I am very excited to announce a wonderful looking new exhibition curated by friend-of-Morbid-Anatomy and Minnesota Rogue Taxidermist Robert Marbury. With the ever increasing popularity of taxidermy in the fine arts world, this "Rogue Taxidermy Biennial Taxidermy Show"comes not a second too soon, and features the work of such creative-taxidermic luminaries as Sarina Brewer (top, "Sweet Dreams"), Adam Wallacavage, Jeanie M. (center, "Arabian Squirrel on a Flying Carpet"), Jessica Joslin, and our own Daisy Tainton (bottom, "A Patient's Despair"), teacher of Saturday's Anthropomorphic Insect Shadowbox workshop (more on that here).

If I was in Los Angeles, I would be on my way to see this right now! For those of you in the area, full info follows:

ROGUE TAXIDERMY
Our Biennial Taxidermy Show
La Luz de Jesus Gallery
May 4th – 27th, 2012

The Rogue Taxidermy 2012 Biennial, curated by Robert Marbury, features 25 of the most interesting artists working in taxidermy today. Rogue Taxidermy, a mixed-media art utilizing taxidermy materials, is more closely related to surrealism than to mainstream taxidermy. The work in this show spans genres and materials to expresses the individual artist's approach to and love of natural history and preservation.

There are some great photos from the opening here.
All members of the MINNESOTA ASSOCIATION OF ROGUE TAXIDERMISTS implicitly pledge by merit of their membership to abide by the following ethical regulations:

1. All members pledge to continually strive to make efficient use of the animals and parts of animals employed in the creation of their art. Wastefulness is strongly discouraged.

2. Animals shall be procured in a manner that does not require their termination for the explicit purpose of mounting or displaying. Collecting road-kill, accepting, purchasing animals from supply companies and from grocery stores are all considered to be acceptable, ethical means of procuring animals. Recycling and re-use are primary tenets of the association.

3. Please note that it is your responsibility to check with your local Department of Natural Resources and fish & wildlife authorities regarding your taxidermy activities. Be aware that endangered, threatened and protected species (including, but not exclusive to, raptors and songbirds) can only be mounted for museums and educational institutions providing all necessary permits. Roadkill is not excluded from these regulations. Additionally, in accordance with state and federal law, anything utilizing waterfowl, crows, or other restricted birds can only be mounted for the client who provides the animal with all attending permits.

4. If approached to create a custom mount which is generally considered to be a specialty of another M.A.R.T. member, it is strongly suggested that you recommend the services of that member to the potential customer before accepting the commission.

5. Members are greatly encouraged to participate in the care and conservation of living animals.

6. M.A.R.T. seeks to create an open dialogue about the place of animals in our culture. Protests, slander, and admonitions shall be greeted with an attempt to foster conversation. Reacting to criticism in a cruel or indignant way is considered antithetical to the M.A.R.T. mission statement.

You can find out more about this exhibiiton by clicking here. If you are interested in signing up for Daisy Tainton's class, click here for more.

Source:
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Leonardo da Vinci's 500-year-old illustrations of human anatomy are uncannily accurate with just one major exception: the female reproductive system.

That's probably because Leonardo had a tough time finding female corpses to dissect, explains Peter Abrahams, a practicing physician at the University of Warwick Medical School in the United Kingdom.

Abrahams, a clinical anatomist, has lent his knowledge to an audio tour of the exhibit of Leonardo's anatomical drawings that opened May 4 in Buckingham Palace.

The Italian Renaissance artist learned anatomy as a way to improve his drawings of the human form, but he also brought a scientist's eye to the discipline.

"He wanted to understand how it worked," Abrahams told LiveScience. "He looked at humans like a mechanic would do. Most of that work is very, very relevant today." [Anatomy Meets Art: Da Vinci's Drawings]

Anatomists in Leonardo's time often dissected unclaimed bodies, such as of drunks and vagrants, and those bodies were more likely to be male, Abrahams said.

"It was definitely harder to get female bodies to dissect, and he didn't have many opportunities," Abrahams said.

Advances in anatomy By Leonardo's time, few advances in human anatomy had been made since the second-century work by the Roman anatomist Galen, whose discoveries were largely based on animal dissections. Leonardo da Vinci had the advantage of access to human cadavers.

Abrahams says studying them would have been obnoxious work. "It must have been horrible, because they didn't have any form of embalming," he said. "Within two or three days that body decomposes."

Leonardo's sketches reveal a deep understanding of how the body worked, much of it still up-to-date. Modern anatomists have only begun in the last 60 years to look at the muscles and tendons of the finger in the detail that da Vinci did, Abrahams said. Leonardo was the first to draw the human spine with the correct curves. He also came tantalizingly close to understanding how blood moved through the body, a mystery that wouldn't be fully solved until 1628, more than a century after his death.

More:
The anatomy that Leonardo couldn't copy

'Grey's Anatomy' stars Ellen Pompeo and Patrick Dempsey have signed up for two more seasons of the show.

Ellen, Patrick, Sandrah Oh, Justin Chambers, James Pickens Jr. and Chandra Wilson have reportedly put pen to paper on new two-year deals that will see the ABC medical drama continue through the 2013/14 season, taking the programme past a 10th series, according to TVLine.

'Grey's Anatomy' - which is currently in its eighth season - attracted 9.25 million viewers in the US last week, and the show looks set to become one of the longest-running medical dramas in TV history.

Earlier this year, Katherine Heigl admitted she wants to return to the show, despite leaving in a storm of controversy in 2010 after criticising her character Dr. Izzie Stevens.

She previously said: "I've told them I want to (return). I don't know ... Being a showrunner and being a writer of a TV series like that is so complicated that I mean she's got how many characters are there now? There's a lot and so she's balancing about 40 different storylines, so I don't know if it fits in to their sort of vision for this season or next or however many seasons it goes."

Series narrator and lead female star Ellen - who has played Meredith Grey since the show started in 2005 - insisted she would be happy to continue portraying the surgical resident.

She explained: "If I hear from the fans that they want us to keep going, then I would continue because we owe them everything."

Continued here:
Grey's Anatomy stars sign on for more

Tonight at Observatory! Hope to see you there.

The Odditorium: The Architecture and Allure of Extremes
Illustrated lecture and booksigning with Melissa Pritchard, author of The Odditorium
Date: Monday, May 7
Time: 8:00
Admission: $5
Presented by Morbid Anatomy

Tonight, please join--Melissa Pritchard, award winning fiction writer, essayist and journalist--for an illustrated lecture on some of the more extreme and unusual historical personalities and architectures featured in her highly praised new collection of stories, The Odditorium. From the enigma of the German feral child, Kaspar Hauser, to St. Pelagia, Russian "holy fool," to Robert Ripley of Believe it or Not fame and the Wild West Show's sharpshooter Annie Oakley, Pritchard will discuss her own fascination with the bizarre, the haunted, the fantastic and the grotesque, including short excerpts from several stories while asking of herself and her audience the bigger question: What lies behind our cultural obsession with extremes, from the tragic to the sublime, from the monstrous to the transcendent?

Melissa Pritchardis a Flannery O’Connor, Janet Heidinger Kafka, and Carl Sandburg Award-winning author. She has also been an embedded journalist in Afghanistan, where she befriended Ashton Goodman, a young soldier she memorialized for O, The Oprah Magazine, and authored a biography of Virginia Galvin Piper that US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’ Connor called “a delight to read.” Founder of the Ashton Goodman Fund and a member of the Afghan Women’s Writing Project, helping to promote literacy and education for Afghan women and girls, she teaches at Arizona State University.

More here.

Source:
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Click to enlarge!

Click to enlarge!

Click to enlarge!

Illustrator Kelsey Niziolek says she “holds a special love in her (he)art for science, health, and medical related topics.” Her series titled, Body Oddities, is the result of a research project on the human body and its bizarre facts, including:

• If all the bacteria from the intestines was squeezed out, there would be enough to nearly fill an entire mug to the top.
• The human brain has a similar consistency to that of cooked spaghetti.
• Every tongue print is as unique as every finger print (a future for tongue scanners perhaps?)

View more of Kelsey’s illustration work at kelseyniz.com!

Source:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/streetanatomy/OQuC

Anatomy course creates hands-on learning environment for inner workings of humans

Pushing back the wet, steel-gray hair, Madison Tollisons lab partner revealed a bony face etched with wrinkles and weathered with age. Eyes closed, the cadaver did nothing but draw silence from the lab group.

The face represented an emotional milestone within OUs human anatomy course. Through examination of a persons face, an ordered collection of cells, organs and tissues became someones relative.

This is the person theyve been working with the whole semester, course professor Cindy Gordon said. [The face] brings back those initial feelings at the beginning of the semester.

And while the students have survived the demanding course, the cadavers have completed a trek of their own.

It all begins with a phone call, said Kayla McNeill, director of the University of Oklahoma Health Science Centers Willed Body Program.

The Willed Body Program, along with the Oklahoma State Anatomical Board, meet academic needs by providing cadavers for medical research and education.

Knowledge of the Willed Body Program usually passes by word of mouth, McNeill said. Once the potential donors are aware of the criteria they must meet, they eventually request and complete donor forms.

Upon the death of the donor, the family contacts the office, and the body is screened for any problems, which could include infectious disease, recent unhealed surgery or extreme obesity, McNeill said. The mortuary service picks up the accepted body and takes it to the programs facility. After a special type of embalming, the cadaver goes into storage and awaits transportation to an academic or research institution.

Read more:
Anatomy course creates hands-on learning environment

Hi all! we have just a few more slots for Chris Muller's upcoming comparative anatomy drawing class; full info follows. If interested in attending, shoot me an email at morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com.

Comparative Anatomy: Animals and the Fundamentals of Drawing Weekend Workshop
A weekend workshop with Chris Muller, NYU's Tisch School of the Arts
Dates: Saturday May 5 & Sunday May 6
Time: 1 - 4 PM
Fee: $75 (includes museum admission)
*** Class size limited to 15; Must RSVP to morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com
This class is part of The Morbid Anatomy Art Academy
Using animal and human anatomy as a jumping off point, this course will look at the ground-level, first principles of drawing as representation. Focusing mainly on mammal anatomy, we’ll look at the basic shared forms between humans and other animals, how these forms dictate movement, and how to express those forms.
Saturday’s class will be held at Observatory, where with the aid of several skeletons we’ll look at basic structures, sprinkling our exploration with odd facts and observations. Messy investigatory drawings will ensue.

Sunday’s class will be a field trip to the American Museum of Natural History, where applying the principles of Saturday’s class we’ll create beautiful drawings of the animals on display. Then, mastery attained, we will stride forth into the world, better artists and better people.

Materials
Saturday

• Sketchbook or sketchpad, 11 X 14 or larger
• B and HB pencils
• Colored pencils, in the reds and blues and browns
• Hand pencil sharpener
• Erasers

Sunday

• All of the above, with perhaps a portable sketchbook in place of the larger sketchpad
• Portable folding stool (optional)

Chris Muller is an artist and exhibit designer based in Brooklyn. He has designed exhibits for the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum for African Art, the Children's Museum of Manhattan, and many others. He has designed sets for Laurie Anderson, Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, the Atlantic Theater Company, and others. He teaches drawing and digital painting at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

You can find out more here; you can RSVP by emailing me at morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com. You can find out more about the Morbid Anatomy Art Academy by clicking here.

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MASP Art School. Open enrollment.

This would have made art history that much more interesting!  Created by DDB Brazil for the Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) Art School.  I’m a bit partial to the Dalí myself.

Advertising Agency: DDB, Brazil
Creative Directors: Sergio Valente, Marco Versolato, Wilson Mateos, Luciano Lincoln
Art Director: Leonardo Rotundo
Copywriter: Fred Sekkel
Illustrators: Marcos Falcão, 6B Estúdio
Photographer: Ricardo Barcellos
Account Supervisors: Mônica de Carvalho, Andrei Croisfelt, Daniel Malavazzi, Adriana Barreto

[Spotted by Noah Scalin and Eric Pernod]

Source:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/streetanatomy/OQuC

There is A LOT going on in London this summer with the 2012 Olympics, the Diamond Jubilee, Wimbledon, the European Championships, etc.  I didn’t realize this, but when major events like these happen over a short period of time, blood donations tend to drop.  This happens because people get wildly excited and it interrupts up their normal donation schedule.   The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) is preparing for this inevitable drop by raising awareness for blood donation on the streets of London, as seen above.

Jon Latham, spokesman for NHS, said,

This year we have a unique situation and need the public’s help to counterbalance the inevitable dip in donations as people celebrate a memorable summer for the country. Every unit of blood saves or improves the life of three people. We obviously want to make sure everyone enjoys the Games, and want to make sure that if there are any accidents we have the blood supplies to help them recover quickly.

I love the response of a commenter on the article:

Its the Olympic games…NOT GLADIATOR GAMES!! What On Earth Are We Expecting!!

It’s going to be a bloodbath man.

Read the entire article via the Metro.

[spotted by Leigh Bowser]

Source:
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The anatomy of Abbottabad

Ishtiaq Ali Mehkri (Counter Point) / 3 May 2012

Im very forgetful about dates. But I made it a point to remember the biggest fiasco in Pakistans history: Abbottabad, May 1st midnight, 2011.

The day, perhaps night, when the countrys nuclear-armed edifice was taken for a ride, as its sovereignty was breached, and the worlds dreaded terrorist was caught off the guard sleeping at a stone throw distance from a pivotal military cantonment. The intruding US Seals overhauled and killed Osama bin Laden. The rest is history. The countrys political and military establishment cried foul and played to the gallery to hide their incompetence and insanity. But the mantra of taking the US forces head-on next time, if they transgressed the territory, ended up in a hoax as reports of complicity poured in. The Memogate is a case in point.

One year down the line, nothing has come out of the Commission constituted under Justice Javed Iqbal to probe into the Abbottabad disaster, as it seems to be at pains in getting out of the puzzles of overt and covert testimonials. Thus, as per convention, nothing will emerge out of this probe commission as well, and that too in real time to prosecute the faces behind connivance.

Pakistan, United States relations for almost a year continue to be at their lowest ebb. Yet, the White House supports the political dispensation at work, irrespective of the fact that its chief executive stands convicted, and an utterly unpopular regime rules the roost. Not much different is the tale as far as the army is concerned. It is in a dilemma of its own as repeated failures on its part to defend its air and territorial space from NATO-US combine intrusions has exposed its mysterious limitations. Nevertheless, the people are made to believe that the defence is impregnable (an illusion which lives on since the generals smilingly signed the Fall of Dhaka documents)!

Pentagon-manned drone attacks and aerial sorties continue at impunity, providing added fuel to anti-US sentiments in one of the most volatile restive zones of the region. Not a single drone has been shot down by Pakistan military nor any of its understandings with US authorities to coordinate such ventures seem to be working. The only substance-oriented chip that Islamabad holds to this day is the suspension of supplies to the Coalition forces stranded in Afghanistan, coupled with the closure of Shamsi airbase in Balochistan. And that too are subject to ifs and buts, given to understand the mounting pressure that is being exerted on the beleaguered administration.

The myth of as to why, how and what made Osama find a perfect refuge in Pakistan is now no more a subject of debate at the helm of affairs. It is as if bygones are bygones! This is too embarrassing for a nation that has been deprived of its due share in governance and nation building.

Such a status quo and operational mode in interstate relations between the allied allies is quite unbecoming of an all-weather friendship. Washington and Islamabad have to do some serious homework to address not only irritants in their relations but also to map out a plan of action that should comprehensively come to address the geostrategic necessities of the region.

It goes without saying that the Americans are unmindful, and rather ignorant, of ground realities in Pakistan, and have unfortunately placed all their eggs in a single basket. The relationship of the day is one of viceroy and his deputy offshore, and isnt one of people-driven conscience. An overwhelming section of Pakistans demography want cordial relations with the United States, and look up to it in awe for addressing their developmental issues. The disappointment sets in with the myopic approach of restricting ties to fighting terrorism and self-centric military-political hobnobbing at the expense of the nation. The situation demands a serious introspection in order to rehabilitate the confidence of the masses. Only then could the monster of terrorism and extremism be nailed in its bud. Let heads roll for plunging the security of millions in Southwest Asia for the pocketed peanuts. Covering up of Abbottabad and Memogate riddles under reasons of exigency is tantamount to turpitude.

Read more:
The anatomy of Abbottabad

Just received word of this promising looking upcoming conference entitled "The Art of Death and Dying;" calls for work are due May 1, and full details follow:

The Art of Death and Dying, University of Houston, October 25-27, 2012
http://artofdeathanddying.blogspot.com/

The University of Houston Libraries, in partnership with the Blaffer Art Museum, the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, the Department for Hispanic Studies, the Honors College and School of Art, will host a three day symposium titled "The Art of Death and Dying" on October 25-27, 2012.

We welcome scholars in all disciplines to submit paper proposals on literary, visual, and performing arts topics related to death and dying. Topics of the symposium include, but are not limited to:

• Depictions or interpretations of death and dying in performing and visual arts
• Depictions of interpretations of death and dying in literature
• Depictions of death and dying in film, radio, and television
• Commemoration of the dead in art, architecture and performance
• Artifacts of death and dying as represented in archival or museum collections
• Artistic depictions of the after life
• Cultural death rituals
• Cultural expressions of mourning
• Death and dying in Latin American arts and culture
• Readings of original creative material on the subject
• Performances of original material on the subject
• Presentation of original visual material on the subject
• Memorial architecture
• Cemetery design
• Analysis of an artist's, architect's, performer's, filmmaker's or writer's work related to the subject

Proposals related to death in Latin American arts and visual culture are encouraged. The organizers will accept presentations in both Spanish and English.

Papers will be selected based upon the quality of the proposal (including merit of the topic, clarity of expression, and relevance to the conference theme), the proposal’s ability to provoke critical exchange and debate, and opportunities for interaction between participants that will enable attendees to engage in a truly interdisciplinary exchange of ideas and viewpoints.

Presenters will be afforded the opportunity for their symposium paper/presentation to be published in the Texas Digital Library.

Papers will be twenty minutes in length and will be followed by ten minutes of discussion. Abstracts of no more than 300 words should be submitted on the symposium website.

The deadline for submissions is May 1, 2012.

You can find more here. Thanks so much to friend and former boss Barbara Mathe for sending this along.

Image: Cimitero Monumentale di Milano, © Joanna Ebenstein; click on image to see much larger, more detailed version.

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It's the moment we've been waiting for: the Grey's Anatomy residents are taking their medical boards this Thursday, and we'll finally get to see how each of the docs handled it. By the looks of the sneak peek below, Jackson (Jesse Williams) is just as nerve-wracked as the rest of them. Why? Well, he did just sleep with his best friend, and then learn that his mentor and his mother hooked up. TVGuide.com turned to Williams to get the scoop on the medical boards, the future for April (Sarah Drew) and Jackson and Jesus, apparently and how Jackson will handle a possible Slexie reunion.

Grey's Anatomy Exclusive Finale Scoop: A Seattle Grace exodus and a "dark and twisty" event

How will the Seattle Grace residents handle the boards, especially Jackson? Jesse Williams: It gets pretty entertaining because he was stressed about it everybody is really stressed about it but he is uniquely stressed in that this is his family legacy, and he's frustrated not to just pass the boards, but he's got to get the highest damn mark. He's angry. He's going to make some calls, his grandfather is going to be making calls, and his mom is going to be making calls. Everybody wants to make sure about the outcome. The pressure is never going to stop for him.

And on top of that you have the distraction of his mom being there. Catherine Avery (Debbie Allen) does not show up quietly. She's usually there and ruins something for him. He's spent his whole life getting ready for this weekend to pass this test and that's when she shows up and has sex with the Chief (James Pickens Jr.)? Really?! I don't think he'll ever forgive her for this, for putting him in a position like that because it really is distracting for him. It's not like it's just par for the course. It's just a major, major distraction.

How will one of the residents failing the boards end up affecting the rest of the group? Williams: It's going to affect them all a lot. I think it's scary. It's a reality check, and it's also something that could happen to anybody. Never mind that there's personal connections to people, it certainly matters because it cannot go unnoticed.

Grey's Anatomy Scoop: Jackson and April's hookup is not a dream!

Turning to April and Jackson, she revealed that she regrets her actions because now Jesus hates her. How will this affect what's going on between them? Williams: He's going to deal with, "Wow, that's amazing. I did not see that coming. I was worried about you and your virginity. I didn't think there was a whole other being in the picture which was Jesus and you are keeping yourself for him. And second of all, we are best friends. How the hell did I not know that? Why didn't you tell me that? I thought we shared each other's secrets? I thought we counted on each other? Why did you feel that you couldn't tell people? Isn't that difficult to be a doctor of science and medicine and hold such strong beliefs?"

Jackson, first and foremost, is her friend and sometimes he's her protector. That's one thing that makes it really unique and interesting about the beginning of this relationship, really having formed a platonic bond first. But then there's also how this plays out if we are still going to be friends. What if we go even further and become a romantic thing? Where are my religious beliefs? Does that matter? Are they in conflict with yours? There are many ways that this can work beautifully, and I think that we will also see many ways that this can be doomed. That's just realistic.

Because she loves Jesus, but she already gave herself away to you, does that mean they have to get married now? Williams: That's interesting. Part of her wants to hide and pretend that this didn't happen, but they want to be around each other. Whether they like it or not, they are each other's go-to person. What happens if they can't do that? What's more important for them: to protect the friendship, the romance, the intimacy, or them being independent people? On top of that, they've got to get new jobs and try to become real doctors and see if they can pass their boards. They have to get out of this weekend, never mind this week or this month.

Grey's Anatomy's Worst Case Scenarios: What If Meredith leaves, but Derek stays?

Read more:
Grey's Anatomy's Jesse Williams: One Resident Failing the Boards Will Be a "Reality Check"

Kate Burton and Tony Goldwyn

The vice president will finally be introduced in Thursday's episode of Scandal and she's the polar opposite of President Fitz (Tony Goldwyn).

"She's kind of like a combo physically between Dianne Feinstein and Nancy Pelosi, but when she opens her mouth she's pure Michele Bachmann," says Kate Burton, who plays Sally Langston, the Tea Party conservative who was once Fitz's enemy. (She sounds peachy!) Burton is all too familiar with playing a strong female matriarch, having portrayed Ellis Grey on Grey's Anatomy, a role that surely came in handy when taking on the VP of the United States.

Exclusive Scandal Video: Find out whether Amanda Tanner is dead or alive

But who is Sally really? And could she be behind the mysterious blackmailer who's giving the President so much trouble? TVGuide.com caught up with Burton to get the scoop on that and her reunion with her Grey's Anatomy ex-husband:

What kind of person is the vice president? Kate Burton: She's an absolutely strict, conservative Southern republican. It's just really fascinating to play her because things came out of my mouth that would actually never come out of my real mouth. She is so arch-conservative and the president is so moderate. I wanted to play her and obviously not make her any kind of cartoon liberal or conservative. I wanted to make her a real person. We know what a real person she is because there are things that get to her more than anything: anything to do with her daughter. She is a mom who became a politician and she's ruthless, but she's also got a heart.

Fitz and Sally were actually running against each other in the presidential campaign. What can you tell us about their road to the White House? Burton: The reality is, when we do the flashback [in next week's episode], we discover that she was actually in the lead. She was doing really, really well. As things happen in politics, something turned everything around and then suddenly he starts becoming much more appealing. Their competition was very real. It was a real clear choice between the two of them, and she was gaining. It was a juggernaut and they didn't quite know how to stop her.

Scandal Scoop: Cyrus is about to wage war on Pope & Associates

Is Sally still angry that Fitz beat her to the presidency? Burton: If you read about anything where there is a very powerful contest between two very different people, like Lyndon Johnson and John Kennedy, suddenly Kennedy ascends and he asks Johnson to be his vice president. It's not easy because Johnson's used to being in a very powerful position. I'm also on Veep on HBO and that's our running gag: When you become vice president, you lose your power. It is hard for Sally, but she's a politician. She is very, very deeply religious, by the way. I can't believe I haven't mentioned that until now! She's a woman of the founding faith. So she uses her faith to help her with how disappointed she is with not being able to win the presidency, or the nomination.

Would she do anything to get into the Oval Office? Could she be behind the blackmailing? Burton: I think she's pretty determined. She's pretty ruthless. It's going to be a very uneasy partnership between she and Fitz. And of course when she discovers what is happening with Amanda Tanner (Liza Weil), she operates on a fairly moral high ground. What I love about Tony is that you don't know whether to like him or dislike him a lot of the time, and I think the same with me. You probably will not know whether I was the good guy or the bad guy. I think I'm both, and I think he is too. Both of them have these very manipulative chiefs, Billy Chambers (Matt Letscher) and Cyrus Beene (Jeff Perry), and those Chiefs of Staff will stop at nothing.

Read the original post:
Scandal: Grey's Anatomy's Kate Burton Makes Her Debut as the VP

Googles public version of events of how it came to secretly intercept Americans data sent on unencrypted Wi-Fi routers over a two-year period doesnt quite mesh with what the search giant told federal regulators.

And if Google had its way, the public would have never learned the software on Googles Street View mapping cars was intended to collect payload data from open Wi-Fi networks.

A Federal Communications Commission document disclosed Saturday showed for the first time that the software in Googles Street View mapping cars was intended to collect Wi-Fi payload data, and that engineers had even transferred the data to an Oregon Storage facility. Google tried to keep that and other damning aspects of the Street View debacle from public review, the FCC said.

Google accompanied its responses to the FCC inquiry with a very broad request for confidential treatment of the information it submitted, the FCC said, in a letter to Google, saying it would remove most of the redaction from the FCCs public report and other documents surrounding the debacle.

The FCC document unveiled Saturday is an unredacted version of an FCC finding, which was published last month with dozens of lines blacked out. The report said that Google could not be held liable for wiretapping, despite a federal judge holding otherwise.

The unredacted FCC report refers to a Google design document written by an engineer who crafted the Street View software to collect so-called payload data, which includes telephone numbers, URLs, passwords, e-mail, text messages, medical records, video and audio files sent over open Wi-Fi networks.

The engineer is referred to as Engineer Doe in the report, though he was identified on Sunday as Marius Milner, a well-known figure in the Wi-Fi hacking community. The document says the software Milner used collected 200 gigabytes of data via Street View cars between 2008 and 2010:

The design document showed that, in addition to collecting data that Google could use to map the location of wireless access points, Engineer Doe intended to collect, store, and analyze payload data from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks. The design document notes that [w]ardriving can be used in a number of ways, including to observe typical Wi-Fi usage snapshots. In a discussion of Privacy Considerations, the design document states, A typical concern might be that we are logging user traffic along with sufficient data to precisely triangulate their position at a given time, along with information about what they were doing. That statement plainly refers to the collection of payload data because MAC addresses, SSIDs, signal-strength measurements. and other information used to map the location of wireless access points would reveal nothing about what end users were doing. Engineer Doe evidently intended to capture the content of Wi-Fi communications transmitted when Street View cars were in the vicinity, such as e-mail, and text messages sent to or from wireless access points. Engineer Doe identified privacy as an issue but concluded that it was not a significant concern because the Street View cars would not be in proximity to any given user for an extended period of time, and [n]one of the data gathered [would] be presented to end users of [Google's] services in raw form. Nevertheless, the design document listed as a to do item, [D]iscuss privacy considerations with Product Counsel. That never occurred. The design document also states that the Wi-Fi data Google gathered be analyzed offline for use in other initiatives, and that [analysis of the gathered data [was] a non goal (though it [would] happen.

The majority of those words were originally blacked out at Googles request, but the commission subsequently concluded, after the report was filed, that much of it should be made publicly available because Disclosure of this information may cause commercial embarrassment, but that is not a basis for requesting confidential treatment.

Rewind to May 2010, when Google announced the Street View debacle:

Read the rest here:
An Intentional Mistake: The Anatomy of Google’s Wi-Fi Sniffing Debacle

Patrick Dempsey, who saves lives on a weekly basis as Dr. "McDreamy" Shepherd on Grey's Anatomy, got a chance to rescue someone in real life.

On Tuesday, the actor pulled a teen from an overturned car after an accident, according to a tweet from The Shield creator Shawn Ryan.

Grey's Anatomy exclusive finale scoop: A Seattle Grace exodus and a "dark and twisty" event

The post reads, "True Story: Grey's Anatomy actor Patrick Dempsey pulled my friend's son out of overturned car after bad accident on Tuesday. #GoodDude."

Dempsey recently tweeted that there were "lots of tears," reading the Season 8 finale for Grey's Anatomy. He has yet to sign a new contract to return to the ABC medical drama next season.

View original Grey's Anatomy Star Patrick Dempsey Rescues Teen From Car Accident at TVGuide.com

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Grey's Anatomy Star Patrick Dempsey Rescues Teen From Car Accident

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Patrick Dempsey, who plays Dr. Derek Shepherd on "Grey's Anatomy," came to the aid of a teen injured in a car accident.

Patrick Dempsey on "Grey's Anatomy": "We Need to Keep the Show Fresh"

Patrick Dempsey chats about the rumors that he will leave "Grey's Anatomy" after next season. Find out if McDreamy plans to stay at Seattle Grace and what he thinks the show should do to keep its fans happy.

McDreamy to the rescue!

Likethe doctor he plays on the hittelevision seriesGreys Anatomy would do,actor Patrick Dempsey came to the aid of a stranger whose car had flipped during an auto accident.

Weston Masset, 17, lost control of his Mustang near Dempseys home in Malibu, Calif. The car rolled three times trapping Masset, who was barely conscious.

According to a report at People, Dempsey used a crowbar and fire extinguisher to rescue the teenager. After pulling Masset clear of the car, the actor called paramedics and practiced his best bedside manner until the injured teen was airlifted to the hospital where he was treated for an eye injury and a concussion.

I was scared for my life. I was upside down, Masset said in an interview with ABC. He also asked Dempsey, who plays Dr. Derek (McDreamy) Shepherd on Greys Anatomy, if he was famous. Dempsey, 46, replied, Yeah, Im a doctor.

Medicaland celebrity jokingaside, Masset said, "He was there for me. It would have been a lot worse without me."

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McDreamy to the Rescue! Patrick Dempsey Saves Teen

1 May 2012 Last updated at 08:26 ET By Robin Banerji BBC World Service

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Martin Clayton, senior curator of the Royal Collection, shows Fergus Walsh some of the exhibition highlights

The largest exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci's drawings of the human body goes on display in the Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace this week. So how accurate were they?

During his lifetime, Leonardo made thousands of pages of notes and drawings on the human body.

He wanted to understand how the body was composed and how it worked. But at his death in 1519, his great treatise on the body was incomplete and his scientific papers were unpublished.

Based on what survives, clinical anatomists believe that Leonardo's anatomical work was hundreds of years ahead of its time, and in some respects it can still help us understand the body today.

So how do these drawings, sketched more than 500 years ago, compare to what digital imaging technology can tell us today?

From a notebook dated 1489, there is a series of meticulous drawings of the skull.

Leonardo has cut off the front of the face to show what lies beneath. It is difficult to cut these bones without damaging them. And elsewhere in his papers, Leonardo left a drawing of the knives he used.

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How accurate were Leonardo's anatomy drawings?

Skinny Sunrise, 2000  Polystyrene, wood, wood glue, dust, spray adhesive, flour, acrylic paint, silicone, screws, fabric

Violent Cappuccino, 2007 Cast aluminum, lacquer, motor oil, glue, dust

Untitled, 2001  Wax, pigment, wick, brick, metal rod

Urs Fischer is a Swiss contemporary artist living and working in New York.  Known for creating pieces of work out of unusual mediums, like loaves of sourdough bread, and for his enormous installations.

If you happen to be in or around Vienna, Urs Fischer has a show titled “Skinny Sunrise” at KUNSTHALLE.  Curated by Gerald Matt and Angela Stief.   February 17th – May 28th, 2012.

[spotted by Manuel Kolb]

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By Steve Van Tiem - April 30, 2012 | Tickers: CMP, GLW, SRCL | 0 Comments

Steve is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinions of our bloggers and are not formally edited.

There were three companies whose earnings conference calls last week promised to address three very different sets of circumstances. Stericycle (NASDAQ: SRCL) was having its first call after naming a CEO-elect in January. At Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW), the weak global economy has caused a severe drop off in demand, which has hurt profitability and share price the past four quarters. And Compass Minerals (NYSE: CMP) has had to cope with three extreme weather events which, incredibly, all occurred within the past year.

As I listened to these calls, I paid attention to the tone of management (using a scale from extremely cautious to cautious, neutral, positive, and extremely positive), their candor in the question & answer session (using a scale from "not candid" to "uncertain candor", "candid",and "fully candid"), and information gleaned from answers to certain questions about revenue, cash flow drivers, and market conditions. I was also tracking updates to certain metrics, any substantive announcements made during the call, and of course earnings and sales guidance. Before listening to these calls I reviewed the previous call for each company to generate my set of expectations, metrics, and specific questions or issues to monitor.

With Stericycle's CFO, COO, and CEO-elect making brief statements in turn, the opening statements were more quantitative than qualitative, but overall the call was positive in tone. My belief is that management limits their comments so as not to produce artificially high investor expectations. I estimate that there were eight significant, open-ended questions from analysts that were adversarial or probing in nature. Of these eight, three were answered satisfactorily, four were not answered directly, and one was answered satisfactorily but indirectly. My impression is that management is satisfactorily candid with their communication but could improve to the preferred "fully candid" level with more direct answers. There were few, if any, company or industry specific metrics discussed and no substantive announcements.

I am satisfied that management answered all relevant questions and addressed all important business areas but I wanted to hear more from CEO-elect Charlie Alutto, whose only participation was his opening statement concerning guidance. Management guided EPS in the range of $3.24 to $3.28 for full year 2012 and revenue in the range of $1.85 billion to $1.9 billion for the year. This is a raise from EPS of $3.21 to $3.26 and revenue of $1.8 billion to $1.9 billion given as guidance last quarter. I rate this call a solid B and more importantly am confident in management's capability to guide the company forward. Investors bid the share price up from $87.10 before the call to $87.64 by week's end.

Of the three calls I listened to, Corning's was most likely to generate analyst skepticism because of continued economic weakness and share underperformance. As expected, there was a greater number and higher percentage of questions that I consider adversarial and these were much more pointed than either Stericycle's or Compass Mineral's questions. Fifteen of the questions were confrontational or accusatory with management satisfactorily answering ten of these, either directly or indirectly. The remaining five were not answered to my satisfaction so my conclusion is that management falls into my "candid" category. Corning did present a fair number of metrics, most importantly the Q4 supply chain inventory metric for the Display segment, which was essentially flat at 15.2 weeks. The company provided an informative summary of the recent acquisition of the Discovery Labware business from Becton Dickinson including reasons for the transaction and expectations going forward.

Unfortunately, Corning provided guidance for only limited information, by segment, for Q2 2012 rather than earnings and revenue guidance for Q2 2012 or an update for full year 2012. This call earns a B because I am satisfied that no important business areas were neglected and all relevant questions were addressed to an acceptable degree. The market reaction was very positive to this quarter's results and investors bid the share price up from $13.35 before the announcement and subsequent call to $14.45 by week's end.

Compass Minerals, whose primary businesses are de-icing salt and sulfate of potash production, was expected to report weak results due to a tornado that did significant damage to its primary salt mine, the warmest winter period on record and an unusually wet period in the Southwest, all within the past year. The reported results were essentially in line with these lowered expectations but management assumed a fairly positive tone centered on the notion that each of these weather events is exceedingly unlikely to recur in the foreseeable future, thus recent capacity additions and acquisitions should lead to increased growth.

Compass' management provided direct and satisfactory answers to three of the six important questions that were either adversarial or probing. The other three questions were answered in a satisfactory but indirect manner. Like Stericycle and Corning, I consider the responses of Compass' management as acceptably candid, just below "fully candid". Where I am disappointed in the call is the lack of explicit earnings or revenue guidance. These were given in relevant terms like "more", "less", "higher" and "lower" but specific figures were not given.

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Anatomy of the Conference Call

For those of you in and about Chicago, I would love to see you this Thursday, May 3, at The Chicago Cultural Center where I will be giving a lecture entitled "A Journey into the Curious World of the Medical Museum" as part of a series of events supplementing the amazing looking  Morbid Curiosity exhibition. The images above--drawn from my exhibitions The Secret Museum and Anatomical Theatre--constitute a tiny sampling of the many images I will be showing in the presentation.

Full details follow; very much hope very much to see you there.

You can find out more by clicking here.

Images top to bottom, as drawn from my recent photo exhibitions The Secret Museum and Anatomical Theatre:

1. "Anatomical Venus" Wax wodel with human hair and pearls in rosewood and Venetian glass case, "La Specola" (Museo di Storia Naturale), Florence, Italy, Probably modeled by Clemente Susini (around 1790)
2. "Slashed Beauty" Wax wodel with human hair and pearls in rosewood and Venetian glass case, "La Specola" (Museo di Storia Naturale), Florence, Italy, Probably modeled by Clemente Susini (around 1790)
3. "Anatomical Venuses," Wax Models with human hair in rosewood and Venetian glass cases,The Josephinum, Workshop of Clemente Susini of Florence circa 1780s, Vienna, Austria
4. The Mütter Museum : Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Pathological model; 19th Century?
5. Wax Model of Eye Surgery, Musée Orfila, Paris. Courtesy Université Paris Descartes
6. Wax Anatomical Models in Rosewood and Venetian Glass Boxes, The Josephinum, Workshop of Clemente Susini of Florence circa 1780s, Vienna, Austria
7. Wax moulages; Probably by Carl Henning (1860-1917) or Theodor Henning (1897-1946); Early 20th Century; Federal Pathologic-Anatomical Museum (Pathologisch-anatomisches Bundesmuseum): Vienna, Austria, Austria
8. Plaster Models in Pathological Cabinet, The Museum of the Faculty of Medicine at the Jagiellonian University, Krakow
9. Skeleton and hand models for "la médecine opératoire" Musée Orfila, Paris. Courtesy Université Paris Descartes

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