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Answer: The cyclist drives one kilometer in three minutes with the wind in his back, so in four minutes he drives 1 1/3 kilometer. Against the wind, he drives 1 kilometer in four minutes. If the wind helps the cyclist during four minutes and hinders the cyclist during another four minutes, then - in these eight minutes - the cyclist drives 2 1/3 kilometers. Without wind, he would also drive 2 1/3 kilometers in eight minutes and his average speed would then be 17.5 kilometers per hour. So it will take him 3 3/7 minutes to drive one kilometer.
| 2019-04-25T10:56:42 |
http://blog.covertbay.com/2008/07/circling-cyclist.html
|
0.998735 |
Just days after a report claiming Apple supplier Quanta Computer has begun ramping up production of the upcoming 12-inch MacBook Air, Chinese site iFanr shares some photos [Google Translate] of what it says is the display assembly for the machine (via SlashGear).
The photos depict the claimed display and metal shell from the upcoming 12-inch machine alongside both a 13-inch MacBook Pro and a 9.7-inch iPad, with its sizing appearing to measure up to previously reported dimensions. The display does, however, have two noticeable differences from current MacBook Air. First, instead of a backlit Apple logo on the back of the display assembly as is typically seen on Apple's notebooks, there is a polished metal logo more like those seen on iPads, with iFanr speculating the change could be tied to the device's thinness.
Additionally, the display lacks the grey bezels current MacBook Air models have, instead opting for an apparently all-glass edge-to-edge cover for the display as seen on Retina MacBook Pro models. Paired with black bezels underneath, it is difficult to see where the display ends and the bezels begin unless the screen is turned on. Earlier renderings of the 12-inch MacBook Air based on information from within Apple had shown gray bezels similar to those seen on the current MacBook Air.
The next-generation MacBook Air is expected to feature a high-resolution display (perhaps classified as Retina) and new Broadwell Core M processors that will enable a thin, fanless design. Other reports have claimed the 12-inch MacBook Air will do away with nearly all the ports typically found on Apple's line of MacBooks, offering only a headphone jack, a pair of microphones, and a USB Type-C port that may handle both charging and external connectivity.
No backlit Apple logo? NOT COOL APPLE!
Less SD card slots than a Macbook Air. Lame.
Strange way of saying No SD card slot.
Would it have killed them to take photos of the ports??????
They only have this one part, the display.
No Thunderbolt. Less SD card slots than a Macbook Air. Lame.
Edit: for those of you that missed the reference, I'm riffing off of Slashdot's infamous dismissal of the original iPod (http://slashdot.org/story/01/10/23/1816257/apple-releases-ipod).
How could Apple POSSIBLY offer a Mac that compromises on ports??
I know SOME people want maximum portability and simplicity, but not everyone has the same goals.
So the only way this alleged model would make any sense is if Apple ALSO offers other laptops that meet the needs of people who need tons of wired peripherals and more speed.
They could call them "MacBook Pros" or something.
This is innovation? Meanwhile in other tech news, Google is working on driverless cars and CP3 robots, and Microsoft is working to covert our lives into a holographic minority report world that aims to blow your minds.
Apple should NEVER make evolutions to existing products. ONLY revolutionary new things should ever be released.
And products that actually ship don't matter. Products like holo goggles and robot cars that are NOT shipping--and may never? Those are what matters!
We all know Apple has nothing in the labs. If they did, they'd be making "what if" videos for what might happen someday! Oh, well.
I reckon the 12" retina screens are for this and not an iPad Pro. Don't think an iPad pro even exists.
I'm calling it now. The next gen MB Pros are gonna come in 14" and 16".
I needs it in gold real bad.
| 2019-04-25T14:48:54 |
https://www.macrumors.com/2015/01/22/12-inch-macbook-air-display-photo/
|
0.999992 |
"people to love & who love you"! NOT "loves you"! please correct this grammatical error.
| 2019-04-22T21:01:25 |
https://www.designsbysick.com/details/prayersandquotes
|
0.9984 |
'The Big O' was known for his dark glasses, black hair and powerful voice. But did you know THIS about the 'Pretty Woman' singer?
1. People, even now, think Roy Orbison was blind.
He wasn't! He began wearing his trademark dark glasses in 1963, just before a British tour with The Beatles.
Speaking years later about his dark glasses and clothes, Orbison said: "I wasn't trying to be weird, you know? I didn't have a manager who told me to dress or how to present myself or anything. But the image developed of a man of mystery and a quiet man in black somewhat of a recluse, although I never was, really."
He dyed it to fit in with his 'dark' image.
If you're interested, his hair was actually dark brown. True story.
3. Elvis Presley and The Beatles both opened shows for Orbison early in their careers.
Showing just how big the 'Big O' was back in the day.
4. Orbison was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
A year before he died, fan Bruce Springsteen inducted Roy into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
It helped launch a comeback for Roy at the time. He had been largely away from the limelight since the 1960s, and his appearance led to brand new hits including 'You Got It'.
5. Orbison was a member of The Traveling Wilburys. Other members included Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan.
Roy died shortly after the band released their first album, and the music video for their second single, 'End of the Line', shows his guitar rocking in a chair as the rest of the group play on.
His nickname in the band was 'Lefty Wilbury'.
| 2019-04-24T14:31:44 |
https://www.smoothradio.com/news/5-quite-interesting-facts-about-roy-orbison/
|
0.999717 |
Instruction: Study the map of DUBUNDE COUNTY and answer Questions 1 — 5.
1. The area marked M in the North is a ___.
2. Line Y in the map is a typical example of ____.
4. The most appropriate approximate bearing of "S" from "B" is ____.
5. Symbol Q on the map is placed on a ____.
7. Variations in the length of day and night over the earth's surface are due to the ___.
A. earth's inclination to the sun and its revolution.
B. earth's inclination to the sun and its rotation.
C. length of the earth's orbit.
D. thickness of the earth's atmosphere.
8. The progressive widening of joints and cracks in limestone by solutions initially leads to the formation of ___.
9. A river loses energy and may deposit some of its load if ___.
10. Chemical weathering is both rapid and intense in the humid tropics because of ___.
11. The inorganic component of an ecosystem is made up of ___.
12. The growth of the population at a rate faster than the available resources may result in ___.
13. The Tundra Region is sparsely populated because of the ___.
14. Which of the following BEST accounts for rural-urban migration in West Africa?
15. A linear settlement is most likely to develop on a ___.
16. In which area of the ocean is the greatest source of food found?
17. What is the highest point on a wave called?
18. What is the most likely reason that the air temperature is warmest at the tropical latitudes?
19. What would you most likely find on the leeward side of a mountain range?
20. Which of these can people do in order to help reduce global warming?
21. What is a large body of air that has the same properties as the area over which it formed called?
22. What type of precipitation forms when vapour changes directly into a solid?
23. What type of front may form when cool air, cold air, and warm air meet?
24. What protects living things from too much ultra-violet Radiation?
25. The time taken by the moon to complete one revolution around the earth of about 29.53 days is known as ___.
26. An imaginary semi-circular line passing from the North to the South pole, numbered East to West of the prime meridian is known as?
27. A period of 24 hours of rain with amount got not below 0.2mm is called ___.
29. The North Polar Region and all its associated feature of cold climate, vegetation and relief is otherwise called ___.
30. Which of the following is wrongly paired?
31. One of the following is NOT associated with a glaciated highland.
32. All of the following except one result through erosional processes.
33. Overland flow is ___.
34. In Nigeria, topographic maps are prepared in sheets of different scales by the ___.
35. An example of a landform produced by glaciations is ___.
36. Which of the following is not associated with volcanicity?
37. All the following can be found in the upper course of a river except __.
38. The Mediterranean type of climate occurs in the South West corner of South Africa because ___.
39. Which of the following statistical mapping techniques is most suitable for showing the spatial distribution of cattle in the different northern state of Nigeria?
40. Which is a group of stars, gas and dust held together by gravity?
| 2019-04-20T18:45:35 |
https://www.prep.ng/2019/03/nda-past-questions-on-geography-2014.html
|
0.999998 |
Book2Lesson 13 Who Is Hungry? quiet loud quick (fast) slow Quick is another way of saying fast. quick 强调动作的迅速 fast 强调速度快 would like want would like sth. would like to do sth. would like sb. to do sth. Act out your dialogues. Give out the plural forms: orange grape banana apple strawberry melon peach pear oranges bananas strawberries peaches grapes apples melons pears egg cake donut hamburger hot dog sandwich eggs cakes donuts hamburgers hot dogs sandwiches noodles dumplings French fries bread rice fruit soup chicken meat fish ice cream Make your sentences: I am thirsty. I want to drink some … I am hungry. I want to eat a/an/some … A snack is a small amount of food to eat. to eat 是不定式，做定语，修饰food。 I am hungry. I want a snack. Listen and catch the answers: 1. Who is hungry? 2. Is Jenny hungry? 3. What would Danny like to eat? 4. What would Li Ming like to eat? 1. I don’t know what I want to eat. 主句 宾语从句 宾语从句的语序必须是陈述语序 2. have some soup = eat some soup 3. Here is an orange. Here is the money. Here are three oranges. Practise the dialogues in pairs: A:What would you like (to eat)? B: I’d like (to eat) … A: Would you like some ….? B: Yes, please./No thanks. A: Are you hungry? B: Yes, but I don’t know what I want to eat. A: Would you like some …? B: No, thank you. I don’t like … May I have some …, please? A: Sure. Here is(are)… B: Thanks. 用some或any填空 She has ______ oranges, but I don’t have ______. Do you have ______ oranges? 2. Would you like _______ dumplings? 3. May I have ________ grapes? some any any some some A task: Act out the dialogue.
| 2019-04-22T10:59:44 |
http://cz.gkxx.com/resource-94724.html
|
0.999999 |
Do recent border protests mark turning point for Hamas?
By endorsing calls for peaceful protests along Gaza's border, Hamas is likely looking to capitalize on international sympathy with the Palestinian cause, but some question whether the movement can break its tradition of violence.
Palestinians take part in a protest demanding the right to return to their homeland, at the Israel-Gaza border, east of Gaza City, April 13, 2018.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Many questions remain concerning Hamas’ endorsement of the recent protests that broke out March 30 along the Israeli-Gaza border. Mass demonstrations resumed April 13 for the third Friday in a row, and at least 33 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the clashes in the past two weeks.
The recurring protests — which Hamas dubbed the Great Return March and are slated to continue until Nakba Day on May 15 — were spearheaded by the Coordination Committee for the Great Return March and planned as peaceful demonstrations.
The pertinent question, however, is what are Hamas' motives for backing these protests? Is it a long-term strategy or merely a short-term tactic?
The Islamic movement has long advocated armed resistance against Israel and criticized the nonviolent resistance style as futile. In a March 29 statement, however, Hamas urged its supporters in the besieged enclave to come out en masse to protest peacefully.
The coordination committee includes various Palestinian factions, mainly Hamas, the Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine as well as independent civil and human rights figures and activists.
The committee aims to turn the march into an ongoing and sustainable action that will culminate in the 70th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba May 15, the day the US administration is expected to carry out its plan to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Committee member and Hamas leader Ismail Radwan told Al-Monitor that the main goal of the march is to remind the world of the need to implement United Nations Resolution 194, providing for the Palestinian refugees’ return to the lands from which they were expelled in 1948.
Meanwhile, political analyst Talal Awkal told Al-Monitor, “By backing the return march, Hamas is also pushing a political agenda. It seeks to present itself to the world as a more moderate party using peaceful resistance to uphold its cause.” Awkal believes that Hamas is reinventing itself by pursuing a new strategy based on nonviolent action to open channels for dialogue and forge diplomatic relations with various countries of the world, including the United States, in line with its new political charter.
Awkal said that with these protests, Hamas wants to embarrass Israel at the international level by portraying it as the party using excessive violence against Palestinians, regardless of whether the resistance is armed or peaceful. Hamas did not respond in kind to the Israeli military’s shooting at protesters.
Since the start of the demonstrations, 33 protesters have been killed and 2,850 others wounded by Israeli bullets along the eastern border of Gaza.
In a March 30 statement, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed sympathy for the families of the Palestinian victims and called for an independent and transparent investigation into the incidents.
Youssef believes that this change of heart is due to Hamas becoming aware of the positive impact of the peaceful popular resistance, which has resonated with the international community and brought the Palestinian issue back to the headlines of the global media.
Fatah spokesman Atef Abu Seif concurred, saying, “This march paves the way for the re-establishment of the concept of national unity.” He called on Hamas to make it part of its strategic vision rather than just a passing tactic.
“I believe the peaceful resistance was able to embarrass Israel internationally and gain more sympathy to the Palestinian cause, without the need to fire a single shot against Israel,” Abu Seif told Al-Monitor, asserting that Fatah fully supports the march and calling on Hamas to cooperate with the PA to integrate the demonstrations into a unified national vision.
Awad believes that Hamas is seeking an intellectual rapprochement with Fatah, paving the way for joining the PLO, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people at the international level. However, he said, this new image of nonviolence could contradict the principles of most of Hamas' rank and file as well as its veteran supporters, who have long believed in armed resistance against Israel.
| 2019-04-26T03:54:33 |
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/04/hamas-changes-tactics-peaceful-protests-against-israel-gaza.html
|
0.999957 |
I have been married for three years to a now-veteran. Our marriage struggled severely because of hubby's constant affairs with girls and deployment to Afghanistan. Now that he is back, we are working on our marriage.
He just took off one day, by choice, to eventually go for Iraq for one year deployment because of his parent's pressure for money (the money situation is not tight...we are doing okay based on economy and I make decent money also). I begged him and in the end told him that I will divorce him if he goes to Iraq since I don't trust him yet and our marriage is still shaky for him to just leave his wife out of the blue.
Thank God, yesterday he changed his mind and went to his parents for one week in New Mexico, then [he is] coming back home to Nevada. And [he is] also acting [like] he is mad at me to force him to not go to Iraq and blames me for ruining his chance for making great money and saying that now he wants to live by his parents or have them move in with us...which I can't do (lot of bad history there too).
I keep telling him that we don't need all that money and I want to work on us and be together...but his decision of not going to Iraq because of me is now being used against me since he thinks that I should do whatever his parents and he wants [me to do] because I didn't let him make big bucks in Iraq.
What do I do to tell him how it was important for him to work on [his] marriage instead? How do I handle this situation? I told him today that I will make sure his parents get $1000 every month so they will [stay] happy ([his] parents are not poor, just open-handed in spending money; it is never enough for them ever since I can remember).
I am relieved that he is not going, and [that he is] staying in Nevada for now and wish I didn't have to force him to come home...somehow I am even more stressed now since he is making me feel guilty whenever I [talk] with him on [the] phone.
"Constant affairs" means he has established himself as dishonest with repeatedly cheating and lying. If you are ever going to have a really good marriage, he has to repair his character for the long run.
This repair has to be because HE wants to be a better man, not because he wants to please you. Changing character is difficult work because there are so many temptations and other reasons.
You say you are working on your marriage. I hope that means you are attending marriage counseling with a marriage-friendly therapist who is ALSO skilled at character repair. From your description, I don't think he has the maturity to authentically develop his character. Also, he is talented at making everything your fault, probably to justify his misbehaviors.
| 2019-04-20T12:56:32 |
https://marriage-counselor-doctor.com/overcoming-constant-affairs-and-serious-character-repair
|
0.999999 |
Tomatoes on the vine make a pretty presentation for this dish, but if you can only find regular cherry or grape tomatoes, the recipe will still turn out great.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray large rimmed sheet pan with nonstick spray.
Place potatoes, garlic, and large rosemary sprigs in prepared pan. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and toss to coat. Spread evenly in pan and roast 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, sprinkle chicken with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Top each breast with 1 slice of prosciutto, folded into thirds; tuck 1 small rosemary sprig under each slice of prosciutto.
Remove pan from oven and carefully place chicken on top of potatoes. Roast 15 minutes.
Remove pan from oven and place tomatoes in pan. Drizzle tomatoes with remaining 1 teaspoon oil and continue roasting until chicken is cooked through and potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.
| 2019-04-18T12:54:00 |
https://nutrium.io/p/Myhealthychefe/recipes/21651
|
0.999744 |
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A man opened fire Sunday on an observation deck of the Empire State Building, killing one person and wounding six before shooting himself in the head, authorities said.
The gunman, a 69-year-old Palestinian, was taken to a hospital where he died more than five hours later, according to New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's press office.
The man muttered something about Egypt seconds before he began shooting shortly after 5 p.m. Sunday on the 86th floor observation deck of one of the world's best-known tourist sites, witnesses said.
Ali Abu Kamal used a .380-caliber Beretta handgun that he apparently bought in Florida at the end of January, Giuliani said.
"I heard a loud popping noise," said French tourist Jean-Luec Will, 40. "I thought at first it was a little child playing with fireworks."
Finally sensing danger, Will, 40, his wife and two young sons -- one wearing a red Chicago Bulls cap -- dove to the floor. Other people nearly trampled each other while dashing for exits, said David Robinson, 35, a British tourist who had arrived in the city only two hours earlier.
"Everyone started running," Robinson said. "Everybody was panicked."
On the opposite side of the deck, Gerard Guntner, 43, and George McHenry, 52, both maintenance workers from Jersey City, New Jersey, were shooting video of the view of their home state. Drawn by the commotion, Guntner stumbled across a man with a bullet wound in the head. He instinctively began cradling him.
"He was coughing blood. ... I just said, 'Hang in there,'" Guntner said. Guntner's hands shook as he smoked a cigarette while recounting the experience.
McHenry, meanwhile, videotaped what he described as "five bodies" strewn about the deck -- footage the police later confiscated. "I don't know why I took those pictures, believe me," McHenry said. "I don't know if it did any good or not."
Belgian businessman Stef Nys, 36, recalled hearing a final shot and turning in time to see the gunman slumping to the floor, his dentures out of his mouth.
Witnesses said the gunman shouted, "Are you from Egypt?" during the shooting, according to law enforcement sources. Police said they did not know whether it was said in an effort to spare or identify potential victims.
His passport said he was from Ramallah, on the West Bank, and entered the United States on Christmas Eve, Giuliani said.
The other dead man was a 27-year-old Danish musician visiting the Empire State Building with an American friend from Connecticut, Matthew Gross, 27, who was also wounded, according to Giuliani.
The others wounded included a French couple from Verdun, whose 16-year-old daughter escaped injury; a 30-year-old Swiss man; an Argentinian man, 52; and a man from the Bronx. One of the wounded men was shot in the head, while others were less seriously hurt.
Two children were hurt when they were knocked from parents' arms and four women suffered minor injuries in the rush to the exit.
Nys said he had gone to the Empire State Building "to try to relax myself a little bit." He left a shaken man.
"I've never seen so much blood in my life," he said.
The Empire State Building is one of the world's most admired skyscrapers. The 102-story skyscraper opened in 1931 and reigned for decades as the world's tallest until 1972.
Building officials planned to review security procedures, though a spokesman defended the building's lack of metal detectors or bag searches and called its security "superb."
Leona Helmsley, whose real estate company manages the Empire State Building, said the firm would pay for families of victims to be flown to New York.
"We will do everything possible to lighten their burden during this terrible time," Helmsley said through Rubenstein.
CNN Correspondent Peg Tyre contributed to this report.
| 2019-04-23T04:27:10 |
http://www.cnn.com/US/9702/24/empire.shooting/
|
0.99991 |
Help with jumping in isometric perspective (2d)?
So the problem is really a 2 part one: how to implement jumping without any form of gravity, and how to allow a character to jump on top of an object in 2d space without automatically rendering behind it (or on top of the edge of it).
Currently, my best attempt at jumping look stilted and "off", because I'm merely translating the sprite around. It doesn't look natural in the least, or smooth like a rigidbody affected by force and gravity should. If I do use gravity, it falls to below the screen and is never seen again. So that's not really an option.
I think if nothing else works for the first problem (jumping without gravity), I could turn the view into a 3d isometric view with an orthographic camera, and force all the sprites to face the camera. That way I could use the gravity of the 3d world as normal. But my problem with this idea is the colliders-- since all the 2d art would be drawn with an isometric view, wouldn't box colliders naturally be much bigger than they need to be? Also wouldn't 3d box colliders be at least 3 times as expensive as 2d, performance wise?
As far as the second part, jumping onto objects, even if I did manage to implement proper jumping, I can't figure out a way for it to render the draw order properly. I DO have it drawing properly as long as everything is considered on the "floor", the player's sprite shows up in front of objects and disappears behind them just the way it should. But if it were to jump onto say, a platform, I can't figure out how to 1) make the sprite show up in front of it no matter what it's Y position is; and 2) how to make it stay on the platform, and if it gets to the edge, make it fall back to its previous "height" (in 2d space).
| 2019-04-22T07:05:22 |
https://answers.unity.com/questions/1586768/help-with-jumping-in-isometric-perspective-2d.html
|
0.999749 |
Sleep apnea is a common disorder that causes pausing during breathing while the afflicted person is asleep. This is often due to the upper airway collapsing, and it can lead to major medical problems. It is most often treated by continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, but this is not always tolerated. In fact, compliance is a major hurdle in treatment that sometimes cannot be overcome. One proposed alternative to CPAP is learning to play an aboriginal instrument called the didgeridoo. How might the circular breathing technique needed to play this instrument help to treat sleep apnea?
The didgeridoo is a wind instrument that is common among the indigenous people of northern Australia. It is a cylindrical, wooden instrument that may be from 3 to 10 feet in length. It has been played for more than 1,500 years and is traditionally made from eucalyptus or bamboo with a mouthpiece of beeswax.
Fortunately, you don't have to craft one out of a piece of wood. More modern versions of the didgeridoo can be made at little cost from PVC pipe and duct tape, and it is possible to make your own.
For those who prefer a ready-made option, there are also professionally manufactured versions of didgeridoos that are marketed for sleep that cost $197.
How does a didgeridoo work to improve breathing during sleep? The didgeridoo is played with a special breathing technique called circular breathing. This involves breathing in through the nose while expelling air out of the mouth using the tongue and cheeks. Vibrating lips will produce a continuous drone that a skilled player can sustain for as long as desired, with the supply of air constantly replenished. It is believed that this technique may enhance the muscle strength in the tissues along the airway. This may be similar to the effects noted with myofunctional therapy.
There is some research supporting this potential relationship. In a Swiss study published in the British Medical Journal in 2006, it was found that didgeridoo playing is an effective alternative treatment for moderate obstructive sleep apnea. It was hypothesized that the circular breathing technique may improve muscular tone of the upper airway and reduce the collapsibility that is common in sleep apnea. (This would help to improve obstructive sleep apnea, but would have no effect on central sleep apnea.) Twenty-five patients were enrolled in the study, given lessons, and practiced daily at home for 4 months.
The enrolled study subjects practiced approximately 25 minutes a day, 6 days per week. Compared with a control group, daytime sleepiness and the apnea-hypopnea index (or the number of airway collapses per hour) improved significantly from 21 to 11.6. This dropped the severity from a moderate to mild level. Sleepiness was measured with the Epworth sleepiness scale and this improved from 11.8 to 7.4. Their partners also reported less sleep disturbance. There was not a measurable effect on the quality of sleep, however.
Therefore, this study demonstrates that regular didgeridoo playing is an effective adjunctive treatment in people with moderate obstructive sleep apnea, improving some measures of the disease. It does seem that some residual mild sleep apnea still persists, however. For less than $10 worth of materials, and a little bit of practice to learn the technique of circular breathing, this might be a possible alternative for those who cannot tolerate their CPAP machines.
Further research, involving a larger pool of subjects, may be helpful. This could help to determine who is more likely to respond to the treatment.
There are many effective treatments available for sleep apnea. It can sometimes be helpful to revisit a therapy that may have failed before. Beyond CPAP, an oral appliance from a specialty dentist or even surgery may be additional options to consider. Weight loss and positional therapy may also have a role. If you are struggling to sleep well with untreated sleep apnea, consult with a board-certified sleep physician who can provide you with the guidance you need to succeed.
Puhan M et al. "Didgeridoo playing as alternative treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome: randomized controlled trial." British Medical Journal. 2006; 332:266-270.
| 2019-04-20T12:45:29 |
https://www.verywellhealth.com/learn-to-play-the-didgeridoo-to-treat-sleep-apnea-3015177
|
0.999996 |
I planned an evening out with my young son to reward him for a recent success at school. I asked him where he would like to go and like many children his age, he chose McDonalds, so off we went.
We ordered and sat down with our food and the Happy Meal promotional gear for the Minions movie. A helpful staff member asked if we'd like some colouring in pencils and extra activity pages. Yes we would. It was nice to sit together and colour in before heading out to the playground.
Before we could do that, I noticed a large TV screen mounted on the wall with rotating images, advertisements for local businesses. But one ad stood out from the rest. I took a photo quickly and discreetly as I wasn't keen to draw my child's attention to it. So the ad for breast implant surgery illustrated by a naked torso is a little blurry.
For the rest of the evening I was increasingly annoyed as I saw the image pop up again and again.
Later that evening I tweeted the photo to McDonalds, letting them know what I thought of them advertising breast implant surgery at their store. McDonalds markets itself as a "family restaurant" and with toys and a playground, it is a child magnet. People don't expect to see this objectification of women at McDonalds. Given the make up of McDonalds customer base - men, women, children, families - why would anyone think this was an appropriate venue to advertise breast implant surgery?
Girls are growing up in a culture that is wall-papered with sexual objectification. Media, marketing and advertising tells girls their physical appearance is the most important thing about them, but they just don't measure up. They're not pretty enough, not thin enough or desirable enough. This make-up, these diet pills, this surgical procedure will fix it all because girls, you need fixing.
Is it asking too much for a "family restaurant" to not be yet another platform for these harmful messages?
McDonalds responded to my tweet by saying they would follow up with the local restaurant. I was pleased to see this response, but I hope McDonalds does more to make sure all its restaurants are free of sexual objectification.
| 2019-04-19T11:27:56 |
https://www.collectiveshout.org/cosmetic_surgery_ads_shown_at_mcdonalds_family_restaurant
|
0.999999 |
What is an RPT-Registered Piano Technician with the Piano Technicians Guild, Inc.?
The field of Piano technology is an unregulated trade. Therefore the Piano Technicians Guild has set its own standards of quality for piano technicians. The Guild has two types of members: Registered Piano Technicians and Associates. Associate membership is open to anyone with a "professional or avocational interest in piano technology." On the other hand, the title of "Registered Piano Technician" must be earned by passing a series of examinations.
The RPT examinations are in three parts. There is a written exam, testing basic knowledge of piano design, tuning theory, repair and general piano technology. Next, a technician takes a standardized tuning exam. At least three examiners, set up a "master tuning" by tuning a test piano until they are convinced as a group that every note is in the best possible place. This "master tuning" is then used as the standard against which the examinee is measured. Using sensitive electronic measuring equipment, the examinee's tuning is compared against the "master tuning." This system gives a fair and standardized test for all chapters of the Piano Technicians Guild. The next phase of the examinations is a "technical test." This test involves regulation of a grand action model and a vertical action model. On the test for the vertical action, the examinee is given a bag of parts, and must assemble it into an action model and make it function correctly. This method keeps the exam a reasonable length but still tests for the necessary skills. Then there is a repair test, covering all the basic in-home type repairs, such as broken strings, key repairs, and broken action parts.
The rating of RPT is not meant to be a rating for a rebuilder; it is meant to show that the technician is ready to handle normal piano service and repair. The Piano Technicians Guild has put a lot of time and effort into its examinations to establish a good set of standardized tests which will help insure quality service. The written test takes about 1 hour. The tuning and technical tests take about 4 hours each.
Only Registered Piano Technicians can advertise with that title.
Does the designation of RPT mean a technician is all they can be? Well...does a diploma in any other professional field represent that? No. However, be it doctor, lawyer, plumber, or piano technician, the individual who is willing to improve to the point by sitting for an examination, in order to gain qualification or certification, is someone who is responsible, and by definition, one who strives to improve.
| 2019-04-23T20:51:42 |
http://phillytuners.com/rpt.html
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0.999924 |
Would I get laffed at if I was so say "I saw 'Miss Potter' the other day and enjoyed. Lovely little film."? If so, I won't say it.
I saw Blood Diamond last week and it's quite fun in a Hollywood kind of way. There's loads wrong with it if you are looking for a intelligent film about the Evil Diamond Trade, but for a blockbuster with a brain it's damn entertaining.
Watched DOOM on Tuesday night.
I was expecting crap, but not boring.
I watched 'Waiting' the other day. I thought it was a great film, really crude but also very funny in parts. Definitely recommended if you're looking for a good toilet humour film.
And I also finally watched The Shining last week. Oh dear. Maybe it's because I just read the book, or it might simply be due to the fact that it's now nearly 30 years old, but I thought it was a major disappointment. Cheesy music, bad acting (apart from Nicholson) and not very scary at all. Worst of all, it took almost all the story from the book out of it, making it a lot more duller than it should have been.
What about the twins, though? I nearly shat myself first time I saw them!
Yeah, there were a few good scenes. But it was still nothing compared to the book (the twins weren't even in the book, not sure what they were doing in the film).
Most of all, though, I was disappointed by the fact that it didn't explore any the reasons for why Jack turned into a lunatic, something that the book did really well. In the film, he's just a normal dad, and then all of a suddeen he becomes this crazed psychopath wanting to kill his own family. I guess that's what the film was focusing on, to make it as scary as possible, but a little bit of backstory would have been nice.
Watched a DivX of 'The Host' the other night (aka Gwoemul). S. Korea's biggest box office hit ever, it's a bitter-sweet romance about the forbidden love between a giant mutant tadpole and a young Korean school girl. Maybe.
Well I 'aquired' the Divx of Feast last night, but the bloody video and audio were out of sych (is there an easy way to fix this?!). I got as far in as seeing the "intros"
deem said:Watched DOOM on Tuesday night.
Got a whole bunch of films that I want to get through, but tonight, inspired by ilmaestro, its gonna be Ghost in a Shell 2.
You should have at least skipped ahead to the utterly hilariously bad "FPS" bit.
Just about to watch the War Of The Worlds Live DVD.
I watched "The Straight Story" (no, it's not the sequal to Brokeback Mountain) over the weekend thanks to Dirtbox's suggestion and anyone who hasn't seen it should. It's beautiful.
Well, at least you're washing your socks now I suppose.
Legion said:I watched "The Straight Story" (no, it's not the sequal to Brokeback Mountain) over the weekend thanks to Dirtbox's suggestion and anyone who hasn't seen it should. It's beautiful.
Yeah, easily one of my favourite films of all time. The perfect late sunday afternoon, chill-out film.
Manuel Garcia said:Just about to watch You me and Dupree in a sec, although i have a feeling that i'll regret it.
Ok that was surprisingly ok. Not good, but it didn't want to make me shoot myself.
I think i'm gonna watch the Cable Guy in a minute. Its good when your the only person in work, getting paid to watch films ftw!
EVen that I stopped prematurely.
It was 'Human Traffic' tonight, but that had to be switched off after less than 10 minutes.
Watching 'Football Factory' now, and it's actually rather good.
I thought Munich was pretty decent to be honest. Not one of his best but certainly worthy.
Only get a chance to watch at weekends, last weekend it was FFIV:Advent Children followed by Steamboy. Both good.
Hotel Rwanda and Amores Perros this weekend.
Micro_Explosion said:Only get a chance to watch at weekends, last weekend it was FFIV:Advent Children followed by Steamboy. Both good.
Gonna watch The Black Dhalia (sp?) and a brit horror film called Wilderness. Anyone know if their any good?
May have to watch it again.
Steamboy is a lot better than I was really expecting. It isn't very similar to the director's previous stuff like Akira but it is entertaining.
Has nice battle scenes too.
| 2019-04-22T00:56:45 |
http://www.allaboutthegames.co.uk/forum/forum_thread.php?thread_id=164&start=30
|
0.99874 |
4D objects cast 3D shadow?
Breaking the existing laws of physics, two teams of scientists from the United States and Europe have found the existence of a fourth spatial dimension (4D). Conventional laws in physics suggest three physical dimensions and one extra dimension, that of time as we move through the Universe.
The researchers have also developed the picture of the effects this fourth dimension might have.
Even though the finding is mind-blowing, the experiments involved are partly theoretical and very complex.
"Physically, we don't have a 4D spatial system, but we can access 4D quantum Hall physics using this lower-dimensional system because the higher-dimensional system is coded in the complexity of the structure," said Mikael Rechtsman of the Penn State University and a researcher in the US-based team.
The new concept of a 4D spatial system will be simpler if it is explained in layman's term. Just like a 3D object casts a 2D shadow, 4D objects will cast 3D shadows even if we cannot see the 4D object itself. Experts believe that this new finding is capable to change some fundamental law of quantum physics.
"Maybe we can come up with new physics in the higher dimension and then design devices that take advantage the higher-dimensional physics in lower dimensions," added Mikael.
Both these studies were based on 4D Quantum Hall Effect, an advanced calculation which won the Nobel Prize in 2016. According to experts, the generation of a Quantum Hall effect is the indication of fourth dimension's existence.
The European team cooled down the atoms very close to absolute zero, placed in a 2D lattice through the use of lasers. Using extra lasers, the team successfully excited the trapped atoms and made them move. Variations in the movement of atom literally matched with the 4D quantum Hall Effect, which indicated that fourth spatial dimension can be accessed.
The US team too used lasers, and they tried to control light as it flowed through a block of glass. When the light stimulated the electrically charged particle, a 4D quantum effect was clearly observed by the team.
Even though we cannot physically access the 4D world, being aware of its existence will give us a better understanding of our Universe, say scientists.
| 2019-04-26T12:06:46 |
https://anton-dion.blogspot.com/2018/01/4d-scientists-discover-existence-of-4d.html
|
0.984116 |
I'm looking to convert my CD collection to FLAC and to use dBpoweramp batch ripper to do it. Given that I'm looking at in excess of 1000 CDs I'm looking to find a 10x tower to do it, but they seem a bit expensive.
Is it possible to simply stick ten external CD/DVD drives in a ten port powered USB hub plugged into my laptop (with another 10 port powered hub to power the CD drives) and have dBpoweramp recognise and rip all of them? Or is it somewhat more complicated than I think it is?
I do not think it is, maximum of 4 drives per system, unless you have multiple PCI-e express cards and straight SATA.
USB will stall, even if using multiple PCI-e cards (it has been our experience of).
Thanks, I might scale back the operation then. Or fork out for a tower on eBay. I have an eye open for a Nimbie or similar but there's nothing at the moment so I thought I might construct something myself. Even at 10 drives it seems I wouldn't be saving myself that much money over an eBay listing.
I've been running 6 drives, 3 sata, 3 sata with USB adapters successfully in a fast as of 2013 PC, stored on a GB Ethernet QNAP NAS without difficulty since 2014. Only significant issue was that things ground to a halt when the QNAP started a chron job of antivirus check. (moved that to later in the night...) If you do any significant amount of metadata entry/QC, that will be your limiting factor. I'm using three screens with two instances displayed (one or the other) on each monitor. Any more than that, and I think I'd go nuts keeping track of which display goes with which drive. I've still screwed that up from time to time.
I actually have two left over sata ports on the motherboard, but no more space for full size drives (the only decent ones are full size, as others here will confirm) in the case and decided not to extend sata cables outside the tower case. The USB to sata converters (and external power supplies for the drives) that I've used, Sabrent work well. They even work well using Nero as a 6 machine CD duplicator (the reason I originally added the extra drives).
| 2019-04-21T18:14:03 |
https://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthread.php?41534-Batch-ripping-CDs-using-USB-external-drives-and-a-powered-USB-hub&s=7803af8bb4539567e734ca3b81a51554
|
0.999846 |
That said, performing a self-audit isn't as simple as cringing at your expenses and vowing to make more and spend less.
I'm here to give you the right questions to ask and strategies to kickstart an effective self-audit so that you can build lasting wealth in the new year.
A self-audit can be approached with several different goals in mind, and it really depends on your concerns. You can look at it as an exercise to protect yourself from a real audit, through the eyes of actual IRS agents. This approach is more focused on perfecting your systems, procedures, and recordkeeping so that paper trails are spotless and all of your tax records are clean.
The approach that is more holistic and encompassing includes these things, but it also takes into account your overall financial goals and strategies. This not only protects you from an IRS audit through risk mitigation but it helps you focus and achieve your financial goals. So where do you start?
Are all of my finances where I want them to be? This is an encompassing question that covers more than your salary. You have to look at every area and think about your goals and make plans to reach them. What is your salary? Benefits? Healthcare and insurance plans? How about your retirement? Are you on track? What about investments and additional cash flow? Sit down and take stock of everything. Be critical.
Where am I weak? Most of us have a financial weakness. This could be a gap in knowledge, like in not knowing enough to feel confident in investing or navigating taxes or having disorganized records. It could be a weakness of impulse spending. Identify where you can stand to improve and make it your goal to learn more or curb impulsive behaviors.
Who should I include in this conversation? For both personal and business finances, there are multiple people who should be involved in money matters. For personal finance, spouses need to be on the same page. It's so crucial to communicate about money. While one spouse may be more confident or “good at” the books than the other, regular communication about money is healthy not only for your bank account but for your marriage. If something were ever to happen to the checkbook-balancing spouse, you ensure that the other is not left helpless in financial matters.
It is also valuable to include trusted third parties, like a CPA, in your financial matters, to help with decision making and tax prep.
For businesses, it's not too different. Including advisers, accountants, and other experts in the conversation encourages accountability, transparency, and perspective.
You can have a professional audit done for a business that isn't conducted by the IRS. They take stock of your finances, taxes, records, and follow the paper trails to ensure that, in the event of a real IRS audit, your business has nothing to hide and would not face any unpleasant consequences from Uncle Sam due to fraud. However, these professional audit services don't just make sure your businesses are on the up-and-up. They can instruct you on best practices that save money and streamline your systems.
These improved leadership and management practices save money over time and make it much easier to keep up come tax season.
So what do the pros do?
In our increasingly automated world, one of the problems that we often face without realizing it is the automated nature of payments. When we pay for so many recurring things automatically, we often fail to realize just how much money is leaving our accounts each month. It is an unconscious act, and unless we are watching our accounts closely, these expenses can sneak up on us.
A great audit practice is to review these recurring and automated costs to truly get a sense for your recurring expenses. From there, cut what you don't truly need. It might be redundant services or ones you can find cheaper alternatives for. Take stock of what you really use and need, and cut that which you don't need or get enough use out of.
One of the most important lessons to take from a self-audit is the importance of going over your financials not once at the end of the year, but each month. That doesn't mean you have to go through a full deep-dive audit each time, but it is crucial to convene and review, be it with a team at work or with your spouse at home. This is how you stay on target and within budget. You will catch warning signs, figure out what's working and what doesn't, and better fine-tune your financial strategy.
Lastly, the self-audit should involve extensive recordkeeping. Keep hard copies, digital copies, and back-ups. Be able to cross-reference and double-check. Record expenses, income, and other financial events as they happen versus trying to record them retroactively. This only happens when you set up the systems first. It may take hiring a professional to help you optimize your bookkeeping.
Regardless, it's worth doing to avoid the hassle and headache of it all.
A self-audit can give you a leg up in the new year, not only to prevent tax troubles but to help you realize your wealth potential. Don't miss out on the opportunity.
What's the most surprising thing you've discovered when taking a closer look at your finances? Share the biggest lesson learned in the comments.
| 2019-04-22T22:03:27 |
http://www.christopherclothier.com/blog/2019/1/3/how-to-conduct-an-effective-year-end-self-audit
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0.99875 |
The fundamental difference between the Electric Universe and standard cosmology can probably be summarized as follows: The electric universe is a connected universe, where nothing is born or exists in isolation. Filamentary networks of electric currents pervade space, producing the magnetic fields that are now detected at virtually all scales throughout the Universe. Yet even as the existence of electric currents in space has slowly entered the astronomical literature, astronomers still view gravity as the predominant force in the cosmos. Today, Nicholas Sykes discusses the Electric Universe foundations for a new understanding of many phenomena in nature, including our own Sun.
| 2019-04-18T14:16:59 |
http://wavechronicle.com/wave/?p=11911
|
0.999927 |
This article is about the city. For the province, see Batangas.
Batangas City, officially the City of Batangas, (Tagalog: Lungsod ng Batangas, Spanish: Ciudad de Batangas) is a 1st class city in the province of Batangas, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 329,874 people.
All here So near "Eto Batangueño Disiplinado"
Batangas City is classified as one of the fastest urbanizing cities of the Philippines, and is known as the "Industrial Port City of Calabarzon". It is home to the Batangas International Port, one of the busiest passenger and container terminals in the Philippines. It also hosts one of the largest oil refineries in the country, three natural gas power plants, and several other major industries. In addition, the city also serves as the educational, industrial and the transportation center of the province.
The first Spanish missionaries arrived in Batangas City in 1572 due to group migration. Finally, in 1581, Spanish authorities governing the Philippines created a pueblo in the area which included the hill (now Hilltop) where the present Provincial Capitol of Batangas stands after the formal end of the Coumintang Kingdom. The town was named "Batangan" because huge logs, locally called "batang", abounded in the place. The Spanish government appointed Don Agustin Casilao as Batangan's first gobernadorcillo. Said title of "little governor" as head of the pueblo or municipio was replaced in 1894 by "capital municipal". It is not clear who succeeded Casilao nor is it known whether there were subsequent appointments of capital municipal. Don Agustin Casilao is sometimes referred to as Agustino or Augustino in some sources. By 1870, its barangays were Balagtas, Bilogo, Bolbok, Bukal, Catandala, Konde, De La Paz, Kumintang Ibaba, Matuko, Mapagong, Paharang Kanluran, Pairang, Pinamucan, Patulo, Sampaga, San Agapito, San Isidro and Talahib.
At the coming of the Americans in the early 1900s, local civil government of Batangas was set up. It took effect on July 4, 1901 with Jose Villanueva elected as "Municipal President." His term expired in 1903.
Subsequent elections installed the following as municipal presidents: Juan Palacios, 1904–1905; Jose Arguelles, 1906; Marcelo Llana, 1907; Sisenando Ferriols, 1908–1909; Ventura Tolentino, 1910–1914; Julian Rosales, 1915; Juan Gutierrez, 1916–1919; Julian Rosales, 1920–1922; Juan Buenafe, 1923–1930; Perfecto Condez, 1931–1937; Juan Buenafe, 1938–1940. In 1941 the title "Municipal President" was changed to "Municipal Mayor." Pedro Berberabe was elected first municipal mayor.
Batangas City was severely damaged due to the Japanese A6M Zero bombardment and on December 12, 1941, the Batangas Airport which is located in Brgy. Alangilan is totally destroyed. On October 14, 1943, municipal councilor Roman L. Perez was appointed Mayor by the Japanese after the inauguration of the Second Republic of the Philippines. Liberation begun when 158th Regimental Combat Team (or 158th RCT) under the command of the US 6th Army reached Poblacion, Batangas City by March 11 during the Philippines Liberation Campaign of 1944–45. By the end of April the same that year, some elements of the 188th Glider Infantry Regiment of the 11th Airborne Division was left to clear the barangays east and mountains south of the city as the main Allied Force continued their drive towards the Quezon Province. Some of hundreds thousands local Filipino soldiers and officers of the 4th and 42nd Infantry Division of the Philippine Commonwealth Army and 4th Constabulary Regiment of the Philippine Constabulary was entering and re-invaded in Batangas City. Throughout the battle, recognized Filipino Guerrilla fighters played an important key role in the advancement of the combined American and Philippine Commonwealth troops, providing key roads and information for the Japanese location of defenses and movements. Hostilities ended as the war came closer to the end.
After the Liberation, Pres. Manuel Roxas issued his reappointment. Mayor Perez ran and won in 1944, the first post-War elections in the country. In November 1949 he was killed by an unknown assassin. Vice Mayor Atilano Magadia succeeded then Mayor Perez. He served until 1951. Mayor Macario Chavez was elected in 1951. His four-year term ended in 1955.
People voted Pedro S. Tolentino overwhelmingly as mayor in 1956. He was reelected three times. It was during his fourth term (mid 1969) that Congress approved the Charter, a milestone event which made him the first city mayor of Batangas.
Other succeeding mayors followed are Mayor Macario M. Mendoza, 1974–1979; Alfredo M. Borbon, 1979–1980, Conrado C. Berberabe, 1980–1986; Jose M. Atienza, 1986–1987; Mario M. Perez, 1987, Eduardo B. Dimacuha, 1988–1998, Angelito D. Dimacuha, 1998–2001 and again Eduardo B. Dimacuha, 2001–2010, Vilma A. Dimacuha, 2010–2013 and again Eduardo B. Dimacuha, 2013–2016, Beverley Rose A. Dimacuha, 2016–present.
Meanwhile, on January 19, 2008, Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo opened Phase II project of the Batangas City International Container Port (with turn-over to the Philippine Ports Authority). She also inspected a major road project in Southern Tagalog. She then inspected the P1.5-billion Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR), Stage II-Phase 1 connecting Lipa (19.74 kilometers and Batangas and the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) road widening, expansion and the STAR toll way development projects in Batangas.
Batangas City lies in the southernmost part of Batangas, facing Batangas Bay. It is bordered by San Jose to the north, Verde Island Passage to the south, Ibaan, Taysan, and Lobo to the east, and San Pascual to the west. The Calumpang River crosses the city from northeast to southwest. The area west of Calumpang River is generally plains while the eastern area is mostly foothills and mountains.
Batangas City is politically subdivided into 105 barangays. Pagkilatan was formerly a sitio of Matoco. Malalim was formerly the "southern portion of the barrio of Sirang Lupa, the northern portion of the barrio Mahabang Dahilig, and the eastern portion of San Isidro" "together with the sitio of Malalim"; this territory became a barrio (barangay) in 1954. In the same year, sitio Malitam, formerly part of barrio Libjo, was elevated as a barrio. San Antonio was constituted from the sitios of Ilaya, Labac, Matalisay, Pajo and Cacawan, from the barrio of San Agapito. In 1957, the barrio of Talumpok was divided into two. Sitios Romano, Poyesan, Bondeo and Latag were constituted into Talumpok Silangan, while sitios Ginto, Duhatan, Kulingkang, Piit and Cuaba were constituted into Talumpok Kanluran.
Balagtas was formerly known as Patay, Kumintang Ilaya as Sambat Ilaya, and Kumintang Ibaba as Sambat Ibaba.
In the 2015 census, the population of Batangas City was 329,874 people, with a density of 1,200 inhabitants per square kilometre or 3,100 inhabitants per square mile.
With the expansion of Batangas Port, the operation of different heavy industries and the construction of Phase II of the STAR Tollway project and diversion roads, Batangas City has seen a gradual shift from an agricultural economy to an industrial economy.
The northwest of the city hosts different commercial establishments while the lowland areas surrounding Batangas Bay hosts the heavy industries of the city. However, despite its gradual shift in becoming a major commercial/industrial hub for CALABARZON, it still shares rural landscapes that is still preserved in the north part of the city. The Poblacion area is the major retail and commercial center of the city. It is filled with banks, restaurants, and local businesses.
Being a major port city, Batangas has seen an increase in migrants from nearby provinces, islands, and even nation states such as China, India, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Agriculture remains an important source of food and income for residents of rural barangays. Residents in rural areas practice subsidence farming, with some of their harvest sold to the lowland public wet markets. Major crops include coconut, corn, vegetables, and mangoes.
Industries in Batangas City are concentrated around Batangas Port, Tabangao and Pinamucan areas, and Sorosoro Karsada. Shell, through its Philippine subsidiary, Pilipinas Shell, owns large refineries in Tabangao, and provides most of the fuel supply sold in Shell gas stations in southern Luzon and Metro Manila. JG Summit Holdings operates a petrochemical facility in Pinamucan Ibaba, with expansions to accommodate a coal power plant, which raised controversy to locals and environmentalists. Other companies also set up refineries for distribution to the province and nearby areas.
Batangas City hosts shopping malls such as SM City Batangas, operated by SM Supermalls, and Bay City Mall and Nuciti Central, owned by local retail companies. There is a sizeable number of supermarkets in the urbanized areas, some being part of malls while others being stand-alone neighborhood markets, fiercely competing with local public markets.
The Poblacion area hosts numerous shops, restaurants, banks, pawnshops, and other establishments. Two major public markets in the city proper serves produce from the rural barangays of the city as well as nearby municipalities.
The Diversion Road, constructed to divert traffic going to Batangas Port and Bauan from the city proper, is seeing a rise in retail stores in addition to industrial space. Numerous car dealerships are being constructed along the length of the road in barangays Alangilan and Balagtas. Fast food restaurants, like McDonald's and Shakey's Pizza are also rising near the Batangas Central Terminal.
In response to population and economic growth, local or national real estate companies are developing subdivisions to accommodate the increasing populations. Large-scale developments are present, mostly of local developers, but major developers like Ayala Land and Vista Land (through Camella) also have presence in the city.
Among the higher education institutions in the city is the Batangas State University, Lyceum of the Philippines University–Batangas, University of Batangas, St. Bridget College, Westmead International School, Golden Gate College and Colegio ng Lungsod ng Batangas.
The Department of Education also maintains a division in Batangas City. For of the academic year of 2013–2014, there are 82 public elementary schools and 18 public high schools. For the academic year of 2016–2017, 50 private schools offering various levels of education from pre-school to college level have legal permit to operate in the city.
Batangas City's public transportation mainly include jeepneys and tricycles. Also, the city has transportation between barangays and other cities and municipalities. The city's central transportation is the Batangas Grand Terminal, found beside the Diversion Road in Alangilan.
Batangas City serves as a terminus for major highways like the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR Tollway), Jose P. Laurel Highway (N4) and Batangas-Quezon Road (N435), and Bauan-Batangas Road (N436). In the early 2000s, a diversion road is built to provide travellers a bypass to the existing highway through the urban centers. Despite the construction of the diversion, traffic bottlenecks remained inside the city. The city government is constructing a bypass road in the east to provide better access to the fast-growing industrial areas in the south of the city.
The poblacion of the city features a road network based on a rough grid, typical of Spanish-era cities and towns. Streets in the area are mostly named from historical figures, such as Diego Silang, the Gomburza (Mariano Gómez, José Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora) and the ilustrados, (José Rizal, Marcelo del Pilar, and Graciano López Jaena).
Batangas City, then a town, was served by a branch line of the Philippine National Railways until its closure.
As part of Rodrigo Duterte's infrastructure development program, DuterteNomics or "Build-Build-Build", a railway line from Calamba will be constructed to connect with the city. The railway line, the Calamba-Batangas Line, a part of the longer Manila-Matnog Railway, is approved by the National Economic Development Authority on September 12, 2017, and funding will be provided by the Chinese government. Start of construction of the railway, as part of the Manila-Matnog Railway, is not yet set.
Electricity services in Batangas City is provided by Meralco for most of its barangays. Some barangays in the eastern rural area near the boundary with Taysan are served by the Batangas II Electric Cooperative (BATELEC-II) . Power in off-grid Verde Island is provided by diesel generators and solar panels.
The water services in the urbanized areas are provided by the Batangas City Water District (BCWD). Rural areas are localized, and provided by the Rural Waterworks and Sewage Authority.
ABS-CBN (through regional channel, ABS-CBN Southern Tagalog) and GMA Network serves Batangas City through local channels. ABS-CBN Southern Tagalog (DZAD-TV, channel 10) have hosted its studios in Batangas City until they moved to Lipa in 2015. GMA serves Batangas City through channels 12 (DWCW-TV) and GMA News TV via channel 26 (DWGS-TV). Cable television is provided by Batangas MyCATV (formerly Batangas CATV).
Batangas City has local newspapers like the English-language Sun.Star People's Courier and the Tagalog-language Balikas. Newspapers marketed in Metro Manila, such as the major broadsheets Philippine Star, Philippine Daily Inquirer, and Manila Bulletin, and tabloids like Abante, Balita, People's Journal, Pilipino Mirror, and Pilipino Star Ngayon, are also sold in the city through local distributors.
The city is the center of the radio listening market in Batangas, and is served by local radio stations, as well as some radio stations from Lipa and other parts of the Mega Manila area. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lipa, through the Radyo Bayanihan System, hosts two local radio stations: ALFM 95.9 Radyo Totoo (DWAL), a religion, news, talk, and music-oriented station, and 99.1 Spirit FM (DWAM), a religion and music-oriented station. Other radio stations include 91.9 Air1 Radio Southern Tagalog (DWCH), an adult contemporary-oriented station, 99.9 GV FM (DZGV), a contemporary hit radio station, and 104.7 Brigada News FM (DWEY), a FM news radio station. Batangas State University hosts a college radio station, 107.3 BatStateU FM (DWPB-FM). Signals from other stations in Metro Manila are not clearly received because of the local topography.
The city is famous for its nilupak. The art of making the dish is indigenous to the area and has been cited as having a great potential for inclusion in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.
Batangas City host three major religious festivals, such as the Feast of the Santo Niño at every third Sunday of January, as well as religious processions during Good Friday and the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. The Sublian Festival, held every July 23, revives the old Batangueño tradition of subli. The Batangas City Founding Day celebrations are done alongside the Sublian Festival on the same day.
^ "City". Quezon City, Philippines: Department of the Interior and Local Government. Retrieved May 30, 2013.
^ "Province: Batangas". PSGC Interactive. Quezon City, Philippines: Philippine Statistics Authority. Retrieved November 12, 2016.
^ a b c d Census of Population (2015). "Region IV-A (Calabarzon)". Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay. PSA. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
^ "Official Website: Historical Background". Archived from the original on July 26, 2010. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
^ a b "Ibiblio.org: Triumph in the Philippines, Chapter XXIII Securing the Visayan Passages, Southern Luzon". Retrieved July 9, 2010.
^ "ABS-CBN News.com: President Arroyo inaugurates Batangas Port project". Archived from the original on July 9, 2007. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
^ "An Act Creating the Barrio of Pagkilatan in the Municipality of Batangas, Province of Batangas". LawPH.com. Retrieved April 9, 2011.
^ "An Act to Convert the Sitio of Malalim in the Barrio of Mahabang Dahilig, Municipality of Batangas, Province of Batangas, into a Barrio". LawPH.com. Retrieved April 11, 2011.
^ "An Act to Convert the Sitio of Malitam, in the Barrio of Libjo, Municipality of Batangas, Province of Batangas, into a Barrio". LawPH.com. Retrieved April 11, 2011.
^ "An Act to Convert the Sitios of Ilaya Labac, Matalisay, Pajo and Cacawan in Isla Verde, in the Municipality of Batangas, Province of Batangas, to a Barrio to Be Known As Barrio San Antonio of the Same Municipality". LawPH.com. Retrieved April 11, 2011.
^ "An Act Dividing the Barrio of Talumpoc, Municipality of Batangas, Province of Batangas, into Two Barrios to Be Known As the Barrios of Talumpok Silangan and Talumpok Kanluran of Said Municipality". LawPH.com. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
^ "An Act Changing the Names of Certain Barrios in the Municipality of Batangas, Province of Batangas". LawPH.com. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
^ "Ambulong, Batangas Climatological Normal Values". Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
^ Census of Population and Housing (2010). "Region IV-A (Calabarzon)". Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay. NSO. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
^ "Province of Batangas". Municipality Population Data. Local Water Utilities Administration Research Division. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
^ Bueno, Donato. "Message". Division of Batangas City (Department of Education). Archived from the original on November 19, 2014. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
^ "Masterlist of Schools Based on School Year in Public Elementary Schools – Batangas City" (PDF). Department of Education – Calarbarzon. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
^ "Masterlist of Schools Based on School Year in Public Secondary Schools – Batangas City" (PDF). Department of Education – Calarbarzon. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
^ "LIST OF PRIVATE SCHOOLS OPERATING WITH PERMIT/RECOGNITION REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES Department of Education Region IV-A CALABARZON BATANGAS CITY" (PDF). Department of Education – Calarbarzon. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
^ "NEDA Board approves Manila subway, PNR South Rail projects". GMA News. September 12, 2017. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Batangas City.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Batangas City.
| 2019-04-26T08:58:40 |
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batangas_City
|
0.999995 |
A fan affectionately known as the first 'Honorary Beatle' when he ran away from a home to join the Fab Four is selling his mementos 50 years on.
Russell Jamieson, 56, was just four when he went to his first Beatles gig in 1963 with his older brother Dave, 68.
The jovial child was spotted by the band as he danced in the aisle and was invited backstage.
After hanging out with the group he became such a Beatle-maniac he ran away from home to try and join the group.
He was found wandering the streets of Liverpool and told police officers who picked him up that his name was 'Russell Beatle'.
The band read about what happened in local newspapers and met him again several times - dubbing him the first 'Honorary Beatle'.
They became friends and drummer Ringo Starr regularly visited his home.
He also amassed an impressive collection of souvenirs from the many concerts he attended, including autographs and photos.
Several items from his treasured collection are now being putting up for sale at auction.
Mr Jamieson, a chemical factory working from Merseyside, said: 'What I remember about that first gig was the sound. It was very pure rock 'n' roll.
'I was dancing in the aisles and I remember meeting them. At one point Ringo took me to his drum set and let me hit them and the crowd just went berserk.
Recalling the time he ran away to try and find the band, he said: 'I don't remember much. I think I was wearing my favourite Beatles jacket I used to wear all the time.
'When the policeman found me I told him my name was Russell Beatle. As far as I was concerned at the time that's what I was called.
His older brother, Dave, a former roadie for The Rolling Stones, said: 'Ringo used to come round our house quite often.
He added: 'I remember Ringo coming round a lot, he used to play football with me. I can't remember whether he was any good, it was just a kickabout you know.
The collection is expected to fetch around £5,000 when it goes under the hammer on March 22.
| 2019-04-26T12:29:59 |
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3499115/The-original-fifth-Beatle-Boy-4-honorary-member-band-running-away-home-join-selling-mementos-50-years-on.html
|
0.998551 |
I was just wondering what records by The TVP's were released for yesterdays Record Store Day?
I know that the debut album and 'Could Of Been Bigger Than The Beatles' were reissued, but where they any others?
In case anyone is wondering, it was the first 4 albums by the Television Personalities that were reissued for Record Store Day - 'And Don't The Kids Just Love It', Mummy Your Not Watching Me', 'Could Of Been Bigger Than The Beatles' and 'The Painted Word'.
| 2019-04-23T16:03:26 |
http://televisionpersonalities.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=1593
|
0.993506 |
in a sentence: a boy and his father in a post-apocalyptic world travel the road in hopes of warmer climate and survival.
let me start by saying that this book was totally and completely emotionally exhausting. the interactions between the man and boy were bare bones in words, but rich in thought. this was exactly like the world they tried to survive in...so bare bones but once so rich and full of life. at the point we encounter them, they have been on the road for what i assumed to be about 8 years or so. everything they see is covered in gray ash - the road, the trees, themselves, the sky, absolutely everything is saturated with a light gray film. McCarthy periodically reminds the reader of that imagery to really drive home the physical reminder of their desperation.
similar to journey to the center of the earth, this book is a slow and intentionally paced journey. there are some tough characters they meet along the way and periodic flashbacks of their prior life (not very many). mainly this book is all about the man and the boy (as they are referred to) traveling along the road trying to survive by scavenging.
as far as a young adult read, i think this is a go. it's very heavy at times, but with one of the characters as a young boy, it is very doable. there's nothing too extreme or disturbing that pops up as a red flag for me against a young adult read, with the exception maybe of an encounter with someone on the road that ends in murder. but i think that young adults would be intrigued by the concept of post-apocalyptic survival and with what surviving would be like.
judging from the little looking around i've done at the upcoming movie, i think that i will be interested in checking it out. and then not talking to anyone for 2 days afterward as i recover from the emotional trauma seeing it in action will do to me!
despite my emotional exhaustion, i really did like this book. i can't say that i'm chomping at the bit to read it again anytime soon...but it was very well written, thought out, and intentional. i respect the struggle of the characters even though i couldn't directly relate to their situation. i strongly feel that their story is one worth reading.
fave part: in place of a quote, which i feel i would have a hard time choosing out of context, i think that one of my favorite elements of this book is that the father is reasonably well educated. this is seen in his interactions with the boy, his survival skills, but also with the language he uses. he holds on to that dignity even in a world that could care less.
fix er up: there was no punctuation or chapter breaks in this book. while i respect that it was probably done because in a post-apocalyptic world, who cares about quotation marks or chapter breaks? and the lack of these breaks also accentuated their never-ending traveling and survival mode. but for me, i just like organization.
remember how you get upset with me everytime i say i know how this book ends based on the fact that you were crying? it just makes me wonder what you will actually do when i read it and find out i was right. will your head explode in anger? will it pop off and roll around the floor? will your face turn red and steam emanate from your ears, ala yosemite sam? inquring minds want to know Lisa.
This is another bbook on my TBR pile...that seems to be growing. ha ha!
| 2019-04-21T04:05:45 |
http://www.lisaisbusynerding.com/2008/09/road.html
|
0.998671 |
Questions about example sentences with, and the definition and usage of "Budgeting"
Budgeting means, computing your money for your desired expenses without exceeding in your budget.
What is the difference between budget and budgeting ?
I was forced to not buy any of the tempting items that the stores offered. I had to keep budgeting. I bought a sculpture of glass which replicates the Burj al Arab. does this sound natural?
"I was forced to not buy any of the tempting items that the stores offered. I had to keep budgeting." is a little off but understandable. "In order to stay on budget I couldn't buy any of the tempting items the stores offered."
Please show me how to pronounce budget, budgeting.
Example sentences with, and the definition and usage of "Burj"
Example sentences with, and the definition and usage of "replicates"
Example sentences with, and the definition and usage of "tempting"
| 2019-04-21T13:13:27 |
https://hinative.com/en-US/dictionaries/budgeting
|
0.998503 |
The final two Led Zeppelin LPs, Presence and In Through The Out Door, have been reissued, along with 1982's posthumous odds-and-ends comp Coda. While easily their weakest albums, they are redeemed by the fact that they are also easily their strangest.
In the first six years of Led Zeppelin's existence, they released seven albums' worth of music, and nearly all of it was brilliant. During that time, everything seemed to go their way: they had a bottomless well of songs built on the blues, early rock, British and American folk, psychedelia, and R&B; they had the greatest riff machine the world had ever known in Jimmy Page, and they had hard rock's quintessential drummer in John Bonham. But given their penchant for excess and the hyper-intense life they lived as the world's biggest rock band in the '70s, there was no way it could last. They were getting older and growing tired; they did too many drugs; they were too isolated. In the five-and-a-half years between the February 1975 release of Physical Graffiti and the death of drummer John Bonham that ended the band in September 1980, they released just two albums—Presence in March '76 and In Through the Out Door in August '79. The two LPs, newly reissued (along with 1982's posthumous odds-and-ends comp Coda) to round out what will almost certainly be the last large-scale catalog effort in the lifetime of the band members, were easily their weakest. But both are redeemed by the fact that they are also easily their two strangest.
Presence and In Through the Out Door are opposites. The former was very much driven by Jimmy Page, who wanted badly to keep the band busy during a time of retrenchment following the serious car accident that injured Robert Plant in August 1975. The recording is ultra dry and the simple guitar/amp interface is front-and-center; just one song features an acoustic instrument, and the album has barely any keyboards. Page's strong hand led to an album that puts the focus on the playing and makes the fewest concessions to pop music. It has also developed a cult following in a way that no other single Zeppelin album has. ("Presence is just perfection," Jim O'Rourke told Time Out Tokyo, and given his preference for clean and crisp engineering and arrangements, his admiration makes perfect sense.) It's the Zeppelin album that was least embraced by the radio, with its lengthy songs and general aversion to hooks. But the hard and brittle sound of Presence (at points, it sounds like a Shellac album) has much to admire, not least because you can hear the contributions of each band member so clearly. There are moments of space and silence and very little standing in between the instrument and the listener.
Throughout the album, bassist John Paul Jones and John Bonham are so perfectly in tune they seem like a single organism. Listen to how Jones' bass syncs with Bonham's kick drum on the tumbling stop/start masterpiece "Nobody's Fault But Mine", which certainly ranks with either's greatest moments, or the loping "Hots on for Nowhere", where the pauses serve as a third rhythm instrument. Page keeps his parts unusually lean, emphasizing percussive force over atmosphere. Distortion is used sparingly, as is reverb; though the songs contain many layers of guitars, the focus is on overlapping lines and counterpoint, even at the expense of riffs.
One thing Presence most certainly is not is Plant's album; he sang these songs from a wheelchair, still recovering from a car wreck, and his voice sounds pinched and thin on the group's least inspired tunes. Indeed, the overall lack of melody on Presence shows you just how underrated Zeppelin were in that department (as does the previously unreleased bonus track "10 Ribs & All/Carrot Pod Pod (Pod)", a blandly pretty piano-led instrumental with a chiming acoustic guitar that's the closest Zep ever got to yacht rock). It might be their weakest album, but Presence is among the most special; none of these songs sound like they could have come from another record.
It's hard to believe that In Through the Out Door was the work of the same band. By this point, Page, deep in the throes of heroin addiction, had mostly checked out, and Bonham's chronic alcoholism was reaching a terrifying end stage. Robert Plant's five-year-old son died unexpectedly in 1977 and his grief almost caused his exit from the band. Out of this turmoil came Zeppelin's most singular record, if far from their best.
With Page out of commission, Plant teamed with Jones, always the group's steadying force, and they wrote colorful songs that heavily featured synthesizers. Most of the '60s and '70s veterans who made a synth-heavy album in the '80s were responding to broader trends in pop, but In Through the Out Door doesn't sound like a reaction to anything, least of all new wave. The general mood is dark and inward; Plant's words are often hard to make out, and when you do catch lyrics they are especially cryptic. But there's something restless and experimental about it too, a feeling of open-ended structures being explored.
Out Door is defined by its production sheen; even the most famous guitar part on the album, Page's beautifully broken solo on "In the Evening", sounds like it's been run through a dozen pedals and filters. The dirge "I'm Gonna Crawl" is utterly shapeless, not a ballad so much as a drawn-out moan; "South Bound Suarez" comes at country-tonk from bizarre angles. Where Zep once had direct homages to the music of their youth, now they were creating weirdly synthetic mutant versions of them. Sometimes, as with the Sun-era Elvis trifle, "Hot Dog", they didn't quite work, but the Latin-inspired "Fool in the Rain" is a unique creation that still sounds fresh. The piano is used as a looping rhythmic instrument in the Cuban tradition—there aren't chord changes, exactly—and the feel of the whole is circular and strange. John Bonham, whose nervous system was ravaged by a daily vodka intake that would stop most people's hearts, somehow managed one last burst of genius and created his most memorable and lasting drum line (hear it in isolation and marvel at just how deeply in the pocket he could still play, the utter mastery of his feel). "Carouselambra", a bizarre proggy rave-up that stretches for more than 10 minutes, is impossible to compare to another song.
Coda, collecting outtakes (of which Led Zeppelin did not have many), followed in 1982. The big story on this reissue is the release of tracks recorded by Page and Plant in what in the early '70s was still called Bombay. The tabla and strings certainly bring to mind the flavor of some of their experiments in global music around the time, but truthfully there is nothing particularly noteworthy about the "Bombay Orchestra" tracks. Beyond the new curiosities, Coda's offerings range from one of the band's best single songs ("Hey Hey, What Can I Do"), which was originally relegated to a B-side, to a fantastic III outtake ("Poor Tom"), to a couple of essential live cuts, to a skippable drum solo ("Bonzo's Montreaux") and an exhausted rocker that truly feels like the end ("Darlene"). "Ozone Baby", recorded during the In Through the Out Door sessions, would have easily been that record's catchiest and most accessible song. Coda is a great listen with a skip button close at hand.
Revisiting their final records, it's clear that Zeppelin didn't exactly go out on a high note. But they didn't exactly fade away, either. True to their model, they did something no other rock band of their stature has before: They took a couple of wrong turns and changed into something else rapidly before vanishing. These sets will always leave a peculiar taste in the mouth of Zeppelin fans, but they affirm they were the rock band of the '70s, the decade when rock music ruled the world. Even in their exit, they carried themselves with a majesty and strangeness that simply couldn't be replicated.
| 2019-04-24T22:11:09 |
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/20668-presence-in-through-the-out-door-coda/
|
0.99847 |
Highly Recommend written by mobile The children wash their hands well.
I bought it because the child was not able to press the pump because it was clean. I feel very comfortable. But when the button side gets water, there is a time when it turns itself off.
I am writing in the bathroom, but it is comfortable. It is better than I thought. I am worried about the cleaning agent.
Highly Recommend written by mobile I am writing well that I received children yesterday.
I am writing well that I received children yesterday. I can smell the disinfectant.
It's nice and the seller is very kind.
I ordered two more to give you a very comfortable and enjoyable gift.
Design is also pretty and easy because it is so comfortable.
I will buy it cheaply but I will not leave it open yet.
I am satisfied with everything else. But I think the odor of the foam may be a little shaky.
I think it 's okay.
The automatic hand cleaner used at home .. It is not too big in size, so it looks good and I am satisfied with it.
Very satisfied. However, it is not so bad considering that it is a simple hand detergent even though it is lower than ordinary soap in washing power part.
I bought two cleaning liquids, but I only have one. What happened?
I would like to send you a picture of the product you received, and a box, and I will confirm it.
I know that the amount ordered by your customer is correct for one cleaning solution.
If it turns off, it will not turn on as it is attached.
It will only work if the battery is opened and closed (same as replacing the battery).
Would you like us to exchange? Or do you want to process the refund?
Your customer ordered two units. Is only one product broken?
Can I get it in 2.28 days?
| 2019-04-22T20:31:26 |
https://directjapan.qoo10.com/g/639801364
|
0.997665 |
Pointed bullets, Mauser M2 pistol, split case necks and more!
Pointed Rimfire Bullets In Tubular Magazines?
The percussion-sensitive primer compound is located in the rim, relatively far from where a bullet tip contacts the cartridge ahead (see the accompanying illustration; it's of the .17 HMR, but it serves the purposes of the .22 Magnum as well). The compound needs to be "pinched" to activate, and the only pinch-point is at the rim.
Recoil, the factor that creates the hazard from using pointed bullets in centerfire tubular magazines, is almost nonexistent in rimfire rifles.
The mass of rimfire cartridges is quite small compared to centerfire cartridges, greatly reducing the energy produced during recoil that can shift cartridges in the magazine.
Why Did My Cases Split?
Q. I have been a very "longtime" subscriber to Shooting Times and look forward to its arrival every month. I have been handloading since 1965 and have been an avid shooter for over 50 years. My question is this: I loaded some .41 Magnum loads and drove to the range to test them. Before trying the handloads, I fired five rounds of Winchester 210-grain factory loads from a new box that I had recovered from my ammo inventory. While the box had not been opened previously, it had been sitting on my shelves for at least 10 years. When I fired the loads, I noted that there was a little more recoil than I associate with the .41 Mag. (firing a Ruger Blackhawk single action with a 6-inch barrel); however, it wasn't so severe as to concern me. I ejected the cases from the cylinder and placed them back in the box with the other unfired rounds. Then I shot the handloads, which seemed to be much more forgiving in the recoil department. I returned to the remaining box of ammo and examined the spent brass, only to find that each one of them had split at the neck. I examined the spent brass from the handloads, which showed no defects at all.
A. I suspect there is nothing wrong with your fine Ruger nor your storage conditions. Split necks almost always indicate a minor metallurgy problem with the case dating to the time of manufacture. It can arise from improper heat-treating, age, or the two factors working together.
Nonferrous metals like copper and brass have a tendency to slowly migrate to a harder state with age. The anneal or stress relief forces a change to the fabric of the alloy that is a little softer than the "natural" state. Nature tends to slowly overcome our efforts to change metals, and that is usually manifested as a case that is harder today than it was when it was tested at the time of manufacture.
It is common to find very old cases (like more than 50 years) that split at the neck simply due to the long-term stress of holding the bullet. You can find this on ammo that's not even been fired. Even if the case is properly annealed, there is a modest stress applied to the neck when the bullet is seated, work-hardening the neck; it is more prevalent with nonyielding jacketed bullets than with soft lead bullets.
I'll admit that this is not very common with handgun cartridges. However, if the ammo has been on your shelf for at least 10 years, it could have been on a dealer's shelf for a long time before you bought it. Twenty-year-old ammo doesn't usually sound a "hard case" alarm in my mind, so what you see is unusual but not without precedent or explanation.
Both annealing and stress relieving require incredibly tight temperature tolerances, in the order of a few degrees out of hundreds. Temperature is measured with thermocouples, and a quarter-century ago, those electronic devices were not as capable as those today. Combine that with the huge leap in digital control technology in the last decade and today we now have ways to control oven temperatures to the narrow ranges required for superb heat-treating. In the 20+ years I was associated with CCI-Speer, I saw a huge leap in this technology, from tray ovens with one or two old thermocouples to new belt-fed linear ovens with arrays of many sensors, all feeding data to a computer that controls the material feed rate and the temperature to "bullseye" the desired heat-treating effect required.
I suspect that your old ammo was made at a time sensors were not as good as today's, so the temperature was detected as being in the proper range. However, with the "plus/minus" nature of the old sensors, the actual temperature may have been just a few degrees under the sweet spot for a level of anneal or stress relief that would let the cases survive unchanged for decades. Your batch of cases probably passed every test that Winchester applied at the time they were made. It is the normal action of time combined with the challenges of older temperature-sensing technology that every manufacture once faced that caused the cases to harden with age.
As for the greater recoil, that's probably not related to the splits either. When there were few options in .41 Magnum ammo, I recall thinking the factory 210-grain jacketed loads produced as much felt recoil in S&W revolvers as full-power .44 Magnum 240-grain loads. Felt recoil can be affected by something as subtle as the propellant burning rate. If the batch of factory ammo was loaded with a faster-burning propellant than your handloads, the kick would be applied to your hand over a shorter time interval and feel more severe.
| 2019-04-23T14:42:09 |
https://www.shootingtimes.com/editorial/ammunition_st_ate_090710/99843
|
0.998446 |
This article looks at increases in the cost of living for Australian households over the past decade. Inflation as measured by changes in the consumer price index (CPI) overstates ‘true’ increases in the cost of living due to a number of inherent conceptual differences and measurement issues. Even so, other measures of the cost of living have increased by a similar amount to the CPI over the past decade. Measured inflation has been higher for some households and socio-economic groups than for others, though the differences have generally not been large and have tended to even out over time. Although cost-of-living inflation has been moderate across most households, there are a number of reasons why some households might have perceived inflation to be higher than it actually was.
A significant concern for many households is the expense they incur to buy the goods and services that are necessary to maintain a certain standard of living – that is, their ‘cost of living’. The prices of many of these items tend to rise over time, which places upward pressure on the cost of living. The CPI, which measures inflation in prices, is often used to assess changes in the cost of living. Over the past decade, the CPI has increased by around 30 per cent, averaging around 2¾ per cent per year. This pace of increase has been consistent with the Reserve Bank's target of keeping CPI inflation between 2 and 3 per cent per year, on average, over the business cycle. This rate of inflation has also been low compared with that in the two decades prior to the Reserve Bank's adoption of an inflation target (in 1993), when CPI inflation averaged nearly 10 per cent a year (Graph 1).
How closely does the CPI reflect cost-of-living inflation? While there is no perfect measure of cost-of-living inflation, a number of alternative measures are available.
How different is inflation across households? The CPI, together with alternative indices, measures the average rate of inflation across households. But the rates of inflation for individual households are dispersed around the average, because consumption baskets differ and not all prices increase at the same rate.
What factors might affect households' perceptions of inflation? While the CPI is calculated from a very large number of prices (around 100,000 each quarter), individuals have much less information with which to assess the general rate of inflation. Accordingly, measured inflation may not align with perceptions of inflation from the standpoint of households.
Substitution bias. Consumers will try to lessen the impact of price increases on their cost of living by shifting their spending from higher inflation to lower inflation items. The CPI does not capture much of this behaviour because it is based on a fixed basket (at the ‘upper level’; see Appendix A) that is updated every six years or so. This results in an upward ‘substitution’ bias relative to cost-of-living inflation. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) estimates that this bias has been around ¼ percentage point per year since 2000 (ABS 2011). Similarly, consumers' efforts to shop around between outlets to obtain the best price are not fully captured in the CPI. This can result in a further upward bias, which may have become larger in recent years owing to the increased prevalence of online shopping (RBA 2011).
Incomplete quality adjustment. The quality of goods and services tends to improve on average over time, helping to lift living standards. If prices increase in line with quality, then the cost of living is unchanged, while if prices are unchanged but quality improves, then the cost of living has declined. Therefore, recorded prices need to be adjusted downward to account for the effect of quality improvements. The ABS performs explicit quality adjustments for items such as personal computers, which tend to have large quality improvements over time and have easily measureable characteristics. However, for certain items, it is particularly difficult to measure quality and therefore to adjust for improvements. This is true of services such as health and education, where the quality changes are less tangible than for many goods. Where quality is more difficult to assess, CPI inflation can potentially reflect an element of quality improvement, which is not a genuine rise in the cost of living. In other words, in this case CPI inflation can overstate cost-of-living inflation.
Treatment of housing. One of the most challenging items to measure in the CPI is the price of living in a dwelling that is owned by the occupant (as opposed to rented). The CPI takes the approach of evaluating the price of buying a newly built, free-standing house (excluding the cost of the land). Changes in the price of established housing are not taken into account, as these largely reflect changes in the value of an asset (land) and, moreover, the purchase of existing housing represents a transfer within the household sector (which means that there is zero net expenditure by the household sector in these transactions).This approach is appropriate given that the CPI is used as a target for monetary policy (see ABS (2010)). However, two alternative approaches are possible. One is to measure the cost of servicing a mortgage on the property, which might align more closely with households' perceptions of their expenses. A more difficult alternative is to recognise that, by living in dwellings, owners are effectively renting properties from themselves; in this case, an ‘imputed’ rent must be estimated.
A large body of academic research has estimated the effect of these factors on the rate of inflation as measured by the CPI, both in Australia and internationally (Table 1; Appendix A). Some of the factors are likely to push CPI inflation higher and others lower, and their relative importance is likely to change over time. However, the overall effect is likely to be positive, meaning that CPI inflation would generally be expected to overstate cost-of-living inflation.
Several other measures of inflation are available that provide an alternative means of assessing increases in the average cost of living. These measures are constructed differently from the CPI, and so are affected differently by the biases discussed above.
Generally speaking, they are also closer in concept to a measure of cost-of-living inflation as opposed to price inflation (see ABS (2011)). The national accounts use a measure called the household final consumption expenditure chain price index (HCPI). This measure should be less affected by substitution bias than the CPI (as it is reweighted each year) and it measures the price of owner-occupied housing as implied rent. The ABS also publishes analytical living cost indices (ALCIs); these measure the price of owner-occupied housing on the basis of mortgage interest payments. The ALCIs are only available for specific household types, and the ABS does not publish an aggregate measure. However, an aggregate measure over different household types is produced by the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM).
Despite their different approaches, and some temporary deviations, these measures have risen by similar amounts over the past decade or so. The three measures all indicate inflation in the range of 33–36 per cent over the period since 2003 (Graph 2). So, while the CPI is subject to certain biases when used to assess cost-of-living inflation, these have either tended to even out over a long period of time or have been present in other measures to a similar degree.
Inflation rates vary across households due to different spending patterns and because not all prices increase at the same rate. As a result, the official aggregate measures will only approximate cost-of-living inflation for many households. At any given time, roughly half of households will have experienced inflation somewhat above the average for all households, because they spent proportionately more on high-inflation items, while the other half will have experienced inflation below the average, because they spent proportionately more on low-inflation items. In addition, a household's consumption basket is usually influenced by certain socio-economic characteristics, such as income, housing tenure or demographics, resulting in differences in cost-of-living inflation between certain socio-economic groups.
The ALCIs published by the ABS measure cost-of-living inflation across households according to their main source of income, with inflation measured for employees, age pensioners, recipients of other government transfers and self-funded retirees. But to examine differences in inflation at the more granular level of individual households, or to look at differences on the basis of other household characteristics, a different data source is needed.
To construct the data needed for this additional analysis, we make use of individual responses to the Household Expenditure Survey (HES). The HES collects information from a sample of around 10,000 households and is conducted every five or six years, with the results used by the ABS in calculating the ALCIs as well as the CPI. For each respondent household in the HES, we calculate an inflation rate by combining information from the HES on that household's reported consumption basket and state of residence, together with CPI inflation data disaggregated by expenditure class and capital city. In addition, we use demographic data available for each household in the HES to construct average cost-of-living inflation for different socio-economic groups. These groups are defined by several characteristics: housing tenure, level of income, family structure, age of reference person and location. For this exercise, inflation in owner-occupied housing costs is measured on the basis of mortgage interest payments (in line with the ALCIs) rather than the cost of new dwellings (as used in the CPI). For further details on the construction of these data, see Appendix B.
Based on the data constructed using the HES, the distribution of inflation rates across households looks to have been fairly narrow over the past decade. In most years, less than 5 percentage points have separated the inflation rates of the middle 80 per cent of capital city households (Graph 3). At times, the distribution has widened and become ‘skewed’, because a group of households experienced well above-average or well below-average inflation. A major driver of these short-term differences in inflation across households has been interest rate movements, which tend to have a large influence on living costs for the roughly one-third of households with a mortgage. In contrast, for households that rent or own their home outright, mortgage rates do not directly affect their cost of living. As a result, when interest rates have risen, households with mortgages have tended to face higher cost-of-living inflation than other households (Graph 4). And when interest rates have fallen, such as over the past two years, mortgagor households have experienced lower inflation than other households, with the cost of living even falling for some.
Differences in cost-of-living inflation across households that have different sources of primary income can also be largely explained by changes in mortgage rates, at least in the short-term. Households for which employment is the main source of income are more likely to have a mortgage. So, according to the ABS' ALCIs, changes in mortgage rates have had a relatively large effect on cost-of-living inflation for these employee households (Graph 5). In contrast, self-funded retirees, pensioners and other government transfer recipients are all less likely to have mortgages, so their cost of living is less affected by interest rates.
While cycles in interest rates have been the main source of differences in cost-of-living inflation between households over periods of a year or so, over a longer horizon these influences have largely evened out. Accordingly, differences in cost-of-living inflation across households over a longer period of time have reflected other aspects of their spending patterns, together with longer-term differences in the rates of inflation across the basket of consumption items.
Looking over a longer horizon, there have been large differences in the rate of inflation for different goods and services in the CPI. Over the past decade or so, services such as education, health care and utilities have seen prices rise by more than the overall rate of CPI inflation (Graph 6). Other items have experienced inflation below overall CPI inflation and for some consumer durables, including clothing, footwear, and audio, visual & computing equipment, prices have even declined. These goods are manufactured and often imported, with declines in prices having reflected significant improvements in productivity, sourcing from low-cost economies (particularly in Asia), the appreciation of the exchange rate over the past decade and intense retail competition (both domestically and, for some items, from overseas online stores).
Despite these large differences in inflation across items, differences in cost-of-living inflation among different groups in society have been fairly small over the past decade. As explained above (and in Appendix B), we use HES data to construct average inflation rates over a range of household characteristics – level of income, source of income, housing tenure, family structure, age and location. The differences in inflation for different groups, as defined by these characteristics, have cumulated to no more than around 6 percentage points over the past decade (Table 2). That is, for all groups, cost-of-living inflation has not differed much from the average pace captured by the CPI or other measures of aggregate inflation because, while inflation has varied markedly among different items, the consumption bundles of different households are fairly similar.
There have been differences in inflation for households with different levels of income. Over the past decade, low-income households have experienced slightly higher rates of inflation than high-income households. Low-income households tend to spend proportionately more on items that are relatively ‘essential’ in their nature, particularly housing and food, which has resulted in them being more exposed to relatively large increases in utility prices over this period (Graph 7). In addition, high-income households spend proportionately more on items that are relatively ‘discretionary’, such as recreation and consumer durables. They have consequently benefited more from the relatively slow pace of inflation in items such as motor vehicles, overseas travel and clothing over this period.
Inflation reduces the amount of goods and services that can be bought with a given level of household income – that is, by itself it reduces ‘real’ incomes. So the slightly higher rate of inflation for low-income households over the past decade has weighed more on the growth in their real incomes than has been the case for high-income households. However, this difference has not been large, with inflation for the lowest income quintile only around 4 percentage points more than the highest income quintile over the course of a decade. Accordingly, it has still been the case that nominal income growth has outstripped increases in the cost of living; that is, real incomes have increased for all income groups (Graph 8). Moreover, differences in real income growth between groups have primarily reflected differences in nominal income growth, rather than differences in inflation.
According to a range of measures, cost-of-living inflation has been moderate and consistent with the RBA's target for CPI inflation over the past decade. In addition, differences in inflation across different household types have not been large. Nonetheless, the cost of living is a source of significant concern for households (Graph 9). This is likely to reflect concerns about both the level of prices and the rate of inflation. One factor that may contribute to these concerns is perceptions of inflation. Households may perceive inflation to be higher than measured inflation, either due to biases in their perceptions or because they interpret the cost of living differently from the standard statistical measures.
prices that have risen, rather than fallen. This is in line with the finding that people are ‘loss averse’, and so would prefer no change in prices to two offsetting price changes – either in the same item over time or in different items in the basket at the same point in time.
larger price changes, particularly those that change periodically rather than smoothly. Consumers tend to take more note of prices that increase only once or twice each year (such as many administered prices like utilities, education and pharmaceuticals), rather than smoothly throughout the year (Graph 10). In the quarter that these periodic changes occur, their magnitude is typically much larger than price changes that are spread more evenly throughout the year. In recent years many of these administered items have also experienced higher rates of inflation than the overall CPI.
prices for items that are purchased frequently. These include food and fuel, which have volatile prices, with periods of large price increases as well as decreases. In contrast, consumer durables such as computers and motor vehicles are purchased less frequently, and have declined in price (partly through improved quality) over the past decade.
While statistical measures of inflation are adjusted for changes in quality (where possible), it is difficult for individuals to adjust for quality changes when observing inflation. Recent advances in smartphone technology provide a case in point. Progressive releases of new iPhone models in recent years have been priced similarly; an individual could easily conclude that prices have been little changed, as it is difficult to determine what value to place on the improved features of newer models. However, a rough estimate of the improvement in value from improvements along dimensions such as processing speed, screen quality, etc, can be found by comparing the price of an iPhone 4 a few years after its release with that of the newer model, and adjusting for differences in storage capacity. This comparison suggests an effective price decline of around 35 per cent between 2010 and 2012 (Graph 11).
More generally, items with large improvements in quality (and therefore value for money) have subtracted substantially from the pace of CPI inflation. An upper estimate of the size of this effect can be seen from excluding several items that have seen particularly large quality improvements – audio, visual & computing equipment, household appliances and motor vehicles. While other factors have also contributed to measured price falls for these items, together they have subtracted around ½ percentage point each year from the rate of aggregate inflation since 2003.
Over time, individuals may not compare the cost of achieving the same standard of living, but rather that of a ‘reasonable’ standard of living. Real consumption per person has risen substantially over time, indicating that living standards have increased (Graph 12). Thereby, it is likely that the notion of what is a reasonable standard of living has also increased, as households have become accustomed to consuming more goods and services and those of a higher quality. As a result, perceived increases in the cost of living may partly reflect the cost of attaining a higher standard of living for many households. There is also evidence that individuals' perceptions about their wellbeing are formed not purely in absolute terms, but partly by comparing themselves with those around them – colloquially termed ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ (Guven and Sørensen 2011).
Perceptions of the increase in the cost of living in Australia can also be affected by changes in the price of items in Australia relative to overseas. Over the past decade, prices in Australia have risen relative to those in many other developed economies when converted to a common currency, owing mainly to the appreciation of the Australian dollar over this period (Graph 13). The increasing use of online shopping has also made overseas prices more visible than previously.
This rise in relative prices in Australia does not represent an increase in the cost of living for Australians. In fact, the appreciation of the exchange rate has also seen Australian incomes, paid in Australian dollars, rise relative to those of many other developed economies.
On balance, the CPI has provided most households with a good gauge of the extent to which living costs have increased over time. According to the CPI and other measures, inflation has been moderate and consistent with the Reserve Bank's target for CPI inflation over the past decade. As would be expected, some households have experienced a rate of inflation above or below these aggregate measures. But such differences have not been particularly large and have mainly reflected changes in interest rates in the short term, as these have a greater effect on living costs for mortgagor households. However, over longer horizons, the effects of interest rate movements have tended to wash out and inflation rates across different groups in society have been similar. To the extent that differences have occurred, these may have been specific to the time period considered and do not suggest that groups that experienced higher-than-average (or lower-than-average) inflation will continue to do so in the future.
Even though the CPI has been found to be a good proxy for increases in living costs for the bulk of households, the cost of living remains a concern for many in the community. This is despite nominal incomes generally having risen by more than the cost of living for all income groups, which suggests that spending should be less constrained by incomes than was the case a decade ago. The continued concern about living cost pressures might arise because the standard of living that can be sustainably afforded by households' incomes remains lower than many would like. Alternatively, it may be that many households perceive that their inflation has been higher than the measured rate over time, reflecting the inherent difficulty of assessing the rate at which the general price level has increased.
This appendix expands on the discussion of potential biases in CPI inflation when used as a proxy for cost-of-living inflation. These biases reflect the conceptual basis of the CPI as a measure of inflation in the prices of goods and services, rather than of inflation in the cost of living, as well as practical issues of measurement. They are well known and are similar both in Australia and internationally. For further details, see ABS (2011). The following papers provide estimates of the potential magnitude of these biases: Boskin et al (1996); Cunningham (1996); Gordon (2006); Hoffman (1998); and Sabourin (2012).
Because the CPI is based on a fixed basket, which is revised only every six or so years, it does not fully capture the moderating influence of substitution on the cost of living, biasing CPI inflation upwards. For example, if the price of beef increases by more than the price of fish, then consumers are likely to consume more fish and less beef. This bias is referred to as upper-level substitution bias, so-called because the CPI basket is fixed with respect to broad, upper-level groupings of goods and services (called expenditure classes). One way in which this bias can be reduced is to update the basket more frequently, such as by using electronic transaction data from retail outlets. Such an approach has been implemented by some overseas statistical agencies (Ivancic 2010). The ABS is planning to introduce transaction data in the construction of the CPI (ABS 2013). In the first instance this will involve replacing prices collected ‘in the field’ with prices derived from transaction data, although in the future these data may be used for more frequent updating of the weights (below the expenditure class level) used in the index calculation.
A related bias arises from consumers' ability to shop around between outlets. If consumers buy an item from an outlet with a lower price, the CPI is unaffected; the price difference is assumed to reflect service or convenience. However, over time some outlets may offer a genuine saving to consumers. The result is an outlet substitution bias whereby CPI inflation overstates true inflation in the cost of living. Overseas evidence suggests that outlet substitution bias tends to be small, amounting to around 0.1 percentage point each year. However, this bias may have risen in recent years with the increase in online shopping. The significant growth in the share of purchases made online suggests that consumers view the lower prices that are often available online as outweighing any loss in service or convenience, providing a genuine reduction in the cost of living (Graph A1).
Altogether, upper-level and outlet substitution bias mean that CPI inflation is biased higher relative to cost-of-living inflation. Across a range of countries, this is estimated to overstate inflation by around ¼ to ½ percentage point per year.
Incomplete quality adjustment: It is difficult (if not impossible) to measure changes in the quality of many items, particularly services. Where this is the case, the ABS generally does not make explicit quality adjustments, potentially leading to an upward bias in CPI inflation relative to cost-of-living inflation. In particular, there is generally no explicit adjustment for changes in the quality of health, education, personal services, recreation and child care (although there are some implicit adjustments). This may explain some of the relatively high rates of measured inflation in these services over the past decade. As services have become a larger share of household spending over time, the overall importance of this bias may have increased.
Quality versus utility: Explicit quality adjustments are made on the basis of measureable characteristics. However, these may not align precisely with the benefit that consumers receive from a product. For example, it is not clear how much a doubling in computer processing speed will add to consumer utility. This problem can cause statistical agencies to over- or underestimate the effect of quality change on consumer utility.
Forced upgrades: When an improved model of a good is introduced, the older model often disappears from the market. This ‘forced’ upgrade may not result in an increase in utility and could cause quality adjustment to bias CPI inflation downwards.
Studies overseas have generally found incomplete quality adjustment to be the most important of these biases, resulting in an overall positive bias in the CPI relative to cost-of-living inflation. Estimates of the bias range from zero to around half a percentage point per year.
As new types of products become available, the ABS must decide when to begin including them in the CPI. The ABS generally takes a conservative approach and only includes items that have clearly gained widespread acceptance (ABS 2011). New products that fall into a completely new expenditure class, such as DVD players when they were first introduced, are only included when the index is reviewed and reweighted every five or six years. Accordingly, the price declines that occur early in a new product's life – as production processes improve and economies of scale are achieved – are generally missed in the calculation of the CPI, which imparts an upward bias on the index. The effect of new products is generally thought to be small relative to the other sources of bias at around 0.1–0.2 percentage points annually.
In Australia, the CPI measures prices at the point that items are acquired (the acquisitions approach). This suits the use of the CPI as a policy target, as it provides the best indication of current inflation pressures. However, the use of a good or service is more closely related to the cost of living, as it is the use of an item that provides utility (the cost of use approach). An alternative approach is to measure prices at the point of payment (the outlays approach), which is most consistent with calculating real incomes.
In many cases, the difference in approach is of little or only temporary consequence. However, the difference is significant for durable goods, which are used over an extended period of time after they are acquired, and which are often paid for only gradually with the use of credit. The most obvious example of this is owner-occupied housing (see ABS (2010)). Under the acquisitions approach, the price of owner-occupied housing is the price paid to acquire a new dwelling (excluding land), which is unaffected by whether borrowed funds are used. In contrast, the outlays approach measures the amount of interest paid on mortgages, as this is a necessary out-of-pocket expense to ensure continued use of the dwelling. The inclusion of mortgage interest is not appropriate for a measure of inflation used as a target for monetary policy, as changes in the cash rate directly affect the measure of inflation. This was a key reason for changing the conceptual basis of the CPI from the outlays to acquisitions approach in 1998. Finally, the cost of use approach is concerned with the economic cost of using the dwelling in the relevant period. This is measured by the implicit rental value, which is generally not observable and for owner-occupied housing must be imputed by using estimates from observed rents paid in the rental market.
Data on consumption baskets are sourced from the 2003/04 HES and the 2009/10 HES. The HES is the main source of expenditure weights in the CPI. Changes in consumption baskets over this period are captured only once, and were introduced into the estimates of cost-of-living inflation from the June quarter 2011, in line with the construction of the CPI.
Data for inflation by disaggregated expenditure class and by capital city are sourced from the CPI. The rate of inflation of a particular item is assumed to be the same for all households within a state (although price levels may vary). The outlays approach is used, rather than the acquisitions approach used in the CPI. For measuring inflation of owner-occupied housing, mortgage interest indices are sourced from ABS Selected Living Cost Indexes. Inflation in these indices partly reflects house price inflation, as the interest payments on a loan with a given loan-to-value ratio would change with the size of the loan, which in turn would vary with the price of housing. Repayments on higher education loans are also included rather than the total cost of the education. Gross insurance premiums are used rather than the value of premiums net of the expected value of claims, and the cost of financial services is excluded.
The analysis of geographical differences in cost-of-living inflation is limited by the availability of data. The scope of the CPI is households living in capital cities, while the HES dataset also includes households located outside capital cities. In addition, mortgage indices are only available at the national level.
There are reasons to be cautious when using these estimates. Substitution might act to reduce the width of the distribution of household-level inflation rates relative to our estimates. In addition, part of the estimated variation between household inflation rates reflects differences in whether households recorded expenditure on infrequently purchased items within the HES recall period. Working in the other direction, different households might experience different rates of inflation for the same item within the same state, which would lead to the width of the distribution being underestimated in the absence of this information.
ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) (2010), ‘Information Paper: Outcome of the 16th Series Australian Consumer Price Index Review’, ABS Cat No 6469.0.
ABS (2011), ‘Consumer Price Index: Concepts, Sources and Methods’, ABS Cat No 6461.0.
ABS (2013), ‘The Use of Transactions Data to Compile the Australian Consumer Price Index’, in ‘Consumer Price Index, Australia’, ABS Cat No 6401.0, September, pp 3–7.
Barrett GF and M Brzozowski (2010), ‘Using Engel Curves to Estimate the Bias in the Australian CPI’, The Economic Record, 86(272), pp 1–14.
Bates JM and A Gabor (1986), ‘Price Perception in Creeping Inflation: Report of an Inquiry’, Journal of Economic Psychology, 7(3), pp 291–314.
Beatty TKM and TF Crossley (2012), ‘Lost in Translation: What Do Engel Curves Tell Us about the Cost of Living?’, Working Paper, University of Minnesota.
Boskin MJ, ER Dulberger, RJ Gordon, Z Griliches and D Jorgenson (1996), ‘Toward a More Accurate Measure of the Cost of Living: Final Report to the US Senate Finance Committee’, in US Senate Finance Committee. Senate Print 104-72, December, 104th Congress, 2nd Session, Government Printing Office, Washington DC.
Brachinger HW (2008), ‘A New Index of Perceived Inflation: Assumptions, Method, and Application to Germany’, Journal of Economic Psychology, 29(4), pp 433–457.
Bruine de Bruin W, W van der Klaauw and G Topa (2011), ‘Expectations of Inflation: The Biasing Effect of Thoughts about Specific Prices’, Federal Reserve Bank of New York Staff Report No 489.
Cunningham A (1996), ‘Measurement Biases in Price Indices: An Application to the UK's RPI’, Bank of England Working Paper No 47.
Fluch M and Stix H (2005), ‘Perceived Inflation in Austria – Extent, Explanations, Effects’, Monetary Policy & the Economy, Q3/05, pp 22–47.
Gordon RJ (2006), ‘The Boskin Commission Report: A Retrospective One Decade Later’, NBER Working Paper No 12311.
Guven C and BE Sørensen (2011), ‘Subjective Well-Being: Keeping Up with the Perception of the Joneses’, Social Indicators Research, 109(3), pp 439–469.
Hoffman J (1998), ‘Problems of Inflation Measurement in Germany’, Economic Research Group of the Deutsche Bundesbank, Discussion Paper 1/98.
Ivancic L (2010), ‘Using Scanner Data in the Consumer Price Index’, Submission to the 16th Series Review of the Consumer Price Index, Centre for Applied Economic Research, University of New South Wales. Available at <http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/d3310114.nsf/4a256353001af3ed4b2562bb00121564/ 915e99efbdbbe251ca2576e800280b1d/$FILE/Ivancic.pdf>.
Jungermann H, HW Brachinger, J Belting, K Grinberg and E Zacharias (2007), ‘The Euro Changeover and the Factors Influencing Perceived Inflation’, Journal of Consumer Policy, 30(4), pp 405–419.
Phillips B, J Li and M Taylor (2012), ‘Prices These Days! The Cost of Living in Australia’, AMPNATSEM Income and Wealth Report, Issue 31, May, Sydney, AMP.
Ranyard R, F Del Missier, N Bonini, D Duxbury and B Summers (2008), ‘Perceptions and Expectations of Price Changes and Inflation: A Review and Conceptual Framework’, Journal of Economic Psychology, 29(4), pp 378–400.
RBA (Reserve Bank of Australia) (2011), ‘Box B: Online Spending by Households’, Statement on Monetary Policy , February, pp 40–41.
Sabourin P (2012), ‘Measurement Bias in the Canadian Consumer Price Index: An Update’, Bank of Canada Review, Summer, pp 1–11.
Tversky A and D Kahneman (1974), ‘Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases’, Science, 185(4157), pp 1124–1131.
| 2019-04-23T00:07:20 |
https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2014/mar/4.html
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0.999554 |
Computational Complexity: How was New York Theory Day?
How was New York Theory Day?
Most years in the FALL there is a THEORY DAY at NYU and in the SPRING there is a THEORY DAY at Columbia. They now call this IBM/NYU/Columbia Theory Day. The website did not say which numbered theory day, but the 2004 webpage for Theory day said it was the 25th one. If they have had these every semester since then... well, you can do the math.
I was GOING TO post about content of the talks. But the abstracts of the talks do a better job, so I refer you to those. Should I have stayed home and just read the abstracts? NO. Seeing someone give a talk on something does provide extra insight.
What does one get out of such things? It is good to know what is going on in theory, especially in parts of theory that you are NOT working on.
Why is it good? I could say you might switch areas OR you might spot a connection to your area and make a contribution OR you might get a paper out of it. While all of these are true, just KNOWING stuff is important. One tangible aspect of that is, if you are on a Program Committee you will have a better idea of the papers not in your area. Also, it helps you follow talks at the next theory day, or some other venue where their are talks not in your area.
I don't expect to follow that much of the talk. But I do expect (and this happened) to get introduced to an area and get some references that I may read later.
Talks are an hour long. If it's a relatively new field (e.g., on-line Ad slot scheduleing) this is good. If it's a survey talk (Joe Mitchell's talk was) this is good. If it's on a classical field that you are not familiar with and they are proving the very latest results, then a full hour is a bit much. But this is just from my viewpoint of wanting to be introduced to a field. wanting to be introduced to a field.
Most interesting thing I learned: Joe Mitchell, Comp Geom from SUNY Stonybrook, has had some of his work actually used by real people in the real world. (That may be a post later.) Since I am often skeptical of the practicality of theory, I was happy to hear this.
Oddest thing I learned: NYU and Brooklyn Poly-Tech are merging in some fashion. Nobody quite knows the details or what this means yet. I'm hoping it means that theory day will one day be at Brooklyn Poly-Tech which will make my train ride to theory day 15 minutes shorter.
New York Theory Day is usually announced about a month before it happens. This is not really enough time to plan. In fact, I have missed Columbia Theory day in the past because I had other plans by the time it was announced.
Since I am often skeptical of the practicality of theory, I was happy to hear this.
Arge, Vitter, Aggarwal: I/O model, algorithms for ladar surveys.
Prokop, Leiserson, Bender, Farach-Colton: Cache oblivous algorithms.
Dumitrescu, Thorup: Dynamic shortest paths.
Numerous graph drawing researchers, whose work is incorporated into commercial software (Tom Sawyer Inc).
Kurt Mehlhorn: The LEDA library.
Peter Sanders: his recent work in algorithms for information retrieval.
Karger: Algorithms for P2P discovery (CAN).
Karp: Any one of his numerous graph algorithms, pattern matchers, etc.
Ferragina, Manzini, Grossi: compression algorithms.
I have to admit, I also found the "Since I am often skeptical of the practicality of theory..." comment struck a funny nerve.
If a theorist wants to do "practical" work, I think there's plenty of it out there. My understanding is that many (most?) theorists really don't care about making an impact on practice.
So I'm not skeptical about the practicality of theory; I fear that, as an area, we've devalued it -- a point I try to make whenever I can.
Heck, let's throw in Anja Feldmann (she even has STOC/FOCS/SPAA papers!) and Jennifer Rexford (who I wouldn't call a theorist, but who knows practical theory) from networking.
This is anon 1. The list was not meant to be exhaustive, but I certainly welcome as many additions as possible. I think it is a valuable resource to have handy the next time the question comes up at an NSF budget allocation exercise.
If a theorist wants to do practical work, I think there's plenty of it out there.
How Many Sides to Your Error?
Cellprobe complexity- Yao model still relevant?
| 2019-04-21T18:12:16 |
https://blog.computationalcomplexity.org/2008/12/how-was-new-york-theory-day.html
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0.999297 |
Bike Riding Too Dangerous In Junction?
Bike accidents are occurring more frequently in Grand Junction and throughout the Grand Valley.
I've been talking about getting a bike since I moved here. It seems like a solid way to get around Grand Junction. With 300 days of sunshine, a short commute, and saving wear and tear on my truck I should be riding a bike every day.
However, biking is getting more dangerous. Already in 2017, there have been 55 bike accidents in the Grand Valley. That's up considerably from the 42 in 2016.
What needs to done to reverse the trend?
First, those driving vehicles need to keep a watchful eye out for cyclist at all times. Drivers need to give bicycles a minimum of three feet between you and the rider.
According to Grand Junction Police, cyclists need to be more mindful of the rules of the road. All riders should be signaling turns with the proper hand signals, all bikes need a working headlight and riders should follow all traffic signs and signals. Not to mention to always wear a helmet.
| 2019-04-22T10:42:53 |
https://kekbfm.com/bike-riding-too-dangerous-in-junction/
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0.999985 |
Initial criticism I searched through other contemporary paintings for depictions of mirrors or even glass spheres that might be consistent with the long focal lengths required by the Hockney/Falco theory, but found none.there is no record that such "burning mirrors" were of sufficient quality or sufficiently long focal lengths to be used as they propose, or that we have little or no pursuasive evidence they were used for any imaging tasks (see below).
Here again Stork is completely wrong. Not only is there written evidence that appropriate concave mirrors existed at the time, but also that they were in use for imaging tasks (see, for example, Section 2 of Reference 1). There also is compelling visual evidence that Stork is equally unaware of. For example, Tomasso da Modena's 1352 paintings of "Isnardo of Vicenza"[Fig. 2] and of "St. Jerome"[Fig. 3] both show gently curved (i.e., long focal length) mirrors. As for evidence they were used for imaging tasks, Robert Gibbs writes on page 85 of his book "Isnardo da Vicenza is preparing his office; there is a reading glass (an enlarging-concave-mirror) on the shelf behind him." Further, in a footnote to that sentence, Gibbs explains "Mirrors, despite their inconvenient habit of reversing the text, were used alongside lenses to enlarge small and faded handwriting." Gibbs continues in his footnote "The use of mirrors for reading continued into the sixteenth century, and the second (not the first) representation, of a variant type set in a leather horn rather than on a fixed metal stand, appears on St. Jerome's shelf..."
Robert Gibbs, Tomaso da Modena (Cambridge University Press, 1989).
nb. In fact, when properly oriented, concave mirrors magnify the text without reversing it.
Hockney and Graves are quite correct that I was unaware of the Tomaso da Modena's two paintings. But I am especially grateful that they have managed to uncover these paintings because -- contrary to their claim -- the mirrors depicted in them do not reveal that they have the long focal lengths demanded by the Hockney/Falco theory, and the text does not support the use in the form required by the optical theory.
First, the issue of focal length. The focal length of the mirror in "The Blessed Pietro Isnardo of Vincenza" is difficult to determine, but upon very close inspection, a small highlight is visible. More relevant is a curved line at the right, presumably the reflection of the vertical edge of the shelf case. I estimate the diameter of the mirror face to be about 6 cm, and from the curved line and placement of the edge that its focal length is short -- roughly 4 cm. Admittedly, there are uncertainties, but there is no justification for claiming that the focal length is long (50 cm, say), such as needed for the Hockney/Falco theory. Likewise, the mirror in the conical holder in "St. Jerome" is hard to determine, but there's no evidence that it has a long focal length especially given the short focal length estimated for Pietro Isnardo's mirror. Further, the short-focal length mirror would give greater magnification in its reading mirror use; Pietro Isnardo wouldn't have even wanted a long-focal length mirror if he had one . Falco and Graves are wrong to state that they have evidence that "appropriate concave mirrors existed at the time." The whole issue has always been long-focal length mirrors (I've conceded short focal length mirrors, as for burning for instance), and this new evidence fails here too.
Second, the question of evidence of imaging tasks. Falco and Graves are right that they have uncovered textual evidence of an imaging task. But it is important that readers understand some more optics. Up to now, we have nearly always spoken about the image in a concave mirror to be the image projected by that mirror, as in the Hockney/Falco theory. As mentioned many times, this projected image is inverted or upside-down. We must now note that this image is called "real" because light actually passes through the image -- after all, that's what illuminates the canvas. But a concave mirror can also produce a different sort of image -- a "virtual image" -- such as when you look at your nose in a makeup or shaving mirror. Here the image is instead erect or rightside up, and is on the other side of the mirror. This image is called "virtual" because no light actually passes through the position of the image; the light leaves the mirror as if it had come from the image. Such a virtual image cannot illuminate a canvas in the way the real inverted image can. (Incidentally, your image in a plane bathroom mirror is similarly virtual, and of course erect.) When I wrote that we have little or no persuasive evidence that concave mirrors were used for any imaging tasks, the context was for real images, as in the Hockney/Falco theory, not the virtual ones in the Tomaso da Modena paintings. Let me clarify my statement then to account for the context in which it was written: "We have little or no persuasive evidence that long-focal length concave mirrors were used for imaging any real inverted images as required by the Hockney/Falco theory."
Gibbs wrote: "Mirrors, despite their inconvenient habit of reversing the text..." and this is crucial. It proves that the concave mirror was being used much as a shaving or makeup mirror, and that the monk was seeing a virtual image behind the mirror (which reverses left-to-right), not the projected real inverted image of the Hockney/Falco theory (which does not). While Falco and Graves give a nb on the topic, there is no evidence the monks figured out the major task of how to project an image central to the optical theory, or that the quality of the mirror would have supported such a projection. After all, I surmise Mr. Hockney had spent many hours with shaving mirrors and only learned about their projection abilities from a PhD in physics in the 21st century when Hockney was into his 60s. Falco and Graves provide no evidence anyone in the Renaissance or before, including Pietro Isnardo, did.
The bigger question remains unanswered: WHY, after years of research by numerous historians of optics, technology and art, is it so hard to find such evidence that long-focal length concave mirrors existed, much less that they were used to project a real inverted image (or of course that such images were traced or painted over)? I'm happy to join the chorus refuting Mr. Hockney's claims about the Inquisition or trade secrets on this topic, but I'd like to know if Falco and Graves agree with him, or instead have another explanation. Although I urge Falco et al to comb the historical records, unfortunately for them the more anyone finds evidence such as they present above, the more the silence on appropriate mirrors and their projection use becomes deafening. This is because such new evidence makes more and more implausible at every turn that there was a conspiracy, that historians somehow overlooked the evidence, or that the Inquisition (Isnardo was a Dominican monk, after all) was suppressing such a conspiracy and leaving us no evidence in this regard. In my piece I listed several dozen optical instruments uncovered by historians of optics, and in light of these Hockney et al give us no reasonable explanation for the lack of corroboratory evidence of long-focal length concave mirrors and their use in projecting real inverted images.
Since they don't address it, I'll assume Falco and Graves agree with my refutation of Mr. Hockney's claim that the convex Arnolfini mirror could have been used in the making of the painting itself. The elementary fact is that it could not and I very much hope that Hockney and Falco will refrain from claiming otherwise in their public and other venues, such as this month's Smithsonian magazine which reads "Had Jan van Eyck turned over the convex mirror hanging on the wall in his Arnolfini Wedding, he would have held an optical tool suitable for creating the meticulous detail found there" .
The simple fact remains that STILL no one has shown corroboratory evidence that long-focal length concave mirrors existed in fifteenth-century Europe, or that anyone had ever seen the real, inverted image projected by such a mirror demanded by the Hockney/Falco theory. Mr. Hockney surely doesn't provide such evidence in the "Textual evidence" section Secret Knowledge and neither do Falco and Graves here. My summary from the conference paper website stands unaltered, and indeed strengthened because after further effort the proponents have yet to contradict it: "There seems to be no corroboratory depictions of any specific mirror from the fifteenth century that could have been used in the creation of the Arnolfini portrait, Lotto's 'Husband and wife,' or indeed any of the paintings for which Hockney and Falco and I computed an effective mirror focal length. In every case, particularly the mirror proposed by Mr. Hockney, the focal lengths are much too short."
"Mirror Images," by Jennifer Lee Carrell, Smithsonian, pp. 76-82 (February, 2002).
The projection method of Hockney and Falco is ill-suited to capturing subtleties of surface -- color, chiaroscuro, sfumato, and so on. Because the light is so dim in these projections, colors are harder to distinguish. For instance, the red paint the artist wishes to use appears quite different when illuminated by the red projected light -- the hue, saturation and lightness are changed. Moreover, colors appear different when dim, due to visual processes such as the Purkinje shift. All these reasons show why it extremely difficult to get the colors right by the Hockney/Falco method.
Stork's above four statements are either incorrect (first and second) or irrelevant (third and fourth). Getting the colors "right" is a loose concept in the context of analyzing the efforts of a painter who worked 600 years ago, as opposed to the context of someone whose job might be ensuring visually undetectable chromaticity variations between batches of color copier toner. For example, we have no way of knowing whether or not Mrs. Arnolfini's dress was even green (perhaps it was magenta), nor whether van Eyck might have intentionally selected a more or less vibrant shade of color for aesthetic reasons. Also, far from being "ill-suited to capturing the subtleties of surface" as Stork incorrectly asserts, oil paint in conjunction with optical projection is precisely the combination of medium and technique that is almost ideally suited for these subtleties.
Falco and Graves are mistaken on this point. Suppose you are looking at an image projected onto your white canvas for example the image of a red apple. What color paint should you apply to the canvas to make the painting appear correct to you under such circumstances? Artists especially: take a moment to think about it. Should you apply red paint? No. WHITE! You should paint the apple area, and indeed the whole canvas, white -- like a movie screen. That way the projected image appears to you in its proper colors.
Now suppose you're looking at the dark projection and you want to paint the apple area so that it will appear red under normal neutral illumination, that is, when the painting is hung on the patron's wall. What color should you paint it now? This is actually a very difficult problem and artists would have to work very hard to get it right . The color your paint appears changes significantly under the colored light. If you put down red, it appears too saturated under the projection. The cognitive and perceptual force, so to speak, is for the artist to apply unsaturated colors, that is, more like white. But then the painting will appear washed out and unsaturated under neutral illumination on the patron's wall. It goes without saying that we have seen no corroboratory evidence from the historical record -- manuals, descriptions, guides for artists -- showing that anyone in the 15th-century had to confront this thorny problem. Didn't any artist get the colors wrong in this challenging task? Everyone magically figured out this extremely complicated problem with no mistakes?
Then there are several relevant phenomena of which I suspect none of the proponents is aware -- one's I've studied for years. One of them is the Purkinje shift, in which colors appear to change in hue and relative brightness when they are dim, as in a projection in the Hockney/Falco theory. There's not a shred of evidence Hockney, Falco or Graves are aware of these problems -- again, a classic case of "they don't even know what they don't even know." As someone who has worked on color for a quarter century, starting with my thesis on color vision at MIT under Edwin Land, founder of the Polaroid Corporation and inventor of the Polaroid Land camera, I view Hockney/Falco/Graves understanding of the relevant science of color incredibly naive, at the very best.
Getting the color right is absolutely essential to the art of the Renaissance. While Falco and Graves may point to the fact that we don't really know the color of Mrs. Arnolfini's dress, we do know her skin color. Do they think she was purple? That Genevre de' Benci was really a black Ethiopian? That the peach in Chardin's painting is green and the cabbage in Cotán's still life blue? I displayed Campin's "A Man" favored by Mr. Hockney as my example because it is essential that his skin color appear correct, not because his red turban might have been instead ochre. Getting the color right is essential and despite Falco and Graves's unsupported assertion, getting this color correct is never aided by the projection method. In fact, if you paint under the projection, you'll get the colors wrong -- or at the very least, have to work extremely hard to get the colors right.
Perhaps color was just part of the Mr. Hockney's difficulties when he is reported to have said at the New York symposium: "I tried painting under an optical projection, but it was too hard. I gave up within ten minutes. I'm sure that if any Renaissance artists tried they would give up within ten minutes, too." (Christopher Tyler, James Elkins and Amy Ione, pers. comm., 2002).
And yes, it is human faces that most expose the problems in copier toners -- a slight error and faces look terrible. If you don't get the faces right in your color copier, no one will buy it; if you don't get the colors of the faces correct in your Renaissance portraits -- if you paint over the projected image using the Hockney/Falco method -- no one will commission you to do another portrait.
Hockney and Falco give us no corroboratory evidence from fifteenth-century Europe that a concave mirror was ever used for producing an image (rather than burning). Scholars and historians of science and technology have uncovered numerous obscure devices and would never have missed records for the concave mirror method, had such records existed.
As we already showed in the section on Focal Lengths, Stork is completely wrong on the historical record. To repeat just one sentence from our earlier section, Robert Gibbs writes about the concave mirror shown in a 1352 painting: "The use of mirrors for reading continued into the sixteenth century, and the second (not the first) representation, of a variant type set in a leather horn rather than on a fixed metal stand, appears on St. Jerome's shelf..."
Again, it is Falco and Graves that are just a bit off the mark. In the context of previous discussions, or at least according to the relevant issue, by "producing an image (rather than burning)" I clearly meant producing a real inverted image such as that required by the Hockney/Falco theory. This new evidence fails to provide such evidence. Concerning this new evidence: the mirror is wrong, the image is wrong, the use is wrong.
The errors in Stork's objections that he lists in his "Case I" are dealt with in the various sections of this response, so we won't repeat them here.
Since I wrote at length about the absence of "upward" brushstrokes that would be produced according to the Hockney/Falco projection method, their silence on this matter can be taken to mean they have no answer to it.
Clearly, trained artists have remarkable abilities, and it seems plausible that van Eyck, Leonardo, Caravaggio and other Renaissance painters had the requisite talent to create their paintings without reliance on optical devices.
The question of whether or not Renaissance artists had the skill to work without optical devices is logically unrelated to the question of whether or not they did indeed use them. The many independent pieces of optical evidence we have assembled demonstrates that some artists as early as c.1430 certainly did use lenses as aids for helping produce some of the features in some of their paintings. Whether or not those particular artists had the skills to have precisely reproduced at the same level of detail the same features in those particular works without having used lenses does not bear one way or the other on the optical evidence we have presented that they did indeed use lenses.
I disagree profoundly with the assertion "optical evidence we have assembled demonstrates that some artists as early as c.1430 certainly did use lenses." At best, some might be consistent with the use, but in no case have they proven it, surely not with the Lotto nor the Albergati nor the Arnolfini portraits, which Christopher Tyler and I took to be their "best shots." I'll return to this in the summary.
It is very difficult or even impossible to make images of running animals, flying birds, restless putti, dragons or angel wings by the methods proposed by Hockney and Falco. The fact that extremely realistic "optical" representations of these subjects appear throughout Renaissance painting shows that many painters of that time had the requisite drafting talent and visual memory and did not need to employ optical devices.
Again, as discussed in the previous section on Talent, whether or not many painters "needed" to use optical devices is tangential and misleading. The relevant question is whether our optical evidence demonstrates that they did indeed use them. As we have shown with a wide variety of evidence, they did. Also, neither Stork nor Tyler seems to realize that a lens would have been used by an artist as an aid when it helped them accomplish his or her goals, but would not have been used when it did not. For example, the complex shape and lighting of the chandelier in van Eyck's "Arnolfini Marriage" would have been much easier to produce with the aid of a lens, but the small dog would have been eyeballed. That is, both projected and eyeballed features are within a single painting.
I wrote a whole section on adoption of technology which Falco and Graves claimed was not relevant, but in fact it addressed and refuted the point they'd like to make here: "Also, neither Stork nor Tyler seems to realize that a lens would have been used by an artist as an aid when it helped them accomplish his or her goals, but would not have been used when it did not." It is by no means so simple.
Let me proceed by an example, literally at hand. Let us assume for the sake of argument that all computers support graphics and text processing, but that the Macintosh is better for graphics and the IBM PC is better for text. You produce colorful art newsletters, and thus must do both. It took you a few months to learn, but now you're a happy Mac user and do both graphics and, with occasional annoyances, text processing, producing your newsletter week after week. Now a salesman comes to your door and tells you that you could write your text better if you used a PC. The "search and replace" and spell checker functions are much better on a PC, he convinces you. All you have to do, he continues, is buy a PC and switch back and forth between computers, as needed. He doesn't say that you must buy an extremely rare and expensive PC on the black market, no one is advertising to let you know where to buy it, that it will take a while to learn how to use it, that there are no manuals, that your keyboard will be upside-down, that you must work under a dark tent, that your screen will be upside-down and nearly black, that you can't work except when the sun is shining, that the color of the text will come out wrong unless you make allowances at every keystroke and that if the police find you with the PC they'll put you in jail. "But some text functions would be better!" Would you buy a PC?
Now let's take Lotto. There's no question that Lotto and numerous Renaissance painters could paint optically without recourse to optical devices; the challenge image of "Angel of the Annunciation," Leonardo's "Last Supper," logic, and Falco and Graves's silence on such images shows that. Lotto could render convincing images of the face of the angel and of course much more. Now some late afternoon Lotto is painting two patrons in his studio -- a husband and his wife -- and has painted their faces, just as he had for the angel. Mr. Hockney, magically teleported to the early Renaissance, enters the studio and tells Lorenzo that he could capture the carpet pattern better if he uses a new "PC," or "projection contraption." All Lotto has to do is find this extremely rare and probably nonexistent wonderful contraption, learn how to use it without a manual, learn to deal with images upside-down that are very dark, set up a dark tent in his studio, wait until next morning when the sun is shining and hope the sky isn't overcast, struggle at each brush stroke to get the colors right, and make sure that the Catholic Church doesn't find out or they'll burn him at the stake. "But the carpet pattern would appear better!" Would Lotto use Mr. Hockney's "PC"?
Obviously, when Falco and Graves write: "That is, both projected and eyeballed features are within a single painting" they haven't thought about points 4 and 5 on my technology section, perhaps because they feel they are "irrelevant." The simple fact is that switching back and forth "within a single painting" would be extremely difficult, costly, awkward and annoying, and would probably outweigh any putative benefit hypothesized for the projections.
Initial criticism Hockney traces the image, rather than paints directly.
Although this statement is irrelevant, it is also incorrect. As one of us (CF) can attest, he does both, since CF personally witnessed his own portrait being painted directly from Hockney's pallette using an image projected by a lens.
I and many others would be very interested in seeing this. The statement "Although Stork has never been to Hockney's studio" seems to express dismay in this regard. If Mr. Graves and Mr. Hockney would open their studio to me, I'd be happy to come, and would bring a camera, light meter and measuring tape. Regardless, it is hard indeed to reconcile the above claim by Falco and Graves with Hockney's statement at the New York symposium: "I tried painting under an optical projection, but it was too hard. I gave up within ten minutes. I'm sure that if any Renaissance artist tried they would give up within ten minutes, too." (reported by Christopher Tyler, James Elkins and Amy Ione, pers. comm., 2002).
Hockney has done all of these things, and much more, in the course of the discovery process over the past several years. This "experimentalist's" approach to art history was instrumental in helping deduce the techniques Renaissance artists used in painting with projected images, and in testing the plausibility of various ideas from the point of view of a working artist.
Once again, the source of illumination was sunlight, not candles. As we noted earlier, Stork oddly (albeit, inconsistently) assumes the contents of paintings are literal representations of reality. This has resulted in his incorrect inference here that for Caravaggio to have painted a scene of a dark cellar meant he must have painted it in a dark cellar.
Again, it is impossible to argue against proponents of a theory who write that Caravaggio "...worked in dark rooms -- cellars -- very common in those days... He used artificial lighting" on the one hand and "direct sunlight is the likely source of illumination" on the other.
This section does not contain anything relevant.
It does. And if Hockney, Falco or Graves had the slightest experience in this matter, they'd know it -- a classic case of "they don't even know what they don't even know." As I wrote before, and in light of my discussion of Mr. Hockney's "PC," even if somebody someday finds some long-focal length concave mirrors from the Renaissance, it hardly means any artist would have one or would even want to use it. The proponents naively think that if a tool gave a "benefit" to artists then of course they would in fact use it, but this is often far from the truth.
Because Hockney and Falco state their theory applies to such a broad range of paintings over centuries, it should be able to account for difficult cases ("challenge images") chosen by others, not just those picked by the proponents themselves (e.g., "Rosetta stone").
The above statement shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the problem. Even though no reasonable person would doubt modern photographs are produced using lenses, few photographs actually contain sufficient information to allow calculating anything about the lenses that were used. For example, [Fig. 4] could have been taken with a 20 mm wide-angle lens at a relatively close distance, or with a 500 mm telephoto lens from a distance 25 times as far away. This image, like the majority of images (photographs as well as paintings), does not happen to contain the information we need to determine the details of the lens used, even though there is no question about the basic point that a lens of some kind definitely was used to project this image onto the film.
Falco and Graves make a convenient misquoting of me. The actual text from my piece is "Because of the breadths of its claims, the theory then must be able to explain -- or at the very minimum, be consistent with -- other 'optical' paintings in the period." Contrary to their assertion here, I'm not saying that they have to deduce properties of the mirror used, just that they have to be consistent with the use of a mirror. It is clear now to all that these challenge paintings are not consistent with the use of a mirror. That was my only point, and they surely haven't refuted it.
Analyzing a particular photo collage might be instructive if anyone else shares Stork's confusion on this key point. Rather than attempting to secure permission to reproduce a copyrighted work, instead we refer people to their libraries for the April 2001 issue of 'Popular Photography' magazine for a particular example. About one of Mitchell Funk's photographs the article says '"I shoot a lot of different images in similar light so they can be combined without actually looking like a collage,' says Funk. 'I try to keep...perspective believable when multiple shots are used.' He added two elements: the sky and the man on the left in the brown trench coat... Funk used the Photoshop draw tool to create the man's shadow." Although Mr. Funk is a skilled photographer who has been creating such collages for at least 25 years, and even though he states he deliberately attempted to keep perspective in this photograph believable, he drew the shadow of the man in the brown coat at the wrong angle. This created a second vanishing point, the presence of which betrays the fact this photograph is a collage. However, had Mr. Funk instead drawn the shadow to have the same vanishing point as those from the lamp post and the other pedestrians, there would have been no way to know it was a collage. The point being, even for photographs, about which there is no question whatever that they were produced using lenses, it is impossible in most cases to deduce anything about the lenses used. Only when the photographer (painter) has failed to adequately conceal the artifacts of the use of a lens can we hope to find the evidence within a given image.
If Lotto had instead placed a large platter on the table of "Husband and Wife" as he did 20 years later when he used a similar composition for "Giovanni della Volta[Fig. 5]," and had he taken just a bit more care with the border of the tablecloth at the right, he very easily could have made it impossible for us to prove he used a lens. Fortunately for us, Lotto failed to conceal the distinctive optical artifacts that allowed us to make our calculations in Reference 4, providing invaluable scientific evidence in a quest that led us to a variety of examples of the use of optics in paintings as early as c.1430.
The issue is not whether we can deduce properties (e.g., focal length) of a lens in a "platter" Lotto, but whether we can say that a lens was used at all. If there is no evidence, then we cannot claim it. Simple. And given the challenge images that prove that no lens was used, there's no reason to assume that a lens was used for the "platter" Lotto, especially when the evidence for mirror use is so contradictory or non-existent, as in "Husband and wife."
Falco and Graves make several errors in logic here. The first is their assertion "no question whatever that they were produced using lenses." But this is precisely the matter at hand in the case of Lotto; there is every reason to question that Lotto used a lens. Indeed there is no persuasive evidence that he did, and surely no disproof of the traditional explanation that he didn't use a lens.
Here's a parallel story. Suppose Mr. Falco analyzes a still from Steven Spielberg's film "Little Women" and finds there's enough information to properly deduce the focal length, aperture or other properties of the camera lens used. Now he turns to a still from a scene in a different film by Mr. Spielberg and finds there isn't enough evidence to deduce such properties of the lens. "Well, since there is no question Spielberg was using a lens," we imagine Falco stating, "the inability to deduce its properties doesn't disprove the use of a lens." Too bad for Mr. Falco, though. The later Spielberg film is "Jurassic Park," and the still came from a scene which was created entirely by computer -- no lenses (or even objects) whatsoever. Given we know for certain Spielberg, John Lasseter, and others can make films that contain images made without any recourse to standard cameras and lenses, as shown by "Toy Story II," and so on, the flaws in Mr. Falco's are clearly exposed. The whole discussion has been over whether Renaissance painters used optics, and Falco's flawed logic cannot salvage the inability to show optics was used in the hypothetical evidence-poor Lotto "platter" painting.
But it is even worse than that for the optical theory because Hockney, Falco and Graves have given us no evidence that a lens must have been used in any Renaissance painting, though they'd desperately like others to believe they have. By analogy, they haven't shown that Spielberg used lenses at all in "Little Women." The burden is entirely upon the theory's proponents to show that the traditional methods are insufficient to explain properties of any painting, and that the optical projection method must have been used. They have failed to do this.
| 2019-04-19T12:23:44 |
http://www.webexhibits.org/hockneyoptics/post/falcograves4.html
|
0.999976 |
What is the difference between DMZ and IP Pass-through?
I have a PS4 and Xbox One, I'm looking to avoid all NAT issues and possibly improve performance. Would it be better to use a DMZ or use IP Pass-through?
DMZ is a Router NAT function. When you put a device in the DMZ then all packets received by your router, that don't match an existing NAT connection, are forwarded to the DMZ device. So any unsolicited traffic sent to your router is no longer dropped by NAT if it doesn't match a port forwarding rule, but instead is forwarded to the DMZed device. You'll want a firewall installed on this device unless it is a game console (and maybe even then?), as it will now be subjected to all kinds of scans and probes from the internet.
IP Passthrough removes the device (by switch port, or MAC address depending on device and configuration) from any routing or NAT functions. All traffic from that device is switched/bridged through the router right to the ISP. The IP Passthrough-ed device will have to pull its own public IP address from the ISP DHCP server. This device is no longer on a private network behind a Router/Firewall/NAT, it now lives directly on the public internet (I suggest you should have a firewall installed on it).
Thanks for reaching out! For this purpose I've seen the most success of having your XBox/PS4 set to utilize IP passthrough as that would bypass any features of your router that would be blocking these ports at all.
It's do at your own risk though, as by setting up IP passthrough without having another router set up on that port, you wouldn't have any sort of hardware firewall set up, which is definitely not advisable for network security purposes.
What I've seen quite often is setting up IP passthrough from the Shaw modem/router unit -> another router that you have set up specifically for console gaming, and using your consoles through there. This way you'd have more control over the router settings for those devices specifically.
Thanks for the info shaw-brayden! When I go into the port forwarding section on the Hitron modem it shows a few ports being opened for my PS4 and Xbox One but I never put them there myself so it looks like it automatically is opening ports that are needed if a device requests them, is this supposed to happen?
Correct. This is known as UPnP (Universal Plug n' Play) port forwarding, where devices/software can request the router to open ports used by the software. This feature is on by default in most routers.
Ok, thanks for the quick reply shaw-phil. I've never seen a router actually list the ports opened by UPnP before.
This configuration is often suitable for a customer desiring to connect third party equipment for networking, such as a router, to the AT&T provided gateway. IP Pass through is also commonly used as an alternative to using a bridged mode.
If you still face the issue then contact to Belkin Router Firmware Update.
| 2019-04-22T08:37:15 |
https://community.shaw.ca/thread/36209
|
0.99569 |
I know, you are asking "what on earth is Hutspot"? It is a very simple Dutch dish, inexpensive, easy to make, tasty and filling. Simply put, it's Dutch comfort food. It doesn't look like much, but it is tasty.
I am of Dutch ancestry, and this was a meal that my mother sometimes served if her day had been unusually busy. Her version was all cooked together in one pan, preparation was easy and clean up was minimal. The ingredients were simple and usually in her pantry. There are many versions of this dish, this one is my mom's.
Peel and quarter potatoes, peel and slice carrots, peel and coarsely chop onions. Put the vegetables in a sauce pan, and cover them with water or broth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sometimes I add a bay leaf. Bring this to a boil, then reduce to simmer and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, until vegetables are not quite tender. Add the smoked sausage ring or links on top of the simmering vegetables, and simmer for 10 more minutes or until vegetables are very tender. Remove sausage and drain the vegetables. Add butter and milk to the pan, just as you would for mashed potatoes and mash everything together. (Remember to remove the bay leaf if you added one.). Cut sausage into serving size pieces and serve with the mashed vegetable mixture.
We often got homemade applesauce on the side.
Some serve this with pot roast and gravy, or meatballs and gravy, rather than smoked sausage.
Bacon is a popular addition.
Dutch mustard is sometimes served with hutspot.
It is said that it tastes better if the onions are sautéed in a little oil or butter, rather than being cooked with the potatoes. I've been too lazy to try this, but I suspect that this is probably true.
Some recipes call for adding the smoked sausage at the beginning of the cooking time. I think this makes the sausage tasteless, but I will admit that it imparts a bit of a smoky flavor to the potato mixture.
| 2019-04-18T11:14:36 |
http://gardeners-ramblings.blogspot.com/2017/05/hutspot.html
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0.998904 |
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The president and CEO of the Jacksonville Housing Authority has been placed on paid administrative leave pending a city investigation into numerous complaints against him from staff, News4Jax has learned.
JHA board members, who are appointed by the mayor, voted unanimously Thursday morning to make the move, which goes into effect next week. JHA runs public housing in Jacksonville.
At an open meeting Thursday, board members would not discuss the specific complaints against Fred McKinnies, but News4Jax has learned at least one involved a hostile work environment. On Friday, two other sources confirmed that and said the problems were not only with staff but with tenants who received special treatment.
The city is investigating the allegations, which include that McKinnies inappropriately used his position of authority, according to News4Jax sources.
"Because of the seriousness of the allegations and because they are against the head of our agency, OGC (Office of the General Counsel) has recommended that the board place Mr. McKinnies on paid administrative leave until the investigation is complete," JHA board member Roslyn Phillips said.
McKinnies, who has worked with the JHA since 1993 and became president about five years ago, was not at the meeting and has not been available to comment since. Dwayne Alexander, who joined the JHA this year, has been named as the interim CEO during the investigation.
After the open meeting, officials from the housing authority declined to release the complaints or discuss them with the media.
McKinnies' administrative assistant, Linda Sims, tried speaking at a board meeting last month about problems she's had with McKinnies, but she was shut down, even though it was a public meeting.
She said she filed complaints against McKinnies with the city and the board. After Thursday's meeting, she declined to elaborate on the specific allegations under investigation by the city.
WATCH: What's next for Jacksonville Housing Authority after CEO suspended?
City Councilman Garrett Dennis, who is the liaison to the JHA for the City Council, was not at the special meeting Thursday nor the board meeting last month, but said Friday he is now aware of the investigation.
"I think we should allow the investigation to go through," Dennis said. "I have confidence in Fred McKinnies. He has done well over the agency. And I can't help but hope that this is not politically motivated and that a full investigation is in order."
News4Jax has been asking several questions about the investigation: Who is going to do it? Is it the ethics office of the city or the city inspector general? At this time, no one can say. In fact, they can’t even say if there were actual complaints. How long this is going to last is up in the air, as well.
For two days, News4Jax has also been asking and going through the JHA's budget book to find out McKinnies' salary and other information, but keeps getting the runaround from the staff.
No charges have been filed. At this point, it's just an investigation into unfounded complaints.
The mayor's office declined to comment because of the pending investigation.
In the meantime, the agency is getting ready to prepare a waiting list of people trying to get into public housing in Jacksonville.
| 2019-04-18T18:16:33 |
https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/jacksonville/jacksonville-housing-authority-ceo-under-investigation-by-city
|
0.998891 |
RISC OS (Reduced Instrcution Set Computer Operating System) is an OS for desktop computers running ARM processors. RISC OS was originally developed by Acorn Computers Ltd in Cambridge, England has been in continual development since 1989.
What computers can run RISC OS?
Whilst RISC OS is designed for use on ARM processors modern emulation means that RISC OS can be run on both Windows and MacOS X computers. Products such as VirtualAcorn can run RISC OS (and RISC OS apps) many times quicker than any real RISC OS based hardware. There are also a number of free emulators such as RPC-Emu that can run various different versions of RISC OS on a number of platforms.
Stuff apps, what about games?
RISC OS, being a primarily British operating system, has a large number of unique games. These fall into 2 main categories. Games designed for first generation machines such as the Archimedes, A3000, A4000 and A5000 are the most common. The best version of RISC to use for first generation games is RISC OS 3.10. More advanced games with 3D graphics tend to designed for second generation RiscPC computers. Some of these games were never updated for StrongARM processors so the best version of RISC OS for these games is RISC OS 3.60.
What's the RISC OS story then?
(a 'not as short as it was supposed to be' short story of RISC OS).
Today ARM processor designs are everywhere, in phones, tablets, MP3 players, TVs, fridges, toasters and many other places. No doubt you will have several ARM designed processors in your home. However it wasn't always so. In 1987 Acorn Computers Ltd released a ground brakeing desktop computer, the Archimedes. This was the first desktop computer with a RISC (Reduced Instruction Set) processor. At the time its 4Mhz ARM 2 processor made it the most powerful desktop computer you could buy. Acorn were already well known for the BBC Micro, which used a standard 8 bit 6502 processor. By 1985 the BBC Micro was looking old fashioned, the world was moving toward 16bit computers such as the Commodore Amiga or Apple Mac.
Acorn decided to skip an entire generation and move to a 32bit processor and to design the processor in-house using the latest in computer research. The original ARM 1 (Acorn RISC Machine) processor was built and tested as a second processor connected to the BBC Micro hardware. The ARM 2 and it's supporting VIDC video and MEMC memory controller were all designed by Acorn themselves. As well as working on a ground braking computer Acorn were also working on a completely new operating system for their new RISC based computer. That operating system was RISC OS.
By 1987 the Archimides hardware ready, but RISC OS had not been completed. Acorn could not wait so the first Archimedes machines shipped with a simplified operating system, called Arthur, based on the completed parts of RISC OS. Arthur had to be assembled quickly, but the power of the ARM 2 chip made the job easier. The Arthur 'desktop' wasn't written in Assembler or C, instead it was written in 32bit BBC BASIC.
It took 2 more years before RISC OS was completed. RISC OS 2 was finally released in April 1989 and immediately won rave reviews. It was a huge step up from Arthur as it provided a 'proper' desktop that could run multiple apps with effective multi-tasking. Writing applications for RISC OS was easy, even BBC BASIC code ran at speeds undreamed of a few years earlier. By today's standards RISC OS 2 is primative but Acorn continued to develop RISC OS and improve it.
By 1991 Acorn were ready to release the next version of RISC OS and the next version of ARM processor. The new Acorn A5000 was at least 5 times as powerful as the Archimedes. Acorn included many new features in RISC OS 3.00 which were inspired by the huge range of RISC OS 2 'add-ons' available from thriving 'freeware' scene. RISC OS 3.00 was initially well received but soon problems surfaced. Acorn could build brilliant hardware, but needed a couple of attempts to build brilliant software. RISC OS 3.10 was released within a few months and became the final official release of RISC OS for the first generation of ARM 2/ARM 3 machines.
Acorn continued to develop RISC OS and build new desktop computers for most of the 1990's. The design of the ARM chips was spun out into another company, ARM Ltd. The name ARM (Acorn RISC Machine) was soon changed to Advanced RISC Machine. In 1994 Acorn released the RiscPC with RISC OS 3.50. The RiscPC was a good machine, but by this time the competition was closing and Acorn no longer made the world's fastest desktop computers. Acorn continued to develop RISC OS, RISC OS 3.60 added support for the ARM710 processor. RISC OS 3.7 was the first version of RISC OS to support a processor not designed by ARM. That processor was the DEC StrongARM. The StrongARM provided a huge performance boost for RISC OS. BBC BASIC in particular could perform up to 10 times quicker. The StrongARM and RISC OS 3.70 reclaimed some of the lost ground but Acorn were struggling.
By 1998 Acorn were working on RISC OS 3.8 and on the 'Phoebe' RiscPC replacement. However a falling market share and unspectacular revenues had made Acorn weak. When ARM Ltd had been created Acorn had kept a large number of the new company's shares. As shares in ARM Ltd had gained value the shares in Acorn had lost value. Acorn then found itself in the perilous position where the total value of the ARM shares Acorn owned was more than the total value of Acorn's own shares. The financial vultures were circling.
Acorn staff were still developing RISC OS on the day the company collapsed. The new 'owners' asset stripped the company and another great British brand was no more. The ARM shares were sold for a profit. Pace Microtechnology Ltd purchased the engineers and took over the physical property. Castle Technology Ltd took over the sales and manufacture of the Acorn computers. What about RISC OS? A new company called RISCOS Ltd was set up by a commitee of Acorn dealers and developers with the aim of taking over development of RISC OS. RISC OS 3.8 was finished and bug fixed and was released as RISC OS 4.02 in July 1999.
At this stage there were several companies interested in making RISC OS compatible hardware. Castle Technology was already selling RiscPC and A7000+ machines and wanted to include RISC OS 4 ROMs as standard. Both MicroDigital and RiscStation were working on machines based on the ARM 7500 processor. All 3 of them wanted RISC OS, but none of them wanted the others to include a higher numbered version of RISC OS. This led to the release of 3 different versions of RISC OS 4.03, all very slightly different and designed for each customer. If you ever come across a set of RISC OS 4.03 ROMS for a RiscPC then these are Castle Technology versions as MicroDigital and RiscStation used a different motherboard design.
One other version of RISC OS 4 was released, this was for the Castle Kinetic RiscPC. This used a standard RiscPC motherboard but with a specially designed processor card which included the machine's main RAM as well as the CPU. This helped resolve one of the bottlenecks with the RiscPC, slow memory access. In some tests the Kinetic running at 300 MHz was more than 10 times the spped of a 200 Mhz StrongARM. However in the real world the expensive Kinetic didn't provide much extra performance. Cheaper overclocked Revision T StrongARM chips running at 287 Mhz provided nearly the same performance at one third the cost.
Once RISC OS 4 had been completed RISCOS Ltd started looking at what other work could be done to RISC OS. Instead of working to the current RISC OS Model of releasing a new set of physical ROM chips every 1 to 2 years a new subscription model was developed. New development versions of RISC OS would be released several times a year. The customer would subscribe on a yearly basis and receive a years worth of new releases. The new scheme used soft loaded ROM images and was called RISC OS 'Select'.
By the third year of RISC OS Select it was decided to attempt to fit a Select ROM image (6MB) into a pair of physical ROM chips (4MB). Increadably this feat was acheived and RISC OS 4.39 was released both as a Select softload and as an 'Adjust' physical ROM. The names 'Select' and 'Adjust' came from the names of the RISC OS mouse buttons, Select on the left and Adjust on the right (with Menu in the middle).
Traditionally RISC OS has run on 32bit ARM processors using the special '26 bit' mode that Acorn had designed for the purpose. However Acorn were gone and whilst a number of ARM chips did include the 26bit mode it wasn't tested and there was no guarantee that 26bit mode would work on any specific processor. The solution was to re-write RISC OS to run in 32bit mode. The trade off was that any applications compiled with current 26 bit compilers would fail. With it's hardware partner Advantage Six RISCOS Ltd developed RISC OS 4.4x, which was a 32 bit version of RISC OS 4.39 with support for abstracted hardware. RISC OS 4.4x was supplied with the A9 mini computer, apart from being 32 bit and supporting the A9 hardware this version of RISC OS is nearly identical to RISC OS 4.39.
The ex-Acorn engineers who had been working at Pace hadn't given up faith with RISC OS and were still working on it. RISCOS Ltd had passed over the source code to RISC OS 4.02 and this was converted to 32bit as a black book project and was given the name RISC OS 5.
After the release of RISC OS 4.39 RISCOS Ltd didn't release another version of RISC OS for some 3 years. A new team was assembled to re-organise RISCOS Ltd's development projects. The result was RISC OS Six. The first version of RISC OS Six, in 2007, was a preview edition with some features disabled (for example printing). The preview was designed to softload on top of either RISC OS 4.02 or 4.39 and was made freely available. Further versions of RISC OS Six were released as part of a re-launched 'Select' scheme. The final version being RISC OS 6.20 in December 2009.
Over the previous decade the companies making RISC OS hardware had disapeared. Firstly RiscStation, then MicroDigital and finally Castle Technology all ceased trading. However none of these were RISCOS Ltd's biggest buyer of RISC OS licences. The biggest buyer was 3QD Developments Ltd, who used RISC OS licences in it's VirtualAcorn products. As such it made sense for 3QD Developments Ltd to take over RISC OS sales/developments in April 2012 when RISCOS Ltd closed down.
That's the brief story of RISC OS, it's not complete, not everyone gets a namecheck but it's all true.
| 2019-04-20T02:28:19 |
http://riscos.com/the_faqs/index.htm
|
0.999951 |
Translation:Do you like the nighttime?
"You need the article 'the' here"
Can someone explain why? I've reported it since it's not necessary in English, but I'm curious.
'Do you like night'? Does not sound natural to me. I'd rather ask: 'What do you like better, the morning or the night?
Is there a separate word for "nighttime", or does that word also translate as "noc"? Because if it does, then this sentence totally makes sense.
Yeah, "noc" can be both "night" and "nighttime"
Why can't we use "a" instead of "the" here? "Do you like a night?" I definitely don't understand "the" here. We don't speak about precise night, it's a question in common, isn't it?
No, as I was told by a native speaker, 'the night' will be used here despite the fact that it's generally about the notion of "night" and not any specific night.
| 2019-04-20T09:05:59 |
https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/12326168/Lubisz-noc
|
0.995234 |
A year later, their footage was found.
Just when you thought it was safe to go camping, comes "The Blair Witch Project", an independent horror flick financed with credit cards that features a mix of grainy film and video images. After becoming a fan favorite at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival, distributor Artisan Entertainment snapped up the rights for $1 million and invested an additional $16 million on additional post-production, prints, and advertising. In its first week of wide release, the made-for-$25,000 wonder scared $30 million out of audiences, easily eclipsing the combined theatrical box office take of previous shoestring budget films, including "Clerks" ($3 million), "The Brothers McMullen" ($10 million) and "El Mariachi" ($1.7 million). Even more impressive was that "The Blair Witch Project" managed to achieve a record $25,885 per screen average in its first week of wide release, which bested the previous record of $21,822 that was set by "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace" back in May of this year. So what is it about this no-budget film that is packing in audiences all across North America?
The premise of "The Blair Witch Project" is quite ingenious. Set up as faux documentary within a documentary, the film's opening pronouncement establishes that what the audience is about to see is original footage shot by three filmmakers who disappeared in 1994. Leading the trio of filmmakers is Heather (Heather Donahue), who is making a documentary on the 'Blair Witch', a mysterious figure that supposedly haunts the woods outside Burkittsville, Maryland, and was credited with a series of child murders stretching back two hundred years. Assisting Heather are Mike (Michael Williams), the sound recorder, and Josh (Joshua Lenoard), the camera operator. Essentially, the film is composed of the group's 16mm footage, which was shot for the documentary, and Heather's High 8 video camera, with which she captures behind-the-scenes moments.
At first, the filmmakers seem optimistic about their endeavor-- we see them horsing around as they pack for their weekend camping trip, go shopping for marshamallows, and interview some locals on the legend of the Blair Witch. However, once the trio enters the woods, circumstances take a turn for the worse. In addition to becoming hopelessly lost, they hear strange noises from outside their tent in the middle of the night, and find evidence that someone is stalking them. Without any food, shelter, and any hope of finding their way out of the woods, the tension begins to build between the three filmmakers, and their group dynamic quickly deteriorates as rapidly as their individual mental states.
Like Hitchcock, we show you very little... we let the audience imagine stuff.
Perhaps the main reason why audiences are responding so strongly to "The Blair Witch Project" is how it creates the sense of verisimilitude. Remember how watching television documentaries on ghosts, UFOs, or paranormal phenomenon used to scare the willies out of you when you were a kid? Well, this is the approach that has been taken with "The Blair Witch Project". Directors Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick have done a very convincing job of making the footage look authentic, as though you were watching something on the Discovery Channel.
Without using any special effects, save for the occasional strange noise, the action we see on the screen is what you would expect from someone lugging around a video camera. Some of the time, the images are jarring, as the filmmakers are running from some unseen menace (which has caused motion sickness in more than one moviegoer), while other times, the screen is completely dark, and we can only go by what the filmmakers are saying to one another. Though the film never actually shows anything horrifying, it allows the audience to use their own imagination to fill in the blanks, which can be just as terrifying. In addition, the film also effectively taps into some subconscious fears by visibly demonstrating the sense of vulnerability when camping alone, illustrating the filmmakers' sense of helplessness when they are lost, and Heather's disquieting sense of failure when everything starts to go wrong. As a result, what you see in "The Blair Witch" leaves a lasting impression.
Shooting in the woods is something I never want to do again. It is really unpleasant.
Another contributing factor to the cinema verité effect of "The Blair Witch Project" is the fact that almost the entire film was shot without a script, leaving it to the actors to improvise their own dialogue. Working with only a thirty page outline, Sanchez and Myrick simply gave the actors two cameras and some notes, and sent them off hiking on their own through a Maryland state park. Along the predetermined path, the directors left baskets of food, along with reminders of what scenes to film at various points along their trek. Thus, most of the dialogue was uttered on the fly, which is why it sounds so natural-- the actors repeat themselves, stutter, and use profanity in a manner that is very familiar.
Improvisational Feature Film. Physically demanding shoot taking place in a wooded location. Actors must spend the night.
To add a further element of realism, Sanchez and Myrick also woke up the actors in the middle of the night by making strange noises or sneaking around the campsite, with the emotional reactions of the actors being caught on tape. As such, in the scenes where the filmmakers are awoken by strange noises, we are actually seeing the actors express some genuine fear. Eventually, the actors found that the distinction between acting and their own lives began to blur, and the demanding shoot soon eventually took its toll with actors Donahue and Leonard at each other's throats.
Though all three actors deliver splendid performances, the highest honor would have to be given to Heather Donahue. Donahue carries the film with her sympathetic portrayal as the embattled leader of the group, who begins the weekend shoot brimming with confidence and enthusiasm, only to see her succumb to the an overwhelming sense of helplessness when her project begins to fall apart. I wouldn't be surprised to see her moving on to bigger and better acting assignments in the future.
People feel they're basically seeing a snuff film.
And if the documentary-within-a-documentary approach is not enough to convince you, Artisan Entertainment has crafted a clever marketing campaign has helped to further perpetuate the illusion that the events portrayed in the film actually happened. The official web site, which has drawn up to 11 million hits per week, allows visitors to read the 'official case file', examine 'evidence' (such as police photos of the 'crime scene'), and view media interviews with the relatives of the missing filmmakers. In addition, some additional hype was created by a cable television special that fueled interest in the film à la the old paranormal investigation series "In Search Of". And coming soon is the novelization of the film that reads more like a non-fiction 'true crime' account of the investigation into the disappearance of the filmmakers.
I have to give credit to the filmmakers. They did a very good job I understand.
Not surprisingly, there has been a lot of speculation as to whether or not the events in the film really happened. Not too long ago, a New York private investigator publicly offered to reopen the case-- that is, until someone informed him that none of it was real. And since the airing of the cable television special, the town of Burkittsville, MD (population 200), has been inundated by gawkers and the media, in search of any evidence to the veracity of the Blair Witch. Even in the theater where I saw the film, a couple sitting in front of me felt compelled to ask if it really happened.
At first, the 'home video' look of "The Blair Witch Project" may seem unsettling, but as you become intrigued by the 'mythology' of the Blair Witch and become familiar with the trio of characters, it becomes very easy to be caught up in the ever-escalating tension of the story. Unreal or not, "The Blair Witch Project" is an experience not to be missed.
| 2019-04-20T23:07:23 |
http://www.mediacircus.net/blairwitch.html
|
0.998388 |
Kim Hollis: Max Payne, the latest poorly reviewed video game adaptation, earned $18 million this weekend. Given the title's moderately modest budget of $35 million, is this an acceptable result?
David Mumpower: This falls on the low end of what the three Resident Evil films did on opening weekend ($17.7 million, $23.0 million and $23.7 million), but it's better than the most recent fall videogame adaptation, Hit Man. That title started with only $13.2 million. Given the fact that Max Payne is a relatively obscure property and the fact that the reviews are Boll-esque, I think this is a success. The people who cut the white-hot trailers deserve a raise for stealing money out of customers' pockets, but that's how this game works.
Tim Briody: For the budget, it's totally a success. I had completely forgotten that Max Payne the video game existed until the release of the movie, so to most people it's just a "everything must blow up" movie and this is an acceptable opening.
| 2019-04-26T15:47:08 |
http://www.boxofficeprophets.com/column/index.cfm?columnID=11045
|
0.999553 |
Carissa Yip, 9, picked up her first chess piece three years ago - now she has become the youngest American to reach expert level.
The child prodigy has moved so quickly up the rankings that she can already look down at 93 percent of the more than 51,000 players registered with the U.S. Chess Federation.
But her father, Percy, who taught her until she began beating him within a year, said she has the potential to reach master level in a year. The current record for youngest master is 12-years-old.
Carissa, from Chelmsford in Massachusetts, first played competitively at the MetroWest Chess Club and Wachusett Chess Club.
Last fall, she competed in an international competition in Slovenia, and in December, she'll play the World Youth Championships in the United Arab Emirates.
Carissa, who will be a fifth-grader at McCarthy Middle School this fall, is hesitant when asked about her accomplishments.
But she also set a goal for herself this year to reach 2,100; an expert is anyone over 2,000 and a master is anyone over 2,200.
She also wants to one day become the first female to win the overall championship - not just in the female category, her father said.
'It's not like the rating matters,' Carissa said.
She later demonstrated her ability by playing with her back to the board, reading her moves to her father and keeping track of the whole board in her head.
Her U.S. Chess Federation ranking places her in the top seven percent of all players registered with the group and the top two percent of female players.
Closer to home, Carissa has impressed others who have been playing chess for far longer than she has been alive.
'This was not a record she won by a few days,' said Nathan Smolensky, the president of the Massachusetts Chess Association.
Among other younger stars at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, where Yip has played, most are in their teens and are boys, Smolensky said.
'Even they say they were nowhere near this strength when they were that young,' he said.
Carissa also has three years to reach the next level, that of master, in time to set the record for youngest to reach that step as well, Smolensky said.
Five-time U.S. women's winner Irina Krush has the record for becoming a master at age 12.
George Mirijanian, program director for the Wachusett club and past president of the Massachusetts Chess Association, said Carissa and Percy Yip, both Wachusett members, both got a standing ovation when they arrived at the club last week after Carissa reached expert level.
| 2019-04-19T16:25:23 |
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2380425/Chess-prodigy-Carissa-Yip-9-youngest-American-reach-expert-level.html
|
0.999441 |
How do all of these calendars work together?
There are four types of calendars in Project: base calendars, project calendars, task calendars, and resource calendars.
Base calendars are used almost like a template for project, task, and resource calendars. They define the standard working and non-working times for all projects in your organization. They specify the work hours for each day, the work days for each week, and any exceptions, like company holidays. Three default base calendars are already set up in Project: Standard, 24 Hours, and Night Shift.
Important: Using Project with Project Web App? If so, check with your administrator to request changes to base calendars.
Project, resource, and task calendars use a base calendar as a template, and then are modified to reflect the unique working days and hours for individual projects, resources, or tasks. These unique calendars are particularly helpful when accounting for things like a leave of absence, shift work, or tasks that are completed by equipment that runs throughout nights and weekends.
These calendars all stack together to frame how work is scheduled on a project.
Let's say your organization is located in Seattle, and has a typical work week of 8-hour work days, Monday through Friday. The base calendar reflects these working days and hours, as well as company holidays, like July 4 for Independence Day, and December 25 for Christmas.
A project manager starts a new project that runs from July 1 to July 15, and requires a Tuesday-Saturday work week.
The base calendar shows the Monday through Friday work week, with July 4 identified as a non-working holiday.
The project calendar uses the base calendar as a starting point, but adds that Saturdays are now working days, and Mondays are now non-working days.
One task in the project takes place in another country, so the July 4 holiday won't apply. The task calendar adds that July 4 is a working day.
Finally, the resource that will be working on the task has a different working schedule than the rest of your organization. The resource calendar adds that Tuesday is a non-working day, and Wednesday through Saturday are 10-hour days.
When Project schedules the task, it accounts for the assigned resource's calendar, the task calendar, the project calendar, and the base calendar.
The resulting availability contributes to how Project calculates the start and finish dates for the task and the project.
What is a base calendar?
What is the project calendar?
What is a resource calendar?
What is a task calendar?
How do calendar option settings affect working times?
A base calendar is used as a template that the project calendar, resource calendars, or task calendars are based on. It defines the standard working and nonworking times for the project. It specifies the work hours for each work day, the work days for each week, and any exceptions, such as holidays. You can select a base calendar to use as the project calendar or as the basis for a resource calendar. You can also apply a base calendar to specific tasks.
Standard The Standard base calendar reflects a traditional work schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., with an hour off for break.
24 Hours The 24 Hours base calendar reflects a schedule with no nonworking time. The 24 Hours calendar can be used to schedule resources and tasks for different shifts around the clock, or to schedule equipment resources continuously.
Night Shift The Night Shift base calendar reflects a graveyard shift schedule of Monday night through Saturday morning, 11:00 P.M. to 8:00 A.M., with an hour off for break.
You can also create your own base calendar, which is useful if you have alternative schedules for multiple resources. For example, you might have resources working part-time, 12-hour shifts, or on weekends.
The project calendar defines the working and nonworking days and times for tasks. This calendar usually represents your organization's traditional working hours. Project uses this calendar to schedule tasks that do not have resources assigned or that have a task type of fixed duration. By default, the Standard base calendar is used as the project calendar, but you can reflect alternative schedules by using other base calendars.
The project calendar specifies when project work can occur. In this project calendar, every day of the week is a working day.
In this project calendar, work can occur only on weekdays.
The working days and hours in the project calendar reflect the working days and hours for your whole project. You can specify special days off, such as company holidays. You can also indicate other nonworking times to reflect periods when the whole team will be working on nonproject activities, such as company meetings or department retreats.
The project calendar is set by clicking the calendar in the Calendar list in the Project Information dialog box. For more information about accessing and modifying the project calendar, see Set working times, vacations, and holidays for your project.
Resource calendars make sure that work resources (people and equipment) are scheduled only when they're available for work. They affect a specific resource or category of resources. By default, the working time settings in the resource calendar match the project calendar. However, you can customize the resource calendar to show individual schedule information, such as vacations, leaves of absence, or equipment maintenance time.
By clicking Change Working Time on the General tab of the Resource Information dialog box, you can edit resource calendars to indicate nonworking time. You can also create or assign different base calendars for individual resources, or groups of resources, to indicate specific working hours. For example, you can assign a resource to a calendar that you created for carpenters who may be working during a time that is different from other workers.
Tip: If you have resources that work alternative schedules, such as part-time or the night shift, we recommend that you set up and apply a separate base calendar for each shift. Use resource calendars to accommodate exceptions to individual resource's working times.
When Project schedules the project, it uses the resource calendar to schedule the tasks that do not have a fixed duration and that have resources assigned. For example, if a resource has a week of vacation specified on his or her resource calendar, Project will not schedule the task for that week.
Initially, the resource calendar settings match the project calendar.
After setting a resource's nonworking time, the resource calendar reflects that this resource is not available for project work this month on the last three days of week two or on the first four days of week three.
If you change a resource's working times by modifying their resource calendar, and the resource is already assigned to a task, the task is rescheduled to reflect the changes to their working times.
Task calendars make it possible to schedule tasks during nonworking time, as defined by the project calendar or resource calendar. For example, you can set up a task calendar if you have a task that needs to be worked on overnight or through the weekend.
You create a task calendar in the Change Working Time dialog box as a new base calendar. You then apply the base calendar to a task by using the Advanced tab in the Task Information dialog box.
If you have applied a task calendar to a task that already has assigned resources, by default, the task is scheduled for the working times that the task calendar and resource calendars have in common. If you want to schedule the task by using only the task calendar, select the Scheduling ignores resource calendars check box on the Advanced tab in the Task Information dialog box.
For more information about accessing and working with task calendars, see Create a calendar for a task within Project or Set a unique schedule for a specific resource.
Calendar option settings on the Calendar tab in the Options dialog box (Tools menu, Options command) define the time settings in Project, but they do not determine when work can be scheduled. Only calendars can determine working and nonworking times.
On the Calendar tab, you can specify default settings, such as the day each week starts on, the month in which the fiscal year starts, the time of day for any date manually entered, the total work hours per day, and the number of days per month. For example, the Default start time option specifies the start time that Project assigns to tasks by default when you enter a start date without specifying a time. Additionally, the Hours per day option defines the number of hours that Project calculates for a task when you enter a duration in days, such as the default setting of 8 hours for 1 day. Entering a duration of 2 days is equivalent to entering a duration of 16 hours.
If you change the working times on a calendar, remember that Project uses settings on the Calendar tab to determine how many hours define a day, week, or month. If the working time in a calendar differs from the Hours per day or Hours per week settings on the Calendar tab, the Duration field may not display the duration value that you expect. For example, if a calendar is set up with a four-hour work day, but the default hours per day is set to eight hours (in the Options dialog box), then a one day task will appear across two days. You may want to consider matching the calendar settings to the working time on the Calendar tab.
| 2019-04-22T20:21:30 |
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/work-with-calendars-in-project-323ff403-a676-428c-be11-6942bfb7210c
|
0.996924 |
Questions asked and answered about the Spoofer project.
IP spoofing is the practice of forging various portions of the Internet Protocol (IP) header. Because a vast majority of Internet traffic, applications, and servers use IP, IP spoofing has important security implications. Please see the Wikipedia article on IP address spoofing.
The Spoofer Project seeks to understand the Internet's vulnerability to different types of spoofed-source IP address attacks. Rob Beverly supported the Spoofer project from 2005-2015, with no dedicated source of funding, and wanted to find a permanent home for the project. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate funded CAIDA to take on stewardship of the Spoofer project, under Dr. Matthew Luckie's leadership. This contract started August 2015 and completed July 31, 2018. Most recently, DHS continued support under a new contract that started September 20, 2018 and will end September 19, 2020.
I'm a service provider. How can I prevent my network from being used for spoofing-based attacks?
We suggest operators start with the Anti-Spoofing guidelines published by the Internet Society's (ISOC) Mutually Agreed Norms for Routing Security (MANRS) Project.
How does this relate to email spoofing?
No, sorry, this project is concerned only with IP source address spoofing. This Wikipedia article on IP address spoofing explains the difference.
How does this relate to BGP spoofing?
BGP spoofing, more commonly referred to as BGP hijacking (link to above), is the illegitimate announcement of IP addressese using the BGP protocol, i.e., announcing IP address blocks that one does not own into the global interdomain routing system. We are also not measuring that here although CAIDA has another project studying this phenomena (link 'another project' to "http://www.caida.org/funding/hijacks/).
What can I expect when I run the tester?
Glad you asked, screenshots are available with example runs.
Why would I want to participate in this study?
Participation is completely voluntary. That said, the more reports we receive, the better our network coverage is and hence the more accurate our understanding of the extent to which spoofing is possible. In addition, networks may install or remove anti-spoofing mechanisms over time, an effect we monitor as well. To improve user incentives to deploy the tool, we added support to the Spoofer client to test if the network has appropriate ingress filtering in place; specifically, we test if the client is able to receive traffic from our server with spoofed source IP addresses in the same /31 subnet as the client (IPv4) and the same /120 subnet as the client (IPv6). The tested network should filter such addresses at the edge of their network, per IETF Best Current Practice 84. This feature will also help operators detect weaknesses in their network that could be exploited by attacks such as triangular spamming.
How does my participation help my network?
How does my participation help solve the spoofing problem?
This project will collect sharable, actionable measurements of this vulnerability in networks around the world, and inform policy-making attempts to ameliorate the global security risk.
Is there any chance that running this tool can compromise my system?
Our spoofer client does not alter files on your system, install backdoors or abuse its privilege. We provide complete, open source code for examination and use, in addition to pre-compiled binaries. We also provide SHA checksums on the web site as an additional measure of authenticity.
Will running this tool attract the attention of my ISP and raise security alarms?
It is unlikely. Intrusion detection systems are bombarded with suspicious events continually. The small number of spoofed packets our client sends is unlikely to attract any attention. We have yet to hear of any reports that our spoofer raised a security alarm. That being said, always follow the rules and laws governing your network and do not run our tester if its use is in question.
I am behind a NAT, will I be able to spoof?
Possibly. Some NATs do not rewrite the source address of packets if it is not within the NAT's internal prefix, and forward those packets. Our client test will detect and report these classes of spoofing.
I know my network prevents spoofing, should I run the spoofer anyway?
Yes, please. We also maintain a count of netblocks that cannot spoof, due to proper filtering being in place.. Running the spoofer tool, even when the spoof is blocked, gives us valuable data.
What information does the tool collect about my network?
The tool sends various sequences of spoofed packets to determine whether they can successfully exit your network and reach our server (egress spoofing). For example, we test using source addresses within (internal to) your network, but not assigned to your host, as well as source addresses outside your network altogether. If your host is inside an independently routed /24 prefix, we test addresses in an encompassing /23, /22, ...up to the containing /8. We also test using source addresses intended for private networks: RFC 1918 addresses for IPv4, and unique local addresses (ULA) for IPv6.
We also send various sequences of spoofed packets to determine whether or not they can successfully enter your network and reach the client (ingress spoofing) when the tool is not being used from behind a NAT. We test using source addresses in the destination network itself -- internal addresses within the same IPv4 /31 or IPv6 /120 as the client). As with egress tests, we also test using source addresses intended for private networks: RFC 1918 addresses for IPv4, and unique local addresses (ULA) for IPv6. We do not make the results of ingress spoofing public, but we do notify a technical contact within the AS of our results when a technical contact is listed in WHOIS or PeeringDB.
Users can now explicitly allow their test results to be publicly sharable. We share individual tests with relevant operational security stakeholders, e.g., we will share data about a specific country's networks with that country's CERT agency. We also publish aggregated, anonymized (to a /24) results on this web site. We post per AS and per country statistics.
What is the purpose of anonymizing to a /24?
Won't this project help people who want to find "spoofable" networks?
That is the primary ethical consideration that has kept researchers/others from posting such test results over the last 10+ years of available measurements. This also comes down to a balance of risks: helping the bad guys find vantage points for mischief, vs. helping the good guys identify vulnerable parts of the infrastructure to ameliorate. Our understanding, with input from several operational security communities, is that bad guys are not having trouble finding places from which to spoof, but good guys are essentially blind with respect to how/where this particular vulnerability is distributed, in topological, geographic, and jurisdictional terms. So we believe community thinking has shifted over the last ten years in favor of transparency for this particular measurement.
Does Spoofer do automated reporting?
Yes. CAIDA works with network operator groups throughout the world to vet and subscribe ourselves ([email protected]) to regional operator community mailing lists. Each report we send, provided there is something to report, is geographically scoped and sent in a region-appropriate language. We currently subscribe to the following NOG mailing lists: AusNOG (Australia), DENOG (Germany), ESNOG (Spain), FRnOG (France), GTER (Brazil), ITNOG (Italy), JANOG (Japan), LUNOG (Luxembourg), MENOG (Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestinian Territory, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen), PacNOG (American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, Micronesia, Fed. Sts., Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, New Caledonia, Niue, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, French Polynesia, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futura Islands, Samoa), NANOG (United States, Canada), NOG Bolivia (Bolivia), NOG.cl (Chile), NLNOG (Netherlands), NZNOG (New Zealand), SANOG (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan), SGNOG (Singapore), and UKNOF (Great Britain).
Is spoofing still really a significant attack vector? Don't ISPs deploy uRPF to prevent it?
For nearly 30 years we have know about source IP address spoofing vulnerabilities, and despite many efforts to mitigate or even shed light on the problem (e.g.,[Beverly 2005, Beverly 2009, Beverly2013]) spoofing remains a viable attack method for redirection, amplification, and anonymity, as evidenced most recently and publicly in March 2018 during a 1.7 Tbps DDoS attack against Github. That particular attack used an amplification vector in Memcached; previous attacks against Cloudflare and Spamhaus in 2013 achieved 300+ Gbps using amplification vectors in NTP and DNS. In all of these cases, the attacks exploited the ability of (many) publicly accessible networks to spoof IP packets. While some application-layer patches can mitigate these vulnerabilities, attackers continuously search for new vectors. To defeat spoofed-source DDoS attacks requires operators to ensure their networks filter packets with spoofed source IP addresses, a best current practice (BCP) known as source address validation (SAV). However, a network's deployment of SAV primarily helps other networks, and is categorically incentive-incompatible, since a mistake configuring SAV or failure to keep it current could accidentally discard valid customer packets. SAV represents a classic tragedy of the commons in the Internet. Testing a network's SAV compliance requires a measurement vantage point inside (or immediately upstream of) that network, because the origin network of arbitrary spoofed packets cannot be determined. During the past three years, we built a production-quality software client that volunteers across the Internet could download and run from their networks, testing their own network's ability to send various types of spoofed packets to our server, which collected, aggregated, and publicly reported test results.
Our measurements show that spoofing is still prevalent among approximately 25% of the autonomous systems and netblocks we survey. More importantly, a single entry point for spoofed traffic provides attackers a means to send spoofed traffic to the entire Internet. ISPs can employ filtering [RFC2827] to ensure their outbound traffic is not spoofed. But there is currently no way to ensure that inbound traffic is legitimate as long as there exist entry points for spoofed traffic. uRPF [RFC3704] does not work, and is not used, in the core of the network where routing asymmetry renders it useless.
What about positive uses of spoofing, such as reverse traceroute?
There are very few instances of legitimate source spoofing. Even when spoofing is intended for a legitimate purpose, it is almost certainly the wrong architectural response. Clearly there is a tradeoff between the current state of affairs where the semantics of source IP addresses are overloaded, e.g. for authentication, and security. Our stance is that benefit of enforcing packets sent to have the same source address as the sender far outweigh any downside.
Why do I have to run the spoofer as root?
Programs that create raw sockets must run as root. If you are concerned about the security of our binaries, we welcome you to examine the provided source code and build your own.
See the CHANGES file in the source distribution.
How do I test IPv6 spoofing?
Our client will automatically test IPv6 spoofing if it detects an IPv6 address on the host.
Can I use your system without the Scheduler or GUI?
Yes. If installing a binary release, you can prevent the Scheduler from running by disabling the "start now" and "start at boot" options. If building spoofer from source, the Scheduler will not be run automatically; you can prevent it from even being built by passing the "--disable-manager" option to configure. In binary or source installations, you can always run the spoofer-prober manually, or from your own cronjob or script.
Can you please explain "tracefilter" and how you're using it?
Sure, see Rob Beverly's original paper on tracefilter, Tracefilter: A Tool for Locating Network Source Address Validation Filters.
How do you deal with sample bias?
Sample bias is an inherent risk of any opt-in measurement method. We have developed an openWRT version of the client, and are trying to get it integrated into that code base. In the meantime, the client runs in the background on OSX, windows, and Linux, whenever it detects a new network. This change has helped with the sparseness of the data, because laptops visit different networks and the tests run automatically.
Can you provide addresses of spoofable netblocks/ASes?
Yes. we now publish netblocks and ASes for any tests marked shareable in the tool configuration.
How do you determine what country an address belongs to?
We use NetAcuity geolocation to map IP addresses to countries.
To extend coverage, why not put a Spoofer client on RIPE Atlas probes?
That question has come up on the relevant RIPE mailing list and our understanding is that RIPE management has said no.
Still have a question? Please let us know!
| 2019-04-25T08:05:13 |
http://www.caida.org/projects/spoofer/faq.xml
|
0.998417 |
While looking up importers that I could use to move various third-party archives into something self-hosted, I found an add-on to pull Facebook posts into Keyring Social Importers, an extensible WordPress plugin. At the top of the list of built-in services: Delicious.
Yeah, so I guess that’s not gonna happen. It turns out I exported my bookmarks in 2016 (into one big HTML file), which is probably as current as it needs to be.
The maintenance page mentioned Pinboard, so I looked up some articles. Apparently Pinboard bought Delicious in June 2017 and put it into read-only mode. I know I was able to look up bookmarks on Del.icio.us as recently as January, so it’s at least this July they’re talking about, but I’m guessing the server migration probably failed and it never came back.
In an interesting twist, I discovered that there’s a fanfic-related history in the past rivalry between Del.icio.us and Pinboard.
TL;DR: Delicious was once extensively used to categorize fic on LiveJournal, but an overhaul left it unsuitable. (Among other things, “/” became an unsearchable character, making it impossible to search for pairings.) There was a mass exodus of fanfic writers and readers, many of whom ended up at Pinboard…and Pinboard’s owner put in extra effort to address their needs.
This entry was posted in Computers/Internet and tagged bookmarks, del.icio.us, fanfic, Pinboard, social networking on October 25, 2018 by Kelson.
I use Firefox, Opera, and Safari on a regular basis on three computers at home (Windows, Mac, and Linux) and two at work (Windows and Linux). That’s 11 sets of bookmarks that I’d like to pare down to 2.
del.icio.us helps somewhat, especially since I discovered I can add it as a search in both Firefox and Opera, but web apps have a certain amount of delay that doesn’t work for the most frequently-accessed sites. And I don’t want to add yet another web app, I want to sync the bookmarks in each browser.
Most of the solutions I’ve found (.Mac, Google Browser Sync, Opera 9.5, various Firefox extensions) are geared toward syncing two or more copies of the same browser on different computers. What I want is to bookmark a site in Firefox on one computer, and have it show up in Safari on another.
Update: I have since discovered XMarks, which does exactly what I need on Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome and Safari (but not Opera, though I use it a lot less these days).
This entry was posted in Web and tagged bookmarks, browser, del.icio.us, Firefox, Opera, Safari, sync, Web, Xmarks on September 4, 2007 by Kelson.
I ended up using Sociable, a plugin for WordPress that already knows the right link formats for several dozen such sites.
del.icio.us is my online bookmark service of choice. I still manage a lot of bookmarks locally, but this lets me share a set between multiple browsers at home and work.
Digg seems to be the leading service for actually sharing and discussing links these days.
Fark wasn’t on my list at first, but then I realized that I make funny/weird posts here all the time. Some of them would fit right in.
Reddit is new to me, but it popped up a couple of times when I went looking through sites that I read.
Yahoo MyWeb I mainly added out of name recognition.
What social bookmarking sites (if any) do you use?
This entry was posted in Site Updates, Web and tagged blogging, bookmarks, digg, social networking, Web, web2.0 on September 8, 2006 by Kelson.
| 2019-04-23T13:07:21 |
https://www.hyperborea.org/journal/tag/bookmarks/
|
0.995769 |
A road to nowhere or taking the long way round?
The singlemost admirable feature of Formula-E for me is their understanding that the format of their series needs to evolve over time. Engratiating themselves to fans, teams, manufacturers and the cities they run around for the years to come. Formula One in comparison feels like a rudder-less ship, with too many crew members, all of which have their own roles to fulfill but are more interested in doing someone else's. Where Formula One lacks the maverick thinking it once possessed in Bernie Ecclestone's high days, Formula-E has Alejandro Agag at the helm, fashioning a sport that is both captivating (at points), whilst striking a synergy with the electric road cars of the future.
Power has been increased from 150kw's to 170kw's in season two, which means the drivers and teams have to be particularly clever in managing energy to make their stint length, as although energy can be recovered, perhaps moreso by some depending on their powertrain selection, they still need to swap cars mid race. This was perhaps one of the most important aspects of Piquet Jnr's maiden victory with the Brazilian often able to conserve more energy in the first car, giving him more energy to deploy in the second. He seemed to find a canny way to know the aero sweetspot for the car, whereby deploying more energy on the straight was simply irrelevant. It's a shame for Piquet Jnr that his team went down the twin motor route as his competitiveness in 2016 has been hampered by a powertrain around 40kg's heavier than some of the other teams. DS Virgin Racing have been hit with the same issues, albeit not quite to the same degree with their system a little lighter than NEXTEV TCR's. Although Citroen who are using their DS branding in the series will likely get on top of the issues they've faced this year.
It is the two road car manufacturer backed teams that have made the biggest leap with Renault e.Dams employing a two gear arrangement, however, the first gear is simply for starts giving them maximum deployment off the line. A simple cable operated manual shifter is mounted in the cockpit to enable Buemi and Prost to shift into their race gear. Meanwhile, ABT's affiliation with both Schaeffler has been instrumental in their challenge for the title too, whilst their loose connection with Audi/VW seems nothing more than a marketing exercise at present.
Mahindra have refined season one's powertrain offering, with an updated version of McLaren's motor in use, whilst a Hewland 4 speed gearbox is used rather than the original five speed. As the season has matured the team seem to have really got on top of their setup, maximizing their performance, albeit not to the level of the championship elect.
Having initially looked at using their own powertrain for season two, Andretti suffered insurmountable issues in pre-season testing that prompted a return to season one's tech. Team Aguri, made the same decision, albeit they never planned to run a different configuration. Team Aguri have impressed, especially in the hands of Da Costa who has some bad luck along the way too.
Michelin have announced that they'll be supplying a new tyre for season three, with the French manufacturer making changes to their offering to improve performance early in their life cycle without having a major impact on their longevity. The tyres have already been put through their paces by Renault e.Dams ahead of their use by everyone next season and will not only be lighter but retain their all conditions makeup.
Having lost the Trulli team early in the season a new competitor has already been lined up for season 3 with Jaguar taking their place in a partnership Williams Advanced Engineering, who supply the battery packs for Formula-E. Meanwhile, it appears that other road car manufacturers want in with both Nissan and BMW making their interest known, whether it'll be in season three or beyond we'll have to wait and see. The biggest hurdle for most of the road car manufacturers is that Formula-E is currently an advert for range anxiety but, the FIA and the series itself are keen to get rid of the two car format, with season 5 the line in the sand, although many would like to see it happen sooner. Again, this shows that as a sport their 'roadmap' helps everyone to understand the direction that they're heading, like it or not.
One of the pivotal decisions taken when establishing the electric series was that inner city road circuits would be used, rather than proper race tracks. So far this has been a success with some minor but notable failures, such as season one's abandoned airport in Berlin, which was thankfully switched for a city centre location this year. The calendar for season three has recently been announced and whilst there are some notable absentee's, London's Battersea Park perhaps the most (local residents have campaigned to have the race banned) a keystone race that has been placed at the end of the calendar will have many excited. Breaking North America would be a big deal for the series and although Long Beach remains on the calendar the addition of New York is something even Formula One has failed to accomplish so far, even after several attempts. Two rounds at a re-jigged Port Imperial Street Circuit (Formula One's last attempt at having Manhattan as the background to a race was here too) would be dovetailed with two rounds in Montreal too.
This article is a sponsored piece and I'd encourage you to check out: Formula-E Highlights, which offers a different perspective on the series so far.
| 2019-04-26T01:41:58 |
http://www.somersf1.co.uk/2016/05/a-road-to-nowhere-or-taking-long-way.html
|
0.999932 |
Can be converted into multi purpose. Rear entrance overhead door and side door. Front door entrance from the street.
| 2019-04-19T22:47:09 |
http://homeandlandcompany.com/Property/Details/6275
|
0.999954 |
On Billboard's latest Country Airplay chart, dated Dec. 8, the top 20 is a boys club, and a historic one at that: for the first time since the radio-based survey launched in January 1990, the top 20 does not feature any female acts.
The highest position held by a woman on Country Airplay this week belongs to Carrie Underwood's "Love Wins," which climbs 25-22 (up 13 percent to 8.2 million audience impressions in the week ending Dec. 2, according to Nielsen Music).
Looking at the entire 60 positions on Country Airplay, seven female acts appear beyond Underwood: Mindy Smith (as featured on Kenny Chesney's "Better Boat," at No. 27); Kelsea Ballerini ("Miss Me More," No. 32); Hillary Lindsey (as featured on Randy Houser's "What Whiskey Does," No. 40); duo Maddie & Tae ("Friends Don't," No. 41); trio Runaway June ("Buy My Own Drinks," No. 44); Lauren Alaina ("Ladies of the '90s," No. 47); and Carly Pearce ("Closer to You," No. 53).
Notably, Alaina's song recalls a bountiful era for women on the charts (country, pop and beyond). "I was raised on radio waves, where the ladies dominated," she sings, as she shouts out "Britney" (Spears) and smashes by Shania Twain, Destiny's Child, Dixie Chicks and more.
How does this week's Country Airplay top 20 compare historically? Let's look back to this time in 1990 and every five years after to see how songs by women fared.
No. 1, K.T. Oslin, "Come Next Monday"
No. 11, Holly Dunn, "You Really Had Me Going"
No. 15, Reba McEntire, "You Lie"
No. 16, Highway 101, "Someone Else's Trouble Now"
No. 19, Baillie and the Boys, "Fool Such as I"
No. 4, Lorrie Morgan, "Back in Your Arms Again"
No. 10, Pam Tillis, "Deep Down"
No. 19, Dolly Parton & Vince Gill, "I Will Always Love You"
No. 5, Dixie Chicks, "Without You"
No. 6, Sara Evans, "Born to Fly"
No. 13, Patty Loveless, "That's the Kind of Mood I'm In"
No. 14, Jo Dee Messina, "Burn"
No. 15, Terri Clark, "A Little Gasoline"
No. 17, Lee Ann Womack, "Ashes by Now"
No. 20, Reba McEntire, "We're So Good Together"
No. 12, Faith Hill, "Like We Never Loved Before"
No. 13, Little Big Town, "Boondocks"
No. 14, Carrie Underwood, "Jesus, Take the Wheel"
No. 18, Martina McBride, "(I Never Promised You) A Rose Garden"
No. 19, Sugarland, "Just Might (Make Me Believe)"
No. 20, Brad Paisley feat. Dolly Parton, "When I Get Where I'm Going"
No. 3, The Band Perry, "If I Die Young"
No. 6, Reba McEntire, "Turn On the Radio"
No. 8, Sugarland, "Stuck Like Glue"
No. 9, Carrie Underwood, "Mama's Song"
No. 14, Miranda Lambert, "Only Prettier"
No. 19, Lady Antebellum, "Hello World"
No. 2, Carrie Underwood, "Smoke Break"
No. 8, Cam, "Burning House"
No. 13, Jana Kramer, "I Got the Boy"
No. 16, Kelsea Ballerini, "Dibs"
Threading 2015 to today, four women (Underwood, Maren Morris, Rhiannon Giddens and Alaina) ranked in the top 20 on the Dec. 3, 2016 chart, and three (Pearce, Morris and Ballerini) did on Dec. 2, 2017.
"Unfortunately, I wish I could say I'm shocked by this statistic, but I'm not," says Johnny Chiang, director of operations, Cox Media Group Houston, which includes Country Airplay reporter KKBQ. "It's sad, really. In all other aspects of life, we're seeing women thrive by becoming CEOs, film directors, best-selling authors, etc. In country music, we really don't have the female talent to compete? That's just ridiculous."
"Even if we narrowed the focus to modern music," Chiang muses, "we have the likes of Beyoncé, Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, Camila Cabello, Lady Gaga, Adele and many more dominating the charts. And, in our own country world, we have powerful women like Cindy Mabe [president, UMG Nashville], Kristen Williams [senior vp, radio and streaming, Warner Music Nashville], Lesly Simon [general manager, Pearl Records], Kerri Edwards [owner/president, KP Entertainment], Virginia Davis [president, G-Major Management], Donna Jean Kissauer [vp, radio and tour marketing, Borman Entertainment] and many more shaping our business.
"The disparity on the country charts just doesn't make sense and doesn't reflect the female talent we have in our midst," Chiang says. "I don't know whose fault it is, but everyone needs to look at themselves in the mirror and ask if they're contributing to this issue."
| 2019-04-18T23:59:07 |
https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/8488730/no-women-country-airplay-chart-top-20
|
0.999793 |
If I said that "The Time Traveler's Wife" was a non-conventional love story with time travel, that description would not come close to accurately describing this novel. It is a non-conventional love story with time travel at its heart, but the novel is so much more than that, and it is also different. Clare met Henry when she was 6 and he was 38. When Henry met Clare, he was 28 and she was 20. How is such a thing possible? Henry is afflicted with what will come to be called Chrono Displacement Disorder. Or, to put it plainly: involuntary time travel. Ever since he was a child Henry has involuntarily time traveled when he is in a period of great emotional stress. He doesn't know why, or how. When Clare meets Henry for the first time, he has known Clare for years and he knows that they will marry when she is older (and he is younger). When Henry meets Clare for the first time, she has known an older Henry all of her life. "The Time Traveler's Wife" is their love story and it is an exceptional one.
This novel is told from the perspective of both Henry and Clare in alternating viewpoints. Niffenegger lets us know at the beginning of each perspective exactly when this event is happening and how old both Clare and Henry are in each perspective. This is vitally important otherwise "The Time Traveler's Wife" would not make any sense. While it seems at first that the story is being told without any apparent order or structure, it soon becomes clear that the structure is Clare. Since she does not have Chrono Displacement Disorder, she ages normally and does not flit back and forth between the years. The structure of the novel follows Clare from when she is a child and first meeting Henry through she teenage years to their life together as adults. The structure follows Clare's life and her timeline. Henry pops in and out of her life from age 6 through 18 and he is sometimes in his 40's, other times a younger man in his thirties. This is why Niffenegger's telling us the ages of the characters is so vital. Henry may or may not know some events in Clare's life because for him, depending on his age, they haven't happened yet. This allows the reader to discover things about Clare and Henry as Henry learns them. Sometimes he knows that something happened because Clare references it, but it is only later that he discovers what it was when he time travels.
"The Time Traveler's Wife" is a very moving novel. Watching Henry and Clare struggle to fit a normal relationship into their lives despite Henry's time travel can be heart wrenching despite the fascination with when Henry will go next and what we will learn about their past together. Audrey Niffenegger has done such a great job constructing this novel and making sure that it has a very firm structure that even the unrealistic idea of involuntary time travel (as if building a time machine wouldn't have been strange enough for Niffenegger) seems realistic and grounded in reality. This novel feels real and true.
I don't know that I can praise "The Time Traveler's Wife" enough or even adequately. The best praise that I know how to give is to say that from time to time I encounter a book that blows me away, that I don't want to put down, and that is so magical that I am simply absorbed into the story. It's a rare book that completely levels me and gets instantly elevated to one of my favorite books. "The Time Traveler's Wife" is such a novel.
This is an amazing novel. If you are interested at all in serious fiction, and enjoy a good tragedy, take a look at The Time Travelers Wife.
The author is so good at describing a scene that there were several times where I felt like I was actually there with Henry and Clare; witnessing their story instead of reading it. This is such a great book that I will be recommending it to several people who I know will love it as much as I do.
| 2019-04-25T06:32:06 |
http://joesherry.blogspot.com/2005/01/book-review-time-travelers-wife-audrey.html
|
0.999783 |
Seller: antiquiti (5,480) 99.6%, Location: Didcot, Ships to: Worldwide, Item: 153440083607 SCARCE ANCIENT CYCLADIC STONE IDOL AEGEAN SEAS PRE MINOAN GREECE COMBINED POSTAGEIF YOU HAVE PURCHASED MORE THAN ONE ITEM AND REQUIRE COMBINED POSTAGE,PLEASE SEND US A MESSAGE AND REQUEST THE INVOICE AND IT WILL BE PROVIDED FOR YOUPAYMENTSPLEASE MAKE PAYMENT WITHIN MAXIMUM 7 DAYS OR A UNPAID ITEMS CASE WILL OPEN AUTOMATICALLYSHIPPINGALL ORDERS ARE SENT TRACKED, IF THERE ARE ANY ISSUES WITH YOUR ITEM NOT ARRIVING PLEASE CONTACT US WE WILL ASSIST YOURETURNSIF YOU HAVE A ISSUE WITH ANY ORDER FOR ANY REASON YOU CAN RETURN IT WITHIN 30DAYSIN SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES WE ALLOW UP TO 60DAYSANY LONGER THAN 60DAYS AND YOU ARE NO LONGER ENTITLED TO A REFUNDIF YOU ARE UNHAPPY WITH AN ORDER PLEASE CONTACT US FOR A RESOLUTION WE WILL RESOLVE IT FOR YOU SWIFTLYOTHERWE ARE SELLING ONLY AUTHENTIC ITEMS HERE UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE IN THE FORM OF 'STYLE' OR 'REPLICA'IF YOU HAVE ANY REASON TO DOUBT A ITEM THAT YOU HAVE PURCHASED, EVEN IF WE ARE NOT IN AGREEMENT, YOU MAY RETURN IT WITHIN 60DAYSIF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT AN ITEM FEEL FREE TO MESSAGE US WE WILL GET BACK TO YOU SWIFTLYTHANK YOU FOR PURCHASING HERE AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR BUSINESS DISCLAIMERWE ARE TRYING OUR BEST TO PROVIDE THE BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE ON A PERSONAL LEVEL TO EACH CLIENT, IF YOU HAVE ANY ISSUE PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT US, IT IS OUR TOP CONCERN TO MAKE SURE YOU THE CUSTOMER IS 100% SATISFIED.PLEASE CONTACT US BEFORE LEAVING ANY NEUTRAL OR NEGATIVE FEEDBACK IF YOU ARE UNHAPPY, WE WILL TRY OUR BEST TO RESOLVE THE SITUATION FOR YOU. WE HAVE BEEN SELLING ANTIQUES AND ANTIQUITIES FOR SEVERAL YEARS AND HAVE BUILT UP A GOOD KNOWLEDGE BASE, WE ARESELLING HERE TO THE BEST OF OUR KNOWLEDGE AND IF YOU ARE IN ANY DOUBT ABOUT THE AUTHENTICITY OF A PIECE, YOU ARE MOST WELCOME TO SEND IT BACK TO US, WE WILL REFUND YOU IN FULL. WE HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON AND WE HOPE TO SATISFY EVERY VALUED CUSTOMER.
Popularity - Super high amount of bids. 116 views, 7.7 views per day, 15 days on eBay. Very high amount of views. 1 sold, 0 available.
Super high amount of bids. 116 views, 7.7 views per day, 15 days on eBay. Very high amount of views. 1 sold, 0 available.
| 2019-04-22T08:12:45 |
https://picclick.com/Scarce-Ancient-Cycladic-Stone-Idol-Aegean-Seas-Pre-153440083607.html
|
0.99942 |
What is a life well lived? What is an exemplary life—a life that I would wish to strive for, to emulate, to have others remember as worthy of admiration? What principles ought to guide me in living such a life?
At the Christian university where I teach, every freshman must take an introductory liberal arts course that reflects upon this question. Typically, the initial essays I get in response are self-centered: life is all about "finding happiness," "living your dreams," "pursuing your passions." Why does no one ever mention being virtuous, or faithful, or living to serve others?
Since I ask all my students to answer this question, I thought it right that I, too, should answer it. I hope my response will give my readers occasion to pause, to pose this question to themselves, and to answer it worthily.
My answer to the question of what is a life well lived can be summarized in six words: "To know, serve, and love truth." This brief statement has manifold dimensions, which can be subsumed under five basic tenets.
First, to know truth requires right reasoning. Such knowledge does not and cannot appeal to subjective emotions, but rather to external standards of judgment concerning right and wrong. This entails belief in truth as a universal and objective standard, not as something somehow localized and subjective. It is a standard to which all are accountable, and according to which all persons (including myself) both are and ought to be judged.
The widespread notion that "truth is relative" is (as every logician knows) self-contradictory, incoherent nonsense. It is asserted because people have unthinkingly accepted the pretense of its purveyors that it signifies profundity, sophistication, and breadth of intellect, along with a corresponding judiciousness and tolerance of judgment. It is in fact precisely the opposite—a sign of shallowness, naivete, and narrowness of mind, injudicious and allied to an unreflective judgmentalism.
For it is impossible to avoid making decisions, and all decisions are inherently judgments. When they are not made by reason in accordance with truth as a universal standard, but are merely asserted as subjective sentiments, they are necessarily irrational, mere tyrannical impositions of will by virtue of superior force. Only if truth exists objectively and universally can there be a coherent, perduring, just moral order.
This is not to say that truth is always easy to discern, or to apply correctly (the difficulties from which epistemological and moral relativism derive their superficial plausibility). Such discernment requires and poses a summons to serious labor of the mind and will, whereas relativism, which seeks to evade this summons, is inherently lazy and irresponsible. Far from being a license to self-assertion (which relativism covertly provides), it requires humility, forbearance, charity, self-denial, and a host of other virtues, precisely because the recognition of truth as objective and universal entails the recognition of and submission to an authority infinitely greater than oneself. "What is right" necessarily replaces "I am right," and hence often must lead to the conclusion and admission that "I am (or have been) wrong."
Relativism, with its pretenses that either everyone can somehow be equally right or that error is insufficiently important to require effective opposition, feigns humility; in fact it is supremely arrogant, for it seeks to evade virtually any concession that its proponents can ever meaningfully err. Like charity, truth begins at home; and any judgment to be formed and applied to others must first with equal or even greater rigor be applied to oneself.
Second, to serve truth is indeed a call to service. Truth is not merely factual knowledge, but knowledge bearing moral significance. It is not only descriptive, but also prescriptive; it tells us not only what is, but also what we ought to do. It demands a relentless pursuit of excellence, even perfection. It is betrayed by settling for simplistic solutions, whether of relativism, reductionism, or easy judgmentalism. It entails obedience to, not assumption of, authority, except by delegation. It requires self-restraint and self-sacrifice, a willingness to admit error and to make correction and reparation where needed and without excuse.
When life is centered upon service to truth, it cannot be centered upon the self. This forbids one simply to pursue one's passions, for those must be governed by reason and judged according to external standards. It likewise denies happiness to be merely a subjectively self-defined activity and goal (something irreducibly selfish in nature); rather, it declares happiness to be an objectively defined characteristic that requires the pursuit of wisdom and virtue—right knowledge, judgment, character, and conduct. Again, this requires humility, which is not self-denigration but self-forgetfulness. Humility is not to think meanly of oneself, but not to think particularly of oneself at all.
Third, truth is not abstract but concrete; it is not merely conceived intellectually but is lived materially, in a life of moral virtue. The call to a life of service to truth is hard; it is challenging and rigorous. It requires renunciation of the comfortable but false notion of happiness as that which pleases our desires and will, and instead demands that we shape and discipline our desires and will to take pleasure in what is true and good, and to find those ends beautiful.
Pursuit of and service to truth is often painful, for it entails bringing to light the failures not only of mankind generally but also of oneself specifically; as the author of Ecclesiastes observes (Eccl. 1:15b), "He that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow." Such service is not an option but a duty, incumbent upon all men. The end of such labor is not merely to accrue knowledge for one's own satisfaction or advancement, which again is merely selfish, but to make use of it to achieve moral ends—to pursue and establish true justice by correct determination of what is right and wrong, morally as well as factually. Indeed, truth itself is a form of justice, and all falsehood (including relativism) is a form of injustice.
Fourth, being not merely abstract but concrete, truth is likewise not impersonal but personal (which differs from the merely subjective in being a particular participation in the objective and universal). Indeed, as Christianity apprehends, truth is supremely personal and concrete, one of the attributes of God. The declaration of Jesus Christ, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life," is an uncompromising assertion of his divinity as God Incarnate—both as Man and as one specific man in real history. Because truth belongs to the faculty of judgment, it, unlike physical objects, does not exist apart from a conceiving and perceiving mind. This, however, does not reduce it to mere subjectivity, as relativism would have it; on the contrary, it is precisely because truth is an essential attribute of an original personal being of intellect, who is eternal, infinite, and unchanging, that truth is objective and universal.
In the Eurythro, Plato first posed a variant of a famous dilemma: Does God command something because it is good, or is something good because God commands it? The posited dilemma is that either goodness (as the highest expression of truth) exists apart from God and is equally eternal (making it a rival god), or else goodness has no inherent nature but is merely the expression of the arbitrary will of an omnipotent tyrant.
The dilemma is false, however, for it smuggles in an implicit, false assumption that somehow we can know what goodness or truth is apart from God. But since human minds are finite and no human being creates himself, then truth (including goodness), being objective and universal, cannot be a product of human thinking; it must pre-exist man. Being himself a temporal creature, man cannot originate truth as something eternal; he can only receive it. And since truth as a conceptual reality must exist within and in relation to a personal intellect, then it subsists in the eternal, infinite, and unchanging mind of God, and hence necessarily and unfailingly reflects his nature. By knowing God, we know truth, and vice-versa.
Fifth and last, the nature of truth as both objective and personal means that to know and serve truth is, ultimately and necessarily, to know and serve God. Because God, as infinite and eternal in being, is wholly other in nature than man, the usual human faculties of knowledge—reason, intuition, and sensory experience—are insufficient for knowing God personally, as opposed to merely knowing something about him. Personal knowledge of God comes only through revelation—God condescending to disclose himself to man in ways that man can comprehend.
The most profound truths, upon which all other truths in some way are grounded, are those concerning the very being of God himself: first the Trinity, and then the Incarnation. That said, the knowledge vouchsafed by revelation is not a mere provision of factual information; rather, it is the communication of an intimate bond of love. Because God is not a creature with passions, his love is not an emotion or sentiment; rather, it is a rational act of will that calls forth a response from man in kind. But as an act of will, it likewise is not cold and impersonal; on the contrary, as the binding commitment of a communion of persons, it is infinitely more intense and enduring than a mere passing flame of passion.
Because we are God's creations, we exist at his pleasure, for his service. But far from being an oppressive constraint, that service actually bestows true freedom, for it frees us from all false beliefs and choices, in order to know and to be conformed to truth instead. Jesus summarized all the commands of God into two great commandments—to love God with one's entire heart, soul, and mind, and to love others as oneself—and added a third—to love one another as he loves us. That infinite love was demonstrated in his sacrifice of himself on the Cross to atone for the sins of all men, in obedience to his Father's will.
Thus the true definition of love, in its highest and deepest sense, is: self-sacrificial obedience to God for the greatest good of another. Jesus, God the Son incarnate as man, declared, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." John, the beloved apostle who rested on the bosom of Jesus, declared that "God is love." Truth and love are thus ultimately one and the same, merely approached and considered from two different vantage points. Truly to love is to know, serve, and love Truth—which is God.
In sum, my original answer to the question of what is a life well lived is more accurately restated as "To know, serve, and love God." Rightly understood, the two mean one and the same thing. Jesus said, "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it," and "Every one that is of the truth hears my voice." We can save our lives only by losing them to the high, self-sacrificial calling of service to truth, and to the One who is Truth—not to the debased, selfish pursuit of self-fulfillment.
is the assistant editor of Fanfare magazine, a comprehensive bimonthly periodical for reviews of classical music recordings, and an adjunct faculty instructor in the humanities at Villanova University. He is a member of St. Mark's Reformed Episcopal Church in Rydal, Pennsylvania.
| 2019-04-19T06:19:53 |
https://salvomag.com/article/salvo40/the-good-life
|
0.999999 |
Forewords: is this post about a security vulnerability?
Ultimately it's not. This is a short note on how to exploit a somehow under-documented feature in the Docker remote APIs, since I did not manage to find clear guidance elsewhere and had to experiment with it myself. The reason for sharing is to save you time during the next pentest. That said, do I think this is bad? Yes, I do, as I will explain later on.
EDIT: It turns out maybe I wasn't so wrong worrying about this.
So, what is this about?
TL;DR; The Docker's Remote APIs trivially allow anyone with access to them to obtain access to the file system of the host, by design, and are unauthenticated (but disabled) by default.
Docker is a container-based platform for application "shipment", but to be fair, the official what is Docker page does a better job at explaining what this is all about. Docker is all the rage in these days and if you have never heard of it you should really look it up. It's quite likely to show up in one of your next penetration tests since companies seem to be experimenting with it quite extensively.
Docker is usually managed via a command line tool, which connects to the Docker server via a Unix socket. Access is restricted to the root user by default or to an aptly named Docker group, at least on the Ubuntu packages I've experimented with. So far, so good (sort of, but I don't really have strong arguments here).
This is of course not very convenient if you are working in any environment but your bedroom, so the helpful devs have provided a RESTful API which can be bound to any HTTP port. It is not enabled by default, which is something worth stressing, but can be turned on via a flag (-H tcp://IP_ADRESS:PORT). IANA has assigned ports 2375 and 2376 to the cleartext and SSL protected versions of the APIs respectively.
Looking at the API reference you'll see the APIs support all the operations you'd expect in a VM-management tool. By default there is no authentication so all you need is finding the target (which you can fingerprint by hitting the /version endpoint) - unless, of course, the admin has enabled some other kind of protection. The simplest way to do so is to use Docker's tlsverify feature, and everyone should do that. However, given the process does not work on OsX, guess how many programmer's laptops you are going to pop?
You'll get back an ID for your container. Now, start the container: note that in my experiment I was able to make these "Binds" only work once, the first time a container is started.
Now you have a running container where the /tmp directory maps back to the / of the host. You have to login to the container to go wild on the host, but since you don't have direct access to said poor host, you need to have SSHd running on your container. The default Ubuntu image won't have SSHd up, so you'll have to use a different image (consider baseimage-docker) or tweak around with the cmd - this very last part is left as an exercise for the reader... or scream at me enough in the comments and I'll come up with something. Alternatively, you could be able to use the copy endpoint (documentation of the copy endpoint) but I've not experimented with that.
As I said at the beginning of the post, this writeup is mostly a time saver for those dealing with Docker during a penetration test. However, there is something that I don't like in the way Docker has gone about designing these APIs: the lack of any default auth entirely.
There are of course various reasons why you would ship such a critical feature with no authentication to be seen: time to market, the fact that after all it is disabled by default, or more likely the will to attain segregation of duties. Designing a secure authentication system is complicated, error prone and difficult, and ultimately not the role of an API. Delegating it is a better idea than botching it, so that it is clear where things go wrong.
I beg to disagree, and I'd have expected better from a company that produced such a well thought discussion on the security issues with running SSH on a container. I'm going to argue that there is a huge gap between having a clearly horrible authentication system and nothing at all. The sad truth, as anyone who has done any pentest in his career will tell, is that the vast majority of the end users will run with whatever was shipped out of the box. Security people cheered when Oracle started to require users to set passwords during installation instead of setting default ones (ok ok, that's a long story), and the experience of the Internet Census tells us how easy it is to forget to change that password, or to setup that auth.
Of course, security minded admins will set up things correctly and invest all the time needed to configure a secure environment. But what about the others? Was it so difficult to require a Basic Auth-powered password at startup?
Friction (as in, anything that makes your product harder to use) is bad, but pwned users are worse.
Bonus: Here is a simple nmap probe for the Docker APIs.
# Queries Docker APIs for the /version url containing version information.
| 2019-04-23T00:13:49 |
http://blog.nibblesec.org/2014/09/?widgetType=BlogArchive&widgetId=BlogArchive2&action=toggle&dir=open&toggle=MONTHLY-1280646000000&toggleopen=MONTHLY-1409554800000
|
0.995055 |
Agile is currently a buzzword and my company also strives to be Agile. This means managers push for agility, change processes, and celebrate the achievements. As an engineer, I know everything is a tradeoff. I wonder what the cost of optimizing for Agile is?
Agile is usually depicted as the opposite of Waterfall. To describe the difference with an extreme analogy: Waterfall is inspired by factories, where lots of specialized machines produce something with peak efficiency at an incredible throughput. Agile is inspired by a workshop, where a single craftsman with lots of tools can produce anything with low latency. The downside of the factory is that producing something different takes a lot of time to rebuild the machines: High latency. The downside of the workshop is that production is inefficient, because most tools are never used and overpowered for the job. Also, there is only a single craftsman, so there is only one thing produced at a time: Low throughput.
So now we understand that there is a continuum between agility and efficiency. Obviously, this is not about good or bad. Not about modern and old-fashioned. In the terms of the project management triangle, one optimizes for the schedule while the other optimizes for cost. The actual question is how to find the balance which is right for you. Software development is often an uncertain endeavor thus programmers tend to favor agility.
How do you become more agile (at the cost of efficiency)? Projects should be done by small teams. Instead of adding more people, empower the few with better tools and services. Instead of working on processes, improve the quality gates.
As a corollary, this results in guidelines for your process: If your team creates a product or tool (internal or external) use something like Scrum to establish a rhythm with your customers so they don't disturb development all the time. In contrast, if you provide a service or infrastructure use a process like Kanban which optimizes for latency because your users optimize for latency. If your team does not fit either, reorganize. Maybe your team only develops part of a product, because someone considers the whole too complex for a single team? Invest in better tools instead. You fight complexity by abstraction (which usually costs efficiency).
How to you become more efficient (at the cost of agility)? Add more expert specialists. Improve your processes and split tasks into smaller pieces so it is easier to become an expert specialist. Good processes also help to parallelize the work to increase throughput.
| 2019-04-18T11:02:35 |
http://beza1e1.tuxen.de/cost_of_agile.html
|
0.999918 |
Will your proposed swimming pool be completely in-ground?
This is to determine if a building consent is required for the barrier around the pool.
What will be the maximum capacity of the proposed swimming pool?
You will need to apply for a resource consent for 'Adding a new swimming pool'.
According to the information you have provided, your swimming pool will not require a resource consent.
You will need to apply for a building consent for 'Adding a new swimming pool'.
any product (other than an ordinary home bath) that is designed or modified to be used for swimming, wading, paddling, or bathing.
Note: This tool doesn't apply to artificial lakes and infinity edge pools.
| 2019-04-26T07:40:18 |
https://onlineservices.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/councilonline/yform/decisiontool?productCode=DECISION_SWIMMING_POOL
|
0.997696 |
Is Energy Independence a Myth?
CNN on the myth of energy independence, The New York Times on the new carbon milestone, The Washington Post on how the World Bank can mitigate climate change, Treehugger on how young people flock to public transportation, and Scientific American on the produce industry's safety strategy.
CNN on the myth of energy independence Bryan Walsh interviews energy analyst Michael Levi about what "energy independence" means in the real world "Is energy independence anything more than just a slogan?" Walsh asks. Levi answers: "It is rarely more than a slogan. People use the phrase energy independence as shorthand for producing as much oil as you consume. That's reasonable, but you need to be careful not to read into that something much bigger, that we will actually be independent of events overseas." Levin continues: "We're not going to have a world where the Sierra Club and Exxon sing 'Kumbaya' together. But ultimately both sides can get more from an approach that capitalizes on developments across the board than in just trying to beat the other side down."
The New York Times on the new carbon milestone "The level of the most important heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere, carbon dioxide, has passed a long-feared milestone, scientists reported on Friday, reaching a concentration not seen on the earth for millions of years," says Justin Gillis. The magic number? "Scientific monitors reported that the gas had reached an average daily level that surpassed 400 parts per million — just an odometer moment in one sense, but also a sobering reminder that decades of efforts to bring human-produced emissions under control are faltering. The best available evidence suggests the amount of the gas in the air has not been this high for at least three million years, before humans evolved, and scientists believe the rise portends large changes in the climate and the level of the sea."
The Washington Post on how the World Bank can mitigate climate change Howard Schneider offers several strategies for the World Bank, which distributes loans to the developing world in hopes of igniting development there, could respond to climat change, including support for hydroelectric plants. But the bank's president and vice president, Jim Yong Kim and Rachel Kyte, have recently focused on agriculture: "Kim and Kyte talk about farming and plant genomics as among their most promising areas of focus. Both say they are optimistic that technological breakthroughs could produce major benefits. No-till farming, for example, keeps carbon buried in the soil that would otherwise be churned into the atmosphere during planting. In addition, scientists are working on plant strains that fix more nitrogen into the soil, and have a larger root structure that keeps more carbon underground."
Treehugger on how young people flock to public transportation "Once again, another survey shows that the 'drive 'till you qualify' approach to buying a home no longer appeals," writes Lloyd Alter, who reports on a recent Canadian survey of young people's preference for public transportation, which found public transit was the second most important factor in choosing where to live. Alter: "When I asked my wife about her opinions about why quiet streets and good neighbours were so much less important to younger, first-time buyers, she said 'that's because they're first-time buyers.' She has a point. But nobody can dispute that access to public transit and a short commute is a lot more important to first-time buyers, generally younger people, than it is to the national average. Interestingly, the bigger the city and the worse the commute, (look at Toronto and Vancouver numbers) the more important it is."
Scientific American on the produce industry's safety strategy Erin Brodwin considers the unintended consequences of a set of safety standards instituted by a cohort of California produce growers. "Clean greens are healthy greens. Or so thought a coalition of farmers, growers and processers in California when, in response to a deadly spinach outbreak of the bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli), they created a new set of bacteria-minimizing standards for growing and handling leafy greens," Brodwin begins. "Although the standards were designed to eliminate potential sources of contamination by mandating that crop sites be cleared of vegetation and kept a certain distance from wildlife and natural bodies of water, they have had some unintended consequences—namely, the destruction of habitats, the degradation of soil and the pollution of rivers and streams."
| 2019-04-19T10:20:42 |
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/05/energy-independence-myth/315308/
|
0.998691 |
Objective: To move the ball quickly to the back side of the field and pass the ball to a cutting midfielder.
- 1, 2 and 3 represent the attack.
6 starts with the ball.
- 2 cuts midway up the box.
- 1 rotates to player 2’s position.
- 3 replaces player 1’s position.
- Player 6 draws the defense and passes to player 2.
- 1 passes to player 3.
- 4 picks on player 5’s defense.
- 5 cuts back to the open wing.
- 6 cuts to the crease.
- 5 is able, shoots to the goal.
- 5 passes the ball to player 6.
- 6 shot to the goal.
| 2019-04-20T09:13:17 |
https://www.laxplaybook.com/2-2-2-x
|
0.99993 |
1. It prepares a mixture of petrol and air in correct proportions.
2. It maintains a small reserve of petrol in the float chamber at constant head.
3. It atomizes and vapourizes the fuel.
4. It supplies a fine spray of petrol.
5. It produces a homogeneous mixture.
6. It measures and supplies the proper quantity and proportions of air and fuel under all conditions of engine operations such as temperature, speed and load.
The carburetors can be classified according to the following considerations.
1. According to the direction of flow.
b. Metering pin type carburetor.
| 2019-04-24T12:42:43 |
https://learnmech.com/types-of-carburetor-functions-of-carburetor/
|
0.999915 |
Is Apex Legends available on console? After a detailed leak and simultaneous reveal and launch , Apex Legends drew one million unique players in under eight hours . As you may expect that will include new legends, new weapons, and new loot to help in the fight.
Senate Rebukes Trump on Syria Policy Hours Before State of the Union North Korea has repeatedly urged a lifting of punishing USA -led sanctions, a formal end to the war, and security guarantees . Officially, Iraq says there are no U.S. bases on its soil - only instructors deployed at Iraqi bases.
T-Mobile and Sprint have been making the case for their merger, which needs federal approval, for months.
T-Mobile US has hired the former FCC commissioner Mignon Clyburn as an adviser in its ongoing attempt to secure regulatory approval for its planned merger with Sprint. The hearing is set for February 13, and both Legere and Sprint Chairman Marcelo Claure have agreed to testify. The company also thinks that all wireless consumers would be better off after the merger as AT&T and Verizon would most likely reduce prices also to remain competitive.
The head of T-Mobile sent a letter to the FCC earlier this week, saying they will not raise prices for customers for at least three years if the deal is approved. To this, T-Mobile rebuts that if it did jack its prices up, its customers would lose faith in the company, loyal customers would leave, and it would destroy the future of the carrier. The FCC and the Department of Justice are among the agencies that must approve the deal.
The newspaper added that Nintendo has already discussed the release with suppliers and game developers. Mario series stretches all the way back to 1990, when the original game hit the NES and Game Boy.
Critics of the merger have alleged that the merged entity, New T-Mobile, would take advantage of its stronger position and hike rates. It also might have to raise the prices of third party services whose costs are not controlled by T-Mobile. "Today's news makes clear that T-Mobile knows that its merger is in trouble".
The 4Competition group includes some telecom unions like the Communications Workers of America, which fear job losses from the merger, as well as more direct rivals like Dish Network (dish) and Cspire. This foundation is Sprint's effort to help one million high school students to get connected by giving them mobile devices like smartphones, mobile hotspots, and tablets along with free Sprint mobile service for up to four years in high school.
In the latest discussions, the T-Mobile/Sprint merger is said to complete its course as soon as the current quarter ending on March 31. Sprint's (s) stock price, up 16% over the past year, was unchanged.
| 2019-04-22T13:04:39 |
http://thefootballexaminer.com/2019/02/07/mobile-vows-not-to-raise-prices-if-sprint-merger-approved/
|
0.999985 |
What is the Catholic Church's position on vaccines?
Church supports vaccinations, but warns against unethical development.
Vaccines, a cornerstone of modern medicine, are being regarded with skepticism by a growing segment of the population. There are fears that vaccines are unsafe, ineffective, and are being pushed by the government and pharmaceutical industry for reasons of profit and social control. Given the nature of this debate, the Church's position should be explained.
Vaccines are a cornerstone of public health. People should be vaccinated out of concern for the public good, but ultimately the decision remains up to the individual, which is critical in a free society.
LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) - Vaccines work, and they are safe and effective. They remain a cornerstone of public health. The Church supports vaccinations. These points must be made clear from the start.
However, there are caveats that cause millions of people to think twice before vaccinating. Doubts over safety and motive deserve both a fair hearing and evaluation. And there are ethical concerns over how some vaccines are derived. Historically, the cells from aborted children have been used in the development of some older vaccines. Finally, there is the issue of freedom, and the right of parents to choose what is best for their children.
First, it should be noted that vaccinations have changed the world substantially, helping hundreds of millions, possibly billions of people to survive in the present age. Without vaccinations, at least hundreds of millions of people would not be adults today.
Diseases kill. Historically, disease has been the greatest killer of all humanity. Consider the Spanish Flu pandemic which killed about 100 million people or 5 percent of the world's population between 1917 and 1920. That is more than five times the number of people killed in World War I (20 million killed in the war).
Doctors warn more diseases will evolve and emerge in the many years to come, and vaccines will be essential to preventing future illness.
Sanitation alone does not explain the well being of people, and vaccinations administered in areas where sanitation is poor still escape the diseases they would otherwise suffer. SImply put, vaccines work as advertised.
However, a growing body of disinformation, rare, but publicised vaccine injuries, and scandals such as a counterfeit rabies vaccine in China are undermining public confidence. There also remains the question of how some vaccines are developed.
-The combined vaccine MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) against rubella, mumps and measles, marketed under the name of M-M-R II (Merck, US), R.O.R., Trimovax (Sanofi Pasteur, Fr.), and Priorix (GlaxoSmithKline UK).
-One vaccine against smallpox, AC AM 1000, prepared by Acambis using MRC-5, still on trial.
This list is courtesy of the Pontifical Academy for Life, and the document "Moral Reflections of Vaccines Prepared from Cell Derived from Aborted Human Foetuses."
Or as the NCBC states, "One is morally free to use the vaccine regardless of its historical association with abortion. The reason is that the risk to public health, if one chooses not to vaccinate, outweighs the legitimate concern about the origins of the vaccine. This is especially important for parents, who have a moral obligation to protect the life and health of their children and those around them."
In other words, the Church understands that it is not the parents' fault for being put in a position to choose between vaccines and support of a product derived from evil. Instead, the Church recognizes that the existing lines of treatment are well-removed from the initial misdeed and at this point, parents cannot be faulted for protecting their children from these diseases by using these vaccines.
However, the Church suggests parents ask for alternative vaccines to those listed above, and that they use those alternatives when possible. Additionally, the Church recommends that parents protest these vaccines in a reasonable fashion so as to encourage the ethical development of alternatives.
Putting parents into this dilemma is an injustice. Nonetheless, in this case, the lives of their children outweigh the legitimate moral concern for how these vaccines are developed.
As for the final issue, which is should parents be allowed to choose whether or not to vaccinate their children, the Church has no stated position. Many countries require vaccination. In places that do not require vaccination, and have poor medical infrastructure, vaccination is mandated by nature. It is common for parents to trek long distances to have their children vaccinated because they intimately understand the risk diseases pose.
However, in parts of the industrialized, western world, and in the United States in particular, public health and herd immunity remain strong enough to allow millions of people to remain unvaccinated without much danger. Cases of unvaccinated children becoming critically ill are still very rare, but they do happen.
Experts fear this good luck will not hold. As more people opt out of vaccinations, herd immunity will be compromised, especially in communities that have low rates of vaccination. Still, freedom outweighs, and the choice to vaccinate or not remains firmly in the hands of the parents.
the needs of these individuals.
Consider what Dr. Paul Braaton of the Catholic Medical Association has to say about vaccines and the common good: "I also want to clarify that nobody at the Catholic Medical Association is against vaccines. We think that vaccination is a moral good, that it's good for patients, and that it has benefited society greatly. We have a responsibility as moral agents to protect the common good and to immunize ourselves and our children against communicable disease."
Finally, much of the information against vaccination is misinformation. Vaccines are not as profitable as curing symptoms of disease, so it does not make economic sense to vaccinate, yet the practice is widespread, which is a victory for pro-life ethics. Vaccines are highly regulated. Injuries can happen but are extremely rare. Many alleged, widely publicized cases of vaccine injury are not related to vaccines, but instead are anecdotes suspect to faulty perception. In some cases, misinformation is spread by quacks selling "alternative" treatments or health programs.
In summary, the Church supports vaccinations and has found that the risk of not vaccinating a person outweighs concerns over how some vaccines were once developed. People should ask for alternatives when possible, and they should protest unethical development practices. People should consider the needs of those who cannot be vaccinated when making their decision whether or not to vaccinate, but the decision is firmly theirs. People must understand they accept a level of moral liability for the health of those around them by choosing not to vaccinate.
| 2019-04-19T06:24:51 |
https://www.catholic.org/news/health/story.php?id=77999
|
0.999964 |
The amount of working capital a small business needs to run smoothly depends largely on the type of business, its operating cycle and the business owners' goals for future growth. However, while very large businesses can get by with negative working capital because of their ability to raise funds quickly, small businesses should maintain positive working capital figures.
Working capital refers to the difference between a company's current assets and its current liabilities. Current assets are the things a business owns that can be turned into cash within the next 12 months, while current liabilities are the costs and expenses the business incurs within the same period. Common current assets include checking and savings accounts; marketable securities such as stocks and bonds; inventory; and accounts receivable. Current liabilities include the cost of materials and supplies that need to be purchased to produce goods for sale, payments on short-term debt, rent, utilities, interest and tax payments.
A company's working capital is a reflection of its operational efficiency and budget management. If a business has more current liabilities than assets, its working capital is negative, meaning it may have difficulty meeting its financial obligations. A company with a very high working capital figure, conversely, is easily able to pay all its expenses with ample funding left over. Whether a given business requires high working capital is determined by three key factors: business type, operating cycle and management goals.
Certain types of businesses require higher working capital than others. Businesses that have physical inventory, for example, often require considerable amounts of working capital to run smoothly. This can include both retail and wholesale businesses, as well as manufacturers. Manufacturers must continuously purchase raw materials to produce inventory in-house, while retailers and wholesalers must purchase pre-made inventory for sale to distributors or consumers.
In addition, many businesses are seasonal in nature, meaning they require extremely high working capital during certain parts of the year as they ramp up for the high season. Leading up to the winter holidays, for example, retail businesses such as department stores and grocery stores must increase inventories and staffing to accommodate the expected influx of customers.
Businesses that provide intangible products or services, such as consultants or online software providers, generally require much lower working capital. Businesses that have matured and are no longer looking to grow rapidly also have reduced need for working capital.
Ideally, a business is able to pay its short-term debts with revenue from sales. However, the length of a company's operating cycle can make this impossible. Companies that take a long time to create and sell a product need more working capital to ensure financial obligations incurred in the interim can be met. Similarly, companies that bill customers for goods or services already rendered rather than requiring payment up front need higher working capital in case collection on accounts receivable cannot be made in a timely manner.
The specific goals of the business owners is another important factor that determines the amount of working capital required by a small business. If the small business is relatively new and looking to expand, a higher level of working capital is needed relative to that required by a small business looking to stay small. This is particularly true for businesses looking to expand product lines to venture into new markets as the costs of research and development, design and market research can be considerable.
| 2019-04-22T07:01:27 |
https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/102915/how-much-working-capital-does-small-business-need.asp
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0.999807 |
The novel takes place in February 1983. Clarice Starling, a young FBI trainee, being asked to carry out an errand by Jack Crawford, the head of the FBI division that draws up psychological profiles of serial killers. Starling is asked to present a questionnaire to brilliant forensic psychiatrist and cannibalistic sociopath, Hannibal Lecter. Lecter is serving nine consecutive life sentences in a Maryland mental institution for a series of brutal murders.
It is also revealed that Jack Crawford is hunting for a serial killer dubbed "Buffalo Bill", whose modus operandi involves kidnapping overweight women, starving them for about a week, and then killing and skinning them, before dumping the bodies in nearby rivers. The nickname was started by Kansas City Homicide, as a joke that "he likes to skin his humps." Throughout the investigation, Starling periodically returns to Lecter in search of information, and the two form a strange relationship in which he offers her cryptic clues in return for information about her unhappy childhood as an orphan.
When Bills sixth victim is found in West Virginia, Starling helps Crawford perform the autopsy. Starling finds a moth pupa in the throat of the victim, and just as Lecter predicted, she has been scalped. Diamond-shaped patches of skin have also been taken from her shoulders. Furthermore, autopsy reports indicate that Bill killed her within four days of her capture, much faster than his earlier victims. On the basis of Lecters prediction, Starling believes that he knows who Buffalo Bill really is. She also asks why she was sent to fish for information on Buffalo Bill without being told she was doing so; Crawford explains that if she had had an agenda, Lecter would never have spoken up.
Starling takes the pupa to the Smithsonian, where it is eventually identified as the Deaths-head Hawkmoth, which would not naturally occur where the victim was found.
In Tennessee, Catherine Baker Martin, the daughter of Senator Ruth Martin, is kidnapped. Within six hours, her blouse is found on the roadside, slit up the back: Buffalo Bills calling card. Crawford is advised that no less than the President of the United States has expressed "intense interest" in the case, and that a successful rescue is preferable. Crawford estimates they have three days before Catherine is killed.
After Starling leaves, Lecter reminisces on the past, recalling a conversation with Benjamin Raspail, a former patient whom he later murdered. Raspail, during that therapy session, explained the death of a sailor named Klaus at the hands of Raspails jealous former lover, Jame Gumb, who then used Klauss skin to make an apron. Raspail also revealed that Gumb had an epiphany upon watching a moth hatch. Lecters pleasant ruminations are interrupted when Dr. Frederick Chilton - the asylums administrator and Lecters nemesis - steps in. A listening device allowed him to record Starlings conversation, and Chilton has found out that Crawfords deal is a lie. He offers one of his own: If Lecter reveals Buffalo Bills identity, he will indeed get a transfer to another asylum, but only if Chilton gets credit for getting the information from him. Lecter insists that hell only give the information to Senator Martin in person, in Tennessee. Chilton agrees. Unknown to Chilton, Lecter has previously hidden under his tongue a paperclip and some parts of a pen, both of which were mistakenly given to him by untrained orderlies during his stay at the asylum. He fashions the pen pieces and paperclip into an improvised lockpick, which he later uses to pick his handcuff locks.
In Tennessee, Lecter toys with Senator Martin briefly, enjoying the womans anguish, but eventually gives her some information about Buffalo Bill: his name is William "Billy" Rubin, and he has suffered from elephant ivory anthrax, a knifemakers disease. He also provides an accurate physical description. The information is a red herring: bilirubin is a pigment in bile and a chief coloring agent in human feces, which the forensic lab compares to the color of Chiltons hair.
Starling tries one last time to get information from Lecter as he is about to be transferred. He offers a final clue - "we covet what we see everyday" - and demands to hear her worst memory. Starling reveals that, after her fathers death, she was sent to live with a cousin on a ranch that raised lambs and fattened unwanted horses for slaughter. One night, she was woken up by the sound of the screaming lambs and fled on a partially-blind pony. Starling and the pony were both sent to live in a Lutheran orphanage, where she spent the rest of her childhood. Lecter thanks her, and the two share a brief moment of connection before Chilton shooes her out of the room. Later on, she deduces from Lecters clue that Buffalo Bill knew his first victim.
Shortly after this, Lecter escapes by killing and eviscerating his guards, using one of their faces as a mask to fool paramedics. Starling continues her search for Buffalo Bill, eventually tracking him down and killing him and rescuing Catherine. She is made a full-fledged FBI agent, and receives a congratulatory telegram from Lecter, who hopes for her that "the lambs have stopped screaming".
1.Ed Gein, a Wisconsin man who robbed graves and murdered women in order to flay their bodies and make clothing out of them. Gein was also the inspiration for Norman Bates in the Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho and Leatherface in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
2.Ted Bundy, who killed dozens of women in the 1970s, often luring victims by pretending he was injured with a cast on his arm, a technique Gumb used to lure Catherine Martin into his van. Similar to Lecter, Bundy also offered to help investigators find other serial murderers by "giving insights" into their psychology while he was in death row, specifically about the Green River Killer.
3.Gary M. Heidnik, who held women captive in a deep hole in his basement.
4.Edmund Kemper, whose first victims were his grandparents, much like Buffalo Bill.
5.Albert Fish, a child molester and cannibal, also referred to as The Brooklyn Vampire. He travels to various places in America, such as Brooklyn, and molests, tortures, kills, and sometimes eats children.
The novel was a great success. Craig Brown of The Mail on Sunday wrote, "No thriller writer is better attuned than Thomas Harris to the rhythms of suspense. No horror writer is more adept at making the stomach churn". The Independent wrote, "Utterly gripping", and Amazon.com wrote, "driving suspense, compelling characters,...a well-executed thriller..." Childrens novelist Roald Dahl also greatly enjoyed the novel, describing it as "subtle, horrific and splendid, the best book I have read in a long time."
1.The novel won the 1988 Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel.
2.It was nominated for the 1989 World Fantasy Award.
| 2019-04-21T04:27:50 |
http://www.manabadi.co.in/Articles/ArticleDetailed.aspx?ArtId=1121
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0.999999 |
Because really, who needed a "Sesame Street" character to grab all the post-debate attention when there was Joe Biden's smile-- or laugh, chuckle, grimace, grin, smirk, or "goofy face," according to various descriptions?
Whether you loved or hated his performance -- a decision that seemed to split (surprise!) along partisan lines -- it was Biden who dominated the conversation during and after Thursday's vice-presidential debate, with his animated facial reactions to almost anything his opponent, Paul Ryan, uttered.
The vice president also came up with the two catchiest phrases of the night -- "bunch of malarkey" and "bunch of stuff" -- both of them employed (and tweeted, and retweeted) to paint his Republican opponent as untruthful.
That, said Jamieson, would simply depend on one's allegiance. "The Republicans are trying to advance the argument that Biden was behaving in an unhinged fashion," she said. The Democrats, of course, thought it was great.
Another expert in the field thinks that even if some viewers were offended by the smiling, for lack of a better word, it helped Biden control the agenda.
"I think it was part of an overall strategy to keep Ryan off stride," said Jerry Shuster, who teaches political communication at the University of Pittsburgh. "He really couldn't ever finish a thought."
Jamieson echoed that: "Whenever you're paying attention to the person reacting, it draws attention from the person talking," she said.
In any case, it seemed to be just what President Barack Obama needed from his running mate.
"If I were the president's doctor I would say, `This is just what I ordered,"' Shuster said.
While many found Biden's grins infectious, some found them immature.
"That mugging, those condescending looks -- it was a complete turnoff," said body language expert Lillian Glass, author of the upcoming "Body Language Advantage." "He was bullying, he was smug, he interrupted ... I think he lost a lot of his message based on facial gestures."
Biden may have been deemed the winner by many, but "from a body language point of view, he did not win this debate," she said.
Even though he's much less experienced than Biden, experts agreed that it was a first good outing for Ryan.
"He passed the threshold of being an acceptable vice president -- through his command of foreign policy, which is a difficult threshold since he's a domestic policy wonk," said Jamieson.
"He was more gentlemanly," said Glass, in Los Angeles. "He looked at the vice president, and didn't ever mug, or make a face."
ABC's Martha Raddatz got much praise for her smart and swift moderating -- with some people tweeting that SHE was the evening's winner.
A noted exception: Fox News host Sean Hannity, who tweeted, "Martha Raddatz is the worst moderator ever." He and some others believed she was too quick to cut off Ryan and to let Biden talk over him.
In any case, her performance was seen by most as a clear contrast to PBS' Jim Lehrer's in last week's debate between Obama and Mitt Romney.
Skillful moderator or not, this debate was much more substantial than the Obama-Romney face-off because the two men answered each other and really engaged in a give-and-take.
"Both candidates were effective in rebuttal," said Jamieson. "But especially Biden controlled the agenda by rebutting EVERYTHING -- both in words and in gestures."
In the Webster's New World Dictionary, "malarkey" means "insincere, meaningless or deliberately misleading talk." In the vice-presidential debate, it meant a separate hashtag on Twitter and lots of attention for Biden's folksy style.
"With all due respect, that's a bunch of malarkey," he told Ryan.
He did what Democrats wished Obama had done last week with Romney: Call out the opponent when you think he's being untruthful.
Biden also told Ryan: "This is a bunch of stuff," referring to the congressman's criticism of Obama's treatment of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Shuster, the University of Pittsburgh professor, liked the phrase, but thought Biden really wanted to say something, er, stronger.
At 69, Biden was debating a man 27 years his junior. That was not lost on many in the Twitterverse, who sent various tweets referring to Ryan's tender age of 42.
But nowhere was Biden's consciousness of the age gap clearer than when Ryan mentioned President John F. Kennedy as an example of a president who made certain cuts before.
"Oh, now you're Jack Kennedy!" Biden quipped -- perhaps eager to channel Sen. Lloyd Bentsen and his famous "You're no Jack Kennedy" quip to then opponent Dan Quayle.
"I knew that was coming because of the age difference," says Shuster. "I even told my students in class today to expect it."
| 2019-04-21T02:13:24 |
https://abc13.com/archive/8844600/
|
0.998659 |
Satyavrat Chaturvedi, a senior Congress leader, said joining hands with Mayawati would damage the party's prospects in the long run as the BSP would be able to consolidate the Dalit votes in other states too.
By IANS, [RxPG] New Delhi, May 11 - The Congress party Friday congratulated Bahujan Samaj Party - leader Mayawati for her victorious showing in the Uttar Pradesh elections.
'We congratulate Mayawati for spreading the 'mayajal' and defeating the Samajwadi Party,' Congress spokesperson and Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal said.
Mayawati is set to be the next chief minister of Uttar Pradesh as the 50 million votes cast in the staggered assembly elections were counted Friday.
Sibal, convenor of the Congress campaign in Uttar Pradesh, said his party too had contributed to the BSP victory.
'I think Mayawati should thank us because all the benefits of our campaign against - Mulayam Singh have gone to Mayawati,' he said.
Although the Congress did not make any major gains, Sibal said the party's main aim was to defeat the Samajwadi Party.
'First of all we wanted to throw out Mulayam Singh's government. Secondly we wanted to expose the Bharatiya Janata Party -. We have succeeded in both,' Sibal said.
The Congress seems divided over lending support to Mayawati. One section holds the view that the Congress should be a part of a BSP government while others feel such a move would hurt the Congress prospects in the long run.
But the state leaders argued that the party would not be able to remain afloat in the state without power for too long. 'We will sit and talk about it,' Sibal said.
| 2019-04-20T08:40:32 |
http://www.rxpgnews.com/politics/Congress-congratulates-Mayawati_27445.shtml
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0.997091 |
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| 2019-04-22T22:15:45 |
http://www.klsecuritysystem.com/notes-on-argumentative-essay-help-in-an-easy-to-follow-order/
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0.999946 |
— House lawmakers mark up bills related to offshore drilling today as Interior deals with the fallout of a court ruling that blocked the president's executive order to open up drilling in parts of the Arctic and Atlantic.
— Cabinet officials and one 2020 Democratic presidential contender are on the Hill today, in what's shaping up to be a jam-packed day spanning the president's budget request to how states are tackling climate change.
— The Senate failed to advance test votes Monday on two competing packages to deliver billions in disaster aid to communities hit by hurricanes, wildfires and catastrophic flooding.
OFFSHORE, ON TOPIC: The Trump administration might have to rework its still-unreleased five-year offshore leasing plan after Friday's decision that upheld an Obama-era ban on drilling in some Arctic and Atlantic Ocean areas. While the administration is expected to appeal the decision, the issue is unlikely to be settled unless Congress steps in or until it reaches the Supreme Court, which could take years — a timetable that effectively takes the Arctic waters off the oil industry's radar, Pro's Ben Lefebvre reports.
Interior's offshore plan could still include analysis of the costs and benefits of offering those areas for oil and gas production, said Randall Luthi, president of National Ocean Industries Association, but the industry is certainly not expecting congressional Democrats to step in and place the Alaska and Atlantic regions back into consideration.
Case in point:The House Natural Resources Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee will markup three bills this morning aimed at protecting coastal communities against offshore drilling. One of the bills, H.R. 1941 (116), from South Carolina Rep. Joe Cunningham (D) would permanently bar drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.
Another bill, H.R. 205 (116), from Florida Rep. Francis Rooney (R) would amend the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 to permanently extend the moratorium on leasing in certain areas of the Gulf of Mexico.
Senate Energy Chairman Lisa Murkowski told POLITICO she will seek answers from Interior about when it plans to release the five-year offshore drilling plan, after acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said last week the department was in "the very beginning" stages of preparation. "I'm curious to know what the schedule is now," Murkowski said of Interior's leasing plans, especially in light of last week's court decision.
But she said her questions would not delay the committee's vote on Bernhardt's nomination to lead Interior, which is scheduled for this Thursday, Pro's Anthony Adragna reports.
BUDGET BONANZA: EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler will make the pitchfor President Donald Trump's steep budget cuts for EPA in fiscal 2020 this morning before the House Appropriations Interior-Environment Subcommittee. Trump's budget request calls for a 31 percent cut to EPA's budget over current enacted funding levels.
— He's not alone: Energy Secretary Rick Perry will testify on his own department's budget in the Senate today. Trump seeks to cut the DOE budget by 11 percent, and calls for eliminating ARPA-E and shrinking the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office, which will likely receive some bipartisan pushback.
Murkowski, who questioned Perry last week during an appropriations hearing, highlighted both of those issues, as well as the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, which the panel will likely discuss today.
Related: The Carbon Capture Coalition called on House and Senate appropriators in letters sent Monday to boost funding for the DOE Office of Fossil Energy's carbon capture and carbon storage programs at a $10 million increase over the 2019 enacted level.
DISASTER AID HITS SENATE SNAG: Senators failed to advance a disaster aid package Monday that would deliver at least $13 billion in disaster aid to communities across the U.S., after Trump jumped into the discussion to say too much federal cash was flowing to Puerto Rico.
Senators voted 44-49, rejecting a Republican proposal, and 46-48, shooting down a Democrat-led version of a bill the House passed in January, POLITICO's Jennifer Scholtes and Marianne LeVine report. The failure of both proposals came just a few hours after the president demanded on Twitter that Senate Democrats support the GOP plan crafted by Georgia Republican Sen. David Perdue.
What next? It's not clear what Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will decide to do now with the stalled bill, but negotiations are expected to continue behind the scenes as lawmakers work to strike a compromise that would send billions of dollars in relief to many of their states.
INSLEE TO CONGRESS: TIME TO ACT ON CLIMATE: Democratic presidential candidate and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee will urge Congress to take action on climate in testimony today before an Energy and Commerce Committee panel. Inslee has put climate change at the forefront of his campaign, and the state he runs is among the most aggressive in trying to cut its emissions.
In his testimony, Inslee praises his state's investments in wind energy and bills working their way through the state legislature that will squeeze more carbon out of its economy. But he will save his toughest words for the administration. "Unfortunately, at the federal level, this administration isn't just failing to act — they are lighting the match and setting the fire," his prepared remarks say. The Environment and Climate Change subcommittee will also hear from the mayors of Columbia, S.C., Salt Lake City, Utah, Carmel, Ind., Beaver County, Pa., and Midland, Texas.
STANDARD PRACTICE: New Mexico Sen. Tom Udall is working on an updated national renewable electricity standard bill that he believes could garner Republican support, Anthony reports. "It's going to be updated based on everything everybody's been looking at and how things have changed over time," Udall told reporters.
The senator in 2015 introduced legislation, S. 1264 (114), that would have required power producers to get 30 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030. Udall is aiming for May to introduce the bill, an aide told ME.
DEMS CALL FOR NRC-FUKUSHIMA DOCS: Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Democrats Tom Carper and Sheldon Whitehouse sent a letter to Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Kristine Svinicki on Monday requesting documents related to the NRC's January move to hold off on new requirements for flooding and seismic hazards after studying the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.
"We are concerned that changes from the proposal, issued in 2015, unnecessarily backtracks from critical safety requirements to protect our nuclear reactors against the flooding and seismic hazards that they face today and in the future," the senators wrote, ahead of an EPW oversight hearing today, where Svinicki and other NRC commissioners will testify.
FOR YOUR RADAR: The E&C Committee on Wednesday will mark up H.R. 9 (116), House Democrats' bill to bring the U.S. back into the Paris climate agreement. House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis Chairwoman Kathy Castor last week called the legislation the party's "first order of business." The full committee markup is set for 9:30 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.
ON THE MOVE: The president officially sent Daniel Jorjani's nomination to become solicitor of the Interior Department to the Senate, the White House said Monday. Jorjani has been the acting solicitor since May 2017, and previously worked at Interior in several roles during most of the George W. Bush administration.
PG&E COULD SAVE BY REJECTING RENEWABLES CONTACTS: Pacific Gas & Electric could save $1.4 billion by rejecting its above-market electricity contracts, according to analysis published Monday by Moody's Investors Service. The utility is currently in bankruptcy protection, while clean-energy generators, supported by federal regulators, are fighting to keep their power purchase agreements intact, Pro California's Colby Bermel reports.
Moody's senior analyst Clifford Kim wrote that the above-market PPA rejections could create $1.4 billion in headroom that PG&E could instead spend on wildfire claims, prevention measures and other future expenses.
HERE'S THE BEEF: In case you missed it, POLITICO Magazine's Michael Grunwald looked at how the U.S. meat industry is handling the global warming debate amid discussions of a Green New Deal. "Meat producers don't want their products to be viewed like fossil fuels — useful but dirty," Michael writes. "And beef producers don't want to follow the path of coal, which is hemorrhaging market share because it’s the dirtiest fossil fuel." Read more.
— The House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis added Aaron Huertas as its communications director, it announced Monday. Huertas most recently served as the strategic communications director for grass-roots Democratic group Swing Left, and previously worked for the Union of Concerned Scientists.
— "Rockefeller to wind down biggest private climate resilience push," Bloomberg.
— "Dem to offer bill to expand electric vehicle tax credit," The Hill.
— "Hickenlooper defends his disapproval of Green New Deal by touting record on climate change," CNN.
— "Shell new energies director on investing in clean energy: 'It's about survival,'" GreenTech Media.
— "Saudi Aramco is world's most profitable company, beating Apple by far," The New York Times.
| 2019-04-20T20:33:20 |
https://www.chrisphudson.com/blog/politics-offshore
|
0.999997 |
How do I make all sound inputs equal?
When I switch from cable to xbox or another input, the sound levels aren't equal. So I maybe have to turn the sound way up for one device and when I go to the other device, it is blasting. Shouldn't the tv recognize when I turn down (or up) one input source that I don't necessarily want to affect another one?
Am I missing something? I haven't found anyplace to adjust those levels. (nothing on the tv and nothing in the cable box, for instance.
| 2019-04-18T18:16:41 |
https://www.lgwebos.com/topic/3319-how-do-i-make-all-sound-inputs-equal/
|
0.998864 |
Can an Appellant request to reopen prosecution if the examiner’s answer does not have a rejection that is designated as a new ground of rejection?
No, an appellant cannot request to reopen prosecution if the examiner’s answer does not have a rejection that is designated as a new ground of rejection.
This question and answer comes from section 1207.03(b) of the MPEP. The following is a brief summary of section 1207.03(b).
This section covers the petition to designate a new ground of rejection and to reopen prosecution. 37 CFR 41.40 sets forth the exclusive procedure for an appellant to request review of the primary examiner’s failure to designate a rejection as a new ground of rejection via a petition to the Director under 37 CFR 1.181.
This procedure should be used if an appellant feels an answer includes a new ground of rejection that has not been designated as such and wishes to reopen prosecution so that new amendments or evidence may be submitted in response to the rejection.
What are the two criteria for subject matter eligibility?
First, the claimed invention must be in one of the four statutory categories. 35 U.S.C. 101 defines the four categories of invention that Congress deemed to be the appropriate subject matter of a patent: processes, machines, manufactures and compositions of matter.
Second, the claimed invention also must qualify as patent-eligible subject matter, i.e., the claim must not be directed to a judicial exception unless the claim as a whole includes additional limitations amounting to significantly more than the exception. The judicial exceptions (also called “judicially recognized exceptions” or simply “exceptions”) are subject matter that the courts have found to be outside of, or exceptions to, the four statutory categories of invention, and are limited to abstract ideas, laws of nature and natural phenomena (including products of nature).
This question and answer comes from section 2106 of the MPEP. The following is a brief summary of section 2106.
This section discusses the two criteria for subject matter eligibility which are; that the claimed invention must be in one of the four statutory categories and that the claimed invention must also qualify as patent-eligible subject matter. It also covers details of the broadest reasonable interpretation (BRI) including that the BRI of the claim must be established prior to examining a claim for eligibility. Lastly, there is a summary of the patent subject matter eligibility analysis and a flowchart outlining the steps.
Can maintenance fees be paid in cash?
Maintenance fees may not be paid in cash.
Name two ways a patent may be corrected or amended.
This question and answer comes from section 1401 of the MPEP. The following is a brief summary of section 1401.
The provisions of 35 U.S.C. 251 which discusses the reissue of defective patents, permit the reissue of a patent in order to correct an error in the patent made without any deceptive intention and provide the criteria for the reissue patent.
What does the broadest reasonable interpretation (BRI) do?
The BRI sets the boundaries of the coverage sought by the claim and will influence whether the claim seeks to cover subject matter that is beyond the four statutory categories or encompasses subject matter that falls within the exceptions.
https://www.patenteducationseries.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/mpep-podcast-art-800.jpg 800 800 Lisa Parmley https://www.patenteducationseries.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/logo-centric-bw.png Lisa Parmley2018-09-04 07:46:542018-08-25 07:34:20MPEP Q & A 154: What Does the Broadest Reasonable Interpretation (BRI) Do?
When will a practitioner be responsible for another practitioner’s violation of the USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct?
The practitioner is a partner or has comparable managerial authority in the law firm in which the other practitioner practices, or has direct supervisory authority over the other practitioner, and knows of the conduct at a time when its consequences can be avoided or mitigated but fails to take reasonable remedial action.
This question and answer comes from the following supplement: Changes to Representation of Others Before the USPTO Final Rules. It specifically comes from 37 C.F.R. 11.501 which covers responsibilities of partners, managers, and supervisory practitioners.
https://www.patenteducationseries.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/mpep-podcast-art-800.jpg 800 800 Lisa Parmley https://www.patenteducationseries.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/logo-centric-bw.png Lisa Parmley2018-08-21 08:00:002018-07-10 16:44:48MPEP Q & A 153: When Will a Practitioner be Responsible for Another Practitioner's Violation of the USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct?
An attorney of record may have to submit information in reply to an Office action, a reissue application, or a reexamination proceeding. List 2 different types of information this may include.
The publication date of an undated document mentioned by the applicant which may qualify as a prior art publication.
Comments on a new decision by the Federal Circuit that is relevant to the examination of the application.
This question and answer comes from section 704.11 of the MPEP. The following is a brief summary of section 704.11.
This section discusses what information may be required in a requirement for information.
| 2019-04-24T22:50:11 |
https://www.patenteducationseries.com/mpep-q-a-podcast/page/2
|
0.999976 |
Mokuren Dojo: Kitoryu - dead art or not?
Some years back, Our teacher hosted Tsunako Miyake sensei, and one of the things she said she wanted to teach during that visit was Koshiki no Kata. "What's that" was most everyone's response. Of course, there were some of us that knew that Koshiki existed, but nobody really knew what it had to do with anything. Well, it turns out that Koshiki no kata has more to do with what we do than anyone understood.
During that visit, Ms. Miyake penned a calligraphy (on her keikogi! which she gifted to one of the dojos!) that interestingly said (approximately), "Daitoryu aikido + Kitoryu (as seen in Koshiki no kata) = Tomiki aikido).
Koshiki is the main surviving remnant of the Kitoryu school of Aiki-jujutsu - preserved in the Kodokan Judo curriculum. Kitoryu gave rise to Kodokan judo, and was also influential in the development of aikido. Morihei Ueshiba studied Kito for some time, and Professor Shishida even suggests that Ueshiba's aikido may have been largely developed as a counter to judo (that is, using the Kito and Daito that Ueshiba knew to bust the Kito and Tenjin that Kano's students knew).
It is easy to find Daito folks if you're willing to travel, but trying to find someone with a certificate in Kitoryu is so nearly impossible that we'd figured/guessed that it was a dead art (except what is preserved in judo as Koshiki no Kata).
I got to talk to him about Kito a few weeks ago. He said that he doesn't like to teach Kito/Koshiki because it is so rough and violent that it borders on abusive to the students - and that matches what we knew of Koshiki no kata - Everyone that went to Ms. Miyake's Koshiki clinic talked about being beat up and sore as hell for a while. My Kito source also said that Koshiki was not all of Kito - that there were auxiliary arts and other kata, including horseback techniques - and that checks against what we know of the other Koryu - they were typically very diverse schools.
Anyway, It looks like I'll be able to pay another visit soon, and perhaps hear some more fascinating history and maybe see some documents. I would love to work on Koshiki no kata (and whatever else he wants to play) with this man!
| 2019-04-26T04:15:43 |
http://www.mokurendojo.com/2013/06/kitoryu-dead-art-or-not.html
|
0.999872 |
Determine the type of chemical bond that occurs in a chemical compound.
Differentiate between ionic and covalent bond models.
Identify the chemical formulas of common chemical compounds.
Employ a table of polyvalent cations and polyatomic ions to name and describe the chemical formula of ionic compounds.
Convert percent composition information into the empirical or molecular formula of a compound.
Apply information about the molar mass, number of moles, and molar volume to the number of particles of the substance.
Balance an equation for a chemical reaction.
Chembalancer - a little online game to teach balancing equations - You type numbers in front of each molecule until there are the same number of atoms on both sides of the equation, then click the 'Balanced' button.
Classify a chemical reaction as composition, decomposition, single replacement, double replacement, and combustion.
Use activity series or solubility product table information to predict the products of a chemical reaction.
Predict the products of a neutralization reaction involving inorganic acids and bases.
Interpret a chemical equation to determine molar ratios.
Convert between the following quantities of a substance: mass, number of moles, number of particles, and molar volume at STP.
Solve different types of stoichiometry problems (e.g., volume at STP to mass, moles to mass, molarity).
Determine the amount of expected product in an experiment and calculate percent yield.
Calculate the amount of heat lost or gained by a substance based on its mass, change in temperature, and specific heat during physical and chemical processes.
Research applications of thermal changes in nuclear reactions.
Identify a substance as an acid or base according to its formula.
Investigate the acidity/basicity of substances with various indicators.
Write the nuclear equation involving alpha or beta particles based on the mass number of the parent isotope and complete symbols for alpha or beta emissions.
Determine the half-life of an isotope by examining a graph or with an appropriate equation.
Write a balanced nuclear equation to compare nuclear fusion and fission.
Describe the benefits and hazards of nuclear energy.
Analyze ionic and covalent compounds in terms of how they form, names, chemical formulas, percent composition, and molar masses.
Identify the reactants, products, and types of different chemical reactions: composition, decomposition, double replacement, single replacement, combustion.
Predict the products of a chemical reaction.
Balance a chemical equation to determine molar ratios.
Convert among the following quantities of a substance: mass, number of moles, number of particles, molar volume at STP.
Identify and solve stoichiometry problems: volume at STP to mass, moles to mass, and molarity.
Classify substances as acids or bases based on their formulas and how they react with various indicators.
Describe radioactive decay through a balanced nuclear equation and through an analysis of the half-life concept.
Compare and contrast nuclear fission and fusion.
Relate the laws of conservation of mass/energy to thermal changes that occur during physical, chemical or nuclear processes.
| 2019-04-24T07:51:11 |
https://www.internet4classrooms.com/high_school/chemistry_I_interactions_of_matter.htm
|
0.999996 |
Raised bed on a slope - Is it possible?
Hi all, new member who will probably have lots of questions and hopes you all will be patient with me as I pick up a somewhat new hobby and would like to do it "right" at my new home.
I recently moved to a new home and my wife and I are looking to add a vegetable garden for next year. We both have our sights set on the area behind our garage but this has a slope to it. My first thought for handling this was by using retaining walls. Then, I thought why not raised beds? Seeing as I have never built a raised bed, I was wondering if I could get some help reviewing my idea.
The area is basically about 10 feet wide and 20 feet long (level measure) with the slope climbing about 4 feet along that 20 foot length. The only special consideration is that my water supply and a dryer vent are tucked into the corner between the house and garage.
Through reading up on raised beds, I understand that we want to aim for about 3-4 feet wide and 6-24 inches high (though suggestions for height seem to vary a bit) in a raised bed. These are the assumptions I'm working under as I come up with two possible designs.
1) The first design has the beds running lengthways down the slope, creating a grid of 4 beds. Each bed would be about 7.5 feet long and 3 feet wide. I'd have room for walking paths 2 feet wide by the house and between the beds and 3 feet wide by the garage. At the top, the beds would be 6 inches high. At the bottom, they would be 24 inches high.
2) I could also turn the beds so they run lengthways along the side of the slope. I'd be down to 3 beds, each bed would be 7 feet long and 3 feet wide, allowing for walking paths 3 feet wide along the house and between the beds, with a 5 foot wide path along the garage. With only 3 feet of length going down the slope, I could be more flexible with my height and have less variation.
The first design would give me more planting space but I'm a bit worried about not having much room to walk between the beds. The second gives me less planting space but still far more than I've ever had before for vegetable gardening and more room to walk between the beds. With either design, I may make one of the beds a bit smaller to allow room for a hose reel and possibly a compost bin in the corner where my water supply and dryer vent are. I'm not sure if this would be necessary, though, with the second design as I'd have 5 feet along the garage already.
I hope this all makes sense. If I could offer the sketches I have on the paper next to me, I would.
I'm thinking of using cedar 4x4 posts on each corner and mid-way through the length of the beds to anchor 2x6 cedar boards for the sides of the beds. I would then probably buy a truck load of soil to fill the beds, then be ready to start my vegetable garden.
The question I have is, before I spend time working through the details of this plan and begin buying supplies, does either of these sound like a good plan? I'm asking those with experience with the hopes that you can help me resolve any potential problems while it's still not a lot of work to do so. Are the assumptions on size/height of the beds I'm using correct? Would the paths between the beds be too narrow or unnecessarily wide? Are there any changes to these plans that you would make? Or should I scrap both of these plans and start over with a new one?
Any thoughts you can offer on this would be greatly appreciated.
Just think about how your going to work the beds and reach. Think ergonomics and try not to have to bend over too much down hill. Other than saying that it looks as if your on the right track.
seems like your beds will need to be sort of like retaining walls, ie taller on the down slope side. You want your raised bed surface relatively flat. Too much slope = too much water drains off too fast and it's hard to keep your soil moist enough.
First, you could take photos of your sketches and then post them here for us to see. Directions for posting photos are here.
(1) Which way does the slope face? Mine faces SW at about 5~10º. That, coupled with the fact that I did NOT want to dig into the slope led me to build my raised beds following/hugging the slope. They are positioned with long length down the slope. Uprights contoured to the slope are plumb but the long sides are not level as they hug the slope.
(2) Water runs down the slope. My neighbor on the other side of the property line complained that when I water heavily, the water pools on his side of the property. To help circumvent this, I added a 24" bed at the end of each path (my raised beds look kind of like the letter E now). Now, what happens is that water pools at the bottom of my paths.
#2 has a couple of ramifications. If you build your beds parallel to the contour of the slope, the water will pool on one side of the path against the length of the bed. Sequestering the water this way would be a good thing if you tend to have drought conditions as I do -- I think if I were to do it again, I might re-design my raised beds this way -- but if you tend to get over-abundance of rain, then ALL your beds might get too soggy.
For next year, I'm going to build up the beds at the bottom of the paths into taller squares boxes (my paths are 24" wide) to help handle the excess moisture. Although the honeydew melon did very well, and tomatoes managed OK, carrots were drowned and bush beans didn't do so well.
Also, I have very clay subsoil. No-till, sheet-mulched, raised bed on the slope sheds the water and prevents any heavy-soil problems.
Thanks all for the great tips.
Tomf, good point about ergonomics. That might actually argue for beds that run parallel to the contour of the slope so, while keeping the tops of the beds level, they are all at a more comfortable height.
Rainbowgardener, this is along the line I'm thinking of. I was actually originally thinking of building two retaining walls for this area and planting the vegetable garden on a tiered garden but I thought raised beds might work better. I'm definitely looking to do something to lessen, if not eliminate, the slope in the areas where planting will be done.
Applestar, lots of great tips in there. The slope faces north, which I originally thought would be a major issue for a vegetable garden. However, three doors down from my home is a vegetable garden completely blocked from the south, with a garage to the southeast and a two story house to the southwest. They are gardening in a raised bed (on level ground) and the garden is doing great.
Fortunately, on the downhill side from my home is a hay field so some drainage to that won't be a problem. However, our long term plans call for a patio directly below this garden so I'll definitely keep drainage in mind and this would again argue in favor of beds running parallel to the contour of the slope.
Our watering situation varies by season. Spring is usually wet before we typically get a dry July and wet August, leading to a semi-dry fall. At my old home, we had a few tomato plants and would almost never water. Soil is definitely a clay/rock mix. Whenever I dig, it seems like more rock than clay.
Again, thanks all for the tips. Things I would never have thought of until too late.
I also have raised beds on a slope. My hillside drops about a foot every 4 feet. So with the beds running across the slope I have one side that is 1 foot higher than the other, which we just dug it down a bit deeper to fit the timbers in. But the upper timber is at ground level and the lower timbers all show.
We tend to have a mixed bag of a season. In early spring, it rains constantly. But, you hit July and August and drought is fairly common.
We double dug the beds, and after removing the tree roots, and sifting out the larger rocks, when all the dirt was returned it was a sunken bed. I picked up several pick up loads of rabbit manure, and hay, and pulled the dirt out again, layered it back in there, and had a decent raised bed. They were not particularly fertile... I think my hubby and son, added so much manure that they were almost toxic. So, I started adding bags of potting soil, and just waited a year. The next spring, I started out with sunken beds... again! So, I amended them with leaves, manure (not the truck loads this time, just my barn manure divided up amongst all 9 beds) But, I didn't get all the beds amended back to being raised... some were still sunken below the edges of the timbers!
It ended up that was okay, I planted potatoes in one sunken bed, and covered them with hay and leaves, and they gave me a bumper crop that was easy to harvest.
And the sunken beds, didn't dry out when drought time came, the clay in the surrounding soil, thought my beds were ponds and held the water in for me... worked great.
So, I now try to raise a couple beds, use some sunken and fill with mulch as the plants grow. And some, I just let stay sunken and plan on those guys getting me through the drought, when the raised guys just can't stay wet enough.
Does anyone else use "sunken" raised beds, with timbers on a slope?
The timbers do help keep the amendments in place, until the organic content breaks down, and is in place to keep the mulch where I want it, but soil seldom touches the timbers on the lower side.
| 2019-04-25T01:16:19 |
https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=91&t=19011
|
0.999957 |
Taking advantage of copyright exemptions? Is that a good thing to do because it affirms the very existence of those exemptions and their legal basis -- or is it a bad thing to do because it deflects money away from the pockets of those who have at least a moral claim to receive it? To add fuel to discussion of this topic, here's a wee postie from North of the Border, from a former guest Kat -- Kate Manning, now of Curated Media.
Oh, the choppy waters of copyright law! While piracy is far from reaching low tide, its buccaneering on the high seas has ebbed to a certain degree and the Good Ship Rights Holders is now following a new lodestar, headed straight for safe harbours under EU law – where network service providers and user-generated sites drop anchor to limit their liability for the copyright infringement of their users.
But enough of the nautical metaphor. Self-proclaimed ‘voice of the recording industry worldwide’, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), is loud and clear: “user upload platforms, such as SoundCloud and YouTube, are taking advantage of exemptions from copyright laws that simply should not apply to them”, and have used their position to negotiate unfair licensing terms.
“Although some user-upload services are now licensed by rights holders, those licenses were not negotiated in a fair environment because rights holders’ content was already available on the services on a mass scale and the measures available to prevent this – i.e. notice and take down and Content ID – are easily circumvented and ineffective in preventing all content being available”. The result is a “value gap” – “artists and record producers are not being paid fairly for the use of their music”.
IFPI has diplomatically stated that it’s looking for legislative clarification of the safe harbour exemptions. But what it seems to mean by clarification is a restriction of the law, so that safe harbours will only be available to passive intermediaries – with the effect that any service that “curates and monetises content” or is “active in distributing content”, would have to “license on fair market terms in the same way that services such as Deezer and Spotify do”.
This is tricky. Would placing user-generated sites within the same bracket as digital subscription services really be an effective method of controlling the use of copyright works? Would artists, authors and other creators of works really benefit and get the compensation they feel they deserve? Is the idea even relevant? The subscription service market is relatively new, and user-generated sites and the authors of copyright works are becoming wise to it, setting up their own in competition to established giants (e.g. the launch of Jay Z’s Tidal earlier this year and the impending launch of YouTube’s Music Key).
What do IPKat readers think?
At copyright protection foundation BREIN we represent makers as well as publishers, producers and distributors (of music, film, books and games). We have a seen all kinds of sites/services fostering user shared or user uploaded content for further distribution and profiting from it without sharing it with makers and right holders. All try to apply for limited liability as providers of hosting, access or caching. Do makers benefit if such sites need licensing? They most certainly do not if no license is needed. Then their work is used for free and proceeds are pocketed by the site-owners. If there is a concern that makers are not getting a fair share, there are other mechanisms to create a level playing field instead of denying them their copyright to their work.
| 2019-04-21T08:47:43 |
http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2015/08/user-upload-platform-lubbers-beware.html
|
0.714867 |
Cardiff: Dawid Malan became England's top-scoring Twenty20 international debutant as they beat South Africa by 19 runs at Cardiff on Sunday to seal a 2-1 series win despite resting regular skipper Eoin Morgan.
Malan, playing in place of fellow Middlesex left-hander Morgan, made 78 in a total of 181 of eight after England were sent into bat by South Africa captain AB de Villiers.
South Africa then collapsed to 86 for five, with leg-spinner Mason Crane taking the prize scalp of de Villiers (35) for his first wicket at this level.
They rarely threatened England's total, despite some big-hitting late on from Mangaliso Mosehle (36) and Andile Phehlukwayo (27 not out).
The Proteas' fate was effectively sealed when Tom Curran, in just his second match at this level, conceded just seven runs off the penultimate over on his way to two for 22.
Man-of-the-match Malan's impressive 44-ball innings featuring 12 fours and two sixes, surpassed the 46 made by Paul Collingwood in England's very first match at this level — a 100-run win over Australia at Southampton in 2005.
"It was awesome. I definitely wasn't expecting that," Malan told Sky Sports at the innings break.
"It's always nice to contribute and get a score under your belt.
"My legs were shaking first ball so I got the old school leave out, then I tried to do what I do best."
Alex Hales and Malan shared a second-wicket stand of 105 in 10.3 overs.
But from 166 for three, England lost their next five wickets for 14 runs.
Dane Paterson, who was twice on a hat-trick, led South Africa's attack with four for 32.
Jason Roy, dropped on nought, fell for eight when caught behind trying to ramp fast bowler Morne Morkel.
His exit brought in Malan.
Born in London but brought up in South Africa, Malan got off the mark in style by pulling Morris for six over midwicket.
Meanwhile Hales suffered a painful blow on eight when he bottom edged a pull off paceman Paterson onto an unprotected knee.
Hales should have been out on 10 when he mistimed a drive off Morris only for Phehlukwayo to make a complete hash of a routine catch, with England 49 for one in the seventh over.
Meanwhile Malan kept the runs coming, the 29-year-old driving fast bowler Morkel straight back over his head for a six that soared out of the ground and into the River Taff.
But he also showed touch as well as power in flipping leg-spinner Imran Tahir over short fine leg for a four that saw him to fifty.
The stand was broken when Hales (36) holed out to deep midwicket where David Miller took a good catch and Malan fell soon afterwards caught at long-on off Tahir.
England's innings then petered out as Paterson helped himself to some cheap wicket.
Durban-born paceman Curran, carrying on from where he left off on debut in a three-run defeat at Taunton on Friday, dismissed Reeza Hendricks for a duck.
De Villiers, in his last match of the tour — he is not staying on for the Test leg as he takes a break from the demands of playing all three international formats — looked in good touch as he twice hoisted Crane for legside sixes in the 11th over.
But the last ball of that over saw him fail to get enough height and the tall Hales take a well-judged catch on the boundary edge.
And when the dangerous Miller was caught behind down the legside by stand-in captain Jos Buttler off Jordan, the Proteas were 86 for five in the 12th over.
| 2019-04-24T18:30:34 |
https://www.firstpost.com/sports/england-vs-south-africa-dawid-malan-stars-on-debut-as-hosts-beat-proteas-by-19-runs-to-win-t20i-series-3745143.html
|
0.999987 |
What's at stake? The biggest risk for Apple in the DOJ trial isn't money; it's oversight into the company's other operations. The Justice Department isn't asking for monetary damages but wants Apple to admit wrongdoing and change its procedures to make sure that wrongdoing doesn't happen again. The publishers already have ended their pacts with Apple as part of their settlements, but Apple could pursue similar deals in its other businesses, such as music and TV. If the antitrust case sets a precedent that Apple's business dealings are illegal, it could have a sort of chilling effect on its other operations.
Gold iPhone XS Max vs, other gold iPhones, Xiaomi’s brilliant sliding-camera phone keeps the screen notch-free, This smart oven cooks with the power of light, iphone 4 cases otterbox You can do better than this LG Smart Display, Razer Blade Stealth sneaks in an end-of-year update, Sonos Amp is wireless streaming for grown-ups, Nanoleaf Canvas decorates your smart home in living color, Best cheap phones to try now, Inside a studio photoshoot of a luxury $25,000 watch, 3 Mac apps to get you organized, 7 ways smart home devices can help you sleep better..
CNET también está disponible en español. Don't show this again. A mobile partnership Google has formed with LG Electronics encompasses more than search and messaging. Under the deal, which is expected to eventually extend into the "digitalized home," according to a joint statement from the companies, LG handsets will be marketed as . Select cell phones, in addition to a one-click Google search tool, will come installed with mobile versions of Google Maps, Gmail and Blogger. Blogger Mobile will include the ability to upload and download images, as well as text.
In contrast, SD cards today can handle 22MB per second, and the current controller interface can handle 66MB per second, And manufacturers can ramp up capacities far faster than with optical formats, In addition, obtaining the higher transfer rate with an optical drive requires spinning the disc faster, which results in a noisier mechanism, I bet a camcorder microphone is bound to pick that up, Plus, SD is more durable and easier to work with, especially in the iphone 4 cases otterbox field, and I believe it's cheaper to implement an SD solution than an optical-based one..
We call it a "healthy paranoia." In terms of "do we ever feel like we're like Microsoft?" Not really, other than the market cap is big, but we're a very different company than them. The market we compete in--the worldwide communications market--is about $350 billion annually. If we perform really well, we?ll do $18 billion or a little over $18 billion in revenue this year. So that's a very small piece relative to the big pie. But at the same time, when you basically control 81 percent of the router market, how do you address particular concerns, for example, antitrust concerns or the Justice Department saying "Wait a minute. Let's take a closer look at this?" Well, we really don't have too many concerns from an antitrust perspective. The networking business and the communications business are based on standard protocols, which means our devices talk to other devices via a standard communications language. And if one day our products don't work as well as our competitors, we can get thrown out of there. So in that context, we live in a much more dynamic environment. And if you look at what start-ups have done in terms of market capitalization over the last two years, that just tells you how quickly this market moves and how competitive it really is.
| 2019-04-26T12:06:25 |
https://www.dermatologyacademy.it/iphone-4-cases-otterbox-en-d10318.html
|
0.999999 |
I got this book for my brother Chris, a lover of diving and travel humor, for Christmas after a friend recommended it on Facebook. Having not read it and purchased it for title and cover alone, I decided to read a bit of it myself to make sure that it wasn’t a completely crappy Xmas present. No up-front intention of trying to tie it to natural security.
Try as I might to escape thinking about work, it turned out that To Hellholes and Back: Bribes, Lies, and the Art of Extreme Tourism by writer and editor Chuck Thompson had a few relevant passages.
The premise of this book is that he travels to the four places on Earth he is most afraid to travel: the Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Mexico City and Walt Disney World.
Thompson (sometimes directly and sometimes indirectly) drives home just how poor governance is in the DRC, though he describes this, war and corruption as almost systemic characteristics divorced of agency. This is travel writing, so there’s likely no reason to fully delve into exploring the causes of the country’s conditions, however I would bet a few dollars that any political science-y attempt to do so would do no better at fully satisfying curiosity as to why things are as they are.
Pretty sad on its face, though as Thompson travels through India he realizes that with all the terrible conditions he finds, all is not totally hopeless. This reminded me of a conversation I had about a year and a half ago with two officials from Pakistan’s water and power ministry. One was deeply concerned about environmental issues, and particularly decreasing levels of drinkable fresh water. I asked about India’s increasing demands on shared river systems and the prospect of it dwindling Pakistan’s resources, and the second official replied with a shrug: “We’ve had water problems for hundreds of years, and we’ll keep having them for hundreds more.” He wasn’t too concerned at that time. In thinking through which natural resources issues have the potential to become security concerns specifically for the United States, it’s good to be reminded that most people in this world are acclimated to pretty harsh conditions – not a revelation obviously, but we do forget to contextualize too often in thinking through U.S. policy options. In this sense, Thompson’s book offers a valuable reality check that’s important for security analysis of any kind.
Overall, even if not for natural security reasons, I highly recommend giving this book a read. And if anyone is still wondering from the first paragraph: yes, my parents named their children Chris and Christine.
Photo courtesy of Holt Paperbacks.
| 2019-04-23T03:53:18 |
https://www.cnas.org/publications/blog/book-review-to-hellholes-and-back
|
0.984284 |
Is Rajinikanth Getting Ready To Underwrite The BJP Expedition In Tamil Nadu?
Rajini now has a concrete possibility with minimal risk.
Tamil superstar Rajinikanth's possible entry into politics has been the longest running trailer of an imaginary blockbuster in Tamil Nadu. Unveiled in 1995, it's been running for 22 years, teasing the public imagination every now and then without delivering on the original promise, however cryptic it had been.
He's at it again, repeating almost all the lines he had said more than two decades ago, yet not clearly spelling out if he is really close to taking the plunge. Every time he appeared tantalisingly close to entering politics, he would make it absolutely obscure, but not without some obvious hints that his options were open. On Monday, when he spoke to his fans, after a long gap of nearly ten years, he yet again said the same things that he had been saying all along, but with an added element - that if he ever got into politics, he wouldn't allow people who want to make money anywhere near him.
To some political observers and fans, this extra clause is an indication that he is ready now. The question before them is if he would join hands with an existing political party or start his own.
Unsurprisingly, this too is a 22 year old question and had been answered. In a rare interview on Doordarshan in 1995, he had said that he would never join a political outfit, and if it came to that, he would set up his own party. On Monday, however, he didn't go that far.
Although there's nothing new in Rajini's new political teaser, its context gives it a new meaning. Unlike in the past, particularly in 1996 when he directly took on a hugely unpopular J. Jayalalithaa who was seeking a second term as the chief minister, there's a huge leadership vacuum in Tamil Nadu. With Jayalalithaa gone and her rancorous rival M Karunanidhi of DMK practically out of active politics, the battlefield in the state suddenly looks empty. The DMK's new patriarch MK Stalin is a formidable leader indeed, but not as big as Karunanidhi, that too without a matching opponent.
This is a new opportunity that never existed for the past quarter-century during which the actor periodically made politically loaded statements — called punchlines in Tamil movie parlance — both on and off screen. The closest he was to any political possibility was in 1996 with those famous words that "even gods can't save Tamil Nadu if Jayalalithaa came back to power".
He was much younger, slowing down in his movie career which was otherwise prolific, and the entire state was behind him. Still, he didn't take the plunge possibly because of two reasons: one, he was uncertain or risk-averse as he is even now; and two, the field was still dominated by Jaya and Karunanidhi. His critics, however, would say that he was never serious and was using politics to promote his movies.
With both Jaya and Karunanidhi absent, Rajini now has a concrete possibility with minimal risk. If he's really serious, this is the time to make the decision. But will he?
"Only god can decide what I will do next, I am just an instrument in his hands; but if I do come to politics I will not entertain bad people."
Unfortunately, it's the same old cryptic reply: "Only god can decide what I will do next, I am just an instrument in his hands; but if I do come to politics I will not entertain bad people," which means, he may or may not get into politics.
However, reviving contact with his fans and even spending a few days with them after a very long time, and his open proximity to the national leadership of the BJP do offer some substance to interpret. He is probably taking stock of the strength of his fanbase as a statewide socio-political infrastructure, that once helped dislodge Jayalalithaa, and making it battle-ready. In his speech, he did refer to the strength of his supporters.
The most excited is the Sangh camp. RSS ideologue S Gurumurthy found an instant connect with what the actor said. "I think Rajini is making well thought out statements. It evokes memories of a time when, as newly elected Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, had hit out at corruption and said 'Na khaoonga, na khaane doonga (Won't take bribes, won't let anyone else take bribes)," Gurumurthy told News18. BJP state president Tamilisai Soundararajan said that she welcomed his advice "to the youngsters not to drink or smoke and his remarks to keep out money-minded persons."
As in the past, it's still a story of ifs and buts. If Rajini indeeds gets into politics, will he play solo or be a catalyst for the BJP?
Another leader and Union minister of state Pon Radhakrishnan also expressed happiness that "his friend and superstar has emerged as a guiding force for his fans."
As in the past, it's still a story of ifs and buts. If Rajini indeeds gets into politics, will he play solo or be a catalyst for the BJP? Going by his extremely cautious nature, his chances of playing alone are remote because, as many movie stars across India have learned the hard way, politics is tough and requires tremendous hard work and resources, particularly if one has to set up a new party and sustain it. NT Rama Rao (NTR) may have done it in Andhra Pradesh in 1982 under similar circumstances of a leadership vacuum, but he was remarkably tireless after his sudden plunge. Does Rajini really have it in him to emulate somebody like NTR?
Does Rajini really have it in him to emulate somebody like NTR?
A better and safer option — the one that suits the actor's political and personal temperament that's been in public display for two decades — is to be a convenient fellow-traveller. If he indeed chooses this option, it cannot be for anybody else but the BJP because it's the only national winner around. In 1995, he did show some proximity to the then Prime Minister Narasimha Rao and even mentioned that a meeting he had with him was not just out of courtesy, but had "some political significance"; but he soon distanced himself from the Congress as it began to lose grip.
With the BJP, he has been more consistent as it kept gaining strength, and its leaders, particularly at then national level, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have been very fond of him.
The BJP desperately wants to get a foothold in Tamil Nadu and the actor is their only short cut. On his part, Rajini has taken the first step by reconnecting with his fanbase and rekindling the dormant public interest. It's likely that the BJP would call on the allure of not only Rajini, but also Jaya. Rajini has already expressed his regret of opposing her in 1996 by terming it as a political accident and the BJP is covertly backing the AIADMK faction led by O Panneerselvam that claims to be the true legacy-holder of Jaya. If all goes well, it will be a BJP plus Jaya-legacy backed by Rajini.
| 2019-04-21T20:45:51 |
https://www.huffingtonpost.in/2017/05/16/is-rajinikanth-getting-ready-to-underwrite-the-bjp-expedition-in_a_22092995/?utm_hp_ref=in-j-jayalalithaa
|
0.998918 |
What's the history behind the French leader's Fort de Bregancon?
Perched 35 metres above sea level on a small island off the French Mediterranean coast, Fort de Bregancon has been the official retreat of the president of France since 1968.
But the history of Fort de Bregancon stretches back centuries - with the site even attracting the attention of Napoleon Bonaparte.
According to the president's official website, Napoleon became interested in the fort shortly after taking nearby Toulon during the French Revolution in 1793.
Making it his mission to repair and improve it, he endowed it with an imposing artillery.
It remained a military fortress throughout the First World War, and was occupied by a small garrison, before being decommissioned in 1919.
By the 1960s, the fort had fallen into disrepair - but was resurrected and restored to its former glory by a former French senator.
It passed to the state's possession in 1963, and was visited by Charles de Gaulle the following year when he presided over the 20th anniversary of the Allied landings in Provence.
According to reports, de Gaulle was not a fan of the fort and left after a single night.
Since then, the spectacular hideaway has been visited by every French president as a private escape from the demands of the day job.
It is not immune to the prying eyes of the paparazzi however, with former presidents Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande all snapped at the fort.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that current president Macron had ordered a swimming pool to be built in the grounds.
The fort is said to be accessible by just one road, and comes with its own beach.
| 2019-04-24T21:04:47 |
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/fb-6022969/Whats-history-French-leaders-Fort-Bregancon.html
|
0.999024 |
A forty-year-old motorcyclist was admitted to the ITU following a road traffic accident involving a stationary vehicle. She sustained a fractured right distal radius and multiple left sided rib fractures, involving ribs 2 to 9, with a free floating flail segment. She developed respiratory distress due to underlying lung contusions and a haemopneumothorax and was treated with two left sided intercostal drains, endotracheal intubation and invasive ventilation. She developed ARDS with bilateral infiltrates and PF ratio of <200mmHg, with normal cardiac function on transthoracic echocardiography. She was tracheostomised on day 12, and had a protracted ventilatory wean further complicated by a ventilator associated pneumonia. She was enterally fed during this period but began to develop an ileus and gut dysmotility, resistant to prokinetic treatment, leading to large volume gastric aspirates. She became visibly malnourished and was commenced temporarily on parenteral nutrition and IV glutamine. The ileus resolved over the following week and weaning recommenced, having ceased due to diaphragmatic splinting. She eventually weaned from the ventilator and was discharged from the ITU on day 40. She was profoundly weak due to a critical illness acquired weakness.
What is the role of glutamine supplementation in critical illness?
Glutamine is a non-essential amino acid that becomes essential in times of physiological stress. Skeletal muscle is the major producer of glutamine and part of the profound catabolic depletion of skeletal muscle seen in critical illness is a reflection of the need to produce glutamine.
Glutamine is utilized in rapidly dividing cells in the splanchnic area. Quantitatively most glutamine is oxidized, but the availability of glutamine in surplus is important for synthesis of nucleotides and necessary for cell division and protein synthesis.
However a recently published study contradicts these findings. (7) The investigators conducted a blinded 2-by-2 factorial trial, assigning 1223 adults in 40 intensive care units in North America, Canada, and Europe (who had multi-organ failure and were ventilated) to receive supplements of glutamine, antioxidants, both, or placebo. Supplements were started within 24 hours after admission to the ICU and were given both intravenously and enterally. Primary outcome was 28-day mortality. They found increased mortality at 28 days among patients who received glutamine as compared with those who did not receive glutamine (32.4% vs. 27.2%) adjusted odds ratio, 1.28; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.00 to 1.64; P=0.05). In-hospital mortality and mortality at 6 months were also significantly higher among those who received glutamine than those who did not. Glutamine was not shown to have an effect on rates of organ failure or infectious complications. In the other group, antioxidants had no effect on 28-day mortality.
Why might this be? It has been recognized for some time that overfeeding of ITU patients (8) may increase mortality by inducing metabolic derangement and systemic stress; as well as providing excessive nutrients for bacteria, and it may be that glutamine supplementation contributed to overfeeding. A study that measured plasma glutamine and replaced it only in deficient states might provide a different set of answers but would be difficult to undertake.
Antioxidants have also often been pointed to as potential novel treatments in sepsis and other conditions but this again has not been translated into evidential benefit. It may be that free radicals are actually useful in some disease states, assisting bacterial knock out by macrophages and priming abnormal cells for apoptosis, and suppressing them may attenuate host response to pathogens. Another theory is that the body has a perfectly good antioxidant system (involving superoxide dismutase) and supplementation has no increased benefit. The role of immuno-nutrition with trace elements such as selenium and amino acids such as glutamine may still yield useful results but the tide of opinion and evidence has yet to turn in their direction. Certainly following the study by Heyland et al. (7) it may be harder in future to start from a position of equipoise where glutamine is concerned.
1. Peng ZY, Zhou F, Wang HZ et al. The anti-oxidant effects are not the main mechanism for glutamine’s protective effects on acute kidney injury in mice. Eur J Pharmacol. 2013;705:11-19.
2. Oudemans-van Straaten HM, Bosman RJ, Treskes M, van der Spoel HJ, Zandstra DF. Plasma glutamine depletion and patient outcome in acute ICU admissions. Intensive Care Med. 2001;27:84-90.
3. Van den Berghe G. Low glutamine levels during critical illness–adaptive or maladaptive? N Engl J Med. 2013;368:1549-1550.
4. Wischmeyer PE. Glutamine: role in gut protection in critical illness. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2006;9:607-612.
5. Andrews PJ, Avenell A, Noble DW et al. Randomised trial of glutamine, selenium, or both, to supplement parenteral nutrition for critically ill patients. BMJ. 2011;342:d1542.
6. Mitchell I, Bihari D. Glutamine-enriched enteral nutrition in patients with multiple trauma. Lancet. 1998;352:1553.
7. Heyland D, Muscedere J, Wischmeyer PE et al. A randomized trial of glutamine and antioxidants in critically ill patients. N Engl J Med. 2013;368:1489-1497.
8. Wernerman J. Nutrition in the ICU–from overfeeding to starvation. Nutrition. 1997;13:914-915.
| 2019-04-18T12:16:07 |
https://icmcasesummaries.com/2015/10/02/glutamine-in-critical-illness/
|
0.999996 |
Can a pope change Catholic teaching on marriage?
When the synod of bishops that Pope Francis has called to discuss the family was meeting in Rome earlier this month, someone not particularly familiar with the Catholic faith might have presumed the answer was yes.
The synod, for example, released a midterm report with a section headed: "Positive aspects of civil unions and cohabitation."
Yet the Catholic Catechism states: "The Lord Jesus insisted on the original intention of the Creator who willed that marriage be indissoluble." The Catechism cites Chapter 10 of the Gospel of Mark as one source for this teaching.
"The Pharisees approached and asked, 'Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?' They were testing him," says the Gospel of Mark.
"In the house, the disciples again questioned him about this," the Gospel states. "He said to them, 'Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.'"
Cardinal Raymond Burke is the Prefect of the Sacred Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the highest court of the Catholic Church. In an interview conducted last Friday for CNSNews.com, I read Cardinal Burke this passage and asked him: "Was Jesus right about marriage?"
"His saving mission to restore us to communion with God the Father — that communion which had been broken by the sin of Adam and Eve — had as one of its fundamental aspects the restoration of the truth of marriage and fidelity to that truth in the life of a husband and a wife," he said.
"And so Our Lord, in His teaching, makes reference to creation itself, in other words to that order which God has placed in the world and in the human heart by which a man and a woman are attracted to one another to form a lifelong, faithful and procreative union, that Our Lord makes it very clear that this is the truth about marriage, that there is no other truth about marriage, that that is the whole truth.
"And it was so clear that the disciples questioned him about it because they were struck," said Cardinal Burke. "They said: Well, maybe it's better not to marry. And Our Lord makes it clear that God the Father gives the grace to those who are called to marriage to live this wonderful sacrament and to live this mystery which reflects in a very particular way the love within the Trinity, which is also faithful, enduring and fruitful.
"So, we see that in Our Lord's saving work that one of the most important aspects was to restore marriage to its truth," said Cardinal Burke.
I asked: "Given that it was Jesus Christ Himself who taught us what marriage is, can any priest or bishop overrule or change what Jesus declared about marriage?"
"No, absolutely not," said Cardinal Burke. "The priests and bishops are called to be faithful to the truth. Our office is to teach this truth and to assist the faithful to live it, but we can never — even under some supposed pastoral approach — either alter or deny the truth about marriage."
I asked: "Can the pope himself change the nature of marriage given what Christ said?"
"No, it's not within his power," said Cardinal Burke, "and this is very clear in the teaching of the church, that if a marriage has been validly celebrated and consummated it cannot be separated. It cannot be ended by anything except death itself."
A recording of Cardinal Burke's full interview with CNSNews.com will be posted on the CNSNews.com website on Thursday morning.
| 2019-04-24T12:44:04 |
https://www.cnsnews.com/commentary/terence-p-jeffrey/cardinal-burke-neither-bishops-nor-pope-can-change-christs-teaching
|
0.999988 |
Foal In this context, a horse is considered a foal from the day its born until January 1 of the next calendar year, regardless of when in the year the foal was born.
Filly A female horse that is younger than 5 years.
Horse A.) A member of the subspecies Equus ferus caballus.
B.) In a stricter sense within the thoroughbred industry, only a non-gelded male horse that is at least 5 years old is referred to as a horse.
| 2019-04-21T16:46:55 |
http://www.ex-jockey.com/thoroughbred-terms/
|
0.999807 |
/hak/ (Usenet) A variant spelling of hack, used only for the noun form and connoting an elegant hack.
Dr Amirul Haque, aged 33, was found not guilty of five separate charges by a jury after an 11-day trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court.
Haque, of Ladypool Road, Balsall Heath, denied five counts of assault while training in general practice at a surgery in the Dudley area.
Umar Haque made terrified boys as young as 11 watch beheading videos and act out battles between police and the terrorists he idolised.
Islamic State fanatic Umar Haque, 25, planned to use guns and a car packed with explosives to strike high-profile targets including Big Ben, the Queen's Guard and Westfield shopping centre.
Islamic State fanatic Umar Haque, 25, planned to use guns and a car packed with explosives to strike high profile targets including Big Ben, the Queen's Guard and a shopping centre.
The announcement, which confirms the Commission has been in regulatory engagement with the charity since 2017, follows the conclusion of the criminal trial today of Umar Ahmed Haque, a former religious teacher at the charity.
It was one of the discussions on national issues that would be held at the place regularly, Mr Haque said.
A disciplinary panel heard Dr Fardeen Haque incorrectly diagnosed 'Patient A' with a Baker's cyst - a swelling at the back of the knee - when she visited him in March 2013 with leg pain.
The newly formed 9th wage board for journalists started functioning Tuesday with its Chairman Justice Md Nizamul Haque holding separate meetings with Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu and State Minister Tarana Halim at their respective offices at the secretariat here, reports BSS.
Haque became "fascinated" by last year's Westminster Bridge attack, the Old Bailey was told.
Summary: Dhaka [Bangladesh], Jan 7 (ANI): Batsman Anamul Haque, who last played a One-Day International (ODI) in the 2015 World Cup, has been named in Bangladesh's ODI squad for the first two matches of tri-series at home against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.
Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Liton Das, Anamul Haque, Nazmul Islam Apu, Mominul Haque, Sadman Islam, Shakib Al Hassan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Nasir Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Mohammad Mithun, Soumya Sarkar, Mashrafe Mortaza, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmad, Shafiul Islam, Abu Haidar, Abu Jahed, Subashis Roy, Rubel Hossain, Abul Hasan, Kamrul Islam, Taijul Islam, Mehidy Hasan, Nazmul Islam Shanto, Sunzamul Islam, Ariful Haque, Mehedi Hassan, Mohammad Saifuddin.
| 2019-04-21T08:31:22 |
http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/haque
|
0.999978 |
Ingredients: 1 egg (optional), 1/2 a cup of quinoa, 1/2 a cup of peas, 1 small onion (chopped), 6 water chestnuts (chopped) or 8-10 sliced, 1/2-1 tablespoon of roasted garlic slices, 1/2 a tablespoon of toasted sesame oil, 1/2 a tablespoon of low sodium soy sauce, 6 shrimp, salt and pepper (to taste).
In a non stick sprayed pan (or wok), over medium heat brown your onions with garlic flakes. If you want to add an egg, do so at this time. Prep as you would a scrambled egg.
Once your onions are translucent throw in your shrimp.
While mixing, stir in peas and quinoa with sesame oil and soy sauce.
Continue tossing ingredients until the shrimp are cooked through.
Remove from heat and toss in a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
| 2019-04-25T06:42:54 |
https://scrumptiousbiteshappylife.wordpress.com/2014/05/05/quinoa-fried-rice/
|
0.999995 |
1. Professional Bodybuilders don't take steroids This is an absurd statement often made by professional bodybuilders themselves or by the people who think that steroids are tested for in professional bodybuilding competitions. Every single professional bodybuilder and most fitness professionals you have seen on TV use some form of steroid or pro-hormone. What does this mean for the average weightlifter? It means that you shouldn't have unrealistic expectations for yourself.
2. You need to work out more than three times a week to make progress.
A completely false statement. Working out as little as once a week can have positive benefits on your musculature and your health. People today often cannot find time to go to the gym, but even working out a few times a week will give you great results. Theoretically, you can add muscle by working out each bodypart only once a week; if you are crunched for time but you can work out every muscle in one or two workouts, then by all means do so.
3. Exercises above 15 reps are for "toning."
I cringe when I see people, especially women, in gyms lifting light weight for high amounts of reps, figuring they are toning their body. Most believe this because they just started working out and found that the their muscles had become harder by doing this. However, going from no activity to ANY sort of activity will make your muscles harder, but this does not mean they are becoming toned. In fact, the only way to truly tone your muscles, defined as having your muscles be more defined, is through diet and fat reduction. Thus, if you want to tone concentrate on your cardiovascular work and your diet, rather than high rep workouts. High rep workouts do have their place though. Think of the Navy SEALS, whose workout consists of a huge volume of pull-ups, pushups, and sit-ups. They are in extremely good shape, and "toned" wouldn't be the best way to describe their physiques.
4. Eating a big meal after a workout is best.
Weightlifters often feel that in order to maximize the benefit of their workout and load up on nutrients they should eat a massive meal. The real key to post exercise nutrition is getting valuable protein into your muscles as quickly as possible. You want the protein you eat to be quickly and effectively digested. Thus, the optimal meal would be a decent amount of high quality protein (most easily obtained through a shake) and some high glycemic index carbohydrates (meaning quickly digesting carbs like sugar; Gatorade is a great source). The sugar spikes your insulin and maximizes the uptake of protein into your muscles so that the protein can build up your muscle. Eating a larger meal with slower digesting carbohydrates and fats will only slow down the digestion and absorption of the protein and will prevent the spike of insulin. The last thing you want directly after a workout is a slow release of nutrients; you want a lot of nutrients as quickly as possible. Optimally, you would have the protein and quickly digesting carb meal directly after your workout, and then later you would have a complete meal.
5. Doing long cardio sessions is the best way to get cut.
Long cardio sessions promote catabolism. When your body is in a catabolic state, it tries to break down stored substances for energy, including muscle tissue. I don't doubt that an endurance session will help you lose fat, not only because of the catabolic effects but also because your body uses a lot of fat as energy during endurance sessions, but I can tell you that valuable muscle will also be lost. Your best option for using cardio to get cut is short, high intensity cardio, such as intervals. Intervals plus a good diet are your best options. If you absolutely must do endurance work, then you have to minimize the breakdown of muscle tissue. Do this by consuming protein before and after your workout, and, if you can, supplement with glutamine, which is well known for its anti-catabolic effects. Glutamine is a completely safe amino acid, and is a great investment for any serious weightlifter.
6. A low fat diet is the best way to get cut.
When you are attempting to lose weight and get cut, minimizing your fat intake can be very detrimental to your efforts. While excessive fat is not recommended, especially since much easily available fat is not healthy, fat is necessary for hormone production. If you are trying to lose weight and get cut you want as much testosterone and growth hormone as naturally possible in your body, which will basically make your body choose fat over muscle when it turns to internal stores of energy while you diet. Fat is absolutely necessary to maintain your hormone levels (and other bodily functions) when you stress your body with a diet. If you want reduce a macronutrient from your diet, choose carbohydrates.
7. Workouts should be at least an hour long.
If you aren't supplementing with steroids, your body is not able to handle the stresses of a workout lasting much longer than an hour. Though you may feel as if you are doing yourself a good, the reality is that you are placing too much stress on your body. Too much stress can leave you tired and overtrained, robbing you of hard earned muscle gains.
8. Sit ups are the quickest way to get great abs.
This is one of the biggest mistakes made by weightlifters and bodybuilders. Oftentimes, most of their routine is pretty good and they see decent results, but when they go to work out their abs they just do endless amounts of crunches. They do most of their work in the 8-12 rep range, but then go and do 50 sit-ups. If you want to build your abs, work them out like anything else. Do weighted sit-ups or use a machine; anything to get you into the 8-12 rep range so you can actually BUILD your abs. One more thing though, building your abs is one thing, but seeing them is another. The ONLY way to see your hard earned abs is to have a lower bodyfat percentage, meaning more diet and more cardio.
9. When your muscles burn, you are stimulating growth.
Feeling a burning sensation in your muscles and a pumped sensation are indicators of two entirely different underlying processes at work. The "burn" is due to a buildup of lactic acid, which accumulates when your muscles are undergoing endurance training at a level higher than your lactic acid threshold. Put simply, you are doing so many reps (or running so quickly, etc.) that your muscle is unable to remove a byproduct of aerobic work, lactic acid, fast enough. Feeling the burn results from high rep low weight work, and thus your muscles won't get significantly larger doing it. However, it will increase your capillary density, muscular hardness, and your overall endurance, which might be your goals in the first place. The pump is from the rush of blood into your muscle during a high intensity and short duration set. The pump is a good feeling for bodybuilders, it signifies that sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is occurring, and their muscle is growing. If you are a bodybuilder, don't completely rule out workouts that give you a burn though. An aerobic workout, or some sort of circuit training, could be a big help before a contest or some other even where you would like to get cut.
10. If you stop working out, your muscles will turn to fat.
This is one of the worst myths to plague weight training and bodybuilding. You often hear it as an excuse not to lift, not to get too big, or as some way to put down a weightlifter. The fact is that muscle cannot TURN into fat no more than a handkerchief can turn into a rabbit. Muscle and fat are two entirely different things, and cannot be converted from one to the other. This myth probably started because some former weight lifters and athletes gain weight later in life, which happens mainly because they are used to eating more in order to support their workouts, and even when they stop lifting they continue with their old eating habits. Also, their muscle atrophies, or shrinks, from disuse.
| 2019-04-22T08:31:26 |
http://bodybuildingpro.com/10bodybuildingmyths.html
|
0.999994 |
What is strabismus? Strabismus is an eye condition commonly called crossed eyes. It occurs when the eyes are not properly aligned and point in different directions. Since the two eyes cannot look at the same point at the same time, the images the two eyes send to the brain do not match. A child may, at first, register this as double vision (diplopia), but since the child's brain cannot process the two different images, it begins to ignore whichever eye has weaker vision. And when this one eye is not used over time, it may become what is called a "lazy eye" (amblyopia).
What causes strabismus? Many cases of strabismus are considered congenital - present at birth - or infantile - developing within the first 6 months after birth. Most strabismus is due to the improper coordination of the 6 muscles of the eyes or to refractive errors (vision in one eye is worse than the other, due to nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism). More rarely, crossed eyes may be caused by retinoblastoma, cataracts, or other eye or neurological diseases. Strabismus can also develop later in life as a complication of diabetes, or as a result of a brain tumour, head trauma, neurologic condition, viral infection (meningitis), eye injury, infection, or other problem.
What are the risk factors for strabismus? About 3 out of every 100 children have strabismus, with first symptoms occurring between birth and 21 months of age. The risk increases if there is a family history of crossed eyes or if a child is born prematurely, has low birth weight, or is exposed to drugs or alcohol before birth.
What are the signs and symptoms of strabismus? The most obvious symptom of strabismus is eyes that appear crossed or that do not seem to move in the same directions. Sometimes what looks like crossed eyes is actually pseudostrabismus: A child may have a wide flat nose and a fold of skin at the inner eyelid that makes it appear that eyes are crossed. An eye affected by true strabismus will not only look crossed but will tend to turn up or down or wander in a direction opposite from the other eye. Children with strabismus may also squint one eye while in bright light or tilt their head to try to correct their vision. Difficulties at school may be an indication of vision problems as well. An adult who develops strabismus may have double vision. A child generally does not have double vision because their brain has learned to ignore the image coming from the turned eye.
Will my child outgrow strabismus? Strabismus cannot be outgrown. In fact, without treatment the condition may worsen and lead to lazy eye (amblyopia) and/orpermanent vision loss. Children with strabismus or amblyopia need treatment to correct the imbalances and prevent future vision problems.
What should I do if I think my child has strabismus? If you suspect that your child's eyes are affected by strabismus, make an appointment with your family doctor or eye doctor. Early detection and treatment can correct strabismus.
How is strabismus treated? In some cases of strabismus, eyeglasses may be prescribed to help straighten the eyes. If amblyopia (lazy eye) has developed, patching the stronger eye can help to strengthen and straighten the weaker eye. Surgery is sometimes necessary in order to adjust unbalanced eye muscles or if a cataract impairs vision. Eye exercises or vision therapy may also be recommended by the doctor to strengthen or straighten eye muscles.
| 2019-04-25T17:53:00 |
https://medbroadcast.com/channel/eye-health/eye-symptoms-and-vision-problems/crossed-eyes
|
0.999894 |
He's never going to change. So I have to.
Some things never change, even after leaving. He's one of those things.
"Conversations" in our marriage were one-sided and miserable. A topic would come up, I'd express the asked-for opinion, and then the interrogation would ensue. How could I think that? What were my sources? Why didn't I know more about that?
I'd feel ignorant, embarrassed, and by the end I'd be doubting my right to even have an opinion in the first place. Maybe I should leave having opinions up to smart people.
After a while I'd end these conversations by saying I'd had enough and walking out of the room.
"Why can't we just talk like a normal couple?" my ex would holler after me. "We should be able talk."
You don't want to talk, you want to bully, I'd think.
Yesterday marked six months and one week since I left.
I don't see him anymore except during drop-off transitions when he brings our son home to me. He tries to start something — every time he tries — but I have an out: citing all the research on co-parenting that says absolutely don't discuss things at transitions. When he forgets, I email him a few links.
But we do need to talk about our son. Specifically, I need to make sure my ex is changing my son's diaper, applying sunscreen and other seemingly obvious things he forgets to do. It took me one phone call with my ex to learn he can bully just as easily over the phone (I had to hang up on him to get him to stop). So now I email.
Last Friday during transition, my ex tried his usual routine: "We should talk about Will's development." I said absolutely we should, and that I'd send an email. The next day I sucked it up (because let's face it, I'd prefer to never have contact of any type with him ever again) and emailed like the good co-parent I am.
"What did you want to talk about?" I asked.
"We should be able to talk about our son," he said. I could hear the condescension in his voice as I read his words, so familiar are they. "I'm free on email all day," I reiterated. "Are you UNWILLING to talk about OUR son?" he demanded.
Oh my god, you are so f*cking predictable, I thought as I banged my head against the metaphorical wall. mMy heart started pounding, my head started hurting, and I got that weird shaky feeling that takes a day to go away. There was no point in emailing back.
I've been thinking about that exchange for the last few days and wondering if I can find humor in the fact that when he opens his mouth, he sounds like a broken record. I wonder if I can find satisfaction in the way I'm moving forward in my life while he's stuck repeating a conversation we had three years ago. I wonder if my exchanges with him will ever stop feeling bad.
There are some things that change immediately when you leave your abusive partner: where you live, where you grocery shop. There are some things that never change: how your partner treats you. But I hope there are some things that can change if given enough time — how you choose to feel when your partner treats you that way.
This article was originally published at Live It And Leave It. Reprinted with permission from the author.
| 2019-04-19T18:17:42 |
https://www.yourtango.com/2016291571/some-people-never-change-thats-why-i-left
|
0.999583 |
How to give negative feedback and get positive results!
Question #1: Your new salesperson shows up for work at 10:04 instead of 10:00.
Mention to the employee to try to be on time in the future.
Appeal to his/her human side by explaining that you would appreciate it if s/he would come in a little earlier so s/he would be ready to serve customers promptly at 10:00.
Ignore it this time. After all, this was the first incident.
Make an example of the employee by yelling at him/her in front of co-workers.
Type up a written memo outlining the problem and have all employees sign it.
Read this article to find the correct answer.
Question #2: It is the second time a customer complained about the rudeness of one of your customer service people.
Take the employee aside and threaten them with dismissal.
Engage them in a frank discussion to find out if they have a personal problem which may be causing the behavior.
Explain that the behavior is unacceptable and tell them you are documenting the incident with a written warning.
Hire a noted executive trainer to coach them in proper customer service skills.
Recently I met with a furniture sales manager who was experiencing a few more employee challenges than he would have liked. He had one employee that was occasionally rude to customers and another who became down right indignant towards him over disappointment in the schedule.
Both of those situations could have been avoided by previously drawing a clear line for his employees. For example; what would you do when a new employee scheduled for 10:00 am, shows up at 10:04 am? Many managers polled said they would nicely mention to the employee to try to be on time in the future. Still other managers said they would ignore it stating "after all it is only 4 minutes." There is a direct correlation between managers who give too many chances and look the other way with managers who have persistent personnel problems.
In the case of being late, what did you tell your employee his starting time was? Many managers who expect their employees to start work at 10:00 am, tell them 10:00 am. Instead tell your employees "Your starting time is 10:00 am. That means you are to be on the floor and ready to take care of our customers by 10:00 am. Allow yourself enough time to hang up your coat and finish your cup of coffee so that you will be enthusiastically on the sales floor by 10:00 am sharp." Even with seasoned employees I recommend a written memo that specifies the above. Have your employees sign it. This adds accountability.
When an employee first crosses an unacceptable line, assume that you did not clarify your expectations clearly enough. You now have an opportunity to clarify your expectations. Speak with the employee immediately, but not in front of others. Watch your vocabulary. Avoid words such as "try" and "I'd appreciate it if...". Replace them with "Let me clarify the expectations of your position" and " I need you to..."
When an employee repeats the same mistake a second time, be concerned. Address the situation promptly. Do not ask the employee why he was late. If you do, the employee often will exaggerate the situation to play on your sympathy and boy have I heard some doozies.
Great leaders are consistent and empathetic (being able to relate, while remembering their primary responsibility is to maintain excellent company standards). Simply explain that the behavior is unacceptable with a statement such as; "Mike we talked about being late before. I am documenting this warning on this form." On most disciplinary forms, there is a place for the employee's comments and both of your signatures. This process will often make a strong enough impression on the employee to prevent a bad habit from forming.
States such as New York require three documented, written warnings on the same offense to discredit unemployment claims. There are some circumstances (theft for example) where three warnings are not required. Consult your state unemployment agency for details and guidelines. While giving a written warning, address (don't attack) the observable behavior, not the person. Avoid the word "YOU". This way you are allowing the employee to improve without feeling embarrassed.
Giving a documented warning allows your employee an opportunity to improve while demonstrating your seriousness. If the behavior persists, document each occurrence on a disciplinary form and have the employee sign it. You may be dealing with an individual whose job is not a high priority in his life or he may not be committed enough to the position. Discuss your concerns with the employee.
When an employee makes the same mistake three times, you are probably dealing with an employee unwilling or unable to perform his job. It is best for him and the company, that he move on to another position that he is more suited for.
Many managers report that when one unacceptable behavior is tolerated or overlooked, other employees act out also (consciously or unconsciously). The other employees may or may not risk being late but they will act out somehow. The next thing you know, you have a group of people giving you endless grief.
The bonus of writing someone up is that the employee often will tell other employees what a mean and nasty person you are. They are trying to get the other employees support and avoid embarrassment for themselves. That's O.K., actually that's great. Don't worry about telling your side, the real message that got back to the others was "boy, he stepped across the line and something bad happened, I better follow the guidelines." Do not discuss one employee's disciplinary action with any other employee.
Beyond the when, how and why of discipline remember to step back and assess your hiring practices and communication style. Track your turnover ratio for the last two years. Excessive turnover is very costly to any business. Monitor the skill levels of your current employees with fun quizzes and by monitoring their work. Communicate your long and short term objectives and goals to employees. Not communicating your goals and objectives can in itself lead to undue frustration and turmoil. And most importantly, catch your employees doing things right. When they do, give specific praise to encourage the repetition of the positive behavior.
| 2019-04-20T06:38:58 |
https://furninfo.com/furniture-world-archives/4012
|
0.999992 |
"When two people come together before God"
"When two people fall in love with each other, a female and a male..."
"When a female and a male get together in the presence of God."
"Love is my Mummy and my Daddy."
"Love is when you love your nana."
"What Mum and Dad do, that's love."
"Love is when you love your grandpa."
The above sentences in italics were the replies of children to the questions. The oldest must have been around 10 or 11. The words in brackets are my thoughts.
lool, the innocence is adorable.
| 2019-04-23T04:00:21 |
http://www.themoderncedar.com/2013/10/what-kids-think-about-marriage.html
|
0.999999 |
Franz-Stefan Gady of the Diplomat reported the Russian Navy's lone aircraft carrier is down and it can't get up.
Named the Admiral Kuznetsov, the carrier needed repair but Russia lacked a drydock large enough to repair it.
To fix the carrier, Russia brought in a floating drydock from Sweden, and promptly sank it.
"The Swedish-made PD-50 drydock reportedly sank when the Admiral Kuznetsov was being pulled out after the failure of a pump system on the night of October 29. As a result of the sinking, a crane fell on the carrier’s deck leaving a hole above the waterline that measures 4 by 5 meters. The accident also injured four workers," Gady reported.
So instead of fixing the carrier, skilled Russian shipbuilders are damaging it further.
How competent are they? Well, this next paragraph explained that.
"The Admiral Kuznetsov was commissioned in 1990 and last underwent a two-year refit between 1996 and 1998. The Russian Navy’s 55,000-ton flagship has never been deployed for longer than six months and famously had to be followed by an oceangoing tugboat during all of its sea voyages due to the carrier’s poor reliability and questionable performance during a recent deployment to Syria in 2016," Gady reported.
I haven't seen such incompetence since the Sissonville Fire Department burned down.
Russians are trying to decide whether they should try to raise the sunken floating drydock.
The Jerusalem Post reported, "While touted by Russia as a symbol of power, the ship is considered relatively outdated compared to modern aircraft carriers in other navies. It also lost two of its aircraft to crashes during its deployment to the Mediterranean.
"Russia intervened in the Syrian war in 2015, turning the tide of the conflict in favor of President Bashar Assad.
"In September, a Russian military reconnaissance plane was shot down by a Syrian anti-aircraft missile, killing 15 servicemen."
The biggest threat to the Russian military seems to be the Russian military and its allies.
That is what happens when your equipment is powered by vodka.
Gives a whole new meaning to the Captain calling the shots.
I don't think Russia has much of a naval tradition. Might have something to do with the relative lack of warm-water ports with access to the world's oceans.
I do know Russia fought a naval war against Japan in 1905 and got seriously shellacked.
The Russian dictionary defines a navy as an army entirely surrounded by water.
Army good. Airforce was always competitive.Carriers are an Art as well as a Science. Tradition is important. The Chinese are similar..
Russia has a naval tradition. Ushakov was one of the great, successful admirals of the Napoleonic Wars, and as late as the 19th century, the British were worried about them as a potential enemy, either alone or allied with the French. The problem with them is that they couldn't keep up with naval technology as well as other naval powers could.
After the Russian Civil War, the Soviets slashed the navy for reasons both financial (they couldn't afford to maintain so many ships as they inherited from the Imperial Navy, and the war had damaged a lot of them) and political (the navy had rebelled against the government and the Red Army put it down). World War II then wrecked Stalin's plans to rebuild the fleet, and it wasn't until the Cold War that the Soviet Navy became a major force again.
It's China we have to worry about.
It's China (and the Stans) that Russia has to worry about, more than pretending that they're afraid of Western Europe or us. I wonder if they are really that stupid, or whether it is all deception on their part to point to the West, arm against the West, but prepare to swivel 180.
| 2019-04-25T04:19:55 |
https://donsurber.blogspot.com/2018/11/russian-navy-is-cnn-of-navies.html
|
0.998915 |
When the Bnai Yisrael left Egypt, many converts left with them.
And also, a great mixed multitude went up with them, and flocks and cattle, very much livestock.
a great mixed multitude: A mixture of nations of proselytes.
The children of Israel shall encamp each man by his division with the flag staffs of their fathers' house; some distance from the Tent of Meeting they shall encamp.
So that made me wonder: where did the converts (erev rav) camp? Do any of the meforshim ask this question?
On one hand it seems hard to believe that they were 'shunned' outside all the camps since we see that the erev rav had somewhat of an influence on the Bnai Yisrael - e.g. Regarding the sin of the golden calf: See Rashi on Shmot 32:7 ..."They have acted corruptly and have corrupted [others]"
The Zohar (Ki Sisa 191b) and Yalkut (Parshas Beha'alosecho 729 according to the Zais Ra'non) write that only Klal Yisroel had the privilege of the protection of the ענני הכבוד, the Erev Rav however didn't share this luxury and they camped in the desert outside the ענני הכבוד. Klal Yisroel fed the Erev Rav with the left overs of the Mon and from water from within the camps of Klal Yisroel. The Ba'al Haturim (Bigining of Parshas Masey) writes that from Ramses Klal Yisroel traveled on their own and the Erev Rav were no longer inter mingled with them. The Ramban (Parshas Noso 5 5) understood that from when the Mishkan was set up, the Erev Rav were separated from Klal Yisroel. The Haflo'oh (Ponim Yofos) writes that he couldn't find a source that Klal Yisroel and the Erev Rav were separated. This Ramban can be understood in light of the words of the Vilna Goen (Shir Hashirim 1 4) that after the Egel, the ענני הכבוד disappeared, and only returned when the mishkan was set up. Since the ענני הכבוד returned, so did the separation between Klal Yisroel and the Erev Rav. The Rogetchover Goen (Noso 5 4) held that even though they were outside the clouds, they were carried by the clouds and under their influence somewhat.
[The Chidah (Rosh Dovid beginning of Parshas Emor) and Bney Yisoschor (Tisrey 10 15) quote a Rav Yehudah who addressed the famous question why we have a - זכר - a symbol to remember the miracle of the ענני הכבוד and not the nes of the באר or the מן. He explained that the מן and באר were shared with the Erev Rav, but the nes of the ענני הכבוד was unique to Klal Yisroel, hence the Torah wanted us to remember it]. [The Ramban asks why Chazal learn from a special Possuk that gerim must also sit in the succah on Succos, why should this mitzvah be different than any other one. The Achronim explain based on the above mentioned Chazal, that the gerim were excluded from the ענני הכבוד so we would have thought that they are excluded from succah too, as succah symbolizes the ענני הכבוד, therefore a special possuk is needed]. [The Meshech Chochmah (Parshas Beha'alosecho) writes that the point which intrigued Yisro so much with the מלחמת עמלק to the extent that it made him become a convert, was that Amalek could only threaten the people outside the ענני הכבוד - no stranger could enter the עננים (this is discussed in the Meforshim) - and when Amalek came to fight the Yiden they started killing the Erev Rav outside (see Pirkey DeRebbi Elozor ch 44) and nevertheless Klal Yisroel went to help the Erev Rav and fought Amalek, this show of care impressed Yisro tremendously].
Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged parshanut-torah-comment conversion-to-judaism shevatim-12-tribes dor-hamidbar bamidbar-parsha .
| 2019-04-24T04:30:45 |
https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/37787/where-did-the-converts-camp-in-the-desert
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0.998569 |
What is your Byond key?
How long have you been playing on Persistence?
I've been playing since parasistence, but went into hiatus until it was fleshed out enough on the new code.
What are the names of your better-known characters?
What alien species are you applying for?
Why do you want to play as the alien species?
I've been following this alien species since Parasistence, and when we shifted to the new code I desperately wanted to play the species. But, unfortunately at the time off when we shifted to the new code we did not have it implemented. I wish to use this as a way to bring diversity to the station and tackle some diverse issue among some of the crewmen that have disdain for those that suffer some disease. That way I can try and reason with them.
What are some example names for the alien species?
Unfortunately, there really is no noteworthy examples I can provide aside that most victims from PRS usually keep their original names so long as they can remember them. If they do not they grasp at what they had found comforting, or what they remembered during their time in recovery.
Summarize what you know about the species.
Phorosians are a sub-type of humans suffering after long-term exposure to phoron gas, causing deposits to develop in their bones. They lack any proper skin replaced with deposits of Phoron dotting their muscular frame. The disease they suffer from is called Phoron Restructurant Syndrome. They must be confined to a hermetically sealed suit to prevent exposure to an oxygen enriched enviroment lest they burst into flames.
| 2019-04-19T03:03:36 |
https://persistentss13.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=90
|
0.999999 |
Does gross stupidity come in threes?
On my return to the park from some shopping, amongst the many street beggars I passed was one going the extra mile. He was kneeling, arms bent with fore-arms flat of the ground, hands in the 'prayer' position. His head was on or very close to the pavement. Positioned between the middle of his fore-arms was a cup for money. AND people were giving him more than most beggars seems to get! Seems there are still people who do not realise that no one needs to be homeless in London, and the council have actively campaigned to encourage people to not give them money; their 'Killing through kindness' campaign.
In the park near the lake was a push-chair, with a re-usable shopping back hanging on it, on top of that was a hand-bag, and from that on the outside appeared to be a purse: WTH!? The nearest person, a female, was 30-35 metres away looking away taking photos of the lake. I was headed that way anyway so I asked if it was hers: No! So what do you do? ... There were no other likely looking owners within ... say 60-70M. I stood there for a minute or two scanning the distance... I concluded that it was either a strange form of bait for a police sting operation or maybe the person had been taken ill, and taken away by ambulance ...and somehow without their pram, or...? But either way I couldn't think of how I might better the situation, so I continued walking back home. By now dusk had started and I could only vaguely make out the pram in the distance. I passed perhaps 8-10 other people until about 400M on I neared a woman strolling slowly holding the hand of a young toddler; so I asked her if it was hers: Yes! [I'm shaking my head recountiung this...]. I bit my lip... and calmy but clearly advised her that 1) 'I'm amazed it has not already been stolen!' and 2) I suggested she 'get back to it immediately, or it well be stolen'. She said 'Ok sure, thank-you'.
I continued on my way, and perhaps 50-60M further on I briefly turned to see what progress she had made. Almost none, she was still slowly ambling along, holding the child's hand, not a care in the world, and at that point it was yet darker, and I could no longer see the pram at all... Genuinely jaw-dropping stupidity IMHO.
Re: Does gross stupidity come in threes?
Parakeets. Noisy blighters. Swarms of 'em around Windsor. Glad to get away.
Leaving a bunch of keys in the hallway for somebody else to pick up later isn't that unusual in some circles - we would have done it during my flat-sharing student days when there were always visitors/overnight girlfriends/assorted transient types passing across our carpets and sleeping on our sofas. What's bothersome in this case is presumably that the fancy security key was for something sensitive. I suppose it would have been more stupid to leave a label on them to show which door it belonged to?
Agree about the beggars, certainly, but druggie/seriously alky/aggressive types aren't generally welcome in homeless shelters, which is why they end up sleeping under the Thames bridges. Besides, some of them actually prefer to be out of the hostels - there are ex-squaddies with post-traumatic stress who can't hack the night shelters at all.
But there's also a chance that this guy might be a professional beggar. Some years ago, in leafy Bath, I came across a trio of likely types begging with a paper cup and a scruffy dog in the Sainsburys car park. I went off and did my shopping, and as I returned to my car, who should drive past me but the same quartet - in a nearly new car.
An hour or two after writing that there was a knock at my door. 'Did you find my keys?' she asked. She said she'd asked her cleaner to leave the keys in that way on her way out - prsumably the end of her contract or similar? Bonkers. Unsurprisingly her flat, during her tenancy, is the only one that's been burgled in this building in the c20 years I've owned my home here.
Beggars. It's striking how many there are. I haven't seen this in other majoe cities I've travelled/lived in recent years. It's also striking that they're just left untroubled by the authororities. No wonder high street shops are closing down when they're home to beggars and junkies. Visiting their shops isn't fun any more.
I missed that first time around, very good.
DiamondEcho wrote: Beggars. It's striking how many there are. I haven't seen this in other majoe cities I've travelled/lived in recent years. It's also striking that they're just left untroubled by the authororities.
You haven't been to Barcelona, then?
Not for c20 years, no. But Spain is often derided as Club-Med, chaotic and ill prepared to govern so I'm not sure it's a valid comparison. Also Spain is arguably more of a transit country [migrants are self-motivated to move on without force], whereas the UK is supposedly a desired destination, what with housing, 'benefits' and so on. Furthermore my local council are supposedly renowned for their ruthless efficiency. I have difficulty accepting that any of these beggars have genuine need to be on the street when if they were 'genuine' they'd have call on 'reasonable means of sustenance/lodging, food, and so on'. If that's the case, then why are they left on the streets so adding to their being blighted?. I must have walked past 20 such beggars in London this afternoon in what is supposedly pretty desirable west London, and it doesn't make for a pleasant high-street experience. Perhaps a contributor to why so many shops/etc on this well known street have shut, and the units are derelict?
DiamondEcho wrote: I must have walked past 20 such beggars in London this afternoon in what is supposedly pretty desirable west London, and it doesn't make for a pleasant high-street experience.
If you were begging for money do you think you would choose to beg in a nice affluent area or a run down shithole?
BobbyD wrote: If you were begging for money do you think you would choose to beg in a nice affluent area or a run down shithole?
Surely it depends on footfall more than anything?
I have found that beggars target me a lot more if I'm looking scruffy than if I dress in a suit. I suspect the fact that a suited man is likely to be richer than a tramp or student is more than offset by the fact that he's also much more likely to be tightfisted.
On a similar note, when I've hitchhiked I've got far more lifts from 'characters' in battered old bangers than in more expensive cars. Again, my observation suggests a strong correlation between rich and tightfisted.
UncleEbenezer wrote: I have found that beggars target me a lot more if I'm looking scruffy than if I dress in a suit. I suspect the fact that a suited man is likely to be richer than a tramp or student is more than offset by the fact that he's also much more likely to be tightfisted.
Undoubtedly, but these days I suspect it is also down to the beggars knowing that a suited man is not likely to be carrying any change to give them as they pay everything by card, and they are certainly not going to hand over a fiver or more.
When I lived in Slough (sh1%hole..) there wasn't much street begging, just a few 'botherers' round the station exit.
Windsor, just down the road, has a real problem though. It seems to have become a begging destination much like Brighton was way back.
You've prompted a moment's thought there, and my own experience must go right back to the 1980s. The decade when I graduated and then did some time in a job that required a suit.
Because not since then have I worn a suit often enough to make any such observations! Nowadays the only suit I wear is the Dinner Suit, for formal occasions - mostly concerts.
AleisterCrowley wrote: When I lived in Slough (sh1%hole..) there wasn't much street begging, just a few 'botherers' round the station exit.
Not least tourist and leisure footfall. Perhaps Slough's footfall is more of a David Brent character, as well as being more limited than Windsor?
In the centre of London these days it is quite rare to see anyone pay for anything using anything other than a card, no matter how low the value. Nobody is carrying coins.
I carry an emergency £20, but that has not been used in the last year. Contactless and now NFC, has taken over from all 'cash' spending.
There have been mutterings about buskers and charity collectors using contactless payments - touch a card and donate £1, but I can't see those making there way as far as Big Issue sellers let alone beggars.
Well today it sertainly came in ones. Our drive leads on to a very narrow lane with the occasional pull in passing space. OH wanted to get the hedge trimmed and some overhanging branches dealt with so I toddled down in Aggie to put up warning signs both ends, there are already road signs warning about no passing etc. OH had been working for about an hour so I though I'd pop down with a flask of coffee, I was halfway down the drive when I heard an almighty bang. I rushed to see what had happened and lo and behold some grade A idiot in a very large mobile home had been speeding down the lane and run into the tractor with hedging arm attached. The tractor had won. There was one irate yob yelling at OH and calling him for everything under the sun. He announced that he was calling the police and that we'd have to pay for extensive damage to his mobile home. I pointed out that there were warning signs at each end of the lane as well as signs pointing out that the road was not suitable for wide vehicles, his reaction was to say that there was nothing to say that there was a tractor in the road and that he'd only been travelling at 10mph!!!! "No problem" says OH "You call the police" as he casually reached up and removed the camera which he'd fixed to the tractor. "I always work on the assumption that there's idiots about who don't think warning signs apply to them so I always make sure I've got the camera to record any accidents" Film now downloaded into computer just in case idiot tries it on.
tractors are solid things obviously, but is there nothing you can claim off him for a further lesson? damage to the tractor or whatever ?
If he'd been going fast enough to make a bang as described and do "extensive damage", isn't it a Good Thing that it was a tractor he hit? Alternatives on a country lane could've been pedestrians, cyclists, horses, farm animals, or wildlife, any of whose fates could've been nastier.
Mind you, parts of the tale make more sense if the driver had indeed stopped and the tractor continued moving to hit him 'cos the tractor driver was focussed on the vegetation. Some drivers of heavy machinery would do that. If it's a narrow space, I'll look to catch their eye before passing when out on foot or onna bike.
Locals are very careful when using this road because several years ago a young lady was killed when riding her horse. I blame the reliance on sat-navs, people are quite prepared to take the word of a computer before that of warning signs etc. The road was originally used by horse and cart, it lies between a railway embankment (now disused) and our fields. Why the council adopted it I'll never know. The tractor has had a few more scratches added but the motor home had a large cut/dent down one side when the chap came around the corner, and tried to get past by squeezing up against the embankment. He failed to realise that solid objects can't breathe in!
Rhyd6 wrote: Locals are very careful when using this road because several years ago a young lady was killed when riding her horse. I blame the reliance on sat-navs, people are quite prepared to take the word of a computer before that of warning signs etc.
Ain't that the truth? Your satnav will tell you the exact shape of the twisting road ahead, so that you know just how fast you can take each corner before you go into it. What it can't tell you is that there's a tractor/gaggle of cyclists/nine foot wide timber truck coming at you from the opposite direction.
We get a lot of that on the lanes around these parts. Mainly business travellers who've been lulled into a false sense of security by their satnavs. Or perhaps I mean superiority? Either way, one of our local residents has upped the stakes. Come too fast round a corner near his house, and you're likely to find an enormous pig wandering around in the middle of the road. It's supposed to be penned up, but it keeps on getting loose. In the Yorkshire Dales I've seen similar with wandering bulls in the road.
| 2019-04-26T10:23:04 |
https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=71&p=178947
|
0.999996 |
An excellent online judge administrator means a genius special judge factory!! who produces batch judge scripts day and night.
For most programming problems, you can just compare the programmer's output against the correct answer, and if they are literally the same, the programmer's output is correct, otherwise it's wrong. But for some problems, there may be many correct answers and they can be different from each other literally. So the administrator must write a program, which is named "Special Judge", to verify programmers' output.
Now you will become one day administrator of our online judge, and the only task is to write a special judge for the following problem. Maybe you will find it very very boring, but just have a try!
Lamps-O-Matic company assembles very large chandeliers. A chandelier consists of multiple levels. On the first level crystal pendants are attached to the rings. Assembled rings and new pendants are attached to the rings of the next level, and so on. At the end there is a single large ring --- the complete chandelier with multiple smaller rings and pendants hanging from it.
A special-purpose robot assembles chandeliers. It has a supply of crystal pendants and empty rings, and a stack to store elements of a chandelier during assembly. Initially the stack is empty. Robot executes a list of commands to assemble a chandelier.
On command "a" robot takes a new crystal pendant and places it on the top of the stack. On command "1" to "9" robot takes the corresponding number of items from the top of the stack and consecutively attaches them to the new ring. The newly assembled ring is then placed on the top of the stack. At the end of the program there is a single item on the stack --- the complete chandelier.
Unfortunately, for some programs it turns out that the stack during their execution needs to store too many items at some moments. Your task is to optimize the given program, so that the overall design of the respective chandelier remains the same, but the maximal number of items on the stack during the execution is minimal. A pendant or any complex multi-level assembled ring count as a single item of the stack.
The design of a chandelier is considered to be the same if each ring contains the same items in the same order. Since rings are circular it does not matter what item is on the top of the stack when the robot receives a command to assemble a new ring, but the relative order of the items on the stack is important.
For example, if the robot receives command "4" when items <i1 , i2 , i3 , i4 > are on the top of the stack in this order (i1 being the topmost), then the same ring is also assembled if these items are arranged on the stack in the following ways: <i2 , i3 , i4 , i1 >, or <i3 , i4 , i1 , i2 >, or <i4 , i1 , i2 , i3 >.
There are several test cases in the input. Each case contains a single line with a valid program for the robot. The program consists of at most 10,000 characters.
On the first line of the output file write the minimal required stack capacity (number of items it can hold) to assemble the chandelier. On the second line write some program for the assembly robot that uses stack of this capacity and results in the same chandelier.
Remember now you are judgment, not a competitor, so "The minimal required stack capacity (number of items it can hold) to assemble the chandelier" will be told by the author of this problem. I am quite sure this information will be significant for you to finish this mission.
Each case contains three parts, the standard input of the original problem, the minimal required stack capacity to assemble the chandelier and the output of user solution.
The first line of each case is the standard input, a valid program for the robot. The program consists of at most 10,000 characters. The second line is a single integer which indicates the minimal required stack capacity to assemble the chandelier, and the last line is the user's output, you can assume that the user's output is a string not more than 10,000 characters without any space. Another assumption is that in this problem we DO NOT require the user specify the stack capacity of his solution, because we treat it as redundancy, you can easily calculate it from the program.
A single line for each test case. If the user's program is invalid, which means the robot could not assemble the original chandelier by this program, output "Wrong Answer -- Invalid program", and if the solution is valid, but not optimal, which means it needs more stack capacity than requirement, output "Wrong Answer -- Not optimal", otherwise it means the user's output is accurate, then output "Accepted".
| 2019-04-22T00:46:48 |
http://acm.zju.edu.cn/onlinejudge/showContestProblem.do?problemId=2160
|
0.998715 |
Will the new Symphony I/O run with my G5/10.5.8/PTHD 8.0.1?
I'm moving my HD3 Accel over from a G4 to a G5 DP2.7 GHz. I have PCI Accel cards not PCIe, making this the "best" PPC Mac I can get that will accept my cards.The Apogee website contradicts itself with this: "Connection: Pro Tools HD PCI card" And this: "Computer: Mac Pro/Intel" Mac Pro/Intel has only PCIe slots. I contacted Apogee and am waiting for a response. Meanwhile, does anybody have a definitive answer?
The quick answer is that the Symphony I/O should work fine plugged into a PTHD accel card. However, you will need some sort of Intel Mac with OS 10.6.3+/10.5.8+ to perform firmware updates and configure for stand alone mode (if you need that functionality). One of the next firmware updates from Apogee is supposed to support Symphony I/O control from PTHD.
Simply, the Intel Mac requirement from Apogee applies to Maestro control and firmware updating, and using the I/O with the Symphony64 card.
That's pretty unequivocal. Have you done any firmware updates while running w/ the G5?
No I haven't, sorry. But I do know you can make changes to the unit with a laptop etc. It does not need to be connected to the host computer once the changes have been made for them to stAy in place.
Rosetta 800 + Symphony 32 + X-Symphony Card + Dsub Cables!
| 2019-04-19T13:28:06 |
https://www.gearslutz.com/board/so-much-gear-so-little-time/565629-symphony-i-o-g5-compatibility.html
|
0.999037 |
The provided definition does not specify a valid version field.
Please indicate a valid Swagger or OpenAPI version field. Supported version fields are swagger: "2.0" and those that match openapi: 3.0.n (for example, openapi: 3.0.0).
Anyone know how to resolve this error? I'm trying to search for api v2 but I don't find anything related to errors that match the output.
What/where are you looking an seeing this error?
That would be at dashboard->settings-> Technical -> API v2.
My bad. I just realized I'm using a rewrite for wordpress. Correcting the rewrite fixed this error. Apologies.
Just to confirm, you got your re-write working properly right? The url should now be just https://domain.com/settings/swagger.
Glad it's working for you now though. The API docs are actually served through the /api/v2/openapi/v2 endpoint, so if you can't see the docs the API won't be working for you!
We also have a reference on our public documentation, but the in-dashboard one will always be more accurate to your installation.
| 2019-04-25T12:34:49 |
https://open.vanillaforums.com/discussion/comment/255899
|
0.998824 |
Unalaska and Amaknak Islands contained 24 settlements with more than 1,000 Aleut inhabitants in 1759, when the first Russian group under Stepan Glotov came and started trading for three years on Umnak and Unalaska. Between 1763 and 1766, a conflict between the Russian fur traders and the Unalaska Natives occurred; the Aleuts destroyed four Russian ships and killed 175 hunters/traders. Solov'ev then returned to Unalaska and directed the massacre of many Natives.[non sequitur] In the 1760s, Unalaska was temporarily used as a Russian fur trading post. The post was permanently established in 1774, and was eventually incorporated into the Russian-American Company. It was there that Captain James Cook encountered the navigator Gerasim Izmailov in 1778.
| 2019-04-25T07:09:36 |
http://wikien3.appspot.com/wiki/Unalaska,_Alaska
|
0.998419 |
Julie Highland, 32, was so determined that her request for flexible working would be accepted that she put in a considerable amount of time into her application.
Since April 2009, all employees with children under 16 are entitled to request flexible working and, although their employers need to be able to show that they have given the application due consideration, they have no legal right to accept it. Prior to April 2009, only parents or guardians of children under 6 or disabled children under 18 were entitled to apply. Flexible working applicants must be full-time permanent employees (not agency or freelance staff) and have worked for the company for at least 26 weeks before their application.
Julie was careful to research all the legal details of applying for flexible working, as well as trying to understand all the ‘unwritten’ rules. She explained, “As I was applying for flexible working before April 2009, I was entitled to apply because my daughter was still only two and a half. I had really enjoyed my maternity leave and thought that I was ready to go back to work full time, but I was finding full-time work increasingly hard to juggle with childcare arrangements.
When I first went back to work my mother had my daughter for two days a week, with a childminder having her the other three days. It was not only a lovely way for my mother and daughter to bond, but also saved me lots of money in childcare fees!
The options for flexible working include home working, teleworking, job sharing, compressed hours (fitting the same amount of work into fewer hours), flexi-time (doing a certain amount of hours per week/day at times of your choosing) and term-time working only.
Hi, I have been with my employer 14 years. I am a single mum of 2. 10 year old and 3 year old. I work 20 hours, 3 set days a week due to childcare. I have nobody to help with childcare. And the father has them as and when it suits. My employer wants me to be fully flexible...working evenings..lates and weekends. This is impossible for me to do. But I've been told if I don't change my hours I will lose my job. Can they do this??
You do have rights to apply for flexible working, please see the link here. However, you don't have the right to claim unfair dismissal (if your employer dismisses you as a result), until you have worked for your employer for two years, please see the link here .
Hi I have recently started a new job in December 2017. I am also a full time student and finding it hard to juggle 3 kids, studying and working. I work 3 days one week and 5 the next. My kids are 2, 3 and 6 years old. I have been thinking about only working term time only and cutting my days down. I had time off due to my son being unwell already. I need some advice on how to go about working term time only please?
I can only point you to the gov.uk link here, as you would have to apply to your employer directly.
I work 16 hrs per week as I claim benefits. My son is 3. I have worked for my company for 5 yrs i work one day in the week and the rest of the hrs are done on the weekend. I have told my boss this has become difficult as i want to spend more weekends with my son as the nurserys are closed but they refuse to let me work more hrs in the week. I wouldn't mind doing one weekend a month. What are my rights ?
All employers must take on board an employees request for flexible working, and approach the request in a ‘reasonable manner’. Examples of handling requests in a reasonable manner include: assessing the advantages and disadvantages of the application, holding a meeting to discuss the request with the employee and offering an appeal process, please see the gov.uk link here. If your employer is not approaching your request in this way, I suggest you give ACAS a call who can advise further on your options if your employer refuses.
I have been workingfor my company for 7 years , since my son is born I coming back to work as part time without any problem today I have a msg from my manager she was upset because I didn't fill up a proper brief sheet , and said she'sbeen nice with me to let me work on my hours , she can't say something like that , first i'm there before her and is a chain companyso I wrote tothe head office and ask for my fexible hours and they said was fine .What should I do .?
I am sorry to hear this. However, as specified in the article, since April 2009, all employees with children under 16 are entitled to request flexible working and, although their employers need to be able to show that they have given the application due consideration, they have no legal right to accept it. Please see ACAS link here. Should you need any further clarification, you can give ACAS a call for some free professional advice.
| 2019-04-26T11:59:22 |
http://www.workingrights.co.uk/requested-flexible-working.html
|
0.999711 |
Кучерчук Ю. В., преподаватель практической фонетики.
Практикум предназначен для учащихся лингвогуманитарного колледжа.
Данные материалы включают теоретические сведения о звукобуквенных соответствиях в английском языке, упражнения для совершенствования навыков чтения, а также материалы для чтения и заучивания наизусть. Материалы могут быть использованы как для аудиторной, так и самостоятельной работы учащихся.
Рассмотрено и одобрено на заседании ПЦК практической фонетики.
Протокол № 3 от 14 октября 2008 года.
Syllable formation in English is based on the phonological opposition vowel-consonant. Vowels are usually syllabic while consonants are not with the exceptions of [l], [m], [n], which become syllabic in final position preceded by a consonant or between two final consonants: bottle [|bɒtl], bottom [|bɒtm], button [|bʌtn].
A syllable is a speech unit which consists of a sound or a group of sounds one of which is heard more prominent than the others. This sound is the peak or the nucleus of the syllable and is called syllabic (vowels and sonorants are usually syllabic).
The English language has developed the closed type of a syllable as the fundamental one while in Russian it is the open type that forms the basis of syllable formation.
The other aspect of this component is syllable division. There is a problem of syllable division in case of intervocalic consonants and their clusters, like in such words as city, extra, standing and others.
Let us consider the word extra. There are two syllables but where should the boundary between them fall?
[e-kstrə]. It is unlike that people would opt for a division between [e] and [kstrə] because there are no words in English which begin with consonant sequence [kstr].
Similarly, a division between [ekstr] and [ə] would be unnatural.
[ek-strə], [eks-trə], [ekst-rə] are possible. People usually prefer either of the first two options here, but there is no obvious way of deciding between them.
In some cases we may take into account the morphemic structure of words. For example, standing consists of two syllables; on phonemic grounds [|stæn-dIŋ], on grammatical grounds [|stænd-Iŋ].
In case of intervocalic clusters we use the distributional criterion: the combination of consonants belongs to the following syllable, if such combinations are typical of English.
! The so-called thriphthongs in English are disyllabic combinations, because they contain two vowel phonemes: [ faI |ə].
One word in each set has a different number of syllables from the others. Decide which it is, then check with the recording.
One word in each set has a different stress pattern from the others. Which is it? Define the type of the stressed word. Check with the recording.
Ex.1.3 Transcribe and divide into syllables.
6) Fire, towel, vowel, lower, goer.
approximates the alphabetical letter: f – [f], y – [aI].
The secondary meaning of a letter is the one which differs from its primary alphabetical meaning and depends on the consonants preceding or following this letter. E.g. a – [ a:] - staff, [o ] – wander, [ɔ:] – war.
The sound formation of the English language distinguishes long and short vowels. According to this peculiarity in English each stressed vowel can have two meanings: alphabetical (long) and short.
| 2019-04-23T18:53:36 |
https://works.doklad.ru/view/4MfaJ2r9_VI.html
|
0.999957 |
My friend Karen has a 4-year old daughter with a September birthday. Karen is still trying to decide whether to send Sophie to kindergarten this fall, so she decided to enroll Sophie in our school's summer kindergarten camp. K camp is a 5-day morning experience designed to acclimate the kids to school and give the kindergarten teachers a chance to meet the kids, do some very preliminary assessments, and start thinking that class placements for the fall. Karen asked if someone could call her during the week to give her their honest assessment of Sophie's preparedness for kindergarten.
Talking this through gave Karen a better sense of social skills as they relate to school. Her intuition was right, and now she has specific thing she'll be asking her preschool to help with.
For those parents of kids with summer birthdays and the teachers who teach them, how's my list of social skills for school? What would you add to the list?
I like your list. I have been working a summer program with 4 and 5 year olds. It is quite apparent which children are ready for Kindergarten and which are not.I agree with Andrea, and probably word it in regard to "ability to focus and stay on task for short 15 minute intervals or so.
I don't know how to word it to fit with your list... children need tobe able to sit stillfor 15 minutes. They need to listen without talking.
| 2019-04-19T02:24:30 |
http://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/sounditout/52391
|
0.999811 |
How is the edge of field performance of the 40mm Meade SWA when the f/6.3 focal reducer is in use?
I have a 32mm SWA and I notice astigmatism with an f/6.5 Newtonian.
If you are looking to do any deepsky observing or in particular any astrophotography, your next consideration for purchase may be the f/6.3 focal reducer (the 12" is only offered in f/10) for an indescribably detailed image and short exposure times. Try one out if you can, and you'll see just how much this reducer can bring out the potential and optical quality of this instrument.
I don't know which manufacturer's eyepieces you are currently considering, but I would suggest both the wide field and the high power eyepieces if at all possible (for versatility). If that is not possible, consider purchasing the 40mm Meade Super Wide 2" eyepiece and use it in conjunction with the f/6.3 for a field of view that is 60% greater than the standard f/10 and more than twice as bright.
| 2019-04-25T07:05:13 |
http://arch.lamacchia.us/visualdeepsky.org/netastrocatalog-announce/msg01339.html
|
0.99859 |
Who do you call for a comedy that's short on laughs? Ghostbusters!
It's astonishing that it's taken 25 years to mount a follow-up to such a well-regarded series, but the path to a third Ghostbusters has been anything but straightforward. For years planned as a return of the original crew of Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson and Harold Ramis, the mooted Ghostbusters 3 ultimately never got traction, with responsibility falling to video games, merchandising and animated cartoons to keep the franchise heart pumping. But following the 2014 announcement that the series would be rebooted by an all-female cast headlined by actress Melissa McCarthy, the production became a flashpoint for controversy, with legitimate criticisms twisted into nasty accusations of sexism and misogyny, given the seal of officiality by director Paul Feig.
But finally the completed film is here, and everyone can judge whether Ghostbusters circa 2016 is a woeful exercise in name recognition film-making or a worthy continuation of the classic series. Let's jump in.
When scientist turned teacher Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig) is blackmailed by former colleague Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy) and her new protégé Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon) to lend a hand to an unfolding paranormal investigation, the trio become hot property after joining with street smart Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones) and dopey receptionist Kevin (Chris Hemsworth) in marketing their skills as 'the Ghostbusters'. But they get more than they bargain for when a deranged occultist (Neil Casey) opens a portal which beckons ghosts and ghouls to lay waste to New York City.
I'll be entirely frank. I couldn't give a damn if the cast of a film is male, female, black, white, purple, red or green. But I do care that if a studio is billing a film as a comedy, then it better be funny. And if it's following up on one of the most beloved sci-fi comedies of all time, then it better be good. Sadly, Ghostbusters fails on both fronts. Worse, the feminist and equal rights crowd who latched onto the film as a vehicle to spread their gospel have been dealt a bitter blow. In tying their message to such a flawed concept, their campaigns have woefully backfired.
Comedian Melissa McCarthy is a coarse, divisive actress, with comic sensibilities that can only be described as juvenile at best and appalling at worst. Within minutes of her entering Ghostbusters, two unfunny fart jokes are delivered in quick succession and any hope that she might display some comedic progression is quickly dissipated. Co-stars Kristen Wiig and Kate McKinnon at least expand the opportunity for the leads to improvise and riff off each other, but they fail to create better jokes. While McKinnon has been praised by others as the film's strongest performer with what can only be described as an offbeat and bizarre performance, I'd actually say the standout cast member (if one can call it that) is Leslie Jones - at least she was responsible for a few chuckles.
Having found success with ensemble comedy casts in Bridesmaids and Spy, director Paul Feig seemed a reasonable choice as any to finally bring a new Ghostbusters to the screen but falls woefully short of the mark. While much has been made of the cast's ability to improvise scenes on the go, the final cut resembles less a cohesive film and more a poorly strung together assemblage of scenes that waiver constantly in tone, pacing, and quality. While the film does admittedly improve as it goes on, it also moves from a straight out comedy to more of an action film, and in doing so lurches away from the notion of what a Ghostbusters film should actually be.
I've no problem at all with studios churning out sequels, spin-offs, and reboots. No franchise is untouchable and good ideas deserve to live on in the public consciousness. But I do have a problem when their motivation is less creative and more financial. In Ghostbusters, have created a cynical and poorly made film which attempts to cash in on the previous films, yet does so without respect and ignores their legacy. Sony Pictures, here's two tips from me to you: Don't go to war with your fanbase - it's just dumb. And if you're going to launch a new film after 25 years, at least have the decency to prepare a good script and assemble a good cast.
| 2019-04-21T19:14:14 |
https://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/7798/ghostbusters-2016-cinema-movie-review/index.html
|
0.99985 |
Just what does Microsoft need to truly compete against Apple in the tablet space? Three words: developers, developers, developers.
As many of you know, rumors have been flying around lately that Microsoft is about to announce its own tablet at some secret squirrel event, but not just any tablet, no; many speculate that it's going to be an "iPad killer." Every time I read that, I can't help but shake my head and giggle a bit -- not because I think it's a fruitless sentiment (no pun intended), but because of the landscape that lays before *any* company hoping to dethrone (never mind hold a candle to) Apple in the tablet space.
Apple's brand strength, marketing savvy, and user experience expertise aside, it's the app ecosystem that has peoples' app needs and impulse buys coming back for more. This is something that Microsoft is going to need to establish if they hope to truly compete against the iPad.
Fortunately for Microsoft, they may well have an ally in a form they have no control over -- the very same ally that Apple and Google mutually share: third party developer tools.
Mobile development platforms like Unity, Corona, PhoneGap, and Titanium are platforms that allow developers to code once, then compile for multiple platforms. So, theoretically, a hit app in Apple's App Store could simply be compiled for Google Play, the Windows Store, or otherwise with minimal (if any) code tweaks. Perhaps this is something that Microsoft is banking on, or, perhaps it's something they will just benefit from, thanks to the state of cross-platform-compatible developer tools.
From a developer's perspective, the Windows Store will be just one more potential avenue of monetization, so I believe that Microsoft will have plenty of developer support within the first year following the official launch of Windows 8; however, I'm not quite sure yet where consumers will stand with Windows 8-powered devices within that time frame. That's the biggest question in my mind, because the needs of tablet consumers are met fairly well right now between all that is available -- the ultimate, of course, being the iPad with its oft-dreaded price tag.
For the sake of competition and consumer choice, I really do hope that Microsoft is able to step their game up to the point of going toe-to-toe with Apple, but my skeptical disposition isn't quite as optimistic or hopeful. Truth be told, I'm smitten with my iPad and the plethora of apps therein. As a consumer, Microsoft is going to have to appeal to my wants, because my needs are fulfilled as-is. Then again, I'm an early adopter by nature, so I may well be one of the few who picks up a Windows 8 tablet just to see what I end up doing with it.
Where an actual Windows 8-powered tablet is concerned, I'd like to point you to what my colleague, Ed Bott, noted about much of what Microsoft needs to achieve from a device stance if they hope to succeed in being competitive in the tablet space. It's all equally as relevant and helps to show just what Microsoft is up against.
So, will Microsoft's big announcement really be an "iPad killer," or could it be something else altogether? I think a device like the Kindle Fire would be something of low-hanging fruit for Microsoft to go up against, but they've got to start somewhere, right? Whatever the case may be, the timing and substance of their announcement won't negate anything mentioned herein. Make no mistake, Microsoft has their work cut out for them.
On CNET: Microsoft to take on Apple with own Windows 8 tablet?
| 2019-04-19T10:59:12 |
https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-a-microsoft-tablet-needs-to-compete-with-the-ipad/
|
0.999686 |
Iwan Rheon became the most hated man on TV with his role as Ramsay Bolton in the hugely popular "Game of Thrones" show and is back as a villain in American TV series "Inhumans". The Welsh actor says he loves the flaws in humans and the conflicted characters on screen as they make his job interesting.
"I think our flaws are what make us interesting as humans. There's always more to explore if your character is flawed or conflicted. I guess that makes it more interesting for me. But I prepare any character in the same way. It's about telling the truth," Rheon told IANS in an exclusive email interaction.
Asked how long does it take for him to snap back to real life after doing the role, Rheon says very quickly.
"I don't allow my characters to affect me too deeply. That would be dangerous. I think it's all about playing," he added.
Rheon started acting at an age of 17 with Welsh show "Pobol y Cwm", and slowly made his way into showbiz with projects like "Caerdydd", "Resistance", "Misfits" and "Wasteland".
But his big ticket to fame came with the role of Ramsay in "Game of Thrones". His character was hated for being evil as he raped, tortured and killed on the show, and took pleasure in all his evil deeds. His character was killed in a gruesome way as he was thrown in front of a pack of starving hounds in an episode of the sixth season.
Marvel's "Inhumans", based on the comics of the same name, revolves around the escape to Hawaii of Inhumans Royal Family, led by Black Bolt, after a military coup. They are greeted in Hawaii with surprising interactions with the lush world and humanity around them. It is about how the superheroes find a way to reunite with one another and return to their home.
Amid their quest to find a way back to home, there is a much more complicated layer and fight for power and supremacy.
Rheon plays Maximus the Mad, the young brother of Black Bolt, who secretly wants to take his brother's place as leader of the Inhumans. The show premiered at IMAX theatres across India earlier this month. The first two episodes have been entirely shot with IMAX Cameras.
Narrating his experience of shooting the series, Rheon, who is also a musician, said: "I had a great time shooting. Filming in Hawaii was great and I'm so pleased to be a part of the Marvel cinematic universe."
The show comes with a twist on the superhero genre where they are not saving the humanity or fighting with villains, but hiding from the humans. Rheon says that it "gives a very interesting spin on the genre".
"It is about a royal family and the struggle of power and loyalty. It is also a story about integration," added the actor, who always wanted to play Wolverine.
Rheon had not left his Welsh accent for the role of Maximus.
"I very rarely get to do my own accent, to be honest. I decided to Americanise the accent so that it didn't stick out or sound strange. I'm doing a Moon accent," said the 32-year-old.
| 2019-04-22T12:06:59 |
https://www.ghaintpunjab.com/Ghaintpunjab/Article/8788/ramsay-bolton-game-of-thrones
|
0.99967 |
Manchester: Jose Mourinho has acknowledged Manchester United are unlikely to meet his target of climbing into the Premier League’s top four by the end of 2018.
However, the United manager has played down comments he made to Brazilian television suggesting that it would be a "miracle" if his team finished in the Champions League qualification places at the end of the season.
Contrary to plans, successive draws against Crystal Palace and Southampton, in which United produced below-par performances, has seen them slip to seventh and forced the manager to reassess that target. Mourinho, though, is adamant he still sees a top-four finish in May as realistic, despite not denying the comments he made to a Brazilian television interviewer after Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Southampton.
"I don't know if I said it or if I didn't but if I used that word, it is not what I feel at all," said Mourinho at his press conference on the eve of their match with in-form Arsenal.
"We are eight or nine points from fourth, something like that. I don't think we need a miracle at all. We need a good run of results. We need to not waste points that we shouldn’t waste," he added.
Mourinho, who reportedly clashed again with French World Cup-winning midfielder Paul Pogba after the 2-2 draw with Southampton, said if some players performed better they could stay in touch with the top four and then finish in the Champions League spots at the end of the campaign.
"Last week, before the Crystal Palace game, I said what my hopes and targets were, at the end of December, to be in that position," he said.
"The target changed but let's try to close the distance as best as we can and be very close to these positions. We need some players to perform better than they are. We need to perform better as a team, but it would be far from a miracle," said Mourinho.
Mourinho agrees that seventh place is not good enough for a club of United's stature. He also agreed it was unacceptable to be below Everton in the standings.
"I can agree, in spite of the fact that the investment Everton made was phenomenal and obviously there was a great improvement in that team from last season in relation to this," he said, adding, "but I don't think Everton will be in front of Manchester United at the end of the season. There are six teams that should stay in the first six positions, season after season two of these teams are finishing outside the top four."
"For example, last season it was Arsenal and Chelsea. And this season two of these six are going to stay outside," said Mourinho.
Mourinho suggested Arsenal's good league form may have been aided by manager Unai Emery resting a number of his senior players for their Europa League matches.
"It will be a very difficult match for us because we are going to play against a good team in a good moment without having faced a backlog of matches because they are playing in the Europa League," said Mourinho.
"When you play in the Europa League, you normally play with second choices and give good rest to the players," he added.
| 2019-04-21T10:25:47 |
https://www.firstpost.com/sports/premier-league-manchester-united-manager-jose-mourinho-admits-reaching-top-four-in-december-is-unlikely-5670821.html
|
0.999913 |
How to get the run ID of tasks activated in a workflow?
In order to do some automated analysis/external reporting of our plans I need to read some information about various objects inside workflows that have already completed (start time, end time, etc).
I can get the runID of the most recent execution of the workflow but I'm stuck on how to read any of the tasks it activates. Actually, this is really simplifying things- in the end I'll need to go about 3 levels down (workflows activating workflows activating jobs).
Anyone have experience coaxing this information out of UC4's statistics with scripting?
the activation report of the main workflow shows the run# of child tasks. Unfortunately only 1 level and not going down sub workflows.
| 2019-04-20T12:46:35 |
https://communities.ca.com/thread/241796553
|
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