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Sunday, 28 April 2013

My Not so Famous "POSTURE"..!!

Day before yesterday I went to an office party.. I wore this beautiful White Dress..and Red Flats..
I know you might think white to an night event sounds aarrrhhh but imagine Me standing with guys in black suit and all the girls were either in red dress or black dress... SO my motto of standing out was fullfilled.

Today noon I was checking out the pictures with my BF from the party...And believe me I looked stunning as well as I looked completely crap.. and trust me everything was same. I was like I wore same dress.. Same hairstyle and everything was same...And trust me lights and all were same but I still looked bad.. and trust me I was not doing any of my bad faces or crazy face... :) ( i wish i was doing )
Something was off... And when I showed it to my BF.. He came up with an answer in less than 10 seconds..and this is what he replied..(sob sob)
He said babe its your "Not to famous Posture..!!"
And then he corrected the photos and I looked stunning again.. :) :)

Well moment of truth I HAVE A BAD POSTURE..(when I am not paying attention..) But the point is bad posture does have an negative impact on your personality and can dull your sparkle..When I am aware of my surrounding I tend to have a good posture but that just lasts for a very short time.. (ashamed..!!)

I know the answer to all the question is NO..BIG FAT NO....

So what is it that comes in your mind when I say "Good Posture"

Well first thing that comes to my mind is the portray of Audrey Hepburn... Or a Ballerina or a model..
The good posture refers to one when your whole body is in alignment.

Because good posture is a statement in itself..It depicts

  • You are confident.
  • You are Happy.
  • You look attractive.
  • You know you have a head above that pretty little thing and you do know how to use it.
  • A good posture makes you 2 inches taller...its true.. (optical illusion..)
  • Also It helps you go look more FRENCH... and we all know thats awesome.. I read somewhere that FRENCH WOMEN looks attractive because one reason is the figure they make when they are doing most normal chores... ANd its TRUE...!!

So I have decided that I will work on my posture apparently there are lot of exercises in google that one can do..

Please let me know what is your opinion about having a good posture.
Is it overrated ? or not?
How can a LAZY girl improve her posture..(Lazy girl being ME.. :P)
And who comes in your mind when you hear "Good Posture."??
Please let me know your comments.

Get Inspired..!!

Tuesday, 23 April 2013

We all have one thing in common apart from the fact that we are all HUMANS and have same anatomy and physiology.. (See I am flaunting that I have studied Bio.. wink wink.. ) and that common thing we all have are

I can't even think about a person who can say that he/she has no friends..We all have bunch of our goofy friends that holds our hand while doing stupid things.. and those friends who laugh first and then help you get up when you fall on the road (happens to me alot..) Those bunch of crazy who keeps all your secrets as if they are in the custody of police or defence.  They tell things(honestly,even if they are bad) at your face easily Those people who have your back.. those people who can make you smile even when you are down.. those bunch of wierdos who believes in you even when you don't. Those people on whom you can trust blindly and those will never make you fail..
Those people who make wierd faces when your love passes by and later when you fight they listen to you and helps you patch up.. Those people who thinks it is completely sane to go out when its raining (without umbrella) just to get an ice cream.. and then you all fall ill and you have a good laugh about your insanity.
I mean we all have FRIENDS whose doors we can bang at 4 in the morning (and you know they will shout at you but opens the door every time. ) and they will be there. These are the people who are in your emergency contact number.They are your other family. They love you no matter what.. They will never fail you.. and they know you will do the same for them..  I LOVE MY FRIENDS AND I KNOW YOU ALL DO TOO...(same pinch..see we are all same..)

Likewise we have our fashion friends.. YES YES YES... I am talking about those outfits that you know will never fail you.. you know even the bad hair day will not make your fashion best friends go away.
You can rely on them..

Here is my list of best friends..

  • Black structured BLAZER
  • Royal Blue tunic top
  • Blue washed out slim fit jeans.
  • White shirt
  • Chambray shirt
  • Grey cardigan
  • Red dress
  • Black tee
  • Plain white tee
  • Light Blue men's shirt
  • Nude flats
  • Black flats
  • White skinny jeans
  • Sweatshirt with stars all over it

Whenever I am in doubt I wear these and I know I can never go wrong with them.

So tell me who are your FASHION BEST FRIENDS...???
Please let me know what you think about this post.

Get Inspired..!!

Tuesday, 16 April 2013

O is for Olivia Palermo..!!

Olivia Palermo..!!

WHo is she???
An American socialite, model and actress.. And there is no fashion blogger that doesn't know about her.. She is a favorite of photographers and is being featured in many magazines. I personally like her style.. I have collected some of her photos and have categorized them. I hope you will enjoy reading them and might be able to steal couple of ideas from her..

I hope you enjoy it..!!

I hope you liked this post..!!
And you might have stolen couple of ideas from her..!!
Please let me know what you think about the post..!!

Get Inspired..!!

Friday, 12 April 2013

Yes or No..!!

What do you think..?????

Do you have to be living in a Fashion Capital or you have to be in the Fashion Industry to dress up...??

Tell me honestly..Then I will tell you why I asked????

Please let me know what you think about it in the comments..!!
Have a happy saturday and sunday..!!

Get Inspired..!!

Thursday, 11 April 2013

Dirty Little Secrets..!! (Part 1)

I am a Software Engineer for now... and if you ask why?? Let me tell you why..
When I was kid I had so many no correction I still have lots of dreams..:)
So when I was in high school..
I want to see DNA,micro organisms and learn about cloning.. So i studied Biotechnology
Then I when I was studying biotechnology I watched Die hard 4..The one with the Hacking.. SO i thought I want to do that.. So SOftware Engineer..!!
And Now when I am a software engineer I want to do Brand Mangement so I am studying for that..

Please don't judge me for figuring out anything yet..:P

So it may sound strange but God do listen to your dreams..!!

Anyways coming to point...

SO now that I am software engineer I have developed a peculiar quality of my profession... i.e how to find the LEAST EFFORT TAKING PATH (LETP)..??
Its not like we love to do so but because of constraints like time or sleep I do so.. (Wink wink)

SO here my favorites LETP..(see I didn't even have patience to write the whole thing..!!

BEST MAKEUP REMOVER----- VASELINE. Trust me its the best.. I use it everyday. It doesn't make your eyes dry or hurt when you remove and moreover it is so cheap..

BEST CURLING IRON---- YOUR SCRUNCHY/RUBBER BAND. This is what I do... when I am running late and I don't have time to blow dry or style my hair and my cab driver is honking horns and that happens everyday..(hmmm maybe I should wake up early...naaahhhaa...or maybe I should broke Cab driver's watch or horn..:P :) (devil in my head is singing.. )) No No my point..Is when your hair is damp then make a bun or two or three depending on your hair density and rub the serum over the bun..and do all the other makeup or eat something.. and travel like this.. SO by the time you will get ready and when you remove your rubber band you will find yourself with the curls or waves depending on the buns you have made.. I do this all the time.. :) and it saves time and energy too.

BEST MOISTURIZER-- BABY LOTION. makes your skin so soft and smells nice.

BEST WAY TO DO DRY SHAMPOO--- IS TO DO IT IN NIGHT and after that tie your hair.. In morning you will get up with oil free hair.

BEST WAY TO SLEEP--- WASH YOUR FEET WITH WARM WATER BEFORE GETTING IN BED .It has 2 benefits ... your feet remains soft and you sleep well.

I have some more LEAST EFFORT TAKING PATHS...That I will share soon...!!
Till then tell me what do you think about these..!!
Please let me know what do you think about the post..!!

Get Inspired..!!

Wednesday, 10 April 2013

And the Answer is..!!

The Number is 35..!!
Don't be shocked... with 35 pieces I can make outfits that one can wear for 4 to 5 months without repeating any outfit..
Do you want to know the secret???

They say "Necessity is the mother of Invention". I believe it and its true but I like my version of it..
i.e."Necessity is the mother of Invention of New outfits". can't own style or create your own with a closet full of clothes and with all the resources. Just imagine if you have privilege to shop everyday and (...let me sink into the feeling for a moment..
... almost back from my moment.... . I am back.. )

So what I would do is that go to a store and shop for the outfit and trust me that ways I can never build my own style.
Its the adversity that creates "the LEGENDS"...
so with that thought I am going to answer my question. : HOW MUCH DO WE NEED??

  • JEANS :: Black,Blue,White and one colored pair.. (makes it 4)
  • TOPS/BLOUSES: 10 blouses of different colors..(7 colors of rainbow or their variations and one black,grey and white each.. )
  • T-shirts: 4 graphic shirts or 5 t-shirts..
       An average person can keep record of things for a limited period.. so even if you wear t-shirts for                                                     two consecutive weekends and next sunday you wear it in other way nobody will remember..
You doubt me..So answer me "what did you eat last to last sunday? " or what did your colleague wore on 25th of March???
                      I couldn't answer for sure.. so if you can't noone can..until they are John Nash.

  • Pants/Trousers: Khakhi,Black,Blue and one other color (4 in number)
  • Dresses: One LBD, one red/or smoking hot color, 1 white/pastel colored, 2 summer dress and 1 maxi dress

(Well I have only 3 and I am happy with them because I am more into jeans...)

  • Blazer: Classic Black, Tuxedo white blazer, Bright  colored blazer and printed Blazer
  • Cardigans: 2 or 3 basic colored(black/white/grey) and one fun colored.
  • Shirts: 1 white,1 black,1 navy 1 grey and 1 or 2 of your favorite color.
  • Skirt: 4(Pencil skirt, balloon skirt, maxi skirt and one of your favorite design)
  • Scarves: 4.. 1 printed, 1 plain bright colored(i ordered emerald just now. !!) 1 light colored and 1 that goes with everything.
SO by applying simple combination I can say we can have enough clothes..
35 to 40 pieces can make outfits for two months.. :) when mixed and matched properly..

Let me show it mathematically..::
1 pair of jean can be worn with 20 upper wears which includes tops,blouses,shirts minimum.
So that makes outfit for 20 days..
And those 20 outfits can be further paired with 4 Blazers, 4 cardigans and with 1 scarf atleast.
that completes 28 days...

Now you have 4 jeans that makes 4*28=112 outfits. (thats more than 3 months) Okay lets assume 90 outfits.. keeping the fact in mind that everything doesn't go with everything..
But thats where we all make mistake..why can't we buy sensibly and why can't we make it work...!!
Similarly 1 blouse has 4 skirts + 4 jeans+4 trousers to be paired with,that means one blouse can be worn with 12 bottoms atleast.. I am not even included layering...double layering and not even bringing the dresses in the picture..
So 10 blouses can make 120 outfits when only worn with scarves..
Same is the case with all the other garments...
And I agree we can't make everything work but thats where innovation comes in mind..

I will suggest to go through whole wardrobe before going to shopping..

I know what I will be doing this weekend I am going to click pictures of my clothes and start making outfits.

I hope you agree with me.
Please let me know what you think about this post..!!

Get Inspired..!!

Friday, 5 April 2013

What's your NUMBER..!!

Its almost 1 in the morning..and I just came back from work..
And guess what my boss said before leaving.. "Great Job everyone.."
We all were happy to be appreciated but then (dramatic evil music) We will have to work very hard guys for next couple of weeks.. SO any plans for vacations..I was like YEAAHhh.. !! I am on leave..
He asked.."when??"
I said,"Next couple of weeks.. "
He laughed and said you always know how to light up the mood.. butt head, I was not joking..!!!

Trust me I haven't chatted with anyone but my collegues this whole day.. So I need to do all the jibber jabbering..My roommate is sleeping and my bf is out with his friends..
SO i thought to talk to you guys.. :) (you guys are best.. )
First of all Thank you so very much for your ideas and wishes.. And yipppee weekend is here finally..!!

Now...Coming to the post..

I have a question for everyone and for me too..

"HOW MANY CLOTHES/OUTFITS DO WE NEED?" and to be honest I need an actual number..

Lets be honest we all loooooove shopping and I can shop everyday I have key to Uncle Scrooch's money Vault.. but sadly he gave me the key but to wrong vault.. (Aargg)
So the following statement is also a bitter truth..."THAT WE CAN'T BUY EVERYTHING.."... we wish but we can't... (sad music)

And I read somewhere "Clothes doesn't make you an elegant,beautiful and attractive women but it is you who do that.."
I also agree that " You buy clothes don't let them buy you." Very true.. if this was the secnario then we would sit and the showrooms and clothes would pick us up according to their choice.. (I think I have lost my mind with those lost inches of my hair..)

Anyways back to the point.. "I am going thorugh a phase where I am having a feeling that all my clothes have either faded or looks too old all in the same time. Do you have that feeling ever..??
So I am thinking  of buying some items that can replace my existing non functional wardrobe..HENCE the question..HOW MANY OF THE CLOTHES ARE ENOUGH SO THAT EVERY MORNING I DON'T HAVE TO THINK  "ahh got nothing to wear.."
Trust me we all think about this once or twice in whole day.
In the process of transforming my wardrobe,I have some points-

  • Item should be reusable
  • It should be weather independent
  • Can be mixed with 3-4 items that I already have
  • Classic pieces
  • Fun and COlored pieces

.... I am sure I am missing some more.. (Care to help...!!!)

Hence I am asking you how many clothes are enough for us...I need a it in tens or twentys or 100s.. (or infinite...)But GIVE ME YOUR NUMBER...??? so that I can give you mine.. ;)

I am sorry for making it a long post..
Please leave your answer in the comments...!!My number will surprise you.. trust me..
I love to read all your answers and suggestions..!!
Please suggest the pieces also..!!
Please let me know what do you think about the post..!!

Get Inspired..!!

Tuesday, 2 April 2013

Short and Scary..!!

Hey everyone..!!

Hope you guys are good..:)
First of all thanks you so very much for comments and following and I am sorry for not replying to comments..I am super duper busy..:| I promise I will be back in action from weekend..
I just want to share somethings with you and also need some help.. I am having a crazy week.. Its almost midnight and I am still working..Just took a coffee break and started writing .(sorry couldn't post my planned post because I am using my work laptop..)
So this is going to be short and scary..
I am having a bad face week..bad hair week(my hair stupid stylist made my waist length long hair to little bit more than shoulder hair.. super sad.. )...and worst work week...I so desperately want to sleep.
The only thing good about this week is that I got a new bag.. Yippee..
Now the second part of the post...
I need help...
First problem is :: I NEED TO PUT ON WEIGHT..SUGGESTIONS ARE MORE THAN WELCOME.I will try anything (but i can only eat egg no meat.. )
Second problem is:: I NEED TO GROW MY HAIR FAST.. (Stupid ideas are also well entertained..)
Third problem is:: I NEED A NEW BOSS.. SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE HIM A YEAR LONG BREAK..(Jinnie ...This is the time when you grant me 3 wishes..!!)

Well think of the devil and his mail popped.. :| I have to finish some more work and then I could sleep to wake up early.. (aarrrggghhh...super mad..)
Going back to work..

I hope you guys are having fun of my part too..:)

Please help..!!
And My Best Friend WEEKEND..I am waiting for you..!!Come very fast..!!

Get Mad..!!


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FERPA Yearly Notification

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) afford students certain rights with respect to their education records. These rights include:

  1. The right to inspect and review the student's education records within 45 days of the day the University official receives a request for access. Students should submit to the registrar or other appropriate official, written requests that identify the record(s) they wish to inspect. The University official will make arrangements for access and notify the student of the time and place where the records may be inspected. If the records are not maintained by the University official to whom the request was submitted, that official shall advise the student of the correct official to whom the request should be addressed.

  2. The right to request the amendment of the student's education records that the student believes is inaccurate. Students may ask the University to amend a record that they believe is inaccurate. They should write the University official responsible for the record, clearly identify the part of the record they want changed, and specify why it is inaccurate. If the University decides not to amend the record as requested by the student, the University will notify the student of the decision and advise the student of his or her right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to the student when notified of the right to a hearing.

  3. The right to consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in the student's education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent.

Soka University of America will disclose information from a student’s education records only with the written consent of the student, except:

  • To school officials with legitimate educational interests. A school official is a person employed by the College in an administrative, supervisory, academic or research, or support staff position (including law enforcement unit personnel and health staff); a person or company with whom the College has contracted (such as an attorney, auditor, or collection agent); a person serving on the Board of Regents; or a student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee, or assisting another school official in performing his or her tasks. A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibility.

  • In connection with a student’s application for, and receipt of, financial aid.

  • To comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena.

  • To parents of dependent students as defined by the Internal Revenue Code, Section 15.

Soka University of America has designated the following items as Directory Information: student’s name, address, telephone number, major, participation in activities, enrollment status (full- or part-time), degrees, and awards received. The College may disclose any of these items without prior written consent, unless the student has submitted a written request to the Registrar not to release directory information pertaining to him or her. Requests will be processed within 24 hours after receipt.

    4. The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by Soka University of America to comply with the requirements of FERPA. The name and address of the   Office that administers FERPA is:

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
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Questions concerning this law and the University’s procedures regarding release of academic information may be directed to the Office of the Registrar at (949) 480-4045 or nyoshimura@soka.edu

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26 April 2010

old essay from high school

December 2 was the run-off election for Georgia's senate race. That day, after polls closed at 7 PM, I stopped canvassing at 6:58 PM and was able to jump in the car (having to sit on doorhangers) and rush downtown from the suburbs to see Howard Zinn, one of my idols, speak.

Years ago, Zinn cemented my convictions of helping the people, the importance of grassroots, and community with A People’s History of the United States. I could envision no better way to top off long months of community organizing than to see this man speak. My coworkers (fellow organizers from across the nation) agreed with me and we dashed to the swanky Woodruff Arts Centre.

We were the last ten people admitted to the plush theatre for the preview screening of the documentary. My dreams were being realized, in spite of the depressing returning results of the day.

And then these dreams were challenged. Howard Zinn, who I esteemed so much, seemed to look down on the work done by Obama organizers. More than doubting the sincerity and follow-through of the then president-elect (perhaps correctly, it is true), Zinn claimed that the work done by the field team was not true community organizing, as it was too candidate-centered.

Now, I respect Howard Zinn more than I can express. However, having read Alinsky's Rules for Radicals and taking to heart the message of "think globally, act locally" I must disagree with Zinn. The only explanation I can comprehend is that Zinn is not aware of the scope that this particular brand of organizing has had over the nation and its participants. Maybe it is easy to criticize something from the comfort of a theatre with red velvet seating.

Obama's field structure was based on the concept of neighborhood volunteer teams reaching out to their communities. Organizers, under the direction of regional and state field directors, managed turf. They found volunteers and employed the snowflake model, in which everyone is dependent on each other. With things like the Story of Self (reason for personal involvement), Story of Us (community), and Story of Now (call to action), these neighbors become friends who work hard for each other.

I was a part of that. The motto of "respect, empower, include" is flawless. It was used on me by organizers, getting me to become an intern and eventually, after they were taken out of Georgia, help to run the areas they had once run. I could not let down Sonya, who lost her voice so she canvassed instead of making calls, or René, who, after two hip replacements, walked an entire packet by himself each day in the week before the election and on election day. For them, I stayed the extra hours and worked harder. After the session, my organizer friends and I spoke to Zinn. He said he respected how hard we had worked but doubted the program could continue.

Zinn was wrong. My volunteers still care, even after the election of Obama and Jim Martin’s loss. They have gotten involved in county politics, run a book drive for underprivileged kids, and taken me to dinner for my birthday. They have plans to canvass apartments twice a year to keep the lists clean and people informed. With spreadsheets, confirmation calls, and the strength of the bonds they built, I believe in them.

With nights like that night one in December, with all the people sitting around agreeing with Zinn, I can get frustrated. They were thinking about and believing in making the world a better place for everyone. Some of the people, though, would rather sit and discuss and criticize than make some phone calls from a call list with a script, making a start on fixing the life they say is wrong. I used to be one of these people, so I can sympathize to a point. But get up and take a stand. Grab a walk pack and a water bottle and have faith in something. I was apprehensive, too, but it has been more than rewarding for me. “Regular” life is boring and makes me feel guilty. Talking is not quite enough, which is why it is important to think globally, act locally.

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Ohio PUC Rules Against Turning Point Solar Project

Posted by SI Staff on January 15, 2013 No Comments
Categories : Projects & Contracts

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) has voted 3-1 to reject AEP Ohio's plan for the proposed Turning Point Solar project.

Turning Point Solar is a 49.9 MW PV plant that would have been built with cooperation from AEP Ohio and a joint venture of Agile Energy Inc. and New Harvest Ventures. According to the Columbus Dispatch, now that the PUCO has denied AEP Ohio the ability to pay for the project as requested (via ratepayer bills), the project is ‘all but dead.’

Turning Point Solar was initially announced by then-Gov. Ted Strickland in October 2010. It was planned to be constructed on approximately 750 acres of reclaimed land once mined for coal in Noble County, 20 miles southeast of Zanesville, Ohio.

Isofoton, the module provider, built a new factory in Napoleon, Ohio, in order to supply the project.

However, PUCO has now concluded that the utility and project developers did not ‘demonstrate a need’ for Turning Point Solar.

‘This ruling is a slap in the face to clean energy, new jobs and Southeast Ohio,’ says Brian Kaiser, director of green jobs and innovation at the Ohio Environmental Council. ‘This solar project will add hundreds of jobs in a part of the state devastated by decades of economic decline.’

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In the Journals

In the Journals – April 2017

Critical Public Health

On difference and doubt as tools for critical engagement with public health

Catherine M. Will

This paper argues that critical public health should reengage with public health as practice by drawing on versions of Science and Technology Studies (STS) that ‘de-centre the human’ and by seeking alternative forms of critique to work inspired by Foucault. Based on close reading of work by Annemarie Mol, John Law, Vicky Singleton and others, I demonstrate that these authors pursue a conversation with Foucault but suggest new approaches to studying contemporary public health work in different settings. Proposing that we ‘doubt’ both the unity of public health and its effects, I argue that this version of STS opens up a space to recognise multiplicity; to avoid idealising what is being criticised; and to celebrate or care for public health practices as part of critique. Finally I oppose the view that considering technologies, materials and microbes leads to micro-level analysis or political neutrality, and suggest that it allows us to reframe studies of public health to account for inequalities and to draw attention to weak or retreating states, active markets and the entangled relations of humans and non-humans across the world.

Biopolitical precarity in the permeable body: the social lives of people, viruses and their medicines

Elizabeth Mills

This article is based on multi-sited ethnography that traced a dynamic network of actors (activists, policy-makers, health care systems, pharmaceutical companies) and actants (viruses and medicines) that shaped South African women’s access to, and embodiment of, antiretroviral therapies (ARVs). Using actor network theory and post-humanist performativity as conceptual tools, the article explores how bodies become the meeting place for HIV and ARVs, or non-human actants. The findings centre around two linked sets of narratives that draw the focus out from the body to situate the body in relation to South Africa’s shifting biopolitical landscape. The first set of narratives articulate how people perceive the intra-action of HIV and ARVs in their sustained vitality. The second set of narratives articulate the complex embodiment of these actants as a form biopolitical precarity. These narratives flow into each other and do not represent a totalising view of the effects of HIV and ARVs in the lives of the people with whom I worked. The positive effects of ARVs (as unequivocally essential for sustaining life) were implicit and the precarious vitality of the people in this ethnography was fundamental. However, a related and emergent set of struggles become salient during the study that complicate a view of ARVs as a ‘technofix’. These emergent struggles were biopolitical, and they related first to the intra-action of HIV and ARVs ‘within’ the body; and second, to the ‘outside’ socio-economic context in which people’s bodies were situated.

Beyond the person: the construction and transformation of blood as a resource

Rebecca Lynch and Simon Cohn

Many studies of blood donation have looked at the motives of donors, their relationship with the wider society and corresponding values such as gift-giving, altruism and responsibility. These underpin a rhetorical representation of person-to-person donation that neglects the many technical processes that take place between donation and eventual use and the material nature of blood itself. This ethnographic study, conducted in four UK blood donation sites, describes the various practices involved in routine sessions, rather than the motives or values or donors or staff. It focuses on the procedures and equipment that not only ensures blood is collected safely and efficiently, but the extent to which they determine the nature of the collected blood itself. Taking our cue from posthuman approaches, we argue donated blood as something that is ‘made’ only when it leaves the body; in other words, it is not simply extracted, but is constructed through specific practices. We illustrate how, as blood is separated from the body, it is increasingly depersonalised and reconstituted in order to have biomedical value. In this way, rather than reproducing the essentialist claim that blood is what social scientists often described as a ‘special kind of substance’, we point to the ways in which donated blood alters as it moves in time and space. We argue that such transformations occur in both symbolic and material realms, such that the capacity of blood to have both cultural meaning and clinical value is dependent on the fact that it is never stable or singular.

Medical Anthropology

Narrating the Future: Population Aging and the Demographic Imaginary in Thailand

Felicity Aulino

Middle-aged, working- and middle-class people in urban Northern Thailand are using demographic categories to imagine their future identities as ‘senior citizens’. I here introduce the term demographic imaginary to provide a conceptual framework for understanding how characterizations of the population at large are constructed, take hold, and shape group identification. More than simply justification for study and action, demographic categories and prognoses are key components of the social world made visible in narratives at the micro- and macro-social levels. With careful ethnographic attention to the stories people tell and those they refuse, I argue a synchronic future is at play in the present, underscoring the importance of narratives about the future for the lived experience of today

Markets and Molecules: A Pharmaceutical Primer from the South

Dwaipayan Banerjee

The Indian pharmaceutical industry has historically manufactured low-cost drugs for the global poor. Activist mobilizations at the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic revealed a vast cost gap between global brands and Indian generics, much to the embarrassment of Euro-American corporations that were in the habit of pricing drugs for only the wealthy or well insured. As new drug access controversies focus on anticancer therapies, they reveal new flows of international capital, emergent genetic technologies, and increasingly coercive trade regimes. Together these favor multinational corporate oligopolies, which imperil the legacy of HIV/AIDS activism and the future availability of essential life-saving drugs for the work of global public health. In this essay, I describe how the future of the right to drug access rests uneasily, and potentially calamitously, on a shifting balance of power between global south interests and Euro-American pharmaceutical capital.

Neoliberal Optimism: Applying Market Techniques to Global Health

Yuyang Mei

Global health and neoliberalism are becoming increasingly intertwined as organizations utilize markets and profit motives to solve the traditional problems of poverty and population health. I use field work conducted over 14 months in a global health technology company to explore how the promise of neoliberalism re-envisions humanitarian efforts. In this company’s vaccine refrigerator project, staff members expect their investors and their market to allow them to achieve scale and develop accountability to their users in developing countries. However, the translation of neoliberal techniques to the global health sphere falls short of the ideal, as profits are meager and purchasing power remains with donor organizations. The continued optimism in market principles amidst such a non-ideal market reveals the tenacious ideological commitment to neoliberalism in these global health projects.

Pathogenic Policy: Immigrant Policing, Fear, and Parallel Medical Systems in the US South

Nolan Kline

Medical anthropology has a vital role in identifying health-related impacts of policy. In the United States, increasingly harsh immigration policies have formed a multilayered immigrant policing regime comprising state and federal laws and local police practices, the effects of which demand ethnographic attention. In this article, I draw from ethnographic fieldwork in Atlanta, Georgia, to examine the biopolitics of immigrant policing. I underscore how immigrant policing directly impacts undocumented immigrants’ health by producing a type of fear based governance that alters immigrants’ health behaviors and sites for seeking health services. Ethnographic data further point to how immigrant policing sustains a need for an unequal, parallel medical system, reflecting broader social inequalities impacting vulnerable populations. Moreover, by focusing on immigrant policing, I demonstrate the analytical utility in examining the biopolitics of fear, which can reveal individual experiences and structural influents of health-related vulnerability.

“A Body Like a Baby”: Social Self-Care among Older People with Chronic HIV in Mombasa

Josien de Klerk and Eileen Moyer

As part of the chronic disease paradigm now widely used for HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, antiretroviral treatment programs emphasize self-care. In the informal settlements of Mombasa, Kenya, the management of stress—associated with economic precariousness—plays a significant role in self-care practices and ideologies. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, we examine how local narratives of stress and self-care intertwine with social responsibilities of older HIV-positive people. For older Mombassans, living with ‘chronic’ HIV means living with an unpredictable body, which affects how they are able to care for their kin. The physical reality of living with HIV thus shapes relational networks, making self-care a social practice. While, for some self-care entails managing the body so that its needs are hidden from loved ones, a kind of ‘protective secrecy,’ others enlist the support of their children and grandchildren in managing their body, and in that process subtly redefine generational expectations and responsibilities.

Assisted Suicide as a Remedy for Suffering? The End-of-Life Preferences of British “Suicide Tourists”

Naomi Richards

The highly charged debate about the moral status of assisted suicide features regularly in the news media in medically advanced countries. In the United Kingdom, the debate has been dominated in recent years by a new mode of death: assisted suicide in Switzerland, so-called suicide tourism. Drawing on in-depth interviews with people who were actively planning on ‘going to Switzerland,’ alongside participant-observation at a do-it-yourself self-deliverance workshop, I discuss how participants arrived at their decision to seek professionalized assistance. In doing so, I explore the constituent elements of people’s suffering, examining how participants justified, rationalized, or sought authentication from a doctor for their decision to die in light of their own belief systems and aesthetic preferences for a good death.

Sensing the Airs: The Cultural Context for Breathing and Breathlessness in Uruguay

Megan Wainwright

The sensory experience of breathing, particularly the sensation of breathlessness in the case of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), is a rich though understudied topic in medical anthropology. Fieldwork in Uruguay made it clear to me that to study the sensorial experience of breathlessness, I would also have to study the widely shared cultural conceptualizations and practices surrounding air, breath, and health. In this article, I illustrate ethnographically how the experience of breathing and breathlessness is closely tied to perceptions of air outside the body – in particular humidity, temperature change, wind, and contamination. In conceptualizing breath as the mechanism and air the medium for environmental embodiment, I bring together sensorial medical anthropology, anthropology of the body, and the anthropology of wind and climate. My findings, in light of similar findings across contexts, suggest that a body transformed by COPD is hyperperceptive and hypersensitive to changes in air.

Medicine Anthropology Theory (open access)

Lost in translation?: On collaboration between anthropology and epidemiology

Denielle Elliott and Timothy K. Thomas

This rather unorthodox essay is a dialogue between an anthropologist and an epidemiologist, both of whom were involved with a large-scale collaborative ethnographic project exploring medical field studies, or ‘trial communities’, in western Kenya. Reflecting on their involvement with this project, the authors consider the pragmatics of what ‘collaboration’ represents in different disciplines and how it is enacted. The dialogue, which included a follow-up interview after the research was completed, highlights the expectations and tensions in such collaborative projects and offers the epidemiologist an opportunity to highlight the ideas, methods, and possibilities that he perceived as being ‘lost in translation’ between sociocultural anthropology and experimental medicine. We raise critical issues regarding the disjuncture between epidemiological and anthropological practices in research design, methods, epistemology, and collaboration, with the hopes of provoking more discussions regarding best practices in collaborative research projects.

A research alliance: Tracking the politics of HIV-prevention trials in Africa

Kristin Peterson and Morenike Folayan

This article explores a research alliance across fields and continents in the wake of the early and controversial HIV-prevention clinical trials of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Our research set out to understand why three trial arms prematurely closed while another was refused approval from the relevant institutional review board. We conducted ethnographic research on ‘what happened’ at two of the sites. Over time our research strategy cohered around unearthing and exploring rapidly disappearing knowledge. We analyze insider/outsider politics, the power of global public-private partnerships, and the forms of scientific knowledge (located in African countries) that get left behind in the process.

Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine

The wizard behind the curtain: programmers as providers (open access)

Mark A. Graber and Olivia Bailey

It is almost universally accepted that traditional provider-patient relationships should be governed, at least in part, by the ethical principles set forth by Beauchamp and Childress (Beauchamp and Childress, Principles of biomedical ethics, 1979). These principles include autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice (Beauchamp and Childress, Principles of biomedical ethics, 1979). Recently, however, the nature of medial practice has changed. The pervasive presence of computer technology in medicine raises interesting ethical questions. In this paper we argue that some software designers should be considered health care providers and thus be subject the ethical principles incumbent upon “traditional” providers. We argue that these ethical responsibilities should be applied explicitly rather than as a passive, implicit, set of guidelines.

Science, Technology and Society

Humanitarian Innovations and Material Returns: Valuation, Bio-financialisation and Radical Politics

Anna M. Agathangelou

This article critically examines the global humanitarian innovation movement by conjuncting it with the stem cell biotech sector to trace how in the assemblage of matter and code conflicts emerge about notions of suffering, pain, enhancement as well as markets that alter the very material forms of life and economy. In the first section, I look at two things simultaneously: a bio-humanitarian project—the Cypriot search for and DNA identification of the post-war missing—and clinical trials performed by the biotech corporate sector. I trace their respective methods of value and valuation as not only dependent social molecuralised practices but also as translation technologies of kinship, creation of new notions of life and death and governance. In the second section, I take a close look at the emergence of humanitarian and clinical labour as a global assemblage to show how humanitarian organisations and transnational corporations orient themselves towards certain labour assemblages in the search ‘anywhere’ to learn about, borrow and translate technologies supporting the ‘business’ of empire. I finish with broader theoretical implications of the humanitarian work post war and the clinical labour of patients in stem cell therapies.

Biopolitical Excess: Techno-Legal Assemblage of Stem Cell Research in India

Amit Prasad

Stem cell research on cardiac patients at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), which was disclosed through the media in 2005, created a storm. On the one hand, it was celebrated as a ‘global first in pioneering stem cell medicine’. On the other hand, not only the AIIMS study, but, more broadly, stem cell research and therapy in India was criticised for ‘tall claims [and] questionable ethics’. The responses of the policymakers and regulators in India were equally divergent. How are we to understand the contingency and unpredictability of the regulatory regime in India? The answers to this and other related questions are often presented through a regulatory fix—countries such as India need to tighten their regulatory regime. The need for a legally binding regulatory regime is undeniable; nevertheless, a narrow focus on a regulatory fix fails to explain several issues. In this article, I analyse the stem cell research on cardiac patients at AIIMS. Through a focus on epistemic, ethical and juridical assemblage of stem cell research, I highlight the inescapable contingency in the translation between ‘governmental rationality’ and ‘the practice of government’ and show how this reflects biopolitical excess.

Social Science & Medicine

Changing the navigator’s course: How the increasing rationalization of healthcare influences access for undocumented immigrants under the Affordable Care Act

Laura López-Sanders

A number of researchers have shown that brokers (e.g., navigators and street-level bureaucrats) bridge access to healthcare services and information for immigrant patients through rich personal relationships and a mission of ethical care. An open question remains concerning how the increasing rationalization of healthcare over the past few decades influences brokerage for undocumented immigrant patients. Drawing from fieldwork and interviews conducted in California, as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was implemented, I develop the concept of the “double-embedded-liaison.” While other studies treat brokers as acting either as gatekeepers or patient representatives, this study explains how brokers simultaneously operate on multiple planes when new roles are added. I argue that with more formalization and scrutiny at health centers, the impact of brokerage is destabilized and, subsequently, diminished. Two consequences of the double-embedded-liaison brokerage form are: (1) some brokers become disillusioned and exit –resulting in the loss of valuable resources at the health centers, and (2) immigrants move away from the health centers that historically served them. In looking at brokers’ simultaneous performance as gatekeepers and representatives, this research extends brokerage typologies and street-level bureaucracy arguments that largely treat brokerage in a mono-planar rather than in a bi-planar mode. Furthermore, in examining the risks and opportunities brokerage brings to addressing health disparities, the study provides insights into the effects of replacing the ACA or repealing it all together in the Post-Obama era.

Where biomedicalisation and magic meet: Therapeutic innovations of elite sports injury in British professional football and cycling

Alex Faulkner, Michael McNamee, Catherine Coveney, and Jonathan Gabe

Injury is a conspicuous feature of the practice and public spectacle of contemporary elite sports. The paper argues that the ‘biomedicalisation’ thesis (medico-industrial nexus, techno-scientific drivers, medical optimisation, biologisation, the rise of evidence and health surveillance) goes some way to capturing the use in elite sports injury of some highly specialised mainstream therapies and some highly maverick biological therapies, which are described. Nevertheless, these main strands of biomedicalisation do not capture the full range of these phenomena in the contexts of sports medicine and athletes’ practices in accessing innovative, controversial therapies. Drawing on multi-method qualitative research on top-level professional football and cycling in the UK, 2014–2016, we argue that concepts of ‘magic’ and faith-based healing, mediated by notions of networking behaviour and referral systems, furnish a fuller explanation. We touch on the concept of ‘medical pluralism’, concluding that this should be revised in order to take account of belief-based access to innovative bio-therapies amongst elite sportspeople and organisations.

Tinkering toward departure: The limits of improvisation in rural Ethiopian biomedical practices

Stephanie Rieder

This paper explores Ethiopian physicians’ responses to tensions produced by gaps between ideals of biomedicine and realities of clinical practice in two rural Ethiopian hospitals. Physicians engage in creativity and improvisation, including relying on informal networks and practices and tinkering within diagnoses and procedures, to overcome constraints of lack of resources and limited opportunities to engage in “good medicine.” These courageous, but often unsuccessful attempts to mitigate professional and personal conflicts within their medical practices represent improvisation in impossible circumstances. This paper results from ethnographic research conducted in 2013–2014 and includes participant observations and qualitative interviews in two hospitals within the same community. The inherent conflicts among globalized standards, unpredictable transnational medical networks, and innovative practices produce tenuous clinical spaces and practices that rely on a mosaic of techniques and ad hoc connections. Tinkering and improvisation often fail to mediate these conflicts, contributing to physician disenchantment and departure from the community.

Water insecurity in a syndemic context: Understanding the psycho-emotional stress of water insecurity in Lesotho, Africa

Cassandra L. Workman and Heather Ureksoyb

Syndemics occur when populations experience synergistic and multiplicative effects of co-occurring epidemics. Proponents of syndemic theory highlight the importance of understanding the social context in which diseases spread and cogently argue that there are biocultural effects of external stresses such as food insecurity and water insecurity. Thus, a holistic understanding of disease or social vulnerability must incorporate an examination of the emotional and social effects of these phenomena. This paper is a response to the call for a renewed focus on measuring the psycho-emotional and psychosocial effects of food insecurity and water insecurity. Using a mixed-method approach of qualitative interviews and quantitative assessment, including a household demographic, illness, and water insecurity scale, the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale, and the Hopkins Symptoms Checklist-25, this research explored the psycho-emotional effects of water insecurity, food insecurity, and household illness on women and men residing in three low-land districts in Lesotho (n = 75). Conducted between February and November of 2011, this exploratory study first examined the complicated interaction of water insecurity, food insecurity and illness to understand and quantify the relationship between these co-occurring stresses in the context of HIV/AIDS. Second, it sought to separate the role of water insecurity in predicting psycho-emotional stress from other factors, such as food insecurity and household illness. When asked directly about water, qualitative research revealed water availability, access, usage amount, and perceived water cleanliness as important dimensions of water insecurity, creating stress in respondents’ daily lives. Qualitative and quantitative data show that water insecurity, food insecurity and changing household demographics, likely resulting from the HIV/AIDS epidemic, are all associated with increased anxiety and depression, and support the conclusion that water insecurity is a critical syndemic dimension in Lesotho. Together, these data provide compelling evidence of the psycho-emotional burden of water insecurity.

Feeding premature neonates: Kinship and species in translational neonatology

Mie S. Dam, Sandra M. Juhl, Per T. Sangild, and Mette N. Svendsen

Kinship, understood as biogenetic proximity, between a chosen animal model and a human patient counterpart, is considered essential to the process of ‘translating’ research from the experimental animal laboratory to the human clinic. In the Danish research centre, NEOMUNE, premature piglets are fed a novel milk diet (bovine colostrum) to model the effects of this new diet in premature infants. Our ethnographic fieldwork in an experimental pig laboratory and a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in 2013–2014 shows that regardless of biogenetics, daily practices of feeding, housing, and clinical care hold the potential for stimulating and eroding kinship relations between human and nonhuman actors. In the laboratory, piglets and researchers form ‘interspecies-milk-kinships’ that entail the intimate care crucial to keeping the compromised piglets alive during the experiments, thereby enhancing what the researchers refer to as the ‘translatability’ of the results. In the NICU, parents of premature infants likewise imagine a kind of interspecies kinship when presented with the option to supplement mother’s own milk with bovine colostrum for the first weeks after birth. However, in this setting the NICU parents may perceive the animality of bovine colostrum, and the background information obtained in piglets, as a threat to the infants’ connection to their biological parents as well as the larger human collective. Our study argues that the ‘species flexibility’ of premature beings profoundly shapes the translational processes in the field of neonatology research.

Social Studies of Science

Controlling new knowledge: Genomic science, governance and the politics of bioinformatics

Brian Salter and Charlotte Salter

The rise of bioinformatics is a direct response to the political difficulties faced by genomics in its quest to be a new biomedical innovation, and the value of bioinformatics lies in its role as the bridge between the promise of genomics and its realization in the form of health benefits. Western scientific elites are able to use their close relationship with the state to control and facilitate the emergence of new domains compatible with the existing distribution of epistemic power – all within the embrace of public trust. The incorporation of bioinformatics as the saviour of genomics had to be integrated with the operation of two key aspects of governance in this field: the definition and ownership of the new knowledge. This was achieved mainly by the development of common standards and by the promotion of the values of communality, open access and the public ownership of data to legitimize and maintain the governance power of publicly funded genomic science. Opposition from industry advocating the private ownership of knowledge has been largely neutered through the institutions supporting the science-state concordat. However, in order for translation into health benefits to occur and public trust to be assured, genomic and clinical data have to be integrated and knowledge ownership agreed upon across the separate and distinct governance territories of scientist, clinical medicine and society. Tensions abound as science seeks ways of maintaining its control of knowledge production through the negotiation of new forms of governance with the institutions and values of clinicians and patients.

Clinical prediction and the idea of a population

David Armstrong

Using an analysis of the British Medical Journal over the past 170 years, this article describes how changes in the idea of a population have informed new technologies of medical prediction. These approaches have largely replaced older ideas of clinical prognosis based on understanding the natural histories of the underlying pathologies. The 19th-century idea of a population, which provided a denominator for medical events such as births and deaths, was constrained in its predictive power by its method of enumerating individual bodies. During the 20th century, populations were increasingly constructed through inferential techniques based on patient groups and samples seen to possess variable characteristics. The emergence of these new virtual populations created the conditions for the emergence of predictive algorithms that are used to foretell our medical futures.

Transcultural Psychiatry

Mass fainting in garment factories in Cambodia

Maurice Eisenbruch

This paper reports an ethnographic study of mass fainting among garment factory workers in Cambodia. Research was undertaken in 2010–2015 in 48 factories in Phnom Penh and 8 provinces. Data were collected in Khmer using nonprobability sampling. In participant observation with monks, factory managers, health workers, and affected women, cultural understandings were explored. One or more episodes of mass fainting occurred at 34 factories, of which 9 were triggered by spirit possession. Informants viewed the causes in the domains of ill-health/toxins and supernatural activities. These included “haunting” ghosts at factory sites in the wake of Khmer Rouge atrocities or recent fatal accidents and retaliating guardian spirits at sites violated by foreign owners. Prefigurative dreams, industrial accidents, or possession of a coworker heralded the episodes. Workers witnessing a coworker fainting felt afraid and fainted. When taken to clinics, some showed signs of continued spirit influence. Afterwards, monks performed ritual ceremonies to appease spirits, extinguish bonds with ghosts, and prevent recurrence. Decoded through its cultural motifs of fear and protest, contagion, forebodings, the bloody Khmer Rouge legacy, and trespass, mass fainting in Cambodia becomes less enigmatic.

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Wednesday, November 30, 2016

2.1672 : 11/30/09 : How Long

Head's in a press and feel
coated with something
a stink I picked up yesterday
while I was busy doing nothing
one night on the rack
left me bent over and aching
and the hell of it's the treatment
didn't even bring me close to breaking
how long? And King David asked how long?
this far in the only certainty
I feel is what I think's the answer's wrong
make haste to pick something
make haste to get it right
I've been so careful not to waste
I cannot get to sleep at night
the millstone's heavy but it rolls okay
it'll take far more for me to snap
and I may look ridiculous
but I'm a very busy sap

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Monday, November 30, 2015

DJ Pad releases new LP 'Welcome Aboard'

The French DJ known around the world as DJ Pad has published his new full-length album, “Welcome Aboard.” Like Pad's previous releases, “Welcome Aboard” has been published independently on the 4000 Records label without the support of the corporate music industry. Also like earlier records from DJ Pad, “Welcome Aboard” boasts no fewer than 20 original titles for a grand total of over 100 minutes' worth of digital music, nearly three times the amount which denotes a full-length LP album.

A spectacularly creative EDM record with elements of house, deep house, post-trance, jungle, gabber, old-school techno and even a dash of rock 'n' roll, “Welcome Aboard” is perhaps the most inclusive and impressive album from Pad yet.

Since his first appearance on the global digital music stage in spring of 2014, DJ Pad has gained a reputation for being the most prolific composer of EDM currently producing music in France (perhaps in Europe overall and conceivably even across the entire world). With a rapidly growing repertoire that will almost certainly consist of more than 700 original songs by summer of 2016, “Welcome Aboard” is another milestone which proves that DJ Pad can create high-quality music at a rate far surpassing that of any other internationally known digital musician.

DJ Pad's albums change radically from one to the next, each having its own character and intended subgenre of electronic music. Pad has at one time or another cited as main musical inspirations such artists as ATB, Tiesto, Armin van Buren, Afrojack, Sebastian, Swedish House Mafia, Infected Mushrooms, Psycraft, Hallucinogen, Cosmic Gate, Atomic Cat, Angerfist, Hanz Zimmer, Mike Oldfield, and a great many more. He has been crafting his iconic brand of EDM since 2008 and shows no sign of slowing his remarkable creative pace.

The ability to write music across many categories is a rare talent. For DJ Pad, his musical skill extends even beyond digital music altogether, and in fact his creative roots are in traditional playing. He is an accomplished accordionist with nearly 20 years' experience.

A man of few words, DJ Pad has been quoted as saying he makes music to “share the craziness and the happiness of the songs’ beats, making listeners have a sudden urge to move their feet and forget all the worries of life.”

With more than 50 hours of music by DJ Pad since he began making digital music, the sonic world wouldn't be the same without him.

“Welcome Aboard” by DJ Pad is available online worldwide from 4000 Records. Go get a taste.

-S. McCauley
Lead Press Release Writer

Welcome Aboard” by DJ Pad –

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Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Sea Wolf - Winter Windows

I took a step back the other day and sort of looked at my life from the outside in and I made a startling realization. I listen to a lot of music that features the accordion. It's pretty crazy how this instrument, which was the most ludicrous thing in the world to me as I grew up, has become as commonplace as a tambourine on stage and on record these days. It's definitely present in this new Sea Wolf song. In fact it almost is the song, taking the reins early on and gently fading towards the middle, only to reclaim its throne towards the end. Only time will tell if musical afficianados of the future will look back on these accordion tinged times with a smile or if the accordion will be this era's key-tar.

Sea Wolf - Winter Windows

Check Sea Wolf out on tour with Nada Surf this fall (no austin dates as of yet)

Listen to their Daytrotter session here.

Buy Sea Wolf's new album Leaves in the River here

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Friday, January 4, 2008

Low Line Caller @ Stubbs tonight

If you don't have any other plans on this blustery Friday evening, may I suggest some live music? A good option this evening would be the Low Line Caller show at Stubbs (indoor stage). If you haven't had the privilege of seeing this Austin based 6 piece yet I would definitely suggest that you right that wrong and check out the show tonight. I'm a sucker for a good rhythm section and you get plenty of that here (two drummers and it doesn't sound unnecessary at all, which is saying something). Doors are at 9pm, Tickets are $8 and Doug Burr and Flat People open the whole thing up.

Low Line Caller @ Stubbs (indoors 9pm) w/ Doug Burr and Flat People.

Low Line Caller - Carry Out Kids (featuring Mark Ferrino of Black Before Red)

Head over to Covert Curiosity to read up a bit more on the bands playing tonight.

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Home / iPad

Squeezing the Most Battery Life Out of the iPad and iPhone

Battery life is the bane of portable electronic devices, and though both the iPad and the iPhone score pretty well in this area, you'll want to make sure that your network's users get as much battery life as possible. This means conditioning the battery at the start of the device's life and teaching the users to treat the battery in a friendly way. It may also mean replacing the battery once it reaches the end of its life span.

Conditioning the Battery

To get the best performance out of a lithium-polymer battery such as those used in the iPad and iPhone, give it three soup-to-nuts charges and discharges at the beginning of its life:

  • Charge the battery all the way up to 100 percent Use the USB Power Adapter-it's quicker than a USB cable plugged into your computer, and it doesn't go to sleep.
  • Run the battery all the way down until the iPad or iPhone shuts itself down The easiest way to do this is to crank up the screen brightness to full and set a marathon playlist of videos running.
  • Repeat the process twice Plug the iPad or iPhone back into the USB Power Adapter; then lather, rinse, and repeat.

This conditioning technique is simple enough to describe, but it's a pain to do in real life, as it takes the best part of three days-for example, ten hours of playback, five hours of charging, plus whatever overhead you need for mundane self-admin such as sleeping and eating. Given that most users will want to use the iPad or iPhone immediately for work or play, you can bet your bottom dollar almost none will perform the conditioning properly.

That means that if you want the battery properly conditioned, you'll need to do it in your workshop or lab during initial setup before providing the iPads or iPhones to the users.

Charging the Battery the Best Way

Once you've performed the initial conditioning, the battery is ready for normal charging. Unless you retain a scary amount of control over your network's users, you'll need to leave normal charging up to them.

Compared to less evolved battery technologies (hello, nickel-cadmium-and goodbye!) lithium-polymer batteries give great performance and are pretty forgiving. For example, the iPad's battery is supposed to retain 80 percent of its battery life after 1000 charge cycles. So if you start off with ten hours of battery life, run the battery down every day, and charge it up all the way overnight, you should still get around eight hours of battery life after three years.

Each time you charge the battery up all the way and run it down all the way, that's one complete charge cycle. If you use just part of the battery, and then charge it up again, that's part of a charge cycle. With lithium-polymer batteries, you don't have to worry about the "memory effect," in which discharging the battery only partially before recharging it could reset the battery's Empty threshold to the point at which you stopped discharging it (for example, resetting the Empty threshold to the 50 percent level would severely reduce the battery life).

Nor do you need to worry about overcharging lithium-polymer batteries: They charge rapidly up to around the 80 percent level, then more slowly for the remaining 20 percent. When full, they stop charging, even if you leave them plugged in.

So-no problems there. What can reduce the battery life is when the battery doesn't get a charge in a month or more. This tends not to be a problem, as most users love their iPads and iPhones enough to plug them in every day without chastisement. But you may run into degraded batteries on the occasional sad iPad that spends months untouched in the drawer of an executive's desk and then is expected to perform for the whole of a trans-world flight.

CAUTION Excessive heat will degrade an iPad's or iPhone's battery far more than leaving the device uncharged for many weeks. Make sure users know not to leave their iPads or iPhones in the sun on a windowsill or in a car-or, worse, in a car trunk or glove compartment. Generally speaking, any ambient temperature that'll cause a human to suffer will give the iPad's or iPhone's battery grief too.

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Oct 7, 2016

Five Gifts Students Need to Enter Adulthood

Superintendent's Slant

I am sharing a blog article from Tim Elmore that I normally read. He writes about growing leaders. That is a topic we work on constantly at SCS. This article was about students entering college and what they need, but is relevant to all children and was too good to not share. Enjoy!

Five Gifts Students Need to Enter Adulthood

1. Empathy–“I understand you.”

“Being heard is so close to being loved that for most students, it is indistinguishable,” says author David Augsberger. I have found I can say almost anything, even share some constructive criticism if my students believe they’re understood. When they feel our empathy, students have the hope it takes to meet challenges. I am convinced students do not have the innate need to get their own way. They do have the innate need to be heard. In fact, I believe peoples’ top need is the need to be understood.

2. Incentives–“I believe in you.”

Students perform better when our messaging stems from our belief in them. One survey reported that effort increases by at least 40 percent, and in some cases up to 300 percent, when our feedback (even hard feedback) comes from a platform of belief in their ability to execute our direction. We actually incentivize them with our confidence; I have seen simple words of hope cultivate ambition in students when there was none. Sometimes our confidence can translate into their self-confidence.

3. Standards–“I expect the best from you.”

Leaders must be both responsive and demanding. Responsive means we communicate our acceptance of their value. Demanding means we so believe in them that we refuse to dilute a standard because it's hard. We must callout the best in the. While they may not appreciate it in the moment, it sends the clear message that we really mean it when we say we believe in them. It relays we believe they have it in them to succeed at a goal. Expectations have so much to do with achievement.

4. Accountability–“I won’t settle for less than our agreement.”

We all do better when we’re watched. It was true in practice when I was a student athlete; and it’s true in life. Accountability means someone next to us, even in authority over us watches and cares how we do. It is a consistent reminder of our standards. In fact, if we don’t offer this gift, the previous two are diluted. How does “I believe in you” matter if we don’t actually follow through with accountability? Holding students accountable is empowering to them over the long haul.

5. Celebration–“I will praise effort, regardless of the result.”

Students need to be recognized for effort that is in their control and can be repeated. While we want to equip students to achieve results, often the outcome is out of their control. That makes it a slippery object to hold on to, since so many other factors determine the product. Students need adults to celebrate “wins” in their life and to recognize both habits and attitudes that lead to success. I firmly believe that what gets rewarded gets repeated. Let’s affirm the right behaviors.

Remember—we must go first. We teach what we know, but we reproduce what we are. If students are going to become healthy adults, we must be one ourselves first. I’ve said it before, let’s be the person we needed when we were young.


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Tuesday, May 25, 2010

More vintage TV Guide clippings from my collection. Someone at ABC really liked that one Dirk Benedict publicity still, didn't they? "Boltar?"

Friday, May 21, 2010

Coming Attractions: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980) Theatrical Trailer

Thirty(!) years ago today, the first (and still the best) Star Wars sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, was released to theaters. I vividly remember standing in line at the long gone and forgotten, one-screen movie theater at the Turnpike Mall in Augusta, Maine (same screen where I saw Star Trek- The Motion Picture and Moonraker), wearing a bright orange T-shirt with an image of Darth Vader holding his lightsaber on the front.
I was fifteen.

A long time ago and far, far away, indeed.....

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Space Babe: Wanda Ventham

Gorgeous Wanda Ventham as the no-nonsense Colonel Virginia Lake on Gerry Anderson's UFO. In the second production block for the series, actor George Sewell didn't return to reprise his role as Colonel Alec Freeman for some reason, so the producers brought back the statuesque, blonde Ventham, who had appeared briefly in the pilot, to take his place as Commander Straker's No. 2 at SHADO.

Lake was a very strong character, a tough and tough-minded officer who also happened to be a very sexy woman. She was competent, commanding and able to hold her own on screen with Ed Bishop's Straker - not an easy task.

Ventham has had a long and prolific career on British television as a popular guest artist and as a regular on numerous series. Among those appearances were roles in three Doctor Who stories.


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Ganglion Excision Treatment

Posted On Monday, May 9th, 2016 By Sam

Whiplash will be the name presented to an injury usually on the neck. It normally occurs when you are driving an auto either at low speed or stationary at a junction. Someone travelling behind you doesn’t stop in time and collides with a back corner of auto which forces your body to advance as the car seat moves forward. However, as your neck isn’t touching automobile seat because of the rapid acceleration it stays in its position until it connects with the headrest. Therefore, it is initially stretched backwards whilst the is actually going forwards. The accident occurred in the intersection of Old Moultrie and Hastings Roads early Friday morning when Callahan, age 30, was on his technique work on his kid scooter. Callahan was struck by a van allegedly driven by 43 year-old Mark Lily of St. Augustine, who owns a DUI and domestic violence record. You can find ample left the scene, leaving Callahan bleeding on along side it of the fishing line with his mangled motor scooter, but after St. Johns County Deputies released photos during a surveillance camera of a dark-colored Ford Aerostar van and noted that physiotherapy clinic might have front-end damage, a citizen’s tip […]

Explaining Zombies To A Child

Posted On Monday, May 9th, 2016 By Eric

Stay informed, stay alive: If you spot a zombie in your neighborhood, contact your Denver Zombie Examiner absent. Avoid local law enforcement and city authorities, as he will require the threat seriously.Some single parents love a great movie marathon fright night, as if some of our nightmare scenarios are yet to provided enough adrenalized fear. Others are hardcore English movie “Pride and Prejudice” fans. If you tend towards horror, turn off solar lights. Click on the DVD and sit tight. Here’s here are the the Chicago Tribune’s top 25 pics for scary flicks (that I’d never show my kids). The links below take you due to their original movie trailers to view.This game does not include a storyline but is more arcade-based. In the menu to be able to to choose your mission. Are generally three basic many associated with missions such as tutorial missions, missions with waves which you have to address and timed missions in which you to help collect and also also eliminate zombies. After completing the most missions, you will unlock EX missions tend to be for the expert shooter.Below is my secrets the haunted houses and attractions in Central and North Central Ohio. All attractions […]


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Regular Guy

Written by Sarah Weeks
Illustrated by Michael Kodsch

Reviewed by Thea G. (age 11)

In this story, Guy, the main character, has abnormal parents. They are way different from him, and he is convinced that he was switched at birth with a classmate whose parents seem more normal like Guy. Guy and his friend are curious so they do everything they can to find out whose parent is Guy?s parent. You will never guess what happens at the end.

I thought this book was funny and very entertaining. I loved it because the characters were hysterical and so were their actions. They made the story light up. My favorite part in the story is when Guy?s parents were throwing a party and Guy invited Bob-o (The person who he thinks got switched with him) and Bob-o had his finger up his nose and Guy said ?DON?T PICK YOUR NOSE IN MY ROOM,? and then Bob-o slowly removed his finger. This book made me think I was in it. It made me laugh in some parts or it just kept me wanting to know what will happen next. My favorite character was Bob-o because of the way he acted.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes funny and exciting books because this book is great and hysterical. A reader who would like this book is one that is into funny, gross, happy, and entertaining books. The characters are what will interest you, because they are not like the other ones that you have read in books. These are like real people who love to have fun in their lives.

Thea G. is a student in Ms. Key's 6th Grade Class


text:
this one's for Iamnot

I was tagged by iamnot to do the 8 random things about me meme. I have been tagged with this meme twice already, but because i have a minor (and completely non-threating) blog crush on iamnot, i cannot refuse his tag. However i will answer this tag in photographs as a nod to his own rather impressive skill behind the lens. so with no further ado:

#1: my new favorite cocktail: the hypnotiq martini. hypnotiq is a blue liqueur made of cognac, vodka and some kind of fruit juice. then i add coconut rum and orange-pineapple juice, a squeeze of lemon or lime, shake with crushed ice and strain. blue monkey optional.

#2: i am heart-broken and hardly able to work or write because i may have to send Trout, my sweet nut-brown hound, to the country to live on a farm. If i hadn't come back to the city this wouldnt be happening. regret is my co-pilot.

#3: number 7 on Iamnot's list was his problem with "completion". grrrherhaha. let's see if he can top this: i have a studio full of incomplete paintings. Here are just three examples:

this one's stuck at the background noise stage

this one, a painting of Luke, is stalled out for no good reason.

this one has been like this for almost 6 months.

#4: i was recently annoyed by the news story about how Cecilia Munoz, the spokeswoman for "La Raza", plans to start a campaign to register and mobilize voters and to address "hate" messages spewed by conservative talk shows.
"That had an extraordinary impact in and as a nation, I don't think we should be comfortable with the fact that the U.S. Senate responded to what was largely a wave of hate."

this is the level of political discourse in the USA now. Citizens decide they want to enforce immigration laws and that makes them racists. Irony alert: a short photo essay on "La Raza" which means "The Race" whose motto is : "Por la raza todo: "For the Race, Everything"

Grrrherhahaha! Instruction on "hate waves" provided by EXPERTS!

#5: favorite TV star:

Little Yellow Jacket

#6: This is a recent editorial illustration i did about "hiccups" starring Mr. She:

#7 i love thunderstoms and scary weather and love to be out in it. this is what the sky over Atlanta looked like last night:

#8:for some inexplicable reason my friend has tickets to Marilyn Manson and Slayer for saturday. predictably, no one wanted to go with her. But i agreed to go because of the potential for a fun photo blog for next week. Stay tuned.

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Blogger iamnot said...

You're awsome.... What a great post.
Are you sure that's Mr. She and not David Byrne doing the big dance?

11:32 AM
Blogger /t. said...

blue monkey
just caps it :)

i hope you will finish your paintings -- the birds(!)

12:36 PM
Blogger Aunty Belle said...

Baby She-Pup, Aunty likes yore "stalled Luke " an' thinks that is good enough...jes/ name it stalled and be done.

MR. SHE???? Hah hahahahahahaha--very good one.

That sky were frightenin' enough, doan need no Slayer concert,

1:37 PM
Blogger Anonymous Boxer said...

Hi - I am one of iamont's victims too, which I'll be posting tomorrow. VERY CLEVER with the pictures.

And, I hope you get to keep your dog.

1:53 PM
Blogger puerileuwaite said...

This land is your land, this land is are(?) land ...

5:37 PM
Blogger X. Dell said...

I take it that Mr. She gets the hiccups often?

6:10 PM
Blogger Infinitesimal said...

marilyn manson and slayer??

good luck to yee.

I was TOTALLY thinking

"hic hic hic hic" in my mind as i viewed the erditorial, and then saw on the borders that you had written it too!

by the way i posted something kind of not so cheery related to racism on my blog.

those signs are scary.
what does
"This land is ARE land mean?"

Is it just a simple case for pocket Ardlair?

6:21 PM
Blogger Infinitesimal said...

yeah, I am with belle....

give him some silver feathers (metallic paint pen)

and outline the horns and head with black and then gold (for the horns at least) paint pen and call it a done deal!

I think it is done too.

Maybe that's what Luke is trying to tell you!!

It's a cool Luke, this time, not a red one.

6:23 PM
Blogger Enemy of the Republic said...

I especially like the pictures, She. But it is sad how our country is just going to hell.

6:32 PM
Blogger she said...

iamnot: thank you! i hope your morning starts with an excellent call. yes he DOES look just like david byrne! and the moves too...."stop making sense" but mr she is much handsomer than DB.

/t: grrrherha! i have lots of drink decorations including the classic mermaids, red devils, and pink elephants. and the birds i will finish by end of september. have. to.

auntybelle: thanks. thats a very big piece so i couldnt fit it all in the photo...theres all these radio towers and AWAC's in the picture i havent resolved how to indicate receiving and transmitting in a satisfying way yet. what? you arent dying to see my photos from the slayer concert? grrerhhaha. i think it might be very fertile ground.

anonymous boxer: im glad you stopped by. ive been following your journey both the interior and physcial one, but couldnt leave a note to let you know. its very poignant. thanks for stopping by! and thanks, for the well wishes on trout. we are going to discuss it at length this weekend. i think the solution is to get another dog to keep trout entertained.

puerileuwaite: grrherhaha! i know! i know! its so cute isn't it? least they got the AK right.

xdell: i dont think ive ever seen him with hiccups. that was an illustration for a medical magazine on hiccup cures. i just used mr she as a model. i did a piece on gangsters once too and it featured him.

vanille: should i be scared? should i wear my goats eyes contacts? ive been looking at "street fashion" blogs lately from all over the world and have gotten fascinated by expression through clothing. this will be like the satanic harajuku metal scene. grrherhaha. pocket ardlair! ha! oh no. you dont like your red luke? er, i will make you a black one then. silver huh? hmmm

enemy: you know, i like latin american culture and latinos in general. what makes me crazy is that there are people all over the world who would like to come here. its not right that just because you can walk over the border you get to stay. ive written about this many many times but there are people being persecuted for their faith and/or their ethnicity in other parts of the world with a greater need for asylum than just economics.

good to see everyone! grr

5:33 AM
Blogger Aunty Belle said...

Street fashion? "Brailing the culture" is ya'? (Faith Popcorn)

Don't fergit ter consult your copy of Pattern Recognition afore ya' go out the door Saturday night.

P.S. What is the update on Trout's fate?

8:33 AM
Blogger ArtfulSub said...

Superlative post. Especially concerning La Raza. This week the theme for my MUTE MONDAYS meme was designed JUST FOR YOU, sweetie!

The theme is DOG DAYS!

You must enter it.

9:11 AM
Blogger Aunty Belle said...

( I did not make this up)

"Why does this seemingly crazy stuff always start in Southern California? OK, here we go, so apparently a group of lazy Southern Californians were jealous that their dogs were getting less exercise than they were so they started tying the dogs to off road motorless scooters and calling themselves “urban mushers.” OK, I have to admit it looks like fun. It may even be the answer to the oil crisis. Yeah, lets put all our pets to work. Lazy bastards, they’ve had a free ride long enough. Image everyone commuting to work, being pulled by dogs. Workplaces setting up kennels to “recharge” your dog team, children pulled by hamsters and gerbils, an endless supply of organic green energy."

10:58 AM
Blogger Bird said...

the blue monkey CANNOT be optional - i see it as required - absolutely!

love the atlanta sky.

and i am eagerly awaiting a photo essay on marilyn manson and slayer. i fear i am behind the times - i know about mm, but not slayer.

(and yes - finish those birds!! whatever are you thinking to neglect them so?)

(do drop by for a visit at my roost - new post up.)

3:22 PM
Blogger Little Lamb said...

I like thunderstorms too. Good napping weather.

6:10 PM
Blogger Infinitesimal said...

nooooooo no no nooooo

I love red luke, but red is a warm luke and blue is a cool luke... you know?

oh my gosh!!

Psychic link

you are so super gonna love what I am sending you.... just you wait!!

ho ho hee hee, i am so excited!
will try to post tomorrow.

8:43 PM
Blogger boneman said...

I've enough Indian blood to tell the Mexicans to go back to Spain!

'Course, if we follow that idea to its logical (?) end, the animals here would have us all crawl back into the ocean!

5:35 PM
Blogger foam said...

i'm really sorry to hear about trout.
i have no idea what your living situation is in the big shtinky. ideally you would have a fenced yard. maybe you should take up jogging and jog for miles and miles with your beloved trout. i'd be heartbroken if i had to part with any of my pets.

i love those paintings. it would be fun to see your studio one of these days.

5:20 AM
Blogger Aunty Belle said...

Invitation alert:

Next Blog Summit in Hot-lanta at the She-pup studio--yea!!

Okay--git on outa that bed, She-Dawgy Freya and let us'uns know that MM and Slayer did not suck out all yore blood. Aunty ain't happy 'bout yore saturday night entertainment...

6:13 AM
Blogger kate said...

such a fun post.

you will have to make that drink for me... I cant even keep up with the number of ingredients in it... and do it by the batch not the glass, as by the 2nd or 3rd theres no telling what the concotion will be like! lol

Love the 3rd unfinished painting. They are all lovely, but that one... the bird... its just wonderful!

Hiccup is too funny and Mr. She looks like that Mr Bean character (the British comic...)I love him! lol

Why do you need to send the pooch to the country and what city are you is... I am so out of the loop! When are you coming back to FL?

Funny, but I too look at things as being good blogging topics/photos! I even carry my camera around in my purse... just in case! lol You'll have a blast at the concert! Its an adventure!

5:14 PM
Blogger she said...

yay aunty street fashion. but you are BANNED during the MM post. grrhera

artfulsub: im IN

aunty i make trout pull me around the neighborhood on my bike already and shes STILL not tired!

bird: i need to find some bird drink ornaments for your house warmin'

7:58 PM
Blogger she said...

lamby: no no i cant sleep thru it i like to stand outside in it holding a gold club standing in a baby pool. grrrherha good to see ya lamb!

oh vanille: what did you DO? i cant wait

boney: thats so right? where to start and end? i didnt do anything to the indians!

foam: i want to write to you about trout. we have a fence, and a fence on top of that fence, and an electric fence. but theres more...however i may dig in hard and refuse to budge. i agree with you. once you save a life, you are responsible for that life.

aunty: that would be fun!

kate: i was hoping you'd stop by. yes that is what i will make you when i next come to CenFla. thanks for your sweet comments on the paintings and i WILL finish the bird painting. i will.

8:05 PM
Blogger she said...

er, lamby, that'd be
"golf club". damn i cant type

8:06 PM

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text:
New Chip Brings Military Security to Commercial Processors

CPU Tech's Acalis chip offers defense muscle to commercial vendors

16 April 2009—Last week, a spot check of electric grid systems revealed that hackers had infiltrated the U.S. electric grid. The government inspections, motivated by a 2007 Idaho National Laboratory demonstration of the vulnerabilities of the U.S. grid, revealed more than the inspectors had bargained for: The invaders had left behind potentially disruptive malware. A former U.S. official told the Associated Press that the culprit was ”almost without a doubt” state sponsored, and a follow-up listed Russia and China as suspects (although the Chinese government emphatically denied the charge this week). The increasing threat from better-financed hackers, the growing need to build security into a chip at the start of the chip-design process (rather than as an afterthought), and the blurring line between military and civilian targets have been at the center of many U.S. Department of Defense concerns. The mounting hysteria has led the government to pour millions into the problem, and on 1 April, Congress introduced a bill that would let the president declare a ”cybersecurity emergency,” shutting down Web traffic to compromised infrastructure such as the power grid.

But the answer could be found in something decidedly less grandiose: Last month, Pleasanton, Calif.–based CPU Tech introduced into the commercial market a secure processor that had previously been available only for military systems. The Acalis CPU872 is the first microprocessor born of new methods the Pentagon learned from its hunt for secret kill switches in the commercial chips the agency buys. But beyond just defense contractors, CPU Tech is targeting commercial users of PowerPC processors at big firms and agencies including those responsible for securing public infrastructure, such as electric power generators and subway systems.

CPU Tech vice president Pat Hays says the Acalis CPU872 has three features that other secure processors don’t: First, instead of being integrated on the same board with the processor or functioning as a coprocessor like a graphics-processing unit, the Acalis puts the security muscle in the same chip with the processor. Second, each chip is manufactured at a trusted foundry certified by the U.S. Department of Defense. Finally, the security key—the ”secret handshake” that secure chips create to make sure trusted sources can gain access and other sources can’t—is generated on the chip in a way that thwarts two of the most common attacks on secure systems.

”We made sure a chip would be protected from people like us,” says Hays, referring to CPU Tech’s other business—reverse-engineering chips for military contractors. As a subcontractor on Trust in Integrated Circuits, a program of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), CPU Tech gleaned knowledge that it applied to the design of the CPU872 processor. ”Our work, in fact, laid the groundwork for TIIC,” says CPU Tech founder Ed King.

By necessity, the U.S. military uses many commercial off-the-shelf chips manufactured outside the United States because of a shifting integrated-circuits industry. Security experts have written extensively about the risk this creates for the country’s national security, as malicious hardware and software modifications can theoretically be introduced during the manufacturing process. But the line between military and civilian targets has blurred significantly in the United States as well as in other Western countries. Hacking into civilian infrastructure could lay the groundwork for organized, government-coordinated warfare. This goes beyond conspiracy theory: A September 2008 Idaho National Laboratory report found a link between the Russian attack on Georgia and a preceding wave of malicious cyberactivity, primarily distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. Even off-line structures are vulnerable to online sabotage. The same study established the alarming feasibility of gaining access remotely to electricity generators that are commonly thought to be immune to online threats.

Hays says the chip’s onshore pedigree reduces the risk of Trojan horses being built into the hardware during the manufacturing process. The 90-nanometer processor is fabricated at IBM’s Fishkill, N.Y., foundry—a trusted foundry—which goes through an exhaustive vetting process to be deemed secure enough to manufacture the U.S. military’s specialty chips, with security features built directly into the hardware.

But despite the built-in security, Hays, who was in Bell Labs’ digital signal processing division in the 1980s, says the Acalis chip won’t divulge its secrets, even if it’s reverse-engineered down to the mask layer. This is to prevent physical scrutiny if a chip falls into the wrong hands. In 2001, a U.S. Navy signals reconnaissance plane crashed on an island in the South China Sea. The plane was not returned to the United States until three months later, and when it was returned, it was in pieces. Military experts have speculated that billions of dollars in U.S. military R&D were compromised. CPU Tech anticipates a similar fate for the secure processors it releases into the commercial world. Buying or even stealing a server is much easier than bringing down a spy plane. ”We understand the chip itself will find its way to an untrusted source through distribution channels,” Hays says, so the chip was designed to be useless if it were to be physically reverse-engineered. Nothing can be gleaned from the hardware, which can be securely configured to work only in concert with CPU Tech’s proprietary security software. ”We’ll be a lot more restrictive about handing out the software that makes it work,” Hays says.

But reverse-engineering a physical chip is not the only way to break in or create countermeasures. To eavesdrop on communications or impersonate a genuine user, a malefactor needs only decipher the secret encryption key.

”Getting the key is the key, so to speak, to being able to generate encrypted data,” says David Blaauw, an electrical engineering professor at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor.

The key is generated using the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm, certified by the National Security Agency. AES algebra is very secure. ”But when the key comes out of its cave to do its job once in a while,” Hays says, ”that’s when the key is most vulnerable.” Another way of getting the key is a so-called DRAM attack, in which a malefactor freezes the dynamic RAM to ferret out where the key has been temporarily stored. Cooling the DRAM after shutting off a computer can prolong a well-known property of DRAM called remanence—during which the key temporarily remains in memory—for several minutes, giving attackers an ample window to get into the DRAM and extract the key. ”Basic disk encryption is very vulnerable,” Hays says. ”Wherever you put the key, on a chip or in DRAM, the smart bad actor will find a way to get it.”

The hardware and software of the Acalis chip, Hays says, makes both of these methods impossible for two reasons: For one, the key can be changed at will. The system allows the owner to change the key every day or during every session to guard against side channel attacks. ”If you change the key often enough, by the time you figure out the key, it’s already irrelevant,” says Hays. ”There would be no chance to find it in time.”

Further, instead of depending on secrecy, the system merely ensures that there is no key to be found. ”Through a combination of hardware and software, we never actually store a key,” Hays explains. ”You obviously have to have something stored or some kind of index or value, but our system completely eliminates key storage.”

How the chip uses a key without storing it is something CPU Tech executives are not willing to divulge. ”Many of the details of our reverse-engineering prevention features are proprietary,” says King, ”but they include multiple methods of unique chip identification, on-chip memory, and on-chip sensors.” Acalis has two CPUs on one chip that operate independently. One processor can run nontrusted code while raising a hardware firewall to isolate it from the second CPU. In this mode, the only communication between the two is through the equivalent of a mailbox built into the chip.

Though the company has withheld the details of its process, some security experts are skeptical. ”They are addressing the right questions, but the things they are saying are not completely clear to me,”” says Blaauw.

Chris Tarnovsky thinks the idea is smoke and mirrors. The self-taught American engineer was catapulted into notoriety during a major piracy case last year, in which he was accused of reverse-engineering pay-TV security cards and posting the results online, thereby opening the door for hundreds of thousands of nonpaying individuals to get free pay TV. He was (mostly) exonerated and now runs Flylogic Engineering, which performs hardware and software security analysis. He says he has reverse-engineered enough government chips to be unimpressed by Acalis’s military pedigree. ”I doubt this chip is really that secure and is most likely obscurity mixed with security,” he says.

Blaauw also has his doubts. ”The idea of changing keys is good,” he says. But it needs to be changed quickly, before the key is cracked, and that becomes expensive. ”It’s much more expensive to change a key in terms of resources that to use a key to decrypt or encrypt data, so you may not want to do it every session.” Beyond that, it may be possible for a hacker with a good machine to decipher the key even with daily key changes. ”We made an encryption engine that was hardware based,” Blaauw says. ”We cracked it in minutes.”

As for the key storage trick, neither Blaauw nor Tarnovsky are convinced. ”I don’t see how,” says Blaauw. ”At some point in the encryption, you have to apply the bits of the key in the algorithm. If you didn’t store it, how do you retrieve it? You could distribute the bits or scramble them, but they need to be stored somewhere in some form— I don’t see an easy way around that.”

But for now, CPU Tech isn’t revealing more. ”We’re still trying to figure out the line between advertising what the chip can do and giving away the company store,” Hays says.

If everything they have described is accurate, Blaauw says it would be hard to crack the CPU Tech chip. ”It doesn’t sound like the other approaches people have proposed,” he concedes. ”They may have something that we don’t know about.”


text:
Monday, August 22, 2011

Moving "House": Follow the Link to Bloggy Goodness!

Hello there, readers! It's time for a short update about the status of Speculative Diction, the blog. The bad news is that shortly, there will be no more new entries posted to this site. The good news, however, is that Speculative Diction will now be hosted by University Affairs, the Canadian national postsecondary news publication. Please follow this link for regular updates containing my usual commentary and crankiness on the subject of higher education policy, pedagogy, the academic profession and more!

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