one handset. Smartphones run complete operating system software and allow users to make calls, send emails, browse the Internet, access corporate databases and operate other software applications via this one device.

Short Message Service. A service for sending text messages of up to 160 characters (224 characters if using a 5-bit mode) to wireless handsets. SMS messages can be held for a number of days if a wireless device is out of range or inactive, and will be received when the device is active and within range.

Super Twisted Nematic. A type of LCD flat-panel display technology that provides better contrast than twisted nematic (TN) by rotating the direction of the liquid crystal from 180 to 270.

Streaming Multimedia
A feature on wireless devices that allows users to play audio or video content in real time, without the need to download the content first.

Text on Nine Keys. A text input system that effectively makes a keyboard out of the numeric keypad by eliminating multitapping for text entries. For example, instead of typing 8-4-4-3-3 for the word “the,” with T9™ text entry you would type only 8-4-3 and it would recognize (or predict) it as “t-h-e.” This greatly facilitates text entries.

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. A communications protocol that was developed by the U.S. Department of Defense, it has become the standard protocol for the Internet. Two interrelated protocols, TCP provides transport functions and IP provides the routing mechanism. It can also be used as a communications protocol in a private network. Every computer with direct access to the Internet uses a copy of the TCP/IP program.

Time Division Multiple Access. A wireless technology used in digital cellular telephone communication that divides each cellular channel into three time slots to increase the amount of data that can be carried. It is used by Digital-American Mobile Phone Service (D-AMPS), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) and Personal Digital Cellular (PDC).

Thin-Film Transistor. A type of LCD flat-panel technology that has a transistor for each pixel, which provides excellent image quality, but uses more power and is more expensive.

Tri Band
Wireless devices that are equipped to operate on three of the GSM frequency bands. In the Americas, tri band devices support the 800/850, 1800 and 1900 MHz bands, and in Europe, tri band devices support the 900, 1800 and 1900 MHz bands. Triband devices can be used in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa.

Text Telephone/Telecommunication Device for the Deaf. A device that lets people who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech-impaired use the telephone to communicate, by allowing them to type messages back and forth to one another. The device is required on both ends of the conversation for successful communication.

Universal Serial Bus. A plug-and-play hardware interface between a computer device and add-on devices. For example, a USB can be used to connect a wireless device to a PC and is useful for quickly transferring files or synchronizing contact and calendar information.

Video Graphics Array. A display screen resolution of 640x480 pixels and 16 colors that has become the accepted minimum standard for PCs.

Video on Demand. A feature that allows wireless users to request video clips, such as TV programming content or music videos, to be played on their wireless device.

Voice over Internet Protocol. Also known as IP telephony, it is the technology that allows voice conversations to be routed over the Internet or any other IP network.

Virtual Private Network. A private network that is configured within a public network and uses encryption and other security mechanisms to ensure that only authorized users access the network.

Wide Area Network. A geographically dispersed communications network that is usually public, but may be privately owned or rented.

Wireless Application Protocol. A specification for a set of communication protocols that standardize the way mobile wireless devices access the Internet, including email and the World Wide Web.

Wideband Code-Division Multiple Access. A 3G mobile wireless technology that offers higher data speeds of up to 384 Kbps for mobile wireless devices and uses 10 MHz of wireless spectrum, a 5 MHz uplink and 5 MHz downlink, for both voice and data.

Wireless Fidelity. Another name for WLAN technology and the 802.11b/g/n wireless standard, it provides short-range wireless high-speed data transmissions between mobile data devices and Wi-Fi access points. See also 802.11.

Windows Media Player 10 Mobile™
The mobile version of Microsoft’s Windows Media Player software program for Windows Phone-based smartphones. Windows Media Player 10 plays popular digital audio and video file formats from either removable storage cards or streamed over the Internet.

Windows Phone®
Windows Phone (previously Windows Mobile until the launch of Windows Mobile 6.5) is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft for use in smartphones and mobile devices.

Wireless Local Area Network. A local area network that transmits over the air in an unlicensed frequency, such as the 2.4 GHz band, with wireless access points that connect to an Ethernet hub or server and transmit a radio frequency over an area of several feet. See also Wi-Fi and 802.11.

Wireless Wide Area Network. A radio-based voice or data network that covers an entire metropolitan area.

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Explainer: what is the circular economy?

It’s a term the average person may not have come across yet, but the idea has gained sufficient traction in business, political and environmental circles to be the subject of a report released at the Forum’s influential annual meeting and to be the focus of an initiative supported by leading companies to encourage business to embrace its principles.

In Europe, the biggest annual conference on environmental policy will this year focus on the circular economy and how to unlock its potential, while China’s latest five-year plan has an entire chapter devoted to efforts to “vigorously develop a circular economy”.

In Australia, various NGOs and academic institutions are already engaged with promoting and developing a better understanding of the model.

So what is the circular economy and why should Australians care about it? While many may assume it is about recycling, the model involves much more than that.

Globally, in the consumer goods sector about 20% of total material value is recovered while 80% goes to waste.

In Australia, about half the waste we generate is being recycled but with continued growth in economic output, the volume of waste going into landfill here continues to rise.

Often, we are throwing away valuable resources in this “linear” model. Without change, this can only get worse as three billion new middle-class consumers enter the global market in the next 15 years.

The circular economy addresses these unnecessary resource losses.

How does it do that? More recycling is part of it but the circular economy involves much more. It is a model of industrial production which involves designing products so they last longer, so they can be repaired and upgraded, so they can be reused or resold (on eBay, for example), and so their materials can be used in remanufacture.

It is a more “restorative” process, where components and materials can be reused many times.

This will involve a shift on the part of businesses that are accustomed to generating ongoing revenue via planned or “inbuilt” obsolescence.

One example of the sort of switch that might be involved is for businesses to sell services instead of products – for example, selling “hours behind the wheel” rather than selling cars, which is what happens with car-share schemes such as GoGet, Hertz 24/7 and GreenShareCar.

This sort of change is starting to happen, but the report launched by the WEF and the Ellen McArthur Foundation at Davos last month considered a crucial issue: how to scale up the circular economy model.

Dominic Barton, Managing Director of McKinsey & Co, which collaborated on the report, spelled out the business case. The world economy is A$72 trillion in size but applying the circular economy model would lead to at least $1 trillion in savings immediately, he said, and potentially much more in years ahead.

These savings would flow from waste reduction and lower capital requirements for businesses. Other potential benefits include reduced volatility in the price of inputs, along with greater innovation and job creation.

Remanufacturing and recycling in Europe, for example, already employs more than one million people. There, companies such as Renault have found that while remanufacturing is more labour-intensive, reduced waste and lower capital expenses mean profits are maintained.

Ellen MacArthur released Project Mainstream at the World Economic Forum. Laurent Gillieron/EPA

Project Mainstream, which was launched at Davos, is designed to promote collaboration in pursuit of the circular economy, particularly across the massive global supply networks of key industry sectors. Household names such as Unilever, Cisco, Philips and Renault are some of the global partners with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in this initiative.

A number of factors will help drive progress towards a circular economy. Businesses will increasingly be motivated to do more with less as water, energy and resources become more expensive in coming decades.

In an era of “big data”, we know more about where resources are, which means it will be easier to recover them profitably. New technologies such as 3D printing offer the potential to reduce materials and energy use, and wastage, by allowing products to be produced on demand rather than just in case.

Meanwhile, there is growing acceptance of economic models based on access rather than ownership and this “collaborative consumption” will also help unlock the untapped value of assets.

For Australia, rethinking the productivity of materials holds promise at what is a challenging time for traditional manufacturing. The circular economy offers the potential of job creation and innovation and a pathway to a resilient economic growth.


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Full Version: Mk 6 Escort Van Mods?
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"Modify" means a lot of different things to a lot of different people, it could mean go faster stripes, sticking on a set of alloys, messing about with lights, ice - like a new sub/ headunit,lowering/ coilovers, privacy glass gel, racing seats, remap/ decat/ panel filter right through to total interior retrim transmission upgrades/ (4wd etc) engine swaps etc
As above.

I's go for a turbo diesel or zetec conversion.
Cosworth style rear bumper

cosworth YB, Capri rear axle, type 9 box = rwd conversion

escort cossie body kit, lowered a touch but not too much, spray it a nice colour and terrorise the tarmac!

Full Colour Version: Mk 6 Escort Van Mods?


Caesarea Maritima

Home > Sites > Sharon > Caesarea Maritima (overview)

Pontius Pilate

Aerial views

History of the place:

General View:

   The following photo shows the Roman city in the foreground (Herod's palace). In the background:  the Crusader's city, Ottoman mosque and buildings, and the ancient port just behind them. The Roman city is on the right side, although not seen in this photo.

  A large Roman theater, built by Herod, is still in use today for  concerts and shows. In addition to this theater, Herod also built a Hippodrome and an additional amphitheater for the pleasure of the citizens.

   The Roman city was a major sea port, which included large warehouses to store the goods, and a large harbor that was built by Herod. In the photo below - the vast warehouses. In the left background - the place of the ancient harbor.

   In the left background, the remains of the two-level building which was the Governor's house. This was probably Pontius Pilate's house.

  One of the famous sites in Caesarea is the Aqueduct (click on the link to get more details on this). It is also a popular beach.

Pontius Pilate in Caesarea:

The Hippodrome:

Stone Tablet:

              (1) TIBERIEUM,,

             (2) (PON) TIUS    PILATUS

             (3)  (PRAEF) ECTUS IUDA (EAE)

Mosaic Floor: Kalokeria

   When you enter Israel via Ben-Gurion airport, there are 3 mosaic floors displayed on the entrance to the border patrol booths. The lower right one is from Caesarea, and is seen below. The 6th C AD  mosaic floor is decorated with animals, geometric shapes, animals and trees, and in the center a woman holding a fruit basket. Her Greek name, Kalokeria, is inscribed around the figure and suggests prosperity. This is the spirit of the city: fruitful, large, plentiful, a good city.

Biblical References:

Aerial Views:

These photos are part of a collection of  aerial images of BibleWalks's partner. For purchasing details, visit our shop.

   In the first aerial photo you can see the western layout of the city, with Herod's theater on the bottom side, Herod's palace on the left side, the Hippodrome and the Roman city in the center, and the Crusaders and port on the top side.

In the next photo you can see the large Roman theater, built by Herod, on the right side. Herod's palace in the front center, and the Hippodrome on the left side.

   The aerial photo below was captured north to the previous photo, and shows the Roman city on the right side, and the crusaders city and the ancient port on the center.


4iq6 Summary

Gsk-3beta with inhibitor 6-chloro-N-cyclohexyl-4-(1H-pyrrolo[2,3-b]pyridin-3-yl)pyridin-2-amine

The structure was published by Tong, Y., Stewart, K.D., Florjancic, A.S., et al., Johnson, E.F., Shoemaker, A.R., and Penning, T.D., in 2013 in a paper entitled "Azaindole-Based Inhibitors of Cdc7 Kinase: Impact of the Pre-DFG Residue, Val 195" (abstract).

This crystal structure was determined using X-ray diffraction at a resolution of 3.12 Å and deposited in 2013.

This PDB entry contains multiple copies of the structure of Glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta.

A Glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta P49841 (1-420) (GSK3B_HUMAN)search Homo sapienssearch 91% 426 77%

This entry contains 1 unique UniProt protein:

UniProt accession Name Organism PDB
P49841 (1 - 420) Glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta Homo sapiens

Chain Sequence family (Pfam)
A, B (P49841) PF00069: Protein kinase domainsearch

A, B (P49841) ATP bindingsearch protein bindingsearch RNA polymerase II transcription factor bindingsearch kinase activitysearch ubiquitin protein ligase bindingsearch protein kinase activitysearch protein serine/threonine kinase activitysearch integrin bindingsearch nucleotide bindingsearch transferase activity, transferring phosphorus-containing groupssearch tau-protein kinase activitysearch beta-catenin bindingsearch tau protein bindingsearch NF-kappaB bindingsearch protein kinase bindingsearch transferase activitysearch protein kinase A catalytic subunit bindingsearch ionotropic glutamate receptor bindingsearch p53 bindingsearch protein complexsearch membrane raftsearch cytosolsearch beta-catenin destruction complexsearch membranesearch plasma membranesearch dendritic shaftsearch nucleussearch cytoplasmsearch perinuclear region of cytoplasmsearch centrosomesearch ribonucleoprotein complexsearch dendritic spinesearch growth conesearch cell bodysearch neuronal cell bodysearch membrane-bounded organellesearch negative regulation of signal transductionsearch axon guidancesearch phosphorylationsearch negative regulation of dendrite morphogenesissearch cell migrationsearch negative regulation of canonical Wnt signaling pathwaysearch negative regulation of glycogen (starch) synthase activitysearch negative regulation of MAP kinase activitysearch negative regulation of neuron projection developmentsearch circadian rhythmsearch cellular response to mechanical stimulussearch positive regulation of protein catabolic processsearch fat cell differentiationsearch Wnt signaling pathwaysearch glycogen metabolic processsearch positive regulation of protein bindingsearch protein phosphorylationsearch negative regulation of protein complex assemblysearch canonical Wnt signaling pathwaysearch response to drugsearch peptidyl-serine phosphorylationsearch innate immune responsesearch extrinsic apoptotic signaling pathway in absence of ligandsearch positive regulation of mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization involved in apoptotic signaling pathwaysearch regulation of gene expression by genetic imprintingsearch positive regulation of apoptotic processsearch positive regulation of proteasomal ubiquitin-dependent protein catabolic processsearch protein localization to microtubulesearch ER overload responsesearch epidermal growth factor receptor signaling pathwaysearch multicellular organismal developmentsearch negative regulation of protein bindingsearch myoblast fusionsearch canonical Wnt signaling pathway involved in positive regulation of apoptotic processsearch hypermethylation of CpG islandsearch cell differentiationsearch regulation of neuronal synaptic plasticitysearch positive regulation of transcription from RNA polymerase II promotersearch neurotrophin TRK receptor signaling pathwaysearch myotube differentiationsearch rhythmic processsearch establishment of cell polaritysearch re-entry into mitotic cell cyclesearch nervous system developmentsearch negative regulation of apoptotic processsearch positive regulation of protein complex assemblysearch epithelial to mesenchymal transitionsearch negative regulation of type B pancreatic cell developmentsearch cellular response to interleukin-3search fibroblast growth factor receptor signaling pathwaysearch regulation of microtubule-based processsearch protein export from nucleussearch carbohydrate metabolic processsearch Fc-epsilon receptor signaling pathwaysearch phosphatidylinositol-mediated signalingsearch negative regulation of NFAT protein import into nucleussearch positive regulation of Rac GTPase activitysearch positive regulation of stem cell differentiationsearch negative regulation of neuron maturationsearch superior temporal gyrus developmentsearch positive regulation of cell-matrix adhesionsearch hippocampus developmentsearch response to lithium ionsearch intracellular signal transductionsearch positive regulation of protein export from nucleussearch positive regulation of peptidyl-threonine phosphorylationsearch establishment or maintenance of cell polaritysearch negative regulation of cardiac muscle hypertrophysearch positive regulation of peptidyl-serine phosphorylationsearch negative regulation of glycogen biosynthetic processsearch organ morphogenesissearch axonogenesissearch

Chain InterPro annotation


This post is a TED video of Martin Sigelman discussing the state of psychology.  Sigelman discusses the “good,” the “not good,” and the “not good enough” aspects of the field by giving a brief review of the past 50 years. Initially, psychology was used as a means of alleviating pain and misery, which was good, but it neglected the importance of building happiness. The emergence of “positive psychology” is an example of the new direction psychology is headed.

If you are interested in taking scientifically tested questionnaires on emotion, engagement, meaning, and life satisfaction, visit the Authentic Happiness website.


Association Management Services

Industry associations are one of the most effective tools for bringing new technologies and standards to market. Associations foster collaboration and cooperation among competitors, integrators, solution providers and users resulting in rapid market adoption.

Industry associations are effective whether it is open to all industry players or limited to adopters of a company-specific technology, it requires both human and financial resources. These resources are used to fund development of important programs such as market education and awareness, testing and compliance, and industry adoption.

Principals in the Lakeview Group have extensive experience creating and managing industry ecosystems, alliances and standards involving energy, semiconductor, communication and consumer-related industries.

Unlike large, formula driven association management companies, the Lakeview Group is managed by a senior team and draws upon domain experts to support the specific requirements of each alliance. This approach eliminates the unnecessary overhead of a large agency, while drawing from a senior-level group of professionals, each contributing their unique skills and experience.

Web Hosting


Bilingual Education: Teachers' Narratives

This book grew out of the joys and challenges the author experienced as a Spanish/English bilingual teacher of culturally and linguistically diverse students. It tells what it is like to be a bilingual teacher. As a result, it helps other teachers and prospective teachers understand the complex nature of bilingual teaching, shares some successful teaching strategies that other teachers have used, and encourages teachers to find their own solutions despite limited support.

The book is structured in three parts. The introduction explains how the book evolved, defines its relation to other qualitative research, and offers suggestions for how to use the book. The second part consists of eight bilingual teachers' stories that provide a glimpse of them as people, their schools and programs, their successes and struggles, and their solutions and coping mechanisms within their contexts. It concludes with a discussion chapter that looks at the teachers' collective strengths and struggles comparatively, connecting these to broader issues. The final section presents bilingual education resources -- useful information for practitioners. This includes foundation texts on the theories and practices of bilingual education, demographic information, a glossary of bilingual education terms, listings of curricula, tests, and literature mentioned by the teachers, and professional network sources.


IUCN Reference Libraries

Page 1 of about 3 Articles
Zinos Petrel Pterodroma Madeira
2013-04-21 09:46:05

The Zino’s Petrel (Pterodroma madeira) is a little seabird in the gadfly petrel genus which is endemic to the island of Madeira. This long-winged petrel has a grey back and wings, with a dark “W” marking across the wings, and a grey upper tail. The undersides of the wings are blackish except for a white triangle at the front edge near the body, and the belly is white with grey flanks....

Zapata Rail Cyanolimnas cerverai
2012-11-27 00:03:03

The Zapata Rail is the only member of the monotypic genus Cyanolimnus. It is overall a dark-colored rail bird. It has grayish-blue underparts, a red-based yellow bill, brown upperparts, white under tail coverts, and red eyes and legs. Their short wings make it almost unable to fly. It is endemic to the wetlands of the Zapata Peninsula in southern Cuba, where its only known nest was discovered...

Sawfish Anoxypristis
2012-08-17 06:50:56

Word of the Day
This word is partly Irish in origin.


HP OpenVMS Systems

ask the wizard
Content starts here

DECnet and Multiple Controllers?

» close window

The Question is:

Further to the Answer on the Question on "(6704) Configure DECnet on Network
 Controller? ".  I have tried re-run
However NETCONFIG.COM (at least with v7.1-2 of OpenVMS) would only configure
 Decnet on EWA-0 and would not configure it on EWB-0.
I treied edit NETCONFIG.COM to use EWB-0 and it still end up with the same
At the moment, I end up using EWB-0 for UCX only
and leave Decnet on EWA-0.
I would apprecitate any help to move Decnet to EWB-0 as well.
I would prefer to stay with DECnet Phase IV.
One question is: would upgrading to OpenVMS v7.2 or v7.3 helps?

The Answer is :

  Due to network addressing requirements, DECnet Phase IV permits one
  connection to an unbridged, unrouted network segment.
  When multiple connections are present, DECnet Phase IV end-node hosts
  can operate on only one network controller at a time and must be
  manually switched to other controllers as required.
  DECnet Phase IV routing is available on OpenVMS VAX only.
  DECnet Phase IV routers can operate across multiple controllers,
  again assuming that no two network controllers are connected to the
  same network segement.
  If you attempt to connect multiple controllers to the same network
  segment on a DECnet Phase IV host, you will receive an "IVADDR, invalid
  media address" error upon starting the second and subsequent controllers
  connected to the same segment.
  DECnet-Plus permits multiple connections to the same network segment,
  and permits multiple active circuits on an end-node, and (with recent
  versions) does provide for host-based routing.

» close window


An on-line editor

Peter Deutsch and Butler Lampson

Citation: Comm. ACM 10, 12 (Dec. 1967), pp 793-799

Email: This paper is at

An online, interactive system for text editing is described in detail, with remarks on the theoretical and experimental justification for its form. Emphasis throughout the system is on providing maximum convenience and power for the user. Notable features are its ability to handle any piece of text, the content-searching facility, and the character-by-character editing operations. The editor can be programmed to a limited extent.


Vietnam was the first war ever fought without any censorship. Without censorship, things can get terribly confused in the public mind.

William Westmoreland


Exploration and Production Technologies

Ultra-Deep Wave-Equation Imaging and Illumination

The purpose of the project is to develop and test a novel technology designed to enhance seismic resolution and image quality using wave-equation depth migration and wave-equation velocity model building.

Comparison between wave equation imaging with 3 km aperture (left) and 10 km aperture (right).Note improved imaging of steeply dipping beds.

Oil and gas companies use seismic imaging to visualize the shape and complexity of a reservoir prior to drilling a well. The current technologies for depth imaging are the Kirchhoff pre-stack depth migration and the wave-equation depth migration. Wave equation methods are potentially more accurate and robust because they incorporate the full 3-D wave equation rather than being based on 2-D ray theory. The current project develops the ability to image deep gas prospects in onshore and offshore areas of the Gulf coast by using wave equation migration to handle multiple arrivals, and using a wider acquisition aperture (10-15 km) to optimize image quality for depths greater than 15,000 feet.

Houston, Texas 77084
Onshore and offshore Gulf Coast

Potential Impact:
The potential impact of the project will be to allow better imaging of deep onshore and offshore plays that contain large volumes of undiscovered oil and gas. The Mineral Management Service (MMS) estimates that there are 193 Tcf of undiscovered, conventionally recoverable natural gas in the deeper sediments of the Gulf of Mexico. This technology will enhance industry’s ability to locate and develop this resource.

As of September 2005, 3DGeo had completed a set of algorithms to optimize pre-stack time migration and wave-equation velocity model building. In October 2005 3DGeo took delivery of PGS Onshore’s ultra-deep POC2 line that spans the onshore and offshore portion of the Texas gulf coast. The processing team began running iterations of the algorithms developed during the first year of the project, using the POC2 vibroseis/airgun dataset. In January 2006, 3DGeo began testing a true-amplitude imaging algorithm that improves the clarity of deep and steeply dipping events, conducting a series of tests to validate the algorithms developed.

Current Status

Project Start: October 1, 2004
Project End: September 30, 2006

DOE Contribution: $504,944
Performer Contribution: $130,236

Contact Information:
NETL – Frances Toro (frances.toro@netl.doe.gov or 304-285-4107)
3DGeo – Alexander Mihai Popovici (mihai@3Dgeo.com or 281-579-9712 x103)

Additional Information:

Final Report [PDF-3.50MB]

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Chats with the University Librarian

June 8, 2009 | Chats with the University Dean

“What Google Books Deal Means for Libraries” is the first in a series of chats with Curtis Kendrick, CUNY University Librarian, on a wide variety of topics affecting libraries, CUNY and the community at large. Since Curtis took office in 2004, he has been committed to improving access to information through exchange of ideas and resources among CUNY faculty and the library, within departments, and with other NYC educational and cultural organizations. In the same spirit of exchange, this column encourages dialogue among all of these communities. We invite our readers’ responses.

What Google Book Deal Means for Libraries

Since Google began work in 2002 on its plan to digitize millions of books in the collections of major research libraries, the digital conversion project known as Google Book Search has been the subject of intense debate. After publishers and authors sued Google for copyright infringement, Google agreed to seek the permission of copyright holders before licensing their material. If the settlement is approved in the coming months, Google will have permission to digitize nearly all copyrighted materials in the United States. Google continues to face stiff opposition from critics, including the American Library Association, and the nonprofit Internet Archive, which maintains that the settlement would give copyright immunity to Google alone and has filed a motion to intervene in this case. The Justice Department has opened an antitrust inquiry into the settlement.

Irene Gashurov, an editor for the Office of Library Services, talked to Curtis Kendrick, CUNY University Librarian, about the issues behind the Google project and what it may mean for libraries.

IG: Google’s website says the Book Search will benefit everyone-libraries, publishers, authors, readers. Some major libraries have allowed Google to scan their collections. Why is there such an outcry against the project?

Curtis: There are at least two and likely many more sides to this story. On the one hand, there is a vision of open access to an unfettered repository of digitized information, free of charge or restrictions. Every Internet user will have access to this knowledge from a terminal at the public library or from a desktop at home. Since the holdings of the great libraries will become available, scholarship stands to get wider distribution and influence. No longer will there be need to pay publishers to reprint faculty’s own publications from scholarly journals. Such access is a great boon for scholarship, for intellectual democracy.

IG: And on the other?

Curtis: In another scenario, Google will have exclusive control over this digital library. Some critics have called the Google Book Search project a monopoly over information, where the property is copyright and information. If this holds true, Google can charge whatever prices it wants for access to its online materials. And with no competition, it will have full copyright privileges to orphan or out-of-print books.

IG: What is at issue with out-of-copyright books?

Curtis: They are at the heart of the controversy. It could be said that Google is renewing access to this out-of-print material, which can get lost in library stacks. But according to the settlement, which I hear has been delayed until August, there’s no copyright infringement, only because no author or publisher can be found to authorize Google’s use of these books. Orphan books make up a large part of research library collections. That’s the territory over which the Internet Archive is in opposition to Google. Internet Archive is saying that the settlement agreement gives Google exclusive rights to digitize orphan books, which is why they’ve intervened in the case.

IG: So what’s the optimum scenario for libraries?

Curtis: I believe that a company like Google is very useful for creating open access to the information stored in our research collections. It has the wealth to achieve this quickly. But Google should not have an exclusive right to these orphan works. If some other entity wants to digitize them they should be allowed to as well. Sometimes the possibility of competition is sufficient to ward off some of the less desirable aspects of a monopoly. Allowing for the possibility of competitors’ creating their own digital libraries can serve as a restraint on prices.