phi

Black Light Express by Phillip Reeve


From my recent review of Black Light Express for Locus:


Philip Reeve’s absolutely incredible world building again takes center stage in Black Light Express, the sequel to Railhead. The second book picks up soon after the events that brought Railhead to a stunning close, with former thief and unwitting catalyst Zen Starling having fled the Network Empire along with Nova, his android girlfriend. Meanwhile, completely against her will, Threnrody Noon, the Paris Hilton of the empire-controlling Noon family, has assumed the position of Empress. She is only a pawn of more powerful interests however and virtually trapped in the palace attending a haze of pointless engagements while her former fiance, Kobi, is on the other side of the galaxy about to be forced into a corporate approved marriage with someone he has never met. Basically, the fallout from Railhead is reverberating across all the lives of the major characters while, unknown to them, it’s about to get a lot lot worse. 

What Black Light Express (and the first book, Railhead), offers readers is sentient trains, a vapid rich girl who decides she doesn't want to be a pawn anymore, political machinations, alien technology, aliens, dinosaur-descended aliens, human-android romance, the fact that the human-android romance is the best kind of romance, more stupid rich people, the satisfaction of rich people losing because they are stupid, a protagonist who is smart and scrappy and more than willing to walk on the wrong side of the law because playing by the rules gets you only so far (and those rich jerks are the ones who wrote the rules in the first place).

Oh - and a train is killed and that is far more upsetting than you would think. 

As I wrote in my review, I'm really surprised that these books are not more well known. They  are excellent SF (which is not too common in the YA literary world) as well as being excellent political mirrors for much of modern society. Check them out!





phi

Mw 5.3 LUZON, PHILIPPINES

Magnitude  Mw 5.3
Region  LUZON, PHILIPPINES
Date time  2020-05-09 19:18:12.8 UTC
Location  14.04 N ; 120.55 E
Depth  100 km




phi

M 4.2 MASBATE REGION, PHILIPPINES

Magnitude   M 4.2
Region  MASBATE REGION, PHILIPPINES
Date time  2020-05-09 19:56:48.0 UTC
Location  12.78 N ; 123.38 E
Depth  5 km




phi

M 3.6 PHILIPPINE ISLANDS REGION

Magnitude   M 3.6
Region  PHILIPPINE ISLANDS REGION
Date time  2020-05-10 04:45:17.0 UTC
Location  10.33 N ; 126.60 E
Depth  5 km




phi

Match of Their Day: Phil Neville picks his classic games

In this week's Match of Their Day, former Manchester United and Everton player Phil Neville selects his three favourite Premier League games.




phi

Match of Their Day: Phil Neville picks his classic games

In this week's Match of Their Day, former Manchester United and Everton player Phil Neville selects his three favourite Premier League games.




phi

Looking for graphic designer






phi

Inhibition of glycosphingolipid biosynthesis reverts multidrug resistance by differentially modulating ABC transporters in chronic myeloid leukemias [Cell Biology]

Multidrug resistance (MDR) in cancer arises from cross-resistance to structurally- and functionally-divergent chemotherapeutic drugs. In particular, MDR is characterized by increased expression and activity of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) superfamily transporters. Sphingolipids are substrates of ABC proteins in cell signaling, membrane biosynthesis, and inflammation, for example, and their products can favor cancer progression. Glucosylceramide (GlcCer) is a ubiquitous glycosphingolipid (GSL) generated by glucosylceramide synthase, a key regulatory enzyme encoded by the UDP-glucose ceramide glucosyltransferase (UGCG) gene. Stressed cells increase de novo biosynthesis of ceramides, which return to sub-toxic levels after UGCG mediates incorporation into GlcCer. Given that cancer cells seem to mobilize UGCG and have increased GSL content for ceramide clearance, which ultimately contributes to chemotherapy failure, here we investigated how inhibition of GSL biosynthesis affects the MDR phenotype of chronic myeloid leukemias. We found that MDR is associated with higher UGCG expression and with a complex GSL profile. UGCG inhibition with the ceramide analog d-threo-1-(3,4,-ethylenedioxy)phenyl-2-palmitoylamino-3-pyrrolidino-1-propanol (EtDO-P4) greatly reduced GSL and monosialotetrahexosylganglioside levels, and co-treatment with standard chemotherapeutics sensitized cells to mitochondrial membrane potential loss and apoptosis. ABC subfamily B member 1 (ABCB1) expression was reduced, and ABCC-mediated efflux activity was modulated by competition with nonglycosylated ceramides. Consistently, inhibition of ABCC-mediated transport reduced the efflux of exogenous C6-ceramide. Overall, UGCG inhibition impaired the malignant glycophenotype of MDR leukemias, which typically overcomes drug resistance through distinct mechanisms. This work sheds light on the involvement of GSL in chemotherapy failure, and its findings suggest that targeted GSL modulation could help manage MDR leukemias.




phi

A Demographic Profile of Black Caribbean Immigrants in the United States

Immigration from the Caribbean to the United States is a relatively recent phenomenon, beginning largely after 1965. This report provides a demographic profile of the 1.7 million Caribbean immigrants in the United States: their geographic settlement, education and workforce characteristics, earnings, modes of entry, and more.




phi

OM Philippines participates in Run for the World

OM SportsLink hosts a local R4TW race to engage those involved with OM Philippines-Cebu Ministries and encourage people to pray for the nations.




phi

Typhoon Haiyan slams the Philippines

One of the strongest typhoons ever to hit land slammed the Philippines on Friday, 15 November, forcing millions to take shelter. OM Philippines responds.




phi

OM Philippines celebrates 25 years of ministry

OM Philippines celebrates 25 years of transforming lives and communities.




phi

First ever TeenStreet to be held in the Philippines

One hundred Filipino teens, aged 12-18 are expected to come to the five-day event of fun, learning and life-changing encounters in Cebu.




phi

Touching Lives: First TeenStreet Philippines

After over 10 years of praying, the Philippines had its first-ever TeenStreet!




phi

One on One: Building Loyalty On Mobile With Jack Philbin, CEO, Vibes

What's up with Apple Wallet?




phi

I-495 SB SOUTH OF PHILA PIKE HAS THE LEFT LANE CLOSED DUE TO AN ACCIDENT




phi

PHILADELPHIA PIKE BTW PA LINE & NAAMANS RD THE SB RIGHT LANE IS CLOSED UNTIL 5PM




phi

Design motorcycle graphics at home and win a Hero XPulse 200: Here’s how

In addition to the prizes and rewards, Hero MotoCorp may also make it a memorable experience for the participants by putting some of the entries into production.




phi

One on One: Building Loyalty On Mobile With Jack Philbin, CEO, Vibes

What's up with Apple Wallet?




phi

Why extending lockdown could be catastrophic

Extending the lockdown well beyond mid-May would shave 8-9% off the real GDP. but, the damage being done doesn’t seem to be filtering up to those in charge




phi

Data Can Be a Marketer's Dream—or a Persistent Nightmare [Infographic]

Too many B2B marketers are sleeping on the job when it comes to maintaining the consistency and quality of their data.




phi

Is Data Security Only a Myth? [Infographic]

Data protection appears to be many companies' Achilles' heel.




phi

Is Personalized Content Just What the Doctor Ordered? [Infographic]

For most marketers, personalization is the cure for ineffective content.




phi

Companies' Investments in Email Marketers Vary Widely [Infographic]

The median salary for male email marketers is $15,000 more than that of females'.




phi

Marketing Is Aging Like a Fine Wine [Infographic]

The discipline is projected to mature into a rich blend of social media and mobile engagement.




phi

Does Your Data Management Need Some Spring Cleaning? [Infographic]

Poor data quality and integration can cause a marketing mess.




phi

Infographic: Even Back-to-School Marketing is Increasingly Digital

Back-to-school serves as a reminder that digital channels not only drive digital purchases, but in-store purchases too




phi

Hong Kong announces the first phase of visa sanctions for Philippines

Hong Kong announces the first phase of visa sanctions for PhilippinesAmbassadorial passport holders and the government officials of Philippines will not be able to visit Hong Kong without a visa effective February 5, 2014. This was announced by the Hong…




phi

Ugandan Shilling(UGX)/Philippine Peso(PHP)

1 Ugandan Shilling = 0.0133 Philippine Peso




phi

Salvadoran Colon(SVC)/Philippine Peso(PHP)

1 Salvadoran Colon = 5.7698 Philippine Peso




phi

Romanian Leu(RON)/Philippine Peso(PHP)

1 Romanian Leu = 11.3385 Philippine Peso




phi

Ukrainian Hryvnia(UAH)/Philippine Peso(PHP)

1 Ukrainian Hryvnia = 1.8815 Philippine Peso




phi

Tanzanian Shilling(TZS)/Philippine Peso(PHP)

1 Tanzanian Shilling = 0.0218 Philippine Peso




phi

Venezuelan Bolivar Fuerte(VEF)/Philippine Peso(PHP)

1 Venezuelan Bolivar Fuerte = 5.0558 Philippine Peso



  • Venezuelan Bolivar Fuerte

phi

Yemeni Rial(YER)/Philippine Peso(PHP)

1 Yemeni Rial = 0.2017 Philippine Peso




phi

Paraguayan Guarani(PYG)/Philippine Peso(PHP)

1 Paraguayan Guarani = 0.0077 Philippine Peso




phi

Hong Kong Dollar(HKD)/Philippine Peso(PHP)

1 Hong Kong Dollar = 6.5013 Philippine Peso



  • Hong Kong Dollar

phi

Kuwaiti Dinar(KWD)/Philippine Peso(PHP)

1 Kuwaiti Dinar = 163.2288 Philippine Peso




phi

Saudi Riyal(SAR)/Philippine Peso(PHP)

1 Saudi Riyal = 13.4429 Philippine Peso




phi

Tunisian Dinar(TND)/Philippine Peso(PHP)

1 Tunisian Dinar = 17.3373 Philippine Peso




phi

South African Rand(ZAR)/Philippine Peso(PHP)

1 South African Rand = 2.7516 Philippine Peso



  • South African Rand

phi

Norwegian Krone(NOK)/Philippine Peso(PHP)

1 Norwegian Krone = 4.9423 Philippine Peso




phi

Argentine Peso(ARS)/Philippine Peso(PHP)

1 Argentine Peso = 0.7596 Philippine Peso




phi

Moroccan Dirham(MAD)/Philippine Peso(PHP)

1 Moroccan Dirham = 5.1394 Philippine Peso




phi

US Dollar(USD)/Philippine Peso(PHP)

1 US Dollar = 50.495 Philippine Peso




phi

Icelandic Krona(ISK)/Philippine Peso(PHP)

1 Icelandic Krona = 0.3453 Philippine Peso




phi

Kazakhstan Tenge(KZT)/Philippine Peso(PHP)

1 Kazakhstan Tenge = 0.1197 Philippine Peso