The Fine Art of Ineptitude

Each of us knows at least one of them. They are perched before easels duplicating the spring\u27s emerald meadows and the autumn\u27s turbulent skies. Clad in leotards, they pirouette and pas de buerre their souls into the Nutcracker Suite, while their colleagues entrance the audience with skill in the orchestra pit. Not content with a monopoly of the fine arts, their type is found fashioning Christmas angels from empty toilet paper rolls, making doll houses out of old cereal boxes, and whipping together gourmet dinners from cans of Campbell\u27s Chicken Noodle Soup. I speak of my personal nemesis, the artist--one who, by inborn talent or by inclination, excels at his craft

Teacher-Child Relationship Quality and Development of Depression from Preschool to Late Childhood

From the Washington University Senior Honors Thesis Abstracts (WUSHTA), 2017. Published by the Office of Undergraduate Research. Joy Zalis Kiefer, Director of Undergraduate Research and Associate Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences; Lindsey Paunovich, Editor; Helen Human, Programs Manager and Assistant Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences Mentor: Andy Belde

NAT denial of service: An Analysis of translation table behavior on multiple platforms

Network Address Translation or NAT, is a technology that is used to translate internal addresses to globally routable addresses on the internet. It is used extensively in almost every network requiring global connectivity due to the current lack of IPv4 addresses. The primary mechanism used to facilitate the translation of internal addresses to external addresses and vice versa is the translation table. This study takes an in-depth look at how five different vendors: Cisco, Extreme, Linksys, VMWare, and Vyatta, implement the translation table during active NAT sessions. Additionally, this study analyzes the methodology required to fill a translation table and the Denial of Service that is a result of the attack. We consider the relative difficulty of accomplishing this task between the different platforms and protocols (TCP vs UDP vs ICMP). We conclude this study with steps that can be taken to prevent or mitigate the NAT DOS attack

Effect of rotor configuration on guyed tower and foundation designs and estimated costs for intermediate site horizontal axis wind turbines

Three designs of a guyed cylindrical tower and its foundation for an intermediate size horizontal axis wind turbine generator are discussed. The primary difference in the three designs is the configuration of the rotor. Two configurations are two-blade rotors with teetering hubs - one with full span pitchable blades, the other with fixed pitch blades. The third configuration is a three-bladed rotor with a rigid hub and fixed pitch blades. In all configurations the diameter of the rotor is 38 meters and the axis of rotation is 30.4 meters above grade, and the power output is 200 kW and 400 kW. For each configuration the design is based upon for the most severe loading condition either operating wind or hurricane conditions. The diameter of the tower is selected to be 1.5 meters (since it was determined that this would provide sufficient space for access ladders within the tower) with guy rods attached at 10.7 meters above grade. Completing a design requires selecting the required thicknesses of the various cylindrical segments, the number and diameter of the guy rods, the number and size of soil anchors, and the size of the central foundation. The lower natural frequencies of vibration are determined for each design to ensure that operation near resonance does not occur. Finally, a cost estimate is prepared for each design. A preliminary design and cost estimate of a cantilever tower (cylindrical and not guyed) and its foundation is also presented for each of the three configurations

Water resource management by the ancient Maya of Yucatan, Mexico

Since the publication of popular accounts of exploration by adventurers such as John Lloyd Stephens captured the attention of an audience eager for tales from exotic places, scholars of the ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica have been fascinated with the silent crumbling remains of ancient Maya cities that dot the cultural landscape of Yucatán in staggering numbers. Scientific research began in earnest nearly one hundred years ago with the first of many great Carnegie Institution of Washington, D.C. archaeological projects. Most researchers mention water resources in their reports, but no attempt has been made to study water resource management on a regional scale as an adaptive strategy that enabled the ancient Maya to inhabit a seemingly forbidding environment. Using the latest computer technology, Geographic Information Systems, and Global Positioning System data collectors, we spent nine months gathering data at over 32 archaeological sites in a region covering the northern portion of Yucatán, Mexico. This paper synthesizes data from my work with an existing body of information collected by other researchers and presents the initial results of what must be an ongoing effort to characterize the options for hydrological management available to the ancient Maya in a variety of physiographic zones. Wittfogel’s hydraulic hypothesis and Robert Carneiro’s circumscription model are tested as explanations for the Maya rise to complex society and a model of ancient water management is presented

Places to live: a multidisciplinary approach to Modern Maya Houses in Yucatan, Mexico

In 1938, Robert C. Wauchope’s Modern Maya Houses provided the first detailed description of traditional rural housing for the Maya area. Until today, no research has attempted to test Wauchope’s notion of cultural continuity in Maya domestic architecture from the prehistoric past up to the time of his pioneering study. By examining data from three municipios located in the state of Yucatan, Mexico, I compared contemporary information collected during visits to residential areas with that published by Wauchope in 1938. An integrated approach to data gathering and analysis, that is, a combination of interviews, questionnaires, archaeological survey, and geographic information methods was used in order to evaluate the various mechanisms involved in the design and use of domestic spaces. My goals were to assess how the Maya define, use and conceptualize domestic areas, and to test the validity of Wauchope’s assumption of cultural continuity in Maya housing. Survey of thirty-one solares and descriptive statistical analyses provided data for comparison and interpretation. Comparison of essential elements found in Yucatec houses revealed variants in each community surveyed. These variations along with the conditions responsible for them, such as socio-economic, technological, or ideological changes were used to build a model of Maya housing

Design, fabrication, and initial test of a fixture for reducing the natural frequency of the Mod-O wind turbine tower

It was desired to observe the behavior of a two bladed wind turbine where the tower first bending natural frequency is less than twice the rotor speed. The system then passes through resonance when accelerating to operating speed. The frequency of the original Mod-O tower was reduced by placing it on a spring fixture. The fixture is adjustable to provide a range of tower bending frequencies. Fixture design details are given and behavior during initial operation is described