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First Nations children have the right grow up safely at home, get a good education, be healthy, and be proud of their cultures
It's an obvious truth but it's far from being a reality.
As the Auditor General of Canada and many others have noted, the Federal government provides less funding per child for many services for First Nations children on reserves than the Provinces provide for children in their jurisdictions. This is despite often higher costs of delivering such services in small and remote communities, and the greater need experienced by many First Nations communities.
The result of the denial of basic rights that most people in Canada take for granted.
The annual Have a Heart Day campaign is about involving ordinary people across Canada in demanding an end to this fundamentally unjust situation. The campaign is led by the First Nations Child and Family Caring, a dynamic non-profit organization led by Dr. Cindy Blackstock which advocates for the rights of First Nations children. The Caring Society says, "Have a Heart Day is about caring Canadians working together to ensure First Nations children have proper services that make them feel proud of who they are."
Amnesty International has worked alongside the Caring Society for years to raise awareness of the ongoing discrimination in the funding and quality of basic government services available to First Nations children. Also in February we will once again standing alongside Dr. Blackstock and the Caring Society as the long awaiting Canadian Human Rights Tribunal hearing into the Society's discrimination complaint against the Federal government is finally heard.
The Caring Society has made joining the Have a Heart Day campaign easy. You can take part by sending a Valentine's Day card or letter to the Prime Minister and your Member of Parliament, hosting a Valentine's Day party to raise awareness in your school or community, or by spreading the word through social media like YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook.
Last year, people across Canada celebrated Have a Heart day in all sorts of energizing and creative ways. Southeast Child and Family Services in Manitoba collected over 5000 Valentine's Day cards to send to Parliament. Students at Carleton University held a bake sale, and community members in Saskatchewan celebrated with an educational puppet show.
Visit the Have a Heart Day website at www.fncaringsociety/have-a-heart for more information, to send an e-Valentine, or to order Have a Heart Valentine's cards, posters, bookmarks, and buttons!
To find the contact details for you Member of Parliament, visit the Parliament of Canada website.
However you take part in Have a Heart Day, please let us know. It's really important to build a picture of all the activity taking part across the country. Please drop us a line - and send pictures, if you can - to _EMAIL_
There is also an ongoing related action on our own website at:


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Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium
Florida State University's Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium is a museum-quality collection of over 200,000 plant and microalgae specimens. These document the distribution and natural variation of the 2,400 species of flowering plants, ferns, conifers, and cycads found in northern Florida-one of North America's biodiversity hotspots-and the microalgae of Florida's Gulf and Atlantic coasts. Each plant specimen is carefully identified, pressed, dried, and mounted to archival standards, with accompanying data on where and when it was collected. The specimens are a valued resource to local, state, national, and international biologists studying plant and microalgae systematics, ecology, evolution, biogeography, conservation biology, anatomy, and morphology. New specimens are added to the collection each week. In August 2003, Austin Mast became the new director of the herbarium. Though now retired, Loran Anderson remains active in the herbarium. The current curator is Chris Buddenhagen.
In August of 2003 the Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium set up a digital imaging system and SQL database. Currently 74,691 of our 200,000+ specimens have been entered into the herbarium's database. In late 2010, Tall Timbers Research Station's Herbarium began serving specimen data and images on this site as well. Currently, data and images for 10,344 of Tall Timbers Research Station's 10,000+ herbarium specimens are being served. Specimen images and data from both institution's can be searched by following the database links on our menu or by clicking here.
The Florida State University gratefully acknowledges funding from the National Science Foundation (Awards _PHONE_ and _PHONE_), the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to support the digitization of specimens in the Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium. The Tall Timbers Research Station gratefully acknowledges funding from the National Science Foundation (Award _PHONE_) to support the digitization of specimens in its herbarium.

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Presentation on theme: "Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo Literacy unit of work."— Presentation transcript:
Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo Literacy unit of work
Lesson 1 Learning Objective: Discussing issues arising from a text and presenting balanced arguments. Success Criteria: I can discuss the idea of "sailing around the world" with classmates and write a balanced argument about it.
Michael's father decides that the family will sail around the world together. Do you think that it would be a good idea for your family to do something like this? Complete the chart with your reasons FOR and AGAINST.
Use the writing frame below to plan and write a balanced argument on sailing around the world. SAILING AROUND THE WORLD I am not sure that sailing around the world with my family would be a good thing because... On the other hand... However... One good thing about it would be... Nevertheless... Another point of view is... In conclusion... When you have written your plan, check your spelling and punctuation very carefully,
Lesson 2 Learning Objective: Identifying unfamiliar words and describing their meaning. Success Criteria: I can find words that I don't understand, look them up in the dictionary and write a sentence to show I understand them and can spell them.
L.O. To identify unfamiliar words and describe their meaning. In Chapter 1 of Kensuke's Kingdom the author, Michael Morpurgo, uses some challenging words. 1. Using a dictionary look up the meaning of the following words and write them in a table like the one below. 2. Then write a sentence using the word to show that you understand how to use it.
Lesson 3 Learning Objective: Reading texts carefully silently. Success Criteria: I can read and understand chapter 3 of Kensuke's Kingdom by myself.
Shared Reading 1. Why has Michael decided now to tell his story? 2. Who are the members of Michael's family? 3. What do the family do together on the weekends? Can you describe how it makes them feel? 4. Why do the family stop sailing? 5. What is the atmosphere like in the house? 6. What happened to Michael's best friend? 7. What happens to Michael's father and why? 8. What do you think happens next? 9. Describe the father when they meet up again. What sort of mood is he in?
QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER 3 1. When Michael and his family first set sail, how many miles a day do they want to do? 2. How many miles a day do they actually do? 3. What game do Michael's parents play? 4. What do they eat? 5. What creatures do they see off the coast of Africa? 6. In November they went to Brazil. Where did they stop? 7. What did Michael do in Brazil? 8. What did they do on Christmas Day? 9. Describe, in your own words, the incident with Stella Artois.
Lesson 4 Learning Objective: To use evidence from the text effectively. Success Criteria: By finding and understanding specific detail in chapter 4, I can draw and label and detailed picture of the island.
L.O. To use evidence from the text effectively. Carefully read the description of the island Michael is living on (page 53) and then draw and label it. IDEAS:
Lesson 5 Learning Objective: Identify and use strategies to make writing more interesting. Success Criteria: I can recognise techniques that make writing descriptive and I can write a descriptive account of a scary situation.
Starter: What would you take with you on a journey like this? What if you could only take 10 items? List your items and reasons for these choices.
Write about a time in your life when you have been really frightened.
A shadow under the trees moved and came lumbering out into the sunlight towards us. A monkey, a giant monkey. Not a gibbon at all. It moved slowly on all fours, and was brown, ginger-brown. An orang-utan, I was sure of it. He sat down just a few feet from me and considered me. I dared not move. When he'd seen enough, he scratched his neck casually, turned and made his way on all fours slowly back into the forest. I was sitting under the trees when I saw them standing there, watching us. What were these strange creatures? They did not move, so I slowly went towards them and sat down close by to examine the two creatures. One was standing upright. He looked like a monkey, but did not have any fur. The other had four legs and a long face. I looked at them for a while, but they did not more or make a sound. What strange creatures. I decided to return to my friends in the forest.
Lesson 6 Learning Objective: Rewriting texts from a different perspective. Success Criteria: Using imagination and description to re-write a part of the book from the perspective of an orang-utan.
Read through the extracts describing the actions of the orang-utans - re-write the events from their perspective. What were they thinking? Why were they acting the way they were? L.O. To re-write text from another perspective. p.66 A shadow under the trees moved and came lumbering out into the sunlight towards us. A monkey, a giant monkey. Not a gibbon at all. It moved slowly on all fours, and was brown, ginger-brown. An orang-utan, I was sure of it. He sat down just a few feet from me and considered me. I dared not move. When he'd seen enough, he scratched his neck casually, turned and made his way on all fours slowly back into the forest.
L.O. To re-write text from another perspective. p.88 I was heaving a massive branch on to the pile when I felt a sudden shadow come over me. An orang-utan was looking down at me from the rock above - I could not be sure it was the same one as before. He was on all fours, his great shoulders hunched, his head lowered, eyeing me slightly sideways. I dared not move. It was a stand-off, just as it had been before down on the beach. He sat back and looked at me with mild interest for a while. Then he looked away, scratched his face nonchalantly and sloped off, stopping once to glance back at me over his shoulder before moving on into the shadow of the trees and away.
Lesson 7 Learning Objective: Communicating without words. Success Criteria: I can identify some of the emotions expressed in chapter five.
AngryHappyAfraidHungryNervous WorriedShyCuriousExcitedUnhappy CalmUncomfortable RelaxedConfidentAnnoyed
Chapter 5: Questions 1. How does Stella react towards Kensuke? 2. What does Kensuke suggest to Michael about the way they share the island? 3. Kensuke leaves food and water for Michael and Stella every morning. What does it mean?
What sort of person do you think Michael is? Choose SIX of the words in the box below, and write a sentence for each. brave cowardly lonely determined happy sad confused clever sensible angry foolish naughty 6 sentences: I think Michael is.................... because......................................................
Lesson 9 Learning Objective: Using research skills to check for evidence. Success Criteria: I can research two articles on the internet, decide if they are true or false and note down key facts.
Do you think these articles are true? Research them article on the internet!
Lesson 10 Learning Objective: Asking precise questions. Success Criteria: I can make a questionnaire about chapter eight for another team to answer.
Lesson 11 Learning Objective: Sorting information from a text. Success Criteria: Complete a timeline about Kensuke's life.
Chapter 8: Questions to think about 1. Why does Michael feel that he has to hide his message in the coke bottle? 2. What were Kensuke's hopes for the future? 3. What has been lost now, between Michael and Kensuke?
L.O. To complete a timeline using information from the text. Complete a time line of Kensuke's life, from his birth in Japan until he is in the boat with Michael telling his story; include all the significant events. Birth in Japan
Lessons 12 and 13 Learning Objective: Finish reading novel and discuss certain aspects of the final two chapters. Success Criteria: I have read Michal Morpurgo's novel: Kensuke's Kingdom, am able to summarize it and discuss the main points.
1. Describe the atmosphere between Michael and Kensuke at the beginning of the chapter. 2. What is it that makes Kensuke change his mind about Michael staying on the island? 3. What developments in the world does Michael describe to Kensuke? Chapter 9 - Questions to think about
1. Describe the rain on the island, and the effect it has on Michael and Kensuke. 2. What happened to the binoculars? 3. How do Michael and Kensuke save the orang-utans from the poachers? 4. What do the poachers do on the island? 5. What were they doing when Kensuke spotted the sail? 6. What does Michael see that makes him realise it's the Peggy Sue? 7. What are Kensuke's reasons for staying behind? 8. Do you think that Kensuke has made the right decision? Explain your views. Chapter 10 - Questions to think about
L.O. To use evidence from the text effectively. 1. List three things Kensuke teaches Michael. 2. Describe a

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


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Just curious, can anyone show how the integral and differential form of Maxwell's equation is equivalent? (While it is conceptually obvious, I am thinking rigorous mathematical proof may be useful in some occasions..)
share|improve this question
Are you familiar with Green's and Stoke's theorems? – Jerry Schirmer Oct 9 '12 at 16:48
_USER_ yes. (and I just want to see more rigorous proof; conceptually, this is somehow obvious, I guess.) – Paul Reubens Oct 9 '12 at 17:05
Just integrate the divergences and the curls using green's and stokes theorems and you will get the integral form. – Prathyush Oct 9 '12 at 19:16
Comment to the question(v2): Could you narrow down which part of the standard textbook treatment you don't find rigorous? – Qmechanic Oct 9 '12 at 22:36
Actually, if you treat the differential operators in the classical sense, the integral form and the differential form are not equivalent. The integral form is more general since it is also valid for discontinuous material behavior. – Tobias Apr 12 at 16:29
1 Answer 1
Well, as the people said in the comments, the Theorems of Green, Stokes and Gauss will do the job, and are about as mathematically rigorous as you could hope for here!
The two different sets of formula follow directly.
I don't want to write all four of them out, you should be able to do them yourself, but for example, let's consider the Gauss Law.
Starting with the integral form, we have (ignoring physical constants)
$$ \int_{\partial \Omega} \vec{E}. d\vec{S} = \int_{\Omega} \rho\space dV$$
Then by Gauss, we have
$$ \int_{V} \mbox{div} \vec{F} \space dV = \int_{S} \vec{F}.d \vec{S} $$
Hence, we can replace
$$ \int_{\partial \Omega} \vec{E}. d\vec{S} \rightarrow \int_{\Omega} \mbox{div} \vec{E} \space dV $$
to give
$$ \int_{\Omega} \mbox{div} \vec{E} \space dV = \int_{\Omega} \rho\space dV $$
or dropping the integrals,
$$ \mbox{div} \vec{E} = \rho\space $$
which is the differential form.
You should try to derive the other three. This may be helpful in showing you where to start, and where you want to get to.
As for proofs of Green's, Stoke's and Guass Theorems, I recall learning them for some maths exams some years ago, but I wouldn't know where to begin now! Look at any differential geometry course or book and they should be somewhere early on. I can assure you though that the mathematicians have rigirous proofs for them, so we do not need to be shy in using the results of the theorems!
share|improve this answer
Let me know if you get the other three out. Another good exercise, when you've finished that, is to derive each of the integral forms of the laws from physical arguement. – Flint72 Apr 12 at 14:45
Doesn't Green's theorem and Gauss' theorem follow as a consequence of Stokes' theorem which in turn follows from Poincaré duality? – JamalS May 14 at 5:31
I think it's the point where you say "dropping the integrals" that is the OP's problem. – Rob Jeffries Nov 28 at 7:41
Your Answer


What the Context Group (and Casey) Missed
Creative Commons License
by Tim Widowfield
What Is Social-Scientific Criticism?
What Is Social-Scientific Criticism?
Social-Scientific Criticism
In an earlier post — Casey: Taking Context out of Context — we discussed the disturbing habit in NT scholarship of explaining away textual difficulties by playing the high-context card. For example, in What Is Social-Scientific Criticism? John H. Elliott of the Context Group writes:
Further, the New Testament, like the Old Testament and other writings of antiquity, consists of documents written in what anthropologists call a "high context" society where the communicators presume a broadly shared acquaintance with and knowledge of the social context of matters referred to in conversation or writing. Accordingly, it is presumed in such societies that contemporary readers will be able to "fill in the gaps" and "read between the lines." (John H Elliott. Kindle Locations 125-128)
Similarly, Bruce Malina explains why Paul's writings are often "misunderstood":
The New Testament was written in what anthropologists call a "high context" culture. People who communicate with each other in high context societies presume a broadly shared, generally well-understood knowledge of the context of anything referred to in conversation or in writing. (Bruce J. Malina; John J. Pilch. Social-science Commentary on the Letters of Paul (p. 5). Kindle Edition.)
Hoping to explain away the messianic secret, David F. Watson says:
The necessity of protective secrecy was exacerbated in the ancient Mediterranean context by the "high-context" nature of the culture. A high-context culture is one in which people are deeply involved in the everyday activities of those around them and in which information is widely shared.... Within the high-context setting, secrecy would be an important and necessary means of protection. (Watson, Honor among Christians: The Cultural Key to the Messianic Secret, p. 25)
Useful but misused
I want to be clear up front. I would never argue that social-scientific criticism is in itself a misguided approach, but I do wish to point out a few observations that indicate a pattern of misuse. We continually read that the people in Jesus' and Paul's time lived in a high-context culture, with little in the way of demonstration.
However, a scientific approach demands that scholars provide evidence for their assertions. Besides proving that NT writers lived in high-context cultures, scholars must also prove it follows that their writings will always reflect that high context. Because it is stated flatly as a "known fact," we miss out on important points of the discussion. For example:
 - Cultural context occurs along a continuum. In other words, a culture that is either 100% low or 100% high context is a caricature. The fact that we can (arguably) understand Paul's epistles today shows that not everything he wrote required a special understanding of his context. So we have to ask, to what degree were early Christian cultures high context?
 - People adapt to situations and adjust their degree of explicitness accordingly. How might that phenomenon affect the way the fourth evangelist wrote compared to Mark or Paul? What factors might contribute to an author's deviation from a cultural predisposition toward high-context behavior?
 - According to cultural anthropologists, cultural context is just one of several ways we can describe a society, and they all interact with one another. What are the other dimensions? Do any of them have a bearing on whether a person in a high-context society might engage in low-context communication?
 - Anthropologists and sociologists also tell us that besides culture, human nature and our distinct personalities have a bearing on our behavior. We are not merely the products of our cultures. Geert Hofstede puts it this way:
Culture is learned, not innate. It derives from one's social environment rather than from one's genes. Culture should be distinguished from human nature on one side and from an individual's personality on the other, although exactly where the borders lie between nature and culture, and between culture and personality, is a matter of discussion among social scientists. (Hofstede, Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind, Third Edition, p. 22)
Power distance: the relationship between Paul and his churches
In a peaceful revolution—the last revolution in Swedish history—the nobles of Sweden in 1809 deposed King Gustav IV, whom they considered incompetent, and surprisingly invited Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, a French general who served under their enemy Napoleon, to become king of Sweden. Bernadotte accepted and became King Charles XIV John; his descendants have occupied the Swedish throne to this day. When the new king was installed, he addressed the Swedish parliament in their language. His broken Swedish amused the Swedes, and they roared with laughter. The Frenchman who had become king was so upset that he never tried to speak Swedish again.
In this incident Bernadotte was a victim of culture shock: never in his French upbringing and military career had he experienced subordinates who laughed at the mistakes of their superior. Historians tell us he had more problems adapting to the egalitarian Swedish and Norwegian mentality (he later became king of Norway as well) and to his subordinates' constitutional rights. He was a good learner, however (except for language), and he ruled the country as a highly respected constitutional monarch until 1844. (Hofstede, p. 69)
Above, I mentioned the existence other cultural value dimensions and the importance of considering them if we wish to gain some insights on the social background to NT writings. One such dimension is power distance.
The dominant culture in the United States has what Hofstede calls a "low power distance" structure. Power distance has to do with the level of inequality in a society. For example, in the U.S., you might call your boss by his first name and freely offer your opinions about the best way to do things. He's above you in the org chart, but not so far above you that you can't speak your mind. On the other hand, in high power distance societies, your boss might never ask your opinion. At lunch, you'll probably never sit with him, but instead eat with your peers. You show him deference and would never think of calling him by his first name.
U.S. society is not completely egalitarian, of course. Inequality is a fact of life in any human society. It's a question of degree. Hence, the power distance scale simply measures the amount of inequality that people in a given society are comfortable with.
Power distance can therefore be defined as the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally. Institutions are the basic elements of society, such as the family, the school, and the community; organizations are the places where people work.
Power distance is thus described based on the value system of the less powerful members. The way power is distributed is usually explained from the behavior of the more powerful members, the leaders rather than those led. (Hofstede, Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind, Third Edition, p. 61, italics original)
How should we assess the power distance between Paul and his converts in Galatia and Corinth? Remember the tone Paul took in Galatians 3:1-4.
3. Are you so foolish? Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh?
4. Did you experience so much for nothing?—if it really was for nothing. (NRSV)
Paul is figuratively (and literally!) writing in all caps here. His harsh tone and explicit language show that he views himself as an authority figure over the Galatians and that he expects the Galatians to accept their subordinate position. He is not offering advice; he is dictating instructions.
Likewise, when addressing the Corinthians, Paul is appalled that they would follow different factions. How can there be any factions within the body of Christ? It's inconceivable. He takes them to task in chapters three and four, concluding with:
4:14. I am not writing this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children.
4:15 For though you might have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers. Indeed, in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. (NRSV)
He then finishes the chapter with this zinger:
4:21. What would you prefer? Am I to come to you with a stick, or with love in a spirit of gentleness? (NRSV)
We conclude that Paul would prefer to change their minds with fatherly exhortation, but he would maintain that applying a fatherly spanking is not out of the question. The fact that these letters were copied and shared with other churches would tend to prove that the Galatians and Corinthians were comfortable with this relationship. In Hofstede's lingo, Paul's churches accepted and expected a high degree of inequality, which indicates a high power distance index.
How does power distance affect cultural context?
The research shows that Paul would be very direct and very explicit with his congregations, because of the high power distance index. Paul was their leader. Paul was their father in faith.
Recently, I was listening to a series of lectures by David Livermore, entitled Customs of the World: Using Cultural Intelligence to Adapt, Wherever You Are. If you are an Audible subscriber, check it out.
Livermore doesn't discuss highand low-context cultures until lecture


What is Contract Testing?
,,,,,
And Consumer-driven contract testing
This is a follow on from Contract testing: Why do it
First some quick definitions:
Is someone (a dev team for instance) that makes use of a third party component or a combination of components (a system). They consume the service provided by the component/system.
Are the people (a dev team) who build the component or system and make it available to others to use.
Test double
To keep the tests fast you will be using a Test double of the producer in the majority of your tests. More specifically a stub that is very simple and responds how you tell it to.
Remember don't mock what your don't own.
Avoid using mocks for contract tests otherwise you'll be creating another job for yourself if you attempt to mock the behaviour of your producers. Always think of the producer as a blackbox so don't make assumption on how the internals of the producer work. That is not your responsibility. A stub should be simple and easy to see how it works and will generally just respond with a simple response.
What is a Contract test?
Contract tests are automated code level tests written from the viewpoint of the consumer. They check that the producer exists, responds to a given request and responds in the format expected by the consumer. A simple rule could be
 - For every unique call you make to the producer write a contract test
 - If output from a producer is going to cause a unique behaviour change in you (the consumer) then write a contract test e.g. an error condition would fall into this category
They wouldn't go further then this and begin to check that the response contains all the correct data or the behaviour of the producer. That's the job of the producer not the consumer. The producer will be a black box to the consumer, simply input and output. Whatever transformations that happen to the data on the inside of the producer are unknown.
If you do test that a response contains the correct data then I would only test very specific types of data. Specifically ones that if they where not returned would cause problems for your system. For which your system should handle gracefully in response.
How will Contract testing help?
If the test follows the guidance above they will focus on just the boundary at which the consumer and producer interact. Therefore if they fail you know exactly where the problem is but also what the issue is as they cover only a small area of interaction. This will allow you to quickly identify if the problem is with your integration of the producer or some other part of your code.
These test will be written at the code level usually with a native unit testing framework of the language you are working with. The vast majority of the tests will also execute against a stub to keep them fast. If you ran them against the actual producer then they could run slower. Also due to each test being so focused on the interaction boundary they will run well under a second allowing the whole suite of tests to execute in a matter of seconds.
Circle of control / Circle of influence
Do to the simplicity of the tests the number of false positives is very low and will only fail if something had changed within the test, your interaction with the test double or the test double itself. Everything is now within your circle of control therefore any brittleness can be remedied quickly and easily.
Automated documentation
You now have tests that document your usage of the dependency that are also executable so will stay up-to-date with every change you or your dependency makes.
Running the tests
These test can now be easily kept as part of the main suite of tests within the code base and run through the development pipeline as usual. Any change to the code base would result in the whole suite of contract tests running and letting the dev team know if there was any issues.
Occasionally you would also want to run the contract tests against the real dependency separately from the main build pipeline just to let you know if the contract had changed and that your test double is still a true stand-in for the real thing.
New version of the dependency
Now when a new version of the dependency is released you can run the contract tests against it and check to see if there are any breaking changes. If no issues are detected then maybe some light exploratory testing of changes detailed in the release notes.
If running the contract tests does detect an issue then it should be quick and easy to pinpoint where the issue is (you or them) and what the necessary mitigation steps should be (fix in your code or reject the release). All this while keeping your build pipeline running and your code base shippable.
If an issue is detected in the live environment then it's going to be easy to know what changed and how to fix it. Which could be either fixing forward or backing out the change.
Confidence for the Consumer team
Contract tests allow the consuming team to move to a new version of a producer much quicker and with greater confidence than before. If something in the release notes looks risky still then your test team can carry out focused exploratory regression testing and if possible putting the update behind a feature flag for a controlled release to your end users.
What is Consumer-driven Contract Testing?
The thing with contract tests is that they are very much in the consumer domain. If the producer is making regular releases which result in the contract tests failing often then in one hand at least you know before taking the actual update but in the other you still can't take it without work arounds or additional new releases from the producer. This may lead you to thinking about a new supplier. Why even bother with all the pain with writing contract tests when you knew this already?
What if you could help your producer see that each update is going to cause you issues before they even made a release? What if they told you prior to making the release that they need to introduce a breaking change or better yet that the current API will be deprecated after a certain date/version allowing you to move to the new API in your own time? What if you could work with your producers collaboratively that way they get what they want (easy and quick uptake of new versions) and you get what you need (new bug fixes/features, improved confidence of each update working as intended, less time testing)? This is where Consumer-driven Contract testing can help and really starts to show the benefits of Contract testing.
Benefits of Consumer-driven Contract Testing
As mentioned earlier the Contract Test sit in your circle of control. That is everything in this domain is in your direct control. The producer however is out of your control but can be in your circle of influence.
 - Note the level to which you will have influence over your dependency will depend on your overall relationship. If they are within the same organisation then things maybe easier, outside of your org but a supplier that you have a financial contract with then probably require some contract negotiation so not impossible but still some effort. No financial contract and just something you use through an open source license then contract testing is all you will likely have as a relationship.
One of the ways to start moving your producers into your circle of influence is to start a dialogue with them around your contract tests. These tests will show the producer exactly how you integrate their service and the types of response you expect from them. Also due to the simplicity of the tests and test doubles it should be easy for them to understand without your intervention (another good reason to keep them focused and simple).
Showing them the tests is a good place to start (it's just code that's what we are all working with none of that touchy, feely stuff about relationships) but a better way to progress the relationship, sorry, chat would be see if they could run the contract tests as a part of their development pipeline. Perhaps every time they plan to make a release or better yet on every commit (another reason to keep the tests fast and reliable).
This way they not only see how you use them, but they get an early warning if any changes in their code is likely to cause their consumers any problems. They can then see if they really need to make that change or see how they can mitigate the impact to their consumers. If they need to do it they can start a dialog with their consumers and start to migrate them onto a new API. This all helps to improve the relationship between consumer and producers, facilitated with some simple tests. Who knew testing could build stronger relationships between development teams?
Who owns the Contract tests?
Just in case it's not clear the responsibility to write the contract tests in the first place is always with the consumers. It's only them that know how they plan to use and integrate the producers. The producers can always offer best practice and how they intend consumer to use their services but it's up to the consumers to decide if they plan to use the service the way it was intended.
Contract tests only become Consumer-driven once they are executed by the producers. Until then they are just Contract tests and even then just in name. If they test anything more then what was outlined earlier they become something else entirely.
New problems to solve
Figuring out how to share the tests, run them, making the results visible and letting consumers and producers know about breaking changes is a whole host of other issues that need to be resolved. The web testing frameworks have already made some progress in this area but I don't know of any tools that facilitate this between internal teams other then having access to each other's build infrastructure and source code repos.
Don't use contract tests to do functional testing
Contract tests need to be quick and simple to understand and therefore only test at the boundary. If you go further than this they will become more complicated and harder for other teams to understand.
It's not the producers team to understand how you use their service but giving them some insight into how you integrate it could be beneficial to both teams. There is nothing stopping you from writing more integrated tests


ACLU guide to running an online business that respects privacy & free speech
Danielle from the ACLU sez, "The ACLU has just released a new guide for tech companies on why they should and how they can better protect user privacy and free speech. The guide features dozens of real-life case studies from A(mazon) to Z(ynga) and updated recommendations for policies and practices to take the guesswork out of avoiding expensive lawsuits, government investigations, and public relations nightmares. It walks companies through essential questions and lays out steps to spot potential privacy and free speech issues in products and business models and address these issues head-on."
Five things companies can do to protect user privacy and free speech:
Respect your data.
Companies should carefully evaluate the costs of collecting and retaining data to avoid the fallout, lawsuits, and government fines that Path suffered for silently uploading users' contacts.
Stand up for your users' rights.
Companies can earn public praise and user trust for protecting user privacy rights like Amazon or for supporting free speech like Facebook.
Plan ahead.
Incorporate privacy and security from start to finish, and evaluate these practices as the company grows.
Be Transparent.
Give users the ability to make informed choices by letting them know what data you collect, and how it can be used, shared, or demanded by the government. Transparency reports like Google's are important tools.
Encourage users to speak freely.
Give users control over the content they access and the tools they use rather than censoring content like PayPal.
ACLU Guide: Tips for Companies on Protecting User Privacy and Free Speech in 2013 (Thanks, Danielle!)
Comments are closed.


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Type of Document Dissertation Author Fu, Dianbo URN etd-05182010-104553 Title Topology Investigation and System Optimization of Resonant Converters Degree PhD Department Electrical and Computer Engineering Advisory Committee
Advisor Name Title Lee, Fred C. Committee Chair Baumann, William T. Committee Member Reynolds, Marion R. Jr. Committee Member Wang, Fei Fred Committee Member Xu, Ming Committee Member Keywords
- high efficiency
- resonant converter
- high power density
Date of Defense 2010-02-04 Availability unrestricted AbstractOver the past several years, energy efficiency and power density have become the top concerns for power conversion. Rising energy intensity leads to a higher cost of delivering power. Meanwhile, the demand for compact power supplies grows significantly. It requires power supplies with high efficiency, low profile and high power density.
Dc-dc power conversion has been widely applied for industry, medial, military and airspace applications. Conventional PWM dc-dc converters have relatively low power transfer efficiency and low power density. In contrast, resonant dc-dc converters have numerous advantages for dc-dc power conversions. In this work, topologies and system optimization of resonant converters are investigated to meet challenges of high efficiency, high power density, low EMI, easy startup and over current protection.
LLC resonant converters can achieve zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) for primary side devices and zero-current-switching (ZCS) for the secondary side rectifiers. The switching loss is minimized. LLC is very attractive to overcome the issues of conventional circuits. However, challenges still remain.
First of all, for low-voltage high-current applications, the synchronous rectifier (SR) with lower conduction loss is a must for high efficiency. To solve the driving issues of SRs, a novel synchronous driving scheme is proposed. Experimental results demonstrate the considerable loss reduction with utilization of the proposed driving scheme.
Secondly, dc-dc converters are required to meet EMI standard. This work proposes an EMI mode. Based on the proposed model, EMI analysis and noise attenuation techniques are proposed and verified by experiments.
Thirdly, startup and over-load protection are another issues of LLC resonant converters. With proposed multi-element resonant converters, the current limit issues can be resolved. In addition, the proposed multi-element resonant converters can utilize higher-order harmonics to enhance power transfer.
Fourthly, for high-current applications, the secondary side structure becomes very critical. An improved secondary side construction is proposed to alleviate ac termination losses and SR paralleling issues. Novel winding structures are proposed to reduce the winding loss. The magnetic integration technique is proposed and analyzed, and an optimal integrated transformer design is proposed, which has low loss and compact size.
Filename Size Approximate Download Time (Hours:Minutes:Seconds)
28.8 Modem 56K Modem ISDN (64 Kb) ISDN (128 Kb) Higher-speed Access Fu_D_D_2010.pdf 7.24 Mb 00:33:30 00:17:14 00:15:04 00:07:32 00:00:38
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Uveal malignant melanoma (UM) is the most frequent primary intraocular tumour in adult humans. Because the survival rate of patients with UM has changed little in the past few decades, a better understanding of the molecular events governing UM development and the identification of markers indicating the potential for metastasis at the time of diagnosis are necessary to design improved and more specific treatments. In this study, we investigated UM tumour development by comparing two recently established UM cultures with different invasion potential by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Protein features expressed differentially were identified by mass spectrometric analysis. Potential markers were assayed in both cultures and in long-term established UM cell lines (UW-1, OCM-1, SP6.5 and 92.1) by Western blotting and their role in invasion analysed using Matrigel membranes. Comparative analysis revealed that UM cultures with lowand high-grade invasion potential differ in their cellular metabolism and, more interestingly, in several cancer-associated proteins, including those implicated in cell adhesion and migration, proliferation and various oncogenes. Our data indicate a correlation between MUC18 and HMG-1 expression and the invasiveness of UM cells. We also demonstrate the expression and secretion of DJ-1 oncoprotein by UM cells. We suggest a possible role for MUC18 and HMG-1 proteins in UM cell invasion. The secretion of DJ-1 by UM cells, and the ability to detect this protein in UM patients' sera implicate it as a potential noninvasive biomarker for this malignancy.
Original publication
Journal article
Int J Cancer
Publication Date
1014 - 1022
Biomarkers, Tumor, Blotting, Western, CD146 Antigen, Cell Line, Tumor, Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional, HMGB1 Protein, Humans, Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins, Mass Spectrometry, Melanoma, Neoplasm Invasiveness, Oncogene Proteins, Phenotype, Protein Deglycase DJ-1, Reproducibility of Results, Tumor Cells, Cultured, Uveal Neoplasms


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English, French, Russian and Spanish, the six texts being equally authoritative.
Article 40 – Registration
In conformity with Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations, this Convention shall be registered with the Secretariat of the United Nations at the request of the Director-General of UNESCO.
DONE at Paris, this third day of November 2003,in two authentic copies bearing the signature of the President of the 32nd session of the General Conference and of the Director-General of UNESCO. These two copies shall be deposited in the archives of UNESCO. Certified true copies shall be delivered to all the States referred to in Articles 32 and 33, as well as to the United Nations.


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Insulin and insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) are hormones known for their role in metabolism and growth, but now scientists are elucidating their importance in another arena: sex determination. Researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) found that in the absence of these factors at the time of sex determination, embryos do not differentiate into either male or female and have no adrenal glands.
In mammals, the sperm's transmission of an X or Y sex chromosome determines the genetic sex of the embryo, but the following developmental stages translate this genetic sex into gonadal sex, that is, either ovaries or testes. The researchers set out to better understand the first stages of sexual development.
The team was interested in the role of IGFs and their receptors in cells. Though it is now recognized that the interactions between metabolism, growth, and reproductive capacity are regulated by common factors such as insulin and IGFs, this study shows that these interactions are even more important than previously believed because the insulin and IGF receptors are also essential for primary sex determination in mammals.
To analyze the impact of these hormones on sex determination, the group used genetically modified mice. The scientists genetically inactivated the receptors for insulin and IGFs in mouse embryos. This led to reduced proliferation rate of somatic progenitor cells in both XX and XY gonads prior to sex determination, together with the downregulation of hundreds of genes associated with the adrenal, testicular, and ovarian genetic programs. As such, the embryo and its gonads remained stuck in a fully undifferentiated state for several days.
The authors explain that embryos lacking functional insulin/IGF signaling exhibit (i) complete agenesis of the adrenal cortex, (ii) embryonic XY gonadal sex reversal, with a delay of Sry upregulation and the subsequent failure of the testicular genetic program, and (iii) a delay in ovarian differentiation so that mutant gonads, regardless of genetic sex, remained in an extended undifferentiated state before the ovarian differentiation program ultimately is initiated at around embryonic day 16.5. These findings demonstrated the essential role of these hormones and growth factors in sexual differentiation, the authors report.
"This study provides a better understanding of the basic mechanisms of sexual development and is a step forward toward a better understanding of the causes of sexual ambiguities, which often remain unknown," states Serge Nef, professor at the department of genetic medicine and development at UNIGE. "The research we are conducting will provide the opportunity to refine and improve clinical diagnosis of individuals with disorders of sex development."
The study was published yesterday in PLOS Genetics, in an article titled "Insulin and IGF1 Receptors Are Essential for XX and XY Gonadal Differentiation and Adrenal Development in Mice".


Interpretation of the Platform Economy Antitrust Guidelines: Big Data will not pay off
 The anti-monopoly guidelines for the platform economy are officially released, and monopolistic activities in the Internet sector such as "sales below cost", "big data" and "restrictions on two options" will definitely be restricted.
 On February 7, the Anti-Monopoly Commission of the State Council formulated and issued the Anti-Monopoly Guidelines of the Anti-Monopoly Commission of the State Council on Platform Economy (hereinafter referred to as the "Guide"), which will become the guiding document for anti-monopoly compliance in the Internet industry.
 "The platform economy has played an important role in promoting my country's economic development, and has grown from a child to a strong adult. At this stage, we need to further clarify the principles of anti-monopoly law enforcement in this field and propose targeted Detailed analysis of ideas and guidance for operators' compliance." said Zhong Gang, executive director of the Competition Law Center of East China University of Political Science and Law.
Clarify the key points of platform economy anti-monopoly
 In response to new problems in the field of Internet platforms, the guidelines specifically clarify monopolistic behaviors in the platform economy, such as "sell below cost", "algorithm-based differential treatment (big data)", and "choose one to restrict transactions".
 According to the guidelines, to analyze whether a restricted transaction constitutes a restricted transaction, the following two scenarios can be considered: One is the restriction imposed by the platform operator through punitive measures such as shielding stores, search rights reduction, traffic restrictions, technical barriers, and deduction of deposits. Competition and consumer interests have caused direct damage, which can generally be regarded as a restricted transaction.
Second, the restrictions imposed by platform operators through incentives such as subsidies, discounts, discounts, and traffic resource support may have a certain positive effect on the interests of operators and consumers on the platform, and the overall welfare of society. However, if there is evidence to prove that it is against market competition Produces obvious exclusions and restrictions, and may also be deemed to constitute restricted transactions.
 "The guidelines provide more specific conditions for restricted transactions. For example, blocking stores is an addition to the draft for comments. There are clearer expressions from refusal to transactions to restricted transactions, which is very conducive to actual law enforcement agencies. Confirmed." Zhong Gang said.
 On the same day that the guidelines were issued, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court formally opened a case for Douyin v. Tencent's monopoly dispute.
TikTok argues that Tencent restricts users from sharing content from TikTok through WeChat and QQ, which constitutes a "monopoly behavior that abuses market dominance and eliminates or restricts competition" prohibited by the anti-monopoly law.
 "To determine whether unreasonable restrictions or shielding are involved, it is necessary to consider various factors such as the identity of both parties and the rationality of their behavior. We cannot make a judgment on the case itself, but the proposal and advancement of such cases will benefit my country's anti-monopoly The development of the law helps the general public to enhance their understanding of competition law and anti-monopoly law. Some specific rules of the anti-monopoly law also need to be continuously demonstrated and strengthened in the use of actual cases." Zhong Gang said.
 "Big data kills familiarity" is a problem that consumers often encounter in online shopping and other behaviors.
In this regard, the guidelines have repeatedly mentioned that platform companies using big data and algorithms to form monopoly agreements, refuse transactions, and restrict transactions are all violations of the monopoly law.
 "Big data acquaintance will become an important consideration when anti-monopoly law enforcement agencies enforce the law on the platform. For platforms, the profit involved in big data acquaintance is obviously much smaller than the amount of penalties imposed by anti-monopoly law enforcement agencies. To a certain extent, the phenomenon of big data is curbed." said You Yunting, a senior partner and lawyer of Shanghai Dabang Law Firm.
 Using lower-cost competition, forming a monopoly position, and then increasing prices to grab monopoly profits is a common method used by Internet giants.
For this kind of behavior, the guidelines determine that "selling below cost" is a monopolistic behavior.
 You Yunting believes that Internet companies may have to re-examine their own development strategies and paths, or they should use ways of improving efficiency to win market competition, rather than using brutal low-price competition or competing against competitors. Malicious unscrupulous means to compete.
 "At the beginning of the implementation of the anti-monopoly law, people often heard a saying that the emerging industries should be carefully supervised and the anti-monopoly law should be kept modest, lest improper supervision itself will damage efficiency. Therefore, the Internet field has not been It has become the focus of investigation, but those reasons have now disappeared. Internet companies should strengthen the study of anti-monopoly laws and anti-unfair competition laws, judge the damage and consequences of their actions more accurately, strictly abide by the law, and correct past actions as soon as possible, Don't be lucky." said Xu Guangyao, a professor at Nankai University Law School.
Antitrust needs to strengthen understanding in practice
 Compared with the "Guidelines (Draft for Comment)" released on November 10, 2020, what are the major differences between the officially released guidelines?
 Zhong Gang believes that the guidelines do not make stricter regulations on the identification of "relevant markets", which is the main difference.
Judging from the current situation, the guidelines have returned to the earliest law enforcement calibre, and the issues related to market identification have been handed over to the law enforcement agencies again, requiring the law enforcement agencies to determine in actual cases in accordance with the anti-monopoly law or law enforcement practices.
 Investigating monopoly agreements in the economic field of the platform, cases of abuse of market dominance, and conducting anti-monopoly reviews of operator concentration usually require the definition of the relevant market.
 In terms of the definition of relevant markets, the guide distinguishes between relevant commodity markets and relevant geographic markets.
The guidelines require that the principle of case analysis is adhered to. Different types of monopoly cases have different actual needs for the definition of relevant markets.
 "In actual law enforcement, law enforcement agencies often encounter some difficulties related to market identification. These difficulties have not yet formed a unified and mature solution. The guideline formulation agency may believe that it is not suitable for the guideline. To directly make detailed regulations on the definition of the relevant market, it will still take a certain amount of time to form the actual rules. I think this will definitely be a case-by-case analysis approach." Zhong Gang told the CBN reporter.
 Xu Guangyao believes that in the face of some new features in the platform economy, we should first rely more closely on the basic rules and theories of the antitrust law for analysis.
For example, under the bilateral market transaction model in the Internet industry, the definition of relevant markets should still follow the demand substitution standard, but because there are two types of demand in a transaction, two markets should be defined.
 Take the 3Q case of Tencent and Qihoo as an example. Qihoo uses its product 360 to meet users' needs for security software, thereby obtaining the number of users, and then use this number to meet advertisers' needs for the number of users. Two markets are defined, namely the security software market and the Internet advertising market.
Tencent is involved in the instant messaging market and Internet advertising market.
Therefore, three relevant markets should be defined in this case.
The next steps in determining the dominant position and examining the effects of competition need to be carried out across markets.
 "This case provides high-quality specific analysis objects and carriers, and has become the focus of worldwide antitrust law research. Through the study of this case, it can be found that the resolution of some new problems requires a deepening of the understanding of traditional rules and theories. "Xu Guangyao said.
 There are three types of monopolistic behavior, namely, monopoly agreement, abuse of dominant position, and concentration of operators.
Zhong Gang believes that in addition to traditional horizontal and vertical monopoly agreements, the guidelines also propose hub-and-spoke agreements based on the characteristics of the Internet platform economy.
 According to the guidelines, a hub and spoke agreement means that operators within a competing platform may use the vertical relationship with the platform operator, or be organized and coordinated by the platform operator to reach a hub and spoke agreement with the effect of a horizontal monopoly agreement.
Analyze whether the agreement is a monopoly agreement regulated by Article 13 and Article 14 of the Anti-Monopoly Law, and consider whether the operators on the competitive platform use technical means, platform rules, data and algorithms, etc. Reach and implement monopoly agreements to eliminate and restrict relevant market competition.
 The "U.S. Apple's e-book monopoly case", which lasted for four years, is a classic case of hub and spoke agreement.
 Apple has signed sales agreements for e-books with five of the six largest publishers in the United States. Apple does not participate in the pricing of e-books. The publishers will charge a certain fee after setting the price and sell them in its e-book mall. The corresponding mobile client software can be used by consumers on the company's iPad (tablet computer).
 In response to this phenomenon, the US judicial department filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple and related publishers in 2012.
The court held that the separate agreements between the publishers and Apple stipulated the highest prices for the same tier and the highly concentrated market share in the e-book market. These additional factors contributed


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Are Minnesotans really more 'Cold Hardy' than everyone else? Or are we making that up?
This week Minnesota and Florida share the same weather, but residents have two very different reactions to it. Does that mean Minnesotans are more "cold hardy?"
Up here we like to think of ourselves as hardy Minnesotans.
To us, a 30-degree day is a walk in the park.
But down in Florida, 30-degrees to many Floridians feels like the end of the world.
This week, both states have similar temperatures, but the way residents feel about them couldn't be more different.
In Minnesota, residents see 30-degrees as a respite from the cold, but in Florida, theme parks are shutting down and iguanas are falling from the trees.
If you haven't seen the videos yet, check it out.
Iguanas are literally so cold in this 30-degree weather that their bodies are shutting down, stunning them, and sending them crashing to the ground.
It got us thinking, do humans have similar physiological reactions to cold and hot weather?
Can we literally evolve or adapt to our surroundings and become more tolerant of the weather?
Many Minnesotans pride themselves on being "cold hardy" but is that actually a real thing?
Turns out "cold hardiness" has little to do with our bodies, it's mostly our minds.
"There's nothing in our body that makes us cold hardy," Hennepin Healthcare emergency physician Dr. Ashley Strobel says.
"It's because we're mentally used to this, we're prepared. It's an attitude. It's a perspective."
Think about it this way, in Minnesota, a 40-degree day in October, you're running to grab your coat.
But 40-degrees in April it's like bring on the shorts!
Same temperature, same place, but mentally it's different.
"It's all about your perspective. In the Fall you're coming off hot temps in the summer and colder weather might feel even colder. In the spring you're coming off winter and the same temperature will feel warmer. You're mentally prepared to think and feel the weather a certain way," Strobel says.
Now, there are exceptions to all of this.
Certain medical conditions will affect the way you adjust to cold and hot weather.
Your weight, age and metabolism can also play a role, and certain people, scientists don't exactly know why, are just better at dealing with cold and hot weather.
"If you're someone who is always on the go, always moving, you can't sit still, perhaps you have a higher basal metabolic rate, so then, you may feel like you run a little bit warmer than others and that's because you're turning and burning energy continuously and so you are creating some of your own heat," Strobel explains.
But this whole idea that up here in the north our bodies have somehow evolved to handle the cold, that's just not the case.
"The truth is there's not much to that. That's not what research has shown," Strobel says.
"One could say it is something in us, because it's our fortitude. It's mental toughness. So, maybe you could say Minnesotans are tougher than Floridians? I don't know, there might be something to that."


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The Leirhnjúkur area is a central volcano in Krafla caldera. One hundred thousand years ago, there was a volcanic cone here that caved in after erupting. The caldera thus formed is now filled with younger volcanic material. Below at a depth of about 3 km, however, is a magma chamber. Volcanic activity in the area occurs at intervals of several centuries.
The Mývatnseldar eruptions (the "Mývatn fires") in 1724 began with a great volcanic explosion which formed the crater Stóra - Víti. In the following years, a series of earthquakes and eruptions occurred in the vicinity of Mt. Krafla. The greatest eruption took place in 1729, when lava flowed from Leirhnjúkur down to Mývatn lake. Eldhraun, the lava field formed during the eruptions. A new series of eruptions (the "Krafla-fires") began in Krafla in 1975, after anintermission of about 250 years. In the following nine years, nine eruptions occurred.
With a good eyes you can see the last fissure from which lava poured out. It is dotted with small fractures from which steam rises to the sky. Best view is from rim of a small crater near the walking path though it is prohibited to climb on it.


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Wiki Section Extraction
We added a handy way to take a section of a wiki page, create a new task from it, and include this task where the section was. This is helpful to quickly decompose a requirements document stored in a wiki page or a task wiki into a series of tasks.
When you mouseover a section header "Extract" link appears on the right.
Click this link to open section extraction dialog very similar to task creation dialog.
Section header will automatically become task description and section contents will go into the task wiki field.
After you click save new task will be created and section will become task inclusion.


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A-PDF PPT To PDF 3.1
A-PDF PPT To PDF 3.1 Ranking & Summary
A-PDF PPT To PDF 3.1 description
A-PDF PPT To PDF 3.1 is such a fast and powerful tool designed to let users batch convert Microsoft Powerpoint presentations into professional-quality documents in the popular PDF file format.
Its easy-to-use interface allows you to batch create PDF files which can be viewed on any computer with a PDF viewer. A-PDF Powerpint to PDF supports Font embedding, compression and multi-language. A-PDF Powerpoint to PDF does not need adobe acrobat.
- Easy to use
- Converting Microsoft PowerPoint presentations into PDF files couldn't be easier.
- Convert One File: Right-click a PowerPoint (.ppt) file and select "Convert to PDF" from the pop-up menu.
- Convert a batch of Files: Simply drag the PowerPoint(.ppt) files you want to convert to the file list and click the "Convert to PDF and Save as" button. A-PDF PPT to PDF quickly re-creates your.ppt file as fully-formatted PDF files.
- Convert the editing file with Powerpoint Add-Ins.
- You will be amazed at the results you get from the PPT to PDF Converter. It accurately retains the layout of the original.ppt file. It converts text in over 100 languages, and separates graphics from tables and text.
- Adjust page size to fit your PowerPoint slides, you can print to PDF with A3 or larger page.
- Create Bookmark Using the Outline inside Presentations File
- A-PDF PPT to PDF supports converting PPT outline or page number to PDF bookmark for easy navigation.
- Work with Hot Directories
- You can set up a monitored directory, where all Powerpoint files written to that directory will be converted to PDF as they are saved. All of the converting will be recorded in log files.
- Save Time
- Handles a batch of files at one time.
- Context-sensitive menu (right click) supports one step converting.
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- A-PDF to PPT to PDF Command Line
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- Windows NT4/2000/XP/Vista
- MS Powerpoint 97 or above
A-PDF PPT To PDF 3.1 Screenshot
A-PDF PPT To PDF 3.1 Keywords
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|District of Sooke|
Location of Sooke in British Columbia
|Regional district||Capital Regional District|
|Incorporated||December 7, 1999|
|- Total||50. British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique C Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second largest country in total area. British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique C National regions Provinces and territories are normally grouped into the following Regions (generally from west to east Northern Canada Vancouver Island is a large Island in British Columbia, Canada, one of several North American regions named after George Vancouver, the British The Canadian Province of British Columbia is divided into regional districts. Area is a Quantity expressing the twoDimensional size of a defined part of a Surface, typically a region bounded by a closed Curve. 01 km² (19. Square Kilometre ( US spelling square kilometer) symbol km2, is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of 3 sq mi)|
|Elevation||50 m (164 ft)|
|Time zone||PST (UTC-8)|
|Waterways||Strait of Juan de Fuca|
|Website: District of Sooke|
Sooke is an incorporated district municipality situated on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, Canada. The square mile is an imperial and US unit of Area equal the area of a square of one statute mile. The elevation of a Geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point often the mean sea level. The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International A foot (plural feet or foot; symbol or abbreviation ft or sometimes &prime – the prime symbol) is a non-SI unit The Pacific Time Zone observes Standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC-8) UTC−8 is a band of Timezones separated from the Universal Coordinated Time by 8 hours This article lists all existing numbered highways in British Columbia, Canada. Highway 14 is the southernmost numbered route in the province of British Columbia. The Strait of Juan de Fuca (also called Juan de Fuca Strait) is a large body of water about long forming the principal outlet for the Georgia Strait and Puget Vancouver Island is a large Island in British Columbia, Canada, one of several North American regions named after George Vancouver, the British Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page About a 45 minute drive from the city of Victoria (the capital of British Columbia), Sooke is considered the westernmost of the Capital Regional District's "Western Communities. Victoria (vɪkˈtɔɹiə is the capital city of British Columbia. British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique C The Western Communities is a term used to describe Municipalities and unincorporated districts west of Esquimalt Harbour and Portage Inlet, and " It is situated to the north and west of the Sooke Basin, an ocean inlet often mistaken for a lake by first-time visitors. Sooke Basin is a small (10 km² body of water on the southern end of Vancouver Island in southwestern British Columbia. The District of Sooke's political boundary contains the entire basin up to the high tide mark even though Sooke only encompasses about 1/2 of the directly adjacent shore. East Sooke is the unincorporated area to the south of Sooke which encompases the remaining uplands of the basin and is a peninsula of land that separating Sooke Basin from the Strait of Juan de Fuca. East Sooke is an Unincorporated community situated south and east of Sooke British Columbia, Canada. The Strait of Juan de Fuca (also called Juan de Fuca Strait) is a large body of water about long forming the principal outlet for the Georgia Strait and Puget Recent changes have led to some privately owned properties in East Sooke legally joining Sooke against the desires of the majority of East Sooke residents (according to the prior referendum on whether or not all of East Sooke should join Sooke). East Sooke is an Unincorporated community situated south and east of Sooke British Columbia, Canada.
The population of Sooke is roughly 9,700 plus Daxxter. The town core straddles the Sooke Road for about one kilometer. Highway 14 is the southernmost numbered route in the province of British Columbia. Off the highway, Sooke is a mix of growing residential subdivisions, small hobby farms, larger working farms, light industry, and wilderness. A hobby farm is a Smallholding or small farm that is maintained without expectation of being a primary source of income
Sooke is proud of its past as a logging and fishing community, and All Sooke Days has been a popular annual event featuring lumberjack sports and competitions. Logging is the process in which Trees are cut down for Forest management and Timber. For the fishing industry and the practice of fishing see Fishing. A lumberjack or logger is a man who harvests lumber The term lumberjack is somewhat archaic having been mostly replaced by logger. Logging is still an important activity in the areas north and west of Sooke, and a small fishing fleet is still operated out of the Harbour. Many residents, however, are active in the local hospitality industry, or are commuters to jobs in the Victoria area. Hospitality refers to the relationship process between a Guest and a host and it also refers to the act or practice of being hospitable that is the reception and entertainment Commuting is the process of Travelling between one's place of residence and regular place of work As such, Sooke has largely become a suburb of Victoria. Victoria (vɪkˈtɔɹiə is the capital city of British Columbia.
The current members on the Sooke Council are:
Sooke is a part of the School District 62 Sooke. School District 62 Sooke is a School district in British Columbia.
There is one high school in Sooke, Edward Milne Community School, with 700 students. The junior high school, Journey Middle School, has a student base of around 500. Journey Middle School is located in Sooke, British Columbia, and is part of School District 62 Sooke. There are four public elementary schools in the municipality of Sooke (Saseenos Elementary, Poirier Elementary, Sooke Elementary, and John Muir Elementary). Sooke Elementary is scheduled to be closed July 2008, and Saseenos Elementary is scheduled to be closed July 2012.
Sooke's popularity as a scenic tourist destination has existed for generations. Famous destinations in Sooke, such as the Sooke Harbour House, Whiffen Spit, and the Sooke Potholes Regional Park and adjacent Sooke Potholes Provincial Park attract visitors both locally and from around the world. The Sooke Harbour House is an Inn and Restaurant located in Sooke British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. The Sooke Potholes Regional Park is a 55 hectare park along the Sooke River in British Columbia, known for its rocky pools and canyon-like features Sooke Potholes Provincial Park is a 728 hectare Provincial park in British Columbia, Canada. The area's popularity has increased as a base for visiting the wilderness parks of Vancouver Island's southwest coast — the West Coast Trail and the new Juan de Fuca Provincial Park. West Coast Trail is a 75 km- (47 mile long backpacking trail following the southwestern edge of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada Juan de Fuca Provincial Park is a Provincial park in British Columbia, Canada.
Mountain biking is growing in popularity in British Columbia, and Sooke is establishing itself as a destination for the sport. Mountain biking entails the Sport of riding Bicycles off-road often over rough terrain whether riding specially equipped Mountain bikes or hybrid road bikes The North Shore suburbs of Vancouver British Columbia are a world-renowned mecca for Mountain biking. Local advocacy groups are working to have areas such as Broom Hill set aside as parkland. Broom Hill is a rural neighbourhood in Sooke, British Columbia.
The Galloping Goose Regional Trail, part of the Trans-Canada Trail, runs through Sooke and is a popular cycling route to Victoria. The Trans Canada Trail is a proposed corridor in Canada. The creation of the trail was announced as part of Canada's 125th anniversary celebrations in 1992
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Chile Facts - Some Things You Might Not Know
Containing three times the amount of vitamin C in citrus fruit, all chiles in the world originated in Central America, Ecuador, Bolivia and have served to inspire man to colonize the planet. Along with black pepper, the spice trade has inspired commerce and exchange throughout our planet.
Here is an interesting story about one type of pepper. The Pimant'D'Espelette got to France in 1523 in the pocked of one of Columbuses' sailors and introduced chiles to Europe. The reason they are mis-named "peppers" is because Columbus wanted to keep his head. Ferdinand and Isabella funded the trip to get (black peppercorn-type) pepper, and he came back with chiles. And said "look, peppers!". That's what they were sent for,it would be bad to go and spend all that money without bringing home the goods.
Peppers belong the plant family Solanaceae (along with potatoes, tomatoes egglplants, mustard and tobacco). Their genus, Capsicum, stands out for its amount and variety of species and variations, which number literally in the hundreds. There is so much to learn and enjoy about peppers. We look forward to adding to the page and sharing more.


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If you're a healthcare-related business, good management is essential for your success. A recent study found that companies with effective management practices are more likely to succeed than those without.
This is because good management can help you make the most of your resources, stay organized, and make intelligent decisions that will benefit your business. Therefore, healthcare business owners who want to succeed in healthcare need good management.
Understanding the Importance of Good Management for Healthcare Businesses
These days, there are plenty of healthcare businesses out there, and all of them are competing for a piece of the healthcare pie. So how can you make sure your healthcare business doesn't get lost in the shuffle? By making good management a top priority.
Good management is essential for any business, but it's significant for healthcare businesses. Why? Because healthcare is a complex and ever-changing industry, you could quickly fall behind if you're not on top of things.
For example, suppose you're starting your dental practice. You'll need to find the right people and equipment for your dental clinic. That will come at a cost, but you'll rest assured your clinic is well-managed will likely be more successful than one that is not. This is because good management can help you make the most of your resources, stay organized, and make intelligent decisions that will benefit your business. Therefore, healthcare business owners who want to succeed in healthcare need good management.
Good management isn't just crucial for healthcare businesses. It's vital for any business. However, good management can mean the difference between success and failure in the healthcare industry. So if you're running a healthcare-related business, make sure you focus on good management, and everything else will fall into place.
Healthcare business owners need to have effective management practices in place to stay ahead of the curve. This means having systems in place that allow you to track performance, identify problems early on, and make changes as needed. It also means being able to communicate effectively with staff members and patients.
With that said, here are four excellent management strategies for healthcare businesses:
1. Establish a healthy workplace culture
Healthcare business owners need to establish a healthy workplace culture by ensuring they have all the necessary tools to facilitate this. Some healthcare businesses may already be doing well in establishing a good workplace culture. Still, healthcare business owners can always do more with their employees and clients to improve it even further.
2. Encourage regular communication between staff members
Good healthcare management practices should encourage regular communication between staff members. That way, everyone is on the same page about what needs to get done throughout the day or week ahead. Communication should also include feedback from patients regarding how things went during their visit to help healthcare providers better understand which areas need improvement moving forward.
3. Reward performance through incentives like bonuses/promotions
It's important to reward employees who are performing well. After all, healthcare professionals don't go into this line of work for the money, but they do like to be recognized and rewarded for doing a great job. The healthcare sector's culture should encourage performance-based promotions/bonuses because it will help keep people motivated while encouraging others to step up their game!
By performing well, healthcare employees will promote success for the companies they are affiliated with. This will result in healthcare employees having a better quality of life since they will have more money coming in from their jobs and higher healthcare standards for both themselves and their families because healthcare professionals can provide better care due to being rewarded with bonuses/promotions.
4. Delegate tasks properly
Of course, it's important to delegate tasks appropriately. You don't want healthcare employees to feel like they are being maltreated or, worse yet, overburdened with too much work! Therefore, you need to be able to delegate healthcare tasks effectively.
To do this, it's best if a healthcare professional oversees healthcare employees and makes sure they are getting their work done on time without feeling overwhelmed by all of their responsibilities. It would also be helpful if someone from management were available at any time during business hours so they could offer assistance whenever needed. This way, no one feels like they have too much weight put on them while ensuring everyone else gets what needs to get done when needed.
Good management is essential for healthcare businesses because it can help to avoid costly mistakes and ensure the company is running smoothly. This includes making sure employees are adequately trained and following all safety procedures and keeping up with healthcare regulations.
In addition, good management can also help improve employee morale, leading to a more productive work environment. When employees feel appreciated and like they are part of a team, they are less likely to take sick days or leave their job. Overall, good management is vital for any healthcare-related business. By investing in it, you can ensure your business is flourishing now and will be more successful in the future.


By AOMEI / Last Updated September 4, 2020
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Advantages to create Windows 7 image for deployment
As it's known to us that backing up Windows 7 is essential in case of data loss. However, fewer people know there is another usage for backing up Windows 7. That is you can create Windows 7 image for deployment.
Image deployment involves creating a custom system image including OS, drivers, settings, and applications on a single computer and then deploying the image to other computers. The configuration of computers is all the same after deployment. By deploying image, you can enjoy the following advantages.
 - Saving time and efforts: Think about this, suppose you have multiple computers, manually setting up the computers one by one will take you much time. If cloning Windows 7 to multiple computers simultaneously can be realized, it will save much time and efforts.
 - Standardization: If you use image deployment, it ensures that all the computers are as close to identical as possible. However, if you perform installation and configuration one by one, each computer may be slightly different. Standard computers' management and maintenance are much easier than disparate ones'.
How to create a Windows 7 system image for deployment?
To deploy Windows 7 image to other computers, you need to create a system image first. You can use free backup and restore software – AOMEI Backupper.
✦ It offers you a perfect experience with its user-friendly and clean interface. It is very easy to use even if you are a green hand.
✦ It is embedded with various backup types. You are allowed to create a system or disk image. You can also run automatic file backup with it.
✦ It supports all editions of Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP.
Follow the easy steps below to create system image backup for Windows 7.
Step 1. Download AOMEI Backupper and launch the tool. At the main interface, click Backup and select System Backup.
System Backup
Step 2. As this software will automatically select the source for you, you just need to click the second bar to select another location as destination path.
Select Destination Path
Step 3. Confirm the operation and click Start Backup.
Start Backup
 - Windows 7 image backup can be also used as a recovery plan apart from system deployment. If there is anything bad happening to your computer, you can restore system to the previous good state with the backup image.
 - AOMEI Backupper can be also used to create custom Windows 10/8 image for deployment.
How to deploy Windows 7 image to multiple computers simultaneously?
After creating the system image, you can now deploy it to other client computers. To deploy Windows 7 to other client computers, you need image deployment software. There are many OS deployment tools on the market for this task. However, some of them are extremely hard to use. And some image deploy tools are expensive. Usually, you will spend over $1,000 to deploy 50 computers.
Here, I would like to recommend you free and easy-to-use Windows deployment services for Windows 7/8/10 and Windows Server 2003/2008(R2)/2012(R2)/2016(R2) – AOMEI Image Deploy. With this software, you can deploy Windows 7 image to multiple computers simultaneously.
Before deploying Windows 7:
 - Please check and make sure the server computer and all client computers are on the same network segment of the same LAN.
 - Please confirm the NIC (also known as network adapter) in all the client computers supports PXE boot.
Now, I will walk you through Windows 7 deployment step by step.
Step 1. Download, install and launch AOMEI Image Deploy on your server computer. Then choose a way to create a bootable WinPE ISO file to boot client computers. Tick Enable DHCP if you don't have one.
Create WinPE
Step 2. After creating WinPE ISO image, leave the server computer alone. Then boot the client computer. Keeping tapping F2 or F8 once booting. Enter the BIOS to change boot priority to network.
Boot from Network
Step 3. After all target PCs boot normal, AOMEI Image Deploy on server PC will prompt you "Client computers connected" to the display list. Tick the box: I confirm all the client computers which need to be restored are online and click Next.
Client Computer Connected
Step 4. At next Windows, click Browse to navigate the Windows 7 image backup. Then select the client computers that you want to deploy by ticking the box before their IP address. You can tick all to select all the client computers.
Select Image
Note that the "Destination disk" refers to the disk number on client computers you will deploy; the "Deployed computers" refers to the number of PCs you will deploy at a time.
Step 5. Click Start Deploy after customized configurations have done.
Note: To deploy Windows image to dissimilar hardware or deploy over 20 target PCs for Windows Server systems, you need to turn to AOMEI Image Deploy Technician version.
To make a summary, to save time and effort and to have uniform computer configuration, you can create a custom Windows 7 image for network deployment. AOMEI Image Deploy can help you to deploy image easily and quickly to multiple computers simultaneously through network.
Besides, Windows 7 image backup created by AOMEI Backupper can be also used as data recovery plan. If there is something wrong with your system, you can always restore it to its good state.


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Using sed to perform inline replacements of regex groups
· DevOps Zone
I love tools like sed and awk - I use them every day, and only realize how much I rely on them when I'm forced to work on a machine that's not running Unix. Today I want to look at a feature that is really useful when working with regular expressions in sed.
Imagine that you had an IP address, and you wanted to change the second octet - one way to do this in sed is the following:
shell$ echo "" | sed "s/127.0/127.1/"
That seemed to work well, and was simple. But what if you had a file of random IP's - how would you change the second octet in that scenario? Sure, you could use awk, but that feels like it would be overkill. Well, it can be done in sed with something called regular expression group substitutions.
First of all, you'll need to tell sed that you are using extended regular expressions by using the -r option, so that you don't have to escape some of the regular expression characters (if you're curious, they are ?+(){}). If you end up needing to use any of these characters as literals, you'll ned to escape them with a backslash (\).
sed supports up to 9 groups that can be defined in the pattern string, and subsequently referenced in the replacement string. In the following command the pattern string starts with a group, which contains the first octet followed by the period, and that's followed by a second octet. In the replacement string we're referencing the first (and only) group with \1, followed by 234 which is the replacement for the rest of the matching string, which contains the second octet.
shell$ echo "" | sed -r "s/^([0-9]{1,3}\.)[0-9]{1,3}/\1234/"
What if we wanted to preserve the second octet and simply a "1" in front of it? In that case you can define a second group in the pattern, and reference the second group in the replacement value:
shell$ echo "" | sed -r "s/^([0-9]{1,3}\.)([0-9]{1,3})/\11\2/"
Actually it would have been easier to just remove the second octet altogether from the pattern:
shell$ echo "" | sed -r "s/^([0-9]{1,3}\.)/\11/"
On a final note - it wasn't so long ago that I would write a command similar to the one below if I wanted to use sed to perform a substitution and overwrite an existing file:
shell$ sed's/a/b/' file1.txt > file2.txt; mv file2.txt file1.txt
Ugh! Well there's no need to do this - sed has a -i option which will do an inline replace of the file:
shell$ sed -i's/a/b/' file1.txt
Ahhh, that's better! Anything that's easy on the eyes gets a thumbs-up from me.
Published at DZone with permission of Alex Holmes, DZone MVB. See the original article here.
Opinions expressed by DZone contributors are their own.
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How Himmler's personality shaped the SS
As head of the SS, chief of police, 'Reichskommissar for the Consolidation of Germanness', and Reich Interior Minister, Heinrich Himmler enjoyed a position of almost unparalleled power and responsibility in Nazi Germany. Perhaps more than any other single Nazi leader aside from Hitler, his name has become a byword for the terror, persecution, and destruction that characterized the Third Reich. His wide-ranging powers meant that he bore equal responsibility for the repression of the German people on the home front and the atrocities perpetrated by the SS in the East. Yet, in spite of his central role in the crimes of the Nazi regime, until now Himmler has remained a colourless and elusive figure in the history of the period. In Heinrich Himmler, the first-ever comprehensive biography of the SS-Reichsführer, leading German historian Peter Longerich puts every aspect of Himmler's life under the microscope.
In the video below, Professor Longerich talks about how Himmler's personality shaped the SS.
Peter Longerich is Professor of Modern German History at Royal Holloway, University of London, and is the founder of the College's Holocaust Research Centre. One of the world's leading authorities in the Third Reich and the Holocaust, he has published widely on the subject, including Holocaust: The Nazi Persecution and Murder of the Jews (2010).