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The board resolution of a Dutch company
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The board resolution of a Dutch company
This legal blog provides information about board resolutions of a Dutch company (BV): when do the laws of the Netherlands require a formal corporate decision and how is it taken?
Corporate decision making in the Netherlands
From our Dutch company law practice it has become clear that concluding a board resolution by Dutch companies raises questions. This mostly concerns the Dutch limited liability company (the BV) and Dutch public limited liability company (the NV, similar to the similar to the Anglo-Saxon Plc or Inc).
The legal requirements under Dutch law regarding executive board decisions are not always clear, even to Dutch lawyers. Also the reasons why such resolutions should best be concluded, are not always evident. But for Dutch corporate governance and director liability purposes, it is quite important that board members and their advisors understand the rules and that the best practices in the Netherlands are adhered to. For this reason, we have written this blog and we include a template board resolution under Dutch law (link provided below).
This blog addresses questions such as: what is a board resolution and how is it concluded for a Dutch legal entity. Which officers of a Dutch company play a role in the decision making process? In which events is a formal resolution obligated under the laws of the Netherlands and when is it advisable. What are the legal consequences when a formal decision has not been taken or not taken correctly?
What is a board resolution under Dutch law?
A board resolution is a resolution of the board of directors of a Dutch company, generally a Dutch limited liability company (Dutch acronym: BV) but it is essentially the same for all Dutch legal entities. The (executive) board consists of people or legal entities who have been appointed upon or incorporation or later by means of a resolution of the general meeting of shareholders of the BV. The decision of the board as a corporate body constitutes a board resolution and not the decision of a single board member. Such corporate decision can be taken in a physical meeting, but also through a phone or video call. An alternative can be that the board resolution is concluded 'outside a meeting', i.e. a written resolution that is concluded by all the board members.
Why is a board resolution for a Dutch company necessary?
Under Dutch company law, board members have a collective responsibility for the management of a company. To achieve the corporate purpose of the company, the executive board will devise a corporate strategy that translates to the numerous decisions that a company at the top lever, i.e. the board, will make. A formal decision of the management or executive board may simply be required by Dutch corporate law, the Articles of Association or director's regulations / bylaws. Board resolutions also serve the purpose of explaining how the board is taking responsibility for achieving its tasks. Also with respect to accountability and (warding of) director's liability under the laws of the Netherlands, board resolutions are essential for the corporate household.
When is a board resolution mandatory under Dutch law?
Under the corporate laws of the Netherlands, only few occasions exist when an executive board decision is actually required. This is for instance the case for resolutions that require the approval of the non-executive board (also called the supervisory board in the Netherlands) or of the works council. Also, the Articles of Association of a Dutch company, board regulations, governance codes and market practice may require that a (written) board decision is taken. In any case, the principle of better being safe than sorry applies here: a board of directors will generally reduce the possibility of director's liability when its resolutions are well documented. In practice, this is generally not done at all or not properly and this is the source of (too) many conflicts in the Netherlands between -especiallythe board and the shareholders.
How to conclude a board resolution of a Dutch company?
Dutch company law and the Articles of Association of the BV provide how a board resolution should be taken. Some corporate matters will require the involvement and approval of the general meeting of shareholders, the works council and / or the supervisory board.
Each board member can cast one vote. Also, a decision by the executive board needs to meet the principle of fairness and equitability and its needs to be the 'fruit of sufficient deliberation'. This means that board members can not be excluded from the decision making process.
That said, this is different for directors who have a personal interest that conflicts with the corporate interest. Such management board members may not partake in the decision making process nor in the voting, unless the Articles of Association of the Dutch company stipulate otherwise. A board resolution does not need to be in writing, unless on the basis of the Articles or a shareholders agreement. We deem it advisable to always conclude written board decisions.
Minutes of a board meeting of a Dutch company should include the date and location of the board meeting, an attendee list, the method of voting and a clear description of what has been decided. It is sensible that the board minutes also provide context relating the decision making.
If the formal rules are not adhered to, a board resolution may be annulled or declared null and void. In order to prevent this, we refer to our template board resolution for a Dutch company (download).
Can a Dutch court overrule or annul a board decision?
A board resolution can have far reaching consequences for a Dutch enterprise and the parties involved. As an example, the board may decide to replace its workforce by self-employed staff. This has happened in the Netherlands with IT driven food delivery services. For this reason, Dutch law provides that corporate decisions need to be reached diligently after weighing the relevant interests. A board decision that has not been concluded according to the formal rules may be declared null and void by a Dutch court of law. Also, a resolution of the management board can be scrutinized by the enterprise chamber of the Amsterdam court, which is a specialized court for Dutch corporate law matters.
A board resolution that contravenes directly with Dutch company law or with the company's Articles of Association is null and void. A Dutch corporate lawyer would consider it non-existent and, thus, the company can not execute such a decision and nobody can enforce it. An example of a resolution that Is null and void is when the articles of incorporation stipulate an increased majority of votes and such majority is not met. Such decision is deemed not be taken.
A board decision that is not concluded in accordance with certain formalities is not null and void by operation of law, but in can be declared null and void by a ruling of a Dutch court upon the request of an interested party, including the board. Until such court ruling, the decision of the board is valid. An example is a resolution that is not in accordance with board regulations / bylaws. The possibility to challenge a board decision of the executive / management board of a company in the Netherlands lapses after one year.
If there are good reasons to doubt the actions or inactions of a management board, there is the possibility to test the policies of the board before the enterprise chamber with the Amsterdam court through the so-called inquiry procedure. A court appointed specialist may scrutinize the policy and actions of the board and the court may suspend or annul the execution of board resolutions.
Checklist and template for board resolution of a Dutch company
We have drafted a template for a board resolution of a company in the Netherlands. The example board decision in can be accessed through this link. We also recommend using the following checklist to conclude a proper board resolution under Dutch corporate law:
 1. Who are the board members who have been appointed by the general meeting of shareholders? Which board members need to be involved in the relevant decision making process?
 2. Does the corporate resolution need the (prior) approval of the shareholders meeting or the supervisory board / non-executive board?
 3. Is there a member of the board who has a conflict of interest regarding the proposed resolution? If yes, how is this being dealt with since as a principle such board member may not partake in the decision making process? Check the Articles of Association and the board regulations on this point.
 4. Has the management board received specific instructions from the supervisory board or the shareholders meeting regarding the subject that is being decided on?
 5. Does the works council has an advisory or information right regarding the resolution's topic?
 6. Did the board weigh the relevant interests and have the interests of the company been taken into account?
 7. Make sure that proper minutes of the board meeting are being made that reflect both the resolutions and the relevant considerations of the board.
Corporate lawyer Amsterdam
The corporate attorneys of Penrose in Amsterdam are happy to assist with Dutch corporate household matters including board resolutions. Please feel free to contact Thomas Schutte or Hans Klaver if you have any questions about corporate resolutions of a Dutch company.
Penrose law firm in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
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Top 10 foods that will make you happy
Hi friends!
Everyone wants to be happy and joyful, along with meditation and yoga – diet is also important factor for which you follow the below foods that contain natural antidepressants and hormones of happiness. In other words, the list of 10 foods that make you happy. Or the top products that will help you become happier.
foods that make you happy
Top 10 foods that make you happy:
1. Greek yogurt
Greek yogurt has a lot of calcium (greater than milk). It also contains more protein than regular yogurt, which facilitates weight loss. But it is low calorie and diet product. It also doesn't have much sugar. It helps to improve immune system and in depression.
2. Coconuts
Despite the fact that coconuts are common in desserts, coconuts (to be exact pulp) contain triglycerides. Triglycerides are special fats that improve mood and keep the brain in tonus. Coconut contains a lot of medicinal substances, natural oil and antioxidants. It improves digestion and seeing. Coconut milk has nice smell and good taste. Somehow coconuts help people to feel happy and energetic but there are some disadvantages of it too.Coconut milk is actually very harmful to health.
3. Shell fish
Mussels contain high amounts of vitamin B12, iodine, protein, selenium and zinc, and at the same time are low in calories and fat. As already mentioned iodine helps to support the work of the thyroid gland, which helps to regulate mood.
4. Black chocolate
Black chocolate improves blood flow to the brain and provides an instant increase of the concentration and mood. This will help you feel more energetic and happy. Main difference of black chocolate from other kinds of chocolate it doesn't have milk but much cocoa and chocolate liquor. Black chocolate is also against aging. It has more antioxidants than red wine or green tea. Chocolate is another amongst top foods that make you happy.
5. Swiss chard
Another product of happiness. It is a little-used vegetable that contains a lot of magnesium. Magnesium is a vital part of biochemical reactions that increase the level of energy in the human body. A study conducted in 2009 found that low levels of magnesium in the body increases the level of depression.
6. Asparagus
Asparagus has a high level of folic acid and tryptophan. Tryptophan is used by the brain to make serotonin, which is one of the main mood stabilizers. Asparagus is also used in decorative purposes with different flowers. Asparagus has a lot of vitamins and useful elements such as B1, B2, B9, C, E, A, PP, zinc, calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, iron and others. It can be useful in many diseases.
7. Honey
Another product of happiness is honey. Which contains a lot of sugar, mineral substances, microelements, vitamins, ferments, kaempferol and quercetin. These substances help prevent depression (and maintain healthy brain) by reducing inflammation in the brain. Normalizes work of many inner organs, enriches content of the blood, rises immune system, good source of energy.
8. Tomatoes
All tomatoes have a substance known as lycopene. Lycopene is an antioxidant that fights against the inflammation of the brain and generally protects the brain. For best results, eat them with olive oil. Olive oil helps increase the absorption of lycopene.
9. Eggs
Eggs contain high amounts of zinc, vitamin B, iodine, omega-3 fatty acids and proteins. The research conducted in 2018 by "International Journal of Obesity», discovered that people who ate eggs for breakfast lost significantly more weight than those who ate bagels. Eggs also one of the top 10 foods that make you happy.
10. Blue potatoes
"Product of happiness" – blue potato is not an ordinary product; It is not always possible to find it in the grocery shops. However, it has a powerful antioxidant known as anthocyanin. Anthocyanins have a neuro-protective effect and reduce inflammation of the brain, which is commonly associated with depression and increase short-term memory. The potato skins contain iodine, which is useful for the thyroid gland.
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At the most basic level, "glslides" is a stereoscopic slide show presentation tool however it has a number of features that allow it coordinate a whole stereoscopic experience. It currently supports both frame sequential stereo3D (eg: 120Hz refresh and active glasses) or passive stereo using double width displays (dual pipe cards, dual projectors, and polaroid glasses).Description file
While "glstereo" can display a single stereo pair, the normal operation involves a data file that at least contains a list of the image files. The slidelist file (last argument on the command line) can also specify a delay which can be used for free-running shows. Each line usually contains two file names, the left and right eye image. A line can also contain information that results in another application being launched.As an example of a slidelist file consider the following:
# This is a sample slideshow file L_0175.tga R_0175.tga 30 4.tga 4.tga 30!./ runme 3.tga 3.tga 30 4.tga 4.tga 30!/home/users/pbourke/demos/geometry/knots/knot1 runme 5.tga 5.tga 30 6.tga 6.tga 30 # The end
It is mostly obvious, each line must contain at least two items. In the case of stereo pairs the two items are the names of two TARGA files. The TARGA files must be either 24 or 32 bit, in the later the alpha channel will be ignored. A line starting with a "#" is taken as a comment. A line starting with a "!" is interpreted as a directory where the program/script is given as the second item. The optional third item on each line is the delay before moving onto the next item in the automatic play mode, the units are 1/10 second. Without a time delay "glslides" could be used a crude stereo movie player.
For frame sequential stereo the images can be placed within a window but for passive stereo it is generally necessary to use the full screen mode. The two images will be centered appropriately if the images are smaller than the screen size, note however that the two images must be the same size even though each image within a slide show can be of differing sizes. If the images are larger than the screen size the effect is undetermined, it can vary across OpenGL cards.Command line arguments and keystrokes
The current command line arguments and keyboard short-cuts can be listed by typing "glslides" by itself on the command line. This is an error because it requires at least one argument, namely the slidelist file.
Usage:./glslides [options] slidelistfile Options -h this text -s active stereo mode -ss dual screen stereo mode -f full screen mode -a start in autoplay mode -i read images instead of slidelist Key Strokes: q quit g autoplay h go to frame 1 (home) < last frame > next frame left arrow last frame right arrow next frame f1 toggle help information f2 jump 10 frames f3 jump 100 frames f4 jump 1000 frames

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


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SJSU was first accredited in 1949. Since that time, reviews for re-accreditation have occured at least once every 10 years. The most recent review period began when the campus submitted its institutional proposal in 2002.
The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accredits institutions, not individual programs. Therefore, in addition to assessing the academic quality and educational effectiveness of institutions, the Commission emphasizes institutional structures, processes, and resources. Following acceptance of an institutional proposal framing the review, SJSU prepares for two separate visits from WASC. The first is referred to as the Preparatory Review and the second is the Educational Effectiveness Review.
San José State is a major, comprehensive public university located in the center of San José and in the heart of Silicon Valley. SJSU is the oldest state university in California. Its distinctive character has been forged by its long history, by its location, and by its vision, a blend of the old and the new, of the traditional and the innovative. Among its most prized traditions is an uncompromising commitment to offer access to higher education to all persons who meet the criteria for admission, yielding a stimulating mix of age groups, cultures, and economic backgrounds for teaching, learning, and research. SJSU takes pride in and is firmly committed to teaching and learning, with a faculty that is active in scholarship, research, technological innovation, community service, and the arts.
- 1857: San José State is founded as a Normal School and becomes the first institution of public higher education in the state.
- 1935: Renamed San José State College.
- 1949: SJSU accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)
- 1960: The individual California State Colleges were brought together as a system by the Donahoe Higher Education Act of 1960.
- 1972: The system becomes California State University and Colleges.
- 1982: The system becomes the California State University (CSU).
Today the 23 campuses of the CSU system include comprehensive and polytechnic universities, and, since July 1995, the California Maritime Academy, a specialized campus. The SJSU campus alone is composed of 30,000 students and over 2,000 faculty and staff. The information SJSU prepares for its reaccreditation review provides an excellent data view of SJSU.
To nurture the continued development of strong academic programs and services to support student development and success the campus is fully engaged in a strategic planning process intended to help San José State University prepare for the future. It helps us serve our mission, reach our vision and guide resource allocation.
The campus is located in downtown San José, the site of the oldest civil settlement (established in 1777) in California. The city of San José is the 11th largest city in the United States and the third largest in California with a population of 926,200. Known as the "Capital of Silicon Valley," San José was called the "epicenter of information technology" by Fortune magazine.
The education level of the San José metropolitan area workforce is one of the highest in the country; 67 percent of the workforce has some post-secondary education, and 48 percent have earned a college degree. The city also has the lowest crime rate of any major city (those with populations of 500,000 or more) in the United States.
Core Principles and Standards
The accrediation process has changed considerably since SJSU's previous review. To its credit, WASC, following an extensive period of reflection and discussion with the many institutions it accredits, has developed a focused review process. This new approach provides institutions with the flexibility needed to make the review one that facilitates the growth and development of the institution along its own unique path.
WASC reviews institutions with respect to their committment to core principles called Institutional Capacity and Educational Effectiveness. To become and remain accredited,each institution is expected to demonstrate that it is committed to developing and sustaining Institutional Capacity and Educational Effectiveness. With respect to Institutional Capacity, WASC expects an institution to function with clear purposes,high levels of institutional integrity,fiscal stability, and organizational structures to fulfill its purposes. With respect to Educational Effectiveness, WASC looks for evidence of clear and appropriate educational objectives and design at the institutional and program level. WASC also expects institutions to employ processes of review, including the collection and use of data, that assure delivery of programs and learner accomplishments at a level of performance appropriate for the degree or certificate awarded.
At each review (preparatory/capacity & educational effectiveness) institutions need to present information that conveys to WASC the extent to which they have met each of four standards [pdf] articulated by WASC.
- Standard 1. Defining Institutional Purposes and Ensuring Educational Objectives.
- Standard 2. Achieving Educational Objectives Through Core Functions
- Standard 3. Developing and Applying Resources and Organizational Structures to Ensure Sustainability.
- Standard 4. Creating an Organization Committed to Learning and Improvement.


Lockdown and alcohol, how much is too much?
glass of rum
2020 has been a different year for all of us, COVID19 and lockdown have become part of our daily conversations and we have all adjusted to it in different ways, however, there is something that is a common denominator for many and that is alcohol consumption.
According to Alcohol Change UK, more than a quarter of people who have ever drunk alcohol think they have been drinking more during lockdown. The figures are based on a survey of more than 2,000 people, around 1,600 of whom were current or former drinkers.
As people mainly worked from home or stayed at home there was no social limitation or obligation regarding taking breaks, not drinking till the evening, etc.
Many people turned to alcohol due to boredom and sometimes loneliness and every person will have a different story to tell. But is alcohol actually the solution? Or a bigger problem?
Well, alcohol is a drug simply because it alters perceptions and can create addiction, as many people have experienced.
Underlying problems can percolate up to the surface causing a person to feel overwhelmed and they start using alcohol to cover up that problem, which doesn't work. The problem is still there, using alcohol to solve a problem will actually create even more problems. It starts with a problem and turns into many problems.
My grandfather who was Uruguayan of Scottish descent had joined the Royal Air Force in World War II. His plane was shot down over Italy and he was kept a prisoner there for two years. After the war, he went back to Uruguay and became an alcoholic, he drank to forget the war, he covered it up because he couldn't bear living with it. But the alcohol made him unhappy, depressed, and gave him cirrhosis which resulted in his death at 60.
I feel proud to be able to work in drug prevention and rehabilitation, I know he would be happy for me to do what I am doing now as alcohol addiction ruined his life. I now have the tools to help others who may be going down the same path.
How much alcohol is too much?
It can be very difficult to spot the signs of addiction, especially when we want to believe that nothing is wrong.
What role does alcohol play in your life?
Take this short questionnaire to find out how alcohol might be affecting you and your life.
 - Do you have to hide your alcohol use from your friends and family, or are they aware of how much you consume?
 - Is your alcohol use causing problems with your friends or family, such as fighting or separation?
 - Are you in legal trouble because of alcohol use?
 - Are you missing school or work more frequently than you used to?
 - Do you do dangerous things or take risks while under the influence, such as driving or unprotected sex?
 - Do you need more alcohol than before to experience the same effects than you used to?
 - Do you get nauseous, restless, depressed, sweaty, shaky, or have trouble sleeping if you go long without alcohol?
 - Do you say or think you are going to stop consuming alcohol, but then you find reasons why you can't or shouldn't?
 - Do you sometimes drink more alcohol than you intended, or are you ever surprised at how much you have consumed?
 - Do you spend a lot of time thinking about alcohol, or figuring out how to get it?
If you answered yes to:
 - 3 or more, you may feel like you are losing control of your alcohol use.
 - 5 or more, your addiction may be severe and getting stronger.
 - 8 or more, it may seem that addiction is ruling your life.
It doesn't have to be this way. Narconon has helped thousands to rid their lives of drugs and alcohol.
For a free personalised consultation please contact me at _EMAIL_ or contact us via our website.
I would be happy to speak with you and answer your questions. You are not alone. All contacts are confidential.
Alice Romero


Master's Project Title:
The Association of Children's Special Health Care Needs and Parental Mental Health: Implications for the Field of Maternal and Child Health (Culminating Experience Project)
MCH Student:
Sarah Cox
Date of Defense:
April 17, 2017
When working with families, it is imperative to understand the challenges they experience so their needs can better be met. One such challenge is poor parental mental health or mental illness. Parental mental illness not only poses developmental, emotional, and physical health risks on children, but also impacts the functioning of the whole family. The purpose of this study was to examine whether there is an association between children's special health care needs and poor parental mental health. Using data from the 2011/2012 National Survey of Children's Health, the study looked at a sample of 69,827 children in two-parent households. Polytomous logistic regression analyses were utilized to determine whether parents of children with special health needs (CSHCN) were at higher odds of reporting poor mental health compared to parents without a CSHCN. Attenuation of the association based on sociodemographic, child-related, and parent-related factors was also studied. 17.9% of children in the sample had a special health care need, and both parents reported poor mental health in 2.2% of households. Two-parent households with CSHCN had 78% higher odds of both parents reporting poor mental health as compared to households without a CSHCN (OR 1.78, 95% CI: 1.38-2.30). This association was confounded by sociodemographic and child-related factors, but parent-related factors did not influence the association beyond the child-related factors. The findings of the current study suggest the importance of focusing on parental mental health when developing programs and improving systems for CSHCN and their families.


When calculating local sidereal time, 100.461 "is the value needed to yield the correct value of GMST" - David Hammen (left as comment on my previous question). How is this value calculated?
If (hypothetically) I wanted to use January 1st 12:00 (noon) 2010 as my epoch, how would I calculate this number?
 - $\begingroup$ Does aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/GAST.php help? $\endgroup$ – user21 Feb 6 '18 at 17:38
 - $\begingroup$ It doesn't unfortunately, it just mentions that 6.697374558 (which is 100.461 in hours) is in the formula used to calculate local sidereal time. $\endgroup$ – user3574623 Feb 6 '18 at 17:43
 - $\begingroup$ I don't see how the previous question doesn't already answer this " is the value needed to make the expression yield the correct value for GMST at 0h UT on 1 January 2000." So it is observed, not calculated. If you wanted to use January 1st 2010 you would need to observe the position of the stars at that time, or you could estimate it using the 2000 formula $\endgroup$ – James K Feb 6 '18 at 22:08
 - $\begingroup$ Can you provide a source for it being observed rather than calculated? I don't think it's clear at all that you can infer that from the answers on my other question. The other question doesn't answer how that value was calculated or measured. Please could you provide a link to the duplicate question, as I wasn't able to find it. $\endgroup$ – user3574623 Feb 9 '18 at 21:38
The USNO page refers to USNO Circular 163 which in turn refers to a paper by Aoki et al. and one by Moyer. These papers explain how the expressions created by Simon Newcomb at the end of the 19th century were updated to work with the new system of constants introduced in 1984. If you want to change the epoch, you could redo these calculations with the epoch of your choice.
Further changes to celestial mechanics calculations have occurred since then, but apparently the USNO has decided that for the accuracy stated in the USNO web page, 0.1 second, it is not necessary to overhaul the calculation to account for all the changes since 1984.


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Suffering from sickness or nausea caused by the motion of a ship at sea.
More example sentences
- Though a good general, Medina Sidonia had never been to sea before and when he did get on board his ship, he got seasick.
- I get seasick, air-sick and used to get terribly car-sick as a child.
- For example, a person on a boat who starts to feel seasick should immediately watch the horizon.
- More example sentences
- I hated the whole journey there, complaining first of seasickness, then sickness of riding my horse, and finally just plain sickness of travelling.
- I also began to throw up because of seasickness.
- And don't let seasickness put you off travelling.
Definition of seasick in:
- The British & World English dictionary


You are hereIsle of Benbeculla
Isle of Benbeculla
Mermaid's Grave
Pictish Mermaid
A mermaid is said to be buried in the sands in the area around Nunton. In 1830 some women who were gathering seaweed spotted a mermaid in the waters close to the shore.They tried in vain to catch her, but she was too clever for them. Read More »
The Blobster of the Isle of Benbeculla
In the early 1990's a twelve foot carcass covered in sand and seaweed was discovered on a Benbecula beach by 16 year old Louise Whitts. Read More »
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This section is from the book "A Treatise On Beverages or The Complete Practical Bottler", by Charles Herman Sulz. Also available from Amazon: A Treatise On Beverages.
In reference to funnels, it may be remarked that those employed for filtering rapidly should be deeply ribbed, best spirally, on the inside, or small rods of wood or glass, or pieces of straw, or quills, should be placed between them and the paper. The neck or tubular part of the funnel should, in like manner, be deeply ribbed or fluted on the outside, to permit of the free passage of the air, when it is placed in a narrow-mouthed bottle or receiver. When this is not the case, filtration proceeds but slowly, and the filtered liquid is apt to be driven up the outside of the neck of the funnel by the confined air, and to be continually hissing and flowing over the mouth of the vessel. The breadth of a funnel, to filter well, should be about three-fourths its height, reckoning from the throat (a). When deeper, the paper is liable to be continually ruptured, from the pressure of the superincumbent fluid; and when shallower, filtration proceeds slowly, and an unnecessarily large surface of the liquid is exposed to the atmosphere and is lost by evaporation To lessen this as much as possible, the upper edge of the glass is fre quently ground perfectly smooth, and a piece of smooth plate-glass is laid thereon. When paper filters are of large dimensions, or employed for aqueous fluids that rapidly soften the texture of the paper, or for collecting heavy powders, or metallic precipitates, it is usual to support them on linen or calico, to prevent them breaking. This is best done by folding the cloth up with the paper, and cutting the filter out of the two, in the same way as would be done with double paper, observing so to place it in the funnel that the paper and calico may remain close together, especially towards the bottom.
Fig. 360. - Plaited Paper Filter.
Fig. 361. - Filtering Paper.
The filtration of small quantities of liquid, as in chemical experiments, ma) often be conveniently performed by merely placing the paper on the circular top of a recipient (see Fig. 362), or on a ring of glass or earthenware laid on the top of any suitable vessel. A filter of this kind that will hold one fluid ounce will filter many ounces of some liquids in an hour.


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Radio music ripping
||This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2008)|
The term ripping (slang term for digital media extraction) can also apply to radio. New software, techniques and cloud services now makes it possible to extract the songs played on the radio and digitally save them on separate audio tracks. Available techniques make it possible to rip the music from Internet radio broadcasts, satellite radio broadcasts and FM radio broadcasts.
Ripping is more than simply recording the audio. The key aspect of ripping is disambiguation. When ripping songs from any source, the songs should be split into separate tracks or files, and the songs should be tagged. Otherwise, you are simply recording or dubbing the audio.
Internet radio
Popular audio formats for internet radio include AAC, AAC+, and MP3. Many AM/FM stations simulcast online use the more efficient AAC format while internet only stations more typically use MP3. The Shoutcast database featured 34,281 online radio stations covering almost every conceivable music genre.
Cloud recording services such as DAR.fm can record from all of these formats. Most PC based internet radio ripping software is built for Shoutcast-style of streams as this MP3 based protocol offers the widest selection of internet radio stations. Such wide selection of music is one of the major advantages for recording songs from internet radio compared to FM and satellite radio as well as the fact that it works with cloud services that do not require a separate audio receiver. The disadvantages may include fairly low audio quality in the saved mp3s, which varies from stream to stream.
To begin the recording process, the software connects to the audio stream over TCP. The stream is then buffered 15–30 seconds ahead. Some internet radio ripping software, utilize special metadata that is being broadcast along with actual song content. These programs are generally more successful in determining the boundaries of songs (providing for a cleaner mp3 cut) as well as correctly identifying the song in question. Such metadata, however, is available for only a subset of internet radio stations, commonly associated with the Shoutcast standard. The existence of open directories of Shoutcast-compliant radio stations such as Shoutcast enables internet radio rippers to provide an abundant selection of recordable radio stations that are reasonably expected to emit detailed song metadata. The metadata also helps avoiding commercials from being recorded along with the songs.
Satellite radio
TimeTrax has developed software that can record the audio broadcast on XM satellite radio. The software saves songs as individual MP3 files after identifying the name and the artist. TimeTrax is both a software and hardware solution: the TimeTrax software can interface with any PC-compatible satellite receiver, and the adapter box is necessary to allow certain receivers to interface with a PC.
The XM PCR was the first device to allow audio stream ripping from XM radio. The device itself is simple enough: an XM "can" (the actual receiver and decoding hardware) is enclosed in a box with a USB interface chip and audio connector. The PCR plugs into a PC USB port and line-in jack. TimeTrax, or some other similar software, then controls the radio and records the incoming audio. After a legal battle, the TimeTrax software is no longer being sold.
To end the problem for good, XM discontinued the XM PCR receiver. However, TimeTrax almost immediately released a hardware companion product that turned virtually any device capable of receiving XM satellite radio AND its primary competitor at the time, Sirius Satellite Radio. Timetrax went on to also include the ability to rip and tag music from the online music streaming services that were being provided by both XM and Sirius.
Notably, TimeTrax went on to extend its technology in a seamless package for FM radio, and further, any music source. It developed this portion of its technology hardware and software offering with Swedish company PopCatcher. TimeTrax was the first company that offered music ripping (aka audio disambiguation, ripping and tagging, de-aggregation) for the 3 largest and widespread music distribution methods: satellite radio, Internet streaming and traditional broadcast.
The original TimeTrax software was developed by Scott MacLean, a Canadian citizen. It went viral and a corporation and formal management team along with funding were brought in the form the enterprise around MacLean's discovery. The company was led by business executive Elliott Frutkin.
FM radio
There are three ways of ripping songs from an FM broadcast.
Radio Data System
Some FM receivers are capable of receiving a data stream known as Radio Data System or RDS. This provides artist and title information that can be shown on the display of a compatible FM receiver. A compatible receiver, connected to the computer, can tag saved audio streams with this data. The disadvantage of RDS is that the title may change before or after the song itself changes, causing the recording process to miss part of the beginning or end of the song.
In the near future RDS will include a new feature called RT+ or Radio Text Plus. As well as providing discrete text fields for Artist, Album & Track Title, RT+ includes 'item running' and 'item toggle' bits which can be used to accurately mark the track transitions and DJ/commercial interruptions, aiding the process of recording, filenaming and ID3 tagging.
Separating music from non-music
Swedish company PopCatcher has patented a technology that enables distinguishing between music, chatter and commercials. It is a self-learning process that first identifies the broadcasting habits of a given radio station. PopCatcher is designed to automatically exclude commercials and DJ patter from the recording, which results in "cleaner" audio files. The process is fully independent from the Internet. However, it does not recognize the names and the artists of the recorded songs.
Manual tagging
Certain recording packages allow you to set markers in the file, which you can use later to split the file into separate tracks. This process can be tedious and time consuming, but has the advantage of being the only truly reliable way to ensure that the song is captured as accurately as possible without cutting off the beginning or end of a track.
Legal issues
This expanding way of ripping music may lead to 'strong legal debates' in a near future, even if it is permitted to record music from the radio for private use in most countries. In Germany it is allowed. There even is a campaign to put focus on it. It's called TauschNix, which in essence stands for: no need to download via filesharing. See link below.
European context
The EU passed in May 2001 the Information Society Directive which has since then been transposed into the national laws of most of the Member States. Article 5 – 2/b of the directive states that "[Member States may provide for exceptions or limitations to the reproduction right provided for] in respect of reproductions on any medium made by a natural person for private use and for ends that are neither directly nor indirectly commercial, on condition that the rightholders receive fair compensation which takes account of the application or non-application of technological measures referred to in Article 6 [ie. Digital Rights Management ] to the work or subject-matter concerned".
In short, copying music from the radio for private use is permissible if the artists receive a "fair compensation". In case of a lawsuit against radio music ripping technologies, the whole debate will be about the meaning of the term "fair compensation". It can be argued that Radio stations are already paying a "fair compensation" to artists as they know their songs might be copied. Moreover, in an increasing number of EU member states, importers are charged a private copying levy on the purchase of recordable media (mp3 players, writable CDs or DVDs). The tax or levy is usually administrated by copyright collectives. However, at the time of digital copies, the outcome of such a lawsuit is far from being certain if it should occur.
UK context
Beginning in 1981, the British Phonographic Industry began a campaign against so-called "home taping", or recording songs from the radio onto cassettes, due to fears that home taping would decrease album sales. Iconic of the campaign is a picture of the silhouette of a cassette tape, with two crossed bones underneath, with the words "HOME TAPING IS KILLING MUSIC" written across the top, and the words "AND IT'S ILLEGAL" printed in smaller letters at the bottom.
US context
The doctrine of fair use should make it legal to record songs from the radio for private use.[original research?] Traditionally, the recording industry expressed little or no concern with individuals who recorded music from the radio on a cassette recorder. However, the digital format in this case changes the whole issue since it does not degrade over time and can be easily copied.
That PopCatcher has developed a technology that automatically removes commercials may lead to a legal case similar to ReplayTV's and SonicBlue's. In 2001 these DVR manufacturers had issued a Digital Video Recorder equipped with a Commercial Advance feature enabling the automatic removing of commercials from recorded programming. They were sued by 28 companies of the Entertainment Industry in the USA until they ran out of money to pay the expensive litigation. In 2003, they filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The case itself has never been judged.
The Audio Home Recording Act also lays out certain legal rights on the part of consumers.
- "Shoutcast internet radio station database". Retrieved May 14, 2010.
- "DAR radio recording service". Retrieved Oct 27, 2011.
- "RadioGet internet radio recorder". Retrieved May 14, 2010.
- "RadioTracker internet radio recorder". Retrieved May 14, 2010.
- "StreamRipper Open Source Internet Radio Recorder".
- "Total Recorder internet radio recorder".

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text:
Part I. Provider Design Pattern Overview
The Provider Model Design Pattern was first introduced with the.NET 1.1 framework, specifically in the ASP.NET starter kits and was formalized in ASP.NET Whidbey as a membership management provider API (Application Program Interface). It's primary purpose is to separate the definition for an API from the implementation. This keeps the API flexible by enabling the core functionality to be flexible and easily changed.
More details on the origins of the pattern in the.NET 1.1 Framework can be found on MSDN:
The Provider Model Design Pattern is basically a fusion of the two GOF patterns: strategy and abstract factory. The API is defined and the functionality is "pluggable" through a variation of the strategy design pattern. This functionality is loaded into memory through a rough implementation of the abstract factory design pattern.
Here's a basic outline of the parts and how they interact.
- API Class: This is a class that defines and exposes all the desired functionality through static methods. There is no implementation in the API Class. The API Class keeps a reference to a Application Provider Base which is basically a wrapper for the API functionality.
For this article our API Class will be a store from which we can purchase products, specifically Coke, Snickers, and the diet pills that are needed from eating all the Snickers and drinking all the Coke.
Here are the parts of our class:
- We'll have API functionality to do basic store stuff like AddProductToStock, GetProductPrice, GetProductStockCount, and RemoveProductFromStock (the core methods)
- We have an Initialize() method which is used to load any existing concrete stores from the application configuration.
- We have references to all available providers.
- We have a reference to the default provider whose functionality is being wrapped.
Once implemented, all calls will be made to this API class, which will in turn, pass the request to the default provider.
- Provider Base Class: This is an internal abstract.NET class in the System.Configuration.Provider namespace that is used to define a provider. The Initialize() method takes information from the configuration file to construct the concrete provider. Eventually, we will be overriding the Initialize() method when building our own custom providers by implementing this abstract class.
- Application Provider Base: This is an abstract class used to mirror the structure of the API Class, and inherit from the ProviderBase class. The Application Provider Base inherits from ProviderBase and defines the structure for parent classes by exposing the API methods as abstract members to be implemented by a parent class.
In our application we'll call the Application Provider Base "StoreProvider". Notice how the Store Provider class has abstract definitions for the methods defined in the Store class and inherits from the abstract class ProviderBase.
- Concrete Provider: This class is where the methods of the Application Provider Base are implemented. The Concrete Provider overrides the Initialize() method in order to load information specific to the Concrete Provider from the configuration file.
So these are the four core classes needed to implement the provider pattern. The rest of the classes are either used to define what the provider is providing (which, in this case, is a Product class) or utilities for supporting building the objects on the fly or managing the application configuration file.
It takes a bit to wrap one's mind around the basic structure, but once you see how requests are executed against the static Store class and then passed to a reference of a StoreProvider which is implemented by a CornerStoreProvider, you get the basic idea of how the cogs of this machine all work together.
Part II. Details, Details, Details
Now that we have covered the basics, let's dig a little further into the structure of our program. Basically we are a building an API for interacting with a store and products within that store.
Let's look at the Product class.
This class is not part of the provider pattern, however, we are using it to move data back and forth. We are defining the name and the wholesale cost for each product. Each store will have it's own markup on each product so we can calculate the retail cost. I have also added static methods to get all available products: GetProducts() and Initialize().
The Store class defines our core API for interactions between us (the client), the store and products.
The Store Provider exposes these same methods in an abstract class as we discussed earlier.
The CornerStoreProvider is our concrete implementation of the StoreProvider.
The VendingMachineStoreProvider is another concrete implementation of the StoreProvider.
One interesting method implemented by both the concrete providers is Initialize(). This is the method called from the ProviderBase which gets called from the ProvidersHelper. This method overrides the ProviderBase implementation and then we are using it to load markup information specific to the store which is in the section of the configuration file.


text:
Do you keep the first-calf heifers and older cows on one group? Or do you house them separately? This is a continuing challenge for many dairy farms. Sensors can help farmers by showing the effects of grouping strategies and assist farmers in making the right decisions.
Heifers have the highest genetic potential. However, many heifers struggle to meet that potential, especially when competing with older cows. Sensors can help to see what is happening when these young cows enter the milking herd. This was shown by Sense of Sensors, the field study from Nedap, Vetvice Consultancy, Utrecht University and Wageningen University.
When first-calf heifers are separated, feed intake, lying time and hence milk production is increased. Photo: Bertil van Beek
Heifers need their own space
Heifers need their own space to be able to perform best. This was demonstrated by earlier studies that show that when first-calf heifers are separated, feed intake, lying time and hence milk production is increased. "Many farmers don't realise that heifers represent a separate group of animals. They exhibit specific behaviour and have specific needs," according to Associate Professor Frank van Eerdenburg of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Utrecht, the Netherlands. One of the participating commercial dairy farms from the Sense of Sensors field study decided to go from mixed pens to a separate heifer group, as he was not happy with the milk production of the heifers when housed in the mixed pens. A comparison before and after this management change shows the benefits of a separate heifer group (Table 1). By using sensors it could be shown that in a separate group, the heifers have a higher lying time, make less steps and a similar feeding time ultimately resulting in 6% milk production increase. And this is the data from real cows on the farm.
Number of steps as indicator
But not every farmer has the possibility or is willing to create separate heifer groups. For these type of farms, the question is more when to introduce a heifer in the milking herd. Do you introduce the heifer immediately after calving or is it better to wait a few days?
In the field study this was further explored by using the data on the extra number of steps of the heifers compared to the older cows. The number of steps a cow makes is considered a measure for stress. It is known that the number of steps made by heifers is higher than older cows. The question to be answered was if this increase is related to the moment that the heifers are introduced in the group. Introducing heifers after 3 days resulted in more stress than introduction right after calving. This would indicate that it is better to introduce heifers quickly after calving (Table 2). According to Prof van Eerdenburg, on the day of calving, heifers are in the defence mode, because of their new-born calf. This is hormonally driven. Results therefore showed that when heifers are introduced at the day of calving, they can better compete with the older cows, because they fight instead of run-and-hide.
Spare heifers from competition
Taken all this knowledge together, backed up by the data generated from the sensors, it is clear that first-calf heifers perform better if they have little competition. Overcrowded mixed pens cause excessive competition for feed and stalls. This has a huge impact, especially on heifers. US research has shown that a stocking density of 110% doubled the milk production difference between heifers and cows, which means that milk production stays behind for the heifers. This is because heifers are the first group to suffer from an overcrowded pen, reflected in reduced feeding and lying time. With this in mind, the best recommendation remains to group heifers separately and to prevent overcrowding, especially in mixed pens. Every farm is different and with sensor data you are able to determine these effects on your farm under your management conditions.
This is part 1 of a 4 part series on how sensors are making their way to dairy farms around the world and the practical application of it.


Small tip: use QueueBackgroundWorkItem for asynchronous work in ASP.NET
This is a small tip that I'm mainly publishing as a reminder to myself, but it could come in handy for someone else. Background processing tasks in ASP.NET are hard. At any time IIS could decide to recycle the application lifecycle. The usual solution is to farm out these tasks to a (Azure) queue and let some other machine (for example an Azure worker role) process that queue. However, with ASP.NET 4.5.2 Microsoft introduced the QueueBackgroundWorkItem method. This makes it possible to create small background processing tasks within the application lifecycle context. See the following (extremely simple) example:
 - Caveats: A task started this way will only delay the recycling of the app pool for 30 seconds. So you need to complete your work within those 30 seconds. If not, the task will be killed.
 - You need ASP.NET 4.5.2.
See for more detail the following links:
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Rhodococcus bacteria are among the strains useful in bioremediation for their absorption of mineral contaminates. (Source: University of Cambridge)
New research promises sustainable filters, fuel, and a better understanding of fluid dynamics
Bioremediation, the study of using living organisms to remove pollutants or contaminants from the environment, is a hot new field of research. Nanotechnology, including carbon nanotubes, nanoparticles, and nanomembranes is another extremely hot field, which promises to one day provide revolutionary improvements to nearly every field of science. Combine the two fields and you get the University of Nottingham's new research.
Rather than just study nanofilters with nanopores or waste-eating bacteria, the English researchers at the University of Nottingham -- headed by Nidal Hilal, Professor of Chemical and Process Engineering in the Centre for Clean Water Technologies -- combined the two exciting fields to develop a new prototype system, which provides a glimpse at the potential future of water filtration.
The water enters the system and is first passed through colonies of bacteria, which eat contaminants. The water then flows through an adjacent nanofilter, featuring pores, which are between ten thousandths of a millimeter to one nanometer thick.
The work is similar to other research funded by the Middle East Desalination Research Centre on nanofiltration and ultrafiltration. The goal is to be able to create pure, drinkable fresh water from sea water or water contaminated from industrial processes.
The key improvement in the Professor Hilal's system is the use of bacteria. The bacteria eat the contaminates which prevent the filter from getting clogged and keep the water flowing. The tech can thus be used in a closed system without the need for regular membrane replacement.
The research is sponsored by a tech partnership with Cardev International, an oil filtration company based in Harrogate, England.
One fortunate benefit of the process is that the waste it generates in the form of contaminate-laden bacteria has a high calorific content, meaning that it makes an ideal fuel. This could improve the efficiency of many types of industrial power generation.
Another benefit of the research is by using state-of-the-art atomic force microscope equipment at the University, researchers are studying fluid movement at the nanoscale, which will allow for a better understanding of how liquids flow and pull apart at the nanoscale. This could have broad applications in mechanical engineering, including improving oil flow and thus efficiency in automotive engines. Researchers are testing liquids over a broad temperature range from -50 deg. C to 150 deg. C, which should help to yield a broad understanding of behavior.
Professor Hilal sees the research as unparalleled in terms of both the study of fluids at an atomic level and in providing a sustainable nanofiltration system. He states proudly, "Examining the properties of liquids has never been done before at this scale. By using bioremediation and nanofiltration technology combined, the water cleaning process is integrated — using far less energy than current processes. Add to this the recycling of waste products as fuels and you have a greener technology."
Comments Threshold
RE: Morality
By Gondorff on 2/22/2008 9:00:44 PM, Rating: 2
Religion certainly plays a large role in the US, but the above posters' critiques of the article were dead on. The researcher found in his studies that many people thought nanotech was immoral, yet the connection to religion was entirely speculation.
The answer, Scheufele believes, is religion
Note that there is no evidence behind this claim. It is simply the researcher's own ramblings, and completely unscientific. Therefore, it is rather objectionable that the story should show up in the news as "Religion Colors American's Views of Nanotechnology", when no correlation was shown. Only biased opinions.
Additionally there is the issue of the wording of the question, which is not explained.
It would seem far more plausible to me that the issue is simply that people don't know what nanotech really is (note that it is only by the researcher's own word that we learn that the survey respondents understood nanotech. How does he know that? He cites no source for that information). This would also agree with the related article on that same page that describes the low level of public awareness about nanotech.


text:
The measuring speed and accuracy of Coordinate Measuring Machines (CMM's) are improving every year. Newer CMM's are being designed and built to be shop floor "hardened" so they can function with repeatability right on the production floor. Vibration is one environmental factor which can compromise a CMM's accuracy and repeatability.
Ideally, if all components of a CMM, including the part to be measured, were to vibrate in unison at a specific frequency, amplitude, phase and orientation, no degradation in measured performance would result.
Without compromising accuracy, CMM manufacturers provide their users with the maximum levels of vibration which their machines are capable of withstanding. This allowable vibration criteria is an important factor when considering if a machine requires vibration isolation or not.
When isolation is required, it is typically low frequency (less than 30 Hz) vibration that requires attenuation. Fabreeka pneumatic isolators (PAL Isolators and PLM Mounts) provide significant vibration isolation for metrology equipment requiring low frequency vibration control.


Take the 2-minute tour ×
void fun(void *x)
 //what is the data type of 'x', since I could have passed float instead of
 // int so first I have to check datatype of this and then proceed further.
int main()
 int n=10;
You can see that we dont know the type of 'x' in function fun() so how could we find out that without using(passing) any other information in function argument?
share|improve this question
You can't, I'm afraid. Not in pure C. You'll need to pass additional information. – Baldrick Oct 29 '13 at 14:14
C knows nothing more than that contained in the arguments type -- so in this case that it is a 'pointer to something'. There are some mechanisms in C++ to help but they aren't going to work when passing a simple 'int'. – Rob Oct 29 '13 at 14:16
While not about void pointers, printf is a similar case. You send type information, in the form of a format string, to the function, so it can know the type of data it receives. – Thomas Padron-McCarthy Oct 29 '13 at 14:52
add comment
5 Answers
up vote 2 down vote accepted
C11 has type-generic expressions to help you solve this problem. You could do something like this example:
_TAG_ myFunction(X) _Generic((X), \
 int *: myFunctionInt, \
 float *: myFunctionFloat, \
 default: myFunctionInt \
void myFunctionInt(int *x);
void myFunctionFloat(float *x);
And then call it the way you are:
int n = 10;
float n = 10.0f;
You will need to implement the separate target functions, but you could just do the pointer magic there and pass off to a common handler, for example.
share|improve this answer
TIL C11 has generics – constantius Oct 29 '13 at 15:21
add comment
C does not have runtime type information. When you pass a pointer, then you pass a naked pointer - a memory address.
If you are using pointers to void but need to know the type, then you have to pass some additional information. Otherwise, you create different functions for different types, like foo that expects an int, dfoo that expects a double and so on.
share|improve this answer
add comment
You cannot know the type when you cast to a void *. You have to be careful while using a void pointer, because you can cast it to any type. That is the purpose to have a void pointer.
share|improve this answer
add comment
C does not allow to get the type of the variable passed by void*. The only thing, that you can do it is write kind of object oriented code by your self.
Probably something like this:
typedef struct generic_type_s
 void* data;
 void (*f)(void* data);
} generic_type_t;
void f_int(void* _data)
 int* data = (int*)_data;
 // Do something
int main()
 int data1 = 10;
 // Generic variable initialization
 generic_type_t gv;
 gv.data = &data1;
 gv.f = f_int;
 // Calling an appropriate function
 return 0;
share|improve this answer
add comment
The C way of doing this is using a tagged union:
typedef enum {
 // will default to TypeUnitialized if unspecified in structure initializer
 TypeUninitialized = 0,
 TypeFloat = 1,
} type_t;
typedef struct {
 type_t type;
 union {
 int u_int;
 float u_float;
} gen_val_t;
void fun(gen_val_t v)
 switch (v.type) {
 case TypeFloat:
 // process float
 case TypeInt:
 // process int
 // error
int main(int argc, char **argv)
 gen_val_t ov = {.type = TypeFloat,
 .u_float = 3.45 };
share|improve this answer
ultimately You are passing extra information. – Gaurav Jain Oct 29 '13 at 15:39
There's no way of getting this information at runtime except manual instrumentation like this. So it's in no way extra. – constantius Oct 29 '13 at 16:35
add comment
Your Answer


Dates: 1950s
1 2 3 133
Simple white clay pipe adorned with three metal bands marked 'ECB London', 'MS' and 'U', and 'EP', which probably came from other pipes.
Dr D A Higgins of the Society for Pipe Research, told us that it is a typical Scottish clay pipe of late C19th or early C20th date. Thick, chunky pipes like this were favoured in Scotland and made by many different manufacturers. Those from the larger firms often had a pattern number on the left hand side of the stem [this one does not].
The metal bands are nothing to do with the pipe, but could well have come from others. Briar pipes typically had a metal band like these to join the wooden bowl with a vulcanite stem. Some, more expensive, clays with stems of vulcanite or other materials also had a metal band. The diamond-shaped band could have come from a 'Bulldog' pattern of pipe, which had a diamond-shaped stem section. These bands would have been made since the mid C19th as composite pipes only really came into circulation after around 1850.
1 2 3 133


14 Apr 2015
Jeannette and I (Dr. Deb) agree that multiplication can take place in many forms. Neither of us have had children. Yet we have both deliberately spent our lives investing in others and multiplying ourselves.
Here is the 2nd in a series of life and growth principles by Jeannette Slater.
When we look at nature, we can quickly identify the principle of multiplication at work. Nature in all forms continues to reproduce and most of the time it is in multiples and many times it is in abundance. Rabbits are infamous for their ability to multiply. And consider plants. They scatter their seeds abroad in abundance with the goal of multiplying themselves. They know that not all their 'offspring' will survive, so ensure survival and growth through multiplication.
Even the largest of organisms, whether plant or animal, do not grow endlessly. Rather they replicate themselves for life to continue. The California redwoods are some of the largest plants; yet they too reproduce.
How does that translate to our lives?
In some ways it's obvious. If we spend all our time on one effort or a small circle of influence, we will likely fail to thrive. And we are certainly limiting the investment we COULD be making in others. Rather, we must cultivate multiple relationships in order to reap the fruit down the road.
Utilizing the principle of multiplication means that we have to think differently. Instead of thinking about how we can add another leader or another client, we need to think strategically about how to invest our energy so that the result is multiplication rather than addition. If we simply add and replace what is lost, we won't experience optimum health and growth for our lives or others'.
One of the synonyms used for multiplication is reproducibility. Are you reproducing yourself? Are you taking your life lesson and strengths and investing them in others?
Another aspect of reproducibility is considering whether our action and ways of leading are setting an example that is reproducible. We all want to do our best but we may unwittingly be doing such as stellar job that others feel like they could never do what we do. By making ourselves the 'star' we may hinder reproducibility in others. How might you adjust your actions so that others can follow in your footsteps as they are starting the journey?
As you make decisions, here are some multiplication questions you may want to incorporate into the process:
 - What opportunities might emerge if we multiplied our influence?
 - In which dimensions of our lives and work are we adding rather than multiplying?
 - How am I multiplying my efforts by passing on my skills to others?
 - What aspects of my life are worthy of reproduction or multiplication?
 - Who are people I could strategically invest in?
Ask multiplication questions. The principle of multiplication challenges us to move toward greater potential in ourselves and others.
Royalty-free image by Szorstki in Poland; retrieved from


text: Strategies to amplify whole-body glucose disposal are key therapies to treat type 2 diabetes. Mice that over-express glucose transporter 4 (Glut4) in skeletal muscle, heart, and adipose tissue (G4Tg) exhibit increased fasting glucose disposal and thus lowered blood glucose. Intriguingly, G4Tg mice also exhibit improved insulin-stimulated suppression of endogenous glucose production even though Glut4 is not present in the liver. It is unclear, however, if hepatic gluco-regulation is altered in G4Tg mice in the basal, non-insulin-stimulated state. The current studies were performed to examine fasting hepatic glucose metabolism in G4Tg mice and to determine whether gluco-regulatory adaptations exist in the non-insulin-stimulated condition. To test this question, phloridzin-glucose clamps were used to match blood glucose and pancreatic hormone levels while tracer dilution techniques were used to measure glucose flux. These techniques were performed in chronically-catheterized, conscious, and un-stressed 5h-fasted G4Tg and wild-type (WT) littermates. Results show reduced blood glucose, hepatic glycogen content, and hepatic glucokinase (GK) activity/expression as well as higher endogenous glucose production, glucose disposal, arterial glucagon, and hepatic glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase) activity/expression in G4Tg mice versus WT controls. Clamping blood glucose for 90 min at ~115 mg/dLin G4Tg and WT mice normalized nearly all variables. Notably, however, net hepatic glycogen synthetic rates were disproportionately elevated compared to changes in blood glucose. In conclusion, these studies demonstrate that basal improvements in glucose tolerance due to increased uptake in extra-hepatic sites provoke important gluco-regulatory adaptations in the liver. Although changes in blood glucose underlie the majority of these adaptations, net hepatic glycogen synthesis is sensitized. These data emphasize that anti-diabetic therapies that target skeletal muscle, heart, and/or adipose tissue likely positively impact the liver.


text:
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an independent inter-governmental body that develops and promotes policies to protect the global financial system against money laundering, terrorist financing and the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
The FATF Recommendations set out a comprehensive international framework of measures which countries should implement in order to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
The FATF Recommendations 24 and 25 cover transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons and arrangements. Previously the FATF has noted that the implementation of these particular Recommendations has proved to be challenging.
Consequently, the FATF has now published a guidance paper to assist countries in their implementation of Recommendations 24 and 25 (and also Recommendation 1 as it relates to understanding the money laundering / financing of terrorism risks of legal persons and legal arrangements).
The purpose of the guidance paper is to help policy makers and practitioners in national authorities to identify, design and implement appropriate measures to prevent the misuse of corporate vehicles in line with the FATF Recommendations. The guidance paper also explains the connection between customer due diligence measures and specific transparency measures, and it may be useful to financial institutions and designated non-financial businesses and professions in their implementation of anti-money laundering / countering the financing of terrorism preventative measures.
The guidance paper is structured as follows:
- section 2: overview of how corporate vehicles can be misused and the challenges for countries in implementing measures to prevent such abuse;
- section 3: the definition of beneficial owner;
- section 4: guidance to countries on effective mechanisms to combat the misuse of legal persons and legal arrangements;
- section 5: guidance to countries on implementing measures to enhance the transparency of legal persons;
- section 6: guidance to countries on implementing measures to enhance the transparency of legal arrangements;
- section 7: the relationship between standards on transparency and beneficial ownership and other Recommendations;
- section 8: access to information by competent authorities; and
- section 9: guidance on international cooperation involving beneficial ownership information.
The guidance is non-binding and does not override the purview of national authorities.
View FATF guidance on transparency and beneficial ownership, 27 October 2014


text:
Blue - Heat recovery shower system from wastewater to preheat the cold water supply
The Blue uses heat from wastewater to preheat the cold water supply, resulting in a significant lower demand for hot water. By doing so, the demand for hot water drops significantly which means a significant lower energy consumption (depending on the version, a 4-person household can save up to 1.876 kWh per year). In turn, this allows for a smaller hot water system. The installation costs of the hot water system and the utility bill will be lower. The energy performance of the building will improve considerably and less CO2 will be emitted. The Blue has been specifically developed for multi-story construction and projects where the highest possible efficiency must be achieved on one floor.
Showerdrain reclaiming heat energy from used shower water by pre-warming the fresh water before it arrives at the mixer.
The information set out above, is solely for the purposes of information and the Solar Impulse Foundation does not provide any guarantee as to its authenticity, completeness or accuracy. This information does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy into, transact or to enter into any agreement with any of the parties or persons mentioned above. Potential investors or interested parties are solely responsible for their investment or business decisions and for performing any due diligence required by the circumstances.


text:
BOOKS, GLOBES AND INSTRUMENTS OF THE 16TH CENTURY
An exhibition by the Royal Astronomical Society and the Museum of the History of Science
to mark the 500th anniversary of the birth of Gerard Mercator.
11 May to 9 September 2012
Astronomers may seem always to have been preoccupied with theory but The Renaissance in Astronomy shows that in the 16th century they created and used many finely-crafted and even beautiful objects. Through outstanding examples of astronomical craft, the exhibition – presented here in its online version – sets in a new context the revolutionary proposition of Copernicus that the earth is in motion.
The exhibition marks the 500th anniversary of the birth of cartographer Gerard Mercator, whose world map projection we use to this day. Mercator was famed for his globes and a pair of his splendid terrestrial and celestial globes, lent by Royal Museums Greenwich, is featured in the exhibition. Also on show is Mercator's own annotated copy of Copernicus's ground-breaking book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium. Important books from the library of Royal Astronomical Society are also on display, including Peter Apian's stunning Astronomicum Caesareum, along with astronomical instruments from the Museum's collection.
The exhibition is a collaboration between MHS and the Royal Astronomical Society.


text:
Thermodynamic properties and structural aspects of 2,2′-difurylmethane (DFM) (1) and n-propanol (2) binary mixtures have been investigated using molecular dynamics simulation. Thermodynamic properties such as density, isothermal compressibility, enthalpy of vaporization, molar volume and excess molar volume are reported. In most cases the observed experimental data as a function of DFM mole fraction, x1, is well reproduced. For neat systems there is better agreement between theory and experiment for n-propanol than DFM. However, the variation of excess molar volume with composition is well reproduced. Atom-atom and molecule-molecule center of mass radial distribution functions are used to study the structural properties. Evidence from the interspecies atom to atom radial distribution functions suggests the presence of weak hydrogen bonding through the n-propanol acidic hydrogen and the oxygen from one of the furan rings but no evidence was found for the interaction of acidic hydrogen and the π-electron system. The molecule-molecule coordination numbers reveal non-ideal mixing at x1 = 0.2 and 0.9 mixtures which is in excellent agreement with simulated excess thermodynamic properties. Both components are homogenously distributed in high mole fraction but n-propanol tends to form more clusters than DFM.
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
- Materials Chemistry


Encode our PHP code into spaces and new line characters
According to one my last blog post with an exotic usage of dynamic includes with PHP we will keep on with something still more exotic. The idea is to create clean code. And what is cleaner than the blank?
We will encode our PHP code into spaces and new line characters (\n). The idea is simple. We will translate each character of our script into (n) spaces where (n) is the hexadecimal representation of it's ASCII code.
function decodeText($encodedText) {
 $out = array();
 foreach (explode("\n", $encodedText) as $line) {
 $lineOut = array();
 foreach (explode("\t", $line) as $item) {
 $lineOut[] = chr(strlen($item));
 $out[] = implode(null, $lineOut);
 return implode("\n", $out);
function encodeText($text) {
 $out = array();
 foreach (explode("\n", $text) as $line) {
 $lineOut = array();
 foreach (str_split($line) as $item) {
 $lineOut[] = str_repeat(" ", ord($item));
 $out[] = implode("\t", $lineOut);
 return implode("\n", $out);
And now we will create two functions to include our files and parse them with PHP. One function to include from raw input and another to include files.
function includeFromFile($file)
 $raw = file_get_contents($file);
function includeFromRaw($rawText)
 $decodedCode = decodeText($rawText);
 $tmpfname = tempnam("/tmp", "blank");
 fwrite($handle, $decodedCode);
 ob_start(function($buffer) use ($tmpfname, $decodedCode) {
 return str_replace($tmpfname, "". htmlentities($decodedCode). "", $buffer);
 include $tmpfname;
Now we can use:
$text = encodeText('');
Or if we save our code with the name "Blank.clean"
Now if you are brave enough you can write code in our new blankAndSpaces programming language, instead of PHP 🙂
2 thoughts on "Encode our PHP code into spaces and new line characters
 1. Feel free to enter to my github account. Normally all code is there. Small jokes (working joke indeed:) ) like this post not. TDD is widely used, at least in my last projects and the last two are also connected to travis. This small function has been done without TDD. Coding testa after coding implementation is useless (ok, maybe is more readable, but this small pice of code is enought readable, I think)
 Speaking about the real life usage of this post, if the reader is crazy enough to use as-is, good for him ;). I was bored and I wrote this small function. I also had the idea of encode recursively a full library (sf2 for example) and try to use it, but time for experiments this holiday day was over :). Anyway this joke has two things that they can be useful. For example the fake eval trick (with the creation and include one file on the fly) is used in a similar way in projects such as Doctrine2. With years I have learn that "real life application" is something very ambiguous. Real life application of someone is different than another's one. We all work with similar projects but with different problems and approaches. Because of that we need to adapt the libraries and solutions to our "real life application"
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text:
Skip to content
This report documents the methodology, findings and conclusions of the Starting to smoke research project. The aim of the project was to explore the reasons young Indigenous people in the Northern Territory start smoking as well as the protective factors which prevent smoking. Young people aged 13-20 years of age were recruited from urban and remote communities to participate in one-on-one and group interviews.
A particular focus of the project was on the social and cultural processes that influence smoking uptake in this group. Based on the project's findings, the report makes recommendations regarding future smoking prevention initiatives. The project was carried out in the Northern Territory across two sites: one in Darwin and one in a remote community in Arnhem Land.
Abstract adapted from Lowitja Institute


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How to Help a Sick or Injured Raptor
- Please note that all wild birds, including raptors are protected under state and federal laws, it is illegal to harm, harass or possess any wild bird. You are allowed to rescue a wild bird but you must get it to a permitted facility as soon as possible. The quicker the bird is in qualified care the better its chances are for release.
- Raptors can be very dangerous, even sick, injured and/or young birds. They have very sharp talons and beaks! BE CAREFUL!
- Please note the location where the bird was found, this information will be necessary in order to return the bird to its home once it has recovered
- For baby raptors, please note the exact location it was found, mark the spot if possible. Look up into the trees to see if the nest and/or adults are there. Every attempt should be made to reunite families.
- Get a box that is slightly larger than the bird. Poke lots of air holes into the sides. Place the box over the bird. Carefully slide something flat under the box in order to contain the bird.
- If you do not have a box, throw a towel or blanket over the bird. BEWARE of their talons and beaks!
- Do not attempt to give the bird food or water. Transport it to a wildlife rehabilitator right away in a dark, warm (room temperature) container with breathing holes in it.
How to Locate a Wildlife Rehabilitator
- In the Central Florida area contact Audubon Center for Birds of Prey at 407/_PHONE_
- Contact your state or country's fish and wildlife agency (check the phonebook), who will have a list of permitted wildlife rehabilitators.
- Local veterinarian offices or local (domestic) animal shelters may have these contacts as well.
- Visit _URL_
- Centers & Chapters
- Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary
- Audubon Center for Birds of Prey
- Tavernier Science Center
- Babson Park Audubon Center
- Roy Hyatt Environmental Center
- Street Nature Center
Find Audubon Near You
Enter your zipcode or select your state to find Audubon in your area:


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Summary of False Flag Operations and False Flag Terrorism
Definition of False Flag
"False flag terrorism" occurs when elements within a government stage a secret operation whereby government forces pretend to be a targeted enemy while attacking their own forces or people. The attack is then falsely blamed on the enemy in order to justify going to war against that enemy. Or as Wikipedia defines it:
False flag operations are covert operations conducted by governments, corporations, or other organizations, which are designed to deceive the public in such a way that the operations appear as if they are being carried out by other entities. The name is derived from the military concept of flying false colors; that is, flying the flag of a country other than one's own. False flag operations are not limited to war and counter-insurgency operations, and have been used in peace-time; for example, during Italy's strategy of tension.
The term comes from the old days of wooden ships, when one ship would hang the flag of its enemy before attacking another ship in its own navy. Because the enemy's flag was hung instead of the flag of the real country of the attacking ship, it was called a "false flag" attack.
Historical False Flag Attacks
There are many examples of false flag attacks throughout history. For example, it is widely known that the Nazis, in Operation Himmler, faked attacks on their own people and resources which they blamed on the Poles, to justify the invasion of Poland. And it has now been persuasively argued — as shown, for example, in this History Channel video — that Nazis set fire to their own parliament, the Reichstag, and blamed that fire on others. The Reichstag fire was the watershed event which justified Hitler's seizure of power and suspension of liberties.
And in the early 1950s, agents of an Israeli terrorist cell operating in Egypt planted bombs in several buildings, including U.S. diplomatic facilities, then left behind "evidence" implicating the Arabs as the culprits (one of the bombs detonated prematurely, allowing the Egyptians to identify the bombers). Israel's Defense Minister was brought down by the scandal, along with the entire Israeli government. Click here for verification.
The Russian KGB apparently conducted a wave of bombings in Russia in order to justify war against Chechnya and put Vladimir Putin into power (see also this essay and this report). And the Turkish government has been caught bombing its own and blaming it on a rebel group to justify a crackdown on that group. Muslim governments also play this game. For example, the well-respected former Indonesian president claimed that their government had a role in the Bali bombings.
This sounds nuts, right? You've never heard of this "false flag terrorism," where a government attacks its own people then blames others in order to justify its goals, right? And you are skeptical of the statements discussed above? Please take a look at these historical quotes:
"If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy." - U.S. President James Madison
"Why of course the people don't want war... But after all it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship... Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." - Hermann Goering, Nazi leader.
What about the U.S.?
Is it logical to assume that, even if other countries have carried out false flag operations (especially horrible regimes such as, say, the Nazis or Stalin), the U.S. has never done so?
Well, as documented by the New York Times, Iranians working for the C.I.A. in the 1950's posed as Communists and staged bombings in Iran in order to turn the country against its democratically-elected president (see also this essay).
And, as confirmed by a former Italian Prime Minister, an Italian judge, and the former head of Italian counterintelligence, NATO carried out terror bombings in Italy with the help of the Pentagon and CIA and blamed communists in order to rally people's support for their governments in Europe in their fight against communism. As one participant in this formerly-secret program stated: "You had to attack civilians, people, women, children, innocent people, unknown people far removed from any political game. The reason was quite simple. They were supposed to force these people, the Italian public, to turn to the state to ask for greater security."
Moreover, declassified U.S. Government documents show that in the 1960s, the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff signed off on a plan code-named Operation Northwoods to blow up American airplanes (using an elaborate plan involving the switching of airplanes), and also to commit terrorist acts on American soil, and then to blame it on the Cubans in order to justify an invasion of Cuba.
The operation was not carried out only because the Kennedy administration refused to implement these Pentagon plans.
For lots more on the astonishing Operation Northwoods, see the ABC news report; the official declassified documents; and watch this interview with James Bamford, the former Washington Investigative Producer for ABC's World News Tonight with Peter Jennings. One quote from the the declassified Northwoods documents states: "A 'Remember the Maine' incident could be arranged: We could blow up a US ship in Guantanamo Bay and blame Cuba. Casualty lists in US newspapers would cause a helpful wave of national indignation."
What about Al-Qaeda?
You might think Al-Qaeda is different. It is very powerful, organized, and out to get us, right? Consider this Los Angeles Times article, reviewing a BBC documentary entitled The Power of Nightmares, which shows that the threat from Al Qaeda has been vastly overblown (and see this article on who is behind the hype). And former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski testified to the Senate that the war on terror is "a mythical historical narrative."
And did you know that the FBI had penetrated the cell which carried out the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, but had – at the last minute – cancelled the plan to have its FBI infiltrator substitute fake powder for real explosives, against the infiltrator's strong wishes? See also this TV news report.
Have you heard that the CIA is alleged to have met with Bin Laden two months before 9/11? Did you know that years after 9/11 the FBI first stated that it did not have sufficient evidence to prosecute Bin Laden for 9/11? (See also this partial confirmation by the Washington Post) And did you see the statement in Newsweek by the CIA commander in charge of the capture that the U.S. let Bin Laden escape from Afghanistan?
Have you heard that the anthrax attacks – which were sent along with notes purportedly written by Islamic terrorists – used a weaponized anthrax strain from the top U.S. bioweapons facility? Indeed, top bioweapons experts have stated that the anthrax attack may have been a CIA test "gone wrong." For more on this, see this article by a former NSA and naval intelligence officer and this statement by a distinguished law professor and bioterror expert (and this one).
It is also interesting that the only Congress members mailed anthrax letters were key Democrats, and that the attacks occurred one week before passage of the freedom-curtailing PATRIOT Act, which seems to have scared them and the rest of Congress into passing that act without even reading it. And though it may be a coincidence, White House staff began taking the anti-anthrax medicine before the Anthrax attacks occurred.
Even General William Odom, former director of the National Security Agency, said "By any measure the US has long used terrorism. In '78-79 the Senate was trying to pass a law against international terrorism, yet in every version they produced, the lawyers said the US would be in violation" (the audio is here).
Why Does This Matter?
Please read what the following highly respected people are saying:
Former prominent Republican U.S. Congressman and CIA official Bob Barr stated that the U.S. is close to becoming a totalitarian society and that elements in government are using fear to try to bring this about.
Republican U.S. Congressman Ron Paul stated that the government "is determined to have martial law." He also said a contrived "Gulf of Tonkin-type incident may occur to gain popular support for an attack on Iran." Former National Security Adviser Brzezinski told the Senate that a terrorist act might be carried out in the U.S. and falsely blamed on Iran to justify yet another war.
The former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration, Paul Craig Roberts, who is called the "Father of Reaganomics" and is a former editor and columnist for the Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, and Scripps Howard News Service, has said:
"Ask yourself: Would a government that has lied us into two wars and is working to lie us into an attack on Iran shrink from staging 'terrorist' attacks in order to remove opposition to its agenda?
Retired 27-year CIA analyst Ray McGovern, who prepared and presented Presidential Daily Briefs and served as a high-level analyst for several presidents, stated that if there was another major attack in the U.S., it would lead to martial law. He went on to say:
"We have to be careful, if somebody does this kind of provocation – big violent explosions of some kind – we have to not take the word of the masters there in Washington that this was some


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Santo Tomás was born in Seville, Spain. He was educated in local church schools and entered the Dominican Order as a youth. After becoming ordained as a priest and serving in Spain for years, he was assigned as a missionary to the Spanish colonial Viceroyalty of Peru in 1540, soon after the initial conquest of 1533. He founded the convent (monastery) and city of Yungay on 4 August 1540 to evangelize to the Inca.
For the purpose of Indian Reductions, by which the Spanish brought natives together around missions for teaching and work, Domingo learned the Quechua language dialect spoken along the Peruvian coast near Lima. The coastal dialect of Quechua was significantly different from that current in Cuzco; these were described in detail by Diego González Holguín in the early 17th century.
In 1560 he published his Grammatica o arte de la lengua general de los indios de los Reynos del Perú in Valladolid, Spain. It was the first book to be printed in the Quechua language. In the same year he published his Lexicon, o Vocabulario de la lengua general del PERV.


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Richard Zsigmondy, Chemistry (1865 to 1929)
In 1925 Richard Zsigmondy (1865 to 1929) was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his proof of the heterogeneous nature of colloidal solutions and the methods of the chemistry of colloids applied by him. From 1908 until his death in 1929 Zsigmondy was Director of the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Göttingen. Colloids are gel-like substances such as starch, gelatine and albumen. Thanks to the slit-ultramicroscope developed jointly with the physicist H. F. W. Siedentopf Zsigmondy was able to provide the experimental proof for the atomic composition of matter. As part of this research membrane filters were developed at the Göttingen Institute with which these colloids could be separated.


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Nonprofits used to take a page out of the consumer marketing playbook: make the consumer feel inadequate, guilty, or broken, and offer your product or service as the only thing that can save them. We used to see videos of starving African children or abject wild animals trapped in cages, and were guilted into donating. But things have shifted.
According to Jonah Sachs, creative director of Free Range Media, the kinds of stories that last and which have the biggest impact on humans are myths that follow the structure of the hero's journey. Here is how to use the hero's journey myth structure in your nonprofit marketing.
Understanding The Hero's Journey
The most compelling human stories are myths, defined at messages that provide explanation of the world, the audience's meaning and purpose within that world, a story about it, and a ritual for how the audience can live that myth.
Joseph Campbell, famous myth researcher, discovered that most human myths follow a set structure, which he called the Hero's Journey. Here is a (very) rough outline:
- A hero living in a broken world wants to express his or her values, but can't.
- They are forced to strike out into the world by a disaster or other force.
- They find a mentor who helps them learn how to live their values and sends them on a quest.
- The quest takes them away from the world they know. This is often represented by a journey to the underworld, a forest, or some wilderness.
- They encounter and defeat a "dragon" and claim some treasure, often a new power or capability.
- They bring this treasure back into the world to make it whole again.
What makes this hero's journey so compelling is that psychologists believe it is a reflection of the stages of human growth. We see ourselves as the hero and believe that we too can overcome our obstacles and make the world a better place.
Most marketing until recently focused on the idea that the company or product was the hero and the audience was the damsel in distress: "Buy our weight loss solution and all your love troubles will disappear!" But these messages only inspired anxiety. Sure, we bought, but the message didn't inspire loyalty or even a positive self-image.
Sachs offers one marketing campaign that suggests a different approach: Nike. Nike's slogan, "Just Do It," focuses on the empowerment of the individual consumer. Apple is another great example. The classic Apple 1984 ad tells a story about the consumer breaking free, fixing the world, and claiming their own power.
I don't care what Nike's selling with that commercial. All I know is that they believe in me and I want them on my team. In both cases, the company is the mentor (the narrator actually talks like a mentor), helping the buyer bring their treasure – athleticism and hard work for Nike, creativity and expression for Apple – to the world.
Use In Nonprofits
To create compelling stories for your nonprofit marketing, consider ways to make the audience the hero of the story.
- Tell the story in the second person.
- If your fundraiser is based around participation, show past participants in the activity and connect their effort to the solution to the problem.
- Emphasize how you need their help and how they will make the world a better place through their contributions and support.
Definitely avoid guilting the audience into helping.
- Avoid poverty porn at all costs. Not only is it denigrating to the people you are helping, it also elicits negative emotions in your audience.
- Avoid the implication that your audience "should" do something, and instead emphasize that they "can" do something.
This doesn't mean you need to put yourself or your nonprofit in the role of a helpless non-actor. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital does a great job of this with their "because of you" campaign. This video shares all the wonderful generosity of the hospital and finishes with placing the responsibility for making it happen on the donor. Show your audience that they are the heroes and you are the mentor or the path that will allow the hero to defeat the dragon (your cause), and bring a better world into existence.
Here's Jonah Sach's original TEDx Talk