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A Personal Travel Guide To Israel: The Negev – Israel’s Desert South

Trip to the negev desert

By Douglas E. Duckett

A Personal Travel Guide To Israel – Find all the chapters here

Most people visiting Israel for the first time do not visit Eilat and the Negev desert (the southern half of the country, shaped like an inverted triangle).  Of course, your choice depends on your interests. Most first-time visitors tend to focus on the cities, culture, and history, but those who want wilderness, a more nature/eco-style trip, or year-round warmth may well head south.  Because of my experiences touring the wilds of this region with Adam and Nadav Sela and Desert Eco Tours (more below), I have fallen in love with the Negev and the desert experience.  And while Eilat is in some ways a resort city, I have developed an appreciation for it as well.  The locale is stunning, so it has become part of my Israel experience in recent years.

The Northern Negev, Mitzpe Ramon, and the Makhtesh

The Negev is a vast and truly spectacular desert, and if you are so inclined, by all means carve out some time to tour it.  Don’t miss the Makhtesh Ramon, the so-called “Ramon Crater” (a makhtesh is not a crater but a geological, erosion feature unique to this region) near Mitzpe Ramon in the central Negev.  This spectacular geological formation is Israel’s Grand Canyon, and it’s just about as breathtaking.  There are two other, major makhteshim, the “small” and the “large,” and ha-Makhtesh ha-Katan (“the Small Makhtesh”) is in some ways more spectacular because you can see the whole formation in one glance from the rim and that gives a better understanding of how the geology works.  There are only seven makhteshim in the world, five in the Negev and two in the northern Sinai, and “makhtesh” is the correct term for this phenomenon in any language.

I have had the pleasure of touring with guide Adam Sela and his son Nadav Sela who specialize in tours of the Negev, with a focus on the natural and ecological aspects of the central Negev highlands.  They live and work in Midreshet Ben-Gurion, just outside Sde Boqer, the kibbutz made famous as the adopted home of Israel’s founder, David Ben-Gurion.  I cannot recommend Adam and Nadav highly enough—they have showed me a side of Israel and the Negev that I not only had never seen but could never have accessed without someone like them.  I had heard of “off-road jeep tours,” but had no idea that one could drive a jeep where they took us! We went up mountainsides and down through winding, dry wadi beds.  Adam showed us the Makhtesh Ramon—and for the first time, I really understood the unique, geological process that created it. He also showed us the remnants of the Nabataean, Roman, and ancient Israelite presence in the region over the centuries, and spectacular vistas that I would never otherwise have found, let alone be able to get to.  The jeep tours are not for the faint of heart, but they are unforgettable and totally worth it. He is also a delight to spend time with.  For more information on their tours, see www.adamsela.com, e-mail office@adamsela.com, or call Adam or Nadav at (050) 530-8272.  Nadav also works with Adam as a tour guide now, and my friend and I toured with him for a full day in November 2014—he, too, is the real deal!  In the picture to the right from my 2016 trip, Adam sits with Brett preparing tea in a cave in the Makhtesh Ramon at the end of an unforgettable day of touring.

Some additional options to discuss with Adam or Nadav for your Negev tour:

If you have the time and interest, Adam may be able to set you up with a lunch with local Bedouin in their tents in one of the nearby settlements.  In several places in Israel, there are “Bedouin experiences” set up as tourist attractions, and frankly I see them as the equivalent of a Disney Epcot experience—sanitized and artificial.  (Remember: my guide, my opinions!) This is not that; Adam took us to lunch at the tent of one of the major Bedouin leaders of the region.  In an hour or so of conversation, I learned a great deal about the social problems facing the Bedouin, of their struggles with modernity and with the state bureaucracy, and had a glimpse of the life of these fascinating people.  If you are privileged to have this experience, I offer two cautions. First, the food is prepared in genuine Bedouin style—with bare hands, some flies, and bread baked directly on and covered by charcoals. It is not for those who are squeamish or need hyper-sanitary conditions, but it would cause great offense to decline to eat food prepared for you.  If you go, that’s the deal, and you need to be respectful that you are in someone’s home and honored to be a guest. I did not take pictures of my host or his family because I did not want to make them feel like a zoo exhibit for tourists. I would recommend similar restraint. It was one of the most remarkable moments of that trip.

Sde Boqer was David Ben-Gurion’s home for the last decades of his life, and he and his wife Paula are buried near there on the edge of the vast Valley of Tzin (part of the “Wilderness of Sin” in the biblical accounts of the Israelites’ journey through the wilderness).  The view, seen at right, will take your breath away. It is worth this brief stop, particularly near sunset.

Israelis are known throughout the world for their expertise in water management and desert agriculture—or more poetically, for “making the desert bloom.”  This water-starved country is now a world leader in desalination technology, and Israel is where drip-irrigation was invented. If you would like to learn more about the cutting-edge technology that is changing the world of agriculture, have Adam or Nadav take you to the Ramat Negev Desert Agro-Research Center, tel. (054) 620-9040; www.ramat-negev.org.il; e-mail gadigr@gmail.com.  I learned that the cherry tomato was invented in Israel and was amazed how Israel researchers are learning to use desalinated sea water, brackish ground water, and recovered waste water for agriculture.  When I was there, a large research group from China was there to learn from this pioneering research center. California’s huge agricultural industry needs to learn from Israel—and fast.

An experience to do on your own in the area, if interested, is Astronomy Israel with Ira Machevsky.  Almost every night, Ira takes people out for stargazing tours in the pitch-black skies of the central Negev, away from the light-pollution that destroys night skies in urban centers all over the world.  The tours are two hours, split between naked eye viewing and views through his telescopes, and are best on moonless nights. For more information, see www.astronomyisrael.com or contact Ira at machefsky@gmail.com or by phone at (052) 544-9789.  As a life-long astronomy aficionado, I enjoyed this!  Bring warm clothes—the desert grows quite cold at night.

מלון בראשית
Bereshit Hotel – מלון בראשית

I have never been one to spend a lot on posh hotels in Israel or anywhere else.  But I have enjoyed stays at a relatively new, luxury hotel built right on the lip of the Makhtesh Ramon, called the Beresheet Hotel (See photo above), 1 Beresheet Road, Mitzpe Ramon 80600, tel. (08) 659-8004, fax (08) 659-8008;  www.isrotelexclusivecollection.com/beresheet.  This place is a true destination hotel and a major splurge—picture a luxury hotel on the edge of the Grand Canyon.  This place is just stunning—built on the rim of the Makhtesh using natural stone from the region so that it blends in ecologically, and some rooms have their own small pools in front.  And look at the infinity pool on the edge of the Makhtesh in the photo above right! One constantly sees ibex families grazing on bushes a few feet away—amazing! (Picture at left.) Contact public relations manager Tal Magen with any questions: tel. (08) 659-8000; talm@isrotel.co.il.  And please do tell them I recommended this beautiful place.

If the Beresheet Hotel is too expensive—and it is pricey!—you have several other options for places to stay in the area around Sde Boqer and Mitzpe Ramon, either of which make a good base to tour with Adam.  One option if you are touring with Adam or Nadav is to take the train to Be’er Sheva and ask if they can pick you up there. One good option is a lovely B&B called IBike in Mitzpe Ramon, 4 Har Ardon Street in the Spice Route Quarter of the city, tel. (052) 436-7878 or (052) 361-1115, website at www.ibike.co.il, e-mail ibike@netvision.net.il.  Hosts Aviva Angel-Scheiber and Menachem Schreiber specialize in hosting bicyclists, but all are welcome, and the environs were as charming as the hosts!  You may be able to stay at the Field School at Midreshet Ben-Gurion, with youth hostel-style accommodations; my TripAdvisor colleagues who stayed there thought it was fine.  For really basic accommodations, you could also try the Desert Lodge at the Boqer Valley Vineyards Farm, tel. (08) 657-3483, web site at www.israeldesertlodge.com, e-mail at nahal.boker.@gmail.com.  This was too rustic for me to stay overnight but will appeal to some.  It is a great place to have a meal and some good wine, and the view here as well is stunning.  Finally, if you want a really different experience, you could stay at the Naot Farm, run by Gadi and Lea Nahimov, located off of Route 40, Ramat Ha-Negev 85515, tel. (054) 421-8788; www.naotfarm.co.il; e-mail info@naotfarm.co.il.  This is a working goat and dairy farm that produces wonderful cheeses that are very popular in the region, and while rustic, the cabins offer a true, off-the-beaten-path desert experience with a lot charm.  Since the Negev is an alternative experience, consider alternative accommodations—and have an adventure!

Mitzpe Ramon is not a fine-dining destination, but we had a good meal with friends at Ha-Ḥavit (The Barrel), a nice, pub-style good restaurant, which is open on Friday evenings as well. You must reserve a table on Friday or Saturday because it is full.  Tel. (08) 658-8226; www.rol.co.il/sites/hahavit/business.html.  There are also much more upscale, fine-dining options in the Beresheet Hotel.

©2004-2019 Douglas E. Duckett, All rights reserved.

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Tag Nadja of Antipaxos

Eternal Power Corrupts What We Do in the Shadows

Per Matt Living in New York feels like eternal damnation to the extreme, but when you’re bloodsuckers who happen to fail upwards — who never age, while you’re at it — it doesn’t seem so bad…

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Zonta Club of Mount Isa Inc.

Mount Isa is a real Oasis in the Outback. A thriving cosmopolitan city of 20,000 people situated in the ochre-red Selwyn Ranges on the banks of the Leichardt River, 900 klms west of Townsville and 600 klms south of Karumba, Mount Isa is a busy mining, commercial, industrial and tourism centre that celebrates 80 wonderful years of existence in 2003.

The Zonta Club of Mount Isa Inc. was chartered in September 1993 under the guidance of Mary Magee OAM and Dianne Leggo and has just celebrated 28 great years. The Club presently has 25 members, with a number of charter members still active. We meet on the third Wednesday of each month at 6.30pm.

Our clubs welcome visitors. To find out more about our Club  and be invited to attend a meeting please send us an email

The members of our club have proudly given their time, talents and energy to the community since their respective charter dates, raising funds, negotiating donations and sponsorship and giving “hands on service” to projects assisting women.  The club organizes such events as International Women’s Day and the annual Bush Poets Breakfast. We often take our Fairy Floss and Coffee machines out into public and dispense Fairy Floss and Zonta PR simultaenously. Various women’s shelters in town are supported by our club by ongoing care pack donations with two computers having been donated to Domestic Violence Centre’s in previous years.

We have a commitment to keeping the Zonta ethos relevant and our members value the fellowship and service that is inclusive with membership in our clubs.

To find out more about the activities of Zonta Clubs throughout District 22 Click here


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Zosi – The Company

We focus helping our client become more sucessful by leveraging their online universe. We do this with a combination of a powerful active website, social media and metrics to help guide decisions.

Our team are highly trained, degreed experts in computer science, data science, graphic arts, content writing and translation.

Our Company

Zosime means Zosime (zOH-sih-may) means “Likely to Thrive” or “Full of Life”.

Some of our early small clients were pro bono websites for friends and charitable efforts. Often, they had a website that was not working. It had failed to thrive or even survive. We we replaced them with solutions that were able to grow with them. Hence our name.


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Macy's WOW Pass | September 2021 | Save Extra 25% Off On All Items

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By Akshita Gogia - Couponing Specialist Sep 23 2021 Share this blog

Macy's WOW Pass has taken steps to save you worth up to 80% off. You can make use of this deal to save on Home Decor, Clothing, Jewelry and more.

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Welcome to RV Space Management LLP RV Space Management LLP is a top real estate service provider, offering strategic services to its clients, of India. The company offers services in industrial, commercial, residential, plot, land acquisition propelled by energetic and expert team of people. We cater to investors, owners, tenants http://rvspacemanagement.com/contact.php

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Music News

Selena Gomez To Perform New Music At MTV Movie Awards

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Selena Gomez is set to perform new music at the 2013 MTV Movie Awards!

Selena told MTV News, “It is my first performance back as a musician, I’m so nervous! I think it’s really cool, ’cause I got to take a year off of music and really be a part of great movies and work with great people, so I thought it would be perfect that I kind of go into music again through MTV and then the Movie Awards,” she said. “So I thought it would be appropriate. I’m so stoked!”

What song is she performing? Apparently it’s a new single, “Come & Get It,” which is the debut single off of her debut SOLO album!

Hmmm…what could it be about? Maybe now that she’s single she wants a new boy to “come & get it?”

Either way, Selena is back and her new album is slated to drop late this Spring!

And speaking of Spring, you HAVE to see the trailer for her new movie “Spring Breakers.” CLICK HERE to see it!

-Webguy CJ-

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Contact Us

Holiday Office Party Coming Up? Here’s Tips on Ettiquette!

flickr-by Phil Sexton

Holiday office parties are lots of fun! And at our company we are all pretty used to just being exactly ourselves. Most of us have worked with this company for many years and we all know each other like one big crazy family! So we aren’t under too much pressure to make a good impression or anything.

But for those of you who are attending your first few holiday parties with a fairly new company, and are worried at what is or isn’t acceptable, here are some tips according to this Monster Site of Office Holiday Party Etiquette

  • Eat, drink and be merry — in moderation. Where else but the office party can you find the CEO and the mailroom clerk bellied up to the bar together? But remember: Alcohol plus you and your boss can equal Monday morning’s “I can’t believe I said that.” If you choose to drink, do so minimally.
  • Dress appropriately for the occasion. Klinkenberg says this rule especially applies to women who sometimes use company parties to strut their stuff. Leave anything short, tight or revealing in the closet. You’ve worked hard to create a professional image, and revealing clothes can alter your coworkers’ and manager’s perception of you as a competent professional.
  • Your company party may be the only time you see the president, CEO or VPs in person. Introduce yourself. This is a great opportunity to become visible to your organization’s higher-ups. At the very least, don’t spend the entire evening with your regular office buddies — get in the holiday spirit and mingle with people from other departments.
  • Find out who can come to the event. Spouses and significant others are not always on the guest list. Check beforehand to avoid a potentially uncomfortable evening.
  • If you’ve been a star performer in your organization, you may be honored with a toast. Accept the honor gracefully, but don’t drink to yourself or clap when others are applauding you. Also, make a toast to the person who toasted you, thanking him for the recognition.
  • Pay attention to the time you arrive and when you leave. Even if you don’t really want to attend, avoid arriving 20 minutes before the end just to make an appearance. On the flip side, don’t party into the wee hours either. Coworkers and managers will notice both errors in judgment.
  • Be sure to thank those who coordinated the party. They likely put in a great deal of effort hoping you would have a good time. Not only is saying thank you the nice thing to do, but it also makes you stand out from the many employees who don’t.

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Submitted by karim 926d ago | news

Vilanova set to step down as Barcelona coach after tumor relapse

Barcelona manager Tito Vilanova is set to step down from his post after suffering a relapse of a tumor he had removed last year.

The 44-year-old had a tumor on his parotid gland removed in emergency surgery last November when he was the club's assistant manager. (Barcelona, Spanish Primera Division, Tito Vilanova)

karim  +   926d ago
Horrible news and a gigantic blow to Barcelona. Hope the surgery will be a success and that they will remove the tumor again
krazykombatant  +   925d ago
Damn, hopefully he'll recover and be back.

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Glancing upon crimson skies,
like a raven he lay in wait.
A fallen angel perched up high,
counting as the final hour drew nigh.

As crimson gave way to a velvet black,
a veil of darkness cloaked the land,
as fields of gold were stained with steel,
with the Devil they sealed the deal.

As the still of night was pierced with screams,
among the cries moved a force unseen,
like a mighty plague he swept the land,
as the face of God turned,
and He lifted His hand.

No army or weapon stood as darkness loomed,
from the start they had sealed their doom,
and in the now crimson fields where his task begun,
no one was left,
his work was done.

As he stood alone in the killing fields,
his grief betrayed by his eyes of stone.
were those who lay around him victims of wrath?
Or testaments of those who gazed upon him,
the face of Death?
Its well... my fave piece... I hope ya like it =)
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Team:Freiburg software/Project

From 2009.igem.org

Watch a high resolution version here

Nowadays, the web offers a wide range of tools to communicate, collaborate and share personal data. People share their pictures with Flickr, students interact in social networks like Facebook, programmers contribute to software projects using platforms like Sourceforge. In contrast, science communication is still making little use of the collaborative world wide web. In particular, synthetic biology is highly inter-disciplinary and requires many scientists to work together in order to build complex biological systems like genes, gene assemblies, synthetic protein devices or later even genomes. From the outset, the synthetic biology community has made efforts to cross-link the results of their research in open repositories and wikis. We want to push this process to the next level: Why only store and share results? Why not making use of the web to collaborate? Scientist could make the whole process transparent, or even better, design and create data together.

A collaborative web based software for synthetic biology research

We have created an open-source, synthetic biological software suite called SynBioWave. Based on Google's communication tool Wave, SynBioWave is made for collaborative synthetic biology research comprising parts design and documentation. Moreover, biologists can record and share the process of creating research data and perform basic tasks using SynBioWave.

For example, users can start conversations, invite participants, import sequences from several resources, comment data, perform some tasks and display or export the results. Each participant experiences the others' actions in real time. New participants can track back the whole process using the playback function. And all you need is a browser connected to the internet. Could it be easier to invite colleges to your research?

Creating a software interface on top of Google Wave

Sequence views of SynBioWave
  • We created three ways to display sequence data, a short sequence view, a gadget view and a circular view.
  • We extended Wave's user interface (ui) with a highly dynamic menu system and added new ui-elements such as an upload form for sequence files.
  • To realize an easy to use interface for generating user interfaces, we invented the qooxWave protocol. This protocol defines a client-to-server and server-to-client communication for building ui-elements, event reporting and data transmission.
  • The client-side implementation of the qooxWave protocol makes use of the RIA framework qooxdoo. To ensure a proper implementation of qooxWave, we designed a robust store-model-view-controller concept.
  • Even though SynBioWave is a web application, its look and feel reminds the user of a desktop application.

Access to a large pool of sequence data

Sequence I/O
  • SynBioWave inherits Wave's feature to handle common data like rich text documents, graphics, music/video and many more.
  • We spend much effort to implement support for a large range of sequence formats, such as FASTA, GenBank and EMBL.
  • SynBioWave imports and exports sequence data from/into files.
  • SynBioWave supports DAS access to the iGEM related BioBrick database.
  • SynBioWave uses an internal database to track all sequences produced or imported in the working flow.

Have a look at the I/O section to learn more about the features mentioned above.

Extendable software suite

Freiburg software SynBioWave-Conceptual-Architecture-flowchart.png

To lay ground for an successful open source project, we wrapped our efforts into an easy to implement framework, allowing developers to contribute to SynBioWave. One key feature of this framework is an abstract template class that allows the user to create robots, providing new features, without thinking about sequence I/O, GUI or display issues.

To demonstrate this extensible concept, we added one additional robot providing the feature of a Blast search. It turned out, that our concept works! The implementation is really easy. Have a look at the code.

Have a look at the software architecture to explore our framework.

Pioneering spirit

Layers of SynBioWave

To our knowledge, SynBioWave is currently the only approach to write a collaborative web-based biological software, as well as the only bigger project based on Google Wave.

When we first heard of Google Wave, we instantly noticed it could be the solid basis we were looking for to build such a next level biological software suite. When we got access to its developer preview version later, it confirmed our choice, but soon we noticed that we would need a lot of features not yet build-in in Wave, some not yet even planned.

We are the first (and maybe only) developers creating a project consisting of multiple Wave-Robots and therefore had to think about a way to make these robots communicate with each other. Google has not foreseen this need of Robot-Robot-Communication and has not even decided to add this to their Robot-API.

Existing technologies

Google Wave

Google Wave is "a personal communication and collaboration tool" developed by Google. It is a web-based service, computing platform, and communication protocol designed to merge e-mail, instant messaging, wikis, and social networking. It has a strong collaborative and real-time focus and provides several ways to extend its functionality.[1]

Wave basically consists of an open communication protocol similar to email, as well as of client- and server-software. Like email, the protocol aims to be open, decentralized and easy to adapt, but includes modern achievements like multi-user-, real-time-communication and rich formated text with embedded data as well. At the moment, the only working server and client software for Wave is also written by Google, but with the protocol being open-source already, other - Google independent - servers and clients will soon be available.

Freiburg software Wave-example.png

Practically, a typical Wave-conversations - called a wavelet - usually works like this: User Alice creates a new Wavelet. She than invites her friend Bob to join the conversation. Bob accepts and can now write messages to the wave. Each message creates a so-called Blip. What differentiates Wave from normal instant-messaging is, that if Alice and Bob decide to write a document together, they can start to edit the same Blip together. Each change they make to the text there is shown to the other one in real time. If they want, they can also use a build-in playback feature similar to the version-history in wikis to review the changes made to the wavelet.

In addition, Google has published an API for writing so-called Robots and Gadgets for Wave. While Robots are small programs written in Python or Java, which can participate in Wave similar to normal users, Gadgets are small web pages that can be embedded into a wave conversation.

If you want to know more about how we extend and modified this tool to match the needs of synthetic biologists, have a look at the Software section of this document.

BioJava is an open source project dedicated to providing a Java framework for processing biological data. It provides analytical and statistical routines, parsers for common file formats and allows the manipulation of sequences and 3D structures. The goal of the BioJava project is to facilitate rapid application development for bioinformatics.

Having the choice between BioJava und BioPhyton (the only two programming languages supported by Google Wave), we decided to use BioJava because of its faster growing and better supported library and the scalable, cross-platform and network-aware nature of the Java programming language.

For insights into the usage of BioJava in our software, have a look at section Extending Google Wave I/O. We plan to integrate support for Python in later versions of SynBioWave.

Qooxdoo is one of the leading frameworks for creating rich internet application (RIAs). RIAs are web applications which are accessed from the browser and commonly made for multi user tasks. In contrast to usual web sites, RIAs look and feel like desktop applications. Building a RIA from scratch is nearly impossible. Therefore qooxdoo provides a platform-independent development tool chain, a state-of-the-art GUI toolkit and an advanced client-server communication layer.

Because Wave's user interface is only weakly customizable, qooxdoo is a perfect candidate to extend Wave's user interface with custom toolbars, buttons, forms, context-menus and much more.

Have a look at the qooxWave protocol we created to learn more about how we used qooxdoo in our project.

SynBioWave turns Google Wave into a biosynthetic software suite. There are currently two available methods for extending Google Wave, and we are making use of both (See Google Wave for an introduction):

  1. Robots
  2. Gadgets

Freiburg software SynBioWave-Conceptual-Architecture-flowchart.png

Robots are automated participants, able to modify the wavelets' contents they have joined and interact with real participants. Using Google's Java client library for Robots gives us the possibility to implement biosynthetic functionality provided by the BioJava library. We created the SynBioWave Robot as the core of our extension. Adding this robot to a wavelet activates SynBioWave. There are additional robots providing specific functions when added to a wavelet. The SynBioWave Robot is responsible for:

  • Organization of all SynBioWave functions represented by additional robots
  • Extending Wave's user interface with SynBioWave specific elements using our qooxWave protocol
  • Storing the important information written to the wave in an external database
  • Providing basic functionality like
    • Import/export of sequences
    • Rendering and displaying of sequences
    • Circular view
    • BioBrick communication (searching and importing biological parts)

Additional robots extending SynBioWave functionality

To extend SynBioWave with new biosynthetic functions, one can use additional robots. Adding such a robot to an active SynBioWave wavelet (a wavelet that contains the SynBioWave Robot), enables this function to all users participating in this wave. For SynBioWave users it is very easy to customize and extend SynBioWave. A user searches the robot representing a certain function and adds it to the wavelet he is working with. But this is not the only benefit! This modular architectures makes it very easy for other developers to create additional robots. To facilitate contribution, we provide an abstract SynBioWave Template class. Using this class dramatically simplifies additional robot creation. The developer neither needs to worry about Wave development nor about SynBioWave integration (a minimal understanding of both is still needed). Therefore, one can concentrate on biosynthetic developments.

Organizing a multi robot system

As we were testing this concept of multiple robots in one and the same conversation, it became quite clear that we needed to organize the way the robots work and interact: With different robots all listening to different (or maybe even the same) events - editing text, writing messages and so on - we ended up in great chaos in our initial tests. So we decided to extend our framework to provide a standard in- and output for robots. For the input part, we created a menu, which dynamically displays all the functions of the robots in the current wave. As Google has not foreseen this need of a standardized and easy-to-use input method for Wave robots, we had to create this from scratch and implemented it using a Gadget. Moreover, we invented the so-called qooxWave protocol for a standardized communication between the robots and this menu gadget.

To organize the output of the robots, we created a standardized sequence display. At the moment, the user can choose if he likes to have the sequences either directly in the wave, which feels more "natural", or inside a Gadget, which is currently much more usable because of strict limitations to text-formatting inside Google Wave. Most likely, all sequences will be written directly in the wave in the future as Google has announced to boost the layout options of Wave dramatically.

The SynBioWave robots could be thought of some kind of program logic. They are running somewhere in the cloud, process and organize data. Gadgets come into play, when data such as sequences are displayed inside a Wave. Moreover Gadgets offer the possibility to insert custom user interfaces which are essential for manipulating and managing the biological data. Gadgets are little websites included in a wavelet and communicating with it via Google's Wave API. So you could think of gadgets as some kind of visible objects, that are essential for the integration of biological data into Wave.

SynBioWave's user interface

The possibilities Google Wave currently provides to customize its user interface are less then weak. To realize some advanced features like upload forms for DNA sequence files or ,toolbars bundling SynBioWave's functionality we used Gadgets. The SynBioWave robot dynamically creates a gadget containing a toolbar. It adds all user-interface-elements that correspond to functions provided by the SynBioWave robot itself and by additional robots. The Gadgets sends events and input data from the user back to the robots. For this purpose, we introduced the qooxWave protocol.

Bring it together: The qooxWave protocol

Freiburg software qooxWave-flowchart.png

We invented the qooxWave protocol to realize an easy to use interface for creating graphical user interfaces (GUI) inside a wave from a robot. The general goal is to provide one abstract robot class for implementing new function into SynBioWave (each function is provided by a robot). The programmer who uses this class does not need to worry about the client side GUI implementation. This protocol ensures easy to use server side function, that automatically builds the client side GUI.

The protocol defines a server-to-client and client-to-server communication. This communication contains

  • a server-to-client communication for building client-side GUI elements from server side (so a server side robot can create a client side button for example)
  • a client-to-server communication for reporting events fired in the client side GUI and to transfer user input data to the robots (so the server knows when the user clicks a button for example)

The communication is realized via JSON-Strings that are stored inside a gadgets state object. Both, server (robot) and client (gadget) can access the state object and they can both react on changes of this state object (this is provided by the google wave API).

For a detailed description/definition of the qooxWave protocol, we created an external page, which might be interesting for those deeply interested or planning to write SynBioWave robots.

Client side implementation

qooxdoo inside a gadget

The client-side implementation of qooxWave is based on a qooxdoo application loaded into a gadget inside the Wave (have a look at the screenshot on the right). This qooxdoo application - written entirely in JavaScript - communicates with the SynBioWave Robot via JSON-Strings using a state object provided by the Wave API. The state object is actually designed for gadget-robot communication. But it only supports String-Data. This is why we use JSON to transmit more complex objects.

The qooxdoo application receives a JSON-object from the robot containing a GUI-structure. It parses this object and dynamically adds the ui-elements. On the other hand, the application sends user input back to the robot, also in form of JSON-Strings.

As an example, the robot could send a JSON-String containing information about a toolbar, its menu items - let's say just a button labeled upload - and information for an upload form that opens when clicking the button. The JSON-String is modeled into a certain JavaScript object (to be precise: qooxdoo objects) and then displayed by the qooxdoo application. When the user submits the upload form, its data is converted back to a model again, than to a JSON-representation and sent to the robot.

A Model-View-Controller concept (MVC) for a proper implementation

Freiburg software qooxwave-client-mvc.png

The qooxWave protocol enables a complex structure of ui-elements containing each other.
Moreover, there are complex events causing complex user input to be sent to the robots. To ensure a proper client-side implementation, we created a model-view-controler concept inside the qooxdoo application. Qooxdoo brings nice classes and interfaces for realizing a MVC layout. To only mention one: you can use data-binding to bind form data to a javascript object automatically. Have a look at the qooxdoo manual for this fancy feature.

Moreover, we created a store object, that converts the application data into a model; this model is converted into a JSON-String and the other way round. The store receives and sends this JSON-String on any server- or client-side event. This is an additional useful abstraction of the application layout. Again, we use data-binding to bind the model (stored in the store) to the actual user interface objects in the qooxdoo application.

As you can see, the client side implementation has a very robust layout and can be easily extended with new features.

Classes related to the client side implementation

The client-side implementation is actually a whole qooxdoo application. The entire project can be found at the sourcefourge project side. The main classes we created for this application are the following:

In addition, we created some Wave objects for debugging outside the Wave (Thanks to Fabian Jakobs from the qooxdoo developer team):

Server side implementation

On the server side i.e. in robots the MenuItem.java class is used to generate menus, which are just recursively stored MenuItem instances. As the menu system was and is under rapid development, this class is hold as flexible as possible and therefore not as comfortable as it could be. The class also contains the functions for creating JSON-String out of these menus, which can be sent to the menu gadget via the wave. Currently, our main SynBioWave-Robot reads these strings of all other robots in the Wave, translates them back into a Java object, and merges all these objects into one menu object, which is finally transmitted to the gadget. All these processes are automatically performed within our abstract robot class, developers writing SynBioWave robots do not have to care about that.

Extending Google Wave I/O

Over the past few decades rapid developments in genomic and other molecular research technologies and developments in information technologies have merged to produce a tremendous amount of information related to molecular biology. These huge amounts of data lay the ground for the work of synthetic biologists. By analyzing, modifying and extending these sequences, the synthetic biologists are enabled to build new functionalities and potentially whole genomes. Consequently, one basic feature for the work in synthetic biology is to have full access to this pool of sequence data, provided in different formats. As only file sharing was intended for Google Wave, we were forced to extend the build-in servlet functionality of the Google Wave Java API with the needs for file import/export as well as methods for database access.

Sequence file import/export

SynBioWave file I/O

Google Wave robots written in the Java programming language are specialized forms of Java HttpServlets. We extended the Google Wave robot servlet class capabilities not only to serve robot events but to serve file upload and downloads as well. To assure a very threadsave and robust upload functionality, we based the file upload on the well known apache commons-upload project. To avoid any abuse of the file upload, the file upload is directly connected to the sequence creation and is only used if the file contains sequence information in a supported format. Using the newest BioJava classes for parsing the file upload provides an easy way to extend the amount of supported file formats in the near future.

Don't be afraid your sequences could be readable to uninvited people.
Although an additional GnuPG encryption is not implemented yet, all data transfers are enciphered by secure Http (SSL/TLS) connections.

Database access

SynBioWave database access

SynBioWave currently supports DAS access to the iGEM related BioBrick database. SynBioWave implements a simple name browser for the biological parts and allows the user to directly import the fully annotated sequence into the working process.

Internal Database

SequenceViews of SynBioWave

SynBioWave uses an internal database to track all sequences produced or imported in the working flow. With the datastore browser, SynBioWave provides an intuitive user interface to search and reload these sequences. In this early state, Google Wave only supports robots hosted on Google's own AppEngine application server. Thus, we are currently using Google's Datastore to store the sequences. Google announced that this restriction will be retreated in the future, and robots can be hosted anywhere. To ensure the compatibility to any other database provided by the chosen host, we make use of Suns JDO specification or more precisely the apache JDO2 library.

How to display sequences

SequenceViews of SynBioWave

Nowadays, every application displays text and pictures. A lot of of applications additionally play audio and video data. But there is no native support for displaying sequence data. SynBioWave currently supports three different ways to display your sequences. There is a simple view for short sequences typed or copied directly to the Wave and an embedded gadget view for longer sequences and sequence comparisons like for example in multiple sequence alignments. Both views provide a clearly represented scaling and increased readability by automatically coloring the sequences according to the sequence type. And in the end there is a circular view for displaying fully featured circular DNA as needed for example in displaying vectors and plasmids.

Future releases

Currently, we are planing to continue focusing on the improvement of the framework while Google Wave is still a Preview Version, and adapt it to the new functions Wave will hopefully get in the future.

Version 0.2

By the time when Wave goes to public and has reached final beta state, we will release Version 0.2 of SynBioWave, which will have a mostly completed, stable and well-documented framework that enables developers to create additional robots even more easily than for the iGEM release.

Improvements planed:

  • Improved Robot-Robot communication, both via Wave and direct URL-connections (1)
  • Native bidirectional Robot-Gadget communication without refreshing the gadget (1)
  • More simple menu creation in robots i.e. changing the MenuItem-class to an interface and create a class implementation for every available menu item.
  • Integrate Callback functions for menu items
  • Improved sequence display and manipulation, either in a properly-styled(1) Inline-Blip(1) with scroll bar(1) or in a "wave-y" Gadget.
  • Improving the Model-View-Controller-Concept of the menu-Gadget
  • Heavily improving the usability with lots of testing and feedback from biologist(1)
  • Improving documentation

  • Integration of assembly algorithms
  • Support for different Biobrick standards
  • Direct part upload to the iGEM server

  • Process the received Blast hits

  • Some more robots to prove the concept and examples for developers

Version 0.3

Versions 0.3 will make SynBioWave attractive to even more developers by offering them the possibility to write additional robots in Python and by further simplifying the creation of robots with a SynBioWave-Eclipse-plugin. With hopefully many more robots being available at that point, this could be the first release that can be used in labs.

  • A Python implementation of the SynBioWave framework
  • An Eclipse-plugin for SynBioWave developing
  • Many, many more robots

Later Versions

  • Support for own Wave- and Robot-Servers (1)
  • All functions typically needed in Synthetic Biology (1)

(1) : currently not supported by Google Wave and/or Google AppEngine, but announced for the future.

[1] Inspired by Wikipedia. Link.


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Blog Category: Weather forecasting

A Year of Extreme Weather

Aerial view of Burlington, North Dakota inundated with flood waters from the Souris River on June 25, 2011

Guest blog post by Assistant Administrator for Weather Services and Director of the National Weather Service Dr. Jack Hayes

As the extreme weather year of 2011 comes to a close, I want to reflect back on this year’s events and look ahead at ways to reduce the devastating impacts of weather on our society.

Crippling snowstorms in the Northeast and Midwest, violent tornadoes in the South, massive river flooding in the Central U.S., Hurricane Irene in the mid-Atlantic, and the epic drought in the Southern Plains accompanied by heat waves and devastating wildfires in some areas have all combined to make this a record-breaking year.

This is the first year since NOAA began keeping records that 12 separate weather events each caused more than $1 billion in damage.   The real story is not the number of events, but the severity of the impacts. Total economic losses from these 12 events have reached nearly $52 billion, and there have been more than 1000 weather-related death this year.

Could some of these deaths have been prevented; could the economic losses be reduced?   I think so and that is why we have launched a new initiative to build a Weather-Ready Nation.  This effort is designed to improve America’s responsiveness to weather events with the ultimate goal of saving more lives and livelihoods.

Nation’s Newest Environmental Satellite Successfully Launched

An arc of light illuminates the pre-dawn sky at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., as a Delta II rocket launches with the NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) spacecraft payload.

NPP is vital for NOAA’s weather forecast mission

America’s newest polar-orbiting satellite roared into orbit this morning, setting the stage for enhanced weather data NOAA scientists will use to develop life-saving severe weather forecasts days in advance.

The NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) satellite was launched from Vandenberg Air Force, Calif., at 2:48 a.m. PDT aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket. At approximately 3:45 a.m. PDT, the spacecraft separated from the Delta II to the delight of NOAA and NASA officials.

NPP is a NASA Earth-observing satellite and features five new instruments that will collect more detailed information about Earth’s atmosphere, land and oceans.  NASA will use NPP as a research mission, while NOAA will use the data for short and long-term weather forecasting and environmental monitoring.

“This year has been one for the record books for severe weather,” said Dr. Jane Lubchenco, under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “The need for improved data from NPP and the next generation satellite system under development by NASA and NOAA has never been greater.  They will enhance our ability to alert the public with as much lead time as possible.”

In 2011, data from polar-orbiting satellites like NPP allowed emergency managers and communities to prepare for severe weather events . Five days before a destructive and deadly tornado outbreak in Alabama and parts of the Southeast in April, NOAA forecasters were able to see the early atmospheric signs of the storm system developing and issue timely warnings.  NOAA  full release


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Wild Animal Rescue

At a center outside Urbino, strong bonds form between man and animal.

Maurizio Saltarelli opens a shoe box and reaches in. The baby porcupine is so small it is able to fit, literally, in the palm of Saltarelli’s hand. It is time to feed the animal—again. An orphan whose mother was killed in an accident, the porcupine needs to eat every two hours.

Maurizio Saltarelli enjoys a little playtime with a baby porcupine.

Maurizio Saltarelli enjoys a little playtime with a baby porcupine.

But first Saltarelli gives the patient a reassuring tickle. The porcupine grins slightly. With the friendly recreation done, the animal is at ease and can enjoy its meal: a small chunk of cat food. Saltarelli delivers it by hand.

This interaction between man and animal, protector and dependent, is repeated over and again 24 hours a day and seven days a week at the Centro di Recupero Animali Selvatici, the Center for Wild Animal Rescue. The secluded, 6,400-acre facility sits at the end of a tooth-jarringly bumpy dirt road 10 kilometers outside of Urbino. Three employees and four volunteers dedicate their time and effort to make sure animals are healthy and secure. Since it was established in 2009, the center has taken in an average of 1,500 animals a year. They include raptors, wolves, foxes, wild boar, deer, turtles, and the occasional baby porcupine.

The center’s director is Lamberto Feduzi, 54, whose passion for protecting animals began when he was a ranger 22 years ago. He explains that the facility’s first priority is the daily care and feeding of animals recuperating in cages, pens, rooms, and cardboard boxes around the compound. But the center is also on call 24 hours a day to pick up injured or deceased animals anywhere within the Pesaro Urbino province. A government veterinarian determines whether each animal is well enough for recovery at the center or needs to be kept in a veterinary office.

Injured hawk

An injured hawk begins its road to recovery by first eating a meal.

Because Feduzi also holds a position with the Provincial Police, he says he cannot tend to all the center’s animals personally. He is grateful to have the help of devoted volunteers and employees, including Saltarelli, who lives near the center and has worked there since the doors opened in 2009.

Sometime after looking in on the porcupine, Saltarelli turns his attention to a box containing a black bird who needs help eating because of a broken beak. He uses two fingers to gently open the beak, then replaces his fingers with a set of tweezers. He inserts the young animal’s gourmet meal of ground pigeon meat. Satisfied that the bird has eaten enough, he places it back in its box.

Lamberto Feduzi

Lamberto Feduzi cleans out the box of bird who is ready to eat.

Saltarelli’s favorite animals are raptors, eagles in particular. “They are noble animals,” he says. “And there are so many ways for them to be hurt in civilization.”
A raptor, in fact, is Saltarelli’s next stop. He heads over to the same room that houses the porcupine. It is full of cardboard boxes containing owls, fowl, and a hawk that has a broken right claw. Hawks use their claws to catch prey; in the wild, this bird would not be able to survive.

Saltarelli opens the large brown box; the hawk is distressed. Using tweezers, Saltarelli manages to give the bird most of the meal. As he lifts the hawk and returns it to the box, the bird clutches a last bit of meat with his left claw—a hopeful sign.

But when he returns a little later to check on the hawk, Saltarelli finds that it has not been able to eat that final portion on its own. He helps the bird finish his meal, feeding it by hand.

Many of the animals cared for by the center will heal, be released back to their natural habitats, and thrive. Will this lame hawk be lucky enough to one day fly away from its temporary cardboard nest and its friendly human protector? Saltarelli must hope so, but it’s impossible to predict—and he doesn’t have time to think about such questions.

Soon enough, it will again be time to check on the porcupine.

About Zuogwi Reeves

The experience here will truly be cherished. I am very proud and privileged to meet Wolf Blizter and learn the culture of Italy.


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We bring engaging industry leaders from around the world, a format which combines inspirational talks with lively, hands-on workshops, and a flexible ticket structure that lets you immerse yourself in the whole event, or just the days most relevant to you. Not to mention that the venue - and even the food! - are an experience in themselves. This is a UX conference with a difference.

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An understanding of human behaviour is the bread and butter of all good user experience designers, so on People day we'll be considering the value of research and how to undertake it more efficiently. We'll also be looking at how using behavioural psychology and cognitive biases as part of the design process can create delightful digital experiences.

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User experience designers are increasingly being tasked with working across new and emerging platforms, so Platform day is your opportunity to immerse yourself in the latest advances around mobile, desktop and Smart TV experiences. Our speakers will share insights on seeing each platform not as a series of separate devices, but as a holistic whole.

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VenueTrinity Laban

This is is a venue like no other. Designed by the architects behind the Turbine Hall and Beijing Olympic Stadium, the RIBA Award-winning building is the perfect setting for three days of pure design inspiration.

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Colorado Cycling Industry Jobs

Do you have a cycling related job in Colorado or the Boulder/Denver area that needs to be filled, Let us know all about the Job!. Let the employer know you saw the ad on 303Cycling.. Posting your job here is free but help us by providing us with as much details about the jobs as possible like (description, location, requirements, contact, etc.) Also, please consider our Job's Policy Guidelines
  • Mechanical Assemblers - Wheels Mfg
    Post date: Sat, 01/24/2015 - 07:35

    Compensation: $10 per hour
    Mechanical Assemblers needed for Cycling mfg in Louisville
    F/t or P/t temporary position for 12-24 weeks . Day shift.

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    Job to start ASAP. Contact dbatka@wheelsmfg.com


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Friday, May 14, 2010

Dick Allen article

From Garage Magazine

The origin of the custom chopper is a mysterious one, its history lost in a haze of drugs, sex and the illicit free-spirit. It’s a story that is not documented, save word of mouth and small town tales passed down from one person to the next and then ultimately, one generation to the next. Many have claimed to be the ﬁrst to do this or that and we can never be too sure about who’s telling the truth, but there is one early pioneer who can undeniably be credited for elevating it all from just a chopped-up bike to a Custom Bike – and that’s Dick Allen.

Allen is an obscure legend among genuine bike builders. His obsession with riding and perfecting the chopper led him to create ingenious products but his lack of entrepreneurship, his voracious appetite for partying and a persistent trail of bad luck prevented him from ever making any money or becoming established as the preeminent chopper builder that he should have been. But maybe that’s the way he wanted it.

Dick was born in Rockford, Illinois in 1937 and began working in a motorcycle shop as a teenager where he immediately fell in love with bikes. He moved to Los Angeles in the summer of 1965 with his second wife and their two boys because the year-round good weather there was a much more ideal place for riding choppers than Illinois. He was a biker through and through – while others worked on creating their hard-ass biker mage, it all came naturally for Dick – it was in his blood. He loved to ride. He was always in front of the pack. He rode hard and fast and lived the same way. Dick was the epitome of the wild, crazy biker who loved to party and went wherever his chopper would take him and when it broke down, he stopped to ﬁx it. He would round up his posse and ride cross country, park at a rest stop, sleep right next to his bike and move onto the next town the next morning.

Once Dick got to Los Angeles, he worked on bikes out of a small shop in Manhattan Beach. There, he got the idea to create a springer front-end from the ground up instead of just extending Harley Davidson springers the way everyone else was. While chopper history is not very clear on this point, most will agree that Dick Allen was probably the ﬁrst to make an aftermarket, narrow springer – from 3 inches to 36 inches longer than stock. Some will argue that they were the best custom front-ends ever made. He set up his machining to do a few of these at a time but wasn’t prepared for manufacturing them on a large scale and making any money from his creation. He used chromoly steel and heli-arched the legs together. These were expensive to make and he felt bad about charging what they really cost to make them. His weakness for bikes combined with his lack of business savvy led him to sell these springers for about $100 less than what they were worth. Dick couldn’t keep up with the growing demand for his springers, so others who had the money and good business sense started producing them in mass quantities and charged a lot of money for them. This would become a recurring and all-to-common theme throughout Allen’s life.

Beyond this missed opportunity, he moved onto the next cool thing; the Dick Allen Exhaust – a creation that moved the two standard exhaust pipes into one mufﬂer, now known as the Two-Into-One. He was the ﬁrst to produce this gem of custom chopper parts on a small scale, but was once again trumped by others who had the means to produce cheaper knock-offs. Dick Allen was a great bike builder, but he never truly focused on how he could make a living from his passion and incredible skill. Dick’s love of riding propelled him to look for ways of improving the machines he rode and built parts for. But he never copyrighted an invention, leaving the door wide open for others to steal his ideas over and over again. With the little money he was making from the front-ends and exhaust systems, Dick opened a small shop on Artesia Blvd. in Redondo Beach. He, along with a few other bike builders in the area, became known as the South Bay group. Chuck Pilkington (a.k.a. “Outlaw Chuckie”) started working for Dick when he ﬁrst moved to Los Angeles and continued to work for him until he died. Chuck was Dick’s main mechanic and became one of his closest friends, covering many miles on rides across the States and Canada. Chuck watched other people repeatedly steal Dick’s thunder from him. Chuck explains, “He was very bitter about it on the inside but he still

always managed to party hard and have a good time. Dick was a hell of an inventor but his partying did get in the way.” Soon after Dick opened his ﬁ rst shop, he was arrested for possession of marijuana. Of a ﬁ ve-year sentence, he only served half a year in prison, but that was long enough to lose his shop. Dick would go to jail a few more times, but being the consummate biker, he never gave up on his dream of working on choppers and making them perform better. Eventually, Dick opened up another shop, this time in Gardena, CA and Chuck was right by his side. There, he went on to adapt a belt drive used on blowers to the Harley driveline. The belt drive system was not a new idea, but making one that actually worked right was Dick’s focus. He ultimately made the ﬁ rst belt drive for a Harley-Davidson V-Twin. Soon after that, to remain consistent with the Dick Allen legacy, these belt drives started showing up everywhere while Dick struggled to round up enough money to manufacture them, himself. His next innovation was a mag wheel for bikes. He made a few prototypes but, once again, couldn’t come up with the money to produce them and, as par for the course, someone else did. As the story goes, one of the mag wheels was stolen from Dick’s shop, only to mysteriously reappear after it was copied and in production.

Dick seemed pretty resilient to all these business heart-breaks, bouncing back each time with a new innovation that only made choppers better for everyone who really appreciated them. But there was one incident from which Dick would not be able to recover from. In the early Eighties, he was hit while riding his beloved bike, Locomotion. A woman driving a car hit him so hard, she broke the engine loose from the bike and severed his leg from the knee down. By a strange stroke of luck, the accident took place at the intersection of Crenshaw and Carson and Dick landed in the Los Angeles Fire Department’s front yard – probably the only reason he survived the gruesome accident. To add insult to injury, Dick was served with divorce papers while recovering in the hospital. Dick’s life just started falling apart: he lost his shop, his wife and he was no longer able to ride again. For Dick, that was the biggest loss of all. Shortly after his hospital stay, Dick ended up in prison again and moved into a guest bedroom in Pilkington’s house upon his release. Besides taking his leg, the horrible accident also left him with a serious head injury that caused seizures. Refusing to take medication to control the seizures, Dick passed away in his sleep on August 20, 1983.

In a perfect world, there should be a complete line of Dick Allen aftermarket products; from front ends, to belt drives to exhaust systems and wheels and Allen should have been very successful because of these innovations. But the world is rarely perfect and this was not Dick’s fate. His intense passion for bikes was outweighed by his love of partying and living the carefree biker lifestyle – the lifestyle that eventually killed him. He’s the guy in the biker world who everyone knew, but never received proper recognition for his contributions. Maybe he would prefer it that way; the bad-ass outlaw who would remain one of the most beloved, tragic ﬁgures of the real Chopper Movement.

  1. hi brother GG was pretty cool too.

  2. See kids? Don't smoke the marijuana cigarettes.

    ...and have a business advisor.

  3. "...and have a business advisor."

    ...and disability insurance. Furthermore, when the cops ask if they can have a quick look around the car, say NO.


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52fs: the album (Violet)

Announcing 52fs – the Violet Album.

So far on 52 Folk Songs I’ve recorded and uploaded 14 songs and two tunes, mostly but not exclusively traditional:

1        Lord Bateman (FS01)
2        The Death of Bill Brown (FS02)
3        The Unfortunate Lass (FS03)
4        The Cruel Mother (FS04)
5        Over the hills and far away
6        There are bad times just around the corner
7        My boy Jack
8        Us poor fellows
9        Down where the drunkards roll
10       Lemany (FS05)
11       Child among the weeds
12       Hegemony
13       The London Waterman (FS06) + Constant Billy
14       Spencer the Rover + Three Rusty Swords / The Dusty Miller

All of these tracks, together with a PDF file containing full lyrics plus assorted pictures, comments, musings and afterthoughts, can now be downloaded in the form of 52 Folk Songs – Violet.

52 Folk Songs – Violet is the first in a series of eight virtual ‘albums’ that will be appearing over the year. It’s yours for a token payment of 52p (you see what I did there).

Alternatively you can download the tracks individually and pay nothing at all, or just listen online.

Share and enjoy!

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6th Plymouth District: Republican Primary Election Results

Dan Webster is elected as the Republican nominee for State Representative in the 6th Plymouth district despite efforts by a write-in candidate.

“We had a lot of volunteers, we worked the phones, we worked our friends, we worked our neighbors, we got people to the polls, and we reminded them of the good conservative message that I bring to Beacon Hill each and every time I get re-elected,” says Webster

Webster has been State Representative for the 6th Plymouth district for the last ten years. The district now includes Pembroke, Hanson, and Duxbury.

He was challenged by his former aide, Karen Barry, and the race shaped up to be a tight one.

As voting results filtered in throughout the night, the amount of write-in votes were neck and neck with votes for Webster but by 9:30, Webster claimed victory,  “The rough numbers are in, there’s still some write-in ballots that haven’t been counted yet but it looks to be that we won by about 314 votes.”

Although Barry kept hope for a while longer, she eventually congratulated Webster on winning the Republican primary election, “I believe that all of us that are conservative leaning Republicans and unenrolleds support Representative Webster because of his long record of voting so well and we’re going to move forward to November. I wish him the best of luck.”

Webster’s next hurtle will be November’s election where he is challenged again by Josh Cutler who is the Democratic nominee for the State Representative 6th Plymouth district.

Duxbury  329 446 447
Duxbury – Precinct 2 80 126 130
Duxbury – Precinct 3 49 94 96
Duxbury – Precinct 4 74 85 83
Duxbury – Precinct 5 46 82 82
Duxbury – Precinct 6 80 59 56
Hanson 394   366
Pembroke 715 334 3
TOTALS 1438 780 816

About WATD Web Editor

WATD online and on-air contributors include, but are not limited to: The Associated Press, Precision Weather Forecasting, local news stringers and reporters, in-house news and internet media staff, State House and town hall reporters, freelance reporters, special feature reporters and producers, and on-air radio hosts/personnel.


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Update: A Sprint spokesperson confirmed to Cnet that it will no longer carry the iPhone 4 in its retail stores starting this Friday. While we originally thought the carrier might stop selling the device completely, it also confirmed it will continue selling it online:

“iPhone 4 will become a Web only device effective on September 21. We will certainly still be selling it,”

When Apple introduced the iPhone 5 earlier this month, starting at the usual $199 price point, the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 both received price cuts with an 8GB iPhone 4 going free on a two-year contract. Apple noted in its press release, while announcing the iPhone 5, that the free iPhone 4 would be available through select carriers only. It now looks like Sprint is one of the carriers dropping the iPhone 4 from its lineup. While the exact reason is unclear, we were sent the Sprint Phone 5 pre-launch materials above —which seem to be authentic— that appear to confirm the carrier will no longer offer the iPhone 4 starting Sept. 21 (iPhone launch day).

Perhaps Sprint feels it cannot afford to offer the device at $0 on a contract. There is a possibility the carrier will move the iPhone 4 to a Virgin-only prepaid offering, which we expect would bump the cost of the device close to the $399 price point. The device currently sells for $549 on Sprint, but that price has yet to come down following the iPhone 5 launch.

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AAS 207th Meeting, 8-12 January 2006
Session 117 SIM
Poster, Wednesday, 9:20am-6:30pm, January 11, 2006, Exhibit Hall

Previous   |   Session 117   |   Next  |   Author Index   |   Block Schedule

[117.12] Terrestrial Planets with SIM/PlanetQuest: Results from Ground-based Reconnaissance

C. McCarthy, D. A. Fischer, K. L. Tah (San Francisco State Univ.), J. Johnson, G. Marcy (U.C. Berkeley)

NASA's Space Interferometry Mission (SIM/PlanetQuest) will return unprecedented astrometric precision approaching one microarcsecond, enabling the detection of planets with masses few times the mass of the Earth around the nearest stars. About 200 nearby stars will be searched for planets by 2 research teams. To achieve such precision in narrow angle mode, SIM requires an exquisitely stable reference frame, established by distant background stars, each within 1 degree of the given target star being searched for planets. As SIM/PlanetQuest prepares for launch in 2012, ground-based work is underway to identify a set of optimal reference stars for each target star, and to remove astrometric variables from the list. We report results of our ongoing doppler survey at Keck Observatory.

If you would like more information about this abstract, please follow the link to exoplanets.org. This link was provided by the author. When you follow it, you will leave the Web site for this meeting; to return, you should use the Back comand on your browser.

Previous   |   Session 117   |   Next

Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 37 #4
© 2005. The American Astronomical Soceity.


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NY's 'Rent Too Damn High' candidate faces eviction

August 5, 2011 4:54:22 AM PDT
A candidate who ran for New York governor because "the rent is too damn high" says he's being evicted from his rent-controlled Manhattan apartment because his landlord wants to charge a new tenant more.

Jimmy McMillan tells the New York Post (http://nyp.st/p4FATp) he pays $872 for the rent-controlled East Village apartment.

He says the landlord wants him out because "my rent is too damn low."

McMillan, now planning a run for president, says he's told his lawyer to file a counter claim for $70,000. The case is pending in Housing Court.

Building owner Lisco Holdings said in court papers that McMillan violated his lease because the apartment is not his primary residence as required by rent-controlled rules. It says he lives in Brooklyn.

McMillan says that address is his office.

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OTRC: Donald Trump gets roasted by Snoop Dogg and 'The Situation' gets booed - See video

Business mogul and "Apprentice" boss Donald Trump was honored, sort of, during "The Comedy Central Roast of Donald Trump" which aired on Tuesday night. The show featured celebrities and comedians like Snoop Dogg, Marlee Matlin, Lisa Lampanelli, Whitney Cummings and Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, all lining up to take shots at Trump throughout the night.

"Donald's saying he wants to run for president and move into the White House. Why not?" Snoop Dogg said, setting up his joke, according to the New York Daily News. "It wouldn't be the first time you've pushed a black family out of their home."

The rapper performed fairly well on the show, getting both applause and laughter for jokes at the expense of trump as well as his fellow roasters.

After pretending to get "The Situation" confused with his "Jersey Shore" co-star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, the rapper quipped, "I'm sorry, all white people who act black look the same to me."

Sorrentino, however, didn't have much success with his attempt at roasting. The reality star was countiuously booed during his set as many of his jokes flopped.

"I'll say this, though, your wife is hot," one "Situation" joke began. "The best part is, she married you for love -- she loves money."

During Sorrentino's stint on the roast, fellow comedian Jeffery Ross came on stage to beg people to stop booing and let Sorrentino finish out his material. Despite the very loud audience reaction, the reality star told ," Us Weekly he didn't think he performed badly.

"My whole career people have been hard on me," Sorrentino told the magazine shortly after the roast was filmed. "But I stood in there. I got through it, and people actually clapped at the end."

In the past, celebrities like Pamela Anderson, William Shatner, Flavor Flav, Joan Rivers and David Hasselhoff have been roasted in Comedy Central specials.

Check out video of Sorrentino and Snoop Dogg's jokes below. (Warning: Contains explicit language).

(Copyright ©2015 OnTheRedCarpet.com. All Rights Reserved.)

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OTRC: Lady Gaga debuts her 'Born This Way' album cover art (Photo)

Lady Gaga appears in an undated photo from her official website. (LadyGaga.com)

Lady Gaga took to Twitter to debut the album cover art for her upcoming "Born This Way" album, which is set for release on May 23, 2011.

The cover, which depicts Gaga as a woman/motorcycle hybrid was shot by British fashion photographer Nick Knight. The singer counted down to the big reveal on the social networking site.

"5 MINUTES. 'Get your hot rods ready to rumble," Gaga wrote on Twitter, "cause' we're gonna drink until we die.'- HIGHWAY UNICORN (ROAD TO LOVE)."

On April 15, Gaga, 25, debuted the second single from her upcoming album, "Judas," which is already No. 1 on the iTunes Charts, booting Katy Perry's "E.T." out of the top spot.

Fox's "Glee" will be airing their "Born This Way" episode on Tuesday, April 19. In the episode, the main characters will be forced to deal with their insecurities.

Gaga is currently on tour promoting the upcoming album. She released the title single from the record earlier this year and has recorded several versions, including a country one.

Check Lady Gaga's tour dates (get tickets).

April 12, 2011 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Bank Atlantic Center
April 13, 2011 - Miami, FL, American Airlines Arena
April 15, 2011 - Orlando, FL, Amway Arena
April 16, 2011 - Tampa, FL, St. Pete Times Forum
April 18, 2011 - Atlanta, GA, Gwinnett Center
April 19, 2011 - Nashville, TX, Bridgestone Arena
April 22, 2011 - Newark, NJ, Prudential Center
April 23, 2011 - Uniondale, NY, Nassau Coliseum
April 25, 2011 - QC, Canada, Bell Centre Montreal
April 27, 2011 - Cleveland, OH, Quicken Loans Arena
May 3, 2011 - Guadalajara, MEX, Estadio 3 de Marzo
May 5, 2011 - Mexico City, MEX, Foro Sol
May 6, 2011 - Mexico City, MEX, Foro Sol

Check out Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" album cover below.

(Copyright ©2015 OnTheRedCarpet.com. All Rights Reserved.)

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Team USA arrives in Brazil ready to make history

Late Monday morning, Team USA arrived in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to acclimate to the South American climate and continue preparations for their first game, June 16th, against Ghana, game time is 5 PM CT.

A month long training camp that featured 3 consecutive wins is what we hope will help them defeat a team they have had little success over in the last two World Cups. Jurgen Klinsmann, the former German great, has the Americans as prepared for this World Cup as they can be.

Most of the men on this squad know they are the underdog's and they prefer it that way. So maybe they can sneak up on Portugal when the two teams meet on June 22nd. Or maybe they can beat Germany on June 26th. They CAN beat Ghana. They must believe that. If they lose to Ghana, they will not get to the round of 16.

Wednesday, we will talk about Germany and Spain, the two teams I think will play for the solid gold trophy on July 13th.

World Cup Blog Archive

Since joining ABC7 in 1982, Jim Rose has become a major force in Chicago sports broadcasting. He currently serves as sports anchor/reporter for ABC7 News in Chicago's top-rated 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. newscasts. He is an avid fan of the World Cup! Learn more about Jim
Related Topics:
sports FIFA fifa world cup World Cup Jim Rose World Cup Daily Wrap

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Have You Undergone Divorce Counseling?

Reality TV stars Jon and Kate Gosselin have announced they will separate. He has refused marriage counseling, but some psychologists say divorce counseling would help the couple split in a way that would have the best outcome for their eight children.

Have you ever gone through divorce counseling? What was your experience?

ABCNews.com wants to hear from you. Please share your story by filling out the form below. A producer may contact you for more information.

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Texas Pro-Gun Crusaders Take Extreme Open Carry Approach

Members of Open Carry Texas brazenly carry assault rifles in public to promote gun rights.
8:11 | 06/26/14

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Transcript for Texas Pro-Gun Crusaders Take Extreme Open Carry Approach
It seems more Americans are packing heat in public. And now members of a new group are bringing their guns with them everywhere, not only to rallies, but to stores, even family dinner. They're certainly making waves with this approach to bearing arms, but are their civil liberties encroaching on public safety? Reporter: Just imagine you're sitting down to dinner with your family at a restaurant, when in walks a handful of men, armed with assault rifles. Are you frightened? 911, what is the emergency? I seen four white men walking towards the jack in the box with assault rifle. Reporter: Angry. If a bad guy comes, there's a lot of good guys here to protect me. Reporter: Surrounding a group of gun carrying activists, flexing their legal right to bear arms. This is probably the safest corner in San Antonio right now. Reporter: They call themselves open carry texans. Their enthusiasm for packing heat in public has led national chains ask customers to love their weapons at home. But what they're doing is legal. Gun control activists detest it. You're ammo sexuals. Reporter: Far more than a punchline, open carry Texas has become the hype in the sand between those in America who fear guns for violent use and those who fear losing their guns. Everybody say freedom! Freedom! This is sort of my around the house ar-15. Reporter: I've never heard it phrased that way. This is the man behind open carry Texas. Master sergeant C.J. Grisham. A 20-year U.S. Army veteran and father of three. He keeps his own arsenal of assault rifles in his bedroom close et. All my weapons is always loaded. It's just a beating stick if'9"'s not loaded. Reporter: He said one traumatic event was the spark that ignited it. I was arrest ed last year. Reporter: He said he had that rifle to protect them from wild animals. A police officer approached. Some reason why you have this? Because I can. Reporter: Since carrying a rifle is legal in Texas, he believes what happened next is illegal. At that point, he stuck his head to my gun and threw me to the car. Reporter: His son videotaped the arrest. His father later convicted of interfering with police duty. My son had to watch this whole thing. Did Y Reporter: He said he's state battling the demons from tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. The arrest triggered one of the worst episodes of PTSD he's ever endured. I've always been a gun rights advocate, but this turned me into an activist. Reporter: That arrest video took off and a movement was born. The first flag we ever had ordered. Reporter: With a goal to expand open carry rights in Texas. While it's legal to carry so-called long guns like ar-15s, state law prohibits the open carry of hand guns. He wears a plastic pistol every day to symbolize his fight to expand open carry laws. That's the bottom line for you, the right to openly carry a pistol. Right. Once we get that, we won't be walking around with rifles. But we should have that opportunity. Reporter: Nearly every week, dprisham, his wife and often 1 and -- 1 and 16-year-old hit the road. This night he invited us to a rally in San Antonio. Here are people with guns that are not shooting up schools. I realize there are people that have what I call an irrational fear of guns. Reporter: He stressed the fact that he always calls ahead to alert police about his marches. We meet nearly two dozen supporters, men and women, gun lovers of every raise. So often when these events are covered by the media, I may see this gentlemen or that gentleman, but I don't see you there. My house was robbed about four months ago. The police did nothing. Therefore, it's my duty to protect my family. Crime has no color. Reporter: Open carry members waving and passing out flyers. Most motorists are supportive. But some -- what do you think of these guys? They're Nuts. What do you think? Reporter: I'm a journalist. Run away. What did they do? Reporter: Amidst the smiles, there is hardline rhetoric, deep contemperature for those who see the spike in mass murdering as a cause for greater gun control. Instead of standing on the bodies of those dead shoulders as a soap box and trying to reign in gun rights, there's more people killed by hammers and fists than by firearms. Reporter: Actually, the hatest data shows that firearms are responsible for 69% of homicides in America. Clubs and fists, 9%. But the nation's gun debate is far more than statistics. It's emotion, mass murder that cannot be easily explained away, from Aurora to sandy hook. One line of reasoning one might think is someone like yourself who has seen the results of what can happen when a gun is used against another human being, but you might be more inclined than the average person to want to restrict who has access to that kind of power. No, I don't see it that way. I'm sure some people probably do. Reporter: He spoke to us openly about his battle with PTSD, including the memories of the seven people he says he killed in combat. I can picture exactly how that person fell. How that person, you know, limped off or tried to get away. Reporter: For those that would hear that part of your journey and say here's someone that understands better than most the demons that can exist with mental health issues. Going back to my PTSD, regardless of everything I've been Thu and how I felt, I never once reached for a gun. The way to deal with a mentally disturbed person with a gun is a sane person with a gun. Reporter: Of course, gun control advocates disagree. Right now open carry Texas is at the center of a massive petition movement led by a group called moms demand action for gun sense in America. There's no background check required. There's no training required. And there's no licensing required. So anyone can be walking around with one of these long guns and they carry them rnld loaded. Reporter: Carolyn is part of the movement pressuring stars like target and Home Depot to ban open carry this their stores. Companies need to provide a safe environment for consumers. Reporter: But Grisham and supporters believe more guns means greater safety, and his movement is growing. Gun owner by gun owner. Anybody want a flag or t-shirt? As long as there are people that don't think law abiding citizens should have guns, this is going to be a struggle that's going to go on forever. Reporter: For "Nightline," Byron pits, in San Antonio. Up next, one minute he's

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

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