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X-ray Charge Coupled Devices (CCDs) have been the workhorse for soft X-ray astronomical instruments for the past quarter century. They provide broad energy response, extremely low electronic read noise, and good energy resolution in soft X-rays. These properties, along with the large arrays and small pixel sizes available with modern-day CCDs, make them a potential candidate for next generation astronomical X-ray missions equipped with large collecting areas, high angular resolutions and wide fields of view, enabling observation of the faint, diffuse and high redshift X-ray universe. However, such high collecting area (about 30 times Chandra) requires these detectors to have an order of magnitude faster readout than current CCDs to avoid saturation and pile up effects. In this context, Stanford University and MIT have initiated the development of fast readout X-ray cameras. As a tool for this development, we have designed a fast readout, low noise electronics board (intended to work at a 5 Megapixel per second data rate) coupled with an STA Archon controller to readout a 512 x 512 CCD (from MIT Lincoln Laboratory). This versatile setup allows us to study a number of parameters and operation conditions including the option for digital shaping. In this paper, we describe the characterization test stand, the concept and development of the readout electronics, and simulation results. We also report the first measurements of read noise, energy resolution and other parameters from this set up. While this is very much a prototype, we plan to use larger, multi-node CCD devices in the future with dedicated ASIC readout systems to enable faster, parallel readout of the CCDs., Comment: To appear in SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2020, Paper No. 11454-80

Controlling the carrier envelope phase (CEP) in mode-locked lasers over practically long timescales is crucial for real-world applications in ultrafast optics and precision metrology. We present a hybrid solution that combines a feed-forward technique to stabilize the phase offset in fast timescales and a feedback technique that addresses slowly varying sources of interference and locking bandwidth limitations associated with gain media with long upper-state lifetimes. We experimentally realize the hybrid stabilization system in an Er:Yb:glass mode-locked laser and demonstrate 75 hours of stabilization with integrated phase noise of 14 mrad (1 Hz to 3 MHz), corresponding to around 11 as of carrier to envelope jitter. Additionally, we examine the impact of environmental factors, such as humidity and pressure, on the long-term stability and performance of the system., 11 pages, 6 figures, 1 table; to be published in Optics Express; revisions include adjustment of some citations, additions to section 2, and added information in table 1

"Open Gate" is the first bilingual volume of Haitian Creole poetry published in English. Seven years in the making, this anthology is the result of the dedication of its editors and translators, Paul Laraque, Jack Hirschman and the Haitian poet Boadiba, as well as Max Manigat, one of the first teachers of Creole on the university level who was an invaluable advisor. The editors focus on contemporary Creole poetry that reflects the struggle for human rights in Haiti. The book is divided into three sections: Pioneers of Modern Haitian Creole poetry, beginning with the founder of modern Haitian Creole literature, Felix Morisseu-Leroy (19131998); the flowering of Haitian poetry as represented by the literary movement, "Society of Butterflies," some of whose members were jailed or exiled by the bloody Duvalier dictatorship; and the New Generation featuring primrily those poets in the Diaspora whose work has been published in the last 15 years.

“Become a rag again and the poorest may wave you” Pier Paolo Pasolini: To the Red Flag I put my mouth to your misery, New Orleans, inundated and soaking with death. Here lies: war lies piled so high, this floating prison of a cemetery cries out of rage at the end of its breath. Here, in the last delta, Desire lies on its side, is rolled, and rolled over upon by its own government, and crushed. Summertime is over and the livin’ is dead, and ’round midnight all hopes are looted. No one will come clean of the Katrina of New Orleans in this sinking house of the setting sun. Bodies so Black and so blue from loving what wouldn’t spit on their shoes if they needed a shine. Let alone a dime. Or water. America, you were always scorched earth in our mouths, always a baptism of crap, always a rain of disaster streaming down the panes of our broken eyes. Now our rags are the most torn, our jazz the most blue, our poor the poorest that can be worn in the soul’s thrift shop. Now that all is lost and there’s only nothing to lose...“Long live the courage and the sorrow and the innocence of the poor!” The real flag’s in tatters. Begin to wave it. Jack Hirschman