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All My Friends are Dead

Jul 31, 2014

"All my friends are dead" said the dinoraur.
"All my friends are dead" said the dodo bird.
"Most of my friends are dead, What? Oh, now all of my friends are dead" said the old man.
"All my friends expired on Tuesday" said the milk
"Please stop buying my friends if you are just going to slowly kill them" said the plant.
"This job makes me feel so alive" said the Grimm Reaper.

I bet i can maı̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̨̨̨̨̨ke you wipe your screen

Monitor Test

If you see dots or smudges in the white space, you should clean your monitor.

If you see dots, clean your monitor

Stephen King on Popular Movies

Stephen King Thoughts on Harry Potter and Twilight

"Harry Potter is about confronting fears, finding inner strength and doing what is right int he face of adversity. Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend."
 - Stephen King

10 Sentences That Can Change Your Perspective on Life

10 Sentences That Can Change Your Perspective on Life

People aren't against you; they are for themselves.

Climb mountains not so the world can see you, but so you can see the world.

You learn more from failure than from success. Don't let it stop you. Failure builds character.

The most dangerous risk of all - the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later.

Go where you're celebrated not where you're tolerated.

The person that you will spend the most time with in your life is yourself, so better try to make yourself as interesting as possible.

If you accept your limitations you go beyond them.

People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing. That's why we recommend it daily.

Everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something, and has lost something.

Comfort is the enemy of achievement.

Golden-crowned sifaka

Jul 29, 2014

The golden-crowned sifaka or Tattersall's sifaka is a medium-sized lemur characterized by mostly white fur, prominent furry ears, and a golden-orange crown. It is one of the smallest sifakas, weighing around 3.5 kg (7.7 lb) and measuring approximately 90 cm (35 in) from head to tail. Like all sifakas, it is a vertical clinger and leaper, and its diet includes mostly seeds and leaves. The golden-crowned sifaka is named after its discoverer, Ian Tattersall, who first spotted the species in 1974. However, it was not formally described until 1988, after a research team led by Elwyn Simons observed and captured some specimens for captive breeding.

Found in gallery, deciduous, and semi-evergreen forest, its restricted range includes 44 forest fragments, totaling an area of 44,125 hectares (109,040 acres; 170.37 sq mi), centered around the town of Daraina in northeast Madagascar. Its estimated population is between 6,000 and 10,000 individuals. It is primarily active during the day, although it also tends to be active at dawn and dusk during the rainy season. It sleeps in tall emergent trees and is preyed upon by the fossa. The golden-crowned sifaka lives in groups of around five to six individuals, containing a balanced number of adult males and females. Scent is used to mark territories, which are defended by growling, chasing, and ritualistic leaping displays. Reproduction is seasonal, with gestation lasting six months and lactation lasting five months. Infants are weaned during the wet season to ensure the best chances of survival.

The small range and fragmented populations of this species weigh heavily on its survival. Forest fragmentation, habitat destruction, poaching, slash-and-burn agriculture, and other human factors threaten its existence. The golden-crowned sifaka is listed by the IUCN Red List as Endangered. Its range was originally not covered by any national parks or protected areas in Madagascar, but a new protected area was established in 2005 to include a 20,000 ha (49,000 acres; 77 sq mi) portion. Attempts have been made to keep the golden-crowned sifaka in captivity at the Duke Lemur Center in Durham, North Carolina. The small colony was maintained from 1988 to 2008. In Madagascar, lawlessness resulting from the 2009 political coup led to increased poaching of this species, and many were sold to local restaurants as a delicacy.

Taxonomy

The golden-crowned or Tattersall's sifaka, known locally as ankomba malandy (or akomba malandy, meaning "white lemur"), was discovered in 1974 north of Vohemar in northeast Madagascar by Ian Tattersall, who observed but did not capture the animal. Unsure of its classification, Tattersall provisionally considered it a variant of the silky sifaka in his 1982 book, The Primates of Madagascar, citing its mostly off-white to yellowish fur, but also noting its uncharacteristic orange crown patch and tufted ears. Driven by a report in 1986 that the forest where Tattersall had observed this unique sifaka was contracted to be clear-cut for charcoal production, a research team from the Duke Lemur Center, led by Elwyn Simons, obtained permits to capture specimens for a captive breeding program. Simons and his team were the first to capture and observe the golden-crowned sifaka, formally describing it as a new species in 1988 and naming it in honor of Tattersall. The specimens were found 6 to 7 km (3.7 to 4.3 mi) northeast of Daraina, a village in the northeast corner of Madagascar.

There have been conflicting studies regarding the taxonomic status of the golden-crowned sifaka. When described by Simons in 1988, size, vocalizations, and karyotypes (the number and appearance of chromosomes) were compared with the other sifakas. In terms of size, general morphology, and vocalizations, the golden-crowned sifaka is more comparable to the western forest sifakas in that it is smaller in length and weight. Its karyotype, however, is more similar to that of the eastern forest sifakas.

Anatomy and physiology

The golden-crowned sifaka is one of the smallest sifaka species with a weight of 3.4 to 3.6 kg (7.5 to 7.9 lb), a head-body length of 45 to 47 cm (18 to 19 in), a tail length of 42 to 47 cm (17 to 19 in), and total length of 87 to 94 cm (34 to 37 in). It is comparable in size to the sifakas inhabiting the southern and western dry forests, such as; Coquerel's sifaka, the crowned sifaka, Von der Decken's sifaka, and Verreaux's sifaka. It has a coat of moderately long, creamy-white fur with a golden tint, dark black or chocolate-brown fur on its neck and throat, pale orange fur on the tops of its legs and forelimbs, a white tail and hindlimbs, and a characteristic bright orange-gold crown. It is the only sifaka with prominent tufts of white fur protruding from its ears, making its head appear somewhat triangular and distinctive in appearance. Its eyes are orange, and its face is black and mostly hairless, with dark gray-black fur with white hairs stretching from beneath the eyes to the cheeks. Its snout is blunt and rounded, and its broad nose helps to distinguish it from other sifakas. Occasionally the bridge of the nose will have a patch of white fur. Similar to other sifakas, this arboreal animal has long, strong legs that enable it to cling and leap between tree trunks and branches.

Geographic range and habitat

The geographic range of the crowned lemur overlaps the range of the golden-crowned sifaka.
The golden-crowned sifaka lives in dry deciduous, gallery, and semi-evergreen forests and is found at altitudes up to 500 m (1,640 ft), though it seems to prefer lower elevations. Surveys have shown it to be limited to highly fragmented forests surrounding the town of Daraina in an area encircled by the Loky and Manambato rivers in northeastern Madagascar. The golden-crowned sifaka has one of the smallest geographic ranges of all indriid lemur species. Out of 75 forest fragments studied by researchers, its presence could be definitively reported in only 44, totaling 44,125 ha (109,040 acres; 170.37 sq mi). This study, published in 2002, also estimated the total species population and observed population densities. Home range size varied between 0.18 and 0.29 km2 (0.069 and 0.112 sq mi) per group. With an average group size of five individuals, the population density ranged between 17 and 28 individuals per km2. The forested area available to the species within its desired elevation range was estimated at 360 km2 (140 sq mi), yielding an estimated population of 6,120–10,080 and a breeding population between 2,520 and 3,960 individuals. In 2006 and 2008 Quéméré et al. conducted line transect distance sampling in 5 of the main forest fragment of its distribution range yielding an updated estimate of the population size of ~18,000 individuals.

The species is sympatric (coexists) with two other medium-sized lemurs: the Sanford's brown lemur and the crowned lemur.

Behavior

The golden-crowned sifaka is primarily active during the day, but researchers have witnessed activity in the early morning and evening during the rainy season (November through April). In captivity, it has been observed feeding at night, unlike captive Verreaux's sifakas. It travels between 461.7 and 1,077 m (1,515 and 3,533 ft) per day, an intermediate range compared to other sifakas of the eastern forests. The golden-crowned sifaka can be observed feeding and resting higher in the canopy during the dry season (May through October). It sleeps in the taller trees (the emergent layer) of the forest at night.

When stressed, the golden-crowned sifaka emits grunting vocalizations as well as repeated "churrs" that escalate into a high-amplitude "whinney." Its ground predator alarm call, which sounds like "shē-fäk", closely resembles that of Verreaux's sifaka. It also emits mobbing alarm calls in response to birds of prey.

Social organization

The social structure of the golden-crowned sifaka is very similar to that of Verreaux's sifaka, both averaging between five and six individuals per group, with a range between three to ten. Unlike the Verreaux's sifaka, group sex ratios are more evenly balanced, consisting of two or more members of both sexes. Females are dominant within the group, and only one female breeds successfully each season. Males will roam between groups during the mating season.

Because of their smaller home ranges relative to other sifakas, group encounters are slightly more common, occurring a few times a month. It has been noted that the temperament of the golden-crowned sifaka is more volatile than that of other sifaka species and, in the case of a dispute, this animal frequently emits a grunt-like vocalization that seems to signal annoyance. Aggressive interactions between groups are generally non-physical but include loud growling, territorial marking, chasing, and ritualistic leaping displays. Same-sexed individuals act most aggressively towards each other during such encounters. Scent marking is the most common form of territorial defense, with scent marks acting as "signposts" to demarcate territorial boundaries. Females use glands in the genital regions ("anogenital") while males use both anogenital and chest glands.


Pygmy Marmoset

Jul 28, 2014

The world's smallest species of monkey.

The pygmy marmoset is a small New World monkey native to rainforests of the western Amazon Basin in South America. It is notable for being the smallest monkey and one of the smallest primates in the world at just over 100 grams (3.5 oz) (Madame Berthe's mouse lemur is smaller). It is generally found in evergreen and river edge forests.
Pygmy Marmoset
Pygmy Marmoset

About 83% of the pygmy marmoset population lives in stable troops of two to nine individuals, including a dominant male, a breeding female, and up to four successive litters of offspring. The modal size of a standard stable troop would be 6 individuals. Although most groups consist of family members, some may also include 1-2 additional adult members. Members of the group communicate using a complex system including vocal, chemical, and visual signals. There are three main calling signals that depend on the distance the call needs to travel. These monkeys may also make visual displays when threatened or to show dominance. Chemical signaling using secretions from glands on the chest and genital area allow the female to indicate to the male when she is able to reproduce. The female gives birth to twins twice a year and the parental care is shared between the group.

The pygmy marmoset has been viewed as somewhat different from typical marmosets, most of which are classified in the genera Callithrix and Mico, and thus is accorded its own genus, Cebuella, within the family Callitrichidae. It is listed as Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as it is common across its wide range and not at immediate risk of widespread decline. The biggest threats to the species are habitat loss and the pet trade.
Pygmy Marmoset climbing tree

Physical description

The pygmy marmoset is one of the world's smallest primates, and is the smallest true monkey, with a head-body length ranging from 117 to 152 millimetres (4.6 to 6.0 in) and a tail of 172 to 229 millimetres (6.8 to 9.0 in). The average adult body weight is just over 100 grams (3.5 oz) with the only sexual dimorphism of females being a little heavier. The fur colour is a mixture of brownish-gold, grey, and black on its back and head and yellow, orange, and tawny on its underparts. Its tail has black rings and its face has flecks of white on its cheeks and a white vertical line between its eyes. It has many adaptations for arboreal living including the ability to rotate its head 180 degrees and sharp claw-like nails used to cling to branches and trees. Its dental morphology is adapted to feeding on gum, with specialised incisors that are used to gouge trees and stimulate sap flow. Its cecum is larger than usual to allow for the greater period of time gum takes to break down in the stomach. The pygmy marmoset walks on all four limbs and can leap up to five meters between branches.
Pygmy Marmoset baby

Ecology

Geographic range and habitat

The pygmy marmoset can be found in much of the western Amazon Basin, in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. The western pygmy marmoset, Cebuella pygmaea pygmaea, occurs in the state of Amazonas, Brazil, eastern Peru, southern Colombia, and north-eastern Ecuador. The eastern pygmy marmoset, C. p. niveiventris, is also found in Amazonas, but also in Acre, Brazil, eastern Peru, and northern Bolivia. The distribution of both subspecies is often limited by rivers. It typically lives in the understory of the mature evergreen forests and often near rivers. Population density is correlated with food tree availability. It can be found between ground level and about 20 metres (66 ft) into the trees but generally does not enter the top of the canopy. It is often found in areas with standing water for more than three months of the year.

Pygmy Marmoset on branch

Diet

This monkey has a specialized diet of tree gum. It gnaws holes in the bark of appropriate trees and vines with its specialized dentition to elicit the production of gum. When the sap puddles up in the hole, it laps it up with its tongue. It also lies in wait for insects, especially butterflies, which are attracted to the sap holes. It supplements its diet with nectar and fruit. A group's home range is 0.1 to 0.4 hectares (0.25 to 0.99 acre), and feeding is usually concentrated on one or two trees at a time. When those become depleted, a group moves to a new home range. Brown-mantled tamarins are generally sympatric with pygmy marmosets and often raid pygmy marmosets' gum holes.

Pygmy marmosets have adapted insect-like claws, known as tegulae, to engage in a high degree of claw-clinging behaviors associated with plant exudate exploitation. Exudate is any material that oozes out of a plant, including gum, sap, resin, and latex. Claw-clinging is primarily used during feeding, but also during plant exudate foraging.
Pygmy Marmoset playing

Behaviour

A pygmy marmoset group, ranging from two to nine members, contains one or two adult males and one or two adult females, including a single breeding female and her offspring. Interbirth interval ranges from 149–746 days. In contrast to other callitrichines, there is no relationship between the number of adult males and the number of infants and offspring. However, there is a significant positive relationship between the number of juveniles and the number of adult and subadult group members. Young marmosets typically remain in the group for two consecutive birth cycles. The pygmy marmoset uses special types of communication to give alerts and warning to its family members. These include chemical, vocal, and visual types of communication. It is believed to serve to promote group cohesion and avoidance of other groups.

Social systems

Infant pygmy marmosets, along with their parents, twin, and other siblings, form cooperative care groups. Babbling, or vocalizing, by the infant marmoset is a key part of its relationships with its family members and is a major part of its development. As the infant develops, the babbling gradually changes to resemble and eventually become adult vocalization. There are many similarities between the development of vocalization in infant pygmy marmosets and speech in infant humans. Vocalizing gives the infant advantages such as increased care and allows the entire family to coordinate their activities without seeing each other.

Siblings also participate in infant care. Infant marmosets require the most attention, so having more family members participating in the care decreases the cost for any individual and also teaches parenting skills to the juvenile marmosets. Members of the group, usually female, may even put off their own reproduction through a temporary cessation of ovulation in order to care for the offspring of others in the group. The ideal number of caregivers for an infant marmoset has been shown to be around five individuals. Caregivers are responsible for finding food for the infants as well helping the father watch for predators.

The pygmy marmoset is a non-seasonal breeder and usually gives birth to twins once or twice a year. However, single births occur 16% of the time and triplet births 8% of the time. The pygmy marmoset is usually monogamous though there is some variation within the species in terms of breeding systems. Polyandry (female has more than one male mate) also occurs as male marmosets are responsible for carrying the infants on their backs. Having a second male to carry the offspring can be beneficial as marmoset litters are often twins and decreases the cost to any particular male. The daily range of the pygmy marmoset, however, is relatively small, which decreases the rate of polyandry.

Male and female pygmy marmosets show differences in foraging and feeding behavior, although male and female dominance and aggressive behavior varies within the species. Males have less time to search out food sources and forage due to the constraints of their infant caring responsibilities and predator vigilance. Without an infant to carry, female pygmy marmosets have greater freedom to forage, giving them an apparent feeding priority. This priority may serve to compensate mothers for the energetic costs of carrying and lactating for two offspring at a time. However, the fact that feeding priority is also given to females without offspring weakens the argument. Instead, female feeding priority may have evolved through sexual selection. Females may choose mates who invest more time in infant care and predator vigilance. Such males have less time to look for food, allowing the female feeding priority.

Communication

The pygmy marmoset is well known for its communication abilities including an intricate system of calls. The trill is used during feeding, foraging, and when travelling and the group is close together. The J-call is a series of fast notes repeated by the caller and is used at medium distances. Both calls are used as contact calls. The long call is used when the group is spread out over distances greater than ten meters or in response to a neighboring group. The pygmy marmoset uses the trill for short distance communication, J-calls for intermediate distances, and long calls for long distances; these have respectively decreasing frequencies. It is capable of distinguishing both the type of call and the individual making the call. Research based on audio playback tests shows that calls recorded from different individuals in captivity varied significantly in all seven auditory parameters analyzed for each type of call. Behavioral responses to trills were greatest when the caller was the dominant male of the group. Responses to J-calls were greatest when the caller was the monkey's mate or a same-sex monkey from outside the group. Varying responses to individual callers were only observed when the call was given spontaneously from another animal rather than being played back from a recording, with one exception. That exception was that male monkeys responded to playbacks of their own calls differently from those of other monkeys, when the call was played back from a familiar location. It is thought the pygmy marmoset reacts at first to the type of call that is being made and then adjusts its behavior slightly to react to the specific individual that is making the call. This allows the marmoset to react appropriately to all calls but show some variation when the call gives extra information.

Environmental factors play a role in communication by affecting the frequency of the signal and how far the signal can travel and still be audible to communicate the desired message. Since the pygmy marmoset is often found in the rain forest, plant life, and the humid atmosphere, add to the normal absorption and scattering of sound. Because low frequency calls are affected less by the disturbances than their high frequency counterparts, they are used for communication across longer distances. The pygmy marmoset changes the characteristics of its calls when its social environment is changed. Adult marmosets will show modifications in the structure of their calls which mimic that of their group members. In addition to changes of existing calls, novel calls may be heard from marmosets after pairing.

The pygmy marmoset has other ways to communicate information about matters such as the female's ovulatory state. New World monkeys do not show genital swelling during ovulation as female Old World monkeys do. Instead, a lack of female aggression towards males can serve as a signal of ovulation. Scent glands on its chest, anus, and genitals are also rubbed on surfaces which leave chemical signals about the reproductive state of the female. The pygmy marmoset also performs visual displays such as strutting, back-arching, and piloerection when it feels threatened or to show dominance.
Baby Pygmy Marmoset size of mans finger

Browser Funny - Internet Explorer Meme

Jul 13, 2014

Web browser rally meme

Web browser competition meme

Poking fun at the slowness of Internet Explorer as a web browser using memes. Leave a like if you use Internet Explorer, and leave a comment if you use another browser.

NATO Phonetic Alphabet

The NATO phonetic alphabet, more accurately known as the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet and also called the ICAO phonetic or ICAO spelling alphabet, as well as the ITU phonetic alphabet, is the most widely used spelling alphabet. Although often called "phonetic alphabets", spelling alphabets are not associated with phonetic transcription systems such as the International Phonetic Alphabet. Instead, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) alphabet assigned code words acrophonically to the letters of the English alphabet so that critical combinations of letters and numbers can be pronounced and understood by those who transmit and receive voice messages by radio or telephone regardless of language barriers or the presence of transmission static.

The 26 code words in the NATO phonetic alphabet are assigned to the 26 letters of the English alphabet in alphabetical order as follows: Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliett, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu.

Code words


USMC NATO Phonetic Alphabet CommunicationsThe final choice of code words for the letters of the alphabet and for the digits was made after hundreds of thousands of comprehension tests involving 31 nationalities. The qualifying feature was the likelihood of a code word being understood in the context of others. For example, football has a higher chance of being understood than foxtrot in isolation, but foxtrot is superior in extended communication.

The pronunciation of the code words varies according to the language habits of the speaker. To eliminate wide variations in pronunciation, recordings and posters illustrating the pronunciation desired by the ICAO are available. However, there are still differences in pronunciation between the ICAO and other agencies, and the ICAO has conflicting Roman-alphabet and IPA transcriptions. Also, although all codes for the letters of the alphabet are English words, they are not in general given English pronunciations. Assuming that the transcriptions are not intended to be precise, only 11 of the 26—Bravo, Echo, Hotel, Juliet(t), Kilo, Mike, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Whiskey, and Zulu—are given English pronunciations by all these agencies, though not always the same English pronunciations.

Letters

LetterCode wordUS Army standard
AAlfa ATIS: AlphaAL fah
BBravoBRAH voh
CCharlieCHAR lee
DDeltaDEL tah
EEchoEKK oh
FFoxtrotFOKS trot
GGolfGolf
HHotelHO tell
IIndiaIN dee ah
JJuliett ATIS: JulietJEW lee ett
KKiloKEY loh
LLimaLEE mah
MMikeMike
NNovemberNOH vem ber
OOscarOSS car
PPapaPAH pah
QQuebeckeh BECK
RRomeoROW me oh
SSierrasee AIR ah
TTangoTANG go
UUniformYOU nee form
VVictorVIK ter
WWhiskeyWISS key
XX-ray or XrayEKS ray
YYankeeYANG kee
ZZuluZOO loo
-
(hyphen)
DashDASH

Digits

DigitCode wordPronunciation
0ZeroZEE-RO
1OneWUN
2TwoTOO
3ThreeTREE
4FourFOW-ER
5FiveFIFE
6SixSIX
7SevenSEV-EN
8EightAIT
9NinerNIN-ER
100HundredHUN-dred
1000ThousandTOU-SAND
.
(decimal point)
DecimalDAY-SEE-MAL
.
(full stop)
StopSTOP


31 Cats and Dogs to smile and laugh

Jul 9, 2014


Photo gallery of thirty-one adorable, humerus and lovable dogs, cats and other furry friends. Guaranteed to cause smiles and laughter. Comment and share for everyone picture that reminds you of a special someone.

Adorable puppy sleeping upside-down

Tiny dog frightened by buddle

Cat I don't do touchy feely I do scratchy-bleedy meme

Meme ///and then the cat fell in the toilet... and, and...dude stop! STOP! You're killing me!! dogs laughing

Dog Hair is a condiment in this house Disney meme

Giant white furry dog standing bigger than woman

Three puppies sleeping in inflatable pool toy

Am I doing it right? Cat meme tiger

You know its hot when even the dog starts to melt meme

Adorable kitty meme "I don't think I like your attitude"

Cut dog meme "I forgot my doggies dentures!"

No, I have not slept well why do you ask? Monkey meme

No, I haven't seen your LSD... Have you seen the '&!?#$@ DRAGON in the kitchen? cat meme

Don't you just hate it when you find dog hair in your drinking water meme

Farmer dog meme. Ya'll from the city?

Beagle sleeping on two pots

My windows aren't dirty... That's my dog's Nose Art

Dude... I found your brownies. High dog meme

Dogs head out sun roof

I see dead people! Of it's just you without makeup. My bad. Cat meme

Escape attempt 5 percent complete. Dog squishing face through crate

Ahh... Monday is over! dog meme

Liar! We're going to the vet, not McDonald's! Angry Cat meme

Owner said meow he understands my language. Surprised cat meme

There are no bad days... when you come home to a DOGS LOVE.

I kissed a dog And I liked it. Cat Katy Perry Parody

Why in the world would you get a tattoo there of all places? A bottle of tequila, bored and the wrong friends with me. Monkey meme

If I had a dollar for every time my dog made me smile, I would be a millionaire.

Dog meme. nuffin like da feel of da wind in ur teef. Nothing like the feeling of the wind in your teeth.

Dog pulls cart filled with puppies

Hurry! Take the picture. Scary dog meme