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Gerard Mourou—one of the three winners of the 2018 Nobel Prize for Physics—claims that the lifespan of radioactive waste could potentially be cut to minutes from thousands of years. Although Mourou, 74, is quick to say that the laser option for nuclear waste that he and Irvine, California-based Professor Toshiki Tajima are working on may be years away, its promise has created a flurry of excitement for the sector in France.
Born: 22 June 1944, Albertville, France
Affiliation at the time of the award: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA, École Polytechnique, Palaiseau, France
The Guardian and Scientific American provided simplified summaries of the work of Strickland and Mourou: it “paved the way for the shortest, most intense laser beams ever created”. “The ultrabrief, ultrasharp beams can be used to make extremely precise cuts so their technique is now used in laser machining and enables doctors to perform millions of corrective” laser eye surgeries.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged the achievements of Mourou and Strickland: “Their innovative work can be found in applications including corrective eye surgery, and is expected to have a significant impact on cancer therapy and other physics research in the future”.
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Poland Spring accused of defrauding consumers by peddling water from ‘phony’ springs
“Not one drop” of Poland Spring water is spring-fed, claims the 325-page lawsuit on behalf of consumers from Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
A federal judge in Connecticut on Thursday gave the green light to a class-action lawsuit claiming the bottled water company’s owner, Nestle SA, defrauded customers by filling their bottles with ordinary groundwater
The Science of Flint’s Water Crisis
https://youtu.be/BAIXmt58iBU
In 2015 and 2016, headlines throughout the United States were captured by a human-made water crisis in Flint, Michigan: a chain of events that resulted in the city’s approximately 100,000 residents being exposed to dangerous levels of lead contamination in their tap water due to financial decisions made at the state level.
A DIY Groundwater Model
https://www.sciencefriday.com/educational-resources/diy-groundwater-model In many places, water for municipal and household use comes from underground aquifers. If the groundwater in such a place became contaminated, the consequences could easily affect entire cities or more.
National Drinking Water Alliance https://www.drinkingwateralliance.org Readers interested in learning more about water safety and policy in the United States may want to check out the National Drinking Water Alliance (NDWA). This network of organizations aims to “ensure that all children in the U.S. can drink safe water in the places where they live, learn and play” and describes its website as “the nationwide clearinghouse for essential drinking water research and resources.”
The Center for Great Lakes Literacy https://www.cgll.org
North America’s Great Lakes account for approximately 20 percent of the world’s surface freshwater an excellent educational resource.
2016 The Resnicks’ Kern County Water Bank water deal.
A legal cloud has long shadowed the Resnicks’ water deal. The Kern County Water Bank was originally acquired in 1988 by the state to serve as an emergency water supply for the Los Angeles area—at a cost to taxpayers of $148 million in today’s dollars.
In 2014, a judge ruled that the Department of Water Resources had turned the water bank over to the farmers without properly analyzing environmental impacts.
A new environmental review is due next month, and a coalition of environmental groups and water agencies is suing to return the water bank to public ownership. Adam Keats, senior attorney at the Center for Food Safety, describes the transfer of the water bank to the Resnicks and other farmers as “an unconstitutional rip-off.”
And here’s a key fact to consider against this backdrop: The Resnicks aren’t just pumping to irrigate their fruit and nut trees—they’re also in the business of farming water itself. Their land came with decades-old contracts with the state and federal government that allow them to purchase water piped south by state canals. The Kern Water Bank gave them the ability to store this water and sell it back to the state at a premium in times of drought.
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/04/lynda-stewart-resnick-california-water
According to an investigation by the Contra Costa Times, between 2000 and 2007 the Resnicks bought water for potentially as little as $28 per acre-foot (the amount needed to cover one acre in one foot of water) and then sold it for as much as $196 per acre-foot to the state, which used it to supply other farmers whose Delta supply had been previously curtailed. The couple pocketed more than $30 million in the process. If winter storms replenish the Kern Water Bank this year, they could again find themselves with a bumper crop of H2O. Meanwhile, the fight between farmers and smelt has plodded on, with the Resnicks becoming prominent advocates for pumping even more water south to farms. In 2007, a group called the Coalition for a Sustainable Delta began using lawsuits of its own to assign blame for the estuary’s decline to just about everything except farming: housing development in Delta floodplains, pesticide use by Delta farms, dredging, power plants, sport fishing, and pollution from mothballed ships. The coalition’s website doesn’t mention the Resnicks, but it originally listed a Paramount Farms fax number, and three of the four officers on its early tax documents were Resnick employees. http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/04/lynda-stewart-resnick-california-water
http://www.courthousenews.com/2016/08/12/nearly-a-quarter-of-us-now-in-drought.htm
2014 State failed to analyze effects of water bank, judge rules
A court ruling issued Wednesday could throw up obstacles to operation of a Kern County groundwater bank that has helped billionaire Stewart Resnick build a nut empire in the southern San Joaquin Valley. In the latest development in a two-decade legal fight, a Sacramento County Superior Court judge found that the state Department of Water Resources didn’t properly analyze the environmental impacts of the Kern Water Bank, which is partly controlled by Resnick’s Paramount Farms enterprise.
Meet the California Couple Who Uses More Water Than Every Home in Los Angeles Combined How megafarmers Lynda and Stewart Resnick built their billion-dollar empire.
Lynda Resnick and her husband, Stewart, also own a few other things: Teleflora, the nation’s largest flower delivery service; Fiji Water, the best-selling brand of premium bottled water; Pom Wonderful, the iconic pomegranate juice brand; Halos, the insanely popular brand of mandarin oranges formerly known as Cuties; and Wonderful Pistachios, with its “Get Crackin’” ad campaign. The Resnicks are the world’s biggest producers of pistachios and almonds, and they also hold vast groves of lemons, grapefruit, and navel oranges. All told, they claim to own America’s second-largest produce company, worth an estimated $4.2 billion.
Billionaires Behaving Badly: Lynda and Stewart ResnickWhen a Mother Jones reporter was in the country writing an expose on Fiji Water, she was snatched up by police from an internet cafe and detained.
Crystal Springs Preserve owner Robert Thomas speaks during the unveiling of WaterVentures, Florida’s Learning Lab at Crystal Springs Preserve in partnership with Zephyrhills Brand 100% Natural Spring Water on January 9, 2013 in Crystal Springs, Florida.
Zephyrhills, population 14,000, has long made its name on water. But it was when the bottling plant south of town began filling 4 million to 5 million bottles of water every day.
Every day, 30 million gallons of water gush from the Floridan aquifer into Crystal Springs. Nestled in what is now a 525-acre wildlife preserve, the springs are almost alien in their beauty: impossibly clear, perpetually cool and, in spots, the same turquoise color as the Zephyrhills label.
Florida springs have been suffering in recent years due to pollution such as fertilizers and nitrates. “They convinced us that this water was somehow better than the water in our taps even though it’s no better, and then convinced us to pay 1,000 or 10,000 times more for it,” she said.
Nestlé Waters North America, Inc. corporate giant Nestle, which also owns Perrier and other bottled water brands. Based in Stamford, Connecticut with 7,500 employees nationwide.
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There is Nothing new under the sun, so if you were born after 1985 this may sound like fossil hunting, however this really happened!
Swing Hostess is a comedy that shows a fictional company named Jukebox Emporium Company using the real technology – serving music from vinyl records through the telephone wire that allowed Jukebox users to hear the requested songs.
Watch Swing Hostess 1944 Comedy
Lots of sexist, nasty comments about “those kind of women”
► 33:38 Jukebox User Request to the operator:
How About the Cook Stove Special?
Yeah, you know Home on the Range. 🙂
► 14:00 The Job Training explains the “File” system
In the beginning of Wired Music technology, you ordered your song to play by telephone. The company service had a central office with operators who loaded disks onto record players. It only served a limited area of office buildings and other businesses. The bandwidth of the premium phone lines was better than a standard phone line (300-3000 Hz), but still not exactly “hi-fi”, but for 78 records it was good enough.
► 34:00 Get the marines! we’ve got a war to wage.
► 34:24 The company phone operator receives a phone call from the Juke Box “User” who has paid .25¢, .10¢, or .05¢ cents to hear the vinyl record spin the requested song through the telephone wire to the customer/user who paid to hear it.
► From vinyl records, cassettes, CDs, Napster files, mp3, mp4, wav etc, ipod players, cell phones to Streaming companies where it is no longer necessary to own the file.
Now we pay $10.00 monthly for all you can eat modern cloud based streaming tech companies when a user can choose from millions of files.
The Shyvers Multiphone, released in 1939 by Kenneth C. Shyvers, was an early model of a coin-operated phonograph (also known as a jukebox). It allowed patrons at restaurants, cafes and bars to play music at their table, and worked through telephone lines. The user inserted the necessary amount of coins, and was connected to a team of all-female disc jockeys in Seattle, who manually put on the selected song on a phonograph, playing the music through the telephone connection. At the height of the product’s popularity, the 8,000 Multiphones were used in various establishments primarily on the west coast.
– Shyvers’ 1947 patent for his music box design
– Development of Telephone Line Broadcasting Systems
-A Centralized Music Library
The Multiphone was a music selection device that operated over telephone lines mostly in Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia, Washington from 1939 to 1959.
It was created by Kenneth and Lois Shyvers of the Seattle, Washington area. This man also invented the pinball machine. The Multiphone is a version of a jukebox wall box.
These units were typically placed on tables, counters or bars. A patron could deposit a coin and speak with a telephone operator standing at a turntable at the Central Music studio, who would then play a selection in the speaker at the bottom of the Multiphone. These units became popular because they had a record range of 170 whereas jukeboxes only had a record range of 20-48.
These units sat on tables, counters, and bars. The system required two leased telephone lines, one for the multiphone, one for the loudspeakers on the wall that were connected to the record playing station. First you would select from the 170 choices of tunes, drop the correct amount of dimes in the coin slot at the top of the machine, for your selections. The two lights in the middle of the unit would then light up, and thru one of the leased telephone lines the disc jockey would be alerted and then they would talk direct to you thru the speaker in the top of the unit to find out your choices. You would give the numbered choices, they would then be played, with the sound coming thru the four inch speaker in the bottom of the unit. These units became popular because they had a record range of 170 whereas jukeboxes only had 20-24. The jukebox was remodeled to play 180 45 rpm records and the multiphone could not compete and went out of business in 1959. This unit is buffed cast aluminum and has been rewired to plug in and see the lights work. There is also speaker wire attached to hook up to your unit if so desired. The condition is excellent for its age. All original except the cord, no dents, no rust and no pitting. …
Empire State Building Shyvers Jukebox Selector Pic
The Multiphone
played an important role in the evolution of the jukebox, an invention that grew to become a staple of its time and is still often used in cafes and restaurants to recreate the temporality of the mid 20th century.
The first recorded coin operated phonograph was presented in 1889, in a public demonstration at the Palais Royal Restaurant in San Francisco on November 23, 1889.
Louis T. Glass, the operator of this initial model, is credited as “the father of the concept.” Before delving into the phonograph world, Glass worked as a telegraph operator at Western Union, but then left the company with the advent of the telephone, investing in various telephone companies in Oakland and San Francisco. He eventually became the general manager of the Pacific States Telephone and Telegraph Co. After his successful investments, he then partnered with businessman William S. Arnold to further develop the coin-operated phonograph.
Though Glass is considered to be the “father” of the jukebox, he and Arnold only filed a patent for the “Coin Actuated Attachment for Phonographs,” not a completely functional coin-operated phonograph in 1889.
The Multiphone and jukeboxes created a new “social practice” of listening to the same music together as media scholar Jose van Dijck says in his article
“Record and Hold: Popular Music between personal and Collective memory.”
According to Dijck, a listener’s memory of music cannot be removed from the context in which it was experienced. For the people during the age of the Multiphone and jukeboxes, the conversations at bars and diners about selecting a song to play made a special place in listeners’ minds. More importantly, this very practice of going to a public place to listen to music is the effect of the technology’s power to create new rituals and thinking as media scholar, Marshall McLuhan discusses in his pivotal work, “The Medium Is The Message.”
Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) ruled to increase royalty payments to songwriters and music publishers from music streaming companies by nearly 44 percent, the biggest rate increase granted in CRB history. These rates will go into effect for interactive streaming and limited download services like Amazon, Apple, Google, and Spotify for the years 2018-2022, and will transform how songwriters are paid by these interactive streaming services.
This was a hearing pitting songwriters and music publishers against five technology companies, including three of the largest companies in the world (Apple, Amazon and Google), which sought to reduce the already low rate of royalties that they pay to songwriters for the use of their music on their streaming services. [monopolies vs. antitrust law]
Even though the songwriters were looking for a per-stream rate, that they did not get, the digital services were fighting to reduce rates, so it is still a victory for them. Streamlined rate terms replace calculations with a simplified formula based on the “greater of” concept. This, under previous conditions, may have involved dozens of computations involving different offerings has been reduced to two variables. Originally, songwriters asked the CRB to grant the greater of 15 cents per 100 streams or $1.06 per user per month, but they did gain ground. Over the last decade, since the beginning of music streaming, writer royalties had been strictly based on a percentage of each streaming service’s revenue, putting them at the mercy of subjective corporate decision-making.
► Broadcasts are considered a public performance, and garner a higher performance license rate. For instance, Rodney Jerkins illustrated the discrepancy in September at the Recording Academy’s District Advocacy Day in Los Angeles by sharing an accounting statement for “As Long As You Love Me,” a top 10 hit for Justin Bieber in 2012. By 2013, Jerkins’ stake in the song generated $146,000 in performance royalties, while streaming revenue from the same period garnered $278 for 38 million Pandora plays and $218 for 34 million YouTube streams.
The US Government Is Forcing Streaming Services to Pay Songwriters 43.8% 2018
The CRB ruling legitimizes and secures higher rates while also allowing for the possible removal of a contested provision in the controversial Music Modernization Act.
1) For the next five years (from 2018 – 2022) the per-stream royalty rate for mechanical royalties will increase incrementally from the current 10.5% of Gross revenue to 15.1% of Gross revenue. For example, in the current model, if a music service made $100 in Gross Revenue, then 10.5% of $100 is the pot of money being paid for all the compositions, an amount of $10.50. If there are 100 streams in that one month, the service divides $10.50 by 100 streams to get a per stream rate of $0.105 per stream Under the new model, by 2022, the 10.5% will increase to 15.1%. Doing the same calculation means each stream is now worth $0.151 per stream, an increase of about 40%.
2) If the music services pay the royalties late, they will be charged a late fee.
3) If a record label negotiates a higher rate with Spotify for the recording (as there is no government regulation or rate for recordings), then the royalty rate for the composition can also increase, but with a limit. For example, if a record label gets 70% of Gross Revenue, then the amount being paid for the composition could theoretically increase to above 15.1%.
► 2019 The CRB mandated 15.1% rate, phasing in over the next five years, is one of the highest rates in the world and is now a rate that must be met under the law.
► 1927 The jukebox business gets a National Automatic Music Company
License http://jukeboxlicense.org/Q_A.htm► The first recorded coin operated phonograph was presented in 1889, in a public demonstration at the Palais Royal Restaurant in San Francisco on November 23, 1889.
► 1888 – 1998 History of the Coin-Operated Phonographs pdf by Gert J. Almind
The conference programs will take place at the Benson Hotel, an historic hotel located within walking distance of shopping, dining, and entertainment in the Pearl District, Pioneer Square, and downtown Portland. It is within striking distance of several of the city’s many record stores and Powell’s City of Books. Museums include the Portland Art Museum, Oregon Historical Society, and the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.
The pre-conference workshop, “All Things Digital: Digital Audio Workstation Basics,” will be held on May 8, 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., at the Crystal Ballroom, in the Benson Hotel.
A block of rooms has been reserved at special rates for ARSC conference attendees. ARSC’s contracted dates extend from May 7-11. Additionally, the group rate will be honored three days before and three days after, based on availability. The deadline for reservations at the group rate is April 12. After that date, reservations will be accepted on a space available basis at the prevailing rate.
Information about the hotel, room rates, and reservations:
Register early and save! In order to receive the early registration discount, you must register for the conference by April 19. Registration options are available for members and non-members. A special fee waiver program is available for student members. Online registration is now available at:
For general information about the conference, contact Brenda Nelson-Strauss, Conference Manager: bnelsons—-{[@]} —–indiana.edu
To discuss or arrange sponsorship, exhibits, or advertising, contact Curtis Peoples, Assistant Conference Manager: Curtis.Peoples–{[@]} –ttu.edu
CONFERENCE PROGRAM
The preliminary conference schedule (subject to change) PDF
ARSC is dedicated to the preservation and study of sound recordings — in all genres of music and speech, in all formats, and from all periods. Reflecting this broad mission, the upcoming conference offers talks and sessions that will appeal to both professionals and collectors.
Presenters include representatives from archives across North America and Europe, as well as record collectors, dealers, audio engineers and producers, academics, historians, and musicians.
This year’s plenary sessions are:
Presentations and session topics include:
► Thursday evening “Ask the Technical Committee”
► Friday evening open to the general public “Collectors’ Roundtable”
Friday evening, join Mark Cantor for the music-on-film event, “Music is Where You Find It.” Most fans of music on film are well aware of the riches to be found within feature films, short subjects, SOUNDIES, and television broadcasts. But popular music — jazz, blues, country, ethnic, and just plain “pop” — can be found in many other film genres. In this session, we will explore some of the other sources — often neglected when music on film is discussed — where great performances can be found: fund raising films, industrial shorts, television commercials, raw newsreel footage, experimental and independent films, propaganda pieces, animated cartoons, and home movies. This program is drawn from the Celluloid Improvisations Music Film Archive, perhaps the largest private collection of musical content where 16mm sound film is the primary source. Join us for a session of rarities that includes appearances from Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Helen Humes, Don Shirley, Big Bill Broonzy, “Cannonball” Adderley, Spade Cooley, Eddie Lang, and many more!
► PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP
“All Things Digital: Digital Audio Workstation Basics” is a full-day, hands-on workshop on May 8, at the Benson Hotel. The workshop will give attendees a practical overview of digital audio workstation use for archival applications. It is intended for archivists, collection managers, researchers, students, and anyone who needs to have a working knowledge of digital audio. No previous experience necessary. The workshop is limited to 50 attendees.
OPTIONAL PRE-CONFERENCE TOUR
On May 8, tour Cascade Record Pressing, the first large-production, automated record pressing plant in the Pacific Northwest. It is Oregon’s only vinyl record pressing plant, and produces high-quality records for discerning artists and labels. Learn about all aspects of the record pressing process. Cascade Record Pressing is located about 20 minutes southeast of downtown Portland in Milwaukie. Grace Krause, Project Manager at Cascade Record Pressing, is generously offering a pre-conference tour for a limited number of participants (maximum: 15). Participants meet in the Benson Hotel lobby at 1:15 p.m. for 1:30 p.m. departure for the tour. Transportation will be by shared Uber vehicles. Participants return to hotel at 3:30 p.m. Fee applies (covers transportation).
NEWCOMER ORIENTATION and MENTORING PROGRAM
ARSC invites first-time conference attendees and conference veterans to participate in the Conference Mentoring Program. The program pairs newcomers with long-time members, based on their shared interests. Mentors provide mentees with an orientation to the conference, the association, and its participants in informal meetings over the course of the conference. Only ARSC veterans who are committed to the mentoring program should volunteer.
AWARDS BANQUET
The conference will conclude on Saturday evening with the annual Awards Banquet. Winners of the 2018 Awards for Excellence and 2019 Lifetime Achievement and Distinguished Service awards will be honored. Finalists for the 2019 Awards for Excellence will be announced.
The Association for Recorded Sound Collections is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and study of sound recordings — in all genres of music and speech, in all formats, and from all periods. ARSC is unique in bringing together private individuals and institutional professionals — everyone with a serious interest in recorded sound.