Army medic Nicholas Walker returned home from Iraq after 250 combat missions, traumatized and broken. His friends and family couldn?t help him. Therapy couldn?t help him. Heroin couldn?t help him. Pulling bank heists helped him.
May 30, 2013 ? Every chemist's dream -- to snap an atomic-scale picture of a chemical before and after it reacts -- has now come true, thanks to a new technique developed by chemists and physicists at the University of California, Berkeley.
Using a state-of-the-art atomic force microscope, the scientists have taken the first atom-by-atom pictures, including images of the chemical bonds between atoms, clearly depicting how a molecule's structure changed during a reaction. Until now, scientists have only been able to infer this type of information from spectroscopic analysis.
"Even though I use these molecules on a day to day basis, actually being able to see these pictures blew me away. Wow!" said lead researcher Felix Fischer, UC Berkeley assistant professor of chemistry. "This was what my teachers used to say that you would never be able to actually see, and now we have it here."
The ability to image molecular reactions in this way will help not only chemistry students as they study chemical structures and reactions, but will also show chemists for the first time the products of their reactions and help them fine-tune the reactions to get the products they want. Fischer, along with collaborator Michael Crommie, a UC Berkeley professor of physics, captured these images with the goal of building new graphene nanostructures, a hot area of research today for materials scientists because of their potential application in next-generation computers.
"However, the implications go far beyond just graphene," Fischer said. "This technique will find application in the study of heterogeneous catalysis, for example," which is used widely in the oil and chemical industries. Heterogeneous catalysis involves the use of metal catalysts like platinum to speed reactions, as in the catalytic converter of a car.
"To understand the chemistry that is actually happening on a catalytic surface, we need a tool that is very selective and tells us which bonds have actually formed and which ones have been broken," he added. "This technique is unique out there right now for the accuracy with which it gives you structural information. I think it's groundbreaking."
"The atomic force microscope gives us new information about the chemical bond, which is incredibly useful for understanding how different molecular structures connect up and how you can convert from one shape into another shape," said Crommie. "This should help us to create new engineered nanostructures, such as bonded networks of atoms that have a particular shape and structure for use in electronic devices. This points the way forward."
Fischer and Crommie, along with other colleagues at UC Berkeley, in Spain and at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), published their findings online May 30 in the journal Science Express.
From shadow to snapshot
Traditionally, Fischer and other chemists conduct detailed analyses to determine the products of a chemical reaction, and even then, the actual three-dimensional arrangement of atoms in these products can be ambiguous.
"In chemistry you throw stuff into a flask and something else comes out, but you typically only get very indirect information about what you have," Fischer said. "You have to deduce that by taking nuclear magnetic resonance, infrared or ultraviolet spectra. It is more like a puzzle, putting all the information together and then nailing down what the structure likely is. But it is just a shadow. Here we actually have a technique at hand where we can look at it and say this is exactly the molecule. It's like taking a snapshot of it."
Fischer is developing new techniques for making graphene nanostructures that display unusual quantum properties that could make them useful in nano-scale electronic devices. The carbon atoms are in a hexagonal arrangement like chicken wire. Rather than cutting up a sheet of pure carbon -- graphene -- he hopes to place a bunch of smaller molecules onto a surface and induce them to zip together into desired architectures. The problem, he said, is how to determine what has actually been made.
That's when he approached Crommie, who uses atomic force microscopes to probe the surfaces of materials with atomic resolution and even move atoms around individually on a surface. Working together, they devised a way to chill the reaction surface and molecules to the temperature of liquid helium -- about 4 Kelvin, or 270 degrees Celsius below zero -- which stops the molecules from jiggling around. They then used a scanning tunneling microscope to locate all the molecules on the surface, and zeroed in on several to probe more finely with the atomic force microscope. To enhance the spatial resolution of their microscope they put a single carbon monoxide molecule on the tip, a technique called non-contact AFM first used by Gerhard Meyer and collaborators at IBM Zurich to image molecules several years ago.
After imaging the molecule -- a "cyclic" structure with several hexagonal rings of carbon that Fischer created especially for this experiment -- Fischer, Crommie and their colleagues heated the surface until the molecule reacted, and then again chilled the surface to 4 Kelvin and imaged the reaction products.
"By doing this on a surface, you limit the reactivity but you have the advantage that you can actually look at a single molecule, give that molecule a name or number, and later look at what it turns into in the products," he said.
"Ultimately, we are trying to develop new surface chemistry that allows us to build higher ordered architectures on surfaces, and these might lead into applications such as building electronic devices, data storage devices or logic gates out of carbon materials."
The research is coauthored by Dimas G. de Oteyza, Yen-Chia Chen, Sebastian Wickenburg, Alexander Riss, Zahra Pedramrazi and Hsin-Zon Tsai of UC Berkeley's Department of Physics; Patrick Gorman and Grisha Etkin of the Department of Chemistry; and Duncan J. Mowbray and Angel Rubio from research centers in San Sebasti?n, Spain. Crommie, Fischer, Chen and Wickenburg also have appointments at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
The work is sponsored by the Office of Naval Research, the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation.
Our new Parks and Recreation section, available only online, will keep you updated on everything you need to know about the trails, roads, lakes, and streams out here in the mountains. We have local experts who know fishing, mountain biking, climbing and hiking. They?ll keep you updated with regular posts letting you know the current trail and lake conditions and the latest outdoor events. We also work hard to get you the latest information from the Park Ranger Station, so you?ll know when the fire bans start and when the West Magnolia roads are open.
For a quick reference, you can find the 4 day weather forecast and quick links to the official fire restriction information on the sidebar to the right of the website.
Here are some off-site links that provide basic information. Please note that we are not affiliated with these sites and not responsible for their content:
If you run a club that sponsors outdoor activities in the area, please contact us at mtnearwebmaster@gmail.com as we are always looking for new people to work with in the community. If you have any suggestions for segments to add to the Parks & Recreation section, leave us a comment down below. We?ll take everything into consideration.
Big-Mouthed Toucans Key To Forest Evolution As humans have cut into Brazil's forests, the toucan population has taken a dive. The trees, in turn, have changed, too: Without large-billed birds to eat fruit with big seeds, only trees with small seeds thrive. Eventually, one scientist says, "the impacts on the forest could be quite dramatic."
Source: NPR Posted on:
Friday, May 31, 2013, 7:45am Views: 8
Fox News said Thursday morning that the network is not attending an off-the-record meeting with Attorney General Eric Holder?to discuss the Department of Justice's guidelines for handling leak investigations.
Fox anchor Bret Baier tweeted that "Executive Vice President Michael Clemente has said that Fox News will NOT attend the DOJ meeting if it is OFF the record."
Earlier, after Baier clarified that it was still undecided on the matter, he said on air that a decision would come soon.
"Well you know these organizations. So far, The Associated Press, New York Times and I think CNN has now decided not to attend if it is off the record," Baier said on air. "The purpose of this according to the Justice Department was to discuss ways forward as far as leak investigations and how to deal between the Justice Department, the FBI and the media.?And the question is whether on the record is what it needs to be.
"I think our news executives ? our executives at Fox News channel are making the determination right now. We expect a decision within the next hour or so. These meetings are scheduled to start as early as?tomorrow?and they?re expected to go, a few of them into next week.?
The meeting has been pushed back against by other news organizations because of its off-the-record nature.?
CNN, the New York Times, the Associated Press, and the Huffington Post have all said they will not attend the meeting unless it is on the record. The Washington Post and Politico have said they are attending.
ABC is attending and said it would "press for that conversation to be put on the record."
The Department of Justice came under scrutiny, in part, because of recent renewed attention to a leak investigation involving Fox News reporter James Rosen.?
In an application for a search warrant,?FBI agent Reginald Reyes wrote that there was probable cause Rosen had violated the Espionage Act by soliciting classified information from?Stephen J. Kim, a former State Department official. Reyes wrote that Rosen was an "aider and abettor and/or co-conspirator" in leaking the information.
Holder reportedly played a role in approving the search warrant.
This post has been updated to reflect developments in Fox News' status.
Here's video of Baier discussing the situation on Fox:
1Password for Mac and iOS is hands down one of the best password managers around, and now it's on sale at half price! If you've been contemplating picking it up, but perhaps didn't fancy the price, now would be a great time to get it.
1Password 4 for iOS has had some pretty big updates in recent months, and only recently we heard that all these great new features would be coming to the Mac. Beta testers for that are being recruited as we speak, but now is a perfect opportunity to get in ahead of its release.
The 50% discount is only available for a "limited time" and brings the Mac app down to $24.99, with its iOS counterpart now $8.99. If you're a first time 1Password user, how are you finding it?
'); //session extend only for non protected pages $(".ldap_iframe").html(""); } else { //get remember cookie var ldap_remember = getCookie("ldap_remember"); if(ldap_remember == "enable") { //check if user logout sucessfully before. if no counter found, proceed var ldap_remember_counter = getCookie("ldap_remember_counter"); if(typeof ldap_remember_counter === "undefined") { //once redirect create counter cookies to prevent for infinite looping createCookie("ldap_remember_counter","enable",24); window.top.location.href = "http://www.straitstimes.com/ldap/regen.php?goto=/breaking-news/world/story/family-london-murder-suspect-says-ashamed-soldiers-slaying-20130529"; } else { //logout not clean up eraseCookie("ldap_remember"); eraseCookie("ldap_remember_counter"); $('#header_ajax').html('
'); } } }); }); function eraseCookie(name) { createCookie(name,"",-1); } function createCookie(name,value,days) { if (days) { var date = new Date(); date.setTime(date.getTime()+(days*24*60*60*1000)); var expires = "; expires="+date.toGMTString(); } else var expires = ""; document.cookie = name+"="+value+expires+"; path=/"; } function getCookie(c_name) { var i,x,y,ARRcookies=document.cookie.split(";"); for (i=0;i
In?Slate?s?Arrested Development?TV Club, two fans will IM about each episode of Season 4 once they finish watching it. Today, culture critic June Thomas and Slate?s chief software architect Doug Harris recap Episode 2, "Borderline Personalities."
June Thomas: Before we get into Episode 2, let?s just disclose where we are in our Season 4 watch. I?ve seen the first 10 episodes.
Doug Harris: Impressive?I've only watched the first two.
Thomas: I'm not sure being a couch potato is anything to be proud of, but I did find it very easy to keep pressing Next.
I?m one of those people who admired but wasn?t in love with the ?original? Arrested Development?and in a weird way, I suspect that makes me more favorably disposed to this new batch. On Twitter and in the couple of reviews that I?ve read, I get the impression that hard-core fans are disappointed. Perhaps because my expectations are lower, I?m generally content with these new episodes. I have a few complaints, which we can get to later, but since you?re much fonder of the show than I am, tell me: What?s your general feeling, based on the first two episodes?
Harris: I'm very excited that they're all back and really seem to have settled back into their characters. They all appear to have aged quite well over the past seven or so years. Even Michael Cera can still pull off whatever age he's supposed to be. Liza Minnelli looks great; I expected to see the toll of the years on her more than the others. I'm sure she's had some help?but she still looks pretty good.
Thomas:?I so agree about Liza! I must admit that I was a bit obsessed with the actors' appearances. The producers painted themselves into a corner by having the new episodes pick up at the very moment when Season 3 ended. I know I shouldn't obsess about this behind-the-scenes stuff, but given the passage of time, it's inevitable that success, or otherwise, should affect the actors' auras as much as time changed their faces.
The passage of time also complicates the use of technology. When George Sr. snapped that picture of the blueprints in Stan Sitwell's office, I was fixated on his ancient feature phone, but that's what he has to be using if we're still back in 2006.
Harris: Funny you should mention the feature phone and the timing, because it's not clear to me just how much time has passed. Michael has an iPhone in Episode 1 with a calendar that?s stuck in 2003. They never come out and say that it's an iPhone, of course, but geeks like me recognize it and know that the first iPhone was introduced in early 2007. And, to get even geekier, it looks like an iPhone 4 (or later), which would make it 2010.
Thomas: The chronology is definitely circular?they jump backward and forward all the time?so while a bit of the action of Episode 2 happens right after the Queen Mary runs aground, and George Sr. shows Lucille the photo he snapped in Stan Sitwell?s office pretty soon afterward, because she's in custody, other scenes occur much later.
Harris: Right?the ambiguity of the timeline is one of the intriguing things for me so far. The first two episodes have presented a bunch of pieces to a puzzle about what's happened since the end of Season 3. And we've seen at least one scene from two different points of view between Episodes 1 and 2?Michael bidding his parents a final goodbye from the hallway, and then the same from his parents' POV in Episode 2.
Thomas: I think a puzzle is a great way to put it, and I enjoyed that a lot. I won't spoil anything for you, but as I'm sure you've already gathered, the "later" episodes often explain things that happen in "earlier" episodes.
Harris: Yay! Another thing I liked about the original series that I'm pleased to see returning are the in-jokes and meta references.
Thomas: Indeed. Once again, no spoilers, but, when George Sr. had Heartfire searching for a used sweat lodge, I was very impressed by the mocked-up Craigslist page for "orange county clist> for sale> magic> christian/prehistoric/fairytale" items. Since everyone watching can freeze the frame and really examine the page, I'm glad they took the time to fill in those details. But even better, in a later episode, we see how the mud cave came to be listed in the first place.
Screenshot courtesy of Netflix
Harris: We've seen Stan and Sally Sitwell and Lucille 2. I'm really impressed with how many secondary characters they got to come back.
Thomas: Yes! Actors obviously love this show. We even had a Dan Harmon cameo as the yurt clerk at Father B?s retreat center. The creator of Community?a show that was low-rated but beloved by its rabid fans?who was kicked off his own show after three seasons definitely vibrates on the Arrested Development frequency.
But let's get to our criticisms. Mine is that the episodes feel bloated?without ads, the TV versions ran 20-22 minutes. Episode 2 was the shortest of the new batch at 28 minutes, but some run as long as 35?that's 50 percent more than the originals. I'm all for throwing off unnecessary and irrelevant broadcast restrictions, but I don't think the added length added anything. The opposite, in fact: In pretty much all of the new Netflix episodes, there was stuff that would've ended up on the cutting-room floor in the Fox days?and it probably should've.
Harris: I certainly felt the extra length in Episode 1, which at times was even a bit too painful in stretching out Michael's cluelessness about the dorm-room situation. You're right, if they're not going to use the time to build the story, they could leave more behind.
Thomas: OK, so let's end on a positive note. What did you like best about Episode 2?
Harris: I really liked George's complete misread of Stan Sitwell's plans and Lucille's different misread. I also loved the scene of Lucille smoking in the apartment with Buster's help. What about you?
Thomas: I was glad to see George Sr. a-scamming. In the original series, his crimes were mostly in the past?we saw him trying to avoid being punished for them?so I was happy to see his sweat-and-squeeze in action. And I loved the momentary glimpse of Lucille Austero's adopted Latino boy?it was one of the freckled bowl-cut boys from Gob's Season 1 girlfriend Marta's Spanish-language soap opera.
Harris:?I've been a bit surprised by the lack of discussion of the new episodes in my social network feeds. Maybe it's because of the fabulous holiday weekend weather on the East Coast. I'll be watching those same feeds as the workweek begins and people have high-speed Internet and are chained to their desks.
Thomas: I follow a lot of TV critics and TV fanatics, and they're definitely talking AD?though it's raising hackles because of spoilers. And, indeed, for that reason I've been very circumspect in my tweeting. But you're a software engineer, and given how popular the show is in the tech community, I'd expect your circle to be watching.
Harris: Oh yes, I know that many of my friends and the geeks that I follow are big fans of AD?hence my surprise. I appreciate the lack of spoilers. I don't think that will last, though.
Professor David Cope speaks in purposeful abstraction, attempting to brace us for what we're about to see. We've been on the road for a while now, I tell him. We've seen a lot of strange and wonderful things -- robots and space shuttles and ghost hunts. "Yes, well," he answers quietly, as we ascend the stairs of his Santa Cruz, Calif., home. "I guarantee you've never seen a laboratory like this."
It's hard to say precisely what we've gotten ourselves into. It's a fairly standard suburban house from the outside, a few blocks from the base of the hill that holds the University of Santa Cruz. In amongst a forest of redwoods, it overlooks the pristine wilderness of the central coast that so famously inspired Kerouac, Miller and Steinbeck. Cope, a lifelong music professor, wears a denim jacket, floral button-up, white stubble and a sly smile. If there exists a walking manifestation of Santa Cruz, it might well be him. It's the perfect uniform for an unassuming computer music pioneer.
There's nothing of particular note to speak of downstairs in the living room, where Cope gives lessons on a grand piano littered with any number of music books. When we first arrive, Cope's wife answers the door slightly confused and momentarily sure that we're there to sell magazines -- the professor, it seems, has forgotten to inform her that our arrival has been pushed up by an hour. From upstairs, Cope suggests we shoot the art lining the walls above the piano as he readies himself for our conversation. "I made them on a computer!" he excitedly exclaims about the planetary orbs and psychedelic swirls -- mathematical, formulaic interactions imprinted into a bronzed-aluminum backing. They're a small selection of a seemingly infinite and diverse collection of Cope's artistic expressions that decorate the house.
Disputes over arms for Syria cloud U.S.-Russian peace drive
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Disputes between Russia and the West over arming warring sides in Syria on Tuesday dimmed prospects for peace talks that were also clouded by disarray among President Bashar al-Assad's political foes. As Western nations debate what action, if any, they should take on Syria, Assad's main allies - Russia, Iran and Lebanon's Shi'ite Hezbollah group - have been closing ranks behind him.
Muslims and Buddhists clash in northern Myanmar
YANGON (Reuters) - Muslims and Buddhists clashed in Myanmar's northern city of Lashio on Tuesday, witnesses said, as a wave of sectarian violence reached a mountainous region near China's border. Phone lines were down in the city of about 131,000 people and the extent of the violence was unclear. Witnesses reported several large fires and said a mosque and Buddhist monastery appear to have been torched.
Obama, NATO's Rasmussen to discuss Afghanistan on Friday
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will meet with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at the White House on Friday to discuss Afghanistan and other security concerns, White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Tuesday. The meeting comes as NATO and the United States prepare to withdraw most troops from Afghanistan, ending a lengthy war that began after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
Iran's presidential candidates clash over nuclear approach
DUBAI (Reuters) - A former Iranian nuclear negotiator running for president used his first television appearance of the campaign to reject accusations he had been too soft in talks with world powers. The most prominent moderate candidate in an election dominated by hardliners, cleric Hassan Rohani, nuclear negotiator from 2003 to 2005, oversaw an agreement to suspend Iran's fledgling uranium enrichment-related activities.
Ecuador says UK violating human rights of WikiLeaks' Assange
QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuador's foreign minister on Tuesday accused the British government of trampling on the human rights of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange by refusing to allow him to travel to Ecuador, which granted him political asylum almost a year ago. Assange, 41, took refuge in Ecuador's tiny embassy in London last June to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over sex assault and rape allegations. He denies the allegations.
South China Sea tension mounts near Filipino shipwreck
MANILA (Reuters) - A wrecked navy transport ship perched on a remote coral reef could be the next flashpoint in the South China Sea, where China and five other claimants bitterly dispute territory. The Philippine government is accusing China of encroachment after three Chinese ships, including a naval frigate, converged just 5 nautical miles from an old transport ship that the Philippines deliberately ran aground on a reef in 1999 to mark its territory.
Family of London murder suspect says ashamed by soldier's slaying
LONDON (Reuters) - The family of a man suspected of hacking a British soldier to death on a London street condemned the attack as senseless on Tuesday, distancing itself from the murder which has provoked an anti-Muslim backlash. Lee Rigby, a 25-year-old veteran Of the Afghan war, was butchered in broad daylight by two men who said they killed him in the name of Islam.
Pakistan PM to take on foreign, defense portfolios himself: sources
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan Prime Minister-elect Nawaz Sharif will oversee the sensitive foreign and defense portfolios as he seeks to forge a working partnership with the all-powerful military in the early days of his tenure, sources close to him said on Tuesday. Sharif, ousted in a bloodless military coup in 1999, has decided not to appoint defense and foreign ministers in the cabinet he is putting together. He led his party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), back to power in May 11 elections.
Italy's voters give boost to fragile coalition, shun Grillo
ROME (Reuters) - Italian voters gave Prime Minister Enrico Letta's fragile coalition government a badly needed boost in local elections, shunning Beppe Grillo's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement three months after its spectacular success in a parliamentary vote. Letta's battered and divided Democratic Party (PD) won control of five of the 16 biggest cities that voted on Sunday and Monday, and is in the lead before run-offs in two weeks' time for the rest, Interior Ministry results showed.
Canada finance minister keen to stay as cabinet shuffle looms
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has no plans to quit and has received no indication that his job is in jeopardy ahead of a cabinet reshuffling, his chief spokesman said on Tuesday. Flaherty's poor health - he suffers from a rare skin disease - has fueled speculation in recent months that he would step down. But Dan Miles, his director of communications, said Flaherty was feeling much better these days.
Sure, the only flavor of the Galaxy Note 8.0 currently lining US shelves is the version just packing Wi-Fi, but it appears that the LTE variety is getting ready for a trip stateside. The FCC just inspected a version of the tablet carrying a 850 / 1900 GSM radio along with support for LTE Bands 2, 4, 5 and 17, which are all tell-tale signs of hardware that plays nice with AT&T's network. For those in need of a refresher, Samsung's tablet runs Jelly Bean and boasts a 1.6 GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, A-GPS, GLONASS, a hefty 4,600 mAh battery, WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0. With one of the final hurdles for availability on American shores cleared, you're that much closer to laying your paws on a slate that can moonlight as an unwieldy cellphone.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? For President Barack Obama, the opening months of his second term have been a frustrating reminder of the limits of presidential power and the durability of the Washington political apparatus he disdains.
Obama has yet to achieve a significant second term legislative victory, a task that will only get harder as the calendar inches closer to next year's midterm elections. A trio of controversies roiling Washington have emboldened Republicans eager to gain an advantage over the president ? and revealed a Democratic establishment willing to publicly second-guess the White House.
And Obama, who ran for office pledging to overcome Washington's bitter partisan divide, has been forced to acknowledge he's made little progress on that front.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) ? The wife of a Philadelphia abortion doctor, a cosmetologist who admitted helping him perform very late-term abortions at his corrupt, grimy clinic, said Wednesday that she was sorry for trusting her husband and was sentenced seven to 23 months in prison.
Pearl Gosnell had pleaded guilty to racketeering and performing an illegal abortion past Pennsylvania's 24-week limit. She said her husband, Kermit, told her the abortions were all performed within the legal limit and she believed him. He was convicted this month of first-degree murder in the deaths of three infants born alive.
"I am the wife of Kermit Gosnell, I am not happy about that now and I haven't been for a long time," Pearl Gosnell, 51, told Common Pleas Judge Benjamin Lerner at her sentencing hearing.
She said her husband took the "cowardly" path for not speaking at his trial or apologizing for his crimes.
The judge gave her time credit for nearly three months she spent in jail after her arrest.
Former employees testified that Kermit Gosnell routinely performed illegal abortions past the 24-week limit; delivered babies who were still moving, whimpering or breathing; and dispatched the newborns by "snipping" their spines, as he referred to it.
Gosnell was also convicted in the death of patient Karnamaya Mongar, who was given a fatal overdose of painkillers.
The case became a flashpoint in the nation's polarized abortion debate. Foes said it exposed the true nature of abortion in all its disturbing detail. Abortion rights activists warned that Gosnell's practice foreshadows what women could face if abortion is driven underground with more restrictive laws.
A former clinic employee, who pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and other charges, was sentenced Wednesday to time served after being jailed for 28 months.
Adrienne Moton, 36, had pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and other charges. Lerner said he was sending Moton home and she has shown remorse for her crimes.
In an emotionally wrought statement, Moton told the court she thought she was helping women but never thought about the babies at Gosnell's clinic.
The judge rescheduled the sentencing dates for clinic workers Lynda Williams, 43; Sherry West, 53; and Tina Baldwin, 47, because the women still have unresolved federal drug charges.
West and Baldwin are now scheduled to be sentenced June 24. Williams is due in court July 1.
CitiBike has landed. Yesterday, amid a scrum of politicians and reporters, city officials introduced the system poised to transform New York street life. But keeping track of 6,000 new bikes?not to mention their riders?will be no small chore. And to do it, the city is implementing a handful of smart systems, ranging from modular docking system to self-powered tail lights.
The program is a long time coming. Other cities, like Boston, D.C., and Chattanooga (who knew?), have been there first. But New York poses its own unique problems: There?s the simmering culture war between cyclists and pretty much everyone else. There?s the vastly understaffed accident investigation squad, which has fumbled the cases of several cyclists killed over the past year. There?s the infrastructural shortcomings of a densely-populated city where roads are vital economic lifelines?and where the use of those roads by cyclists is often viewed as nothing short of aggressive.
CitiBike, then, represents a massive experiment. It will put thousands of new cyclists on the road. It will introduce New York to cycling as a mode of transportation, rather than the rarified subculture of Freds, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and David Byrne. For drivers and longtime cyclists alike, this is a watershed moment, fraught with anxiety. At the same time, for all of the hand-wringing and political backtracking it's incurred, CitiBike represents the culmination of some pretty interesting technologies.
The Docks
CitiBike is being funded by a $41 million sponsorship from?you guessed it?Citibank. But the system itself was designed and built by Public Bike System Company (PBSC, also known as Bixi), a privately-held nonprofit that was formed by the city of Montreal after the successful installation of their bike share system, in 2009. Since then, Bixi has installed similar systems in a host of other cities.
Bixi has surprising origins. The system was created by Charles Khairallah, a Canadian robotics engineer, who designed the docking system from scratch. Khairallah is well-known for his ideas about modular robotics?using a simple series of robotic components, his company has designed complex systems for everything from aerospace engineering to HVAC cleaning. "To build traditional robots you might need 100 different kinds of parts," he said in an interview last year. "With ours, you might need many of only one type of part. This technology is a genetic family of products. We can create different products from mass-produced, identical modules which are scalable for larger or smaller robots."
That ethos?of durable, simple components that interlock to create a responsive system?is the basis for the CitiBike dock. Each dock is made up of a simple set of parts, which can be assembled in minutes and moved at the drop of the hat. The system is completely wireless and self-sufficient, and its few moving parts are designed to be easily replaced. A photovoltaic array sprouting from the RFID-based payment tower supplies all the power needed to send signals back to the system hub, which keeps track of when a bike is checked out and returned.
The bikes themselves?45-pound tanks, with nitrogen-filled tires, three-speed gears, and self-powered LED lights?are simple by comparison. The real intelligence of Khairallah?s system is embedded in the docks themselves.
The Wayfinding Signage
Last year, a Department of Transportation study revealed that most pedestrians, including locals, are basically wandering through the city in a state of perpetual confusion. Well, not quite. But nearly 30% of visitors, plus 10% of locals, admitted to having been lost within a week of being questioned. In fact, many of those interviewed couldn?t say which direction was north. It?s actually shocking those numbers aren?t larger, considering the meager signage options available to lost pedestrians (ask a street vendor? Go back down into the subway to peer at the map? Find some moss?).
On the heels of that study?and in anticipation of CitiBike?the DoT tapped their longtime collaborators, the graphic design firm Pentagram, to create a $6 million comprehensive wayfinding system for pedestrians. The new signs rolled out in March, and they?re an essential part of the CitiBike docking system. Based loosely on Massimo Vignelli?s classic signage for the MTA, the signs orient cyclists and pedestrians with easy, obvious cues. For example, a transparent overlay of landmark buildings. Or a dotted circle that shows scale in terms of walking time.
It?s not the most glamorous part of the bike share system, but it might be one of the most important. The only bigger liability than a lost, distracted pedestrian is a lost, distracted cyclist.
The App
Every CitiBike docking station has a limited number of parking spaces. And because there?s a strict time cap on each rental, giving cyclists a guaranteed place to return their bikes is an important part of the system. That?s where the CitiBike app comes in. Developed by Publicis Kaplan Thaler, the Manhattan mega-agency, the app sits atop the Google Maps API, showing nearby stations as pin icons. The shading of each pin represents the fullness of each dock?that way, you can skim the map and know, immediately, where you?ll be able to dock your rental. You?re also able to favorite stations, route maps, and check in on your membership.
Eventually, according to the CitiBike website, the data culled from the app will be shared with the public. That may be a few months down the line?for now, the CitiBike team is sharing basic user information on their blog. How are things shaping up? After only a single day of operation, there are already 16,463 annual members.
A major goal of the Bloomberg administration has been to make the city ?smarter,? either through design competitions to retrofit pay phones, by naming a Chief Digital Officer, or by asking developers to parse the city's deep well of data though the annual BigApps competition. CitiBike, though it hasn?t really been couched as such, is the first full-scale implementation of these ideas. Beneath all of the teeth-gnashing and turmoil lies a glimpse at the future of our city's smart urban infrastructure.
Empire just released two new pictures from Guillermo del Toro's monsters-and-robots epic, "Pacific Rim." The photos once again emphasize the scale of the movie and how badass it's going to be. Also, see Naomi Watts as Princess Diana in today's Dailies! » Two new images from "Pacific Rim" [Empire] » Chew on this "Lord of [...]
"); ipb.editor_values.get('templates')['togglesource'] = new Template(""); ipb.editor_values.get('templates')['toolbar'] = new Template(""); ipb.editor_values.get('templates')['button'] = new Template("
"); ipb.editor_values.get('templates')['menu_item'] = new Template("
#{title}
"); ipb.editor_values.get('templates')['togglesource'] = new Template(""); ipb.editor_values.get('templates')['emoticons_showall'] = new Template(""); ipb.editor_values.get('templates')['emoticon_wrapper'] = new Template("
Emoticons
"); // Add smilies into the mix ipb.editor_values.set( 'show_emoticon_link', false ); ipb.editor_values.set( 'bbcodes', $H({"snapback":{"id":"1","title":"Post Snap Back","desc":"This tag displays a little linked image which links back to a post - used when quoting posts from the board. Opens in same window by default.","tag":"snapback","useoption":"0","example":"[snapback]100[/snapback]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"topic":{"id":"5","title":"Topic Link","desc":"This tag provides an easy way to link to a topic","tag":"topic","useoption":"1","example":"[topic=1]Click me![/topic]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"Enter the topic ID","menu_content_text":"Enter the title for this link","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"post":{"id":"6","title":"Post Link","desc":"This tag provides an easy way to link to a post.","tag":"post","useoption":"1","example":"[post=1]Click me![/post]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"Enter the Post ID","menu_content_text":"Enter the title for this link","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"spoiler":{"id":"7","title":"Spoiler","desc":"Spoiler tag","tag":"spoiler","useoption":"0","example":"[spoiler]Some hidden text[/spoiler]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"Enter the text to be masked","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"acronym":{"id":"8","title":"Acronym","desc":"Allows you to make an acronym that will display a description when moused over","tag":"acronym","useoption":"1","example":"[acronym='Laugh Out Loud']lol[/acronym]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"Enter the description for this acronym (EG: Laugh Out Loud)","menu_content_text":"Enter the acronym (EG: lol)","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"hr":{"id":"12","title":"Horizontal Rule","desc":"Adds a horizontal rule to separate text","tag":"hr","useoption":"0","example":"[hr]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"1","optional_option":"0","image":""},"php":{"id":"14","title":"PHP Code","desc":"Allows you to enter PHP code into a formatted/highlighted syntax box","tag":"php","useoption":"0","example":"[php]$variable = true;\n\nprint_r($variable);[/php]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"html":{"id":"15","title":"HTML Code","desc":"Allows you to enter formatted/syntax-highlighted HTML code","tag":"html","useoption":"0","example":"[html]\n \n[/html]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"sql":{"id":"16","title":"SQL Code","desc":"Allows you to enter formatted/syntax-highlighted SQL code","tag":"sql","useoption":"0","example":"[sql]SELECT p.*, t.* FROM posts p LEFT JOIN topics t ON t.tid=p.topic_id WHERE t.tid=7[/sql]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"xml":{"id":"17","title":"XML Code","desc":"Allows you to enter formatted/syntax-highlighted XML code","tag":"xml","useoption":"0","example":"[xml]\n \n Test\n \n[/xml]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"member":{"id":"31","title":"Member","desc":"Given a member name, a link is automatically generated to the member's profile","tag":"member","useoption":"1","example":"[member=skyhawk133] runs this site.","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"Input Username of Member","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"1","optional_option":"0","image":"memberbbcode.png"},"extract":{"id":"33","title":"Extract Blog Entry","desc":"This will allow users to define an extract for an entry. Only this piece of the entry will be displayed on the main blog page and will show up in the RSS feed.","tag":"extract","useoption":"0","example":"[extract]This is an example![/extract]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"blog":{"id":"34","title":"Blog Link","desc":"This tag provides an easy way to link to a blog.","tag":"blog","useoption":"1","example":"[blog=100]Click me![/blog]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"entry":{"id":"35","title":"Blog Entry Link","desc":"This tag provides an easy way to link to a blog entry.","tag":"entry","useoption":"1","example":"[entry=100]Click me![/entry]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"twitter":{"id":"36","title":"Twitter","desc":"A tag to link to a user's twitter account","tag":"twitter","useoption":"0","example":"[twitter]userName[/twitter]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":"twitter.png"},"inline":{"id":"37","title":"Inline Code","desc":"Formats code inline instead of in a seperate code box. ","tag":"inline","useoption":"0","example":"[inline]style=\"font-size: 12px;\"[/inline]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"il":{"id":"38","title":"Abbreviated Inline (IL)","desc":"Abbreviated version of the [inline] tag. ","tag":"il","useoption":"0","example":"[il]Code Here[/il]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":"il2.png"},"code":{"id":"41","title":"Code","desc":"Allows you to enter general code","tag":"code","useoption":"1","example":"[code]$text = 'Some long code here';[/code]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"1","image":""}}) ); ipb.vars['emoticon_url'] = "http://cdn.dreamincode.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/default"; //Search Setup ipb.vars['search_type'] = 'forum'; ipb.vars['search_type_id'] = 32; ipb.vars['search_type_2'] = 'topic'; ipb.vars['search_type_id_2'] = 321925; //]]>
Few weeks ago I decided to create first console game Texas Hold'Em Poker, everything is going pretty well...yesterday I finished and game logic, now is only left part for a River stage where a method has to check for a best hand.. But that is not a problem I came here for a help. So, I created a method getRealPointValue() which returns a real pointValue, as you can see below.
public String getRealPointValue(String pointValue, boolean highAce) { switch (pointValue) { case "A": return (highAce) ? "14": "1"; case "K": return "13"; case "Q": return "12"; case "J": return "11"; case "T": return "10"; default: return pointValue; } }
So the problem now is, I have a statement where I say:
// it says no suitable method found for a String.. ok.. so I tried to cast it into (char) inside getNumricValue method just before getRealPointValue, but doesn't work... int pointValue = Character.getNumericValue(getRealPointValue("T", false));
So I decided to change a parameter pointValue into a char, and do something like this:
public static String getRealPointValue(char pointValue, boolean highAce) { switch (pointValue) { case 'A': return (highAce) ? "14": "1"; case 'K': return "13"; case 'Q': return "12"; case 'J': return "11"; case 'T': return "10"; default: return (String)pointValue; } }
But this is also impossible, bcs of incompatible types, which req a String not a char..
This post has been edited by stefilix: Today, 12:46 PM
Is This A Good Question/Topic? 0
Replies To: Does this method really thinks I'm going to cheat him? :D
#2 stefilix ?
Reputation: 2
Posts:19
Joined:10-April 13
Re: Does this method really thinks I'm going to cheat him? :D
Posted Today, 12:53 PM
oh my god.. my bad... I'm stupid.. Since I'm going to use this methods just in some case for integer compare, then I'm going to return int.. :DD
public static int getRealPointValue(String pointValue, boolean highAce) { switch (pointValue) { case "A": return (highAce) ? 14: 1; case "K": return 13; case "Q": return 12; case "J": return 11; case "T": return 10; default: return Integer.parseInt(pointValue); } }
So now this make sense..
int pointValue = getRealPointValue("A", true);
This post has been edited by stefilix: Today, 12:57 PM
On this quiet Monday, Samsung decided to do a little teaser for its upcoming "Premiere 2013" roadshow event in London on June 20th. The above poster only mentions "Galaxy & ATIV," which suggest the event will mainly feature Android and Windows-based devices. The remaining tiles show partial shots of three mysterious devices -- possibly a tablet or phone, a convertible laptop (à la Sony VAIO Duo 11) and a camera (maybe the rumored Galaxy S 4 Zoom?). Obviously, we'll be at the event to solve this mystery, so stay tuned for more.
Chinese smartphone manufacturer Oppo has opened its European online store today, and with it the Oppo Find 5 sees its European debut. Oppo's high-specced flagship smartphone sells at €399 with 16GB of storage or €429 with 32GB, and is available in white and 'midnight" color options. There's also a range of accessories on offer, including a protective cover, NFC tags, screen protectors and spare EU chargers.
The Oppo Find 5 packs a quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro CPU, 2GB of RAM, a 1080p display, a 13-megapixel camera and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, making it pretty good value for the asking price. In our review we praised the Find 5's specs and build quality, but found it somewhat uncomfortable to hold and use with just one hand.
The Oppo Style store seems to be buckling a little under the launch day pressure, but if you want to take a closer look at the Find 5, you can always check out our full review.
