Nasreddin Hoca (_PHONE_ AD)
He is a folk hero of the Seljuk period who was born in Sivrihisar and lived in Aksehir. He received religious education first from his father who was an imam and later at a theological school. He also worked as an imam for a period of time.
Hoca's view of the world and his opinions on the essential or even metaphysical questions of life are frank, natural and often disarmingly candid. Straightforward common sense is one of the secrets of his oriental wisdom and solace.
As a philosophic humorist he became the symbol of people's creativity and sense of humor of his time. His witticisms have become popular sayings and are quoted in everyday conversations. These can be regarded as anonymous folk jokes. Here are some examples:
Who are you going to believe?
One day a friend wants to borrow Hoca's donkey. Hoca does not want to lend it and tells him that his donkey is not there.
In the meantime the donkey starts to bray. The man says: "But Hoca, I can hear the donkey! It's in the stable." Hoca stays cool and answers with dignity: "Who are you going to believe, me or the donkey?"
In the shop
Hoca goes to the market to buy some trousers. After trying on a few pairs he chooses some trousers and tells the salesman to wrap them. Right after they are wrapped he changes his mind and wants the salesman to give him a shirt instead. He takes the packaged shirt and walks off. The salesman calls him:
"-Sir, you haven't paid for the shirt yet." To which Hoca replies,
"-But I left you the trousers."
"-You didn't pay for the trousers either!", exclaims the salesman.
"-Of course not! Why should I pay for trousers that I didn't get." concludes Hoca.
None of your business
A man gossips to Hoca:
"-Hoca, I saw them taking a big plate of stuffed turkey."
"-It's none of my business, replies Hoca."
"-But I think they were taking it to your house."
"-Then, it's none of your business!" says Hoca.
A neighbor asks Hoca: "Why do you always answer a question with another question?" He replies: "Do I?"
Karagoz and Hacivat
These are the two folk heroes of Karagoz shadow-puppet theater. The language they use, the way they look at life and the class they represent are never the same. With these clashes and also a wide range of folk characters, they play out a rich social and political satire.
Legend has it that these two types were construction laborers who worked on the building of the Ulucami in Bursa. They spent most of their time clowning around and stirring up trouble by keeping the other workers from working. The sultan, who was upset with the delay of the construction of Ulucami, had them executed. People felt sorry for them and have continued to remember their jokes. It is from these that the Karagoz theater derives.
For the production of Karagoz figures, dried camel and calf skin are used because of their translucent quality. Hides are treated, shaped and painted. The puppets are colorful and semitransparent with jointed limbs. The performances are back projections of shadows on curtains.
The Karagoz shadow-puppet plays have enjoyed great popularity for many years. With the emergence of technologically advanced visual entertainment means such as cinema, television and video, Karagoz has become a museum exhibit today.
Yunus Emre (c._PHONE_ AD)
This is an Anatolian folk poet and mystic who transcended his period. He played an important role in the shaping of Anatolian poetry, the Turkish language and above all, the Turkish language as a poetic medium.
He introduced mystical philosophy originating in Neo-Platonism into the Turkish intellectual environment.
He established a bridge connecting earlier Anatolian cultures with the present. The concepts of "earth", "fire", "wind" and "water" which appeared in his poetry are integral elements of "Being" to be found in earlier Anatolian philosophy. The same concepts were put forward by philosophers of Anatolia centuries ago; water, for example, by Thales, wind by Anaximenes and fire by Heraclitus.
Yunus Emre was a poet whose thought was based on love, whose faith on longing and whose actions on knowledge.


Git server-side information
This guide contains some helpful recipes for the git source control tool that may be useful to developers working in Chromium OS. The recipes here are focused on tasks related to maintaining the git server / adding new projects.
Related pages:
How do I create a new repository on the git server?
 1. Talk to relevant people on IRC or the chromium-os-dev mailing list to make sure it's ok to add the new repositories
 2. Open a "Build Infrastructure" bug with label OS=Chrome to request the repository be created and who has access to it. If you are not a committer, please include the email address of a committer/sponsor who is working with you in the bug. Note that Build Infrastructure bugs are marked private to the build team and the reporter.
Tips for getting your new repo created with minimal fuss:
 - Be clear in the bug title that you are requesting a new git repo.
 - Say whether it should be on (public) or (not public).
 - Provide a project path and name for the new repository. For public repos, the path should start with /chromiumos/. For private repos, the path should start with /chromeos/. Look at existing projects in git or git-internal for precedents on the path to use.
 - Note: You don't need to go into too much detail about why the repo is needed.
How do I add files to a new repository on the git server?
Do this OUTSIDE your local chromiumos source tree. You will not be adding the files directly, but starting by adding them via a Gerrit CL. Once the CL is uploaded and reviewed, you can use Gerrit to complete pushing the CL into the repository.
You'll want to set the repo shell variable to the name of your repository (e.g. trunks) before starting, and repo-path to the full server-side path (e.g. chromiumos/platform/trunks.git).
mkdir ${repo}
cp -rp /my/repo/seed/contents/* ${repo}
cd ${repo}
git init
git add.
git commit -am "init repo"
# somelabel is just a throwaway pointer (name) used between the following 2 commands
git remote add somelabel${repo-path}
git push somelabel HEAD:refs/for/master # Creates Gerrit Issue
IMPORTANT: One of your files should be a README.chromium file. Another should probably be a LICENSE file, which is pointed to by the README.chromium file. (Note: This applies mostly to local copies of upstream repos, typically in src/third-party. We don't seem to follow this rule for repos in src/platform.)
How do I create a new branch on the git server?
IMPORTANT: Only authorized server branch owners can do this. You know who you are :)
Once you are in a local repository and want to replicate a local branch on the server, use the following commands:
# If not yet added - add the remote server to your git repository
# 'somelabel' is just a throwaway pointer (name) used between the following
# 2 commands
git remote add somelabel${repo-path}
# This is the actual push which will create a branch named
# on the server with the contents of the from the local
# repository.
git push somelabel :refs/heads/
How do I add my project to the manifest?
IMPORTANT NOTE: Please verify that this repo is public and non-empty before adding it to a manifest.xml file.
 1. Update the full.xml file in the manifest-internal and manifest repositories.
 - They are included in the root of your Chromium OS check out to make your life easier (use 'repo upload' like normal).
 - Note: the default.xml should be a symlink to full.xml; all the other files in there you can generally ignore.
 - Note: if you're using a public checkout, it only includes the public manifest repository.
 2. Please follow the style for the section you're adding to (which usually means alphabetical order).
 3. See the Directory Structure page for guidelines as to where to put the new repository in the checkout.
 4. To test your change with repo sync, you'll need to apply it to _URL_ directory within your Chromium OS checkout.
 - This will verify that you didn't make an error in the XML format, and that the repository is being checked out to the location you expect.
# Change to the internal manifest
cd ~/chromiumos/manifest-internal
# Add your project in alphabetical order
vi full.xml
# Commit it locally like normal
git commit -a
# Upload it to the server
repo upload --cbr.
# Repeat all the above steps for the public manifest
cd ~/chromiumos/manifest/
# Apply the change to your local checkout and verify it
cd ~/chromiumos/manifest-internal/
git format-patch -1
mv 0001-* ~/chromiumos/.repo/manifests/
cd ~/chromiumos/.repo/manifests/
git am -3 0001-*
cd ~/chromiumos
repo sync
... verify it checked out the repo to the right place...
... undo the changes you made _URL_ if you want...
How do I make a copy of an upstream repository on the git server?
 2. Create a new chromium-os repo for your new repository.
 3. Ask chrome-infrastructure team for giving you permission to do perform merges and push branches on this repository.
 4. Initialize the initial set of branches. Example below:
# The upstream git repository is at:
# The corresponding chromium os repo is:
git clone
cd example
# chromiumoslabel is just a pointer to our chromium os repository
# (where you want the upstream repo to be
git remote add chromiumoslabel
# Now push a given commit hash from the upstream repo to the chromiumos copy. # Here we are pushing HEAD from the upstream repo as the master
# branch on the chromium os copy. You can also use a specific
# commit hash (man git-push for details).
git push chromiumoslabel HEAD:refs/heads/master
# Now also create a new branch on repo.git which may be used
# to track upstream, pull in new patches, etc.
git push chromiumoslabel HEAD:refs/heads/upstream
# Finally, do not forget to add a README.chromium to the master
# branch (This should be done as a normal Gerrit code review.)


text:
In 1781, the Royal Academy of Science in Brussels issued a call for scientific papers on some obscure mathematical question. Our ambassador to France, Benjamin Franklin, wrote a letter to the academy suggesting it set its sights a bit lower. "It is universally well known, that in digesting our common Food, there is created or produced in the Bowels of human Creatures, a great Quantity of Wind," Franklin observed. Permitting "this Air to escape and mix with the Atmosphere, is usually offensive to the Company, from the fetid Smell that accompanies it."
Why not, therefore, investigate the scourge of farting?

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


text:
Every battery-based renewable energy system requires charge control. A charge controller brings your batteries to optimum charge level by monitoring voltage and limiting battery current as appropriate. For solar arrays over 200 Watts, an MPPT charge controller is almost always more economical when the power system is considered as a whole.
With wind or hydro power sources, an additional PWM type controller is often used in addition to the MPPT. The MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) operates the solar array at its best possible performance, while a PWM can be configured to divert excess power to a diversion load – water and air heating elements.
Temperature compensation is important – voltage requirements for batteries are different at different temperatures. To prevent overcharging in the summer and undercharging in the winter, use temperature compensation probes whenever possible, and if not available, adjust the charge controller's charge voltage setpoints appropriately.
Currently Shopping by:
No products available.


text:
Late last night, PerlJam posted in _TAG_ a small Perl 6 program which gave the wrong answer in Rakudo:
my $foo = 'fred';
my $bar = 'fred';
The correct output is obviously:
PerlJam and Infinoid both correctly diagnosed the problem as a COW problem. What's that, and why does it matter?
The Rakudo compiler turns this code into PIR code. PIR is the native high level language of Parrot. Inside Parrot, the PIR compiler (IMCC) turns PIR into Parrot bytecode. As part of that process, IMCC identifies constant string literals and treats them specially.
Like the Perl 6 code, the PIR code produced by Rakudo contains the string literal
fred twice. The PBC produced by IMCC doesn't; it refers to a single internal data structure twice.
This is usually the right approach. In this case, where the literal string appears twice and is only four characters long, there's little benefit, but in a complex program, you can save a lot of memory and time with judicious caching.
Now of course sometimes people want to mutate these strings. They're mutable; you can change them. That's where the COW comes in. It's like memory handling on a decent operating system. You only make a copy of the memory at the last possible point, where you know you're going to modify your copy. Parrot strings support this, so if you use Parrot operations directly, you don't even have to know that COW exists. It just works.
The problem was that the string modification took place outside of Parrot, in a custom Perl6Str PMC. Think of a PMC like a class which represents internal data structures, and you're most of the way to understanding them. The Perl6Str PMC has two operations,
decrement which do exactly what you'd expect to strings on the C level. This means that they modify the C string directly.
Because this occurs at the C level (working directly on C pointers), Parrot doesn't have a chance to perform the copy-on-write operation to the string, and the modification of one string produces the modification of all other strings which refer to the same string literal.
My first solution was to call the Parrot string function to perform the copy (because there's a write coming up) directly, but that made too much code move around (C89 and declarations before code, grr). Instead, I made a two-line macro which does an in-place copy and assign, and only two lines of code had to change to do the right thing. Now the code prints, as it should:
(I spent more time writing this entry than I did fixing the problem.)

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


General Information
History of The Court
Monterey County Courthouse Completed 1878
The military and social capital of Alta California during Spanish and Mexican rule, the town of Monterey naturally became the county seat when the 27 original counties were formed in, 1850. But when it was learned that the railroad was to go through the valley and not along the coast, the government center was moved to Salinas. After the house used as a courthouse burned, this much larger brick Victorian building was commissioned. The courthouse remained in use while the current one was being constructed around it, and then was demolished. Today a courtyard, lily pond, and commemorative sculpture occupy the site.
Tour historic courthouses for all 58 California counties at


text:
The epibenthic sled was designed by Dr. Robert Hessler of Scripps Institute of Oceanography Howard Sanders and George R. Hampson of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (Hessler, Sanders 1966). The net (1mm mesh) was specially designed plankton net made by William Shoeder's (WHOI) daughter, Mrs. Ernest Case of N.J. She designed the nets for both the small (4ft. long) and the larger epibenthic sleds (7ft. long).
The larger 7-ft. sled was primarily designed for deep-sea sampling. For the WHOI Sanders/Hessler project, we towed it at depths exceeding 5000 meters. The purpose was to collect rare deep-sea animals which otherwise would be impossible to capture with grab samplers or box cores. However, the epibenthic sled was considered to be less than quantitative. Distances covered over the bottom can be estimated from the ship's log to get an estimate of the area covered, however the sled was never as accurate as the box corer for density determinations of the macrofauna.
How It Works
A semi-quantitative bottom-sampling device is designed to trawl just above the bottom at the sediment water interface (the epibenthic zone). The sled occasionally (inadvertently) digs into the bottom, so an infaunal sample is also collected. The sled is fitted with a 1mm mesh net. The end of the sled is fitted with an extended removable cod end, which served to provide the sled with a protected area where the animals were not subjected to abrasion. Some cod ends were made with 0.5mm mesh to retain smaller organisms.
A "front door" closing device was incorporated to retain the collected sample inside the dredge to prevent washing while the dredge is being brought to the surface. This spring-driven closing of the trawl was activated by a timing devise designed by Benthos of North Falmouth.
The smaller (4 ft. long) sled has been used successfully for many years to collect benthic organisms from local coastal waters.
Some descriptions provided by George R. Hampson.


Kitty Litter Dirty Bomb: New Mexico Nuclear Disposal Plant Causes $500 Million of Damage By Using Wrong Kind Of Kitty Litter
220px-CatfillerRadioactive SymbolThere are so many surprising aspects to this story including the two salient points that we use kitty litter in nuclear plants and using the wrong kitty litter can cost you half a billion dollars. However, a recent report states that the mismanagement of the kitty litter issue at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico by its private operator, Los Alamos National Security LLC, led not only damage, but the injury of at least 20 workers — and the creation of a type of kitty litter dirty bomb. The concerns of an Al Kitta threat however may be premature. It turns out that you can avoid the risk by selecting clay-based kitty litter over wheat-based kitty litter.
A single damaged drum caused much of the damage and reached the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant where it cracked open.
The report by the Department of Energy's Office of Inspector General portrays the plant as being run in a hasty and unprofessional manner to meet short deadlines for the disposal of material. The mismanagement however was only disclosed after a long and costly investigation by the Santa Fe Mexican. Once again, there is virtually no transparency on such issues by the government, which never informed the public of the scope of its mismanagement and blundering at a nuclear disposal site.
The report includes the finding that the resulting radiation leak not only sickened dozens but "may have led to an adverse chemical reaction within the drums resulting in serious safety implications." This included the result that the mixing of the waste created a mixture akin to plastic explosives.
The mistaken use of the kitty litter was found to have been due to a typo in a policy manual. Previously, DOE rejected the kitty litter hypothesis the report indicates that it may in fact be the culprit. It may turn out that the problem was "organic kitty litter" — an indication that the organic movement could be an actual threat to national security? I knew that there was something suspicious about Whole Foods.
The contractor was allowed to stay in control of the plant and under federal contract. Simply four managers were replaced. It could take years to reopen the plant and will cost at least $500 million. The new manager, identified only as a Dr. Oppenheimerfuzzypants, has been brought into the plant supervise any operations.
18 thoughts on "Kitty Litter Dirty Bomb: New Mexico Nuclear Disposal Plant Causes $500 Million of Damage By Using Wrong Kind Of Kitty Litter"
 1. You never know when you'll find a tiny kitten, shivering in the rain, soaked to the bone, and your good heart cannot ignore this baby that can't help itself. The only solution is to take the poor little thing home. In the morning, as you prepare to take the kitten to a shelter, you find your dog curled up around the kitten keeping it warm. This has happened. It could happen to you. I'll keep my fingers crosed.
 1. Sandi – we are down to just one dog now. This is no longer a problem. This particular dog thinks cats are food.
 2. There is actually a video on how to teach your cat to use the toilet. I saw cats do it. And if you've ever had a cat, teaching anything is almost impossible, with the possible exception of moving their food.
 1. sandi – when my wife and I were first together, in the interests of the relationship I agreed to a cat. I did not like the cat. However, the cat liked me, regardless of how much I ignored it.
 3. I am incredulous that, according to this story, there is only one Mexican in Santa Fe, and he or she is wealthy at that! (The newspaper is actually the Santa Fe NEW Mexican.).
 1. Timothy Roberts – having been to Santa Fe I can tell you there are a lot of New Mexicans there. 😉
 4. It's worth noting that:
 Los Alamos National Security, LLC is a private limited liability company formed by the University of California, Bechtel, Babcock & Wilcox Technical Services, and URS Energy and Construction. Wikipedia
 So it's government contracting another government and private entities to oversee government sites. The big problem here, as in DC, is that as soon as a government technical person becomes experienced and proficient, they have ever incentive to switch sides to the contractor where they can be paid twice as much. Add to that the naturally occurring close relationships that form between government and contractors that work side by side and you're left with little ability or incentive to perform much oversight on the large contracts. Even if you hired a new contractor, the workers are going to stay the same for the most part.
 5. BFM:
 You are right that the biggest problem is the human suffering this has caused. They were probably given iodine right away, and their thyroid checked. They should be monitored for cancers, which often take years to develop.
 6. Kitty Litter is like duct tape. It has all sorts of indications, including getting you out of a snowy ditch.
 This exposes:
 1) Problems with our procurement system and contracts. There is no accountability.
 2) Lack of training in a nuclear facility boggles the mind. Of COURSE it needs to be clay rather than wheat. The whole point is that they need basically inert fine dirt.
 3) Lack of transparency. Nothing brings about change and accountability like the disinfecting light of transparency to the public.
 I have to admit, though, that when I first started reading this, it brought to mind when I was a recent graduate. I and some friends drove a physicist grad to Los Alamos. We seriously considered tee-peeing the plutonium plant, but thought maybe, perhaps, the armed guards might not see the humor, and decided against it. The world just didn't understand nerd humor before The Big Bang Theory.
 This article seems to emphasize cost and incompetence.
 But release of enough radioactive material to sicken dozens ought to be major news. We can only guess that those exposed now are burdened with higher probability of cancer and possibly birth defects for any additional children.
 8. "… to meet short deadlines for the disposal of material." Indeed, less money to do the same job or even at times more work. This is what we get when we have Congresspersons touting reduced federal spending and their answer is to cut everyone 10%. This is nonsense. Some agencies should be cut 100%, some agencies get an increase of 30%. An across the board cut is a sure fire way to destroy everything. Which is exactly what we seem to be doing. Check out the status of our once great National Weather Service…
 9. When it comes down to it, it is money not spent for due diligence. Private operators are no more or less effective or ineffective than government operators. The more rigorous the safety system the less chance of accidents. Statistics prove this. In the US there are 100 nuclear power facilities which have had 56 major accidents and over 150 incidents in their history. This can be see to be a combination of cutting corners to cut costs layered on human failure.
 In France there are 60 reactors which have had only 12 accidents. France gets most of its electricity from nuclear power and the system is centralized and strictly overseen by government departments. Most of the rail system is run on electricity. The success speaks for itself and the failure above and beyond basic human failure can be attributed to private enterprise penchants for reducing costs to raise profits.
 Given that France has a population a fifth as large as the US there may be other factors to add. Sometimes the government does it better than the private sector. The private sector on its own with little to no oversight by the government is a recipe for disaster. The system in France is an example of the success of Government and Private Enterprise working together. We should be learning from those other than ourselves.
 Look at Germany's economic success through their 'holy trinity' of government, labor, and corporate. Their manufacturing sector is miles ahead of any other country including the US.
 10. This comes from only only owning dogs, but I thought there was only one type type of kitty litter. Atomic science is not what it used to be.
 11. Cats are terrible typists. They make lots of typos. Worse than a room full of monkeys with typewriters. But they must have many rooms full of cat typists, and perhaps hundreds of cats doing other duties, doing their duties. (Why else would they need barrels and barrels of kitty litter at a nuclear plant?)
 12. Dafuq did I just read? I had to go to The Onion first to make sure you weren't skimming off one of those gems. Turns out that this actually happened…
 Organic, huh? LOL!
 13. Typos can kill!! They keep tight reins on Los Alamos employees. I have a former FBI friend in Santa Fe. who did background checks on employees. A DUI will trigger a background check.
Comments are closed.


text:
The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a research unit of The New York Public Library, is recognized as one of the leading institutions of its kind. For over 80 years, the Center has collected, preserved, and provided access to materials documenting black life, and promoted the study and interpretation of the history and culture of peoples of African descent. The Center's collections include manuscript collections, bound volumes, microforms, photographic images, and serials from the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, South America, Africa, Europe, India, and Australia.
In addition to its role as a leading repository, the Schomburg Center is also a vibrant cultural hub that hosts a wealth of educational programs, exhibitions, concerts, film screenings, seminars, and community events. Since 1986, the Schomburg Center's Scholars-in-Residence Program has awarded fellowships to academics whose research and writing on black history and culture would benefit from extended access to the Center's resources.
The Program selects its fellows annually through a competitive process lead by a committee of experts with national and international reputations in the fields of black history and culture. Benefits of the fellowship include: a six-month stipend of $30,000, use of a furnished office space at the Schomburg Center, and access to research assistants and advice from the Center's curatorial staff. Fellows are also encouraged to take advantage of the scholarly atmosphere the Center provides by participating in colloquia, seminars, and conferences hosted at the Center.


text: Federal and state government agencies are required to follow certain procedures in order for their actions to be constitutional. For the federal government, these procedures are generally outlined by the Federal Administrative Procedure Act (FAPA). Each state government has its own set of administrative procedures as well, some of which are modeled after FAPA. An administrative law attorney specializes in administrative procedures at the federal and/or state level. Some examples of administrative agencies include the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). If, for example, the FDA passes new rules that affect your business, you may benefit from the services of an administrative law lawyer to better understand whether the FDA followed the correct procedure in passing these rules and whether you should contest them.


text:
Park Ranger Larry Beane will present Archeology of Little River Canyon at the Little River Canyon Center on Dec. 8, 2012 from 10 a.m. to 11 am. Experience the activities of eons of time by trying your hand at the atlatl spears and pump drill! People left evidence of their visits and occupations in the park for thousands of years. The park has connections to World War II, Civilian Conservation Corps, liquor stills of the prohibition days, Trail of Tears, and all the periods of prehistoric Native Americans. Studies in the park have revealed clues to the human record. Replicas and pictures in the presentation reveal what life was like in the park. National Park regulations and the legislation creating the preserve require the park to preserve and interpret this archeology. The park is required to study areas having ground disturbance in order to prevent damage to the history hidden in the ground. Waterlines, trail projects, parking lots and picnic areas revealed some of the best clues to our past. When these objects are analyzed in relation to other objects, they present a clearer picture of the past. Please leave artifacts where they are so they can be properly documented before they are moved. "All sites are protected. It is illegal to disturb them." Ranger Beane said. The National Park Service requires detailed plans and research designs before issuing permits to professional archeologists. These objects belong to all of us. The park service maintains collections to prove the stories and allow research for generations to come.During a historic document search archeologists discovered that the Cherokee Trail of Tears routes from Fort Likens and Fort Lovell passed through the park. The archeologist referred to Gail King's extensive 600 page document in the report. This extensive document covers the Trail of Tears routes in Alabama and was published in 2009. Park staff were previously unaware of these routes. Beane said "We suspected that some removal routes passed through the park. This research provided the evidence of a 175 year old legacy to the Cherokees and Muscogee Creeks who were removed from the area." Park Superintendent Gail Bishop invites the public for this special free event. For information, call the _PHONE_. Follow our updates and find park pictures on Facebook at "lirinps."
Centre Fire Department will conduct its annual Christmas toy drive through Dec. 14. Unwrapped toys can be dropped off at several locations around Centre or at the fire station Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. All donations will benefit children in Cherokee County through the Nettie Brown Clearinghouse and other local charities. For more information, call _PHONE_.
The 21st Century Program in partnership with the Humane Society in Cedar Bluff is collecting items for animals in the shelter through Dec. 17. Donations can be dropped off at Centre Elementary School or sent with a student. For more information call Kelly Hopper at _PHONE_ or send email to _EMAIL_.
The Cherokee County Public Library has on ongoing book sale. Get paperbacks for as little as a dime and hardbacks for as little as 50 cents or $1. The library is open today from 8 a.m. until noon. Call the library at _PHONE_ for further information.
In high school basketball action, Cedar Bluff plays at Gaston beginning at 2 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 9
The Centre First Baptist Church contemporary worship service, "Impact" begins at 8:30 a.m.
The Edge, a contemporary worship service that welcomes each person as he or she is and challenges us all to grow together in our faith in Jesus Christ, meets at 8:45 a.m. at Centre First United Methodist Church.
Blanche Methodist Church, 145 County Road 15, is having a Christmas Singing, Dec. 9, at 2 p.m. Special singers will be The Baileys from Sand Rock. Pastor Alan Copeland and members invite everyone to attend. For more information, call _PHONE_.
Sand Rock Church of Christ, 3633 Alabama Highway 68 W, is having its Third Annual Gingerbread Party, Dec. 9, 2 to 4 p.m. this is a fun time for children and youth of all ages to decorate Gingerbread houses. For more information, call _PHONE_.
Little River Baptist Church on Highway 273 invites everyone to its Christmas Play, "The Christmas Shoes", Dec. 9, at 5 p.m.


text:
Publisher's price : 20.00 €
Our price: 19.00
This book highlights the importance of strategic
competencies for sustained employability. Some
of the issues discussed are: what do we mean
by competence? how can it be acquired? how
to develop and transform it? What devices, techniques
and tools exist for assessment? Can we make
a reliable and viable assessment? Who assesses?
For what type of recognition? What are the possible
impacts on professional development? What is
the role of the state and organisational responsibility?
Examples of current practices are provided,
some from Anglo-Saxon countries. They help to
clarify the debate and offer some practical
solutions about the management of competencies
for both individual and corporate needs.


123Listening.com - free listening audio and worksheets
123 Listening Listening Worksheet Makers Free Listening Tests ESL Games Music to Download
Free animals listening activities, English listening exercises and printable worksheets for animal listening tests
 from www.123 Listening.com . Many different audio downloads and many different worksheets that can be combined to be very simple for young learners or more difficult for older students.
brought to you by MES-English.com and DreamEnglish.com
Animals Listening tests and animal listening test worksheets:
Animals set two free audio files:
Ready to print worksheets to match the audio scripts
choose from 3 pictures
- test worksheet
choose from 2 pictures
- test worksheet
choose from 2 pictures and write the answer
- test worksheet
connect the answer to the number
- test worksheet
connect the answer to the number and write the word
- test worksheet
write the number next to the picture and write the answer
- test worksheet
write the answer using a word bank
- test worksheet
write the answer
- test worksheet
Mix and match these with the audio files above to create varying levels of difficulty.
Test answers: 1. monkey, 2. zebra 3. mouse, 4. shark, 5. koala, 6. dolphin, 7. snake, 8. sheep, 9. giraffe, 10. whale
Make your own animal listening tests
: If you don't like the choices on the ready to print versions or if you'd like to
use your own script and audio
, you can use these
listening test makers to create your own listening worksheets
These listening worksheet generators are provided courtesy of:
Tools for Educators.com - visit Tools for Educators for more worksheet makers and printable game generators with thousands of images!
Animals set 2 vocabulary and additional resources: a fox, a giraffe, a kangaroo, a koala, a dolphin, a monkey, a shark, a pig, a whale, a mouse, a zebra, a snake, a donkey, a sheep, a seal
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Motivation: In cancer genomics research, one important problem is that the solid tissue sample obtained from clinical settings is always a mixture of cancer and normal cells. The sample mixture brings complication in data analysis and results in biased findings if not correctly accounted for. Estimating tumor purity is of great interest, and a number of methods have been developed using gene expression, copy number variation or point mutation data.
Results: We discover that in cancer samples, the distributions of data from Illumina Infinium 450 k methylation microarray are highly correlated with tumor purities. We develop a simple but effective method to estimate purities from the microarray data. Analyses of the Cancer Genome Atlas lung cancer data demonstrate favorable performance of the proposed method.
Availability and implementation: The method is implemented in InfiniumPurify, which is freely available at _URL_
Contact: _EMAIL_ or _EMAIL_
Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
© The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: _EMAIL_.


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What's the issue?
There are two types of flow measurement with which the EM has extensive experience: gas for anaesthesia systems; water in pipes and mains. Commercial and domestic meters must sometimes be developed to measure these flows. This article examines the rules and challenges encountered in developing such systems.
How is flow measured? Which method is best?
Four methods are common place.
- Pressure drop: if fluid or gas flows in a pipe that has a resistance to flow, measuring the pressure at two points over which the hydraulic/pneumatic resistance is known allows flow to be calculated from an Ohms law analogy. If the flow over the resistance is turbulent the Pressure drop is approximately the flow squared times the resistance. If the flow is laminar the pressure drop equals the flow times the resistance. This method is very effective but the following must be considered:
- To measure net flow must be restricted to allow sufficient drop for sensors to detect the pressure drop
- the system will likely need to be forced into a totally laminar or turbulent flow system. If the flow is a mixture of laminar and turbulent flow computation become complex.
- Hydraulic systems don't lend themselves to having just one pressure sensor because fluids from two sides of a differential pressure sensor tend to interfere with the control electronics. It is usually necessary to have 2 pressure sensors – increase in cost
- Hydraulic systems may operate at a significant base pressure, say 10 bar, and then require measurements in milli or even micro bar. This can be challenging and require expensive pressure sensors.
- Mechanical: mechanical flow sensors have existed for centuries, e.g., the anemometer. The biggest advantage is the lack of a need for a power source. Obviously mechanical blockage/wear or similar is a limitation. The mechanical method is a 'contact' method and is being replaced by modern non-contact methods more and more. This article will not examine them further.
- Ultrasonic: ultrasonic flowmeters use the properties of sound to compute flow. An example is water flow with which propagation properties of sound through the water are measured. The method is effective but the following must be considered:
- Air or detritus in flow path is very disruptive to measurements because the transmission properties for sound in air or solids are dramatically different from those in water. This issue can cause complete failure to make measurements or occasional erroneous measurements.
- Turbulent flow in flow paths that have step changes in dimension can cause cavitation. Cavitation is literally tearing the water apart, allowing air/oxygen that was trapped in the water to create bubbles or cavities. An everyday occurrence of this is in the region of boat propellers. This is catastrophic to ultrasonic flow measurement because the transmission properties of sound in air and water are very different.
- Ultrasonic methods involve transmission of beams of sound through the cross-section of the flow and are therefore only sampling the flow. If the sample is the same as the whole that is fine, but it often isn't.
- Unlike the pressure drop method, ultrasonics can't determine if flow is turbulent or laminar. The nature of the flow determines the calibration of a flowmeter. Ultrasonic systems have to calibrated in such a way that they are either suitable for laminar or turbulent flow.
- Electromagnetic: The dominant feature of electromagnetic methods is they can energy harvest if the flow medium is conductive, e.g., impure water, metal. Electromagnetic flowmeters are complex but relatively resilient to impurities in the flow, and, of course, non-contact.
The EM can go into much more depth on this topic if you require. Please don't hesitate to CONTACT US if this is the case.


Assessing Winter Wheat Stands Challenging Growers
A late fall and continued weather issues may test decision-making processes.
At a time of year when most growers would rather be out on the land or at prepping their planters or drills, conditions in the early spring have limited most people to bide their time and manage what they can.
In Eastern Canada, the weather last fall not only made harvesting corn difficult, it also complicated matters for most wheat growers as well, with cool, damp and wet conditions that left wheat stands heading into winter under less-than ideal shape. A slow transition from winter to spring combined with continued cool and rainy weather have many growers considering switching some of their wheat fields to corn or in fewer instances, to soybeans.
The most important thing in assessing wheat fields at this point in the season is for a farmer to get out of the truck and walk the field. Monitoring or making decisions about the health of a wheat crop cannot be done from the road. Visually inspect the field by walking it or have aerial footage provide imagery.
Above all, the advice from agronomists and crop advisors is to wait as long as possible before making the switch to another crop. Give your wheat every possible opportunity to recover from this late start. If you're considering switching to corn, wait until a few days before the ground is fit before making that decision.
Other Considerations
In Western Canada, an equally slow changeover from winter to spring has slowed cropping plans but much the same advice applies to those with winter wheat stands in their fields. As the waiting game continues, take an opportunity to monitor other developments in the field. For instance, try to determine the performance of your weed management strategy.
Again, in recognition of the tougher-than-normal conditions as the wheat crop emerges from dormancy, one suggestion is that growers might boost their N rates. The proviso is that those higher N-rate applications typically come as part of a split-application program.
Those opportunities may not come this spring.
The other fertility issue that's worth examining is the benefit of adding sulphur to fertilizer blends, primarily for growers in Eastern Canada, which has seen an impressive improvement in environmental conditions between 1990 and 2010, especially where pollution from sulphur dioxide is concerned. In 2011, research data found a potential increase of 5.1 bu/ac with sulphur added to fertilizer applications. In 2012, research indicated a 2.5 bu/ac increase.
Overall research data have determined that a rate of 10 lbs of N per acre is the point at which winter wheat will achieve peak productivity.
The forms of sulphur will dictate the formulation and rates that can be applied while keeping costs in mind. If using ammonium sulphate (NH4SO4), the desired amount is 40 lbs, which is equivalent to 10 pounds of actual sulphur. If using ammonium thiosulphate ((NH4)2S2O3), use three gallons to reach that same 10-pound equivalent.
One of the biggest complaints about wheat is that its value is generally regarded as less than that of corn or canola, which may be a justification for bin-running the crop, particularly in the West. However, "value" is often only equated with the price per bushel. The total value of wheat seldom includes the value of its nitrogen credit available to subsequent crops and the revenues generated by selling the straw.
Wheat's value is also reflective of the effort growers put into managing it for higher yields and better quality.


text:
The Poet and the Poem
photo by Javier Coleman
Featured Jeffrey Lamar Coleman
Click here for Jeffrey Coleman.mp3
Jeffrey Lamar Coleman is Professor of English at St. Mary's College of Maryland. His research areas include literature of the American Civil Rights Movement, music of social protest and resistance, and 20th and 21st century American literature. Coleman is the editor of Words of Protest, Words of Freedom: Poetry of the American Civil Rights Movement and Era (Duke University Press) and author of Spirits Distilled: Poems (Red Hen Press). He is also poetry editor and associate editor of The Journal of Hip Hop Studies, and a former editor of Delaware Poetry Review. His essay, "Singing is Swinging: The Soul Force of 20th Century Black Protest Music," is forthcoming in The Black Intellectual Tradition: African American Thought in the Twentieth Century (University of Illinois Press), edited by Derrick P. Alridge, Cornelius L. Bynum, and James B. Stewart.


DMTCS Proceedings, 2005 International Conference on Analysis of Algorithms
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The Lyapunov tortoise and the dyadic hare
Benoît Daireaux, Véronique Maume-Deschamps, Brigitte Vallée
We study a gcd algorithm directed by Least Significant Bits, the so--called LSB algorithm, and provide a precise average--case analysis of its main parameters [number of iterations, number of shifts, etc…]. This analysis is based on a precise study of the dynamical systems which provide a continuous extension of the algorithm, and, here, it is proved convenient to use both a 2--adic extension and a real one. This leads to the framework of products of random matrices, and our results thus involve a constant γ which is the Lyapunov exponent of the set of matrices relative to the algorithm. The algorithm can be viewed as a race between a dyadic hare with a speed of 2 bits by step and a ''real'' tortoise with a speed equal to γ/log2 ∼0.05 bits by step. Even if the tortoise starts before the hare, the hare easily catches up with the tortoise [unlike in Aesop's fable [Ae]…], and the algorithm terminates.
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Madrid Palaces
 The Royal Palace
 Palacio de las Cortes
 Senate Palace
 Casa de las Siete Chimeneas
 Casa de Cisneros
 Casa de los Lujanes
 Casa de la Villa
 Palacio de Abrantes
 Palacio de Santa Cruz
 Palacio de Uceda
 Palacio de Cristal
 Palacio de Velázquez
 Palacio de Villahermosa
Palacio del Senado
The Palacio del Senado is the headquarters of the Spanish upper house of Parliament, and can be found in the Plaza de la Marina Española, not far from the Royal Palace and Sabatini gardens. It is only a few strides from the metro station Santo Domingo, but also a short walk from Metro Opera or Callao, and also the Plaza de España Square.
The building began as a convent school in 1590, popularly known as the Colegio de Doña María de Aragón, named after its founder. Its first use as a parliament building was in 1814, when it was taken over as the Salón de Sesiones de las Cortes, and between then and the present day, it has changed use a number of times.
In 1820, neoclassical additions were made to the interior by the architect Isidro González Velázquez, and Anibal Alvarez Bouquel completely renovated the inside of the building between 1844 and 1850. At the same time, he built a new facade in the neoclassical style.
In 1882 the architect Emilio Rodríguez Ayuso built a library and reading rooms, and completely removed any traces of the building's former religious use. A new floor was added in 1969, and a new building was added to the complex in 1987, designed by the architect Salvador Gayarre, which King Juan Carlos I, opened in 1991.
It is in fact this extension to the building, with its rounded façade which can be seen below, that most people recognise today as being the Headquarters of the Spanish Senate.
New Extension to the Spanish Senate building in Madrid
In the Plaza, facing the Palacio del Senado, is a monument to the conservative politican Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, who played a leading role in the restoration of the Spanish monarchy in 1875, when King Alfonso XII was placed on the throne with the defeat of the first Spanish Republic.
The monument was created by the architect José Grases Riera en 1901, with the help of Joaquin Bilbao, and consists of a tall column with a bronze statue of the politician at the top, giving a speech. A variety of other statues, also in bronze, adorn the lower reaches of the column.
The Spanish Parliament consists of an upper and lower house, the Senate or Senado de España being the upper house. In general, senators serve four year terms. Out of the 264 members, 208 are directly elected by popular vote and the remainder are appointed by regional legislatures.
The Congress of Deputies, or Lower House, can override almost all votes of the Senate, but the Senate has certain duties of its own, such as the appointment of judges to the Constitutional Tribunal or forcing the regional presidents to fulfil their obligations.
Copyright © GoMadrid.com.


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Sustainable income
Sustainable income withdrawals from drawdown
One of the important most important questions for drawdown investors is "how much income should be withdrawn each year". Take too much income and there is a risk that you will run out of money but take too little and you will have lost out on income you could have spent during your retirement.
An annuity solves this problems problem and academics call this the optimum distribution of income throughout your life. Personally, I prefer the rather dark maxim "live your life to the full, spend all of your money and the last cheque you write should be to the undertaker, and it should bounce"
If you don't want to withdraw too much or too little you will need to work out what is a sustainable level of income.
There are two parts to the sustainable income equation; sustainable in terms of not running out of money and sustainable by maintaining spending power i.e. keeping up with inflation.
The concept of safe withdrawal rates comes from the US where the 4% rule originated. Research using UK data suggests the safe withdrawal rate is between 2.5% and 3.5% depending on assumptions.
Many people misunderstand the original 4% rule. It is not 4% of the fund value each year. It is 4% of the original fund and this amount increases each year by inflation.
If the income was a fixed percentage of the fund the income wound not be predicable as it would change each year depending on investment growth. This will not be suitable for clients who want a predictable income.
The original research on safe withdrawal rates (SWR) was by was by US financial adviser William Bengen in 1994. He worked out the SWR was 4% of the initial amount invested, assuming the income increased each year by inflation and the fund was invested 50% in equities and 50% in bonds. This became known as the 4% Rule.
In the UK the 4% rule has been revised downwards to between 2.5% and 3.5% depending on assumptions e.g. the equity/bond mix. A 60/40 equity/bond spilt will allow for a higher SWR compared to a 50/50 split, but the former will be higher risk. A SWR of 4% can be considered if the income does not increase each year.
The static approach is where the withdrawal rate is agreed at the outset and continues without major adjustments. For instance, 3% of the original amount which increases with inflation or 4% of the original amount which remains level.
The dynamic or flexible approach is where the income is adjusted each year in line with some simple rules. A good example is a 'cap and collar' arrangement where is there is an upper and lower limit for income adjustments. An interesting variation on this is where income starts higher in the early years and changes throughout the different stages of retirement.
The SWR is a useful rule of thumb but advisers shouldn't just use this blindly as the income strategy for a particular client should be tailored to their individual circumstances. These include; life expectancy, specific income requirements and their attitude to risk and capacity for loss.
Finally, it is important not to ignore the link between annuities and SWRs. After all an index linked annuity is the only way to guarantee a truly sustainable income in real terms.
Sustainable income should be reviewed regularly taking into account factors such as age, health and investment returns.
 - Income may be increased or decreased each year depending on circumstances
 - The 4% rule is a useful rule of thumb but needs adjusting for the UK market and equity/ bond mix
 - If a high level of income is required it might be better to purchase an annuity
Our view is the income from an annuity should be used as a starting point or benchmark for deciding how much income to withdraw. Although it might be tempting to use the level annuity as the benchmark, the income from an inflation linked (or fixed escalation) is a better benchmark for the obvious reason it allows for income increases to offset the effects of inflation.
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an assessment or answers several job-specific knowledge checks incorrectly, it can be a sign that they need additional support in order to perform their job correctly.
New hire onboarding, specifically, can fundamentally shift from an approach of "Let's try it and see," to "We will do this and get these results."
If in order to be successful in a role, a new hire needs to effectively negotiate the best price with customers, a defined and measured training program that presents negotiation tactics and considerations can be used.
If the new hire scores well, it predicts that they will likely be successful in this aspect of their role and may require minimal continued support in this skill. They may even be identified as someone who can help others. If the new hire doesn't score well, they can be identified right away as someone who needs additional guidance and support in this specific skill.
The risk of the new hire's inability to effectively negotiate price is immediately mitigated, and the potential trajectory of the new hire's business results improves.
Analytics enables new hires to get up to speed quickly.
5. Increased learner content retention
With an enhanced and quantitative understanding of what your learners know and what they do not know, training teams can customize learning experiences and long-term retention.
For example, if a learner is taking an increased amount of time to complete a lesson, perhaps they can be given an infographic that would help present the content in a different way. They could be automatically be sent resources to help them explore the topic further. On the flip side, if a learner expeditiously completes a training course, they can be presented with subject matter that is more difficult or challenging to expand their knowledge.
Ideally, learning analytics are used over a period of time, allowing training teams to see the shortand long-term impact of learning interventions.
6. Creates long-term cost savings and efficiencies
Training teams can spend thousands of dollars each year creating and revising learning programs and still not understand the impact it has on learner comprehension or ability.
Learning analytics, though, improves overall curriculum efficiency and long-term cost savings.
If you know, through data, that learners already understand a topic, it is not a value-add of your time to continue to train on that topic each year. Alternatively, you can create targeted programs for new hires or those that require foundational review and "refresher" programs for those that already understand the topic. With detailed analysis, the data will indicate which employees require this foundational training and those that can simply benefit from content refreshers or reminders.
Return on training investment can be better defined and measured using learning analytics. If it costs $10 per employee to provide environmental health and safety (EHS) training, you can measure this against the potential health and legal costs of EHS incidences over one year. The cost of an effective and measurable training program likely will significantly outweigh the costs of potential incidences, immediately proving the value of your training program.
Broad Application, Targeted Improvement
As noted by eLearning Industry, learning analytics enables data-driven decisions to be made about what and how an organizations' employees are learning. Knowledge and application gaps are identified and remediated, supporting long-term content retention and business change.
Capturing a variety of learning data points will allow training teams the opportunity to identify trends and patterns in the way in which their employees are absorbing training content. The way in which this information is used, then, is critical. Learning analytics has broad applications but enables targeted improvement across various employee populations.
Get started with learning analytics, and six months from now, your training program will be transformed.


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The Cree Board of Health and Social Services would like to recognize and celebrate our medical laboratory technologists in Chisasibi and Mistissini during the week of April 10 - 16, 2022. Their tireless efforts have helped keep Eeeyouch and Eenouch safe by detecting illnesses, uncovering clues to help physicians determine a diagnosis, and providing an essential service in our fight against COVID-19.
What do lab technologists do?
Medical laboratory technologists study and examine samples (from our blood, saliva, etc.) that provide clues about a person's health. They work in different specialties, including:
- microbiology (like detecting strep throat infections)
- biochemistry (like determining glucose dosage in diabetes, detecting heart attacks, etc.)
- hematology (like testing to detect anemia)
- blood bank (testing and preparing blood for safe transfusions)
- virology (testing for COVID-19 or other viruses)
Medical laboratory teams are often invisible to our clients, but they are essential to ensure the well-being of our communities.
The team processed nearly 310,000 tests during 2020 and 2021, which demonstrates their incredible work. We would like to thank the entire team for their dedication and commitment.
As we enter the third year of the pandemic, the laboratory team continues to have a key role in determining if a client is positive or negative for COVID-19. COVID-19 screening tests help us all by giving a clearer picture of if and how the virus is spreading in the community.
The most recent Omicron outbreak was especially demanding. The team adjusted quickly and worked additional hours to process the increase in COVID-19 PCR tests in the region.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has made us realize the importance of these lab heroes and heroines, who work tirelessly behind the scenes to help diagnose, treat, and prevent disease.
The technicians and technical assistants of our laboratories deserve all of our gratitude for all the time, effort, and hard work they have done, are doing, and will continue to do for the well-being and health of our communities. For all of this we say: THANK YOU.
Through their effort and teamwork, they have been able to face the different waves [of COVID-19], demonstrating team values and self-sacrifice, no matter the challenge.
The laboratory teams have always been able to count on the unfailing support of the Assistant Head of Laboratory Services, their managers, and our medical specialists.
Once again, THANK YOU!" - Ida Pedro, Coordinator of Clinical Services


text: The Flying Dutchman, a ghost ship in several maritime legends, was a sign of bad luck, particularly for sailors. In most versions, the ship appeared off the Cape of Good Hope, the southern tip of Africa. The legend was inspired by the story of a Dutch sea captain named Vanderdecken who boasted that he could complete the journey around the cape during a fierce storm. He swore that he would do so or keep trying forever. As punishment for his rashness, he was condemned to sail around the cape until the end of time. A similar version of the legend involves another captain who was forced to sail across the ocean forever because he had sold his soul to the devil. In 1843 the composer Richard Wagner wrote art opera based on the tale of the Flying Dutchman, which spread the story's popularity.


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Full-blooded giants are about twenty feet tall (GF24). They are not as intelligent as wizards but are capable of communication, both in their native language and, at times, in English (OP20). They now live mostly in remote mountain areas in tribes, with a leader called a Gurg. They are violent by nature: fights between giants are common, and when a Muggle unsuspectingly wanders into their midst it means certain death. They are also very mistrusting of wizards and magic (OP20).
There was a time when giants were a force to be reckoned with in the wizarding world - there were once at least a hundred different tribes spread out around the globe. Then, in the 1970s, the giants allied themselves with Voldemort and were responsible for many of the war's worst incidents of killing and torture, especially of Muggles. Many giants were killed by Aurors and the rest fled into hiding for the next fifteen years.
After Voldemort's return, Albus Dumbledore sent Rubeus Hagrid and Olympe Maxime, both half-giants, to the mountains northeast of Minsk (probably the Urals), as envoys to the eighty or so giants that live there. They found, though, that they were not alone - two Death Eaters, including Walden Macnair, had been sent as envoys for Voldemort, and they ultimately convinced the Gurg, Golgomath, to rejoin Voldemort's forces (OP20). In the summer of 1995 [Y15], shortly after Voldemort came out of hiding, at least one giant was involved in a Muggle attack in the West Country of England, which was passed off to Muggles as a hurricane (HBP1).
There is one full-blooded giant, however, on the side of the good. While in the mountains, Hagrid discovered he had a half brother living there, and decided to bring him home to Hogwarts. He named him 'Grawp' because "tha's what it sounds like when he says his name" (OP30). Grawp lived in the Forbidden Forest at first and then, after the centaurs got upset, Hagrid moved him to a cave near Hogsmeade. However, Hagrid has been successful in domesticating him somewhat and in teaching him some English - so much so that Grawp was actually able to attend Dumbledore's funeral in spring 1997 [Y17] ( HBP30).
Unfortunately, partly thanks to the giants' alliance with Voldemort and partly thanks to the wizarding world's general distrust of "part-humans," the giants are looked down upon very heavily. Shortly after Harry witnessed Voldemort's return, Dumbledore tried to convince Cornelius Fudge, then the Minister for Magic, to send envoys to the giants:
"Extend them the hand of friendship, now, before it is too late," said Dumbledore, "or Voldemort will persuade them, as he did before, that he alone among wizards will give them their rights and their freedom!"
Half-giants are looked upon as outcasts by wizards and giants alike; Madame Maxime still refuses to publicly admit her ancestry, and for good reason - when Hagrid's half-giant status leaked out in winter 1994 [Y14], Rita Skeeter published an article in the Daily Prophet calling for him to be sacked and for Dumbledore's resignation, and Hagrid went into hiding in a feeble attempt to escape the backlash (GF24).
The future of the giants is a bleak one - with only eighty or so left in the world, most remaining giants allied with Voldemort, and fights regularly breaking out that severely injure or kill some of those giants that are still around, it is unlikely the race will survive for many more years.


In order to keep sterility and workers' safety during the IMMUNOBIOGRAM® process, it is necessary to work within a biological safety cabinet, to sterilize all the materials used, to filter all the reagents, and to ensure a proper hygiene and training of the lab technicians. In case of a cultured PBMCs' contamination, the sample should be discarded, regardless of the step of the process when the contamination appears. It is crucial to discard this kind of samples to avoid a potential influence in the IMMUNOBIOGRAM® results.


text:
You may encounter the following error message in host events:
Unable to complete the operation due to the following error on the Agent/Appliance: Error processing PKCS7 data: error:06065064:
Additionally, one or more of the following symptoms may occur:
- It shows "Send Policy Failed" events.
- Deep Security Agent (DSA) may turn into offline status after its successful activation.
- Only one computer appears on the Computer page even when multiple computers are activated.
The Deep Security Manager (DSM) identifies Deep Security Agents based on the UUIDs. When computers have duplicated UUIDs, the issues mentioned above may occur because DSM could not handle requests from DSA due to duplicated UUIDs.
Some possible reasons of UUID duplication are as follows:
- Virtual machines are cloned using an unsupported method.
- A computer was not deactivated before restoring, and then it was restored after the computer was already activated by DSM.
To fix the issue:
- Find out the cause of UUID duplication and correct it.
- Remove the duplicate computers from the Computers page.
- Reset and reactivate the Deep Security Agent.
In case you are not able to identify the UUID duplication issue, do the following as a workaround:


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Texas Core Competencies for Early Childhood Practitioners and Administrators
Core competencies refer to specific, basic concepts, skills and abilities that early childhood professionals should learn, understand and be able to demonstrate. Core competencies are the foundation of a professional development system.
In Texas, we have developed core competencies for Practitioners and Administrators, with the intent of providing guidance to professionals seeking training and for trainers seeking training topics. Below you will find a list of the Core Competency Areas pertaining to each group. For a complete list of the observable competencies that fall under each area, please visit TECPDS to download the full Core Competencies document in English or Spanish.
Early childhood practitioners are those professionals (regardless of early childhood setting) who provide direct instruction and/or care to young children. Common job titles for practitioners include: teacher, assistant teacher, provider, and caregiver. Practitioners may use the Core Competencies as a self-assessment tool or checklist.
Early childhood program administrators are those professionals who are responsible for planning, managing, implementing, and evaluating early childhood programs. Common job titles include: center director, site manager, school administrator, program manager, coordinator, and principal. Administrators may use the Core Competencies to identify areas of need, create targeted professional development plans for the entire staff or individual practitioners, and to evaluate the appropriateness of training offerings.
Core Competencies Training Modules
Throughout the Texas Core Competencies for Early Childhood Practitioners and Administrators training, you will learn about the core competencies found in the Texas Core Competencies for Early Childhood Practitioners and Administrators document, developed by the Texas Head Start State Collaboration Office (THSSCO), in collaboration with the Texas Early Learning Council (TELC). This training was designed for use by early childhood professionals to improve the quality of care and education young children receive. The content and structure of the competencies can be thought of as a framework for assessing knowledge and skills, guiding training and professional development opportunities, and monitoring progress.
The Core Competencies are very important to the early childhood field of practice. Demonstrating ability and excellence in any profession requires the mastery of different competencies related to the job. There are concepts, practices, and knowledge that early childhood practitioners and administrators must know and be able to demonstrate in order to be effective in facilitating children's growth and development.
Core competencies are defined as an individual's demonstrated skills and abilities. The Texas Core Competencies for Early Childhood Practitioners and Administrators document lists observable skills that, when accomplished, demonstrate competency in a particular area of knowledge.
Upon completing this training, you will be able to:
- Identify the core competency areas;
- Identify core concepts of each core competency area;
- Describe select observable competencies under a core competency area sub-category; and
- Identify strengths and development areas for professional growth.
Download the Texas Core Competencies for Early Childhood Practitioners and Administrators from TECPDS.
The Texas Core Competencies for Early Childhood Practitioners and Administrators Training is available for free on CLI Engage!
Ready to access this resource? Visit _URL_ and follow these quick steps:
- Click SIGN UP in the top-right of the website.
- Select "Public Access."
- Enter a Google ID and password. This will be your login information for CLI Engage.
- Then, enter a few details about yourself on the next screen and click "Submit."
- You're in! You will see the dashboard. From here you can navigate to all the tools on CLI Engage.
- To access the Core Competencies training, find the purple button for "Full Course Catalog."
- Locate the purple button for Core Competencies and get started by enrolling in each course!


Carbon Black Market
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Carbon Black: Not Just a Black Powder but an Integral Part of Modern Automotive Culture
Modern tires with carbon black reinforcement drive extra miles as compared to older tires that need to be changed after every 5,000 kms. Carbon black allows new age tires to perform even after running for 50,000 kms. The automotive industry has witnessed a remarkable change with the uptake of carbon black.
Today, carbon black is a vital element in production of many products that are used in our day-to-day life, wherein stronger and deeper black color is desired. This fine black powder composed of elemental carbon is made by burning hydrocarbons such as coal tar, ethylene tar, FCC tar, or charred vegetable matter. Carbon black is manufactured by partial combustion and pyrolysis of low-value oil residues usually derived from coal or crude oils at elevated temperatures under controlled conditions. More than 95% of the carbon black is manufactured through furnace black process.
Carbon black is primarily used as reinforcement agent, but is also used as pigment, conductive or insulating agent, rheology modifier, and UV stabilizer in variety of rubber and non-rubber applications. In many places, carbon black is used as an additive to augment material performance including viscosity, conductivity, and static charge control. It is used in rubber tires, industrial rubber goods, and automotive rubber parts as a reinforcing agent or as coloring agent in inks, paints & coatings, plastics, wire & cables, etc.
Specialty Carbon Black to Offer Lucrative Growth Prospects Compared to Commodities
Carbon black is widely consumed in three grades: rubber carbon black, mechanical rubber goods (MRG), and specialty carbon black. It is estimated that around 13.9 million tons of carbon black was consumed in 2019. In the past few years, there has been burgeoning demand for specialty carbon blacks. Currently, this segment is niche and accounts for around 8% of the total volume; however, these are products with higher realizations and margins command higher prices compared to commodity carbon black such as rubber carbon black and MRG.
Specialty carbon blacks are used as black pigmenting, conductive, and UV stabilizing agents to enhance material performances in paints, printing ink toners, plastics, batteries, wire & cables, sealant systems, and solid carbons. Specialty carbon blacks are used in negative electrode in lead-acid batteries and for both the electrodes in Li-ion batteries, thus improving conductivity, power performance, and life cycle of batteries.
Rubber carbon black is one of the most widely used grade and along with MGR accounted for more than 92% of the total carbon black market. Its cost-effectiveness makes it ideal for tire components such as sidewalls, treads, and inner liners. This type of carbon black is used to improve strength, durability, and processing of high-performance tires and other industrial rubber goods.
The automotive tire market is poised to register at a CAGR of 3.5% between 2021-2025 supported by strong demand from automotive production and adoption of high-performance and premium tires. The demand for carbon black in tire industry is also bolstered by rise in sales of tire replacements. Growth in radialization of tires and consumers demanding tire pressure monitoring systems into the vehicles will drive the tire replacement demand thus offering lucrative opportunities for the global carbon black market.
Tires to Spearhead Demand for Carbon Black
The tire industry is one of the major consumers of carbon black accounting for more than 70% of the global demand in 2019. Increasing disposable incomes in developing economies is anticipated to spur the growth of new vehicles, thus driving the demand for carbon black in the tire industry. Expanding economic activities is anticipated to soar vehicles miles traveled (VMT) per year, thus encouraging tire replacement rates. The demand for carbon black in the tire industry is likely to be driven by revival of significant growth in tire replacement market. Tire replacement accounts for more than 2/3rd of the total tire demand, especially in developed economies. Key factors such as increase in the middle-class population in industrialized countries is resulting in rise of vehicle ownerships, rapid changes in electric vehicles, and adoption to shared transportation, driverless technology are projected to drive the transportation industry, thus soaring the demand of carbon black in tire industry.
Industrial and mechanical rubber goods are also major applications of carbon black. These applications consume MGR as well as specialty carbon blacks. Carbon black is employed in mechanical rubber goods (conveyer belts, hoses, gaskets & seals), automotive rubber parts (anti-vibration parts, sealant systems, wiper blades, fascia), electronic packaging films, and shoe soles. The carbon black market has also observed significant growth in niche applications such as printing inks, paints, plastics, wires & cables plastics, and consumer goods. These applications typically consume specialty carbon black, one of the fastest-growing product types in the carbon black market.
China Continues its Dominance in the Carbon Black Market
Asia Pacific accounted for more than 60% of the demand for carbon black in 2019. The production cost is lowest in the region owing to availability low-priced feedstock and lower labor rates. The region has vast coal resources and hence distilled coal tar is the mostly widely feedstock, thus making the pricing economical compared to other regions. China accounts for more than 40% of the total carbon black production. In the past few years, a lot of investment in tire industry has been observed in India, Thailand, and Indonesia. Revival of the automotive industry, especially growth in passenger and light commercial vehicles, supported by economic recoveries in the region will boost the tire consumption, thus in turn lifting the demand for caron black.
Europe is anticipated to exhibit stable demand for both rubber and MGR carbon black. However, rising demand for conductive additives from paints, plastics, inks, and especially EV batteries will fuel the demand for high-value specialty carbon black. Specialty carbon black is likely to play vital role in EU's 'Smart and Sustainable Mobility Strategy' of getting 30 million EVs by the end of this decade. Specialty carbon black is crucial to support an electronically conductive path in batteries and are critical to the performance of Li-ion batteries.
Companies Focusing on Cleaner, Renewable Sources to Produce Carbon Black
The carbon black market is diversified with multinational companies such as Cabot Corporation, Birla Carbon, Orion Engineered Carbons, Jiangxi Black Cat Carbon, and Tokai Carbon Co., Ltd. battling out with players having strong regional influence. These companies are competing based on price, production performance, and quality of the product. In the past few years, companies have started focusing on technological advancements in the process and integrate cleaner, renewable sources to produce carbon black.
In 2021, Monolith Materials, announced new investments to support its growth plan in carbon black area. The company with its proprietary technology uses renewable energy to convert natural gas into carbon black. The company expect to reduce GHG emissions by as much as 1 million tons annually as compared to traditional production processes.
I am interested
Carbon Black Market
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9 + 12 =


Read/Write streamline files
DIPY_ can read and write many different file formats. In this example we give a short introduction on how to use it for loading or saving streamlines. The new statefull tractogram class was made to reduce errors caused by spatial transformation and complex file format convention.
Read Frequently Asked Questions
import os
import nibabel as nib
import numpy as np
from import Space, StatefulTractogram
from import load_tractogram, save_tractogram
from import (create_nifti_header, get_reference_info,
from dipy.tracking.streamline import select_random_set_of_streamlines
from dipy.tracking.utils import density_map
from import (fetch_file_formats,
First fetch the dataset that contains 5 tractography file of 5 file formats:
 - cc_m_sub.trk
 - laf_m_sub.tck
 - lpt_m_sub.fib
 - raf_m_sub.vtk
 - rpt_m_sub.dpy
And their reference anatomy, common to all 5 files:
 - template0.nii.gz
bundles_filename, ref_anat_filename = get_file_formats()
for filename in bundles_filename:
reference_anatomy = nib.load(ref_anat_filename)
Load tractogram will support 5 file formats, functions like load_trk or load_tck will simply be restricted to one file format
TRK files contain their own header (when writen properly), so they technically do not need a reference. (See how below)
cc_trk = load_tractogram(bundles_filename[0],'same')
cc_sft = load_tractogram(bundles_filename[0], reference_anatomy)
laf_sft = load_tractogram(bundles_filename[1], reference_anatomy)
raf_sft = load_tractogram(bundles_filename[3], reference_anatomy)
These files contain invalid streamlines (negative values once in voxel space) This is not considered a valid tractography file, but it is possible to load it anyway.
lpt_sft = load_tractogram(bundles_filename[2], reference_anatomy,
rpt_sft = load_tractogram(bundles_filename[4], reference_anatomy,
The function load_tractogram requires a reference, any of the following inputs is considered valid (as long as they are in the same share space) - Nifti filename - Trk filename - nib.nifti1.Nifti1Image - nib.streamlines.trk.TrkFile - nib.nifti1.Nifti1Header - Trk header (dict) - Stateful Tractogram
The reason why this parameters is required is to guarantee all informations related to space attribute are always present.
affine, dimensions, voxel_sizes, voxel_order = get_reference_info(
If you have a Trk file that was generated using a particular anatomy, to be considered valid all fields must correspond between the headers. It can be easily verified using this function, which also accept the same variety of input as get_reference_info
print(is_header_compatible(reference_anatomy, bundles_filename[0]))
If a TRK was generated with a valid header, but the reference NIFTI was lost a header can be generated to then generate a fake NIFTI file.
If you wish to manually save Trk and Tck file using nibabel streamlines API for more freedom of action (not recommended for beginners) you can create a valid header using create_tractogram_header
nifti_header = create_nifti_header(affine, dimensions, voxel_sizes), affine, nifti_header),
 'fake.nii.gz'), os.path.basename(ref_anat_filename))
Once loaded, no matter the original file format, the stateful tractogram is self-contained and maintains a valid state. By requiring a reference the tractogram's spatial transformation can be easily manipulated.
Let's save all files as TRK to visualize in TrackVis for example. However, when loaded the lpt and rpt files contain invalid streamlines and for particular operations/tools/functions it is safer to remove them
save_tractogram(cc_sft, 'cc.trk')
save_tractogram(laf_sft, 'laf.trk')
save_tractogram(raf_sft, 'raf.trk')
save_tractogram(lpt_sft, 'lpt.trk')
save_tractogram(rpt_sft, 'rpt.trk')
Some functions in DIPY require streamlines to be in voxel space so computation can be perfomed on a grid (connectivity matrix, ROIs masking, density map). The stateful tractogram class provides safe functions for such manipulation. These functions can be called safely over and over, by knowing in which state the tractogram is operating, and compute only necessary transformations
No matter the state, functions such as save_tractogram or removing_invalid_coordinates can be called safely and the transformations are handled internally when needed.
Now lets move them all to voxel space, subsample them to 100 streamlines, compute a density map and save everything for visualisation in another software such as Trackvis or MI-Brain.
To access volume information in a grid, the corner of the voxel must be considered the origin in order to prevent negative values. Any operation doing interpolation or accessing a grid must use the function 'to_vox()' and 'to_corner()'
cc_streamlines_vox = select_random_set_of_streamlines(cc_sft.streamlines,
laf_streamlines_vox = select_random_set_of_streamlines(laf_sft.streamlines,
raf_streamlines_vox = select_random_set_of_streamlines(raf_sft.streamlines,
lpt_streamlines_vox = select_random_set_of_streamlines(lpt_sft.streamlines,
rpt_streamlines_vox = select_random_set_of_streamlines(rpt_sft.streamlines,
# Same dimensions for every stateful tractogram, can be re-use
affine, dimensions, voxel_sizes, voxel_order = cc_sft.space_attributes
cc_density = density_map(cc_streamlines_vox, np.eye(4), dimensions)
laf_density = density_map(laf_streamlines_vox, np.eye(4), dimensions)
raf_density = density_map(raf_streamlines_vox, np.eye(4), dimensions)
lpt_density = density_map(lpt_streamlines_vox, np.eye(4), dimensions)
rpt_density = density_map(rpt_streamlines_vox, np.eye(4), dimensions)
Replacing streamlines is possible, but if the state was modified between operations such as this one is not recommended: -> cc_sft.streamlines = cc_streamlines_vox
It is recommended to re-create a new StatefulTractogram object and explicitly specify in which space the streamlines are. Be careful to follow the order of operations.
If the tractogram was from a Trk file with metadata, this will be lost. If you wish to keep metadata while manipulating the number or the order look at the function StatefulTractogram.remove_invalid_streamlines() for more details
It is important to mention that once the object is created in a consistent state the save_tractogram function will save a valid file. And then the function load_tractogram will load them in a valid state.
cc_sft = StatefulTractogram(cc_streamlines_vox, reference_anatomy, Space.VOX)
laf_sft = StatefulTractogram(laf_streamlines_vox, reference_anatomy, Space.VOX)
raf_sft = StatefulTractogram(raf_streamlines_vox, reference_anatomy, Space.VOX)
lpt_sft = StatefulTractogram(lpt_streamlines_vox, reference_anatomy, Space.VOX)
rpt_sft = StatefulTractogram(rpt_streamlines_vox, reference_anatomy, Space.VOX)
print(len(cc_sft), len(laf_sft), len(raf_sft), len(lpt_sft), len(rpt_sft))
save_tractogram(cc_sft, 'cc_1000.trk')
save_tractogram(laf_sft, 'laf_1000.trk')
save_tractogram(raf_sft, 'raf_1000.trk')
save_tractogram(lpt_sft, 'lpt_1000.trk')
save_tractogram(rpt_sft, 'rpt_1000.trk'), affine, nifti_header),
 'cc_density.nii.gz'), affine, nifti_header),
 'laf_density.nii.gz'), affine, nifti_header),
 'raf_density.nii.gz'), affine, nifti_header),
 'lpt_density.nii.gz'), affine, nifti_header),
Example source code


Conversion plugin phpdocx
Debugging LibreOffice
Debugging LibreOffice
If you use LibreOffice as the transformation tool for the conversion plugin and the example of the library doesn't create the output file, follow these steps to find out the source of the error:
1. Execute the LibreOffice conversion from the command-line interface.
For example, in Linux, type this:
Replace /opt/libreoffice4.3/program/soffice with the path to LibreOffice in your operating system, and replace document.docx for an existing document.
2. Execute the transformDocument example included through the CLI mode.
3. If the PDF file is generated through the CLI mode, but not with a web server like Apache, the error is due to a security or permission problem.
To call LibreOffice using Linux, the server:
 - Needs read and write permissions in the.config folder of the user's HOME directory.
 - Needs to delete the possible blockage of SELinux or the blockage of the execution settings of external programs.
So, for example, if the user of the web server is www-data, and the HOME directory of this user is the default /var/www, then you must provide the user www-data with read and write permissions in the directory /var/www/.config.
A custom HOME folder can be set when doing the transforming. For example, to set it to /home/web:
On common problems and possible errors page are detailed the most common issues when working with LibreOffice and how to solve them.
4. Check the server and system log files to detect other possible problems related to the configuration of any program or the lack of permissions.
Next - Debugging OpenOffice


User:Alexander L. Davis
From OpenWetWare
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====Generosity Across Contexts ====
====Generosity Across Contexts ====
Are we more altruistic when preventing harm to others?
*[[User:Alexander_L._Davis/Notebook/Breaking_Bads| Notebook]]
*[[Media:Generosity_across_contexts-10-27-2011.pdf | Manuscript pdf]]
Revision as of 17:17, 23 March 2013
Contact Info
Alexander L. Davis
Alexander L. Davis
I work in Social and Decision Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University. I learned about OpenWetWare from Wikipedia and John Miller. My main interest is creativity and hypothesis generation with respect to normative, descriptive, and prescriptive decision-making, focusing on scientific decisions.
Education (CV)
 - 2012, PhD, Carnegie Mellon University, Behavioral Decision Research
 - 2009, MS, Carnegie Mellon University, Behavioral Decision Research
 - 2007, BS, Northern Arizona University, Psychology
Research and Lab Notebooks
Psychology of Methodology
What are the important psychological aspects of designing, implementing, interpreting, and reporting experimental research?
Communicating Uncertain Experimental Evidence
To what degree are unexpected data attributed to methodological error in foresight and hindsight, and how does this relate to decisions to share the data?
Incentives, Error, and Data Sharing
Do incentives undermine decisions to share data when error in the data is possible?
Backdating Causal Theories
How do we evaluate theories that were not considered beforehand?
Human Altruism
How do humans behave when they can prevent harm to others by incurring it on themselves?
Generosity Across Contexts
Are we more altruistic when preventing harm to others?
Are Preferences for Harming Others Rational?
 - [[User:| Notebook]]
 - [[Media:]]
Human Behavior and Electricity Consumption
What are the cognitive and motivational factors involved in understanding one's electricity consumption?
Setting a Standard for Pilot Studies
 - [[User:| Notebook]]
 - Manuscript pdf
 - [ Materials, Data, Statistical Analyses]
Experiments on In-Home Display Design
Predicting Volunteering in Energy Efficiency Programs
In the Problem Pit
One Good Trial
 - [[User:| empty]]
 - [[Media:| Manuscript pdf]]
 - [ Materials, Data, Statistical Analyses]
Methodology of Psychology
How can prescriptive approaches to scientific research help our cognitive and social limitations? I'm writing a book. Not sure what to call it yet. I'll make it available, for free, and I'd very much appreciate comments, critiques, suggestions or whatever. Since it is free, if you feel inclined to show your gratitude to me financially, I suggest donating to or your favorite charity.
The File-Drawer Problem (Dissertation)
Do we share data when we should?
Courses I want to make
My take on everything you need to know to complete an experimental research project.
Adaptive pretesting: Adaptive design for pretesting: How can we use adaptive design to develop very strong experiments efficiently? We may want to test our auxiliary assumptions 'online' until they converge into a reasonable risk level. Stats for Social Sciences: Rest assured there will be no p-values. Cohen et al, applied regression Advanced Stats: Rest assured there will be no p-values. Cosma's Class; Bayesian Data Analysis; Gelman and Hill; Intro to Cognitive Psychology: Human thinking, reasoning, perception, etc. Intro to Social Psychology: Motivation, social cognition, etc. Intro to Experimental Economics: Real human behavior in microeconomics and game theory. Kagel and Roth: Handbook of Expeirmental Economics; Plott and Smith: Handbook of experiment economics results Computer Science for Social Sciences: Python, Octave, R; Stats; Complexity Theory; Sipser: Introduction to the theory of computation Decision Theory: Raiffa; Levi? Seidenfeld; Savage; Ramsey; Berger: Statistical Decision Theory and Bayesian Analysis; Gilboa: Theory of decision under uncertainty; Pratt and Raiffa: Statistical Decision Theory; Kadane (2011; pg. 1-4) has a nice demonstration of how to be a dutch bookie. Behavioral Decision Research: Normative, Descriptive, Prescriptive; Poulton; K&T; von Winterfeldt and Edwards; Raiffa and Tversky: Decision-Making; Gigerenzer: Adaptive Thinking Game Theory: Von Neumann and Morgenstern; Luce and Raiffa: Games and Decisions Behavioral Game Theory: Camerer: Behavioral Game Theory; Builds on Decision Theory with empirical evidence. Prereqs: Decision theory; stats Computational Cognitive Science: Covers three of the most successful computational models: ACT-R; Church; Connectionist; Anderson: How can the mind exist? Psychology of Science: Herb Simon; Gorman; Klahr; Wason; Klayman and Ha;Carruthers, Stich and Siegal: The cognitive basis of science Philosophy of Science: Peirce; Carnap; Wittgenstein; Quine; Duhem; Lakatos; Kuhn; Popper; Van Bovens and Hartmann; Mayo; Suppes; Machine Learning: MacKay: information theory, inference and learning algorithms; Hastie, Tibshirani and Friedman: The elements of statistical learning; Bishop: Pattern recognition and Machine Learning; Human and Artificial Intelligence; How can human performance be elucidated by comparing it to modern artificial intelligence methods. For examaple, how does human knowledge representation compare to an ontology? Applications include drug discovery.
 1. Preparing for smart grid technologies: A behavioral decision research approach to understanding consumer expectations about smart meters [Paper1]
Useful links
Personal tools


by itself with ckraid --fix, why not make it automatic? A: This can be done by adding lines like the following to /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit: mdadd /dev/md0 /dev/hda1 /dev/hdc1 || { ckraid --fix /etc/raid.usr.conf mdadd /dev/md0 /dev/hda1 /dev/hdc1 } or mdrun -p1 /dev/md0 if [ $? -gt 0 ] ; then ckraid --fix /etc/raid1.conf mdrun -p1 /dev/md0 fi Before presenting a more complete and reliable script, lets review the theory of operation. Gadi Oxman writes: In an unclean shutdown, Linux might be in one of the following states: The in-memory disk cache was in sync with the RAID set when the unclean shutdown occurred; no data was lost. The in-memory disk cache was newer than the RAID set contents when the crash occurred; this results in a corrupted filesystem and potentially in data loss. This state can be further divided to the following two states: Linux was writing data when the unclean shutdown occurred. Linux was not writing data when the crash occurred. Suppose we were using a RAID-1 array. In (2a), it might happen that before the crash, a small number of data blocks were successfully written only to some of the mirrors, so that on the next reboot, the mirrors will no longer contain the same data. If we were to ignore the mirror differences, the raidtools-0.36.3 read-balancing code might choose to read the above data blocks from any of the mirrors, which will result in inconsistent behavior (for example, the output of e2fsck -n /dev/md0 can differ from run to run). Since RAID doesn't protect against unclean shutdowns, usually there isn't any ''obviously correct'' way to fix the mirror differences and the filesystem corruption. For example, by default ckraid --fix will choose the first operational mirror and update the other mirrors with its contents. However, depending on the exact timing at the crash, the data on another mirror might be more recent, and we might want to use it as the source mirror instead, or perhaps use another method for recovery. The following script provides one of the more robust boot-up sequences. In particular, it guards against long, repeated ckraid's in the presence of uncooperative disks, controllers, or controller device drivers. Modify it to reflect your config, and copy it to . Then invoke after the root partition has been fsck'ed and mounted rw, but before the remaining partitions are fsck'ed. Make sure the current directory is in the search path. mdadd /dev/md0 /dev/hda1 /dev/hdc1 || { rm -f /fastboot # force an fsck to occur ckraid --fix /etc/raid.usr.conf mdadd /dev/md0 /dev/hda1 /dev/hdc1 } # if a crash occurs later in the boot process, # we at least want to leave this md in a clean state. /sbin/mdstop /dev/md0 mdadd /dev/md1 /dev/hda2 /dev/hdc2 || { rm -f /fastboot # force an fsck to occur ckraid --fix /etc/raid.home.conf mdadd /dev/md1 /dev/hda2 /dev/hdc2 } # if a crash occurs later in the boot process, # we at least want to leave this md in a clean state. /sbin/mdstop /dev/md1 mdadd /dev/md0 /dev/hda1 /dev/hdc1 mdrun -p1 /dev/md0 if [ $? -gt 0 ] ; then rm -f /fastboot # force an fsck to occur ckraid --fix /etc/raid.usr.conf mdrun -p1 /dev/md0 fi # if a crash occurs later in the boot process, # we at least want to leave this md in a clean state. /sbin/mdstop /dev/md0 mdadd /dev/md1 /dev/hda2 /dev/hdc2 mdrun -p1 /dev/md1 if [ $? -gt 0 ] ; then rm -f /fastboot # force an fsck to occur ckraid --fix /etc/raid.home.conf mdrun -p1 /dev/md1 fi # if a crash occurs later in the boot process, # we at least want to leave this md in a clean state. /sbin/mdstop /dev/md1 # OK, just blast through the md commands now. If there were # errors, the above checks should have fixed things up. /sbin/mdadd /dev/md0 /dev/hda1 /dev/hdc1 /sbin/mdrun -p1 /dev/md0 /sbin/mdadd /dev/md12 /dev/hda2 /dev/hdc2 /sbin/mdrun -p1 /dev/md1 In addition to the above, you'll want to create a which should look like the following: /sbin/mdstop /dev/md0 /sbin/mdstop /dev/md1 Be sure to modify both rc.sysinit and init.d/halt to include this everywhere that filesystems get unmounted before a halt/reboot. (Note that rc.sysinit unmounts and reboots if fsck returned with an error.) Q: Can I set up one-half of a RAID-1 mirror with the one disk I have now, and then later get the other disk and just drop it in? A: With the current tools, no, not in any easy way. In particular, you cannot just copy the contents of one disk onto another, and then pair them up. This is because the RAID drivers use glob of space at the end of the partition to store the superblock. This decreases the amount of space available to the file system slightly; if you just naively try to force a RAID-1 arrangement onto a partition with an existing filesystem, the raid superblock will overwrite a portion of the file system and mangle data. Since the ext2fs filesystem scatters files randomly throughput the partition (in order to avoid fragmentation), there is a very good chance that some file will land at the very end of a partition long before the disk is full. If you are clever, I suppose you can calculate how much room the RAID superblock will need, and make your filesystem slightly smaller, leaving room for it when you add it later. But then, if you are this clever, you should also be able to modify the tools to do this automatically for you. (The tools are not terribly complex). Note:A careful reader has pointed out that the following trick may work; I have not tried or verified this: Do the mkraid with /dev/null as one of the devices. Then mdadd -r with only the single, true disk (do not mdadd /dev/null). The mkraid should have successfully built the raid array, while the mdadd step just forces the system to run in "degraded" mode, as if one of the disks had failed. Error Recovery Q: I have a RAID-1 (mirroring) setup, and lost power while there was disk activity. Now what do I do? A: The redundancy of RAID levels is designed to protect against a disk failure, not against a power failure. There are several ways to recover from this situation. Method (1): Use the raid tools. These can be used to sync the raid arrays. They do not fix file-system damage; after the raid arrays are sync'ed, then the file-system still has to be fixed with fsck. Raid arrays can be checked with ckraid /etc/raid1.conf (for RAID-1, else, /etc/raid5.conf, etc.) Calling ckraid /etc/raid1.conf --fix will pick one of the disks in the array (usually the first), and use that as the master copy, and copy its blocks to the others in the mirror. To designate which of the disks should be used as the master, you can use the --force-source flag: for example, ckraid /etc/raid1.conf --fix --force-source /dev/hdc3 The ckraid command can be safely run without the --fix option to verify the inactive RAID array without making any changes. When you are comfortable with the proposed changes, supply the