More than 50 guests celebrated the future site of a sports and recreation center at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College Oct. 19, leaving small Pomeroy Pride flags ? white with Columbia blue ? as reminders.
President Dottie King, Marcia and Jerry Schmidt, Sue and Wayne Hamilton, Sr. Jeanne Knoerle, and Father Bernard LaMontagne bless the site of the future recreation center. (Photo credit: Jessica Pitts)
The activity was part of a ground blessing ceremony, led by SMWC President Dottie King, with a prayer and blessing given by Father Bernard LaMontagne, assistant professor of theology.
The ground blessing was an important part in beginning the process of building the sports and recreation center. The cost to construct the sports center is anticipated to be $11 million; the community has already raised approximately $6.5 million.
Duke Bennett, mayor of Terre Haute, participated in the celebration. ?There is nothing more important than God to bless this ground,? he said.
Other speakers included board of trustee members Sue and Wayne Hamilton and Marcia and Jerry Schmidt. Jeanne Knoerle, S.P., former SMWC president and co-chancellor of the College, also participated in the ceremony.
The sports and recreation center will be 36,000 square feet, with a regulation sized basketball court seating 1,000 people and a practice gym for intramural sports. It will provide up-to-date sports facilities within the community at SMWC.
One group especially looking forward to the center is the basketball team, which currently travels to a gym in Clinton for practices and home games.
Students will also appreciate the recreation center just as much. They will be able to have a competitive game of volleyball, run around the track, or participate in activities. The center will be on the west edge of campus, behind Rooney Library, next to the guest house.
Thoreau went to the woods ?to live deliberately.? Melville?s Ishmael accounted it ?high time to get to sea? in Moby-Dick. And, as for me, I?m starting to feel a little bit of both those sentiments. Perhaps it?s the impending fall weather; or, perhaps I?ve just spent too much time staring at a computer screen. Either way, I?m itching to break out and go camping for a few days.
While that?s not going to happen today, maybe I can persuade you to listen to a few trail stories and backpacking tips that might just help you out with your content strategy. I?m itching to get to the woods; you?re itching to boost your content strategy; let?s talk!
Your Content Strategy Needs Pacing
If you?ve ever gone hiking, then you know how important pacing is. Walk too slowly, and you won?t make it to your desired campsite by nightfall. But, when you go too fast? well, I have a story for that one?
Two summers ago I went backpacking at Fall Creek Falls in Tennessee with a couple of friends. It was just a casual weekend trip, so we weren?t in a hurry to cover much ground. More than anything, it was a chance to get away.
I suppose we thought it was funny to run in backpacks. And, when I say backpacks, I?m talking 25 pound, two feet tall packs carrying food, water, sleeping bags, tent gear, and more. You can probably see where this one?s going?
While running, one member of our exceptionally bright party did the inevitable. Striking a rock in the trail with his foot, his entire body launched up into the air and became perfectly parallel with the trail, hovering a few feet or so above the ground. It was a beautiful moment. There he was, suspended in the air, out of time, 140 pounds of man-boy and 25 pounds of camping supplies. He came crashing down onto the trail in a form that would have sufficed for a 10.0 belly flop.
The lesson? Pace. Yourself.
Likewise, your content strategy has to have a good pace ? an editorial calendar. If it doesn?t, you?ll end up halfway down the trail, flat on your face (or, on the contrary, half way down the trail when the sun sets).
I know of no better source to direct you to than Copyblogger when it comes to developing your business?s editorial calendar. Don?t miss this great post if you aren?t using any editorial calendar at present! Equally important is the social media editorial calendar, which Lisa Buyer of Search Engine Watch can walk you through.
Some Little Things That Are Really Important
The next trail lesson is this: backpacking can go from fun to miserable ? and even dangerous ? if you don?t have the ?little things.? Ever tried to step out of your tent in the middle of the night with no moon and no flashlight? You literally can?t see your hand in front of your face. Always take a flashlight!
Have you ever gone backpacking without carrying a water purifier or iodine tablets? You probably didn?t make it very far. When it comes to content marketing, you can?t forget about the details. They can be easy to leave out. But, without details, you?re never going to boost your bottom line.
I?m thinking of a few ?small things? in particular that are actually a really big deal: strong CTAs, thoughtful lead nurturing, and smart use of analytics. Oftentimes, the more ?glamorous? aspects of your content strategy get all the attention: blog posts, Infographics, Facebook contests, etc. But, all of these things are worthless without the boring details of the iodine tablet variety. Here are a few outstanding links for help on the not-so-small-stuff:
Sharing Valuable Information on the Trail
One of the first things most people learnabout content marketing is that sharing valuable information is the essence of content marketing. If your content strategy doesn?t provide quality information, then what are you doing?
If you?ve spent much time hiking remote trails or trails that don?t have a lot of funds for maintenance, then you know how poorly marked some areas can be. I know I?m not the only backpacker who?s gone a mile or two down a trail only to find out that it?s been closed off or doesn?t go where I expected.
Then again, I know I?m not the only backpacker who has avoided this situation by chatting with other hikers. If you haven?t seen someone in six hours and you suddenly cross paths with a stranger, then it?s natural to exchange a few more words than a simple ?hello.? In these exchanges, you oftentimes learn about trail conditions, hazards, challenges, and more.
As a business, you?re coming to an industry from the opposite side of the consumer. When your paths cross ? which will hopefully be often because of your great content strategy! ? make sure you share valuable information. Don?t just tell your customers the same info they could find from looking at a trail map or guidebook. Let them in on the scoop! By sharing valuable information you:
Become viewed as an authority.
Are appreciated as a valuable resource.
Have the chance to save your customers from a bear attack.
Enjoy the Trip
Lastly, don?t forget that it?s the journey that counts ? not the destination. I know that?s as worn out a clich? as the rest of them, but it?s especially true of backpacking. If I wanted the exercise, I could walk around the block 400 times or hop on a treadmill. But, that?s not the point. The point is to have an experience; to challenge myself; to see some new land.
Likewise, your content strategy is about the journey. Obviously, you want to increase sales with intelligent content marketing. You should want that, and you should make boosting that bottom line a goal (or else it?s not going to happen). However, that?s not the whole picture.
Focus on delivering valuable information to your audience. Not your customers. Right now, those groups might not be one and the same, but with time, those people who soak up your valued information will become your customers. Keep your eyes on the trail ahead, enjoy the hike, and share everything you can at a steady pace. Happy trails!
What other lessons have you learned while backpacking or hiking that can help others improve their content strategy?
Last week I finally got the chance to go on a date at Salu on Magazine St. After a long and stressful week, I felt like I deserved to enjoy the night at one of the nicest restaurants in town. I was in the mood for some Latin dining so I figured, ?Why not Salu??
The name Salu comes from the words ?salud? in Spanish, ?salute? in Italian, and ?salut? in French. Salu is a result of the three words combined.?In English, these words translate to ?cheers.? Besides the nifty meaning behind the restaurant?s name, their menu and atmosphere lives up to high creativity standards.
The inside of Salu is decorated with mirrors on the wall and a gorgeous ceiling.
Salu?s dining room
From Salu?s website
The night started out with salmon pate with peas, peppers, and onions and crabcakes (in the background below), one of the small plates offered on the menu. According to their site, Salu is known for being a ?worldly small plates restaurant with a casual tapas style.?
Then it was of course time for some fruity and exotic drinks?
I had about two of these blueberry capirinhas while my boyfriend enjoyed a mango mojito. Some visitors strictly come to Salu for the drinks and I highly recommend getting something from their drink menu especially during happy hour. The capirinhas are not too strong and not too sweet. That?s what makes it so delicious!
Finally, we got our main dish which I like to call ?A Taste of Spanish Culture.?
The seafood paella contained mussels, scallops, and shrimp. This entree for two is great because not only does it contain seafood, but there is just the right amount of spice added to it. It?s a true and authentic Spanish dish that everyone should try. Check out the other paella dishes they have to offer for the perfect date night.
Think that?s all I got to say about Salu? Think again. Salu is also well known for having staff that has been previously employed from Emeril?s various restaurants. Kudos to the owners,?Gaby Saliba, Tarek Tay and Hicham Khodr for finding the best staff they could.
FILE- In this Feb. 1, 2007 file photo, Dinesh D'Souza presents his opening arguments for the debate over the College of William & Mary President Gene Nichol's decision to remove the cross from permanent display from the altar at Wren Chapel, in Williamsburg, Va. The conservative scholar behind a high-grossing documentary that condemns President Barack Obama is under investigation by the evangelical college he leads over a report he took a woman who is not his wife to an event on Christian values. (AP Photo/Daily Press, Heather S. Hughes)
FILE- In this Feb. 1, 2007 file photo, Dinesh D'Souza presents his opening arguments for the debate over the College of William & Mary President Gene Nichol's decision to remove the cross from permanent display from the altar at Wren Chapel, in Williamsburg, Va. The conservative scholar behind a high-grossing documentary that condemns President Barack Obama is under investigation by the evangelical college he leads over a report he took a woman who is not his wife to an event on Christian values. (AP Photo/Daily Press, Heather S. Hughes)
NEW YORK (AP) ? A conservative scholar behind a high-grossing documentary that condemns President Barack Obama is under investigation by the evangelical college he leads over a report he took a woman who is not his wife to an event on Christian values.
The King's College board announced the review on Tuesday, the day the conservative Christian newsmagazine WORLD reported event organizers had confronted Dinesh D'Souza about sharing a hotel room with a woman he introduced as his fiancee. D'Souza filed for divorce from his wife, Dixie D'Souza, a few days after the conference, California court records show.
The event, Truth for a New Generation, was held the weekend of Sept. 28 in South Carolina.
In a brief telephone interview with The Associated Press, Dinesh D'Souza, who became president of The King's College in 2010, said he and his wife have been "living in a state of separation for two years." He denied sharing the hotel room with the other woman.
"Obviously, I wouldn't have introduced her as my fiancee if I thought we were doing anything improper," D'Souza said, adding they have called off their engagement.
The college, which was located in the Empire State Building before moving this year to lower Manhattan, aims to shape young Christians as future leaders in all sectors of society.
D'Souza is a former policy analyst under President Ronald Reagan and a prolific author known most recently for his critical works on Obama. He directed the film "2016: Obama's America," based on his book "The Roots of Obama's Rage."
The film was condemned by many critics, including Newsday's Rafer Guzman, who called it an "attempt at character assassination." But it has become one of the most successful political documentaries ever released.
The King's College board chairman, Andy Mills, has known about D'Souza's marital troubles for at least two years, spokesman Mark DeMoss said.
"While our board had been aware of some of these details, we were not aware of others," the board said in a statement.
The board said it held a conference call with D'Souza on Monday and plans to review the situation during its previously scheduled meetings on Wednesday and Thursday in New York.
"In the meantime," it said, "be assured we take seriously our charge to teach a compelling worldview rooted in the Bible and expect all of our leaders to model Christian character and integrity in their public and private lives."
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese mobile operator Softbank Corp said it will buy about 70 percent of Sprint Nextel Corp, the third-largest U.S. carrier, for $20.1 billion - the most a Japanese firm has spent on an overseas acquisition.
The deal, announced by Softbank's billionaire founder and chief Masayoshi Son and Sprint CEO Dan Hesse at a packed news conference in Tokyo on Monday, gives Softbank an entry into a U.S. market that still shows growth, while Japan's market is stagnating. It also gives Sprint the firepower to buy peers and build out its 4G network to compete better in a market dominated by AT&T and Verizon Wireless.
Analysts have long said the U.S. telecoms industry needs consolidation, but few looked to Japan as a catalyst. Some investors worry Softbank is biting off more than it can chew.
But the 55-year-old Son, a rare risk-taker in Japan's often cautious business circles, is betting U.S. growth can offer relief from cut-throat competition in Japan's saturated mobile market. Combined, Softbank and Sprint will have 96 million users.
"It could be safe if you do nothing, and our challenge in the U.S. is not going to be easy at all. We must enter a new market, one with a different culture, and we must start again from zero after all we have built," he told the news conference.
"But not taking this challenge will be a bigger risk."
FIRE-POWER
Softbank said that as part of the deal it would buy $3.1 billion of bonds convertible into Sprint stock at $5.25 a share, while about 55 percent of existing Sprint shares would be exchanged for $7.30 per share in cash, with the transactions to be completed by mid-2013. Sprint shares closed Friday at $5.73.
Hesse, who will stay on as Sprint CEO, said the Softbank investment would give Sprint opportunities it hadn't had since he joined the firm in late-2007, and enable the U.S. firm to play a bigger role in future market consolidation.
"This is pro-competitive and pro-consumer in the U.S. because it creates a stronger No. 3 ... it competes with the duopoly of AT&T and Verizon. When you look at what Softbank has accomplished in Japan with the No. 3 carrier, it's something we can learn from," he said.
Softbank shares tumbled more than 8 percent earlier on Monday, closing down 5.3 percent at their lowest finish in 5 months. The stock has lost more than a fifth of its value - or $8.7 billion - since news first broke late last week of the firm's interest in Sprint.
On Monday, credit rating agency Moody's said it was reviewing Softbank's ratings for a possible downgrade, but some analysts said Son's gamble might pay off in the end.
"It's the same (market) reaction as when Softbank said it was going to buy Vodafone a few years ago. Everyone came out and said it was far too expensive," Fumiyuki Nakanishi, general manager of investment and research at SMBC Friend Securities, said ahead of the announcement. Softbank bought Vodafone's Japan unit for $15.5 billion in 2006.
"Son made a company worth 3 trillion yen, and now it will be worth 6 trillion yen. That's quite impressive, and I think investors will realize he's making the right decision down the road," said Nakanishi.
Four banks - Mizuho Financial Group Inc, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Deutsche Bank - have approved loans totaling 1.65 trillion yen ($21.1 billion) to Softbank, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
Sprint, which has lost money in all of the last 19 quarters, has net debt of about $15 billion, while Softbank has net debt of about $10 billion. Brokers have warned that the deal could leave Softbank with "unacceptably high" gearing, a ratio of its debt to shareholder capital. Standard & Poor's has warned the deal "may undermine Softbank's financial risk profile" and would pressure its free operating cash flow for the next few years.
Reflecting those concerns, Softbank's 5-year credit default swap spreads - the cost of protecting its debt against default - widened to 267/327 basis points from around 160 basis points before the deal, and yields on its yen bonds have risen sharply.
NO CLEARWIRE OBLIGATION
Analysts have said that Softbank buying 70 percent of Sprint for $20 billion would imply the No. 3 U.S. wireless company was worth about $28.6 billion, some two-thirds greater than its market capitalization at Friday's close.
Sprint, which is going through a $7 billion upgrade of one of its networks, while closing its Nextel iDen network, could use some of the proceeds to buy the part of Clearwire Corp it doesn't already own, analysts have said. Clearwire has high-speed infrastructure that is attractive to mobile carriers struggling with the increase in data due to the rising numbers of smartphone users. Shares in Clearwire, 48 percent-owned by Sprint, soared on Friday.
Softbank said, however, that the deal did not require Sprint to take any action involving Clearwire.
An alliance with Sprint could also give Softbank leverage when dealing with Apple Inc, helping bolster its domestic position against KDDI Corp, which also offers the iPhone in Japan, and market leader NTT Docomo, which is yet to offer the Apple smartphone.
With Sprint in hand, Softbank may also look to acquire smaller U.S. carrier MetroPCS Communications, Japanese media have reported. Sprint has had a long interest in MetroPCS, which earlier this month agreed to merge with T-Mobile USA, part of Deutsche Telekom AG.
The Sprint deal takes outbound deals by Japanese firms to a record $75 billion this year, Thomson Reuters data shows, underscoring a strong appetite for overseas assets seemingly unaffected by signs of slowing global growth.
This is not the first Japanese foray into telecoms overseas. NTT Docomo racked up big losses after a string of failed investments in names like AT&T Wireless and Taiwan mobile operator KG Telecom in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Raine Group LLC, a boutique merchant bank focused on the technology, media and telecoms sector, and Mizuho Securities were lead financial advisers to Softbank.
($1 = 78.3550 Japanese yen)
(Additional reporting by Nadia Damouni in New York and Taro Fuse, Sophie Knight, James Topham, Andrea Shalal-Esa in Tokyo; Writing by Linda Sieg; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)
NEW BRITAIN ? It didn?t matter to a group of city residents Sunday morning how long ago their families migrated here from Poland. Their march from the Pulaski Club on Grove Street to the monument at the end of Broad Street was in the tune of keeping their Polish heritage alive.
In honor of Pulaski Day, which is officially Oct. 10 ? much of the local Polish community gathered to celebrate the life of a Polish and American icon. After a march to Pulaski Park, where a memorial service was held in the namesake?s honor, the group met for Mass at Sacred Heart Church, and then headed back to the Pulaski Club to enjoy a traditional kielbasa and egg breakfast.
One of the most widely-recognized Polish Revolutionary War heroes, Casimir Pulaski?s name can be found on countless buildings, schools and parks around the country. In fact, there is a U.S. submarine at the Groton,base named after him. Congress even made him an honorary U.S. Citizen back in 2009.
But Pulaski is better known to New Britain?s Polish community as a hero in their ancestors? fight for freedom.
?I wanted my kids to know about Pulaski,? explained New Britain resident Miroslawa Farrell, who along with her husband Gary, used the event as an opportunity to educate their two young daughters.
?It?s important they know the culture,? she said.
The Farrells stood among many other Polish families young and old at Sunday?s memorial ceremony.
Elizabeth Wiktorek?s children marched with the other Polish Scouts towards the front of the procession.
?We want to pass this down to them so they won?t forget where they came from,? Wiktorek said of her kids, who weren?t walking far from Mayor Timothy O?Brien, Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz and local Polish leaders like Lucian Pawlak, a former New Britain Mayor.
?When we celebrate Pulaski Day we hope to educate our Polish youth that going all the way back to the founding of the United States, we had Polish heroes that fought side by side. They were not only fighting for freedom here but they were fighting for freedom back in their homeland,? explained Pawlak, who was pleased to host an overflowing crowd in the Pulaski Club after Sunday?s mass.
?It was one of our better commemorative occasions that I can remember,? he added. ?What always makes it special is the number of kids that are there.?
Also in the crowd were drill sergeants from the New Britain High School Marching Band. A performance from the three young musicians served as an accompaniment to a ceremonial volley fired by the Marine Corps League Hardware City members in attendance.?
The Pulaski Democratic Club is located at 89 Grove Street. For more information about upcoming events, call 860-224-4011.
Erica Schmitt can be reached at (860) 225-4601, ext. 210, or eschmitt@newbritainherald.com.
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LOS ANGELES?? Space shuttle Endeavour has come to its final stop ? finally.
The iconic black and white orbiter, which flew 25 times to space over the past two decades, arrived at the California Science Center (CSC) Sunday afternoon to begin its new mission as a museum exhibit.
Endeavour had been scheduled to pull up at the CSC on Saturday night, but natural and utility obstacles, as well as the need for maintenance of its transporters, slowed the pace of the shuttle's parade and delayed its arrival by a day.
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Not that many of the spectators who came out to see the shuttle roll by seemed to mind.
"I walked most of the route, and I can tell you that over a million people were so positive, so encouraging," said science center president Jeffrey Rudolph. "All we heard was 'Wow! Thank you!' and young people saying, 'I want to be an astronaut.'" [ Photos: Shuttle Endeavour's Street Parade ]
"What a phenomenal three days," he added. "I may need some sleep, but it was a great three days."
Arriving at Exposition Park at 11:30 a.m. PDT, Endeavour crossed the finish line of its extended three-day, 12-mile road trip from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) by cutting across the grass on a plank-lined path to enter the CSC's Samuel Oschin Space Shuttle Display Pavilion.
Endeavour reached the threshold of the hangar at about 2 p.m. PDT, where it was set to enter through the building's temporarily removed rear wall. Inside the display pavilion, Endeavour will remain atop the modified NASA overland transporter that served as the shuttle's chariot during its traverse of Los Angeles and Inglewood streets.
"Nothing like this has ever been attempted before, and nothing like this will ever be attempted again," L.A. mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said in a press conference Sunday. "This was not just a once-in-a-lifetime event, this was a once event, and I'm heartened and we're all heartened at the reception that all Angelenos have given it."
"Getting the space shuttle from LAX to the science center was no small feat. But you made the Endeavour's final mission a success," the mayor added. "Mission 26, mission accomplished."
The science center plans to open Endeavour's display to the public beginning Oct. 30.
Mission complete
Endeavour's transition to the science center got underway last year when NASA awarded the orbiter to the institution and subsequently signed over its ownership. [ Shuttle Endeavour: 6 Surprising Facts ]
Shuttle technicians, who previously readied Endeavour to launch again, instead worked to transform the shuttle from a space-worthy vehicle to a museum-ready display. They removed hazardous materials and also saved some of the orbiter's propulsion system hardware to be possibly reused on future launch vehicles.
Last month, Endeavour crossed the country, flying piggyback from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Los Angeles atop a modified Boeing 747 jumbo jet. The orbiter was then loaded onto the transporter and underwent a few final display preparations while temporarily sheltered in a United Airlines hangar at LAX.
Early Friday morning, Endeavour left the hangar at the airport and began its slow journey to the CSC. The road trip proceeded mostly on schedule until Saturday, when the narrow clearances around street corners, signs, buildings and trees on Crenshaw Boulevard resulted in a series of very slow precision moves.
Dropping well below the 2 mph top speed of Endeavour's four computer-driven, self-propelled vehicles for the vast majority of the trip, the trek was also extended by needing to reconfigure the vehicles to straddle the medians on the wider roads along the shuttle's route.
The four multi-wheeled vehicles were used for the vast majority of the journey. The exception was a brief spell on Friday evening, when the shuttle was towed by a Toyota Tundra pickup truck to rebalance the weight before crossing over the 405 freeway.
In addition to the crowd that gathered to see its arrival at Exposition Park, Endeavour was welcomed by two public celebrations on Saturday: A formal ceremony held at The Forum sports arena in Inglewood, and a dance tribute at the intersection of Crenshaw and Martin Luther King, Jr. boulevards that was choreographed by Debbie Allen.
Due to the delay, the performance proceeded well before Endeavour entered the intersection.
Going back up
Although Endeavour will never fly into space again, it will return to a launch pad of sorts.
The California Science Center plans to build the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, which by 2017 will replace the display pavilion as Endeavour's permanent home. In the new facility, Endeavour will be hoisted vertical and exhibited with a pair of solid rocket boosters and a replica external fuel tank to re-create how the space shuttle looked before liftoff.
The temporary hangar and future center were named after the late entrepreneur and philanthropist Samuel Oschin, whose family foundation donated a "transformational gift" toward the $200 million the science center says it needs to complete Endeavour's exhibit.
Toyota, through an existing partnership with the science center, has pledged to donate up to $500,000 through a "tweet-drive" on its Tundra Endeavour Project website.
The CSC is also inviting its members and supporters to become a part of "Team Endeavour" by sponsoring one or several of the thousands of heat shield tiles that line the shuttle's underbelly. Those who donate $1,000 or more will receive a patch that was packed aboard Endeavour during its ferry flight to California, among other benefits.
The science center is not charging an admission fee to see Endeavour when the pavilion opens. However, due to the volume of visitors anticipated for its debut, the CSC is requiring a timed entry ticket that carries a service charge of $2. The tickets can be reserved through the science center's website.
Editor's Note: If you snapped any photos of Endeavour during its trip through L.A.'s streets and want to share them with SPACE.com, send the pictures, comments and location info to managing editor Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com.
See shuttles.collectspace.com for continuing coverage of the delivery and display of NASA's retired space shuttles.
Follow collectSPACE on Facebook and Twitter @ collectSPACE and editor Robert Pearlman @ robertpearlman. Copyright 2012 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.
? 2012 Space.com. All rights reserved. More from Space.com.
ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) ? Extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner started his daring ascent to 23 miles above Earth on Sunday, hoping to make a death-defying free fall that could make him the first skydiver to break the sound barrier.
Baumgartner took off in a pressurized capsule carried by a 55-story ultra-thin helium balloon that is expected to take nearly three hours to climb into the stratosphere. If plans go as expected, Baumgartner will then jump into a near vacuum with no oxygen to begin what is expected to be the fastest, farthest free fall from the highest-ever manned balloon.
Any contact with the capsule on his exit could tear the pressurized suit, a rip that could expose him to a lack of oxygen and temperatures as low as minus 70 degrees. That could cause potentially lethal bubbles to form in his bodily fluids
Shortly after launch, screens at mission control showed the capsule as it rose above 10,000 feet, high above the New Mexico desert as cheers erupted from organizers. Baumgartner also could be seen on video checking instruments inside the capsule.
Earlier in the day, mission control officials declared a "weather hold," delaying the launch. But about an hour later, organizers described conditions at the launch site as perfect, and said the balloon be inflated and begin its ascent at roughly 9:45 a.m.
The jump from the site near Roswell, N.M., was postponed twice last week because of high winds.
If he succeeds in the death-defying feat, the man nicknamed "Fearless Felix" will break a 52-year-old altitude record by Joe Kittinger, who jumped from 19.5 miles and reached a speed of 614 mph, just under the sound barrier.
This attempt will be the end of a five-year road for Baumgartner, a record-setting high-altitude jumper. He already made two preparation jumps in the area, one in March from 15 miles high and on in July from 18 miles high. It will also be the end of his extreme altitude jumping career; he has promised this will be his final jump.
Coincidentally, Sunday also marks the 65th anniversary of U.S. test pilot Chuck Yeager successful attempt to become the first man to officially break the sound barrier aboard an airplane.
Baumgartner plans to travel faster than the speed of sound with only the benefit of a high-tech suit.
Dr. Jonathan Clark, Baumgartner's medical director, has told reporters he expects the pressurized spacesuit to protect him from the shock waves of breaking the sound barrier. If all goes well and he survives the jump, NASA could certify a new generation of spacesuits for protecting astronauts and provide an escape option from spacecraft at 120,000 feet, he said.
Winds had to be under 2 mph for Baumgartner to start his ascent to the stratosphere from this desert town better known as the site of a rumored UFO landing in 1947.
Jumping from more than three times the height of the average cruising altitude for jetliners, Baumgartner's expects to hit a speed of 690 mph or more before he activates his parachute at 9,500 feet above sea level, or about 5,000 feet above the ground in southeastern New Mexico. The total jump should take about 10 minutes.
The energy drink maker Red Bull, which is sponsoring the feat, has been promoting a live Internet stream of the event from nearly 30 cameras on the capsule, the ground and a helicopter. But organizers said there will be a 20-second delay in their broadcast of footage in case of a tragic accident.
After the jump, Baumgartner says he plans to settle down with his girlfriend and fly helicopters on mountain rescue and firefighting missions in the U.S. and Austria.
If rumors are to be believed, Apple will announce a smaller version of the iPad???potentially dubbed the "iPad Mini"???on Oct. 23. But that's not all the Cupertino-based company will show off at the end of the month, one report suggests. A 13-inch version of the MacBook Pro with Retina display may be on its way.
According to?9to5 Mac's Mark Gurman, this detail comes via?a "consistently reliable source at a high-profile U.S. retailer."?This source reportedly?explains that the new 13-inch MacBookPro with Retina display will be "sold in two configurations, with differing processors and storage, and will be available for purchase soon after introduction."
As with the 15-inch MacBook Pro models, Apple will continue offering both a Retina display version of the 13-inch laptop alongside the regular non-Retina display models.
Gurman's source isn't the only one suggesting that a 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display is coming soon, of course.?According to CNET's?Brooke Crothers, DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim?has been making the same claim for a while. He speculated that the new laptop will be a 13.3-inch device and have a 2,560 x 1,600 pixel display, which would make it comparable with the 15.4-inch model (with a?2,880 x?1,800 pixel display) which was unveiled in June (see video below).
No word regarding pricing, but Shim suggests that the new laptops will likely be priced a bit more affordably than their larger siblings.
Want more tech news?or interesting?links? You'll get plenty of both if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook?posts,?or circling her?on?Google+.
Contact: Kimberly Brown brownk@aaps.org 703-248-4772 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists
10 honored at Annual Meeting and Exposition for sustained level of superior and distinguished professional achievement and contributions to pharmaceutical sciences
CHICAGO The American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) is pleased to announce its 2012 AAPS Fellows. AAPS confers the honor of Fellow to recognize individuals for outstanding contributions, which elevate the stature of the pharmaceutical sciences, and for professional excellence in the field relevant to the mission of AAPS.
Okezie I. Aruoma, M.B.A., D. Sc., Ph.D., of the American University of Health Sciences has developed an internationally recognized research program focused on promoting public health nutrition and the management of disaeses of overt inflammation (including diabetes, cancers, Alzheimer's and Parkinsons disease) that embrace the principles of pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine. The program aims to understand not only how prophylactic agents (derived from fruits, food plants and medicinal plants) may potentially prevent or reverse the promotion or progression of the diseases but assess how the clinical efficacy of the functional nutraceuticals can augment the outcome of prescription drug therapy.
Alekha K. Dash, R.Ph., Ph.D., received his bachelor's and master's degrees in Pharmacy from Jadavpur University, India, and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. He is professor and chair of the Department of Pharmacy Sciences, Creighton University and holds the Gilbert F. Taffe Jr. Endowed Chair of Pharmacy. He has established an internationally recognized research program to develop and evaluate novel drug delivery systems and analysis of drugs in complex dosage forms. His work in this field has enabled more effective use of pharmaceuticals in the years to come. His approach of using appropriate and diverse analytical techniques to develop different complex drug delivery systems will certainly help to address the analytical challenges of the future. He hails from Odissa, an eastern state in India and is the first Pharmacy Faculty from Odissa in the United States to be inducted as a fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists.
Melgardt M. de Villers, B.Pharm., Ph.D., is a professor in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin. He is also an adjunct-professor in the School of Pharmacy at North-West University, Potchefstroom South Africa. The research performed by his groups in Wisconsin and South Africa is designed to improve the effectiveness of "old" drug molecules though the design of better drug delivery systems and testing methods. In particular, several strategies employing nanotechnology, solid state chemistry and novel analytical techniques are used to improve the manufacturing, quality and therapeutic effectiveness of drugs used to treat chronic and communicable diseases. The current research focus is on diseases such as high blood pressure, HIV-AIDS, malaria and worm infestations.
Glen S. Kwon, Ph.D., is a professor and holder of the inaugural Jens T. Carstensen Distinguished Chair at the School of Pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Kwon is interested in the novel therapeutic strategies that utilize hybrid nanomedicines for drug delivery and tumor targeting. The goal of this research is to turn synergistic drug combinations into hybrid nanomedicines that are uniquely safe, soluble and stable for advances in the treatment of cancer and systemic fungal diseases.
Tauran K. Mandal, M. Pharm., Ph.D., is an Endowed Professor of Pharmacy and founding Director of the Center for Nanomedicine and Drug Delivery at Xavier University of Louisiana. He is also a Co-Director of the Louisiana Vaccine Center. Dr. Mandal has been recognized for his outstanding contributions in the area of innovative drug delivery. His research focuses on the design and development of commercially viable formulations to improve the safety, efficacy, and patient compliance. Cutting-edge research in his laboratory has resulted in patient friendly medications for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. A few of the advantages of these medications are reduction in the frequency of dosing and fewer side effects.
Mehul U. Mehta, Ph.D., is the Director of the Division of Clinical Pharmacology I at CDER (Center for Drug Evaluation & Research), US FDA. In addition to his review responsibilities, he has led the efforts of several fellow scientists at FDA to utilize the state of the art science and develop ways by which the regulated industry can avoid doing unnecessary human studies and also has provided guidance to the pharmaceutical industry on best practices to conduct certain clinical trials that has led to better dosing recommendations of hundreds of new drugs in special populations like patients with liver disease.
Michael A. Repka, D.D.S., Ph.D., has significantly contributed to the advancement of hot melt extrusion (HME) technology and has established himself as an expert in this field. Polymeric drug delivery design, stabilization and formulation / process development for poorly soluble drugs are important aspects of his research. Dr. Repka is Chair and Professor of the Department of Pharmaceutics and Director of the Pii Center for Pharmaceutical Technology at The University of Mississippi. He serves as Associate Editor for AAPS PharmSciTech and is currently Vice Chair of the FDD Section within AAPS. Dr. Repka regularly speaks at international HME symposia and workshops.
Lynne S. Taylor, Ph.D., is a Professor of Industrial and Physical Pharmacy and Chemical Engineering at Purdue University. The research performed by her group is designed to improve the delivery of drugs that do not dissolve well in water. If successful, knowledge gained from this research will contribute to improving the treatment of many diseases by enhancing the delivery of newly discovered drugs to the body.
Timothy S. Tracy, Ph.D., is Dean and Professor at the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy. His research seeks to predict the correct dose of a drug for a particular individual based on their genetic profile and known characteristics of the drug. For a given dose of a drug, humans vary widely in their ability to break down and eliminate drugs. Rather than use trial and error in the individual, his group combines laboratory experiments, the individual's genetic makeup and prediction methods to choose the best dose for an individual patient being treated. In this way, an individual's exposure to potentially harmful drug doses is minimized and the treatment effect is maximized.
Jeffry Weers, Ph.D., is an executive director of Pharmaceutical Development for Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation in San Carlos, CA. Dr. Weers' career has focused on the development of engineered particles for biomedical and consumer products. He is an inventor of 40 patents with an additional 45 published patents pending. Among his inventions are a blood substitute formulation based on nanoemulsion droplets of perfluorooctyl bromide, and an ultrasound contrast agent formulation based on microbubbles of perfluorohexane. More recently, his research has focused on finding better ways to deliver drugs via inhalation. In this regard, Dr. Weers designed aerosol formulations comprising hollow porous particles (PulmoSphere technology) for use in portable inhalers. The PulmoSphere technology was utilized in the development of the TOBI Podhaler, a dry powder formulation of tobramycin for the treatment of chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections in cystic fibrosis patients. Dr. Weers serves on the Editorial Board for Current Opinion in Colloid and Interface Science, and the Scientific Advisory Board of Solaeromed.
###
The 2012 AAPS Annual Meeting and Exposition, the world's largest pharmaceutical sciences meeting, aims to improve global health through advances in pharmaceutical sciences. The meeting features more than 90 programming sessions, including more than 50 symposia and roundtables.
AAPS is pleased to announce that our smartphone application is available at the 2012 AAPS Annual Meeting and Exposition. This application can assist meeting attendees with anything and everything they need to navigate the conference at their fingertips.
About AAPS:
The American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists is a professional, scientific society of approximately 11,000 members employed in academia, industry, government and other research institutes worldwide. Founded in 1986, AAPS provides a dynamic international forum for the exchange of knowledge among scientists to serve the public and enhance their contributions to health. AAPS offers timely scientific programs, on-going education, information resources, opportunities for networking, and professional development. For more information, please visit www.aaps.org. Follow us on Twitter @AAPSComms; official Twitter hashtag for the meeting is: #AAPS2012.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Contact: Kimberly Brown brownk@aaps.org 703-248-4772 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists
10 honored at Annual Meeting and Exposition for sustained level of superior and distinguished professional achievement and contributions to pharmaceutical sciences
CHICAGO The American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) is pleased to announce its 2012 AAPS Fellows. AAPS confers the honor of Fellow to recognize individuals for outstanding contributions, which elevate the stature of the pharmaceutical sciences, and for professional excellence in the field relevant to the mission of AAPS.
Okezie I. Aruoma, M.B.A., D. Sc., Ph.D., of the American University of Health Sciences has developed an internationally recognized research program focused on promoting public health nutrition and the management of disaeses of overt inflammation (including diabetes, cancers, Alzheimer's and Parkinsons disease) that embrace the principles of pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine. The program aims to understand not only how prophylactic agents (derived from fruits, food plants and medicinal plants) may potentially prevent or reverse the promotion or progression of the diseases but assess how the clinical efficacy of the functional nutraceuticals can augment the outcome of prescription drug therapy.
Alekha K. Dash, R.Ph., Ph.D., received his bachelor's and master's degrees in Pharmacy from Jadavpur University, India, and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. He is professor and chair of the Department of Pharmacy Sciences, Creighton University and holds the Gilbert F. Taffe Jr. Endowed Chair of Pharmacy. He has established an internationally recognized research program to develop and evaluate novel drug delivery systems and analysis of drugs in complex dosage forms. His work in this field has enabled more effective use of pharmaceuticals in the years to come. His approach of using appropriate and diverse analytical techniques to develop different complex drug delivery systems will certainly help to address the analytical challenges of the future. He hails from Odissa, an eastern state in India and is the first Pharmacy Faculty from Odissa in the United States to be inducted as a fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists.
Melgardt M. de Villers, B.Pharm., Ph.D., is a professor in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin. He is also an adjunct-professor in the School of Pharmacy at North-West University, Potchefstroom South Africa. The research performed by his groups in Wisconsin and South Africa is designed to improve the effectiveness of "old" drug molecules though the design of better drug delivery systems and testing methods. In particular, several strategies employing nanotechnology, solid state chemistry and novel analytical techniques are used to improve the manufacturing, quality and therapeutic effectiveness of drugs used to treat chronic and communicable diseases. The current research focus is on diseases such as high blood pressure, HIV-AIDS, malaria and worm infestations.
Glen S. Kwon, Ph.D., is a professor and holder of the inaugural Jens T. Carstensen Distinguished Chair at the School of Pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Kwon is interested in the novel therapeutic strategies that utilize hybrid nanomedicines for drug delivery and tumor targeting. The goal of this research is to turn synergistic drug combinations into hybrid nanomedicines that are uniquely safe, soluble and stable for advances in the treatment of cancer and systemic fungal diseases.
Tauran K. Mandal, M. Pharm., Ph.D., is an Endowed Professor of Pharmacy and founding Director of the Center for Nanomedicine and Drug Delivery at Xavier University of Louisiana. He is also a Co-Director of the Louisiana Vaccine Center. Dr. Mandal has been recognized for his outstanding contributions in the area of innovative drug delivery. His research focuses on the design and development of commercially viable formulations to improve the safety, efficacy, and patient compliance. Cutting-edge research in his laboratory has resulted in patient friendly medications for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. A few of the advantages of these medications are reduction in the frequency of dosing and fewer side effects.
Mehul U. Mehta, Ph.D., is the Director of the Division of Clinical Pharmacology I at CDER (Center for Drug Evaluation & Research), US FDA. In addition to his review responsibilities, he has led the efforts of several fellow scientists at FDA to utilize the state of the art science and develop ways by which the regulated industry can avoid doing unnecessary human studies and also has provided guidance to the pharmaceutical industry on best practices to conduct certain clinical trials that has led to better dosing recommendations of hundreds of new drugs in special populations like patients with liver disease.
Michael A. Repka, D.D.S., Ph.D., has significantly contributed to the advancement of hot melt extrusion (HME) technology and has established himself as an expert in this field. Polymeric drug delivery design, stabilization and formulation / process development for poorly soluble drugs are important aspects of his research. Dr. Repka is Chair and Professor of the Department of Pharmaceutics and Director of the Pii Center for Pharmaceutical Technology at The University of Mississippi. He serves as Associate Editor for AAPS PharmSciTech and is currently Vice Chair of the FDD Section within AAPS. Dr. Repka regularly speaks at international HME symposia and workshops.
Lynne S. Taylor, Ph.D., is a Professor of Industrial and Physical Pharmacy and Chemical Engineering at Purdue University. The research performed by her group is designed to improve the delivery of drugs that do not dissolve well in water. If successful, knowledge gained from this research will contribute to improving the treatment of many diseases by enhancing the delivery of newly discovered drugs to the body.
Timothy S. Tracy, Ph.D., is Dean and Professor at the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy. His research seeks to predict the correct dose of a drug for a particular individual based on their genetic profile and known characteristics of the drug. For a given dose of a drug, humans vary widely in their ability to break down and eliminate drugs. Rather than use trial and error in the individual, his group combines laboratory experiments, the individual's genetic makeup and prediction methods to choose the best dose for an individual patient being treated. In this way, an individual's exposure to potentially harmful drug doses is minimized and the treatment effect is maximized.
Jeffry Weers, Ph.D., is an executive director of Pharmaceutical Development for Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation in San Carlos, CA. Dr. Weers' career has focused on the development of engineered particles for biomedical and consumer products. He is an inventor of 40 patents with an additional 45 published patents pending. Among his inventions are a blood substitute formulation based on nanoemulsion droplets of perfluorooctyl bromide, and an ultrasound contrast agent formulation based on microbubbles of perfluorohexane. More recently, his research has focused on finding better ways to deliver drugs via inhalation. In this regard, Dr. Weers designed aerosol formulations comprising hollow porous particles (PulmoSphere technology) for use in portable inhalers. The PulmoSphere technology was utilized in the development of the TOBI Podhaler, a dry powder formulation of tobramycin for the treatment of chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections in cystic fibrosis patients. Dr. Weers serves on the Editorial Board for Current Opinion in Colloid and Interface Science, and the Scientific Advisory Board of Solaeromed.
###
The 2012 AAPS Annual Meeting and Exposition, the world's largest pharmaceutical sciences meeting, aims to improve global health through advances in pharmaceutical sciences. The meeting features more than 90 programming sessions, including more than 50 symposia and roundtables.
AAPS is pleased to announce that our smartphone application is available at the 2012 AAPS Annual Meeting and Exposition. This application can assist meeting attendees with anything and everything they need to navigate the conference at their fingertips.
About AAPS:
The American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists is a professional, scientific society of approximately 11,000 members employed in academia, industry, government and other research institutes worldwide. Founded in 1986, AAPS provides a dynamic international forum for the exchange of knowledge among scientists to serve the public and enhance their contributions to health. AAPS offers timely scientific programs, on-going education, information resources, opportunities for networking, and professional development. For more information, please visit www.aaps.org. Follow us on Twitter @AAPSComms; official Twitter hashtag for the meeting is: #AAPS2012.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
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LOS ANGELES (AP) ? AEG, the sports and entertainment giant that is up for sale, is making it easier to book concert and sports tickets for friends without having to pay for them all at once.
The owner of Staples Center and the National Hockey League's Los Angeles Kings is rolling out the feature, called AXS Invite, at some of its owned and operated venues starting this month.
The service allows ticket buyers to pay for their own seats and then reserve several adjacent ones online.
The purchaser then invites friends through Facebook or email, and the friends have 48 hours to accept or decline the invitation. They in turn register on the site and pay for the tickets themselves. Unsold tickets will go back up for sale.
"For us and for the artist and the venue, it's really about finding a way to sell more tickets," said Tom Andrus, general manager of AXS.com. "For the customer it's a way of making it more convenient."
AXS Invite won't be available immediately when tickets are first put on sale, which means it probably won't be useful for quickly sold-out shows. Andrus said the feature could be available within hours or the next day, but certainly within 48 hours of a given sale time.
AEG is rolling out the service for a number of upcoming shows, including a run of "Cirque du Soleil: Dralion" at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, Calif., from Oct. 24-28.
AEG launched its ticketing arm, AXS, about a year ago and has so far changed 18 of its approximately 100 owned and operated venues over to AXS from ticketing competitor Ticketmaster. It plans to roll AXS out at most of its major venues including Los Angeles' Staples Center by the first half of next year.
AEG won the right to use Ticketmaster's platform as a condition for getting government clearance of the combination of Ticketmaster and Live Nation Entertainment Inc. in 2010. But it still has to pay fees to use it. Changing venues to its own AXS platform saves on these fees, and also gives AEG a closer relationship with its customers.
Last month, Denver-based Anschutz Co. said it was putting AEG up for sale even as it moved ahead with plans to build a stadium in Los Angeles in the hopes of attracting a National Football League team.
Litlangs, 2004, confronted that Aristotle disagreed with Plato; according to Aristotle, forms were not entities remote from appearance but something which entered into objects of the world. Aristotle claimed that when we can abstract oneness or circularity, it does not mean that these abstractions represent something remote and eternal.
For Aristotle1 , mathematics was simply reasoning about idealizations; and he looked closely at the structure of mathematics, distinguishing logic, principles used to demonstrate theorems, definitions and hypotheses. Plato2 also reflected on infinity, perceiving the difference between a potential infinity e.g. adding one to a number ad infinitum and a complete infinity e.g. number of points into which a line is divisible. Bold, T., 2004, claimed that both the intuitionist and the formalist assured that mathematics are just inventions and do not inform us with anything about the world; both take this approach to explain the absolute certainty of mathematics and reject the use of infinity. Bold3 noted that intuitionists admit this major similarity the formalist and note the difference as a disagreement on where mathematical exactness exist; the intuitionist says in the human intellect and the formalist says on paper. According to Arend Heyting 4, mathematics is a production of the human mind; he claimed that intuitionism claims mathematical propositions inherit their certainty from human knowledge that is based on empirical experience. Bold 5 maintained that since, infinity can not be experienced, the intuitionist refuses to push application of mathematics beyond finite; Heyting declared that faith in transcendental existence, unsupported by concepts, must be rejected as a means of mathematical proof. Similarly, Bold 6 found that Hilbert wrote that for logical inferences to be reliable it must be possible to survey these objects completely in their parts; since there is no such survey for infinity a reliable inference can only be based on a finite system. According to the formalists, the whole of mathematics consists of only arbitrary rules like those of chess.
Further, Bold, T., 2004, indicated that, on the other hand, the logicists came close to proving that mathematics was a branch of logic. According to Bold 7, the logisticians want to define mathematical concepts in terms of logical concepts and deduct mathematical propositions from logical axioms; as the basic elements of logic are sets and their properties, the logicists use sets to define mathematical concepts. Bold elaborated the following:
For example, the meaning of 0 is the class of all null sets, 1 is the class of all sets with 1 members, 2 is the class of all sets with a pair of members and etc. The problem of this definition is that it does not explain the concept of number 2. We need not a definition, but an explanation. ?Number 2 is the class of all pairs? presupposes the concept of 2. Such definition is a mere construction of a formal system that is consistent with mathematics. It might be necessary or sufficient for the work on mathematical propositions, but it does not give us any insight into mathematical concepts. The most exciting parts of the logicist account hides in what Russell and Whitehead?s Principia Mathematica has to say about mathematical propositions and what Ramsey and Wittgenstein said about its flaws. However, the present paper is primarily on mathematical concepts only. ?What is number??, ?What is infinity?? and ?Why is the absolute certainty?? are the questions that are in need of philosophical interpretation. I am not holding a directly opposing position to these theories; at some points I agree with them. However, I will simply attempt to pick up where the above schools are unsatisfactory and offer a better account on the ensuing issues. 8
On the other hand, Posy, C., 1992, found that Hilbert actually put a structure on the intuitive part of mathematics, essentially that of finitary thought and formal systems; with G?del's work. Thompson, P.,1993, argued that the G?delian brand of Platonism, in particular, takes its lead from the actual experience of doing mathematics, and G?del accounts for the obviousness of the elementary set-theoretical axioms by positing a faculty of mathematical intuition, analogous to sense-perception in physics, so that, presumably, the axioms 'force themselves upon us' much as the assumption of 'medium-sized physical objects' forces itself upon us as an explanation of our physical experiences. However, Thompson 9 stated that counterintuitive has acquired an ambiguous role in our language use that is when applied to a strange but true principle; counterintuitive can now mean anything on a continuum from intuitively false to not intuitively true, depending on the strength of the conjecture we would have been predisposed to make against it, had we not seen, and been won over by, the proof; and indeed, to our surprise, we often find out, in times of paradox, how weak and defeatable our ordinary intuitions are.
Thompson 10 claimed that the very idea that our intuitions should be both decisive and failsafe, derives historically from the maelstrom of senses which the term 'intuition' has acquired in a series of primitive epistemic theories in which some of these senses have been inherited from the large role introspection played in the indubitable bedrock of Cartesian-style philosophy, and some simply from the pervasiveness of out-moded theological convictions which seek to make certain modes of justification unassailable. On the other hand, Posy, C., 1992, insisted that Hilbert's formal system fits the theory of recursive functions. Posy 11 insisted that Brouwer was very much opposed to these ideas, especially that of formalizing systems; he even opposed the formalization of logic; Brouwer had a very radical view of mathematics and language's relationship. According to Brouwer 12, in language, we can communicate the output of mathematical construction, thus helping others recreate the mathematical experience; however, the proof itself is a pre-linguistic, purely conscious activity which is much more flexible than language. Brouwer thought formal systems could never be adequate to cover all the flexible options available to the creative mathematician; and thought that formalism was absurd. Posy 14 noted that, in particular, Brouwer 13 thought that it was crazy to think that codified logic could capture the rules for correct mathematical thought. Brouwer 15 showed particular rules of logic are inadequate with the most famous of the law of the excluded middle.
Thompson, P.,1993, noted that Brouwer that the common un-circumspect belief in the applicability of traditional logic to mathematics was caused historically; he next stated that by the fact that, firstly, classical logic was abstracted from the mathematics of subsets of a definite finite set, that, secondly, an a priori existence independent of mathematics was ascribed to this logic, and finally, on the basis of this suppositious apriority, it was unjustifiably applied to the mathematics of infinite sets. Furthermore, Posy, C., 1992, insisted that Brouwer hypothesized about the reason why philosophers and mathematicians included the law of the excluded middle; according to Brouwer, logic was codified when the scientific community was concerned only with finite objects. Brouwer 16 said that, considering only finite objects, the law of the excluded middle holds; however, a mistake was made when mathematics moved into the infinitary in which the rigid rules of logic were maintained without question. Brouwer 17 suggested that no rigid codification should come before the development of mathematics. Posy found that a second major distinction between Brouwer and Hilbert was that they disagreed on the position of logic in which Hilbert thought logic was an autonomous, finished science that could be freely applied to other mathematics, Brouwer argued that logic should only come after the mathematics is developed.
Litlangs, 2004, in his overview, insisted that profound questions of how varied of intellect faces difficulties in explaining mathematics internally i.e. their gaps, contradictions and ambiguities that lie beneath the most certain of procedures, leads to rough conclusion that mathematics may be no more logical than poetry; it is just free creations of the human mind that unaccountably give order to ourselves and the natural world. Litlangs 18 perceived that though mathematics might seem the clearest and most certain kind of knowledge we possess, there are problems just as serious as those in any other branch of philosophy about the nature of mathematics and the meaning of its propositions. Litlangs 19 found that Plato believed in forms or ideas that were eternal, capable of precise definition and independent of perception; among such entities Plato included numbers and the objects of geometry such as lines, points, circles, which were therefore apprehended not with the senses but with reason; he deals with the objects of mathematics with specific instances of ideal forms. According to Plato, as it was noted by Litlangs, since the true propositions of mathematics were true of the unchangeable relations between unchangeable objects, they were inevitably true that is mathematics discovered pre-existing truths "out there" rather than created something from our mental predispositions; and as for the objects perceived by our senses, they are only poor and evanescent copies of the forms.
Meanwhile, Litlangs, 2004, insisted that Leibniz brought together logic and mathematics; however, whereas Aristotle used propositions of the subject i.e. predicate form, Leibniz argued that the subject contains the predicate that is a view that brought in infinity and God. According to Leibniz 20, mathematical propositions are not true because they deal in eternal or idealized entities, but because their denial is logically impossible; they are true not only of this world, or the world of eternal forms, but of all possible worlds. Litlangs 21 insisted that unlike Plato, for whom constructions were adventitious aids, Leibniz saw the importance of notation, a symbolism of calculation, and so began what became very important in the twentieth century that is a method of forming and arranging characters and signs to represent the relationships between mathematical thoughts.
Litlangs, 2004, further stipulated that Immanuel Kant perceived mathematical entities as a-priori synthetic propositions, which of course provide the necessary conditions for objective experience; time and space were matrices, the containers holding the changing material of perception. According to Kant 22, mathematics was the description of space and time; if restricted to thought, mathematical concepts required only self-consistency, but the construction of such concepts involves space having a certain structure, which in Kant's day was described by Euclidean geometry. Litlangs 23 noted that for Kant, the distinction between the abstract "two" and "two pears" is about construction plus empirical matter; in his analysis of infinity, Kant accepted Aristotle's distinction between potential and complete infinity, but did not think the latter was logically impossible. Kant 24 perceived that complete infinity was an idea of reason, internally consistent, though of course never encountered in our world of sense perceptions. Litlangs further insisted that 25 Frege and Russell and their followers developed Leibniz's idea that mathematics was something logically undeniable; Frege used general laws of logic plus definitions, formulating a symbolic notation for the reasoning required. However, through the long chains of reasoning, these symbols became less intuitively obvious, the transition being mediated by definitions. Litlangs 26 noted that Russell saw them as notational conveniences, mere steps in the argument; while Frege saw them as implying something worthy of careful thought, often presenting key mathematical concepts from new angles. Litlangs 27 found that while in Russell's case the definitions had no objective existence, in Frege's case the matter was not so clear that is the definitions were logical objects which claim an existence equal to other mathematical entities. Litlangs 28 concluded that, nonetheless, Russell carried on, resolving and side-stepping many logical paradoxes, to create with Whitehead the monumental system of description and notation of the Principia Mathematica.
Meanwhile, Thompson, P.,1993, exposed the critical movement of Cauchy and Weierstrass to have been a caution or reserve over the mathematical use of the infinite, except as a fa?on de parler in summing series or taking limits, where it really behaved as a convenient metaphor, or mode of abbreviation, for clumsier expressions only involving finite numbers. Thompson 29 claimed that when Cantor came on the scene, the German mathematician Leopold Kronecker, who had already 'constructively' re-written the theory of algebraic number fields, objected violently to Cantor's belief that, so long as logic was respected, statements about the completed infinite were perfectly significant. According to Thompson 30, Cantor had further urged that we should be fully prepared to use familiar words in altogether new contexts, or with reference to situations not previously envisaged; Kronecker, however, felt that Cantor was blindly cashing finite schemas in infinite domains, both by attributing a cardinal to any aggregate whatsoever, finite or infinite, and worse still, in his subsequent elaboration of transfinite arithmetic. Thompson 31 insisted that although the interim strain on the intuition, at the time, was crucial to Euler's heuristic approach, this particular infinite detour had been analyzed out of his subsequent proofs of the result, which appeared almost 10 years after its discovery.
Thompson, P.,1993, clarified that G?del's feeling is that our intuition can be suitably extended to a familiarity with very strongly axiomatic domains, such as extensions of ZF, or calculus on smooth space-time manifolds, thereby providing us with backgrounds for either accepting or rejecting hypotheses independently of our pre-theoretic prejudices or preconceptions about them. Thompson 32 indicated that the general reccursiveness, as in the G?del and Herbrand sense, with regard to their claims to be collectively demarcating the limits of intuitive computability, is a feature of this particular problem that it is susceptible to a diversity of equally restrictive intuitive re-characterizations, whose unexpected confluence gives each of them a strong intuitive recommendation and this confluence turns out to be a surprisingly valuable asset in appraising our rather more recondite extensions of our intuitive concepts. Thompson 33 concluded that G?del,34 with his basic trust in transcendental logic, likes to think that our logical optics is only slightly out of focus, and hopes that after some minor correction of it, we shall see sharp, and then everyone will agree that we are right; however, he who does not share such a trust will be disturbed by the high degree of arbitrariness in a system like Zermelo's, or even in Hilbert's system. Thompson 35 suggested that Hilbert will not be able to assure us of consistency forever; therefore we must be content if a simple axiomatic system of mathematics has met the test of our mathematical experiences so far.
References:
1Litlangs, 2004, Math Theory, Poetry Magic: editor@poetrymagic.co.uk 2Ibid. 3Bold, T., 2004, Concepts on Mathematical Concepts, http://www.usfca.edu/philosophy/ discourse/8/bold.doc 4Ibid. 5Ibid. 6Ibid. 7Ibid. 8Ibid. 9Ibid. 10Ibid. 11Posy, C., 1992, Philosophy of Mathematics, http://www.cs.washington.edu/ homes/ gjb.doc/philmath.htm 12Ibid. 13Ibid. 14Ibid. 15Ibid. 16Ibid. 17Ibid. 18Litlangs, 2004, Math Theory, Poetry Magic: editor@poetrymagic.co.uk 19Ibid. 20Ibid. 21Ibid. 22Ibid. 23Ibid. 24Ibid. 25Ibid. 26Ibid. 27Ibid. 28Ibid. 29Thompson, P.,1993, The Nature And Role Of Intuition In Mathematical Epistemology, University College, Oxford University, U.K 30Ibid. 31Ibid. 32Ibid. 33Ibid. 34Ibid 35Ibid.
Thoreau went to the woods ?to live deliberately.? Melville?s Ishmael accounted it ?high time to get to sea? in Moby-Dick. And, as for me, I?m starting to feel a little bit of both those sentiments. Perhaps it?s the impending fall weather; or, perhaps I?ve just spent too much time staring at a computer screen. Either way, I?m itching to break out and go camping for a few days.
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Public release date: 14-Oct-2012
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