Can YouTube stay on top? Ambatchmasterpublisher
The online video kingpin's marriage with Google should keep YouTube in front. But some rivals sense an opportunity to catch up.
By Paul R. La Monica, CNNMoney.com editor at large
November 14 2006: 9:15 AM EST
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- It's only been a little more than a month since Google shook up the online video world by announcing that it was buying YouTube for $1.65 billion.
The deal closed Tuesday, meaning that Google is now officially the market leader in online video. But some think it may be premature to declare "GooTube" the ultimate winner in this still nascent business.
google_youtube.03.jpg
Google-YouTube may be the online video gorilla but some see room for other competitors.
TECHNOLOGY
Online video explosion
YouTube isn't the only site benefitting from the popularity of online video.
Total unique visitors (in millions)
Site Aug. 06 Sept. 06 Oct. 06
YouTube 19.1 20.8 23.5
Yahoo Video 21.1 18.6 20.9
Google Video 11.9 13.2 14.6
MSN Video 15.4 17.1 13.9
MySpace Videos N/A 8.9 10.0
Heavy.com 7.6 6.9 7.8
Ebaumsworld.com 5.1 4.3 4.2
Metacafe 1.8 4.2 3.8
Break.com 2.5 3.5 2.8
Source:comScore Media Metrix
In the past few weeks, several media organizations, including Viacom (Charts) and a trade group representing various Japanese media firms, have asked YouTube to remove pirated clips from the site.
Google buys YouTube for $1.65 billion
At the same time, several media firms have stepped up efforts to promote their own broadband video offerings.
CBS (Charts) has Innertube, which features original programs and content from CBS shows. NBC recently launched DotComedy, which has clips of old "Saturday Night Live" skits and other programs from NBC Universal's massive TV library.
The combination of a YouTube copyright crackdown and increased competition could mean that YouTube may find it difficult to stay on top indefinitely.
To be sure, there does not appear to be any sort of YouTube backlash so far. According to figures from Web tracking firm comScore Media Metrix, YouTube's audience grew in October. The site had 23.5 million unique visitors last month, compared to 20.8 million in September and 19.1 million in August.
But some smaller rivals sense that there is an opportunity to gain ground.
Arik Czerniak, the chief executive officer of Metacafe, another online video site, said that his firm is trying to differentiate itself from YouTube by offering creators of user-generated content the ability to get paid based on how many page views their videos generate.
Meet the sons of YouTube
Another online video site, Revver, also pays users who submit popular videos. Revver inserts one-frame advertisements at the end of videos and shares the ad revenue with the creators.
"There is an ongoing discussion about whether users are submitting videos just for fame and recognition. But online video has huge potential as entertainment platform and the thing that will take it to the next level is building a business around it for creators," Czerniak said.
Metacafe has seen its audience grow in recent months, from 1.8 million visitors in August to 4.2 million in September. Traffic dipped to 3.7 million in October, though. Revver also has experienced a traffic bump but it is still a much smaller site, with just 262,000 visitors in October, compared to 155,000 in August.
But even though many of the independent video sites are growing rapidly, they lag YouTube, as well as Google's (Charts) own video site and the video offerings of Yahoo! (Charts), News Corp.'s (Charts) MySpace and Microsoft's (Charts) MSN, by a wide margin.
Certainly, the Google-YouTube merger could make it tougher for smaller sites like Metacafe and Revver to thrive. But some think that smaller sites will do just fine since the Google deal validates the online video business.
Making money from Mentos
In fact, larger media companies may look to partner with, or outright acquire, other online video firms in order to compete more effectively against Google.
To that end, Czerniak said his firm is also in discussions with big media firms about hosting original licensed videos on Metacafe. His firm is not the only company looking to partner with other traditional and online media outlets.
"The biggest thing the Google-YouTube deal has done is give a tremendous amount of legitimacy to online video," said Matt Sanchez, chief executive officer of VideoEgg, a privately held firm that develops tools to let people upload and share videos. "Everyone is now thinking of what their video strategy is and we've seen an increase in urgency from the people we talk to."
VideoEgg is trying to be more of a partner with larger firms as opposed to a destination site for user videos. In addition to tools, VideoEgg has also developed an online video ad platform that's used by social networking sites such as Bebo, Dogster and Tagged.
Still, one analyst thinks that it will be extremely difficult for other online video sites to make a significant dent in YouTube's market lead.
"YouTube has a distinct advantage from being a leader. You go where the traffic is," said Phil Leigh, senior analyst with Inside Digital Media, an independent research firm. "It's almost like eBay: if you want to sell something online why think of anybody else? Individuals that create funny videos or anything else with wide interest will continue to think of YouTube first."
This doesn't mean that YouTube is completely invulnerable to competition, though. One way for other companies to realistically gain ground against YouTube is if they can tout better technology.
"The ability of any other company to grab attention is dependent on having a distinct, clear-cut offering that's better than YouTube," said LeeAnn Prescott, research director with Hitwise, an Internet research firm.
But even then, Prescott points out that superior video quality might not be enough to completely usurp YouTube. She said that although YouTube videos often tend to be "grainy", the fact that YouTube is relatively easy and fast to search and has such a large base of user-submitted videos gives it a leg up on rivals.
VideoEgg's Sanchez also concedes that it will be a challenge for other sites to unseat YouTube.
"Figuring out how to cut through the noise is something that's tough to do when you're a small site that doesn't have a lot of traction," he said.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
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Friday, June 1, 2007
Cosmetics
Cosmetics (pronunciation: cosmetic (help·info)) are substances used to enhance or protect the appearance or odor of the human body. Cosmetics include skin-care creams, lotions, powders, perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail polishes, eye and facial makeup, permanent waves, hair colors, deodorants, baby products, bath oils, bubble baths, bath salts, butters and many other types of products. Their use is widespread, especially among women in Western countries. A subset of cosmetics is called "make-up", which refers primarily to colored products intended to alter the user’s appearance. The manufacture of cosmetics is currently dominated by a small number of multinational corporations that originated in the early 20th century, but the distribution and sale of cosmetics is spread among a wide range of different businesses. The U.S. FDA which regulates cosmetics[1] defines cosmetics as: "intended to be applied to the human body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering the appearance without affecting the body's structure or functions." This broad definition includes, as well, any material intended for use as a component of a cosmetic product. The FDA specifically excludes soap from this particular category. [2]
[edit] History
Main article: History of cosmetics
The first archaeological evidence of cosmetics usage is found in Ancient Egypt around 4000 BC. The Ancient Greeks and Romans also used cosmetics. The Romans and Ancient Egyptians used cosmetics containing mercury and often lead.[3]
In the western world, the advent of cosmetics was in the middle ages, although typically restricted to use within the upper classes.
Cosmetic use was frowned upon at some points in history. For example, in the 1800s, Queen Victoria publicly declared makeup improper, vulgar, and acceptable for use by actors, only.[3] Adolf Hitler told women that face painting was for clowns and not for the women of the Master Race.
By the middle of the 20th century, cosmetics were in widespread use in nearly all societies around the world.
[edit] Industry Today
The worldwide cosmetics industry is a multinational, multi-billion-dollar industry. Of the major firms, the oldest and the largest is L'Oréal, which was founded by Eugene Schueller in 1909 as the French Harmless Hair Colouring Company (now owned by Liliane Bettencourt 27.5% and Nestlé 26.4%, with the remaining 46.1% are publicly traded). The market was developed in the USA during the 1910s by Elizabeth Arden, Helena Rubinstein, and Max Factor. These firms were joined by Revlon just before World War II and Estée Lauder just after.
[edit] Controversy
The popularity of cosmetics in the 20th century has increased rapidly. Especially in the United States, cosmetics are being used by teens (especially teen girls) at a younger and younger age. Many companies have catered to this expanding market by introducing more flavored lipsticks and glosses, cosmetics packaged in glittery, sparkly packaging and marketing and advertising using girls. The social consequences of younger and younger beautification has had much attention in the media over the last few years.
Further information: Developmental psychology and
Further information: JonBenét Ramsey
Types
The various forms of makeup include:
Lipstick, lip gloss, lip liner, lip plumpers.[1]
Foundation, used to color the face and conceal flaws to produce an impression of health and youth. Usually a liquid, cream, powder or mousse.[1]
Powder, used to set the foundation, giving a matte finish.
Rouge, blush or blusher, used to color the cheeks and emphasize the cheekbones. This comes in powder, cream and gel forms.[1]
Bronzer, used to create a more tanned or sun-kissed look.[1]
Mascara, used to enhance the eyelashes.[1]
Eye liner and eye shadow, used to color and emphasize the eyelids (larger eyes are a sign of youth).[1]
Eyebrow pencils, creams, waxes, gels and powders are used to fill in and define the brows.[1]
Nail polish, used to color the fingernails and toenails.[1]
Concealer, a type of thick opaque makeup used to cover pimples, various spots and inconsistencies in the skin.[1]
Also included in the general category of cosmetics are skin care products. These include creams and lotions to moisturize the face and body, sunscreens to protect the skin from damaging UV radiation, and treatment products to repair or hide skin imperfections (acne, wrinkles, dark circles under eyes, etc.). Cosmetics can also be described by the form of the product, as well as the area for application. Cosmetics can be liquid or cream emulsions; powders, both pressed and loose; dispersions; and anhydrous creams or sticks.
Educating You
There is no one better to guide you in a tasting of the finest wines than Lettie Teague, world-renowned wine critic and executive editor of Food & Wine. In her most recent book, Educating Peter, she tells the story of how she turned Peter Travers of Rolling Stone Magazine from wine rookie to wine connoisseur. From the novice to the expert wine consumer, Lettie's assistance will make a difference that lasts a lifetime. The highest bidder will enjoy:
90-minute tasting of selected wines handpicked by Lettie Teague with you and seven of your closest friends in the wine room of Food & Wine magazine
30-minute champagne cocktail reception following the tasting with Lettie and her fellow editors of Food & Wine
Special Instructions: Subject to availability of Talent. All participants must be 21 years of age or older.
Macaroni Medley Salad
(7.25 ounce) package macaroni and cheese
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
4 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 small cucumber, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons chopped onion
1 dill pickle, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Nutrition InfoPer Serving
Calories: 402 kcal
Carbohydrates: 28 g
Dietary Fiber: 1 g
Fat: 27 g
Protein: 11 g
Sugars: 6 g
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Online: Business
Business education trains students in economic theory and business practices. Coursework includes accounting, finance, marketing, organizational behavior, strategy, and quantitative methods (research and statistics). The most popular business degrees are associate, bachelor, and master-level qualifications. Associate's degrees offer vocational training in business support fields such as accounting/bookkeeping. At the bachelor's level, business schools train students in basic business strategy. The Master of Business Administration (MBA) features advanced coursework, including specialized instruction in areas such as information technology management, health systems administration, and international business. MBA graduates are in great demand, and they can enjoy an average 35% salary increase upon graduation
Same Career, Better Salary
Money or personal fulfillment? The challenge is to find a career that yields both. More and more job seekers are looking for more than a steady paycheck from their work. If you're like them, you want a career that's meaningful, satisfying, and stimulating. At the same time, you probably also have bills to pay and a family to support. With the right career training, you can have your dream and meet your responsibilities too. Take a closer look at the salary range within your chosen career field - wherever you are now, chances are there's still room to grow.
Careers in nursing, business, and creative fields such as the culinary arts and digital arts offer positions at various levels of technical ability, responsibility, and compensation. The more you know about types of jobs in fields like these and the salaries they command, the better position you'll be in to develop your career ambitions.
Business Still Pays
Historically business has been a field people enter to make it big, financially speaking. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, starting salaries for range from $36,409 for marketing graduates to $42,940 for accounting grads. That's not a bad start, but you can expect even bigger financial rewards as you move up the career ladder. Going back to school for an MBA can vastly accelerate your progress.
Positions in business may include marketing manager, the person responsible for helping to develop and implement a marketing strategy for a product or service. Financial managers also hold important positions in companies; they oversee the preparation of financial reports, investment activities, and revenue management strategies. And nearly every large organization employs an HR manager who oversees recruiting and hiring practices.
Business Salaries
Accountants and auditors $56,880
Financial analysts $70,500
Human resources managers $87,580
Marketing managers $96,680
Indulging a Passion for Haute Cuisine
In pursuing your passion you don't necessarily have to sacrifice good earnings. Many culinary arts graduates open their own restaurants. Others become a head or sous chef at an upscale restaurant, which tend to pay more handsomely than restaurants with less cachet.
There are also intangible benefits of being a chef today, such as the notoriety they enjoy over chefs from previous years. Pastry chefs are increasingly regarded as a type of artist, creating delicate works of art for people to enjoy during special times. Some of the greatest executive and sous chefs are celebrated to the same extent as a pop star or world-class soprano. They are celebrities, artists, and entertainers.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, salaries for head chefs vary greatly, depending on the type of restaurant and its geographic location. Chefs at upscale restaurants in San Francisco, for example, will likely make higher salaries than their counterparts in Boise.
Culinary Salaries
Cooks - private household $22,530
Manager of food preparation and serving workers $27,480
Chefs and head cooks $34,160
Food service managers $35,790 (in 2002)
Nursing: A Growing Field
Nursing remains a popular field due to its overall steady earnings and job security. Baby boomers are reaching retirement age, increasing the demand for nurses and heath care support staff throughout the United States. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, job opportunities are expected to be higher in nursing than in any other field.
Registered Nurses are assisted by nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants, who see to the personal care of patients. Medical assistant positions are also in high demand. Little training is required to become a medical aid, making entry into the field relatively simple. Nursing-related jobs may be found in hospitals, retirement facilities, physicians' offices, private companies, and government agencies.
Nursing Salaries
Home health aides $18,980
Nursing aides, orderlies, attendants $21,610
Licensed practical nurse (LPN) $31,440 (in 2002)
Registered nurses $54,210
Where Artists Earn More than a Living Wage
Digital multimedia design is one of those rare creative fields that offers relatively competitive salaries. Multimedia artists and animators use computer generated imagery and hand-drawn illustrations for use in films, commercials, print ads, and on websites. Film and video editors use editing software to put together pieces of a film. Set and exhibit designers create sets for films, commercials, and retail store multimedia displays.
Art directors may oversee a group that performs one or more of these jobs. Multimedia design jobs are often found in advertising agencies, film production companies, game design companies, or graphic design firms.
Multimedia Design Salaries
Set and exhibit designers $40,000
Film and video editors $50,690
Multimedia artists and animators $57,520
Art directors $73,240
With a little research and forethought, you can achieve a better sense of how to develop yourself professionally. If your current career doesn't satisfy your wildest dreams of personal and financial fulfillment, find one that does. Every career field has a range of positions. Find your niche, and the right mix of education and preparation can take you exactly where you want to be
Careers in nursing, business, and creative fields such as the culinary arts and digital arts offer positions at various levels of technical ability, responsibility, and compensation. The more you know about types of jobs in fields like these and the salaries they command, the better position you'll be in to develop your career ambitions.
Business Still Pays
Historically business has been a field people enter to make it big, financially speaking. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, starting salaries for range from $36,409 for marketing graduates to $42,940 for accounting grads. That's not a bad start, but you can expect even bigger financial rewards as you move up the career ladder. Going back to school for an MBA can vastly accelerate your progress.
Positions in business may include marketing manager, the person responsible for helping to develop and implement a marketing strategy for a product or service. Financial managers also hold important positions in companies; they oversee the preparation of financial reports, investment activities, and revenue management strategies. And nearly every large organization employs an HR manager who oversees recruiting and hiring practices.
Business Salaries
Accountants and auditors $56,880
Financial analysts $70,500
Human resources managers $87,580
Marketing managers $96,680
Indulging a Passion for Haute Cuisine
In pursuing your passion you don't necessarily have to sacrifice good earnings. Many culinary arts graduates open their own restaurants. Others become a head or sous chef at an upscale restaurant, which tend to pay more handsomely than restaurants with less cachet.
There are also intangible benefits of being a chef today, such as the notoriety they enjoy over chefs from previous years. Pastry chefs are increasingly regarded as a type of artist, creating delicate works of art for people to enjoy during special times. Some of the greatest executive and sous chefs are celebrated to the same extent as a pop star or world-class soprano. They are celebrities, artists, and entertainers.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, salaries for head chefs vary greatly, depending on the type of restaurant and its geographic location. Chefs at upscale restaurants in San Francisco, for example, will likely make higher salaries than their counterparts in Boise.
Culinary Salaries
Cooks - private household $22,530
Manager of food preparation and serving workers $27,480
Chefs and head cooks $34,160
Food service managers $35,790 (in 2002)
Nursing: A Growing Field
Nursing remains a popular field due to its overall steady earnings and job security. Baby boomers are reaching retirement age, increasing the demand for nurses and heath care support staff throughout the United States. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, job opportunities are expected to be higher in nursing than in any other field.
Registered Nurses are assisted by nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants, who see to the personal care of patients. Medical assistant positions are also in high demand. Little training is required to become a medical aid, making entry into the field relatively simple. Nursing-related jobs may be found in hospitals, retirement facilities, physicians' offices, private companies, and government agencies.
Nursing Salaries
Home health aides $18,980
Nursing aides, orderlies, attendants $21,610
Licensed practical nurse (LPN) $31,440 (in 2002)
Registered nurses $54,210
Where Artists Earn More than a Living Wage
Digital multimedia design is one of those rare creative fields that offers relatively competitive salaries. Multimedia artists and animators use computer generated imagery and hand-drawn illustrations for use in films, commercials, print ads, and on websites. Film and video editors use editing software to put together pieces of a film. Set and exhibit designers create sets for films, commercials, and retail store multimedia displays.
Art directors may oversee a group that performs one or more of these jobs. Multimedia design jobs are often found in advertising agencies, film production companies, game design companies, or graphic design firms.
Multimedia Design Salaries
Set and exhibit designers $40,000
Film and video editors $50,690
Multimedia artists and animators $57,520
Art directors $73,240
With a little research and forethought, you can achieve a better sense of how to develop yourself professionally. If your current career doesn't satisfy your wildest dreams of personal and financial fulfillment, find one that does. Every career field has a range of positions. Find your niche, and the right mix of education and preparation can take you exactly where you want to be
Mortorola charger adds hours to a phone's battery life
Mortorola charger adds hours to a phone's battery life - CNN
Mortorola charger adds hours to a phone's battery lifeCNN - 11 hours ago(CNET.com) — A portable charger is not something that most cell phone users might purchase until they actually need it. Of course by then, they may be hard …
Source: news.google.com
Mobile phone users pay less for handsets but keep them longer - iT News
Mobile phone users pay less for handsets but keep them longeriT News, Australia - 2 hours agoCell phone term contracts are influencing mobile phone users to keep their handsets longer, according to a survey released Wednesday by JD Power and …
Source: news.google.com
Upgrade your image with a new cell phone (The Journal News)
Your cell phone says a lot about you. So if you’re toting a 5-year-old phone, maybe it’s time for an upgrade. There are multitudes of cell phones on the market. Knowing which to choose can be daunting. I couldn’t begin to review them all in this column. But I have some picks that are sure to please.
Source: www.lohud.com
Fujitsu debuts big-screen digital TV phone - Computerworld
Fujitsu debuts big-screen digital TV phoneComputerworld, MA - 10 hours agoIt also makes Web site browsing much easier than on a conventional cell phone screen. The phone also packs a browser for the PC as well as mobile Internet. …
Source: news.google.com
Upgrade your image with a new cell phone - The Journal News / Lohud.com
Upgrade your image with a new cell phoneThe Journal News / Lohud.com, NY - May 28, 2007Use your finger to type on a virtual keypad or scroll through pages. Hold the phone to your ear, and the touch-screen is disabled. The battery gives you up …
Source: news.google.com
Study: Cell phone users paying less, keeping phones longer (Asheville Citizen-Times)
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.: — The average reported length of time a customer owns their cell phone has increased by 5 percent since fall 2006, according to J.D. Power and Associates.
Source: citizen-times.com
Cellular South Prepared to Weather Any Storm - Market Wire (press release)
Cellular South Prepared to Weather Any StormMarket Wire (press release) - 17 hours agoKeep an extra phone battery and charger on-hand for emergency situations. — Have a dedicated, dry location in your home to store your cell phone. …
Source: news.google.com
Mortorola charger adds hours to a phone's battery lifeCNN - 11 hours ago(CNET.com) — A portable charger is not something that most cell phone users might purchase until they actually need it. Of course by then, they may be hard …
Source: news.google.com
Mobile phone users pay less for handsets but keep them longer - iT News
Mobile phone users pay less for handsets but keep them longeriT News, Australia - 2 hours agoCell phone term contracts are influencing mobile phone users to keep their handsets longer, according to a survey released Wednesday by JD Power and …
Source: news.google.com
Upgrade your image with a new cell phone (The Journal News)
Your cell phone says a lot about you. So if you’re toting a 5-year-old phone, maybe it’s time for an upgrade. There are multitudes of cell phones on the market. Knowing which to choose can be daunting. I couldn’t begin to review them all in this column. But I have some picks that are sure to please.
Source: www.lohud.com
Fujitsu debuts big-screen digital TV phone - Computerworld
Fujitsu debuts big-screen digital TV phoneComputerworld, MA - 10 hours agoIt also makes Web site browsing much easier than on a conventional cell phone screen. The phone also packs a browser for the PC as well as mobile Internet. …
Source: news.google.com
Upgrade your image with a new cell phone - The Journal News / Lohud.com
Upgrade your image with a new cell phoneThe Journal News / Lohud.com, NY - May 28, 2007Use your finger to type on a virtual keypad or scroll through pages. Hold the phone to your ear, and the touch-screen is disabled. The battery gives you up …
Source: news.google.com
Study: Cell phone users paying less, keeping phones longer (Asheville Citizen-Times)
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.: — The average reported length of time a customer owns their cell phone has increased by 5 percent since fall 2006, according to J.D. Power and Associates.
Source: citizen-times.com
Cellular South Prepared to Weather Any Storm - Market Wire (press release)
Cellular South Prepared to Weather Any StormMarket Wire (press release) - 17 hours agoKeep an extra phone battery and charger on-hand for emergency situations. — Have a dedicated, dry location in your home to store your cell phone. …
Source: news.google.com
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Paris, Nicole now Lindsay fully loaded
LOS ANGELES - Paris Hilton soon in prison, Nicole Richie charged again, Lindsay Lohan in detox after her arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence: landings are harsh for freewheeling Hollywood starlets.
After a weekend accident, Lindsay "Herbie Fully Loaded" Lohan was also charged with carrying "contraband" found in her wrecked car, police said.
She checked herself into detox, her press agent said Tuesday.
Lohan, 20, is to appear in court on August 24. She faces jail time if convicted, although her unsullied police record could sway the judge.
That is not the case for Hilton, sentenced to 45 days in jail for driving on a suspended license.
The 26-year-old hotel heiress is to begin her sentence June 5, and will be eligible for a reduced sentence for good behavior.
Perhaps next to follow her behind bars is friend Nicole Richie, 25, whose trial for driving under the influence opens soon.
The adopted daughter of singer Lionel Richie was sentenced on similar charges in 2003, and California law mandates jail time for recidivists.
Nothing is new under the sun in Hollywood, said Syracuse University popular culture professor Robert Thomson.
"Celebrities behaving badly is certainly not an uncommon thing to find throughout history and it's certainly not going to fade away," he said.
Actor Robert Downey Jr did time in the 1990s for drug use. Christian Slater spent two months in jail after an alcohol and heroin-fueled attack on his girlfriend in 1997.
While being arrested for driving under the influence in 2006, Mel Gibson launched into an anti-Semitic diatribe.
"You have all the ingredients in some of these people that really kind of encourages this kind of behavior: lots of attention, often lots of financial resources, combined with being used to having people to defer to your every whim."
"Celebrity tends to distance you from all kinds of reality checks," the New York professor said.
Joel Stratte McClure, a freelance gossip columnist, called Los Angeles "the land of temptation; celebrities feel entitled to get everything."
However, the present rash of rogue behaviour, including Britney Spears' stint of shaving her head before checking into rehab, has a lot to do with the explosion of the celebrity press, experts agree.
Blogs dissect every move and gesture of celebrities, who do not have the right to a misstep, Thompson said.
"The entertainment news arena is so competitive that nobody feels that they can get away with these things," he said.
Life in the fast lane is difficult for any American kid in their early 20s, and celebrity makes it worse, McClure said.
"Kids are very badly educated about booze and drugs. What should be a wake-up call for all of these people is what happened to Lane Garrison," McClure said.
The actor formerly of the "Prison Break" series pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter after a deadly road accident while he was under the influence.
"He has the frankness to admit that he screwed up, and he's ready to go to jail for that, unlike these people who think the world is their oyster and they should be treated specially," said McClure.
After a weekend accident, Lindsay "Herbie Fully Loaded" Lohan was also charged with carrying "contraband" found in her wrecked car, police said.
She checked herself into detox, her press agent said Tuesday.
Lohan, 20, is to appear in court on August 24. She faces jail time if convicted, although her unsullied police record could sway the judge.
That is not the case for Hilton, sentenced to 45 days in jail for driving on a suspended license.
The 26-year-old hotel heiress is to begin her sentence June 5, and will be eligible for a reduced sentence for good behavior.
Perhaps next to follow her behind bars is friend Nicole Richie, 25, whose trial for driving under the influence opens soon.
The adopted daughter of singer Lionel Richie was sentenced on similar charges in 2003, and California law mandates jail time for recidivists.
Nothing is new under the sun in Hollywood, said Syracuse University popular culture professor Robert Thomson.
"Celebrities behaving badly is certainly not an uncommon thing to find throughout history and it's certainly not going to fade away," he said.
Actor Robert Downey Jr did time in the 1990s for drug use. Christian Slater spent two months in jail after an alcohol and heroin-fueled attack on his girlfriend in 1997.
While being arrested for driving under the influence in 2006, Mel Gibson launched into an anti-Semitic diatribe.
"You have all the ingredients in some of these people that really kind of encourages this kind of behavior: lots of attention, often lots of financial resources, combined with being used to having people to defer to your every whim."
"Celebrity tends to distance you from all kinds of reality checks," the New York professor said.
Joel Stratte McClure, a freelance gossip columnist, called Los Angeles "the land of temptation; celebrities feel entitled to get everything."
However, the present rash of rogue behaviour, including Britney Spears' stint of shaving her head before checking into rehab, has a lot to do with the explosion of the celebrity press, experts agree.
Blogs dissect every move and gesture of celebrities, who do not have the right to a misstep, Thompson said.
"The entertainment news arena is so competitive that nobody feels that they can get away with these things," he said.
Life in the fast lane is difficult for any American kid in their early 20s, and celebrity makes it worse, McClure said.
"Kids are very badly educated about booze and drugs. What should be a wake-up call for all of these people is what happened to Lane Garrison," McClure said.
The actor formerly of the "Prison Break" series pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter after a deadly road accident while he was under the influence.
"He has the frankness to admit that he screwed up, and he's ready to go to jail for that, unlike these people who think the world is their oyster and they should be treated specially," said McClure.
Greenspan's China-Stock `Contraction' May Not Spread
May 30 (Bloomberg) -- Even if former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is right, the ``dramatic contraction'' he predicts for Chinese stocks isn't likely to infect the international economy.
That's the conclusion of a number of international economists and former government officials around the globe. They say China's economy shows little correlation with its stock market, foreigners are mostly excluded from owning shares and Chinese participation is limited to less than 10 percent of the population, reducing the effect of a bursting bubble.
``This is a relatively small casino,'' said Edwin Truman, a former director of the Federal Reserve's international finance division and now a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. ``Even the implications for the Chinese economy should be minor.''
The CSI 300 Index, China's benchmark, today fell 6.8 percent, the most in three months, after the government tripled the stamp tax on stock trading to 0.3 percent from 0.1 percent.
Until today the index had more than doubled this year and its stocks traded at 48 times earnings, almost three times the multiple for those in the U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average.
`Clearly Unsustainable'
Greenspan's May 23 comment that the climb in stocks is ``clearly unsustainable'' echoed a comment by Li Ka-shing, Asia's richest man, that the market ``must be a bubble.'' People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan expressed a similar concern two weeks earlier.
Greenspan wasn't immediately available for comment on today's slide in Chinese stocks.
The biggest threat to growth at home and abroad might be psychological -- if a drop by stocks in the world's fastest growing economy prompts investors to retreat from risky assets, undermining markets elsewhere.
A burst bubble usually means trouble for a nation's broader economy, as it was in the U.S. when technology stocks tanked in 2000. History suggests that isn't true in China. Between 2001 and the end of 2005, the then-benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell by half even as gross domestic product grew about 46 percent. And while the economy is the world's fourth largest, its market accounts for just 4 percent of global value.
``The Chinese stock market has only a tenuous connection with the underlying real economy,'' said Harvard University professor Kenneth Rogoff, a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund.
Minimal Effect
China's limited domestic ownership means that if stocks do slump the effect on spending and the economy should be minimal, said Jonathan Anderson, chief Asia economist at UBS AG in Hong Kong.
Total stock holdings in China account for just 25 percent of domestic wealth, and in Asia only Indonesia has a smaller market capitalization than China's 60 percent of GDP.
``The tradable equity market is still a very small part of wealth holdings in China,'' said Anderson, another former IMF economist. ``Even a significant domestic equity-market correction would have little or no impact on the rest of the mainland economy.''
Economists say another reason for confidence is that companies have fueled the economy's expansion mostly with earnings rather than using the booming equity market as a primary source of cash. Chinese companies last year earned combined profit of 1.88 trillion yuan, according to the statistics bureau, compared with total shares sales of 197 billion yuan.
Ownership
Ownership of Chinese shares in other economies is limited. China has capped foreign investment at an aggregate $10 billion in the yuan-denominated ``A'' shares, less than the market value of about 700 U.S.-listed companies.
``The world economy is not particularly exposed to share ownership in China,'' said Julian Jessop, chief international economist at Capital Economics Ltd. in London.
That means the global economy will only suffer if China's economic expansion begins to ebb, which few see happening.
While the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development last week echoed concern about the level of China's stocks, it maintained its forecast for more than 10 percent economic expansion this year and next, citing it as a key reason for why the world economy will remain robust.
Staying Strong
``If the Chinese economy stays strong, a decline in its stock market isn't going to affect the rest of the world,'' said Alec Young, an international equity strategist at Standard & Poor's in New York.
Such views haven't stopped China's authorities from being concerned about the potential fallout of an equity-market slump on shareholders who include monks, maids and cooks.
Investors on May 28 opened 455,111 new accounts to trade mainland shares and mutual funds, bringing the tally to 100.3 million, the China Securities Depository & Clearing Corp. said on its Web site. More than 20 million accounts have been opened at brokerages so far this year, four times the amount in the whole of 2006, according to the clearing house.
The People's Bank of China last month noted that savings are being diverted by households and companies into stocks. The central bank's benchmark one-year deposit rate, a ceiling for deposit rates commercial banks can offer, is 3.06 percent, little more than the nation's 3 percent inflation rate.
Paulson Presses
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is pressing the Chinese government to broaden its market size, regulations and infrastructure so that if stocks do drop, they do so in an orderly fashion. Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi last week agreed to raise the limit on foreign stock ownership to $30 billion after talks in Washington with Paulson.
``By any standard this is a bubble,'' said Nouriel Roubini, chairman of Roubini Global Economics LLC and a professor at New York University's Stern School of Business. ``It's a dangerous bubble and it could burst with significant economic and financial consequences.''
Perhaps the greatest worry for investors and central bankers elsewhere is what a downdraft in Chinese stocks might do to investor sentiment globally, said Stephen Cecchetti, a former New York Fed research director.
On Feb. 27, a 9.2 percent slump in China's main index set off a five-day rout that wiped more than $3.3 trillion from the market value of equities worldwide. Another drop could send jitters through the world's markets and economies if investors become skittish about their riskier investments, such as those in emerging markets or the ones funded by money borrowed in low interest rate economies such as Japan.
``Most of us have thought that risk has been underpriced,'' said Cecchetti, who is now an economist at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. ``So if there is a catalyst for the repricing of risk, then I think there would be some serious concern.''
Skepticism
Truman and Rogoff said they're skeptical of a direct link between the February drops in Chinese and global stocks, and other economists say Greenspan's predicted crash may not even happen. Individual investors shrugged off the warnings of a bubble, with the CSI 300 Index falling less than half a percentage point in the day after Greenspan sounded the alert.
``At the Fed, Greenspan would say we only know bubbles exist afterwards,'' said Jim O'Neill, chief economist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in London. ``Do we know if there's a bubble in China? I don't.''
That's the conclusion of a number of international economists and former government officials around the globe. They say China's economy shows little correlation with its stock market, foreigners are mostly excluded from owning shares and Chinese participation is limited to less than 10 percent of the population, reducing the effect of a bursting bubble.
``This is a relatively small casino,'' said Edwin Truman, a former director of the Federal Reserve's international finance division and now a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. ``Even the implications for the Chinese economy should be minor.''
The CSI 300 Index, China's benchmark, today fell 6.8 percent, the most in three months, after the government tripled the stamp tax on stock trading to 0.3 percent from 0.1 percent.
Until today the index had more than doubled this year and its stocks traded at 48 times earnings, almost three times the multiple for those in the U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average.
`Clearly Unsustainable'
Greenspan's May 23 comment that the climb in stocks is ``clearly unsustainable'' echoed a comment by Li Ka-shing, Asia's richest man, that the market ``must be a bubble.'' People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan expressed a similar concern two weeks earlier.
Greenspan wasn't immediately available for comment on today's slide in Chinese stocks.
The biggest threat to growth at home and abroad might be psychological -- if a drop by stocks in the world's fastest growing economy prompts investors to retreat from risky assets, undermining markets elsewhere.
A burst bubble usually means trouble for a nation's broader economy, as it was in the U.S. when technology stocks tanked in 2000. History suggests that isn't true in China. Between 2001 and the end of 2005, the then-benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell by half even as gross domestic product grew about 46 percent. And while the economy is the world's fourth largest, its market accounts for just 4 percent of global value.
``The Chinese stock market has only a tenuous connection with the underlying real economy,'' said Harvard University professor Kenneth Rogoff, a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund.
Minimal Effect
China's limited domestic ownership means that if stocks do slump the effect on spending and the economy should be minimal, said Jonathan Anderson, chief Asia economist at UBS AG in Hong Kong.
Total stock holdings in China account for just 25 percent of domestic wealth, and in Asia only Indonesia has a smaller market capitalization than China's 60 percent of GDP.
``The tradable equity market is still a very small part of wealth holdings in China,'' said Anderson, another former IMF economist. ``Even a significant domestic equity-market correction would have little or no impact on the rest of the mainland economy.''
Economists say another reason for confidence is that companies have fueled the economy's expansion mostly with earnings rather than using the booming equity market as a primary source of cash. Chinese companies last year earned combined profit of 1.88 trillion yuan, according to the statistics bureau, compared with total shares sales of 197 billion yuan.
Ownership
Ownership of Chinese shares in other economies is limited. China has capped foreign investment at an aggregate $10 billion in the yuan-denominated ``A'' shares, less than the market value of about 700 U.S.-listed companies.
``The world economy is not particularly exposed to share ownership in China,'' said Julian Jessop, chief international economist at Capital Economics Ltd. in London.
That means the global economy will only suffer if China's economic expansion begins to ebb, which few see happening.
While the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development last week echoed concern about the level of China's stocks, it maintained its forecast for more than 10 percent economic expansion this year and next, citing it as a key reason for why the world economy will remain robust.
Staying Strong
``If the Chinese economy stays strong, a decline in its stock market isn't going to affect the rest of the world,'' said Alec Young, an international equity strategist at Standard & Poor's in New York.
Such views haven't stopped China's authorities from being concerned about the potential fallout of an equity-market slump on shareholders who include monks, maids and cooks.
Investors on May 28 opened 455,111 new accounts to trade mainland shares and mutual funds, bringing the tally to 100.3 million, the China Securities Depository & Clearing Corp. said on its Web site. More than 20 million accounts have been opened at brokerages so far this year, four times the amount in the whole of 2006, according to the clearing house.
The People's Bank of China last month noted that savings are being diverted by households and companies into stocks. The central bank's benchmark one-year deposit rate, a ceiling for deposit rates commercial banks can offer, is 3.06 percent, little more than the nation's 3 percent inflation rate.
Paulson Presses
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is pressing the Chinese government to broaden its market size, regulations and infrastructure so that if stocks do drop, they do so in an orderly fashion. Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi last week agreed to raise the limit on foreign stock ownership to $30 billion after talks in Washington with Paulson.
``By any standard this is a bubble,'' said Nouriel Roubini, chairman of Roubini Global Economics LLC and a professor at New York University's Stern School of Business. ``It's a dangerous bubble and it could burst with significant economic and financial consequences.''
Perhaps the greatest worry for investors and central bankers elsewhere is what a downdraft in Chinese stocks might do to investor sentiment globally, said Stephen Cecchetti, a former New York Fed research director.
On Feb. 27, a 9.2 percent slump in China's main index set off a five-day rout that wiped more than $3.3 trillion from the market value of equities worldwide. Another drop could send jitters through the world's markets and economies if investors become skittish about their riskier investments, such as those in emerging markets or the ones funded by money borrowed in low interest rate economies such as Japan.
``Most of us have thought that risk has been underpriced,'' said Cecchetti, who is now an economist at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. ``So if there is a catalyst for the repricing of risk, then I think there would be some serious concern.''
Skepticism
Truman and Rogoff said they're skeptical of a direct link between the February drops in Chinese and global stocks, and other economists say Greenspan's predicted crash may not even happen. Individual investors shrugged off the warnings of a bubble, with the CSI 300 Index falling less than half a percentage point in the day after Greenspan sounded the alert.
``At the Fed, Greenspan would say we only know bubbles exist afterwards,'' said Jim O'Neill, chief economist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in London. ``Do we know if there's a bubble in China? I don't.''
People in Sports | David Beckham
LONDON — England coach Steve McClaren, has not seen David Beckham play since he dumped him from the national team after the World Cup.
With his job on the line, however, McClaren is ready to recall the Real Madrid midfielder to England's starting lineup.
Beckham is set to start in a friendly against Brazil at Wembley on Friday and in a European Championship qualifier at Estonia on June 6. England must win at Estonia to keep its chances of qualifying for Euro 2008 on track.
When McClaren took over the England coaching job from Sven-Goran Eriksson in August, his first decision was to drop Beckham. Beckham was seen as untouchable under Eriksson even as his celebrity off the field was threatening to overshadow his form on it.
Now, McClaren believes Beckham has played his way back onto the starting squad.
"David is the fittest I have seen him for a long time," McClaren said Tuesday. "He showed a great hunger and desire to get back. He didn't moan. He just got his head down and worked hard. I don't know whether it is a question of proving me wrong, but the statistics are there."
McClaren said he followed the lead of Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello, who reversed a decision to dump Beckham from the Spanish club after Beckham announced in January he would sign with Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy after his contract ends June 30.
With his job on the line, however, McClaren is ready to recall the Real Madrid midfielder to England's starting lineup.
Beckham is set to start in a friendly against Brazil at Wembley on Friday and in a European Championship qualifier at Estonia on June 6. England must win at Estonia to keep its chances of qualifying for Euro 2008 on track.
When McClaren took over the England coaching job from Sven-Goran Eriksson in August, his first decision was to drop Beckham. Beckham was seen as untouchable under Eriksson even as his celebrity off the field was threatening to overshadow his form on it.
Now, McClaren believes Beckham has played his way back onto the starting squad.
"David is the fittest I have seen him for a long time," McClaren said Tuesday. "He showed a great hunger and desire to get back. He didn't moan. He just got his head down and worked hard. I don't know whether it is a question of proving me wrong, but the statistics are there."
McClaren said he followed the lead of Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello, who reversed a decision to dump Beckham from the Spanish club after Beckham announced in January he would sign with Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy after his contract ends June 30.
Man clad in underwear pins leopard
JERUSALEM - A man clad only in underwear and a T-shirt wrestled a wild leopard to the floor and pinned it for 20 minutes after the cat leapt through a window of his home and hopped into bed with his sleeping family.
"This kind of thing doesn't happen every day," said 49-year-old Arthur Du Mosch, a nature guide. "I don't know why I did it. I wasn't thinking, I just acted."
Nature and Parks Protection Authority, said a half dozen leopards have been spotted recently near Du Mosch's small community of Kibbutz Sde Boker in the Negev desert in southern Israel, although they rarely threaten humans.
Shapira said it was probably food that lured the big cat. Leopards living near humans are usually too old to hunt in the wild and resort to chasing down domestic dogs and cats for food, he added.
Du Mosch's pet cat was in the bed with him at the time, along with his young daughter who had been frightened by a mosquito in her own room.
Shapira said the leopard was very weak when park rangers arrived at Du Mosch's home after the surprise late-night visit. He said nature officials would likely release it back into the wild.
Du Mosch said he probably would not have been able to control the big cat were it in better health. As a nature guide, he said, he was familiar with animals and did his best to hold down the leopard without harming it. He said he took it all in stride, "but the kids were excited."
"This kind of thing doesn't happen every day," said 49-year-old Arthur Du Mosch, a nature guide. "I don't know why I did it. I wasn't thinking, I just acted."
Nature and Parks Protection Authority, said a half dozen leopards have been spotted recently near Du Mosch's small community of Kibbutz Sde Boker in the Negev desert in southern Israel, although they rarely threaten humans.
Shapira said it was probably food that lured the big cat. Leopards living near humans are usually too old to hunt in the wild and resort to chasing down domestic dogs and cats for food, he added.
Du Mosch's pet cat was in the bed with him at the time, along with his young daughter who had been frightened by a mosquito in her own room.
Shapira said the leopard was very weak when park rangers arrived at Du Mosch's home after the surprise late-night visit. He said nature officials would likely release it back into the wild.
Du Mosch said he probably would not have been able to control the big cat were it in better health. As a nature guide, he said, he was familiar with animals and did his best to hold down the leopard without harming it. He said he took it all in stride, "but the kids were excited."
FTC probing proposed $3.1B Google deal
SAN FRANCISCO - The Federal Trade Commission has opened an antitrust investigation into Google Inc.'s proposed $3.1 billion purchase of ad-management technology company DoubleClick Inc.
The review of the deal was widely expected after Mountain View-based Google announced plans last month to acquire DoubleClick, a company that helps its customers place and track online advertising.
New York-based DoubleClick helps its customers place and track online advertising, including search ads, which Google — more than its nearest search competitors Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news) and Microsoft Corp. — has turned into an extremely lucrative business.
DoubleClick had been the target of a fierce bidding war between Microsoft and Google. Though Google commands the bulk of the online advertising search market, the addition of DoubleClick's technology and client network would further its efforts to branch out beyond its core ad offerings.
Don Harrison, the senior corporate counsel for Google, said in a statement Monday that the acquisition "poses no risk to competition and should be approved."
"Numerous independent analysts and academics have determined after looking at this acquisition that the online advertising industry is a dynamic and evolving space — as evidenced by a number of recently announced acquisitions — and that rich competition in this industry will bring more relevant ads to consumers and more choices for advertisers and Web site publishers," Harrison said.
Google turned over basic information about the planned purchase to regulators after announcing the deal. Spokesman Adam Kovacevich said the company would soon turn over additional information sought by the FTC as part of its review.
News of the FTC investigation was first reported by The New York Times.
A phone message left with a spokesman for the FTC late Monday night was not immediately returned.
The Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center and other privacy groups had previously asked the FTC to investigate the the privacy implications of the deal.
Earlier this month, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt predicted the company would clear all the necessary regulatory hurdles to complete the acquisition by the end of this year.
Google pointed to four deals made after its bid for DoubleClick on April 13 as evidence that there is plenty of competition in the online advertising market.
On April 30, Yahoo announced its intent to acquire online advertising firm Right Media Inc., for $680 million.
Then in a three-day span in May, AOL LLC said it bought a controlling interest in online advertising company Adtech AG for an undisclosed sum; WPP Group PLC, the world's second-largest advertising and marketing conglomerate, agreed to buy 24/7 Real Media Inc. for $649 million; and Microsoft made a $6 billion bid for online advertising firm aQuantive Inc.
The review of the deal was widely expected after Mountain View-based Google announced plans last month to acquire DoubleClick, a company that helps its customers place and track online advertising.
New York-based DoubleClick helps its customers place and track online advertising, including search ads, which Google — more than its nearest search competitors Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news) and Microsoft Corp. — has turned into an extremely lucrative business.
DoubleClick had been the target of a fierce bidding war between Microsoft and Google. Though Google commands the bulk of the online advertising search market, the addition of DoubleClick's technology and client network would further its efforts to branch out beyond its core ad offerings.
Don Harrison, the senior corporate counsel for Google, said in a statement Monday that the acquisition "poses no risk to competition and should be approved."
"Numerous independent analysts and academics have determined after looking at this acquisition that the online advertising industry is a dynamic and evolving space — as evidenced by a number of recently announced acquisitions — and that rich competition in this industry will bring more relevant ads to consumers and more choices for advertisers and Web site publishers," Harrison said.
Google turned over basic information about the planned purchase to regulators after announcing the deal. Spokesman Adam Kovacevich said the company would soon turn over additional information sought by the FTC as part of its review.
News of the FTC investigation was first reported by The New York Times.
A phone message left with a spokesman for the FTC late Monday night was not immediately returned.
The Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center and other privacy groups had previously asked the FTC to investigate the the privacy implications of the deal.
Earlier this month, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt predicted the company would clear all the necessary regulatory hurdles to complete the acquisition by the end of this year.
Google pointed to four deals made after its bid for DoubleClick on April 13 as evidence that there is plenty of competition in the online advertising market.
On April 30, Yahoo announced its intent to acquire online advertising firm Right Media Inc., for $680 million.
Then in a three-day span in May, AOL LLC said it bought a controlling interest in online advertising company Adtech AG for an undisclosed sum; WPP Group PLC, the world's second-largest advertising and marketing conglomerate, agreed to buy 24/7 Real Media Inc. for $649 million; and Microsoft made a $6 billion bid for online advertising firm aQuantive Inc.
$1M gold bathtub stolen from Japan hotel
TOKYO - A glittering bathtub made of gold worth nearly $1 million has been stolen from a resort hotel, an official said Wednesday.
A worker at Kominato Hotel Mikazuki in Kamogawa, south of Tokyo, notified police that the fancy tub was missing from the hotel's guest bathroom on the 10th floor, according to a local police official who only gave his surname, Ogawa.
The round tub, worth $987,000, is made of 18-karat gold and weighs 176 pounds.
The tub, flanked by two crane statues, has been a main feature of the hotel's shared bathroom. Visitors can take a dip in the tub, but it is only available a few hours a day "for security reasons," the hotel's Web site said.
Someone apparently cut the chain attached to the door of a small section of the bathroom where the bathtub was placed, but not riveted, and made off with the tub, Ogawa said.
"We have no witness information and there are no video cameras," he said. "We have no idea who took it," the official said.
A worker at Kominato Hotel Mikazuki in Kamogawa, south of Tokyo, notified police that the fancy tub was missing from the hotel's guest bathroom on the 10th floor, according to a local police official who only gave his surname, Ogawa.
The round tub, worth $987,000, is made of 18-karat gold and weighs 176 pounds.
The tub, flanked by two crane statues, has been a main feature of the hotel's shared bathroom. Visitors can take a dip in the tub, but it is only available a few hours a day "for security reasons," the hotel's Web site said.
Someone apparently cut the chain attached to the door of a small section of the bathroom where the bathtub was placed, but not riveted, and made off with the tub, Ogawa said.
"We have no witness information and there are no video cameras," he said. "We have no idea who took it," the official said.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Study: Female sharks fertilize own eggs
DUBLIN, Ireland - Female sharks can fertilize their own eggs and give birth without sperm from males, according to a new study of the asexual reproduction of a hammerhead in a U.S. zoo.
The joint Northern Ireland-U.S. research, being published Wednesday in the Royal Society's peer-reviewed Biology Letter journal, analyzed the DNA of a shark born in 2001 in the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Neb. The shark was born in a tank with three potential mothers, none of whom had contact with a male hammerhead for at least three years.
The baby was killed within hours of its birth by a stingray in the same tank. Analysis of its DNA found no trace of any chromosomal contribution from a male partner.
Shark experts said this was the first confirmed case in a shark of parthenogenesis, which is derived from Greek and means "virgin birth."
Asexual reproduction is common in some insect species, rarer in reptiles and fish, and has never been documented in mammals. The list of animals documented as capable of the feat has grown along with the numbers being raised in captivity — but until now, sharks were not considered a likely candidate.
"The findings were really surprising because as far as anyone knew, all sharks reproduced only sexually by a male and female mating, requiring the embryo to get DNA from both parents for full development, just like in mammals," said marine biologist Paulo Prodohl of Queen's University of Belfast, Northern Ireland, a co-author of the report.
"As is typical with scientists, we doubted our own results and so we did it again, and then a third time using a new technique with new genetic approaches. This confirmed there was no DNA of any male," said Prodohl, an expert in fish genetics with specific knowledge of hammerhead DNA.
Before the study, many shark experts had presumed that the Nebraska birth involved a female shark's well-documented ability to store sperm for months. This seemed the most plausible scenario even though the sharks had arrived at the Nebraska zoo as immature pups.
The lack of any paternal DNA in the baby shark ruled out this possibility.
"This phenomenon has now been demonstrated in all major vertebrate groups except for mammals. Birds do it, reptiles do it, amphibians do it, fishes do it, and now sharks are known to do it," said Bob Hueter, director of the Center for Shark Research at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Fla., who was not involved in the project.
The report's other co-author, Mahmood Shivji of the Guy Harvey Research Institute in Dania Beach, Fla., said the finding explained growing numbers of anecdotal reports of male-free shark births in captivity.
Shivji said the research "may have solved a general mystery about shark reproduction," because it suggests that sharks can "switch from a sexual to a non-sexual mode of reproduction." But he said this was not necessarily a positive ability because baby sharks produced only by the mother suffer from reduced genetic diversity.
Genetic diversity makes living creatures better able to adapt to threats, such as disease and climate change.
Prodohl said if self-impregnation was occurring in the wild because female sharks cannot find male partners amid rapidly declining shark populations, it would represent "an evolutionary dead end that compromises the survival of the species."
He said he suspected this was "already a problem in the real world," and noted the population of blue sharks off the west coast of Ireland had fallen by 90 percent in the past 12 years.
But Hueter said he doubted it was happening anywhere besides in captivity. He also argued that the power to self-impregnate represents "an evolutionary strategy to keep the population and species going when all else fails. Genetically, it's a last resort tactic because it leads to genetic uniformity, and eventually that will catch up with the population and make it less fit.
"But as a short-term alternative to extinction, it has its benefits," he said.
Can't wait to see the women?
Think back over the past year. Which women really stood out in your mind? In addition to some striking new faces, many women continue to make our hearts skip a beat, year after year.
With so many beautiful women in this world, only a select few have something special that makes them rise above the rest. It's often magical and something you can't put a finger on.
Over the past month, we the editors at AskMen.com have been faced with the arduous task of sifting through thousands of photos, reader e-mails, and author suggestions to compile our Annual AskMen.com Top 50 Most Beautiful Women List.
We based our rankings largely on the tremendous amount of feedback from you, our readers, as well as the opinions of our editors and journalists.
The reader's votes were adjusted according to certain criteria, which reflected editorial opinion on each woman's beauty, personality and achievements over the past year. Some of our selections will receive whole-hearted agreement, others may come as a surprise, but no doubt you'll enjoy viewing them as much as we enjoyed putting it together.
With so many beautiful women in this world, only a select few have something special that makes them rise above the rest. It's often magical and something you can't put a finger on.
Over the past month, we the editors at AskMen.com have been faced with the arduous task of sifting through thousands of photos, reader e-mails, and author suggestions to compile our Annual AskMen.com Top 50 Most Beautiful Women List.
We based our rankings largely on the tremendous amount of feedback from you, our readers, as well as the opinions of our editors and journalists.
The reader's votes were adjusted according to certain criteria, which reflected editorial opinion on each woman's beauty, personality and achievements over the past year. Some of our selections will receive whole-hearted agreement, others may come as a surprise, but no doubt you'll enjoy viewing them as much as we enjoyed putting it together.
At Your Service, China!
CHENGDU - As trade battlefronts go, the five-star Jin Jiang Hotel in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province in western China, exudes optimism for foreign business visitors.
The word "jin" suggests prosperity. A first-floor corridor boasts pictures of overseas visitors known to have had some success in the country. Among their number is politician-turned-entrepreneur Henry Kissinger, plus executives from Motorola (nasdaq: MOT - news - people ).
The atmosphere at a U.S.-Chinese business gathering here in China's far west this week couldn't have been more different to that surrounding the high-profile U.S.-Chinese economic talks in Washington. While U.S. legislators lambasted China's trade and exchange-rate policies, the 200 American and Chinese participants who turned out for the second U.S-China Business Matchmaking Conference here were upbeat about the economic outlook in the country and business opportunities.
More than the mood differed. Rather than exports of goods and exchange rates, Americans on the ground saw other priorities. "About 80% of U.S. GDP is in services, and services such as accounting, finance, legal and architecture are industries that Americans can come here and sell," said Barry I. Friedman, minister-counselor for commercial affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, who traveled to Chengdu to speak at the meeting.
To that end, Morgan Stanley (nyse: MS - news - people ) dispatched an executive director, Hui Li, from Hong Kong to pitch its help to Sichuan corporations. A speaker from global accounting giant KPMG described a fast-growing operation in Chengdu that opened last year and already has 60 employees; next year, it expects to have 200.
That wasn't the only gulf between U.S. politicians and attendees. Whereas most U.S. companies in southern China a decade ago looked to tap a low-cost workforce for export manufacturing, more than half of that group to respond to surveys these days said they invest primarily to tap into China's booming domestic demand and, what's more, are making money at it, said American Chamber of Commerce in South China President Harley Seyedin.
The Chinese-U.S. talks in Washington this week were useful in reducing tension, but the emphasis on shipping goods from the U.S. was "misplaced," Seyedin said.
The Chengdu conference coincided with one of the vast region's most important annual business gatherings, the Western China International Economy and Trade Fair. Chinese leaders are promoting trade and investment there to close the income gap with the more prosperous eastern seaboard provinces.
Land-locked Sichuan, mostly known around the world for its spicy food and pandas, is rich in tourism potential and is home to a relatively large and well-educated workforce. Its population of 87 million exceeds most European nations.
By Chinese standards, the Chinese-U.S. meeting was low on political platitudes that once overwhelmed such gatherings. That said, foreign and local guests alike were treated to a China National Symphony Orchestra Performance of "Soaring China," a piece "dedicated to the great rejuvenation of our motherland" and laden with traditional party propaganda concerning the absorption of Taiwan, plus other topical Communist Party thrusts.
"The day is coming after we have waited for so many years/The torch for the Olympic Games will be burning by the side of the Great Wall," the lyrics went. The work nationalistically concluded, "Soar high, soar high, soar high, my China!"
China's service industry holds promise for foreign companies because domestic ones born after decades of failed central government planning are still weak competitors. Financial services are hot in particular because so many Chinese companies are looking for help in selling stock overseas, and because so many of the country's newly rich are seeking ideas about what to do with their fortunes.
Franchising is another area with wide interest among American companies in China. Industry leaders like Starbucks (nasdaq: SBUX - news - people ) have set up shop in Chengdu and much of China already, amid an improving intellectual property environment. Allway of Seattle has managed to set up 11 Seattle Espresso coffee shops in Guangdong province and is looking to add some in Sichuan, said Vice President Tim Wen. Sichuan's weather and teahouse culture make it ripe for expansion, he adds.
Property investment was also a hot topic among American companies. Zhang Wei, New York real estate service firm Cushman & Wakefield's capital investments unit's managing director for China, was in Chengdu looking for property projects to invest in--one of several firms with the same idea. Probably not what export-minded U.S. politicians have in mind.
Consultant Mike Zelechowski said he once may have been closer to their ideal. A regional manager for Pacific Resources International of Laguna Hills, Calif., Zelechowski used to work with U.S. customers looking to sell machinery in China and recalls taking Chinese on buying missions in the U.S. in the 1990s.
But now, Pacific's main business is to help U.S. and other overseas companies set up production lines in China to make products for the local market. Pacific is working with an Israeli antenna producer, Galtronics, to set up a factory that will supply to Motorola (nyse: MOT - news - people ) locally. China is now the world's biggest market for mobile phones. It is moving up the industrial food chain and is richer, changing the opportunities that are to be found here, said Zelechowski.
Another problem for the U.S. Congress, said the American Chamber of Commerce in South China's Seyedin, is that many relatively small U.S. manufacturers that could succeed in China find the market too daunting and risky. To solve that, policymakers should look at Germany and other European governments that actively help those businesses get their feet on the ground by providing help with services such as low-cost office space. Otherwise, he said, "they won't come on their own."
The word "jin" suggests prosperity. A first-floor corridor boasts pictures of overseas visitors known to have had some success in the country. Among their number is politician-turned-entrepreneur Henry Kissinger, plus executives from Motorola (nasdaq: MOT - news - people ).
The atmosphere at a U.S.-Chinese business gathering here in China's far west this week couldn't have been more different to that surrounding the high-profile U.S.-Chinese economic talks in Washington. While U.S. legislators lambasted China's trade and exchange-rate policies, the 200 American and Chinese participants who turned out for the second U.S-China Business Matchmaking Conference here were upbeat about the economic outlook in the country and business opportunities.
More than the mood differed. Rather than exports of goods and exchange rates, Americans on the ground saw other priorities. "About 80% of U.S. GDP is in services, and services such as accounting, finance, legal and architecture are industries that Americans can come here and sell," said Barry I. Friedman, minister-counselor for commercial affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, who traveled to Chengdu to speak at the meeting.
To that end, Morgan Stanley (nyse: MS - news - people ) dispatched an executive director, Hui Li, from Hong Kong to pitch its help to Sichuan corporations. A speaker from global accounting giant KPMG described a fast-growing operation in Chengdu that opened last year and already has 60 employees; next year, it expects to have 200.
That wasn't the only gulf between U.S. politicians and attendees. Whereas most U.S. companies in southern China a decade ago looked to tap a low-cost workforce for export manufacturing, more than half of that group to respond to surveys these days said they invest primarily to tap into China's booming domestic demand and, what's more, are making money at it, said American Chamber of Commerce in South China President Harley Seyedin.
The Chinese-U.S. talks in Washington this week were useful in reducing tension, but the emphasis on shipping goods from the U.S. was "misplaced," Seyedin said.
The Chengdu conference coincided with one of the vast region's most important annual business gatherings, the Western China International Economy and Trade Fair. Chinese leaders are promoting trade and investment there to close the income gap with the more prosperous eastern seaboard provinces.
Land-locked Sichuan, mostly known around the world for its spicy food and pandas, is rich in tourism potential and is home to a relatively large and well-educated workforce. Its population of 87 million exceeds most European nations.
By Chinese standards, the Chinese-U.S. meeting was low on political platitudes that once overwhelmed such gatherings. That said, foreign and local guests alike were treated to a China National Symphony Orchestra Performance of "Soaring China," a piece "dedicated to the great rejuvenation of our motherland" and laden with traditional party propaganda concerning the absorption of Taiwan, plus other topical Communist Party thrusts.
"The day is coming after we have waited for so many years/The torch for the Olympic Games will be burning by the side of the Great Wall," the lyrics went. The work nationalistically concluded, "Soar high, soar high, soar high, my China!"
China's service industry holds promise for foreign companies because domestic ones born after decades of failed central government planning are still weak competitors. Financial services are hot in particular because so many Chinese companies are looking for help in selling stock overseas, and because so many of the country's newly rich are seeking ideas about what to do with their fortunes.
Franchising is another area with wide interest among American companies in China. Industry leaders like Starbucks (nasdaq: SBUX - news - people ) have set up shop in Chengdu and much of China already, amid an improving intellectual property environment. Allway of Seattle has managed to set up 11 Seattle Espresso coffee shops in Guangdong province and is looking to add some in Sichuan, said Vice President Tim Wen. Sichuan's weather and teahouse culture make it ripe for expansion, he adds.
Property investment was also a hot topic among American companies. Zhang Wei, New York real estate service firm Cushman & Wakefield's capital investments unit's managing director for China, was in Chengdu looking for property projects to invest in--one of several firms with the same idea. Probably not what export-minded U.S. politicians have in mind.
Consultant Mike Zelechowski said he once may have been closer to their ideal. A regional manager for Pacific Resources International of Laguna Hills, Calif., Zelechowski used to work with U.S. customers looking to sell machinery in China and recalls taking Chinese on buying missions in the U.S. in the 1990s.
But now, Pacific's main business is to help U.S. and other overseas companies set up production lines in China to make products for the local market. Pacific is working with an Israeli antenna producer, Galtronics, to set up a factory that will supply to Motorola (nyse: MOT - news - people ) locally. China is now the world's biggest market for mobile phones. It is moving up the industrial food chain and is richer, changing the opportunities that are to be found here, said Zelechowski.
Another problem for the U.S. Congress, said the American Chamber of Commerce in South China's Seyedin, is that many relatively small U.S. manufacturers that could succeed in China find the market too daunting and risky. To solve that, policymakers should look at Germany and other European governments that actively help those businesses get their feet on the ground by providing help with services such as low-cost office space. Otherwise, he said, "they won't come on their own."
The World's Richest People
It has been a busy year for Forbes' team of fortune hunters. Strong equity markets combined with rising real estate values and commodity prices pushed up fortunes from Mumbai to Madrid. Forbes pinned down a record 946 billionaires. There were 178 newcomers, including 19 Russians, 14 Indians, 13 Chinese and 10 Spaniards, as well as the first billionaires from Cyprus, Oman, Romania and Serbia.
Ingenuity, not industry, is the common characteristic; these folks made money in everything from media and real estate to coffee, dumplings and ethanol. Two-thirds of last year's billionaires are richer. Only 17% are poorer, including 32 who fell below the billion-dollar mark. The billionaires' combined net worth climbed by $900 billion to $3.5 trillion. That equates to $3.6 billion apiece.
The average billionaire is 62 years old, two years younger than in 2005. This year's new billionaires are seven years younger than that. Of list members' fortunes, 60% made theirs from scratch.
In Pictures: The World's Billionaires
Within the ranks are simmering rivalries. Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) founder Bill Gates, the world's richest man for 13 years, and his pal Warren Buffett, who holds the No. 2 spot despite enormous charitable donations, are quickly losing ground to Mexico's most-monied man, Carlos Slim Helú. Helú's net worth is up an astonishing $19 billion this year--the single biggest one-year gain in a decade--and is now just $7 billion shy of Gates and $3 billion less than Buffett. In Europe, Russia's mostly young, self-made tycoons are catching up to Germany's often-aging heirs and heiresses. Russia now has 53 billionaires (2 shy of Germany's total), but they are worth $282 billion ($37 billion more than Germany's richest). After a 20-year reign, Japan is no longer Asia's top spot for billionaires: India has 36, worth a total of $191 billion, followed by Japan with 24, worth a combined $64 billion.
India's rich are also marching toward the top of our rankings. Brothers Mukesh and Anil Ambani, who split up their family’s conglomerate in 2005, join Lakshmi Mittal, who heads the world's biggest steel company, Arcelor Mittal, among the world’s 20 wealthiest. India now has three in the upper echelons, second only to the U.S.
But even in such a prosperous year, 44 people dropped off the list for various reasons.
All our numbers are based on a snapshot of balance sheets taken on Feb. 9, the day we locked in stock prices and exchange rates. So the five executives who took their Fortress Investment Group (nyse: FIG - news - people ) public at 9:30 a.m. on that morning made the cut. Also on the list is Ernest Gallo, founder of E.&J. Gallo Winery, who died on March 6. But our numbers don't reflect the volatility that shook the markets three weeks later. Between Feb. 9 and March 2 the world's stock markets, as measured by the Morgan Stanley All Country World Local Index, fell by 3.7%. Some fortunes (those based on private accumulations of real estate, for example) didn’t feel a blip. But some suffered severe damage. One big loser was a Spaniard, Enrique Banuelos, whose fortune fell 30% in four days.
Are there billionaires we don’t know about? Surely, yes. For instance, we didn't uncover Ireland's Denis O'Brien, who pocketed $800 million in a junk bond offering, until 13 days after we'd locked in fortunes, so he is not reflected in the rankings.
Ingenuity, not industry, is the common characteristic; these folks made money in everything from media and real estate to coffee, dumplings and ethanol. Two-thirds of last year's billionaires are richer. Only 17% are poorer, including 32 who fell below the billion-dollar mark. The billionaires' combined net worth climbed by $900 billion to $3.5 trillion. That equates to $3.6 billion apiece.
The average billionaire is 62 years old, two years younger than in 2005. This year's new billionaires are seven years younger than that. Of list members' fortunes, 60% made theirs from scratch.
In Pictures: The World's Billionaires
Within the ranks are simmering rivalries. Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) founder Bill Gates, the world's richest man for 13 years, and his pal Warren Buffett, who holds the No. 2 spot despite enormous charitable donations, are quickly losing ground to Mexico's most-monied man, Carlos Slim Helú. Helú's net worth is up an astonishing $19 billion this year--the single biggest one-year gain in a decade--and is now just $7 billion shy of Gates and $3 billion less than Buffett. In Europe, Russia's mostly young, self-made tycoons are catching up to Germany's often-aging heirs and heiresses. Russia now has 53 billionaires (2 shy of Germany's total), but they are worth $282 billion ($37 billion more than Germany's richest). After a 20-year reign, Japan is no longer Asia's top spot for billionaires: India has 36, worth a total of $191 billion, followed by Japan with 24, worth a combined $64 billion.
India's rich are also marching toward the top of our rankings. Brothers Mukesh and Anil Ambani, who split up their family’s conglomerate in 2005, join Lakshmi Mittal, who heads the world's biggest steel company, Arcelor Mittal, among the world’s 20 wealthiest. India now has three in the upper echelons, second only to the U.S.
But even in such a prosperous year, 44 people dropped off the list for various reasons.
All our numbers are based on a snapshot of balance sheets taken on Feb. 9, the day we locked in stock prices and exchange rates. So the five executives who took their Fortress Investment Group (nyse: FIG - news - people ) public at 9:30 a.m. on that morning made the cut. Also on the list is Ernest Gallo, founder of E.&J. Gallo Winery, who died on March 6. But our numbers don't reflect the volatility that shook the markets three weeks later. Between Feb. 9 and March 2 the world's stock markets, as measured by the Morgan Stanley All Country World Local Index, fell by 3.7%. Some fortunes (those based on private accumulations of real estate, for example) didn’t feel a blip. But some suffered severe damage. One big loser was a Spaniard, Enrique Banuelos, whose fortune fell 30% in four days.
Are there billionaires we don’t know about? Surely, yes. For instance, we didn't uncover Ireland's Denis O'Brien, who pocketed $800 million in a junk bond offering, until 13 days after we'd locked in fortunes, so he is not reflected in the rankings.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Sailing
Introduction
A sailboat or sailing ship moves forward because of the reaction to the inertia of moving air on its sails. Since the dawn of history this vital technology has afforded mankind greater mobility and capacity for fishing, trade and warfare. From moving the stones of the great pyramids from Aswan to Giza to allowing man to migrate throughout Polynesia to Nelson's defeat of the French and Spanish navies at the Battle of Trafalgar, mankind's history has been intertwined with this seemingly simple technology
Basic sailing techniques
Steering and turning
When steering a sailboat, the method for changing direction depends on the direction of the wind. Thus, all direction changes or turns are described by one of the following terms:
Heading up (or luffing up) means steering so the wind is closer to coming from directly in front (or "on the bow"). Heading closer to the wind requires trimming the sails, pulling them towards the vessel's center. Heading up so the wind is nearly or directly ahead causes sails to luff, to flutter without achieving lift. If the boat loses maneuverability because of this, it is said to be in irons. Tacking (or coming about), one of the basic turning techniques, requires bringing the bow of the boat through the wind so that the wind then comes across the opposite side of the boat, and the boat sails away on the opposite tack.
Heading down, bearing away, falling off and freeing off mean steering so the wind comes from closer to the vessel's aft. This requires easing sails, letting them out away from the vessel's center. Gybing or Jibing is the turning maneuver in which the boat heads down past the point where the wind crosses the vessel's stern, which causes the sails and boom to swing to the opposite side, before the boat sails off on the opposite tack. The sail and boom can cross the centerline of the boat with significant speed, and misjudged gybing can easily capsize a small boat, harm inattentive crew, or damage the rig in a larger boat, especially in strong winds.
Trim
An important aspect of sailing is keeping the boat in "trim". To achieve this a useful mnemonic (memory aid) is the phrase:
Can This Boat Sail Correctly?
This helps the crew to remember these essential points;
Course to Steer - Turn the boat using the wheel or tiller to the desired course to steer. See points of sail. This may be a definite bearing (e.g steer 270 degrees), or towards a landmark, or at a desired angle to the apparent wind direction.
Trim - This is the fore and aft balance of the boat. The aim is to adjust the moveable ballast (the crew!) forwards or backwards to achieve an 'even keel'. On an upwind course in a small boat, the crew typically sit forward, when 'running' it is more efficient for the crew to sit to the rear of the boat. The position of the crew matters less as the size (and weight) of the boat increases.
Balance - This is the port and starboard balance. The aim, once again is to adjust weight 'inboard' or 'outboard' to prevent excessive heeling.
Sail - Trimming sails is a large topic. Simply put however, a sail should be pulled in until it fills with wind, but no further than the point where the front edge of the sail (the luff) is exactly in line with the wind.
Centreboard - If a moveable centreboard is fitted, then it should be lowered when sailing "close to the wind" but can be raised up on downwind courses to reduce drag. The centreboard prevents lateral motion and allows the boat to sail upwind. A boat with no centreboard will instead have a permanent keel, some other form of underwater foil, or even the hull itself which serves the same purpose.
Together, these points are known as 'The Five Essentials' and constitute the central aspects of sailing.
An important aspect of sailing is keeping the boat in "trim". To achieve this a useful mnemonic (memory aid) is the phrase:
Can This Boat Sail Correctly?
This helps the crew to remember these essential points;
Course to Steer - Turn the boat using the wheel or tiller to the desired course to steer. See points of sail. This may be a definite bearing (e.g steer 270 degrees), or towards a landmark, or at a desired angle to the apparent wind direction.
Trim - This is the fore and aft balance of the boat. The aim is to adjust the moveable ballast (the crew!) forwards or backwards to achieve an 'even keel'. On an upwind course in a small boat, the crew typically sit forward, when 'running' it is more efficient for the crew to sit to the rear of the boat. The position of the crew matters less as the size (and weight) of the boat increases.
Balance - This is the port and starboard balance. The aim, once again is to adjust weight 'inboard' or 'outboard' to prevent excessive heeling.
Sail - Trimming sails is a large topic. Simply put however, a sail should be pulled in until it fills with wind, but no further than the point where the front edge of the sail (the luff) is exactly in line with the wind.
Centreboard - If a moveable centreboard is fitted, then it should be lowered when sailing "close to the wind" but can be raised up on downwind courses to reduce drag. The centreboard prevents lateral motion and allows the boat to sail upwind. A boat with no centreboard will instead have a permanent keel, some other form of underwater foil, or even the hull itself which serves the same purpose.
Together, these points are known as 'The Five Essentials' and constitute the central aspects of sailing.
Types of sails and layouts
traditional modern yacht is technically called a "Bermuda sloop" (sometimes a "Bermudan sloop"). A sloop is any boat that has a single mast and a headsail (generally a jib) in addition to the mainsail. The Bermuda designation refers to the fact that the sail, which has its forward edge (the "luff") against the mast (the main sail), is a sail roughly triangular in shape. Additionally, Bermuda sloops only have a single sail behind the mast. Other types of sloops are gaff-rigged sloops and lateen sloops. Gaff-rigged sloops have quadrilateral mainsails with a gaff (a small boom) at their upper edge (the "head" of the sail). Gaff-rigged vessels may also have another sail, called a topsail, above the gaff. Lateen sloops have triangular sails with the upper edge attached to a gaff, and the lower edge attached to the boom, and the boom and gaff are attached to each other via some type of hinge. It is also possible for a sloop to be square rigged (having large square sails like a Napoleonic Wars-era ship of the line). Note that a "sloop of war," in the naval sense, may well have more than one mast, and is not properly a sloop by the modern meaning.
If a boat has two masts, it may be a schooner, a ketch, or a yawl, if it is rigged fore-and-aft on all masts. A schooner may have any number of masts provided the second from the front is the tallest (called the "main mast"). In both a ketch and a yawl, the foremost mast is tallest, and thus the main mast, while the rear mast is shorter, and called the mizzen mast. The difference between a ketch and a yawl is that in a ketch, the mizzen mast is forward of the rudderpost (the axis of rotation for the rudder), while a yawl has its mizzen mast behind the rudderpost. In modern parlance, a brigantine is a vessel whose forward mast is rigged with square sails, while her after mast is rigged fore-and-aft. A brig is a vessel with two masts both rigged square.
As one gets into three or more masts the number of combinations rises and one gets barques, barquentines, and full-rigged ships.
A spinnaker is a large, full sail that is only used when sailing off wind either reaching or downwind, to catch the maximum amount of wind.
See also Sail and sail-plan.
A sailboat or sailing ship moves forward because of the reaction to the inertia of moving air on its sails. Since the dawn of history this vital technology has afforded mankind greater mobility and capacity for fishing, trade and warfare. From moving the stones of the great pyramids from Aswan to Giza to allowing man to migrate throughout Polynesia to Nelson's defeat of the French and Spanish navies at the Battle of Trafalgar, mankind's history has been intertwined with this seemingly simple technology
Basic sailing techniques
Steering and turning
When steering a sailboat, the method for changing direction depends on the direction of the wind. Thus, all direction changes or turns are described by one of the following terms:
Heading up (or luffing up) means steering so the wind is closer to coming from directly in front (or "on the bow"). Heading closer to the wind requires trimming the sails, pulling them towards the vessel's center. Heading up so the wind is nearly or directly ahead causes sails to luff, to flutter without achieving lift. If the boat loses maneuverability because of this, it is said to be in irons. Tacking (or coming about), one of the basic turning techniques, requires bringing the bow of the boat through the wind so that the wind then comes across the opposite side of the boat, and the boat sails away on the opposite tack.
Heading down, bearing away, falling off and freeing off mean steering so the wind comes from closer to the vessel's aft. This requires easing sails, letting them out away from the vessel's center. Gybing or Jibing is the turning maneuver in which the boat heads down past the point where the wind crosses the vessel's stern, which causes the sails and boom to swing to the opposite side, before the boat sails off on the opposite tack. The sail and boom can cross the centerline of the boat with significant speed, and misjudged gybing can easily capsize a small boat, harm inattentive crew, or damage the rig in a larger boat, especially in strong winds.
Trim
An important aspect of sailing is keeping the boat in "trim". To achieve this a useful mnemonic (memory aid) is the phrase:
Can This Boat Sail Correctly?
This helps the crew to remember these essential points;
Course to Steer - Turn the boat using the wheel or tiller to the desired course to steer. See points of sail. This may be a definite bearing (e.g steer 270 degrees), or towards a landmark, or at a desired angle to the apparent wind direction.
Trim - This is the fore and aft balance of the boat. The aim is to adjust the moveable ballast (the crew!) forwards or backwards to achieve an 'even keel'. On an upwind course in a small boat, the crew typically sit forward, when 'running' it is more efficient for the crew to sit to the rear of the boat. The position of the crew matters less as the size (and weight) of the boat increases.
Balance - This is the port and starboard balance. The aim, once again is to adjust weight 'inboard' or 'outboard' to prevent excessive heeling.
Sail - Trimming sails is a large topic. Simply put however, a sail should be pulled in until it fills with wind, but no further than the point where the front edge of the sail (the luff) is exactly in line with the wind.
Centreboard - If a moveable centreboard is fitted, then it should be lowered when sailing "close to the wind" but can be raised up on downwind courses to reduce drag. The centreboard prevents lateral motion and allows the boat to sail upwind. A boat with no centreboard will instead have a permanent keel, some other form of underwater foil, or even the hull itself which serves the same purpose.
Together, these points are known as 'The Five Essentials' and constitute the central aspects of sailing.
An important aspect of sailing is keeping the boat in "trim". To achieve this a useful mnemonic (memory aid) is the phrase:
Can This Boat Sail Correctly?
This helps the crew to remember these essential points;
Course to Steer - Turn the boat using the wheel or tiller to the desired course to steer. See points of sail. This may be a definite bearing (e.g steer 270 degrees), or towards a landmark, or at a desired angle to the apparent wind direction.
Trim - This is the fore and aft balance of the boat. The aim is to adjust the moveable ballast (the crew!) forwards or backwards to achieve an 'even keel'. On an upwind course in a small boat, the crew typically sit forward, when 'running' it is more efficient for the crew to sit to the rear of the boat. The position of the crew matters less as the size (and weight) of the boat increases.
Balance - This is the port and starboard balance. The aim, once again is to adjust weight 'inboard' or 'outboard' to prevent excessive heeling.
Sail - Trimming sails is a large topic. Simply put however, a sail should be pulled in until it fills with wind, but no further than the point where the front edge of the sail (the luff) is exactly in line with the wind.
Centreboard - If a moveable centreboard is fitted, then it should be lowered when sailing "close to the wind" but can be raised up on downwind courses to reduce drag. The centreboard prevents lateral motion and allows the boat to sail upwind. A boat with no centreboard will instead have a permanent keel, some other form of underwater foil, or even the hull itself which serves the same purpose.
Together, these points are known as 'The Five Essentials' and constitute the central aspects of sailing.
Types of sails and layouts
traditional modern yacht is technically called a "Bermuda sloop" (sometimes a "Bermudan sloop"). A sloop is any boat that has a single mast and a headsail (generally a jib) in addition to the mainsail. The Bermuda designation refers to the fact that the sail, which has its forward edge (the "luff") against the mast (the main sail), is a sail roughly triangular in shape. Additionally, Bermuda sloops only have a single sail behind the mast. Other types of sloops are gaff-rigged sloops and lateen sloops. Gaff-rigged sloops have quadrilateral mainsails with a gaff (a small boom) at their upper edge (the "head" of the sail). Gaff-rigged vessels may also have another sail, called a topsail, above the gaff. Lateen sloops have triangular sails with the upper edge attached to a gaff, and the lower edge attached to the boom, and the boom and gaff are attached to each other via some type of hinge. It is also possible for a sloop to be square rigged (having large square sails like a Napoleonic Wars-era ship of the line). Note that a "sloop of war," in the naval sense, may well have more than one mast, and is not properly a sloop by the modern meaning.
If a boat has two masts, it may be a schooner, a ketch, or a yawl, if it is rigged fore-and-aft on all masts. A schooner may have any number of masts provided the second from the front is the tallest (called the "main mast"). In both a ketch and a yawl, the foremost mast is tallest, and thus the main mast, while the rear mast is shorter, and called the mizzen mast. The difference between a ketch and a yawl is that in a ketch, the mizzen mast is forward of the rudderpost (the axis of rotation for the rudder), while a yawl has its mizzen mast behind the rudderpost. In modern parlance, a brigantine is a vessel whose forward mast is rigged with square sails, while her after mast is rigged fore-and-aft. A brig is a vessel with two masts both rigged square.
As one gets into three or more masts the number of combinations rises and one gets barques, barquentines, and full-rigged ships.
A spinnaker is a large, full sail that is only used when sailing off wind either reaching or downwind, to catch the maximum amount of wind.
See also Sail and sail-plan.
Sea turtle
Sea turtles (Chelonioidea) are turtles found in all the world's oceans except the Arctic Ocean, and some species travel between oceans. The Flatback turtle is found solely on the northern coast of Australia. The Leatherback Sea Turtle is the largest, measuring six or seven feet (2 m) in length at maturity, and three to five feet (1 to 1.5 m) in width, weighing up to 1300 pounds (600 kg). Most other species are smaller, being two to four feet in length (0.5 to 1 m) and proportionally less wide. There are seven types of sea turtles: Kemp's Ridley, Flatback, Green, Olive Ridley, Loggerhead, Hawksbill and the Leatherback. All but the Leatherback are in the family Chelonioidea; the Leatherback belongs to the family Dermochelyidae and is its only member.
Different species are distinguished by varying anatomical aspects: for instance, the prefrontal scales on the head, the number of and shape of scutes on the carapace, and the type of inframarginal scutes on the plastron. The Leatherback is the only sea turtle that does not have a hard shell, instead carrying a mosaic of bony plates beneath its leathery skin.
Sea turtles play key roles in two ecosystems that are critical to them as well as to humans—the oceans and beaches/dunes. If sea turtles were to become extinct, the negative impact on beaches and the oceans would potentially be significant.
In the oceans, for example, sea turtles, especially green sea turtles, are one of the very few creatures (manatees are another) that eat a type of vegetation called sea grass that grows on the sea floor. Sea grass must be kept short to remain healthy, and beds of healthy sea grass are essential breeding and development areas for many species of fish and other marine life. A decline or loss of sea grass beds would mean a loss of the marine species that directly depend on the beds, which would trigger a chain reaction and negatively impact marine and human life. When one part of an ecosystem is destroyed, the other parts will follow.
Beaches and dunes are a fragile ecosystem that does not get many nutrients to support its vegetation, which is needed to help prevent erosion. Sea turtles contribute nutrients to dune vegetation from their eggs. Every year, sea turtles lay countless numbers of eggs in beaches during nesting season. Along one twenty-mile stretch of beach in Florida alone, for example, more than 150,000 pounds of eggs are laid each year. Nutrients from hatched eggs as well as from eggs that never hatch and from hatchlings that fail to make it into the ocean are all sources of nutrients for dune vegetation. A decline in the number of sea turtles means fewer eggs laid, less nutrients for the sand dunes and its vegetation, and a higher risk for beach erosion.
The plight of sea turtles has been recognized around the world, and many organizations and governments are working to preserve these ancient creatures. Volunteer opportunities to save the turtles [15] are available in North America and around the world.
Snorkeling locations and Snorkeling
Getting started
Snorkeler with mask and snorkel.Snorkeling requires no special training, only the ability to swim and to breathe through the snorkel. However, it is recommended that one get some instruction from a tour guide, dive shop, or equipment rental shop, any of which often can be found around popular snorkeling locations. Instruction will cover equipment usage, basic safety, what to look for, and what to look out for, including how not to damage fragile organisms such as coral. As with scuba diving, it is always recommended that one not snorkel alone, but rather with a "buddy" or a guide.
The mask and snorkel are similar to those used in scuba diving, but since they are not subjected to the pressures of deep water, they can be more lightweight and comfortable. Swimfins used in snorkeling are usually longer than those used in diving.
Experienced snorkelers often start to investigate amateur free-diving, which should be preceded by at least some training from a dive instructor or experienced free-diver.
Popular snorkeling locations
Africa
Some African coast lines on the Indian Ocean have fringing coral reefs stretching out, typically 1 km / 0.6 mile, from the beach. At low water one can walk on the reef and explore pools and puddles created inside it. At high water the reef shelters the beach keeping the swell away and breaking large waves at the edge of the reef.
Egypt
Sharm el-Sheikh - Popular resort location with excellent snorkeling and diving.
Hurghada - Excellent snorkeling and diving location, although less popular than Sharm el-Sheikh (and cheaper). Located on the African cost of Egypt, on the opposite side of the Red Sea from Sharm el-Sheikh.
Kenya - fringing coral reefs; at low water one can walk on the reef and explore pools and puddles created inside it
Maldives - many atolls each with a "house" reef; strong tidal currents in channels through reefs
Mauritius - fringing coral reefs
Seychelles - fringing coral reefs
Tanzania - fringing coral reefs
Mafia Island
Pemba Island
Zanzibar
Asia and Pacific
French Polynesia
Tahiti - Very shallow waters surround this island, and in some areas, rays congregate in large numbers. They can be visited with a tour guide.
Hawaiian islands
Palau - Small island nation renowned for its diving and snorkeling. Also on the island of Macharchar, tourists can visit "Jellyfish Lake," a freshwater lake containing over a million non-stinging jellyfish.
The Philippines - As an archipelago of over 7,000 islands, the country is home to many popular (and many more undiscovered) snorkeling locations.
Luzon
Batangas - The province of Batangas is the prime diving and snorkeling spot in the country. Many reefs, wrecks and channels are easily accessible by a short boat trip.
Cavite - While in close proximity to the polluted waters of Manila Bay, the province has some select snorkeling sites.
Mindoro - The seaside town of Puerto Galera on the island of Mindoro has some of the country's top snorkeling destinations. Reefs a few meters from shore are often exposed at low tide.
Palawan - The relatively-untouched island of Palawan sports many diving and snorkeling locations, especially in the Tubbataha Reefs and the El Nido areas.
Visayas - The Visayas chain of islands lie in the middle of the archipelago and are home to numerous shallow reefs.
Negros. Some of the best snorkeling in the Visayas region of the Philippines is the vicinity of Apo Island near the city of Dumaguete.
Mindanao - Relatively untouched compared to other sites in the country, many beaches surrounding the island of Mindanao feature shallow reef and seagrass bed areas that are accessible by snorkelers from shore.
Australia
Byron Bay - Particularly noted for sea turtles
Great Barrier Reef - The largest coral reef in the world, and considered some of the best snorkeling in the world, though more favored by divers since most locations are not shore accessible.
Port Phillip - Very large shallow bay.
Scuba diving
Breathing underwater
Water normally contains dissolved oxygen from which fish and other aquatic animals extract all their required oxygen as the water flows past their gills. Humans lack gills and do not otherwise have the capacity to breathe underwater unaided by external devices.
Early diving experimenters quickly discovered it is not enough to simply supply air in order to breathe comfortably underwater. As one descends, in addition to the normal atmospheric pressure, water exerts increasing pressure on the chest and lungs — approximately 1 bar or 14.7 psi for every 33 feet or 10 meters of depth — so the pressure of the inhaled breath must exactly counter the surrounding or ambient pressure in order to safely and efficiently inflate the lungs.
By always providing the breathing gas at ambient pressure, modern demand valve regulators ensure the diver can inhale and exhale naturally and virtually effortlessly, regardless of depth.
As the diver's nose and eyes are inside a diving mask, the diver cannot breathe in through his nose, except when wearing a full face diving mask. However, inhaling from a regulator's mouthpiece becomes second nature very quickly.
The most commonly used scuba set today is the open circuit 2-stage diving regulator, coupled to a single pressurized gas cylinder. This 2-stage arrangement differs from Emile Gagnan's and Jacques Cousteau's original 1942 design, known as the Aqua-lung, in which the cylinder's pressure was reduced to ambient pressure in a single stage. The 2-stage system has significant advantages over the original single-stage design.
In the 2-stage design, the first stage regulator reduces the cylinder pressure of about 200 bar (3000 psi) to an intermediate level of about 10 bar (145 psi). The second stage demand valve regulator, connected via a low pressure hose to the first stage, delivers the breathing gas at the correct ambient pressure to the diver's mouth and lungs. The diver's exhaled gases are exhausted directly to the environment as waste. The first stage typically has at least one "high pressure" outlet, which delivers breathing gas at unreduced tank pressure. This is connected to the diver's pressure gauge or computer, in order to show how much breathing gas remains.
For more information, see diving regulator.
Less common (but becoming increasingly available) are closed and/or semi-closed rebreathers. Open-circuit sets vent off all exhaled gases, but rebreathers reprocess each exhaled breath for re-use by removing the carbon dioxide buildup and replacing the oxygen used by the diver. Rebreathers release few or no gas bubbles into the water, and use much less oxygen per hour because exhaled oxygen is recovered; this has advantages for research, military, photography, and other applications. See frogman. Modern rebreathers (rather than old-type plain oxygen rebreathers) are more complex and more expensive than sport open-circuit scuba, and need special training and maintenance to safely use. See rebreather.
For some diving, gas mixtures other than normal atmospheric air (21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen, 1% other) can be used, so long as the diver is properly trained in their use. The most commonly used mixture is Enriched Air Nitrox, which is air with extra oxygen, often with 32% or 36% oxygen, and thus less nitrogen, reducing the effect of decompression sickness and nitrogen narcosis.
Several other common gas mixtures are in use, and all need specialized training. Oxygen with helium and a reduced percentage of nitrogen is known as trimix, for example.
In cases of technical dives more than one cylinder may be carried, each containing a different gas mixture for a distinct phase of the dive, typically designated as Travel, Bottom, and Decompression. These different gas mixtures may be used to extend bottom time, reduce inert gas narcotic effects, and reduce decompression times.
Injuries due to changes in air pressure
Divers must avoid injuries caused by changes in air pressure. The weight of the water column above the diver causes an increase in air pressure in any compressible material (wetsuit, lungs, sinus) in proportion to depth, in the same way that atmospheric air causes a pressure of 14.7 lbs per square inch at sea level. Pressure injuries are called barotrauma and can be quite painful, in severe cases causing a ruptured eardrum or damage to the sinuses. To avoid them, the diver equalizes the pressure in all air spaces with the surrounding water pressure when changing depth. The inner ear and sinus are equalized using one of two techniques.
The first technique is known as the "Valsalva maneuver", which involves pinching the nose and gently attempting to exhale through it.
The second technique is known as the "Frenzel maneuver", which involves using your throat muscles in a swallowing motion to equalize the airspace. The Frenzel maneuver reduces the possibility of a round window rupture but is more difficult to master.
The mask is equalized by periodically exhaling through the nose. If a drysuit is worn, it too must be equalized by inflation and deflation, similar to a buoyancy compensator.
Effects of breathing high pressure gas
Decompression sickness
The diver must avoid the formation of gas bubbles in the body, called decompression sickness or 'the bends', by releasing the water pressure on the body slowly at the end of the dive and allowing gases trapped in the bloodstream to gradually break solution and leave the body, called "off-gassing." This is done by making safety stops or decompression stops and ascending slowly using dive computers or decompression tables for guidance. Decompression sickness must be treated promptly, typically in a recompression chamber. Administering enriched-oxygen breathing gas or pure oxygen to a decompression sickness stricken diver on the surface is a good form of first aid for decompression sickness, although fatality or permanent disability may still occur.
Nitrogen narcosis
Nitrogen narcosis or inert gas narcosis is a reversible alteration in consciousness producing a state similar to alcohol intoxication in divers who breathe high pressure gas at depth. The mechanism is similar to that of nitrous oxide, or "laughing gas," administered as anesthesia. Being "narced" can impair judgment and make diving very dangerous. Narcosis starts to affect the diver at 66 feet, or 3 atmospheres of pressure. At 66 feet, Narcosis manifests itself as slight giddiness. The effects increase drastically with the increase in depth. Jacques Cousteau famously described it as the "rapture of the deep". Nitrogen narcosis occurs quickly and the symptoms typically disappear during the ascent, so that divers often fail to realize they were ever affected. It affects individual divers at varying depths and conditions, and can even vary from dive to dive under identical conditions. However, diving with trimix or heliox prevents narcosis from occurring.
Oxygen toxicity
Oxygen toxicity occurs when oxygen in the body exceeds a safe "partial pressure" (PPO2). In extreme cases it affects the central nervous system and causes a seizure, which can result in the diver spitting out his regulator and drowning. Oxygen toxicity is preventable provided one never exceeds the established maximum depth of a given breathing gas. For deep dives, (generally past 130 feet / 39 meters) "hypoxic blends" containing a lower percentage of oxygen than atmospheric air are used. For more information, see Oxygen toxicity.
Refraction and underwater vision
A diver wearing an Ocean Reef full face maskWater has a higher refractive index than air. Light entering the eye from the water behaves differently than light entering from air. This creates a distortion that affects normal vision by causing very severe hypermetropia. That is why people with severe myopia can see better underwater without a mask than normal-sighted people.
Diving masks and diving helmets and fullface masks solve this problem by creating an air space in front of the diver's eyes. The refraction error created by the water is mostly corrected as the light travels from water to air through a flat lens, except that objects appear approximately 34% bigger and 25% closer in salt water than they actually are. Therefore total field-of-view is significantly reduced and eye-hand coordination must be adjusted.
A HydroOptix Double-Dome maskDivers who need corrective lenses to see clearly outside the water would normally need the same prescription while wearing a mask. Generic and custom corrective lenses are available for some two-window masks. Custom lenses can be bonded onto masks that have a single front window.
Double-dome[1] masks restore panoramic vision, allowing objects to be seen at their true size and distance. One must be nearsighted to use a double-dome mask; however, divers with normal vision wear disposable contact lenses, making themselves temporarily nearsighted.
On rare occasions, commando frogmen used special contact lenses instead, to see underwater without the large glass surface of a diving mask, which can reflect light and give away the frogman's position.
As a diver changes depth, he must periodically exhale through his nose to equalize the internal pressure of the mask with that of the surrounding water. Swimming goggles which only cover the eyes do not allow for equalization and thus are not suitable for diving.
Controlling buoyancy underwater
Diver under the Salt Pier in Bonaire.To dive safely, divers need to be able to control their rate of descent and ascent in the water. Ignoring other forces such as water currents and swimming, the diver's overall buoyancy determines whether he ascends or descends. Equipment such as the diving weighting systems, diving suits (Wet, Dry & Semi-dry suits are used depending on the water temperature) and buoyancy compensators can be used to adjust the overall buoyancy. When divers want to remain at constant depth, they try to achieve neutral buoyancy. This minimizes gas consumption caused by swimming to maintain depth.
The downward force on the diver is the weight of the diver and his equipment minus the weight of the same volume of the liquid that he is immersed in; if the result is negative, that force is upwards. Diving weighting systems can be used to reduce the diver's weight and cause an ascent in an emergency. Diving suits, mostly being made of compressible materials, shrink as the diver descends, and expand as the diver ascends, creating unwanted buoyancy changes. The diver can inject air into some diving suits to counteract this effect and squeeze. Buoyancy compensators allow easy and fine adjustments in the diver's overall volume and therefore buoyancy. For open circuit divers, changes in the diver's lung volume can be used to adjust buoyancy.
Avoiding losing body heat
Water conducts heat from the diver 25 times[2] better than air, which can lead to hypothermia even in mild water temperatures. Symptoms of hypothermia include impaired judgment and dexterity, which can quickly become deadly in an aquatic environment. In all but the warmest waters, the diver needs the thermal insulation provided by wetsuits or drysuits. See the main articles: Diving suit, wetsuit and drysuit. In the case of a wetsuit, the suit is designed to minimize heat loss. Wetsuits are generally made of neoprene that has small gas cells, generally nitrogen, trapped in it during the manufacturing process. The poor thermal conductivity of this expanded cell neoprene means that wetsuits reduce loss of body heat by conduction to the surrounding water. The neoprene in this case acts as an insulator.
The second way in which wetsuits reduce heat loss is to trap a thin layer of water between the diver's skin and the insulating suit itself. Body heat then heats the trapped water. Provided the wetsuit is reasonably well-sealed at all openings (neck, wrists, legs), this reduces water flow over the surface of the skin, reducing loss of body heat by convection, and therefore keeps the diver warm (this is the principle employed in the use of a "Semi-Dry")
Spring Suit and Steamer.In the case of a drysuit, it does exactly that: keeps a diver dry. The suit is sealed so that frigid water cannot penetrate the suit. Drysuit undergarments are often worn under a drysuit as well, and help to keep layers of air inside the suit for better thermal insulation. Some divers carry an extra gas bottle dedicated to filling the dry suit. Usually this bottle contains argon gas, because of its better insulation as compared with air.
Drysuits fall into two main categories neoprene and membrane; both systems have their good and bad points but generally they can be reduced to:
Membrane: high level of diver maneuverability due to the thinness of the material, however that also means that heavy weight undersuit is required if diving in cooler water.
Neoprene: low level of diver maneuverability due to the material being considerably thicker than membrane material (even when dealing with compressed neoprene) however the neoprene provides a higher level of insulation for the diver.
Avoiding skin cuts and grazes
Diving suits also help prevent the diver's skin being damaged by rough or sharp underwater objects, marine animals or coral.
Diving longer and deeper safely
There are a number of techniques to increase the diver's ability to dive deeper and longer:
technical diving - diving deeper than 130 feet and/or using mixed gases.
surface supplied diving - use of umbilical gas supply and diving helmets.
saturation diving - long-term use of underwater habitats under pressure and a gradual release of pressure over several days in a decompression chamber at the end of a dive
Being mobile underwater
The diver needs to be mobile underwater. Streamlining dive gear will reduce drag and improve mobility. Personal mobility is enhanced by swimfins and Diver Propulsion Vehicles. Other equipment to improve mobility includes diving bells and diving shots.
Reasons for scuba diving
People scuba diving for various reasons:-
It lets biologists and interested peole get close to undersea life.
Each dive has something unusual to offer.
It is a different world down there.
It is very educational.
It lets people work underwater easily.
It is a relaxing outdoor activity.
It helps naval research.
How the First Earth Day Came About
". . . on April 22, 1970, Earth Day was held, one of the most
remarkable happenings in the history of democracy. . . "
-American Heritage Magazine, October 1993
Actually, the idea for Earth Day evolved over a period of seven years starting in 1962. For several years, it had been troubling me that the state of our environment was simply a non-issue in the politics of the country. Finally, in November 1962, an idea occurred to me that was, I thought, a virtual cinch to put the environment into the political "limelight" once and for all. The idea was to persuade President Kennedy to give visibility to this issue by going on a national conservation tour. I flew to Washington to discuss the proposal with Attorney General Robert Kennedy, who liked the idea. So did the President. The President began his five-day, eleven-state conservation tour in September 1963. For many reasons the tour did not succeed in putting the issue onto the national political agenda. However, it was the germ of the idea that ultimately flowered into Earth Day.
I continued to speak on environmental issues to a variety of audiences in some twenty-five states. All across the country, evidence of environmental degradation was appearing everywhere, and everyone noticed except the political establishment. The environmental issue simply was not to be found on the nation's political agenda. The people were concerned, but the politicians were not.
After President Kennedy's tour, I still hoped for some idea that would thrust the environment into the political mainstream. Six years would pass before the idea that became Earth Day occurred to me while on a conservation speaking tour out West in the summer of 1969. At the time, anti-Vietnam War demonstrations, called "teach-ins," had spread to college campuses all across the nation. Suddenly, the idea occurred to me - why not organize a huge grassroots protest over what was happening to our environment?
I was satisfied that if we could tap into the environmental concerns of the general public and infuse the student anti-war energy into the environmental cause, we could generate a demonstration that would force this issue onto the political agenda. It was a big gamble, but worth a try.
At a conference in Seattle in September 1969, I announced that in the spring of 1970 there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on behalf of the environment and invited everyone to participate. The wire services carried the story from coast to coast. The response was electric. It took off like gangbusters. Telegrams, letters, and telephone inquiries poured in from all across the country. The American people finally had a forum to express its concern about what was happening to the land, rivers, lakes, and air - and they did so with spectacular exuberance. For the next four months, two members of my Senate staff, Linda Billings and John Heritage, managed Earth Day affairs out of my Senate office.
Five months before Earth Day, on Sunday, November 30, 1969, The New York Times carried a lengthy article by Gladwin Hill reporting on the astonishing proliferation of environmental events:
"Rising concern about the environmental crisis is sweeping the nation's campuses with an intensity that may be on its way to eclipsing student discontent over the war in Vietnam...a national day of observance of environmental problems...is being planned for next spring...when a nationwide environmental 'teach-in'...coordinated from the office of Senator Gaylord Nelson is planned...."
It was obvious that we were headed for a spectacular success on Earth Day. It was also obvious that grassroots activities had ballooned beyond the capacity of my U.S. Senate office staff to keep up with the telephone calls, paper work, inquiries, etc. In mid-January, three months before Earth Day, John Gardner, Founder of Common Cause, provided temporary space for a Washington, D.C. headquarters. I staffed the office with college students and selected Denis Hayes as coordinator of activities.
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