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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/41820 | What does the Pied-Piper of R&B like to eat? If you ask R. Kelly, chicken nuggets and portable yogurt.
Vulture got hold of the lauded singer's grocery list and it's as strange as you'd imagine. From Tyson Dinosaur-Shaped Chicken Nuggets to Go-Gurt and Toaster Strudel, Kelly's shopping list reads like a child's lunch menu.
According to the site, the actual handwritten shopping list was "procured by a recent visitor to the R&B singer's home." |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/41844 | Women Destroys Car, Uses Chain-Saw To Cut Dashboard To Save A Trapped Kitten, WATCH
This women heard meowing in her cat. After taking a close look, she discovered a tiny kitten was trapped in her dashboard. She didn’t know what to do, so she posted a petition for help on Facebook!
Moments after posting the petition, friends came to help her, they took the dashboard apart, but then found out the only way was to use a chain saw to cut out some of the parts to get to the cat.
Her cat is now unusable from the damage, but it was worth everything to save this sweet tiny kitten! When humans care more about cats than material possessions, this world becomes a better place, Watch Video:
Some people thought this was a little extreme to save a kitten, but this women wouldn’t have it any other way—SHARE this heartwarming rescue story with your friends and family!
Please leave your comments below: |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/41849 | Science Set Free
A Telepathic Cat
10 Dogmas
by Rupert Sheldrake, PhD
“Contemporary science is based on the philosophy of materialism, which claims that all reality is material or physical. There is no reality but material reality. Consciousness is a by-product of the physical activity of the brain. Matter is unconscious. Evolution is purposeless. God exists only as an idea in human minds, and hence in human heads.
“These beliefs are powerful not because most scientists think about them critically, but because they don’t. The facts of science are real enough, and so are the techniques that scientists use, and so are the technologies based on them. But the belief system that governs conventional scientific thinking is an act of faith, grounded in a nineteenth century ideology.”
Top Ten Ideology
“Here are the ten core beliefs that most scientists take for granted:
1. Everything is essentially mechanical. Dogs, for example, are complex mechanisms, rather than living organisms with goals of their own. Even people are machines, ‘lumbering robots,’ in Richard Dawkins’ vivid phrase, with brains that are like genetically programmed computers.
7. Minds are inside heads and are nothing but the activities of brains. When you look at a tree, the image of the tree you are seeing is not “out there”, where it seems to be, but inside your brain.
9. Unexplained phenomena like telepathy are illusory.
10. Mechanistic medicine is the only kind that really works.
Sheldrake Speaks
“Many scientists are unaware that materialism is an assumption; they simply think of it as science, or the scientific view of reality, or the scientific worldview. They are not actually taught about it, or given a chance to discuss it. They absorb it by a kind of intellectual osmosis.
Blavatsky’s Top 10
“To comprehend the principles of natural law involved in the several phenomena hereinafter described, the reader must keep in mind the fundamental propositions of the Oriental philosophy which we have successively elucidated. Let us recapitulate very briefly:
1st. There is no miracle. Everything that happens is the result of law — eternal, immutable, ever active. There may be laws once ‘known,’ now unknown to science.
2d. Nature is triune: there is a visible, objective nature; an invisible, indwelling, energizing nature, the exact model of the other, and its vital principle; and, above these two, spirit, source of all forces, alone eternal, and indestructible. The lower two constantly change; the higher third does not.
3d. Man is also triune: he has his objective, physical body; his vitalizing astral body (or soul), the real man; and these two are brooded over and illuminated by the third — the sovereign, the immortal spirit. When the real man succeeds in merging himself with the latter, he becomes an immortal entity.
4th. Magic, as a science, is the knowledge of these principles, and of the way by which the omniscience and omnipotence of the spirit and its control over nature’s forces may be acquired by the individual while still in the body. Magic, as an art, is the application of this knowledge in practice.
5th. Arcane knowledge misapplied, is sorcery; beneficently used, true magic or WISDOM.
6th. Mediumship is the opposite of adeptship; the medium is the passive instrument of foreign influences, the adept actively controls himself and all inferior potencies.
7th. All things that ever were, that are, or that will be, having their record upon the astral light, or tablet of the unseen universe, the initiated adept, by using the vision of his own spirit, can know all that has been known or can be known.
8th. Races of men differ in spiritual gifts as in color, stature, or any other external quality; among some peoples seership naturally prevails, among others mediumship. Some are addicted to sorcery, and transmit its secret rules of practice from generation to generation, with a range of psychical phenomena, more or less wide, as the result.
9th. One phase of magical skill is the voluntary and conscious withdrawal of the inner man (astral form) from the outer man (physical body). In the cases of some mediums withdrawal occurs, but it is unconscious and involuntary. With the latter the body is more or less cataleptic at such times; but with the adept the absence of the astral form would not be noticed, for the physical senses are alert, and the individual appears only as though in a fit of abstraction — ‘a brown study,’ as some call it.
10th. The corner-stone of MAGIC is an intimate practical knowledge of magnetism and electricity, their qualities, correlations, and potencies. Especially necessary is a familiarity with their effects in and upon the animal kingdom and man. There are occult properties in many other minerals, equally strange with that in the lodestone, which all practitioners of magic must know, and of which so-called exact science is wholly ignorant.
Scientific Taboos
Psychic Plants
“Plants also have like mystical properties in a most wonderful degree, and the secrets of the herbs of dreams and enchantments are only lost to European science, and useless to say, too, are unknown to it, except in a few marked instances, such as opium and hashish.
“Yet, the psychical effects of even these few upon the human system are regarded as evidences of a temporary mental disorder. The women of Thessaly and Epirus, the female hierophants of the rites of Sabazius, did not carry their secrets away with the downfall of their sanctuaries. They are still preserved, and those who are aware of the nature of Soma, know the properties of other plants as well.”
6 responses to “Science Set Free
1. Pingback: Post-Materialist Science | Circle of Asia
2. Pingback: Toward Post-Materialist Science | Circle of Asia
3. Very good post!!Thank you!
It wil be good to read from Ervin Lazlo: “Science and the Akashic Field: An Integral Theory of Everything”
And for Rupert Shelldrake… He is my hero!!!
4. Thank you for this posting. Well, the contrast between the scientific and the occult ideas are just astounding! And they do not seem so until put together in close proximity here, and remind us of how paltry are the mainstream ideas about life and the mind and nature that we take as truth compared with the Divine Wisdom…our karma, to go back to one Universal Scientific Religion…can’t come about too soon! NAMASTE ALL.
• Shouldn’t be, but hard to convince science that the whole universe is living consciousness from atom to nebula. We may need an ET visit for it to finally happen! 😉 Thanks devisun, Namaste always!!
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/41859 |
Abraham Lincoln…in Spielberg’s perfect light.
The Pros and Cons of Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter
Abe Lincoln has an axe to grind with you!
I am disheartened to report, ladies and gentlemen, that Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (the film based on the Seth Grahame-Smith novel) is a most spurious piece of anti-Vampire-American propaganda that tarnishes their good name and celebrates their horrific and callous mass destruction! The litany of crimes attributed to Vampire-Americans is legion. Would you believe the following?
The reason slavery flourished in the American South? Vampires!
The reason a young Abraham Lincoln got into politics? Vampires!
The main cause of the Civil War? Vampires!
The reason poor Willie Lincoln became ill and died in childhood? Vampires!
The source of Mary Todd Lincoln’s depression and madness? Vampires!
But seriously…to all of those crying foul over this preposterously premised film not containing a single note of humor…well, you obviously missed the joke. I applaud the filmmakers’ absolute conviction in presenting the material dead seriously. Taking a Zombieland approach wouldn’t have worked and would’ve made the film even more painful to sit through.
What are fair game, however, are the film’s obvious flaws such as the clamoring sound design that rendered some dialogue incomprehensible coupled with some of the most hacksawed editing this side of a Michael Bay film where scenes or spoken lines were often cut off mid-thought only to race to another scene before the viewer could even digest what happened. Continue reading |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/41881 | Timberlane Kennels
Local Pet Boarding & Grooming Services
313 Lakewood Road
New Egypt, NJ 08533
Lyme Disease and Other Tick Borne Diseases Part 1
Lyme Disease
Lyme disease is transmitted through a tick bite into the blood stream, once there it travels to locations such as organs and joints. Ticks are likely to be found in tall grass, thick brush, marshes and woods. It takes them being latched on to host for 24-48 hours to transmit the disease. Primary carrier of Lyme disease is the black legged tick AKA deer tick. They aquire the bacteria from an animal who is infected.
• Fever
• Loss of appetite
• Reduced energy
• Lameness/Stiffness
• Swelling of joints
Usually treated with antibiotic for 30 days or more.
Babesia or Babesiosis
It is an illness caused by a protozoa parasite called Basesia, it invades red blood cells and causes anemia. It is found across America, but is primarily found in the south. Multiple tick species carry the disease and transmission may occur through bites or transplacentally.
• Sudden collapse
• Systemic shock
• Hemolytic crisis
• Dark urine
• Fever
• Weakness
• Swollen lymph nodes
• Enlarged spleen
It is treated with a combination of drugs but almost never clears up completely so it is possible for dogs to relapse.
Is a bacterial infection transmitted from the black legged tick aka deer tick. There is also a less severe form called anaplasma platys which is from the brown dog tick. It causes periodic decrease in platelets and many times they may also have another tick borne disease (co-infection) typically it is found with Lyme disease and tested for using Snap4Dx or Accuplex. Treatment is antibotics for 2-4 weeks usually Doxycycline. Once treatment starts dogs usually feel better 24-48 hours.
• Lameness
• Joint Pain
• Fever
• Lethargy
• Anorexia
• vomiting
Symptoms typically show in 7 days. Some dogs show no symptoms at all.
Cats can get this disease too but its not as common.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/41896 | I've set up a private obfs4 Tor bridge following the official tutorial, PublishServerDescriptor set to 0. /var/log/tor/log shows positive entries so it should be configured correctly. The machine is Ubuntu x64.
I can find my fingerprint, hashed one, ip:port but I miss some data to be able to use this bridge with tor browser as it asks for 2 more entries.
Where can I find the "cert" and "iat-mode" entries that any obfs4 bridge on https://bridges.torproject.org has??
I cant find it in the logs and since its a private bridge it wont show up on the lists.
From the obfs4proxy README:
• The autogenerated obfs4 bridge parameters are placed in DataDir/pt_state/obfs4_state.json. To ease deployment, the client side bridge line is written to DataDir/pt_state/obfs4_bridgeline.txt.
So /var/lib/tor/pt_state/obfs4_bridgeline.txt.
Your Answer
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/41902 | <– Back | Index | Next –>
Eva’s eyes snapped open. A little tingle in the back of her mind, subtle but enough to wake her up. She hadn’t actually been sleeping. Not completely. Lying in bed with her eyes closed wasn’t the same thing as total unconsciousness. Sleeping was something she hardly did these days. She kept it up if for no other reason than the boredom of the nights while everyone else was asleep.
A small part of her wondered how the other demons handled it. Catherine probably stayed up all night, either working on her rituals or playing video games—human gamers rarely went to sleep apparently. Even if they did, the internet was a global thing. Somebody around the world would be awake and ready to lose to her.
Saija, and most of the demon students at Brakket, spent most nights in their rooms. Sometimes they would get together and talk in each others’ rooms. Maybe they were becoming friends with one another—though in that demonic sort of way where they didn’t really care about anyone else. Saija, Eva noted, would sometimes spend the night across the hallway. Irene and Shelby’s room. Unless Shelby skipped out and went to a friend’s room, Eva doubted that Saija was doing anything other than sleeping in the unoccupied bed. It still had her wondering about their relationship. Most days when Saija did sleep in their room, Irene wound up looking like she hadn’t slept a wink.
Which, again, was probably because Saija didn’t sleep and instead did something similar to what Arachne was doing right this moment.
Arachne usually slept in the same bed as Eva. Though, like Eva, she didn’t sleep. Unlike Eva, she didn’t close her eyes when she rested. Her eyes were constantly open. They were usually locked onto Eva, but occasionally wandered. Usually if she heard a noise. Anything from the creaks of the building settling to birds chirping outside could draw her attention. Though her focus was almost always back on Eva within seconds.
If Saija acted like that, even from a bed away, Eva could easily understand why Irene might not get much sleep. Eva had once found Arachne’s behavior somewhat creepy. Now it was simply expected. Maybe somewhat endearing as well.
“Something wrong?” Arachne whispered into Eva’s ear.
“The ritual circle. Somebody is there. They tripped a ward.”
“Not someone we know?”
“Could be. Wayne, Ylva, Nel, even Devon should he have caught wind that we were actually building Catherine’s ‘proposed’ project, though I doubt he would head out there. But…” she paused, glancing over to the clock on the end table between her and Shalise’s bed. “At four o’clock?”
Eva sighed. She didn’t want to get out of bed. The earthquakes had finally subsided once the sun set. Until then and for a good time after, she had been out on the ritual circle with the others, helping to keep it intact. To say that her day had been exhausting would be putting it lightly.
In the end, Genoa had come out and helped to harden most of it on Zoe’s request. She couldn’t quite wave a hand and fix everything. Apparently all the designs and lines interfered too much. She didn’t want to destroy their work in a great upheaval. So she went around, slowly transmuting most of the ritual circle into an almost marble-like material. It gave way with the earthquakes but was tough enough to walk on without worry of making odd marks all over the place. While she did so, Juliana and Irene kept the rest of the circle intact.
How happy she was, Eva could hardly say. Genoa hadn’t said more than three words before getting to work. She had looked like she was concentrating so Eva hadn’t wanted to disturb her.
But she had helped out. Her changes weren’t finished, but she got a good quarter of the entire circle transformed.
“We better check it out,” Eva said, swinging her legs over the edge of her bed.
Arachne grumbled as she flopped over, letting a few spare legs from her back that had been wrapped around Eva pick her up, as if she were too lazy to use her regular legs. As she pulled herself to a standing position, Eva took a moment to look over her. Specifically her chest. Her legs had all mostly healed over the last month or so. The smooth black carapace that covered her entire body might look a little thin over her newly formed legs, but they were functional. She hadn’t complained at all about pain or not being able to move them properly.
Though she might not complain at all if only because of her pride.
But her chest wasn’t quite the same. Her insides looked fine. Mostly. Good enough that Eva’s sense of blood could only detect faint scarring over her stomach and a few other organs that had been carved in two. It might look different with her own eyes, but she couldn’t really see with her carapace in the way. And her carapace was what had Eva worried the most. There was a thin almost white line running from between her breasts down to her navel. Right where the sword’s blade had touched her. Eva wasn’t sure why it was more damaged than the rest of her body. Maybe because the plates of chitin that covered the front of her body were more complex, interlocking with each other to allow her the flexibility a predator would need. The thin line on her carapace was discolored and slightly raised like a scar might be.
Given how long it had been, the line might just be a permanent scar on her carapace. Perhaps in a calmer time after they had killed all the hunters and eliminated the threat of Life and its enigmas, they could try tearing away the surrounding carapace and letting it all regrow from scratch. That would probably fix the problem.
Despite her groan as she stood up, Arachne gave Eva a smile. “We waking the mortals?” she asked in a near silent whisper.
Eva turned her head to Shalise and Juliana’s bed. Shalise definitely not. As for Juliana… She would be helpful if this was more than a false alarm; however, her bed was empty. Juliana was out at her family’s home once again. “Shalise would be slow moving, slow to wake, and I’m not sure how helpful she would be in an emergency. We’ve spent enough time just getting out of bed.” Eva started moving towards the door, but Arachne stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.
“She,” Arachne said, pointing a long finger at Juliana’s empty bed, “has Zagan in her head. Call her. If we do run into trouble–”
“Then Zagan’s presence is a great reason for both bringing her along and leaving her behind. Sure, he might help us. But he might hinder us for his own amusement. Juliana already admitted that she doesn’t have full control over his power. He takes it away at will. I doubt that’s all he can do.”
“He should want to preserve the circle as well.”
“Should, no guarantee.”
“You don’t think he is dedicated to Void?”
Eva rolled her neck, letting a few cricks snap themselves out from the stiffness of her half-sleep. With a nod of her head, she gestured towards the door. She waited to speak again until they were halfway down the hall. “I think Zagan is dedicated to himself. And I think he is very bored. Very bored. You have to weigh his boredom against how loyal he is to his creator. This situation with the Powers is probably something that hasn’t ever happened before and hopefully will never happen again. He might find it just interesting enough to sabotage our efforts.”
“He didn’t do anything earlier when the girl was assisting in keeping the circle together.”
“True. But that could have been a whim. Or sabotaging it could be a whim. We couldn’t really help her being there. The circle would have been destroyed from the earthquakes had we not brought Genoa and Juliana in. The best we can do is limit exposure.”
Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Eva turned towards the lobby door and immediately started frowning. Heavy flakes of snow fell out on the other side of the windows, building up a fair amount in front of the door. Opening the door, it was all the way up to her knees. Not only was the snow annoying on its own, but the ward probably had a buildup of snow again. She had added a heating element to clear off the other snow, but it wasn’t a very hot heating element. Just enough to melt the snow with the help of the sun. Here in the cold of night, it probably wouldn’t work half as well.
“Zagan’s presence around the school doesn’t concern you?”
That was actually something that Eva was mildly concerned about. Only mildly, however. She was still relying on the fact that she was one of those new things that Zagan was interested in. A brand new type of demon that he wasn’t interested in messing with.
So she was safe. That didn’t necessarily mean that Arachne or Shalise were safe. But so far, nothing had happened so she wasn’t too worried.
Besides, he had already wandered around the school and taught a class without having Juliana act as a buffer between him and the world. Nothing terrible had happened to the students then.
She shook her head. “Anyway, let’s get moving.” Taking off in a sprint, she headed straight for the school. A quick series of blinks took her to the roof. Because it was snowing, she thought she might be able to see the snow dome out in the Infinite Courtyard—her previous fix to clear away the last dome had been entirely temporary. But she couldn’t see anything but treetops. Which didn’t necessarily mean that there wasn’t a snow dome out there. The way the Infinite Courtyard worked was strange.
She could follow the edge of the Brakket Academy building around the top with her eyes. So long as she started at her feet and looped around, she could see the opposite roof. However, if she started at her feet and tried to look straight out to the opposite roof, all she ended up with was trees. Trees as far as she could see.
It really screwed with Eva’s head. Like one of those optical illusions where the cylindrical trident led into a two-pronged fork.
Shaking her head, Eva continued on her way. From the roof, it was a quick hop down into the Infinite Courtyard. She landed knee-deep in snow. It took up a good amount of willpower to keep from igniting her legs and just melting it all away. Or even melting it in other ways.
Unfortunately, the fact of the matter was that snow made a long path showing exactly where she was going. The previous snowfall, she had taken great pains to avoid leaving a trail. Even then, she wasn’t entirely certain that she had succeeded. Especially once other people started heading over there to work on the circle. They had been far less careful than Eva.
Today, her and Arachne’s footsteps would be the only evidence that either of them were heading out there. And since it was still snowing, their footsteps would fill in and become far less clear. If they were visible at all.
Unfortunately, even running at full speed, it still took several minutes to get out far enough to see the dome.
And there was a dome. Just like last time, one large dome stretched just above the treetops to encompass the entire ritual site. Before even trying to enter it, she blinked around the perimeter. A solid sheet of snow wrapped the entire way around. She wasn’t sure for how long it had been snowing. But it had probably started shortly after she went to bed judging by how deep it was. Which meant that there was probably nobody inside. Not unless they were water mages and had patched up the hole in the snow seamlessly.
Of course, she had only done a quick check. One with poor lighting as well. She could have created a light, but that would have just been a signal to anyone nearby that she was out there.
But the fact that the dome was unbroken was good news. She wasn’t sure how, but someone had probably noticed the dome from afar, got curious, and came to investigate. Nothing malicious. They hadn’t actually made it inside the dome, but her wards extended a short distance outwards from the perimeter. Someone could have simply passed close by. If it was a student, she could scare them away. Professors or other adults would be harder to get rid of. Still possible.
In fact, mundanes from the news organization would probably be the worst people to have around. She didn’t want to scare or even intimidate one of them. Not even incidentally. Word would undoubtedly get out. She might spark riots against demons or Brakket or even the magical world as a whole.
So far things had been peaceful. Peace was much more constructive than chaos at the moment. It let her go about her own projects without needing to worry about anything.
Well, anything save for whatever tripped her detection wards.
She finished her circuit around the dome and blinked back to where Arachne was coming up. Her legs were strong. They let her move much faster than anything her size had a right to move. However, they were still slower than chained blinking. She might have been able to keep up in an open field, but the dense woods kept Arachne from sprinting in a straight line. Eva managed to get all the way around before Arachne actually made it to the ritual circle.
“See anything?”
Eva shook her head. “Nope. Didn’t sense anyone on the inside with my blood sense either. Could be they ran away. A student might have seen it, got scared of something or other—maybe just some noises out in the woods—and took off.”
Yawning, she glanced back to the dome. Despite the early hours, she should probably melt away the snow. If only to prevent same thing from happening once dawn hit. Also to make it more difficult to find again. The giant snow dome was stupidly obvious from anywhere nearby.
She turned towards it, raising her hand to melt herself a little doorway.
Only to spin straight around and fire off a wave of fire into the woods behind her. The brilliant yellow flames licked around a tree, turning its bark into charred carbon and completely missing Eva’s target.
“Arachne!” she shouted out as she dove to one side, missing a silver icicle by a hair’s length—and her hair still wasn’t all that long at the moment. The deep snow cushioned her fall for only a second before it turned into sharp icy needles. The trees and stars above her started to vanish from her sight as a sarcophagus of ice formed around her. Curling her fist, she shattered the still thin ice with her bare hands. A blink upwards and over got her out of the frozen trap.
Arachne was moving even before her shout, performing something resembling a back flip through the air while expanding her body into its full form. She landed on all eight legs. Towering over the snow, she started charging towards where the icicle had come from.
Eva blinked on top of her bulbous behind just in time to knock away another icicle. One that had been coming from a straight right angle from where Arachne was running. Sharp needle-like legs tapped into tree after tree as Arachne turned, using the trees like an inclined curve in a roadway. Each one exploded in a flurry of bark and wood from the force of her impacts.
“There,” Eva said, pointing slightly off to one side. As she did so, a ball of fire started growing at the tip of her finger. After Arachne took three more steps, it was built up enough to be the size of a small volleyball. And it was far too unstable to hold on to.
Rather than launch it forwards, she swung her arm and fired it behind them, catching a woman with an eye implanted in her chest by surprise. Eva didn’t immediately recognize the nun so she probably wasn’t friendly.
The fireball struck the nun’s shimmering shield and immediately detonated. The shield cracked but didn’t shatter. Despite that, the nun still stumbled backwards, tripping over her own two feet in an effort to get away.
Oddly enough, she wasn’t wearing the habit typical of the Elysium Order. From the brief glance Eva had from the light of the exploding fireball, the nun looked like she was wearing jeans and a heavy coat.
So not Elysium Order then. Not unless Ylva had taken away the Elysium Order’s habits. But jeans weren’t really her style. If she were in charge of their outfitting, it probably would have been long robes similar to Nel’s. Another rogue nun then? Chris had mentioned a few names that Eva hadn’t recognized. Perhaps this was one of them.
Maybe, if she captured the nun and air mailed her to the Elysium Order, she could get a little heat off her back. Though Ylva was supposedly handling that. Best to have a backup plan in any case.
A consideration for later.
Eva gripped down on Arachne’s shoulders as she twisted around to avoid another ball of ice. She barely caught a glimpse of its spiky shape before it whizzed over her shoulder. A half second later, her back erupted in a burst of pain as the ball exploded.
“I’m fine,” she said through clenched teeth. “She’s straight to the right. Into the forest. It’s that other hunter, she keeps running away when you get close. Like the other armored hunter, she isn’t teleporting, just sprinting.”
“Call in help.”
Eva blinked, not quite sure that she had heard Arachne correctly. Yet she didn’t argue. Trusting Arachne to dodge enough of their enemy’s fire, she whipped out her cellphone and sent out a group text to Juliana, Genoa, Zoe, and Catherine. Just a short message saying that a demon hunter and a nun were at the ritual circle. She didn’t have enough time for anything else.
Slipping her phone back into her jacket pocket, Eva narrowed her eyes as she glanced into the darkness.
A single glowing red eye stared back.
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About TowerCurator
Author of Vacant Throne and Void Domain View all posts by TowerCurator
3 responses to “010.013
• BartHumphries
without worry for making odd marks
change “for” to “of”
The thin line was carapace, discolored and slightly raised like a scar might be.
Remove “carapace”? I’m not sure if you meant to say something else.
• x
Lying in bed with her eyes closed wasn’t the same thing as total unconsciousness. The latter was something she hardly did these days. Something she kept up if for no other reason
It seems “something” is meant to refer to “lying in bed”, but syntactically it’s not obvious it’s that and not the preceding “the latter”.
Most days where Saija did sleep in their room,
days when
She would be helpful if this was more than a false alarm, however her bed was empty
alarm; however, her
a great reason for both brining her along and
she swung her arm fired it behind them
+and fired
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/41908 | Views: 4709 (Data available since 06.02.2017)
The Currency module manages all currencies that your system use (or can use). The module functions are the following:
• currency management;
• maintaining price display formats for each currency;
• currency rate storage (including downloading rates from the Internet).
Important! The Currency module is required by the Commercial Catalog and e-Store modules.
The on-line store on your site may happen to sell foreign goods. As a rule, the price for such items is calculated using the purchasing price. The latter is usually set in a foreign currency. However, the legislation requires that calculations of all trading operations be accomplished in the home state currency. The Currency module is used to simplify operations with such items and their prices.
Prices can be specified and displayed in any of currencies available in the system. However, payment documents (receipts etc.) will have all values specified in the base system currency at the current rate.
Courses developed by «Bitrix», Inc. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/41912 | IS GLOBAL WARMING A SCAM? – David Icke | London Real
Can I ask you about climate change, yeah and your read on that Big debate right now global warming human-made. How do you see what’s actually happening here? scam I’ve mentioned earlier an organization called the Club of Rome Club of Rome was started in 1968 and it’s part of a network of organizations in […] |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/41930 | Nothing Dies – Part 2 – m
Torn between time and timelessness, I move in and out of dreams. Everything connects. A soft gray texture suffuses my inner vision. Conscious awareness asserts itself. It penetrates like a torch in a cave.
I comprehend this nebulous space by forming metaphors. A palpable emptiness engulfs the mind. It is as if layers of thought, anxiety, impulse, sensation and emotion are becoming more tenuous and transparent. They drop away and disappear as I dive more deeply within the softening darkness. I am suspended. I contact an inner sense of self – a place of peace.
Much later now, I can sense the brilliant warmth of the morning sun. I strain toward the light but I cannot open my eyes. I fear I will never again be able to awaken. I am lost in some ambiguous space. It hardens in response to my struggle to evade it. Succumbing softens it. I drift inward, toward the ether of dreams.
I hear my voice – “It felt like the last time we would ever talk. I hung up the phone, reached for the book and wrapped it in brown paper. I sent him my copy of “The Book of the Dead.” Then he died.
The bones of my skull seem to slide beneath the skin of my cheek. Fluid pressure pulses behind my eyelids. I can’t keep my mind focused. Consciousness ebbs and flows.
I recognize this as a state between living and dying. But that knowledge disappears as soon as thought takes form. My senses move back and forth like foam on the shoreline. Waves of awareness form a momentary frontal boundary. I cling for a while to the edge of specific thoughts or sensations only to be pulled back through the turbid tide.
Layers of quiet thought, like the enfolding petals of a dark flower, encircle and close one at a time around my conscious mind. I sense an opening, a deep tunnel turning downward. My awareness drifts there as if riding a descending wind.
Faster now, down through a shimmering well of images, I pass successive stages of awareness. I hear my mantra echoing through the chamber. It is soon replaced by the ancient Vedic vibration I recite silently and subconsciously.
I pass the brilliant floral gardens, smooth cobblestone steps and forest paths conjured up while moving through realms of imagination and self-guided visualization. The sound of heartbeats merges with rushing air in a synchronized choreography of blood and breath. I come ever closer to what I comprehend as the center – the space of non-duality and pure awareness.
Silence and emptiness devoid of attributes – devoid even of the attribute of emptiness. There is no thing. It is not opaque, not black. It is not transparent, not white. It is not experienced, it simply…is…and is not.
Unbounded thought expands and generates resonant frequencies. Ethereal reverberations multiply. Layers of vibration create being, harmony, tranquility, and illumination.
Energy increases at the boundaries of infinite and infinitesimal, forming rudimentary matter. A cosmic alphabet of elementary particles, thin plumes of hydrogen, specks of cosmic flotsam organize themselves into larger and larger phenomena along multi-dimensional paths and tidal lines of gravitational tension.
Eons pass. Stellar pyres and their aggregations of orbs spin seas of planetary protein into primeval life. Trees fall in forests. Sounds are heard. Countless births and deaths give rise to increasing instability, improbability, and complexity.
New minds form, minds adrift within the vast ocean of consciousness. Awareness expands to experience the overwhelming pulsations of the surrounding space as living heartbeats.
An angelic human, speaking about a secret language of signs, stops in mid-sentence and smiles at me. We have nothing to say.
In this moment, there are no distinctions between myself and my experience. The only identity I feel is the universe itself beating like a dark star-studded heart in an infinite empty void. And the pulsations I feel are those of my own heart beating. And I am born. I am a child again. I live a billion lives. I die a billion deaths. There is nothing but this moment. There is one consciousness we share. Its nature is our desire.
I know this now. And because you are here with me…you know it too.
I am going back…back inside…back to my body…back to life.
I am born to a new universe.
Insubstantial as an apparition, I arise from a deep sleep. Gazing downward, I glimpse my body. It is not breathing. I am aware of my incorporeal existence but unaware of what awaits me. I decide to allow this dream to unfold without intervention and to simply observe events as they occur.
1 Comment
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One response to “Nothing Dies – Part 2 – m
1. Expandera
i don’t understand but i am a poetry and word fanatic. This is an intense piece of abstract perception. The facade is complex yet i can relate in fragments. Much appreciation for this,
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/41941 | Mandi Rose Twisted Sister Fiction
FICTION – Innocent *Trigger Warning*
*Trigger Warning*
Twisted Sister here — Sometimes the monsters are real, and crappy things happen to good people. Here’s a story about one of them.
Photo credit - Kyle Hemmings
Photo credit – Kyle Hemmings
Tonight is a beautiful night with a slight chill in the air.
I’ve just finished painting my toenails. As they dry, I have a vision of red. I wonder: is it blood or madness? Maybe both. Right now I have the chills. What could it be? What does it mean?
She made me bleed. What happened? That I’m unsure of; my mind is a landmine of memories. All memories of her hurt so bad! I need peace. I need to find some way to get over being this scared little girl. She’s put me through so much.
Sharon is my older sister. She’s naturally a brunette, but dyes her hair to whatever. She has a face full of freckles, and is taller than me. She’s also not on the light side, to put it nicely. She used to be real thin with huge tits. Now she’s very fat with huge tits. Unfortunately, I look like her. All but the fat part. There’s no mistaking we’re sisters, sad to say.
I got it! I know now. I remember Sharon hit me so hard, so many times in my rib cage, I spat up blood for almost a week. I was so scared of her, I never told anyone. I still went to school and Mom never knew a thing. That wasn’t the first time Sharon physically abused me.
Back when I was seven years old, she forced me to do things to her. These very bad things, I knew were wrong. First she’d say, “Do me a favor?’’ When I’d say no, she’d say, “Then I’ll tell Mom what you did.’’ Sharon would smile. “Then you’ll be in trouble.’’ Like all kids, I was afraid of getting into trouble.
Out of pure fear, I reluctantly did what she demanded. As time went on, she’d go into these fits of rage and beat the shit out of me. She would! You’d think she was some crazy monster or something.
After a while of her beating me, my body stopped bruising so easily. She bruised even with the slightest touch. Then she’d say I hit her. The size difference between us was too insane. No one should’ve believed that nut job was beaten up by little me!
One night, though, I started planning ways to end it all. I didn’t care if I ended my life or hers. I just wanted it all to stop. I needed it to stop!
I almost never slept. So, in the middle of the night, I tried to plot my escape from this crazy bitch. I tried downing pills or cutting my throat wide open. Then, I thought: That should be her. It should be her life that is cut short!
That night was a clear winter wonderland. It had just finished snowing. The ground looked so clean, so fresh. No one had walked on it yet. It was just after 3am, and I was still awake.
I listened to all the night sounds in my house: my parents snoring in the next room, my middle sister just beyond them, and then, all the way down the hall, Evil sleeping . . .
And, I thought to myself, that fucking bitch will get what’s coming to her!
One night I remember my dad ramming a huge kitchen knife into Big Sis’s headboard. He’d wanted to borrow $20, but she was being her usual bitchy self. She wouldn’t give it to him. And the numbers he wanted to play would have made him a lot of money.
Still, what a great idea he’d had! It was there for the taking, and boy did I!
This night, I walked into the kitchen and quietly took out the sharpest and biggest knife Mom owned.
Sharon’s room was right off the kitchen. Just a couple of steps, and I was there. I should’ve been shaking more than after any beating I ever endured from her. At least, that’s what you’d think when you plan to kill your abuser. I only thought: Jail would be so much easier to face than her kind of torture.
In her mirror, I glimpsed myself. And, even in the partial light from the other room, I noticed my eyes. Before tonight I hadn’t seen it. My innocence had been stolen by my own sister. She’d killed me each time, every time!
I was so damned young! No child deserves to go through this pain. Tonight I took a stand for all children.
I tiptoed toward her bed. I couldn’t help but watch her breathe. She was a sound sleeper. I watched, as her chest caved in and out. I looked into that fucking freckled face of hers. I knew she never thought of what she did to me. I knew she didn’t think of all the pain she caused me. And I knew she’d never care if I told her she’d stolen my innocence.
That’s when I raised the knife. I held it with both hands to keep steady and not miss my mark. In my mind, I saw it even before it was done.
First, I stabbed her in the heart one . . . two . . . seven, eight times! Then I dragged the knife up to her throat. I tried to cut her head completely off. I needed to know she was dead and would never hurt me again! I needed that, but couldn’t quite get her fat head off that massive body. I never made a sound. She didn’t, either.
Just as well let ignorance sleep all cozy tonight.
Until daybreak, I stayed in her room, holding that bloody knife. I wanted to confess my sins to Mom.
Then I realized: I didn’t have any sins to confess! I’d made the world safe from one evil piece of shit. If not for the greater good, than at least for my world, my good!
And that’s enough, isn’t it? I felt like Dorothy from that movie. I wanted to shout, “Ding dong, the witch is dead!”
And dead she is!
This reprint of INNOCENT by Mandi Rose, was originally published on Yellow Mama, be sure to drop by and check them out. Cindy Rosmus is a cool kind of gal.
Another Jersey girl, Mandi Rose is a single mother mom who does good things for lots of people, and has a soft spot for kids. Her work has appeared in Yellow Mama and around Twisted Sister. Mandi lives to write and have her voice heard.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/41952 | B-1 cells reside predominantly within the coelomic cavities, tonsils, Peyer's patches, spleen (a minor fraction – ∼5%) and are absent in the lymph nodes. They are the primary sources of natural IgM in the body. B-1 cells express polyreactive B cell receptors (BCRs) that cross react with self-antigens and are thus implicated in auto-immune disorders. Previously, we reported that peritoneal B-1 cells are deficient in CD19-mediated intracellular signals leading to Ca2+ mobilization. Here, we find that splenic B-1 cells, like peritoneal B-1 cells, are defective in Ca2+ release upon B cell activation by co-cross-linking BCR and CD19. In the absence of extracellular sources of Ca2+, intracellular Ca2+ flux is similar between B-1 and B-2 cells. Moreover, the intracellular component of Ca2+ release in both subsets of B cells is mostly PI3K dependent. BCR and CD19 co-cross-linking activates Akt, a key mediator of survival and proliferation signals downstream of PI3K in splenic B-2 cells. Splenic B-1 cells, on the other hand, do not phosphorylate Akt (S473) upon similar treatment. Furthermore, BCR + CD19 cross-linking induced phosphorylation of JNK is much reduced in splenic B-1 cells. In contrast, B-1 cells exhibited increased levels of constitutively active pLyn which appears to have an inhibitory role. The CD19 induced Ca2+ response and BCR induced proliferation response were restored by a partial inhibition of pLyn with Src kinase specific inhibitors. These findings suggest a defect in CD19-mediated signals in both peritoneal and splenic B-1 B lymphocytes, which is in part, due to higher levels of constitutively active Lyn.
Document Type
Publication Date
Notes/Citation Information
Published in Molecular Immunology, v. 46, issue 13, p. 2655-2665.
Copyright © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/41953 | 4 thoughts on “Bedwell Trail Hike”
1. Rob, are you gonna be able to get your walker down that trail? Call me if you need help.
The Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator
“Timothy C. Winegard
A pioneering and groundbreaking work of narrative nonfiction that offers a dramatic new perspective on the history of humankind, showing how through millennia, the mosquito has been the single most powerful force in determining humanity’s fate
Why was gin and tonic the cocktail of choice for British colonists in India and Africa? What does Starbucks have to thank for its global domination? What has protected the lives of popes for millennia? Why did Scotland surrender its sovereignty to England? What was George Washington’s secret weapon during the American Revolution?
The answer to all these questions, and many more, is the mosquito.
Across our planet since the dawn of humankind, this nefarious pest, roughly the size and weight of a grape seed, has been at the frontlines of history as the grim reaper, the harvester of human populations, and the ultimate agent of historical change. As the mosquito transformed the landscapes of civilization, humans were unwittingly required to respond to its piercing impact and universal projection of power.”
Audio version too.
1. Thanks. Sounds like an interesting book. Will add to my queue.
Just finished hiking the Cape Scott trail. We got lucky with no rain and no mosquitoes. Will post some pictures soon.
Young’uns were passing us but I don’t care.
1. Young’uns, ya a few, but you’re probably more fit than 80% of under 40’s, plus you don’t need 3 Red bulls to get motivated.
I kinda feel sorry for all these young, depressed, anxious, obese people. More every generation. They never had a chance. Even their distribution of body fat is different than older generations with the same BMI – you can even see it when looking at them. Industrial system has changed our genes. Every other day is a new study demonstrating a link to poor health/obesity by a chemical in food, water, clothing, cookware, in the womb, etc. What an insane experiment.
Prenatal pesticide exposure linked to changes in teen’s brain activity
“Organophosphates are among the most commonly used classes of pesticides in the United States, despite mounting evidence linking prenatal exposure to the chemicals to poorer cognition and behavior problems in children.
A new study led by University of California, Berkeley, researchers is one of the first to use advanced brain imaging to reveal how exposure to these chemicals in the womb changes brain activity.”
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/41968 | cross my heart
friends only
This journal is now friends only, which means if you want to read my entries, add me and let me know and i'll add you back. ♥ Don't just add me and not tell me. If you do that I will remove you from my friends list. I want to know who is adding me. If you want to be added as my friend, it means you will comment on my entries often, so please don't just add me to make your friends list bigger!
When you comment tell me your name, age, and how you found my journal so I can know a little about you :).
All the graphics in this journal are made by me, so please do not take them without my permission. If you like what you see, go to my graphics journal dazzling__x3 and add me.
And don't forget to join flavor_graphics, my graphics community. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/41969 | Cargo-app crate and screen recording permission in macOS
I often find myself emailing myself screenshots of random memes or other things on the web. :wink:
I figured I might as well make a small rust app on macos with the cargo-app crate ( However, when I run the program to take a screenshot, my computer will ask: "Screenshot tool would like to record this computer's screen. Grant access to this application in Security and Privacy settings." So naturally, I go to the security panel in settings, and check the box for allowing screen recording under the name of my application. But when I go to run the program again, the same message is displayed and I can't take a screenshot. Is this a problem with how I am using cargo-app or the gtk-rs crate for the gui? Or is there perhapse a field missing in the toml for []?
here is my code for the app:
mod r;
fn main() {
let application = Application::new(
).expect("failed to initialize GTK application");
application.connect_activate(|app| {
let window = ApplicationWindow::new(app);
window.set_title("Screenshot tool");
window.set_default_size(350, 70);
let button = Button::new_with_label("Click me!");
button.connect_clicked(|_| {
r::sendmail("screenshot taken");
here is the file (excluding the code that doesn't need to be known for this question):
pub fn screenshot() {
//stuff to take screenshot
pub fn sendmail() {
//stuff to send mail
and here is the toml:
out = ""
bin = "/Users/xxxxxxx/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/Rust_projects /screenshottool/target/debug/screenshottoo,"
display_name = "antivirus"
icon = "icon.icns"
version = "0.8.0"
features = ["v3_16"]
version = "0.8.0"
features = ["v2_44"] |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/41991 | Tip 1581 Printable Monobook Previous Next
created 2008 · complexity basic · author Metacosm · version 7.0
To be rewarded by the power of Vim, you will need to learn to properly drive it. Following are some simple tutorial guides for getting started. Please ignore anyone who provides advice on how to configure Vim to operate like Notepad!
Vim tutorEdit
Vim ships with its own tutorial. We highly recommended it! Follow the steps at :help tutor. If you're in a hurry, you can probably get by with some basic commands, but you should definitely do the tutorial when you have about a half hour you can devote to it. Time spent will more than make up for itself with the productivity increase it will give you.
If you need more guided tutorials after completing the built-in one, there are Vim tutorials created by other users that you may want to try.
Launching VimEdit
In order to launch Vim, open a terminal, and type the command vim. You can also open a file by specifying a name: vim foo.txt. If foo.txt exists, it will be edited. Otherwise it will be created.
Inserting textEdit
By default, when Vim starts, you cannot simply type to enter text because Vim starts in normal mode (sometimes called command mode). While confusing for new users, normal mode provides the power of Vim because typing a few keys can perform many useful functions.
In normal mode, you can enter commands, for example, to copy, delete or indent text. You return to normal mode from other modes by pressing the Esc key.
You can enter insert mode from normal mode by pressing the i key. Now, text you type will be inserted.
You can enter visual mode from normal mode by pressing the v key. That starts a visual selection.
There are several more ways to enter insert mode, depending on where you want to insert the text:
• i insert at current location
• a insert after current location (append)
• I insert AT START of current line
• A insert AFTER END of current line
• o insert line below current line (open)
• O insert line ABOVE current line
• s delete character under cursor and start inserting in its place (substitute text)
• S delete all text on line and start inserting in its place (substitute line)
• cw delete to the end of current word and start inserting in its place (any movement command can be substituted for w)
• cc same as S (change line)
• C delete from the cursor to the end of line and start inserting at the cursor position
For example, starting in normal mode, if you press A then type "hello" and press Esc, you will append "hello" to the end of the current line. If you move to another line and press . you will append "hello" to that line as well (. repeats the last operation). If you had used I (instead of A), the "hello" would have been inserted at the start of the line, and pressing . would repeat that operation.
Saving and quittingEdit
Save the current file by entering :w (which always writes the file even if it has not changed), or :update (which only writes the file if it has changed). That is, press Esc to enter normal mode if necessary, then press the : key, then the w key, then press Enter. If Vim indicates a problem (for example, the file was flagged as read-only in Vim, or the file has been modified by another program since you began editing), you can use :w! to force Vim to write the file anyway.
If you are not editing an existing file (for example if you launched Vim with no arguments), you will need to provide a file name when you save. You can do this with :w filename or :saveas filename, for example, :w myfile.txt.
After saving your changes, you can quit Vim with :q. Or the saving and quitting can be combined into one operation with :wq or :x.
If you want to discard any changes, enter :q! to quit Vim without saving.
It is possible to have more than one file open in Vim, and there are commands for saving or quitting when working with multiple files (see :help window-exit):
:wa write all changed files (save all changes)
:xa exit all (save all changes and close Vim)
:qa quit all (close Vim, but not if there are unsaved changes)
:qa! quit all (close Vim without saving—discard any changes)
The word "file" was used above, although the correct term is "buffer". A buffer is an area used by Vim to store a collection of text. Usually, a buffer has an associated file: to start, a buffer is filled by reading its file, and the buffer can be saved by writing to its file. A file is read into a buffer when you start Vim with a file name argument (for example, vim myfile.txt), or when you issue the :e filename (edit) command within Vim.
However, it is easy to have buffers that are not associated with a file. Examples are starting Vim with no argument (which gives an empty buffer with no file name), or entering :new to create a new buffer within Vim.
Movement and moreEdit
• Hands on the home row asdf hjkl.
• hjkl move in normal mode: h is left and moves left; l is right and moves right; j looks like a down arrow and moves down; k moves up.
• w moves one word forward; 3w moves three words forward; b moves one word backward; 3b moves three words backwards.
• gg moves to first line, G moves to last line, 123G moves to line number 123.
• More moving: 8k moves eight lines up, 5j moves five lines down, 4l moves four characters right, 23h moves 23 characters left.
• : opens command line to enter "ex" commands :help ex-cmd-index
• ! after an ex command ignores warnings from many commands, or changes the behavior subtly for others.
• Objects and actions: at beginning of word: d2w (action)(times)(object) (delete)(2)(words forward) this deletes including the trailing space; use de to delete to end of word (leaving the trailing space).
• d2b (delete)(2)(words backward).
• hjkl are also objects! example: d3l (delete)(3)(left), for hl we count individual characters, not words, for jk we count individual lines, d3k delete 4 lines up (3 plus current).
• cw (change)(word), c3w (change)(3)(words). "Change" means delete the current text and enter insert mode in its place.
• cb (change)(word backward), c3b (change)(3)(words backwards).
• Why c and d? Use cw to delete word and enter insert mode (so you can type a new word finishing with Esc). Use dw to delete word, staying in normal mode.
• Use u to undo and Ctrl-r to redo, multiple times.
• Autocompletion: "whatchamacallit" need to type it again? Type wh then press Ctrl-p to find the previous word that starts with "wh". Ctrl-p and Ctrl-n cycle through matches in previous and next order.
• Visual mode: v3w (visual select)(3)(words); change selection with b and hjkl*.
• After selecting: y will "yank" (copy); p will "put" (paste) at a new location (after the cursor; use P for before the cursor). Use y in visual mode and p in normal mode.
• Convenience commands: dd delete current line; yy yank current line.
• Searching: /regularexpression to search forward, ?regularexpression search backward; press n for next hit, or N for previous.
• As before we can combine objects for more: y/) will yank everything to NEXT parens (or whatever you search for) while y?) will yank everything up to the PREVIOUS parens.
Find and tillEdit
It's rewarding to become familiar with the 'find' and 'till' commands.
• Jump to a character in the same line: fx to find the next 'x' in the line, and Fx to find the previous one.
• 'Till' is similar: tC to jump till just before the next 'C' in the line, and TC to jump till just after the previous one.
• Use , and ; to jump to the previous and next occurrence of the character found with t, T, f, or F.
In the above, x is any character, including Tab (press f then Tab to jump to the next Tab on the current line).
Magic happens when you combine the motions find and till with operators:
• ctx change all text till the next 'x' (x is any character; x is not changed).
• cfx same, but include the 'x'.
You are now in insert mode. Type the replacement text, then press Esc.
• dtx delete all text till the next 'x'.
• dfx same, but include the 'x'.
• Want to do it again? Save a keystroke with d; or save two with . (see repeat).
Example: You are at the start of a line:
This is an example (and here is more) and so on (on one line).
Type dt( to delete from the cursor till '(', with result:
Type . to repeat, with result:
(on one line).
See alsoEdit
Even though the above does not allude to it, Vim does support mouse clicks, arrow keys, and even menus — as a kind of afterthoughts, not part of Vim's "basic" command set. — Tonymec 07:28, 25 May 2009 (UTC)
• Mention other modes (command-line, select, replace, blockwise/linewise visual)? This may be too much info, but maybe at least command-line mode.
• "Using the mouse" section. Here's where select mode is probably most useful. Also mention menus. Be sure to emphasize non-mouse stuff though.
• Maybe a section about how to open split-windows, just above #Saving and quitting which says how to close them?
I think that the proposed section about opening split windows is probably too much info for this tip, we should link elsewhere. Same goes for multiple buffers. Probably we need a "see also" section with sub-sections on editing multiple files, etc. The same might be applicable to the "other modes" info. Probably we need a new tip about all Vim's various modes, if we don't have one already. Or just a :help link if there is a suitable place to see info about all the different modes. --Fritzophrenic 14:35, August 19, 2010 (UTC) |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42002 | Tag Archives: orbs
B is for Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery
We cover some of the MANY paranormal tales associated with Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery.
…but the YouTube Gods were not on our side, so we pick it up after getting cut off here.
Taking a Look at Some Paranormal Photos
Coming to you from Culver City, overlooking Culver Studios and the Culver Hotel, I take some time to analyze some possibly paranormal photos! If you have some of your own to share, please send them over to me! |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42004 | # How to chain metaInfo which are depending on each other
Since v2.1 you can add a callback attribute to your metaInfo properties which you can use to chain loading.
If you e.g. need to load an external script before you can implement functionality based on that external script, you can use the callback and skip attributes to implement chaining of those scripts. See the API entry of the callback attribute for an example
The callback / onload event is supported on link, style and script metaInfo properties |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42007 | High Street Bala Gwynedd Wales
Click for more information
The statue of Thomas Edward Ellis MP (1859-1899) is found in the High Street, Bala, Gwynedd, Wales. Thomas Edward Ellis was born at Cefnddwysarn near Bala and attended Bala Grammar School. He attended the University of Wales, Aberystwyth from 1875 to 1879, then went to New College, Oxford, graduating in history in 1884. Two years after graduation, he was elected to Westminster as Liberal MP for Merionethshire, rapidly becoming a renowned advocate of Welsh home rule. In a speech in Bala in 1890 T. E. Ellis, as he was known, called for a legislative assembly for Wales. He became the leader of the Cymru Fydd movement which sought to gain home rule for Wales.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42023 | Feel Stuck? You’re Not, Really.
Here's Why Your Problems Keep You in a Corner
Problems never just go away or take care of themselves. The Lord will patiently wait and permit the circumstances to compel us to do what we should have done at the beginning.
Why Your Burdens Seem so Heavy
(Photo by Photodune)
Remember Jacob? Before his sons could purchase any more grain for the famine, he was required to bring the very person Jacob had refused to release into God’s control—his youngest son, Benjamin. In Jacob’s own words, “My son shall not go down with you” (Gen. 42:38).
However, like straws loaded on a camel’s back, day after parched day of the famine finally took their toll. It’s the same with us.
But the weight on our shoulders isn’t ours to bear.
Our problems keep us in a corner until we turn to God.
The Corner Has a Corner to Turn
“If it must be so,” Jacob conceded, “take your brother also, and arise, return to the man” (Gen. 43:11-13).
Yes, Jacob, it must be so. It always will. The circumstances kept Jacob in a corner until they forced him to do what he had refused to do otherwise: trust God with his sons.
Judah reminded Jacob that they could have gone to Egypt and returned twice in the time it was taking Jacob to surrender Benjamin. Two round trips from Hebron to Egypt amounted to about 1,000 miles—or seven weeks hard travel. Jacob wasted seven weeks in a corner, only to find himself facing the same issue as he faced in the beginning.
From the example of Jacob let us learn patient endurance, should the Lord often compel us, by pressure of circumstances, to do many things contrary to the inclination of our own minds. —John Calvin
Your Problems Keep You in a Corner
(Photo courtesy of Unsplash)
Why Your Problems Keep You in a Corner
Problems don’t just go away. They keep us in a corner so that we will turn to God. The result? We discover God is trustworthy.
We should hold nothing as dear to us as trust in God—not money, not a position, not even a child. Ultimately, comfort cannot come from a hope that God will protect us from pain.
Our comfort can only come from trusting that God remains in complete control for His good purposes—even in what seems the worst of circumstances.
Tell me what you think: What have you learned in those times you were stuck in the corner? To leave a comment, just click here.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42050 | Difference between revisions of "JsWidget"
From Creative Commons
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Creative Commons currently provides two methods for integrating license selection into applications: the [[Partner Interface]] and the [[Creative Commons Web Services|web service API]]. The CC Javascript Widget will provide an additional, lightweight method for integrating license selection into web applications. When complete the widget will be used in [[WpLicense]] as well.
#REDIRECT [[LicenseChooser.js]]
'''The JsWidget is nearly ready! Please try the [http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=80503&package_id=239510 0.9 preview].'''
== Sample Usage ==
This widget generated will be similar to the chooser currently deployed at [http://labs.creativecommons.org/dhtmllicense/ CC Labs].
<div style="text-align:center">
The following is a simple example of how the widget would be included in a page to create a license selector. A live demonstration is [http://labs.creativecommons.org/jswidget/tags/0.9/example_web_app/ available on the CC labs site].
<link rel="stylesheet" href="http://labs.creativecommons.org/jswidget/tags/0.9/example_web_app/example-widget-style.css" />
<title>Example Widget Page</title>
<div id="cc_widget_container">
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://api.creativecommons.org/jswidget/tags/0.9/complete.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">cc_js_init();</script>
== Availability ==
You can play with a 0.9 pre-release right now!
* 2007-08-09: [http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=80503&package_id=239510 Released 0.9]. '''This is not quite the official preview that will probably become 1.0.''' We've changed the plan to add some features before 1.0 based on talking with potential users. All DOM elements are '''really''' prefixed with cc_js_ this time, and all strings '''really''' are available for translation this time. Documentation is updated for the 0.9 release, including a way to have the application developer specify only a single jurisdiction for the license. JSON output is validated before being sent to a web browser. Removed dependency on prototype.js. Server code changes to improve performance. Massive reduction of unused JS and CSS (this process began with 0.4).
* 2007-08-06: [http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=80503&package_id=239510 Released 0.4]. All DOM elements are prefixed with cc_js_. The widget works in Opera and Safari and works with degraded functionality in Konqueror.
* 2007-08-01: [http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=80503&package_id=239510 Released 0.3]. This release introduces Internet Explorer compatibility, Apache Content Negotiation to handle user language selection even if the server doesn't provide it for us, a hopefully-stable API for selecting a license, and license seeding.
* 2007-07-25: [http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=80503&package_id=239510 Released 0.2]. The UI now doesn't ask or contain spurious questions, plus translation is halfway there.
* 2007-07-19: [http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=80503&package_id=239510 Released 0.1]. Don't try to use this in production, but DO let us know how it fits into your systems and what you would want us to change.
== Extra features ==
=== "Seeding" ===
** NOTE that whatever license version you provide, we always upgrade it to the most recent version the jurisdiction offers. We do display a '''Message''' underneath the license icon saying we did this.
=== Forcing a particular jurisdiction ===
To force the user to choose a license in a particular jurisdiction:
* First, use the "seeding" feature to seed the Attribution ("by") license in your jurisdiction
* Then, disable jurisdiction selection
=== Disabling jurisdiction selection ===
If you want to not offer the user a choice of jurisdictions:
* just append ?jurisdiction=disabled to the complete.js call.
=== Setting the license chooser to no license by default ===
This feature is slated for 0.91.
If you want to set the license chooser to no license by default:
* just append ?want_a_license=not_at_start
== Removing the "No license" option ==
This feature is slated for 0.91.
If you want to not offer the user the option of selecting "no license:
* just append ?want_a_license=definitely to the query string
=== Language selection ===
=== Extracting results ===
All of these result extraction systems are demonstrated in the examples.
* There are two hidden form fields called '''cc_js_license_uri''' and '''cc_js_license_name''' that respectively store the URI and name of the license selected by the user. Just do <code>document.getElementById("cc_js_result_uri").value</code> (or "cc_js_result_name" instead) and you'll have the license information.
* There is an extra hidden form field containing the link to the image used. Simply get the element whose ID is '''cc_js_result_img''' and you will have a URL that is a permanent image. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inline_linking Hotlink]ing these images is allowed and encouraged.
=== Styling ===
* You can use the example style provided in the example application to get you going. We '''urge''' you to put this file on your own web server and not rely on the copy hosted on labs.creativecommons.org.
=== Namespacing ===
* Similarly, all JsWidget JavaScript functions start with cc_js_. This is '''not''' true for the bundled Prototype.js library.
== Goals ==
See [[JsWidget/Plan]] to see what features are planned for what versions.
* Generate HTML suitable for use in a form which presents the basic license selector
* Provide compatibility with all [http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/articles/gbs/ A-grade browsers]
* Provide up to date license information by
* Support new, expanded metadata including attributionName, attributionUrl and morePermissions.
== Version expectations ==
=== Zero point something (like 0.4) ===
There are no guarantees, but we'd like to keep to the same promises as a 1.0 release
=== Something point zero (like 1.0) ===
We guarantee (outside of really urgent situation where we exercise a judgement call) that these will '''not''' change:
* The programmatic interface for the widget will not change
* The user interface for selecting licenses will not change
The following are the only things that '''may'' change:
* As new translations become available, the text may become increasingly internationalized
* As jurisdictions offer new licenses, the engine will update the choices available to a user
== Resources ==
* [https://cctools.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/cctools/jswidget/ JsWidget development in Subversion]
* [http://cctools.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/cctools/cclib/trunk/js/ cclib/trunk/js] in Subversion contains the Javascript used for the [http://labs.creativecommons.org/dhtmllicense/ DHTML License Selector]
* [[JsWidget/Security|Security considerations]]
Latest revision as of 21:06, 10 July 2008
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42053 | To install click the Add extension button. That's it.
Kelly Slayton
Congratulations on this excellent venture… what a great idea!
Alexander Grigorievskiy
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mel Maceau
A headshot of Mel Maceau from a 1946 Cleveland Browns game program
Maceau in 1946
No. 24
Personal information
Born:(1921-12-25)December 25, 1921
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Died:February 16, 1981(1981-02-16) (aged 59)
Bowling Green, Ohio
Height:6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:203 lb (92 kg)
Career information
High school:Milwaukee (WI) Rufus King
NFL Draft:1944 / Round: 141 / Pick: 14
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of 1948
Games played:37
Player stats at
Player stats at PFR
Melvin Anthony Maceau (December 25, 1921 – February 16, 1981) was an American football center in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) for the Cleveland Browns from 1946 to 1948.
Maceau grew up in Wisconsin and played football at the collegiate level at Marquette University. He served for two years in World War II between 1943 and 1944 before returning to Marquette at the end of the 1945 season. Maceau then signed with the Browns, where he played as a backup center for three years. Paul Brown, Cleveland's head coach, waived him before the 1949 season, and he retired from professional football. The Browns won the AAFC championship in each of the years Maceau played for the team.
Early life and high school
Maceau grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and attended Rufus King High School.[1]
College and professional career
After high school, Maceau went to Marquette University in Milwaukee and played on the school's football team in 1941 and 1942 as a center.[1] The following year, he joined the Army Air Corps during World War II and trained as a cryptographer.[2] He served for two years in the China Burma India Theater, returning to Maruqette in 1945 to complete his studies.[1] Maceau also played on Marquette's football team for part of the 1945 season.[1] He was selected by the Cleveland Rams in the 1944 NFL Draft, but did not sign with the team because of his military service.[3]
In early 1946, Maceau played for the Omar Bakers in the Classic Basketball League.[4] Later that year, he joined the Cleveland Browns, a team under formation in the new All-America Football Conference (AAFC), along with three former Marquette teammates, John Harrington, George Groves and Wilfred Kramer.[5][6] Maceau and Harrington made the team.[5]
Maceau played with the Browns for three seasons between 1946 and 1948; the team won the league championship in each of those years.[7] Maceau was a third-stringer behind Mike Scarry and Frank Gatski at center, but he got playing time in late 1947 when Scarry was injured, substituting as a defensive lineman.[8] Before the beginning of the 1949 season, Cleveland coach Paul Brown released Maceau on waivers, allowing other teams to pick him up.[9] Maceau then retired from professional football.[10]
1. ^ a b c d "Mel Maceau Rejoins Hilltop Grid Squad". The Milwaukee Sentinel. November 6, 1945. p. 4. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
2. ^ Fullerton, Jr., Hugh (May 31, 1943). "Fullerton on Sports". The Telegraph-Herald. Associated Press. p. 7. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
3. ^ "Mel Maceau NFL Football Statistics". Archived from the original on October 6, 2012. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
4. ^ "Bradleys Can Gain Tie for Classic Cage Title". The Milwaukee Journal. February 6, 1946. p. 2. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
5. ^ a b Piascik 2007, p. 45.
6. ^ "Harrington Is Arrival in Brown Camp". Cleveland Plain Dealer. August 3, 1946. p. 14. Harrington had a reunion here with three of his old Marquette teammates, Mel Maceau, George Groves and Wilfred Kramer.
7. ^ Piascik 2007, pp. 64, 81, 121.
8. ^ Sauerbrei, Harold (November 6, 1947). "Browns Unveil Two Able Subs for Scarry". Cleveland Plain Dealer. p. 24. Coach Paul Brown has had one of those pleasant surprises with the performances of Frank Gatski and Mel Maceau at the pivot position. Gatski has been handling the offensive duties and Maceau has worked defensively ever since Scarry's injury.
9. ^ "Browns To Begin Drills Wednesday". Toledo Blade. July 25, 1949. p. 18. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
10. ^ "Browns' Grid Vets Fight For '49 Jobs". Cleveland Plain Dealer. July 24, 1949. p. 5B. With Mel Maceau definitely retired from football, the only other center will be Dwight Follin of Kent State.
External links
This page was last edited on 26 September 2019, at 04:49 |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42064 | The Stoat's burrow
Well, it has finally happened – I’ve decided to make a place to keep all the comments I don’t publish because they are noise, stupid, or whatever. And I’ll take the opportunity to add here all the ones I feel obliged to partially censor, for whatever reason (other than simple gross personal attacks, which will still just get redacted out).
Commercial linkspam will still be just junked; I’ve included an example of that for your entertainment.
To add: you’re welcome to comment here, if you like. Obviously, comments that are simply stupid will just stay in the comment thread and won’t be moved :-).
Note: some people are going to get a slightly hard time, in that they will want to talk about stuff that I’ll regard as just trolling or flamebait. Well, tough.
Warning: some of the comments below here are Rude. Read on at your peril.
Doug Cotton on The idealised greenhouse effect model and its enemies.
No young William, it is yourself spamming the internet with IPCC junk science like this post. You prove my point that this is not a scientific forum and you have no guts to face up to counter arguments. You are wrong and I am right about the gravito-thermal gradient which smashes the greenhouse.
The now proven existence of the gravito-thermal gradient in any planet’s troposphere and even sub-surface regions completely over-rides any effect of radiation, because the pre-determined thermal profile sets the supporting surface temperature. Back radiation and also conduction at the surface-air boundary slow the rate of cooling in the early pre-dawn hours as the supporting temperature is being approached. Without it, rapid cooling would continue all night through. Radiation plays only a minute role in slowing that portion of surface cooling that is itself due to radiation, but non-radiative cooling accelerates to compensate anyway. It is the supporting temperature at the base of the troposphere which determines mean temperatures in the surface, not radiation which passes through the transparent thin surface layer of all the water surfaces anyway.
Douglas J Cotton on A reader writes: Why are there people who seem hell-bent on denying anthropogenic global warming?
With the Global Precipitation Mission being launched today it is timely to note that precipitation holds the key to the answer to the trillion dollar question which is “Does gravity induce an autonomous temperature gradient in all solids, liquids and gases?”
Josef Loschmidt first postulated that it would in the 19th century. Dr Hans Jelbring worked on it for his PhD and published a paper about a decade back. Now physicists are starting to realise that it is indeed a reality, and this can be shown using the Second Law of Thermodynamics in conjunction with Kinetic Theory.
But, most compelling of all is the empirical evidence which I have presented in a book “Why it’s not carbon dioxide after all” being released late April. Temperature and precipitation records are used to show that regions with higher precipitation do in fact have lower mean daily maximum and minimum temperatures than drier regions at similar latitudes and altitudes.
This means water vapour cools.
And this is evidence that gravity produces a “dry” gradient (aka lapse rate) at the molecular level (not requiring a hot surface or upward convection) and water vapour then reduces that gradient (as is well known) due to inter-molecular radiation (not well known) and this leads to lower surface temperatures.
The greenhouse is smashed,
D J C (i.e., Doug Cotton) on The idealised greenhouse effect model and its enemies.
The thermodynamics of planetary atmospheres is a very specialised field in which major advances have been made since about the year 2002 when some physicists began to realise there is a fundamental fallacy in the garbage promulgated by the IPCC, namely that their assumption of isothermal conditions is wrong, because the Second Law of Thermodynamics implies isentropic conditions prevail, thus smashing the GH conjecture.
Furthermore, the concept of “pseudo scattering” of radiation is also just starting to be understood. I was one of the pioneers in this field with my peer-reviewed paper “Radiated Energy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics” (Douglas J Cotton) published on several websites in March 2012.
Visiting Physicist 2014/02/16 on Arctic amplification dominated by temperature feedbacks in contemporary climate models.
Feedback models are based on wrong assumptions. The greenhouse radiative forcing conjecture starts with an assumption that there would be isothermal conditions in a troposphere that was free of radiating (so-called “greenhouse”) gases, including water vapour, or free of direct solar radiation.
[Why are you making up this nonsense? -W]
Need I say more about this ludicrous travesty of physics?
Mal Adapted on Arctic amplification dominated by temperature feedbacks in contemporary climate models
The question at hand is: what should we do. I tend to think nothing. But thats me. A [sic] interesting topic for future posts: would 2F warming be good or bad and why.
Sounds like kdk33 is a lukewarmer. He may accept that climate is changing, and even that it’s anthropogenic, but he’s not worried because he doesn’t think he’ll be much affected, and he doesn’t care about the poor people who will be.
Another interesting topic for a future post: What would -W have us all do to lower CO2 and why.
Yep, lukewarmer. Won’t support decarbonization if it means the slightest inconvenience to him.
The name calling and gloating and the posting on your blog your clever comments on other blogs so that you and your chums can laugh is all very childish. It is perfectly not technical.
He has no technical arguments himself, and the best he can offer is tone-trolling. Now we know he’s not a scientist — he’d never survive the snakepit:
Science doesn’t work despite scientists being asses. Science works, to at least some extent, because scientists are asses. Bickering and backstabbing are essential elements of the process. Haven’t any of these guys ever heard of “peer review”?
kdk33 on Arctic amplification dominated by temperature feedbacks in contemporary climate models
kdk33 on Arctic amplification dominated by temperature feedbacks in contemporary climate models
Hi kevin,
You’ve come pretty close to nailing it. Anectodal evidence that engineers have wacky ideas might meet your standard, but it doesn’t meet mine. It’s just name calling.
Conservative in a technical sense is different than conservative in a political sense. The observation that political affiliation explains views on AGW is misleading What’s viewed differently are the proposed solutions – conservatives tending to reject government driven solutions. It takes some effort to detangle these and people tend to be lazy.
But let’s now consider some not-anectodal evidence. Engineering schools are more selective. As a population, engineers have higher standardized test scores and better high school GPA’s. On the basis of these measures they are smarter. The curriculae is more demanding, as measured by students who leave engineering for the sciences and vice versa. Upon graduation engineers are both smarter and better trained. These facts are perfectly predictable. The market pays engineers considerably more so the field attracts better talent. Chemical engineers command a 25% premium over chemists. These are just the facts, mind you.
There is no physics in the atmosphere beyond the abilities of a modestly trained chemical or mechanical engineer. This is not a fact, it is my assertion, but it is true.
OK, now that I have defended the reputations of engineers around the world (couldn’t help it)…
Only those trained in climate science can have an expert opinion. I actually think I agree with that, but it wasn’t what I said. I said: objectively assess. They are different. To caricaturize your argument – should we have juries?
One of the smarter readers noted that science requires testable hypothesis and predictions. And I salute this reader. An interesting topic for a future post might be: An evaluation of testable climate science predictions – have they come true.
mike on
I just want to thank all you hive-bozos for a really interesting post and commentary that is so excruciatingly, mind-numbly in line with your standard-issue, basic, good-comrade, nerd-puke, group-think, bullshit-by-the-yard, agit-prop, trough-entrenched, I’ve-got-mine!, rip-off-the-coolie-peasant-helot-serf-peon-no-bodies-with-carbon-taxes, make-a-“greenshirt”-buck/make-an-eco-gulag, I’m-the-smarty-pants-and-you’re-not!, arthropod-parasites-rule!, hive-orthodox, PC-gotcha, Pavlovian-conditioned-reflex, Lysenko-would-be-so-proud! sense of rectitude.
Just one question though, from moi, in the peanut-gallery, to ye, my mighty, sociopathic, cull-crazy Philosopher-King-wannabe betters: So why doesn’t all this “peer review” crapola and associated, CAGW fear-mongering lead to:
-the cut-off of all fossil-fuel utilities, that provide “climate”-control to those hot-beds of CAGW, worry-wart, fear-mongering true-belief, like the West’s leading academic institutions, to those institutions’ work-spaces, dormitory spaces, and cavernous, lecture-hall spaces? You know, like, why don’t my obvious betters use layering of their clothing, like the low-carbon-lifestyle Eskimos, in winter, and, like, Bedouin-style, loose clothing in summer, in lieu of all that fossil-fuel, warm-and-toasty central heating and feels-good! air-conditioning conspicuously indulged in by my shot-caller-wannabe, greenshirt, top-predator aspirants?
-An end to all those carbon-piggie, blow-out, party-animal eco-confab bashes that could easily be video-conferenced with vast savings in CO2-spew and tax-payer dollars (not that the latter matters to you enviro-worthies, I know)?
-A complete rejection of corpulent phonies like Al Gore with their carbon-philic predilictions for gas-guzzling, bullet-proof limos; Gaea-insulting, frequent-flyer, private-jet jaunts; their yachts; and their GHG-a-go-go, beach-front bachelor-pads, alarmingly over-run with hordes of thong-clad, bunga-bunga, air-head beach-bunnies (Eli up!)?
-A determination by the hive’s best-and-brightest to convince the hoi-polloi that CAGW alarmism is not all a duplicitous, flim-flam, con-job scheme to pick the “little guy’s” pocket through carbon-tax scams by means of LEADERSHIP, BY YOU, MY BETTERS, FROM THE FRONT AND BY YOUR OWN “CONSPICUOUS-SACRIFICE”, CARBON-REDUCTION PERSONAL EXAMPLE and by means of PRACTICING WHAT YOU, MY ACKNOWLEDGED BETTERS, PREACH AS A TREND-SETTER EXAMPLE TO US ALL?
Answer the above questions to my satisfaction, my lefty, ol’ buddy, asshole sell-outs and I, and others like me, just might take your self-regarding, self-important, self-serving, high-dudgeon, CAGW “pearl-clutching” seriously. Or is that too high a hurdle for your creep-out, geek-ball leeches to handle?
Repeatability of Large Computations
Author : David Young
I see from W’s in line response to my last comment that the witch hunt has begun on qualifications. The default assumption seems to be that as soon as someone says something controversial, the demand to qualify yourself follows and I understand that urge.
There are a couple of papers I mentioned on James’ place on the “more on that recent sensitivity paper’ thread. You will also see some very intense name calling and slanderous comments too, something which I’m sure W does not allow here. 😉 The references give some details of our recent work. We are not in the business of “getting people to read our papers” so they are not that visible unless you know what to look for.
The doctrine that seems to me to be the basis of this whole thread and the previous one is the uniqueness of climate as a function of forcings. If this is false, pretty much everything else said here is questionable.
In Navier-Stokes simulation of fluid flows, 15 years ago had there had developed a similar doctrine. It’s true the Navier-Stokes equations at high Reynolds numbers is essentially ill-posed. But people had developed this dissipation called eddy viscosity that “time averages” the effect of small scale eddies and gives their effect on the resolved scales and converts an ill-posed initial value problem into a boundary value problem that was claimed to be well posed. In this case, the RANS problem really is a boundary value problem. This doctrine was supported by tons of computational experience that seemed to confirm it. Of course, there is positive results bias and the placebo effect but that’s another story. To be fair, part of this experience was based on the easier flow problem, namely the attached flow cases where the methods perform reasonably well, but not much better than simpler and far less costly methods.
F. Johnson with a team of top notch people set out to build a code that would embody this principle, use the latest methods, and would avoid the huge numbers of knobs used in existing codes. This effort went on for a long time and fell further and further behind schedule. Finally, people were forced to admit that the underlying assumption of well-posedness was probably wrong.
If you read AIAA 2013-0063, you will find a rather convincing proof that in fact there are multiple steady state fully converged solutions to the RANS equations given identical forcings. Further, which one you find is dependent on the details of the numerics used to get there as well as the grid. In fact, pseudo-time marching techniques are required to find converged solutions reliably. It is unknown whether all of these solutions are physical but at least some of them are as was shown by very early testing many decades ago.
There is an even more disturbing phenomenon of the “pseudo-solution” described in the paper. All other RANS codes simply NEVER converge to more than 4-5 digits in the norm of the residual. Hey, its a tough problem to converge reliably. The paper documents the existence of flows whose residual is order 5-6 digits lower than freestream flow that ARE NOT TRUE SOLUTIONS. If the algorithm is allowed to find a true solution, the overall forces differ by 70%. Does this mean all other codes are called into question? You can be the judge.
Further on the bad news front, the pseudo-solutions at least on a common test case are substantially closer to the test data than the true solutions. What does this mean? My guess is that the eddy viscosity models are incorrectly calibrated based on unconverged solutions. By the way, its commonly acknowledged by modelers themselves that the viscosity models are too dissipative in some common situations.
So, climate is the Navier-Stokes equations with lots of subgrid models of everything from aerosols to clouds, to albedo changes. Making something more complex doesn’t usually make it more stable. Linear potential flow methods are much simpler and are absolutely stable. Navier-Stokes is not. Generally, if you add chemistry or combustion, or convection to a Navier-Stokes simulation it merely makes the problem stiffer and less well-posed, but its hard to generalize on this subject.
I will generate a follow up comment on the relationship of numerical stability to well-posedness and sensitivity of results to compilers and other rounding error details. This subject is really pretty well covered in graduate school courses in numerical methods. Basically, if your problem is well-posed these rounding errors can be proven to not make much difference. For the ill-posed problems, they do make a difference and as discussed above. Of course if you add enough dissipation, you can make any problem well-posed.
If you use poor methods, like the leapfrog scheme that was known to be bad when I was in graduate school, you rather shoot yourself in the foot from day one as Paul Williams has shown rather convincingly. I know, GISS doesn’t use the method, but NCAR does.
[next comment]
Dhog, Airplanes are safe and i get on them all the time. Air travel is safer than any other human activity. You know that is due to observationally based methods and to very rigorous in service monitoring. Modeling plays a role of course. This was discussed at James’.
Please stop imputing to me things that i never said. Numerical modeling is very sound within its limits, such as elliptic problems Structural design problems are elliptic, so they are well posed. They are linear too or only mildly nonlinear. Nonlinear systems are another story. There are also really good simple methods well constrained by observations. There will be another paper appearing on this.
i said it above. For attached flow, we do an excellent job. But for separated flows, its another story. That’s because separated flow is much less well posed. I’m merely pointing out that there are not unique solutions for RANS equations and that there are many solutions for a given forcing in many common settings.
[next comment]
[At this point I got bored. Further comments from DY will just get trashed if they’re off-topic or trolling -W]
How’s my seaiceing?
Author : Graeme Bird (IP: ,
E-mail :
Aren’t you getting sick of being a science fraud “Stoat”?
I mean you’ve had a haircut. And you may even have a real job. But don’t you get sick of pushing brazen science fraud the entire time?
By the way? Are you a Jew?
Author : frank3 (IP: ,
E-mail :
why should i wait for your moderation my dear billi
let me thru to the world
Author : freddy (IP: ,
E-mail :
shitstoat, you think that with this text you evade the mis-percepetion that you are an honest, objective, or even a REAL scientist.
you are nothing the like, just a totally unmportant, uninspired, self-complacent idiot who thinks he has something to say out of his rotten brain.
you are truely a poor pig
ps: i am considering an investigation against you at scienceblogs as author because you have criminally disclosed my e-mail address and my ip-identity on your ridiculous webpage. i want scienceblogs to close your blog because of your severe inability to do a decent job as talker.
I have carefully documented all your actions against me as pdf files, so deletion of my posts to you and also your insane reactions against me does not help.
“Dr” Roy Spencer is sad and lonely and wrong (part II)
Author : oiuuojhrewqweuzt34 (IP: ,
E-mail :
are you an asshole fucker or not, conoli
Author : oiuuojhrewqweuzt34 (IP: ,
E-mail :
conoli, you must first wipe away your stinking asshole shit from your stinking asshole, otherwise you smell the whole day like your asshole shit. have you already cleaned your asshole today? be honest and don’t lie
Author : fmioztre (IP: ,
E-mail :
so conoli you have got your judgement that you are true adshole, your skill base is poor cumpter support
i will bring your censorship u at wuwt and everybidy will laugh at conoli the asshole
conoli the asshole, hahha, your rotten political fight is lost, becos assholes are never right
Author : fred (IP: ,
E-mail :
bil conoli, you must read this, as you shit arsehole want to censor what offends your low intellect as cheap computer programmer withour talent. compared to me you are a poor nobody, and even far too stupid to catch this in your small warming brain.
hahha, you asshole
haha, conoli you addhole, not all greens are assholes
Author : fred (IP: ,
E-mail :
bill conoli, have you any clue about the fact that you are one of the biggest assholes in the climate idiot church? selfish, unintelligent, schizoid, poor manners: just a plain village idiot without any significance in life and society
Shocker: solar physicists interested in solar physics
W, you are evading my question: the scientific answer to it cannot be “start reading there”. I expect a sentence about evidence. What is your problem with the question?
– freddy
Shocker: solar physicists interested in solar physics
William; Earth’s atmosphere including water vapour is around 4% GHG’s. Venus’ atmosphere is around 96.5%GHG’s. Yet the lapse rate and the temperatures at similar pressures are almost the same (allowing for their different proximity to the Sun).
Why do you think that might be so?
Gases under higher pressures have a higher heat capacity due to the higher resulting density. The pressure on Venus’ surface is 93 times that at Earth’s surface due to its high mass being acted on by gravity, producing a high surface level pressure.
Why then would you not expect the mass of an atmosphere to have a strong effect on surface temperature?
Astrophysicists do. I wonder why climate scientists don’t.
– Rog Tallbloke
GMOs: Seven Obvious Questions in Search of Straightforward Answers?
Mal congratulations on being sufficiently teflon coated to have avoided ever getting mired in factual debate.
You clearly feel that “environmentalist” scare propaganda can only successfully be pursued though rudeness, counterfactual assertion & censorship not factual scientific debate.
I think you are right.
– Neil Craig
People, if you want to argue with stoats, first read enough to be a weasel. Parrots needn’t apply
Ianam being an honest fellow since you clearly know Connolley depends on censorship you will (A) acknowledge this & (B) either provide evidence of censorship by a major sceptic site or acknowledge this was a lie.
Or not as the case may be.
W I note your censorship of my response. Perhaps you would be good enough to acknowledge that what I said fitted closely to the standards of politeness you aspire to here.
I note you have reinforced your claim that Lovelock is indeed a scinetist who supports catstrophism thoug that is obviously the total and exact opposite of the truth. You are right that i do not accept somebody who says the alarmist community is insane is their supporter.
I note also that yoi & indeed others here, are still unable to name a single ” other” scientist who in independent and supports alarmism.. So that makes it a scientific consensus.
The Himalyas will melt by 2035 claim was certainly a lie since Dr Pachauri, climate scientist er well actually railroad engineer, had certainly been informed by the sceptic community that it was untrue & continued to claim it for over a year after knowing this. I would be astonished if somebody wiki chooses to rewrite faqctual articles on the subject was unaware of this but then to be fair it would not say much for them if they thought you did know and were lyiing.
I note 7ou say of the IPCC predictions “all of them quite consistent.” which means that you are standing by them all. Or perhaps, having acknowledged the Himalyas prediction in nio way truthful you are saying that everything they say is similarly consistently untruthful (& you still support them all)?
Having to censor all the other points, including the one Guthrie refers to shows you know I am unanswerably correct on them all. It also shows your contempt for scientific principles.
– Neil Craig
IPCC report leaked, again
“Dullard” – I suppose this counts as ultras politeness from an eco-Fascist fraudster who thinks “denialist nutter” is normal courtesy.
But the fact that you have to rely on censorship is obvious & all you do by trying to play with words is demonstrate your own inability to be truthful.
So my post suggesting that Connolly taking advantage of Tim Worstall’s liberal commitment to free speech when “sciencebl;gs” depends on censorship has been censored.
Irony impairment meets with ignorance of scientific principles.
– Neil Craig
Richard are you willing to acknowledge that for “sciencebloggers” on your side to have chosen obscenities, insults and censorship in preference to debate is disgusting? That any decent person should condemn such behaviour. And that you publicly condemn such associates.
The point I made on this thread is that Mr Connolly had taken advantage of Tim Worstall’s commitment to free expressio0n and that of he believes in free speech he should condemn “scienceblogs” sitrs (almost all of them) which rely on censorship. Not doi8ng so seems hypocritical, don’t you thjink.
If you wish to address anything I have said on Casabon’s or here feel free to do so where I said it.
– Neil Craig
It’s Global Warming, Stupid?
No, only those who think carbon dioxide causes it are stupid …
Home experiment No.1
A plastic bowl in a 750 watt microwave oven is not heated by the high intensity radiation (photons if you like) whereas the same bowl in front of a 750 watt electric radiator is heated by a similar intensity of radiation. So the bowl “detects” the frequency difference. Many seem to think that would not be possible and that all photons are the same and all cause warming. The frequency of the microwaves is less than that of the spontaneous radiation emitted by the bowl itself at room temperature. But the frequency of the radiation from the electric radiator is greater. That’s all that matters. That is a simple demonstration of how a surface “pseudo scatters” radiation which has lower frequency than its own emissions, and is not warmed by such radiation. This is the whole point of Prof Claes Johnson’s “Computational Blackbody Radiation” paper. So I have provided at least one example of empirical evidence which is not in conflict with what he has said. There has never been any empirical evidence to disprove what he said, and never will be. I have explained more in the first five sections of my paper.
Home experiment No.2
Check the outside temperature just before, and then soon after low clouds roll in. Why is it warmer when there are low clouds? Water vapour radiates with many more spectral lines than carbon dioxide, so its radiation is more effective per molecule in slowing the rate of radiative cooling of the Earth’s surface. It is also much more prolific in the atmosphere, so its overall effect on this slowing is probably of the order of at least 100 times the effect of carbon dioxide. Hence it is not at all surprising that low cloud cover slows radiative cooling quite noticeably and, while it is present in that particular location, the rate of cooling by non-radiative processes cannot accelerate fast enough to compensate. But that is a local weather event, not climate. Over the whole Earth and over a lengthy period there will be compensation. In any event, what is being compensated for is almost entirely due to water vapour, with carbon dioxide having less than 1% of the effect on that mere 14% of all heat transferred from the surface which enters the atmosphere by way of radiation.
-Doug Cotton
Lindzen doesn’t like me
w, thank you for your friendly reply. as lindzen, i don’t like you too, since you are a green leftist partisan agw hysteric without formation and track record in meteorology, hence totally incompetent in climate and weather. i bet that i am the far better computer programmer than you and am able to code in many more programming languages complex computer programs.
furthermore i am happy that you have been thrown out of wikipedia as editor of the totally wrong written chapter on climate change. unfortunately for you and your agw church peers the global temperatures don’t go up and you will lose the battle on global warming. bad luck for you and your fans.
@gator, yes, kim il sung
– Kai
Adoration of the Lamb
Ha ha [PA deleted -W], burrow as in your mate the Rabbet?
– bushy
More use and abuse of IPCC 1990 fig 7.1(c)
bill, you are a real authoritarian asshole without any class
oh holy educator and master, thank you for your kind censorship and intolerance as well as hatred towards climate hysteric critics.
you are right, politeness is extremely important, far more than scientific truth and adherence to good science practice
mk and other green leftist hysteric warming alarmists: there is no global warming at all, and of course no anthropogenic one, since global mean temperature measurements are way too imprecise, error margin plus minus 0.5 C. so you better shut up with your warming tales and spend your life time otherwise, e.g the invention of better wastebaskets
– Kai
More weird sea ice stuff
the thing only is that arctic sea ice melting is irrelevant regarding any sea level rise, since the ice is already swimming in the water, hahahahahahaha, bravo. so if all arctic ice melts no alarmists dreams will come true of a threat to mankind: not one millimeter of sea level rise from complete melting of the arctic sea ice. surprised now, the catastrophics and climate hysterics?
and no, we don’t have a climate problem, and yes, we don’t have anything to do, and yes, there is no anthropogenic climate change.
the co2 alarmists may calm down, nobody will die from sea lebel rise in the next thousand years, basta!!!!
climate alarmists: please start facing real problems, e.g. fincancial debt crises in many countries, economical crises everywhere, high unempoyment rates everywhere, poverty of many millions of people.
and what are you, the climate alarmists, doing: nirwana computer gaming, wasting taxpayers money for nothing but hysterical hypocrisy: you are slaves of al gore’s dream to bring this guy and “top-most climate expert” more money and a bigger private jet. years ago this fundamentally profound climate scientist – al gore – exclaimed: “the science is closed, the debate is over”. no, he is wrong, the debate is never over. he also excremented: “you are welcome to join the consensus”: bullshit, he is welcome to join rationality and honest scientific search to find the truth without compromising with politics or even subordination under alarmistic green dictatorship.
alarmists: do better, and use your lifetime more meaningful than wasting it with nonsense
Name: Kai
Obama and Romney on GW
WMC: Please send any follow-ups to the “Burrow” thread
I would if I could, but I can’t so I shan’t. There appears to be no such means of commenting there [Err, that’s a baffling one. Its a blog post, it has comments like all the others -W]. Besides, you were the one that raised the issue of religious fanaticism in this thread, not me. So I am at least on topic from that perspective.
I am simply asking you what you believe and why you believe it. It is not a trick question.
Name: GoRight
WMC: … we’re not a pile of religious fanatics …
LOL, for comparison purposes we in the USA have no counterpart to the Church of England whose Supreme Governor is the country’s head monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who just happens to also serve as the Queen-in-Parliament.
If memory serves it was British religious fanaticism (and it’s attendant religious oppression of other faiths) that actually led us Yanks to leave and subsequently kick your lot off the bloody continent all the way back to your tiny island home.
But all good natured jabs aside. 🙂 I am curious about one thing. Are you yourself a) religious, b) agnostic, or c) atheist? Please explain your choice and why you have chosen that option.
Name: GoRight
[You’re trolling, which is tedious. Signs of you genuinely wanting to talk rather than troll include, but are no limited to (a) politeness (b) no offensive false familiarity -W]
More weird sea ice stuff
The censors seems blind to his own ‘incivility’, and to that of his pals. He sets the tone, and then complains about it.
Name: Ben Pile
” [incivility redacted -W] ”
“[That’s rich, coming from you -W]”
That’s rich, coming from you.
Name: Ben Pile
Global temperature response to radiative forcing: Solar cycle versus volcanic eruptions
In my view we need to focus on the assumed problem, namely carbon dioxide and, to a lesser extent, methane perhaps. If I refer to trace gases take it to mean these, because I refuse to call them greenhouse gases.
We have what we have in the Earth’s total system. Somehow, in some way we may never fully understand, a long-term near equilibrium situation has developed. We have some energy being generated in the core, mantle and crust, most likely by fission I think, but I won’t go into that. But it does set up a temperature gradient from the core to the surface which is very stable below the outer kilometre or so of the crust. However, it may vary in long-term natural cycles that have something to do with planetary orbits. Likewise, the intensity of solar radiation getting through the atmosphere to the surface may also vary in natural cycles which may have something to do with planetary influences on the Sun, and on the eccentricity of Earth’s orbit and on cosmic ray intensity and on cloud cover, ENSO cycles etc.
There is much to be learned about such natural cycles, and we have seen papers by Nicola Scafetta for example which appear to provide compelling evidence of the natural cycles. I believe that in fact such natural cycles are quite sufficient to explain all observed climate change, including what has happened in the last half century or so, right up to the present. The world has just been alarmed because the 1000 year cycle and the 60 year cycle were both rising around 1970 to 1998, just as they did by about the same amount 60 years earlier, and 60 years before that and no doubt further back. We cannot escape the obvious fact that there is a ~1000 year cycle which is due for another maximum within 50 to 200 years. Then there will be 500 years of falling temperatures.
But the central issue is whether or not trace gases are really having any effect at all on climate.
In my paper I have explained the physics of heat transfer and demonstrated why trace gases cannot have any effect whatsoever on what we call climate.
Climate may be thought of as the mean of temperature measurements, usually made in the air between 1.5 and 2 metres above the ground. Thermometers are affected by the thermal energy in that air near the surface. As you can read here thermal energy is distinct from heat. It is transferred by molecular collision processes (conduction and diffusion,) by physical movement (convection) and by radiation. . The energy in radiation is not thermal energy. Thermal energy is first converted to electromagnetic (radiated) energy and then that EM energy has to be converted back to thermal energy in a target. Hence, in a sense thermal energy only appears to be transferred by radiation.
The Second Law of Thermodynamics (SLoT) tells us that in any (one way, independent) spontaneous process, entropy cannot decrease unless external energy is added. There are no two ways about it. If spontaneous radiation emanates from a cooler object (or atmosphere) its EM energy cannot be converted back to thermal energy in a warmer target, such as Earth’s surface. This point is not debatable. A violation of the SLoT cannot be excused on the grounds that there will be some subsequent independent process (maybe not even radiation) which will transfer more thermal energy back to the atmosphere. If you disagree, you are mistaken.
However, the radiation from a cooler body can affect the radiative component of the cooling of a warmer body. Although such radiation undergoes what I call “resonant scattering” this does involve the “resonators” in the warmer body and uses up some of its radiating capacity. Because the incident radiation supplies the energy, the warmer body does not need to convert an equivalent amount of its own thermal energy. Hence it cools more slowly.
But, the resonating process involves all the (potential) different frequencies in the incident radiation. There will be far less effect when there are limited frequencies as is the case for radiation from a trace gas in the atmosphere. Furthermore, the effect depends on the temperature of that gas and is less when it is cooler. It is far less from space (equivalent to about 2.7K) and so there is no slowing of cooling for that portion of radiation which gets through the atmospheric window.
The remaining radiation (when we look at net figures, not all that backradiation) represents less than a third of all the cooling processes from the surface to the atmosphere. The other non-radiative processes can, and will, simply speed up in order to compensate, because they do so if the temperature gap increases. There are further reasons discussed in Q.3 in the Appendix of my paper.
So there is no overall effect at all due to trace gases on the rate of cooling of the surface. Thus there can be no effect upon climate.
Commenter name: Doug Cotton
How not to edit wikipedia
The fact you consistantly refuse to talk about the science and instead consistantly attack me shows you just dont understand what you are getting yourself into. This has nothing to do with some silly company called Wiki. This is to do with you publicly defaming my good name where you refused to talk about the science and instead just kept attempting to ridicule me. And the more you make silly comments about me the bigger the hole you are digging for yourself.
Commenter name: Anonymous, assumed to be Aej from context.
The New Aristotelians
Whether methane or CO2 it doesn’t radiate heat to the surface …
and the water no longer goes upwards from the pool.
completed process. The energy is not constrained to return by
radiation or to do anything in particular. It could be conducted
elsewhere in the surface for example.
justification fro saying that any subsequent process can create a net
would subsequently flow further downhill through pipes into houses.
Hence, thermal energy cannot transfer spontaneously from a cooler
atmosphere to a warmer surface. Fullstop.
See my publication Radiated Energy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics
Commenter name: Doug Cotton
No solar hiding place for greenhouse sceptics?
Blogged by William Connolley: “Not having read the original, I’m not sure what was in it worthy of publication;”
Wow, maybe if you took time to read the original, you might at least have an idea. Use the same methodology to edit Wiki?
Commenter name: Darren Potter
Amerika headed for theocracy?
There is no systematic causal relationship between carbon dioxide
levels and climate change simply because the greenhouse conjecture is
not based on real world physics.
Prof Claes Johnson has proved in Computational Blackbody Radiation*
that energy in radiation only gets converted to thermal energy if the
peak frequency of the radiation from the source is above the peak
frequency of the radiation from the target.
This essentially provides a mechanism which explains why the Second Law
of Thermodynamics also applies for radiative heat transfer, as it does
for heat transferred by conduction.
There seems no plausible alternative explanation for the observed
Second Law, so I suggest we all heed what Johnson has deduced
mathematically, being as he is, a Professor of Applied Mathematics.
It is not the net radiative flux (or even its direction) which
determines whether (and in which direction) thermal energy is
transferred. For example, if the emissivity of two bodies is very
different, there can be more radiative flux from the cooler one. But
all that flux will be scattered by the warmer one and not converted to
thermal energy. Only the flux from the warmer one (no matter how weak)
will be converted to thermal energy in the cooler one. This “ensures”
that the Second Law is valid in all cases because it depends
on peak frequency which is proportional to absolute temperature – see’s_displacement_law
Thus the IPCC “backradiation” cannot affect the temperature of the
surface and there can be no atmospheric radiative greenhouse effect.
Commenter name: Doug Cotton
Chris Huhne
Let’s not forget that science and scientists gave us the pesticides and cancer causing chemicals that made environmental protection necessary in the first place.
Commenter name: Meme Mine
Aiiee, the stupid, it burns!
Commenter name: Alex Harvey
Steve Bloom, I will respond at the RealClimate open thread later.
William Connolley’s dishonest editing of my posts by selective
censorship (which is not visible to his readers) makes it pointless
trying to comment here, and this will probably be the last time I try.
Commenter name: Alex Harvey
Steve Bloom, further to the above and specifically on how do we know the true magnitude of the LGM cooling, Kohler et al. 2009 say (“What caused Earth’s temperature variations during the last 800,000 years? Data-based evidence on radiative forcing and constraints on climate sensitivity”, QSR):
It is difficult to obtain an LGM cooling from observations only, as the scaling of regional proxy data (e.g. from tropical sea surface temperature or polar ice cores) often involves model-based information (e.g. Masson-Delmotte et al., in this issue).
I am looking at Masson-Delmotte et al. now (2009, “EPICA Dome C record of glacial and interglacial intensities”, QSR), and it appears that GCMs enter the picture when relating Antarctic temperatures to the global average.
If so, I make two notes:
1) James Hansen’s argument (e.g. Hansen et al. 1997, 2011) that assume that the paleo record constrains sensitivity as 3 +/- 0.1 C on the basis that models are unreliable but the paleo record includes all the fast and slow feedbacks is circular. The same models he considers unreliable probably entered in his value of change in temperature.
2) It is even more circular to argue from such reconstructions that Lindzen is wrong, because the crux of Lindzen’s argument is that the models get the equator-to-pole temperature difference wrong and it is this precise feature of the models that the temperature reconstructions depend upon.
By the way, I find it really strange that Lindzen appears to have been the only critic of these early climate sensitivity from paleo studies (e.g. Lindzen 1993; Lindzen and Pan 1994). If you look at Covey et al. 1996 (Climatic Change), it appears that Lindzen was the only scientist to have raised substantial criticisms that needed to be addressed. Nearly 20 years later, we seen in Kohler et al. that the community now views these Hansen et al. arguments very skeptically. How come no one said so at the time?
Imagine a World Without Free Knowledge?
I put how I think this will fully develope in a fictional story.
‘Under House Arrest’ poses a realistic end-point to the progressive
encroachment. I invite you to visit and see for
Commenter name: Steve Ortwerth
On the Limits of Expert Credibility: Theory and an Application to Climate Change?
A more accurate theory about global warming/cooling/climate change is
quite simple. Some sorry good for nothing nutjob dumbass at the top of
the new world order foodchain is demanding MONEY in order to fund
various socialist/communist projects and using this scam called global
warming as a front to obtain the funds. All involved should be charged
with fraud, striped naked, given 25 lashes with a whip, then be sent to
prison in Sibria naked with only one candle to warm the place. This
whole thing is one big massive maarxist fraud and everyone involves
deserves maximum punishment.
Commenter name: Piltdown Man
Oh no! More snarking
Stoat:The link that you provide over at Deltoid [… is] evidence of
why Romm hates Kloor is appalling, killer evidence of the flaws in
Romm;Sorry, Stoat, you’ve repeatedly chanted the ‘Romm is over the top,
Romm is over the top, Romm is over the top’ mantra, but with zero
evidence to show for it.
Zero. Zilch. Nil. Nada.
There’s a line between asking for basic civility (while still paying
attention to facts) and being just a tone troll. And you just crossed
that line. You need to step back.
— frank
Commenter name: frank — Decoding SwiftHack
Architecture and morality
“If I’m Bangladesh (current population ~142,000,000) and it’s possible that global warming could render half of my productive farmland useless by several decades from now.”
And how do you expect this to occur from global warming?
What kind of fertilizers are you using?
“Do I trust some high-emitting country, say the United States, to make good on a promise they give now (not that such a promise has been offered) to feed, clothe, etc. half my population indefinitely into the future in the event the feared disaster comes to pass?”
Nope. You’ll have to elucidate on the nature of the danger you are fearing before I can tell you what to do. If there is a country-wide problem that they can’t solved then I expect them to do what most people do in such situations – move somewhere else.
The basic solution for nearly any national problem is to “get richer.”
CRU tooo?
Mr. Locust:
Please rent “The Wizard Of OZ”. What happened when the curtain was
pulled back is what happened when Deep Climate ran McIntyre’s
Also ; please tell me how a mining promoter (” we will make you rich if
you give us all your money”) can be portrayed as a scientist.A weak (
and discredited ) paper does not a scientist make. Useful scienctific
contribution does.
Do you believe that monetary contribution from oil industry stink tanks
the scientist make?
John McManus
Commenter name: John McManus
Can global emissions really be reduced?
How was that trolling?
Reducing oil/gas exploration/extraction before we can replace nitrate
fertilizers would kill billions.
Commenter name: TheGoodLocust
Can global emissions really be reduced?
Sans a technological revolution or worldwide disaster our emissions
will not be reduced.
But more to the point – why should we reduce them?
Until we have an equally good replacement for the nitrate fertilizers
that feed so many billions of us then it would be genocide to stop
oil/gas exploration and extraction.
Perhaps genetically engineering the bacteria and fungi in the soil
could solve that problem, which carries risks in and of itself.
Commenter name: TheGoodLocust
CRU tooo?
“[Well, you certainly got yourself banned from wikipedia due to your
faults -W]”
I assume you mean topic banned like yourself since I wasn’t banned (to
my knowledge – haven’t logged on in a while). In any case, that was
certainly an interesting decision since I hadn’t posted in any climate
change articles/talk pages for several months when that decision was
handed down nor was my content ever in dispute (IIRC).
Of course, I don’t consider it a problem either – perhaps an amusing
example of the Peter Principle though.
“[Appears to be a common illusion amongst the skeptics. will put you right (or rather
it would, if you read and understood it, but I’m pretty sure you’ll do
neither) -W]”
I was just mentioning the criticism. I can’t speak to its validity and
since the conclusions of the Hockey Stick are clearly incorrect for
other reasons there is no point in studying it.
I merely note that other climate scientists and statisticians have
found the criticisms to have some weight.
Commenter name: TheGoodLocust
CRU tooo?
Paul S, in a just world an investigative journalist would be set upon
McIntyre. There’s more there than meets the eye. OTOH he’s pretty well
passed his “use by” date at this point.
Posted by: Steve Bloom | November 23, 2011 12:11 PM
Yeah! Right Steve – damn shame the News of the World is no longer
about. You could ask them to hack his phone for you.
Commenter name: Doug UK
SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling (and some other stuff)?
What a bunch of arrogant ignorant fools. Global warming is a con. Watch
the Great Global Warming Swindle, look up the educated scientists like
phycisist and meteorologist Piers. Check out the
website and Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change
website which are all full of scientists and even ex IPCC members that
are full of scientific studies that show there is no evidence of global
warming. Cooling is a part of the natural cycle and it is inevitable
and is actually due according to the 80 year cycle, don’t forget the
sun is in a quiet period which is due to get worse and places like the
Met office have finally agreed with the likes of Piers that the sun
does influence the temperature. The planet has been warmer when there
was less CO2 and there is scientific evidence that the last 10 years
has cooled which doesn’t make sense when considering CO2 levels have
increased. Then there is the fact that computer models get it wrong
constantly. The only comparison of CO2 and temperature is very close
but there is a chronological issue for global warming nuts, and that is
it gets warmer and THEN the CO2 levels increase and that is thought to
be due to the increase in eco activity when the planet is warmer.
Commenter name: Shaun
Piers Corbyn
The loan are useful for guys, which are willing to start their own organization. In fact, it is very comfortable to receive a short term loan.
The great global warming swindle?
Have got no chance to slip at night? Think about academic papers writing all the time? You have not to bother. You can just turn to Professional Custom Writing Services.
32 thoughts on “The Stoat's burrow”
1. What ALL of them. I suspect we won’t be seeing the ones you censor because you know they are right and can’t answer the.
After all where would “scienceblogs” be if its authors believed in open scientific debate?
[It depends. If people start adding vast long screeds that get in the way by their sheer volume, then I’ll probably trim them. Blogs are free nowadays; anyone with a theory to expound (rather than a comment to make) should do so elsewhere, and link to it here -W]
2. Well, you can’t beat New Scientist’s home page, their recent twit comments list nothing but bots:
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â¨Spying begins on UK web users:
The crux of your writing while sounding reasonable in the beginning, did not work very well wit…
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â¨Is Iran trying to build a nuclear bomb?:â¨There are many treatments available in the present day to deal with zits. The main goal of the …
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Where is Happyville, USA?:â¨
The root of your writing while sounding agreeable originally, did not really sit very well with…
[Or look at 95% of the comments at Curry’s… -W]
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4. So, GoRight, let me answer your question here on religious/agnostic/atheist. However, it does require you to first define the three terms, as there is significant overlap. For example, one would call a Buddhist “religious”, but at the same time could also call them “atheist”, as his religion in essence states there are no gods. Unless you redefine what “god” means.
So, let us get the definitions *you* would like to use first, or we are going to talk at two different levels.
[Well, if I ever wanted to blog about being an atheist or not I’m sure I’d do so. I do have -W]
5. Ah, so perhaps there is room for a discussion of the topic. Very nice.
First, you get props for choosing to have clearly defined terms for the discussion. This is a point frequently overlooked and one that often leads to people who actually agree appearing to disagree with one another. 🙂
Let us keep the definitions simple and to the point. Instead of “religious” let us instead replace the term with “theist”. So, we have the following core definitions:
Theist : Someone who asserts affirmatively that a god (or gods the specifics do not matter) DO exist.
Agnostic: Someone who takes no position whatsoever on whether gods (or other supernatural beings) either exist or do not exist.
Atheist: Someone who affirmatively asserts that a god (or gods) do NOT exist.
The terms god, gods, and supernatural beings shall be considered interchangeable for this discussion. They shall be assumed to exist (or not) in a realm that is “super-natural” meaning that it exists such that nothing about it can be discerned by any observation conducted within the natural universe, and it is by definition impossible for beings living within the natural universe to be able to gain knowledge of or information about such beings and their activities by observing the perceivable natural universe.
These seem to be nice crisp definitions.
My observation has been that many scientists tend to be atheists, owing to their adherence to a fundamental trust of the scientific method. I further observe that many of these individuals like to poke fun at the theists for their faith based beliefs.
The question being posed here is, should a rational person who advocates the use of the scientific method in everyday life have a preference for any of the available choices? If so, which one or ones and why?
6. Good, we have some definitions. In that case a scientist does not necessarily have to have a preference for the latter two options (agnostic or atheist), but would be hard-pressed to chose option 1: theist. Unless, and that’s a big one, they would openly admit that their choice for option 1 is *not* based on the scientific method. If you apply the scientific method to a belief in a supernatural being, you will quickly find there is no evidence obtained through the scientific method that supports the hypothesis. Now, some scientists may not be interested to apply the scientific method to a belief in a supernatural being and would thus best be described as agnostic. Others do apply the scientific method and can easily argue that the hypothesis of there being a supernatural being is a non-functional hypothesis. It does not allow for testable predictions! But if they are good scientists, they would be willing to test the hypothesis again if somebody *does* provide a testable hypothesis and allows it to be predictive.
Just a small admission from my side: I know a few “theists” who are scientists, and who indeed admit that they do not apply the scientific method in that part of their life. Even funnier, some make fun of those theists who claim their beliefs are rational.
7. Well, you and I seem to be in agreement that given these definitions that the scientific method, by definition, cannot be used to provide evidence either for, or against, the existence of any supernatural beings. I wonder what WMC’s view, as an alleged atheist, is on this point.
This then raises the next logical follow-on question in my mind, “are those scientists (or anyone for that matter but particularly scientists in this discussion) who are self-professed atheists somehow justified in deriding theists for their faith based belief in super-natural beings?”
In other words, “is holding the position that god does NOT exist any less faith based than the counter position that god DOES exist?”
This raises another interesting follow-on question, “Given the above definitions, is there a conflict between being an advocate for the scientific method and holding a belief that God exists?”
8. GoRight, I think you will find that those deriding theists for their faith generally do so in connection with those theists proclaiming they are *rational* in that faith, i.e., claiming they have tangible evidence for their beliefs. Holding the position that god does NOT exist is far, far less faith based than its counterposition, as it is almost by definition rational to not assume the existence of something for which there is no evidence for its existence.
Also note that we have skipped the “deists”, which do not believe in a specific god like the “theists” do (i.e., the latter believe this god also has put down rules to abide by, or you’ll be in trouble).
Regarding question 2: not necessarily. But like my dear friends, I’ll get very skeptical if those holding that belief claim to have tangible evidence.
9. While you’re defining your terms, I suggest you should specify whether you’re talking about a Russell’s Teapot sort of a God who doesn’t interact with the world at all, or one who actually does stuff.
I’ve not noticed any such distinction. Take our hosts blanket assertion that the US is a bunch of religious fanatics. He intends it as a term of derision based on their faith based beliefs. There is no subtle distinction about rationality vs. not. Perhaps you can illustrate your point with some examples?
Marco: claiming they have tangible evidence for their beliefs
To what do you refer? Proponents of Intelligent Design? Something else?
I don’t believe that the atheists poking fun at the theists for holding faith based beliefs are limiting their comments to just the proponents of things like ID.
Sorry, but there are no nuances to be made here. Either a position is logically consistent and soundly supported or it is not. I agree that it is rational to not assume the existence of something without evidence. That is as you say, almost by definition.
Taking the leap from not assuming something to the position of affirmatively assuming NOT something is every bit as much faith based as it’s counterpart. Do you agree that “an absence of evidence is NOT that same thing as evidence of absence?” Especially in the context that we have here where it is known that no such evidence is even obtainable?
I don’t see any conflict whatsoever between being a proponent of the scientific method as a means of observing and explaining the natural universe since it can actually be meaningfully applied to the natural universe. Science is useful in the natural world as we all know.
Science has no place in trying to prove or disprove the existence of super-natural beings, and yet there are so many atheists who proclaim to be rational because they have a science background who are totally oblivious to the fact that their beliefs, at least for those that claim God does NOT exist, are every bit as faith based as those they deride.
Marco: Also note that we have skipped the “deists” …
No, my definition actually lumps them together with the theists. From the perspective of using the scientific method as a means of proving or disproving their existence they are the same.
Why do you think this matters given our definitions? The two are indistinguishable from inside the natural universe by definition. For those who don’t tamper this is obvious. For those who do tamper their actions can only alter the natural universe is such a manner that those actions don’t create create observable effects.
Any actions they may take which would/could create observable effects would be in contradiction to the definitions currently assumed.
12. GoRight, ask one of those theists, like Mitt Romney, why he believes in a god. Watch him rationalize his belief.
Regarding being an atheist: for all practical purposes the fundamental(!) inability to test something makes it fully valid to assume it does not exist – as an inability to test also means it cannot have an effect on our physical world.
As they say: we are almost all atheists, I just reject one more god than you do.
13. Marco: for all practical purposes the fundamental(!) inability to test something makes it fully valid to assume it does not exist
No, sorry. This is incorrect. If you know that you cannot, by definition, discern any information about something then you cannot make any assumptions about it. If you do so, you are doing so, again by definition, without any valid information.
Making assumptions about anything without any valid basis (i.e. any valid information) is almost the definition of making that assumption on pure faith. You believe it simply because you believe it and for no other valid reason.
OK, take the counter point. Ask any atheist why they believe god does not exist and, similarly, watch them rationalize their belief.
Neither has any valid basis for making their claims which is precisely what makes those claims faith based.
This is why I argue that the only self-consistent position for a rational person to take is to be an agnostic. When you know that you cannot possibly have any valid information upon which to base an argument, either for OR against something, the only rational position to take is “I don’t know” which is essentially what the agnostic does. He doesn’t take a position either way.
Now this raises the next follow-on question, “As an agnostic who is taking no position either way owing to the fact that there is no valid information upon which to base an argument, would such a person have any basis for deriding either the theists or the atheists for holding their personal beliefs?”
I would argue that a rational person would not if they wanted to remain self-consistent. So as an agnostic I don’t deride either the theists or the atheists for believing what they want to believe about super-natural beings, however I can point out that when the atheists are deriding the theists that it is very much a case of the pot calling the kettle black with respect to making faith based claims. Both camps are clearly being irrational.
Of the two I see the theists as being more self aware and therefore more self consistent. They at least acknowledge that their claims are based on faith. The atheists are seemingly clueless.
14. I guess, then, GoRight, that you are agnostic about the existence of many gods, or a collection of gods working together, an alternate universe, the tooth fairy, and a lot of other things.
I’d say my own view as an atheist is one of simple statistics: the chance there is a god as claimed by the theists is so small, that for all practical purposes it is irrational to not live with the view there is no god. Unlike with many theists, this supposed “faith”, as you like to call it, also does not have an impact on other people. The “self-awareness” of many theists comes down to “better give my views special privileges over yours!” – which works quite a bit easier with agnostics, since they must assume the possibility the theist is right as they do not want to take a position on that question.
15. Marco: this supposed “faith”, as you like to call it, also does not have an impact on other people
This is not true. I see the atheists imposing their views on everyone else all the time. They have made the lawyers rich by their actions. 🙂
16. GoRight: in the case of an intervening God of the sort proposed by most theists, I do not accept your stipulation that the effects of the intervention can be undetectable.
17. PaulB: I do not accept your stipulation that the effects of the intervention can be undetectable
OK, why do you find that stipulation problematic?
Please clarify your point because this statement could be raising any number of issues. I have insufficient information to respond meaningfully.
18. GoRight, I base that calculation on the many ways that theists claim god intervenes in the world. As PaulB notes: “how could those changes not be detectable”? In other words, mine to be exact, this makes the god hypothesis testable, and those tests have all failed.
Note also that things like “no school prayer” is not an atheist view, but a view held by many people regardless of their religious affiliation. The constitution proscribes no preference of the government for a specific religion, and as such things like school prayers (which are bound to favor one religion), crosses (which favors a specific religion), etc etc are simply unconstitutional. And that constitution was not written by atheists…
But perhaps you have examples where atheists have forced their views on others. And make sure those were atheists demanding special privileges for them vs those of non-atheists, and not atheists demanding equal privileges (i.e., the removal of special privileges for certain theist groups).
19. [I’m afraid you’ve got carried away. Please see the comment policy: anything you wish to develope at length is best placed on your own website or blog, and briefly linked to here. Extended conversations off-topic, ditto -W]
20. Fair enough. Since our host is not interested in allowing an extended discussion I would be willing to move this conversation to my own blog if there is any interest in continuing. If you are so inclined please let me know here and I will post a link to a suitable venue. Otherwise, thanks for the discussion.
21. Let us at most require the same level of certainty from theists and climatologists. For my belief I rely on an apologia of definition.
Start with a certainty. What there is is what there is. The universe exists. The universe is vast. It can be analyzed as orderly or chaotic. It’s components are infinitesimally small and fantastically large, moving at incomprehensible speeds.
Uncertainty starts with question that are both scientific and theological. Is the universe finite? Does the universe exist beyond the last bit of matter and energy? Does space end?
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42081 | For the realm, see Server:Firetree US.
The Firetree tribe[2] (or firetree trolls[1]) was one of the forest troll tribes that joined the Horde during the Second War[3] after the Horde rescued their leader Zul'jin from the human forces.[4] The Second War ended with the defeat of the Horde, but Rend Blackhand refused to give up the fight, some orcs, trolls, and ogres followed him, including the Firetree tribe, and they have become known to others as the Dark Horde.[1]
History Edit
Commanded by Rend Blackhand, the Dark Horde has not given up the battle to claim Azeroth, they are essentially still fighting the Second War, even though Rend's forces are significantly smaller than Thrall's Horde. They know that they stand little chance of success, despite their alliance with the black dragonflight. A group of warlocks drives the Dark Horde, which has not relinquished the original Horde's involvement in demonic magic.[1]
The firetree trolls revere the memory of Zul'jin and consider the Smolderthorn tribe acceptable allies, but despise all other forest trolls as deserters, particularly the Revantusk tribe, which is loosely affiliated with Thrall's Horde. Ironically the Revantusks consider the Firetree trolls traitors for failing to leave Blackrock Spire and aid Thrall and his followers, for the Revantusks believe that Thrall leads the true Horde.[1]
In World of Warcraft Edit
Strangely they are missing in World of Warcraft when they are supposed to be in Blackrock Spire.[1] They may however be added in the new Blackrock instances/raids when Cataclysm is released.
Notes Edit
References Edit
1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Forest Troll Tribes (English). Blizzard Entertainment Inc.. Retrieved on 2009-07-23.
2. ^ Firetree Tribe (English). Blizzard Entertainment Inc.. Retrieved on 2009-07-23. “Below you can learn more about the various tribes of forest trolls: the Amani tribe, the Firetree tribe...”
3. ^ Horde Player's Guide, p.9 Quote: ...the hero Zul’jin organized all the forest troll tribes into one cohesive army...
4. ^ "Seas of Blood: Raid at Hillsbrad", Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness. Blizzard Entertainment.
See also Edit
External links Edit
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42084 | Tag Archives: EFT
Tapping Your Troubles Away
EFT: The Possibilities Are Acronymical
An acronym is a pronounceable abbreviation consisting of initials. Thus, NASA and UNICEF are acronyms, while NAACP and ASPCA are simply abbreviations.
The “rule” regarding the use of punctuation with (a) acronyms and (b) abbreviations consisting of initials is as follows: If the abbreviation is not an acronym but is pronounceable (as in U.S.A.), each initial should be followed by a period. Most writers disregard this rule. You might read that John Doakes received his BA at Harvard, his MBA at MIT, and his Ph.D. at Stanford. (Quite a guy, that John.)
Per the “rule,” only MBA is correctly rendered in the preceding sentence. If you were to read the sentence when you were extremely fatigued or otherwise addled, your brain might “hear” it as, “John Doakes received his bah at Harvard, his MBA at mitt,…” and so forth. But it’s more likely that your brain would make the necessary adjustments, allowing you to read BA as “B.A.” and MIT as “M.I.T.” With or without punctuation, you would probably not read Ph.D. as “fd.”
Accordingly, the placement or nonplacement of periods in such abbreviations doesn’t matter much, usually. When your eyes see USA, your brain is unlikely to “hear” “OOsa.”
I’ve been reading quite a bit lately, however, about an alternative-healing method called EFT,* which stands for “Emotional Freedom Techniques,” and, I’m not sure whether to pronounce EFT in initials (E-F-T) or as “eft” (a sort of newt, as anyone who does a lot of crossword puzzles can attest).
EFT or E.F.T. sounds too good to be true and probably is, but I have tried to keep an open mind about such things since that management-training class I took in the early 1990s at which I described a woman’s ex-husband’s combover and his house and his two Irish setters without her having told me anything about them.
In any case, inasmuch as proponents of EFT or E.F.T. tout it as a quick and comparatively easy way to banish chronic fatigue and procrastination, I created an EFT or E.F.T. page on my website, consisting of several YouTube videos and some text from the official EFT or E.F.T. manual, by Gary Craig, who originated EFT or E.F.T. You are welcome to visit the page at your leisure.
The EFT or E.F.T. healing method consists mostly of tapping the “meridian points,” as defined in acupuncture, or the chakras, or both, possibly, or maybe some of them are the same, but in any event you won’t want to try EFT or E.F.T. in public unless, perhaps, you are riding a bus and you would rather not have anyone sitting next to you.
If you have tried EFT or E.F.T., or if you plan to, please let me know how well it works for you. Thanks!
* Not to be confused with “electronic funds transfer,” whose abbreviation, EFT, is always pronounced “E-F-T.” |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42105 | Nine ways to minimize the risks of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
1. Obtain a complete medication history. Avoid or use extreme caution with concurrent or recent use of NSAIDs and/ or corticosteroids (including some nutritional supplements that may contain aspirin or other cyclooxygenase-inhibiting mechanisms). Practitioners should observe the following additional precautions due to potential drug interactions:
• Avoid with furosemide and use caution with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors.
• Avoid with potentially nephrotoxic drugs (e.g., aminoglycosides, cisplatin).
• Caution with use of additional multiple highly protein-bound drugs (e.g., phenobarbital, digoxin, cyclosporine, cefovecin, chemotherapy agents).
2. Be discriminating in patient selection. Be cautious or avoid NSAIDs in patients with the following existing/anticipated conditions:
• Low-flow states such as dehydration, hypovolemia, congestive heart failure, and hypotension. In such cases, IV fluid support and blood pressure monitoring should be available for anesthetized animals.
• Renal, cardiac, or hepatic dysfunction.
3. Provide verbal and written client instructions to avoid the medications described in point 1 above and to discontinue and alert the hospital at the first sign of an adverse event (see point 4).
4. Recognize the earliest signs of adverse events and withdraw NSAID treatment immediately if those events occur, especially in case of any gastrointestinal signs in dogs and cats with diminished appetites.
5. Perform laboratory monitoring. The frequency will depend on the risk factor of the patient.
• Ideally, within first month of initiating therapy then q 6 mo thereafter in low-risk patients.
• For at-risk patients, monitor q 2–4 mo depending on risk-factor assessment.
6. Utilize a balanced, integrated analgesic approach as part of NSAID-sparing strategies.
7. Consider washout periods. Clinically relevant washout periods remain controversial and largely undefined. Based on pharmacokinetics, practitioners who wish to err on the side of caution may want to withhold meloxicam for 5 days and other NSAIDs or short-acting corticosteroids for 7 days prior to initiating treatment with another NSAID. In the case of long-acting corticosteroids, a longer washout period needs to be considered. Aspirin should not be administered because there are safer alternatives. If a course of treatment with aspirin has been started in a dog, the recommended washout period before starting an approved veterinary NSAID is up to 10 days.
8. Use gastroprotectants to either treat suspected gastropathy or prevent its occurrence, especially if no washout period occurs. Proton pump inhibitors, H2 antagonists, misoprostol (the drug of choice in humans), and sucralfate can be helpful.
9. Dose optimization: base dosage on lean body weight. Although there is no definitive evidence that NSAID dose reduction lowers the risk of adverse events, some clinicians recommend titrating to the lowest effective dose. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42107 | Skip to main content
W Virginis
Not Your Classical Cepheid
Virgo Cluster
Click image to enlarge.
Several galaxies of the Virgo Cluster. This cluster contains over 100 galaxies of many types.
Credit & Copyright: Digitized Sky Survey, Palomar Observatory, STScI
Like the numerous buds and flowers that populate the springtime landscape, so are the galaxies that make up the Virgo cluster, an enormous cluster of galaxies that inhabit an area of the constellation Virgo. Virgo also holds the variable star of this season, W Virginis. W Vir is an exciting yellow giant star that pulsates with a period of about 17 days and is the prototype of a class of stars known as the Population II Cepheids, also known as the W Vir variables. In the literature, the term "Cepheids", "Delta Cep stars", "Classical Cepheids", and "Type I Cepheids" all apply to a group of Cepheids that are physically different from W Vir. For a review of the Classical Cepheid stars, consult the previous VSOTM articles: Delta Cep, Zeta Gem, and X Cyg. W Vir is the prototype of the Type II Cepheids, a separate group of stars, which were the cause of some trouble at the turn of the century. In the process of determining the extragalactic distance scale, the Population II Cepheids were mistakenly grouped with the Population I Cepheids and an inaccurate period-luminosity function was determined that weakened the distance scale. We now know that these are two different types of stars and that the magnitude differences threw off the distance calibration significantly. W Vir is an exciting springtime observing target and as a Population II star, is one of the oldest stars in the Milky Way. These old stars are important to study because they hold clues to stellar and galactic evolution.
Eduard Schönfeld
The man who discovered W Vir was highly regarded among the astronomers of his day as a kind, thoughtful, and meticulous man that attained great scientific achievements in the field of stellar astronomy. Born in the Duchy of Meiningen, Germany on December 22, 1828, Eduard Schönfeld was taught how to read and the rudiments of mathematics by his mother. Evidently his math skills excelled because when he later attended the Gymnasium of his native town he was able to give assistance to the pupils of the highest classes in mathematics. On leaving the Gymnasium, young Schönfeld expressed his desire to study astronomy, but abandoned the idea because his father considered it a profession without prospects. On the advice of his Uncle, Eduard studied architecture until around 1849 when his former love for astronomy was revived at the University of Marburg by the lectures he heard given by Christian Gerling.
Bonn Survey Telescope
Click image to enlarge.
The telescope used by Argelander and Schönfeld to complete the Bonn Survey is currently located in the entrance hall of the Astronomical Institutes of Bonn University.
In 1851, Schönfeld had the opportunity to visit Bonn University, and the charm of the famous astronomer Frederick Argelander, considered by many to be the father of variable star astronomy, was so great that Schönfeld expressed his great desire to study at Bonn. Argelander received the proposition warmly and Shonfeld matriculated at the University in 1852; by 1853 he had become Argelander's esteemed assistant. One of Schönfeld's greatest endeavors was to help F.W.A. Argelander complete the famous Bonner Durchmusterung (BD), a set of 37 large charts and a three-volume catalogue giving the approximate positions of 324,198 stars, down to magnitude 9 and fainter, lying between declinations +90 degrees and -2 degrees. Schönfeld observed tirelessly and accurately throughout the nights while reducing the observations during the day. An Astronomical Journal (1891) obituary of Schönfeld describes his work, " . . . his scientific labors have been familiar to astronomers, with whom his name has been a guarantee for all that is implied by the words excellence and thoroughness. For minute exactness and exhaustive comprehensiveness of research, it would be difficult to find his superior. Punctilious accuracy and completeness are the unfailing characteristics of his works."
Once the BD was completed in 1859, Schönfeld was appointed directorship of the Observatory at Mannheim and turned his attention to variable stars, which had created some excitement among the astronomers of the day. He discovered numerous variable stars, including W Virginis in 1866, as well as contributed much to the physics behind the variations. His research on variable stars are published in two catalogues in the Jahresberichte of the Mannheim Physical Society, Nos. 32 and 39, dated respectively 1866 and 1875.
On the death of his master and life-long friend, Argelander, which occurred in 1875, Schönfeld was appointed Director of the Bonn Observatory and Professor in the University. Shortly after entering his new office, Schönfeld personally undertook the vast labor of extending the Durchmusterung southward (the SBD), through twenty additional degrees. He supervised both observations and revisions and is praised for the attempt and completion of this great project in its finest detail. Schönfeld's personal character is described in the obituary, "With extreme modesty, kindliness and considerateness for others, were combined true dignity, unimpeachable honor, and a keen sense of responsibility in all that he did or said."
The Great Debate and the Great Mistake: Curtis, Shapley, Hubble, and Baade
Heber Curtis
Heber D. Curtis argued that the universe is composed of many galaxies like our own
In 1920, several decades after Schönfeld discovered the variable star W Vir, there was what was called "The Great Debate" between two prominent astronomers of the time, Harlow Shapley and Heber D. Curtis. The argument was about the scale of our Universe: Curtis argued that the Universe is composed of many galaxies like our own, which had been identified by astronomers of his time as ``spiral nebulae". Shapley argued that these ``spiral nebulae" were just nearby gas clouds, and that the Universe was composed of only one big Galaxy. In Shapley's model, our Sun was far from the center of this Great Universe/Galaxy. In contrast, Curtis placed our Sun near the center of our relatively small Galaxy. Although the fine points of the debate were more numerous and more complicated, each scientist disagreed with the other on these crucial points (NASA web page).
Harlow Shapley
Harlow Shapley argued that the "spiral nebulae" were nereby gas clouds, and that the Universe was composed of only one big Galaxy.
Shapley's interest at this time was with globular clusters. He studied the period-luminosity relationship for the "long-period" variables in the globular clusters and found that the slope was very similar to that for those already discovered in the Small Magellenic Cloud, accordingly he incorporated these stars in his period-luminosity relation as "Cepheids" (for a review of the Cepheid period-luminosity relationship as a distance indicator please see the VSOTM article on Delta Cep). What he did not realize, however, was that these "long-period" cepheids found in the globular clusters were actually Type II Cepheids, a totally different population of star than Leavitt's Type I Cepheids used in earlier calibrations. While their light and period-luminosity curves are similar, population II Cepheids are approximately 1.5 magnitudes fainter than their population I counterparts.
Webb (1999) wrote, "Shapley knew that his distance ladder was a rickety structure, and it was built on the quicksand of his Cepheid period-luminosity relation." However, despite the inaccuracy of the period-luminosity relationship, Shapley successfully used his scale to investigate the structure of our Galaxy, and by 1920 had come up with a model consisting of a halo of globular clusters, a central bulge and a broad disc several tens of kpc in diameter. In the process he also moved the Sun from a previously assumed position near the center, to an outlying location in the disc. Shapley's model remains, in all its essential features, the same one we use today (Allen 2001).
Edwin Hubble
Edwin Hubble used the Hooker telesecope at Mt. Wilson to demonstrate the "spiral nebulae" were in fact distant galaxies.
Edwin Hubble is justifiably famous for his discovery that the spiral nebulae are galaxies in their own right. In the mid 1920's, and using the 100 inch Hooker Telescope at Mount Wilson, then the largest telescope in the world, astronomer Edwin Hubble identified Cepheid variable stars in the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). These stars allowed Hubble to show that the distance to M31 was greater than even Shapley's proposed extent of our Milky Way galaxy. Therefore M31 was a galaxy much like our own. In the 1930s, the further discovery of interstellar absorption combined with an increased understanding of the distances and distribution of globular clusters ultimately led to the acceptance that the size of our Milky Way Galaxy had indeed been seriously underestimated and that the Sun was not close to the center. Therefore, Shapley was proved more correct about the size of our Galaxy and the Sun's location in it, but Curtis was proved correct that our Universe was composed of many more galaxies, and that ``spiral nebulae" were indeed galaxies just like our own (Allen 2001).
Walter Baade
Click image to enlarge.
Walter Baade discovered that galaxy's were made up of two types of stars: Population I and Population II.
It was Walter Baade who figured out that by grouping the Population I and Population II Cepheids together to determine the period-luminosity relation, the calibration would be wrong. He realized that a galaxy is made up of two types of stellar populations. During World War II Baade, working at the Mount Wilson Observatory, undertook a detailed study of M31 and its accompanying nebulae M32 and NGC 205. He was able to take advantage of almost unlimited telescope time and excellent seeing conditions due to wartime blackouts. Baade found that if he used red-sensitive photographic plates it was possible, for the first time, to resolve stars in these companion galaxies and in the central region of M31 itself. He discovered that in a galaxy, there are two types of stellar populations, "... one which is represented by the ordinary H-R diagram (type I), the other by the H-R diagram for the globular clusters (type II). Characteristic of the first type are highly luminous O- and B- type stars and open clusters; of the second globular clusters and short-period Cepheids. ... Both types coexist, although differentiated by their spatial arrangement, in the intermediate spirals like the Andromeda nebula and our own Galaxy (Baade 1944)."
Baade and Hubble had already discussed at some length an apparent discrepancy in the distance calibration; they could not understand why the globular clusters associated with Andromeda appeared to be 1.5 magnitudes fainter than those in the Galaxy. Baade's discovery of two stellar populations suggested a solution. Baade wrote:
Miss Leavitt's cepheids in the Magellanic Clouds and the classical cepheids in our galaxy are clearly members of population I, while the cluster-type variables and the long-period cepheids of the globular clusters are members of population II. Since the color-magnitude diagrams of the two populations leave no doubt that . . . we are dealing with stars in different physical states, there was no a priori reason to expect that two cepheids of the same period, the one a member of population I, the other a member of population II, should have the same luminosity (Baade 1956).
After some magnitude-comparisons with new observations, Baade eventually satisfied himself that, "Instead of one period-luminosity relation there are actually two, one for type I cepheids, the other for type II. On the average a type one Cepheid is 1.5 magnitudes brighter than a type II Cepheid of the same period (Baade 1956)."
Two Period-Luminosity Relationships
Click image to enlarge.
The top line is the period-luminosity relationship for the "Classical" cepheids and the lower line is the relationship for the less luminous W Vir stars. The open circles represent variables in galactic clusters, and the x represents variables in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The broken line shows the relationship found in the Small Magellanic Cloud based on Henrietta Leavitt's calibration (for more on this P-L relation see VSOTM on Delta Cep, while the lower line is a best fit line through the points plotted.
Credit: Hoffmeister et. al. ,1985, Variable Stars, chapter 2: "Pulsating Variables", Figure 6, page 28.
This 1.5 magnitude discrepancy would correspond to a four-fold underestimate of luminosity for classical Cepheids, and a corresponding two-fold increase in their distances. The cosmos was re-scaled when Baade presented his findings to the International Astronomical Union in 1952. The Universe, and indeed Hubble's constant for galactic recession, both doubled in size. The Andromeda globular clusters were brought into line with the Galaxy's, and the Galaxy itself lost its status as giant of the local group - M31, now at twice its previously assumed distance, was easily the largest member (Allen 2001).
Milky Way Evolution and Stellar Populations
Baade recognized that the observations of the two distinct stellar populations formed a consistent pattern. Studying the characteristics of each population brings us closer to understanding how the Milky Way was originally formed. What follows is a simplified theory of the evolution of our Galaxy. Around 10-14 billion years ago, there were no stars; the Milky Way was just a swirling cloud of hydrogen and helium. As the cloud began to collapse under its own gravity, fragmentation occurred and clusters of stars were formed (Population II). The globular clusters seen in the halo of the galaxy are the residues of these primordial star clusters. Once formed, these stars and clusters will move forever in orbits similar to the chaotic motions of the collapsing gas clouds. They are the oldest stars in our Galaxy, since they were the first to form, and they are "metal poor" because the only material present when they formed was hydrogen and helium.
Stellar Populations
Image Copyright: Nick Strobel: See Astronomy Notes for updates.
As the Pop II stars evolved, they generated heavy elements through the process of nuclear reactions that govern a star's life. These metals were then thrown back into the interstellar material through pulsations of mira variables, stellar winds, or supernova explosions. Thus, as the primordial gas cloud of the Milky Way continued to collapse, it gained an increasing concentration of heavy elements produced by the first generation of stars. Also, as the gas collapsed it began to rotate, just as water begins to swirl as it goes down the drain. The Population I stars were formed in this rotating disk of gas, which was salted with heavy elements from the first generation of supernovae. The Population I stars are younger and more "metal rich" than the Population II stars. Because of the rotation in the cloud, the gas of the Milky Way began to flatten. It continued to flatten as it shrank, ultimately forming the thin disk that we see today (McCray, 2002).
Components of the Milky Way:
Milky Way structure
Click image to enlarge.
Schematic (edge-on) view of the major components of the Milky Way Galaxy's overall structure. Image credit: Roland Buser, 2000.
The model for the formation of the Milky Way is a good one, however, the distinctions among stellar populations may not be so clear-cut and in light of new evidence, the way we think about the Milky Way has been changed. At present the galaxy is thought to contain several components. Baade's Population I stars are typified in the thin disk while the Population II stars seem to be typified by the stellar halo. However, the thick disk is now thought to correspond to an Intermediate Population II group while the metal-rich bulge, once relegated to Population II, now seems distinct from the stellar halo. Richard McCray of Colorado University describes the components:
The Thin Disk (Population I)
Has sustained ongoing star formation for 10^10 years, so it contains stars of all ages. The spiral arms of the disk contain the youngest stars, regions of molecular clouds, protostars, stars of spectral type O and B, supergiants, and Type I Cepheids. The disk population contains stars of type A and later, planetary nebulae, and white dwarfs.
The Thick Disk (Intermediate Population II)
The true nature of this stellar population is not completely clear; it was originally classified as part of the halo, but is much flatter than any other halo population. Includes some miras and some RR Lyrae variables. Most of these stars are a little richer in metals than the halo population and it is thought that the thick disk is more closely associated with the thin disc rather than the halo.
Bulge (Population II?)
Subdwarfs are seen in the central bulge of the galaxy visible through Baade's window and other regions of low absorption. These stars span a wide range of metallicity and the exact shape of the bulge is rather unclear.
Stellar Halo (Extreme Population II)
As the oldest visible component of the galaxy, the halo holds important clues to the formation of the Milky Way. The halo includes the metal-poor subdwarfs in the solar neighborhood that have large velocities with respect to the sun, globular clusters which are the true tracers of the halo and contain Population II cepheids, and RR Lyrae variables among other stars. It has also been suggested that there are two components to the halo - a young and an old.
W Vir and the Population II Cepheids
W Virginis is the prototype for the population II cepheids, which are distinguished from classical cepheids (population I cepheids) by their amplitudes, light-curves, spectral characteristics, and radial velocity curves. The Type II Cepheids are low-mass variables whose luminosities lie below those of the classical Cepheids and above those of the RR Lyrae stars. The pulsating group of Type II Cepheids called the W Vir stars have periods of roughly 10-20 days and are common in the globular clusters of the halo, however, Type II cepheids may also be found in other components of the galaxy (thick disk, bulge) as well. Type I cepheids are most closely associated with the thin disc and the spiral arm components of the Galaxy.
According to Wallerstein (2002), the Type II Cepheids may be divided into groups according to their period. The stars with a period between 1 and 5 days are called the BL Her class, periods between 10-20 days are the W Vir class, and greater than 20 days are the RV Tau class. The General Catalogue of Variable Stars classification divides the W Vir stars into type A (W Vir) and type B (BL Her) stars. They list 173 objects as CWA, CWB, or CW. The vast majority lie at low to moderate Galactic latitudes and are likely to be thick-disk stars. The following is the classification system for Cepheids from the GCVS:
CW: W Virginis variables of the galactic spherical component population that pulsate with periods of approximately 8 to 35 days and amplitudes from 0.3 to 1.2 mag in V. They obey a period-luminosity relation different from that for Delta Cep variables. For an equal period value, the W Vir variables are fainter than the Delta Cep stars by 0.7 - 2 mag. The light curves of W Vir variables for some period intervals differ from those of Delta Cep variables for corresponding periods either by amplitudes or by the presence of humps on their descending branches, sometimes turning into broad flat maxima. W Vir variables are present in globular clusters and at high galactic latitudes. They may be separated into the following subtypes:
CWA: W Vir variables with periods longer than 8 days (W Vir stars); [wallerstein 2002 puts the cut off at 5 days]
CWB: W Vir variables with periods shorter than 8 days (BL Her stars). [wallerstein 2002 puts the cut off at 5 days]
DCEP: These are the classical cepheids, or Delta Cep-type variables. Com- paratively young objects that have left the main sequence and evolved into the instability strip of the Hertzsprung-Russell (H-R) diagram, they obey the well-known Cepheid period-luminosity relation and belong to the young disk population. DCEP stars are present in open clusters. They display a certain relation between the shapes of their light curves and their periods.
Although the Type II Cepheids have never been used as primary distance indicators (except by mistake!) like their population I counterparts, they have provided many interesting clues to both stellar and Galactic evolution not envisioned a half-century ago. The W Vir stars have a period-luminosity relationship that is similar to the perioid-luminosity relationship found in Type I Cepheids. The one big difference, however, as mentioned earlier, is that the Type II Cepheids are fainter by about 1.5 magnitudes than the Delta Cep stars.
Light Curves
On the left is a light curve of Delta Cep, the prototype for the Classical Cepheids. To the right is the light curve for W Virginis. Notice the "hump" on the descending branch of W Vir.
Credit: Hoffmeister et. al. ,1985, Variable Stars, chapter 2: "Pulsating Variables", Figure 4 and Figure 5, page 27.
The light curves for these two types of stars may also be different as seen in the figure above. For stars of similar period, W Vir stars commonly have a "hump" on their descending branch and are usually fainter than the Delta Cep stars.
Type II Cepheid Evolution
The Population II Cepheids are dynamic stars that spend significant amounts of time in the instability strip of the H-R Diagram. As these stars ascend the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) in the last phases of their lives, they experience helium shell flashes in the area where the Carbon-Oxygen core and the helium region meet. During the shell flashes, the stellar radius diminishes temporarily, and the star moves to the left into the instability region of the H-R Diagram. In the instability strip the star will pulsate and "loop" around the instability region, moving to the left and then back to the right. Bono, Caputo, & Santolamazza (1997a) found that the Type II Cepheids are fundamental pulsators with masses between 0.52 and 0.59 solar masses. They found a correlation of mass with period in which the longer period stars have the smallest massess. So as these stars evolve, they lose mass and ascend the AGB becoming brighter and lengthening their period until they reach the tip of the AGB. The star then evolves back across the H-R diagram as an RV Tau star (for more on RV Tau stars see VSOTM R Sct). The stellar mass is then reduced to that of the central star of a planetary nebula and a low-mass white dwarf (Wallerstein 2002).
A Call for help
As the Type II Cepheids evolve to the right and to the left in the H-R diagram, it is expected that their periods should be increasing and decreasing, respectively, however observational evidence is needed to prove this theory. This is where YOU come in. By making observations of these stars, we can prove the theory correct or incorrect, but without observations there is no way to tell for sure. John Percy (2000) points out that there are very few Population II Cepheids which have been observed regularly and systematically over many decades. In particular, there are many recent gaps in the data of the prototype star W Virginis. Yet these are the stars whose periods and amplitudes may change on a time scale of decades; RU Cam is a dramatic example. In 1965-66 this population II cepheid abruptly decreased in amplitude (Percy and Hale 1998).
andromeda.gif While examining the photographic plates of the Andromeda Nebula in search of novae, Edwin Hubble marked each suspect with the letter "N". On this plate, three suspected novae are indicated. Hubble later discovered that one of the marked stars was actually a Cepheid variable. The "N" was subsequently crossed out and the star was relabeled as "VAR!"
Image Credit: Mount Wilson Observatory, Historical Archive
The period changes in these stars should be rapid considering they are in a very dynamic stage of their lives. Percy notes that there are 10 Population II Cepheids brighter than magnitude 10: T Ant, V733 Aql, RU Cam, TX Del, SW Tau, AL Vir, V553 Cen, kappa Pav, AU Peg, and RT TrA. Of these, RU Cam and AL Vir are in the AAVSO observing program and have charts available for you to make variable star estimations. There is a B-Scale chart and a reversed B-Scale chart for RU Cam while several different scale charts may be found for AL Vir by looking on the charts for Z Vir. Long-term monitoring of a carefully selected sample of Population II Cepheids would be an excellent project for AAVSO visual, photoelectric, or CCD observers. We strongly urge the AAVSO visual and photoelectric observers to begin monitoring a few Population II Cepheids in a systematic way. Help close the observing gap for these stars to provide the observational evidence needed to support the theories of stellar and Galactic evolution.
For More Information
• AAVSO B-Scale Chart
• Allen, N.J. "The Cepheid Distance Scale: A History" MSc FRAS, 2001.
• Baade, W. "The resolution of Messier 32, NGC 205, and the central region of the Andromeda nebula" Astrophysical Journal, 100, 137-146, 1944.
• Baade, W. "The period-luminosity relation of the Cepheids". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 68, 5-16, 1956.
• Barnes, Joshua "Populations and Components of the Milky Way" website for astronomy course at University of Hawaii.
• Bono, G., Caputo, F., Santolamazza, P. "Evolutionary scenario for metal-poor pulsating stars. I. Type II Cepheids." Astronomy and Astrophysics, 317, 171-177, 1997.
• Buser R. "The Formation and Early Evolution of the Milky Way Galaxy" Science, 287, No. 5450, 69-74, 2000.
• "Eduard Schönfeld" Obituary The Astronomical Journal, 11, 16, May, 1891.
• "Eduard Schönfeld" Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 52, 239, 1892.
• Gingold, R.A. "The Evolutionary Status of Type II Cepheids" Population II Variables: Frascati Workshop, 1984.
• Hoffmeister, C., Richter, G., Wenzel, W. Variable Stars, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1985.
• McCray, Richard "Evolution of the Milky Way" website for astronomy course at University of Colorado.
• NASA web page on "The Scale of the Universe".
• Percy, J.R. and Hoss, J.X. "Period Changes in Population II Cepheids: TX Del and W Vir" Journal of the American Association of Variable Star Observers, 29, 14, 2000.
• Percy, J.R. and Hale, J. "Period Changes, Evolution, and Multiperiodicity in the Peculiar Population II Cepheid RU Camelopardalis" Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 110, 1428, 1998.
• Ostlie, D.A and Carroll, B.W. An Introduction to Modern Stellar Astrophysics, Weber State University, Addison-Wesley publishing, 1996.
• Vassiliadis, E., and Wood, P.R. "Evolution of low- and intermediate-mass stars to the end of the asymptotic giant branch with mass loss" Astrophysical Journal, 413, 641, 1993.
• Wallerstein, G. "The Cepheids of Population II and Related Stars" Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 114: 689-699, 2002.
• Wallerstein, G., and Cox, A.N. "The Population II Cepheids" Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 96, 677, 1984.
• Webb, S. Measuring the Universe: the Cosmological Distance Ladder, Springer-Praxis, 1999.
This month's Variable Star of the Season was prepared by Kate Davis, AAVSO Technical Assistant.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42114 | Full speed ahead: Real-time adaptation at GE transportation
GE Transportation’s uses real-time adaptation to optimize its rail network.
General Electric, a leader in locomotive technology, has targeted rail transport as an industry open to the benefits of real-time adaptation. Real-time adaptation is the ability to collect, analyze and model data and then integrate that with knowledge of context to make and enact decisions that can lead to previously unimaginable results.
GE’s Transportation RailConnect 360 uses real-time technology to enable predictive modeling and decision-making that capture windows of opportunities as they emerge. For example, the network optimization system, which analyzes data on the entire rail network, helps operators decide to re-route, slow or speed trains.
Related Links:
Over the next five years, new digital technologies promise to dramatically change work outcomes and work experiences for employees of all sorts across a wide array of industries. Companies that want to lead in the digital era must rethink the way they get work done.
Real-time adaptation is a work practice that will become much more prevalent among leading companies in the digital era. Digital technologies will help companies respond to changing business conditions in real time.
With GE’s Transportation RailConnect 360, an example of real-time adaptive technology, rail yard operators are able to maximize the overall capacity and velocity of the network.
Real-time adaptation has the potential to bring faster decision-making and greater operational flexibility to industries where a fraction of a percent improvement in productivity can add greatly to the bottom line.
With intelligent digital processes, people and organizations can now do much more than react to change – they can anticipate it, even leverage it to achieve unprecedented results while minimizing risk.
Robert J. Thomas, managing director of the Accenture Institute for High Performance, is the author of “Crucibles of Leadership” (Harvard Business Press, 2008) and “What Machines Can’t Do” (University of California Press, 1994).
Alex Kass, a senior research manager, currently leads the Digital Workforce Innovation Initiative in Accenture Technology Labs.
Ladan Davarzani is a research fellow with the Accenture Institute for High Performance. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42133 | 1. Home
2. Linux
How To Scan Open Ports On A Linux PC With Zenmap
Leaving vulnerable networking ports open is dangerous, even with a steller, safe OS like Linux. Having ports like this open is a great way for intruders to gain unwanted access to your Linux PC. If you’re curious about that state of ports on your Linux PC, or other network devices on your network, you may want to scan open ports and close the ones you’re not using.
Scan Open Ports
When it comes to port scanning, Zenmap is king. The program is by far the most well-known graphical front-end for Nmap on Linux. Many people in the security industry use it, and as a result, it is simple to install on most mainstream Linux operating systems. The software is usually found in mainstream distribution’s package repositories.
To install it, open up a terminal and follow the instructions below depending on your OS of choice.
On Ubuntu, users can quickly get the latest version of Zenmap working without much trouble as Canonical makes it available in the main software sources. Open up “Ubuntu Software Center,” search for “Zenmap”, and select the “Install” button. Otherwise, use this command in terminal:
sudo apt install zenmap
Debian has a version of Zenmap that is available for easy installation via the included software sources. However, keep in mind that this version is out of date due to the nature of Debian. If you’re in need of a newer version of Zenmap than what is included with Debian Stable proper, check out Debian Backports.
sudo apt install zenmap
Arch Linux
On Arch Linux, there isn’t an official “Zenmap” package in the software repositories. Instead, Arch users looking to use the GUI frontend for Nmap will need to install the nmap package via Pacman. Installing this package will also install Zenmap.
sudo pacman -S nmap
Fedora Linux doesn’t have a “Zenmap” package. Instead, Fedora users looking to use the Zenmap tool will need to install nmap-frontend. Open up a terminal and use the DNF packaging tool to install Zenmap.
sudo dnf install -y nmap-frontend
OpenSUSE distributes Zenmap via the “OSS all” software repository. Be sure to enable it on your system. Once it is enabled, use the Zypper package manager to install it to the system.
sudo zypper in zenmap
Generic Linux
Zenmap may be in your distribution’s software sources. To install, search for “zenmap” and install it. Alternatively, follow these instructions to build it from source.
Step 1: run wget to download the latest source-code of Zenmap.
wget https://nmap.org/dist/nmap-7.70.tar.bz2
Step 2: extract the source code from the Tar archive.
bzip2 -cd nmap-*.tar.bz2 | tar xvf -
Step 3: use the CD command to enter the source code folder.
cd nmap-*
Step 4: build and install the program.
sudo make install
Using Zenmap
Zenmap is a powerful tool. With it, it’s possible to scan for open ports on nearly any machine as long as you know the IP address. In this article, we are scanning ports for security purposes. Please do not use this tool maliciously.
To start a scan, Zenmap must be running as root. Without root access, key features will refuse to work. Open up a terminal and run the following command to launch the app with root privileges:
sudo zenmap
Now that the Zenmap tool is open, it’s ready to scan ports. To start a scan, type in the known IP address into the “target” section. After writing the IP address in, you’ll need to select the type of operation to use. Usually, scanning ports is a long, painful process. If you’re just looking to get a baseline and determine what ports may be open, try “Quick”.
To start a quick scan, click the profile drop-down menu and select the “Quick” option.
With the correct profile set, click the “Scan” button.
Quick scans in Zenmap happen quite fast and often find openings by scanning common ports. View the port scan output by selecting the “Ports/Hosts” tab.
Alternatively, run a detailed port scan on a network by selecting the “Intense scan” option in the profile drop-down menu.
Zenmap can do much more than scan open ports. It also makes a great GUI tool for running traceroutes. Better yet, each traceroute run on a network device will be highlighted in the Topology tab.
To run a traceroute, enter an IP address/hostname in the target section. Next, select “Quick traceroute” in the profile menu and click scan.
Let Zenmap run and trace. When it finishes up, click the “Topology” tab.
In the Topology tab, Zenmap will build a web of all the different network devices it discovers by pinging and tracing. Highlight the device you ran the trace on, right click and select “Traceroute” to view the hops the device makes. Alternatively, follow the blue lines, as they indicate the routes the network device makes.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42134 | 1. Home
2. Windows
How to sync brightness across multiple displays on Windows 10
Brightness for screens, particularly for external displays aren’t the easiest to manage. For one, the Windows 10 brightness control will not work for external displays. It only works with internal displays by default. If you have a multiple display set up, you likely have to set the brightness for your displays separately. An easy way to sync brightness across multiple displays is to use an app called ClickMonitorDDC.
Sync brightness across multiple displays
ClickMonitorDDC has both a portable and an installable version. If you don’t have admin rights on your system, the portable version will work just as well. Pick which one you want to use and download it.
Run the app. It will run in the system tray by default where it displays the RGB values, contrast, and brightness values for a monitor. A window will open listing the monitors connected to your system. At the top left, there’s a button that will open the app’s settings.
Before you click it though, you should copy the name of your monitors as they appear. To do that, right-click a monitor and select the Change option from the context menu. In the window that opens, copy the name of the monitor. Repeat this for both(all) your monitors. Now you’re ready to go to the app’s settings.
On the settings window, enable the ‘Automatically use brightness from source monitor’ option. Enter the name of the monitor that you want to copy the brightness level from in the first field. In the second field, enter the name of the monitor you want to sync the brightness level to, click Apply, and the brightness for both will be synced.
Keep the app running and whenever you change the brightness for the source display, the brightness for the second display will change accordingly. More importantly, if you have adaptive brightness enabled, this app will sync the change in brightness from your internal display to the external one. It will basically extend the feature to a display that would otherwise not have it.
This can work both ways i.e., you can sync the brightness from the external monitor to the internal one as well. All you have to do is change which monitor you’ve entered as the source (first field) and which one you’ve entered in the ‘For’ field (second one). The app is set to run automatically when you log on to your desktop even if you’re running the portable version.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42143 | Air Force Photos
Airman 1st Class Matthew Pfeffer, 36th Airlift Squadron loadmaster from Yokota Air Base, Japan, prepares to release a low-cost, low-altitude bundle out of the back of a C-130J Super Hercules during Operation Christmas Drop 2018 at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Dec. 6, 2018. Through the training of LCLA airdrops on unsurveyed drop zones alongside the Japan Air Self-Defense Force and Royal Australian Air Force, the U.S. Air Force is able to maintain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Matthew Gilmore)
Download Image: Full Size (2.37 MB)
Photo by: Senior Airman Matthew Gilmore | VIRIN: 181206-F-GA541-953.JPG |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42149 | Here's How To Tame Your Appetite For Weight Loss
Here's How To Tame Your Appetite For Weight Loss
If you're on a weight-loss journey, you can use these evidence-based methods to suppress your appetite and avoid overeating. They will also help you kill hunger pangs.
One of the most difficult aspects of dieting has to be taming your monster appetite. The foodie life is not easy. You are in a constant war with cravings and taste buds and rumbling tummies. But that 2020 summer body will not load itself, so here's what we have done. We've compiled some tips and tricks that will help you curb your appetite and slay cravings. See them below:
10 Tips For Suppressing Your Appetite
Bulk up your meals.
There's a lot of evidence that bulk - that is, fibre - reduces appetite. So turn up the volume with higher-fiber foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and beans. These foods also tend to have high water content, which helps you feel full.
Cool off your appetite with soup.
Have a bowl of broth or vegetable-based soup (hot or cold) for a first course, and you'll probably end up eating fewer total calories at that meal. Creamy or high-fat soups need not apply for this job. Stick to the low-calorie, high-fibre choices like vegetable-bean type soups.
Crunch your appetite away with a big salad.
One study found that when people had a large (3 cups), low-calorie (100 calories) salad before lunch, they ate 12% fewer calories during the meal. When they had a smaller salad (1 1/2 cups and 50 calories), they ate 7% fewer calories overall. You can make the same salads used in the study: Toss romaine lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, celery, and cucumbers together, and top with fat-free or low-fat dressing. But beware the fatty salad! Eating a high-calorie salad, even a small one, can encourage us to eat more calories at the meal than if we ate no salad at all.
Stay on course.
A little bit of variety in your meals is good and even healthy. But having several courses during a meal can lead you down the wrong path. So, adding an extra course to your meal (unless it's a low-calorie salad or broth-type soup) usually increases the total calories you consume for that meal.
An orange or grapefruit a day helps keep appetite away.
Research suggests that low-calorie plant foods that are rich in soluble fiber -- like oranges and grapefruit -- help us feel fuller faster and keep blood sugars steady. This can translate into better appetite control. Of the 20 most popular fruits and vegetables, oranges and grapefruits are highest in fiber!
Get milk (or other low-fat dairy foods).
Here's How To Tame Your Appetite For Weight Loss
Increasing your intake of low-fat dairy foods is a great way to get more of two proteins that are thought to be appetite suppressors -- whey and casein. And drinking milk may be especially effective. A recent study found that whey -- the liquid part of milk -- was better at reducing appetite than casein
Have some fat with your carbs -- but not too much!
Here's How To Tame Your Appetite For Weight Loss
When we eat fat, a hormone called leptin is released from our fat cells. This is a good thing when we're talking about moderate amounts of fat. Studies have shown that a lack of leptin (due to a very low-fat diet) can trigger a voracious appetite. Obviously, we want to do the opposite of that. But that doesn't mean we should opt for a high-fat meal. Research has found a higher frequency of obesity among people who eat a high-fat diet than among those who eat a low-fat diet.
Enjoy some soy.
Here's How To Tame Your Appetite For Weight Loss
Soybeans offer protein and fat along with carbohydrates. That alone would suggest that soybeans are more satisfying and more likely to keep our appetites in control than most plant foods. But a recent study in rats suggests that a particular component in soybeans has definite appetite-suppressing qualities.
Go nuts.
Here's How To Tame Your Appetite For Weight Loss
Nuts help you feel satisfied because of their protein and fiber content. A handful of these vitamin- and mineral-rich nuggets will hold you over between meals. But keep that handful small: Nuts are high in fat, even though it is the healthy monounsaturated kind.
Slow down, you're eating too fast.
It takes at least 20 minutes for your brain to get the message that your stomach is officially "comfortable" and that you should stop eating. If you eat slowly, the brain has a chance to catch up with the stomach, and you're less likely to overeat.
Some Other Appetite-Suppressing Foods To Snack On
Below is a list of foods that act as natural appetite suppressants:
• Almonds
• Coffee
• Ginger
• Avocado
• Cayenne Pepper
• Apples
• Eggs
• Sweet Potatoes
• Dark chocolate
• Tofu
• Green tea
• Oatmeal
• Flax Seeds
• Cinnamon
Web MD
Also read: What To Cook For Christmas: 4 Delicious Alternatives To Rice
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42182 | Full disclosure: one of the associate producers of this film is a friend of mine from college. Once, he directed a movie that I production designed. Now he's a Hollywood executive and I blog. I'll try to keep my spittle-flecked jealousy from spilling into the review.
Iron Man is a film straddling a knife's edge between being extraordinarily good and being effective middleweight entertainment, and the difference between those two points is the difference between two men: Robert Downey, Jr. and Jon Favreau. Both rather odd choices to lead a comic book movie and summer tent pole, and only one of them earns the title of an inspired choice.
In the first film self-financed by Marvel Studios, Downey plays Tony Stark, the Howard Hughes-inspired crazy industrialist who we first saw in the spring of 1963 building himself a super-powered suit of armor to escape from the Vietnamese prison where he was held captive. That's been tweaked a little bit, of course: now it's an Afghanistan warlord who captures the weapons developer Stark, visiting the US military on a sales trip.
In all his incarnations in all media, however, one thing remains constant: Tony Stark is a playboy who likes expensive toys and gorgeous women, and has something of a sense of entitled superiority. If this sounds like the kind of role that professional sarcastic asshole Downey is very good at playing, it should: Downey is very good in the role. "Very good" is underselling it by a considerable margin, actually. In Downey's hands, Tony Stark instantly becomes one of the great characters in the whole of the superhero movie, creating a figure that can stand alongside Christopher Reeve's Clark Kent and Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne, and pretty much nobody else. Downey-as-Stark is the beating heart that makes the whole movie tick, mixing humor and a slightly desperate edge and scuzzy charm all up in a cocktail of character psychology that is rarely seen in a comic book movie and never as much fun as it is here. It's thanks to Downey that I realised that this film of Iron Man isn't about Iron Man at all; it's about the man who chooses to pretend to be Iron Man, and why he does it (in this as in many ways, the film is quite close to being a retread of Batman Begins, except without brutal nihilism).
And as good as Robert Downey, Jr. is for Iron Man, so is Iron Man good for Robert Downey, Jr; I'm honestly not sure that I've ever seen the actor in a role with quite as much range as Tony Stark (the comic book movie ain't what it used to be, kids). He's a raconteur, a guilt-ridden bomb-maker, an avenging angel, the smartest guy in the room, and it's rare that he only has to be one of those things at a time. Downey's versatility in gliding through Stark's emotions is something to behold, and prove (if we needed it) that he's one of the most capable actors in the movies today.
Ah, but I did promise that the film was on a knife's edge, didn't I? Iron Man was directed by Jon Favreau, a man whose name is likelier to call to mind Swingers, which he didn't direct, than any of the handful of films which he did. Since that handful includes Made, Elf and Zathura, it's an open question whether that association helps or harms Favreau's reputation. But this much is clear: he's not necessarily the strongest director to ever helm a blockbuster. Without question, Iron Man is his greatest film, and much of what makes it work is entirely the director's fault: it was his innovation to encourage the actors to ad-lib (like "a Robert Altman-directed Superman" says the director), he chose to represent the Iron Man outfit using practical effects whenever it was remotely possible to do so, and I assume he has something to do with the film's effortless pace, in which a 126-minute film seems far, far too short. No mistake, Iron Man is a hell of a lot of fun, and a great start to the summer season, and the bar has definitely been raised for the next three months. You'd have to hold a personal grudge against the idea of comic books not to find it a delicious entertainment.
Thing is, we're in a very rare moment where superhero movies get to be more than delicious entertainments; at their best, they can be legitimate great cinema by any yardstick, not just the stunted knobby one we use to discuss popcorn movies. And that takes a stronger authorial voice than Favreau is capable of offering. Think about the great movies in this genre in the last decade: Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2, X2, Batman Begins. Each one of those films had a clear personality, and each of those films was made by a filmmaker with a strong voice. Admittedly, two of those films aren't much "fun" in any useful sense, but the Raimi films in particular prove that you can have a roller-coaster movie that also has a lot art backing it up.
I'm not saying that Iron Man doesn't have strong themes; I'm not saying that it's bad in any possible definition of that word. I'm not even saying a strong personality is the only thing that makes a comic book movie worthwhile; Hulk and Superman Returns had personality. I'm saying that it feels kind of disposable, without the sort of iconography that makes you think about it for days and weeks, trying to figure out how it works. It's a lot of fun while you're watching it, but it doesn't wedge itself in your head. It doesn't force us to reconsider the possibilities of what a comic book movie can be. It's a solid entertainment, and while it's easy to wish it were more than that, it's worth pointing out how much less it could have been. Put it another way: if this turns out to be below the top tier for the year's blockbusters, we're in for a hell of a summer.
Other MCU reviews (Phase 1)
Iron Man (Favreau, 2008)
The Incredible Hulk (Leterrier, 2008)
Iron Man 2 (Favreau, 2010)
Thor (Branagh, 2011)
Captain America: The First Avenger (Johnston, 2011)
The Avengers (Whedon, 2012) |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42247 | What is Tinnitus?
Other than a ringing sound, a person can hear a hissing, pulsating, roaring, chirping, whistling, clicking or whooshing sound. It can occur in one or both ears at the same time.
Tinnitus is a very common problem. Chronic tinnitus affects 36 million or about 1 in 5 people but everyone has had transient sounds of ringing in the ear. Others have annoying and constant symptoms, sometimes needing medical attention. In many cases, the cause of tinnitus is unknown.
Tinnitus is not a disease in and of itself but is instead considered a symptom of another disease or condition. Sometimes the character of the sound heard can point toward the origin or cause of the tinnitus.
The causes of tinnitus will be discussed in the next section but suffice it to say there are many causes of the disorder, including secondary to loss of hearing, exposure to loud noises, Meniere’s disease, toxic drugs, head injury, anemia, stress, high blood pressure, wax in the ear, caffeine and smoking.
Tinnitus can be heard at any time of the day but is much worse at night. By day, the usual distractions of daily life make it seem that the tinnitus is less. In the quiet of the evening, the tinnitus can seem to increase.
When you have tinnitus, you will be seen by a certified audiologist to see if you have lost hearing as part of your tinnitus. The audiologist will direct you toward any number of treatments that might control your symptoms. The audiologist will ask you a number of questions related to the strength and character of the noise you hear.
In some cases, the underlying cause of tinnitus can be treated. There can also be complementary medical treatments including biofeedback, electrical stimulation, hypnosis, counseling, relaxation therapy, habituation therapies, sound machines and tinnitus maskers. All block the perception of noise.
A hearing aid may improve the situation with tinnitus. It improves your hearing and reduces the perception of tinnitus. There are also tinnitus maskers that cover up the perception of sound.
Symptoms of Tinnitus
Tinnitus is not life-threatening; it is mainly annoying and can cause anxiety and depression when left unchecked. It can be one of any type of noise, including a ringing sensation, a buzzing noise, a roaring sound, a clicking sound or a hissing sensation. It can be a low roar that interferes with your sleep or an annoying high squealing sound. You may hear it in one ear or in both ears. It can come and go or can be steady in nature. It can interfere with the way you concentrate and can be so loud that it blocks external noise.
There are basically two kinds of tinnitus:
• Subjective tinnitus. This is tinnitus that only you can hear. It is the type of tinnitus that occurs secondary to trauma to the ear and is the most common type of the disorder. It can be caused by outer, middle or inner ear problems. It can also be caused by damage to the auditory nerve or to the aspect of the brain that controls hearing and the hearing pathways.
• Objective tinnitus. This involves tinnitus that the doctor can hear with the naked ear or with a stethoscope. This is much more rare than subjective tinnitus and is often secondary to a problem with a blood vessel, an inner ear problem or muscle contractions.
Call your doctor regarding your tinnitus because the tinnitus can be a symptom of an underlying medical condition, including high blood pressure, low thyroid condition or blood vessel disease. If you notice tinnitus associated with pain in the ear or drainage from the ear, see the doctor as you may be suffering from an ear infection. If you experience dizziness along with your tinnitus, it’s possible you have Meniere’s disease or some type of neurological disease. Your doctor should be able to sort out whether or not your tinnitus is dangerous.
Causes of Tinnitus
In objective tinnitus, the doctor can hear the sound, too. It usually beats in time to your pulse and is a result of altered blood flow to the ear from atherosclerosis or from a carotid artery aneurysm. People with giant cell arteritis can also give rise to a sound that the doctor can hear.
In subjective tinnitus, there are dozens of causes. Most of them come from ear diseases—the same that cause hearing loss. Noise is the greatest cause of hearing loss that also leads to tinnitus. Occupational hearing loss is especially great. A person can also be exposed to ototoxic drugs that damage the hearing nerves and cause ringing in the ear. Some drugs increase the sensitivity of the ear to noise, even if the doses themselves are not toxic. Stopping benzodiazepines can cause tinnitus that passes after several months.
Other causes of subjective tinnitus include:
• External ear infection
• Earwax impaction
• Exposure to excessive noise
• Age-related hearing loss
• Meniere’s disease
• Tumor within the ear
• Lead or mercury poisoning
• Certain antibiotics
• Excessive use of aspirin
• Certain chemotherapy drugs
• Loop diuretics
• Multiple sclerosis
• Head injury—whiplash, closed head injury, skull fracture
• Thyroid disease
• Psychiatric disorders—depression, anxiety
• Fibromyalgia
• Lyme disease
• Migraine headaches
Sometimes the cause of tinnitus is not known, which makes it difficult to search for a proper treatment.
Diagnosing Tinnitus
Tinnitus is difficult to diagnose and often the cause of the tinnitus is never found. Because the noise is usually heard by just the sufferer, it cannot be detected by the doctor himself. The doctor must rely on your subjective description of tinnitus to make the diagnosis
The doctor can examine your head, neck and ears as part of the evaluation of tinnitus that is objective. Tests can be done to see what is going on, including:
• Having you move your head around or move your eyes. Certain types of tinnitus change with the position of your head.
• Doing a hearing test. Low levels of hearing can be a cause of tinnitus. You sit in a quiet room and listen to certain sounds to see if you can detect them.
• Imaging tests, such as a CT scan or MRI scan can detect small tumors which might cause the problem.
• Paying attention to the underlying sound. If it is a clicking sound, this points to a different origin when compared to a rushing, humming or heart beat sound. Low pitched ringing sounds can point to Meniere’s disease and high pitched ringing sound can point to damage related to a blow to the ear or to a loud noise exposure.
• Earwax, hair or a foreign body in the ear can be detected using an otoscope.
In cases of objective tinnitus, the patient and doctor can detect the sound and it is easier to find the cause of the tinnitus with the potential for a cure. In most cases, the exact diagnosis is not found and the treatment is directed at masking the sound.
The Treatment of Tinnitus
The treatment of tinnitus depends on the cause. With objective tinnitus, the tumor or aneurysm causing the problem can be surgically removed. Things like thyroid disease causing tinnitus can be treated with a reduction of tinnitus. Surgical correction of an arteriovenous malformation can completely eliminate the sound of the tinnitus.
In cases where there is no identifiable cause for the tinnitus, it can still be treated. If not, the symptoms might just go away or might become a chronic disability. Some medical treatments for tinnitus exist, including:
• Niacin. While there is no scientific explanation as to why this works, it can be tried. Side effects include flushing and heat on the skin.
• Neurontin. Also called gabapentin, it seems to reduce the annoying factor of tinnitus but did not actually change the intensity of the sound.
• Campral. This is also called acamprosate. It is normally used to treat alcoholism but, in one study, showed an 87 percent relief rate when it comes to tinnitus.
• Low doses of antidepressants. Especially if you try tricyclic antidepressants, you will receive a reduction in the amount of tinnitus you hear.
• Benzodiazepines. These can relax you and make the frustration of tinnitus much less prominent.
There are relaxation techniques that can be used to help you cope with the disease.
You can practice meditation, Tai Chi, yoga, guided imagery or other form of relaxation that can make the tinnitus bearable. Counseling, therapy and support groups can also help with coping with the problem.
If the tinnitus is caused by ear wax, the doctor will remove the wax and this should take care of the unwanted noise. Treating an ear infection can also reduce the sensation of tinnitus. If you have TMJ syndrome, your doctor may refer you to see an ear, nose, and throat doctor or an orthodontist.
Hearing aids can be helpful in the management of tinnitus. When you can learn to hear better, it automatically blocks the sound of the tinnitus. If the tinnitus was from trauma to the ear, however, there may not be a resolution of the tinnitus and you may not get better.
Some patients receive benefit from the use of tinnitus maskers. These are tiny devices that resemble hearing aids. The devices play a more pleasant sound than the sound made by the tinnitus. There is a new device known as a tinnitus instrument, which provides the best qualities of a tinnitus master and hearing aid.
You can use external sound machines that provide you with a background noise for use especially at night. You can use fish tanks, low volume of music, fans, indoor waterfalls and other devices to block the sound of the internal tinnitus. Even getting an iPod can help with songs on it that you like to make the tinnitus effectively go away in favor of pleasant music you can listen to.
Risk Factors for Tinnitus
Anyone can come down for tinnitus but there are certain factors that increase your risk. These include:
• Exposure to loud noise. Occupational or other exposure to loud noise over time can do damage to the sensory hair cells in your ear and can damage your hearing. This can be replaced by tinnitus with otherwise poor hearing.
• Age. The number of good nerve fibers in your inner ear goes down, which can cause hearing problems and secondary ringing in the ears.
• Gender. It is usually men who are more likely to come down with tinnitus.
• Smokers. These people have a greater risk of getting tinnitus.
• Heart disease. If you have high blood pressure or narrowed arteries, you can have a risk of getting tinnitus.
Complications of Tinnitus
While it seems like a minor thing, tinnitus has the ability to affect the quality of life in a significant way. While it affects people to different degrees, if you have tinnitus it can cause you to experience other symptoms that can negatively influence your life. Some of these symptoms include:
• Tiredness. You can have a poor quality of sleep or increased stress that makes you feel tired all the time.
• Stress. The mere fact that there is a constant sound going on in your head all the time can stress you out and is why stress-relieving techniques work wonders on this annoying problem.
• Sleep difficulty. Unless you use some kind of external or internal tinnitus masker, you can have difficulty finding the quietness it takes to get enough sleep.
• Trouble concentrating. With ongoing sound in your ear, it can be difficult to fully concentrate on external tasks or even conversations.
• Memory problems. If you can’t concentrate, you can’t memorize that which you couldn’t concentrate on in the first place. Memory is strongly associated with focus and you need to be able to reduce distraction if you’re going to focus.
• Depression. Tinnitus over time can lead to depressive symptoms in need of antidepressants.
• Anxiety. Nervousness is a part of having an annoying sound in your ear all the time.
any medical problems that do exist.
• Avoiding activities that are exacerbating the condition. Taking frequent breaks from repetitive motion activities is recommended.
• Wearing a wrist splint, especially at night. Some people also prefer to use it during the day as well.
• Using nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications to ease the pain and swelling of
• the affected tendons and nerves.
• Oral corticosteroids or injectable corticosteroids are used. The injections are given into the area where the median nerve is pinched.
Surgery is sometimes used when all other remedies have not been successful or if there is already damage to the median nerve. During the surgery, the doctor cuts the “roof” off the carpal tunnel by cutting the overlying ligament. This immediately relieves the pressure off of the median nerve and the nerve eventually heals.
The only time the surgery is unsuccessful is when the nerve has already been damaged by carpal tunnel syndrome or if the nerve is damaged from other causes, such as diabetes.
If you or a loved one has suffered traumatic carpel tunnel syndrome as a result of someone else's negligence and would like to discuss your legal options with an experienced Sacramento Personal Injury Lawyer, contact us online or call us at 916.921.6400 to set up a FREE consultation.
Client Reviews |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42260 | In the earliest days of the smartphone, there were only a few apps that people could use to perform genuinely useful work. Sure, they were handy for keeping your contacts all in one place and reminding you of appointments, but beyond that, your pickings were fairly slim. That changed quickly with the explosion of apps that brought the smartphone into the mainstream.
In what felt like the blink of an eye, suddenly people found themselves able leverage their phones to do a broad range of work from anywhere. While laptops are obviously still better for some things, the lines are continuing to blur.
Earlier this year, Microsoft took another step in that direction, adding an 'Insert Data from Picture' to Android devices, which suddenly opened a world of new possibilities for using smartphone users. Unfortunately, Apple users were left out of the equation.
That, however, has changed. Microsoft just announced that it's porting the 'Insert Data from Picture' feature to the iOS system as well. In fact, the process has already begun.
Whatever type of smart device you have, if you haven't heard of the feature before now, here's a quick overview:
• Open Excel on your phone or tablet and tap the 'Insert Data from Picture' button
• Tweak the capture field, zooming in on the data until a red border appears around it, then tap it to capture.
• Excel will process the image data and convert it into a table.
• From there, the software will give you an opportunity to correct any issues it discovered during the conversion process. You can choose to either ignore, edit, or correct it.
• Once you've decided, press 'Insert' and Excel will finalize the data.
If you're like most people, the first time you use it, you'll wonder how you ever got along without it. It is simply a superb addition to the software.
Used with permission from Article Aggregator |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42309 |
Oh no, not TWELVE!
The worst part is the waiting.
He gives you a lecture and tells you he's going to spank you or cane you or whatever. Then he gets up and chooses the implement, telling you to prepare yourself. I've been whacked often enought to know the drill: knickers down, skirt up, hands on knees and bottom stuck out as far as possible. It's the next bit that gets to me.
He walks around the room, swishing that wretched cane or smacking the tawse or hairbrush against his hand: it really puts the shivers into you. Why can't he just get on with it and have it over and done with? The answer, of course, is that the the build-up is part of the punishment. He knows the effect it's having.
What's he saying? 'He caned me for poor exam results last term and it doesn't seem to have had any effect? My marks were worse this term.' Well, the damn exams this term were harder, weren't they?
"So, young lady, apparently six wasn't enough to persuade you to work harder, so let's see what twleve will do."
Oh no! Not twelve! Oh my God, I think I might wet myself! Twelve! Oh Lord, here he comes!
Illustration from Wontonart |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42312 | Genesis 16
Sarai and Hagar
1Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. 2And Sarai said to Abram, "Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. 4And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. 5And Sarai said to Abram, "May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!" 6But Abram said to Sarai, "Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please." Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.
7The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8And he said, "Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?" She said, "I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai." 9The angel of the Lord said to her, "Return to your mistress and submit to her." 10The angel of the Lord also said to her, "I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude." 11And the angel of the Lord said to her,
"Behold, you are pregnant
and shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,
because the Lord has listened to your affliction.
12 He shall be a wild donkey of a man,
his hand against everyone
and everyone's hand against him,
and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen."
13So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, "You are a God of seeing," for she said, "Truly here I have seen him who looks after me." 14Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered.
Learn More About English Standard Version |
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Dictionaries :: Owl
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Easton's Bible Dictionary
(1.) Heb. bath-haya'anah, "daughter of greediness" or of "shouting." In the list of unclean birds (Lev 11:16; Deu 14:15); also mentioned in Job 30:29; Isa 13:21; 34:13; 43:20; Jer 50:39; Mic 1:8. In all these passages the Revised Version translates "ostrich" (q.v.), which is the correct rendering.
(2.) Heb. yanshuph, rendered "great owl" in Lev 11:17; Deut. 14:16, and "owl" in Isa 34:11. This is supposed to be the Egyptian eagle-owl (Bubo ascalaphus), which takes the place of the eagle-owl (Bubo maximus) found in Southern Europe. It is found frequenting the ruins of Egypt and also of the Holy Land. "Its cry is a loud, prolonged, and very powerful hoot. I know nothing which more vividly brought to my mind the sense of desolation and loneliness than the re-echoing hoot of two or three of these great owls as I stood at midnight among the ruined temples of Baalbek" (Tristram).
The LXX. and Vulgate render this word by "ibis", i.e., the Egyptian heron.
(3.) Heb. kos, rendered "little owl" in Lev 11:17; Deut. 14:16, and "owl" in Psa 102:6. The Arabs call this bird "the mother of ruins." It is by far the most common of all the owls of Palestine. It is the Athene persica, the bird of Minerva, the symbol of ancient Athens.
(4.) Heb. kippoz, the "great owl" (Isa 34:15); Revised Version, "arrow-snake;" LXX. and Vulgate, "hedgehog," reading in the text, kippod, instead of kippoz. There is no reason to doubt the correctness of the rendering of the Authorized Version. Tristram says: "The word [i.e., kippoz] is very possibly an imitation of the cry of the scops owl (Scops giu), which is very common among ruins, caves, and old walls of towns...It is a migrant, returning to Palestine in spring."
(5.) Heb. lilith, "screech owl" (Isa 34:14, marg. and R.V., "night monster"). The Hebrew word is from a root signifying "night." Some species of the owl is obviously intended by this word. It may be the hooting or tawny owl (Syrnium aluco), which is common in Egypt and in many parts of Palestine. This verse in Isaiah is "descriptive of utter and perpetual desolation, of a land that should be full of ruins, and inhabited by the animals that usually make such ruins their abode."
International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia
oul (bath ha-ya‘anah; Latin Ulula): The name of every nocturnal bird of prey of the Natural Order Striges. These birds range from the great horned owl of 2 feet in length, through many subdivisions to the little screech-owl of 5 inches. All are characterized by very large heads, many have ear tufts, all have large eyes surrounded by a disk of tiny, stiff, radiating feathers. The remainder of the plumage has no aftershaft. So these birds make the softest flight of any creature traveling on wing. A volume could be written on the eye of the owl, perhaps its most wonderful feature being in the power of the bird to enlarge the iris if it wishes more distinct vision. There is material for another on the prominent and peculiar auditory parts. With almost all owls the feet are so arranged that two toes can be turned forward and two back, thus reinforcing the grip of the bird by an extra toe and giving it unusual strength of foot. All are night-hunters, taking prey to be found at that time, of size according to the strength. The owl was very numerous in the caves, ruined temples and cities, and even in the fertile valleys of Palestine. It is given place in the Bible because it was considered unfit for food and because people dreaded the cries of every branch of the numerous family. It appeared often, as most birds, in the early versions of the Bible; later translators seem to feel that it was used in several places where the ostrich really was intended (see OSTRICH). It would appear to a natural historian that the right bird could be selected by the location, where the text is confusing. The ostrich had a voice that was even more terrifying, when raised in the night, than that of the owl. But it was a bird of the desert, of wide range and traveled only by day. This would confine its habitat to the desert and the greenery where it joined fertile land, but would not bring it in very close touch with civilization. The owl is a bird of ruins, that lay mostly in the heart of rich farming lands, where prosperous cities had been built and then destroyed by enemies. Near these locations the ostrich would be pursued for its plumage, and its nesting conditions did not prevail. The location was strictly the owl's chosen haunt, and it had the voice to fit all the requirements of the text. In the lists of abominations, the original Hebrew yanshuph, derived from a root meaning twilight, is translated "great owl" (see Le 11:17 and De 14:16). It is probable that this was a bird about 2 ft. in length, called the eagle-owl. In the same lists the word koc (nuktikorax) refers to ruins, and the bird indicated is specified as the "little owl," that is, smaller than the great owl-about the size of our barn owl. This bird is referred to as the "mother of ruins," and the translations that place it in deserted temples and cities are beyond all doubt correct. Qippoz (echinos) occurs once (Isa 34:15), and is translated "great owl" in former versions; lately (in the American Standard Revised Version) it is changed to "dart-snake" (the English Revised Version "arrowsnake"). In this same description lilith (onokentauros), "a specter of night," was formerly screech-owl, now it reads "night monster," which is more confusing and less suggestive. The owls in the lists of abominations (Le 11:17,18; De 14:16) are the little owl, the great owl and the horned owl. The only other owl of all those that produced such impressions of desolation in the Books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Job, and Micah is referred to in Ps 102:6:
"I am like a pelican of the wilderness;
I am become as an owl of the waste places."
Here it would appear that the bird habitual to the wilderness and the waste places, that certainly would be desert, would be the ostrich-while in any quotation referring to ruins, the owl would be the bird indicated by natural conditions.
Written by Gene Stratton-Porter
Smith's Bible Dictionary
A number of species of the owl are mentioned in the Bible (Leviticus 11:17; 14:16; Isaiah 14:23; 34:15; Zephaniah 2:14) and in several other places the same Hebrew word is used where it is translated ostrich (Job 30:29; Jeremiah 50:39). Some of these species were common in Palestine, and, as is well known, were often found inhabiting ruins (Isaiah 34:11; 34:13-15).
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42363 | Brenham Family Dental Brenham Family Dental 979-421-9685
How Should You Care for Your Braces?
braces dentist brenham
People with braces should learn the basic method to care for them. They should brush and floss their teeth, but in a slightly different way than before. The frequency of brushing and flossing your teeth is a critical factor in caring for braces. People who neglect to follow the instructions to maintain their teeth will have food lodged into their teeth. If you wear braces, follow these instructions:
• Brush Your Teeth
Brush your teeth using a toothbrush with soft bristles and a toothpaste containing fluoride. If you feel the bristles under the gum line, you are doing it right. Next, brush your teeth in circular motions. You need to clean below, between, and above each brace.
You should use at least ten strokes to clean your teeth. Do not brush your teeth too fast, but take your time. In addition, you should scrub the roof of the mouth and the tongue with the toothbrush as well.
In total, it should take two to three minutes to brush your teeth each day. Make a routine of brushing your teeth after eating breakfast, lunch, dinner, and before going to bed. By brushing your teeth four times a day, it will take a toll on your toothbrush so keep a standby toothbrush ready. Once you are done brushing your teeth, you need to start flossing them.
• Floss Your Teeth
Flossing your teeth with braces is a difficult job. To make the job easier, purchase dental floss. Dental floss is a nylon thread, which is used to remove plague and food particles lodged in your teeth.
Dental floss is different from ordinary floss, as it has three parts. It is has a stiff and straight end, it has a malleable middle part, and an ordinary floss end. This is how you are supposed to clean your teeth with dental floss:
• The stiff and straight end of the floss should pass between your teeth.
• The ordinary floss part should pass between your teeth, pass up, and then down in a C-shape against each of your tooth.
• You need to repeat the first two steps again.
Dentists recommend that people with or without braces should brush their teeth at least once every day. Once you have brushed and flossed their teeth, you should rinse your mouth with a mouthwash containing fluoride. Another option to floss your teeth is to use a floss threader. Here is how to use a floss threader:
• Cut out 12 inches of floss and wrap them around your fingers.
• Place the waxed floss between the braces and wire.
• Carefully floss around the gum line.
• Repeat the above two steps and rinse your mouth with mouthwash.
It is important for people with braces to brush and floss their teeth regularly. If you need to consult with a dentist about wearing braces, Brenham Family Dental offers same day dental appointments. You can make an appointment with one of our dentists in Brenham.
Brenham Family Dental |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42364 | IFI governance
World Bank failing on racial diversity?
29 November 2010
Africa Report, a magazine focussing on African politics and economics, scrutinised racial diversity in Bank staffing, and claims that black Africans and African-Americans remain underrepresented (see Update 66). Their investigation found that the Bank’s use of nationality as an indicator of diversity masks the fact that many African employees are of Asian, Arab or white background, and that there are few African-Americans in professional grades. Furthermore, the higher the rank at the Bank the lower the percentage of black staff. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42378 | JavaScript is required to use
6/10/2018 1:15:18 PM
Fix the Titan Ward of Dawn!
Everytime I select the Titan [b]Ward of dawn[/b] tree, when my super is full it gives me [b]second shield![/b]
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42424 | Mark Shea: He died. He rose. We have excellent reasons for our Faith
Reading Time: 7 minutes
People pray inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on 23 March 2017 in Jerusalem after the restoration work on the Edicule, the traditional site of Jesus’ burial and resurrection. PHOTO: CNS
C S Lewis once remarked that the difficulty of giving an explanation for the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth that is not harder than the Christian explanation is very great. That challenge gets exceedingly difficult when it comes to the Resurrection. Alternative explanations to the old Christian story succeed one another with the restless fertility of bewilderment.
• The gospels were written long after the events and the apostles never claimed Jesus rose from the dead.
• Apostles stole the body and lied.
• Apostles cooked up the Resurrection as group therapy
• The women went to the wrong tomb and had hysterics.
• Jesus didn’t die.
• Apostles totally believed it because they all hallucinated the same thing.
• Jesus came back as a ghost.
• Paul cooked up the whole thing and the apostles got shoved out of the picture in favour of the visions of a crazy epileptic. Etc. so on and so forth.
Some people think that merely because so many “alternative facts” are asserted against the gospels this somehow makes it true that the gospels can’t be right. But that is to say “If you throw enough mud, some of it is bound to stick.” The reality is that when the gospels speak as one in saying Jesus is risen and the alternative explanations can’t even agree with each other and often flatly contradict, that suggests that the original story is the true one and the desperate and contradictory stories are junk.
First things first: the gospels were not written long after the events. They and almost all the New Testament documents are written within the lifetime of the apostles or within living memory of them. They have all the earmarks of eyewitness testimony from people who are writing memoirs, not inventing legends. Mark, for instance, is probably separated from the death and Resurrection of Jesus by a smaller span of time than we are separated from the death of John Lennon.
They cite eyewitnesses and, what is more, they cite testimony nobody inventing a fraud would cite. If you are inventing a God Man, you don’t quote him saying he does not know something, but the gospels repeatedly quote Jesus asking questions because he wants information, not because he is speaking rhetorically. They even cite Jesus professing that he does not know when the end of the world will be (Matthew 24:36; Mark 13:32). And they record Jesus crying out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) while hanging on the Cross, which was taken as absolute confirmation of his rejection by God in the eyes of most of their countrymen since, “Cursed is he who hangs upon a tree” (Deuteronomy 21:23). Only honest people record information that affords their opponents an obvious prima facie case against their central point.
And honest people do not go around stealing bodies and announcing resurrections. Nor do they go out of their way to carefully record their own massive sins, cowardice, betrayals, epic failures and stupidity. But the gospels do all these things. All four carefully record the sins of the apostles, culminating in their utter abandonment of Jesus on Holy Thursday. If the mission of the gospels is to set up the apostles as Jesus’ loyal Right Hand Men, the mission was not accomplished. They don’t even believe the Resurrection. It falls to women who barely figure in the gospel accounts to encounter the Risen Christ first. And not just any women but the band headed by Mary Magdalene “from whom he had cast out seven demons.” (Mark 16:9).
The Vatican-authorised replica of the Shroud of Turin is seen on exhibit on 21 April 2017 in front of a mosaic of Christ’s resurrection in the golden-domed Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Philadelphia. PHOTO: CNS
She is, in ancient Mediterranean culture–both Jewish and Greco-Roman–the worst witness in the world for a pack of liars to call as their first witness to the Resurrection, having all the credibility of a UFO abductee in that culture. Indeed, under Jewish law a woman’s testimony was not even admissible in court. So why do the gospels insist on putting her first in the Resurrection narratives? The answer of the Christian tradition is, “Because it’s what actually happened.”
Meanwhile, the obvious claim that the apostles stole the body of Jesus looks weirder and weirder. How do you prove it? If you believe Matthew’s story that a guard was placed at the tomb, then how did the apostles get past them? If you don’t believe Matthew, then who, exactly, is the source of the story that the apostles stole Jesus’ body?
Moreover, what good is this lie to the apostles? What benefit do they derive? Ahead lies nothing but suffering and death for every one of them except John (whose brother James will be among the first murdered). If they are after power, then they are complete idiots.
One variation on the “apostolic lie” theory is that Jesus was supposedly buried, not in a tomb, but in a shallow grave and then eaten by wild dogs. This argument, put forward by John Dominic Crossan on the basis of nothing at all, holds that the apostles somehow turned their frowns upside down and concocted a Resurrection, not as a lie precisely, but as a form of group therapy and then, for some reason, decided to go out into the world to get everybody else to join in their delusion. Along the way, for some reason, they decided it would be a very good idea to invent the story that one of the richest and most prominent members of the Sanhedrin buried Jesus in his family tomb. Because nobody would think to check that or anything anymore than you’d think to check with Bill Gates if somebody said he had offered his family mausoleum to a man who rose from the dead.
Others, seeing the obvious problem with that scenario, attempt to get around that difficulty by shifting the blame for complete idiocy to the women who went to anoint Jesus’ body in the tomb (which now gets to exist again). The story goes that in their befuddlement and grief, they went to the wrong tomb, found it empty and (like you do) immediately concluded Jesus was raised from the dead.
Prescinding from the fact that they had just been to the tomb the day before yesterday and knew the way there, it leaves out other important facts such as the reality that there is more than an empty tomb to contend with: there are also the Resurrection appearances, multiple times under a wide variety of circumstances to nearly five hundred eyewitnesses.
Moving swiftly past this explanation, we then hurry on to the theory that the women went to the right tomb but that Jesus never died on the Cross and only swooned. The claim is that Jesus then woke up in the freezing April tomb, ripped the bandages off the massive wounds he had received in his scourging; staggered to the immense stone on his bleeding and pierced feet, overcame the pain from a spear thrust to his heart, and with hands still in paralysing pain from nails through his wrists, rolled the stone away and lurched gasping into the early dawn to convince his disciples, not that they needed to dial 000 and get him to the emergency room, but that he was the Conqueror of Death, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.
Preschooler Zyrus Manabet, 4, displays grass students grew for their Easter baskets at Holy Name School in Ketchikan, Alaska. PHOTO: CNS
That preposterous idea tossed aside, the sceptic than moves on to the Hallucination theory, in which up to five hundred people on multiple occasions, all saw the same thing: Christ risen in glory. It’s a theory that is only trotted out on special occasions like “trying to disprove the Resurrection” and nobody believes at any other time, since people never hallucinate the same thing, and when people do hallucinate seeing something they want to see very badly, they do not then fail to recognise what they are desperate to see – which is what happened on three separate occasions with the Risen Christ (John 20:15; Luke 24:16; John 21:4).
Detecting the weakness in that argument, some people propose the spiritualist explanation: the Apostles witnessed a manifestation of Jesus’ ghost from the ectoplasm. This explanation has the advantage of being semi-biblical and would certainly have saved the apostles a lot of grief and hassle were it true. The Apostles were, in fact, prepared to believe in ghosts when Jesus appeared to them on Easter Sunday (Luke 24:37).
If they could have gone out into the world preaching that the ghost of Jesus appeared to them, they would have made many more converts quickly because it’s what human beings expect in such stories. But they were constrained by reality. And the reality was that the Risen Jesus was raised bodily. That’s why the tomb was empty and that’s why many of them touched Jesus and watched him eat. John, constrained by reality and honesty, sums it up this way: the risen Jesus is “that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands” (1 Jn 1:1).
And so we come to the theory that Paul “invented Christianity” and, after having some kind epileptic seizure on the Damascus Road, transformed a small sect of Jews who just liked to reminisce about their dead rabbi into a weird new sect that turned him into God and announced he was raised from the dead. The problem with this, of course, is the question of why Paul was persecuting them in the first place.
If they were not saying the only thing we have any record of them saying – namely, Jesus Christ is the Son of God and was crucified and raised from the dead – then why was he bothering to go to Damascus to jail them? Moreover, if Paul cooked it all up, how did he persuade the twelve Apostles to decide that the guy they had lived with for three years was not just a dead friend whose memory they cherished, but was the God of Israel and raised from the dead? Why would they listen to this crazy rabbi and his story of a vision on the Damascus Road when they knew perfectly well that Jesus was dead and buried? And why would Paul, in turn, concoct a yarn about Jesus appearing “to Cephas, then to the Twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles” (1 Co 15:5–7)?
The answer is simple: Paul didn’t invent Christianity. He received his catechesis on the Resurrection appearances from the Twelve and the tradition they taught the Church after his johnny-come-lately encounter with the Risen Christ, then spent several years learning, not inventing, the teaching of Jesus they handed down.
That’s why Paul, like the Twelve, went rejoicing to his death for Christ: they knew Christ is risen and so they knew they had nothing to fear from death anymore. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42451 | Looking From Outside the Church Clique
woman rejection
I felt my face prickle with heat but this time it wasn't a hot flash. It was the humiliating realization that I was a Have-Not in this particular place and time and there was nothing I could do to change that.
We all know they exist: the Haves and the Have-Nots.
First there are the Haves. Those who are accepted in a specific environment—the peeps, the gang, the Sistahs. They're quietly respected; the natural leaders who others seem to automatically fall in line behind.
Often they're the ones with the highest skill level or who have achieved the most acclaim or accomplishments within the tribe. They aren't necessarily boastful or cocky; some are actually quite humble. But they definitely belong and everyone knows it. It's a given.
Then there are the Have-Nots. They're the ones who might hang out with the group, but somehow are not the same. They're on a different level—a slightly lower level—and although the Haves may be friendly enough, and include them as part of the whole, there's an invisible barrier that separates them, and they're never really in the group, only with the group.
You know exactly what I mean. Right?
We've all been in situations where we're the Haves, and other situations where we're the Have-Nots. Naturally, we gravitate toward the former and avoid the latter if at all possible. Nobody wants to feel like a K-Mart purse in a rack full of Pradas.
I recently came across the terrific advice: "Go where you're celebrated, not where you're tolerated."
A good idea to bolster sagging self-esteem, surely, but not something we can always do. Sometimes, the circumstances of life toss us into groups of people where we may be unknown, disrespected, unappreciated and dreadfully uncomfortable. But we must stay there for one reason or another.
I was in one of those just last week. In fact, it won't be the last time; I'll be affiliated with that same group of people superior to me for many weeks to come. After I came home feeling wretched from being repeatedly stuffed onto the bottom shelf, or worse yet, ignored completely, I realized that I was going to have to find some way to endure the situation, because it wasn't going away.
It was going to feel like being chosen last for the eighth-grade kickball team every single week for the entire school year.
So I prayed: Lord, throw me a life preserver—some sort of tool that will help me hold my head up and shoulders back when I'm with these people. I know they're better than me at this particular activity, and my best never will be good enough from their perspective. So please help me endure. No, not just endure, but enjoy myself ... if that's even possible.
And wouldn't you know? He sent me a message. A very important message that helped me glory in my smallness. A special reminder that Papa God delights in making small things great.
"His mighty arm has done tremendous things! He has scattered the proud and haughty ones. He has brought down princes from their thrones and exalted the humble" (Luke 1:51-52, NLT).
So I'm going to return to that group this week with a new attitude. I will be smiling. I will be gracious. Because I have a secret. I know something they don't. It's OK if I'm on the bottom rung of the ladder, because one day we "lowlies" will be exalted. And I may even get to be the kickball captain!
Debora Coty is the author of 10 books, a newspaper columnist, orthopedic occupational therapist and tennis addict. Follow Debora on Twitter @deboracoty.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42452 | A Call to Sacrifice
the cross
Almost 2,000 years have passed since the death and resurrection of our Lord. Yet we still witness the powerful impact Christ’s passion has in our world. The huge box-office success of Son of God joins the lineup with movies like Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, giving us a vivid reminder of the incredible suffering and shame our Savior endured to atone for our sins and reconcile us to the Father. We may question why these portrayals have to be so bloody and graphic; however, the scenes are clearly in the Gospels. Nearly one-third of each is devoted to the last week of Jesus’ life. Blood and suffering are infused in the very foundations of the Christian faith.
How are Jesus-followers to respond? We must embrace the shock and shame of the agonizing death of our Savior. We must sense the horror and heartache of the bloody payment for sin. Yet we also experience unspeakable joy of the provision made possible through the wondrous cross. We embrace the crucifixion and the resurrection, the passion and the power at the same time. It is bittersweet and almost confusing.
Years ago, I was privileged to see a prerelease viewing of The Passion of the Christ with a group of local pastors. I can’t really describe what I felt and experienced both during and following this powerful depiction and unforgettable testament of my Lord’s suffering.
I became physically ill from the stress and emotion. While driving home from the theater, I reached into my handbag for something to relieve my headache. The Lord clearly spoke to my spirit, “I wasn’t able to reach for an Excedrin Migraine. I suffered it all without any painkillers.”
If suffering and sacrifice are an integral part of Scripture and the life of Christ, the question we must ask ourselves is: “Are suffering and sacrifice a part of my life?” Spurgeon once wrote that he was “certain that he had never grown in grace one-half so much anywhere as upon the bed of pain.”
Paul told the Romans, “We are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory” (Rom. 8:17, NIV). Somehow, our Western culture and consumer capitalism have convinced us that God’s grace is merely to make life a joy ride to heaven—that persecution and suffering either ended with the New Testament or are limited to other countries.
German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was well-acquainted with suffering. He so eloquently wrote, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.” In his book The Cost of Discipleship, Bonehoeffer reminds us, “Suffering, then, is the badge of true discipleship. The disciple is not above his master. Following Christ means passio passiva, suffering because we have to suffer.”
A true follower of Christ is called to take up His cross. It is a call to allegiance to the suffering Christ; therefore, it is not at all surprising that Christians should be called upon to sacrifice.
What are the consequences of refusing? Will we forfeit intimacy with Christ and cease to follow Him? If we are crucified with Christ, will we find our lives again in the fellowship of His joy and grace? Is God challenging us to join with Paul in pressing “toward the high calling of God in Christ Jesus”?
The call resounding for Christ's church, especially in America, is the call to personal sacrifice. Not merely sacrifice for the sake of sacrifice or to claim I know Him in the fellowship of His suffering. The call is for the same reason that Christ suffered—that others might experience His resurrection life. Paul proclaimed, “I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for His body, that is, the church” (Col. 1:24, HCSB).
We are not called to be God's pitiful people, too weak to break the chains of indifference that bind us to the status quo. We are called to be God's chosen people, empowered by God’s grace and moving toward the promise of sacrificial love.
The meaning of the cross and the meaning of life are witnessed through His willingness to sacrifice for others, to be hurt for others, to die for others. In Jesus' darkest hour, the voice of God breaks through, asking us the question: "Now do you understand how much I love you?”
Kay Horner is the executive director of the Awakening America Alliance.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42475 | Hamburger Name Art
I'll get back to the mug meals soon, but I wanted to share the Hamburger Name Art that I made on vacation. I was sitting on the Lido deck of the Grand Princess, scanning the water for whales (we'd seen a ton already on the trip). I could smell burgers from the Trident Grill. Inspiration!
I pulled out the notebook and colored pencils that I keep with me at all times (of COURSE I do!) and turned my name into a hamburger.
Do you see it? If not, try looking at it this way:
C = bun, I = onion, n = tomato and patty, D = bun, and Y = lettuce. I put a plate underneath because it looked weird with lettuce sitting under a burger otherwise. Trevor claims it looks weird with the lettuce sitting under the burger no matter whether or not there's a plate there.
To make your own Hamburger Name Art, write your name in really fat bubble letters. Do this lightly at first, in case you need to alter their shape slightly. Don't be afraid to mix lowercase and capital letters within your name, like my lowercase n amongst the capital C-I-D-Y. Turn the paper 90 degrees and see if you can turn it into a burger. You might find that your name looks better reading from bottom to top rather than top to bottom like mine.
When you have a shape that looks vaguely hamburger-like, start coloring. Work with the name rather than trying to force it. Split letters if necessary, like my tomato/patty. Think beyond the hamburger basics and add cheese, condiments, and interesting toppings (avocado, mushroom, bacon, pineapple, an egg, etc). There probably isn't anything edible that SOMEONE hasn't put on a burger.
1. I can totally see it! VERY cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2. That's cute and clever...but I agree w/ Trevor, LOL!
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42478 | 26. October 2019
Life is just wonderful!
On October 23rd, after a beautiful and cold night, at 2’650 meters, on Posey Lake, we reached Escalante. The town has grown since our first visit in 2008, but has retained its Wild West character. It fits in that the only bank on site was closed a few days ago. Was it because of raids by Butch Cassidy or Billy the Kid?
The pizzeria at Escalante Outfitters is mentioned in LP USA, 2004 edition (which we still have from the first trip!) as follows: «The best homemade pizza you will find anywhere in this state». What we were served was not a pizza like in Naples; but by American standards it was delicious! In addition there was a good Amber beer on tap. We let ourselves be spoiled by the sympathetic waitress, Brigitte, from Germany. An espresso completed the meal. A dessert? No, that would be unreasonable!
Who makes such a good pizza dough, can certainly also bake good bread, I thought to myself. It was like this! For US 6.- we were sold a large sourdough bread. Finally a bread that deserves this name!
PS: «Do you like Elvis?» a gray-haired American lady asked me this day! Why? Because I wore the Elvis T-shirt I bought in Graceland!
(Written outside Escalante, Utah) |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42482 | Horoscopes for September 26 - October 2 | Free Will Astrology | Salt Lake City | Salt Lake City Weekly
Horoscopes for September 26 - October 2
Perfect Cashmere
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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
"I just cut my bangs in a gas station bathroom," confesses a Libran blogger who calls herself MagicLipstick. "An hour ago I shocked myself by making an impulse buy of a perfect cashmere trench coat from a stranger loitering in a parking lot," testifies another Libran blogger who refers to himself as MaybeMaybeNot. "Today I had the sudden realization that I needed to become a watercolor painter, then signed up for a watercolor class that starts tomorrow," writes a Libran blogger named UsuallyPrettyCareful. In normal times, I wouldn't recommend that you Libras engage in actions that are so heedlessly and delightfully spontaneous. But I do now.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
You could call the assignment I have for you as "taking a moral inventory" or you could refer to it as "going to confession." I think of it as "flushing out your worn-out problems so as to clear a space for better, bigger, more interesting problems." Ready? Take a pen and piece of paper or open a file on your computer and write about your raw remorse, festering secrets, unspeakable apologies, inconsolable guilt and desperate mortifications. Deliver the mess to me at [email protected]. I'll print out your testimony and conduct a ritual of purgation. As I burn your confessions in my bonfire at the beach, I'll call on the Goddess to purify your heart and release you from your angst. (P.S.: I'll keep everything confidential.)
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
Two hundred years ago, Sagittarian genius Ludwig Beethoven created stirring music that's often played today. He's regarded as one of history's greatest classical composers. And yet he couldn't multiply or divide numbers. That inability made it hard for him to organize his finances. He once wrote about himself that he was "an incompetent business man who is bad at arithmetic." Personally, I'm willing to forgive those flaws and focus on praising him for his soul-inspiring music. I encourage you to practice a similar approach with yourself in the next two weeks. Be extra lenient and merciful and magnanimous as you evaluate the current state of your life. In this phase of your cycle, you need to concentrate on what works instead of on what doesn't work.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
"When you hit a wall—of your own imagined limitations—just kick it in," wrote playwright Sam Shepard. That seems like a faulty metaphor to me. Have you ever tried to literally kick in a wall? I just tried it, and it didn't work. I put on a steel-toe work boot and launched it at a closet door in my basement, and it didn't make a dent. Plus now my foot hurts. So what might be a better symbol for breaking through your imagined limitations? How about this: use a metaphorical sledgehammer or medieval battering ram or backhoe. (P.S. Now is a great time to attend to this matter.)
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
In 1965, Chinese archaeologists found an untarnished 2,400-year-old royal bronze sword that was still sharp and shiny. It was intricately accessorized with turquoise and blue crystals, precision designs, and a silk-wrapped grip. I propose we make the Sword of Goujian one of your symbolic power objects for the coming months. May it inspire you to build your power and authority by calling on the spirits of your ancestors and your best memories. May it remind you that the past has gifts to offer your future. May it mobilize you to invoke beauty and grace as you fight for what's good and true and just.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
"All human beings have three lives: public, private, and secret," wrote Piscean novelist Gabriel García Márquez. I will add that during different phases of our lives, one or the other of these three lives might take precedence; might need more care than usual. According to my analysis, your life in the coming weeks will offer an abundance of vitality and blessings in the third area: your secret life. For best results, give devoted attention to your hidden depths. Be a brave explorer of your mysterious riddles.
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
Comedian John Cleese speaks of two different modes toward which we humans gravitate. The closed style is tight, guarded, rigid, controlling, hierarchical and tunnel-visioned. The open is more relaxed, receptive, exploratory, democratic, playful and humorous. I'm pleased to inform you that you're in a phase when spending luxurious amounts of time in the open mode would be dramatically healing to your mental health. Luckily, you're more predisposed than usual to operate in that mode. I encourage you to experiment with the possibilities.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
Upcoming adventures could test your poise and wit. They might activate your uncertainties and stir you to ask provocative questions. That's cause for celebration, in my opinion. I think you'll benefit from having your poise and wit tested. You'll generate good fortune for yourself by exploring your uncertainties and asking provocative questions. You might even thrive and exult and glow like a miniature sun. Why? Because you need life to kick your ass in just the right gentle way so you will become alert to possibilities you have ignored or been blind to.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
Novelist John irving asked, "Who can distinguish between falling in love and imagining falling in love? Even genuinely falling in love is an act of the imagination." That will be a helpful idea for you to contemplate in the coming weeks. Why? Because you're more likely than usual to fall in love or imagine falling in love—or both. And even if you don't literally develop a crush on an attractive person or deepen your intimacy with a person you already care for, I suspect you will be inflamed with an elevated lust for life that will enhance the attractiveness of everything and everyone you behold.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
You know your body is made of atoms, but you might not realize that every one of your atoms is mostly empty space. Each nucleus contains 99% of the atom's mass, but is as small in comparison to the rest of the atom as a pea is to a cathedral. The tiny electrons, which comprise the rest of the basic unit, fly around in a vast, deserted area. So we can rightfully conclude that you are mostly made of nothing. That's a good meditation right now. The coming weeks will be a fine time to enjoy the refreshing pleasures of emptiness. The less frenzy you stir up, the healthier you'll be. The more spacious you allow your mind to be, the smarter you'll become. "Roomy" and "capacious" will be your words of power.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
"We don't always have a choice about how we get to know one another," wrote novelist John Irving. "Sometimes, people fall into our lives cleanly—as if out of the sky, or as if there were a direct flight from Heaven to Earth." This principle could be in full play for you during the coming weeks. For best results, be alert for the arrival of new allies, future colleagues, unlikely matches and surprise helpers.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
In North America, people call the phone number 911 to report an emergency. In much of the EU, the equivalent is 112. As you might imagine, worry-warts sometimes use these numbers even though they're not experiencing a legitimate crisis. For example, a Florida woman sought urgent aid when her local McDonald's ran out of chicken McNuggets. In another case, a man walking outdoors just after dawn spied a blaze of dry vegetation in the distance and notified authorities. But it turned out to be the rising sun. I'm wondering if you and yours might be prone to false alarms like these in the coming days, Virgo. Be aware of that possibility. You'll have substantial power if you marshal your energy for real dilemmas and worthy riddles, which will probably be subtle.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42572 | Some things about water:
Excerpt from 20 minute video, 2004, SD video
In this personal essay film the narrator reflects on the damage in her loved ones' lives resulting from "bad ideas" and on the dissatisfaction experienced by the people around her with life, with each other, and with themselves.
In editing the video I experimented with different degrees of representation, mostly using street-verité imagery edited with no particular or even referential relationship to the imagery evoked by the voice-over narrative. In a certain section of the film, I used appropriated and recut movie scenes as a dual-narrative with the voice-over. In another section, an appropriated movie scene was edited with a direct intention to illustrate the audio narrative.
Official Selection of the 2005 International Film Festival Rotterdam, and Biennale de l'Image en Mouvement International, Geneva 2005 |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42577 | Learn Blockchains by Building One
You’re here because, like me, you’re psyched about the rise of Cryptocurrencies. And you want to know how Blockchains work—the fundamental technology behind them. But understanding Blockchains isn’t easy—or at least wasn’t for me. I trudged through dense videos, followed porous tutorials, and dealt
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42622 | Read a pattern
Learn about the different types of tapestry/needlepoint patterns out there in the market from hand painted canvases to printed canvases.
Hand-Painted Canvas designs are individually hand painted on the canvas. Canvases may be stitch-painted, meaning each thread intersection is painstakingly painted so that the stitcher has no doubts about what colour is meant to be used at that intersection. Alternately, hand-painted canvases can also have areas where a thread intersection is not clearly stated meaning the stitcher will have to use their judgment about what colours to use in that thread intersection. Stitchers often enjoy making these decisions along with choosing both the threads and stitches they will use on their hand-painted designs.
Printed Canvas designs are created by either silk-screening the colours onto the canvas or by using a processed heat transfer. Printing or transferring can be done on a commercial basis and thus has a lower price point than a Hand-Painted canvas. Printed designs are typically simpler in style because the colour palettes are limited by these methods. A colour block strip printed on the selvage of the canvas lists the colours printed in the design. This handy tool makes it easier to discern the colours used in the design.
TIP: Purchase only those designs that are printed squarely on the canvas.
Charted Designs are the most affordable and can be easily attained from a multitude of Tapestry/needlepoint books or monthly publications on the market. The design chart contains all the information you will need to stitch the design. Every square on the chart that requires a stitch will contain a symbol and the thread colour key will show you the symbols that correspond to each colour thread. Charted designs are stitched on white or coloured canvas so it can be more challenging to cover the surface with your stitches Tapestry/needlepoint stitches that fully cover the canvas work best in charted designs.
Hand painted canvases are the easiest to follow but there are times when you just can’t find the one you’re looking for. If you’re considering designing a piece of your own or adapting a design you like, you might want to consider painting your own canvas. Painting a tapestry/needlepoint canvas is a rewarding experience and is easy if you follow a few basic guidelines. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42634 | Speed Optimization of WordPress Websites
Speed Optimization of WordPress Websites
The speed of a website plays an important role in the improvement of user experience. A website with the fastest loading speed gives a positive first impression to the users. The idea gained by the visitor results in instant judgment on the business of the website’s owner. Therefore, it is essential for WordPress website owners to focus on the speed of their website to achieve the intended objective of the website. The bounce rate of a website is dependent on the page load speed because most visitors refrain from clicking internal links when interacting with websites that have a low page load speed.
Page Speed Optimization
Image Optimize
Optimizing web images involves delivering images that have the right dimension, format, resolution, and size. It is an essential process because 90% of most websites are dependent on graphics. The images do not only improve the attractiveness of a website but also help in enhancing the messages conveyed. Using the photo editor, change the size of the image and verify whether its resolution is 72 dpi. The two components reduce the weight of the file. The image is then compressed before uploading it on the website. When images are uncompressed and are wrongly formatted, the load times on a web page is drastically affected.
Speed optimization tips for optimizing web images is achieved by:
• Running a compression audit
• Selecting the most appropriate hosting option that best suits your needs.
• Minimization of HTTP requests
• Selecting asynchronous loading for Javascript and CSS files.
Image and Video Lazy Load
Average web pages have a weight of 3719kB where videos and images account for approximately 78% of the total weight. WordPress is leading in terms of incorporating and sharing the media files into the design of the site. To speed up WordPress, lazy loading optimization technique is utilized. It entails loading the visible content while delaying rendering and downloading of the content appearing below the fold. It is a preferable technique in case the pages and posts are embedded with numerous high-resolution images and videos.
Use Cache Plugin
Cache plugin enhances the speed of a website. Usually, there are numerous options in the WordPress directory. Cache plugin allows an individual to duplicate content on multiple servers enabling data delivery whenever other users access your server. As a precautionary measure, it critical to always perform the basic tests to ascertain that your content is correctly displayed.
To improve user experience and the overall speed of the website, it is crucial to adopt a minimalist approach. This is achieved through the removal of things that are not necessary like widgets, plugins, and buttons. The speed of the site can also be achieved by reducing the number of entries on the home page.
Leverage Browser Caching
Whenever a browser loads a webpage, numerous web files are downloaded for an effective display of the page. The files downloaded ranges from small to big; therefore, browser caching plays an essential role in storing the files locally in the browser of the user. The initial visit to site takes an equivalent time to load, but when the user refreshes the page, moves to a different page, or revisits the website, the files they need are locally available. Therefore, there are a reduced page load times because the amount of data downloaded by the browser of the user is smaller with fewer requests from the server.
The browser caching is responsible for marking specified pages then updating it at varying intervals. For example, the logo of a website remains constant. As such, it is possible to instruct the user’s browser when to download the image as opposed to downloading the image anytime the browser is accessed. Leverage browser caching helps in setting expiry times on selected types of files.
Gzip Compression
Gzip is a process of compressing files to enhance the faster transfer of network. Compression allows the webserver to produce smaller sized files that have a high loading speed. Gzip compression does not apply to images. Gzip locates strings that are similar within a text file then it temporarily replaces the strings reducing the overall size of the file. In a web environment, gzip works well because the CSS files utilize many repeated texts and possess numerous whitespace. Once the common strings are compressed by the gzip, the style sheets and pages reduce by up to 70%.
CSS and Javascript Minification
Minification is an important factor because it helps in increasing the page speed. The process involves the reduction of CSS and JavaScript content of a website to an optimum size, as well as, reducing the request counts such as newline characters, comments, and white spaces. In order to have a good SEO for a website, page load speed plays a critical role in increasing traffic on a page. The increased loading speed of a page enhances the smooth and effective user experience.
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Dot Com Infoway is a professional website development agency that specializes in WordPress website design and development services worldwide. We provide you the perfect WordPress development services that will help you to create a design that will be conveniently usable and work efficiently on any device and browser.
CDN is an essential parameter in increasing the performance and speed of a website. It is a network of remote servers that contains a copy of the site accessible to all visitors. CDN does not only increase the speed of the site but also secures it and reduces the bandwidth usage.
CDN consists of multiple servers placed in various locations around the world. Once a CDN is incorporated in the site, the other serves are automatically loaded in the site in their static versions. This includes JavaScript and CSS codes, videos, images, and documents. Although CDN and web host might seem similar, the web host is where the site ‘lives’ while the CDN server copies the static files from the web host before delivering it to the visitors.
One of the main advantages of using CDN is that in cases where numerous users from different locations may wish to download files from your site, CDN enables them to connect to your website through the servers that are closer to them. In doing this, there is minimal strain on your web host and faster loading speed.
CDN optimizes site speed through the following:
• Reduces site crash
• Enhances SEO ranking
• Minimizes bandwidth usage
• Protects the site from basic attacks
Performance Optimization Tools
Website speed optimization influences the significant factors of the success of the website, such as conversion, visibility, and usability.
1. GTmetrix
The speed test results indicate the testing location, page load time, total page size, PageSpeed, and YSlow scores.
gtmetrix tool
2. Google Page Speed Insight
google page speed insightsThe first set of tri-color represents the First Contentful Paint (FCP), indicating the time the website takes to paint the content. In the scenario above shows that the site is slow because it loads 15% of the page content in 1.1 sec.
page speed test result
3. Pingdom Tools
This tool is important in showing the performance percentile of the website in comparison to other sites that have been tested using the same platform.
pingdom speed test tool
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42693 | September 15th from 10am - 1pm
Yoga in the Vines: Fireside
at Black Ankle Vineyards
with Emily Lodge
Join Emily & Jeanie
for two Winter editions of Yoga in the Vines
Join Emily Lodge & Jeanie Baker for a relaxing Sunday Brunch flow on February 9th or for a Saturday evening Fireside Flow on March 21st.
Winter Dates:
Sunday, February: 9th, Vinyasa Brunch
10am Yoga + 11am Tour + 12pm Brunch & Tasting with live music
Saturday, March: 21 Evening Fireside Flow
6:30pm Yoga + 7:30pm Tasting, Soup & live music
Ticket Prices:$48
* Price includes:
A slow flow vinyasa practice taught by Emily + a guided meditation with Reiki Master Jeanie Baker, finishing with a SoundBath with Crystal Singing Bowls, brunch or dinner accompanied by a flight of Black Ankle wines and live acoustic music.
*We accommodate most dietary restrictions, please tell us what you need.
© 2015 by Emily Lodge Yoga. Proudly created with |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42713 | Corporate Governance
iHybrid implements best corporate governance and commercial principles.
Our corporate board consists of Executive Directors and independent Non-Executive Directors to deliver the highest standards of corporate governance and deliver value for our stakeholders.
The Board's objectives are:
• to succeed iHybrid
• to add value and support, as a Board, to the executive team;
• to represent the values; and
• to be proactive at all times |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42714 |
[EP-tech] Import by DOI in ORCID plugin
Hi Philipp,
I could be wrong, but I think what it does is replace the existing import from DOI option in the user work area, with a version that handles the return data from crossref which contains an ORCID id and populates the relevant author/editor fields with this in the publication record.
I haven't had a chance to test this though.
-----Original Message-----
Sent: 01 July 2018 20:32
To: eprints-tech at ecs.soton.ac.uk
Subject: [EP-tech] Import by DOI in ORCID plugin
Hi there,
the ORCID Support Advance plugin has some indication that it can import the items also by DOI [1]. This could be very useful because the publication data from ORCID itself is often quite sparse.
Is it already possible to import by DOI from the ORCID plugin?
If not, what is missing to make this happen?
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42720 | Linux error 13
Linux error 13 is an error that prevents the user from booting the system.
Last Updated on
Staff Asked on September 6, 2017 in Linux.
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1 Solution(s)
Solution 1. Log as a Root user
Linux error 13 appears when you are attempting to change, edit or delete a system file, or root user files using a non-root user account. Please log in as a Root user. Also, while you are in a Root account you may want to change the other account to have a Root privilege.
Staff Answered on June 12, 2018.
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Your Solution
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42722 | This is an off grid system in the Tasman region. The system is installed on a shed which is designed to face North for optimal performance for the solar.
Inside the shed is lighting and refrigeration, the system also powers a house situated nearby.
This is a small off grid system installed in Havelock, near Blenheim. The system is designed to power a shed on a farm which requires lighting, stock drinking water pump, power tools, small fridge and mobile phone charging.
The solar panels are ground mounted due to shading from trees on the shed roof which would have reduced the solar systems performance.
This is an off grid system we have installed on a shed in Invercargill. The client is going to live in the shed while the house is being built and so the house will connect to the shed for power, which means one off grid power system will supply the shed and the house.
The solar panels are tilted up at 45deg to achieve the best possible performance annually and in particular for Winter when the sun angles are lower.
A system like this is design to run a standard family home which is designed to be efficient. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42726 | Transformation of BI through AI and ML Democratisation
Since the dawn of the time until 2018 Humans has created data around 22000 Exabytes of Data. But what is.....
Since the dawn of the time until 2018 Humans has created data around 22000 Exabytes of Data. But what is an Exabyte? How much amount of data does it mean by? Well, let us start from the ground up.
BYTE The letter A takes up an exactly one-byte size.
KILOBYTE A page of text which contains around 1000 letters can have around kilobyte of space.
MEGABYTE The data present in a book of around 500pages can have around 1 Megabyte of space.
GIGABYTE once a whole human genome is coded it can fit into a space of 1Gigabyte.
TERABYTE When the person is filmed every single day of their life for every hour, minute and second for 70-80 years, it can be fitted into one terra byte of space.
blog esspl
PETABYTE – Here is the Amazon rainforest which constitutes about 1.4billion acres of land of trees around 700billion trees. If one chops down all the trees and turn them into paper and fill both sides of papers with letters it will occupy the space of around one petabyte.
EXABYTE – Exabyte is 1000 times the Petabyte.
Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence:
So when there is a huge amount of data, how can the analysis of the data help? This gives the answer to Machine learning. Machine Learning is a method of analyzing the data which can automate the building of analytical models. The main theme of the machine learning is to create the algorithms which can receive the input data and do the analysis depending on the statistics and provide the output. The algorithms are designed in a way such that they can self-learn and improve over time when new data is exposed. So Machine learning will be more effective after more iterations and when it has a large set of data.
Artificial Intelligence enables the machines to act like humans by replicating their behavior and nature. The machines make their response based on new inputs thereby performing tasks like humans. Artificial Intelligence is a training to accomplish specific tasks by processing large amounts of data and recognizing patterns in them.
Let us take a small daily life example which uses AI and Machine Learning.
Have you ever booked a ticket on IRCTC?
IRCTC has enabled a new feature called confirmation probability. It predicts the confirmation probability chance by getting the previous data and shows the percentage of confirmation. This gives the user the freedom to book the tickets or not which are in waiting list.
Likewise, many other organizations are using Artificial Intelligence with machine learning to provide the user’s feasibility and reduce the manual efforts also. This world of high-tech innovation can change the destiny of industries seemingly overnight. Advanced, predictive analyses are required for calculating future trends and predicting potential outcomes and making recommendations. This makes to go well beyond the traditional queries and BI which defined the BI in the past. This shifts the gear of BI (What Happened?) to the character of AI (What will happen next?). This is a change from reactive analytics to proactive analytics. The software alone doesn’t make an impact. A huge amount of data and process is required for this evolution. One can say poor quality of data is the enemy of Machine learning.
Rapid Transformation: AI is changing rapidly in heavily regulated industries like financial and banking services, life sciences, health care department and supply chain industry etc. For instance, in the medical field, AI takes the role of clinical assistant which helps the physicians make quicker and apt diagnoses. It also helps in medication and discovery of new drugs.
Modern Decision Making: This science is impacting all modern day business aspects. Before the renaissance of AI, leaders had to depend on inconsistent and incomplete data. But nowadays AI feeds on Big Data, chews it and then breaks it down into actionable insights that aid executives in the process of making decisions. For example, a marketing manager must understand their customer ever-changing needs and align the products and services according to them.
Offering better Insights: AI is automation of the maximum sequence of decisions originating from analytics. This intelligence provides the ability to give real-time feedback data to develop the prescriptive models. This should make sure that the next prescribed decision will have a better output than the previous. This exceptional ability which can adapt and learn provides AI to execute actions following automated decisions. As organizations continue generating more data, the AI will work more effectively providing better insights and profitability.
Who’s using it?
Financial Services: Banking and Financial industries use Machine learning technology to identify important insights into data and preventing frauds. The insights can generally help in identifying the investment opportunities or help the investors when to trade. This can also identify clients with high-risk profiles or to detect pinpoint warning signs of fraud.
Government: Governments can use in public safety and in the efficient functioning of the government. Generally, the government has multiple sources of data from which they can identify the ways to increase efficiency and save money. They can be mostly used in controlling traffic like when there are no vehicles near the signal, then the signal automatically goes red and give way for the side where there are vehicles.
Health Care: Health care industry is the most dominant industry where this Machine learning is used. The advent of wearable devices and sensors can use data to assess the patients’ health in real-time. They can be used in improving diagnoses and treatment.
Natural Resources: Finding new energy sources and analyzing the minerals in the ground. Predicting the sensor failures in refineries. Streaming oil distribution to make it cost effective and more efficient.
Marketing and Sales: Amazon and Flipkart companies use machine learning to analyze the buying history based on previous purchases and promote other items in which people are interested in.
Transportation: Making routes more efficient and predicting potential problems which increase profits. The public transportation can be more effective by collecting the data and analyzing them.
The black box challenge is how we trust in the decision of the machines which are made based on all the supervised machine learning. The AI model is not superior to humans in a decision process. The model generally stores its knowledge in digital format which cannot be deciphered through human logic. Let’s say, when the machine learns to recognize a picture of a turtle or whether or not a hot dog is present on the image, which stores the data in a matrix that describes multidimensional correlations at the level of individual pixels. Ofcourse, we can teach the machine to recognize the presence of specific body features and turn into detailed inferences. But this is labor-intensive and may result in an ML system which is not easy to modify.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42729 | Why Choose Python to Build Web Solutions?
A high-level programming language offering dynamic semantics, Python is the most used object-oriented programming language. In fact, over 8.2 million developers use Python to code and perform web development with Python.
Here’s why:
Quick Product Release
Considering how the world is constantly looking for reliable and smart solutions, it is of utmost importance that you release your product to the market as soon as you can to beat the competition and disrupt your industry. The developers at our Python web development company do not require much time as the language is concise and quick, giving you the opportunity to rule the market in no time.
Open Source and Versatile
Python offers an extensive range of 125k+ third-party libraries and APIs, opening unexplored doors to create an outstanding solution. Given the flexibility of the language, our developers at our Python development company enhance existing products and develop new ones with outstanding functionalities couldn’t get any easier. All this because Python has clear syntax and is easy to update.
Huge Developers Community
While working with our Python web development company, you might come up with questions, the answers to which can be easily found on the extensive development community Python has to offer. It is free for everyone and can be visited at any time of the day. Nonetheless, for any unresolved queries, you can always contact our highly creative Python developers at our Python development company.
Python Web Development: Experience Accelerated Growth with Top Frameworks
Django is a high-level Python web development framework that facilitates quick development with a clean and pragmatic design. It is designed to help build and run web apps. Our Python Django development company is highly equipped with the necessary tools and information to build projects for you on Django.
It offers several development benefits such as:
• A rich ecosystem offering the opportunity to integrate as many apps as the project demands.
• Been around for over a decade and is thus significantly improved to help build scalable solutions.
• Good for SEO because Python is a human-readable code, which can help generate readable keywords.
• Can be extended using plugins to help add explicit functions to an app, thus offering the scope of immense customization.
• Has its own web server.
Django is used to create:
• Client Relationship Management (CRM) Systems
• Content management systems (CMS) for internal and commercial use
• Communication platforms
• Booking engines
• Document administration platforms
Moreover, it offers enough functionalities to build algorithm-based generators, emailing solutions, verification systems, filtering systems, data analysis solutions, and machine learning solutions.
Pinterest, Dropbox, and Spotify are some of the most popular apps created using the Django python development framework. The best feature of this framework is that there is no need to rewrite the entire existing code, should something go wrong. It helps build websites like we use Lego to create buildings.
We have a skilled team of Django developers and are your reliable Python Django development company. To learn Django best practices, get in touch with us today!
Known for creating and developing simple web apps and HTTP servers, Web2py is a Python framework that is scalable and open-source. It can easily run on Windows, Linux, Amazon EC2, Mac, and all those web hosting services that support Python 2.5+.
It offers benefits like:
• Rapid development due to the ease and simplicity of language.
• Been around since 2008 and has significantly matured over all these years.
• Short run time to allow faster time-to-market.
• Code can be distributed in a compiled manner.
• Supports Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture.
• Easy deployment of apps on various virtual private networks (VPNs) and clouds.
• Works with databases like MySQL, MS SQL, Oracle, SQLite, PostgreSQL, etc.
• Offers an incredible web-based integrated development environment (IDE) for mobile app development.
Web2py is one of a kind in the realm of Python web systems since models and controllers are executed instead of being imported. They are not modules. They are executed in a solitary global environment, which is instated at every HTTP request.
The significant pros is the simplicity of development, explicitly for quick prototyping.
Another advantage is that every one of the items characterized inside this environment is neatly reset at every HTTP demand and never shares crosswise over solicitations.
We are a reputable Python development company and pride ourselves on being the most trusted company providing unparalleled Python web development services.
Flask is a Python framework that enables web application development by giving tools, libraries, and advanced technologies. This web application can be a site page, a wiki, or a major eCommerce website development. Contact our experience developers at our trusted Python development company to get your projects built quick and hassle-free.
Flask offers benefits like:
• Integrated unit testing support.
• Has its own built-in server for development and fast debugging.
• Flexible project layouts and customization options.
• Excellent for processing requests.
• Minimalistic framework to assist during ORM customization.
• Freedom to choose the desired ORM.
• Lightweight Python framework.
• Easy and hassle-free handling.
• Has a BSD license.
Flask is used when:
• There is a need to integrate the app with a complex backend system.
• A complex web app is to be developed using SQL queries.
• You are an amateur Python developer and are trying to comprehend web development using Python.
Flask is the most policed and feature-rich miniaturized scale system for web development with Python. It accompanies all its advantages of the quick layout, solid WSGI highlights, and broad documentation. Flask offers loads of good features for a new web app development project.
As a pioneer Python development company, we offer remarkable and unparalleled Flask development services. Our team of over 50 developers is highly skilled and well-versed with the latest advancements in technology to develop tailored web solutions for you.
Zope is an Open Source Application Server and Content Management Framework, representing considerable authority in content administration, portal content management, and custom applications.
Since Zope Corporation presented the Zope Content Management System as an open-source framework in 1998, it has become the preferred choice for content publishers and application developers.
Zope permits exceptionally fast, object-orientated development of web applications or websites. It is an Open Source venture, implying that the hidden code of the product is uninhibitedly accessible. There are no licensing expenses related to Zope, thus lessening the all-out cost of deployment.
Zope is composed (and extensible with) Python, a ground-breaking object-situated programming language, with execution touchy components written in C.
Not at all like basic record based Web templating frameworks, for example, ASP or PHP, Zope is a profoundly object-oriented Python web development platform that covers most problem areas for developers.
It gives clean detachment of information, rationale, and introduction, an extensible arrangement of inherent objects and an incredibly incorporated security model.
Zope’s infrastructure takes care of a majority of the burdensome areas of web application development, for example, data steadiness, data integrity, and access control, enabling you to concentrate on the current issue.
What sets Zope apart from other application servers is that it was structured from the beginning to be firmly coupled with the web object model.
As a Python development agency, we promise to deliver the best web app development projects on Zope to deliver results.
TurboGears is an open-source data-driven powerful web application framework written in Python. From the beginning, it was intended to be a finished arrangement that consolidated all the best-of-breed parts of other Python web application systems.
TurboGears speaks to the synergistic association of numerous web Python-based advancements. The system gives the hard and fast arrangement of tools to create data-driven, extensible web applications in minutes - all with easy to use templates, simple AJAX on the program side and on the server-side, and an amazing and adaptable Object Relational Mapper (ORM). TurboGears has various different libraries and middleware.
Key features of TurboGears are:
• Offers multi-database support.
• Has an MVC style framework.
• Integrated with MochiKit Javascript library.
• Plain functions and decorators.
• Access to ToscaWidgets, which is a full-featured app library.
It's one of only a handful of web systems authoritatively supporting MongoDB as one of the essential stockpiling backends, including support into the TurboGears Admin to auto generate CRUDs from MongoDB models.
While TurboGears has consistently been a full-stack structure with the same extent of tasks like Django, it separates from different systems due to its difference in philosophy on two significant pieces of a web framework: Templating and Routing.
As a qualified Python development company, we are equipped with all the latest technologies to help you develop the best Python TurboGears project. Get in touch with us for a detailed discussion.
Pylons has developed immensely in prevalence lately as a result of its cautious parity of ground-breaking development features. Its secluded reverse engineering helps designers to rapidly make modern web applications without concealing what is truly going on in the background.
Pylons gives you the power to productively make sites and web applications while additionally being adaptable enough to enable you to do things any other way when you truly need to.
The best part is that Pylons is an open-source venture with an extraordinary network behind it to offer assistance and support when you need it.
Despite the fact that Django and Ruby on Rails are so immensely popular and keep up a spotless separation between the model, view, and controller layers of code, they aren't approximately coupled in how Pylons is. This is because the capacity of the application to work depends vigorously on the glue code found in the structure itself.
Pylons is considerably more loosely coupled. Since it doesn't give devices to naturally create an almost completed site for you from the meaning of the model, it doesn't require entangled glue code holding everything together.
Rather, it gives reasonable low-level APIs and systems that enable you to rapidly and effectively stick together the segment parts you decide to use for yourself.
We offer quality Pylons Python development services and our developers are extremely skilled when it comes to the usage and tools of this remarkable Python framework.
CherryPy is a web framework of Python, which gives an amicable interface to the HTTP convention for Python developers. It is additionally called a web application library.
CherryPy utilizes Python's qualities as a powerful language to demonstrate and tie HTTP protocol into an API. It is one of the most established web frameworks for Python, which gives a clean interface and dependable platform.
Key Features of CherryPy
• Web app development with CherryPy is a straightforward errand with not many lines of code.
• CherryPy is likewise modular. The essential parts are all well managed with right rationale idea and parent classes are expandable to child classes.
• CherryPy use all the intensity of Python. It additionally gives instruments and modules, which are ground-breaking extensions required for creating top-notch applications.
• CherryPy is an open-source Python Web Framework (authorized under the open-source BSD license), which implies that this system can be utilized monetarily at ZERO expense.
• It has a diverse community which furnishes total help with different kinds of questions and answers. The group attempts to give total help to the designers beginning from the novice level to the expert level.
• There are savvy approaches for app deployment. CherryPy incorporates its own HTTP server to host your application.
• CherryPy can likewise be deployed on any WSGI-compliant gateway.
Get in touch with our skilled CherryPy Python development company to get world-class web apps for your business and generate leads that convert within no time.
Bottle is a quick, lightweight microframework for Python web application development. It fits in with WSGI and targets small applications, where it is more important to set up speed as compared to the probability of long term developments.
Benefits of using Bottle:
• Little size: This web-structure is arranged in a solitary record module and its size is 50-60 kB. It isn't over-stuffed with various features, however contains the most basic ones.
• Easy deployment: You can introduce it through the global index of Python bundles (PyPI). The main prerequisite for Bottle.py is Python Standard Library. Additionally, it very well may be running with no design and works in both Python 2.5+ or Python 3.
• Simple to learn: On the off chance that you have essential information on both Python and web designing, you would have the option to combine them and utilize this system.
• Perfect for small web-applications: On the off chance that you need to make and oversee a small site with no effort but significant outcomes, you can, without much of a stretch, use Python functions as a page or site.
• Quicker than other powerful frameworks: Bottle.py parses and renders formats 5 to 10 quicker than other frameworks.
• Still development: Various modules have been included in Bottle to improve the way it can be used.
We have a team of skilled Bottle Python web development experts, who are more than eager to take up a challenging project to help your business grow. Get in touch with our Python development agency to excel!
App Support & Maintenance
Keeping your applications running in an optimal condition is our responsibility. We have a dedicated app support and maintenance team to address your concerns or confusion related to your mobile application. Our end-to-end and proactive app support and maintenance services are available round the clock to attend your queries, perform application testing, monitor app performance, troubleshoot and fix bugs, enhance and improvise applications so that you can make the most out of your business apps.
Let us help you pick the right framework. Speak to an agent!
Call Us Now +91 9999683773
Creating Quality Web Apps Since 2008 - Our Range of Python Web Development Applications
By choosing us for your Python web development needs, you’re choosing reliability and quality. Apart from providing exemplary mobile app development services, we are also one of the most trusted Python development company. The developers at our Python web development company are skilled to deliver the following services:
Prototype Development
Thanks to our strong command over Python, we design a well-crafted prototype to reflect your product. The prototype we design would be fast and secure, not to mention the capability to use the database over the online platform.
Software Migration
Instead of software upgrade, it is wise to choose software porting to save on costs. We will help you migrate from your old version of Python to the most recent one across various platforms. We are trusted by 1000+ clients for our quality Python web development services.
Python Web Development
As mentioned before, we have a team of highly skilled Python experts, who will leave no stone unturned to create the application your business can proudly showcase. Reach the pinnacle of success by getting a user-friendly and fast app with us.
Machine Learning
Cutting your workload in half by making machines smarter is an excellent way to save costs and increase business growth rate. We deliver genius Python codes to help you make your machines smarter. And even provide iOS app development services using Machine Learning to connect your apps to your machines.
Backend System
Creating huge backend systems in the need of the hour to support and monitor daily activities to smoothly run an organization. We offer Python development services to cater to these needs.
Innovative Capabilities
Hire us to leverage the expertise of our professional mobile app developers to build next-gen mobile applications with innovative capabilities. Engross your customers with a realistic AR try-on feature, allow interns to learn and practice virtual surgeries, or provide retailers and online merchants with CV-driven in-store inventory tracking features.
Compatibility with Multiple Screens
With our excellent mobile app development services, you can build apps that perfectly fit on any screen without compromising on its native look and feel. Tap into our multiplatform mobile app development for intuitive and intelligent UI customizations that empower you with hyper-personalized content suggestions and better sales opportunities
Internet of Things (IoT)
With IoT making homes smarter, there is a need to create innovative solutions to help keep pace with IoT technologies. We offer creative and practical IoT solutions to our clients to enhance the smart home experience.
Support and Maintenance
Once the solution has been delivered, we will be here to assist you with any trouble you face during usage and website maintenance. Give us a call and one of the Python web development experts will help you fix the problem right away.
Our Portfolio: Here’s How We’ve Helped our Clients
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42752 | Finally, I've waited forever for this fic!
I loved the first chapter, I can't wait for more! Poor Jasper, must be hard and hurtful for Alice to leave him like that and not tell him why. Alice can sure be annoying and frustrating when she won't say anything to reveal what's wrong. Wow, Bella and Edward are sure getting closer, but its hard for me to actually see them being intimate with each other, I've gotten used to Bella and Jasper being intimate with each other (in your other stories) that I kind of can't picture her with someone else.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42779 | 5 Lists to Create Empathy in Your Marketing
by Joe Fontenot
5 Lists to Create Empathy in Your Marketing
If you want to survive the long run, you need to position your brand as indispensable.
But how do you actually do that?
Most of it comes down to the difference between sympathy and empathy.
Sympathy is when you understand, intellectually, what your customer is experiencing. They need a widget, and you sell widgets. If the economy is booming and competition is low, then that’s really all you need.
But for the rest of us, that’s not enough.
The rest of us need to focus on empathy. Empathy is when you feel what your customers’ feel. If they feel frustration, then you feel frustration. If they feel elation, then you feel elation.
When you empathize with your customers, they begin to understand you as one of them.
The good news is it’s not hard to get started. Begin by making the 5 lists below. Once you apply the answers, your marketing will get right to the heart of what your customers are looking for.
1. List their risks
If they don’t buy, what will they miss? And if they do buy, what could go wrong?
When you understand the risk your customer is taking, you’re no longer selling a product or service, you’re selling risk-reduction.
How can you take the risk out of their purchase? Or, how you can take another risk out of their life with your purchase?
Make a list: Shoot for 10 ways your product eliminates your customer’s risk.
2. List their benefits
This can be the obvious (or not-so-obvious) value that your company provide. For instance, you don’t sell toasters, you sell a reliable and quick breakfast.
Nobody actually wants your product. They want its results.
While the first list focused on reducing the negative. this one focuses on adding the positive. What positive results will your product or service deliver?
Make a list: How does your product make your customers’ life better?
3. List their alternatives
If there wasn’t competition before the internet, there’s no doubt that it’s here now. Whether it’s price-shopping or brick-and-mortar vs. online: you have competition.
It can be depressing to think about all the ways your competition is doing the exact same thing you are (and even better in some cases).
But don’t do that.
This third list isn’t about what is the same. It’s about what’s different. By understanding what your competition is offering you can begin to focus on what makes you different.
Make a list: What little (or big) differences exist between you and your competition?
Pro Tip: Use what you find here as talking points for differentiating yourself.
4. List their distractions
This is perhaps the most practical of the five lists.
Even the best, star-customer gets busy and forgets. I started a Kindle publishing training course many moons ago, and every Sunday I get an email telling me to come back. It’s not annoying. I want to finish the course. I’m just busy. I actually like that weekly email, because it helps me to not forget.
Think about your ideal customer for a moment and list the distractions they have in their life. For many businesses, these lists will look similar. How can you position your product in a way that jumps around these distractions?
Make a list: What normal parts of life are distracting your customers from buying your good work?
5. List their big wins in life
This last one is the most overlooked. What you’re doing here is tapping into something much greater than your company or product. You’re tapping into their aspirations.
Who does your customer want to become? They might not even know the answers to this themselves. But when you think about it, it’s not too hard to figure out.
A mom who works outside of the home wants to be seen as both a professional and a good parent. An executive needs to be seen as a leader who makes wise decisions. Who is your customer? What–generally speaking–does a big win look like?
Next, how does your product or service help them move down that path?
Make a list: What does a big win look like in your customers life? There may be only one or two lines on this list. The important thing is to understand how you fit into the larger story of their life.
The Value of Empathy Marketing
Empathy marketing is when you show your customers that you feel what they feel. It’s not a trick. You have to actually do the work of understanding and feeling (that’s what the five lists are about).
But when you do, you position yourself apart from your competition. You position yourself as a trusted adviser.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42784 | Tag Archives: MacTripleDes
How to hash a string with salt using a multi-algorithm method
It is considered a very bad idea to store user credentials in plain text, especially passwords. For that very reason it is always a good idea to hash passwords before you store them, ideally with a unique salt that you can store in another location. That way if for whatever reason your database is compromised your users passwords will not be in plain text and it will require a bit of work in order to find out what each password is, especially if the salt for each password is stored somewhere else.
The following method is a multi algorithm method, that means that with this single method you can use more than one algorithm to hash your data. The snippet below shows an example how to hash your data with a single method using seven different algorithms.
Our main method that will do all the work for us: |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42786 | How To Get Upcoming Birthdays using Laravel's Eloquent | fofx Academy
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How To Get Upcoming Birthdays using Laravel’s Eloquent
So apparently, I’m presently working on a project in which I had to get the upcoming birthdays of employees whereby the query had to search for the latest birthday using the month and date properties as the filter and I thought of different ways to get the simplest and easiest way to go about it.
In the course of my multiple searches, I came up with a simple query.
I started off by bringing in carbon into my model:
use Illuminate\Support\Carbon;
Then in my function called getUpcomingBirthdays() I declared a variable:
$date = now();
Note that the now()function comes from carbon: it gets the present date. You can read more about carbon here https://carbon.nesbot.com/.
Then my query:
return Employee::whereMonth(‘date_of_birth’, ‘>’, $date->month)
->orWhere(function ($query) use ($date) {
$query->whereMonth(‘date_of_birth’, ‘=’, $date->month)
->whereDay(‘date_of_birth’, ‘>=’, $date->day);
So the query above simply explains that:
For each employee in the database, using the whereMonth() method which is used to compare a columns value against a specific month of the year (you can read more about it here: https://laravel.com/docs/5.8/queries), the month of date_of_birth in the database is greater than the present month.
In case you are confused where the month property came from, it is a property of carbon. Awesome right? I know.
Moving on, we further extend our query:
We use the conditional or Where()method,with a function in the query which takes in a parameter $query and then we use the carbon now() function which we stored in the $date variable above which we declared earlier.
In our function, we now get the month from the date_of_birth using the whereMonth() method and set it to be equal to the present month as the second condition to be met.
And then we say OR where the day (using orWhereDay()method) is greater or equal to the present day. The WhereDay() is used to compare a columns value against a specific day of the month and that’s a wrap for our condition in the function.
Now, what next?
We need to order the birthdays so they come out in ascending order i.e from the most recent birthday to the later, hence, we use the orderByRaw() method which may be used to set a raw string as the value of the orderBy clause:
This method takes in two parameters in our case which are:
• the MySQL DAYOFMONTH() function which is used to retrieve the day of the month of the given date and:
• The ASC which sets the birthdays to show up in ascending order.
I just want 3 upcoming birthdays to show up in my UI so I limited the query to spit out just 3 using the take()method. And finally, we end our query with the get()method to retrieve all our results.
And that’s it guys, thanks for reading and I hope this article was helpful. |
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August 12, 2018: Ruling Elder Brett Wilenzick, preaching
August 14, 2018
They say everything happens for a reason. For years now there has been an inner voice, or guide, telling me, “You are here to tell your story - you need to tell your story.” It has become an inner, driving need recently. It pulls at my heart. I feel it deep inside me. This past Thursday I had an appointment with Andrew. Sometimes I forget that he is my Pastor, too! We talked about many things in my life, and we discussed a recent post I made about thinking that maybe I should have gone into seminary. That led to a discussion around why, and us talking about programs available through Princeton and Austin Seminaries that where I could “get my feet wet” while earning a certificate in Theology and Ministry. The excitement inside me was noticeable. After more conversation about why I left called to ministry he asked, “What has stopped you?” I wasn’t prepared for that…
Soon after, Andrew notified us of the needed change of plans for today. I was given the choice to preach. I wanted to do this, so I said yes, I will. This will be the third time I’ve been blessed to stand in this position. The first two were my junior and senior year at Enid High - Youth Sunday service at Central Christian Church. I remember standing at the pulpit where Dr. Lloyd Lambert delivered his sermons every Sunday. On the inside facing edge was a sign that read, “Feed my sheep.” At that moment I realized the incredible responsibility and gift that came with standing there, in that spot, in that space, sharing the word of God. Standing there I felt humbled, yet empowered by Him. I was loved and trusted with His word, and with His people. That feeling never leaves you, and it becomes something you don’t ever want to let go of. That was just a part of the reason why I wanted to become a minister. The other reasons? Well, we will have to talk about those some other time.
“What has stopped you” Andrew asked. I didn’t have to think to hard. I didn’t have the baggage then that I do now. The very condensed version is I left the church because, well, being gay wasn’t always a good thing - even in more moderate congregations, and that’s not what the unconditional love of God is. And certainly not a place for me. I had to “come out.” I had to rediscover the me that I spent years trying to run away from, or hide. Along the way the darkness also set in, and the demons of the past seemed to be the only voices in my head. I was scared, angry, depressed. I lost my faith. I lost my way, I lost myself. I lost my scholarships and left college. I had failed at becoming what I thought I was supposed to be, what I thought society expected me to be, and what I thought my life should have been. It is a dark, lonely place, and if one isn’t careful, a place that can easily separate you from everything that you were meant to be. It wasn’t the grandiose life I had envisioned, or that I thought God had planned for me. In its place was a life of pain, guilt, sorrow, sin, physical and emotional scars, and things I swore I’d never do. How could someone with my past presume to think he could stand in such a sacred space and lead God’s people now? What if they find out about my mistakes, the hurt I caused, my shortcomings, my sins, and my battles with the darkness? Yet that voice continues to call to me - gently, quietly, “Share your story.”
God doesn’t always call the equipped, but God ALWAYS equips the called. I read the scripture lessons for today, I read Andrew’s weekly Text and Context email, and was worried that I could not pick up where Andrew was going to today. Then I took a deeper look at Elijah. We encounter Elijah surrounded by false prophets, chaos, and Israel in a spiritual downward spiral. We learn that Elijah is present in a time when God is sending his final warning to the northern kingdom of Israel. King Ahab and Queen Jezebel have not only turned from God, they have ordered the execution of the true prophets of the Lord and seek to replace them with pagan priests. Elijah now stands alone - the final true prophet of the Lord, and is the last of his kind. Much like Elijah, I felt alone, and as if everything were out to destroy me and take me from God. I allowed my self to remain in darkness and fear rather than choosing the one, true path that God had set before me years ago. Elijah 18:21 we learn that the time has come for Israel to make a choice… “How long will you waver between two options? If the Lord is God, then follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”
Elijah, whose name means “The Lord is my God,” knew he had the power of the one true God behind him, and nothing could defeat him. He devises a contest between the followers of Baal and the Lord. Baal failed to answer the repeated cries and calls of the 450 pagan prophets to accept and take their prepared sacrifice. Elijah even becomes boastful and taunts them…(read 18:27). Elijah rebuilds the altar of the Lord, places his bull on the alter and has the people douse the offering, the wood, and the alter with four large jars of water - three times. Elijah called on the name of the Lord, and fire came from heaven and consumed the offering, the wood, and the water. This proved that the Lord is the only true God, and the people cried out, “The Lord - He is God!” The prophets of Baal were ordered to be gathered by Elijah, and they are then taken to the valley and killed. The Lord God has proven by consuming the offering that He is the Lord God. Surely now the people will turn from their lost path back to the Lord God. Jezebel puts a price on Elijah’s head- he will be lucky to live even a single day. Elijah grew depressed and afraid. He feels he’s failed the Lord, even though he was victorious on Mount Carmel. Elijah’s expectations weren’t met in his eyes, and he is the last standing, with a mark on his head. The grand change as the result of the miracle of the Lord didn’t materialize. How could this happen? He was scared, fearful for his life, and questioning his faith. He ran in fear. He had everything he thought he needed and was supposed to have, yet the end result was not the grandiose life he expected to follow.
I recognized myself in Elijah at this moment. My faith had never wavered. No matter the dogma of the time, or the stance of the “church” on my life, I knew I was sent from the Father into this world just as I was- His creation, perfect in His sight. I have always had an unexplainable connection to God. To serve Him, to make my life pleasing in His sight, and a deep yearning to see His face. A love that couldn’t possibly be taken away from me for any reason. I was empowered and protected. I was well equipped to handle the road ahead of me - no matter how daunting.. Yet, like Elijah after Mount Carmel, each new battle left me discouraged, lost, questioning everything, and at one point praying for death to take me from this world and bring me home to the Lord. I just wanted the darkness to be lifted so badly, that like Elijah, I was willing to give my life. But, how could I possibly face Him knowing that in my mind and my heart that I had failed and allowed the darkness to take me away from a light that once could never have been hidden from me. Broken, defeated, and separated from God, the darkness stayed, and my connection to God was hidden from me. Or so I thought.
I took a deeper look to discover who Elijah was, and I found more similarities: moody, subject to bouts of depression and self-doubt. Elijah wasn’t wealthy. He didn’t have the latest fashions and jewels, nor did he worship in elaborate temples. He was poor and struggling. He was barely clothed, lived in the wilderness, and begged for hand-outs. Life is a mess, yet God is with him. Power, corruption, and greed plague the land. The people have again turned to idols and false prophets. Darkness has fallen, yet God calls to Elijah and sends this seemingly broken, ordinary and bedraggled man into the heart of the battle to tell God’s story and lead the nation back to salvation. After Mount Carmel, he is broken, tired, and running for his life, a life he now asks God to take him from.
Elijah leaves his servant in Beersheba and heads deep into the wilderness. He stops and falls asleep under a bush. He prays to God and says, “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” He is literally contemplating taking his own life to end the pain of his perceived failure in his calling. After his prayer, he falls asleep. His sleep is broken in the night. Elijah wakes to find an angel of the Lord touching him - having prepared two loaves of bread over hot coals, and water for him to drink. He eats and drinks and lays back down. Again, the angel appears and has prepared more bread and water saying to him, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” He does as the angel tells him and is rejuvenated by the gift of the bread of heaven and sets out on a journey of 40 days and nights to Horeb - the mountain of God where he then seeks shelter and rest in a cave. Now we see God reveal himself in a different way…
God sends Elijah out onto the mountain. Unlike many of the 8 major miracles God works through Elijah- this time God comes not in a majestic or powerful miracle or public specter. The Bible tells us that a great wind came and tore the rocks of the mountain apart, yet the Lord was not in the wind. Then and earthquake came, followed by a great fire. The Lord was not in these, either. After these powerful signs, the Lord God came to Elijah as a gentle whisper and asks Elijah, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He fell to his knees and covered his face. Elijah explains that he as worked tirelessly and with great passion for the Lord, but the Israelites put the Lord’s prophets to death, that he was the last, and now they are out to take his life. The Lord send him back to complete his work, rested, rejuvenated, and again in the presence of the Lord and his love.
I look on this and I wonder… how many times have we found ourselves in Elijah’s position? Starting with a clear and zealous relationship with God. He calls us to him, writes His word on our hearts and in our souls, and sends us forth… fully equipped for the journey ahead of us - empowered to do His work and bring his people back into a relationship with Him. How many of us look for the spectacle of a miracle, looking for God is the great wonders we have seen, when all along it was but a gentle whisper that we were unable to hear, or unable to share? We let our minds and hearts become deafened by the noise of everything around us. We look on the Old Testament and see a God of fire and brimstone; a vengeful and wrathful God. We see the turmoil of the people and their repeated failures and falling back into idolatry and away from the one true God. We read and hear of the wonders of God’s work through Moses and Elijah. We look about and think for it to be truly the work of the Lord, it must be amazing in our sight. We measure our success against a vision of life that we make out to be as big as God himself. We will fall short of that greatness, we allow the noise and darkness in, and in doing so we can no longer hear the gentle whisper of our Lord saying…. “I am with you. I am the Lord your God. I love you, and you are enough.” We spend so much time marveling at and looking for signs and wonders, that we fail to see Him in the most ordinary of places, and in the most unnoticeable moments of the ordinary.
God had to take a new path, and as we move into the new testament lesson, God’s gentle whisper returns. In an ordinary stable, in an ordinary town, on an ordinary night - Jesus is born. The seas do not part, there are no pillars of fire, mighty winds, earthquakes, or burning bushes. On a quite night, under the stars of the night sky, the Son of God came to us through an ordinary couple. This gentle whisper was anything but ordinary - God had finally come to us, as one of us - human, flesh and blood.
In the Old Testament, mankind seemed only believed when they saw wonders or had proof of a living God. We raised and worshiped earthy idols of the tangible, and in doing so, we turned away from Him. Jesus became the tangible form of God. And we now come to John 6:35 and 41-51. We saw evidence of God’s love when Elijah was fed by the angel of God - bread from Heaven and water. He then went to the mountain of the Lord, he became still and heard His gentle whisper. Elijah was rejuvenated and able to continue his mission for the Lord. Now, years later, Jesus has just fed the Five Thousand as we heard last week, and has moved on to the other side of lake, leaving his disciples to follow after him. Was it the miracle they were following after, or was it something else? Jesus plainly tells them that they followed after him, “not because you saw the signs I performed, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.” Elijah, too, followed God to the mountain, to be in His presence as He passed by. He was able to make the journey because the angel awoke him, and he ate the loaves and had his fill. In both cases, because the bread of heaven was given and consumed, the body and minds of those who ate of it were made whole, and they each were able to continue in faith, their calling, and were reminded of the love God has for us all. In receiving the bread from heaven, both Elijah and the disciples were able to be fully present in the experience of their faith in God, and come into a life with Him that would never end. No matter what, if we believe in the living body of Christ, and we believe that He is the living bread from Heaven, and we eat our fill, we will be equipped for our calling - no matter how large or how small. From old to new testaments, God is with us - always. Sustaining us with the living word through a gentle whisper, and ultimately through the living Christ.
I have seen wonders in my own life. I’ve experienced things in my waking hours and in my dreams that I cannot explain. But not until most recently have I been able to quiet my mind and listen for Him. I, too, ran into the wilderness, ready to give it up. I followed not because I ate my fill, but because I longed to see the wonders of the Lord. I kept looking for great signs, that never came. I tried so hard to be something I wasn’t just because I was fearful of what this world would do if I were to be genuinely who God meant for me to be. I couldn’t reconcile a God who made me as I am to condemn me for who I loved, or who would have me removed from his presence. I had the fire of faith burning deep inside me, but I could not hear God’s voice asking me… “Why are you here? Why do you not know that I am the Lord your God? Why do you allow yourself to suffer?” I was holding on to the past, the pain, the hurt, the disappointment. I mistakenly thought that maybe He did take his presence from me - in punishment for my sins and failures. In truth, I was looking in the wrong places. He wasn’t in the storm, the winds, the fire, the earthquakes, or the things that sought to destroy me. He was inside me all along. I was seeking His forgiveness, but unable to forgive myself.
In both these lessons today, God called upon the most ordinary, broken, and average men. Their hearts and minds were opened to see that God is much more than large displays of power and might. He dwells in the quiet places and moments that we tend to overlook. Through Christ Jesus, we are given the very bread and breath of life, our hearts will be opened, and as long as we believe, and allow ourselves the freedom to eat our fill and quiet our minds, we will always be with Him, and through Him we will always be connected to the love, grace, forgiveness and presence of God the Father. May we always follow Him, not for the signs and wonders - for these are things seen with the eyes and interpreted by the mind. Let us lay down our burdens, our fears, our feelings of doubt and unworthiness. Let us allow God to feed our souls with the bread of heaven through a faithful and loving relationship with Christ. May we know and understand that God has called each of us, and we are equipped. No matter the journey or calling, through Christ Jesus, our relationship with the Son and the Father is all we need to sustain us through the most trying of times. We need not let anything stop us.
Hear these words from the poet, Annie Johnson Flint:
God hath not promised
Skies always blue,
Flower-strewn pathways
All our lives through.
God hath not promised
Sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow,
Peace without pain.
But God has promised
Strength for the day,
Rest for the labor,
Light for the way,
Grace for the trials,
Help from above,
Unfailing sympathy,
Undying Love.
Sit, be still, eat of the bread of heaven, and know that in the most ordinary moments of time, God is calling each of us to Him, with the eternal promise that we will always be with Him and He in us. Through Christ Jesus, we are forgiven. We can leave our past, destroy our idols, and - even for the most ordinary or simple among us, there will always be a place for us at the table with faith in Jesus and the promise of God the Father that we will never go hungry or thirsty. May it be so for you, for me, and for all who are willing to be called to sit in the midst of the storm yet be still and listen for His voice. Amen.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42808 | Let’s Edit with Media Composer – Advanced – 4K Workflows Part 2: RED 4K Offline/Online in v8.3
In this lesson, Kevin P McAuliffe shows you the ins and outs of doing a 4K offline and online in Media Composer v8.3. He shows you some new bells and whistles you’ll need to keep in mind, and he also shows you why working with RED footage will give you an advantage that you never realized you had.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42837 | Python | Vkeyboard (virtual keyboard) in kivy
Kivy is a platform independent GUI tool in Python. As it can be run on Android, IOS, linux and Windows etc. It is basically used to develop the Android application, but it does not mean that it can not be used on Desktops applications.
VKeyboard is an onscreen keyboard for Kivy. Its operation is intended to be transparent to the user. Using the widget directly is NOT recommended. Read the section Request keyboard first.
Modes in Vkeyboard:
This virtual keyboard has a docked and free mode:
• Docked mode: (VKeyboard.docked = True) Generally used when only one person is using the computer, like a tablet or personal computer etc.
• Free mode: (VKeyboard.docked = False) Mostly for multitouch surfaces. This mode allows multiple virtual keyboards to be used on the screen.
If the docked mode changes, you need to manually call VKeyboard.setup_mode() otherwise, the change will have no impact.
During that call, the VKeyboard, implemented on top of a Scatter, will change the behavior of the scatter and position the keyboard near the target (if target and docked mode are set).
Basic Approach:
1) import kivy
2) import kivyApp
3) import vkeyboard
4) set kivy version (optional)
5) Create the Vkeyboard class
6) Create the App class
7) return the vkeyboard class
8) Run the App
# Implementation of the Approach:
# import kivy module
import kivy
# this restricts the kivy version i.e
# below this kivy version you cannot
# use the app or software
# base Class of your App inherits from the App class.
# app:always refers to the instance of your application
from import App
# VKeyboard is an onscreen keyboard
# for Kivy. Its operation is intended
# to be transparent to the user.
from kivy.uix.vkeyboard import VKeyboard
# Create the vkeyboard
class Test(VKeyboard):
player = VKeyboard()
# Create the App class
class VkeyboardApp(App):
def build(self):
return Test()
# run the App
if __name__ == '__main__':
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42852 | Video: Daddy Freeze to Pastors: Praying for your enemies to die is sorcery
Controversial on-air personality, Daddy Freeze has attacked pastors praying that their enemies should die, saying such prayer is nothing but sorcery.
Freeze was reacting to a video on Instagram where the preacher said “all those who wish you dead will die your death.”
According to Freeze, “In my opinion, these are nothing but pagan prayers. Praying for your enemies to die is sorcery, not Christianity.
“Our pagan traditions and beliefs systems have in error, by unscholarly teachers, been syncretized with Christianity resulting in utter religious chaos.
Watch video here:
I remember the pagan prayer “eni ti o ni a ko ni de, ohun gaan ni a ko ni de ba”. Meaning ‘those who said we won’t arrive, won’t be there to witness our arrival. How did this become Christianity?”
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42860 | Trump vs. Iran: Has the US Crossed the Escalation to War Rubicon?
Wars occur when ideologues and/or reckless leaders in position of power are willing to engage in high risk brinksmanship in foreign policy military adventures–often as a distraction from their growing domestic problems. Their megolomania often leads them to misread the potential response of their targeted adversary, setting off a process of unavoidable tit for tat escalation by both sides until war actually breaks out.
The historical examples are undeniable of the role of personality in the precipitation of War in the 20th-21st Century:
Germany’s Kaiser 1914 mobilization of allies in response to Serbian archduke’s assassination that set in motion quid pro quo escalations; Hitler’s assumption that Britain-France would do nothing in the case of Poland as they in Czechoslovakia; Japan Tojo’s belief that war with the USA would be short should the US navy’s pacific forces be decimated in Hawaii and driven from Philippines; South Korea president Syngman Rhee’s incursion into North Korea in 1950 that started the Korean war. LBJ’s Tonkin Gulf lie and subsequent military escalation in Vietnam to destroy the Vietcong, based on the assumption that North Vietnam forces would thereafter not join the conflict. Saddam Hussein’s miscalculation to invade Kuwait, based on (false) assurances from the US that the US would not respond. Osama bin Laden’s and Taliban’s assumption US would not mobilize and invade after 9-11. George W. Bush’s embracing of US neocons’ advice that military conquest of Iraq would mean the end of war there, not just the beginning. And now Trump’s provocation of war with Iran by assassinating its most senior military general. Miscalculations all, by reckless, high risk-taking political leaders, with little understanding of the dynamics that often lead up to war.
Three questions to consider in light of the recent US killing of Iran’s top general:
Does anyone doubt what would be the response of the USA if its top general and commander in Europe were assassinated by Iran–and Iran followed it up with a declaration that they did it and he deserved it?
Is it just coincidence that Trump’s ‘crossing the Rubicon latest escalation’ has nothing to do with the timing of impeachment proceedings in Congress? Or what appears to be an increasing probability of US economic recession in an election year.
Trump could not unilaterally go to war with Iran without US Congress approval beforehand, given the US War Powers Act. Were he to do so it would constitute yet another violation of the US Constitution. But he could provoke Iran to start one, attack US military forces, which under that same Act would allow him to respond militarily with as much force as he wanted. Is Trump trying to provoke Iran, in order to have it precipitate an equivalent response so that he, Trump, can bypass a Congressional vote to go to war he knows he won’t get?
Who’s Running the Trump Foreign Policy Show?
Trump has already fired or driven out all the military generals and advisers from his administration who might have cautioned him on his growing military brinksmanship. US foreign policy for months has now been the policy of US neocons now running his administration in State, Defense, and elsewhere. (And recall it was the Neocons back in 2002-03 that advised and drove Bush to attack Iraq).
In all the foregoing historical cases, wars are precipitated by radical ideologue and non-military intellectuals and bureaucrats who advise the high risk taking and brinksmanship action by political leaders willing to ‘roll the dice’ on military adventures. Politicians who are short sighted about the dynamics of how wars are started, and once started aren’t easily stopped (if at all). Politicians and intellectuals-advisers precipitate the conflict; but the conflict soon sets in motion forces of its own that are not controllable. The reckless, high risk politicians are then dragged along by the forces of war, controlled by it instead of controlling it.
Trump is dragging the US toward war, whether by choice (by creating a distraction from domestic troubles); or by advice (by intellectuals-advisers Neocons whose ideologies serve their fantasy imaginations of wielding power and advancing empire); or by the inevitable accident forthcoming once escalation passes a point of no return (as it always does if allowed to continue).
Know Them by the Company They Keep
Trump is now in infamous company: with the Kaiser, Tojo, Hitler, and all the others after who have always miscalculated and pushed their countries to the brink of war–and over.
All reckless, high risk taking, believers in their own egos, and over-estimators of their ability to judge their opponents, the course of events, and their outcomes.
The similarity in personalities–and the errors they typically make that lead to war and destruction–is not easily ignored.
You can know the person by the company they keep! And that goes for Trump
This article was originally published on the author’s blog site, Jack Rasmus.
Dr. Rasmus is author of the just published book, ‘The Scourge of Neoliberalism: US Economic Policy from Reagan to Trump’, Clarity Press, January 2020, available on this blog,, at discount. He hosts the weekly radio show, Alternative Visions, and his twitter handle is @drjackrasmus.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42873 | How to know whether your caregiver is a good match
Do you ever wonder whether the caregiver you have is the right fit for you and your family? If you have to wonder, odds are she probably is not. When you have the right caregiver it doesn’t take long at all to know it. On the flip side, when you have a poor match, it’s usually even more crystal clear, but often out of politeness, sympathy, desperation, or just wanting to give the relationship time to develop, we can live in a bit of denial, delaying the inevitable and paying the large price of our time, affection, and money in the meantime. If you encounter such a match, try hard to move on…in the end, it will save all parties involved unnecessary stress.
Remember that the difference between a good match and a poor match is often the difference between complete bliss and pure stress. Bliss is the goal! And frankly, it’s the requirement as we pay our hard earned money for quality care for our families.
Here are some signs that can indicate whether a caregiver is the right match for you and your family.
Good. Your caregiver is in sync with your family. She follows even your most vague instructions well, interpreting them and any implied or obvious needs accurately and wisely.
Poor. Despite reminders about requirements, your caregiver doesn’t follow the instructions or carries out her own preferred method of doing things.
Good. Your caregiver is punctual and reliable, and respects your schedule.
Poor. Your caregiver is occasionally late, misses work, or has excessive obligations that interference with her caregiving obligations.
Good: Your caregiver regularly communicates the status of events, activities, issues, and responsibilities as well as any needs or concerns.
Poor: You often wonder the status of daily occurrences and have to draw the information out of the caregiver to find out, leading you to worry about how well your family is being cared for.
Good: You are confident and comfortable leaving your caregiver to perform her responsibilities.
Poor: You are uncomfortable and worry about leaving your caregiver to perform her responsibilities.
Good: You feel like your caregiver does a stellar job of helping care for your family’s needs.
Poor: For whatever reasons, you feel like your caregiver does a poor job of performing her responsibilities.
You and your family are the gauge for what YOU need and know best whether someone fits WITH YOUR FAMILY or not.
What signs tell you whether your caregiver is a good match or not? |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42881 | Despite being portrayed as "weak," how does the author show that women can be influential and/or powerful?
1984 book
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Last updated by Aslan
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Women's greatest power is their sexuality. They have great power over men and the party recognizes this. That is why the party goes to great extremes to indoctrinate women in the anti-sex league to control their sexual power at an early age. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42882 | Day 2
Death of a Salesman Lesson Plan
Classroom Activities
1. 1
Talking to Ghosts
Kind of Activity:
Comparative discussion
Examining a theatrical technique and identifying its use in other media
Lead a discussion examining how Miller uses the ghost of Ben. How does he function differently from other characters in the past? What do the conversations with Ben tell us about Willy's mental health?
A common dramatic theme is to use a ghost to signify mental troubles or breakdown. Think, for example, of Banquo's ghost in Macbeth. One starting aspect of the current play is the ease with which a ghost like Ben enters and leaves the scene, just as he seamlessly enters and leaves Willy's mind.
Throughout the...
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/42923 | Extend Server 2008 partition
Extend volume on Windows Server 2008
This article introduces how to extend volume on Windows Server 2008 R2 without losing data. 3 ways to extend partition drive with Disk Management, Diskpart command and disk partition software.
When system C drive is running out of space on Windows Server 2008, you can back up everything, delete and recreate disk partition, and then restore system and files. If you contact support from OEM server manufacturer, you’ll get such solution. A whole day may be wasted if you do like this, obviously, it is not the best solution.
To help fix this issue, Microsoft provides 2 native tools in Windows Server 2008: Diskpart command prompt and GUI Disk Management.
Both tools can shrink and extend volume with some disk partition configuration, but because of many restrictions, you still need 3rd party partition software for Server 2008. In this article, I’ll show you the steps and the restrictions.
How to Extend volume with Diskpart command
The same with previous Server 2003, you can extend Server 2008 volume with DiskPart.
Press Windows and R key on your keyboard, type diskpart and press OK, DiskPart command prompt will be opened.
Run diskpart
Tip Unlike Disk Management, DiskPart only displays all single partitions, it won’t show disk partition structure, in addition, Unallocated space won’t be shown. So it is more difficult with this method.
The precondition to extend volume with DiskPart:
• This partition must be NTFS.
• There must be adjacent Unallocated space on the right side of this partition.
If your disk partition configuration meets the requirement, you can extend Server 2008 partition with only 3 commands: list volume, select volume and extend.
Diskpart extend partition
After input extend command and press Enter, partition D will be extended by merging the adjacent Unallocated space.
If partition D is formatted as FAT32, you’ll receive an Virtual Disk Service error: The volume cannot be extended because the file system does not support it.
Extend partition error
Restrictions of DiskPart to extend volume:
1. To extend a disk partition, there must be adjacent Unallocated space on its right side.
2. Only NTFS and RAW partitions can be extended.
3. Free space deleted from a Logical partition cannot be extended to Primary partition, Unallocated space deleted from a Primary partition cannot be extended to Logical partition.
Extend volume with Disk Management
Better than DiskPart command, Disk Management has graphical interface, you’ll see which partitions are in the same disk. The most important, Unallocated space will be shown, so you’ll see clearly which partition can be extended with built-in Extend Volume feature. However, Disk Management has the same restrictions with DiskPart.
Steps to run Extend Volume in Server 2008 Disk Management:
1. Press Windows and R key on your keyboard, type diskmgmt.msc and press Enter.
2. Right click the volume and select Extend Volume.
3. Click Next in pop-up Extend Volume Wizard window.
4. Available disk and space has been selected by default, simply click Next to continue.
5. Click Finish in the Extend Volume Wizard window to confirm extending.
Tip Disk Management cannot help you extend volume by shrinking other one.
As you see, Extend Volume is disabled for drive C and E after shrinking D, because the 20GB Unallocated is nonadjacent to drive C and on the left side of drive E.
Extend Volume disabled
If drive D is FAT32, Extend Volume greyed out, too.
Unsupported drive
Extend volume with partition software
To extend volume on Windows Server 2008 (R2), the best way is running server partition manager software. Simply click and drag on the disk map, the most important: no such restrictions.
When there is free space in any other partitions in the same disk:
Download NIUBI Partition Editor and follow the steps in the video.
Tip This program is designed to work in virtual mode, you can preview and cancel the unwanted pending operations. Real disk partitions won’t be changed until click Apply to confirm.
Partition extended
If there is no other partition or not enough free space in all other partitions in the same disk, no partition tool can extend volume by taking free space from another separated hard disk. But NIUBI Partition Editor can help you clone to a larger disk, and then extend volume with extra disk space. Watch the video:
In Summary
Both Windows native Disk Management and diskpart command can’t extend volume on Server 2008 by shrinking other partitions, you’d better run partition software to accomplish this task.
However, NOT all disk partition software are safe enough to repartition hard disk drives. Some unreliable tool could cause system damage and data loss. To ensure everything intact, NIUBI Partition Editor provides unique 1 Second Rollback, Virtual Mode and Cancel-at-will technologies. Furthermore, its Hot-Resize and advanced file-moving algorithm helps resize partition much faster and without interruption. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/43001 | Monday, November 30, 2015
Housing, A Series: Part 91 - Blaming "financialization" for economic stagnation gets the causation wrong.
A category of academic work has developed around the idea that "financialization" - a bloating of the finance sector - leads to economic malaise. I think this sort of idea is built on a misinterpretation that relates to the relationship between housing and low interest rates.
The problem is that home ownership is somewhat unique as a financial security.
Equities tend to have values that are highly variable because the cash flows are highly variable and uncertain. Bonds tend to have certain cash flows, but changing discount rates. This causes the face market values of individual bonds with fixed rates to change over the life of the security, but it doesn't systematically change the total amount of borrowing. If businesses were borrowing $2 trillion when interest rates were 4%, they don't suddenly double their borrowing when rates drop to 2% or halve it when rates rise to 8%.
Homes differ in that home ownership is basically a perpetuity with stable cash flows. Especially if we consider the aggregate housing stock as a diversified basket of real estate holdings, rents on that basket of holdings will rise roughly with the rate of inflation. And, the housing stock itself is very stable. Only a small change in the total real amount of housing outstanding can be effected in a given year. A perpetuity that grows with inflation is very sensitive to changes in long term real interest rates. So both the rent cash flows and the stock itself are very stable, and the valuation is very sensitive to changing long term real interest rates. This means that the total market value of the housing stock is uniquely sensitive to changing long term real interest rates in a way that equities and bonds are not.
Let's imagine a context where the causal factor is some sort of increase in demand for deferred cash flows, or maybe a decline in growth expectations. These sorts of changes would lead to a falling long term real interest rate. These causal factors themselves would lead us to expect lower growth ahead. And the related fall in long term real interest rates would also invariably lead to rising home values. This is unavoidable.
A measure of aggregate Price/Rent: Source
The idea that home prices are dominated by demand factors as opposed to basic universal tendencies toward intrinsic value as defined by cash flows and discount rates is betrayed by both the experiences of the late 1970s and the present situation.
In the late 1970s, nominal interest rates were very high but real rates were low. This gives us a window into the relative power of demand vs. supply in home values. Demand was extremely constrained because households had to qualify for mortgages at double digit interest rates. On the other hand, low real long term interest rates meant that homes should have higher intrinsic values relative to rent. And, we see that the supply factor dominated. The Price/Rent ratio rose sharply in the late 1970s as nominal interest rates soared. This should be very surprising if you believe that demand dominates.
Home Mortgages, log scale: Source
Likewise, in the current context, rates are low, but mortgage availability has been sharply curtailed, such that total mortgages outstanding have not grown in a decade, and are well below any realistic stable trend. Yet, because long term real interest rates are very low, Price/Rent has been climbing strongly again.
During periods of slowing growth, real estate values will naturally rise, and given our conventions regarding home ownership, mortgage levels are bound to follow. But, this is a result of the broader phenomenon, not the cause.
In our current context, this problem is even more pronounced. The constriction of housing supply in our highly productive cities has caused the cost of housing to rise. Instead of earning returns on invested capital that increases the available housing stock in valuable locations, urban real estate owners earn capital gains due the economic rents they gain because there are limits to invested capital in housing. This means that those added housing costs are simply a transfer to rentiers. The costs reflect nothing of value. They are a drag on economic progress and equity.
In our current context, I believe that these housing supply problems are the root cause of all of these problems - stagnating economic growth, low interest rates, income inequality. And the manifestation of these problems is multiplied in home prices, because, not only are housing costs higher as a result of the supply constraint, but the transfer of incomes to real estate owners and the drag on economic growth both cause interest rates to fall, leading to home values that rise as a proportion of the already inflated rent levels.
The core solution is to remove the obstacles to housing expansion in the Closed Access cities. But, until that happens, economic growth will necessarily translate into higher transfers to real estate owners. Currently, our mistaken attempt at a solution, which is to dampen credit and nominal expansion, puts a lid on real economic expansion. Real economic expansion in this context will naturally lead to excessive debt levels and very high real estate values. We cannot have one without the other.
This is really a conjunction of Krugman's work on path dependent geographic advantage and the work of Douglass North, who recently passed. Cities like New York City, San Francisco and Silicon Valley, Boston, Seattle, etc. have gathered very highly productive workers into networks built on innovation and reputation in industries like communications technology, bio-tech, and finance. These networks happened to develop at a time where some combination of factors common in Anglosphere central cities have created severe obstacles to housing expansion. So, at the same time that these cities provide significant opportunities for highly skilled workers, they also limit access through housing, so that the normal process of migration into centers of opportunity has been closed off. Krugman's geographic advantages meets North, Wallis, and Weingast's "Limited Access Order".
Normally, limited access order societies are built around stagnant economic systems, where rentiers capture a large portion of a small and stable level of production. What we have created is a limited access order built around highly innovative, growth oriented, super-achievers. Instead of having limited access to cultivated land, we have created limited access to the most vibrant forces of innovation and growth ever created. This urban limited access order creates two classes of rentiers - the classic class of landlords, pocketing the traditional rents on property, and the new class of high skilled laborers.
We see high capital income because of these landlords. We see high variance of incomes within labor compensation because of these new labor-rentiers, who tap into these highly productive, highly innovative networks.
The housing supply problem is key to both of these issues. Battling against the financial sector as if it is the cause of this problem is the opposite of what we need to do to solve it. Now we especially need to support the financial sector, either as a second best solution where it at least supports new housing stock in Open Access cities, or as part of the optimal solution, which would be to support massive housing expansion where it can boost innovation, lower costs, and ultimately reduce these returns to rentiers. We must support finance in order to shrink it.
The distinction between income to existing capital and income to new capital is key. Preventing the development of new capital as a reaction to high capital incomes is, at once, rhetorically gratifying and pragmatically futile.
1. Not sure if you've seen this:
Love the blog by the way.
1. Thank you. It is nice to see this issue gaining support from many quarters.
2. Certainly, "highest and best use" should become the de facto zoning law of the land, and that would lead to higher living standards and GDP.
That said, organized militaries, religions and Wall Street are obviously parasitic.
Wall Street makes money FROM investors, not FOR investors. As most investors cough up their money of their own free will, I see nothing wrong with this (as long as there is full disclosure, and perhaps seniors need some protection for practical reasons, like senility or extreme gullibility).
Organized religion is fine, as long as they keep their hands off the public till. Maybe they should pay taxes like any other business.
Organized militaries---long the bane of productive people. Keep as small as possible, down to spartan skeleton crews except in actual wars, and largely volunteer militias, no pay (not mercenaries, like today. They become a lobby group, effective too.) Most people do not know the bulk of the income and capital-gains taxes are eaten up by "national security," rural subsidies and debt.
And, yes, build tons of condos and apartments on the Pacific Ocean! I suggest "Project 5 Million." That's how many units should be built in SoCal.
3. The first four paragraphs of this post try to explain why bonds and equities are affected by interest rate changes differently than housing is. You are more of an economist than a financial services type, perhaps. Those four paragraphs are mostly extraneous, and including them increases the likelihood that investment management industry readers will get caught up in relative minutiae that are incorrect, (e.g. the part about face value of bonds changing) yet overlook the right-ness, er, veracity of your central findings:
"housing supply problems are the root cause of ... stagnating economic growth, low interest rates, income inequality"
"Instead of earning returns on invested capital that increases the available housing stock in valuable locations, urban real estate owners earn capital gains due to economic rents... This means that those added housing costs are simply a transfer to rentiers. The costs reflect nothing of value. They are a drag on economic progress and equity."
That section, along with the charts from FRED, stands well, on its own merit. The paragraphs that follow, about "the new class of high skilled laborers" and vibrantly innovative super-achievers who physically reside in a few coastal urban centers is mostly techno-utopian speak. Cities like New York City, San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Boston have been hubs of productivity and innovation for the past 50 years or longer, in industries like communications technology and finance. In fact, one could make a case that due to the Internet and recent communications technology innovation, there is LESS (not more) need than in the past for the innovative super-achievers to occupy housing in a particular geographical housing market. I don't believe this to be correct, not yet...maybe never. Perhaps you don't either, which means that you're not such a techno-utopian after all! I suspect landlords extract economic rents on urban housing much more than city-dwelling, highly-paid workers do. The landlords have the upper hand due to being entrenched for decades (first mover advantage?) and despite having the financial means for home ownership, the workers often require unexpected and broad geographic mobility, especially when younger.
Some cities do not have much choice in being "Closed Access," due to geographical constraints. That situation applies to both San Francisco and New York City's borough of Manhattan. San Francisco is hemmed in by mountains, although there is still plenty of housing development space for now, if it were to be allowed by policy makers in government. Manhattan is more seriously constrained, and even a transition to "Open Access" would provide limited expansion opportunities.
Is Open Access in Manhattan more than geographical in scope? Rent control probably constitutes a form of Closed Access. Rent-controlled housing in New York City is a benefit that increasingly accrues to landlords and crony capitalists, rather than to workers and middle or lower income families, despite original intent when established in the 1940s or thereabouts. That further suppresses economic growth. It also increases inequality, while dampening rates of upward socioeconomic mobility.
1. San Francisco looks pretty low-rise to me. New York is more seriously constrained, although there's an amazing amount of low-rise there too - and a surprising number of lots that lie empty for many, many years. Transportation could become an issue in both: mobility already barely exists in Manhattan - average speed of public transportation is often barely 2-3 mph. The evils of rent control (in both places) have been much discussed but the worse the problem gets, the more support they have.
2. Since much of the transportation is related to commutes, higher density may actually create less demand for it, though certainly a modernized subway would be helpful. Our cities are much less dense than most foreign cities. The limits aren't logistical.
3. Oh gosh, please forgive me, Whisk! I read your About page. I was 100% wrong in suggesting this in my prior comment:
"You are more of an economist than a financial services type."
In fact, you are more of a trader and money manager (i.e. a financial services type) than an economist! You were kind, and did not highlight my silly error. Thank you! I am an Arizona resident at present. My brother attended University of Arizona, just as you did, for a master's degree, and undergrad too.
Getting back on topic, you observed that our cities are much less dense than most foreign cities. This is true, yet the relationship between high density cities and more affordable housing is non-trivial. Compare the cost of average residential real-estate per square foot (meter?) in NYC or San Francisco with the same measure in large western European and coastal Asian cities. US cities are much more affordable, sometimes by a factor of three. Shouldn't higher-density foreign cities have lower costs for housing than lower-density American cities?
4. No problem. I tend to wear an economists hat a lot, though I don't have the credentials to justify it. Interesting question on international differences. I don't know the answer, although the Anglosphere seems to follow a common pattern - London, Sydney, Vancouver, NYC, SF, etc. I see a lot of the same complaints. I don't know much about housing globally, though.
4. I'm sorry for the lengthy comments. I wanted to add one more thing.
I think you need to make a distinction between financialization and banking. Increasing financialization of the Wall Street variety is quite different than residential mortgage banking expansion. Your concluding lines, which are the tie-in with the post title, are
Yes, we DO need to support retail banking, insofar as it provides funds for home mortgages! The other part of the financial sector, specifically merchant bankers, do the following: facilitate mergers and acquisitions, lead complex (non-mortgage) securitization deals and manage assets for pension funds, among other things. These activities don't have a direct beneficial impact on the stock of housing, unlike the activities of non-investment banks, whether small community banks or huge banking institutions such as Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo.
1. Thanks for your input Ellie. A lot to think about here.
1) What is incorrect in my early paragraphs?
2) Revealed preferences suggest that it is extremely valuable for certain tech firms to be geographically clustered.
3) Manhattan had more residents in 1900, before the expansion of the modern skyscraper, than in 2000, and millions of people come in every day, but have to sleep in New Jersey, etc. These cities aren't very dense, residentially. They aren't even close to hitting geographical limits.
4) The statistical expansion of finance is strongly related to the expansion of mortgages outstanding. I think this premise is accepted by those who blame financial expansion for economic contraction.
2. Oh, and thanks for the input on writing. I tend to write the blog without thinking too much about audience. I usually find some obscure technicality to think about which leads me to a conclusion about the broader issue, and I just spill it out as a stream of consciousness. I am actually kind of surprised and grateful that I have any readers, and especially that I have a number of readers who have muscled through the entire housing series enough that they find my narrative compelling. I don't know if I would have had the patience as a reader to do it.
I hope to get this into a medium for a wider audience, and that really will be a process mostly of going back and editing all of these thoughts into a manageable and readable story. So, I appreciate your feedback about what seems to work and what doesn't.
3. Hello Idiosyncratic Whisk! I am trying to remember how I found my way here. You might have been a click removed from Arnold Kling's blog or possibly Trotsky's Children (that one isn't about communism, rest assured ;o)
Regarding your first point, in response to my comment, the following passage is what struck me as incorrect:
"Bonds tend to have certain cash flows, but changing discount rates. This causes the face values of individual bonds with fixed rates to change over the life of the security, but it doesn't systematically change the total amount of borrowing."
The first sentence of the quoted excerpt is correct. I don't understand the second sentence, stating that varying discount rates causes the face values of bonds with fixed rates to change over time. Bonds have a face value, which does not vary. Face value is not the same as market value. Current market value, i.e. price to purchase, is what varies over the life of a fixed income security.
For example, the semi-annual coupon payments on a fixed-rate corporate bond are based on a static par value, usually $1000 per bond. Even zero-coupon bonds, which are issued at a discount to face value, do not have varying face values, but rather, varying prices at any point prior to maturity.
What kind of a bond are you thinking of, whose actual face value changes? Does its coupon payment change too?
Next, I'll jump to your fourth bullet point, "the statistical expansion of finance is strongly related to the expansion of mortgages outstanding". I am curious what you mean by the "statistical expansion of finance". Are you referring to growth in financial services as a percentage of GDP, the financialization trend that your article begins with? If so, that makes sense. If not, please explain?
4. Geez. You're right. That's a typo. I meant market value. Thanks for catching that.
On point 4, yes. I'm being a little sloppy and vague. But, yes, generally the articles that blame financial expansion for recessions or stagnation seem to base it on total bank assets as a proportion of GDP, or finance value added, but these things seem to generally move in the same directions. "Finance" has a sort of slippery definition, in any case. I would tend to generally view debt and equity as different forms of claims of ownership over productive or durable assets. When that ownership is deemed to be facilitated or captured by the finance sector seems to be somewhat arbitrary to me.
When real long term interest rates fall, safe assets like homes gain nominal value. Since a large portion of this type of asset is deemed to be facilitated by finance, we are tempted to see "finance" as the central mover, but really it seems like a secondary factor to me. If instead of mortgages, our homeownership system was based on, say, diversified institutions that sold call options on properties to their tenants, they would all just be considered "owners", and there would be no association with financial expansion, even though the basic ownership process would be similar. If semantics can make that big a difference, I think it is dangerous to draw sharp conclusions about the size of a sector.
5. A common problem, too, is that as real estate values rise, so do property taxes - and this reduces the state's interest in adding more to the capital base, which would naturally be the force that would help to offset the rentiers' lobbying against new construction. Not as true in California, of course, because Prop 13 requires waiting until there's a change of ownership, but the trend is the same.
1. I don't think this is key. As you point out, California is the worst place, and they have limited this effect. Also, oddly, it is not the rentiers who seem to be the obstacle. It seems to be the populists.
2. Populists?
Maybe so. Also "existing property and homeowners."
Can you name a single-family detached housing district that
6. It's interesting to compare real estate to New York taxi medallions, and consider that relaxing development restrictions could have a similar effect to the advent of Uber. Or, it might not: New York already had black cars, yet taxi medallions were worth $1 million and more.
Opt In Leads
8. Kevin, this is up your alley:
1. Thanks. Interesting article. I suspect that macroprudential policies make things worse, in part, because they simply add another obstacle between savings and investment. If home prices are high because real interest rates are already low because of a surfeit of investment, then that will just make matters worse.
It's strange to me how the presumption of efficiency that finance academics would normally apply to capital markets doesn't remain in housing. Yet the evidence, such as what your link discusses, seems to support that presumption in housing.
9. This is a really interesting topic that I have never really thought of. Kudos to you for bringing it up and thank you for the link to the paper. It is a very intuitive concept once you make sense of it.
I do feel that i disagree with some of your contentions and solutions to the issue. I believe that interest rates do have a significant effect on the value of both stocks and real estate over long periods of time. I would contend that low nominal interest rates are the primary measures of investment flows and therefore determine value. For example, in the current environment, interest rates remain low which creates crowding and forces investors into risk assets, creating or leading to higher equity valuations. A similar phenomenon imo is evident in real estate. Crowding creates more volatility which again is evident in both asset classes. This valuation crowding is related to crowding within communications technology, bio-tech, and finance in terms of both workforce and overall investment. The question is whether this crowding is justified. Even if this crowding is justified, where do you find more money to pump these industries? Either you must find other parties to invest (and given that the commodity slowdown is taking money away from savers/governments in EM, the market for US securities is shrinking), introduce more leverage (in an economy that is already over-leveraged), or manufacture it (print it or whatever, which is essentially a method of wealth redistribution which only adds to the problem of inequality). And even if you succeed in doing so, price/rent will continue to rise because as long as more workers and money moves into these sectors, there will be someone to profit off economic rent. Look at some of the gold bubbles or oil bubbles in US history. Rents in the Dakotas now are extremely steep around the wells. If you're making a lot of money, someone will find out and you can bet they'll find a way to do the same or rip you off. Its part of capitalism and momentum. Some areas of finance are just as useless as what a landlord does and I guarantee you there are plenty of hoaxers inside biotech (Martin Shkreli for example) that do nothing but rip people off. Why continue pumping industries that have too much investment already? In the long run, we are all dead anyway I guess.
1. There are useless and useful people everywhere. I think our perceptions of reality, especially when it comes to broad aggregates, get clouded by dwelling on these characterizations.
On the other asset classes, I haven't gone as deeply as I have with housing, but my preliminary findings have been that implied real yields on equities are surprisingly stable, and corporate leverage does not rise with falling interest rates - it's the opposite, if anything. Here's a series I did on the topic. On leverage, you need to be careful. For instance, the expanding global footprint of US firms will make debt levels look high if you compare them to US GDP.
10. Kevin, have you seen this paper? It seems highly relevant to the topic of skyrocketing rents in the richest urban cores of the country:
1. Thanks for the link. I had seen a summary of it, but I hadn't looked at the complete paper. There is a lot to chew on there. It really does seem like the grand story of the past 40 years has to do with the interrelationships between technology, globalization, tax rates on wage income, gender rights, and urban housing constraints. That paper plugs into a lot of those factors. Great stuff. |
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Fix Your Stuff
Right to Repair
Parts & Tools
Editing Step 4 —
Step Type:
Drag to rearrange
Remove the front panel of the camera case to expose the top left copper strip. Gently pull upward on the strip to disconnect it from the camera.
Your contributions are licensed under the open source Creative Commons license. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/43006 | Broken Age Wiki Guide
Trophies and Achievements
Top Contributors: Bob, Miranda Sanchez, Jakejames Lugo + more
Broken Age has a total of 45 trophies and achievements. If you're stuck on a section, head over to our Spoiler-Free Walkthrough or our full Walkthrough for help. We've also included light hints for a few of the more difficult trophies below.
Unlock all Broken Age Trophies
Is Something Wrong?
Make a Spoon Sweat
Flawless Execution
Complete all rescue missions with zero errors
Inhibit a powerful entity
Gary Has His Reasons
Hear 20 reasons why Gary won't grab that
Travel to a forbidden location
Question Your Elders
Learn all you can about Sugar Bunting
She's Doomed Us All
Escape the Maidens Feast
Make Up for Some Hygiene Demerits
Get to know someone in a precarious position
Mother and Child Reunion
Reunite a mother and child
Something Not Light About Her
Leave an isolated town
Produce Distributor
Feed two different people a healthy snack
Not Good with Directions
Endure a tight situation as long as you can <spoilers>Let the snake strangle you!</spoilers>
Are You Trying to Get Rid of Me?
Find 30 unique reactions to the Spoon
Get Hyper
Return a missing spaceship part
Knot Too Difficult
Clear up a tangled situation in one attempt
"My Lightness!"
Return a heavy duty spaceship part
Sick of Fish
Visit someone in jail
"What's up with all the feathers?"
Commission a custom garment
"I'll bet the undercarriage on this baby is shot."
Get a family member's help on a big project
Make Like a Tree and Laugh
Tell a great joke in one attempt The joke options always change, but the correct answer is a two-part joke that is usually about a tree.
How'd I Do?
Follow up on a successful performance
"And, they do windows!"
Find a genius
"What can I say? I know boots."
Answer some tough questions quickly
There is Hope
Get to the ship's brain
No Retreat
Execute a PERFECT escape
"That kind of thing can be pretty convincing."
Get to know a stranger
"Not everyone has the stomach for perfection."
Uncover an unsavory scheme
We Talked That Fight Right Out of You
Talk to the boss
Greetings from Obvious Town
Reconnect with some old friends
Holy Smokes
Deploy a weapon of mass destruction
Go With Your Instincts
Chart a course away from danger
Complete Broken Age
Let's Get this Good Time Over With
Complete Broken Age in under an hour, not counting loading and paused gameplay
Secret Trophies[edit]
Picky Eater
Examine all breakfast options
Disrupt Shay's daily routine
Take control of the Boom Arms
Small Things Can Surprise You
Take down Mog Chothra
Please Don't Tell Anyone
Complete Act 1 of Broken Age
Turn That Frown Upside Down
Remove 8 sad faces from the Bassinostra Hit the sad faces while using the sun strobe as Vella.
Complete Act 2 of Broken Age
"Eh, eh-eh. Eh eh, eh-eh!"
Make someone strut their stuff
He Must have a Reason
Stand up for someone even though you haven't met him
The Next Most Logical Course of Action
Start a group dance party Remember, the wild Hexibots will follow the leader!
She Must have a Reason
Stand up for someone even though you haven't met her
In This Wiki Guide
Broken Age: Act 1 Image
Broken Age: Act 1
Rated "E10+"
DeveloperDouble Fine Productions
PublisherDouble Fine Productions
Release DateJanuary 28, 2014
PlatformsLinux, PC, Macintosh, iPhone, Ouya, Android |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/43022 | Access Incognito's library of Guides, Tips / Tutorials and more.
Fraud Prevention in DOCSIS Network: Data Sharing
Published on 28 May 2015
The data encoded in the configuration file name is kept private. It is triple DES encrypted using a secret shared between the DHCP and CFM services.
Configuration file names for dynamically generated files appear and look meaningless:
In this scenario, DYNTXT is a user-created mask token set within the DHCP option to help clarify which DOCSIS files are associated with a specific template.
All configuration for DOCSIS file generation is created and stored on the DHCP service and automatically synchronized with whatever clustered CFM services register with the DHCP service.
Comparison to CMTS Dynamic Shared Secret Functionality
How does the security in the Incognito solution compare to the Dynamic Shared Secret feature available on a CMTS? Incognito provides similar security, however, it does so without taxing the CMTS.
CMTS Dynamic Shared Secret functionality automatically creates a unique DOCSIS shared secret on a per-modem basis, creating a one-time use DOCSIS configuration file that is valid only for the current session. This ensures that a DOCSIS configuration file downloaded for one cable modem can never be used by any other modem, nor can the same modem reuse this configuration file at a later time.
The Incognito solution does all of the above using dynamic files, however, this process takes place on the provisioning system. The advantage to this is that there is no additional load placed on the CMTS.
Next week, we’ll dive even deeper into how the Incognito solution uses anti-roaming, duplicate detection and DoS detection to further secure your network. |
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More than violence: UndocuQueers’ narratives of disidentification and world-making in Seattle, Washington, USA
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In this article, I re-present the lives of undocumented people away from violence to argue that undocumented queer Latinx migrants, or UndocuQueers, engage in disidentification processes to transform spaces for themselves in the present and imagine more inclusive futures. Disidentification is a practice whereby people, specifically those who are outsiders from mainstream culture, identify with a norm and repurpose it for a different end and interest, performing a new world for themselves. UndocuQueers employ disidentification to traverse spatial configurations of marginalization and exclusion. Centering a narrative focus on UndocuQueers, this article argues that UndocuQueers disidentify with multiple ideas, such as those of the good citizen and good immigrant, to navigate and create spaces to connect with others in Seattle. This article juxtaposes geographic literature alongside queer of color theorizing to first reframe UndocuQueer as an identity process and as a cartography of social practices. I then describe how UndocuQueers’ disidentificatory practices enable them to repurpose norms in a club, an airport, and an agricultural field. UndocuQueers use this geography of disidentification to center relationality and kinship in their visions of a more just future within the realms of education, art, and social justice. I conclude that the vulnerability that UndocuQueers experience does not prevent them from being agents in the production of social, political, and spatial practices. Rather, they are constantly engaged in a project of world-making that is nuanced, open, and relational.
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Keywords: Disidentification; Latinx; UndocuQueer; narratives; place-making; social practices
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Publication date: December 2, 2018
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Understanding communicational behavior among rangelands’ stakeholders: application of social network analysis
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Understanding communicational behavior of rangelands’ stakeholders is fundamental for effective development of rangeland management plans. This study aimed to understand differences between stakeholders’ relations among various actors involved in rangeland management using social network analysis (SNA). A survey was conducted on 334 stakeholders (89 extension agents, 110 researchers and 135 executive agents) in the Tehran province, Iran. Results showed that all the three groups of stakeholders are interested in making contact mainly within their own group. Furthermore, while the executive agents have shared the strongest technical and friendship relations with the two other groups, the extension agents established the strongest administrative interactions. The researchers, however, made a poor link especially with the extension agents. The study concluded that SNA could be an efficient tool to assess communicational behavior in rangeland management.
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Keywords: communicational behavior; multi-stakeholder analysis; network analysis; social networks; sustainable rangeland management
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Affiliations: 1: Department of Entrepreneurship in Technology, Faculty of Entrepreneurship, Tehran University, Tehran, Iran 2: Department of Fisheries and Environmental Sciences, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran 3: Department of Rural Development Management, Faculty of Agriculture, Yasouj University, Yasouj, Iran 4: Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium
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Polyphenols in Hellenic wines: creating composition tables as a tool for epidemiological studies
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Polyphenolic substances are of profound significance to both the technological and nutritional value of grapes (Vitis vinifera sp.) and wines. The Hellenic vineyard embraces a large number of native V. vinifera species which have a peculiar polyphenolic composition, as illustrated by a number of recent research works. For this reason it was deemed necessary to gather the bibliographical data that have been published so far, in order to provide a complete insight into the polyphenolic composition of Hellenic wines, with a view to it being a first step towards the creation of a database which might be of assistance in epidemiological research. Emphasis has also been given to some data that revealed valuable information on variety-related patterns for major phenolics in wines made from single, autochthonous cultivars.
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Open Access 'Travail d'abolition': Illness and Statelessness in Armen Lubin
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This article explores the poetry of Chahnour Kerestedjian (1903–74), an Istanbul-born writer and member of the Armenian diaspora, who emigrated to France in 1922 following the Armenian Genocide, and in whose French-language poet-persona, Armen Lubin, the horizons of writer, invalid and stateless person come to intersect. Consigned by chronic tuberculosis of the bones to a lengthy cycle of sojourns in French hospitals and sanatoria, Lubin's poor health rendered him unfit for military service, thereby obstructing his attempts to secure naturalization in France. Eliciting an underlying connection between the medical and juridical domains in Lubin's poetry and prose, the article shows how this poet-patient produced a body of work which inflects the condition of statelessness with a lingering opacity and ironic deflation, and which does so in a language which figures, and deflects, those disciplinary logics of which the stateless individual finds himself the object.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/43044 | Platforms & Ecosystems: Part One - Novidea, Salesforce and their partners
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One of this year's top topics for insurance and technology is platforms - and we are going to hear a lot more about them in the next year.
Startups have been finding it hard to get the attention of insurers, and experience is showing that most insurers are not really set up to nurture early stage companies. Insurance technology platforms provide a way for insurers to more easily access data, analytics and the related services they need to improve efficiency and engagement - and for technology companies to get to insurers.
Our event on 22nd October at The Steelyard featured companies talking about their platforms and their ecosystems. In this, the highlights from the first half of the event, Matthew is on stage with our sponsor Novidea, their platform Salesforce and their ISVs (Independent Software Vendors) Conga and Financial Force.
You can link through to a summary of the event and see photos and details of all the speakers. Look out for the remainder of the evening that included Guidewire, ICEinsurtech, AXA, DMS and RiskBook.
We're delighted to be bringing you this podcast with support from the Insurance Insider. For a free copy follow this link -
Listen here to podcast 54. It is also available on iTunes, Spotify and Podbean.
Transcript for this podcast
00:18 Matthew Grant: Hello, this is Matthew Grant and welcome to the InsTech London Podcast. Now, for those of you that don't know us well, InsTech London is the largest community of people from insurers, start-ups, technology companies, service providers and investors working together to help insurance companies and corporations of all types from all around the world benefit from innovative ways to measure and reduce risk. For today's podcast, we are bringing you highlights from our event on platforms and ecosystems recorded at the Steelyard on the 22nd of October. We had another packed room of over 200 people, and in this, which is our first section of our recordings from the event, we have an example of an insurance platform that is starting to make an impact across insurance.
01:07 MG: Broker technology provider, Novidea and Salesforce were on stage, along with a couple of Salesforce's ISV, (that's independent software vendors), Conga and FinancialForce. Salesforce is particularly interesting and a bit unusual because it's a company that's come from outside of insurance and it builds on its existing business applications to help companies get the benefit of their existing solutions. In our next session we'll be talking to some platforms that were grown with insurance, both big and small. We're delighted to bring you these podcasts with the support of Insurance Insider. We consider them one of the most reliable sources of news about the global commercial specialty and reinsurance markets from around the world.
01:53 MG: Well, Ben, all these people are here tonight, thanks to your sponsorship. So I think we first of all say, thank you very much for your sponsorship and your fine choice of wine and food that I know is going to come.
02:03 Ben: Absolute pleasure.
02:04 MG: Could you just tell everybody what it is that you do as an organisation?
02:08 Ben: We're a broking and platform supplier. We build all our platforms on Salesforce and we really focus on all things that Salesforce is good at, which is the data analytics, the workflow, automating as much as we possible can.
02:22 MG: It would be helpful for us to understand a little bit more specifically about how you fit into the Salesforce environment.
02:28 Ben: We're focussed in the broker and MGA space, and it’s really important for us to be part of an ecosystem such as Salesforce where we can start working with other business areas, general ledgers, and FinancialForce, Conga is going to be here tonight, Asperato, payment gateways. And the idea is that when brokers and business people are making decisions, you don't just bring to bear the information available in that one platform, you bring to bear all of the information within that ecosystem and turn it into insight for them.
02:56 MG: And when you launched Novidea, you presumably had choices of platforms out there. What was it about Salesforce's functionality and the reach that you decided to go with them?
03:07 Ben: Yes, so we started off not wanting to create a broker platform, but wanting to create great analytics and insight. I knew the best starting point is a CRM. You start with a CRM and it naturally wants to pull all of the information together in a customer-centric way. You then build on that platform with blog. We've done that over the last 10 years, really deep IP functionality within that industry or niche, then in doing so that creates something that really delivers for our customers.
03:34 MG: Well, Frederico, just a couple of questions to you. And Ben, I'm going to come back to you, but I think you're the first person we had on stage that actually had a tower named after the company. We haven't had Donald Trump in yet. But who knows?
03:46 Frederico: We paid for the privilege. Yes.
03:47 MG: But Salesforce Tower, so tremendous. So you're working with Novidea, that's primarily brokers and MGAs but what does the landscape look like for you?
03:57 Frederico: We do work with carriers, with MGAs, with brokers, also with insure techs. I think especially it's worth mentioning with companies from all sizes. We're not just an enterprise-focused company, we also work with a lot of the insure techs and the small nimble companies out there.
04:12 MG: So on that one, because a lot of people here are at early stages. Clearly, Salesforce has got a lot of functionality. But what is the realistic entry point for somebody who's looking for a platform to work with in terms of number of users or fees, how you would characterise it?
04:27 Frederico: We have different price points, depending if you're a small company or a large company, but also what I really think is that at its core, Salesforce is a platform. Salesforce started off as a CRM about 20 years ago and now has evolved to do a lot more, so things like marketing, things like service. So I think whatever the need is that you have, there's probably something that Salesforce can do for you, I'd like to say.
04:50 MG: Okay. And we do a special deal here, where if somebody's less than two years old, sorry, their company's less then two years old, they can join us for free. Do you do anything like that to encourage people to join you?
05:02 Frederico: Not yet. Not yet, that's a good idea though.
05:05 MG: Good. Good idea. Or if you want to join the Salesforce environment for free, then just email Frederico because it might be...
05:12 Frederico: Don't quote me on that.
05:12 MG: But don't forget, you heard it here first. So Ben, just back to you. Can you talk a little bit about the clients you've got on your platform and how they're using Novidea and Salesforce?
05:25 Ben: When we're choosing the platform we built onto, we want to make sure that we could scale. And that's a real nice thing about being on the cloud, and I say this is the way we set it up. So we have clients like Howden, we're just on 16 countries now, all over the place, every continent pretty much, which is great. Front office, back-office, all the CRM, the full broking processes, everything, MGAs. But because of the cloud technology, we can scale it right down. We've got MGAs, three users doing very niche business.
05:58 MG: Frederico, just a question back to you then. In terms of where the clients operate, do people have to sign up for Salesforce as part of their main CRM? Or do you have a packaged offering for insurance companies where you don't need to have the whole deployment but you can focus it on the insurance applications?
06:14 Frederico: Yes, that's a good question. And actually just bouncing on that, we've just launched last month our first insurance-specific product called Financial Services Cloud for insurance and basically the idea is to do a lot of the customisation that would have needed to be done for say, an insurance carrier to run their business on Salesforce. We've done it ourselves on the back of high demand from our customers. So we're not going after policy admin systems, we're not going after any of that. The idea is really just to be the slayer, what we call system of engagement that sits on top of your system of record and it brings up the right information, at the right time to the right person. And actually LV was on the beta for that. They were one of the beta testing companies and happy to say that they are now on Financial Services Cloud for insurance.
07:04 MG: When you deal with your partners, is the expectation that they would be exclusive with you, or exclusive in some way? How does that work?
07:14 Frederico: We look for partners with whom we can collaborate and they really contribute to the value that we can bring. So typically, Novidea for example, are very complementary to us. When we talk to brokers it really makes sense for us to go to market together and we've been doing that successfully.
07:30 MG: Okay, but if the Describe Data team, who I know are here tonight, if they wanted to come and run their model on your platform, would you say to them, "Well, it's either you’ve got to sign up with Salesforce," and that's it? Or are they allowed to go and find other routes to market through other platforms out there?
07:49 Frederico: No, I mean they're free to do as they please. I think the beauty of Salesforce is that you can take data from other platforms as well. And if you want to just use Salesforce for your distribution, say for your agents for example, you could do that while using other systems in the background. And many people do that, and that's absolutely fine.
08:06 MG: Ben, a question for you. So when your clients want to onboard Novidea and you've got Salesforce, how much do the Salesforce team need to get involved in that? Do you handle the front-end or do you have to work pretty closely for each client?
08:18 Ben: So we're very much on the hook for delivering ourselves, which we've done successfully for 90 odd customers, and we also work delivery partners.
08:25 MG: Say, Frederico, as we're in the London market, one of the challenges I think we know is actually deployment of technology, simplicity, client engagement. What's the balance between what you do for the some personal lines versus the commercial and commercial specialty market?
08:43 Frederico: So, to be honest with you Matthew, we've done work mostly, I would say on the personal lines as opposed to commercial lines so far, and I think that is reflected in our product as well. But especially given the importance of the London market this is something that we're looking closely into, both from a product perspective, but also from a go-to-market perspective. We do have a few joint customers, for example with Novidea, but it's something that we're looking to develop further.
09:10 MG: Okay. Well, good, we look forward to having you back when you've managed to tackle some of those thorny problems, and I'm sure there's lots of people out here who can tell you what their thorny problems are. But just before we bring in a couple of your partners, is there anything Frederico you're looking for from this community in terms of technology, analytics or data that you'd like to ask for?
09:29 Frederico: Yes, actually this is a very good question. I do think that as we try to penetrate the London market and commercial lines in general, I think we need to work with all of you in the room in a partnership and really try to see how we can help you. It's very much a two-way discussion, and sometimes it's the simple things that we know very well that we're able to help others with. Some people actually use our platform to do a lot of the things that they used to do the old way, like underwriting for example. You can actually build an underwriting tool on Salesforce. It is possible, not many people know about that.
10:02 MG: Thanks, okay. Well, just going to invite your partners up on stage. So Ben, I've got to ask you to go to naughty seat on the end there so we can give these guys... Come in, Frederico. We'll let you stay on one of the comfy ones.
10:13 Frederico: Okay.
10:13 MG: So you now have Kieran and David from Conga and FinancialForce. So Frederico, just another acronym we've got here. Would you talk about ISV, if we could just explain what an ISV partner is first of all?
10:27 Frederico: By ISV we mean independent software vendor. As I mentioned, we have over 5000 of them on our platform. So we really came up with the idea of having this ecosystem of partners who build on a specific platform. Apple has done the same thing in the B2C world, and we do that very much in the enterprise world.
10:47 MG: Kieran, I'm going to turn to you first of all, tell us a bit about Conga.
10:51 Kieran: Yes, thank you. First of all, Conga, one of the longest running ISVs on the AppExchange. Salesforce is the system of record, so they own the data and data is king. And what Conga do, we take that data and we then create documents and produce those documents that they are used within the insurance industry from KYC documents to invoices, to quotes, to contracts, you name it. We do that across the platform. So we work in partnership with Novidea. When they have to create those different accelerators and documents for their customers, they use the engine of Conga, using the data and the system record within Salesforce.
11:35 MG: So your technology is taking data and putting it together to create documents. Do you do anything with all the nasty documentation that comes in in PDFs and other formats and actually extract that and make a digital version of it?
11:48 Kieran: No matter what the format or context, we take the data from Salesforce and we can produce that, whether it's Word or in PDF or whatever format that the customer requires. And it produces those documents in those pixel-perfect rich text documents that the customers want. If you're a contractor, you've got 100,000 customers with a contract, and you change the terms and conditions of that clause library, and they're hanging over that clause library you can see in real time where they are, and then you can change that, or you can reach out to the customers and find out why they're hanging over that clause library. So it's producing that format to allow them to... It's all about facilitating the customer and maintaining downtime, so making sure there's no downtime.
12:29 MG: But you still haven't cracked the problem that people are still getting either paper or scanned-in paper documentation in the marketplace?
12:36 Kieran: We still have that. It's hard to believe after all these years that they're still... Word came out 40 years ago and they're still using Word, but they're still printing out the documents.
12:47 MG: David, just like to hear a little bit about FinancialForce and how you're working with Novidea and Salesforce, maybe Conga as well.
12:56 David: We felt that when Salesforce was going gangbusters, taking a platform as the business platform for many, many businesses globally and they were doing the front office work with the CRM and the sales cloud, we said, "Well, at some point, any business must want to do its finances on that ecosystem as well." And so that's what we do. Our core product is the financial ledgers, the sales ledgers, the purchase ledgers, and all ledgers that sit there in the ecosystem, and we write what's called natively to the platform. So we do only sit on the Salesforce platform and when our 800 people headquartered in the States. So, in terms of then how we've started to work here, our business has primarily been providing these financial systems to business services companies in general.
13:43 David: And most recently we've started to look at the insurance market in conjunction with people that really understand that market, and when we went to look at that we say, "Well, who's looking at the front office? Where is the front office being managed? Let's take what you guys are doing then." And surely when they're putting in their applications, at some point, financial transactions need to flow. Why should they flow off the platform? Why not flow them in the platform so that we're all on one common data set? And as stuff moves together on one common data set, one of our most recent clients that we've brought on board have taken your front office and brokerage system, our core financial ledgers and old money sales ledgers and purchase ledgers, but also our analysis tools, which are actually Salesforce's analysis tools. We can inherit a great product called Einstein, which basically provides really top notch analytics, machine learning moving into the AI world as well.
14:43 David: We get that for free by being on their platform, and so when we're providing a solution alongside these guys here, those analytics work across all the platforms. They analyse the data that's in the sales ledger, which actually is shared with the customer record that's on the Salesforce CRM and shared with the brokerage record as well.
15:01 MG: So if I understood that correctly, I think now, you said you made a choice or you developed as a early stage company with Salesforce. So you don't work with any other platform, is that correct?
15:12 David: Correct, yes, we made that choice.
15:13 MG: Yes.
15:14 David: And we've been building using what's called the platform as our development environment. And so we can use, as a result of that, not only do we work them seamlessly with other ISVs, so when we work in supply alongside Conga, all of the financial transactions that need to be digitized into documents, invoices, their statements, debt chasing letters, they're all just flowed straight into these guys' technology. Yes, we can't go and sell to someone who hasn't got Salesforce, yes.
15:45 MG: Right.
15:45 David: But the benefits of selling to clients who want that one single platform to our mind outweighed significantly the other options.
15:54 Kieran: And just to add to that. That's the beauty of working with Salesforce. When you're using FinancialForce and Novidea or Conga, you actually don't even know you're using it because it's all seamless.
16:04 David: Yes.
16:05 Kieran: It's on the one platform using the same data sets, apart from logos popping up now and again you actually don't know that you're using multiple systems.
16:12 MG: It feels a little bit like, and correct me if I'm wrong, it's kind of all or nothing for your clients. So you're saying you're going to work with Salesforce therefore you've got FinancialForce, you've got Conga, but your clients can't really pick and mix in terms of how they want to work. Is that how you're thinking about the world of insurance?
16:32 Frederico: Well, I think once we have Salesforce there, you can pick and mix your ISVs, that really complements the platform, and that's really the point that I was making earlier around Salesforce being a platform, and that's really how we see ourselves. We have our own products that we built like the CRM, like our marketing tools and so on, and we also have all these partners that build on top of our platform, and they integrate seamlessly. Imagine having two data sources. Imagine having two CRM systems that don't really communicate with each other, that's just making your life more difficult. So it is, in that sense, I think you are making a choice when you're choosing a CRM platform. Some companies have more than one CRM platform, I don't... Whether I think that's the right way or not, probably not.
17:17 MG: I was smiling when you said, "Imagine having two systems." I think there's some companies out there, they've got hundreds of systems.
17:22 Frederico: Oh, yes, no.
17:22 MG: So they’d love to just to have two systems, but where I'm going with this…I suspect by individual company they'll have different departments or different lines of business that they're using, use Salesforce on one place or use something somewhere else..?
17:34 Frederico: Yes, that's correct. What we see though is often Salesforce starts... Let's say for example, in a small division somewhere... I often mentioned this, but BBVA, the Spanish bank, is one of our largest customers globally, and we first worked with them in their commercial bank in Mexico. That's where we started and sales was kind of expanded across the organisation because as people saw what could be done with Salesforce and they saw the benefits of having different lines of business, different parts of the business as well from sales, marketing, service and so on, on the same platform, then really that's how we grew, and that's pretty much a blueprint that we've followed ever since. It's fairly rare to have a big bang transformational project with Salesforce without any previous presence there and that's just the way we've been working.
18:22 MG: Got it, good. So David, you've got some of the sharpest minds in the world listening to this here in the room, or listening when we record it. What would be your request for help as you build out FinancialForce?
18:37 David: We've come into this market relatively recently based on business services as our knowledge base. Our requirement is to understand increasingly that more idiosyncratic parts or unusual approaches to financial transaction management that will make our solution even more appropriate for this market. So it's around the business processes, the data that's required. We're looking to start to build that knowledge in-house, on top of our basic knowledge of the core financial management systems, which is pretty extensive, over 10 years.
19:08 MG: Good. Well, there are lots of idiosyncratic processes in this market so you'll have no end of learning there. And Kieran, same question for you, how would you like to have all input in terms of data or analytics?
19:20 Kieran: Well, we have our own AI engine within Conga, but I think we have a great cooperative of SIA complementary ISV partners here and we work with Salesforce. I think what we spoke earlier on at the beginning of the night with Frederico and we said we could possibly have on a forum, whether it's a financial services forum together, where we look at the key trends that are happening in the industry. Maybe have a quarterly forum, where we come together and look at how technology can accelerate that and address the issues that are happening within the industries, especially within financial services. So, I think we... There's a lot of top leadership in the room here tonight, so I think if we can get that combined brand power along with Salesforce and the complementary ISVs, I think we can come somewhat way to alleviate a lot of those challenges.
20:10 MG: Thank you, right. And so we have some time for some questions from the audience.
20:13 James: Hi, I'm James. I use Salesforce so I think it's like a rocket, it's like dynamite. Where can I find out more about it and learn some applications of Salesforce that I don't currently use? I remember using it in a really basic CRM context but it's really working for me.
20:34 Frederico: Okay, okay. Well, first of all, thanks for being a customer. I think there must be many of you in the room. Actually, every other conversation I have with a friend or an acquaintance it's at the point where Salesforce comes up. It's often, "Oh, I'm a customer. How can I use it better?" So, actually, to answer your question, I think the best place to start is probably to look at what we call Trailhead, which is our free e-learning platform. It's entirely free, and you don't have to be a Salesforce customer to be on it. It's fun because we actually created this ‘gamified’ experience so you can earn badges. So it's really fun.
21:10 Kieran: Just one more thing there as well. On top of Trailhead, Salesforce has an amazing thing called HSUS. HSUS is an acronym for how Salesforce uses Salesforce. And they invite customers in on a monthly basis and they show how they use Salesforce on a daily basis from sales to marketing to finance to every aspect of the business. So that's called how Salesforce uses Salesforce. So that's a good way to go in.
21:41 MG: We were delighted to have Novidea as our sponsor for this event and as one of our annual gold sponsors. You can find out more about them and, in fact, everything else we're up to at InsTech London, including dedicated pages to all our events from the last two years at
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/43059 | Meta Data Special Interest Group
What is meta data? Meta data has been defined by different people in many different ways. Often the definition is restricted to the context of a specific application, like a Data Warehouse. Other times it is defined in generic terms such as "Data about Data" that have little meaning to the individual.
The truth is "Meta data is everywhere" and meta data changes with perspective. Meta data is necessary to understand the world around you. Everybody creates it, uses it and shares it without even knowing it. Now with the computer, which enables access to gigabytes and terabytes of data, meta data has become increasingly important. Furthermore, with the trend towards mergers and acquisitions, it is imperative to have a robust meta data management strategy for a developing organisation to be successful.
A new Meta Data Special Interest Group has been formed to explore the broad topic of meta data. The goal is share ideas on meta data management amongst participants and examine how best to utilise meta data to gain business value. Please join us in sharing your experiences and insight into this fascinating and often misunderstood topic.
Contact SIG co-chairs:
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Being the Suun- First Chapter!!
Being the Suun is out AND the completed trilogy that follows Frida Svand is available for preorder! Check out chapter one below!!
I caught the blazetaur’s horn on the blade of my sword with a loud, echoing clash. Birds stirred from the nearby trees. Their little black bodies lifted into the mist and disappeared.
The beast heaved its weight against me.
I dug in my heels, a scream of effort rising in my throat. Its beady black eyes—too small for its face—seemed to laugh at me. I could see why in the image reflected back at me. My dirt-smeared face, torn leather vest, leaves in my short, yellow hair. Yeah. I was a real terrifying opponent.
“Frida!” Estrid’s voice called across the clearing. She burst through the trees and ran toward me, stealing the blazetaur’s attention.
It released me.
I fell forward, narrowly avoiding being trampled by one massive foot.
It swung its barbed tail in a wide arc, moving faster than any creature its size had a right to.
“I almost had him.” I pushed myself to my feet and trailed behind the monster, taking useless swings with my sword at its armored backside.
The poisonous barbed tail struck out at Estrid.
She ducked and rolled.
The stinger stabbed into the trunk of a tree with a thunderous crack and stuck there. The soft spot at the base of its stinger was the creature’s only weak spot. Sever it, and the monster died. We’d learned that lesson the hard way in our three years on this blasted island.
Estrid rolled to a stop, covered in leaves and mud, and cursed. She would have preferred to be covered in blazetaur goo.
I reached her and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her to her feet.
The monster struggled to free itself from the tree, bellowing and thrashing about wildly. Its armored body slammed against nearby trees, cracking two of them in half.
“You found it.” Erik, our big brother, emerged from the tree line across the clearing.
The blazetaur turned and bellowed at him, yanking its tail from the tree.
Erik didn’t even flinch as he pulled out his sword. “I’m glad to see you saved it for me.” He raised his sword above his head, a smile on his dirty face.
It was his fault we were even here hunting this thing, and I was more than glad to let him have the glory.
But Estrid wasn’t. She and Erik were always competing. Sometimes it was cards. Sometimes women, and other times it was monsters. Who’d killed more blazetaurs? Who’d collected more shadebig body parts?
Maybe Erik was in the lead and that’s what possessed Estrid to take a running leap onto the beast’s swinging tail. She wasn’t close enough to the stinger. She dug her sword into a meaty crevice, causing the monster to flick its tail. Hard.
Erik’s eyes widened in surprise.
Estrid lost her grip and flew toward him.
He dropped his sword and made a valiant effort to catch her. They were almost the same size. Instead, she plowed into him like a boulder, sending both of them careening backward into a tree where they sat, stunned.
The blazetaur pawed the ground, raking a deep groove in the dirt.
Luckily, it seemed to have forgotten about me. Sometimes, as the youngest sister, it bothered me to be so forgettable that even the monsters on this blasted island ignored me. Other times, it was my greatest advantage. With my sword still in hand, I pulled my short-handled ax from my leather belt. I didn’t fight with a shield. They weren’t much use against monsters who could shatter them with one blow. But I was deadly with two blades.
As it drew its tail up to strike, I ran, taking long, quiet strides. My destination was a group of trees the monster had destroyed. The snapped trunks were positioned like a ramp. I hit them at full speed, slowing only slightly so as not to lose my balance. My eyes never left the tail. It was going to be close, but not impossible.
I didn’t pause when I reached the top, where I was level with the monster’s back. Instead, I leapt, feeling for a moment like a bird taking flight.
The tail passed just in front of me.
I hooked the blade of the ax around the stinger so I wouldn’t fall, and stabbed my sword into its tail, meeting flesh.
And then I was falling. Just me and the stinger and a stream of warm, red blazetaur blood. The ground rushed to meet me. I hit it hard, all of the air rushing out of me at once.
The black stinger landed beside me, its point inches from my face. I gasped, unable to catch my breath.
The blazetaur swayed dangerously above me.
Hands were on me then, Erik’s and Estrid’s. They grabbed my vest, pulling me to my feet, pounding on my back as we ran for cover. The two of them dragged me as I regained my bearings.
We made it to the trees just as the monster collapsed with a crash that shook the ground. Its rear end hit first, the once-dangerous tail limp and lifeless. Then its front legs gave out. And finally its head, with its fang-like incisors, plowed into the dirt mere feet from our hiding place.
We all stared at the body in silence for a moment.
Erik turned narrowed eyes on me. “Do you ever think before you act?”
“If I did, you’d both be dead.” I sheathed my sword and emerging back into the clearing. I kicked one of the blazetaur’s gaping nostrils. Nothing. I moved past it, avoiding spikes and horns, until I saw what I was looking for. The stinger and, beneath it, the wooden handle of my ax. My name was carved into it in Ahvoli runes by my father before he’d given it to me on my thirteenth birthday.
Bracing a foot on the blazetaur’s back for leverage, I tugged the ax free, careful not to touch the venom still leaking from the stinger.
Erik stood beside me, his eyes on my face. “I wish you wouldn’t be so foolish sometimes. Your life is worth ten of mine.” He clapped a hand on my shoulder. It was the closest to a “thank you” I would get from him.
“At least Luthair will be pleased.” Estrid still had her swords drawn. It was wise to keep weapons readily at hand here, below the veil.
I grimaced involuntarily at the name of our benefactor, the governor. Barepost was the only human settlement on the island continent of Bruhier. Stephan Luthair controlled everything—the mine, the trade, the transportation. And us. The Svand siblings owed him a debt, and Erik wouldn’t let us leave until it was paid.
“Without honor, we are no better than the monsters that plague the island,” Erik had said when I’d offered to sneak into Luthair’s lavish home on the ridge and bury my ax in his gut, putting an end to our servitude once and for all. And so I never had, although I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted every time I looked up from our tiny rooms above the pub to see lights glowing in his luxurious glass windows. But I would do anything for Erik, even if it meant spending the last three years hunting brutish monsters and kowtowing to an obnoxious governor.
He had sent us after this blazetaur before it could reach the plateau where Barepost was situated. We’d spent the last twenty-four hours tracking it, doing our best to survive attacks from the myriad of monsters that lived below the veil.
The first hour had seen Erik nearly strangled by a trithon, a nasty, three-headed snake that lived in the trees and liked to drop down on top of its unsuspecting victims. Not long after that, we’d startled a fire elk and it caught Estrid’s cloak on fire. Thankfully, she was unharmed, but her cloak lay in ashes somewhere on the forest floor. Part of our earnings from this job would have to go toward the purchase of a new one. Winters were unforgiving in Bruhier, and it looked like we would be here for another one.
I dropped the ax into my belt and turned to my brother. “Will he be happy?” I already knew the answer.
“Our job isn’t over yet.”
“It never is.”
But Erik, used to my complaining, just smiled. “This was a female blazetaur.”
Estrid and I raised our eyebrows at each other, not bothering to ask how he knew. Just as he was used to my complaining and Estrid’s arguments, we were used to him knowing things.
“So now we have to find the nest.” He stepped over the blazetaur’s lolling black tongue and disappeared back into the tree line.
Estrid and I scurried behind him.
We walked for a long time, following a path of trampled trees. Thunder rumbled overhead. Though we couldn’t see the veil of clouds from beneath the canopy of trees, I knew it would be grey and heavy with rain. I ran my hand along the trunk of a tree, tracing a deep groove that had almost certainly been made by a blazetaur horn. Estrid nodded at me approvingly. She was the best tracker of the three of us, but I wasn’t bad and was getting better with her tutelage.
The ground leveled out as we walked. We were heading farther down the mountainside, deeper into monster territory. I followed Estrid and Erik and kept my eyes open for threats, because that was what I always did. I’d killed for them countless times, and I would die for them if I had to. As the littlest sister, I was no one without the two of them.
When the rain started, it drowned out all other sounds, making our trek downhill even more dangerous even though the water couldn’t reach us through the canopy. We slipped our way down, one hill after another, until we finally emerged into a large clearing not unlike the one we had killed the blazetaur in. Fat drops of rain clung to my eyelashes, and I blinked them back, drawing my sword.
Erik placed his hand on my arm, telling me I didn’t need it. He pointed. I followed the line of his finger to a group of massive boulders bunched together in the middle of the clearing.
Not boulders, I realized with a start.
Three of them leaning together in the middle of a ring of toppled tree trunks. All of them taller than even Erik and wider than the three of us combined.
“The galestone won’t ignite in the rain.” Erik pulled the box of the volatile powder from inside his vest.
It was the only thing Luthair had given us before sending us down the mountain, one of his most valuable exports from the mine. He profited shamelessly from other countries at war, willing to send what they needed to destroy each other if the price was right.
Erik sat on a fallen log, returning the box and tinder to his vest for safekeeping while we waited for the rain to pass. I sat beside him while Estrid stood at the tree line, watching the nest as if she expected the eggs to hatch at any moment.
“I don’t remember rain like this in the Western March.” Here below the veil, it rained all the time, the forests steamy and muddy, the rivers constantly overflowing their banks.
“Maybe not,” he said, “but do you remember the snow? It was even worse. It would freeze your eyes closed and turn your toes black.”
“I miss the snow,” I said wistfully.
That drew a chuckle from somewhere deep in his throat.
It wasn’t the only thing I longed for. “I miss Dad.”
“I miss his soup,” Estrid chimed in.
Just the mention of the creamy dish loaded with lamb and pork and vegetables made my stomach grumble.
“Was that thunder?” Erik hit me in the shoulder lightly.
I hit him back, nearly sending him to the ground.
He caught himself and dusted off his hands. “I do forget you’re not so little anymore.”
“Just as you forget to feed me. You’re a rotten big brother.”
“We will eat.” Erik said, “Just as soon as we are done.”
The rain subsided soon after, leaving the ground in the clearing little more than churned mud. It sucked at our boots as we crossed to the nest and stood before the eggs. I rapped my knuckles on one shell, half-expecting to hear something stir inside in response. It remained still and quiet. My hand came away sticky with slime. I reached over and wiped it on Estrid’s sleeve. She batted me away.
It did not escape my notice that there were three eggs, that there would be three siblings. Would one be the leader, the other two constantly nipping at his heels? Would the youngest be reckless and impulsive, with the oldest constantly pulling her back from the edge while the middle sibling rolled her eyes and tried to reason with them both? There was a pang in my chest, but it was something I was used to ignoring.
“Do not feel bad.” Erik seemed to be reading my thoughts. “The hatchlings would fight to the death as soon as they emerged. Only one of them would have survived anyway.” He carefully pulled back the lid on the box of galestone.
“And we would have been sent to hunt it before too long. Why don’t you let me light it?” Estrid held a hand out for the flint.
Erik shooed us both away. “You and Frida take cover.”
We didn’t have any direct experience with galestone, but not long after we’d arrived in Barepost, there’d been an explosion in the mine. It had blown a hole in the mountainside.
For once, neither of us argued.
I followed Estrid into the forest at a fast clip, moving back up the mountain until we came to a rocky overhang.
“Here.” She pulled me down beside her so our backs were against the warm rock, situated between us and the clearing.
My legs burned with the effort of running uphill, but my breaths were steady and quiet as I listened for Erik.
“Should we go back for him?” I knew better, but I couldn’t help asking.
Estrid shook her head. “No. He’ll make it. He always does.”
I imagined him setting the charge, unrolling the line and sprinkling it with galestone. Striking the flint and dropping it, watching to make sure it caught, which would steal valuable time from his escape.
“He should be here.”
“He’s coming.”
Just then, he launched himself over the rock and pressed his body against ours. Taking his cue, Estrid and I ducked low and covered our ears, a ball of Svands.
The explosion rocked the ground and rang in my ears. Even this far away, dirt and debris flew over our hiding place. A jagged piece of grey, slimy shell hit the ground just in front of us, sticking into it like a blade.
Erik peeled himself away from us, his dirty face blank with shock.
“Well,” I said when the ringing had subsided. “Can we eat now?”
Our laughter followed us back up the hill to Barepost where a warm meal, a semi-comfortable bed, and a sleazy governor waited for our return.
Continue reading: https://www.amazon.com/Being-Suun-Legends-Fallen-Book-ebook/dp/B07QFYGP6M/
Chapter One of Dreamwalker!!
*4 days and counting*
Chapter One
“You can’t hold me back forever.” The gong had just rung, calling for reinforcements from our small town due to a skirmish.
And we had to sit here and prepare vegetables with the rest of the healers.
How could I be the only one who felt this was wrong?
“We have much to practice and learn.” Mother Ofburg raised a dark eyebrow at me as she worked away, snapping the ends off the peas. “Healing is our contribution to our people.”
It was easy for her to say. She’d been a healer for…. well, a long time. It wasn’t natural for me. “What if I don’t want to be like you?” I pointed at Noble, my best friend and fellow healer. “Or you?”
“One day, you will find peace and realize that you are a healer, not a fighter.” Mother Ofburg poured her plate of beans into a sack we’d be giving to the farmers whose crops had died overnight.
I shut my mouth, knowing nothing I’d said would change her mind. Mother Ofburg was a respected healer and leader in our small town. I was one of three apprentices in her care and quite possibly the worst.
No. I was the worst. I had no idea why she kept trying with me. From my botched spells to the time I burned the outhouse down on a full moon by accident. Magic didn’t flow through my veins. Fighting did.
The pounding of war drums thrilled me. I closed my eyes briefly for a moment, remembering my first time. My one and only fight.
The reason my parents sent me here.
I opened my eyes and glared at Mother Ofburg, a look so familiar to her she ignored it.
Her family had been healers for centuries. Her long grey hair was always pulled up in a bun, her face tanned and wrinkled from being outside. She pronounced every syllable slowly and clearly, so any misfit could understand.
I hated that. It made me feel slow.
Guilt washed over me as I slouched my shoulders in my seat. It was not Mother Ofburg’s fault I’d ended up here.
I averted my gaze toward Noble. He kept his head down and worked around my drama. He was handsome enough but had sworn his life to healing. No women for him, not even the questionable girls in town. But they loved the challenge. He kept the sides of his head shaved, and the top long and pulled back in a ponytail. His bright green eyes could pierce anyone. His dimples were his most adoring feature.
“Are you done pouting?” Mother Ofburg poured the last of her beans into a bag.
I stood, grabbing the bag. “Noble?”
He snubbed me and poured his beans into his sack.
I stood there and studied him. Had he ever thought of me as more than a sister-figure? I was pretty enough. Had my fair share of men and women who’d shown interest in me, but I’d never managed to find the one. I wasn’t thin like most girls. I practiced sword fighting in secret, deep in the woods, and it had kept me in good shape. My long auburn hair was the attribute I loved the most about myself. Though, my violet eyes drew the most attention.
“I’m ready.” Noble headed to the door.
I grabbed my sack and moved to catch up with him. “Noble, wait.” I shut the large wooden door behind us.
There was not a lot of money in healing. That wasn’t the purpose of being a healer, so we lived like most of the townspeople. Our homes built into the hills, covered in moss and grass. Some buildings were made from wood, but they leaked. It was much better to use clay and hay to reinforce the walls. Building into the hills also allowed us to remain hidden to creatures flying above.
Like the ur’gel, demons from the northern deserts.
“We have to meet Skyra,” The tone of his voice was irritable. “She’ll lead us to the farmers that need us most.”
When we’d commenced our apprenticeships, we’d both felt like we’d belonged somewhere else. But then he’d given up. He’d sworn his life to healing. That…. sure felt like giving up to me. I don’t know why I thought he’d understand my need.
“I’m sorry. Okay?” I caught up to him and grabbed his hand. I forced my energy into his palm to prove it. As a healer, he would be able to feel my emotions just from touching the heat that rose from my body. Sharing our energy had bonded us, unlike any relationship before. It was impossible to lie to another healer.
He pushed my hand away and shook his head as he walked on.
“I just wanted—” I tried to get him to understand how frustration sometimes overtook my common sense, but perhaps I had gone too far this time.
His shoulders drooped.
In defeat? Was he angry?
“I understand why you’re mad. I don’t understand why you won’t change the way you think.” He stopped and faced me, his eyes watery.
My stomach dropped. How insensitive could I be? He’d sworn his life to healing when he lost three brothers in battle. His parents had sent him to Mother Ofburg to preserve his line by becoming a healer. He’d been a great warrior in his day, or so the rumors were. I would never ask him, though. Being a healer wasn’t a step down by any means. It took many years of studying at the Healer’s Guild in Abrecem Secer before you could even become an apprentice. Noble could have chosen to heal in the battlefield as a battle walker but chose to work in a village.
I held up my hands in surrender. “No more talk of it.” I smiled and punched his arm, then turned and ran.
Noble paused for a moment and then chased after me.
Like old times.
We ran giggling. He never caught me, although he could have without even breaking a sweat. We ran past the Millers, the Gates, the Burns, until we reached the edge of town. We fell onto the soft grass under a tree to catch our breath as we waited for Skyra.
The beauty of our town in the spring always brought a smile to my face. The snow had melted, and all Rilyo’s bounties were in the process of growing again. The town itself was large and shared with humans and elves. We all tried to get along, but raiding occurred. While I liked the town and its people, I wouldn’t be here forever. The ache in my soul said otherwise.
“Can we just ban talking about fighting?” He leaned back on the grass and stretched.
“This isn’t going to be my life.” I lay next to him on my side. I thought of him as a brother but could appreciate his beauty.
“It’s better than dying.” He shifted his body so he faced me. His large hand reached toward my face to lift away the stray hairs that had fallen into my eyes.
“We can all die at any time.” I was grateful for his touch. Not being with family had left me hungry for hugs and physical comfort.
Noble didn’t respond. Instead, his gaze was distant.
Would he ever talk about them with me?
Probably not. “But today we feed the hungry.” I smiled at him, then flopped back on my back. Skyra wouldn’t be long. I wanted to soak in every second of not having to do anything but wait.
“Skyra is late. For once, I’m happy about that.” He smiled and joined me again, lying on his back.
We lay in silence, enjoying the soft breeze, smelling the blossoming flowers and calm in the woods. It was so peaceful we almost fell asleep.
We sensed Skyra’s energy before we caught sight of her. She was not only a bundle of energy but also the tallest person in town. An awkward combo.
“Wakey, wakey!” Skyra pounced on the ground at our feet.
Skyra worked for the Council Three. They ruled the Low Forest, and we often did work for them. They were investigating the crop failure. She had just won a leadership tournament and was now one of the most popular guides. There was something about her which made you want her on your side. I often confided in her and respected her opinion. She understood me.
“You’re late.” Noble rose to his feet in one leap.
“Come on, slackers. We have adventuring to do.” Skyra headed into the woods, and we followed.
“So, what are we walking into?” We’d only heard the rumors and questioned if it was as bad as it had been made out to be. What could destroy entire crops in one night?
“We’re coming up on the first farm.” Skyra crouched down and extended her arms out to stop us. She brought her finger to her lips, instructing us to remain quiet.
She removed the bow from her hip and notched an arrow.
I tried to see what she did. There was nothing there.
Noble’s eyes fixed on a spot ahead of us.
I leaned over and saw the branches move. What was it? A bandit? An animal?
A deer shot out.
Skyra released her arrow, and the deer fell to the ground. She moved to it and placed her hands on the animal, offering up the hunting prayers and ensuring it wasn’t suffering. Moments later, she swung the deer over her shoulder, and we moved on.
“Beatrice will be thankful. Her crops were hit the worst.” She carried the heavy deer with ease as we came across a clearing.
I stopped in my tracks, the view shocking. The field was filled with black soot. “Did it burn?”
“No. We have no idea what this is, and it just keeps growing.” Skyra headed toward the clay home.
I couldn’t even begin to imagine the devastation. “Beatrice Mulligan. We went to school together. Her father was killed in the war.” Her mother had found comfort elsewhere, but I kept that part to myself.
“She’s married now.” Skyra knocked on the door. “Happily, with child, and they have their own farm elsewhere. It’s safe for now.” After several moments, and no answer, she placed the deer next to the door. “Follow me.”
She walked past the small house to a wooden building.
“Anyone here?” Skyra yelled into the barn.
“Up here,” a man called back as he came down the ladder to greet us.
“Came to look things over.” Skyra stepped inside.
“You got those healers with you?”
Another thing I hated. People never used our names.
He set his pitchfork on the platform and leaned on it, looking at us. But he talked to Skyra even though we stood right there. “Mother Ofburg sent a boy looking for ‘em. They’re needed back right away.”
“I’ll get them there. You safe here? I brought your family meat.”
“I’ll never turn down meat. These old bones don’t get to hunt very often. Thank you for the offering.”
Skyra turned toward us and motioned with her head to follow her through the woods again.
We were quick on her tail. Worry gnawed at me. Some of our fighters had gone out. She was calling us back in. That meant there must be wounded members.
“I hope she’s ok.”
“The skirmish destroyed people and land,” Skyra shouted over her shoulder. “Multiple dead.”
“Where did it happen?” Noble’s voice was uneasy.
“Choked Valley.”
The muscles in Noble’s neck stiffened.
His hometown.
His pace picked up, and I tried my best to match it.
From my guess, it had been three years since he’d been back, even though it was not far.
“I hear you still want to fight?” Skyra changed the subject
It was not something I wanted the Council Three to know about. But I couldn’t lie to her. “I’m thinking about it.”
She snorted as we reached the edge of the woods outside Choked Valley.
As I looked down the stretch of land, the smoke from the charred trees and the burned houses irritated my nostrils. Few homes still stood, and those that did were badly damaged.
“Stick with your apprenticeship. You don’t want to see what I have to. You’re both on your own now. I’ll take care of the deliveries. Good luck”
We handed off our bags, eager to see the damage and destruction up close. Being a warrior was difficult, fighting every battle no questions asked, wondering who would make it back and who wouldn’t.
Skyra disappeared back into the woods.
Noble and I shared a look, then we both took off running toward the village. This time, he beat me. I was at least ten minutes longer getting back.
As soon as I entered the town square, my eyes were drawn to Noble, who was now on the ground, hugging his mother. Having never seen him cry before, I clutched my stomach with my shaky hands.
My anger stirred inside of me, and I never wanted to fight more. But for now, I had to stay and help heal these people. Right then and there, I vowed to myself I would avenge Noble and his family.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07M8DBLCN/
Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dreamwalker-ja-culican/1130807791
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/dreamwalker-24
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/dreamwalker/id1438454551
I have another new series launching in 2019!!
Raise your hand if you’re ready to meet Asael Rel! She is a kick@ss, warrior mermaid… who just so happens to be a princess.
Get ready for the five book series, Tails of Valor.
AND get ready to meet my new coauthor Natasha Larry!!
WOW!! Thank you to all my readers!
This week some super amazing things happened….
1. I signed my 5th foreign rights contract
2. I broke into the 100’s rank on Amazon with Keeper of Dragons Book 1
3. I broke into the top 50 authors rank on Amazon
None of this would have happened if it wasn’t for all of you. My readers are amazing and I thank you from the bottom of my heart! And I have some HUGE plans for all of you in 2019!!! Make sure to keep an eye out!
#OnTour with @SilverDaggerBookTours | #SilverDaggerBookTours
~~♥♥~~#BookTour & #Giveaway~~♥♥~~
SWORD OF FIRE by J.A. Culican
#YA #Fantasy #NewRelease
An unforgettable tale brimming with suspense, action and dragons.”– Through the Ashes will thrill fans of The Gender Game, Divergent & The Hunger Games.
Defenseless. Alone. Betrayed.
Bells is a poor fae who works on a farm outside the protections of the dragon city. When her family is attacked by trolls, she goes to the one person she knows can help her. But will he?
Peace. Death. Enough.
The dragons brought peace to the city and the surrounding area when they rose. Jaekob believes there is no reason for further dragon involvement. They’ve’ lost enough lives to this cause. They’ve done their fair share and owe the world nothing more.
But when the dark elves infect his city with a virus unlike anything he’s ever seen, he knows they need a solution. Now.
The sword of peace. Myth? Reality?
They’re about to find out.
Author Links
Website: www.jaculican.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/jaculican
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Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/J.A.-Culican/e/B01GG7GLYE/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15287808.J_A_Culican
Signed paperbacks of the series and $25 amazon gift card
Follow the tour HERE for exclusive content and a giveaway!
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Through the Ashes-Coming June 2018!!!
Raise your hand if you already miss Cole and Eva?? (my hand just flew up, super fast!) I miss Keeper of Dragons sooo much already….but I have a whole new series coming out this June….which I hope you fall in love with just as much…..introducing….Jaekob and Bells!!! Jaekob…a dragon shifter….Bells a fae. This world was so much fun to build and I hope you all love my take on this dystopian fantasy! |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/43090 | Invisible Text Selection: Background Inheritance
June 27, 2007
Topics: Accessibility, Web Development.
Every once in a while, I come across a site with an odd problem. When I go to attempt to select a passage of text (either to highlight that section and point it out to somebody else or to copy it for later reference,) I’m unable to see the region being selected.
If I’m attempting to make a selection to copy, this is a minor irritation. It’s annoying not to have a visual representation of what I’m doing, but it’s hardly the end of the world. However, if I’m trying to point something out to somebody else, it can be rather irritating. In the context of a presentation, especially, it can be very difficult.
Why does this happen? What is it about some websites which causes them to fail to display the selection of text?
Well, the main reason is developer laziness. Yes, this is totally preventable — but it’s rarely on the developer’s list of things to check. It happens when the background color declared or inherited for a given block of text is not actually significantly different from the color of text itself. You’d think this would be very rare: after all, if you can see a block of text, then presumably the background has an acceptable background color, right?
Well, no. Not at all, actually. In fact, the color displayed behind text doesn’t necessarily have anything at all to do with the actual declared background color.
The most common circumstance to cause this problem is when backgrounds are being set using images. The background color provided by the image may contrast nicely — but this doesn’t mean that the actual color set is the same.
Recently, I was looking at a classic example of this problem. The main content of the website (which will remain nameless) had a font-color set at a medium gray shade, #747575. The visible background was straightforward and simple: white. Basic white. The text, however, did not successfully display the standard inverted color palette you’d expect when selecting text. The text did shift slightly in color (to black), but this shift was only nominally visible.
All this because the content area of this website was using an image to establish the background color, and had not set any fall back color. This meant that the background color of the body element supplied the inversion, instead: #595959. The difference between those two shades of gray is subtle. In selection, the darker gray converted to white and the lighter gray converted to black. The black was nominally distinguishable from the normal medium gray, but there was no background switch to speak of.
Had the content area of the site simply set the color to white instead of solely depending on an image, the selection would have been fine: the background would have converted to black and the text would have become white. (Actually, these colors are system configurable in Windows, but these are, I believe, the defaults.)
These kinds of problems stand out very quickly when you disable images for a site. If you disable images, and suddenly your text is extremely difficult to read because the background has vanished, then you can assume you’ll have this text selection issue as well.
In accessible web design, the possibility that images will be disabled by the user is always something I consider. As a result, I’m generally conscientious about declaring an appropriate background color and making absolutely certain that the end-value background provides an appropriate contrast to the text without any dependence on images. But this isn’t an issue which only affects the disabled — this particular case is something which can affect anybody. At the very least, it’ll be a niggling irritation on some visitors!
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6 Comments to “Invisible Text Selection: Background Inheritance”
1. Man, I’m starting to feel all alone on this one…I’ve been annoyed by this issue for years! And here nobody else seems to even have noticed it…
Eh. Each to their own pet peeve, I guess.
2. I’ve never had a problem with not being able to highlight text on a web page. Most browsers I’ve used have default background and foreground colours for highlighted text. The only time it becomes a problem is when the background colour of the page is similar to the background colour of the highlight.
3. I’ve really never run into any serious problems using gray for my default background color. But then, what I’m using is not a custom browser setting – it’s a global Windows setting. Firefox ignores it, actually, and sticks to it’s own default.
IE (Internet Explorer), however, uses the Windows setting. On the whole, I prefer to only have it effecting settings in IE — since I pretty much exclusively use it for testing, anyhow!
I use text highlighting as a pseudo-pointer when I’m navigating pages with other people to help them out or explain something on the page, so perhaps that causes the issue to stand out for me.
4. I used to use gray (great for testing at Accessites), but I ran into too many usability issues. I changed the default to #ffffcc. With this color I find that most text is more readable now, yet it still tells me in a heartbeat whether the developer has spec the background-color.
Regarding the text selection issue you’ve mentioned is something I have either not noticed or come across.
5. So do I – the vast expanse of white is just too bright for me. Those sorts of things really do stand out, don’t they!
6. I have my browser default background colour set to grey, it’s amazing how many websites fail to set a default page backround themselves and rely on the default settings on people’s browsers. And it’s not smaller sites that are failing to do this, several Google and Microsoft pages have no background set which makes them really difficult to use. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/43159 | LJS 132: Avoiding “Avoid Notes” and When Not to Avoid Them
Welcome to episode 132 of the LJS Podcast where today we are answering a question from a podcast listener who asked about avoid notes. Avoid notes are used in music academia to help identify which notes to not play over given chords or chords in the context of chord progression. But should you really “avoid” avoid notes? Listen in!
Listen to episode 132
Today’s episode covers what I consider a complicated subject to talk about. The topic is “avoid notes” and I believe it’s not black and white.
In music academia, avoid notes refers to notes you should avoid playing in a melodic situation over an isolated chord or a chord in context of a chord progression.
The good thing about avoid notes are that they do help give some general rules of which notes to avoid in order to not create too much dissonance over a chord. Or in the case of a chord progression, they help identify how to differentiate chords from each other.
The bad thing about them is that they should not always be avoided, which of course is a contradiction.
Now if that confuses you, don’t worry, and do my best to make this clear in today’s show.
Here’s a bit of what I talk about:
1. Avoid notes and what they are.
2. Which notes to avoid over isolated chords.
3. When playing those avoid notes is acceptable.
4. Examples of notes to avoid in the context of a chord progression.
5. How to play avoid notes in a chord progression and still differentiate the chords.
This episode may not provide black and white answers, but when it comes to improvisation, few things are.
I hope this episode gives you some enlightenment and helps you conceptualize some of your note choice decisions the next time you sit down to practice.
Important Links
Episode 130: Ask Me Anything
Rick Beato’s video on avoid notes
30 Stepsto Better Jazz Playing
1. Hi Brent, I’m fairly new to your site but really enjoying what I’m finding. I’ve subscribed to the podcast in iTunes but have noticed that if I access the episodes through your website there are notes and sometimes transcriptions there. Is there a quick way to jump to this background info from the ios podcast app?
Thx for all you do through the website!
• Hey there, thanks for listening! Glad to be of help so far. Sometimes I do have notes and notation on the show notes. However, I usually announce this with a short link on the episode if I do have something specific to look at. I do not believe there is not a solution for jumping easily from one to another.
2. Hi Brent,
thanks for taking my question! I feel privileged!
And thank you very much for your thorough answer – it is complicated. I'm still focusing on chord tones and have to thank you and your professional interview partners as well for pointing that out. The scale-theory is pretty dominant among beginners, so I really like the idea of limiting myself and doing more with less for now.
The more I focused on scales the more I forgot the chord tones.
And basically: if you land on chord tones, avoid notes are not your problem.
Leave a Comment
|
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/43168 | Oven-baked cod with squash
Photo: Øyvind Ganesh
Recipe icon
• 800 g cod, without skin and bones
• 4 large potatoes
• 1 green pepper
• 1 summer squash
• 0.5 leek
• 4 garlic cloves
• 20 black olives without stones
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Black pepper
cutting board icon
• Boil the peeled potatoes for approx. 5 minutes, cut into slices and put half of them in an ovenproof dish with half the sliced courgette, garlic, green pepper and leek.
• Cut the fish into cubes and place them on top of the vegetables. Sprinkle 10 pinches of black pepper, 1 tsp. salt, black olives and pour over 1 tbsp. olive oil. Repeat the process with the vegetables so that the last half is also used, and sprinkle on salt and black pepper as well as olive oil on top.
• Bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 20 minutes. |
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/43176 | What’s the difference between Mission and Vision?
What’s the difference between Mission and Vision?
This is a question that comes up a lot in the work I do with business teams as I coach them to be mission driven on a day to day basis. Why be mission driven? So they never lose sight of their greater purpose for existing in the first place.
Without mission and vision, businesses are boring.
At times I run across companies which don’t bother to distinguish them at all: They have a separate Values Statement (thank goodness), but if you ask them to tell you of their Vision, and then of their Mission, they’ll give you the same answer for both questions. So what is the difference? Does it matter?
The short answer is that it only matters if you use them. Vision Statements and Mission Statements can be power-packed drivers in a company culture when they are done right, and when they are used to release the potent energy within the people who make up that company. (Don’t for a moment think that companies are made up of anything else.) The best missions and visions become mantras for action; they’re catalysts. The worst ones are those pretty, carefully crafted ones up on the walls in frames that are long and detailed: too much to memorize and remember, too much to bother with at all. No one pays attention to them, and no one lives them. Rotate them with famous quotations or snippets from eloquent speeches and no one will even notice, because none of the real people in the company say those things.
That old guideline that a mission describes “what business you’re in and who your customer is” barely gets anyone up in the morning. Ho hum. Keep the trees in the ground, for it’s not worth wasting the paper you draft it on.
You don’t need your mission or your vision to state the obvious; you want them to state the exceptional and extraordinary, to boast of your edge-teetering leaps of faith, and the wild dreamings of every possibility you want explored every single day. You need them to create chatter, thrilled whispers, passionate debate and evangelism. You want people inside and outside your organization to talk about them constantly because they’re fascinating, enticing, and enthralling. You couldn’t possibly contain their passion on the company bulletin board if you tried.
Let them be controversial. Let them beg discussion and explanation. They should answer these better questions: How will we make a difference every single day, improving the quality of life itself? How can we work on only what really matters to us, and to everyone? Why is it that this world can’t possibly be a great place without the magic we work? Why is it that we are so special, so damned good, and so fanatically courageous? Put unbusiness-like words in them, like Beauty. Uprising. Character. Notoriety. Caring. Wear your values on your sleeve and speak them.
So what’s the difference? As simply as I can say it, your mission is what you do best every day, and your vision is what the future looks like because you do that mission so exceedingly well. In fact, I like to compare them to another old debate: management versus leadership.
For MISSION —– think: managing with greatness and untamed strength, improving everything daily.
For VISION —– think: leading with inspiration and courage, obsessed with future possibility, in a love affair with change.
Turn them both into mantras that people actually say, beaming with pride as they say them. “This is my company, and I’m glad it is” is the emotion they evoke, shining in everyone’s eyes. Both mission and vision are alive; both evolve, both reinvent, both grow as you grow.
So tear down that plaque on the wall; you really don’t need it. Trumpet the voices of mission and vision instead.
Rosa Say
Previous Thursday Column: On Ho‘ohiki: Keeping your promises.
More by this author
Rosa Say
Rosa is an author and blogger who dedicates to helping people thrive in the work and live with purpose.
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Last Updated on January 21, 2020
5 Steps To Move Out Of Stagnancy In Life
5 Steps To Move Out Of Stagnancy In Life
• If you have been experiencing chronic procrastination on your goals
• If you don’t ever feel like doing anything
1. Realize You’re Not Alone
2. Find What Inspires You
3. Give Yourself a Break
4. Shake up Your Routines
5. Start with a Small Step
More to Help You Get Unstuck
Featured photo credit: Anubhav Saxena via
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/43181 | Giant Green Garnet from Mali (6.72 Pounds)
A giant green garnet, recently acquired.
From the Kayes region, in Mali.
It weighs 6.72 pounds.
Other than the crusty dirt coating, this is 100% green garnet.
From what I can gather from my research, this is a fairly unusual size for a garnet.
The famous Subway Garnet weighs almost 10 pounds.
While its size and shape is better than mine, the Subway garnet is totally opaque; mine is very sparkly, and shows evidence of transparency.
Memoir Madness: Driven to Involuntary Commitment
Popular posts from this blog -- Zomga – WSUX
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/43202 | Marsha de la O on Poets Cafe
Marsha de la O’s upcoming book from Pitt Poetry Series is due out in Spring 2019. Antidote for Night, won the 2015 Isabella Gardner Award and was published by BOA Editions. Her first book, Black Hope, was awarded the New Issues Press Poetry Prize. She has published extensively, including recent poems in The New Yorker and the Kenyon Review. De La O lives in Ventura, California, with her husband, poet and editor Phil Taggart. Together, they produce poetry readings and events in Ventura County and edit the literary journal Spillway.
I Have Not Said If I Believe
She sprang out of the pine plank table
at Nana’s house, a witch with a rope
around her neck and all the havoc spilling
out encoded in our DNA. I studied
a dipping barometer and felt dirty beneath
my clothes, a bone fingered and sucked.
Mother favored gray for me, not that
it mattered a flip. Elder brother carried
our witch sewn in a vein in his thigh.
I did not think she hammered there.
They set a match to sixteen candles.
She was hung not burnt, he announced,
pressure falling, needle notching
toward dimensions where a witch
is hanging still, her ankles stretched
longer than human, she had six
children, her name was Lydia. He started
the song for ha-ha. Never been kissed,
crooned first brother, lost count, cracked
the other, sally, sally, I muttered while
mother’s mouth goes darker and
tighter. Hurry up and blow. Everyone
laughed when the flames died out.
from Antidote for Night (BOA Editions 2015) |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/43218 | Breaking Development: Content-first UX Design
by Luke Wroblewski July 29, 2014
In her presentation at Breaking Development in Nashville TN, Steph Hay talked about the role of developing on-going conversations in digital experiences. Here's my notes from her talk on Content-first UX Design.
• Content-first design: start the design process by writing content. Your experience and process will be better.
• Does your design feel like a conversation?
• Content-first UX design isn't about the design or the device. It's about the conversations going from point A to B.
• Start with the words & use those to drive the design.
• Think about the hero's journey in user experience design. Design elements can support this journey.
• Remove all distractions: cut whatever is not aligning with your ultimate message/goal.
• People learn over time.
• Interruptions can actually deepen the roots of learning because they force you to think harder.
• Most designs that attempt to add gamification principles, don't succeed because they add no value.
• Conversations with people look for common ground to establish a relationship. They don't interrogate you with a series of one-sided questions.
• Contextual learning: Feedback along the way helps you develop skills and allows you to reengage.
• Teaching over time -not all at once- improves retention.
• Thinking about the conversation first is low risk, low cost. It's very easy to start writing content for everyone so they collaborate and agree faster.
• Take the content and make it a priority in your process.
• Voice, tone, and audience questions get addressed up front. These usually derail the process later on.
• Language boards: the core messaging that a user needs to get them through the journey.
• Start from your most important content: where are people landing/starting? Begin with this content, then move up toward the home page. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/43259 | Brian FalsworthUnion Jack
fighting skills
Brian and his sister Jacqueline where children of a wealthy British lord at the time of the second World War. Their quiet life in the English countryside was cut short by Prime Minister Chamberlain's appeasement of Hitler in 1938, and Brian violently disagreed with his father's isolationist ideals. Brian left home and, with his friend Roger Aubrey, traveled to Germany. Their appearance scored an important propaganda victory for the Nazis, but when the two men, disenchanted with Germany, attempted to leave, they were imprisoned.
Brian shared a cell with a German scientist who tried to recreate the super-soldier formula that created the hero Captain America but would not let his experiment fall into Nazi hands. Instead, he gave the only sample to Brian, who drank the solution and found his strength, speed, stamina, and reflexes enhanced to peak-human levels. Brian escaped prison and became a costumed Nazi-fighter within Germany, calling himself the Destroyer.
As the Destroyer, Brian fought for the Allied cause within Germany. On one adventure, he rescued the hero team Invaders and his father from the Nazi villains Master Man and Warrior Woman. He was also reunited with Roger Aubrey, who, as Dyna-Mite, had been brainwashed and returned to England, before being freed by the Invaders. Reconciling with his father, Brian learned of his father's costumed identity of Union Jack during the first World War. Brian then took up the mantle of Union Jack at his father's request, returning to Falsworth Manor in England and eventually joining the Invaders. (Roger would then take on the mantle of the Destroyer.)
During a battle with Thor, the Norse god of thunder who was duped into aiding the Nazi cause, Union Jack was mortally wounded by Thor's lightning from his mystical hammer. Coming to his senses, Thor healed Union Jack by drawing the electricity back into Mjolnir, but the process left Union Jack with electricity-generating powers. His newfound powers enabled Falsworth to recover from a period self-doubt, and he continued to serve as an Invader until the war's end.
Following the war's end, Union Jack was among the Invaders who became the All-Winners Squad. He also joined his sister and the Destroyer in hunting Nazi war criminals. By 1951, they reorganized the V-Battalion with other heroes of the time, becoming the organization's first ruling Penance Council.
Later after that Union Jack died in a tragic car accident.
235 lbs.
• Universe
• Other Aliases
• Education
• Place of Origin
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• Known Relatives
- Marvel Editorial Staff |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/43333 | Streamed articles from Coursera's Blog
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/43342 | Building cars outside the U.S. is, for American brands, old news. Except, mostly, for Cadillac. Today GM CEO Dan Akerson announced during its first annual meeting since going public in its "new" GM form that Cadillac will be building more models outside the U.S. by the end of 2012 in an effort to make the brand its global luxury marque.
This won't be, strictly speaking, the first time a Cadillac has been built outside the U.S., however. The Cadillac BLS (pictured), a European-only model, was built in Sweden and Russia through 2010, on modified Saab 9-3 running gear and bodywork. The SLS, a long-wheelbase version of the STS, was built in Shanghai for the Chinese market.
What the announcement does portend, however, is a deepening of GM's recent shift toward a more universal, global lineup of cars. Building Cadillacs in more places will help protect against the dangers of currency fluctuations, making it potentially safer and more profitable to sell them in other markets, particularly China, where the German luxury brands have already been making overtures. Buick is already
Europe, on the other hand, will continue to be a tough proposition for Cadillac. The price and production advantages of having relatively local factories could help with the competition, but it will have to produce cars that merit consideration in a market awash with high-end brands and yet tight with emissions requirements.
GM hasn't yet revealed which vehicles will be built overseas, or where the factories will be located. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/43350 |
Best Quotes (Total Quotes: 36)
[first lines]
Crowd: Batman, we love you!
[Batman returns to his Batcave]
Batman: Hey, computer, I’m home.
[his voice echoes in the Batcave]
Computer: Welcome home, sir. Initializing Batcave music.
Computer: So did anything exciting happen today?
Computer: Alfred left your lobster thermidor in the fridge.
Batman: Oh, that’s my favorite. I can’t wait.
Batman: Not twenty minutes. Stupid.
[picking up the lobster with a fork]
Batman: I deserve this today. Today I deserve it.
Pilot Bill: Is everything okay?
[does an evil smile]
The Joker: You should be terrified.
Pilot Bill: Why?
The Joker: Because I will be taking over the city.
Pilot Bill: Mmm.
The Joker: What?
Pilot Bill: Batman will stop you.
[Joker blows a raspberry]
Pilot Bill: He always stops you
The Joker: No, he doesn’t.
Pilot Bill: What about that time with the two boats?
The Joker: This is better than the two boats.
Pilot Bill: Mmm.
Scarecrow: Pizza delivery.
The Joker: Bane.
Bane: Hello!
The Joker: Two-Face.
Two-Face: We need that door open, baby.
The Joker: Catwoman.
Batman: I’m sorry, what did you just say?
The Joker: You can’t do both, I said.
Batman: No, I mean the other thing.
Batman: You think you’re my greatest enemy?
The Joker: Yes! You’re obsessed with me!
[Joker blows a raspberry]
Batman: No, I’m not.
The Joker: Yes, you are.
Batman: No, I’m not.
Batman: Bane.
The Joker: No, he doesn’t.
Batman: Superman.
The Joker: Superman’s not a bad guy!
The Joker: What?
Batman: I like to fight around.
The Joker: What?
Computer: What is the password?
Batman: Iron Man sucks.
Alfred Pennyworth: Sir, it’s morning.
Batman: Well, children can be cruel.
Bruce Wayne: He has aged phenomenally.
Alfred Pennyworth: Master Bruce, your greatest fear is…
Batman: Snakes?
Alfred Pennyworth: No.
Batman: It’s clowns.
[we the computer is in sleep mode]
Batman: Computer, do you hear me?
[suddenly we see Alfred]
Batman: Gasp.
Alfred Pennyworth: The young orphan you adopted at the gala.
Batman: I thought I was being sarcastic.
[we see Robin peering close into the camera and whispering]
Robin: Hello, secret camera.
[as he enters the Batcave]
Robin: It’s the Batcave. Oh, my gosh, Oh, my gosh, Oh, my gosh, Oh, my gosh, Oh, my gosh, Oh, my gosh, oh, my…
[as he starts to freak out he stumbles into Batman]
Robin: Batman! Wow!
Batman: You’re darn right “Wow”.
Robin: Wait, does Batman live in Bruce Wayne’s basement?
Batman: No, Bruce Wayne lives in Batman’s attic.
Robin: Look, it’s the Batsub!
Batman: Don’t touch that.
Robin: The Batzeppelin!
Batman: Don’t touch that either!
Robin: It’s the Batkayak!
Batman: No.
Robin: Wow, do I get a costume?
[Robin presses red button]
Batman: Don’t touch that.
[we see a lineup of different costumes]
Computer: The Mariachi.
Robin: I like that one.
Batman: That one is culturally insensitive.
Computer: Night Terror.
Robin: What do we think of this?
Computer: Glambat.
Robin: This one.
Batman: Absolutely not!
[the next costume is called the Reggae Man]
Robin: Wait, what’s that one there?
[he puts on the Reggae Man suit]
Robin: I love it. The only trouble is these pants are just a little tight. I got an idea.
[he takes off the pants]
Robin: Rip! That’s better. Now I’m free, now I’m moving. Come on, Batman, let’s get grooving!
[he keeps shaking his naked butt at Batman]
Batman: I can only look you in the eyes right now.
Batman: So, are you ready to follow Batman and maybe learn a few life lessons along the way?
Robin: I sure am, Dad Two! But first, where’s the seat-belt?
Batman: The first lesson is, life doesn’t give you seat-belts! Let’s go!
Robin: Woo-hoo! Yes! Faster, Dad! Faster! Woo! Yeah! Woo! Yeah! Yes, yes, yes!
[we see Batman breaking really hard to avoid crashing which then propels Robin really hard into the dashboard]
Batman: Oh! Oh, my goodness. I am so sorry. Get back up in that seat. There you go.
[he puts his arm out to Robin’s chest to protect him from falling]
Batman: Hey, listen. As soon as I get back to the Batcave, I’ll make sure that Alfred puts seatbelts on there, okay? But for the time being, I’m just gonna put my arm right here. And we’re just going to gently ease out of here.
Robin: Hey, I was thinking. If I’m going to be a superhero, and go on awesome superhero missions like this one, can we use code names? Mine can be Robin.
Batman: I’m sorry, say that again?
Robin: Robin.
Batman: As in the small, Midwestern frail bird?
Robin: Yeah, and I already have a catch phrase. Tweet, tweet, on the street.
Batman: Hard pass.
Robin: And a song.
Robin: Fly, Robin, fly.
Batman: Harder pass.
The Joker: I’m back. Introducing the worst villains in the history of the universe: The Riddler, Catwoman, Penguin, Gentleman Ghost, Calendar Man, and the Condiment King.
Pilot: Are you making some of those up?
The Joker: Nope, they’re all real.
The Joker: Hi, Batman!
Robin: No way!
The Joker: Come catch your greatest enemy.
Batman: Superman is my greatest enemy.
Robin: Superman’s not a bad guy!
[Joker looks visibly upset]
Batman: I like to fight around.
The Joker: Do you want to play a game, do you, Batman? Save the city or catch your greatest enemy.
Batman: You think you’re my greatest enemy.
The Joker: What drives you to one-up the way that I do?
Batman: Superman.
The Joker: Superman’s not a bad guy!
Batman: I like to fight around.
The Joker: Are you seriously saying that there is nothing special about us?
Batman: There is no us. Never will be. Now, I gotta diffuse that bomb.
Barbara Gordon: Hi. Barbara Gordon. New police commissioner. It’s my dream for the police force to team up with Batman.
Bruce Wayne: What?!
Barbara Gordon: Wouldn’t that be better?
Bruce Wayne: I hate everything you just said.
Barbara Gordon: Is that your son?
Robin: Yes, I am.
Batman: Is that my son? No, that’s just weird.
Barbara Gordon: It’s weirder if it’s not your son.
Batman: Initialize Master Builder.
Barbara Gordon: I got it!
Robin: Here you go!
[they build a Lego aircraft]
Batman: Yes, we did it!
Robin: Why did you build this thing with only one seat?
Batman: Uh, because last I checked I only had one butt.
Batman: Let’s go defeat The Joker!
Robin: Wooh! We’re going on a family trip! I can wear my costume too!
Batman: Well, luckily for us, you left your costume back…
Robin: Rip!
[Robin rips his clothes off to reveal he’s wearing his Robin costume underneath]
Batman: Oh. No. Under your clothes. That’s perfect.
The Joker: Hold on a sec. Are you trying to tell me that Bruce Wayne is Batman’s roommate?
The Joker: Hey Batman! Joker’s home. I’m rubbing my butt all over your stuff. We’re going to have to rename this the Butt-mobile.
Batgirl: Engine one down.
Batman: Not a big deal. Don’t worry about it. It’s fine.
Batgirl: Engine two down.
Batman: It does that sometimes.
Batgirl: We’ve lost engine three.
Batman: Oh, could live without it.
Batgirl: Engine four!
Batman: That I do need to fix.
Batgirl: If you call me Batgirl, can I call you Batboy?
Batman: Shut up, Joker! If there’s no Gotham, then I’ll never get to fight you again.
The Joker: What?
Batman: You’re the reason why I get up at 4:00 in the afternoon and pump iron until my chest is positively sick.
[last lines]
Batman: Wow, that was fun! Really hope nobody was recording that. Let me see. Oh, this thing is on. This thing is recording.
Total Quotes: 36
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/43380 | Not Your Thoughts
Not Your Thoughts
The problem is that we think that we are our thoughts.
When you refer to "yourself," it is likely that you use your thoughts to define you.
Thoughts, however, are more closely akin to the 5 senses.
Thought is simply another sense like seeing, hearing and smelling.
Thought is intended to serve us, but somewhere along the way, it became the false master.
If you suddenly stopped thinking, would you cease to exist?
Or, would you discover yourself to be the awareness beyond the thinking....
What kind of freedom would this discovery bring?
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/43383 | @book {kukkonen_prehistory_2017, title = {A Prehistory of Cognitive Poetics: Neoclassicism and the Novel}, year = {2017}, note = {Google-Books-ID: uOMwDgAAQBAJ}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, organization = {Oxford University Press}, address = {Oxford}, abstract = {This study provides an introduction to the neoclassical debates around how literature is shaped in concert with the thinking and feeling human mind. Three key rules of neoclassicism, namely, poetic justice (the rewards and punishments of characters in the plot), the unities (the coherence of the fictional world and its extensions through the imagination) and decorum (the inferential connections between characters and their likely actions), are reconsidered in light of social cognition, embodied cognition and probabilistic, predictive cognition. The meeting between neoclassical criticism and today{\textquoteright}s research psychology, neurology and philosophy of mind yields a new perspective for cognitive literary study. Neoclassicism has a crucial contribution to make to current debates around the role of literature in cultural and cognition. Literary critics writing at the time of the scientific revolution developed a perspective on literature the question of how literature engages minds and bodies as its central concern. A Prehistory of Cognitive Poetics traces the cognitive dimension of these critical debates in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Britain and puts them into conversation with today{\textquoteright}s cognitive approaches to literature. Neoclassical theory is then connected to the praxis of eighteenth-century writers in a series of case studies that trace how these principles shaped the emerging narrative form of the novel. The continuing relevance of neoclassicism also shows itself in the rise of the novel, as A Prehistory of Cognitive Poetics illustrates through examples including Pamela, Tom Jones and the Gothic novel.}, keywords = {Irish, Literary Criticism / European / English, Literary Criticism / Modern / 18th Century, Scottish, Welsh}, isbn = {978-0-19-065451-1}, author = {Kukkonen, Karin} } |
global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/43417 | Some people can resist the ravages of HIV – here's how
Health 11 June 2015
New Scientist Default Image
HIV (purple) mingling with a dendritic cell (purple) ((Image: AS&K VISUAL SCIENCE/SPL)
Just when all seems lost, our hero strikes back with such speed that the evil invader is vanquished. It could be the climax of a blockbuster movie, but it’s more important than that. If this is how a handful of people are able to fight off HIV, we could have a route towards a blockbuster drug or vaccine.
Less than 1 per cent of people infected with HIV around the world are able to suppress its effects without taking drugs. These “elite controllers” are somehow able to keep the virus from replicating uncontrollably, thus preventing it from taking its terrible toll on their bodies.
Unsurprisingly, ever since these people were first identified, researchers have been hoping to discover their immune system’s secret, in the hope of bottling it for the other 99 per cent of people with HIV.
The latest insights come from experiments on specialised dendritic cells that “teach” the immune system to destroy infected or faulty cells. We already knew that elite controllers have CD8 T-cells – components of the immune system – that react more strongly to HIV than T cells of other people, but we didn’t know why, says Xu Yu at the Ragon Institute, a collaboration between Massachusetts General Hospital, MIT and Harvard set up to study these unusual individuals .
Riot, then backlash
Normally, immune cells neutralise invading viruses by destroying viral RNA and DNA as it starts to build up. This is what happened in all the dendritic cells the team tested – except those from elite controllers. In these colonies the virus appeared to run riot, producing copious amounts of genetic material. “It seemed as though the virus was escaping from detection, and that’s our most paradoxical finding,” says Yu.
But then came the equally unexpected backlash. When they eventually swung into action, dendritic cells from elite controllers produced large quantities of antiviral compounds called type 1 interferons. Other people’s dendritic cells responded much more sluggishly.
And the elite controllers’ cells were still pumping out interferons two days later, long after the other cells’ response had petered out. “Both the speed and the ability to sustain the defence were what marked out the elite controller cells,” says Yu.
The interferon spewing from the elite controllers’ cells also triggered the rapid proliferation of CD8 T cells, priming them to attack any other cells containing HIV.
No stealthy approach
“It tells us what the difference is in elite controller cells, and it sounds pretty key, but it doesn’t tell us why it happens,” says Sarah Rowland-Jones at the University of Oxford. She suspects that the extra viral DNA that built up in the elite controllers’ cells may have made the infection more obvious to the immune system. In contrast, other people’s immune cells destroyed most but not all of the HIV, potentially allowing the infection to continue unnoticed.
Journal reference: PLoS Pathogens, DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004930
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global_01_local_0_shard_00002368_processed.jsonl/43421 | Government Shutdown
Federal 2019 Pay Raise Update: Everything to Know
On Friday, President Trump signed a spending bill that gives Federal GS employees an average 1.9 percent pay raise, but when will the changes take effect? Find out everything you need to know about the 2019 GS pay scale, new localities, back pay and more. |
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