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0.922686 | A complex mix of political, social, and economic factors fueled American expansionist sentiment in the 1840s. Many Americans subscribed to the concept of "Manifest Destiny," the belief that Providence (God) chose the United States to occupy as much land on the continent as possible. Some saw lucrative economic opportunities in the vast stretches of arable land and superb Pacific Coast ports. Others dreamed of the romance of settling uncharted terrain, or thought the United States should expand rapidly across the continent before foreign nations could do so. These expansionist yearnings fueled American settlement in Texas and Oregon, the acquisition of which became a principal object of American foreign policy by 1845.
With a treaty in 1819, Spain settled a long dispute with the United States over its southern border. In return for Florida and the Gulf Coast lands east of the Mississippi River, the United States promised that it would never make any claims to Texas in the west. However, soon after the treaty was in place the Mexican War of Independence ended Spanish rule on the continent and forced Spain to give up all rights to Texas.
The newly independent Mexican Republic rejected all American offers to buy Texas during the 1820s and 1830s, but agreed to grant huge tracts of inexpensive land to American settlers on the condition that they convert to Catholicism, learn to speak the Spanish language, and take Mexican citizenship. In response, more than three hundred slaveholding American families settled in Texas during the 1820s. Early settlers adapted well to their new home and met the conditions for settlement set by the Mexican government. But later, tensions arose between the Mexican government and the region's Anglo and Mexican settlers over the issues of slavery, taxation, and settlement requirements. The Mexican government responded by barring any further settlement in Texas by Americans and banning slavery.
T he strained relationship between the Texans and the Mexican government turned violent in 1835 with the Texan Revolt. After a series of bloody engagements, including the legendary siege of the Alamo, the Texans, led by Sam Houston, won a decisive victory at San Jacinto in 1836. Following that battle, the Mexican army commander (General Santa Anna) signed, but later renounced, treaties that granted Texas independence and established its southwest boundary at the Río Grande.
While a majority of Texans and many Americans favored annexation in 1836, the admission of a slave-holding Texas (or several states formed from Texas territory) threatened the delicate balance of slave states and free states in the Senate that had been carefully maintained. Rather than upset this balance, the United States recognized Texas as a sovereign nation, leaving the tensions between Mexico and Texas to simmer for the nine and one-half years of Texan independence.
1. Compare the Map of the United States in 1850 with that of a current map of the United States to identify which states were admitted to the Union by 1850.
2. Compare the map of the US in 1840 to that of 1850. What major territorial changes occurred during the 1840s?
3. Between 1846 and 1848 the United States gained more than one million square miles of territory. Was any of the land acquired during that period acquired “peacefully”?
4. Using the 1850 map of the U.S. and a current map, identify which states were later formed from the territory acquired from Mexico and from territory acquired from Britain.
1. How many states were in the Union when the United States declared its independence from Britain in 1776, and where were they located?
. There were thirteen states. All were on the eastern seaboard. Stress that the United States also held additional territory that stretched to the Mississippi River in the west; from the Great Lakes in the north, to near the Gulf of Mexico in the south. Refer students to a map of the period.
2. Look at a contemporary map of the United States and ask how many states are now in the Union, as compared with those in 1776. Forty-eight of the fifty states are located across the length of the continent, Alaska and Hawaii are isolated. Emphasize that U.S. territory grew rapidly in the nineteenth century with the huge Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and treaties with Spain and Britain.
3. Stress that the United States had very different boundaries in 1840 than it does today. Use the above Map of 1840 and a current map of the United States to identify which states were in the Union in 1840. Emphasize that vast areas of what is now the United States were either claimed or held by Mexico, the Republic of Texas, or Britain in 1840. Ask students if your state was either a territory or part of a foreign nation in 1840.
4. Direct your students to use Map 1B and a current map of the United States to identify which states were admitted to the Union by 1850. These were California, Florida, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Texas.
5. Compare Map 1A and Map 1B. What major territorial changes occurred during the 1840s? Texas became a state, Mexico lost nearly all its territory, and Britain gave up its claim to the Oregon Country below the 49th parallel.
6. Stress that between 1846 and 1848 the United States gained more than one million square miles of territory. Be sure to note that the United States acquired Oregon Country peacefully through a treaty with Britain, while it took a war with Mexico to obtain the lands in the Southwest. |
0.999996 | I like math and money but I have taken some accounting classes and decided that is not for me. What are the steps to becoming an engineer?
1. Do a research about what different branches will lead you into. You must know what you want to be in your future. You also must be sure about that stream of engineering will give you what you want.
2.Cover complete syllabus of important subjects of your branch, but just study for getting pass marks in unimportant ones. There are some subjects that have their connections/relations with course which are in forthcoming semesters (they are prerequisites).
3.Be friendly with your teachers and participate in college activities.
4.Buy standard and quality books. Don't sell your book at the end of semester. Your books will help you to make a quick revision of your subject in your future in case you forget any concept and need it. Nothing can make you recall and grasp the understanding that your own book can.
5.Never miss practicals, that's all you will be doing in your future.
6.Keep a track on what's going high in the markets. This will help you to select some important topics of interest that will help you to succeed in future. Always stay connected to internet and other information resources to get your updates. |
0.99972 | How to choose the high quality car pump?
Tire pressure is directly related to the safety and economy of the vehicle. In order to prevent the outbreak of the situation and reduce fuel consumption, daily life should pay attention to the tire to maintain the normal tire pressure, and at any time to observe whether the tread conforms to safety standards.
The vehicle pump has the advantages of small volume, convenient carrying, high efficiency, air speed, vehicle configuration can effectively maintain the normal tire pressure in the tire, save petrol, tyres, more in a flat tire, can play its emergency function, ensure traffic safety.
1, air quantity: car pump outlet is the most important factor to consider before purchasing. A completely flat tire, tire pressure can be quickly hit up to normal value, flow rate of at least 30L/Min. Therefore, before the purchase to fully understand the various parameters of the pump well.
2, the size of the power and power pump is not the bigger the better, will depend on the specific you want to what types of tire inflation, like SUV or minivan that power can be selected slightly larger, but if it is household car, the general single cylinder 130w-180w can meet the demand.
3, random allocation: currently on the market of high quality car air pump pump in addition to the host, but also according to the need of use with other practical accessories, provide convenience to help other tire inflation, often have long ball needle, gas nozzle, nozzle, air tube group, shortness of breath, can be easily applied to various types of inflatable articles.
4, with tire pressure table: the market for most pump has built-in tire pressure table function, but not all built-in tire pressure gauges are accurate readings. Tire tire pressure to be more accurate and stable, tire pressure gauge is very important. The current vehicle brands of pump products are used for tire pressure table integration design of embedded system, which can effectively avoid the tire pressure table was hit and loose, resulting in inaccurate measurement data.
5, according to the vehicle: car pump with single and twin cylinder two types of vehicle general single cylinder air pump disadvantage is inflation time long, difficult to inflate the larger car, but the price will be relatively cheaper. But now there are single cylinder products are doing quite well, pumping speed can also be comparable to some double cylinder products. The pump twin cylinder although the price is slightly more expensive, but wins in the pressure foot, inflatable speed, whether it is domestic ordinary cars, or large commercial vehicles, off-road vehicles, air is no problem, but here suggest the owners of friends according to their own choice models, is good enough, do not blindly the pursuit of high power and double cylinder pump.
6, material: the choice of heat radiating materials determines the service life of the air pump. High quality radiating materials to effectively protect the body, prolong the life of the machine, and once worked for a long time. The radiating material here mainly refers to the material of the cylinder, the cylinder material has many kinds, including Aluminum Alloy cylinder, high density steel or other metal, the best material for the anode cooling cylinder Aluminum Alloy cylinder. Here's what is the anode aluminum alloy, simply speaking is the metal or alloy parts as anode treatment, the use of electrolytic method to form the surface of the oxide film. The metal oxide film has changed the surface state and the metal surface, this method is widely used in mechanical parts, aircraft parts, precision instruments and wireless electrical appliances, etc..
7, noise: the traditional pump noise, makes the ears suffer, but the progress of science and technology makes this a perfect improvement. There are many factors influencing the size of machine noise, the first is the most traditional motor, motor gear type motor and machine friction noise, without gear motor can effectively reduce friction, the noise reduction, and more horsepower foot, large torque, high efficiency. Second is to look at the operation of the piston ring and the stability of the whole machine.
8, the various functions of the traditional pump for inflating, but now there are many kinds of functions as some pump pump can also be used in the home storage, Home Furnishing cleaning range, but also with a variety of functions, such as working with lighting lamp, with continuous / intermittent discharge Qigong can discourage a lot of useless. Owners can choose according to their own needs.
9, motor: the motor pump is the heart, look at the quality is the key to a pump or to use what kind of motors, the motor service life can reach more than 10 years, and the motor of some poor life less than a year. In addition, the motor design should fully consider the heat dissipation, to avoid the high working temperature for a long time.
10 other details: a high quality car pump, not only material to material quality, process design is also an important factor. In the choice of pump, to look for the brand, will have quality and customer service guarantee. |
0.978318 | This article is about an Iraqi Grand Ayatollah. For his ayatollah brother, see Hadi al-Modarresi.
Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Mohammad Taqi al-Modarresi (Arabic: محمد تقي المدرسي) (born 1945, in Karbala, Iraq) is a Grand Iraqi jurist marja', and described as the ‘mastermind’ behind the strategy of the Shiraziyyin, the followers of Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Mohammad al-Husayni al-Shirazi.
Al-Modarresi is the author of over 400 books on matters of theology, historiography, jurisprudence, philosophy, logic, and well as social science. He is considered to be one of the most senior Shi’a Marja living in Iraq, only slightly junior to Ali al-Sistani.
Al-Modarresi was born into a distinguished Shia religious family in Karbala in Iraq. His uncle and leading influence is Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Mohammad al-Husayni al-Shirazi, who was one of the most important political ideologues in Shia Islam in the 20th century, whose supporters became known as the "Shiraziyyin". In the 1970s Al-Modarresi along with other members of Al-Shirazi’s entourage were forced to leave Iraq to escape Baathist repression. Al-Modarresi settled first in Kuwait and then, after the Islamic Revolution, in Iran.
Al-Modaressi was the leader of the Iran-based Islamist paramilitary organization, the Islamic Action Organization (also known as Islamic Amal). The Organization was conceived of as a 'secret revolutionary avant-guard' to spread Khomeini-inspired revolution throughout the Arab world. Al-Modaressi was chosen to lead the Organization by Ayatollah Khomeini. It was responsible for numerous actions in Iraq in the 1980s including suicide bombings. In 1980, the Islamic Action Organization sought to assassinate Iraq's deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz, which helped precipitate the Iran–Iraq War.
According to Cambridge University’s Toby Matthiesen, Al-Modaressi was ‘very close’ to Iran’s leadership and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. There has been much speculation as to whether Al-Modarresi was in fact the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Office of Revolutions. Al-Modarresi has publicly denied this.
The Islamic Action Organization under Al-Modarresi's leadership was one of the founder groups of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, an attempt by the Iranians to bring together Iraqi Shia Islamist factions under one leadership. Al-Modarresi was not chosen to be SCIRI's leader, instead another Iraqi cleric, Mohammed Bakr al-Hakim, became its commander. SCIRI's Badr Brigade fought for Iran in the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s.
Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Al-Shirazi was initially a leading figure in the Iranian revolution, especially as the Shiraziyyins' concept of clerical rule, Hukumat al-Fuqaha', was a key influence on Khomeini's concept of velayet-e faqih. Like Al-Shirazi, Al-Modarresi was aligned with radicals within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, but their influence waned in the second half of the 1980s as more moderate clerics like Sayyid 'Ali Khamenei and 'Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani came to the fore. As Khamenei and Rafsanjani sought to develop better relations with Persian Gulf Arab states, the Shiraziyyin and Al-Modarresi were marginalised.
Al-Shirazi was in his later years a vocal critic of Khomeini's system of government and Khamenei's position as a marja and supreme leader, instead advocating Al-Shirazi's alternative theory of clerical rule. Due to his opposition, Al-Shirazi was placed under house arrest in the 1990s, and his ally, Al-Modarresi's seminary was raided and shut down by Iranian security forces.
With the overthrow of Saddam Hussein by American-led forces in 2003, Al-Modarresi along with other Iran-based clerics returned to Iraq. On his return to Iraq on 22 April 2003, Al-Modarresi was arrested along with his entourage by US military personnel. He was released after being brought to an undisclosed location.
The Islamic Action Organization became an Iraqi Shia Islamist political party with Al-Modaressi as its leader. The party contested the Iraq 2005 general election as was part of the National Iraqi Alliance of pro-Iranian Shia Islamist parties including SCIRI, the Islamic Dawa Party and the Iraqi National Congress. In 2006, the Islamic Action Organization had one minister in government, State Minister for Civil Society Affairs, Adil al-Asadi.
Al-Modarresi oversees the seminary in the holy Shia city of Karbala. Ayatullah Modarresi is the founder of several dozen seminaries, institutions and centers of worship, including the Ahlul Bayt Mosque in Brooklyn, New York.
Juristically, today he opposes the Iranian system of Velayat-e faqih and has favored a democratic system of government in Iraq. In a television interview following his return to his native city in 2003, he publicly spoke of the "harassment" that his followers had faced while exiled in Iran. In an interview with PBS in 2004 al-Modarresi affirmed his commitment to a democratically elected government for the new Iraq, stating that he had derived this from "the true interpretation of Islam.. which says, "Religion shall not be imposed ... Reason emerges from the unknown." He also stated that he had traveled to Europe and America, and that he believed "democracy would solve many of the problems" in the Middle East.
Theologically, he is also opposed to some of Khomeini's ideas, such as Wahdat-ul-Wujood.
^ Almodarresi's office. "Biography". Archived from the original on 27 June 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
^ "نص الحلقة الثانية من المقابلة مع المرجع المدرسي على قناة الشرقية".
^ "Interviews - Mohammad Taqi Al-Modarresi | Beyond Baghdad - PBS". Retrieved 27 June 2017.
^ "Al Irfan Al Islami - By Mohammad Taqi Al Modarresi".
This page was last edited on 30 December 2018, at 16:55 (UTC). |
0.998176 | I have written before about my prospecting and camping trip to Crater of Diamonds State Park, but I think it's time for another post about it.
Click here for more information about prospecting and treasure hunting.
Interested in contributing to Wikipedia?
The Crater of Diamonds State Park is an Arkansas State Park located near Murfreesboro in Pike County, Arkansas, USA containing the only diamond bearing site in the world that is open for public prospecting.
The Crater of Diamonds State Park is an 911 acre (3.69 km²) Arkansas State Park situated over an eroded lamproite volcanic pipe. The park is open to the public and, for a small fee, rockhounds and visitors can prospect for diamonds and other gemstones. Park visitors find more than 600 diamonds each year of all colors and grades. Over 25,000 diamonds have been found in the crater since it became a state park. Visitors may keep any gemstone they find regardless of its value (and some, as listed below, have been quite valuable).
In addition to diamonds, prospectors may find semi-precious gems such as amethyst, agate, and jasper or approximately 40 other minerals such as garnet, phlogopite, quartz, baryte, and calcite.
The crater itself is a 37 1/2 acre (142,000 m²) plowed field. It is periodically plowed to bring the diamonds and other gemstones to the surface. The remainder of the park consists of a visitor center, interpretive Diamond Discovery Center, campground, picnic area, and Diamond Springs aquatic playground. A 1.3 mile (2 km) walking trail along the Little Missouri River is available for hikers.
In August 1906, John Huddleston found two strange crystals on the surface of his 243-acre (0.98 km2) farm near Murfreesboro, Arkansas, and soon became know as the first person outside South Africa to find diamonds at their original source. The following month, Huddleston and his wife, Sarah, sold an option on the 243 acres (0.98 km2) to a group of Little Rock investors headed by banker-attorney Samuel F. (Sam) Reyburn, who undertook a careful, deliberate test of the property.
After 1906, several attempts at commercial diamond mining failed. The only significant yields came from the original surface layer, where erosion over a long period of time had concentrated diamonds. In the early period, 1907-1932, yields from this "black gumbo" surface material often exceeded thirty carats per hundred loads (standard 1600-pound tramload of the early period). Highest yields from the undisturbed subsurface material (described as "kimberlite" or volcanic breccia, by the U. S. Geological Survey) were two carats per hundred loads in 1908 and about two carats per hundred short tons (2000 pounds)in 1943-1944.
Because equipment of the early period usually included bottom screens with mesh larger than 1/16th, thousands of smaller diamonds were allowed to pass through. The bulk of these ended up in drainage cuts of varying depths all over the field and in the big natural drains on the east and west edges of the diamond-bearing section of the volcanic deposit (approximately thirty-five acres of volcanic breccia on the east side of the eighty-acre "pipe"). In recent decades, those small diamonds have been the bread-and-butter of recreational diamond-digging.
Soon after the original diamond was found, a "diamond rush" created a boomtown atmosphere around Murfreesboro. According to old tales, hotels in Murfreesboro turned away 10,000 people in the space of a year. Supposedly these aspiring diamond miners formed a tent city near the mine which was named "Kimberly" in honor of the famous Kimberley diamond district in South Africa. On the other hand, all available evidence indicates the Town of Kimberly originated as a land-development venture in 1909, initiated by Mallard M. Mauney and his oldest son Walter on their land immediately south of Murfreesboro. The project failed soon afterward as the speculative boom generated by the diamond discovery collapsed. Today the Kimberly area is almost all cow pasture, owned by Mauney's descendants.
From 1951 to 1972, the crater hosted several private tourist attractions. The first, The Diamond Preserve of the United States, lasted only about one year. In late 1951, Howard A. Millar stepped in and salvaged the infant tourist industry. In April 1952, Millar and wife, Modean, launched their "Crater of Diamonds" attraction. Howard Millar, an accomplished writer and promoter, stirred unprecedented national publicity and drew enough visitors to sustain the operation. In March 1956, a visitor found the "Star of Arkansas" on the cleared surface. The rare beauty weighed 15.33 carats. Later, Roscoe Johnston opened a rival tourist attraction, the "Arkansas Diamond Mine," on the main part of the diamond field.
The rivalry between the two tourist operations left both in a weakened position. In 1970 the entire volcanic formation was consolidated by a private partnership which then reassigned the property to General Earth Minerals of Dallas, Texas. GEM expected to turn the property over for a profit, but ended up heavily indebted to GF Industries of Dallas. Upon default, GFI took the property in July 1971.
GEM consolidated the tourist operation as well as the property. GFI continued the attraction until it sold the eighty-acre volcanic formation and some 800 surrounding acres to the State of Arkansas in March 1972, for $750,000. The tourist operation continued as the centerpiece of Crater of Diamonds State Park.
Due in part to the park, and also because Arkansas was the first place outside South Africa where diamonds were found at their original volcanic source, this special gem has come to be associated with the Natural State. A large diamond symbol has dominated the state flag since the early years. The Arkansas State Quarter, released in 2003, bears a diamond on its face.
The Crater of Diamonds volcanic pipe is part of a 95 million-year-old eroded volcano. The deeply sourced lamproite magma, from the upper mantle, brought the diamonds to the surface. The diamonds had crystallized in the cratonic root of the continent long before, and were sampled by the magma as it rose to the surface.
The lamproite diamond source is unusual, as almost all diamonds are mined from kimberlite and from alluvial deposits of diamonds weathered from kimberlite. The most prominent lamproite diamond source is the Argyle diamond mine in Australia.
1990 – Shirley Strawn - 3.09 carat "Strawn-Wagner Diamond" – cut to 1.09 carats in 1997, and graded a "perfect" 0/0/0 by the American Gem Society in 1998, making it the first diamond ever to receive such an AGS grading. Currently on exhibit at the park.
1997 ~ Richard Cooper - 6.72 carat "Cooper Diamond" - unusual deep purplish-brown.
2006 ~ Marvin Culver - 4.21 carats "Okie Dokie Diamond" - deep canary yellow and flawless. Seen on Today Show, MSNBC, Inside Edition and Travel Channel and published in Lost Treasure magazine (twice), Western and Eastern Treasures magazine, Mineralogical Record and Rocks & Minerals. Arguably the most publicized diamond from the Crater.
2006 ~ Bob Wehle - 5.47 carat "Sunshine Diamond" - deep canary yellow and flawless.
Dec. 2006 ~ Donald and Brenda Roden - 6.35 carat "Roden Diamond" -- honey-brown.
2008~ Denis Tyrrell - 4.42 carat "Kimberly Diamond"
http://www.pcahs.com/Arkansas_Diamonds/idxFr2.htm History of the Crater, thoroughly documented.
This page was last modified on 18 August 2008, at 01:53.
Check this link for more info on prospecting and treasure hunting. |
0.888956 | Is í an Aoine lá na seachtaine idir an Déardaoin agus an Satharn.
I gCríostaíocht, is í Aoine an Chéasta an Aoine roimh Cháisc.
San Ioslam, is í an Aoine lá adhartha. I dtíortha áirithe Ioslamacha, tosaíonn an seachtain Dé Domhnaigh agus críochnaíonn sé Dé Sathairn, agus i dtíortha Ioslamacha eile, tosaíonn an seachtain Dé Sathairn agus críochnaíonn sé Dé hAoine, mar shampla an Iaráin agus an Afganastáin.
Ritheann an sabóid sa Ghiúdachas ó luí gréine Dé hAoine go dtí luí gréine Dé Sathairn.
Téann muintir Stáit Aontaithe Mheiriceá i mbun siopadóireachta go fonnmhar ar "Aoine Dhubh", tar éis Lá an Altaithe, sa tóir ar shladmhargaí. Ó na 2000idí ar aghaidh, tá "Aoine Dhubh" in Éirinn. Go minic 'séard atá á dhéanamh ag na siopaí ná 40% a bhaint den phraghas a bhí ar an táirge ag tús na bliana, seachas ar an bpraghas a bhí air an tseachtain seo caite. Mar sin, bíonn an chuma ar an scéal go bhfuil lascaine níos fearr ar fáil. Cuireann sé comhairle ar dhaoine comparáid a dhéanamh idir na praghsanna a ghearanna siopaí éagsúla ar an táirge céanna.
I gcultúir áirithe, is mí-adhúil í an Aoine, go háirithe Dé hAoine an 13ú lá agus go mór mór i gciorcail muirí. I scéal oiread (bréagach), tógadh long Cabhlach, an "HMS Friday" Dé hAoine, cuireadh an long chun mhuir Dé hAoine, agus d'imigh sí gan tásc ná tuairisc.
Is í an Aoine an lá deireanach roimh an deireadh seachtaine, agus mar sin, is cúis í a chomóradh. Sin as ar tháinig an nath 'T.G.I.F.' (Béarla ar 'Buíochas le Dia go bhfuil sé Dé hAoine'). Bhíothas ag caint faoi sna scannáin ó na seachtóidí. Is as sin freisin ar tógadh ainm an bialann 'T.G.I. Friday's'.
In oifigí áirithe, tá cead ag fostaithe éadaí neamhfhoirmiúil a chaitheamh De hAoine.
Tharla cúpla tubaistí stairiúla Dé hAoine. Tugtar "Aoine Dubh" orthu.
Tugadh an leathanach seo cothrom le dáta an 26 Samhain 2017 ag 08:43. |
0.991912 | Smartphones have revolutionized the digital space allowing people to access digital products on the go. The trend in web access and usage is shifting as well with more people using their smartphones to browse the internet rather than the traditional computer or laptops. Brands looking to increase their customer base can leverage on the increased use of smartphones to market their products and services. No other platform allows businesses to reach its audience in a conceptualized fashion more than mobile and this makes developing a strong mobile platform a priority for businesses looking to attain a competitive advantage.
Here are a few tips on how to develop the best mobile strategy for your business.
1. A separate mobile version of your website is NOT the way to go.
Some businesses develop a separate mobile version of their website all in the name of implementing a mobile strategy. However, this is not ideal as it poses administrative and economic challenges. Maintaining both the desktop and the mobile website becomes quite cumbersome and the differences in the two versions might confuse the consumer. Rather than a mobile version of the website, a responsive website that adapts to different devices is the way to go. Managing such a website is easy and it eliminates the confusion brought about by different versions of the same website.
2. Develop a mobile app.
If your business can afford it, a mobile app is one sure way to increase your business visibility among the masses. A mobile application adds a layer of interaction between a business and its customers. Consumers are able to give feedback on the nature of goods or services being offered and businesses use this information to improve their deliverables. Develop an app for iOS and another for android so as to cater to smartphone users on these platforms.
Success on digital mobile platforms is determined by performance. Online users have a very short attention span and they will quickly abandon your website when it takes too long to load. The same applies to mobile apps and users would uninstall any unresponsive app to make space for others that function properly. You should, therefore, ensure that your website and/or mobile app functions optimally when implementing a mobile strategy for your business.
Browsing from your mobile is easy, but not as convenient as browsing on a desktop PC. You should therefore try to enhance the mobile browsing experience by adding mobile-friendly functions that make it easy for your consumers to obtain services from you. Implement call to action buttons that allows consumers to get in touch with you directly as well as integrating Google Maps on your site for directions should clients wish to get your physical premises.
5. Voice is the way to go.
At present, mobile users would rather talk to their phones, and have them respond appropriately, instead of tapping them. This means that businesses should develop applications with verbal capabilities to allow customers to ask questions and/or seek clarification without having to tap their phones.
Implementing such a functionality is not all that difficult and a few lines of code at the backend of your website or application will get it up and running.
As mentioned earlier, online users have a very short attention span and they will quickly abandon your website should it take too long to load. However, the problem may not be from your end and the reason your website is not loading is because of network connectivity issues. To protect your business from this disaster, you should design your website and mobile app to function optimally even when the network connection is poor. Poor network connectivity can be such a letdown and your customers will appreciate your efforts to go the extra mile to make your website and application responsive in spite of the network connection challenges.
Mobile is the way to go and businesses that are yet to adopt a mobile strategy are missing out on a lot. In today’s digital world you either go mobile or you go home. |
0.999741 | Hot and heavy: Does eating spicy food make you fat?
Frequent consumption of spicy food may be linked to obesity, according to a group of Chinese researchers.
Although spicy food and its bioactive ingredients — mainly capsaicin — have been shown in previous studies to improve metabolism, reduce obesity-induced glucose tolerance, and control appetite, conflicting reports say "spicy food consumption is positively associated with BMI, waist circumference, and other obesity measures in Chinese adults", especially in rural China.
Researchers from China's Zhengzhou University recruited a total of 15,683 subjects (5,907 male and 9,776 female) aged between 35 and 74 years for a cross-sectional study that was part of the Rural Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle (RuralDiab) study, which was conducted in the country's Henan province between July 2015 and September 2016.
They observed that the general prevalence of obesity among the participants as 17.57%, and stated that "the increase in spicy flavour and spicy food intake frequency were associated with the high ratio of general obesity and high BMI values".
They added that "the meta-analysis (of the cross-sectional study) showed that participants having spicy food had higher BMI values, which was consistent with the result of the present study".
Additionally, compared to those who did not eat spicy food, there was a higher obesity rate among those who ate spicy food: the spicier the food and the more frequent the intake of spicy food, the higher the obesity rate.
However, the researchers went on to state that cooking methods and ingredients might explain the positive association between spicy food consumption and general obesity.
For instance, more oil is used when making certain types of chilli sauces, and chilli oil is commonly used to add flavour to Chinese dishes.
Furthermore, the consumption of spicy foods may be accompanied by a higher intake of carbohydrate-rich foods to alleviate the resulting burning mouthfeel. |
0.983995 | Although it may appear solid, the human body is full of moving cells. For example, the mass migration of cells helps shape the human body in the womb. Skin cells crawl towards each other during wound healing and immune cells hunt down infectious invaders. In short, cell movement is fundamental to many aspects of our health and wellbeing.
Like humans, all cells move through the use of a skeleton, which in a cell’s case is composed of building blocks made of actin. However, unlike our own rigid frame, cells change their shape and move by constantly collapsing and rebuilding their actin skeletons. Furthermore, in the same way that you could get a good idea about how our skeleton works from looking at the bones of almost any animal, you can understand the actin skeleton of our cells by studying it in any organism. This is because cells laid down the foundations of the actin skeleton and how it works right at the beginning of animal cell evolution and it’s pretty much remained unchanged in all cells since. Indeed, single-celled organisms were using them to hunt and eat microbes long before cells came together to form multi-cellular animals like us. This allowed us to study the actin skeleton in soil-dwelling amoebae, which are far easier to experiment with than humans or other animals.
In our study, we took the various molecules required to assemble the actin skeleton, broke them and watched how this affected the movement of amoebae using powerful microscopes. If a human broke their legs, they could still crawl in order to move and cell movement is similarly resilient; it takes a lot to stop cells limping onwards. We set out to force amoebae to switch from one mode of movement to moving entirely by another, the equivalent of restricting a human to crawling. When we only partially crippled one mode of movement, the amoebae used a mix of both modes so as to keep moving. However, when we went further and broke all the molecules required to move in one way (the equivalent of breaking both legs), the amoebae froze up and stopped moving entirely. We tested them in many ways to show that they should have still been capable of moving by alternative means, but simply failed to do so. It was only when we broke one more component of the actin skeleton assembly machinery that the amoebae were released from this paralysis and started moving again (Fig. 1).
To understand what is happening here, consider the following analogy: In order to bend our limbs a muscle on one side of the bone relaxes and an opposing muscle tightens. Now in theory there are two ways this could work. The muscles could be rather passive and only tighten when required and if one muscle were damaged the limb could still be bent. Alternatively, both muscles could constantly be tugging and whichever one pulled hardest moved the limb. In this case, if one muscle was damaged the other would no longer be restrained and would tighten and not let up, just as happens during muscle cramp.
With our study we have proven it is the latter case that is occurring within the cell’s actin skeleton. Two actin assembly molecules are competing with one another and breaking one simply sends the other into overdrive, fixing the actin skeleton rigid and paralysing the cell. Only after the second assembly molecule is removed is the cell freed to adopt alternative means of movement. Thus, cell movement is only possible when a balance is struck between the competing actin assemble molecules. |
0.989944 | ADLINK ROS-based Industrial Controller, Neuron, uses ROS 2.0 as the middleware of the controller. Utilizing the robust ROS 2.0 application library, Neuron can easily connect pieces of factory equipment and enable each piece of equipment to communicate with the others in real-time. This can ensure real-time data sharing and security, thereby realizing a variety of smart manufacturing scenarios. ADLINK Industrial ROS-based Controllers feature hardware flexibility, compliance with a wide range of I/O ports and support for AI computation platforms. In addition, Neuron is compatible with ROS 2.0, which means customers can use open-source ROS 2.0 application libraries for robot control, including vision, navigation, and motion control, to quickly develop new applications. Therefore, Neuron can help to reduce both product launch time and development costs. |
0.999997 | To what degree is stress prevalent in prison work, and if correctional officers experience a high degree of it, what are some of the factors that contribute to these high stress levels?
1. What value does Open Source information have for law enforcement intelligence? 2. Provide two examples of Open Sources that can be beneficial to law enforcement and explain what those benefits are. |
0.990681 | Provide positive examples of people of BME origin surviving cancer.
The campaign, an initial pilot focused on 5 areas: Nottingham, Leicester, Leeds, Birmingham and London. It came to Nottingham on the 19th September with activities taking place from the 20th September to the 25th October. During this time, targeted health supplements will were made available for the Asian, Irish and African and African Caribbean communities in Nottingham, located in food shops, hairdressers, libraries, churches, temples and mosques, as well as GP surgeries and NHS walk-in centres.
A health information stall provided health awareness information bags. Small grants are also made available to local community organisations and groups to enable them to put on their own awareness events. |
0.999056 | John D. Rockefeller, Jr. was incredibly moved by the expansive view that Horace Albright had showed him of the Jackson Hole valley from Lunch Tree Hill. This spot continued to have a special place in his heart for years to come. When it became apparent that lodging in Grand Teton National Park was inadequate, Rockefeller envisioned a grand lodge on this meaningful spot.
Located just south of Lunch Tree Hill, on the hill's base, now stands Jackson Lake Lodge. The lodge was designed by Harvard trained architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood. Underwood was already known for several Park Service buildings including Ahwanee Lodge in Yosemite, the lodges at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, at Bryce, Zion, Sun Valley, and Old Faithful in Yellowstone.
In the case of Jackson Lake Lodge, Underwood was asked to create a building harmonious with its surroundings. He used a technique called "Shadow Wood" and acid stain to make the concrete exterior of the lodge mimic wood in both texture and color. As guests arrive at the front of the lodge, it can seem like a very imposing structure, more at odds with its surroundings than harmonious with them. However, viewed from the Teton Park Road, the structure virtually blends into the eastern hills behind it. From this angle, Underwood was quite successful in his design.
The lodge's entrance involves a bit of trickery. The large front entrance ushers guests through a dark porte-cochere into a business lobby. It is not until guests ascend to the main floor that they find themselves face to face with an awe inspiring view of the mountains and Jackson Lake. These windows are the centerpiece of the lodge. 60 feet wide and 36 feet tall, the windows of the Jackson Lake Lodge leave a lasting impression on anyone who has seen them.
Rockefeller thought this view so important and special that he had scaffolding erected and stood atop it to make sure that the view was just right.
Although Jackson Lake Lodge was built to address the increasing visitation to Grand Teton National Park, it also represents the dual vision of both the Park Service and Mr. Rockefeller. Balancing enjoyment of the parks and also their continued preservation continues to be a guiding principle. At the grand opening of the Jackson Lake Lodge on June 11, 1955, Laurance S. Rockefeller spoke on his behalf as well as his father's and summed up this sentiment quite eloquently.
"Conservation today means far more than just preserving our natural resources. It means their wise use and protection so that more and more people may enjoy and benefit by them. Here in this incomparable area, millions of people will find some measure of the peace and solitude which they require."
In the summer season, the Park Service does their part to help visitors enjoy and find meaning in this grand view. Join a Park Ranger on the back deck of the lodge for wildlife sightings of all shapes and sizes and unparalleled scenery. Check the schedule of Ranger Programs for dates and times.
Sources: McKinney, Mary. The View That Inspired a Vision: The History of the Grand Teton Lodge Company and the Rockefeller Involvement. Grand Teton Lodge Company. 1991. |
0.704616 | We are interested in retroviral envelope glycoproteins (Env) that use nutrient transporters from the solute carrier (SLC) family as receptors. We exploit our discoveries on Env-SLC interactions to explore metabolic regulations, identify new genes and functions for exaptated env, and generate new soluble Env-derived receptor-binding domains (RBD) to investigate normal and pathological physiological processes and metabolic modulations.
Retrovirus co-evolution with vertebrates has accompanied speciation through endogeneization of retroviral sequences into the host germline cells. A striking example of exaptation of retroviral sequences is the use of an Env-related proteins by mammalians as cell membrane fusiogenic agents that lead to syncytiotrophoblast and placenta formation (Env-triggered syncytium formation in a link to a time-lapse video).
Among the retroviruses of vertebrates, the gammaretroviruses are the most widely spread in mammals, whether as exogenous infectious agents or as bona fide host genes (Endogenous RetroViruses, ERV). All Env from gammaretroviruses and deltaretroviruses, and some members of the alpha- and beta-retroviral generae, for which a fusion or entry receptor has been identified, have been shown to specifically bind SLC members through their aminoterminal RBD. We have used these properties to derive soluble tagged RBD ligands to monitor SLC cell surface expression in different contexts (Fig.1).
In 2000, 20 years after its identification in the early '80s as the first member of the deltaretrovirus genus, we have discovered that the Human T-cell Leukemia Virus (HTLV), and its simian STLV counterparts, have an Env structurally related to that of gammaretroviruses, although remotely related to the latter viruses (Kim, JBC 2000). This discovery led us to the identification of GLUT1 as the HTLV receptor and the precise characterization of the key residues in GLUT1 that are responsible for Env binding and HTLV entry (Manel, Cell 2003; Manel, J Biol Chem 2005) (Fig.2).
We have developed a new datamining tool, "RBD shuffle", that allows us to identify non-annotated env-related RBD in human and other species genomes. We hypothesized that positive selection has been exerted on RBD based on their potential to produced soluble SLC ligands. Such a property would lead to exaptation of RBD as modulators of nutrient transport and metabolic regulation.
In this context, we use "Transportome" metabolic profiling with our expanding panel of RBD to track a series of SLC known as, or that we unveiled to be, key players in hematopoiesis. This project is developed notably in collaboration with Naomi Taylor's group (see Montel-Hagen, Cell 2008; Oburoglu, Cell Stem Cell, 2014) and Mohandas Narla's laboratory (New York Blood Center).
We have set up "Transpotome" to help monitoring oncogenic processes (Petit et al. 2013) and we are presently exploiting this tool in ongoing collaborations with several teams at the Montpellier Cancer Institute and IRCM teams.
The tracking of specific SLC with different RBD has allowed us to unveil metabolic reprogrammation of neutrophils during inflammation (Laval et al. J Immunol 2013); to characterize the role of XPR1 in a rare idiopathic neuropathological disease - see below (Legati/Giovannini et al. 2015; Anheim/López-Sánchez et al. 2016); or to detect rapidly statin-driven myotoxicity in collaboration with Istem (Peric et al. 2015).
"Transportome", an RBD-based SLC monitoring is a concept at the origin of Metafora-biosystems, a start-up co-founded by Vincent Petit, a former member of our group.
Further developments with RBD include their use as tools for specific tumor imaging and detection (Fig.3), antitumoral activity, and metabolic regulators, notably in collaboration with several teams at IGMM and IRCM.
Also, thanks to Marc Vidal's human ORFeome generous endeavor (hORFeome Database), we are mounting an expression library in mammalian cells of all identified human SLC, in a semi-automated screen for ligands and SLC modulators (SLCeome). While expanding our RBD collection, using "Transportome" and "SLCeome" screening, we identified the long-sought receptors for the bovine leukemia virus (BLV) and porcine endogenous retrovirus type B (PERVB); two retroviruses characterized by their costly massive economical impacts and their ability to infect human cells.
Although numerous animal retroviral Env can drive human cell infection, identification of their receptors and their functions have been slow and fastidious.
Thus, xenotropic and polytropic murine leukemia retroviruses (X- and P-MLV), which have not shown to be human infectious agents (see Courgnaud et al. PNAS 2010; Jeziorski et al. 2016) despite their ability to infect human cells, were among the first mammalian retroviruses identified in the '70s; XPR1, their common receptor, has been discovered only several decades later, in 1998, and we recently elucidated XPR1 function as the first metazoan exporter of inorganic phosphate; a function that we have shown to be conserved from invertebrates to humans (Giovannini et al. 2013) (Fig.4a). Moreover, we showed that XRBD, the receptor-binding Env-derived soluble ligand, inhibited XPR1-mediated phosphate transport (Giovannini 2013) (Fig.4b).
More recently, we have identified XPR1 as one of the genes responsible for a rare neurodegenerative disease, the primary familial brain calcification, formerly known as Fahr's disease (Legati/Giovannini et al. 2015). Furthermore, we have identified several sets of mutations in the SPX cytoplasmic domain of XPR1 as responsible for this disease (Anheim/López-Sánchez et al. 2016). We are currently using these mutants and different XPR1 expression molecules to develop our understanding at the molecular and physiological levels of phosphate bidirectional transport and its link to normal and pathological calcification. We are also currently identifying and characterizing XPR1 cellular partners that are likely to play a role in XPR1-dependent phosphate and calcium homeostasis.
Giovannini, D.; Touhami, J.; Charnet, P.; Sitbon*, M.; Battini*, J. L.
Peric, D.; Barragan, I.; Giraud-Triboult, K.; Egesipe, A. L.; Meyniel-Schicklin, L.; Cousin, C.; Lotteau, V.; Petit, V.; Touhami, J.; Battini, J. L.; Sitbon, M.; Pinset, C.; Ingelman-Sundberg, M.; Laustriat, D.; Peschanski, M.
Nicolas, G.; Battini, J. L.; Giovannini, D.; Sitbon, M.; Hannequin, D.
Mamede, J. I.; Sitbon, M.; Battini, J. L.; Courgnaud, V.
Courgnaud, V.; Battini, J. L.; Sitbon*, M.; Mason*, A. L.
Lagrue§, E.; Abe§, H.; Lavanya, M.; Touhami, J.; Bodard, S.; Chalon, S.; Battini, J. L.; Sitbon*, M.; Castelnau*, P.
Montel-Hagen, A.; Blanc, L.; Boyer-Clavel, M.; Jacquet, C.; Vidal, M.; Sitbon, M.; Taylor, N.
Kim, F. J.; Lavanya, M.; Gessain, A.; Gallego, S.; Battini, J. L.; Sitbon, M.; Courgnaud, V.
Manel, N.; Kinet, S.; Battini, J. L.; Kim, F. J.; Taylor, N.; Sitbon, M.
- Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale: "A computational approach to identify a new array of metabolic regulators linked to retroviral sequences in the human genome"
- ANR, EndoGamER: "Endogenous Gammaretroviral Envelope glycoproteins: Cell Metabolism Regulators or Infection Facilitators? "
Battini, J.-L., N. Manel, F. J. Kim, S. Kinet, N. Taylor, and M. Sitbon. 2004. GLUT-1 as a receptor for HTLV envelopes and its uses. WO/2004/096841.
Tirouvanziam, R., J. Laval, J.-L. Battini, and M. Sitbon. 2010. Method for the diagnosis and/or prognosis of inflammatory states. WO/2012/035369. |
0.920649 | Located on the southernmost point of Puget Sound, the peninsula known as Olympia was "Cheetwoot" (the black bear place) to the Coastal Salish who occupied the site for many generations before the American settlement was established.
The falls of the Deschutes River at Tumwater called "Stehtsasamish" by the Nisqually Indians may have been occupied as a permanent village site for shellfish and salmon harvesting for 500 years or more before the coming of white settlers.
Peter Puget and a crew from the British Vancouver Expedition visited the site in 1792. The U.S. Exploring Expedition under Lt. Charles Wilkes came to the site in 1841 and named the waterfront bay Budd Inlet after Midshipman Thomas A. Budd, a member of that expedition.
A wide, navigable body of water extending north from Olympia about six miles to Boston Harbor. The inlet is shallow at its southern end and requires dredging of a channel for waterborne commerce. Budd Inlet was named by Lieutenant Commander Charles Wilkes for Thomas A. Budd acting master of the Peacock and a member of the U.S. Exploring Expedition of 1841. Budd was appointed a midshipman on February 2, 1829. He resigned his commission on April 29, 1853. He rejoined the United States Navy in 1861 and was killed in action March 22, 1862, during the Civil War. In recent years, the inlet has also been called Olympia Harbor.
The first American settlers were Levi Lathrop Smith and Edmund Sylvester who claimed the town site in 1846, naming it Smither or Smithster (and later Smithfield), after themselves. The town was officially platted in 1850 by Sylvester, at which point it was given the name Olympia, as suggested by Isaac N. Ebey, a local resident in recognition of the view of the majestic Olympic mountains seen to the north on a clear day. Sylvester, a Maine native, laid out a town in a New England style with a town square, tree lined streets, land for schools, a Masonic Hall, and capitol grounds.
Edmund Sylvester is known as the founder of Olympia. A native of Eastport, Maine, Sylvester came to Oregon in 1843 at the young age of twenty-two. He remained in the Astoria-Portland area for two years but, being a native New Englander, he felt that the salt water climate would restore his ailing health. Sylvester took up a claim south of Olympia and his partner, Levi Lathrop Smith, whom he had met in Oregon, settled in what is now known as Olympia.
After Smith's death in 1848, Sylvester, although owner of the area, did not lay out a town until his return from an ill- fated trip to the California gold fields in 1850.
Sylvester was a far-sighted man visualizing his settlement as a capital and center of timber trade although it did not reach its full potential in his lifetime. Sylvester erected the showplace of early Olympia along Capitol Way between Seventh and Eighth Streets facing the water. The home was the largest in Olympia and Sylvester's strong-minded wife Clara hosted the first meeting of the Woman's Club there in 1883 and housed a number of visiting suffragettes during the fight of Washington women for the right to vote. The house remained a landmark for many years but was moved in 1961 and later burned.
Drawn to the small peninsula as the first access to Puget Sound from the Columbia River on the Cowlitz Trail, American settlers numbered 996 in the area by 1853. Olympia welcomed the first Custom House on Puget Sound in 1851, and by 1852 was the county seat for the newly organized Thurston County.
Thurston County covers 719 square miles at the head of Budd Inlet located at the southern tip of Puget Sound.
At the Cowlitz convention in 1851, delegates from the Oregon Territory north of the Columbia River -- besides petitioning for a new territory -- also asked for a new county to be called "Simmons" in the area then known as Lewis County. The Oregon Territorial Legislature acted on the matter by amended the bill at the request of Michael T. Simmons to memorialize Samuel R. Thurston, Oregon's first territorial delegate to Congress. Thurston County was created on January 12, 1852. Oregon then encompasses what is now Washington.
Thurston was a native of Maine, born in 1816. He attended Maine Weslyan Seminary, Dartmouth and in 1854, graduated from Bowdoin College. He later read law and was admitted to the Maine bar. After he settled for a time in Iowa, Thurston arrived in Oregon in 1847 and began his political life.
With the creation of Oregon Territory in 1849, Thurston was elected its first delegate to Congress. He was an ambitious delegate pushing through the Donation Land Claim Law, working to establish mail routes and post offices, lighthouses and procuring a pension for 1812 War veterans, many of whom settled in the territory. He was an eloquent speaker and was tireless in his promotion of Oregon Territory. On his voyage home in 1851 across the Isthmus of Panama, Thurston -- just 35 years old -- contracted a fever. He died on the steamer California near Acapulco and was buried there. He was later reinterred in Salem, Oregon.
The boundaries of the new county encompassed much of what is now Western Washington, reaching from Willapa Bay northward to the Canadian border and from the Pacific Ocean to the summit of the Cascades.
In late 1852, Jefferson, Pierce, and King counties were carved out of Thurston County, and the final boundaries were set in 1877.
In the early 1850's, as the settler population grew, ancillary businesses developed; stores, brickyards, boast builders, dry docks, hotels and services for summer visitors. Since there were only trails in this land, heavily forested to the water’s edge, the population was supported by the steamboats collectively called the Mosquito Fleet that used the Sound as a watery freeway to move mail, products and passengers.
In 1854, Daniel Bigelow - an attorney - and his wife Ann Elizabeth White Bigelow built their home in Olympia overlooking Budd Inlet (900 Glass Street, Olympia). Today it is a Museum, and it remains as one of the oldest frame buildings in the State of Washington. Visit the Bigelow House Museum website.
In the mid-1850's, Olympia developed around the waterfront and quickly became a hub of maritime commerce. Federal officers and those seeking the opportunities of the capital flocked to the city which, at one time, boasted the largest population of any town on Puget Sound.
The name currently given to the whole of the inland sea of Western Washington, originally named by Captain George Vancouver of the Royal Navy in honor of Lieutenant Peter Puget. Captain Vancouver sent Lieutenant Puget and a crew to survey the lower part of the sound in May 1792. Puget and his crew spent several days visiting nearly every cove and island in the region. To honor this work, Vancouver named the part of the sound south of the Tacoma Narrows for Puget. Vancouver named the northern part of the sound Admiralty Inlet.
Soon after the first Americans settled Olympia in the mid-1840s, Chinese immigrants arrived in the city. Olympia's first Chinatown was on 4th Avenue between Columbia and Main (Capitol Way) where several buildings housed a hand laundry, stores and lodging for residents.
Soon after the first Americans settled Olympia in the mid-1840s, Chinese immigrants arrived in the city. Many found work as contract laborers. They built bridges, pulled stumps and graded streets in downtown. Others worked in lumber camps and harvested shellfish. Many Chinese became cooks, house servants, operated hand laundries, or cultivated vegetables and delivered them door to door.
Early on, Olympia emerged as a "Locke Town." Olympia's Chinese residents were predominantly from the Lok family villages near the town of Seulbo in Toisan County of Guangdong Province in southern China. Most of these sojourners were male and they relied on family surname associations to provide lodging, meals and social life.
Olympia's earliest China town was on 4th Avenue between Columbia and Main (Capitol Way) where several buildings housed a hand laundry, stores and lodging for residents.
Although there is no Chinatown in Olympia today, many descendants of the original Chinese pioneers still make their homes in the region. In 1996, Gary Locke, grandson of Suey Gum Locke, who came to Olympia in 1890 as a teenager and worked as a servant, was elected Governor of the State of Washington. He was the first Chinese American elected Governor in the United States. In 2007, Doug Mah was the first person of Chinese-American descent to be elected as Olympia's Mayor.
Olympia's first fire fighting unit, Barnes' Hook and Ladder Brigade, was organized in the early 1850's. Columbia Number 1, the first fire engine company to be established in Washington Territory, was formed in Olympia in 1865.
Olympia residents elected the town's first Mayor in 1873 - William Winlock Miller. Before then, a Town President was selected annually from among the members of the Town Board.
In 1890, one year after statehood, Olympia City Marshal George Savidge was the first in City history to be officially referred to as Chief of Police. Prior to 1890, Olympia has a Town Marshall. In the years from 1889-1892, the Olympia Police Department was comprised of the chief, a captain and six patrolmen.
When Washington Territory was formed in 1853, Olympia was named the provisional territorial capital by Isaac Stevens, Washington's first territorial governor. In 1855, the designation was confirmed by the territorial legislature. Olympia's incorporation as a Town occurred on January 28, 1859.
In 1856, the territorial legislature appointed a board of commissioners to oversee construction of a new bridge connecting downtown Olympia with the westside. Lack of funds held up the project until 1868 when Thurston County loaned the City of Olympia $1,500. The first westside bridge was built the following year.
An especially difficult blow fell when Olympia was bypassed by mainline railroads in the 1870s. City residents had to build their own line to connect with the Northern Pacific mainline at Tenino - 15 miles to the south.
Olympia's title of capital was often contested during the early years, and Olympia townspeople fought challenges by Vancouver, Steilacoom, Seattle, Port Townsend and Tacoma for location of the seat of territorial and, later, state government.
In early 1889, Olympia resident and jeweler Charles Talcott was commissioned to create a State seal in time for the convening of the first State legislature in November of the same year. The simple round design with a copy of the Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington in the center and the words "The Seal of the State of Washington, 1889" is still the official seal of Washington State.
A short time before Washington became a state in 1889, a committee brought an elaborate design for a state seal to Olympia jeweller Charles Talcott and asked him to complete it in time for the meeting of the first Legislature in November of that year.
The design submitted by the committee was very complicated sketch, depicting the port of Tacoma, vast wheat fields, grazing sheep and Mount Rainier. Talcott argued that the design was too complicated and would be quickly outmoded by the growth of the state. Something simple, he suggested, would be timeless. He picked up an ink bottle and drew a circle around its base. Next he placed a silver dollar in the circle and drew an inner circle. Between these circles he lettered the words, "The Seal of the State of Washington, 1889". In the center he pasted a postage stamp bearing a picture of George Washington. The design was quickly accepted by the Legislature.
But making the die from the picture of George Washington on a postage stamp was no easy task.. Under magnification the picture was poorly detailed and would have been unsatisfactory when enlarged. George Talcott was given the job of finding a suitable picture and cutting the die. After reviewing a number of pictures, he finally found what he was looking for -- a color drawing of George Washington on a packing box of "Dr. D. Jaynes Cure for Coughs & Colds"! Grant Talcott did the lettering and George cut the die.
Over the years, more than two dozen variations of the Talcott design were used. In 1967, Seattle graphic designer Richard Nelms was commissioned to create a new insignia. He selected a Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington, which was accepted and made the official State Seal by the Legislature.
By law, the Secretary of State is the custodian of the Great Seal, which is attached to official documents and certificates issued by the state. The original die and press for the State Seal -- now more than 100 years old -- is still used by the Secretary of State to impress the seal on official state documents.
Washington was given statehood designation on November 11, 1889, as the forty-second (42nd) state to enter the Union.
On November 11, 1889, Washington was admitted to statehood as the 42nd state of the Union by the United States Congress, with the same boundaries as at present. Washington extends from the Pacific Ocean on the west to Idaho on the east, and from Oregon on the south to the Canadian Province of British Columbia on the north.
Prior to statehood, Washington was first part of Oregon Territory, and later became Washington Territory on March 2, 1853.
The name Columbia was favored by residents of the Territory and was suggested in Congress by Senator Stephen A. Douglas. However, the name Washington was chosen instead to honor George Washington, the first president.
When Washington became a state in 1889 with Olympia as the capital, the city grew and prospered adding amenities such as an opera house, city water system, street car line, street lamps, and a new hotel to accommodate visiting legislators. State government has been housed in a series of buildings in Olympia, including the former county courthouse in downtown.
Changes were made to the topography of the city in 1911-12, when almost 22 blocks were added to the downtown area in a gigantic dredging and filling effort to create a deep water harbor and fill the sloughs to the north and east of the city.
In 1919, the City awarded a contract to Union Bridge Company to build a more reliable bridge concrete bridge connecting downtown Olympia with the westside. The amount of the contract was $132,750.
With increased growth in state government and the economic stimulus of World War I, the city began to grow in population and development. Olympia became a center of lumber processing and the city boasted as new smokestacks went up on the waterfront. Downtown buildings were constructed and residential areas south and west of the city developed. By the time of the completion of the grand domed legislative building in 1927, the city had become a fitting setting for such an imposing structure.
An earthquake in 1949 damaged or destroyed many historic downtown buildings, which were quickly rebuilt. Today, downtown Olympia is a charming mix of historic, mid-century, and contemporary architecture.
State government grew rapidly in Olympia after World War II, but many state offices were moving to other parts of the State. A Washington State Supreme Court decision in 1954 mandated that Olympia was the seat of government and that state office headquarters must locate here.
The 1950's ushered in construction of a new freeway through Olympia and her neighboring communities of Tumwater and Lacey. Interstate 5, which runs from the southern tip of California to the Washington State/Canadian border, is a vital transportation link for Olympia and the Puget Sound region.
In the 1960's the time of smokestacks and plywood mills drew mostly to an end along Olympia's waterfront when the Simpson, Georgia Pacific, and St. Regis mills closed, victims of changing markets.
Long time residents still mention the "Columbus Day" storm which hit the northwest on October 12, 1962, with seventy-eight mile per hour winds. Two people were killed in the Olympia area and extensive damage was caused to buildings and trees.
A new era began at the close of the 1960's when The Evergreen State College was authorized by the state legislature on Cooper Point road at the site of historic Athens University, just west of the Olympia City limits. The institution has changed and enlivened the Capital City's cultural and social climate.
Today, Olympia is a thriving and vibrant community. With an economic engine fueled to a great extent by state government activity, the City of Olympia | Capital City of Washington State enjoys the benefits of a stable work force, engaged and educated community, and well-supported school system. City Government emphasizes responsibility, sustainabilty and compassion. Each step forward is anchored by the goal of enriching the lives of our citizens and presrving a prosperous and fulfiilling way of life for future generations. The projects below highlight some of that vision.
On May 16, 2004 the Olympia community dedicated a new bridge and gateway corridor spanning the same location as the old 4th Avenue Bridge which was damaged by the 2001 Nisqually Earthquake. The Olympia City Council named the new bridge the "Olympia-Yashiro Friendship Bridge" in honor of Olympia's sister city, Yashiro, Japan (now re-incorporated as Kato City, Japan).
The bridge is much more than a transportation corridor. With public art incorporated in the structure, dramatic accent lighting, and spacious pedestrian walkways and overlooks, the new bridge defines Olympia as a commuity and expresses the city's relationship to the surrounding natural environment.
On March 26, 2011 the City of Olympia opened the door to it's brand new City Hall. The building, located at 601 4th Avenue East, combined employees and services from five departments that were previously housed in eight different buildings. The move was driven by a new 'One City' directive, and vastly improved the ease in which the public can access City services.
Keeping with the theme of creating ‘one-stop shopping’ experiences for the public, the City elected to keep the former City Hall site, reimagining and recreating it into the Lee Creighton Justice Center.
The site now houses the majority of the City’s criminal justice and court related services in one centralized location. Once again, this has created a more effective and efficient working environment for employees and allowed the City to deliver more and improved services.
On August 25, 2011 the City completed Phase 1 of a massive reconstruction of Percival Landing. This popular park and tourist destination is in the heart of downtown and is a hub for gatherings, social interaction and public celebrations. The Landing includes a 0.9-mile scenic boardwalk, playground, picnic areas, public art, boat moorage, restaurants, shops and more.
Percival Landing is named after the old commercial steamship wharf operated by the Percival family at the north end of Budd Bay. It encompasses 3.38 acres and was originally built in phases from the 1970’s to 1988.
Phase 2 and 3 of the modern reconstruction have been identified in the Capital Investment Strategy that was approved by City Council in 2009. That Strategy anticipates constructing Phase 2 between 2012 and 2015 and Phase 3 between 2016 and 2019.
Olympia is always growing and changing! Visit the Community pages to learn more about Olympia today, and visit olympiawa.gov often for the latest news and information about future plans.
- Lacey, Olympia, and Tumwater, A Pictorial History by Shanna B. Stevenson, published by The Donning Company/Publishers, 1985. Much of the copy on this page is reprinted from this book with permission of the author.
- Information from Lacey, Olympia, and Tumwater - A Pictorial History by Shanna Stevenson, The Donning Company/Publishers, 1985.
- The picture of Edmund Sylvester (date unknown) is provided courtesy of the Washington State Library.
- Information is reprinted from the Washington Secretary of State website. The Seal is published with permission from the Secretary of State's office for educational purposes only. |
0.997717 | A speedometer is basically a device for measuring the speed of a vehicle. It can be utilized in cars, boats, bikes motorcycles and keeps displaying the speed. GPS speedometers are a new invention and use GPS software to measure a distance from one location to another. They are more accurate than normal speedometers and are mostly used by companies to keep track of their employees when driving fleet vehicles. They also alert drivers who exceed the speed limit thus promoting better safety on the road. In this article, we have done our research and come up with top 10 best GPS speedometers to suit your needs.
Appearance: You require to look at the way the GPS speedometer look like for you to decide whether it will appear great in your car or not. There are some GPS speedometers that look sleek and classy.
Accuracy: Look for the GPS speedometer that gives accurate results and gives precise readings. It should also have a display that is easy to read ad well illuminated to see results both day and night.
Quality: You need to check the customer’s reviews of various GPS speedometers to assist you to know if it lasts for a long time or not. The best GPS speedometer should be durable, dust-proof and waterproof.
Price: You require to buy something that fits with your spending plan else, you will have much trouble trying to purchase something that you can never afford.
You can use this GPS speedometer for all types of trucks including boats and motorcycles. The Auto Meter 5881 Phantom display highly accurate results and include omnidirectional 10 Hz antenna that has 16ft. cable that is needed for operation. This GPS antenna uses three GPS satellites and samples ten times per second. Moreover, this GPS Speedometer is simple to install and require just plug and play.
The display features Trip Distance (tripmeter), Cumulative Distance (odometer), time/date, Compass as well as Peak Speed Recall. With its Traditional incandescent lighting will illuminates on the dial perimeter thus it can be used during the night.
This is a digital GPS speedometer that has both driving speed system and a compass. This GPS speedometer usually focuses on important data such as driving direction, speed and over-speed alarm for you to keep your eye in the road. It can work perfectly on any kind of car, trucks or vehicle. Additionally, no professional mounting is needed as it is simple and easy to install.
The GPS speedometer has both analog and digital speed thus you don’t need to consider the type of speedometer that your vehicle has. On the other hand, this Universal GPS speedometer is not interfered by other kinds of gauge factors.
This is a universal GPS speedometer that is quick in displaying data. The KUS Waterproof Speed Speedometer will monitor the speed even on a snowy or a rainy day. It will show actual speed and compass and the signals usually come right from satellite signal receiver. Besides that, setting up this GPS Speedometer is very easy and can be used in all yachts, boats, vessels, etc.
The installation dimension of this speedometer is 85mm (3-3/8″) and made to be 100 percent waterproof as well as with anti-fogging protection. Above all, the unit features quick location confirmation and you can choose between yellow and red back-light.
Another highly effective GPS speedometer from Intellitronix. It’s suitable for all kind of vehicles including marine boats. Markedly, this Digital speedometer features super-bright Blue LEDs that have a custom LED bar graph and black bezel. The unit is easy to install and comes with step by step guide on how to install the Speedometer. All the -dash mounting hardware is included in the package.
You can easily calibrate the speedometer for diverse tire sizes. With its bright shade of Green let you so see the monitor during the night as well as when there is direct sunlight. The product comes with a lifetime warranty.
This is a multi-satellite GPS speedometer that display, compass, speed alarm and will read in different units. It will show odometer and current speed getting signals from the satellite signal receiver. In general, the gauge gives high and has a short startup time. In addition to that, the curved glass is waterproof and has an anti-fogging function.
The Speedometer Gauge is usable in all types of boats, cars, trucks and off-road vehicles. For the first time, this gadget will take 30 sec to get signals and after that, it only takes 3 seconds, it gets better when there is a clear view of the sky.
The TIMPROVE Universal GPS Speedometer has a high-speed recall memory as well as digital display. You can use it with the press of a button and can show in various units. It works perfectly for all vehicles thus you should not worry about compatible. Ideally, this GPS Speedometer shows instance speed using GPS satellite, no wiring thus it does not need to call for any professional installation.
The device is likewise compatible with motorcycle and bicycle as you just need to connect it with a power bank. Furthermore, with its Over-speed Alarm, it ensures that you have a safe trip. It will deep three times in case of over speed.
This is a complete set of Digital GPS speedometer and it displays real speed with GPA satellite. Installing this speedometer is very simple and just need plug and play. Other than that, it has settable low-speed and High-speed alarms and when you exceed the set value a red light LED flashes to alarm. It also has a settable speedometer with a refresh rate of 0.5 seconds.
All the information will be saved automatically including the top speed as it has EEPROM memory. Together with that, made with parts that resist dust and have a waterproof Rate IP65. Get one today and you will get accurate results of your driving.
Our nest best GPS speedometer comes from AndyTach. It’s one of the best-selling speedometers you can find in the market. The digital display is well protected with a flat glass that offers less sun glare during the day and will also allow you to view without any problem. Different from that, its gauge can display up to 300MPH which will indicate instant Speed display.
The speedometer also features re-settable trip meter, Odometer as well as a compass that is both numeric and visual. You can install this speedometer at any vehicle provided you have external power source 12-24VDC battery or alternator.
This is a brilliant GPS speedometer that displays the speed of the car on the windshield. Different from other kinds of Car HUDs, this one is universal and can be used by any type of vehicle regardless of their model or brand. It features a 2.2 inches TFT LCD screen that displays data while monitoring speed giving more fun to your driving experience.
The Car HUDs will display driving distance measurement, satellite time and number, voltage, driving direction, vehicle speed and can switch between miles to kilometers. It’s a multi functional tool that assists you to know about your car.
The LeaningTech GPS speedometer comes with a green light back-light display and a high-speed recall for cars, boats, and motorcycles as well. The green light will make the drive feel more comfortable and will protect the driver eyes particularly when driving for long distance. It also projects instance speed with GPS satellite and there is no wiring required.
The total distance and the driving time will be displayed on the display and will assist you to know the important information about the trip. The device comes with an over-speed warning alarm for safe driving.
Compatible with all cars and trucks.
The main reason for having a GPS speedometer is to know the vehicle information such as speed, Trip Distance, time/date, voltage, driving direction and many more. The GPS speedometer listed above are compatible with most vehicles and they are easy to install. Choose the one that you feel it will meet your need for a safe and sound ride. |
0.952526 | Quick win or long term sustainability?
My project has to deliver middleware components that will support a large, complex system development spanning multiple phases. My phase is due to implement in 6 weeks, with future phases being implemented in 6 months and 12 months from now.
Most of my work is well on track, but we have one component that we are just starting to put in place. We know what is needed to support the current phase, and are confident in our plans to deliver that. However, we don't have a clear view of how the future development phases will be implemented, and so we have not been able to plan our implementation with the future phases in mind. Carrying out the necessary analysis would cost us a couple of weeks, which would delay the overall implementation of the current phase by a week overall.
My question is this: should I opt for the quick implementation that fully meets the current requirement and meets current targets, but does not guarantee an easy future implementation, or should I request a delay to the project, with potential (but unproven) future benefits through avoidance of rework?
We are using a waterfall-based approach, rather than agile, and the technology is relatively new to the organisation. Does this make a difference to your answer?
Unless you have some indication that the work you do now may cause serious issues down the line, finish your scope now. There is too much uncertainty with which to cope trying to figure out what may happen in the future. Finish it, then get to work on the next stage.
I would go for the long term solution. Even you aren't doing Agile you can do the "fail soon fail fast" approach. If you fail do deliver at the beginning there will be some heat from top, but at least you won't have to redo a quick solution. You can save some time and money. Usually, quick solution means dirty solution. Build a system right from the beginning and keep the technical debt low.
The additional 9.5 months should be enough to be on track after the first milestone, but it is definitely not enough to redo a quick solution.
I would try to go for the long term win. Why? You mentioned that additional time for the analysis and a "better" implementation would cause a week delay. In comparison to 12 months this is very little. So it sounds to me like a small investment with potential big benefits.
The analysis will give you the big picture. That means you'll understand the requirements better which is a great value for the project and for the team.
You are not going to avoid re-work. It's a natural process of software development and you are unlikely to get it right the first time. If it was up to our technical director, then we would never release software.
What if you are wrong? As you have said, it's a first time that you are using a waterfall approach, so what are the chances that you will identify further improvements two months time? Will you request a further extension and re-work everything, or will you draw the line?
How are you going to justify a delay in deliverables to the business without proven future benefits?
Worst case scenario. What is the worst case scenario if you don't carry out the re-work?
Long term impact. What is a long term impact of not doing the "re-work"? In our company we are sometimes forced to cut corners, but then business pay tens of thousands for every minute the system is down.
6 months is a very long time in system engineering. I think that in 6 months a lot will change, and there are chances that your re-work will require further re-work, or might not be needed at all.
For me, you're attempting to make a decision that isn't yours to make.
You have your scope and it's approved, so the current correct path is to continue toward completion as planned.
But you've identified a potential issue that may adversely impact the end-result project down the line. Your correct course of action as a responsible PM is to bring this issue to the Owner/Sponsor and ask for direction. Explain it the same way you've explained it here - short-term vs long-term, possible (but unknown) ramifications, possible delays,etc.
Then let them make the decision on how you proceed. Their project, their money, their decision.
Well, I am aware that answering with questions may - at first - look not like an answer at all.
How much will cost the delay? How easily can it be accepted?
What is your previous experience with this team with investments in code quality? Did it prove to be worth the effort? Did it meet the expectations?
What is the likelihood that you will be executing the future phases?
What will be the difference in technical debt if you consider both approaches?
What do you prefer: take a technical debt or financial one (reallocation of resources or resource time)?
Do you really need to take such costly analysis?
Are there any other ways to make quicker, but still valuable assessment?
I don't think Waterfall / Agile has bearing on this, but as PM's, we're are often critised for looking at the short term "Get it in ASAP!" solution.
So although I believe the last gent is correct in saying it's not a PM's decision to make but in your position I put both solutions with their pro's and cons to your sponsor and strongly back the long term solution.
Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged planning scheduling infrastructure or ask your own question.
What approaches exist for long-term planning and responding to change?
How to handle user stories that cannot be split and do not fit even a 30 days long sprint?
What is a “typical” duration for how long it takes to start up a project?
How to handle confusion of “user stories” term in agile methodology?
How to decide if a “quick, small change” should be implemented? |
0.981076 | What will we learn from the presidency of Paul Kagame head of the African Union? To answer this question, let us first recall that the Rwandan president had carved out, in view of the results obtained in his country, a strong reputation of reformer and modernizer. That is why he was charged by the AU, in 2016, floor on ways and means to carry out in-depth reforms on the operation of the organization and make proposals as soon as possible.
Surrounding himself with the necessary skills, President Kagame presented in record time a groundbreaking and convincing report, focused mainly on the financing and operation of the AU. It was to carry out these reforms that he was logically named, in 2018, at the head of the Continental Organization. The Kagame report recalls that the AU has never had the means to achieve its ambitions and that its operational budget has always been 80% financed by Western donors.
Sensitizing, in this regard, the member countries to ensure the regular payment of contributions, the report launches a reflection to review the scale of contributions of the States. The idea being, for the sake of balance, to ensure the contribution of the five largest countries of the continent does not exceed 40% of the total contributions.
The report therefore proposes in a first one to save money and concentrate efforts in the following areas: - peace and security, recommending a levy of 0.2% tax on imports from each Member State for its financing. - economic and commercial integration.
It took two years and no less than five summits for the Kagame project to reach a compromise around its main proposals.
But discussions are continuing on other issues, including, for example, the scale of assessments and the penalties proposed against those who fail to pay the duty within the prescribed time. But during this 32nd AU Summit, which has just opened its doors this Sunday in Addis Ababa, the subject that must remain on everyone's lips is the possible coming into force of the free trade zone. Continental (ZLEC), which represents a colossal market of 1.2 billion consumers.
The ZLEC project was adopted by the heads of state in Kigali on March 21, 2018, and to date, signed by 52 countries and ratified by 19 national parliaments. It will undoubtedly be this historic initiative that will best define, for posterity, the year of the Kagame presidency at the head of the AU.
The arrival of his successor, the Egyptian Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi, will veil the work done and will not tarnish the image that the African people will keep Paul Kagame. The reforming President will be remembered. |
0.999976 | Can you go to culinary arts school with a GED?
Yes. Most Culinary arts schools require you to have a high school diploma or equivalent such as a GED. |
0.999951 | Chris Evans, talking about his upcoming departure from BBC Radio 2, has put his money on Sara Cox to take over the breakfast show.
He was reacting to a story in a newspaper, which asked the questioned if Sara could take over the show, to which Chris answered “Why the heck not, she’s the regular sub and has been here over a couple of years “.
“We all love and adore Sara here, and we know the listeners love her too, because you tell us when we see you” Chris continued.
Chris says she is 2:1 favourite with the bookies and the smart money is on Sara.
Other presenters in the running to take over the show include Simon Mayo and Zoe Ball.
Have a listen to the audio below..
Of course he would because she is a loudmouth like him.
She is a loudmouth it’s true but I still prefer Sara Cox to many of them. Simon Mayo is my first choice though. He’s presented drive for years and suddenly has Jo Whiley with him.
Guessing he will be long gone before December.
Simon Mayo would be an ideal choice for R2 breakfast.
himself as a true professional.
Stick Whiney on overnights where she truly belongs!
Can you repeat this in English?
Lynn Parsons would be an ideal choice. |
0.950534 | This page in a nutshell: There are three common mistakes you should avoid when sourcing an article or proposed article to demonstrate that the topic is notable: i) adding citations but to unreliable sources; ii) adding citations to connected (non-independent) sources; and iii) adding citations to sources that merely mention the topic.
Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, a specific type of reference work properly containing articles on topics of knowledge. Wikipedia employs the concept of notability to avoid indiscriminate inclusion of topics by attempting to ensure that the subjects of articles are "worthy of notice" – by only including articles on topics that the world has taken note of by substantively treating them in reliable sources unconnected with the topic.
The general notability standard thus presumes that topics are notable if they have "received significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject".
In order to establish notability, we ask that users cite, using inline citations, to: published, reliable, secondary sources that are entirely independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond its mere trivial mention. If notability cannot be established for an article it is likely to be merged, redirected or deleted.
Adding citations but to unreliable sources: We are looking for treatment in sources like mainstream newspaper articles, non-vanity books, established magazines, scholarly journals, television and radio documentaries, etc. – sources with editorial oversight and a reputation for fact-checking and accuracy. This means generally not random personal websites, blogs, forum posts, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, self-published sources like open wikis (including other Wikipedia articles), etc. In short, read and understand Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources.
Adding citations to connected (non-independent) sources: While primary and other connected sources may be useful to verify certain facts, they must be used with caution and do nothing to establish notability. In short, we are looking for secondary sources written by third parties to a topic that have no vested interest in the subject of their writing or coverage. This means generally not anything written by or on behalf of the subject or anyone connected with the person or organization in any way; not the subject's own website, not the subject's social media, not interviews (with the person, or of an organization's employees, officers or other insiders), and not press releases, regardless of where they are republished. An unconnected source is, for example, a newspaper reporter covering a story that they are not involved in except in their capacity as a reporter.
Adding citations to sources that merely mention the topic: You can cite numerous, published, reliable, secondary, independent sources and it will not help establish notability if they do not treat the topic substantively – think generally two paragraphs of text focused on the topic at issue. Remember: it is much better to cite two good sources that treat a topic in detail, than twenty that just mention it in passing. Moreover, citation overkill to sources containing mere passing mentions of the topic is a badge of a non-notable topic and, if good sources are actually present in the mix, they will be hidden among these others from those seeking to assess a topic's demonstration of notability.
If insufficient reliable secondary and independent sources exist treating a topic in substantive detail, then Wikipedia should not have an article on the topic. Remember that no amount of editing can overcome a lack of notability.
But there must be sources!
Why was the page I created deleted?
Is that even an essay?
This page was last edited on 14 July 2017, at 13:53 (UTC). |
0.999994 | As this is a new test, what about using a real unit test framework that'll display the bogus line?
In the discussion, boost.test, catch2 and doctest are proposed. We should decide which one to pick, and identify current tests that could be refactored using a dedicated test framework.
The following discussion from !464 should be addressed: - [ ] @lhermitte started a [discussion](https://gitlab.orfeo-toolbox.org/orfeotoolbox/otb/merge_requests/464#note_77961): (+3 comments) > As this is a new test, what about using a real unit test framework that'll display the bogus line? In the discussion, `boost.test`, `catch2` and `doctest` are proposed. We should decide which one to pick, and identify current tests that could be refactored using a dedicated test framework. |
0.999957 | The Pittsburgh Penguins have been blessed with the number of generational talents that have come throw the organization over the years. Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr helped lead the team to two Stanley Cup titles in the early 90s, while Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby won a Stanley Cup and led the Pens to another Stanley Cup Final earlier in their careers. In fact, those four have combined to win an astounding 15 combined Art Ross Trophies during the previous 26 seasons. Jagr currently ranks 5th all time in points scored; Lemieux 8th in far fewer games. Crosby and Malkin are likely to find themselves high up on the career list as well.
Possibly the only downside to having two players of that caliber is that they can cover up a lot of the warts on a team when things aren't going well, and that's certainly happened in Pittsburgh over the past few seasons. The Pittsburgh Penguins have been one of the most successful, and high scoring, teams in the regular season lately, but that's been thanks to the beyond elite play of their top two centers. They've carried the team, but unfortunately they can only carry them so far.
From their first Stanley Cup final season in 2007-08 to the present, the Pens as a team have outscored their opponents. The team has always had a better GF% at even strength with Crosby, Malkin, or both on the ice, but up until the 2011-12 season the rest of the lineup was capable of keeping things close. In fact, even the 2011-12 season is a bit of an aberration as to the true potential of the team as Sidney Crosby appeared in only 22 games, forcing players to play up in the lineup. However, the past three seasons have been much different.
The Penguins have only scored 44.8% of the even strength goals with neither Crosby nor Malkin on the ice over the past three season. That number skyrockets to 60.3% with at least one of the two on the ice. Their success has helped mask the problem, or at least the extent of the problem, but the recent power play outages, along with Sidney Crosby putting up the worst points/60 of his career and Evgeni Malkin the third worst, has shone a glaring spotlight on just how bad things have been.
This isn't to say those players are a problem. I'm not saying Crosby or Malkin have been a problem this season. Let me say it again in capital letters and bold font so I'm not misunderstood: I'M NOT SAYING THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH SIDNEY CROSBY OR EVGENI MALKIN'S PRODUCTION THIS YEAR. Crosby is 24th in the league among players with at least 500 minutes played this season with 2.40 pts/60; Malkin is 26th with 2.33. They're 7th and 15th in total points. They're still playing at an elite level, but it goes to show how bad the depth has been when those two playing at anything less than a rarefied, career year type level leads to the issues plaguing the team now.
From the 2011-12 season through last year Crosby ranked first in points/60 with 3.29; Malkin was second with 2.84. The next closest player after that was Taylor Hall with 2.63. The difference between first place Crosby and 3rd place Hall was as large as the difference between Hall and 60th place. Production like that has gone a long way towards vaulting the Penguins to the top of the standings, and even with team depth beginning to improve this season the drop to "merely" elite has been a factor, of several, in the team going through it's roughest patch in years.
Tracking the team's possession over the past 8 years is even more telling than looking at the scoring. From 2007-08 through 2011-12 the Penguins were able to post a similar Corsi For with Crosby and Malkin off the ice as they were able to with them on the ice. In fact, the depth even posted a better CF% in the year they won the Cup than the stars did. While the team as a whole had worse possession numbers during the SCF years, the difference is mostly systematic as Dan Bylsma's free flowing approach helped the team drive possession much more than Therrien's defensive-orientated system. It was Bylsma opening things up that has been credited as helping the Pens vault from 10th in the East to Stanley Cup champions, and things have remained that way since.
Things changed in a major way following the lockout, both scoring and possession-wise, and it's a fairly straightforward explanation: Brandon Sutter has come nowhere capable of filling Jordan Staal's shoes, and he's continued to do so as the bottom 6 has bled talent and replaced them with the likes of Tanner Glass, Joe Vitale, and Zach Sill. Believe it or not, the Penguins have been a negative possession team since the lockout - their 49.8 CF% puts them just 19th in the entire league over that time frame, though they're 8th with a 54.1 GF%. That's just not good enough to compete in today's league as the best teams will exploit that lack of depth, as we've seen in the playoffs and so far this season. Give Ray Shero credit for something - his pursuit of Ryan Kesler using an overvalued Sutter as a main trade chip shows he recognized the issue and was trying to fix it.
But the biggest problem is that the team isn't graduating young, cost controlled forwards who can provide good depth while also remained cost controlled with their RFA status. In fact, here's a list of Penguins forwards drafted by the team who have played at least 10 games this season: Crosby, Malkin, Beau Bennett, Bryan Rust. It's been a combined drafting and development failure in Pittsburgh, and it's hard to draw the line of where blame deserves to be placed. While mobile, puck moving defensemen are a very valuable commodity, it was short sighted of Ray Shero to spend so many top picks on the blue line while focusing on forward mostly later on in the draft. It isn't all bad, as Olli Maatta, Simon Despres, and Derrick Pouliot have all had good NHL showings so far, while Scott Harrington still has great potential to contribute. This drafting strategy wouldn't have been as problematic if the team had been capable of developing the forwards they did draft. Even if just one or two of those later picks had turned into a useful player the team would be in a much different position today. But they've been forced to bring in costlier veterans, and to top things off both Shero and Rutherford have done a less than stellar job of targeting bottom six talent.
As the years have gone by without a Stanley Cup, the talk has turned to not wasting Crosby and Malkin's prime, but the team has been doing that for years. Despite playing at a level far and beyond the rest of the league, Crosby and Malkin have only been able to drag along a half-full roster so far. Bad drafting, bad player development, a bad eye for bottom six talent and poor cap management have created a roster that drags down the star players instead of complementing them. It's not enough to just get the generational talents, especially in a salary cap world - the lineup needs to be strong throughout, and that hasn't been the case in Pittsburgh. |
0.994946 | What would be the domestic economic and political implications of Gary Johnson as president?
Firstly, fair tax. One key element of Gary Johnson’s domestic policy is the fair tax. The fair tax is a tax on consumption, not on income or returns from investments. One aspect of the fair tax that I wish to highlight is that there would be no tax on capital gains. Since capital gains are the source of most of the income of the top 15,000 households in the U.S. (taxed at the paltry rate of 15%). No income of any kind would be taxed.
The other aspect of the fair tax is that it is neither a regressive nor progressive. For a tax to be a regressive tax, those taxed would pay a larger percentage of their income in taxes the less income they had. The fair tax, though a tax on consumption, is not regressive because there is a monthly prebate equivalent to the poverty level expenditures on essential goods and services. Hence, those at the lowest incomes would pay little or no tax at all. For a tax to be a progressive tax, those taxed would pay a larger percentage of income the more income they received. For example, the most progressive tax in U.S. history (1933-1973) had the highest tax rates on the rich: 70% to 90%, and also the greatest economic growth. Under the fair tax, those who have the highest incomes would pay a smaller percentage of their income in taxes than people who made significantly less. A household with earnings of $2 million a year could live well spending $1 million and pay only 11% in tax.
Secondly, the fair tax would spur job creation. Under many of Johnson’s competitors, there would be a specific job stimulus proposed and paid for by the government. Johnson is adamantly opposed to any such government reach. Jobs, under Johnson’s economic domestic policies, are created by investors and entrepreneurs. As he says of his terms as governor of New Mexico, “the fact is, I can unequivocally say that I did not create a single job while I was governor,” Johnson added. Instead, “we kept government in check, the budget balanced, and the path to growth clear of unnecessary regulatory obstacles.” That is what he would do as president. “My priority was to get government out of the way, keep it out of the way, and allow hard-working New Mexicans, entrepreneurs and businesses to fulfill their potential,” he said. “That’s how government can encourage job growth, and that’s what government needs to do today.
"Trickle-down economics” is a term in United States politics to refer to the idea that tax breaks to businesses and the wealthy will benefit poorer members of society by improving the economy as a whole. The term isn’t as lovable as the one about boats and tides, but it is no less accurate and is the method of job growth under a Johnson presidency.
Thirdly, democracy. Given that our democracy is already owned and run by the 1%, what would be the impact of a Johnson presidency on the 1%’s stranglehold? At issue is how his fair tax plus his lack of restrictions on campaign contributions would affect this stranglehold.
The concern is that the wealthy, with huge amounts of wealth that will never be taxed (capital gains, for example), will have even more money to purchase our politicians and insure that this nominal democracy remains under their control. Johnson’s rebuttal to this concern is that if we demand transparency in reporting contributions, the voters will know which candidates have been effectively purchased by which corporations or wealthy individuals. But would this solve the problem?
We already know that our candidates are owned and purchased by various wealthy people and corporations. We knew that Bush and Cheney were owned by the oligarchy, as Amy Goodman called it. Both Obama and Romney are fully funded by corporations — financial, pharmaceutical, insurance, oil and gas companies — and we citizens know it. That has made little difference to most voters and it’s implausible that transparency, which would only put footnotes on what we already know, would make any significant difference. Under a Johnson presidency, the control of the wealthy over our government will only be more entrenched.
The extremely wealthy would be very comfortable under a Johnson presidency. They would pay much less in taxes than moderately well-off middle class citizens. They would be secure in the knowledge that they had full control over our nominal democracy. When they needed more employees or to expand, they would create jobs. |
0.999997 | Wondering what's running through your interviewer's mind? Here are 10 things your interviewer might be thinking-but probably won't tell you:1. You showed up too early.
Many interviewers are annoyed when candidates show up more than five or 10 minutes early, since they may feel obligated to interrupt what they're doing and go out to greet the person. Some feel guilty leaving someone sitting in their reception area that long. Aim to walk in five minutes early, but no more than that.
2. We're judging how you're dressed and groomed.
In most industries, a professional appearance still matters. You don't need to wear expensive clothes, but showing up in a casual outfit or clothes that don't fit properly, having unkempt hair, or inappropriately flashy makeup can harm your chances.
3. We don't want you to try to sell us.
It's a turn-off when a candidate seems overly focused on closing the deal, rather than on figuring out if the job is the right fit. No hiring manager wants to think she's being aggressively sold; we want the best person for the job, not the pushiest spiel.
Candidates often act as if only "official" contacts, like interviews and formal writing samples, count, but hiring managers are watching everything, including things like how quickly you respond to requests for writing samples and references, whether your email confirming the time of the interview is sloppily written, and how you treat the receptionist.
5. We might act like we don't mind you bad mouthing a former employer, but we do.
We'll let you talk on once you start, but internally we're noting that you're willing to trash-talk people who have employed you in the past and are wondering if you'll do that to us too. What's more, we're wondering about the other side of the story-whether you're hard to get along with, or a troublemaker, or impossible to please.
6. You might be talking too much.
Your answers to your interviewer's questions should be direct and to-the-point. Rambling and unnecessary tangents raise doubts about your ability to organize your thoughts and convey needed information quickly. If you're tempted to go on longer than two minutes, instead ask, "Does that give you what you're looking for, or would you like me to go more in depth about this?" If the interviewer wants more, she'll say so.
7. Fit really, really matters, so we think a lot about your personality.
You might have all the qualifications an employer is looking for, but still not get hired because your working style would clash with the people with whom you'd be working. Remember, it's not just a question of whether you have the skills to do the job; it's also a question of fit for this particular position, with this particular boss, in this particular culture, and in this particular company.
8. We want you to talk about salary first for the exact reason you fear.
Salary conversations are nerve-wracking for job seekers because they know that they risk low-balling themselves by naming a number first. And that's exactly why interviewers push candidates to throw out a number first. In an ideal world, employers would simply let candidates know the range they intend to pay, but in reality, plenty take advantage of the power disparity by making candidates talk about money first.
9. We're going to ask other people what they think of you.
We're going to ask anyone who came in contact with you for their impressions-from the receptionist to the guy who you met for two minutes in the hallway.
10. We like thank-you notes, but not for the reason you think.
Post-interview thank-you notes aren't just about thanking the interviewer for her time; the ones that are done well build on the conversation and reiterate your enthusiasm for the job.
Alison Green writes the popular Ask a Manager blog, where she dispenses advice on career, job search, and management issues. She's also the co-author of Managing to Change the World: The Nonprofit Manager's Guide to Getting Results, and former chief of staff of a successful nonprofit organization, where she oversaw day-to-day staff management, hiring, firing, and employee development. |
0.997984 | Whatever ethical stance one takes in the debate regarding the ethics of human enhancement, one or more reference points are required to assess its morality. Some have suggested looking at the bioethical notions of safety, justice, and/or autonomy to find such reference points. Others, arguing that those notions are limited with respect to assessing the morality of human enhancement, have turned to human nature, human authenticity, or human dignity as reference points, thereby introducing some perfectionist assumptions into the debate. In this article, we ask which perfectionist assumptions should be used in this debate. After a critique of views that are problematic, we take a positive approach, suggesting some perfectionist elements that can lend guidance to the practice of human enhancement, based on the work of Martha Nussbaum's Capability Approach. We suggest that the central capabilities can be used to define the human aspect of human enhancement and thereby allow a moral evaluation of enhancement interventions. These central capabilities can be maximized harmoniously to postulate what an ideal human would look like. Ultimately, the aim of this article is twofold. First, it seeks to make explicit the perfectionist assumptions found in the debate and eliminate those that are problematic. Second, the paper clarifies an element that is often neglected in the debate about human enhancement, the view of the ideal human towards which human enhancement should strive. Here, we suggest that some central capabilities that are essential for an ideal human being can be maximized harmoniously and can therefore serve as possible reference points to guide human enhancement. |
0.997788 | How do we know that Dresden was a legitimate military target?
Holocaust deniers often use the Allied bombing of Dresden (February 13-14, 1945) as evidence of Allied war crimes. They do so to minimize, by comparison, the systematic murder committed by the Nazis.
Dresden was an undefended cultural city with no military or industrial importance.
Dresden was a legitimate military target. It was an important industrial center with over 100 factories and enterprises that made armaments, torpedo parts, aircraft parts, U-boat and other naval parts, field radios, telephones, and precision optical instruments. It was also a key junction in Germany’s railway system, expediting the travel of supplies and soldiers to the Eastern Front.
On February 13 and 14, 1945, British and American air forces bombed Dresden, Germany. The old part (Altstadt) of Dresden was completely destroyed and 25,000 to 35,000 people were killed.
Dresden was an important industrial center with over 100 factories and industrial enterprises that employed 50,000 workers. These factories made armaments (shells and ammunition), torpedo parts, aircraft parts, field radios and telephones, steering elements for U-boats, specialized turbines for the Navy, X-ray equipment, and precision optical instruments. There was also a poison gas factory and a factory for anti-aircraft guns in Dresden.
Dresden was also a key junction in Germany’s railway system, with rail lines radiating from the city in all directions. In 1944, the Nazis installed special tracks and platforms to expedite supplies to and from the city’s major armament factories. Many of these armaments traveled directly into combat zones on the Eastern Front. There were four freight yards and four main railway stations, all of which were used for military purposes and, thus, were legitimate military targets.
By February 1945, Dresden was only 90 miles away from the Eastern Front. This fact further increased Dresden’s importance as a transit point for military traffic to and from the Eastern Front. For example, a total of 28 military trains, carrying almost 20,000 men and officers, passed through just one Dresden train station each day. Destroying these stations and rail lines, as a means of disrupting troop movement to the Eastern Front, was a military aim. Dresden was also an important river port and a center of freight traffic on the Elbe River, one of the major waterways of Europe.
Until one month before the Dresden air raid, the Germans had placed anti-aircraft guns around the city. On February 13, 1945, the Germans ordered the removal of these anti-aircraft guns and the city was left largely undefended. These guns were placed closer to the Eastern Front as a means of slowing the Soviet advance. Neither the British nor the Americans knew that Dresden was undefended at the time of the air raid. Instead, they anticipated a stiffer response.
From the 5th edition of Meyers Konversationslexikon (1893-97) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.
Dresden was a legitimate military target. It had militarily important rail lines and over 100 factories serving the Nazi war-machine. Dresden also played an increasingly critical role in German re-supply efforts as the Eastern Front drew closer to the city. The city was largely undefended because the Germans had transferred Dresden’s anti-aircraft guns to the Eastern Front. Allied forces did not know this. Holocaust deniers ignore both the military importance of Dresden and the context surrounding its defenses.
David Irving, Firestorm over Dresden (video, Big Little Picture Company, 1991).
Frederick Taylor, Dresden: Tuesday, February 13, 1945 (HarperCollins, 2004), pp. 148-153, 160-163; Marshall De Bruhl, Firestorm: Allied Airpower and the Destruction of Dresden (Random House, 2006), pp. 182-185.
The British strategy of the area bombing of German cities created a controversy during the war that continues until this day. The strategy was meant to destroy the morale of German civilians by making them homeless with the hope that they would force the government to sue for peace. Area bombing did also destroy the factories, communication networks, and transportation facilities which were legitimate military targets but according to the Wirtschaft und Statistik, November 1949, Statistisches Bundesamt Deutschland [German Federal Statistical Office] it also killed 410,000 German civilians. Some consider the Allied area bombing of German cities to be a war crime, but in fairness it must be noted that the Germans applied the same strategy to all major British cities such as London, during the Blitz, and Coventry, seeking to destroy them down to the last brick and stone without concern for civilian casualties, which in Great Britian amounted to 61,000 dead and 86,000 wounded by the end of the war. (For the figures see http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/homefront/arp/arp4a.html.) For thoughtful consideration of a difficult and complex topic from both the Allied and German side see: A.C. Grayling, Among the Dead Cities: The History and Moral Legacy of the WW2 Bombing of Civilians in Germany and Japan (Walker & Company, 2006); Max Hastings, Bomber Command (Pan Macmillan, 2020); and Herman Knell, To Destroy A City: Strategic Bombing and its Human Consequences in World War II (Da Capo Press, 2003). |
0.990331 | Nowadays, it refers to a large city - particularly an important one.
Metropolis comes from the Greek mētēr ("mother") + polis ("city").
Is matrix the mother of all terms?
Maybe not, but the term originates in the Latin mater, meaning "mother."
The original (now-archaic) meaning of matrix was "uterus." Today the word usually refers to a situation or set of conditions in which something develops or forms.
An amateur pursues an activity for love, not money.
Amateur has an ancestor in the Latin amare, meaning "to love."
Although the relationship isn't certain, amare is probably related to a term meaning "mother": amma. In the Germanic language spoken before the 12th century, amma meant "mother" or "nurse."
A good school nurtures its students; the term alma mater ("fostering mother" in Latin) is rooted in that nurturing.
Alma mater refers either to a school one attended, or to that school's song.
The ancients used alma mater as a title for such goddesses as Ceres, the Roman goddess of the growth of food plants, and Cybele, who was worshipped as the universal mother of gods, humans, and animals.
The mari in this word recognizes a perennially honored mother: Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Gold describes the bright hue of the marigold's flowers.
Matrimony joins two people, but that pairing is rooted in one word: mother.
Matrimony comes from mater, Latin for "mother." This reflects the traditional role of marriage in legalizing motherhood - allowing women to produce legitimate children and heirs.
You may have seen one of these in your garden.
This impressive-looking spider has the genus (and common) name Argiope.
According to mythology, Argiopē was a nymph (i.e. a minor female divinity associated with the natural world) and mother of a celebrated bard.
Spin out the tale a bit further, and you learn that spiders such as the Argiope have been known to trap nymphs - sexually immature insects - in their webs.
Typically, of course, a nun is not a mother.
The linguistic background of the word nun, however, is fertile when it comes to children.
Its Late Latin ancestor nonna named a child's nurse. Nonna came from baby talk. So did the Greek nanna ("female relative" or "aunt"), the Sanskrit nanā ("mother"), the Welsh nain ("grandmother"), and the Albanian nanë ("mother").
Here we have another flower reference, which seems appropriate for Mother's Day.
Cassiope, a shrub with nodding white or pink flowers, is found in cold climates. These plants are named for Cassiopeia, the mythical queen of Ethiopia - whose motherly pride in her daughter, and herself, happened to get her in trouble.
Cassiopeia angered the sea god, Poseidon, by claiming that she and her daughter, Andromeda, were more beautiful than the sea-nymphs. As punishment, Poseidon placed her - upside-down, no less - high in the sky near the north pole, where the constellation Cassiopeia bears her name.
The fact of the matter is this: the Latin word for "mother," mater, is this word's distant ancestor.
Mater was shaped into materia, meaning "physical substance" or "matter." Materia eventually developed into matter.
Why did mother lead to matter? The connection is uncertain, but perhaps it's because matter is the substance from which something is made; and it is mother from which we all are made. |
0.943821 | A description and list of California native plants that live in the chaparral plant community.
Chaparral exists in many areas of the coast ranges and on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains. It is also found on the western and eastern slopes of the southern California mountains. It is 'hard' brush that doesn't rely as much on summer fog drip that the 'soft' Coastal Sage Scrub does, and it is adapted to heat and drought. If you know where the fog belt is for an area, the rainfall, the soil type, and what the summer temperatures are, it is pretty easy to guesstimate where Chaparral should be. Precipitation of 30-90 cm, less and you'll have either Shadscale Scrub, Joshua Tree Woodland, (in hotter areas) or Pinyon-Juniper Woodland (in colder areas). Higher amounts of rainfall make for Mixed Evergreen Forest or Yellow Pine Forest, and coastal fog and cooler summer days means Coastal Sage Scrub (soft brush). If Chaparral isn't where it should be, it was probably cleared. The more accessible areas have been cleared by the mile. Fortunately, Chaparral still occurs in large areas that were hard to reach by tractor.
The Chaparral (brushland) is usually a successional plant community that gradually moves to oak and pine forest, if the soil depth supports it, even if the amount of rain falling from the sky does not change. Pretty cool, huh? Over time, just the presence of the Chaparral can change the pH one unit, can effectively double the precipitation, and can produce a litter layer (mulch layer of leaves) in which the pines and oaks can germinate. That is, if it doesn't burn for many decades or a few centuries. Chaparral is also loosely called brushland, or brush.
The only consistent pattern is: Chaparral usually does not occur on good soil. BUT, it is more than likely that the early settlers removed all the chaparral as nasty brush from ALL the flatter richer soils so the only places Chaparral is left is on the slopes and poorer soils. So, for now, Chaparral exists on rocky, shallow soils overlaying a subsoil that is clay or rock that commonly holds moisture.
These three close plant communities transition: from Grass/forb land (the shallowest soil), to Chaparral (intermediate in soil depth) to Oak Woodland or Southern Oak Woodland(the deepest soil, deep enough to support trees, usually over 4 feet in depth).
What are characteristics of chaparral shrubs?
What elevation is chaparral found in?
Chaparral usually isn't in the real lowlands. In places like Malibu it starts out at about 500 ft. up slope, with Coastal Sage Scrub only living in a narrow band right next to the water. On the other hand, Coastal Sage Scrub runs up to about 4000 foot in Julian, California, and some areas around Riverside and Highland. In some areas like Julian, Chaparral exists in a narrow strip, between Coastal Sage Scrub and Yellow Pine Forest. So elevation is probably not a great predictor for Chaparral.
A short video about the chaparral plant community.
The aspect of a hillside can make a great difference in the makeup of the chaparral. North facing slopes are a lot moister and can support Toyon (Heterromoles arbutifolia), Manzanita (Arctostaphylos spp.), Scrub oak (Quercus spp.), Pitcher sage (Lepechinia spp.), Climbing Penstemon (Kekiella cordifolia, K. antirrhinoides), and Poison oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum). The dry arid south facing slope is dominated by Chamise (Adenostoma spp.), Black sage (Salvia melifera), Yucca (Yucca spp.), Woolly blue curls (Trichostema lanatum) and Bush poppy, (Dendromecon rigida).
1. Fire is a major factor in the dynamics of this Chaparral plant community, and plants are adapted to fire, ie. crown-sprouting shrubs, and annual fire- followers.
WEEDS AND HUMAN CARELESSNESS HAVE CHANGED the FIRE FREQUENCY!!!
Normal fire frequency should be about 100-400 years, depending on the Chaparral type and location. Most native plants need decades to reproduce. The presence of weeds, and human carelessness has increased the fire frequency to as little as six months. Many of the native plants that live in Chaparral require years to develop the right conditions for their seeds to germinate. Weed seeds can germinate and set seed in as little as a few months. Once certain cascading events are set into motion, namely frequent fires, in addition to the presence of weeds, in a Chaparral plant community, you have a recipe for plant community degradation and destruction. Suppress fire in the Chaparral plant community for as long as you possibly can and remove the weeds, and you might keep the Chaparral plant community intact and your home fire safe.
2. This plant community is highly adapted to very long dry spells, but unlike desert plant communities, areas of Chaparral can have very wet winters, also. 30-40 inches of rainfall in two months is common and no rain for 1-2 years has also been documented. The average rainfall is more like 15 inches (38 centimeters) and the normal diurnal temperatures are 25 F(-4C)-60F(15C) in winter, 55(13C)-95F(35C) in summer. Most Californians get excited when their winter temperatures drop below 20F(-12C) or summer temperatures above 105F(40C).
Chaparral occurs in areas of occasionally freezing winters (to -5F(-20C)), but usually mild, moist winters and dry, hot summers (commonly above 100F (38C). During the weather patterns that existed when the Spanish explorers came to California, the Chaparral was REAL cold. The temperatures were probably -20F (-29C) along much of the central coast ranges. In most of California the climate is called Mediterranean, which corresponds with the Chaparral plant community.
The plants are created by the 8-12 months of yearly drought. BUT, the chaparral plants moderated the climate by slowly releasing moisture back into the air and streams. As the chaparral has been replaced by weeds and man's activities this vegetation buffer has been degraded and the fires, landslides, flash floods, and soil erosion have all increased while foggy mornings and overall soil moisture has decreased.
Chamise and other native shrubs act a smaller fog collectors.
One of the many points the “tecchies” out there miss, that has been pointed out repeatedly by the old naturalists, is that the Chaparral plant community 'creates' moisture. There is almost no runoff from chaparral sites, and the soil only becomes dry on 'real' drought years. Most of the time soil moisture ranges from moist (not wet) to slightly dry. This is a great growing bed for the oaks, pines and trees of higher rainfall areas. The higher the brush gets, the more blowing fog or clouds are caught, and the more fog is created from this catch and release.
California cities that occur in Chaparral.
Chaparral is far from uniform so it is not possible to 'connect the dots'. I've drawn out the areas that could be in the range of the Chaparral plant community.
There's been a push by fire departments and insurance companies to remove Chaparral in urban interface areas. Here are some points to ponder.
Firemen don't usually die in brush fires, they die in grass fires. Weedy fields burn faster than you can drive, never mind run. By the time you figure out a grassy area is burning, it is over. It's like standing in the middle of a tunnel with a high speed train coming. Remove the alien, annual grasses and weeds; manage the native brush.
California cities in the chaparral.
Fire departments can easily put out grass fires. Tankers knock them down; tractors put them out. Brush fires are much bigger, scarier and require days of work. They also are slower. In clean Chaparral (without the presence of, you guessed it, alien annual grasses) you usually have time to leave. Mix some grass and weeds into Chaparral and you have something that will start burning more easily, and burn fast and very hot.
A properly managed Chaparral slope is very hard to burn (I've spent hours try back firing it when I was a fireman trying to light backfires); erosion is very low and and the Chaparral can survive in extreme drought. Leave no dead limbs or debris other than really big stuuf or very small twigs and leaves. Thin the solid, dense stands of shrubs to about 50% to 30% of the original numbers, depending on your site conditions. Leave all of the Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) and remove most (not all) of the Chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum) or Red Shanks (Adenostoma sparsifolium). If you clear too much you'll get erosions and replacement with nasty weeds and grasses.
Most brush fires occur at the end of a drought when everyone is on rationing and can't water their plants. The 'firesafe' non-natives turn into dead twigs that burn very well, thank you. You live in California, not England or Virginia.
If the soils are very shallow, or pure serpentine, you get a different plant community.
This picture of a serpentine grassland in the central coast ranges of California, adjacent to Chaparral, demonstrates the effect of this soil type on vegetation. In some areas there exists nearly straight serpentinite soils. Where the conditions would normally dictate Chaparral you end up with a serpentine grassland. We do not separate this as a plant community because the serpentine plant community is usually the plant community that is supposed to be there, minus the plants that cannot tolerate serpentine . On real 'raw' serpentine areas this will be nearly all low, herbaceous seasonal forbs, grasses and bulbs that also occur in the adjacent Chaparral plant community. The serpentine soil supports an extreme form of the Chaparral plant community.
A list of California native plants that grow in the Chaparral plant community. |
0.692872 | My CatchAll vacuum has no power. What should I check?
If your machine is not operating, please check the following: - Make sure the battery has been properly charged and is installed correctly. This needs to snap into place. - Check the receiving prongs inside the base of the CatchAll where the battery sits. If any of the prongs are pushed in or bent, they will not make a good connection with the battery and the machine will not work. - If the prongs are intact and the battery is fully charged and snapped in place, plug the charger in for a half hour and then check the adaptor piece that plugs into the wall for warmth. If the adaptor piece is cold, the charger will need to be replaced. If the adaptor piece is warm, the problem is the battery and the battery will need to be replaced. If you need to order parts or would like to talk with a representative, please call BISSELL Consumer Services at 1-800-263-2535, Monday - Friday 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., or Saturday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., ET. |
0.986395 | A rabbit habit that can quickly become a problem is digging. Rabbits that are kept indoors still have the instinct to dig, even if that means tearing up the carpet. Owners can take a few simple steps to prevent rabbits from damaging the flooring of a home.
In the wild, rabbits create dens by excavating dirt and rocks. This behavior is based on the fact that rabbits are trying to provide shelter for themselves. Domestic rabbits still have the instinct to dig to create a safe environment. This natural behavior becomes a problem when pet rabbits are brought indoors. Rabbits will quickly take advantage of any area that welcomes digging, such as the boundary between the sofa and the floor. Loose carpet corners and closed doorways are other perfect digging locations.
Does have greater tendencies to do this than bucks. This is mainly due to nesting tendencies of does. One may want to consider this fact when selecting the gender of a house rabbit.
The best way to avoid the negative effects of rabbit digging is to protect your home from the behavior before damage occurs. Owners should also consider providing an acceptable digging location for their rabbits.
Rabbit owners should avoid using strong perfumes or chemicals to deter rabbits from digging. Such perfumes can cause respiratory problems in rabbits and may also cause allergic reactions to humans who come into contact with the chemicals by sitting on the furniture. In addition, products that are formulated to keep dogs and cats off furniture do not typically work on rabbits.
Flooring: Carefully check all of the corners in the room where your rabbit will be allowed to roam. Corners that are slightly loose will still be tempting for rabbits. You may place heavy furniture on any loose corners to prevent a rabbit from accessing the flooring. You may also purchase thick plastic to cover carpet and rugs. Rug protectors that are sold at many office stores are great protection from rabbit digging.
Furniture: If the furniture in your home is close to the floor, your rabbit may begin to tear at the furniture. To prevent this from occurring, cover all furniture with a thick cloth that will not allow the rabbit access.
Alternatives: Provide your rabbit with a box filled with sand or soil that will allow approved digging. Your rabbit will begin to associate the box with proper digging behavior and may stop searching for additional locations throughout the house.
By following these steps, you will be able to prevent rabbit digging from decreasing the value of your home and ensure a peaceful relationship between you and your rabbit. |
0.949501 | London, England (CNN) -- British Airways and the union representing its cabin crews will hold talks Friday morning ahead of two planned strikes in coming weeks, a spokeswoman for the group mediating the talks said.
The spokeswoman would not reveal the time or place of the talks because of an incident last weekend, when protesters from the Socialist Workers Party stormed the building and forced talks to break up.
A five-day strike by the Unite union over pay and working conditions is set to end at midnight (7 p.m. ET) Friday. They plan to strike for five more days from May 30 and another five days from June 5.
British Airways said it has managed to fly more than half of its scheduled flights during the strike as a result of leasing planes and pilots, and putting passengers on other airlines.
Some Union members also crossed picket lines and decided to work this week, BA said, enabling the airline to expand its planned schedule for the second strike next week.
BA will operate more than 70 percent of its long-haul flights from its main hub at Heathrow airport next week, up from more than 60 percent this week, and more than 55 percent of its short-haul flights from Heathrow, up from more than 50 percent this week, it said.
"Due to the numbers of crew wanting to work normally at Gatwick, all flights will continue to operate as scheduled" during next week's strike, BA said.
The airline said it expects to fly more than 75 percent of its customers who already have reservations during the next strike, which runs from Sunday to June 3.
Talks last weekend appeared to center on the issue of travel perks, which can include free and heavily discounted travel for cabin crew.
BA Chief Executive Willie Walsh threatened to revoke the perks from any crew members who went on strike in March. Unite said Thursday that some 3,000 crew members lost their travel concessions as a result, and the union has said it wants the benefits reinstated. |
0.999998 | Do you agree with the view that, in the years 1511-25, English successes in foreign policy outweighed failures?
In the years 1511-25, England managed to successfully pursue a policy of peacemaking due to Wolsey’s excellent diplomatic skills and managed to negotiate peace at London in 1518 between twenty countries and become a leading power in European affairs; this reflected extremely well on England’s image with the rest of Europe and could be viewed as the basis for the argument that the policy was successful. Further argument for the successes in foreign policy outweighing failures could be made by referring to the successful initial invasion campaigns against France between 1512-13 as well as the several peace negotiations England had arranged up until the year 1525, the several invasions it had fended off on the Scottish border as well as Wolsey’s immense skills in funding the policy. In this essay I will be looking at whether these successes outweigh the failures in foreign policy. |
0.989274 | Does corporate culture matter? Can differences in corporate culture explain why similar firms diverge with one succeeding and the other failing?
John R. Graham, Campbell R. Harvey, Jillian Popadak, Shivaram Rajgopal use a novel survey and interview-based analysis of 1,348 North American firms.
- Over half of senior executives believe that corporate culture is a top-three driver of firm value and 92% believe that improving their culture would increase their firm's value.
- Surprisingly, only 16% believe their culture is where it should be.
- Executives link culture to ethical choices (compliance, short-termism), innovation (creativity, taking appropriate risk), and value creation (productivity, acquisition premia). |
0.986601 | In multiway loudspeaker systems, digital signal processing techniques have been used to correct the frequency response, the propagation time, and the lobbing errors. These solutions are mainly based on correcting the delays between the signals coming from loudspeaker system transducers, and they still show limited performances over the overlap frequency bands. In this paper, we propose an enhanced optimization of relevant directivity characteristics of a multiway loudspeaker system such as the frequency response, the radiation pattern, and the directivity index over an extended transducers' frequency overlap bands. The optimization process is based on applying complex weights to the crossover filter transfer functions by using an iterative approach.
As full-range transducer designed to have the widest frequency band with a good overall performance is hard to achieve, most high-quality loudspeaker systems are of the multiway type. Therefore, two or more drive units must be used, each one of them being designed for a limited frequency range. In such acoustic source, we must avoid band aliasing and prevent each transducer from being fed with signals outside its frequency band. Thus, a suitable filter bank must be employed to split the input signal into different bands. This network is known as loudspeaker crossover [1–3].
When transducers have a separate geometrical distribution, the crossover design is generally done for a particular on-axis listening point, by including extra delays to correct the differences between the propagation time of the sound waves coming from all the transducers [1, 4]. Alternatively, the D'Appolito geometrical distribution or the psychoacoustic error cancelation could be used to reach this target over a wider listening area. With such solution, some amplitude, phase and directivity deviations still remain around the crossover frequencies when the listener moves away from the central listening point. In , it was shown that the best solution to control the directivite behavior of a multiway loudspeaker system is to mount its transducers around the same axis and use a coaxial configuration.
For a high-end loudspeaker system, the fluctuation of the directivity characteristics are sometimes unacceptable [8, 9]. These parameters are function of the crossover filter transfer functions especially over the transducers' overlap bands. In this paper, we will introduce a dedicated signal processing technique based on a complex weighting of the crossover filter responses in order to optimize relevant directivity parameters.
This paper is organized in two main sections. The first one introduces the technique that we propose to enhance the control of relevant directivity parameters for a multiway loudspeaker system. This control is achieved through a complex weighting of the crossover filter frequency responses over the transducers' overlap bands. In the second section of this paper, we will discuss the results of an application example, based on measurements done with a Cabasse (http://www.cabasse.com/) two-way coaxial loudspeaker system.
(ii) : transfer function of the crossover filter applied to the transducer.
where is the vector containing the filtered transducers' transfer functions. For , the vector contains the axially filtered transducer responses and will be noted . is the vector containing the complex frequency weights to be applied to transducer . In (1), denotes the transpose operator.
The aim of our method is to find the optimal weights , that optimize suited directivity characteristics of a given multiway loudspeaker system.
where is the modulus operator and denotes the complex conjugate transpose operator.
where is the decimal logarithm function.
The proposed algorithm for optimizing the crossover filter bank of a multiway loudspeaker system is based on antenna array filtering techniques . For this system, the synthesis of the radiation pattern is generally based on finding the weights that produce a predefined polar response. The principle of this synthesis is equivalent to minimizing a Hermitian criterion on the differences between the radiation pattern of the weighted system and a given target.
The control of the radiation pattern in various directions requires the choice of fixed gains for the corresponding angles. This gain can be the same for all the frequencies of the overlap band. Otherwise it can be a decreasing function with frequency according to loudspeaker system directivity.
where , and is the exponential function. In (7) and are two Lagrange multipliers.
(3) : to control the directivity index of the loudspeaker system in order to avoid unacceptable fluctuations of the radiated acoustic power over transducers overlap bands.
The cost of (7) is more complicated than a cost on the complex terms: where the optimal solutions on ( for ) are symmetrical compared to the the origin. However, is differentiable according to : components of the vector . We can so calculate the gradient and use an iterative optimization method which gives approximated numerical solutions of the optimal weights to be applied to the crossover filter transfer functions.
where denotes the term by term division.
where is the number of iteration and is a step-size parameter introduced to control how far we can move along the error function surface at each iteration. If is large we can quickly reach the minimum but with bad precision. Conversely, if is small, the minimum is reached with better precision, but more slowly. Since no real-time constraint is imposed to the optimization process, we can use a small value for the step-size parameter and allow a large number of iteration to the gradient algorithm. This guarantees a better precision for the optimal weighting vector . The complexity of this algorithm after iteration amounts to single instruction.
From (3), it can be seen that the determination of the directivity index for a multiway loudspeaker exhibits the knowledge of the system responses in all directions over the steradian. However, this becomes more complicated when using traditional loudspeakers with separately distributed transducers. Meyer and Kenneth and Birkle proposed the use of some interpolation techniques for the estimation of loudspeaker system response at any given direction. However these methods still show limited performances, for real applications because they are based on using simplified model radiators such as monopole or flat piston mounted in an infinite baffle.
Thus, for calculating the directivity index of a coaxial loudspeaker system we just need few measurements over steradian.
The algorithm described in the previous section will then be applied to enhance the control of the directivity characteristics of a Cabasse, two-way coaxial loudspeaker system shown in Figure 2.
The Cabasse two-way coaxial loudspeaker system.
This loudspeaker system consists of two transducers coaxially mounted in a closed box enclosure. The central dome with a convex shape is the tweeter of diameter m surrounded by the medium concentric radiating ring with an outside diameter of m and inside diameter of m. The tweeter dome is loaded by a small waveguide which helps in assuring the continuity of shape with the medium drive unit and optimizes the polar pattern of the tweeter on its low-frequency range, especially on the overlap region with the medium . This transducer has a conical shape on its center. As far as the periphery part is concerned, it turns to a convex shape in order to prevent diffraction effects.
The measurements of the frequency responses necessary for determining the directivity characteristics of the loudspeaker system were made in an anechoic room of size . The block diagram of the measuring chain is given by Figure 3. In this diagram, a personal computer allows the generation and acquisition of the input and output signals needed to characterize the acoustic drivers. The determination of transducers' impulse responses is based on the Maximum Length Sequences (MLS) technique . Another function of the personal computer is the control of the turntable on which lies the loudspeaker system. These functions are managed by the CLIOwin (http://www.audiomatica.com/home.htm) software. The input channel of a dedicated sound card is connected to a calibrated microphone (CLIO MIC-03, condenser electret, microphone) positioned at m in front of the tweeter dome. The amplified signal of the sound card output channel is connected to the loudspeaker system input. Once a measurement is done, the turntable is shifted with . Considering the loudspeaker system symmetry, only measurements between and are needed (14). All the measurement data are then exported in a usable format by the MATLAB (http://www.mathworks.com/) software. The experimental protocol described previously is applied separately to each transducer of the loudspeaker system.
The on-axis amplitude responses of the medium ( ) and the tweeter ( ) are depicted in Figure 4. We can identify the band-pass behavior of these transducers with a frequency band of Hz, Hz for the first drive unit and Hz, Hz] for the second one. The fluctuations in these amplitude responses are mainly due to diffraction effects and can be corrected by an adapted equalizer.
On-axis amplitude responses of the transducers.
In practice, the width of the frequency overlap band do not exceed octaves. This width takes into account the nonlinear behavior of the transducers. From the axial amplitude responses of the two transducers given in Figure 4, we can see an extended overlap frequency band ranging from Hz to Hz.
In this section we will also compare the performances of our method to a conventional one, such as, that one proposed by Vanderkooy and Lipshitz . In this paper, the authors proposed the use of a pair of an in-phase squared Butterworth crossover filters. The amplitude and phase responses of these filters are shown in Figure 5.
The Butterworth filters have been designed to have a cutoff of Hz and moderate slopes of dB/octave. With this crossover and since we are using a coaxial configuration for the multiway loudspeaker system, no extra processing is needed to correct the delays between the signals coming from the several transducers.
The crossover that we propose for the optimization process is a pair of low-pass (of order )/high-pass (of order ), linear phase, finite impulse response filters. The amplitude and phase responses of these filters are shown in Figure 6. This filter bank have been designed to have the same cutoff frequency and slopes as the squared Butterworth filters shown in Figure 5.
For the optimization, we targeted the control of the radiation pattern at four directions , , and . For a given angle ( ), the gain , in (7), decreases linearly with frequency in order to achieve a radiation pattern that narrows when the frequency increases. The algorithm is stopped after iteration which leads to instruction. In order to achieve a good precision for the optimal weighting vector , the step size can be chosen in the interval , .
We considered the case where we give much more importance to the control of the directivity index than that of the radiation pattern and the axial response of the loudspeaker system. This choice means a uniformly radiated sound power over a wider listening area. In this case, we adjust the Lagrange multipliers to and . In this paper we have not developed a study on an optimal choice of parameters and . Indeed, the choice has been done systematically according to the importance we want to give to each directivity criterion.
where is the phase of the weighting filter with or .
As shown in Figure 7(b), the fluctuation of the group delay for the weighting filters, and , do not exceed ms which, according to Blauert and Laws , should not induce audible effects.
The directivity characteristics of the multiway loudspeaker system are given in Figures 8, 9, and 10. The radiation patterns of the loudspeaker system at frequencies ( Hz, Hz, and Hz) of the overlap region are given in Figure 8. As a first conclusion we remark a well controlled directivity compared to the case of the nonoptimized crossover filters or the case of using the conventional squared-Butterworth crossover filters. Indeed, with the optimization process, the main lobe of the multiway loudspeaker system narrows as the frequency increases. The second conclusion that we can notice is that the conventional method do not modify the radiation pattern of the loudspeaker system because, for each crossover network (the linear-phase, finite impulse response crossover and the squared Butterworth one), the filters used are in phase.
Amplitude responses of the multiway loudspeaker system.
Directivity index of the multiway loudspeaker system.
In Figure 9, we show the amplitude responses of the two-way coaxial loudspeaker system at , , and . From Figures 9(a), 9(b), and 9(c), we observe that the optimization of crossover filters provides a steady decrease over the amplitude response of the loudspeaker system as we move away from its central axis. At this step, we can also underline the advantages of using a linear-phase, finite impulse responses filter bank over a squared Butterworth one. In fact, with a conventional filtering using a squared Butterworth crossover, an undesirable boost over the amplitude response of the loudspeaker system still remain over Hz, Hz] frequency band and even away from the central axis of the loudspeaker system.
Regarding the directivity index, given in Figure 10, we see an improvement in the behavior of the radiated sound power after the weighting of the linear-phase, finite impulse response crossover filters. Indeed, with the optimization process, we have less fluctuations over the directivity index of the loudspeaker system as we move from the medium to the tweeter. We also remind that the in-phase behavior of the two filter banks used justifies the similarity between the directivity index of the loudspeaker system before the optimization of the linear-phase, finite impulse response crossover filters and when using a squared Butterworth crossover network.
In order to correct the frequency response or the lobbing errors of a multiway loudspeaker system, most solutions [1, 4] are based on delaying the signals sent to the loudspeaker system transducers. These solutions failed in achieving a uniformly radiated sound field especially when the transducers of the loudspeaker system are separately distributed.
In this paper, we have shown that, a dedicated complex weighting of the crossover filter responses, jointly optimizes the frequency response, the radiation pattern and the directivity index of the loudspeaker system over a wide frequency overlap band. Additionally, the performances obtained, are function of the degree of importance given to each radiation criterion through a judicious adjustment of Lagrange multipliers. The proposed method was then applied to enhance the control of the directivity behavior of a two-way coaxial loudspeaker system from the Cabasse company. In order to confirm its advantages, the performances of the proposed method were compared to a conventional crossover network bank design using a pair of in-phase squared Butterworth filters. Once the complex weights are obtained, the impulse responses of the optimized crossover filters can be obtained by using the generalized least squares method .
The method proposed in this paper can easily be applied to any frequency band. The interested reader can refer to to get more information about the application of this technique to a three-way or a four-way loudspeaker system.
This work was supported by Cabasse Acoustic Center. The authors would like to express special gratitude to Yvon KERNEIS, expert consultant at Cabasse Acoustics Center, Bernard DEBAIL, R D director and Pierre-Yves DIQUELOU, project manager in the supporting company. The authors also wish to thank Emmanuel DELALEAU, professor at the École Nationale d'iNgénieurs de Brest, for various comments and interactions.
where is the matrix given by (11).(ii) The scalar is the sum of components. |
0.999671 | About Photography: Nikon D750 - Is this the perfect camera for lifestyle photography?
Nikon D750 - Is this the perfect camera for lifestyle photography?
It's smaller than most full frame DSLR's, has a comfortable 6.5fps frame advance, can see in dim light better than most any camera out there, takes all of the best Nikkor lenses, can autofocus on a black cat in a dark closet, and lists for only $2296.95. What's there not to like?
I began substituting the D750 for my D4 and D810 on lifestyle shoots, and have to say, the more I use it, the more I like it. Time will tell, but I think the D750 may become my primary lifestyle camera. I combine it with a lens kit including the 85mm, 50mm, and 35mm f/1.4 high speed lenses for available light photography, and the 70-200mm and 24-70mm f/2.8 zooms when a fast aperture doesn't matter.
Another thing I like that Nikon is adding to its cameras is a 1.2x crop mode. On the 24.3MP D750 sensor this delivers a 16.7MP image in a perfect 3:2 35mm format. The final image size is almost the 50MB required for traditional stock photography. So, if the image isn't cropped, there is no loss in resolution. I find myself bouncing in and out of the 1.2x crop mode for two reasons. First, the smaller crop means that the 51 focus points cover a much larger percentage of the image area. Second, my 85mm f/1.4 is immediately converted into a 102mm f/1.4 lens, and the 50mm becomes a 60mm f/1.4.
My main studio is set up for daylight shooting, and on some stormy days it can get quite dark. I need to keep my shutter speed high to stop the action of the moving models. On my last shoot I was using an 800 ISO for most of the day. For the D750 the noise level on anything up to around ISO 1600 isn't even noticeable.
The auto-focus ability of the D750 includes all the improvements in the D810 and D4s and then some. In 5-point group mode or 3-D auto focus the camera is as good as it gets, even in the dimmest light -- or should I say "especially in the dimmest light".
Although I'm sure wedding photographers will love this camera for the same reasons, this photo was part of a lifestyle shoot done in my studio. It was lit with two 1000w tungsten lamps placed behind a huge scrim with some trees pressed up against it from behind to add the out-of-focus background.
Lit with direct streaming sunlight and no fill used for the shadow areas. The dynamic range of the D750 is right up there with the top of the Nikon lineup.
Thanks for the quick review! I have been looking at the D750 - it looks to be the camera I was hoping for when I bought the D800. It sounds like you think it is more capable than the D800 and would be a good replacement for it (assuming you don't NEED 36MP). I look forward to seeing it at PhotoPlus on Thursday. Any chance that you will be there too?
I will be at the Expo, but not on Thursday. I am going on Saturday morning.
Oh well, maybe next year! I would've enjoyed bumping into you. I love your work and your blog! |
0.999234 | "We apologize to those Italians who feel offended [by the name] but that’s not our intention."
"Imagine what would happen in Spain if someone in Italy opened a restaurant dedicated to the [Basque] terrorist group Eta," speculated the resigned-sounding journalist.
"Or what would happen in Germany, if in Rome or Milan they opened up three beer houses with sausages and sauerkraut honouring [Germany’s left-wing terror group] the Red Army Faction?
The article caused an immediate reaction in Italy: Marco Anzaldi, an MP with Italy’s Democratic Party (PD), on Tuesday called for an official complaint to be lodged. |
0.991031 | Stay connected to your hometown. Subscribe for only $30.00 a year.
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At the Polk County Board meeting on Tuesday night Judge Jeff Anderson went before the board to speak to a couple of different issues.
The first was to thank the board for increasing the court commissioner to a ¾ time position last September.
When that occurred, Anderson had 627 pending cases in his court that took a median of 127 days to resolve.
Another item that Anderson touched on was the case stats juvenile and ChIPs (child in need of protection) cases. The numbers given only reflect those going through the justice system, not all of the cases handled by the Human Services Department, numbers that would no doubt be substantially higher.
Click here for the entire story.
Northwest Passage "In A New Light"
Compassionate Hallway at the Polk County Courthouse. |
0.999661 | If I were to have a conversation with a sales manager, here is some of the advice that I would give them.
Get to Know Your Team: determine their abilities and qualities. Ask individuals how they perform their best and how they like to be supported. Take advantage of their strengths and abilities by having them work in roles that complement them.
Have Clear Role Descriptions: particularly if you have an organization that has different types of selling roles (inside vs. out side sales, hunters vs. farmers) make sure there is a clear role description that outline expectations and responsibilities for their roles. This will also be helpful when it comes time to be hiring or recruiting.
Do Not Try to Replicate Yourself: you have likely been promoted into a sales management role because of the success you had as a sales person. You must understand that you are unique and what worked for you will not work for others. Do not try to make your team members be a replica of yourself. Let them discover and leverage their own strengths.
Measure Performance – Past and Current: you need to understand how your team members are performing – vs. target, vs. past performances (previous quarter, previous year, a rolling 12 month). You have to understand deviations, is it due to the individual or changing market conditions, or perhaps an emerging competitor or short comings in your company’s approach.
Corporate Goals and Alignment: your team will have a target that supports your company’s financial objectives and you need to understand how you will achieve that target. In particular, you need to be sure that you can account for that target within the goals set for each of your team members. You also have to have a plan for overcoming gaps and deficiencies. It is not enough to demand everyone to do more or work harder if the year is not progressing as you hoped.
Sales Process: does your organization have a clearly defined sales process? Does your team understand it and follow it? Does the broader organization understand it and know how their work and functions support it?
Sales Methodology: does your team follow a sales methodology? Is it ever discussed during sales meetings? Is there an ongoing means for training – both enhanced skills and a review and refresh on the key tenets?
Deployment: how often does your organization look at deployment (alignment of territories)? Is it best done geographically? By an optimal territory size? Is there any opportunity to deploy by areas of expertise (market segments)? Is there any opportunity to enhance the coverage with inside sales personnel or adapting some form of a hunter/farmer model?
Performance Management System: is there a performance management system in place? Are there periodic reviews so that team members know where they stand at any given time (as opposed to being surprised with a year end review that does not reflect their understanding)?
Customer Management: are there tools for managing customer performance? Is there a monitoring of size and frequency of orders? Are there any leading indicators showing that a customer is declining or may be at risk of churning?
Pipeline Management: are the sales team actively engaged in seeking new business opportunities? Do you know what they are working on? Do you know the potential deal size? The likelihood of closing? Do you know how the work on the top opportunities is progressing?
Customer Relationship Management System: is there a CRM system to gather and retain customer data and interactions that will not be lost with the departure of a sales rep? Is the CRM system being used to support work on pipeline management, performance management and forecasting? Is the CRM system fueling insights around customer penetration and retention?
Coaching: this is a distinct interaction and function separate from the discussion around business problems, pipeline management and performance management. Coaching focuses on building the skill set of the sales person and helping them manage and develop their career aspirations. It is also a powerful tool in employee retention.
Ride-withs: this is valuable time out in the field with members of the sales team and in front of customers. Not only is it a great forum for coaching, it builds relationships with key customers and offers the sales manager critical insights into their company’s value propositions and their sales teams’ performance.
Customer Acquisition: it is hard to imagine a situation where growth is not desirable, where will the customers come from to drive that growth? Are the sales team members doing new business development work?
Marketing Intersection with Sales: what is the relationship between sales and marketing? It is up to the sales manager to ensure that this is a healthy link. What role is marketing playing in opening up new customer opportunities?
Succession Planning: a sales manager must always have an open eye towards where their next sales person is going to come from. Is it an inside sales resource? Is it a customer service representative? Is it someone they have met in their travels such as a great sales associate in a retail setting or somewhere like a car rental counter. The right attitude, particularly a willingness or eagerness to serve are great starting points.
As previously mentioned, the sales manager role is an extremely difficult role. It is critical to success for any organization. It is certainly worth an investment in time, energy and appreciation! |
0.999188 | In proper Pixar fashion, we should start with a review of the pre-movie short: Sanjay’s Super Team. Based on a ‘mostly’ true story.
At only 7 minutes, this short packs in a lot of story. A young boy is at odds with his religion and the modern world. Eventually, a midway point is found through a daydream of various Hindu gods as superheroes, battling a shadow demon. After the dream ends, the boy has a newfound appreciation for his father and religion in general.
Now, let’s step back about 65 million years, and see what the world would have been like if an asteroid didn’t exterminate all of the dinosaurs. An asteroid belt rotates slowly, one chunk of debris bumps into another, sending it on a direct course with a bright blue orb, Earth. The meteor misses the planet completely, disturbing nothing.
“A few million years later”, we meet a family of Apatosarus living on a farm. The runt of the litter is Arlo, the hero of our story. After a classic Disney tragedy sequence, Arlo sets out on an adventure to return home, meeting a wild child human on the way, named Spot. The first laugh I had while watching this movie was during a touching scene when Spot placed a large beetle in front of Arlo, and promptly pulled the bug’s head off.
Perhaps the most interesting part of this movie was a scene where Spot and Arlo eat fermented plums and go on a psychedelic drug trip. After this, we meet a variety of interesting characters, including scavenging Pterodactyls, T-Rex Ranchers, and a pack of wild, wolf-like humans. All of this culminates in Arlo returning home to a loving reunion.
All in all, this is a good movie for kids, although there are a few scenes involving small animals savagely eaten by predators, and tall tales about chewing through a tail to survive a tough situation. For adults, there really isn’t a lot to offer, which is a let down for a Pixar movie.
I give this movie 3 out of 5 fermented plums.
Disney-Pixar presents a film directed by Peter Sohn and written by Meg LeFauve. Running time: 95 minutes. Rated PG (for peril, action and thematic elements).
The Good Dinosaur hit theaters this past weekend, opening to $39.155 million domestically, beating the new Rocky universe film Creed but losing out to the two-time champion, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 which brought in $52 million in its second week at the box office. The Good Dinosaur, which was riddled with re-writers, re-castings, and delays, saw Pixar’s second worst wide opening ever, beating out only the original Toy Story, Pixar’s first feature film. Inside Out, the other Pixar film to release this year, saw a $90 million opening weekend back in June.
The Good Dinosaur is in theaters now.
Have you seen the new dinosaur flick yet? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Box office numbers provided by boxofficemojo.com. |
0.999955 | NASCAR, which stands for the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, is a business venture involved in multiple auto racing events. Its biggest events are the Camping World Truck Series, the Nationwide Series and the Sprint Cup. Until now, it remains as one of the highly anticipated, viewed and followed professional sports events in the world, particularly in the United States. Besides these all-important details, it is also good to learn other interesting facts and information about this organization including who invented NASCAR.
Who invented NASCAR? William France Sr. is credited for the invention of NASCAR on February 21st in 1948. Together with the other professional race drivers, he drafted the rules, points system and other important aspects of the association. In the original plan, they came up with three different divisions, which were Strictly Stock, Roadster and Modified.
Several significant people were responsible for the successful start of NASCAR. Aside from its founder France, there was also Erwin George Baker, who became the very first commissioner of the association. In addition, there was also Bob Barkhimer, who was a midget car-racing star during the World War II.
Under NASCAR, there are different types of sanctioned series. First is the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, currently the highest level and probably the most important professional competition in the sport. For the 2009 season, there are 36 events scheduled within the span of 10 months. Its very first sponsor came in 1972, which was R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. In 2004, the sponsorship expired, after which NEXTEL took over.
The second one is the NASCAR Nationwide Series. According to organizers, this is the second most important and the second with the highest level of competition. In the 2008 season, American racecar driver Clint Bowyer emerged as the champion. This is the only major event played outside of the United States. The final division is the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. This special series is comprised of pickup trucks, which Johnny Benson won in 2008.
In addition to the three major events, there is also the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. Held in Canada, this series was founded in 1981, which was previously called the CASCAR Super Series. In 2006, it was bought out to be part of the different prestigious NASCAR events. Another new series is the NASCAR Corona Series. Its creation was announced in December 2006, which is scheduled to be played in Mexico. This event started only in 2007, after it replaced the Desafio Corona Series. |
0.999998 | After the repeal of the Corn Laws, Peel's government was defeated in a vote on a Coercion Act for Ireland. Peel resigned because of this. The extract below is part of his resignation speech.
Sir, I now close the observations which it has been my duty to address to the House, thanking them sincerely for the favour with which they have listened to me in performing this last act of my official career. Within a few hours, probably, that power which I have held for a period of five years will be surrendered into the hands of another - without repining - without complaint on my part - with a more lively recollection of the support and confidence I have received during several years, than of the opposition which during a recent period I have encountered.
In relinquishing power, I shall leave a name, severely censured I fear by many who, on public grounds, deeply regret the severance of party ties - deeply regret that severance, not from interested or personal motives, but from the firm conviction that fidelity to party engagements - the existence and maintenance of a great party - constitutes a powerful instrument of government: I shall surrender power severely censured also, by others who, from no interested motive, adhere to the principle of protection, considering the maintenance of it to be essential to the welfare and interests of the country: I shall leave a name execrated by every monopolist who, from less honourable motives, clamours for protection because it conduces to his own individual benefit; but it may be that I shall leave a name sometimes remembered with expressions of good will in the abodes of those whose lot it is to labour, and to earn their daily bread by the sweat of their brow, when they shall recruit their exhausted strength with abundant and untaxed food, the sweeter because it is no longer leavened by a sense of injustice. |
0.931897 | Manila, home to at least 16 million people within its officially-defined metropolitan area, is not only the capital of the Philippines, but also a major center of commerce, culture, education and politics in Southeast Asia. 2013 marks the tenth anniversary of Wikimedia in the Philippines, with December 1, 2003 being the launch date of the Tagalog Wikipedia, the first Wikimedia project in a Philippine language, which makes hosting Wikimania in the Philippines very timely. It is also a mid-term election year, potentially allowing visitors glimpses of the Philippines' vibrant electoral campaigns, especially with respect to local elections.
NOTE: Some parts of this summary were lifted from the article Manila on the English Wikipedia.
Manila (Filipino: Maynila) is the capital of the Philippines. It is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay, bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati to the southeast and Pasay to the south.
The City of Manila itself has a total population of more than 1,660,714 people according to the 2007 national census, making it the second-most populous city in the Philippines behind Quezon City. The population inhabits an area of only 38.55 square kilometers, making Manila the most densely populated city in the world. Metro Manila, the metropolitan area surrounding the city, is the most populous metropolitan area in the Philippines and the 11th in the world, with an estimated population of around 16.3 million people. The greater urban area is the fifth-largest in the world, with an estimated metropolitan population of around 20.7 million people.
Manila is ranked as a Beta+ world city, the second-wealthiest metropolitan area in Southeast Asia according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (behind Singapore), and the cheapest city in Southeast Asia for foreigners to live in, ranking 126th in the 2009 Economist Intelligence Unit Worldwide Cost of Living rankings, below all other major cities in the region. The city also has 38 sister cities, including Wikimania host cities Taipei (2007) and Haifa (2011).
Famously given the names "Pearl of the Orient", "Queen of the Orient", "The City of Our Affections" and "Distinguished and Ever Loyal City", among others, Manila is a vibrant center of commerce, culture, education and politics in Southeast Asia. It has historically served as the staging point for the Manila galleons which connected the New World with China, and the Port of Manila is still one of Southeast Asia's busiest ports. The city still boasts a rich culture mixing Malay, Indian, Chinese, Spanish and American influences, particularly reflected in its numerous historical buildings, museums and churches despite the widespread destruction of the city in the Battle of Manila during World War II. As the capital of the Philippines, Manila is also the microcosm of the Philippines' unique culture, offering glimpses into the cultures of the peoples that collectively form the Philippines.
Manila is located on the shores of Manila Bay. The city is built around Intramuros, the original walled city built by the Spanish in the 16th century, located on the southern banks of the Pasig River, which bisects the city into two. The city's sixteen districts are evenly divided between both halves of the city, with most tourist attractions concentrated in the southern half.
Many historical buildings and museums are found in Ermita, the district immediately outside Intramuros. Places such as the National Museum (formerly the Legislative Building), the Manila City Hall, the Manila Central Post Office and the Manila Metropolitan Theater are found along Padre Burgos Street, while Rizal Park, the U.S. Embassy and the Manila Hotel are located along Roxas Boulevard, one of southern Manila's main thoroughfares. Ermita and the neighboring district of Malate are popularly referred to as Manila's "Tourist Belt", with many hotels, shops and bars present in the area, centered in particular around the Adriatico Circle. SM City Manila and Robinsons Place Manila, the city's two major malls, are also in this area.
North of Intramuros, on the northern banks of the Pasig River, is Binondo, Manila's historical Chinatown. With a continuous Chinese presence since 1594, Binondo is the world's oldest Chinatown, and is still a center of commerce as it was over the last 400 years. Divisoria, Manila's largest shopping district, is found here, as well as Escolta Street, the original "Wall Street of the Philippines", where many businesses were once headquartered. Near Binondo is Quiapo, home of the Quiapo Church, Manila's Muslim quarter, centered around the Masjid Al-Dahab (Golden Mosque), and historical landmarks such as the preserved Spanish houses of Hidalgo Street and Plaza Miranda. Both districts are separated by Santa Cruz, which contains historically significant buildings and the city's main northern thoroughfare, Rizal Avenue (Avenida Rizal). The remaining ten districts of Manila extend outward from the city center.
Beyond Manila proper, Metro Manila contains fifteen additional cities and one independent municipality, Pateros. The metropolitan area is divided into four non-administrative districts according to their location along the Pasig River, with Manila forming its own district. Important cities within Metro Manila include Makati, the Philippines' premier financial district, Pasay, home of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and the Cultural Center of the Philippines, and Quezon City, where most Philippine government offices are headquartered.
Under the Köppen climate classification system, Manila features a tropical savanna climate that borders on a tropical monsoon climate. Together with the rest of the Philippines, Manila lies entirely within the tropics. Its proximity to the equator means that the temperature range is very small, rarely going lower than 20 °C or higher than 38 °C. However, humidity levels are usually very high which makes it feel much warmer. It has a distinct, albeit relatively short dry season from January through April, and a relatively lengthy wet season from May through December.
Countries which do not need visas to enter the Philippines.
The Philippines has one of the world's most liberal visa policies, with citizens from 152 countries and territories being allowed to enter the country without a visa for stays not exceeding 7, 21 or 59 days. In principle, countries which maintain diplomatic relations with the Philippines and whose nationals are not restricted nationals may enter the country without a visa.
Citizens of all countries listed above are allowed to stay in the Philippines for 21 days without a visa, excluding Brazilians and Israelis, who may stay for 59 days. Holders of Hong Kong SAR, British National (Overseas), Macau SAR and Portuguese passports issued in Macau may stay in the Philippines for seven days without a visa.
Need a visa but can't get one? - The Bureau of Immigration has begun implementing the Visa Upon Arrival Program (VUAP), which allows restricted nationals to obtain a Philippine entry visa upon arrival. Visas obtained under the VUAP must be pre-arranged in Manila before arriving.
Are you below 15? - To prevent child trafficking, Philippine law mandates that persons under the age of fifteen who are either arriving unaccompanied or are not accompanied by their parents may be denied entry into the Philippines. It is possible to obtain a "waiver of exclusion ground" (WEG) which grants entry to underage minors, which must also be pre-arranged in Manila before arriving.
Manila is served by two major airports. The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), located nine kilometers south of Manila proper, is the city's principal airport. It is the Philippines' busiest airport and a major Southeast Asian hub, with direct service to 42 international destinations in Asia, Australia, Europe and North America. NAIA also serves as the hub for flights to the rest of the country, serving over 30 towns and cities throughout the archipelago.
Cities with direct air service to Manila.
The airport complex is served by frequent bus and jeepney service to points throughout Metro Manila, and a shuttle service connects all four terminals.
The following table lists the cheapest estimated ticket prices for Manila for one adult, inclusive of taxes, as computed using the ITA Software Trip Planner for bookings made a few months in advance. These are not necessarily the cheapest available ticket prices: several destinations, particularly in Asia, are served by low-cost carriers, and airlines frequently have seat sales which lower ticket prices further. Cities with non-stop service to Manila on low-cost carriers are highlighted in blue.
Prices are based on a November 9-14, 2011 estimate and include taxes and fees.
USD 1,279 (approx. ¥ 118,423 / € 955 / £ 857) Malaysia Airlines 17h40/16h45 Transfer in Kuala Lumpur. There is a cheaper one-stop option on Jetstar Asia Airways, but with a longer layover.
USD 457 (approx. ¥ 42,314 / € 342 / £ 307) China Southern Airlines 5h40 Stops in Xiamen. There are non-stop flights available on other airlines.
USD 696 (approx. ¥ 64,443 / € 520 / £ 467) China Southern Airlines 9h45/11h30 Transfer in Guangzhou. There are non-stop flights available on Philippine Airlines.
USD 560 (approx. ¥ 51,851 / € 419 / £ 376) Gulf Air 15h5/14h55 Transfer in Manama. There are non-stop flights available on Emirates.
USD 417 (approx. ¥ 38,611 / € 312 / £ 280) Philippine Airlines 4h/6h25 Stops in Singapore on the return.
USD 310 (approx. ¥ 28,703 / € 232 / £ 208) Jetstar Asia Airways 11h5/9h5 Transfer in Singapore. There are non-stop flights available on other airlines.
USD 558 (approx. ¥ 51,666 / € 417 / £ 374) China Southern Airlines 7h35/8h35 Transfer in Guangzhou. There are non-stop flights available on other airlines.
USD 1,053 (approx. ¥ 97,498 / € 787 / £ 706) China Southern Airlines 15h40/18h35 Transfer in Guangzhou. There are non-stop flights available on other airlines.
USD 1,346 (approx. ¥ 124,627 / € 1,005 / £ 902) KLM 22h25/20h10 Transfer in Amsterdam.
USD 2,121 (approx. ¥ 196,384 / € 1,584 / £ 1,422) Qatar Airways 29h20/30h30 Transfer in São Paulo and Doha.
USD 947 (approx. ¥ 87,683 / € 708 / £ 635) China Southern Airlines 19h25/22h55 Transfer in Guangzhou. There are non-stop flights available on Philippine Airlines.
USD 1,400 (approx. ¥ 129,626 / € 1,046 / £ 938) Cathay Pacific 27h/22h05 Transfer in Los Angeles and Hong Kong. Outbound to Los Angeles is on Alaska Airlines, while inbound to Mexico City is on Aeroméxico.
USD 1,188 (approx. ¥ 109,997 / € 887 / £ 796) Cathay Pacific 20h35/18h40 Transfer in Hong Kong.
USD 2,253 (approx. ¥ 208,606 / € 1,683 / £ 1,510) British Airways 33h25/38h5 Transfer in London and Hong Kong. Outbound to Manila and inbound to Hong Kong is on Cathay Pacific.
USD 957 (approx. ¥ 88,609 / € 715 / £ 642) China Airlines 17h35/23h40 Transfer in Taipei. There are non-stop flights available on Philippine Airlines.
USD 1,322 (approx. ¥ 122,404 / € 988 / £ 886) Air Canada 20h55/18h10 Transfer in Tokyo. Outbound to Manila and inbound to Tokyo is on All Nippon Airways.
USD 1,147 (approx. ¥ 106,201 / € 857 / £ 769) Korean Air 18h15/14h25 Transfer in Seoul. There are non-stop flights available on Philippine Airlines.
USD 1,399 (approx. ¥ 129,534 / € 1,045 / £ 938) Korean Air 22h20 Transfer in Seoul.
USD 1,169 (approx. ¥ 108,238 / € 873 / £ 784) Qatar Airways 19h30/22h35 Transfer in Munich and Doha. Outbound to Munich and inbound to Amsterdam is on Lufthansa. There are non-stop flights available on KLM.
USD 1,393 (approx. ¥ 128,978 / € 1,041 / £ 934) Qatar Airways 21h10/25h35 Transfer in Doha.
USD 1,124 (approx. ¥ 104,072 / € 840 / £ 754) Qatar Airways 17h20/19h5 Transfer in Doha.
USD 1,163 (approx. ¥ 107,683 / € 869 / £ 780) Emirates 19h Transfer in Dubai.
USD 984 (approx. ¥ 91,109 / € 735 / £ 660) Etihad Airways 22h/16h10 Transfer in Abu Dhabi. Flight departs from Domodedovo International Airport.
USD 1,002 (approx. ¥ 92,776 / € 749 / £ 672) Qatar Airways 21h35/19h10 Transfer in Doha.
USD 1,176 (approx. ¥ 108,886 / € 879 / £ 788) Emirates 18h50/19h25 Transfer in Dubai. There is a cheaper two-stop option on Kuwait Airways for $805, but with a longer layover.
USD 1,476 (approx. ¥ 136,663 / € 1,102 / £ 989) British Airways 19h10/21h Transfer in London and Hong Kong. Outbound to Manila and inbound to Hong Kong is on Cathay Pacific.
USD 630 (approx. ¥ 58,332 / € 471 / £ 423) Saudi Arabian Airlines 20h15/23h Transfer in Riyadh on the outbound, while transfer in Dammam and Jeddah on the inbound. Inbound to Cairo from Jeddah is in business class.
USD 1,151 (approx. ¥ 106,572 / € 860 / £ 772) Qatar Airways 19h40 Transfer in Doha.
USD 1,456 (approx. ¥ 134,812 / € 1,088 / £ 976) Ethiopian Airlines 27h/28h30 Transfer in Addis Ababa and Hong Kong. The flight between Addis Ababa and Hong Kong has a stop in Bangkok. Outbound to Manila and inbound to Hong Kong is on Philippine Airlines.
USD 1,286 (approx. ¥ 119,071 / € 961 / £ 862) Ethiopian Airlines 20h40 Transfer in Addis Ababa and Bangkok. Outbound to Manila and inbound to Bangkok is on Thai Airways.
Manila is also served by the Diosdado Macapagal (Clark) International Airport (DMIA), located 85 kilometers north of Manila in Angeles City, Pampanga. Several low-cost carriers, both local and foreign, currently serve Clark, flying to two domestic and seven international destinations. The airport is connected to Manila by frequent bus service.
Manila is well-served by a large network of buses, jeepneys and share taxis (locally known as "FXs"), as well as four railway lines and a water taxi service plying the Pasig River.
Ordinary buses, which are not air-conditioned. Some routes in the Manila bus network are exclusively served by ordinary buses.
Air-conditioned buses, which are air-conditioned. Most buses are of this type.
Provincial buses, which serve areas outside of Manila. Buses may be ordinary or air-conditioned.
Unlike many cities, bus routes in Manila are not numbered. The route and points along the way however are prominently displayed at the front of the bus, which allows for bus passengers to easily determine which bus to board to a certain destination. Bus conductors also shout the destination of the bus when picking up passengers at bus stations.
Fares are distance-based, with ordinary buses being cheaper than air-conditioned buses by around 20 percent. Fares normally begin at ₱10 for air-conditioned buses and there are discounts for students and senior citizens.
Manila is served by the Strong Republic Transit System (SRTS), which is composed of four railway lines operated by three companies. Three lines are rapid transit lines, which are mostly elevated, while one is a commuter rail line operated by the Philippine National Railways (PNR), which is at grade.
The Manila Light Rail Transit System (LRT) is notable for being Southeast Asia's first rapid transit system, and along with the Manila Metro Rail Transit System (MRT), the three rapid transit lines serve as a fast way of navigating around the metropolis. The PNR's Commuter Express (Commex) service meanwhile connects Manila with communities in southern Metro Manila and the neighboring province of Laguna. Overall, the SRTS provides coverage to 12 of Metro Manila's 17 constituent cities and municipalities, with close proximity to many major sites and attractions.
Fares on the SRTS are distance-based, with the minimum fare being ₱10 for the MRT and the PNR, and ₱12 for the LRT. The LRT and MRT are reputed for being the most affordable rapid transit systems in Southeast Asia, being significantly cheaper to ride than other systems in the region. For the convenience of passengers, stored value tickets which allow for multiple rides are available for ₱100, while the Flash Pass is available for ₱250 and allows for unlimited rides and transfers on the LRT and MRT for one week.
City taxis charge a ₱40 flag fare for the first 500 meters and ₱3.50 for every 300 meters thereafter. Airport taxis meanwhile charge a ₱70 flag fare for the first two kilometers and ₱4 for every 250 meters thereafter. Almost all taxis in Metro Manila are air-conditioned, and since 2011, all taxis are capable of issuing receipts.
At the airport, coupon taxis are available for hire. These are special taxis which charge a distance-based flat fare to any point in a given city in Metro Manila, as well as to points within Luzon. These taxis are more expensive than ordinary metered taxis, but are convenient for large groups of people who prefer to travel together, or for those with heavy articles such as suitcases. The Manila International Airport Authority maintains a list of coupon taxi rates on its website.
Wikimedia Philippines' Second Annual Convention at the Asian Institute of Management.
Manila is home to most Filipino Wikimedians resident in the Philippines, and the Philippine Wikimedia community at large has traditionally been centered in Manila. Wikimedians in Manila have organized several meetups, participated in free culture events over the last ten years and, starting September 2006, led efforts to establish a Wikimedia chapter in the Philippines: in April 2010, Wikimedia Philippines was established as the second Wikimedia chapter in Southeast Asia, and several Wikimedians in Manila actively participate in the activities of the chapter. Wikimedia Philippines officially meets five times a year, while community meetups are scattered throughout the rest of the year.
In the last two years, Wikimedia Philippines has organized several projects with a particular emphasis on promotion and development of Wikimedia content in the Philippines, particularly in local languages. Informal issue fora such as the Wikipedia Kapihan and the Wikimedia Tambayan Talk have reached out to like-minded organizations and government agencies, allowing for coordination on the possible future path of development for Wikimedia content in the Philippines. Contests such as the highly successful Wikipedia Takes Manila and future events based on this model will hopefully challenge traditional stereotypes on contributing to the Wikimedia projects and allow for Filipinos to recognize alternatives to article-writing on the Wikimedia projects. Finally, the WMPH annual convention allows us not only to reach out to ordinary Filipinos, but also to develop our skills in organizing major conferences, something which is important in organizing a successful Wikimania.
NOTE: Proceeding with a Manila bid for Wikimania 2013 is currently being studied by Wikimedia Philippines, and this bid has not yet been officially endorsed by the chapter.
The official currency of the Philippines is the Philippine peso (ISO 4217: PHP, Filipino: piso), which is divided into 100 centavos (Filipino: sentimo). Prices in pesos are noted with the Philippine peso sign (₱), an uppercase P with two horizontal strokes, although a simple uppercase P is also in common use.
The Philippines has over 10,000 ATMs belonging to three main interbank networks: BancNet, Expressnet and MegaLink. Almost all ATMs in the Philippines which belong to these three networks are also connected to Cirrus and PLUS, while a growing number of ATMs also accept American Express, JCB and China UnionPay cards. While credit and debit cards are widely accepted in Manila, travelers' checks are not and only a handful of money changers, plus the American Express office in Manila and some of the larger banks, accept them.
Money changers are commonplace in Manila and are found all over the city, especially in tourist areas, and most large banks can exchange foreign currency into pesos. All legally-operating money changers are licensed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the Philippines). Terminal 1 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, for example, has eleven banks (four at departures, seven at arrivals) which can exchange foreign currency into Philippine pesos, and all malls in Metro Manila have at least one money changer or bank which exchanges foreign currency into pesos. As is the case with most of Asia, the U.S. dollar is the most popular foreign currency in the Philippines, although it is possible to exchange euros, pounds sterling, Australian dollars, Canadian dollars and Japanese yen with ease as well. Major Southeast Asian, East Asian and Middle Eastern currencies may also be exchanged in Manila.
The cost of living in Manila, and the Philippines in general, is one of the lowest in the world: the 2009 Economist Intelligence Unit Worldwide Cost of Living rankings places Manila in 126th place out of 134 cities, making it the eighth-cheapest city in the world to live in for expatriates. The website Living in the Philippines has an entire section dedicated to cost of living in various parts of the Philippines, including a particularly detailed article on the cost of living (as of 2009) in Manila.
Weather: The Philippines sit astride the typhoon belt, and the country suffers an annual onslaught of dangerous storms from July through October.
Manila rarely gets directly hit by typhoons (the last direct hit was with Typhoon Xangsane (Milenyo) in 2006), and there are days during typhoon season where there is no rain at all. Conferences have been hosted before in Manila during typhoon season, and Wikimania 2007 was also held during this time. The conference will be planned with the weather in mind: this includes hosting Wikimania in venues which are less prone to flooding, coordinating with the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) before the conference to confirm whether or not Wikimania will be affected by rainy weather, and the development of contingencies should events have to be canceled or moved because of the rain.
Manila is no less safe than most other major cities, and in particular other cities in Asia. Incidents such as the Manila hostage crisis are a rare occurrence: overall tourist arrivals were not significantly affected by the incident despite an expected drop in tourist arrivals from Hong Kong, and it has been remarked that the incident can happen anywhere in the world, not just in Manila. The travel warnings issued by major countries (the U.S., U.K., Canada, Japan, France and Australia) in fact only advise against all travel for their nationals to the southern island of Mindanao, almost 1000 kilometers south of Manila and the main island of Luzon, and merely advise their nationals to exercise caution while in Metro Manila.
Open borders. Very few if any Wikimedians would be prevented from attending an event in Manila due to visa or similar problems.
Globalism. Manila is a longhaul flight away from any of the previous five venues, and is closer to many active wikimedia communities than those previous five venues.
↑ "World's Densest Cities". Forbes Magazine. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
↑ "World: metropolitan areas". World Gazetteer. Retrieved 2010-01-22.
This page was last edited on 12 October 2016, at 00:14. |
0.989266 | Article by: www.crossfit.com, please visit to read full article.
Stop by and visit us during our open hours to see the space and discuss your fitness goals with a member of our team, give us a call, or check out an elements class.
Elements is our three-week program which teaches the fundamentals of CrossFit. Whether you are just starting CrossFit or need a refresher, our smaller classes allow our coaches a more hands-on environment to teach and emphasize on proper form and technique. Each class is an hour long and begins with instruction on the basics, ending with a workout that will push your limits and prepare you for the WODs that are ahead. At the end of elements, you will progress with new skills and confidence as you enter our CrossFit classes.
Each of our classes is one hour long and includes a warm-up, mobility work, and the day’s WOD. We highly encourage members to dedicate a little extra time to do additional mobility work and cool down.
What does WOD stand for?
“WOD” stands for “workout of the day.” Each day a new WOD is posted to Wodify and our website under the News & WOD tab. The original CrossFit program is characterized by three days of work before one day of rest, though athletes may alter this pattern. The WOD can be scaled (adjusted) to provide a suitable challenge for athletes at any level.
What if I can't do the Workout as prescribed?
At the beginning of each class, our coaches will go over the scaled options for each workout. Safety is our number one concern, therefore all of our coaches are well trained in scaling movements that will keep you safe and also get you closer to your fitness goals. |
0.999994 | software which is specifically designed to disrupt, damage, or gain authorized access to a computer system.
How do you rid a computer of Malware?
The way to rid a computer of malware is to download a trusted antivirus software.
a piece of code which is capable of copying itself and typically has a detrimental effect, such as corrupting the system or destroying data.
Pretexting is a form of social engineering in which an individual lies to obtain privileged data. |
0.935754 | Haiti, Haitian Creole: Ayiti), officially the Republic of Haiti (République d'Haïti ; Repiblik Ayiti), is a Creole- and French-speaking Caribbean country. Along with the Dominican Republic, it occupies the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago. Ayiti (Land on high) was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the mountainous western side of the island. The country's highest point is Pic la Selle, at 2,680 metres (8,793 ft). The total area of Haiti is 27,750 square kilometres (10,714 sq mi) and its capital is Port-au-Prince.
Haiti's regional, historical, and ethnolinguistic position is unique for several reasons. It was the first independent nation in Latin America, the first post-colonial independent black-led nation in the world, and the only nation whose independence was gained as part of a successful slave rebellion. Haiti is the only predominantly Francophone independent nation in the Americas, and one of only two (along with Canada) which designate French as an official language; the other French-speaking countries are all overseas départements or collectivités of France.
The island of Hispaniola, of which Haiti occupies the western third, was originally inhabited by the Taíno Arawaks, a seafaring branch of the South American Arawaks. Christopher Columbus landed at Môle Saint-Nicolas on 5 December 1492, and claimed the island for Spain. Nineteen days later, his ship the Santa María ran aground near the present site of Cap-Haitien; Columbus was forced to leave 39 men, founding the settlement of La Navidad. Ayiti, which means "mountainous land", is a name used by the Taíno-Arawak people, who also called some sections of it Bohio, meaning "rich villages". Kiskeya is yet a third term that has been attributed to the Taínos for the island.
The Taíno population on Hispaniola was divided through a system of established cacicazgos (chiefdoms), named Marien, Maguana, Higuey, Magua and Xaragua, which could be further subdivided. The cacicazgos (later called caciques in French) were tributary kingdoms, with payment consisting of food grown by the Taíno. Taino cultural artifacts include cave paintings in several locations in the nation, which have become national symbols of Haiti and tourist attractions. Modern-day Léogane, a town in the southwest, is at the epicenter of what was the chiefdom of Xaragua.
Following the destruction of La Navidad by the Amerindians, Columbus moved to the eastern side of the island and established La Isabela. One of the earliest leaders to fight off Spanish conquest was Queen Anacaona, a Taíno princess from Xaragua who married Chief Caonabo, a Taíno king (cacique) from Maguana. The two resisted European rule but to no avail; she was captured by the Spanish and executed in front of her people. To this day, Anacaona is revered in Haiti as one of the country's first founders, preceding the likes of founding fathers such as Toussaint Louverture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines.
The Spaniards exploited the island for its gold, mined chiefly by local Amerindians directed by the Spanish occupiers. Those refusing to work in the mines were slaughtered or forced into slavery. Europeans brought chronic infectious diseases with them that were new to the Caribbean. Diseases were the most powerful of the elements because the Taíno had no natural immunity, but ill treatment, malnutrition and a drastic drop of the birthrate also contributed to decimation of the indigenous population.
The Spanish governors began importing enslaved Africans for labor. In 1517, Charles V, authorized the draft of slaves. The Taínos became virtually extinct on the island of Hispaniola. Some who evaded capture fled to the mountains and established independent settlements. These survivors mixed with escaped African slaves (runaways called maroons) and produced a multiracial generation called zambos. French settlers later called people of mixed African and Amerindian ancestry marabou. The mestizo increased in number from children born to relationships between native women and European men. Others were born as a result of unions between African women and European men, who were called mulâtre in French.
The western part of Hispaniola soon was settled by French buccaneers. Among them, Bertrand D'Ogeron succeeded in growing tobacco, which prompted many of the numerous buccaneers and freebooters to turn into settlers. This population did not submit to Spanish royal authority until the year 1660 and caused a number of conflicts.
The French government changed and the legislature began to rethink its decisions on slavery in the colonies. After Toussaint L'Ouverture created a separatist constitution, Napoleon Bonaparte sent an expedition of 30,000 men under the command of his brother-in-law, General Charles Leclerc, to retake the island. Leclerc's mission was to oust Louverture and restore slavery. The French achieved some victories. Leclerc invited Toussaint Louverture to a parley, kidnapped him and sent him to France, where he was imprisoned at Fort de Joux. He died there in 1803 of exposure and tuberculosis or malnutrition and pneumonia.
Dessalines was proclaimed Emperor for life by his troops. He exiled the remaining whites and ruled as a despot. He was assassinated on 17 October 1806. The country was divided then between a kingdom in the north directed by Henri Christophe, and a republic in the south directed by a gens de couleur Alexandre Pétion. Henri Christophe is best known for constructing the Citadelle Laferriere, the largest fortress in the Western Hemisphere, to defend the island against the French. President Jean Pierre Boyer, also a gens de couleur, managed to reunify the two halves and extend control again over the western part of the island.
A long succession of coups followed the departure of Jean-Pierre Boyer. National authority was disputed by factions of the army, the elite class and the growing commercial class, now made up of numerous immigrants: Germans, Americans, French and English.
Haiti is situated on the western part of Hispaniola, the second largest island in the Greater Antilles. Haiti is the third largest country in the Caribbean behind Cuba and the Dominican Republic (the latter shares a 360 kilometer (224 mi) border with Haiti). Haiti at its closest point is only about 45 nautical miles (50 mi; 80 km) away from Cuba and boasts the second longest coastline (1,771 km/1,100 mi) of any country in the Antilles, Cuba having the longest. Haiti's terrain consists mainly of rugged mountains interspersed with small coastal plains and river valleys.
The northern region consists of the Massif du Nord (Northern Massif) and the Plaine du Nord (Northern Plain). The Massif du Nord is an extension of the Cordillera Central in the Dominican Republic. It begins at Haiti's eastern border, north of the Guayamouc River, and extends to the northwest through the northern peninsula. The lowlands of the Plaine du Nord lie along the northern border with the Dominican Republic, between the Massif du Nord and the North Atlantic Ocean. The central region consists of two plains and two sets of mountain ranges. The Plateau Central (Central Plateau) extends along both sides of the Guayamouc River, south of the Massif du Nord. It runs from the southeast to the northwest. To the southwest of the Plateau Central are the Montagnes Noires, whose most northwestern part merges with the Massif du Nord.
The southern region consists of the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac (the southeast) and the mountainous southern peninsula (also known as the Tiburon Peninsula). The Plaine du Cul-de-Sac is a natural depression which harbors the country's saline lakes, such as Trou Caïman and Haiti's largest lake Lac Azuei. The Chaîne de la Selle mountain range, an extension of the southern mountain chain of the Dominican Republic (the Sierra de Baoruco), extends from the Massif de la Selle in the east to the Massif de la Hotte in the west. This mountain range harbors Pic la Selle, the highest point in Haiti at 2,680 metres (8,793 ft).
The country's most important valley in terms of crops is the Plaine de l'Artibonite, which is oriented south of the Montagnes Noires. This region supports the country's (also Hispaniola's) longest river, the Riviere l'Artibonite which begins in the western region of the Dominican Republic and continues most of its length through central Haiti and onward where it empties into the Golfe de la Gonâve. The eastern and central region of the island is a large elevated plateau. Haiti also includes various offshore islands. The historically famous island of Tortuga (Île de la Tortue) is located off the coast of northern Haiti. The arrondissement of La Gonâve is located on the island of the same name, in the Golfe de la Gonâve. Gonave Island is moderately populated by rural villagers. Île à Vache (Island of Cows) is located off the tip of southwestern Haiti. It is a lush island with many beautiful sights. Also part of Haiti are the Cayemites and Ile de Anacaona.
Haiti has remained the least-developed country in the Americas. It is an impoverished country, one of the world's poorest and least developed. Comparative social and economic indicators show Haiti falling behind other low-income developing countries (particularly in the hemisphere) since the 1980s. Haiti now ranks 146th of 177 countries in the United Nations Human Development Index (2006). About 80% of the population were estimated to be living in poverty in 2003. Haiti is the only country in the Americas on the United Nations list of Least Developed Countries. Economic growth was negative in 2001 and 2002, and flat in 2003.
About 66% of all Haitians work in the agricultural sector, which consists mainly of small-scale subsistence farming, but this activity makes up only 30% of the GDP. The country has experienced little formal job creation over the past decade, although the informal economy is growing. Mangoes and coffee are two of Haiti's most important exports. It has consistently ranked among the most corrupt countries in the world on the Corruption Perceptions Index.
Foreign aid makes up approximately 30%-40% of the national government's budget. The largest donor is the United States followed by Canada, and the European Union also contributes. Venezuela and Cuba also make various contributions to Haiti's economy, especially after alliances were renewed in 2006 and 2007.
U.S. aid to the Haitian government was completely cut off in 2001-2004 after the 2000 election was disputed and President Aristide was accused of various misdeeds. After Aristide's departure in 2004, aid was restored, and the Brazilian army led the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti peacekeeping operation.
Haiti is expected to receive debt forgiveness for about $525 million of its debt through the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative by mid-2009.
One of Haiti's two official languages is French, which is the principal written, spoken in schools and administratively authorized language. It is spoken by most educated Haitians and used in the business sector. The second is the recently standardized Haitian Creole, spoken by virtually the entire population of Haiti. Nearly all Haitians speak this French-based creole language that harbors significant African influence, as well as influence from Spanish, and Taíno. Residents near the border with the Dominican Republic have often learned enough Spanish for conversational speaking. Due to its ties to the United States, English has also become an important tool in the business sector.
Haiti has a long and storied history and therefore retains a very rich culture. Haitian culture is a mixture of primarily French, African elements, and native Taíno, with some lesser influence from the colonial Spanish. The country's customs essentially are a blend of cultural beliefs that derived from the various ethnic groups that inhabited the island of Hispaniola. In nearly all aspects of modern Haitian society however, the European and African element dominate. Haiti is world famous for its distinctive art, notably painting and sculpture.
A rival flag of vertical black and red panels was used at various times, most recently in the period from May 25, 1964 to February 25, 1986, during the family dictatorship of François and Jean-Claude Duvalier.
Getting married in the Caribbean Island of Haiti is very easy and simple for you to have the wedding of your dreams.
1. Notarized copies of Divorced Decree if divorced or Notarized copies of Death Certificates.
2. Birth certificate of each party that is getting married.
the numerous of activities will sure to keep you busy during your vacations to this country.
The most common activities will be sightseeing; next you can take a visit the mountains, parks, lakes, valleys and beaches founding Haiti.
The Island is known for its varied natural beauty and picturesque landscapes which are a real treat for the eyes. apart from these, you can pay a visit to the numerous historical sights of the country to get an idea about the country's history and turbulent past.
Tourists can go for numerous land and outdoor activities and water based activities when on a holiday in Haiti. Some of the popular water sports that one can go for include snorkeling, scuba diving, swimming, sailing, yachting and surfing, the tourist can play beach volleyball or simply sun bathe under the shades of the palm trees.
There are numerous adventure sports also that one can go for. You can go for trekking, hiking, rock climbing, forest exploration, zipline, camping and other activities. All these activities will surely make your vacations a thrilling experience.
Food is an important itinerary of any vacation and hence forms part of the numerous Haiti things to do. There are a large number of restaurants and cafes, like Café Cubano, where one can get to taste mouth-watering gourmet delights and exotic drinks. Tourist can also pay a visit to the bars and casinos of the country. Haiti is home to a number of casinos like Casino El rancho and Casino Choucoune, where the tourist can try there luck at the slot machine or play roulette.
Shopping is another major activity that one can embark upon in Haiti. Petionville in Port-au-Prince is a major shopping destination of the country. One can buy gift items, souvenirs, handicrafts and other items from these shops. Cultural tours are another recreation option available at the disposal of the tourists. One can check out the museums and cultural institutions of the country to get a taste of its rich culture. You can also interact with the local people and learn about their traditions and customs. Apart from these, one can also go for boating in then lakes found in Haiti or check out the wildlife in the forest reserves of the country. |
0.925925 | What is my account balance?
How many subscriptions are on my account?
To add credit to your Arken Account you first need to check your account balance.
1. Click on the 'Account' option in the right-hand Navigation bar.
2. You will see the Account Management screen click on the 'Document Account Balance' Tab.
3. On the 'Document Account Balance' screen select the amount of credit you wish to purchase.
4. Select a Card to take payment from and click 'add'.
5. If everything goes well you'll receive a confirmation and the amount will be added to your balance. |
0.999729 | Enhance your vibe with some Aquamarine Tumbled Stones.
Aquamarine tends to evoke the purity of crystalline waters, and the exhilaration and relaxation of being by or on the sea. It is soothing, calming, cleansing, and inspires truth, trust and letting go. In old lore, the stone was believed to be the treasure of mermaids, and was used by sailors as a talisman of good luck, fearlessness and protection. It was also considered a stone of eternal happiness and youth. It is said to protects all who travel by, over, or near water, and opens the channels of clear and heartfelt communication. Aquamarine embodies all things connected to the sea, as well as those things relating to Heaven reflected on the surface of the water. It becomes a mirror, reflecting itself indefinitely, making it possible to discover hidden meanings of reality. As a stone of symmetries, it is great for meditation and revelation, a stone of the prophets, shamans, healers, and mystics. It also allows us to explore the darkest depths of our souls, face to face with ourselves, and with others.
* Having been made by nature, each stone will vary in shape, color, and size. |
0.979425 | ministers), and like unfailing witnesses and anointers (i.
The anointers of the latter, like Teicher, will always convince themselves that somehow their determinations are objective.
286-287): "I have shown you who and what my uncle Yeshu really was, and what the infidel Anointers have turned him into in the ninety-one years since his death" (the long quote below explains the use of "Anointers" instead of "Christians").
Similarly, La colonna infame, the work that accompanied the 1842 edition of I promessi sposi (a damning account of the shoddy administration of justice in Lombardy under Spanish rule) is said to be "a historical tract" dealing with "the trial of the anointers, the men whom the populace believed involved in a conspiracy to poison Milan with the plague" (4).
Besides reporting popular reactions to the contagion, the memoir chronicles the central drama of Alessandro Manzoni's version of the epidemic in I Promessi sposi: the popular belief that untori, or plague anointers, were responsible for spreading the disease by means of unguents which they wiped on houses, city walls, and church pews.
Who anointed the anointers who edit the magazines chattering to their own class? |
0.992562 | Understand your tongue pain symptoms, including 7 causes & common questions.
Tongue pain is commonly caused by lesions to the tongue, which can be due to infectious or a variety of non-infectious causes. Commonly, tongue pain symptoms are due to a viral infection or a non-infectious sore. Rarely, tongue pain is due to cancer or a serious allergic or hypersensitivity reaction. Some systemic medical disorders cause tongue pain without noticeable lesions on the tongue, including some autoimmune conditions or nutritional deficiencies. White coating, red blisters, or shallow ulcers on the tongue can all be associated with tongue pain. Some causes of tongue pain can be treated at home, but many of the infectious and systemic causes of tongue pain should be evaluated by a doctor.
There are a variety of infections, mostly viral or fungal, that can cause painful lesions to the tongue. Some of these infectious agents are sexually transmitted, but others are not. Canker sores are a common, noninfectious cause of painful tongue lesions. Trauma or burns to the mouth are other common causes of tongue pain. Additionally, some systemic medical issues like nutritional deficiency, autoimmune disorders, or genetic syndromes can cause tongue pain symptoms. The most dangerous cause of tongue pain is a drug hypersensitivity reaction that usually involves a rash with swelling to the lips and tongue.
Infectious causes may be to blame for your tongue pain.
Viral infections: Many viruses including herpes, chicken pox, and HIV can cause painful lesions to the tongue and the inside of the mouth. These viruses are common, and some can be passed from person to person.
Fungal infections: Fungal infection in the mouth is common, particularly in young children, elderly patients that wear dentures, and anyone with a compromised immune system. Typically, fungal infection is not passed from person to person.
Sexually transmitted tnfections: Painful lesions in the mouth can be a sign of some sexually transmitted infections, including HIV and syphilis.
Non-infectious causes may also cause tongue pain.
Burn: Eating or drinking something hot can cause a painful burn to the tongue or inside of the mouth.
Trauma: Any trauma to the mouth or biting the tongue can cause pain. Patients with braces or dentures may experience pain due to friction from the device.
Canker sore: Canker sores are round, shallow ulcers on the tongue and inside of the lips that can be very painful. These are not infectious and cannot be passed between people.
Cancerous or precancerous lesions: Cancer to the tongue and mouth can cause painful lesions. Smoking or chewing tobacco and drinking alcohol greatly increase the risk of some types of oral cancer.
Other medical causes may result in tongue pain, such as the following.
Nutritional deficiency: Some nutritional deficiencies can change the appearance and texture of the tongue, which may be accompanied by pain. Typically, nutritional deficiencies will have additional symptoms like fatigue, numbness or tingling in the limbs, or personality or mood changes.
Autoimmune disease: Painful lesions on the tongue can be a symptom of several autoimmune conditions (conditions in which the immune system attacks the body).
Genetic syndromes: Some inherited syndromes like Bechet's syndrome are characterized by recurrent painful oral lesions.
Hypersensitivity or allergic reactions: Reactions to medications, food, or other allergens can cause swelling or painful rash that involve the lips, tongue, and inside of the mouth. Some of these reactions can be life-threatening.
The list below shows results from the use of our quiz by Buoy users who experienced tongue pain. This list does not constitute medical advice and may not accurately represent what you have.
Some causes of tongue pain symptoms will resolve on their own and can be managed at home. However, many infectious and systemic causes of tongue pain should be evaluated by a doctor for further workup and appropriate treatment. Anyone with significant swelling to the lips or tongue should seek immediate medical attention, as serious hypersensitivity and allergic reactions can be life threatening.
You can try the following remedies at home for your tongue pain symptoms.
Watching and waiting: In the event of minor trauma, burning, or biting the tongue may just need time to heal. The cells of the tongue turn over very quickly, so this usually only takes a day or two.
Pain relief: Over-the-counter gels that you place on the tongue can provide relief from pain.
Salt water rinse: Salt water rinse can provide pain relief and aid in healing when canker sores are the cause of tongue pain.
If your tongue pain persists despite home remedies, you should consult your physician. He or she may recommend the following.
Topical gels: Some causes of tongue pain, particularly those associated with fungal or non-infectious lesions, can be treated with topical medications. Additionally, topical numbing agents can be used to relieve pain.
Antiviral medication: Many viruses that cause painful tongue lesions are treated with antiviral medications.
Steroids: Some inflammatory causes of tongue pain are treated with steroids.
Blood testing: If a doctor suspects nutritional deficiency or autoimmune disorder as the cause of tongue pain, they may suggest blood tests to help determine the cause.
Biopsy: If a doctor is worried the tongue pain might be from a cancerous or precancerous lesion, they may suggest a biopsy. A biopsy is when a small piece of the lesion is removed and examined to determine if it is cancerous.
Here are some frequently asked questions about tongue pain.
Can allergies cause tongue pain?
There are many different causes of tongue pain, including infections, canker sores, trauma or burns, and systemic medical illness. Some allergic and hypersensitivity reactions can cause swelling to the lips and tongue that may be accompanied by tongue pain. Any significant swelling to the tongue or lips requires emergency medical attention, as allergic and hypersensitivity reactions can be life threatening.
Is tongue pain a symptom of STDs?
Tongue pain with or without blisters or ulcers on the tongue can be due to a variety of infectious and non-infectious causes. Possible infectious causes of tongue pain include viruses like herpes or chickenpox, as well as fungal infections like candida. Some sexually transmitted infectious can cause painful lesions to the tongue and inside of the mouth, including HIV and syphilis.
Why does my tongue feel like it's burnt?
While burns or trauma to the tongue can cause tongue pain, there are many other possible causes of a painful or burning sensation on the tongue. There are multiple infectious and noninfectious causes of painful lesions to the tongue, including canker sores, viral infections, and fungal infections. Often, lesions caused by the herpes virus or chicken pox virus cause a sensation in the tongue that is similar to a burn. Additionally, some medical conditions like autoimmune diseases or nutritional deficiencies can lead to tongue pain.
What are these blisters on my tongue?
There are multiple non-infectious and infectious causes of tongue lesions. Some infectious causes including viruses like chicken pox or herpes, and other and sexually transmitted infections. All of these infections have the ability to cause blisters, lesions, or sores on the tongue. Some non-infectious causes of tongue lesions include canker sores or malignant or premalignant lesions.
Can a sore throat give you a sore tongue?
Some infections, particularly viral infections, can cause painful lesions in the throat and the rest of the oral cavity, including the tongue. However, there are multiple infectious and noninfectious causes of sore tongue that should be considered. Canker sores, fungal infections, or medical conditions like autoimmune diseases or nutritional deficiencies can lead to tongue pain.
Does your breath smell worse than usual? |
0.961797 | In Greek mythology, Elysium (Greek: Ἠλύσια πεδία) was a section of the Underworld (the spelling Elysium is a Latinization of the Greek word Elysion). The Elysian Fields, or the Elysian Plains, were the final resting place of the souls of the heroic and the virtuous.
Elysium is an obscure name that evolved from a designation of a place or person struck by lightning, enelysion, enelysios. This could be a reference to Zeus, the god of lightning, so "lightning-struck" could be saying that the person was blessed (struck) by Zeus (lightning). Scholars have also suggested that Greek Elysion may have instead been derived from the Egyptian term ialu (older iaru), meaning "reeds," with specific reference to the "Reed Fields" (Egyptian: sekhet iaru / ialu), a paradisaical land of plenty where the dead hoped to spend eternity.
Elysium is thus clearly equivalent to the Summerland.
Other authors claim that Kronos remained in Tartarus for all eternity, and the judge was another, sometimes Rhadamanthys.
Two Homeric passages in particular established for Greeks the nature of the Afterlife: the dreamed apparition of the dead Patroclus in the Iliad and the more daring boundary-breaking visit in Book 11 of the Odyssey. Greek traditions concerning funerary ritual were reticent, but the Homeric examples encouraged other heroic visits, in the myth cycles centered around Theseus and Heracles.
Hesiod refers to the Isles of the Blessed (makarôn nêsoi) in the Western Ocean (Works and Days). Walter Burkert notes the connection with the motif of far-off Dilmun: "Thus Achilles is transported to the White Isle, which may refer to Mount Teide on Tenerife, whose volcano is often snowcapped and as the island was sometimes called the white isle by explorers, and becomes the Ruler of the Black Sea, and Diomedes becomes the divine lord of an Adriatic island."
In Elysium where fields of the pale liliaceous asphodel, and poplars grew, there stood the gates that led to the house of Ais (in Attic dialect "Hades").
In Virgil's Aeneid, Aeneas, like Heracles and Odysseus before him, travels to the underworld. Virgil describes an encounter in Elysium between Aeneas and his father Anchises. Virgil's Elysium knows perpetual spring and shady groves, with its own sun and lit by its own stars: solemque suum, sua sidera norunt (Aeneid, 6.541). |
0.993281 | The cosmic microwave background (CMB) is often cited as definitive proof of the big bang. Discovered in the 1960s by Penzias and Wilson, it has since been used to understand the evolution of the cosmos, aspects of dark matter and dark energy, and might even tell us about early cosmic inflation. But the big bang wasn’t invented to explain the CMB, rather the CMB was a prediction made twenty years before its discovery.
The first proposal for a “big bang” model is typically attributed to a 1931 paper by Georges Lemaître. Based on the properties of general relativity, Lemaître argued that the universe must have began as a “primeval atom.” The idea didn’t attract much attention because the “static universe” was the dominant model at the time. When Edwin Hubble demonstrated a correlation between a galaxy’s distance and its redshift, it became clear that the universe was expanding. At that point Lemaître’s idea gained attention. Still, there was opposition to the idea, mainly because it was seen as extending the evidence too far. After all, if we watch bread dough rise it is clear that the dough is expanding, but to conclude from this that bread begins as an ultra-dense “primeval flour” is ridiculous.
Then in 1948 Ralph Alpher, and Robert Herman published a paper predicting a consequence of the big bang model. The paper was actually focused on the relative abundance of elements in the universe, but it noted that if the universe began hot and dense as the big bang model claimed, then there must be a thermal remnant. That is, the universe must be bathed in thermal microwaves from the big bang, and the spectrum of that background must match that of a blackbody. In the paper they estimate the temperature of that background to be about 5 Kelvin.
Twenty years later, it was found that the universe is indeed bathed in a microwave background, with an almost perfect blackbody spectrum at a temperature of about 3 Kelvin.
Paper: Alpher, R. A.; Herman, R. C. On the Relative Abundance of the Elements. Physical Review 74 (12): 1737–1742 (1948).
Thanks for acknowledging my father’s contribution, Henry. It is very much appreciated. Fortunately, his contribution is also very much celebrated here in Victoria at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory where he worked, especially this year, 2018, which is the centenary of ‘First Light’ for the Plaskett 72-inch telescope!
Faulty discarded models are faulty and discarded for a reason. Sure, when seen in isolation by a layman, it seems to make sense. But science and scientific testing are all interconnected, so a model that seems sensible in isolation often does not hold up under the cross-barrage of testing from different directions. The Big Bang model held up under different angles of testing and prediction-matching, not because scientists just prefer it to be true. |
0.951966 | Dame Valerie Kasanita Adams DNZM (formerly Vili; born 6 October 1984) is a New Zealand shot putter. She is a four-time World champion, four-time World Indoor champion, two-time Olympic, three-time Commonwealth Games champion and twice IAAF Continental Cup winner. She has a personal best throw of 21.24 metres outdoors and 20.54 m indoors. These marks are Oceanian, Commonwealth and New Zealand national records. She also holds the Oceanian junior record (18.93 m) and the Oceanian youth record (17.54 m), as well as the World Championships record, World Indoor Championships record and Commonwealth Games record.
Adams was the third woman to win world championships at the youth, junior, and senior level of an athletics event, following the feats of Yelena Isinbayeva and Jana Pittman. She was the first woman to win four consecutive individual titles at the IAAF World Championships. Adams had a winning streak that extended to 56 wins at elite-level competitions, which started in August 2010 and ended in July 2015. (This streak may increase to 95, depending on the results of a doping ban against Nadzeya Ostapchuk, who was the sole challenger to Vili during this period.) She was the IAAF World Athlete of the Year in 2014 and the Track & Field News Athlete of the Year in 2012 and 2013. She had the longest shot put performance of the season every year from 2006 to 2014, bar 2008 when she was second to Natallia Mikhnevich (later banned for doping that year).
Adams won silver medals at the 2016 Summer Olympics, 2005 World Championships in Athletics, and the Commonwealth Games in 2002 and 2018. She was also a bronze medallist at the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships. While still a teenager, Adams was a finalist at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics and the 2004 Summer Olympics.
At national level, she has won fifteen shot put titles at the New Zealand Athletics Championships between 2001 and 2018, as well as having a hammer throw national title in 2003. Adams also won four times at the Australian Athletics Championships between 2004 and 2008. From 2006 to 2012 she was chosen as the New Zealand Sportswoman of the Year seven times consecutively and has been awarded the Lonsdale Cup on five occasions in recognition as the leading national athlete in an Olympic sport.
In 1998 Adams met former javelin thrower Kirsten Hellier, who would become her coach for the next 11 years. Adams first came to prominence when winning the World Youth Championships in 2001, with a throw of 16.87 m. She followed this up in 2002 by becoming World Junior champion, throwing 17.73 m, and had her first taste of senior success winning a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games with 17.45 m.
She finished fifth at the 2003 World Championships at eighteen years of age. At her first Olympics in 2004, Adams finished seventh (after two athletes' subsequent disqualification), while still recovering from an appendectomy she had just weeks before the competition.
The following year, Adams earned a place in the international elite, winning the bronze medal at the World Championships with a personal best throw of 19.87 m, The winner was Nadzeya Ostapchuk, but in 2013 the IAAF revealed that Ostapchuk's drug test sample from that event had been retested and found to be positive. Adams originally finished second at the World Athletics Final in 2005, but was promoted to gold after Ostapchuk's results were annulled. At the 2006 Commonwealth Games the 1.93 m-tall athlete won the gold medal, breaking the 20-year-old Commonwealth Games record of 19.00 m with a throw of 19.66 m.
In 2007, Adams went to the Osaka World Championships as a favourite to take a medal due to her being one of only three women to throw over 20 m before the championships. In qualifying, Adams led the field with a throw of 19.45 m. Adams held second place behind Nadzeya Ostapchuk throughout the final, but responded well in the last round with a mammoth throw and Commonwealth record of 20.54 m to take the gold. This made Adams one of few female athletes ever to take IAAF World Titles at youth, junior and senior level.
In 2008 Adams broke the Oceania record in winning her first World Indoor Title in Valencia (20.19 m). At the Beijing Olympics, she qualified for the final with the longest distance thrown, 19.73 meters, on her first attempt. She won the gold with a throw of 20.56 m, a personal best, beating Belarusian thrower Natallia Mikhnevich. It was the first Olympic gold medal in track and field for New Zealand since John Walker won the 1500 meter race in 1976. She also won the New Zealand Sports Award of the year in 2008.
At the 2009 Grande Prêmio Rio in Brazil Adams won the competition with a new personal best and Oceanian area record of 20.69 m. The throw was also the world leading distance for the event. In August, Adams won at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin with a throw of 20.44 meters, ahead of the German Nadine Kleinert and Gong Lijiao of China.
At the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships Adams was defeated by Nadzeya Ostapchuk by a large margin, in spite of the New Zealander setting a continental record of 20.49 m. Adams announced on 28 March 2010 that she would no longer be coached by Kirsten Hellier after an 11-year partnership. In April 2010 she announced her new coach was Didier Poppe.
Adams was consistently beaten by Nadzeya Ostapchuk in the big meetings that season. She set a meeting record and season's best of 20.37 m at the Athletics Bridge meet in Slovakia, later saying that a change in her technique that April had begun to pay dividends.
Later that season she won at the 2010 IAAF Continental Cup with a season's best mark of 20.85 m and also competed at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, where she set a Games record mark of 20.47 m to retain her title. In late 2010 Jean-Pierre Egger took over as her coach from Poppe.
Adams won the 2011 World Championships equalling the championship record 21.24 met by Natalya Lisovskaya in 1987. At the 2012 World Indoor Championships Adams won the competition with a throw of 20.54 m, a new indoors personal best.
Adams originally won the silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics but was promoted to the gold medal after the initial Olympic champion, Nadzeya Ostapchuk, failed two drug tests, one a day before the event and the second on the day of the event.
The Belarusian Ostapchuk tested positive for metenolone which is classified as an anabolic agent on the list of banned substances. Adams later recounted how she initially believed Chef de Mission Dave Currie was "telling fibs" upon being told the news. She received the gold medal from the New Zealand Governor-General, Sir Jerry Mateparae, at a special ceremony in Auckland on 19 September 2012.
Adams won her fourth world championship gold at the 2013 World Championships games in Moscow in August 2013. Her fourth gold medal surpassed Astrid Kumbernuss for most all time by a female shotputter and made her the first woman to win four straight titles in an event at the competition. On 27 September, Adams underwent surgery on her left ankle and right knee, and in March 2014 won her third world indoor championship at Sopot in Poland with a distance of 20.67 m. Her gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, where she was New Zealand's flag-bearer, was her 54th consecutive event win; the streak began in August 2010.
Injury caused Adams to withdraw from an attempted defence of her shot put title at the 2014 IAAF Continental Cup and she was ruled out for most of 2015 season for the same reason. During this period she underwent surgeries on her shoulder and elbow in late 2014 and returned for a further operational on her knee in August 2015.
Adams finished second in shot put at the 2016 Summer Olympics with a distance of 20.42 m. She was beaten by Michelle Carter who had a personal best of 20.63 m with her last put of the competition.
In the 2017 New Year Honours, Adams was named a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. She skipped the entire track and field that season due to pregnancy.
Adams came in second in the shot put at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, Australia, with a seasonal best put of 18.70 m.
Adams was born in Rotorua, New Zealand, to a Tongan mother (Lilika Ngauamo) and an English father (Sydney Adams). Her father, who settled in New Zealand after service in the Royal Navy, had a total of 18 children with five women. Adams' youngest sibling is NBA basketballer Steven Adams, and two other brothers played professional basketball in New Zealand. Their other sister, Lisa Williams, is an aspiring paralympic shot-putter and discus thrower as she has cerebral palsy.
Adams was married to Bertrand Vili, a discus thrower from New Caledonia. They married in 2004 and divorced in early in 2010. Adams married Gabriel Price, a friend since childhood, at Temple View in Hamilton on 2 April 2016. She gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Kimoana Josephine Adams-Price on 11 October 2017.
Adams' training base is at the Centre national de sport de Macolin in Switzerland.
Butcher, Margot (2010). Golden Girls: Celebrating New Zealand’s six female Olympic gold medallists. Auckland: HarperSports/HarperCollins. pp. 106–127. ISBN 978-1-86950-892-0.
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^ Alderson, Andrew (2015-07-05). Val Adams finally defeated. New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2018-04-22.
^ Alderson, Andrew (2017-11-05). Athletics: Dame Valerie Adams' record set for a boost. New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2018-04-22.
^ "Doping: Five 2005 world medallists caught after IAAF retests". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
^ "Revision of results following sanctions of Tsikhan and Ostapchuk". IAAF. 27 April 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
^ "Valerie Adams says: Russia ban a favorable step against doping". 6 July 2016.
^ She was the third after Jana Pittman (2003) and Yelena Isinbayeva (2005). Veronica Campbell completed the set the day after Adams.
^ Biscayart, Eduardo (18 May 2009). "Vili sets 20.69m Oceania Shot Put record in Rio". IAAF. Archived from the original on 19 May 2009. Retrieved 18 May 2009.
^ Landells, Steve (14 March 2010). "EVENT REPORT – WOMEN's Shot Put Final". IAAF. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
^ "Shotput champion Valerie Vili splits with coach". The New Zealand Herald. 28 March 2010. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
^ "Valerie Vili appoints new coach". stuff.co.nz. 13 April 2010. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
^ Juck, Alfons (24 August 2010). "Shot putters rule in Dubnica". IAAF. Archived from the original on 25 August 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
^ "Tough year all worth it, says Adams". The New Zealand Herald. 14 November 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
^ Landells, Steve (29 August 2011). "Women's Shot Put – Final – Threepeat for Adams, with a 21.14m Area Record". IAAF. Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
^ Brown, Michael (11 March 2012). "Adams completes set of world titles". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
^ "Valerie Adams falls short of shot put gold". Retrieved 7 August 2012.
^ a b Bryant, Tom (13 August 2012). "Belarus shot putter Nadzeya Ostapchuk stripped of gold for doping". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
^ "Valerie Adams thought gold medal phone call was a joke". RadioLive. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
^ "David Oliver wins hurdles gold". ESPN. Associated Press. 12 August 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
^ Leggat, David (1 August 2014). "Commonwealth Games: Golden Val shows she's in a class of her own". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
^ More surgery for Valerie Adams. New Zealand Herald (2015-08-18). Retrieved 2018-04-22.
^ "Rio Olympics 2016: USA's Michelle Carter wins women's shot put gold with final throw". BBC. 13 August 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
^ "New Year's Honours: Dame Valerie Adams blown away but still has more to achieve". Retrieved 31 December 2016.
^ "Result – Women's Shot Put Final". Gold Coast 2018. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
^ "Valerie Vili speaks out", hospice.org; retrieved 17 August 2009.
^ 12th IAAF Championships in Athletics, Berlin 2009 – Pressure free, Vili delivers second World Title Archived 19 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine; retrieved 17 August 2009.
^ a b Fittipaldo, Ray (7 October 2012). "Pitt big man Steven Adams' backstory is as interesting as his future is intriguing". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
^ "Athletics: Lisa Adams betters world para shot put record". Newshub. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
^ "Valerie Vili speaks out". New Idea. Hospice New Zealand. p. 1. Archived from the original on 29 October 2007.
^ Taylor, Murray (6 February 2007). "Strong winds suppress results in Hamilton". IAAF. Archived from the original on 4 May 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
^ "Vili changes name after marriage bust-up". The New Zealand Herald. 20 August 2010. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
^ "Dual Olympic shot put champion Valerie Adams weds for second time". Stuff.co.nz. 3 April 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
^ Buckleton, Ophelia (22 July 2017). "Pregnant Dame Valerie Adams a 'machine' at the gym". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
^ "Dame Valerie Adams gives birth to first child, daughter Kimoana Josephine Adams-Price". Newshub. 11 October 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
^ Rees, Peter. "Mum's the word for Valerie". Islands Business. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Valerie Adams. |
0.977403 | Costs of specialty drugs are skyrocketing, even for those on the market 20 years.
In the past several months the "war on drugs" has intensified. But the war is no longer defined as an offensive against illegal narcotics, but one against pharmaceutical companies and the increasing costs of specialty drugs. With the donkeys, elephants, and other political animals gearing up for the 2016 electoral stampede, it seems that each news cycle brings another criticism of drug pricing practices.
This is not just political posturing. The acquisition cost of lifesaving medications is a real problem that if not addressed now has the potential to bankrupt Medicare, tear into potential ACA savings, and be detrimental to patient outcomes. To demonstrate this new economic insanity a study published in the April 24, 2015, issue of Neurology, covered by Bloomberg News, revealed that the costs of multiple sclerosis medications have accelerated at rates well beyond inflation and substantially above rates observed for drugs in a similar biologic class.
These numbers are astonishing. In a fair market, more competition would lead to lower pricing. However, in the pharmaceutical world over the past 20 years, as more competition has come to market with increasingly higher introductory pricing, older, established drugs have managed to defend their market positions by also increasing their pricing. This increase not only offset any incremental market share losses, but actually exponentially increased their profits.
It's an amazingly well-executed business strategy based on the monolithic control the pharmaceutical industry has on the health system.
Pharma will argue that even though list prices have risen, the drugs' prices are actually much lower because they are negotiated down by health plans. This is only true up to a point. For one, discounts don't account for 400% pricing increases. More importantly, given the asynchronous flow of information that exists in this buyer/seller relationship, health plans historically have not had the data necessary to properly negotiate. This data includes drug safety profiles that demonstrate the comparable safety of drugs. Second, Medicare is forbidden by current law to negotiate prices with drug manufacturers. The significance of this is shown by the report filed by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society which estimates that approximately 25% to 30% of people with MS are enrolled in Medicare.
How does this translate to the real world? Here's the basic math: 1) 70% of the MS patient population is covered by payers that lack real, accurate, and powerful negotiating data. Simply, the payers have to believe whatever the manufacturers are telling them. 2) The remaining 30% is covered by a payer that doesn't have the legal authority to negotiate. Clearly the reason for the rise in pricing is obvious; there has been no deterrent to a monopoly.
While there is no magic panacea, recent advances in transparency and big data analytics made by firms such as AdverseEvents are providing unprecedented access to comparative safety research. Analysis that allows payers to quantify post-approval data that was previously assessed based solely on anecdotal perception and often through the biased lens of the manufacturers. This powerful insight, when taken into account during the negotiation process, will help tip the scales in favor of the buyer and ultimately will improve patient outcomes.
A real world example using AdverseEvents' data shows that an estimated $195 million is being incurred in downstream medical costs from adverse MS drug events by the healthcare system on an annual basis. Rebif, one of the most costly drugs to acquire per the Neurology study, also has the highest downstream medical costs per patient among the older MS drugs -- $1,304. Compare this with Copaxone's $105, which has comparable efficacy but a substantially lower overall cost to the system.
As health plans and health systems sprint to discover new ways to rein in their costs, there has been a marketed shift in acceptance of this new comparative safety data. As a result the application of analytics such as AdverseEvents Explorer has quickly become standard practice. The sharp change has taken place because health systems and plans, armed with usable and measurable data when entering negotiations, have generated hard and fast return on investment.
In the past several months we have seen the shift in power first-hand. Pharmaceutical companies themselves, who have historically shunned our mission, now want to use our data, analytics, and insight to help support, and defend against new drug launches.
Clearly, the acquisition cost of life saving medications is one of the most significant problems facing the health industry today. If not addressed quickly the potential downsides are enormous. With the advent of data technology such as ours, it is clear that the utilization of actionable, transparent safety and total cost data will be a key component in ensuring fair and mutually beneficial negotiations. It can serve as a sharp arrow in the payers' quiver to push back against unreasonable pricing, as well as a smart vehicle for pharma to prove the value of their products.
To learn more about how the cost of drug side effects can be used to differentiate competitive products, download a copy of our recent Drug Safety Monitor report, Cost Comparison and Safety Analysis of Eylea vs. Lucentis.
Jim Davis is executive vice president of AdverseEvents, a California-based healthcare informatics company that improves patient safety and reduces systemic healthcare costs through the comprehensive analysis of postmarketing drug side effect data. This post originally appeared on the company's RxView blog. |
0.999998 | What should I do when an emergency vehicle approaches with emergency lights on?
When an emergency vehicle displaying emergency lights is approaching, all drivers of every other vehicle shall yield the right of way by moving to the right-hand edge or curb that is not in an intersection and stop. Drivers must remain stopped until the emergency vehicle passes.
If an emergency vehicle is parked or stopped at the scene of an emergency and is displaying emergency red, white, or blue lights; all drivers must move to the right and stop. After completely stopping, drivers may proceed with caution unless otherwise directed. |
0.947388 | The Nuseibeh family is the oldest family in Jerusalem and the Holy Land.
Forefathers of the family arrived in Jerusalem with the Islamic conquest in 637 AD. They included two companions of the Prophet Mohammed - Abdullah bin Nuseibeh and Ma'ath bin Jabal, and many others of the Prophet's companions and maternal uncles, descendents of Salma from Bani an-Najjar, a clan of the Khazraj, the wife of Hashim, forefather of the Hashemite Family and mother of its renowned leader Abdul Muttalib, grandfather of the Prophet Mohammed, Peace be Upon Him. The name "Nuseibeh" is that of a female companion of the Prophet Mohammed, Nuseibeh Om Omara al-Maziniyya, who fought with the Prophet in battle and was an early example of women taking leadership roles in Islam. The Nuseibeh family is a clan of the Khazraj tribe of Medina, known in Islam as al-Ansar, for their support and protection of Prophet Mohammed during his exile from Mecca.
The Muslim conquest of 637 AD ushered in a period of peaceful coexistence and freedom of worship for the followers of the three monotheistic faiths. At the time of the conquest, Christian rulers of Jerusalem banned Jews from entering the city. For centuries, Jews wept the destruction of their temple and endured a great deal of suffering under the Christian rule. The Islamic armies entered Jerusalem without shedding a drop of blood. The Archbishop of Jerusalem, Sophronius, invited Caliph Omar to pray at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Christianity's holiest site. Omar refused fearing that future Muslim generations would claim the church as their own and turn it into a mosque. Omar instead built a mosque few yards away from the church. The Mosque of Omar still stands next to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as a reminder of the strong Muslim-Christian bond in the Holy Land. Upon entering Jerusalem, Omar signed with the Christians of Jerusalem what became know as the "Covenant of Omar". It guaranteed protection for the Christians to live and worship freely and also protection for the Christian places of worship. Upon the insistence of the Christians, the covenant also promised not to allow Jews back into Jerusalem. This part of the agreement was the only one not fulfilled by the Muslims and Jews were re-admitted into Jerusalem, under Muslim protection. To protect the Christian places of worship, the Caliph Omar entrusted the custody of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the site where Christians believe Jesus, Peace be Upon Him, was buried and the site of his accession to Heaven, to 'Ubadah ibn al-Samit, a companion of the Prophet and the first ruler of Palestine and a forefather of the Nuseibeh family. His tomb, as well as that of another ancestor of the Nuseibeh family and companion of the Prophet, Shaddad ibn Aws al-Khazraji, are still intact at the southern corner of the wall enclosing the Noble Sanctuary at the Bab al-Rahma cemetry, near Bab Al-Asba'at, or Lions Gate.
From these illustrious ancestors, the Nuseibeh family inherited the custody of the Holy Sepulchre. For many centuries, the Nuseibeh's were arbiters of conflict that has arisen between the various Christian denominations within the Church. Many of these are recorded in church records as well as in the registers of the Shari'a Courts of Justice in Jerusalem. The Nuseibeh family is also duly entrusted with stamping and certifying the Holy Sepulchre's Sacred Fire in the Sepulchre at the annual celebrations, which Christian denominations observe on the night before the great feast of Easter Sunday. The elevated marble platform at the main entrance of the Holy Sepulchre on which members of the Nuseibeh family sit and the Cabinets above their seats which belong to them up to this day, have often been described by historians, pilgrims, tourists and visitors, including by Father Felix Fabri in a book written in 1484.
The crusades of the eleventh century AD resulted in the effective expulsion of the few family members who were not massacred by the crusader armies, from Jerusalem. The crusaders massacred over 70,000 Muslims, Jews and Orthodox Christians and closed down their places of worship. The crusader period marked an end to the freedom of worship that Jerusalem had enjoyed for over 300 years. As protectors of Christianity's holiest site, the Nuseibeh's ensured such religious freedom was enjoyed until the crusaders destroyed the peace. Family members settled in an area called Boreen, south of Nablus. The return of Islam to Jerusalem 88 years later brought with it once more freedom of worship for Jews, Christians and Muslims. During the period in exile in Boreen, Ghanem bin Ali bin Hussein al-Ansari al-Khazraji was born. He became a leader in the Muslim armies. His descendants became known as Bani Ghanem al-Khazraj, the sons of Ghanem. All members of the Nuseibeh family trace their ancestry to him. When Muslim rule was re-established in Jerusalem, followers of the three great faiths were once more allowed to worship and live freely in Jerusalem. Records and manuscripts kept by the various Christian denominations in their monasteries and churches all record the Nuseibeh family's and Bani Ghanem's relationship with the Holy Sepulchre, at least since the time of Sultan Saladin. In 1192, Sultan Saladin and King Richard the Lion Heart signed an agreement allowing Western Christian pilgrims to visit the Holy Sepulchre under certain stipulations. Saladin re-entrusted the custody of the doors of the Holy Sepulchre to the Nuseibeh's, represented by now leader and renowned Sheikh of his realm, Ghanem bin Ali bin Hussein al-Ansari al-Khazraji, the Jerusalemite, and all matters pertaining to it. The Nuseibeh's once more provided freedom of worship not only to Orthodox Christians, but also to Western Christians despite the actions of the crusaders who falsely claimed to have represented Christianity.
Sultan Saladin also entrusted Prince Ghanem and his son Prince Burhanalddin bin Ghanem with the Sheikhdom of the Khanqah Seminary (Khanqah al-Salahiyya), established by Saladin in Jerusalem and bearing his name. The post remained with the family for hundreds of years until the Ottoman conquest of Jerusalem in the 16th century A.D. The renowned historian of Jerusalem Mujiruddin al-Hanbali writes that he saw the signature of Sultan Saladin on these investitures. Ghanem also later his descendants, became Sheikhs of the Noble Sanctuary (Al Aqsa Mosque), in addition to holding the Sheikhdom of Saladin's Seminary and holders of the office of Chief Justice (Qadi) and custodians of the Holy Sepulchre. Saladin granted large estates to the Nuseibehs, including 50,000 dunums of land of east Lubban village between Jerusalem and Nablus for benefit of the Dome of the Rock in the Noble Sanctuary, the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron and for the family itself. The Nuseibeh family continues to receive tithes on this estate up to the present day. The Nuseibeh family also continues to receive tithes from other Waqf foundations such as Khaski Sultan, Khan al-Sultan and other Waqfs in Jerusalem.
Ayyubid and Mamluk manuscripts discovered accidentally in the ceiling of the Library of the Noble Sanctuary in the 1970's record much of the family's history. Some of these manuscripts have been published by the Goethe Institute in Beirut, Lebanon.
During the later period of the Ottoman rule in Jerusalem, the Nuseibeh family suffered hugely. All but few of the family members were massacred in the 18th century. The Ottomans tried to create a new ruling class from exported families to local ones. However, the Nuseibeh family came out of this period as strong as it has been, one of the Holy Land's leading families and continues to serve the people of this land, regardless of their faith.
This website was last updated on 9th August 2004.
All content is copyright of the Nuseibeh family. |
0.985974 | You should take several things into consideration when planning for a vacation. The place you intend to spend your vacation at should offer you great things that provide you with comfort and peace of mind. Find the best resort that you would have a great time at. A great resort would provide you with the excellent luxury dining experience. Finding a luxury resort rental of quality would go a long way in providing you the comfort and peace of mind.
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You would only achieve a great luxury dining experience from a resort that has a good reputation. To get world-class services, you need to carry out research. You should be able to get a good experience that is worth the value of the money you spend.
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The resort should be able to offer you hot showers and functional kitchen. |
0.999546 | Follow these tips for success on long climbs.
Whether you’re bagging peaks in the high country or climbing a big wall in a push, being efficient is crucial to success. Moving quickly, multitasking, and smart belaying techniques are key components to efficiency, and each can help you make up time spent on cruxes or difficult sections. Practice these methods while you hone your technical skills to find success on all types of long climbs.
Often long routes feature sections of low-angle or broken terrain, and climbers can move quicker without building standard anchors at every belay stance. In these cases, using a body belay can be a fast and efficient way to pull in rope while adding security for your partner. Find a good seat behind a chockstone or in a crevice, and use your legs to push against a solid feature such as a large rock (make sure it isn’t loose, it should not move if you push on it as hard as you can) to brace yourself for potential falls. Essentially, make your body the anchor.
After finding a solid position, add gear and clip yourself into it with a locking carabiner and a clove hitch (Fig.1). Line up with the gear and the climber below, and remove all slack in the rope between you and the gear. When the terrain eases, use a hip belay without back-up gear to take up the slack quickly. If the terrain becomes low-angle and featured with rock horns and trees (4th and easy 5th class), consider wrapping the rope around a feature, turning your back toward the climber, and using the friction of the feature to hand-belay by pulling in slack without a device.
Managing the rope, belaying, and constantly working are the best ways to move efficiently over moderate terrain. Flake the rope while your partner racks up. Pull the rope for the rappel while your partner feeds it through the next anchor. If swapping leads, re-rack gear in order while following so it’s ready for the next lead. If leading in blocks, place the gear on a sling so you can hand it to your partner at the next belay. If racking on a sling doesn’t work for you, re-rack the gear on one side of the harness so that the leader can easily grab it at the belay.
Once the leader finishes her block, she should place the remaining gear on a sling to hand off to the new leader. A safe, attentive belay will help the second feel confident and move faster. Don’t sacrifice a good belay in order to multitask. Familiarity with the terrain and your partner’s climbing abilities will dictate when you should give a tight belay and when you can do other things on easier sections. Tie an overhand knot on a bight in the brake side of the rope if you need to manage the rope or put on layers.
Becoming dehydrated and ornery from exhaustion, also known as bonking, slows everything down and causes frustration. Bringing food and water but forgetting to eat and drink can be problematic. If you’re hungry or thirsty, you’ve waited too long. Use spare moments to eat and drink. Climbing, belaying, rope flaking, and just being in the elements burn calories and require water. You can chew and swallow food while belaying, flaking ropes, or re-racking. A hydration bladder will assist with drinking while climbing, and a sugary drink mix in your water will help you hydrate and get calories. Bring foods that are easy to digest and eat, like bars and premade sandwiches. Stuff small snacks, like gels and gummies, in your pockets for easy access.
Getting off route is easy on wandery climbs and can cost hours of wasted time. If possible, scope the route on the approach. Look at the formation and compare it with the topo. Both climbers should carry a copy of the topo. Keep environmental factors and popularity of the route in mind. Gear stuck in the cracks can be a good sign of where the route goes, but be wary of old webbing, nuts, pitons, and carabiners that people may have used to bail after getting lost in the vertical maze. Use common sense and don’t let climbing fast pressure you into making poor decisions, which takes up more time then stopping to figure things out.
Miranda Oakley works as a climbing guide in Yosemite, spending her days off doing big walls on El Capitan and long routes in the High Sierra. She spends the off-season in the desert Southwest and Patagonia. |
0.700387 | Henry Hudson (active 1607-1611) was an English navigator who explored areas of America for England and the Netherlands.
Henry Hudson's life is undocumented prior to his famous voyages. He is first recorded in 1607 as commander of an English Muscovy Company ship that attempted to reach the Orient by sailing northward and southward across the polar sea. This hopeless quest led Hudson to explore the eastern coast of Greenland, gain more accurate information about Spitsbergen, and discover Hudson's "Tutches" (Jan Mayen Island).
The next year Hudson sailed to the Arctic again, hoping to find the passage to Asia via Novaya Zemlya. Failing, as the Dutch navigator Willem Barents had earlier failed, Hudson returned to England. There he was approached by agents of the Dutch East India Company, which had not abandoned hopes of a Northeast Passage. In 1609 the Dutch company gave the explorer command of the Half Moon and perhaps another ship called Good Hope, with crews largely recruited from Dutch seamen.
The search for a Northeast Passage took Hudson again to Novaya Zemlya, where his passage was blocked by ice and his crews grew increasingly mutinous. He then changed plans, disregarding orders, and decided to seek a passage through North America. In doing this Hudson was clearly influenced by Capt. John Smith, who had corresponded with him and lent him maps. Hudson's expeditionary fleet, now reduced to the Half Moon, crossed the Atlantic and explored a stretch of North American coast extending southward to New York Bay.
Although nearly a century earlier the Italian navigator Giovanni da Verrazano, sailing in the service of France, had entered New York Bay, Hudson in the Half Moon ascended the river nearly to present-day Albany. The ascent of the river, later named in Hudson's honor, gave the Dutch claim to the area, but it failed to satisfy Hudson, for it still offered no water route to Asia. He returned to England in November 1609, and the English authorities ordered him not to return to the Netherlands but to resume exploration for his own country.
English explorers had already carried the search for a Northwest Passage to the strait (ultimately named for Hudson) between Baffin Island and Labrador. A number of English merchants now sent Hudson, in command of the Discovery, to find a way through to the "South Sea" (Pacific Ocean). Crew discontent plagued him from the start. (The ringleader, Robert Juet, had sailed on the previous voyage with Hudson and had written a first hand account of it.) Hudson and his crew entered Hudson Strait on June 24-25, 1610, then followed the narrower passage into Hudson's Bay, whose eastern coast they explored to the southern extremity of James Bay. After a vain search for a western way out of this bay, their ship became icebound on November 10, and they passed a miserable winter, nearly starving. When warmer weather came, mutineers, led by Juet, placed Hudson and a few loyal crew members in an open boat and set it adrift; the mutineers sailed for England. Many died on the way, including Juet; and the survivors, when the truth leaked out, received prison sentences. Nothing more is known of Hudson, but as the weather was still very cold, he and his friends must have died of exposure.
"Henry Hudson." Encyclopedia of World Biography. . Encyclopedia.com. 5 Apr. 2019 <https://www.encyclopedia.com>.
Henry Hudson, fl. 1607–11, English navigator and explorer. He was hired (1607) by the English Muscovy Company to find the Northeast Passage to Asia. He failed, and another attempt (1608) to find a new route was also fruitless. Engaged (1609) for the same purpose by the Dutch East India Company, he sailed in the Half Moon to Spitsbergen, where extreme ice and cold brought his crew near mutiny. Hudson, determined not to lose his reputation as an explorer, disregarded his instructions and sailed westward hoping to find the Northwest Passage. He entered Chesapeake Bay, Delaware Bay, and later New York Bay. He was the first European to ascend (1609) the Hudson River (named for him), nearly to present-day Albany. His voyage gave the Dutch their claim to the region. His fourth expedition (1610), financed by English adventurers, started from England. Again he sailed westward, hoping to find the Northwest Passage. Between Greenland and Labrador he entered Hudson Strait and by it reached Hudson Bay. After weeks of exploration, he was forced by ice to winter there. By the next summer (1611) his starved and diseased crew mutinied and set Hudson, with his son and seven men, adrift in a small boat, without food or water. He was never seen again. His discoveries, however, gave England its claim to the Hudson Bay region.
See R. O'Connell, Hudson's Fourth Voyage (1978); D. Hunter, Half Moon: Henry Hudson and the Voyage that Redrew the Map of the New World (2009); P. C. Marshall, Fatal Journey: The Final Expedition of Henry Hudson (2009).
"Hudson, Henry." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. . Encyclopedia.com. 5 Apr. 2019 <https://www.encyclopedia.com>.
Hudson, Henry (d. 1611). Though clearly a very accomplished navigator, Hudson's life is obscure. However, by 1607 he was employed by the Muscovy Company in whose service he reached Svalbad (Spitsbergen). After another northern expedition, he was recruited by the Dutch, for whom he explored Chesapeake and Delaware bays before entering New York harbour and following the Hudson river as far inland as Albany in a vain search for the North-West Passage. Hence the Dutch empire in North America until the 1660s. Meanwhile, Hudson returned to English service in 1610, again to search for the passage to India, entered the bay now bearing his name, and sailed to its southern end. But he and his son were cast adrift by a mutinous crew, who returned home without them.
"Hudson, Henry." The Oxford Companion to British History. . Encyclopedia.com. 5 Apr. 2019 <https://www.encyclopedia.com>.
Hudson, Henry (d.1611) English maritime explorer. He made several efforts to find a Northeast Passage. Employed by the Dutch East India Company (1609), ice blocked Hudson's progress and he crossed the Atlantic to search for a Northwest Passage. He was the first European to sail up the Hudson River, reaching as far as Albany. In 1610, he embarked on another voyage to discover the Northwest Passage and reached Hudson Bay. Forced by ice to winter in the Bay, his mutinous crew set him adrift to die in an open boat.
"Hudson, Henry." World Encyclopedia. . Encyclopedia.com. 5 Apr. 2019 <https://www.encyclopedia.com>.
Both a small but significant river in New York and an immense bay—by far the world's largest—in Canada are named after Henry Hudson. The great sea distance between these two bodies of water is a tribute to his wide-ranging explorations, and to his bold but ultimately tragic attempts toward finding the elusive Northwest Passage.
Ironically, Hudson spent the early part of his career searching for the Northeast Passage, the sea route via the northern coast of Russia and Siberia to China. In 1607, the Muscovy Company in his native England hired him for this purpose, but though he explored the forbidding regions of Jay Mayen Island and Svalbard between Scandinavia and Greenland, he did not find the passage. Another voyage the following year was cut short due to heavy ice.
In 1609, Hudson set sail yet again, this time under the aegis of the Dutch East India Company, aboard the Half Moon. The expedition had gotten no farther than the North Cape of Norway before running into heavy ice, and the crew refused to venture any further. Instead of returning to Holland, however, Hudson set his sights on finding the Northwest Passage, the sea route to Asia via the northern coast of North America.
By July 1609, the expedition had reached Nova Scotia, then turned south to Chesapeake Bay. They then explored Delaware Bay before entering New York harbor—none of these places bore these names at the time, of course—on September 12. They followed the harbor to the mouth of what is now known as the Hudson River, then sailed up the Hudson to the site of present-day Albany. They then sailed back down, stopping at the island called "Manna-hata" by the Indians. At first the latter threatened them, even killing one of the crew members, but when the sailors offered them European goods, relations improved.
On his return trip to Europe, Hudson docked at Dartmouth, England, where he was seized by the authorities and forbidden to sail for any foreign powers. Nonetheless, he was able to pass on to his Dutch employers what he had observed on his trip: that the land around the harbor and river he had explored were rich and promising. This would influence the Dutch founding of New Netherland, a colony comprising what is now New York and New Jersey, in 1614.
Back in England, Hudson raised support for another voyage to find the Northwest Passage, and set sail aboard the Discovery on April 17, 1610. It appears that Hudson was never a very good manager of men, and long before they caught sight of land—Resolution Island, to the southeast of Baffin Island—discord had arisen among the crew members. Nonetheless, Hudson sailed onward.
The Discovery plied what is now called Hudson Strait, between Baffin Island and the northern coast of Quebec. It seemed to Hudson that he was on the verge of finding the Northwest Passage, and he proceeded with optimism. In fact they were sailing into Hudson Bay, which would be more properly identified as a sea—a sea half as large as the Mediterranean, but not a tenth as inviting to mariners.
By October, the expedition had reached a dead-end, a shallow inlet called James Bay at the southeastern corner of Hudson Bay. Cold weather was beginning to set in, and with it ice, so that the crew was forced to spend the winter there. Lacking adequate provisions—another mistake on Hudson's part—they suffered terribly during the cold months, and tensions grew.
Only on June 12, 1611 were they finally able to set sail again, but after just 12 days the crew mutinied against Hudson. On June 22, they set the captain adrift in a small boat with his 19-year-old son John and six of the less physically fit crew members. The eight men were never heard from again.
"Henry Hudson." Science and Its Times: Understanding the Social Significance of Scientific Discovery. . Encyclopedia.com. 5 Apr. 2019 <https://www.encyclopedia.com>.
Henry Hudson was an English navigator and explorer. North America has a bay, a strait, and a river named for him. In his short life, he sailed at least three times for English companies and at least once for a Dutch company. His goal, which eluded him, was to find a navigable passage from Europe to Asia through the Arctic region. Instead, he made discoveries that eventually opened European trading with the natives in North America.
Very little is known about Hudson's birth and early life. The earliest record from his life concerns a voyage he took in 1607. The Muscovy Company of England hired him to search for a navigable passage around the north coast of Siberia to China. He was unable to find the so-called Northeast Passage, either on that voyage or on another he took in 1608.
In 1609, the Dutch East India Company hired Hudson to search for the Northeast Passage aboard the ship called Half Moon. The Dutch East India Company was a company from Netherlands and one of the first modern corporations. It financed voyages to the East Indies (present day Indonesia) to make money trading European goods for Asian spices and other goods.
The Half Moon hit heavy ice off the northern coast of Norway. Hudson's crew refused to go further, but Hudson did not want to return to the Netherlands. A fellow explorer, John Smith (c. 1580–1631), who colonized Virginia , had corresponded with Hudson, passing along maps concerning the New World. Hudson turned the ship around and headed est to look for a Northwest Passage to Asia.
The voyagers reached the coast of Nova Scotia in July 1609, then sailed down to the Chesapeake Bay and up to Delaware Bay. In September, they reached the entrance to what would be called New York Harbor. Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazano (c. 1485–c. 1528) had been there in 1524, but Hudson was the first European to sail through the harbor up the river that would eventually bear his name. By coincidence, French explorer Samuel de Champlain (c. 1567–1635) was in the region of Lake Champlain around this time.
The Half Moon made it as far as present-day Albany, New York . Hudson's crew had occasional problems with Native Americans and also learned that the area was rich with natural resources, including animals with valuable furs. Heading back down the river, Hudson and company stayed in New York Harbor for a few days at a place that Hudson wrote was called “Manna-hata” by the natives. It would eventually be called Manhattan in New York City.
Hudson's discovery of valuable resources in the New World encouraged investors in the Netherlands to form the Dutch West India Company . English authorities, however, told Hudson not to sail anymore for Dutch companies. Hudson found English investors to finance another search for the Northwest Passage.
Hudson left for North America in April 1610 aboard the ship Discovery. He planned to sail north of where his last voyage had gone. By June, he sighted Resolution Island, which separates Davis Strait from Hudson Strait in northeastern Canada. The Discovery took six weeks to navigate the Hudson Strait before reaching the large Canadian bay that would be called Hudson Bay. Hudson thought he had reached the Pacific Ocean.
The Discovery turned south, eventually entering James Bay, where Hudson and his crew learned that they were landlocked. They had not found the Northwest Passage. Unprepared for this October setback and with the bay freezing in November, they had to spend the winter in the region with few supplies.
In June 1611, the ice had melted enough for the Discovery to sail for home. When the ship reached Charlton Island in the southern part of James Bay, the crew mutinied. A leader of the mutiny, Robert Juet, had sailed with Hudson on his previous voyage. The mutineers stranded Hudson, his nineteen-year-old son John, and some weaker crewmembers in a small vessel on the bay. Historians presume that Hudson and his stranded companions died in the region that year. History has no record of Hudson afterward.
"Hudson, Henry." U*X*L Encyclopedia of U.S. History. . Encyclopedia.com. 5 Apr. 2019 <https://www.encyclopedia.com>.
"[The chiefs] concluded it [the Half Moon] to be a large canoe or house, in which the great Mannitto (great or Supreme Being) himself was, and that he was probably coming to visit them."
Translation of traditional Delaware story by John Heckewelder.
Henry Hudson was an English explorer whose career was marked by both success and failure. Although he never managed to find either the Northeast Passage or the Northwest Passage to China, he did explore what came to be known as the Hudson River and the Hudson Bay (in present-day New York). His exploration of the Hudson River in 1609 led to the formation of the Dutch West India Company, a group which founded the colony of New Netherland (later New York) in 1624. During a second attempt to find the Northwest Passage in 1610, Hudson became the first explorer to sail through the Hudson Strait. During the following summer of 1611, Hudson's crew mutinied (staged a revolt) and he was set adrift in a small boat and never seen again.
Nothing is known about the early life and career of Henry Hudson. He undertook his first recorded voyage in 1607, when he was hired by the Muscovy Company of England to search for the Northeast Passage, a sea route that led around the northern coast of Siberia to China. Hudson explored the coast of the Svalbard Islands in the Arctic Ocean and sighted Jan Mayen Island east of Greenland, but he did not find a sea passage to China. In 1608 he departed on another expedition to find the Northeast Passage. When his ship encountered heavy ice, however, he was forced to turn back without making any new discoveries.
In 1609 Hudson was hired by the Dutch East India Company to look for the Northeast Passage once again. He set out from the Netherlands on the ship Half Moon with a mixed crew of English and Dutch sailors. Beyond the North Cape, located off the northern coast of Norway in the Arctic Ocean, the ship ran into heavy ice, and Hudson's crew refused to go any farther. Instead of giving up again and returning to the Netherlands, however, Hudson decided to try to find the Northwest Passage, a water route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. He turned the Half Moon west, heading for the coast of North America. His friend John Smith (see entry), the English explorer who had colonized Virginia, may have given Hudson this idea when he reportedly mentioned a large bay that might lead to a Northwest Passage.
Hudson and his crew reached the coast of Nova Scotia (a province on the east coast of Canada) in July 1609, traveling as far as Chesapeake Bay before turning north to explore Delaware Bay. Continuing north, Hudson and his crew reached Sandy Hook, a peninsula at the entrance to New York Harbor, on September 12, 1609. The Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazano (see entry) had already discovered the entrance to the harbor in 1524 but had not been able to explore farther inland. Hudson sailed up the wide river that now bears his name to the site of present-day Albany, New York. Some of his crew members then rowed a boat even farther north.
During his voyage up and down the river, Hudson noted the richness of the land and recognized the opportunity for a prosperous fur trade. His favorable report inspired the Dutch to form a new company, the Dutch West India Company, which founded the colony of New Netherland along the Hudson and Delaware Rivers in 1614. Hudson and his party did have a few unfriendly encounters with Native Americans along the way. During a particularly violent skirmish, one of his crew members was killed by an arrow through the throat. Relations improved, however, when Hudson traded European goods for food. Before heading back across the Atlantic, the Half Moon stayed for several days in New York Harbor on what Hudson described as "that side of the river that is called Manna-hatta"—a Native American word for the island now called Manhattan.
While exploring the Hudson and Delaware Rivers in present-day New York, Henry Hudson and his party encountered a Native American group, the Delawares. This was the first time the Delawares had seen Europeans, so the experience was quite unsettling for them. Following are excerpts from a Delaware tribe account of sighting Hudson's ship, the Half Moon, which was anchored off the coast of Manhattan Island. The story was written down in the eighteenth century by John Heckewelder, an English missionary who interviewed descendants of the Delawares.
A long time ago, when there was no such thing known to the Indians as people with white skin [their expression], some Indians who had been out fishing, and where the sea widens, espied [caught sight of] at a great distance something remarkably large swimming, or floating on the water, and such as they had never seen before. They immediately returning to the shore, appraised their countrymen of what they had seen, and pressed them to go out with them and discover what it might be . . . . [Some concluded] it either to be an uncommon large fish, or other animal, while others were of the opinion it must be some very large house. . . . [Finally] they sent runners and watermen off to carry the news to their scattered chiefs . . . . [The chiefs] arriving in numbers, and themselves viewing the strange appearance . . . concluded it to be a large canoe or house, in which the great Mannitto (great or Supreme Being) himself was, and that he was probably coming to visit them. By this time the chiefs of the different tribes were assembled on York island, and were counselling (or deliberating) on the manner they should receive their Mannitto on his arrival. Every step had been taken to be well provided with plenty of meat for a sacrifice; the women were required to prepare the best victuals [food]; idols or images were examined and put in order; and a grand dance was supposed not only to be an agreeable entertainment for the Mannitto, but it might, with the addition of sacrifice, contribute toward appeasing him, in case he was angry with them. . . . Between hope and fear, and in confusion a dance commenced. While in this situation fresh runners arrive declaring it a house of various colours, crowded with living creatures . . . ; but other runners soon after arriving, declare it a large house of various colours, full of people of a different colour than they [the Native Americans] are of; that they are also dressed in a different manner from them, and one in particular appeared altogether red, which must be the Mannitto himself. . . . Many are for running off into the woods, but are pressed to stay, in order not to give offense to their visitors.
Reprinted in: Middleton, Richard. Colonial America: A History, 1585–1776, second edition. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 1996, pp. 30–31.
he planned to explore farther north than on his previous voyage. Hudson set sail for North America on April 17, 1610, on the ship Discovery. Almost immediately there were signs of trouble among his crew, whom Hudson apparently could not control. Nonetheless, they reached North America, and in June they sighted Resolution Island, which separates Davis Strait from what is now called Hudson Strait in northeastern Canada. The strait had already been discovered by the English navigator Martin Frobisher, in 1578, but Hudson was the first to sail through it. The voyage took six weeks.
Hudson and his crew then rounded Cape Wolstenholme, named after one of the financial backers of the voyage, and entered Hudson Bay. At this point Hudson believed he had sailed from the Atlantic to the Pacific. He soon recognized, however, that he was mistaken. When the Discovery turned south into what is now known as James Bay, the southern extension of Hudson Bay, he found that they were landlocked (almost completely surrounded by land). By this time it was October and the bay was beginning to freeze, so the Englishmen were forced to spend the entire winter stuck in the ice. Because of Hudson's lack of foresight, he and his crew did not have enough food and other necessities for the winter. Although they had made contact with nearby Native Americans, efforts at trading with them had failed. Everyone aboard the Discovery suffered from the extremely harsh weather and lack of supplies, and there was frequent fighting among the crew members.
On June 12, 1611, the ice had melted enough for the Discovery to begin its voyage home to England. When the ship reached Charlton Island in the southern part of James Bay on June 23, the crew mutinied against Hudson. The following morning they put Hudson, his nineteen-year-old son, and six of the weaker crew members on a small boat and set them adrift. Hudson and his party were never seen or heard from again.
Now captained by Robert Bylot, the Discovery continued north through Hudson Bay and anchored at Digges Island at the entrance to Hudson Bay. During a battle with a party of Inuit (Eskimo), the ringleader of the mutiny, Henry Greene, and several other crewmen were killed. The survivors escaped and finally landed in southern Ireland, where the crew was rescued and taken to London, England. Only eight men survived the voyage back across the Atlantic. No one was ever convicted of any charges connected with the mutiny or with the banishment of Hudson, his son, and the other crew members.
Henry Hudson and the Half Moon.http://www.ulster.net/_hrmm/halfmoon/halfmoon.htm Available July 13, 1999.
The Life and Times of Henry Hudson, explorer and adventurer.http://www.georgian.net/rally/hudson/ Available July 13, 1999.
Middleton, Richard. Colonial America: A History, 1585–1776, second edition. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 1996, pp. 30–31.
Rachlis, Eugene. The Voyages of Henry Hudson. New York: Random House, 1962.
Weiner, Eric. The Story of Henry Hudson, Master Explorer. New York: Dell, 1991.
"Hudson, Henry." Colonial America Reference Library. . Encyclopedia.com. 5 Apr. 2019 <https://www.encyclopedia.com>. |
0.953198 | I've run into a wall trying to render a svg image markup code into html from a plain text field.
I'm looking to render the svg code from a plain text field without overriding the plain text field rendering everywhere else.
plain text format currently converts all html tags and <> to < >.
both render the value as string wrapping every line with "quotation marks" and converting line-breaks into <br/> tags.
I previously had the field type formatted text, but that also wrapped everything in <pre> tags, even when all tags were allowed. I'd really like to get it working with plain text.
Did you try to apply the raw filter on the value?
But this is not secure. To output files, you can use a file field. This has the correct field formatters to generate the link. If you are not able to configure the link in the ui to your needs, you can modify the twig or preprocess for this specific field.
How can I access raw field values in a view template? |
0.827884 | In 1973, prisoners confined in administrative segregation in four California state prisons - San Quentin, Folsom, Dueul Vocational Institute at Tracy, and the Correctional Training Facility at Soledad - filed a class-action lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. §1983 against the California Department of Corrections in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The plaintiffs sought relief on two claims: 1) that they had been placed in administrative segregation without any procedural examination of whether they should be there, and 2) that they had been subjected to cruel and unusual punishment due to the poor conditions in which they were confined.
The administrative segregation claim was tried in a separate case called Wright v. Enomoto. In that lawsuit, a three-judge panel granted relief, finding that the plaintiffs' rights had been violated by a lack of due process when they were placed into administrative segregation. Wright v. Enomoto, 462 F.Supp. 397 (N.D.Cal. 1976). The defendants appealed this finding, and the Supreme Court affirmed it two years later. Wright v. Enomoto, 434 U.S. 1052 (1978).
This case involved the second claim for relief, in which the plaintiffs argued that their constitutional rights had been violated by poor conditions of confinement, including physical conditions, sanitation, food services, educational practices, medical services, placement and retention procedures, and the psychological impact of confinement in administrative segregation. On November 3, 1980, the District Court (Judge Stanley A. Weigel) granted a preliminary injunction to the plaintiffs, finding that the totality of conditions at Deuel, San Quentin, and Soledad were unconstitutional. The Court did not find that any specific part of the prison was unconstitutional, but the Court felt that the conditions as a whole were not good enough. The defendants appealed. On March 13, 1981, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Judge Joseph Tyree Sneed III) vacated the preliminary injunction and remanded the case for reconsideration. The Court found that the District Court had erred in its use of the "totality of conditions" approach, finding that only specific unconstitutional conditions may be remedied by the Eighth Amendment. The Ninth Circuit chided the District Court for trying to institute a prison reform program on its own under the guise of correcting cruel and unusual punishment. Wright v. Rushen, 642 F.2d 1129 (9th Cir. 1981).
On remand two years later, the District Court (Judge Weigel) re-issued the preliminary injunction, finding that specific conditions of confinement, including double-celling in small, window-less cells, inadequate lighting, heating, ventilation and plumbing, poor sanitation, inadequate food service, and inadequate medical care, were unconstitutional because they violated the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. Toussaint v. Rushen, 553 F.Supp. 1366 (N.D.Cal. 1983).
The defendants appealed, and on January 5, 1984, the Ninth Circuit (Judge William Cameron Canby, Jr.) partially affirmed and partially vacated the District Court's issuance of the preliminary injunction, finding that the District Court's finding that double-celling engendered violence, tension, and psychiatric problems, as well as the finding that physical conditions of the cells were inadequate, were valid. The Ninth Circuit vacated the portion of the injunction specifying the types and quantities of food that the inmates must be provided was invalid and must be overturned. Toussaint v. Yockey, 722 F.2d 1490 (9th Cir. 1984).
On October 18, 1984, following a trial on the merits, the District Court held that the conditions of confinement were unconstitutional with respect to double-celling, heating, ventilation, lighting, noise, plumbing, food preparation and storage, access to courts, clothing, laundry, and bedding. Toussaint v. McCarthy, 597 F.Supp. 1388 (N.D.Cal. 1984). The defendants appealed.
On September 30, 1986, the Ninth Circuit (Judge Robert R. Beezer) partially affirmed and partially vacated the District Court's opinion, remanding it for reconsideration. Specifically, the Ninth Circuit held that 1) due process required only that prison officials hold an informal nonadversary hearing within a reasonable time after the prisoner is placed in segregation, inform him of the charges against him, and give him an opportunity to present his views, 2) that it was error for the District Court to substitute its views for those of the prison administrator in determining when a prisoner should be released, 3) that review of segregation should be conducted more frequently than annually, 4) that the decision to place a prisoner in segregated confinement must be supported by some evidence, 5) that complaints about medical care did not rise to the level of an Eighth Amendment violation, and 6) that the denial of contact visits and work programs did not violate the Eighth Amendment. Toussaint v. McCarthy 801 F.2d 1080 (9th Cir. 1986). The parties sought Supreme Court review, and on May 26, 1987, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the petition for writ of certiorari. McCarthy v. Toussaint, 481 U.S. 1069 (1987).
On remand on April 20, 1989, the District Court (Judge Weigel) held that the review of indeterminate segregation decisions was required to occur every 90 days, that the defendants must undergo special procedures before placing inmates in indeterminate segregation, and that the defendants could not rely on polygraph examinations regarding gang affiliations as the basis for assigning prisoners to segregation. Toussaint v. Rowland, 711 F.Supp. 536 (N.D.Cal. 1989).
Both parties appealed, and on October 30, 1990, the Ninth Circuit (Judge John T. Noonan, Jr.) partially affirmed and partially reversed, holding that the continued appointment of a monitor to review decisions to assign inmates to segregation for administrative reasons was unwarranted. Toussaint v. McCarthy, 926 F.2d 800 (9th Cir. 1990). The parties sought Supreme Court review, and on October 7, 1991, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the petition for writ of certiorari. Toussaint v. McCarthy, 502 U.S. 874 (1991).
On June 29, 1992, the District Court (Stanley Weigel) entered a judgment that noted that the case was being "dismissed," but apparently continuing post-judgment monitoring. (We have only the docket sheet, not the order itself.) The state appealed this and other orders relating to fees, but the parties then agreed to dismissal of those appeals in July 1994. In January 1997, the parties jointly applied to vacate the injunctions and finally dismiss the case. The Court agreed, dismissing the case with prejudice on Feb. 13, 1997. |
0.955141 | Why should you hire a professional pest control service?
Do it yourself projects are a great source of independence for many homeowners; a weekend spent painting the office or repairing a slight plumbing failure is hard work yet intrinsically rewarding. Do it yourself pest control can be a bit more tricky. While the occasional ant, wasp, or fly can be combated by most homeowners, termites or bed bugs as well as extreme infestations of any insect may require a professional. When it comes to pest control, however, you must consider the efficacy of do it yourself products, the cost and convenience, as well as the inherent risks.
Over the counter, so to speak, pest control products are well labeled and the directions are easy to follow; however these products are not as potent as those issued to individuals with a pesticide applicator’s license. A professional pest control service has the knowledge necessary to diagnose, treat, and apply the correct amount of the correct pesticide. They can also be pertinent in the prevention of further infestations through early detection and continued intervention.
The over the counter chemicals are typically less expensive; however in the long run, a professional may be more effective especially in response to pests such as termites that could cause fatal, long-term damage to your home. In the event that the over the counter chemicals are not effective, the insects may develop a resistance to the chemical makeup, making them stronger and more difficult to deter. The initial cost of a professional pest control company may seem high, but the effective maintenance will keep the cost down. The over the counter chemicals are also convenient to use but a good pest control company will work with the homeowner to schedule a date and time that is most convenient for both parties.
Just like other do it yourself projects, there are inherent risks associated with applying pest control chemicals. Some chemicals are not pet, child, or plant safe; thus, careful attention and adherence to the labeling is a must. When you hire a professional pest control company almost all of the inherent risks are removed from the homeowner. Thankfully though, the pest control professional is well versed in the chemical and knows the preventive measures that must be adhered to. However, be sure to research the pest control companies in your area to find one that is friendly, effective, and cares for the betterment of the homeowner. |
0.872935 | /ˈfaɪzər/ is an American global pharmaceutical corporation headquartered in New York City, with its research headquarters in Groton, Connecticut. It is among the worlds largest pharmaceutical companies and it is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and its shares have been a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since 2004. Pfizer develops and produces medicines and vaccines for a range of medical disciplines, including immunology, cardiology, diabetology/endocrinology. Pfizer was founded in 1849 by cousins Charles Pfizer and Charles F. Erhart in New York City as a manufacturer of fine chemicals and its discovery of Terramycin in 1950 put it on a path towards becoming a research-based pharmaceutical company. It has made numerous acquisitions, including Warner–Lambert in 2000, Pharmacia in 2003, in 2016, Pfizer Inc. was expected to merge with Allergan plc, in a deal that would have been worth $160 billion, to create the Ireland-based Pfizer plc. The merger was called off in April 2016 due to recent new rules from the United States Treasury against inversions, Pfizer is named after German-American Charles Pfizer who co-founded the company with his cousin Charles F.
Erhart. There, they produced an antiparasitic called santonin and this was an immediate success, although it was the production of citric acid that really kick-started Pfizers growth in the 1880s. Pfizer continued to buy property to expand its lab and factory on the bounded by Bartlett Street, Harrison Avenue, Gerry Street. Pfizers original administrative headquarters was at 81 Maiden Lane in Manhattan, by 1906, sales totaled $3.4 million. World War I caused a shortage of calcium citrate that Pfizer imported from Italy for the manufacture of citric acid, Pfizer chemists learned of a fungus that ferments sugar to citric acid and were able to commercialize production of citric acid from this source in 1919. As a result, Pfizer developed expertise in fermentation technology, in the 1940s, penicillin became very inexpensive. As a result, Pfizer searched for new antibiotics with greater profit potential, Pfizers discovery and commercialization of Terramycin in 1950 changed the company from a manufacturer of fine chemicals to a research-based pharmaceutical company.
The manufacturing engineers primary focus is to turn raw materials into a new or updated product in the most economic and effective way possible. It is a broad area which includes the design and development of products. Manufacturing engineering is considered to be a subdiscipline of industrial engineering and has very strong overlaps with mechanical engineering. Manufacturing engineers success or failure directly impacts the advancement of technology and this field of manufacturing engineering emerged from tool and die discipline in the early 20th century. It expanded greatly from the 1960s when industrialized countries introduced factories with,1, numerical control machine tools and automated systems of production. Advanced statistical methods of quality control, These factories were pioneered by the American electrical engineer William Edwards Deming, the same methods of quality control turned Japanese factories into world leaders in cost-effectiveness and production quality. This cut costs and improved production speed, the history of manufacturing engineering can be traced to factories in the mid 19th century USA and 18th century UK.
Founded in 1104 in the Republic of Venice several hundred years before the Industrial Revolution, the Venice Arsenal apparently produced nearly one ship every day and, at its height, employed 16,000 people. Many historians regard Matthew Boultons Soho Manufactory as the first modern factory, similar claims can be made for John Lombes silk mill in Derby, or Richard Arkwrights Cromford Mill. The Cromford Mill was purpose-built to accommodate the equipment it held, one historian, Murno Gladst, contends that the first factory was in Potosí. The Potosi factory took advantage of the abundant silver that was mined nearby, british colonies in the 19th century built factories simply as buildings where a large number of workers gathered to perform hand labor, usually in textile production. This proved more efficient for the administration and distribution of materials to individual workers than earlier methods of manufacturing and this experience formed the basis for the studies of manufacturing engineering.
Between 1820 and 1850, non-mechanized factories supplanted traditional artisan shops as the predominant form of manufacturing institution, henry Ford further revolutionized the factory concept and thus manufacturing engineering in the early 20th century with the innovation of mass production. Highly specialized workers situated alongside a series of rolling ramps would build up a product such as an automobile and this concept dramatically decreased production costs for virtually all manufactured goods and brought about the age of consumerism. Modern manufacturing engineering studies include all intermediate processes required for the production and integration of a products components, some industries, such as semiconductor and steel manufacturers use the term fabrication for these processes. Automation is used in different processes of manufacturing such as machining and welding, automated manufacturing refers to the application of automation to produce goods in a factory. Robotics is the application of mechatronics and automation to create robots and these robots may be of any shape and size, but all are preprogrammed and interact physically with the world.
A thermal oxidizer is a process unit for air pollution control in many chemical plants that decomposes hazardous gases at a high temperature and releases them into the atmosphere. Thermal oxidizers are used to destroy hazardous air pollutants and volatile organic compounds from industrial air streams. These pollutants are generally hydrocarbon based and when destroyed via thermal combustion they are oxidized to form CO2. Three main factors in designing the effective thermal oxidizers are temperature, residence time, the temperature needs to be high enough to ignite the waste gas. Most organic compounds ignite at the temperature between 590 °C and 650 °C, to ensure near destruction of hazardous gases, most basic oxidizers are operated at much higher temperature levels. When catalyst is used, the temperature range may be lower. Residence time is to ensure there is enough time for the combustion reaction to occur. The turbulence factor is the mixture of air with the hazardous gases. The simplest technology of thermal oxidation is direct-fired thermal oxidizer, a process stream with hazardous gases is introduced into a firing box through or near the burner and enough residence time is provided to get the desired destruction removal efficiency of the VOCs.
Most direct-fired thermal oxidizers operate at levels between 980 °C and 1,200 °C with air flow rates of 0.24 to 24 standard cubic meters per second. These are best applied where there is a high concentration of VOCs to act as the fuel source for complete combustion at the targeted operating temperature. One of today’s most widely accepted air pollution control technologies across industry is a thermal oxidizer. RTOs use a bed which is heated from a previous oxidation cycle to preheat the input gases to partially oxidize them. The preheated gases enter a chamber that is heated by an external fuel source to reach the target oxidation temperature which is in the range between 760 °C and 820 °C. The final temperature may be as high as 1,100 °C for applications that require maximum destruction, the air flow rates are 2.4 to 240 standard cubic meters per second. RTOs are very versatile and extremely efficient – thermal efficiency can reach 95% and they are regularly used for abating solvent fumes, etc. from a wide range of industries.
General Dynamics Corporation is an American aerospace and defense multinational corporation. Formed by mergers and divestitures, it is the worlds fifth-largest defense contractor based on 2012 revenues, General Dynamics is headquartered in West Falls Church, Fairfax County, Virginia. The company has changed markedly in the post–Cold War era of defense consolidation and it has four main business segments, Marine Systems, Combat Systems, Information Systems Technology, and Aerospace. General Dynamics former Fort Worth Division manufactured one of the Western worlds most-produced jet fighters, the F-16 Fighting Falcon—until 1993, in 1999, the company re-entered the airframe business with its purchase of Gulfstream Aerospace. General Dynamics traces its ancestry to John Philip Hollands Holland Torpedo Boat Company and this company was responsible for developing the U. S. Navys first submarines built at Lewis Nixons Crescent Shipyard, located in Elizabethport, New Jersey. The revolutionary submarine boat Holland VI was built there, its keel being laid down in 1896, crescents superintendent and naval architect, Arthur Leopold Busch, supervised the construction of this submarine.
After being launched on 17 May 1897, it was purchased by the Navy. The Holland was officially commissioned on 12 October 1900 and became the United States Navys first submarine, the Navy placed an order for more submarines, which were developed in rapid succession and were assembled at two different locations on both coasts. These submarines were known as the A-Class or Adder Class, Holland effectively lost control of the company and found himself earning a salary of $90 a week as chief engineer, while the company that he founded was selling submarines for $300,000 each. Holland resigned from the company effective April 1904, rice became Electric Boats first President, remaining there from that time until 1915 when he stepped down just prior to his death on 2 November 1915. Electric Boat gained a reputation for unscrupulous arms dealing in 1904-05, when it sold submarines to Japans Imperial Japanese Navy and Russias Imperial Russian Navy, who were at war. Holland submarines were sold to the British Royal Navy through the English armaments company Vickers.
PLC system in a rack, left-to-right: power supply unit (PSU), CPU, interface module (IM) and communication processor (CP).
Control panel with a PLC user interface for thermal oxidizer regulation.
Control center with a PLC for a RTO.
United States incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease before and after introduction of the 7-valent and 13-valent pneumococcal vaccines.
Thermal oxidizer installed at a factory.
Preassembled process unit for air pollution control, i.e., a thermal oxidizer, being installed at a work site.
Regenerative thermal oxidizer (RTO) that is 17000 standard cubic feet per minute, or SCFM for short.
Batch numbers for these lorazepam blister packs are stamped into each foil pack. |
0.950762 | Plaintiff made a furnace with a new combination gas and oil burner and shipped it to a convention in Atlantic City. To get it there, plaintiff contracted with defendant to do such as long as it was delivered by October 4. Plaintiff had defendant pick up the shipment on October 2. On the 11th, it was discovered that the most important box was not delivered and so the exhibit did not work. Defendant said that it would be there within two days, but it was not there by the 14th when the convention ended. It arrived back in Kansas City about a week afterwards.
Trial court allowed damages for the shipping of the exhibit to and from the convention, transportation of the workers, hotel costs, plaintiff's president's time, and the booth rental for a total of $801.51.
Can plaintiff recover reliance damages?
Four days was a reasonable shipping time, and plaintiff did not ask for a special advantage beyond normal shipping. At most, plaintiff can recover lost profits, and there is no evidence to base such a recovery on.
Ordinarily the measure of damages where the carrier fails to deliver a shipment at destination within a reasonable time is the difference between the market value of the goods at the time of the delivery and the time when they should have been delivered. But where the carrier has notice of peculiar circumstances under which the shipment is made, which will result in an unusual loss by the shipper in case of delay in delivery, the carrier is responsible for the real damage sustained from such delay if the notice given is of such character . . . that the carrier will be presumed to have contracted with reference [to the shipper's situation].
No evidence suggests that defendant was not negligent.
Plaintiff is trying to recover what he would have had had the contract not been made. There were no provable money losses besides these, so denying this request will deprive plaintiff of any compensation for its loss.
Defendant knew of the circumstances under which plaintiff wanted the package shipped and that the exhibit would be entirely valueless without the shipment. Even though some expenses were incurred before contracting with defendant, plaintiff did so knowing that defendant would transport the shipment. Therefore the whole damage was suffered in reliance upon defendant's performance.
Yes, plaintiff can recover all damages suffered in reliance upon defendant. Affirmed. |
0.961514 | What is Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS)?
Telecommunications Relay Services, or TRS, enables telephone conversations between people with and without hearing or speech disabilities. TRS relies on communications assistants (CAs) to relay the content of calls between users of text telephones (TTYs) and users of traditional handsets (voice users). For example, a TTY user may telephone a voice user by calling a TRS provider (or "relay center"), where a CA will place the call to the voice user and relay the conversation by transcribing spoken content for the TTY user and reading text aloud for the voice user.
TRS is required by Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and, to the extent possible, must be "functionally equivalent" to standard telephone services. Interstate and intrastate relay services are available in all 50 states and the District of Columbia 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The cost of interstate TRS is recovered from all providers of interstate telecommunications services, as a percentage of their gross revenues and a "contribution factor" determined annually by the FCC. Contributions are administered in a TRS Fund by the National Exchange Carrier Association (NECA), an association of local telephone companies. TRS providers are compensated for interstate TRS minutes of use based on a "payment rate" also determined annually by the FCC.
The FCC has also established an interstate TRS Fund Advisory Council that is comprised of consumer representatives, TRS users, state regulatory officials, TRS providers, and state relay administrators in order to advise the TRS Fund Administrator on funding issues. The Advisory Council's meetings are open to the public.
"Universal design" is the concept of achieving accessibility of structures, products, and services by planning for the fullest range of human function at the blueprint stage. The dual goals of universal design are (1) accessibility to the widest range of individuals and (2) elimination of the need for retrofitting and reconstruction.
Some examples of universally-designed telecommunications products include televisions with closed-captioning decoder circuitry, telephones with volume control and built-in hearing aid compatibility, and public telephones which are lowered to heights accessible to people who use wheelchairs and which also feature built-in TTY keyboards.
Closed-captioning is the display of audio portions of television and video programming as printed words on the television screen. In addition to displaying spoken dialogue and music lyrics, captions may identify speakers, sound effects, background music, and laughter. "Open" captions always appear directly on the television screen; "closed" captions are hidden as encoded data within the television signal and are displayed only when activated by the viewer. Since 1992, all televisions with screens 13"or larger are required to be equipped with the technology to display captioning, and consumers may purchase set-top decoders for older TV models.
Video description is an auditory depiction of a television or video program's visual elements for persons who are blind or visually impaired. Video description is inserted in the natural pauses of a program's dialogue, and may be used to describe visual elements such as body language, settings, and actions. In order to receive video description, an audience member must have a stereo television or VCR that is capable of receiving the Second Audio Program (SAP) "channel." The SAP feature is available on most new TVs and VCRs, and consumers may also purchase receivers for converting TV sets to stereo with SAP.
What are volume control telephones?
Volume control telephones allow the user to amplify the sound output level of the telephone receiver. In addition to benefitting persons with hearing loss and persons losing their residual hearing later in life, volume control can also benefit persons who must use telephones in noisy environments.
What are the major provisions in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 with regard to disability access?
Section 255 of the Act requires all manufacturers of telecommunications equipment and providers of telecommunications services to ensure that such equipment and services are designed and developed to be accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, if readily achievable. The FCC will undertake a rulemaking proceeding to implement this provision.
Section 713 aims to ensure that video services are accessible to individuals who are hearing impaired and/or visually impaired. It requires the FCC to study the level at which video programming is closed-captioned, and then to establish a timetable for closed captioning requirements. (The FCC is authorized to exempt programming for which the provision of closed captioning would be economically burdensome.) Section 713 also directs the FCC to study the use of video description in order to assure the accessibility of this service to persons with visual impairments.
Section 706 requires the FCC to encourage deployment of advanced telecommunications to all Americans, and to elementary and secondary schools and classrooms in particular. It requires the FCC to assess the level at which advanced telecommunications are available, and then to take steps, if necessary, to accelerate deployment of such services by removing barriers to infrastructure investment. This provision could significantly benefit children with disabilities as well as children without disabilities and adults.
Section 256 directs the FCC to establish procedures for oversight of telecommunications network planning and states that the FCC may participate with the industry in developing standards for "interconnectivity" (the ability of telecommunications carriers to connect to each other's networks). Such standards would promote access to telecommunications networks by people with disabilities.
Section 251 states that telecommunications carriers may not install network features, functions, or capabilities which do not comply with the guidelines and standards established under Sections 255 and 256.
Assistive listening devices (ALDs), also known as auditory assistance devices (AADs), are forms of telecommunications equipment designed to enhance the ability of people with hearing disabilities to hear in various settings, including theaters, classrooms, lecture halls and meeting rooms.
How can I participate in the FCC rulemaking process?
In order to participate in an FCC rulemaking proceeding, first read the relevant Notice of Inquiry (NOI) or Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to identify the issues that the FCC is seeking comment on and the deadlines for submitting such comments. (FCC rulemaking documents are posted on the FCC web site along with additional information on how to file comments.) Then send your comments to the Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, Washington, D.C., 20554. Please include on your comments the Docket Number of the proceeding, which may be found at the top of any NOI or NPRM.
How can I obtain information on disabilities issues from CGB?
Consumers who want to be kept abreast of disability issues can register on the FCC Consumer Information Registry. A subscription to this registry will keep you up to date with the latest information. If you work for an organization representing individuals with disabilities or for a telecommunications service provider, CGB would like to send you information on a regular basis so that you can share this material with your members. |
0.976494 | 99 silverado radio wiring diagram Im not sure of the exact gauge but i am sure that it isnt much bigger than doorbell wire. The cigarette lighter plug is labeled as providing ten amps. I think i see an engineering problem here. Don Wait to zip tie anything until the end install the cable end at the relay using a 13mm wrench. See wiring diagram for proper connection do not install the battery cable to main battery at this Use the tune button on the radio to control the kt 100 this makes sure the twisted wire pairs are properly utilized. I used the diagram in the manual to make sure i had the wires hooked up.
It's possible to get or download caterpillar-wiring diagram from several websites. If you take a close look at the diagram you will observe the circuit includes the battery, relay, temperature sensor, wire, and a control, normally the engine control module. With an extensive collection of electronic symbols and components, it's been used among the most completed, easy and useful wiring diagram drawing program. 99 Silverado Radio Wiring Diagram. The wiring diagram on the opposite hand is particularly beneficial to an outside electrician. Sometimes wiring diagram may also refer to the architectural wiring program. The simplest approach to read a home wiring diagram is to begin at the source, or the major power supply. Basically, the home wiring diagram is simply utilized to reveal the DIYer where the wires are.
In a parallel circuit, each unit is directly linked to the power supply, so each system gets the exact voltage. There are 3 basic sorts of standard light switches. The circuit needs to be checked with a volt tester whatsoever points. 99 Silverado Radio Wiring Diagram. Each circuit displays a distinctive voltage condition. You are able to easily step up the voltage to the necessary level utilizing an inexpensive buck-boost transformer and steer clear of such issues. The voltage is the sum of electrical power produced by the battery. Be sure that the new fuse isn't blown, and carries the very same amperage.
The control box may have over three terminals. After you have the correct size box and have fed the cable to it, you're almost prepared to permit the wiring begin. Then there's also a fuse box that's for the body controls that is situated under the dash. 99 Silverado Radio Wiring Diagram. You will find that every circuit has to have a load and every load has to have a power side and a ground side. Make certain that the transformer nameplate power is enough to supply the load that you're connecting.
Radio wiring harness diagram 99 silverado steering wheel diagram 2000 mercury mountaineer radio wiring diagram 06 silverado radio wiring diagram 97 silverado radio wiring diagram 99 silverado starter diagram 99 silverado trailer wiring diagram car radio wiring diagram. |
0.965949 | Why add a water feature?
They’re relatively easy to maintain.
The sound of the water will block out nieghbourhood noise.
They interact well with natural elements like sun, plants, insects and birds, which can lend unity to your yard.
They enforce a sense of calmness to the garden.
Features installed professionally can attract potential home buyers and result in an increased property value.
Ornamental Pools, (which are designed around a statue or a structure).
Fountains are easily customizable and can add character, both visual and auditory in nature.
Waterfalls are a great way to engage other elements of your yard, like stone and greenery, and add a dynamic level of visual interest via motion.
Streams interact well with other water features. They can flow into waterfalls or a pond and encourage important water circulation. |
0.999296 | If muslims were a compassionate and decent people, they would have welcomed and assisted European Jewish relocation and immigration into the land of Israel. Decent muslims would have encouraged the suffering Jewish people to come and settle in their ancient homeland of Israel after the nazi's exterminated 6 million Jews in WW2.
Instead, what did the muslims do? They made war against the Jews after their entire race was almost wiped out and many millions lost their families, homes, and possesions and suffered terribly. It is also worth pointing out that muslims also committed genocide against 1.5 million Armenians. It seems to me that psychopathic islam is a scourge on humanity. Psychopathic islam is a barbaric, oppressive, murderous, intolerant, corrupt and criminal cult. It is really not even a religion as religion is understood and practiced by others around the world. |
0.921382 | A clothes dryer speeds up the laundry process so that you can save time and not have to rely on the weather. This buying guide outlines the features you should consider when looking at tumble dryers.
Vented: Takes damp air produced by the drying process and sends it outside the home via a hose to prevent condensation. You'll need to install the dryer near an outside wall or window, in order to properly plumb it.
Condenser: Separates water from the moist air into a container, which is emptied after drying, or pumped out by the washing machine plumbing. You can install a condenser dryer in any well-ventilated room.
What Does Dryer Capacity Really Mean?
The larger the drum, the more efficiently hot air flows through the machine, resulting in faster drying times.
Allowing fabrics plenty of room to tumble means less creasing.
Tip: Quality tumble dryers have stainless steel drums, which last longer and have a smooth finish so fabrics don't snag.
Most dryers have settings for cottons or synthetics, and some also have one for delicates.
Most dryers have a reverse tumble feature where the drum rotates both ways, pausing in between. This keeps laundry separated, plus dries it more evenly and quickly.
An anti-crease feature will continue to tumble your clothes from time to time at the end of the cycle so they don't get creased if you can't empty the machine straight away.
A cool air setting which can be used to air fabrics that have been stored away.
State-of-the-art dryers detect whether clothes are dry or not, and continue drying until they're done.
Clothes dryers with moisture sensors control the length of the drying cycle, decreasing drying times and preventing over-drying. Clothes that are over-dried tend to lose their shape and wear out sooner.
Generally speaking, clothes dryers are one of the most power hungry appliances in your home, so check the Energy Star Rating when buying one.
Running costs will depend on how long and hard the machine has to work. Some dryers have a timer delay so you can use them overnight on a cheaper electricity rate (check with your local energy supplier). Others have sensors which detect when the washing is dry and then shut the dryer off, saving energy and avoiding over-drying.
Try to dry similar fabrics together.
Make sure the controls on your clothes dryer are easy to read and reach. Basic machines will have mechanical knobs, while high-end models will have digital buttons and display screens.
Clothes dryers strip away lint as they dry your clothes.
Dryers have a lint filter, either at the front or back of the tumbler.
The filter needs to be cleaned regularly to guarantee that your dryer performs its best.
Front-mounted filters are more accessible and easier to clean; if you're going to place your dryer on a high shelf or mount it on a wall, it's best to buy a model with the filter at the front.
A clothes dryer can be quite loud because it has a spinning motor and drum, as well as an exhaust fan. At the very least, look for a dryer that has a dampener system to cushion the drum. Consider where your dryer will be located, how close your laundry is to living areas, and how quiet it needs to be. If possible, try and determine exactly how loud it is before you buy it.
Measure the available space to ensure a clothes dryer will fit and that you can access it easily.
If floor space is limited, some clothes dryers can be stacked on top of a front-loading washing machine. Other dryers can be mounted on a wall; if you intend to mount on a wall or shelf, consider whether it can support the machine's weight.
Don't forget to consider the location of the clothes dryer's exhaust vent. The hot, moist air from a dryer can unnecessarily heat your house, cause problems with mould and create a safety risk. Be aware that not all dryers come with exhaust ducting, and not all laundries will easily accommodate ducting to pump the exhaust outside. |
0.99999 | Where can I get more information and education on saving for my retirement?
Contact your local MassMutual Account Representative at 855-553-2177. You should also set up a personal account on the MassMutual website to view information on your investments and have access to educational tools: http://retirement.massmutual.com/rsgovnp/. |
0.999954 | TL;DR – Global Entrepreneurship Community Summit 2017 is arriving in less than one month; and we are designing the future through the entrepreneurship ecosystem.
The Global Entrepreneurship Community Summit is upon us once more; this year’s event is expected to be bigger and better than before. Bringing together 100 GEC Labs, 50 international and local speakers who are the leaders of their fields, 20 keynote and Panel discussions, 330 exhibitors as well as 6 highly exclusive Masterclasses, the intensive 2-day ecosystem is planned for entrepreneurs to connect and learn from ministries, industry leaders as well as other fellow entrepreneurs.
One of the highlights is the GEC Lab sessions which will be facilitated by Lab Owner to an exclusive audience of 50 participants comprising of corporate players, ecosystem influencers, policy makers and entrepreneurs. 15 focus areas have been chosen as the theme of discussions in these 100 Lab sessions, covering a variety of commercial industries such as Health, Education, Fintech and Internet of Things. Here, a participant will gain a deep understanding of the symbiosis between all components in the entrepreneurship ecosystem. With the exposure and knowledge gained from these Labs on fields, we believe that new ideas will sprout and existing initiatives can be strengthened from an integration with the right partners.
The 15 focus areas cover the innovative take on how industries affect each other such as fashion and blockchain, the revolutionary effects of the industrial 4.0 era onto factories, the redefinition of media consumption with the shift to AR and VR and the new face of the Financial Sector with the birth of blockchain. The commerce of the future is now integrating itself at an exponential rate and these Labs are sure to give an exposure to the coming wave of the future.
This year’s keynote speakers are the pioneers of their fields and the list includes the Co-Directors of the INSEAD Blue Ocean Strategy Institute: Professor W. Chan Kim and Professor Renée Mauborgne, Arvind Gupta who is Chief Technology Chief of Bharatiya Janata Party and Futurists such as Sophie Hackford and Dr. Michio Kaku. Participants can also look forward to other highlights of the summit such as TENxCLUB, MaGIC Preaccelerator Programme and Global Blue Ocean Awards.
While these topics may sound daunting to someone new to entrepreneurship, the summit is curated with the aim to Inspire, Educate, Fund, Connect and Accelerate participants from all walks of life. Entrepreneurs, aspiring entrepreneurs, tech enthusiasts, college students and the general public, all of whom can find something to benefit from this summit. If this piques your interest, then Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre is the place to be at from 12 to 13 December! |
0.999999 | Rate this Article Playing video games has been a favorite pastime for many people, but not many people know that strategy-based video games are actually good for your brain.
Playing video games has been a favorite past time for many people and has been a very good time consumer for most but Strategy-based video games are actually good for your brain. Researches have shown that gamers benefit from their hobby because it seems to improve brain agility and other benefits.
Playing massively multiplayer online real time strategy games or MMORTS usually involves unit creation, resource gathering and warfare. There would be different variants of the basic elements of an MMORTS but these three seem to give you the basic idea. Unit creation often involves creation of units that would have their own strengths and weakness, it would a challenge at first since you wouldn’t know what units your opponent might have which a player must react to which might involve a player switching out units depending on what an opponent might deploy.
Resource gathering, on the other hand, will train players how manage their resources as resources will often take time be acquired and as well as teaching players to which resource or item to prioritize. Warfare in these types of games would happen in real time, and there is a great deal of strategy involved. Players will need to learn how to adapt quickly to certain situations and as well what moves to take and which units to prioritize. More often than not, games are won by a split second difference. For example, in Clash Royale, you might have a close match and the decision to continue attacking or to launch defensive units may be give you a glorious victory or a frustrating defeat.
The best part about Online Strategy Games is the competition; you will always be able to compete against players from different parts of the world and there will always be new strategies that can be developed so you will able to improve constantly. As there are different strategies that can be formulated, players will be constantly trained to think critically. There would be different unit combinations that and attack strategies to be explored, so gamers will also be trained to think outside the box.
The brain, just like another muscle, needs to be constantly trained in order to be healthier; online strategy games train our brains to have improved strategic planning and more attention to detail. There are great amounts of strategies that we can encounter, and we learn new strategies, players tend to have improved memory and focus as it plays key roles in these types of games. Often times, players would need to react to certain moves or strategies played out by opponents. These would require a great deal of problem-solving. Problem-solving has been known to improve brain function, and as video games require the brain to constantly learn, playing the right kind of games proves to be beneficial in the long run.
These games also help foster social interaction; part of what makes online games popular is the social aspect of it. Players will get to interact with other players from around the globe, they may also need to learn to work together in order to achieve a common goal. It may be to destroy the opponent’s nexus like in Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas like League of legends or forging valuable alliances in order to gain valuable resources like in most city-building strategy games.
Joining guilds or clans would also offer good online interaction which would give players a chance to develop both casual and meaningful relationships. Players may choose to keep connected with the game’s online community and they may even learn and share strategies and as well chat with teammates or clan mates which adds a higher level of enjoyment to the game and as well as creating a sense of camaraderie. Players often find that partnering up with someone to overcome a difficult challenge through personal experience and know-how can be as satisfying online as it is in the real world.
Playing online strategy games gives a lot benefits aside from the enjoyment that we get from playing it. Although there are different sub genres of online strategy games, all would require us to learn the key mechanics of the game which would us boost memory and develop cognitive skills. Player would tend to be more attentive to detail and have proven to have developed good strategic planning that they can also apply in real life. We can learn many skills from playing games but it would be up to us how we can apply it but all in all, online strategy games have proven to be good for you. |
0.996341 | "The wardrobe on the second floor is bigger than the closet."
Translation:이 층에 있는 옷장은 벽장보다 큽니다.
I know that context is important but, if it wasn't obvious to the listener of this sentence, couldn't 이 층에 be pretty easily mistaken for "on this floor/story/level" instead of "on the second floor/story/level" ?
二層에 있는 옷欌은 壁欌보다 큽니다. |
0.999991 | My mother used to tell my siblings and I the story of how when she was a kid she knew a girl who was taken away in the middle of the night.
The story goes that the girl lived with her family in an apartment complex, one she claimed was haunted by a man. She said he lived in the apartment directly above hers and he would only be seen at night roaming the halls and would sometimes be outside on the grass walking aimlessly, the man was dressed in all black and wore a white masquerade mask. From what my mom was told, before the girl went missing, is that she was the only one who ever seemed to see the dark man, or her him for that matter, pacing the halls just outside her apartment door. She claimed to have told her parents about the man several times, but they wouldn't listen, insisting that nobody lived in that apartment.
The girl would show up to school shaking sometimes, claiming that the dark man visited her bedroom. So my mother, being the good friend she was offered to let her friend come stay the night at her house to keep her mind off the creep. That night the girl came to my mom's house with her sleeping back and school supplies for the next day. They did the normal slumber party routine, painting nails, watching bad horror movies, having my mom's mother order pizza, and they had a good time... until it was time for the lights to go out.
My mother said she fell asleep no problem but was awoken in the middle of the night by something off settling. Something woke her up, but she couldn't pace her finger on what it was. When she was awake enough to move, she turned on her bedside lamp to see her friend gone from the bed her mother had made up on the floor next to my mom's bed. She got up from her bed and searched her room, but couldn't find her friend anywhere, but on her way to the bedroom door, something caught her eye outside the second story window. It was a man standing out under a street lamp, wearing all black and a white mask that resembled a bird.
He seemed to notice my mother looking down on him because he cocked his head to the side and pulled a large knife out from behind his back, then proceeded to walk towards the front door of the house. A moment later she heard screams from downstairs, that of her friend. she ran to her bed and hid under the covers, while she heard her parents opening their bedroom door and running down the stairs, she told us how she heard her father yelling at someone, while my mother pleaded with the phone as she contacted the police.
My mother never found sleep that night, as the blue and red lights flashed into her bedroom window all night, the police had to question everyone in the house. The next morning she had to go downstairs and was escorted out the back door by a policeman to get to the bus stop, she figured this was so she wouldn't see what had happened in the living room the night prior. She went to school to find that her friend was not sitting in her usual seat, next to her.
There was an announcement on the PA that day about a missing girl. So overwhelmed with grief she tucked her head in to her folded arms on her desk and looked out the window. What she saw still makes her tremble to discuss outloud to this day, the man with the bird mask was standing out in the middle of the soccer field. Standing, and staring at what she assumed was her. When she jolted up and pointed at the window, nobody else seemed to be able to see what she saw, when she turned her head back to the window the man was no longer there. |
0.939952 | Could Warren Buffett Finally Invest in Philip Morris International?
The push into reduced-risk products could make a key argument against investing go away.
Warren Buffett has touted the profit potential of cigarette companies, and that would seem to make stocks like Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) and Altria Group (NYSE:MO) obvious picks for the Oracle of Omaha. Yet thus far, Buffett hasn't touched either of the tobacco giants, despite the impressive returns the two stocks have earned over the course of their respective histories. Buffett has a good reason for that, but steps that Philip Morris International in particular has taken recently could turn the anti-tobacco argument on its head and justify an investment at some point in the future.
At first glance, Altria and Philip Morris would seem like textbook investments for Warren Buffett. Three years ago, fellow Motley Fool analyst Ted Cooper set out a strong argument for why Buffett might have chosen the tobacco stocks for his portfolio. In Buffett's own words, a cigarette "costs a penny to make. Sell it for a dollar. It's addictive. And there's fantastic brand loyalty." In the U.S., extensive regulatory hurdles that dramatically limit marketing efforts have essentially locked Altria and rival Reynolds American (NYSE:RAI) into the top spots in the business. Overseas, Philip Morris faces more competition, but it still has economies of scale that make it different for small, up-and-coming businesses to gain traction in the space.
Moreover, Altria and Philip Morris have been able to stem the downward impact of falling cigarette volume by using their pricing power. The Marlboro brand still commands huge market shares across the globe, and loyal customers are loath to switch, even if it means spending more.
Yet when invited to participate in a bid for RJR Nabisco, the predecessor company to Reynolds American, Buffett chose not to invest. In his words, "I'm wealthy enough where I don't need to own a tobacco company and deal with the consequences of public ownership." With all of the controversy about health effects, legal liability, regulatory restrictions, and public outcry against big tobacco companies, Buffett simply decided that even an attractive profit opportunity wasn't worth the bother.
Philip Morris' strategy for reduced-risk product lines. Image source: Philip Morris International.
However, the recent transformational moves at Philip Morris International could redefine the Buffett argument against tobacco stocks. Last November, Philip Morris CEO Andre Calantzopoulos predicted that the company's business would eventually look nothing like it did just a few years ago. In particular, the CEO said, "I believe there will come a moment in time where I would say we have sufficient adoption of these alternative products to start envisaging ... a phase-out period for cigarettes."
This dramatic shift in Philip Morris' business model comes as a result of the early success of the iQOS heated-tobacco product. The company has seen sales of iQOS devices and the tobacco HeatSticks that it uses soar in Japan, which was the first test market in which the product became available. Philip Morris has even had to ramp up manufacturing capacity with a new facility in order to keep up with demand, and the company expects supplies to climb exponentially in the next several years in order to meet consumers' appetite for the product.
Yet the switch toward alternative products isn't just about making money. Philip Morris believes the iQOS product could have dramatically fewer adverse health impacts than traditional cigarettes, and it has devoted billions of dollars toward research in order to generate scientific evidence addressing that question. Indeed, Philip Morris has made enough progress that it chose late last year to file a modified risk application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval of the iQOS product line. If approved, Philip Morris believes that the credibility and reputation it will gain will give it a huge competitive advantage. Altria will also benefit by having exclusive U.S. rights to market iQOS.
Will Buffett change his mind?
Many consumer advocates are naturally suspicious about Philip Morris International's motives, and that could potentially hold Buffett back from revisiting his decision not to invest in the stock. Yet much depends on whether the possible health advantages of heated-tobacco vapor over traditional cigarette smoking pan out. If they do, then investors like Buffett could claim the moral high ground by arguing that they're actually working at eliminating a former health hazard. Already, substitution rates for iQOS from traditional smoking are promising, and a full switch could occur more quickly than some thought possible just a short time ago.
Buffett isn't likely to put money into Philip Morris International until its transformation is much further along. However, the idea that the tobacco company will be off-limits forever is now off the table. If Philip Morris takes enough steps toward eliminating its traditional cigarette business, then it could get Buffett's attention -- especially if its profits hold up just as well, or better, with iQOS. |
0.995009 | The Prajñaptivāda (Conceptualist) school of Buddhism split from Golulikas in late third century BCE. The Prajñaptivādins were early articulators of the two truths doctrine that is so important to Mahāyāna Buddhism, where it is usually found in the tension between upāya and prajñā. The Prajñaptivādins distinguished between saṃvTemplate:Rti (conventional) and paramārtha (ultimate) truth, and between tattva dharmas (real phenomena) and prañapti ones (mere concepts). They grouped the senses and their objects, along with basic elements, as mere concepts, while identifying the skandhas and suffering as real.
There is evidence that the Prajñaptivādins were an influence on Nāgārjuna, who is also among the storied promulgators of the two truths doctrine (using some of the same technical terms), and who in his Mūlamadhyamakakārikā only cites one text by name, that being the Kaccāyanagotta Sutta, of which the Prajñaptivādins were known to be fond. |
0.999786 | With the availability of high performance CPUs and GPUs, it is pretty much possible to solve every regression, classification, clustering and other related problems using machine learning and deep learning models. However, there are still various factors that cause performance bottlenecks while developing such models. Large number of features in the dataset is one of the factors that affect both the training time as well as accuracy of machine learning models. You have different options to deal with huge number of features in a dataset.
Try to train the models on original number of features, which take days or weeks if the number of features is too high.
Reduce the number of variables by merging correlated variables.
Extract the most important features from the dataset that are responsible for maximum variance in the output. Different statistical techniques are used for this purpose e.g. linear discriminant analysis, factor analysis, and principal component analysis.
In this article, we will see how principal component analysis can be implemented using Python's Scikit-Learn library.
Principal component analysis, or PCA, is a statistical technique to convert high dimensional data to low dimensional data by selecting the most important features that capture maximum information about the dataset. The features are selected on the basis of variance that they cause in the output. The feature that causes highest variance is the first principal component. The feature that is responsible for second highest variance is considered the second principal component, and so on. It is important to mention that principal components do not have any correlation with each other.
There are two main advantages of dimensionality reduction with PCA.
The training time of the algorithms reduces significantly with less number of features.
It is not always possible to analyze data in high dimensions. For instance if there are 100 features in a dataset. Total number of scatter plots required to visualize the data would be 100(100-1)2 = 4950. Practically it is not possible to analyze data this way.
It is imperative to mention that a feature set must be normalized before applying PCA. For instance if a feature set has data expressed in units of Kilograms, Light years, or Millions, the variance scale is huge in the training set. If PCA is applied on such a feature set, the resultant loadings for features with high variance will also be large. Hence, principal components will be biased towards features with high variance, leading to false results.
Finally, the last point to remember before we start coding is that PCA is a statistical technique and can only be applied to numeric data. Therefore, categorical features are required to be converted into numerical features before PCA can be applied.
The dataset consists of 150 records of Iris plant with four features: 'sepal-length', 'sepal-width', 'petal-length', and 'petal-width'. All of the features are numeric. The records have been classified into one of the three classes i.e. 'Iris-setosa', 'Iris-versicolor', or 'Iris-verginica'.
The script above stores the feature sets into the X variable and the series of corresponding labels in to the y variable.
It is only a matter of three lines of code to perform PCA using Python's Scikit-Learn library. The PCA class is used for this purpose. PCA depends only upon the feature set and not the label data. Therefore, PCA can be considered as an unsupervised machine learning technique.
Initialize the PCA class by passing the number of components to the constructor.
Call the fit and then transform methods by passing the feature set to these methods. The transform method returns the specified number of principal components.
In the code above, we create a PCA object named pca. We did not specify the number of components in the constructor. Hence, all four of the features in the feature set will be returned for both the training and test sets.
The PCA class contains explained_variance_ratio_ which returns the variance caused by each of the principal components. Execute the following line of code to find the "explained variance ratio".
It can be seen that first principal component is responsible for 72.22% variance. Similarly, the second principal component causes 23.9% variance in the dataset. Collectively we can say that (72.22 + 23.9) 96.21% percent of the classification information contained in the feature set is captured by the first two principal components.
The rest of the process is straight forward.
In this case we'll use random forest classification for making the predictions.
It can be seen from the output that with only one feature, the random forest algorithm is able to correctly predict 28 out of 30 instances, resulting in 93.33% accuracy.
With two principal components the classification accuracy decreases to 83.33% compared to 93.33% for 1 component.
The accuracy received with full feature set is for random forest algorithm is also 93.33%.
From the above experimentation we achieved optimal level of accuracy while significantly reducing the number of features in the dataset. We saw that accuracy achieved with only 1 principal component is equal to the accuracy achieved with will feature set i.e. 93.33%. It is also pertinent to mention that the accuracy of a classifier doesn't necessarily improve with increased number of principal components. From the results we can see that the accuracy achieved with one principal component (93.33%) was greater than the one achieved with two principal components (83.33%).
For instance, in the chart above, we can see that after the third principal component the change in variance almost diminishes. Therefore, first three components can be selected. |
0.999993 | Ароматы здоровья и хорошего настроения.
Дожить до 100 лет без затрат.
ПОЧЕМУ ПОЖИЛЫЕ ЛЮДИ ПЛОХО СПЯТ НОЧЬЮ И ХОРОШО — ДНЕМ.
1. Вентиляция легких (число вздохов, умноженное на объем вдыхаемого воздуха) у здорового человека достигает 5-9 литров в минуту.
2. Если все эритроциты человека уложить рядом, то получилась бы лента, три раза опоясывающая земной шар по экватору.
3. В теле человека насчитывается 100-160 миллиардов капилляров. Если бы можно было вытянуть их в одну линию, то ее длина составила бы 60-80 тысяч километров, что в два раза больше длины земного экватора.
4. Крупные артерии человека могут выдерживать давление в 20 атмосфер.
5. В Древней Греции люди жили в среднем 29 лет, а в Европе ХVI века – 21, XVII века – 26, XVIII века – 34, в начале 20 века – около 50 лет, в середине 20 века – около 70 лет, а в конце 20 века – около 80 лет.
6. По твердости зубную эмаль можно сравнить с кварцем. Известно, что даже острие сабли при ударе об эмаль тупится.
7. Закупорка или разрыв сосуда какого-либо участка головного мозга ведет к отмиранию нервных клеток. Нервные клетки не оживают. Частично их функции берут на себя здоровые клетки.
8. На 1 квадратный сантиметр слизистой человеческого желудка приходится 100 желудочных желез. Они расположены вплотную.
9. Подсчитано, что человек за всю жизнь потребляет 2,5 т белка, 1,3 т жира, 17,5 т углеводов и 75 т воды.
10. В теле человека до 3 кг минеральных солей, из которых 5/6 входит в состав скелета. Поваренной соли в организме взрослого человека около 300 граммов.
11. Двадцать аминокислот, из которых состоят белки, могут давать 2 500 000 000 000 000 000 комбинаций различных белковых соединений.
12. Организм человека может выдержать нагрев до 44-45 градусов Цельсия.
13. За сутки человек выделяет столько тепла, что его хватит, чтобы довести до кипения 33 литра ледяной воды.
14. Человек более двадцати лет из шестидесяти проводит во сне.
« 14 ЗАПОВЕДЕЙ ЭМОЦИОНАЛЬНОЙ ЗАЩИТЫ.
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0.984524 | Similarities with Aesop's fable "The Hare and the Tortoise" could be pointed out.
2. It is a special day.
It is the first day of the Chinese New Year.
3. Most people here celebrate New Year on the 1st. of January, but Chinese people celebrate it on a different day each year.
4. They celebrate it on the day of the second new moon, after December 22nd., which this year is today.
If you look out of the window tonight, the moon will look very small.
5. The Chinese celebrate for 15 days.
They have fireworks, coloured lanterns, dragon processions, nice food - and maybe best of all - the children are given money in special red envelopes!
6. The Chinese also call the years after animals.
Today is the beginning of the Year of the (animal).
7. The years are named after 12 different animals.
We are going to show you how the 12 animals were chosen.
NARRATOR 1: It was nearly New Year. Twelve animals were arguing.
There was - a dog, a pig, a rat, an ox, a tiger, a hare, a dragon, a snake, a horse, a ram, a cockerel and a monkey.
NARRATOR 2: They thought the New Year should have a name.
They were arguing because each animal wanted the year to be named after itself.
The monkey, the dragon and the dog started the argument.
MONKEY: (SCAMPERS OUT OF THE WAY OF THE FLAMES.) No, it should be called The Year of the Monkey, because I'm the quickest.
DOG: (RUNS BEHIND TREE.) No, no. It should be called The Year of the Dog, because I'm the cleverest.
DRAGON + MONKEY: Oh no you're not!
DOG: Oh yes I am!
NARRATOR 1: They argued for hours. All the other animals joined in too. There was so much growling and barking and squeaking and bleating that they disturbed the Chinese gods.
GOD 1: Whatever is the matter with those animals?
GOD 2: Let's go and see.
NARRATOR 2: The gods appeared in the sky. The animals were amazed.
They stopped arguing and stared at the gods.
GOD 3: What are you arguing about?
God 4: Be quiet! What dreadful manners you all have!
NARRATOR 1: The animals were ashamed. One by one, they explained the problem. The gods thought it over.
GOD 1: We've got an idea. Listen carefully.
GOD 2: Can you see that big river? Why not have a race across it? We can name this New Year after the winner of the race.
DRAGON: That's a good idea.
NARRATOR 2: Each animal thought he would be the winner. They hurried to the river bank and lined up for the race.
GOD 3: Are you ready?
GOD 4: Ready, steady, go!
NARRATOR 1: With a mighty splash, the animals jumped into the river. They swam as fast as they could towards the other side. The ox was the strongest swimmer. He was soon in the lead.
OX: I'm going to win easily.
NARRATOR 2: Now the rat wasn't the best swimmer, but he was the cleverest animal there. He saw the ox was in the lead.
RAT: He's not going to beat me. I know what I'll do.
NARRATOR 1: The rat climbed onto the ox's back. The ox felt something strange.
OX: The water must be tickling me.
I'm going to be the winner! Ho, ho, ho!
NARRATOR 2: The ox laughed loudly - and swallowed a big mouthful of water!
While he was coughing and spluttering, the rat jumped off his back and onto the bank.
RAT: Hooray! I'm the winner. Tee, hee, hee.
OX: Where did you come from?
NARRATOR 1: The rat just laughed. The gods laughed too.
GOD 1: Hard luck, Ox. You're very strong, but Rat was too clever for you this time. We will call this year The Year of the Rat. Ox, you were second, so next year will be The Year of the Ox.
NARRATOR 2: One by one, the animals finished the race. Tiger was 3rd. Hare was 4th. Dragon was 5th. Snake was 6th. Horse was 7th. Ram was 8th. Monkey was 9th. Cockerel was 10th. Dog was 11th. and Pig was 12th.
GOD 2: Well done all of you. We will name a year after each of you, in the same order that you finished the race.
NARRATOR 1: The animals were happy with this and didn't argue anymore. Rat was especially pleased, because the first year was The Year of the Rat.
8. If you know any Chinese people, remember to wish them a Happy New Year.
And finally - we have an animal poem for you.
The wolf, the bear and lion too.
The rabbits, dogs and cats we keep.
YOU MADE US, GOD, AND WE THANK YOU.
9. Of course all animals are loved equally, by God who made them.
God does not have favourites. |
0.990715 | survival kits are good to use for: boy scouts, hiking, backpacking, camping, fishing, or for whatever (vacation/trips) easy to make fun for prepping for those listed things! These are for your survival kit or edc. Really good stuff. Once more, Boy Scout motto: be prepared. Because you never know what will happen. You might need them as a backups if you are away from your main your survival kit. From Wikipedia: mini survival kit is a small survival kit which consists of the most essential outdoor survival tools and supplies which are the hardest to improvise, craft on the spot, or replace. It is intended to be carried on one's person at all times, be appropriate to all environments, and be a comprehensive kit without being too large. Other personal gear will primarily offer additional serviceability and ease of use, but the mini survival kit should provide for the basic needs of a survival situation, followed by self rescue, assistance, or a return to normalcy in optimum situations. Two philosophies surround the preparation of mini survival kits. Some people like to carry a few, relatively large items such as a knife, matches, whistle, emergency food, water bottle, etc. Others prefer a collection of smaller but more comprehensive items such as rubber bands, paper clips, fishing equipment, lashing material, razor blades, etc. The decision of which technique to subscribe to depends on one's physical condition, survival skills, wilderness knowledge, and other factors. |
0.999986 | What aspect of technology poses a problem for the right to freedom from self-incrimination?
A. Employers have too much control over their employee's lives already, but technology will only give them greater control.
B. Technology moves so fast that prosecutors don't necessarily understand what some people accused of crimes actually did.
C. Individuals do not deserve protection from self-incrimination.
D. Technology may eventually be able to measure reactions and learn a person's secrets without the person saying anything. |
0.96033 | Southeast Asian arts, the literary, performing, and visual arts of Southeast Asia. Although the cultural development of the area was once dominated by Indian influence, a number of cohesive traits predate the Indian influence. Wet-rice (or padi) agriculture, metallurgy, navigation, ancestor cults, and worship associated with mountains were both indigenous and widespread, and certain art forms not derived from India—for example, batik textiles, gamelan orchestras, and the wayang puppet theatre—remain popular.
The term Southeast Asia refers to the huge peninsula of Indochina and the extensive archipelago of what is sometimes called the East Indies. The region can be subdivided into mainland Southeast Asia and insular Southeast Asia. The political units contained in this region are Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines. The Philippines originally was not included, because Philippine history has not followed the general historical pattern of Southeast Asia, but, because of its geographic position and the close affinities of its cultures with the cultures of Southeast Asia, it is now usually regarded as the eastern fringe of Southeast Asia.
A common geographic and climatic pattern prevails over all of Southeast Asia and has resulted in a particular pattern of settlement and cultural development. Mountain people generally have a different culture than that of the valley dwellers.
Southeast Asia has been the crossroads of many peoples who have been contending against each other for centuries. The first to come were the Austronesians (Malayo-Polynesians), sometimes described as Proto-Malays and Deutero-Malays. At one time they occupied the eastern half of mainland Southeast Asia, but later they were pushed toward the south and the islands by the Austroasiatics. At present, peoples of Austronesian origin occupy Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. There were three main Austroasiatic groups, the Mon, the Khmer, and the Viet-Muong. The Mon were at one time dominant, but they lost their ethnic identity in the 18th century and became absorbed by the Burmese and the Tai; only a few thousand Mon are now found living near the Myanmar-Thailand border. The Khmer from the 9th century to the 15th built a great empire, but much of its territory was lost to its neighbours so that only the small kingdom of Cambodia remains today. The Viet-Muong now occupy Vietnam. A Tibeto-Burmese tribe, the Pyu, founded an empire of city-kingdoms in the Irrawaddy Valley in the early centuries of the Common Era, but the Pyu disappeared, and the Burmese, taking the leadership, founded their kingdom of Pagan and have occupied Burma (now Myanmar) up to the present day. In the 13th century the Tai-Shan lost their kingdom of Nanchao in Yunnan, China, and entered the Mae Nam Chao Phraya Valley to found kingdoms that gradually evolved into the kingdoms of Siam (Thailand) and Laos.
In Southeast Asia, winds of change often came as storms. Indian commerce expanded into Southeast Asia in the early centuries of the Common Era and, in spite of its peaceful nature, caused revolutionary changes in the life and culture of the peoples of the region. The Indians would sojourn in the region in small numbers for two or three monsoons only. The success of their commercial venture and the safety of their persons depended entirely on the goodwill of the inhabitants. The Indians brought new ideas and new art traditions. Since these ideas had some affinity with indigenous ideas and art forms, the natives accepted them but were not overwhelmed by an influx of new traditions. The Hindu and Buddhist cultures of the Indians made a tremendous impact and came to form the second layer of culture in Southeast Asia, but the first layer of native ideas and traditions has remained strong to the present day.
Changes often came to Southeast Asia, usually because it possessed a commodity that was in great demand by the rest of the world. The Indians came because they were looking for fresh sources of gold after the Roman imperial source had run dry. In the 15th, 16th, and the 17th centuries, insular Southeast Asia attracted Islamic merchants from India and farther west and later the Portuguese and the Dutch as a rich source of spices. As with the Hindu and Buddhist merchants of the past, the Islamic traders came not as missionaries, though they did spread their religion in the region. The Portuguese came as conquerors and as militant missionaries of their Roman Catholic form of Christianity, and, for those reasons, their cultural traditions were unacceptable to the natives. In the 17th century the Dutch came as conquerors and colonists for whom the attraction was first spices and then coffee, rubber, and petroleum. Since mainland Southeast Asia produced no spices for export, it was less vulnerable to the navies of Portugal and The Netherlands, so the region was not greatly affected by the Muslims, Portuguese, and Dutch. In the 19th century, Britain and France became interested in mainland Southeast Asia as the back door to China and sought to possess it as a colony. By the end of the 19th century, Burma had fallen to Britain, Siam was allowed to retain its independence only with the tacit permission of the two powers, and the rest had fallen to France. When in the mid-20th century the whole of Southeast Asia became free again, European culture and European art forms clearly had made little impact. |
0.957609 | What is an appropriate level and kind of gift one should buy for a (great) real estate agent upon completion of the home buying process?
It’s usually customary for the real estate agent to get you a small gift upon closing your house. This is because the agent usually collects a very nice commission for the work they’ve done in closing your home. Thus, if it were me, I wouldn’t worry about a gift beyond a thank you and a handshake.
However, if you feel your realtor truly has gone far above and beyond the call of duty for you, I would suggest moving into your home, then baking some homemade goods in your new home and delivering them to the agent. No one, after all, can turn down any homemade cookies.
Just to be on the safe side, bring up food allergies in a conversation with your realtor before you do this. You can work it into the conversation in whatever way you feel most comfortable.
How do you manage your “To do”/Task list? Remember the Milk? I’m trying to decide what is the best way to manage my daily/weekly/monthly tasks… I had been using Google Docs but want to move onto Google Calendar so that I can put dates to all my tasks. Anything else I should consider instead?
You may find Remember the Milk for Google Calendar to be of use – I certainly do.
I mostly just use Remember the Milk for things to be done that don’t have a specific time and date attached to the item. If it does have such a time and date, I put it in my calendar instead.
I usually do keep separate lists for my daily, weekly, and monthly tasks so that I can see the individual lists or an overall view of all of the things that need to be done (and when they should be done by) if I so choose.
I agree with you that this is the optimal way to use Craigslist, but I still choose not to use it in this way. There are two big reasons for this.
First, it’s a time investment to browse those items each day. The time I spend digging through items is time I could be spent not searching for more stuff to possess.
Second, unless I’m looking for something specific, browsing Craigslist entries is nothing more than a way for me to see things that I didn’t realize I wanted or needed and possibly convince myself to spend money on them. Again, that’s not a positive addition to my life.
Sure, I look at Craigslist if I’m hunting for something. I’ll set up a filtered search and have it show me just those results during the time when I’m looking for a specific item. Beyond that, though, I simply don’t look for “deals” there.
How are the piano lessons going?
This is in reference to my third 2010 resolution.
I actually have my first one scheduled for this Thursday. I have a few books of simple sheet music already, along with some other material for reading. I think most of the first lessons will revolve around teaching me very simple songs that will eventually grow toward something more – which is something I’m completely fine with.
I’m a big believer in deliberate practice – and my teacher is aware of this. I told her flat-out that I don’t mind “boring and repetitive” practice in the least as long as I’m aware that it is leading towards something. She told me that was a refreshing attitude.
I’ve just started cello lessons and have rented the instrument for $37/month for two months. The music store I rent from will credit me half of the total rental money paid toward a purchase should I decide to do so in the future. The purchase price for a starter cello from them is in the neighborhood of $650.
I could alternately purchase a starter cello online for about $400 (about 10 months of rental cost), but without the rental credit.
If I love it (so far, so good!) and continue to play, at what point in time would it be better to purchase a cello, and from which source?
My immediate question would be how much resale value a cello would have if you purchased it. If you would have an easy route to re-sell the cello for some significant percentage of what you paid for it, I would buy it sooner rather than later, because money spent on rental is just money lost.
If you would have a hard time selling the cello, I would next look at my own history of sticking with things. Do you have a previous tendency to stick with passions for a long period, or do they burn brightly and flame out? Some people are naturally into variety – they focus on an activity for a while, then want to learn something new. Others tend to bear down on one or two things and seek to master them.
If your personal history shows you in the first group, hold off on buying. If your personal history shows you in the second group, I’d go ahead and pick one up.
I’ve been a reader of The Simple Dollar for years and I have an interesting question for you. I’m about to graduate from [a college] with a degree in computer science. I’ve played baseball every year in college and my coaches and I are pretty sure I’m going to get drafted in June.
My question is this: should I do it? The odds are very much against me making it in professional baseball, but I am pretty sure I can get a job in computer science right after graduation that pays much better than I’ll ever make in the minors. The only way that baseball is the right way for me to go financially is if I make the majors.
I edited this question a bit because I was concerned about this person’s privacy, since my research actually indicates that he has at least some professional potential at baseball, and I don’t want to interfere with that and give him the type of publicity that might interfere with his draft status, since his name will probably be Googled by professional teams.
For me, the real issue here would be whether or not Ryan would enjoy playing hundreds of games of baseball a year for the next several years (at least). If that sounds like an extremely enjoyable prospect, then you should go for it, as this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. If that sounds like complete drudgery, just be glad that baseball gave you the scholarship you needed to earn your degree and move into that computer science career.
Unless you are blessed with an inordinate amount of talent, you won’t get to the top level without the kind of burning passion that gets you onto that minor league bus a hundred times a year for several years. Do you have that kind of passion for baseball?
I followed your advice and got an emergency fund with three months’ worth of living expenses in it. I also started saving for a replacement for my current car. Last week, my car’s transmission failed. I took the car in to get it fixed (which cost me $2,500) and the repairman pretty much demanded that I get my brakes fixed, so I shopped around for that and dropped another $700. Now my emergency fund is running dry. Should I just move my car savings over? What should I do?
I would leave my new car savings alone for now. Instead, focus your future savings on rebuilding your emergency fund, then switch back to saving for your next car.
I would treat your car savings as a resource only to be tapped if your entire emergency fund is depleted. If you turn it over to your emergency fund with a self-imposed promise to “start over,” it’s very easy to talk yourself out of such a brave, audacious goal.
Leave your savings where it’s at right now. It will inspire you to keep saving once your emergency fund is back on track.
How do you think people will handle their money differently in ten years?
I think the slow death of the paper check will continue. Before too long, all payments will be handled either with a debit or credit card or with cash. Paper checks require too many resources to deal with, particularly when cards are more convenient for both buyer and seller – and cash has the advantage of anonymity, so it’ll stick around.
I think financial management tools are going to get substantially better, but they’re not going to be more widely adopted than they are now. There are a lot of small innovators pushing the 800 pound gorilla (Intuit) forward – and this will keep happening.
I also think that the current frugality trend won’t last. When the economy recovers, people will start spending more again. I would not be surprised at all to see the savings rate go back to zero in five years or so.
What classes did you take in college actually give you value in your life today? Most of my classes seem either to be strongly tied to my field of study or a complete waste of time.
My public speaking class had the potential to be valuable if I had taken it more seriously. Instead of really utilizing it to work on my public speaking – a skill I’ve used countless times since college, even though I didn’t expect to – I goofed off and treated it as an easy grade.
My technical writing class has popped up time and time again in various avenues of life. This, of course, could also be connected to the fact that I chose to become a writer.
I also found one class on information management to be really useful. I’m not sure this is a widely offered class, but it mostly focused on how to organize one’s personal information – making a good schedule, filing personal papers so they’re easy to find, organizing data, and so on.
In short, the classes that were useful were the ones that taught transferable skills. When I took them seriously, they were golden.
What’s your Super Bowl prediction? We want it now, in print, so we can see how back your picking skills are (just kidding).
Arizona Cardinals 42, San Diego Chargers 35.
I watched most of the Cardinals game on Sunday on low volume while getting my daughter to take a nap. My conclusion? Kurt Warner is some sort of cyborg. He threw more touchdowns than incomplete passes against an extremely good pass defense and without his best receiver (Boldin). I don’t even know what to say about that.
I don’t believe the Cardinals will lose to anyone if Warner keeps playing like this.
Of course, given my success with such picks, I’d expect both teams to lose next week. After all, I am a Chicago Cubs fan.
Got any questions? Ask them in the comments and I’ll try to include them in a future reader mailbag. |
0.945185 | Rocks are composed of minerals, which are natural inorganic (nonliving) substances with specific chemical compositions and structures. A rock may consist of many crystals of one mineral or combinations of many minerals. Hundreds of different kinds of minerals make up hundreds of different kinds of rocks. Geologists, scientists who study Earth and rocks, divide rocks into three main groups: igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks, and metamorphic rocks. These distinctions are made on the basis of the types of minerals in the rock, the shapes of individual mineral grains, and the overall texture of the rock. All of these properties indicate the environment, pressure, and temperature in which the rock formed.
The first rocks on Earth were igneous rocks. Igneous rocks are formed by the cooling and hardening of molten material called magma. The word igneous comes from the Latin word ignis, meaning "fire." There are two types of igneous rocks: intrusive and extrusive. Intrusive igneous rocks form within Earth's crust: the molten material rises, filling any available crevices in the crust, and eventually hardens. These rocks are not visible until Earth above them has eroded away. A good example of intrusive igneous rock is granite. Extrusive igneous rocks form when the magma pours out onto Earth's surface or erupts at Earth's surface from a volcano. Once on the surface (where it is called lava), it begins to cool and the minerals in the rock crystallize or grow together so that the individual crystals lock together. Extrusive rocks are also called volcanic rocks. Basalt, formed from hardened lava, is the most common extrusive rock. Obsidian, a black, glassy rock, is also an extrusive rock.
Igneous rock: Rock formed from the cooling and hardening of magma.
Lava: Molten rock that occurs at the surface of Earth, usually through volcanic eruptions.
Magma: Molten rock found below the surface of Earth.
Metamorphic rock: Rock formed by transformation of preexisting rock through changes in temperature and pressure.
Mineral: A naturally occurring, inorganic substance with a definite chemical composition and structure.
Rock cycle: Processes through which rocks change from one type to another, typically through melting, metamorphism, uplift, weathering, burial, or other processes.
Weathering: Natural process that breaks down rocks and minerals at Earth's surface into simpler materials (sediment) by physical (mechanical) or chemical means.
Essentially, Earth's continents are slabs of granite sitting on top of molten rock. The crustal plates of Earth are continually shifting, being torn open by faults and altered by earthquakes and volcanoes. New igneous material is continually added to the crust, while old crust falls back into Earth, sometimes deep enough to be remelted. Igneous rocks are the source of many important minerals, metals, and building materials.
Sedimentary rocks are those produced by the accumulation of sediments. These may be fine rock particles or fragments, skeletons of microscopic organisms, or minerals leached from rocks. Rock fragments and leached minerals are created through weathering, a natural process that breaks down rocks and minerals at Earth's surface into simpler materials by physical (mechanical) or chemical means.
broken apart by chemical processes. Acid reactions are a common form of chemical weathering, and the most common such reactions occur when carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide in the air react with water to form weak carbonic and sulfuric acid. Both of these acids have the ability to attack many kinds of rocks, changing them into other forms. For example, when carbonic acid reacts with limestone, it produces calcium bicarbonate.
The sediments created by weathering and the decay of organisms are then transported and deposited by wind, water, or ice. Over long periods of time, layer upon layer of sediments are deposited on top of each other and their own weight causes them to compress and harden into sedimentary rock. The horizontal layers of sedimentary rock are called strata. Common sedimentary rocks include shale, sandstone, and limestone.
Sedimentary rocks are the only rocks in which fossils can be preserved. The elevated temperatures and pressures needed to form both igneous and metamorphic rocks destroy fossils and organic remnants. The presence of fossils and the types of fossil organisms in a rock provide clues about the environment and age of sedimentary rocks. For example, fish fossils in sedimentary rock indicate that the sediments that make up the rock were deposited in a lake, river, or marine environment. By establishing the environment of the fossils in a rock, scientists learn more about the conditions under which the rock formed.
Metamorphic rock is rock that has changed from one type of rock into another. The word metamorphic comes from Greek and means "of changing form." Metamorphic rock is produced from igneous, sedimentary, or even other metamorphic rocks. Most of Earth's crust is made up of metamorphic rock. Igneous and sedimentary rocks become metamorphic rock as a result of intense heat from magma and pressure from burial within Earth. Although the rock undergoes extreme heat and a great deal of pressure, it does not melt. If the rock melted, it would become igneous and not metamorphic rock. Instead, the heat and pressure combine to change the mineral makeup of the rock. Essentially, metamorphic rocks are made of the same minerals as the original rock, but the various minerals have been rearranged to make a new rock.
There are two basic types of metamorphic rock: regional and thermal. Regional metamorphic rock, found mainly in mountainous regions, is formed by pressure. Different amounts of pressure produce different types of rock. The greater the pressure, the more drastic the change (also, the deeper the rock the higher the temperature, which adds to the potential for diverse changes). For example, a pile of mud can turn into shale (a fine-grained sedimentary rock) with relatively low pressure, about 3 miles (5 kilometers) down into Earth. With more pressure and some heat, shale can transform into slate and mica. Carried even deeper, slate transforms into schist (pronounced shist) and then gneiss (pronounced nice).
Thermal metamorphic rock, also called contact metamorphic rock, is formed by considerable pressure and, more important, intense heat. When molten rock pushes up into Earth's crust, the incredible pressure behind it forces the molten rock into any empty space. The accompanying intense heat causes the surrounding rock to completely recrystallize, forming a new rock. An example of this type of thermal metamorphic rock is marble, which is actually limestone whose calcite has recrystallized. Sandstone made mostly of quartz fragments recrystallizes into quartzite. Thermal metamorphic rocks are not as common or plentiful as regional metamorphic rocks.
The rock cycle depicts how the three main rock types can change from one type to another. All rocks exposed at Earth's surface undergo weathering, forming sediments that can be deposited to form sedimentary rocks. As sedimentary rocks are buried beneath more sediment, they are subjected to increases in both pressure and temperature, which can result in metamorphism and the formation of metamorphic rock. If the temperature of metamorphism is extremely high, the rock might melt completely and later recrystallize as an igneous rock. Rocks can move through the rock cycle along other paths, but uplift or burial, weathering, and changes in temperature and pressure are the primary causes of changes in rocks from one type to another.
We think that your website thingy is OK because it provides an exellent deal of information but you should provide more specific information on igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rock formations and what these words mean.
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this website is good for info but needs to say how they are useful and some types of that rock but otherwise ok.
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i need more i need what types are in the igneoius rock and same with sedimentary and metamorphic!!! i no all i need to o about the types of rocks, but i just need it to go deeper!!! if you can do that great, but if not well then ill just be at a different website!!!
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this informs with pictures gives a detailed account on rocks.
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pumice is also a igneaus rock which is formed by the air traps in lava.coal is a sedementry rock.taj mahal is made from sandstone.Limestone contains calcite mineral.Gniss rock shows alternative pattern.
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if sedimentary rocks change to igneous rocks what do you call that?
um i have a quiz tomarrow and i want to know some more information thank you bye.
Can you explaine what all three of those rocks have in common?
This was very helpful and I thank you for helping me.
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0.957562 | Identify the type of plastic you’re going to weld. Some plastics like polypropylene (used in car bumpers) can be welded only with a polypropylene rod. This is why you need to know what type of plastic you’re dealing with. Usually, they’re labeled with identification codes. If they aren’t, however, you’ll need to perform a welding test. The easiest and fastest method is to use the Techspan Rod Test Kit.
Once you’ve identified the plastic, prepare the tools you’ll need; that includes a piece of metal. It should include a handle which won’t conduct heat. You’ll need to heat up the metal in the flame so be sure you’re wearing gloves that are thick enough to protect your hand and prevent it from becoming too hot.
Heat the metal for more or less 10 seconds. Doing this will make the metal adequately hot for welding. This will make the welding easier.
Now, it’s time to make a few welds. To perform this step, make sure the edges of the plastic are held together. A few tack welds will ensure that both sides of the split are kept together. Next, get the hot metal and drag it from the side of the split to another. You’ll now observe that the plastic will melt as the hot blade touches it. This time it will be possible to pull it across the split. Remember not to go deep into the metal, just allow the plastic’s surface to melt. The metal will cool after a while, so you will need to heat it in a flame again for 10 seconds or so.
Now that the tack welds are done, it’s high time to close the split using broader strokes up and down the split. It’s a huge mistake to allow the metal to sink into the plastic. It will only make it weak and thin. Just combine the surfaces of the two sides and that’s it. Move on.
Do the previous step again for the other side to make sure the weld is strong enough. And voila! You’ve welded plastic like a pro. |
0.999237 | If you'd asked me how to make a scrapbook when I was a kid, some ***ty years ago, I'd have pointed you straight to the acid-enhanced paper and the 'add your own lignin' adhesive, given you some magazine pics and suggested you get on with it!
1. Get sorting those photos. How to make a scrapbook without some decent photos is a challenge too far for this scrapper!
The best way to do this is to get yourself an archive storage box, where you can keep photos in an acid-free regular temperature environment.
2. Select a group of photos around a theme. A chronological scrapbook is fine if you're showing off photos of your son or daughter growing up, but don't be cramped by chronology.
3. Buy an album! I would recommend you start with an 8 x 12 size, as this will save you a lot of money on papers etc. I mainly do 12 x 12s, as I prefer not to be too fiddly and intricate with embellishments. Haven't got the patience or the 'fine motor skills'!
Other advantages of an 8 x 12 are that an inkjet printer is far more likely to be able to print off that size of paper. Also, you can keep pages in an ordinary 3 ring binder while they're 'work in progress'.
Make sure your album has acid and lignin-free page protectors.
4. Sketch out your page designs first in rough. Especially decide on all the photos that will go on a specific page BEFORE you start sticking stuff down.
great sample on this page - about half way down - of how you could turn a line drawn sketch into a truly stunning layout.
5. Use a background paper and accents that evoke the content of the photos. If it's an autumn scrapbook layout , or a vacation scrapbook layout , then let the background add to the page-viewing experience.
6. Use journaling to personalise the photos. Using an acid-free journaling pen, write phrases or sentences that have a special meaning for you and are part of the same memory as the photos.
7. Embellish the page. If you want to know how to make a scrapbook layout stand out, then use embellishments, including 3D embellishments to make the page special.
There are plenty of tools available for anyone keen on finding out how to make a scrapbook. |
0.999999 | Who is responsible for dog attacks?
In California, dog owners are liable for injuries caused by their pets. However, not all dog owners carry enough insurance to pay a large damage claim. Stores that invite dogs onto their premises can also be held responsible for the damages resulting when a dog attacks a person on their premises.
If you see a dog acting aggressively or running loose in a store, it is important to report the animal to store management. That report can be important in preventing animal attacks. It can also help victims obtain compensation if they are bitten by an animal. Store owners can be forced to pay when they turn a blind eye to the dangers of allowing dogs into their stores.
If another person's dog bites you in California, you can recover compensation for economic and noneconomic damages resulting from the attack.
Economic damages include objectively verifiable monetary losses including medical expenses, counseling expenses, loss of earnings, costs of obtaining substitute domestic services, loss of employment and loss of employment opportunities.
Non-economic damages include subjective losses such as pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental suffering, emotional distress, loss of society and companionship, loss of consortium, injury to reputation and humiliation.
If your dog is injured or killed in an attack from another animal in a store, you can recover veterinary bills and, if your dog is killed, compensation for loss of your pet. |
0.941261 | A short biography of French anarchist a writer, Sébastien Faure.
Sebastien Faure was born in 1858 into a middle-class Catholic family in Saint-Etienne, near Lyon in central France. He was very well educated at Jesuit schools and intended for the priesthood, but after his father's death he went into the insurance business. After military service, he spent a year in England. He married and moved to Bordeaux (in south-western France). He soon lost his faith and became a socialist. He stood unsuccessfully as a candidate of the Parti Ouvrier (the Marxist Workers Party) in the Gironde in the 1885 election, but under the influence of Peter Kropotkin, Elise Reclus and Joseph Tortelier he moved towards anarchism.
In 1888 he broke with the authoritarian socialists, settled in Paris, and devoted the rest of his life to a career as a full-time propagandist for anarchism. He and his wife separated, though they were reconciled many years later. He became a very active writer and speaker, earning a living from giving lectures all over the country.
He never pretended to be an original thinker, but he was an effective populariser of other people's ideas. He took a moderate line in the movement, and advocated an eclectic approach which attempted to unite all tendencies. He wasn't convinced by the new syndicalist movement of the late 1890s, but was an active trade unionist himself. He wasn't an individualist, but took individualism seriously. He didn't support violent methods, but sympathised with those who used them. He was by no means a mere armchair theorist, but was frequently searched, arrested or prosecuted and occasionally imprisoned for his activities.
At first he was closely associated with Louise Michel, but he soon became a major figure in his own right, and one of the best-known anarchists in the country. In 1894 he was one of the defendants in the Trial of the Thirty, when the French authorities tried unsuccessfully to suppress the anarchist movement by implicating its leaders in criminal conspiracies, and was acquitted. He was involved in several papers at various times in several parts of France, the most important of which was Le Libertaire (The Libertarian), which he started with Louise Michel in November 1895 and which appeared weekly on and off until June 1914. He was active in the Dreyfusard movement to counter anti-Semitism, replacing Le Libertaire with the daily Journal du Peuple during 1899. He also produced Le Quotidien (The Daily) in Lyon during 1901-1902. From 1903 he was active in the birth-control movement. From 1904 to 1917 he ran a libertarian school called La Ruche (The Beehive) at Rambouillet (near Paris) based on the ideas of Francisco Ferrer.
He was a moderate opponent of the First World War, and issued a manifesto Vers la Paix (Towards Peace) at the end of 1914. He produced a general left-wing weekly Ce qu'il faut dire (What Must Be Said) from April 1916 to December 1917. In 1918 and 1921 he served short prison sentences for sexual offences involving young girls; this damaged but didn't destroy his career [NB we have been unable to discover the nature of these alleged crimes – any information you have please email us].
movement between the world wars. In the late 1920s he opposed the sectarianism both of the authoritarian Platformists and of their critics, and advocated what he called an `Anarchist Synthesis' in which individualism, libertarian communism and anarcho-syndicalism could co-exist. In 1927 he led a secession from the national Union Anarchiste, and in 1928 he helped to found the Association des Federalistes Anarchistes and to begin its paper, La Voix Libertaire (Libertarian Voice), which lasted from 1928 until 1939. He was reconciled with the national organisation and Le Libertaire in 1934. During the 1930s he took part in the peace movement as a prominent member of the International League of Fighters for Peace. In 1940 he took refuge from the war in Royan (near Bordeaux), where he died in 1942.
Apart from innumerable articles and lectures (many of which were printed as pamphlets and some of which were collected as books), several anarchist and atheist pamphlets (a few of which were translated into English), and accounts of La Ruche, his main work was an ambitious trilogy of books La Douleur universelle: Philosophie libertaire (Universal Sorrow: Libertarian Philosophy), an account of the problems caused by authority, which was published in 1895; Medicastres: Philosophie libertaire (Quacks: Libertarian Philosophy), an account of false solutions to the problems caused by authority, which was not published; and Mon communisme: Le bonheur universel (My Communism: Universal Happiness), a fictional account of libertarian revolution, which was published in 1921. In 1923 he published L'Imposture religieuse (Religious Imposture), a full-length attack on religion (of which a revised edition appeared in 1948). In 1926 he began his most ambitious project the preparation of the Encyclopedie Anarchiste, one of the most impressive and valuable libertarian publications ever produced. This appeared from 1927 as a series of separate parts and then in 1932 in a set of massive volumes. The whole work, containing nearly 3,000 large pages, consisted of a general alphabetical reference-book with entries contributed by leading anarchist writers from all over the world. Faure was the editor-in-chief, and also the author of many of the most important articles.
was based on a lecture he gave many times, was first published in Paris in 1914. It was frequently reprinted, and also occasionally translated. Just before his death a translation by Aurora Alleva and D. S. Menico was published in the United States as Does God Exist?. The present translation has been made by Nicolas Walter.
As can be seen in the pamphlet, Faure directs his arguments against the God of the theologians, especially the Roman Catholic fathers and doctors of the Church, rather than against the God of the philosophers, and his case was fitted to his audience of French working people a century ago. |
0.99989 | There is no permanent friendship in the world but there is always permanent interest, and that is what Somaliland people and its government need to focus on for a better future.
The political map of Africa that shows its independent countries had not been made by United Nations, by African Union, or by African nations. It is the result of the European Colonial Occupation legacy that invaded African Continent mainly at the end of the 19th century and divided it up into territories with colonial borders for their own political sphere of influence. When leaving most of Africa in 1960s, the Europeans based the independence and diplomatic recognition of all African emerging countries including Somaliland on their colonial borders inherited from colonial powers.
Likewise, all the borders of the Arab World [and the rest of Asia], and South America also emerged from colonial borders drawn mainly by Britain, France, and Spain and were all recognized too on their colonial borders.
Somaliland is located in the Horn of Africa. It lies between the 08°00′ – 11°30′ parallel North of the Equator and between 42°30′ – 49°00′ Meridian East of Greenwich. It is bordered by the Red Sea to the North, Djibouti to the West, Ethiopia to the South, and Somalia to the East. Somaliland has a coastline with the majority lying along the Gulf of Aden (Red Sea). The country is slightly larger than England, with an area of 137, 600 km. (53,100 sq. miles).
3. And that it has official proclamation of independence granted by the colonizing power on specified date.
Somaliland has perfectly fulfilled the three required conditions to be recognized as independent country by the United Nations and international community.
The Soviet Union that had 15 Socialist Republics created by the Bolshevik Revolution led by Lenin in 1917 broke up after social upheavals and political discontent ended its existence peacefully in 1989 with new countries emerging from it such as Georgia, Ukraine, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia etc. The federation of former Republic of Yugoslavia that had 8 countries broke up too after bloody civil wars [1991-1995] and new countries such as Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Slovenia etc. emerged from its ashes. All these new countries were recognized as sovereign nations by the Western World. South Sudan, which was historically part of Sudan, Eritrea, and East Timor were too recognized as independent nations by the Western World.
So, why does the Western World deny Somaliland of diplomatic recognition since 1991 [25 years] knowing that Somaliland has its colonial borders inherited from colonial powers as the rest of Africa, that it achieved independence before Somalia in 1960 (Somaliland achieved independence from Great Britain on June 26, 1960 while Somalia achieved independence from Italy on July 1, 1960), and that Somaliland withdrew from the union with Somalia after Somalia committed atrocities and crimes against Humanity in Somaliland in 1980s? Why does the Western World require Somaliland to have approval from Somalia or from the African Union for its recognition whereas the same conditions were not imposed on South Sudan, Eritrea, Timore, or the new countries emerging from the former Soviet Union or from former Yugoslavia?
The declaration of Organization of African Unity (O.A.U) in 1964 on African Borders was the formal acceptance of the existing colonial borders inherited from colonial powers on which independence and recognition of each African country were based. The declaration had nothing to do with unifications or unions between two or more African countries like that failed union between Somaliland and Somalia formed in 1960 as any union could be dissolved anytime if the sides disagree each restoring and retaining its original independence and borders.
That declaration reinforces the rightful claim of Somaliland to be recognized as independent nation too based on its colonial borders.
Senegal and Gambia shared Union in 1982 named Senegambia Confederation but dissolved in 1989 then each regained its original statehood and diplomatic recognition. Then, why is the Western World not accepting Somaliland to regain its statehood and recognition that it had on June 26, 1960 and before the union with Somalia? Is not that height of hypocrisy or double standard? If Uganda and Kenya share union today and after some time disagree and dissolve that union, each would be still independent, recognized nation on its colonial borders.
African Union claims that if Somaliland is recognized, it would shift or change the borders of current African independent nations inherited from colonial powers leading to instability and political unrest in Africa. This is groundless claim and laughable argument of African Union to deny Somaliland of its inalienable right to independent, recognized nation. Somaliland has same historical colonial borders with the rest of African, independent, recognized countries, and achieved independence before Somalia on June 26, 1960. Somaliland recognition would solely be based on its own unique colonial borders of Somaliland British Protectorate as the independence and recognition of any African state was based on its own colonial borders. If that claim were true, why didn’t the recognition of South Sudan and Eritrea change the borders of Africa and cause instability and political turmoil and unrest in the continent? The Western World and United Nations unreasonably believe in such cheap argument of African Union.
If Nyanza Province of Kenya, or Arusha Region of Tanzania, or Puntland province of Somalia would break away from their own respective countries and then get recognized by the world, that would change or shift the colonial borders inherited from colonial powers and that would create instability and political unrest in Africa because these provinces share history and colonial borders with their own countries. Somaliland is not breakaway region or province from Somalia but it is a country that withdrew from the failed union it shared, as two independent nations, with Somalia for thirty years (1960-1991).
The Western World has been denying Somaliland of its rightful diplomatic recognition for 25 years taking orders from Somalia and from the African Union of not recognizing Somaliland. And because of that denial, Somaliland suffers from poverty and economic setbacks, its health and education are deteriorating, its youth is drowning in the Mediterranean Sea seeking better life to Europe, and its armed forces is not equipped with modern weapons, training, and communication for national defense. The country is in dire situation in all fields and the yearly $100.00 million meager financial aid from Europe to Somaliland is not of any relief for the economic woes of the country.
The location of Somaliland is very strategic and it closely links Asia, Africa, and Europe together as the world is globalized. The Cold War between Western World and Eastern World is almost back and that doubles the strategic importance of Somaliland, especially Berbera Seaport. The West does not afford to lose Berbera and the East cannot give it up.
United Arab Emirates is a small country protected by the West. It cannot afford to run the strategic Seaport of Berbera in the long term militarily and economically. The strategic position of Berbera is too important and too big for small dependent country like the United Arab Emirates to handle it. The recent agreement between Somaliland Government and United Arab Emirates cannot promise any tangible economic progress that Somaliland people would need. That agreement just seems to be distraction orchestrated by the Western World to protect Somaliland strategic location [Berbera] from falling to the East (Russia or China).
Since the discovery of the New World by Columbus Christopher in 1492 and the discovery of the route to India by Vasco Da Gama in 1498, the Western World has been on the rise in this world but that 500 year-old Western supremacy faces new threats by the Eastern World in 2016. The world seems much closer to Global War than ever before, and if there is Global War, God forbid, and the Superpowers rush to seize strategic military locations in the world to win the war, small countries like the United Arab Emirates would be easily overrun militarily leaving Somaliland helpless. Somalis say: “Either be a mountain or lean on a mountain.” United Arab Emirates is not that mountain that Somaliland can lean on for support.
Now, it is time for the West to recognize Somaliland Diplomatically and made huge economic investments in the country just for strategic sake to keep Somaliland from going to East. Definitely, the West does not want to see Russian or Chinese strategic nuclear missiles put at Berbera facing toward Europe. If the West fails to recognize and invest in Somaliland, then it is fair for the Somaliland people and government to reassess the relations of the country with the West and go for the East that would subsequently lead to recognition of Somaliland as well as turning Somaliland into strategic military and economic powerhouse in Africa because of its strategic location.
Permanent interest is more important than oral friendship. Friendship without real bilateral interest is false friendship. Either way, Berbera will be the gateway to Somaliland recognition at the end and not far. The Western World should know that Somaliland cannot remain unrecognized while it has legitimate right for recognition as well as being one of the most strategic locations of the world. It is inevitable for Somaliland people to make choice between East and West soon or later. Returning to the union with Somalia is not viable option for Somaliland people because unions are not successful in current Africa due to brutal dictatorships, chronic tribalism, and rampant government corruptions.
It is also important to suspend all talks with Somalia because it will not produce any results favorable to Somaliland and because Somalia is constantly undermining Somaliland sovereignty. Likewise, ties should be severed with Turkey for supporting Somalia militarily and economically while entertaining Somaliland.
Somaliland: Muxuu Madaxweyne Muuse Biixi Ku Aamusiiyay Siyaasiyiin Dhalliili Jiray Siilaanyo?
Tog-wajaale New Mayor hit the nail on the head !!! |
0.999989 | I am looking for a skilled person who can design the business model for an exclusive product for India market . The Business model must include CMA data , market forecast , Statistics , Analytics , 5 years projection , ROI , investments , Break Even , and Go to Market Strategy .
We have around 10 upcoming product to be launched. |
0.994953 | Swimming regularly has huge health benefits. One of the main reasons swimming is such an important form of exercise is that it is available to everyone, of any age or ability, and is a life long skill.
There are no harsh impacts on the body as it is a non-weight bearing exercise and can be a good form of rehabilitation for certain injuries and illnesses.
Increases muscle strength; water is 12 times as dense as air making your body work harder.
Weight can be kept under control if you swim regularly and eat healthy, depending on what stroke you swim, calories burned every 10 minutes of swimming ranges from 60-150.
Swimming can also reduce the risk of chronic illnesses, such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Stress, tension and anxiety can all be relieved by swimming.
Social benefits; interaction with others and meeting new people is a great advantage of swimming, whether it be meeting up with friend, or training competitively.
Safety in and around water is a vital aspect of the learning to swim process, and an invaluable life skill.
Also a great activity for their emotional health, water is a relaxing environment to be in, again stress and anxiety levels are reduced, and enjoyment and interaction with other children is excellent for social skills. |
0.941078 | The Comoros ( IPA: [kəˡmɔːɹəʊz]), officially the Union of the Comoros (French: 'Union des Comores', [ynjɔ̃ de kɔmɔʀ]; Arabic: اتحاد القمر, [ʔitːiˡħæːd ælˈqɒmær], and until 2002 the Islamic Federal Republic of the Comoros), is a country in the Indian Ocean, situated at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel between northern Madagascar and northern Mozambique.
The country consists of three of the four main islands in the volcanic Comoros archipelago: Grande Comore, Mohéli and Anjouan. The fourth island in the island group, Mayotte, is not part of the country. Mayotte has voted against independence from France, but is claimed by Comoros. The country's territory also encompasses many smaller islands. Its name derives from the Arabic word qamar ("moon"), as seen depicted on its flag.
Wikimedia Atlas of Comoros .
Over the centuries, the islands of Comoros were populated by a succession of diverse groups from the coast of Africa, the Persian Gulf, Indonesia, and Madagascar. Portuguese explorers visited the archipelago in 1505.
Between 1841 and 1912, France established colonial rule and placed the islands under the administration of the governor general of Madagascar. Later, French settlers, French-owned companies, and wealthy Arab merchants established a plantation-based economy that now uses about one-third of the land for export crops. Agreement was reached with France in 1973 for Comoros to become independent in 1978. On July 6, 1975, however, the Comorian parliament passed a resolution declaring independence. The deputies of Mayotte, which stayed under French control, abstained. Ahmed Abdallah became the first president and proclaimed the Comoros' independence on September 5, 1975.
The next thirty years were a period of political turmoil. It began in 1975 when a mercenary named Bob Denard under orders from Jacques Foccart forcibly ousted president Ahmed Abdallah from office and replaced him with Ali Soilih. Around that time, in two referendums — December 1974 and February 1976 — the population of Mayotte voted against independence from France (by 63.8% and 99.4% respectively). The three independent islands, ruled by President Solih, instituted a number of socialist and isolationist policies that soon strained relations with France. On May 13, 1978 Bob Denard returned and overthrew President Solih by force and re-instated Abdallah. Unlike Abdallah, Soilih was killed after being forced from office. Abdallah continued as president until 1989 when, fearing a probable coup d'état, he signed a decree ordering the Presidential Guard, led by Bob Denard, to disarm the armed forces. Shortly after the signing of the decree, a military officer allegedly entered president Abdallah's office and fatally shot him, injuring Denard at the same time. A few days later, Bob Denard was evacuated to South Africa by French paratroopers. Said Mohamed Djohar, Soilih's older half-brother, then became president and served until September 1995 when Bob Denard returned and attempted another coup. France intervened with paratroopers and forced Denard to surrender. The French moved Djohar to Reunion and the Paris-backed Mohamed Taki Abdulkarim became president by election. He led the country from 1996 until he died in November 1998. Colonel Azali seized power in a bloodless coup in April 1999, overthrowing the Interim President Tadjiddine Ben Said Massounde.
The islands of Anjouan and Mohéli declared their independence from Comoros in 1997. A subsequent attempt by Azali to consolidate power and reestablish control over these islands was the subject of international criticism, and the African Union, under the auspices of President Mbeki of South Africa, intervened to help broker negotiations and effect a reconciliation. This involved a system of governmental autonomy for each island, plus a Union government for the three islands. Azali stepped down in 2002 to run in the democratic election of the President of the Comoro Union, which he won. Under ongoing international pressure, as a military ruler who had originally come to power by force and was not always democratic while in office, Azali led the Union through constitutional changes that enabled new elections. A "Loi des compétences" (a law that defines the responsibilities of each governmental body) was passed in early 2005 and is in the process of implementation. The elections in 2006 were won by Ahmed Abdallah Sambi, a Sunni Muslim Cleric nick-named the "Ayatollah" for his time spent studying Islam in Iran. Azali honored the election results, thus allowing the first-ever peaceful and democratic exchange of power in the archipelagos' recent and turbulent history.
Comoros is formed by three of the four main islands in the Comoros Archipelago; the fourth is the French territory of Mayotte. The archipelago is situated in the Indian Ocean, between the African coast and Madagascar. The interior of the volcanic islands varies from steep mountains to low hills. Le Karthala (2,361 m or 7748 ft) on Grand Comore is an active volcano.
Politics of the Union of the Comoros takes place in a framework of a federal presidential republic, whereby the President of the Comoros is both head of state and head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Federal legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament.
The Comorian legal system rests on Islamic law and an inherited French ( Napoleonic code) legal code. Village elders or civilian courts settle most disputes. The judiciary is independent of the legislative and the executive. The Supreme Court acts as a Constitutional Council in resolving constitutional questions and supervising presidential elections. As High Court of Justice, the Supreme Court also arbitrates in cases where the government is accused of malpractice. The Supreme Court consists of two members selected by the president, two elected by the Federal Assembly, and one by the council of each island.
The military resources of the Comoros consist of a small standing army and a 500-member police force, as well as a 500-member defense force. A defense treaty with France provides naval resources for protection of territorial waters, training of Comorian military personnel, and air surveillance. France maintains a small troop presence in Comoros at government request. France maintains a small maritime base and a Foreign Legion Detachment (DLEM) on Mayotte. See also Military of Comoros.
In November 1975, Comoros became the 143rd member of the United Nations. The new nation was defined as consisting of the entire archipelago, despite the fact that France maintains control over Mayotte.
Comoros also is a member of the Organization of African Unity, the Arab League, the European Development Fund, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Indian Ocean Commission, and the African Development Bank.
See also Foreign relations of Comoros.
Comoros is one of the poorest countries in the world. Agriculture, including fishing, hunting, and forestry, is the leading sector of the economy.
Comoros has inadequate transportation system, a young and rapidly increasing population, and few natural resources. The low educational level of the labor force contributes to a subsistence level of economic activity, high unemployment, and a heavy dependence on foreign grants and technical assistance. Agriculture contributes 40% to GDP, employs 80% of the labor force, and provides most of the exports. Comoros is the World's largest producer of ylang-ylang, and a large producer of vanilla.
The Comorians inhabiting Grande Comore, Anjouan, and Moheli (eighty-six percent of the population) share African-Arab origins. Islam is the dominant religion. Although Arab culture is firmly established throughout the archipelago, a substantial minority of the citizens of Mayotte (the Mahorais) are Roman Catholic and have been strongly influenced by French culture. There are also substantial Indian minority., as well as Creole-speaking minorities mostly descended from Reunionnaise. Chinese peoples are also present on Mayotte.
The most common language is Comorian, a Swahili dialect. French, Arabic and Malagasy also are spoken. About fifty-seven percent of the population is literate in the Latin alphabet, more with the Arabic alphabet. |
0.520675 | William Wallace was victorious at the battle of Stirling Bridge. However, his co-commander Andrew Murray died soon afterward, leaving Wallace alone as Guardian of the Kingdom to face a superior English force under Edward I himself at the battle of Falkirk in 1298. He lost. His credibility ruined, Wallace resigned the Guardianship, but did not give up the fight.
He never surrendered to Edward and Edward always excepted him from any offers of clemency.
Having served Scotland abroad by diplomacy in France, Wallace returned to Scotland. On 3 August 1305 he was betrayed to the English and captured. On 23 August he was executed.
What follows comes from an 18th-century transcript of a medieval manuscript from the Sir Robert Cotton collection, which was lost in a fire in 1731. It is a contemporary record of Wallace's 'trial' and sentence in London before an English court acting on behalf of a king whose authority Wallace never recognised. It is a translation from the original Latin.
William Wallace, a Scot, and born in Scotland, a prisoner for sedition, homicides, plunderings, fire-raisings, and diverse other felonies came and, after the same justices had read out how the aforesaid lord the King had in hostile manner conquered the land of Scotland over John Balliol, the prelates, the earls, the barons and other enemies of his of the same land, in forfeiture of the same John, and by the conquest of him had submitted and subjugated all the Scots to right of ownership and his royal power as their King, he had received in public the homages and pledges of the prelates, the earls, the barons and very many others, and he had made his peace to be proclaimed throughout the whole of the land of Scotland.
He had appointed and set up the Guardians of that land, appointing the sheriffs, the provosts, the bailies and other ministers of his, in his place, to maintain his peace and give justice to all whomsoever according to the laws and customs of that land.
The aforesaid William Wallace, forgetful of his fealty and allegiance, raised up all he could by felony and premeditated sedition against the same lord the King, having united and joined to himself an immense number of felons, and he feloniously invaded, and attacked the Guardians and ministers of the same King, feloniously and against the same lord the King's peace, insulted, wounded and killed William de Heselrigg, sheriff of Lanark, who the appointments of the said King in the regular meeting of the county court, and afterwards in contempt of the same king without reason fought against the same sheriff whom he had killed.
He feloniously and seditiously slaughtered religious men and monks dedicated to God, and burnt and laid waste churches constructed for the honour of God and the saints, together with the bodies of the saints and other relics of them that had been honourably collected therein; he spared no-one who spoke the English language, but afflicted all, old men and youths, wives and widows, children and babes in arms with a more grievous death than could be considered. And so, every day and every hour, he seditiously and feloniously persisted in contriving the death of the same lord the King, and the destruction and the manifest weakening of the crown and his royal majesty. And it is clear that after such outrageous and horrible deeds, the aforesaid lord the King, together with his great army, had invaded the land of Scotland and had defeated the aforesaid William, who was bearing his standard against him in mortal warfare, and other enemies of his, and had granted his true peace to all from that land and had mercifully taken the aforesaid William Wallace back into his peace, the said William seditiously and feloniously, whole-heartedly and undauntedly persevering in his above noted wickedness, disdained to submit himself to the aforesaid lord King's peace and to come forth to it, and so was publicly outlawed in the court of the same lord the King as traitor, robber and felon, according to the laws and customs of England and Scotland.
It is clearly both unjust and in disagreement with English laws and it is held true that anyone thus outlawed and placed outside the laws and not afterwards restored to his peace, is committed to the forfeiture of his own status or accountability. It is considered that the aforesaid William, for the open sedition which he had made to the same lord the King by felonious contriving, by trying to bring about his death, the destruction and weakening of the crown and of his royal authority and by bringing his standard against his liege lord in war to the death, should be taken away to the palace of Westminster as far as the Tower of London, and from the Tower as far as Allegate [Aldgate], and thus through the middle of the city as far as Elmes, and for the robberies, murders and felonies which he carried out in the kingdom of England and the land of Scotland he should be hanged there and afterwards drawn. And because he had been outlawed and not afterwards restored to the King's peace, he should be beheaded and decapitated.
And afterwards for the measureless wickedness which he did to God and to the most Holy Church by burning churches, vessels and shrines, in which the body of Christ and the bodies of the saints and relics of the same were wont to be placed together, the heart, liver, and lung and all the internal [parts] of the same William, by which such evil thoughts proceeded, should be dispatched to the fire and burned. And also because he had committed both murders and felonies, not only to the lord the King himself but to the entire people of England and Scotland, the body of that William should be cut up and divided and cut up into four quarters, and that the head thus cut off should be affixed upon London bridge in the sight of those crossing both by land and by water, and one quarter should be hung on the gibbet at Newcastle upon Tyne, another quarter at Berwick, a third quarter at Stirling, and a fourth quarter at St John's town [Perth] as a cause of fear and chastisement of all going past and looking upon these things &c. |
0.925515 | A memorial is planned Friday for Berg, as questions arise over his detention weeks before his slaying.
WEST CHESTER, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- When Nicholas Berg took an Oklahoma bus to a remote college campus a few years ago, the American recently beheaded by terrorists allowed a man with terrorist connections to use his laptop computer, according to his father.
Michael Berg said the FBI investigated the matter more than a year ago. He stressed that his son was in no way connected to the terrorists who captured and killed him.
Government sources told CNN that the encounter involved an acquaintance of Zacarias Moussaoui -- the only person publicly charged in the United States in connection with the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.
According to Berg, his son was taking a course a few years ago at a remote campus of the University of Oklahoma near an airport. He described how on one particular day, his son met "some terrorist people -- who no one knew were terrorists at the time."
At one point during the bus ride, Berg said, the man sitting next to his son asked if he could use Nick's laptop computer.
"It turned out this guy was a terrorist and that he, you know, used my son's e-mail, amongst many other people's e-mail who he did the same thing to," Berg said.
Government sources said Berg gave the man his password, which was later used by Moussaoui, the sources said.
The sources said the man who used Berg's e-mail knew Moussaoui, now awaiting trial on federal charges that could bring a death sentence. But the sources would not disclose details of how the men were connected.
Moussaoui, 36, was arrested in August 2001 after he aroused suspicion at a Minnesota flight school when he arrived for 747 simulator training without holding a pilot's license. A French national of Moroccan descent, Moussaoui has admitted in open court that he belonged to al Qaeda, the radical Islamic group behind the September 11 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people.
But Moussaoui has fiercely denied being involved in the September 11 plot, and the prosecutors' theory of his role has shifted from being a possible 20th hijacker that day to possibly piloting a fifth hijacked jetliner targeting the White House.
Berg said his son cooperated fully with an FBI investigation into the matter.
"He was happy to cooperate, and that was never an issue," he said. He emphasized that the individual was not a friend of his son's or even an acquaintance -- "just a guy sitting next to him on the bus."
"Whoever was next to my son was treated with great respect and friendship. Like I said, he knew no dangers from people. The FBI were satisfied with that." |
0.936998 | Massimo Cellino is trying to engineer a bidding war in his protracted sale of Leeds United.
The Italian, banned by the Football League until the end of the season for tax evasion, claimed that six interested parties had contacted him about taking over.
Yorkshire businessman Steve Parkin is keen on acquiring the club he supports but Sportsmail understands there are concerns about his financial clout. Parkin, who owns non-league Guiseley, is worth an estimated £200million.
He was in the directors' box for Leeds' 3-0 win at Huddersfield on Saturday but a purchase is not imminent. Parkin attempted to buy the club in 2013 but pulled out after doing due diligence. It is understood he has begun negotiations with Cellino but would have to put down a deposit in order to perform due diligence this time.
Cellino insists looking over the Leeds books would take no more than half an hour as he launches a charm offensive in trying to sell. But his desire to recoup as much money as possible could scare off potential investors.
The 59-year-old did similar when dispensing with Cagliari. The billionaire owner of Paris Saint-Germain, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, was mentioned - a tactic which eventually ramped the price up to around €45m (£31.7m) when an Italian firm bought the Sardinia side.
Soft drink giant Red Bull has ended any lingering interest in lodging a formal bid for the Whites after a social media frenzy at the back end of last season when members of staff were spotted at a game.
There were fears that Red Bull would change the name, badge and even location of the club and they were met with fierce disapproval.
Cellino is ready to leave Leeds amid supporter unrest and angered fans last week by dismissing their financial plans to purchase a controlling stake as 'fairytales' after seemingly agreeing to dialogue with Leeds Fans United. He would not agree an exclusivity period with them and is actively inviting others to bid.
The chaos has left staff at Elland Road fearing for their jobs, while the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) released a statement on Thursday in response to rumours of match-fixing allegations about Leeds.
The statement read: 'The International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) cannot confirm or deny any match-fixing allegations concerning Leeds United at this moment and would like to clarify that it is not investigating the club or any matches it has been involved with.
'To suggest a formal investigation has been started without hard evidence, would not only negatively impact the credibility and integrity of the club but also the league as a whole. |
0.999998 | Read this article in order to learn more about how to use read-through and write-through in distributed cache.
With the explosion of extremely high transaction web apps, SOA, grid computing, and other server applications, data storage is unable to keep up. The reason is data storage cannot keep adding more servers to scale out, unlike application architectures that are extremely scalable.
In these situations, in-memory distributed cache offers an excellent solution to data storage bottlenecks. It spans multiple servers (called a cluster) to pool their memory together and keep all cache synchronized across servers, and it can keep growing this cache cluster endlessly, just like the application servers. This reduces pressure on data storage so that it is no longer a scalability bottleneck.
Cache-aside: This is where application is responsible for reading and writing from the database and the cache doesn't interact with the database at all. The cache is "kept aside" as a faster and more scalable in-memory data store. The application checks the cache before reading anything from the database. And, the application updates the cache after making any updates to the database. This way, the application ensures that the cache is kept synchronized with the database.
Read-through/Write-through (RT/WT): This is where the application treats cache as the main data store and reads data from it and writes data to it. The cache is responsible for reading and writing this data to the database, thereby relieving the application of this responsibility.
Figure 1: Read-through/Write-through caching architecture.
Simplify application code: In the cache-aside approach, your application code continues to have complexity and direct dependence on the database and even code duplication if multiple applications are dealing with the same data. Read-through/Write-through moves some of the data access code from your applications to the caching-tier. This dramatically simplifies your applications and abstracts away the database even more clearly.
Better read scalability with Read-through: There are many situations where a cache-item expires and multiple parallel user threads end up hitting the database. Multiplying this with millions of cached-items and thousands of parallel user requests, the load on the database becomes noticeably higher. But, Read-through keeps cache-item in the cache while it is fetching the latest copy of it from the database. It then updates the cache-item. The end result is that the application never goes to the database for these cache-items and the database load is kept to the minimum.
Better write performance with Write-behind: In cache-aside, application updates the database directly synchronously. Whereas, a Write-behind lets your application quickly update the cache and return. Then, it lets the cache update the database in the background.
Better database scalability with Write-behind: With Write-behind, you can specify throttling limits so the database writes are not performed as fast as the cache updates and therefore the pressure on the database is not much. Additionally, you can schedule the database writes to occur during off-peak hours, again to minimize pressure.
Auto-refresh cache on expiration: Read-through allows the cache to automatically reload an object from the database when it expires. This means that your application does not have to hit the database in peak hours because the latest data is always in the cache.
Auto-refresh cache on database changes: Read-through allows the cache to automatically reload an object from the database when its corresponding data changes in the database. This means that the cache is always fresh and your application does not have to hit the database in peak hours because the latest data is always in the cache.
Read-through/Write-through is not intended to be used for all data access in your application. It is best suited for situations where you're either reading individual rows from the database or reading data that can directly map to an individual cache-item. It is also ideal for reference data that is meant to be kept in the cache for frequent reads even though this data changes periodically.
A read-through handler is registered with the cache server and allows the cache to directly read data from database. The NCache server provides a Read-through handler interface that you need to implement. This enables NCache to call your Read-through handler.
// Let's extract actual customerID from "key"
Start() performs certain resource allocation tasks like estalishing connections to the main datasource, whereas Stop() is meant to reset all such allocations. Load is what the cache calls to read-through the objects.
Write-through handler is invoked, when the cache needs to write to the database as the cache is updated. Normally, the application issues an update to the cache through add, insert, or remove.
Start() performs resource allocation tasks like estalishing connections to the datasource, whereas Stop() is meant to reset all such allocations. Save is the method the cache calls to write-through objects.
Following sample code shows using the read-through/write-through capabilities of cache from a simple Windows application.
Published at DZone with permission of Iqbal Khan . See the original article here. |
0.953937 | A short review of Naomi Novik's Temeraire Series: His Majesty's Dragon, Throne of Jade, and Black Powder War.
Finding a great book is golden, but a little bittersweet when the story ends. So there's nothing better than finding a great series of books . . . unless it's a great series of books involving dragons! The Temeraire series by Naomi Novik falls into this last category quite gloriously. The three books thus far are His Majesty's Dragon , Throne of Jade , and Black Powder War , with two more books on the way.
The stories are woven into the real events of the Napoleonic war. Dragons not only exist, they and their human aviators participate in the war as a standing air force. Novik's detail of life and world during this era completely immersed me in the times. The historical details are plentiful and appropriate to the plot. Unlike some works that read like modern era stories dressed in an old facade, Novik meshes the real and fictional details so well I could easily imagine this as a factual account from the 1800's. She even manages to include female aviators without violating the historical realities of the time.
As well rendered as Novik's world is, it's her dragons that shine. Especially Temeraire, the main character of the stories. Through Temeraire's unique world view the stories explore duty, honour, loyalty and responsibility. Novik provides a rich palate of cultures, relationships, social classes, power dynamics and situations for us to consider them in. But this isn't a cerebral story. There's plenty of well written naval, aviation and dragon action to woo your imagination and produce wistful thoughts of being a dragon aviator. The pacing and writing are excellent, I couldn't put any of the novels down.
It was a great pleasure discovering Novik's universe, characters and dragons as the stories unfolded before me. I wish upon you the same pleasure. |
0.999986 | Mesopotamia 5 Traits of Civilization - HISTORY'S HISTORIESYou are history. We are the future.
The domestication of crops and animals is called agriculture. Before the rise of agriculture, people were nomadic hunter-gatherers. That is, they moved each season in search of food. The rise of agriculture, allowed people to give up their nomadic, hunter-gatherer lifestyles and settle into villages. As agricultural techniques improved, farmers sometimes produced surpluses. For example, farmers might grow more than what their families or villages could use. The extra was an economic surplus. Surpluses in early farming villages were not limited to food but might also include cloth and other products such as wool or animal skins. Surpluses helped villages survive bad seasons.
As farmers began to produce more surpluses, villages did not need as many farmers to raise food. As a consequence, some people began specializing in other types of work such as making pottery or weaving cloth. Specialized workers also created surpluses and might trade their goods for food or other services. As life in villages became more complex, the types of specialized jobs grew. In addition to farmers and craftsmen, specialized workers in complex villages included holy people and, eventually, government.
In this way, surpluses encouraged the growth of populations and increased trade. As this happened, more people decided to settle into these communities. Soon, the villages grew larger and became cities. From your last lesson, you'll remember that cities are an important trait of civilization. Because of this, it can be said that surpluses are the first step on the way to civilization. It wasn't long before city leaders had to come up with ways to organize workers to solve civic problems, such as building public structures and cleaning irrigation canals.
As the cities became more populated, more types of specialized workers were needed and society and culture became more complex. These changes led to an advanced type of culture called civilization. The words city, and civilization both share a common Latin root that is related to the idea of citizen. So, you might say that one of the traits of civilization is a larger population. Historians think the first civilization arose about 3300 BCE in Sumer, which is in southern Mesopotamia.
The ancient Sumerians settled in the land between the rivers, farmed the land, and built the world's first civilization.
What is the first step on the way to civilization?
Civilization is characterized by five traits: specialized workers, complex institutions, record keeping, advanced technology, and advanced cities. It's true that a culture or society may demonstrate evidence of one or more of these traits, but without possessing all five a culture, even an advanced one, can not be called a civilization.
1) Specialized Workers: The larger populations of a city demand that more food be produced. In general, a society needs food surpluses before civilization can develop. Having food surpluses allowed some people to do other types of work besides farming. With food surpluses, workers can specialize in jobs that require special skills. For instance, Sumerian workers built houses, sewed clothes, created pottery, and cooperated on building public projects such as ziggurats and irrigation canals. With so many needs and such a variety of workers, some people took on the job of organizing society. In early Sumer, priests did that job. They ran society and acted as judges.
2) Complex Institutions: In time, religion and government became institutions. An institution is a group of people who share a specific purpose. For instance, schools are institutions that exist to educate a population. Religion is an institution that helps a population meet its spiritual needs. An army is an institution that helps a society meet its security needs.
3) Record Keeping: Societies must keep track of many things. For example, rulers may want to measure the amount of surpluses stored in the city. Keeping records usually involves writing, but not always. In Mesopotamia, people started by using wooden counting sticks. Later, they invented the world's first system of writing, cuneiform.
4) Advanced Technology: As people learn better ways to do things, societies advance. The people of early Sumer learned to use canals to irrigate crops. They also created new tools and used new materials to make those tools. For instance, the Sumerians began to make tools out of bronze. Bronze tools replaced tools made of copper, a softer metal.
5) Advanced Cities: Civilization is closely linked to life in cities. At first, cities became important because farmers needed a place to store and trade their surplus grain. As cities grew, however, they began to offer other advantages such as temples to pray in and protection from outside threats. Because of the various services that a city provided, for those in search of a job, cities also offered many different types of work.
Which of the 5 traits must be present for a place to be considered a civilization?
Enjoy parts 3 & 4 of one of the truly great tales, the Epic of Gilgamesh. |
0.928908 | From 1947 through 1953, Eddie Slowinski was a regular right winger for the New York Rangers.
The Rangers scouts found a lot of hockey talent in Manitoba back in the early 1940s. He starred with the powerful junior team the Winnipeg Monarchs in 1941 and 1942, but then, like so many other youngsters at that time, military obligations would interfere with his hockey career path.
Slowinski's military service saw him move around from military base to military base. He played hockey most places he was stationed, too. That saw him play hockey in Ottawa, Montreal, Red Deer, Calgary and Winnipeg. He also played baseball in most of these stops as he was a top baseball player, too.
A big man at six feet and 200 pounds, Slowinski was an imposing figure, though his penalty minute totals suggest he was quite polite about it. He could also put the puck in the net. Slowinski played two seasons of senior hockey in Ottawa upon his discharge from the armed forces, leading the entire league with 26 goals in 40 games.
The Rangers had thought they had signed Slowinski back in 1946, but he backed out on the deal and headed to Ottawa instead. The Rangers were upset, and tried trading him to Detroit. However the deal fell apart when the veteran player they acquired - Roy Conacher - retired rather than report to the Rangers. The deal was off, though Conacher did return to the ice to play in Chicago for several more years.
Slowinski was finally signed by the Rangers in 1947 and, though injuries - namely a broken knee cap - slowed him early, by the end of the decade he was a regular contributor. He would play in 291 NHL games, all with the Rangers, scoring 58 goals and 74 assists for 132 points. He added another two goals and eight points in sixteen playoff games. He was particularly strong in the 1950 playoffs, though the Rangers would lose to Detroit in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Slowinski would play with the Rangers until 1953. He then continued playing in he minor leagues for five more seasons.
Eddie Slowinski passed away in 1991 in Tonawanda, New York. |
0.977307 | Washington Wizards basketball has faced strong criticism for his comments on social media following Bruce Jenner's interview with Dianne Sawyer in which the former Olympian discussed his gender transition.
The NBA player, who was married to Kim Kardashian for just 72 days in 2011, before she filed for divorce from her second husband tweeted: "Man, I'm glad I got out when I did," after the interview in which the former Olympic gold medallist admitted to covertly spending his life as a woman.
In the interview, Jenner said: "Yes, for all intents and purposes, I'm a woman. I have the soul of a female and my brain in much more female than it is male, as of now I have all the male parts."
“@KrisHumphries: Man, I'm glad I got out when I did. #Gottadoyou” Are you enjoying sounding LESS EVOLVED (your word for today) than KANYE?
Humphries faced strong backlash from fellow Twitter users following the comment, who branded him "irrelevant", "hateful" and "disgusting".
Others urged him to delete his account, asked him who he was and reminded him that it was Kim who filed for divorce from the athlete.
Jenner, aged 65, has revealed that he has been supported by his family, including stepdaughter Kim and her rapper husband, Kanye West who helped his wife understand Jenner's decisions.
"Kim told me a story," Jenner said. "She goes, 'You know what really turned me around on thinking about this?' I said, 'What?' She goes, 'Kanye.' I went, 'Oh, okay.'"
Jenner continued: "He says to Kim, 'Look, I can be married to the most beautiful woman in the world, and I am. I can have the most beautiful little daughter in the world, and I have that. But I'm nothing if I can't be me. If I can't be true to myself, they don't mean anything.'"
Ending the interview, Jenner said: "I'm saying goodbye to people's perceptions of me and who I am but I'm not saying goodbye to me.
"Please be open-minded. Have an open mind and an open heart. I'm not this bad person, I'm just doing what I have to do." |
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