The murder trial of Ajamu Hollis — who is accused of killing off-duty corrections officer Daemon Bell — has started in the Supreme Court. The court heard that Mr Hollis, 47, allegedly used a gardening hoe to hit Mr Bell, who had tried to break up an argument. Mr Bell, who was 49 at the […]

The cruise ship Norwegian Breakaway arrived in Bermuda yesterday [Sept 29], sailing into the west end. The Ministry of Transport previously said, “The Norwegian Breakaway will make six calls commencing September 29 [arriving Bermuda] from New York with an estimated 3,200 passengers per call.” Minister of Transport Lawrence Scott previously said, “Passengers testing negative on […]

The Bermuda YAO Baseball season got underway, with the Phillies, Mets, Blue Jays, and Diamondbacks all earning wins. Cal Ripken Division [ages 10-12]: Phillies 22 Red Sox 9 Shane Reardon and Charlie Szakmary powered the Phillies, who triumphed over the Red Sox in an exciting opening day at Kindley Field. Solid pitching by Charlie Tudor-Thomas […]

Adam Hall made his return to baseball following his 60-day stay on the injured reserve list. The Bermudian baseball player is now playing for the FCL Orioles, they defeated the FCL Pirates 6 – 4. Hall had 4 at bats, he walked once, struck out once, and crossed the plate for a run. Related Stories […]

The YAO baseball season finally got underway, with three games completed in two divisions. Rookie Majors Division: A spokesperson said, “Behind the strong pitching of Henry Brown and fine plays in the field by William Hayne, the Mariners won the first game of the year 4-1 over the Angels. Roman Jagoda had 3 hits for […]

The BLTA 2024 Back to School Tournament got underway at the Port Royal Tennis Courts. In boy’s 18 singles action, number one seed Zachary Mcguire defeated Tobiah Goodchild 7-6, 6-4, while Terceira Lee won her girls 14 singles match in straight sets over Arianna Parra Delgado 6-1, 7-5. Boy’s 18 Singles 7 6 Zachary Mcguire […]

The Bermuda International 7s Tournament got underway at the National Sports Center in Bermuda showcasing an impressive roster of rugby talent from both college and high school teams across the US and Bermuda. The Bermuda Stars team split their two matches on the opening day, they defeated Saratoga 22 – 0, then lost to Dartmouth […]

Keep Bermuda Beautiful [KBB] is collaborating with the Association of Bermuda International Companies [ABIC], the Ministry of Public Works and the Department of Parks in a project aimed at maintaining the railway trail for all to enjoy. A spokesperson said,  “The railway trail is Bermuda’s largest national park and is home to a wide variety […]

Police are appealing for assistance in locating a female who, in what was apparently an intoxicated state, walked away from a taxi driver in the early hours of Saturday morning. A police spokesperson said, “Police responded to an incident that took place at 1am on Saturday February 14th on Harbour Road in the area of […]

The two male occupants of the vehicle “did not appear to have been injured” after they crashed overboard in the area of the Causeway, the police confirmed today. A police spokesperson said, “Shortly before 6:00 a.m. today, Saturday, 14th May, 2022, police received a 911 report that a SUV had gone overboard at the Causeway. […]

[Written by Stephen Wright] Bermudian artist Fire Wayne has a burning desire for his new song, One Blood, to reach every household on the island. Fire Wayne, whose real name is Wayne Raynor Jr, has again linked up with local producer RTwoG2, also known as DJ Rusty G, on the song, released on all major […]

The Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute [BUEI] announced the upcoming BUEI Talks: ‘The Aftermath: What Became of the 150 Sea Venture Castaways’ presented by Peter Barrett, Chairman of the St. George’s Foundation, on Tuesday, September 17 at 7.30pm in the Tradewinds Auditorium. A spokesperson said, “The Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute [BUEI] is excited to announce the […]

As a part of its 125th anniversary celebrations, the Berkeley Educational Society held their ‘Dress Code Runway Show’ — a Tea, Hat, and Fashion show fundraiser — on Sunday [June 11]. Maxine Esdaille, Chair of the Planning Committee, previously said, “The idea behind this event is to recognize and celebrate Berkeley’s contribution, through its students […]

Former cricketer Dwayne Bravo and CG’s Aunt Angie have teamed up to release “West Indies Deyah,” a new anthem celebrating West Indies cricket for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. A spokesperson said, “Former cricketer Dwayne Bravo, also known as DJ Bravo, and CG’s Aunt Angie have teamed up to launch a new track titled […]

Minister of Transport Wayne Furbert recently met with senior British Airways officials in London to “discuss partnerships and strategic initiatives aimed at strengthening the longstanding air connection between Bermuda and London.” A Government spokesperson said,  “Joining the Minister in the meetings were Lester Nelson, CEO of the Bermuda Airport Authority [BAA], and Aaron Adderley, President […]

Eventually, every stellar civilization will have to migrate to a different star. The habitable zone around all stars changes as they age. If long-lived technological civilizations are even plausible in our Universe, migration will be necessary, eventually. Could Extraterrestrial Intelligences (ETIs) use stars themselves as stellar engines in their migrations? In broad terms, a stellar …

Continue reading "A Spider Stellar Engine Could Move Binary Stars Halfway Across a Galaxy"

The post A Spider Stellar Engine Could Move Binary Stars Halfway Across a Galaxy appeared first on Universe Today.

Fans of Captain Janeway will be pleased to hear the announcement that a new Janeway...

On the anniversary of what would have been the 100th birthday of Star Trek creator Gene...

[Updated] Emergency services responded to a collision on East Broadway today [Oct 30] involving a car that crashed into the gas station building. The 83-year-old driver was not harmed, however his wife, 81, was taken to the hospital following the incident and a person in the building was also injured. Update Oct 31, 4.10pm: A police […]

“Tourism needs rebuilding and we are forcing our flagship entity to operate with less and less year over year, yet expecting an increase in results,” Opposition Senator Dwayne Robinson said. Senator Robinson said, “Is this PLP Government committed to the growth of the Hospitality and Tourism sector of our economy. So far, their track record […]

The Carnival Pride and Norwegian Breakaway cruise ships recently visited the island, and a look at both of the vessels in Dockyard is below. To see more of our cruise ship coverage, click here. Related Stories Photos & Video: MS Insignia In St. George’s Photos & Video: MS Silver Shadow Visits Photos & Video: Cruise […]

This is our recipe for a Five Way Chili Bowl. We’ve been making chili this way for a long, long time. And while we’ve tried many seasoning blends for making chili, we’ve found the French’s Chili-O (which is also sold as the identical product as Durkee Chili Pronto), makes an excellent tasting chili very quickly. …

The Small-Animallike Lady is Adored by the Ice Prince is a brand new romance manga from Yen Press. This first volume takes us to a familiar setting where there's a royal arranged marriage involved, and some frozen hearts are melted along the way!

Recently, Apple rejected a digital book application from Sony. The disagreement here is over how and when Apple collects for its services. Apple is playing a dangerous game.

In theory, Apple has the right to insist, under its terms for developers, that any app, which offers customers the ability to purchase books outside of the app, offer the ability for customers to purchase within the app at the same time.

Here is the rub. In its application, Sony sends customers to its own web site where they complete the purchase of a book. By routing the customers to its own web site, Sony is able to avoid a payment of 30% of revenues to Apple.

Others, including Amazon, with its Kindle, and Barnes & Noble, with its Nook, have been able to sell e-books by sending users to the companys’ own web sites. Apple simply was not enforcing its policy requiring developers to use its in-app purchasing feature to buy new content.

A 30% charge on revenues is a high price to pay Apple. Apple may be setting itself up for future loss of market share by enforcing this policy. If the Android platform does not put the same requirement on its app developers, the developers will have a strong incentive to avoid the 30% charge by encouraging customers to purchase using an Android device rather than an Apple device. Alternatively, the application developers may charge a higher price for purchases through Apple.

Apple’s unique strength has been its superior list of available applications. Apple’s enforcement of this requirement to purchase inside the app so that Apple can collect 30% of the revenues puts at risk its major advantage. Apple needs to compromise here by charging a lower price or no price at all. After all, it already makes high profits on its hardware and software product combination. It also makes profits on many of the downloaded apps. The application developers are customers too. Why make their life difficult? Does the benefit Apple provides a seller justify 30% of revenues? Sounds pretty rich.

Quick, guess the lighting.

If you said two lights, and use of high-speed sync to get the shallow depth of field, that's a pretty good guess.

If you said zero lights and a rigid high-efficiency reflector, that's an even better (and correct) guess.

When working with an inexperienced assistant — or looking to introduce someone to the world of off-camera lighting — a rigid/high-efficiency reflector is a fantastic and inexpensive place to start.

Read more »

In today’s economy, parting with hard-earned dollars to support your favorite charity or cause just may not be feasible. Consider donating yourself and your time as a way to give back without impacting your piggy bank.

Here’s how Chris Knoll, a cartographer here at NatGeo Maps, is giving back:

As part of an ongoing effort to support access to some of Colorado’s most popular 14er mountains, I participated in a stewardship adventure with Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado who partnered with Colorado Fourteeners Initiative. The main focus of this project was to work on building a sustainable trail up to 14,172 foot peak Mount Bross; which is near Fairplay, CO (90 miles southwest of Denver). Due to numerous unmarked mine shafts and a network of unmanaged social trails, access to the summit of Mount Bross was closed in 2006 until private land owners in conjunction with the US Forest Service can come to an agreement on the new route.

This is where the volunteers come in to action. Four crews totaling about forty people were given the task of stabilizing, reconstructing, and rerouting a trail leading up to Mt. Bross. The work included building sustainable portions of trail by installing rock steps where trail erosion is present, delineating one path up the mountain, and covering up social trails by re-vegetating these areas with native tundra plants that grow at higher elevations.

After work was completed each day, volunteers were fed by VOC staff, and were given the opportunity to socialize around the campfire and even take short hikes in the area. However, nights were called in early due to early 5:45 a.m. wake up calls.

All in all, the work that was completed over the weekend was meaningful and fun. It gives me a great sense of accomplishment knowing that one day, I will be able to hike a trail that I helped to construct.

For more information on non-profit volunteer groups mentioned in this article, check out http://www.voc.org, and http://www.14ers.org.

~Chris Knoll, Cartographer, National Geographic Maps

Excellent fundraisers, as well as average ones often find themselves reaching a plateau when it comes to their fundraising abilities and the dollar amounts that they raise.  On a plateau, it is just as easy to move upward as it is to slip backwards; losing progress. Fundraisers are only interested in moving in one direction; upward.

pla•teau (plæˈtoʊ; esp. Brit. ˈplæt oʊ) 
n., pl. -teaus, -teaux (-ˈtoʊz, -toʊz) 
v. -teaued, -teau•ing. n.1. a land area having a relatively level surface considerably raised above adjoining land on at least one side.
2. a period or state of little or no growth or decline, esp. one in which increase or progress ceases: to reach a plateau in one's career.v.i.3. to reach a state or level of little or no growth or decline; stabilize

Definitions #2 and #3 have the most significance in fundraising, but definition #1 can be a useful visualization tool.

So how do we get beyond the fundraising plateau?

1. Go back to basics. Find something in your fundraising routine that can be improved and work on it. Can your greeting be made more friendly? Can your donation requests be tightened up? What ever it is, work on it. Working on any one issue has the added benefit of providing new perspectives on other issues.
2. Ask the donor. Ask donors, whether, they give or not, what they thought of your performance. Most will provide at least one useful bit of information. Some donors will provide so much valuable criticism that you may find yourself reexamining your entire fundraising strategy.
3. Ask another fundraiser. Sometimes we let shyness, pride or professional competition get in the way of improving our skills. Every fundraiser, at every stage, goes through the plateau problem. Reach out to your fellow fundraisers and get their advice.
4. Become an expert. Often after fundraising for a certain cause for a long time, fundraisers began to feel like experts on the issue. There is always more to learn. Find books magazine articles and any other materials that you can. The more you know about your issue, the better you can fund raise for it.
5. Remember, Plateaus aren't permanent. Keep slugging away, doing the best job that you possibly can. Eventually, you will begin to see some progress.

OMG. I can't believe October is over already. I blame Satisfactory which, okay, I do get it now, and it did destroy my body and mind. I am inches from being done now; I just want to make sure that I finish it with enough force that I do actually put it away, as I could imagine tinkering with my saddest factory forever.

The game isn't without flaw, but I think most of those flaws are not interesting to talk about. I do have one petty but important criticism, which is mildly spoilerful and anyway will only be interesting if you played the game. There is an object called the Somersloop ("cool S") which allows you to double the output of a machine. Canonically this item is some kind of "loop" and the flavor text talks about how it is able to create more energy than you put into it. So when I'm out hunting for Korok seeds I have this thought that maybe I could create a loop of factories whereby it would create infinite resources by repeatedly doubling. And I'm thinking about it but the crafting tree doesn't have any notable loops in it, but I remember the "packager" which allows you to put a fluid in a container or the converse, and I'm like: Yes, that's great! So I get back to base and I am doing this, just for fun to create an infinite fuel factory or whatever, and I realize that the packager just doesn't have a slot for a Somersloop. They must just hate fun, elegant twists. It would not break the game to allow this (you can always get infinite resources lots of other ways) or cause any other problem I can think of. Hmph!

The thing about constructing a factory and watching it churn is that it's basically the same thing as a programming project that you invented for yourself, and it's probably better to do the programming project. Here's progress on my mysterious rectangle:

Minusweeper 2

It's good progress if I do say so myself! Anything but black here is a Satisfactory result, which is 90.55% of them at this point. I may need heavy machinery for the remaining 9.45%, but that is part of the fun.

I think that's really it for this month! Please vote in the US Elections if you can (but I guess also vote in any important elections. And obviously, vote for the good guys???). And happy Halloween!

The habitable zone is a useful concept in astrobiology, but it can sometimes paint an over-simplified picture of planetary habitability.

Was it always there



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