As college campuses across the country close for summer recess, we know of a few students heading home that are perhaps a little happier because their maps earned awards. National Geographic sponsors several map awards
(see http://natgeomaps.com/mapawards) to reward student innovation—so far six students have won this year:

Ben Coakley, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Scheduled Service on Small Airlines in Canada, Summer 2008.
Daniel Huffman, University of Wisconsin-Madison,
Rising Skyline: The Tallest Buildings in Europe, 1875-2007.

Mathieu Noble, Centre of Geographic Sciences (COGS), Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC), King of Coal.




Wes Jones, Centre of Geographic Sciences (COGS), Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC), Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens.
Cindy Prostak, Centre of Geographic Sciences (COGS), Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC), St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Check out http://natgeomaps.com/mapawards for more information and updates.

This is "one gift I will definitely keep," President Obama said when he was presented with a National Geographic Society map cabinet at the White House.

Visit the NATGEO NEWS WATCH Blog by News Editor David Braun for the full story: http://tinyurl.com/ncmdqy












Photos courtesy of The White House

Since our inception as a division of the National Geographic Society in 1915, National Geographic Maps (originally the Cartographic Division) has routinely published maps that illustrate the news of the world. Our first supplement map, which appeared in the May 1918 issue of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, titled the Western Theatre of War, served as a useful reference for overseas military personnel and soldier's families alike. Similarly our February 1967 map of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, and recently, our Iraq and the Heart of the Middle East titles filled similar roles.

Maps are an excellent tool for the newshound, providing an accurate sense of place to issues local and abroad. To assist those that are interested in further understanding global news stories through good maps - we're pleased to announce a new monthly feature here on Contours that will highlight maps pertinent to today's news stories.

:: December 2009, Maps of the News ::

Afghanistan and Pakistan. Revised in Fall of 2009, this political map of the region contains thousands of place names, ideal for following news stories and deployed family members. Like all National Geographic cartography, our new Afghanistan and Pakistan map was carefully researched and edited and contains thousands of place names.

Iraq, Iran and the Middle East. This region dominates daily news stories. Our Middle East wall map covers over 18 nations in the region including: Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and more.

Philippines. Follow the recent eruption of the Mayon volcano in the Philippines, with our Asia classic and executive style wall maps for the continent.

Vancouver and the Winter Olympics. A detailed city guide, perfect for global travelers attending the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Five new National Geographic maps complete coverage of Washington Cascades

Published: Tuesday, September 07, 2010, 3:15 AM
Terry Richard, The Oregonian
Washington's Cacades are covered.

With the release of five new maps this summer by National Geographic, the rugged mountains of Washington are covered from the British Columbia border to Oregon.

The maps are sold under the Trails Illustrated brand.

New titles this year area Mount St. Helens/Mount Adams, Goat Rocks/Norse Peak/William O. Douglas Wilderness Areas, Alpine Lakes Wilderness, Glacier Peak Wilderness and Mount Baker/Boulder River Wilderness Areas.

They go along with several other titles already in print to complete the coverage: North Cascades National Park, Mount Rainier National Park and Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.

The full-color maps are printed on hefty water-proof, tear resistant paper. National Geographic is one of the best mapmakers in the business, so the maps meet the highest standards.

The maps are topographical, but they cover such a large area that the contour interval is 50 feet. This is a little too big for serious off-trail mountain navigation, but National Geographic also sells state map series on CD Roms under the Topo brand with 20-foot contour intervals.

The new printed maps maps are excellent for hiking and driving. They show most of the trails and most of the roadside amenities, in easy-to-read formats.

Your map files may already contain U.S. Forest Service maps of the areas, but these maps often go 15 years or more between updates. The new Nat Geo maps are the best new maps at this time for the areas they cover.

Look for them at stores that sell maps, though getting this many new titles in any particular store may be difficult.

One place that does have them all is the Nature of the Northwest in Portland, at 800 N.E. Oregon St., Suite 965. Phone number is 971-673-2331.

You can also order them from National Geographic. Cover price is $11.95. For more information visit Trails Illustrated Washington maps.

-- Terry Richard

WASHINGTON (Nov. 10, 2010)—With one of every six people on Earth lacking access to safe drinking water, freshwater is one of the defining issues of the 21st century. Although water is essential for life, less than 1 percent of water on our planet is available for drinking. “Freshwater!” is the theme of Geography Awareness Week 2010, Nov. 14-20, supported by National Geographic and other partner organizations and sponsored by CH2M HILL, an international engineering consulting firm. Founded as a water firm in the 1940s, CH2M HILL has been working for decades to help people around the world find the right solutions to their water challenges.

Geography Awareness Week is an annual celebration enacted by Congress in 1987 that encourages families and schools to engage in fun, educational experiences that draw attention to geo-literacy and the importance of geography education. During Geography Awareness Week 2010, National Geographic invites students, teachers and parents to learn more about freshwater and how it connects to geography.

“Freshwater is one of the most critical issues of the 21st century,” said Terry Garcia, National Geographic’s executive vice president of Mission Programs. “National Geographic is committed to increasing awareness about this vital natural resource through our Freshwater Initiative. Our Geography Awareness Week website (http://www.geographyawarenessweek.org/) gives students and teachers the necessary tools to understand the complexity of the global freshwater crisis and its extraordinary role in shaping the geography of our world.”

During Geography Awareness Week, grassroots organizers around the country will host events, workshops and contests at local schools and community centers. Engineers from CH2M HILL will visit classrooms in many states to share hands-on freshwater activities with students and discuss connections between geography and real-world engineering projects.

“Our world needs sustainable water management solutions that support society and nature,” says Bob Bailey, president of CH2M HILL’s Water Business Group. “The decisions we make today about water will affect generations to come. We are proud to partner with National Geographic — a leader in scientific and cultural research and education — to help bring public awareness to this vital issue. Our firm is committed to sustainability; to protecting and preserving our planet’s natural resources; and to inspiring and educating a future workforce that will help solve the environmental and engineering challenges of tomorrow.”

In celebration of Geography Awareness Week, Zinio, the digital magazine and book distributor, will offer free access to and a free download of the digital edition of the April 2010 issue of National Geographic magazine, “Water: Our Thirsty World,” during November. This single-topic special issue highlights the challenges facing our most essential natural resource. The digital edition presents complete content from the print edition, plus extra photo galleries, rollover graphics that animate features like maps and timelines, video profiles of photographers who contributed to the issue and other interactive features.

The Geography Awareness Week website offers access to activities, lessons and games about freshwater. The site features contributions from National Geographic and partner organizations such as ESRI, 4-H, Newspapers in Education, Zinio and GeoEye. Visitors can use a water footprint calculator to determine how much water their family uses — from watering the lawn to the “hidden” water in household items like blue jeans — and find ways their family can conserve. Teachers can access a wealth of lesson plans about freshwater, including featured activities for use with new National Geographic Mapmaker Kits. Educators and parents alike will find valuable lists of recommended books and films, as well as crossword puzzles and other family-friendly games.

The website also features opportunities to join nearly 100,000 geography supporters in promoting the cause of freshwater. Resources are provided on how to host a local Geography Awareness Week event, including a guide to hosting a 3.7-mile Walk for Water or a Freshwater Trivia Night. A link to the new Global Action Atlas offers connections to people and organizations involved in innovative water projects around the world.

Site visitors also can read and contribute to a Geography Awareness Week Blog-a-Thon, which is updated multiple times daily with commentary and multimedia. The Blog-a-Thon also features a “What’s That Water?” quiz, challenging visitors to identify freshwater bodies in satellite imagery, provided by GeoEye, for chances to win prizes.

The National Geographic Society is one of the world's largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations. Founded in 1888 to “increase and diffuse geographic knowledge,” the Society works to inspire people to care about the planet. It reaches more than 375 million people worldwide each month through its official journal, National Geographic, and other magazines; National Geographic Channel; television documentaries; music; radio; films; books; DVDs; maps; exhibitions; live events; school publishing programs; interactive media; and merchandise. National Geographic has funded more than 9,400 scientific research, conservation and exploration projects and supports an education program promoting geographic literacy. For more information, visit http://www.nationalgeographic.com/.

Headquartered in Denver, Colo., employee-owned CH2M HILL is a global leader in consulting, design, design-build, operations and program management for government, civil, industrial and energy clients. With $6.3 billion in revenue and 23,500 employees, CH2M HILL is an industry-leading program management, construction management and design firm, as ranked by Engineering News-Record (2010). The firm’s work is concentrated in the areas of water, transportation, environmental, energy and power, and facilities and infrastructure. The firm has long been recognized as a most-admired company and leading employer. Visit http://www.ch2mhill.com/.

For more information and resources for Geography Awareness Week, visit http://www.geographyawarenessweek.org/.

Federal Government Boosts Australian Cardiovascular Alliance’s Mission to Combat Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke  News Hub

Japanese encephalitis virus activity in the Kimberley  Government of Western Australia Department of Health

1. New Model Predicts Intelligent Life Odds in Universe  Mirage News
2. Formula for alien life: Drake Equation gets a dark energy update  Cosmos

1. Monster Hunter Outlanders Brings Big Beast Hunting to Mobile Gaming  CNET
2. Monster Hunter is going mobile with new ‘fully featured game’ Outlanders  Polygon
3. Monster Hunter is getting an open-world RPG spinoff for mobile  The Verge
4. TiMi Studio Group and Capcom announce Monster Hunter Outlanders for iOS, Android  Gematsu
5. How to join the Monster Hunter Outlanders playtest  ONE Esports

1. Outback Queensland residents spend thousands on flights, grapple with Qantas service changes  ABC News
2. Airlines that love competition: Do you see pigs fly?  Sydney Morning Herald
3. Predictably, domestic airfares surged after the collapse of Rex. There aren’t many good solutions  The Conversation
4. Report finds just how much airfares spiked since end of Rex. One route doubled  The Canberra Times
5. Qantas’ single excuse for fare price hike  news.com.au

1. Beijing and Washington stops provide clues for Indonesia's direction under Prabowo Subianto  ABC News
2. Prabowo pledges co-operation with Trump  The Australian Financial Review
3. Indonesian president meets Biden and speaks with Trump  The Canberra Times
4. At White House, Indonesia's new leader straddles US-China rivalry  VOA Asia
5. Will Prabowo Subianto cosy up to Donald Trump or to China?  The Economist

1. Cop 29: Leaders to address summit after report finds climate pledges not kept – live updates  The Guardian
2. Live Briefing: Greta Thunberg calls site of COP29 climate summit ‘beyond absurd’  The Washington Post
3. COP29 gets underway in Azerbaijan  ABC News
4. Oil and gas are ‘a gift of God’: COP29 leader  The Australian Financial Review

1. Volcanic eruption grounds Bali flights, leaving travellers stranded  Sydney Morning Herald
2. Bali flight cancellations continue due to dangerous volcanic ash clouds  SBS News
3. Bali flight cancellations continue as volcano spews ash  9News
4. Aussies stranded in Bali volcano nightmare  Daily Telegraph

1. Cindy Crossthwaite's estranged husband faces Supreme Court murder trial over mother of three's death  ABC News
2. 'Deep-seated hatred' for estranged wife led to killing, jury told  9News
3. 'Deep-seated hatred' for estranged wife led to killing, court hears  9News

1. As it happened: Donald Trump ally taunts Kevin Rudd; WiseTech shareholders launch class action  Sydney Morning Herald
2. Ditching Rudd over Trump insults would be ‘worst possible signal’: Turnbull  Sydney Morning Herald
3. Senior Liberal calls for Rudd to be sacked after Trump advisor suggests US ambassador is on thin ice  9News

1. Murder charge after beloved Elvis impersonator found dead after karaoke night  9News
2. Beloved Elvis impersonator allegedly murdered after karaoke night  Sydney Morning Herald
3. Love Island winner's best mate is accused of killing beloved grandad - after the Good Samaritan had tried to h  Daily Mail
4. Video: Elvis impersonator named as alleged murder victim  WAtoday

1. Donald Trump picks Elon Musk to lead new government department  9News
2. Trump’s picks the clearest path yet to power consolidation  Sydney Morning Herald
3. Donald Trump announces key figures for 2025 administration after election victory  ABC News
4. Trump’s Cabinet: Here Are His Picks And Finalists For Key Roles—Mike Huckabee, Kristi Noem And More  Forbes
5. Trump rolls out his most MAGA picks for new White House term  CNN

1. Car crashes with another outside pub during police chase in Sydney’s southwest  7NEWS
2. ‘Flying past me’: Two hurt as car smashes into fence after police chase  Daily Telegraph
3. Critical incident investigation into crash following police pursuit  Sydney Morning Herald
4. Violent carjacking linked to Sydney crash that split car in two, police say  9News
5. Update on crash after police chase  news.com.au

1. Legitimacy of two Victorian local government elections in question after duplicate votes detected  ABC News
2. Victorian council election results 2024 LIVE updates: Suspected postal vote tampering in council elections  Sydney Morning Herald
3. VEC investigates potential vote tampering in two Melbourne councils  The Age

Call center technology is constantly improving. Most modern call-centers record at least some portion of the conversations they initiate. Who listens to these recordings. And what eventually happens to them?

What does this mean for charitable solicitations?

A typical call for me starts something like this;

Me: Hello I'm Henry calling from XXX organization on behalf of the Save the Giant Sequoia Tree foundation. Hows it going today Mr X?

Mr X: Fine, how are you today?

Me; I'm good thanks for asking, not a lot of people do. (this gets a chuckle as often as not, and its true.)

Me: Mr X, I'm going to try to keep things quick today but first I do need to know that this call could be monitored and is recorded for my quality.

Mr X: Ah go ahead the damn government is recording everything we say anyway....


Conversations can go into anywhere from a mild rant against the Bush administration to an all out call for violence made in jest, typical stuff you might hear on The Bill Mahr show. But what the Donor may not realize is that that conversation doesn't necessarily go away, ever.

Ive done fundraising for organizations like the Democratic National Committee, The A.C.L.U and the Human Rights Campaign. At the start of each call we inform donors that their call could be recorded to ensure quality control.

A.C.L.U donors are the most likely to hang up the phone at that point caring too much about their right to privacy to allow themselves to be recorded.

But what about the callers who don't hang up? Ive spoken to extremely opinionated people who
have pulled no punches when it come to their opinion on the current presidential administration, the war on terror, and other highly charged issued.

Politicians have been cursed threats have been made as well as off color jokes.

Could this information be used against a person?

With the warrant-less wiretapping that we know is going on in this country,how smart is it for organizations to save recordings of people?

Donors tend to say anything to an anonymous fundraiser on over the phone. But is it really anonymous. Do the donors have a right to know what becomes of their voice recordings.

I think that call-centers, especially in the fundraising industry, should have a published policy on what they will and will not do with Donor's information, including voice recordings.


Technology and political realities have raced beyond past practices. Its time for call-centers to catch up.

What I can tell you as a professional fundraiser is that.

• You have the right to end the conversation at any time, although I and your organization wish you wouldn't.
• You have the right to request more information about where I'm calling from and what my particular call-center will do with any of your information, including recordings of your voice. ( If your the curious type this might be fun to do anyway)
• The Front-line people who call you, me, have no control over when or why you are called; its all done by computer.
• The national no call-list has little bearing on non-profits, or their agents, (me). Call-centers that do fundraising have their own internal do-not-call lists; ask to be on it and we are obligated to put you on it. You should also let your charities know, by phone, or in writing, that you don't want to be called, or to have your name sold or traded to other organizations.
• Reputable fundraisers charge a flat fee per call. Yes or no, we get the same amount for making the call. It doesn't have to be this way however, Some fundraising agents can keep 80% (or more!) of the revenue a solicitation campaign generates. You have the right to know just what those percentages are; if the person you are speaking to doesn't know, ask for a supervisor.
• Some states also have laws that obligate fundraising groups to send a written copy of this information to any donor that asks, you'll need to contact your attorney general's office to see if your state is one.
• Last note; Federal law prohibits us from recording your credit card information, this is the one part of the call that isn't recorded.

I hope this quick rundown of the issues stirs some discussion. Ill follow up with more on telephone fundraising in the coming days.

The deadline to propose a presentation for National O.T.O. Conference XIV in Denver, CO, is May 10, 2023.

OMG. I can't believe October is over already. I blame Satisfactory which, okay, I do get it now, and it did destroy my body and mind. I am inches from being done now; I just want to make sure that I finish it with enough force that I do actually put it away, as I could imagine tinkering with my saddest factory forever.

The game isn't without flaw, but I think most of those flaws are not interesting to talk about. I do have one petty but important criticism, which is mildly spoilerful and anyway will only be interesting if you played the game. There is an object called the Somersloop ("cool S") which allows you to double the output of a machine. Canonically this item is some kind of "loop" and the flavor text talks about how it is able to create more energy than you put into it. So when I'm out hunting for Korok seeds I have this thought that maybe I could create a loop of factories whereby it would create infinite resources by repeatedly doubling. And I'm thinking about it but the crafting tree doesn't have any notable loops in it, but I remember the "packager" which allows you to put a fluid in a container or the converse, and I'm like: Yes, that's great! So I get back to base and I am doing this, just for fun to create an infinite fuel factory or whatever, and I realize that the packager just doesn't have a slot for a Somersloop. They must just hate fun, elegant twists. It would not break the game to allow this (you can always get infinite resources lots of other ways) or cause any other problem I can think of. Hmph!

The thing about constructing a factory and watching it churn is that it's basically the same thing as a programming project that you invented for yourself, and it's probably better to do the programming project. Here's progress on my mysterious rectangle:

Minusweeper 2

It's good progress if I do say so myself! Anything but black here is a Satisfactory result, which is 90.55% of them at this point. I may need heavy machinery for the remaining 9.45%, but that is part of the fun.

I think that's really it for this month! Please vote in the US Elections if you can (but I guess also vote in any important elections. And obviously, vote for the good guys???). And happy Halloween!

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Tarot: Headless Horseman edition Nick Lawyer REDFeather (October 28, 2023) Reviewed by N. Richards What a wonderful way to honour the Irving Washington classic gothic story of 1822, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” and the season of autumn as well as the art of Tarot all in one hit of […]

The post Card Deck Review: THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW TAROT first appeared on Hellnotes.

UK Sport announces a large investment in British Ski and Snowboarding to be spent in the run-up to the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.

Today's pizza a day diet pizza came from the Austin Beer Garden Brewing Co. at 1305 W. Oltorf (right next to the train tracks).

I hit the place in mid-afternoon, so it was pretty empty (Happy hour is from 3 pm to 7 pm, though, so it filled quickly :-)).  You order food and beer at the bar and they bring it to your table.  Inside are long wooden tables with benches, for social/communal beer-gardening in the Bavarian tradition.  Outside are round tables under the live oaks for beer gardening in the Austin tradition. :-).

I ordered a sausage pizza (boring, I know :-), but I like to try new places out on the basics).  It was delivered hot and fresh; the crust was somewhat soft but firmed up after I let it cool a little.  It had a nice chew and stood up to the ingredients.  The sausage had a more subtle flavor than I was expecting, but I really liked it and its freshness.  The cheese and sauce were also quite good.


One of their "by the slice" choices had also caught my eye, so I ordered it as well.  This was venison, spinach, pesto, white bean, roasted tomato, roasted garlic, and ricotta.  This one was amazing (not that the sausage was bad).  The crust had just the right amount of crispness and chew, but the combination of toppings really made it.  It had a richness from the venison without being gamy or overwhelming, and the remaining ingredients provided a terrifically contrasting texture in every bite.


Oh, and the beer was darn good, too. :-).

Today I went back to the Cook's Illustrated Cookbook for their Chicago-style pizza recipe (No, they're not from Chicago, but their recipe is actually pretty close to others I've used in the past.). 

They've got a technique where you "laminate" the crust with butter to make it crispier.  It worked well with the sides, but I'm not sure that it quite worked with the bottom, but the crust did turn out pretty firm and full-bodied.  And rich.  Next time I might let it cook a little longer to see what happens.

The recipe for the sauce and the cheese were a bit different than what I've done before: using shredded mozzarella and diced tomatoes instead of mozzarella slices (or a fresh ball) and crushed tomatoes, but it turned out pretty well.  Next time, though, I think I'll go back to crushed with slices.

And the Star Trek pizza cutter is actually big enough to use on deep dish...

I had Brian Yansky and Frances Yansky over to share the results, so I didn't end up taking too many pictures, but here are a couple:

Pizza! And the Star Trek pizza cutter!

Frances poses with a slice.

The cat inspects the table.

 

Day 8 of ‪#‎PizzaADayDiet‬ is another thin crust, this one from Southside Flying Pizza. They call it “Neapolitan style,” which I guess is a really thin crust. I chose the whole wheat crust and it was pretty good – it stood up to the ingredients but I wouldn't have minded if it had been a tad crisper. The cheese was thoroughly melted and excellent, though, as were the toppings. The sausage had a good flavor and the peppers were nicely al dente. And the side salad was really good, as well.

An analysis of the U.S. Senate's FY 2025 budget request for NASA.

The tentative discovery hints at an habitat where life could potentially thrive.

NASA is underfunding planetary exploration relative to recommendations made by the National Academies Decadal Survey report, resulting in mission delays and cancelations.

From holes on Mars to a spun-around moon and a flipped reflection, space science involves looking at things from all different angles.

The European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft launched on Oct. 7, 2024, from Cape Canaveral, Florida. It will travel to the Didymos-Dimorphos asteroid system to study the aftermath of the first-ever field test of an asteroid deflection technique.

The Planetary Society is upgrading systems that will offer us many new capabilities and features that will enhance your membership experience.

From logos to policy to mission architectures, if you want to achieve something in space, you’ve got to design it first.

How the inclusion of Katie Taylor v Amanda Serrano on the bill legitimises the carnival of Mike Tyson v Jake Paul in Texas

New in the shop — Starry Woods and Tardigrades! scarves.

Popular destinations in Sweden



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