text:
Charity Valley Hike
Vertical Gain: 800'
Start Coordinates: N 38 40.099, W 119 55.062 End Coordinates: Same as Start Coordinates
Car Shuttle Req'd: No Parking Directions: Take Highway 88 to the Blue Lakes Road. Turn south on Blue Lakes Road, which is just to the west of Pickett's Junction. Go south on Blue Lakes road 6.5 miles to a small turnout on the east side of the road where there is room for 3 to 4 cars to park off the road. The actual trailhead is approximately 3/10 of a mile back north on the road, but parking any closer might be harder to find.
Hazards of Note: A relatively unknown/unused trail has a number of sections requiring following cairns to stay on the trail.
Crowd Factor: Minimal. This is a remote area trail which is relatively unknown, and the chances of running into anyone on either the west side of the Charity Valley trail or even sections of the Burnside Lake trail are remote.
From the parking area, head north on the road, or you can find a small use trail just to the west of the private property fence markers which are a safer way to find the actual trail 3/10 of a mile north of the parking area. The Charity Valley trail immediately heads off to the east, offering pretty spectacular views of the north side of Markleeville Peak and Charity Valley as you gradually climb up in elevation over the first mile. After this first mile, the trail then heads down and follows along Charity Creek for the next couple miles. Even in the late summer there was a good amount of water running in this river, making it suitable with a filter as a water source for most of the duration of the trip. Nearly four miles into the hike the trail begins to drop elevation quickly, something which will have to be climbed back up on the way out if not doing this as a point to point hike.
At the junction for the Burnside Lake trail, there is a fantastic overlook of Grover State Park and the Hot Springs area to the east, which shouldn't be missed. On our trek we headed up the Burnside Lake trail for a little over 1/2 mile, which is even less maintained than the Charity Valley trail and climbed over 700 feet in that short span. However, the views get better and better as you gain elevation and make the exertion worth it.
Mark heading from the parking area to the trailhead, with Markleeville Peak in the distance.
Near the beginning of the hike there are some pretty spectacular views back toward Round Top, the Nipple and Elephant's Back to the west.
The first mile of the trail heads up, gradually, giving a good view of Charity Valley with Markleeville Peak beyond it.
Mark heading up the first mile with Mokelumne Wilderness Peaks visible in the distance.
Charity Valley is a large, open area which is unfortunately all private property. The blue roof of the property owner's residence can just been seen to the right in the trees.
A couple miles into the trek the trail heads down to meet Charity Creek, offering a source of water and some great scenery as well.
The trail actually seems to be made up of a multitude of mini ecosystems, switching from forest to open to granite rocks.
Once the trail starts dropping in elevation, the sheer granite walls to the north and somewhat to the south are amazing.
Keep a close eye on the way and you can just make out a different view of Hawkins Peak, almost directly due north from the trail. The peak houses a state of the art communications system for Alpine County which was finished in 2012.
Just shy of 5 miles from the start is where you will meet up with the steep trail up to Burnside Lake. It is about 2 miles to the lake, but you will gain about 1500 feet in elevation on the way, much of it in the first 1/2 mile.
Just about 200 feet to the south of the trail junction, not marked in any way is a fantastic view east into Grover Hot Springs State Park and the mountains further on which Monitor Pass cuts through on the way to Highway 395. This viewpoint is one of the best parts of this entire hike, not to be missed!
Near the Grover State Park viewpoint is a firepit, as well as where a geocache should have been located but is no longer there.
About a half mile up the Burnside Lake trail, you have gained 700 feet of elevation and get even better views down the canyon toward the east.
Looking down at the Grover State Park overlook near the trail junction far below.


text:
Was a pat on the back a slap in the face?
Oceano CSD tensions come out court
Some saw it as just a pat on the back, but Vern Dahl felt it was more sinister. For him, it was the pat that broke the camel's back.
Dahl is a six-year veteran on the Oceano Community Service District board of directors who just began a new four-year term.
PHOTO BY COLIN RIGLEY
TOO MUCH : Oceano CSD board member Vern Dahl says a slap on the back from the wife of another board member was the final straw.
Following the Nov. 12 board meeting, Dahl claimed Lin Hill, the 57-year-old wife of board vice president Jim Hill, verbally threatened him and slapped his back. He felt it was so severe that two days later he filed for a restraining order with the SLO County Superior Court. He asked that Lin not be able to come within 300 yards of him and be banned from attending future board meetings, or at the very least that she only be allowed to stay while meetings are in session and leave immediately afterward. It wasn't just a pat, Dahl said, but the culmination of years of harassment.
His argument didn't make much headway in court. Judge Charles Crandall denied the restraining order after about an hour on Dec. 12. Only two people testified—both on behalf of Dahl. But both testimonies came from people who were not at the meeting. They tried to show that Dahl had been harassed by the Hills and others for the past four years. Crandall dismissed both testimonies as irrelevant.
Most testimony came from written declarations, and some witnesses just seemed embarrassed by the long history of infighting in the district.
"It was somewhat of a 'yes you did/no I didn't' type argument that you would expect children to engage in," said Alexander Simas, the district's legal counsel.
All of the witnesses said they only saw a pat on the back, but heard Dahl and the Hills quietly bickering. According to several declarations, Lin approached Dahl following a heated board meeting, said something to him, and touched him on the shoulder. Dahl then said loudly, "Please don't touch me," and Lin left the room.
None of the statements described the exchange as violent.
Still, Dahl said his shoulder stung for about 30 minutes and he worried it could have further injured his already fragile neck, although he said he hadn't sought any medical treatment.
When questioned by Lin's attorney, Jeffrey Minnery, whether he feared for his safety, Dahl was unclear but said, "I don't know at what point she's going to break or what she's going to do."
Despite differences of opinion regarding whether Dahl was actually in physical danger, both sides seemed to agree that the fight between Dahl and the Hills has deep roots.
Dahl denied the court battle was political or inadvertently directed at Jim. He did believe, however, that he was the object of political muscling and threats.
"It's just a tactic that's been used to get their way, and this time it was just taken to a physical level."
Both of the Hills thought Dahl was trying to settle a political agenda, going through Lin to get at Jim.
"I believe Mr. Dahl's claim is intended to harass me and my wife and is politically and personally motivated to put me in a position where I feel I must resign from the OCSD Board," Jim said in his declaration.
Even Crandall believed the fight had escalated into an unnecessary civil case. After dismissing the case, Crandall scolded both sides, and effectively the district board as a whole.
"There's something going on … and the behavior of confrontation in politics is lousy and needs to be stopped," he said.
Even with the restraining order dropped, the court hearing seems to have only flamed the fires on the board. Recently elected board member Mary Lucey said the court proceedings were strictly a personal issue. But she also criticized past members for creating a contentious board and described events that led to Dahl and the Hills' contentious relationship.
Following the hearing Dahl seemed somber, but nonetheless defensive.
"As far as I'm concerned I'm happy to have this behind me," he said. But, he added, "If they want to keep up the attacks, I'm going to have to keep defending myself."
Lin was hesitant to speak and was noticeably shaken by the day in court. She said she didn't think the situation would change. Her husband, however, was slightly more optimistic and said he believed the board would "overcome this."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
The citole: from confusion to clarity. Part 1/2: What is a citole?
Ian Pittaway Cantigas de Santa María, cetra, cetula, cithara, citole, cittern, fiddle, gittern, guitar, iconography, kithara, medieval fiddle, Tinctoris Johannes, vielle 2nd November 2022 25th January 2023 2 Comments
© Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana
The citole, a plucked fingerboard instrument of the 13th and 14th centuries, is today the most misunderstood of all medieval instruments. It is regularly wrongly identified as a plucked fiddle or a guitar, often confused with the cetra, and mistaken assumptions are made about its string material and its distinctive wedge neck with a thumb-hole.
Using the surviving British Museum citole, medieval iconography and medieval testimony, these two articles set out the evidence, drawing on the ground-breaking research of Lawrence Wright, Crawford Young and Alice Margerum, with some additional observations.
This first article describes the citole's physical form, string material and tuning. The second article describes the playing style and repertoire of the instrument.
We begin this article with video of a copy of the British Museum citole playing music from c. 1300: La seconde Estampie Royal – The second Royal Estampie. Read more
The guitar: a brief history from the renaissance to the modern day
Ian Pittaway baroque, baroque guitar, citole, cittern, early instruments, early music, folk music, gittern, guitar, kithara, Latin guitar, Moorish guitar, renaissance, renaissance guitar 4th September 2020 18th December 2022 2 Comments
The origins of the guitar are much-discussed and much-disputed, and some pretty wild and unsubstantiated claims are made for its heritage, based on vaguely guitary-looking instruments in medieval and even pre-medieval iconography, about which we often know little or nothing beyond an indistinguishable drawing, painting or carving; or based on instruments which have guitary-sounding names. This article is an attempt to slice through the fog with a brief history of the instrument, charting its development from the renaissance, through the baroque period to the modern day, based only on what can be claimed with evidence. The article is illustrated with pictures, videos and sound recordings, beginning with a short video of guitar history.
This is an expanded version of an article originally published in 2015, with a new video.
The scandalous la volta: "such a lewd and unchaste dance"
Ian Pittaway Anatomie of Abuses, Arbeau Thoinot, crumhorn, dance, Dowland John, Elizabeth I, guitar, lavolta, Orchésographie, Orchesography, Praetorius Michael, Puritans, Queen Elizabeth I, renaissance dance, Stubbes Philip, Tabourot Jehan, volt, volta, volte 3rd December 2018 3rd September 2022 0 Comment
La volta (or volte or volt or, in England, lavolta) was reputedly the favourite dance of Queen Elizabeth I, performed by couples with much leaping, lifting and turning. The dance, a variation of the galliard, was considered scandalous by the moralists of the day. Just as today we hear talk of 'gateway drugs' leading to harder and more destructive substances, la volta was considered a 'gateway dance', leading to more destructive vices. This article describes the key point of the choreography, discusses the moral opprobium it attracted, and weighs up the evidence for the Queen dancing this "lewd and unchaste dance".
We begin with a performance of two voltas by The Night Watch.
Baroque music: a brief tour of the extravagant last period of early music
Ian Pittaway Bach Johann Sebastian, baroque, broadside ballads, catch clubs, dance, early instruments, early music, guitar, Lully Jean-Baptiste, lute, Monteverdi Claudio, Playford John 16th July 2015 25th July 2022 2 Comments
Robert Tournières, Concert, France, 1690s, showing
a baroque cello, virginal, singer, violin, and French baroque lute.
The baroque period was a time of ornate decoration, extravagance and the rise of ever larger ensembles, giving rise to opera and the early orchestra. Dance music was as popular as ever, with the renaissance galliard giving way to the baroque sarabande, chaconne, and bourée. Public dancing was briefly in trouble, banned by the Puritans, during which John Playford started a remarkable series of English dance instruction books which outlived Puritan censoriousness. Singing styles among the cultural elite were florid and declamatory, while broadside ballads for the masses continued to be sung and sold in the streets and at public hangings. And, in private, John Playford and his companions met to sing about farting.
Baroque is the final period of early music (medieval, renaissance, baroque) and this is the last of 3 articles charting them. This article includes 15 illustrative videos for the music of Robert Johnson, John Blow, Tobias Hume, Thomas Arne, John Playford, Claudio Monteverdi, Jean-Baptiste Lully, and Johann Sebastian Bach (click blue links).


Our plan was to leave Betty's at 9:00 this morning because we had only a three hour drive to reach our destination in Beaumont, TX.
We took our time getting ready to go, then said "So Long" to our friends, accompanied by big hugs.
It was exactly 9:00 AM when we pulled out onto the highway.
We had good weather with no headwind, and the traffic wasn't too bad. That made it pretty much a stress-free journey and we arrived at the Gulf Coast RV Resort a few minutes before 12:00 noon.
We checked in, set up quickly and were on our way to Cracker Barrel for some lunch by 12:20.
Man, I love that "Easy Level Up" system. Push a couple of buttons and you are done!
The excitement is growing for Bob & Janet as well as with us, as we know that tomorrow we will arrive at our winter destination.
Marilyn is doing some laundry as I sit here working on this blog.
Bob & Janet remained behind to do a little shopping and then go fill up the truck with diesel fuel. The price for diesel here is $3.959 cash! Using the credit card, we paid $4.049 per gallon. Compare that to $3.599 we paid yesterday in Abbeville.
We did get our site here at the resort for $17.00 per night with our Passport America card. That made up a bit for the high fuel price.
Both, Bob and I hooked up the truck to our RV tonight, so that we would save some time in the morning.
Yes we are anxious to get going!
We have seven and ½ hours driving tomorrow, but it sure will be nice to be there and not have to get up at any certain time on Monday.


text:
Myeni, Ndoro revel in Bucs victory
Aug 1, 2015 - 09:55 pm By KICK OFF
MATCH REPORT: Pirates win it again!
Myeni scored a peach of a free-kick over the wall and in to give Pirates the lead before Reneilwe Letsholonyane equalised, while Ndoro netted the winning spot-kick in the shootout to hand Bucs a 4-3 win.
"It was good, it was a pretty good game, eventually today I played well and scored my first goal in the Derby and with a free-kick. It's the first time I scored with a free-kick," Myeni said.
New Bucs signing Ndoro, meanwhile, got his first taste of the Soweto Derby and revealed his pride at featuring in the prestigious fixture.
"It was a good feeling since yesterday in camp. I wanted to play this game. Always watching this game on TV [in the past], I said one day I will play in this and today, thank God, I'm part of the Derby," he said.
The Zimbabwean striker was also delighted to score the winning penalty in off the post, past a flat-footed Reyaad Pieterse in the Chiefs goal.
"It's a good feeling. I'm happy for the team and I wish to continue doing that. It boosts me and I want to continue scoring for the club and win cups this season," he said.
Ndoro also stated his intention to win the final place in coach Eric Tinkler's CAF Confederation Cup squad, and his chances have improved after Thamsanqa Gabuza picked up a hamstring injury.
"Guys are training, different training, and those who are playing in the cup are getting only light training so us who are not playing and not involved must push harder and try to match them," he added.
Tinkler happy with new signings


Children can be a source of joy and fun for parents. The laughter, the imagination, the cuddles and exploring the world with enthusiasm.
But parenting isn't always easy. There may be laughter and good times, but there are also challenges of sleepless nights, teething, illness, toilet training and seemingly endless tears.
Parents may choose to have a second child for a number of reasons, and many embark on a journey to a larger family working on the basis that two children can't possibly be more stress and work than one.
But recent research has proved that theory wrong, and found that having a second child intensifies time pressures on parents and contributes to the deterioration of a parents' mental health.
"Anecdotally you always hear people say to have one kid it's one, but to have two it's like ten. Unfortunately, we found that it creates greater time pressure, so the second child doubles the time pressure of parents," Dr. Leah Ruppanner, author of the study and senior lecturer in sociology at the University of Melbourne told Theravive.
Ruppanner and her colleagues used data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey that follows 20 thousand Australians. They investigated what happened to parents' mental health when they had their first children and when later siblings came along. They also wanted to see the impact first and second children had on parents' time pressure.
Before having children, both mothers and fathers reported having similar levels of time pressure. When the first baby is born, this time pressure increases for both mothers and fathers, as they learn to become new parents. The researchers found that this impact was significantly greater among women than men.
The researchers noted that in Australia most mothers take a year of parental leave, whilst most father continue to work full time. They found that following childbirth, Australian parents were more likely to become traditional in their gender roles.
Second and third children do not challenge parents to learn parenting for the first time, as is the case with first-born children. It is thought that by the time second children come along, parents have learned how to feed and care for their children. The researchers note that some believe this means a second child couldn't possibly be more stress than the first.
But their findings suggest otherwise. In reality, having a second child was found to double parents' time pressure, regardless of whether or not they were also working. Ruppanner says this was an unexpected finding of the research.
"We found this was an experience of motherhood as opposed to working motherhood, which was surprising. What we thought we were going to find was the time pressure was going to be concentrated on mothers who were working. So it does surprise us on some level," she told Theravive.
The researchers found that this increase in time pressure also had implications for a parents' mental health.
A mother's mental health was found to improve immediately following the birth of the first child, and fathers also have a boost in mental health with their first born. For second born children however, the mothers' mental health deteriorates sharply and remains low. Fathers were also found to experience a dip in mental health following the second child, however unlike mothers who remain low, fathers mental health plateaus over time.
The authors of the study argue this suggests fathers aren't facing the same persistent time pressures as mothers are long term.
It's a phenomenon Ruppanner has seen among her own circle of friends.
"I have friends who have second children and they are just exhausted. I can hear it in their voices. Everyone loves the children… but they are swamped," she told Theravive.
"What's happened as a result of me writing this is I have many of my friends reach out and say 'yes you're right on the money, the second child is what knocked me out… in terms of my mental health, in terms of feeling overwhelmed'," she said.
The researchers had hoped that as children grew up, parents would experience lower levels of time pressure as their children went to school, but the time pressure continued. Dropping down to part time work made no difference in alleviating this feeling of time pressure.
Ruppanner says policy makers should prioritise maternal mental health to help the large number of women experiencing significant time pressure and deterioration of mental health due to the demands of caring for a family.
She says the research has sparked numerous important conversations about the challenges of raising children whilst still looking after ones' own mental and physical health.
"What's happened with this study in particular is that it's resonating with people and there's a reason it's resonating with people. We're not saying anything that is that shocking but we are articulating scientifically experiences many women and families have once they move from the first to the second child," she said.


text:
"""
Make your own custom environment
================================

This documentation overviews creating new environments and relevant
useful wrappers, utilities and tests included in Gymnasium designed for
the creation of new environments. You can clone gym-examples to play
with the code that is presented here. We recommend that you use a virtual environment:

.. code:: console

   git clone https://github.com/Farama-Foundation/gym-examples
   cd gym-examples
   python -m venv .env
   source .env/bin/activate
   pip install -e .

Subclassing gymnasium.Env
-------------------------

Before learning how to create your own environment you should check out
`the documentation of Gymnasium's API </api/core>`__.

We will be concerned with a subset of gym-examples that looks like this:

.. code:: sh

   gym-examples/
     README.md
     setup.py
     gym_examples/
       __init__.py
       envs/
         __init__.py
         grid_world.py
       wrappers/
         __init__.py
         relative_position.py
         reacher_weighted_reward.py
         discrete_action.py
         clip_reward.py

To illustrate the process of subclassing ``gymnasium.Env``, we will
implement a very simplistic game, called ``GridWorldEnv``. We will write
the code for our custom environment in
``gym-examples/gym_examples/envs/grid_world.py``. The environment
consists of a 2-dimensional square grid of fixed size (specified via the
``size`` parameter during construction). The agent can move vertically
or horizontally between grid cells in each timestep. The goal of the
agent is to navigate to a target on the grid that has been placed
randomly at the beginning of the episode.

-  Observations provide the location of the target and agent.
-  There are 4 actions in our environment, corresponding to the
   movements "right", "up", "left", and "down".
-  A done signal is issued as soon as the agent has navigated to the
   grid cell where the target is located.
-  Rewards are binary and sparse, meaning that the immediate reward is
   always zero, unless the agent has reached the target, then it is 1.

An episode in this environment (with ``size=5``) might look like this:

where the blue dot is the agent and the red square represents the
target.

Let us look at the source code of ``GridWorldEnv`` piece by piece:
"""

# %%
# Declaration and Initialization
# ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#
# Our custom environment will inherit from the abstract class
# ``gymnasium.Env``. You shouldn't forget to add the ``metadata``
# attribute to your class. There, you should specify the render-modes that
# are supported by your environment (e.g. ``"human"``, ``"rgb_array"``,
# ``"ansi"``) and the framerate at which your environment should be
# rendered. Every environment should support ``None`` as render-mode; you
# don't need to add it in the metadata. In ``GridWorldEnv``, we will
# support the modes "rgb_array" and "human" and render at 4 FPS.
#
# The ``__init__`` method of our environment will accept the integer
# ``size``, that determines the size of the square grid. We will set up
# some variables for rendering and define ``self.observation_space`` and
# ``self.action_space``. In our case, observations should provide
# information about the location of the agent and target on the
# 2-dimensional grid. We will choose to represent observations in the form
# of dictionaries with keys ``"agent"`` and ``"target"``. An observation
# may look like ``{"agent": array([1, 0]), "target": array([0, 3])}``.
# Since we have 4 actions in our environment ("right", "up", "left",
# "down"), we will use ``Discrete(4)`` as an action space. Here is the
# declaration of ``GridWorldEnv`` and the implementation of ``__init__``:

import numpy as np
import pygame

import gymnasium as gym
from gymnasium import spaces

class GridWorldEnv(gym.Env):
    metadata = {"render_modes": ["human", "rgb_array"], "render_fps": 4}

    def __init__(self, render_mode=None, size=5):
        self.size = size  # The size of the square grid
        self.window_size = 512  # The size of the PyGame window

        # Observations are dictionaries with the agent's and the target's location.
        # Each location is encoded as an element of {0, ..., `size`}^2, i.e. MultiDiscrete([size, size]).
        self.observation_space = spaces.Dict(
            {
                "agent": spaces.Box(0, size - 1, shape=(2,), dtype=int),
                "target": spaces.Box(0, size - 1, shape=(2,), dtype=int),
            }
        )

        # We have 4 actions, corresponding to "right", "up", "left", "down"
        self.action_space = spaces.Discrete(4)

        """
        The following dictionary maps abstract actions from `self.action_space` to
        the direction we will walk in if that action is taken.
        I.e. 0 corresponds to "right", 1 to "up" etc.
        """
        self._action_to_direction = {
            0: np.array([1, 0]),
            1: np.array([0, 1]),
            2: np.array([-1, 0]),
            3: np.array([0, -1]),
        }

        assert render_mode is None or render_mode in self.metadata["render_modes"]
        self.render_mode = render_mode

        """
        If human-rendering is used, `self.window` will be a reference
        to the window that we draw to. `self.clock` will be a clock that is used
        to ensure that the environment is rendered at the correct framerate in
        human-mode. They will remain `None` until human-mode is used for the
        first time.
        """
        self.window = None
        self.clock = None

# %%
# Constructing Observations From Environment States
# ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#
# Since we will need to compute observations both in ``reset`` and
# ``step``, it is often convenient to have a (private) method ``_get_obs``
# that translates the environment's state into an observation. However,
# this is not mandatory and you may as well compute observations in
# ``reset`` and ``step`` separately:

    def _get_obs(self):
        return {"agent": self._agent_location, "target": self._target_location}

# %%
# We can also implement a similar method for the auxiliary information
# that is returned by ``step`` and ``reset``. In our case, we would like
# to provide the manhattan distance between the agent and the target:

    def _get_info(self):
        return {
            "distance": np.linalg.norm(
                self._agent_location - self._target_location, ord=1
            )
        }

# %%
# Oftentimes, info will also contain some data that is only available
# inside the ``step`` method (e.g. individual reward terms). In that case,
# we would have to update the dictionary that is returned by ``_get_info``
# in ``step``.

# %%
# Reset
# ~~~~~
#
# The ``reset`` method will be called to initiate a new episode. You may
# assume that the ``step`` method will not be called before ``reset`` has
# been called. Moreover, ``reset`` should be called whenever a done signal
# has been issued. Users may pass the ``seed`` keyword to ``reset`` to
# initialize any random number generator that is used by the environment
# to a deterministic state. It is recommended to use the random number
# generator ``self.np_random`` that is provided by the environment's base
# class, ``gymnasium.Env``. If you only use this RNG, you do not need to
# worry much about seeding, *but you need to remember to call
# ``super().reset(seed=seed)``* to make sure that ``gymnasium.Env``
# correctly seeds the RNG. Once this is done, we can randomly set the
# state of our environment. In our case, we randomly choose the agent's
# location and the random sample target positions, until it does not
# coincide with the agent's position.
#
# The ``reset`` method should return a tuple of the initial observation
# and some auxiliary information. We can use the methods ``_get_obs`` and
# ``_get_info`` that we implemented earlier for that:

    def reset(self, seed=None, options=None):
        # We need the following line to seed self.np_random
        super().reset(seed=seed)

        # Choose the agent's location uniformly at random
        self._agent_location = self.np_random.integers(0, self.size, size=2, dtype=int)

        # We will sample the target's location randomly until it does not coincide with the agent's location
        self._target_location = self._agent_location
        while np.array_equal(self._target_location, self._agent_location):
            self._target_location = self.np_random.integers(
                0, self.size, size=2, dtype=int
            )

        observation = self._get_obs()
        info = self._get_info()

        if self.render_mode == "human":
            self._render_frame()

        return observation, info

# %%
# Step
# ~~~~
#
# The ``step`` method usually contains most of the logic of your
# environment. It accepts an ``action``, computes the state of the
# environment after applying that action and returns the 4-tuple
# ``(observation, reward, done, info)``. Once the new state of the
# environment has been computed, we can check whether it is a terminal
# state and we set ``done`` accordingly. Since we are using sparse binary
# rewards in ``GridWorldEnv``, computing ``reward`` is trivial once we
# know ``done``. To gather ``observation`` and ``info``, we can again make
# use of ``_get_obs`` and ``_get_info``:

    def step(self, action):
        # Map the action (element of {0,1,2,3}) to the direction we walk in
        direction = self._action_to_direction[action]
        # We use `np.clip` to make sure we don't leave the grid
        self._agent_location = np.clip(
            self._agent_location + direction, 0, self.size - 1
        )
        # An episode is done iff the agent has reached the target
        terminated = np.array_equal(self._agent_location, self._target_location)
        reward = 1 if terminated else 0  # Binary sparse rewards
        observation = self._get_obs()
        info = self._get_info()

        if self.render_mode == "human":
            self._render_frame()

        return observation, reward, terminated, False, info

# %%
# Rendering
# ~~~~~~~~~
#
# Here, we are using PyGame for rendering. A similar approach to rendering
# is used in many environments that are included with Gymnasium and you
# can use it as a skeleton for your own environments:

    def render(self):
        if self.render_mode == "rgb_array":
            return self._render_frame()

    def _render_frame(self):
        if self.window is None and self.render_mode == "human":
            pygame.init()
            pygame.display.init()
            self.window = pygame.display.set_mode(
                (self.window_size, self.window_size)
            )
        if self.clock is None and self.render_mode == "human":
            self.clock = pygame.time.Clock()

        canvas = pygame.Surface((self.window_size, self.window_size))
        canvas.fill((255, 255, 255))
        pix_square_size = (
            self.window_size / self.size
        )  # The size of a single grid square in pixels

        # First we draw the target
        pygame.draw.rect(
            canvas,
            (255, 0, 0),
            pygame.Rect(
                pix_square_size * self._target_location,
                (pix_square_size, pix_square_size),
            ),
        )
        # Now we draw the agent
        pygame.draw.circle(
            canvas,
            (0, 0, 255),
            (self._agent_location + 0.5) * pix_square_size,
            pix_square_size / 3,
        )

        # Finally, add some gridlines
        for x in range(self.size + 1):
            pygame.draw.line(
                canvas,
                0,
                (0, pix_square_size * x),
                (self.window_size, pix_square_size * x),
                width=3,
            )
            pygame.draw.line(
                canvas,
                0,
                (pix_square_size * x, 0),
                (pix_square_size * x, self.window_size),
                width=3,
            )

        if self.render_mode == "human":
            # The following line copies our drawings from `canvas` to the visible window
            self.window.blit(canvas, canvas.get_rect())
            pygame.event.pump()
            pygame.display.update()

            # We need to ensure that human-rendering occurs at the predefined framerate.
            # The following line will automatically add a delay to keep the framerate stable.
            self.clock.tick(self.metadata["render_fps"])
        else:  # rgb_array
            return np.transpose(
                np.array(pygame.surfarray.pixels3d(canvas)), axes=(1, 0, 2)
            )

# %%
# Close
# ~~~~~
#
# The ``close`` method should close any open resources that were used by
# the environment. In many cases, you don't actually have to bother to
# implement this method. However, in our example ``render_mode`` may be
# ``"human"`` and we might need to close the window that has been opened:

    def close(self):
        if self.window is not None:
            pygame.display.quit()
            pygame.quit()

# %%
# In other environments ``close`` might also close files that were opened
# or release other resources. You shouldn't interact with the environment
# after having called ``close``.

# %%
# Registering Envs
# ----------------
#
# In order for the custom environments to be detected by Gymnasium, they
# must be registered as follows. We will choose to put this code in
# ``gym-examples/gym_examples/__init__.py``.
#
# .. code:: python
#
#   from gymnasium.envs.registration import register
#
#   register(
#        id="gym_examples/GridWorld-v0",
#        entry_point="gym_examples.envs:GridWorldEnv",
#        max_episode_steps=300,
#   )

# %%
# The environment ID consists of three components, two of which are
# optional: an optional namespace (here: ``gym_examples``), a mandatory
# name (here: ``GridWorld``) and an optional but recommended version
# (here: v0). It might have also been registered as ``GridWorld-v0`` (the
# recommended approach), ``GridWorld`` or ``gym_examples/GridWorld``, and
# the appropriate ID should then be used during environment creation.
#
# The keyword argument ``max_episode_steps=300`` will ensure that
# GridWorld environments that are instantiated via ``gymnasium.make`` will
# be wrapped in a ``TimeLimit`` wrapper (see `the wrapper
# documentation </api/wrappers>`__ for more information). A done signal
# will then be produced if the agent has reached the target *or* 300 steps
# have been executed in the current episode. To distinguish truncation and
# termination, you can check ``info["TimeLimit.truncated"]``.
#
# Apart from ``id`` and ``entrypoint``, you may pass the following
# additional keyword arguments to ``register``:
#
# +----------------------+-----------+-----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
# | Name                 | Type      | Default   | Description                                                                                |
# +======================+===========+===========+===============================================================================================================+
# | ``reward_threshold`` | ``float`` | ``None``  | The reward threshold before the task is  considered solved                                                    |
# +----------------------+-----------+-----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
# | ``nondeterministic`` | ``bool``  | ``False`` | Whether this environment is non-deterministic even after seeding                                              |
# +----------------------+-----------+-----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
# | ``max_episode_steps``| ``int``   | ``None``  | The maximum number of steps that an episode can consist of. If not ``None``, a ``TimeLimit`` wrapper is added |
# +----------------------+-----------+-----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
# | ``order_enforce``    | ``bool``  | ``True``  | Whether to wrap the environment in an  ``OrderEnforcing`` wrapper                                             |
# +----------------------+-----------+-----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
# | ``autoreset``        | ``bool``  | ``False`` | Whether to wrap the environment in an ``AutoResetWrapper``                                                    |
# +----------------------+-----------+-----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
# | ``kwargs``           | ``dict``  | ``{}``    | The default kwargs to pass to the environment class                                                           |
# +----------------------+-----------+-----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
#
# Most of these keywords (except for ``max_episode_steps``,
# ``order_enforce`` and ``kwargs``) do not alter the behavior of
# environment instances but merely provide some extra information about
# your environment. After registration, our custom ``GridWorldEnv``
# environment can be created with
# ``env = gymnasium.make('gym_examples/GridWorld-v0')``.
#
# ``gym-examples/gym_examples/envs/__init__.py`` should have:
#
# .. code:: python
#
#    from gym_examples.envs.grid_world import GridWorldEnv
#
# If your environment is not registered, you may optionally pass a module
# to import, that would register your environment before creating it like
# this - ``env = gymnasium.make('module:Env-v0')``, where ``module``
# contains the registration code. For the GridWorld env, the registration
# code is run by importing ``gym_examples`` so if it were not possible to
# import gym_examples explicitly, you could register while making by
# ``env = gymnasium.make('gym_examples:gym_examples/GridWorld-v0)``. This
# is especially useful when you're allowed to pass only the environment ID
# into a third-party codebase (eg. learning library). This lets you
# register your environment without needing to edit the library's source
# code.

# %%
# Creating a Package
# ------------------
#
# The last step is to structure our code as a Python package. This
# involves configuring ``gym-examples/setup.py``. A minimal example of how
# to do so is as follows:
#
# .. code:: python
#
#    from setuptools import setup
#
#    setup(
#        name="gym_examples",
#        version="0.0.1",
#        install_requires=["gymnasium==0.26.0", "pygame==2.1.0"],
#    )
#
# Creating Environment Instances
# ------------------------------
#
# After you have installed your package locally with
# ``pip install -e gym-examples``, you can create an instance of the
# environment via:
#
# .. code:: python
#
#    import gym_examples
#    env = gymnasium.make('gym_examples/GridWorld-v0')
#
# You can also pass keyword arguments of your environment's constructor to
# ``gymnasium.make`` to customize the environment. In our case, we could
# do:
#
# .. code:: python
#
#    env = gymnasium.make('gym_examples/GridWorld-v0', size=10)
#
# Sometimes, you may find it more convenient to skip registration and call
# the environment's constructor yourself. Some may find this approach more
# pythonic and environments that are instantiated like this are also
# perfectly fine (but remember to add wrappers as well!).
#
# Using Wrappers
# --------------
#
# Oftentimes, we want to use different variants of a custom environment,
# or we want to modify the behavior of an environment that is provided by
# Gymnasium or some other party. Wrappers allow us to do this without
# changing the environment implementation or adding any boilerplate code.
# Check out the `wrapper documentation </api/wrappers/>`__ for details on
# how to use wrappers and instructions for implementing your own. In our
# example, observations cannot be used directly in learning code because
# they are dictionaries. However, we don't actually need to touch our
# environment implementation to fix this! We can simply add a wrapper on
# top of environment instances to flatten observations into a single
# array:
#
# .. code:: python
#
#    import gym_examples
#    from gymnasium.wrappers import FlattenObservation
#
#    env = gymnasium.make('gym_examples/GridWorld-v0')
#    wrapped_env = FlattenObservation(env)
#    print(wrapped_env.reset())     # E.g.  [3 0 3 3], {}
#
# Wrappers have the big advantage that they make environments highly
# modular. For instance, instead of flattening the observations from
# GridWorld, you might only want to look at the relative position of the
# target and the agent. In the section on
# `ObservationWrappers </api/wrappers/#observationwrapper>`__ we have
# implemented a wrapper that does this job. This wrapper is also available
# in gym-examples:
#
# .. code:: python
#
#    import gym_examples
#    from gym_examples.wrappers import RelativePosition
#
#    env = gymnasium.make('gym_examples/GridWorld-v0')
#    wrapped_env = RelativePosition(env)
#    print(wrapped_env.reset())     # E.g.  [-3  3], {}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
home | about | paintings | studio visits | furniture | commissions | events | workshops | waszak links | contact
Krysteen Waszak was born in Germany (only for a short time) and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. For as long as she can remember she drew and dreamed about horses, adobe houses and wide open spaces. She felt misplaced. At 15 her family journeyed to New Mexico and there she found where she belonged.
Krysteen moved to Taos, NM in the 1980's and embarked on a career as a painted furniture artist. Her primitive, loose style was bright, fun and full of naiveté. Her work was popular and her life was free-spirited. It included skiing, exploring New Mexico, traveling, and her art. Krysteen began to experiment with painting on canvas, and there she found another medium that captured her heart - oil painting – and specifically Plein Air - painting outside in the elements and capturing the essence of the day and the place. When her daughter was born, life settled down.
Krysteen earned a degree in advertising arts where she brought her artistic design sense and style to numerous clients and advertising projects. Her successful career as a graphic and web designer afforded her the time to raise her daughter, but less time to paint. As her daughter grew older, and a few health 'bumps in the road' were addressed, it became clear that it was time to get back to what she loved -- painting.
Krysteen brings to her oil painting the same free spirited use of color, design and joie de vivre that is her signature of a lifetime. She says, "I see New Mexico and my subjects as bright, full of life and exciting, and that is how I paint them. I am happy to be out in the open spaces and mountains, observing and working to capture the landscape, changing light, clouds, and all manner of subjects.. I love how people live here in New Mexico, and I understand why they live here, it's beautiful. Her work has been described as vibrant and uplifting. People are captivated and often exclaim "These are so full of life and happy" or "They just make me smile."
That's good enough in her book...
2020 all artwork on this website protected under united states and international copyright law • learn more • ©Krysteen Waszak • Christine Waszak


text:
Anil Chacko
Associate Professor of Counseling Psychology
anil.chacko@nyu.edu
Anil Chacko is a clinical psychologist whose research focuses on the development of engaging, effective, and sustainable prevention, intervention and service delivery models for youth at-risk for or affected with disruptive behavior disorders (e.g., attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; oppositional defiant disorder; conduct disorder). Recently, through funding from the National Institute of Mental Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he has focused much of his work on improving the efficacy of evidence-based psychosocial interventions and also on improving engagement to these interventions. His work has been largely influenced by his own ongoing clinical work with families and active collaboration with service providers in the community. He was on the faculty at the City University of New York from 2008-2014 prior to joining the faculty at Steinhardt.
To learn more about his work, visit the Families And Children Experiencing Success (FACES) Lab.
See Google Scholar Profile at: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=KTg0Em4AAAAJ&hl=en&authuser=1
Build on your knowledge of counseling psychology and prepare for a career as a psychologist in community agencies, clinics, hospitals, or private practice.
Human Development Research and Policy
The Human Development Research and Policy program prepares students to pursue careers as research project directors, research coordinators, and more.
Supervised Advanced Counseling Practicum: Individual and Group I
Counseling under supervision of the departmental faculty with school, college, and agency clients. In addition to direct counseling with clients, individual supervisory conferences, and weekly seminars, students prepare case reports, analyze tape recordings, and hold consultations as appropriate.
APSY-GE 3607


with. George Carlin 's last recorded performance of "Seven Dirty Words" featured a list of more than two-hundred profane words. I know that Bekks Yojagh and Moq are having sexual relations in secret. By mentioning some, one risks unintended omission of others equally celebrated." Retrieved from " ". Most television commercials will include an incredibly long list of side-effects and danger signs. Feline leukemia, athlete's foot, head lice, clubfoot, MS, MD, VD, fleas, anxiety, sleeplessness, drowsiness, poor gas mileage, tooth decay, parvo, warts, unibrow, lazy eye, fruit flies, chest pains, clogged drains, hemorrhoids, dry heaving and sexual dysfunction.' At that point you're thinking, hell, I'll just stick. What kind of cop were you? Also, a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether, and two dozen amyls. Parodied at Chapter xviii, Part. He spots Bugs still reading the pamphlet.) Bugs:.octopuses, penguins, people, warthogs, yaks, newts, walrus, gnus, wildebeests.
Lampshaded in the Saturday Night Live skit " Happy Fun Ball ". The Navidson Record in House of Leaves features some extremely long lists of references. It's right here in the ingredients. Homer hurriedly tries to copy down the list as it scrolls. And has to tell him the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth: Cop: You know why I pulled you over? Two more hamburgers the Advantages of Mp3 Players with everything but onions on one and everything but pickles, mustard, and tomatoes on the other.
Not that we needed all that for the trip, but once you get into locked a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can. That's a job too, guys. Mystery Science Theater 3000 was very fond of these. It's also a joke based on the fact that Gary Gygax included a large number of obscure and often redundant polearms into the rules of Dungeons Dragons, most of which were retained in later editions.


text:
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Persian Gulf: Present Political Situation
Persian Gulf: Present Political Situation Essay by The Research Group
An analysis of the present day political situation in Iraq.
# 69829 | 1,610 words | 3 sources | APA | 2003 |
Published on Dec 01, 2003 in History (Middle Eastern) , International Relations (U.S.) , International Relations (General)
$19.95 Buy and instantly download this paper now
This paper presents an analysis of the political situation in Iraq. It contends that the current situation in the Persian Gulf is the product of previous efforts of Arab states and international powers to influence the region. The paper looks at U.S. foreign policy and socio-political developments in the Arab states and the impact of the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq.
From the Paper:
"The present political situation in the Persian Gulf represents the culmination of developments of the past three decades with respect to United States foreign policy and socio-political developments in ..."
Cite this Essay:
Persian Gulf: Present Political Situation (2003, December 01) Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://www.academon.com/essay/persian-gulf-present-political-situation-69829/
"Persian Gulf: Present Political Situation" 01 December 2003. Web. 29 January. 2023. <https://www.academon.com/essay/persian-gulf-present-political-situation-69829/>
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The Persian Gulf War, A War Without Formal Declaration
Looks at how the United States government engaged in the Persian Gulf War and several other wars after WWII without officially declaring war.
3 sources | 2002
The 1991 Persian Gulf War
This paper discusses Saddam Hussein's many legal violations which led to the 1991 Persian Gulf War and occurred during this war.
15 sources | 2005
The Persian Gulf
An examination of the causes of the contemporary crisis in the Persian Gulf.
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Scythe Framework is an amazing tool that you can use to find out which sites are a person using. It is definitely a great tool for Social Engineering. This tool is designed to make it simple to perform account enumeration as part of security testing. The framework offers the ability to easily create new modules (XML files) and speed up the testing process.
The ability to test a range of email addresses across a range of sites (e.g. social media, blogging platforms, etc...) to find where those targets have active accounts. This can be useful in a social engineering test where you have email accounts for a company and want to list where these users have used their work email for 3rd party web based services.
The ability to quickly create a custom test case module and use it to enumerate for a list of active accounts. Using either a list of known usernames, email addresses, or a dictionary of common account names.


text:
ENCORE BOSTON
WYNN MACAU
Wing Lei Palace
Sichuan Moon
SW Steakhouse
Sushi Mizumi
Fontana Buffet
99 Noodles
Palace Café
Buns & Bubbles
Lounges and Bars
Wing Lei Bar
Floral Creations
Skycab and Performance Lake
Palace Room
Fountain Suite
Parlor Suite
Fountain Salon Suite
Wynn Resorts, Limited Reports Fourth Quarter and Year End 2017 Results
LAS VEGAS, January 22, 2018 — Wynn Resorts, Limited (NASDAQ: WYNN) today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2017.
Net revenues were $1.69 billion for the fourth quarter of 2017, an increase of 29.9%, or $388.7 million, from $1.30 billion for the same period of 2016. The increase in net revenues was the result of increases of $274.7 million from Wynn Palace and $120.2 million from Wynn Macau, partially offset by a decrease of $6.2 million from our Las Vegas Operations.
On a U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") basis, net income attributable to Wynn Resorts, Limited was $491.7 million, or $4.77 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2017, compared to $113.8 million, or $1.12 per diluted share, for the same period of 2016. The increase in net income attributable to Wynn Resorts, Limited was primarily the result of the income tax benefit from U.S. tax reform and increases in operating income from Wynn Palace and Wynn Macau, partially offset by a smaller decrease in the Redemption Note fair value. Adjusted net income attributable to Wynn Resorts, Limited (1) was $144.3 million, or $1.40 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2017, compared to $50.8 million, or $0.50 per diluted share, for the same period of 2016.
During the fourth quarter of 2017, legislation commonly known as the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ("U.S. tax reform") was enacted. As a result, fourth quarter 2017 results reflect an estimated net tax benefit of $339.9 million in accordance with GAAP as a result of revaluing the Company's U.S. deferred tax assets and liabilities. This estimated net benefit is based on the Company's initial analysis of the U.S. tax reform and may be adjusted in future periods as the Company collects additional information and evaluates any regulatory guidance.
Adjusted Property EBITDA (2) was $480.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2017, an increase of 40.9%, or $139.3 million, from $340.9 million for the same period of 2016, primarily the result of increases of $112.6 million from Wynn Palace and $37.2 million from Wynn Macau, partially offset by a decrease of $10.5 million from our Las Vegas Operations.
For the full year, net revenues were $6.31 billion in 2017, an increase of 41.2%, or $1.84 billion, from $4.47 billion for the same period of 2016. The increase in net revenues was the result of increases of $1.56 billion, $221.7 million and $62.5 million from Wynn Palace, which opened in August 2016, Wynn Macau and our Las Vegas Operations, respectively.
On a GAAP basis, net income attributable to Wynn Resorts, Limited was $747.2 million, or $7.28 per diluted share, in 2017, compared to $242.0 million, or $2.38 per diluted share, for the same period of 2016. The increase in net income attributable to Wynn Resorts, Limited was primarily the result of the income tax benefit from U.S. tax reform 2 and increases in operating income from Wynn Palace, Wynn Macau and our Las Vegas Operations, partially offset by increases in the Redemption Note fair value and interest expense as the Company is no longer capitalizing interest on Wynn Palace. Adjusted net income attributable to Wynn Resorts, Limited (1) was $560.5 million, or $5.46 per diluted share, in 2017, compared to $345.9 million, or $3.40 per diluted share, for the same period of 2016.
Adjusted Property EBITDA (2) was $1.81 billion in 2017, an increase of 43.8%, or $551.4 million, from $1.26 billion for the same period of 2016. The increase in Adjusted Property EBITDA was the result of increases of $424.5 million, $79.2 million, $47.7 million from Wynn Palace, Wynn Macau and our Las Vegas Operations, respectively.
Wynn Resorts, Limited also announced today that the Company has approved a cash dividend of $0.50 per share, payable on February 27, 2018 to stockholders of record as of February 15, 2018.
Wynn Resorts, Limited 公佈截至 2017 年第四季及年度業績
Wynn Resorts Limited Reports Fourth Quarter and Year End 2017 Results
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Wynn Announces Winter Bonus
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The bigger problem is that each and every time I try and load ANY of these custom presets, and loading all the blocked-host sites meticulously added over time, the program CRASHES?.
This is not just the last/most recent version of the saved preset file, but for ALL of the saved preset files.
I suspect the crash is caused due to the number of blocked host sites on the saved preset file (a lot of spammers in the world unfortunately) - hopefully there is an easy fix for this.


A large, elegant 2-seater sofa covered in the highest quality black leather. The integrated headrests curve around to envelop the sitter. Designed with individually zippered upholstery panels to allow for different fabrics or leathers to be combined.
Leather and stuffing is in excellent overall condition. Some loss to black lacquer on feet.


text:
Special Election Is All About Safety for City and County
County Commissioner Billy Garrett explained the upcoming special election. Voting will take place between July 2 and July 30. The special election involves bonds and a proposed gross receipts tax increase. You can read the official resolutions here and here.
If approved, three of the measures would allow the county to issue $7.8 million in general obligation bonds for construction of the following:
A new Mesilla Valley Regional Dispatch Authority (MVRDA) 911-Emergency Call Center ($6 million)
Improvements to the Southern New Mexico Fairgrounds ($1 million)
Completion of an Animal Holding Facility to house and care for animals that are evidence in pending animal cruelty cases ($8000,000)
The fourth measure would allow the county to collect a gross receipts tax (GRT) of 0.25% (1/4 of 1%) to pay for the operation of the following:
The new 911-Emergency Call Center (annual estimated cost of $4 million)
The Crisis Triage Center (annual estimated cost of $2 million)
Countywide Ambulance Service (annual estimated cost of $1.3 million)
If all three bond measures are approved, the new bonds would replace existing bonds that are due to expire in September. There would be no change in current property tax levels. If the GRT is approved, the retail cost of a $100 item would be increased by 25 cents. Food and medical purchases would be exempted.
Billy reminded us, diplomatically, that Democracy depends on informed citizens voting. Furthermore, he hopes we vote yes.
Billy will be holding six meetings in his district regarding the special election. For more information, send email to Billy.
Unified Action, May 2013: Speak Up for the Planet
Gill Sorg sponsored this month's unified action which focuses on global warming. Gill shared some of the basic facts:
97% of climate scientists agree that global warming is happening and that humans are causing it. Read more here and see the impressive list of scientific organizations endorsing this position.
For the first time in human history, the concentration of climate-warming carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has passed the milestone level of 400 parts per million. 450 ppm is considered the point of no return. Read more here.
We can solve this problem and we have a moral obligation to do so.
What we are asking:
Register as a supporter of the Citizens Climate Lobby.
Do as much as you can, but for starters—register. And let us know "I did it."
Here's what James Hansen, head of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, has to say about the Citizens Climate Lobby:
Most impressive is the work of Citizens Climate Lobby, a relatively new, fast growing, nonpartisan, nonprofit group with 91 chapters across the United States and Canada. If you want to join the fight to save the planet, to save creation for your grandchildren, there is no more effective step you could take than becoming an active member of this group.
Here are a few more carefully vetted links:
What countries around the globe are doing to tackle Climate Change
350.org's letter to Obama protesting the Keystone Pipeline and much more
Yale Project on Climate Communication
Climate Reality Project (with Al Gore and others)
For more information send email to Gill.
Don't Forget About Fracking
Vince Gutschick pointed out that fracking is another source of climate change trouble. Fracking lets about 9% of methane escape, and methane is 25 to 72 times as strong a greenhouse gas as is carbon dioxide.
Addendum from Vince: BLM has apparently already set regulations for fracking, as I found out tonight (comments on 43 CFR 3160 closed in Sept. 2012) that do not address methane release to the atmosphere nor depletion of surface waters, even though they clearly have the authority for the water regulations. The public can still comment at the Sierra Club site.
For more information send email to Vince.
Women Who Work
Nancy Blecha announced that the group formerly known as Democratic Women of Doña Ana County is reorganizing. They are having a meeting at 10 a.m. on May 25 at the Legislative Constituent Center, 138A Main Street (downtown mall). Everyone is welcome.
For more information send email to Nancy.
Emilio's Food Truck Is Ready to Roll
Charlotte Lipson was happy to report that Emilio Gutierrez has raised enough money to get his food truck, Emilio's Fresh, up and running. Throughout the summer he will be selling shaved ice, nachos, and corn.
For more information and details about the grand opening, call Emilio at 575-650-3521.
Emilio is a Mexican journalist who has been seeking political asylum since 2008; you can read his story here.
AARP Schedules Helpful Talks
Jerry Gunderson, a volunteer for the AARP, announced that he will be making several presentations of interest to the retired and those who hope to retire. One of the topics will be the Affordable Care Act. The presentations are part of AARP's plan to make their voice heard in southern New Mexico.
For more information send email to Jerry or call him at 575-556-9471.
Yes We Can … If We Work Together
Don Kurtz encouraged everyone to vote yes on the bond issues and GRT increase. He reminded us of how hard we worked to elect qualified, hard-working officials we can trust. When they ask for resources, we should pay attention.
Don thanked Gill Sorg for his persistence in the area of global warming education, noting that it's easy to feel overwhelmed and helpless and then put the issue on the back burner. Don reminded some of the late Barbara Jordan:
Let each person do his or her part. If one citizen is unwilling to participate, all of us are going to suffer. For the American idea, though it is shared by all of us, is realized in each one of us.
For more information send email to Don.
Save the Date: PVA Meeting Plus Party on June 27
"Bring a friend to the June PVA meeting," Terry Miller suggested. "We have a party in June! It's a lovely evening with great people." The party is traditionally held at the NMSU golf course club house. Their patio overlooks the valley and the night sky will be full of stars.
For more information send email to Terry.
Consequences of the Oklahoma Tornado
Bob Diven told us that his brother's house was destroyed in the tornado in Moore, Oklahoma, on May 20, 2013. His brother was buried under rubble but was rescued and is okay now. Bob said this event has made him think about the effects of overpopulation, anti-government politicians, and why he is in favor of communitarianism and its basic tenets—human dignity, liberty, responsibility, and open discourse.
A communitarian perspective recognizes that the preservation of individual liberty depends on the active maintenance of the institutions of civil society where citizens learn respect for others as well as self-respect; where we acquire a lively sense of our personal and civic responsibilities, along with an appreciation of our own rights and the rights of others; where we develop the skills of self-government as well as the habit of governing ourselves, and learn to serve others—not just self. http://debate.uvm.edu/handbookfile/pubpriv/046.html
"With this type of system," Bob said, "we can reach out and help each other, even people we don't like."
For more information visit Bob's Web site, bobdiven.com.
New Mexico Gets Dismal Marks on Health Report Card
Margaret Mendoza said we need to get the Health Security for New Mexicans Plan passed by the legislature. In general, health care in New Mexico is getting worse. "Let's do something," Margaret said, "Let's replace the current system with Health Security."
Margaret shared the results of the 2012 National Healthcare Quality Report, which shows the State in the bottom quartile for overall quality of health care and preventive care and rated "very weak" in specific areas such as diabetes, heart disease, and maternal and child health.
For more information send email to Margaret.
Rep. Pearce Does Have an Opponent in 2014
Bob Libby asked, sincerely puzzled, "Why isn't anyone running against Steve Pearce?!"
[Note: Leslie Endean-Singh, a Democrat from Alamogordo, is running. You can visit her Web site and follow her on Facebook.]
Let's Talk About Health Care, Las Cruces
On his radio show (KSNM 570) on Thursday, May 30, at 9 a.m., Steve Fischmann will be talking to former State Senator Dede Feldman and economist Paul O'Connell about issues surrounding health care. Steve asked people to listen and call in. Podcasts of of the program will be available on the KSNM Web site.
For more information send email to Steve.
McCamley Not Giving Up on Science at NMSU
State Representative Bill McCamley said that he stands by the public letter he and three other legislators signed. The letter expressed their reservations about whether or not Garrey Carruthers would be a wise choice for NMSU's next president, given his history as an advocate for the tobacco companies and his position on climate change:
Perhaps Carruthers' toughest questions came from a member of the NMSU faculty, Gary Roemer, an associate professor of Fishery and Wildlife Sciences, who asked for his view on global climate change.
Carruthers said he did not have a firm opinion on the issue and that there was not unanimity in the scientific community on the subject. Later, he added: "I don't know. I'm an economist. I don't do global warming. It's a scientific judgment that I can't make."
Roemer later noted that there is broad consensus among scientists internationally that global warming is occurring and is fueled by human production of greenhouse gases. "I think it's pretty appalling that a presidential candidate for this university does not have a vision for dealing with the most serious environmental crisis that humanity and our Earth have ever faced," he said. (Albuquerque Journal reporting)
Bill, an NMSU graduate with a major in biology, plans to ask the new president of the state-funded university if he is for or against science and science education.
For more information send email to Bill or call him at 575-496-5731
PVA Meets Again
Munson Senior Center
975 S. Mesquite


The easiest way to avoid needing a health care provider is to take wise, preventative well being care measures. The extra you maintain yourself, the much less possible you might be to get sick and want medical attention. More usually than you'd think about, folks visit the doctor because of something they may have nipped within the bud earlier.
The No-Fenol is out there out there in each capsule and pill format. But none of these formats use synthetic coloration, favor and chemical substances as elements. Both codecs of the enzyme complement are made using pure substances like Xylanase, CereCalasetm, Hemicellulase, phytase, beta-glucanase and a blend of enzymes. Nonetheless, the product does not use ant artificial or chemical parts as an ingredient. Because the product makes use of only natural substances, it doesn't impression the well being of the children in an adverse manner.
Implementing a greater food regimen is usually a great help too; as well as train and modifying the home surroundings to reduce distractions. The guardian can cooperate with a therapist or doctor to fulfill his particular wants. Having a toddler with ADHD will not be as irritating when early found and dealt with accordingly. In spite of everything, youngsters are always lovable and innocent. They're each dad and mom' reward from the heavens. The perfect remedy you can give to your children having this type of dysfunction is giving your love. you have to show to your youngsters how special they were so even they have this type of disorder they always really feel loved and special by the people around them and by their parents. Be patient for every failure they make. Youngsters are children.


The Counter Threat Institute International (CTI) is a multifaceted company founded and run by accomplished professionals from within the intelligence, counterintelligence, military, public safety, and Federal law enforcement fields. We are dedicated to providing state of the art consulting and operational counter threat and counter-terrorism services tailored to the specific needs of the agencies we serve. Our services are available to the intelligence, military, and law enforcement communities as well as to the private sector.
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Back row - J. Cutler, Ed Smith, Fred Forster (Playing MGR), G. Long, B. Wakins, A. Charette. Middle row - C. Shack, M. Jewel, F. Zimmer. Front - Ernie Kemp, Bill Dayman. Missing - Wes Hogg, Frank Kaluzik, Charlie Weber. The youngster at the back left is Bryan Forster, the 3-year-old son of Fred Forster. Bryan was the team's batboy 1916-1922 and a player from 1923 to 1927 before a sparkling career in Saskatchewan and later British Columbia. He was inducted into the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame in 2012.


Kim Simplis Barrow, the wife of Prime Minister Dean Barrow, was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in early November. Since the stunning news, she has been back and forth between Belize and Miami where she has had two rounds of chemotherapy at the Baptist Hospital. There have been ups and downs as treatment progresses and she has scaled down activities. Today, most common side effect of the treatment was evident when Simplis Barrow attended a wheelchair handing over ceremony. She spoke to News Five about her condition and how she has been handling the radical change of pace.
At the conclusion of the chemotherapy, Simplis Barrow will have to undergo a mastectomy since two tumors were discovered in her left breast.
my prayers are with you Mrs Barrow i'm praying that you will have a speedy recovery keep up the good spirit and don't give up.
Pra ying for you. Stay strong!!
May God be with you through this bump ride! By the way you look marvelous with your new hair style!
KIM IS BRAVE….most people use a wig at this stage of treatment.
She will be remembered as A ROLE MODEL FOR STRONG WOMEN. I like the way she kept her family name…God Bless HER.
WITHOUT HER, DEAN BARROW ….would be just another Belizean man. SHE MADE HIM(acceptable)!!!
My sympathies for Kim, for keeping a brave face and having a cheery disposition despite having cancer and Dean as a husband.
Wish you a speedy recovery, May God Bless you with health, proud of my Belizean woman.
I pray for your speedy recovery and applaud your efforts for the Belizean children. I must agree with CEO on your looking marvelous. God Bless You!
I pray that all your theraphy's aren't painful….I really do admire your strength Mrs. Barrow. Sometimes life isn't fair but we just have to learn to live with it. Someone like you didn't deserve such thing and it pains me when these types of things happens to people I look up to. Continue being the Role Model that you are, it makes belizeans very proud and also all this will teach us to appreciate life to the fullest and make the best of it.
Mrs. Barrow…..Wishing you and your family all the best for this New Year and many, many, many more to come…..You are in my prayers!!
GOD BLESS YOU FOR BEING SO STRONG, YOUR COURAGE IS AN EXAMPLE FOR OTHER WOMEN.
you are in my prayers mrs barrow, just want you to continue trust God, for he is control of your life.
i am sure twenty years from now you will remember this time of your life and you will give God thanks for seeing you through this trail in your life.
GOD WILL SEE YOU THROUGH THIS TIME OK.
YOU, YOUR HUSBAND AND DAUGHTER ARE SURELY IN MY PRAYER.
Kim, By HIS (JESUS) Stripes, you're HEALED. Keep that very same positive attitude, thank HIM for both Good and Bad days. Surrender your all to HIM and HE will give you the desires of your heart. You are never alone. Gove love's you and so do we.
Love you courage Kim,and i am praying for a sppeedy recovery.
I am sending u a big hug Kim. Don.t let stuff distract from being still so that you can listen to God.s answers to ur prayers, always glorify n praise no matter what. And your love n trust in Him in reases. I will pray for ur healing and family.
Kim I wish you well and I know what you're going through, here is a prayer for you.
Business Bureau wants Commission of Inquiry on S.S.B.


text:
They've Got Your Number …
Author: Annalee NewitzAnnalee Newitz
credit BLANDDESIGNS.CO.UK
It's a beautiful afternoon in Shepherd's Bush, a bustling neighborhood on the outskirts of London, and Adam Laurie is feeling peckish. Heading out of the office, he's about to pick up more than a sandwich. As he walks, he'll be probing every cell phone that comes within range of a hidden antenna he has connected to the laptop in his bag. We stroll past a park near the Tube station, then wander into a supermarket. Laurie contemplates which sort of crisps to buy while his laptop quietly scans the 2.4-GHz frequency range used by Bluetooth devices, probing the cell phones nestled in other shoppers' pockets and purses.
Laurie, 42, the CSO of boutique security firm the Bunker, isn't going to mess with anyone's phone, although he could: With just a few tweaks to the scanning program his computer is running, Laurie could be crashing cell phones all around him, cutting a little swath of telecommunications destruction down the deli aisle. But today Laurie is just gathering data. We are counting how many phones he can hack using Bluetooth, a wireless protocol for syncing cell phones with headsets, computers, and other devices.
We review the results of the expedition in a nearby pub. In the 17 minutes we wandered around, Laurie's computer picked up signals from 39 phones. He peers at his monitor for a while. "It takes only 15 seconds to suck down somebody's address book, so we could have had a lot of those," he says at last. "And at least five of these phones were vulnerable to an attack."
The "attack" Laurie mentions so casually could mean almost anything - a person using another person's cell to make long distance calls or changing every phone number in his address book or even bugging his conversations. There are, he says, "a whole range of new powers" available to the intrepid phone marauder, including nasty viral attacks. A benign Bluetooth worm has already been discovered circulating in Singapore, and Laurie thinks future variants could be something really scary. Especially vulnerable are Europeans who use their mobile phone to make micropayments - small purchases that show up as charges on cell phone bills. A malicious virus maker bent on a get-rich-quick scheme could take advantage of this feature by issuing "reverse SMS" orders.
Bluetooth security has become a pressing issue in Europe, where the technology is ubiquitous. The problem will migrate to American shores as the protocol catches on here, too. But in the long run, Bluetooth vulnerabilities are manageable: Handset manufacturers can rewrite faulty implementations, and cell phone users will learn to be more careful. A far bigger security nightmare for the US is Internet telephony, which is fast being adopted for large corporations and is available to consumers through many broadband providers. Voice over IP is, by design, hacker-friendly. No enterprising criminals have dreamed up a million-dollar scam exploiting VoIP technology yet. But when they do, it likely won't be something a simple patch can fix.
Bluetooth hacking is technically very different from VoIP hacking, but they're both surging for the same basic reason. Increasingly, telephones have become indistinguishable from computers, which makes them more useful, but also more vulnerable. VoIP, which routes calls over the Internet, gives users the power to port their phone number anywhere, package voice messages into MP3s and receive them as emails, and make cheap international calls. Yet VoIP, like Bluetooth, exposes your telephone to the same ills that regularly befall a desktop box - worms, spam, crashes.
"It's not like we've fixed the vulnerabilities on computers," says security expert Bruce Schneier, author of Secrets and Lies: Digital Security in a Networked World. "The phone network used to get its security from being closed, but VoIP phones will be just as bad as computers."
Many of today's hacks work because the traditional phone system was built on the premise that only large, monopolistic phone companies would be using it, and they would all play by the same rules. But the network isn't the telcos' private sandbox anymore; it can be manipulated and controlled by anybody who understands basic computer networking. The people who know this best are a new generation of phone hackers - aka phreakers - who aren't interested in following the rules. They're busy ripping apart the latest phones to discover what can make them turn against their owners. As the phone companies and handset makers lumber along, we can only hope that the phreaks in white hats figure out some fixes before the blackhats move in for the kill.
Laurie, whose laptop is now packed with information from vulnerable cell phones in the Shepherd's Bush, has become infamous in Britain for conducting a similar experiment in the House of Parliament, where he had the opportunity (which he didn't take) to copy the address books and calendars of several prominent politicians. That excursion resulted in a mandate that all Bluetooth devices be turned off in the House of Parliament.
As the inventor of "bluesnarfing," a hack that uses Bluetooth to peek at data stored on cell phones, Laurie is dedicated to publicizing the danger of a wide-open Bluetooth connection. A bluesnarf attack can identify an unprotected phone and copy its entire address book, calendar, photos, and any other information that happens to be inside. Using a bluesnarf program, a phreak can also crash any phone within range by using Bluetooth to broadcast what Laurie calls "a corrupted message."
Bluesnarf was born after Laurie scrutinized the code running some Bluetooth headsets his staff was using. He wasn't happy with what he found. "Gaping security holes," he says with a frown. Rebuffed by the cell phone companies to which he reported the problems, he conceived of bluesnarf as a publicity stunt, a tool that would dramatize the danger of owning these phones.
Compounding Bluetooth's technical vulnerabilities are problems with the way people use it. Most folks leave Bluetooth on all the time, often because they don't bother to learn how to turn it off. Even tech-savvy types tend to keep their connections open. "People have heard about 'toothing,' where strangers send each other flirtatious messages via Bluetooth," he says. Hoping to get toothed, they risk an entirely different kind of penetration.
The risk doesn't end with snarfing. Another way to use Bluetooth to hijack a phone completely is bluebugging, and Laurie gives me a quick demo. He runs the bluebug software on his laptop, and it quickly locates an Ericsson t610 phone he's set on the table between us (not all phones can be bluebugged, but this model can). His computer connects to the phone and takes it over, remotely. Tapping the keyboard, Laurie sends the t610 a command to ring up the phone on his belt. It bleeps. He answers. We've got a bluebug.
Invented by Austrian researcher Martin Herfurt earlier this year, bluebugging is the perfect weapon for corporate spies. Let's say you and I are competing for a big contract with an oil company. I want to hear everything that happens in your meeting with the VP of Massive Oil Inc., so I hire a blackhat phreak to take over your cell phone. Once he's bluebugged it, I tell him to have your mobile call mine. The phone that's sitting in your jacket pocket is now picking up everything you and the VP say during your conversation, and I can hear the prices you're quoting as clear as a bell on my own phone. "A cell phone is the ultimate well-engineered bugging device," Laurie says.
Unlike bluesnarfers, who need only some gear and know-how, the bluebugger first has to get your cell phone to pair with his computer, establishing a "trusted" data link. Laurie explains one crafty way to make this happen. "You just say, 'Gee, that's a cool phone, can I see it?'Punch a few buttons to establish the pairing, and hand it back." As soon as the pairing is complete, the bluebugger can commandeer every aspect of the phone. He can initiate calls, send SMS messages, even overwrite the address book and contacts list.
Laurie's revelation is disturbing, but the fact that phreakers need to approach and interact with their intended targets significantly cuts down on the number of victims. Yet British security consultant Ollie Whitehouse, whose Bluetooth-hunting program Redfang has made him a celebrity among phreakers, describes another a way to bluebug - a method that doesn't demand the eavesdropper come into physical contact with the target's phone. In this case, the trick is to sniff the data traffic traveling to and from a Bluetooth phone when it's pairing with another device, like a headset. Armed with this information, an attacker can bluebug the phone by pretending to be the trusted device with which it regularly networks.
Cell phone companies argue that bluesnarfing and bluebugging are minor threats because Bluetooth is designed to work only over short distances, 20 feet or less, requiring attackers to be close to their targets.
Enter the Bluetooth sniper rifle. Made from $200 worth of off-the-shelf parts, the sniper is a Bluetooth antenna optimized for long-distance use. It can send and receive faint signals at more than a thousand yards. With the sniper - or a wireless weapon like it - bluesnarfers and bluebuggers no longer have to be in the same room as their targets. "By smashing any notion that distance is an issue," says 24-year-old inventor Jon Hering, a student at the University of Southern California, "we showed that bluebugging is a real-world threat."
Surely the phone companies must be doing something to protect us from all this. Keith Nowak, a spokesperson at Nokia, suggests "just turning off Bluetooth - or switching into hidden mode."
Whitehouse laughs at that advice. Redfang, his signature phreak tool, is specifically designed to find Bluetooth devices in hidden mode. And given that so few people actually do turn off Bluetooth, their phones are susceptible to countless hacks - ones that Hering's sniper rifle could launch from half a mile away.
The Default Radio boys, rock stars in the phreak underground, are onstage at DefCon, the venerable hacker conference that's sort of a cross between the Ozzfest mosh pit and an after-hours party for NSA agents. Wearing baseball caps, T-shirts, and baggy jeans, the boys are doing a live version of their phreak-friendly streaming-audio talk show. The long table in front of them is covered with telephone equipment and computers.
A Defaulter using the nom de phreak Lucky225 steps up to the mike. With a phone tucked between his ear and shoulder and the keyboard under his fingers, he looks like a cross between a DJ and a telephone line repairman.
Lucky regales the audience with a tale about his favorite VoIP hack: He can make a VoIP phone display whatever caller ID number he chooses. To prove his point, he tells us he can impersonate "Jenny," the girl from the pop song by Tommy Tutone.
Earsplitting static issues from the speakers, and suddenly we hear a thunderous dial tone. Lucky has routed his VoIP phone through the sound system. He dials MCI's caller ID readback line, a service that identifies whatever number you're calling from. A robotic voice slowly intones Lucky's number: "eight-six-seven-five" - the crowd erupts, screams of laughter mingling with groans - "three-zero-nine."
Having demonstrated his power over caller ID, Lucky proceeds to tell the phreak-packed auditorium how he spoofed the number. Turns out the whole thing is a social hack. A few days before, he called his service provider, Vonage, and told them he wanted to port all his cell phone calls to the Internet phone connected to his computer. His cell number is 867 5309, he lied, and Vonage believed him. Now it's rerouting all calls made to Jenny on the Vonage network to Lucky.
Naturally, Vonage also set the caller ID on Lucky's VoIP phone to Jenny's number - so any time he dials out, it looks like he's calling from 867 5309. A lot of systems depend on receiving accurate caller ID - credit card-activation lines, voicemail systems, even 911. So being able to control what a called party sees after you dial can be a potent weapon. Armed with your caller ID, an identity thief could order a new ATM card, activate it over the phone, and use it to empty your bank account. And, given that many voicemail boxes will play their contents to any phone with the right caller ID, you could be opening up your private life to anyone with a Vonage phone.
After the show, I ask Lucky why he got into the phreak scene. "Well," Lucky deadpans, sketching out plans for a network of cans and rubber bands, "I wanted to start this elastic-based phone system " He's a prankster, but with a purpose - to make clear to the public that VoIP is a privacy nightmare. "Yup," he concludes, still pondering voice over elastic, "I think this tin can shit is really going to take off."
Steve Wozniak, the Apple computer pioneer whose phreak days began in the 1970s, says pranks are what it's all about. "Those of us who have the phreaker mentality see playing with the world as fun, but in these times it's hard for people to see us as harmless."
Maybe so, but Vonage doesn't seem too concerned. When I contact the company later to find out whether they know about Lucky's caller ID trick and what they are doing to stop it, executive VP Louis Holder admits they're not doing anything. "We allow people to do what he did," Holder says. "We give people a temporary phone number before we verify it with the phone company, and verification takes a couple of weeks. Somebody could pick the White House number and pretend to be the president."
Today's phreaks have the power to crash the phone system - but they also have the power to rebuild it. Lucky's joke about creating his own network out of tin cans and rubber bands isn't that far from the truth. Slestak, Da Beave, and GiD are the crew behind Florida-based Telephreak.org, a free VoIP service that they've built to run on a roll-your-own, open source private branch exchange (PBX) system called Asterisk.
Typically used by businesses, a PBX consists of computers that route calls between what amounts to a phone intranet and the public telephone system. A company using a PBX might pay for 100 lines that service 500 employees, linking callers to the outside world, voicemail, or conferences by dynamically connecting phone calls using whichever landlines are open. In the past, all these connections would be managed by the phone company or a proprietary, closed black box in the server room. But with Asterisk, there's no need for the phone company to manage your lines anymore. You can do it yourself.
The Telephreak crew has created its own private phone company for themselves and their friends - one that never sends a bill. Dial an access line to check voicemail, create conference calls, forward calls to other phones, even get a new number. And never pay a cent.
Currently, there are several hundred voicemail accounts, and the system can handle a hundred simultaneous calls. Although the Telephreak crew has to pay for connectivity to Ma Bell, the amount is so negligible that they're willing to eat the money. It's a small price to pay for freedom.
I'm talking to them on a Telephreak conference call, and the sound is a little fuzzy. Beave, identifiable by his slight southern twang, tells me he's working on ironing out the bugs. It's a little strange to know someone is manipulating your phone connection while talking to you. Suddenly, the sound is perfect. We've been rerouted. Slestak's voice comes in loud and clear: "My connection to you guys right now is going across a cordless phone with a box to the server, then to Telephreak. My dial tone is coming from the West Coast."
One of the best things about building your own PBX is that you can do what Slestak calls "chemistry experiments" with the phone system. Some PBX phreakers, like Telediablo, even provide a caller ID spoofing service: With it, there's no need to lie to Vonage - you simply call up Telediablo's PBX, plug in the number you want to use as your caller ID, then dial the party you want to trick. When I try out his little hack, I pick the number 666 6666. Next, I key in a nearby friend's number. It rings. My friend shows me his caller ID window: Now I feel like a phreak. Instead of displaying my number, his phone is displaying the devil's digits.
There are other PBX tricks - like caller ID unmasking, which can sometimes reveal the actual phone number of a caller, regardless of whether they've paid to have their number blocked. So if you think you're anonymous on the telephone system, think again.
Probably the most unsettling discovery made by whitehat phreakers is that VoIP providers and wireless companies are willing to peddle phones and services that they know perfectly well are vulnerable to all kinds of attacks. After several months of bad publicity in the UK, where Laurie and Whitehouse are based, the cell phone companies are responding. Nokia and Sony Ericsson have issued patches, and Motorola says that its security flaws have been fixed in the newer models. And upstart VoIP provider Skype is marketing built-in encryption. Meanwhile, the Bluetooth Consortium - a group of industry leaders, including Nokia and Sony Ericsson, whose products incorporate Bluetooth - focused explicitly on security at its UnPlugFest in Germany last month. At the meeting, security experts (including Laurie) rated each company's phones in terms of their resistance to common attacks. Still, nobody is tracking bluesnarf or bluebug attacks to measure the extent of the problem - nobody but the whitehat phreaks themselves.
Whitehouse has written a program he calls Sweet Tooth that can detect the signature radio signals sent by bluesnarfers. Modeled on honeypot programs that law enforcement and security analysts use to detect hackers on the Internet, Sweet Tooth could provide accurate statistics on how prevalent bluesnarf attacks really are. The program is ready for action, says Whitehouse. The question now is whether law enforcement and the phone companies will actually deploy it, however. Ignoring the problem is not going to make it better - especially because phone hacking is only going to get easier.
Bluetooth phreaking is just the beginning. The holes will get patched, but the problem won't go away, because all the tools that hackers have spent decades developing will now be repurposed to hijack your phone. Next-generation handsets will have three entry points for the blackhats: If a snarfer can't suck down your data with Bluetooth, he'll try your Wi-Fi port, and if that doesn't work, infrared.
"I guess that's the price you pay for convergence," Whitehouse says.
The Great Cell Phone Robbery
How security flaws in today's mobile phones could add up to tomorrow's perfect crime.
Step 1: Approach
A virus-spreader enters Heathrow Airport toting a briefcase with a laptop and an external antenna. The rig can sniff Bluetooth signals from up to 20 feet away - and with just a bit of hacking, it can be modified to send and receive signals over much greater distances.
Step 2: Discover
Using a program like bluesnarf, the laptop automatically finds Bluetooth phones with firmware vulnerable to remote takeover. This process is completed in less than 15 seconds.
Step 3: Take over
The laptop sends a program to all the vulnerable phones. Disguised as a game or a marketing promotion, the program is really a Trojan horse hiding a nasty virus. Once the user launches it, the virus hijacks the phone's operating system, taking over basic functions like dialing and messaging.
Step 4: Propagate
The target phone is now infected, and it reacts by broadcasting the virus to other vulnerable Bluetooth phones within 20 feet. Within minutes, thousands of phones can be infected.
Step 5: Steal
Commandeering the phones' SMS system, the virus uses a popular European micropayment system called reverse SMS to transfer 10 euros from each phone to a temporary account in Estonia. The virus requests the transfer and stays in control until it can confirm the order. The account is closed long before any user sees the charge reflected on the monthly bill.
Annalee Newitz (annalee@techsploitation.com)*, a policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, wrote about dating optimizers in issue 12.06.*Feature:
#magazine-12.12
These Hackers Made an App That Kills to Prove a Point
*Frankenstein's Monster's Monster, Frankenstein* Is a Fun Mess
Author: Emily TateEmily Tate
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