Thanks Duke for all the craziness and terriffic pictures, take care of yourself and come back when you can. I always enjoy your posts.:cool:
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Thanks Duke for all the craziness and terriffic pictures, take care of yourself and come back when you can. I always enjoy your posts.:cool:
The human soul has still greater need of the ideal than of the real. It is by the real that we exist; it is by the ideal that we live.
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Duke, you are truly a wonderful individual. Thank you for sharing with us. I do look forward to more of spirit and generosity.
Enjoy your time away and remember, you will always have a place here.
Keeping the light on for Duke,
F$
I have joined my small crunching with you. Is not a river flowing, not even a small one, only some small drops, dreaming that they one day will be an Ocean.
Each drop dream is kept alive because understands that to achieve the ocean requires faith and belief, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. And always remember all things are possible for those who believe. The Ocean is down there, I am almost there ... We are almost there ... I will make it ... we will make it .. we will be the Ocean ... I believe ...
Duke
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Black and White
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These are nice!
So nice pictures it is. :D
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Best Rare-Bird Pictures of 2010 Named
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Asian Crested Ibis
Photograph courtesy Quan Min Li via The World's Rarest Birds
A picture of an endangered Asian crested ibis soaring over China is a first-prize winner in the first annual World's Rarest Birds international photo competition, organizers announced in January.
Launched in 2010, the competition ranked pictures of birds that fall into three categories determined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature: endangered or data deficient, critically endangered or extinct in the wild, and critically endangered migratory species.
The above shot took top honors in the "endangered or data deficient" category. The Asian crested ibis once thrived in Russia, Japan, and China, but its population has shrunk to about 250 in China's Shaanxi Province. Agricultural activities have probably affected the bird by reducing available feeding grounds, according to the World's Rarest Birds website.
(Related: "Birds in 'Big Trouble' Due to Drugs, Fishing, More.")
A panel of five independent judges—including two wildlife photographers, a wildlife artist, a citizen interested in birds, and a book editor—rated the entries on image quality, subject rarity, and aesthetics. Winning images will be featured in the book The World’s Rarest Birds, to be published in 2012 by WILDGuides.
The book's "key message is poignant—a large proportion of the world's birds, including every one depicted, is threatened with extinction," Andy Swash, managing director of WILDGuides, said in a statement.
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Scaly-Sided Merganser
Photograph courtesy Martin Hale via The World's Rarest Birds
Two endangered scaly-sided mergansers glide across the water in a picture that won fifth place in the "endangered or data deficient" category.
Habitat loss and illegal hunting have reduced the bird's population to about 2,500 individuals in Russia and China, according to the nonprofit BirdLife International.
Overall, the competition received photos that represent 90 percent of the 566 rarest bird species. (Related picture: "Rare Bird Gets Own 'Luxury' Beach.")
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Forest Owlet
Photograph courtesy Jayesh K. Joshi via The World's Rarest Birds
A picture of central India's forest owlet earned fourth place in the "critically endangered or extinct in the wild" category.
The species lives in a severely fragmented forest habitat that continues to be destroyed, according to the nonprofit BirdLife International.
(See photo: "'Strange Owl' Seen in Wild for First Time.")
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Red-Crowned Crane
Photograph courtesy Huajin Sun via The World's Rarest Birds
Named a second place winner in the "endangered or data-deficient" category, the above picture shows a red-crowned crane making a courtship display.
Though the bird's population is stable in Japan, the mainland Asian population is declining due to habitat loss and degradation of wetlands for agriculture and development, according to BirdLife International.
(Related: "Ugandan Cranes Declining Due to 'Witch Doctors.'")
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Orange-Bellied Parrot
Photograph courtesy David Boyle via The World's Rarest Birds
This "touching image" of two orange-bellied parrots won the category for critically endangered migrating birds, according to a World's Rarest Birds contest statement.
The small parrot breeds only in southwestern Tasmania (see map) and migrates to southeastern Australia in the winter, where agriculture and development are crowding out its habitat. Probably fewer than 150 animals remain in the wild, according to BirdLife International.
(Related pictures: "'Rarest of the Rare' Species Named.")
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Kakapo
Photograph courtesy Shane McInnes via The World's Rarest Birds
One of the rarest birds of all is New Zealand's kakapo. The above picture of the large, flightless bird approaching the camera snagged first place in the "critically endangered or extinct in the wild" category.
Only 124 animals remain in the wild—the species has been largely wiped out by introduced predatory mammals such as feral cats.
(Related: "BO Attracting Predators to Birds.")
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Honduran Emerald
Photograph courtesy Robert E. Hyman via The World's Rarest Birds
A photograph of a Honduran emerald perched on a branch earned fifth place in the "critically endangered or extinct in the wild" category.
Found only in Honduras, the hummingbird exists in an "extremely small and severely fragmented range," which is declining due to habitat loss, according to BirdLife International.
(See "World's Fastest Flyer Is a Hummingbird?")
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Palila
Photograph courtesy Eric A. VanderWerf via The World's Rarest Birds
A "superb study" of a palila in Hawaii received sixth place in the "critically endangered or extinct in the wild" category, according to a World's Rarest Birds contest statement.
Habitat loss, cat predation, and drought have contributed to the species' ongoing decline in its native Hawaii. The bird's numbers are expected to plummet by 97 percent over the next 14 years, according to BirdLife International.
(See "Alien-Wasp Swarms Devouring Birds, Bugs in Hawaii.")
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Christmas Island Frigatebird
Photograph courtesy David Boyle via The World's Rarest Birds
A picture of a Christmas Island frigatebird flying over the Indian Ocean snagged third place in the "critically endangered or extinct in the wild" category.
The bird, found only on the Australian territory of Christmas Island (map), is disappearing due to habitat loss, phosphate mining, marine pollution, and overfishing, among other causes.
(See pictures: "Crab Swarms Overtake Island—Mystery Solved.")
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Brazilian Merganser
Photograph courtesy Savio Freire Bruno via The World's Rarest Birds
A "captivating" photo of a Brazilian merganser and her ducklings won second prize in the "critically endangered or extinct in the wild" category, according to a World's Rarest Birds contest statement.
In a sign of hope for the species, recent data from Brazil suggest that the merganser's status is better than previously thought, according to BirdLife International.
(See "Bizarre Gelatinous Fish Found in Brazil.")
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Great Indian Bustard
Photograph courtesy Csaba Barkoczi via The World's Rarest Birds
A shot of the Great Indian bustard in mid-flight snagged fourth place in the "endangered or data deficient" category.
Widespread hunting for sport and food in India is driving the bird to extinction, according to BirdLife International.
(See "Watching "Sexy" Males Leads to Better Chicks, Study Says.")
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Marvellous Spatuletail
Photograph courtesy Daniel Rosengren via The World's Rarest Birds
The third place winner in the "endangered or data deficient" category is a picture of Peru's marvellous spatuletail. (Watch video of the rare bird's courtship display.)
A "stunning" hummingbird restricted to just two sites, the bird's population is estimated to be less than a thousand, and it's decreasing due to deforestation for cash crops such as marijuana and coffee, according to a World's Rarest Birds contest statement.
(See "Cocaine to Blame for Rain Forest Loss, Study Says.")
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Together, by Jan Zajc
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untitled, by Bonali Giuseppe
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Frog beetle ready for take-off, by Alfred Preuss
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Ants climbing tree, by Uros Kotnik
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Water striders, by Clay Bolt
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Eyes of a Holcocephala fusca Robber Fly, by Thomas Shahan
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Eight-legged vaudeville, by Rick Lieder
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untitled, by Igor Siwanowicz
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Eucharitid wasp, by Rundstedt B. Rovillos
More nice photos at http://myrmecos.wordpress.com/2009/1...hotos-of-2009/
Every day we should hear at least one little song, read one good poem, see one exquisite picture, and, if possible, speak a few sensible words.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
My crown is called content, a crown that seldom kings enjoy.
William Shakespeare
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Phyllocrania paradoxa, the ghost mantis, is an African insect that has become common in the pet trade.
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Orthodera ministralis - Australian Garden Mantis. The small wing pads indicate this individual is not yet mature.
Melbourne, Australia
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Orthodera ministralis - Australian Garden Mantis
Melbourne, Australia
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An Australian Garden Mantis Orthodera ministralis cleans pollen from her foot.
Melbourne, Australia
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Mantises consume their prey alive. This chinese mantid Tenodera aridifolia tore apart and ate this fruit fly in a matter of minutes.
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Tenodera aridifolia - chinese mantis
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Portrait of a young chinese mantis, Tenodera aridifolia
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Stagmomantis carolina, the carolina mantis.
Urbana, Illinois, USA
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A newly hatched Stagmomantis carolina surveys the world.
Urbana, Illinois, USA
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Stagmomantis carolina, the carolina mantis.
Urbana, Illinois, USA
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Preying mantises are meticulously clean insects. Here, a female carolina mantis, Stagmomantis carolina, grooms a hindleg.
Urbana, Illinois, USA
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A tree-dwelling mantis emerges from the moss in an Ecuadorian cloud forest.
Maquipucuna reserve, Pichincha, Ecuador
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“It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.”
William Blake
Birds of Paradise
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Count Raggi's Bird of Paradise
Photograph by James P. Blair
The Count Raggi's bird of paradise is the national bird of Papua New Guinea.
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Lesser Bird of Paradise
Photograph by Tim Laman
The male lesser bird of paradise, like others in its genus, has beautiful plumage, which he displays to females in an elaborate courtship dance
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Princess Stephanie's Bird of Paradise
Photograph by Robert Sisson
Also known as a paradise magpie, Princess Stephanie's birds of paradise wear striking black feathers.
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Ribbon-Tailed Bird of Paradise
Photograph by Robert Sisson
Divas of the avian world, elaborately feathered birds of paradise, like this ribbon-tailed species, practice elaborate courtship rituals.
Baby Animals
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Baby Harp Seal
Photograph by Norbert Rosing
A baby harp seal rests on the Arctic ice. Its mother can distinguish it from hundreds of others by scent alone.
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Baby Asian Elephant in Tall Grass
Photograph by William Albert Allard
Baby elephants are born big, standing approximately three feet (one meter) tall and weighing 200 pounds (91 kilograms) at birth. They nurse for two to three years, and are fully mature at 9 (females) to 15 (males) years of age.
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Lynx and Cub
Photograph by Norbert Rosing
Lynxes are known for the black tufts of fur on the tips of their ears.
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Black Bear Mother and Cub
Photograph by Norbert Rosing
Mother black bears are notoriously protective of their cubs, who stay with their mothers for about two years.
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Leopard Cub Playing With Mother's Tail
Photograph by Beverly Joubert
Usually solitary animals, leopard cubs live with their mothers for two years, learning how to hunt. Cubs are born in pairs and are grayish with no discernible spots.
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Bobcat Kitten in the Wild
Photograph by Hope Ryden
Bobcat kittens are born in litters of one to six and will stay with their mother for up to one year before heading off on their own.
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Polar Bear Mother With Cub
Photograph by Norbert Rosing
Dutiful mothers, female polar bears usually give birth to twin cubs, which stay with her for more than two years until they can hunt and survive on their own.
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Cheetah Mother and Cubs
Photograph by Chris Johns
Cheetah mothers typically give birth to a litter of three cubs, all of which will stay with her for one and a half to two years before venturing off on their own. When interacting with her cubs, cheetah mothers purr, just like domestic cats.
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Black Bear Cub
Photograph by Robert Caputo
Black bears are excellent climbers, scaling trees to play, hide, eat, and even hibernate.
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Crocodile Cracks Its Shell
Photograph by Steve Winter
Female crocs lay their eggs in clutches of 20 to 60. After the eggs have incubated for about three months, the mother opens the nest and helps her young out of their shells.
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Sometimes when I feel the will to give up
and I am lost for a small while
A light comes to me
and I understand.
We are not alone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DB7fnZ-AQNE&feature=related
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Mount Bromo, Indonesia
Photograph by Helminadia Caryati
This Month in Photo of the Day: Traveler Contest Images
Taken in the morning at Mount Bromo, East Java, Indonesia
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Portrait, Brazil
Photograph by Geralyn Shukwit
This Month in Photo of the Day: Traveler Contest Images
Christiane, a child of the "roofless" movement in Salvador, Brazil. A beautiful spirit living a life not hers by choice, but she brings love and light to all around her.
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Svartifoss, Iceland
Photograph by Giacomo Ciangottini
This Month in Photo of the Day: Traveler Contest Images
Svartifoss (Black Fall) is surrounded by the dark lava columns that gave rise to its name. The hexagonal columns were formed inside a lava flow that cooled extremely slowly, giving rise to crystallization. Skaftafell National Park, Iceland.
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Monkeys, Indonesia
Photograph by Suhaimi Abdullah
This Month in Photo of the Day: Traveler Contest Images
The wild offspring stares while the elders rummage through a pile of rubbish for food in Tawangmangu, Solo, Indonesia.
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Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Photograph by Ignazio Sciacca
This Month in Photo of the Day: Traveler Contest Images
After spending two months in the beautiful city of Rio de Janeiro with carioca people, samba, and lots of caipirinhas, finally there was a perfect day to go up to Sugarloaf Mountain and take this picture.
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Petra, Jordan
Photograph by Bhaven Jani
This Month in Photo of the Day: Traveler Contest Images
Petra, the magical ancient land in Jordan, turns almost mystical by night. Candle lamps guide visitors down the mile-long Siq, and when you reach Al Khazneh, it is overwhelming to see this sight. People are gathered around these candles spread out in front of the Treasury while musicians play soulful music.
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Buick, Cuba
Photograph by James Kao
This Month in Photo of the Day: Traveler Contest Images
The National Highway in Cuba has many stretches where you will not see another car for miles. Then when you do see one, it is an old classic like this 1950s Buick, which looks at home on the open road with the Cuban landscape of fields and mountains in the distance.
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Claustral Canyon, Australia
Photograph by Carsten Peter, National Geographic
This Month in Photo of the Day: Adventure and Exploration Photos
Veteran guide John Robens (at far left) leads a soggy team through a moss-covered passage in Claustral Canyon, a few hours' hike from their exit point. Canyoneering is all about the serendipity of discovery, he says. "You walk for miles and suddenly you find yourself in this magical spot."
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Mountain Biker, South Africa
Photograph by Guy Anderson, Your Shot
This Month in Photo of the Day: Adventure and Exploration Photos
The town of Hilton in South Africa is known for its misty weather, which came out in full force for an annual mountain bike classic. The unusually wet winter's day challenged competitors with muddy tracks, low visibility, and an icy wind. I battled to just keep my camera dry, and after failing to obtain sharp images through the haze, I took a step back and framed this shot, which captures the adventurous rider tackling the harsh environment.
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Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
Photograph by George Steinmetz, National Geographic
This Month in Photo of the Day: Adventure and Exploration Photos
On the eastern margin of Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, expedition cars attempt to cross the flats after flooding from heavy March rains.
This is an important lesson to remember when you're having a bad day, a bad month, or a shitty year.
Things will change: you won't feel this way forever.
And anyway, sometimes the hardest lessons to learn are the ones your soul needs most.
I believe you can't feel real joy unless you've felt heartache.
You can't have a sense of victory unless you know what it means to fail.
You can't know what it's like to feel holy until you know what it's like to feel really fucking evil.
And you can't be birthed again until you've died.
TIME 2010 Best Pictures
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Today, more than ever before, life must be characterized by a sense of Universal responsibility,
not only nation to nation and human to human,
but also human to other forms of life.
Dalai Lama
Opinions cannot survive if one has no chance to fight for them.
Paradox is the poisonous flower of quietism, the iridescent surface of the rotting mind, the greatest depravity of all.
Thomas Mann
20 Great Reflection Pictures
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girls on horseback by Mike Baird
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reflections for the day by Dene' Miles
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Big Brass Band! by peasap
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Fire & Ice by Steve Jurvetson
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this city will squash you by Jes
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Oslo Reflections by Geraint Rowland
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tokyo by Osamu Kaneko
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Dynamic Serenity by Andrew E. Larsen
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Riffelsee by Jeffrey Pang
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Fulcro by Daniel Zedda
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Phoenix by Steve Jurvetson
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Winter puddle by chany crystal
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Reflections by Mizrak
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Quiet Times are Good. by Dennis Jarvis
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Moscow Rain Reflections Four by Geraint Rowland
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Weirdo by Todd Baker
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the bank on the bank by Jes
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Grand Tetons National Park by Frank Kovalchek
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sunset at peggy's cove by paul (dex) bica
An artist is a creature driven by demons. He doesn't know why they choose him and he's usually too busy to wonder why.
William Faulkner
A bee is never as busy as it seems; it's just that it can't buzz any slower.
Kin Hubbard
"1. Spider-Man has reflexes much faster than any human. Jesus is supposed to be a god, yes, but he's also, more importantly, a man. And Spider-Man is faster than a lot of gods, anyway, as shown by his defeat of Firelord and Thanos. Spider-Man could react really quickly to anything Jesus would like to do." -- why Spider-Man could beat Jesus, by David Henry
The nice and warm days of summer are coming. To comemorate the summer that starts today some pictures of it.
http://www.thatswhy.co.uk/wp-content...sweaty_arm.jpg
http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__...eating_guy.jpg
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http://images.travelpod.com/users/di...-as-always.jpg
http://static7.businessinsider.com/i...0000/sweat.jpg
and my BONUS
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http://www.riverbills.com/girls_of_a..._of_summer.JPG
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Happy Summer
DUKE Crazy for Summer
I am really bad at computers. I am bad as anyone can be. But somehow I love/hate computers as I should, don't you? I love them almost as I hate them. They are my worst nightmare but sometimes they come into my dream...
Video Duke vacations for a week. I will let Einstein running for the team. and I will be there for you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh8MIp2FOhc
I understand the love/hate relationship with computers. I troubleshoot system problems for a living and I often remind folks on the the real hard problems - "If it were easy, they wouldn't need us." They drive me mad, but it pays the bill and funds the computing charity hobby. Full circle.
Thanks EmSti. Meanwhile 2 things is always good to remind before going on vacations. I wanted to know your opinion on this 2 issues.
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Hippocratic Oath
Original, translated into English
I swear by Apollo, the healer, Asclepius, Hygieia, and Panacea, and I take to witness all the gods, all the goddesses, to keep according to my ability and my judgment, the following Oath and agreement:
To consider dear to me, as my parents, him who taught me this art; to live in common with him and, if necessary, to share my goods with him; To look upon his children as my own brothers, to teach them this art; and that by my teaching, I will impart a knowledge of this art to my own sons, and to my teacher's sons, and to disciples bound by an indenture and oath according to the medical laws, and no others.
I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone.
I will give no deadly medicine to any one if asked, nor suggest any such counsel; and similarly I will not give a woman a pessary to cause an abortion.
But I will preserve the purity of my life and my arts.
I will not cut for stone, even for patients in whom the disease is manifest; I will leave this operation to be performed by practitioners, specialists in this art.
In every house where I come I will enter only for the good of my patients, keeping myself far from all intentional ill-doing and all seduction and especially from the pleasures of love with women or with men, be they free or slaves.
All that may come to my knowledge in the exercise of my profession or in daily commerce with men, which ought not to be spread abroad, I will keep secret and will never reveal.
If I keep this oath faithfully, may I enjoy my life and practice my art, respected by all humanity and in all times; but if I swerve from it or violate it, may the reverse be my life.
Hello Duke the menace is back and now is time to lunch. I will post Today in History soon.
Crazy Duke
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I am having very big trouble with the computer. mainly with the xml files made by me. I will try to reinstall the system tonight. What a big ........ geez.
Duke
The Wow! signal was a strong narrowband radio signal detected by Jerry R. Ehman on August 15, 1977, while working on a SETI project at the Big Ear radio telescope of The Ohio State University then located at Ohio Wesleyan University's Perkins Observatory, Delaware, Ohio. The signal bore expected hallmarks of potential non-terrestrial and non-Solar System origin. It lasted for the full 72-second duration that Big Ear observed it, but has not been detected again. The signal has been the subject of significant media attention.
Amazed at how closely the signal matched the expected signature of an interstellar signal in the antenna used, Ehman circled the signal on the computer printout and wrote the comment "Wow!" on its side. This comment became the intensity variation of the signal. A space denotes an intensity between 0 and 1, the numbers 1 to 9 denote the correspondingly numbered intensities (from 1.000 to 10.000), and intensities of 10.0 and above are denoted by a letter ('A' corresponds to intensities between 10.0 and 11.0, 'B' to 11.0 to 12.0, etc.). The value 'U' (an intensity between 30.0 and 31.0) was the highest detected by the radio telescope, on a linear scale it was over 30 times louder than normal deep space.[1] The intensity in this case is the unitless signal-to-noise ratio, where noise was averaged for that band over the previous few minutes.
Two different values for its frequency have been given: 1420.356 MHz (J. D. Kraus) and 1420.4556 MHz (J. R. Ehman). The frequency 1420 is significant for SETI searchers because, it is reasoned, hydrogen is the most common element in the universe, and hydrogen resonates at about 1420 MHz, thus extraterrestrials might use that frequency on which to transmit a strong signal. The frequency of the Wow! signal matches very closely with the hydrogen line, which is at 1420.40575177 MHz. The two different values given for the frequency of the Wow! signal (1420.356 MHz and 1420.4556 MHz) are the same distance apart to the hydrogen line—the first being about 0.0498 MHz less than the hydrogen line, and the second being about 0.0498 MHz more than the hydrogen line. The bandwidth of the signal is less than 10 kHz (each column on the printout corresponds to a 10 kHz-wide channel; the signal is only present in one column).
The original print out of the Wow! signal, complete with Jerry Ehman's famous exclamation, is preserved by the Ohio Historical Society.
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Determining a precise location in the sky was complicated by the fact that the Big Ear telescope used two feed horns to search for signals, each pointing to a slightly different direction in the sky following Earth's rotation; the Wow! signal was detected in one of the horns but not in the other, although the data were processed in such a way that it is impossible to determine in which of the two horns the signal entered. There are, therefore, two possible right ascension values:
19h22m24.64s ± 5s (positive horn)
19h25m17.01s ± 5s (negative horn)
The declination was unambiguously determined to be −27°03′ ± 20′. The preceding values are all expressed in terms of the B1950.0 equinox.
Converted into the J2000.0 equinox, the coordinates become RA= 19h25m31s ± 10s or 19h28m22s ± 10s and declination= −26°57′ ± 20′
This region of the sky lies in the constellation Sagittarius, roughly 2.5 degrees south of the fifth-magnitude star group Chi Sagittarii. Tau Sagittarii is the closest easily visible star.
The Big Ear telescope was fixed and used the rotation of the Earth to scan the sky. At the speed of the Earth's rotation, and given the width of the Big Ear's observation "window", the Big Ear could observe any given point for just 72 seconds. A continuous extraterrestrial signal, therefore, would be expected to register for exactly 72 seconds, and the recorded intensity of that signal would show a gradual peaking for the first 36 seconds—until the signal reached the center of Big Ear's observation "window"— and then a gradual decrease.
Therefore, both the length of the Wow! signal, 72 seconds, and the shape of the intensity graph may correspond to a possible extraterrestrial origin.
The signal was expected to appear three minutes apart in each of the horns, but this did not happen. Ehman unsuccessfully looked for recurrences of the signal using Big Ear in the months after the detection.
In 1987 and 1989, Robert Gray searched for the event using the META array at Oak Ridge Observatory, but did not re-detect it.
In a July 1995 test of signal detection software to be used in its upcoming Project Argus search, SETI League executive director H. Paul Shuch made several drift-scan observations of the 'Wow' signal's coordinates with a 12 meter radio telescope at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Green Bank WV, also achieving a null result.
In 1995 and 1996, Gray also searched for the signal using the Very Large Array, which is significantly more sensitive than Big Ear.
Gray and Simon Ellingsen later searched for recurrences of the event in 1999 using the 26m radio telescope at the University of Tasmania's Mount Pleasant Radio Observatory. Six 14-hour observations were made at positions in the vicinity, but did not detect anything similar to the Wow! signal.
Interstellar scintillation of a weaker continuous signal—similar, in effect, to atmospheric twinkling—could be a possible explanation, although this still would not exclude the possibility of the signal being artificial in its nature. However, even by using the significantly more sensitive Very Large Array, such a signal could not be detected, and the probability that a signal below the Very Large Array level could be detected by the Big Ear radio telescope due to interstellar scintillation is low. Other speculations include a rotating lighthouse-like source, a signal sweeping in frequency, or a one-time burst.
Ehman has stated his doubts that the signal is of intelligent extraterrestrial origin: "We should have seen it again when we looked for it 50 times. Something suggests it was an Earth-sourced signal that simply got reflected off a piece of space debris."
He later recanted his skepticism somewhat, after further research showed an Earth-borne signal to be very unlikely, due to the requirements of a space-borne reflector being bound to certain unrealistic requirements to sufficiently explain the nature of the signal. Also, the 1420 MHz signal is problematic in itself in that it is "protected spectrum": it is bandwidth in which terrestrial transmitters are forbidden to transmit due to it being reserved for astronomical purposes. In his most recent writings, Ehman resists "drawing vast conclusions from half-vast data"—acknowledging the possibility that the source may have been military in nature or otherwise may have been a production of Earth-bound humans.
Iceland Volcano: Lava Explodes From Ice Cap
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Fire and Ice
Photograph by Ragnar Axelsson, AP
Ash and roughly thirty-story-tall lava fountains shoot from a half-mile-long (0.8-kilometer-long) rupture in the icy cap of southern Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull (pronounced AY-uh-full-ay-ho-kul) volcano early Sunday.
Because volcanic ash can cripple jet engines, flights were not allowed in Icelandic airspace Sunday. As of Monday, air travel was gradually returning to normal, the Associated Press reported.
The geology of Iceland, though, is anything but normal. The volcanic island lies just south of the Arctic Circle atop the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where two tectonic plates are forever pulling apart.
Magma from deep inside Earth rushes upward, filling the gaps and fueling Iceland's volcanic eruptions, which occur about once every five years.
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Lava Fountains
Photograph by Ragnar Axelsson, AP
No damage or injuries have been reported as a result of the Icelandvolcanic eruption (pictured early Sunday), despite pooling magma, ash clouds, and towering lava fountains—as well as hundreds of small earthquakes felt by area residents this month, according to the Web site of the London Times.
The last volcanic eruption in the Eyjafjallajokull glacier area took place in 1821 and continued for roughly two years, according to the Associated Press.
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Lava Glow
Photograph by Halldor Kolbeins, AFP, Getty Images
Seen from a distance, Sunday's eruptions greet the Icelandic countryside like a sunrise.
The lava fountains on Eyjafallajoekull volcano, which is 5,466 feet (1,666 meters) tall, threatened to melt parts of the adjacent Eyjafjallajokull glacier, sparking fears of flooding in the sparsely populated farmland below.
"We estimate no one is in danger in the area, but we have started an evacuation plan, and between 500 and 600 people are being evacuated," Sigurgeir Gudmundsson of Iceland's civil-protections agency told the AFP news service Sunday.
Late Sunday some residents from the outskirts of the evacuation zone were permitted to go home as floods failed to materialize. Scientific overflights Monday aimed to determine whether the rest of the evacuees could do the same, the Associated Press reported.
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Volcanic Chain Reaction?
Photograph by Hans Strand, Corbis
Not far from Eyjafjallajokull glacier, the much larger Mýrdalsjökull glacier (satellite map) hides the fiery, gently sloping Katla volcano that lies under the ice.
Considered one of Iceland's most dangerous volcanoes, Katla last erupted in 1918 and could be roused by the nearby rumblings that began over the weekend, scientists warned Monday.
"Historically, we know of three eruptions in Katla linked to eruptions in Eyjafjallajokull," Magnús Tumi Gudmundsson, a professor of geophysics and civil-protection adviser, told the AFP news service. For now, though, the giant's sleep appears undisturbed.
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Slow Burn?
Photograph by Halldor Kolbeins, AFP, Getty Images
Burning brightly above the rim of the 2.5-mile-wide (4-kilometer-wide) Eyjafallajoekull volcano crater, lava fountains in Iceland showed few signs of stopping on Sunday.
The unpredictable eruption could fizzle tomorrow or flourish for two years, geophysicist Magnús Tumi Gudmundsson said at a press conference Monday, according to Iceland Review Online.
“A single death is a tragedy;
a million deaths is a statistic.”
Joseph Stalin
Every day's a perfect gift of time for us to use. Hours waiting to be filled in any way we choose. Each morning brings a quiet hope that rises with the sun. Each evening brings the sweet content that comes with work well done.
You can come in here and be one of us, serve mankind and feel the happyness of a job well done.
Funny Pictures
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