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Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Yahoo!: Yes, Real Life Vampires, Werewolves, and Zombies Do Exist! (life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, clinical psychologist, psychiatrist, quezon city, manila, philippines)
A psychiatrist's face-to-face encounter with the 'undead'
By Dr. Randy Dellosa, Your Online Shrink | Yahoo SHE – Mon, Oct 28, 2013 9:35 AM PHT
Vampires, werewolves, and zombies are known to be mythical characters and most people get to see them only on two occasions: in the movies or in costume parties on Halloween.
Psychiatrists like me however get the real deal- a face-to-face encounter with these “creatures” in the clinic. Yes, true-to-life vampires, werewolves, and zombies do exist and they actually consult psychiatrists!
Real life vampires are people with the psychiatric condition known as Renfield Syndrome or Clinical Vampirism. Renfield Syndrome refers to the obsessive desire to taste or drink blood. Some people with Renfield Syndrome believe that they strengthen their “life force” by consuming blood.
The few vampires I’ve met are adolescent or young adult “self-cutters” who lap up their own blood after cutting themselves. For some of these vampires, the act of lapping up or drinking blood is done with an intimate partner and is associated with sexual arousal.
In extreme cases, real life vampires are known to level up in their vampiric activities. From self-cutting, they advance to more complicated acts such as acquiring blood from butchers and blood banks, engaging in vampiric rituals, or committing hideous crimes which involve the murder of animals and even human beings for their blood.
Some psychologists in fact have raised serious concern on how modern vampire movies glamorize vampirism thus influencing adolescents to join dangerous “vampire cults.”
Real life werewolves are people afflicted with the psychiatric disorder known as Clinical Lycanthropy. “Lycanthrope” is the greek word for “wolf-man” and lycanthropy refers to the delusional belief that one has become a wolf or can transform into a wolf. Real life werewolves expectedly behave as wolves do and commonly howl at the moon, particularly when it is full. A popular example of a person with Clinical Lycanthropy is King Nebuchadnezzar of the Bible who lost his mind and lived in the wilds, behaving like an animal. Lycanthropy is usually a manifestation of schizophrenia.
As for real life zombies, they are people who suffer from Cotard’s Syndrome or the Walking Corpse Syndrome. People with Cotard’s Syndrome have the delusional belief that they are already dead, or decaying, or have lost their internal organs. One real life zombie patient of mine, for instance, had the belief that he didn’t have any organs inside him and therefore had a hollow body. Cotard’s Syndrome may be caused by schizophrenia, neurological disorders, and surprisingly, the antiviral medication called Acyclovir.
Vampires, werewolves, or zombies on the celluloid screen are mercilessly annihilated through silver bullets, stakes driven through their heart, or through exhumation.
Clinical vampires, werewolves, and zombies, on the other hand, are real life human beings who need compassionate understanding and psychiatric treatment in the forms of medication and psychotherapy.
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Hal9000Time for another new experiment here at RetroPhaseShift. I’m going to take a whack at disassembling some of the overly common tropes in sci-fi (or dare I say it–cliches). For our first entry, we’re going to go with the crazy robot/AI trope, looking at where it came from, how it has effected the genre in the time since, and possibly even its effects on the real world. Let’s get into the teardown, shall we?
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Weddings, Baptisms, Funerals: Organising Family Events For The Reluctant Planner
Texting May Be Affecting the Development of Deep Relationships
Are young people losing the ability to communicate properly and to build real relationships because they choose to text rather than to actually chat live on the phone? Texting is exceeding live phone chatting Teenagers and young adults choose to send text messages over making a phone call. The most common and obvious reason for this is economic: to send an sms is cheaper than making a phone call. It can also be more efficient and direct. Read More
Baby on Board- Car Seat Fitting For the New Parent
As a proud new parent, one of the dilemmas you might constantly have to encounter is baby or toddler car seat fitting. Parents who own cars, or want to move around with their baby in a personal car, often struggle with this part of the journey. You want your baby to be both comfortable and safe through the journey. It is, therefore, important to carefully think about car seat fitting when buying baby car seats. Read More
4 Ways To Trim Funeral Costs
A funeral is often thought of as a lavish affair, as family and friends want to pay their respects to the deceased in the best way possible. While it's good to show your respect to those who have passed on, it's also good to avoid overpaying on certain items that are involved with a funeral. Many people today are also preplanning their own funerals to help their families avoid this job and to help pay down their assets as they get older so they can qualify for certain government programs. Read More
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Sniffing the Lutron radio
How does the Wink Hub do what it does? What's stored in the database? What does the aprond daemon do? what does aprontest communicate with? What is the ultimate question?
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2015 7:58 pm
Re: Sniffing the Lutron radio
Postby BotoTheClown » Mon Oct 05, 2015 7:32 pm
Never mind. It's working just fine.
Turns out pressing the reset button on the Wink hub to reboot isn't as graceful as issuing a reset command! Doh!
My Pico is now controlling multiple lights through OpenHAB. It's beautiful!
I'm heading to the store and will get a bunch more of these Picos!
Thanks again for sharing your work. lutron-spy is working perfectly on my hub now!
Return to “How does it work?”
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The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber
In the E-Myth, Michael Gerber takes some of the mystery out of starting your own business and shows how some common misconceptions can get in the way of running a business. From Conception to Adolescence to Stable Maturity, Gerber steps the reader through strategies and pitfalls of entrepreneurship. He presents in very clear terms the difference between "Working On Your Business" and "Working In Your Business" and why BOTH principals are necessary to be really successful in reaching your vision.
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Departing from the belief that any person, regardless of his/her gender, ethnic, religious or other social affiliation, can opt for a radical act in public, in video installation Handicraft the process preceding this decision is analyzed through the simulation of its infinite delay. The constant repetition of creation and destruction of the object, which summarizes the historical, social and media constructed perception of terrorism, indicates the impact of the symbolic on the individual. The process of patient knitting and persistent tearing of the mask is, therefore, nothing but a constant interweaving of acceptance and rejections of both, roles and beliefs that are socially and politically imposed on the individual when dealing with the decision to radically act in public. Playing with the expectations and meanings associated with the figure of a well-known terrorist with the balaclava over the face, the Handicraft video installation transfers the uncertainty and doubt in relation to the decision process to the observer as well. Much like to young woman in the video is unable to perform her work to the end, so the spectator can’t entirely justify the semantics behind the image represented to him/her.
Excerpt from the text “Behind the Iconography of Terrorism and Violence in Video Works by Saša Tkačenko”
by Ana Bogdanović, published in: Manual Work (exhib. cat.), Remont, Belgrade 2012.
2-channel video installation, color, sound, 2’ 30” looped
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Create your own at Storyboard That Can you buy my hair? I at least can give you $20. Here's the chain you wanted. Thanks! Here's the money. Nice! Now I have a preasent for Jim. I only have a doller and 97 cents. I can't really but anything. Oh my. I don't have enough money for Della . Jim? Why are you looking at me like that? I'm still the girl you love, but with shorter hair. I'll show you why I'm looking at you like that I sold my watch to buy you that comb. Now, lets put ower preasents away. No madder how short your hair is, i will always love you. Della went to a woment that sold wigs to try to sell her hair Della had sold her hair for Jim. Jim sold his watch for della, but neather of them could use them. When Dell was walking home she saw a chain that would go perfect with Jim's golden watch. Once, there was a couple. a very poor couple. Christmas was comimg up. They each wanted to give eachother a gift.
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Oregon State UniversitySpecial Collections & Archives Research Center
Pauling Chronology
Page 19
Increasing Involvement in World Peace, Part 1 (1955-1958)
The Paulings travel to India, where they have dinner with Nehru and visit a number of institutions, where Pauling gives talks. During their stay in Japan (February 21 to March 11), the Paulings visit Tokyo University, Kyoto University, Osaka University, and a number of industrial plants. In Tokyo and Kyoto, Pauling gives public lectures, which are translated into Japanese, on the hemoglobin molecule in health and disease. He finds the caliber of the scientific and technical people in Japan "very high" and the quality of the work being done "excellent." He is told by an advisor to the Imperial Family that one of the Emperor’s sons is interested in chemistry and that he and the Emperor wish to speak with him, but the State Department of the United States succeeds in preventing him from being given this audience with the Emperor, since, in their official view, "there would be adverse repercussions."
On July 9, Bertrand Russell reads what comes to be known as the Russell-Einstein Manifesto at a press conference in London. Pauling’s name appears with a distinguished list of scientists at the end of the manifesto, which urges the governments of the world to realize that their purposes cannot be furthered by war. Consequently, the manifesto entreats governments to find peaceful means for the settlement of all disputes between them. The manifesto appears in many newspapers and magazines throughout the world.
On July 15, Pauling and over fifty other Nobel laureates issue the Mainau Declaration, which calls for an end to all war, especially nuclear war.
Pauling, Corey, and Marsh publish their paper on the structure of silk fibroin.
In November, Pauling appears before the Subcommittee on the Constitutional Rights of the Committee on the Judiciary of the United States Senate. He testifies that he is not and has never been a Communist, open or concealed. He adds: "I am not even a theoretical Marxist." The hearing goes on to deal with his difficulties with R.B. Shipley, the chief of the Passport Division of the U.S. State Department.
Pauling, Corey, and Marsh publish a paper in Acta Crystallographica on the structure of Tussah silk (commonly called wild silk) fibroin.
Linus Pauling, 1957.
Linus Pauling, 1957.
LP Safe, 4.089
Both Crellin Pauling and Peter Jeffress Pauling marry in 1956.
Walter Barclay Ray gets his Ph.D. from CIT. Although he is in the Division of Geologic Sciences, his dissertation, a crystal-structure determination of zunyite, is carried out under Pauling’s direction (he will later become Pauling’s son-in-law).
In August, Pauling receives the Amadeo Avogadro Medal in Rome. He gives a speech on Avogadro in Italian (an Italian chemist in Urbana, Illinois had translated it from English into Italian for him).
Pauling purchases a ranch of 165 acres on the seacoast, about 20 miles north of San Simeon. He intends to use the ranch as a retreat.
In the late fall, Pauling visits the site of his ranch on the Big Sur coast, and he invites Barclay Ray and his daughter Linda along. Barclay and Linda become good friends (which is probably what Pauling had intended).
In October, the Ford Foundation gives a five-year $450,000 grant to CIT and Pauling. Pauling has a team of scientists who have started exploring the molecular chemistry of mental disease. Pauling believes that many cases of mental deficiency are most likely the result of gene-controlled mental abnormalities.
In November, Pauling votes for Adlai Stevenson to be President of the United States, but Stevenson is again defeated by Eisenhower.
Pauling and Corey publish a paper on the specific hydrogen-bond formation between pyrimidines and purines in DNA.
On May 15, Pauling speaks to students at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, where he states that no human being should be sacrificed to any nation’s program of perfecting nuclear weapons. Because of the enthusiastic response to his speech, he composes an appeal to end the atomic-bomb tests, which is promptly signed by over a hundred (nearly all) of the members of the science departments at Washington University. The appeal, which then begins to be widely circulated, is signed, first, by more than 2,000 American scientists, and then by more than 8,000 foreign scientists from 49 different countries.
Linus and Ava Helen Pauling working on the United Nations bomb test petition, 1957.
LP Photographs, 1957i.32
During the summer, Linus and Ava Helen Pauling spend three months in Europe. He attends the International Congress of Pure and Applied Chemistry in Paris in July, and he and his wife then travel to England, Germany, and Norway. They spend a week in Yugoslavia, where Pauling participates in an international chemical congress on the structure of molecules. The last stop on their travels is the Soviet Union, which they visit for the first time. Russia reminds Pauling of Eastern Oregon, and the Russian people seem to him like Western Americans.
In September, Barclay Ray, Assistant Professor of Geology at CIT, marries Linda Pauling in Pasadena. They honeymoon at the Pauling ranch on the Big Sur coast.
On January 15, Linus and Ava Helen Pauling present the petition to halt bomb tests, plus a list of over nine thousand signers, to Dag Hammarskjöld at the United Nations. Pauling later sends by mail an additional list of about two thousand signers whose signatures reach him after the presentation of the petition (so the total number of scientists who sign becomes 11,021).
In February, Pauling debates the fallout issue and disarmament with Edward Teller on educational television station KQED in San Francisco.
Pauling attends the Second Pugwash Conference at Lac Beauport, Québec from March 31 to April 11.
In April, Pauling and seventeen other persons, including Norman Thomas and Bertrand Russell, bring a lawsuit against the United States Defense Department and the Atomic Energy Commission to stop nuclear tests. They announce similar suits will be filed in Great Britain and the Soviet Union.
On May 11, Pauling appears on "Meet the Press," a popular television program in which reporters question people in the news. The program takes place on Mother’s Day, and Pauling tries to make the point that the testing of nuclear bombs is causing ten thousand children to be born with genetic defects every year, but the journalists keep trying to pin the label of Communist affiliation on him. Ava Helen Pauling is deeply angered by the shoddy treatment her husband receives at the hands of the moderator, Lawrence Spivak, and the panel of reporters. Others write letters that protest the insinuations made by an obviously hostile group of journalists.
Linus Pauling publishes No More War!, a passionate analysis of the implications of nuclear war for humanity.
During the summer, Pauling presents a copy of No More War! to every United States Senator.
On June 21, Pauling is elected to the Soviet Academy of Sciences.
Linus and Ava Helen Pauling attend the Third Pugwash Conference in Kitzbühel and Vienna, Austria in September. It has three times as many participants as the first two conferences.
In November, Pauling publishes a paper on the genetic and somatic effects of carbon-14. In this influential paper, he estimates the effect of one year of bomb tests on the next generation.
Table of Contents
1. The Ancestry of Linus Pauling (The Paulings)
2. The Ancestry of Linus Pauling (The Darlings)
3. Linus Pauling's Childhood (1901-1910)
4. Linus Pauling's Adolescence (1910-1917)
5. Pauling's Years as an Undergraduate at Oregon Agricultural College, Part 1 (1917-1919)
6. Pauling's Years as an Undergraduate at Oregon Agricultural College, Part 2 (1919-1922)
7. Linus Pauling as a Graduate and Postdoctoral Student at the California Institute of Technology, Part 1 (1922-1923)
8. Linus Pauling as a Graduate and Postdoctoral Student at the California Institute of Technology, Part 2 (1924-1926)
9. A Guggenheim Fellow in Europe during the Golden Years of Physics (1926-1927)
10. Early Career at the California Institute of Technology (1927-1930)
11. Pauling's Great Years of Achievement in Structural Chemistry, Part 1 (1931-1932)
12. Pauling's Great Years of Achievement in Structural Chemistry, Part 2 (1933-1935)
13. Pauling's Increasing Involvement in Molecular Biology (1936-1939)
14. The War Years, Part 1 (1940-1942)
15. The War Years, Part 2 (1943-1945)
16. The Postwar Years, Part 1 (1946-1947)
17. The Postwar Years, Part 2 (1948-1949)
18. Proteins, Passports, and the Prize (1950-1954)
19. Increasing Involvement in World Peace, Part 1 (1955-1958)
20. Increasing Involvement in World Peace, Part 2 (1959-1963)
21. The Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions (1964-1967)
22. The University of California, San Diego (1968-1969)
23. Stanford University (1969-1972)
24. An Institute for Science and Orthomolecular Medicine, Part 1 (1973-1977)
25. An Institute for Science and Orthomolecular Medicine, Part 2 (1978-1981)
26. The Years Alone: Pauling after the Death of Ava Helen, Part 1 (1982-1988)
27. The Years Alone: Pauling after the Death of Ava Helen, Part 2 (1989-1994)
28. About the Author
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The Fact About Seizures Marijuana Therapy That No One Is Suggesting
Dronabinol has also been discovered that will help boost foods consumption and forestall weightloss in sufferers with HIV. In experiments of cancer people, though, it wasn’t better than placebo or An additional drug (megestrol acetate).
A few research have found that inhaled (smoked or vaporized) marijuana may be useful treatment of neuropathic agony (pain caused by destroyed nerves).
If patients are weary of the adverse consequences associated with THC, Most likely pure CBD extracts could well be a fantastic treatment alternative.
“That is just the initial step. This open up label research discovered that CBD both reduces the frequency of seizures and it has an adequate basic safety profile in little ones and young Grownups.”
Endocannabinoid-mediated modulation of strain responses: Physiological and pathophysiological significance
But for somewhat girl named Charlotte Figi, the strain was a miracle. Figi experienced from the uncommon situation referred to as Dravet Syndrome, which triggered upwards of three hundred seizures each week.
More lately, researchers claimed that THC together with other cannabinoids including CBD slow development and/or induce Demise in specified different types of most cancers cells increasing in lab dishes. Some animal reports also suggest particular cannabinoids may perhaps sluggish expansion and decrease unfold of some forms of most cancers.
We understand that humans have cannabinoid receptors housed In the system which are all set to bind with cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant to offer therapeutic Positive aspects for several different ailments. The truth is, cannabinoid receptors are current in people right before start along with the compounds on their own are even found in click here now a mom’s breast milk.
Clinical usage of marijuana was very likely released to Western drugs by Dr. William read this article O’Shaughnessy from the 1800s. The Irish health practitioner documented many of its medicinal Houses within an write-up printed in 1843.
Epilepsy is often a neurological dysfunction the place deviant nerves intermittently disrupt Handle signals to the muscles, triggering seizures and / or aberrant conduct. Seizures, like earthquakes selection in strength, from freezing to get a few seconds, to twitching spasms, to enormous convulsions that could potentially cause unconsciousness.
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The pharmacologic and biochemical attributes of cannabinoids make them candidates for antiseizure medicines. At this time, anecdotes have outstripped controlled scientific trials as resources of help for their clinical worth.
It has started to become additional obvious that Charlotte’s Web is actually a medicine able to executing wonderful points so why isn’t it commonly out there?
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Episode 013: Q&A 4: Goal setting with older kids and limited time, finding job security for yourself, and making your own time.
In Episode 13, I answer questions from episodes 11 and 12. We cover a bit more about goal setting in particular situations with your children, how being self-employed actually offers more job security than the standard alternative, and my secret to opening up my time while running a business.
Goal setting with older kids or kids you only see part-time.
Older kids are more influenced by peer groups and hormonal changes, and they start to want privacy, but knowing what they’re interested in and what they want to accomplish can help anyone at any age. As for kids you only see part time, focus more on building a solid relationship and the rest will follow.
Why being self employed has more job security.
I’ll cover this more in a later episode, but the gist of it is this: you make your own decisions and grow your business as quickly or as slowly as you want. You’re not limited by a corporate ladder.
My secret to finding more time as a self employed parent.
Three things: choose ventures that open your time, work with amazing people, and recognize the difference between having more time and having flexible time.
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FaceBase 2
Grant title
The Ontology of Craniofacial Development and Malformation
Identifying number
UO1 DE24417
Short description
FaceBase 2 funding for OCDM
Starting year
Ending year
The purpose of the national FaceBase consortium is to systemically acquire and integrate multiple forms of data in order to facilitate a systems level understanding of the causes and possible treatments for craniofacial abnormalities. A basic component of any such data integration effort is a controlled set of terms or keywords that can be associated with the data through data annotation, so that diverse data can be related via common terms. If in addition, the terms are related to each other in an ontology, then integration can occur at the level of meaning rather than simply via keywords.
As part of FaceBase1 we designed and partially implemented the Ontology of Craniofacial Development and Malformation (OCDM), based on our Foundational Model of Anatomy ontology (FMA). The OCDM currently consists of components for representing human and mouse adult and developmental anatomy and malformations, as well as mappings between homologous structures in the two organisms. Since the focus of FaceBase1 was cleft lip and palate the initial focus of the ontology was representation of structures and developmental relations relevant to these conditions in mouse and human.
In our proposed work we will greatly extend the OCDM to accommodate conditions of interest to FaceBase2 researchers, such as human and mouse facial, palatal, and cranial vault development, and dysmorphology such as craniosynostosis, midface hypoplasia, frontonasal dysplasia, craniofacial microsomia and microtia. These malformations will require extensive structural and developmental representation of the entire musculoskeletal system of the head, as well as associated soft tissue anatomy that includes the integumentary system, deep fascial system, viscerocranial mucosa, adipose tissue, eyes, ears, tongue, vasculature and neural network. In addition we will incorporate and add relations to the Zfin ontology to reflect the inclusion of zebrafish in FaceBase2.
Versions of the OCDM will be released to the FaceBase Hub in OWL 2. By conforming to ontology best practices such as OWL 2 the OCDM will be interoperable with other efforts that are contributing to the overall world wide semantic web of linked data and knowledge.
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Saturday, May 28, 2005
Grace in the Form of Command
It frequently surprises me how much our current theologies, specifically the theologies of lay people, are structured by 16th century thought. Is dividing law and gospel really still the best way to approach things? It's useful, to be sure, but sometimes I think it cuts us off from seeing (or perhaps just from admitting) things that we should see. What follows is an exploration of a gray area of law and gospel. Or maybe it's not gray at all.
Fortress Press has published a section of Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics under the title The Call to Discipleship. Barth says that he was tempted to just make this section an extended quotation from Bonhoeffer's Discipleship. The influence of Bonhoeffer is quite pronounced, but naturally Barth has some interesting things to say himself.
Barth describes discipleship in terms of what he calls "grace in the form of command." Now this phrase probably sets off all sorts of alarms in the minds of pious Lutherans. We don't want to confuse law and gospel, and this sounds almost like a deliberate attempt to do so. But those who have read Bonhoeffer may be thinking "Aha!" when they hear this.
Jesus commands and it is accomplished on account of his authority. I thought Barth made the following comparison, but now I can't find it. In any case, this is what I got from reading Barth's exposition: we may draw a comparison between Jesus' call to discipleship, and God's calling the world into existence. God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. Nobody will accuse the universe of syncretism on this account. Now listen. Jesus said, "Follow me," and Levi followed.
Jesus' call to follow him, though it has every look of law about it, is nothing less than the grace of salvation, accomplishing what it commands.
But there is, of course, a problem here. When God said, "Let there be light," there doesn't seem to be any hint of a possibility that light would not come forth. This is apparently not so with Christ's call to discipleship. "Disobedience to the command of Jesus," Barth says, "is a phenomenon that is absolutely terrifying in its impossibility."
Now I'm not sure what Barth means by using "impossibility" here. Perhaps he means that it seems as though it should be impossible. But experience tells us otherwise, and Barth here is commenting on Jesus' interaction with the rich young ruler which prompts the disciples to ask, "Who then can be saved?"
Barth later says, "The command given is recognizable as the command of Jesus by the fact that it is quite unambiguous. It is required to be fulfilled only as it is given--and one's reception or non-reception of salvation depends upon whether this is done or not."
Now tell me that doesn't set of your works-righteousness tripwires. But I am certain that there is something very important here. I've recently come across this exact same sentiment in the writings of George Macdonald, and Bonhoeffer points in this same direction. God acting in our lives calls us in a certain direction and for definite reason. If our lives never change, then we may seriously ask in what sense we are saved.
Update: It occurred to me this morning that Barth probably really did mean "impossiblity" literally, and this is likely the "I" in TULIP (irresistable grace). So perhaps it's not just lay people who are overly influenced by Reformation era theology. I (as a Lutheran) would still maintain that the terrible reality is that somehow we can resist the grace of God.
1 comment:
LutheranChik said...
Over on Beliefnet we've been talking about "Christians by default" and how to encourage them in discipleship (well, actually, I've been talking about that...most of the responses have been from people in the "I'm saved; they're not; neener-neener-neener" school).
Based on my own experience...I lean more toward the idea that we can resist the Spirit's call to "do something"; which is indeed a frightening prospect. But I think the call is still there; we're just tuning it out, doing the mental and spiritual equivalent of "la-la-la; not listening; la-la-la" when the voice is speaking to us. When I went AWOL from religion -- and became a pretty self-absorbed, inward-turned person -- I really think that's what I was doing.
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Welcome to our home port! We're glad you're here. Even though you might choose "any port in a storm", we hope you'll come to the SchwanPort to share good times with us. Most likely you're part of our family, or you're a family friend, and we're proud to have you here.
In a way, this little site is our family brag sheet. We're proud of the family tree that God has grown, and we count our blessings every day for all that He has done for us.
Even though we've had our share of storms, in these pages we'll be sharing our good times together. In a way, that's how our website got its name, SchwanPort. A port is a place where we can seek refuge from the storms of life. Come join us!
Please email us to say you were here.
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Meta Stuff
ICYMI: Frances Allen, Rooster Talkin’, Marriage Traditions, Rape Media, and “Intellectual Snobbery”
Teen Skepchick
Fair Lady of Computer Science Who Kicks Ass
For Women’s History Month, Elisheba gushes about Frances Allen.
The Sexualization of YA Fiction
Olivia argues that young adult fiction, especially with a female protagonist, focuses too much on a narrow array of relationships and a limited view of sexuality.
Poetry and Gender
What is gender’s place in feminism?
Mad Art Lab
Carolynn L Smith and the Astounding Richness of Animal Communication
Dale tells the story of the woman who discovered a vast array of methods of animal communication.
The Things We Do with Our Eggs; Reproductive Health and Genetic Engineering
Elizabeth explains the science behind IVF and why all the moral hand-wringing is inappropriate.
From Sailor Mercury to Twilight Sparkle: The Top Nine Cartoon Girl Scientists
Here are some of the best girl scientists in cartoons.
Introduction to Pseudoscience: Homeopathy (en español)
Elara finds that there area still tons of people who don’t know homeopathy doesn’t work.
Traditions and Marriage: Sell the Ripest Fruit First (en español)
Lulú tells the story of Hungarian sisters who never married because tradition didn’t let the youngest sister marry before the older one.
Why I don’t Watch Rape Media
Wolsey explains why he steers clear of media that depicts rape.
School of Doubt
Pop Quiz: Woo Hoo!! Spring Break!!
JoDee is skeptical of the necessity of Spring Break.
I’ve Got Your “Intellectual Snobbery” Right Here
DrShell is tired of articles that call atheism elitist without any regard for truth values.
Pop Quiz: Infamy, Hagiography, and Resistance
Dan discusses the reception of artists and other creative people who worked within totalitarian political systems.
Featured image credit: Jim Bahn via Flickr
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1. I just want to throw it out there that “intellectual snobbery” is a thing. It’s kind of a complex phenomenon. I believe it’s very closely related to class snobbery, given that people who attend/graduate from college are either already in a higher social class or actively attempting to join it. There also seems to be an element of urban/rural divide, and some intra-class competition, in which people in the upper class competing with one another to see who can be the biggest snob.
I’ve seen no evidence that it’s primarily about atheism, although atheism gets caught up in it for the reasons DrShell gives. From my perspective, it’s mainly about people who are highly educated (more likely to be atheists) being jerks to/about people who are less educated (more likely to be theists).
I don’t think it does atheists and/or highly educated people any favors to pretend this is not a thing.
2. On intellectual snobbery, the really bad part is, IRL it’s the people who are uniquely unqualified who think they know everything. The more you know, the more you realize you don’t know.
On homeopathy, it helps that most people think of homeopathy as ‘herbal medications’, where the appropriate chemical can be isolated, measured out, and studied. They don’t think of it as ‘like cures like’ or dilution to the point of delusion. Actually, most alt meds appeal more to people who have no idea what they are. It’s like how $cientology tries to clamp down on anyone who mentions Xenu.
On cartoon scientists, I just love that Johnny’s sisters are named Mary and Susan, but Gil is ambiguously gay for Johnny. Is this some sort of way of letting us know they know fanfiction exists?
On rape in fiction, I haven’t seen SVU in years, mostly because it’s difficult to imagine the same cops working sex crimes and crimes against children for so many years.
I will say that End of Evangelion has Shinji masturbating over a comatose Asuka. (Eva has made many a straight male anime fan into a…what do you call a male fujoshi anyway? All the straight ships involve either incest, one partner being way too old for the other, or this.)
Spoilers from A Song of Ice and Fire beyond this point.
The Game of Thrones fandom is worse than the franchise itself. There are people on Tumblr who ship various permutations of Ramsay/Theon/Jeyne. Think about that. This in spite of Ramsay being a serial killer who makes us feel sympathy for the child murderer. One of these days I’ll count all the rapes in the books (It’s not one every chapter in A Feast for Crows, just because only two couples have sex in the Sam chapters.), but it’s important to remember, Biter and Septon Utt are the more sympathetic Bloody Mummers, and they’re a cannibal and a pedophile priest. (Well, septon…) That’s not because they’re nice people; it’s because their fellow Brave Companions are far worse.
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Monday, January 25, 2010
Why You Make Me Hitchoo, Girl?
I keep coming back to Izzy, the senior film for our class in the animation program at BYU. It's like an abusive boyfriend--I know it will just keep hurting me if I go back to it, but I can't help but come back because I'm still in love. Foolishly in love.
These are some potential extras for the intro sequence of the film. The ideas continue to grow more ridiculous and less usable (baby on a flamingo, anyone?). But the fun-factor is through the roof (for me at least).
Thanks for letting me get away with some of this stuff, Sean.
Because We Can
Just finished one cartoon movie--gearing up to start another one. Bet you can't guess what it's about...
Trying to figure out a look for our winged friends.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
There was supposed to be some kind of rest period...
So, the big news is: I finished making a cartoon movie (sketch above, totally unrelated). I actually finished it a little while ago, but have been pretty busy submitting it to a number of festivals so I haven't had so much time to blog about it.
Customarily, here is where you might see me post a link to the short, but apparently lots of festivals don't like it when you make your cartoon a free online viewing experience for mass audiences. So I won't actually be able to post it until after it makes its run through the festivals.
However, I'll try to post about when and where it will be playing in case anyone is feeling adventurous and wants to see it on the big screen. For people living in Utah, if you're free this weekend, Mashed (that's the title) will be playing in the LDS Film Festival in Orem, UT on Saturday the 23rd, in a line up of other shorts starting at 5:00 pm. Ticketing info HERE.
Also, as this is my last semester of school, I'm currently putting a portfolio together. What I thought was going to be a pretty relaxed semester is turning out to be down right crazy. Rest period = officially over. Apparently you're supposed to get a job when you're done with school.
Anyway, here are some recent doodles from my sketchbook. Sorry I haven't posted in so long--I'll try and be better about that. (Below: crazy Santa, also unrelated to my cartoon movie.)
(The sad part about this is that it's not even a late sketch from Christmastime--I drew this last week in class--call it a nervous tick...I draw Santas...kind of incessantly. Some people can't quit smoking; I can't quit drawing the jolly Brother Kringle.)
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Staywell Custom Communications Health Portal
Gastric Polyps
What are gastric polyps?
Gastric polyps are abnormal growths on the inner lining of your stomach. Most are harmless and don’t cause symptoms. But some of them turn into cancer.
Your stomach is the organ that receives chewed-up food. The stomach contains acid. It kills many of the bacteria in swallowed food. It also contains juices that aid in digestion. The innermost layer of the stomach has a lining of cells called the epithelium. Most gastric polyps come from an abnormal growth of cells in a section of the epithelium.
Gastric polyps are not cancerous. But some may turn into cancer. There are many types of gastric polyps. They happen for different reasons. Some have little or no risk of becoming cancer. Others have a higher risk of turning into cancer.
Abnormal tissue growth is called dysplasia. Gastric polyps with dysplasia are the ones most likely to turn into cancer.
In the U.S., fundic gland polyps are the most common type of gastric polyp. The second most common are hyperplastic polyps. Hyperplastic polyps are common in places that have a higher rate of H. pylori infections. Gastric polyps are more common in older adults.
What causes gastric polyps?
Gastric polyps can happen for different reasons. Anything that causes your stomach cells to grow abnormally can lead to this problem. Some of the causes of gastric polyps include:
• Chronic inflammatory stomach issues
• H. pylori infection
• Pernicious anemia
• Stomach erosion. This can happen from an ulcer.
• Using proton-pump inhibitor medicines. These include omeprazole.
Some of these causes may increase your risk for certain types of gastric polyps, but not others. For instance, an H. pylori infection raises your risk for hyperplastic polyps. Proton-pump inhibitor medicines may increase your risk for fundic gland polyps.
Genetics also play a role. You may also have a higher risk of gastric polyps if they run in your family.
What are the symptoms of gastric polyps?
Most gastric polyps don’t cause any symptoms. Most people learn they have a gastric polyp after having a test for another reason. This test is called an upper endoscopy. In this test, a thin tube with a tiny camera looks into your stomach.
Your chance of symptoms depends on the type of polyp you have. Larger polyps may be more likely to cause the following symptoms:
• Stomach pain
• Vomiting
• Symptoms from a polyp that has broken open (ulcerated). These may include bleeding in the stomach and anemia.
• Symptoms from stomach blockage. These may include weight loss or intense vomiting.
Gastric polyps that become cancer may cause other symptoms.
How are gastric polyps diagnosed?
Most gastric polyps are diagnosed during an upper endoscopy.
To diagnose the type of polyp, your healthcare provider will do a biopsy. In a biopsy, you will have a sample of the gastric polyp and nearby tissue taken out. This happens during an endoscopy. A specialist then looks at the sample under a microscope and can then diagnose the type of polyp you have. Your healthcare provider may also ask about your health history and give you an exam. This can sometimes give helpful clues about the type of polyp.
In some cases, cancerous growths look like gastric polyps on an upper endoscopy. Because of this, some people who are told they have a gastric polyp at first may actually have cancer.
How are gastric polyps treated?
Treatment for gastric polyps varies. Your treatment may depend on:
• Polyp type
• Polyp size
• Polyp shape
• Polyp location
• How many polyps you have
• Your symptoms
• Your other risk factors for stomach cancer. These include your age and smoking history.
A fundic gland polyp has only a small chance of becoming cancer. At first, your healthcare provider will biopsy the polyp. Then a specialist can check for early signs that the polyp might become cancer. He or she will look for signs of dysplasia.
If the polyp doesn’t look like it may become cancer, you may not need any treatment. If you have a dysplastic polyp, you will likely have it removed. If you have a very large polyp, you also may need to have it taken out.
If you have another type of gastric polyp, such as a hyperplastic polyp, your treatment may be different. This type of polyp carries a higher risk for cancer. Again, your healthcare provider will want to biopsy the polyp and check for signs of cancer. You will likely need to have very large or dysplastic polyps removed. Even if your polyps don’t look dysplastic, your doctor may watch them. You may need to have more endoscopies.
If you have a carcinoid polyp (neuroendocrine), your treatment may include watching it or removing it. Your healthcare provider may remove it using endoscopy or surgery.
Adenomatous polyps have a high risk of turning into cancer. Because of this, your healthcare provider will likely want to remove them.
Your healthcare provider will remove any growth that becomes cancer. He or she will also take out any type of polyp with dysplasia. If the dysplasia or cancer has spread into nearby tissue, your healthcare provider may remove part of that tissue as well. Depending on how much it has spread, you may have this done through an endoscopy. Or you may need surgery to remove part of your stomach. Your healthcare provider will also likely remove any polyps that cause symptoms.
What are the complications of gastric polyps?
The main complication of gastric polyps is stomach cancer. The following is a list of some of the main types of gastric polyps and their cancer risk.
Type of gastric polyp
Risk of turning into cancer
Fundic gland polyps
Hyperplastic polyps
Low, but higher in polyps with certain characteristics
Adenomatous polyps
Inflammatory fibroid polyps
Very low
Gastroneuroendocrine tumor polyps
Depends on the type
Gastrointestinal stromal tumor polyps
Leiomyoma polyps
If you have multiple gastric polyps, this can also cause problems. For instance, familial adenomatous polyposis is a genetic condition. It causes polyps to grow all along your digestive tract. This leads to a very high risk for colon cancer.
Having your polyps removed can also cause complications. These include bleeding.
Can gastric polyps be prevented?
You may be able to lower your risk for new gastric polyps. For instance, your healthcare provider may tell you to stop using proton-pump inhibitor medicines if you have fundic polyps. You may be able to reduce your risk for hyperplastic polyps if you take an antibiotic for an H. pylori infection.
To lower your risk for problems from gastric polyps, see your healthcare provider as often as he or she suggests. Follow the care plan that he or she prescribes.
When should I call my healthcare provider?
Call your healthcare provider if you have any symptoms that could be from a gastric polyp. These may include stomach pain or blood in your stool.
Key points about gastric polyps
• Gastric polyps are abnormal growths on the lining of your stomach. Most are harmless and don’t cause symptoms. But some may turn into cancer.
• There are several types of gastric polyps. Your risk of cancer depends on the type of polyp you have.
• Your healthcare provider will likely do a biopsy of your polyp. This is done during an upper endoscopy. This can tell what type of polyp you have.
• Your treatment depends on the size, location, appearance, and type of polyp you have. If you have dysplastic polyps or cancerous growths, your healthcare provider will remove them.
• Your healthcare provider may do follow-up testing to check on your polyps.
Next steps
• Before your visit, write down questions you want answered.
• Ask if your condition can be treated in other ways.
Online Medical Reviewer: Lehrer, Jenifer, MD
Online Medical Reviewer: Sather, Rita, RN
Last Review Date: 5/1/2018
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I am always curious about what products people use for their hair. My hair is a strange breed. I am mixed so upon first look, my hair appears to be….hmmm what’s a PC way to say this……white girl hair? Not sure if that is PC but PC is over rated so I will continue. My hair is actually course and curly and frizzy. The more you mess with it, the crazier it becomes. When we lived in Kentucky, I would […]
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Tuesday, June 13, 2017
June 11, 2017
Trinity Sunday
Sometimes, we are exposed to various things and or have used them for years, but never really know why we do or what they really are. One lady had a collection of vintage kitchen utensils which included one whose purpose was always a mystery. It looks like a cross between a metal slotted spoon and a spatula, so she used it as both. When it was not in use, it was prominently displayed in a decorative utensil caddy in her kitchen. The mystery of the spoon/spatula was recently resolved for her when she went to a rummage sale and saw another one in its original packaging. It was a pooper-scooper.
Today I thought I would focus on some biblical original packaging or “proofs” of the Trinity. Granted, the word “Trinity” is not in the bible, but neither is “Incarnation” and a few otherwords used to describe Catholic doctrine, but we believe those truths. Even though the word “Trinity” is not in the bible, I wantto show that the doctrine is. So, let’s explore a little. We use the Trinity frequently and even keep Him/Her prominently displayed, but we don’t know where the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity came from.
Some would say that Jesus Christ is not God and that the Holy Spirit is not a person. Other groups believe that Jesus is God, but they believe that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are different modes of the same person.
The Bible teaches that within the nature of the one true God, there exists three separate and distinct persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They are co-equal in nature and co-eternal. The Trinity doctrine is NOT three gods in one. All through the Old Testament and many times in the New, we clearly see there is but one true God; but, nowhere in the Bible does it say that this God that we call the true God, that Christians worship and serve, is just the Father, or a single person known as the Father.
It is difficult to describe the Holy Trinity and no analogy is a perfect example, because the doctrine of the Trinity is a paradox – mystery of faith. However, is one many of you have probably heard – one reasonably good way to illustrate the Trinity doctrine that would be with H2O, which is common water-two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen. You can freeze H2O and you would have water solid, or ice. You can turn on your faucet and you would have the liquid H2O. You can hear the whistle of H2O that comes out of the tea kettle spout which is steam, but it would still be H2O. H2O can and does exist in solid, liquid and gas. The solid is not the liquid; the liquid is not the gas; and yet all three are of one nature: H2O. And that is exactly how it is with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Father is not the Son, the Father is not the Holy Spirit, and Jesus is not the Holy Spirit, yet all three persons are ONE God.
Genesis, chapter 1 verse 26:
"Then [Elohim (Hebrew)God said, ‘Let us [notice that plural pronoun] make man in our [there's a plural word again] image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.'" We see the plural pronoun us and also the plural word ourOur image and ourlikeness.
In the book of Daniel 7:13-14, a plurality in God is again shown.
The New International Version reads, "worshiped him." The King James Version of the Bible states that they served him.The word in the Hebrew is worshiped. They worshiped the one that's called Son of Man. And this is Jesus. So not only is the Ancient of Days worshiped, we see that there is someone else that's separate and distinct from the Ancient of Days, according to these two verses that is likewise worshiped.Therefore, there must be plurality in God. There has to be, because only the True and the Living God of the Bible can be worshiped. To worship anything or anyone else would be idolatry. We must remember that much of the bible was written by devote Jews, who only “worshipped” the One True God.
Deut. 6:4 is a verse that some will bring up to you in their effort to disprove the doctrine of the Trinity, but you can turn the tables on them and show just the opposite. That verse reads:"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God [there's that word Elohim again], the LORD is one."
So, here we find out that Elohim is one. Now this is a very important thing to listen to, because this word one shows compound unity. Echod is the Hebrew word. This word one as used is compound unity. As an example, in Gen. 2:24 there is a verse that certainly most of us are acquainted with: "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh."
There's the compound unity. The same exact thing that Elohimis, compound unity, husband and wife become - “one.
Are all three persons defined in the Trinity doctrine really a person? The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. So, the next thing we need to do is to define exactly what is meant by a person. A person possesses intellectemotion and will. The Father possesses intellect, He possesses emotion and He possesses will. And so does the Son, and so do all of us. And the Holy Spirit, like it or not, is indeed a person as is the Father and the Son.
The Holy Spirit has an intellect. Jn. 14:26 reads: "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."
For someone to teach, they must possess intellect. So if the Holy Spirit teaches, He has an intellect. And it's also shown that the Holy Spirit does teach in other verses as well such as 1 Cor. 2:13 and Neh. 9:20.
The Holy Spirit has emotion. In Rom. 15:30 Paul is writing and he said to the church at Rome: "I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me."
So he referred to the love of the Spirit. Love is an emotion, and the Holy Spirit has love. Therefore, the Holy Spirit has an emotion.
The third and final point that the Holy Spirit is a person is the fact that he has a will. And that's shown in 1 Cor. 12:11: "All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.
So the Holy Spirit has intellect, He has emotion, and He has will, just like the Father and just like the Son. And not only that, there are other indications that the Holy Spirit is indeed a person.
Let me cite a few other facts regarding the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit guides, He speaks and He hears (Jn. 16:13). The Holy Spirit intercedes (Rom. 8:26). The Holy Spirit forbids certain actions (Acts 16:6-7). The Holy Spirit sends into service (Acts 13:4). The Holy Spirit can be grieved (Eph. 4:30). The Holy Spirit may be blasphemed (Mt. 12:31). He can be lied to (Acts 5:3). The Holy Spirit can be insulted or outraged (Heb. 10:29). And the Holy Spirit can be resisted (Acts 7:51). These are all traits of a person. And again, we see from all these verses that the Holy Spirit is indeed a person as is the Father and the Son.
In Acts 13:1, 2: "In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.'" Here we see the personal pronoun I. So this again shows that the Holy Spirit is not merely an active force, but instead a person.
In Acts 5:3, 4 we read this: "Then Peter said, ‘Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.'" Verse 3 says he lied to the Holy Spirit. Verse 4 says he lied to God. Therefore the Holy Spirit must be God.
In Exodus 17:2, 7 we read: "So they quarreled with Moses and said, ‘Give us water to drink.' Moses replied, ‘Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the LORD [that is, Elohim] to the test?' " ... "And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the LORD [that is, Elohim] saying, ‘Is the LORD [or is Elohimamong us or not?' "
In Hebrews 3:9 the Holy Spirit is speaking and says, "where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did." So the Holy Spirit is the one they tested, but Exodus 17 says it was Elohim. So the Holy Spirit must be Elohim.
A second comparison is found in Jeremiah chapter 31:31-34. This is an Old Testament prophecy about the New Covenant, or the New Testament: " ‘The time is coming,' declares the LORD, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,' declares the LORD. ‘This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,' declares the LORD. ‘I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, "Know the LORD," because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,' declares the LORD. ‘For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.' "
This is a prophecy in the Old Testament regarding the covenant that we're now under. Hebrews chapter 10:15-17 is where we need to go now. The Holy Spirit is speaking again: "The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: ‘This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.' Then he adds: ‘Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.' "
1 Corinthians 2:10-11 teach that the Holy Spirit is all-knowing. He knows everything: "but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God."
So how do you go about showing that Jesus is God? In John 20:28, we find out where one of the Apostles called Jesus his Lord and his God. He did not just call Jesus his Lord, but also called Jesus his God. His name was Thomas, one of the original Twelve. Thomas called him God, and believed that Jesus was his God. Now he's a strict monotheistic Jew. He believed in only one God, and yet he thought that Jesus was his God.
Other verses show that Jesus is called God. If you compare Jn. 1:1 with verse 14 of the same chapter, you would find out that Jesus is God. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And verse 14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
In Rev. 1:17-18 Jesus identifies Himself as the Alpha and Omega. He said to John: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades."
In Rev. 22:13. There Jesus said: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End."
The only rational thing to conclude is that the Bible teaches the Trinity doctrine even though the word itself is not found in the Bible.
The Bible teaches that God raised Jesus from the dead (Acts 3:15 and Acts 13:30 and Gal. 1:1). And would you believe that elsewhere in the New Testament, we read that it was the Son who raised himself from the dead (John 2:19-22; 10:17, 18). And finally, it was the Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11). So how could it say the Father raised him, the Son raised himself, and the Holy Spirit raised the Son, unless the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the one true God by nature?
Is there a point in time in the Bible when all three appear individually at once? At Jesus' baptism, Jesus was there. The Holy Spirit in dove form was there. And the Father was there when He spoke from heaven.
You can say, that if the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit all have the same attributes of each other, that if it says that God did it, then the three are the one GodFor example, in Isaiah 44:24, and also in Job 9:8, it says God alone created the universe. But yet we have Isaiah 64:8 that says the Father created. Jn. 1:3, Col. 1:16, Heb. 1:2 and Rev. 3:14 says the Son created. It also says the Holy Spirit created (Job 26:13 and Job 33:4). So you have Father, Son and Holy Spirit all active and participating in the creation.
There you have it; all the bible references you ever wanted to argue with your next door neighbor on. All from the monotheistic Hebrew and Christian Bible.
Let us pray.
Father God, we ask that You help our finite minds to better comprehend Your blessed Trinity. We ask that the preaching and teaching of the Church will bless all with the desire to share in the life of the Blessed Trinity.
Father, You have revealed Your innermost secret – the eternal exchange of Love found in Your three persons, and You have destined each of us to share in that love. We ask that You bless our parish with this love and in so doing, that we may be made a more perfect likeness of the Blessed Trinity.
We further ask that people everywhere will have an unfailing respect for all persons, from conception to death, for we all were created in the image of the Trinity. For those, dear Lord, who do not have faith, we ask that the love of the Blessed Trinity will awaken their minds and give hope to their hearts.
Lastly, grant us each Your grace this week to live each moment consciously united to God in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. We ask all this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
God Love You +++
+ The Most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Universal Catholic Church
San Diego, Ca.
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How Not to Read Lovecraft
by S. T. Joshi
SCOTT CUTLER SHERSHOW and SCOTT MICHAELSEN. The Love of Ruins: Letters on Lovecraft. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2017. xi, 193 pp. $80.00 hc; $22.95 tpb.
This book was apparently published with relatively little fanfare, and for good reason. It is one of the most pretentious, bombastic, and just plain silly treatises on Lovecraft ever written. It demonstrates conclusively why so much academic criticism has become a parody of itself: based on inadequate research, full of impenetrably opaque conclusions and puffed up with authorial preening, it unwittingly provides more illumination on the authors’ own biases and presuppositions than on the literary work it purports to be analysing.
The book is not a straightforward treatise but a series of letters—ranging from as little as two pages to as many as eight pages—back and forth between the two Scotts; and, because each of them signs himself “Scott,” it becomes impossible to tell which Scott wrote which letter. All this is inane enough; the authors maintain that they have adopted this practice because Lovecraft himself was such a voluminous letter-writer, and one whose “daily life revolved around correspondence”; but the upshot, in their case, is a scattershot, almost free-associationist approach that fails to explore certain subjects comprehensively while harping at tedious length upon others.
The authors repeatedly stress their “love” of Lovecraft, and their enthusiasm does shine through at random moments. But there is reason to doubt their credentials in writing a book of this sort, however unorthodox its structure. Both are professors of English, but Shershow has published a book on the “right-to-die debate” and Michaelsen has co-written one on anthropology. Neither of them seem particularly well versed in the history of weird fiction before and during Lovecraft’s lifetime, and they do not even appear to be familiar with the totality of Lovecraft’s literary texts (fiction, poetry, essays), as my discussion will reveal.
The book does not get off to a good start. One Scott points to a passage in “The Call of Cthulhu” whereby Francis Wayland Thurston, after concluding his narrative, states, “Let me pray that, if I do not survive this manuscript, my executors may put caution before audacity and see that it meets no other eye” (CF 2.55). This leads Scott to wonder if Lovecraft really was the “card-carrying atheist and enemy of religion” that much modern scholarship has claimed he was. Why would a Lovecraft character “pray” if Lovecraft was so hostile to religion? (This Scott is probably the same one who confesses that he first read Lovecraft in the 1980s in the course of various occultist studies of the Kenneth Grant sort.) But it apparently doesn’t seem to dawn on this Scott that, even though Lovecraft really was a “card-carrying atheist,” his characters may not have been; or (even more relevantly) that they are uttering “pray” with a less than literal signification.
I suppose it was to be expected that The Love of Ruins harps on Lovecraft’s racism, although it at least does not use this issue to denigate Lovecraft’s achievement. Like Michel Houellebecq and others (see my article in this issue), these two Scotts seem at times to regard racism as central to Lovecraft’s literary work; but they can only make this argument by ambiguity, conjecture, and equivocation. “Race,” in this context, can only refer to sub-groups within a given species; it is careless and illegitimate—and, I would argue, disingenuous—to extend this idea to members of different species. It is as if one were to assert that the “race” of dogs are prejudiced against the “race” of cats, or that human beings are prejudiced against mosquitoes. And yet, that is in effect exactly what the two Scotts do. They grudgingly acknowledge that the Old Ones of At the Mountains of Madness and the Great Race (a term used in precisely the same way as “human race” is used in regard to Homo sapiens) of “The Shadow out of Time” ultimately become admirable and not horrifying; but the Scotts still assert that these entities exhibit some kind of racial animus against their opponents—the shoggoths and the Elder Things, respectively. They stubbornly maintain that “one must take the racism [in Lovecraft’s stories] as irreducible and inescapable.” But it seems to me that the Old Ones and the Great Race have every good reason to hate and fear the shoggoths and the Elder Things. This is a conflict between species and not between races. Fritz Leiber seemed to be far more on target when he pointed out this same dichotomy and noted: “the authors shows us horrors and then pulls back the curtain a little farther, letting us glimpse the horrors of which even the horrors are afraid!”[1]
The authors engage in arid discussions about the putative readership of Lovecraft’s stories in his time, which they maintain “was (and mostly remains) very white.” I do not know how the authors came to this conclusion. Given that Weird Tales was a pulp magazine deliberately designed for “the masses,” it is intrinsically unlikely that at least some people of colour—who at the time were certainly in the lower reaches of the American socioeconomic order—didn’t read the magazine. But this whole conjecture is simply beside the point, for it fails to take into consideration that Lovecraft’s primary (and perhaps only) audience was himself. In 1921 (admittedly before the founding of Weird Tales) Lovecraft wrote: “There are probably seven persons, in all, who really like my work; and they are enough. I should write even if I were the only patient reader, for my aim is merely self-expression” (CE 5.53). Perhaps those seven persons were all white, as Lovecraft certainly was; but he was a lot of other things as well. The two Scotts compound their folly by even more vapid speculations about what a “politicized person of color” might think when reading Lovecraft. Since these authors are self-admitted white folks, I am not sure how or why they have any authority to talk of such things. (Anyway, isn’t this a classic instance of cultural appropriation?)
I will counter with an assertion that is not based in idle conjecture: there is not the slightest evidence that any significant number of Lovecraft’s readers—either in his own time or in the decades that followed—displayed any response at all to the purportedly racial content of his stories. Hostile critics like Edmund Wilson and Colin Wilson found plenty of things to criticise in Lovecraft’s work (and even in his character)—but racism wasn’t one of them. The fulminations about Lovecraft’s racism are an extremely recent phenomenon, and seem to be fueled by certain writers who are determined to seize on this one aspect of Lovecraft’s life and thought as a way of knocking him down a few pegs in critical esteem. This may not be the two Scotts’ motivation, but they have succumbed to the perceived need to debate this issue at tedious length, as a dog worries a bone. And yet, the letter columns of Weird Tales were full of encomiums of “The Horror at Red Hook” (including one by Robert Bloch), and no discussions of “The Shadow over Innsmouth” except in very recent years have cited its supposedly racist substratum. And I also maintain that, if we did not know of Lovecraft’s racial views, it would occur to very few of us to see a racist element in any but a small number of Lovecraft’s tales. Even some of those that do know of his views have still come to that conclusion, as when the British philosopher John Gray wrote: “Fortunately, the core of [Lovecraft’s] work has nothing to do with his social and racial resentments.”[2]
Now it is remotely possible that all such readers were and are simply blind and oblivious; but it strikes me as more likely that, in our hyperpoliticised climate today, we are all too quick to see racial elements in every bit of writing that passes before our eyes. This phenomenon has particularly afflicted academic criticism, where it is now the fashion to examine literature largely—and perhaps solely—through the lenses of race, class, and gender. To my mind this perspective seriously disfigures the import of a good many literary works, and at a minimum results in analyses that are more like sociology tracts than literary criticism. But I suppose I am a fossil in this regard.
The authors engage in random discussions of “He,” which is held up as one of the stories we are now meant to deprecate because of its racism; but they (along with many others) have incredibly failed to see that a careful—or, in actual fact, fairly obvious—reading of this story shows it to be anti-racist. For all Lovecraft’s lamentations about the contemporary environment of New York, the story is a straightforward supernatural-revenge narrative in which the spirits of Native Americans—whom the English squire had poisoned and whose land he subsequently claimed for his own—dispatch that preternaturally aged gentleman in a particularly pungent manner; and the narrative tone of the story clearly suggests that the Englishman got his just desserts.
The authors take up the racism issue later in the book, focusing chiefly on “The Shadow over Innsmouth.” It is here that the two Scotts suddenly and belatedly come to a conclusion that any sane and unbiased reader should have arrived at without any assistance from learned commentators:
I will venture to suggest that the most keen and vivid sense of horror that erupts from Lovecraft’s pages involves neither race nor class nor indeed any mode of sociality at all. On the contrary, the ultimate Lovecraftian horror is the sheer insignificance of humanity as a whole; the terror of absolute spatial and temporal finitude in a vast, empty, and indifferent universe. This horror, however, as we have both suggested in different ways, must at least take us beyond or even before any conceivable idea of “race.”
Brilliant, my dear Watson!
And yet, the authors, in their infinite wisdom, take occasion to question whether Lovecraft is on target in regard to another issue—one that elucidates the otherwise perplexing title of their book. They wonder whether Lovecraft really did have a “love of the ancient & the permanent” (SL 1.110), since “his stories are set in a universe where absolutely nothing is permanent”; therefore, in at least one of the two Scotts’ opinion, “one might venture to suggest a revision to Lovecraft’s own schema and speak of a love, not of the ancient and the permanent but of the ancient and the ruined.
My only response to this is: *sigh.* Are not the authors aware of how diligently Lovecraft sought out ancient towns up and down the Eastern Seaboard, from Quebec to St. Augustine, and gloried in the fact that in many of these places the centuried structures (both public buildings and private residences) were still being utilised in accordance with their original functions—and, more pertinently, that the inhabitants were preserving their traditional folkways even in the face of abrasive modernity? Have they not read the many letters where Lovecraft bitterly denounces the destruction of colonial buildings in his hometown? The passages from his essays and letters on these topics are too numerous for citation here.
Where the two Scotts have erred—here as in other aspects of their book—is in regarding Lovecraft’s fiction as some kind of simple and straightforward guide to his beliefs and opinions. They forget that Lovecraft is writing fiction. They habitually attribute the opinions of Lovecraft’s characters to himself, and commit analogous errors in critical analysis. I would advise them, and all potential commentators on Lovecraft, to ponder the following passage (from a letter to James F. Morton, [1 April 1930]) that I believe to be the essential key to understanding the interrelationship between Lovecraft’s philosophical thought and his fiction:
I get no kick at all from postulating what isn’t so, as religionists and idealists do. That leaves me cold [. . .] My big kick comes from taking reality just as it is—accepting all the limitations of the most orthodox science—and then permitting my symbolising faculty to build outward from the existing facts; rearing a structure of indefinite promise and possibility whose topless towers are in no cosmos or dimension penetrable by the contradicting-power of the tyrannous and inexorable intellect. But the whole secret of the kick is that I know damn well it isn’t so. (SL 3.140)
Lovecraft is not only writing fiction; he is writing weird fiction. The purpose of weird fiction is to frighten, to terrify. He knew that, in order to terrify others, he must first need to terrify himself. What would be more terrifying to Lovecraft than to contemplate, for the duration of a tale, the refutation or subversion of his cherished beliefs—atheism, materialism, and, yes, “love of the ancient & the permanent”? It is this act that constituted, for him, a gesture of imaginative liberation—an attempt to “achieve, momentarily, the illusion [my emphasis] of some strange suspension or violation of the galling limitations of time, space, and natural law which for ever imprison us and frustrate our curiosity about the infinite cosmic spaces beyond the radius of our sight and analysis” (CE 2.176). But he knew damn well it wasn’t so. He knew he was writing fiction: in postulating various “gods” (most of them really space aliens) in his fiction, he was not undermining his atheism, but confirming it; in suggesting that the laws of matter do not apply in certain corners of space or to certain entities of his own imagination, he was confirming his materialism; and in depicting ancient ruins (usually constructed by alien species), he was confirming his love of the ancient and the permanent. Got that, people?
Much of the two Scotts’ book is devoted to a meandering, unfocused, and at times frivolous discussion of “The Shadow out of Time.” I really don’t know that there is much profit in speculating on what would happen if a mind from the Great Race occupied the body of Buster Keaton or the contemporary stand-up comic Stephen Wright. But amidst all this verbiage there is exactly one point that I found of some interest. The authors wonder why the Great Race built their immense and indestructible library in the depths of the Australian desert, when they themselves abandoned it (and knew they were going to abandon it) by leaving their cone-shaped bodies and entering “the bulbous vegetable entities of Mercury” (CF 3.400). This is an intriguing paradox or ambiguity in the story, and the authors have no explanation for it—perhaps there is none. And yet, even here their discussion goes off the track on certain points, especially in their insistence that the Great Race’s enemies (the blind creatures who have harnessed great winds) are nameless. But the authors themselves on two occasions quote passages from the story in which these creatures are plainly called the “Elder Things”! Does this not count as a name?
The enthusiasm of the authors cannot conceal the fact that they are novices to Lovecraft and Lovecraft studies, as an array of small but embarrassing mistakes indicates. One of them states that “No Lovecraft protagonist, so far as I’m aware, chooses suicide” at the end of a tale. This plainly false statement is immediately qualified by a footnote pointing out that the narrator of “Dagon” unequivocally indicates his intention to dispatch himself after telling his story. But the authors seem to have missed the final line of “The Hound,” where the narrator confesses that “I shall seek with my revolver the oblivion which is my only refuge from the unnamed and unnamable” (CF 1.348). (My ears still echo to Roddy McDowall intoning these words in the old Caedmon recording of this story.) Have the two Scotts even read this story? It does not appear so, for their readings of Lovecraft’s fiction are restricted to the tales in the Library of America edition (2005), one of my corrected Arkham House editions (At the Mountains of Madness [1985], which the authors misdate to 1986), and the lesser tales included in Miscellaneous Writings (1995). Alas! “The Hound” is not in any of these books. And yet, one would not imagine that this text is terribly hard to find.
The authors tie themselves in knots trying to figure out the significance of Lovecraft’s statement, in the second chapter of “Supernatural Horror in Literature,” about an actual medieval “cult of nocturnal worshippers whose strange customs […] were rooted in the most revolting fertility-rites of immemorial antiquity” (CE 2.85). Even though the authors have consulted Collected Essays, Volume 2, they apparently overlooked my footnote indicating that this conception was derived from Lovecraft’s infatuation with the now exploded theories of Margaret A. Murray as found in The Witch-Cult of Western Europe (1921). The authors engage in an unsound and misleading discussion of Lovecraft’s late conversion to moderate socialism—a result, perhaps, of their failure to read Lovecraft’s several trenchant essays on the subject as found in Collected Essays, Volume 5, even though they cite that book in their bibliography.
The authors seem to have all manner of difficulties getting names right. They refer consistently to the “god” Shug-Niggurath as Shub-Niggaruth. They refer to The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath as “Dreamquest” or “Dream Quest.” They cite Lovecraft and E. Hoffmann Price’s sequel to “The Silver Key” as “Beyond the Gate of the Silver Key.” They once refer to Frank Belknap Long as Belnap. David E. Schultz is once cited as Schulz. Henry Wentworth Akeley in “The Whisperer in Darkness” is cited as William Akeley. Some of these errors, you would think, could and should have been detected by an astute copy editor; but it appears that nowadays copy editing in the academic press is just as shoddy as copy editing among commercial publishers and small presses.
I do not doubt that the two Scotts have enjoyed swapping these letters back and forth; but I think they would have done everyone a favour if they had kept their correspondence private.
[1] “A Literary Copernicus” (1949), in H. P. Lovecraft: Four Decades of Criticism, ed. S. T. Joshi (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1980), 57.
[2] John Gray, “Weird Realism: John Gray on the Moral Universe of H. P. Lovecraft,” New Statesman (24 October 2014) [ h-p-lovecraft].
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Note: you do not need to create separate user accounts if you only want to allow clients to upload recipients into their email drip campaigns. We provide a password-protected, dedicated invite form that allows a business to upload recipients to drip campaigns with no dashboard access required. We generally do not recommend providing user accounts to clients unless you are explicitly providing a self-serve solution to them.
• Create a separate login for a client or employee
• Only give them access to what they need
Our user management feature allows you to create separate logins with varying degrees of access for clients or employees.
To add a new user, navigate to Manage > Users.
In the top right of the Users tab, click the Add a User button.
Enter the new user’s first name, last name, and email address. Then, specify the level of access you want to give them in the User access-level drop-down menu. You can give a user access to:
• Admin: give the user access to your entire account. They will be able to access all businesses, locations, and functions, including user management and billing
• Staff: give the user access to all businesses and locations within your account. Users at this level will be able to manage and create other users, but will not receive access to billing
• Single business: give the user access to the control panel for single business and landing pages for all of its locations
• Single location of a business: give the user access to the control panel for a single location (profile) of a business
• A combination of businesses and/or locations of a business
Additionally, you can select which portions of the Dashboard you’d like them to see for their selected businesses and/or locations by editing their Custom Permissions. You can change these at any time, along with the user’s account type.
If you have multiple domains associated with your account, use associate user with domain select which domain you’d like to associate with the new user.
Click the Submit button to submit your request. An email will be sent to the new user with a link that will allow them to set up their new account. The token contained in this email is valid for two weeks, after which the administrator must send a new invitation.
When the user has logged in for the first time, it will be reflected in their User List entry under the Last Login column (this column is blank until the user sets up their account).
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Mike Fishy and Automation System Programming (Bots)
You can click the buttons on your screen if you load the app on an Android emulator.
Wow… really like the idea… It would be great to give our bot a summary screen where we could for example terminate it with a click or see a summary of how it is doing remotely.
If I could see how my bot was doing on my phone from home that would be most amazing, with the ability to stop it if it was doing something I wasnt wanting. How cool would that be.
My struggle with PHP continues.
That did the trick @ly0009 and I also turned off notifications @Crash101 ! Thank you all! Now I have some catching up to do :sweat_smile:
Windows would be nice. I wonder if having it connected to an app for mobile with a few simple functions like a stop all command in case of a major problem. Push notifications and performance charts would be nice to keep track.
I ask because some people travel for work lots and cannot be at their computer for extended periods of time. Making a way to keep track of such a program and having an ability to shut it down remotely would be nice. This also may be an easy way to push bug reports.
I don’t much about much so i hope i made some sense. Please let me know if this is plausible or laughable, i can handle both. Thanks.
Haha i see now as i made it to the end that this has been asked already.
I am just waiting for the first push notification from the app. App has option for email and superSMS (override phones silent setting) etc. It is sent for dummy trading on Binance at the moment.
I can also ask user to confirm each trade in the app etc. Not coded this yet but easy enough.
Damn this thread is amazing and filled with brainiacs! Much respect :clinking_glasses: :beers: By seeing the code’s logic, it actually helps me understand a trader’s thought process. Just a thought, is there a $tick . “volume” to filter out ( $dontbuy ) low liquidity coins to prevent getting stuck with a dud (in the event we have to emergency-stop the bot?
Or maybe in addition to the above, I would manually add coins/tokens like NPXS & HOT to @Mike_Fishy 's $dontbuy list… ie: if you look at NPXS and HOT they always have high daily-volumes… but it’s like one coin-at-a-time speed (bad liquidity).
Hi all,
OK, just caught up on all the messages.
1. Github - was going to do this, but since someone else has done it, they get to own it :slight_smile:
(Number one rule of Programmers, you make it, you own it)
2. Rule set is far to basic yet to be used for production, it needs much more.
3. Love the mobile ideas, great job. If you are going to use a name, just use something simple and doesn’t tie to anyone, like “Thepubbot” or something with maybe a link this this site. Trust me, people are going to find the code on Github, so all the “use at your own risk” stuff needs to be on that page and we should probably start a wiki in Github as well.
4. Volume has not been added yet, it is a separate API call, just trying to keep things simple now so you can get use to the ideas, then once you have had time to play with it and see it’s faults, you then get to understand the next rule sets and why they are needed. Just remember, a human trader doesn’t quite work the same as a Bot. A Bot can work really quite differently as it is not an individual, it’s a team. Start thinking of the bot being a team of people and you will start understanding the right way to code.
5. If you are having problems with PHP or other executables on Windows, it probably needs the C++ Runtimes which may be downloaded from Microsoft. Also check the main PHP.net page for any useful information on installing.
6. It’s PHP for now as the language is easy and can run on many platforms. We can easily change it to another language as PHP is quite similar to C++ (which is why I use PHP to create prototypes). Also, if you want to run it in the cloud, it will happily run on even the most basic Linux server.
$2.50 a month server will run it adequately and if you want some help setting one up, let me know. Though later on when we add a lot more logic, the $5/month one may be needed.
I am not affiliated with Vultr, I do use their servers though for my personal projects. If you hunt around, you could probably even find a free one.
7. Lastly, I want to thank you all for making the effort, that is what a community is about.
Please understand, code needs to be iterated on often, it is like a living document. It is going to have problems and will need fixes and changes. We need to tell it how to avoid pump and dumps and train it to execute only realistic trades. So much is taken for granted when you look at a chart as the human brain is capable of processing data without knowing any rules. Code is different, but if you feel like it, we can play with an AI Engine and use Machine Learning algorithms on the data, there is no limit to what a community of people can do. Even if you are not a programmer, still need people to test, still need people to extract data from this thread and write up wiki pages, still need other tasks as well, everyone can contribute.
But most important of all…
Stay Fishy
Not a bother Brother!!
Nice to have your input. This is going to be a great group of people. Lets get building.
May I have your github account @Mike_Fishy so I can add you as an administrator ?
@mwlang you can also be an administrator if you want ?
I can also add others collaborators if someone wants ?
We’ll need people to maintain the repo in a good shape ! :slight_smile:
I have been looking at the Rsi logic and I found it a bit mind warping.
Does the idea for a function work for something like this? We can build functions to work out the relevant historic indicators of whatever we want to use. Then we simply pull the function into the larger loop. Does this work in php? This is what I would do in VBA. I tend to make functions of functions and then call them as necessary.
Just a thought and I am still not with that RSI logic yet. I will get there. Been learning lots on php and am understanding more all the time.
I made a code that read and printed all the tickers, counted and put into a new array the tickers with USDT in it. So we are getting there. I got the hang of $($ticker. blah) did my head in to understand why two $ but figured that out and I nearly have a certificate in php programming from solo learn.
Might be useful for others here.
The RSI logic is not perfect, it is actually slightly modified to work in a more useful manner for the bot.
(it is also only RSI Step 1)
However, if you wish to understand RSI, the best thing I can recommend is:
In the PHP code where I used $tick to create arrays, it is actually creating multiple different array names using the variable as a leading part of the array name. This is how you can initialise arrays using a variable which changes. It actually creates about 50 arrays with only a small amount of code, otherwise it would need each one spelt out and we do not always know up front if Binance have added or removed any.
I should mention, any other algorithms you want to include from Investopedia, let me know. It is also a good reference for learning about trading. Also, there should be an array created for storing the RSI value to calculate the RSI trend.
One other thing, the bot doesn’t have to sell something just because the TA suggest it is time to sell, you can program the bot to HODL for the right opportunity or Stop Loss out if it hits a threshold.
I invite you all to take a few minutes and watch this guy:
Trading is very much a Casino, the worlds biggest legal Casino. Our job is to program the bot to stack things in our favour, so you should think about this when you think about what the bot rules should be.
Edit: will create a new Github account to keep it separate from my existing private account.
Have created - Github account is: mfishybot
Drop me an invite - thanks.
Mike Fishy
This guy is truly inspiring. I give that pitch to anyone that thinks crypto currency is gambling. I have given this approach at work to some disbelievers and it works.
Nice One!!
My github is, surprise, surprise, “mwlang” :rofl:
This raises a point I’d like to open. I’ve been following along, running the scripts as you put 'em out and modifying with just some simple tweaks, like trying to do a stop/loss. One of the first things that strikes me is that we don’t assemble the data into open, high, low, close for an N timeframe candles and thus “periods” in the traditional sense, so it really boils down to understanding the math behind candlesticks in order to decompose into a streamed way of processing that data as you’re doing.
I should say here, kudos to really breaking the data down to it’s bare minimum – that’s some brilliance there, or maybe just highlighting many years of experience automating trading systems, but yeah, definitely a big leap in understanding how things are working here and how that relates back to what most of us know and understand with the standard indicators. So that’s the main struggle I have – i.e. translating what you’ve done back to more well documented world of charting as I’ve learned over the last 12 months or so.
Instead of candles, you’re just processing price data as it flows in and you keep, what is effectively, three “periods” worth of data with the short, medium, and long trend arrays. So, when long trend is 280 entries in the array, that’s effectively 56 minutes.
This is where it gets tricky for me, because if one goes and changes the duration of short, med, and long durations, it has an effect on the RSI that gets calculated (also has an effect on the spreads). So it starts to become a lot of hidden traps as well as lots of variables playing into the whole dynamic.
With the replay option I built earlier, it quickly became obvious to me that I am hard-pressed to find a winning combination of LT, MT, ST durations, spread threshold, and RSI threshold to find the sweet spot…and of course, as we all know, with the market dynamics changing so rapidly in cryptos, it seems to me the natural course of action is to start to make these parameters self-adaptive to the changing market parameters. I guess I’m jumping to Chapter 10 when you’re barely halfway through Chapter 2 and that’s ok – not so much seeking a solution to my struggles as just sharing my personal challenges and learnings.
BTW, you’re doing something really nice with that buy_flag and I’ve come to think of this little flag as a gateway guard that takes you from one phase to the next…here’s how I read 'em (and maybe this helps others understand):
“BUY READY” means, we’re not only waiting to buy, we’re waiting definitively for the next “bottom” to come around. To do that, we have to wait for price to go UP, then DOWN, then next time it goes UP, we know we’re at a “local bottom”. BUY READY sets the stage to wait for next UP cycle.
“BUY PREP” - When price starts going UP, we’re in an uptrend, but we don’t know how close to the last bottom, so ride along until we reach the top and start going down again. If it goes down hard enough (as measured by the spread), then we have a potential winning setup at the next bottom. If it’s kinda weak/flat (as a low spread will indicate), we haven’t really driven down hard enough to have a good bounce up.
“BUY ORDER” - we’re going down hard enough that a good bounce up is likely, so in this state we wait for the downward trend to reverse and start going UP AND for the RSI to be relatively low, further indicating there’s room to grow (i.e. bounce).
“SELL READY” – simply wait for the trend to reverse and start going down and sell.
“SELL DONE” – record the complete buy/sell cycle and start us back at the beginning at “BUY READY”
So, if I’ve got this reasoning right, then that leads to wondering…
If we’re selling and thus ending the cycle, doesn’t that also mean we’re effectively back to “BUY PREP” instead of “BUY READY”?
If I implement a STOP LOSS and it triggers, effectively saying I bet wrong this time and we’re in downtrend, should I be going back to “BUY ORDER” state and waiting for trend to reverse back UP instead of all the way to BUY READY?
In both of the two above, it just feels like what can effectively happen by going back to BUY READY, is we miss a cycle or two as we ride UP, then DOWN, then prepare to buy again.
Gold Star, you are way ahead on the curve :slight_smile:
Yes, the variables need to be adaptive and individual to each trading pair, not global.
If a successful and profitable trade was done, what do charts normally look like after that?
(why shouldn’t we go back to step 1? After a good trade, things tend to go quiet or backwards again)
If you did a stop loss, shouldn’t you really go back to step 1?
(as things might need to change to correct the action that was taken).
There is always more trade opportunities, you shouldn’t try and go for every one of them, rather pick the opportunities that are most likely to provide a successful outcome.
The script done in this way, helps everyone to identify all the stuff that needs to be catered for. It is that hands on experience and seeing all the stuff that goes wrong, that will make you think better.
Go back to the beginning of this thread on March 30th, where I described the Autobots. I think you are this far ahead now that if you go back and read that, you will understand why it was done that way. The best system has a “Monarch” that oversees all it’s “Subjects”, with an Ambulance around to recover things when one or more of the “Subjects” gets broken. If the Monarch breaks, the whole system should be restarted.
You have now reached the point where you realise a single script isn’t going to cut it :slight_smile:
Stay Fishy
Updated Code for you guys to play with:
require 'vendor/autoload.php';
// This bot will trade USDT to the other pairs and back to make more USDT
// It shall use all the trading pairs to make more UDST except the ones we tell it not to use
$strend = 60; // Short Term Trend - must be less than $mtrend
$mtrend = 100; // Medium Term Trend - must be less than $ltrend
$ltrend = 240; // Long Term Trend
$tradefile = "USDT.txt"; // The Trade Logging file name
$minspread = 1; // The minimum spread percentage needed for a trade
$minrsi = 48; // Relative Strength must be below this number to buy
$sellbuffer = 1.02; // Create a buffer to hold CDA if sell is not profitable (2% profit threshold)
$stoplossbuffer = 0.99; // Stop Loss buffer to sell CDA if it is forming a loss (1% Stop Loss threshold)
// Do not change any of the flags, we use this to signal the bot what to do and when
$buyready = 0; // This flag signals the bot that the pair meets rules to buy
$buyprep = 1; // This flag signals the bot to prepare to buy
$buyord = 2; // This flag signals the bot to place an order
$sellok = 3; // This flag signals the bot that the order was completed
$sellready = 4; // This flag signals the bot to sell
$selldone = 5; // This flag signals the bot the trade completed
$dontbuy = 6; // This flag signals the bot we dont want to trade BCASH :P
// Standard variables and arrays we use
$i = 0;
$binance_prices = array();
$time_start = time();
$time_end = 0;
$run_time = 0;
$rpc = 0;
$tpc = 0;
$q = 0;
// API call to fetch pricing data from Binance
function getprices()
$api = new Binance\API("<api key>","<secret>");
$mp = $api->prices();
return $mp;
// Start of the Loop - can run for months - press CTRL-C to stop
for($i = 0; $i <= 2000000; $i++)
$time_end = time();
$run_time = round((($time_end - $time_start)/60),2);
print "Iteration = $i \n";
print "Running Time: $run_time mins \n";
print "Current running percentage = $rpc \n";
// Fetch current prices from Binance
$binance_prices = getprices();
// Loop through the price data as key and value pairs
foreach($binance_prices as $key => $value)
// Only process pairs with USDT
if(strpos($key, "USDT"))
// Convert the pair name to lower case in varibale $tick
// for example the name "BTCUSDT" will become "btcusdt"
$tick = strtolower($key);
// For the first iteration, create arrays and varibales for the bot
if($i == 0)
// Use the lower case name to form the leading part of varibales and arrays
// for exmaple, using "btcusdt" and adding "st" for the short term array
// will initialise an array called "btcusdtst"
// as we loop thorugh the pairs, each one gets created for each pair
// for exmaple "NEOUSDT" will become "neousdtst"
${$tick . "st"} = array(); // Short Term Array
${$tick . "mt"} = array(); // Medium Term Array
${$tick . "lt"} = array(); // Long Term Array
${$tick . "stavg"} = 0; // Short Term Moving Average
${$tick . "mtavg"} = 0; // Medium Term Moving Average
${$tick . "ltavg"} = 0; // Long Term Moving Average
${$tick . "strend"} = 0; // Short Term Moving Trend
${$tick . "mtrend"} = 0; // Medium Term Moving Trend
${$tick . "ltrend"} = 0; // Long Term Moving Trend
${$tick . "lspread"} = 0; // Long Term Spread
${$tick . "rsi"} = 0; // Relative Strength Indicator for this pair
${$tick . "buyflag"} = $buyready; // Set this pair to buyready
${$tick . "buyvalue"} = 0; // record what we buy for on this pair
${$tick . "sellvalue"} = 0; // record what we sell for on this pair
${$tick . "lasttrade"} = 0; // record we have had one trade done
${$tick . "lasttpc"} = 0; // record what percentage last the trade was
${$tick . "isset"} = 1; // used to signal we are initialised for this pair
// We are not on the first loop anymore, we proceed with processing the data
// Exclude List - these ones we do not trade
if($key == "BCHABCUSDT") ${$tick . "buyflag"} = $dontbuy;
if($key == "BCHSVUSDT") ${$tick . "buyflag"} = $dontbuy;
if($key == "BCCUSDT") ${$tick . "buyflag"} = $dontbuy;
if($key == "TUSDUSDT") ${$tick . "buyflag"} = $dontbuy;
if($key == "VENUSDT") ${$tick . "buyflag"} = $dontbuy;
if($key == "PAXUSDT") ${$tick . "buyflag"} = $dontbuy;
// Check if the trading pair has been initialised
// this covers if Binance add a new trading pair on USDT while we are running
// if Binance adds new trading pairs while bot is running, we shall
// ignore them and only use the ones since the bot was started and initialised
if(isset(${$tick . "isset"}))
// Push data into arrays and shift arrays once we have enough data
array_push(${$tick . "st"}, $value);
array_push(${$tick . "mt"}, $value);
array_push(${$tick . "lt"}, $value);
if($i > $strend) array_shift(${$tick . "st"});
if($i > $mtrend) array_shift(${$tick . "mt"});
if($i > $ltrend) array_shift(${$tick . "lt"});
// Wait until we have all the arrays populated with data
if($i <= $ltrend)
print "\t:Loading Arrays with data\n";
// Arrays are populated, so on with the processing
// Calculate the Moving Average for the 3 arrays
${$tick . "stavg"} = round((array_sum(${$tick . "st"})/$strend),8);
${$tick . "mtavg"} = round((array_sum(${$tick . "mt"})/$mtrend),8);
${$tick . "ltavg"} = round((array_sum(${$tick . "lt"})/$ltrend),8);
// Check if the Short Term Trend is trending down, flat or up
// We use the current price to see if it is above or below the short term moving average
// We use "1" to signal it is trending down, "2" for flat, "3" for trending up
if($value < ${$tick . "stavg"}) ${$tick . "strend"} = 1;
if($value == ${$tick . "stavg"}) ${$tick . "strend"} = 2;
if($value > ${$tick . "stavg"}) ${$tick . "strend"} = 3;
// Check if the Medium Term Trend is trending down, flat or up
// We use the short term moving average to see if it is above or below the medium term moving average
if(${$tick . "stavg"} < ${$tick . "mtavg"}) ${$tick . "mtrend"} = 1;
if(${$tick . "stavg"} == ${$tick . "mtavg"}) ${$tick . "mtrend"} = 2;
if(${$tick . "stavg"} > ${$tick . "mtavg"}) ${$tick . "mtrend"} = 3;
// Check if the Long Term Trend is trending down, flat or up
// We use the medium term moving average to see if it is above or below the long term moving average
if(${$tick . "mtavg"} < ${$tick . "ltavg"}) ${$tick . "ltrend"} = 1;
if(${$tick . "mtavg"} == ${$tick . "ltavg"}) ${$tick . "ltrend"} = 2;
if(${$tick . "mtavg"} > ${$tick . "ltavg"}) ${$tick . "ltrend"} = 3;
// Calculate the Medium Term spread, which is the percentage difference between
// the highest recorded price and the lowest recorded price in the Medium Term Array
$mlow = min(${$tick . "lt"});
$mhigh = max(${$tick . "lt"});
${$tick . "lspread"} = round(((1-($mlow/$mhigh))*100),3);
// Calculate the Relative Strength Indicator on the Long Term Array
// A Low RSI indicates a buy opportunity
$rsitck = 0;
${$tick . "gain"} = array();
${$tick . "loss"} = array();
foreach(${$tick . "lt"} as $cdaval)
if($rsitck == 0)
$cdagain = 0;
$cdaloss = 0;
if($cdaval == $cdaprev)
$cdagain = 0;
$cdaloss = 0;
elseif($cdaval > $cdaprev)
$cdacalc = $cdaval - $cdaprev;
$cdagain = number_format($cdacalc,8);
$cdaloss = 0;
$cdacalc = $cdaprev - $cdaval;
$cdaloss = number_format($cdacalc,8);
$cdagain = 0;
array_push(${$tick . "gain"}, $cdagain);
array_push(${$tick . "loss"}, $cdaloss);
$cdaprev = $cdaval;
$cdarsgain = (array_sum(${$tick . "gain"})) / $ltrend;
$cdarsloss = (array_sum(${$tick . "loss"})) / $ltrend;
if($cdarsloss > 0)
${$tick . "rsi"} = round(100-(100/(1+($cdarsgain/$cdarsloss))),3);
${$tick . "rsi"} = 100;
// Print out what we have so far so we can see what is going on
print "\tV:";
print "\t ST:";
printf("%-14.8F",${$tick . "stavg"});
if(${$tick . "strend"} == 1) printf("%-5s",":DOWN");
if(${$tick . "strend"} == 2) printf("%-5s",":FLAT");
if(${$tick . "strend"} == 3) printf("%-5s",":UP");
print "\t MT:";
printf("%-14.8F",${$tick . "mtavg"});
if(${$tick . "mtrend"} == 1) printf("%-5s",":DOWN");
if(${$tick . "mtrend"} == 2) printf("%-5s",":FLAT");
if(${$tick . "mtrend"} == 3) printf("%-5s",":UP");
print "\t LT:";
printf("%-14.8F",${$tick . "ltavg"});
if(${$tick . "ltrend"} == 1) printf("%-5s",":DOWN");
if(${$tick . "ltrend"} == 2) printf("%-5s",":FLAT");
if(${$tick . "ltrend"} == 3) printf("%-5s",":UP");
print "\t SPREAD:";
printf("%-03.3F",${$tick . "lspread"});
print "%\t RSI:";
printf("%-06.3F",${$tick . "rsi"});
if(${$tick . "buyflag"} == $buyready) $cdastatus = "Buy Ready";
if(${$tick . "buyflag"} == $buyprep) $cdastatus = "Buy Prep";
if(${$tick . "buyflag"} == $buyord) $cdastatus = "Buy Order";
if(${$tick . "buyflag"} == $sellok) $cdastatus = "Sell OK";
if(${$tick . "buyflag"} == $sellready) $cdastatus = "Sell Ready";
if(${$tick . "buyflag"} == $selldone) $cdastatus = "Sell Done";
if(${$tick . "buyflag"} == $dontbuy) $cdastatus = "Dont Trade";
$ctp = round(((($value - ${$tick . "buyvalue"})/${$tick . "buyvalue"})*100),3);
print "\t S:$cdastatus \tBV:${$tick . "buyvalue"} CTP:$ctp";
print "\tS:$cdastatus";
if(${$tick . "lasttrade"} == 1)
print " LastTPC:${$tick . "lasttpc"}";
print "\n";
// Trading rules start here
// CDA is trending up so set to buyprep
if(${$tick . "buyflag"} == $buyready AND ${$tick . "strend"}==3 AND ${$tick . "mtrend"}==3 AND ${$tick . "ltrend"}==3)
print "Was Buyready, now Buyprep V:$value\n";
${$tick . "buyflag"} = $buyprep;
// CDA was buyprep, now trending down, set to buyord if reasonable spread
if(${$tick . "buyflag"} == $buyprep AND ${$tick . "strend"}==1 AND ${$tick . "mtrend"}==1 AND ${$tick . "ltrend"}==1 AND ${$tick . "lspread"} >= $minspread)
print "Was Buyprep, now Buyord V:$value\n";
${$tick . "buyflag"} = $buyord;
// CDA stopped trending down and is ready to buy
if(${$tick . "buyflag"} == $buyord AND ${$tick . "strend"}!=1 AND ${$tick . "mtrend"}!=1)
if(${$tick . "rsi"} <= $minrsi)
print "Was Buyord, now Buy V:$value\n";
// Assume we buy at the current value
${$tick . "buyvalue"} = $value;
${$tick . "buyflag"} = $sellok;
$fh = fopen($tradefile, "a") or die("Cannot open file");
fwrite($fh, "Runtime $run_time \n");
fwrite($fh, "Buy on $key BV:${$tick . "buyvalue"} \n");
print "RSI Check not meeting Minimum, resetting back to Buy Prep\n";
// Buy Order on CDA placed, do order tracking here to make sure order completes
// Since we are not placing an order, we just assume it completed
${$tick . "buyflag"} = $sellready;
// CDA is sellready and is no longer trending upwards - time to sell
if(${$tick . "buyflag"} == $sellready AND ${$tick . "strend"}!=3 AND ${$tick . "mtrend"}!=3)
// Assume we sell at the current value and if not meeting our sell buffer, we HODL
$cdabuff = ${$tick . "buyvalue"} * $sellbuffer;
if($value > $cdabuff)
${$tick . "sellvalue"} = $value;
${$tick . "buyflag"} = $selldone;
print "Did not meet minimum sell buffer, so HODL!\n";
// Stop Loss
$cdastoploss = ${$tick . "buyvalue"} * $stoplossbuffer;
if($value < $cdastoploss)
print "hit the stop loss buffer, so we are selling out\n";
// CDA is selldone
// Sell Order on CDA placed, do order tracking here to make sure order completes
$q = round((((${$tick . "sellvalue"} - ${$tick . "buyvalue"})/${$tick . "buyvalue"})*100),3);
$tpc = $q - 0.2;
$rpc = $rpc + $tpc;
${$tick . "lasttrade"} = 1;
${$tick . "lasttpc"} = $tpc;
print "Sell Done BV:${$tick . "buyvalue"} SV:${$tick . "sellvalue"} TPC:$tpc \n";
fwrite($fh, "Sell Done on $key BV:${$tick . "buyvalue"} SV:${$tick . "sellvalue"} TPC:$tpc RPC:$rpc \n");
You need a bigger Window to see all the data :slight_smile:
See what you think.
Moved spread to ltrend, added sellbuffer and stoplossbuffer and changed logic around missing the RSI check. Added BV (the value which the buy was done) plus a CTP (Current Trade Percentage) when there is something we have bought and are waiting for it to sell.
Stay Fishy
Haha! I’ve long past that point, but I’m still very much learning how to trade and automating what I learn as I go. What’s good here and what I’m enjoying most in this entire thread from March til now, is learning how the seasoned professional trader thinks. My game has evolved mightily over the last year and I’ve learned a lot about these markets and “shenanigans” as you like to say, but I know enough to know I don’t know enough and have lots to learn. Automation is not my problem. Solid, consistent trading that weathers a highly-dynamic market is the challenge (and I reckon is so for anyone, let alone one automating the trades).
I’ve been profitable at times and not so profitable at other times and profits die off as either market volatility dies off or new bots come along that toy with price action in a way to trigger one’s bots out of their positions prematurely.
Of late, I’ve been dealing with the sudden and rapid drops in BTC/USDT price with keeping close tabs on the top 25 by volume and tracking Advance/Decline collectively. Kind of a new pattern, kind of not…but you get the point and it speaks wholly to the point you make often about having to constantly improve the scripts to handle more and more scenarios – it’s not just about handling API changes or “code rot”, it’s about handling new patterns of price action effectively and that’s where it all is for me presently.
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Wednesday, September 3, 2008
I feel that every one needs to hear the truth once in their life. This is the truth. You don't have to agree with me, or take my word for it, just read it, think about it, check it out yourself and see what happens...
I think you might be surprised.
If we took a poll I think we would find that most everybody wants to go to heaven. If you ever have been to a memorial service or funeral, you know what I am talking about. It doesn't matter what their religious beliefs were, we always believe that now the deceased is someplace better. And who wouldn't want to be someplace better?
People tend to think that we live in a karma based life, where we can balance out the bad we do by the good we do, and if we are really good at heart, then in the end we will get to heaven. Our "little sins" can be erased by our "good deeds." I mean, I've basically been a nice guy all my life so I'm set, right?
You see, if we try to live by the law, then we must keep ALL of the law, and none of us can do that. Matter of fact, in James it tells us that if we break even one part of the law, it is like we have broken all of it. Therefore no one is perfect, despite what you may think, and "all have sinned" and "no one is righteous, not even one." That means you, me and everybody else on this planet. But to get to Heaven we must be perfect and righteous. so that presents a problem.
Not only that but the wages of sin is death, and despite our good works, or how many old ladies we have helped across the street, none of us are truly worthy of heaven. None of us. Based on our own righteousness, we are likened to "dirty rags" and all we truly deserve is death.
However, despite what we truly deserve, John 3:16 tell us, "For God so loved the world," (which includes everybody everywhere) "that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."
That my friends is the GOOD NEWS!
Jesus Christ, the one and only son of God, came to earth and lived a PERFECT and SINLESS life. He came and bore the weight and responsibility of all our sins, took our death sentence, and sacrificed himself for us on the cross.
Romans 5:8 puts it this way, "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us," and then 3 days later he rose from the dead, and later ascended to heaven to sit at the right hand of God, where he lives and breathes today.
It is really simple, Salvation is a FREE gift from God. Eternal life in Christ Jesus as Romans 6:23 puts it. You don't have to jump through any hoops to get it, you don't have to pay a monthly fee or get a credit check, and doesn't require you to get a haircut or even dress up. It just requires faith in Christ.
Jesus said, "no one comes to the father but through me." Acts chapter 4 says, "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." Only Jesus. Oprah has it wrong, Jesus is the only way.
Jesus says in Revelation, "Behold, I stand at the door an knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me."
It is that simple, you just have to open the door. You just have to believe that Christ is Lord, that he died for your sins and God raised him from the dead. You just need to repent and turn away from your sins, asking for forgiveness, and accept Christ Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
Then as it says in Romans 10:9, you shall be saved!
That's the Truth, the Whole Truth and nothing but the Truth.
And that is just the beginning...
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Tag Archives: rivalry
The God of a Messed Up Generation
For some reason, I get images and ideas in my mind, and they’re turned into facts. So many things I think I know about scripture and then I’ll discover something that I should have known… and yet didn’t. Like the fact that Jacob was in his mid to late seventies when Isaac accidently gave him […]
Read More
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Build Your own Lil' CADDIE!
Did you know that you can put your own company logo, picture or whatever image you want on the front of your own Lil' CADDIE? All you have to is upload it from your computer. Click the browse button below to select an image from your computer. For best results image file sizes should be 800k or less and 220 pixels wide and no more than 150 pixels high. With every purchase of a PINK Lil' CADDIE a portion of the proceeds will be sent to The American Breast Cancer Foundation.
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Recovering the Sacred of Music, by Robert R. Reilly
by Robert R. Reilly
The attempted suicide of Western classical music has failed. The patient is recovering, no thanks to the efforts of music’s Dr. Kevorkian, Arnold Schoenberg, whose cure, the imposition of a totalitarian atonality, was worse than the disease – the supposed exhaustion of the tonal resources of music. Schoenberg’s vaunted mission to “emancipate dissonance” by denying that tonality exists in Nature led to the successive losses of tonality, melody, harmony, and rhythm.
Music went out of the realm of Nature and into abstract, ideological systems. Not surprisingly, those systems, including Schoenberg's twelve-tone method of mandatory atonality, broke down. The systematic fragmentation of music was the logical working out of the premise that music is not governed by mathematical relationships and laws that inhere in the structure of a hierarchical and ordered universe, but is wholly constructed by man and therefore essentially without limits or definition.
Sound familiar? All the symptoms of the 20th century's spiritual sickness are present, including the major one diagnosed by Eric Voegelin as "a loss of reality." By the 1950s Schoenberg's doctrines were so entrenched in the academy, the concert hall, and the grants and prizes system, that any composer who chose to write tonal music was consigned to oblivion by the musical establishment. One such composer, Robert Muczynski, referred to this period as the "long-term tyranny which has brought contemporary music to its current state of constipation and paralysis."
The tyranny is now gone and tonality is back. But the restoration of reality has not taken place all at once. The traumatized patient slowly comes out of a coma, only gradually recovering motor skills, coordination, movement, and coherent speech. The musical movement known as Minimalism is the sometimes painfully slow rediscovery of the basic vocabulary of music: rhythm, melody, and harmony. During this convalescence, such Minimalists as American composer John Adams have spoken of the crisis through which they passed in explicitly spiritual terms. He said, "I learned in college that tonality died, somewhere around the time that Nietzsche's God died. And, I believed it." His recovery involved a shock: "When you make a dogmatic decision like that early in your life, it takes some kind of powerful experience to undo it." That experience, for Adams and others, has proven to be a spiritual, and sometimes a religious one. In fact, the early excitement over Minimalism has been eclipsed by the attention now being paid to the new spirituality in music, sometimes referred to as "mystical Minimalism."
If you have heard of the "new spirituality" in music, it is most likely on account of one of these three somewhat unlikely composers who have met with astonishing success over the past decade: Henryk Gorecki from Poland, Arvo Part from Estonia, and John Tavener from England. Though their styles are very unlike, they do share some striking similarities: they, like John Adams, all once composed under the spell of Schoenberg's twelve-tone method and were considered in the avant garde; all subsequently renounced it (as Part said, "The sterile democracy between the notes has killed in us every lively feeling"); and all are devout Christians, two of them having converted to the Russian Orthodox faith, the other having adhered to his Catholic faith throughout his life.
Anyone who has tracked the self-destruction of music over the past half century has to be astonished at the outpouring of such explicitly religious music and at its enormously popular reception. Can the recovery of music be, at least partially, a product of faith, in fact of Christian faith? A short time ago, such a question would have produced snickers in the concert hall, howls in the academy, and guffaws among the critics. In fact, it still might. In a recentNew York Times review, a critic condescended to call the works of the three composers nothing but "Feel-Good Mysticism." However, the possibility gains some plausibility when one looks back at the source of the problem in Schoenberg himself and to a mysterious episode that brought what he thought would be his greatest achievement to a creative halt.
Though one of the greatest compositional talents of this century, Schoenberg fell silent before he could finish the opera Moses und Aron. It is not as if he ran out of time. The first two acts were finished in the early 1930s. Before he died in 1951 at the age of 76, he had close to twenty years to write the third and final act. He tried four different times to no avail. His failure is particularly ironic because Schoenberg saw himself as the musical Moses of the 20th century. Moses und Aron was to be the tablets on which he wrote the new commandments of music. He was saving music with his new system of serialism. But, like the Moses he portrays at the end of the second act, he despaired of ever being able to explain his salvific mission to his people. As Moses falls to the ground, he exclaims: "O words thou word that I lack."
Though a Jew, Schoenberg was hardly orthodox. He wandered in and out of his faith, with a side trip through Lutheranism. He saw no need to be scripturally faithful in his libretto for the opera, so it is all the more curious that he was stymied by what he called "some almost incomprehensible contradictions in the Bible." More specifically, he said, "it is difficult to get over the divergence between 'and thou shalt smite the rock' and 'speak ye unto the rock.'. . . It does go on haunting me." Schoenberg was troubled by the question: why was Moses, when leading the Jews through the Sinai, punished for striking the rock a second time? The first time Moses struck the rock, water pored forth. The second time, God said to Moses, "Speak to the rock." But Moses impetuously struck it instead. For that, he was banned from ever entering the Promised Land. Why? That unanswered question left Schoenberg with an unfinished opera.A
s it turned out, Schoenberg was not the Moses of music. He led his followers into, rather than out of the desert. However, the silence into which Schoenberg fell before the end of Moses und Aron has now been filled. And the music filling it is written by Christian composers who have found the answer to the question that so tortured him. The answer is in the New Testament. The rock could not be struck a second time because, as St. Paul tell us, "the rock was Christ," and Christ can only be struck down once, "once and for all," a sole act sufficient for the salvation of all mankind.
Gorecki, Part, and Tavener completely believe in the salvific act of Christ, center their lives upon it, and express it in their music. They also share a preliminary disposition necessary for the reception of this belief. During a recent trip to Washington, Gorecki was asked to comment on the phenomenal success of his Symphony of Sorrowful
Songs, the Nonesuch recording of which has sold more than 800,000 copies. Gorecki responded, "Let's be quiet." Perhaps that is the most urgent message of all three composers, "be quiet." Or perhaps more biblically, "Be still." This stillness is not the empty silence at the end of the second act of Moses und Aron. It is a full, gestational silence that allows one, like Moses, to hear the remaining words: " . . . and Know that I am God."
This profound sense of silence permeates the works of the three composers. Some of their compositions emerge from the very edge of audibility, and remain barely above it, conveying the impression that there is something in the silence that is now being revealed before once again slipping out of range. The deep underlying silence slowly surfaces and lets itself be heard. For those precious moments one hears what the silence has to say. When not used in this way, a grammar of silence is employed that punctuates even the more extrovert and vociferous works. Moments of silence stand like sentinels, guarding the inner stillness from the violence of sounds that have not come out of the silence.
Another shared feature of the music of these composers is its sense of stasis. Every critic has noted this feature and some complain about it: "Nothing happens!" Part, Gorecki, and Tavener do not employ the traditional Western means of musical development. They have found the sonata principle of development that has driven music since the 18th century, and which gives music so much of its sense of forward motion, extraneous for their purpose. Their purpose is contemplation, specifically the contemplation of religious truths. Their music is hieratic. As such, it aims for the intersection of time and timelessness, at which point the transcendent becomes perceptible. As Part states: "That is my goal. Time and timelessness are connected." This sense of stasis is conveyed through: the use of silence; consistently slow tempi (that make any temporary quickening particularly dramatic); the use of repetition, and through the intensification this repetition implies; and a simplicity of means that includes Medieval plainsong and organum (as Part says, "it is enough when a single note is beautifully played").
Repetition can be used as an adornment or a means of meditation, as it was in Medieval and Renaissance music. Some of the hymns to Mary that endlessly repeat her name are a form of musical caress. They create a musical cradle in which to hold her name. With these composers, repetition of musical phrases, words, or both, is also used as a means of recovery. The repeated invocation is all the more insistent when there is a sense of loss and devastation. In his Beatus Vir, Gorecki cries out unconsolingly, almost angrily:
"Domine!" Where is God in the midst of the horror? The almost grating insistence with which "Domine" is repeated moves from a sense of despair to one of assertion and then finally to consolation and release. The repetition is exorcistic.
Because of the predominance of these characteristics in the work of Gorecki, Part, and Tavener, and their harking back to earlier periods of music, they are accused of being reactionary, if not archaic. However, their work is not a form of cultural nostalgia. Their change in technique is not an attempt at a new, or old means of expression. Their technique changed because they have something new to express. As Thomas Merton once remarked, the perfection of twelfth-century Cistercian architecture was reached, not because the Cistercians were looking for new techniques, but because they were looking for God. Gorecki, Part, and Tavener are looking for God, and they have found a musical epiphany in the pursuit.
Aside from these shared traits, Gorecki, Part, and Tavener are quite unlike in the sounds they create. Curiously, Part, the Russian Orthodox Estonian composer, uses Western Latin idioms from the Roman Catholic Church, while the Western English composer, Tavener, uses the exotic Russian Orthodox idioms hailing from Byzantium. Gorecki stays right where he is, in the middle, using earlier modes of Western liturgical music, but staying fairly mainstream. He sounds the least exotic of the three.
Gorecki is also the toughest of the three composers and the most modern in his musical vocabulary, though he is considered a conservative reactionary by his erstwhile colleagues in the European avant garde. (He says that leading modernist Pierre Boulez "is unbelievably angry about my music.") Though at times harsh for expressive purposes, Gorecki's music is never hysterical, like so much modern music that reflects the horror of the 20th century without the perspective of faith. He can look at suffering unblinkingly because Christianity does not reject or deny suffering, but subsumes it under the Cross. At the heart of the most grief-stricken moments of his work, there is a confidence apparent that can only come from deep belief. When asked from where he got his courage to resist Communist pressure, Gorecki said, "God gave me a backbone- it's twisted now, but still sturdy.... How good a Catholic I am I do not know; God will judge that, and I will find out after I die. But faith for me is everything. If I did not have that kind of support, I could not have passed the obstacles in my life."
Gorecki gives very little quarter in facing the nightmare through which his country and this century have gone. Poland was trampled by both of the destructive ideologies of our time, Nazism and Communism. The moving consolation his works offer comes after real and harrowing grief. (Can someone really refer to this as "Feel-Good Mysticism"?)
One can recover from a loss only if one grieves over it, and, yes, expresses anger over it as well. The anger is heard in Beatus Vir) as mentioned above. This piece is dedicated to Pope John Paul II, who commissioned it when he was still Cardinal of Krakow. One of the most extraordinary expressions of grief is Gorecki's <Symphony No. 3> for soprano and orchestra, "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs." It is a huge, arching, heart-breaking lament, written in 1976. Its three texts are on the theme of grieving motherhood. The first movement, based on Mary's lament at the Cross, is a slow-moving extended canon for strings only, that unfolds in a moving, impassioned crescendo over the course of nearly half an hour. The central text is a prayer to Mary inscribed by an eighteen year old girl on the wall of her cell in the basement of Gestapo headquarters in Zakopane, Poland, September, 1944. It includes the admonition: "No Mother, do not weep." Though Gorecki draws on Polish folk song, the appeal of this deeply affecting musical requiem can be felt by anyone for whom these themes resonate.
Another piece written with the same basic architectural structure as the first part of Symphony No. 3 is the Miserere. Gorecki wrote it as a protest over the bludgeoning of members of Solidarity by the militia in 1981, shortly before the declaration of martial law. But, in this work, unlike in Beatus Vir, one cannot hear the protest. Its text is: "Domine Deus noster, Miserere Nobis." The Lord's name is at first gently, then with growing strength, and finally expectantly invoked for nearly half an hour. The words, "Miserere nobis," are not heard until the final three minutes. Rather than a crescendo, they are presented, to moving effect, diminuendo. Mercy arrives with tender gentleness.Miserere is a beautiful work of affirmation and consolation.
Though writing in a thoroughly accessible idiom, Arvo Part is not an "easy listen." His work emerges from deep spiritual discipline and experience, and demands (and gives) as much in return. One will not be washed away in sonorous wafts of highly emotional music-there is no effortless epiphany here. Part is the most formally austere of the three, but is also the one with the most ontological sense-he presents a note as if it is being heard for the first time. Even more than the other two, his work is steeped in silence. When he abandoned the modernism of his earlier work, he retreated to a Russian Orthodox monastery for several years of silence. When he emerged, he began writing music of extraordinary purity and simplicity, using Medieval and Renaissance techniques. Part's music comes out of the fullness of silence. "How can one fill the time with notes worthy of the preceding silence?" he asks. The closer to the source of silence out of which it comes, the closer his music is to being frightening-or awesome, in the original sense of the word-and heart-breakingly beautiful. Part appropriately chose the Gospel According to St. John, the most metaphysical of the Gospels, for the text of his Passio. "In the beginning," begins St. John. This feel for ontology, for creation close to its source in the Creator, permeates Part's music. It can be heard in instrumental works such as Fratres and Tabula rasa, or in striking choral compositions, such as the exquisite Stabat Mater and the Miserere.
There are two probable responses to Part's Passio: 1) It is boring, ersatz Medieval and Renaissance music; why is someone going back to the triad in this day and age? 2) It is a profoundly moving setting of the Passion according to the Gospel of St. John. Certainly Passio is very different from Part's Stabat Mater, which it is otherwise most like. In Stabat Mater, the instrumental music, like a chorus, reacts to the words, dramatizes them and provides a purgation. Part foregoes this approach in Passio, which is distinctly not dramatic and far more austere. The austerity does not translate into barrenness, but into an intense expression of purity. There is very little in the way of specific dramatic response to this most dramatic Latin text as it literally moves to the crux of Christianity. For example, when the mob in the garden answers Christ's question, "Whom seek ye?" the chorus does not shout His name, but sings it in a most gentle, reverential way. Passio clearly is meant as a meditation on the Passion. As such, the words carry more weight. Indeed, one must read this Passion in order to listen to it. It was fashionable not long ago to write vocal music that treated syllables of words independently, oblivious to their meaning. Now the word has returned-or one should say, the Word. Part intends to direct us with his music through the words to the Word. What sustains a work like this? What impels a man like Part to write it? Clearly, the answer is faith, for there is no ego in this work. The temptation to focus on the music alone does not present itself. Indeed, if the words mean nothing to you, neither will the music.
However, within the austere means that Part has chosen, there are many very moving moments. A simply held note on veritate (truth) can be electrifying within the spare musical context, as can also Christ's exclamation: sitio (I thirst). In the ECM recording of
Passio that Part authorized, he seems to have anticipated response 1) above, and did not provide any indexing for the curious to search for "high points"; you will either give up in the beginning or listen to and experience the full seventy minutes. It's all or nothing. Sort of like religion. Newcomers to Part are advised to begin their explorations with earlier releases of his music: first try Tabula Rasa, then move on to Arbos and the Miserere, and finally come to Passio. It is worth the journey.
John Tavener once wrote in the spirit of Schoenberg "some severely serial pieces." Now he eschews such convolutedness and says, "Complexity is the language of evil." His simplicity, though, has an almost theatrical aspect to it. It is more flamboyant, almost voluptuous compared to Part, whom Tavener calls "the only composer friend I have, really," or Gorecki. Because of his embrace of Russian Orthodoxy and its oriental musical idioms, his music sounds the most exotic and unfamiliar of the three. But his purpose is as clear. "In everything I do," he states, "I aspire to the sacred . . . music is a form of prayer, a mystery." He wishes to express "the importance of immaterial realism, or transcendent beauty." His goal is to recover "one simple memory" from which all art derives: "the constant memory of the Paradise from which we have fallen leads to the Paradise which was promised to the repentant thief." As he says elsewhere, "the gentleness of our sleepy recollections promises something else; that which was once perceived 'as in a glass, darkly' we shall see 'face to face.'"
Tavener's music also often begins at the very edge of audibility, rising reverentially from the silence out of which it flows. He calls his compositions musical icons. Like icons, they are instilled with a sense of sacred mystery, inner stillness, and timelessness. He often employs the unfamiliar cadences of Orthodox chant with its melismatic arabesques, floating above long drones. Though ethereal, his music conveys a sensuousness absent in Gorecki and Part. His orchestral writing, even when confined to strings only, as in The Protecting Veil, can be very rich. He dramatically portrays visionary moments of epiphany with climaxes that are physical in their impact. The titles of his compositions convey the range of subject matter: The Last Sleep of the Virgin; The Repentant Thief; Ikon of Light; "We Shall See Him As He Is"; Mary of Egypt; Canticle of the Mother of God; Resurrection; and The Protecting Veil, which commemorates the Virgin's appearance in early tenth-century Constantinople, where, during a Saracen invasion, she drew her protecting veil over the Christians. This latter piece met with enormous success in England.
Tavener's Akathist of Thanksgiving for chorus and orchestra was composed for the celebration of the millennium of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1988. An akathist is a hymn of thanksgiving or supplication used on special occasions. The text of Tavener's work was written in the late 1940s by Archpriest Gregory Petrov shortly before his death in a Siberian prison camp. His inspiration came from the dying words of St. John Chrysostom, "Glory to God for everything." So, shortly before his own death, this priest, surrounded by misery and death, wrote, "I have often seen your glory/ Reflected on faces of the dead!/ With what unearthly beauty and with what joy they shone,/ How spiritual, their features immaterial,/ It was a triumph of gladness achieved, of peace;/ In silence they called to you./ At the hour of my end illumine my soul also,/ As it cries: Alleluia, alleluia."
It is undoubtedly surprising to a modern, secular sensibility that the texts for these consoling, spiritual compositions should come not only from Scripture and liturgy, but from the 20th century's death camps, both Nazi and Soviet. Pope John Paul II would not be surprised. In Crossing the Threshold of Hope, he said of the multitude of martyrs in the 20th century, "They have completed in their death as martyrs the redemptive sufferings of Christ and, at the same time, they have become the foundation of a new world, a new Europe, and a new civilization." Twentieth-century martyrdom as the foundation of a new civilization? Can this be so, and, if so, how would such a civilization express itself? Part of the answer is in the music of these three composers. Theirs is the music of this new civilization. Like the martyrs from whom they have drawn their inspiration, they have gone against the prevailing grain of the 20th century for the sake of a greater love.
"O word, thou word that I lack," cried Schoenberg's Moses before falling to his knees silent. Gorecki, Part, and Tavener have found the Word that Schoenberg's Moses lacked, and have sought new expressive means to communicate it. The new expressive means have turned out to be the old ones, lost for a period of time in the desert, but now rediscovered by these three who know that "the rock was Christ." That something like this could emerge from under the rubble of modernity is moving testimony to the human spirit and its enduring thirst for the eternal. Is this too large a claim to make for these three composers? Perhaps. But be still, and listen.
Search the FSA
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A simple CSS framework for designers and developers, based on 35 equal-width columns. It aims to cut down on development time and help you create beautiful-structured websites.
Show Grid:
What's in the Pack?
1. Sketch sheets for printing (PDF).
2. Design layout templates (for Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator).
3. Code files with explanations (CSS, HTML).
The Structure
The grid is equiped with a 28px baseline-grid for a smooth vertical rhythm. Each block (DIV) is defined with a margin of 1 square (28px) from the next block.
By Avraham Cornfeld
Get the Drupal Theme
The total width of the grid is 994 pixels – which the majority of modern monitors support. You can use the grid in a variety of columns: 18, 12, 9, 6, 4, 3, 2
/* This is an example
of the HTML code
for a 5-column div */
<div class="sg-5">
Code Structure
When writing your code just assign the "sg-" class to your box elements.
18 Column Grid
12 Column Grid
9 Column Grid
6 Column Grid
4 Column Grid
3 Column Grid
2 Column Grid
All Column Sizes
Golden Ratio
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Reflection Paper
Words: 1797
Pages: 8
ACC 321 Reflection Essay
After I take ACC 221 and ACC 222, this semester I decide to take ACC 321. The name of the class is intermediate financial accounting. Before I took the class, I heard the class is the most difficult class among accounting class because of there is a lot of materials to cover in very short time. There are around 15 chapters to cover in a semester so that we have to learn a chapter in a week because we have to use some classes to take the exams and quizzes. And if I want to learn this course well and get a good grade as what I did in ACC221 and ACC222. I will have to read the book, listen to the teacher carefully, do the quiz well, prepare for the exam well and finish all the homework online. It is very important to
…show more content…
In chapter 5, we have covered a lot of materials so that we had to divide the whole chapter into a and b. In general, we learned how to prepare for the balance sheet. We would know how to distinguish the difference between current liabilities, long-term liability, intangible assets, equity investment and so on. Besides, we also got how to prepare for the cash flow statement. We had to have the ability to know how to separate cash provided by operating, cash provided by finance and cash provided by investment. Especially, the loss/gain on sale of an equipment or land should be included in the operating activities, which makes me a little impressive. “And the purpose of a statement of cash flows is to provide relevant information about the cash receipts and cash payments of an enterprise during a period. It differs from the balance sheet and the income statement in that it reports the sources and uses of cash by operating, investing, and financing activity classifications. While the income statement and the balance sheet are accrual basis statements, the statement of cash flows is a cash basis statement—noncash items are omitted.” From a company’s cash flow statement, we can know the operation status of the company and the how the company invests in its area.
In chapter 7, we mainly learned how to do the account receivable. The basic
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Up All Afternoon
with Kyle Anderson
This Week's Top 10: Fictional Bears
In honor of Paddington 2 arriving in theaters this week, Up All Afternoon used its weekly rankings to ask the question: Who are the best fictional bears?
It turns out that people are extremely passionate about their animated ursine mammals. Here is the official Up All Afternoon Top 10 Fictional Bears!
10. Teddy Ruxpin
Teddy Ruxpin was a toy from my childhood. He looked like a normal teddy bear, but he had a cassette player mounted in his back and a tiny speaker in his mouth (a mouth that moved like a creepy robot). There were a handful of stories that you could buy and have Ruxpin tell you, but you could also just shove any old tape back there, which allowed the bear to regale headbangers with incongruous performances of Slayer's Reign in Blood
9. Sexual Harassment Panda
Way back in the third season of South Park, Mr. Garrison introduced his class to Peetie the Sexual Harassment Panda so they could learn about the ills of name-calling and bad touching. I don't remember a whole lot else about the episode or the character, but he did have a bizarrely catchy theme song that he performed himself.
8. Snuggle Bear
Snuggle Bear just wants your clothes, sheets and towels to be alarmingly soft. Plus, he himself seems awfully soft. Does that mean Snuggle Bear uses Snuggle on himself? Is that legal? Is that ethical? The answers to both those questions are yes, because Snuggle is a good bear.
7. Rooty the Great Root Bear (A&W)
First of all: That's a hell of a name working at least two different puns. Rooty is a mascot for A&W, which not only delivers delicious root beer but also runs a series of fast food restaurants that had delicious burgers. (I haven't been to an A&W in decades, but I stand by my memory.) I love root beer, and I love bears who look a little bit like squirrels, and I love tuba-based theme songs, so Rooty more than earns his spot.
6. Little John (Disney's Robin Hood)
A good and loyal bear who teams up with a fox to take down a lion. Plus, dude gets pretty philosophical. Honestly, how many bears openly wonder on what side of the hero/villain divide they sit?
5. Paddington
4. Smokey
Smokey is deeply committed to one thing and one thing only: Encouraging you to properly maintain your campsites and scolding you for casually tossing lit cigarettes among the brush so as not to start forest fires. (As a friend of the show recently pointed out, he's not doing a great job of it, but the aspiration is there.) Plus: Cool hat.
3. Fozzie
I have no idea why Jim Henson decided the "hacky comic" personality should go to a bear, but it absolutely works. Fozzie's commitment to his craft in the face of a lifetime of failure is honorable, and his undying devotion to best friend Kermit also scores him points. Even when he looks sort of off in the first season of The Muppet Show, Fozzie still resonates.
2. Beary Barrington (The Country Bears)
Sure this movie has only been seen by nine people, and they've all seen it on via my DVD that I've lent them, but the sheer charm and absurdity of the Country Bears universe—and Beary in particular—gets this character this high. Beary is an anthropomorphic bear played by Haley Joel Osment, and he somehow doesn't recognize his own bear-ness. So he goes to learn how to be a real bear, but not a lives-in-the-woods kind of bear, more of a metropolitan bear, which still somehow involves playing in a jug band at Country Bear Hall. Beary's resilience in the face of villain Christopher Walken and the sheer stupidity of the premise has always stuck with me—as has the alternate version of this movie I have in my head wherein Beary ends up falling through a portal into Steven Spielberg's AI and smashes a bunch of his own robo-bear clones to bits. Plus, Beary has to endure shit like this:
1. Baloo (The Jungle Book/Tailspin)
If you're thinking that Yogi or Winnie the Pooh should be up here, I've got news for you: Yogi is a smug thief, and Pooh is only like the sixth most interesting creature in the Hundred Acre Wood (he's certainly better than Rabbit, but who isn't?). All versions of Baloo are great, though I'm partial to the Tailspin iteration. That bear could pilot a damn plane. All Pooh ever did was leave his ass exposed trying to get to honey.
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Release Highlights: VLAB 2.4.0
VLAB function profiling integrated with QCachegrind
VLAB target software variable tracing integrated with GTKWave
VLAB statement coverage annotated target source
VLAB code coverage analysis results
VLAB function profiling results
Software Test Toolbox
With VLAB 2.3, the VLAB product family introduces a new Software Test Toolbox, which provides a complete solution for virtualized verification and validation of complex embedded software and systems. This toolbox helps VLAB users to:
• Create and operate a virtualized verification and validation testbench
• Create and manage a regression suite of tests
• Describe test scenarios using a simple and intuitive VLAB Python API
• Call, stub or intercept any target software function
• Select test cases, execute them in parallel on a single host or distribute over multiple hosts
• Measure requirements coverage as well as statement (C0), branch (C1), and MC/DC target code coverage and collate results across the regression
• Generate requirements traceability matrix and identify untested or unsatisfied requirements
• Compare actual and reference behaviour expected, via either a specification model or “golden” traces
• Check properties of the system behaviour and flag any violations of those properties
• Integrate with continuous Integration frameworks and tools, such as Jenkins CI
Software Debug APIs and IDE
VLAB 2.3 adds several improvements to the target software debug capabilities of the Software Debug Toolbox:
• Memory variables and data structures can be accessed programmatically via Python APIs
• Users can now choose between source and disassembly view of the target software in a simulation debug session
VLAB Software Debug Client – source and disassembly views of target software
FPGA Co-simulation
VLAB 2.3 brings significant improvements in the performance and usability of the FPGA Co-simulation Toolbox. A new co-simulation mode uses event based communication and synchronization between RTL IP on the FPGA and a VLAB virtual prototype, to enable extended scaling of the accuracy and performance of the hybrid emulation. Improvements in the clocking and instrumentation infrastructure result in simplification of the RTL integration and implementation flow on the FPGA side and reduction in user effort.
FMI support
VLAB 2.3 introduces support for the Functional Mockup Interface (FMI) standard, enabling the creation of complex multi-domain simulations. This opens up VLAB to integrate and interact with models and simulations using over 90 existing tools covering wide spectrum of applications.
SystemC debugging
The addition of a comprehensive view and tracing of a SystemC simulation enables model and VP developers to better debug complex functional and performance issues in a simulation. This new feature offers visibility into SystemC kernel level events, processes, and channel updates. SystemC kernel behavior over time can be traced into any of the supported formats, used in breakpoint conditions, and visualized as any other simulation data.
Host Compilation Support
VLAB 2.3 simplifies the integration of host-compiled code into a virtual platform environment. In particular, VLAB users can now easily replace target applications running on a core model with a host-compiled version of the same application.
QEMU bridge
VLAB users who would like to reuse model components from the popular QEMU emulator framework can now do so with VLAB 2.2. by porting QEMU models as standard SystemC and VLAB models. Unlike other comparable solutions, support for the most recent QEMU version is available, opening up the broad and mature set of current QEMU models for re-use by VLAB users in an industry standard framework such as SystemC.
XCP Toolbox
VLAB 2.3 enables the connection of a calibration tool such as ETAS INCA to a virtual ECU running in VLAB. This enables a number of new use cases for virtualization, including virtual ECU calibration test and system level safety analysis.
IDE improvements
VLAB 2.3 adds a new Terminal Pane that simplifies interacting with target software providing an interactive user interface.
There is also a new Code Coverage pane in VLAB 2.3 to present code coverage results.
Many other usability improvements have been made across the VLAB IDE.
New OS support and model build toolchains
VLAB 2.3 adds support for latest toolchains for VLAB model builds, including gcc 4.9.x on Linux and Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 on Windows. Windows 10 support has also been added.
Other changes
VLAB 2.3 brings many performance and stability improvements across the range of features and toolboxes over the previous version.
Want to find out more?
getmoreinfo getatrial
Ready to Buy?
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Thursday, 31 July 2008
For Your Amusement
My Lovely Wife and I once competed to see who could come up with the least appropriate store for Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. What retail establishment would be most out of place among the crush of shell shops, henna tattoo joints and beachware emporia selling T-shirts emblazoned with "MILF in Training" and "I'm not as think as you drunk I am"? I won with a bookshop selling rare first editions of Melville and Hawthorne.
This is not to say that Myrtle Beach is the tackiest place in America or even that I dislike the city. I worked there the summer between high school and college, at a joint called Polack Pete's that sold Polish sausages late into the night. Every summer my family spends a week about 25 miles south of Myrtle, at a relatively unspoiled place called Pawleys Island, where there isn't much to do besides collect shells, swim, tan and read. Day trips to Myrtle Beach remind us why we like Pawleys so much.
The newest attraction in M.B. is Hard Rock Park, an amusement park that's an offshoot of the Hard Rock Cafe empire. We're not theme park junkies, or the sort of people who have to ride the latest roller coasters. But I like amusement parks and I love rock and roll and was curious about the union of the two.
I think they did a pretty good job. It's a clean, well-run park (which isn't very rock and roll), with a sly, slightly anarchic sense of humor (which is). The Nights in White Satin ride, for example, is an update of the old funhouse ride arranged around the Moody Blues hit. And when I say "hit" I mean hit of acid, since the basic aim seems to be to recreate an LSD experience without drugs. Three-D glasses give the Day-Glo setting a wavery, edge-of-consciousness look, with patterns swimming around you as you creep ahead in your little car. When you're finished with the ride--after being assaulted from all directions by that overwrought song--you're deposited in the gift shop, where the candy section has a huge sign reading "Got the Munchies?"
There's a great live-action show that celebrates the lowly roadie, turning the laughable unwashed stereotype into a pumped-up hero. The "plot" centers around a fellow named Nigel and whether he will be able to cut it as a roadie. (Spoiler alert: He is.) There's lots of bouncing off trampolines, flying from wires, tumbling across the stage and setting off of pyrotechnics. A beach music-themed show is similarly energetic, with high dives and hijinks.
The rides probably wouldn't satisfy hardcore fans but they were good enough for me. I find that rides fit into two categories: the ones that make you sick and the ones that make you think you'll die. I actually prefer the latter, since I'm not afraid of death. But I really hate feeling like I'm going to throw up, even more than actually throwing up. Thus, I was not a fan of these tiny London taxis that spun around while wobbling up and down. I emerged with that sort of brow sweat that precedes a big upchuck, probably not helped by the Philly cheesesteak I had consumed earlier.
The most extreme death ride is a roller coaster called Led Zeppelin. It features six "inversions." I always wonder about the warnings you pass as you creep along in the line: No pregnant women. No one with back problems. No one of a nervous disposition. No one with a heart condition. I have a heart condition and I sometimes worry that the old ticker will self-destruct somewhere near the third inversion. But we mustn't live our lives in fear, so after viewing the video instructions about how to board the ride (you'd think we were going on the space shuttle) and watching a five-minute documentary on Led Zeppelin, the band (theme park operators are masters now at occupying you during your wait), I strapped myself in.
All the roller coasters at Hard Rock Park feature floor-mounted speakers that ensure your screams will be nearly masked by high-fidelity music. On Led Zeppelin, they played "Afternoon Delight" by the Starland Vocal Band. Just kidding. They played "Whole Lotta Love," a song which, "Clockwork Orange"-fashion, I now associate with having to clench my teeth to keep my spleen from landing in the lap of the person behind me. In other words, the ride rawks! I bought both the photograph of our ride and the DVD, which the helpful park attendant told me I owned the rights to, allowing me to stick it on YouTube. Somewhere, Tim Berners-Lee is weeping.
As with a lot of seasonal service jobs down here, the park is staffed largely by Eastern Europeans. How odd that their first, perhaps only, experience with America is at a southern amusement park. Or is that the perfect introduction?
Here's me with two bear skin-hatted beauties in the park's "British Invasion" section:
And here I am with the Banana Splits:
We really haven't heard a lot from the Banana Splits since their acrimonious breakup more than 30 years ago. (As you recall, Fleegle was dating "H.R. Pufnstuf's" Witchiepoo and her presence in the studio during the ill-fated "Let It Split" sessions alienated the rest of the band.) But I was chatting with the group's handler and he said they're demoing some new material and are poised for a comeback. You read it here first.
SuburbanCorrespondent said...
It takes a crack investigative reporter to get to the bottom of whatever happened to the Banana Splits!
Mike Milligan said...
I think Fleegle has lost weight.
Peromyscus said...
Funny, John - I almost lost it at "Somewhere Tim Berners-Lee is weeping". The weird thing is Plant and Page were allegedly consulted on their ride, so they are presumably weeping in a bank-oriented ambulatory action.
(I got here because your blog's been quoted by some guy who's post linking you is coming up on a Led Zeppelin Google Newsalert. Perhaps that will cheer Timmy up a bit.)
John Kelly said...
@SC: The story just fell in my lap. I was walking through the park and saw the Furry Four. Their "performance" had been canceled by a thunderstorm but their "manager" (picture a younger, goateed Ruben Kincaid) was kind enough to chat with me.
@MM: Gastric bypass maybe?
@Peromyscus: It's actually a great ride. It doesn't have the clanking, wrenching quality that so many older roller coasters have (and which some devotees love). Rather, it's very smooth, but fast and furious. I'm not up on Zep's cosmology (I'm a relatively late convert) but there's nothing for them to be ashamed of. And there are worse things to hear as you're hurtling through space than "Whole Lotta Love."
KP said...
that pic with the bearskin babes has just derailed any future Presidential bid. Glorious, really glorious.
mark from alexandria said...
I don't know, suburbancorres- pondent, I think its more like a reporter on crack:->
John, I always suspected that Witchypoo was the cause of that breakup.
So what's the blog gonna be called?
AEZ said...
I bet the real people behind those Banana Split customs are: 1) Your Lovely Wife, 2) Sarmila, 3) Yao and 4) Bill Clinton.
Old Lady said...
Well, at last you appear again. I was getting worried. No gargoyles at MB,I guess. Miss 'em.
B@B said...
JK I bet you're glad you had your time in good old Blighty so that you could immediately identify the cultural resonances of the bear-skinned beauties? BTW - I'm with markfromalex - wot about the blog?
Was going to offer "Capitol Letter(s)" - Sorry! But it was the best I could do with only a measly pork pie on offer... Bestest from cross the Pond - Dominique
Anonymous said...
We went back in June, a couple of months after it opened. My thirteen year old son does not like roller coasters. However, as a huge Zeppelin fan, he worked up his courage and loved it (after he got through the first drop). Loved seeing his expression on the DVD of total "I'm about to die" to exhiliration! The timing of Whole Lotta Love and the drops/loops was perfect. Everytime I hear that song, I'm going to think of that drop!
Did you go on the Maximum RPM mini-car ride and stand in the "karaoke queue" with one of the Spice Girls? The ride had just opened two days before we arrived, so they were still working out the kinks. We stood in line for an hour & a half, for a 30-second ride (that almost got stuck at the top).
Missed the Banana Splits, but had our photo taken in front of the Abbey Road mural.
All in all, a good time. You can only go to Broadway at the Beach so many times. Glad they had something new this time.
Looking forward to your column/blog in the Post.
Annapolis, MD
Henry said...
I just read - on the BBC, so it must be true - that the Banana Splits are indeed making a comeback. This I learned from the BBC online article "The Banana Splits to make Comeback". Never, ever again will I doubt anything John says. Ever....about ANYTHING.
Adi said...
Daniela said...
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Building the Dam Story
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Canyon journey
To be in complete awe is often more difficult that it seems. To see the river as awesome, especially as it is here, "The Little Colorado" to some it's likely to look like red water, stiff canyons and smell only of still air, instead of a magnificent product by and of nature that has no match.
What induces inspiration? Does it require a conscious act? To look at whatever one is viewing and deciding it is inspiring?
The workers at the Hoover Dam site may not have been inspired by what they were seeing for that's not what they were there for.
Yet in truth, even the smallest rock in one's hand can cause wonder, wonder that leads to further wonder, or inspiration. Inspiration to feel the worth in the moment as it is, the joyous momentum of discovery that happens as we experience ourselves experiencing the discovery...
On the other hand what may have been inspiring to the dam workers was the work itself. What they accomplished each day, how far they could drive into the diversion tunnels with their dynamite and shovels, how much concrete could be poured, how many rocks scaled in a day...
Thus, what inspires you may not be the same for me, depending on circumstances or how we see, not necessarily what it is we're seeing.
Living for success
A dam in the middle of the desert, a dam to manage the water, dictating where it should go, and to whom, and when, and also using that water for energy, the ultimate in control, accomplished. Yet it seems success is a slippery slope when it comes by way of control. The difference between a demand and a choice.
When the demand for the dam occured, there were many reasons, such as ending the flooding in the Imperial Valley so that this land could be used more effectively for growing crops, as well as to use the hydroelectric energy, powering nearby Las Vegas and outgrowing areas. There was also money to be made by the 5 companies that won the bid to build it, and Southern California could continue growing at its own fast pace. Yet also, the men who were paid the slim wages were now off the streets. It made the country appear as though an economic recovery was taking place.
Yet at the expense of men working a job that went against nature and not necessarily for it? Nevertheless, it was a job that developed character and culture, proving just how mighty men working together really can be, capable of building a monolith.
Presently there's a suggestion to put the unemployed to work on the oil disaster in the gulf. Pay them so much and get as many of them working, and this time, to solve a problem that's gone against nature.
Thus heroes continue to be created, as men continue to work on demand and on behalf of something much bigger than themselves. The rise of success in our post-everything existence, we do what can be done, every one of us, rich or poor, jobless or well etched in a career and we rarely for a moment look beyond the work at hand.
Living for success accomplished with control.
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Why Study?
It is important in our Christian lives that we spend time, in addition to Sunday Services, listening to sermons and Bible Studies, and reading the Bible and Christian Literature.
All of the Sermons on this site were preached here at Westgate during our normal morning and evening Sunday services.
Older Sermons and Bible Studies are kept on site and are well worth listening to.
There is also a range of text documents from Studies in Psalms, General Weekly thoughts and short strories.
Sermons this year cover only sermons preached in this calendar year.
Sermon Archive 1 contains, recent years sermons preached at Westgate
Sermon Archive 2 contains mostly sermons preached by Rev Edward Evans whilst he was minister at Westgate
Bible Study Archive contains over 130 Bible Studies given by Rev Edward Evans whilst he was minister at Westgate
The author of the content in menu links, "Stories Worth Telling" and "Climbing in the Psalms" is a Shepherd.
There will also be additional menu links containing external links to recommended site and helpful software.
Please take time to browse and benefit from this resource.
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Monday, April 1, 2013
Locked Away #2: Willow's Journal: Secrets
I can't write the date now, it's too dangerous
Dear Journal,
Oh, how I hate these secrets! Keeping secrets from people is so not my specialty. I want to tell them so much, but they will not understand. I'm not even sure that I understand.
But I must bear the weight anyway. Praying is helpful. Telling the Author everything makes my heart lighter, though it does not take away the burden completely.
It seems almost that my life is bursting with secrets! My new-found 'abilities'. The unexpected journey. My Codebearer status.
For Durin's sake, my secrets seem to have secrets!! I cannot tell one without practically telling another!
Of course, back in the Veil it's so much worse. Well, not as much now, but I can't write about that now. I will, later. Right now, I've gotta go pack.
P.S. that's me in that photo, last summer
{P.P.S not really, the pic is from Pinterest}
1 comment:
We are so happy that you have decided to say something about one of our stories! Also, our blog has four authors and four books going, so please make sure that you are commenting to the right person. But please keep in mind that if your comment is in anyway inappropriate, it will not be posted. Speak, friend, and enter :)
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The Mitsubishi A6m-1/A6M-2 "Zero" is a tier IV (4) Japanese carrier-based fighter. It runs off a Nakajima Sakae engine and has an armament that includes of two 7.7mm machineguns and 20mm autocannons. The maximum speed that this aircraft can reach is 533 km/h.
The a6m series was best known for its maneuverability .So if you are piloting a zero fighter use this to your advantage.
the a6m1 does not withstand damage like contemporary fighters like the bf 109 and p36. So generaly avoid head on attacks with equal and higher tier aircraft.
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Attention: New Members
Discussion in 'User Introductions' started by Gage, Aug 18, 2011.
1. Gage
Gage The Battle of Barking Creek MOD
Can new members use the 'User Introductions' for just saying hello and post any other questions or information in the correct sub-forum for their query.
Many thanks.
brithm, Our bill, Owen and 1 other person like this.
2. Gage
Gage The Battle of Barking Creek MOD
Also, can new members choose the relevent sub-forum they need and post only the information/question once. Instead of posting the same info/question in multiple sub forums.
We will see it first time round.
Ken P and brithm like this.
3. Gage
Gage The Battle of Barking Creek MOD
Bump - as even more established members don't seem to be to taking any notice.
4. Gage
Gage The Battle of Barking Creek MOD
Bump again.
PsyWar.Org likes this.
5. Fred Wilson
Fred Wilson Member
I would be really appreciative if our moderators could make it a policy to get into the habit of renaming new member threads.
One example only:
We get a handful a handful of new posts every week it seems titled "Looking for my grandfather"
Change that title the person's name and unit and whatever else is relevant.
The first things folks look at is the title. Titles need to be narrowed down to topic specific words.
That's what Google etc first look for.
Years later someone will do a Google Search etc and that thread will pop up and critical pieces of missing information will arrive on the scene.
When that happens, that is THE thing that knocks me out about this forum.
6. dbf
dbf Moderatrix MOD
moved post to a pinned thread under User Introductions about Introduction threads, etc
and explanation about good titles here...
Main sub-forum for initial enquiries about researching individuals is this one
and if specific Corps/Regiments is known
All things Naval
Air Force
Peter Clare and 4jonboy like this.
7. Owen
Owen -- --- -.. MOD
Thanks for telling me what I should be doing .....which I have been doing without mentioning it every bloody time since I became a Mod many years ago.
CoenNL, Ken P, ramacal and 6 others like this.
8. Ron Goldstein
Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran Patron
Whilst browsing on I fould this old thread by a character named Peppy, dated 2006, and thought it worthwhile to add here:
Since I am an educator, I thought it might be useful to educate some of our members about proper posting. There are a lot of crappy posts out there, and what I'm trying to do is make a push toward quality over quantity posting. I'm going to cover a few of my most frustrating areas.
If it's hot, don't touch!
I never understood the desire for people to get angry and repeatedly reply to people who they clearly don't agree with. Some people are always going to discuss how great the nazi war machine was, some pople are always going to believe that with a few minor adjustments Hitler could have won the war, some people are always going to think that Patton was better than Rommel, and that Monty was better than both. It is not your duty to refute them. I mean for God sakes, this is the bloody internet, opinions are like a$$holes and if you repeatedly get sucked into these arguments don't cry to the mods when you get banned.
The Ignore Feature
Following up with the above is the most overlooked, underused feature of the Forums. If someone's posts bother you, go to their profile and ignore them. Voila! The source of your anger will be hidden from your eyes. My guess is that a lot of you little scamps simply won't be able to miss out on what that crazy member has posted and won't do this. All I'm going to say is that if you see a thread from a member you didn't like and you get sucked into an argument, you could have avoided it. The fact that this feature exists, just makes it sooo much easier for me to click the ban button in the admin profile.
Replying to Yourself
How is it possible that a sane person can make several posts in the same thread within a few minutes? I mean sh!t, the window to edit a post is 48 hours, if you need to expand on your previous posts just edit your last one. Sometime I see as many as three in a row. Even if you are replying to several people at once, you can do it in one post.
Posting just Smilies
It is never good for you to post a single smiley, or just two, or just three, as a response to a post. Honestly, no one cares that you got a chuckle out of a topic. If you do this, technically you haven't even typed anything, you just clicked the damn smiley box, and then clicked "add reply." To have an effective post you must type. Just so you all know, I'm going to start deleting such posts from now on. For every one I see and delete, I'm going to drop the member's post count by 10. I'm not kidding.
The idea that if a mod deletes or edits your posts it is censorship. I'm happy to say that of all the Forums I've ever been to, this one is the best as far as leaving what is posted as is. That said, by definition, we are not capable of censoring you. This site belongs to Otto, and he can edit it any way he likes. If you don't like the fact that he moved your "Hitler was a great dancer" thread to the Free Fire Zone, pay for and start your own Forum. We can edit our own Forum, but we are not censoring you.
Use the F*cking Search Function!!
Sorry but you are not that original. This forum has been around since the year 2000. Do you really thing that no one has posted about the ethics of dropping the A-Bomb on Hiroshima? Do you really think no one has ever asked about how increased me262 production would affect the war? I'm sorry, but many of your ideas have probably been discussed in depth already. Don't be an ass and start a new thread, relax, take a breath, search, and then read through the older threads and add to their discussions.
Post in the Proper Forum
Each section on this Forum is titled in english, with a clear description, also in english. If I have to move your threads into another Forum because you are too lazy to read english it makes me wan to ban you.
Thread Titles
Name your threads properly. If you are asking a question, use a question mark in the title. My biggest frustration is to see a thread titled "Rommel in Africa" and when I click on it the post is asking: "When was Rommel in Africa?" If the post is a question then the title should have been "Rommel in Africa?" It seems obvious, but some numbskulls don't get it. Also, don't entitle a thread "Peppy's reserach topic #2" Every one of your posts is linked to your name, you don't need to title a thread with it. When you post, make the thread title reflect the subject matter of the post.
Be respectful to Mods
Admins and mods are not paid, be respectful of them as they have been here a long while and just might know a thing or two. Also, be especially respectful of Otto, he was good enough to build and pay for this website, and if you bite the hand that feeds you, I'll happily sick der PanzerPenguin on your ungrateful bitch ass.
Posted Image
Free Fire zone
While I expect you all to be respectful at all times, the rules mentioned above are less stringent in the Free Fire Zone. In the FFZ, all bets are off. You can post just 1 smiley, a picture of your dog, start a disease naming contest, or whatever, but keep that crazy sh!t out of the open Forums and in the Free Fire Zone.
One last thing...
Before you click "Add Reply" and permamnetly posts that message to the Forum for all to see, ask yourself if you are adding anything useful to the thread or forums, if you can't asnwer yes, then back away from the keyboard.
:peppy: :panzerpenguin:
Peppy = Ranting and raving
Otto Saluted this
9. CL1
its a learning curve for most people signing up to a forum it certainly was for me.
It takes time for members to find their feet and their level of input which they are happy with and also to find their way around.the forum.
Aileen Phillips likes this.
10. Smudger Jnr
Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin
I agree about the learning curve as I remember returning from Holiday after being without Internet for over two weeks.
I logged on and found that such a lot had changed and for a short time I was out of my comfort zone.
Looking and trying out the Features soon get you back in a personal comfort zone once again.
Like anything practice makes you more competent.
11. dbf
dbf Moderatrix MOD
:eek: :(
12. Ron Goldstein
Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran Patron
:). :). :)
dbf likes this.
13. CL1
14. BrianM59
BrianM59 Senior Member
Aaah - spent a horrible day doing all sorts of things I didn't want to do, then caught up with this thread - cheered me right up, thanks.
15. von Poop
von Poop Adaministrator Admin
I liked Peppy, but 2F is/was a different place.
Some thoughts, to which possibly should be added 'careful when posting half-cut.'
If it's hot, get in there and say what you think, especially if someone is preaching sheer arse-gravy.
A disagreement is not a breach of etiquette, despite that being a popular view among many of my countrymen.
And don't worry, we haven't banned anyone for things other than Nazism & spam for years really. You might get sarcasm, or even a virtual tut, but banning is quite unlikely.
The ignore feature is for cowards.
Do we even have it now? Think so... maybe.
I used it once years ago... I peeked after 24hrs.
Yeah. Maybe. Sort of...
Depends on the style of thread. Some of the info ones are innately strings of the same chap replying. Context is all.
Maybe. Smilies can sometimes be funny, unless that's all you've got, or you use about 20 per post. Though as we seem to have scared off all the 14 year olds years ago we don't really get any of this.
There is no justice.
Just us.
Again though, I haven't crayoned on someone's madder musings for years. Not since the first heady rush of gaining edit controls anyway. :unsure:
On balance I agree with this, though as our search function is not very good I can't really criticise someone who cracks on with a new thread. We can always shuffle things about later, and some persistent questions can benefit from a new thread, leaving the rotting bodies of bad blood and old arguments elsewhere. Then we can merge them later, so it looks like one massive falling out.
Yeah. That. Though again, we can move stuff.
Seriously, don't. I don't think any of us really expect you to be, and as regards actual threads rather than forum running stuff we'd all much rather be seen as equal members. Much more fun.
Some forums take the dignity of their mods & admins so seriously that I've seen it destroy the 'feel'.
I once got my hair caught in my shoe & fell over backwards... maybe pity me, but I deserve little respect.
We have the barracks.
It ain't moderated much, but then, thinking about it neither is the rest of the forum really - we seem to do quite well on trust.
Hands up everyone who ever typed out a long rant and then thought 'hmm... maybe not...'.
Yeah. Up to you really.
Na zdorovie,
dbf likes this.
16. Ron Goldstein
Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran Patron
On re-reading Peppy's article, still valid, I maintain, after nine odd years, I reckon the para I consider of most value is the one that deals with thread titles.
I have lost count of the number of threads I have started that have not received even one response.
One side of me accepts this as simply talking to myself and in my dark days I have even summoned up the phrase "casting pearls before swine" but if I am brutally honest the fault must surely lie with yours truly for not heading the thread with a more thought provoking title.
BFBSM likes this.
17. Jim h
Jim h New Member
Where can I find instructions about the proper use of this site including how to thank people who have Kepler etc.
18. Julie205
Julie205 New Member
Hi. I have just joined this site and hoping to find out some information on my grandfather. Still figuring out how to use this and will upload some photos and info asap.
19. Lotus7
Lotus7 Well-Known Member
Hi and welcome to the forum Julie, good luck with your research.
Have you got his service records? Do you know in which unit he served?
20. Trishbiker
Trishbiker New Member
Hi there,
I've just found your wonderful website/forum and this is my first posting.
I am a keen motorcyclist (hence my user name!) and medically retired Paramedic Practitioner and also love trying to find family history.
My Dad was Bob (Timothy Robert William) Block (he died in 2011) and he was in the RASC 8th HQ Car Corps 778 Company (like FloridaBrit's Dad) as a Vehicle Mechanic Group A Class 1. I have his Military History records and am trying to find out exactly where he was and when. Some of the things we know so far is that he had the B.A.O.R. campaign medal and was in Eindhoven for some time at the end of the war.
We are lucky enough to have his letters to our Mum which he sent regularly after going into Europe on D-Day +6 which we didn't even knew existed until we lost our Mum in 2014. Like most he hardly ever spoke of his experiences but we knew he was mentally scarred by some of the things he went through, so finding these letters after his death were like a treasure trove. Time is always short after moving house last year so I haven't had the chance to read and transcribe many of them yet, but they will help us fill in a lot of gaps.
One thing that may interest people 'of a certain age' is that Dad went on to be a radio & TV script writer and was the creator and writer of the children's programme Rentaghost, so his critiques of the ENSA shows he went to see in his letters should be interesting!
I hope this hasn't rambled on too much and is acceptable as a newbies post!
Ron Goldstein, Ken P, Otto and 2 others like this.
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Articles online
Thermophoresis and Brownian Motion Effects on Nanoparticle Deposition Inside a 90° Square Bend Tube
Category: Aerosol Source, Formation, Transport, Deposition, and its Chemical and Physical Processes
Volume: 18 | Issue: 7 | Pages: 1746-1755
DOI: 10.4209/aaqr.2018.02.0047
Export Citation: RIS | BibTeX
Zhao-Qin Yin, Xian-Feng Li, Fu-Bing Bao , Cheng-Xu Tu, Xiao-Yan Gao
• Institute of Fluid Mechanics, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou 310018, China
Air physical parameters changing with temperature has been considered.
Brownian force and thermophoretic force have different effect on nanoparticles.
Particle diameter and gas temperature change deposition efficiency of particles.
Aerosol nanoparticle deposition onto a surface under a temperature gradient is commonly applied in the chemical and medical industries. In this study, a numerical investigation with a two-phase model is used to investigate the deposition characteristics of nanosized particles in a 90° square bend. The effects of variations in the gas phase physical parameters, such as density, viscosity, and thermal diffusivity with changing temperatures are studied. The main forces acting on the particles are the drag forces, Brownian forces, and thermophoretic forces. A discrete phase model (DPM) based on the FLUENT software is used to investigate particle transfer. The results show that in a temperature gradient flow, particles move towards the colder wall, and some of them strike and deposit onto its surface. The particle deposition efficiency increases with the temperature gradient rising. The Brownian force plays a more important role in particle deposition when smaller particles are used. Because of inertia and gravity, particle deposition on the four surfaces of a 90° square bend tube is inhomogeneous. The deposition efficiency on the floor surface increases with increasing particle diameter. On the contrary, larger particles decrease the deposition efficiency on the ceiling surface.
Aerosol nanoparticle Thermophoretic force Brownian force Deposition
Related Article
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global_01_local_1_shard_00001926_processed.jsonl/53724
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Tetramorium decem
AntWiki - Where Ant Biologists Share Their Knowledge
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Tetramorium decem
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Crematogastrini
Genus: Tetramorium
Species: T. decem
Binomial name
Tetramorium decem
Forel, 1913
Decamorium decem casent0415619 profile 1.jpg
Decamorium decem casent0415619 dorsal 1.jpg
Specimen Label
Based on Arnold (1917) and the collection label from some material from Arabuko Sokoke, T. decem nests in sandy soil. The diet consists of termites, as with most other members of the species group.
Hita Garcia & Fisher (2014) - Tetramorium decem can be recognised by the following combination of characters: relatively larger species (HW 0.59–0.62; WL 1.02–1.16); propodeal teeth relatively longer (PSLI 17–19); petiolar node in profile around 1.2 to 1.3 times higher than long (LPeI 77–82); dorsum of promesonotum unsculptured, smooth, and very shiny; strongly bicoloured species with dark brown or black gaster contrasting with light brown to reddish brown remainder of body.
Tetramorium decem is the core species of the group (Tetramorium decem species group), and was the type species for the description of the subgenus Decamorium by Forel (1913a). It is perhaps the most conspicuous species of the group. Its bicolouration, larger size, lack of sculpture on the mesosomal dorsum, and a higher petiolar node render it immediately recognisable. The mostly unsculptured, smooth and shiny mesosomal dorsum distinguishes T. decem from Tetramorium raptor and Tetramorium uelense, in which the dorsum of the mesosoma is clearly longitudinally rugose/rugulose. Tetramorium ultor and Tetramorium venator both share the lack of sculpture on the mesosomal dorsum with T. decem, but can still be easily separated from the latter. Tetramorium decem is generally larger in size (WL 1.02–1.16), has longer propodeal spines (PSLI 17–19) and is also conspicuously bicoloured, whereas T. ultor and T. venator are smaller species (WL 0.85–0.98) with significantly shorter propodeal teeth (PSLI 9–13) and a more uniform brown to black body colouration. In addition, T. decem also has a higher petiolar node, in profile around 1.2 to 1.3 times higher than long (LPeI 77–82), compared to the other two, in which the node in profile is only around 1.0 to 1.2 times higher than long (LPeI 86–100). The species that appears to be morphologically closest to T. decem is T. uelense. Both species share the large body, bicolouration, and preference for arid habitats. However, in addition to the sculpture on the mesosoma, T. uelense also has a lower petiolar node, in profile around 1.1 times higher than long (LPeI 88–93). Another character that is shared between T. decem and T. uelense but absent in the other species of the group is the development of the ventral margin of the antennal scrobe. In T. raptor, T. ultor, and T. venator the margin is clearly and well defined, while in T. decem and T. uelense it is less so and merges more with the surrounding rugose sculpture.
Based on the available material we did not observe any significant form of intraspecific variation in T. decem.
Keys including this Species
Hita Garcia & Fisher (2014) - Based on the redefined species definition, T. decem is only known from the type locality in Zimbabwe and two additional localities in East Africa: Arabuko Sokoke in Kenya and Mkomazi in Tanzania. Nevertheless, if more extensive sampling efforts are undertaken in East Africa, T. decem is likely to be found in more localities in Kenya, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.
Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: Ivory Coast, Kenya, United Republic of Tanzania, Zimbabwe (type locality).
Distribution based on AntMaps
Distribution based on AntWeb specimens
Check data from AntWeb
Like Tetramorium uelense and Tetramorium ultor, T. decem prefers arid habitats, such as savannah and woodland.
• decem. Tetramorium (Decamorium) decem Forel, 1913a: 121 (w.) ZIMBABWE. Arnold, 1917: 350 (q.m.). Combination in Decamorium: Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 906; in Tetramorium: Hita Garcia & Fisher, 2014: 78.
Hita Garcia & Fisher (2014) - (N=15). HL 0.71–0.74 (0.72); HW 0.59–0.62 (0.60); SL 0.42–0.45 (0.43); EL 0.19–0.21 (0.20); PH 0.33–0.37 (0.35); PW 0.47–0.50 (0.48); WL 1.02–1.16 (1.06); PSL 0.12–0.14 (0.13); PTL 0.25–0.27 (0.26); PTH 0.31–0.34 (0.33); PTW 0.22–0.24 (0.23); PPL 0.24–0.27 (0.25); PPH 0.32–0.36 (0.34); PPW 0.32–0.36 (0.34); CI 83–85 (84); SI 70–76 (72); OI 32–34 (33); DMI 41–47 (45); LMI 32–34 (33); PSLI 17–19 (18); PeNI 46–51 (48); LPeI 77–82 (80); DPeI 85–92 (88); PpNI 67–76 (70); LPpI 71–77 (75); DPpI 128–138 (133); PPI 143–149 (147).
Head much longer than wide (CI 83–85); posterior head margin weakly concave. Anterior clypeal margin with distinct, but often shallow median impression. Frontal carinae strongly developed and noticeably raised forming dorsal margin of very well-developed antennal scrobes, curving down ventrally and anteriorly halfway between posterior eye margin and posterior head margin and forming posterior and parts of ventral scrobe margins; antennal scrobes very well developed, deep and with clearly defined margins, but ventral margin less strongly developed, median scrobal carina absent. Antennal scapes short, not reaching posterior head margin (SI 70–76). Eyes very large (OI 32–34). Mesosomal outline in profile flat to weakly convex, relatively low and elongate (LMI 32–34), moderately to strongly marginate from lateral to dorsal mesosoma; promesonotal suture absent; metanotal groove present, distinct, and clearly impressed. Propodeal spines short, elongate-triangular, and moderately acute (PSLI 17–19), propodeal lobes short, triangular, and usually blunt, always significantly shorter than propodeal spines. Tibiae and femorae strongly swollen. Petiolar node nodiform with moderately rounded antero- and posterodorsal margins, around 1.2 to 1.3 times higher than long (LPeI 77–82), anterior and posterior faces approximately parallel, anterodorsal and posterodorsal margins situated at about the same height, petiolar dorsum clearly convex; node in dorsal view between 1.1 to 1.2 times longer than wide (DPeI 85–92), in dorsal view pronotum around 2.0 to 2.2 times wider than petiolar node (PeNI 46–51). Postpetiole in profile globular to subglobular, approximately 1.3 to 1.4 times higher than long (LPpI 71–77); in dorsal view around 1.3 to 1.4 times wider than long (DPpI 128–138), pronotum between 1.3 to 1.5 times wider than postpetiole (PpNI 67–76). Postpetiole in profile usually appearing less voluminous than petiolar node, postpetiole in dorsal view around 1.4 to 1.5 times wider than petiolar node (PPI 143–149). Mandibles and clypeus usually fully unsculptured, smooth, and shining, mandibles sometimes with few traces of rugulae apically; cephalic dorsum between frontal carinae mostly unsculptured and shiny, median ruga present and distinct, cephalic dorsum also puncticulate to punctate throughout its length, posteriorly close to posterior head margin especially pronounced; scrobal area partly unsculptured, smooth and shiny and partly merging with surrounding rugose sculpture on sides of head. Ground sculpture on head usually weak to absent. Dorsum of mesosoma mostly unsculptured, smooth and shiny with scattered punctures, rarely with few traces of rugulae; lateral mesosoma longitudinally rugose and very conspicuously reticulate-punctate except for mostly unsculptured lateral pronotum and katepisternum. Forecoxae unsculptured, smooth, and shining. Petiolar node and postpetiole superficially longitudinally rugulose or irregularly rugulose superimposed on conspicuous but relatively weak reticulate-punctate ground sculpture. Mesosoma and waist segments appearing mostly matt. First gastral tergite unsculptured, smooth, and shiny. Pilosity and pubescence greatly reduced: head with few pairs of moderately long, standing hairs, anterior pronotum with one long pair, waist segments sometimes with one long pair each, and sometimes first gastral tergite with one long pair; appressed pubescence present everywhere on body, but noticeable only on antennae, cephalic dorsum, legs, and first gastral tergite. Anterior edges of antennal scapes and dorsal (outer) surfaces of hind tibiae with appressed hairs. Body strongly bicoloured with dark brown to black gaster contrasting with light brown to reddish brown remainder.
Type Material
Determination Clarifications
The distribution range of T. decem is far smaller than previously thought. Indeed, most of the material listed in the literature as T. decem or labelled as such in museum collections turned out to be either Tetramorium ultor or Tetramorium venator, while only a few collections proved to be genuine T. decem.
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Re:Covers: A Month of Spooky #7
You awake in the dark to a strange noise. Is that footsteps? Do you hear breathing? Did you remember to lock the door? What's that strange shadow? It must be day seven of Spooky covers! Today's apparition is Chamber of Chills #3:
Chamber of Chills (1972) #3
Yesterday we discussed the category of Monster Behind You, that delicious dramatic irony of knowing something that the characters do not (namely, that there is a monster behind them).
COC #3 is another case of Monster Behind You, but it amps up the cheese by adding a second person to the tableau. The more clueless people there are, the greater the, wait...the greater the fun!
But COC #3 doesn't just add a second person. Oh, no; it proves these people to be totally out of touch with reality.
Cluelessness #1: They realize that the dead guy didn't just die; he was killed (and yet they stay in the room)
Cluelessness #2: She heard the guy scream in terror (and yet they stay in the room).
Cluelessness #3: She heard him scream about the thing on the roof (okay, maybe they should just stay away from the roof, but still...)
Cluelessness #4: There is a table knocked over, flowers on the floor, and an open window. Now maybe they missed these three clues, but why did they both walk to that side of the room, turn their backs to the window, and then freak out?
Cluelessness #5 (and most important): There is a multi-tentacled monster that is oozing and dripping slime coming through the window. Now maybe, maybe that thing is super quiet, but there is no way you are going to convince me that it doesn't stink to high heaven.
For sheer nuttiness, this cover earns a blood-curdling three screams!
scream3 scream2 scream5
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Highlight Elements during your Protractor test run
Very long back I wrote an article on how to highlight elements during Webdriver run here Let’s see how to do it with JavaScript in Protractor test. In my test framework, I have a helper class for the commonly used API calls like click, sendKeys wrapped with custom names like clickWhenClickable and typeKeys respectively, in … Read more
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Difference between throws clause and try-catch-finally block
Java Exception handling:
There are 5 keywords related to Exception Handling; those are
• try
• catch
• throw
• throws
• finally
try-catch-finally combination:
We can use 3 combination of try-catch-finally in Java methods; those combination are
throw and throws (with an extra S):
• throw is used to throw exception from executing block; it could be try-block or catch-block (from inside a method)
• throws is used to indicate that particular method is possibly throws these exceptions; again method can throws any number of exceptions
Difference between throws clause and try-catch block ?
• As explained above, throws clause is used to indicate that particular exception is possibly thrown from executing method at run-time
• Whereas try-catch block is used to handle exception scenario
• Like, if any particular exception is thrown from try block;
• then corresponding catch-block catches that particular exception and we can take necessary action from there ON (this is some kind of coding stuff)
try-catch block throws keyword
Using try-catch block, we can handle exception surrounding code that might raise an exception Whereas using throws keyword, we can simply declare exception that might raise from that method
Caught exception in the catch block can be re-thrown after some alteration There is no such flexibility, as its directly throws exception
try-catch block ensures graceful termination for that particular method
Except one scenario when catch block throws exception
Doesn’t guarantee graceful termination
In most cases, throws declaration leads to abnormal termination
Hope, it help to understand most of the things related to Java Exception Handling
Happy Coding !!
Happy Learning !!
Interview question and answer on Exception Handling in Java
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global_01_local_1_shard_00001926_processed.jsonl/53776
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Better Public Speaking
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Archives for : rehearsals
Practice Makes Professionals
Preparation and rehearsals are the basic foundation for an excellent speech. You should never ignore it. Practice you must as practice makes professionals. You’ve probably heard this a million times anyway.
90 percent of how well your talk will be is determined before you step on the stage. ― Somers White
How to practice a speech effectively? Yes, it involves doing some weird—standing in your living room talking to no one but your furniture. However, during your practice, remember that your goal is to create an emotional connection with the audience. Always ask yourself what you want your audience to feel or do as the last golden word escapes your lips. Building a relationship with your audience is the most powerful thing you can do as a speaker.
As you practice your next speech along these objectives, you’ll be prepared for success the next time your step on the stage. Ten years after your speech, the audience may have forgotten what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.
Now that you have gained some useful pointers on how to become a better public speaker, I encourage you not to stop here. Keep “sharpening your saw” by getting practical experience on public speaking. Grab the opportunity to speak in public as often as possible. The more stage time you accrue, the higher your self-esteem and confidence will become. Do purchase my book called Fearless Public Speaking at This 11,500+ word book will give you more pointers towards becoming a seasoned orator. I look forward to that wonderful day in your life when you will become ‘complete’ and you will discover your true purpose in this world. May you discover it through your public speaking endeavors.
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Leaf Solution FAQ
/Leaf Solution FAQ
Leaf Solution FAQ 2017-09-14T09:49:15+00:00
Q. I live in a home with a lot of trees, and have wasted my money on several different expensive gutter guards. How do I know that Leaf Solution will work?
A. Leaf Solution has been manufactured since 2002. Since that time, we have sold millions upon millions of feet. Still, after over 6 years, we still are an Accredited business with the Better Business Bureau with an A+ rating. The simple fact is Leaf Solution is the most effective gutter cover on the planet. It will take large volumes of water, yet prevent anything as small as a piece of sand from entering. We also stand by our product with a simple guarantee. If your gutters are ever to clog when protected by Leaf Solution, we will refund your purchase price.
Q. Is Leaf Solution a maintenance free product?
A. There is no such thing as a maintenance free gutter guard. If a representative from any gutter guard company in the world makes such a claim, RUN FAST. Your gutters are the defense against extensive water damage. Our job is to protect your home from having clogged gutters and to prevent you from having to clean the muck from the interior. Mostly, the product will self shed with the wind, but on some homes the debris might have to be easily removed from the surface. The bottom line is: Leaf Solution will stop your gutters from ever clogging again!
Q. What sizes are available?
A. Leaf Solution is available for both 5″ and 6″ gutters.
Q. How is Leaf Solution installed on the gutters?
A. For most applications, Leaf Solution will slide under the first row of shingles and attach to the front lip of the gutter using zip screws. By sliding under the shingle, the water cannot get behind the gutter and rot the fascia. Unprotected gutters almost always leave the fascia to rot. On some applications, like a metal roof, we will put the product in a brake to bend it and install it directly to the fascia board above the back of the gutter.
Q. Can I install Leaf Solution myself?
A. Leaf Solution needs to be installed by an authorized dealer. It is imperative that your gutters are 100% in working order before installing Leaf Solution. It is also very important that an experienced installer do the installation to make the proper adjustments that are needed to take the water and not have overshooting.
Q. Is there anything I should do after Leaf Solution is installed?
A. We ask that you grab a raincoat and an umbrella on the second good rain after installation. (We say 2nd because the product sometimes has oils and greasing agents from the manufacturing process. This will self clean during the first rain after installation) You are looking for any area on the house that may have water overshooting the gutters. If you have any areas where the water is coming over the gutter, make a note of the location. We will come back out and make the necessary adjustments. After that, it always important as a homeowner to make sure that there are no issues with any problems on your home.
Q. A salesperson from another company said they have a lifetime guarantee also. Why do so many companies offer a lifetime warranty?
A. A salesperson’s job is to sell you their product. Some of these salespeople will say whatever is necessary to sell you product. We always say to do your own research. Read the fine print of the warranties. Most of the lifetime warranties simply mean that when their products clog, they will come back out and clean them for free. This presents several problems for you. The biggest problem is that you are now on that company’s schedule to clean your gutters. When they clog, you have to call them to have someone come out and verify. Once verified, a crew has to come back out and clean the gutters. This could easily mean weeks and weeks of your gutters being clogged. Remember, if it has an opening large enough for pine needles to enter than it will clog.
Reverse Curve/Hooded systems cannot offer a money back no clog warranty because they do and will clog.
Q. I have seen a couple other products that use stainless steel mesh. Is their a difference?
A. Leaf Solution is the pioneer in the industry. We were the first company to manufacture and install a stainless steel mesh gutter guard. There have been several copycats since than. The biggest difference is that our product has the 3 downward dips. This is the real key to success, as these 3 dips slow the water down and create a siphoning effect to take large volumes of water. You do not want a gutter guard that sits flat on top of your gutter. If there is not a slope, the debris will have no chance of self shedding. As that debris begins to naturally break down, it can cause some very bad clogs.
Q. Some of the sales people that have come out have been very pushy. Are your salespeople like that?
A. It is quite a shame that some of the companies out there endorse strong arming customers to buy. We ask that all of our dealers make the estimate as painless as possible. We will not tolerate our dealers acting unprofessionally in any form. Please contact us directly if you feel this policy is being broken.
The estimator will measure up your gutters, examine your gutters, and provide you with a written proposal. We prefer that all homeowners be present for the estimate to not only hear the presentation but to help the dealer by listening to any problems that you may be experiencing with your gutters. This can go a long way in ensuring your 100% satisfaction.
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« Prev Chapter XI Next »
In this chapter the apostle blames, and endeavours to rectify, some great indecencies and manifest disorders in the church of Corinth; as, I. The misconduct of their women (some of whom seem to have been inspired) in the public assembly, who laid by their veils, the common token of subjection to their husbands in that part of the world. This behaviour he reprehends, requires them to keep veiled, asserts the superiority of the husband, yet so as to remind the husband that both were made for mutual help and comfort, ver. 1-16. II. He blames them for their discord and neglect and contempt of the poor, at the Lord's supper, ver. 17-22. III. To rectify these scandalous disorders, he sets before them the nature and intentions of this holy institution, directs them how they should attend on it, and warns them of the danger of a conduct to indecent as theirs, and of all unworthy receiving, ver. 23, to the end.
Directions Concerning Attire; Female Subjection. (a. d. 57.)
Paul, having answered the cases put to him, proceeds in this chapter to the redress of grievances. The first verse of the chapter is put, by those who divided the epistle into chapters, as a preface to the rest of the epistle, but seems to have been a more proper close to the last, in which he had enforced the cautions he had given against the abuse of liberty, by his own example: Be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ (v. 1), fitly closes his argument; and the way of speaking in the next verse looks like a transition to another. But, whether it more properly belong to this or the last chapter, it is plain from it that Paul not only preached such doctrine as they ought to believe, but led such a life as they ought to imitate. "Be ye followers of me," that is, "Be imitators of me; live as you see me live." Note, Ministers are likely to preach most to the purpose when they can press their hearers to follow their example. Yet would not Paul be followed blindly neither. He encourages neither implicit faith nor obedience. He would be followed himself no further than he followed Christ. Christ's pattern is a copy without a blot; so is no man's else. Note, We should follow no leader further than he follows Christ. Apostles should be left by us when they deviate from the example of their Master. He passes next to reprehend and reform an indecency among them, of which the women were more especially guilty, concerning which observe,
I. How he prefaces it. He begins with a commendation of what was praiseworthy in them (v. 2): I praise you, that you remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances as I delivered them to you. Many of them, it is probable, did this in the strictest sense of the expression: and he takes occasion thence to address the body of the church under this good character; and the body might, in the main, have continued to observe the ordinances and institutions of Christ, though in some things they deviated from, and corrupted, them. Note, When we reprove what is amiss in any, it is very prudent and fit to commend what is good in them; it will show that the reproof is not from ill-will, and a humour of censuring and finding fault; and it will therefore procure the more regard to it.
II. How he lays the foundation for his reprehension by asserting the superiority of the man over the woman: I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God. Christ, in his mediatorial character and glorified humanity, is at the head of mankind. He is not only first of the kind, but Lord and Sovereign. He has a name above every name: though in this high office and authority he has a superior, God being his head. And as God is the head of Christ, and Christ the head of the whole human kind, so the man is the head of the two sexes: not indeed with such dominion as Christ has over the kind or God has over the man Christ Jesus; but a superiority and headship he has, and the woman should be in subjection and not assume or usurp the man's place. This is the situation in which God has placed her; and for that reason she should have a mind suited to her rank, and not do any thing that looks like an affectation of changing places. Something like this the women of the church of Corinth seem to have been guilty of, who were under inspiration, and prayed and prophesied even in their assemblies, v. 5. It is indeed an apostolical canon, that the women should keep silence in the churches (ch. xiv. 34; 1 Tim. ii. 12), which some understand without limitation, as if a woman under inspiration also must keep silence, which seems very well to agree with the connection of the apostle's discourse, ch. xiv. Others with a limitation: though a woman might not from her own abilities pretend to teach, or so much as question and debate any thing in the church yet when under inspiration the case was altered, she had liberty to speak. Or, though she might not preach even by inspiration (because teaching is the business of a superior), yet she might pray or utter hymns by inspiration, even in the public assembly. She did not show any affectation of superiority over the man by such acts of public worship. It is plain the apostle does not in this place prohibit the thing, but reprehend the manner of doing it. And yet he might utterly disallow the thing and lay an unlimited restraint on the woman in another part of the epistle. These things are not contradictory. It is to his present purpose to reprehend the manner wherein the women prayed and prophesied in the church, without determining in this place whether they did well or ill in praying or prophesying. Note, The manner of doing a thing enters into the morality of it. We must not only be concerned to do good, but that the good we do be well done.
III. The thing he reprehends is the woman's praying or prophesying uncovered, or the man's doing either covered, v. 4, 5. To understand this, it must be observed that it was a signification either of shame or subjection for persons to be veiled, or covered, in the eastern countries, contrary to the custom of ours, where the being bare-headed betokens subjection, and being covered superiority and dominion. And this will help us the better to understand,
IV. The reasons on which he grounds his reprehension. 1. The man that prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonoureth his head, namely, Christ, the head of every man (v. 3), by appearing in a habit unsuitable to the rank in which God has placed him. Note, We should, even in our dress and habits, avoid every thing that may dishonour Christ. The woman, on the other hand, who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head, namely, the man, v. 3. She appears in the dress of her superior, and throws off the token of her subjection. She might, with equal decency, cut her hair short, or cut it close, which was the custom of the man in that age. This would be in a manner to declare that she was desirous of changing sexes, a manifest affectation of that superiority which God had conferred on the other sex. And this was probably the fault of these prophetesses in the church of Corinth. It was doing a thing which, in that age of the world, betokened superiority, and therefore a tacit claim of what did not belong to them but the other sex. Note, The sexes should not affect to change places. The order in which divine wisdom has placed persons and things is best and fittest: to endeavour to amend it is to destroy all order, and introduce confusion. The woman should keep to the rank God has chosen for her, and not dishonour her head; for this, in the result, is to dishonour God. If she was made out of the man, and for the man, and made to be the glory of the man, she should do nothing, especially in public, that looks like a wish of having this order inverted. 2. Another reason against this conduct is that the man is the image and glory of God, the representative of that glorious dominion and headship which God has over the world. It is the man who is set at the head of this lower creation, and therein he bears the resemblance of God. The woman, on the other hand, is the glory of the man (v. 7): she is his representative. Not but she has dominion over the inferior creatures, as she is a partaker of human nature, and so far is God's representative too, but it is at second-hand. She is the image of God, inasmuch as she is the image of the man: For the man was not made out of the woman, but the woman out of the man, v. 8. The man was first made, and made head of the creation here below, and therein the image of the divine dominion; and the woman was made out of the man, and shone with a reflection of his glory, being made superior to the other creatures here below, but in subjection to her husband, and deriving that honour from him out of whom she was made. 3. The woman was made for the man, to be his help-meet, and not the man for the woman. She was naturally, therefore, made subject to him, because made for him, for his use, and help, and comfort. And she who was intended to be always in subjection to the man should do nothing, in Christian assemblies, that looks like an affectation of equality. 4. She ought to have power on her head, because of the angels. Power, that is, a veil, the token, not of her having the power or superiority, but being under the power of her husband, subjected to him, and inferior to the other sex. Rebekah, when she met Isaac, and was delivering herself into his possession, put on her veil, in token of her subjection, Gen. xxiv. 65. Thus would the apostle have the women appear in Christian assemblies, even though they spoke there by inspiration, because of the angels, that is, say some, because of the evil angels. The woman was first in the transgression, being deceived by the devil (1 Tim. ii. 14), which increased her subjection to man, Gen. iii. 16. Now, believe evil angels will be sure to mix in all Christian assemblies, therefore should women wear the token of their shamefacedness and subjection, which in that age and country, was a veil. Others say because of the good angels. Jews and Christians have had an opinion that these ministering spirits are many of them present in their assemblies. Their presence should restrain Christians from all indecencies in the worship of God. Note, We should learn from all to behave in the public assemblies of divine worship so as to express a reverence for God, and a content and satisfaction with that rank in which he has placed us.
V. He thinks fit to guard his argument with a caution lest the inference be carried too far (v. 11, 12): Nevertheless, neither is the man without the woman, nor the woman without the man in the Lord. They were made for one another. It is not good for him to be alone (Gen. ii. 18), and therefore was a woman made, and made for the man; and the man was intended to be a comfort, and help, and defence, to the woman, though not so directly and immediately made for her. They were made to be a mutual comfort and blessing, not one a slave and the other a tyrant. Both were to be one flesh (Gen. ii. 24), and this for the propagation of a race of mankind. They are reciprocal instruments of each other's production. As the woman was first formed out of the man, the man is ever since propagated by the woman (v. 12), all by the divine wisdom and power of the First Cause so ordaining it. The authority and subjection should be no greater than are suitable to two in such near relation and close union to each other. Note, As it is the will of God that the woman know her place, so it is his will also that the man abuse not his power.
VI. He enforces his argument from the natural covering provided for the woman (v. 13-15): "Judge in yourselves—consult your own reason, hearken to what nature suggests—is it comely for a woman to pray to God uncovered? Should there not be a distinction kept up between the sexes in wearing their hair, since nature has made one? Is it not a distinction which nature has kept up among all civilized nations? The woman's hair is a natural covering; to wear it long is a glory to her; but for a man to have long hair, or cherish it, is a token of softness and effeminacy." Note, It should be our concern, especially in Christian and religious assemblies, to make no breach upon the rules of natural decency.
VII. He sums up all by referring those who were contentious to the usages and customs of the churches, v. 16. Custom is in a great measure the rule of decency. And the common practice of the churches is what he would have them govern themselves by. He does not silence the contentious by mere authority, but lets them know that they would appear to the world as very odd and singular in their humour if they would quarrel for a custom to which all the churches of Christ were at that time utter strangers, or against a custom in which they all concurred, and that upon the ground of natural decency. It was the common usage of the churches for women to appear in public assemblies, and join in public worship, veiled; and it was manifestly decent that they should do so. Those must be very contentious indeed who would quarrel with this, or lay it aside.
Profanation of the Lord's Supper. (a. d. 57.)
In this passage the apostle sharply rebukes them for much greater disorders than the former, in their partaking of the Lord's supper, which was commonly done in the first ages, as the ancients tell us, with a love-feast annexed, which gave occasion to the scandalous disorders which the apostle here reprehends, concerning which observe,
I. The manner in which he introduces his charge: "Now in this that I declare to you I praise you not, v. 17. I cannot commend, but must blame and condemn you." It is plain, from the beginning of the chapter, that he was willing and pleased to commend as far as he could. But such scandalous disorders, in so sacred an institution, as they were guilty of, called for a sharp reprehension. They quite turned the institution against itself. It was intended to make them better, to promote their spiritual interests; but it really made them worse. They came together, not for the better, but for the worse. Note, The ordinances of Christ, if they do not make us better, will be very apt to make us worse; if they do not do our souls good, they do us harm; if they do not melt and mend, they will harden. Corruptions will be confirmed in us, if the proper means do not work a cure of them.
II. He enters upon his charge against them in more particulars than one. 1. He tells them that, upon coming together, they fell into divisions, schismsschismata. Instead of concurring unanimously in celebrating the ordinance, they fell a quarrelling with one another. Note, There may be schism where there is no separation of communion. Persons may come together in the same church, and sit down at the same table of the Lord, and yet be schismatics. Uncharitableness, alienation of affection, especially if it grows up to discord, and feuds, and contentions, constitute schism. Christians may separate from each other's communion, and yet be uncharitable one towards another; they may continue in the same communion, and yet be uncharitable. This latter is schism, rather than the former. The apostle had heard a report of the Corinthians' divisions, and he tells them he had too much reason to believe it. For, adds he, there must be heresies also; not only quarrels, but factions, and perhaps such corrupt opinions as strike at the foundation of Christianity, and all sound religion. Note, No marvel there should be breaches of Christian love in the churches, when such offences will come as shall make shipwreck of faith and a good conscience. Such offences must come. Note that men are necessitated to be guilty of them; but the event is certain, and God permits them, that those who are approved (such honest hearts as will bear the trial) may be set to view, and appear faithful by their constant adherence to the truths and ways of God, notwithstanding the temptations of seducers. Note, The wisdom of God can make the wickedness and errors of others a foil to the piety and integrity of the saints. 2. He charges them not only with discord and division, but with scandalous disorder: For in eating every one taketh before the other his own supper; and one is hungry, and another is drunken, v. 21. Heathens used to drink plentifully at their feasts upon their sacrifices. Many of the wealthier Corinthians seem to have taken the same liberty at the Lord's table, or at least at their Agapai, or love-feasts, that were annexed to the supper. They would not stay for one another; the rich despised the poor, and ate and drank up the provisions they themselves brought, before the poor were allowed to partake; and thus some wanted, while others had more than enough. This was profaning a sacred institution, and corrupting a divine ordinance, to the last degree. What was appointed to feed the soul was employed to feed their lusts and passions. What should have been a bond of mutual amity and affection was made an instrument of discord and disunion. The poor were deprived of the food prepared for them, and the rich turned a feast of charity into a debauch. This was scandalous irregularity.
III. The apostle lays the blame of this conduct closely on them, 1. By telling them that their conduct perfectly destroyed the purpose and use of such an institution: This is not to eat the Lord's supper, v. 20. It was coming to the Lord's table, and not coming. They might as well have staid away. Thus to eat the outward elements was not to eat Christ's body. Note, There is a careless and irregular eating of the Lord's supper which is as none at all; it will turn to no account, but to increase guilt. Such an eating was that of the Corinthians; their practices were a direct contradiction to the purposes of this sacred institution. 2. Their conduct carried in it a contempt of God's house, or of the church, v. 22. If they had a mind to feast, they might do it at home in their own houses; but to come to the Lord's table, and cabal and quarrel, and keep the poor from their share of the provision there made for them as well as rich, was such an abuse of the ordinance, and such a contempt of the poorer members of the church more especially, as merited a very sharp rebuke. Such a behaviour tended much to the shame and discouragement of the poor, whose souls were as dear to Christ, and cost him as much, as those of the rich. Note, Common meals may be managed after a common manner, but religious feasts should be attended religiously. Note, also, It is a heinous evil, and severely to be censured, for Christians to treat their fellow-christians with contempt and insolence, but especially at the Lord's table. This is doing what they can to pour contempt on divine ordinances. And we should look carefully to it that nothing in our behaviour at the Lord's table have the appearance of contemning so sacred an institution.
Design of the Lord's Supper. (a. d. 57.)
To rectify these gross corruptions and irregularities, the apostle sets the sacred institution here to view. This should be the rule in the reformation of all abuses.
I. He tells us how he came by the knowledge of it. He was not among the apostles at the first institution; but he had received from the Lord what he delivered to them, v. 23. He had the knowledge of this matter by revelation from Christ: and what he had received he communicated, without varying from the truth a tittle, without adding or diminishing.
II. He gives us a more particular account of the institution than we meet with elsewhere. We have here an account,
1. Of the author—our Lord Jesus Christ. The king of the church only has power to institute sacraments.
2. The time of the institution: It was the very night wherein he was betrayed; just as he was entering on his sufferings which are therein to be commemorated.
3. The institution itself. Our Saviour took bread, and when he had given thanks, or blessed (as it is in Matt. xxvi. 26), he broke, and said, Take, eat; this is my body, broken for you; this do in remembrance of me. And in like manner he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the New Testament in my blood; this do, as oft as you drink it, in remembrance of me, v. 24, 25. Here observe,
(1.) The materials of this sacrament; both, [1.] As to the visible signs; these are bread and the cup, the former of which is called bread many times over in this passage, even after what the papists call consecration. What is eaten is called bread, though it be at the same time said to be the body of the Lord, a plain argument that the apostle knew nothing of their monstrous and absurd doctrine of transubstantiation. The latter is as plainly a part of this institution as words can make it. St. Matthew tells us, our Lord bade them all drink of it (ch. xxvi. 27), as if he would, by this expression, lay in a caveat against the papists' depriving the laity of the cup. Bread and the cup are both made use of, because it is a holy feast. Nor is it here, or any where, made necessary, that any particular liquor should be in the cup. In one evangelist, indeed, it is plain that wine was the liquor used by our Saviour, though it was, perhaps, mingled with water, according to the Jewish custom; vide Lightfoot on Matt. xxvi. But this by no means renders it unlawful to have a sacrament where persons cannot come at wine. In every place of scripture in which we have an account of this part of the institution it is always expressed by a figure. The cup is put for what was in it, without once specifying what the liquor was, in the words of the institution. [2.] The things signified by these outward signs; they are Christ's body and blood, his body broken, his blood shed, together with all the benefits which flow from his death and sacrifice: it is the New Testament in his blood. His blood is the seal and sanction of all the privileges of the new covenant; and worthy receivers take it as such, at this holy ordinance. They have the New Testament, and their own title to all the blessings of the new covenant, confirmed to them by his blood.
(2.) We have here the sacramental actions, the manner in which the materials of the sacrament are to be used. [1.] Our Saviour's actions, which are taking the bread and cup, giving thanks, breaking the bread, and giving about both the one and the other. [2.] The actions of the communicants, which were to take the bread and eat, to take the cup and drink, and both in remembrance of Christ. But the external acts are not the whole nor the principal part of what is to be done at this holy ordinance; each of them has a significancy. Our Saviour, having undertaken to make an offering of himself to God, and procure, by his death, the remission of sins, with all other gospel benefits, for true believers, did, at the institution, deliver his body and blood, with all the benefits procured by his death, to his disciples, and continues to do the same every time the ordinance is administered to the true believers. This is here exhibited, or set forth, as the food of souls. And as food, though ever so wholesome or rich, will yield no nourishment without being eaten, here the communicants are to take and eat, or to receive Christ and feed upon him, his grace and benefits, and by faith convert them into nourishment to their souls. They are to take him as their Lord and life, yield themselves up to him, and live upon him. He is our life, Col. iii. 4.
(3.) We have here an account of the ends of this institution. [1.] It was appointed to be done in remembrance of Christ, to keep fresh in our minds an ancient favour, his dying for us, as well as to remember an absent friend, even Christ interceding for us, in virtue of his death, at God's right hand. The best of friends, and the greatest acts of kindness, are here to be remembered, with the exercise of suitable affections and graces. The motto on this ordinance, and the very meaning of it, is, When this you see, remember me. [2.] It was to show forth Christ's death, to declare and publish it. It is not barely in remembrance of Christ, of what he has done and suffered, that this ordinance was instituted; but to commemorate, to celebrate, his glorious condescension and grace in our redemption. We declare his death to be our life, the spring of all our comforts and hopes. And we glory in such a declaration; we show forth his death, and spread it before God, as our accepted sacrifice and ransom. We set it in view of our own faith, for our own comfort and quickening; and we own before the world, by this very service, that we are the disciples of Christ, who trust in him alone for salvation and acceptance with God.
(4.) It is moreover hinted here, concerning this ordinance, [1.] That it should be frequent: As often as you eat this bread, &c. Our bodily meals return often; we cannot maintain life and health without this. And it is fit that this spiritual diet should be taken often tool The ancient churches celebrated this ordinance every Lord's day, if not every day when they assembled for worship. [2.] That it must be perpetual. It is to be celebrated till the Lord shall come; till he shall come the second time, without sin, for the salvation of those that believe, and to judge the world. This is our warrant for keeping this feast. It was our Lord's will that we should thus celebrate the memorials of his death and passion, till he come in his own glory, and the Father's glory, with his holy angels, and put an end to the present state of things, and his own mediatorial administration, by passing the final sentence. Note, The Lord's supper is not a temporary, but a standing and perpetual ordinance.
III. He lays before the Corinthians the danger of receiving unworthily, of prostituting this institution as they did, and using it to the purposes of feasting and faction, with intentions opposite to its design, or a temper of mind altogether unsuitable to it; or keeping up the covenant with sin and death, while they are there professedly renewing and confirming their covenant with God. 1. It is great guilt which such contract. They shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord (v. 27), of violating this sacred institution, of despising his body and blood. They act as if they counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith they are sanctified, an unholy thing, Heb. x. 29. They profane the institution, and in a manner crucify their Saviour over again. Instead of being cleansed by his blood, they are guilty of his blood. 2. It is a great hazard which they run: They eat and drink judgment to themselves, v. 29. They provoke God, and are likely to bring down punishment on themselves. No doubt but they incur great guilt, and so render themselves liable to damnation, to spiritual judgments and eternal misery. Every sin is in its own nature damning; and therefore surely so heinous a sin as profaning such a holy ordinance is so. And it is profaned in the grossest sense by such irreverence and rudeness as the Corinthians were guilty of. But fearful believers should not be discouraged from attending at this holy ordinance by the sound of these words, as if they bound upon themselves the sentence of damnation by coming to the table of the Lord unprepared. Thus sin, as well as all others, leaves room for forgiveness upon repentance; and the Holy Spirit never indited this passage of scripture to deter serious Christians from their duty, though the devil has often made this advantage of it, and robbed good Christians of their choicest comforts. The Corinthians came to the Lord's table as to a common feast, not discerning the Lord's body—not making a difference or distinction between that and common food, but setting both on a level: nay, they used much more indecency at this sacred feast than they would have done at a civil one. This was very sinful in them, and very displeasing to God, and brought down his judgments on them: For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. Some were punished with sickness, and some with death. Note, A careless and irreverent receiving of the Lord's supper may bring temporal punishments. Yet the connection seems to imply that even those who were thus punished were in a state of favour with God, at least many of them: They were chastened of the Lord, that they should not be condemned with the world, v. 32. Now divine chastening is a sign of divine love: Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth (Heb. xii. 6), especially with so merciful a purpose, to prevent their final condemnation. In the midst of judgment, God remembers mercy: he frequently punishes those whom he tenderly loves. It is kindness to use the rod to prevent the child's ruin. He will visit such iniquity as this under consideration with stripes, and yet make those stripes the evidence of his lovingkindness. Those were in the favour of God who yet so highly offended him in this instance, and brought down judgments on themselves; at least many of them were; for they were punished by him out of fatherly good-will, punished now that they might not perish for ever. Note, It is better to bear trouble in this world than to be miserable to eternity. And God punishes his people now, to prevent their eternal woe.
IV. He points out the duty of those who would come to the Lord's table. 1. In general: Let a man examine himself (v. 28), try and approve himself. Let him consider the sacred intention of this holy ordinance, its nature, and use, and compare his own views in attending on it and his disposition of mind for it; and, when he has approved himself to his own conscience in the sight of God, then let him attend. Such self-examination is necessary to a right attendance at this holy ordinance. Note, Those who, through weakness of understanding, cannot try themselves, are by no means fit to eat of this bread and drink of this cup; nor those who, upon a fair trial, have just ground to charge themselves with impenitency, unbelief, and alienation from the life of God. Those should have the wedding-garment on who would be welcome at this marriage-feast—grace in habit, and grace in exercise. 2. The duty of those who were yet unpunished for their profanation of this ordinance: If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged, v. 31. If we would thoroughly search and explore ourselves, and condemn and correct what we find amiss, we should prevent divine judgments. Note, To be exact and severe on ourselves and our own conduct is the most proper way in the world not to fall under the just severity of our heavenly Father. We must not judge others, lest we be judged (Matt. vii. 1); but we must judge ourselves, to prevent our being judged and condemned by God. We may be critical as to ourselves, but should be very candid in judging others.
V. He closes all with a caution against the irregularities of which they were guilty (v. 33, 34), charging them to avoid all indecency at the Lord's table. They were to eat for hunger and pleasure only at home, and not to change the holy supper to a common feast; and much less eat up the provisions before those who could bring none did partake of them, lest they should come together for condemnation. Note, Our holy duties, through our own abuse, may prove matter of condemnation. Christians may keep Sabbaths, hear sermons, attend at sacraments, and only aggravate guilt, and bring on a heavier doom. A sad but serious truth! O! let all look to it that they do not come together at any time to God's worship, and all the while provoke him, and bring down vengeance on themselves. Holy things are to be used in a holy manner, or else they are profaned. What else was amiss in this matter, he tells them, he would rectify when he came to them.
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[Free] 2018(Mar) EnsurePass Testking CompTIA JK0-023 Dumps with VCE and PDF 641-650
Ensurepass.com : Ensure you pass the IT Exams
2018 Mar CompTIA Official New Released JK0-023
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CompTIA Network certification
Question No: 641 – (Topic 6)
A Windows server has a problem after booting up. Kim, a technician, should immediately check the:
1. history logs.
2. cron logs.
3. application logs.
4. system logs.
Answer: D
Question No: 642 – (Topic 6)
1. Plan to reboot the concentrator as the potential solution
2. Escalate the problem to management
3. Continue to speak to users, questioning if changes have been made
4. Test access to the concentrator to confirm the status
Answer: D
Question No: 643 – (Topic 6)
An organization wants to perform maintenance on any of its web servers without affecting the service availability during a scheduled change window. Which of the following network devices would be required to provide this functionality?
1. Router
2. Forward proxy
3. Load balancer
4. Firewall
Answer: C
Question No: 644 – (Topic 6) is an IP address which would MOST likely come from which of the following?
1. CIDR
2. DHCP
3. APIPA
4. DNS
Answer: C
Question No: 645 – (Topic 6)
Which of the following is a fiber connector that is slightly smaller than a standard copper network cable connector?
1. BNC
2. GBIC
3. MT-RJ
4. SC
Answer: C
Question No: 646 – (Topic 6)
Which of the following connector types would be found with a VoIP system utilizing CAT6 cabling?
1. SC
2. RJ-45
3. RJ-11
4. BNC
Answer: B
Question No: 647 – (Topic 6)
A company has a total of two public IP addresses and must allow 150 devices to connect to the Internet at the same time. Which of the following is the BEST option for connectivity?
1. VLSM
2. NAT
3. CIDR
4. PAT
Answer: D
Question No: 648 – (Topic 6)
1. Kerberos
D. 802.1x
Answer: C
Question No: 649 – (Topic 6)
1. Run the dig command on the workstation.
2. Run the nslookup command on the workstation.
3. Run the ipconfig command on the workstation.
4. Run the ifconfig command on the workstation.
Answer: D
Question No: 650 – (Topic 6)
A network technician wants to baseline traffic flows on a specific network. Which of the following will provide the GREATEST level of detail?
1. Network flow information
2. SNMP traps
3. Debug level syslog
4. Protocol analyzer
Answer: D
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global_01_local_1_shard_00001926_processed.jsonl/53840
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(page requirements)
Easy way to find out which properties should be set when creating components at run time
One of the greatest strengths of Delphi is the ability to visually design the user interface of an application. This sometimes means that you would be creating most parts of your programs at design time rather than at run time as you go into different parts of your programs. Generally speaking, you can reduce the amount of memory required to run your program by creating memory hungry components at run time -- only when your application requires the functionality of those components. Here's a simple example on how to create components dynamically at run time (how to create a "TLabel" component at run time at 10,10 with the caption "hello, world"):
procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
RunTimeLabel : TLabel;
// create RunTimeLabel
RunTimeLabel := TLabel.Create( Self );
with RunTimeLabel do
// let RunTimeLabel know
// that it's owned by Form1
// Since this code is inside
// TForm1, Self refers to Form1
Parent := Self;
// customize the label
Left := 10;
Top := 10;
Width := 90;
Caption := 'hello, world!';
// RunTimeLabel will be
// automatically rleased when the
// form it's on (Form1) is freed.
// we don't have to manually free it
Listing #1 : Delphi code. Download runtime (0.46 KB).
That was easy enough. The real question is how do you find out exactly which properties (such as Top, Left, Width, etc., in the above example) has to be set at run time to get the effects you want. For example, if you drop a "TLabel" component on a form, you'll notice that there are more than 20 properties listed in the "Object Inspector". Do you have to set all those properties at run time if you create the component dynamically? The answer is no; most properties have default values, so you only have to set those properties that are required by the component and the ones you want to change. Well, except for the "Parent" property -- you must almost always set this property, usually to the form or component which your new component will be placed on or become a child of.
Here's an easy way to find out which properties you must set at run time:
• Create the component you're interested in creating at runtime, during design time and customize it any way you want. For example, let's say you created a "TLabel" component called "RunTimeLabel"
• Right click on the form and select "View as Text"
• You'll see a line that reads:
object RunTimeLabel: TLabel
All properties and their values listed in between the above line and the very next end statement (starting at the same tab position) are the properties you must set at run time, in order to recreate the component as you see it during the design time.
Applicable Keywords : Components, Delphi, Delphi 2.x, Delphi 3.x, Functions, Mini Tutorial, User Interface
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How to Make Your Dreams Come True with the Law of Attraction
by - 25 January
The law of attraction states that like attracts like. Whatever your mind focuses on most you will manifest in your life.
It's simple.
Positive thoughts bring positivity to your life. Everything you have in your life currently, you have attracted through the images you have created in your mind. Even the bad stuff.
'But I didn't attract the flu'
Sorry but you did. You even contributed to attracting natural disasters. The more you leave open the possibility of a terrible event occurring, it will occur.
Every success you've thus far acquired is because that's the furthest you believed possible to get. Tell yourself you will get that dream car you can't afford right now. Believe you'll be the founder of a multi-million pound company and you will.
This is because you're sending off signals to the world that you want these things. From this you'll attract the people, the circumstances and the money to make it happen.
Never stunt your growth because when you use the power of your mind to your advantage you'll never settle for less.
That's how terminal cancers are cured and prayers are answered. This explains a lot about people who pray or meditate being some of the happiest people on the planet.
When you believe you won't get what you want, you won't have it. The universe doesn't want to shock you by giving you what you don't expect.
Of course, negative things will come your way but it's the way you choose to react that matters most. Negativity breeds on negativity and becomes bigger.
Three simple rules to attracting what you want
1. Never think 'I want' because you'll only attract a state of 'wanting' and never 'having'.
2. Never think 'I don't want this to happen'. The more negative images you create in your head the universe will interpret that as you wanting more of that.
3. Think as if you've already got it. As Einstein said that time is just an illusion. There's a parallel version of you that already has the dream home, car, business. What I find helps is to imagine that you've already got what you want.
Some examples of the law of attraction in my life
I won the Christmas hat competition at school every year, almost. The more I won, the more I believed it was possible to win the next one. That's a true example of positivity feeding off positivity and growing more powerful. There was one year I didn't win, I must have had a doubt, maybe one negative thought.
One of the things I have always wanted to do was travel. I went through a period of time where never thought it was possible since my mum was so ill. There was no possible way. All avenues were blocked. Regardless, I allowed myself to dream. I pictured myself in Santa Monica beach. I made an expansive list of places I wanted to visit. I even looked up prices. Just last month I booked my holiday.
My point is, no matter how impossible or out of your reach something may seem, it's not. Especially when you use the law of attraction.
Whatever your mind can conceive and believe the mind can achieve regardless of how many times you may have failed in the past. - Napoleon Hill
Photo Credit Alisa Anton
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ISAT: 10 Things You Are Forgetting To Do
Posted by Corinne Kerston on Mon, Sep 15, 2014 @ 11:09 AM
ISAT test prep
If you have a child in the school system here in Illinois, then you know you will be facing the ISAT sooner or later. It is a standardized test that is designed to measure students’ academic achievement relative to the state of Illinois.
As parents, we can do our part to help our children prepare for this test. Here are 10 things you may be forgetting to do, but should be doing in order to help your child prepare for the ISAT.
The single best thing you can do to help your child prepare for the standardized test is to build good test-taking skills. Children who master basic skills like reading, math and test taking tend to be well-prepared for any standardized test.
• Review Old Topics
To give your child that extra edge, review old concepts that he or she may have forgotten. Go over basic facts and skills leading up to the ISAT. Also, daily reading can help tremendously on the reading portion of the test.
• Go Over A Variety Of Question Types
Quiz your child with a variety of questions: multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, essay and long reading passages. Getting your child acquainted with a mixture of formats will prepare him for whatever may be on the test.
• Learn Test Terminology
Does your child know the difference between an antonym and a synonym? What about greater than and less than? Test takes should understand the basic terminology that will be used in the test problems.
• Test Time Restraints
Design a certain amount of time for your child to get homework or other tasks done. Learning how to complete a task in the allotted time can help during a timed test. Use a watch or timer to help your child be aware of the time, and challenge to get things done correctly within the time given.
• Go Over Directions
Reading carefully and following directions is something that can be practiced. Give your child written directions to follow. Have him highlight or note certain words that will assist him in remembering what he is supposed to do.
• Learn Process Of Elimination
For multiple choice questions, ruling out the definite wrong answers is good way to find the right one. Practice multiple choice questions and if your child gets stumped, have her work through it by process of elimination.
• Get To Bed Early
Getting enough sleep the night before the test is essential for mental comprehension. Have your child get to bed early the night before the test. Force him to sleep early if you need to.
• Eat Well
Like sleep, nutrition is important for brain performance. Make sure your child eats breakfast the morning of the test. While you are at it, have her wear something comfortable. No one wants to sit through a long test in ill-filling clothes.
• Be Positive
If you don’t think positive about the test, neither will your little test-taker. Let your child know to do his or her best, but don’t put on too much pressure.
The ISAT is a standardized test that every student must take here in Illinois. When it comes time for your child to take the test, help him or her prepare with these 10 tips.
Topics: test prep tutoring in Chicago, academic private tutor in Chicago, 7th grade ISAT
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Friday, September 8, 2017
Jeffrey Snider: Eurodollar University Part 1 (Source: )
Fast Forward to 23 minutes to listen to the interview.
Erik: Welcome to Part 1 of MacroVoices Eurodollar University with Alhambra Partners CIO Jeffrey Snider. I’m your host, Erik Townsend. There’s a slide deck to accompany this podcast and we highly recommend that you download it before listening as we’ll be referring to the charts and graphs that it contains throughout this program.
This four-part series came about after listeners to the MacroVoices weekly podcast asked for more in-depth coverage of the Eurodollar system. We’d interviewed Jeffrey Snider from Alhambra Partners several times, and each time Jeffrey had myriad fascinating observations about the signals that he was seeing in the Eurodollars futures market, which enabled him to both make observations and predictions about what was occurring in the global economy.
Our listeners loved Jeff’s interviews. But even the finance professionals in our audience told us they needed a primer on the Eurodollar system, its origins, and its history, in order to be able to better appreciate and understand Jeffrey’s insights about what the Eurodollar market is telling us about today’s economy. So we decided to do a full hour-long show just focusing on the history and structure of the Eurodollar system. But before we knew it, that turned into a four-part series. This is the first installment in that series. So, without further ado, joining me now is Alhambra Partners CIO, Jeffrey Snider.
Jeff, thanks so much for coming back and doing this Eurodollar University with us. Let’s go ahead and look at your slide deck, starting I guess with Slide 3: How Does A Dollar Become A Dollar? What’s on your mind here?
Jeff: Well, first of all, thanks, Erik and Patrick, for having me back and giving me the opportunity to explain this. One of the most common questions I get is to go into a deeper—whether explanation or even just to detail how these things actually work. You know, the things that we’re taking about is modern money supply and modern money in general. It’s a global system that, quite frankly, nobody seems to have much of a handle on because it’s been languishing in orthodox economics for decades now. And, really, a lot of it takes place in the shadows, far away from where we can actually directly observe what is going on in the monetary system.
So an opportunity to actually explain some of the intricacies and the arcane nature of the way these things actually work is a tremendous opportunity for me, and I think it’ll help a lot of people get a better understanding of how we got to where we are and why we’re stuck in this state.
Erik: So how does a dollar become a dollar? What is the origin of money, I think is where you’re starting here.
Jeff: Well, it’s a long journey and it doesn’t start as—there’s no particular start date, there’s no particular end date. It’s essentially a qualitative evolution that has taken place over many decades. You know, we talk about the Eurodollar, and the Eurodollar is sort of a loose term, but the Eurodollar itself started out some time in the 1950s. We actually have no idea where they came from, it’s just by the 1960s there was this thing called the Eurodollar and it was an offshore market for dollars.
And as technology changed, as the way banking systems behaved changed, the monetary system globally evolved with it, so that the Eurodollar was sort of at its basis. And it has become so much more than just offshore deposits of dollars. It’s become, essentially, what is more like a computer network where it’s just a system of standards and protocols that allow global banks to conduct financial monetary business with each other.
So that’s why I put dollar in quotation marks, because it’s evolved from what was a recognizable dollar—you know, a piece of paper that’s stamped with Federal Reserve paraphernalia on it—to what is now a virtual currency where there’s almost no currency at all, certainly no money because the gold system has been fully dismantled. But the dollar as it is today—this Eurodollar system—is, for money people, unrecognizable as a dollar. And so that’s why it’s in quotation marks. And it’s a very long history that presents a lot of challenges for analysis and understanding.
Erik: And, just to put this in context for our listeners, the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944 at the Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods New Hampshire was where the US dollar became the world’s reserve currency, and there was an agreement by treaty to essentially settle all international trade in US dollars. That means, if people have agreed around the world to settle their trade in US dollars, they’ve got to have US dollars.
So by the 1950s this market had been established to effectively have US dollars outside the United States. Presumably that began with the purpose of settling international trade, but then the US Treasury became the de facto favored reserve asset for central banks to hold as reserves. Now all of a sudden, the whole world has to be able to have US dollars.
And so it seems like this market, really, that you’re describing evolving in the ‘50s, kind of came out of necessity. But, although the Bretton Woods Conference contemplated this decision that the dollar would be the reserve currency, there was really no plan for how everybody was going to get their dollars. And it just sort of evolved through the banking system. Is that correct?
Jeff: Yes, you’re right Erik. And in fact there was actually a precursor market to Eurodollar called banker’s acceptances. A banker’s acceptance is an instrument that goes a long way back. And, again, you’re right. The purpose of the acceptance market is to mediate financially global trade needs. Because, you know, a firm in Japan that’s doing business with a company in Sweden has to be able to translate one currency into another, and it’s not as easy as just going down to the local store and picking up Swedish kronor so that you can buy something from Sweden. You have to have the ability to mediate between what are essentially very different and often very distinct systems. And so the first iteration of a solution, or at least a more elegant solution to global trade in monetary terms, was something called banker’s acceptances.
Now, an acceptance was a fully liquid instrument. There was a market for these things that was provided and made stable by central bank intervention. In fact, one of the first tasks of the Federal Reserve, when it was founded in 1913, was to establish an acceptance market for US dollars. And throughout most of the early history of the Fed—we’re talking about the 1910s and the 1920s—most of the seasonal variation in the Fed’s balance sheet came from buying and selling, increasing or decreasing their holding of banker’s acceptances, all in the name of marrying money supply domestically with the need for money offshore in global trade.
Erik: So let me interrupt you there Jeff, because I want to make sure we’ve defined our terminology before we go on. The definition of a Eurodollar is, basically, any US dollar that’s on deposit in a bank outside the United States. And the name “Eurodollar” comes from the fact that originally it was primarily in London and other European markets where people were depositing these US dollars. These days, we’ve got US dollars on deposit in Shanghai, China, or Thailand, or anyplace else. They’re still called Eurodollars just by convention. But it means any US dollar—a dollar issued by the United States—that is on deposit in a bank outside of the US banking system.
Now, Jeff, you just said that banker’s acceptances played a role in the evolution of this Eurodollar system. So, referring to Slide 6 in your slide deck here, please explain the role that banker’s acceptances played in this Eurodollar system as it began to evolve.
Jeff: Sure. The banker’s acceptance market was essentially an interbank market. It wasn’t a place where a lot of people or individuals or firms traded acceptances back and forth. And its role was primarily to mediate between different currency systems and to use the major currencies of the day, or what we would call today reserve currencies. Which in the early 1900s was either the pound sterling or, as the Federal Reserve increased the dollar acceptance market, US dollars.
And so it was a way for global trade to take place such that smaller systems wouldn’t have to hold large deposits of, say—Japan would not have to hold large deposits of Swedish kronor to allow for Japanese firms to trade with Sweden. Because, obviously, the Swedish don’t need yen, and the Japanese don’t have a lot of kronor available. So what they would do is use an acceptance market to either buy yen for sterling or yen for dollars and then use the dollars or sterling to translate that into kronor. It was an interbank method to allow for the trade of goods efficiently, or at least as efficiently as possible at the time. And one of the most important parts about that is that these banker’s acceptances were bearer instruments that had deposits attached to them, initially. In other words, you had to deposit currency, in either dollars or sterling, in order for a bank to write an acceptance.
A good way to think about it is something like a cashier’s check. In other words, you have to present the funds ahead of time in order for an acceptance to come into existence. From there it could be traded back and forth. But these acceptances were instruments that were fully reserved up front. And that’s an important distinction in how the Eurodollar market evolved from it. Because having the deposits required at the front of it was one way of introducing inefficiency in what was attempting to be an efficient solution.
Erik: Okay, so at the Bretton Woods Conference it was agreed that US dollars would be used to settle international trade. Of course, it would not be practical if you’re buying a whole bunch of stuff—Sweden is selling things to Japan. To actually send large suitcases full of dollar bills back and forth on a ship between Sweden and Japan is not a very good way to settle trade.
So they come up with a system where, essentially, the guy in Sweden is saying let me take some of my kronor, use that in order to buy a bunch of US dollars—essentially a cashier’s check that’s worth 10,000 US dollars—I’m going to give that to my trading partner in Japan (or vice versa, depending on which way the trade is occurring) and that acceptance is essentially the way that we’re translating from local currencies into—not physical US dollars in a suitcase but what’s essentially a cashier’s check that’s issued by a bank that is redeemable for US dollars.
Is that the gist of is?
Jeff: Yes. And it’s a derivative interbank instrument that allows these things to happen, again, as efficiently as possible, because it’s very cumbersome, as you point out, to put a suitcase full of cash onto a ship and hope it arrives. Or, even further back, where they would use gold, where gold bullion would have to move between locations in what was usually a dangerous process. And so there was always a search for a solution that allowed these things to happen, to allow global trade to happen, but to do so in a method that wasn’t so cumbersome and inelegant.
Erik: Okay. So I’ve got it on the role of banker’s acceptances. In those days we didn’t have the concept of people in Japan having a US dollar-denominated bank account that they could store US dollars in, but we had banker’s acceptances denominated in US dollars that could be used to facilitate international trade. And each of the trading partners could eventually buy or sell those acceptances on an international market in order to get back to their own native currency.
Now, how did we get from there to a market for Eurodollar where there’s actually dollars on deposit outside of the United States in banks other than US banks?
Jeff: Well, it’s—again, we get back to the genesis of the Eurodollar market, and until this day we really aren’t clear about what exactly happened. One of the stories about the Eurodollar creation was that there was a vibrant sterling trade—because, obviously, with Bretton Woods the pound sterling was a co-reserve currency with the US dollar, and Great Britain was dominion over a huge swathe of the global geography, so therefore a lot of global trade was conducted in sterling. But in the mid-1950s we went through a couple of sterling crises, and then of course there was the Suez Crisis, where it became a little bit more difficult to actually transact in sterling for these types of global trade-type arrangements.
And so, because the dollar was a co-reserve currency, and at that time there was a store of dollars in various places for whatever reason—some of the stories say that the Soviet Union was placing dollars in banks in Switzerland to avoid any political ramifications, confiscation from the US authorities—but, for whatever reason, there was a ready supply of US dollars on deposit outside the US so that, when the sterling went into crisis in the 1950s, these merchant banks in Britain didn’t have to break a stride. They simply switched, for whatever reason or however they did it, simply switched from using sterling acceptances to Eurodollars.
What a Eurodollar meant was that, unlike an acceptance there didn’t need to be deposits of cash up front for these things to work. In other words, they could just be derivative claims on derivative claims. And so that was an even more elegant solution, a more efficient solution, to what is, again, a cumbersome problem. So the Eurodollars, in effect, started to supplant the banker’s acceptance market. Not that the acceptance market ever went away. In fact, it had somewhat of a revival in the 1970s. But, by and large, there was this market for dollars outside the US that filled the need for, at first, global trade.
Erik: So now what we’ve done is we’ve essentially gotten to the point where, in the banking system, in the global banking system beyond the United States, the concept of a certificate of deposit (a CD) denominated in US dollars, is something that’s not only available in the US banking system, but that’s also available in the Japanese banking system, and the Swedish banking system, and the Chinese banking system, and so forth.
So that if you have, essentially, the ability to trade certificates of deposit in a bank anywhere in the world that are denominated in dollars, you can trade that CD for a bunch of Japanese motor parts or whatever it is that you’re importing from another country. Is that correct?
Jeff: That’s largely it. It’s the ability to mediate trade needs using what is essentially a global standard. That’s why we call it the global reserve currency, because it allows these various systems, these very distinct monetary systems and trade systems, to translate one from the other. And that’s what the dollar’s role was in terms of the global trade network, was to allow these things to happen in a way that was as efficient as possible. Efficient trade means better economic growth.
Erik: Okay, Jeff, so we were just looking at Slide 7 in the deck, and you’re describing how Eurodollars are providing this system. But, wait a minute. Where did the Eurodollars come from? How’d they come into existence? Please help us understand that.
Jeff: That’s a point of contention that goes back a long way in its history. Milton Friedman (if you go to Slide 9) Milton Friedman wrote in—well it was republished in 1971 but I’m not really sure when he originally wrote the article—but he wrote what was a very good starting point to understanding the Eurodollar market and where these Eurodollars came from. And essentially he started out with an example of where he was at a talk of these prominent business leaders and bankers. And whoever was speaking was asked the question: Where did Eurodollars come from? And he gave an answer that Friedman basically said was complete nonsense.
I think it highlights the difficulty people have with these—the concepts of the Eurodollar market and these offshore currency markets—is that we don’t really have any good basis of knowledge for where they come from. We can understand pretty intuitively why they exist, you know, that’s what we just discussed with the evolution from acceptances to Eurodollars. We know why they exist, because there is a need to translate global trade on like terms. But where did the Eurodollars actually come from?
And that’s kind of one of the things officials and monetary authorities—throughout the 1960s, if you go back in the FOMC meetings in the decade of the 1960s, in 1960 and the 17 FOMC meetings that took place that year, which produced 941 pages of discussion, the Eurodollar wasn’t mentioned a single time. The following year, 1961—there was a lot of talk about short-term capital outflows and what became Triffin’s Paradox or Triffin’s Dilemma—the Eurodollar was mentioned exactly once that entire year. In 1962, for example, the Eurodollar was mentioned 15 times.
The Eurodollar started to make an impact in monetary policy so that by December 1968 the FOMC was talking about the Eurodollar 28 times in just that one monthly meeting. By April 1969 they had mentioned the Eurodollar 62 times. There was an evolution taking place in the market as well as an evolution in official understanding of what actually was happening out there in this offshore marketplace for dollars.
And there was a great deal of confusion, especially in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, about what was actually going on because this was, in a lot of ways, a radical transformation of monetary behavior. It was a bank-centric system that was evolving outside of all of these official definitions and official statistics, even official understanding. So what Friedman’s point was was that there was a great deal of confusion about the Eurodollar, because, largely, nobody knew what was going on.
Erik: Well that begs a question, Jeff, because in those days, under the gold standard, stock analysts tend to look for macro cues more than anything else from the US federal government’s official data on the money supply. Now, the money supply as it was measured then was the US banking system’s money supply. So it sounds like you’re saying there was actually this global money supply of US dollars that nobody completely understood at the time, even though it was probably very, very important. Is that right?
Jeff: That’s correct. And part of not understanding what it is means you don’t know how many dollars are out there, how many Eurodollars are out there. And so it was a source of great consternation, officially and otherwise, about what was going on.
Especially with these London dollar markets where interest rate differentials played a big role, as well as factors beyond just global trade, where banks were shifting liabilities all throughout the world in dollar terms and—as Friedman pointed out in his 1971 article—the source of these Eurodollars were not actual physical currency but the bookkeeper’s pen. In other words, these were, like I said earlier, these were interbank markets of ledger balances. They were just transactions between banks that didn’t actually have suitcases of cash, nor did it have a bearer instrument like a banker’s acceptance. It was simply bank liabilities traded back and forth.
And one of the things that Friedman provided in his article was several examples of ways that we can understand how these Eurodollars came into existence and how that market grew. And even the effects of it on the domestic money supply.
Erik: So, as you’ve highlighted on Slide 9, there was an official that supposedly had said where Eurodollars came from—balance of payments and dollar reserves of non-US central banks, proceeds of Eurodollar bonds—and Friedman was outspoken in saying that that answer was complete nonsense. So, obviously, that begs the question: What’s not nonsense? What’s the right answer? And you’re getting into that on Slide 10. Please explain.
Jeff: Yeah, and I think Friedman’s point was, this was not somebody who was a layman. This was somebody who was a high official of an international financial organization. Somebody who ran, probably, a global bank. And it was global banks operating in this market, and here was this official of a global bank who was giving what Friedman called a nonsense answer. Essentially highlighting the difficulty with even people within the system understanding where it was these Eurodollars actually came from. And his answer, that I give on Slide 10, is that the source of Eurodollars is the bookkeeper’s pen. Which is, again, the interbank market of traded bank liabilities.
And if we start on Slide 11, Friedman was kind enough to illustrate several examples of how he believed the Eurodollar deposits actually became Eurodollar deposits and what the effects of those were on the domestic and global supply of dollars.
Erik: Now, hang on a second Jeff, because the whole supposed benefit of the gold standard— when we still had a gold standard, before 1971 when President Nixon took us off of that standard—the whole idea was you can’t create dollars out of thin air. There has to be a physical piece of gold backing every single dollar in the system, and that connection to gold is what basically assures that the dollar’s value doesn’t get inflated away through money printing, what we now call quantitative easing and what central bankers these days think is a good idea.
So it seems like you’re saying before we even came off the gold standard we were conjuring US dollars out of thin air through fancy accounting tricks, is that right?
Jeff: That’s correct. The Bretton Woods system, in my mind, actually defaulted in 1960 not 1971. And one of the reasons for it was this weakness that was contemplated all the way back at the Bretton Woods meeting in 1944. The gold exchange system was created with this inherent weakness in it where, actually, central banks could circumvent all of the protocols that were supposed to keep US dollars and pound sterling into a specific value range. And, in fact, the history of the Eurodollar market in the 1960s is one where central banks were actually and actively using specially swapped transactions to do that.
In other words, they were undermining the Bretton Woods system themselves through the Eurodollar market and use of Eurodollars as a way to accomplish domestic monetary policy, because central bankers had never wanted to be constrained by gold, going back to the early days of the system.
So, you’re correct Erik, there was supposed to be a gold backing to the dollar system, and the sterling system in particular. But even by the middle 1950s that was increasingly not the case.
Erik: So this is sort of like Bill Clinton saying he never violated the drug laws of the United States. We’ve got these rules set up that US dollars in the US banking system have to be backed by gold. Let’s go get stoned in Europe, basically. Let’s go and conjure a bunch of money out of thin air, and, as long as we call these deposits Eurodollars and keep them outside the US banking system, we can circumvent all of the protections that were designed in Bretton Woods to try to assure the gold convertibility and the true value of the dollar.
Is it really that extreme, or am I exaggerating to say that?
Jeff: I think in one sense it’s that extreme. But there’s also this other sense where confusion reigned. So nobody had an idea exactly how it worked, and they also had no idea how big it was. So I think that’s one of the reasons why they fell into Triffin’s Paradox, the idea that there was something going on outside the US, and we don’t really know what it is, therefore we’re going to kind of be concerned about it, but we don’t know if it’s a violation of the Bretton Woods standard or not, because we don’t really know what it is.
And it took a long time for people to start to come to terms with actually what was happening. And that was one of the reasons why Friedman was asked to write this article. Because, again, there was so much confusion about this Eurodollar system that, by 1969 at least, had become enormous. In today’s dollars, 30 billion sounds like nothing, but that’s just 30 billion in 1969 dollars. That they knew of.
And so they had a sense even then that there was something big going on outside the US, this offshore dollar market, even if they weren’t really sure what it was. And Friedman’s contention was, as you alluded to Erik, that these were dollars that were conjured out of thin air. In fact it was a money multiplier system in parallel to the domestic system.
Erik: I want to walk through the math on Slide 11 and understand what’s going on. But, before we go there, since you mentioned Triffin’s paradox, Robert Triffin was a very prominent economist in this same timeframe, in the 1960s, and he wrote about this paradox that has to do with the US and its role as the issuer of the world’s reserve currency. Please explain, for our listeners who may not be familiar, a summary of Triffin’s Paradox and what that means before we move on to going through the details of Slide 11.
Jeff: What Robert Triffin was talking about was essentially—and he called it a paradox because it’s two competing tensions that were created by the Bretton Woods system. In other words, the Federal Reserve and US monetary authorities had to be responsible so that it would maintain the gold exchange standard. Yet, because the dollar was the global reserve currency, any rise in global trade had to be met by a rise in money supply of dollars in these offshore markets. And so there was a natural tension between supplying dollars for rising global trade and the ability of the United States to back those dollars by its gold reserves. And so he called it a paradox because the two were set in opposition to each other.
Erik: So, essentially, the US dollar was chosen as the world’s reserve currency because the US was the strongest credit in the world. And what does having reserve currency status do for the United States? Basically gives it a free license to borrow and spend beyond belief without suffering consequences that a nation that’s not the reserve currency issuer would normally face. Hence the paradox.
I want to come back now, though, to the math on Slide 11. Let’s just walk through this. What was going on, all the way back in the 1960s when the world is supposedly on a gold standard where a dollar is supposed to be guaranteed to be redeemable for a certain amount of gold—and you’re basically showing here how European deposits of dollars are being created that are not backed by anything.
Jeff: Yes. To be clear, I’m using Milton Friedman’s example from 1971. And what he said in his narrative—he imagined an oil sheik from a Middle Eastern country who decided that he could get a better dollar rate on his CD in a London account, or what Friedman called Bank H of London.
The sheik started out with his million dollars at Morgan Guarantee (and he used Morgan Guarantee as the example because that’s where he was giving his speech at the time). So what happened in the dynamics between how that sheik’s money transferred from New York City and Morgan Guarantee and Bank H of London—what Friedman said was that—assuming that Bank H also has a dollar deposit account at Morgan Guarantee as well, the million dollar check goes from the sheik’s account in New York City to the sheik’s new account at Bank H in London.
Bank H in London now has a million dollar credit in deposits, and it also has—keeping with what was thought to be prudent liquidity practice of a 10% reserve—it now had $900,000 in free cash that it could put to use someplace else.
What Friedman further hypothesized was that Bank H in the UK would lend it to what he called UK Limited to engage in trade with some US firms about whatever kind of trade transactions they might engage in. So what happened on that is, UK Limited, which is his corporate example of the firm doing the trade, is give a check drawn from Bank H’s Morgan Guarantee account.
So the net result in terms of domestic money is zero. Even though a million dollars from the sheik’s account goes outside the US into London, it comes back in the form of this trade in dollars, this $900,000 check in trade in dollars to UK Limited, plus the $100,000 that remains on deposit with Morgan Guarantee as part of their reserve requirement for liquidity reserve.
While the net supply of US dollars is not changed, now the world supply of US dollars has increased by $900,000. That is the million dollars of the sheik’s deposit that goes to Bank H in London minus the $100,000 reserve that remains at Morgan Guarantee on behalf of Bank H. So, in other words, the US money supply doesn’t change at all while the global dollar supply increases by $900,000.
Erik: And if we take all of the similar transactions to this in aggregate, the global supply of US dollars increased to the tune of 30 billion, which was a huge, huge amount of money at the time. And not only does that defeat the intended purpose of the Bretton Woods system, which was to keep the US dollar as essentially being as good as gold, but it does it in a way that probably very, very few people at the time—and only a few more today—even were able to understand what was happening. Is that right?
Jeff: That’s correct. And we also have to remember one of the chief reasons for it to start taking place as much as it did was that US banks were constrained in what interest rate they could pay out to depositors, by regulation. There was no such constraint in London or Zurich or Montreal or Tokyo; they would all offer dollar deposits at a rate that was much more competitive than what domestic banks could offer.
That’s, I think, one of the reasons Milton Friedman used the oil sheik in his example, was that anybody who was a global agent or a global firm that had dollar deposits had no preference for keeping them either in a New York City bank or a London Eurodollar bank. They only cared about, for the most part, what interest rates they could obtain. And the best interest rates could be obtained outside the US because of regulations inside it.
Friedman’s point was this was a fractional reserve system taking place outside of a fractional reserve system.
Erik: So that covers the example on Slide 11. What is being described here on Slide 12? It looks like you’re showing, effectively, how this can grow as more and more transactions accrue. What is the net result of this in terms of the supply of dollars to the world and to—I’m sure that it basically undermines the gold standard. Isn’t that beautiful?
Jeff: Yeah, and what Friedman suggested here was that we have essentially a money multiplier system in Eurodollars that was in parallel to the money multiplier system in domestic dollars.
And what he theorized, here in his first example, taking it to the second example, was that Bank H in London still lent the money to UK Limited, but, instead of making a dollar loan to a US domestic firm, they instead bought some Russian timber. And so now the Russian firm had dollars that it deposited at Bank R in London. Assuming Bank R also maintained the same 10% reserve requirement (or liquidity reserve), that, essentially, this process would continue to repeat until it reduced down to the lowest possible number based on that 10% reserve requirement.
And if you follow with all of those, essentially, follow-on transactions, what you’d get was, again, no change in the calculated money supply of the United States. But outside of the US the total change in dollar supply available to the world is an increase of nine million dollars. What Friedman’s point was, essentially, was that entire nine million dollars was all drawn from a single check drawn on Morgan Guarantee.
In other words, the deposit basis for this Eurodollar system was, in many ways, unknown to these other counter-party transactions. As these Eurodollars got multiplied further and further away from the original transactions, they were all based on the original transaction which was the sheik moving a million dollars to London from Morgan Guarantee.
And so, again to your point Erik, these are dollars conjured out of thin air through a multiplication process.
Erik: So these example that we’ve seen on Slides 11 and 12, Jeff, what you’re showing me is that Morgan Guarantee transfers a million bucks to Bank H of London, and Bank H of London does all kinds of tricks, and, before you know it, there’s nine million more US dollars in the global money supply than there was before. Thanks to one guy with just one million bucks.
I know how bankers think, though. I’ve got to believe the Morgan Guarantee guys are not going to want Bank H of London to have that business. They probably want to figure out how to keep the business in-house so that they can be the ones to multiply this money and defeat the intended purpose of the Bretton Woods system. It looks to me like Slide 13 is where you’re going to tell me that’s exactly what they do.
Jeff: And you’re absolutely right, that’s exactly what they did do. And it was easy enough for these US-based banks to set up subsidiaries in London or Zurich, or wherever outside the US, in order to capture (or actually to maintain) these deposit liabilities, but do so outside of the US domestic system.
And what Friedman went through was another example where he hypothesized that a New York bank and its London subsidiary, where, instead of a one million dollar check going back and forth, we now have a ten million dollar CD coming to Morgan Guarantee. But the sheik doesn’t want to renew it because of the better rates in London due to Regulation Q.
So what happens in this situation is that Morgan in London acquires the time deposit at its London subsidiary, being credited ten million dollars only in a bookkeeping transaction with its New York City parent. Now on a consolidated basis nothing happens because it’s money moving from a New York parent office to its London subsidiary and then the ten million dollars being borrowed back from London.
So, from the point of view or the perspective of both Morgan Guarantee and the US monetary system, nothing changes. However, that ten million dollars is now out there in London, which provides a better rate for Morgan Guarantee’s customer, the oil sheik.
But in moving the CD, in transferring the liability to its London subsidiary, the New York City head office now books, instead of a deposit account, a borrowed account. In other words, they’re borrowing ten million dollars from their London subsidiary that’s providing them a Eurodollar financing conduit. Now, they get a couple of different benefits from doing so, because, back then, reserve requirements were a big deal, and a lending transaction or an interbank loan transaction between the London subsidiary and the parent office was free from reserve requirements.
So in Friedman’s example, Morgan Guarantee would save about $600,000 in reserve requirements by switching, essentially, from a CD to an interbank loan. And so we see the potential for transformation from a depository-based money multiplier system to a short-run or a short-term borrowing-based interbank system where dollars can be moved back and forth from offshore to onshore to both avoid regulatory consequences but also to do things that they couldn’t do under the domestic regulatory constraints.
So it was the idea where banks could use the Eurodollar system as a way to enhance all of the things that banks want to do, which is to increase their balance sheets and to cheapen their funding rates, and to make it much more efficient for however they want to operate.
Erik: And of course all of this happens, Jeff, without any suitcases full of dollars moving across the ocean. The whole thing happens in accounting tricks on a ledger someplace.
Tell us where you’re headed with Slide 14 where you say that not a single reserve note moves anywhere. Everything happens with interbank liabilities. What are some of the ramifications—the consequences—of that?
Jeff: It gets back to what Milton Friedman was saying about how the true source of Eurodollars was a bookkeeper’s pen. Which means these are ledger balances that banks use to trade back and forth between each other that used to be done by either banker’s acceptances, or—as you’ve alluded to constantly—the suitcases of cash, or even gold bullion.
In other words, we’ve moved from a system that’s based on deposits toward one that’s more of an interbank liability system where all that’s traded is a bunch of numbers on a computer screen. Even back in those days, where they did a lot of transactions through telephone wires and things like that, it was essentially a ledger system where we’re getting away from actual deposits of dollars to an interbank traded system of whatever liability each counter-party would accept.
So, one of the things that we have to be aware of is that the word Eurodollar, as I said before, is not a technically precise term. At least the way I use it is not a technically precise term. I use it as a catchall to describe what is, essentially, a radical monetary evolution, away from the traditional format that was based on deposits of dollars, toward the more indescribable and ill-defined interbank market of these bookkeeper’s pen ledger balances moving back and forth.
And so the wholesale part of it is just as important as the offshore part of it. I think we want to describe in a little more detail what we mean by wholesale finance.
Erik: And I see that the next several slides in your deck dive into to details of the wholesale aspect of the Eurodollar system. But, since that’s a change of topic, I think this is an excellent place to wrap up this first interview in our four-part series. We’ll dive into the wholesale aspects of the Eurodollar system in Part 2.
But before we close this first part of the series, I’d like to review the key points that I took away from this part of our conversation.
The story begins in 1944 when the US dollar was chosen to serve as the world reserve currency at the Bretton Woods Conference. Because this meant that the dollar would be used for all international trade settlements around the world, all the other nations around the globe needed dollars in order to contract international commerce.
By the 1950s an offshore market for US dollars had been developed in the form of banker’s acceptances. Effectively, a banker’s acceptance was like a money order or cashier’s check payable in dollars. These dollar-denominated IOUs were the first incarnation of the Eurodollar market.
By the 1960s there was a full-fledged Eurodollar market operating entirely outside of the US banking system and therefore without US regulation. But the Federal Reserve didn’t even gain awareness of what was going on in the Eurodollar market until about 1962 when the phrase “Eurodollar” starts to appear regularly in FOMC minutes.
Throughout the 1960s, the Eurodollar system created new US dollar money supply out of thin air at the stroke of a bookkeeper’s pen with no backing by gold or by physical cash issued by the US Treasury. All of this happened in the 1960s when the US was still on the Bretton Woods gold standard system.
In a series of articles, Milton Friedman demonstrated how the Eurodollar system had created 30 billion dollars of new US dollar money supply out of thin air without gold or physical cash backing. Because all of this was happening outside of the US banking system, it was exempt from regulation that would have otherwise prevented it from occurring inside the US banking system.
Not wanting to be left out of the profits that were being made by offshore banks, the major US banks established European subsidiaries so that they too could participate in this opportunity to conjure money out of thin air without gold backing.
And the key point to remember is that through all of this the new money was being created at the stroke of a bookkeeper’s pen somewhere in Europe. There was never an ounce of gold required to back the 30 billion dollars of new money supply that was created during the 1960s. And it was all exempt from oversight or even awareness of US regulators.
In Part 2 of our Eurodollar University series, Jeff and I will dive into the wholesale aspects of the Eurodollar system. And, if you thought the information in this interview was shocking in terms of how little US regulators knew about what was going on at the time, you’re going to want to put your seatbelt on for what you’re going to learn in Part 2.
Before we close, though, let’s just give our listeners a quick rundown on what you do at Alhambra Investment Partners.
Jeff: Well, I basically focus on dollars and Eurodollars. Alhambra Investment Partners is an investment advisory firm, a registered IRA. And what we do is try to make sense of the world so that we can invest intelligently and prudently.
And, unfortunately, trying to do that in the last 10 years—even longer before that—has been incredibly difficult, because, as I hope your listeners have appreciated through the presentation here, the world doesn’t look like the way it’s supposed to look. And so there’s a lot more to this story that is very much relevant to 2017.
Somebody once said that you can’t know the future without studying the past. I believe that wholeheartedly. And I think—at least I hope—that what we’ve done here helped people understand that as well.
Erik: And we’ll have to end Part 1 there, in the interest of time. Be sure to tune in for Part 2 in the series where Jeff and I dive into the wholesale aspects of the Eurodollar system in full detail.
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Cosplay Girl Magical Magic
Video Thumbnails DVD Cover
Title: コスプレ少女 まじかる☆マジック
Code: AKB-027
Studio: Tma, Expotion
Actress: Nanaka Kyono, Anzu Hinaki, Minami Ooshima, Tsubomi
Anime/Video Game Series
Characters Cosplay
Madoka Kaname (鹿目 まどか)
Mami Tomoe (巴 マミ)
Sayaka Miki (美樹 さやか)
Homura Akemi (暁美 ほむら)
Size: 1.17GB - Length: 120 mins - Type: Avi
Mega (Links)
Password is 'cosplayjav'
1. thanks been waiting for this
2. thnks so much, i'v been searching for this one so long.
3. Homura part is a big thumbs up for creative use of magic even if it is only the usual time stop. Mami part is good as well just for Tsubomi it needs no other reason.
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MIUI, X2, Notifications, music and bugs... :/ Help?
Discussion in 'Droid X2 Development' started by angellusmortis, Mar 6, 2012.
1. angellusmortis
angellusmortis New Member
Mar 6, 2012
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I installed MIUI on my X2 a few days ago. Everything works great, except a bug with my notifications and music. Whenever I get a notification while I am listening to music (whether it is the default Music app, Google Music, or UberMusic), my music stop. I do not mean gets quieter then resumes after about 5 seconds. I mean stops. The music either completely stops, the song restarts, or the songs skips. Usually it just restarts and if I get enough notifications in a small enough span it will stop. Other then that, there is no indication of what is causing it. Upon looking elsewhere on the Interwebs I have determined it is a hardware bug with the X2/bug with MIUI. Any ideas how to fix it? Or is my guess even right?
Also, version info:
Android: 4.0.3
Search tags for this page
droid notify miui
droid x2 miui music
miui 1012019
miui for droid x2
notifocations on miui
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Classical Conditioning Theory
Its very interesting theory that is all about the behavior of organisms. There are numerous stimulus around us and we respond to them either in negative way or positive one. It is type of behavioral theory that focuses on the how people respond to a stimulus. Suppose stimulus is food and you will respond in a positive way by having it eaten.
Conditioning is the repetition of the certain stimulus. Conditioning causes learning. this theory focuses in on reflexive actions. Ivan Pavlov was the first person who presented the model for classical conditioning. According to him:
"When one stimulus that is paired with another stimulus that have a known response serves to produce the same response when used alone."
It means that one stimulus that is neutral one (first one) get paired with the other stimulus that have a certain known response to it; this pair is repeatedly used as a stimulus; then the first stimulus that was neutral one alone start giving you the same response as the pair was giving.
It will be more clear with the help of an example so lets have a look at example; this example is basically an experiment conducted by Ivan Pavlov:
He took dogs that were hungry and highly motivated to eat. He rang a bell and immediately after that bell sound gave them meat paste in response to that dogs started to salivate. he repeated that again and again. when dogs learnt that thing then bell sound alone caused them to salivate.
In above mentioned example Meat Paste was the Unconditioned Stimulus (which has particular response), Bell was Conditioned Stimulus (Which was a neutral stimulus), Unconditioned Response was Salivation, and when dogs salivated on the bell sound alone that Unconditioned response became Conditioned Rresponse.
here is the representation of this model:
So i would conclude this part as that repetitive exposure to stimulus make us learn about that, and then we show are response in accordance. If that stimulus has induced a positive learning then our response will be favorable otherwise it would be unfavorable.
In our market scenario, established brands are the unconditioned stimulus, about whom we had learnt earlier and now our response is favorable as they are rewarding. and new products launched under the same brands are conditioned stimulus, and when we respond to these new products using our past learning experience with established ones, then our response to these products is conditioned response.
Consumer Learning & its Elements
Consumer learning is a topic of concern for all marketers. Especially in today's world where marketers want to teach the consumers about their own products and services, consumer learning is integral part of their any marketing strategy. If you are a marketer or producer, and you want people to know about your product, you will make them learn, you must run some effective ad or promotional campaigns telling about your products and its features. This way consumers will acquire knowledge about you product and will experience it by using it once. this is where learning process will accomplish. Now after using that whatever will be there response would be feedback to you.
How it can be defined? It is basically a rigorous process, which evolves with time. In this process consumers acquire purchase and consumption knowledge and experience they apply to future related behavior.
Timely changes are associated with this process, as new products keep on entering the market and consumers keeps on learning about these products so the process of learning goes on.
In order for learning to occur, following elements must be present:
It is the deriving force which act as spur to learning. It is based on needs and goals. your needs and desires motivate you to achieve your goal. And to achieve your goal or fulfill your desire you need to find the ways out to accomplish that, you will be motivated to seek information which will help fulfilling your needs. So in learning to takes place, motivation is very important as it gives initiative to learning process.
Cues act as stimuli and gives directions to your motives. For instance, you are home after 9 hours job, you are tired, at that very moment you watch an ad of a energy drink on the T.V which makes you realize you need that drink to boost your energy and feel fresh. So that ad acted as cue at that time, which motivated you to fulfill your salient need.
Reaction of the consumers to the cue is the Response. How they behave after getting visible to that cue, constitutes their response. Consumers may not immediately react to a cue, as it may not be there need at that time. But possibility is there that if consumers have learnt your cue, they may keep it in corner of the mind and whenever their need has arose they make use of that cue and respond in favorable way. For instance, in above mentioned example, energy drink may not be readily available to you, you may fulfill that need with water or some other drink. But if you remember that energy drink and in later time when you feel thirsty or tired you may buy it and respond to that ad now.
It increases the likelihood that a specific response will occur in the future as the result of particular cues or stimuli. In above mentioned example, if using that energy drink satisfies you and you have gained all the benefits then you will likely to continue buying that product. Through positive reinforcement, learning has taken place, since energy drink lived upto the expectations.
Electronic Commerce has changed the shape of markets. It has narrowed down the distances and has connected the buyers and sellers worldwide. It has revolutionized the marketplace for consumers and organizations. Consumers get the information with much ease, can make comparisons of several products and can get the things at their doorsteps.
what e-commerce basically is? In simple words; It is buying and selling of products or services online or through electronic media.
E-commerce is not a single type or just one model; it has various types and models. Here i am going to tell you types of E-commerce so lets have a look at each type individually:
Business-to-Business (B2B):
Its all about the online transaction among two or more businesses. For instance, an organization may outsource another organization for handling its databases of employee or other data entry system online or it may also include online transaction between organization and supplier or wholesaler etc.
Business-to-consumer (B2C):
It is like a retail store over internet where businesses or organizations directly sell to the end user or consumer. Online transactions take place between business and end user. Consumer can get the desired products just through some clicks sitting at home. For instance, if you want to buy a laptop, you will go to the website of Dell Corp. and select the one suits you the best place the order make payment online through credit card and your laptop will be delivered at your doorstep. How facilitating, isn't it?
Consumer-to-Business (C2B):
It is the opposite of traditional B2C model. In C2B, individuals sell their products and services to the organizations and businesses. For instance, you have a certain project or product, you will offer it to all business who can make use of that, they will give you their offers and you will select the best one.
Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C):
It is the dealing between 2 or more consumers. It is done usually via auction sites. Individuals place their products for auction, other consumers come and bid to purchase that product. is most familiar name in this regard.
Business-to-Employee (B2E):
It is conducted within an organization, where employees use information, products and services, exchange stuff using intranet. It is specially for the employees to facilitate them with their working.
I hope i have been able to clearly communicate the basic concepts of these models. As these are primary models which are making up most of the E-commerce marketplace.
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Client: Visions Toward Wellness
This catalog was awarded first place in the 2000 Rhode Island Graphic Design Association design competition.. A page from the “Visions Toward Wellness” catalogue. The client selected the five (Chinese) elements for an underlying theme. Developing this theme, a different I Ching hexagram serves as the background for each page number.
Full size is 700 × 553 pixels
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When Gratitude Doesn't Work
My four-year-old swelled with pride as she held out her pink Mother's Day card, pinching it between her thumb and forefinger, each topped with chipped, neon pink polish. Her signature was barely legible, but her facial expression said it all.
The pride she felt in the card was the pride I felt in her. I wrapped her up in a hug, so thankful for the gift, and thankful to be her mom.
Later in the day, my two-year-old son looked up at me during church and whispered, "Kiss me, Momma." I nuzzled into his sweet face and smiled, so thankful to be his mom too.
On days like these, when motherhood is blissful, and my husband grills steak to celebrate Mother's Day, it's easy to say thanks. It's like gratitude jumps out of me; I'm swimming in it.
But some days gratitude doesn't work. I grab my notebook, and no matter how hard I try to write myself into thankfulness, I cannot manufacture it.
#1. I'm thankful for the seventy degree day--I will be working inside for most of it. Boo.
#2. I'm thankful for our home--which is messy AGAIN.
#3. I'm thankful for this pen--WHICH JUST RAN OUT OF INK! BAH!
On these days, the negative cascades like a veil over my eyes as I notice the ugly, complain-y, whiny things of life.
Don't get me wrong, sometimes gratitude works wonders. Sometimes just the practice of making a little list completely shifts my perspective. But sometimes it's like the gears are jammed up, and gratitude feels broken, no matter how many things I list.
I learned recently that the word gratitude has the same word root as the word grace. Neither grace nor gratitude is a cheap sing-songy thing. Both sound sweet and innocent, but real gratitude, real grace, costs something.
On these gray days it's not the gratitude that's broken, it's something in me that needs shifting.
The inability to "feel" my gratitude list is a reminder that I need a reset, and sometimes a rest. Sometimes the reset I need is to forgive someone, quite often I need to forgive myself, or I need to say kindly what I've really been thinking. Other times I'm sad or angry, but haven't slowed down enough to take a deep breath and notice.
And just seeing that, just knowing, just stopping long enough to see my ungratefulness is strangely something to be thankful for.
So, when I say this blog's title, Gratitude Gal, I don't say it like a spunky cheerleader. No, gratitude gal has a different tone to it, one that's only shininess comes from the waves of life crashing over and over again. Sometimes I've felt bad about myself when I don't feel sunny, when gratitude doesn't flow out of me like a faucet. Where did I get the idea that life would be perfect? Sometimes in rare moments we can be thankful even for the hard parts.
Yes, life is beautiful and amazing, but it's also full of really tough stuff. Real gratitude realizes this isn't all perfect, and says thanks anyway.
Gratitude holds on to wonder even when its grip is slipping. Gratitude has the courage to look for lightness and possibility, even in the midst of the muckiness of life. And yes, sometimes gratitude feels pretty crappy, and her pen runs out of ink. But she tosses it out and grabs a new one, offering her barely legible gift of thanks to a Giver who sees her offering as more than enough.
"You will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy." (John 16:20)
Today's Thanks:
Purple flowers in the ditch
A Mother's Day nap
Our family together for T-ball
Strawberry rhubarb pie
A sonogram from my sis
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Node.js Is Helping Developers Get the Most Out of JavaScript
Node.js, the JavaScript runtime of choice for high-performance, low latency apps, continues to gain popularity among developers on the strength of JavaScript.
Java and Node.js 2
When a small startup decided to launch its technological foundation on top of Microsoft's .NET platform, it needed a .NET expert to provide a master view. Being lean and distributed, the company chose .NET guru Carl Franklin to serve remotely as CTO to oversee things.
However, at the DEVintersection conference in Las Vegas last week, Franklin, now executive vice president of App vNext and co-host and founder of .NET Rocks!, said he held the CTO position for all of two days before someone whispered in the CEO's ear and convinced him that hot, new Node.js—not shriveled old .NET—was the way to go.
"I think Node has always been a viable alternative to .NET on the server side," Franklin told eWEEK.
It was clearly an interesting turn of events for Franklin, but for many others, this is indicative of the popularity of Node.js, which is an open-source, cross-platform JavaScript runtime environment for developing a diverse variety of tools and applications.
"Node.js is rapidly replacing Java and .NET due to the agility of the Node.js software development life cycle," said Dan Shaw, CTO and co-founder of NodeSource, a provider of support services for Node.js shops. "Building a Java app typically takes six to 24 months from start to finish. In contrast, Node.js applications take two to six months."
Moreover, said Shaw, once applications are complete, it's far easier to extend, adapt or even discard and start over with Node.js.
"It's a hard decision to make once you've sunk two years into a project to table it and start over, but with Node.js that's an option which engineering managers have not been able to consider before," he said. "Node.js is the de facto standard for building microservices and bots. NodeSource builds websites, web services, APIs, bots and desktop applications with Node.js."
Fastest-Growing Language
According to the Node.js Foundation, a Linux Foundation project to promote adoption and accelerate development of Node.js, Node.js is the fastest growing and most significant development language right now, with 4 million users and an annual growth rate of 100 percent.
The foundation describes Node.js as the JavaScript runtime of choice for high-performance, low-latency applications, powering everything from enterprise applications to robots, API engines, cloud stacks and mobile websites. It uses an event-driven, non-blocking I/O model that makes it lightweight and efficient in delivering high performance even under extreme loads, the foundation said.
"Node is becoming more and more widely adopted," said Al Hilwa, an analyst with IDC. "The primary usage for node is in new applications geared toward APIs. It is often used as a back-end for modern mobile and web apps offering a more lightweight model for handling API calls. The asynchronous nature and the fact that it is basically JavaScript are the most compelling aspects of the language."
Moreover, Node.js ranks among the top 10 languages for full-stack, front-end and back-end developers surveyed by Stack Overflow in its 2016 developer survey. Corporate users of Node.js software include Walmart, PayPal, Capital One, GoDaddy, Groupon, IBM, Microsoft, Netflix, Uber, SAP, Yahoo, Cisco Systems and Lowe's.
As one of the leading Node.js companies, NodeSource does a huge amount of Node.js development, Shaw said.
"We not only build things with Node.js, we literally build Node.js," he said. "NodeSource leads the open-source Node.js project and is a founding member of the Node.js Foundation. Our open-source team members work on all aspects of the Node.js project from writing the code [to] managing the security working group, working on the CI/CD [continuous integration/continuous delivery] infrastructure and actively supporting the Node.js community."
In addition, NodeSource uses Node.js for both front-end and back-end server-side development. Its services are built in Node.js. And its front end JavaScript is created with a Node.js tool chain that includes tools Browserify, Babel and React—all of which rely heavily on Node.js.
"Node.js has proven to be effective not only to power the web through delivering APIs and UX [user experience], but in other places," said Charlie Robbins, director of engineering for the UX platform at GoDaddy and also a Node.js Foundation board member.
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Explain the quick ratio - liquidity ratios, Managerial Accounting
Quick ratio
Objective: the objective of commuting this ratio is to calculate the ability of the firm to meet its short term obligation as and when due without relying upon the realization of stock
Components: there are two components of this ratio which are as under:
a) Quick assets: which means those current assets which can be converted into cash immediately or at a short notice without a loss of value and include the
b) Current liabilities
Computation: this ratio is computed by separating the quick assets by the current liabilities. This ratio is usually expressed as a pure ratio e.g., 1:1. In the form of a formula this ratio may be expressed as under
Interpretation: it shows rupees of quick assets available for each rupee of current liability. Traditionally a quick ratio of 1: is considered to be a satisfactory ratio. Though this traditional rule should not be used blindly since a firm having a quick ratio of more than 1 may not be meeting its short term obligations in time if its current assets consist of doubtful and slow paying debtors while a firm having a quick ratio of less than 1 may be meeting its short term obligations in time because of its very efficient inventory management.
Significance of quick ratio
The quick ratio is very useful in measuring the liquidity position of a firm. It measures the firm capacity to pay off current obligation immediately and is a more rigorous test of liquidity than the current ratio. It is used as a complementary ratio to the current ratio
Posted Date: 7/8/2013 8:47:03 AM | Location : United States
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• "Jules G" started this thread
Posts: 104
Reg: Sep 28th 2009
Location: brighton
Children: espenance
• Send private message
Thursday, November 12th 2009, 5:29pm
Help NHS or private
Wondering if anyone can help, i'm in a bit of a tiz about what to do, i've just finished my 1st cycle of IVF on the NHS, I was not happy with my consultant and have since found out in a letter to my doctor that I wasnt given Gestone 50mg IM, that they've told my doctor I have had!, I've lost all confidance in this clinic now, if i ask for another consultant on the NHS i have to go back on a waiting list, should i just give up on them and go private or let them do another cycle as they have done one with me so know more about my cycle, dont know what to do for the best any ideas???
?( Jules xxx
Posts: 809
Reg: Apr 19th 2008
Location: West Midlands
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Thursday, November 12th 2009, 8:24pm
RE: Help NHS or private
Why dont you arrange follow up meeting with your consultant and armed with your questions. You may find that you had another drug the same as gestone but it called something else. You could also look into going private and meet up with your chosen private clinic and ask them any questions
It really is upto you, and totally understand that you need to be at ease with your consultant
Good luck
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Game Search
Forum Search
Achievement Guide
Silent Hill 2
"Hard to Hit"
Receive less than 500 points...
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Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom
Nov 18, 2014
~6 hours play time
It's time to join Finn (the human) and his best bro Jake (the shape shifting dog) on a heroic adventure through the mysterious Nameless Kingdom. The game is an original story based on the Adventure Time television series.
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Olive Leaf Extract Herpes – How to Use Olive Leaf Extract to treat Herpes
Herpes is an infectious disease spread by bodily fluids and skin-to-skin contact, which may result in type 1 or type 2 herpes. Note: It has been reported that sharing a toothbrush, bleaching trays or other oral and dental products such… Continue Reading
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HPU Participates in County Emergency Exercise
Members of High Point University participated in a county-wide emergency exercise June 4, facilitated by the Guilford County Office of Emergency Management.
The emergency exercise centered around a fictional hurricane making land-fall in North Carolina, causing widespread flooding, power outages and tornadoes.
HPU staff members from various departments across campus tasked with a role in emergency planning and response met and staffed the HPU Emergency Operations Center (EOC), responding to various exercise scenarios and injects. No one outside of the EOC would know that a Category 3 hurricane was actively wreaking havoc on the HPU campus, but members of the Emergency Operations team worked through numerous emergency scenarios. No actual resources were deployed, but the opportunity to discuss plans and responses provides a unique opportunity to test the University’s preparedness.
The exercise is designed to be “over-the-top” to stress-test the participating agencies, and to help identify areas that can be strengthened to mitigate the impacts from an actual emergency.
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Tag: access
Bridging the information gap one step at a time. Problem Increasing access to information for hard-to-reach populations is critical to enabling them to overcome obstacles to education and development. Solution Although the distribution and implementation of information technology is a complex effort happening on many fronts, there are many success stories from which individuals and
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Executive Compensation at Credit Unions
By Daniel Koslovsky
The Developing Economist
2016, Vol. 3 No. 1 | pg. 2/2 |
IV. Descriptive Statistics
Figure 1 shows the mean and median for CEOs by pay type:
Figure 1 - CEO Mean and Median by Pay Type
Figure 1 - CEO Mean and Median by Pay Type
Definitions for pay type were taken from IRS Form 990 instructions. Total compensation is defined as the sum of base, bonus, other and deferred compensation. Base compensation is made up of primarily salary, but also 401k deferrals and health benefit plans. Any bonuses or compensation given out as incentive pay falls under bonus compensation. Severance or change of control payments, tax gross-ups, vacation/sick leave, life insurance, and goods or services provided (legal, housing, travel, etc.) are all classified as other compensation. Finally, deferred compensation is any income deferred that is not taxable in the current period.
Mean and median total compensation for CEOs in the sample were $761,257 and $530,171, respectively. Base compensation had a mean of $400,601 and a median of $368,237. While the mean and median for bonus compensation came out to $100,835 and $58,493.
As can be seen in Figure 1, base compensation accounts for a large share of CEO pay. Bonus compensation is the only other pay type with a median above $50,000. This study focuses on base compensation and bonus compensation because they are the most useful for learning about credit union compensation practices. Other and deferred compensation vary greatly between credit unions and over time within credit unions. Moreover, they are not associated with size or performance of the credit union. They are often payouts of retirement or other benefit plans that had been accumulating for a number of years. Total compensation is not examined because of the outsized in uence outlier values of other or deferred compensation may have on the data.
Moving on to credit union characteristics, table 1 provides the mean, median, maximum, and minimum values for the characteristics examined in equations (1)-(3).
Table 1
The median credit union in the sample has approximately $1 billion in assets and 80,000 members. One surprising statistic presented in the table is that median net income growth fell by over 2%, yet the mean was positive.
Lastly, and unsurprisingly, base compensation and bonus compensation are very well correlated with asset size. Figure 2 shows the log of assets plotted against the natural logs of base compensation and bonus compensation, respectively. The Rvalue of log assets vs. log base compensation is 0.44, while the R-value of log assets vs. log bonus is 0.267. To account for this stylized fact, I control for asset size for the rest of the study.
Figure 2 - Log of Assets vs. Log of Base Compensation
Figure 2 - Log of Assets vs. Log of Base Compensation
Sample Comparison
To ensure that the results found from the sample taken are applicable to credit unions that are not state chartered or are below $500 million in assets, I compare credit union characteristics of the sample to all state chartered credit unions, all nationally chartered credit unions, and nationally chartered credit unions above $500 million in assets. The results are displayed in table 2.
Table 2
As shown in the table, credit unions with over $500 million in assets perform much differently than credit unions on the whole, particularly in key measures such as asset growth, loan growth, and return on average asset. This is unsurprising, and suggests that the results of this study are only applicable to credit unions with over $500 million in assets. As for the comparison between federal and state credit unions with over $500 million in assets, the characteristics are quite similar. Noteworthy differences occur between loan growth and return on average asset, but particularly striking is the difference in dividend yields. In 2013, federally chartered credit unions provided 0.54% dividend yields, while the same number for state chartered credit unions was just 0.31%. These divergences do not necessarily reduce the saliency of the study, but should be kept in mind when the results are presented.
Beyond comparing credit union characteristics of the sample to all credit unions, it is useful to compare compensation characteristics of the sample to industry survey and banking sector data. Such a comparison is made below in figures 3.1 and 3.2.
Figure 3.1 - Sample, Survey, and Bank median base salary
Figure 3.1 - Sample, Survey, and Bank median base salary
Figure 3.2 - Sample, Survey, and Bank median total compensation
Figure 3.2 - Sample, Survey, and Bank median total compensation
The survey I use was conducted by the Credit Union Executives Society in 2013. They polled 443 credit unions, 427 of which provided compensation information for their CEO. The information on bank salary comes from the Independent Community Bankers of America and American Bankers Association compensation surveys.
Results for median salary (or base compensation) between my sample and the survey are remarkably similar. My sample of credit unions with assets between $500 and $999 million in assets has a median base compensation of $319,529, while the median for my sample of credit unions with over $1 billion in assets is $456,001. In comparison, the credit unions from the survey with $500 to $999 million in assets had $325,000 and the credit unions from the survey with over $1 billion have a median of $449,948. Such similarity suggests that the sample represents executive compensation for all credit unions over $500 million well. The difference between credit union base compensation and bank base compensation is also notable. Credit union CEOs appear to make about 15-20% more in base compensation than bank CEOs.
A comparison of total compensation is also provided, however an important caveat must be made regarding the total compensation statistics. What is defined as total compensation for the sample is different than the definition for the surveys. In the sample, total compensation is all compensation received, while in the surveys total compensation only includes cash compensation and excludes benefits, long-term incentives like stock options, and perquisites. This explains why the sample has a much greater total compensation than the survey and can also be used to illustrate the amount of non-cash compensation credit union CEOs receive. Additionally, it should be noted that bank CEOs receive a much greater proportion of their compensation in forms that would not be included in the survey and so a comparison between the sample total compensation and survey bank total compensation is not suitable.
V. Results & Analysis
The results to equations (1)-(3) are given in table 3:
Table 3
For the equation measuring base compensation, the results are in line with expectations for the performance variables, but a surprising trend is found for the member services variables. A number of performance variables are positive and significant in the regression for base compensation, including asset growth, net worth, and non-interest expenditures as a share of total assets. Asset growth has the most economically significant coefficient, as a 1.46 percentage point increase in asset growth is associated with a 1% increase in base compensation. Strikingly, the variables capturing member services are negative and significant. The coefficient for member growth is -.840, indicating that a .84 percentage point decrease in the number of members in a credit union will lead to a 1% increase in the CEO's base compensation. Moreover, dividend yields is also negatively related to base compensation, suggesting that the less a credit union pays its members in dividends, the more it will pay its CEO. As for the miscellaneous variables, only the control variables total assets and salary are significant. On the whole, the model developed for base compensation has strong explanatory power, as the adjusted r-squared equals .3965.
In contrast to the base compensation regression, the logit regression for whether a CEO received bonus compensation is not explained well by the independent variables. Only two of the variables included in the regression are significant and the pseudo R2 is only .0928. Interestingly, however, the use of a compensation consultant is one of the significant variables, which is consistent with the literature on executive compensation.
Finally, the equation measuring the bonus compensation contains some interesting findings as well. First, the share of income a credit union receives from fees in positively related to the amount of bonus compensation a CEO receives. This implies that the more credit unions charge their members for services, the bigger bonus a CEO receives. The result is similar to what was found in equation (1), that CEO's are disincentivized from prioritizing member services. Another fascinating result is that the size of a credit union's board is negatively related to the bonus pay of a CEO. This result is consistent with the literature on nonprofit executive compensation. Lastly, one perplexing result is that net income growth has a negative relationship with the size of a CEO's bonus. Net income growth is a fairly generic performance indicator so it is difficult to find a story that fits why this may be the case.
In comparison to the results of those found in the literature for for-profit financial institutions and non-profit firms, the results for credit union executive compensation more closely match up to for-profit financial institutions. The results of the model suggest that in credit unions, executive compensation is primarily determined by financial performance indicators, which is the main determinant in for-profit financial institutions. Further, there is no evidence that credit unions incentivize member services, while in the non-profit literature the organization's social mission usually plays a central role in executive compensation.
It must be noted, however, that the relationships implied by the results are very tenuous and should be taken with a great deal of caution. First, the sample size of the study limits how confident we can be in the significance and magnitude of the relationships observed. Further, since we cannot safely assume that the independent variables are exogenous, we can only establish correlation and not causation.
VI. Conclusion
This study is the first to examine credit union executive pay using compensation information from IRS Form 990. I use OLS and logistic regression analysis to identify the determinants of base compensation, examine what factors lead to credit union CEOs receiving bonuses, and study the incentives credit unions place on their CEOs using bonus compensation. For base compensation, the results suggests that credit unions incentivize financial performance at the expense of member services. The evidence for bonus compensation somewhat supports what is found in equation (1), as fee income share is negatively related to bonus compensation. Board size also appears to have a large impact on the bonus a CEO receives. Finally, factors that determine if a CEO gets a bonus are return on average asset and the use of a compensation consultant.
The findings from this study help to illustrate what credit unions use to determine executive compensation and how that affects the incentives placed on credit union CEOs. Moving forward, the most obvious way to expand on the study of credit union executive compensation would be to include time series data into the sample. Including time series data would highlight any industry trends in executive compensation and help control for idiosyncrasies in compensation practices among firms that cannot be identified with a single year of data. Additionally, the size of the dataset could be expanded to include state credit unions with under $500 million in assets.
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5. Caers, R., De Gieter, S., Du Bois, C., Jegers, M., Pepermans, & R., Schepers, C., (2004). Agency Problems and Unrelated Business Income of Nonprofit Organizations. Applied Economics.
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9. Core, J., Guay, W., & Verdi, R. (2006). Agency Problems of Excess Endowment Holdings in Not-for-profit Firms. SSRN Electronic Journal SSRN Journal.
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11. Fahlenbrach, R., & Stulz, R. (2011). Bank CEO Incentives and the Credit Crisis. Journal of Financial Economics, 99(1), 11-26.
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14. Hallock, K. (2002). Managerial Pay and Governance in American Nonprofits. Industrial Relations, 377 406.
16. Sedatole, K., Swaney, A., Yetman, M., & Yetman, R. (2014). Accounting-Based Performance Metrics and Executive Compensation in Nonprofit Organizations. SSRN Electronic Journal SSRN Journal.
1. Max Credit Union, General Electric Credit Union, LAFCU, Park Community Credit Union, and University of Michigan Credit Union
2. Texans Credit Union, Weokie Credit Union, Self-Help Credit Union, and Schlumberger Employees' Credit Union
3. DFCU and Lake Michigan Credit Union
4. School Employees Credit Union, Melrose Credit Union, and Triangle Credit Union
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Islamic banking and finance have become increasingly widespread over the past two decades, particularly in Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East, North Africa, and Southeast Asia. This paper uses country-level data to examine how growing Islamic banking sectors have affected financial market outcomes in six countries. The... MORE»
The recent economic crisis roved to be immensely threatening to the economic equilibrium within the European Union (EU). Beginning in the United States, it then proved its "domino effect" by covering the EU, resulting in so-called 'financial stress' in all the Member States.1 In this context, some possible explanations for the crisis are worth mentioning: unsustainable macroeconomic inequalities , a lack of adequate policies preventing adventurous... MORE»
The Constitutional Council was established when the Fifth Republic was born in 1958 (Cole 1998, p. 63). Initially designed as a tool to protect the executive against parliament, the Council evolved into a powerful force against the government (Elgie and Griggs 2000, p. 27). It ensures that elections are conducted fairly and that bills conform to the constitution (Slater 1985, p. 180). This essay argues that the most important role of the Constitutional... MORE»
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You are here
French connection
By Nickunj Malik - Nov 15,2017 - Last updated at Nov 15,2017
Through my expatriate experience of more than two decades, I have had the opportunity of living in plenty of commonwealth countries, which were all part of the British Empire, and therefore Anglophone. But I got to set foot on Francophone soil for the first time only when I reached Mauritius.
This island was colonised by the Dutch, the French and the British, in that order. France seized Mauritius in the early 18th century, but later lost it to Britain in 1810, during the Napoleonic Wars. Still, this tiny nation retained the French language and French law, despite being under British occupation.
The country won independence from Britain in 1968 but even though it was British for nearly a hundred and fifty years, French influence from the early 19th century continued to dominate its society and culture. The two official languages here are English and French, with the latter one spoken almost universally. Creole, which is a curious mix of French with a spattering of Portuguese, Spanish, South African, Swahili, Tamil and English — is the informal lingua franca.
So, one has to master a bit of French to function in this place, and Mauritians start your training process from the moment they set eyes on you. Believe me, it’s true.
Now, where learning a foreign language is concerned, French is right at the top in the most difficult category. It might seem like child’s play because there are little kids in this world who speak it fluently, but those are French children, you see. They are introduced to the strange sounding intonations of this complicated dialect from birth, but the real challenge arises when you try deciphering it at my ripe old age.
Since French is not a phonetic language, each letter does not have a single corresponding sound, so the spelling does not match the pronunciation. Also, a lot of letters are silent, which can make pronunciation and spelling a most exasperating exercise. Finally, the less said about the nasal consonants at the end of a word, which are not pronounced as consonants but the vowel that precedes them, the better.
Moreover, the letter “R” is one of the most difficult sounds in French. It is a kind of raspy resonance produced in the back of the throat that has no equivalent in English, therefore for this letter more than any other, it is essential to get help from a native French speaker.
I do not have to look far to find one, because the housekeeping lady who tidies my room, has been dropping hints about teaching me French. She is called “Rani” which I managed to figure out quite recently. For an entire week I call her “Khani” because that is how she pronounces the word. It is only when I ask her the meaning of her name (it translates into Queen in Hindi) that I finally understand my inability to decipher the French “R”.
Rani tells me that each time I have to grapple with this difficult consonant I must speak from the bottom of my throat.
“As if you are about to spit,” she instructs me.
“How will you say the khrane is coming?” she asks.
She points at the raindrops falling on my head as a hint.
“The rain is coming,” I answer.
“Kh, not R, use your epiglottis,” she insists.
“So rat becomes khat?” I question.
“Oui! Excellente!” she exclaims.
“Wow! It’s all French to me,” says the voice in my head.
281 users have voted.
Superbly witty. And the self acclaimed linguist gets straight to the points a mortal being would waffle a long time to get to. Your description of the encounters of the khight kind had me chuckling all the while.
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LunpaCMS Whipping your website into shape! Introducing Lunpa, our mascot. Her mother was a hamster and her father was Chilean M00se. Oddly, neither smelt of elderberries.
Writing LunpaCMS Managers
One of the best features of LunpaCMS is its ease of extensibility and reuse of existing code. This documentation describes how to make the best use of code that already exists as well as tips to keep in mind when writing a new manager for LunpaCMS
Basic Steps
1. Start with a plan of attack. This is the logic you need to figure out for how you are going to solve the problem.
2. Have Plan of attack approved/peer reviewed to see if they agree
3. Create the base files you think you will need, often based on standard scripts with pseudo comments
4. Begin by writing functions inside the base files that once tested and working, are moved to a library
Detailed Steps
1. Managers reside in the directory /htdocs/local/ usually as a pair of directories: one for the user side (i.e. “lunpamanager“) and one for the admin side (i.e. “lunpamanageradmin”). You can have a module with both admin sides and user sides (such as newsmanager), with only admin sides (such as mapmanager) or with only user sides (such as filelister).
2. is the file that installs the module onto websites. This is done is by creating symlinks in the /html directory (for user side) and in the /html/admin directory (for admin side) to the manager directories, so there is only one copy of the code per server. To create this file, simply copy an existing one and edit the directories that are symlinked. Note: because of this installation process and the nature of managers in general, they should not contain anything hard coded for specific sites.
3. Scripts in the admin directory should have a main call setting the admin parameter set to 1, ( i.e. &main(admin=>1);) to enforce admin user (though this should be caught by .htaccess in the sites’ /admin directory, not having this set to 1 can cause other problems) Also note that you will usually want admin set to 0 in non admin manager directories.
4. Other standard files can easily be copied from other modules such as index.cgi, and the lib directory as a starting point for writing the new manager. Important: the lib directory must contain the .htaccess file (with “Deny from all” in it) to keep people from accessing it or downloading it.
5. Most managers will have a database backend. The file that creates the database tables that are necessary for the manager is usually <manager_name>.sql which is run by the file for that manager to install the database portions of the manager. This file is also how managers set the default settings for their necessary maps in mapmanager. Note all the install scripts/SQL stuff is ALWAYS in the /admin portion of a module
6. When adding a module, the BEGIN section at the top of GLOBAL should be modified to add: @INC /htdocs/local/<manager_name>/lib. A use statement should be added to the existing list and the admin_menu function should be modified to include: use Library_<manager_name>
Website and Manager Structure Directions
1. Current LunpaCMS prints <!DOCTYPE> ... <body> part programatically. For newer version of websites, change this to have main-begin.template and index_main-begin.template to include this part of HTML.
1. Use :::xxx::: for page specific dynamic data replacement, such as meta-data, but no style related items. All style related definition should go into CSS file.
2. LunpaCMS uses globalresources directory to store all supporting data components for its managers. This directory is symbolic linked from sites' document directory, so end users can only access to this directory, but they cannot add, update, or delete resources in the directory. globalresources consists of following sub directories:
1. css: This directory contains managers.css file which defines LunpaCMS managers' default CSS rules.
2. images: A Lunpacms manager has one designated directory to store images used by itself under this directory.
3. js: This directory contains jsLib.js file. Commonly used JavaScript functions through LunpaCMS managers are stored in this JavaScript library file. Also, generally used JavaScript libraries, such as jQuery, can be stored in this directory.
4. modules: Individual thrid-party supporting modules, such as FCKeditor, are stored in this directory.
3. Use html/resources/css, html/resources/images/, html/resources/js under html directory for site design. And use html/images directory for content related items.
1. Try to use DIV and CSS for page template HTML instead of multi level table.
4. Each manager will have its own css rules, images, js. And each website will have its own css file(s) in html/resources/css directory. All css and javascript files will be included in in main-begin.template file.
1. Use proper prefix in css class name. See employeemanager/css/manager.css for an example.
2. Each manager's CSS rules can be overridden in local website css rules.
5. On each page template.
1. Wrap page title with <h1></h1> even for graphical titles.
2. Use <div>, <p> properly. <div> is for piece of sentences or an area of design structure. <p> is for text paragraph. And avoid using <br> for paragraph separation.
6. Use LOCAL_SKIP_PRINT_HTML_HEAD_AND_BODY=1 for new sites which includes HTML head part in main-begin template.
LunpaCMS Tags
LunpaCMS tags are formatted as such: These tags are parsed in get_template in Library_global and can be overwritten in local libraries. They are one of the main ways that managers are displayed and deployed on a website using LunpaCMS, and thus should be key elements to writing the managers themselves
Ex. $currentline =~ s/:::HEADLINES:(.*):FORMAT:(.*):::/&Library_newsmanager::get_news_headlines($FORM, limit=>$1, format=>$2)/eig;
This takes the :::HEADLINES:FORMAT::: tag and calls the get_news_headlines function with the given parameters.
Add Your Comment
(Only a limited set of HTML tags such as <b>, <i>, <u> are allowed. Embedded flash video from Youtube or Vimeo are also supported.)
Copyright © 2018 Peregrine Computer Consultants Corp. All rights reserved.
About Lunpa, our mascot. Her mother was a hamster and her father was an ill-tempered Chilean M00se. Oddly, neither smelt of elderberries.
The artist is Jennifer Lomax.
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Showdown (Part 3 of 5)
Previously, on Showdown
Part 1 of 5
Part 2 of 5
Showdown (Part 3 of 5)
Misthrado’s heart quickened as the kobolds made their last minute appearance. He watched in glee as his minions launched into action. The resulting fight was short, fast and bloody. The kobolds were on home ground and fighting for their household. No quarter was sought or given. At the end of the exchange, two of his henchmen lay still on the ground and the third was scrambling back towards the main army. One of the kobolds nursed what looked like a broken arm and the other two had scrapes and cuts, but nothing life threatening. They were also better armed now, having abandoned their amateur weapons and recovered the knives of the fallen.
Even though his soldiers had lost the initial encounter, he was perversely pleased. At least this would provide a challenge for some of his troops. Misthrado motioned towards Sandrath, who bowed as he came forward.
‘Send in the third brigade,’ said Misthrado. ‘I want those kobold heads laid out on the ground before me by the time the sun finishes setting.’
‘It shall be done, your majesty,’ replied Sandrath.
Misthrado watched in satisfaction as his troops began to line up.
Jennifer looked at her saviours. They shuffled their feet and seemed incapable of making eye contact. Up close, the odours of the shelter hung thickly on them, of manure and fur and feed. With her distress induced lucidity still intact she made connections that would normally escape her.
‘So, you’re my domestic helpers, I assume?’ she asked.
The largest of the three glanced at his companions before responding. ‘Errr, yes, Miss,’ he muttered.
‘What are you? And what are you doing in my home?’
The creature coughed and ducked its head. ‘Kobolds, Miss. We’re called kobolds. And you see, Miss, us kobolds, we attach ourselves to households. Like to keep useful, see?’
‘That’s nice dear, but it doesn’t actually answer my question. Why me?’
‘Ummm, the head of the household has to be worthy, Miss. And one of the ways we work out who’s worthy is to see how they treat stray animals.’
The kobold paused and for the first time looked at Jennifer directly. ‘No matter how many animals we left out for you, you kept taking them in and giving them shelter,’ he said in a softer voice.
The other two kobolds muttered their agreement, seemingly happy to let their friend do all the talking.
‘After a while, word got around. It’s a nice place, close enough to the city for a day trip. Plenty of fresh air. Over the years you’ve become a bit of a tourist attraction. Some of us from the old country, we come out, attach ourselves to your household for a few months and see a bit of the countryside before we head back.’
Jennifer thought for a moment. ‘Are you telling me I’m some kind of a kobold backpacker hostel?’
The talkative one waved his hands in a placating gesture. ‘We help out around the place, Miss. Make sure the animals are looked after, keep the house tidy. It’s more like a working holiday’.
‘Well I never,’ said Jennifer. She looked at their injuries. ‘You better let me see to that arm young man. I’ve looked after enough animals to know when someone needs a splint.’
The kobolds looked back at her with serious eyes. ‘No time for that, Miss. There are more than three of them I’m afraid. It looks like a bloody army out there, and they’re massing for an attack’.
Jennifer felt a stab of panic. ‘What do we do?’
‘Get back inside, Miss. Perhaps go upstairs and stay out of sight. We think they’re after us. Hopefully they’ll leave you alone once they’ve got us.’
‘Don’t you give yourselves up for me,’ said Jennifer. ‘I’ve never deserted anything in my care before, I’m damned if I will now.’
‘Oh, don’t worry, Miss, we’ll fight,’ said the lead kobold. ‘But still, it’ll be easier if we don’t have to worry about you out in the open.’
Jennifer couldn’t deny the logic of that. She went inside and closed the door. Her cane forgotten, she went to the mantel and grabbed the trophy the local council had insisted on giving her for ‘contributions to civic amenity’ a few years back. The thing weighed a tonne and even with her aged muscles she should be able to do some damage with it. After turning off the light, she sidled up to the window and peered out. Her three protectors stood in loose formation around the front door. In the yard, she saw the dust resolve into shapes. There must be over one hundred creatures out there. What hope did they have?
As if sensing her thoughts, the chatty kobold looked back over his shoulder at the window. ‘Oh, I forgot to mention, Miss. We don’t take up a lot of room when we visit. And like I said, your place is very popular.’
All around the front veranda kobolds began to appear. After she got to fifty, Jennifer lost count.
With a roar the two forces crashed together.
To be continued in Part 4
‘Showdown’ was originally published in Electric Spec in Volume 9 Issue 2 (May 2014). It is also available in the free collection of my published flash fiction and short stories A Flash in the Pan?
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Author: mark
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About Maximapedia
CINEMATOGRAPH, or Kinematograph (from , motion, and , to depict), an apparatus in which a series of views representing closely successive phases of a moving object are exhibited in rapid sequence, giving a picture which, owing to persistence of vision, appears to the observer to be in continuous motion. It is a development of the zoetrope or "wheel of life," described by W.G. Horner about 1833, which consists of a hollow cylinder turning on a vertical axis and having its surface pierced with a number of slots. Round the interior is arranged a series of pictures representing successive stages of such a subject as a galloping horse, and when the cylinder is rotated an observer looking through one of the slots sees the horse apparently in motion. The pictures were at first drawn by hand, but photography was afterwards applied to their production. E. Muybridge about 1877 obtained successive pictures of a running horse by employing a row of cameras, the shutters of which were opened and closed electrically by the passage of the horse in front of them, and in 1883 E.J. Marey of Paris established a studio for investigating the motion of animals by similar photographic methods.
The modern cinematograph was rendered possible by the invention of the celluloid roll film (employed by Marey in 1890), on which the serial pictures are impressed by instantaneous photography, a long sensitized film being moved across the focal plane of a camera and exposed intermittently. In one apparatus for making the exposures a cam jerks the film across the field once for each picture, the slack being gathered in on a drum at a constant rate. In another four lenses are rotated so as to give four images for each rotation, the film travelling so as to present a new portion in the field as each lens comes in place. Sixteen to fifty pictures may be taken per second. The films are developed on large drums, within which a ruby electric light may be fixed to enable the process to be watched. A positive is made from the negative thus obtained, and is passed through an optical lantern, the images being thus successively projected through an objective lens upon a distant screen. For an hour's exhibition 50,000 to 165,000 pictures are needed. To regulate the feed in the lantern a hole is punched in the film for each picture. These holes must be extremely accurate in position; when they wear the feed becomes irregular, and the picture dances or vibrates in an unpleasant manner. Another method of exhibiting cinematographic effects is to bind the pictures together in book form by one edge, and then release them from the other in rapid succession by means of the thumb or some mechanical device as the book is bent backwards. In this case the subject is viewed, not by projection, but directly, either with the unaided eye or through a magnifying glass.
Cinematograph films produced by ordinary photographic processes, being in black and white only, fail to reproduce the colouring of the subjects they represent. To some extent this defect has been remedied by painting them by hand, but this method is too expensive for general adoption, and moreover does not yield very satisfactory results. Attempts to adapt three-colour photography, by using simultaneously three films, each with a source of light of appropriate colour, and combining the three images on the screen, have to overcome great difficulties in regard to maintenance of register, because very minute errors of adjustment between the pictures on the films are magnified to an intolerable extent by projection. In a process devised by G.A. Smith, the results of which were exhibited at the Society of Arts, London, in December 1908, the number of colour records was reduced to two. The films were specially treated to increase their sensitiveness to red. The photographs were taken through two colour filters alternately interposed in front of the film; both admitted white and yellow, but one, of red, was in addition specially concerned with the orange and red of the subject, and the other, of blue-green, with the green, blue-green, blue and violet. The camera was arranged to take not less than 16 pictures a second through each filter, or 32 a second in all. The positive transparency made from the negative thus obtained was used in a lantern so arranged that beams of red (composed of crimson and yellow) and of green (composed of yellow and blue) issued from the lens alternately, the mechanism presenting the pictures made with the red filter to the red beam, and those made with the green filter to the green beam. A supplementary shutter was provided to introduce violet and blue, to compensate for the deficiency in those colours caused by the necessity of cutting them out in the camera owing to the over-sensitiveness of the film to them, and the result was that the successive pictures, blending on the screen by persistence of vision, gave a reproduction of the scene photographed in colours which were sensibly the same as those of the original.
The cinematograph enables "living" or "animated pictures" of such subjects as an army on the march, or an express train at full speed, to be presented with marvellous distinctness and completeness of detail. Machines of this kind have been devised in enormous numbers and used for purposes of amusement under names (bioscope, biograph, kinetoscope, mutograph, etc.) formed chiefly from combinations of Greek and Latin words for life, movement, change, etc., with suffixes taken from such words as , to see, , to depict; they have also been combined with phonographic apparatus, so that, for example, the music of a dance and the motions of the dancer are simultaneously reproduced to ear and eye. But when they are used in public places of entertainment, owing to the extreme inflammability of the celluloid film and its employment in close proximity to a powerful source of light and heat, such as is required if the pictures are to show brightly on the screen, precautions must be taken to prevent, as far as possible, the heat rays from reaching it, and effective means must be provided to extinguish it should it take fire. The production of films composed of non-inflammable material has also engaged the attention of inventors.
See H.V. Hopwood, Living Pictures (London, 1899), containing a bibliography and a digest of the British patents, which is supplemented in the Optician, vol. xviii. p. 85; Eugène Trutat, La Photographie animée (1899), which contains a list of the French patents. For the camera see also Photography: Apparatus.
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Thursday, January 31, 2008
Quantum of Solace
Yowza. Grant, you rule.
I realize that I haven't commented yet on the title to the next Bond movie, Quantum of Solace. That's partly because I'm behind on my posting in general, but mostly because what can I say? It's a Fleming title and Hooray for that.
I also like that the movie is a direct sequel to Casino Royale in a way that most Bond movie's aren't to each other. According to one of the big shots at this press conference, Quantum of Solace picks up about an hour after Casino Royale. We're assured that it's not "just a revenge movie" though and I believe them.
After Casino Royale came out I fantasized about how cool it would be if they just went back and remade the rest of Fleming's novels in the order he wrote them. How cool would it be to have a new, serious Live and Let Die follow Casino Royale without Sheriff J.W. Pepper and Rosie Carver, but with a Strangways and Quarrel who would later appear played by the same actors in a Dr. No remake? Imagine Bill Duke or Michael Clarke Duncan as Mr. Big. Or Chow Yun-Fat as Doctor No. I get chills.
The Live and Let Die novel was also a direct sequel to Casino Royale and it was also "not just a revenge tale." But it certainly had that element to it since Bond's enthusiasm for the case shot up dramatically once he learned that Mr. Big was associated with the same guys Vesper had worked for. I'm confident that Quantum of Solace will be able to maintain that same balance between Bond's lust for revenge and an interesting spy story.
Incidently, if you're curious about what exactly the phrase "quantum of solace" means or has to do with the story, the excellent Double O Section blog has the answer.
The Awesome List: Monsters, Chun-Li, Pirate's Cove, Neozoic, Strangeways, Torchwood comics, and more
Kraken!Museums are Cool
When I go to WizardWorld Chicago, I usually stick pretty close to the convention center out in the 'burbs. This year though, I may have to venture into the city.
I've been to the Field Museum before and the dinosaurs are reason enough, not to mention that it was the site of much mauling in the movie version of The Relic, but the Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids exhibit will be there all summer long, so it'll be an especially good time to go. And in addition to the girly creatures in the title? Krakens.
(Thanks to SFScope -- who also reviewed the exhibit when it was in New York -- for the heads up.)
Kristin!And starring Kristin Kreuk as Chun-Li
I don't know how I missed this before.
I stopped caring about Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang a long, long time ago. But casting her as Chun-Li in a new Street Fighter movie? That's the way to get me to go see a new Street Fighter movie.
The Pirate's Cove
Rob Ossian, self-proclaimed Pirate King of The Pirate's Cove, doesn't look as much like a pirate as he seems to think he does, but he runs a mean, extremely useful website full of pirate biographies, music, books, movies, weapons galleries, timelines, historical documents, and nautical info. He's even got a sailing simulator! Very, very cool site.
Neozoic #4Thank God for Red 5
Seriously. Atomic Robo and Neozoic are drugs for an illness I didn't even know I had: Lackofawesometosis.
Coming April 30: Neozoic #4
Written by Paul Ens; Art by J. Korim; Colors by Jessie Lam
The walls of Monanti city are smashed, and the lives of millions are trampled beneath the feet of relentless dinosaurs. The Predator Defense League tries to stem the tide. The King finds his family kidnapped. But is Lilli to blame?
When both father and mentor turn their backs on her, the emotional show-down turns deadly.
32 pages, $2.95
Strangeways was one of the casualties of Speakeasy's demise and one of the few titles that didn't immediately find a new home elsewhere. That's not a comment on it's quality though, because I read the first issue and it promised to be one of the best titles Speakeasy produced. It's high-concept (werewolves in the Wild West) is actually outdone by it's execution, at least in the first issue. It's probably the coolest, scariest werewolf story I've ever read.
Rather than shop the mini-series around elsewhere though, creator Matt Maxwell decided to hold onto it until it was done and release it as a complete graphic novel. And guess what's all done and ready to read?
You can check out the first chapter in the link above and find out more about the book here.
Torchwood comicsTorchwood comics
I gave up on Torchwood not too far into the series. It was bleaker than both Doctor Who from whence it came and The X-Files whom it seemed to try so hard to be. All that darkness needs some humor to offset it and I just wasn't finding it.
That said, it's still pretty cool that Torchwood: The Official Magazine is doing a series of exclusive comic strips based on the show.
Speaking of The X-Files
JJ Abrams' shot at the concept will co-star Denethor from The Lord of the Rings.
Free Giant Monster!
Thanks no doubt to Cloverfield, Boom! released the collected edition of Steve Niles' Giant Monster mini-series this month.
What's better, you can read it for free. You'll still want to buy it because it's cool, but now you can check it out for yourself first.
North WorldGross Pointe Blank with talking bears
I have this love/hate thing going on with webcomics. There are some really awesome ones, but I don't have time to keep up with them. Take North World, for example, which is a fantasy epic set in a world pretty much like our own except for the demons, giant eagles, and other mythical creatures in need of killing. I need to read a book like that.
Fortunately, the good webcomics eventually find their way into print and that's the case with North Wood, the first volume of which will come out in March from Oni.
The Terragoth Chronicles
The story description sounds generic and flowery, but from what I can see of the art, The Terragoth Chronicles should at least be pretty to look at. Unfortunately, most of the art is tiny and I couldn't find any story pages on the site so I can't judge how well it'll be executed, but yeah... pretty.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
YouTube du Jour: The Real Kirk
Just in case you're getting comfortable with someone else playing Kirk, let me remind you...
Artist of the Day: Art Grafunkel
I'm proud to call Art a pal.
From his blog: 30 Days of Night.
And a personal piece he did for the moderators of Steve Niles' message board:
I may have shared that last one before, but it's worth looking at again. Can you pick me out in the crowd? Huh? Can you?
The Awesome List: Cool comics
Marvel and DC for April
Marvel and DC have both released information about their April comics. Here's the stuff I found interesting:
Amazing Spider-Man #555
I'm not a Spider-Man fan and I can take or leave Wolverine, but dang those guys they're fighting look cool.
Hulk vs. Hercules: When Titans Clash
Looks like a continuation of the current "Incredible Herc" storyline currently in The Incredible Hulk comic, but even if it wasn't I'd be into it. Looks like a glorious smash party.
Mighty Avengers #12
I really don't care much about the Secret Invasion of Skrulls, but I do care about "WHERE THE HELL HAS NICK FURY BEEN??"
Secret Invasion #1
That said, I'll give this a flip through and see if it's interesting.
Detective Comics #843
You can't tell it from the cover, but this issue features Zatanna and that's always a draw. Especially Paul Dini-written Zatanna.
Tangent: Superman's Reign #2
I've never been a Green Lantern fan, but I love the design of the Tangent version. I'm not afraid to admit that it's the big ass lantern-on-a-stick. I'm tempted to give this issue a try even though it's part of a storyline/event that I care absolutely nothing about.
New Guardians of the Galaxy
I've really enjoyed Marvel's Annihilation: Conquest mini-series, so I'm glad they're going to keep going with the same characters when it's done. I mean, any comic with a talking space-raccoon is a good comic.
But you know how you could make that comic better? Call it Guardians of the Galaxy and put an alien with a giant fin on his head in it. We're halfway there; I just need to know where the petition I need to sign is to include Yondu.
(I realize that not even Rocket Raccoon is a done deal for the series, but a man has to dream.)
Zenescope? Yes, Zenescope.
I haven't been a big fan of Zenescope's comics so far, but they've got some upcoming projects that sound really cool. One is Dan Wickline's ongoing Sinbad series.
The other is Ken Haeser and Buz Hasson's The Living Corpse. It's not as natural a draw for me as Dan or Sinbad comics in general, but the preview makes it look like fun.
Other comics I'm looking forward to
I forgot to mention it here at the time, but my Blog@ post last week was the Top 10 independent adventure comics I'm looking forward to this year.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Vacancy (2007)
At last, a good horror movie. After the last couple, I was starting to despair.
Vacancy got on my To Watch list for two reasons. Kate Beckinsale was one. The other was that I heard some good things. But you never know if you should trust other people's tastes, so I didn't want to get too excited. Fortunately, my friends were right on.
I don't know if I'm gonna buy Vacancy, because frankly it's kind of hard to watch. It opens with Kate Beckinsale and Luke Wilson as a married couple on a road trip, but they're picking on each other. Once they get lost and start having car trouble though, the snide comments and dirty looks soon escalate to outright name calling and the presentation of middle fingers. These guys hate each other and the actors are so convincing at it that it's uncomfortable to be around them.
When their car finally dies on them and they get stuck overnight in a little motel in the middle of nowhere, things get really nasty. After being frightened half to death by some unseen pranksters who won't stop knocking loudly on the doors, Luke starts looking for something to help him unwind and get to sleep. He finds a stash of unmarked video tapes and pops one in the VCR. He and Kate are horrified enough that it's apparently a real, live snuff film, but even more disturbing is that it was apparently filmed in the very room they're staying in.
By this time, I'm just about ready to turn the movie off because the tension's so high. I'm already on edge from Kate and Luke's bickering, then the knocking starts and its scary as hell because a) Kate and Luke did nothing to instigate it and b) you can just imagine it happening to you, but then you get the snuff films and they're so raw and convincing that you're freaking screaming at the TV set for Luke and Kate to get out NOW! but they don't and oh crap now they're dead.
Seriously, I don't remember the last time I was that freaked out by a movie. I honestly had to remind myself that it was just a film and, fortunately, it was about that time that director Nimród Antal let up on the tension so I could breathe. And then he kept doing that for the rest of the movie. Tension. Release. Tension. Release. Oh crap they're dead. Oh good they're not. Oh crap yes they are.
Actually, I may buy it anyway just so I can show people what real, scary horror is supposed to look like.
Five out of five dings on the counter bell.
Monday, January 28, 2008
YouTube du Jour: Modern Trailer for Classic Kong
I love this kind of stuff.
Why I Love Ed Brubaker: Reason No. 436
From Civil War: Frontline #11 by Paul Jenkins:
From Young Avengers Presents: Patriot by Ed Brubaker:
Thank you, Ed.
More later...
Just a quick note to say that I've been swamped lately, but that regular posting should resume in the next couple of days. Sorry about that.
I'll try to stick up at least a new YouTube later tonight.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Rise: Blood Hunter (2007)
I can't trust Lucy Liu anymore. I gave her a pass on Ecks vs. Sever because that also starred Antonio Banderas who's another of my favorites, so I figured that sometimes good people can make bad movies and I decided to forget about it and move on. But now...
I'm sorry, Lucy. I love you, but I don't trust your judgment in films. If it's any consolation, I feel the same way about Michael Caine and Kenneth Branagh.
This isn't really a review because I didn't even finish Rise: Blood Hunter. Lucy's good in it, but the movie started to lose me about the time that she's kidnapped and raped by a couple of vampires (James D'Arcy and Carla Gugino). I forced myself to sit through it (it's not especially graphic, even in the unrated version, but it's not pleasant or even necessary either), but I gave up once Lucy picks up a hitchiker and kills him for his blood.
What I saw along the way was a lot of T&A and even more blood. I don't mind nudity, but this wasn't even attractive nudity. It was skanky nudity and that gets old fast. I don't mind movie gore either, but an excess of it is usually an indication that the movie-makers are trying to distract us from the lack of something else, and that's definitely the case here.
As far as I could tell after about half-an-hour, the plot's a pretty simple revenge deal with Michael Chiklis thrown in as a good-hearted cop who's investigating a series of bloody deaths. I think I might have gotten to like Chiklis had I kept with it, but I was so disappointed in Lucy's murdering the innocent hitchiker that I didn't care. And it's not like she just suddenly went blood-crazy and attacked him because she wasn't in control. She stopped and picked him up, questioned him to make sure he didn't have any dependents, then drove him into an empty park and sliced his throat open with a cross-shaped weapon specially designed for the job.
So, I gave it thirty minutes and all I could see was a movie about a bunch of unlikable people killing each other. Who cares?
One out of five dead hookers.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
YouTube du Jour: Godzilla
I feel like I kinda ripped you guys off on the posting today, so let me assuage my guilt with some more Godzilla footage.
The Reaping (2007)
I mentioned when I talked about The Orphanage that I usually find that stylish films are trying to hide a crap plot. That's happened to me a lot, but I was really thinking about The Reaping when I wrote it.
It's not completely fair to call The Reaping's plot "crap." It's actually really interesting up to a certain point. It's a mystery story -- why is this small town in Louisiana experiencing plagues like the ones in Exodus? -- and as long as Hilary Swank is trying to figure it all out, it's good. Like I also said in that Orphanage review, my favorite horror movies are actually mysteries, so The Reaping starts off on the right foot.
Spoilers below
Where it starts to come undone is the over-the-top solution to the mystery. Swank plays a former minister who's lost her faith and now spends her time debunking "miracles" all over the world. So when she's called in to explain what's going on with the plagues in Haven, Louisiana, we're not quite sure if this is going to be a supernatural story or one with a mundane explanation. That's actually one of the cool elements of the mystery, but it works against the revelation. The movie tries so hard to stay grounded during the first couple of acts -- and succeeds, even amongst rivers of blood and skydiving frogs -- that when it goes all Omen and Rosemary's Baby at the end, it's jarring.
Even so, the movie manages to follow its own internal logic throughout, so I never felt betrayed by the revelation. Everything makes sense and flows out of what we've learned before, it's just that it's too much. It's too supernatural.
I think The Reaping might would've worked better as a novel. It really is a fascinating story, but seeing the last act played out onscreen with a bunch of special effects turns it into a different kind of movie. If I'd had to create the last act in my head, I think I would've been into it more.
And it's really too bad, 'cause I looooove Hilary Swank and she's all serious and kick-ass in this movie. Really, really too bad.
Two out of five flesh-eating locusts.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Welcome back to the fight. This time I know our side will win. Arrr!
Like most people, I usually associate Paul Henreid with Victor Laszlo in Casablanca. What I learned on his birthday a couple of weeks ago (January 10th, if you care) when TCM ran a Paul Henreid marathon was that he also did some pirate movies. I watched one and a half of them.
The Pirates of Tripoli was unwatchable, so I gave up part way through it and watched the rest in fast forward. Henreid is supposed to be a swashbuckling rogue, but he's as stiff and straightlaced as you'd expect the guy who played Victor Laszlo to be. What came off as stylish and inspiring in Casablanca is really sort of pathetic for a pirate captain. That, plus a lot of unnecessary voiceover narration explaining what you're already seeing on the screen, bored the crap out of me.
The Last of the Buccaneers was better. Henreid plays Jean Lafitte in the story of what happened to the pirate captain between his success in the War of 1812 and his being driven out of Galveston. Since Lafitte apparently didn't think of himself as a pirate, but more as a gentleman privateer, Henreid's stiffness is more appropriate and he recaptures some of the inspirational quality you saw in Casablanca. You can understand why Lafitte's men follow him.
There are a lot of plot holes and historical inaccuracies, but whatever. The sets are great and the supporting cast is very good. Jack Oakie and John Dehner are especially as entertaining as Lafitte's right- and left-hand men.
Pirates of Tripoli gets one out of five Yo Hos.
Last of the Buccaneers gets three out of five Spanish galleons.
Art of the Day: A Girl and Her Robot
I don't know who took these pictures for the Korean edition of Vogue Girl, but they're Aweome.
The Awesome List: New Wonder Woman artist, Dick Tracy song, Killer movie, and Image Comics for April
New Wonder Woman artist
The Dodsons are leaving Wonder Woman and that's sad news. The good news is that the series looks to be in good hands with Aaron Lopresti.
"The Powerful Fully-Transistorized Dick Tracy Two-Way Wrist Radio"
Coolest song ever? You decide!
Killer movie
An awesome director and one of my favorite actors adapting one of my favorite graphic novels? How did I not know that David Fincher and Brad Pitt are planning to work together on a movie based on Matz's The Killer?
Comics about merpeople, pirates, and Bigfoot
Image Comics has released its solicitations for April and there's some good-looking stuff there.
Aqua Leung is finally coming.
I've loved the Death Dealer series, so I'm ready for more Frazetta-inspired comics. Especially one about a "legendary sea raider... battling his way through an ocean of horror."
The best comic about Bigfoot and a chupacabra hunting monsters finally gets an ongoing series.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Artist of the Day: Don Heck
I'm always impressed when artists can draw convincing fishnets, but not even having to use outlines on the legs is unbelievable. Very cool.
Found via Gorilla Daze.
Heath Ledger 1979-2008 RIP
I'm having a hard time getting my head around this. Heath Ledger is dead.
Cloverfield (2008)
So I saw Cloverfield.
I'm not sure what I have to add to the other reviews I've seen of it. It's a giant monster movie and that makes it review-proof to a certain extent. We love the giant monster movies.
But this ain't no Godzilla. Or, maybe it is, but it's early Godzilla back when those movies had more of a point than just putting two giant monsters together and watching them fight. Don't get me wrong, watching giant monsters kill each other is an honorable past time, but it's even better when there's sort of a point and I always liked that there was a point Japan was making by creating Godzilla.
There's a point to Cloverfield too. A lot of reviewers have noticed the 9/11 similarity, but I think it goes beyond watching some buildings fall and smoke roll through the streets of Manhattan. There's also the focus on normal people who don't know what's going on and never truly understand the threat. The world experienced 9/11 together and everyone has their own memories and associations with that day, but none of us who weren't in New York City really got a taste for what that must have been like. We saw the images as they happened, but we processed them differently than we would have had we been there. By putting us in the first person, Cloverfield makes us process these images like we might have had we been in New York that day.
I've read criticism about the hokeyness of having the Statue of Liberty's head roll down the street, but really I can't think of a better metaphor for what it was like to watch the Towers fall. The Statue is such an icon and the first time I saw that head roll through on the trailer, I was stunned. It's a powerful scene and I wish it hadn't have been overexposed by the trailer, though I understand why it was.
It's also important to the 9/11 metaphor that the monster wasn't created by a scientific accident. That worked for the point Godzilla was trying to make about nuclear power, but for a commentary on terrorism, it's vital that the threat be mysterious. SPOILER WARNING. Even if you catch the clue to the creature's origin in the movie's last scene (I didn't, but it was described to me), you understand that the creature isn't something we made on accident. It's an invader. We don't know why it came, we just know that it came to hurt us. END SPOILER.
So, yeah. It's pretty cool on that level and I liked it. You never would have gotten me to watch a movie that depicted a straightforward version the 9/11 experience (I avoided both United 93 and World Trade Center, for instance), but use a giant monster as a metaphor and I'm there.
It's executed pretty well too. I liked the characters and it was especially nice to see Lizzy Capland from The Class and TJ Miller from Carpoolers, two of my favorite actors from two of my favorite sitcoms from the last couple of years. The other actors are also fine and Odette Yustman is heart-breakingly beautiful, especially in light of the early scenes showing her and her best friend Rob (played by Michael Stahl-David) on the day they first realized they were in love with each other. I totally bought that Rob would cross Manhattan to rescue her. I would have done it too.
Though the plot is simple (get across town to rescue Odette and then get out of Manhattan without being eaten), it does what it needs to, which is provide an interesting frame for all the imagery. And it's interrupted at all the right points for some good old monster-fighting action, so it's never boring.
I don't know that I'd want to sit down and watch it again right away though. I'd like to see that last scene again and catch what I missed before, but having satisfied my curiosity about that, I'm not sure there's much more to get from the movie. I'd recommend it to anyone to see once, and I'd even go with you if I didn't have anything else to do, but as much as I like the deeper theme, it ironically ruins the rewatchability of the movie for me. I guess it went too far in the direction of Having a Point and I would have liked it more and been more excited to see it again if Godzilla would've shown up to fight the Cloverfield creature. But that's just the way I roll.
Three out of five face-eating parasites.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Artist of the Day: Victor Santos (again)
Because what we really need to cap off the day is a picture of a monkey doing a Michael Bay leap while firing two handguns.
Thanks, Victor Santos!
The Awesome List: If I was a girl, Doctor Who's politics, Captain Jack's Kids, Indy's house, Science Monster, and Smallville Black Canary
Mary Marvel bustier-shaped purse
At least I think it's a purse. Anyway, if I was a girl, I'd already have one.
Doctor Who: Revolutionary or Government Tool?
The new io9 blog charts the answer.
Jack's Kids
As if we needed more evidence that Johnny Depp is the coolest man on the planet, in gratitude for the Great Ormand Street Hospital's probably saving his daughter's life, he dressed up like Jack Sparrow and entertained sick kids for four hours. That's in addition to a million pound donation, by the way.
Wanna visit Indy's house?
Tell him I said "hi."
Need free monster comics, movies, and radio shows?
Science Monster has you covered
. It's a great place to spend some time browsing around. Seriously. I'd link directly to the video of Mr. Spock singing about Bilbo Baggins, but you'll be better rewarded finding it yourself.
Smallville's Black Canary photos
I was going to comment on the photos of the Smallville version of Black Canary that have been released, but Kevin Church has already said what I was going to say much better than I was going to say it.
Well, that and that my interest in watching the episode is now 98% dead.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
I don't want to let the day pass without stopping to remember and think about Martin Luther King, Jr. He may not have searched for lost treasure, discovered ancient civilizations, or killed aliens in outer space, but he was one of the bravest men this country's ever known.
And he did fight monsters.
I was less than a year old when he died, but I miss him.
The Orphanage (2007)
I've finally figured out that I'm not as much of a horror fan as I thought I was. I like the fantasy/scifi elements of monster movies and my absolute favorite horror movies are actually mysteries. The Orphanage falls into that category.
It's the story of a woman who grew up in an orphanage before she was adopted. Now, a parent herself, she moves back into the orphange with her husband and son, planning to reopen it and give other children the same positive experience she did. Unfortunately, her son begins hearing voices and talking about creepy imaginary friends and before too long he disappears.
Now Mom has to figure out where he is by putting together supernatural clues in order to find out a) what happened at the orphanage after she left and b) what those events have to do with her boy. It's a clever mystery, creepily presented (with underwater caves, secret passageways, mysterious old women with shovels, spooky ghost children, and a scarecrow mask), that makes sense and satisfies when it's done. There's a lot of style to the film, but it supports a well-crafted plot, which is nice because usually I find that stylish films are trying to hide a crap plot.
With Guillermo del Toro attached as producer, I'm not surprised that it's good. It's just nice to not be disappointed.
Five out of five creepy scarecrow boys.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
...and the power you possess.
Former Wonder Woman writer Greg Rucka is upset about the most recent Playboy's featuring Tiffany Fallon in a painted-on Wonder Woman costume. According to Rucka, "You've no idea the damage you've done. No idea at all."
And he may be right. But not according to Steven Grant who writes, "We're talking about Wonder Woman, right? Bazoongas out to here, skintight costume, high heels, bare legs and emphasized crotch, slave bracelets on her wrists Wonder Woman. Right? The Wonder Woman whose creator intended her to warm girls up to the joys of freedom via bondage and submission, right? If you think Wonder Woman is a role model, bodypainted nudes are about the least of your problems... "
My take on it is falls somewhere between the two. I think Wonder Woman is a role model for girls. That doesn't mean I think little girls should go out and start dressing like her; it's Wonder Woman's attitude and confidence that I wish more girls -- heck, more people -- would try to mimic. It's that same confidence that allows her to wear that costume without giving a crap about what anyone else thinks about it.
But in response to Rucka's post title, I guess I kind of don't get it. Someone explain to me how a Playboy Playmate's imitating Wonder Woman hurts Wonder Woman's image or impact as a role model. Yes, it's sexist. Yes, it's completely focused on Wonder Woman's attractiveness.
But to Grant's point, Wonder Woman has always been attractive. That's an undeniable aspect of her character. And as far as her being the perfect role model for girls goes, it's a flaw. Sure, it's a lot easier for Wonder Woman to be as confident as she is. Just look at her. I don't see how the Playboy pictorial changes that. It overemphasizes one aspect of her character to the neglect of the rest, but it doesn't ruin her effectiveness as a role model any more than her unchanging attractiveness already does.
The Awesome List: Cloverfield manga, cool statues, JJ Abrams' X-Files, Jericho, and more
Last night wasn't just about the bad movies. I also saw The Orphanage and Cloverfield, so I'll get reviews of them up as soon as I can. But first, I want to make sure I'm as caught up on news as I can be, so...
Speaking of Cloverfield
Following the clues in the online marketing campaign, fans have uncovered an online manga that may or may not tell the origin of the monster. Unfortunately, it's untranslated from Japanese right now.
Lost Season Four cast photo
(Thanks, Grant!)
Some very cool stuff coming out from Dark Horse in April
Like this:
The Amazon Bubble
Siskoid has a great observation about why Gail Simone's Wonder Woman is so good and what it has to do with Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction's take on Iron Fist.
And speaking of Wonder Woman, I have comments about the new issue of Playboy with Tiffany Fallon as Wonder Woman, but they got to be too long for this post, so I'll do them up as a separate deal.
Sounds like JJ Abrams' take on The X-Files. I'm in.
Jericho tease
This article on the new, partial season of Jericho is mostly a repeat of what we already know: it's a seven-episode season and they've filmed two endings to air depending on whether or not there'll be a Season Three. But there's also a new bit of tease about what Seasons Two (and Three, should there be one) will focus on.
Man, I don't even know where to start. I was expecting it to be bad and I wasn't disappointed. I hoped to be entertained by it's badness and I got that too. But the entertaining parts were separated by too many long, boring battle sequences, so even as an enjoyably flawed movie it's flawed.
In the Name of the King is a movie out of its time. Forget modern fantasy. This should've been made twenty-five years ago after the heyday of the Conan movies when stuff like The Sword and the Sorcerer, Deathstalker, and The Beastmaster were popular. That's the kind of quality we're talking about.
Well, maybe not that good.
Jason Statham plays a farmer named Farmer who's village is invaded by rubber-masked orc-ripoffs. When the king (played by a very sleepy Burt Reynolds) shows up after the fact with his army of about twenty guys, Farmer decides to head off on his lonesome to fight the Rubber Men rather than join the military. His brother-in-law and a friend (Ron Perlman) also decide to help him so the trio take off on a quest to find the evil sorcerer (Ray Liotta, who's apparently invented medieval hair gel and shared it with Burt and some of the other guys) who's trying to take over the world with the Rubber Men's help.
Couple'a subplots: Matthew Lillard is Burt Reynold's slimy nephew who's working with Ray Liotta under the assumption that he'll get to rule when Burt's dead. Burt's "magus" (played by Gimli) is trying to defeat Ray via sorcery, but he isn't getting very far, partly because Ray's seduced Gimli's daughter Leelee Sobieski into unwittingly helping him. Sort of. The Gimli/Leelee plot is pretty muddy and really doesn't do anything for the overall story, but now I'm analyzing on a level that the movie doesn't deserve.
Better to just remember the stupid, funny stuff like Ray Liotta's Nazgul ripoffs that he uses to channel through during battle so's he can participate while staying safe in his magic tower. What's sad though is that these tall, dark, halfway fierce-looking creatures all talk with Ray Liotta's high-pitched, not at all fierce-sounding voice. Sad, but freaking hilarious.
Another funny bit was when Farmer's family arrives at his in-laws' house. Grandma sees Farmer's kid and makes a joke about putting him in the oven. It's a stupid enough attempt at a light-hearted family moment, but the kid's reply, "I hate the oven!" is even better.
Matthew Lillard is almost good in his badness. He seems to be the only actor who realizes that hamming it up is the way to go in an Uwe Boll movie. The only other actors who are watchable are Statham (who wisely focuses on looking cool and butt-kicking) and Leelee (who takes a meaningless character and makes you like her).
Everyone else fails to create real characters out of their ridiculous dialogue ("Wisdom... is our hammer.") and cliché relationships. There's zero chemistry between Farmer and his wife (Claire Forlani) and even Ron Perlman, whom I usually love, looks silly trying to be both sage and comedy relief at the same time. There's one scene where Farmer's brother-in-law, who's been captured by the Rubber Men, is supposed to be chatting with a fellow prisoner in order to reassure her, but ends up sounding like he's hitting on her.
What else? I don't usually notice editing a lot, but it was so bad in this movie that I couldn't help it. Stuff like seeing two guys falling into a ravine with a river at the bottom; then, don't show the splash or anything, just cut to the two of them swimming. There were several moments like that.
It really only deserves one out of five Rubbermaid shields, but if you've got a sense of humor for this kind of thing: three out of five.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Artist of the Day: Pierre Alary
Pierre Alary's blog. Where you can buy his stuff.
The Awesome List: Ben Franklin Day, Mummy comics, Wonder Woman coasters and logos, and Fat Zatanna
New still from Indy 4
Happy Ben Franklin Day!
One of my favorite real-life adventurers and mad scientists has always been Benjamin Franklin. Today would have been his 302nd birthday.
Mummy comics
IDW's apparently going to do a comics series based on Stephen Sommers' Mummy movies. I really like those movies except for Sommers' cheapness when it comes to special effects, so a comics version without those concerns sounds perfect.
"The nations coffee tables are under attack!"
Fear not, Wonder Woman has come to the rescue! Too frickin' cool. Unfortunately, they seem to be a UK only item.
But here's something we can all enjoy.
Comics lettering legend Todd Klein has frequently educated and entertained his blog readers with posts analyzing the logos of some of the most famous superhero comics. Now he turns his attention to Wonder Woman. Part One. Part Two. Part Three. Part Four. Part Five.
Concerning Fat Zatanna
When I saw an overweight, alternate-universe Zatanna in the pages of DC's Countdown to Final Crisis, I let it go without comment. I thought it was different, but whatever. I didn't understand it from either an internal or external perspective, but I decided not to think too hard about it.
What I was forgetting though was something this blogger remembered: "Seirolac nrub." So now I'm really perplexed because Fat Zatanna makes absolutely no sense at all.
Related Posts with Thumbnails
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#386: Good Night
August 19, 2009
Notes from the Manager
I forget if I mentioned, but there are three updates this week. This four-panel sequence was originally going to be tacked onto the end of Monday's strip, but I was running short on time and decided to move it to its own thing.
See you Friday!
Multiplex 10 is here!
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Feb 032016
BioRuby 1.5.0
BioRuby is an open source Ruby library for developing bioinformatics software. Object oriented scripting language Ruby has many features suitable for bioinformatics research, for example, clear syntax to express complex objects, regular expressions for text handling as powerful as Perl’s, a wide variety of libraries including web service etc. As the syntax of the Ruby language is simple and very clean, we believe that it is easy to learn for beginners, easy to use for biologists, and also powerful enough for the software developers.
In BioRuby, you can retrieve biological database entries from flat files, internet web servers and local relational databases. These database entries can be parsed to extract information you need. Biological sequences can be treated with the fulfilling methods of the Ruby’s String class and with regular expressions. Daily tools like Blast, Fasta, Hmmer and many other software packages for biological analysis can be executed within the BioRuby script, and the results can be fully parsed to extract the portion you need. BioRuby supports major biological database formats and provides many ways for accessing them through flatfile indexing, SQL, web services etc. Various web services including KEGG API can be easily utilized by BioRuby.
University of Tokyo (Human Genome Center),Kyoto University (Bioinformatics Center) and the Open Bio Foundation.
• Linux / Windows / Mac OsX
• Ruby
BioRuby: Bioinformatics software for the Ruby programming language
Naohisa Goto, Pjotr Prins, Mitsuteru Nakao, Raoul Bonnal, Jan Aerts and Toshiaki Katayama
Bioinformatics (2010) 26(20): 2617-2619.
Posted by at 7:14 am
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Entries in the '' Category
Cloud Computing and the Future of Open Source
I “met” Phil Simon earlier in the month and have been following his blog, twitter posts, and cartoons ever since. Phil’s been in enterprise software a lot longer than I have, and now he’s writing about a variety of interesting topics about technology. We started talking about cloud computing and open source — and I just had to put in my two cents. So I did my first guest blog post about cloud computing and open source on Phil’s blog. I hope you’ll take a moment to read it and browse the rest of Phil’s site.
Online Music and Open Source Business Models
In this part of our series on An Open Source Business, let’s take a look at our friends in the online music space and see what we can learn from them.
The Deal recently had an article about online music startups which should strike a chord with anybody who’s thinking about or trying to make a business out of open source. Look at what they had to say:
“huge numbers, lots of hype, a surfeit of hope and a major chance of failure… some of the business models are inherently economically unfeasible… It’s completely unsettled and more and more fragmented…The rules of the industry and the economics of the industry have completely changed…Technological advances offer more and more delivery mechanisms, user options and wizardly new features…However, just who can make money off all this is almost as uncertain now as it was five years back…Everyone is gambling there will be a way to monetize distribution of recorded music, But no one has come up with the solution…Last year’s great hopes are this year’s busts.”
Sound familiar? It should. In a nutshell, open source business models share the same strategic problem that these online music startups have: how do you make any money when most of what you provide is available for free? Let’s look at the ways:
Free the Software, Sell the Services
Just about every commercialized open source project follows this business model. The software is free, but the developers charge for services such as support, training, customization, and software development. Sometimes the services are “productized” into manuals, seminars, installation CD’s, and packaged support, but the idea is the same.
This model works well…to an extent. For example, we’re the main developers of opentaps Open Source ERP + CRM, and we’ve found that users are indeed willing to engage us for opentaps-related services because of our experience and knowledge with the system. However, we’ve also found that users are willing to hire us mostly for customizations which are unique to their needs. We’re still responsible for the architecture and user interface of opentaps ourselves, and that’s why since the release of opentaps 1.0 we’ve invested in everything from integrating Spring, Hibernate, and the Google Web Toolkit to building a Domain Driven Architecture.
Like the Free Version? Please Pay Us for Even More!
Many open source software developers, and virtually all open source software companies funded by venture capitalists, engage in the “commercial/open source” model. An open source edition is available free of charge to attract potential users, and a fancier commercial version is available for pay.
This is not an easy business model. Let’s go back to music as an example. I like Pink Floyd, but if you gave me The Dark Side of the Moon for free, would I pay you for Ummagumma, The Final Cut, and every other song by Pink Floyd? No, I wouldn’t. (Another example is travel: how many people actually pay for First Class?)
But perhaps the best evidence that this is a difficult business model comes from the commercial open source companies themselves. Compared to a few years ago, their websites are de-emphasizing the open source version (sometimes you really have to look even to find the download page), and their “community edition” licenses are increasingly restrictive.
Nevertheless, I think this is a model which could be very successful if two conditions are met:
1. You must have a very large open source user base. Think MySQL.
2. You must segment that user base carefully and identify the unique needs for your “enterprise edition” product. The need must be fundamental — a little bit of eye candy and a few cool features alone won’t be enough.
Be careful, though: if you execute this model incorrectly, you could easily lose the goodwill of your open source users and unwittingly give away a viable commercial product for free.
The Alchemy of Open Source
There is a famous story of the Stone Soup, where many free ingredients came together to make an amazing finished product. Lest you think it’s just a fable, Red Hat and Ubuntu do exactly that–they’ve combined major open source projects such as Linux, Gnome, Apache, Firefox, Thunderbird, OpenOffice, and MySQL and built major businesses from them.
This is the business model we’ve chosen for opentaps so far. We’ve built opentaps from major open source projects such as Apache, Funambol, Google Web Toolkit, Jasper Reports, Pentaho, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and too many others to name here. We’ve had to be patient at times, but over the years, we’ve grown as all those other projects have matured. Amazingly enough, these open source projects have put us years ahead of many commercial ERP systems technically and enabled us to build opentaps sustainably, so that we now have a fully integrated ERP and CRM system with business intelligence, ecommerce, and mobility integration without any VC funding.
But this is not an easy business model to execute. You must be willing to understand other open source projects and have the technical ability to work with them. Most importantly, you need patience. With this business model, you are growing with the community of open source projects.
In the End . . . Just Make it Better
No matter what business model you choose, ultimately you’ll succeed if you make technology easier and better for your users. In the online music world, there actually has been a great success story — iTunes. They’ve done it by making downloading music easy and fun. So learn from them. If you can make software easy and fun, you will be successful. Next to a great product, the business model is just a footnote.
In the next part of An Open Source Business, we’ll take a look at marketing strategies for open source software.
Retail Industry and Open Source ERP
A group of graduate students from the Lancaster University in Lancaster, UK contacted me last year regarding a research project they were doing. They wanted to compare open source and commercial ERP systems for the retail industry and evaluated opentaps Open Source ERP + CRM, openbravo, and Microsoft Dynamics NAV (Navision).
They were kind enough to share their results with us, and you can read it at Opentaps In Retail. I hope you would find it interesting.
Quick Comparison of Magento vs Spree eCommerce Platforms
We’ve been working on an integration of the Magento e-commerce platform for opentaps Open Source ERP + CRM, and some of our long-time users have also talked about integrating opentaps with Spree. I took a quick look at both and make some notes about them. Since we’re not developers of or service providers for either one, and we plan to support integration with both in opentaps, I hope you’ll consider this an unbiased if somewhat “bird’s eye” comparison of Spree vs. Magento.
Spree is lightweight and easy to use, and the user interface for both the online store and the backend administrative module were quite intuitive. There is a good amount of documentation on the Spree website, and the authors of Spree seem really interested in helping you understand their system and work with it. Their BSD license is one of the least restrictive open source licenses. There is an active community around Spree, as evidenced by the Spree extensions available. Finally, Spree is written in Ruby on Rails, which is a very well-thought out web development frameworks.
Magento is a much bigger application than Spree. Its online store is also very intuitive and easy to use, but it’s altogether more polished and commercial-looking than Spree. The backend administrative applications are bit more complex, though. The free documentation available seems to be just the Magento wiki, which has a lot of content available but is not as consistent. There are also several books on Magento, ranging from to Magento: Beginner’s Guide to The Definitive Guide to Magento and php/Architect’s Guide to E-Commerce Programming with Magento. (Note: I haven’t read these books yet and can’t give them any recommendations.) Finally, Magento is written in PHP and the code seemed well-organized on first inspection, which means that a good developer should not take too long to get familiar with it.
Magento has a commercial/open-source licensing model, and the free version is licensed under the OSL 3.0 license. The OSL 3.0 is also a true open source license approved by the Open Source Initiative, but it is more restrictive than the BSD and the GPL license. (See the GNU Project’s comments about the OSL, for example.) Still, do not view this as purely negative. If the commercial/open source licensing model can support full-time professional developers to work on Magento’s open source version, then ultimately it would benefit most real end users of the open source Magento e-commerce platform.
The biggest advantage for Magento, though, seems to be its large number of third party modules available. There are over 1300 add-on modules available for Magento. (And the opentaps-Magento integration will soon be one of them!) Although most of these are commercial (as in “for pay”), and many of the free ones are in “beta” status, there still seems to be a lot of stable, free modules available.
How to Choose?
My personal opinion is that this comes down to a decision between Ruby on Rails and PHP. You should ask yourself which one you would prefer to work with and feel more comfortable with. However, keep in mind that while Ruby on Rails has been a very successful web development framework, PHP is simply the most dominant one today. (See for example O’Reilly’s State of the Computer Book Market and the TIOBE Software Index.) Therefore, there are many more developers, service providers, and add-on modules for PHP than Ruby. For example, Facebook’s developer API is mainly for PHP. Until Ruby on Rails comes up with a “killer app” that does something which PHP fundamentally is not well-suited for, I would not expect this to change.
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film / tv / politics / web / celeb
"Whoa, Wait, Is This Going to be About Tights?"
By Steven Lloyd Wilson | Industry | November 9, 2009 |
By Steven Lloyd Wilson | Industry | November 9, 2009 |
Hulu has an interesting new video up going in a direction that I've never seen before. They've taken the first issue of Joss Whedon's X-Men comic series "Gifted" and turned it into what they're calling a "motion comic." That means that they've used the original art work from the comic along with all the dialogue and transformed it into video using some fancy computer next-gen version of pan-and-scan along with voice actors. The result is fairly impressive, somewhere between static comic and traditional animation.
I haven't read the comic in question, although my understanding is that it has been well received. From the video, it seems to follow a storyline vaguely reminiscent of that of X-Men 3 (i.e., it introduces a mutant "cure") but it differs in that it doesn't suck like a particularly whorish black hole.
This is only the first issue, so if it goes well on Hulu, presumably we'll get to see this as an entire series, and possibly see other comic books get similar treatment. The video (with commercials because it's Hulu) is below.
Caprica Trailer
Box Office Results 11/09/09
The Pajiba Store
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The Great American Solar Eclipse
My dad and I experienced the Great American Solar Eclipse from our Family Farm in Pennsylvania.
We even captured a few phases of the actual eclipse, with my Dad holding the protective glass over the lens while I photographed it.
Dad used an old machine part, which has a hole in the center, to project the eclipse onto a number of things for me… including flowers and rocks, oh and a grasshopper. He also used an old saw, which was kinda neat.
A bee like insect landed on me and I captured the eclipse reflections in its wings and body as well.
We observed Nature and wildlife on the farm and around the fields, including some odd behavior in birds… such as a hawk and small birds flocking together…not hunting, not pestering, not catching insects. Pretty cool.
A really fun way to both observe and photograph were the projectors which spelled out “Eclipse” and “Pics By Lis.” Either Dad or I held them as I photographed them on various plants, rocks, even an old plow.
To add to the special memories and great fun, Tom Atkins of WJET in Erie showed a few images on both the ABC & FOX news on the 22nd. :0)
See more pics here:
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Classic rock station poll has AC/DC beating Floyd
Posted by madhack on Mar 22, 2002
Bay Area classic rock station 107.7 The Bone is running the March Madness of Classic Rock, and in the 4th round, Pink Floyd is losing to AC/DC in Division 1! Now, I have nothing against AC/DC, but come on... better than Floyd? They require registration, but I don't particularly care how fake the info you give them is. What counts is that you vote and make damn sure who wins this round (and all rounds to come)!
Older news itemsNewer news items
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lists over 8,000 items under the search term "fertility"
Had 3 girls at 40, 41, and 44
Catherine McDiarmid-Watt | Monday, April 02, 2012 | 0 comments
Dad & the Children - Stock Photo credit: dynamixI have a sister-in-law who had three girls at 40, 41, and 44. She had C-sections all three times.
The first time they told her the baby was going to be huge, but it turned out she had a huge fibroid. It went down in size after pregnancy and up again in the next two pregnancies.
I don't know if she had it removed or not during her last C-section - she could have; all I know is she had three c-sections that all went well and three lovely baby girls.
Stock Photo credit: dynamix
All rights reserved
Image: Stay Fertile Longer: Everything You Need to Know to Get Pregnant Now--Or Whenever You're Ready, by Mary Kittel and Deborah Metzger. Publisher: Rodale Books (August 26, 2004)Stay Fertile Longer: Everything You Need to Know to Get Pregnant Now--Or Whenever You're Ready
by Mary Kittel and Deborah Metzger
-- Many women today dream of having it all -- a challenging career, a satisfying personal life, a loving mate, and a baby whenever they're ready.
But there's no denying the fact that their biological clocks are ticking away.
The odds of conceiving drop by 15 to 20 percent for a woman in her early 30's and plummet to less than 50 percent when she's in her 40's.
The good news is that there are a host of natural strategies every would-be mom can use today to preserve and optimize her fertility, so that she can conceive quickly and easily when she's ready.
Image: Buy Now on Amazon.comPaperback: 352 pages
Click to order/for more info: Stay Fertile Longer
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Popular Posts
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Russian Collections
[Anonymous] Candy and fruit wrappers from the 1920s-30s.
575 pieces of Soviet commercial design circa 1920s – 1930s mostly Moscow or Leningrad origin though some are from Kharkov, Riga, Odessa, Kiev and elsewhere. Most were meant for internal consumption but some are marked “foreign”. Many of the labels were made for distribution by Mosselprom.
See a few examples from the collection.
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The Best Definition of Sin I've Ever Read
Most of the definitions of "sin" that I've read, or heard, tend to focus on ethics, the "10 Commandments" (but really only #6-10), the "Sermon on the Mount", maybe some of the lists of St. Paul. All of these have solid precedence for following. Still, something has always been missing for me. None of these taken alone did much for me beyond causing more of a sense of guilt. Earlier this summer I finally found a definition that articulated vague ideas that I had never been able to put into words and, truthfully, made me feel better for knowing! Ironically, the words were not penned by an illustrious theologian, a brilliant philosopher, or a wise, old minister; rather, they came from a novelist who made his living as the head writer of the soap opera, "One Lift to Live"! The writer is Michael Malone. The novel is titled, appropriately, Handling Sin. It's a story both hilarious and sweet, and full of quirky, delightful characters. The definition of "sin" arises in a scene between a soon-to-be-defrocked, Episcopalian priest and his nine-year-old son, Raleigh - nicknamed "Specs." Raleigh tells his father, the Father, of a situation in Sunday School that disturbed him. "Mrs. Jimson [the Sunday School teacher] wrote all these sins on the blackboard. And she says if we do any of them, we have to go to Hell, even if we aren't even grown-ups." A scene that reminds me of all too many definitions and discussions I've witnessed myself, or worse, participated in.
Raleigh's father replies:
'Mrs. Jimson is a horse's ass.' 'Cursing's one of the sins.' 'Bullshit.' Raleigh flushed with excitement. He looked at his father's face, only inches away...He could see his own face in the dark center of the blue eyes. 'Specs, remember when Christ said there were really only two commandments...Love...' 'I already know. Love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself.' 'Right.' His father rubbed the boy's corduroy knee. 'Well, there's only one sin...What do you think it is?' Raleigh looked in the eyes for a clue to the answer. He didn't like being wrong. '...Not loving them?' 'Right.'
There it is. The best definition of sin I've ever read.
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Your result...
you hav been in both the loner, middle and popular group. you dont no what u fit best
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This quiz tells you what colour your personality matches.
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Find out which hostile mob you are most like ;)
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what would you look like as a cartoon.
Koji si clan grupe Rebelde?
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This quiz will tell you who you should marry!
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May 30, 2008
"News blackout"
Regular readers will know that it's not my habit to mock and ridicule the various "oppressed" peoples of the earth. It's not Political Correctness, which I hate and despise; rather, it's just not my style.
But this is.....unbelievable! Morons! We have here racial/ethnic/religious/regional imbecility!
....The takeoff warning horn was blaring away in the cockpit because they had all 4 engines at full power. The aircraft computers thought they were trying to takeoff but it had not been configured properly (flaps/slats, etc.) Then one of the ADAT [Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies] crew decided to pull the circuit breaker on the Ground Proximity Sensor to silence the alarm.
This fools the aircraft into thinking it is in the air.
The computers automatically released all the brakes and set the aircraft rocketing forward. The ADAT crew had no idea that this is a safety feature so that pilots can't land with the brakes on.
Not one member of the seven-man Arab crew was smart enough to throttle back the engines from their max power setting, so the $80 million brand-new aircraft crashed into a blast barrier, totaling it.
The extent of injuries to the crew is unknown, for there has been a news blackout in the major media in France and elsewhere. Coverage of the story was deemed insulting to Moslem Arabs. Finally, the photos are starting to leak out.
Actually, my contempt for those brain-damaged (by a sick culture) Arabs is minor compared to my contempt for the French. "News blackout" indeed. That's not surprising, since they've had—how many now, 10 or 20 thousand?—cars torched by "youths," without ever mentioning that they are all Moslem criminals? The French are liars and cowards! A culture of lies and cowardice. Nihilism. They've rebelled against God, and now we see them sink back into the slime.
(Thanks to Bookworm)
Posted by John Weidner at May 30, 2008 2:45 PM
Weblog by John Weidner
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Visual Schedules and Autism
It shows an individual on the autism spectrum what activities will occur, and in what sequence.
Most visual schedules are introduced with adult guidance that gradually decreases with time. Eventually, the individual with autism may learn to create their own schedules.
More Information
Please see
Related Glossaries
Related Publications
Quick link:
15 Jun 2018
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Archive for May, 2008
New CLI Script class in Haddock CMS
Tuesday, May 27th, 2008
Haddock CMS has always been intended for running programs at the command line as well as on a web server. Separating the interface from the meat of the program has always been an aim, so where the programs are run shouldn’t matter.
So far, command line scripts have been been contained in .inc files. This has worked quite well but it’s overly complicated and hard to maintain.
CLI scripts are now contained in classes that extend a class called CLIScripts_CLIScript. To run a script, first a set of script object runner scripts are generated. These use the reflection API to run the code in the class.
Haddock CMS Wiki
Saturday, May 17th, 2008
Saul and I have resurrected an internal wiki that we started on Haddock CMS a few months ago and made it public.
A lot of stuff is out of date and we’ll be updating all that shortly.
The wiki software that comes with Google code package has a lot going for it but I prefer MediaWiki. Also, I’m a little paranoid about hosting these sorts of things myself.
Logical Fallacies
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008
Depressed at the thought of wasting time mucking around with wireless on Ubuntu and worried that I was a Talker rather than a doer, I decided to put together a site that I’ve been meaning to write for more than a year:
The aim is to collect as many examples of logical fallacies on the internet as I can and then analyze them.
I’m getting faster at putting the bits together for a basic Haddock CMS site, although it’ll need to be scripted before many people will want to use the framework.
I’ve got a good idea of the DB structure already (the fun part). Hopefully, I’ll get to write that shortly.
How did Microsoft get Vista so wrong?
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008
Before anyone accuses me of being a Linux bigot, I would like to say that I’ve been frustrated by Ubuntu lots of times. Wireless networks on laptops have always been a bit of a bugger and my latest install on a partition of my laptop has been no exception. Getting an EEE PC has shown me how good Linux on a laptop can be, if it’s set up right by the manufacturers. Ubuntu does quite a good job at this but it’s certainly not for the impatient. Dell, Samsung, anyone, please start selling more Ubuntu laptops with all that boring driver nonsense sorted out!
Working with Debian servers at the command-line has never been anything but an unalloyed pleasure. I have a extremely complicated set of tasks that I want to achieve and the stable version of Debian has always done them quickly and painlessly. Some stuff takes research. I’ve no idea how much of my career has been taken up with reading tutorials on the syntax of UNIX config files, probably more time than I’m going to get back. But once you know something and it works it works well. On servers (which, at a glance, are indistinguishable from their counterparts from the 1970s), the bottlenecks have always been my intellect, knowledge and imagination.
And then there’s Vista.
At first I thought that it was a brilliant. Good look, nice fonts, WinKey+Tab 3D funkiness and so on. But then you use it and before long you need a shot of whiskey just to calm your nerves.
If I access an FTP server (even on a cheap shared host) or SSH daemon, logging on and moving from directory to directory is quick. Most programs, including Nautilus out of the box on Ubuntu, allow you to store previous connections. XP used to remember the SMB shares that I had accessed. However, in Vista, every time I go to the network window in the start menu, the list has to be refreshed. Why? And does this takes so long? Does the computer ping the whole of 192.168.*.* or something?
Eventually, you get a list of computers on the LAN. You start to move about but just going from one folder to another can take up to a minute. Eventually you get to a folder that just locks up the computer for a few minutes, Explorer tells you that access is denied and restarts Explorer.
You get a link to
which tells you that an error occurred and gives you information on how to load up the event viewer that also tells you that an error occurred. Great! I guess that I better contact my system administrator.
I had hoped that the Vista service pack would sort this sort of nonsense out but it hasn’t.
I’m loath to spend an evening hacking away at config files on the Ubuntu partition of my laptop just to get the sodding wifi adapter to work but anything’s gotta be better that the soul destruction that is using Vista all day everyday.
People talk about Cognitive Surplus:
I guess that any system where the bottleneck isn’t your intellect, like Vista and Ubuntu some of the time, then the thoughts that should be going into your work end up getting clogged. Hence, the need for hard liquor…
Ad-Hoc Data Serialisation Formats
Sunday, May 4th, 2008
I’ve been doing a bit of tidying up of the code that goes into the Navigation plug-in for Haddock CMS. An enhancement that I think is quite necessary is to have navigation lists saved in files under version control rather than in DB tables. This makes testing and collaboration much simpler.
The question that any CS student will ask himself is “What format should I use?” I’ve used XML a lot in different parts of Haddock CMS and it is certainly more than expressive enough to be able to store the data for simple navigation lists.
However, it seems like overkill.
Also, I might want to allow users to be able to edit the navigation list specification files in the admin navigation back end.
A simple whitespace delimited data serialisation format springs to mind. This wouldn’t be too difficult to define or implement and I think that users could understand it without too much difficulty.
I started to imagine this language and wrote out a few examples. I started to think about the grammar of the language in BNF. This is definitely an area of programming where the test first approach is very sensible.
It seems that web programmers are very fond of text files and formal languages. I started to wonder about whether there is a version of YACC for PHP and whether such a beast would be a good idea or not.
Haddock CMS site redesign for narrow screens
Thursday, May 1st, 2008
As promised, I’ve rearranged the divs on the Haddock CMS site to work better on narrower screens.
I made all the edits to the code using Komodo Edit on an EEE PC. The only modification that I’ve made to the EEE PC is to use the full desktop and install Komodo.
Shelling in to my dev and production servers for SVN and to run the various Haddock CLI scripts is not really any different on the small machine. Komodo connects to the dev machine using SCP better on Xandros than it does on Vista (which isn’t hard). phpMyAdmin and cPanel are also fine on the small screen.
While I wouldn’t want to work like this all the time, my main objection is anatomical rather than to do with the performance of the machine. My neck is a little sore.
The only things that I need on the EEE PC at this point are Subversion and TrueCrypt. I’m sure that I can get them working soon enough. Other than that, I would only need the bigger machine for testing what the sites look like other browsers on a larger screen.
Love for my EEE PC
Thursday, May 1st, 2008
After one factory reset and a bit of an ache in my hand, I’ve grown fond of my new EEE PC.
I have to say that it’s making me rethink web design to some extent. Left navigation bars are hopeless and annoying on a seven inch screen. Perhaps I should shift them to the top of the page? I’ll try moving the DIVs around on
later today to see if it’s much of an improvement. Are sites going to new a stylesheet for iPhone, EEE PC, laptop and wide screen Media Center style machines? We’ll see…
Staring at this small screen and then looking at the 17 inch screen on my Samsung laptop is a bit like teleporting from England to America. Everything is recognisable and similar but noticeably bigger.
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Sacred 2:Block chance: Close Combat
From SacredWiki
Jump to: navigation, search
• Bonuses from different sources have diminishing returns and can be calculated using the following formula:
x_final = х_1 + х_2*(100%-х_1)^2 + х_3*(100%-(х_1+х_2*(100%-х_1)^2))^2 + х_4*...
• The block is calculated before reflection. Blocked damage cannot be reflected when reaching 100% chance to block (only possible for Close Combat).
• For example a High Elf repeatedly casting the Expulse Magic on herself eventually gains a Chance Block Combat Arts at close to 100%, and the "Crystal Skin" buff ceases to reflect spells, as all they have previously blocked. This fact in no way belittles the importance of reflection, however, just a note of the fact that when achieving 100% chance to block, reflection makes no sense as it simply won't work.
• Successfully blocking or reflecting a close combat or ranged combat attack negates all detrimental effects and negative effects like stun/disarm/Deep Wounds-Serious Open Wounds-Deadly Wounds, that could have been caused by this attack.
• "Shield lore" skill mastery grants the bonus, which stacks cumulatively (1+1=2) with a block chance on the shield/equipment: when bonus from "shield lore" skill mastery and a block chance on the shield/equipment summary reached 100%, the character would be completely immune to all melee attacks, including Weapon Damage Based CAs.
Personal tools
Diablo 2 Fallen
sacred 2
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Asmaa was-Sifaat
General Principles Regarding Allaah's Attributes
Author: Alawee ibn `Abdil-Qaadir as-Saqqaaf
Source: Sifaatullaah `Azza wa Jalla al-Waaridah fil-Kitaab was-Sunnah (trans. by Dawud Burbank)
Article ID : AQD030010 [35323]
« Previous Next » Page 2 of 3
And Allaah does what He wills."[12] [13]
The Eleventh Principle
"The proof from the Book and Sunnah for the establishment of an attribute is either:
(i) by clearly stating it,
(ii) or by its being incorporated by the name,
(iii) or by clear statement of an action or a description proving it."[14]
Examples of the first are Mercy, Might, Power, His Face, His Hands and His Fingers etc.
Examples of the second are al-Baseer (The Seeing) which incorporates the attribute of sight, and as-Samee' (The Hearing) which incorporates the attribute of hearing, and so on.
Examples of the third are (His Saying):
Ar-Rahmaan rose over the Throne.[15]
Which proves His having ascended, and (another example is His saying):
We shall exact retribution from the Mujrimoon.[16]
Which proves that He exacts retribution, and so on.
The Twelfth Principle
"One may seek refuge with Allaah, the Might and Magnificent's, attributes and swear an oath by them."[17]
From this is his, sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallaam, saying, "I seek refuge of Your Pleasure from Your Wrath, and from Your granting safety from Your punishment .." reported by Muslim (no. 486), and therefore al-Bukhaaree named a chapter heading in the Book of Oaths and Vows, "Chapter: Swearing an Oath by the Might of Allaah and His Attributes and His Words."
The Thirteenth Principle
"Speech concerning the attributes is like speech about His Self."[18]
Since just as His Self is real and does not resemble that of other than Him, then it is characterised by real attributes which also do not resemble the attributes of others, and just as affirming His Self is an affirmation of existence but not of 'how'-then the same is true of the attributes.
The Fourteenth Principle
"Speech concerning some of the Attributes is like speech about the rest of them."[19]
So whoever affirms the attributes of Allaah like Hearing, Seeing and Will, must therefore affirms Allaah's Loving, being Pleased, His Anger and His Hating. Shikhul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah said, "And whoever differentiates between one attribute and another, despite their being the same with regard to reasons for their being literal or metaphorical-then he is contradicting himself, erroneous in his position, resembling those who believed in a part of the Book and disbelieved in other parts."
The Fifteenth Principle
"Whatever is attributed to Allaah and is not something separate from Him, then it is an attribute of His and not something created, and everything that is attributed to Him and is something separate from Him, then it is something created. So not everything which is attributed to Allaah is necessarily an attribute of His."[20]
Examples of the first are: Allaah's Hearing, Allaah's Seeing, His being Pleased and His Wrath.
Examples of the second are: The House of Allaah, the She-Camel of Allaah.
The Sixteenth Principle
"The attributes of Allaah, the Mighty and Magnificent, and all other matters of 'aqeedah are established by that which is established from Allaah's Messenger, sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallaam, even if it is a single hadeeth, even if it is aahaad."[21]
The Seventeeth Principle
"The attributes of Allaah, the Mighty and Magnificent, which are established in the Book and the Sunnah, are known and are explained literally-never metaphorically or figuratively. But as for ;how' they are, then that is unknown."[22] [23]
The Eighteenth Principle
"Whatever occurs in the Book or the Sunnah, then it is binding upon every Believer to hold what it entails as his saying and to believe in it, even is he does not understand its meaning."[24]
The Nineteenth Principle
"The domain of reports[25] is wider than that of the attributes, and so things related about Him are not necessarily dependant solely upon text, such as 'The Pre-Existing,' that He is a 'thing,' that He 'exists.'"[26]
The Twentieth Principle
"No analogy is made regarding the attributes of Allaah, the Mighty and Magnificent."[27]
So no analogy is made between His liberality (sakhaa') and His generosity (jood). Nor between His Strength (Jalad) and His Might (Qawwah). Nor His Capability (isti'aanah) and His Power (Qudrah). Nor His Compassion (riqqah) and His Mercy (rahmah) and (ra'fah). Nor His being Aware and His Knowing and so on. Since with regard to the attributes of Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, we may not go beyond the principle of halting until a text is found, as has been seen in the third principle.
Page 2 of 3
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Monday, December 22, 2008
Why This Mother Despises Capri Sun
1. First of all, the name. What the ^&*(*) does Capri Sun even mean?
2. The wacky flavors. Pacific Cooler? Is it supposed to taste like the Pacific Ocean? Or the Pacific Northwest? What the hell are my children drinking???
3. The straw wrappers. Oh my lord, the straw wrappers. Do they multiply? I'm skilled such that I can remove the straw from its wrapper without ungluing the wrapper from the package. My boyz don't like this though. Apparently the empty straw wrapper still glued to the juice box bothers them. Because no matter how many times I vacuum, I always find a random straw wrapper on my floor, glinting in the sun. And even when I tell them to THROW THE WRAPPER AWAY, I swear it jumps back out of the garbage and onto my floor. Do I sound psycho? Perhaps.
4. I prefer to just toss the half-drunk (drank?) ones (see #7 below). Everyone else in the Trenches prefers to store them in the fridge, so there they are, half-empty soldiers littering up the fridge shelves FOR MONTHS. Because God forbid someone slap a name on theirs. So that when Mommy asks, "Whose is this?" everyone can respond, "Not mine."
5. They are in no way, shape or form, nutritious. I heard that even the Capri Sun "Roarin' Waters" (stupid name) have as much sugar as those little fruity barrel drinks (whaddya call them?)
6. Even if I'm the one inserting the straw with as much delicateness as possible, IT LEAKS. You just look at the things and they squirt out. Not good for toddlers with meaty paws whose instinct it is to GRAB. And SQUEEZE.
But they're cheap. And in these economic times? We buy them. In bulk.
Dammit, I can't quit you, Capri Sun.
Judy said...
The only time we buy these suckers is when they are needed for some "function", like a class party or something. I've hooked my boys on Crystal Light, and we mix it ourselves and fill smaller sport bottles with it. Cheap, yes, but like you, I have a thing about those dern straws!!!!
Allison said...
I totally agree - Oh good - I thought I was just being the crazy juicebox mom.
Moriah @ Please Pass the Salt said...
We have a worse history with the boxes.
Jenni Jiggety said...
Oh yes...and I thought the fridge issue would be solved if I bought mini Poland Springs bottles instead? But no, now I have half empty capri suns AND water bottles in my fridge.
Mom of 5 said...
- I've wondered the same thing about the names. What flavors ARE these things?
-The straw wrappers not only multiply, but some of them manage to retain some of the "glue" that sticks them to the pouch and they end up stuck in some strange places. (at least in my house). I also take the straws off and leave the plastic attached, but the kids just can't seem to leave it there. I thought it was just my kids!
-I can't sympathize with the half drank (drunk? now I'm not sure) pouches. My kids suck them down like nothing and I find the empty pouches nicely flattened sitting on the counters or BESIDE the trash can (no matter how many times I ask them to throw them away.)
-No, they are NOT nutritious. But they are portable, CLEAR (which is great for my light carpets), easy, and cheap. And cheap. Oh, and cheap! I usually find them on sale for about 1.75 a 10 pack (or less).
-I have ended up with more capri sun on me, the counters, and the floors than I care to mention just from handing it to the kids. Why oh why MUST THEY SQUEEZE IT?????
Love this post!
Renee said...
OMGosh. I said notsonice things just this week, when I "fished" one of those straw wrapper things out of the drain in the dishwasher ! Thousand wonders to me it didn't melt to the element.
Related Posts with Thumbnails
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Air WayBill Guide
1. What is an Air Waybill?
It is the document made out by or on behalf of the shipper which evidences the contract between the shipper and carrier(s) for carriage of goods over routes of the carrier(s)
2. What is the purpose of an Air Waybill?
• Documentary evidence of the conclusion of the contract of carriage.
• Proof of receipt of the goods of shipment.
• Freight bill.
• Certificate of insurance (if carriers insurance is requested by the shipper).
• Guide to carriers staff in handling, dispatching and delivering the consignment.
3. Who is responsible for the completion of the Air Waybill?
The shipper is responsible for the correctness of the particulars and statements relating to the goods which he inserts in the Air Waybill or which are inserted on his behalf.
4. What does an Air Waybill look like?
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Diane Samuels
From sltarchive
Jump to: navigation, search
Diane Samuels (b. 1960 in Liverpool) is an author and playwright. She studied history at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge and then studied for a PGCE in drama at Goldsmiths College. She worked as a drama teacher in London for five years and as an education officer at the Unicorn Theatre for children. She has been a fulltime writer since 1992.
SLT Productions
See Also
External Links
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-> at least 8% yield.
-> Price that is lower than its NAV.
-> Low gearing (if possible)
-> High secured NAV.
Current Dividend income is $3,800/month.
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Analysis of Global Investment Limited - A "savings account" with 9.93% interest
Current Price on 8th Aug 2015 = $0.151
• Yield = 9.93%
• Price-to-book Ratio = 0.719
• Assets per unit = $0.217
• Debt per unit = $0.007 (including current liabilities)
• Gearing = 7.15%
Global Investment Limited reported their results which I needed to look into very closely. Here are the statistics.
Yield is stable at 9.93%. With scrip dividend, it may rise to 11.46% if their issuing price is $0.13. Moreover, their price-to-book ratio is at 0.719 with no debt. Thus, we are only looking at the quality of assets which the bulk is in equities and bonds. Thus, it looks like we are investing in a unit trust than a company.
One thing to note is that amount of profit vs the amount used to distribute dividends. Currently their overall profit is at $9.7 million and their dividend distribution is $10.4 million (even though most will be in scrip). This is something which I am concern about because they are slowly not able to generate enough profit to maintain their distribution. I hope that the profit can be higher than distribution.
I am highly vested with 595,000 shares and I will be collecting $4,400 worth of dividends. I am participating in scrip dividend which should give me an extra $500. I am, at this point, still holding on to long term.
1. What do u mean by participating in scrip dividend?
1. It is call Dividend Reinvestment Plan where you get your dividends in shares rather than cash.
2. So if we get our dividends in shares, how can we sell the odd shares? Minimum suppose to be 100
1. Good question! For those odd shares, I usually keep it as memento. You can also sell it at the unit market.
3. What is a unit market and where is it? Sorry for my ignorance.
1. Hi Yori,
You may want to ask your stock broker instead. They should have their own platforms to resolve this. :-)
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To run StatPlanet / StatTrends offline using Internet Explorer, please use the file 'StatPlanet_IE_security_bypass.html' in the folder 'web'. You should no longer receiver the error "This page requires Flash Player version x.x or higher".
This file contains the following line of code to indicate to Internet Explorer that it is a locally saved web-page, allowing Flash-based content to run:
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Browse By
6 Office organization tricks to boost productivity
Surely, you’re one among those people who seem to get distracted most of the time while in the office at work. What seems to be triggering your boredom?
Yes, a small four-walled cubicle can really mess up with your head for quite some time and it can cause a drawback on your productivity. The enclosed cubicle makes you feel too isolated from coworkers and trapped away from the outside.
The same dilemma goes for open office floor plans as well. The noise, temptation to chat with coworkers, too much sights to lay eyes upon and the works absorbs too much of your attention away from your actual work.
Thankfully, there are a few tricks to hack your productivity and boost it high up the ceiling. No more wasted hours and mediocre outputs for here are quick and easy ways to organize your way to a productive work day.
1. Purge your desk.
Let’s face it. The amount of sticky note pads, stapler bullets, notebooks, ball pens, scratch papers and the likes you have their sitting on your desk are getting out of hand.
Before you even start on opening those drawers or organizing your desktop, start with what’s in front of you; with what you already have on your table. Then start pulling out the drawers to clean them one by one. Get rid of all the excess papers, unnecessary documents and all the other clutter.
1. Rearrange your workspace.
Alas, your work space finally looked tidy and clutter-free. Now, take a good look at your desk, take a quick scan as to know which should be placed here or there.
Evaluate your desk layout right after your purge as to know which items should go designated at your arm’s reach and which ones goes into the filing cabinet. Arrange everything from your desk and furniture to every single one of your files to your convenience
1. Organize your desk and your digital clutter.
No more asking yourself for the thousandth time: “Where did I put that stapler?” or “Where did my pen go?”. From this moment on, commit yourself to fixing your desk once you arrive to work and before you leave to get everything in order.
Organize your desk according to functionality and frequent use. Wallet, keys and phones ideally should go to your top drawer. Yes, keep your phone hidden so you don’t get distracted from all the pings your phone receives. Keep your pen, staples and a notepad at your arm’s reach so in case of a quick jot down, you don’t have to rattle on a drawer and waste your precious seconds.
Also Reads: 6 ways to optimize your work space to get more work done
Let’s talk about emails. Yes, not just the clutter you have tangibly should get organized. Organize your email as well and dedicate time to check on them. Most people unconsciously spend too much of their time writing and sending off emails whereas you should be working on an important and urgent task. Dedicate certain times when checking emails, i.e. morning, lunch and before you take off.
1. Don’t over organize.
This may seem ironic and sound as the complete opposite of your end goal. However, you need this is a reminder.
Organizing can be little too overwhelming and may lead us overboard. We desire to keep a well-structured and well-kept space so much so we tend to bring in unnecessary organizers that doesn’t even do their job perfectly well. Too much filing systems, containers, pen holders, shelves and the likes only adds up to clutter and put us in an organizational chaos. Do keep in mind, any excess of something is a bad thing so keep everything in moderation and simple.
1. You might need a better chair.
Seriously, if your chair does not provide you comfort, it can sabotage your productivity for the rest of your days you sit in that chair accomplishing your tasks. A perfect chair and other office furniture’s are vital to your performance. If you’re uncomfortable in your chair, it will affect the way you work and will likely reflect on your overall performance. Get up and find a good chair to sit on! If you opt for a standing works pace, go on and do so.
1. Take a break.
Finally, productivity can be increased without a sweat and within minutes or hours if you just take a break away from your desk. These organization tips are all nothing if you’re not taking a much-needed break every once in a while.
What’s the office organization trick you recommend most that worked for you? We’d like to know, share it with us and help one out!
About Chie Suarez
Chie Suarez is a writer for Ideal Office Furniture, a company specializing in a wide selection of office furniture designs servicing large corporate businesses to small home offices throughout Sydney
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074: Lies, Damn Lies, and Twitter
In the wake of the terrorist attack in Paris, France that left 130 people dead and many more injured, countless stories began to flood out into the world. Briefings, eyewitness accounts, and calls for safety lit of the airwaves, crossed oceans, and dominated the internet. Everyone wanted to know what was happening, who was doing it, and where.
And that once again lead to the latest instance of a fairly recent phenomenon that journalists, news outfits, and ordinary people now must contend with: trying to find up-to-the-minute truth, in real time, in a sea of falsehoods, a distorted reality.
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Weekly Android Netcast (German)
Feed: OGG (recommended)
Ryos Wochensicht
Weekly Tech Netcast (German)
Feed: OGG (recommended)
Go Cantina
Pokémon Go Netcast (German)
YouTube: Go Cantina (recommended) | Feed:
Unclear Feedburner Situation
Hello listeners,
as you may know, all the netcasts rely on Feedburner feeds. Unfortunately, the situation is very unclear, if Feedburner will be around for long.
Some features has been already disabled, but Google gave signs that the Feeds will stay intact.
If the the feeds will be shut off, the netcasts will get different feed. That would be a disaster, because it is like a start from scratch. Therefore we'll keep on using the Feedburner feed addresses as long as possible.
I hope it won't change. I found some related articles. Check the, if you want to know more about that matter.
Thanks for listening to our netcasts and I'm hoping you have a lot of fun with them.
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Man’s Best Friend
Who hasn’t heard that dog is man’s best friend? One of my best buddies is my dog Frisco, who is shown in this picture. What you can see are our deep stares into each other’s eyes. What you can’t see is what is going on chemically. Oxytocin, often known as the ‘love hormone’, is a peptide that is strongly implicated in many important social and nurturing behaviors. Most notably it is present between mothers and their infants. Moreover, this same chemical could explain our affiliation towards other species. For example, it has been shown that playing with dogs increases oxytocin levels in their owners. Clearly, there is a biological drive behind our fondness for our canine friends. Is this feeling chemically reciprocated?
Credit: Nathan Rodeberg
Nagasawa et al. sought to answer this question and delve deeper into the unique kinship between dogs and humans. Experimenters first set up sessions in which owners were free to gaze at, touch, and talk to their dogs. Oxytocin levels were monitored before and after these sessions for both species. Interestingly, in sessions with a high amount of dog-owner gazing, oxytocin levels increased not only in human owners but in dogs as well! To test the specificity of this connection, ‘gazing’ behavior and oxytocin levels were also monitored in human-raised wolves and their owners. In contrast to our furry friends, wolves rarely gazed at their owners and oxytocin levels remained relatively unchanged. Despite the strong genetic similarity between wolves and dogs, they do not exhibit the same chemical excretions when exposed to humans. These results suggest the domestication of dogs may have influenced their evolutionary development, particularly with respect to gaze communication and oxytocin-mediated interspecies bonding.
Researchers also found that the chemical and behavioral reciprocity between humans and dogs could be hijacked. Nasal oxytocin administration increased the duration of dog’s gazing at owners in female (but not male) dogs, which correspondingly led to an increased oxytocin levels in both species. Fascinatingly, oxytocin administration did not increase urinary oxytocin levels in dogs when interaction with their owners was limited. This suggests that mutual oxytocin secretion is crucial for the affiliation between dogs and humans.
Any dog owner is no stranger to the strong protective feelings we feel for our pooches. Indeed, the same chemical that facilitates mother-infant bonding is elevated in humans during interactions with their dogs. These results suggest that this feeling is chemically reciprocated, giving a heartwarming and scientific backbone to the maxim that dogs are truly man’s best friend.
Peer edited by Sumiyah Enayet.
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Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Instagram account posting photos of women on TTC raising consent concerns
From Metro
A new Instagram account is posting photos of women on the TTC, raising concerns about consent and the safety of female riders.
The account, called TTC Women (@ttcwomen), claims to post pictures of “beautiful women seen on the TTC … for the sake of fun and beauty.”
MORE ...
A photo posted by TTC Women (@ttcwomen) on
Anonymous said...
This is laughable considering what you do. LOL.
I'm surprised you haven't been investigated for the bullshit you've pulled.
C.J. Smith said...
Can you give me examples of this bullshit?
Anonymous said...
You take pictures of people sleeping and putting feet on the seats and in fact, one could even say you have a fetish which is creepy. One day, trust me, you will find yourself in court. So good luck you fat cow! LOL
C.J. Smith said...
You've met my lawyers, right?
They're well fed for a reason.
Take care.
FRED said...
I honestly don't know how you deal with these assholes.
George said...
I wonder which picture Anonymous is.
Anonymous said...
Hey, how about we leave everybody else the f**k alone...isn't that what society, rules, and law is supposed to be about? You don't infringe on my "rights" and I do the same for you?
Yeah, I get it, out in public we have no privacy or right to it. Wouldn't it be nice if we did? Just leave everybody else alone, follow the rules, mind your own business, and not have to worry about some video of you picking your nose at a stop light popping up somewhere?
It makes me wanna punch someone in the iPhone...
I just don't get why it isn't okay when it involves pictures of cute women being gawked at, but it is totally okay to make fun of somebody with a misplaced hairpiece or a Hitler-stash or some other humorous physical attribute that was a choice and not a precondition.
How 'bout we all just mind our own flippin' business, let people do their jobs, and get the f**k outta peoples way who need to get somewhere?
There, I'm done with my random drunken rant. Now I can go to bed.
C.J. Smith said...
Where on this site is anyone made fun of for the things you described?
I love how the drunken accusations just fly out with no merit.
Skin Man said...
I suspect that anon missed the contradiction in the above rant, I'll paraphrase: "everyone follow the rules and leave each other alone".
This site's contributors often observe people not following the rules, (i.e. feet on seats, leaving garbage behind, etc.). Some rules are conditions of public transit use, others are simply expected from people who wish to live in a civilized society.
It begs the question, what should we do when someone doesn't 'follow the rules'?
C.J. Smith said...
Allegedly, to mind our own business, which is how society wound up this way. Because people stopped caring. But lots of us *do* care and I don't care that because I care it pisses off those who don't care.
I. Don't. Care. About. Your. Butthurt.
C.J. Smith said...
I. Don't. Care. About. Your. Butthurt.
Anonymous said...
Aw he went to bed poor boy. With a sore head...I'm assuming laddo doesn't have a job to get up for so, well, he's probably still in bed? Poor bloke said his piece and then ran out of swearwords so he sulked off back to his play pen to go suck his thumb...Honestly my kids have more grown up arguments than this numpty.
Chris said...
As much as I enjoy the occasional negative comment written by people who clearly hate you (however if they knew you in person like I do, their opinion would change immediately), I have to say, it bothers me that people are so mean. These people are mean towards things they think are mean. I don't understand that.
Be a better person? Really? Instead of spending your time surfing a blog you don't agree with, call your mom. Tell her you love her.
You know, do nice things.
C.J. Smith said...
Chris, your comment left me confused.
I do call my mom!
Anonymous said...
The point of Anon@10:55pm is that those women have no recourse for these pictures, just like the rest of us in public. "Go pound sand" is the first comment on the MetroNews article.
It wasn't an attack on C.J. I never said you made fun of people on this site, or harass employees. It was a general complaint about the iPhone paparazzi. That's what "I wanna punch someone in the iPhone" meant.
...and no, I do not have a headache. I woke up three hours ago, and I do have a job to go to.
C.J. Smith said...
Okay. I get it. I apologize. Hope you get through the day with lots of coffee and Motrin. It's what is working for me since I've been up since 3 am because of a stupid phone call - to be blogged about.
Anonymous said...
"It wasn't an attack on CJ"
Erm, I suggest you re-read your posts. If you want to make an adult argument try behaving like an adult.
Tal Hartsfeld said...
The way I look at it:
People are always judging others (sometimes harshly) so why not return the favor?
Especially when the other person is doing something outlandish.
And I'm not arguing the point that if one goes out in public "privacy" takes a hiatus.
And that includes attractive women as well. So they shouldn't be so "shocked" to find themselves possibly on-line at some point in time.
Whoever is taking these iPhotos most likely wouldn't have much more regard for you or I if they thought we were "interesting" in some way. Even with ulterior motives in mind.
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Facebook Introduces Automatic Photo Filters
Still no master of the sky has fallen: This applies in particular to Selfies and snapshots with mobile devices. Facebook wants to remove you hence the image processing and performs an automatic image editing according to TechCrunch, the contrasts, adjusts gamma value and co. Who don’t like it, manually repair via slider.
In the future there is a reason less post too dark distressed photos on Facebook: uploads images give the social network now own on. Who then hate the look of his image, the intensity of the intervention can rules continuously via slider. The function should be made in the course of the day for iOS users, a corresponding Android feature to follow soon after. An update is not required, because the company performs server-side the photo correction.
Apparently Only Picture Brightening Planned
It seems that Facebook’s automatic image processing is limited to lighten photos; Color saturation, sharpness, or red eyes seem to be excluded. Can only hope that the quality of images is harmed not because Facebook is already set there. Bad source material is often only marginally better by digital post-processing?
Image credit: http://www.abbreviationfinder.org/search/facebook/
Facebook Wants To Inform Users On Embarrassing Photos
In addition, Facebook plans still changes a different kind: because so many embarrassing image is in the feeds of the user, an algorithm should recognize unflattering photos and attention make – for example, under the influence of alcohol created recordings. Meanwhile, also Instagram of its app has added new filter.
Facebook Introduces Automatic Photo Filters
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Nashville Star
Season 3 Episode 9
Week 9
Aired Monday 9:00 PM Apr 26, 2005 on NBC
out of 10
User Rating
7 votes
By Users
Write A Review
Episode Summary
Week 9
In the third season 90 minute finale, we see each performer one more time. LeAnn Rimes returns for this final episode with Big & Rich featuring Cowboy Troy kicking things off with Cowboy Troy's hit, "I Play Chicken (With the Train)."
Who was the Episode MVP ?
Episode Discussion
Join the discussion of this episode Episode Discussion
Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions
See All Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions Trivia & Quotes
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April 2006 Archives
If you are going to be doing more than the basic check-in / check-out options then it pays to get to know the command line client – tf. The command line client is actually the most flexible and powerful client to Team Foundation Version Control.
For more information, consult the MSDN help documentationTeamprise users will be glad to hear that a large percentage of the commands are implemented in V1.0 of our command line client meaning that you can do these actions from a Mac or Unix box as well (install instructions are posted in the Knowledge Base). If you are running on Windows then you are probably better off sticking to Microsoft’s command line client that gets installed as part of the Team Foundation Server client installation (and accessible via a Visual Studio 2005 command shell).
For example, to show all the check-outs by everyone on a path in the repository:-
tf status /server:http://yourservernamehere:8080 /user:* /recursive $/TeamProject/
For more examples, see an excellent post from James Manning or some of my previous posts:-
The command line client is also excellent for scripting purposes (our automated build system relies heavily on it). I urge you to spend a few moments with a strong cup of coffee, the help documentation and just have a play around. Once you realise what commands are available then you’ll know what’s possible if you come across a situation in the future where you reach limitations in the UI.
Bad Names
For those of you morning the loss of Monad as it henceforth becomes known as Windows PowerShell (it’s impossible to say that without putting some inflection into your voice to try and sound like a voice over for a cheesy advert) – we now have a new name to make fun of thanks to Nintendo renaming there next generation console the Nintendo Wii (and actually pronounced wee). It’ll no doubt generate more titters than the name of the old Atari ST operating system.
Back to the Microsoft choice of Windows PowerShell. Seriously – why wasn’t MSH good enough? A fantastic new object-orientated command line shell does not need a consumer friendly name, in fact a TLA with an “in-the-know” way of pronouncing it is better for geeks – and let’s face it, the new shell ain’t aimed at my Grandma.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens to the popular linux terminal emulator (called PowerShell) – hope those guys don’t start feeling the weight of the Redmond lawyers trying to protect a name which a) Was allready being used and b) Isn’t that good anyway. I know not everyone likes my companies name, but a least when you do a Google for it you get to our website…
INDA Cork Talk
Tonight I spoke at the Cork INDA group. Despite the excellent weather outside loads of people turned up and sat in on a talk on Source Control, which shows true dedication (especially from the folks standing at the back). I particularly enjoyed it that the audience asked loads of questions that got us off onto interesting tangents. Thanks again to Joe for organising everything.
I arrived in Cork city early this morning and it is a very pleasant place to hang out. If you are a geek in the city then I would recommend sitting in the Clarion Hotel as it is a very pleasant environment to work with free Wifi and they serve an excellent cup of hot tea. Anyone who knows the Marketing manager for Teamprise will know that he has great taste in hotels and the Clarion is one he would like. Sadly, when I’m booking hotels myself I tend to go a little more low-budget, but the one I am currently sitting in has plenty of old world charm. Cork also has a municipal Wifi service – while you have to pay €10 a day to access that, the signal strength is pretty good from the hotel room from which I write this post.
As promised, here is the slide deck as a zipped Powerpoint file (2196 KB) – also some useful links that were mentioned during questions.
Also, the book that we gave away (Eric Sink on The Business Of Software) is available from Amazon.
Irish National Developers Conference - for the community, by the community.If you are in or around Dublin next week (May 3rd & 4th 2006), then I would strongly encourage you to come along to the 2006 Irish National Developers Conference. This conference is being organised by local .NET development community, and is aimed squarely at the development community. Scott Guthrie will be speaking as will other excellent local speakers (I’ll also be tagging along to make the other speakers look good).
The event will also feature the opportunity to try out the technologies being talked about in Hands On Labs using equipment and resources being kindly supplied by the New Horizons training centre.
The sessions promise to be quite hard-core, much more in-depth than the usual presentation, but there is plenty available to interest most folks. Also, there is plenty of opportunity to talk with other local developers and find out what exciting things are happening in your area.
The speakers will be hanging around the labs at different times in the day so it is your opportunity to get advice, help and tips from them. The event is only €50 to attend, with money going towards the event expenses – all that information for less than the price of a night out!
I don’t know about you, but I love associating my check-ins with work items using the Pending Changes view, it makes it so easy to maintain requirements traceability and helps me feel less guilty as I’m doing one more thing that I should have been doing for years.
The only problem with the default definitions for Bug and Task are that if you select the item then by default the “Resolve” check-in action is selected. This is annoying for me as it the action I want to take in probably about 5% of check-ins. 95% of the time I just want to associate and 90% of the time I forgot that I have to change the default setting and end up going back to the work item and re-activating it.
A bug with the Resolve and Associate actions displayed. Resolve is the default.
The “Resolve” option is displayed when a state transition in the work item’s workflow is defined as having an action defined for check-in. Below is the transition section from the MSF Agile Bug:-
<TRANSITION from="Activeto="Resolved">
<DEFAULTREASON value="Fixed" />
<REASON value="Deferred" />
<REASON value="Duplicate" />
<REASON value="As Designed" />
<REASON value="Unable to Reproduce" />
<REASON value="Obsolete" />
<FIELD refname="System.AssignedTo">
<COPY from="fieldfield="System.CreatedBy" />
<FIELD refname="Microsoft.VSTS.Common.ActivatedDate">
<READONLY />
<FIELD refname="Microsoft.VSTS.Common.ActivatedBy">
<READONLY />
<FIELD refname="Microsoft.VSTS.Common.ResolvedBy">
<COPY from="currentuser" />
<VALIDUSER />
<REQUIRED />
<FIELD refname="Microsoft.VSTS.Common.ResolvedDate">
<SERVERDEFAULT from="clock" />
<ACTION value="Microsoft.VSTS.Actions.Checkin" />
If you remove the actions section from the transition from Active to Resolved transition then the only check-in action available will be “Associate”. Admittedly, this means that I have to edit the work item after finishing checking in files to move it from Active to Resolved – but I find this works better for me. I usually leave a little comment in the history as I change the state to say (at a high level) what I did and in the case of bugs any help I need to give to help the fix be verified by the test verification team.
Windows User Cache DialogWhen you connect to a Team Foundation Server, the Microsoft client API attempts to connect with your current credentials that the process is running with under Windows. If you are on a different domain than your TFS server or the user that you are logged in with does not have access, then you will be prompted to enter your login credentials using the standard login dialog box that you will be familiar with from Internet Explorer.
However, what if you pass credentials and now you would like to pass in a different set. In Teamprise it is easy enough because we have to ask you them every time you connect. With the Microsoft API your credentials are cached in the standard windows store.
To access this store (and remove your cached credentials allowing you to re-authenticate as a different user) then go to Control Panel, User Accounts, Advanced Tab, Manage Passwords. You should then locate your TFS Server instance and select Remove.
I thought I’d try and post some quick Top Tips for Team Foundation Server – in no particular order apart from as I think of them. Today, this came up in the forums so I thought I’d elaborate.
WIQL (pronounced Wickle), stands for Work Item Query Language and is what is used when talking to the work item store in Team Foundation Server. It has a SQL like construct and is used to pass queries to the server. Visual Studio 2005 comes with a Query Editor that generate WIQL. While the query editor is straightforward, it is pretty powerful and allows you to do most things.
However, the query editor is region sensitive which sometimes causes confusion. Take the following example where I am using an “IN” statement to list a set of values for the work item status:-
An example of using the IN statement in Visual Studio 2005 Work Item Query Editor
Note that the values are separated by commas. Those of you from a SQL background find this very sensible, but what the query editor is actually doing is taking the list of values and converting them into the following WIQL statement:-
SELECT [System.Id], [System.WorkItemType], [Microsoft.VSTS.Common.Rank], [System.State], [System.AssignedTo], [System.Title]
FROM WorkItems
WHERE [System.TeamProject] = @project
AND [System.State] IN ('Active''Pending''Proposed''Requested'
ORDER BY [Microsoft.VSTS.Common.Rank], [System.WorkItemType], [System.Id]
(A top sub-tip is that it is possible to save WIQL files from Visual Studio by editing the query then selecting File, Save Query As.. and then select file. To run a saved query from the file system double click the *.wiq file from explorer)
The comma separator used by the query editor is actually being picked up from the “List separator” of your regional settings (shown below) (Start, Control Panel, Regional Settings, Customize…)
If you are in one of the many regions of the world that use a different list separator then you have to use that in the Visual Studio 2005 Query Editor. For example, if I change my list separator to be a semi-colon and then re-edit the query in the Visual Studio 2005 Query Editor I get the following:-
Same WIQL, different list seperator
This behaviour has some interesting side effects. Remember when I said that the Visual Studio 2005 Query Editor “allows you to do most things”. Well, one small problem is forcing the editor to take a character to say that you want the following to be treated as a string. For example, if you have a comma in the text value you are trying to use in an “IN” statement then you are hosed because the query editor assumes that this is a new value in your list. For example, if you try the following:
Query names
This actually gets translated by the query editor as the following:
FROM WorkItems
WHERE [System.TeamProject] = @project
AND [System.AssignedTo] IN ('''Woodward''Martin''''''Sell''Clark'''
As you can tell, it parses on the commas first, which is not want you wanted at all. If you manually type in the WIQL correctly as IN (‘Woodward, Martin’, ‘Sell, Clark’) then the query editor will display this as Woodward, Martin, Sell, Clark – which in turn gets treated as IN (‘Woodward’,’Martin’,’Sell’,’Clark’) when the WIQL is generated by the editor.
Hey ho – Clark Sell has a post about changing the regional settings to enable to to query assigned to names but be warned it may have nasty side effects in other programs on your machine.
Hmm. When I thought about posting a TFS Tip a day for the next couple of weeks I didn’t intend them to be this long. Expect the next one to be more concise…
Now playing: Carl Franklin - Avalon, AJAX, Vista, and more with Tim Huckaby
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Thanks to everyone that came along to my talk in Belfast last night. It was great to catch up with some old friends and good fun to stand up in front of my home crowd.
As promised, here is the copy of the slide deck as a zipped PowerPoint File (2.4 MB) and some links for further reading:-
If you have any more questions about Team Foundation Server then please do not hesitate to get in touch directly or via one of the forums that I frequently hang out in:-
Now playing: BBC Radio 4 - Why Chile Works
Now V1.0 of Teamprise is out the door, we have started on the next release and are looking at the features that people want. One of these is Check-in policy support. Due to the way check-in policies are implemented in Team Foundation Server it presents us with several architectural challenges.
I’d be interested to hear what Check-in policies people either use currently or would like to have. Feel free to join in the discussion even if you only currently use Team Foundation Server to manage your .NET projects. To get the discussion started here are the ones that I’ve heard discussed previously:-
• Work-Item has been associated
• Comment has been entered
• Code passes static code analysis rules (FxCop etc)
• File names pass certain regular expression rules (i.e. forbid people from checking in *.tmp files or that pesky Thumbs.db file)
• Code being checked in compiles
• A defined set of unit tests associated with code have been ran and passed.
Anyone got any others? Any of those listed above useful or totally useless? If you don’t want to post a comment to this blog – I’d be very happy to hear from you in private.
A few minutes ago we flicked on the switch to release Teamprise v1.0 to public release. If you have tried out any of the preview versions then I urge you to upgrade as this one has a some new features along with many bug fixes. Now the excitement really begins :-)
I’ve seen a few forum posts on this topic and talk about it a lot whenever meeting new users to Team Foundation Server so I thought it worthwhile posting on the subject.
When you create a new team project on the Team Foundation server, the new team project wizard will ask you where you want to create a folder in source control for your project. Every team project has to have a root level folder to store files under – in fact under the covers TFS uses annotations on that root level folder to store team project level source control settings (such as check-in notes, check-in policies and if you want to disable checking out of files with no lock).
The temptation I’ve seen with a number of first time users is to put the solution file under the root level folder. The problem comes when they want another solution for that team project or perhaps that want to branch. Instead, I usually follow the convention in the picture below when creating new Team Projects – in this case one called “Oryx”.
An example project folder structure - click to enlarge image
Team Foundation Server supports namespace branching – i.e. when you branch you tell the server to take a folder and branch it into another folder. Obviously – that folder cannot be below where you are branching from otherwise you would get yourself into a recursive loop. Now different branching models are the topic for a whole other discussion – however if you don’t know what you want to do just yet, then it is probably safe just to create a folder for your main development line called “trunk” – you might never branch, but if you do at least you can branch at the root level of your team project.
Another problem is where to draw the boundary between Team Projects? A team project usually shares a common set of requirements and are working towards an end goal. For example, if I was creating a medium sized e-commerce site for a company it would probably all be under one team project even though the site might be made up of multiple interfaces (internet, VoxML, customer service desktop), a core business logic engine built using .NET 1.1, .NET 2.0 and Java components with a mixture of legacy interop and a relational DB for the backend. The reason I’d have all this as one team project is that they have one key deliverable that the business is interested in and also one requirement that may span multiple delivery teams. When you are considering Team projects you should think how your requirements are defined by the business rather than how your teams are currently organised. The internal organisation of teams can be mapped as sub folders in the project folder structure and also used to define your areas in the project classification for work items.
The security model inside Team Foundation Server is incredibly powerful and you can break down the permissions inside your team project to a more granular level than is used by default. For example, each development group could have full rights to their project deliverable, but only read access to the others. You could even configure it so that nobody had permissions to edit a file in the /releases/1.0.0 folder once it had been released etc etc.
The thing that affects a lot of users migrating from VSS is the fact that shared folders are not supported in Team Foundation Server. Shared folders where often used as a poor mans version of branching, in TFS you have the real thing – however some people also relied on them to set out their source in a particular way when sharing code between teams. I’m afraid that this way of working is not well supported in TFS and you will have to use scripts to copy files around into the directory structure that you require.
Like most things, change can be uncomfortable – but once you get used to Team Foundation Server you will love it.
JNI on Intel Based Macs
The day that Intel Macs first started shipping I walked into an Apple store, downloaded Teamprise and tried to run it to see if it would work. It didn’t. I wasn’t that surprised, but I had kinda been hoping that the magic of Rosetta would just take over and automagically make it work. But sadly Rosetta (while clever) isn’t that clever.
You see, although on most of the marketing material it says our client is 100% Java, that is not strictly true. It should say 100% java rounded to the nearest percent – in terms of lines of code we are actually about 99.8% Java with a few small lines of JNI code to call a few (very isolated) native functions. While we seriously did consider a marketing tagline of “nearly 100% java” or “99.8% Java”, however we felt that the message would just confuse things.
So – what are we doing in native code I hear you ask? Well, one thing we are not doing is calling into the Microsoft client libraries for Team Foundation Server access – some days I wish we were as it would mean a lot less work getting the client to run on Windows. However, when it comes to getting the client running everywhere else we would have been scuppered. Nope, all our Team Foundation Client logic is java talking to the web services running on your Team Foundation Server, meaning that you only need to install our client and you are good to go.
We use native code in a couple of small places:-
1. “Advanced” File handling. We need to set a read-only file read-write when it gets checked out and we have to work under a 1.4 version of the JRE. While Java 1.4 it has a nice file.setReadOnly() method, there is not file.setReadOnly(false) or file.setReadWrite() method so we had to write our own. This is the only real bit of functionality that was must-have for our client that required native code.
2. Terminal handling. Calculating the number of columns and rows in a console terminal from within the command line client. Had we not have already developed a JNI library for the read/write issue we probably wouldn’t have added one for this, but it makes the command line client environment a lot nicer.
So you see – including comments and blank lines in the source for our native c code we have less than 300 lines – less than 0.2 % or our code base at the time of writing.
Of course, our Teamprise Explorer Client uses SWT, which has a great deal of native code in it allowing Java applications to write nice looking and performant GUI’s cross-platform. However, the only code we have written falls into one of the two categories above.
Anyway, there is an interesting article over at Apple Developer Connection discussing how to get your JNI to compile as a universal binary. While our JNI code in our Mac version of the Eclipse Plugin and Command Line Client is compiled as a universal binary, we currently do not officially support the Mac on Intel platform as of version 1.0 – this is mainly due to the fact that the SWT code at the time we were developing was in the process of being ported to MacIntel.
Ed, one of my fellow developers here at Teamprise, has a great article on the topic which explains our reasons for not supporting Intel based Macs as of V1.0. It is something that we are working on and won’t be that way for long (in fact, as Ed mentions, if you contact us then we’ll send you an unsupported MacIntel build right now). Personally, I’m looking forward to the day when I can take one machine into a demo and show our client running on Mac OS, Windows and Linux – but we’ll have to wait for better virtualization support for the new intel based Mac’s until that can happen.
Grabbed by the Monads
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If (like me) you are slowly getting hooked on MSH (or Monad), the James Manning’s latest post will interest you – an early implementation of a MSH Provider for Team Foundation Server Version Control allowing you to access the repository as if it were any other mapped drive. Sweet!
TFS MSSCCI Provider Updated
A lot of people were asking about this when I was in DublinBrian Harry has announced the version 1.0 of the TFS MSSCCI provider allowing you to access the power of Team Foundation Server from the following platforms (among others):-
• Visual Studio .NET 2003
• Visual Visual Basic 6 SP6
• Visual C++ 6 SP6
• SQL Server Management Studio
Don’t forget, that you can will need at least Team Explorer installed on your machine and you need to make sure your developers have a Team Foundation Server CAL, but for most folks this will allow them to adopt Team Foundation Server right away, and then can use more and more of the power of Visual Studio Team System as they do more projects in VS 2005. You’ll still need Team Explorer and the Command Line Client (tf.exe) to do more powerful administrative tasks. With this MSSCCI provider and with Teamprise you are now in a much better position for day-to-day development integrated in your IDE with Team Foundation Server than you are with most source control systems (even VSS).
The provider is not officially supported by Microsoft, however they will actively be working on it over the next few months. See Rob’s or Brian’s posts for more information.
What is Teamprise?
If you want to know more about what I’ve been up to lately, then take a look at Ben’s latest post.
Ed is Blogging
Fellow Teamprise developer Ed Thomson has started blogging. As you can tell from the header image in his blog, Ed is our resident Mac lover and his office is festooned with shiney Apple goodies (including one of those fancy new MacIntel machines). He uses Teamprise on Mac full time for development which has helped us catch numerous places where we didn’t look nice when presented on a Mac OS.
Apple Boot Camp
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BootmanagerMy company (Teamprise) develop a plugin for Eclipse to talk to Microsoft Team Foundation Server (TFS). We also have a stand-alone client and a command line client – all of which run on Windows, Mac and Unix. As well as helping to develop and test the product I often go out and demo it to people as it is one of those things that has got to be seen to be believed. It would be really nice to demo all three operating systems from the one machine. While I am still holding out for some virtualization support Apple have just announced a public beta of Boot Camp, their boot manager making it very easy to dual boot XP on a MacIntel machine.
While this is great tactic to encourage switchers from MS platforms into the Mac world, it will also be a boon for multi-platform development shops like my own.
I also find it very interesting that the page announcing this also talks about OS X 10.5 (Leopard) which is rumoured to have virtualization support built in to the operating system meaning you could dual run Mac OS X and Windows XP app without re-booting. Now that I would love to see – either through the operating system direct or via VMWare.
INDA Dublin Talk Slide Deck
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If you came along to my talk last night in Dublin, then thanks for your time. I really enjoyed the chat as folks got stuck in and asked questions rather than just listening to me drone on. It’s also the first time I’ve spoke at an event and then wandered through into the bar to have pints lined up in front of me. Admitidly, they were pints courtesy of the Microsoft tab (thanks Clare) but then conversation after my talk was fantastic – my turn to learn a lot from the assembled crowd.
Anyway, as promised here is my slide deck (as zipped ppt and a zipped pdf). There are a set of links in the slides but the following are things that came up in questions:-
Also – the new version of the MSSCCI provider is due any day now. Keep your eye on Brian Harry’s blog for more information.
Hope folks had as much fun as I did and that there was something in the talk for everyone. I understand a video of the event will shortly be available on the INDA web site.
If you missed the talk then I’ll be giving it again at the following dates / locations:-
I’ll be modifying the talk as I go along so no two will be the same. However you might want to skip watching the video if you are going to come along to my talk as it will spoil some of the jokes :-)
File Attachment: SourceControl101WithTFS_DUBLIN_PPT.zip (2146 KB)
File Attachment: SourceControl101WithTFS_DUBLIN_PDF.zip (7812 KB)
Now playing: Scott Hanselman and Carl Franklin - Microsoft Command Shell (MONAD)
Polishing My Shoes
I am giving a talk tonight. As usual, I'm busy avoiding preparing for it. It is a rare day now-a-days that I put on a shirt and smart trousers but as I'm meeting folks I've never met before in a city I've never been to, I thought I'd better make an effort.
While polishing my shoes this morning it occurred to me that this was probably one of the few things that I do that my father and grandfather would have done in a similar way. Sure, you can get those cream things that paint your shoes black but you cannot beat a good old fashioned bit of spit, brush and polish to make them look nice.
My job is based over the internet (which was largely developed in my lifetime). The food I eat is very different to what my own parents eat and has far too many herbs and bits of "foreign muck" for my grandparents to have considered eating. Most of the clothes I wear are made out of materials recently invented and non of them are made in the country I live. I just drove over a hundred miles in a morning without thinking about it and I am now writing this blog post over wireless internet access from my laptop in my hotel room (that I booked and found directions to using the internet)
Polishing my shoes makes me smile as it is about the only thing I do that my father and grandfather would recognise about my life and it feels good to be doing something the proper old fashioned way.
A typical TFS DeploymentIn some recent forums posts, it has struck me that it is sometimes not clear to people what an install of Microsoft Team Foundation Server looks like. I’m posting a copy of a (very simple) slide I normally use when explaining this to people in the hope that others will find it useful. If you want this as a powerpoint slide or PDF then feel free to get in touch.
Creative Commons License
This blog is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
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By Lina Martinez
Henry Ford made one of the greatest business decisions ever when he instantly doubled his employees wages on January 5th, 1914. All of a sudden the worker making $2.38 for a nine-hour day was making $5. In response to this crazy travesty of raising wages well above what anyone else was willing to pay, the Wall Street Journal said, “To double the minimum wage, without regard to length of service, is to apply Biblical or spiritual principles where they do not belong.”
That Henry Ford was not liked by other captains of industry after this move, would be an understatement.
Ford didn't necessarily raise wages to be a great guy, but because he was a great businessman. Retaining employees in such a monotonous and harsh work environment (there still wasn't vacation time at this time) was next to impossible. It actually ended up being a cost cutting move.
The cost of his automobiles did not go up as a result of this move, but down and he continued to reduce the cost of the Model T to a price point that his now better off employees could afford. In one swift move he created a new consumer class for a product that had once only been for the 1 percenters and cut costs by having a stable and engaged workforce.
So, California is raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Seattle has done it and New York has implemented it for employees of large fast food chains. They haven’t exactly raised it immediately but are phasing it in over time. The cost of a burger will not be doubling in any of these places at any time in the process. In fact, business owners will probably experience the Ford effect and see business increase while costs actually go down.
Let's start with the burger price increase. One horrible assumption that is so often made is that if wages are raised by 50 percent, the cost of the product will also rise by 50 percent. That some owners of businesses have even trumpeted this fallacy, makes you wonder if they understand basic accounting and how they are still in business in the first place.
Prices never rise in tandem with an increase in one portion of the variable cost unless the business needs a new reason to screw its customers. There is an accounting principle called contribution margin that always comes into play. In simple terms, it is the calculation of variable costs to figure out the amount left over to cover fixed costs. It is impacted by price, units sold, etc.
Labor, specifically labor that is part of producing or serving a good, is a variable cost in the price of that good. It is only one cost of many. A hamburger has variable costs in buns, ketchup, lettuce, etc. Labor is usually one of the biggest costs on the income statement, but still only one cost. A 25 percent increase to something that comprises 40 percent of variable costs, only equates to an additional 10 percent the variable costs. If those variable costs are 70 percent of the whole burger, that 25 percent increase means a 7 percent increase in the variable costs.
So under that equation, the price of a cheeseburger would theoretically go up 7 percent. Sure it is still more than inflation, but there is more to the story. Amazingly the cheeseburger didn’t go up 25% in its price, even though the wages did, and those employees can now feed their children. Amazing.
As wages rise, money speeds up (its speed is velocity). The velocity of money increases when those at the bottom of the economic ladder experience wage gains. Because they spend everything they make, low income earners are pure velocity. As their wages increase, they mimic the Ford model in that they can now consume more cheeseburgers. The IMF calculates that every one percent of GDP that shifts to the bottom of the ladder increases 5 year GDP growth by .38 percent. Basically, more cheeseburgers get sold.
It gets even better. As more cheeseburgers get sold, the amount of contribution margin needed to cover fixed costs falls, productivity usually increases and profits go up. That their employees are actually fed, happier and not needing public assistance is a complete bonus for those businesses.
As businesses see more consumer spending, more people are hired and more money flows through the economy, businesses become more efficient and we become more humane in our society.
This article could go on and on about the benefits of a minimum wage increase and bore our readers to tears in the process. We now have several places that have become enlightened enough to start slowly raising the minimum wage and we get to see the process in motion. Some will find a way to spin the data no matter what in their war on America’s most disadvantaged, but it is assured the results will be positive.
Lina Martinez is a contributor to zenruption’s money and life sections. She thought this article should be in politics, but the accounting stuff made everyone else choose money. Most of us don't get the accounting stuff.
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Math Memory Game for Kids
math memory game
Games are a great way to reinforce math skills because kids are getting practice within the
context of something fun. And when kids get to be a part of making the game, well, it's even
more fun. Here's an easy game to make with your child that will help develop skills such as:
ß numeral recognition
ß counting
ß beginning addition facts
ß concentration
Materials Needed:
ß 20 4 x 5 blank index cards or cardstock
ß stickers and/or rubber stamps
ß 10-frames (optional)
math memory game
1. Help your child write the numbers 1 - 10 on the cardstock. Use a colored pencil or
crayon so that the pen does not bleed through to the other side.
2. Have your child use the stickers/rubber stamps to show a representation of each of the
numbers 1 - 10. *
3. Shuffle all cards, turn them blank side up and organize them into a 4 by 5 array. Take
turns turning over two cards and trying to match them. If the cards do not match,
turn them back over and the partner takes a turn. Keep going until all cards have been
matched. The winner is the one with the most matches.
*To help kids be able to quickly recognize a set amount without having to count each object,
use 10-frames and place each sticker/stamp in order from left to right. The 10-frame in the top
photo shows the number '7' -- five dots on the top and two on the bottom. 10-frames are a
great way for kids to learn their beginning addition facts and develop number sense, so critical
for success in mathematics.
Kids Money & Math
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Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) - Can I get Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA)?
Find out more about Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA).
Can I get Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA)?
Contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance.
You can get this for up to six months if you have been working and have paid enough national insurance contributions within the last couple of years. It is paid just for you even if you have a partner.
Contribution-based Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) can be paid with Income-based Jobseekers Allowance if you qualify for both. If you qualify for Universal Credit instead of Income-based JSA, you can get Contribution-based JSA at the same time as Universal Credit.
A new claim for Contribution-based JSA is also known as a new claim for New-style Jobseekers Allowance.
Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance.
Please note that if you try to make a new claim for Income-based Jobseekers Allowance, you could instead be required to claim Universal Credit. If you or your partner are receiving a 'legacy benefit' such as Child Tax Credit or Housing Benefit, you will lose these if you make a claim for Universal Credit.
You can find out whether you can still claim Income-based Jobseekers Allowance by using our Benefits Calculator or by seeking advice. You can find an advice agency in your area by using our Find-an-adviser tool. Read more about Universal Credit. on our website.
You can still get Income-based Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) in one of the following situations:
• You are on Income-based JSA at present, unless you try to claim another legacy benefit or Universal Credit, or
• You are responsible for three or more children, or
• You (or your partner) are getting Contribution-based JSA and your claim for it started before your area became a Universal Credit full digital service area (Get advice first if you think this might apply);
In addition:
• You and (your partner's) income is low enough, and
• You and (your partner's) savings are capital are below £16000, and
• You are available for work and actively seeking work, and
• You are under pension age, and
• You must not be working, or working fewer than 16 hours a week, and
• If you have a partner they must not be working, or working fewer than 24 hours a week.
Updated December 2018
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Expository writing about a person
If the essay is still missing the mark, take another look at the topic sentence. What were the direct and indirect causes of World War II? This is the meat of the essay and should be at least paragraphs long.
The writer organizes the essay by starting with the most general category and then defines and gives examples of each specific classification. If you could live as any one person for a day, who would you choose and why?
While the internet has a huge list of benefits, it has some downsides too. There has been a concentrated campaign in your school to curb bullying. Cause and effect essays explain how things affect each other and depend on each other.
Expound on the idea. October 14, by Kasia Mikoluk Expository writing is a staple of academic writing. College Level Writing Prompts As we move further on the academic ladder, writing prompts require detailed research and a college-level grasp of subject matter.
Tips on Writing an Expository Essay
A good thesis is well defined, with a manageable scope that can be adequately addressed within a five-paragraph essay. If time travel was possible, which year would you go back in time to? Is the word choice precise? A few members of your community have lost their home due to a nearby forest fire.
What are the long-term effects of global warming, especially its estimated impact on coastal cities. Expository writing is also the most frequent type of academic writing!
Revising In the revision phase, students review, modify, and reorganize their work with the goal of making it the best it can be. Definition essays explain the meaning of a word, term, or concept. Structurally, a piece of expository writing has the following components: The concluding paragraph restates the main idea and ties together the major points of essay.
While the campaign has been largely successful within schools, bullying has now reared its ugly head in online communities. The courses also cover how to interpret essay writing prompts in testing situations. For more advanced training on college writing, take this course: What is an Expository Writing?Learn how to write an expository essay with this guide to the different types of exposition.
Find tips and strategies for writing an expository article. How you address the reader depends on the kind of essay you're writing.
How to Write an Expository Essay
Knowing how to write an expository essay is a valuable skill, and you’ll write lots of them in college. It’s easy, but if you need some essay writing help - you can always rely on our service. An expository essay usually builds on the simple 5-paragraph-essay structure.
Expository Paragraphs
The third person point of view (he, she, one) is most commonly used for expository writing, technical writing, and any other sort of writing that has a business-minded or persuasive intention or purpose. Oct 14, · Expository writing is a staple of academic writing.
let’s take a look at some popular, fun and useful expository writing prompts: Secondary School Level Expository Prompts. 1. Who do you admire the most in the world? Why? 2. If you could be any animal for a day, what would you be and why? 3. If you could live as any one person for a day Author: Kasia Mikoluk.
Can't use the first person in expository writing? No one uses second person? Third person is required. steps in the process of writing an Expository Essay.
Step 1. Organizing your Thoughts (Brainstorming) Step 2. Researching your Topic Step 3. Developing a Thesis Statement several symptoms can signal that a person is experiencing depression. Topic sentence 3: A number of treatments are currently available for people who suffer from.
Expository writing about a person
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How seo company gold coast can Save You Time, Stress, and Money.
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Flash ANSi viewer and reflections on Flash speed
Old technology never die, it only gets emulated.
Anyone remember the ANSi format? The ANSi (with a lowercase “i” – ain’t it 1337?) format was used on Bulletin Board Systems (BBS for short) years ago. If BBSs were the world wide web of the 90s, ANSi screens would be the HTML of the 90s. To make a long story short, ANSi screens were a visual format which allowed the user to see a low-resolution graphic in text mode, using a 80 lines/25 column screen and 16 unevenly distributed colors. ANSi screens were the digital graffiti of the past, with its very own culture and community (the “scene”). In a time where internet was still a thing very few people had access to, the ANSi scene was global. Well, before I get too nostalgic and start crying low-res tears, you can find more information on the ANSi format and the underground art scene in this article.
Back to my point: sometime I ago I saw this ANSi viewer by SetPixel built using Shockwave [Director] technology. At the time I wondered if it was possible to build something similar in Flash, and reached the conclusion that before that was even possible, a special font – emulating the DOS characters and corresponding code page – had to be built.
The reason is simple. Setpixel’s solution probably used a graphic character to create the final picture; something I could not accomplish in Flash (with movieclips) because having tons of movieclip instances on the screen (2000 for a small screen) would make it insanely slow. My only choice was using a real textfield and working from that, setting colors and backgrounds.
I couldn’t use a windows font; most of them just barely support some of the classic text mode characters, and when they do, they do it with no regard to the original format of the font. I mean, they don’t have a pixel-by-pixel fidelity. Call me a text mode fidelity maniac. I had to create a DOS emulating font.
So I fired up QuickBasic (!), created a quick program to display all 255 characters directly on screen, and captured the screen using Screen Thief, a classic DOS image grabbing software that has accompanied me for ages (it was mainly created to capture game screens on DOS, but it did capture text screens on graphic format). Zooming on the grabbed image and working on the font software, the Perfect DOS VGA 437 font was born (isn’t that just a bizarre name?). It perfectly emulates the 80/25 text screen used on VGA monitors, encoded using code page 437, for DOS compatibility. It’s a “bitmap” font for Flash (should be used at size 8 for no anti-alias, etc) created to be used on the ANSi viewer.
From that on, building the viewer itself was quite simple. It just reads an .ANS file directly from its location (it’s a viewer, not a converter) as it was a XML file, parses its ANSI control codes (color, position changing) and outputs HTML code. To achieve the desired result – having colored font and backgrounds – two textfields were used: one with the foreground character and color, and one on the background, with a block character using the background color.
The result is a faithful recreation of the way ANSi screens were seen on DOS. Faithful to the fact that gradient characters doesn’t really match when they’re next to each other and the palette colors are uneven. Nice. See this example (small screen), this example (medium screen) or a bit more information.
That brings me to the second point of my post… Flash speed. Yeah.
Some two years ago, I was working on a sound editing (online) application in Flash. It would allow the user to edit several music tracks, turning instruments on or off, and playing them in sequence. It would also allow the user to save the music (send the music via e-mail).
When sending via e-mail, the program would generate a long string containing data for which sound channel: which instruments were on or off, in which position, at which volume and pan settings, and so on. Since the music data wasn’t saved to a server database, all music data was to be transmitted via the URL query strings.
As predicted, the generated string was pretty long, and had to be compressed. Based on the patterns of the generated string, I was able to create a compression scheme that would take standard music sizes (something like 800 characters) and transform that in 100 bytes, using only alphanumeric characters, URL-friendly.
What was funny about this whole process was Flash’s performance. Flash Player version 5 – then standard – would take some 45 seconds to compress a 800-character long string. This in a single loop (through all the string) full of charAt()s and indexOf()s.
Later, the “save/send via e-mail” process was dropped from the application, mainly because the company didn’t want to allocate people to create the sendmail script (!). I didn’t have much time to mess with the data compression algorithm either so I forgot that for a while.
When the Flash player 6 came out I decided to test my compression scheme again. I ran the same test – which took 45 seconds on my test machine – on the new player. The result was something like 1 or 2 seconds. Insanely fast, at least in comparison.
Then it brings me back to my ANSi viewer. While the parsing time is okey for this examples I provide above, it’s important to notice they’re small, ~20 lines examples. Many ANSi screens would take up to 100 or 200 lines on BBS intros, or up to 1000 if you were on crack and feeling like drawing. With a standard 80-line, 35000-byte ANSi screen, render times for this movie increase considerably. The reason is, Flash can’t deal very well with long strings, and this ANSi render process uses very long strings.
As such, even though that’s what I wanted to do, I can’t create a more robust ANSi viewer in Flash, that allows big screens to be scrolled and so on — because it takes forever to render them. I’ve tweaked the rendering process as much as possible (or I like to believe so) and even though I’m happy with the final results, it just displays that Flash is, for now, a toy in which things are nice and easy but not really fast. Not even medium speed.
It’s only natural, then, that I get a bit happy after seeing the few last posts on several Flash-related blogs and news sites: many of them pointed to this post at UltraShock with information gathered from the FlashForward panels regarding the next Flash player speed. Basically, the next player – dubbed Flash X – will perform some 500% faster on a PC, and a bit more on a MAC. They’re mainly array and component measurements, but I guess that’ll also reflect on string management and overall display speed.
Good news. I hope they release that player soon – as rumors go, it’ll be released before Flash MX 2 or Flash 7 or whatever. Hopefully I’ll be able to turn this ANSi viewer into a worthy .ANS displaying solution and even make my pathfinding prototype faster in the process. I’m really curious to see how these two will perform in the new player with no code changes on the scripts themselves.
Oh, and of course: the header on this site is an ANSi logo itself, as is the header on the comments popup.
11 responses
1. Just for the record, the ansi viewer and its code is available at http://www.zeh.com.br.
A quick note, though: that .fla file was made for Flash 6 or something. If you open it on any modern Flash version, it will compile properly but won’t render the ansi screens very well. You need to go to the textfield available on the stage (the one which includes the fonts), click the “Embed…” button on its properties, then select “Basic Latin” and “Latin I” as the character ranges to include.
Originally Flash 6- would include everything, but Flash 7+ grants you more control over the ranges, and unfortunatelly when reading old files, modern Flash versions simply lose that information and stop exporting fonts properly, just picking up the common ones (some letters, some characters).
2. Hi Zeh,
I am one of those ‘gone but not forgotten’ from the bbs scene from back in the early ’90’s…To mention I’m only 29 years old now going on 30 in a couple of months, but anyway, I am really into the ansi art scene, and I absolutely love that ansi viewer that you made using flash, I would appreciate it if you would consider adding a feature to it so you could choose to add as many ans art photos to the viewer as you wanted, this way it could be used like a flash slide show. I am getting much better in my days in creating bbs type art…
You can visit my ‘old school’ bbs at: http://classicgames.servebeer.com
3. Hey Brian,
In fact, I have to totally remake my stuff. With Flash 8’s new bitmap capabilities, the ability to read and show ANSI files is much much better now, and can be done much faster, but it has to be redone.
When I get the time I’ll be sure to create a ansi loading class. But right now I’m pretty busy, so I it’ll take some time…
4. hi i’m very interested in any sort of accelerated ansi viewing that may be possible in flash. I’ve written an app in delphi to convert images over to mono ascii, ‘mirc’ color ascii or ansi, and would like some sort of way to show and/or animate these images…
if anyone would care to see a sample of its output, i have a screen shot posted @ http://img161.imageshack.us/img161/9828/screencap6yodaiz3.jpg
looking forward to whatever you may come up with for flash ansi viewing zeh, if frame rate could be high enough i’d like to try making some sorta wolfenstein 3d game in ansi output 🙂 or maybe a wing commander style game… i’m blockh34d on yahoo/aim if you ever want to chat, or honkykong on efnet … i’ve done a fair bit with a* too, working on image recognition now, its always nice to have people to chat with AI stuff about, maybe cya later.
5. Hi Zeh. Just wanted to thank you for the ANSI example. My partner and I are working on making a flash-based game using ansi/ascii art, and this gave us quite a bit of inspiration. We’re probably going to code our own ansi rendering class/method, and we’ll be sure to post that somewhere.
Also, great work with the pathfind stuff on a different page, even if that was a few years ago. Your work is of masterful quality.
6. Hey Chris —
Nice! I actually have thrown this specific example away — it uses a lot of AS1 hacks — and started a new “TextScreen” class on AS2 (works kinda like BitmapData, but you can set character tables and basically render ANSI screen easily). I haven’t finished it (there’s no ANSI/PCB/BIN parsing methods yet), but I really think it’s a much better approach than the one I’ve taken on this specific example.
It’s very early in development and I won’t have much time to work on it for a while, so if you’re interested, please mail me at zehfernando ([at]) zeh.com.br and I’ll share it with you.
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