A fonte de vídeo era SD-SDI (Standard Definition Serial Digital Interface - 270 Mb/s, 4:2:2, 720x480, 60i) com o áudio embutido (48kHz 16bit stereo). Seu principal inconveniente, levando-se em consideração que o destino final é a internet, é o fato de ser um vídeo entrelaçado (principalmente para streaming ao vivo). Isso demanda um processamento adicional durante o processo de captura: o chamado deinterlacing. Este, podendo ser feito de duas formas: em hardware pela placa de captura, ou via software durante os processos de codificação (encoding).

O processo de deinterlacing por software (mencoder, ffmpeg, transcode, filtros DirectShow, etc.) costuma ocasionar um alto consumo de CPU (dependendo da resolução do vídeo e do algoritmo escolhido). No meu caso, essa solução inviabilizaria a captura de mais de um sinal na mesma máquina, o que aumentaria consideravelmente os custos de um projeto com muitas fontes de sinal. Então, partimos para uma solução em hardware.

A placa cujo perfil mais se adequou acabou sendo a Osprey 530, da Viewcast. Além de suas técnicas de deinterlacing bastante eficazes, ela possui outros recursos com processamento em hardware: resize, crop, inserção de marca d'água (watermark), correção de cor (color correction)... O ponto fraco ficou por conta da inexistência de drivers estáveis para Linux, sem falar no preço!

Na última NAB pude conferir também placas de captura SDI de outros fabricantes (Dektec, Blackmagic, DVEO, Matrox, etc.). Acho que vale destacar a ótima relação custo-benefício obtida com a Decklink, da Blackmagic Design. É uma boa opção para quem deseja fazer ingest sem codificação (não possui muito poder de processamento) e como solução de playout, além de dispensar o uso de scan converters digitais. Além disso, sua versão HD (High Definition) se mostrou uma ótima opção de captura para sinais 16:9 progressivos (720p e 1080p).

Concluindo, a escolha de uma placa de captura depende, além da especificação do sinal que se deseja capturar, dos tipos de processamento que se deseja fazer em cima deste sinal. Às vezes, torna-se mais vantajoso realizar as modificações utilizando o poder de processamento dos servidores que recebem o sinal com placas de baixo custo, outras não, como no caso dos muitos efeitos fornecidos pelas Matrox DSX que seriam bastante onerosos numa arquitetura deste tipo.

Roger Longhorn, in his editorial in this month's GeoConnexion, asks the burning question: "What message are we sending to senior level decision makers about the importance and value of Spatial Data Infrastructure - SDI - if we keep misrepresenting what SDI is or is all about?"

Roger comments:

Having recently attended the informative GSDI Association's 10th global SDI conference in Trinidad, I was struck by the number of presentations that continue to show the 'SDI' as a 'thing' stuck inside a single block or bubble in various diagrams supposedly illustrating the importance of SDIs or how SDIs are implemented or similar. Yet many information infrastructure experts realize that an SDI is NOT something that you can stick in a box on a block diagram.

Look at any of the scores of definitions for "SDI" that appear in academic papers, in national and regional SDI strategy and vision papers, in SDI implementation guides (the few that actually exist) - and you will recognize that SDIs are composed of too many disparate elements - technical, legal, political, societal - to ever be conveniently herded into a single block on a diagram. To my mind, those implementing organizations who stand the best chance of implementing an SDI are those who have recognized that SDI is a process (emphasis added), not a thing, comprising many different and disparate elements, which will be implemented in different ways, at different speeds, different costs (and benefits) and with different impacts.

Furthermore, all too often, SDI initiatives are developed in tandem with e-government activities, but are not integrated efforts.

What are your thoughts? SDI is a process, but is it easier to build support among policy makers by offering tangible products? If so, how do we persuade policy makers to invest in a process, or do we need to offer a bit of both?

20 Questions concordantly addressed with wit, penetration, scholarship, and courage by Dave Furlotte, Stuart Miller, and Robert L. Hastings as Errol Bruce-Knapp struggles too arduously bringing it to us at all, and I ain't talkin' about no problems with no teefusses, aurally rendering EBK's usual Noel Coward into the Elephant Man —Ok, I exaggerated— still ...news at eleven:

1. "Blanchard, Lytle, And Roswell." What, who, where, how, when, and why?

2. Dead Generals don't lie about UFOs?

3. What _is_ a UFO legend?

4. How many "crashes" at Roswell?

5. How many "bodies" in the desert?

6. How many alien "survivors" at Corona?

7. Why did General Blanchard even issue the story that a "crashed saucer had been recovered by the Army at Roswell"?

8. How does an active duty Army flight surgeon holding the rank of full Colonel presently remember holding flying saucer pieces in his hand as a child?

9. How many times has "officialdom" issued a bald if _not_ bold lie regarding Roswell?

10. Are some ufologists point-taking adolescents?

11. What Roswell facts are _beyond_ dispute?

12. Is it one thing to profess blindness where one is actually blind but another when ones eyes are merely closed? Is it enough to squeeze a stifled four letter word out of Dave Furlotte?

13. Why is Art Bell touted by the mainstream as an authority on UFOs?

14. Does Stuart Miller hew the "middle ground" with regard to all things Fortean?

15. What does a scarce Paul Kimball have to say on the subject of "honest ExoPols"?

16. Why the strange manipulation of testimony by the Cardiff Police to assuage their odd complicity in the Cardiff UFO affair via a 999 (911) call?

17. What is this strange fascination with Chinese Wedding lanterns preferred to gassy pelicans?

18. What explains the deliberate sabotage of the UFO Hunter program vis a vis Cardiff, if a lantern _was_ the culprit?

19. Why are Condon and Brookings still not contested by the mainstream as a canted ax grind by the decision makers of the time?

20. What _can_ be said about societies millions or even billions of years in advance of our own?

...And sixty minutes remain in tumultuous cavalcade of Stuart's exploration of his perhaps nascent dark-side, that retreat of sensibilities in trepidation... to incredulous disbelief? Then Robert L. Hastings demonstrates how UFOs swoop down and turn our nuclear weapons on and off at will... that's right. Ufological sensibilities empowered are the listener's own! Subscribe! Know the toad to squeegee that third eye!

http://www.virtuallystrange.net/ufo/sdi/program/

alienview@roadrunner.com
www.AlienView.net
AVG Blog -- http://alienviewgroup.blogspot.com/
U F O M a g a z i n e -- www.ufomag.com

For more on the history of the Strategic Defense Initiative see an informative article from the Cold War Museum: SDI - "Star Wars"

Russia must modernize its nuclear defenses within eight years, including the creation of a “system of air and space defense”. Link

Shouldn't the history of the cold war be required reading for the "leader" of Russia? How about any of a number lessons on the history of Ronald Reagan being learned? The world could do with a little more Reagan these days. When he took over after a lame duck Jimmy Carter, the state of the US economy was much the same. While Reagan's first 4 years in office saw a continued downturn and spiraling national debt, his actions paved the way for the prosperity of the 90's. Reagan took hold and in a dramatic "bluff", bankrupted the eastern block. The SDI program was never a public success. Much of today's technology was gained through the research Reagan started. We are told that SDI never got off the ground, but forced Russia to try and keep pace with the US expenditures. We are back to the old ballgame again. Feels good. A strange question for the Russians, was SDI really a bluff? Ask that EMP floating over your head.

In related news:

Russia offers Chavez nuclear help amid US tensions

Not really worth the comment. Giving Chavez the bomb, is like handing a chimp TnT. Sooner or later it will blow its hand off.

Man is not free unless government is limited.
Ronald Reagan

Going to stray a little academic here, a couple of articles of possible interest relating to spatial data infrastructures (SDI), cross-agency coordination, and data access policies:

Note: IJGIS is not an open access journal (to access, must have a subscription)... or you could try contacting author to get a copy.

Developing geographic information infrastructures: the role of access policies
Author: B. van Loenen
International Journal of Geographical Information Science
Within societies, information availability is a key issue affecting society's well-being. For geographic information, a geographic information infrastructure (GII) facilitates availability and access to geographic information for all levels of government, the commercial sector, the non-profit sector, academia, and ordinary citizens. Although the importance of access policies in the development of a GII is commonly understood, research that has assessed the impact of access policies on this development is scant. This article adds this perspective. Based on information acquired from case-study and literature research, the author argues that open-access policies do not always promote GII development and in specific instances are counter-productive. These findings may explain why many nations still adhere to cost-recovery policies instead of following access policies recommended by research. The article provides alternatives for changing current policies into new access policies that promote GII development.
Keywords: Geographic information infrastructure; SDI; Access policy; Development

Cross-agency coordination in the shadow of hierarchy: 'joining up' government geospatial information systems
Authors: K. T. Lance; Y. Georgiadou; A. K. Bregt
International Journal of Geographical Information Science
Government agencies striving to make geospatial information systems interoperable and cost-effective often appear to function as a self-regulating network shaped only by internal trust and reciprocity. However, recent public management research suggests that external steering of a network, exercised by authoritative bodies through hierarchical means, may invigorate cross-agency coordination. The two case studies of federal geospatial coordination in Canada and the USA confirm this emerging theory of network-hierarchy dynamics. In these countries, the central budget agency (CBA) is influencing resource flows and accountabilities within a federal geospatial network of government agencies, which in turn affects how these agencies deliver 'joined up' services. The CBA relies upon three types of tools: the shaping of network governing structures, promotion of uptake of new management information systems, and the use of evaluation (scrutiny) to solidify  accountabilities of the network. Since these tools cast a shadow of hierarchy upon the network, they may be viewed as counter to the voluntary ethos of networks. However, the case studies suggest that the CBA's actions appear to confer legitimacy to the network, resulting in a seeming contradiction greater central control, more vigorous, distributed geospatial coordination.
Keywords: Cross-agency coordination; SDI implementation; Joined-up government; Metagovernance

SDI #462

20 Questions addressed in a program of singular significance by Dave
Furlotte, Don Ledger, Michael Woods, and Alfred Lehmberg. Chilling
observations by Furlotte with regard to the alien abductions play out,
still, on UFO UpDates. Interesting observations are revealed by Don
Ledger
with regard to recent named conferences and the Stephenville kafuffle.
Michael Woods explores the solar system and puts us right there, then
offers
to step outside with anyone impugning Moonwalker Edgar Mitchell's
reputation:

1. If Alien Abductions are a result of mass hypnosis, who or what
performs
same?

2. Is humanity too advanced to be molested, or is humanity too
primitive to
be bothered with?

3. Should aliens show respect when it is so arguable that humans do
not?

4. If a superior intelligence would show respect, of needs, and a
"humanity" does not, what does that say of the intelligence of human
beings?

5. If a superior intelligence won't waste billions studying an
inferior
intelligence why do humans spend billions doing just that?

6. How is denial the only option available to the "spring-butt"
denialist?

7. Is humanity an abductor of inferior species?

8. Does the skeptic try to have the preceding argument both ways?

9. Was it a fluke that the Canadian Federal Government provided cash
to
conduct the recent Shag Harbor Conference?

10. Regarding the Shag Harbor conference, does a significant draw from

outside the community show that society is becoming more conscious of
UFOs?

11. When are we going to be able to see Mike McDonald's fine
documentary on
Unidentified Submerged Objects (USOs)?

12. With the proposed museum at Shag Harbor, and St Albans, WV ...are
UFO
Museums beginning to pop up like toadstools?

13. How did the San Jose conference manage to keep the "woo-woo at low

hum"?

14. Why were there a lot of "academic types" showing up at the San
Jose
Conference?

15. At the aforementioned San Jose conference, what was the impact of
Belgian Major General Wilford DeBrauer and his investigation of the
famous
"Belgian Triangle"?

16. How is it significant to the UFO researcher that Military radar is

superior to Civil radar?

17. With regard to the stillborn "Condign Report," how is it the
report is
completed by one man who is not allowed to interview any pertinent
witnesses?

18. With regard to the "O'Hare Incident" how is Larry Lemke able to
demonstrate a genuine anomaly?

19. With 400 to 500 pilots busted for impinging on GWB's restricted
airspace over his reclaimed pig farm in Crawford Texas, who was finally

busted for impinging on same during the "Stephenville Affair"?

20. With regard to data storage capability, anymore, why would
officialdom
lose data that was going to come back later and bite them on the ass,
but
that is _was_ going to come back later and bite them on the ass?

Stars and sputniks, saints preserve, and suffering ZOT but that 45
minutes
remain of the neo-druid Michael Woods stewarding us around the moon,
neighboring planets, and the moons of distant planets sporting waveless

oceans of hydrocarbons smooth as the glass of black-based mirrors.
Breathtaking. Alfred Lehmberg behaves himself... to a degree.

Too, badmouth Edgar Mitchell as a "loopy old coot driven space crazy"
at
your peril. There's a whole covey of us over here at Virtually Strange

Network ready to stomp a new mud-hole in your flaccid ass, eh? Posted!

Know. The. Toad. The toad you know is the known toad knowing!
Trifle
_not_, the toad.

...Ufological sensibilities empowered are the listener's own!
Subscribe!

http://www.virtuallystrange.net/ufo/sdi/program/

Written by Alfred Lehmberg --

www.AlienView.net
AVG Blog -- http://alienviewgroup.blogspot.com/
U F O M a g a z i n e -- www.ufomag.com

Depois de muito procurar, achei minha placa de captura: Black Magic SDI HD/SD.

Que delícia... editar com Beta Digital sem compressão... ahhhhhhhhhh...

Mas foram R$ 4.000,00. Tudo isso porque tenho um Power PC G5 e é difícil achar as coisas pra ele.

Mas no final deu tudo certo.

Quem tiver alguma dúvida pode escrever que responderei com prazer.

Abs

SDI #461 - Twenty Questions

20 Questions cogently addressed by SDI-nauts Dave Furlotte, Stuart
Miller,
Chris Rutkowski, and mission commander Errol Bruce-Knapp:

1. How does water on Mars, all but confirmed, only "sorta" make the
mainstream news?

2. Does Mars water bode well for "bushes" of all types, other
"vegetation,"
and even Martian "prairie-dogs" on the surface of Mars?

3. Have official photos of the Martian surface been heavily doctored
in the
past, and if so... why, really?

4. Does Mars have a _blue_ sky?

5. Is Astronaut Edgar Mitchell, with faultless reputation, of sound
scientific mind, a holder of an earned PhD from MIT, and the 9th person
to
walk in the moon... also a doddering old fool "obviously" in the throws
of
intellectual disintegration or cognitive infarct and grasping at a
"fame"
dwindling in twilight years?

6. As a rule of observed physicality: whatever "happens" undergoes a
"formality of occurrence" such that it is an unambiguous indication
that
what _can_ happen, happens? Happenings, having happened, of needs,
must be
continuing to happen? Submitted for the reader's approval: are we not
ourselves proof of the extraterrestrial because we are our own evidence
of
an intellectual happening and it is only the destructively obnoxious
arrogance which espouses it's _first_ or _last_ in _any_ chain of
being?

7. Have we in fact been "visited" according to those who might provide
a
"briefing" on such, are close to the subject matter at hand, and who
possess
that ephemeral "need to know" regarding same?

8. Is "disclosure" close at hand, even _if_ at hand at all?

9. Will humanity be overwhelmed or under-whelmed regarding disclosure?

10. Are some UFOs "home grown"?

11. Does the "ignorant bliss" we "enjoy" as a humanity with regard to
aliens provide some evidence as to their lack of "hostility" as
"hostility"
is presently understood?

12. What does an alien being _have_ to look like?

13. Who are the _other_ astronauts who correspond with Dr. Mitchell as
it
pertains to de facto aliens and intelligent life off this planet?

14. Is "knowing" as simple as "wanting" to know?

15. Is an embarrassed NASA damned if they _do_ refute Dr. Mitchell as
much
as they are damned if they _don't_?

16. Did Dave Letterman conclusively ridicule NASA in a recent "Top 10
List"
humiliation on national TV?

17. Is the end nigh?

18. Was "Y2K" a genuine catastrophe averted by early warning, or was
it a
paranoid nonsense provoking a waste of time and money?

19. Will the Hadron Accelerator create a black hole and implode the
planet?

20. Is our continued greater understanding of aggregate reality worth
the
risk of the preceding?

Great conterminous and _oblobious_ Zot, but I didn't even get through
_Furry_ this iteration before I hit 20! A record! Eighty minutes
remain of
Dave Furlotte: justifying, surprisingly, an unsettled dread. Stuart
Miller
explicates, perhaps, an inerrant glossiness about UFO magazine costs
and
production, UFOs in Great Britain Silly Seasons, and effusive Chinese
Lanterns. Stuart Miller also reflects upon a ufological individual
affect
vis a vis the "Mothman Futility Syndrome" even though he doesn't call
it
that and then further credits a totally unbiased and irrepressible Andy

Roberts regarding just one more ufological affair he's discredited
beyond
any _possible_ doubt.

Chris Rutkowski provides a good example for the word "asymptotic" as he

notes a more than significant upturn in the numbers of UFO reports
across
Canada over the last year in an official report. 30 more minutes
remain
from here, reader, minutes requiring no toad, actually... unless you're
due
a toad _booster_. If you're due, it's up to you.

Know the Toad! [All hail the Toad!]

...Ufological sensibilities empowered are the listener's own!
Subscribe!

http://www.virtuallystrange.net/ufo/sdi/program/

Written by Alfred Lehmberg

alienview.net
AVG Blog
UFO Magazine

Peristiwa Isra’ Mi’raj merupakan fenomena yang mengundang banyak controversial bagi semua orang sampai zaman dewasa ini, termasuk umat Islam. Kontroversi tentang peristiwa Isra’ dan Mi’raj itu tidak akan muncul jika kita mau memahaminya dengan akal yang sehat dan dikombinasikan dengan wahyu Allah yang sudah tidak diragukan lagi kebenarannya sebagai pembimbing arah pemikiran kita. Peristiwa Isra’ dan Mi’raj terjadi pada tanggal 27 Rajab tahun ke-11 dari kerasulan Nabi Muhammad SAW. Peristiwa yang agung dan menakjubkan ini terekam dalam Al-qur’an sebagaimana Allah berfirman : “ Maha suci Allah yang telah menjalankan hamba-Nya (Muhammad) pada malam hari dari masjidil-Haraam (di Makkah) ke Masjidil-Aqsa (di Palestina), yang kami berkati sekelilingnya untuk memperlihatkan kepanya tanda-tanda (kekuasaan dan kebesaran) kami. Sesungguhnya Allah jualah yang Maha Mendengar lagi maha Mengetahui.” (QS. Al-Isra’:1). Disinilah akan muncul “perang intelektual” antara orang yang hanya berpedoman pada akal saja (‘Aqlaniyah) dengan orang-orang yang memahami ayat Al-qur’an tersebut dengan akal yang dituntun oleh wahyu (Qur’aniyah). Keimanan kaum muslimin tentang keabsahan peristiwa Isra’ dan Mi’raj pada saat itu hingga kaum muslimin pada zaman ini terus diuji,

terlebih lagi menyinggung perkara perjalanan Rasulullah dari Masjidil-Aqsa (di Palestina) menuju Sidratul Muntaha Menghadap Allah yang dilakukan hanya dengan waktu yang singkat. Pertanyaan yang selalu menggelinding di setiap benak kita adalah, apakah Isra’ dan Mi’raj dilakukan oleh beliau (Rasulullah) hanya dengan ruhnya saja ataukah bersama-sama dengan jasadnya..???

Kelompok ‘aqlaniyah telah menguji kebenaran peristiwa tersebut yang langsung diawali langsung oleh Abu Jahal dan kaum kuffar jahiliyyah yang lain. Abu Jahal menyuruh Rasulullah untuk mengangkat kedua-dua belah kakinya, namun Nabi tidak melakukannya sebagaimana yang diperintahkan Abu Jahal. Hal ini telah memperkuat keyakinan mereka untuk terus mengingkari ajaran yang dibawa Rasulullah selama-lamanya. Bagaimana mungkin mereka bisa percaya pada peristiwa Isra’ Mi’raj, sedangkan Rasulullah tidak mampu mengangkat kedua belah kakinya. Akhirnya, karena Abu Jahal memahami peristiwa tersebut hanya bersandaran pada logika pikirannya. Maka Abu Jahal dan kaum kuffar jahliyyah yang sependapat dengannya mengklaim bahwa cerita Rasulullah tentang peristiwa Isra’ dan Mi’raj yang telah dialaminya hanyalah kebohongan belaka. Karena bagi mereka peristiwa itu sudah di luar bats kemampuan logika.

Hingga hari ini, dalam menghadapi peristiwa Isra’ dan Mi’raj, semua pihak lebih-lebih yang mempunyai intelektual yang tinggi merasa terpanggil untuk mengkaji secara libih jauh lagi akan “bentuk” Isra’ dan Mi’raj ini, sehingga mendapatkan suatu jawaban yang konkrit yang dapat diterima oleh semua lapisan masyarakat. Namun bahwa anda selaku pengkaji dan penelaah peristiwa Isra’ dan Mi’raj hanya berbekal akal saja atau masuk ke dalam kelompok ‘Aqlaniyah, maka apa yang diusahakan itu akan menemui kegagalan semata. Jangan pula menutup mata terhadap kebenaran wahyu (Al-Qur’an), terlebih lagi berburuk sangka terhadap wahyu Allah, karena daya intelektual dan kemampuan kita dalam berpikir sangatlah terbatas dalam menangani permasalahan yang timbul di tengah masyarakat kita. Keimanan kita sebagai muslim benar-benar diuji dalam menghadapi peristiwa ini, yang dimana peristiwa ini memang sudah diluar logika manusia. Akan tetapi dengan berkembangnya zaman dan perkembangn Ilmu pengetahuan dan teknologi yang begitu pesat, saya yakin suatu saat nanti peristiwa itu akan terbukti kebenarannya dan dapat diterima kebenarannya oleh semua lapidan masyarakat. Insya Allah.

Terlepas dari itu semua, tentunya peristiwa yang sangat dahsyat ini menyembunyikan banyak sekali hikmah yang dapat kita ambil. Dan yang paling penting yaitu perintah untuk melakukan Shalat lima waktu. Ini menggambarkan bahwa betapa pentingnya shalat dalam kehidupan kita sebagai hamba Allah. Shalat merupakan bentuk komunikasi kita kepada Allah seperti apa yang telah dilakukan Rasulullah yang dalam menerima perintah ini langsung bertemu dengan Allah. Banyak buku yang menerangkan betapa hebatnya manfaat dari shalat baik dari segi jasmani maupun rohani. Dalam Al-qur’an Allah berfirman bahwa :”Sesungguhnya Shalat itu mencegah perbuatan munkar”. Ini sudah jelas bahwa bagaimana kita shalat mencerminkan bagaimana akhlaq kita sehari-hari.

Sungguhlah sia-sia banyak peringatan Isra’ Mi’raj yang diadakan yang sudah barang tentu juga mengeluarkan biaya yang tidak sedikit, jika ibadah shalat kita tidak menunjukkan suatu peningkata kualiatas. Kita masih suka lalai dalam shalat kita terlebih kita tidak mengerjakan shalat.

Dalam hari yang dahsyat ini marilah kita instropeksi diri kita masing-masing apakah shalat kita masih amburadul..?? mari kita bertekad untuk memperbaiknya. Karena kualitas shalat kita mencerminkan kualitas dari diri kita sendiri. Peristiwa inipun mengingatkan kepada kita betapa lemahnya kita di hadapan Allah SWT. Semoga kita dapat mendapatkan kecerahan hati dihari yang selalu dikenang ini.

Understanding the difference between skills, knowledge and confidence building, understanding different learning styles, incorporating different motivational needs and the latest thoughts from NLP and accelerated learning methods can all be built into this exciting template of successful course design.

I'll keep you updated of how it's going!

Como meus caríssimos leitores sabem, sou editor, e todo editor não tem tempo...;)

Mas vamos aos fatos: precisei comprar uma placa Blackmagic para meu Power PC G5.

Vocês têm o todo o direito de me chamar de insano, doente da cabeça... sou mesmo!!! E daí? Mas não tive alternativa... e quer saber, valeu o investimento!!

Minha máquina está redondinha, com 2 Tb de HD de trabalho, 2,5 Gb de RAM, funcionando melhor que muito Mac Intel... (desculpinha de quem não tem grana pra comprar um...rs..)

Só doeu o bolso: R$ 4000,00 pela placa... mas sai da frente que minha máquina vai decolar!

Desculpem por largá-los sem posts... prometo ficar mais atento...

Abs

Pci-Pds-Ds-Pd: “migliori” si nasce. Voto – 9. Ci risiamo. Per bocca del vice presidente della Regione Abruzzo Enrico Paolini, democrat ex Ds, rispunta la teoria della “diversità”, nel senso di “siamo i migliori”. Politicamente, si intende. Dice il vice di Ottaviano del Turco: “Gli ex Ds sono antropologicamente “diversi” da quelli che provengono da Margherita e Sdi”. Come non ricordare che l’incantesimo della superiorità comunista fu rotto da Giorgio Amendola con tre articoli su Rinascita nel 1964? Forse “migliori” … si nasce, ma di certo “peggiori” si diventa.

[via: polisblog.it]

WASHINGTON (July 15, 2008) – Iran’s launch of a missile with a 2,000-kilometer range last week is a concrete example of the threat the world faces from missile proliferation, the chief of the Missile Defense Agency said Tuesday. Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry A. “Trey” Obering, said the United States is concerned specifically about the threat posed by developments North Korea and Iran are making in their missile programs.

“Iran is working on an extended-range version of the Shahab-3 and a new 2,000-kilometer medium-range ballistic missile, which they term the Ashura,” the general said at a news conference. Iran also claimed that it had successfully launched an exploratory space vehicle in February, which, analysts concluded, also was a Shahab-3. Last week, Iran launched several short- and medium-range ballistic missiles capable of striking Israel and the U.S. bases in the Middle East. Longer-ranged missiles are capable of striking Europe.

The U.S. concern with the spread of the technology was such that the current and previous administrations invested in fielding the missile defense program. “We needed to protect the United States and then to expand that protection for our deployed forces and our allies and friends in the European theater,” Obering said. The layered missile defense strategy melds boost-phase defense, mid-course defense and terminal-stage defense together. Various systems from ground-based interceptors, to airborne lasers to sea-based platforms provide protection against a rogue regime trying to launch one or two missiles at the United States or its allies.

U.S. officials are making great progress in integrating the missile defense systems with NATO programs, the general said. Obering discussed some of the systems’ successes. “In the boost phase, we've had great success with the airborne laser,” he said. The laser is mounted in a Boeing 747 and fires through the nose of the aircraft to destroy missiles just launching. “We have generated the power that we needed on the ground in a 747 fuselage mock-up, and we've also flown the aircraft,” he said. “We've demonstrated the tracking laser performance and an atmospheric compensation laser performance. All that goes together to show that we can shoot down a boosting missile. And we're on track to do that next year in a flight test.”

Thirty interceptor missiles at bases in Alaska and California make up the only defense the United States has against long-range missiles, Obering said. As time goes on, the general said, U.S. defense planners are concerned where countries like Iran and North Korea will go. They worry that the missile proliferators will develop more and more complex countermeasures to go along with their missiles. The agency is working to counter those moves, the general said.

Terminal-phase defense soon will receive another arrow in the quiver, as the agency prepares to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Air Defense system. The THAAD, which will come on line in the next year, shoots down missiles just inside and outside the atmosphere. Other agency projects include the launch of two space-tracking and surveillance system satellites and a test of missile interceptors scheduled July 18, Obering said. Tests have indicated the systems are working.

“Overall, since 2001, we have now conducted 35 of 43 successful hit-to-kill intercepts,” Obering said.

Source: CENTCOM.

PS. I am NOT adding the picture to this post, because it has been debunked as a photoshop forgery of the 9 missiles. There may have been one missile, and the others were copies. I do not know enough about it, and I cannot find the link to someone who does. Maybe you can find one from someone who has trackbacked to me! Ain't life grand? ;)

Cross-posted @ Rosemary's Thoughts.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

http://www.ec-gis.org/Workshops/inspire_2008/presentations.cfm

Legal Issues

Legal and organisational framework for the Spanish national SDI

Seeing the bigger picture: mapping out a vision of INSPIRE

One Scotland:One geography INSPIRE in the world of :Politick Verdadero/Politick Reale/ Reales politick/ Vrai politick/ Echte politick

INSPIRE directive in the Czech Legal System

Towards SDI Legislation in Poland

Data Sharing

Legal aspects about sharing geodata: a business model for licensing geographic information

Public Private Partnerships for building Spatial Data Infrastructures

Natura 2000: how to reconcile data sharing and sensitiveness of data?

Cooperation with spatial information obscured by clouds or the dark side of the moon?

This is disappointing news.  Not because Iran tested the missiles, but because the US didn't shoot them down.

I thought this back when North Korea was testing its missiles, and I think it now: whenever a rogue state puts together a missile test, the US should have Aegis cruisers nearby, and shoot down the missiles.

Consider it real-world testing for SDI.

Consider it the finest in diplomacy.  A chance to really hurt the reputations of our enemies, without hurting anyone.

Consider it a cold, hard threat.

Those missile tests are a threat.  They need to be countered.  Shoot them down.

SDI #460

20 Questions _contrarily_ addressed by Dave Furlotte, David Cherniack,
Frank
Feschino, and Alfred Lehmberg as chopped, whipped, and blended by Errol

Bruce Knapp, facilitator for the the best ufological gruel on the
planet!
Sticks to your bones, it does.

1. What was the biggest and best documented yet almost totally unknown
UFO
flap in the history of the planet?

2. Who's seemingly been sneaking mondo-bionic klasskurtxian pills?
You
know what they say, go black don't go back?

3. What's _abundantly_ documented as crashed, crash-landed, or forced
down
not once, but ten times over West Virginia in one 20 hour period,
September
12, 1952?

4. Were American pilots ordered to shoot down UFOs in 1952? Were UFOs

subsequently shot down?

5. Given UFOs are not threats to National security, why would it then
be
necessary to shoot them down?

6. Given the mundane and unremarkable reasons proffered for the loss
of
hundreds of men and machines, why were both unceasingly expended still?

7. Given UFOs do not exist, what were our pilots ordered to shoot
down?

8. If it _was_ a war, who won?

9. Who is it with the _real_ naivety regarding many publishing
houses?

10. Why is Stanton Friedman so taken with Frank Feschino?

11. Wither Jerome and Richard and why should these be the first to
seriously examine Feschino's data, chips fall where they may?

12. What sells soap is sold as what soap sells?

13. What has happened to investigative journalism?

14. UFOs have a "secret history" pertaining to what "politics of
reality"?

15. Who is David Cherniack and how did he get interested in UFOs?

16. When is a basement not a basement but a studio?

17. Is Cherniack's documentary "perfect in every way"?

18. When is a "proof" definitive, or can it ever be "definitive"?

19. How have UFOs changed over the decades, or is it _we_ who has
changed?

20. Who has an agenda and what would those agendas be?

Great fecund zots and gravid horny toads! Over 60 minutes remain of an

astonishing Mr. Cherniack, an unsettling Frank Feschino, and the
usually
ebullient if properly whittled Alfred Lehmberg perceiving all _manner_
of
abject and obverted craziness!

Live free or die fellow babies and other pilgrims, too, mourn with me
the
horrible passing of Bill Nye the science guy, once a wonderful guy but
now a
fellow of CSI. He will be missed. If he'd only known the toad...
pity.

...Ufological sensibilities empowered are the listener's own!
Subscribe!

http://www.virtuallystrange.net/ufo/sdi/program/
___

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AVG Blog -- http://alienviewgroup.blogspot.com/
U F O M a g a z i n e -- www.ufomag.com

Główne partie startujące w przedwczesnych wyborach dzielą się nie tylko na konserwatystów i liberałów. Jest też kwestia narodowo-etniczna, a więc Ali Ahmeti i partia albańska, oraz macedońskie WMRO czy SDI. Bitwa trwa więc na bardziej złożonych niż w jednonarodowym państwie płaszczyznach. Inne pionki, inne reguły gry, inne strategie i przyczyny wyborów.

Na kilka tygodni przed wyborami rozpoczęło się plakatowanie miasta oraz kampania w prasie codziennej. Rozmieszczenie bilbordów odzwierciedlały etniczny podział przestrzei: Nikola Grueski królował w centrum, dzielnicach takich jak Kisela Voda, Aerodrom, a wspomniany Ali Ahmeti na Gazi Babie i w pobliżu Bit Pazaaru. Albańczycy nie udają, że czują się Macedończykami: zarówno treści na plakatach, jak i wystąpienia publiczne odbywały się w języku albańskim, co skutecznie przekreśla jakiekolwiek ewentualne zainteresowanie ze strony Macedończyków.

Wieczór przemówienia Ali Ahmetiego (DUI) na Ploštadzie przypominał rewolucję: tłumy z albańskimi flagami, okrzyki w języku nie-macedońskim, sztuczne ognie i pieśni. Hasło „UCK!” niczym przekleństwo padające z ust młodych chłopców rozchodzących się po spotkaniu. Zgromadzenie publiczności pokazuje system społeczny macedońskich muzułmanów: na ploštad przyszli praktycznie sami mężczyźni: ojcowie rodzin oraz młodzi; dostrzegłam kilka starszych kobiet w chustach, i tyle. Testosteron politycznym napędem narodu, estrogen gotuje kolację. DUI nie weszło do rządu, mimo że głosy na nich oddawano nawet w Župie. To ciekawe, jak nie lubiący Albańczyków Turek żongluje znaczeniami, stawiajac krzyżyk przy albańskim DUI. Kryterium poczucia solidarności jest jednak wiara? Podobno właśnie religia jest przestrzenią największej niechęci pomiędzy Albańczykami i pozostałymi muzułmanami w Macedonii. Czyżby Turek nie był Turkiem?

Spośród partii macedońskich, najgłośniejsze było liberalne SDI i konserwatywne WMRO. Co ciekawe, WMRO przyciąga ogromne rzesze młodzieży. Korzystając z silnej symboliki historycznej i narodowej, WMRO uderza w dumę Macedończyków i jest jednocześnie anty-niemacedońskie. Godłem WMRO jest vergila i lew, kolory flagi czarno czerwone. Placówki WMRO rozsiane są praktycznie po całym Skopje i są widoczne z daleka dzięki żółto-czerono-czarnym barwom. Najczęściej przed drzwiami przesiadują mężczyźni: starzy weterani i młodzi bojówkarze. Ci sami chłopcy, którzy są w WMRO, podczas protestu o nazwę Macedonii krzyczeli „czysta Macedonia” (i ci sami rzucają śmieci na ulicę nie świadomi paradoksu wynikającego z wieloznaczności słowa „czysta”). Program WMRO nie wyróżnia się niczym specjalnym, jednak głosują na WMRO nawet liberałowie, w ramach akcji anty-albańskiej. Lepsze WMRO niż Ali Ahmeti.

Placówki SDI były i są o wiele mniej widoczne. Gdyby nie prasa i znajomi, w ogóle nie zauważyłabym istnienia SDI gdyż nie przyciągą przeciętnego przechodnia. Poparcie dla SDI wyrażali, jako wybór mniejszego zła, ludzie o poglądach bardziej liberalistycznych niż WMRO-wcy. Zauważyłam też większe poparcie dla SDI wśród kobiet.

Nie Ali Ahmeti, lecz i tak wygrał patriarchat.

Po zwycięstwie WMRO nie dało się ukryć, że wybory nie odbywają się w Polsce: do rana pod moimi oknami słychać było okrzyki: WMRO! Sztuczne ognie, petardy, picie i świętowanie. Opijanie wygranej partii, gratulacje, žurki, trwały dni kilka. Intrygująco po tych wydarzeniach ucichł WMRO-wski kogut trzymany w mini-placówce na podwórku przed moim domem. Nie bardzo przejmuję się jego losem, gdyż patriotyzmem swym budził mnie o 3 rano. Po kampanii zniknął.

20 Questions addressed with so much British reserve that stiff upper lips well nigh litter the ufological Debris Field! Contributing are Dave Furlotte, Stuart Miller, Dr. David Clarke, and Herb Schirmer… as tintambulated masterfully by Errol Bruce-Knapp with some gusto even if petulantly underappreciated by lack-witted persons notorious for using the word "maven."

1. Mary, Mary… quite contrary, but how does her garden grow?

2. Does the Jewel of mankind in creation's crown preclude the existence of all other jewels?

3. What is the "Ostrich Syndrome" and how does it lead to a dirty ufological nape?

4. How does the Pope "allow" the "right" to "believe" in UFOs?

5. Is the Virtually Strange Network a harbinger of the "End Of Days"?

6. Is a fundamentalist a fundamentalist and ever a fundamentalist? Scripture thumping deniers, klasskurtxians, and UFO "bleevers": cut from the same cloth?

7. How does one choose to accept, as real, a flying spaghetti monster they have never seen even as they deny the existence of that which can be reputably perceived?

8. What's a righteous wage for "keeping the grand UFO conspiracy alive" and what is owed the righteous conspirators?

9. What is it about the "End Of Days" that has Errol Bruce-Knapp checking his watch and tapping his foot with no small impatience?

10. Do the "aliens" at once supply humankind equal parts utter deniability and a stark permission to believe?

11. Asked before, but is the "word" not grease… but Grey?

12. MOD Files release: Unappreciated forthcoming-ness or more of the same old artful-dodgy ness?

13. Why does Stuart Miller not believe aliens are in contact with some Earth governments?

14. Would an alien contact a government of needs or ignore such as ultimately non-representative of individuals?

15. From where comes a "sympathy" for GB's Ministry Of Defense and other devils?

16. How are Americans accused of impacting negatively on the ufological?

17. What "official agencies" are involved heavily with UFOs even as they are denied by those same agencies?

18. What would a conclusive finding of bona fide extraterrestrial life on Mars via the latest robot probe mean… …really?

19. Did anyone else get tired of the unceasing dysfunctional space toilet stories every news cycle all over the world?

20. Are the Brits unfairly maligned for an "excessive" interest in bodily functions, both on and off planet?

Zounds, tut tut, and cheerio… but more than 60 minutes remain of discourse so reasoned, erudite, and reasonable it achieves a dryness profound enough to provide for its own abundant hydration! Obey your thirst? They're not really klasskurtxians, mind, but could play them on TV.

Too, news on the cancellation of the Roswell theme park is reported. SETI's ufological narrowness is iterated. NASA floundering? Where's George W. Bush when you need him. More!

Pictures of the "dark" side of the moon are suggested! And then? Doctor David Clarke! Listen to him verbally express a WEB site URL and know why people sing in English. Subsequently, he reveals the "truth."

...Ufological sensibilities empowered are the listener's own! Subscribe, or it's sticky congress with the Hypno-Toad! All hail the Toad. Oh, hail yes.

http://www.virtuallystrange.net/ufo/sdi/program/

alienview@roadrunner.com

www.AlienView.net

AVG Blog -- http://alienviewgroup.blogspot.com/

U F O M a g a z i n e -- www.ufomag.com