October 31, 2013

5 Odd Phobias You Never Knew Existed


Everybody's afraid of something. Whether it be flying, public speaking, spiders or the dreaded dentist, we all have things that make us squirm.

When that fear becomes strong enough and irrational enough though, it develops into a full-blown phobia. Of course, not all phobias are created equal; some are just more irrational than others.

It's pretty easy to understand how the fear of heights (acrophobia) or dying (thanatophobia) can fill somebody with paralyzing dread, but what about the fear of chickens (alektorophobia) or chopsticks (consecotaleophobia)? Guess somebody isn't ordering the cashew chicken.

All jokes aside, the National Institute of Mental Health figures that up to 18 percent of Americans suffer from phobias, so there's a good chance that you yourself are phobic of something.

So, as we explore five of the strangest phobias out there, let's just hope your particular phobia isn't pinaciphobia, or rather, the fear of lists ...

No. 5: Sesquipedaliophobia - Fear of long words

It took one seriously sick sense of humor to come up with the name for this phobia. Seriously, how can anybody who suffers from the fear of long words ever be expected to tell people what their diagnosis is?

In reality, there have been no actual documented cases involving sesquipedaliophobia, but the experts haven't let that stop them from identifying it as a type of anxiety disorder anyways.

One wonders how someone would even develop such a phobia. Maybe it would have something to do with an overzealous English teacher and an unfortunate spelling bee mishap?

But the word wasn't quite long enough for some jokesters, who suggested the 15-syllable hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia instead. Just try to pronounce that one. Or, rather, don't. We're not waiting.

This longer version is a combination of the original phobia with the roots for hippopotamus and monstrous tacked onto the beginning: Literally, the fear of long hippopotamus monster words.

Frightening, sure, but not nearly as much as our next selection ...

No.4: Pentheraphobia - Fear of your mother-in-law

Most married people realize deep down that their mother-in-law isn't really it?

But while most of us leave it at simply not liking our mothers-in-law, there is a smaller group that suffers from the surprisingly common, although often unspoken, phobia of mothers-in-law.

Pentheraphobia can be caused by an intense negative experience from your past, but your mind can also create that fear seemingly without basis.

Then again, maybe that basis can be found in pop culture. There's no doubt mothers-in-law have been an all-too-convenient storytelling tool since the dawn of both television and movies. The ranks of overbearing matriarchs run the gamut from Mother Jefferson on "The Jeffersons" and Endora on "Bewitched" to Jane Fonda's title character in the 2005 theatrical flop "Monster-in-Law."

Of course, of the many available therapies for pentheraphobia, divorce seems to be the quickest and most popular method.

However, not even divorce can keep you safe from our next fearful selection ...


No. 3: Linonophobia - Fear of string

When it comes to this fear, there's one thing we know for sure: Cats sure don't suffer from it.

Linonophobia is the abnormal fear of string; and that means string of all colors and fibers, including yarn, thread and even sometimes rope.


How somebody develops such a phobia is open to speculation. Perhaps a youthful yo-yoing accident? Or a game of cat's cradle that spun out of control? Who can really say for sure?

Those who suffer from this rare phobia are sure to have a hard time in life, because they have to deal not only with the occasional roll of string, but also all the things made from string and yard, including clothes, blankets, carpet, etc.

And don't even get us started on kites. We imagine the "Let's Go Fly a Kite" finish to "Mary Poppins" alone would be enough to set treatment back for years.

Our next phobia is a weighty issue ...

No. 2: Barophobia - Fear Of Gravity

Most people would probably agree gravity is a good thing. Without it we'd all be floating around and eating or going to the bathroom ... well, let's just say the less said the better.

Actually, that's one of the very reasons barophobes fear gravity: They worry that the fickle force of nature could one day fail and leave us all literally up in the air.

On the flip side of the coin, some barophobic people worry they instead will be crushed by the force of gravity were it to become too great.

While the fear of gravity may stem from a traumatic fall as a child, sometimes the fear is less direct. Some arrive at barophobia because they fear the role gravity plays in aging -- think sagging flesh -- or just feel powerless over nature.

One thing's a given though: You won't find many barophobes in line to ride Space Mountain, or any other thrill ride for that matter.

Just as you won't find many people with our last phobia enjoying a nice PB&J ...

No. 1: Arachibutyrophobia - Fear of peanut butter sticking to roof of your mouth

We are more than a little skeptical anyone realistically could have an abnormal fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of their mouth, but, to be frank, the idea's so delightful we're willing to embrace arachibutyrophobia.

The phobia, which hasn't actually been officially categorized as a medical disorder, was coined by author Peter O'Donnell in his 1985 novel "Dead Man's Handle." It got online and spread easier than creamy peanut butter on warm toast.

The term itself comes from the Greek word arachi, which means "ground nut," and ... who are we kidding? It's impossible for anybody to take this one seriously.

That is, except for the good people at the CTRN Phobia Clinic, who, seeing an opportunity to make money off the gullible, latched onto the word as a serious, debilitating illness. As the clinic's website promises, for as little as $1,497 you too can work toward the "guaranteed lifetime elimination of Sticky Peanut Butter Phobia."

Now, that's truly scary.

October 29, 2013

Circumvent Blocked Websites Easily


Access UK and US websites from anywhere in the world.

One of the great ironies of the Internet is that it is meant to connect everyone together and break down barriers, but at the same time media companies erect location-based barriers around their properties. This practice is known as geo-blocking.

For example, web services like Hulu, Pandora, Google Voice, and Google Music are not available outside of the United States, while BBC iPlayer and Grooveshark are blocked to anyone outside of the UK. Then there's all the music uploaded to YouTube, which is blocked in various parts of Europe, depending on the strength of the music industry lobbyists. To some people however, these constant attempts by the media industry to segregate users according to geographic location seems unfair. The way around this issue is to use a VPN (which stands for Virtual Private Network) program, such as TunnelBear.

Basically what a VPN does is provide you with a temporary new IP address, which makes the blocked service think you are living in a country where it's allowed to view the content you are trying to access. We can't stress enough that using a VPN is perfectly legal, so you don't have to worry about the cops kicking your front door down with an arrest warrant just for having this software (unless of course you’re using the VPN service for something illegal). But a lot of VPN's are not good enough to fool services like iPlayer and Hulu, so to a certain extent, their usefulness is limited. Plus VPN's come and go so fast, it's hard to keep track of them all.

TunnelBear is one of the exceptions. This lightweight software app is able to access both US and UK websites with literally the flick of a button and so far, there doesn't seem to be a website it can't handle. There is no lag, it's very fast and it is extremely simple to use. There's zero set-up required which means even the most tech-ignorant user can handle it with ease.

For those who like their software goodies free, TunnelBear provides everyone with 500MB free every month (and an additional 1GB per month free if you tweet about them on Twitter). But regular usage of the app means that this 1.5GB is soon gone. Which means that if you intend to use TunnelBear for more than listening to some songs or watching a couple of TV programs every month, you will have to look at upgrading to the unlimited plan which costs a mere $5 a month. For the high-quality app you're taking advantage of, $5 a month is a great deal.

What's even better is that paid customers can use TunnelBear on the iPad and iPhone. So wherever you have an Internet connection, you can set up a VPN connection with the setup details provided by the developer and you can sit on your couch or lie in bed and listen to Pandora or watch a TV program on BBC iPlayer.


If you're looking for a reliable cheap fast VPN, give TunnelBear a go. 

Download the FREE version here!

October 27, 2013

Free - Advanced Open-Source 3D Computer Graphics Software

Blender is a free and open-source 3D computer graphics software product used for creating animated films, visual effects, art, 3D printed models, interactive 3D applications and video games. Blender's features include 3D modeling, UV unwrapping, texturing, rigging and skinning, fluid and smoke simulation, particle simulation, soft body simulation, sculpting, animating, match moving, camera tracking, rendering, video editing and compositing. It also features a built-in game engine.

Below is a sample video tutorial:


Features:

Interface


The Interface allows you to change, adapt and re-distribute the layout of all UI components and tools to suit the task at hand.

From the smallest adjustment in size to a full custom interface, all this adaptability and ease of change allows for smooth and organic work flows with natural scene interaction.
  • Fully customizable Interface
  • Non-overlapping and non-blocking UI delivers unsurpassed workflow
  • Undo support on all levels
  • Anti-aliased fonts with international translation support
  • Built-in text editor for annotations and editing Python scripts
  • Fully scriptable UI with custom themes
  • Consistent interface across all platforms

Character Modeling


With a great variety of tools available, Sculpting can be used to create very detailed organic looking characters. Coupled with modifiers like multi-res, the models can be very complex while the interface remains responsive.

Because these tools are available within Blender itself the production is greatly streamlined, and with GLSL support the results are instantaneous.
  • Very fast Catmull-Clark subdivision surfaces with optimal iso-lines display and sharpness editing
  • Full multiresolution sculpting capabilities with 2D bitmap/3D procedural brushes (Paint, Smooth, Pinch, Inflate, Grab) supporting symmetry
  • Smooth soft selection editing tools for organic modeling
  • Python scripting access for custom tools.

Rigging


Transforming any model into a posable character has never been easier, with highly sophisticated methods of deformation calculation that allow realistic mesh displacement.

Specialized add-ons give you the power to create professional grade rigs for your characters in just a few steps.
  • Fast skeleton creation mode
  • Interactive 3D paint for vertex weighting
  • Fast envelope based skinning
  • Automatic Skinning that really works (heat equilibrium based)
  • Mirror editing (bone creation and weight painting)
  • Double Quaternion deformation reduces shrinking and other bone deformation errors
  • Volume deformer uses a mesh cage to deform complex meshes with great results
  • Bone layers and colored groups for better rig organization
  • B-spline interpolated bones; forget about elbow twists
  • Constraint stack for IK solver setup and other constraints
  • PyConstraints; if you need something not yet implemented code it in python with real time feed back, no compiling needed.

Solids Modeling


Hard surfaces and Subdivision surface modeling benefit from tools that range from community provided complex primitives to stackable modifier.

The modifiers allow non destructive alterations to a base mesh, these can be easily modified, interchanged and undone.
  • A range of 3D object types including polygon meshes, NURBS surfaces, bezier and B-spline curves, metaballs, vector fonts (TrueType, PostScript, OpenType)
  • Very fast Catmull-Clark subdivision surfaces with optimal iso-lines display and sharpness editing
  • Full multi-resolution sculpting capabilities with 2D bitmap/3D procedural brushes (Paint, Smooth, Pinch, Inflate, Grab) supporting symmetry
  • Modifier stack deformers such as Lattice, Curve, Armature or Displace
  • Mirror modifier with middle vertices clipping and automatic deletion of inner faces
  • Non destructive real time Boolean and Array modifiers
  • Mesh modeling based on vertex, edge and/or face selection
  • Smooth soft selection editing tools for organic modeling
  • Python scripting access for custom tools.

Animation


Thanks to flawless integration, tasks as simple as walk cycles or as complex as lip syncing can be undertaken with more emphasis on the results and the fine tuning.

With the Non-Linear Animation (NLA) independent movements, poses, and gestures can be combined into complex actions, and reordered or altered individually, without having to remake the whole animation.
  • Armature (skeleton) deformation with forward/inverse kinematics with pole target support
  • Auto IK allows posing FK chains easily
  • Non-linear animation editor for mixing individual actions created in Action editor
  • Automated walkcycles along paths
  • Animated constraint system
  • Vertex key framing for morphing, with controlling sliders
  • Edit and create new blendshapes from existing targets
  • Character animation pose editor
  • 'Ipo' system integrates both motion curve and traditional key-frame editing
  • Audio playback, mixing and editing support for sound synchronisation
  • Timeline offers fast acces to many playback functions, autokey, help markers
  • Python scripting access for custom and procedural animation effects.

Rendering


True and tested, the robust default render engine is an industrial strength image generator.

With powerful optimization for material nodes and procedural textures, along with fully compliant support for farm rendering, the Blender internal render engine is reliable, fast and efficient.
  • Fast inbuilt raytracer
  • Oversampling, motion blur, post-production effects, fields, non-square pixels
  • Tile-based and fully threaded
  • Render layers and passes
  • Render baking to UV maps and object to object baking (full render, ambient occlusion, normals, textures)
  • Render engine tightly integrated with the node compositor
  • Halo, lens flares and fog effects
  • Vector motion-blur post-process effect (using node compositor)
  • Realistic defocus (DOF) post-process effect (using node compositor)
  • Edge rendering for toon shading
  • Interactive preview rendering panel in any 3d view
  • Ambient Occlusion
  • Approximate Global Illumunination
  • Export scripts available for external renderers such as Renderman, Povray, Virtualight, Lux, Indigo and V-Ray - See Resources for a full list.

UV Unwrapping 


Using any of the multiple available tools to project meshes, it is straightforward to manage texture space for a given geometry.

Projections can be exported as image layouts, the unwrapped area can be adapted to existing images, apply multiple textures and special materials like specular and bump maps, alterations can be done interactively and see the results in real time.
  • Conformal and Angle Based unwrapping methods
  • Interactive transform of UV maps by vertex pinning
  • Proportional falloff editing of UV maps for smooth transformations
  • Seam based unwrapping
  • Cube, Cylinder, Sphere, View projections
  • Catmull-Clark subdivition of UVs for less distortion
  • Minimize stretch tool allows to reduce area distortion
  • Multiple UV layers

Raytrace Rendering


Create stunning visuals using a render engine that treats light in a more natural way, with the Cycles Render Engine.

Unleash the power of your graphic card with Blender providing full support to GPU rendering.
  • Fast pathtracer
  • Global Illumination
  • Fully threaded on the CPU
  • Support for GPU rendering (CUDA, OpenCL in development), even on multiple GPUs
  • Physically based, node shader system
  • Render layers and passes
  • Render engine tightly integrated with the node compositor
  • Interactive live rendering in any 3d view
  • Ambient Occlusion
  • Native Depth of Field
Physics and Particles


Complex and dynamic materials that interact with each other and their environment are easy to set up and control, alter the natural flow of water or set flags to rail in the wind with special effectors.

From a crumbling building, an exploding ship or a refreshing glass of water to hair that wades in the air, fluffy fur or a patch of grass, the physics and particle system will deliver great looking results.
  • Particle system can be atached to any mesh object. Control methods include weight painting, textures, curve guides, wind and vortex effects. Particles can be deflected by moving geometry
  • Hair strands can be created by a static particle system, supporting all particle control methods
  • Fluid simulator with fully animated inflow, outflow, obstacle and fluid objects. Gravity and viscosity settings can also be animated. Supports vector blur and is integrated with the particle system
  • Realtime soft body solver integrated in mesh, lattice, curve and text objects. Supports collision detection and particle field effects like Wind or Vortex, soft bodys can also be baked for faster playback/rendering
  • Game engine rigid body physics can be easily baked into animation curves.

Shading


Combining textures with fine grained deformation, complex materials can be applied and directly altered in the viewport.

With the completely node based Blender Shadding system, complex computed colors can be obtained by the controlled combination of base materials, lighting, and special textures mapped to the geometry.
  • Diffuse shaders such as Lambert, Minnaert, Toon, Oren-Nayar, Lambert
  • Specular shaders such as WardIso, Toon, Blinn, Phong, CookTorr
  • Node editor for creating and mixing complex materials
  • PyNodes: write your own Python shaders with realtime feedback, no need to compile
  • Material previews rendered by main render engine
  • Fast, realistic subsurface scattering
  • Blurry reflections and refractions
  • Tangent shading to give any shader an anisotropic effect
  • Versatile procedural textures system
  • Reflection maps
  • Normal, displacement and bump maps.

Realtime 3D/Game Creation


With its complete integration to code base and its totally graphical interface, the game engine is both fully independent from, while at the same time perfectly adapted to, your programing skills

Use the visual data blocks to create your game logic, or code your own, either way once finished your product can be ported to the run time environment of your choice.
  • Graphical logic editor for defining interactive behavior without programming
  • Collision detection and dynamics simulation now support Bullet Physics Library. Bullet is an open source collision detection and rigid body dynamics library developed for Play Station 3
  • Shape types: Convex polyhedron, box, sphere, cone, cylinder, capsule, compound, and static triangle mesh with auto deactivation mode
  • Discrete collision detection for RigidBody simulation
  • Support for in-game activation of dynamic constraints
  • Full support for vehicle dynamics, including spring reactions, stiffness, damping, tyre friction etc
  • Python scripting API for sophisticated control and AI, fully defined advanced game logic
  • Support all OpenGLTM lighting modes, including transparencies, Animated and reflection-mapped textures
  • Support for multimaterials, multitexture and texture blending modes, per-pixel lighting, dynamic lighting, mapping modes, GLSL vertexPaint texture blending, toon shading, animated materials, support for Normal Maping and Parallax Mapping
  • Playback of games and interactive 3D content without compiling or preprocessing
  • Audio, using the SDL toolkit
  • Multi-layering of Scenes for overlay interfaces.

Imaging and Compositing 


With the compositor fully integrated into the rendering pipeline, there is no need for intermediate files or applications, allowing for quick and easy corrections and composites to your rendered scene

But if you need to use intermediate applications Blender can render out all layers and passes to a single multi-layered OpenEXR file for ease of access and efficient use of available hardware.
  • Compositor tightly integrated and aligned with the rendering pipeline
  • MultiLayer OpenEXR files allow to store and reuse raw renderlayer and passes data
  • Complete list of composite node filters, convertors, color and vector operators and mixers including Chroma Key, Blur, RGB Curves, Z Combine, Color Ramp, Gamma Correct
  • Preview panel to define the portion of interest. A composite then only happens on this part
  • Threaded and memory efficient (up to 8 processors)
  • Near realtime sequencer can edit hours of video
  • Waveform and U/V scatter plots
  • Open and write many audio & video file formats using ffmpeg
  • Can render using frameserver-support directly into foreign applications
  • Supports float images as well as regular 8 bits images
  • Curves tool allows you to create a mapping from the float range to a displayable result (for HDR images).
Camera and motion tracking


Blender offers tools built-in for VFX production, covering the entire pipeline from footage import, tracking & masking, all the way to final edit and grading. For camera and motion tracking we use the open Libmv library, fully integrated in Blender's "Movie Clip Editor".
  • Fast and powerful camera reconstruction
  • Real-time preview of 3D and footage combinations
  • Support for planar tracking and tripod solvers
  • 3D object tracking
  • Motion tracks can be applied to Mask points, 3D objects, etc.

Extensible


Blender is not only a program, it is a foundation and a community, as a result whenever you use blender, you are not alone, hundreds of people around the world from programing hobbyists to professionals devoted to the Blender cause contribute enhancements and additional features on a daily bases.

With support ranging from a wide variety of available online resources to friendly IRC communities, Blender will just keep getting better, and who knows, maybe the next great contributor will be, you.
  • All program functionalities are conveniently exposed and accessible through python, allowing you to create your own programming based solutions.
  • Community contributed add-ons expand every aspect of the functionality including rendering engines, import-export file formats, available mesh objects.

Files

Blender is perfectly aware that your environment will require you to use more than one program, for this reason in comes packed with a myriad of options for interacting with other formats.

From 2D to 3D, simple models and complex scene become completely interchangeable across a vast variety of specialized import-export addons.
  • Save all scene data in a single .blend file, even images, sounds or fonts can be packed for easy transportation
  • Powerful built-in database system allowing instances, scene management, and dynamic linking multiple project files
  • .blend format supports compression, digital signatures, encryption, forwards/backwards compatibility and can be used as a library to link to from other .blend files
  • Read and write support for many other 2D and 3D formats
  • 2D - TGA, JPG, PNG, OpenEXR, DPX, Cineon, Radiance HDR, Iris, SGI Movie, IFF, AVI and Quicktime GIF, TIFF, PSD, MOV (Windows and Mac OS X)
  • 3D - 3D Studio, AC3D, COLLADA, FBX Export, DXF, Wavefront OBJ, DEC Object File Format, DirectX, Lightwave, MD2, Motion Capture, Nendo, OpenFlight, PLY, Pro Engineer, Radiosity, Raw Triangle, Softimage, STL, TrueSpace, VideoScape, VRML, VRML97, X3D Extensible 3D, xfig export.
Download

Ready to learn, create and have fun?  Download your FREE software here.

October 26, 2013

Blueberry Pierogi

(Originally published by Michael Ruhman)

Emilia Juocys has been my assistant for several years, first from Chicago now from her home town in Michigan. She has recently, at the age of 35, made a major transition in her life. Major transitions require reflection, reevaluation; curiosity and fear about the future are also inevitable consequences. When you are a cook you turn to food for some of the understanding and grace you need. – R
By Emilia Juocys


Summer is nearly over, and the fall is closing in, and the bounty of the summer is entering our kitchen in droves. I devour the sweet summer corn and beautiful heirloom tomatoes, but for me summer would not be summer unless I had a specific summer treat. I’m also stuck in a great period of reflection, wondering where I will end up next in my life’s adventures. What I have learned so far is that there are some attributes in you that never leave. They may hide, but they come back. My love of food and sharing it with others has not disappeared—in fact it has grown stronger. This past week I stood in my parents’ kitchen preparing lunch for my 99-year-old dziadzia (grandfather) and found myself musing over my summers I had with him, my babcia (grandmother), and my sister.

As small girls growing up in a Polish household, my sister and I would eagerly wait for Babcia to make blueberry pierogi. We would wait for the blueberries to arrive at the house and we both knew it was time. A few ingredients would pop out on the table and then work to assemble them began. Oh, and the rules about who could do what.

Babcia was the only person allowed to make the dough when we were younger. She had her own measuring system of nonsensical cups, but I knew that most of the measurement was done by feel. We were allowed to gather the flour in the middle of the table, add the salt, crack the eggs into the well, and slowly add water as she began to mix my hand. Babcia would knead the dough and my sister and I would stand in awe. One of the things I miss most about her was her hands. They were worker’s hands that had lived a full life of cooking, cleaning, scrubbing walls, yard work, and sewing. When she was done kneading the dough, it had to rest beneath a moist towel. My sister and I always wanted to roll out the dough, but we could not. Babcia wanted good-looking pierogi, which meant that little girls can’t do that, although we both had our own rolling pins and kid dough to play with and practice. The only job that my sister and I were permitted to do was to cut the circles out of the dough and hand them to Babcia as she filled them.

Blueberry pierogi were our summer treats. When you are six years old and it is 95° and humid outside, all you could dream about was a cold blueberry pierog to hold in your hand and eat as you ran around outside. Who knew the number of times I watched her make various types of pierogi over the years. That each time I learned something that was then squirreled away in my head for use later in my life. That what I learned from her is part of my family and my heritage.
 

Blueberry Pierogi

Traditionally my family serves their blueberry pierogi only after they are boiled and are garnished with sour cream, hot butter, and sugar. Enjoy!
  • 2.5 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 eggs, room temperature
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 cup water (nearly)
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature (our family used butter, others use lard or cream cheese)
  • 3 cups fresh blueberries
  • Flour for dusting
  1. Using a 5-quart standing mixer with a dough hook, add the flour, eggs, salt, and some of the water to the bowl. Mix for 1 minute on medium speed until the dough begins to come together. Then add the butter. If the dough is still dry, add more water; if it is too wet, add a bit more flour. Increase the speed to high for 3 minutes. The dough should now be formed; it should not be sticky to the touch.
  2. Rest the dough for 30 to 45 minutes, covered with a moist towel or plastic wrap. You can also wrap the dough and refrigerate it until the next day; just remember to bring the dough to room temperature before you use it.
  3. Place a large stockpot filled with water on the stove and bring it to a boil.
  4. Cut the dough in half. On a dusted countertop, begin to roll out your pierogi dough. Roll it fairly thin, to about 1/8″ thick, and cut circles out with a 4″ round cutter. Be sure to keep the circles close together to get the most yield out of the dough. Babcia would never reuse the dough (poor form). Repeat with the other half of the dough.
  5. Hold the circle in your hand and fill it with as many blueberries as the dough can comfortably hold. Then cup the pierog (singular) like a taco and begin to pinch the edges to seal. Continue until you have them all filled.
  6. To cook the pierogi, carefully drop them one at a time into the boiling water (you can probably cook 4 to 6 at a time). Cook for 2 minutes per side. Once they are done shock them in an ice bath. Drain and set aside.
  7. You can either enjoy the goodness now or you can refrigerate them. They last about 5 days, but they are delicious, quick portable snacks.
  8. Serve the pierogi with sugar, hot butter, and sour cream. Or just eat them as they are.
Yield: 20 pierogi

The Case For and Against Buying a Diesel Car


Pros and Cons of Diesel Cars

Like soccer, diesel cars are a worldwide phenomenon that Americans just don't get.

In Europe, more than 50% of new cars sold have diesel engines, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association.

Meanwhile, the U.S. auto market share for diesels hovers around 3%, says Jessica Caldwell, a senior analyst at the website Edmunds.com.

But there are signs diesel cars are becoming more mainstream, she says.

Improving technology has largely eliminated the noise and black smoke that used to follow diesels.
These days, diesels are designed to run on a new, low-sulfur version of diesel fuel, sometimes called "clean diesel," which produces less pollution and cuts back on that sooty smell reminiscent of the '80s.

Today, higher gas prices have made Americans more open to alternative fuels. But the push for diesel also is being driven by the automakers, says Hague Stoddard, an industry analyst for the website Wards Auto. To meet new fuel-efficiency standards, they'll need to boost the average mileage of their U.S. fleets from 27.5 miles per gallon to 35.5 mpg by 2016.

To do that, automakers that already build diesels overseas are bringing them to the U.S. German brands have the most diesel options available, but U.S. brands are making diesel moves, too, with GM and Chrysler joining the mix, Stoddard says.

But is a diesel car right for you? Here are the pros and cons.

Pro: Better Fuel Economy and Longer Range 

With the price of regular unleaded hovering near $4, car buyers are likely going to be looking for a way to reduce fuel consumption, says Paul Taylor, chief economist at the National Auto Dealers Association in McLean, Va.

"If Americans were to become convinced that gas prices were permanently higher, that certainly would increase the interest in diesels," he says. "They attain stronger mileage, and they are certainly going to be attractive as gas prices move up."

A typical diesel engine gets around 30% better fuel economy than its gas counterpart. That's a big advantage, Taylor says.

If you frequently drive long distances or just don't like taking the time to fuel up, the fact that a tank of diesel will get you much farther than a tank of gas also can be a plus, he says.

While Caldwell expects most car buyers concerned with fuel economy to opt for hybrids or fuel-efficient compacts, those reluctant to downsize to a smaller car may find themselves attracted to diesel cars, she says.
"I think most people are going to be going to a diesel from a fuel-savings standpoint because there is no real difference in the body styles or designations of a diesel versus a non-diesel," Caldwell says.

Pro: Higher Resale Value

Unless you're a drive-it-till-the-wheels-fall-off type, resale value is an important factor in the overall cost of owning a car. At the end of your time with a car, if you can resell it for more, you'll have lost less to depreciation. In effect, you will have paid less to own it.

Diesels have a distinct advantage when it comes to resale, says Taylor. For example, a low-mileage 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI diesel will fetch more than $3,000 more on average than a 5-cylinder, gas-powered Jetta GLI in similar condition, according to NADA data.

That's because diesel engines have a reputation for having better durability than gasoline engines.

"They are typically long-lived engines, and because they are more expensive new -- typically at least $5,000 more than any equivalent gasoline-powered engine -- they are sought-after in the used market," Taylor says.
Caldwell agrees. "There's a consumer notion out there that diesel engines last a long time," she says. "In fact, I own a 1980 Mercedes-Benz diesel. It is 32 years old and it is built extremely solid, and I do not think it is ever going to die."

Pro: Diesels Have More Torque

The greater power of diesel compared to gasoline gives diesel cars an advantage over gas when it comes to torque, or the twisting power generated by an engine.

But even if you don't know what torque is, you probably know that feeling of power that comes from planting your foot on the accelerator of a car with a big engine, especially when you're passing on the highway or towing a heavy load.

Diesel gives you that same feeling with a smaller engine that gets better mileage, Caldwell says.

"The driving dynamic is a bit different with having generally more torque on a diesel than a non-diesel vehicle," Caldwell says. "There is always that quirky feeling when you drive a diesel and that is from the acceleration. I think people like that feeling."

Con: Diesel Option is Pricey

One thing potential diesel car shoppers will notice immediately is the price difference between comparable gas and diesel versions of the same car.

Caldwell says selecting the diesel option on a new car can run from $2,000 or more over the gas-powered equivalent, depending on the brand and price range of the model.

Especially with more high-mileage options available among gasoline-powered cars, buyers may decide the fuel economy bump isn't enough to justify the price, Caldwell says.

"If you look at gas-powered subcompact or compact cars, their fuel economy is a lot better than what it used to be," she says. "That's something that every automaker is trying to improve, and it is very competitive."

Con: Price and Availability of Fuel 

The price of diesel fuel compared to gas has fluctuated historically, but in the past few decades, diesel has generally been more expensive than regular unleaded.

"There is an additional cost per gallon of diesel that makes it cost about as much as premium fuel, so that offsets some of the savings," Taylor says.

While it's not nearly as hard to find as other alternative fuels such as E85 or natural gas, diesel fuel can be hard to find in some areas, forcing drivers to hunt for it, Caldwell says.

"You do have to plan a little bit ahead of time. Not every gas station has it, so I think that is a potential negative," she says.

Con: Limited Selection of Models 

Another big downside to diesel cars is the limited selection of models available in the U.S., Caldwell says.

"Volkswagen makes up nearly a quarter of all diesel sales in the United States," Caldwell says.

While Volkswagen diesels are popular for good reason, having one automaker that dominates the diesel market illustrates how few choices there are in the marketplace.

The lack of interest in bringing diesel options to the U.S. has its roots in the disastrous diesel models introduced quickly in reaction to fuel shortages in the late 1970s, says Stoddard.

"The diesel engines that the U.S. and European manufacturers were selling back in the '70s and '80s were not well-designed. Their emissions let off a bad smell for one thing. They were noisy, and oftentimes they had a hard time starting in cold weather. That just turned people off for a long time," Stoddard says.

By 1988, it had driven diesel sales down to just 0.2% of total U.S. car sales, according to the Department of Energy.

Caldwell says if diesel sales among passenger cars grow substantially, that shortage of available options should improve, as many automakers have diesel engines available elsewhere that could be brought to the U.S.

October 23, 2013

Stop Taking Jeremiah 29:11 Out of Context

It's one of our favorite verses—but we've gotten it all wrong.



It’s written on graduation cards, quoted to encourage a person who can’t seem to find God’s well and doled out like a doctor explaining a prescription: Take Jeremiah 29:11 a few times, with a full glass of water, and call me in the morning. I think you’ll feel better.

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’” Jeremiah 29:11 tells us—possibly one of our most beloved, yet most misunderstood, verses in the entire Bible.

Sure, it might make a person feel better, but this verse as we often prescribe it is being taken completely out of context. It doesn’t mean what people think it means. It’s time to back up and see what the author of Jeremiah is actually saying.

When it comes to reading the Bible, we can sometimes be so familiar with the words on the page that we read them, but we don’t really understand them. We see the words and hear the words, but we don’t make any sense out of them. Familiarity can breed laziness, and so many of our misunderstandings about the scriptures happen because we are too familiar with the passage to look it with fresh eyes. If we would come to the Word of God with fresh eyes more often, we would realize that some of our most common interpretations of Scripture passed down to us don’t make much sense when viewed within the context of the passage.

Like any author worth his salt, the writer in Jeremiah begins by stating the subject of the passage: “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon ... “ (Jeremiah 29:4).

This verse, quoted to countless individuals who are struggling with vocation or discerning God’s will, is not written to individuals at all. This passage is written to a whole group of people—an entire nation. For all the grammarians out there, the “you” in Jeremiah 29:11 isn’t singular, it’s plural. And you don’t have to be a Hebrew scholar to realize that “one” versus “many” is a big difference.

And the verse just before it is perhaps even scarier. For in Jeremiah 29:10, God lays down the specifics on this promise: that He will fulfill it “after seventy years are completed for Babylon.” In other words, yes, God says, I will redeem you—after 70 years in exile. This is certainly a far cry from our expectation of this verse in what God’s plans to prosper us really mean. He did have a future and ahope for them—but it would look far different than the Israelites ever expected.

So what? Some of you may be thinking. Even when the verse is taken out of context, it still offers value, right? God does know the plans of individual people, so it’s just as well to keep prescribing Jeremiah 29 for those seeking God’s plan for their life, right? Well, yes and no.

We need to let the Bible speak to us, not allow our own personal bent to speak into the Scriptures. If Jeremiah 29 is speaking to the nation of Israel, and not just one person, then we should start with the truth in the Scriptures. Context matters—God speaks at a particular moment in time, to a particular people group, for a reason.

What this means is that God has plans for a whole group of people, namely the nation of Israel. And if we read on in the Scriptures we find that this promise was fulfilled: those in exile returned, and the nation of Israel was restored for a time. God made a promise through the prophets, and that promise came true.

But that’s not the end of the story, either. There is something to the out-of-context prescriptions that so many make using this verse. God is a God of redemption, after all, and He wants to redeem people and put them on a path of wholeness, just as He wanted the nation of Israel to be redeemed and whole again.

As John Calvin says about this passage, the prophet is speaking not just of historical redemption, for that period in time, but also of “future redemption.” For the Israelites, God listened to their prayers when they sought Him with all their heart, and in His time, He brought them out of exile. But how does any of this apply to us today? Can we still take heart in such a beautiful promise—even though it was spoken to people long ago, people in a far different situation than ours?

First and foremost, we are all in this together. This verse does not apply to isolated individuals or to a broad community. It applies to both, together, functioning as one. The image painted here is one of individuals in community, like the Body of Christ which Paul talks about. Here are a bunch of people, worshiping God together, hoping for a future redemption.

The theologians Stanley Grenz and John Franke explain in their book Beyond Foundationalism just how a community “turns the gaze of its members toward the future.” The future in Jeremiah is one that is bright—one that everyone in the community through prayer and worship seeks as their collective future hope.

Many of us want to desperately know the plan that God has for each one of us as individuals, but let the prophet Jeremiah remind us that it’s not all about us, and it might not look like what we think.

Even more important than our decision about which college to attend, which city to move to or what job offer to take is the future hope of the Kingdom of God foretold by the prophets and fulfilled in the reign of our now and coming King. In this way, the promise of Jeremiah 29:11 is bigger than any one of us—and far better.

Is Apple's iPhone 5C a Flop?

When Apple unveiled not one but two new iPhones last month, it was the dawning of a new strategy for the company, which for six years had championed its single iconic smartphone even as competitors rolled out an array of shapes, sizes and features.

But a month later, there are questions about how effective this strategy has been, particularly in regards to the iPhone 5C, the cheaper, colorful plastic counterpart to Apple's higher-end iPhone 5S

Though some observers see a long game in which the "fun" version of the iPhone will still prove popular, others are skeptical, based on some early signs

Apple has not released figures breaking down sales of the 5C versus the 5S (An earnings report on October 28 may change that). But independent analysts estimate that the fancier 5S is outselling its candy-colored cousin by 3 to 1 or, in some cases, even more

Localytics, an analytics and marketing platform creators say samples apps on 1 billion devices, says the 5S is winning 3-to-1 in the United States and a whopping 5-to-1 (72% to 28%) worldwide

Reports from generally reliable sources in China say Apple has cut production of the phone there, less than a month after it went on sale. C Tech, a Chinese site that ran accurate photos of the iPhone 5C and 5S before they were released, quotes insiders who say daily production of the 5C has been cut in half -- from 300,000 to 150,000

Part of the problem, some analysts say, is the price.

Although the iPhone 5C starts at $99 with a mobile data plan, many had predicted that it would need to be even cheaper to appeal to buyers in emerging markets like China and India

In China, where phones aren't subsidized by mobile carriers, the 5C is selling for 3,500 yuan, or about $560. And though its style is all new, the 5C doesn't sport features significantly upgraded from the iPhone 5, which can be had for as low as $199. The two-year-old iPhone 4S can be had for free with a data plan.

Sarah Rotman Epps, an analyst with Forrester Research, says that selling the more expensive 5S, which starts at $199, is good for Apple's bottom line in the short term.

"But in the longer term," she said, "it's bad news.

"Apple needs new customers to keep growing, and the 5C was supposed to appeal to a new, more price-conscious consumer," she said. "Turns out that acquisition is a lot harder than retention."

Some retailers have responded by slashing prices on the 5C. This month, Best Buy ran a promotion offering the phone for $50. Walmart has discounted it to $45 through the holidays, and Radio Shack is giving customers who buy one $50 gift cards through early next month. But some say it's not quite time to write the phone's obituary.

"Rumours on order cuts (or increases) from parts of Apple's supply chain tell us absolutely nothing either way," Benedict Evans, an independent analyst, wrote recently on Twitter. "Too many moving parts." In another post, he made light of people comparing iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C sales as an indicator of Apple's success.

"iPhone 5S outselling 5C? Apple's growth strategy a failure. Sell!" he wrote. "iPhone 5C outselling 5S? Cannibalisation and (revenue per user) collapse. Sell!"

< This year, Apple CEO Tim Cook himself downplayed the amount of weight observers should place in supply-chain rumors.

"I suggest it's good to question the accuracy of any kind of rumor about build plans," Cook said during an earnings call. "The supply chain is very complex, and we have multiple sources for things. ... There is an inordinate long list of things that can make any single data point not a great proxy for what is going on." And there is something to be said for your top-end phone leading the way. The iPhone 5S has hit the streets to almost universally high marks from both reviewers and users. Apple announced last month that first-weekend sales of both phones combined topped 9 million, a record for the company.

Still, Apple does nothing accidentally. The iPhone 5C clearly was released to appeal to customers in a way that the iPhone 5S couldn't. Only time will tell whether Apple will succeed, but it will need to see improvements before it does.

"Apple has more work to do to attract the next generation of iPhone customers," Epps said. "The 5C isn't resonating as Apple hoped it would."

October 22, 2013

Uploading A WordPress Website From A Local To A Remote Installation

If you’re working on a local website for development and need to upload it either to go live or because you need to show a client or other team members your work, you’re going to need to upload your WordPress website. This is more complicated than moving from a sub-directory to the root directory, and involves moving three things:
  • WordPress itself — you’ll need to install this in the new location;
  • The database — which you can move using phpMyAdmin;
  • Your theme files, uploads and plugins.
1. Turn Off Permalinks

Turn off pretty permalinks in the “Permalinks” screen, which you’ll find in the “Settings” menu. Do this by selecting the “Default” option and clicking “Save Changes.”

2. Backup the Database

Make a copy of the database and give it a new name (for example, by adding “old” to its name).

3. Install WordPress In the New Location and Upload Content 

Using your preferred method, install WordPress on the server you want to move your website to.  Don't have a web-hoster?  We recommend Hostgator.com.  You will receive a 25% discount on sign-up. Please use Coupon Code: sublimemaxxus when you register for th service.

Using FTP or SFTP, copy the files from your local “wp-content” directory to the remote “wp-content” directory, using the same folder structure as in your local install.

Go and have a cup of coffee. These files could take a while to upload.

4. Edit the Database 

Don’t just open the original database file from your local installation and edit it. DB data stored serialized will break if edited directly in a text editor. You are better off with a serialize-aware tool like Search-Replace-DB. Replace the old, local URL for the website with the new, remote URL.

For example, if your local URL is http://localhost/example, you would change it to http://example.com.

Using the “replace” command will speed this up — there could be thousands of instances. Save your new database.

5. Drop the Existing Remote Database

Note: This step only applies if you’ve used a script such as Softaculous or Fantastico to install WordPress, as they automatically create a new database. If you’ve installed WordPress manually, you can ignore this bit.

In phpMyAdmin, drop (delete) the database that was installed in the remote website when you installed WordPress:
  • Select the database you’re working with.
  • Click on the “Structure” tab.
  • Below the list of tables, click “Check All.”
  • In the drop-down menu which says “With selected,” select “Drop”:


  • You will see a warning message checking that you want to drop all tables. Click “Yes.”
  • Finally you will see a message telling you that your query has been implemented:

6. Upload the New Database

While you are still in phpMyAdmin, upload the database you’ve edited:
  • Click the “Import” tab.
  • Click the “Choose file” button.
  • Select the database you saved in step 4 and click “Choose” or “OK.”
  • Click the “Go” button.
  • After a while (depending on the size of your database), you will see a message telling you the upload has successfully finished:


7. Clear Your Browser’s Cache

This avoids any problems you may have if the browser has cached content from the old version of the remote database.

8. Log Into the WordPress Admin For the Remote Website and Update Permalinks

Your log-in details will be the same as for your local website. If you specified different log-in details when installing remotely, these will have been overridden by the imported database.

Visit the “Permalinks” screen and turn pretty permalinks back on.

You’re done!

October 15, 2013

Free, Cool Graphics Editor

GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring.

It has many capabilities. It can be used as a simple paint program, an expert quality photo retouching program, an online batch processing system, a mass production image renderer, an image format converter, etc.

GIMP is expandable and extensible. It is designed to be augmented with plug-ins and extensions to do just about anything. The advanced scripting interface allows everything from the simplest task to the most complex image manipulation procedures to be easily scripted.

GIMP is written and developed under X11 on UNIX platforms. But basically the same code also runs on MS Windows and Mac OS X.



Features and Capabilities

This is only a very quickly thrown together list of GIMP features. You can also have a look at the illustrated features overview. Visit their site here.

* Painting

* Full suite of painting tools including Brush, Pencil, Airbrush, Clone, etc.
* Sub-pixel sampling for all paint tools for high quality anti-aliasing
* Extremely powerful gradient editor and blend tool
* Supports custom brushes and patterns

* System

* Tile based memory management so image size is limited only by available disk space
* Virtually unlimited number of images open at one time

* Advanced Manipulation

* Full alpha channel support
* Layers and channels
* Multiple Undo/Redo (limited only by diskspace)
* Editable text layers
* Transformation tools including rotate, scale, shear and flip
* Selection tools including rectangle, rounded rectangle, ellipse, free, fuzzy
* Foreground extraction tool
* Advanced path tool doing bezier and polygonal selections.
* Transformable paths, transformable selections.
* Quickmask to paint a selection.

* Extensible

* A Procedural Database for calling internal GIMP functions from external programs as in Script-fu
* Advanced scripting capabilities (Scheme, Python, Perl)
* Plug-ins which allow for the easy addition of new file formats and new effect filters
* Over 100 plug-ins already available

* Animation

* Load and save animations in a convenient frame-as-layer format
* MNG support
* Frame Navigator (in GAP, the GIMP Animation Package)
* Onion Skin (in GAP, the GIMP Animation Package)
* Bluebox (in GAP, the GIMP Animation Package)

* File Handling

* File formats supported include bmp, gif, jpeg, mng, pcx, pdf, png, ps, psd, svg, tiff, tga, xpm, and many others
* Load, display, convert, save to many file formats
* SVG path import/export

* Much, much more!

October 10, 2013

How to make a unique tile picture for less than $3!


Want to make a unique piece of art to decorate your empty walls? Or to make the perfect gift for the grandparents or in-laws?

Here is a simple way to make this modern and minimalistic design using just tiles, tissue paper and a laser printer.

It is time to amaze your friends...

Step 1: Getting started


You will need:

1. Nice photo
2. Computer
3. Nine pieces of 10x10cm tiles
4. Five sheets of printer paper
5. Five strips of 10x20cm tissue paper
6. Double sided adhesive
7. Printer
8. Exacto knife
9. Decoupage glue
10. Paintbrush

Step 2: Picking and editing you photo


First you have to pick a nice photo. Make sure you pick a photo in which you will not cut away vital parts (such as eyes) later on.

Using your favorite photo editing software, chose which part of the photo you want to use and cut out a square. Put the square in a new document.

On this new document you can:
  • Change image size to 30cmx30cm.
  • De-saturate the image.
  • Change brightness and contrast until you get the desired result.
You might want use the paintbrush to get rid of unwanted details in the background.

You might also want to reverse the picture, otherwise you will end up with a mirror image of your original photo.

Step 3: Dividing your picture into smaller elements


In order to print your paper you will have to take a few extra steps.

Make lines on your edited photo at 10 and 20 cm. This is just to make the next step easier, if you find it hard you can skip this.

Cut out the squares between the lines. Cut 0,5 cm away from the lines! Otherwise you will end up with a distorted face in the end. If you did not make the lines just check the ruler and make the cutting free hand. Each square will measure 9cm in each direction.

Paste the squares into 5 new documents, 2 in each except for the last one which will have just one square.

If needed, rotate the new documents to make them printable.

Step 4: Printing your photo on tissue paper

 

Obviously it is hard to put tissue paper into an ordinary laser printer. This is a nice trick to make it work.

Take your strips of 10 x 20cm tissue paper. Put double sided adhesive on upper and lower side.
Attach to middle of printer paper.

Do NOT use common tape as it will melt in your laser printer and make it useless (take my word for granted, I have tried)

Print the 5 documents on the 5 pieces of tissue paper.

Step 5: Cutting the parts

 

No need for longer explanation. Cut all nine squares. Try not to cut your fingers as well.

Step 6: Time to use the glue! 

 

Put decoupage glue on tiles. Adhere tissue paper.

If you want a softer look, adhere pieces with printed side facing tile. (That is the reason you might want to reverse it earlier). For a more detailed look, adhere printed side out.

When dry, add at least two more layers of decoupage glue on top of tissue paper.

Step 7: Finished! 

 

Now you might want to put tiles into a frame or just stick to a piece of board and put on your wall.
Good luck!

October 2, 2013

Job Market Embraces Massive Online Courses (MOOCS)

"Seeking Better-Trained Workers, AT&T, Google and Other Firms Help Design and Even Fund Web-Based College Classes"

Big employers such as AT&T Inc. and Google Inc. are helping to design and fund the latest round of low-cost online courses, a development that providers say will open the door for students to earn inexpensive credentials with real value in the job market.

New niche certifications being offered by providers of massive open online courses, or MOOCs, are aimed at satisfying employers' specific needs. Available at a fraction of the cost of a four-year degree, they represent the latest crack in the monopoly traditional universities have in credentialing higher education. Read full article >