Author Archives: linuskendall

Review: A Suitable Boy

A Suitable Boy
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It’s certainly a long journey to travel with the various characters. I must admit I found myself more engrossed in the sections of the book dealing with the way personal and political life was shaped by events of early post-Independence India (the backdrop) than the personal story of the Mehras, Kapoors, Chatterjis. Tandons and eventually Khannas (the main plot). Even if I on a couple of occasions did put the book down, letting it rest for a few days and then become re-engaged, I finally found myself 50 pages from the end cringing at the prospects presented to Lata. I guess after a “year” and 1500 pages you can’t help but feel a certain affinity to all the people and places (Brahmpur sounds a bit of a drag, but certainly it would have been somewhat exciting to be in Chatterji Kolkata) in the book.

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The Romans Did it Better – Roman Seawater Concrete

The Romans made concrete by mixing lime and volcanic rock. For underwater structures, lime and volcanic ash were mixed to form mortar, and this mortar and volcanic tuff were packed into wooden forms. The seawater instantly triggered a hot chemical reaction. The lime was hydrated – incorporating water molecules into its structure – and reacted with the ash to cement the whole mixture together.

Pozzuoli Bay defines the northwestern region of the Bay of Naples. The concrete sample examined at the Advanced Light Source by Berkeley researchers, BAI.06.03, is from the harbor of Baiae, one of many ancient underwater sites in the region. Black lines indicate caldera rims, and red areas are volcanic craters. (Click on image for best resolution.)

Descriptions of volcanic ash have survived from ancient times. First Vitruvius, an engineer for the Emperor Augustus, and later Pliny the Elder recorded that the best maritime concrete was made with ash from volcanic regions of the Gulf of Naples (Pliny died in the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius that buried Pompeii), especially from sites near today’s seaside town of Pozzuoli. Ash with similar mineral characteristics, called pozzolan, is found in many parts of the world.

Using beamlines 5.3.2.1, 5.3.2.2, 12.2.2 and 12.3.2 at Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source (ALS), along with other experimental facilities at UC Berkeley, the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia, and the BESSY synchrotron in Germany, Monteiro and his colleagues investigated maritime concrete from Pozzuoli Bay. They found that Roman concrete differs from the modern kind in several essential ways.

One is the kind of glue that binds the concrete’s components together. In concrete made with Portland cement this is a compound of calcium, silicates, and hydrates (C-S-H). Roman concrete produces a significantly different compound, with added aluminum and less silicon. The resulting calcium-aluminum-silicate-hydrate (C-A-S-H) is an exceptionally stable binder.

At ALS beamlines 5.3.2.1 and 5.3.2.2, x-ray spectroscopy showed that the specific way the aluminum substitutes for silicon in the C-A-S-H may be the key to the cohesion and stability of the seawater concrete.

Another striking contribution of the Monteiro team concerns the hydration products in concrete. In theory, C-S-H in concrete made with Portland cement resembles a combination of naturally occurring layered minerals, called tobermorite and jennite. Unfortunately these ideal crystalline structures are nowhere to be found in conventional modern concrete.

Tobermorite does occur in the mortar of ancient seawater concrete, however. High-pressure x-ray diffraction experiments at ALS beamline 12.2.2 measured its mechanical properties and, for the first time, clarified the role of aluminum in its crystal lattice. Al-tobermorite (Al for aluminum) has a greater stiffness than poorly crystalline C-A-S-H and provides a model for concrete strength and durability in the future.

Finally, microscopic studies at ALS beamline 12.3.2 identified the other minerals in the Roman samples. Integration of the results from the various beamlines revealed the minerals’ potential applications for high-performance concretes, including the encapsulation of hazardous wastes.

Lessons for the future

Environmentally friendly modern concretes already include volcanic ash or fly ash from coal-burning power plants as partial substitutes for Portland cement, with good results. These blended cements also produce C-A-S-H, but their long-term performance could not be determined until the Monteiro team analyzed Roman concrete.

Their analyses showed that the Roman recipe needed less than 10 percent lime by weight, made at two-thirds or less the temperature required by Portland cement. Lime reacting with aluminum-rich pozzolan ash and seawater formed highly stable C‑A-S-H and Al-tobermorite, insuring strength and longevity. Both the materials and the way the Romans used them hold lessons for the future.

via Roman Seawater Concrete Holds the Secret to Cutting Carbon Emissions « Berkeley Lab News Center.

Review: Corridor: A Graphic Novel

Corridor: A Graphic Novel
Corridor: A Graphic Novel by Sarnath Banerjee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A tumbling ride around central and old Delhi, in search for books and solutions for an improved sex life.

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Rape a girl and post on Youtube get a couple of years in detention, Access & release information about rapists get 10 years in jail

06/06/2013

 

Greetings Citizens of the World, I am Deric Lostutter, and this is my story.

 

Approximately  Mid-April 2012 a search warrant was carried out on my address in Winchester, Kentucky for alleged communications with one “Noah Mchugh” aka @justbatcat regarding the hacking of http://www.rollredroll.com and my alleged involvement in said hacking. Upon returning from a brief turkey hunt behind my farm I had just sat down and opened up my computer to work when my pitbull, named Thor, jumps up on the door as is common for him to do when someone new is at my house. I had been expecting a T-Shirt in the mail from ShieldTactical.com and what appeared to be a Fed-Ex truck was parked in my driveway.  As I open the door to great the driver approximately 12 F.B.I. Swat Team agents jumped out of the truck screaming for me to “Get The Fuck Down” with m-16 assault rifles and full riot gear armed safety off, pointed directly at my head. I was handcuffed and detained outside while they cleared my house. My brother soon emerged later with his new girlfriend, both bewildered that the F.B.I. was at my house seeing as I have no prior criminal history, both of them in handcuffs as well. The Swat team left my belongings in the floor, my dogs shocked, my family nervous, my garage door battered open with a ram though I stated I had a key, and the RV camper window broken for entry though I stated to pull hard on the door.

 

Looking around I seen the Swat Team of course, a few fbi detectives from Columbus Ohio, Lexington KY, and Louisville KY. Also with them were a state trooper or 2, a local sheriff, and shortly thereafter the buildings were cleared the CIS labcoat wearing “Geek Squad” so to speak who analyzes your “evidence”.

 

I was detained on the back patio, I asked if I was going to jail, they said no, they said who are you, I responded KYAnonymous. They asked me a few questions, asked me for my passwords for my account, stated that I could not tell anyone I was raided or I would face additional charges such as “destroying/tampering with evidence”. They pulled out ALLEGED emails between me and @justbatcat aka Noah McHugh from Noah’s inbox indicating that someone is trying to “sell me down the river”. They stated they had been watching me for a long time, prior to Jim Parks, and that I was a good guy, and even joked around a bit about the good things I have done, none the less, sincere or not, They are the FBI and to them I am Anonymous, the embodiment of a dangerous threat according to their m16 assault rifles aimed at me for a computer.

 

Before they departed, I asked them for names and badge numbers of each involved. I got none of them as I requested and subsequently it took me the better part of a month just to get a phone call returned for the status of my belongings let alone tracking down my case agent to columbus ohio.  I asked Agent Bixby (who in all fairness seems to be fighting for me and believes I am a good guy) the status of my belongings and they had no time table, as of this post they are still with the FBI being analyzed. I was emailed their intent to send out a “Target Letter” which means they are going to try to indict me for a Federal Offense, (most likely a felony and two misdemeanors) to a secret Grand Jury of 23 individuals, for which I can not be present to state my side, nor state my innocence. Let us not forget that Batcat did the hack, as stated in the Herald  ARTICLE HERE which by all accounts is a clear admission of guilt. So I am curious to see the charges, as is the lawyer I have teamed up with, Jason Flores-Williams of the WhistleBlower Defense League.

 

WBDL is a group of very serious attorneys who come to their clients aid mostly “pro-bono” and look to defer defense costs through “Grass Roots” fundraising. Hence the need for a store on this site, and the wepay campaign which will be on this site later today.  The group was founded in most part by famed attorney of Commander-X , Jay Leiderman.

 

This is my call to you, in the media, in the world of anonymous, who look to change the world to a free, transparent one, to my friends and family as well, to come to my aid, if you can find it in your heart, share my story, donate, buy a sticker, rally in the streets to demand the investigation against me be dismissed. I stood up for a rape victim, I shared information that was public, I had an opinion, and now I am needing you to stand up for me.

 

via Project Knight Sec (click to read the original and donate).

 

One of the hackers who accessed and published the Steubenville rapists information has had a visit from the FBI at his house. Apparently, you need a SWAT team with M16 assault guns to apprehend such feared people as these.

While the offence the rapists committed gave them a 1 and 2 years in detention (to be fair though – they were convicted as juveniles), the hacker in question might face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty.

Without doubt, acquiring, accessing and publishing information (whether illicitly or simply via clever means of extracting already public data) is nowadays a much greater threat to governments/corporations/the people in charge  than any violent crime.

Oh dear lord (or, err, dear somebody…)

 

As of 2012 Gallup survey 46% of Americans believe that “God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so”. How does one even begin to sort out ones thoughts about that?

Evolution, Creationism, Intelligent Design | Gallup Historical Trends.

Old knowledge grown new: Cold-pressing oil

While olive oil is being trumpeted as the cure of all ills in India, to replace any and all other oils in cooking, it’s worthwhile to take time to think about that cold-pressed, equally healthy, locally available and grown oils were what preceded the refined oils now in use. Further, a great deal of the olive oil sold here is so called “pomace oil”, a refined product with no semblance to the healthy characteristics (and great taste) of cold-pressed oils.

Understanding the importance of including more than one variety of cold-pressed oil in the diet, South Indian menus have always incorporated three — groundnut oil with its high heating point for frying, coconut oil for dressing, and sesame oil for curries and gravies. “All the three have their own benefits,” says Nimmi. “As much as coconut oil has received bad press being high in saturated fatty acids, which are considered potential artery cloggers, ironically it has medium chain fatty acids that are seen as heart protectors. However, to err on the side of caution, Id advocate using these different oils in moderation like they were traditionally used in different dishes to get the benefit of each oil, especially in combination with other ingredients. For example, in a Kerala fish curry, the combination of kokum, fenugreek, Kashmiri chilli and oily fish might just complement a spoon of cold-pressed coconut oil drizzled on top while serving. These areas are greatly under-researched,” she says.

via PRESSING matters – The Hindu.

Things we’ve lost: The Night Sky

A month or two back we went to Jaisalmer and spent a night in the desert. The dunes were nice, but most fascinating was falling asleep to a real, starry, clear night sky. It’s only when taken out of the intense light of the city that you realize how the stars have been lost to us.

Rio by Night

Cohen’s method is original and precise and harkens back to the methodologies employed by early 19th century photographers like Gustave Le Grey.  He photographs the world’s major cities, seeking out views that resonate for him and noting the precise time, angle, and latitude and longitude of his exposure.  As the world rotates around its axis the stars that would have been visible above a particular city move to deserts, plains, and other places free of light pollution.  By noting the precise latitude and angle of his cityscape, Cohen is able to track the earth’s rotation to places of atmospheric clarity like the Mojave, the Sahara, and the Atacama desert.  There he sets up his camera to record what is lost to modern urban dwellers.

via Thierry Cohen – Artists – Danziger Gallery.

Happy international women’s day, my foot

With my feed full of supposedly well meaning but horrendously misogynist, reductionist or patronising posts about among other things how great women (our mothers, sisters, bla bla) are from supposedly moderately educated folk (not that education necessarily does much for your politics – though it should…), with it – still – being the case that women earn ridiculous amounts less than men or cannot even be construed as something else as passive recipients for men’s attention (ref: any online forum which allows men), with it still being potentially highly uncomfortable for women to take the metro, walk the streets, eat ice cream on their own in a park or do any bloody ordinary or unordinary activity in public in the country I live in, I have a hard time feeling any happiness at all.

At least this year, so far,nobody has posted happy pictures of them receiving a vacuum cleaner from their husband for women’s day…

As Madhura said, yes it’s a celebration of an ongoing struggle, so in a way happy could be a word to use. Happy that the struggle exists, happy that it’s alive and kicking, happy that people around me are not subscribing to the rhetoric of there not being any need for feminism any more.

Yet, just as I feel uneasy about “happy labour day” (labour not having a hell of a great time in our current system, not much to be happy about there), I guess I’ll continue to feel uneasy about “happy international women’s day” as long as there’s a need for a women’s day.

Dinner for One

Asking a German[or Swedish] person if they know Dinner For One is a guaranteed way to make their eyes light up. The film is about a bonkers aristocrat Miss Sophie who celebrates her 90th birthday with friends who, given they’ve all died off, are imaginary. Her butler, James, comically fills in for each of them, mimicking their voices, drinking their toasts in turn and getting steadily more sloshed. It’s been shown every New Year’s Eve in Germany since the early 70s and is nothing short of a national institution. When your acquaintance, hours later, is done enthusing and quoting, quietly point out to them that, despite holding a Guinness Record for the most aired TV program in history, Dinner For One has never, ever been screened in Britain or the States, and only a few times in Australia.

´How the hell did it come to be shown both on Swedish and German television every new years eve? Does it hold true also for the other Scandis?

Scarcity of sanity

Number crunching: An estimated 80bn new clothes are made around the world each year. There are only 7bn people on this planet….

 

via Dirty White Gold.

There is no scarcity in our systems of production and our ability to use resources in our disposal. Where scarcity exists, it is in the sanity and equity of how we distribute the fruits of our labour.