Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou complained to the Press Complaints Commission that an article headlined "Stelios backs down as £71m jets in", published in The Daily Telegraph on 24 September 2011, made irrelevant and discriminatory reference to his race in breach of Clause 12 (Discrimination) of the Editors' Code of Practice.
The article commented on the complainant's abandonment of plans to call an Extraordinary General Meeting of the easyJet company following an announcement by the company's management that a dividend would be paid to its shareholders, who included the complainant. It followed on from another item (under the same byline) that criticised the slow response by world leaders to Eurozone financial problems, and began by noting: "at least we've had one Greek bail-out this week...". It also referred to the complainant as "Greek-born", and its final sentence concluded that "the worry for easyJet... is that Stelios concludes his approach actually works - and, like Greece itself, is quickly back for more. Though why would he do that - he doesn't need the money, does he?"
The complainant said the article had referred to his Greek Cypriot origins in order to undermine his credibility on financial matters. In his view, the analogy proposed between the Greek government's relationship with its foreign creditors and his relationship with easyJet rested only on his race, as the two situations were otherwise entirely different: the article had implied wrongly that, like the government of Greece, he had squandered money he did not deserve and now needed bailing out by his lenders. The right of shareholders of a company to demand dividends could not, the complainant said, be legitimately compared to requests for credit by non-creditworthy borrowers. He also objected to the final question posed by the columnist, which he considered left the inaccurate implication that - notwithstanding the claim that he was "richer, probably, than Greece" - he did in fact need "bailing out".
The newspaper said that the analogy had been a light-hearted journalistic conceit in a comment piece. The word "Greek" was not pejorative per se, and its use in this context had not related to any "racial" attributes. The reference to a "bail-out" was intended to mean that the complainant had bailed out of the EGM. It could also suggest in a "wry" way that the complainant had been bailed out. It noted that the Commission had previously ruled that descriptions of a person's public persona included by way of background were not "irrelevant" under the terms of Clause 12 (i). The fact of the complainant's Greek Cypriot birth was widely in the public domain, and the article had contained nothing that could reasonably be construed as an attack on the complainant on the grounds of his race. Nonetheless, the newspaper offered to publish a clarification noting that it had not intended to suggest that the complainant required financial assistance or was financially inept by virtue of his Greek origin along with an apology if any contrary impression was given.
The complainant strongly objected to the prominence given to his background as a Greek Cypriot in an article that criticised him. It was a matter of regret that this had upset and offended the complainant, but the role of the Commission was to decide whether it had also breached the requirements of Clause 12 in this area: "The press must avoid prejudicial or pejorative reference to an individual's race..." and "Details of an individual's race... must be avoided unless genuinely relevant to the story."
The Commission has previously found (in Haji-Ioannou v Financial Times) that the complainant's Greek Cypriot origin is a part of his public persona, and that brief references to it are not "irrelevant" under the terms of Clause 12. On this occasion, rather than making brief allusions, the article under complaint had employed an extended metaphor, playing on this aspect of the complainant's background, comparing his actions with those of the Greek government in a manner that both parties described as "farcical".
The Commission acknowledged the complainant's position that the connection between the Greek government's troubles and negotiations over a dividend to shareholders in easyJet was, in reality, tenuous. The connection had been made via the pun on the phrase "bail-out", and the Commission could understand the complainant's frustration that the two stories were being combined merely due to his connection to Cyprus.
However, given that the complainant himself had made public reference to his Greek Cypriot background, the Commission considered that to prohibit the use of such a rhetorical device in the context of a fanciful commentary on recent financial news would be disproportionate. The PCC should be slow, in its view, to interfere in satirical comment, even if it is judged to be misguided by some, especially when no overtly prejudicial or pejorative terms were used in the article.
In the Commission's view, the columnist had been entitled to make use of this ironic conceit as a means of commenting on parallels that he perceived in the two situations. This did not raise a breach of Clause 12 (ii) of the Code.
The complainant considered that the article had implied - in a prejudicial manner - that he was financially imprudent by connecting him to the Greek government. The Commission disagreed. References to the complainant were clearly based on his actions in calling off the EGM, and the article made explicit reference to the fact that he was "hugely wealthy" (in contrast to the Greek government). While the analogy might be unwelcome - and the Commission welcomed the newspaper's offer of a clarification and apology to the complainant, in light of the distress the article had evidently caused - the Commission could not agree that it had constituted a prejudicial or pejorative reference to the complainant's race under the terms of Clause 12 (i). The complaint was not upheld.


When does it make sense to choose an abstract class over an interface?
Q: In Java, under what circumstances would you use abstract classes instead of interfaces? When you declare a method as abstract, can other nonabstract methods access it? In general, could you explain what abstract classes are and when you might use them?
A: Yes, other nonabstract methods can access a method that you declare as abstract.
But first, let's look at when to use normal class definitions and when to use interfaces. Then I'll tackle abstract classes.
Some say you should define all classes in terms of interfaces, but I think recommendation seems a bit extreme. I use interfaces when I see that something in my design will change frequently.
For example, the Strategy pattern lets you swap new algorithms and processes into your program without altering the objects that use them. A media player might know how to play CDs, MP3s, and wav files. Of course, you don't want to hardcode those playback algorithms into the player; that will make it difficult to add a new format like AVI. Furthermore, your code will be littered with useless case statements. And to add insult to injury, you will need to update those case statements each time you add a new algorithm. All in all, this is not a very object-oriented way to program.
With the Strategy pattern, you can simply encapsulate the algorithm behind an object. If you do that, you can provide new media plug-ins at any time. Let's call the plug-in class MediaStrategy. That object would have one method: playStream(Stream s). So to add a new algorithm, we simply extend our algorithm class. Now, when the program encounters the new media type, it simply delegates the playing of the stream to our media strategy. Of course, you'll need some plumbing to properly instantiate the algorithm strategies you will need.
This is an excellent place to use an interface. We've used the Strategy pattern, which clearly indicates a place in the design that will change. Thus, you should define the strategy as an interface. You should generally favor interfaces over inheritance when you want an object to have a certain type; in this case, MediaStrategy. Relying on inheritance for type identity is dangerous; it locks you into a particular inheritance hierarchy. Java doesn't allow multiple inheritance, so you can't extend something that gives you a useful implementation or more type identity.
Choosing interfaces and abstract classes is not an either/or proposition. If you need to change your design, make it an interface. However, you may have abstract classes that provide some default behavior. Abstract classes are excellent candidates inside of application frameworks.
Abstract classes let you define some behaviors; they force your subclasses to provide others. For example, if you have an application framework, an abstract class may provide default services such as event and message handling. Those services allow your application to plug in to your application framework. However, there is some application-specific functionality that only your application can perform. Such functionality might include startup and shutdown tasks, which are often application-dependent. So instead of trying to define that behavior itself, the abstract base class can declare abstract shutdown and startup methods. The base class knows that it needs those methods, but an abstract class lets your class admit that it doesn't know how to perform those actions; it only knows that it must initiate the actions. When it is time to start up, the abstract class can call the startup method. When the base class calls this method, Java calls the method defined by the child class.
Many developers forget that a class that defines an abstract method can call that method as well. Abstract classes are an excellent way to create planned inheritance hierarchies. They're also a good choice for nonleaf classes in class hierarchies.


Atopy and autoimmune thyroid diseases: melatonin can be useful?
Recently, there has been growing interest in the relationship between allergic and autoimmune diseases. Allergy and autoimmunity can be considered two potential outcomes of dysregulated immunity and analysis of literature data shows a strong positive association between a history of Th2-mediated allergic disorders and Th1-mediated autoimmune disorders.
Autoimmune thyroid diseases are the most common of all autoimmune pathological conditions.
Currently, the mechanisms explaining an association among atopy, autoimmunity, and thyroid diseases are not fully understood.
There are data in literature pointing to the relationship between melatonin and thyroid activity. Several studies have suggested a paracrine role for this molecule in the regulation of thyroid activity, documenting that administration, as an antioxidant, in thyroid tissues under conditions of increased oxidative stress, could be helpful to reduce the oxidative processes involved in autoimmune thyroid diseases.
Although thyroid autoimmunity has been regularly associated with atopic conditions in children, the possible protective role of melatonin has not yet been investigated.
This review summarizes what is known regarding the connection between atopy and autoimmune thyroid diseases, and analyses the probable beneficial action of melatonin.
Hypersensitivity reactions of the immune system have been categorized into atopic and autoimmune reactions, depending on whether the antigen triggering the reaction is endogenous or exogenous, types of cellular and humoral components involved, and clinical symptoms .
Atopy is an individual or familial tendency to produce IgE antibodies in response to low doses of allergens and to develop typical symptoms such as atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis, and asthma [2, 3]. Atopic diseases have increased in frequency in recent decades and now affect approximately 20 % of the population worldwide . The risk of developing atopic diseases is complex and is strongly influenced by both genetic and environmental factors [5, 6].
Atopy and autoimmunity are two potential outcomes of dysregulated immunity .
The incidence of autoimmune diseases has increased in recent decades. Although these conditions have a multifactorial pathogenesis, one generally accepted model is that immune dysregulation, secondary to an infectious process or excessive exposure to an inciting or cross-reactive antigen, promotes a T helper (Th) 1 response leading to progressive inflammation and autoimmunity. Reciprocal counter-regulation of Th1 and Th2 cells predicts that Th1-type autoimmune disease and Th2-mediated allergic disease would occur in mutually exclusive populations of patients .
However, data literature are controversial regarding true associations between atopy and autoimmune disease [9–12]. Recent observations have identified additional lymphocyte subsets, such as Th17 cells , soluble factors such as IL-9  and regulatory T cells (T reg)  as a common link between atopy and autoimmunity. It has been reported that infantile atopy increases a predisposition to autoimmune disorders, suggesting that these two entities might have immune pathways, common to both pathological conditions, justifying partially the increased prevalence and/or the co-presence of atopic and autoimmune diseases [13, 14].
Conversely, Skaaby et al.  did not find statistically significant associations between atopic predisposition and autoimmune disorders, although they could not exclude moderate effects of atopy on autoimmune disease.
The thyroid gland is the most common organ affected by autoimmune disease. Autoimmune phenomena, especially thyroid autoimmunity, have often been associated with other autoimmune diseases, such as chronic urticaria in adults  and children .
Although thyroid autoimmunity has regularly been associated with atopy in children, the possible protective role of antioxidants, such as melatonin, has not yet been fully investigated, although its role has been documented in other atopic conditions, such as dermatitis and asthma [17, 18].
Melatonin plays key roles in several important physiological functions, including neuroimmunological actions and immunomodulatory effects in allergic diseases, although its potential use in atopic patients has rarely been considered .
Experimental data  suggested that melatonin inhibits development of atopic eczema, a condition accompanied by infiltration and activation of mast cells with release vasoactive and proinflammatory mediators, and reduces serum total IgE and IL-4.
Furthermore, emerging evidence suggest that melatonin represents a potent antioxidant and protective substance in skin photobiology [20, 21]. It has been reported that melatonin also protects keratinocytes against ultraviolet (UV) radiation B-induced oxidative stress and DNA damage and that endogenous intracutaneous melatonin production, together with topically-applied exogenous melatonin, would represent one of the most potent anti-oxidative defense systems against the UV-induced damage to the skin .
Melatonin, therefore, has been hypothesized as a potential therapeutic option also in atopic dermatitis (AD), protecting skin integrity and helping to maintain a functional epidermal barrier [23, 24].
Moreover, it has been documented that melatonin, regulating smooth muscle tone and influencing the immune response in allergic asthma, could be implicated in regulating bronchial hyper-responsiveness [25, 26]. Furthermore, melatonin may, however, act as a pro-inflammatory agent in asthma leading to bronchial constriction [17, 25].
There are some data in literature pointing to the relationship between melatonin and thyroid activity and its involvement in the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis .
This review summarizes what is known regarding the connection between atopy and autoimmune thyroid diseases and analyses the possible protective role of melatonin.
It has been proposed that innate immunity has a role in allergic inflammation, and epithelial cells, dendritic cells, natural killer lymphocytes, and mast cells might play a regulatory role in allergy. It has also been suggested that there is some form of cooperation between Th2 mediated allergy, and Th1 mediated inflammation responses .
The adaptive cellular immune response has been characterized broadly as being polarized in two directions . Type 1 responses, directed by Th1 CD4+ T cells and identified by the signature cytokine interferon (IFN)-g, are considered as protective against infections by intracellular pathogens , and have been incriminated in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, such as thyroid disease. Many other autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and multiple sclerosis are associated with a Th1 phenotype .
Autoimmune thyroid disease (ATD) is a multifactorial disease in which autoimmunity against thyroid antigens develops against a particular genetic background facilitated by exposure to environmental factors. Autoimmune thyroid diseases are characterized by infiltration of the thyroid by T and B cells which are reactive to thyroid antigens, by the production of thyroid autoantibodies and by abnormal thyroid function . ATD presents a hereditary component, as reported in several studies that show a definite genetic propensity for thyroid autoimmunity to run in families . The childhood prevalence of chronic autoimmune thyroiditis peaks in early to mid-puberty .
By contrast, type 2 responses, directed by Th2 CD4+ T cells and identified by the signature cytokines interleukin (IL) -4, IL-5 and IL-13, are considered to play a pathogenic role in allergic diseases . Reciprocal counter-regulation of Th1 and Th2 cells  predicts that Th1-type autoimmune diseases and Th2-mediated allergic diseases would occur in mutually exclusive populations of patients. However, recent observations have challenged the validity of the long-standing Th1/Th2 paradigm , and a far more complex story explaining the immunological basis of cellular immune-mediated host defence and the pathogenesis of autoimmune and allergic diseases is emerging. The new paradigm identifies additional lymphocyte subsets, such as Th17 T cells, Treg and novel soluble factors. These provide a new prism through which to examine the intersection of autoimmune and allergic disease (Fig. 1) .
Mittermann et al. demonstrated that a considerable percentage of patients suffering from atopic dermatitis had enhanced IgE autoantibody levels against a broad variety of human proteins expressed in a variety of cell and tissue types. Furthermore, they showed that the levels of IgE autoantibodies were associated with severity of disease .
Several studies reported a higher incidence of ATD in subjects affected by allergic diseases. Pedullá et al. showed an increased prevalence of thyroid autoimmunity in children with AD, underlining a significant relationship between the expression of AD and thyroid autoimmunity in a pediatric population . Furthermore, Pedullá et al. demonstrated that the frequency of thyroid autoimmunity was significantly higher among children with IgE-mediated AD than non-IgE-mediated AD, suggesting atopy and thyroid autoimmunity as potential outcomes of dysregulated immunity . Hidaka et al. suggested that eosinophils and their activation play an important role in inflammatory processes in allergic diseases. Th2 cytokines stimulate eosinophils and it has recently been found that the peripheral eosinophil count was increased in thyrotoxic patients with Graves’ disease . Moreover, the same authors demonstrated that an allergic condition is closely related to Graves’ disease and that a Th2-type immune response is crucial in the pathogenesis of Graves’ disease .
Whereas oxidative reactions occur in all tissues and organs, the thyroid gland is an organ in which oxidative processes are widely signalized and are indispensable for physiological functions of the organism . Hydrogen peroxide acts as an electron acceptor at each step of thyroid hormone biosynthesis and is essential for thyroperoxidase (TPO) activity, the key enzyme in this process. In addition, antioxidative enzyme activity [superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH) peroxidase (GSH-Px) and catalase (CAT)] has been well documented in the thyroid .
The use of various exogenous antioxidants in thyroid tissues has been shown to be beneficial in experimental (in vitro or in vivo) studies [43, 44]. Unfortunately, the applicability of different antioxidants has not yet been clearly confirmed in clinical studies and still no effective antioxidative medication is available for widespread use .
Moreover, melatonin, an ubiquitous antioxidant molecule with pleiotropic action in many tissues, has protective effects against oxidative stress [46, 47], the thyroid included .
There are data in literature pointing to the relationship between melatonin and thyroid activity. Several studies have suggested a paracrine role for this molecule in the regulation of thyroid activity. The antioxidant role of melatonin in the thyroid gland was first reported by Kvetnoy . It has been demonstrated that melatonin is, at rat thyroid level, synthesized by C cells -the minor neuroendocrine thyroid cell population- and, that melatonin receptors (MT)1 are present in follicular cells , suggesting a role for thyroid melatonin. Recently, another study has shown that thyroid C-cells synthesize melatonin under thyroid-stimulating hormone control, supporting the hypothesis of a paracrine role for C-cell-synthesised melatonin within the thyroid gland.
In particular, Garcia-Marin et al.  analyzed both the effect of melatonin on the expression of the thyroid tissue-specific genes PAX8 and TTF1 and examined TSH regulation of key enzymes for melatonin biosynthesis, such as aralkylamine N-acetyltransferase (AANAT) and acetyl serotonin methyltransferase (ASMT). They showed both the involvement of melatonin in thyroid function by directly-regulating thyroglobulin gene expression in follicular cells and that AANAT and ASMT are regulated by thyroid-stimulating hormone. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that thyroid C-cells synthesized melatonin under thyroid-stimulating hormone control, supporting the possible paracrine role for C-cell-synthesised melatonin within the thyroid .
Additionally, Karbownik M. et al. commented the evidence that melatonin, acting as an antioxidant agent, influences thyroid growth, counteracting significant oxidative damage that occurs in the course of thyroid diseases, and the stimulatory effects of thyroid hormones .
The same research group , in an experimental study, estimated melatonin effects on basal and iron-induced lipid peroxidation related to Fenton reaction in homogenates of the porcine thyroid gland, showing that the degree of lipid peroxidation was decreased, in a concentration-dependent manner, by melatonin, and supporting the protective role of this indolamine in preventing pathological processes, such as thyroid cancer, related to oxidative injury.
Data in literature has shown melatonin action on the thyroid gland itself, such as the inhibitory effect of melatonin on cell proliferation and thyroid hormone synthesis [51, 52] or the protective effect of melatonin against oxidative damage in the thyroid gland [53, 54].
It has been well reported that the administration of chronic melatonin is efficient in protecting against the damaging effects of different prooxidants and that under basal conditions it does not change the level of oxidative damage to macromolecules . In addition, it has been evaluated that the effects of Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) on Fenton reaction-induced oxidative damage to membrane lipids (lipid peroxidation, LPO) in porcine thyroid and the liver are similar to those caused by melatonin. Whereas CAPE decreased basal LPO in a concentration-dependent manner in both tissues, melatonin did not change the basal LPO level. When antioxidants were used together with Fenton reaction substrates, they prevented – in a concentration-dependent manner and to a similar extent – experimentally- induced LPO in both tissue effects of melatonin .
Regulatory T cells are important components of the homeostasis of the immune system, as impaired regulatory T cell activity can cause autoimmune diseases and atopy .
Atopy and autoimmunity are manifestations of immune system dysfunction and are referred to as distinct immunological reactions with common pathogenic mechanisms .
The mechanism whereby ATD is associated with allergic diseases is poorly understood. Several researchers have observed serum histamine releasing activity in a subgroup of adult patients with chronic urticaria, which was attributable to an IgG autoantibody directed against the alpha chain of the high affinity IgE receptor of the mast cells or, less commonly, against IgE itself [59, 60].
It is important to identify infants at risk for developing lifelong chronic atopic and autoimmune diseases and utilize the critical window of opportunity early in life for therapeutic intervention that targets Th1- or Th2-specific responses revealing atopy or autoimmunity respectively.
During the last decade, wide evidence has contributed to confirm the antioxidant and protective role played by melatonin in the normal, as well as in the prooxidant-agent insulted, thyroid-gland [43, 48, 63].
Finally, it has been documented that the administration of melatonin, as an antioxidant, in thyroid tissue under condition of increased oxidative stress, could be helpful to reduce oxidative processes involved in autoimmune thyroid diseases [27, 42, 48].
Melatonin is a molecule with an excellent biosafety profile, widely used for decades in some countries, and no serious side effects or treatment-related complications with short or long-term melatonin therapy in children and adults have been reported .
In addition, further studies are necessary to elucidate the underlying mechanisms and the common pathways involved in atopy and thyroid autoimmune diseases.
Therefore, melatonin could be hypothesized as a potentially useful agent in the treatment of ATD, but further studies are necessary to clarify the immunological-hormonal effects of this indolamine.
The authors have no conflicts of interest disclosing what could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research reported.
The authors declare that they have no sources of funding.
All clinical data and supporting materials concerning the manuscript are available in case of Editorial request.
GD Study conception and design of the manuscript. LM Writing up of first draft of the paper. SM-LC Helped draft the manuscript. CC Substantial contributions to the acquisition of data for the work. PI-SA Substantial contributions to the analysis of data for the work. TA Critical revision of the article for important intellectual content. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.


There are many narratives in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and the New Testament, which demand a willing suspension of disbelief on the part of a twenty-first century person. Educated persons would admit that certain narratives reflect physical impossibilities, and hence they clash with the way things usually work in the world. For example, in the cycle of stories about the acts of Elisha in Second Kings (chapters 2-13) one finds, among other stories of the same sort, the story of an iron axe head that floated after falling into the Jordan River (6:1-7). Elisha, described as "the man of God," reputedly caused the axe head to rise to the surface by tossing a stick into the water. The claim in the narrative that the axe head floated violates the buoyancy principle of Archimedes of Syracuse (third century BCE) that states: an object will float if it is equal to or less than the amount of water it displaces (that is why aircraft carriers float). The weight of an iron axe head is not equal to or less than the weight of the water it displaces and hence it will not float. And common sense tells us that a stick tossed into the water would have no influence on what is essentially a law of physics.1 In order to think that the narrative describes something that actually happened, readers must suspend disbelief.
Another narrative requiring a suspension of disbelief is the tradition of Joshua causing the sun to stand still in the sky to allow the Israelites to slay all their enemies, the Amorites, at Gibeon (Josh 10:6-14).
And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stayed in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. There has been no day like it before or since (Josh 10:13-14, RSV).
The belief that the sun rises in the east, moves across the sky, and sets in the west, is an ancient superstition, shared by the biblical writers.2 This belief was proven incorrect only in the sixteenth century CE.3 Until that time it was believed that the sun and the planets circled the earth, which held a position in the center of the solar system. In other words they believed that the earth did not move, but today it is common knowledge that the earth moves in an elliptical movement around the sun.
Narratives like these, which require a suspension of disbelief by most of us, are nevertheless accepted as a normal part of reality by the deeply pious; they have a high degree of confidence in the Bible and simply dismiss the idea that the event could not have happened by asserting: the Bible says it; I believe it; that settles it—as if the story about how we came by the Bible5 has no impact on the relative value of its ideas. Others offer a slightly more sophisticated theory to explain away some of the problems: God is in control of the universe; therefore God can do whatever God chooses in the universe. This latter statement disregards how the universe is thought to work in secular society; those who live by this statement are simply changing "reality" to correspond to their religious faith. A third way of handling problems in biblical narratives requiring a suspension of disbelief rejects the "laws" of physics by arguing the universe is not a closed system but rather an open system. Hence in the view of those who believe in miracles physical "laws" are only general rules that are sometimes suspended leaving open the possibility that miracles can occur.
Was Archimedes wrong and Jesus really did walk on the water?
2For example, Gen 15:12; Exod 17:12; Jdg 14:18; 2 Chron 18:34; Matt 5:45; Mark 16:2; Eph 4:26.
3George Abell, Exploration of the Universe, 34-53.
4Compare similar stories about Elijah and Elisha in 1 Kgs 17: 8-16 (the jar of meal and the cruse of oil) and 2 Kgs 4:1-7 (the jar of oil). Each story contrasts limited amounts at the beginning and the abundant residue at the end exceeding that with which the story began.
5The Bible is a product of modern biblical scholarship. See the two brief descriptions of the science of textual criticism, which is basic to all critical approaches to the Bible: Fuller, "Text Criticism, OT," NIDB, 531-34; Holmes, "Text Criticism, NT" NIDB, 529-31.
One way to look at the "suspending disbelief" passages is to consider that they represent a mimetic (imitation) writing dynamic. Dennis McDonald in his Mythologizing Jesus (2015) suggests that the authors of the gospels are finding a way to make Jesus competitive with the gods of Greco-Roman mythology, depicting him as not only breaking the laws of nature but doing so, contrary to the gods, with compassion.
In Jesus' feeding of the 5000 and 4000, for example, he sees a mimetic representation in Mark of the feast of Nestor (Odyssey 3:1-67) and the feast of Menelaus (Odyssey 4:1-7)[pgs. 27-32]. He does this for 24 stories/situations found in the gospels, some more persuasive than others.
For McDonald, mimesis has the following components: likelihood of accessibility to the previous text, can mimesis be found in the work of other ancient authors, how dense is the mimetic activity (# of parallels), is the order similar in both texts, is a distinctive trait common to both sources, how did the author attempt to emulate/rival his predecessor, and, practically, what parallels appear in the writings of the early (1000 CE)Byzantine poets.
It would seem to me, that if mimesis is a viable category, then it's a small step from accepting a resurrection after death to performing miracles that rival the Greco-Roman gods before death.
Dennis' book (The Homeric Epics and the Gospel of Mark) is a brilliant study of mimesis in Graeco-Roman antiquity. His argument is that Mark has in part given a mimetic rendering of stories in the Illiad and the Odyssey by Homer. I reviewed the book in an SBL seminar. My major criticism (which Dennis rejected) was that there was no way to disprove his thesis and declared myself a "wanna be" believer.
But let's say Dennis was right. What do we do with these stories then? If Mark imitated Homer in certain stories does that get the evangelist off the hook by suggesting that s/he really didn't believe that Jesus did those things? Mark was just trying to improve Jesus' appeal to a Graeco-Roman audience so he could compete with their Gods. Could we then say that Mark was deceiving the public by his subterfuge and that it would be wrong for that reason to believe him. I would be more prone to think that Mark was imitating OT wonder stories. If it was not for Dennis' book, is there any other evidence that Mark had read Homer?
I think that mimesis is a viable category but the essence of a good imitator is that you never know that s/he is imitating. And we are still stuck with the clash between such stories and the "laws" of physics.
One could reason that Mark did not think of the mimesis as "deceiving the public," whether it be using Homer or OT wonder stories. He perhaps thought of the matter as a literary expression of the truth that Jesus power was consistent in life and death: if Jesus could break the law of death by God's raising him up from the dead to the benefit of others, he was certainly capable of breaking these other natural laws for the benefit of others. Mark perhaps thinks of this as a tool of persuasion in the Christian mission. In other words, now that the risen Jesus is here and in charge, it's perfectly ok to let him influence the earthly Jesus story.
For those of us who live our lives in a shared conventional view of reality, Mark's view of what is real is idiosyncratic, calling upon us to confess what we know to not be so. In a conventional view of reality when an axe head falls into a river we don't look for a Man of God to recover it; we use a rake to search for it.
I doubt that anyone really believed it possible ordinarily for an axe head to float. Normally, they "knew better." Stories of Moses had him in control of the water, as did stories of Moses, Joshua, Elijah, Jesus and their control of water, as Elisha could even heal h20. They had the "spirit" of their god in the midst of an area that relied on water. Makes for great propaganda, since those who heard or read of it realized that, though improbable, it was a sign of the power of God, not a physics lesson. The same is true for the other "signs" of a god toward those who had "good favor."
I would not have said "improbable" as you do (line 6 from the top); I would have said "impossible." These kinds of events that we are discussing are exceptions to the way things happen in a contemporary conventional (i.e., ordinary) view of reality (one that everyone regardless of religious faith can affirm). Apparently enough people in OT times were credulous of such things happening so that the propaganda of the biblical writers worked, as well as Mark's propaganda working, to judge by the eventual conversion of the ancient world to Christianity. Today we still have people pushing the idea of living by exceptions to an ordinary view of reality where when axe heads sink in a body of water we take off shoes and socks and wade out to find it.
Improbable in their world. I'm sure some believed it was possible.
After some more reflection on the matter I'm thinking that where to "draw the line of disbelief" or "the line of distrust," if you will,can be adifficult matter.
Let's take the dynamic of "trust" which can be found multiple times in Mark's gospel. Beginning with chapter 1, trust is pictured as central to matters such as healing and danger: The leper says, If you want to you can make me clean, four trusting people bring a paralytic before Jesus, disciples in the lake storm were admonished because of their lack of trust, the synagogue official was told to just have trust regarding his ill daughter, a bleeding woman was told that her trust had cured her, in a second lake episode the disciples were assured that there was no need to be afraid, a distraught father is told that all things are possible forone who trusts, Jesus' followers are described as little ones who trust Jesus, a blind man is told that his trust has cured him, we hear that trust can move mountains and that trust ensures the answering of prayer requests, a widow is commended for her trust in giving her entire livelihood to the temple.
Where is the straight rigid rational line that can be drawn between trust and outcome in these life-pictures in the same manner as one can be drawn between an axe head and water buoyancy? That line is not there. In the following scenario, should I have suspended trust because I didn't have a scientific vision of the trust line?
Several years ago I had multiple bypass heart surgery. Within five minutes of meeting the surgeon I knew that he trusted himself and cared for me, and that I trusted him to do the job. I further trusted the statisticians that vouched for a 98% success rate for the planned procedure. This would be similar to the ancients meeting Jesus, experiencing his trust in himself and care for them, and trusting the testimony of others in his past successes. Of course, the statisticians and here-say fall into unimportance if the procedure is needed no matter what.
I have no idea how much the positive outcome of my surgery should be attributed to trust, but I'm sure that some of the positive outcome was due to the trust of many, including myself. The laws governing my trust, it would seem, are not any less important to me than those which control an axe head in water or how far a few loaves and fishes can be stretched for a meal.
May I gather that the surgery and your rehab were successful and that must have been a great relief.
I am not sure what you are suggesting that I should trust from the examples of trust you offer from Mark. Are you suggesting I should trust Jesus or Mark or the Bible or ??? in the matter of floating axe heads?
The example from your life (surgery) reflects an instance of your trust that brought happy results. The surgeon appeared to you to be self confident (that is he trusted himself to perform the surgery successfully) and you developed from his self-confidence and professionalism an instant trust in him and his abilities to do the surgery--not to mention your were assured a 98% success rate.
If, however, the surgeon had a patch over one eye and only one hand and did not present himself well, it is a better than even chance you would have consulted another surgeon.
From my perspective axe heads are like heart surgeons with an eye patch and one hand. It is a better than even chance they will not float no matter how much I trust they will.
I think all I'm trying to do is call attention to the reality that scriptural insights have their own value apart from the rules which determine whether or not axe heads float.
Perhaps, if you chose to trust Jesus, or Mark, or the Bible, it would not be for the same reasons or dynamic that you trust an axe head not to float.
Aha! Point taken. And you are correct in my view. Discerning readers know to ignore the crass violations of our common view of reality. But alas not all are discerning readers. That is to say not all suspend disbelief when reading of the floating axe heads and are taken in reading the story literally.
There are other values offered to readers of the Bible, if one knows how to read it, as you point out.
Charlie, I like how you put the word "laws" of physics in quotation marks.
"In the west we inherit the idea of law as something being passed down by God, and it has even passed down into science where we discuss 'laws of nature.' You don't get the idea of law until you move to a culture where order is based on the idea of obedience. Code law is a tyrannical method of law by imposition. Common law is evolved by discussion of particular cases rather than referring all the time to abstract principles put down in words.
PS: The 84 year old grandfather was the one who loved that poet I told you about, Robert Service... He also loved Omar Kayam and the Rubyiat.
Thanks for weighing in with your well-thought out comment.
Your observation by Alan Watts I concur with. But I cannot answer your questions at the end. There are just too many variables to be able to predict the future even when you have scientific data at your finger tips.
I found your Jan. 17 discussion about the Bible and the "Laws of Physics" demonstrate an effective understanding of some of basic principles in which our universe operates. I felt a need to call attention to the apparent lack of understanding of these same Laws of Physics by both Elizabeth (Jan.25) and her quoted philosopher, Alan Watts.
Both mistake the complexity & variability of our natural world as evidence the fixed Laws of Physics in which our natural world operates are unpredictable and irregular. An example of this is to consider the difficulty of the relatively easy prediction of the path of the iron axe head having been thrown in the water as to the extreme difficulty in predicting what the weather might be in the near future. Both events operate within the same fixed Laws of Physics but operate under tremendously different environments.
Further, it appears Elizabeth mistakenly interpreted the varying life length of family members some of who smoked cigarettes and some that did not as being evidence of this interpretation of irregularity or unpredictability of the Laws of Physics. Again the variability is in the different human bodies rather than the Laws of Physics. No two human bodies are identical nor exist in identical environments.
I hope this increases the understanding of the fixed nature of the Laws of Physics.
Gene and Charlie, if you don't mind I do have a carry-over question from the previous blog with regard to cults. What exactly constitutes a "cult" in your estimation? Do you have a definition? If not, that's ok.
I do agree with Jim that the variability is in the human body rather than the "laws" of physics... I also see the variability involved in predicting weather patterns in the near and distant future as well, which is why I am skeptical of these wild and fantastical doomsday scenarios put out by so-called "climate change" experts.
In many ways what is described as being a cult lies in the eye of the beholder. The basic definition is "a system of beliefs and rituals." It is also described as "a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious." It is also defined as "a small circle of persons united by devotion or allegiance to an artistic or intellectual movement or figure."
These are of course objective descriptions.
For me personally, Charlie's dictionary definitions are far too benign. As I said in so many words in a previous post, I think that a cult consists of followers so needy that they are brainwashed into a certain extremely narrow understanding of reality by a severely personality disordered leader who demands total allegiance and perhaps even suicide. This makes them a danger to humanity. When I was younger the group in Waco, Texas, and the Jim Jones followers would fit this definition.
I was struck by the fact that with the exception of a few things your description of cult in the second sentence might well fit many of our accepted larger Christian religious institutions. For example: "needy followers"; "brainwashed"; "narrow understanding of reality"; "personality disordered teacher who demands allegiance." The exceptions are cast in pejorative words like "extremely"; "severely";"total";"perhaps even suicide" (which would not fit the Branch Davidians, I don't think).
I am not really sure what you have in mind when you say "brainwashed." In what way is that different from "instruction" like Sunday school and catechism? My impression is that people who enter what is thought of as a cult enter it willingly.
Those who are forcibly taken from a cult for "rehabilitation" into the general society, however, I understand are subjected to rigorous methods to dispel the teachings of the "cult." Is that kind of thing what you mean by "brainwashed"?
I do tend to identify more with Gene's characterization of cults than Charlies... I have attended churches in my earlier years that felt like a cult to me, but I didn't know why. And it did feel like "brainwashing," so I do know what Gene meant by that. When Charlie asked what is the difference between brainwashing and receiving instruction from Sunday school and catechism- I would say it is this: I think it is a form of brainwashing to instruct your Sunday school students to believe that the power of their prayers can literally "make an axe head float." If they just pray hard enough and believe enough and have enough faith. To me, that is brainwashing and it feels cultish in my view. However, we as parishioners were free to come and go, and were not in any way forced to join their inner circle.
I have to admit to being somewhat perplexed about why this subject matter seems to have become so complicated.
The key to the cult is the leader - followers are expected to accept his/her directives without question and to remove themselves from affiliation with the institutions and associations of the mainstream culture. This doesn't mean that people don't enter the cult willingly.
I'm not sure why you suggest that "many of our accepted larger Christian religious institutions" would be defined primarily by folks who are "needy, brainwashed, narrow in understanding of reality, with personality disordered leaders." What institutions might be described that way?
Brainwashing is distinguished from other forms of learning by not allowing for dissent within oneself or the acceptance of different perspectives in others. The only appropriate response is cultural isolation and passing along the leader's perspective to offspring.
In describing a group as "a cult," you appear, it seems to me, to think cults are a different sort of thing from other religious groups. On the other hand, I think that the differences between cults and churches is a matter of degree. A cult is a religious group with a strong leader who has views that don't agree with other religious groups. It is "out of the mainstream" (probably because of its small size and what the mainstream churches think of as odd teaching). Nevertheless it does exactly the same kinds of things that mainstream churches do: instructs its members, has worship services and Bible studies, has a definite belief system (some parts of which are shared by the mainstream churches!). The leader expects that his/her views will be followed by the members of the group, as any pastor, or priest would expect. The cultic group does not like to lose members, as is the situation with mainstream churches. Mainstream churches do not tolerate disagreement on certain main points of theological teaching. People who get too far outside the theological teaching of the group can be "churched" (that is kicked out, shunned, or forbidden from participating in what the church may conceive as mediating the grace of God--in Baptist and catholic churches it would be denial of participation in the Lord's supper or the Eucharist).
As to what churches do these kind of things pick one from the phonebook.
If I may offer one more reply. You hit the nail on the head with a great clarification: you're right, I do think that cults are a different sort of thing from other religious groups, and it's not a matter of a continuum.
In the 70's I was a pastor in the United Methodist church. My experience was that most of the members never even opened the Book of Discipline and most of the attendees intermarried with members of other denominations and faiths who were even further removed from whatever United Methodism is. I even married a Jew and Christian in the church after the families agreed that the name of Jesus would not be used in the service.
I was an active member in the local ministeriums, both UM and ecumenical. I never felt like I wasn't an integral part of the group. I've known Baptist pastors and RC priests and it never occurred to me to use cult in relation to their beliefs or activities. They were not personality disordered leaders micromanaging the lives of their followers and removing them from mainstream culture.
One can find statements such as the following coming from the General Conference of the UM Church: "Especially critical for Christians...has been the struggle to recognize the horror of the Holocaust as the catastrophic culmination of a long history of anti-Jewish attitudes and actions in which Christians, and sometimes the church itself, have been deeply implicated." (Quoted in LeDonne and Behrendt, Sacred Dissonance, 2017, 120). This is not the kind of self-insight pronouncement made by cult leaders.
Perhaps others have denominational experiences to share!
I play a very limited to a non-existent role in the church (Southern Baptist)where we have been members for 38 years, although we were never stalwarts of the church. I was gone too often for that. Currently my bible study group tolerates my views which in class I usually limit to questions on the biblical text we are studying or by asking questions of those who put views on the table with which I might disagree and occasionally I can contribute with a comment about what is currently going on in the field of biblical studies. I am not there to convince them of anything. In fact I learn something new every Sunday that I participate.
Gene, rather than micromanaging the lives and beliefs of your congregation... Was the focus of your ministry more about community service and outreach? It sounds like as a minister you were not bothered by dissent or disagreement. That's very rare.
Thank you for the kind words. Methodism does have a strong community service and outreach component, and I participated in interracial programs, ecumenical programs, and a 24-hour counseling service hotline, but I would say that my primary interest was to stimulate life changing insight through a challenging presentation of the scriptures at Sunday morning worship. It was very hard for me to decide if Jesus did or said this or that, being twenty years before the Jesus Seminar published their scholars' voting results. Up to that point all we had was the competing opinions of individual great minds! What do I think about dissent and disagreement - it's healthy when the proponents respect and value each other.
Yes it certainly is healthy when the proponents respect and value each other- I couldn't agree more. If I had attended a church like yours, Gene, I would probably have had a much better experience. The most uplifting teachers are those who help you develop your own unique perspective about spiritual teachings- rather than imposing their own perspective upon the student. It definitely sounds like you were among the former and not the latter!


Particle Theory of Matter: An explanation of what matter is made of and how it behaves; the particle theory states that all matter is made up of tiny particles that are always moving, that attract each other, and have space between them.
1) All matter is made up of tiny particles, 2) Particles have empty spaces between them, 3) Even though you cannot see them, particles are moving randomly all the time, 4) Particles move faster and spread farther apart when they are heated, 5) Particles attract each other, so they tend to stay together rather than fly apart.
Mass: A coherent, typically a large body of matter with no definite shape.
Weight: The amount of force of gravity on an object.
Gravity Force: The force of attraction between all massed in the universe; especially the attraction of the Earth's mass for bodies near its core.
Volume: The amount of space occupied by a 3D object or region of space.
Solids: A substance that retains its size an shape without a container; a substance whose molecules cannot move freely except to vibrate.
Liquid: A substance that flows and keeps no definite shape because its molecules are loosely packed and constantly moving. It takes shape of its container but maintains constant volume.
Gas: A substance that can only be contained if it is fully held together by gravitational pull; a substance whose molecules have negligible intermolecular interactions and can move freely.
Aerodynamics: The study if the property or moving air and especially the interaction between the air and solid bodies moving through it.
Buoyancy: The ability or tendency to float in water or air or another fluid.
Buoyant Force: The upward force exerted by any fluid upon a body being placed in it.
Neutral Buoyancy: A condition in which a physical body's average density is equal to the density of the fluid in which it is immersed.
Negative Buoyancy: A condition in which a physical body's average density is more than the density of the fluid in which it is immersed.
Postitive Buoyancy: A condition in which a physical body's average density is less than the density of the fluid in which it is immersed.
Pneumatic System: A mechanism operated by the energy in compressed gas to make something move or work.
Hydraulic System; A mechanism operated by the resistance offered or the pressure transmitted when a liquid is forced through a small opening or tube.
Hydroelectric Dam: Hydroelectric power is produced as water passes through a dam, and into a body of water below. The more water that passes through a dam, the more power is produced.
Ballast Tanks: A compartment within a boat, ship or other floating structure that holds water, which is used as ballast to provide stability for a vessel;.
Swim Bladder: A gas filled sac present in the body of many bony fishes, used to maintain and control buoyancy.
Characteristic Property: A chemical or physical property that helps identify and classify substances. The characteristic properties a substance are always the same whether the sample being observed s small or large.
Fluid Mechanics: The branch of mechanics dealing with the property of fluids in various states and with their reaction to fluids acting upon them.
Fluid Dynamics: A subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids.
Flow Rate: The volume of fluid which passes per unit time.
Viscosity: The property of a fluid tat resists the force tending to cause the fluid to flow.
Turbulent Flow: A type of fluid undergoes irregular fluctuations, or mixing, in contract to laminar flow, in which the fluid moves in smooth patterns or layers.
Laminar Flow: The flow of a viscous fluid in which particles of the fluid move in parallel layers, each of which had constant velocity but is in motion relative to its neighbouring layers.
Streamlined: Design or provide with a form that presents very little resistance to a flow or air or water, increasing speed and ease of movement.
Pascals Law: The law hat and external pressure applied to a fluid in a closed vessel is uniformly transmitted throughout the fluid.
Compress: The action or state of being squished down or made smaller and more dense.
Compressibility: The quality or state of being compressible.
Displace: A chemical reaction in which an atom, radical or molecule replaces another in a compound.
Surface Tension: The tension if the surface film of a liquid caused by the attraction of the particles in the surface layer by the bulk of the liquid which tends to minimize surface area.
Adhesion: The molecular force of attraction in the area of contact between unlike bodies that acts to hold them together.


Use: //goto Casino to warp right to the location!
This is a basic Idea I've had for a while now and aim to pursue as of late I don't know how it'll be received, or if it'll be liked but it could bring some fresh wind or give people something to do. Atleast that's the motivation behind any of this nothing more, nothing less.
1. Everyone is forced size 1.00 upon entering the Casino.
2. Should you drop below 100 Tokens the change in your base size only kicks in upon leaving the Casino, to prevent characters that can grow freely and at will from just growing back they'll be forced to stay at their new reduced size for 24 OOC Hours. After which they can grow back.
3. Tokens can be 'consumed' or rather cracked to gain a percentual increase in height even after leaving the Casino, they can not be traded or given to another player but 'used on one' if that makes any sense.
4. Even if your character is immune to size-changing taking the bet and losing will affect them for 24 hours aswell, after which they pop back into what they used to be.
There are only a few game modes so far I could think of off scratch. One of them being a High/Low bet upon which a d100 dice is rolled 1-50 equals 'Low' and 51-100 'High' a win will cash out twice of the Tokens you betted. Upon winning a player may cash out or try 'double or nothing' which is a second round that can either result in doubling their won Tokens [This can stack] or losing everything including their initial bet.
The second game mode also features the 'double or nothing' function but is a Quiz. Due to questions simply being able to be googled the Quiz mode is limited to three times a day per Character.
Update / New Game Mode: "Duel" yet another dice rolling game. Two players bet the same amount of token then roll the dices (Max 100) whoever rolls higher wins, whoever first accumulates three 'victories' in the round will win and gain all token placed on the table.
Three wins ahead of your enemy equals winning.
Initially you can only play in the Casino through interactions with 'Gold' but if it's popular etc I might appoint additional Showrunners to take over in my place should I not be available.
"Using" Tokens Explained: Tokens can be 'cracked' outside of the Casino resulting in a 1% increase to your natural size per token consumed. This does -not- work on yourself if you only have the basic 100 in your posession for these represent 100% of your own base height. You can still 'use' them on someone else but it'll be at the cost of your own height, if you have above the freebie 100 you can use the excess without a debuff to your own size.
Update: A percentual increase was a nice thought but the new token conversion will be that 100 T are equal to 1 Size as in the numerical input on //appearance size X <- Easier to do and calculate this way!
So yea that's all for now, Feel free to suggest additional game modes, I was also thinking about adding prices as in IC objects one can earn with enough tokens but it's all a rough draft so far and pretty barebones. If you like this and all feel free to either write below or PM me directly so that we can shape this into something entertaining as a community together.
You're feeling weak, smoll and simply not appreciated? You have this void in your life you need filled..? You simply can't afford the mysterious Growth potions spread on the market as of late; and can't just alter yours at will..? You seek to achieve greatness, and don't mind taking a risk..?
...Or maybe win a few inches for your beloved? ..Maybe it's just the thrill that draws you in..? No matter what, you'll find all of that and more in the backarea of the Pandaemonium Bar!
-Free Drinks for Players -- A cooperation with the local establishment.
Location : I live inside my dreams.
This idea is superb! In my opinion, it's a good way for adding variety to the gameplay. The rules look simple and could create interesting and fun interactions, both inside and outside this casino. This way storytelling can become more interesting! I can imagine some of my characters are preparing for a tough fight IC and news about this casino reaches their ears. "I need that size advantage! Why shouldn't I stake everything on the line for that size buff?"


Where Did All the Power Users Go?
Long-format blogging, rather than microblogging, is how you convey something complex that you find important enough to share. There is much that cannot be expressed or explained in few words, perhaps accompanied by a graphic or link. However, as the size of posts increases, the audience decreases. That isn't something to worry about. Those fewer individuals who stay are looking for more than the momentary amusement or bite-size insight - they want to watch the journey and are excited by the details. For anyone who finds themselves reading this, the details start here.
Let me begin by saying what I think are poor reasons for starting a distribution. You shouldn't start a distribution because you think you're right and everyone else is wrong. Not only is this likely not the case, but you've only signed yourself for hardship and isolation even if it's true. Changing defaults is also a poor reason. The information contained within your changes is better put in documentation somewhere so that people can understand what was done and implement a subset of it themselves. Unless you're being paid for it, there is only one reason to willingly throw yourself into this situation. You genuinely enjoy all of it - the stumbling blocks, the learning, and the hard decisions. That's why I'm here. The goal isn't quite doing it "right," whatever that means, it's making interesting choices that lead to a better understanding of what it is I'm even doing.
As far as the initial construction of a Linux distribution goes, the LFS book is the natural starting point. However, not listening to it lets you learn a lot more. My first changes were to the toolchain. Instead of using glibc as is expected of most anyone, I decided on musl. Instead of gcc, I went with llvm. I used the instructions from: http://wiki.musl-libc.org/wiki/BuildingLLVM, but they aren't made for a cross-compile environment. They're instead assuming that you're trying to install llvm on an existing musl/gcc system. First, I built libunwind. Doing an ldd on that reveals that it is still linked to gcc libraries from the host system - or rather, everything from the host system because the compiler has not yet been changed. This already says that it will need to be recompiled later in this process. Next is building llvm against libgcc/libstdc++. This was fairly straightforward, as is compiling libcxxrt and libcxx. Once we get to building libcxxabi, we need to add "-isystem /tools --sysroot /tools" as arguments to avoid unnecessary dependency on the host system. We also need to rebuild libunwind the same way so that the things that depend on it (read: everything, because it is replacing libgcc) don't depend on the host system either. Finally, after rebuilding libcxx against libcxxabi and rebuilding llvm + clang against it (of course using isystem and sysroot) then we have a working toolchain that isn't dependent on gcc or it's libraries. I also changed the patch against llvm to only use libunwind when compiling C++ code, reducing unused dependencies for C programs.
The next step is to be able to chroot into this new system. It isn't anything more than a toolchain at the moment, so we must fix that. I followed: http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/lfs/view/development/index.html, while using CC=clang CXX=clang++ when running ./configure and everything went well until compiling ncurses. Ncurses 5.9 has a bug that gets past gcc but it fails with the more strict compiling of clang. You need this patch: http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-ncurses/2011-04/txtkWQqiQvcZe.txt for it to compile. Also needed was CXX="clang -isystem /tools --sysroot /tools -lc++" because I never changed llvm/clang to expect headers and libraries to come from /tools. I decided not to try to fix this and instead worked around it until I didn't have to worry about it anymore.
I started with the regular tools (util-linux, findutils, coreutils, etc) and statically compiled bash and coreutils because they were referencing /lib/ld-musl* instead of /tools/lib/ld-musl* for the libc, so they couldn't run. Fixing that, everything runs in the chroot. Then I had a crazy idea. I already started with musl and llvm, so why don't I push the envelope further? I started using obase, OpenBSD userland, ported to Linux (https://github.com/chneukirchen/obase). It's an incomplete port, so I needed to patch it a good amount to have enough utilities working, and once I stop being lazy about it, I'll have my own repository with my changes. Unfortunately, I couldn't get some things to work, like "tail -f" because it depends on kqueue, and filesystem detection for "find." All in all, it's still a very usable system, and those problems can be fixed later. I also replaced binutils with elftoolchain and found myself in the process of creating a Linux distribution with a permissively-licensed core userspace. Not because I have any attachment to that idea and the implications of different styles of Free/Libre Softare licenses, but instead because it gives a great opportunity to tell people about more obscure projects. I had settled on Arch Linux's Pacman as my package manager, but I think I'll switch to Void Linux's XBFS and even remove bash from the core install. That's sure to shake things up a bit.
At this point I've got a working, self-hosting, chroot. After a few more changes, I'll explore getting this system to boot.
Copyleft BwackNinja, All Wrongs Reversed.


Cinematic Paradox: Could You Kill Your Best Friend?
Could You Kill Your Best Friend?
Written by: Kenta Fukasaku, based on the novel 'Battle Royale' by Koushun Takami.
Starring: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Tarô Yamamoto, Takeshi Kitano, Chiaki Kuriyama, Sôsuke Takaoka, Takashi Tsukamoto, Yukihiro Kotani.
Two or so weeks ago, The Hunger Games came out. It seems like everyone saw it. And then everyone reviewed it. There were two words that appeared in every single review I read: Battle Royale. Every time I clicked on a review, I felt compelled to find those words and to see what kind of slam they had against The Hunger Games for 'ripping off' Battle Royale's premise. Unless, of course, I was reading a 'review' from someone in the target audience who had no idea that Battle Royale existed, or that Japan made movies, for that matter. Basically, here's the main crux of this The Hunger Games/Battle Royale situation: people who care about The Hunger Games probably haven't heard of Battle Royale; movie bloggers will always point out how similar The Hunger Games is to Battle Royale; and people who love Battle Royale are most likely to hate The Hunger Games, even without seeing it. I am a person who cared about The Hunger Games and was aware of Battle Royale, but I only just saw the latter last night. In all honesty, I really liked The Hunger Games, but Battle Royale was a far better movie. And that is where the comparisons shall end.
The film is set in the future, where Japan has basically gone to ruins and the youth are taking over the world with their recklessness. A group of forty-two students are chosen to compete in the 'Battle Royale', where they are left on a deserted island with a few food rations and a bag with a random weapon in it, and they have to kill everyone else in the battle in order to go home. It is a fairly simple premise, with more weight added to it because of the strange moral dilemma the group of students find themselves in. Sure, it is wrong to kill anyone, no matter if you know them or not. However, these students all know each other. Some of them are best friends with each other. Some of them are bred out of different cliques. Some of them have been secretly in love with one another. Some of them hate each other. The scariest thing about Battle Royale is that it is the perfect allegory for being a teenager: the Battle Royale is the perfect chance to kill someone you've always hated but never let on about your feelings in the real world.
Battle Royale gets everything right when it comes to the depiction of the teenagers. There are so many characters who have different roles to play when it comes to the game, and each actor that plays them gives them an extra intensity which is, quite frankly, extremely unsettling. In some cases, the faces that were the most scared when they were first thrown into a room and told about what they were about to do completely changed once they set foot on the battleground. They became maniacal, intent on survival, but also intent on revenge. Then there were the ones who trusted their friends to keep them safe, but then had the tables turned when their friends turned into enemies. To add to that, there are two exchange students, Kiriyama and Mitsuko who run rampant with their heartless, psychopathic murderous demeanour. The amount of different, vivid personalities that were torn apart by this vicious system is the kind of stuff that makes me look at the classes that I'm in and fear for the future. Thank goodness it is the holidays, so at least the scars will have healed a little bit and I won't be looking at my peers so strangely.
There's no denying that the film is sick in every way. The violence is abundant - perhaps more so than any other film I have seen. The way that the Battle Royale is presented - in a little 'how to' video with an over-happy girl instructing the students - is sick. Sometimes, it is a little too sick for my likings. It goes over-the-top frequently with the violence, which sort of detracted from the true immorality of the film. I never really knew how seriously it wanted to be taken: whether it wanted to be the kind of movie that was called 'cool' despite all the killing or the kind of movie that realised all of the violence that was going on in it. I would have gone for a little more realism, but I thank my lucky stars that this was not a case of realism = shaky cam. However, this film was quite the experience. An experience which I don't wish to revisit in the near future, but will have etched in my memory for a very long time. Which will be helpful because I'm definitely not showing this to my kids. I think they'll be better off with The Hunger Games if they ever develop the desire to see young people killing each other.
I'm so glad I am watching these films after my school is over. First because it makes me feel safe, and second because I can now look at it more objectively and with some sort of experience.
I found parts of it funny but in a QT sense. Like that video was insane, and so were the cheerleaders killing each other. It is a very bloody satire, so I could take it seriously and laugh about it too. Sort of like Dr. Strangelove.
I wonder what this film would be like to watch after I've finished work. I should test that out.
It's been about 8 or 9 years since I saw Battle Royale, and our relationship is still going strong! Something that you might not have gotten from it is the kind of Japanese-ridiculous humour than can often be found in their films, similar in a way to another favourite of mine Confessions - the kind of ridiculousness that never steps too far because it works for the film!
Incidentally, I was going to pick up Battle Royale a couple of weeks ago as it has been a while since I've seen it, and you've definitely urged me to watch it for the 686868th time!
I didn't mean to come across as a Hunger Games hater, either, in something I said about it a couple of weeks ago to you! While I didn't like the book and the writing style, I can say that it is a lot better than terrible, terrible books I've read marketed at a young adult audience over the years. Just found Katniss incredibly irritating for my liking...however, it hasn't sort of put me off watching the film, this is just my reaction to having read the book a couple of years ago!
686868 times?! I couldn't imagine that!
The Hunger Games isn't all that great - I'm very neutral about it. I mean, I like the book, I saw the movie, but unlike most teens, I've already moved on from it!
And I won't watch the sequel, but I'll try and find the comic.
The sequel is just, so, I don't know, out of place. Think that is the reason why it doesn't work. Shame really, because the first film - as you have seen - is SO good.
But do source at the comic or the book! Would be interested to know your thoughts on it!
Great flick indeed and a cult classic for a reason. Even to this day, it's still a pretty shocking thing to see kids in a gladiatorial game to the death but it's done in such a way that it's more entertaining and hilarious than unsettling.
It is quite entertaining, but I found it quite unsettling!
Nice review. I'm glad more and more people are checking this one out.
I find it funny that you would show your kids "The Hunger Ganmes" instead of "Battle Royale" when you yourself said that BR was a better movie. I don't belive showing toned down violence is morally right becuase than most people will start to belive that guns don't actually hurt you they just make you fall down.
I do plan on reading "The Hunger Games" very soon once the hype dies down a bit because I belive both stories share simmilar premises but are very different from eachother.
Good point there, but I'd probably show them The Hunger Games because it is a little less disturbing. As soon as they hit the right maturity level, I'll be bringing out Battle Royale as the movie of choice before bed time. What a good parent I'll be!
Yeah, this one is fantastic. And i agree with Cherokee on Battle Royale 2 being disappointing.
I'll take both of your words for it!
I haven't seen Batte Royale, and I probably won't, anytime soon, either- your review didn't help:) Don't get me wrong, it was great, but it's not my type of movie....although maybe I should see it- my japanese film knowledge is not strong!
My Japanese film knowledge isn't strong either. I am going to start changing that, though!
Great review Stevee! I probably won't be watching this one, but it sounds pretty interesting. The last picture is very creepy!
Haha, that is a very scary picture indeed!
This is one of my favorite films from the last decade. I'm glad the recent comparison to Hunger Games is getting it some greater attention.
So am I. It definitely deserves it.
I absolutely love this movie. Haven't really got involved in The Hunger Games debate, haven't seen it ever. But I love Battle Royale.
Don't get involved in The Hunger Games debate, it isn't worth it!
Where did you find this movie? I'm actually kind of keen for a watch just so that I can compare the two myself. Though in saying that, this was a really interesting read, and I love how you didn't spend the whole post trying to compare the two (even though they sound quite similar).
I got it off Fatso (our online rental service), but I'm fairly sure it is impossible to find. Mind you, it just came out on DVD (I think) after being banned for so long. Good luck finding it!


Is this a good program? Or would I be just as better off going to University of London for my LLB? Thanks.
Queen Mary vs Edinburgh for Law LLB?
What do you mean by "good programme"? Do you plan on qualifying as a solicitor or barrister? If so, where?
1. I mean, is it reputable.
Of course, it's almost certainly the best law school in Scotland.
But realistically, Scottish law is in many ways different from the law of England and the rest of the English-speaking world. As such, they are two different subjects, and taking one will not enable you to practise in the other jurisdiction without conversion courses and a great deal of hassle.
So ultimately, I think you need to consider that issue first and foremost.
Secondly, what college of the University of London are you considering?
Edinburgh is incredibly reputable. I usually have a group of "elite" law schools (Oxbridge, LSE, UCL, Durham, KCL and Nottingham). However, if I was to include Edinburgh (which I exclude for reasons to be discussed later) then it certainly wouldn't be out of place. Aberdeen also.
Anyway, you don't need to worry about Edinburgh being reputable. What is a concern is the issue Lib highlighted (and the reason I asked you where you were planning on studying). There's a difference between English and Scottish law. If you took your LLB at Edinburgh, but decided to practice in England (Wales or Northern Ireland) you'd need to convert. Same goes for if you took a degree in England and wanted to practice in Scotland.
I'd also be interested to know which London college you're thinking about. I'm assuming LSE, UCL or KCL?
Well then that answers my question as to the reputation of the program.
It is the University of London LLB through the External System. But if it's no good, then I am not going to worry about it.
Edinburgh though, if it's that reputable, then I would love to attend. I wouldn't mind just staying in Glasgow. If it is in the same league as Oxbridge, then I think I would be fine.
But if it would be better to attend an English school and practice wherever, then that would be even better.
Care to discuss that now?
Yes, but you can't attend an English university and practice in Scotland without converting so you need to think carefully.
I forgot to mention that an Edinburgh grad, should they choose to practice in England, is entitled to some exemptions from English Law Society exams but I don't know a great deal about that.
What, why I don't usually include Edinburgh? I covered that in the final paragraph. It's the problem with the difference between English and Scottish law (and needing to convert). If I was to give the UK's elite law school's I'd certainly include Edinburgh. However, it's a little misleading including it amongst all of the English unis I listed (especially to someone who will be practicing in England).
Usually the people I discuss this with are looking to practice in England so I exclude Edinburgh. If you want to practice in Scotland, or are OK with converting to English law after your degree, then include Edinburgh in that list.
It's for graduates who wish to pursue law. I think it takes about two years.
Yes, that's similar to England's Graduate Diploma in Law (a one year conversion course for grads from any discipline). Except one's Scottish law and one's English, obviously.
There is a lot of information on the website about how it's an internationally respected degree, especially in Europe. Is this true? Is the school as a whole (U of E) well recognized in the EU?
Wait. In England, it's a Diploma but in Scotland it's the LLB? Can you practice with a Diploma?
Edinburgh is very well respected internationally, you don't really need to worry about it. It's arguably as respected nationally as LSE, UCL, Durham and KCL. Probably more than Nottingham. On the continent it's far more recognised than many of the English elite unis.
Yes you can practice with it. It's a one year course that "converts" a non-law degree into a law degree allowing the student to undertake the LPC/BVC (the next state of training) and eventually qualifiy as a solicitor or barrister.
It's just a name of a conversion course. Some universities call it the Common Professional Examination so don't think of it as a "diploma" as such. Edinburgh's programme is an accelerated degree which is basically an intensive LLB. In England and Wales the CPE/GDL is a conversion course that covers the core parts of English law in one year.
Why did you bring up Edinburgh's accelerated degree? I wouldn't advise a law graduate from a uni outside Scotland to undertake the accelerated degree. There are other ways of converting to Scottish law.
I've heard you can do a Master's in Law -MA/LLM- without having an LLB/BA in Law.
is this true and has anyone done this??
It is true, yes, although you'd be expected to have a relevant undergrad degree or strong interest/work experience in the area.
It's not a qualifying law degree, however.
how is this possible though? surely you need the basic knowledge of law before specialising in a particular area.
also, does anyone know which law schools offer the LLM without the need to have done LLB?
Not necessarily. It's a specialised area (as in it only covers that part of law) and is taught from scratch. Many people wouldn't have covered medical law during an LLB anyway. Degrees such as those are useful for lawyers looking to specialise but are also useful for other professionals (such as healthcare professionals the medical law LLM).
I suggest you start a thread in the postgrad forum or law forum for more info. I considered doing one but I just don't have the time or money.
Note, after your Scottish LLB you still need to take the Diploma in Legal Practice to progress to becoming a solicitor in Scotland.
Best Masters in International Law in UK under £10,000 ?


Example 14.7.2 2x + 4y − 5z = 11 is the equation of a plane. Find the normal vector and a point on this plane.
Definition 14.7.3 Suppose two planes intersect. The angle between the planes is defined to be the angle which is less than π∕2 between normal vectors to the respective planes.
Example 14.7.4 Find the angle between the two planes x + 2y − z = 6 and 3x + 2y − z = 7.
, then ax+by+cz = d is the equation of a plane with normal vector ai + bj + ck. Conversely, any plane can be written in this form.
Example 14.7.8 Find the equation of the plane which contains the two lines, given by the following parametric expressions in which t ∈ ℝ.
Example 14.7.10 Identify the intercepts of the plane 3x − 4y + 5z = 11.


Logical games. Nothing to do with the job you apply, it is all about logic and problem solving.
You have to find a working solution to logical problem you are given.
I was asked company principles which is on their web site and I read before I went to interview.
I was just honest and told him that it was just populist and no different than any amateur company.
Asked not to publish questions.
Give an example of a situation when you solved a problem in a creative manner.
How do you take feedback; both positive and negative?
Glassdoor has 45 interview questions and reports from Software Engineer interviews in Reading, UK. Prepare for your interview. Get hired. Love your job.


1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the soft butter, eggs, sugar and vanilla extract.
Then add the grated zest of the lemon and 1/4 lemon juice.
Add the half of the flour and baking powder. Stir until well combined. Add the remaining flour and knead until a smooth ball of dough begins to form. Add more flour if needed.
2. Cover the dough with stretch foil and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
3. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180 C / 355 F and line 3 baking trays with parchment paper.
4. Roll dough into small size balls. Coat with the sugar and then with the powdered sugar.
5. Bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.


Categorized as a “least developed country”, Sao Tome and Principe is a state composed of two small islands off the coast of Africa in the Gulf of Guinea. It is mostly dependent on international aid, and cacao makes up 80% of its exports. The population is relatively young, with children aged 0 to 14 years representing 44.4% of the population in 2012. Sao Tome and Principe is still a young state with strong developmental abilities, however it is among the poorest in the world.
While the GDP of Sao Tome and Principe saw a growth of 4.3% in 2011, in particular from the strengthening of public developmental assistance, retail trade, and tourism, the population’s living conditions still haven’t improved: gross national income in purchasing power parities per capita was 1,918 dollars and the human development index for the country was 0.488 (ranked 127th in the world) in 2010. Northern regions are more affected by poverty than southern regions. The government estimates that more than half of the population lives below the poverty line, and 29% live in extreme poverty.
Poor salaries, as well as the lack of career opportunities, demotivate students. This results in a poor quality of education as well as high drop-out rates and grade repetition rates.
For example, the education rate shows that 98% of girls and 97% of boys attend primary school, but only 38% are enrolled in secondary school.
A limited number of schools adds to this problem. Furthermore, schools are only located in the capitals or large cities. Regional differences appear in education.
Although the government has decided to make the education sector a priority, and although its programs have had some positive effects (an elevated education rate among boys), the United Nations reported that since 2004 there has been no improvement in school drop-out rates among girls, due mainly to early pregnancies.
With the goal of reducing social inequalities, the government, as well as partner NGOs such as the Red Cross, have implemented an educational aid program paid to mothers with more than three children and aiming at a minimal education of six years.
The situation is very serious because the literacy rate is very poor, young girls are more prone to grade repetitions or dropping out, the quality of education is poor, and children living in remote areas have no access to the education system.
The residents of Sao Tome have a poor life expectancy compared to other states in the region with the country ranked 149th in the world with a life expectancy of 68.32 years.
While the infant mortality rate and the mortality rate for children younger than five years has decreased (38 in 1000 and 63 in 1000 respectively in 2008/2009), major problems remain: HIV, malaria, and food shortages. Access to drinking water and sanitation equipment remains difficult.
The malaria rate has been considerably reduced (478 cases in 1000 in 2002 to 34 cases in 2009) but today remains the fourth biggest cause of death among children.
According to the World Bank, 7% of the population will be affected by HIV. What remains most troubling for non-governmental organizations is the growing and rapid pace of expansion of the virus.
According to a study in 2005, the rate of prevalence of HIV among pregnant women was 1.5%, while the rate in 2001 was only 0.1%. More specifically, the virus affects 0.6% of girls and 0.8% of boys aged 15 to 19. It is mainly transmitted heterosexually (89.5%), or by blood transfusion (4.8%), but also from mother to child (1.6%).
Remote rural areas are more affected than inner cities, specifically due to a lack of prevention centers or medical centers.
The lack of information and the continued absence of sexual education in the education system, as well as difficult access to contraceptives and protection, are the main reasons for the proliferation of AIDS.
The geographical location of the islands of Sao Tome and Principe aggravates the population’s poverty. Numerous hurricanes, floods, and droughts have had a negative impact on agriculture and restrict access to certain routes. This has caused food insecurity leading to serious health problems.
According to the World Food Program (WFP), in 2006, chronic malnutrition affected 34% of children under five years old while the overall malnutrition rate was 9%. The food crisis of 2008 only aggravated the situation, and it is difficult today to obtain exact numbers.
To address these difficulties, the WFP has developed a school food program that will be implemented by October 2013.
There is a high pregnancy rate among adolescents. Children can’t meet with a doctor without their parents before the age of 16.
The development of sexual tourism in Central and Western Africa has led to an increase in child prostitution in Sao Tome and Principe. Also, in order to satisfy the sexual demands of tourists, human trafficking in women and children is on the rise.
It is alarming to note that child prostitutes are considered criminals, not victims, by the law.
In principle, the law allows children to work from the age of 14. But the numbers show us that in practice, this isn’t respected. For example, in 2000, 15.4% of children aged 5 to 14 years worked; of these, 17.2% were young boys and 13.5% were young girls. Children are generally employed in agriculture, in illicit sectors (drugs etc.), or even as domestic servants. Furthermore, in the country, a minor can sign a work contract and receive wages.
The law states that children younger than 18 can’t work more than 7 hours a day and 35 hours a week, and theoretically, this must be done on a voluntary basis.
Concerning military service, it is mandatory from the age of 18. However, the age can be reduced to 17 if parental consent is given.
The legal system still isn’t adapted to children and minors.


What is the bounce rate in a google analytics report?
Bounce rate is somewhat arbitrary.
Simply the user landing on your site and 'bounced', i.e. left without interacting with your site again in the sense they didn't move around your site. It's a useful metric for identifying where people possibly didn't find the information they found, and left straight away.
The limitations of the metric is that the alternative is that the user found all the information they wanted and spent 30 minutes reading it. Because there was no other event to trigger analytics tracking, in this scenario described Google has no way of knowing how long the user spent on the site.
Make sure you track your outbound links in Analytics as it reduces this gap in knowledge. For me personally, it's useful as a relative measure rather than an absolute one.
Professional SEO consultant London city, advising at corporate & SME level.
The thing is if it has a high bounce rate which would usually mean NOT GOOD right?
But at the same time the average time spent on the site is over 3 minutes & there is a video which lasts for 2 mins so presumably as its a single page website/squeeze this is ok right?
I wouldn't read too much into the bounce rate. A higher bounce rate generally suggests people aren't interacting with your site, but it's a huge assumption. Just compare the bounce rate against what you want people to do when they hit the page. If it's click out straight away, then a high bounce rate isn't a problem. If it's look at a few pages and capture their email address then yes it wouldn't be good.
Bounce rate is the time in which a user moves out of your site after he comes in . If the bounce rate is too high google thinks that your site content dosent have enough value for the user - so will start bringing your site down in search results .


How can I see My group listing?
I am Hoeun Oen and work for SFB Project in Cambodia. I am new to AFULO and I have a quick question that need your help. I am listed in the list and I also suppose to see the activity in My groups but when I went to My Groups and it showed me NO such groups!, Please help me to solve this?
Hi, could you tell me the name of the activity you are not seeing? 'My Groups' shows you groups, not acitivites. To look at activities, go to either 'My Projects', or 'Group Projects'. 'Group Projects' lists all the projects you can see from the groups you have been added to.


Carbon dioxide released by fossil fuel combustion makes up 57% of the greenhouse gas emissions - that includes natural and man-made greenhouse gasses. Efforts to lower that number include reducing CO2 output through energy efficiency and clean power alternatives, as well as carbon capture and storage. The former is making significant headway, but the latter is quite expensive. Both are necessary, so what can be done to make carbon capture less costly?
The XPRIZE Foundation recognizes that completely eliminating man-made CO2 emissions is not practical, and since carbon is a useful element, why not convert it into something that can be sold to offset the cost of capturing it? To that end, the XPRIZE Foundation is running a competition and offering a $20M prize to the team that designs the best solution. Let's take a look at three of the competing teams.
Some research scientists work in the abstract; others, like the folks at CarbonCure, deal in the concrete - literally, in this case!
CarbonCure's technology takes captured CO2 and uses it as an ingredient in concrete. During the process, the carbon reacts with calcium, becoming a form of carbonate that's permanently bound to the concrete. Even if the concrete is later pulverized, the carbon will not be released. The technology is easily retrofitted into the concrete manufacturing process, so there's no retooling necessary for production facilities. And the icing on the cake: the cement is actually stronger, allowing producers to use less of it in the making of concrete.
JW: In CarbonCure's process, cement is still manufactured in the same way - heating limestone at very high temperatures. Downstream at the concrete plant is where the innovation occurs. When all of the ingredients of concrete are mixing, various reactions take place. The CO2 reacts with water to form carbonate ions. The carbonate then quickly reacts with calcium ions released from the cement to rapidly form a limestone-like material, which is similar to the raw ingredient of cement, limestone.
TL: I'm a little unclear about whether your process reduces the CO2 that's released by concrete production, or if it's simply adding "sequestered" CO2 to the mix.
JW: This is a great question - CarbonCure's process uses CO2 that is sourced from nearby final emitters, such as refineries, fertilizer plants, or even cement plants. The emissions released by concrete production typically are not great enough to warrant the installation of a CO2-capture technology, so CO2 is sourced from larger nearby emitters that release greater quantities of CO2 to improve the economics.
The CarbonCure Story from CarbonCure on Vimeo.
Opus 12, founded by an innovative trio who met at Stanford University, is developing a cost-effective way to capture CO2 at its source and convert it into carbon-neutral fuels. Not only would this reduce CO2 emissions, it would also cut our dependency on foreign oil. Even better, the resulting fuel can serve as an energy storage medium, allowing renewable energy sources to become a larger part of the baseload electricity generation.
You may be familiar with water hydrolysis - using electricity to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. Essentially the hydrogen becomes a storage medium for energy. A fuel cell can recombine the hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, with water as the only byproduct. The International Space Station, whose primary power source is its solar array, uses this process, with the fuel cells acting as rechargeable batteries.
TL: The process uses electricity to separate CO2 molecules. Is this similar to electrolysis for extracting hydrogen from water? How efficient is the process?
NF: The electricity requirement is very similar to splitting water to make hydrogen. Modern commercial water electrolysis systems can reach 75-80% conversion efficiency.
TL: Just from the standpoint of fuel production, how is this better than using electric vehicles? Is there a benefit other than range?
NF: Think of liquid fuels produced from our process as bottled electricity. Our fuels, which are created from recycled CO2 emissions and renewable electricity, would allow any car, truck, or plane to become an "electric vehicle" and benefit from a net zero carbon footprint. Our fuels are compatible with all existing engines, fueling stations, and pipelines. EVs are an important part of a future transportation system, but even with the most optimistic adoption rates, internal combustion engines will be around for a very long time. Our process allows you to reduce vehicle emissions without changing any fuel infrastructure.
TL: If the fuel is burned in an internal combustion engine, what are the byproducts? CO2? If so, is it an even trade?
NF: Synthetic fuels are cleaner burning and have lower sulfur emissions than petroleum-based fuels. The CO2 that is released from combusting the fuel in the vehicle comes from CO2 emissions captured elsewhere, resulting in an artificial carbon cycle.
TL: Have you looked into the carbon footprint of the side processes, such as compressing and transporting the CO2?
NF: There is no need to compress and transport CO2. Our process could bolt onto any source of industrial CO2 emissions and convert them into liquid fuels onsite. Those fuels, such as diesel, gasoline, or jet fuel, could be transported in existing pipelines or tanker truck networks.
TL: The website mentions large-scale energy storage. If you convert CO2 into liquid fuel (energy storage) and then burn the liquid fuel in a generator, what's the round-trip efficiency? (I'm guessing it's low, because fuel-powered generators aren't very efficient.) How does it compare to batteries?
NF: If you think of energy storage at a system level, our process can convert excess electrical power into liquid fuels, which can store that energy indefinitely. It would be most useful to use those liquid fuels for transportation. If you were seeking grid storage, it would be better to use our process to convert excess renewable power into green methane, which could drop directly into existing gas pipelines for use as heat or electricity. The current round trip efficiency would be lower than existing batteries, but the scale is practically limitless, given the capacity of natural gas infrastructure. The capital cost of this energy storage system would be significantly lower than batteries as well. As redesigned and more efficient internal combustion engines our developed, our reactors could someday be coupled with an efficient fuel-powered generator to approach the round-trip efficiency of conventional batteries.
Inspired by photosynthesis, the process by which plants convert CO2 and water into usable energy, Dimensional Energy is developing an artificial photosynthesis module - a photoreactor - that converts sunlight, CO2, and water into methanol and other fuels.
According to Dimensional Energy's team leader Jason Salfi, the researchers developed a novel fiber optic waveguide that allows the photoreactor to direct sunlight, at a desired wavelength and intensity, to a specific location. Unlike other methods of splitting molecules, this uses the sun's energy - heat and light - directly, without the inefficient conversion to electricity.
The sunlight reaches a surface that's coated with a nanofluid catalyst, also developed by Dimensional Energy, which breaks the CO2 and H2O molecules' covalent bonds, allowing the component elements to form new bonds in the form of hydrocarbon fuels.
A healthy competition often drives innovation; a $20M prize doesn't hurt either. Good luck, teams!