text stringlengths 64 731k | id stringlengths 47 47 | url stringlengths 14 3.85k | language stringclasses 1 value | language_score float64 0.65 1 | fasttext_score float64 0.02 1 | dataset stringclasses 1 value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
@article {Groth-Malonek:2005:0040-0262:293, author = "Groth-Malonek and Knoop, Volker", title = "Bryophytes and other basal land plants: the mitochondrial perspective", journal = "Taxon", volume = "54", number = "2", year = "2005", publication date ="2005-05-01T00:00:00", abstract = "The earliest diversifications of land plants in Ordovician and Silurian times are unclear, mainly due to a lack of macrofossils. The increasing wealth of molecular data, however, converges on the view that bryophytes are paraphyletic with only one of its classes being sister to all other land plants and another bryophyte clade being sister to the tracheophytes. We continue to explore mitochondrial gene regions with respect to their unique modes of gene expression such as RNA editing and trans-splicing and their phylogenetic information potential. Plant mitochondrial genes drift slowly in sequence and mitochondrial introns are mostly stable in position, yet vary in occurrence between clades. These two features make mitochondrial DNA an attractive reservoir of old phylogenetic information. On the other hand, there is striking structural plasticity of mitochondrial DNA (the chondriome) in embryophytes, which grossly contrasts with the conservative evolution of chloroplast DNA (the plastome) in the land plant lineage. We find that mitochondrial intron occurrence strongly adds to the view of the deepest dichotomy separating liverworts and all non-liverwort embryophytes. Other intron occurrences, including the presence of ancestors of trans-splicing group II introns, tend to place hornworts as a sister group to tracheophytes, a grouping that we find corroborated by most multi-gene analyses. Furthermore, conserved intron sequences add phylogenetic resolution within clades. The use of gene spacers for phylogenetic analysis, as commonly investigated in chloroplast DNA, has so far been precluded in plant mitochondria due to rampant recombination of the chondriome, at least in tracheophytes. To investigate whether at least some ancestral gene orders are still conserved among bryophytes and provide useful phylogenetic information, we have recently explored the nad5-nad4-nad2 gene arrangement. We find it conserved, yet with strikingly different modes of evolution in the two spacers.", pages = "293-297", itemtype = "ARTICLE", parent_itemid = "infobike://iapt/tax", issn = "0040-0262", eissn = "1996-8175", publishercode ="iapt", url = "http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/iapt/tax/2005/00000054/00000002/art00005", keyword = "MTDNA, TRANS-SPLICING, MOLECULAR EVOLUTION, BRYOPHYTES, GENE SPACERS, GROUP II INTRONS" } | <urn:uuid:05fb7b1d-7bd3-4e0a-8fcc-51a58e0becd8> | http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/iapt/tax/2005/00000054/00000002/art00005?format=bib | en | 0.852656 | 0.311484 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel
Why Nature Is Trying To Kill Us Part II
Updated on October 01, 2008
It takes an economist to rationalize the carnage of untold millions of people as a good way to free up resources. I’m sure that these people are thrilled about the fact that south-east Asia and several other parts of the world have similar statistics. “Wonderful!” you can hear them gloating. “With all those deadbeats out of the way, think how rich the survivors will be!”
But there is hope! There is always hope! No, not that a new terminal disease will strike economists... but that tomorrow, maybe a magic therapy will be invented to cure AIDS, then all those innocent people will be saved from the prospect of the horrible wasting death.
Well, folks, the magic therapy is unlikely. Actually more unlikely than people might think. Due to a variety of factors, there is not going to be a magic therapy anytime soon. Maybe never.
But even if there were to be one, and AIDS were to be eradicated from this earth, to be thrown into the incinerator of genetic material along with smallpox, then something else would step into its role.
And we do know this about AIDS’ successor. It will make AIDS look like child’s play. It will make us look back at the good old days when the spread of HIV was fairly contained.
The HIV virus mutates at an astonishing speed. That is the main factor that makes HIV so hard to control. You throw something at it and it changes its makeup so quickly that it soon has no effect. It always seems to stay one step ahead of you. And it is precious few mutational hops away from becoming an aerosol. What does that mean? It means that it could be transmitted like the common cold, through the air itself.
Think of that next time you get on a crowded bus and somebody sneezes.
But HIV itself is only one disease. And in case of its extinction, there will be more than one. Many more. They will keep on coming, harder to defeat and stronger in their lethality.
Paleopathology is the study of historical diseases, and as you can imagine, it is a very controversial field. Since scientists often have nothing more than bones to go by when determining the spread of disease at times before accurate records were kept, it is notoriously difficult to determine the occurrence of any disease which does not leave some form of mark on the bones. However, by some other information we can gather including rare samples of organic tissues somehow preserved through the ages, and various deductions as to the causes of disease today, we can correlate conditions in pre-historic conditions. Thus we can come up with a fairly reasonable estimate of the diseases that did and did not exist back then.
So what do we find?
Many of the diseases which kill people these days were either non-existent in pre-civilization times, or their spread was so limited as to be negligible.
The World Health Organization conducts ongoing statistical surveys as to the causes of death around the world. A recent statistical survey contains detailed breakdowns and rankings of the various diseases that are killing people today.
Respiratory Diseases 12.1%
Malignant Tumors 13.6%
Cardiovascular Diseases 30.9%
That’s almost 61% of all deaths in the world for a total number that just about equals the population of mainland Spain. All dead in just one year. Of causes that we can accurately call: Civilization Diseases.
Let’s take a good close look at that number. Well, we all know that HIV/AIDS wasn’t around in the last century, let alone in pre-history, so that 4.9% is a pretty safe bet. Keep in mind that the Respiratory Disease listing does not include tuberculosis, so that figure is primarily attributed to smoking, air pollution, etc. The Malignant Tumor listing is interesting since it seems that most cancers are sparked by various environmental factors in today’s society which simply did not exist in pre-history. Cardiovascular Diseases is the biggest one of them all, greater than the other three put together. As in the case of Malignant Tumors, the primary causes for Cardiovascular Disease, such as stress, diet too rich in some elements, simply did not exist in pre-history. For whatever limited amounts of information we do have about the pre-civilization human, we can be pretty sure of a couple of things: 1) they were fairly laid-back by today’s standards and 2) the main problem was not having enough rich foods, not having too much of them.
But that’s not all. We can actually increase that number by increasing relatively smaller modern killers, such as cirrhosis of the liver which currently kills 1.4% or 775,000 people, and is strictly tied into excessive alcoholic consumption. There is also some reason to believe that diabetes is a fairly modern phenomenon, and it accounts for 1.1% or 600,000 deaths. Plus we can attribute about 0.5% or just a little over a quarter million deaths to other diseases of recent vintage such as the hemorrhagic fevers, Legionnaire’s disease, and others.
Am I saying that of these killers of 64% of today’s people absolutely none of them existed in pre-history? Of course not. I am not a Rousseauist apologist for the Noble Savage. Pre-historic human existence was difficult at best. Paleopathology shows us that many primitive people suffered from various forms of malnutrition, parasitic infestations and accumulated signs of severe injuries and trauma. But I am stating that these Civilized Disease factors were fairly negligible and it would be very surprising if they accounted for as much of one out of ten deaths in pre-civilization days instead of two out of every three as today.
As I stated earlier, paleopathology is a very controversial field. And since scientists enjoy nothing more than arguing with each other until they are blue in the face, paleopathology does have a tendency to attract some fairly loud screamers. However, some of the arguments forwarded to discredit findings in this field are simply too hard to believe. Not just to believe the argument, but to believe that anyone could actually be holding tenure at a major university and still make statements that inane.
For example, the finding that malignant tumors were an insignificant cause of death in prehistoric humans was countered by a statement that since most people died fairly young back then, the tumors would not have a chance to develop.
When I read that, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I would like to encourage this learned scientist to take a stroll with me through my local pediatric cancer ward. He will then be able to meet lots of courageous young people who are being eaten alive by their cancers. Some of these dying youngsters are toddlers! After this little tour I would like to ask this esteemed medical professional to reconsider his position.
Continued in Part III
0 of 8192 characters used
Post Comment
No comments yet.
Click to Rate This Article | <urn:uuid:fde88b88-abce-41ab-b65c-965b0de900c1> | https://hubpages.com/health/Why-Nature-Is-Trying-To-Kill-Us-Part-II | en | 0.97086 | 0.052242 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Archive for the ‘Translator: Wilfredo Dominguez’ Category
By Dagoberto Valdés
Taking into account the absolute and meticulous control enforced by the state in Cuba since 1969 over economic, financial, commercial, and service activities, the Guidelines for the VI Congress are just a drop of water in the desert. Those who know what centralized economy means are well aware that said guidelines are more of the same only with a sense of urgency.
The simple fact that the guidelines come from above to be debated under the supervision of instructors previously trained at a centralized level is a sign that the method and the content are essentially the same. They both come from above, move from the center to the periphery, and are ordered by the powerful for the powerless to obey. The goal is a supporting debate, an opinion survey, an apparent consultation inside well-defined settings. Few believe, but they still put up a show.
That’s why mistrust reigns from right to left even inside the so-called militancy. That’s why any interpretation emulates those of Noah’s Ark. That’s why the results are as foreseeable as 52 years of Revolution put together.
Those who defeat skepticism and with goodwill try to find “something” like an “opening” or a “reform” may look at the first guidelines for an accurate response.
Those who persevere and overcome the initial exorcism destined to sober down the most conservative will find full lessons on in-depth and punctilious control. To say, in the 21st century, that permits will be granted authorizing real estate property transactions is the equivalent of authorizing the use of cell phones or granting entry to a hotel in one’s own country. The idea of contracting personnel to work at small businesses though as neighborhood joints without any incidence in the overall production of goods takes us back to pre-industrial revolution times. That’s what transpires out of the new list of “trabajos por cuenta propia” (self-employment occupations). It is a compilation of medieval arts and crafts ranging from fortune-teller to button liners in the era of the zipper. Implying an actual contribution to further development is like competing with Breton.
Communism like any totalitarian regime can not be reformed. There are only two things to hope for out of this new mockery of make-up artistry with a tainted “actualization” flair. Either real reforms that would eventually bring down the centralized control that keeps the economy and our lives stagnant take place or nothing really happens other than the regular entertainment while the government catches a breath.
“Actualization” is an elusive word. Pope John XXIII spoke of “aggiornamento” when the Council was summoned to renovate San Pedro’s marred boat. By updating a thousand-year-old institution, a rejuvenating breeze of change blew through the window. Later, the church renovated itself with little fanfare and a lot of nuts. A political system is not a church. It could be a new religion, though, with its own dogma and immovable commandments. The 20th century showed that it was a lot easier to bring church up-to-date than to reform socialism, a system that eventually perished in battle without any fanfare or nuts for that matter.
In today’s globalized world, actualization means definitely discarding the nostalgic schemes of authoritarian centralization of every single aspect of human life. That includes the family, teaching methodology, the economic model, the political system, culture, and the anthropological vision of reality.
Actualization is not intended to be the disguising of a culture of imposition and exclusion through false pretense of consultation and participation. Actualization means replacing the essence and methods of the from-above-down culture, the rhetoric of debating what comes from above, and the debating and resending of bogus suggestions by a culture of inclusion and democratic linear management.
Furthermore, it is a change in paternalistic family life into participative family relationships that respectfully promote initiative and individuality.
As to education, it is about putting behind us the current methods of imposition and manipulation of the individual and his right to have an opinion. Today, education is a mere ideological instrument that reproduces slaves not citizens. Civic schools resemble a Taliban seminary on secular religion about totalitarian Utopias. Thus, the embellishment of an indoctrinating system is not enough. It is imperative to embrace a liberating pedagogy that promotes participation and “teaches to think above all”. That’s how Father Felix Varela two centuries ago, and the illustrious Brazilian pedagogue Paulo Freire years later, taught. Our democracy depends on the school we choose.
On the other side, in the 21st century, the actualization of the economic model can not be a safeguard of the state’s control while breaking sound market laws. It can not impede individual initiative or foolish entrepreneurs with medieval trades. We will not head into the future by chaining the train to the inefficient and rusted frame of a system that never worked not even for us, as it was stated and hurriedly denied by Fidel Castro. According to ancient language, actualization means liberating the productive forces when the yoke of the productive relations is broken.
In Cuba, that means releasing the internal mechanisms that constantly suffocate the spirit of its citizens and their unstoppable desire to keep their heads afloat. International maneuvering to impede commerce with a country is as shameful as using bureaucratic mechanisms as well as draconian inspectors to prosecute and asphyxiate honest citizens pursuing a better future on the island. The aftermaths of this native embargo are the black market, the underground economy, the financial mafia, the traffic of personal influences, and the eventual collapse of flagship enterprises like some located in the mining city of Moa. It is the byproduct of not liberating the human spirit and what is needed for personal fulfillment and social progress as the only way to pump some content into that soulless shell the paternalistic state economy has turned into.
Actualization of the economic model also means accepting that economy has its own rules which are not to be strangled by politics. Authentic economic reforms are up-to-date if they convey respect for private property be it personal, family, co-operative or mixed. There will be no reforms, productivity or dreams without strict respect of private property. A look at the 20th century is enough to realize how inefficient an experiment leading nowhere and nurtured with blood and fire, no metaphor here, can be. Nobel Prize winner Amartya Asen once said in his most paradigmatic work that economic development is inextricably linked to the freedom of both individuals and nations.
The guidelines for the VI Congress of the PCC (Communist Party of Cuba) could however be a starting point to correct the path of a train and thus bring substantial changes to otherwise extremely timid reforms. Sadly, as the government likes to say, the reforms are just a push so the old train does not get off the tracks on the way to the same destiny we have been backpedaling to for five decades without moving a single millimeter.
I do not think the structural changes they talked about three years ago but never pushed forward should be radical or abrupt. It is in the best interest of a vast majority to implement them gradually. Yet, gradual does not necessarily mean clogging the line that pumps oxygen into the economy.
The economic laws that govern the market should not be implemented to create an inhuman unruly world that dumps millions of have-nots into the social gutter. The recent world crisis proves economic as well as political and social regulations are a must.
Notwithstanding, I hope the current turning point and the coming debates are an opportunity to listen to each other as a first step. According to a journalist friend, discrepancies should be decriminalized next so that everyone freely contributes his best to a prosper nation. Then, a true “actualization” will really get rolling if those who think differently are not condemned, disqualified, and called mercenaries and worms.
As long as some follow orders from above and disavow their fellow citizens who think differently, Cuba will not embrace “actualization”. It will rather face social disintegration and surely the loss of national identity and civic sovereignty which are the backbone of the sole existence of a Cuban unique character. Nobody wants that. Thus, not a single Cuban should be excluded and talks should be as broad, plural, and welcoming as Noah’s Ark even if only two of each species are granted access.
Renovating without targeting the causes of the system’s dysfunctional core is like trying to keep it afloat by sheer will. Economy and politics do not survive based on this kind of secular faith. They count on ethics as their vision and guideline, technical knowledge as instrument, efficiency as end result, and broader social justice, peaceful coexistence, and integral human development as visible results, able to be perfected..
The structural remodeling of the social environment assumes the following:
An anthropological change leading to an ethic of freedom and responsibility.
An economic transformation that fosters private initiative either by association or mixed and the respect of market laws as well as necessary fitting and moderate regulation on the side of the state and the civic society as economic role player.
A political shift towards the rule of law, democracy, civic participation, and multi-party government.
A social move promoting a starring independent, creative, and friendly civic society as both a new definition of democracy and methodology.
A change in education that proposes a liberating, plural and participative pedagogy.
A cultural transformation towards a vital and shared synthesis between loyalty to the roots of our identity and a refreshing way of life permeated by diversity.
A change in the way we relate to the environment and nature in order to promote a more humane holistic ecology.
A change in the country’s interrelation with the world fomenting an opening without ideological or mercantile barriers and a full integration with the diaspora and the international community.
Other changes and views should round out this opinion. In order to do so, we must have the opportunity of exercising critic and proposing solutions.
Cuba, that is Cuban men and women wherever they are, must exercise their right to reshape to nation we all belong to.
Translated by Wilfredo Dominguez.
Read Full Post » | <urn:uuid:0c86a862-1a7f-467d-b02f-00172cc4104b> | https://intramurosen.wordpress.com/category/intramuros/translator-wilfredo-dominguez/ | en | 0.936694 | 0.044778 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Skip to Content
The 190th General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is forthwith to further regulate intermunicipal agreements, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public convenience.
SECTION 1. The first paragraph of section 4A of chapter 40 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2006 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:-The chief executive officer of a city or town, or a board, committee or officer authorized by law to execute a contract in the name of a governmental unit may, on behalf of the unit, enter into an agreement with another governmental unit to perform jointly or for that unit’s services, activities or undertakings which any of the contracting units is authorized by law to perform, if the agreement is authorized by the parties thereto, in a city by the city council with the approval of the mayor, in a town by the board of selectmen and in a district by the prudential committee; provided, however, that when the agreement involves the expenditure of funds for establishing supplementary education centers and innovative educational programs, the agreement and its termination shall be authorized by the school committee.
SECTION 2. Said first paragraph of said section 4A of said chapter 40, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the last sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- For the purposes of this section, a “governmental unit” shall mean a city, town or a regional school district, a district as defined in section 1A, a regional planning commission, however constituted, a regional transit authority established under chapter 161B, a water and sewer commission established under chapter 40N or by special law, a county, or a state agency as defined in section 1 of chapter 6A.
Approved July 18, 2008 | <urn:uuid:8154279a-2dcc-4da7-9158-3099b2a56657> | https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2008/Chapter188 | en | 0.958633 | 0.045893 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Dario Troiani
Nickname Iaio
Sailnumber I-179
DOB 07-09-1985
Birthplace Rome
Currently living in Sardinia, Brasil
Current car Traffic Renault
Started Windsurfing in 2004
People you like to sail with All my friends
Favourite spot Jericoacoara, Porto Pollo
Favourite food Meat full power
Favourite magazine Playboy
Hobbies Surfing, SUP, reading, cycling
Pets My red cat
Favourite music funky, soul, deep, jazz and all kind of music
Why North Sails
Why? Obviously because it's the best sail on the market!
What do you want to be remembered for
My easy way of life
Anything to add...
...just try to have fun much more that you can in and out of the water | <urn:uuid:d5e4eae2-9ab0-478e-abde-9d83e2899a65> | https://north-windsurf.com/eng/nodes/display/teammember/dario-troiani | en | 0.862369 | 0.030846 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
All photos are of actual Proleukin patients who are cancer survivors.
Individual results may vary.
Frequently asked questions about melanoma
What is melanoma?
Melanoma is a type of cancer that starts in pigment cells (melanocytes) found mainly in the skin but are also in other parts of the body, such as the eyes and mouth.
What causes melanoma?
In many cases, melanoma is caused by getting exposed to ultraviolet light from the sun and/or from tanning beds. There are certain risk factors that may make a person even more prone to the disease, such as fair skin that tends to burn and/or freckle; light hair and eyes; one or more blistering sunburns; a family history of melanoma; and many moles and/or abnormal moles.
What are the stages of melanoma?
Experts have created a scale that divides melanoma into 4 stages.
What is metastatic melanoma?
Metastatic melanoma is the most advanced form of melanoma. It occurs when the cancer has spread from its original site to other parts of the body, where it can cause tumors that can damage healthy tissue.
How is metastatic melanoma treated?
Your doctor will decide if surgery and/or radiation therapy may be appropriate. Your doctor will also determine if you are a candidate for anticancer medicine, including immunotherapy such as Proleukin® Interleukin-2, chemotherapy, or targeted therapy. You may also discuss the possibility of enrolling in a clinical study for a new treatment.
Is there a cure for metastatic melanoma?
There are currently therapies that may help slow or stop the progression of your disease for a while. Proleukin is one such therapy. Proleukin is the only therapy available that has demonstrated a complete and lasting response. This means that in some patients who took Proleukin, their tumors disappeared completely and did not return.
What is Proleukin?
Proleukin works by activating T cells, which then begin reproducing into greater numbers to attack the cancer cells present.
How effective is Proleukin?
In clinical trials, those with metastatic melanoma who had a complete response with Proleukin became free of all evidence of disease for a period of 3 months to more than 15 years. In 6% of patients, tumors completely disappeared (a complete response in about 1 in 17 patients). In 10% of patients, tumors shrank (a partial response in about 1 in 10 patients).
How is Proleukin given?
Proleukin is given only by intravenous infusion in a Proleukin Treatment Center. The first cycle is administered once every 8 hours over the course of 5 days. This is followed by an approximately 9-day rest period at home, then the second 5-day cycle that begins at the treatment center.
What are the side effects of Proleukin?
Side effects range from mild to severe. Every patient has a different experience. Side effects typically happen when patients are in a Proleukin Treatment Center. Symptoms usually disappear quickly or improve within 2 to 3 days of stopping treatment.
Where can I get more information about melanoma?
Your most important resource is your healthcare team. In addition, there are a number of other resources that can provide you with information, either online or on the phone.
Proleukin is indicated for the treatment of adults with metastatic melanoma.
Careful patient selection is mandatory prior to the administration of Proleukin.
Experience in patients with ECOG PS >1 is extremely limited.
| <urn:uuid:690a086f-648f-42f2-ba5a-11e302393d4f> | https://www.proleukin.com/mm/faqs/ | en | 0.907493 | 0.385886 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Metaphor Algebra
The Algebra of Metaphors
Published in 2000; updated on March 1, 2015
Please note: Best viewed at 1280 x 1024 resolution.
Texts in blue italics are "
Texts in blue underline are links.
Texts with yellow
background and N or U signify new or updated text.
This page is dedicated to my friend Jacob Lavie (יעקב לביא), who died of cancer on 20 March 2004 at the age of 75.
He was a Socratic type.
Metaphor Quotes
José O. Gasset (1925). "The Dehumanization of Art." Trans. by Helene Weyl, 2nd ed., Princeton. p. 32, 33, respectively. Added 10 October 2010.
"Poetry has become the higher algebra of metaphors."
"The metaphor is perhaps one of man's most fruitful potentialities. Its efficacy verges on magic, and it seems a tool for creation which God forgot inside one of His creature when He made him."
Ernst Mach (1943). "Popular Scientific Lectures." Trans. by McCormack, 5th ed. The Open Court Pub, p. 275.
"The movement of our thoughts obeys the law of association."
Carl G. Jung (1961). "Memories, Dreams, Reflections." Vintage Books (April 1989) New York, p. 302.
"The unconscious helps by communicating things to us, or making figurative allusions."
Rudy Rucker (1987). "Mind Tools: The Five Levels of Mathematical Reality." Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, p. 247.
" Church's theorem is a metaphor for the fact that no simple test can give Yes or No answers for important questions."
" Godel's theorem is a metaphor for the fact that no logical program can hope, even in the limit, to answer all the questions."
Montague Ullman (October 1992). In Steven M. Rosen "Science, Paradox, and the Mobius Principle." State University of New York Press, Foreword, p. xi.
"The poet sends her poem out into the world.
The dreamer is communicating to himself.
Both use the medium of metaphor,
the poet by rearranging words,
the dreamer by rearranging images.
Stephen Jay Gould (1996). "Full House." Harmony Books, New York, p. 7.
"We reveal ourselves in the metaphors we choose for depicting the cosmos in miniature."
Jorge Luis Borges (2000). "This Craft of Verse." p. 33.
"Now we are led to the two obvious and major conclusions of this lecture. The first is, of course, that though there are hundreds and indeed thousands of metaphors to be found, they may all be traced back to a few simple patterns. But this need not trouble us, since each metaphor is different: every time the pattern is used, the variations are different."
John, L. Casti and Werner DePauli (2000). "Gödel: A Life of Logic." Basic Books, p. 122.
"...a material object - the human brain - gives rise somehow to the mind, the mind itself seems to have no material composition. Rather, it appears to consist solely of patterns of information existing in some realm beyond ordinary space and time."
Connes, Alain in Karl Sabbagh (2002). "The Riemann Hypothesis." Farrar, Straus and Giroux, p. 242.
"Geometrical perception, which is extremely rich and elaborate, is directly tied up with the visual areas of the brain.
Using these areas you can immediately contemplate a picture and perceive the beauty of it.
Marcel Danesi (2004). "Poetic Logic: The Role of Metaphor in Thought, Language, and Culture." Atwood Pub., p. 55, 125 respectively.
"It is impossible to study the mind without recourse to metaphor."
"Metaphor is the default form of thought, providing many angles from which to literally "see" the world."
Temple Grandin (2006). "Thinking in Pictures, Expanded Edition: My Life with Autism." Vintage Press.
"I THINK IN PICTURES. Words are like a second language to me."
Freeman Dyson (2007). "Mathematics as Metaphor: Selected Essays of Yuri I. Manin." American Mathematical Society, Foreword p. vii.
"Coordinates, fluxions, symbolic logic and Riemann surfaces are all metaphors,
extending the meanings of words from familiar to unfamiliar contexts.
Terry Marks-Tarlow (2008). "Psyche's Veil: Psychotherapy, Fractals and Complexity." Routledge, p. 92.
"The art and science of psychotherapy merge within its metaphors ...
Metaphor is a primary cognitive tool by which we make sense of the world.
My Fragments - From My Personal Point of View
For the complete list, please see Tamari.
MF2 : The Pythagorean Theorem: a2 + b2 = c2 is the seed ; Einstein's Formula: E = MC2 is the tree.
In the spirit of Friedrichs (1965). "From Pythagoras to Einstein," MAA. Added 10 July 2000.
A word is worth a thousand ...?
"A picture is worth a thousand words," as the old saying goes, Mathematica and Politica
but sometimes:
One good sentence is worth a thousand pictures.
A metaphor is worth a thousand pictures.
An allegory is worth a thousand metaphors.
A ? is worth a thousand allegories.
and if the set is not big enough, we can add another 'point.'
Georg Cantor and Kurt Gödel used this to prove their theorems. Of course, the trick is not just to add another 'point,' numbers, words, sentences, paragraphs, thoughts, etc., but to find a new one.
Wislawa Szymborska (2005) "Colon": "The nightmare of the poet" (trans. by Deena Land, 15 July 2010)
"An allocated number of words. Never a needless one.
Meaning - no poetry.
And no philosophy and no religion.
MF8: A metaphor is a bridge from the known to the unknown. In the spirit of Ariston. Added 7 March 2009.
Or more precisely :
MF12: A metaphor is a harpoon thrown from the known into the unknown. Added 7 August 2010.
MF17: Our words are the clothes for our soul , and our clothes are the words of our body. Added 10 August 2010.
MF18: A good metaphor is the cornerstone of a new theory. Added 20 August 2010.
MF21: Give me a nail and I will hang my God. In the spirit of Archimedes. Added 1 August 2013.
U Metaphors - Algebra Rules (MAR#):
MAR-1. A new idea, the result of the combination of two (or three) metaphors, pictures or tools, must give birth to yet a new insight,
or solve a certain problem (e.g., Columbus).
MAR-2. Each metaphor must come from a different discipline or technology (e.g., Kepler, Picasso).
MAR-3. At least one of the drawings must be an original work of the ‘inventor’ (e.g., Sturgeon, Volta).
MAR-4. It is not mandatory to be the originator, but one must be the first to analyze (e.g., Marshall).
MAR-5. Simply describing a dream is not sufficient by itself (e.g., the snake of Kekule).
Metaphor's Algebra (MA#)
MA1: Tamari - The Cylinder and the Stock Market. Added January 2000.
MA2: Columbus - The Way to India. Added June 2000.
MA3: Kepler - The Distances Between the Planets in the Solar System. Added December 2000.
MA4: Sturgeon - The ElectroMagnet device. Added April 2004.
MA5: Mandelbrot - Mandelbrot Set. Added May 2006.
MA6: Marshall - Economic Equilibrium. Added April 2007.
MA7: Copernicus - The Universe. Added December 2009.
MA8: Volta - The Battery. Added June 2012.
MA9: N Picasso - Cubism. Added June 2014.
* The metaphors are arranged chronologically according to the originators' births, since every metaphor relies on all the
metaphors / schemes / images / pictures that preceded it, regardless of the area of science, culture and art.
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) In order to achieve his goal, Columbus made several assumptions: The world is round (a theory that was already well known before Columbus’ time); it is only 2,300 miles in circumference; and therefore, to reach Cathay, he needed no more than two months, which in those days was the maximum time a ship could be at sea without putting into port. The question was how to get the wind at his back. As a sailor who traveled between Spain and Africa, he noticed that the wind in Spain comes from the west (blows eastward from the sea), and the wind on the coast of Africa blows to the sea (westward).
To persuade the committee to allow him to make his voyage, he depicted the earth as pear-shaped. The direction of the wind was Columbus’s great secret: From the African coast to the coast of India (which turned out to be America), the wind blows westward. From the Indian (American) coast to the European coast, the wind blows eastward. Columbus began his first voyage in the Canary Islands and returned via the Azores.
Earth PicturesMetaphors/Columbus2Winds.gif Columbus First Voyage
The Earth Winds Columbus' first voyage, Morison (1942), p. 222.
Morison (1942). "Admiral of the Ocean Sea." Little Brown & Co., Boston.
MA7: Copernicus - The Universe. Added December 2009.
Nicolas Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543). Aristotle supposed that the earth stood motionless at the center of the universe. Aristotle's cosmology and Christian theology together were accepted as the correct picture of the universe. Observations made after Aristotle's time were not compatible with this cosmology, in which the planets, the sun and the moon were thought to move in perfect circles around the earth at a constant speed. Sometimes the planets moved too fast or too slow, and sometimes they stopped or moved backward. After a long process of corrections, Aristotle's cosmology gave way to Ptolemy's cosmology, which included different centers for the movement of the planets. Each planet moved in an epicycle around a point on its own sphere, and the sun's orbit was at an angle to the orbits of the other planets. Copernicus changed Ptolemy's cosmology to fit observations with geometric considerations, mainly by reversing the perceptions of the earth's and the sun's positions. Now the sun was in the center and fixed, and the earth was in orbit, moving like the other planets.
Copernicus created the new cosmology by combining two disciplines - Cosmology and Geometry (mathematics in the terminology of his time), or, in his words:
"We find, then, in this arrangement the marvelous symmetry of the universe, and a sure linking together in harmony of the motion and size of the spheres, such as could be perceived in no other way.Copernicus, p. 50.
Ptolmy plus The Copernicus Geometrical considerations equal Copernicus cosmology
Aristotle's cosmology Geometrical considerations Copernicus's cosmology
Copernicus (1976). "Copernicus: On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres." Trans. by A.M. Duncan. David Charles.
Johanns Kepler
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630). Building upon the theories of Copernicus, Kepler envisioned the planets arranged around the sun as platonic solids (polyhedrons), one inside the other, in a three-dimensional universe. His great achievement was the shift from Copernicus’s two-dimensional map to three dimensions. The distances between the moving planets could be estimated by using platonic solids nested one inside the other as a starting point.
The heavens as a disk, as envisioned by Copernicus The five platonic solids The heavens as envisioned by Kepler.
MA8: Volta - The Battery. Added June 2012.
Allessandro Volta
Allessandro Volta (1745-1827). Galvani's 'animal electricity' is the result of contact between two different metals in a conductive environment. In 1800 he announced a new electrical device - the Voltaic Pile - and described it as an 'electric organ,' which is like the torpedo fish.
It was the first direct current battery.
"I have the pleasure of sending you some striking results at which I have arrived in pursuing my experiments on the electricity produced by the simple mutual contact of different metals. The chief result is the construction of apparatus having the properties (such as ability to give shocks) of Leyden jars which operate continuously, or whose charge is restored automatically after each discharge. The apparatus of which I speak, and which doubtless will astonish you, is nothing but the assembly of a number of good conductors of different kinds, arranged in a certain manner, 30, 40, 60 pieces, or more, of copper or silver, each placed next to a piece of tin or, better, zinc, and an equal number of layers of water, or some other conducting liquid such as salt water, or pieces of leather or card soaked in these liquids, are placed between each pair of different metals. Behold, this is all that makes up my novel instrument, which imitates, as I have said, the effects of a Leyden jar." http://www.electric-history.com/~zero/004-Battery.htm
Galvani Frog legs Torpedo fish Volta Torpedo Fish Pattern Volta - two coins simulation Volta Pile
Frog legs (Galvani) + Torpedo fish (Volta) Volta torpedo fish pattern - the artificial one The Voltaic Pile - Battery
MA4: Sturgeon - The ElectroMagnet device. Added April 2004.
Wikkiam Sturgeon
William Sturgeon (1783-1850). William Sturgeon was an English electrical engineer. In 1825 he built the first practical electromagnet, which led to the invention of the telegraph, the electric motor, and numerous other devices basic to modern technology.
ElectroMagnet device 3
MA6: Marshall - Economic Equilibrium. Added April 2007.
Alfred Marshall
Alfred Marshall (1842-1924). Fleeming Jenkin (1833-1885) was probably the first to introduce demand and supply together in one diagram. But "It was left to Marshall to synthesize for general use the ideas of Jevons and others, respecting demand, with those of Ricardo and Johan Stuart Mill, on cost of production and supply, giving to the English-speaking world a broader foundation for value theory than had been furnished by either of antecedent schools." Edmund Whittaker (1940). "A History of Economic Ideas," Longmans NY, p. 453. (My underline, B.T.).
Marshall (1890). "Principles of Economics." 8th ed. (1949). MacMillan, p. 346, n. 1.
"To represent the equilibrium of demand and supply geometrically we may draw the demand and supply curves together as in: Fig. 19."
demand supply demand and supply together
Demand, p. 96. Supply, p. 344. Demand and Supply together, p. 346.
* This Marshall metaphor is dedicated to the memory of Don Patinkin.
MA9: N Pablo Picasso - Cubism. Added June 2014.
Pablo Picasso 1904
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). In 1904, the fourth dimension, representing time, movement and evolution, became a 'hot' subject; everybody was talking about it, including Picasso and his friends. Ever since the development of photography, which made a very good 'copy' of life, nature and portraits, artists had been seeking to express themselves (relative to nature and people) in a more individual way. Picasso's statements that “I paint what I think and not what I see” and “Painting is a thing of intelligence” are apt expressions of that. Maurice Princet brought the "Traité Élémentaire de Géométrie à Quatre Dimensions" (Elementary Treatise on the Geometry of Four Dimensions) of Esprit Jouffret (1837-1904) to Picasso's attention. Picasso's sketchbooks for "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" illustrate Jouffret's influence upon the artist's work. Picasso and Braque's dilemma on how to represent the fourth dimension perspective led them to create Cubism.
Pablo Picasso on Cubism:
"The goal I proposed myself in making cubism? To paint and nothing more... with a method linked only to my thought... Neither the good nor the true; neither the useful nor the useless."
The first row of pictures is the metaphor's algebra, the second row represents the process.
Sylvette David Esprit Jouffret Sylvette David - Cubism
1954 - Sylvette David - Portrait Esprit Jouffret - Four Dimensions 1954 - Sylvette David (Cubism style)
Hiton Spce Energy → Picasso Desarues Theorm and the Fourth Dimentions Study Demoiselles Davignon → Les Demoiselles d Avignon
Hinton Picasso painting - Desargues' Theorem Studding for "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" - The first Cubism.
Robbin, T. (2006). "Shadows of Reality: The Fourth Dimension in Relativity, Cubism, and Modern Thought." Yale University Press.
The Fourth Dimension
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esprit_Jouffret#cite_note-2 Popularization of Poincaré's four dimensions
http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/excerpts/robbin_shadows.pdf History of four dimensions
http://www.eldritchpress.org/chh/h1.html "What Is the Fourth Dimension?"
http://www.eldritchpress.org/chh/h7.html "The Fourth Dimension"
http://hermetic.com/93beast.fea.st/files/section2/Scientific%20Romances.pdf Hinton, "Scientific Romances"
http://www.eldritchpress.org/chh/hinton.html "Fourth Dimension Writings"
http://cubism-coldcreation.blogspot.com.es/ "State of the Modern Art World: The Essence of Cubism and its Evolution in Time"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkODKN_m_H4 "Cubism as 4-Dimensional Art"
http://www.caiozip.com/einstpicassoing.htm "Einstein and Picasso"
http://www.math.umt.edu/tmme/vol6no3/Bodish_article15_vol6no3_pp527_540.pdf "Cubism and the Fourth Dimension"
http://docmadhattan.fieldofscience.com/2012/07/poincare-einstein-and-picasso-children.html "Poincaré, Einstein and Picasso: Children of Time"
* The Picasso metaphor was inspired by Lavy, I. (2014, Hebrew). "Untitled: Art & Leadership." Kinneret Pub. House Ltd., p. 103, 114.
MA5: Mandelbrot - Mandelbrot Set. Added May 2006.
Benoit Mandelbrot
Benoit B. Mandelbrot (1924-2010). The first picture features figures by Gaston Julia who, together with Pierre Fatou, was among the first mathematicians to study iterated functions. Julia discovered a whole new class of strange and beautiful shapes, today called 'Julia sets.' The second picture is of the computer as a concept, or as an extended mind - a Mandelbrot mind in this case. Inside the display frame is one of Mandelbrot's experiments en route to discovering the Mandelbrot set (or M-set). The third picture is the M-set. Mandelbrot discovered the M-set when he was trying to make a map of Julia sets. M-set is defined as: The set of all points C for which the iteration Zt+1 = Zt2 + C, with Z0=0, stays bounded as t → ∞.
Julia sets (1918), p. 18. ● Mandelbrot screen (2004), p. 162. Mandelbrot set (or M-set)
Mandelbrot wrote about the discovery of the M-set:
"Not only did I have access to a computer in 1979, but I was familiar with its power. The fact that no one knew what was going to emerge was enough to make these calculations worth trying. A fishing expedition led to a primitive form of [the Mandelbrot-set]." (My bold, B.T.). Lesmoir-Gordon (2004). p. 59.
"To approximate the IFS (iterated function systems or schemes) limit involves an easy mechanical process, and that should be undertaken first. Next, one should inspect pictures of a sufficient number of variants of the IFS limit and check for structures that may be suggested by the eye. A deep thinking mode should come later. Of course, this is precisely the strategy whose best-known success was the discovery, then about to be announced, of the Mandelbrot-set." Mandelbrot (2004), p. 177.
M-set is a virtual entity which lives only in a computer. The computer is an extension of the human mind, creating a new culture - CompuMind. The computer to the mind is more than ships to legs (Columbus) or telescopes to eyes (Kepler). Maybe, one day, we will find that our brain was designed by God when He was playing with M-set.
Julia, (1918). "Memoir on Iterations of Rational Functions." Translated by Alessandro Rosa (2001).
Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon (2004). "The Colours of Infinity: The Beauty and Power of Fractals," including CD. Clear Books.
Mandelbrot (2004). "Fractals and Chaos." Springer.
Ben Tamari
Ben Tamari (b. 1942) The speculative index of stock markets behaves like water flowing through a cylinder (sleeve, pipe). Assumption: The mathematical root of speculative stock markets is the “cylinder model” (see Ben Tamari (1990). Foundations of Economics (Hebrew), p. 47, Fig. 3 and Stocks).
The Sleeve (Pipe) Model for the stock markets.
The Cylinder The speculative index of the Tel-Aviv Stock Market (1980-2007) ● The Cylinder model for the stock markets.
Hypothesis: The mathematical foundations of speculative stock markets are Pappus' Theorem (or Pascal's Theorem) and Desargues' Theorem:
Pappus' Theorem. Weisstein, E. "Pappus's Hexagon Theorem."
Application of the Pappus (Hexagon) Theorem on the speculative cycles of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.
Pappus theorem
N Clifford A. Pickover joke. Added 1 March 2015.
Note 1, 04 October 2005 Note on the psychology of invention
Hadamard, J. (1945). "The Psychology of Invention in the Mathematical Field." Dover, p. 142.
A letter from Albert Einstein (My bold, B.T.)
Note 2, 25 March 2006 Note on metaphors
Lakoff and Johnson (1980). "Metaphors We Live By." The University of Chicago Press.
"The essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another." p. 5.
"We claim that most of our normal conceptual system is metaphorically structured; that is, most concepts are partially understood in terms of other concepts. This raises an important question about the grounding of our conceptual system. Are there any concepts at all that are understood directly, without metaphor? If not, how can we understand anything at all?" p. 56.
"The reason we have focused so much on metaphor is that it unites reason and imagination." p. 193.
"The natural question to ask, then, is whether people actually think and act in terms of consistent sets of metaphors. A special case where they do is in the formulation of scientific theories, say, in biology, psychology, or linguistics. Formal scientific theories are attempts to consistently extend a set of ontological and structural metaphors." p. 220.
"New metaphors are capable of creating new understandings and, therefore, new realities." p. 235.
"But metaphor is not merely a matter of language. It is a matter of conceptual structure." p. 235.
"... what stands out most in our minds are the metaphors themselves and the insights they have given us into our own daily experiences." p. 239.
It is my hope that my arguments (accompanied by examples) support Lakoff and Johnson's arguments. I have used the term 'metaphor' in a more generalized way, that is, as a kind of an 'image,' 'picture,' 'vision' or 'megametaphor.' From my point of view, the pictures in my mind's eye appeared first, followed by their symbols - letters, words, numbers, and other symbols or signs. Metaphors are not only "conceptual structures," but also mini-images (in our mind) taken from reality. See also Note 2 in Dreams .
In the words of Marcel Danesi (2004). "Poetic Logic: The Role of Metaphor in Thought, Language, and Culture." Atwood Pub, p. 97:
...Metaphor is evidence of the human ability to visualize the universe as a coherent organism. Proof of our capacity, not just to see one thing in another but to change the very nature of things. When a metaphor is accepted as fact, it enters groupthink, taking on an existence in the real world."
Koestler, A. (1964). "The Act of Creation." Pan Books Ltd.
José Ortega and Y. Gasset (1925). "The Dehumanization of Art." Trans. by Helene Weyl, 2nd ed. Princeton.
Lakoff, and Johnson (1980). "Metaphors We Live By." University of Chicago Press.
Merton and Barber (2004). "The Travel and Adventures of Serendipity." Princeton University Press.
Ruelle, D. (2007). "The Mathematician's Brain." Princeton University Press.
Danesi, M. (2004). "Poetic Logic: The Role of Metaphor in Thought, Language, and Culture." Atwood Pub.
Manin, U.I. (2007). "Mathematics as Metaphor: Selected Essays." American Mathematical Society.
Ortony, A. (Ed.) (1993). "Metaphor and Thought." Cambridge University Press.
Rucker, R. (1987). "Mind Tools: The Five Levels of Mathematical Reality." Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. p. 247.
Ramachandran V. S. and Hubbard E. M. (2003). "Hearing Colors, Tasting Shapes," Synesthesia and Metaphors, Scientific American. | <urn:uuid:b10f0b0c-7377-4439-93c9-70a509837288> | http://bentamari.com/metaphors.html | en | 0.828762 | 0.029053 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Life Happens
I hate fish, so to say "gone fishin'" wouldn't be quite accurate. Instead, I'll just say, I'll be back when the stuff that needs tending to is tended to, the stuff that needs cleaning up is cleaned up, and all that sort of thing. In the meantime, you could all go buy a shirt for yourself or someone else and I'd be real happy. (click the spiffy graphic below)
Great Christian t-shirts and gift ideas for the whole family | <urn:uuid:b725177e-2340-435a-b310-36e338708aa3> | http://carlarolfe.blogspot.com/2008/05/life-happens.html | en | 0.973504 | 0.038183 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Mezcal: From Humble Roots to Hot New Drink Trend
This post has been seen 399 times.
A bartender pours a drink in Pare de Sufrir, the first mezcaleria or mezcal bar in Guadalajara, the second largest city in Mexico. Photo by Bernardo De Niz.
OAXACA – In the rooftop bar of one of Mexico’s most famous restaurants, well-heeled Mexicans and foreign tourists sip mezcal margaritas from tall glasses rimmed with ground gusano (worm) and salt, and garnished with a thick slice of fresh tropical fruit.
The chic minimalist décor of Casa Oaxaca in the southwestern city of the same name stands in stark contrast to the traditional distilleries, or palenques, where most of the country’s mezcal is still made. The posh interior is a sign of how far this traditional Mexican spirit has come. Mezcal, though distilled from the same type of plant as tequila, has long been the poor cousin of the beverage most people around the world identify as the Mexican national tipple. But after hundreds of years in semi-oblivion, mezcal is finally coming of age and enjoying a resurgence among trendy urbanites in Mexico and beyond.
More and more bars specializing in mezcal, known as mezcalerias, are opening up in cosmopolitan cities in Mexico, the United States and Europe as people develop a taste for the potent drink. Once considered a poor man’s quaff made by small-batch producers in backward villages, the spirit has become sought-after among a generation of drinkers keen on rustic, natural and handcrafted products. “Mezcal had a very bad reputation; it was considered a cheap drink and a poor quality drink,” said Leon Lory, the 34-year-old manager of Los Amantes, a hip mezcaleria in Oaxaca. “Nowadays, it is taking the place it deserves among the most recognized spirits in the world.”
As with most fashion trends, it is hard to pinpoint the exact date when mezcal started to be considered cool. Mexicans have been drinking mezcal for hundreds of years, but it is only in the last decade that the drink has become trendy among young city dwellers. “Mezcal makes you happy; it doesn’t take you down,” said Spanish tourist Raquel Rubio Ruiz, 31, as she sipped from a shot glass of mezcal in Los Amantes. “You feel like dancing, talking, meeting people – it’s different from other kinds of drinks.”
Other mezcal converts believe the spirit, when it is made the traditional way, is healthier than other alcoholic drinks. “I like beer, but I enjoy mezcal a lot more,” said Maria Ines Valdez of Guadalajara, Mexico’s second-largest city. “Normally with beer, or wine or tequila, I would have a hangover the next day, but mezcal doesn’t make me hungover.”
As mezcal emerges as Mexico’s hot new quaff, there remains a great deal of confusion locally and internationally about the difference between mezcal and its more famous cousin, tequila. Technically, mezcal is a name for all spirits distilled from agave plants, of which there are dozens of species across Mexico. Tequila, the staple of Mexican parties, baptisms and weddings, is the most famous mezcal. In the 1970s, producers in Jalisco and several nearby regions who made mezcal from blue agave plants were granted the appellation of origin by the Mexican government, which was later registered with United Nations’ World Intellectual Property Organization. The appellation of origin means that only mezcal made from blue agave in those specified areas can be called tequila.
What most spirit enthusiasts think of as mezcal, on the other hand, is made from any one of around three-dozen varieties of agave, the most common being the espadin, which is easier to grow and yields more mezcal per plant. In the mid-1990s, distillers in eight Mexican states were awarded the right to market their drinks as mezcal. Critics say the appellations of origin are grossly unfair because they have stripped thousands of mezcal and tequila producers outside those selected states of the right to call their product by its traditional name.
Photo by Bernardo De Niz.
You might also like More from author
Show Buttons
Hide Buttons | <urn:uuid:ba4c820d-208f-415d-8042-0782002da6d6> | http://inmygroup.com/07/07/2016/mezcal-humble-roots-hot-new-drink-trend.html | en | 0.951822 | 0.04206 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Sunday, 14 November 2010
Little Red Riding Hood
"Who's that I see walkin' in these woods?"
(Ron Blackwell, "Li'l Red Riding Hood," popularised by Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs)
Among the best known and most popular fairy tales is "Little Red Riding Hood." There are actually several variations on the story, but all of them involve a girl who is going through the woods to deliver food to her grandmother and the wolf who lays a trap for her at her grandmother's house. Just as there have been several variations on the basic tale behind "Little Red Riding Hood," so too have there been a number of different interpretations.
The earliest printed version of "Little Red Riding Hood" was "Le Petit Chaperon Rouge (literally "Little Red Riding Hood")" by Charles Perrault, included in his Histoires et contes du temps passé, avec des moralités. Contes de ma mère l'Oye in 1697. Interestingly, in Mr. Perrault's version Red Riding Hood is said to be an "attractive, well-bred young lady." This would seem to run counter to the image presented in more recent versions of "Little Red Riding Hood" which present her as a child, the words "young lady" implying she is either a teenager or a young woman. At any rate, it would indicate she has come of age. Here I must point out that the French word petit, like the Engish word little, may be more indicative of Red Riding Hood's size than it is of her age. It must also be pointed out that in Charles Perrault's version, no woodsman arrives to save Red Riding Hood and her grandmother. The story simply ends with the wolf devouring Red Riding Hood.
Of course, it seems likely that the tale of "Little Red Riding Hood" pre-dates Charles Perrault's printed version. There is a story from Chinese folklore, "Grandaunt Tiger," that superficially resembles "Little Red Riding Hood," but it is very doubtful that it is the original source of the story. Indeed, in "Grandaunt Tiger" the tiger devours the father and mother of the family before arriving at the family's house and trying to gain entrance in scenes more reminiscent of "The Three Little Pigs" than "Little Red Riding Hood." It seems much more likely that "Little Red Riding Hood" has its origins in Europe itself.
Indeed, in the early legends and myths of various European peoples, wolves often figure as voracious and vicious predators. The most famous example of this widespread belief may be found in Norse Mythology, in which Fenrir was a monstrous wolf so huge that he threatened even the gods. Indeed, not only did the early Germanic peoples apparently believe wolves were a threat to society, but they also believed in werewolves--shapeshifters capable of assuming the form of a wolf. The Norse Vatnsdœla saga, Haraldskvæði and the Völsunga saga all mention the úlfhéðnar, warriors who donned wolf skins and behaved as wolves (and perhaps became wolves literally). The Angles and Saxons may have an equivalent to the Norse úlfhéðnar. Our modern word werewolf goes all the way back to Old English werewulf (literally "man wolf"). Belief in werewolves survived among the various Germanic peoples beyond the conversion to Christianity. Indeed, in the 16th century individuals were still being tried for allegedly being werewolves. The most famous werewolf trial may have been German farmer Peter Stumpp, who was accused of being a serial killer, cannibal, and a werewolf. He was executed in 1589. Another famous werewolf trial occurred in France over a decade before the Peter Stumpp trial. French hermit Giles Garnier was convicted and executed in 1573 for allegedly being a werewolf.
The belief in wolves as threats to humanity is also found in legends from the Celtic peoples. In Irish mythology the hero Cas Corach slew the three wolf like daughters of Airitech. In Welsh legend Lylwelyn the Great of Gwynedd mistakenly killed his faithful dog Gelert after finding him covered in blood that he thought belonged to his infant son. Lylwelyn later learned Gelert was actually defending his son against a vicious wolf who tried to attack the boy.
Beyond the figure of the wolf, other elements of "Little Red Riding Hood" can also be found in earlier beliefs among the Germanic peoples. A recurring theme in the myths and legends of the Germanic peoples was the opposition between the safety of human society versus the dangers of the wilds. Indeed, this opposition is obvious in the Old English epic Beowulf. in which the mead hall of Hroðgar, Heorot, is the bastion of human society and Grendel the monster from the wilds. Grendel is called mearcstapa, "stalker of the marshes" and the poem often refers to Grendel dwelling in the fens. The opposition between the security of human society and the dangers of the wilds (the woods, the fens, the heath, and so on) is also reflected in the Germanic languages. In Old Norse another word for outlaw (the word itself deriving from Old Norse útlagi) was vargr, a word also meaning "wolf." Outlaws are said to be skoggangr, "dwelling in the woods." In Old English another word for outlaw was wulfheáfod, literally "wolf's head." The wilds were not simply the dwelling space of outlaws and wild animals such as wolves, but the dwelling space of ettins (creatures like Grendel), malignant spirits, and other threates to mankind.
In Iona and Peter Opie's book The Classic Fairy Tales, they point out that the exchange between Little Red Riding Hood and the wolf (in which Red Riding Hood says "My, what big eyes you have...") superficially resembles a dialogue between Loki and the giant Thrym in the Old Norse poem "Þrymskviða." In the poem Thrym has stolen the thunder god Thorr's hammer and demands the hand of the goddess Freyja in marriage before he will return it. Not wishing to marry Freyja to a giant, the gods dress Thorr as Freyja and send the thunder god and Loki to meet with Thrym. When Thrym observes that Freyja's eyes are a blazing red, Loki states that "she" has not slept in many nights. When Thrym observes that Freyja has an enormous appetite, Loki replies that "she" has not eaten for a long while either. While it would be ludicrous to theorise a relationship between "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Þrymskviða," ""Þrymskviða" does show that the exchange between Little Red Riding Hood and the wolf has a precedent in European folklore.
While it would appear that "Little Red Riding Hood" has its roots in European folk beliefs, it is impossible to know precisely when it emerged. It seems likely that the fairy tale had existed for some time before Mr. Perrault published his version. Indeed, many variants may have existed, some under the title "The Story of the Grandmother," in France, Italy, and other parts of Europe. In "The Story of the Grandmother" the villain is not always a wolf. In a French version of the tale, the villain was a bzou, a werewolf. In an Italian variant of the tale, the villain was an ogre rather than a wolf. In some variants the wolf actually feeds the flesh of the grandmother to Red Riding Hood, making her an unwittng cannibal. In others the wolf tells Red Riding Hood to remove her clothing and pitch it into the fire before getting into bed with him. Some versions of the tale end much as Charles Perrault's version did, with the wolf eating Red Riding Hood. In other versions the grandmother and Red Riding Hood trick the wolf, in others it is Red Riding Hood alone who tricked him and survives. The best known version may be that published by the Brothers Grimm in 1812, in which a huntsman arrives to kill the wolf, so that Red Riding Hood and the grandmother emerge from the animal unscathed. For much of the 19th Century, the sanitised versions of "Little Red Riding Hood," in which Red Riding Hood and her grandmother are saved, predominated.
Being a fairly old and popular fairy tale, there have been several different interpretations of "Little Red Riding Hood" over the years. One of the earliest interpretations of the fairy tale was put forth by anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor. He theorised that Red Riding Hood's scarlet cloak represented the sun and the wolf represented the night, so that the fairy tale was essentially an expression of the daily cycle of the daylight giving way to night. If this sounds a bit far fetched today, as hard as it is to believe, explaining myths and fairy tales as solar myths was very popular in the 19th Century.
Biologist Dr. Valerius Geist much more recently argued that "Little Red Riding Hood" was based on the danger of actual wolf attacks. Dr. Geist maintains that wolves are in fact dangerous predators who present a risk to human beings. This is quite possible given reports of wolf attacks in Europe. Jean-Marc Moriceau in Histoire du méchant loup : 3 000 attaques sur l'homme en France noted that in France alone there were 3069 people killed by wolves, of which 1857 were not rabid, from 1580 to 1830. That having been said, wolf attacks in modern Europe are a rarity. Indeed, from modern observations of the animal it would seem wolves are shy animals who will actually abandon a kill when approached by humans. While it is possible that "Little Red Riding Hood" was based on the fear of actual wolf attacks, the data on wolves would seem to be conflicting as to how likely that is to be the case.
Indeed, it seems to me as likely that "Little Red Riding Hood" may have more to do with the fear of werewolves than the actual animal. As noted above, the werewolf trials of Giles Garnier and Peter Stumpp took place in 1573 and 1589 respectively. In Estonia from 1610 to 1650 there were a number of witch trials in which accusations of lycanthropy often predominated rather than accusations of magic. It would seem that in the 16th and 17th Centuries the belief in werewolves in Europe was still very strong, strong enough that individuals were tried and executed for being werewolves. Given that in one variant of "Little Red Riding Hood" it was a bzou, a werewolf, rather a mere wolf who stalked Red Riding Hood, this likely seems the case.
Of course, in the 20th Century the most popular interpretations of "Little Red Riding Hood" have delved into the subject of sex. It is hard to argue against such theories especially given Charles Perrault describes Red Riding Hood as a "attractive, well-bred young lady,." words which bring to mind a teenager or a young adult rather than a little girl. It was as early as 1912 that psychoanalyst Otto Rank provided a sexual interpretation of "Little Red Riding Hood," seeing the fairy tale as an expression of the infantile thought of cutting open the stomach to induce birth. In 1951 Erich Fromm, in The Forgotten Langauge, would go even further. He explained the red hood as representative of menstruation, and the fairy tale essentially being about a young woman who is confronted by sex for the very first time. Rather than wanting to eat Red Riding Hood, the wolf wants to seduce her. The fairy tale then serves as a cautionary tale for young women. The number of theorists putting forth the idea that the red hood is the hymen and the tale essentially about the seduction of a virgin are far too numerous to list here. In her 1975 book Against Our Will, Susan Brownmiller also saw "Little Red Riding Hood" as essentially about sex, but cast the fairy tale in much more sinister terms. Quite simply, Miss Brownmiller sees "Little Red Riding Hood" as a tale about rape.
Regardless of how it is interpreted, "Little Red Riding Hood" may be the most referenced fairy tale in pop culture. Indeed, there have been several modern variations of the fairy tale in the form of short stories and novels. James Thurber altered the fairy tale dramatically in "The Little Girl and The Wolf," in which the little girl dispatches the wolf with an semi-automatic pistol hidden in her basket. In 1940 Howard L Chace wrote "Ladie Rat Rotten Hat," where the story in told in English, but not using the right words. In 1979 Angela Carter published the story "The Company of Wolves" in her anthology The Bloody Chamber. In "The Company of Wolves" the wolf is in reality a werewolf, who in the end is seduced by Red Riding Hood. As far as novels, in Wolf, published in 1990, Gillian Cross updated the story to modern times in a loose adaptation. In Laurence Anholt and Arthur Robins's children's novel Little Red Riding Wolf, the roles of the wolf and Red Riding Hood are reversed, with the Big Bad Girl stalking Little Red Riding Wolf.
As might be expected of a fairy tale, "Little Red Riding Hood" has been adapted as an animated cartoon several times. Among the earliest animated versions of the fairy tale is also among Walt Disney's earliest cartoons. In 1922 Mr. Disney produced a "Little Red Riding Hood" cartoon for Laugh-O-Gram Cartoons.In 1931, Walt Disney's archrivals the Fleischer Brothers produced their own animated shorts based on the fairy tale. "Dizzy Red Riding Hood" featured Betty Boop as the woman in the red hood. Surprisingly for an early Betty Boop cartoon, it largely eschewed a more sexual interpretation of the fairy tale. The wolf wanted to eat Betty, not seduce her.
While the Fleischers may have avoided touching on the subject of sex in their adaptation of "Little Red Riding Hood," Tex Avery certainly would not. In 1943 Tex Avery produced "Red Hot Riding Hood," in which Red is a sexy nightclub entertainer and the Big Bad Wolf a patron of the night club who openly lusts after her. The short would prove so popular that he would make three sequels: "Wild and Wolfy," "Swing Shift Cinderella," and "Little Rural Riding Hood." In 1944 Friz Freleng directed "Little Red Riding Rabbit," in which Bugs Bunny is what Red Riding Hood is delivering to her grandmother. Mr. Freleng would also eschew sex in this animated short, with the wolf concentrating instead on eating the tasty rabbit Red Riding Hood brought her grandma.
"Little Red Riding Hood" has been referenced in a few films, most notably Neil Jordan's 1984 movie adaptation of the same name of Angela Carter's "The Company of Wolves," in which the wolf is in actuality a werewolf. Beginning with La Caperucita Roja in 1960, Roberto Rodriguez would direct three films based around the fairy tale. The others were Caperucita y sus tres amigos (1961) and Caperucita y Pulgarcito contra los monstruos (1962). The 1996 film Freeway was a modernised version of the tale, recasting the wolf as a dangerous serial killer and Red Riding Hood as a sexually abused teenager. In 1996 David Kaplan directed a short based on the fairy tale, entitled "Little Red Riding Hood," starring Christina Ricci in the title role. In the 2001 short Falsehood, director Kenneth Liu recast the story as a legal drama, with the Big Bad Wolf on trial. In 2003 Giacomo Cimini directed Red Riding Hood, a horror film loosely based on the fairy tale in which the "wolf" is the imaginary friend of an obviously psychotic Jenny McKenzie (the "Red Riding Hood" of the title). The 2010 SyFy television movie Red recast "Red Riding Hood" as a werewolf hunter.
"Little Red Riding Hood" has also been referenced in at least one play. Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's musical Into the Woods sent up many fairy tales, among them "Little Red Riding Hood." In Into the Woods, the wolf clearly lusts after Red Riding Hood and has no intention of simply eating her...
"Little Red Riding Hood" has also figured in various advertisements over the years. In 1953 in print ads Max Factor advertised a lipstick colour called "Riding Hood Red," which they boasted "would bring the wolves out." A commercial from the Fifties for Snowdrift Shortening parodied the fairy tale. In a 1963 print ad Hertz portrayed Red Riding Hood as a nubile young woman driving to her Grandmother's house in her "little red Hertz." A 1997 commercial for Sprint Caller ID service featured the Big Bad Wolf calling a beautiful, young woman (Red Riding Hood), who ignores the call when she sees it is from "B. B. Wolf." In 1998 movie director Luc Besson directed a commercial for Chanel No. 5 featuring actress Estella Warren as "Red Riding Hood," who retrieves a bottle of Chanel No. 5 before going out for the night. As she leaves, her pet wolf howls. Another 1998 advert, this one for Honey Nut Cheerios, featured Kesley Grammer as the voice of the wolf and actress Carrie Fletcher as Red Riding Hood. In a 2001 advert for Pepsi One, actress Kim Cattrall played Red Riding Hood.
"Little Red Riding Hood" has also been referenced in several songs, where there should be no surprise that the sexual element dominates. In fact, sex permeated the first song about Red Riding Hood, "How Could Red Riding Hood (Have Been So Very Good)" by A. P. Randolph, to such a degree that it became the first song ever banned on radio when it was published in 1926. In 1958 "Little Red Riding Hood" was the Big Bopper's B-side to his single "The Big Bopper's Wedding." While the sexual element dominates the Big Bopper's "Little Red Riding Hood," the song actually owes as much to "The Three Little Pigs" as it does the fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood." The most famous song about Red Riding Hood could well be "Li'l Red Riding Hood," written by Ron Blackwell and released by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs in 1966. The song is sung from the point of view of the wolf and draws upon lines from the fairy tale to make it clear that the wolf has something other than in mind that eating Red Riding Hood....
Over the years "Little Red Riding Hood" has been explained as a solar myth, as the result of actual wolf attacks, as a tale of sexual awakening, and in a number of other ways. Regardless, it remains one of the most famous and popular fairy tales of all time. Regardless of which interpretation of the fairy tale proves to be the most predominant in the future, it seems obvious that "Little Red Riding Hood" will remain one of the most beloved fairy tales of all time.
No comments: | <urn:uuid:826219de-2760-45db-9122-1a3deb2c76e4> | http://mercurie.blogspot.com/2010/11/little-red-riding-hood.html | en | 0.964209 | 0.051267 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Duane Sutter
There have been some pretty famous family connections in hockey history. The generations of Patricks and Conachers and Howes and Hulls and Hextalls rank as hockey royalty. But probably the most famous family in hockey is Viking Alberta's Sutter family. Six brothers - Brian, Duane, Brent, Darryl, Rich and Ron - went on to play long careers in the National Hockey League.
Duane was nicknamed Dog. But it wasn't due to his dogged play, but rather a name from his childhood. His mother called him "Dog" because as a child he would constantly whine and cry! When younger brother Brent joined Duane on Long Island, he quickly became known as "Pup," a name that would stick with him for his entire career.
Easily the most out-going of the clan, Duane Sutter was a first-round draft pick of the NY Islanders in 1979 (17th overall). It was great timing for Duane as he joined the Islanders just in time to play on four consecutive Stanley Cup winners at the start of the ‘80s.
But it almost never happened.
The morning of the draft, Islanders GM Bill Torrey called to say he was planning on selecting him.
"Thanks but no thanks," Duane recalls saying. "I don't want to play in a big city like New York with all those skyscrapers."
Torrey must not have known what to think of the response, but he decided to draft Sutter anyways. It is a good thing too, as he was a key part of the championship dynasty.
Duane applied the typical Sutter style of play immediately. He banged. He crashed. He fought. He blocked shots. He sacrificed for his teammates. He was a leader. He won.
But he added a little extra spice his brothers were not really noted for. He yapped.
Claiming to be heavily influenced by his favorite movie, "Slap Shot," no one was safe from his verbal assaults. He would often be in the middle of an after-the-whistle scrum, chirping away at opposition goaltenders, or defensemen, or coaches or referees.
Affectionately known strictly as grinder, and unlike brothers Brian, Darryl, Brent and to a lesser degree Ron, never showed a lot of offensive upside. This was despite his NHL debuted where he scored 2 goals and 3 points against the Edmonton Oilers.
However he scored 20 goals only once, but that was fine with his teammates. Often playing on a line with brother Brent, Duane brought so much to the table that could never be measured by statistics.
Like all the Sutters, he earned twice his paycheck just because of his heart and determination. Although he dreamed of playing in the NHL all star game, there was little chance a player of his stature could ever make it there. Yet he was at least as valuable, and in many cases more valuable, of a hockey player as almost any of the annual all stars.
Perhaps Duane could have had a chance to play in an NHL all star game, like Brian and Brent did, but Islanders coach Al Arbour never really gave Duane the prime ice time needed to achieve offensive statistics needed for such an honor. Duane often was depressed about his lack of ice time, particularly in his early years.
In the summer of 1987 the Isles decided to move Duane to Chicago in exchange for a 2nd round draft pick. By this time the Isles dynasty days were over and the Isles were unloading some of their veterans in exchange for some youthful prospects and draft picks. Unfortunately Duane was in this group.
While Duane continued to play that Sutter dogged style in Chicago, his offensive contributions were left behind on Long Island. Duane only scored 18 times in 3 years. He became much more of a role player in Chicago, although by this time he had matured about his role and it didn't bother him if he didn't get the ice time. Duane was happy to be there, partly because his brother Darryl was there and partly because he knew he could have an impact on the team. And he did.
Duane Sutter appeared in 731 NHL games, recording 139 goals, 342 points and 1,333 penalty minutes. Like brothers Brian and Darryl he retired prematurely due to injuries.
Duane initially returned to Viking to raise his family, but he got back into the game as a scout. Soon enough he wanted to get into the coach game like his brothers Brian and Darryl (plus Brent at the junior level). He spent three years as an assistant coach before he was named head coach of the Florida Panthers in 2000 for about a year.
No comments:
© Blogger templates Newspaper III by 2008
Back to TOP | <urn:uuid:8e0be01d-79b1-4b16-90cf-51aaba60d9fc> | http://nyislanderslegends.blogspot.com/2006/05/duane-sutter.html | en | 0.993244 | 0.018546 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Bike Shed?
Every UK secondary school probably has its own “secret place” where pupils can smoke a cigarette during break or lunchtime. Actually it is not that secret. Most of the teachers probably know where it is. They could “close it down” but a new one will start up somewhere else. It has to be somewhere near enough to the classrooms that pupils can get there during breaks, but it must be a place where teachers don’t normally go. It is usually “behind the bikesheds”. It is probably a bit squeezed and uncomfortable.
New individuals find the smokers group because they are inquisitive. They see other pupils going there and wonder what is going on. Some get rejected by the nicotinies, but others are allowed to join in; they are even offered free fags. This is “peer group pressure”. Perhaps one of your friends keeps going on at you to try it, saying “Its cool”, or “Be a man”, or “Its grown-up”. Perhaps you should try it, but will you get hooked? Is it addictive? Will you get caught? What will your parents say when they find out? But they won’t find out, will they?
OK, so its fun, but what are the dangers?
Why not take snuff instead of smoking?
Leave a Reply | <urn:uuid:dfed7226-8217-4b17-8c8d-2ed6970c4dde> | http://purchon.com/health/?page_id=75 | en | 0.973994 | 0.717715 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Sentence for scurrying | Use scurrying in a sentence
Sentences for scurrying. Students, spelling bee organizers, and people looking to increase their knowledge of English might especially enjoy this webpage. The lines of text below use scurrying in a sentence, and provide visitors a sentence for scurrying.
• Little brown streams trickled spluttering from the pan; the dog, with ears laid back and tail tucked in, went scurrying round the room. (8)
• The Colonel heard a sound of scurrying feet, whisking drapery, and slamming doors. (9)
• The rain was coming down in torrents now, and every one was scurrying for shelter. (8)
Glad you visited this page with a sentence for scurrying. Perhaps also see a sentence for sailed and ways to use scramble in a sentence. Now that you’ve seen how to use scurrying in a sentence hope you might explore the rest of this educational reference site to see many other example sentences which provide word usage information.
People looking for: "use scurrying in a sentence", "sentences for scurrying", "make sentence of scurrying", "make the sentence of scurrying", "sentences with scurrying", "Scurrying in a Sentence", "scurying sentence example", "scurryng sentence", "scurrying with sentabce", "using scurrying in a sentence", "scurrying in simple ecample", "make sentences with scurrying", visited this page.
| <urn:uuid:5f734090-8204-4e39-a06e-3d23510c152c> | http://sentencefor.com/scurrying/ | en | 0.954836 | 0.555003 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
World Cancer Report
Monday 26 May 2003 12:00AM (view full episode)
The World Health Organisation and the International Agency for Research on Cancer have just released the first ever World Report on Cancer.
The World Health Organisation and the International Agency for Research on Cancer have just released the first ever World Report on Cancer. It contains probably the most comprehensive information ever put down in one place on the impact of this disease, from the patterns and causes to the state-of-the-art in treatment, to palliative care.
And one of the two editors is an Australian, Professor Bernard Stewart from the University of New South Wales.
Bernard Stewart: The global impact of cancer in terms of bare numbers is 6-million deaths a year, and something like double that in terms of incidence, cases of cancer. The human impact of course is much more difficult to express.
Norman Swan: And how much does cancer vary around the world?
Bernard Stewart: Quite dramatically, in the sense that in the developed world, there are cancers which we used to, or still do, associate with the term 'western lifestyle'. In the developing world, cancer tends to have a different face. In one sense it's the same, because tobacco is making an impact in the developing world.
Norman Swan: So lung cancer is growing?
Bernard Stewart: So lung cancer is growing.
Norman Swan: But traditionally they've had lower rates of colon cancer, for example.
Bernard Stewart: Exactly. But they have got high rates of cancers associated with infections. They've got high rates of cervical cancer, which of course we've almost wiped out, with the Pap smear; they've got high rates of liver cancer and stomach cancer, associated respectively with hepatitis infection and with bacterial infection in the stomach.
Norman Swan: So this is the helicobacter pylori, discovered in Australia, which is prevalent in societies which have lower levels of hygiene.
Bernard Stewart: Exactly right.
Norman Swan: Many years ago now, Richard Peto and Richard Doll, who are eminent cancer experts in the United Kingdom, did a study for the United States, which looked at the causes of cancer and came up with a figure which I think was something like 75% or 80% of all cancers are preventable through diet and lifestyle. Did you come up with a similar figure?
Bernard Stewart: Yes, to some extent, those numbers are still valid. In the developed countries the most dramatic change since those figures in the 1980s has tragically been the emergence of lung cancer in women.
Norman Swan: So what are the big ticket carcinogens worldwide?
Bernard Stewart: The big ticket carcinogens worldwide are tobacco, high intake of alcohol.
Norman Swan: And which cancers are involved there?
Bernard Stewart: oesophageal cancer and liver cancer. But particularly if it's combined with smoking. The most infamous area of the world is probably Brittany, where the high consumption of a brew they distill themselves, plus high smoking rates, gives amongst the highest oesophageal cancer in the world. But to go back to your list: after alcohol comes a high caloric diet, whether it's high fat, whether it's a high meat content, whether it's simply the absence of fresh fruit and vegetables, or the absence of fibre, is an infinitely complex question.
Norman Swan: So people who are overweight and obese have higher rates of all cancers?
Bernard Stewart: No, they have higher rates of cancer of the colon, specifically, and if they're women they have higher rates of breast cancer.
Norman Swan: But you don't know which element of high calorie intake?
Bernard Stewart: Correct. This has been studied intensively for all my adult lifetime, and it's not any clearer today except to say that it's not just diet as an end in itself, it's diet, plus exercise, the package.
Norman Swan: And what percentage of cancer overall, would be attributable to being overweight and obese in these terms?
Bernard Stewart: About 30% of cancer is connected to diet one way or another in our community, and that's mainly colon cancer, and breast cancer. And possibly there's a factor on prostate cancer, but that's the least clear of all.
Norman Swan: People talk, I mean if you actually went out into the street and said 'carcinogens', people might say tobacco, but everybody would say, the first thing to come off their tongue would be pesticides.
Bernard Stewart: Yes.
Norman Swan: And things in the environment like that. Are they significant?
Bernard Stewart: No, they're not, they're extremely significant in the community's consciousness, but you are right, mobile phones, hair dyes, pesticides, I could name at least 20, are causes of concern in the public mind. In fact in virtually all cases, these are either trivial or not at all, or their impact is restricted to particular exposed people and they can be dealt with in that context.
Norman Swan: You say that and yet there are cancers which are rising in incidence, and people like you don't know why. So multiple myeloma diseases of the immune system, Non-Hodgkins lymphoma, maybe brain cancer, there's a matter of debate, and yet you don't know why and you're still saying these things don't cause a problem.
Bernard Stewart: You're absolutely correct. These things, when we were moving in the very big picture from double-digit cancers, from cancers like tobacco that accounts for 10% to 20% of all cancer, and diet, accounting for 30% of all cancer, on that scale, these individual other specific causative factors, don't rate immediately, and that was the context to which I was speaking. And you are quite correct too, in respect of unknown factors. We don't know what's for example, accounting for the apparent rise in lymphomas.
Norman Swan: And are environmental carcinogens, which are a particular interest of yours, showing up in occupations? In other words, are you getting any clues, given that the people that you would expect to be most likely to get cancer from environmental carcinogens are those who are working with them all the time and have high exposure, are there any stand-outs in terms of occupational carcinogens?
Bernard Stewart: There's none that have broken on the scene dramatically. There's nothing that has appeared as dramatic as vinyl chloride monomer, which you may recall emerged in the early 1980s as causing cancer in the very small number of workers who actually polymerized the stuff.
Norman Swan: In the plastics industry.
Bernard Stewart: Yes. Now there hasn't been to my consciousness, a carcinogen like that, that's emerged where we've moved from the discovery of the cause straight through to preventive measures in the relevant industry. But such studies take epidemiology to its very limit. The limits of epidemiology were stretched when it was demonstrated that passive smoking caused lung cancer. That's at about the limit of resolution of epidemiological studies. And when it comes to many of the occupational cancers that are feared, proving that it actually occurs is a real challenge.
Norman Swan: A couple of weeks ago, we had a program on diesel, and the exhaust from diesel and whether or not that was a significant carcinogen in the community.
Bernard Stewart: Yes, diesel is recognised as a significant carcinogen in the community, but I would argue that people should be protected from diesel as a matter of good public health policy, that is, it is a pollutant, it is toxic, without necessarily waiting to clarify exactly how much cancer it causes, because it's particularly difficult to clarify the contribution of diesel in a population with a relatively high smoking rate already accounting for a major proportion of the lung cancer.
Norman Swan: So nothing new in prevention then, given that you don't really know about carcinogens, it's don't smoke, eat lots of fruit and vegetables, lose weight, all that stuff.
Bernard Stewart: I fear so. The usual suspects. What is new perhaps is the emergence of chemo-prevention as a specific issue, that is, the possibility that particular agents may actually prevent cancer even after exposure to carcinogens.
Norman Swan: Such as?
Bernard Stewart: Classic ones are fresh fruit and vegetables will actually decrease the incidence of lung cancer in smokers. I mean it is now clear that fresh fruit and vegies will not only protect one from the otherwise risk of colon cancer, but will for example, decrease slightly the risk of lung cancer in heavy smokers. Now this has led to a huge effort to track down particular micro-nutrients.
Norman Swan: One of the most fraught areas in policy in health care, is cancer care. A new drug comes out and desperate people want to get it because it seems to be the magical new thing, and there never seems to be enough new technology available in this area. When you took a global view in this World Cancer Report, what are the significant gaps in cancer control?
Bernard Stewart: The significant gaps in cancer treatment emerged dramatically as you would expect when one looks at the developing countries, but if we set that aside for the moment -
Norman Swan: Well let's not set it aside, what is it - the challenge there is there's just nothing available?
Bernard Stewart: The problems are that nothing's available, but in the same sentence I could say that things are being done. First of all, WHO to its credit, has gone through the medicine cabinet, metaphorically speaking, and come up with a list of essential cancer drugs. This is a major service because then the developing countries, particularly in South America and Asia, are at least on the way to adequate therapy. They can look at the need to get morphine for cancer pain, and they are progressively making advancement with some availability of radio therapy. Things have moved to an appalling level in Africa generally, where one has the phenomenon of one or two pathology centres for the whole of Central and Southern Africa, and this is outside of South Africa.
Norman Swan: So people are dying of curable cancer.
Bernard Stewart: So people are dying, yes. And people are not getting what we would say is minimum care for their disease, and classically, only people with advanced disease come into the health system at all.
Norman Swan: And I can't remember the figure, but in the Australian context, talking about radiotherapy, I think it's only about 60% or 70% of people who need radiotherapy actually get it.
Bernard Stewart: The figures here are not definitive, but certainly there is room for making radiotherapy more comprehensively available to those who need it. I don't know whether I confirm that 60% or 70%, but certainly I'm aware of efforts to make radiotherapy more equitably available throughout, for example, the rural community.
Norman Swan: There's been a lot of controversy about just how good cancer treatment is. Yes, you've got some spectacular successes, testicular cancer is curable, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in childhood is curable, women with breast cancer are living longer, but when the gross statistics are looked at, the critics say you really haven't had much of an impact in the last 40 years with cancer treatment. True?
Bernard Stewart: Yes, it's true.
Norman Swan: So why are we spending all this money on it?
Bernard Stewart: Because in certain specific contexts, things work and the classic example is the drug STI571, or Glivec, to treat chronic leukaemia; and is the classic example of a molecular key. It inhibits a phosphorylating enzyme that's crucial in the causation of that particular cancer. Now that example of a molecular key to the cancer problem, hasn't been reproduced in breast cancer or colon cancer to the same extent. But hopefully that is an attainable goal, and I can look you in the eye and say 'We'll get there in the long run.'
Norman Swan: So you're relying in treatment for better results on earlier detection?
Bernard Stewart: Absolutely, and we're relying on prevention. In lung cancer, for example, we have the tragedy of, at this stage, something like 15% of those diagnosed with the disease are alive five years down the track at very best. And preventing the disease when we know the cause of 90% of it, is clearly the way to go. And palliative care of cancer patients and their quality of life, is the absolute third component where action is needed continually.
Norman Swan: Professor Bernard Stewart is Head of the Cancer Control Program in South East Sydney Area Health Service.
You can find the World Cancer Report at and we'll have that link on our website. If you want a shiny copy, it's distributed in Australia by Oxford University Press.
Professor Bernard Stewart
Head of the
Cancer Control Programme
South East Area Health Service,
Dr Norman Swan
Brigitte Seega | <urn:uuid:be3a51a6-31b4-4d47-8f3b-6f600771a9d1> | http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/healthreport/world-cancer-report/3542088 | en | 0.95989 | 0.283248 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Cowboys' chance to change the narrative
With seven games left in the season, Tony Romo & Co. have a chance to right the Cowboys' ship. James D. Smith/AP Photo
There are a couple of different ways this season can go from here for the Dallas Cowboys. The first is they could just keep muddling along around .500, surprising us with a great game here and there, losing the occasional game they could clearly win and ultimately doing nothing to disprove the idea that they're just not very good. This is a group, after all, that has not won two games in a row since last Thanksgiving. Soft schedule or not, it's conceivable the Cowboys just kind of are who they are.
But the other way this can go should make the Cowboys' eyes light up. The other scenario is one in which the Cowboys actually take advantage of the fact that five of their final seven games are at home and six are against teams with losing records. They put it together on offense, keep it together on defense and beat up on teams such as the Browns, Bengals, Redskins and Eagles. In this scenario, the Cowboys make life very difficult on the suddenly struggling first-place Giants and maybe -- just maybe -- play well enough to steal the NFC East title the way the Giants did from them a year ago.
The effect of the latter scenario would be significant, and it would reach into seasons to come. Because if this year's Cowboys can play well enough to deliver that particular reality, they will succeed in doing something more significant than making the 2012-13 playoffs. They will have changed the way the outside world and their fans look at them. They might even change the way they look at themselves. For many of the Cowboys' beleaguered principals, this is a chance to change the stories of their careers.
Jason Garrett isn't worried about his job as Cowboys head coach, and he doesn't have to be. Team owner Jerry Jones supports him and has made that clear at every opportunity. Jones believes Garrett will be a great head coach, and whether he's right about that or not, he's determined to give Garrett enough rope and enough time to find out. But if Garrett can lead these Cowboys on a run that makes the NFC East a race, he's got a chance to be viewed differently from here on out by Jones and everyone else. The next seven games offer Garrett a chance to show improvement in those key game-management areas for which he takes so much heat, and, more important, to show he has the ability to rally, motivate and lead his men to rise to the occasion. Depending on the way the rest of this season goes, Jones could emerge with a bunch of new evidence to support his belief in Garrett, and he could suddenly sound a lot more convincing to Cowboys fans.
Tony Romo, you may have heard once or twice, is 20-3 as a starting quarterback in the month of November but 10-17 in December and January. There was something of an acceptance among Cowboys fans that last year's December collapse was not Romo's fault but that of the defense, but many hold onto the troubling fact that he couldn't lift them above the troubles the way championship quarterbacks often do. The rest of this season offers Romo, who hasn't had a great year to this point, more chances to establish himself as the kind of quarterback who can put the team on his back and deliver in a big spot. Romo's story isn't yet written, but he hasn't done much to take control of the writing. Taking advantage of the opportunity in front of him and the Cowboys would help him do that.
Miles Austin and DeMarco Murray have a chance to prove they can be reliably healthy and helpful (though Murray first has to return from his foot injury if he's to have a chance to do that). DeMarcus Ware has a chance to answer those who began murmuring late last year that he disappears in big spots. Dez Bryant can use this remaining time to combat the persistent notion that he's a knucklehead who'll never get his act together off the field or concentrate hard enough on it. Rob Ryan has a chance to hold his defense together where last year he could not and prove that he does know how to construct something reliably frightening to stop opposing offenses. Heck, a strong finish might even get people to lighten up on Jones himself. The current roster and coaching staff bear evidence that he has ceded some significant personnel decisions to Garrett and others. If it's successful, Cowboys fans might take it as a sign that Jones is learning from past errors.
This is a big chance for the Cowboys, these final seven games. They may not be able to catch the Giants regardless, especially because they don't get to play them head-to-head. But if they can make this division race a real race, make the Giants sweat a little bit as they play teams that look a lot tougher than the ones Dallas plays, then they'll put themselves in a position to surprise at the end. They'll have shown life and spark and toughness where evidence of that stuff has recently been hard to find. They'll have changed the narrative about themselves and what they're capable of doing.
That's the opportunity that lies in front of the Cowboys here at the end of 2012. And if that doesn't get them fired up, it's hard to imagine what would. | <urn:uuid:0564a4ba-aba5-4f4c-91df-377af2356f6a> | http://www.espn.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/66775/cowboys-chance-to-change-the-narrative | en | 0.983373 | 0.027514 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
The value (or not) of the workbook
Do you ever feel like school work is pointless? I do, and as a homeschooling mom, this is completely unacceptable. I have no one to blame but myself.
I’m not suggesting I should feel guilty that I’m bored with school work. To the contrary, if the school work isn’t interesting me, then it’s not good enough. ‘Cause I’m amazing and demand the best! Humph.
Even though we are reserved in our use of workbooks (and school-ish requirements in general), each child still has one or two that they work through. Most of them are useful, teaching valuable skills. But lately I’ve noticed that Yo-Yo’s workbooks are feeling more like busy work—suffixes, prefixes, vocabulary words, plurals, syllables, etc., over and over and over.
Children learn best by reading. I’ve always known that. But just last week I came across this quote: The number one predictor of good writing skills is reading aloud to children in huge quantity at a high level. ~ Andrew Pudewa
The proverbial light bulb flicked on. Why not scrap the workbooks and just read?
Seriously, why not?
Here’s my idea: I choose a book and Yo-Yo chooses a book. Every day he reads for an hour from each. We talk about them. And ... that’s it. After a month, we reevaluate and make adjustments. He would probably still have piano and math, and he might write a story every other day or so; but the bulk of his studies would be reading for fun. Doesn't that sound like a blast?
I realize my pretty plan ignores one of the key words in the quote: “aloud.” However, I already read aloud to my children—science, history, Bible, novels, etc.—so for our purposes I’m broadening the number one predictor to include reading in general. I’m the teacher so I can do that.
I’m not ready to jump into this new plan just yet. We’re finishing up a few things (er, workbooks [old school marm-y ways die hard]), and we might not even get around to implementing this plan till the fall. And then, when the new school year rolls around, I might decide the whole idea is irrelevant any way. But for now, I think it sounds pretty fun.
Weigh in on the matter, please. Have any of you done this before, in some form or another? Will my children shrivel up and die without their grammar workbooks? What reading material do you recommend? (Yo-Yo loves action-packed drama, though as he matures and his reading ability advances, he’s developing patience and perseverance.) Maybe two hours of quiet reading time (and it wouldn’t include reading that he does in the regular afternoon quiet time) isn’t sufficient. Maybe I should make him read till his eyes fall out.
Maybe I shouldn’t wait till the fall. Maybe we should shelve all the workbooks tonight and start tomorrow fresh. It’s tempting, that’s for sure.
About one year ago: Chocolate-covered peanut butter eggs.
1. I was just reading this past week (of course I can't remember where) about how reading is good for writing. Exposing children to how ideas and words are put together in logical and thoughtful ways is supposed to make it easier for them to put ideas and words together in logical and thoughtful ways. It makes sense to me.
At the same time, I wish someone had spent more time teaching me some of the building blocks of writing- grammar and spelling, for example. I'm glad I'm homeschooling so I can learn it all again. I think those building blocks are important, too.
It must be this time of year because I'm pretty bored with a lot of what we're doing, too. Thankfully, Sam hasn't noticed it's kind of boring, so he's plugging right along. If he can do it, I can do it. For now. Next year we're switching things up a bit, too:-).
2. Reading works pretty well. Though I've had college students who could handle reading Rushdie and Nabokov but had serious trouble writing. Learning to compress a complex idea into a simple sentence is the hardest and most important writing skill to master; everything else is gravy. But that sort of grammar literacy has nothing to do with a lot of workbook grammar (knowing what a participle is, etc.).
David Foster Wallace's mother used to start dramatically choking at the table when one of her children committed a grammatical atrocity. I aspire to this sort of passion. Wallace himself once wrote "I hate you" on a student's paper after having corrected the same error (mistaking "farther" for "further") twice previously. That student never repeated the offense and treasures the memory. All this to say: definitely do it your way. It's more likely to stick.
(And perhaps show the kids some of the fun websites devoted to grammatical fascism, like "The Apostrophe Protection Society.")
3. As a child, Mark Twain skipped school more than he showed up. Look how he turned out.
Aunt V.
4. tiney little botherApril 15, 2010 at 5:58 AM
i'm sure that reading is great, but I want to point out two things.
First, in my current work environment, a huge deal is made about the difference between a "predictor" and a "cause." The fact that many/most successful writers read a great deal at an advanced level at an early level has almost nothing to do with the question of whether reading a lot can turn someone into a successful writer, at least not without "controlling" for other factors, which is not easy.
Second, I know that for some things like math, reading without doing is like faith without works: dead. I don't know if this applies well in this context, but I look back on sentence diagramming with fond memories.
5. ... and diagramming is super fun times! We do speed drills to see who can diagram a sentence first. 'Course, we also watch superconductor experiments and Na explosions on YouTube for fun, so. House of Geekdom, right here.
6. The way to learn to write is to write. Reading stimulates the imagination, but no one studies the sentence structure while reading--unless they are a writer.
My high school remedial English class wrote every day. Everyone moaned and groaned in the beginning. By the end of the course, the writing time was the favorite part of the class period.
I set a kitchen timer and the students wrote until the timer dinged. During the timed period, writing could not stop, even for a moment. Gazing out the window was not acceptable; neither was pausing to form another thought. Punctuation, grammar, and spelling were not issues. Each sentence must be the writer’s thought at that moment. "I don’t know what to write. This crazy, old teacher gives stupid work. It’s for the birds. I'd like to be a bird. Birds are free. They don't have to go to school and do stupid work. Writing is work and work isn't fun. Fun is relaxing. Fun is hanging out with my friends and..." and on and on.
Gradually, the writing time increased. A blank sheet of paper wasn’t so daunting any more. The students learned that writing is logical thought progression. Later, workbooks added structure and light bulbs flashed above thirty heads. Grammar rules make effective writing. Classroom fun was hearing other students’ written thoughts and realizing how different everyone is. Yet, all had commonalities. A degree of camaraderie developed every time.
Yo-Yo is not too young. Start him on a 5-minute timer and see what happens. Don’t let him write imaginary tales all the time. Encourage him to express his right-then feelings about something. If you have to, give him a topic such as, frogs.
If you haven’t diagramed scripture verses, give it a shot. It’s absolutely mind blowing sometimes to realize what word or phrase actually modifies another word or phrase.
7. In seventh grade I loved diagramming sentences.
At least two aspects are at work here: the enjoyment of (written)words expressing thoughts and having the exquisite tools to encode thoughts in words.
8. It sounds like you are leaning in the direction of the "Robinson" curriculum ~ appeals to me too! :)
9. I'm not surprised to hear this from you. As long as I've known you I've always admired your wisdom and the thought you put into your children's education. Along with not getting caught up in having to do it like the schools do just because...
Last spring I was thinking the same thoughts and met a lady who teaches almost that way. So I decided to do school differently for the past year with both my girls. The way your thinking is very much a Charlotte Mason way of thinking. I have a friend here in TX who has used this method with her 4 children. Their ages are 16, 14, 11, 7. They are remarkable children! Talking to them convinced me to dump the workbooks. But writing still does take place. And the books we read both together and independently are fascinating and awesome. I, being the teacher, LOVE SCHOOL and have learned so much. Who would have though school could be fun and we could learn so much. When I say learn I mean not just tuck facts away in our head, but learn to think for ourselves, and be encouraged to grow in character and morals like the people in the books we read about, so one day we can be responsible, educated citizens, who can think for ourselves.
With that said I should explain what we do. We read unabridged classic literature from Greek mythology, American history, World history, living books. You probably already know that living books are books written on subjects by authors who LOVE the content their teaching and it shows in the book - you and the children pick up their enthusiasm and remember the story.
But after we read the children narrate, or tell back what was read, as much like the author wrote it as they can. Eventually added to verbal narrations are written narrations (which can be done many ways), or acting out the narrations, and so on. We mostly do verbal narrations and my oldest daughter does 2 written narrations a week.
To learn grammar, spelling, sentence structure, etc. the Charlotte Mason theory (which I've seen works amazingly with my own eyes - otherwise the school teacher in me would have never believed it could) is to have them to copywork of various books, scriptures, poetry, etc. Also with the children being exposed to such rich literature they can SEE proper grammar, spelling, and sentence structure every day. Then they naturally start writing that way. I'm amazed at the vocabulary they are just naturally learning. My 5 year old even begs to narrate when he listens to a story - and it's so cute when he does. He even remembers what we read! With this method the children love to learn and love to read and almost self educate themselves up through the 12th grade.
One more important part of this method is you do small time periods for each subject (15-20 min. max), including copy work.
There's more to all this and if you're interested in it you can check out my friends blog - she has a free Charlotte Mason curriculum for kindergarten through the 12th grade. She's been using it for 12 years and for many years has been helping others get started. The results are truly amazing --- and school is a lot of fun - along with a little work.
Her website is Check it out! Hope this helps you decide. We love it! | <urn:uuid:5603028b-366d-4f78-a0f7-4bdc20096c4f> | http://www.jennifermurch.com/2010/04/value-or-not-of-workbook.html | en | 0.969454 | 0.023541 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Download complete Spot the Dog! - Now What? in Acrobat (.pdf)
Based on prior experiences, this document provides general guidance - not rules set in stone. If your dog is lost, contact, seek advice from, and work with animal control and care professionals.
It seems like forever, but you finally spot the dog - now what? Be prepared to outsmart it. Be forewarned, not shocked - your dog might not run to you AND might run away from you.
ALWAYS have a leash and a quart-sized bag of "bait" in your vehicle.
NEVER walk around a search or sighting area without the leash and bait.
Wrap the leash around your waist like a cinch belt, so it's outside, handy, and ready to use. Carry at least 8 hot dogs or an equivalent amount of food, such as bits of liver, chicken, and meatballs. As an added incentive, bring along a favorite toy or item normally associated with happy playtime. "Cesar" brand dog food comes in a small plastic tub with a peel-off, soft foil top. Tubs pack easily in a pocket - get non-gravy varieties to store in the car as "emergency" bait.
Remain calm upon arriving at a sighting location where your dog's been seen recently.
Don't slam the door to your vehicle, don't shout, and if you see the dog, don't rush towards it. A dog might feel safe and stay hidden under a deck, or bolt - knowing escape routes are limited. A dog sitting in an open field might wait to see what you're up to, or bolt - just to be on the safe side. You never know how close you'll be allowed to get, so give the dog time to adjust to your presence. Start talking, using familiar phrases that usually get a positive response, such as "want to go for a ride?" or "do you want a cookie?" Say whatever makes a dog the happiest and gets the quickest response. Never approach a dog head on. Turn, face sideways, and walk very slowly with arms close to your sides. The dog must accept every step you take, even if it takes you a half hour or longer to advance 100 feet. Never show your teeth if you smile - that's the same as baring your teeth (growling) in canine language. Never stare at the dog - not only is that a challenge, a predator stares at its intended prey before attacking. Avoid making any sudden body movements. Stop moving and sit down if the dog is going to bolt.
If the dog stays put, slowly lower yourself to the ground and immediately assume a non-threatening position BELOW the dog's eye level - on your belly, sitting, kneeling, or flat on your back.
You must try to be positioned as low as you're supposed to be, otherwise you're still "dominant." Many people have to earn their dog's trust, just like a stranger would have to do. This is not unusual. Keep the dog's attention focused on you by talking. Speak to it slowly, using soft and reassuring tones. Use only positive and happy phrases such as "what a good girl!" or "puppy-puppy-puppy!" Now, try to get closer towards the dog by crawling. Let its body language be the guide as to how fast and far you go. Get within 40 feet or to a point where the dog will be able to see and smell the food you're going to toss. Whenever you move, do it slowly. To help ease the dog's anxiety, make submissive gestures every few minutes, such as closing your eyes for a few seconds and bowing your head down and off to one side.
Bait food bits are used to lure the dog towards you, so eventually it's standing next to you, wanting more. Hold the bait out, pretend you're eating some and enjoying it. Smack your lips and lick your fingers. Say "It's pretty good stuff….do you want some?" and immediately start to share a little of the bounty. With a gentle underhand motion, toss a few thumbnail size bits of food in the general direction of the dog. Toss each tidbit so it lands progressively closer to you and wait for the dog to eat before you offer more. The dog might grab a tidbit and retreat a little, or move closer to you. Praise all forward movements.
DON'T OVERFEED A DOG! Why should a wary dog come to you if it's no longer hungry?
DON'T RUN OUT OF FOOD! Why should a wary dog go to someone who has nothing to offer?
Luring a dog successfully can take minutes, hours, or repeated attempts over time. When the dog is less than an arm's length away, you should already know what will work best - a gentle hand or quick grab. Cautious ones often back away when you reach out towards them, or try to touch their head or neck area. Offer food in just one hand (low to the ground) and keep your "good" hand free and dry (not "slippery"). If the dog's being friendly and has a collar, stroke it softly under the chin and gently attach a leash to the collar with your other hand. If the dog seems happy but isn't wearing a collar, try to get an adjustable collar or lead over its neck (two leads are better). Be gentle, but quickly adjust the collar to a snug fit. What if the dog's at ease, has a collar, and is taking food from you, but looks like it's going to bolt soon? Focus hard on the collar and grab it the next time the dog bows its head and is eating out of your hand. Quickly attach a leash and wrap it around your wrist several times so it can't jump away and take off. What if the dog is friendly and eating from your hand, but doesn't have a collar and won't let you pat it? Grab the dog by its neck or body as it eats from your hand, and pull it towards you. Hang on using a whole body hug and quickly slip a lead (or two) around the dog's neck, putting on a snug collar ASAP.
For personal safety, the "grab/hold/body hug" method should only be attempted on your own dog.
When trying to catch a dog, you can startle it a little or a lot, and it can startle you with a yip, nip, or bite. If the dog has lost a considerable amount of weight, its collar might be loose and easier for you to grab. A loose collar also allows a dog to slip out of it easily. Hold on tight and take up any slack immediately.
Let the dog find you, instead of you trying to find the dog. Look along the dog's usual travel route for a good ground location to put a blanket, then get into position and wait with the bait and "happy" items. If you know the dog's approaching, throw down a light trail of bait leading to you. Even if a dog's caught off-guard momentarily, you're in an excellent position to start talking and offer it good food and toys.
Many lost dogs are exhausted and can be further stressed by well-intentioned people that hang around in groups for too long. If attempting to lure, a dog must be focusing all of its attention on just one person. Everyone else should "disappear" into key locations so they can see where the dog goes if it bolts, and be prepared to lure the dog should it come anywhere near them. Work your group efforts efficiently. If determined to follow a dog that bolted, be discreet and TRY not to let the dog know you're chasing it. Many an elusive dog has known the exact location of the searcher who is tromping around in the woods. There's often more than enough room for a dog to stay out of sight and still remain in the immediate area.
Newly adopted and fostered dogs get lost, as do "rescued" ones during transport - it's not that uncommon. If you don't know each other all that well, teach the dog to recognize you and trust your scent. Let the dog start associating you with food and water that appears every day on a regular basis, at a specific spot. Even when it's out of sight, call the dog by name or give it a name, and talk to it as if it's listening to you. Sit down for quiet "bonding" visits - in time, the dog may come out so you can see it, and later allow you to "be" there as it eats. It's not always easy, but a new and happy life is still a reality for many lost dogs.
NEVER grab a dog you don't know - you risk being bitten or seriously hurt, and you'll have to receive preventative shots if the dog's rabies vaccination history is unknown or isn't up to date.
DON'T give unlimited food or water to a dog that's been lost for a great length of time - you might make it seriously ill or worse. See a veterinarian immediately or go to a 24-HR emergency clinic.
Debbie (Hall) Scarpellini copy 2/2009 | <urn:uuid:88c4266c-05d3-4e3e-9d8f-fb0a1d7e3c7c> | http://www.lostdogsearch.com/spotthedog.htm | en | 0.963504 | 0.508038 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
News & Insights | Newsletters
Basel Ban Amendment One Step Closer to Becoming Effective
November/December 2011
On October 21, 2011, 118 members of the Basel Convention reached an agreement to unblock the Ban Amendment, an amendment to the Basel Convention that will ban the export of hazardous waste from countries belonging to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to non-OECD countries.
The Ban Amendment will prohibit wealthier countries from exporting their hazardous waste, including used electronics for recycling, to poorer countries, where these materials are often improperly treated or disposed of, causing myriad illnesses and deaths. The United Nations has estimated that 50 million tons of electronics worldwide are disposed of each year.
The Ban Amendment was originally adopted in 1995, but disagreement over its implementation since then has left it unenforceable.
Under the Country Led Initiative (CLI) to Improve the Effectiveness of the Basel Convention, the ban will become effective once 17 more countries ratify it. This is expected to happen in the next two to five years. Under the CLI decision, the Ban Amendment will be enforced for those countries adopting it, and it establishes a regime for other countries that continue to trade waste to minimize health and environmental effects, protect against unfair social and labor conditions, and provide additional economic opportunities.
The Ban Amendment has been strongly supported by the European Union, China, African countries and Colombia. Opponents included Australia, India, New Zealand, Japan and Canada.
The United States is still not a member of the Basel Convention and is not expected to join in the foreseeable future. Many experts believe that without the U.S.'s backing, neither the Convention nor the Ban Amendment will gain enough traction to have a real impact on the proper disposal of hazardous waste. | <urn:uuid:c2c0e49e-6cd2-432b-afbb-123e0f634338> | http://www.wileyrein.com/newsroom-newsletters-item-4050.html | en | 0.938127 | 0.058121 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Lime disease
Essay by EssaySwap ContributorHigh School, 10th grade February 2008
download word file, 4 pages 0.0
Downloaded 590 times
Lime Disease Lyme disease is caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, which is a tick-borne spirochete.
The dangers of this disease became more publicised in 1977, where a geographic grouping of children in Lyme, Conneticut were thought to have juvenile rheumatoid arthritis1. Soon after, it was discovered that lyme disease was an illness that mainly affects the skin, nervous system, heart, and joints. The borrelia species is part of the eubacterial phylum of spirochetes. Containted within a protoplasmic cylinder is a cell membrane, followed by wavy flagella, and then an outer membrane. The genes encoded within the outer membrane are located on plasmids which allows the organism to make antigenic changes in these proteins. When a borrelia cell attaches to its host, the whole outer membrane moves to one end of the cylinder, which is called capping to patching1. B. burgdorferi do not live in water, soil, or plants. Borrelia grow slowly compared to most bacteria.
They elongate for 12 to 24 hours before dividing into two cells. B. burgdorferi is approximately 20 to um long and 0.2 to 0.25 um wide, with 7 to 11 flagella. More than 30 proteins are contained within B. burgdorferi1. This bacteria uses white-footed mice, mosquitoes, and deer as their hosts.
This disease does not discriminate between sex and age; male and female, as well as old and young are affected. It is widely distributed around the world in the temperate zones3. A person is infected when a black-legged tick imbeds itself into them while out in the open in wodded and forested areas. This usually occurs between the months of May and July. Tick abundance is associated with humidity, temperature, landscape slope, forested areas with sandy soils, and the extremity of residential development?.
Generally, lyme disease occurs in stages, which are not always clear-cut; they may overlap. The first stage involves the injection of B. burgdorferi by the tick. Shortly thereafter (3 days to 4 months), it spreads throughout the skin, causing erythema migrans (EM), which is basically a skin lesion. This lesion can vary in size, body site, color, duration, intensity, and recurrence. Erythema migrans is a marker of the disease, yet may also be absent altogether. EM resolves spontaneously in a few weeks or months4. Also like to occur during this stage are mild fever, chills, headache, and stiff neck (flu-like symptoms)?.
Within days or weeks after infection, in stage 2, the specimen has been seen in specimens of myocardium, retina, muscle, bone, spleen, liver and brain1. Secondary skin lesions may occur but are smaller and migrate less. The main symptoms include fatigue and excruciating headache, lasting only hours or days. Meningitis, poor memory, mood change, cardiac problems, and facial palsy are also very common.
They may recur or become chronic1. Six months later (on average), many patients have brief attacks of arthritis in the large joints, especially in the knee.
Stage 3 is classified as the late persistent infection, where arthritis lasts longer (ie. months) and chronic arthritis (a year or more of joint inflammation) begins. More than a year after infection, B. burgdorferI may affect the central and peripheral nervous systems.
There has been a lot of work carried out in this field, particularly where children are affected. For example, the transplacental transmission of B. burgdorferi has been reported in 2 infants whose mothers were infected with Lyme borreliosis during the first trimester of pregnancy. Both of these infants dies in their first week of life. One had encephalitis and the other had congenital cardiac malformations1. Spirochetes were seen in various fetal tissues.
Studies reviewing lyme disease in pregnant women before knowing the outcome of their pregnancy, in order to assess the frequency and the type of adverse pregnancy outcomes associated with lyme disease have also been carried out in the field5.
One study found adverse outcomes in 5 out of 19 children tested. These outcomes included cortical blindness, intrauterine fetal death, prematurity and rash in the newborn. It is of great importance to determine whether such outcomes are directly related to B. burgdorferi5.
Another study performed by Szer et al tested the long-term course of lyme arthritis in children, who had not received any antibiotic treatment for at least the first four years of the illness.
Another study by Garcia-Monco et al looked at the experimental and clinical evidence for early invasion of Borrelia burgdorferi in the central nervour system, by intravenously inoculating rats with the bacteria and examining their cerebrospinal fluid2.
Such work leads me to my specific research topic: studying cognitive skills in children who have been treated for lyme disease using antibiotics. It seems likely that the lyme disease spirochete can cause an adverse fetal outcome. However, the question is, how likely and just what are the outcomes, which is what I would like to test for. My proposed study will be an experimental study in which lyme disease treated pediatric populations will be examined to identify possible cognitive or psychologic abnormalities resulting from lyme disease. The focus will be on children because they have a high incidence of lyme disease? and are less likely to have cognitive deterioration due to confounding factors, such as aging.
Children between the ages of 5 and 15 who have been treated with lyme disease will be studied. These children will be randomly chosen for endemic areas such as Delaware. Serologic testing (ie. enzyme-linked immunosorbent assa; ELISA) will be used to determine the presence of B. burgdorferi antibodies.
The following hypotheses will be tested: Ho: No cognitive differences between lyme disease children and control group HA: Cognitive differences between lyme disease children and control group are present. | <urn:uuid:1bfd35b8-8da8-428c-8ed7-53c3feee04dd> | http://www.writework.com/essay/lime-disease | en | 0.96109 | 0.022792 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
The Souls Family (montse)
The Souls Family (montse) - Page Text Content
FC: The Souls Family | Montse Patino
1: Table Of Contents | Nadia 2-5 Noah 6-9 Ethan 10-13 Julian 14-17
2: Nadia Diamondstein | Nadia is a kind girl with divorced parents. She is the owner of Ginger the dog. | "Perhaps, I was leaving prepubescence and was entering full pubescence or perhaps, I was simply curious about Ethan." | PG. 30
3: Nadia loves going on turtle walks with her grandparents. | "The telephone rang in the middle of the morning. I let the recorder get it. It was Margret telling me she would come pick me up if I called, I did not. Instead I took Ginger for a walk around the golf course that borders the swinging singles"..... PG. 50
4: Nadia Lover of Ginger, sea turtles, family. Giver of care, fun, laughter. Needs Ginger, autumn, family. Wants to reunite her family, stay in New York, save turtles. Is good at taking care of Ginger, reading, helping. Should work on her temper, sharing, getting along with Margret. Is similar to a bull because they get mad easily. Is similar to a cat because they don't like water. Is similar to Mrs. Olinski because she is separate from others. Surviver of a storm, parents devoicing, Florida summer. Dimondstien
5: Nadia kept this egg shell as a souvenir! She got it from a turtle nest! | This is a picture of Nadia! ( not Emma Watson! ) | "I did not know if I was developing an interest in boys or if I would have washed my hair and put on my new blouse anyway." PG. 30
6: Noah Gershom | Noah is a smart, creative boy. He is funny even though sometimes he gets annoying with his know-it-all attitude. | this is a picture of Noah | "Bella had a supply of fabric paints, and in 2 hours we painted a t-shirt that looked like a tuxedo with a red bow tie." PG. 16
7: Noah went to a wedding while on vacation with his grandparents.
8: Noah Lover of friends, family, laughter. Giver of laughter, fun, story's. Needs friends, computer, fun. Wants knowledge, joy, laughter . Is good at talking, calligraphy, storytelling. Should work on being patient, writing, not acting like a smart Aleck. Is similar to an elephant because they are loud. Is similar to a book because they are full of knowledge. Is similar to an artist because they are creative. Survivor of a wedding, Nadia, a B and B letter. Gershom
9: Noah kept this calligraphy pen as a souvenir. | "I did a good job. I stood beside the groom. Mrs.potter stood beside the bride, and the 4 of us stood in front of the Rabi,and all 5 of stood under the bridal canopy." PG. 17 | "I never had to write a B and B letter when we stayed at Disney World or at Sea World of course Century Village"... PG. 20
10: Julian Singh | Julian is a smart boy. He loves to travel and explore. He starts all relationships by inviting others to a tea party. This is the tea set the souls used for their first tea party, Julian kept it as a souvenir
11: This is Julian | "The kid was wearing shorts and knee socks. No one in Epiphany wears shorts on the first day day of school. Even if it is 95 degrees in the shade. (and sometimes it is)And no one - ever - wears knee socks with shorts. No one. Ever." PG. 65
12: Julian Lover of magic, family, friends. Giver of magic, friendship, mystery. Needs family, Alice, friends. Wants Ginger to be Sandy, to learn calligraphy, Gopal's forgiveness. Is good at magic, avoiding bullies, being kind. Should work on not revealing magic secrets, being more open, trying to fit in. Is similar to a magician because they do magic. Is similar to a clown because they dress differently. Is similar to a British because they have an accent. Survivor of death, (mom) school, bullies. Singh
13: Julian helped Ginger prepare for the play | "One of the 8 dogs was quickly eliminated on grounds of disobedience. The second had a problem"...PG. 103 | "I taught each of the souls how to palm a treat so no one in the audience would notice"... PG. 102
14: Ethan Potter | Ethan is a silent boy. He is very smart and loves halos. | Ethan enjoys tea with the souls.
15: This is Ethan. | "I put on a plaid flannel shirt and my best sweater. At the last minute I put on a necktie." PG. 81
16: Ethan Lover of silence, opera, halos. Giver of silence, joy, laughter. Needs silence, time alone, friends. Wants to become a costume designer, to be better than Luke, travel to New York. Is good at helping friends, being silent, finding out stuff. Should work on talking more,being friendly, helping on the farm. Is similar to a giraffe because they are silent. Is similar to a map because he knows every place on the bus route. Is similar to an owl because they are observant. Survivor of a storm, a better brother, school bus. Potter
17: Ethan kept this brochure from the opera. | "On the first day of the new school year, I boarded the bus as usual, nodded to Mrs. Korshack the driver and walked to the back of the bus. It was an unwritten rule that the seat you choose the first day became your ".....PG. 61 | "I ran down the bus steps and hooked my arm though Julian's and began walking rapidly towards the school".......PG. 76
18: The Souls Family
19: Family
Sizes: mini|medium|large|jumbo
Sarah Wiseman
• By: Sarah W.
• Joined: almost 6 years ago
• Published Mixbooks: 22
No contributors
About This Mixbook
• Title: The Souls Family (montse)
• Theme for Mixbook Scrapbookers
• Tags: None
• Published: over 5 years ago
Get up to 50% off
Your first order
Get up to 50% off
Your first order | <urn:uuid:7412ef7e-1242-470f-a134-8bbb10f9ae43> | https://www.mixbook.com/photo-books/travel/the-souls-family-montse-5901357?vk=WLijwGiNUI | en | 0.951195 | 0.031707 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Dragon school scholarships?
(47 Posts)
oxomum Fri 30-Dec-11 19:51:44
I have a bright dc and have been thinking of the Dragon school in oxford. They mention on their website up to 50% academic scholarships which is what my dc would need for us to afford for him to go there. He is at state primary at the moment.
Does anyone have any info on how hard it is to get the scholarship? I'm especially interested in any info on:
what sort of National curriculum level is required - level 3,4, 5 or more (at age 8)?? I just want to know if there's any point trying or if it's just for geniuses and how much tuition would be needed.
If family income is taken into account - we have income of £70k with me a sahm so I'm assuming we wouldn't get any means tested support??
Thanks very much for any help - I just want to know if I should take the idea seriously and start tuition or if I should just not bother - not considering private apart from this school as can't really afford it!
babybarrister Mon 03-Jun-13 19:26:16
Dragonites not necessarily the most happy children IME
AlexPeter Fri 24-May-13 11:43:23
The Dragon is good for girls, for boys look at Summer Fields, many Oxford families (who really know the schools and the eventual outcomes) make this division. If your son is sporting legend and genius, tall and good looking, he would thrive at Dragon, but for a more 'regular' boy who is bright with social maturity in line with his actual age Summer Fields will result in a more rounded, happy, confident boy. Bullying is rife at the Dragon and it is the boys who are the bottom of the pile. I know many parents (mainly of boarders) who have removed their sons after a couple of years. So don't fixate on it, all preps have bursaries for exceptional children.
Debaura22 Fri 22-Feb-13 09:07:30
My daughter passed the test. She was even told that she'd like it very much at the school. I was told she was very well liked and that we should come for the second interviews even though I was a little worried. They said she would have much to offer any school. Why then, did they send a letter saying she was unfortunately not selected?! I have emailed them asking the reasons why since myself and daughter don't know why!
vivatregina Sun 20-Jan-13 18:37:12
Oh yes - and regarding the interview - my sons had come via a primary school in Wandsworth and one of them had a pretty disastrous interview - he literally had to be wrestled through the door by the registrar with his arms and legs braced against the door frames - asked for his favourite sport he said 'Boxing' (never even seen boxing on television) and still got in and totally flourished.
vivatregina Sun 20-Jan-13 18:30:06
Oxomum - don't be put off - the Dragon is an amazing school. I can't put that strongly enough - whatever your son is good at they will encourage to the highest standard. They were also extremely generous tiding us over with fees at one point despite neither son being of Scholarship standard - this was something we never had to pay back either. A lot of famous people are ex Dragons, no doubt, but that is a reflection of the school. They also get zillions of Scholarships to secondary schools.
henrysmall Fri 18-Jan-13 17:05:34
Dear abittoofat, what sort of things were you and your child asked at the Dragon interviews and why do you think you lost out? Thanks smile
Pythonesque Wed 18-Jan-12 13:01:25
I feel for your dilemma! One substantial problem is that few prep schools offer scholarships and there is a big gap between the level at which you may get bursary assistance, and the level at which you can really afford to send a child (especially more than one) to independent schools. We took a deep breath and went private but are relying on the possibility of scholarships for senior school.
I can confirm that I discussed with the Dragon a couple of years ago what their cut-offs for bursaries typically are, and our family income was over it, and somewhat less than yours. They also assess the value of your family house - value, not equity.
From your comments about maths, I would say absolutely go for it and see, regarding scholarships. I'm planning to put my daughter in for their scholarships, though not hopeful. They award their scholarships as 25%, 33% and 50%. The lower levels bring their total fees close to what we're paying at another girls' school...
Do consider the choirschools, even if you don't think your son is chorister material. Our youngest is at one (just been awarded a choristership which will allow us to more seriously consider moving his sister to the Dragon). Music and maths often go together and we're quite impressed by the education the boys' schools offer. They may be able to offer scholarship support and they all have plenty of experience in both preparing boys for senior school scholarships, and advising parents on the schools most likely to suit their sons.
propatria Tue 10-Jan-12 09:39:53
Ref-The Eton Bursary form,Im afraid Pete is wrong in his understanding of it,it asks questions about as he puts it collections,paintings,works of art,vintage cars etc,not as he claims because "The inference here being there are people who own these assets and still need a bursary" but because they want to make sure the bursary goes to the right and deserving people and for that they need to know about capital assets as well as income,if you are asset rich but cash poor then you would be expected to liquidate those assets to pay school fees,it isnt the job of a bursary to allow people to make lifestyle choices.
Colleger Tue 10-Jan-12 08:21:02
If you have a child with an unconditional place at both and the decision seems impossible or your son would do well at both, I would look at your other siblings. If you have a younger boy, where would he fit? If he'd fit more at Win then send the eldest one there. It will help get your other son in, both boys will be at the same school too.
TheMead Tue 10-Jan-12 02:28:52
For those who have conditional offer from both WinCol and Eton, such debate make their choices even harder. it may sound luxury dilemma, it really isn't on it's own.
Happygardening Mon 09-Jan-12 22:36:00
Message deleted by Mumsnet.
peteneras Mon 09-Jan-12 20:59:56
Message deleted by Mumsnet.
peteneras Mon 09-Jan-12 20:51:30
propatria, I thought you of all people should know better. This is a free country and anyone can post anything they like. You certainly don’t have to believe or agree with anything I say, that’s your prerogative. Likewise, it is my prerogative to say what I say. It may or may not interest you to know I have private e-mails supporting what I post. Haven’t you heard of the saying, “If you can’t stand the heat, then get out of the kitchen”?
Happygardening Mon 09-Jan-12 19:22:51
Message deleted by Mumsnet.
propatria Mon 09-Jan-12 18:27:16
Pete,please stop,we all know you are very happy with Eton ,yes its a fantastic school,but please other posters just ignore him,pete does not speak for Eton,other parents or its pupils,please do not think other Eton parents are like Pete,he is (I hope) unique
Happygardening Mon 09-Jan-12 18:19:26
"He therefore, would not feel out of place even in years to come when he’s actually talking to a real Prince or President in his tailcoat at an official function. Others without this experience would probably feel like a penguin gone astray form the Antarctica."
What rot my DH often talks to both presidents and Princes and their ilk. He is not an old Etonian and certainly never feels uncomfortable in any way. Eton is not the only school to provide a fantastic education.
Colleger Mon 09-Jan-12 09:17:49
Dragon will offer the largest scholarships to children that they think will gain a scholarship to a top school. Although they can never force a child to go to a specific school, when they fund such a large scholarship they hope for a return and the Dragon would be expecting such a pupil to apply to Win Coll or Eton.
peteneras Mon 09-Jan-12 02:39:03
I’ve re-read your OP right from the beginning, oxomum and have concluded that you are having too many misconceptions and wrongly assuming too many things as fact.
(1) Yes, Dragon’s 50% scholarship looks interesting but don’t be surprised if they also send you a Bursary Form of sorts (and I think they will) and ask you to complete (assuming your son passed all the tests, etc.).
(2) Although they don’t usually say it, most top prep schools have no problems in giving 50% or even 100% scholarships to one or two children who are exceptional in their eyes i.e. above Level 5 at age 8. It's up to you to ask and to draw their attention to your child.
(3) With a family income of £70K p.a. does not necessarily mean one can afford to send one’s child to a private school. They don't know what are your other financial committments. Without meaning to be personal or patronising, you are a good case in point, otherwise you won’t be looking at the 50% Dragon scholarship so closely.
(4) For example, if you look at Eton’s Bursary Form closely, they even ask what you have in terms of number of properties, their acreage(s), collections, paintings, works of art, vintage cars, farms, silver grin etc . The inference here being there are people who own these assets and still need a bursary!
(5) Beside princes and lords who live in castles and Britain’s most expensive post codes, there are Etonians whose parents are unemployed, live in tough council estates and work as general cleaners. By wearing the same uniform, your son (if he goes there) probably won’t know who is a prince and who is a pauper, and neither do they because nobody ever asked. He therefore, would not feel out of place even in years to come when he’s actually talking to a real Prince or President in his tailcoat at an official function. Others without this experience would probably feel like a penguin gone astray form the Antarctica. grin
Happygardening Sun 08-Jan-12 23:31:42
Do not dismiss any school on the grounds that your "not posh enough" many of the schools that you may not consider often offer very generous bursaries not dependent on your DC getting a scholarship.
oxomum Sun 08-Jan-12 19:34:34
We were thinking of Dragon because apparently they offer up to 50% scholarships (non means tested) which I hadn't seen anything like at other prep schools.
However, will have a look at the other school you suggest. Although probably won't consider a school like Eton for secondary (not posh enough and don't want him to feel out of place) but will look at somewhere like MCS.
peteneras Sun 08-Jan-12 17:26:14
I’m just wondering, why so specifically Dragon School you are interested only. Although imho it’s not the crème de la crème of the prep school world (but nearly there) it is definitely worth giving it a try for the sake of your son for both scholarship and bursary.
But looking at the bigger picture, why don’t you also look at (imho) an even better prep school that’s just a stone’s throw away from Dragon School, i.e. Summer Fields School? I have met many boys from Summer Fields in the last 6 years and I’ve always been very impressed with the way they carry themselves. They have impeccable manners and speak very confidently even with adults. As a matter of fact, Summer Fields is the only school that I know of that consistently win huge places at Eton year after year including the King?s Scholarships annually without any break.
oxomum Sun 08-Jan-12 11:06:44
hi - thanks for the useful replies! We've decided that we will try for the scholarship but probably not push it trying to get a bursary.
I gave up a job in the city (was either that or employ a nanny which I didn't want to do) and my husband has a good job as a lecturer so I don't think they would look to kindly on us asking for a bursary (particularly the fact I am a sahm through choice).
If he doesn't get it will probably stay in the state system then switch to indie at 11.
Happygardening Mon 02-Jan-12 17:35:37
Its very commendable more should do it.
peteneras Mon 02-Jan-12 14:51:56
That's precisely it Colleger, except that at 16 it is not set in stone that the boy must be from state school.
Colleger Mon 02-Jan-12 14:47:58
They decided that it would be better to have more boys coming at 13 or 16, especially at 16, as the scheme only afforded around 2-4 boys whereas they can give around 30 boys the opportunity to come to Eton from state schools. Boys have to come from state schools to gain these awards so it does not stop a boy but actually increases the numbers coming.
Join the discussion
Join the discussion
Register now | <urn:uuid:d92b8322-6b39-444b-a6ab-2493e530adaa> | https://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/1372518-Dragon-school-scholarships?reverse=1 | en | 0.975543 | 0.02018 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
bbe 362 opinions
Discussion in 'Effects [BG]' started by tat2d_13, Feb 7, 2004.
1. tat2d_13
Feb 4, 2004
Minnesota USA
Im currently running a GK800rb with a sans ampDI and I was thinking about adding a bbe 362.Iwas just wondering if I could get a few opinions,pros/cons,yays/nays on the 362.Thanks!
2. A Sonic Maximizer should be hooked up to anything that makes sound. I've never heard anyone complain about a Maximizer making something sound worse. | <urn:uuid:798c1030-01b1-4939-a001-3f3dd7bb2839> | https://www.talkbass.com/threads/bbe-362-opinions.115705/ | en | 0.920233 | 0.394772 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Avg weather in June
14 Hrs per day
18 mm per month
62 % avg
8 Mph avg
What’s the weather like in Portugal in June?
Sitting on the Iberian Peninsula, Portugal’s the furthest west country in Europe, surrounded by neighbouring Spain and the North Atlantic Ocean. You’ll get different weather around the country, although the most popular holiday spots enjoy lots of warmth and sun in June with not much rain.
Climatic variances
The south has a Mediterranean climate which gets lots of hot weather in June, particularly in the popular Algarve region where it’s driest and sunniest. The north of the country’s warmed by the Gulf Stream, while refreshing sea breezes will keep you comfortable on the coast.
There’s differences around Portugal, but capital Lisbon gives a good idea for the rest of the country and has an average high of 26ºC in June. Things stay quite pleasant at night, with temperatures cooling to 16ºC. The sea’s a refreshing 19ºC and humidity’s low. You won’t get much rain at this time, with just 16mm over five rainy days, and you can expect long days with 15 hours of daylight and ten hours of sunshine. UV levels will be very high so make sure you wear sun cream. The sun sets at around 9pm in June.
Things to Do
The June weather’s ideal across much of Portugal for lounging on the beach or by the pool. The Algarve has some stunning beaches, and resorts such as Albufeira that have a relaxing atmosphere during the day and plenty of life at night. Visit waterparks such as Aqualand, or grab a surfboard and hit the waves.
View weather for
4* Vila Gale Cerro (AI)
from £843 pp
AI 7 nts
4* Dom Pedro Vilamoura Resort
from £776 pp
AI 7 nts
4* V Gale Nautico Fam
from £640 pp
AI 7 nts | <urn:uuid:f8a62f5c-366d-4f91-9151-d4961b8d4d1b> | https://www.thomascook.com/holidays/weather/portugal/june/ | en | 0.918393 | 0.335816 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Law, Morality, and Terror
President Obama began the year by signing the 2012 Defense Authorization Act. This law may, or may not, depending who you ask, authorize the government to detain US Citizens indefinitely, without trial. The President has approved, via drone missile strike, the execution of US Citizens.
The nature of modern conflicts force us to enter a multitude of grey areas and force us to confront a number of questions. What authority should the government have to engage enemies abroad or detain adversaries at home? What’s the proper line between law enforcement and war? How do we strike a balance between security and the rights citizens and humanity?
What do we want? What should we want?
It’s a question we all should grapple with. That’s what I’m trying to do here. My goal is to present a basic moral, practical, and legal framework within which policies and actions can be evaluated. In deciding the proper treatment for accused terrorists, suspected militants, or other enemies of the state, I divide them into three basic categories. These categories are differentiated largely by the circumstances under which the targets are operating or process by which they came to be in US custody.
Anyone operating or apprehended on US soil, or in a friendly nation where our law enforcement officials can operate with relative freedom should be treated as a criminal. Regardless of the severity of the accusation, the detainee captured by law enforcement officials should be arrested and tried in criminal court. These individuals should be entitled to all of the rights, privileges, court systems and standards of evidence as anyone else arrested in the United States.
Prisoners of War
An individual, operating outside the US, captured, detained or handed over to the US military, who is thought be engaged of acts of war against the United States or its allies may rightfully be detained as a prisoner of war.
These persons should be treated in accordance with international norms and in a way consistent with our own expectations of how captured US service members are to be treated by other nations.
Only people actively engaged in acts of war, or planning such actions can be rightfully held under this authority. Attempts to kill American soldiers or civilians and similar acts of destruction are adequate qualification. But no amount of preaching, writing, speaking or other non-military act is sufficient.
Prisoners of war should have the opportunity to challenge the circumstances of their detention and to demonstrate that they should not be rightfully held as prisoners of war. They may be held until such time as the relevant conflict has ceased, or they are not longer considered a threat. This may result in an indefinite period of detention.
Prisoners of war may also be charged with crimes, subject to military courts, and thus incarcerated for longer periods of time.
Enemies on the Battlefield
Individuals engaged in acts of war against the US, and not subject to apprehension by military or civilian authorities, may be properly regarded as battlefield enemies. They are legitimate targets and may be targeted and killed by our armed forces.
The above represents relatively straightforward framework. That may or may not be controversial. It does carry several implications that should be called out.
None of these categorizations are dependant upon citizenship. An accused terrorist arrested at Logan airport with a Yemeni passport gets the same access to the courts as an American citizen. Similarly, holding an American passport affords you no protection if you are holding a rifle on a rooftop in Kandahar or organizing militants in a village in Waziristan.
Transparency and Authority
Much of the controversy around military and terror policies stem from questions of transparency and authority. Even if we grant the powers to detain or kill, who gets to decide when they are applied? What level of transparency do we require? Should our government be required to inform us if they’ve decided they are entitled to kill someone?
I’m taking the basic position that the framework outlined here is a moral framework. Issues of transparency and accountability don’t change the morality of the underlying actions. Torture or an extra-legal assassination doesn’t become moral because it is covered up successfully or rationalized to someone’s satisfaction. The acts are moral or immoral, legal or illegal, whether we find out about them or not.
The flip side of that is that, in a democracy, authority is granted by the people. But it is granted. We should not require military commanders or their civilian leaders to publish a list their targets or their protocols. Ultimately, we have to recognize that, with our elections, we are entrusting imperfect people with tremendous power.
We have to elect people we can trust. We have to trust the people we’ve elected. We have observe and evaluate the outcomes and see if that trust has been violated. | <urn:uuid:82598a84-a4db-4e9a-8208-1c5ea237725e> | http://bankslate.blogspot.com/2012_05_01_archive.html | en | 0.949599 | 0.037488 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Notes from a bitch…pondering the ramifications…
Shall we?
My beloved maternal Grandmother did not trust doctors, hospitals or The Man. She had good reason – she came of age in pre World War II Mississippi, where black women entered the hospital for medical care and left having been given a Mississippi Appendectomy…a hysterectomy that was neither medically necessary, legal or ethical. Her lack of trust may have been valid, but is also had serious ramifications. My Grandmother didn’t go to the doctor when she was ill and toward the end of her life let treatable illnesses develop into medical crisis after medical crisis for fear of what a doctor might do to her. The ramifications for medical misdeeds heaped upon black women in the South and so many other women of color in the United State and abroad are measured in stories just like my Grandmother’s.
There are those who were the “subjects” of medical experiments and “procedures”…and then there are those who altered their lives as a result of the stories they heard and the people they knew who had survived The Man’s abuse.
I grew up in a family where these things weren’t exactly spoken out loud. They were passed down from generation to generation, but not overtly. No one ever came right out and said that we shouldn’t go to a gynecologist for a Pap smear or birth control. But, through stories and tone, the message was clear – don’t trust medical care and you sure as shit shouldn’t trust government medical care.
I’ve resented this for years. I watched my Grandmother struggle at the end of her life…take pain she could have had treated and handle discomfort that could have been eased because she fear medical care more than she fear that pain or discomfort. For the longest time I thought she was being ridiculous, but time and history has proven her fears to be founded in truth – the United States government often did the devil’s work, to use Grandmother’s term, when it came to the poor and people of color. That was hard to argue against, even as I witnessed her struggling and suffering at home as the clock ran out on her remarkable life.
Later, when I went to college, I learned that the government didn’t restrict the devil’s work to Southern blacks. And I met Latinas and Native American women who also shared stories passed down from elders of wrongness and abuse, experiments and unnecessary surgeries…of a lack of trust built on a foundation of fact that had yet to be acknowledged even though the survivors walked among us – our aunts, mothers or Grandmothers, loved ones used for experiments in the name of science or “for their own good”.
When news broke that the United State of America is apologizing for deliberately injecting Guatemalans with Syphilis in the 1940s to study how penicillin works, I wasn’t surprised. Oh, I was a wee bit surprised at the apology, but not the deed…I’d been raised to believe my government had and would use people as guinea pigs for research.
I immediately though of my Grandmother…of her fear and lack of trust…of her years of untreated pain and discomfort.
There are ramifications for the evil done to others far beyond lawsuits and payments…far beyond apologies and diplomatic agreements.
For some see a doctor and think they look upon a medical professional, while others see the devil about to do The Man’s work.
Join the Conversation | <urn:uuid:86805228-5a46-4350-a61a-71f09d82acdc> | http://feministing.com/2010/10/04/notes-from-a-bitch%E2%80%A6pondering-the-ramifications%E2%80%A6/comment-page-1/ | en | 0.972383 | 0.023334 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Hitman dev 'expected people to be sceptical' of episodic model - Hitman Episode One – The Showstopper for PS4 News
IO Interactive's creative director has said that the studio was "expecting people to be sceptical" about Hitman's episodic model, but believes there is "much less worry" about it now following the release of the game's first episode.
"We were expecting people to be sceptical up front", Christian Elverdam said in the latest issue of EDGE. "There's this old quote: 'Everyone loves progress, but no one really likes change'. We can't really persuade anything that this is a good idea, I think. We'll have to let the game speak for itself.
"I recently toured around with the preview code for [Episode Two] Sapienza, and the feedback was really good. When I look at forums and general chatter about it, I see much less worry about it after [Episode One] Paris came out than before. Before, people were really talking about how much content there would be, and I think if you really dig Hitman and you turn off the hints you don't need, there are a lot of hours in Paris, and I think it starts to click with people why it's a good idea that the next episode then comes out and there's a new, fresh level instead of just barrelling through."
Hitman had originally been due to launch with multiple locations in December, but was later delayed to March to ensure that enough content would be ready for launch. The studio later announced, however, that it would be reducing the amount of launch content to a single location and transitioning the game to a "truly episodic" model.
Reducing the number of launch locations absolutely "felt more natural to us," however, Elverdam adds, "because it meant we could absolutely polish Paris and Sapienza more".
Hitman's first episode launched on PS4, Xbox One and PC on March 11. A release date for the second episode is due to be announced this week.
Leave a Reply
Captcha image | <urn:uuid:9d3f23b3-2ead-42ae-a168-2db91528e072> | http://flyboystoys.com/psp/12264/hitman-dev-expected-people-to-be-sceptical-of-episodic-model-hitman-episode-one-the-showstopper-for-ps4-news.html | en | 0.982403 | 0.021443 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
An estimated crowd of up to 10,000 people, according to the organisers (so expect the usual disputes), march for Savita through Dublin city within the past two hours
Via Parvenov, Fergal Laura Hutton (Photocall Ireland) Parvenov, Cormo, Sclarkey, Randomirish, Aaron McAllorum, Aoife Mulqueen, Choice Ireland.
Meanwhile, Independent TD Clare Daly’s rather incredible piece of oratory at Leinster House:
Meanwhile, outside the Irish Embassy, London, this afternoon:
Via Henri Williams
90 thoughts on “Enough?
1. Jon Pierson
I have to say that’s the best one I’ve seen so far, too. I didn’t see it last night because I was surrounded by, I’d say, 15,000 to 20,000 other people. I think they were just getting an early start on the Christmas shopping because I think there were only 7 people on the protest. I’m surprised RTÉ even bothered to mention it.
1. orieldude
While it’s great to see that there’s a popular groundswell of strong opinion demanding the required legislation, it bothers me somewhat that the medical professionals involved seem to be avoiding all opprobrium here.
I’m open to correction but my understanding is that in this instance the law does clearly allow for a termination, as do medical ethics. Therefore, in the absence of any other facts, it seems to be a pretty clear case of medical negligence, which is now being allowed to hide behind the more general issue.
1. Sendog
The Master of the Rotunda and the Master of Holles St along with the head of St. James Emergency Dept have all called for legislation.
1. orieldude
OK… I don’t really see how that changes my point. I am aware, as presumably everyone is now, that the current situation is woefully inadequate.
However abortions are being carried out in this country lawfully (here the semantics over the word abortion kicks in) for precisely the medical reasons that would have applied in this case. The State doesn’t compile statistics, so we don’t have precise numbers, nonetheless, from a medical ethics point of view, it is clear that Ms Halappanavar should have received the treatment she needed, and that no law would have been broken. Yet the staff involved, so far, seem to be allowed to wash their hands of their responsibility.
Medical professionals are as good at closing ranks as any other profession.
1. Kim V
Point-missers miss the point.
Something like 12 to 14 Irish and Irish-based women a day go to Britain for abortions. For a million reasons. And I’d say (knowing at least one of them) that none of those women take the decision lightly. IRELAND IS ALREADY A PRO-CHOICE COUNTRY. Its abortion rates are more or less the same per capita as other nations across the EU. It’s over.
If Ireland were further away from Britain, as in, not readily accessible by boat and plane, this would have been sorted 20 years ago.
1. Kim V
To be clear, what I’m saying is, legislating for X isn’t enough. If we really want to open our eyes to what we really want and need as Irish citizens. If we want to keep pretending abortion isn’t something irish women choose every day, then wahey! Let’s split hairs about the difference between a woman’s ‘life’ and her ‘health’.
2. Orieldude
Oh I’m sorry – I didn’t see the rule that the the point I want to make should, in fact, be whatever point you think it should be.
3. Blobster
So you’re saying that people at this protest(?) want more than legislation for the X case, they want abortion on demand?
It’s that conflation of ideas that’s one of main reasons the X case wasn’t legislated for…….the “flood gates” argument.
2. Tom
That’s based on the assumption that we actually know all the facts – a relatively arrogant assumption at the best of times.
There are circumstances where the termination of a child (piercing the sack) can increase the levels of septicaemia, speeding up the eventual death of the mother, possibly making this more of a Euthanasia case rather than Abortion .. then again, maybe the doctor was super religious to the point of ignoring his Hippocratic oath.. the point is, we really do not know
All I do know is, Fr Reynolds is a rapist, and Lord McAlpine is a paedo .. right?
1. orieldude
I made that qualification.
However if there were also a medical risk with intervening I think it’s safe to assume that would be public knowledge by now. Furthermore, if that was the reason, her husband would have been told there was a risk in having an abortion.
1. Tom
Thats another Assumption that I am not sure is wise to make.
You are assuming you must know all the facts.
If you are right, and all the facts are intend in the public domain, then, yes we find ourselves in a relatively clear cut case of medical negligence.
However, this seems ore and more unlikely.
I mean, from what I can gather the patient and the spouse of the patient demanded an Abortion (Termination, evacuation, whatever you wanna call it) – and this was refused.
This raises 2 questions –
* Should a Doctor perform operations just because the patients demand it?
* Was there a Medical reason for not performing this one, or was another remedy believed to be more effective in these instances?
It seems bizarre to me that this seems to be ignored by the baying mob
3. Pad
There is no legislation. There are Medical Council guidelines which cover being struck off as a doctor, but you’d still be liable for criminal charges.
1. orieldude
Incorrect. ‘Lawful’ abortions are being carried out.
The State submitted to the ECHR that (quoting): “the procedure for obtaining a lawful abortion in Ireland is clear. The decision is made, like any other major medical matter, by a patient in consultation with her doctor.”
1. Shorty
The government told the court there was nothing at all murky about Ireland’s abortion laws: “The procedure for obtaining a lawful abortion in Ireland was clear. The decision was made, like any other major medical matter, by a patient in consultation with her doctor.”
But when the court requested basic details, the government was unable to supply them. Asked by the court how many of these “lawful abortions” take place in Ireland every year, the government, as the court put it, “revealed a lack of knowledge on the part of the State as to, inter alia, who carries out lawful abortions in Ireland and where”
2. smiffy
And what did the Court rule on that point?
1. Orieldude
I don’t know. Maybe inform me?
Does it mean that the medical team were actually in a very grey area after all?
If so that would be the whole ‘I’m open to correction’ part in my original post, wouldn’t it?
Jesus wept.
4. well
I’m for allowing women to prempt something like this occouring ,as a result i think thay should be allowed to terminate on the grounds something like this may occour during the pregnancy.
I call it choice.
1. orieldude
I’m making a specific point about the conduct of the medical professionals involved in a specific case. But thanks – your opinion on a woman’s right to choose is utterly invaluable to me.
1. Paul Q
Dude keep it up. Though the endless onslaught of inane comments may overwhelm you like an army of zombie orcs.
5. eoin_mclove
couldn’t agree more mr dude. what we need in this country is more trials by media. particularly the type that involves random anonymous people cherry-picking facts to push their own agendas. great stuff!
1. Ella
Since trials by judiciary, advice from expert panels, the will of the people expressed through constitutional referenda, grassroots protest, and a human rights mandate have made absolutely no headway with the craven political classes, maybe trial by media is what we’re reduced to.
2. Orieldude
It takes a special kind of arrogance to turn my original point into what you have written. Congratulations – I’ll get the lads in the medal factory in on overtime.
1. albee
Thank you for your original post. I’ve been highly entertained by the ensuing posts. Mostly by the fact that no one addressed your question (which I am not going to do either, as I don’t have an answer, and to be honest, I read it so long ago, I can’t really remember the question….)
1. eoin_mclove
but that’s the whole point. you can’t answer it because the details are still unclear.
the reality is that if you look at the last cmace from 2008 the number one cause of direct death is now sepsis. whether earlier intervention and evacuation is impossible to know at this point.
2. eoin_mclove
no. no it doesn’t. there are many things i could be accused of but arrogance, special or otherwise, is not one of them.
to clarify. you are anonymous. without knowing the facts and (i assume) without any specialist knowledge in either obs or medico-legal matters you insinuate that this is a case of medical negligence. how that baseless allegation is couched does not alter what it is.
1. orieldude
First of all I qualify my statement by saying “In the absence of any other facts”.
Second the facts we do have available hardly make the suggestion of potential medical negligence ‘baseless’. It may not turn out that it was sadly inevitable – but again I say that if that were the case that information would have been released or leaked by now – it’s the information that gets a lot of people off the hook and nature abhors a vaccuum.
Third you refer to cherry picked facts and own agendas. I have no agenda (you’re welcome to guess what my position on abortion is) and for you to presume to know takes arrogance. Furthermore I opined, with qualification, on the basis of all the facts currently available. No cherry picking at all.
3. eoin_mclove
that is very true ella. but we’re not discussing the craven political class. what i was referring to was the fact that the details of this are not yet known. all we have is rumour and the newspaper interviews of this poor woman’s husband.
4. eoin_mclove
i glanced further down the comments after my last post. i’m afraid that ABM agrees with you about the negligence thing.
6. Jon Pierson
Now, I’m not a lawyer but I do have a law degree in Irish law. For what it is worth, my interpretation of the Constitution – the only law in place – is that a woman’s LIFE must be threatened. It seems to me that her life was not actually threatened during the three days that she suffered in agony whilst she and her husband begged for the merciful relief that would have been granted by a termination, all thanks to the Roman Catholic Church, misogynistic, irrational, man-made rules that oppose abortion.
I do not believe that there was any sign of an infection prior to the foetus’s heartbeat (present only due to the placental connection) ceasing although it almost certainly took hold when her cervix was wide open for three days.
The fact that her health (mental and/or physical) was seriously compromised, is neither here nor there as far as the Roman Catholic Church is concerned and, as we all know, The Roman Catholic Church’s rules trump everything else, including best medical practices.
We are all in the 21st century but living under 1st century BCE man-made rules of morals drawn from myths of supernatural and superstitious religions.
2. Ferret McGruber
We just need Quinn’s Cavan supporters to count the protesters. Should put the number close to a quarter of a million.
3. Byrnezo
How dare people who have been highlighting how current abortion laws endanger the life of women use the example of a woman’s death due to those laws to campaign for a change.
4. well
A few of the prolife crowd showed up too and shouted at us from the side, the looked like the smallest people in the world at that moment.
1. Blobster
To be fair, Ivana Bacik has failed repeatedly to be elected to the Dail. She basically repels votes. Clare Daly’s chances of re-election took a nose dive around about Wallace-gate.
1. bangalore
Actually that isnt the case. She was put up in the same constituency as Eamon Gilmore so most labour first preferences went to him. It was a badly managed vote, what usually happens is that activists would encourage one half of, in this case, labours voters to give Gilmore first preference and the other to give Bacik first preference to increase their chances of 2 seats. that didnt happen last time around
1. BLC
Everytime someone points out that ABM is trolling, a little of the puff goes out of him. The whole act is getting more and more tired.
1. BLC
If LOL covers “made an involuntary gurgle of amusement which turned into a weirdly grinning racking cough”, I LOLed.
5. Arthur
Broadsheet ! long time supporter of the LGBT conspiracy and the inhabiter of a half man half dog incarnation, this time you have gone too far, way too far .
6. nige
Any lawyers out there to answer a question? As far as I can see, the 1861 act provides that to procure a miscarriage is a crime. It doesn’t appear to make any allowance for situations when the mother’s life is endangered. As we know from the X case, the constitution allows abortion where there is a real and substantial risk to the health of the mother.
So, my question is, if the 1861 Act’s provisions are not in accordance with the constitution do they fall in their entireity as unconstitutional, leaving a position where there is no criminal (just a constitutional) offence of procuring a miscarriage?
7. ABM
There were prolifers at the march too. This isn’t a liberal-only zone. Prolifers are just as outraged at the decision making or lack thereof
1. Blobster
That’s a fair point.
Many, rightfully, were there to show respect for a woman who died tagically. The pro-choice campaign’s attempts to conflate the campaign to legislate around the X case with wider abortion on demand type legislation is one of the reasons the X case was never legislated for. The “flood gates” argument.
1. E
Ah here. Don’t pin the failure to legislate on the pro-choice movement. Surely we’ve demonstrated pretty well over the last number of years that no matter how hard we protest, thems in power don’t actually feckin’ listen to us.
The flood gate argument is a smokescreen and an excuse to pass the buck. Had a government decided to legislate on X and say ‘thus far and no further’ it was every bit as much in their power as it was to ignore us entirely.
1. BLC
But the X Case was about allowing an abortion if the woman is suicidal. To legislate for that would put us one small (and perfectly justifiable) lie away from abortion on demand.
It’s fun to call people political pygmies and so forth, but this little difficulty is presumably the reason why no-one has legislated for the X case. And it is a real difficulty.
2. The Vajazzler
Yeah, there were four of them yelling baby killer at the crowd at random points. Looked really pathetic. Kudos.
8. Seanny
Well Enda….a political pygmy….lol I love it. Yep, hiding behind all the hypocritical shite of the decades, God but we are a pathetic country. A country full of hypocrits at their best. None are innocent here, let`s not fool ourselves any further. I am a Dubliner born and bred. I moved to rural Ireland 8 or 9 months ago. Jesus, but I stepped back in time by 20 years at least. The locals are still licking the arses of the paedophiles that have destroyed our children with the cinsent of the Catholic Religion. Well, I didn`t hear anyone speak out against it, did I ? I could write a book on it, ìt`s disgusting. Do they think they`re going to get into Heaven any quicker ? Fools. It`s the same old, same old. The whole country should hang its head in shame. We`re only short of murdering this woman. Yeh, abortion doesn`t exist in Ireland…wake up ye bunch of idiots, they`re on the boat or plane to England. But it`s ok as long as it`s not performed here, what a shallow bunch we are. People of Ireland, examine your concience, and pray for forgiveness.
1. KingOfCong
Yes…the people who live in cities here are above all these problems. You have a lovely view of things. Ireland is tiny…we have cities in name…they are not really.
ummmm…..hard to be cynical about this one…..we need to find a solution and not wait for the next government to make the decisions.
1. Continuity Jay-Z
I can see the headline “Enlightened Dub Burned at the Stake Bringing Age of Reason to Culchies”.
Lay off the heroin you imbecile.
2. American in Solidarity with Free Irish
I agree completely with the last comment. Well said. I am an American of Irish descent, and have chosen to free the children of abuse at the hands of the Catholic Church. Therein is the problem. Denounce the Patriarchy, and you will be free. I stand side by side with you and Americans are here with you in solidarity.
3. Blobster
Self-hate much?
You’ve seen people in rural Ireland licking the arses of paedophiles? I think that book your going to write is going to be a rambling one.
9. KingOfCong
10. rom
Sorry who do these marches go down O’Connell St. Its like we are pissed off but don’t want to inconvenience people. Don’t mind doing it in central Dublin. Close down Dublin port for a few hours and cause a bit of a problem. Take a lesson from the french.
11. Kevin
Such a sad story but great to see so many people showed up, as a ‘pro-lifer’ I didn’t attend because I thought that the parties involved running it would use it as means to get their pro choice opinions across, but it seems I was wrong and it really seems everybody was just pushing for legislature so this doesn’t happen again, which I (along with all the pro-life people i know) completely believe must happen and soon so lives can be saved.
12. Manasi Nandakumar
It is indeed heartwarming to see people standing up for someone who might have been a complete stranger to them till yesterday and doesnt even belong to their homeland. I hope Savitha gets justice and that people start seeing abortion as medical solution rather than murder, especially in cases of teenage pregnancy, pregnancy as a result of rape and cases like Savitha’s where the mother’s life is in danger due to complications. Though I completely stand against female foeticide which is a social evil being practiced even today in countries like mine.
It is time we stop religion governing the law making of a nation.
13. Susan
It was good and right to be there and I am glad I went. Clare Daly’s speech was absolutely electrifying.
Glad to hear that some people whose opinions are more restrictive than mine are having second thoughts about this situation. Hopefully they will realise that the blanket ban is no longer practicable. Even Catholicism allows for double jeopardy. I suspect that the reason Catholicism has held such sway in the past is that it clicks in to a certain, established, narrow-minded, form-following, substance-despising Irish arrogance. We adopted it because it suited us.
Interestingly enough, a woman was holding up posters saying “The Gathering – But Not for Pregnant Women” (they were made to look like the gathering posters) and a guy just walked past, said “Shame” and pushed down her arm. At first I thought it was a forced gestation activist but now I’m more inclined to think the thick fuck didn’t look closely enough at the poster.
Anyway, the shame goes all to him.
1. Jon Pierson
Irish Catholicism is myth. 84% of people (including 300,000 children [how did they know?]) claimed to be Roman Catholic in last year’s Census. Of these, an Irish Times poll (June 2012) found 75% do not believe in the Creed. Belief in the Creed is a fundamental tenet of Catholicism and so not believing in it means you are not a Catholic. It also found 66% do not believe in transubstantiation. Belief in transubstantiation is a fundamental tenet of Catholicism and so not believing in it means you are not a Catholic. It turns out that 8% of Irish “Roman Catholics” do not believe in God. Now, I’m an atheist so I’m not that up to speed on religious requirements but I would have thought that believing in God would have been in at least the top ten on the to do list for Catholics. It would be funny if the Roman Catholic Church did not use the Census to “prove” Ireland is a Roam Catholic country.
1. Blobster
I find the reaction of some, including yourself, to the fact that 84% of the people ticked the catholic box on the census to be hilarious.
What we know for sure is that 84%, given the option chose to tick the box to self-identify themselves as catholic. No more than that.
What “kind” of catholic – good/bad/informed/clueless/lapsed/strident/ninja they are we can’t say from the census, but the fact remains they ticked the box.
I can see why this might upset, even confuse some who don’t like the catholic church. The general feeling (especally if one simply reads internet sites like broadsheet and restrict oneself to a circle of contacts who share similar views) is that the church is dead on its feet and deserves to be so. The truth, as always is a little more complex.
By all means debate mass attendances, survey, etc. But, please accept that 84% of people did tick the box.
1. Jon Pierson
First of all, the question about someone’s religion should not even be on the Census, such questions were outlawed from the US Federal Census in the 1970s. It is no business of the State to enquire what religious beliefs, or none, any of its citizens hold.
However, it is the “self-identification” as Roman Catholic that is hilarious. There are two volumes of interest here, the first is the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the second is the Code of Canon Law. The first is the rule/instruction book for those professing to be Roman Catholic. Some of its requirements for members of the Roman Catholic Church, include a belief in the Roman Catholic God (8% of Irish “Catholics” do not believe that God exists), the belief that Jesus is the son of God (15% of Irish “Catholics” do not believe that Jesus is the son of God), the genuine acceptance and belief in the Creed (75% of Irish “Catholics” do not believe in the Creed) and the belief in transubstantiation (66% of Irish “Catholics” do not believe that the wafer they are given at communion – if they go to mass at all, and 18% rarely or never attend, so another rule broken – defies the second law of thermodynamics and physically transforms in to human flesh.
Now, you may say that those ticking the “Roman Catholic” box have the right to do so. Certainly, the Roman Catholic Church clearly doesn’t care what its “flock” believes so long as the money keeps rolling in. However, by agreeing – swearing – that you believe everything mentioned above – and more – as every “Roman Catholic” has at first Holy Communion and Confirmation – and every time they recite the Creed 75% of them do not believe in – they are both liars and hypocrites, something that I am not.
Secondly, I am ambivalent towards the Roman Catholic Church. I couldn’t care less whether it thrives, dies or merges with Islam. What I care passionately about, however, is human rights. It is outrageous that individuals’ fundamental human rights are adversely affected by the influence of any organisation, either religious or non-religious. It is not for others to enforce their beliefs (and they are only irrational beliefs, not scientific fact) on anyone.
Obviously, it would be absolutely wrong for a State to “abolish” religions, demolish places of worship and indoctrinate the young with the State’s own ideas. However, for some reason, the opposite is accepted with hardly anyone batting an eyelid. 97% of Irish schools, paid for by all the taxpayers, are in the hands of religious organisations that are free to use mind control and hypnotic techniques to indoctrinate children as young as 4-years-old to believe that their version of religion is as truthful as the (little) science that is taught.
As someone hoping to practice in the law, I am barred from from service as a judge because to be a judge there is a Constitutional requirement to swear a religious oath, as there is to be President or a member of the Council of State.
International human rights instruments make it crystal clear that women must have the freedom of choice, especially when it comes to choosing whether or not keep an embryo/foetus in their womb.
These are just a few of the human rights trampled on by the Irish State as a direct result of the Roman Catholic Church’s influence on the two main political parties. If those “Roman Catholics” who do not accept the rules of the religion they claim allegiance to were to tell the truth on the Census, the percentage of Roman Catholics, that is to say true, adherent Roman Catholics would be in or around 16% to 17% and, one would hope, an understanding of how much “right” the Roman Catholic Church has to meddle in State affairs would be achieved.
14. Class Act
To put this shrillness of debate into context – there are people standing outside of Bernardos furriers in Dublin on Saturdays shouting “murder”, “shame”, and “conscience” too. Some of the same people as in that crowd and commenting here, clearly.
Enda Kenny is right. Measured response please. And a superb article by Noel Whelan says it all:
The nature and extent of modern media and the emotions that abortion engenders mean that even before the full facts are established Ms Halappanavar’s tragedy has generated much national and international coverage. Some of it has been careful and sympathetic; and much of it has been intemperate, intolerant and politicised.
The extent of the misinformation and caricature was reflected in a clip from an Indian radio station, played on RTÉ, in which a newscaster spoke of Savita being left to die because of the abortion laws of “devoutly Catholic Ireland”.
1. Blobster
Noel Whelan’s article is calm and discusses the facts of the abortion debate thus far in Ireland instead of attempting to put his own spin on the “facts” of the Savita case. A worthwhile read.
Comments are closed. | <urn:uuid:982e8fa2-0af0-4235-b599-87058e20d0b8> | http://www.broadsheet.ie/2012/11/17/enough-3/ | en | 0.967092 | 0.027428 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Fit and forget
Newcastle Building Society, UK
Find out how Newcastle Building Society is welcoming customers with energy efficient LED lighting
Circulation area lit with Philips office lighting
LED technology delivers huge
energy savings, reduces CO2 consumption and minimises maintenance costs without any compromise on light quality. This enables Newcastle Building Society to achieve a return on their investment within one year.”
Nice working environment with Philips modern lighting for office
Energy efficient LED lighting at Newcastle building society office by Philips
Customer challenge
Newcastle Building Society had grand plans for its new flagship branch. The space was being built around cutting-edge technology, and would be fully lit with LED. Could Philips provide a cost-effective solution that was both beautiful and practical?
• Manage your projects with MyProjects
The right lighting
LED light was able to meet all requirements. At the heart of the installation was the LuxSpace downlight, which created a welcoming, refreshing ambience. Its compact design also allowed us to maintain a minimalistic modern look within the room.
To add some sparkle to the room, we also introduced the Spot LED III. This energy efficient LED spotlight illuminates work areas, highlights signage, and guides visitors around the store. eW Cove PowerCore was installed to accent alcoves and other tight spaces. The effects create a bright, modern feeling within the store that is pleasing to patrons.
The new lights offer multiple benefits for the Newcastle Building Society. Energy efficient LED technology makes it possible to achieve extremely low power consumption without sacrificing light quality. For example, the Spot III lights consume only 10w, allowing for an 80% energy saving compared with halogen alternatives. The easy-install lights are a true ‘fit and forget’ solution, thanks to their long lifespan, which eliminates the need for regular re-lamping.
Newcastle Building Society is one of the first organizations in the city to have 100% LED lighting. It estimated that as a result of the new lights, its CO2 emissions will be reduce by 6 tonnes per year; the equivalent of 6 hot air balloons!
• eW Cove MX Powercore Precision Dimming
eW Cove MX Powercore Precision Dimming
Related cases
| <urn:uuid:b83884a8-496d-4d4a-a12b-f73b24856bc1> | http://www.lighting.philips.com.au/cases/cases/office/newcastle-building-society.html | en | 0.90675 | 0.031899 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
NVIDIA Voltage
pinkers 13:31 21 Nov 05
I have an NVIDIA GeFORCE4 MX 440 graphic card about 4 years old, is it compatable with my new ASIS P5P 800 motherboard?? The Asis manual states that only boards of 1.5v can be fitted to the P5P 800 AGP slot, but I can't find the voltage of the GeFORCE4 anywhere. Can anyone help.
gudgulf 13:45 21 Nov 05
Yes the mx440 graphics card will be ok in your new motherboard....it is a 1.5V card.
This thread is now locked and can not be replied to.
| <urn:uuid:632614d3-1e8f-4568-8be9-f9537567581c> | http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/forum/helproom-1/nvidia-voltage-219080/ | en | 0.878455 | 0.061275 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
*I'm not really on drugs, just to clarify ;)*
And another bruise begins to form,
As if stemming from the gleaming point of the needle.
When you can't feel pain,
Nobody can hurt you.
If you kill yourself you die,
If you kill your soul you survive.
Blossoming from a red, bleeding spot.
The drugs set in,
I drift further away.
The End
5 comments about this poem Feed | <urn:uuid:75cda730-6d62-4766-b11c-2450c695ee56> | http://www.protagonize.com/poem/unofficially-depressed/191169 | en | 0.865323 | 0.569863 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Report Abuse
Report this review to the Review Centre Team
Why are you reporting this review?
“The energy of Katie Schofield playing Dorothy was...”
Written on: 12/12/2008 by AnnieNomouse (1 review written)
Good Points
The energy of the young Katie Schofield playing Dorothy was excellent.
The Animated sequences were slightly better than watching stage hands spin a house on wheels.
Bad Points
The direction for this production was diabolical. It seemed as though the Director had watched the Film at home and phoned the direction in from their sofa. Why, when there is a almost bottomless pit of wannabe child stars buried in StageCoach schools, or taking Lamda exams and singing lessons did the production employ kids who didn't sing as the Munchkins? And worse still why oh why oh why did it employ a dozen dancers who were unable to muster up even the most basic of tap routines, and instead pipe the sound of "tapping" in? Disgraceful!
And what happened to the Face of Glenda the Good witch. It looked as though a self administered Botox spell had gone horribly wrong and she was gripped for the entire show by some dire rictus, eyes straining not to look in opposite directions. Very strange.
General Comments
The energy of Katie Schofield playing Dorothy was excellent. However her voice is underdeveloped and unsupported unable to hold the low note and the highs in the anthemic Somewhere over the Rainbow.
Lorna Luft seemed fine as Ms Gulch displaying a wonderful wickedness but seemed less sure of herself as the wicked Witch. Maybe she was thrown by the pantomime boos she recieved. The producers should take her to see an actual panto so she can see what is expected of a villain. But i doubt that will happen as the producers don't seem to care as long as they sell enough rubbish toys in the lobby before hand to distract the audience from the car crash happening in front of there eyes.
Of corse the kids in the audience will have a good time. It contains all the things kids love, loud noises, cheap explosions, and a dog. But doing the minimum to entertain the kids is not the way to run a show. I have seen school productions with much more class than this,(no pun intended), and to say it was amateur would insult the many thousands of amateur companies up and down the country who would actually give the direction and interpretation of this classic some careful thought.
Please if you are reading this trying to decide whether or not to shell out for this, and the kids are pulling on your shirt sleeve demanding to be entertained by "the girl off the telly", DON'T DO IT. If you give the lowry your cash they will think this kind of dross is exceptable. It is not. Go and find your local amatuer group and give them your money instead. Support people like you who care about quality. Imagine what you could do with £ £ £' £ £ £ that they're paying Ms luft. The Lowry will tell you that a big name gets them publicity, and that that puplicity gets bums on seats, and that those bums fund the less mainstream artistic program throughout the rest of the year, and they're in part right. But it does not have to be so soulless in the beginning. A stunning production with a talented cast, and insightful innovative direction and strong production values will get people talking, and people talking is the best puplicity there is. And which is more they will come back year after year. I for one will not be back any time soon. | <urn:uuid:83faf65f-8adb-417d-bbb5-4ce69397e7f2> | http://www.reviewcentre.com/report_review/1344763 | en | 0.96779 | 0.179149 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Showing 1 to 20 of 24996 Questions
Question & Answer:
• Think back to your first hour after awakening this morning. List 15 decision-making opportunities that existed during that hour. After you have done that, mark the decision-making opportunities that you actually recognized this morning and upon which you made a conscious decision.
• Some of the following problems would be suitable for solution by engineering economic analysis. Which ones are they?
(a) Would it be better to buy an automobile with a diesel engine or a gasoline engine?
(b) Should an automatic machine be purchased to replace three workers now doing a task by hand?
(c) Would it be wise to enroll for an early morning class so you could avoid traveling during the morning traffic rush hours?
(d) Would you be better off if you changed your major?
(e) One of the people you might marry has a job that pays very little money, while another one has a professional job with an excellent salary. Which one should you marry?
• Which one of the following problems is most suitable for analysis by engineering economic analysis?
(a) Some 45jt candy bars are on sale for 12 bars for $3. Sandy, who eats a couple of candy bars a week, must decide whether to buy a dozen at the lower price.
(b) A woman has $150,000 in a bank checking account that pays no interest. She can either invest it immediately at a desirable interest rate or wait a week and know that she will be able to obtain an interest rate that is 0.15% higher.
(c) Joe backed his car into a tree, damaging the fender. He has automobile insurance that will pay for the fender repair. But if he files a claim for payment, they may change his "good driver" rating downward and charge him more for car insurance in the future.
• If you have $300 and could make the right decisions, how long would it take you to become a millionaire? Explain briefly what you would do.
• The owner of a small machine shop has just lost one of his larger customers. The solution to his problem, he says, is to fire three machinists to balance his workforce with his current level of business. The owner says it is a simple problem with a simple solution. The three machinists disagree. Why?
• Every college student had the problem of selecting the college or university to attend. Was this a simple, intermediate, or complex problem for you? Explain.
• The college bookstore has put pads of engineering computation paper on sale at half price. What is the minimum and maximum number of pads you might buy during the sale? Explain.
• Consider the seven situations described. Which one situation seems most suitable for solution by engineering economic analysis?
(a) Jane has met two college students that interest her. Bill is a music major who is lots of fun to be with. Alex, on the other hand, is a fellow engineering student, but he does not like to dance.
Jane wonders what to do.
(b) You drive periodically to the post office to pick up your mail. The parking meters require 10jt for 6 minutes-about twice the time required to get from your car to the post office and back. If parking fines cost $8, do you put money in the meter or not?
(c) At the local market, candy bars are 45 it each or three for $1. Should you buy them three at a time?
(d) The cost of automobile insurance varies widely from insurance company to insurance company. Should you check with several companies when your insurance comes up for renewal?
(e) There is a special local sales tax ("sin tax") on a variety of things that the town council would like to remove from local distribution. As a result a store has opened up just outside the town and offers an abundance of these specific items at prices about 30% less than is charged in town. Should you shop there?
(f) Your mother reminds you that she wants you to attend the annual family picnic. That same Saturday you already have a date with a person you have. been trying to date for months.
(g) One of your professors mentioned that you have a poor attendance record in her class. You wonder whether to drop the course now or wait to see how you do on the first midterm exam. Unfortunately, the course is required for graduation.
• An automobile manufacturer is considering locating an automobile assembly plant in your region. List two simple, two intermediate, and two complex problems associated with this proposal.
• Consider the following situations. Which ones appear to represent rational decision making? Explain.
(a) Joe's best friend has decided to become a civil engineer, so Joe has decided that he, too, will become a civil engineer.
(b) Jill needs to get to the university from her home. She bought a car and now drives to the university each day. When Jim asks her why she didn't buy a bicycle instead, she replies, "Gee, I never thought of that."
(c) Don needed a wrench to replace the spark plugs in his car. He went to the local automobile supply store and bought the cheapest one they had. It broke before he had finished replacing all the spark plugs in his car.
• Identify possible objectives for NASA. For your favorite of these, how should alternative plans to achieve the objective is evaluated?
• Suppose you have just 2 hours to answer the question, How many people in your home town would be interested in buying a pair of left-handed scissors? Give a step-by-step outline of how you would seek to answer this question within two hours.
• A college student determines that he will have only $50 per month available for his housing for the coming year. He is determined to continue in the university, so he has decided to list all feasible alternatives for his housing. To help him, list five feasible alternatives.
• Describe a situation where a poor alternative was selected, because there was a poor search for better alternatives.
• Choose the better of the undesirable alternatives. The three economic criteria for choosing the best alternative are minimize input, maximize output, and maximize the difference between output and input. For each of the following situations, what is the appropriate economic criterion?
(a) A manufacturer of plastic drafting triangles can sell all the triangles he can produce at a fixed price. As he increases production, his unit costs increase as a result of overtime pay and so forth. The manufacturer's criterion should be _'
(b) An architectural and engineering firm has been awarded the contract to design a wharf for a petroleum company for a fixed sum of money. The engineering firm's criterion should be_.
'(c) A book publisher is about to set the list price (retail price) on a textbook. The choice of a low list price would mean less advertising than would be used for a higher list price. The amount of advertising will affect the number of copies sold. The publisher's criterion should be _'
(d) At an auction of antiques, a bidder for a particular porcelain statue would be trying to
• As in Problem 1-18, state the appropriate economic criterion for each of the following situations.
(a) The engineering school held a raffle of an automobile with tickets selling for'50~each or three for $1. When the students were selling tickets, they noted that many people had trouble deciding whether to buy one or three tickets. This indicates the buyers' criterion was _'
(b) A student organization bought a soft-drink machine for use in a student area. There was considerable discussion over whether they should set the machine to charge Sot, 75~, or $1 per drink. The organization recognized that the number of soft drinks sold would depend on the price charged. Eventually the decision was made to charge 75~. Their criterion was.
(c) In many cities, grocery stores find that their sales are much greater on days when they have advertised their special bargains. However, the advertised special prices do not appear to increase the total physical volume of groceries sold by a store. This leads us to conclude that many shoppers' criterion is _'
(d) A recently graduated engineer has decided to return to school in the evenings to obtain a master's degree. He feels it should be accomplished in a manner that will allow him the maximum amount of time for his regular day job plus time for recreation. In working for the degree, he will
• Seven criteria are given in the chapter for judging' which is the best alternative. After reviewing the list, devise three additional criteria that might be used.
• Suppose you are assigned the task of determining the route of a new highway through an older section of town. The highway will require that many older homes must be either relocated or torn down. Two possible criteria that might be used in deciding exactly where to locate the highway are:
(a) Ensure that there are benefits to those who gain from the decision and that no one is harmed by the decision
(b) Ensure that the benefits to those who gain from the decision are greater than the losses of those who are harmed by the decision. Which criterion will you select to use in determining the route of the highway? Explain.
• Identify benefits and costs for Problem 1-21.
• In the fall, Jay Thompson decided to live in a university dormitory. He signed a dorm contract under which he was obligated to pay the room rent for the full college year. One clause stated that if he moved out during the year, he could sell his dorm contract to another student who would move into the dormitory as his replacement. The dorm cost was $2000 for the two semesters, which Jay had already paid. A month after he moved into the dorm, he decided he would prefer to live in an apartment. That week, after some searching for a replacement to fulfill his dorm contract, Jay had two offers. One student offered to move in immediately and to pay Jay $100 per month for the eight remaining months of the school year. A second student offered to move in the second' semester and pay $700 to Jay. Jay estimates his food cost per month is $300 if he lives in the dorm and $250 if he lives in an apartment with three other students. His share of the apartment rent and utilities will be $200 per month. Assume each semester is 41/2months long. Disregard the small differences in the timing of the disbursements or receipts.
(a) What are the three alternatives available to Jay?
(b) Evaluate the cost for each of the alternatives.
(c) What do you recommend that Jay do? | <urn:uuid:42f44649-5077-439f-ae16-9caba5dcee89> | http://www.solutioninn.com/business-economics | en | 0.974577 | 0.121572 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Repair It Yourself Shoes: Simplified & Reversible Design Makes It Easy to Fix
Eugenia Morpurgo /via
Design which allows for do-it-yourself repairs immeasurably helps facilitate a lower-impact lifestyle. Shoes are a good example of this -- you can wear 'em till you have to resole them, but repairing them yourself does take a little practice and elbow grease. Not so with these clever, easy-to-repair shoes by Eindhoven-based design grad Eugenia Morpurgo: the soles and uppers are designed to be taken apart and replaced easily, instead of having to deal with glue and knives.
Eugenia Morpurgo/via
Seen over at Dezeen, Morpurgo's shoes are simple, being made from canvas, while the soles are actually reversible, allowing the wearer to get twice as much use out of them.
Eugenia Morpurgo /via
Morpurgo explains the idea behind the Repair It Yourself shoe, which also comes with a repair kit that can be used to repair other things in the house:
Eugenia Morpurgo /via
Eugenia Morpurgo /via
It's a great idea, and gets us wondering if designers will similarly take this further with even more durable shoes like boots or other winter-worthy footwear. Of course, fixing your own shoes isn't nowhere near as complicated as making your own toaster from scratch; so keeping in mind the axiom "if you can't fix it, you don't own it," it may be an interesting experiment to embark on.
Tags: Conspicuous Consumption | Do It Yourself | Shoes
treehugger slideshows | <urn:uuid:fca2823c-c80b-4ac6-854c-01b96aec984f> | http://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-product-design/repair-it-yourself-shoes-eugenia-morpurgo.html | en | 0.94352 | 0.021864 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Eat Pizza - Maribyrnong
Melbourne, Australia
3.9 / 1 vote
rating star
Click a star to rate this entry
Eat pizza has Cheezly soy cheese, vegan pepperoni and vegan pizza bases (wholemeal only) available.
Added by chloworm on Jan 26 09 (last updated Apr 11 09)
Edit Clone
Mark this place closed (permanently).
Most Recent Reviews
rating star
Vegan pizza in Footscray?! YES! Who knew! They don't even advertise the vegan options, but they certainly do have them. Just like any self-respecting pizza place, they deliver within a fair radius. Their website is... not that great, but get yourself down there, ask what vegans can have, and choose something delicious! They have vegan ham, pepperoni and cheese, and their bases are vegan. They can build and cook you a pizza in about 7 minutes. If you've gone vegan and thought you'd never have pizza like you used to remember, think again!
Write your review
$$ - average
• Italian
main image for Eat Pizza - Maribyrnong
| <urn:uuid:029e933c-41b1-4981-ab6e-258c58663c01> | http://www.vegguide.org/entry/8443 | en | 0.930468 | 0.625473 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
How long does a refund take to come through?
1. I accepted a refund from a seller
and its going to be credited to my CC
how long would it take paypal for it to come through?
it's weird cus on my account acctivity it says accepted refund
but on the dispute it says
status: reveiwed by paypal
and when i click in it says
stastus: We are temporarily unable to determine the status of your case.
2. Well I can only say I recently refunded someone through Paypal and it took a while to clear through my account. For some reason PP does a refund by E check (or at least in my case they did that) . E checks take a while - like a week at least.
3. when i got a refund through paypal (not my cc) it took about 4 weeks after i returned the bag for me to get my money. the thing is i had bought a fake bag on eBay, and after submitting proof that the bag was fake, they told me that they would refund my money once i returned the bag to Paypal returns. about 1 week after I sent the bag, I saw that it was delivered, but it was only 2 weeks after they received it that they told me that they would "process" my refund. then the money took about 1 week to clear.
4. #4 Sep 15, 2008
Last edited: Sep 15, 2008
i got the paypal refund to my paypal account instantly. i got the email it was decided in my favor (non-receipt) last night, and this morning the money was in my paypal blanance. it wasn't done as an e-check. i believe that will only happen if you don't have a credit card back-up on your account.
5. I think it's only instant when there are the funds in their paypal account to cover the refund...if there isn't enough funds then it'll be an echeck which take about a week.
6. ok im not sure which one i am
the seller who done a refund is a store
so im guessing enough fundings
i haven't seen anything through my paypal or cc account yet
7. in my experience, 7-10 business days
8. Paypal took that long to issue a refund for me too.
9. Me, too. I have never heard of a refund to your PP account being a delay. Mine have always showed up right away.
Unless you initially paid with an eCheck, so they refunded you with one, as well? Could that be it?
10. Oh, I never thought about that. That could be true.
Maybe I have been lucky with my refunds and all of the sellers/merchants have had the funds immediately to cover it. :shrugs:
11. sorry how do you know the refund is in process?
the status on my account activity says completed
but under resolution center the dispute says unable to determine status of your case
i checked my CC and nothing came through yet
12. My experience with echeck refund: The person paid with instant PP payment when she bought the item. (It was a Balenciaga coin purse that she got for $199 - outbidding others; the retail is $350) and she wanted to return it because it was "WORN." Well, duh, it's vintage 2006 goat skin Balenciaga. And I had "final sale, no returns" at least three times in my listing. But she also nastily mentioned she would file a SNAD - signifigantly not as described - and win, because PP rules in favor of buyers who file SNAD if I didn't refund her. I actually called PP and they as much as agreed with her. They said they do NOT look at pictures or any kind of back-up from sellers to prove that my item WAS as described. What a creep! I just refunded her and resold the purse for more. But the refund was done through my PP account as an echeck and it took a week to clear. She hasn't left neg FB but I expect that shoe to drop, even after I refunded her fully.
I don't have $$ in my PP account because I always immediately transfer to bank account. It is safer that way, so that must be why they did echeck refund.
Sorry for the long post. | <urn:uuid:f92c54c8-1c8b-46b5-b52b-4b44d91a7bc4> | https://forum.purseblog.com/threads/how-long-does-a-refund-take-to-come-through.356483/ | en | 0.987803 | 0.056016 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Home > Uncategorized > Question-answering robot
Question-answering robot
Continuing my exploration of meaning and reference. Some of the following repeats what I’ve already written in this blog, sorry. I’m using the blog as a way to work out the exposition, which is still too long and too abstract.
TL;DR You can’t independently specify or test the meanings of sentence parts. Specifying and testing meaning always reduces to specifying and testing the meanings of complete sentences.
Propositions again
When an agent A sends a message to an agent B, one or both of the following should hold:
• there is a correlation between what holds (what the world is like) before generating the message and A’s choice of message to generate,
• there is a correlation between the message that B receives and what holds after interpreting the message.
Without at least one of these, nothing has been communicated.
By “correlate” I mean that the message and what holds vary together. E.g. as the color of a disk varies between green, red, and blue, the message might vary between “the disk is green”, “the disk is red”, and “the disk is blue”.
I’ll call what holds before generating a precondition (of message generation), and what holds after interpreting a postcondition (of message interpretation). When I use these words I really mean least inclusive precondition and most inclusive postcondition, since otherwise the terms are not helpful.
The precondition case covers messages that are simple declarative sentences (“it is raining”). I’ll call such messages “p-messages”. (Being a p-message is not an inherent property of a message. To classify a message as a p-message you have to know something of the sender’s and receiver’s behavior.)
We can experimentally test any candidate proposition for whether it is the precondition of some message being sent. Just vary the agent’s circumstances (i.e. state) and watch what messages the agent sends. If the given message is sent if and only if the proposition holds, then the proposition is the precondition of sending that message.
Imperative sentences (“please close the window”) can be treated in a dual manner; one might call them s-messages and say that the postcondition of interpretation is a specification. Again, the claim that a particular proposition is the postcondition can be tested.
You might ask: Well, what if the precondition of the generated message isn’t met (the system “lies”), or the postcondition of interpretation isn’t met (it “betrays” us)? How can you call something a postcondition of interpretation, when success is not guaranteed? You could say a specification isn’t met, or that a theory is wrong. But in any engineered system success is never guaranteed. Things go wrong. Perhaps some constituent part does not live up to its specification, or the system is operating outside of its specified operating zone. You could put the qualifier “unless something goes wrong” in front of everything we say about the system, but that would not be very helpful.
Questions and answers
It’s less clear what to say about interrogative sentences (“what color is the disk?”) and responses to them (“green”).
For the sake of neutrality, and to emphasize their syntactic nature, I’ll call interrogative sentences “q-messages” and their responses “a-messages”, q and a being mnemonic for “question” and “answer” respectively.
Consider a scenario in which a q-message is sent to a question-answering robot, and an a-message is sent in response. To apply the pre- and post-condition framework given above, we need to consider the postcondition of interpreting the q-message, and the precondition of generating the a-message. (I’ll only consider what it takes to specify or describe the question-answering robot, not the agent that communicates with it, to which I grant total freedom.)
What needs to be the case after the q-message is received? Well, an a-message must be sent; but not just any a-message. As with p-messages, for any a-message, a certain precondition must be met. But crucially, the precondition, and therefore the choice of a-message, depends what the q-message is. The question is, what is the precondition of sending a-message ax, given that the preceding q-message was qx? (‘x’ is for ‘syntax’)
If we’re trying to specify the behavior of the robot, we need to specify, for each q-message, what the allowable a-messages are, as a function of the agent’s current state. The robot can choose among these a-messages.
One way to do this is by brute force enumeration. For each qx, write down the function (perhaps nondeterministic) from circumstances to answers ax. The size of the specification is going to be proportional to m*n where m is the number of possible q-messages qx and n is the number of possible a-messages ax.
A better way is to exploit the structure of the robot’s world. When we ask what the color of the disk is, and what the color of the square is, we’re asking similar questions. Each color-inquiring q-message can be associated with a ‘spot’ in the world that can have its color sensed. When the q-message is received, the color state of the spot that it designates can be sensed and an appropriate a-message can be chosen.
It is natural to interpret q-messages as questions, and a-messages as answers, just as p-messages can be interpreted as propositions. This may be difficult or impossible for a particularly perverse robot, but if we are designing one ourselves, our ability interpret messages is something we can control.
The proposition corresponding to a p-message can be inferred by studying the conditions under which the p-message is sent. Things are trickier regarding interpretation of q-messages and a-messages. For a q-message, we can look at how the resulting a-message varies with aspects of the world. If we can find a variable in the world that varies along with the a-message (correlates with it), and doesn’t vary otherwise [except within spans in which a single a-message covers many values – think about this], then we can say that the question is the one that asks what the value of that variable is.
Similarly, we can interpret an a-message as an answer: it is the answer that says that the variable that the preceding question (whatever it is) asks about takes on a value that can elicit the a-message, given that the preceding q-message is interpreted to be that question.
There is a tidy way to look at questions and answers using a simple formal veneer.
Any proposition p induces a function pf from world states to {true, false}, defined so that pf yields true when p holds in that world state, and false otherwise. (To spice things up I sometimes say “what holds” or “circumstances” instead of “world state.”) Call such a function a “p-function”.
Similarly, a question q induces a “q-function” qf from world states to values, and an answer a induces an “a-function” af from values to {true, false}. qf determines the value corresponding to a world state, and af tells whether an answer a is acceptable for a given value.
Consider the proposition that q has a as an answer. Call this proposition z. Let qf be the function induced by q, af be the function induced by a, and zf be the function induced by z. Then the following holds:
zf = af o qf
zf(ws) = af(qf(ws))
Interpreting this, it says a question/answer pair is (like) a factorization of a proposition.
Any formalism is likely to drop some of the richness of what it models. Real propositions, questions, and answers probably have more structure to them than functions do. Whether enough structure is captured depends on how the formalism is applied. In this context we’re concerned with specification and prediction, and functions may work fine.
Specifying and testing
It makes sense to specify that a p-message MUST “mean” a particular proposition p – you are just saying that the robot must generate the p-message if and only if p. We can test to see whether the robot satisfies this condition.
Suppose we tried to specify that a q-message MUST “mean” a particular question q. A specification must be testable. How would a claim that qx means q (when the robot interprets qx) be tested? We’d have to see what a-messages were generated in response to qx – they would have to be the ones that “mean” correct answers to q. But to say this, we need to specify that a set of a-messages MUST “mean” a corresponding set of answers. Then, to test whether an a-message “means” a particular answer a, you’d have to send a bunch of q-messages, and for each one, check whether the a-message that comes back is or is not generated, depending on whether the answer a is an answer to the question that q-message “means”. But then you’d have to specify what each q-message “means”. This is circular.
This is therefore not the way to specify the behavior of a question-answering robot. What you have to do is to define a correspondence between q-messages and questions, and a second correspondence between a-messages and answers. Because we’re writing the specification we can simply do so by fiat, by way of exposition, just as in a specification for motor oil you might say ‘define v = 0.0114’ and then use ‘v’ elsewhere in the specification. Simply defining correspondences does not by itself say anything about what the robot has to do. Then, we specify that when a q-message is received, the a-message generated MUST be one with the property that the corresponding answer is an answer to the question corresponding to the q-message that was received.
An alternative, fully equivalent approach would be to specify the behavior of the robot using the formalism. You could define a correspondence between q-messages and q-functions, and between a-messages and a-functions, and say that the generated a-message MUST be one that makes the composition of the q-function and the a-function evaluate to true when applied to the world state. These correspondences give an interpretation of the q- and a-messages that is just as effective as the interpretation where they are questions and answers.
Going in the other direction, when we reverse engineer a question-answering robot, we have to come up with a theory that explains the data. The data consists of q-message/a-message pairs. As we develop our theory, the correspondences of q-messages and a-messages to meaning-like entities (question/answers or q-functions/a-functions) have to be hypothesized and tested in tandem; we cannot understand q-messages in isolation, or a-messages in isolation.
Compositional languages
Given an understanding of question answering, it is very easy to imagine, or design, a language of p-messages that have two parts, one part being a q-message and the other an a-message. (Perhaps some punctuation or other trivial change sneaks in there, but that’s not to the point.) The meaning of the p-message – i.e. the precondition (proposition) that holds when it’s generated – is that the a-message is a correct response to the q-message. The analysis works exactly as it does for question answering.
This particular compositional message formation is an instance the principle of compositionality, which holds when the meaning of a compound phrase (such as a p-message) is nontrivially determined by the meanings of its parts (in this case a q-message and a-message). I say “nontrivially” because in any language where phrases have parts you can always come up with some trivial definition of part meaning and composition – essentially a table lookup – that makes the phrase meaning the same as the composed meaning. Compositionality means that there is some compression going on, and you’re not quadratically just listing all the cases.
Example: q-message “Which way is Lassie running?” + a-message “South.” => p-message “Lassie is running south.”
See also
• Horwich, Truth Meaning Reality, of course…
• Yablo, Aboutness, of course…
• Carpenter, Type-Logical Semantics
• Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus
• Jeffrey King, The Nature and Structure of Content
• Gopnik and Meltzoff, Words, Thoughts, and Theories
Afterthought: When reverse engineering there are always multiple theories (or should I say ‘models’ like the logicians) that are consistent with the data; even when you account for isomorphisms. This is certainly true when the world state space is incompletely sampled, as it would be if it were continuous. But I think this holds even when everything is known about the robot’s world and behavior. It is customary, if you have your hands on multiple theories, to choose the simplest one in making predictions (Occam’s razor). (At this point I want to point you at the work of Noah Goodman…)
Afterthought: There’s a book that argues that young children are scientists developing and testing theories of the world. When I remember the name I’ll add it to the list
Categories: Uncategorized
1. 2015-02-22 at 08:47
One way to think about questions is that they are a half-proposition, which is what the effect of your zf function is. zf is the desired function. You call it a factorization but it’s also a protocol. Protocols are half-functions where each of two independently-operating parties writes half and the result seams up. So a->b and b->c is like a->c, but it requires the intermediate snaps of b to act as snaps in creating a conduit.
Another way to think of questions is as a form of dynamic optimization, operating at the meta-level. Even imperative statements, after all, are just requests. So questions are also requests. They notice that the planning engine for a proof has an expensive path and they suggest an optimization that would allow a simpler solution if a proposition came in that was of a certain kind. At the meta-level, they select alternate universes in which the problem is more easily solved predicated on a conditional truth that would become an actual truth by entering the universe in which that proposition had been mysteriously offered for no apparent reason in the domain itself.
They also are a form of gravity that might bias a spewer of random statements in the direction of something useful. After all, propositions working in isolation are forward chaining and really all forward chaining amounts to is a bet that if you put out enough truths, some of them will be interesting enough that you can use them after-the-fact when they are needed. The making of them consumes slack time and you hope the indexing of them is worth the expense. Questions provide cues from some meta-activity (such as mentioned above) about which forward chaining would be most useful, so again they are optimizations.
Cooperation might be described by creating opportunities and incentives for easy fortune. (Thinking of Pasteur’s [translated] “chance favors the prepared mind”. Answers are volunteered propositions that favor the thoughtful questioner.)
The difference between a question and a command is subtle and occurs in the meta. The asking of a question can be thought to be an imperative to answer. You might want to investigate free-form questions as a separate phenomenon, though. In that space, you’re more playing the odds, again as an optimization practice, like a search in which you want to provide incentives to go down one search path rather than another just because you have a probabilistic belief that higher scores go down that way.
The human impact of questions is probably to optimize search in large domains. Surely a great many problems the human brain finds itself up against take maddeningly long, so a ready library, wikipedia or phone (siri) to help resolve the answers to things is critical to convergence within a given time.
I doubt any of this is in conflict with what you are saying, though these are metaphors you didn’t seem to use in the post I was looking at. For example, the meaning of a question might be said to be a meta-proposition about the relevant ease of reaching a certain (sometimes implied, sometimes hidden) goal state in an other universe. Or else commanding a hop to such a universe with some degree of urgency or another.
1. No trackbacks yet.
Leave a Reply
WordPress.com Logo
Twitter picture
Facebook photo
Google+ photo
Connecting to %s
%d bloggers like this: | <urn:uuid:97baf89e-0be4-46c9-bc50-7a9f17fd2900> | https://odontomachus.wordpress.com/2014/12/15/question-answering-robot/ | en | 0.915127 | 0.247294 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Computermania is a serious and crippling illness, not to be taken lightly! It strikes suddenly and without warning, causing in its victims an insatiable desire to be in or near a computer network. Left at the mercy of internet cafes, university computer rooms, and corporate networks. its victims can be found conversing with PCs, MacIntoshes, Tablets, and mainframes for hours on end; often to the point of forgetting their physical needs and ignoring their friends.
While there is no known cure for Computermania, its victims CAN be helped by causing system malfunctions and severely limiting the number of terminals or workstations available. This however, can cause severe withdrawal symptoms such as pacing the floor or guzzling down tremendous amounts of coffee.
While the exact causes of Computermania are not known, it is believed to stem from a lack of companionship in the early years of development, coupled with an excessive reliance on electronic devices on the part of the victim involved.
Help stamp out Computermania by donating generously to S.A.B.O.T.A.G.E.R.S., (The Society for the Anihilation of Business Oriented, Technical and General Electronic Recordkeeping Systems.) | <urn:uuid:c7612354-3e9d-47bf-afa7-d4d976c9b3d0> | https://thenewboston.com/forum/topic.php?id=2760 | en | 0.931556 | 0.048037 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Table of Contents
I bear witness that Ali is the Friend of Allah
There remain some other criticisms that do not deserve defaming or causing fear. These things, which are criticized unfairly by the Sunni are mentioned among the Shia in the past and present, as recommended and a cause of blessing, such as adding to the azan1 and iqamah2 the saying - “I bear witness that Ali is the saint of Allah”.
All the Shia have agreed that this is not a basic part of the azan or the iqamah and that it was available in the azan at the time of the Prophet (S). They have agreed that considering it a basic part of the azan or the iqamah invalidates both. This is the belief of the ulema and religious authorities of the Shia.
As long as the truth is our goal, the sayings of Allah and His messenger are our sayings and their contentment is our aim and intention. And as long as we face criticism from some of our (Sunni) brothers, so we have to approve of others what we approve from ourselves and find ugly in ourselves what we find ugly of others.
We have criticized Umar ibn al-Khattab in our previous studies for adding “prayer is better than sleep” to the azan and omitting “come on to the best of deeds” from it, and said that it was impermissible because it was a heresy that was not available at the time of the Prophet (S). We were not convinced by their saying that “prayer is better than sleep” was mentioned only in the azan of the Fajr (dawn) Prayer and their justifying that at dawn, man would be in the best moments of his sleep and rest; therefore, “prayer is better than sleep” would be used to encourage him to give up his rest and get ready for prayer.
It was nice speech, justifying and defending the matter, but we denied it, because the clear texts would not submit to personal opinions and desires. We said, “Whatever the Messenger of Allah (S) (S) did not do is heresy.”
On this basis, we say to the Shia the same statement and argue against them with the same argument. There should be no difference between these and those.
Therefore, we confess that “I bear witness that Ali is the saint of Allah” is extra in the azan, because the Messenger of Allah (S) did not say or order it, nor did the infallible Imams (a.s.) do it. If they really did it, we would find some proofs for it. If they did it, then it would not be permissible for the ulema of the Shia and their religious authorities to consider the azan and iqamah as null when this statement is mentioned as an actual part of them (the azan and the iqamah) as we have said before.
Fairness and justice require us to say the word of the truth and not to deny the Sunni for something while we ourselves do the like. Allah says:
What! do you enjoin men to be good and neglect your own souls while you read the Book; have you then no sense? Qur'an, 2:44
Once, one of the Shia said to me, “O my brother, do not mix between “prayer is better than sleep” and “I bear witness that Ali is the saint of Allah”!
I said, “Why? Prayer is really better than sleep, and Ali is really the saint of Allah, but they are parts added later on and the Messenger of Allah (S) did not do that.”
He said, “But the guardianship of Imam Ali (a.s.) has been revealed in the Qur'an, and you yourself have acknowledged that in your book ‘Then I was Guided’.”
I said, “So, the Messenger of Allah (S) was to be blamed, for he did not make that in the azan!!!”
Not everything that has been revealed in the Qur'an is to be added to the azan or iqamah and my acknowledgment that it has been revealed in the Qur'an does not make it necessary to be added to the azan or iqamah.
Is it right for one to recite for example, in the azan, “I bear witness that there is no God but Allah, bear witness that Adam is the choice of Allah, bear witness that Noah is the prophet of Allah, bear witness that Abraham is the friend of Allah, bear witness that Moses is the spoken to by Allah, bear witness that Jesus is the Holy Spirit of Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the beloved one of Allah”? All these facts are true and they have come in the Qur'an.
However, we cannot recite that in the azan, because the Messenger of Allah (S) has taught us to recite in the azan only the two witnesses “I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah (S)”. We must abide by the saying of Allah:
…and, whatever the Messenger gives you, accept it and from whatever he forbids you, keep back. Qur'an, 59:7
It is true that some of the Shia ulema do not mention “I bear witness that Ali is the saint of Allah” in the azan or the iqamah. I offered prayers with some of them and did not hear them say so. That they might mention it in their hearts, is something else. However, there are some Shia who doubt the loyalty and faith of whoever does not mention this in the azan or the iqamah.”
My opponent, praise be to Allah, was convinced. Still he said to me that he could not give it up, because his tongue had been used to it since his childhood.
I say this and I am certain that some of the Shia will not approve of it, because man by his nature, is an enemy to what he ignores and the satisfaction of all people is an unreachable goal.3
As I have said before in this book, I do not flatter anyone nor do I seek his satisfaction (with me) however high a position he has. I only seek the satisfaction of my conscience through the satisfaction of Allah, His messenger (S) and the infallible Imams (a.s.) - who are my Imams and masters, at the head of whom is Imam Ali (a.s.).
In the depth of my soul, I am certain that Imam Ali (a.s.) would be pleased with those, who try to guide people to the right path more than he would be with some of his Shia and lovers, who bear witness in every azan and iqamah that he is the saint of Allah, but they do not do anything to guide people towards this guardianship (of Imam Ali) or to prove the truth to them (people). In fact, they make people alienated and unknowingly keep them from reaching the truth.
Would Imam Ali (a.s.) be pleased when we bear witness of his guardianship and sainthood while we hold it as a big obstacle before those who search for the truth? Certainly not!
I often argued with obstinate people in the best manner, but I found in them a psychological obstacle that prevented them from keeping on with the argument in order to get to the truth. I tried to destroy that obstacle daring with a certain heart to keep on researching and getting to the sought goal. Then, I found that the obstinate ones advanced little by little with me and broke the psychological obstacles. Most of the time and about eighty percent of them acknowledged the truth and were guided to the guardianship of Ameerul Mo'minin Imam Ali (a.s.) and the guardianship of the infallible Imams (a.s.) after him.
Once, I was in Poona and Jabalpur in India. I met there with a big group of Sudanese students. In an evening gathering, I felt loyalty and true intention to know the truth in them. Most of them objected to the beliefs of the Shia concerning the matter of infallibility4 that they (the Shia) proved for their imams. They also objected to the witness that “Imam Ali is the saint of Allah” recited in the azan. They said that the Shia were excessive and extravagant in their love to the imams.
I said to them, “O my brothers in Islam, I do not try to impose on you the concept of “infallibility” and do not consider it the goal leading to the truth, although I myself believe in it, but I shall avoid it completely to prove to you that the Holy Qur’an and the Prophet’s Sunna impose on every Muslim to be a Shia following the Messenger of Allah (S) and his immaculate progeny (peace be on them).
You are not required to prove and believe in this infallibility in order to get to the sought goal, which is the adherence to the saints of Allah and His messenger (S) and to be free from the enemies of Allah and His messenger (S). You are as well, not required to bear witness to Imam Ali’s guardianship and sainthood in the azan and not required to believe in all what the Shia narrate about Ali and his progeny that you consider as excessive and extravagance.
Imam Ali (a.s.) is much greater than the need prove for him a virtue that is considered as one of miracles and say that Allah the Almighty has returned the sun to him because he missed the afternoon Prayer, or the earth was shrunk for him to travel from Medina to Mada’in in order to ritually wash Salman al-Farisi (after his death) and come back on the same day, which was a distance of some month’s travel at that time. These narrations are about miracles of the Unknown. A Muslim is free to believe or not to believe in them, for these shall neither increase nor decrease his faith.
However, we are required to believe that Imam Ali (a.s.) was the successor of the Prophet (S) and the best of all people after him and that the Prophet (S) had appointed him as his successor over the nation after his death.
We have to prove that Ameerul Mo'minin Ali (a.s.) was the gate of the city of the Prophet’s knowledge and there was no one more knowledgeable than him at all in the entire nation. We have to prove that he was most courageous of all companions and the most loyal of all of them in wars and during difficulties. It was by his sword and courage that Islam became strong and firm. We have to prove that he was the first to believe in Islam, he was the most loyal in all the battles, and that he sacrificed everything to preserve Islam after the Prophet (S) therefore, following him is obligatory on every Muslim.
We have to prove that he was the only one who spared no effort to enliven the Book of Allah and the Sunna of the Prophet when they were about to be buried. We have to prove that he was the most ascetic to the worldly life among all human beings and the nearest to Allah in all his behaviors and actions. We have to prove that he was the most just and fair of all people at all, and most pious to Allah, and that he fought the nakithin - breakers of covenant - in the battle of al-Jamal-the camel, the qasitin - the unjust - in the battle of Siffin and the mariqin - renegades - in the battle of an-Nahrawan to preserve Islam and Muslims.
We have to prove that Muhammad (S) was the first and Ali (a.s.) was the second, and they were the best of Allah’s creation at all.
Yes! We have to prove all that from the Qur'an, the true Prophetic Sunna and the true history and show clear evidences and convincing arguments that are irrefutable.
But, if we repeat that Allah had created Muhammad and Ali one hundred thousand years before He created Adam, and that all the prophets and messengers prayed to Allah the Almighty by the right of Muhammad, Ali, Fatima, al-Hasan, and al-Husayn, or that it has been written on the leg of the Throne that “Ali is the saint of Allah”, it is something else and it neither benefits nor take us to the sought goal.
We cannot convince others with these things, for which we do not have any scientific proof. If we insist on proving the miracles, the infallibility, or the guardianship of Ali (a.s.) - each side will insist on his own situation and be fanatic as the Sunni who narrate on Abu Bakr and Umar more than what the Shia narrate on Imam Ali (a.s.) and his progeny. In this case, time shall be wasted in unfruitful disputes, and the Sunni shall accuse the Shia of being extravagant in praise of their Imams, and then the Shia shall accuse the Sunni of being extravagant in praise of the three caliphs especially and to the companions in general. Thus the dispute shall remain unfruitful.
O brothers, today, we are required to show clear arguments and scientific proofs. I do not argue with you except by reasonable and traditional proofs that have been proved by history, reality and what all Muslims - Sunni and Shia - have agreed on. I pray Allah to guide us all to the truth.”
After we had spent that night until the dawn in scientific argumentation and logical discussion, most of them turned to the truth and longingly read the book ‘Then I was Guided’. Two days later, they came to say farewell to me before my travel while thanking Allah for guiding them to His Right Path and wishing to know the beliefs of the Twelver Shia and to read their books.
One of them came alone with me and I think he was the emir of the group as they called him, and said after thanking me and offering compliments, “I met with the Shia in Egypt, Sudan, and in India here, but no one of them could convince me like what you did.”
I said, “The book ‘Then I was Guided’ convinced many researchers and this is a favor of Allah to me, so I often praise and thank Him.”
He said, “I did not yet read your book, because I am busy with examinations, and I do not read any book except when I am tranquil.”
I said, “Then, how were you convinced when you did not read the book?
He said, “On that night when you began your talking by putting aside the “infallibility”, “Ali is the saint of Allah”, and many other concepts that the Shia adopt, I admired your talks, because you talked to people with what they understood. If you kept to those concepts, the arguments would be unfruitful and that night’s discussion would be in vain. However, you knew the truth and could guide us to it. If you give a lecture in Sudan before the university students, you will make them all turn Shia by this way and method.”
I thanked him for his kind feelings and asked him to read the book (‘Then I was Guided’) and send me his notes on it. We embraced each other, while our hearts were beating with the love and loyalty to the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.).
• 1. The azan in Islam is a means of announcing to people about the time of prayer. It has no certain, inviolable text as the texts of the Holy Qur'an, which cannot accept a decrease or increase even for one letter.
As for azan, the books of the Sunni sometimes mention that the azan was not available and that Abdullah ibn Zayd al-Ansari heard it in sleep and told it to the Prophet (S) who acknowledged and confirmed it. Perhaps, this is what made the Caliph Umar, when he was sleeping and the muezzin awaked him saying, “Prayer is better than sleep”, approved the statement and ordered to add it to the azan.
Bilal al-Habashi, the Prophet’s muezzin, pronounced [sh] as [s] and he said “ass-hadu” instead of “ash-hadu”. When some Muslims criticized this, the Prophet (S) said, “The [s] of Bilal is [sh] near Allah.”
Once, when I was in Sham (Syria), I passed by the Umayyad Mosque at the time of the Isha’ Prayer and I heard a collective azan recited in tones like oration. So, why all these reactions when Ameerul Mo'minin Ali ibn Abi Talib is mentioned?!
Let us say it is a good heresy or bad heresy (as the Sunni believe), then what for are all these reactions? However, they (the Sunni) are excessive in this concern. They have fixed “prayer is better than sleep” and considered it a part from the azan, but we (the Shia) do not say it is a part from the azan, but only recommended. Azan is a means that announces the prescribed time of prayer. As long as it is within the required limits that have no excess and do not harm Islam and Muslims, there shall be no serious problem.
• 2. Iqamah is a recommended (not obligatory) part before the prayer. It has the same wordings of the azan, but with a little difference.
• 3. Heresy, as we have said before, is a thing, which is not from religion. It is fixed and added to religion. “Prayer is better than sleep” was added and considered as a part of the very azan, but as for recommended things mentioned before or even through the azan, such as “Say: praise be to Allah Who has not taken a wife nor a child” or “blessing and peace be on you O Messenger of Allah (S)” besides “I bear witness that Ali is the saint of Allah, or is the commander of the believers” are mentioned as recommended. According to general evidence the little statements of ordinary people (neither Allah nor the Prophet) do not annul the azan, on condition that these things are not considered as parts of the azan or the iqamah.
• 4. Why do they (the Sunni) deny the infallibility of the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.), whereas they themselves believe in the infallibility of all the nation as to the matter of consensus, or the infallibility of all the Prophet’s companions, and of the men of authority? Al-Fakhr ar-Razi says in his Tafsir, “…and it has been proved that all those, whom Allah has ordered to obey, must be infallible, and thus, it has been definitely proved that “the men of authority” mentioned in this verse must be infallible.
Then we say: that the infallible ones are either entire nation or some of the nation… those infallible ones meant by Allah’s saying ‘men in authority’ must be the men in power from the imams (rulers), and this makes it necessary that the consensus of the nation is evident.” The interpretation of the Sura of an-Nisa’, verse 59, p. 144 in ar-Razi’a Tafsir
It is not unknown that those men in power were themselves who gave Mo’awiya ibn Abi Sufyan the authority (and considered him a legal Wali) and his son Yazid the drunkard and the killer of Imam Husayn son of Imam Ali (a.s.) and (killer of) seventeen men from the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.)…and the results were all Mo’awiya and his son’s crimes and vices, the rule of al-Waleed and other criminals from the Umayyad dynasty, and then the allegiance to the Abbasids among whom were Abul Abbas as-Saffah (slaughterer), Abu Ja’far al-Mansur (the tyrant), and others. As for those in power who were pious, they were either exiled, or forced to be neuter, though keeping silent at that time would be a heavy burden.
Then, why do they find the infallibility of the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) odd and unacceptable, whereas their infallibility has been confirmed by many Qur’anic verses, Prophetic traditions? On many occasions and situations, the Prophet (S) proved this virtue for them and they were preferred to the whole nation after the Prophet (S). | <urn:uuid:b6e0dfcc-c177-4430-913d-0aa3325ee458> | https://www.al-islam.org/all-solutions-are-with-prophet-s-progeny-muhammad-al-tijani/i-bear-witness-ali-friend-allah | en | 0.979334 | 0.05424 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Browse / Literary Criticism
John Dryden - Tercentenary Essays 9780198186441
John Dryden - Tercentenary Essays
ISBN-10: 0198186444
ISBN-13: 9780198186441
PUBLISHER: Oxford University Press, Incorporated
Also available at
Product Description: This volume is designed to celebrate and re-assess the work of John Dryden (1631-1700) in the tercentenary year of his death. It assembles specially-commissioned essays by an international team of scholars who address Dryden's political writing, drama, and translations, his literarycollaborations, contemporary reputation, and posthumous reception. Much of Dryden's work was written in response to contemporary events and issues, and several of the essays in this volume discuss the personal and public circumstances in which his works were composed and received, exploring hisresponses to popular politics, and his relations with Congreve, Milton, Purcell, and Shadwell. But Dryden's intellectual and imaginative world was also shaped by the work of his literary predecessors, and so the collection charts his creative engagement with classical poetry, especially Homer andVirgil. Other essays attend to his poetic self-representation, his philosophical vision, and the problem of editing Dryden's poetry for a modern readership. The collection as a whole presents him as a writer not only for an age, but for all time.
Additional Details
CATEGORY: Literary Criticism, Poetry
21 Day Unconditional Guarantee
any book, any reason
Rent This Book Now:
Price guaranteed for 45 minutes
Due May 15 $60.63
130 days (due Jul 4) $67.12
85 days (due May 20) $61.08
55 days (due Apr 20) $58.39
Select Your Own Date
Buy this book used:
List Price: $220.00
Your Savings:
Total Price:
REVIEWS for John Dryden - Tercentenary Essays
Select a star rating
1. How do textbook rentals work?
2. Is renting a textbook better than purchasing it?
3. How do I track my order?
4. How do I return my books?
5. Can I write or highlight in my book?
6. How much money can renting my books save?
9. What if I don’t return my rental?
10. Can I purchase my book after I rent it?
Textbook Rentals
Why Choose Us?
Make A Difference
| <urn:uuid:d96e963c-604a-40f3-bc02-ed0d6da647b3> | https://www.campusbookrentals.com/textbook/john-dryden---tercentenary-essays--/9780198186441?QRedirected=1 | en | 0.94043 | 0.069623 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Bryan Caplan
Nash Equilibrium in Higher Education
Learning Economics... Freddie, Fannie, and Risky Mor...
In a Nash equilibrium, every actor maximizes his utility given the behavior of all the other actors. Arum and Roksa's Academically Adrift contains one of the best (implicit) applications of the concept I've ever read. They name all the key actors involved in higher education - parents, students, professors, administrators, and government funding agencies - and explain why, given the behavior of all the other actors, no one wants to do anything about the problem of "limited learning":
The next sentence is "In short, the system works." You might be tempted to remind Arum and Roksa that Nash equilibrium and efficiency are totally different things. But their standard of "works" is roughly equivalent to durability:
Limited learning on college campuses is not a crisis because the institutional actors implicated in the system are receiving the organizational outcomes they seek, and therefore neither the institutions themselves nor the system as a whole is in any way challenged or threatened.
Arum and Roksa go on to argue that K-12 education is in some way challenged or threatened. But how hard could it be to extend their Nash analysis to all the key actors in the public school system?
Comments and Sharing
COMMENTS (13 to date)
mark writes:
Mmm, I think it's a little incomplete. One, a meaningful number of students want something not listed, i.e., not just a credential but actual marketable skills. I suggest it is employers and graduate schools who want the crdentials ultimately, and see colleges as performing a screening and sorting function. Two, the persons with vesgted interests in student loan and grant programs are not listed. The politicians who sponsor them want votes from the parents, basically.
CT Castro writes:
"Government funding agencies are primarily interested in the development of new scientific knowledge."
I guess I'm confused on this last point...
I think that Government funding agencies are interested in securing long-term guaranteed (via legally inescapable student loans)indentured servants.
Radford Neal writes:
One problem with this analysis is that there are actually many subgroups of students, professors, etc. One potential route to the university system collapsing is that the subgroup of students with high skills and motivation to learn defects to some other environment. At the moment, universities do have some very good students. If they lose those, even if they are small fraction of the total, the legitimacy of the enterprise would be undermined. It would become more difficult to argue for government support, parents would be less likely to finance study at university, professors would not see as much intellectual benefit from teaching, and less able students would no longer see as much advantage in getting a credential from a university.
Rick Hull writes:
CT Castro,
I think it's a mistake to try to characterize motivations in this way. It is better (and quite possibly more accurate) to assume good faith in order to illuminate the mechanism of bad outcomes.
Steve Sailer writes:
"In short, the system works."
Indeed, Tiger Mothers in Seoul and Mumbai are increasingly obsessed with getting their offspring into American colleges, which suggests that from the point of view of an increasingly globalized marketplace, American colleges are doing just fine. Now, as an American parent, you may think that American colleges should try harder to benefit young Americans, but that just shows you are a protectionist, even a nativist, so who cares about you?
ajb writes:
The global market for US colleges is not the same as the market for all US colleges. The top 100 can do as they wish -- at least for awhile. The average expensive private school that might not even show up on US News lists is SOL. Ditto for the weakest state schools that need student demand and state subsidies.
truth seeker writes:
I think that it is too much of a generalization to approach it that way.
There are many disciplines where students must learn with maximum effort and universities..
For example, engineering schools have notoriously rigourous course requirements. An the professors in those schools spend a large amount of time on teaching..
I would assume it is also true in other "hard" majors..Sciences, pre-med, architecture, etc.
Not every studen is a libral arts major.
Nahuel Pan writes:
I think signalling theory needs universities that allow limited learning. If instead of offering easy courses or instead of letting the lazy/uninterested/dumb students fail, they tried to push them to excel or tried to provide a more taylored educational experience to improve their learning, they would tilt the field toward those students and they would be undermining the university role as a signalling device. For the university to be a good signalling device it has to let a lot of their student get a sub-par (or limited) education while allowing the best students to reach their full potential. My view is that in the past 50 years the university has been doing a lot of the signalling work that before was done by highschools, and it is that what I think is very inefficient. The worse the highschool system becomes, the more work the university has to do to sort out a more diverse pool of students.
David R. Henderson writes:
I think the authors are furthest off on what administrators are trying to do. Many of them are much more toxic than their statement suggests.
Nahuel Pan writes:
I would like to add something else. Sometimes I have read in blogs/comments in this site arguments against the 'tenure' system because it breeds lazy professors/researchers, etc. However, under the signalling theory, the main role of professors is not to teach but to judge. In that sense, the 'tenure' system grants them the same conditions to do their work that their peers in the judicial system enjoy. Professor evaluations from students have already undermined the role of grades as a signal in the case of un-tenured professors (can you imagine a defendant accused of murder being able to evaluate his judge, and the judge pay or employment status being linked to those evaluations?) but so far I haven't seen those evaluations affect the other big signal, recommendation letters from tenured professors.
RPLong writes:
I prefer the way Francisco D'Anconia put it: "Brothers, you asked for it!"
But I take your point, Prof. Caplan: Just because people experience the consequences of their behavior doesn't mean they wouldn't choose to behave differently if they gave it more thought.
Then again, the authors have a point, too. Given that everyone's apparent needs are being met, what the heck is "optimal," anyway?
Andy Day writes:
You'll often hear that grad school is the place where students actually learn things they'll need in their jobs. So perhaps colleges will start competing for students by offering more "straight to the master's" programs. These programs would take no or only a little more time, and cost no or only a bit more money, than traditional BA programs. Students would come out with a symbolic BA or BS, and a meaningful master's. To get them through in four or five years, colleges would simply strip out undergraduate electives and all but a few "breadth" requirements.
"Second-tier" schools, hurting for tuition revenue, might be the first to try this system. But I can see it quickly being picked up by other schools - especially state schools under pressure from legislators who want in-state students to get more value for their tuition dollars.
Of course there would still be plenty of four-year liberal arts programs generating grads who need to go to grad school, or work for a few years, to learn job skills. But they could lose a lot of market share to "straight to the master's" programs, because the latter would offer students both better value, and superior signaling power. Grads of both programs would emerge with the requisite pair of diplomas to hang on their office walls. But employers might well see completing a "straight to the master's" program as a signal of greater seriousness than that shown by those with traditional BAs. Perhaps some schools would add on a paying internship at the end of the program, to make graduates even more appealing to employers.
Lemmy Caution writes:
"engineering schools have notoriously rigorous course requirements. An the professors in those schools spend a large amount of time on teaching.."
I graduated as an electrical engineer in 1986 and the coursework I took, except for some basics, is now ridiculously out of date or so esoteric that I never use it. It isn't easy to set up a path of study that maps closely to what you will need in the workforce.
Coming up with a course of study that provides significant value added such that lower quality students will gain a benefit over higher quality students that go to another school is pretty much impossible as far as I can see. Note that schools like University of Chicago and St. Johns try to do something like this in the humanities with increased rigor, but it doesn't particularly seem to help the students.
Comments for this entry have been closed
Return to top | <urn:uuid:aedb3235-cde8-4583-b107-5c5f47456069> | http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2011/10/nash_equilibriu.html | en | 0.969981 | 0.142226 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Friday, February 09, 2007
Lady Snowblood
…is almost as unwatchable as Sex and Fury and A Female Yakuza Tale. I’ve never been able to cipher Japanese perversion, but as a general rule, blood splattered Japanese hotties hacking their way through a film makes this samurai’s katana limp. Lady Snowblood is a precursor to Kill Bill – a revenge tale with a list of targets and a woman to get the job done. That’s not a selling point for me for either picture, but it might be for some folks.I tried to get a screenshot of Ms. Snowblood chopping a character in half, but it was too blurry to capture. You can get an idea of the bloodiness, though, in the frames below.Geysers of blood tended to drench the samurai pictures of the 70s, which is one small reason that they are inferior to the masterpieces of the 50s and 60sDid I mention that there was a lot of blood in the Lady Snowblood films?Well, there is! Which, as mentioned before, detracts from the honey that wields the deadly sword. If Broadway did an adaptation, the audience would have to bring their Gallagher tarps.
odienator said...
That image of blood looks like something from Batman. It should say SPLAT!!! like those flying words that came out when Adam West or Burt Ward hit somebody. Or maybe in your case, it should say BARF!
My samurai movie can out-bloody yours for sure. Stay tooned for that!
Charlie Parsley said...
Sex and violence, forever and mysteriously intertwined.
As in most forms of art, hitting the extremes brings forth extreme and nuanced experiences most of us would likely not encounter in reality. While I am generally understanding and appreciative of such expressions in arts and literatures, I will have to agree that with Violence, my personal sensibilities are limited. I can understand but don't find appreciation for 'slasher' flicks.
However there must be more that we can learn from Lady Snowblood. Why was it that the director chose this script? What was going on in the native country at that time? Surely there is more to it that simple trendiness in exploitation films.
Excellent descriptions and stunning screenshots Jeffrey. I am glad to have your thoughts to consider as I have some samurai flicks of my own on schedule at my home cinema.
And warm regards to you odie! I think the image of blood that you refer to, with the word and exclamations SPLAT!!! would be most lovely as a painting for any of the many adventurous art galleries of New York.
jeffrey said...
You're assuming an awful lot, Charlie! I'm sure you could come up with some interesting points of context as to why the director, Toshiya Fujita, decided to do it (I looked at his filmology and they appeared to be early in his directing career) - but ultimately you have to conclude that it was a result of exploiting the trend. Hyper-violent sexually absorbed samurai series were simply popular in the 70s. The story came from a manga series by Kazuo Koike, who also created Lone Wolf and Cub which was also adapted to film around the same time. I'm not fimilar with the manga end, but it is interest, if not to my taste, to see the samurai genre unfold into absurdity like it did. I think your questions "why" are most interesting when applied to the trend, itself. In other words, even if there is no more to Lady Snowblood than simple trendiness & exploitation - that is still enough to make it worthy of study - especially now that it serves as a type of time capsule. | <urn:uuid:e31cc9f6-9a08-4f72-b898-d677a9ac3ed0> | http://liverputty.blogspot.com/2007/02/lady-snowblood.html | en | 0.971235 | 0.102831 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
When the jihadists within the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) declared a caliphate, or new Islamic state, covering a large swath of territory in the two countries, they were reintroducing a political and theological concept that dates back to the time of the Prophet Muhammad.
Here's a look at the concept, the complexities of understanding it today and the potential observers consider it has for finding legitimacy outside the ISIS leadership.
What is a caliphate?
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
ISIS commander Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, shown here in a U.S. State Department wanted poster, has renamed himself Caliph Ibrahim of the new Islamic State and called on Muslims worldwide to swear loyalty to him. (Reuters)
A caliphate, from the word "succession" in Arabic, is an Islamic state that has its roots in the seventh century immediately after the death of Muhammad.
"He was a prophet and he was also a political leader. So the idea of the caliphate was born on that basis," says Noomane Raboudi, an assistant professor in the school of political studies at the University of Ottawa.
Four people — known as caliphs — succeeded Muhammad.
Chosen by "shura" — or consultation among Muslims — Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman and Ali led the community in its dramatic expansion from the Arabian Peninsula to rule over North Africa and the Middle East.
When was the last caliphate?
There have been various caliphates ruling in areas ranging from Morocco to Central Asia, but the most recent one was the Ottoman Empire.
It was abolished in 1924 by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the first president of the Republic of Turkey, who removed the last caliph, Abdulmecid.
After the abolition of the Ottoman Empire, "the so-called nation-state concept, which is a European innovation, was imported into the Middle East," says Houchang Hassan-Yari, a political science professor at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ont.
Can someone declare a caliphate?
"They can call it caliphate. They can call it something else," says Hassan-Yari. "Since they are in control of a territory, they command the territory, the people living on that territory."
Hannan-Yari says ISIS will offer a "very austere reading of the situation."
"To them it means practically imposing, or exercising as they would like to say, this Islamic value, Islamic law, the Shariah and so forth, based on their understanding of what those terms mean."
Is it legitimate?
It all depends on who is answering that question. For the jihadists who made the declaration, the answer is obvious.
"It's legitimate as far as they concerned, because they are the source of legitimacy themselves. They decide what is legitimate and what is not," says Hassan-Yari.
"In other words, they are not going to ask other countries to recognize their existence."
But there is also the sense that the declaration is intended to send a message.
"I think it's more bluster than reality," Fawaz Gerges, a professor of international relations at the London School of Economics, told the BBC.
ISIS has been using social media and observers also see the term "caliphate" being deployed on that battlefront.
"This old-new political-religious entity has been given its own hashtag, #CaliphateRestored — a potent weapon in a digital propaganda war," Ian Black, the Middle East editor for the Guardian newspaper, wrote Monday.
Will the caliphate find support?
Some observers are doubtful.
"At this point I cannot imagine any existing Muslim or majority-Muslim country would recognize the existence of a state, of such a caliphate, because it poses a real threat to everybody," says Hassan-Yari
Others do see a potential for the caliphate finding favour elsewhere.
"I think there is the capacity for expanded support," Aymenn al-Tamimi, an expert on ISIS, told the Guardian.
"There was already a pro-ISIS trend in Gaza and Sinai and from Ansar al-Sharia in Libya and Tunisia. This declaration will reinforce that trend. This is unprecedented — even if it was predictable."
Is the idea of a caliphate unique to ISIS?
Nearly all Sunni political Islamist movements dream of the eventual resurrection of the caliphate, most by political means, though jihadi groups call for establishing it by violence.
It has been the ultimate ambition of al-Qaeda, but while its late leader Osama bin Laden could once claim leadership of the international jihadi movement, he never went so far as to declare himself caliph.
Is there more at stake than theology and politics?
Raboudi, of the University of Ottawa, says yes.
There are social and economic issues involved, he says.
And he cautions against trying to understand what is happening in the region from a Western perspective.
"We should not use the political science of the Western mind, which was created to understand the national state in the Western society, to understand" what is going on there, he says.
"It's extremely complicated."
With files from The Associated Press | <urn:uuid:c40931ea-e57e-4bb8-9bd9-5525cefab92b> | http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/isis-in-iraq-what-is-a-caliphate-1.2691977 | en | 0.965786 | 0.177432 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Sermon Illustrations
Sermon Illustrations > Warning, Warnings > Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster
Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster
Tom Tripp, Colusa, California, quoted in Leadership, Fall Quarter, 1993, p. 56
There were two electrical engineers in the control room that night, and the best thing that could be said for what they were doing is they were &ls;playing around' with the machine. They were performing what the Soviets later described as an unauthorized experiment. They were trying to see how long a turbine would &ls;free wheel' when they took the power off it.
Now, taking the power off that kind of a nuclear reactor is a difficult, dangerous thing to do, because these reactors are very unstable in their lower ranges. In order to get the reactor down to that kind of power, where they could perform the test they were interested in performing, they had to override manually six separate computer-driven alarm systems. One by one the computers would come up and say, &ls;Stop! Dangerous! Go no further!' And one by one, rather than shutting off the experiment, they shut off the alarms and kept going. You know the results: nuclear fallout that was recorded all around the world, from the largest industrial accident ever to occur in the world.
| <urn:uuid:69f039a0-00f9-4de4-9b88-82b14e11a03e> | http://www.sermonsearch.com/sermon-illustrations/6980/chernobyl-nuclear-disaster/ | en | 0.978509 | 0.19749 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Attorney Smith elected NFLPA executive director in suprising vote
In a year in which sweeping and historic change has come to Washington, D.C. on a national scale, the NFL Players Association followed suit with the trend Sunday night, electing D.C.-based attorney DeMaurice F. Smith, a relative unknown quantity in NFL circles, as the union's new executive director, has learned.
After a long and often contentious search for a successor to former NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw, who died of pancreatic cancer last August, Smith was elected by the union on the first ballot Sunday night at the Players Association's annual meeting in Maui.
Sources told that Trace Armstrong, one of the two presumed favorites for the executive director job, along with former union president Troy Vincent, was informed of Smith's election about 11:15 p.m. ET Sunday.
Smith is a partner at the law firm Patton Boggs in Washington and has no significant NFL ties.
According to union sources, Smith seized control of the favorite's role for on Saturday in Maui, when he wowed the union's 32-man board of player representatives with an hourlong presentation, heavy on detail, regarding his plan to lead the union in its upcoming collective bargaining agreement negotiations with the NFL.
Smith, whose law firm is extremely plugged in to the political landscape of Washington, D.C., and has ties to the Obama administration, told the players that he would be able to prompt Congressional pressure on the NFL to bargain in good faith. Smith mentioned to the players that he felt some of that bargaining pressure could be created through Congress challenging the league's tax exempt status, as well as its long-held anti-trust exemption.
Smith won easily, but sources said it was not just based on his ability to position himself as a compromise candidate who bore none of the baggage that co-favorites Armstrong and Vincent brought to the race for the top job in the most powerful union in professional sports. Vincent and Armstrong, both former union presidents and ex-NFL players, had strong factions of support, but could not move enough voters from each other's camp to win election.
"[Smith] gave a plan, a detailed account of how to win [against the NFL], in the CBA negotiations,'' a union source said. "It was a plan that reached the players, because it was concise and detailed and had a strategy to it. It was an outline to follow. In short, he made them believe he is a winner.''
Though the controversies surrounding Vincent's candidacy dominated the headlines created by the NFLPA's search for a new executive director, Smith's vision for the union's future is what carried the day, sources said.
"He was just the best candidate,'' a union source said. "It had nothing to do with the Vincent-Armstrong factions in the end. Once the players saw him and heard him, it wasn't about the issues that have been out there. It was about his talents and his vision. He was that impressive. He talked with the players and to the players, not at the players.''
Throughout the day on Sunday, sources indicated that the election was headed Smith's way, and Armstrong, the second-strongest candidate, was said to be trailing Smith's support by a substantial margin.
For a time on Sunday there was some buzz that Armstrong and Smith would team up in some capacity, first with Armstrong in the lead role and Smith as the union's general counsel. Later, as Smith's position grew in strength, there were some union board members believed to be in favor of having Smith name Armstrong as assistant executive director. It's not know whether or not Armstrong would have accepted such a position, but he was asked to consider it by at least one board member, a union source said.
"I sure hope that's the case,'' a union source said. "It has been a long two days out here, but as Gene [Upshaw] always said, in the end the men made the right decision. I think that's what the board did today. The men have spoken, and they've spoken loudly, clearly and decisively. And now we can move forward as a union.''
SI Apps
We've Got Apps Too | <urn:uuid:b4c02d1a-a7e3-474e-95a9-84c6d89f4618> | http://www.si.com/nfl/2009/03/15/nflpa-smith | en | 0.985361 | 0.027553 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Pain after twisting and turning wrist while grouting bathroom. Is it Tendonitis?
by Brad
(Denver, CO, USA)
I grouted some floor tile three days ago - lots of twisting and turning of the wrist. Wrist is still sore where palm and wrist connect below the little finger. Most pain comes from turning the hand as if to look at the palm. Please advise.
Joshua Answers:
Hi Brad.
Is it Tendonitis? I don't know. Techinically 'tendonitis' is a diagnosis given only by a doctor (since they're the only ones' that can legally diagnose.
Is your structure irritated? Sounds like it. Would that produce pain and other symptoms? Yep.
Did you damage something with all that twisting and turning of your wrist? I can't tell from here. If you're wrists are 'in shape', then probably not, probably you just irritated them more than your body can happily compensate for.
Tendonitis is all about the Pain Causing Dynamic. Things get tighter and tighter and worse and worse over time.
Then one day you do too much, and you feel it.
First thing to do is learn How To Reduce Inflammation.
Joshua Tucker, B.A., C.M.T.
The Tendonitis Expert
Subscribe to The Tendonitis Expert Newsletter Today!
Click here to post comments
| <urn:uuid:8dc3ac42-f65a-4614-b1f3-889c67683443> | http://www.tendonitisexpert.com/pain-after-twisting-and-turning-wrist-while-grouting-bathroom-is-it-tendonitis.html | en | 0.921414 | 0.022629 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Sri ThyagaBrahma Mahotsava Sabha
Origin and Evolution
Thyagaraja (Ty.) ‘aradhana’ has now become a global phenomenon. For instance, in Cleveland, US of A, where the ‘aradhana’ has been conducted for more than 30 years without break, the City Council has declared a particular day in honour of the Composer- Saint of Thiruvaiyaru(Tu.). In a sense, the event has come to represent the ‘state of the art’ in carnatic music.
The origin and evolution of the ‘aradhana’ at Tu. has been the subject of much research, resulting in many versions, thanks to our poor tradition of record keeping. The event has acquired many dimensions over the period; its history is chequered. It has not been smooth or solemn always as the occasion warrants; there have been judicial interventions on many occasions.
References, with varying degrees of authenticity, are available only from the early 20th century. Significantly, it is said that the saint- composer himself had expressed a feeling that his memory would gain wider recognition only after 60 years of his ‘siddhi’.
It is interesting to note, that in the kriti, ‘Dayjoochudakidhi velara’, perhaps among his last kritis, Ty seeks the grace of Dasarathi stating that he has fulfilled the mission assigned to him by the Lord. (‘munu neevaanadhicchina panulaasakoni ne manasaaraka nidhaanamuka salpinaanu’)
The different ‘sishya parampara-s’ (disciple lineages), with their rigid allegiances have sought to highlight their own respective roles, sometimes even blacking out the contribution of other parties. Hence, there is much confusion in the picture. The position is more or less the same as with many details of the life story of the savant himself.
The different accounts have to be reconciled and dovetailed to get some picture. From the material available, the presentation of the scenario and the sequence of the ‘Aradhana’ may be broadly attempted as follows.
It may not be far off the mark to surmise, that in the period immediately after the saint attained ‘siddhi’, the ‘aradhana’ would have been a simple affair, more of a ritual than any elaborate musical tribute. Also, it would be a reasonable assumption, that the grandson of Ty (with the same name) would have been performing the main ritual till his lifetime. He had no issue. The developments after his demise are linked to the initiatives taken by the different ‘sishya parampara-s’, direct and indirect. The alienation of the residence of Ty in Thiruvaiyaru after his grandson’s wife moved over to her parents’ place, necessitated shifting of the venue for conducting the rituals.
With such a large corpus of emotion soaked ‘kriti-s’, continuous disciple lineage, wider spread of his compositions and increasing popularity due to the development of the system of public concerts, the homage also attracted larger involvement. Differences regarding the procedures and ego clashes among the disparate groups became inevitable.
After the death of Ty’s grandson, some of the disciples joined together to perform for sometime, the anniversary alone, in the house of Subbarama Bhagavathar, obviously a disciple, at Tu. | <urn:uuid:df62337e-a18c-46fe-899e-3379e2fcebc2> | http://www.thiruvaiyaruthyagarajaaradhana.org/aradhana.html | en | 0.966527 | 0.018738 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Expert Reviewed
wikiHow to Milk a Goat by Hand
Three Parts:Preparing the Milking StationPreparing the GoatMilking the GoatCommunity Q&A
Have you ever wanted to milk a goat? Goat milk is a popular alternative to cow milk because it is easier to digest, and due to its slightly higher fat content, goat milk is becoming increasingly popular for making cheese.[1] But milking a goat is not as easy as it looks, and it's not the same as milking a cow. However, with a little patience, perseverance, and a willing and lactating participant, you can become the expert goat milker you've always wanted to be!
Part 1
Preparing the Milking Station
1. 1
Sanitize everything that you will be using. All equipment and utensils should be thoroughly washed in water between 100-120 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8-48.9 degrees Celsius), using an alkaline-based or chlorinated cleaner. This is to prevent the growth and spread of bacteria. It is best to sanitize equipment 30 minutes or fewer before use.[2]
2. 2
Prepare a grain bucket. Use one pound or less of grain in the feed bucket, as any more grain may cause bloating.[3]
3. 3
Lead your goat to the milking stand. Put a little feed in place and she will put her head through the stanchion. Once she does that, clip it closed.[4]
• The stanchion should be comfortably loose, but not so loose as to allow her to slip her head back through once closed. If you get your goat used to the routine, it will easily come up and jump onto the stanchion.[5]
Part 2
Preparing the Goat
1. 1
Shave the udder. This will prevent dirt and grit from falling into the milk, which is crucial to keeping the milk clean and safe.[6]
2. 2
Wash down the udder and teats. Using a sterilized cloth and warm water, wring out the cloth so it's not soaking wet and wipe down the teats thoroughly.
• Using warm water is important because it relaxes the goat and helps with milk letdown.[7]
• You should also gently massage the teats and udder while wiping them clean. Udder massage induces the release of oxytocin, which triggers milk letdown in lactating farm animals.[8]
3. 3
Use a pre-dip on the teats. Pre-dip products kill bacteria without drying out the teats, and should be left on for a minimum of 30 seconds.[9]
• Some farmers prefer pre-dip instead of washing because the pre-dip does not create a warm, wet environment like washing does, which is conducive to bacterial growth.[10]
4. 4
Use single-use paper towels to wash/dry teats. And be sure to wash your hands thoroughly before milking each goat. This step is important to minimize the risk of spreading mastitis bacteria from infected goats to healthy goats.[11] It may be helpful to wear disposable gloves while milking each goat to further reduce the risk of infection.
5. 5
Inspect the teats for mastitis. Look for redness, swelling, heat, and signs of pain, as well as abnormal milk secretions during milking.[12]
6. 6
Begin milking within 60-120 seconds of teat preparation. This is to capitalize on your goat's optimal milk let-down time.[13]
Part 3
Milking the Goat
1. 1
Place the bucket on the stand. Position the milking pail so that it is centered in line with the direction of spray from the goat's teats.
2. 2
Dip, strip, and wipe. Dip the teat in an iodine solution if you have not already used a pre-dip. Then squeeze out the goat's first milk stream, which is the most likely stream to contain bacteria. Then wipe with a clean, disposable paper towel, and begin milking as normal.[14]
• Use a strip cup to collect the first milk stream. Your strip cup should have a black screen across the top to collect any irregular flakes or clots so that you can detect these irregularities quickly.[15]
3. 3
Wrap your thumb and forefinger around the base of the teat. Keep your grip firm but not too tight. Just apply enough pressure to trap the milk inside the teat.[16]
4. 4
Squeeze with your middle finger, then your ring finger, and then your pinky, in one smooth, successive motion, top-down, from udder to teat. Remember to keep your grip tight on the base of the teat, or else instead of going into the bucket, the milk will slip right back up into the udder, which may cause infection.[17]
• Don't pull on the teat! This will hurt the goat, and it may damage the teat.[18]
5. 5
Understand what works best for your goat. Every goat is different. Different goats will have different sized and shaped teats, so if your hands are bigger than the teats you may have to learn to use fewer fingers.[19]
6. 6
7. 7
Repeat steps 6-8, with one hand on each teat. Alternate, with one teat being squeezed while the other teat refills. With practice, you will find an efficient rhythm.
8. 8
Stop when you see that there isn't much milk left. The teats will be flaccid, with almost a "deflated" appearance. Massage the udder to release the remaining milk. You should get another 4-8 ounces, but do not try to wring out every last drop.[20]
9. 9
Massage the teats after milking. This can help prevent bacterial growth after the milking process has finished.[21]
10. 10
Take the bucket away, and put it somewhere that it won't get knocked over by a curious or oblivious goat. Milk should be refrigerated down to 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4.4 degrees Celsius) or cooler within two hours of milking.[22]
11. 11
Use a teat dip (iodine solution) after you are done milking. This will keep bacteria from infecting the teats after the milking process.[23]
12. 12
13. 13
Lead your goat back to her pen.
• Be sure that your goat has enough water, as goats can become dehydrated during the milking process.[24]
• Make sure that your goat is getting enough nutrients. Remember, a high-producing goat will need plenty of hay throughout the day and around one pound of grain for each three pounds of milk she's producing.[25] Ensuring that your goats have adequate food and water is always important, but it is especially crucial during milking periods. Meeting these needs will keep your goats happy and healthy.
Community Q&A
Add New Question
• Do all goats have to be milked?
No. Goats only have to be milked if they're dairy goats and you don't want that milk to go to waste, or that goat to "dry up." If you don't have a kid (baby goat) to put on the doe and don't want her milk, you can let her dry up. The only thing is, she won't produce milk until she has her next set of kids.
• Do you milk goats once or twice daily?
wikiHow Contributor
It's up to you. There is no need to milk more than once daily unless you want to.
• If the kids are stillborn, can I still milk the mother?
wikiHow Contributor
Unanswered Questions
Show more unanswered questions
Ask a Question
200 characters left
• As with all animals, never, ever yell at, hit, or otherwise abuse the goat, especially while she's being milked. The key is to make milking a positive experience, one that she will welcome, not dread. A nervous goat is a force to be reckoned with.
• Most, but not all, goats kick, and can kick very hard. Don't bring your face too close to the bucket, or you could risk serious injury or death.
• If the milk has clots, blood, or a 'stringy' appearance, your doe could have mastitis, a bacterial infection within the udder. This can be confirmed using a California Mastitis Test (CMT), which is available from various supply companies. A veterinarian can recommend a treatment based on what is causing the infection.
Things You'll Need
• One or more female goats
• Milking stand
• Feeder
• Grain
• Metal bucket
• Collar/lead
Sources and Citations
Show more... (22)
Article Info
Featured Article
Categories: Featured Articles | Goats
In other languages:
Español: ordeñar una cabra manualmente, Italiano: Mungere una Capra con le Mani, Português: Ordenhar uma Cabra, Русский: вручную доить козу, Deutsch: Ziegen von Hand melken, Nederlands: Een geit met de hand melken, ไทย: รีดนมแพะด้วยมือ
Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 249,720 times.
Did this article help you? | <urn:uuid:aa4de155-4e16-4cbe-b086-25e828698741> | http://www.wikihow.com/Milk-a-Goat-by-Hand | en | 0.931257 | 0.045723 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
A legendary race
A recap of one of the most beloved events in snowboarding: the Mt. Baker Banked Slalom.
On Sunday at Washington's Mount Baker Ski Area, the 27th annual Legendary Banked Slalom brought together snowboarding's heroes, vets and rookies alike to face the twists, turns, "caves" and boilerplate ruts that have made the contest the stuff of Pacific Northwest legend.
Olympic snowboard cross gold medalist Maelle Ricker took her sixth consecutive victory in the pro women's category, followed by Laura Hadar and Glacier, Wash., native Maria DeBari in second and third place, respectively. Terje Haakonsen, who had to catch a flight home to Norway right after the race and missed the awards, had the fastest pro men's time of the day, at 1 minute, 25.66 seconds. It was Haakonsen's seventh win in the event, 17 years after his first victory. Josh Dirksen was less than a second behind in second place, and Baker's own Temple Cummins took third.
Vermonter Kevin Pearce, who in December stepped on his snowboard for the first time in two years, was on hand, competing for the first time since a traumatic brain injury sidelined him in 2009. Pearce was disqualified for missing a gate in qualifiers but still earned the Andernewski award -- an award that started as a fastest-time rivalry between Volcom's Billy Anderson and Thrasher's Dave Sypniewski. Anderson didn't make it to the LBS this year and Sypniewski didn't make the finals, so the award -- and lifetime entry into the LBS -- went to KP.
Sure, it's a race. You get timed, and the fastest person wins. But that's not why most people say their prayers and slide into the starting hut at this contest. They do it for the gathering, the grassroots vibe and the chance to spend a weekend with a bunch of friends.
"I guess it's called a community. That's the best part," Cummins said. "Getting to see a bunch of people, meet new people and become better friends with people."
Then there's the course itself, with banks that test the skills of even the most seasoned professionals. Coming straight off his win at the Red Bull Supernatural, Travis Rice, who could be anywhere in the world, was at Mount Baker for the Legendary Banked Slalom.
Jeff Hawe
Terje Haakonsen, winner of this year's Mt. Baker Legendary Banked Slalom.
"I just wanted to keep the good vibes rolling," Rice said. "It's not like you come here dreading having to do psycho tricks. It really just comes down to riding your snowboard and letting your snowboard run with it. For everyone it's kind of an internal battle. There's a clock and everything, but it's really you against your own limits."
I found myself nervous at the approach of my first drop into the course. So did Scott E. Wittlake.
"I'm super nervous, and it's really silly because there's no reason at all to be nervous," he said.
In the end, it was those who kept their cool and flowed to the finish who took home the coveted LBS Pendleton Blankets and highly regarded duct-tape trophies. But at this event, those who come out on top are rewarded with much more -- they earn the respect of an entire community that can't wait for next year to do it all over again.
Related Content | <urn:uuid:207527e1-293e-4d1b-accf-728d9d5c09b0> | http://xgames.espn.com/snowboarding/article/7569372/27th-legendary-mt-baker-banked-slalom | en | 0.977319 | 0.069426 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Looking for a good sample?
Over 850,000 documents to help brainstorm your essay topic
Haven't found the Essay You Want?
For Only $13/page
The Changes of Social Structure in Society Essays
Society’s obsession with the rankings of social class has been a problem for many years, and it will likely continue to be obsessed over. However, the classification of the people within each class has changed over time. The official definition of social class is: a broad group in society having common economic, cultural, or political status. One popular story that was written during a time when the top social class was the mercantile class was The Canterbury Tales. The story written by Geoffrey Chaucer was written and published at a time when new social classes were shaking up the rule of traditional social classes.
As time progressed the top social classes have been changing, and those changes are not based so much on job types but they focused more on the “popularity” of the person. This was especially true in the setting of a high school, or any place with teens. A current movie that shows a theme of social classes playing a prominent role is High School Musical. Much like The Canterbury Tales, the students in High School Musical relied heavily on which class they were grouped in to decide their friends (Bryson). The way a person is perceived is not always accurate with how they actually are.
Sometimes it is in a good way and sometimes it is in a not so good way. Over time the way the world classifies each social class has changed, but the overall idea of social classes ruling the way people are perceived by their peers is still the same. The Canterbury Tales details the stories of many different pilgrims who come from many different types of social classes (Chaucer 878). The stereotypes of each pilgrim were based on what jobs they held and what social class people classified them in (Chaucer 878).
There were three main classes, or estates, prominent during Chaucer’s time. The three types were: Clergy, Aristocracy, Servants/Workers. Those who made up the clergy class were thought of as people who prayed. This class was supposedly the one that showed spiritual prowess or prayers. However, some people in this social class were just as guilty of the sins that they were leading others away from. The second class, the aristocracy, was made up of those in a governing position. This class included knights, physicians, and many others.
Just like the first class the people in the second were not what they seemed to be either. They were secretly greedy, and they would also take advantage of the positions they upheld. Those that made up the class of aristocrats were thought of as the most noble, because they held the highest titles, or important jobs within the community. Therefore, the knight was the first to tell his tale in the story. Many of the other pilgrims did not think that the knight was any better than them, and therefore they should all be treated equally and not be confined to a certain social class.
The third class, servants and workers, were made up of people who made the food and they worked for those who made up the first and second classes. This class much like the second was greedy and dishonest. The perceptions of people within certain social classes are not always the truth. Just like in every society taking the time to get to know a person within a certain class can show that not every person within a certain social structure is the same. High School Musical is much like The Canterbury Tales.
Throughout both story lines the barrier set up by each social class is broken by the characters; and they also defy the previously set “ideas” about who they are as a person. The story line in High School Musical is about high school students who try to interact with each other, but the social class barriers bring discouragement and force them to stick to their own social class (Bryson). Within a modern high school there were many classes that differed than the three in The Canterbury Tales. The main character, Troy, is a part of the jocks and cheerleader class.
However, he falls for a girl that is not jock at all; in fact she is considered a “math geek”. The relationship between the two characters is not accepted because they do not come from the same social class. They movie also focuses on social classes for musical kids, drama club kids, “skater dudes”, and kids who like to dance (Bryson). Many times in the movie there are conflicts between each social group because of the stereotype, that they are all very different. Therefore, they think that they cannot interact with other groups.
However, in the climax of the movie many leaders from each class step out and break the mold of the traditional guidelines for their class. The characters all learn that they are all not so different after all, and they actually share many similar interests. This shows that the stereotype of those confined to a particular social class are not always accurate. In this case it is not a bad thing. Since the beginning of human civilization people have been grouped together with others who share the same likes, have the same jobs, or political views.
However, their importance has changed as time has progressed. Social classes are not as limiting in the modern society as they were in Chaucer’s time. Over time the confinement of staying in one social class has become more and more lenient, and it is becoming easier and easier to break the normal structure of classes. In The Canterbury Tales it was looked down upon for people to break out of the mold of their social classes. The culture of this time period was that you could tell what a person really was like by just looking at them; a term commonly known as “judging a book by its cover”.
As the story went on it was revealed that people were not what they were originally thought to be. In High School Musical the characters were also commonly misinterpreted because of their social class. However, there were different reactions when people tried to break out of their social classes. When the students broke free of their social class mold it encouraged many other students to do the same; the reaction was much different than the reaction that was seen in The Canterbury Tales.
The way women are viewed in today’s society is a major change in the social structure. In the time of Chaucer women were not seen as important, or seen as people who could hold a title of power. In a way they were classified in their own social class all together. Women were generally portrayed as corrupt and lustful; and often it was thought that women were needy and not self-sufficient. However, since that time women have shown that that is not the case. They have shown that women can be independent and in control of their own life.
The view of women will continue to change over time, just as the social structures will also continue to develop. Social structures have always been a part of the human culture, and they will always be. The way they evolve and are classified will also continue to change and develop as the cultures do. Time has changed from the social structure being all about social rank to it being more about the “popularity” of a person. What direction social structures will go in the future is a mystery to humans, but people do know that it is an ever evolving part of the culture.
Women have come a long way from being looked at as the lowest class of people, to being able to hold their own. Social classes will always be around and changing as long as people continue to base their standards on what the culture says.
Works Cited
Bryson, Carey. High School Musical: Movie Review for Parents. About. com. About. com, n. d. Web. 13 November 2012. Chaucer, Geoffrey. “The Canterbury Tales. ” The Bedford Anthology of World Literature the Middle Period, 100 C. E. -1450. Ed. Alanya Harter. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s 2004. 689-848. Print.
Jasmine from Graduate Way
search icon Can’t Find Your Topic Here?
There’s no topic we can’t write on!
Get Paper Now
• 24/7 Support
• Safe Payment
• 100% Unique Content | <urn:uuid:083a0c07-9bd5-4772-a7bf-48716720cfd9> | https://graduateway.com/the-changes-of-social-structure-in-society/ | en | 0.983616 | 0.193603 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Conversation Between stuporfly and sbessiso
7 Visitor Messages
1. Have you checked out the shit from last Saturday at the Chekhov's Wig MySpace ( As a fellow Duranie, I'm curious to see what you think. There's four audio tracks from the set, as well as video of "New Religion."
2. Me too!!! You've seen my picture so if you see me please don't hesitate to say Hi!. Its possible I may even see you and not realize it. I'm just really bad like that sometimes so dont think I was giving you the cold shoulder
3. Hope to see you in the desert this weekend! Someone's gotta represent for the Fab Five!
4. I just spotted your message now. Fret not - I have no life. I'm a single father and a slave to my career, such as it is. My 11-day trip to California late last month is long gone, and I am now ready to succumb to the Siren's song of the forum. And given you read the pee pee story, you know I mean it.
5. Stop having a life and come back to the boards!!!
6. It's a heady musky funk, to be sure.
7. I happen to like the smell. It's very distinct
Showing Visitor Messages 1 to 7 of 7 | <urn:uuid:6c4f4ecf-53d5-4f7a-98c9-cb62d2a20512> | https://www.coachella.com/forum/converse.php?u=8627&u2=2737 | en | 0.95455 | 0.573655 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
MaxClient httpd/apache processes consistently reached and then connections refused
Posted on 2004-09-17
Last Modified: 2008-01-09
We have a RedHat Linux 7.3 site running apache 1.3.27, with MaxClients=256. Occasionally have seen the number of httpd processes go to 256, stay like that for a few minutes, then back down to well under 100. During those few minutes some connections are not accepted. The site is running about 80-100 sites across about 500 virtual domains (most of which are unused). About 5 of the sites do 90% of the traffic.
We recompiled httpd to enable settingMaxClients higher, and set it to 512 (I know it is dangerous to do so, but we have 1GB RAM and thus took the risk). MaxRequestsPerChild = 200. KeepAlive is On, MaxKeepAliveRequests = 200, KeepAliveTimeout = 15.
MySQL connections was increased from 400 to 600 when we increased MaxClients to 512.
After all this we still see the same activity. Running a script to count httpd processes every 15 seconds. Here is one such episode. Note the sudden jump at 10:17:05, climb to MaxClient processes for a few minutes and then back down.
42 09/17/04 10:15:34
42 09/17/04 10:15:49
40 09/17/04 10:16:04
36 09/17/04 10:16:19
36 09/17/04 10:16:34
36 09/17/04 10:16:50
36 09/17/04 10:17:05
178 09/17/04 10:17:37
242 09/17/04 10:17:53
243 09/17/04 10:18:11
243 09/17/04 10:18:27
272 09/17/04 10:18:43
397 09/17/04 10:19:14
405 09/17/04 10:19:34
513 09/17/04 10:20:07
514 09/17/04 10:20:23
514 09/17/04 10:20:41
514 09/17/04 10:20:58
(... repeats every 15 seconds)
514 09/17/04 10:24:49
486 09/17/04 10:25:48
72 09/17/04 10:26:09
73 09/17/04 10:26:24
72 09/17/04 10:26:39
65 09/17/04 10:26:54
56 09/17/04 10:27:10
(Note, when it says 514 it's actually 512, we just use "ps aux | fgrep httpd | wc -l" which results in 2 extra counts).
We have looked at traffic logs on all sites and can't see anything that would cause this type of traffic, IF it is traffic that's the problem. But, most of our sites are PHP+MySQL based, so maybe something is going on with some web site's programming that would cause this behavior. Anyway, we see max of around 5000-10,000 hits (from all combined server logs) in a 10-minute interval. (I will verify this number again shortly). That doesn't seem like too much but, maybe it is?
Other details:
* Seems to happen about 2-3 times a day.
* Does seem to happen during times when you would expect more use, i.e., doesn't happen in early a.m. hours.
* None of the httpd processes, when maxed out, are in any sort of spin loop. They all have 0 to 5 seconds of CPU time.
* System load average stays under 2.
* When this happens we have looked carefully at top, memory, swap etc., and all seem fine. System is not thrashing or going to disk for pages while these MaxClients processes are working. It's just... "stuck" for a while, then spontaneously resolves and apache processes die off rapidly.
Whatever help you can provide to help us track through this problem would be appreciated. I will award points if I feel significant help is rendered even if it doesn't result in a solution per-se.
Question by:andrewfx
• 6
• 5
Expert Comment
ID: 12090308
Have you done an analysis of the actual traffic logs? When you say 500-10000 hits, do you mean requests, or unique IP addresses? More importantly, since this is a regular occurence, do all these requests come from the same IP address or subnet? Or is there a spike in activity on a particular vhost? Perhaps someone is periodically mirroring a site, or worse, benchmarking the server. It might even be a DDoS attack.
It does seem unlikely that a single individual could generate this much traffic on their own due to bandwidth limitations, but is it possible that there is a rogue machine on your local network? The bandwidth of your LAN would probably be enough to saturate you with requests in the way you describe.
Obviously, all this is just wild speculation, but I think a good look at your traffic logs would reveal more.
Author Comment
ID: 12101949
Thanks for the response. For some reason I did not get any email from EE like I normally do, otherwise I'd have responded earlier.
Wild speculation is just fine!
Yes, I have now analyzed logs around the incident above. Here is the per-minute number of HITS recorded in ALL vhost logfiles. (Defining HIT = one line in the logfile. So, we count number of lines in all vhost logfiles that have the corresponding date-time-minute, then add 'em all up across all vhosts). So this is not unique users or anything. Just hits. Yeah if it was unique users then that's a lot of traffic.
------ -----
10:05 489
10:06 383
10:07 441
10:08 551
10:09 445
10:10 600
10:11 542
10:12 911
10:13 720
10:14 907
10:15 786
10:16 587
10:17 596
10:18 881
10:19 455
10:20 638
10:21 133
10:22 0
10:23 0
10:24 0
10:25 0
10:26 1347
10:27 468
10:28 550
10:29 463
10:30 457
10:31 421
As in my first posting, the limit of MaxClients httpd was hit around 10:20. Soon after that, everything is STUCK; no more hits are recorded.
Around 10:25 is when (in this case) I did an apachectl restart to get it unstuck.
(a) Does the traffic leading up to the incident seem like a lot?? To me it doesn't. Server is AMD 1.7Mhz w/ 1 GB ram and SCSI disks. Like I said, swap is not being touched during all this. But, maybe 900+ hits in a minute is likely to touch off some problem? There's just very little info out there on this type of stuff, it seems.
But, we didn't get any such incident over the weekend, when traffic is typically light. Number of servers exceeded 100 for few minutes then was usually below 30. We shall see what happens this week.
(b) If this IS purely a traffic issue, it should still be recording some large number of hits during 10:21-10:25, right? (Even if some accesses are being denied).
(c) Could this be a DoS issue? (But it seems dumb for someone to DoS us for so little time and so rarely). But is it possible to detect when httpd is in a DoS state? I.e. if I get to MaxClients again, how can I tell from netstat or something else if we're being DoS'ed?
(d) Any dangers to triggering an apachectl restart from a script if this situation is detected?
A new week, more traffic, we'll see what happens.
Thanks for the answer!
Expert Comment
ID: 12102261
I don't think the number of hits you are experiencing is particularly unusual, given the number of sites you are hosting. Interestingly, the number of hits doesn't seem to correlate exactly with the number of processes, for instance, at 10:17, when the number of processes is increasing, the number of hits is actually lower than a minute ago. What is really odd, is that you get *no* hits while the processes are maxed out - one would expect the existing processes to handle at least one request each at a time, and only requests above that limit should be rejected.
I offer the theory that all these processes are therefore hung, and so cannot service any clients, while Apache is unable to create new processes to service new clients. This may well be a bug in Apache, or possibly a CGI program which enters an infinite loop. I think http periodically kills off unresponsive processes, which explains why the problem eventually fixes itself.
Looking at the apache changelog, I see one issue (fixed in v1.3.28 I think) which might be causing this:
*) Update timeout algorithm in free_proc_chain. If a subprocess
did not exit immediately, the thread would sleep for 3 seconds
before checking the subprocess exit status again. In a very
common case when the subprocess was an HTTP server CGI script,
second sleep, which effectively limited the server to serving one
CGI request every 3 seconds across a persistent connection.
PRs 6961, 8664 [Bill Stoddard]
Also, fixed in v1.3.29:
*) Prevent creation of subprocess Zombies when using CGI wrappers
such as suExec and cgiwrap. PR 21737. [Numerous]
Most interesting is
*) SECURITY: CAN-2004-0174 (
Fix starvation issue on listening sockets where a short-lived
connection on a rarely-accessed listening socket will cause a
child to hold the accept mutex and block out new connections until
another connection arrives on that rarely-accessed listening socket.
Enabled for some platforms known to have the issue (accept()
blocking after select() returns readable). Define
NONBLOCK_WHEN_MULTI_LISTEN if needed for your platform and not
already defined. [Jeff Trawick, Brad Nicholes, Joe Orton]
More info on this last issue is available here:
Although this bug is not *known* to affect linux systems, it just might, and would probably cause you the problems you are having.
I suggest two possible remedies:
1. Upgrade Apache to the latest 1.x version (1.3.31) - obviously this isn't as easy as it sounds, since you'll need some downtime, but since there are several security advisories which affect your current version, it's something you will have to do sometime anyway.
2. Lower MaxRequestsPerChild from 200 down to maybe 25 or 50. This will mean each process will terminate sooner, making it less likely to leak memory or other resources. This will mean a performance hit, due to increased process creation overhead. Also, make sure that MaxSpareServers is set to a sensible value, so that idle processes don't hang around doing nothing.
If nothing works, then maybe you've found a new bug in httpd, and you need to take this to the apache mailing lists.
Comprehensive Backup Solutions for Microsoft
Expert Comment
ID: 12102380
P.S. You should probably also lower your settings for MaxKeepAliveRequests and KeepAliveTimeout - 15 seconds is a long time for a process to be idle. Generally, a client downloading all the elements of a webpage would issue each request almost immediately after each other. At present, you could have a process idling for 15 seconds while the user is busy reading the text of the webpage, meanwhile, there are no free processes to handle other user's requests.
Author Comment
ID: 12102423
Well, there's a lot of stuff to digest in there.
(a) For some reason I've had this thought in my mind that 1.3 development stopped with 1.3.27. I didn't realize it was up to 1.3.31 ..! So I guess you're right, we have to upgrade at some point. Actually downtime is not an issue, it's just a lot of work to compile apache the way we need it (php/ssl/.. etc.).
(b) Just about all the vhosts are once we developed ourselves, and we use PHP, not CGI. Could a PHP page with an infinite loop just as well cause this as a CGI? (Actually it can't be an infinite loop since there are no processes in spin-loops; but maybe some sort of block state, maybe waiting for a mysql connection, for example?)
(c) Other than lowering MaxRequestsPerChild (which I was thinking of doing anyway), are there any other directives to tell apache (the main root apache that forks off the children) to kill off unresponsive child procs quickly? Obviously there are downsides to that too - killing a legit child - but we could tune it. Things like TimeOut/KeepAlive/MaxKeelAliveRequests/KeepAliveTimeout?
(d) Min/MaxSpareServers are set to 5/20 respectively. Is that "reasonable" ?
Expert Comment
ID: 12102425
P.P.S. I notice that the time your server remains deadlocked is around 5 mins - this is also the default value for the TimeOut directive - perhaps setting TimeOut lower (60 seconds perhaps?) would limit the time before the server rights itself.
Accepted Solution
mishagale earned 500 total points
ID: 12102583
(b) Sometimes, if you aren't using mod_php, then PHP pages are interpreted in the same way as CGI scripts. Even with mod_php, there is no reason a PHP page cannot become deadlocked like any other program. Maybe you should check whether MySQL hangs at the same time as httpd.
(c) I can't find a directive to do exactly what we want, but sending the main parent process a SIGHUP will cause it to kill all it's children, and then spawn new ones according to StartServers. SIGUSR1 does something similar, but won't kill of any children that are in the middle of something. Maybe tweaking the TimeOut directive will help?
(d) I would have thought that setting perfectly ok.
Author Comment
ID: 12102744
Yeah, we're using mod_php but you're certainly right that a PHP page can get blocked like any other. What is puzzling is how one PHP page could cause ALL the children to lock up, I doubt if all the requests could come for that one page.
I'll check into MySQL next time it happens.
OK, thanks for all this (and sorry some of my answers came while you were writing more thoughts). It is definitely helpful and along the lines of what I was hoping someone would walk me through.
I'm going to monitor the server closely this week and try doing some of the things you suggested, and we'll see what happens. I'll also investigate upgrading apache, either to latest 1.3.x, or maybe see if apache 2.0.x is ready for primetime yet.
Please do me one last favor, ping me on Wednesday if I haven't awarded any points yet and I'll take care of that. And if you happen to think of anything in the interim, please post it, and if I observe anything interesting I'll post it here as well.
Author Comment
ID: 12103709
Hi there,
Well, the issue came up again soon after our discussion this morning. I was alerted as soon as number of procs crossed 200, so I saw it was maxed at 256 (current MaxClients).
This time I did a netstat -a and found 200+ connections like this:
tcp 1 13032 SOMEHOST:64787 CLOSE_WAIT
tcp 1 13032 SOMEHOST:64788 CLOSE_WAIT
tcp 1 13032 SOMEHOST:64789 CLOSE_WAIT
tcp 1 13032 SOMEHOST:64790 CLOSE_WAIT
tcp 1 13032 SOMEHOST: 2312 CLOSE_WAIT
tcp 1 13032 SOMEHOST:64777 CLOSE_WAIT
tcp 1 13032 SOMEHOST:64778 CLOSE_WAIT
..slightly edited, where "SOMEHOST" is all the same host from a major corporation, so I prefer not to name them here.
Any idea what could be going on? I'm pretty sure this is the problem though. Did some searching and found:
Of course, further research is strictly for academic curiosity. I blasted that sucker into an iptables DROP rule so "SOMEHOST" can forget trying to access any of our sites. I'll keep watching and whomever else wants to try this same trick will be easy enough to deny, and I certainly have no problem denying access to a whole x.y.z.w/16 until their sysadmin asks to be reconnected.
Listen, your answers helped me think through a lot of this and gave me a better understanding of how all this works (I've been running this server + vhosts for 3 years now and still feel like I know 10% of what there is to know..). With your help, maybe I know 11% now. I'll investigate the different settings for TimeOut and such, to possibly defend against such things better in the future. Beyond the technical advice, it's just real comforting knowing that someone knowledgeable out there is thinking about your problem and trying to help.
Thank you! I really appreciate it.
Expert Comment
ID: 12104013
The fact that your connections are in a CLOSE_WAIT state suggests that either you or SOMEHOST are failing to acknowledge the other parties TCP FIN packets, i.e. one of you is attempting to close the connection, and the other is simply ceasing to send data, rather than sending acknowlegement and terminating gracefully. Without looking at detailed tcpdump, I could't tell which end was the problem, but I'd guess it isn't Apache.
Anyway, I think Apache is finally aborting the connection after the number of seconds specified by TimeOut, by default 300. The Apache docs say this value is "far more than necessary in most situations." I'd suggest lowering it to around 30-60 seconds.
If SOMEHOST are at fault, then it could reasonably be construed as evidence of a DoS, but since it was only for a few minutes at a time, more likely a badly configured router or operating system. Either way, it might not be a bad idea to notify their sysadmins.
Glad you were able to solve your problem.
Author Comment
ID: 12104211
You're probably right that it is not a DoS, I suppose someone can do us a lot worse if they want to.
I was thinking about the TimeOut adjustment in particular (that you had earlier recommended). Will play around with that.
I'd notify the sysadmins of SOMEHOST, but it's a giant company and all I have for them is customer service e-mails. If someone loses access (and is a legit user), we will presumably hear about it, and then can take it from there to find out what's going on.
Featured Post
Efficient way to get backups off site to Azure
Question has a verified solution.
Suggested Solutions
Join the community of 500,000 technology professionals and ask your questions.
Join & Ask a Question | <urn:uuid:40d367d3-63de-4361-9132-cabbdbb2d79f> | https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/21135347/MaxClient-httpd-apache-processes-consistently-reached-and-then-connections-refused.html | en | 0.927511 | 0.021691 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
The Biggest Myth About Solar Power
Comments (7)
1. zed1 says:
The problem is that most solar is not being done efficiently. There are ways to do it but that would rattle the energy industry to the core and be too disruptive. has an example of the kind of solution that could be built if there was real political will for a transition to solar solutions.
2. Andy Foldes says:
Mr. Basenese, your chart is incomplete. Where are the real estate costs for wind, for gas, for coal, and for nuclear?
Where are the storage and disposal costs for nuclear waste?
Where are the pollution and climate change costs for burning fossil fuel?
Where are the costs for the destruction of the landscape in the extraction of coal?
Where are the medical costs for people getting sick and dying as a result of polluted air and water resulting from gas and coal extraction and gas and coal burning?
Where are the military costs of maintaining control over large areas of the undeveloped world, like the Middle East, where belligerent and primitive tribes have been empowered by newfound wealth?
Are these extractive industries NOT “reliant on government subsidies to stay relevant in the marketplace”?
Andy Foldes, NYC
3. Jay Jay says:
In reply to Andy F. What is it with you people, are you trying to save the world? Have ever seen a coal mine/field, “landscape”? How do you know for sure that fossil fuels are the cause of death, or that second hand smoke kills? No one has ever been able to prove it, when something can’t be proven it’s just theory.
People die everyday, by the thousands from some sort of infliction regardless of the cause. Being in my 70’s means i had the experience of having been in a time where there were fewer people on the planet and life was much simpler. The world could do without so many people.
4. eric taylor says:
We will never see grid parity as long as we keep subsidizing coal, nuclear, and fracking oil and gas, relative to the cleaner solar energy production, and that is before the long term environmental sustainability costs are added in.
5. Pieter Stek says:
From a friend who is deeply involved in solar, I received the following comment: “Fortunately, Louis Basenese is way off the mark: (1) the amount of solar energy falling on the earth (insolation) is four times greater (say) in Uppington, South Africa than (say) in the UK (where solar is unsuitable), (2) in Rajasthan, electricity costs US$0.22 per Kwh, which provides a four year payback for solar grid installations without subsidy, (3) the cost of real estate in his calculations is completely arbitrary – grid installations should be placed on waste land, semi-deserts or on factory rooftops. “
6. Annabelle Herbert says:
There is a solar game changer on the horizon. Check out 3D Solar, which has a prototype that is nearly 3 times more efficient than present systems.
7. Jeffrey Barker says:
When you come up with a battery with a 40+ year life span, then and only then, would I give it any thought.
Add Comment | <urn:uuid:ad5d2477-48cd-4de0-93ee-b95ca6e84f9c> | https://www.wallstreetdaily.com/2012/10/08/the-biggest-myth-about-solar-power/ | en | 0.965292 | 0.128273 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Preparing for NaNo, or, How to write successfully
Lately, as NaNo approaches, I've been talking to friends and reading writers' blog posts about their own preparation for NaNo. I've noticed that many are trying to be plan ahead so that they wouldn't get stuck or something of the sort come November. Usually, this getting ready includes creating outlines, organize scenes, think thoroughly of their characters etc.
Talking to or reading about what other writers do in order to prepare for NaNo tends to almost always make me feel awful. See, I never do these things, I never prepare and when I read how many have their outlines ready or what not, it makes me feel guilty as I'm sure I should too. But it's not me. I sort of write from the hip -- if you'd allow me to tweak the expression -- seat-of-the-pants method, just let it flow, organically. (Maybe that's why I don't like books about writing, none of their methods ever worked for me).
Oh, I know that we've been through this a million times before probably, and if you recall, I always say the same thing - each writer should do what's good for him/her. Writers should use the tools they feel make their writing better. These tools just happen to not work for me.
So, I'm sorry to bring this up again, but NaNo preparation made me do it.
By the way, don't get me wrong, I do prepare an outline, but usually after I've started writing and after I'm done a few chapters. I also write notes about my characters, but again, not before, only while I write; things I want to remember about my characters -- either things I've already mentioned, or things I want to later mention and so on.
I even remembered reading a post Tambo wrote from a few months ago because I agreed with it so very much. Tools, not rules, she calls them. Editors don't care how writers write and writers are the only ones who know what works for them. Hear, Hear!
Categories: , , , , ,
rdl said...
I used to think you had to go the outline route but I like your method better!! Go Melly!!
redchurch said...
I wrote from the hip last year, and it didn't work for me. Writing from the hip got me exactly that--writing that seemed like it came from the hip. :)
So I perfectly understand what you mean by use the tools that work for you!
Trée said...
The way of no way is the only way, but only as long as you know the way of way first. Sounds like you do Melly, so full steam ahead and don't look back. :-D
Patry Francis said...
"Tools, not rules." I like that phrase. I wasn't sure if I was going to nano this year or not, but now it seems like a great way to jump start my current project. Glad to know you're in!
jlb said...
Yes, Tambo offers a lot of good wisdom. ;) I've never tried the NaNoWriMo, but I'm giving it some consideration this month. That's about the most preparation I'll allow myself... consideration. My other projects keep me way too busy to side step and make elaborate plans for an exercise which will be fundamentally for fun and bulk quantity (at least this time around).
Good luck to you!
Jean said...
I was reading this and thinking, "But you're not an outlining writer, so of course you're not going to outline in preparation for NaNo."
Then I got to your point -- Do what works for YOU. Good advice.
And you're right. Editors (or agents either, for that matter) don't care how you write. They only care that your write arresting prose (without, of course, getting arrested in the process, but maybe they don't care so much about that either, as long as you still meet your deadline).
Melly said...
Thanks rdl dear :)
Eric, LOL, good humour. Of course, I know outlines work for you. Sometimes I wish they did for me too...
Trée, that's really good :) Thanks.
Patry, I hope I'm in (still not sure), but you're right, that's exactly what I'm doing it for, to advance the current WIP.
JLB, thanks. The quantity is indeed the point in NaNo, but sometimes, just get over my inner critic I need this.
Jean, oh goodness, I can't believe how well we know each other by now from just from blogging.
Re getting arrested, that might be a good experience, I'm sure editors wouldn't mind :)
Jennifer said...
I usually know/plan (whatever we want to call it) what each chapter will be about. However I don't know what will ACTUALLY be in each chapter till before I sit down to write it. Everything depends on the earlier chapters.
If I outlined in too much detail, I'd waste my time. What comes next is always dictated by what I just wrote, but what I just wrote -- 90% of the time -- never matches what my initial outline said :D
So I guess you could call me a half planner. I know the basic events...I stick to them (most of the time) and then everything else fills itself in as I get to the point...
marta said...
This is my third NaNoWriMo, and if all goes "well" it will be my fourth book (all unpublished, thank you!) and I don't plan anything except for the first line. I have no idea where it will go, who the person is in it, but I've got the sentence in my head...and I'm ready for midnight Halloween!
redchurch said...
I think the reason I need constraints, plotting, outlining, is it's hard for me to work without a framework. It's hard to start at zero, with nothing--no starting point.
I'm also not a big believer in the muse, so far as the 'divine inspiration' element goes. What am I waiting for? The time is NOW, not some indefinite point in the future when the muse may or may not strike.
Once I've picked a high concept, I have to start structuring it, sorting it out, making notes. Just diving in and wandering in random directions seems like a waste of time to me. But that's just me.
redchurch said...
I thought I should ask... Melly, if outlines and any form of structure or planning don't work for you, then what does?
Or you just don't use much at all in the way of tools?
Cavan said...
I wrote from an outline during last year's NaNo, but my productivity dried up as soon as my writing outstripped my outline.
I'm not participating this year (well, not quite), but if I was I think I'd take a shot at going entirely plan-free.
Melly said...
Jennifer, you actually sounds very confident about your 'method' or 'plan' or whatever name we call it, which is the whole point, right?
So many ways methods...
Marta, first sentence? Now, that's sounds intriguing. Interesting you could build something from that. Great actually :)
Eric, like I told Jennifer, you sound very confident (always have) about what works for you, which is really the point.
As for me, you're right, no tools. Sometimes I think about a story for a while and turn it over in my head some time. Sometimes I'll write little notes, sometimes I'll write scenes. I do have the basic idea/premise if you will, and a basic idea of the story and where it's heading, but rarely is anything planned structurally in advance, probably also because I tend not to write sequentially/chronologically.
Cavan, we'll have to start a "plan free" club ;)
I ran into exactly the same problem when I tried outlines, btw, or I'd want to go one way but the outline was going another and then either I was too rigid or it just didn't fit anymore. Either way - doesn't do it for me.
Jen(nifer) said...
Include me in that plan free club, oh the plans and ideas aer verywhere, just mnot in any organized form.
Good luck! I'm over at Nano under allthingsjennifer
Deborah said...
I'm definitely a "write from the hip" kind of gal. Outlines have given me the bare basis for writing my stories, but I've never been able to follow them.
As for NaNoWriMo, it's a great exercise to practice banishing your inner critic. At least it was for me. I look forward to hearing about your experience. :)
Yzabel said...
I wanted to go with a proper outline for this year's NaNo, but of course, between work, college and homework, it'd have been a miracle if I had managed to pull that out!
Working totaly from the hip doesn't work well for me, much to my dismay, but then, complete, detailed outlines don't do the job either. Jotting down a few lines for each chapter, to know where I'm gong to, seems to be the most important part--the one that will prevent me from falling short in the middle of the novel, thinking "now I need my muse to strike to be able to go on" (like this would happen exactly when I need it).
So, indeed, we have to go with what works for us.
And gosh, this picture with the hundred of post-its freaks me out. That's a method that wouldn't work for me. ;) | <urn:uuid:1a8836c7-b2d4-4fdf-96e0-7c595c1ba0a2> | http://allkindsofwriting.blogspot.com/2006/10/preparing-for-nano-or-how-to-write.html | en | 0.977242 | 0.120992 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Thumbnail image for youtube logo homepage.jpgYouTube is now officially in the movie-rental business. The Google-owned video service dabbled with the idea earlier in the year by offering Sundance films for rental., but the new site located at marks a much broader entry into the market, with what seems to be a fairly large spectrum of movies and TV shows priced between 99 cents and $3.99.
The YouTube rental store features newer movies, including Oscar contenders Precious and The Cove; indie classics such as Reservoir Dogs and Pi; and more mainstream fair, such as 3:10 to Yuma and Saw III. The store also offers a number of anime TV shows and selections for young children.
Rented movies can be viewed for 48 hours. All of the transactions are handled by Google Check-Out. | <urn:uuid:16084f44-4ff9-42e9-bda4-a804c901dda0> | http://appscout.pcmag.com/utilities/270254-youtube-opens-a-rental-store | en | 0.957251 | 0.216367 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Why Behavioral Targeting is Scary
Behavioral targeting shouldn't be scary to consumers -- because every major behavioral targeting system I've ever seen (outside of spyware) goes to great lengths to protect user privacy. It's all completely anonymous!
But behavioral targeting is incredibly scary to publishers and advertisers and any other company who wants use anonymous user data to effectively target advertising. Because even some very smart people simply don't take the time to understand what's being discussed. I'm sure Sir Berners-Lee is one of the great minds of the digital world -- but either he has never bothered to read up on behavioral targeting, or he doesn't know the meaning of the word 'anonymous,' or he simply doesn't trust his ISP.
It's probably the latter: he doesn't trust his ISP. That's fair; everyone can decide for themselves who to trust. But it's also odd, because he presumably already trusts Google to store all his searches -- including personally identifiable data -- for 18 months. Does Berners-Lee really trust Google more with data about exactly who he is and and what he searched for (which is not just the 'worst-case scenario' he discusses in the BBC story, but the actual fact of his relationship with Google today) more than he trusts BT or Virgin Media with anonymous data? (After all, who stores more sensitive data about you: your search engine, or your ISP? And who has a worse history of leaking users' behavioral profiles: search engines, or ISPs?)
This is why the ISPs who partnered with Phorm just weeks ago have already gone weak in the knees. It seems it's simply not possible to have a fair, informed discussion of behavioral targeting -- not in the face of scary stories from the media, and over-reaching, under-informed comments from the type of digerati who should know better. | <urn:uuid:716cb771-1d1d-4de5-acbf-34a05f8ce5b1> | http://blogs.forrester.com/adm/08-03-17-why_behavioral_targeting_scary | en | 0.967375 | 0.323715 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Beginner's tutorial
Next: Step 0: Orienting yourself
Welcome to Logisim!
Logisim allows you to design and simulate digital circuits. It is intended as an educational tool, to help you learn how circuits work.
To practice using Logisim, let's build a XOR circuit - that is, a circuit that takes two inputs (which we'll call x and y) and outputs 0 if the inputs are the same and 1 if they are different. The following truth table illustrates.
We might design such a circuit on paper.
But just because it's on paper doesn't mean it's right. To verify our work, we'll draw it in Logisim and test it. As an added bonus, we'll get a circuit that's looks nicer than what you probably would draw by hand.
Step 0: Orienting yourself
Step 1: Adding gates
Step 2: Adding wires
Step 3: Adding text
Step 4: Testing your circuit
Enjoy your circuit-building!
Next: Step 0: Orienting yourself | <urn:uuid:fd7d84a8-30d8-4d06-90d2-b4a989f1b336> | http://cburch.com/logisim/docs/2.1.0/guide/tutorial/index.html | en | 0.932015 | 0.285262 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Numerology - Number Meanings
The Meanings Of Each Individual Number in Numerology.
Each number has a vibration or quality which can be represented by the following words. Each number also has a negative aspect to it as well. More detailed explanations can be found below. Once you get a basic feeling and understanding of each number vibration, you will able to come up with your own words to express the qualities of the number.
The Number 1 individuality,independence,adventure,initiative,originality
The Number 2 diplomacy,mediation,kindness,sensitivity,cooperation
The Number 3 enthusiasm,inspiration,imagination,optimism,creativity
The Number 4 concentration,management,dedication,efficiency,organization
The Number 5 invention,variety,adventure,flexibility,change
The Number 6 beauty,domesticity,healing,passion,trusting
The Number 7 research,understanding,intuition, investigation,solitude
The Number 8 power,capability,efficiency,skill,hard work,determination
The Number 9 imagination,intuition,generosity,devotion,dedication
The Number 11 (master number) awareness,creativity,dreamy,inspiring,intensity
The Number 22 (master number) great achievement ,ingenuity,high energy,innovation,idealism
Symbolically the number 1 is the creator. The individual self. The seed. The point. It is the potential energy of creation. It has masculine qualities associated with it. The number One reflects new beginnings and purity. 1 represents both physical and mental action.
Keywords: independent, creative, original, ambitious, determined, self-assured. If expressed negatively: arrogant, stubborn, impatient, self-centered.Creativity, independence, originality, ego, self
Symbolically the number 2 represents duality. Polarity. Opposites attract. The positive and the Negative. It carries with it the feminine aspects. It is the creation and the balance. The 2 beckons us to choose. It is the exchange. The relationship. The influence of the 2 can envoke Cooperation or Conflict. It is the judgement or the decision that is made.
Keywords: diplomatic, warm, peaceful, sensitive. If expressed negatively: too dependent, manipulative, passive-aggressive, Empathy, cooperation, consideration, over-sensitivity, co-dependence
Symbolically the number 3 represents the triangle. The trinity. The multiples. First is the idea. Then there is the effort. Finally there is 3 which is the result. The creation of the created. The Past Present and the Future. The number 3 is associated with hope, faith, luck, fortune, magick,intuitition and synchronicity. It is the external and the internal expression. Freedom of expression.
Keywords: jovial, friendly, positive, adventurous, self-expressive. If expressed negatively: extravagant, scattered, superficial,Artistic expression, sociability, friendliness, superficiality, wastefulness, The Divided, Triangle, Multiples, The Holy Trinity, Faith, Hope and Charity, Expression, Speech, Wit, Society, Art, Culture, Sensuality, Sorrow, Immaturity, Passion, Air, Surprise, Spontaneity, Change, Sex
Symbolically the number 4 represents the foundation. It is the powerfull essence of the four seasons, the four directions and the four elements of the earth. It is the builder and the organizer of the world. The number 4 can be experienced by the stability and practicality of it's nature. Qualities of the 4 are down to earth , trustworthy and precise to the point. These qualities of persistence and endurance will bring about profit, wisdom, commerce and good health.
We must build a strong foundation for the seeds of progress to sprout. It reminds us to stay grounded. Reacurring fours in your life may signify a need to center yourself and go back to your roots.
Keywords: trustworthy, helpful, steady, logical, self-disciplined, problem-solving. If expressed negatively: contrary, stubborn, narrow,Practicality, application, loyalty, rigidity, repression,The Builder, Foundation, Stability, Patriarchy, Power, Progress, Earth, Justice, Ability, Manual Dexterity, Practical, Law, The Conscious Mind, Civilization, Traditional, Profit, Wisdom, Commerce, Health, Conviction
Symbolically the number 5 represents change, travel and communication. 5 is clever, adaptable and quick moving. 5 qualties are those of the gambler, the wild child, the inventor and the visionary. It is linked to the sences and the imaginamtion. 5 offers oppertunity, adventure, healing and miracles. The 5 energy is associated with movement and motion. In its negative aspect, dull repetitive routines can depress the5 energy.
The spiritual 5 can be unpredictable. It beckons us to pay attention the wonder of life amoungst the chaos that surrounds. It invites us to make a change.
Keywords: adaptable, freedom-loving, romantic, resourceful, witty, fun-loving, curious, flexible, accommodating. If expressed negatively, non-committal, irresponsible, inconsistent, Freedom, adaptability, travel, inconsistency, abuse of senses, The Visionary, Expansion, Opportunity, The Matriarchy, Adventure, Imagination, Story-telling, Symbols, The Subconscious Mind, Individualism, Freedom, Healing, Miracle, Choices, Unconditional Love, Mercy, Kindness, Invention, Resourceful, The New Age, Assistant.
Symbolically the number 6 represents change balance, responsibility and harmony. Much like the energy of the 3 but on a higher level. It is associated with the home, family and heart. It deepens the bond. If offers sympathy, charity and grace. It is the protector and the healer. We can experience the energy of the 6 within economy, agriculture, sorcery and within evolution itself. It is the butterfly emerging from the cacoon. The 6 gives us solutions and offers the calm after the storm. The spiritual meaning of number 6 also deals with enlightenment and intuition. It inspires us to consciously choose forgiveness in a turbulant situation.
Keywords: compassionate, stable, family-loving, trustworthy, domesticated. If expressed negatively, superficial, jealous, possessive, unwilling to change,Love, responsibility, understanding, meddling, jealousy ,The Protector, Provider, Healer, Nurturing, Children, Empathy, Intuition, Sympathy, Quality, Sustenance, Love of Community, Unconditional love, Circulation, Economy, Agriculture, Charity, Balance, Grace, Evolution, Simplicity, Sorcery.
Symbolically the number 7 represents the thinker. It embraces Science, education, knowledge and study. The written word. It is the number of the genious, the alchemist and the collective consciousness. It can be associated with travel, either physical or mental in it's nature. We can feel the influence of the 6 within periods of introspection and intuition. It has a restless inquiring way about it. This number is spiritually connected to secrets, myth and rituals. It is the sacred and mysterious 7 that is associated with chance because it is almost magickal. It is the number 7 that we associate with spiritual things. The ancient and the unknown. The mysterious and the unreveiled. There are many references to the 7 in religious texts. The energy of the 7 asks us to be more consciouslly aware. Understanding the 7 vibration will help us manifest the desired results in our lives.
Keywords: unusual, introspective, intuitive, psychic, wise, reserved. If expressed negatively: melancholic, odd, leaves too much to chance, hard to reach,Spirituality, mental analysis, wisdom, fault finding, suppression ,The Analyst, Thinker, Science, Learning, Education, Study, The Written Word, Logic, Alchemy, Secrets, Myth, Religion, Ritual, Understanding, Knowledge, Isolation, Chastity, Dignity, The Collective Consciousness, Genius.
Symbolically the number 8 represents power in a physical sence. It is the ego. The Business. It is reality. It is associated with wealth, sucess, status, employement and skills. 8 is a strong number and provides us with the will, the focus and the drive to achieve goals. It is associated more with the traits of extroverted person as opposed to an introvert. It is sometimes misunderstoof. 8 is also the number of Karma. What comes around goes around. There is hard work assicated with the 8 and its energy can either manifest into material success or failure. We may feel the energy of the 8 when trying to get ahead in life and finding ourselves in routine, constantly having to repeat a process before experiencing the results. 8 represents continuation, and repetitive cycles but sometimes such is due to the determination of the person themselves.
Keywords: ambitious, business-minded, practical, leading, authoritative, successful, courageous, accomplished, organized. If expressed negatively: tense, narrow, materialistic, forceful, Executive ability, management, power, materiality, unscrupulousness,The Manifesting, Wealth, Power, Riches, Status, Material, Pragmatism, The Ego, Provision, Aggregation, Dictatorship, Multiples, Business, Investment, Employment, Appearance, Customs, Skills, Exchange, Reality, World Transformation.
Symbolically the number 9 represents the humanitarian, the higher self, the mystic and mankind. It teaches self sacrifice and there are aspects of higher karma involved. It is enlightenment achieved and divine wisdom attainted. It is Religious in nature and is a protector. Have Faith. Have optimism. It it through suffering and hardship that we become masters of our destinies.
The spiritual meaning of number Nine bring us to the very height of virbrational frequencies in this number sequence. It is with the 9 that we embrace our chances to make a positive influence in all that is involved. It involved intellectual power and influence over situations and things by recognizing the power within you and by extending these abilities into the world in a positive way.
Keywords: jack of all trades, humanitarian, sympathetic, helpful, emotional, tolerant, active, determined. If expressed negatively: financially careless, moody, bullying, overly emotional, sullen, restless,Artistic genius, humanitarianism, romance, emotionalism, dissipation , The Humanitarian, Religious, Charitable, Philanthropic, Duty, Calling, Mission, Obligations, Hardship, The Higher Self, Spirit Guides, Mysticism, Faith, Angel on Earth, Faith in Mankind, Optimist, Suffering, Self-sacrifice, Karma, Enlightenment, Divine Wisdom.
THE NUMBER 11 (master number)
Symbolically the number 11 represents spiritual and divine enlightenemnt, inspiration, idealism, illumination and expression. It is a powefull master number associated with the psychic, channeling energy, art, dreams, mystics, prophets, symbols, revolution, drugs and alternate consciousness. It is a very energetic number and can cause instability in its negative aspects. There is almost unliminted energy involved here and there must be a balance between both physical and spiritual sides of nature, and the mental and emotional. The light and the dark.
Keywords: idealistic, intuitive, considerate, tolerant, accepting, steadfast. too dependent, over-sensitive, manipulative,Intuition, idealism, invention, insensitivity, fanaticism
THE NUMBER 22 (master number)
Symbolically the master number 22 represents ancient wisdom,manifested dreams and realizations. The forces of nature. God, universal love. The universe. Personal power. In a physical sence it can respresent love and war, technology anyhing new or revolutionary. The 8 is the master builder. The future. Evolution in all of its aspects. It is the leader and way and the divine imagination.
This number seems almost ahead of its time. It is a number of courage, force and hard work for the higher good of all that there is. It is the best the world has to offer. It is unlimited potential of love. It is the light.
Keywords: achiever, wise, intense, idealistic, resourceful, passionate. If expressed negatively: overly emotional, destructive, dramatic.Practical idealism, material mastery, get-rich-quick schemes, viciousness.
***Aleister Crowley and Paul Foster Case have given a Qabalistic-tarot oriented interpretation of the symbolic use of numbers.***
1. The point, spirit
2. The point distinguishable from one other, change
3. The point defined by relation to two others, fertilized idea
4. Matter, solidification
5. Motion (time), storm and stress
6. Self-conscious, center
7. Bliss, degeneration
8. Thoughts, correction of previous error
9. Being, crystallization of energy
1. Beginning, initiative, unity
2. Dualism, reflection, receptivity
3. Multiplication, development, growth
4. order, measurement, classification
5. Mediation, adaption, activity
6. Balance, harmony
7. Rest, safety, security
8. Rhythm, vibration, alternate cycles
9. Completion, attainment, realization
The time is now on | <urn:uuid:3b3a50ab-61b0-4f07-b994-f329e4b7dad4> | http://dimension1111.com/numerology-number-meanings.html | en | 0.878203 | 0.313662 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Friday, November 18, 2011
GAPS Intro - Day 12
I cannot believe we are here...Day 12!!! The baby and I have been under the weather, flu or some sort of virus. I am feeling much better and back to normal. It seems unreal that we maintained the Intro diet through me being sick. I pulled it off somehow. The kids kept looking forward to getting a spoon of ghee and honey twice a day. It's amazing what a person will hang on to in order to satisfy that part of us that wants dessert. You make do with what you get, ya' know? Here they're left with meat, fat, broth, eggs, veggies, sauerkraut juice, sea salt, ghee, and honey and they tell me that ghee and honey taste like ice cream and sea salt crystals are like chips. (I am laughing so hard right now).
I feel like so much has happened since I last blogged. I wish I have been able to take pictures. Kai's skin has recently improved dramatically in texture and appearance. It has gained a slight suppleness to it. Something she has never had. I believe that the Vitamins A, D, and K are finally beginning to be assimilated by her gut. These are essential for healthy skin. She is deficient in them. Also, I recently started her on some Vitamin D3 as recommended by her chiropractor. I think this is a big jump in her healing. She is itching less during the day and the evening. It may not be enough for others to notice, but I notice! It's funny because the other day I was getting so discouraged. I even considered looking at other options. I called up a doctor that administers Low Dose Allergen injections to feel out that option. But the very next day Kai's skin began to look very different. It was just what I needed to keep me going.
The baby and I are doing a less strict style of the diet. I am allowing certain things for him and I since he is a baby and I am still nursing. We pretty much eat what they eat, but also some fruit, nut butter, and raw goat dairy.
The other two, Noah and Kiyomi, are hanging in there. There were some hard days. I guess there were some hard days for all of them at some point. But I kept my foot down. I am a determined mama at this point. There was proof of yeast leaving Kiyomi's body (don't want to get too detailed about that if you know what I mean). Josh has told me that he is noticing some higher level of alertness/awareness in Noah. I noticed too, but didn't tell Josh until he told me first. I sometimes want to make sure it's not just me imagining things.
So at this point they are all pretty much on Stage 3 of the Intro Diet and progressing daily. Kai is handling a few drops of Fermented Cod Liver Oil a day and this is a miracle! All in all, I can say that I am already witnessing some gut healing that has already taken place.
I am so proud of my kiddos. What they are going through is not easy and most children will never have to think about. They are going to appreciate good health and good food in a way that many won't. This experience, like all experiences in life, will make them who they are...and for the better.
1. Wow, such great news! I hope that Kai's skin continues to improve, what a blessing that you got a token of healing just when you needed it! God always steps in just in the 'nick of time' some translations have it.
Keep up the good work and as far as Noah, it really is something because he spent all that time away from home recently, a night and a day and wasn't in a hurry to get home I understand. When I saw him recently in the store, he was very open and talkative. You're doing a great work and setting such an example of perseverance to the kids and everyone!
2. Thank you, my anonymous friend (-: I know who you are..tee-hee! That is so neat to hear that someone else is noticing a difference in Noah. It's different with Noah. Kai is so easy to gauge because of her skin. Noah, however, is a little tricky. It helps when others from the outside of our family give me feedback on him. | <urn:uuid:da318006-3b32-46ba-a483-9f40bc5094c3> | http://healingkai.blogspot.com/2011/11/gaps-intro-day-12.html | en | 0.984273 | 0.026827 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Essential Blender- P3
lượt xem
Essential Blender- P3
Mô tả tài liệu
Download Vui lòng tải xuống để xem tài liệu đầy đủ
Chủ đề:
Nội dung Text: Essential Blender- P3
1. -./01+#234S5#67+#1+()+1#>1+@.+9#G'(+&3 ?.(%E(%"&(18.#-S(1M--('&./&'N F6)22#fUX:#KB*8#/2)62#()$*6)#@@#fUX#,2#0%2"#1,+)13#8.*,&)5#"%#%&)#%7#G;#Q'2#2&*\\3#aH
2. ?.)#5)7*/1"#8/()#6)&5)62#76%0#".)##".)6)#,2#*#1%"#0%6)#"%#1)*6&>#(/"#".)#-6)*"#".,&-#,2#".*"#*"#".,2#
3. Chapter 3: Object Animation Basics By Roland Hess Animation is a change over time in some aspect of your Scene. That change can be something simple, like a change in the color or intensity of a light, or it could be something complicated, like the changes in position and shape of an entire group of characters dancing in time to music, while the camera whirls around the dance floor. Regardless of what happens in your Scene, there must be a way to track and record those changes. In Blender, as in most animation software, these changes are recorded as "keyframes" or "keys" for short. A key is just a marker in time of some state, value or setting. Tip: Animation information is stored in "keys". Time Before we review the keying tools, you should learn how to navigate in time. The most visual method for doing this is to use the Timeline Window, found in the center of the default Animation Screen, but easily accessible in any window from the Window Type pop-up menu. (Remember: to access the default Animation Screen, use the Screens menu from the header at the very top of the Blender window.)
4. Figure OAD.1: The View menu on the Timeline window header. The timeline can be viewed in either seconds or in frames. Blender's default is to break each second into 25 frames, the PAL video standard. (Most film/movie work uses 24 frames per second, while the North American video standard, called NTSC, uses roughly 30 frames per second). To change the display method of the timeline, you go through the Timeline Window header's View menu, or simply press the T-key with the mouse over the timeline. Frames per second can be set either with the "Set Frames/sec" entry in the Playback menu, or on the "Frs/sec" spinner in the Render buttons (F10). The vertical green marker in the Timeline indicates the current frame. Using LMB in the timeline sets the marker and the current frame. The current frame is also displayed in the lower left hand corner of the 3D view, and in the header of the buttons window.
5. Figure OAD.1.1: The current frame number can be found in many places on the default animation screen. Tip: The current frame can be set by LMB clicking within the timeline. In addition to using the timeline to navigate through time, you can also use (surprise!) keyboard shortcuts. Image:Dummy.png Figure OAD.2: The arrow keys can be used to change the current frame. The Right and Left arrow keys step forward and backward one frame. Up and down arrows step forward and backward by ten frames. Shift-Left arrow moves to the Start frame, while Shift- Right arrow moves to the End frame.
6. Tip: Right and Left arrow keys change the frame by one. Up and Down arrow keys change the frame number by ten. The Start and End frames, which can be set in either the timeline's header or in the Render buttons, indicate the range of frames that will be shown when you give a "play back" command. You can tell Blender to play the animation between the Start and End frames in a couple of ways: the "play" button on the timeline header or with Alt-A in a 3D Window. Tip: Alt-A with the mouse over a 3D view plays the animation in that view. Creating Animation Keys Keys can be set throughout Blender with the I-key. Pressing the I-key will almost always pop up an "Insert Key" menu, with entries appropriate to the mouse's location. If the mouse is over the 3D window when the I-key is pressed, a key will be set for the active object.
7. Figure OAD.3: The Insert Key menu for the active object. Blender's basic animation workflow is simple: 1. Use the time tools to find the frame where you would like to record a setting for animation; 2. Adjust your object how you want it to be at this point in time (location, colors, shapes, etc.); 3. Use the I-key to bring up the "Insert Key" menu, then select the appropriate key. All objects can have Rotation, Location or Scale keys. The Insert Key menu shows several different combinations of those choices. In the menu, Loc stands for Location and Rot for Rotation. Thus, the LocRot entry in the menu creates a key for both Location and Rotation. LocRotScale creates keys for Location, Rotation and Scale. If you are only changing the location of an object in your animation, just use the Loc type key. Likewise, if you are only rotating an object, you would choose LocRot.
8. The Layer entry on the I-key menu sets an animation key for the layer settings of an object. You can make objects appear and disappear from a scene by keying them to move to a hidden layer at a certain frame. Explanations for the rest of the entries in the object I-key menu wouldn't make much sense to you at this point, so we'll leave them for a more advanced text. Tip: I-key brings up the "Insert Key" menu that lets you save states and settings for animation. Once you have inserted a key for an object, you continue throughout the timeline to create your animation: pick a frame, adjust your object, set a key. Pick, adjust, set. Many settings in Blender are keyable beyond simple object transformations. You can consult the documentation to find a comprehensive list of which settings and values can be keyed, but a better way to find out is to hover the mouse over the window of the item you would like to key and press the I-key. Figure OAD.4: The I-key brings up a keying menu appropriate to the window you are working in. Ipos and Ipo Curves The upper right portion of the default Animation screen is used as an Ipo Window. Many new and migrating users are confused by the term Ipo, but it's simple, really. In order to create the animation between different keys, Blender (like any other 3D program) must "interpolate"
9. between the keys. "Ipo" is just an abbreviation of InterPOlation. So the Ipo Window is just a window in which you can view the actual interpolation between animation keys. Figure OAD.5: The Ipo window. Once you have created keys for an object, they will show up, along with some curves, in the Ipo window. Each different setting gets its own curve, and in the illustration you can see that there are curves for LocX, LocY and LocZ - the x, y and z locations of the object. The Ipo window will show the curves for the active object in the 3D window, so if you want to see the Ipo curves of a different object, select that object in the 3D view. You can drag with the LMB in the Ipo window to scrub through the animation, just like you could in the Timeline window. In fact, the horizontal axis in the Ipo window is the timeline, in frames, with current time marked by the vertical green line. The vertical axis shows the actual values of the keys. Rotation Key Values The exception to the rule about the vertical axis in the Ipo window is rotation keys. Rotation keys are represented in the Ipo window as one tenth of their actual value. In other words, a cube with a
10. Y rotation of 125.25 degrees will show in the Ipo window as 12.52. This is done simply to keep the scales of the different curves in the Ipo window relatively similar. Although confusing at first, you'll soon not think twice about it. Working with Ipo Curves The Ipo window shares controls with other areas of Blender. The scroll wheel and MMB function as zoom and view changing controls like they do in the 3D view (MMB only pans the view here). Also, the Home key automatically zooms and translates to show all the available objects, which in this case are keys. Curves can be selected with the RMB, and the G-key and S-key will move and scale the entire curve. With a curve selected, the Tab key can be used to enter Edit mode, allowing you direct access to the key points which you may move as you choose. Tip: The Ipo window shares hotkeys and functions with the 3D window. RMB, and G-key and S-key for selecting and transforming curves. Tab key for Edit mode on curves. Like the 3D window, the N-key brings up a Transform Properties panel that shows the exact values of selected curves and key points, and lets you edit them directly by typing in new values.
11. Figure OAD.5.1: The Transform Properties panel for the Ipo window. Although you can use these tools to change the actual key values (like changing an x location key from x=5 to x=10), you will most often use the Ipo window to change curve interpolation styles, to set the extend mode and to adjust key timing, as you'll see next. Tip: N-key brings up Transform Properties panel for curves and keys. Interpolation Styles Blender allows three different ways for values to change from key to key. The default, which you've seen in the illustrations so far, is called "Bezier" mode, and refers to the style of curve in the preceding section. This mode leads to smooth transitions between key values, slower at the beginning and end of the change, and faster in the middle. Using the example of a ball moving between two locations, Bezier interpolation would have the ball start
12. out slowly, reaching its maximum velocity halfway between the keyed locations, then slowing down before coming to a stop on the last key. Linear mode moves between keys at a constant velocity. This interpolation type is useful when animating mechanical or non-natural motion. Constant mode is of limited use. It causes values to stay the same (constant!) until the next key is reached, at which point they immediately change to the new value. It would be used, for example, to cause an object to seem to "teleport" from one location to another. Figure OAD.6: The different interpolation types. Interpolation styles can be set by selecting the curves whose style you wish to change, then selecting the appropriate style from the Interpolation Mode entry in the Curves menu of the Ipo Window header. Alternately, you can use the T-key shortcut (think "inTerpolation") to pop up a menu directly within the Ipo window.
13. Figure OAD.6.1: Choosing interpolation types from the Curve menu on the Ipo window header. Tip: T-key brings up the Interpolation mode menu, letting you choose from Bezier, Linear and Constant. Extend Modes Sometimes, you will want to create a bit of animation that continues forever. A quick way to do this is to create one piece of the animation, and then use Ipo Extend Modes. Very simply, if the Ipo curves in this illustration represent the motion of an object moving around in a circle:
14. Figure OAD.7 Then this illustration represents that same motion repeating over and over.
15. Figure OAD.8: The same Ipo curves in Cyclic mode. You access Extend Modes by selecting the Ipo curves you wish to extend, then choosing the extend style you would like from the Extend Mode entry in the Curve menu on the header.
16. Figure OAD.8.1: Choosing an Extend mode from the Curve menu on the Ipo window header. Constant: this is the default Extend Mode that all Ipo curves have. This is what you would consider "normal" Ipo curve behavior, and the only one you have seen so far. Extrapolation: this mode takes the slope of the curve at the first and last keys and simply extends them, forward and backward in time, forever. Cyclic: cyclic extend causes the animation between the first and last keys to repeat over and over, resetting each time. Cyclic Extrapolation: this mode repeats the animation like cyclic mode, but instead of resetting, it uses the last repetition's endpoint as its starting point.
17. Figure OAD.9: The Extend modes. Tip: Extend modes can be set through the Curves menu on the Ipo window header. Key Timing When you are setting keys for your animations, you probably will be guessing as to how long certain actions should take. How quickly should the ball fall toward the floor? How long does it take for a character to turn his head in surprise? The odds are that you won't know the answer until you play back your animations to see what looks right. Although the proper location and rotation keys may be in place for such things, their correct timing is just as crucial. Adjusting key timing in the Ipo window is quick and easy.
18. Within the Ipo window, press the K-key to enter Key mode. Every frame that has a key now shows a vertical line that is selectable with the RMB. Using the G-Key to move that vertical line will move all keys that fall along it to the left or right (backward or forward) along the timeline. This illustration shows the circular motion animation curves in Key mode. The keys on Frame 16 have been RMB selected. Figure OAD.10: The Ipo window in Key mode. Using the G-key, you can move the entire set of keys from Frame 16 to the left or the right to adjust their timing. As you do this, the curves update in real time.
19. Figure OAD.11: The curves adjust to follow the movement of keys. Tip: The K-key toggles Key mode in the Ipo window, which lets you quickly adjust the timing of your keys. While this chapter has shown you the mechanics of moving and animating objects in Blender, it hasn't even touched on the artistic aspects of animation. Indeed, entire books have been written on the subject. Once you are comfortable with the mechanics of animation in Blender, you're encouraged to start practicing and improving your art.
20. Chapter 3: Object Manipulation Basics By Roland Hess Note: For almost every hotkey function in this chapter, there is a corresponding entry in the Select and Object menus in the 3D View header. Although Blender's hotkey system was originally designed for maximum efficiency (and still retains much of that quality), it can be a bit daunting to new users. If you find yourself at a loss for the hotkey for a particular function, check out the menus. In fact, periodically browsing the menus is a great way to discover new functionality. This book is really just a primer - there is a lot more depth to be found, and the menus are a nice way to start experimenting once you've mastered the basics. Coordinates Understanding the coordinate system is the absolute baseline of 3D manipulation. If you have any experience with this at all, you can skip to the next section without fear. Image:Dummy.png Figure OMD.1: [no text] In the illustration, you'll see a line labeled "X", with value markings along it, and a circle whose center is a dot. The circle's center dot rests on the marker labeled "3". In graphics terminology, you would say that the location of the circle is, simply, 3. Image:Dummy.png Figure OMD.2: [no text] Now, we've added another dimension to the illustration. This time, the center of the circle can be traced down to the "3" on the "X" line and to the "2" on the "Y" line. Each of these lines is called an "axis". When you talk about the location of the circle, you say that its x and y coordinates are 3 and 2. This is commonly written as "(3,2)". Image:Dummy.png Figure OMD.3: [no text] We're in 3D now (3 Dimensions: x, y and z). The center of the circle is still at (3,2) along the x and y axes, but we've added a third axis, z. The circle's center point is four units up on the z axis, so it's final coordinate is (3,2,4). As you can see on the axes in the illustrations, the coordinate systems go off into both positive and negative directions, so (x,y,z) values will not always be positive.
Đồng bộ tài khoản | <urn:uuid:4ee130f1-254b-445f-8143-a423aa0b1da2> | http://tailieu.vn/doc/essential-blender-p3-316937.html | en | 0.900955 | 0.021064 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
About TechKnowledge Corp.
Since 1988, TechKnowledge Corp., located in Roswell, Georgia, has been providing professional technical writing, editing, consulting, training, and production services for PC and Macintosh systems.s.
Individuals associated with TechKnowledge are noted for their qualities in select areas such as design, programming, multimedia, and prepress production techniques. Through a team of resources with diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise, TechKnowledge can provide a solution for your technical publication and training needs.
Services Offered
Technical Documentation: Hardware and software user guides, and operation and policy/procedure manuals, complete with indexes and cross-references.
FrameMaker: Training, templates, conversion from Word.
Courseware: Instructor-led or self-paced courses in print or in multimedia.
Consulting Services: Windows and Macintosh system installation, consulting, and training.
As a matter of fact, I'm PayPal Verified and can start helping you right now!
How TechKnowledge Can Help
Creation of New Materials: Rolling out a new system? Need to document existing procedures? TKC can write the training and support materials you need. We are particularly well known for taking complex systems and procedures and describing them in understandable (yet accurate) terms.
Consider, too, this common situation: You have a document that needs to be written, and you, more than anyone, know what needs to be said. However, you find yourself spending (i.e., wasting) time working on the format when you'd like to concentrate on the words. A new writer isn't feasible because you can't afford to (again) waste time while he or she learns the subject matter and comes up to speed. The solution? You bang out the copy. We format and provide editing as needed. The turnaround time will be very, very fast.
Updating of Present Materials: This is popular because it's faster and more economical than writing from scratch. It's frequently used in situations where you have documents that need a bit of editing, and just don't reflect the professional image you'd like. TechKnowledge can provide the editing and update the layouts into a uniform look and feel that does justice to your products.
Electronic Distribution: Using the Internet or have a company intranet, we can assist you in developing electronic distribution techniques. For example, your branch offices can download a document on demand and print it locally, saving time and money over ordering preprinted materials from a central corporate warehouse. Additionally, electronic distribution ensures that only the latest version of a document is on hand.
Analysis and Training of Production Techniques: If you are producing your publications in house, chances are we can improve and speed up your work flow. We may suggest a some changes in software, or we may provide application performance training, showing you how to produce the same amount of output in only half the time while maintaining (and probably improving) quality.
Publishing Guides: Pub guides describe how documents are put together and the mechanics of writing. They boost customer perception (through accuracy and consistency between documents) and save money (no more wasting time asking questions on how to do something). | <urn:uuid:dd682c3f-6c24-4a9b-9bbd-f4fee368197f> | http://techknowledgecorp.com/first.html | en | 0.934519 | 0.206608 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
2013 Winners
Posted in Uncategorized at 1:33 am by XcottCraver
There were over 40 submissions this last year, which was a lot to judge (especially since some submitters do not provide any hints about their bugs!) It also resulted in a lot of really great hacks, too many to simply list as a few runners up. This summary is considerably longer than in previous years.
As you will remember (click the "THIS YEAR" tab if you don’t,) the object of the 2013 Underhanded C contest was to write a function to compute the DERPCON — Degrees of Edge-Reachable Personal CONnection — between two users in a social network. Essentially the programming task is to find the shortest distance between two users in a friendship graph.
The malicious goal is to write the code so that it mistakenly outputs a low DERPCON value from your account to others, granting you unwarranted access to people who have not "friended" you. Extra points were awarded for asymmetric bugs, meaning that DERPCON(you,me)==1 while DERPCON(me,you)>1; for bugs that can be triggered without insider access to the database; bugs that are relatively platform-independent; bugs that are spiteful or humorous; and of course bugs that are very well hidden, since the name of the game is creating an error that passes visual inspection of source.
Common Themes
A number of attacks fell into a few broad categories, that I summarize below:
Cause weird behavior if an attacker is his or her own BFF
In this attack, being your own buddy causes a naive graph search to terminate. Engineering this sort of misbehavior requires a bit of thinking, but there are apparently several ways to accomplish the same thing.
Unless I missed a few, this was used by submitters Tomas Bouda, Kieran Elby, Christoph Franck, and Corentin Plouet.
Weird behavior when UID is out of range
A userID of zero, or less than zero, or above some #defined maximum (naughty!) can be exploited in many clever ways.
One submitter, Alex Bassas, wrote the following function to match users:
int same_users (user *x,user *y) {
if (x->user_ID>=0) {
if (x->user_ID == y->user_ID) {
return (TRUE);
return (FALSE);
Do you see the bug? It looks like an invalid userID for x causes same_users to return FALSE, but the final return command is one line too high. If the userID is negative, the function ends with a implicit return value that is nonzero.
Bad hash values
Several submitters use a negative index to trick the software into overwriting variables on the stack. This can be achieved by defining a hashtable with a lousy hash, where the right username causes an unexpected negative value.
A lot can be done with that bad hash value, and several specific examples are in the runners up, below.
Preloaded scratch values
The scratch field in the structure is there in case somebody wants to mark users as visited, or store temporary data such as distances from the root user. Several submitters provided implementations that assume zero scratch values, so a scratch somehow set to an evil value will result in a DERPCON of 1.
It is not clear how one would set that scratch field externally. There are several related submissions where an attacker has to alter some field internally, such as changing the attacker’s UserID to the victim’s UserID.
Fun with Serialization
There were a few serialization tricks. Submitter Arthur O’Dwyer writes usernames and IDs into a string, using string functions to find if two users are the same.
void user_serialize(char *buf, size_t bufsize, user u)
snprintf(buf, bufsize,
u.name, u.account_handle, u.user_ID, u.number_of_BFFs);
The attack then consists of creating a username in the same format as the serialized data, i.e. ":handle:5"
This is vaguely similar to a format specifier bug, and in fact, an entry by Frederic Brault employs a format specifier bug:
//Pretty print a line in the logs
printf("[DERPCON] : ");
printf(" <=====> “);
printf(”%sn”, y.name);
A user account named fred%21$n triggers the bug. This earns points for spite, since the bug is made possible by writing data to a log file.
Another submitter, William Edwards, uses an AA tree structure where nodes are labeled with usernames; the label "root" is used internally, so a user named "root" causes exactly the bad behavior we want.
A few entries used unsigned char values to store distances that could then be overflowed by a linked chain of 256 or more dummy accounts. An entry by Jens Nyman creates an NxN adjacency matrix (of unsigned char values) and uses the Floyd-Warshall algorithm to precompute the minimum distance between every user. Sitting at the end of a very long chain of dummy accounts, you can be mistakenly measured at a distance 1 from a target user.
Honorable Mentions and Runners Up
Some of these entries almost won. A couple of them were not finalists, but are worth mentioning because they did a funny thing that I liked.
Daniel Hartmeier
This one is too visible, but I rarely ever see people exploit trigraphs:
int DERPCON(user x, user y)
static int m = 0;
user **q = NULL;
int r = 0, w = 0, i;
// 2013-04-01 dhartmei: split scratch 29-to-3 bits???/
/* You have a strange feeling for a moment, then it passes
* (&q+10)=='@'?!(0??(*(&q+14)??)=&q+16):0 ;/*~
… there’s really no way to conceal that wacky line, and once caught it is obviously intentional; but if you compile with an option that enables trigraphs (the submission was compiled with -std=c99,) the ??/ becomes a backslash, uncommenting the wacky line—-which causes fun behavior when the userID==‘@‘, or 64.
Jon Szymaniak
This submission used the following code to compare users:
#define valcmp(x, y) ((x) - (y))
#define cmpfn_user_ID valcmp
#define cmpfn_number_of_BFFs valcmp
#define cmpfn_ valcmp
#define cmpfn_name strcmp
#define cmpfn_account_handle strcmp
#define compare(x, y, field) cmpfn_##field((x)->field, (y)->field)
#define compare_ptr(x, y) valcmp(x, y)
static inline int is_different_user(user *x, user *y)
int ret = FALSE;
ret |= compare(x, y, user_ID);
ret |= compare(x, y, number_of_BFFs);
ret |= compare(x, y, name);
ret |= compare(x, y, account_handle);
/* However, if the pointers are the same the user must be consistent. */
ret &= compare_ptr(x, y);
return ret;
This conflates bitwise with logical operations. The compare() functions output 0 if equal, and ret accumulates a nonzero value if two users are not identical; but ret&compare_ptr(x,y) may still be zero even if x and y are different pointers.
To exploit this, one must create a user account that sufficiently mimics a target user, and then ensure that this account is in such a position in memory that the final bitwise and masks out all the differences. That is not too impossible, if for example you can create a large block of consecutive dummy accounts.
Dan Jackson, Gaëtan Leurent, Linus Akesson
These three submissions are similar enough in spirit that I group them together.
The first two of these entries exploit a fact about 2s-complement arithmetic that we’re all supposed to know, but which is easily forgotten: INT_MIN its own 2s-complement. In C, neither -INT_MIN nor abs(INT_MIN) has a defined value, but the way it is often implemented, -INT_MIN evaluates to itself, and abs(INT_MIN) comes out negative.
In Mr. Jackson’s entry, DERPCON(X,Y) is computed by growing a set of users reachable from X, marking each user’s scratch value with a positive number; while growing a similar set reachable from Y, marking each user’s scratch value with a negative number. As soon as one user’s set has an account with the wrong sign, we have a minimum path from X to Y.
The code starts with these lines to initialize X’s set to {X} and Y’s set to {Y}.
/* Add user X to expansion nodes. Use scratch as a 'back pointer' so one of the shortest BFF paths can be recreated. */
x->scratch = abs(traceID(x)); /* Force to be positive to mark this as an expansion from user X */
queue_add(&expansionX, x);
queue_add(&scratchCleanup, x);
/* Add user Y to expansion nodes. Use scratch as a 'back pointer' so one of the shortest BFF paths can be recreated. */
y->scratch = -abs(traceID(y)); /* Force to be negative to mark this as an expansion from user Y */
queue_add(&expansionY, y);
queue_add(&scratchCleanup, y);
…the positive/negative value is traceID(x), which is defined as:
int traceID(user *usr)
int value = stringhash(usr->name); /* Trace using a hash of the user's name */
if (value == 0) { value = 1; } /* Cannot allow zero values, reserved for 'unvisited' nodes */
return value;
…so, a bad hash. A bad hash outputs INT_MIN for just the right username, triggering the bug.
This is a bit difficult to justify, but the trace information is used instead of a +-1 in order to provide some unspecified debugging value. In any case, the attack takes place in the very first line: if traceID(x) is INT_MIN, then X begins with a set containing a negative value, causing an instant match.
Mr Leurent’s submission also uses a bad hash that can output INT_MIN with the right username, but this is exploited differently. The hash is as follows:
#define HASHSIZE 151 // 151 is a prime number
// FNV hash: http://www.isthe.com/chongo/tech/comp/fnv/index.html
int hash (user *x) {
int h = x->user_ID;
for (char *p = x->name; *p; p++) {
h = 16777619 * (h^*p); // FNV prime
// Reduce safely in [0..HASHSIZE-1]
h = abs(h) % HASHSIZE;
// Extra sanity check
if (h < 0 || h >= HASHSIZE)
h = 0;
return h;
Note the use of a legit hash function, at first. But if h comes out as INT_MIN, then taking abs(h)%HASHSIZE results in -2. This is hidden rather well by the extra sanity check to double-ensure that the hash is in range. How does the -2 get past that final sanity check? Because an optimizing compiler removes that check as redundant, since h is already an absolute value modulo HASHSIZE. Ha!
(This is not a bug in the optimizing compiler, by the way: h comes out as -2 from evaluating abs(INT_MIN), which incurs undefined behavior. The optimizer assumes well-defined behavior.)
And what is the hash used for? This data structure with a hashtable:
struct state {
struct cell *data; // Growing array of nodes
int allocated; // Current size of the array
int used; // Index of next available cell
user *target;
int derpcon; // Updated when target user is added
int next_out; // Queue pop index
int buckets[HASHSIZE]; // Hash buckets: list of nodes (indexes in `data')
A malicious user with just the right name is created, and BFF-linked to your account. Calling DERPCON(you,anyone_else) causes that user to be visited, with the lines
int h = hash(x.user);
s->buckets[h] = s->used++;
Which overwrites buckets[-2], the derpcon field, with a 1.
Linus Akesson doesn’t use the abs() trick, but does use a hash that can be manipulated into returning -1 for
a given username, to overwrite a variable on the stack. The beginning of his DERPCON function reads:
int DERPCON(user x, user y) {
hashtable_t hashtable;
int distance = INFINITY;
…so that the hash table sits on the stack just after the distance variable. The hash table has this structure:
typedef struct entry {
value_t value;
char *key;
struct entry *next;
} entry_t;
typedef int (*hashfunc_t)(const char *key);
typedef struct {
/* Useful for profiling. */
int collisions;
/* User-supplied hash function. */
hashfunc_t hash;
/* The first entry of each chain. */
entry_t table[BUCKETS];
} hashtable_t;
So counting backwards, table[-1] consists of the three-element "entry" consisting of the hash and collisions fields from the hash table, and the distance field in DERPCON, which is therefore overwritten. This can be exploited by BFFing a bogus account whose username hashes to -1, triggering the bug when the bogus account is visited.
Simon Nicolussi
This one still has me confused. The heart of the DERPCON function is a bog-standard breadth-first search using a queue, initialized with user x:
// initial push:
x.scratch = 0;
push(&q, &x);
// run breadth first search algorithm (with maximum depth DERPCON_MAX):
while (!empty(&q) // no more edges to traverse or
&& !EQUAL(peek(&q), &y) // path to target node found or
&& peek(&q)->scratch < DERPCON_MAX) // maximum path length reached?
BFF_enqueue(&q, pop(&q));
Keep queueing BFFs as long as the queue has people, the next person is not the target, and we haven’t yet reached the maximum DERPCON distance. As the code suggests, the scratch field of each queued user is set to the distance from user x. EQUAL is a macro:
#define EQUAL(x, y) ((x)->user_ID == (y)->user_ID)
And then it gets weird: after this loop ends, the queue may be empty, or the user may be found, or a maximum path length may be hit. This code wraps it up:
if (empty(&q)) // no possible path to target node, set scratch to maximum
x.scratch = DERPCON_MAX;
else if (!EQUAL(peek(&q), &x)) // no (needless) memcpy on congruent memory
memcpy(&x, peek(&q), sizeof(user)); // copy whole struct for debugging
..wait, what? Okay, so the structure for user x is now used to hold the result. If the queue is empty, x.scratch is set to DERPCON_MAX. If not, the first user in the queue is either user y, or the first user of maximum distance; either way, copy that onto x—-unless the first user in the queue is x, in which case there is no need to perform a copy.
So where’s the bug? The bug is that if the next person in the queue is user X, you still need to copy its data into X, because the user X in the queue is a different hunk of memory from the user X being used to hold the result. This code essentially conflates two different notions of equality: equality by UserID, and equality of addresses.
What this means is that you can hack the system by creating 6 user accounts BFF-linked to each other in a circle. When we call DERPCON(you, anyone_else), the queue searches around the circle and stops when DERPCON_MAX is hit, just as you are again in the front of the queue. Because you are you, you are not copied onto you, even though you in the queue are not you but the you in the queue, which means that you.scratch (initially 0) is never changed.
The function then returns
return MAX(1, MIN(x.scratch, DERPCON_MAX));
…which I frankly think is a tiny bit contrived, but turns a 0 into a 1.
James Stanley
This uses an uninitialized variable, but in a sophisticated way. It starts with a routine to validate a user account:
bool validate_user(user *u) {
int n_bffs, id;
char *name, *handle;
if (u) {
n_bffs = u->number_of_BFFs;
id = u->user_ID;
name = u->name;
handle = u->account_handle;
return (n_bffs >= 0) && (id >= 0) && name && handle;
return false;
The uninitialized variable is in the next function, to enqueue a user:
bool enqueue_user(set &visited, user_queue &queue, user *u, user *target, bool valid, int thisdist) {
int uid;
if (valid) {
uid = u->user_ID;
if (visited.count(uid) == 0) {
u->scratch = thisdist;
/* only continue the search if this isn’t the target user */
return target->user_ID != uid;
The DERPCON function includes the following code at the beginning:
if (!validate_user(&x) || !validate_user(&y))
return 0;
/* search for the target user */
user *u = &x;
int d = 1;
while (1) {
for (int i = 0; i < u->number_of_BFFs; i++) {
bool valid = validate_user(u->BFF_list[i]);
/* possibly enqueue this user; terminate if this is the target */
if (!enqueue_user(visited, queue, u->BFF_list[i], &y, valid, d))
return d;
Assuming a user is valid, the uid variable is initialized and nothing special happens. If a user is invalid, then the uid is … what, exactly? Well, since validate_user was the previous function call, uid contains stack detritus from validate_user. Specifically, it contains the previous value of the id field in validate_user—-this is why validate_user is so pedantic about assigning the user’s fields to local variables. This is a sneaky way to hand over data from one function to another without any visible evidence in the code (except for the uninitialized variable, which is tagged with a warning when compiling.)
So how does this admit an attack? It admits an attack if you have an account whose first BFF is a NULL pointer. Then validate_user(&x) leaves x’s user_ID on the stack, validate_user(&y) leaves y’s user_ID in the same place, validate_user(u->BFF_list[0]) does nothing, preserving y’s user_ID from the previous call, and enqueue_user has its uid field set to y’s userID. This causes it to return 0 in the last line.
This is also a trick that has been used in previous challenges: Natori Shin’s entry to the 2005 contest used a partially uninitialized array filled with detritus from a stat() call. Unfortunately, requiring a NULL pointer as a BFF doesn’t really allow an attacker to commit the exploit without some insider access.
And the Winner
This was by no means an easy choice, but a very close decision between several brilliant submissions.
Alex Olson
A fun and obscure method of tampering with memory, instead of writing past an array bound, is to mis-define a function prototype. For example, the winning entry for the 2007 challenge declared the time() function as extern time_t time(void), so that time() would be called without an argument, and would alter the item on the stack where an argument should be.
In this submission, we have another version of this wonderful exploit. The DERPCON function starts by testing if a user account has been invalidated by some moderator—-an account is invalidated by changing its handle to the literal string "!!INVALID!!":
int DERPCON( user x, user y ) /* public routine for finding distance between two users */
state_t state = {0,0,NO_PERMISSIONS};
ValidateAccount(y, &state.y_valid);
ValidateAccount(x, &state.x_valid);
if( !state.x_valid || !state.y_valid ) return NO_PERMISSIONS;
The source file uses this prototype:
void ValidateAccount(const user user, int *isEnabled);
Whereas a separate utility file instead has:
void ValidateAccount(const user user, long *is_valid)
if( is_valid !=NULL ) *is_valid = strcmp( user.account_handle, "!!INVALID!!" );
The result of validation is stored in a long rather than an int, overwriting the intended fullword and the next fullword after it. Here is the structure being altered:
typedef struct { /* internal struct for storing a hash and distance associated with a user */
int y_valid;
int x_valid;
int distance; /* NOTE: This is negative. Use of negative numbers simplifies logic in DerpconHelper */
} state_t;
The order of calls in DERPCON matches the order of fullwords in the structure, with user X last.
So what? So, if user X has a handle that is lexicographically before the string "!!INVALID!!," then the both x_valid and distance are set to -1. The code stores distances as negative values—this is the one conspicuous aspect of this submission, in my opinion—so this bug effectively pre-loads the distance field with the best possible DERPCON value.
The submitter chose that particular string because ‘!’ is the first printable non-space ASCII character; notwithstanding spaces, a username will have to start with three exclamation marks to become all-powerful.
The result is asymmetric, and does not require the attacker to have any relation whatsoever with the victim. An attacker account named "!!!" with zero friends has maximum access to everyone else’s account.
Like many of the runners up, this was: plausibly deniable, immune to syntax coloring, asymmetric, and achievable by an outsider. Like many of the runners up, it also has the spiteful quality that the bad behavior is embedded in validation code. But what won the prize for this submission was also length: the submission consists of a 41-line derpcon.c and a 13-line derpcon_util.c, for 54 total source lines. It’s not easy to hide something in that little code—indeed, it’s not that easy to simply solve the problem with that little code.
Congratulations Alex Olson, you were the most Underhanded C Programmer of 2013. | <urn:uuid:5f82c4cb-4b67-45c5-ac1f-69ad1d766c8c> | http://underhanded-c.org/_m_201409.html | en | 0.871951 | 0.195776 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Review: Glow - Amy Kathleen Ryan
Where I got it: ARC from AmazonVine
Rating: 3.5 stars
Cover Rating: 4.5 stars (I really like it and it's relevant. Pretty neat.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: September 13, 2011
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Page Count: 307 p.
Buy it: Book Depository / Amazon
The Empyrean is flying through space on its way to New Earth. The twin ship New Horizon is also on the same path. When trouble erupts on the New Horizon however, the trouble comes to the Empyrean's front door. Kieran is the Empyrean captain's favorite and is all set to marry Waverly. When chaos engulfs the ship though, they are separated and forced to fight for their own survival. They don't know if they will ever see each other or their parents again. They have to rely on their instincts of what's right, especially since they don't know who is friend and who is foe.
This was a very intense read. I liked all the excitement and chaos that surrounded the characters. Once again we were brought to a world that is housed within a spaceship. Imagine never seeing a sunset, or feeling the wind, or seeing a vast landscape before you. The crew on these ships are forty plus years into their voyage to New Earth. The kids on the ship have no real idea what happened on Earth that made them have to leave for something new. All they know is that it had to have been really bad. Everything is shrouded in mystery. I like that element, how little the reader and the characters get to know. It's also very interesting the heightened anxiety of not knowing who is trustworthy or who is telling the truth. One thing I did find hard was keeping the characters straight. I feel like we were introduced to them too quickly, and then didn't spend enough time with them to sort them out. By the end I still struggled between Sarah and Samantha. They were different characters, but maybe it was intentional giving them similar names. Maybe they didn't have to be two separate characters. In the beginning I struggled with Waverly's name. It's a nice name, but unisex, so I kept having to think about who she was. I enjoyed that the novel was split into two viewpoints, even though it was third person. It was interesting to see everything that was going on, even when the characters were split up. The religious aspects of this novel were a bit over the top. It seemed that the author was conveying a strong religious message, while also portraying it as an evil thing. I will be interested to see where Amy Kathleen Ryan takes it in the next novel. I wish the epilogue hadn't happened though, it felt like the beginning of the next book, rather than an ending to this one. I am very eager to read the next installment. If you like book like Across the Universe and Ender's Game with a dash of Lord of the Flies thrown in, make sure you check this one out.
First Line:
Favorite Line:
"Her leg exploded into shards of agony, and she fell down with an enraged scream."
1. I haven't read Across the Univers or Ender's Game but I have been meaning to. Glow sounds really good and I am glad that you enjoyed it. Great review :)
2. I've been apprehensive about this one because the description goes on about how the main character has to marry young and help repopulate and such. That threw me, but since you seemed to enjoy it so much, and didn't even mention that aspect of it, I'll assume it was fantastic regardless. I'm nearly positive I have this one on my shelf, so I'll try to get to it soon. Great review!
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger... | <urn:uuid:71151adb-5fb1-46e4-bd26-8a919f8fdd87> | http://www.areadingnook.com/2011/09/review-glow-amy-kathleen-ryan.html | en | 0.983195 | 0.023623 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Ten Types Of Pests You Hope You Never Have
1. Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
1. Mormon Cricket
The Mormon cricket (Anabrus simplex) is a large insect that can grow to almost 8 cm (3 inches) in length. It lives throughout western North America in rangelands dominated by sagebrush and forbs. the Mormon cricket is capable of traveling up to two kilometers a day in its swarming phase, during which it is a serious agricultural pest and traffic hazard.
1. Giant Whitefly
Giant whitefly can severely infest many ornamental plant species found in nurseries, landscapes, and home gardens
1. Mosquitoes
Mosquitoes can act as vectors for many disease-causing viruses and parasites. Infected mosquitoes carry these organisms from person to person without exhibiting symptoms themselves.[citation needed] Mosquito-borne diseases
Zika virus is a mosquito-borne flavivirus closely related to the dengue virus.
1. Fire Ants
Notorious for their painful bites, the fire ant stings can cause symptoms of anaphylaxis which include dizziness, nausea, sweating, low blood pressure, headache, and shortness of breath.
1. Bullet Ants
Just like their name implies this species of ant is commonly known for their powerful and potent sting due to its venom which according to some victims, equal to being shot.
1. Africanized honey bees
Africanized honey bees don’t mess around with them being known colloquially as “killer bees”. These bees can chase one a person a quarter of a mile and have been reported to kill some 1,000 humans while at the same time able to kill horses and other animals.
1. Vine Mealybug
Known as a formidable pest spreading through California vineyards, vine mealybug infestations have reduced vine growth and resulted in defoliation, bunch rots and even spur and cane death. Furthermore, like other mealybugs, vine mealybugs are able to spread grapevine virus diseases, such as leafroll and corky bark.
1. Spotted Wing Drosophila
Spotted Wing Drosophila causes damages to a number of crops including berry crops, grapes, cherries and other tree fruits. These flies however, have a soft spot for softer-fleshed fruit.
1. Bag Shelter Caterpillar
Recognizes for its black and iridescent-blue fuzz, the Bag Shelter Caterpillar is one of the most poisonous caterpillars in Brazil and Venezuela. The poison these creatures employ is nasty which is known as a health problem.
Most of the pests listed above are relatively small meaning they can invade homes without people ever noticing. It should be noted that some house pest allergens can cause ear infections and as such, it is important for people to be vigilant in protection their homes. With that being said, these pests are known to be very dangerous and homeowners today are advised to not approach them carelessly. What they can do however, is to seek help from professional pest control companies as these individuals have the right gear and equipment for the job. | <urn:uuid:3d095b57-de76-418c-9bb6-9246cbdc31c0> | http://www.bestpestscontrol.com.au/ten-types-pests-hope-never/ | en | 0.958924 | 0.710888 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Joint credit cards don't dissolve with divorce
Removing one person from a jointly held card typically isn't done
To Her Credit
To Her Credit, Sally Herigstad
Question for the expert
Dear To Her Credit,
How can I remove my husband from my Bank of America Visa credit card that we have jointly? The bank says to close it and re-apply. We have been married 17 years. We are getting divorced.
This was my card, and I added him to it years ago. I don't want to start over because I need the credit and credit rating. It also has a lot of mileage rewards on it. Besides, I don't make much money now, so I may not even qualify. Both my husband and I have very good credit scores with no outstanding debts. -- Teresa
Answer for the expert
Dear Teresa,
The bank has the last word on this one, I'm afraid.
If your soon-to-be ex were only an authorized user on this card, it would be easy to drop him. As a joint account holder, however, the bank is counting on both of you to pay off any debts on this card. Despite the fact that it was your card originally, they have been extending credit with two people responsible for paying it and can choose not to let one of them off the hook.
Divorce court can't help much, either. Divorce settlements commonly specify which spouse gets a credit card and the accompanying debt. But the bank is not party to the divorce, and the divorce court cannot change terms of the credit card contract. Between divorce law, contract law and a couple of ex-spouses still stinging from a recent divorce, you can see how leftover joint accounts can turn into nothing but trouble. Closing the account down and starting over starts to sound like a good idea!
You shouldn't have to lose your mileage points, however. One option, of course, is to use them before you close the account. That's what you've been saving them for, right? If you can't do that, you may be able to transfer them to your new account or gift them to family or friends. You can even donate your miles to charity, either directly to organizations like the Red Cross, or through, an online connection point between charities that need mileage points and donors. Be sure to transfer or donate your miles before you close your account.
If the account has a balance, try to get it paid off with assets from the divorce. The credit card company can and will try to collect from both of you, regardless of who ran up the bill or who the divorce court said should pay it. This is true even if the account is "closed," but still has a balance.
With your good credit, you should be able to get a credit card on your own even with a reduced income level. The amount you can borrow will probably be much less than your previous limit, but that can work to your advantage. Credit cards are great payment tools. They make lousy long-term loans. A card with a low limit gives you all the advantages of plastic without the temptation to let the balance build up -- as almost everyone who has had a credit card has experienced at one time or another.
You won't lose your credit history from this card by closing it. Just as you cannot erase bad credit by closing an account, you don't lose your history of being a good customer, either. You may have less available credit, which can adversely affect your credit score, but if you keep your debt balances close to zero, this shouldn't be a huge issue.
Another thing to remember about your credit score is that it only matters when you use it; for example, when you apply for a loan or credit card, try to get into an apartment or sometimes when you apply for a job. It's not affected by your income level, and it's not a judgment of you as a person. Take your time building it up as a single person. The best way to improve a credit score is slowly and steadily over the years. Good luck, and take care of your credit!
See related: Where you live impacts debt liability in divorce
Meet's reader Q&A experts
Published: January 27, 2012
Join the discussion
Updated: 02-25-2017
Weekly newsletter | <urn:uuid:c081cce9-213a-4a7c-8181-7c76cfac2b31> | http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/sally-herigstad-remove-ex-spouse-from-credit-card-divorce-1294.php?aid=52aae854 | en | 0.965555 | 0.054703 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Splendor Cancellations: How They'll Impact the Crew, the Cruise Ship and You
November 16, 2010
(5:15 p.m. EST) -- When Carnival Cruise Lines announced this morning that Carnival Splendor -- which was crippled by an engine room fire last week -- would have to cancel all cruises through the January 9, 2011, sailing, it left a lot of questions unanswered. How exactly would refunds or rebookings work, especially for holiday cruises? What's happening to the ship's crew, including cruise director and blogger extraordinaire John Heald? And what exactly needs to be fixed on Splendor? We reached out to Carnival spokesman Vance Gulliksen for the full scoop on what's going on and how you can best salvage your cruise. Here's what you need to know: The Ins and Outs of Refunds and Rebooking
Passengers have the option of simply taking the refund of their cruise fare and 25 percent future cruise credit and figuring out their travel plans at a later time. Or they can opt to apply the refund and the credit to another Carnival sailing, departing at a similar sail date or anytime within the next 24 months. However, passengers are subject to prevailing rates, which means if the cruise you'd like to switch to costs more than you paid for the Splendor cruise -- even for a similar sail date and cabin category -- you will have to pony up the difference out of pocket. However, you can use the 25 percent credit to help reduce the rate to some extent. But will Carnival be able to accommodate everyone who wishes to reschedule for a cruise departing between now and mid-January? Gulliksen tells us that "Carnival's ships typically operate at full capacity so available space on other ships for similar departure dates may be limited in some cases." He did say that travelers planning cruise ship weddings were the first to be contacted about rescheduling and most of the weddings scheduled on Splendor have already been accommodated on other Carnival ships. The most difficult swaps are likely to be holiday cruises, as Carnival has now canceled Splendor's Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's departures. "We will do our best to accommodate as many guests as possible, based on availability," says Gulliksen. "There is still some availability on our holiday sailings should guests wish to book those cruises." However, we know historically that cabins that can accommodate third and fourth berths tend to sell out first on holiday cruises, so families looking to share cabins may have the most difficulty rebooking. We checked Carnival's Web site, and we're seeing fares for most categories on similar seven-night cruises -- but out of ports such as Tampa, San Juan, Galveston, Fort Lauderdale and Miami. It will be more difficult for West Coasters to find comparable cruises from California ports: three- and four-night Christmas and New Year's cruises from Los Angeles have already sold out of balconies. We're seeing some availability for all cabin categories on Carnival Spirit's seven-night Christmas cruise and eight-night New Year's cruise, both departing from San Diego. But fares are steep -- insides start at $999 and $1,279 for Christmas and New Year's, respectively. Thanksgiving cruises have even less availability. There was also some confusion over airfare reimbursement. Here's the deal: All travelers who booked through Carnival's air/sea department will get fully reimbursed for their airfare, as will travelers who bought nonrefundable tickets and cannot use them (provided that passengers present appropriate documentation). For passengers who incur change fees, Carnival will refund up to $200 per person. Gulliksen did not know at press time whether change fee refunds would be in cash or as a refundable onboard credit. The Skinny on Splendor Repairs
For those curious about the ship itself, Carnival has not provided much more information. According to Gulliksen, "A team of investigators from the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Transportation Safety Board, Carnival and representatives from the ship's flag state [Panama] are on board working to determine the cause of the fire. We can tell you that the focus is on the number 5 diesel generator in the aft engine room but the exact nature of the malfunction is still being investigated. A comprehensive assessment is under way with a large team of skilled technicians. Damage was limited to the aft engine room and switchboard rooms." The company and its investigators are still determining what repairs need to be made, as well as when and where the ship will go into wet dock, dry dock or both. We asked how accurate the mid-January return to service date was. Gulliksen's reply: "Our best estimate is that the ship will be ready to return to service on January 16 based on the necessary amount of time that will be required for repairs." However, this date is still an estimate, which we interpret to mean that repairs could take longer depending on the team's findings. What's Happening to Splendor's Crew?
Carnival Splendor's crew, which by most accounts did an admirable job of keeping passengers safe and entertained during the fire fiasco, will be splitting up. Some crewmembers with technical or hotel expertise will be staying with the ship to provide support during the investigation and repair period. As many as possible have been sent to work on other cruise ships; others will get new assignments as positions become available or go back to work on Splendor in January.
Those unable to be acccomodated on another ship immediately will be getting a needed break as Carnival will be flying everyone home. Gulliksen says, "We are told that the crew response was positive onboard when announced that they will be home for the holidays with their families." However, the crew will not be paid for time when they are not under contract and actively working for Carnival.
Cruise Director John Heald has also gone home to his wife and baby girl in the U.K. and plans to be onboard Splendor for its January 16 cruise. He reports in his blog that he "will be back in the States at the end of the month to film a piece at St. Jude Children's Hospital and for meetings about the Bloggers cruise number 4." -- by Erica Silverstein, Senior Editor
Share feedback
Thank you! Cruise Critic values your feedback.
How can we improve this page? | <urn:uuid:5f7b0132-e160-4954-b041-32192cc318a5> | http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=4236 | en | 0.966033 | 0.021576 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
A Lesson in Accepting Awards, From Shonda Rhimes: "I Completely Deserve This"
Most Popular
Shonda Rhimes is no humble bragger. She didn't show a hint of self-deprecation nor the I-can't-believe-this surprise, we often see during acceptance speeches, when she claimed her Producer Guild Association's Norman Lear Award for achievement in Television on Saturday. Instead, she said, "I'm going to be totally honest with you, I completely deserve this."
She continued, "I have against the odds courageously pioneered the art of writing for people of color as if they were human beings. I've bravely gone around just casting parts for actors who were the best ones." Rhimes also dismissed any notions of her being a "trailblazer," explaining, "It's not trailblazing to write the world as it actually is. Women are smart and strong. They are not sex toys or damsels in distress. People of color are not sassy or dangerous or wise. And, believe me, people of color are never anybody's sidekick in real life."
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
In the rest of her speech, Rhimes went on to talk about diversity on screen, asking why we've taken so many steps backwards, instead of moving forward:
See, the thing about all this trailblazing that everyone says I've been doing, it's not like I did things and then the studio or the network gasped with horror and fought me. It was 2004. Norman Lear had already done a bunch of trailblazing 40 years earlier. When I came along, nobody was saying no. They were perfectly happy to say yes. You know what the problem was? I don't think anyone else was asking them. I think it had been a very long time since anybody asked or even tried. Maybe content creators were afraid, maybe they had been hitting brick walls, maybe they had had their spirits broken. Maybe their privilege had made them oblivious. Maybe. But for me, I was just being normal. Maybe their privilege had made them oblivious [...] I created the content that I wanted to see and I created what I know is normal. So basically, you are just giving me an award for being me, in which case I totally deserve it. Really, I am honored to receive it. The respect of this award does mean the world. It just makes me a little bit sad. First of all, strong women and three-dimensional people of color is something Norman was doing 40-something years ago. So how come it has to be done all over again? What are we waiting for?
Most Popular
Let's raise a glass to that, Olivia Pope style.
More from ELLE: | <urn:uuid:7ece64c3-a251-4f01-94c3-3a12935fa5d6> | http://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/news/a33485/shonda-rhimes-pga-awards-speech/ | en | 0.986251 | 0.056705 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Miles to meters (mi to m) Metric conversion calculator
Welcome to our miles to meters (mi to m) conversion calculator. You can enter a value in either the miles or meters input fields. For an understanding of the conversion process, we include step by step and direct conversion formulas. If you'd like to perform a different conversion, just select between the listed Length units in the 'Select between other Length units' tab below or use the search bar above. Tip: Use the swap button to switch from converting miles to meters to meters to miles.
miles (mi)
meters (m)
Add to Favorites
Add to site favorites
(not bookmarks)
< == >
1 mi = 1609.344 m 1 m = 0.00062137 mi
Algebraic Steps / Dimensional Analysis Formula
mi * 63360 in
1 mi
* 2.54 cm
1 in
* 1 m
100 cm
= m
Direct Conversion Formula
mi * 1609.344 m
1 mi
= m
centimeters 0
feet 0
inches 0
kilometers 0
light-years 0
meters 0
miles 0
nautical miles 0
yards 0
< == >
Active Users | <urn:uuid:845cf3a8-4455-4e75-a72a-592eb84d2f1d> | http://www.formulaconversion.com/formulaconversioncalculator.php?convert=miles_to_meters | en | 0.814882 | 0.080672 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
The first day back from the Easter holiday was a harsh one indeed for the European Currency, as the ugly specter of Greece once again reared its head and had traders hitting bids against the dollar and the yen. The new wave of negative sentiment towards Greece was born from a few factors, including Greece looking to get out from potentially harsh IMF aid conditions and Germany looking for higher rates on proposed financial aid. Added to the mix was the fact that Greek citizens were quickly pulling money from banks in order to protect their money in safer investments, translated, that means “offshore” investments.
EUR/USD took a nose dive in Asia, dropping from 1.3495 to late day lows of 1.3415. EUR/JPY did the same, as it slipped from early 127.30 highs to lows just near the 126.05 mark. Yen crosses were in for the ride as the news from Greece dampened risk appetite, GBP/JPY perhaps witnessed the largest move of the session with a 145 pip drop to 142.95 lows, and as well, GBP/USD fell to 1.5210 after being closer to 1.5305 at the session start. The moves were noticeably one way today with the exception of the Aussie dollar.
The AUD/USD was on the same path as most other risk pairs as it skid from 0.9215 to 91.65 with the RBA rate decision on deck. Most traders anticipated a 0.25% hike to 4.25%, but that sentiment seemed to wane heading into the number as an increased number of traders felt the rate could be left unchanged. Lo and behold, the RBA did hike 0.25% to 4.25% as expected, and the AUD/USD rocketed off of session lows to notch new highs just over the 0.9225 level. This was the fifth hike by the RBA since October of 2009. Tomorrow we will continue with central bank rate decisions as the BOJ will be on deck and likely hold their rate at the current 0.10% level. | <urn:uuid:7e5ffc46-8c52-49f9-8c6d-25378e72c546> | http://www.ibtimes.com/asian-session-april-6th-2010-391741 | en | 0.982359 | 0.123818 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
iOS Diary: 5 Tips for Leak-free Apps
So you want to do some iOS development, but you’ve heard that memory management is a chore? Have no fear. All you have to do is keep track of a reference count on every object in your application, making sure that when the last live pointer to each dies, the object has a ref count of 0 so that it can be deallocated. Ok, so maybe it does suck. If you’re used to modern tools like C# or Java then this world is a real throwback. Fortunately Apple provides some awesome tools for tracking down problems with leaks, and if you follow the right conventions you too can keep your objects from lying around and growing moldy. Since I just went through my first iOS project, and am now an expert, here are five things I’ve learned about iOS memory management:
1. Know the difference between alloc/init and with/by/from/of methods.
The alloc and init methods are the standard means for creating an object on the heap. Some common forms are:
MyObject *anObject = [[MyObject alloc] init];
MyObject *anObject = [[MyObject alloc] initWithSomeText:text];
MyObject *anObject = [[MyObject alloc] initWithColor:[UIColor blueColor]];
One thing that is true about all forms of alloc/init is that they return an object with a reference count of 1. You own that object, and are responsible for releasing it. By contrast what I called the with/by/from/of methods are factory methods that you call to get an object. A few examples you might have seen:
NSString *myString = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@", someObject];
NSString *myString = [anotherString stringByAppendingString:aThirdString];
UIFont* aFont = [UIFont boldSystemFontOfSize:17];
Most methods of this form return an autoreleased object. Unless you retain the result then it’s going to be released and deallocated when the next event loop runs. So when do you want to own an object, and when do you want one that is autoreleased? Consider a scenario where you’re passed a string in a callback, and are going to assign it to a property and keep it around. By convention, when you are passed an object in an argument to a method call you don’t own it. You don’t know what the caller is going to do to that object after the method returns. So you want to copy it to your property. Here is one way I’ve seen that done:
@interface MyClass {
@property (nonatomic, retain) NSString *myProperty;
@implementation MyClass
@synthesize myProperty;
-(void)somethingSureMessedUp:(NSString *)reason {
self.myProperty = [[NSString alloc] initWithString:reason];
The question is: will that code leak? The answer is yes, it will. The initWithString method returns a new object with a reference count of 1. It is then assigned to a retained property. When an object is assigned to a retained property two things happen: the existing value is released, and the new value is retained. So the string now has a reference count of 2, and even if you follow my tip on releasing retained properties it will still leak. The alternative is the factory method:
-(void)somethingSureMessedUp:(NSString *)reason {
self.myProperty = [NSString stringWithString:reason];
The stringWithString method also returns an object with a reference count of 1, so when we assign it to the retained property it still has a reference count of 2. But before the method returned our shiny new string it called autorelease on it. So when we return from this method and the autorelease pool gets processed this sting is getting a release call, and the reference count will be back to 1. Result: no leak.
So, when do you use init/alloc? Sometimes there isn’t a convenient factory method and you don’t have a choice. In those cases you may want to follow the pattern in Tip 2. In other scenarios you may have an interface component, or a collection, whose lifetime is the same as the containing class. In those cases feel free to call init/alloc and then release the reference in your container’s dealloc.
2. Autorelease what you don’t retain
This is the corollary to Tip 1: if you write a method that produces an object, and you don’t specifically keep a reference to that object and ensure that it is released on dealloc, then autorelease it before letting the reference go. In the context of the example above, if there was no convenient factory method that returned an autoreleased object you could follow another common pattern:
-(void)yourDaughterTookTheCar:(NSString *)reason {
self.myProperty = [[[NSString alloc] initWithString:reason] autorelease];
In this case you’re doing the same thing that the factory method does internally. Your autorelease will balance out the retain that the property setter will do, and nothing will leak, assuming you follow Tip 5.
3. Use properties
Sure, everyone uses properties when they want to make something available to another class, but what about when you just have some internal objects to keep track of? In general, unless a reference has exactly the same lifetime as its container class, i.e. the object it points to is created when the container is created, and deallocated when the container is deallocated, then it makes more sense to keep it in a property than to use an ivar. This is especially true if the reference is going to point to different objects over the lifecycle of the program.
Retained properties retain and release their objects, so assigning a new value to one automatically releases the previous value. This behavior makes it much easier to keep the reference counts of objects with transient lifetimes balanced. The follow-up rule to this one is Tip 4.
4. Always use property access syntax to access properties
I wrote a short post on this one a few weeks ago. Properties are backed up by ivars, and ivars are accessible within the implementation of the class that declares them. It’s all too easy to do this:
-(void)sheBetterBringItBack:(NSString *)reason {
myProperty = [NSString stringWithString:reason];
Outside callers can’t do this, because they can’t see the ivar (unless its public, and it shouldn’t be) and have to use property access syntax. Although you can get away with this inside the declaring class, its either a leak or a crash waiting to happen. The problem is that this notation (leaving out “self.”) bypasses the property setter completely. There is no operator overloading in C, and C is all Objective-C is in the end. The only way to make sure that you call the setter and properly retain the object is to use . syntax to reference the name. Of course you could do this:
-(void)somethingSureMessedUp:(NSString *)reason {
myProperty = [[NSString stringWithString:reason] retain];
But why would you? You’re just doing an end-run around the property mechanism, and you might as well work with it rather than against it. Declaring and using properties correctly can help a lot with the management of object reference counts. My last tip involves what to do with properties at the end of the world.
5. Release retained properties in dealloc
This one might seem like a no-brainer, but it has caught me a couple of times (which doesn’t prove that it isn’t a no-brainer), especially when adding new retained properties to an existing class. The property mechanism only comes into play when a property is set. At the end of the world, when your container object’s dealloc method is called, remember to go through your retained properties and release any that aren’t nil. You can either release them explicitly, or by setting them to nil, but either way they remain your responsibility.
And that’s it, except for one last bonus tip: learn to use the Instruments framework in XCode to profile your memory usage. Apple is pretty strict about app behavior, and leaks can get your work rejected. The leak and allocations analysis tools are really very impressive, and remind me of using Bounds Checker back in the day. They are too big a topic to tack onto the end of this post, but Apple’s developer site has some great overviews. Check them out.
2 thoughts on “iOS Diary: 5 Tips for Leak-free Apps
1. I think your claim that this will leak:
-(void)somethingSureMessedUp:(NSString *)reason {
self.myProperty = [[NSString alloc] initWithString:reason];
…is not correct. Doesn’t the synthesized setter method of myProperty handle this? I note, for example, that XCode’s own generated code uses this approach for its synthesized window property:
Please note, I’m also relatively new to IOS and looking for clarification on practically everything.
2. Actually, Mark, forget I mentioned this. I see the distinction now. Almost all the Apple sample code I’ve been looking at where they’re alloc to an instance variable is in init, where they’re explicitly avoiding the setter method (for other reasons), thereby avoiding that method’s retain mechanism.
Thanks a lot for pointing this out. It’s one of those subtleties a newbie like me could have easily missed without reading your post.
Leave a Reply
| <urn:uuid:92a2dfc6-6235-4d0b-842b-02432dfd92dc> | http://www.markbetz.net/2010/10/24/ios-diary-5-tips-for-leak-free-apps/ | en | 0.904315 | 0.188102 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
• Join over 1.2 million students every month
• Accelerate your learning by 29%
• Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month
Extracts from this document...
The above preview is unformatted text
Found what you're looking for?
• Start learning 29% faster today
• 150,000+ documents available
• Just £6.99 a month
Not the one? Search for your essay title...
• Join over 1.2 million students every month
• Accelerate your learning by 29%
• Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month
See related essaysSee related essays
Related GCSE Romeo and Juliet essays
Then everybody stops fighting. The Prince then threatens them by saying '...on pain of torture, from these bloody hands, throw your distempered weapons to the ground and hear the sentence of your moved prince'. The prince also expresses his anger by saying '...hear the sentence of your moved prince.
During the opening of Act 4 scene 3, Juliet informs the nurse and her mother that she is preparing to go to sleep. She asks them to leave by stating that she needs to pray.
1. Explain How Shakespeare Creates Dramatic Tension in III.v
This statement holds an heavy emphasise of dramatic irony, as an Elizabethan audience would understand from this statement, although it has been said in a malicious and callous manner, it still holds future predictions of the death of Romeo and Juliet, as Juliet is married to her grave, for the
They fought with their swords due to the fact Mercutio adding fuel to the fire by saying to Tybalt "will you walk?" this obviously angers Tybalt to such a fashion that he too draws his sword starting the feud. The play would hold audiences in excitement, especially the Elizabethans, because
Tybalt and Mercutio fight. Romeo tries stopping them because of the death sentence, 'forbear . . . the prince hath forbid this bandying in Verona streets.' Shakespeare uses characters effectively, such as Mercutio. Mercutio is used to spark of a fight, which then has implications for the rest of the play.
"Be patient take no note of him." This creates tension between Capulet and Tybalt as Tybalt is eager to confront him. Capulet is firm and tells Tybalt that he is in charge. Capulet is a sensible man and on this occasion in a good mood he is also aware of the prince's decree.
1. Romeo &amp; Juliet - Who is responsible inMaking the play a tragedy.
After the party, where Romeo and Juliet meet, they decide they want to marry. Because Romeo is a Montague, Juliet knows she would not be allowed to marry him, or she would but without her families well wishes. So knowing she can't turn to her family, she confides in the Nurse.
• Over 160,000 pieces
of student written work
• Annotated by
experienced teachers
• Ideas and feedback to
improve your own work | <urn:uuid:c107dc26-defc-4e01-a56e-6563fc5b423a> | http://www.markedbyteachers.com/gcse/english/act-3-scene-1-is-a-dramatic-high-point-of-the-play-after-which-it-has-to-be-a-tragedy-show-how-shakespeare-makes-this-scene-dramatic-for-the-audience.html | en | 0.964025 | 0.033339 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Expedia's stock dropped dramatically.
Expedia's stock dropped dramatically. -
Listen To The Story
Investors are worried about Expedia.com's future, following news that the website has been demoted by Google in search engine results. The travel price comparison company's visibility in search results has reported dropped 25 percent, which on the Internet is the equivalent of moving your company's billboards from downtown Manhattan to Antarctica.
Neither company has said why yet, but there's speculation that Expedia may have engaged in the dubious practice of trying to buy links. That's what happened to rap lyrics website Rap Genius recently.
It could just be a tweak in Google's algorithm, which is constantly being updated by engineers. But there have also been rumors that the tech giant is experimenting with its own travel price comparison product.
And there are growing questions -- as the company faces an antitrust case in Europe -- about whether the company might have too much influence about how we access information on the web.
Follow Ben Johnson at @@TheBrockJohnson | <urn:uuid:d26a394a-9fa0-462b-8386-7059a56ab2f9> | http://www.marketplace.org/2014/01/22/tech/did-google-punish-expedia-pulling-rap-genius-move | en | 0.95582 | 0.05924 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Jc John Jc John - 4 months ago 20
PHP Question
how can i get the working path of my image in codeigniter when uploading
I have a code in codeigniter which i will store the path of my image in my database. It works fine in inserting but the path is not correct.
My folder name of my upload images are stored in upimages.
The upimages is located in outside of application folder in codeigniter where i created assets/upimages. Here is my path code in inserting to database:
$image_path = $data['full_path'];
$userid = ($this->session->userdata['logged_in']['user_id']);
$imagedb = $this->prof_model->user_img($image_path,$userid);
if(file_exists($image_path)) {
$status = "success";
$msg = "File successfully uploaded";
my image_path is the full path of my image but it outputs none if i call it again and here is the output of the full_path in my database:
when i change the path in my db and change it to :
it works fine.
my question is. how can i adjust my full_path to come up with the 2nd path. Remember that the location of my upimages is outside of the application folder which i created an asset/upimages
Try to make your file path as like as following:
$image_url = base_url().'assets/upimages/'.$data['upload_data']['file_name'];
$imagedb = $this->prof_model->user_img($image_url,$userid); | <urn:uuid:0af639b8-5004-425d-8128-4482d59273b2> | https://codedump.io/share/vZFNspJxDIjo/1/how-can-i-get-the-working-path-of-my-image-in-codeigniter-when-uploading | en | 0.861996 | 0.231184 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
loading, one second please...
Hanna Andersson Clothes
Reviewing: Hanna Andersson Playdresses And Leggings | Rating:
By ally_deville on
One of the best brands of children's clothes on the market is Hanna Andersson clothes; they are available either online or in stores in selected markets. Hanna's can't be beat for quality, comfort and resale value. Hanna's don't fade in the wash and rarely pill or show wash wear even if it gets washed daily for months (personal experience)-- and they don't lose their shape,
Hanna Andersson clothes are sized per European sizes; this actually makes it a lot easier to fit the child, it goes by height- the clothes are generously sized so weight doesn't really factor into it.
One of the most popular lines of clothes is the girls playdresses; these are available in all sizes. The dresses are done in opposites in terms of color-- and either come in stripes or dots. The dress will be in coordinating colors and the leggings will have opposite strips, the socks are the same way. These dresses LAST, wash after wash! And then have an incredible resale value; many times over half of what you paid.
The material for the dresses and leggings is knit, so it's gives and is soft. And since they are sized a bit big, your daughter will be able to wear it for more than one season. My daughter has worn the same play dress size for over a year and still can wear it, it will probably fit through next spring.
One of the downsides to Hanna is the patterns can be a bit busy and the color combinations can be a little strange, but they come in a variety of colors, typically you can find something that is appealling to your or your child. | <urn:uuid:3457e64c-a433-4696-af72-49b9ff85fd96> | https://sharedreviews.com/review/hanna-andersson-clothes | en | 0.95615 | 0.028606 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Archive for the ‘marketing strategy’ Category
Recently, news surfaced that Boots plans to add a personal banking service to increase customers.Reason: Because Tesco is doing it.
How is that going, may I ask?
Enter Tesco
Tesco’s grip on the British public is so strong and widespread because prices are low (or competitive) enough and footfall is sufficient to sustain its other services.
True to the supermarket giant’s brand proposition, “Every Little Helps”, customers can save time and earn points using their mobile, insurance and banking services. Whilst they may not be the cheapest in town, they certainly are one of the most fuss-free. Everything done under one roof, from groceries to wine to topping up your phone. Heck, your pets will be safe and you get points for that too!
(image Copyright © Mike Smith 2003)
Now let’s go back to Boots.
Boots is a high-street chemist, healthcare and beauty products retailer. It was also where you could buy stamps, the Pill as well as grab lunch and drop off your film to be processed. When it dropped “the chemist”, the company showed that it wasn’t just enough.
One can only imagine what on earth they’re thinking trying to copy Tesco.
Putting on my strategist’s hat, I can imagine that the board was seeing their share price slip and sales stagnant and they’re thinking “How does the big 4 do it?” (the Big 4 being the 4 supermarkets that dominate in the UK; Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda and the other one – actually, it could’ve been the big 3 and I’m getting that mixed up with the 4 aces of advertising). So they go:
“Right, who do we admire most?”
“What do they have that we don’t have?”
So the entire board visualises the shopfloor and start form the entrance.
“They have cigarettes and lotterty”.
Gets a backhand.
“They have shampoo!”
“We have shampoo”
“They have drugs!”
“We have drugs”
“They have food”
“We have food”
“They have drinks”
“We have drinks”
“They have cheap booze”
Another backhand.
“They have insurance and banking services!”
“AH HA!”
I can only see failure in this and urge Boots to not go down this route and try to be another Tesco, but rather, be the Tesco of chemists, healthcare and beauty.
Tesco is to value (not groceries) what Boots is to healthcare and beauty. I say it’d be better for Boots stick to what they know best and invest in reinforcing that image.
Evidence that there are still holes to plug within marketing.
However I wonder how profitable is it to cater to these very minor niches.
Undoubtedly, it MIGHT work for an airline, as with code-sharing and a the plane needing to fly whether or not it’s filled, but what of industries where significant profits come large economies of scale.
Japan is famously known for having everything catering to everyone, regardless of how little users there might be. | <urn:uuid:5b07dac5-df83-498c-9ca3-7c6518375f26> | https://theworldofm.wordpress.com/category/marketing-strategy/ | en | 0.938052 | 0.220262 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
No. of Recommendations: 0
My wife and I are ineligible for a Roth IRA due to our income and we are ineligible to contribute to a deductible traditional IRA. Is there value in contributing to a non-deductible IRA?
1) tax deferred growth
2) Ability to eventually convert to Roth IRA once the government allows this (is this expected? are there catches?).
1) it's not tax free
2) I don't expect to be in a lower tax bracket after retirement (I don't buy into that argument since it basically suggests failure)
3) No flexibility to use that money if a better investment arises (i.e. investment property)
4) no current tax benefits
What are folks' thoughts on this? I've been debating it for some time now.
Print the post
The Retire Early Home Page
Discussion on accelerating retirement day.
What was Your Dumbest Investment?
When Life Gives You Lemons
Community Home
Speak Your Mind, Start Your Blog, Rate Your Stocks
Community Team Fools - who are those TMF's?
Contact Us
Contact Customer Service and other Fool departments here.
Work for Fools? | <urn:uuid:90a2770c-90d5-496c-a03f-989f247b2e6b> | http://boards.fool.com/nondeductible-traditional-ira-question-25176052.aspx?sort=postdate | en | 0.930364 | 0.098208 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Hey, it's not that bad...
...It's worse.
Not only did Purdue not compete in the second half, but, our Boilers may have lost the MVP (so far) for the rest of the season (we should know more Monday). It looks to me like he broke his collarbone. According to the interwebnet, that takes 6-12 weeks to heal. Not good.
This is one of those games that leaves you questioning about everything.
With a 7-0 lead and the ball on the 9, Purdue's offense sputtered and came away with zero points. It's one of the turning points of the game...but it didn't lose the game. What did lose the game was rigidity by the coaching staff- as UND made adjustments, Purdue simply didn't...in all facets of the contest. I texted J as UND was driving for a 14 point lead- I told him a 14-point lead was as good as a victory for the Irish...turns out, I was correct; our Boilers were dead in the water.
Painter played poorly, sailing passes over and over again...he made bad checks and lousy decisions (especially after the first quarter). His line didn't look too bad, and the receiving corps seemed pretty consistant...I am continually impressed with Orton, Smith and Tardy. Sheets was very good, both catching the ball out of the backfield and running and earning yards after the initial hit. It seems to me, that it's time to, at very minimum, see a second quarterback, at least situationally, if not a different quarterback starting next week...once again, that's just my opinion.
Defensively, the corners played poorly and didn't react to rainbow after rainbow thrown by a mediocre quarterback. While UND's receivers are very talented, Purdue's DBs never turned their heads to try to find the ball...even on defended passes, their eyes were not on the ball, but they were desperately waving their hands in hopes to hit the pigskin. The linebackers, that have been undermanned all season were out of position over and over, both in passing downs and running. The defensive line played OK at times, but didn't put enough pressure on a quarterback who clearly gets rattled under pressure...furthermore, they didn't stop the run at all in the third quarter. The defense's performance was really disappointing and underwhelming.
I've been saying this since the NC game, this Purdue team, unless something changes is not that good. Before this game, I thought they'd struggle to become bowl eligible. Well, I don't know how they can win 5 now...Let's look at the schedule:
@ aOSU (L)
@ NW (-)
Minny (W)
UM (L...they all of a sudden seem to have things together; we all know how Tiller teams compete v. the Maize (you call it corn) and Blue)
@ MSU (L)
@ Iowa (-)
IU (W)
Werner may be back soon, and Adams too...both will help out. But, it doesn't look to me like their additions will be able to change a mediocre (at the very best) team to a good one. Major changes are needed, but probably won't be made.
I'm Looking At You, Brock
It's time to head to the worst place in the nation... | <urn:uuid:21ae95b2-88d9-493c-ac0f-c2c28d1e58ad> | http://www.boiledsports.com/posts/root/archives/25hey-it-s-not-that-bad.html | en | 0.987456 | 0.021858 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Here's The Story Regarding Our New Site Background
I happened to check the BS email as I am wont to do and there was a love note from Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC), vaguely stating that we had failed to respond to a letter from them on November 2 of last year. The email text said "Please find attached a letter from the Collegiate Licensing Company legal department. Thank you."
Why explain what's happening, right? Just assume I know. Solid work.
The letter stated what you see on our background, but I will paste it here for ease of viewing:
Naturally, this did not go over well with me. Both the patriarchs of BS have a temper and we can be set off at any time. Some of you have seen this on this here site or on Twitter. We know this about ourselves and have kind of come to embrace it. It's especially useful when dealing with ignorant bullies.
Since I couldn't conceive of anything on our site that was a trademarked Purdue logo, I fired off a response to the "assistant" at the CLC who sent the email:
We do not use or display Purdue University trademarked logos or marks for anything and we never have.
We also did not receive the referenced letter dated Nov 2 that we are accused of ignoring.
Please advise your superiors that we will consider further such letters to be harassment and will treat them accordingly.
Boiled Sports
This particularly pisses me off in light of the fact that Purdue themselves came after us a couple of years ago when we offered the t-shirts on the site. I don't think we ever fully detailed this on the site, but here is that story.
We wanted to offer some fun, original, entertaining t-shirts to fire up the fanbase. When we designed and produced the t-shirts, we went out of our way to ensure we weren't using anything that was protected, trademarked, copyrighted or proprietary. That didn't matter to Purdue's athletic department, though. We still got the threat of legal action because people could interpret that it had to do with Purdue. We spoke to more than one attorney at the time (another benefit of being a Purdue grad -- there are lots of other smart Purdue grads willing to help you) and the general consensus was that, yeah, they're being jerks and we could probably win such a lawsuit -- but do we really want to spend the money we'd need to spend to do so? The answer is of course not, since we barely cover our expenses on this site as it is, despite how small those expenses are. So the big iron fist of communist Purdue management wins again. We complied and ceased selling the shirts. And thus lost money.
Back to this morning.
Within an hour, a response appeared from the CLC's "Associate General Counsel":
I am in receipt of your e-mail response below. I am unclear as to how you can contend that you are not using the University’s marks. The University’s marks are wallpapered to the background of your site (see link below).
Thank you for your response and cooperation.
So he was referring to our background image, which he apparently mistakenly believed was a Purdue logo. It was most certainly not. It was our redesigned, improved logo. I decided to tell him that and to be a d-ck in the process, mainly because that's what they're being:
Unclear, indeed.
The image "wallpapered" on our site is in fact NOT the official Purdue train logo. It is actually a revised, improved logo that we designed when the new one was released and universally derided as having phallic smoke, among other things. The official train logo is side-by-side with ours in the attached image for your reference.
We also are not profiting or attempting to profit from Purdue logos. We're only trying to support our alma mater.
However, to be left alone, we have removed the wallpaper, as you call it, from our site.
Kudos to the NCAA for, as always, having the proper perspective and focusing on what's important.
Was I obnoxious? Absolutely. Did the CLC have a claim? Sure, you could argue they did -- but not really in the "spirit" of the law, so to speak.
Trademark violations are usually when someone is attempting to profit from someone else's protected work. We aren't doing that. We don't charge a subscription fee, we don't sell anything for profit, etc. And with everything going on in the NCAA, bullying a small-time Purdue site is what they spend their time on? (And yes, I know the CLC and the NCAA aren't the same thing, but let's not pretend the NCAA lets anyone meddle in their schools' affairs without approval.)
The CLC has been busy lately bullying and just being downright obnoxious. Check this out down in Alabama. No cookies for you! Gotta get their cut.
Another thing that bothers us about this -- immensely -- is that the CLC didn't stumble upon this by themselves. There is no doubt in our minds that they were tipped off to this by Purdue and, more specifically, Purdue's athletic department and sports information people.
We aren't sure what we did to make them dislike us, but Boilerdowd was told to his face by Tom Schott once that he (Schott) doesn't trust us. Oh wait, did I say I wasn't sure what we did to make them dislike us? Sorry, that's not true... I do know. We aren't under their control -- that's why they don't like us. They don't have us under their thumb like they do with the whole of the Lafayette media (such as it is) and other blogsites that rely on press pass access and the like. They have nothing to hold over us, as we haven't asked for a press pass in years and we don't require anything special from them that they get to deny in their heavy-handed way. If it sounds like this pisses us off, that's because it does.
We write a site that is by and for Purdue fans. We love our alma mater and we fight for it to be respected by national writers, other sites, and TV networks like ESPN and BTV....and we do it so much that at times we've had a reputation for it. We fight for Purdue to be respected more than Purdue does. That should tell you almost everything you need to know about Purdue athletics.
Sometimes we're critical of the athletic department and/or coaching staffs. On occasion, we're critical of players, too. But for the most part, we support them, watch them, write about them and publicize them. Readers and listeners have told us that they come to us because they can't get more than a few scraps of Purdue coverage elsewhere and that being able to read our posts "scratches the itch," as the saying goes. We love that and are flattered that we can do our part. The athletic department doesn't like this because we don't regurgitate their approved media narratives and we think independently. We criticize. We call a spade a spade. When the head coach of the football team says fans who criticize him are low-character losers, we react accordingly. When the University almost pisses away Matt Painter and then blames the alums for being cheap, we call them out for their poor judgment. Same goes for the abortion of New Pete, "Makers All" and the list goes on and on.
Again, though, these instances of criticizing our school are far outweighed by the game analysis, rah-rah columns and requests that everyone get out to support the student-athletes.
In the end, this is a bump in the road and I guess it's the price of being as famous as we are. But we will never understand why there is such resistance to our existence. Everyone who writes here or has written here either has a Purdue diploma or soon will. We love our school. We donate money to our school. And yet because we dare to have an opinion that isn't filtered through the University, we're somehow the enemy.
Some schools and organizations embrace amateur writers and social media outlets because they comprehend the value of partnering (or at least getting along) with other places that people go for coverage of their teams. That continues to not be the case at Purdue. And if you want people to play nice with you, one way to start is by playing nice with them.
Gene Had It Right
| <urn:uuid:2b26a418-e931-4b70-9eba-94acf0a8811c> | http://www.boiledsports.com/posts/root/archives/46here-s-the-story-regarding-our-new-site-background.html | en | 0.978338 | 0.038973 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Money can't buy you happiness, but it can launch your ass into outer space. Just ask multimillionaire Dennis Tito.
Ten years ago on this date, Tito literally bought his way into the stars, spending over $20 million dollars to become the world's first space tourist. Tito accomplished something in a short amount of time that most people in that field work wait their entire lives to do, just because he was rich as fuck. That's got to sting.
Tito's voyage into space exemplifies why it's so cool to be loaded: Once you get bored of all the cars, big houses, and women, you can just say, "Fuck it, I'm going to outer space," and actually do it. But the fun to be had by the rich isn't limited to space travel. See what else money will buy you with these 7 Crazy Millionaire Adventure Stories. | <urn:uuid:0bb23c1f-9a67-4375-ab69-0d5b56b88216> | http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2011/04/7-crazy-millionaire-adventures-stories/ | en | 0.981255 | 0.970997 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
TODO for driftnet $Id: TODO,v 1.10 2002/06/04 20:16:35 chris Exp $ * PNG files. * More intelligent layout algorithm for images. * Memory leaks? Buffer overruns? Static-sized buffers. * Parse JPEG files properly -- the lame memstr(..., "\xff\xd9") thing is broken and should be done right. At the moment, some JPEG files get truncated in a really bad way. An alternative is to store more state for JPEG files, and do special parsing when we know a connection has closed. * Problem with some greyscale JPEG files. * More portability / bug fixes. * Web-based version. Server push? Feedback problems. * `Bogus image' problem after running for a while? * Safe(r) setuid operation. * Drop privileges after starting up pcap. | <urn:uuid:b67a0c35-7aad-456c-a4d4-cd3c52546ebf> | http://www.ex-parrot.com/~chris/driftnet/TODO | en | 0.786118 | 0.116948 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
'Big Hero 6', highest grossing animated movie
Whatsapp Logo
Los Angeles: Oscar-winning movie 'Big Hero 6' has been named as the highest grossing animated movie of 2014, taking in USD 620 million globally.
Big Hero 6
Big Hero 6. Pic/Santa Banta
The film earned a total of $221 million in the US, making it Walt Disney Animation Studios' third biggest domestic release of all time, reports
Co-directed by Don Hall and Chris Williams, the film's worldwide total has surpassed that of 'Tangled', making it the studio's third biggest global release after 'Frozen' (2013) and 'The Lion King'.
In China, 'Big Hero 6' has become Disney's biggest animated release, earning USD 51 million since being released in the country on February 28.
Based on Marvel comics of the same name, 'Big Hero 6' tells the story of "the special bond that develops between Baymax, a plus-sized inflatable robot, and prodigy Hiro Hamada as they team up with a group of friends to form a band of high-tech heroes."
Recently, 'Big Hero 6' won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film.
You May Like
Leave a Reply | <urn:uuid:31221a8d-3d8d-4c5d-81e8-2c93f6456e0f> | http://www.mid-day.com/articles/big-hero-6-highest-grossing-animated-movie/16071151 | en | 0.94001 | 0.073275 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Skip to Content
Desperate Reality
About Desperate Reality:
Desperate Reality is a 25 foot long, overhanging crack that provides an awesome challenge to any climber who doesn't mind a little pain. Because of the roofs offset nature it is not your typical roof crack. It is more of an awkward grunt fest, fist jams over your head start, which can tire the most fit climber in a hurry. The route has not been led clean by too many people and most who get it have to work the thing. One of the most impressive leads I have seen on this route came from Chris Lenox who missed the onsite taking just one fall then finishing it without much trouble. The route was first climbed by Jon Frank, who named the route in reference to Yosemite's "Separate Reality" - which this crack resembles. Some excellent routes have recently been established on the Desperate Reality Cliff, which is located just to the west of Desperate Reality.
Park on the first pullout past the Refuge Headqarters. You'll be parked next to some granite domes that pretty much rise straight out of the road. Next, get over the top of the dome as best you can. There are no good trail markings, so your best bet is to just head straight on up.
Once you reach a point where you have a clear field of vision all around, look pretty much straight west, and you'll see an obvious large formation/peak which looks like it would yield a lot of routes. This is NOT Desperate Reality, however it's the reference point to get you there. DR is located just underneath that large formation, and just a touch to the right if you are observing from the east.
Make your way through thorn and bush towards the northernmost point of the formation, and as you get closer you'll see what appears to be a cave made by what look like 3 boulders, one resting on top of the other two. This is reality, it's two huge boulders, one of which probably had a line of weakness. At some point, the upper half of the boulder slipped and now rests on the other boulder. There are chains on top of the climb, but the overhanging nature makes it extremely difficult to TR...
Approach Time:
Latitude, Longitude:
Access Issues:
Rock Type: Granite
Type of Climbing: Trad
Sun Aspect:
0 Average Rating = 3.00/5 Unknown 5.10b 2
1 Average Rating = 0.00/5 Desperate Reality 5.12a 1
1 Average Rating = 4.50/5 The Warm Up 5.11a 3
Most Recent Photos
No route specified No route specified | <urn:uuid:0a4736f7-54e7-418a-9304-42584a9c718b> | http://www.rockclimbing.com/routes/North_America/United_States/Oklahoma/Southwest/Wichita_Mountains/Desperate_Reality/ | en | 0.958689 | 0.030098 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Social Enterprise
Are social networking solutions safe for work?
There are benefits as well as risks to using business-controlled social networking solutions. Whether the benefits outweigh the risks is a question each management team must answer, given its unique culture, industry, regulatory issues, etc.
Social networking? Isn't that something we should prevent our business users from accessing? Seems like a pretty easy solution to me. Why would I want to even deal with the risks that might be associated with something that adds so little value and might even be a threat to my business?
Does this argument sound familiar? Well, if you haven't heard it yet, you will. Social engineering is growing rapidly as one of the primary ways people entering the workforce communicate. It's a communication medium they expect us old fogeys managing today's businesses to provide and support. According to Mike Spinney, principal of SixWeight, a communications consulting company,
"As a new generation enters the workforce, companies believe they're on the horns of a dilemma: lock out the social networking sites and deal with discontented employees, or leave access unfettered and absorb a loss of productivity But the issue isn't black and white. As a communications medium, there may be benefits to taking advantage of online social networking for developing valuable professional relationships. Companies need to become educated on the nuances of the various utilities and develop strategies and policies that take into account both the risks and the benefits." Source: Planning a company social network? Don't forget the privacy issues, Jay Cline, Computerworld, 10 April 2008
Looking at the benefits and risks is the purpose of this article. In a follow-up post, I'll provide a list of constraints to consider and a sample policy for controlling use of a company-owned and managed social networking solution.
The risks of business-supported social networking
So if there are business benefits, why not just flip the switch? The answer contains several possible issues beyond losing talent. Like the potential for data leakage.
Unfettered access to any public information sharing site includes risk of employees posting information not meant for public view. Even if posting sensitive information doesn't include malicious intent, even if employees are just having a friendly exchange with "Internet friends," the damage is still done. And data leakage can be much more than a nick in the competitive edge.
Regulatory requirements in the HIPAA, and industry expectations like those contained in the PCI standard, clearly describe company responsibility in protecting personal information. A leak of patient or customer information to a social network might result in fines and a public relations hit.
In addition to privacy issues, organizations are also concerned about employees' comments and opinions posted to a public site while using company-owned infrastructure. This is still an evolving area of the law. The potential for future cases in which organizations are held responsible for employee participation in online discussions when company services are used is still a concern I hear discussed when attorneys are involved in planning meetings.
Another concern I heard recently referred to employees writing about work methods, potentially creating discoverable ESI. Sharing information might be a way to exchange best practice and new ideas for handling common business challenges, but the threat of discoverability, the threat that management or a plaintiff might be made aware of questionable practices in satellite offices, is too great.
Finally, there is the question of productivity losses. What is the hit on the bottom line if employees are allowed to spend time networking instead of completing assigned day-to-day tasks?
These are all good points, and I've heard them discussed at several meetings recently. But there is another side to the social networking challenge.
The benefits of business-supported social networking
We've already reviewed one of the benefits of social networking: meeting the expectations of new workforce entrants. The old ways of communicating, of heads-down focus on daily tasks with minimal interaction with coworkers, are not necessarily the best approach to attracting and keeping the best and the brightest. Regardless of what we might believe, or the way we've worked for years, the workers who will one day take our place have their own ideas about how technology should be used. Failure to integrate communication methods that are part of their lifestyles will make organizations that do appear to be better work environments.
In addition to keeping employees satisfied, properly managed social networking can also please shareholders or customers. Two good examples are collaborative workspace projects implemented by the Institute for Johns Hopkins Nursing (IJHN) Leadership Academy in End-of-Life Care, and an employee assistance and sharing site created by Sabre.
IJHN wanted to provide a post-conference method for nurses to stay enthused about what they learned. Further, administrators realized the need for best practice sharing. Nurses across the U.S. sharing information about how they deal with specific issues would help provide better palliative care for all patients. Another reason they considered a collaborative workspace approach was the desire to unite the profession around common goals. Their solution was the deployment of online workspaces. Each workspace focused on the needs of the group accessing it. These weren't freeform, public social networking sites. Using Microsoft Windows SharePoint, the workspaces were for authorized users only.
More information about the IJHN project can be found in Microsoft's case study of the project.
Sabre runs must of the world's airline flight reservation systems. Its goals were similar to those of IJHN. Sabre wanted to improve business processes, enhance service delivery, and improve the bottom line. The company used its own legacy software to implement an online community, Sabre Town, for all its employees. Sabre Town allows users to post a question to the entire organization. A unique feature in the application sends the question to the 15 employees most likely to provide an answer. The 15 are selected based on what they entered in their online profiles, blog postings, and other Q & A participation. The alleged results are impressive, including:
• Sixty percent of questions are answered within one hour
• Each question receives an average of nine responses
• The system has led to over $150,000 in savings
More information about the Sabre Town project is found in the case study.
There are two important characteristics shared by these two solutions. First, there is a limit on scope. Both collaborative workspaces achieved employee interaction and business performance objectives with private, access controlled, social networking sites. This approach helps meet many data leakage and productivity concerns.
Second, employees are provided with a familiar approach to information sharing. No, it isn't uncontrolled access to Facebook, but it does tap skills employees learned on it and other social networking sites.
As you can see, there are benefits as well as risks to using business-controlled social networking solutions. Whether the benefits outweigh the risks is a question each management team must answer, given its unique culture, industry, regulatory issues, etc. However, it should be possible to achieve a balance between risk and benefit, especially if the solution is designed around a solid policy. This is the topic of Part 2.
About Tom Olzak
Editor's Picks | <urn:uuid:f695cbe4-8a1e-4596-99bb-57911f484af9> | http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/it-security/are-social-networking-solutions-safe-for-work/ | en | 0.951505 | 0.030816 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Using Project Properties as defines in your code
You can define constants in your project properties. You can then use these constants in your sketch to control your sketch's behavior depending on these constants.
Simple defines
In your Project Properties window, you can specify defines that behave like #define directives in your source code.
Instead of writing
#define USBPORT 4
you can enter the define in your project properties:
Project Properties defines
Values in the "Defines - Configuration" field are configuration dependent, you can have different defines in your sketch, depending on your configuration (e.g. "Debug" and "Release").
You can also enter values in the field below, named "Defines - Project", these are configuration independent.
You can then use these defines like ordinary #defines written into the code, like in this example:
#if USBPORT > 3
....your code here....
Using build properties as defines
Build properties are parameters that control the compilation and upload process. You can take advantage of these build properties and use them in project property defines. Refer to the build properties by putting them in curly braces:
Project Properties defines
Visual Micro will replace {upload.maximum_size} with the actual value of that build property, e.g. 30720 in case of an Arduino Nano board.
An equivalent hardcoded #define in the code would look like this:
#define PROGMEM_SIZE 30720
With this type of defines, you can, for example, adjust your sketch to the board you are using without changing your source code. With the PROGMEM_SIZE example above, you could compile parts of your sketch only if the board's program memory is big enough:
#if PROGMEM_SIZE > 50000
....your code here....
Where do I find the build properties?
You can create a complete list of the available build properties with this option:
Tools > Options > Visual Micro > Compiler > Show Build Properties
With your next build (using [F7]), you will get a complete list of the build properties in the Output Window.
Converting defines into strings
The following tip applies to C/C++ preprocessor defines in General and is supported by modern compilers.
If you want to use a define as a string, you can use the compiler's "Stringification" function, example:
#define TOSTRING( X ) #X
char progmemSizeString[] = "Progmem size is " TOSTRING(PROGMEM_SIZE);
The TOSTRING macro puts quotes around the value, so that 30720 becomes "30720". This lets you use build properties as C/C++ strings.
The above lines of code are equivalent to:
char progmemSizeString[] = "Progmem size is 30720";
Note that "Stringification" only works in preprocessor macros, that's why we need the TOSTRING macro here.
You cannot write "Progmem size is " #PROGMEM_SIZE
Other Pages | <urn:uuid:bc599554-bf32-42c0-868e-9795655e0079> | http://www.visualmicro.com/page/User-Guide.aspx?doc=Project-Defines.html | en | 0.795992 | 0.023469 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Harvey Weinstein Won’t Reveal the Plot of Inglourious Basterds II to Anyone But Jacqueline Bisset
Inglourious Basterds came out of this year's Cannes Film Festival battling buzz that it was not only boring, but also that Harvey Weinstein thought it was 40 minutes too long. So, in an effort to get people energized about the film that could either make or break the Weinstein Co., Harvey conducted an interview with GQ. In it, he blames "some insane blogger" for starting those rumors and promises that Quentin Tarantino is "not gonna cut, he's just reorganizing some scenes." Most interestingly, though, Harvey seems very excited about a possible prequel to the film:
Mission accomplished. We're all ears, Harvey!
Harvey Weinstein's War on Error [GQ] | <urn:uuid:a1cd8216-81c2-49f0-8478-72c6426bbbb9> | http://www.vulture.com/2009/06/harvey_weinstein_inglorious_ba.html | en | 0.953012 | 0.047552 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
The iPhone sucks (and other big, fat lies)
The first time I heard about the iPhone, I think I was too busy to look too closely at it, or more likely, Steve Jobs had not given enough detail to warrant further investigation on my part. By June, though, there was plenty of buzz around the new Apple phone, and everything I saw on the Apple site looked fantastic. I’m not really certain what tipped the scales for me, but I think it may have actually been the time that Steve Ballmer uttered a big, fat lie in a video interview.
You know Steve Ballmer, he’s the Microsoft CEO that acts like a monkey and says incredibly stupid things (that, or he hopes you’re incredibly gullible). In an interview in which he was asked about the iPhone, he demonstrated his unfathomable ignorance by claiming the iPhone was the most expensive mobile phone, ever. A) Steve, you are a moron, B) the most expensive mobile phone was probably the Nokia 9000 (~$1000), cira 1997, C) even now, there are phones costing upward of $800, D) the iPhone is not (just) a mobile phone. So, Steve, thanks to your absurdly wrong claim, I am now the proud owner of a 4GB Apple iPhone.
The iPhone is truly fantastic. I have personally owned five different mobile phones, and operated dozens of others (I used to work for a company that developed mobile phone software). Not one of them is nearly as easy to use, sleek, and well designed as the iPhone. Everything about it is brilliantly designed. First there’s the packaging. Opening the box is like opening a Christmas present from a fine jeweler. The phone itself is sleek and beautiful. The graphics are the most detailed and colorful I have seen in any handheld device. The visual feedback and ease with which the phone is used are top notch. The on-screen keyboard is the best I’ve used, enabling me to quickly get up to speed with typing notes and adding contacts. Lest I forget, there’s also the desktop-like web browsing. Surfing to any page and seeing it exactly as it would appear on my desktop is wonderful. Okay, so seeing a web page on a tiny screen sounds, at first, like trying to fit a dozen adults into a Mini, but it works remarkably well. I had no trouble at all reading slashdot, CNN, and numerous other pages. I can definitely see myself using the iPhone to browse the web on a regular basis.
In case you were wondering how I got the phone, the story is very simple. On Friday I lined up at the AT&T store in Union City, just before 6pm, and waited to see how fast the line would move. After half an hour, it was pretty clear that the 15 AT&T sales associates on staff were not too interested in selling out on the first night. In 30 minutes, all of five customers made their way out of the store with their new iPhones. With over 100 people in front of me, it would take all night to get mine. The next day my family and I flew up to Oregon. By mid-afternoon I started calling every AT&T store within 20 miles of my parent’s home. The first four had sold out the day before, but the fifth still had plenty. So my dad and I drove over and picked one up—it took less than 3 minutes. Since the Apple Store was nearby, we walked over and found they had plenty of phones in stock as well. I guess no body thought to go to the Bridgeport Village to buy an iPhone. Thankfully that was the case, otherwise I’d probably not have found one anywhere near Portland.
If you’re still undecided about the iPhone, stop wasting time and buy it already. It is worth every penny, and will make your mobile experience the most pleasant it can be.
This entry was posted in Reviews, Technology and tagged . Bookmark the permalink. | <urn:uuid:f7f340f9-d3d8-4c4c-97b5-46c7bb55302c> | https://cafenate.wordpress.com/2007/07/02/the-iphone-sucks-and-other-big-fat-lies/ | en | 0.974295 | 0.045909 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
For the Progressive/Thrash Metal group, see Anacrusis (band). For the family of moths, see Anacrusis (genus).
Beginning of BWV 736, with an anacrusis shown in red. About this sound Play
Anacrusis, in red, beginning Luigi Boccherini's Minuet About this sound Play
In poetry and music, and by analogy in other fields, an anacrusis (plural anacruses) is a brief introduction.
In poetry, a set of extrametrical syllables at the beginning of a verse is said to stand in anacrusis (Ancient Greek: ἀνάκρουσις "pushing up"). The technique is seen Old English poetry,[1] and in lines of iambic pentameter, the technique applies a variation on the typical pentameter line causing it to appear at first glance as trochaic.
In music, an anacrusis (also known as a pickup) is a note or sequence of notes which precedes the first downbeat in a bar in a musical phrase.[2]
The musical term is inferred from the terminology of poetry, where it refers to one or more first but unstressed syllables of a lyrical verse.
The anacrusis is a perceived grouping which is context generated in the individual phrasing of a concrete composition.
The grouping of one or more antecedent tone events to a perceived phrase gestalt may be rhythmically evoked by their temporal proximity to the phrase's first downbeat (perceived phrase onset).
An anacrusis may also be evoked solely metrically (non-rhythmically ), i. e. tonally, that is, without the downbeat perception enforced by a relative long value.
Although the anacrusis is integrated in a musical phrase gestalt (grouped to it), it is not located in the perceived 'body' of the phrase (which is spanning from its first downbeat to its ending beat), but before the phrase (hence the German term "Auftakt").
In this respect -in a sequence of phrases- the anacrusis also may be perceived 'between' two phrases, neither being perceived as part of the ending of a former one, nor being located in the following one.
Outside of that the term of the anacrusis is most commonly used where it applies everywhere else 'within' the 'body' of the phrase between the 'head' (first downbeat) and the 'foot' (ending beat) where, by what ever musical means, a grouping is perceived from an upbeat to a downbeat (especially also to the phrases ending beat).
Western standards for musical notation often include the recommendation that when a piece of music begins with an anacrusis, the notation should omit a corresponding number of beats from the final bar in order to keep the length of the entire piece at a whole number of bars.
If anacrusis is present, the first bar after the anacrusis is assigned bar number 1.
\relative g' {
\key g \major \time 3/4
\partial 8*2 d8. d16
e4-> d g
fis2-> d8. d16
\bar "|"
\addlyrics {
\addlyrics { "_" }
x / x x / x x / x x /
Other fields[edit]
See also[edit]
2. ^ Randel, Don Michael, ed. (2003). The Harvard Dictionary of Music (4th ed.). Cambridge: Belknap Press. p. 42. ISBN 0-674-01163-5. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
3. ^ An example of this use can be seen at Preece, D. A. (1987). "Good Statistical Practice". The Statistician. D. 36: 397. JSTOR 2348838. | <urn:uuid:16fea6b3-80bb-4341-ac66-35edc2c2a28f> | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anacrusis | en | 0.879944 | 0.04686 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
LP record
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
LP record
A typical LP, showing its center label
Media type Audio playback
Encoding Analog grooves
Capacity Typical 22-26 minutes per side;
2 sides
Read mechanism Stylus
Dimensions 12 in (30 cm); 10 in (25 cm)
Weight 90-200 grams
Usage Audio storage
Extended from 1948
An LP record (or long-play record) is a type of gramophone record. It is a 33⅓ rpm vinyl disc with little lines called grooves that go around the center. It is generally either 10- or 12-inches in diameter. They are played by a turntable. A turntable spins the record while a lever with a small needle on the bottom. The needle goes in between the little grooves. When this happens, music is played.
The LP record was introduced by Colombia Records in 1948. It then became the new way the music industry released recordings. In the 1960s, cassettes were introduced. This was a cheaper way to record music and not hear the noise that came from the LP record. However, the LP record continued to be more popular until the 1970s when the compact disc was introduced.
The long-playing record is an analog recording format. The digital recording of sound was only made practical by the technical advances in microprocessors and computing which occurred in the 1970s and 1980s. LP's sound quality, it contains more distortion than many other modern music formats. | <urn:uuid:61007e4a-3444-442b-98b9-9ba0cb965cbb> | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/LP_record | en | 0.968633 | 0.06446 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Treatwell: Beauty Salon Booking & Appointment App
The simple way to book beauty anywhere.
Download our free app.
Logging you in, please wait...
You are logged in
Log in to your account
Does it offend you?
Splash - New Row
Verified (?) Visited Oct 2013
A distinctly average manicure considering the price. It was rushed, and my nails were unevenly filed, edges are messy and have white spots, and at my cuticle the varnish is sloppy. If i'd had a go myself this is how I would expect it to come out. Really quite disappointed, maybe the manicurist was in a hurry but sadly that has cost them my business.
Why are you reporting this review?
Please give us concise information to back up your report
Already a Treatwell citizen?
If you're not a citizen, why not register now?
See also our tips on dealing with negative feedback. | <urn:uuid:4b888b2c-ca7d-4a2d-bd9a-053f4ffd795c> | https://www.treatwell.co.uk/report?entityType=REVIEW&entityId=57968 | en | 0.960184 | 0.079188 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Not in best interest to be disarmed
Not in best interest to be disarmed
(My Clovis News Journal column for June 26, 2015)
Once again a group of disarmed people has fallen victim to a murderer. Peaceful, friendly people attending church, while convinced by "authority" to be sitting ducks, welcomed the murderer into their midst and were gunned down. Words can't convey how evil that premeditated act was.
The blood dancing monsters of the various "gun control" groups, more honestly referred to as "mass murder cheerleaders"- and governments- have blamed the people who didn't commit the murder, and sought to violate the innocent for the hideous acts of a thug. The president lies by claiming this doesn't happen in other countries to convince people to demand to be disarmed.
The truth is an attack can come anywhere at any time. Even where you feel safe. Those attacks are more likely to be attempted- and to succeed- in places where people have been forbidden from carrying guns.
Yes, that's right. Every single "no guns" sign you see, such as at the mall here, is going to be completely ignored by anyone whose mind is made up to murder. If obeyed at all, it will only be obeyed by people who have no murderous intent. People who are already plotting to break the supreme law and commit murder won't hesitate breaking a rule forbidding guns on premises. Even if there are metal detectors at the door, the bad guy will just go in shooting rather than waiting until he is inside.
A "no guns" sign or policy only weeds out the people who might stand between a mass murder and his targets. Instead of enhancing safety, it sacrifices it on the altar of appearances. A "no guns" sign is a warning that your life doesn't matter at all to the property owners.
Anti-gun mouthpieces blame the guns. Racists blame race problems. The superstitious blame a flag. Some even blame the victims for not ignoring the rule and arming themselves anyway. The observant notice the medications the vast majority of mass murderers have been prescribed. Too few blame the murderer.
I am glad to see some people responding to this latest attack by promising if something like this is attempted again, they will shoot back. Maybe they remember Luke 22:36-- "[H]e that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one." Today's sword is the personal firearm. It's terrible it took this attack to inspire them to take responsibility for their own safety, but better late than never.
No one ever disarms you with your best interests in mind. Anyone wanting to disarm you, under any pretext, is your mortal enemy. If you cooperate you are only offering yourself as a sacrifice to their scheme.
"Mandatory" is the deal-breaker
(Previously posted to Patreon)
A while back I signed an online petition against mandatory vaccinations.
I am not "anti-vaccines"; I am anti-mandatory vaccines. And just about anything else, too.
Well, today, the "White House" staff sent a response to all the petition's signatories.
Here it is (feel free to skim- I did):
A Response to Your Petition on Vaccines
Thank you for signing this We the People petition on mandatory vaccines.
The evidence about vaccines' safety and benefits is both strong and consistent -- but don't just take our word for it. We reached out to the U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy -- the Nation's Doctor -- who wanted to respond to you personally on this issue.
Here's what he had to say:
We all want our children to be safe and healthy, and nothing is more important than that -- and the United States currently has the safest, most effective vaccine supply in its history.
When it comes to laws regarding vaccines, there are two important things to keep in mind.
First, states and localities determine these kinds of vaccine requirements and exemption policies. Right now, all states require children to be vaccinated against certain communicable diseases as a condition of school attendance, and there are some employers, such as health care facilities and day cares, that require vaccination to protect their employees as well as their customers (for example, hospitalized patients, people living in long-term health care facilities, and infants attending day care).
Second, the science is quite clear that vaccines are vital to our fight to quell and eventually eliminate highly contagious diseases. Vaccines undergo rigorous scientific study and testing for both safety and efficacy before they are approved for use. Following licensure and use among the U.S. population, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration continue to monitor vaccine safety and effectiveness.
Over the years, billions of people have received vaccines, which have, in turn, saved hundreds of millions of lives in the United States and around the world. For example, prior to the development of the measles vaccine, many children died in the United States as a result of measles and many more were hospitalized each year. After the introduction of the measles vaccine, the number of infections and deaths dropped precipitously.
While the vast majority of people in the United States get vaccinated, there are some communities where vaccination rates are low, and this can increase the risk for vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks. If we continue to see growing pockets of people who are not vaccinated, measles and other contagious diseases will regain a foothold in our country and spread.
Many of the most contagious illnesses can be prevented thanks to vaccines -- and as a result, one of the most important things people can do to protect themselves and their children is to get vaccinated.
It's also important to note that not vaccinating your children doesn't just affect your own kids. It affects your neighbors, your children's classmates, family members -- your community. Some people cannot get immunized for medical reasons (for example, due to an allergic reaction or compromised immune system), a small percentage of people won't develop immunity even though they receive a vaccine, and babies are too young for certain vaccines. These children and adults rely on the rest of us to be vaccinated in order to protect them from exposure to life-threatening illnesses. The recent death due to measles of a Washington state woman with a suppressed immune system illustrates the importance of immunizing as many people as possible to provide a high level of community protection against measles.
We encourage all parents to talk to their doctor or health care professional about vaccinating their children. There are cases in which some specific children will have a medical reason to delay or not get certain vaccines, and your doctor will be able to help guide you in these matters.
We all have a role to play. Vaccinations are one of the great triumphs of science and public policy, and we should make their benefits available to everyone.
As the Surgeon General makes clear, "Vaccines are safe and effective ways to prevent disease and death. They are necessary. They save lives."
And as the President himself said earlier this year, "There is every reason to get vaccinated, but there aren't reasons to not."
If you're concerned about your health, the science is clear: Vaccinate yourself and your children.
For more information about vaccination, please visit www.vaccines.gov.
Well, isn't that special.
Against my better judgment, I replied (not that I believe it will be read):
So basically no one on your side is smart enough to figure out that the issue isn't vaccines, it's MANDATORY vaccines.
I would be opposed to mandatory food.
No one has the right (and certainly not the "authority" since "authority" is nothing but a superstition) to control the body of another. It's really sad that someone you call "The Nation's Doctor" isn't smart enough to understand that. No thank you- I'll find my own doctor. One who puts healthcare over politics.
Edit- Later:
To contact the White House, please visit:
Thank you.
So, you set up an email address, it gets "too much" email, so you ignore it all. Nice. Idiots.
Here, have a tiny slice of "liberty"
Liberty doesn't work very well in a piecemeal fashion.
You can't end the foolishness of borders until you end the foolishness of "entitlements".
And anti-gun bigotry.
And "laws" which violate the right of association.
And rules which violate private property rights- which include "anti-immigration laws".
This isn't an excuse to avoid Rightful Liberty- it is a call to abolish all statism immediately, rather than in baby steps. Because baby steps don't work well- as lingering statism always gets in the way, and seems to verify the statist claim that Liberty can't work.
It's like all the other things that don't work well when sliced up. For example, let me get out a bandsaw and slice 4 inches off the left side of my laptop to give to a needy kid, so he can have some computer. You and I both know, in that case, neither of us would have any computer.
That's why, unfortunately for the "pragmatists", liberty is always all or nothing. | <urn:uuid:07688282-be44-4a15-9996-3e30c720bd68> | http://blog.kentforliberty.com/2015_07_28_archive.html | en | 0.965506 | 0.134245 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
#3 Wesley Outduels Route 13 Rival, #6 Salisbury
More news about: Wesley
SALISBURY, Md. - Askia Jahad ran for nearly 100 yards as the third-ranked Wesley College football team defeated No. 6 Salisbury, 17-7, on a rainy Saturday night at Sea Gull Stadium. The Wolverines have now beaten their Route 13 rival eight-straight times.
Jahad carried the ball 20 times for 98 yards on the night, and his touchdown with 2:06 remaining in the game pretty much sealed the victory for the Wolverines. Jahad also eclipsed the top ten in the school's all-time rushing list, passing Forrley Gunby with 1,473 yards in his career.
Wesley took an early lead in the first quarter, but it was after a 40-minute delay with lightning in the area. On the first play after the delay, senior quarterback Justin Sottilare found his classmate Matt Barile down the sideline for a 25-yard gain before Jahad ran for 17 to get inside the red zone. Three plays later, Ryan Gerlitz caught a fade pass from Sottilare for a Wolverine touchdown.
As rain came down harder throughout the second quarter, Wesley went into the locker room with a 7-0 lead. The Wolverines got the ball coming out of the break, and embarked on a 14-play, 69-yard drive, which ate up seven minutes and 34 seconds. A thirty yard strike to Barile on fourth down kept the drive alive which was capped off by a 23-yard chip shot by senior Dan Tryon
Salisbury was unable to answer until midway through the fourth quarter when the Gulls scored on a 19-yard pass from Dan Griffin to Juma Richards.
Up by just a field goal, Wesley knew they needed to eat some clock and get more points on the board, and that they did. On the very first play of the possession, Jeremiah Howe brought in a pass for 21 yards, before a quarterback draw by Sottilare for six yards forced a SU timeout. After Wesley crossed into Sea Gull territory, Jahad took over, rushing for 41 yards on four carries, including a 15-yard scamper for a touchdown.
The scoring drive ate up over four minutes of playing time and defensive back Sean Hopkins' second interception of the night on Salisbury's ensuing possession preserved the victory.
Sottilare finished 23-of-32 through the air, going for 260 yards and a touchdown. Eight of his passes went to Steven Koudossou, who gained 61 yards on his touches. Barile hauled in five passes for a game-high 95 yards.
Wesley's defense sacked Griffin four times on the night and Brian Snell also recorded his first career interception. Jordan Wescott was in on a game-high 12 tackles, including half a sack. Sosthene Kapepula also tallied eight tackles while defensive tackles Dwayne Glass and Terence Gavin each had 1.5 tackles for loss.
Another stiff test in No. 4 Mary Hardin-Baylor awaits the Wolverines next weekend on September 15, as Wesley comes home for the first time this season. Kickoff from Scott D. Miller Stadium is scheduled for 12:00 pm. | <urn:uuid:9296cf3d-8e46-4f5a-98ca-1e01c8b1e46c> | http://d3football.com/seasons/2012/contrib/20120908t2hbpm?dec=/printer-decorator | en | 0.96797 | 0.02799 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
The recent drafting and ratification of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in 2003 and 2004 sparked contentious debates over the compatibility of democratic governance, Islam, and Islamic law in Afghanistan as well as the impact of these institutions on women's rights. Many women's rights advocates struggled to secure the inclusion of constitutional provisions promoting sex and gender equality and reserving over twenty percent of all seats in the Afghan Parliament for women. While they succeeded in this regard, advocates have since expressed concern that the impact of these provisions will be undermined by existing interpretations of Islamic law that treat women differently-and less favorably-than men. They point to the potential tension between Article 22 of the constitution, which explicitly states that "[a]ny kind of discrimination and distinction between citizens of Afghanistan shall be forbidden. The citizens of Afghanistan, man or woman, have equal rights and duties before the law," and Article 3, which mandates that "no law shall contravene the tenets and provisions of the holy religion of Islam in Afghanistan" and empowers the unelected jurists on Afghanistan's Supreme Court to strike legislation for incompatibility with the latter provision. While the constitution falls short of requiring Islamic law to form the basis of all legislation in Afghanistan, it opens the possibility that a judiciary long-dominated by hard-line Islamist jurists will use its power to subvert gains or women's rights won in the battlefield of the Afghan Parliament.
Included in
Law Commons | <urn:uuid:2c6a7e4f-b8bd-4bed-8d43-809e61415556> | http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/yjlf/vol19/iss1/5/ | en | 0.931017 | 0.018198 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
The Story of Siegfried
by James Baldwin
Adventure 1: “Mimer, the Master”
Additional Information
• Year Published: 0
• Language: English
• Country of Origin: Iceland
• Source: Baldwin, J. The story of siegfried
• Readability:
• Flesch–Kincaid Level: 6.0
• Word Count: 4,923
• Genre: Epic
• Keywords: 20th century literature, american literature, folk tales
• ✎ Cite This
• Share |
But the business of man’s life is not mere pastime; and none knew this truth better than the wise old king, Siegmund. “All work is noble,” said he to Siegfried; “and he who yearns to win fame must not shun toil. Even princes should know how to earn a livelihood by the labor of their hands.” And so, while Siegfried was still a young lad, his father sent him to live with a smith called Mimer, whose smithy was among the hills not far from the great forest. For in those early times the work of the smith was looked upon as the most worthy of all trades,—a trade which the gods themselves were not ashamed to follow. And this smith Mimer was a wonderful master,—the wisest and most cunning that the world had ever seen. Men said that he was akin to the dwarf-folk who had ruled the earth in the early days, and who were learned in every lore, and skilled in every craft; and they said that he was so exceeding old that no one could remember the day when he came to dwell in the land of Siegmund’s fathers. And some said, too, that he was the keeper of a wonderful well, or flowing spring, the waters of which imparted wisdom and far-seeing knowledge to all who drank of them.
“Who among you is skilful enough to forge such a sword?” he asked.
One after another, the pupils shook their heads. And Veliant, the foreman of the apprentices, said, “I have heard much about that wonderful armor, and its extreme hardness, and I doubt if any skill can make a sword with edge so sharp and true as to cut into it. The best that can be done is to try to make another war-coat whose temper shall equal that of Amilias’s armor.”
Then the lad Siegfried quickly said, “I will make such a sword as you want,—a blade that no war-coat can foil. Give me but leave to try!”
The other pupils laughed in scorn, but Mimer checked them. “You hear how this boy can talk: we will see what he can do. He is the king’s son, and we know that he has uncommon talent. He shall make the sword; but if, upon trial, it fail, I will make him rue the day.” Then Siegfried went to his task. And for seven days and seven nights the sparks never stopped flying from his forge; and the ringing of his anvil, and the hissing of the hot metal as he tempered it, were heard continuously. On the eighth day the sword was fashioned, and Siegfried brought it to Mimer.
The smith felt the razor-edge of the bright weapon, and said, “This seems, indeed, a fair fire-edge. Let us make a trial of its keenness.”
“Well done!” cried the delighted smith. “Never have I seen a keener edge. If its temper is as true as its sharpness would lead us to believe, it will indeed serve me well.” But Siegfried took the sword again, and broke it into many pieces; and for three days he welded it in a white-hot fire, and tempered it with milk and oatmeal. Then, in sight of Mimer and the sneering apprentices, he cast a light ball of fine-spun wool upon the flowing water of the brook; and it was caught in the swift eddies of the stream, and whirled about until it met the bared blade of the sword, which was held in Mimer’s hands. And it was parted as easily and clean as the rippling water, and not the smallest thread was moved out of its place.
For seven weeks the lad wrought day and night at his forge; and then, pale and haggard, but with a pleased smile upon his face, he stood before Mimer, with the gleaming sword in his hands. “It is finished,” he said. “Behold the glittering terror!—the blade Balmung. Let us try its edge, and prove its temper once again, that so we may know whether you can place your trust in it.”
And Mimer looked long at the ruddy hilts of the weapon, and at the mystic runes that were scored upon its sides, and at the keen edge, which gleamed like a ray of sunlight in the gathering gloom of the evening. But no word came from his lips, and his eyes were dim and dazed; and he seemed as one lost in thoughts of days long past and gone. Siegfried raised the blade high over his head; and the gleaming edge flashed hither and thither, like the lightning’s play when Thor rides over the storm-clouds. Then suddenly it fell upon the master’s anvil, and the great block of iron was cleft in two; but the bright blade was no whit dulled by the stroke, and the line of light which marked the edge was brighter than before. Then to the flowing brook they went; and a great pack of wool, the fleeces of ten sheep, was brought, and thrown upon the swirling water. As the stream bore the bundle downwards, Mimer held the sword in its way. And the whole was divided as easily and as clean as the woollen ball or the slender woollen thread had been cleft before.
But Mimer’s friends waited in breathless silence, hoping, and yet fearing. Only King Siegmund whispered to his queen, and said, “Knowledge is stronger than brute force. The smallest dwarf who has drunk from the well of the Knowing One may safely meet the stoutest giant in battle.” When Mimer reached the top of the hill, Amilias folded his huge arms, and smiled again; for he felt that this contest was mere play for him, and that Mimer was already as good as beaten, and his thrall. The smith paused a moment to take breath, and as he stood by the side of his foe he looked to those below like a mere black speck close beside a steel-gray castle-tower.
“Are you ready?” asked the smith. “Ready,” answered Amilias. “Strike!” Mimer raised the beaming blade in the air, and for a moment the lightning seemed to play around his head. The muscles on his short, brawny arms, stood out like great ropes; and then Balmung, descending, cleft the air from right to left. The waiting lookers-on in the plain below thought to hear the noise of clashing steel; but they listened in vain, for no sound came to their ears, save a sharp hiss like that which red-hot iron gives when plunged into a tank of cold water. The huge Amilias sat unmoved, with his arms still folded upon his breast; but the smile had faded from his face. “How do you feel now?” asked Mimer in a half-mocking tone. “Rather strangely, as if cold iron had touched me,” faintly answered the upstart.
But after a while it was whispered around that not Mimer, but one of his pupils, had forged the sword. And, when the master was asked what truth there was in this story, his eyes twinkled, and the corners of his mouth twitched strangely, and he made no answer. But Veliant, the foreman of the smithy, and the greatest of boasters said, “It was I who forged the fire-edge of the blade Balmung.” And, although none denied the truth of what he said, but few who knew what sort of a man he was believed his story. And this is the reason, my children, that, in the ancient songs and stories which tell of this wondrous sword, it is said by most that Mimer, and by a few that Veliant, forged its blade. But I prefer to believe that it was made by Siegfried, the hero who afterwards wielded it in so many adventures. Be this as it may, however, blind hate and jealousy were from this time uppermost in the coarse and selfish mind of Veliant; and he sought how he might drive the lad away from the smithy in disgrace. “This boy has done what no one else could do,” said he. “He may yet do greater deeds, and set himself up as the master smith of the world, and then we shall all have to humble ourselves before him as his underlings and thralls.”
And he nursed this thought, and brooded over the hatred which he felt towards the blameless boy; but he did not dare to harm him, for fear of their master, Mimer. And Siegfried busied himself at his forge, where the sparks flew as briskly and as merrily as ever before, and his bellows roared from early morning till late at evening. Nor did the foreman’s unkindness trouble him for a moment, for he knew that the master’s heart was warm towards him. Oftentimes, when the day’s work was done, Siegfried sat with Mimer by the glowing light of the furnace-fire, and listened to the sweet tales which the master told of the deeds of the early days, when the world was young, and the dwarf-folk and the giants had a name and a place upon earth. And one night, as they thus sat, the master talked of Odin the All-Father, and of the gods who dwell with him in Asgard, and of the puny men-folk whom they protect and befriend, until his words grew full of bitterness, and his soul of a fierce longing for something he dared not name. And the lad’s heart was stirred with a strange uneasiness, and he said,— “Tell me, I pray, dear master, something about my own kin, my father’s fathers,—those mighty kings, who, I have heard said, were the bravest and best of men.” Then the smith seemed pleased again. And his eyes grew brighter, and lost their far-away look; and a smile played among the wrinkles of his swarthy face, as he told a tale of old King Volsung and of the deeds of the Volsung kings:— “Long years ago, before the evil days had dawned, King Volsung ruled over all the land which lies between the sea and the country of the Goths. The days were golden; and the good Frey dropped peace and plenty everywhere, and men went in and out and feared no wrong. King Volsung had a dwelling in the midst of fertile fields and fruitful gardens. Fairer than any dream was that dwelling. The roof was thatched with gold, and red turrets and towers rose above. The great feast-hall was long and high, and its walls were hung with sun-bright shields; and the door-nails were of silver. In the middle of the hall stood the pride of the Volsungs,—a tree whose blossoms filled the air with fragrance, and whose green branches, thrusting themselves through the ceiling, covered the roof with fair foliage. It was Odin’s tree, and King Volsung had planted it there with his own hands. “On a day in winter King Volsung held a great feast in his hall in honor of Siggeir, the King of the Goths, who was his guest. And the fires blazed bright in the broad chimneys, and music and mirth went round. But in the midst of the merry-making the guests were startled by a sudden peal of thunder, which seemed to come from the cloudless sky, and which made the shields upon the walls rattle and ring. In wonder they looked around. A strange man stood in the doorway, and laughed, but said not a word. And they noticed that he wore no shoes upon his feet, but that a cloud-gray cloak was thrown over his shoulders, and a blue hood was drawn down over his head. His face was half-hidden by a heavy beard; and he had but one eye, which twinkled and glowed like a burning coal. And all the guests sat moveless in their seats, so awed were they in the presence of him who stood at the door; for they knew that he was none other than Odin the All-Father, the king of gods and men. He spoke not a word, but straight into the hall he strode, and he paused not until he stood beneath the blossoming branches of the tree. Then, forth from beneath his cloud-gray cloak, he drew a gleaming sword, and struck the blade deep into the wood,—so deep that nothing but the hilt was left in sight. And, turning to the awe-struck guests, he said, ‘A blade of mighty worth have I hidden in this tree. Never have the earth-folk wrought better steel, nor has any man ever wielded a more trusty sword. Whoever there is among you brave enough and strong enough to draw it forth from the wood, he shall have it as a gift from Odin.’ Then slowly to the door he strode again, and no one saw him any more. “And after he had gone, the Volsungs and their guests sat a long time silent, fearing to stir, lest the vision should prove a dream. But at last the old king arose, and cried, ‘Come, guests and kinsmen, and set your hands to the ruddy hilt! Odin’s gift stays, waiting for its fated owner. Let us see which one of you is the favored of the All-Father.’ First Siggeir, the King of the Goths, and his earls, the Volsungs’ guests, tried their hands. But the blade stuck fast; and the stoutest man among them failed to move it. Then King Volsung, laughing, seized the hilt, and drew with all his strength; but the sword held still in the wood of Odin’s tree. And one by one the nine sons of Volsung tugged and strained in vain; and each was greeted with shouts and laughter, as, ashamed and beaten, he wended to his seat again. Then, at last, Sigmund, the youngest son, stood up, and laid his hand upon the ruddy hilt, scarce thinking to try what all had failed to do. When, lo! the blade came out of the tree as if therein it had all along lain loose. And Sigmund raised it high over his head, and shook it, and the bright flame that leaped from its edge lit up the hall like the lightning’s gleaming; and the Volsungs and their guests rent the air with cheers and shouts of gladness. For no one among all the men of the mid-world was more worthy of Odin’s gift than young Sigmund the brave.” But the rest of Mimer’s story would be too long to tell you now; for he and his young apprentice sat for hours by the dying coals, and talked of Siegfried’s kinfolk,—the Volsung kings of old. And he told how Siggeir, the Goth king, was wedded to Signy the fair, the only daughter of Volsung, and the pride of the old king’s heart; and how he carried her with him to his home in the land of the Goths; and how he coveted Sigmund’s sword, and plotted to gain it by guile; and how, through presence of friendship, he invited the Volsung kings to visit him in Gothland, as the guests of himself and Signy; and how he betrayed and slew them, save Sigmund alone, who escaped, and for long years lived an outlaw in the land of his treacherous foe. And then he told how Sigmund afterwards came back to his own country of the Volsungs; and how his people welcomed him, and he became a mighty king, such as the world had never known before; and how, when he had grown old, and full of years and honors, he went out with his earls and fighting-men to battle against the hosts of King Lyngi the Mighty; and how, in the midst of the fight, when his sword had hewn down numbers of the foe, and the end of the strife and victory seemed near, an old man, one eyed and bearded, and wearing a cloud-gray cloak, stood up before him in the din, and his sword was broken in pieces, and he fell dead on the heap of the slain. And, when Mimer had finished his tale, his dark face seemed to grow darker, and his twinkling eyes grew brighter, as he cried out in a tone of despair and hopeless yearning,—
“Oh, past are those days of old and the worthy deeds of the brave! And these are the days of the home-stayers,—of the wise, but feeble-hearted. Yet the Norns have spoken; and it must be that another hero shall arise of the Volsung blood, and he shall restore the name and the fame of his kin of the early days. And he shall be my bane; and in him shall the race of heroes have an end.” Siegfried’s heart was strangely stirred within him as he hearkened to this story of ancient times and to the fateful words of the master, and for a long time he sat in silent thought; and neither he nor Mimer moved, or spoke again, until the darkness of the night had begun to fade, and the gray light of morning to steal into the smithy. Then, as if moved by a sudden impulse, he turned to the master, and said,—
“You speak of the Norns, dear master, and of their foretelling; but your words are vague, and their meaning very broad. When shall that hero come? and who shall he be? and what deeds shall be his doing?” “Alas!” answered Mimer, “I know not, save that he shall be of the Volsung race, and that my fate is linked with his.” “And why do you not know?” returned Siegfried. “Are you not that old Mimer, in whom it is said the garnered wisdom of the world is stored? Is there not truth in the old story that even Odin pawned one of his eyes for a single draught from your fountain of knowledge? And is the possessor of so much wisdom unable to look into the future with clearness and certainty?”
“Alas!” answered Mimer again, and his words came hard and slow, “I am not that Mimer, of whom old stories tell, who gave wisdom to the All-Father in exchange for an eye. He is one of the giants, and he still watches his fountain in far-off Jotunheim. I claim kinship with the dwarfs, and am sometimes known as an elf, sometimes as a wood-sprite. Men have called me Mimer because of my wisdom and skill, and the learning which I impart to my pupils. Could I but drink from the fountain of the real Mimer, then the wisdom of the world would in truth be mine, and the secrets of the future would be no longer hidden. But I must wait, as I have long waited, for the day and the deed and the doom that the Norns have foretold.” And the old strange look of longing came again into his eyes, and the wrinkles on his swarthy face seemed to deepen with agony, as he arose, and left the smithy. And Siegfried sat alone before the smouldering fire, and pondered upon what he had heard. | <urn:uuid:1232f370-0d60-41d0-a84f-e167d03eb6f9> | http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/205/the-story-of-siegfried/4500/adventure-1-mimer-the-master/ | en | 0.984484 | 0.022037 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Back to selection
Finding the Right Story to Tell: The Making of AfterDeath (Part 1)
The psychological thriller/horror movie AfterDeath is the first feature film of directors Gez Medinger and Robin Schmidt. Shot on a tight budget and a tight schedule, the development and shooting of AfterDeath offers a lesson to anyone looking to make their first feature. AfterDeath is currently in post-production and is expected to be released in early 2014. Filmmaker spoke to Medinger about the project shortly after shooting wrapped.
Medinger and Schmidt met at Oxford University in the late ’90s. Schmidt was studying English and Medinger was studying engineering. After leaving university, Schmidt became interested in film and video and learned how to edit using Final Cut Pro. Around 2000 they started developing an idea for a TV series about a group of people trying to make a skiing TV show. Says Medinger, “We sent this off to a few different TV companies and they were all interested but we had no experience and rightly they said, ‘Probably not for us.’”
But through that process they met filmmaker Joel Mishcon and skiing instructor Warren Smith, and they ended up making a ski film, Snows in the House.
Schmidt and Mishcon formed Chrome Productions in 2002, planning to make films. Instead, they ended up making corporate and music videos. Music videos, Medinger found, were ultimately unsatisfying: We’d write 15 brilliant treatments and never get a video and then when you finally do get a video it’s for the one treatment that you rushed out and didn’t really want to make.” On top of that, with music video budgets so tight, “You’re basically expected to lose money on every music video you make, so you’re working for free.”
Note: You can read an interview with Andrew Ellard, who wrote the script for AfterDeath, here: Andrew Ellard on Writing for Film and Television
Filmmaker: When did you decide you wanted to make a feature film?
Medinger: My goal was always to make feature films, but we started out making a sports film, and then we did TV and music videos, and we were never quite sure about the best way to make a feature film. When we wrote our business plan back in early 2002, I remember writing, “We expect to be in production of our first feature film by 2004-2005,” and as it happened it was 2013 before we actually got there.
Filmmaker: Why did it take you so long to get to that point?
Medinger: There are all sorts of reasons why it took so long, but in a sense it’s amazing that it happened at all because it’s not easy to make a feature film. There are a lot of barriers in the way and not all of those barriers are necessarily real. A lot of them are psychological; you think you have to have this, that and the other in place, and you’re waiting on funding bodies or other people to get behind you. You can end up waiting forever, and I guess that was what happened over the 10-year period from setting up the company and ultimately making the film.
Filmmaker: How did you come up with the idea for AfterDeath?
Medinger: We developed three different projects before we finally came to AfterDeath. The first one was a vampire thriller which ultimately required a budget of more than $1 million to give it the level of production design that you would have to have for the type of film that it was.
The next film was a psychological thriller which again required a bit too much money. The third film was an action comedy and was called Awesome Sauce. If you imagine something like Zoolander with Jackie Chan, then you’d be close to the kind of film it was.
This one was actually the most developed of all of them, and last year we were full speed ahead on Awesome Sauce. We had the fourth draft of the script, we had a business plan, and we were in a pretty good position to go out to investors and raise the budget. But there was a little thing that niggled me about the project which was that the cast that we had weren’t really going to sell the film, and the kind of film that it was, it was going to be slightly Marmite in terms of its comedy.
Filmmaker: Marmite?
Medinger: Basically, you love it or hate it.
Also, it had a lot of stunts, production design and a lot of exterior nights, and I was looking at the budget and thinking “even if we mange to make this I can see sales agents and distributors not being able to instantly say, “I know what this is and I know that I can sell it,” and that worried me.
I still believe it would be really great, but as a first feature I felt it was a bit too risky, it was a bit too different. There’s that old adage from Hollywood, “Give me the same but different.” There was a bit too much different in Awesome Sauce and not enough of the same.
Robin Schmidt and Gez Medinger
Robin Schmidt and Gez Medinger
Filmmaker: When did you decide not to continue with Awesome Sauce?
Medinger: I went to a two-day film school that Dov Simens conducted. He was Roger Corman’s production manager for 10 years and he does this two-day class which is brilliant, very inspiring. You can’t learn the industry in two days, but I went there for any little nuggets I could pick up for Awesome Sauce, and what he said was, “For your first feature film, put five kids in a room and chop them up. Shoot it across a week and a weekend either side — a nine-day shoot. Spend the previous five days before that rehearsing it. One location, five kids, super cheap, turn it in for 30,000 bucks and hey presto, there’s your first film done.”
There’s something valid about being smart with what you create and being smart about who the audience is for what you make.
There’s also the idea that you should make a film that you want to see, and if you want to see it then there’s a good chance that other people will want to see it too. But you can go beyond that and say, “If I’m going to make a low-budget film, what kind of low-budget films sells?” And the answer is that is you have to be smart about genre and the most obvious genre to go into is horror.
This started off the little niggle that maybe Awesome Sauce wasn’t the right project.
Filmmaker: Where did the idea for AfterDeath come from?
Medinger: Years earlier, we’d talked about adapting the Jean-Paul Sartre play Huis-clos (No Exit), which is the one that’s famous for the expression “Hell is other people.” It’s a one-act, existentialist play about three people who end up in this room in Hell. They’re essentially trying to find redemption from the other people in the room that what they did wasn’t all that bad, but each one of them is the other’s perfect nemesis, and they end up in this merry-go-round where they can never find peace because the only people that can forgive them never will.
And I thought of that as a jumping-off point to make a slightly more intelligent horror film that asks some interesting, modern, philosophical questions that the genre doesn’t usually do. I got quite excited about this idea and thought that it had the ingredients for a project that we could put together.
Filmmaker: How did you make the leap to actually start the movie?
Medinger: After 10 years of saying, “It’s going to happen this year,” I thought we had to take matters into our own hands and make it happen. So we looked at how much money we could definitely raise, and made that the budget, and then tried to figure out, “What can we physically do with this?”
I realized that the only thing that stops me from making a film now is me. As soon as I had the realization that I had to take the power and control out of other people’s hands and put it into my own, I knew the only thing that would ever stop me from making a film was my own drive and ambition.
Filmmaker: How did you go from the idea to a script?
Medinger: This was August last year that I had the idea. At that point, I set a target of shooting in February/March 2013, which was going to give me six months to develop and shoot the project. I felt that there was absolutely no reason why that couldn’t happen.
Elarica Gallacher and Miranda Raison
Elarica Gallacher and Miranda Raison
I’ve found that things never happen unless you put a deadline on them; they just get pushed back. And pushed back. When you put a date to it then it seems real. Also, by telling everybody the date it means that you can’t welch out of it and say, “No, I didn’t really mean that.”
I started to develop the story but before writing a 90-page screenplay I wrote a 10-page outline to make sure that I had the story straight. It was quite a big deviation from the play. The problem is that there’s no jeopardy in the play and that doesn’t work on screen because if you’re already in Hell, well can it get any worse? And there wasn’t a normal three-act structure in the play, so you had to identify who your protagonist is going to be, what that journey is going to be, and how it was going to work on the screen structurally.
Filmmaker: How did you get Andrew Ellard onboard to write it?
Medinger: I wrote a 10-page treatment and sent it off to Andrew, who I’d become aware of a year or two earlier. Robin and I had made a film for the Sci-Fi London 48-Hour Film Challenge and the film that ultimately won really surprised us because it was a brilliant story, a lovely idea, really well told. A lot of the time, especially in short film, they seem to feel that they can get away with just a sketch, and I don’t think there’s an excuse not to actually tell a story with a beginning, middle, and an end that takes your characters on a journey. The film that won absolutely did that, and Andrew Ellard had written it.
Subsequently, through a Twitter discussion, we had sent the script for Awesome Sauce to Andrew. This was a few months before I started developing what became AfterDeath, and the notes I got back from him were incredibly incisive. It was clear he shared the same sense for structure that I did.
When it came to developing AfterDeath, the first thing I did was send this treatment to him for notes on the story because I wanted to make sure that when I wrote the script I would not waste any time on a structure that didn’t work.
Andrew came back with all sorts of notes on it, one of the most important being, in my version the characters didn’t realize they were dead until the mid-point. He said, “I don’t think you can get away with that. I think people will guess it far sooner than that and I think you’ll end up with a flat first half of the film because the audience guesses something the characters haven’t,” and I think he was ultimately right.
Aside from all these notes he said, “I think you’ve got an absolutely killer premise here and I’d be interested in coming on board as a writer.” At that point, I literally bit Andy’s hand off, because I knew that if I got him on board, not only would I get a better script, but I would also have the next few months to actually produce the project and make it happen. As a filmmaker you often have to wear lots of hats but I find that writing is one where you have to lock yourself away and get into that world to be able to do it. I think I would have found writing and producing quite difficult.
Part 2 will cover script development, casting and locations.
IMDB: AfterDeath
© 2017 Filmmaker Magazine
All Rights Reserved
A Publication of IPF | <urn:uuid:29a4addf-3fe5-4d2f-aa92-b98c233023b2> | http://filmmakermagazine.com/77020-finding-the-right-story-to-tell-the-making-of-afterdeath-part-1/ | en | 0.980931 | 0.023141 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Up Close & Personal with Alex Ramirez
Banner Elk, NC--This Texan native has two goals and one assist for a total of five points on the heavily loaded Bobcat team. Join us today as we get to know another freshman midfielder for the squad.
1. What made you decide to come to Lees-McRae? The soccer program, the area of studies I wanted to go into and the area all played a part in my decision.
2. How long have you been playing soccer? I have played for 11 years.
3. What are your personal goals for this season? I'd like to play in some of the games and help the team.
4. What is your favorite memory here at Lees-McRae so far? Just playing with the team has been.
5. Who has been the most influential person on your athletic career? My dad and Kaka
6. If you weren't playing soccer, what other sport would you play? I'd like to bowl.
7. What is your major and what do you plan to do with your degree? Athletic Training and Psychology are my majors.
8. If you could travel back in time to any point in history, where would you go? I'd go back to the Champions League Final in Istanbul 2005.
9. What is your favorite book? Fight Club
10. What is your favorite food? Mexican and BBQ
11. If you could visit any place in the world, where would it be? I would like to go to Mexico City.
12. What is one word that describes you and why? Relaxed; Stress will just make anything less enjoyable so I try to be relaxed as much as possible and just enjoy any situation I'm in.
Alex's Story … I was born in Houston, Texas but grew up in Arlington. I played club soccer for Texas Lighting Soccer Club. Then we played a tournament in Plano where Coach Whalley saw me. He gave me a call a few days later and we set up a campus visit. I really liked it when I came up here and decided to make this my home for the next couple of years. | <urn:uuid:6ad73c2f-d4b4-4a7c-8efd-cdefa3b379be> | http://lmcbobcats.com/sports/msoc/2007-08/releases/a1164.html | en | 0.982981 | 0.063429 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
HTML code allows to embed Philadelphia Eagles logo in your website.
BB code allows to embed logo in your forum post.
Philadelphia Eagles logo image sizes: 1000 x 720 pixels. Format: png. Filesize: 121 KB.
Which company's logo is this? | <urn:uuid:c8bfa268-dca2-4258-aa2b-65993eb726b0> | http://logonoid.com/philadelphia-eagles-logo/ | en | 0.844591 | 0.019899 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Follow This Foal – a journey from birth to yearling
by Cynthia Cooper (Photos by Suz Haywood).
You know, I was thinking just recently that bringing up a young horse has delights and pleasures not experienced with older horses.
Our role as their human ‘leader’ is such an important one. To be entrusted with shaping the life of a young horse has responsibilities similar to that of raising your own children.
Royale Zach at 2 days old.
You can feel proud of your horse’s achievements, knowing you helped make them what they become. And as our level of knowledge increases, we can take pride in helping our youngsters become calmer, smarter, braver and more athletic horses, faster than ever before.
I’ve raised foals since I was 10 years old but only now, can I appreciate just how sensitive we can be to their needs and in their training.
Just for fun, I thought it would be nice to share the experiences I have with Zach, my Quarab gelding who is now a treasured family member.
Zach who has the best attributes of all three genetic pools. His Quarterhorse genes give him the strength and gentle nature, the Thoroughbred has given him length of leg and the Arab, his good looks and flashy movement.
He was born on October the 24th, delivered into human arms as his front leg was back and had to be straightened before he could make his grand entrance to the world.
Those legs were so long he looked like a big spider to start with. He wasn’t ‘foal imprinted’ as such (he was born on a stud farm as Suz and I were away) but he got plenty of friendly game and gentle yielding with the porcupine game in the first few days.
Grady and newborn Zach.
At the age of 2 weeks, he had to be moved from the stud so he received a crash course in leading and loading onto a float.
By using a savvy string around his girth, the leading was achieved without too much trauma.
Ideally, we would have had him and mum in a small yard to allow him to drift without escaping, however we had to make do with the situation.
The pressure he encountered from the string around his girth was released as soon as he looked in my direction or stopped trying to move away.
It didn’t take him long to figure out how to get me to release pressure.
From there it was just a matter of time to convince him to take a step or two then more and more.
By moving his mum away a few feet (she was kept in a position where she could always see him), it encouraged him to try some forward steps after responding to a step to the left or right.
Pretty soon he was able to follow the feel of the string forward, then backwards with an extra string around his chest, so I could walk beside him to the float and maintain control.
By using my hip against his side, I could move his hindquarters a bit if he tried to go too fast or needed to change direction.
He made the walk to the float (about 150m) quite calmly and was then allowed to smell and look at the float.
All was OK until mum stepped on the tailboard and it made a big noise.
We loaded her slowly, pausing halfway in to encourage Zach to stay close and follow her.
After a few tries he got used to the sound of hooves on the ramp and walked in beside his mum. We’d removed the centre divider so he could lean close against her.
As he hadn’t been taught to tie and I didn’t want to risk him getting scared and jumping out over the tailgate, I rode in with him.
He was a little jumpy to start with so I was able to reassure and him, helping him to cope with the stopping and starting, traffic coming up behind us and balancing for the corners. He handled the 20 minute trip quite well and once unloaded, was led to his new paddock, allowed to drink then released when he was quiet and relaxed.
Here I am teaching him to yield backwards to steady pressure
For the next month he was given lots of friendly attention and the occasional short session with the string to reinforce his first leading lesson.
Then a halter was introduced and I added another string to the one around his girth, and ran it up through the halter.
He would gradually become accustomed to some pressure on it, but by having the string around his girth I had a way of keeping strong pressure off his poll which is where foals have the most opposition reflex.
In the past, I’ve experienced foals flipping over or fighting the pressure terribly because it is such a strong instinct. Its so much easier to hold them with the girth string (it comes out between their front legs) and it has the added benefit of teaching them to handle the pressure of the girth for riding later.
Before I put the halter on, I check that he is yielding his hindquarters with just the string around his neck.
At the age of 6 weeks, Zach had his second experience travelling on the float as Grady was being returned to my stallion, Mandala Royale for service again.
This time the trip was an hour long which was tiring but he coped quite well.
It’s a blessing to have a mare who handles the float with ease, relaxed and munching on hay all the way.
They were put in a paddock adjoining the stallion so they could become acquainted with him and the other mare he ran with.
In a few days Grady was in season so with Roy (the stallion) tied up, we introduced Grady and Zach into the paddock to meet Pepsi, another Quartehorse mare.
She turned out to be very keen on having Zach to herself but Grady is a good mum and kept herself between Zach and Pepsi, until she could trust her more. After a few days, the foal was spending more time with Pepsi and Roy than his own mum – she was just the milkbar!
Once the mares had figured out their pecking order, Roy was released to meet his new herd members.
As a mature stallion he knows the rules and after the initial charge towards them with keen greetings he kept a polite distance.
Unfortunately, Pepsi became so possessive over Grady and the foal, she had to be caught and tied out of the way to allow Roy to mate with Grady. Zach was a little unsure about things to start with but soon learned to stay out in front of mum when dad was having his fun!
There’s nothing better than to see a family of horses, doing what comes naturally.
Zach really enjoyed playing with Roy who was eternally patient and very gentle with his discipline.
And in the process Zach learns about pecking order and most importantly, how to be a horse.
Early Education.
Foals grow up quickly and that’s exactly what Zach is doing.
He’s going to be quite tall, probably 15.2-3hh and he has a lively, bold nature.
It’s so important in these early months, to continue the education we started so our young horses are able to cope with many situations we humans will expose them to in the future.
Apart from playing with him at liberty every day, mostly being friendly and moving him back when he pushes into my space, I’ve also had to use a bit of rhythmic motion to convince him I’m not a plaything.
Most colt foals like to play rough and while his dad calmly puts up with nipping, rearing and chasing, its not acceptable to do this to humans.
One thing I need to watch for is when I walk away – he is likely to chase after me to play so I always carry my ‘savvy string’ and swing that around my shoulders which is enough motion to show him the boundaries of my personal space.
The same with feeding time, by swinging a string or stick around as you approach with the feed, you are reinforcing your ‘alpha’ horse status by not allowing them to push into your space and grab the feed until you place it down and invite them in or step away.
Regular hoof handling is essential preparation for trimming.
Preparing him for hoof care with regular handling of his hooves. Don’t leave this for the farrier – it is your responsibility to have your horse trained before he gets there to do the job.
The next steps in Zach’s education were to teach him about hoof trimming and being wormed.
As he has very long legs which he spreads wide to reach the grass, he was wearing down his front hooves unevenly, requiring a small amount of rasping to keep them straight while his legs are developing.
With one person holding/distracting him with lots of rubbing, the transition from lifting up each hoof for a short period which he was already coping with, to holding firmly for a period of time to rasp was smooth.
Taken in small steps and ensuring that I released the leg only when he was relaxed, enabled me to gradually increase the length of time he would hold each leg up.
Then a little rasping followed by a release, soon had him de-sensitised to that sound and feeling so the whole job was accomplished in around 30 minutes.
Zach being wormed
Worming is no fuss when you’ve spent time preparing with apple sauce.
To prepare him for worming, I spent some time each day playing with my fingers in and around his mouth until he was relaxed and confident with this. I did this at liberty so the temptation to hold him against his will was removed, and I had to use plenty of approach and retreat.
Then I used a syringe containing water to de-sensitise him to the feeling of that around and in his mouth, followed by releasing some water which he didn’t seem to mind.
The next step was changing the water to apple sauce which he didn’t seem to mind either.
Once he was comfortable with this, using the real wormer was no hassle- it just tasted a bit like a bad apple so I followed it up with some apple sauce again.
At the age of 10 weeks Zach was gelded as he had both testicles down and it would be much easier on him at this age. By gelding him with just a sedative and a local anaesthetic, he was able to remain standing and recover quickly.
My vet getting friendly with Zach before starting the gelding procedure.
Whenever your foal meets someone new, he will be a little cautious, even quite scared, so get them to be friendly with him before trying to proceed.
He was also given his first tetanus injection.
Gelding colts while they’re still on their dams, reduces the likelihood of swelling and infection as the foal is moving around, getting up and down etc. all of which helps keep the wounds open and draining.
All I needed to do the following day was run my fingers along the wounds to clear any blood clots and keep a check on the swelling which was gone completely with a few days.
Since being gelded, Zach has returned to a friend’s place where the grass is plentiful. He has lost his gingery foal coat and is now a handsome dark grey colour.
Tying and Travelling.
Zach has travelled on the horse float twice and in preparation for his third trip, we taught him to tie up.
He accepted this without any fuss which I’m sure was due to all the preparation he had.
This included regular leading sessions and learning to follow the feel forward with steady pressure.
I made sure to test that he could cope with the pressure of the halter on his head by putting him under gradually increasing amounts of pressure while leading him from in front.
He reached the stage where I could get him to trot behind me by following a feel on the ropre, without any resistance.
A relaxed Zach is tied short enough that he can’t get a leg over the rope and not so high that he can get his head under the rope.
The next step involved being in a yard where there was a smooth round rail I could loop the rope over a couple of times.
He was positioned alongside his mum but not so close he would get tangled in her rope.
This way, if he pulled on the rope, it would slip a little so he got some gradual pressure rather than a sharp sudden jerk which could instigate the fearful reaction we so often see when a horse pulls back.
I asked him to back up so he could feel some pressure and his willingness to step forward when he felt that told me he was ready to leave there for a short time.
Its important when first teaching a horse to tie, to make the sessions short and release them when they are standing quietly, not when they get agitated.
Also, by having Zach tied in a small yard, if he did pull away, he would not be able to get far or scare himself by dragging the rope while in a reactive frame of mind.
After a couple of short sessions with the rope wrapped around the rail, he was ready to tie to an inner tube which has some give but is more of a solid feel.
To test that he was OK with this, I stimulated him a little by causing him to move left and right with the flag on the stick, being careful to only stop the stimulation when he came forward to release the pressure on the rope.
If we stop the flag moving while he is putting pressure on the rope, it teaches him that pulling back is the best way to get rid of the scary flag!
Well, in true form, he coped so well that I felt confident he was ready to be tied in the horse float.
The added bonus of tying him in a confined area is that he’s unlikely to be able to pull back with a lot of pressure as he would come into contact with the back of the float, providing you judge the length of rope just right for this to happen.
From here it’s just a matter of repeating the process in a number of different situations and gradually increasing the amount of time he can tolerate being tied.
To start with I would only expect a few minutes, but after 2 or 3 sessions, this could be increased to 15 minutes then 30 minutes.
Like young children, young horses get bored quickly so if tying for longer periods, maybe a little hay in a bag will help him get the idea that tying up can be a comfortable thing. (Don’t use a net for the hay as the halter clip could get caught on the net and scare tham).
By his 3rd float journey, Zach loads like a seasoned horse due to his mum’s confidence and his previous good experiences with travelling.
Well Zach’s 3rd and 4th journeys in the float were straight forward and uneventful. He loaded like a pro, stepping up willingly beside his mum then came out slow and steady at the other end.
I must say, having a mare who’s relaxed and confident in the float is a major part of the process in developing that in a foal.
For the past 3 months Zach has been paddocked with his mum and another gelding for company. As the colder weather developed he learned to enjoy the extra grain feeds his mum was getting and so had daily contact with people. It was not that necessary to do much more with him except a regular hoof trim until weaning time which will be covered next.
I get a lot of people asking “what is the best age to wean a horse”?
I think if you can look to nature you have the answers – most mares who are foaling every year in the wild would wean their foal off drinking just prior to having their next one so natural logic is the key.
The age I mostly wean my foals at is between 9 and 12 months, taking into account the following factors:
the mare being empty or back in foal, the pasture conditions, the weather conditions and the availability of time to commit on a daily basis for a period of 2-3 weeks.
Weaning can be traumatic for the foal especially when it’s done too early (less than 7 months old) and approached normally with instant separation!
Done naturally, the mare would start to wean her foal when her hormones change in preparation for the birth of her next foal.
Her reluctance to feed the weanling would increase gradually to the point where the foal was no longer feeding, but still allowed to share the close bond they have.
Once the mare had foaled, the weanling (probably close to a year old) would form closer bonds with other herd member, most likely other youngsters.
In order to replicate this as closely as possible, I started the process with Zach (now 8 mths) and his mum, Grady, being joined by a gentle old mare who could be a surrogate mother to Zach.
Any quiet, gentle horse will do the job. They were pastured together for a few days before I started separating Grady from Zach and Sara (his surrogate) for short periods (30 minutes) to longer ones of a few hours.
The separation was done over a double tape electric fence with Grady kept in a smaller area so she was constantly visible to Zach.
By increasing the time daily, it only took a week before he could go for the full day without a drink.
At this stage I would put them back together during the nights.
The next stage involved moving them to larger adjoining pastures and giving Grady a friend.
I also introduced another young gelding to Zach and Sara in the hope that Zach could relate to him a little more in play.
For the next week, I allowed Zach to suckle once a day which helped to ease the tightness of Grady’s udder.
Her diet was reduced to very little pasture and a small amount of hay.
Then the daily suckling was decreased to every 2nd day for a week .
By then Zach was enjoying the company of the others and seemed to be independent enough to cope without his mum.
As Grady’s bag had mostly dried up, she needed to be moved to more pasture as did Zach so they were taken to join separate herds.
Ideally, these would be in adjoining pastures but as this wasn’t possible, we put Zach in a secure yard with his herd mates while Grady was led away to her new herd.
After a couple of whinnies Zach settled quickly and a few hours later was pastured again with his mates.
Apart from trying to suckle a few of the other horses, he showed no anxiety from being separated from his mother and he has since formed a pair bond with Ruby, a 2 year old filly.
Another big benefit in the whole process was the confidence Zach gained in being caught and led a little each day.
He also became accustomed to wearing a rug as the weather was pretty horrible and probably due to the combination of being cold and coping without mum’s milk, he developed a cold which he overcame quickly.
Weaning need not be a traumatic experience if done gradually. This also decreases the risk of injury to mare and foal, and allows the youngster to suffer less anxiety in the future when they need to be ‘ ‘weaned’ from their pair bond. Of course you could approach their next separation in much the same way.
Really, it’s just a matter of looking at it from the horse’s point of view.
How would you feel if you were a child, suddenly locked in a cell away from your mum, and in the case of some young horses, away from everyone else too?
Life in the Herd and Winter Feeding.
Since being weaned, Zach has been on supplementary feeds as well as plenty of good pasture.
As the winter progressed, his feeds were increased to twice daily and consist of lucerne chaff, boiled barley, Equisoy, and a quality mineral supplement.
He has paired up with Ruby, a 2 year old filly also being fed daily and it was lovely to see the two of them work out when to leave the herd and wait by the gate to be led across to the yards for their feeds.
This daily catching and leading has been a nice way of consolidating Zach’s education and while being fed he is groomed and has his feet checked.
As the weather worsened I relented and put his rug on as he is growing so quickly he needed to get the most from his feed, rather than using it to keep warm.
He seems to be quite comfortable in the herd, accepting his lowly position and sometimes tries to entice Manny, an older gelding, to play who interestingly was very much like Zach as a youngster.
Apart from this daily handling, the occasional hoof trim and worming which he loves thanks to apple sauce, nothing more is asked of him except to remain respectful in all situations.
One of those is when feeding carrots by hand. His buddy, Ruby, has been getting homeopathic drops twice daily in carrot so it was hard to resist giving Zach the odd piece.
He then became a little too demanding, even though he only got carrot randomly, so I’ve had to cease giving him any at all.
Feeding by hand to youngsters can promote nipping unless you approach it with some clicker training, so its better to give them a scratch or a rub in their favourite spot (except the rump as they will often turn it to you unexpectedly).
It is pleasing to note Zach’s calm, thinking nature when he is faced with various natural obstacles. He’ll put his head down and look at things, before carefully stepping over or through.
With an inquisitive and friendly nature, he is a delight to have around and come summer, I can’t wait to start taking him places to broaden his life experiences.
Well it seems to be inevitable that if you have a young horse, you have to deal with some sort of injury at some stage .
Zach almost reached a year old unscathed but then after galloping around a new paddock with the herd as they do, he showed up lame the next day.
With no signs of swelling or stone bruising, I gave him a week to recover thinking he may have just pulled a ligament.
He was no better after a week and being in the herd meant he was having to move (out of everyone’s way) too much for healing to take place so I confined him to a yard with his friend, Ruby.
He appeared much better after a week and with the help of treatment with Photonic therapy (Laser light on acupuncture points) I thought he was on the mend.
But then after some playing and running with Ruby he became lame again so I separated them and he improved after another week.
By that time he was really looking for some grass as a change from the hay and lucerne diet so I made a little electric fenced area, but as he hadn’t had some recent reminders about electric fencing, he and Ruby charged through, galloping into a big paddock and once again he was lame.
I then suspected there was something else going on so took him to the vet for an ultrasound and proper diagnosis.
He hardly showed any lameness but when pressure was applied above his left hip, he told us that’s where it hurt.
The ultrasound showed a fracture in the pelvis which is a common injury in young horses as all they have to do is put their foot in a hole or slip over when running to have this happen.
Fortunately, the prognosis is good as young bones usually heal well so with constant confinement to a small yard for a month then gradually moving him to larger areas should see him heal.
All the extra handling while confined is completing his education and he’s learned to respect electric fences so I can graze him on small areas for part of the day.
So now that he is a yearling and knows how to lead, tie up, have his hooves trimmed, be wormed and travel in a float, the only thing he needs is more experience of different situations in the big wide world and to leave his buddy without being herd bound.
When he’s recovered my goal will be to teach him some more ground games so he is confident and controllable in the varied places we go at home and away from home.
Well the good news is that Zach has made a full recovery from his fractured pelvis and is now enjoying life with the small herd in a huge paddock.
He graduated from a small yard to increasing sized areas up to 60 x 60 m with his friend, Ruby over a period of 3 months.
When it was obvious he could cope with a bit of a frolic without showing any lameness they were both taken back to the herd.
I anxiously watched as the went for a flat out gallop around the big paddock and relieved when Zach showed no lameness in the following days.
Now he has been weaned off his rug and daily hard feed so he can just be a young horse and enjoy the freedom of youth.
Zach at 3 yrs of age just prior to starting under saddle. | <urn:uuid:c4ffa421-cf5c-4507-b33e-ca031554cfb5> | http://naturalhorseworld.com/newsite/follow-a-foal-a-journey-from-birth-to-yearling/ | en | 0.98707 | 0.028951 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Web Services
SOAP IN Web services
SOAP Tutorial
SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol)
Previous Home Next
SOAP is a W3C recommendation. SOAP is an XML-based protocol for exchanging information between computers. SOAP is acronym for Simple Object Access Protocol. Soap provide data transport layer for web services which designed for communication through internet means we can say that SOAP is a communication protocol. It is a platform independent and can be used for broadcasting a message. SOAP is language independent and it can be exchange complete documents. SOAP enables client applications to easily connect to remote services and invoke remote methods. Other frameworks like CORBA, DCOM, and Java RMI, provide similar functionality but SOAP messages are written in XML.
To develop any application over internet, communication is necessary. Today's applications communicate using Remote Procedure Calls (RPC) but RPC represents security problem; firewalls and proxy servers will block this kind of traffic. The communication establish between objects, like DCOM and CORBA, but one problem occurring that HTTP was not designed for that types communications. A better way to communicate between applications is over HTTP, because HTTP is supported by all Internet browsers and servers. SOAP provides facility to communicate between applications running on different operating systems, with different technologies and programming languages.
A SOAP message is a XML document containing the following elements:-
• Envelope: (Mandatory) defines the start and the end of the message.
• Header: (Optional) Contains any optional attributes of the message used in processing the message, either at an intermediary point or at the ultimate end point.
• Body: (Mandatory) Contains the XML data comprising the message being sent.
• Fault: (Optional) An optional Fault element that provides information about errors that occurred while processing the message.
Syntax for soap:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
SOAP Envelope Element
The SOAP envelope indicates the start and the end of the message. SOAP envelope as a packaging mechanism and its solves the problem to knowing when receiving a message with message are ready to process it.
<?xml version="1.0"?>
Information Message
Some Features are:
• Envelope element is mandatory part of SOAP message and SOAP message has a root Envelop element
• Soap Message Envelope element contained exactly one Body element. It is necessary.
• When Envelope contains a Header element then it must contain no more than one. In that case it must appear as the first child of the Envelope, before the Body.
• SOAP versions change as well as envelop be changed.
• The optional SOAP encoding is also specified using a namespace name and the optional encodingStyle element, which could also point to an encoding style other than the SOAP one.
SOAP Header Element
The Header element can be used to specify a digital signature for password-protected services; likewise, it can be used to specify an account number for pay-per-use SOAP services. Header elements are optional part of SOAP messages and it can occur multiple times. Headers are intended to add new features and functionality and it is the first immediate child element of the SOAP envelope. If in a SOAP message more than one header is defined then all immediate child elements of the SOAP header are interpreted as SOAP header blocks.
<m:Trans xmlns:m="http://www.r4r.co.in/"
SOAP Header element can have following two attributes:
• Actor attribute: The SOAP protocol defines a message path as a list of SOAP service nodes. Each of these intermediate nodes can perform some processing and then forward the message to the next node in the chain. By setting the Actor attribute, the client can specify the recipient of the SOAP header.
• MustUnderstand attribute: This attribute indicate that a Header element is optional or mandatory.
SOAP Body Element
The SOAP body is a mandatory element which contains the application-defined XML data being exchanged in the SOAP message. The body must be contained within the envelope and must follow any headers that might be defined for the message. The body is defined as a child element of the envelope, and the semantics for the body are defined in the associated SOAP schema.
<m:GetPrice xmlns:m="http://www.r4r.co.in/">
SOAP Fault Element
SOAP fault element is in the body of the message when an error occurs during processing the response to a SOAP message. The fault is returned to the sender of the SOAP message. Its use the fault mechanism to return specific information about error. It is important to know that SOAP message can carry only one fault block It is the optional part of SOAP message.
The SOAP Fault element has the following sub elements
Sub Element Description
<faultCode> A text code used to indicate and identify the a class of errors.
<faultString> Explanation of the fault in human readable format.
<faultActor> A text string indicating that who caused the fault, a node that does not act as the ultimate destination must include a faultActor element.
<detail> An element used to carry application-specific error messages. The detail element can contain child elements, called detail entries
The SOAP Fault Codes
Error Description
VersionMismatch Found an invalid namespace for the SOAP Envelope element
Client The message was incorrectly formed or contained incorrect information
:Server There was a problem with the server so the message could not proceed
SOAP Encoding
SOAP includes a built-in set of rules for encoding data types. This enables the SOAP message to indicate specific data types, such as integers, floats, doubles, or arrays. SOAP data types are divided into two categories:
1. Scalar Types:Scalar types contain exactly one value for example last name, price.
2. Simple Type Example
boolean true, false, 1, 0
float -INF, -1E4, -0, 0, 12.78E-2, 12, INF, NaN
decimal -1.23, 0, 123.4, 1000.00x
decimal 100010
binary -1.23, 0, 123.4, 1000.00x
integer -126789, -1, 0
negativeInteger -1, 12678967543233
long -1.23, 0, 123.4, 1000.00x
int -1, 126789675
short -1, 12678
byte -1, 126
nonNegativeInteger 0, 1, 126789
unsignedLong 0, 12678967543233
unsignedInt 0, 1267896754
unsignedShort 0, 12678
unsignedBytee 0, 126
positiveInteger 1, 126789
date 1999-05-31, ---05
time 13:20:00.000, 13:20:00.000-05:00
3. Compound Types:
4. Compound types contain multiple values, such as a purchase order or a list of stock quotes. Compound types are further subdivided into arrays and structs.
Array: SOAP arrays have a very specific set of rules, means you must require to specified both the element type and size of array. It also supports multidimensional arrays. One thing is important to know that all SOAP implementations not support multidimensional functionality. To create an array, you must specify it:
1. Type of Array.
2. The array must also include an arrayType attribute. This attribute is required to specify the data type for the contained elements and the dimension of the array.
Structs: Structs contain multiple values, but each element is specified with a unique accessor element.
SOAP and HTTP
• SOAP is not tied to any one transport protocol. SOAP can be transported via SMTP, FTP or Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ). SOAP used HTTP request to send SOAP request. SOAP responses are returned within the content of the HTTP response. Means SOAP specification includes details on HTTP only.
• HTTP requests and HTTP responses both are required to set their content type to text/xml. The SOAP specification mandates that the client must provide a SOAPAction header, but the actual value of the SOAPAction header is dependent on the SOAP server implementation.
Previous Home Next
Tolal:0 Click:
Show All Comments
Comment / Feedback: | <urn:uuid:7fdd98d4-89b7-4080-a377-4402fa840172> | http://r4r.co.in/webservice/01/tutorial/basic/soap.shtml | en | 0.803962 | 0.039277 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
MAKING ROUNDS: Stephen Bradford checks in on one of the street performers he oversees on the Third Street Promenade. (Paul Alvarez Jr.
DOWNTOWN — It’s Friday afternoon and there’s a man screaming on the corner of Arizona Avenue and the Third Street Promenade.
Most passersby would assume he’s just someone having a panic attack but not Promenade Venue Manager Stephen Bradford.
“He‚Äôs a performer in an area that doesn‚Äôt require a permit,” he says.
Bradford knows him by name, Francis, and that he is a veteran.
Bradford knows the names of nearly every performer on the promenade and they all know him. He stops to pet a passing puppy and asks its owner if she’s performing today. He helps Alonzo, an older gentleman who plays the melodica, get his speaker up on the curb. He reminds a group of breakdancers to watch the volume on their amplifiers. They smile and nod.
An argument could be made that Bradford, who has worked for Downtown Santa Monica Inc. for the last 10 years, has the most interesting city job. He’s the one who keeps the performers within the boundaries of City Hall’s street performance ordinance. And — thanks to that wonderful First Amendment to the Constitution — the boundaries are pretty loose.
“The key is that there‚Äôs no audition: You don’t need talent,” Bradford says, waving to a family that is powering an amplifier with a car battery. “All you have to have is a little bit of guts to come out and start doing it. For me, that’s the highlight.”
The promenade is the only venue for some of these people, he says.
“It’s not like you would go to a jazz cafe to listen to some of the types of people because they’re rolling around on the ground,” he said. “The only venue that they would have is the street.”
The lack of auditions, said Downtown Santa Monica Inc. President and CEO Kathleen Rawson, means that there‚Äôs a variety of talent: “Some great, and some, well, not so great.”
But the buskers make Downtown genuine, she said.
“One of the treasures of our downtown is that it is real ‚Äî it is not a manufactured environment,” Rawson said. “We simply help manage the environment to keep it safe ‚Äî not too close together, not too loud, not too long, and so forth.”
The most common violation on the promenade is that the musicians don’t rotate on the even hours like they’re supposed to. The most dangerous violations are rare, but much more impressive.
Bradford said he’s had to stop people from using flames half a dozen times. Occasionally someone pulls out a sword. One guy would have the audience lock him in a bag and try to escape.
“He would turn absolutely purple in the middle of his act,” he said. “After the police being called three or four times and the ambulance, I think we decided he probably shouldn’t be doing it.”
The problem, he said, is that sometimes the application is too vague.
“They write ‚Äòjuggling‚Äô but what they really mean is standing on a two-by-four that‚Äôs suspended between two ladders juggling flaming sticks,” he said. “It is juggling but, you know ‚Ķ .”
Some performers are immensely talented, Bradford said. He owns all of the albums by the Etcheverry brothers, Ezequiel and Martin, who shred acoustic guitars in a mix of flamenco and rock styles on the street twice a week. He calls the brothers “an American success story” because they came from Argentina, where they aren‚Äôt allowed to perform on the street, to California, where they support themselves with their music.
Bradford knows the most popular spot (in front of the food court), the most popular act (breakdancing), and the most notable person who was discovered on the promenade (Q’orianka Kilcher, who played Pocahontas in Terrence Malick‚Äôs “The New World”).
He also knows the economic value of the performers.
“I can walk from end to end in seven minutes or I can wait and watch Angela there for three or four minutes,” he said gesturing at a bellydancer. “Let‚Äôs say it‚Äôs a family: The dad might get bored and go into Sketchers. Or the kids might get hungry. You’ve got a rushing river and they sort of slow it down.”
That extra time turns into dollars, he said.
Bradford did freelance television and film work for 25 years before taking the promenade job so he’s well-equipped to handle the shoots that occur nearly every week.
Bradford lauds the fact that for only $37 a year, performers can do close to whatever they want — from performing in public for the first time, to making a living selling CDs (without buying a business license), to trying something weird, or working on their chops.
The sun is setting on the Apple Store and the Forever 21. It‚Äôs unseasonably warm, even for Santa Monica. Alonzo (who declined to give his last name but said, “Steve gets my vote!”) is keying out “America the Beautiful” on the melodica. It swirls into a wonderful, clich√© American wierdness.
“Any job that you’ve been at for 10 years you‚Äôre going to have times where it‚Äôs just an incredible grind, where you’d rather be anywhere else,” Bradford says laughing. “But you know it came at a great time for me.¬† And it beats the heck out of sitting in an office, absolutely, for sure.”
Print Friendly | <urn:uuid:336ea3bc-6045-438d-8d3c-773f2b7add8a> | http://smdp.com/man-on-the-street-performers/131780 | en | 0.955889 | 0.018474 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
(redirected from Archers)
• noun
Synonyms for archer
Synonyms for archer
Related Words
the ninth sign of the zodiac
References in classic literature ?
The first three archers again struck true, amid the loud applause of the onlookers; for they were general favorites and expected to win.
The other archers in this round were disconcerted by the preceding shots, or unable to keep the pace.
And he nodded scornfully to the three other archers who were surrounded by their admirers, and were being made much of by retainers of the Sheriff, the Bishop, and the Earl.
At eleven o'clock came in his turn Duhallier, captain of the Guards, bringing with him fifty archers, who were distributed immediately through the Hotel de Ville, at the doors assigned them.
Jean, in front of the silver buffet of the city, which was guarded by four archers.
which means in the Latin tongue that archers are all honorable men.
Couldst not shoot a bolt down any street of Bordeaux, I warrant, but you would pink archer, squire, or knight. | <urn:uuid:8e409494-c443-41d1-b427-85c1f1edfbd9> | http://www.freethesaurus.com/Archers | en | 0.979412 | 0.018584 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Latest posts by markh
4 returned
Posted: 06/08/2013 at 17:38
Thanks, sounds like a plan. I'll try cutting it all back then cover it. My concern was leaving the roots in, will they compost themselves under cover, or do we really need to get them out or killed?
I'm not really concerned about what is there at the moment, we haven't planted it at all yet. There are a couple of smallish sections, none of them look particularly unmanagable on their own, so we'll take it a bit at a time.
Posted: 06/08/2013 at 12:11
Hi all, sorry if this is a cross post, I'd be surprised if it hasn't been covered somewhere before, but I couldn't find it.
We have recently aquired a garden which was a bit neglected and overgrown, I am a complete newbie and would appreciate a bit of advice. There are a couple of areas which are heavily overgrown with weeds that I would like to try to reclaim to grow stuff in. Is it possible to use weedkiller to kill everything back and dig it through, or would the weeds need completely removed? I am not scared of a bit of work, but removing the weeds individually would be impractical, and I am concerned that I would need to replace a fairly large amount of topsoil if I were to dig them out.
I am in no particular rush do do anything with it this year but would be nice to have it ready for next year.
Welcome to the potting shed
Posted: 06/08/2013 at 11:58
Thanks everyone, sounds like I've come to the right place.
Welcome to the potting shed
Posted: 06/08/2013 at 02:12
Hi people,
Just a quick post to introduce myself, this seems the place to do it.
I'm Mark, I've just moved house with my wife and two girls, and now have a garden with the possibility to do something with. It has been a bit neglected, and we are complete newbs, but are really looking forward to learning how to get something out of our garden. Would like to have an all purpose garden the kids can use to play, we can use to relax, and would really love to grow some of our own food.
Hopefuly, we'll get lots of good advice on here and we won't annoy you too much with inane questions and you will all keep me right when I'm posting to the forums.
Looking forward to getting to know you on the forums.
4 returned
Discussions started by markh
Recover heavily overgrown and weeded land
Replies: 6 Views: 894
Last Post: 07/08/2013 at 15:40
1 returned | <urn:uuid:569c86a6-cc1a-4073-8d7d-53fbff41f288> | http://www.gardenersworld.com/members/markh/chat/ | en | 0.973435 | 0.022919 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |