The word “audacity” is usually used to describe lies, so a new reading of Audacity of Hope: lies and hope are interchangeable. In a sense, we were already warned what Obama would deliver.

A recent paper written by Daniel Castro of the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation and promoted by the MPAA on Capitol Hill argues in favor of DNS filtering to block access to copyright-infringing sites.  In an effort to argue the effectiveness of DNS filtering, Castro cites research from Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society that suggests that “no more than 3 percent of Internet users in countries that engage in substantial filtering use circumvention tools.”

What is worth noting here is that the countries cited in the Berkman Center paper—China, Iran, the UAE, Armenia, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Bahrain, Burma, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam— are all countries that engage in pervasive censorship of the Internet.  Therefore, Castro is basically saying that since DNS filtering works for repressive regimes, it can work in the United States too!

It is also worth noting that the US Department of State has put significant resources into more than a dozen circumvention tools over the past few years.  In other words, those same tools that Castro hopes American citizens won’t use to access pirated content are in fact funded by the US government.

Source: December 19, 2011, This Week in Internet Censorship: DRC, Kazakhstan, and pro-SOPA ‘research,‘ eff.org

(i) ‘Extra’ class

Bananas in this class must be of superior quality. They must have the characteristics typical of the variety and/or commercial type.

The fingers must be free from defects, apart from slight superficial blemishes not covering a total of more than 1 cm2 of the surface of the finger, which must not impair the general appearance of the hand or cluster, its quality, its keeping quality or the presentation of the package.

(ii) Class I

Bananas in this class must be of good quality. They must display the characteristics typical of the variety and/or commercial type.

However, the following slight defects of the fingers are allowed, provided they do not impair the general appearance of each hand or cluster, its quality, its keeping quality or the presentation of the package:

• slight defects in shape,
• slight skin defects due to rubbing and other slight superficial blemishes not covering a total of more than 2 cm2 of the surface of the finger.

Under no circumstances may such slight defects affect the flesh of the fruit.

(iii) Class II

This class covers bananas which do not qualify for inclusion in the higher classes but satisfy the minimum requirements specified above.

The following defects of the fingers are allowed, provided the bananas retain their essential characteristics as regards quality, keeping quality and presentation:

• defects of shape,
• skin defects due to scraping, rubbing or other causes, provided that the total area affected does not cover more than 4 cm2 of the surface of the finger.

Under no circumstances may the defects affect the flesh of the fruit.

Sizing is determined by:

• the length of the fruit expressed in centimetres and measured along the convex face, from the blossom end to the point where the peduncle joins the crown,
• the grade, i.e. the measurement, in millimetres, of the thickness of a transverse section of the fruit between the lateral faces and the middle, perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis.

The reference fruit for measurement of the length and grade is:

• the median finger on the outer row of the hand, 
• the finger next to the cut sectioning the hand, on the outer row of the cluster.

The minimum length permitted is 14 cm and the minimum grade permitted is 27 mm.

1. An example of
2. A function of
3. A derivative of
4. An expression of
5. An amalgam of
6. A by-product of
7. A distillate of

1. On the Burning Mirror¹
2. Conics²
3. Cutting off a Ratio 
4. On the Cylindrical Helix 
5. Quick Birthing 
6. Plane Loci 
7. On Verging Constructions 
8. Tangencies³
9. Cutting an Area 
10. On Determinate Sections⁴

1. Parallel beams of light hitting a spherical mirror do not converge at one point. 

2. All cuts as sections, at different angles, of the same cone…

3. A circle passing through the given points…

4. The points on a line must satisfy a given ratio.