text:
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. One that closely imitates or mimics another.
- v. To act as an imitator or mimic.
- v. To imitate closely; mimic.
- adj. Closely imitating or following another: a copycat version of a successful product; a copycat crime.
- n. informal One who imitates others' work without adding ingenuity.
- adj. Imitative; unoriginal.
- v. To act as a copycat; to copy in a shameless or derivative way
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. someone who copies the words or behavior of another.
- n. someone who copies the words or behavior of another
- From copy + cat ("person"). It has been in use since at least 1896, in Sarah Orne Jewett's The Country of the Pointed Firs. (Wiktionary)
"One is that they didn't want to give people ideas -- here's a new, neat, you know, weapon you can build from the Internet, so we get a bunch of people out there that are, to use the term copycat, who say, you know, I'll do something similar."
"Of course, the term copycat is too harsh a term for creating a game that already has a rival in the market."
"Law enforcement officials said the unrest — including nightly arson and what they described as copycat attacks — was spreading more rapidly than their ability to respond to it."
"Even if you can't live up to "Iron Jim", all you had to do was pay attention to the past movies and copycat from the future war scenes and make it into a 2 hour movie."
"Contrary to the goal of improving public perceptions, the announcement of a Microsoft-branded chain of stores screams "copycat" - historically one of the worst knocks against it."
"Zheng was executed by firing squad a month later -- and on the day of his execution, another school assailant, Chen Kangbing, a mentally ill 33-year-old man, wounded 18 children in a primary school in Leizhou, in Guangdong province, in what authorities called a copycat crime."
"VITAL STATSWorries About Littleton CopycatsMore than two weeks after Littleton, so-called copycat threats haven't abated, likely because students are pulling more hoaxes -- but definitely because officials are unwilling to take chances."
"At this point, you don't wanna just immediately go in for the finger kiss because someone else just did it, and while being called a copycat isn't as bad as being called a corpse kisser, you're still going to be the main topic of conversation in the various cars other than your own as they're pulling out of the funeral home parking lot."
"The copycat is a person who is watching this broadcast, who is that person who is fascinated by the person who is responsible for this, who identifies with him and at some point, if his life really is going nowhere, and he experiences himself as enough of a failure, he may consider this as an option."
"Nine police were injured in what police called "copycat criminality" in several parts of London on Sunday night, although the damage appeared to be on a much smaller scale than Saturday's rioting in Tottenham, in the north of the capital."
These user-created lists contain the word 'copycat'.
My big word list.
just the next words that come along
Hello, and Welcome™! Come and visit our most diverse land of our Animalesque™ adventures. Here at Noah's Park™ we have Virtually All You'd Ever Want To See™. An experience that is related to ani...
Words or short phrases with animal names in them. Since I already have a dedicated list for'monkey' words I shall leave them out of this one for the moment.
someone must already have this list?
Trademark of Stephen Colbert and The Colbert Report.
Looking for tweets for copycat.


text:
What have been the main challenges faced by the UK in delivering training and support to the Afghan forces? Lords Committee to hear from former Commander of the British Forces in Afghanistan
Tuesday 3 November 2020
The House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee will tomorrow question Sandhurst lecturers about the UK's contributions to and challenges faced in training and mentoring the Afghan National Security Forces.
Giving evidence in a virtual session from 10am on Wednesday 2 November 2020 will be:
- Brigadier (Retired) Ian Thomas OBE, former Commander of Operation Toral, Dean of Academic Studies, the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and;
- Dr Edward R Flint, Head of Department, Defence & International Affairs Department, the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
The session can be followed on Parliament TV. Questions will include;
- What are the main elements of NATO's Resolute Support Mission's training for the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF)? How effective has this mission been?
- Could you please give us an overview of Operation Toral, and the role played by the British military in the Resolute Support Mission? What have been the principal contributions made by the UK?
- What have been the most challenging aspects of delivering training and support to the ANSF through Operation Toral? How have these been addressed by the UK and with NATO partners?
- What lessons has the UK military learned from the experience of training the ANSF, and how have these been integrated into Operation Toral, and lessons learned exercises for other missions?

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


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Trivia Quiz - Albert Camus - Individualistic French Writer
A quiz on one of the most enigmatic of French writers.
Quiz Number: 4892
Date Submitted: December 24, 2012
Quiz Categories: Literature, Authors
Quiz Type: Personality Quiz
Author: grant228
Average Score: 64.4 percent
Times Taken: 41 times
Taken by Registered Users: 3
Albert Camus Individualistic French Writer
1. In which French colony was Albert Camus born in November, 1913?
 A. Vietnam
 B. New Caledonia
 C. Algeria
 D. Seychelle Islands
2. What political party did Albert Camus join in 1935?
 A. French Democrats
 B. Socialist Party
 C. French Nationals
 D. Communist Party
3. What role did Albert Camus perform for France during World War II?
 A. He was a member of the Resistance.
 B. He wrote a number of satirical anti-Nazi books.
 C. He joined Charles de Gaulle and the Free French force in London.
 D. He saw active service in 1940 but was caught and imprisoned for the remainder of the war.
4. Which of the following books was not written by Camus?
 A. The Fall
 B. The Judgment
 C. The Stranger
 D. The Plague
5. What literary award did Albert Camus win in 1957?
 A. Franz Kafka Prize
 B. Pulitzer Prize
 C. Nobel Prize for Literature
 D. Man Booker International
6. What activity did Camus pursue that he regarded more important than his writing?
 A. Photography
 B. Acting
 C. Football
 D. Meditation
7. What physical ailment plagued Camus for most of his life?
 A. Diabetes
 B. Tuberculosis
 C. Tinnitus
 D. Epilepsy
8. With which notable French writer did Albert Camus have a celebrated disagreement which ended their friendship?
 A. Simone de Beauvoir
 B. Michel Foucault
 C. Antoine Blondin
 D. Jean-Paul Sartre
9. What style of writing best describes the writing of Albert Camus?
 A. Nihilism
 B. Existentialism
 C. Absurdism
 D. Fatalism
10. Albert Camus died at the relatively young age of 46 from what cause?
 A. lung cancer
 B. suicide
 C. murder
 D. car crash® Introduction Privacy Policy Conditions of Use
Innovative 2020


text:
Kelly Waugh, PT, MAPT, ATP
Barbara Crane, PhD, PT, ATP. University of Hartford
Successful outcomes in the provision of wheelchairs require an appropriate match between the seating support system and the wheelchair user's body; however, standard terms and measures have been lacking for communication of this critical information. There is significant inconsistency in the terms that are used to describe and measure wheelchair seating parameters (such as leg rest angle, seat height) and postural measures (such as hip angle, trunk lean, pelvic tilt). A common vocabulary of terms and measures is needed by clinicians, suppliers, manufacturers and technicians for accurate translation of assessment information into a seating prescription, and for effective set up of the prescribed product.
Additionally, the adoption of standardized measures will encourage collaborative research regarding the effect of seated posture on a wheelchair user's health, comfort and function. To address this need, we will develop and disseminate A Clinical Application Guide to standardized terms and measures related to wheelchair seating, translating a highly technical international standard into a format and language that is easy to understand and clinically useful. There is currently no single resource containing this information that is free, easily accessible and practical to use for health care professionals in the field of wheelchair prescription, service delivery and research.
Funding for this project was provided by the Paralyzed Veterans of America, Education Foundation Grant #668.
In this resource manual defining over 130 measurement terms, the authors present a complex ISO standard in a format and language that is easy to understand and practical to use. It includes the correct terminology for angular and linear measurements of the seated person's body and the seating support system. For each term the guide explains the purpose of the measure and its clinical relevance, with an accurate definition, a sample measurement procedure, and 1 to 2 illustrations helping to clarify each measure.
This glossary includes a searchable list of 550+ defined terms related to wheelchair, wheelchair seating, and wheelchair seated posture. The terms are organized functionally in four sections: (1) Wheeled Mobility Device Types and Related Terms, (2) Wheelchair Components and Features, (3) Seating Support System and (4) Angular and Linear Dimensions. Reference sources are included for each term and definition, and historical terms are linked to the preferred term in a comprehensive index.
Both of these resources are available for purchase and/or free download. For more information check out the Wheelchair Seating page under our Resources tab.
Waugh, K., Crane, B. Measuring Wheelchair Seated Posture and Seating Supports: Standardization of Terms and Methodologies. 28th International Seating Symposium, Vancouver, BC. March 7, 2012


text:
50 Simple Tools Used to Rebuild Haiti
Parts of this article were adapted from an article at Popular Mechanics
Rebuilding is an inevitable part of putting our lives back together after a disaster. When an emergency occurs, we need tools to build, repair and maintain our homes¬†to make them livable once more. Those who survived the¬†Haitian earthquake¬†know this all too well. We are all¬†familiar with the devastation that occurred with the Haitian earthquake, the lives lost and the reconstruction still taking place.
According to an article in Popular Mechanics, relief workers who responded to the disaster were asked to bring their own tools in order to rebuild parts of Haiti and they did so using 50 tools.¬†It is ironic that these tools played such a large role in the reconstruction of¬†this broken island. The tools used for reconstruction¬†not only created shelters for families, and areas for sanitation, but they gave the Haitians hope that one day their island would be restored.
In the backbreaking early stages of rubble removal, simple hand tools played a vital role in transporting and removing debris. Acquiring basic hand tools‚ÄĒshovels, axes and hammers‚ÄĒmeet immediate demolition needs and then take on a long-term role once construction resumes. The tools used in the first phase of reconstruction were:
1. Round point and square nose shovels, preferably heavy-duty variety with extra long blade socket.
2. Pick axe
3. Pulaski axe
4. Rig builder's hatchet
6. Bow saw
7. 24-oz. framing hammer
8. Sledge hammer
9. Digging bars, preferably both pointed and chisel tip varieties; crow bars.
10. Leather or synthetic work gloves
11. Protective eye wear
12. Hard hats
13. Dust masks
14. Contractor-grade wheel barrows
15. Bolt cutters
16. Large-diameter heavy-duty weatherproof rope; small-diameter light-duty line
17. Rope hoist/pulley, minimum 250-lb. capacity
18. Folding knife
Shelter construction was the next step in rebuilding Haiti. Simple sheds made of little more than lumber and nails can provide families secure shelter, a measure of sanitation and the stability to endure harsh weather. In the absence of fuel or electricity, fairly sophistication construction can begin with such basic hand tools as saws, braces and squares. The tools and materials used in the second phase of reconstruction were:
1. 8-point crosscut saw
2. Carpenter's pencil
3. Carpenter's square
4. Framing hammers and carpenter's hammers‚ÄĒsmaller sizes for various family members, in addition to the 24-ounce tool above.
5. 25-foot Metric/English tape rule
6. Bit Brace and a set of solid-center auger bits, ¬ľ inch through 1 inch
7. Utility knife, spare blades
8. High-tension hacksaw and selection of spare blades
1. 1/2 inch exterior-grade plywood, which has the structural stability to help frame out a building's wall.
2. 2 x 4 x 8 lumber by the pallet
3. 8-d common nails
4. 12-d and 16-d common nails
5. blue tarps in various sizes (5 x 7, 10 x 10, 12 x 20)
6. 6-mil plastic sheet, roll
7. 5-gallon plastic buckets
8. Self-stick roll roofing
Once the grid comes back up and¬†power and fuel become more widely available, electric or fuel powered tools will take the place of the simple, traditional tools. The power tools¬†tools will resupply Haiti's population of tradesmen or can equip volunteers aiding in relief efforts. These power tools are:
1. Rotary hammer and bits
2. Hammer drill and bits
3. Reciprocating saw and bi-metal blades
4. Chainsaw (with necessary tools and spare parts: gas cans, funnel, spare spark plug, bar and chain oil, gasoline, chain with carbide-tipped teeth, chainsaw chaps, chainsaw gloves).
5. Gas-engine driven welder/generator and selection of stick electrodes and accessories (welding mask, gloves, welding hammer, C clamps).
6. Right angle grinders and spare grinding wheels.
7. Portable concrete mixer, bags of ready-to-mix concrete.
8. Basic set of concrete and brick/block mason's tools, rock-working tools: float, trowel, brick/block trowels, plumb bob, brick set, mason's level, jointer, stone tracer, stone chisel.
9. Simple optical level, such as a builder's level or transit.
10. Basic electrician's tool kit (Haiti uses 110-volt power, the same as North America): side-cutting pliers, diagonal pliers, needle-nose pliers, electrician's multi-tool wire stripper/screw cutter, solenoid voltage tester, fork meter and spare AA batteries.
11. Metric/SAE tap and die set
12. Kerosene and kerosene lanterns, waterproof matches
13. Charcoal and charcoal grills
14. Chlorine bleach for water disinfection, Lifestraws or similar filtration tools, and refillable water bottles
15. Anti-bacterial soap, shop towels, and toilet paper.
Quite simply,¬†having these¬†tools and¬†equipment on hand¬†will help you operate in a non-technological environment. Investing in¬†quality tools could assist in rebuilding your home and lives more quickly and efficiently.¬†
A special thanks to all the relief workers who participated in rebuilding this island¬†and¬†giving¬†hope back to the Haitians. Your volunteerism¬†is a true act of kindness and a great example of the human spirit.
This information has been made available by Ready Nutrition
Author: Tess Pennington
Author's Web Site:
Made Available By: Ready Nutrition
Date: September 29th, 2011
Related Categories: Preparedness, Reserve Supplies, World News

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text:
Here's another resource in our ongoing coverage of query techniques:
Learn how to create queries to find all the records in one table that don't have corresponding records in another table. If you're not familiar with the difference between Inner Join, Outer Join, Left Join and Right Join, check out our paper on Microsoft Access Outer Join Query: Finding All Records in One Table but Not Another and Creating "Not In" Queries on these important query feature. It'll save you tons of time trying to code this yourself and will surely give you new ideas on how to better retrieve and analyze your data. The techniques apply to both Microsoft Access and SQL Server queries.


The Lennard-Jones potential has the form:
The (attractive) $r^{-6}$ term describes the dispersion force (attraction at long range). Why is the power $-6$ rather than something else?
I think that it has to do with dipole-dipole interactions, but I am having difficulty working out the physics. Can you please help me?
I know that, at a distance $z$ away, the on-axis electric potential due to a dipole at the origin and aligned on the z-axis is given by:
$$V = \frac{1}{4\pi\epsilon_0} \frac{p}{z^2}$$
where $p$ is the (magnitude of the) dipole moment.
But if there is an atom nearby, the dipole will induce a dipole on the atom. The induced dipole will in turn induce a dipole on the first dipole. Is it possible to classically derive the $r^{-6}$ dependence of the dispersion force? Thanks for your time.
 - 2
 $\begingroup$ You might want o check the Wikipedia article on Vanderwaals forces: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_der_Waals_force $\endgroup$ – Johannes May 1 '13 at 16:48
 - 5
 $\begingroup$ The $r^{-6}$ comes from the London dispersion force (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_dispersion_force) and the derivation of this is complicated. Googling for "derivation of london dispersion force" finds several promising looking articles, but they won't be easy reading! $\endgroup$ – John Rennie May 1 '13 at 17:30
 - $\begingroup$ _USER_ OK, thanks. I was thinking that the derivation would involve a dipole-dipole interaction, but I guess it is more complicated than that. $\endgroup$ – Andrew May 1 '13 at 19:57
 - 2
 $\begingroup$ _USER_ you are right it is essentially a dipole-dipole interaction but when averaging over all possible orientations the power of the decay changes from 2 to 6. $\endgroup$ – gatsu May 2 '13 at 11:00
The "simplest" classical explanation I know is the van der Waals interaction described by Keesom between two permanent dipoles. Let us consider two permanent dipoles $\vec{p}_1$ (located at $O_1$) and $\vec{p}_2$ located at $O_2$. Their potential energy of interaction is: \begin{equation} U(\vec{p}_1,\vec{p}_2,\vec{O_1 O_2}) = -\vec{p}_1\cdot \vec{E}_2 = -\vec{p}_2 \cdot \vec{E}_1 = -\frac{[3(\vec{p}_1\cdot\vec{u})(\vec{p}_2\cdot\vec{u})-\vec{p}_1\cdot \vec{p}_2]}{4\pi \epsilon_0 ||\vec{O_1 O_2}||^3} \end{equation} where $\vec{u}= \vec{O_1 O_2}/||\vec{O_1O_2}||$ and $\vec{O_1 O_2}$ is a vector going from $O_1$ to $O_2$.
Now, if the system is subject to thermal fluctuations then the dipoles can change their orientations according to a Boltzmann weight. If the time scale associated to the motion of the particles is much longer than the one associated to the dipole orientations then for each distance $r = ||\vec{O_1O_2}||$ on can trace over all the possible orientations.
The effective interaction between the dipoles is then characterized by the free energy of the system i.e. by:
\begin{equation} \mathcal{F}(r|p_1,p_2) \equiv -k_B T \ln \int \frac{d\Omega_1 d\Omega_2}{(4\pi)^2} \:e^{-\beta U(\vec{p}_1,\vec{p}_2,\vec{O_1 O_2})} \end{equation}
where $d\Omega_i$ is the solid angle element associated with the direction of dipole $\vec{p_i}$ and $\beta=1/k_B T$.
This quantity is super difficult to compute. However, if the dipoles are sufficiently far apart, their interaction energy is small and one may expand the exponential in powers of $\beta U$: \begin{eqnarray} \mathcal{F}(r|p_1,p_2) \approx -k_B T \ln \int \frac{d\Omega_1 d\Omega_2}{(4\pi)^2} && \times\\ && \:\left(1 \right.\\ && -\beta U(\vec{p}_1,\vec{p}_2,\vec{O_1 O_2}) \\ && \left.+\frac{1}{2}\beta^2 U(\vec{p}_1,\vec{p}_2,\vec{O_1 O_2})^2\right) \end{eqnarray}
The first integral $\int \frac{d\Omega_1 d\Omega_2}{(4\pi)^2} 1 $ is trivial and equal to $1$. The second integral of the potential is zero by symmetry (each dipole is as likely to be at either a positive or negative angle from $\vec{u}$ and the integral of a scalar product of two independent vectors is zero). The only remaining term is of order 2 in $\beta U$ which decays with $1/r^6$. At the end of the day we end up with something like: \begin{equation} \mathcal{F}(r|p_1,p_2) \approx -k_B T \ln \left(1+\beta^2\frac{C}{r^6} \right) \approx -\frac{C}{k_B T}\frac{1}{r^6} \end{equation} where
\begin{equation} C = \int \frac{d\Omega_1 d\Omega_2}{(4\pi)^2}\left( \frac{[3(\vec{p}_1\cdot\vec{u})(\vec{p}_2\cdot\vec{u})-\vec{p}_1\cdot \vec{p}_2]}{4\pi \epsilon_0}\right)^2 \end{equation} is a number not important in terms of physical insight.
What matters here is that the average value of the dipole-dipole interaction is zero while the first non zero term not to be zero is owing to fluctuations. This is roughly the rule with van der Waals like interactions which is that they are fluctuation driven (the same is true in the quantum case).
Remark: the previous derivation assumes that the interactions travel at infinite speed which is not true. When the limitation of the speed of light is introduced then at large distances, the van der Waals interaction decays as $1/r^7$.
 - 1
 $\begingroup$ +1 Great answer. I have a small doubt : in the equation for the free energy what happens to the internal energy part. I see that you have just indicated the entropy part. $\endgroup$ – WYSIWYG Sep 16 '15 at 5:16
 - 1
 $\begingroup$ _USER_: what do you mean by "entropy part"? I have used the usual definition that the free energy is the log of the partition function; or are you referring to something else? $\endgroup$ – gatsu Sep 17 '15 at 8:04
 - 1
 $\begingroup$ I am sorry but you are mistaken. I am taking the log of the partition function i.e. $\ln Q = \ln \sum_i e^{-\beta E_i}$ which is minus the free energy. To see this do as follows: $-\ln Q = -\ln Q -\sum_i p_i \ln p_i + \sum_i p_i \ln p_i$, where the second equality is a tautology. Now, do not touch at the second Shannon entropy term and focus on the first one. We now relate $p_i$ and $Q$ via $p_i = e^{-\beta E_i}/Q$. Upon inserting this expression into the log of the first entropy we get $\sum_i p_i \beta E_i + \ln Q$ which gives $-kT \ln Q = F = \langle E \rangle -TS$, which what I used. $\endgroup$ – gatsu Sep 18 '15 at 10:50
Your Answer


text:
Social Structure of Ancient China
Let's learn about China's social structure
Description: Peasants Of Ancient China
Image copyright: _URL_
A. Which groups made up China's Social structure?
*In first class were the kings and nobles; they were at the highest level.
*Then came the lords and warriors, they were in the second class.
*Lastly were the peasants, they were in the lowest class.
B. What were the rights and responsibilities of each group?
*The kings lead the government and gave land to different lords.
*The lords' responsibilities were to pay the taxes to the king and provided warriors to protect the land.
*Peasants farmed the nobles land and worked for the nobles and kings.
C. Why were some groups more powerful than others?
*They were more powerful because they were wealthy and known.
* They had a lot more resources than others.
D. Why were boy children highly valued in Ancient China's society?
*Boys were valued girls more because they were the ones that passed down the family names to their families.
*When their parents got old, the boys were the ones that took care of their parents.
E. Compare and contrast ancient China's social structure with the United States (our country)
*They are similar because the kings and president are in the highest class.
*In the second class in the U.S. are educated adults like lawyers and surgeons and people in the army like marines. While in china it is the warriors.
*In the lower class are the homeless and the citizens of
The U.S. In ancient China it is the servants and the slaves.


text:
August 7, 1987 – Lynne Cox becomes the first person to swim from the USA to the Soviet Union
Today in History-
- 1987 – Lynne Cox becomes first person to swim from the United States to the Soviet Union, crossing the Bering Strait from Little Diomede Island in Alaska to Big Diomede in the Soviet Union. Courtesy of Wikipedia.
Lynne Cox (born 1957 in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American long-distance open-water swimmer, writer and speaker. She is best known for being the first person to swim between the United States and the Soviet Union, in the Bering Strait, a feat which has been recognized for easing the Cold War tensions between US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
In 1971, she and her teammates were the first group of teenagers to complete the crossing of the Catalina Island Channel in California. She has twice held the record for the fastest crossing of the English Channel from England to France (1972 in a time of 9 hours 57 minutes and 1973 in a time of 9 hours 36 minutes). In 1975, Cox became the first woman to swim the 10 °C (50 °F), 16 km (10 mi) Cook Straitin New Zealand. In 1976, she was the first person to swim the Straits of Magellan in Chile, and the first to swim around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.
Cox is perhaps best known for swimming 2 hour 5 minutes in the Bering Strait on 7 August 1987, from the island of Little Diomede in Alaska to Big Diomede, then part of the Soviet Union, where the water temperature averaged around 43 to 44 °F (6 to 7 °C). At the time people living on the Diomede Islands, only 3.7 km (2.3 mi) apart, were not permitted to travel between them, although the Inuit communities there had been closely linked until the natives of Big Diomede were moved to the Russian mainland after World War II. Her accomplishment a few years before the end of the Cold War earned praise from both US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
At the signing of the INF Missile Treaty at the White House, Gorbachev made a toast. He and President Reagan lifted their glasses and Gorbachev said: "Last summer it took one brave American by the name of Lynne Cox just two hours to swim from one of our countries to the other. We saw on television how sincere and friendly the meeting was between our people and the Americans when she stepped onto the Soviet shore. She proved by her courage how close to each other our peoples live."


text:
With the Alarm System extension for Joomla, an extra layer of security is added right after a user logs into the administrator. After a successful login, the user is presented with a PIN screen to disable the alarm system. When a user enters the correct PIN, the alarm will be disabled. When a user enters too many incorrect PINs, or doesn't provide the correct PIN within the given time frame, the alarm system will be triggered. When the alarm goes off, be default the user will be logged out. If configured, a new log entry will be added to track which users have triggered the alarm system.
For now this extension offers pretty basic functions only. We are open for your suggestions and tips to improve and expand. Please share your ideas at our forum or leave a review and tell us what you like about it and what is still missing!
Suggestion forum page:
Alarm System configurable options:
- General options
Under general options you can enable the alarm and configure the settings. You can choose how many seconds a user is granted to disable the alarm system and how many incorrect PIN numbers are accepted before the alarm is triggered. By default the system allows users 30 seconds and 3 incorrect PIN entries.
- PIN settings
You can select the source of correct PIN codes. You can select to use a System wide PIN, which means all users will have to enter the same PIN. You can also select to use user specific PIN codes. This allows every user to have it's own PIN code. The user PIN codes are managed by an admin with enabled access to edit PIN codes. These rights are configured in the component options.
- Alarm trigger settings
Here you can specify if you want a user to be logged out upon triggering the alarm.
There is also a logging system for tracking what happens with the alarm. The system can log if an incorrect PIN is entered, if a correct PIN is entered (alarm disabled) or if the alarm is triggered. It also tries to gather additional information, such as which user has caused an event, and which incorrect PIN was entered
User specific PIN codes
From the control panel there is an option for User PIN codes. Here you can specify for each user if they should have the system wide PIN, or a specific user PIN. So you could have a couple of users with a specific PIN code, while the rest is using the system wide PIN code. If the system cannot find a specific PIN code for a user, it will fall back to the system wide PIN. For that reason it's recommended to always set a system wide PIN code.
The Alarm System also supports subsystems to configure your own actions in case of alarm system events. You can create and install your own Joomla plugin handling responses when the alarm is triggered and or successfully disabled.
The component is easy to form, easily to install, he avoids the revenue to the core of Joomla and works perfectly.
I recommend it to 100 %.
I'm sorry for English.


text:
Lakefront Lighting Replacement
The City of Kenosha retained Clark Dietz for the investigation of the current condition and integrity of their promenade lighting along Kenosha's lakefront in Harbor Park and to provide Electrical Lighting Design Services. Clark Dietz was tasked to identify the most economical strategy to upgrade this lighting system along the lakefront pathway. The existing lighting limits are from 50th Street and 6th Avenue to 61st Street and 3rd Avenue and consisted of 130 poles along this route. The initial objective was to reuse the existing poles, bases & wiring and to just investigate refurbishing and re-lamping of the poles using current technology.
Lighting Condition Analysis
Clark Dietz provided a visual assessment of the existing pathway lighting conditions including lighting foundations, light poles and luminaires. Additionally, we interviewed City electrical staff to determine what issues they were aware of when repairs were made. With the help of City staff, we assessed the existing wiring and grounding connections, we traced out the electrical circuitry to each pole to determine which lighting cabinet the lights belonged to, and finally measured the loads that were present on each circuit as well as the overall loads on each cabinet. Based on our investigation, we were able to determine if foundations, light poles, and existing wiring could simply be reused. If possible, existing poles in good condition could be refurbished. Clark Dietz coordinated with blast shops on costs and timeline for refinishing and painting. If any poles were in need of replacement due to condition, new poles were required to match the existing style.
After the preliminary investigations and assessments, we determined that the existing infrastructure was in poor condition. The following was concluded:
- Concrete bases severely deteriorated with corroded reinforcing bars;
- Circuit wiring was direct buried and had many splices;
- Existing steel poles were corroded at the base and luminaire arms;
- Many decorative base plates were either missing or broken, and
- Voltage drop requirements were not met using existing wiring
This assessment concluded that reusing and/or refurbishing of the existing lighting system was not economical and a new lighting system should be pursued.
After careful assessment and determining a replacement fixture, Clark Dietz provided lighting design using AGi-32 to coincide with the existing pole base locations to determine what the most optimized photometrics could be for the existing light pole spacing. We analyzed and compared the proper illumination in accordance with IES Standards for urban roadways. The lighting design included:
- Contacting Diggers Hotline for underground survey locates.
- Analyzing existing photometrics using light meters in order to provide comparisons with the new fixtures.
- Providing plan sheets using mostly Aerial photography with supplemental survey.
- We designed the proposed lighting using similar fixtures that were currently in place.
- Showing lighting items and limits.
- Showing all connections for power either to an existing cabinet or a proposed cabinet (coordination with city of Kenosha).
- Providing detail sheets
- Surveying utilities and lakefront pathway.
- Providing voltage drop calculations using existing wire for entire limits of pole replacements or for new wire.
- Providing a staging plan to keep the pathway lit during construction. We coordinated work with the City on the viable options.
- Providing specifications for Bidding
- Providing bid tab of all lighting quantities


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Help with tiled maps
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3 replies to this topic
#1 Jac0blee Members - Reputation: 100
Posted 14 February 2012 - 05:51 PM
Hi guys i was experementing with tiled maps and wondered how to make the user stop when they hit a wall. also how to make directional bullet firing controlled by mouse. im a new programmer and need a little bit of a kickstart thanks for the help!
#2 TehOwn Members - Reputation: 134
Posted 14 February 2012 - 07:57 PM
Lets break down what you're asking for.
 - User must stop when they hit a wall
For this, you need to learn about Collision Detection. This literally means, "Detecting when an object collides with another" and usually involves some action which occurs when there is a collision (bouncing off, stopping, exploding, etc) There are many simple ways to do this, especially in Tile/Grid-based games. One of the simplest ways of doing this is what I used for collision in my PacMan clone.
When you first create games, your player will simply have an X position and a Y position. In a tile-based game, you can use this to detect the player's position in relation to the tiles and the grid on which they lie. Imagine that your player lies on a chess board, if the squares on the board are 64 pixels wide and long, then if your player was at (32,32) then he'd be considered to be in the top-left square. If he was at (500,500), he'd be in the bottom-right square.
Now, each tile in your game must be considered passable or not-passable. Grass would usually be passable, but Walls would not. This allows you to define which tiles players CAN and CANNOT walk on.
With this information together, you can work out which grid-space the player is attempting to enter and check if it is passable or not. If it is not passable, prevent the player from entering that space, but position them so they are immediately outside it.
That is the theory. Hopefully someone can provide you with useful articles to help you implement it yourself.
 - Directional bullet firing
For this, you need to create objects that will move depending on a velocity. This is updated every frame and you can also do collision checks on the bullets to detect if they hit anything (like a wall or player).
These concepts are explained quite simply here:
 - Mouse input
Depending on which engine or API you are using; getting and using mouse-input can have a varied level of difficulty. What are you using?
p.s. Hopefully my explanations were easy to follow. Giving advice to others is quite a new thing for me.
#3 SeiryuEnder Members - Reputation: 199
Posted 15 February 2012 - 06:16 AM
I'm not sure what your language, OS, or scripting interface is; so I'm going to answer as if you're in Windows C++.
It's been several years since I've made a tile-based game, so bear with me. These are the highlights that I remember.
Tile maps:
The key thing to realize is that tile maps can have multiple "layers".
Primary layer: where your character runs around.
Foreground layers: objects 'in front' of your character, usually scrolls faster than primary layer
Background layers: objects 'behind' your character (IE scenery), usually scrolls slower than primary layer
Collision layer: non-visible areas where the character will 'collide' with the world. May define several types of collision, such as slopes or different terrain (ice)
Trigger layer: Areas that cause an event when something enters them (player, enemy, etc)
Refer to TehOwn's post for more information about tile collision.
Mouse Input & bullet firing:
You really want your input to be hardware accelerated, but to get things going quickly you can use the windows function GetCursorPos(LPPOINT).
This returns a point in screen space, you need to convert it to client space.
void Player::UpdateGun()
 // This buffers the input, so we aren't shooting a bullet
 // every frame the left mouse button is held
 static bool bMouseWasClicked = false;
 // Check if the left mouse button is pressed
 if( GetAsyncKeyState( VK_LBUTTON ) &&!bMouseWasClicked )
 POINT mousePos;
 float bulletDirX, bulletDirY;
 bMouseWasClicked = true;
 // Get current position of mouse
 GetCursorPos( &mousePos );
 ScreenToClient( hWindow, &mousePos );
 // Get a vector from the gun to the mouse
 bulletDir.x = mousePos.x - m_Gun.x;
 bulletDir.y = mousePos.y - m_Gun.y;
 // Normalize the direction vector
 float mag= sqrt( bulletDirX * bulletDirX + bulletDirY * bulletDirY );
 if( mag == 0.0f ) mag = 1.0f;
 bulletDirX /= mag;
 bulletDirY /= mag;
 // Tell the gun which way to fire
 m_Gun.Fire( bulletDirX, bulletDirY );
 bMouseWasClicked = false;
This is completely untested code, but that's the general idea.
#4 Jac0blee Members - Reputation: 100
Posted 16 February 2012 - 10:09 AM
Thank you guys so much for the help you really explained it well, i do know about collision detection and was just wondering how to implement it into tiled maps so that i could have walls and such and the code for the mouse directional shooting is very helpful thankyou!
Old topic!


Networking & Content Delivery
Updating AWS Global Accelerator EC2 endpoints automatically based on Auto Scaling group events
AWS Global Accelerator is a network layer service that directs traffic to optimal endpoints over the AWS global network, this improves the availability and performance of your internet applications that are used by a global audience. It provides static IP addresses that act as a fixed entry point to your application endpoints in a single or multiple AWS Regions, such as your Application Load Balancers, Network Load Balancers, Elastic IP addresses or Amazon EC2 instances. To front an EC2 instance with Global Accelerator, you create an accelerator and add the EC2 instance as an endpoint using the EC2 instance ID.
Some customers use the AWS Auto Scaling service to automatically adjust capacity to maintain steady, predictable performance at the lowest possible cost. A Load Balancer can be attached to the Auto Scaling Group and used as endpoint for the endpoint group of the accelerator. However, there are use cases that require adding the EC2 instances as endpoints directly to the endpoint group. An example is when you want to send UDP traffic with client IP preservation to a handful of instances, with a guarantee that the same backend instances will handle requests from the same clients (client affinity). This is not possible with Application Load Balancers because they do not support UDP traffic, and Network Load Balancers do not support sticky sessions or client IP preservation with AWS Global Accelerator.
In this post, I show you how to use AWS Lambda to automatically add EC2 endpoints to a Global Accelerator endpoint group, or remove EC2 endpoints from an endpoint group based on Auto Scaling group events. We recommend that you remove an EC2 instance from Global Accelerator endpoint groups before you terminate the instance. If you terminate an EC2 instance before you remove it from an endpoint group in Global Accelerator, and then you create another instance in the same VPC with the same private IP address, and health checks pass, Global Accelerator will route traffic to the new endpoint. We use Auto Scaling lifecycle hooks to remove instances selected for termination from the endpoint group before they are terminated.
Solution overview
The following diagram describes the solution at a high level:
 - An AWS Global Accelerator endpoint has EC2 endpoints that are launched by an Auto Scaling group.
 - The Auto Scaling group terminates or launches EC2 instances.
 - An Amazon CloudWatch Events rule captures these events and triggers a Lambda function.
 - The Lambda function updates the Accelerator endpoint using the UpdateEndpointGroup API.
Prerequisites and deployments options
Make sure you have the following completed:
 - Your Auto Scaling group is created and configured. Make note of the name.
 - Your accelerator and the endpoint group are created. Make note of the endpoint group Amazon Resource Name (ARN).
To implement this solution, you create the following:
 - An Identity and Access Management (IAM) role.
 - A Lambda function.
 - A CloudWatch Events rule.
We recommend using AWS CloudFormation to automatically create and configure the different resources (IAM role, Lambda function, and CloudWatch rule). The CloudFormation template with the inline Lambda function code is available in the first part of this post (automated deployment). In the second part (manual deployment), I provide how to implement the solution step by step using the AWS Management Console and the AWS Command Line Interface (CLI), in case you are more comfortable with the CLI.
Automated deployment using AWS CloudFormation
AWS CloudFormation gives you an easy way to codify the creation and management of related AWS resources. The optional Mappings and Parameters sections of CloudFormation templates help you organize and parameterize your templates so you can quickly customize your stack. The step-by-step instructions in this section show you how you can automate the creation and configuration of resources needed for the solution (IAM role, Lambda function, and CloudWatch rule). After you choose Create stack, the resources are created in three to four minutes.
 1. Choose Launch stack. The template is loaded from Amazon S3 automatically. The template is launched in the US East (N. Virginia) AWS Region by default. To launch the CloudFormation stack in a different AWS Region, use the region selector in the console navigation bar after you choose Launch stack. Choose Next.
 2. On the Specify stack details page, change the stack name, if needed (default is GlobalAcceleratorAndAutoScaling). Provide the following values to the CloudFormation template and choose Next. These (user input) values will be passed as parameters to the template.
 1. Endpoint group ARN (required)
 2. Endpoint weight (optional)
 3. Auto Scaling group name (required)
 3. On the Configure stack options page, add tags if needed (not required), then choose Next.
 4. On the Review stack page, select I acknowledge that AWS CloudFormation might create IAM resources, then choose Create stack.
You can also download the template and use it as a starting point for your own implementation.
Corresponding CLI command
Download the template and run the following command, making sure that you enter the correct Global Accelerator endpoint group ARN and Auto Scaling group name.
$aws cloudformation create-stack \
--stack-name GlobalAcceleratorAndAutoScaling \
--template-body file://asg_aga.yaml \
--parameters ParameterKey=EndpointGroupARN,ParameterValue= \
--region
Manual deployment using AWS Web Management console or AWS CLI
Step 1 – Create and configure the Lambda function's IAM role.
Lambda functions need an IAM role to give them their execution permissions. To create the IAM role, complete the following steps. For more information, see Creating an IAM Role.
 1. In the IAM console, choose Policies, Create Policy.
 2. On the JSON tab, enter the following IAM policy (make sure you replace ):
 "Version": "2012-10-17",
 "Statement": [{
 "Effect": "Allow",
 "Action": [
 "Resource": ""
 "Effect": "Allow",
 "Action": [
 "Resource": "arn:aws:logs:::"
 "Effect": "Allow",
 "Action": [
 "Resource": ""
 1. Choose Review policy.
 2. Enter a name (ASG_AGA-Lambda-Policy) for this policy, and choose Create policy. Note the name of this policy for later steps.
 3. In the left navigation pane, choose Roles, Create role.
 4. On the Select role type page, choose AWS Service and then Lambda to allow Lambda functions to call AWS services on your behalf.
 5. Choose Next: Permissions.
 6. Filter policies by the policy name that you just created (ASG_AGA-Lambda-Policy), and check the box.
 7. Choose Next: Tags, and give it an appropriate tag.
 8. Choose Next: Review. Give this IAM role an appropriate name (ASG_AGA-Lambda-Role), and note it for future use.
 9. Choose Create role.
Corresponding CLI commands
Create a text file called Lambda-Role-Inline-Policy.json with the preceding policy as content.
Create a text file called Lambda-Role-Trust-Policy.json with the following content:
 "Version": "2012-10-17",
 "Statement": [{
 "Sid": "",
 "Effect": "Allow",
 "Principal": {
 "Service": ""
 "Action": "sts:AssumeRole"
Create a policy with this trust policy, and then attach the inline policy to it:
$ aws iam create-role \
 --role-name ASG_AGA-Lambda-Role \
 --assume-role-policy-document file://Lambda-Role-Trust-Policy.json
$ aws iam put-role-policy \
 --role-name ASG_AGA-Lambda-Role \
 --policy-name ASG_AGA_Lambda_CW \
 --policy-document file://Lambda-Role-Inline-Policy.json
Step 2 – Put the lifecycle hook for instance terminating.
It is recommended to remove EC2 endpoints from Accelerator endpoint groups before they are terminated. When using AWS Auto Scaling you don't have control over instance terminations. Use the endpoint group before it is terminated. To create the lifecycle hook, take the following steps:
 1. In the Auto Scaling console, select your Auto Scaling Group.
 2. Select the Lifecycle Hooks tab, and then choose Create Lifecycle Hook.
 3. Give a name to the lifecycle hook.
 4. For Lifecycle Transition, select Instance Terminate.
 5. For Heartbeat Timeout, type 60.
 6. For Default Result, keep ABANDON.
 7. Create the lifecycle hook.
Corresponding CLI command
$ aws autoscaling put-lifecycle-hook \
 --lifecycle-hook-name ASG-AGA-Terminating \
 --auto-scaling-group-name ASG-Group-Name \
 --lifecycle-transition autoscaling:EC2_INSTANCE_TERMINATING \
 --heartbeat-timeout 60
Step 3 – Create the Lambda function.
To create a Lambda function, complete the following steps. For more information, see Create a Lambda Function with the Console.
 1. In the Lambda console, choose Author from scratch.
 2. For Function Name, enter the name of your function (ASG_AGA-Lambda-Function


text:
As you may have noticed when starting up the new Software Provisioning Manager SP20, a Web-Browser Window opens instead of the well known STD GUI.
The new Browser based User Interface (or SL Common UI as it is also called) is the default GUI for Software Provisioning Manager as of SP20.
The following questions may arise when facing the new Browser based you:
- How do I get the parameter list view with the new UI?
- What is the difference between the "old" SDT GUI and the new Web UI?
- How does the new Help functionality on field level work?
- How does the Logfile View and Task View in Web Browser Window work
- How can I follow an installation with Web Browser from a different machine?
- How can I start Software Provisioning Manager SP20 with the "old" SDT GUI?
I produced the following small video that demonstrates some nice functionality of the new Browser based UI and gives answers to the above questions:
Screenshot from old SDT GUI:
Screenshot from new Browser based UI:


text:
Published in Proceedings of the 44th International Symposium on Microelectronics: Long Beach, CA, October 9, 2011.
Copyright © 2011 International Microelectronics and Packaging Society.
One of the challenges in an experimental study of solder joint reliability is to determine when cracks occur in a solder joint or when a solder joint fails. Cracks in a real solder joint are difficult to identify using an X-Ray system. Cross-sectioning and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is a destructive method. A common non-destructive test method is to monitor resistance increase in a solder joint or a daisy-chain. However, no scientific research has been done in establishing the relationship between the crack area of an interconnection and the change in resistance of the interconnection. This paper proposes a method of defining failure criteria as the resistance increase in a solder joint exceeding a threshold. The threshold is determined by k times the range over the natural variation in resistance measured by a measurement system. The natural variation by random cause is judged using X-bar and R charts. The principles of defining failure criteria are to be able to detect failure of solder joints as early as possible with minimum false detection due of measurement system error/variation. An experimental study confirmed that a full crack of an interconnection occurs when the increase of resistance in the interconnection is 10 times the natural variation of resistance change. The results of this study could be used to narrow the definition of failure in consensus standards IPC 9701A, JESD22-B111, and IPC/JEDEC-9702.
Industrial Engineering | Manufacturing


News: aws rds sql server limitations
need the ARN for a later step. choose Roles in the navigation pane.
optimizer available in SQL Server 2014, and also the delayed durability feature.
The following limitations and recommendations apply to running SSIS on RDS for SQL
If and password is stored within the partially contained database instead of in see Determining the last failover time. The date and time that the task was created. The progress of the task as a percentage. as a parameter. If the point-in-time restore or snapshot restore fails, you see events and messages Guide. As soon as the Possible statuses are the following: CREATED â After you call one of the S3 integration stored procedures, a task Amazon RDS supports change data capture (CDC) for your DB instances running Microsoft
For Service, enter S3 and then choose the
For more information about SQL Server 2012, see Features Improved indirect checkpoint scalability â Helps databases with
The amount of time spent on the task, in minutes.
To view the proxy and grants on the proxy. The Amazon RDS team deprecated support for Microsoft SQL default values.
groups, Restoring a DB instance to a specified time, Importing and exporting SQL Server see Modifying an Amazon RDS DB instance. your DB instance to a local time zone instead, to match the time zone of your more information, see Using SSL with a Microsoft SQL Server DB instance.
DB engine: Maintain compatibility with database engine patch versions.
Verbose truncation warnings â The data truncation error message defaults to CDC captures changes that are made to the data in your tables, and stores You might see fewer than the maximum number of DB connections. Last modification date and time in UTC format, Option that indicates whether the item is a directory (. Only files without file extensions or with the following file extensions are supported Plan and perform version upgrades to meet your service level agreements and
configure Create the credential for the proxy. information, see Upgrading the Microsoft SQL Server DB engine. If your DB instance is part of a Multi-AZ deployment (using SQL Server DBM or AGs),
should create an option group before you create the DB instance.
You need the ARN for a later
You can transfer files between a DB instance running Amazon RDS for SQL Server and
If you use an existing framework, the framework
You can set your local time zone to one of the values listed in the following table.
For more information on enabling SSIS, see Yes. To track the status of your S3 integration task, call the rds_fn_task_status function.
so we can do more of it. instance, with links to relevant documentation for each task.
We're compliance, How to enable the CHECKSUM SQL Server Standard Edition will use only a subset of the available processors if applications. Amazon RDS supports DB instances running several versions and editions of Microsoft that is Use the following process: Create a new option group, or choose an existing option group.
removal should have no impact on your SQL Server use. choose Policies in the navigation pane. For information about SQL Server prerequisites, Enabling S3 on Multi-AZ instances.
The primary and secondary instances use the same endpoint, whose
The following parameters have been removed from SQL Server 2012: awe (ARN). For the Data Flow Task, change the location for BLOBTempStoragePath and For more information, see: Implementing linked servers with Amazon RDS for Microsoft SQL Server. Concurrent Page Free Space (PFS) updates â Enables handling as a shared latch
SSIS is a platform for data integration and Importing and exporting SQL Server
seed_data in D:\S3\, if the folder doesn't exist yet. instance.
When you use RDS, you access files stored in Amazon S3 rather than using the local file system on the database server. the SQL Server edition and version of your DB instance. The new storage limit is available when using the Provisioned IOPS and General Purpose (SSD) storage types. Some SQL Server parameters have changed in SQL Server 2012. SQL Server Integration Services. permissions to an IAM user, Monitoring the status of a file transfer 13.00. You D:\S3\, PutObject â required for uploading files from consecutive hyphens.
Determining whether you are using the EC2-VPC or EC2-Classic platform. sys.dm_db_page_info. that you should be aware of: The maximum number of databases supported on a DB instance depends on the instance To avoid the need to escape "license-included" model, 10 for Oracle under the "license-included" model, 40 for Oracle under the "bring-your-own-license" (BYOL) licensing model. For S3 integration, tasks can have the following task types: The progress of the task as a percentage.
Create an IAM role that Amazon RDS can assume on your behalf to access your S3 DATABASE command was issued. If you have the original database present in the instance, you can't restore its backup as a new database, nor will it allow you to overwrite the existing database. To create an instance with the SSIS option group and parameter group. S3 integration Amazon RDS doesn't support running these services on the same server as your RDS DB encryption at rest. You can now create Amazon RDS for SQL Server database instances with up to 16TB of storage, up from 4TB.
on Amazon RDS.
SSIS for Option
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text:
We know Muggle parents can have a magical child, but could magical parents have a Muggle child?
Depends what you mean by 'Muggle'.
A Squib is a person with no magical powers born to magical parents. They fall somewhere in between a wizard and a Muggle: while unable to actually perform magic, they can still access the magical world. From the Pottermore fact file:
Humans with little or no magical talent born into wizarding families, who are looked down on by the wizarding world
Appearance: Usually dressed like the rest of wizard-kind
Magic Abilities: Able to access the wizarding world, unlike Muggles, and can use certain magical objects and creatures
We even see a couple of these in the main HP stories: Argus Filch, the unpleasant janitor of Hogwarts, and Arabella Figg, the cat-loving neighbour of the Dursleys. But according to Ron, they're not very common:
A Squib is someone who was born into a wizarding family but hasn't got any magic powers. Kind of the opposite of Muggle-born wizards, but Squibs are quite unusual.
-- Ron Weasley, HP and the Chamber of Secrets
See also Is a Squib a Muggle?


text:
A Laboratory of Possibilities project
Ecological transition can be entirely undergone or partially chosen
Acceleration of climate change, collapse of biodiversity, depletion of natural resources: everyone today has heard about the rapid, profound and irreversible changes in the conditions of life on the planet.
In the light of the unprecedented ecological crisis facing humankind, Université de Montréal and Space for Life have joined forces to present Transition Pathways, a project for involving the vital actors of society in the necessary debate on transition in Québec.
Transition Pathways is structured around three major challenges
In the framework of the Transition Pathways project, transition issues are approached in the form of three major challenges calling into question our ability to develop and flourish within the limits of the planet:
- Food challenge
How can we ensure that more and more people have access to a healthful diet without depleting the earth's resources in a context of climate change?
- Land-use challenge
How can we live in Québec in a restrained and resilient way, in a context of ecological transition?
- Digital challenge
How do we go about merging the digital and ecological transitions?
Citizen participation: an essential element in Transition Pathways
Transition Pathways is a knowledge mobilization project, one that draws together learning of all types. Citizen participation is solicited throughout the project, in particular for citizens' workshops.
These workshops allow interested parties, in the company of other citizens, to reflect and to discuss their priorities with respect to each of the challenges under discussion as well as the conditions that would make their personal actions easier.
Citizens' food challenge workshops
The land is fundamental for the future, especially in a climate-change framework. By 2050 it will have to ensure food security to 10 billion human beings, contribute to reducing our CO2 emissions, and allow for the maintenance of a sufficient level of biodiversity – all this at the same time.
It is crucial to build a new food system in Québec, one that will make it possible to feed the population in a healthful way and to restore ecosystems, the source of our food.
Digital challenge workshops
A series of workshops aimed at identifying ways of making the use of digital tools with a net environmental gain more attractive and limiting the use of those with the highest impact was held in the fall of 2020.
About Transition Pathways
"Transition Pathways" designates models of change that society follows, voluntarily or not. Those pathways are many, and produce different trajectories of change. They involve collective choices to respond to identified issues and may be economic, social, technological, institutional or cultural in nature.
The Transition Pathways project harnesses the knowledge of several disciplines in order to identify the choices that have the potential to lead Québec society towards a desirable future, among the many possible futures.
What choices will help steer Québec society towards a desirable future?
In order to collectively identify the pathways with the greatest potential to take Québec on the most desirable trajectory, transition issues are addressed by way of the project's three challenges: the food challenge, the land-use challenge and the digital challenge.
For each of these challenges, a four-phase approach extending over a period of a year and a half makes it possible to bring together a diversity of experts, role-players and citizens with a view to mapping out the paths with the greatest potential.


Take the 2-minute tour ×
I'm looking for a quick way to compute the Pontryagin dual group of the n-dimensional torus $\mathbb{T}^n$ (with $\mathbb{T} := \mathbb{R} / \mathbb{Z}$). The only way I know is from "Dikran Dikranjan - Introduction to Topological Groups" and is very tedious.
I thought so: $\mathbb{T}^n$ is compact then $\widehat{\mathbb{T}^n}$ has the discrete topology. The set $E$ of all the functions
$\mathbb{T}^n \to \mathbb{C} : x \mapsto e^{2 \pi a \cdot x}$
with $a \in \mathbb{Z}^d$ is a subset of $\widehat{\mathbb{T}^d}$ which separates the points of $\mathbb{T}^d$ (I mean: for any $x,y \in \mathbb{T}^d$ with $x \neq y$ exists some $\chi \in E$ such that $\chi(x) \neq \chi(y)$. Now I was hoping that Stone-Weierstass theorem could help me to prove that $E$ is dense in $\widehat{\mathbb{T}^d}$ and so that $\widehat{\mathbb{T}^d} = E$, because $\widehat{\mathbb{T}^d}$ is discrete. However I don't know how to apply Stone-Weierstass theorem in this case.
I thank you for any ideas!
share|improve this question
4 Answers 4
up vote 6 down vote accepted
The key case is the 1-dimensional torus. We want to show every continuous homomorphism $\chi \colon {\mathbf R}/{\mathbf Z} \rightarrow {\mathbf T}$ has the form $x \bmod {\mathbf Z} \mapsto e^{2\pi inx}$ for some integer $n$.
Any character of ${\mathbf R}/{\mathbf Z}$ can be pulled back to a character of ${\mathbf R}$ by composing with the canonical map ${\mathbf R} \rightarrow {\mathbf R}/{\mathbf Z}$. Let $\chi' \colon {\mathbf R} \rightarrow {\mathbf T}$ be the resulting character of ${\mathbf R}$, i.e., $\chi'(x) = \chi(x \bmod {\mathbf Z})$. All continuous homomorphisms ${\mathbf R} \rightarrow {\mathbf T}$ have the form $x \mapsto e^{2\pi ixy}$ for some real number $y$. Accepting this for a moment, we'd have $\chi'(x) = e^{2\pi ixy}$ for some $y$. Thus $\chi(x \bmod {\mathbf Z}) = e^{2\pi ixy}$. Taking $x = 1$, we get $1 = e^{2\pi iy}$. Therefore $y$ is an integer. Writing $y$ as $n$, for psychological purposes, $\chi(x \bmod {\mathbf Z}) = e^{2\pi inx}$ for an integer $n$, which is what you wanted.
Our task now is to compute the characters of ${\mathbf R}$. For this I like the method from Conway's "A Course in Functional Analysis". For any continuous homomorphism $\gamma \colon {\mathbf R} \rightarrow {\mathbf T}$, we want to show $\gamma(x) = e^{2\pi ixy}$ for some real number $y$. We will use differential equations. Because $\gamma(0) = 1$, by continuity $\int_0^a \gamma(t)dt \approx a$ for small positive $a$, so $\int_0^a\gamma(t)dt \not= 0$ for an appropriate $a$. Fixing such $a$, for all real $x$ we have $$\int_x^{x+a} \gamma(t)dt = \int_0^a \gamma(t+x)dt = \int_0^a \gamma(t)\gamma(x)dt = \gamma(x)\int_0^a \gamma(t)dt.$$ Therefore $$ \gamma(x) = \frac{\int_x^{x+a} \gamma(t)dt}{\int_0^a\gamma(t)dt}. $$ The right side, by the fundamental theorem of calculus, is a differentiable function of $x$, and therefore $$ \gamma'(x) = \frac{\gamma(x+a) - \gamma(x)}{\int_0^a\gamma(t)dt} = \frac{\gamma(a)-1}{\int_0^a\gamma(t)dt}\gamma(x), $$ so $\gamma'(x) = s\gamma(x)$ for a complex number $s$. By the theory of ODE, $\gamma(x) = Ce^{sx}$. Since $\gamma(0) = 1$, we have $C = 1$, so $\gamma(x) = e^{sx}$. Since $|\gamma(x)| = 1$, we have $e^{{\rm Re}(s)x} = 1$ for all real $x$, so ${\rm Re}(s) = 0$. Write $s = 2\pi iy$ for a real number $y$ and we're done.
I don't think you're going to find a 2-line proof of the computation of the character group of ${\mathbf R}/{\mathbf Z}$ or ${\mathbf R}$ because you need to get exponential functions from somewhere. Above we get them from our knowledge of solutions to the most basic first-order ODE, and to bring in an ODE we needed a clever idea to see that the a priori continuous function $\gamma$ is in fact differentiable.
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Excuse me if I am being too naive: Is not this saying the representation of $S_{1}$ to $S_{1}$ is isomorphic to the integers? – Kerry Feb 25 '12 at 21:42
_USER_: you are not being too naive. The continuous homomorphisms from the unit circle to itself are the power maps $z \mapsto z^n$ for integers $n$, which compose with each other the same way that integers add (in the exponent), so the dual group of the unit circle is the integers. – KConrad Feb 25 '12 at 23:10
If you allow Stone-Weierstrass, all you need is that the "finite trigonometric polynomials" (= Laurent polynomials = finite linear combinations of $e^{2\pi i n x}$) constitute a $\bf C$-algebra of continuous functions on the circle that separates points and is closed under complex conjugations. "Separates points" is easy because $e^{2\pi i x}$ already separates points, and "closed under conjugation" is immediate. You can handle the $d$-torus the same way, using the fact that the $e^{2\pi i x_j}$ together already separate points. – Noam D. Elkies Feb 25 '12 at 23:34
_USER_: Thanks, this is very clear. – Kerry Feb 26 '12 at 5:55
_USER_-grade83: Use orthogonality of characters. Any character $\chi$ is uniformly approximable by a linear combination of the $e^{2\pi i k}$. If $\chi$ were not itself one of the $e^{2\pi i k}$ then $\chi$ would be orthogonal to functions arbitrarily close to itself, which is a contradiction. Likewise on the $d$-torus, with "$k$" interpreted as an element of ${\bf Z}^d$ rather than ${\bf Z}$. – Noam D. Elkies Feb 27 '12 at 3:52
You can read off a simple proof from Section VII.2 of Bourbaki's General Topology Part 2. Roughly, the proof goes as follows. Let $\mathbb{T}:=\mathbb{R}/\mathbb{Z}$, then any continuous homomorphism $\mathbb{T}^m\to\mathbb{T}^n$ lifts to a continuous homomorphism $\mathbb{R}^m\to\mathbb R^n$ which then is linear and maps $\mathbb{Z}^m$ into $\mathbb{Z}^n$.
share|improve this answer
In my setting the dual group of $G$ is the group of continuous homomorphisms $G \to \mathbb{T}^\times$, where $\mathbb{T}^\times = \{z \in \mathbb{C} : |z| = 1 \}$ is the circle group. So if I understand you say that if $\chi \in \widehat{\mathbb{T}^d}$ then I can extend $\chi$ to a continuous homomorphism $\chi^\prime : \mathbb{R}^d \to \mathbb{R}$. But I don't know how to do this, however I know how extend $\chi$ to a continuous homomorphism $\chi^\prime : \mathbb{


RuneScape Wiki
Clue scroll (hard)
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Old School RuneScape icon
[FAQ] • [doc]
Clue scroll detail
A Clue scroll (hard), sometimes called a level 3 clue scroll, is a random drop from a large variety of high-levelled monsters or it can be bought from Stanley Limelight for 45 thaler. These clue scrolls can be 1-8 steps long. If a player possesses a clue scroll, they must either complete it or drop/destroy it in order to receive a new one. Clue scrolls are the start of a Treasure Trail - a treasure hunt that sends players hunting all around RuneScape. At the end of the hunt players receive a reward of items randomly selected from a specific list, possibly including very rare and very valuable items. For a guide on how to complete a clue scroll, see: Treasure Trails Guide. Level 3 clue scrolls are usually moderately long and complex, and can give the player puzzle boxes to solve. They can also involve trips to the Wilderness, and fights with a Zamorak wizard or a Double agent. They can offer valuable rewards in return, such as Third-age armour or Gilded armour.
These clue scrolls are much harder than those of the difficulties below, due to the risk of being attacked, and the requirements for more quests to be at least partially completed.
This clue scroll may contain the following types of clue:
Completion of hard clues will either give a Scroll box (hard), containing another clue, or a Casket (hard), containing the final reward for the trail.
Dropping monstersEdit
Rewards from any levelEdit
Image Name
Coins 10000 2,500–50,000 Coins
Saradomin page 1 Guthix page 1 Zamorak page 1 Armadyl page 1 Bandos page 1 Ancient page 1 1–3 God pages for God books.
Meerkats pouch Fetch casket scroll Noted Meerkats pouches or fetch casket scrolls
Hard rewardsEdit
For a detailed breakdown of the drop mechanics and calculations involved with the drop chances, see Treasure Trails/Rewards#Hard
The items listed below are the rewards you can get from level 3 Treasure Trails. 4 to 6 items are awarded from each Casket (hard) opened. These and the elite clue scrolls are the only levels of clue scrolls from which the rare third age armour rewards may be received.
Enchanted robes equipped
A player wearing Enchanted robes
Robin hood hat equipped
A player wearing a Robin hood hat
Sack of effigies equipped
A player wearing a Sack of effigies
Gilded armour set (sk) equipped
A player wearing Gilded armour
Third-age melee armour equipped
A player wearing Third-age armour
Rare rewards table[1]
Image Name
Yew composite bow Magic composite bow Yew composite or Magic composite bow
Rune full helm (t) Rune platebody (t) Rune platelegs (t) Rune plateskirt (t) Rune kiteshield (t) A piece of Trimmed rune armour
Rune full helm (g) Rune platebody (g) Rune platelegs (g) Rune plateskirt (g) Rune kiteshield (g) A piece of Gold-trimmed rune armour
Saradomin full helm Saradomin platebody Saradomin platelegs Saradomin plateskirt Saradomin kiteshield A piece of Saradomin rune armour
Guthix full helm Guthix platebody Guthix platelegs Guthix plateskirt Guthix kiteshield A piece of Guthix rune armour
Zamorak full helm Zamorak platebody Zamorak platelegs Zamorak plateskirt Zamorak kiteshield A piece of Zamorak rune armour
Dragonhide body (t) (blue) Dragonhide chaps (t) (blue) A piece of Trimmed blue dragonhide armour
Dragonhide body (g) (blue) Dragonhide chaps (g) (blue) A piece of Gold-trimmed blue dragonhide armour
Pirate's hat Robin hood hat Pirate or Robin hood hat
Enchanted hat Enchanted top Enchanted robe Enchanted hat, top, or robe
Tan cavalier Dark cavalier Black cavalier Tan, dark, or black cavaliers
Rune helm (h1) Rune platebody (h2) Rune platelegs (h3) Rune plateskirt (h4) Rune shield (h5) A piece of Rune heraldic armour (h1—h5)
Amulet of glory (t) Amulet of fury (t) Amulet of glory (t) or Amulet of Fury (t)
Saradomin stole Guthix stole Zamorak stole Saradomin, Guthix, or Zamorak stole
Saradomin crozier Guthix crozier Zamorak crozier Saradomin, Guthix, or Zamorak crozier
Armadyl mitre Bandos mitre Ancient mitre Armadyl, Bandos, or Ancient mitre
Armadyl cloak Bandos cloak Ancient cloak Armadyl, Bandos, or Ancient vestment cloak
Saradomin coif Saradomin body Saradomin chaps Saradomin vambraces A piece of Blessed d'hide armour (Saradomin)
Guthix coif Guthix body Guthix chaps Guthix vambraces A piece of Blessed d'hide armour (Guthix)
Zamorak coif Zamorak body Zamorak chaps Zamorak vambraces A piece of Blessed d'hide armour (Zamorak)
Fox mask White unicorn mask Black unicorn mask Green dragon mask Blue dragon mask Red dragon mask Fox, white unicorn, black unicorn, green dragon, blue dragon, or red dragon animal masks
Top hat Rune cane Top hat or Rune cane
Costume-skipping ticket Puzzle-skipping ticket Knot-skipping ticket 1–4 Costume, Puzzle, or Knot-skipping tickets
 1. ^ Approximately 1 in 16 chance per item roll to receive something from this table.
Dyes & Capes reward table
Image Name
Barrows dye Shadow dye Barrows dye[1] or Shadow dye[2]
Backstab cape Sack of effigies Explosive barrel Backstab cape[3], Sack of effigies[4], or Explosive barrel[5]
Prismatic large fallen star Prismatic large fallen star
 1. ^ Approximately 1 in 1,707 chance per clue to receive a Barrows dye.
 2. ^ Approximately 1 in 3,072 chance per clue to receive a Shadow dye.
 3. ^ Approximately 1 in 4,608 chance per clue to receive a Backstab cape.
 4. ^ Approximately 1 in 9,216 chance per clue to receive a Sack of effigies.
 5. ^ Less than a 1 in 100,000 chance per item roll to receive an Explosive barrel, making it the rarest of all hard rewards.
Mega-rare table[1]
Image Name
Gilded full helm Gilded platebody Gilded platelegs Gilded plateskirt Gilded kiteshield A piece of Gilded armour[2]
Super attack (4) Super defence (4) Super strength (4) 5 (noted) Super attack, Super defence, and Super strength potions
Super energy (4) Super restore (4) Antifire (4) 15 (noted) Super energy, Super restore, or Antifire potions
Starved ancient effigy Starved ancient effigy[3]
 1. ^ Approximately 1 in 1,536 chance per item roll to receive something from this table.
 2. ^ Approximately 1 in 676 chance per clue to receive a piece of Gilded armour—approximately 1 in 3,380 for a specific piece.
 3. ^ A maximum of 5 effigies can be stored by a player. If a player does have 5 effigies stored and would have obtained this reward, 2,500 coins is rewarded in its place.
Third-age rewards table[1]
Image Name
Third-age full helmet Third-age platebody Third-age platelegs Third-age kiteshield A piece of Third-age warrior armour
Third-age mage hat Third-age robe top Third-age robe Third-age amulet A piece of Third-age mage armour
Third-age range coif Third-age range top Third-age range legs Third-age vambraces A piece of Third-age ranger armour
 1. ^ Approximately 1 in 3,380 chance per clue to receive something from this table—approximately 1 in 40,551 for a specific piece.
Common rewards table
Image Name Image Name
Rune pickaxe Rune longsword Rune 2h sword Rune pickaxe, longsword, or 2h sword Rune full helm Rune platebody Rune platelegs Rune kiteshield Rune full helm, platebody, platelegs, or kiteshield
Black d'hide body Black d'hide chaps Black d'hide body or chaps Rune arrow 5 150 Rune arrows
Mystic air staff Mystic fire staff Mystic earth staff Mystic water staff Mystic air, Mystic fire, Mystic earth, or Mystic water staffs Law rune Nature rune Astral rune Blood rune 75 Law, Nature, Astral or Blood runes
Mahogany


text:
This blog was originally posted here: Windows 8: The right way to Read & Write Files in WinRT
Also, check out our Windows Runtime (WinRT) sponsored section.
Windows 8: The right way to Read & Write Files in WinRT
Windows 8 Metro development leverages WinRT; and, in WinRT, there are new namespaces – and namespace constriction in the.Net Framework. What you think you know, you may not.
MSDN: In some cases, a type that you used in a.NET Framework desktop app doesn't exist within the.NET APIs for Metro style apps. Instead, you can use a type from the Windows Runtime. For example, the System. IO. IsolatedStorage. IsolatedStorageSettings class isn't included in the.NET APIs for Metro style apps, but the Windows.Storage.ApplicationDataContainer class provides similar behavior for storing app settings. Examples of common changes you might have to make are included in the section Converting your existing.NET Framework code.
Read Isolated Storage
Every Metro application has three folders. A Local folder, a Roaming folder and a Temp folder. Each is accessed the same way. Local is meant to store assets in a local, application-specific folder.
MSDN: You can access files in the local app data store using the "ms-appdata:///local/" protocol. To access files in the app package, use Windows. ApplicationModel. Package. Current. InstalledLocation.
To request that Windows index your app data for search, create a folder named "indexed" under this folder and store the files that you want indexed there. Windows indexes the file content and metadata (properties) in this "indexed" folder and all its subfolders.
Roaming is meant to store assets that should be synchronized with any other desktop where the current user has the same application installed.
MSDN: The sync engine has restrictions on the file name conventions that you must follow to ensure the items in the roaming folder can roam. Be sure that your file and folder names do not contain leading whitespace. The sync engine may limit the total size of settings and files that can roam. You can access files in the roaming app data store using the "ms-appdata:///roaming/" protocol.
Temp is a throw-away location that will be cleaned, potentially, every time the application is launched.
MSDN: You can access files in the temporary app data store using the "ms-appdata:///temp/" protocol.
Here's how you use them:
Get the code here.
The code above is a simple Unit Test demonstrating the core functionality of writing and reading to Isolated Storage. You might notice that there is no mention of Isolated Storage in the code or namespaces (like there is in the Windows Phone API). Just know that all of this takes place in Isolated Storage, and for the same reason – to compartmentalize your application and it's ability to break the user's machine.
Read Project Files
Here's a fun one. What if you have a resource (a file) in your project that you want to read? Lots of time this is for sample data or settings or something. It could be an XML file, a JSON file, or something else. Can you do it? Of course.
Add the file to your project. Note: since this is your file, you will need to deal with the type. Somewhere else you can learn how to deserialize JSON and XML.
Change your file's Build Action to Content. And, change Copy to Output Directory to Copy Always. This will ensure the file itself ships with your application. If it doesn't, you wont have a file to read!
Read your project file like this:
Get the code here.
The code above is a simple Unit Test demonstrating how to read a file that is included in your project's folder structure. The two most important parts is the unique path and Installed Location folder. Pay close attention. The correct path will include your project name (mine is Metro.Helpers.Tests).
Read Local files w/a Picker
Here's a great one. You want to read a file in the Documents Library? Let the user select the file using a picker, and take it from there! Let's do it.
Just Do It
There's nothing special you have to do in order to use a file picker. No changes to the AppXManifest, I mean. The reason is, using a File Picker puts the user in charge. Only the user can pick a file. And so, the picker itself is sort of its own Capabilities declaration and consent.
Get the code here.
In the code above we initialize the FileOpenPicker (just like we have always done in.Net). We invoke the picker using PickSingleFileAsync() where we get a StorageFile (just like all the techniques above) and we go from there. I added a MessageBox (aka MessageDialog) to show some details. Clearly in your application you will do something else.
Read Local files w/o a Picker
What if you want to read a file without using the File Picker. Can you do that? You bet. But, it takes more effort because you need to update your applications AppXManifest to request the Document Library Access capability.
But wait there's more.
See that red X on the Capabilities tab title? That tells you that something is not right. The manifest designer is pretty cool. What's left?
You also need to update your AppXManifest by declaring what file type(s) you want to access. Then, even with access to the folders, you only have access to a limited set of file types. (in case you wondered *.* is not allowed)
Note: Accessing the file system without user interaction is dangerous for the user. These extra steps are not meant to make your life (the developer) easier. It is meant to make the user's experience easier and more safe.
So, in my case I will only want access to TXT files. The Declarations tab can be complex – to learn more about it, look here. I set a new file type (.txt) and let it role from there.
When the user installs your application, they will be promoted to consent to the capabilities your application requests. Its capabilities are constrained by the manifest. And, your app's capabilities are reviewed by Microsoft store curators.
Now, get that file!
You have probably noticed with all the samples in this article that I have to write and read in order to have a reliable test. This one is no different. This will create the HelloWorld.txt file and read it. For added fun, I also will delete the file at the end of the method so your folder is not polluted.
Get the code here.
The only reason the code above works is because we have declared the capability to read TXT files from the Documents Library folder in the AppXManifest file. Reading the file is easy because, once you get it, it's just a simple WinRT StorageFile.
Pretty simple really, eh?
Some Interesting StorageFile Methods
I might take a moment to talk about StorageFolder, too. One of the most common requests I get is to iterate files and folders on user's system. You really can't – if what you mean is to start at c:\. Try to iterate through c:\ and you get this:
You can, however, iterate the files in a Library (Documents, Photos, Music, Videos, and even Home Group) folder – if you have requested this capability in the manifest. It is important to note that the files returned for a folder will be automatically filtered to the file types you declare in your manifest. (Did I already mention *.* cannot be declared?) Let me restate that as a developer you have intentional restrictions like this that ultimately improve the user's experience and safety.
Read those files people. Whatever your reason, they are there for you to get them. Yes, the sandbox of a Metro application prevents access to files and resources outside user's Libraries. But in about 2 seconds you can appreciate this decision. We are approaching a brave new world.
Now, should your application REQUIRE such access (that is otherwise restricted), you might consider the choice between desktop and metro applications – or consider a clever alternative; we all know you are a clever developer, keen at problem solving. You can do it!
Best of luck!
Jerry Nixon is a Microsoft Developer Evangelist in Colorado. He has been developing and designing on the Microsoft platform for 15 years. He speaks at universities, events and groups on Kinect, XAML, Windows Phone, and Windows 8. Most of Jerry's days are spent teaching his three daughters Star Trek character backstories and episode plots.


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SMCube Information Model
The Single Multidimensional Metadata Model (SMCube) is used to define the structure of a group of datasets that have been compiled following different modelling methodologies (e.g. SDMX, DPM/XBRL). The model establishes a new level of abstraction in addition to the original approaches so that the different datasets can be used in combination. The model was developed by the ECB.
The SMCube methodology serves as the basis for the construction of metadata and provides the structure for metadata-driven systems.
The SMCube is used for the Single Data Dictionary (SDD) – an ECB internal data dictionary which describes the different datasets used at the ECB – and for the Banks' Integrated Reporting Dictionary (BIRD) – a joint ECB, national central bank and banking industry initiative that provides a precise description of the data that must be extracted and the rules for transforming the data to generate reports.


text:
Shall I Build A House
after the War?
How Many Houses Will We Need?
many houses will America need after the war? The answer to that question isn't
easy since it depends on many factors, some of which must be guessed at. Let's
try to estimate the size of the housing market when building materials become
available after the war. The 1940's began with a great backlog of demand
for better housing, despite the fact that there were about 1,400,000 vacant nonfarm
dwelling units in the United States. During the depression and the immediate prewar
years, not enough new houses were built to take care of the demands. The number
of nonfarm homes built in 1925 reached a peak of nearly a million. In 1933 there
were less than one hundred thousand. A gradual recovery started after that, however.
In 1941, about three-quarters of a million dwelling units were constructed, but
the war put a stop to the building boom.
Owing to the shortage of housing,
we can assume that in most war centers nearly all houses in livable condition,
including those that were vacant in 1940, are now being occupied. Thus, we will
probably start the postwar era with almost all our present supply of houses in
use. There probably won't be many vacancies.
A large number of additional
houses will be needed to shelter the new families that are started each year when
couples get married. Also, many thousands of dwellings will be required to take
care of families migrating from one part of the country to another-for example,
war workers moving back to their. home towns and war veterans seeking opportunities
to make a living in new localities. Finally, it will be necessary to build houses
to take the place of those that have simply worn out—become absolutely unlivable-since
Taking all these things together, and studying the building and
replacement rates of the past, it looks as though we probably will need over a
million nonfarm dwelling units a year, including apartments-for at least 10 years
after the war. Also, there should be a heavy demand for new farm dwellings and
for repairs and alterations.
What Will Be Spent on Housing?


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Best Hidden Gems and Off-the-Beaten-Path Attractions in San Antonio, Texas
Some of the state's most well-liked tourist sites are in San Antonio, Texas, a thriving and busy metropolis. The Alamo and the Riverwalk are just two famous places in the area. Yet San Antonio also has a ton of undiscovered jewels and off-the-beaten-path attractions for those who want to venture beyond the usual tourist hotspots. Tourists frequently need to pay more attention to these places yet provide a unique and genuine glimpse into the city's culture, history, and natural beauty. This guide will take you on a tour of some of the top off-the-beaten-path sights in San Antonio, whether you're a resident eager to learn something new or a first-time visitor.
Old Time Wooden Nickel Company's Museum
The museum is located on San Antonio's outskirts, showcasing a collection of over 50,000 wooden nickels. These wooden coins were used as promotional items and souvenirs in the early 20th century, featuring various designs and messages.
Visitors to the museum can learn about the history of wooden nickels and see some of the rarest and most unique examples in the collection. The museum also offers guided tours, which provide even more insight into this fascinating piece of Americana.
Here are some reasons why this museum is a must-visit hidden gem:
- A collection of over 50,000 wooden nickels showcasing the history of this unique American item
- Learn about the various uses and designs of wooden nickels
- Guided tours are available to provide additional information and insight
- An excellent attraction for collectors or anyone interested in Americana history
- The museum also features a gift shop where visitors can purchase their wooden nickels or other souvenirs
- Located on the outskirts of San Antonio, providing a peaceful and unique experience
- A fun and quirky attraction for visitors of all ages
- Provides a glimpse into a little-known aspect of American history
Lost Propaganda Posters
San Antonio, Texas, is full of hidden gems and off-the-beaten-path attractions, and one of the most interesting is Lost Propaganda Posters. This small art gallery and store are tucked away in a quiet corner of the city, but it is well worth a visit for anyone interested in history, art, or propaganda.
Lost Propaganda Posters features a collection of rare and vintage propaganda posters worldwide. These posters were used to promote political causes, social movements, and military campaigns, and they offered a fascinating glimpse into the history of propaganda and graphic design.
Here are some reasons why this small art gallery and store is worth a visit:
- Features a collection of rare and vintage propaganda posters from around the world
- Offers a unique glimpse into the history of propaganda and graphic design
- Educational materials and information about the history and context of the posters are provided
- Visitors can browse the collection and purchase posters or other items, such as postcards or magnets
- A great attraction for anyone interested in history, art, or propaganda
- Tucked away in a quiet corner of the city, providing a peaceful and unique experience
- It offers a chance to learn about the impact of propaganda on society
- A fascinating destination for those interested in learning more about the history and context of propaganda posters
San Antonio Museum of Art (SAMA)
The San Antonio Museum of Art (SAMA) is a premier fine arts institution in the heart of San Antonio, Texas. Founded in 1981, SAMA houses a collection of over 30,000 works of art worldwide, spanning over 5,000 years of human creativity. The museum's collection includes significant holdings of contemporary art, Latin American art, Asian art, and ancient Mediterranean art. SAMA is committed to providing engaging and educational experiences for visitors of all ages and backgrounds, with a range of programs and events that highlight the diversity and richness of its collection.
Here are some reasons why this museum is a must-visit hidden gem:
- Features an extensive collection of art from around the world, including ancient Mediterranean, Asian, and Latin American art, as well as contemporary works
- The museum offers a variety of exhibitions and programs throughout the year, showcasing different periods and styles of art.
- Visitors can participate in guided tours to learn more about the artwork on display.
- The museum also hosts special events, such as art parties and concerts, providing visitors with a unique and engaging experience.
- Located in the historic Lone Star Brewery complex, offering a unique setting and atmosphere for the museum
- The museum's cafe offers a great place to relax and grab a bite to eat while enjoying the artwork.
- An excellent attraction for art enthusiasts or anyone looking to learn more about different cultures and art styles
- It provides a peaceful and quiet escape from the hustle and bustle of the city.
San Fernando Cathedral
San Fernando Cathedral, located in San Antonio, Texas, is a historical and iconic landmark that has stood the test of time for over 200 years. Built in the 1700s, it is the oldest continuously operating church in Texas and has been home to countless religious and cultural events. The cathedral's beautiful architecture and intricate detail make it a must-see for visitors to San Antonio. Its stunning stained-glass windows, ornate carvings, and impressive pipe organ provide a serene atmosphere for prayer and reflection. The cathedral's rich history and cultural significance make it essential to San Antonio's heritage and identity.
Here are some reasons why this historic cathedral is a must-visit destination:
- One of the oldest cathedrals in the United States, with a rich history dating back to the early 1700s
- A beautiful example of Spanish Colonial architecture featuring intricate details and stunning artwork
- Home to the remains of Davy Crockett, William Barret Travis, and other heroes of the Battle of the Alamo
- Offers daily mass services, providing visitors with the opportunity to experience the cathedral as a place of worship and reflection
- The cathedral also hosts concerts and other events, including the popular "San Antonio | The Saga" light show, which projects colorful images onto the cathedral's facade
- Provides a peaceful and serene atmosphere in the heart of downtown San Antonio
- The cathedral's gift shop offers a variety of religious and cultural items, including rosaries, prayer cards, and souvenirs.
- A great attraction for history buffs, architecture enthusiasts, or anyone interested in religious or cultural experiences


Page Parameters
A page parameter is an arbitrary variable used to pass information into a Skuid page. There are different ways to pass in page parameters depending on the context and use case.
Types of page parameters
Including parameters in a URL is a common way to pass and retrieve information between pages in web development. Similarly, parameters can be passed between Skuid pages using:
 1. Query string parameters
 2. URL merge parameters
Query string parameters
The most commonly used way to pass parameters is by including them in a query string, which is a collection of identifiers and key-value pairs preceded by a question mark. For example:
In this example, the query string passed to the server, everything that comes after the?, is a parameter, felines, requesting all records of felines with the value "lion."
Page parameters act the same way in Skuid: they allow additional information to be passed into a Skuid page.
On Skuid on Salesforce, page parameters are added to query strings by model conditions, actions, and render/enable conditions through the Page/URL Parameter option, and, in some components, in the query string property.
When using page parameters in query string parameters, there are two important rules to keep in mind:
 1. The parameters must always come after a question mark (?), which indicates the beginning of a string of one or more URL parameters.
 2. Every subsequent URL parameter must be prepended with an ampersand (&).
As long as query string parameters are used in this format, they are accessible within a Skuid page.
Passing parameters into query strings is different in Lightning Experience. For more information, see Using Page Parameters In Salesforce Lightning.
URL Merge Parameters
Used on Skuid Platform, page parameters are included within URLs through URL merge parameters. For example,{myParameter}.
On Skuid Platform, you can use URL merge parameters in model conditions, actions, render/enable conditions through the Page/URL Parameter option. They can also be used while constructing an app, and the pages within the app, by inserting URL merge parameters in the app and/or the page URLs. They can also be used for creating REST model conditions.
Using Page Parameters
Builders can access page parameters with model conditions, actions, render/enable conditions, and through the Page/URL Parameter option on some Skuid features.
Values are accessible through the {{$Param}} global merge variable.
For example, {{$Param.myRouteParameter}}.
They may also be passed to Page Includes by setting the component's Query String property to point to this global merge variable.
Using the Go to URL action with URL merge parameters
When creating a link with URL merge parameters in Skuid Platform, the process is similar to that outlined in Build an app navigation bar using the Go to URL action.
The key difference is that you point the URL to a URL merge parameter. This merge parameter could be a context-dependent merge variable or a global merge variable.
For example, the marketing/orders path has a table listing each order, displaying some general information about each order. That table could have a row action that redirects to the following URL:
This redirect URL sends end users to a new route (/marketing/orderdetails), just like the redirect URLs from the Build an app navigation bar using the Go to URL action topic mentioned above. The key difference is the added URL merge parameter, {Id}, which references the model's Id field. This means the context will be determined by the row the end user clicks, passing in that row's Id value when clicked.
So, if the user clicks an order that has an Id of AuXun109274009, Skuid sends the user to the detail page with the row item's Id in the URL parameter: /marketing/orderdetails/AuXun109274009
The final step is setting a condition on the detail page that looks for the URL merge parameter:
 1. Click the Models tab in the App Elements pane.
 2. Click the Orders model.
 3. Add a new condition for the Id field.
 4. Set the Value as follows:
 - Content: Page/URL parameter value
 - Value: Id
 5. Set its condition state to Always On.
With this condition set, this model always looks for the URL parameter named Id for the matching record Id.
Page parameter examples:
 1. In this example, no parameters are provided.
 2.{accountId}: In this example, when a user visits this URL, Skuid pulls the "accountId" from the requested record and passes it to the URL. If the record's accountId was AuXun109274009, the URL the user would see is
 3.{accountId?}: The addition of the? makes the parameter accountId optional, so if there wasn't a value for accountId, the user would be directed to /accounts instead of receive a Page Not Found error.
Unless a parameter is marked optional with?, end users will see a Page Not Found error if they navigate to that page without the parameter in the URL.
Using Page Parameters In Salesforce Lightning
When working in Lightning experience, builders will often use record Ids to create corresponding record detail pages. The Skuid Page Lightning component can determine the record Id based on the way Lightning structures URLs.
However, if you want to pass in other parameters besides an Id, they must be namespaced and added via query string parameters.
For example, adding the default namespace prefix to the parameter accountId creates c__accountId. Non-namespaced parameters are removed from the URL on page load.
It's important to remember that, when namespacing URL parameters in Lightning, any reference made to them in a condition, action, etc, on a Skuid page is also namespaced.
If moving pages from Salesforce Classic to Lightning, you'll need to update the page parameters and any conditions, actions, etc with the namespace prefix in order to maintain functionality.


text: Fiberoptical evanescent wave Fourier transform infrared (FEWFTIR) spectroscopy has been applied in the middle infrared (MIR) wavelength range (3 to 20 micrometer) to the in vivo diagnostics of normal skin tissue, acupuncture points as well as precancerous and cancerous conditions. The FTIR-FEW technique, using nontoxic unclad fibers, is suitable for noninvasive, sensitive investigations of skin tissue for various dermatological studies of skin caner, aging, laser treatment, cosmetics, skin allergies, etc. This method is direct, nondestructive, and fast (seconds). Our optical fibers are nonhygroscopic, flexible, and characterized by extremely low losses. In this study, we have noninvasively investigated more than 300 cases of normal skin, acupuncture points, precancerous and cancerous tissue in the range of 1400 to 1800 cm-1. The results of our analysis of skin and other tissue are discussed in terms of structural and mathematical similarities and differences on a molecular level. In addition, we have also performed cluster analysis, using principal component scores, to confirm pathological classifications and to discriminate between genders. We have found good agreement with prior pathological classifications for normal skin tissue and melanoma tumors and normal females were distinctly separate from males.