Monday, April 30, 2012

Tree Squirrels Management Guidelines--UC IPM

Pests in Gardens and Landscapes

UC IPM Home > Homes, Gardens, Landscapes, and Turf > Tree Squirrels

How to Manage Pests

Adult eastern fox squirrel, Sciurus niger, on a screen door.

There are four species of tree squirrels in California, excluding the small nocturnal flying squirrel, which is not considered a pest. Of the four, two species are native and two are introduced from the eastern part of the United States. In their natural habitats they eat a variety of foods including fungi, insects, bird eggs and young birds, pine nuts, and acorns, plus a wide range of other seeds.

Squirrels sometimes cause damage around homes and gardens, where they feed on immature and mature almonds, English and black walnuts, oranges, avocados, apples, apricots, and a variety of other plants. During ground foraging they may feed on strawberries, tomatoes, corn, and other crops. They also have a habit, principally in the fall, of digging holes in garden soil or in turf, where they bury nuts, acorns, or other seeds. This caching of food, which they may or may not ever retrieve, raises havoc in the garden and tears up a well-groomed lawn. They sometimes gnaw on telephone cables and may chew their way into wooden buildings or invade attics through gaps or broken vent screens. Tree squirrels carry certain diseases such as tularemia and ringworm that are transmissible to people. They are frequently infested with fleas, mites, and other ectoparasites.

Biology and Behavior

Tree squirrels are active during the day and are frequently seen in trees, running on utility lines, and foraging on the ground. Tree squirrels are easily distinguished from ground squirrels and chipmunks by their long bushy tails and lack of flecklike spots or stripes, and the fact that they escape by climbing trees and other structures. All are chiefly arboreal, although the fox and western grey squirrels spend considerable time foraging on the ground. Tree squirrels do not hibernate and are active year-round. They are most active in early morning and late afternoon.

Eastern fox squirrels (Sciurus niger) were introduced from the eastern part of the United States and are well established in most major cities of California. Some people enjoy seeing them and introduced them into new territories. In some cities eastern fox squirrels have moved outward into agricultural land, especially in the southern part of the state, where they have become a pest of commercial crops. Eastern grey squirrels (S. carolinensis) were originally introduced from the eastern United States into Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California. They are also established in areas of Calaveras and San Joaquin counties in California and may be expanding their range.

Native western grey squirrels (Sciurus griseus) are found throughout much of California, primarily in oak woodlands of the foothills and valleys and in pine/oak forests, where they feed on a variety of seeds, fungi, and other plant materials. They also have a tendency to strip bark in order to access and feed on the cambium layer, causing injury to trees. Native Douglas squirrels (Tamiasciurus douglasii), sometimes called chickarees, are found in mostly conifer-forested regions of the north coastal area and along the Sierra Nevada Mountain region. Because of the habitat in which they thrive, these two native tree squirrels are not usually pests, except for the damage they can do in forest regeneration projects. They may, however, become garden or home pests in some of the more remote rural areas.

Of the four tree squirrels, the eastern fox squirrel, sometimes called the red fox squirrel, is by far the most serious pest to homes and gardens in urban and suburban situations. This squirrel can be differentiated from the others by its brownish red-orange fur. Tree squirrels naturally nest in tree cavities, enlarged woodpecker holes, or high in a tree in a spherical nest they construct of twigs, leaves, and shredded bark. Breeding occurs in the late winter or in the spring and, depending on the species of tree squirrel, produces one or two litters per year of three to five young. For those producing two litters, the breeding period is extended.

LEGAL STATUS

Tree squirrels are classified as game mammals by the state Fish and Game Code and can be controlled only as provided by the hunting regulations. Any owner or tenant of land or property that is being damaged or destroyed or is in danger of being damaged or destroyed by grey squirrels must apply to the California Department of Fish and Game for a permit to control such squirrels. The Department, upon receipt of satisfactory evidence of actual or immediately threatened damage or destruction, may issue a revocable permit for the removal and disposition of such squirrels. When a permit to trap the grey squirrel is issued, the Department may designate the type of trap to be used and may also require that squirrels be released in parks or other nonagricultural areas. It is not legal to use poison baits to kill tree squirrels. Eastern fox squirrels found to be injuring growing crops or other property may be controlled at any time and in any legal manner by the owner or tenant of the premises without a permit.

MANAGEMENT

In urban and suburban areas tree squirrels are difficult to control because of their great mobility and because many people feed and provide nest boxes for the squirrels in order to encourage their presence. It is relatively easy to keep squirrels out of buildings, but keeping them out of a yard or garden is a continuous challenge.

Monitoring Guidelines

The detection of tree squirrels is fairly easy because they are active during daylight hours and are highly visible. If tree squirrels visit your garden or yard on a regular basis, it is likely that damage will occur at certain stages of crop development, particularly with fruit and nut crops. If squirrels are seen in your trees, some kind of preventive action should be taken; squirrels can strip a tree of its crop in a short time.

Habitat Modification

Trees that overhang roofs or are close to telephone lines should be cut back to slow the movement of squirrels about the yard. Anything that can be done to make a garden less attractive to squirrels is helpful.

Exclusion

Screening or blocking all potential entrance sites such as small gaps under the eaves, overlapping roof sections, and knotholes, can prevent tree squirrel access to buildings. Because they often travel on overhead telephone lines, power lines, and fence tops, they frequently find entrances at about these heights. When even a small opening is found, they can enlarge it by gnawing. In the absence of an obvious entrance, they can gnaw and create an entrance into an attic. Sheet metal or 1/4-inch wire hardware cloth are suitable materials for closing entrances. When closing entry routes, be sure you haven't screened an animal inside the building. One way to test whether any squirrels are left is to plug the entrance with a loose wad of newspaper; if any remain inside they will remove the plug to get out.

It is virtually impossible to keep squirrels out of fruit or nut trees because of their superb climbing and jumping ability. Sometimes if there are other unprotected fruit or nut trees available to the squirrels, you can protect the crop of a single tree by netting it as you would to exclude depredating birds. While squirrels can readily gnaw through the plastic netting, they may not persist if sufficient alternative food is easily available.

Squirrels can be discouraged from digging up newly seeded or established crops by covering the rows with cagelike freestanding covers made of one-inch hexagon chicken wire.

If squirrels are present around bird feeders, they are usually able to raid them and steal the food. Numerous devices and methods are commercially available from specialty catalogs for physically excluding tree squirrels from feeders; some of these work better than others. Tree squirrels are amazingly clever and agile so just about any feeder is susceptible.

Trapping

Several types of kill traps are useful for tree squirrel removal, but they must be set in a way that will not accidentally trap nontarget animals, including pets. This can be accomplished by placing the trap in a tree, or on a rooftop, and/or inside a box or wire cage with entrances no larger than three inches in diameter. Remember, only eastern fox tree squirrels can be killed without a hunting license or permit.

All-metal tunnel or tube-type traps are becoming more popular for killing eastern fox tree squirrels. The design of these traps affords good protection to larger nontarget animals, and the trapped animal remains partially out-of-sight. The Conibear® #110 trap, a jaw-type body-gripping trap, is also an effective tree squirrel trap when set inside a trap box with the bait placed behind the trap.

Several choker-type box traps are sold for removing tree squirrels. They look similar to those used for trapping pocket gophers except that the triggers are often reversed so that the bait must be pulled to activate instead of pushed, as is the case with pocket gopher traps. In fact, modifying certain wooden choker-type gopher traps can make a tree squirrel trap. To modify a gopher trap, lengthen the trigger slot with a rattail file so the trigger can swing unhindered and the squirrel can pass beneath the unset trap. Remove the back and replace it with 1/4-inch mesh hardware cloth, which allows the squirrels to see the bait from both ends but prevents access without passing through the trap. For a dual-trap assembly, place two box traps back-to-back and secure them to a board.

Before placing traps, determine the squirrels' travel routes and locate traps in or as close to them as possible. Trees and rooftops are often good locations for placement. Locate and secure traps so that they cannot be easily dislodged. Anchor them with a wire or light chain so a predator cannot carry the trap and the catch away. Bait the traps but do not set them for several days to allow the squirrels to steal the bait and become accustomed to the trap. Once the bait is regularly eaten, set the traps, and rebait, tying the bait to the trigger with fine thread or string. Use rubber or plastic gloves when handling dead squirrels. Place dead squirrels in a plastic bag and seal to confine any ectoparasites. The carcasses can then be discarded in a garbage can.

Sometimes ordinary rat snap traps are suggested for tree squirrels, but these are often not powerful enough to kill mature squirrels and are best not used. There are other kill traps available for squirrel-sized animals, but these are not always sold locally and may have to be ordered from a trapper supply firm.

Live-catch cage traps are also available, but once caught the squirrel must be disposed of, presenting a problem for some. Remember, releasing an eastern fox tree squirrel elsewhere is illegal. Considering this problem, live-catch traps are not recommended. A kill trap is usually the most effective way to thin out the population, though new squirrels will move in to fill the void. Trapping usually becomes an ongoing process once the neighborhood is populated with tree squirrels.

Other Control Methods

Although some chemical repellents are registered for use to keep tree squirrels out of an area, their effectiveness is questionable. There are also repellents that are added to birdseed that are supposed to prevent squirrels from feeding on the seeds, however, these, too, have shown little promise.

Tree squirrels quickly become habituated to visual or sound frightening devices and pay little attention to them after a couple of days. A number of these devices are on the market, but none have proven very effective.

Where shooting is not prohibited, the eastern fox tree squirrel can be taken at close range with a pellet gun. Check with local authorities to determine if this method is legal in your area.

Tree squirrels are quick to escape when pursued by predators. Some dogs that have full run of the yard will keep squirrels at bay. Predators in urban and suburban areas generally have little effect on tree squirrel populations.

WARNING ON THE USE OF CHEMICALS


COMPILED FROM

Salmon, T. P., D. A. Whisson, and R. E. Marsh. In press. Wildlife Pest Control Around Gardens and Homes. 2nd ed. Oakland: Univ. Calif. Agric. Nat. Res. Publ. 21385.

PUBLICATION INFORMATION

[UC Peer Reviewed]

Pest Notes: Tree Squirrels
UC ANR Publication 74122         PDF to Print

Authors: T. P. Salmon, Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology, UC Davis; D. A. Whisson; Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology, UC Davis; and R. E. Marsh, Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology, UC Davis
Produced by IPM Education and Publications, University of California Statewide IPM Program

PDF: You need a PDF reader, such as Acrobat Reader version 8 or later, to view or print this PDF. If no reader is installed on your computer, you can download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader.

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Sunday, April 29, 2012

Sent via Readability: How Apple Sidesteps Billions in Global Taxes

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"How Apple Sidesteps Billions in Global Taxes"

Read more with Readability: http://rdd.me/egwflrqk

Braeburn Capital, an Apple subsidiary in Reno, Nev., manages and invests the company's cash. Nevada has a corporate tax rate of zero, as opposed to the 8.84 percent levied in California, where Apple…

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Original URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/business/apples-tax-strategy-aims-at-low-tax-states-and-nations.html?_r=1


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Thursday, April 26, 2012

Shared from AppAdvice.com

The Brydge Bridges The Gap Between MacBook And iPad -- AppAdvice

http://appadvice.com/appnn/2012/04/the-brydge-bridges-the-gap-between-macbook-and-ipad


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World

http://appadvice.com/appnn/2012/04/worlds-strongest-iphone-auto-mount-passes-stress-test-without-breaking-a-sweat


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AP

http://www.digiday.com/publishers/inside-the-aps-social-strategy/

@CNET, 4/26/12 3:55 PM

CNET (@CNET)
4/26/12 3:55 PM
Facebook is on a patent acquisition mission. Sony looks like a smart place to hunt, says @PaulSloan cnet.co/IsegWu

@BrandonBailey, 4/25/12 7:32 AM

BrandonBailey (@BrandonBailey)
4/25/12 7:32 AM
Rubin to finish testifying today in Oracle v Google, then more engineers. Lot of empty seats in the gallery when no CEOs on deck.

@FedcourtJunkie, 4/25/12 8:22 AM

Dan Levine (@FedcourtJunkie)
4/25/12 8:22 AM
Shocker! 9thC Judge Tallman writes opinion for gvt. This man never met a prosecutor he didn't like. via @ScottKGraham law.com/jsp/ca/PubArti…

@FedcourtJunkie, 4/25/12 3:06 PM

Dan Levine (@FedcourtJunkie)
4/25/12 3:06 PM
Check out our scoop from #goovorc trial which revealed Google revenue projections from 2010 going out to 2013 reuters.com/article/2012/0…

@FedcourtJunkie, 4/26/12 8:09 AM

Dan Levine (@FedcourtJunkie)
4/26/12 8:09 AM
Nice overview of Google execs vs. David Boies RT @ZDNetRachel Trial: Page, Rubin and Schmidt: How did they do? zd.net/IOMDJx

@CalebGarling, 4/26/12 9:17 AM

Caleb Garling (@CalebGarling)
4/26/12 9:17 AM
Spectacular outdoor pics lining entrance to the attorney's lounge. Photographer? Judge William Alsup yfrog.com/mmt3kycj

@thinkprogress, 4/26/12 3:24 PM

ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress)
4/26/12 3:24 PM
Today in the Senate, 31 GOP men voted AGAINST the Violence Against Women Act. All 5 GOP women voted FOR it pic.twitter.com/TvMsTdSJ

@Rockingirlsusan, 4/26/12 3:29 PM

Susan O'Reilly (@Rockingirlsusan)
4/26/12 3:29 PM
@thinkprogress there's no war against women! my ass! these bastards need 2 b gone from my government!

@Rockingirlsusan, 4/26/12 3:43 PM

Susan O'Reilly (@Rockingirlsusan)
4/26/12 3:43 PM
The Republican War on Women Visual Cavalcade (and kids too) - Dial up Warning - Democratic Underground democraticunderground.com/1002614998

Content #lazy

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Bicycle race

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@CBSi, 4/26/12 3:00 PM

CBS Interactive (@CBSi)
4/26/12 3:00 PM
Ponderosa Clip! The latest eliminated #Survivor is shocked by what's in the mirror & eats like there's no tomorrow! bit.ly/I8D2v9

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Tumblr Photo

Here's a great picture I found on Tumblr...

naive-kids:

stargazingkids:

chillinn

how beautiful (via imgTumble)

I would be shitting myself!

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f-erocious:

t1gerlily:

where is this? (via imgTumble)

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New Zealand Woman's Coca-Cola Habit Cited in Death - ABC News

http://abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=16177904


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Thursday, April 19, 2012

FBI Arrests Another Anonymous Member

FBI Arrests Another Anonymous Member

by Mathew J. Schwartz, darkreading.com
April 18th 2012 11:12 AM

The FBI announced Monday that it arrested John Anthony Borell III, 21, on charges of participating in two January 2012 Anonymous attacks against police websites in Utah.

Borell was arrested in Ohio on March 20, 2012, and indicted by a federal grand jury on April 4, 2012, on two counts of computer intrusion involving SQL injection attacks. Each count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The first attack involved the Salt Lake City police department website, slcpd.com. The attack caused $33,000 in damages, said the site's administrator. The attacker also released to Pastebin a database dump containing 473 records containing police officers' usernames, hashed passwords, full names, titles, email addresses, and phone numbers.

In the second attack, against the Utah Chiefs of Police Association website, www.utahchiefs.org, the attacker released a list containing the name, email address, and hashed password for 24 Utah chiefs of police. The website administrator, according to the FBI, said the attack had caused $150,000 "in damages accrued in responding to this hacking event."

Read the full article here.

Have a comment on this story? Please click "Discuss" below. If you'd like to contact Dark Reading's editors directly, send us a message.

Original Page: http://www.darkreading.com/security/vulnerabilities/232900499/fbi-arrests-another-anonymous-member.html

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Bethel Bakery - Home

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otherwordly

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Thursday, April 12, 2012

Will

http://willrichardson.com/post/20982479472/if-a-story-can-be-written-by-a-machine-from-data

Is Facebook Making Us Lonely? - Magazine - The Atlantic



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Techmeme: Stuxnet Loaded by Iran Double Agents (Richard Sale / ISSSource) http://t.co/QJa13tEg http://t.co/ck6hV26R


Techmeme: Stuxnet Loaded by Iran Double Agents (Richard Sale / ISSSource) http://t.co/QJa13tEg http://t.co/ck6hV26R

Techmeme: Stuxnet Loaded by Iran Double Agents (Richard Sale / ISSSource) http://t.co/QJa13tEg http://t.co/ck6hV26R

Original Page: http://twitter.com/Techmeme/statuses/190571528402898945




Techmeme: Prime: Amazon's New Research Lab (@tcarmody / Wired) http://t.co/HgQv4aeh http://t.co/3k06BpKg


Techmeme: Prime: Amazon's New Research Lab (@tcarmody / Wired) http://t.co/HgQv4aeh http://t.co/3k06BpKg

Techmeme: Prime: Amazon's New Research Lab (@tcarmody / Wired) http://t.co/HgQv4aeh http://t.co/3k06BpKg

Original Page: http://twitter.com/Techmeme/statuses/190591674387398656




Techmeme: Hewlett-Packard has best day on Wall Street in more than three years (@mercbizbreak / Mercury... http://t.co/Ny04fhaN http://t.co/eAoQBG67


Techmeme: Hewlett-Packard has best day on Wall Street in more than three years (@mercbizbreak / Mercury... http://t.co/Ny04fhaN http://t.co/eAoQBG67

Techmeme: Hewlett-Packard has best day on Wall Street in more than three years (@mercbizbreak / Mercury... http://t.co/Ny04fhaN http://t.co/eAoQBG67

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Latest News From FeedForAll


Latest News From FeedForAll

Welcome to latest news from FeedForAll.

Upgrading?
Thinking of switching to Windows 7 or Server 2008? Use this video tutorial to make sure your conversion with our software goes smoothly!
http://www.feedforall.com/videos/feedforall-vista-installation.htm

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Follow us on twitter @FeedForAll and @RecordForAll

Running RecordForAll & FeedForAll on Windows 7
Considering installing Windows 7? Here is a step by step tutorial to install RecordForAll on Windows 7.
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Articles
Twitequette
Philosophies regarding social media networks, such as Twitter, can vary greatly. But similar to email, an unspoken etiquette has emerged for these social websites as well. The etiquette for these social sites does not consist of hard and fast rules, but is simply a list of guidelines for posting. The following is a set of Twitter etiquette guidelines, but can also be applied to other social networks...
http://www.small-business-software.net/twitequette.htm

Pros and Cons of Web Templates
Small retail businesses who are making the move to an online presence may feel overwhelmed by the process of creating a website. Web templates can often help make the process less painful for a small business. To assist webmasters in the template vs custom design decision, we have outlined the pros and cons to each...
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Tips to Get Things Accomplished
All of us start the day with every intention of completing a variety of tasks, but unfortunately many of us become distracted as the day moves on. Or even worse, we are tasked with crisis management, and at the end of the day we find that we have made little progress in whittling down the days planned tasks. As well intentioned as you may be, it seems to become a routine, and one that far too many of us fall into.
http://www.small-business-software.net/tips-to-get-things-accomplished.htm

Small Businesses Must Adapt or Suffer
Small businesses tend to be more agile than large corporations, but in order to take advantage of that strength, they must be willing to adapt with changing times in order to prosper and survive. This is especially true when faced with a difficult economic climate.
http://www.small-business-software.net/small-businesses-must-adapt-or-suffer.htm

Help Us Go Green
We have recently upgraded our systems to expand our ability to send invoices, statements and receipts via email. When placing an order please provide any email addresses for your receivables department and we will automatically email the invoice immediately after your order is processed.

New Video Tutorials
We have compiled a series of videos to assist customers with utilizing various features in both FeedForAll and RecordForAll.
http://www.feedforall.com/rss-videos.htm
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Digital Sound Effects
Royalty free sound effects for podcasters or broadcasters available for as little as $.99.
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Thank you for your continued interest, suggestions and support for the FeedForAll Product line.
FeedForAll team

Original Page: http://www.feedforall.com/blog.htm#518



Website Spidering Explained



 
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Website Spidering

Spidering Websites
By Sharon Housley

Website Spidering refers to the automated process of indexing a web site by a search engine. An automated program, known as a web crawler or spider, will go through a website following the links on each page, and will gather pertinent information from each page until it has properly indexed the entire website.

If a search engine is unable to spider a website, it may be a unable to index some or all of the content on that site. As a result, the website may not appear in the search results from that search engine, even when associated keywords are searched for. Potential customers may use search engines to seek out a product or service, but if a website does not appear in the search results due to missing or incomplete indexing, that website may be losing out on an opportunity. As such, it is very important to make sure the search engine spiders can indeed "crawl" and index your website.

There are a number of things that webmasters can do to improve the "crawlability" of their websites to make them more spider-friendly...


Display Using HTML


HTML is by far the easiest type of content for search engines to spider. If the webmaster uses scripting or flash to display some of the site's content, the search engine spiders may have a difficult time following the links.

Use a Sitemap

Sitemaps are simply roadmaps for a website. The sitemap will help insure that all the pages on the website are indexed by the search engine. Create a proper sitemap for the website, and then submit the sitemap to the major search engines.

Sitemap Details - http://www.small-business-software.net/ins-and-outs-of-sitemaps.htm


Robots.txt

A properly-formatted robots.txt file will help direct search engine spiders to the various parts of the website that should be indexed, as well as specifying any parts that should not be indexed. The robots.txt file should be included in the website's root directory.

Secure

Keep in mind that a search engine spider can not follow links behind a password or secure server (https). Any important web pages that require indexing should never be located behind a password or secure server.

Avoid ID=

Avoid using "ID=" or similar parameters in the webpage urls. Search engines will often ignore any URLs that include an "ID=" as a parameter.

No Frames

Avoid using frames if possible. Content that is contained in a frame cannot be spidered by search engines.

Consider implementing these few easy steps to increase the spiderability of your website, to help insure that the site will be properly indexed.


About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com audio recording and editing software.

**********************************************************

This article may be used freely in opt-in publications and websites, provided that the resource box is included and the links are active. A courtesy copy of the issue or a link to any online posting would be greatly appreciated send an email to sharon@notepage.net .

Additional articles available for publication available at http://www.small-business-software.net/free-website-content.htm

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Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Tumblr Photo

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a white family home | the style files

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Tuesday, April 10, 2012

The Age of the Female-Centric Startup

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/03/18/who-runs-the-world-the-age-of-the-female-centric-startup/

The Age of the Female-Centric Startup

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/03/18/who-runs-the-world-the-age-of-the-female-centric-startup/

Building Personal Strength: 10 Wonderful Quotes from Women

http://www.buildingpersonalstrength.com/2011/06/10-wonderful-quotes-from-women.html?m=1

Anderson Cooper 360

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/10/ridiculist-people-who-missed-dyngus-day/?on.cnn=1&hpt=ac_mid

When did Facebook become so uncool?

http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/10/tech/social-media/facebook-uncool-instagram/index.html?c=tech

Widow with dementia gave $600,000 to Kabbalah Centre charity

Getting old is a mofo!!


Check out this article from LA Times:

Susan Strong Davis, an 87-year-old widow, spends the day inside her Palos Verdes Estates home, tended round-the-clock by nurse's aides. For company, relatives say, she has her dog, the television and, on increasingly rare occasions, memories of the glamorous socialite's life she once lived.

To read the full article, click on this link or copy and paste it into your browser: http://www.latimes.com/la-et-kabbalah-larkin-20120409,0,4512500.story



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Coasters « Red Bird Ink

http://redbirdink.com/category/shop/letterpress-coasters


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A web site link from Remodelista

http://paulagreifceramics.com/


Sent from my iPad

Saturday, April 07, 2012

The Economist | Books of the Year: Page-turners

The Economist
Books of the Year
The best books of 2011 were about China, Congo, Afghanistan, Charles Dickens, Vincent van Gogh, the "Flora Delanica", Jerusalem, Mumbai's dance bars, quantum physics, sugar, orgasms, blue nights, two moons and other people's money

Few things will affect our future more than migration. By calculating the how, where and why of future labour shortages, the authors analyse the costs and benefits of human migration.




Tuesday, April 03, 2012

IBM takes on a gigantic computing task to find the universe’s origins | VentureBeat


IBM takes on a gigantic computing task to find the universe's origins

IBM takes on a gigantic computing task to find theĀ universe'sĀ origins
April 1, 2012 9:01 PM 

Some of the biggest friggin' computers you'll ever see are going to help decipher data from the world's largest telescope as it explores the origins of the universe.

IBM announced today it has won a $42 million contract to work with the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON) to research the "exascale" computer systems that are needed for the radio telescope, which is known as the Square Kilometer Array (SKA). The project, to be completed in 2024, is perhaps one of the biggest scientific and computing efforts of all time.

IBM plans to investigate high-performance technologies that will be required to read, store, and analyze one exabyte of raw data per day. An exabyte is equal to one quintillion bytes, a "1″ followed by 18 zeroes. That is twice as much data as is produced every day on the world wide web. By the time the entire project is done, about $2 billion will have been spent on it.

The SKA project is backed by an international consortium to build the world's largest and most sensitive radio telescope. Scientists estimate that the processing power required to operate the telescope will be equal to several millions of today's fastest computers. The telescope will be used to explore evolving galaxies, dark matter, and data from the Big Bang, or the creation of the universe more than 13 billion years ago.

ASTRON and IBM will do fundamental research for the next five years on a collaboration known as Dome, which will explore the high-performance computers that will be needed in the future. Funding comes in part from the Dutch government.

In Drenthe, Netherlands, ASTRON and IBM will look at energy-efficient exascale computing, data transport at light speed, storage processes and streaming analytics technology. All of that will be useful for the general progress of computing, said Ronald Luitjen, an IBM scientist and data motion architect on the project, which involves astronomers from 20 countries.

"To detect the signals, you really need a good antenna," Luitjen said. "It would be the equivalent of 3 million TV antennae dishes. This will be a unique instrument. Nothing else can do this kind of science."

Luitjen said he has been working on the project for eight years. Ton Engbersen, a scientist at IBM Research in Zurich, Switzerland, said, "This is Big Data Analytics to the extreme. With Dome we will embark on one of the most data-intensive science projects ever planned, which will eventually have much broader applications beyond radio astronomy research."

ASTRON and IBM will investigate advanced accelerators and 3D stacked chips for more energy-efficient computing. They will also look at novel optical interconnect technologies and nanophotonics to optimize large data transfers, as well as high-performance storage systems based on next-generation tape systems and new phase-change memory technologies. The systems will have to be built with dramatically low power consumption. About 50 people will work on the computing project for the next five years.

The SKA will use a technology for low-frequency array (LOFAR), which serves as a pathfinder telescope for the larger array. The SKA itself will have millions of antennae to collect radio signals, with the collection area itself equivalent to a square kilometer. The surface area will actually span 3,000 kilometers and will be 50 times more sensitive at picking up radio waves than any former device. It will be 10,000 times faster than today's instruments.

After processing, about 300 to 1,500 petabytes of data need to be stored, compared to 15 petabytes produced by the large Hadron collider at the CERN supercomputing lab in Switzerland. The site for the SKA is expected to be selected this year, with Australia/New Zealand and South Africa in the running, since those regions don't have a large amount of radio pollution.

IBM takes on a gigantic computing task to find the universe’s origins | VentureBeat

IBM takes on a gigantic computing task to find the universe's origins

IBM takes on a gigantic computing task to find theĀ universe'sĀ origins
April 1, 2012 9:01 PM 

Some of the biggest friggin' computers you'll ever see are going to help decipher data from the world's largest telescope as it explores the origins of the universe.

IBM announced today it has won a $42 million contract to work with the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON) to research the "exascale" computer systems that are needed for the radio telescope, which is known as the Square Kilometer Array (SKA). The project, to be completed in 2024, is perhaps one of the biggest scientific and computing efforts of all time.

IBM plans to investigate high-performance technologies that will be required to read, store, and analyze one exabyte of raw data per day. An exabyte is equal to one quintillion bytes, a "1″ followed by 18 zeroes. That is twice as much data as is produced every day on the world wide web. By the time the entire project is done, about $2 billion will have been spent on it.

The SKA project is backed by an international consortium to build the world's largest and most sensitive radio telescope. Scientists estimate that the processing power required to operate the telescope will be equal to several millions of today's fastest computers. The telescope will be used to explore evolving galaxies, dark matter, and data from the Big Bang, or the creation of the universe more than 13 billion years ago.

ASTRON and IBM will do fundamental research for the next five years on a collaboration known as Dome, which will explore the high-performance computers that will be needed in the future. Funding comes in part from the Dutch government.

In Drenthe, Netherlands, ASTRON and IBM will look at energy-efficient exascale computing, data transport at light speed, storage processes and streaming analytics technology. All of that will be useful for the general progress of computing, said Ronald Luitjen, an IBM scientist and data motion architect on the project, which involves astronomers from 20 countries.

"To detect the signals, you really need a good antenna," Luitjen said. "It would be the equivalent of 3 million TV antennae dishes. This will be a unique instrument. Nothing else can do this kind of science."

Luitjen said he has been working on the project for eight years. Ton Engbersen, a scientist at IBM Research in Zurich, Switzerland, said, "This is Big Data Analytics to the extreme. With Dome we will embark on one of the most data-intensive science projects ever planned, which will eventually have much broader applications beyond radio astronomy research."

ASTRON and IBM will investigate advanced accelerators and 3D stacked chips for more energy-efficient computing. They will also look at novel optical interconnect technologies and nanophotonics to optimize large data transfers, as well as high-performance storage systems based on next-generation tape systems and new phase-change memory technologies. The systems will have to be built with dramatically low power consumption. About 50 people will work on the computing project for the next five years.

The SKA will use a technology for low-frequency array (LOFAR), which serves as a pathfinder telescope for the larger array. The SKA itself will have millions of antennae to collect radio signals, with the collection area itself equivalent to a square kilometer. The surface area will actually span 3,000 kilometers and will be 50 times more sensitive at picking up radio waves than any former device. It will be 10,000 times faster than today's instruments.

After processing, about 300 to 1,500 petabytes of data need to be stored, compared to 15 petabytes produced by the large Hadron collider at the CERN supercomputing lab in Switzerland. The site for the SKA is expected to be selected this year, with Australia/New Zealand and South Africa in the running, since those regions don't have a large amount of radio pollution.

[Image credits: IBM]


IBM takes on a gigantic computing task to find the universe's origins

IBM takes on a gigantic computing task to find theĀ universe'sĀ origins
April 1, 2012 9:01 PM 

Some of the biggest friggin' computers you'll ever see are going to help decipher data from the world's largest telescope as it explores the origins of the universe.

IBM announced today it has won a $42 million contract to work with the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON) to research the "exascale" computer systems that are needed for the radio telescope, which is known as the Square Kilometer Array (SKA). The project, to be completed in 2024, is perhaps one of the biggest scientific and computing efforts of all time.

IBM plans to investigate high-performance technologies that will be required to read, store, and analyze one exabyte of raw data per day. An exabyte is equal to one quintillion bytes, a "1″ followed by 18 zeroes. That is twice as much data as is produced every day on the world wide web. By the time the entire project is done, about $2 billion will have been spent on it.

The SKA project is backed by an international consortium to build the world's largest and most sensitive radio telescope. Scientists estimate that the processing power required to operate the telescope will be equal to several millions of today's fastest computers. The telescope will be used to explore evolving galaxies, dark matter, and data from the Big Bang, or the creation of the universe more than 13 billion years ago.

ASTRON and IBM will do fundamental research for the next five years on a collaboration known as Dome, which will explore the high-performance computers that will be needed in the future. Funding comes in part from the Dutch government.

In Drenthe, Netherlands, ASTRON and IBM will look at energy-efficient exascale computing, data transport at light speed, storage processes and streaming analytics technology. All of that will be useful for the general progress of computing, said Ronald Luitjen, an IBM scientist and data motion architect on the project, which involves astronomers from 20 countries.

"To detect the signals, you really need a good antenna," Luitjen said. "It would be the equivalent of 3 million TV antennae dishes. This will be a unique instrument. Nothing else can do this kind of science."

Luitjen said he has been working on the project for eight years. Ton Engbersen, a scientist at IBM Research in Zurich, Switzerland, said, "This is Big Data Analytics to the extreme. With Dome we will embark on one of the most data-intensive science projects ever planned, which will eventually have much broader applications beyond radio astronomy research."

ASTRON and IBM will investigate advanced accelerators and 3D stacked chips for more energy-efficient computing. They will also look at novel optical interconnect technologies and nanophotonics to optimize large data transfers, as well as high-performance storage systems based on next-generation tape systems and new phase-change memory technologies. The systems will have to be built with dramatically low power consumption. About 50 people will work on the computing project for the next five years.

The SKA will use a technology for low-frequency array (LOFAR), which serves as a pathfinder telescope for the larger array. The SKA itself will have millions of antennae to collect radio signals, with the collection area itself equivalent to a square kilometer. The surface area will actually span 3,000 kilometers and will be 50 times more sensitive at picking up radio waves than any former device. It will be 10,000 times faster than today's instruments.

After processing, about 300 to 1,500 petabytes of data need to be stored, compared to 15 petabytes produced by the large Hadron collider at the CERN supercomputing lab in Switzerland. The site for the SKA is expected to be selected this year, with Australia/New Zealand and South Africa in the running, since those regions don't have a large amount of radio pollution.

[Image credits: IBM]