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Eco road trip: Los Angeles to Las Vegas by Tesla
A teenager has launched a green car service between LA and Vegas, using Tesla electric vehicles. Stephanie Theobald gets a lift and finds the conversation as fascinating as the technology
Stephanie Theobald
Sun 19 Feb 2017 05.00 EST Last modified on Thu 4 Jan 2018 06.03 EST
In the wings …Stephanie Theobald gets ready to 'board' the Tesla Model X for the drive to Vegas
Stephanie (my namesake, as it happens) has a wicked grin on her face as she flips open the boot of the car. We're about to embark on a road trip from Los Angeles to Las Vegas but I suspect this is going to be very different from the one chronicled by Hunter S Thompson. In 1971's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the trunk of his Great Red Shark resembled a "mobile police narcotics lab" filled with blotter acid, cocaine and quarts of tequila. Our black Tesla Model X is stocked with gluten-free, non-GMO protein bars and organic energy drinks.
Tesloop, a pioneering long-distance shuttle service launched in 2015, is like a better class of Uber, using the Lamborghini of eco-cars: the Tesla. Tesloop's founder, 17-year-old Haydn Sonnad, had the idea of leasing the cars and charging from $59 for the Los Angeles to Las Vegas route (an airfare can be triple that) and $35 for the new Los Angeles to Palm Springs route.
Sonnad estimates that the LA to Vegas trip will save up to 70kg of carbon emissions, but the main buzz for customers is that the Tesla is the brainchild of LA visionary Elon Musk, who is also behind SpaceX, the company that aims to make the Earth-Mars route a viable option.
Passengers prepare for a Tesla trip
I've heard that a Teslas drives itself, and as we get in the Model X (more like a falcon than a shark, thanks to De Lorean-style doors that open upwards) a figure from the Tesloop office appears on an iPhone on the dashboard. She talks about the "radars," "sonars" and "front-facing cameras" that allow the car to accelerate, brake and steer for itself. "Basically," she says, "your pilot doesn't have to use their hands or feet while driving on the highway today!"
Stephanie has three passengers: Whitney, an accountant in her 30s; Julius, an events organiser off to Sin City to celebrate his birthday with friends; and me. The Model X can carry six passengers (as opposed to three in the Model S sedan), so we have plenty of room. We're all excited. "I feel like we could drive under water in this thing," exclaims Whitney.
I feel like we're going to blast off!" Julius adds.
Sonnad sums it up: "Tesloop is a new kind of road trip. It's clean and green and by far the safest way to travel by car."
At a Tesla Motors shareholders' meeting in 2015 (he purchased one share for $210 to get in) he stood up and pointed out to Musk that Teslas weren't being used over long distances. He was planning to use them for two return journeys to Palm Springs each day and one return trip to Las Vegas. It was a bold publicity blast for his fledgling company and his father, Rahul, helped raise much of the investment. Tesloop started with one leased Tesla Model S, which normally does the Las Vegas drive, and now also has three model X SUVs in its fleet. New routes are planned in Texas.
This month Tesloop announced that bookings had increased to the point at which the company was covering all operational expenses. It has also signed a technology agreement with Goodyear: the tyre giant is curious about the performance of electric cars over huge distances. (Tesloop's first 2015 Tesla Model S has now done more than 250,000 miles.)
Sonnad, too, is optimistic – even given a new president who doesn't seem too down with the eco world. "People in LA have always been willing to try new stuff, and now it's really paying off," he says with a smile.
I had worried that this trip might be a bit worthy, but 10 minutes into our 278-mile drive, our "pilot," a pro inline skater, "hemp activist" and musician, is talking about a recent ayahuasca ceremony in Joshua Tree (ayahuasca is a hallucinogenic plant medicine from the Amazon that induces visions). Whitney, off to Vegas for a weekend of shows and "all you can eat crab leg buffets", nods matter-of-factly and asks if Stephanie has tried the shamanic "frog poison cleanse". (Stephanie has.) Julius talks about his last Tesloop trip to Vegas, when he shared the car with Mariah Carey's DJ, Suss One. Like Julius, Suss hates flying. Julius is not bothered by the less rock'n'roll aspects of travelling to Vegas in a Tesla. "You don't want to peak too early," he reasons, sucking on a free carton of coconut water.
Teslas at a charging station
There is fast wifi and headphones if you don't feel like chatting. Stephanie occasionally puts on favourite podcasts: one about the bitcoin currency, and another on the antiviral properties of mushrooms. Every so often a bell sounds, signifying that Stephanie has put the car in self-drive mode. She tells us that, strictly speaking, the Tesla is only semi-autonomous. Musk reckons it will be another couple of years before you'll be able to go to sleep at the wheel.
Still, it all feels very modern, and Tesloop is at the forefront of LA transport ideas. Only a couple of years ago you'd have been laughed out of town if you'd suggested holidaying here without hiring a car. But even Angelenos are realising that something has to give. Carpooling has become as normal as juice cleansing thanks to Uber, and in the November elections, Los Angeles County voters approved "Measure M", to provide nearly $42bn for new rail and rapid transit options as well as bike share expansion.
Last May, a new metro line, the Expo, linked downtown LA to Santa Monica, and new bike sharing schemes in Venice, Santa Monica and West Hollywood are proving popular. But as Sonnad has realised, cars are not going to go away. We just need to make more of them electric and let ourselves be driven more.
Journey's end, in Las Vegas. Photograph: Getty Images
Including a 40-minute stop in Barstow to charge the battery at a Tesla station, we arrive in Vegas in just under five hours. We're certainly not "bucking and skidding with a bottle of rum in one hand and jamming the horn to drown out the music", as Thompson was, but Julius seems to be high on organic chia seeds and coconut water.
Stephanie drops him and me off at the new W hotel. He's meeting his buddies here – they've hired the penthouse designed by Lenny Kravitz and Philippe Starck. Julius chuckles: "I heard they have, like, mirrors above the bed."
You can bring in the new but you don't necessarily have to chuck out all of the old.
The journey was provided by Tesloop.com, from Los Angeles to Las Vegas from $59pp one-way. Accommodation was provided by the W Las Vegas (doubles from $150 room only).
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2019 NASPA Certificate Program in Student Affairs Law and Policy
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The NASPA Certificate Program in Student Affairs Law and Policy offers the only certificate program in the important area of law and policy specifically for student affairs educators. This 23 hour, intensive residential program provides an opportunity for in-depth study to enhance student affairs professionals' knowledge and understanding of law and policy. Choose between 2 sessions in June.
April 05, 2019: Application Deadline
April 15, 2019: Notification of Status
June 03, 2019: Session I begins
June 07, 2019: Session I ends
June 10, 2019: Session II begins
June 14, 2019: Session II ends
It is vital that university administrators appreciate and understand the critical legal and regulatory issues that impact their work. A wide variety of student-affairs professionals - ranging from mid-level to senior leaders - will benefit from this program. The program is designed to provide student-affairs professionals with information and skills to develop and enhance competency in LGP competency area.
Led by law and policy professionals, the program will provide information and skill development to develop basic LGP competency in all identified categories and enhance or develop competency in many intermediate and advanced competency categories as well. Moreover, the program will address various "hot topics," in higher education law as a context for developing competencies while ensuring that participants learn core legal concepts that will help them work through recurring issues.
This year, there are two opportunities to take part in the 2019 Certificate Program in Student Affairs Law and Policy. Session I: June 3-7, 2019. Session II: June 10-14, 2019.
This 23-hour program will feature lectures, interactive dialogues, case studies, and exercises. Specific topics that will be covered include:
Law and the Legal System
Importance of law to student-affairs professionals
The Facilitator Model
Types and sources of law
Overview of the legal system
Techniques for reading legal materials
Working with legal resources and electronic databases
Working with general or outside counsel
How law relates to policy
Sources of law and legal update
The litigation process
Negligence (including alcohol and other drugs and suicide/self-injury)
Risk-management concepts
Insurance issues
Constitutional Law/Civil Rights Law
Free speech and expression
Religion on campus
Diversity/multiculturalism
Due process: student conduct and discipline
Criminal Law and Procedure
Basics of criminal law terminology, such as felony v. misdemeanor
Working with law enforcement
Search and seizure
Overview of processes such as arrest, charge, bail, plea
Impact of student arrest/conviction on campus processes
Civil rights/employment/discrimination/safety
Clery Act and other key federal regulations
Working with administrative agencies
Special Issues in Student Affairs Law and Policy
Student injury and death
Student organizations and activities
Crisis management /Care teams
Residential Life issues
Greek Life issues
Detailed Learning Objectives
Understand the interaction between law and policy in the higher education context and how to work with combined issues of law and policy.
Develop skills in how to find, read, analyze, and update cases, statutes, and administrative regulations and identify, articulate, and apply core legal rules and concepts relating to the practice of student affairs.
Develop basic skills in working with different types and sources of law, legal reasoning, legal structures related to institutions of higher education, and the U.S. legal system and describe legal concepts, issues, and rules succinctly and efficiently.
Develop effective strategies for working with legal counsel.
Demonstrate the ability to recognize and work with issues of tolerance, diversity, and inclusion from a law and policy perspective.
Develop the ability to identify and work with key features of appellate court decisions, statutes, and regulations that impact higher education. This includes demonstrating an ability to work with the "IRAC" heuristic and organizing legal and law‐like analysis.
Develop the ability to discuss and recognize key "facts" that are known, or must be discovered, that will augment or hinder their posture in contested situations.
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Registration / Check-In
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Mercer School of Law
Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach Resort
Clearwater Beach, FL
The Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach Resort has arranged special room rates for program attendees. More information about reservations will be available to those who are accepted into the program.
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301 South Gulfview Blvd., Clearwater Beach, FL 33767
Clearwater Beach is serviced by Tampa International Airport (TPA). Find more information at www.tampaairport.com
The airport has two taxi services. Transportation to Clearwater Beach is about $60.00 in a Taxi. Lyft/Uber averages around $34.00 for a regular car.
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Peter F. Lake is professor of law, Charles A. Dana chair and director of the Center for Higher Education Law and Policy at Stetson University College of Law. He teaches and writes in the areas of torts, higher education law and policy, insurance, and jurisprudence, and has won several awards for his teaching and scholarship. He co-authored The Rights and Responsibilities of the Modern University (Carolina Academic Press 1999), and has authored numerous law review articles and other publications. He is an internationally-recognized expert on higher education law and policy and has been quoted or referred to in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Chicago Sun Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, various reported legal decisions including the supreme courts of Virginia and Florida, and the most recent Restatement of the Law of Torts. He has appeared on major television networks such as ABC and CNN.
Professor Lake is a highly sought after speaker and futurist, particularly in the field of higher education law and policy, where he has served as a presenter or keynote speaker at several hundred international, national, regional, and local meetings. Professor Lake received a major national award from the Alpha Chi Omega women's fraternity when he received the Vision Award at their convention in 2003. He also was honored as the featured author at the 2008 Pivotal Publications Colloquium at the University of Connecticut. Over the years and in recognition of his work, Professor Lake has served on several boards, including the board of editors of the Journal of College and University Law, the Center for Academic Integrity, the review board for the U.S. Department of Education's Higher Education Center, the academic advisory board of Alpha Delta Pi Sorority, and the board of advisors to The Network. Most recently, Professor Lake served on the roundtable for the development of Student Mental Health and the Law: A Resource for Institutions of Higher Education (2008), published by the JED Foundation.
Professor Griffin serves as associate dean and is a member of the faculty at the Mercer University School of Law. His teaching and scholarly interests focus on employment law, civil procedure, alternative dispute resolution, and education law. He has significant experience in private practice representing educational institutions and for-profit organizations in federal and state courts. Professor Griffin is a frequent speaker at regional and national conferences for organizations such as the National Association of College and University Attorneys, Stetson University College of Law National Conference on Law and Higher Education, the Alabama College System, and the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Officers. Professor Griffin earned his law degree from the Washington and Lee University School of Law, and a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa, as well as a M.A.E. from the University of Northern Iowa and B.S. degree from Southern University at New Orleans He also served as a law clerk to the Honorable Fred Banks of the Mississippi Supreme Court.
The NASPA Foundation works to advance the student affairs profession by recognizing achievements, supporting meaningful research and honoring the legacy of NASPA and student affairs leaders, scholars, and practitioners.
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You are here: Home > China > Nation
Average Chinese reads 8 books in 2016
0 Comment(s) Print E-mail Xinhua, April 20, 2017
Students from a primary school in An County in southeast China's Jiangxi Province hold books donated to them by China's Publishers Association on April 14, 2017.[Photo/people.com.cn]
The average Chinese read 7.86 books last year, including 4.65 printed books and 3.21 eBooks, according to an annual poll released by the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication on Tuesday.
79.9% of China's population was identified as readers in 2016, which remained fairly similar compared to the 79.6% from the previous year, the 14th National Reading Survey shows.
The poll shows that the Chinese still preferred printed books to eBooks, as 51.6 % of the surveyed said they preferred to "hold a printed book" in their hands, while 33.8 % said they liked reading via mobile phones better. 9.8 % said they preferred to read online, and 3.8 % said they loved reading via e-book readers.
Xu Shengguo, Director of China Academy of Press and Publication Research Institute, said going back to hard-copy books is a worldwide trend, which has appeared in countries such as the U.S., the UK and France.
"Although digital reading is quick and convenient, it's only suitable for fragmented reading practices, while reading hard-copy books are conducive to in-depth reading," Xu said.
68.2 % of the surveyed said they had read on digital devices (including online, mobile phones and electronic readers) last year, up 4.2 % from the figure of 2015.
66.1 % read on mobile phones last year, a sharp increase of 6.1 % compared to 2015. The figure has been growing for eight consecutive years.
7.8 % said they read on an e-book reader, and 10.6 % said they had read on an iPad.
62.4 % of the adults surveyed said they read through WeChat, a popular Chinese messaging app, in 2016, a 10.5-percentage-point rise compared to the year earlier.
The annual survey was conducted nationwide, covering a sample size of 22,415 people from 52 cities.
Globally, French people read 15 books a year on average in 2013, according to figures released by the Paris Book Fair. Their U.S. counterparts read 12 books a year on average, according to pewinternet.org.
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The average Chinese read 7.86 books last year, including 4.65 printed books and 3.21 eBooks.


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What is greenwashing? How to spot (& avoid) brands doing it
September 8, 2022September 8, 2022 Admin 0 Comment
This is important.
Greenwashing is, sadly, a sustainability buzzword you're likely all too familiar with. You'll have seen the news today that Kourtney Kardashian is joining Boohoo as a sustainability ambassador so, as she does, we ask – what does the term – which is bandied aound the eco-sphere almost as often as plastic free, zero waste and, well, Greta Thunberg – actually mean?
You likely can't confidently define it to a group of friends or spot a brand, business or person actually doing it – most people can't. One recent Good Housekeeping Institute poll found that more than 85% of readers didn't know the meaning. Greenwashing, by definition, is meant to be subtle and deceptive, pulling the wool over your eyes when it comes to best eco-friendly practice.
We've written complete guides to sustainable living; educated you on how to calculate (and reduce) your carbon footprint; and even compiled a shoppable listicle of period pants, to help you make your periods sustainable and less wasteful.
Next up? Your complete guide to greenwashing, with definitions from sustainability experts explaining what it is, when it first started happening, and why it's so harmful, plus the easiest way to identify a person or brand doing it.
Choose the brands that are doing good – not the brands that are doing their best to look like they're doing good.
So, what is greenwashing?
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, greenwashing is the "activities by a company or an organisation that are intended to make people think that it is concerned about the environment, even if its real business actually harms the environment." A common form of greenwash, they share, is to 'publicly claim a commitment to the environment while quietly lobbying to avoid regulation.'
Essentially it's a marketing spin – or ploy – by a business or person to make you believe they're invested in eco-friendly, ethical practices when the reality is quite the opposite.
According to Ben Mead, managing director for Hohenstein, a founding member of OEKO-TEX, it's simply the practice of falsely promoting an organisation's environmental efforts. "Generally, the hallmarks of greenwashing include vague or unsubstantiated claims that give the organisation a false image of caring for the environment," he explains.
When did the term greenwashing come to be?
It's fairly new, beginning to be used widely in the early 90's post the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit in 1992.
It was first recognised as an official term by the Oxford Dictionary in 1999, where it was defined as 'disinformation disseminated by an organisation so as to present an environmentally responsible public image.'
But, as Damian Soong, CEO and co-founder of B-Corp Form Nutrition highlights, the first use of the term seems to be in Jay Westerveld's 1986 essay. "In the paper, he claimed the little cards you see in hotels encouraging you to reuse the towels are falsely promoted as an environmental strategy. In reality, it was designed to save work and costs," he explains.
Are there any famous examples of greenwashing?
"Probably the largest and most prominent example is the Volkswagen emissions scandal," shares Soong. In short, their cars were sold with a software modification in the Diesel engines which detected when they were being tested and changed the engine performance accordingly to improve environmental test results.
"Volkwagen admitted cheating emissions tests and had to recall and rectify over eleven million cars," explains Soong. "The scandal went on to encompass other carmakers including BMW and Mercedes-Benz."
Why is greenwashing harmful?
Well, aside from the obvious, greenwashing misleads and deceives you as a consumer. "It could lead you into thinking you're supporting products and brands that align with your own eco-friendly values, when really, they don't," explains Mead.
In some countries, he points out, greenwashing is not only unethical, but illegal. He shares that the EU is introducing accountability legislation, which could come into force as early as mid this year.
"The knock on effect of this deceit goes much deeper," shares Soong. "Ultimately, it means consumer attention, support and cash gets diverted away from products and solutions with real credentials that make an impact on some of the worlds biggest issues," he shares.
6 easy ways to spot a person or brand greenwashing
It's not always easy, Soong emphasises, but these six tips could help, next time you're not sure.
1. Look behind the buzzwords
You're looking for actual evidence that backs up any claims that a business is 'sustainable' or 'eco'. "Sadly, these terms are not controlled, so anyone can use them," Soong explains.
Top tip: Look for stamps of approval from organisations such as B Corporation, or certifications such as Fair Trade or Cradle to Grave. There are many more making it easy for you to spot a legitimately eco-friendly business from a not-so-legit.
May sound hard, actually isn't if a brand is genuinely doing their bit to be eco-friendly. "Do your research and look for authenticity," Soong advises. "Ask yourself, did that plant based brand used to be dairy or meat brand? Maybe they had an epiphany, but more often than not it's a sign of opportunism, rather than values," he shares.
Top tip: It never does any harm to ask a brand, if you're not sure on their eco credentials, shares designer Barbeline of Barbeline London, an eco-friendly brand known largely for their reusable wallpaper. "Just talk to whoever's promoting eco-friendly products: more often than not, if they're truly doing their bit, they'll be more than happy to tell you about it," she shares.
3. Use your common sense
Again, this one's an obvious one, but it's important. "Do you really think shipping water from Fiji could be sustainable?," asks Soong. "Or that 'sustainable' fashion brand – where is it choosing to retail?"
Top tip: Often the answers are right in front of us – trust your gut.
4. Rely on the right resources
There are a whole load of handy sites, books and social pages out there to help you on your eco journey. Soong recommends checking out the B Corporation Directory, and reading the following books.
How To Break Up With Fast Fashion: A guilt-free guide to changing the way you shop – for good, £4.99
5. Make sure claims are verified by a third party
Without third-party independent research, testing and certification, environmental claims are without credence, points out Mead. "Today, some of the biggest offenders include adjectives and messaging like 'sustainably made', 'clean', 'non-toxic,' and 'all natural'. They do not have universally accepted and clearly defined terms or standards," he explains.
Top tip: Check the website or label to see if a trusted third-party organisation has verified the brand's claims. "Try to think about sustainability from a holistic perspective. Look for labels that cover the full spectrum of factors that go into being environmentally friendly," recommends Mead. That includes:
Testing for harmful substances
Environmentally friendly production
Safe and socially responsible working conditions.
6. Make the investment
And, finally, know that sometimes, to shop with brands that don't greenwash, you do need to invest a little more. "If a product is cheap, it's probably because it includes an element that's been shipped halfway around the world," shares Rob of COAT paint.
"That footprint isn't acceptable anymore. We have to understand that buying sustainable products and taking the sustainable approach is unfortunately still more expensive" he explains. "Be wary of buying super cheap," he recommends. "Be curious and don't be afraid to ask the manufacturer any questions."
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Did Iraq use deadly phosphorous? Probe after sinister white-blue clouds are filmed over ISIS-held western Mosul
The Iraqi State claimed that the alleged attack near a hospital was a smoke bombardment aimed at blurring the vision of IS snipers targeting civilians
But Human Rights Watch had said images of the bombs show white phosphorus
The Iraqi command said that videos of white clouds of smoke were 'inaccurate'
By Liz Dunphy For Mailonline
Published: 09:52 EDT, 5 June 2017 | Updated: 15:12 EDT, 5 June 2017
Sinister white-blue clouds were filmed above ISIS-controlled western Mosul on Saturday which has prompted an official probe into whether banned chemical weapons were used in the attack.
The Iraqi government said that it is investigating claims that its army used white phosphorus near a hospital during attacks in Mosul on Saturday.
But the Iraqi command fighting IS in Mosul said that the alleged white phosphorus attack was actually a smoke offensive intended to deter IS snipers who were trying to shoot civilians escaping the area.
Human Rights Watch had told Al Jazeera that images of the explosion show 'artillery-delivered WP [white phosphorus] being air-burst. The video is more difficult to assess because of the angle it was shot at'.
The Iraqi military later issued a statement threatening legal action against media outlets publishing videos or pictures of the blast, Al Jazeera claim.
Yesterday, local media reported that the army had claimed that the explosions were detonated as a 'smokescreen' to disable ISIS fighters in the area and to prevent them from attacking civilians.
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IraqiNews reports that the Iraqi command fighting IS in Mosul said that the alleged white phosphorus attack was actually a smoke offensive intended to deter IS snipers.
The Joint Operations Command there said through the Defense Ministry's War Media Cell that the alleged attack on Saturday near the Jamhuri Hospital in al-Shefa district was in fact a smoke bombardment aimed at blurring the vision of IS snipers who were targeting a huge number of civilians trying to escape toward security forces.
The Iraqi government said that it is investigating claims that its army used the chemical weapon white phosphorus near a hospital during attacks in Mosul on Saturday
Images of the white clouds were captured by a Kurdish TV station while it was live streaming from the city, the International Business Times reports.
But the Iraqi command said that the circulated videos presenting white pillows of smoke as the result of bombardment with the banned substance were 'inaccurate'.
It added that the smoke screen technique had already been used during operations in eastern and western Mosul.
White phosphorus bombs generally emit white clouds following an explosion. They are widely condemned by human rights groups due to their devastating impact on civilian populations.
Human Rights Watch told Al Jazeera that images of the explosion show 'artillery-delivered WP [white phosphorus] being air-burst' although the video was more difficult to assess
White phosphorus can burn deep into muscle and bone and it can reignite weeks after being deployed, according to Amnesty International which has campaigned against the use of chemical weapons.
Backed by the US-led international coalition, Iraq launched a wide-scale military offensive to recapture Mosul and the surrounding areas last October, with various Iraqi military, police and paramilitary forces taking part in the operation.
The city's eastern half was declared liberated in January, and the push for the city's western section, separated from the east by the Tigris River, began the following month.
Local media reported that the army had claimed that the explosions were detonated as a 'smokescreen' to disable ISIS fighters in the area and to prevent them from attacking civilians
Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul fell to IS in the summer of 2014 as the militants swept over much of the country's north and central areas.
Weeks later, the head of the Sunni extremist group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, announced the formation of a self-styled caliphate in Iraq and Syria from the pulpit of a Mosul mosque.
The UN has said that at least 750,000 people have fled since operations to recapture Mosul began.
UNICEF has warned that 100,000 children are living in danger in Mosul.
They are bearing the brunt of the intensified fight between government forces and IS in the Iraqi city's western half, the United Nations has warned.
White phosphorus can burn deep into muscle and bone and it can reignite weeks after being deployed, according to Amnesty International which has campaigned against its use
Iraqi forces are in their last push to drive IS militants from the remaining pockets of territory they still hold in the Old City where narrow streets and a dense civilian population are complicating the fight.
Unicef's representative in Iraq Peter Hawkins said the agency is receiving 'alarming reports' of civilians being killed, including children, with some caught in the crossfire while trying to flee.
He did not give a specific number for killed children, but he estimated 100,000 girls and boys are still in the IS-held Old City neighbourhood and other areas, living under extremely dangerous conditions.
Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul fell to IS in the summer of 2014 as the militants swept through the country's north and central areas. The city's eastern half was declared liberated in January
He called on the warring parties to 'protect the children and keep them out of harm's way at all times, in line with their obligations under humanitarian law'.
He added: 'Children's lives are on the line. Children are being killed, injured and used as human shields. Children are experiencing and witnessing terrible violence that no human being should ever witness.
'In some cases, they have been forced to participate in the fighting and violence.'
www.iraqinews.co...
Iraq investigates alleged use of white phosphorus in Isis-controlled western Mosul
Sinister clouds filmed over ISIS-held Mosul probed


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Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes Announced During Nintendo Direct
by Jake Valentine February 9, 2022, 4:09 pm
Photo Credit: Nintendo
Fire Emblem is back! Feautring the familiar cast of characters from Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Three Hopes brings the Warriors-style gameplay to the franchise.
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes will release on June 24th, 2022.
This isn't the first Nintendo franchise to see a Warriors spin-off. Zelda has had success with a handful of titles over the past couple of years.
More as it develops. The official trailer is available below.


Posted by Kris Lindahl on Friday, January 23rd, 2015 at 10:01am.
Built in 1975, this Whitehall Condominiums home is priced at $385,000.
Yes, there is such a thing as an affordable single-family home in Edina, and here is the proof. This is a 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom home on a quarter of an acre of land. With 1,850 square feet of living space, this one-story rambler offers the amazing Edina lifestyle at a price you seldom find here.
The bathrooms have been updated and the home features hardwood floors, newish windows, fresh paint and two fireplaces. All it lacks is YOU. This home is offered at $329,900.
Just below the "luxury price range" in Edina is an amazing home in Morningside. It features 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, a gourmet kitchen that you must see to believe at this price, two family rooms and wood floors.
Outdoors, the screened porch leads to a level yard and a huge, brand-new garage.
Believe it or not, this Edina home is listed at $739,000.
Shame on the listing agent for the skimpy description of our first luxury home in Edina. The home is priced at $2,595,000, which means that this agent's broker will make a minimum of $77,850 in commission. If the broker also provides the buyer, the commission will double.
Despite this, the listing agent provided only a 38-word description of the property and 11 of those words described the neighborhood. What a pity.
This home has been remodeled (2001). You'll find a third-floor library and office with walnut built-ins. The home has five bedrooms and seven bathrooms in 7,141 square feet of living space.
This is a gorgeous brick-front Georgian. We are happy to call the listing agent to find out what he has left out of the listing should you be interested in this home. Contact us to learn more.
Homeowners, I don't care if you own an entry level home or a luxury home, it's so important to ask your agent for a copy of the the MLS listing. If it's not compelling – if it skimps on the description or there are few or blurry photos – you have the right to demand that it be changed. You have the right to demand that your agent market your home to its fullest potential.


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ColdFusion 10: Application specific VFS
I've always liked the Virtual File System (VFS) implementation in ColdFusion, but I always griped about one thing. The files written to the VFS are available at the Server level and are not specific to an application. However, ColdFusion 10 now includes support for Application specific in-memory file system. This means that, if you write a file to the virtual file system, only those files in the same application can access it. If an attempt is made by another application to access this file, the server would happily throw an error.
Consider this example:
As you can see files in 'App1' can write and read from the virtual file system and when an external application ('App2') tries to read file, the server just says bugger off. Well not quite literally, it actually throws a FileNotFoundException.
By default, the in-memory file system is accessed at the server level. To enable this functionality two Application level settings are provided:
component { this.name="App1"; this.inmemoryfilesystem.enabled = true; this.inmemoryfilesystem.size = 4; }
The setting this.inmemoryfilesystem.enabled = true enables application specific in-memory file system and you can also specify the size of this file system by setting this.inmemoryfilesystem.size with an appropriate value. You can also specify the size in ColdFusion Administrator by assigning a value to the field 'Memory Limit per Application for In-Memory Virtual File System' under Settings section. In a case where the size is specified at both the places – in Administrator as well as in Application.cfc the lesser of the two is considered.
Labels: ColdFusion
Adding beforeRender and afterRender functions to a Backbone View
I was working on a Backbone application that updated the DOM when a response was received from the server. In a Backbone View, the initialize method would perform some operations and then call the render method to update the view. This worked fine, however there was scenario where in I wanted to perform some tasks before and after rendering the view. This can be considered as firing an event before and after the function had completed its execution. I found a very simple way to do this with Underscore's wrap method.
De-obfuscating javascript code in Chrome Developer Tools
I had blogged about JavaScript debugging with Chrome Developer Tools some time back, wherein I have explained how these developer tools can help in debugging javascript code. Today Google Chrome 12 was released and my Chrome browser was updated to this version. As with every release, there have been some improvements made on performance, usability etc,. One feature that stood out for me is the ability to De-obfuscate the javascript code. What is Minification? Minification is the process of removing unnecessary characters such as white spaces, comments, new lines from the source code. These otherwise would be added to make the code more readable. Minifying the source code helps in reducing the file size and thereby reducing the time taken to download the file. This is the reason why most of the popular javascript libraries such as jQuery are minified. A minified jQuery file is of 31 KB in size where as an uncompressed one is about 229 KB. Unfortunately, debugging minified javascript f
On GraphQL and building an application using React Apollo
When I visualize building an application, I would think of using React and Redux on the front-end which talks to a set of RESTful services built with Node and Hapi (or Express). However, over a period of time, I've realized that this approach does not scale well when you add new features to the front-end. For example, consider a page that displays user information along with courses that a user has enrolled in. At a later point, you decide to add a section that displays popular book titles that one can view and purchase. If every entity is considered as a microservice then to get data from three different microservices would require three http requests to be sent by the front-end app. The performance of the app would degrade with the increase in the number of http requests. I read about GraphQL and knew that it is an ideal way of building an app and I need not look forward to anything else. The GraphQL layer can be viewed as a facade which sits on top of your RESTful services o
Book review: Steve Jobs Way by Jay Elliot
Adobe Developer Connect article on RESTful Web Ser...
CSS media queries in JavaScript
Using HTML5's FullScreen API


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Down on the Farm: 5/20
Posted on May 21, 2021 May 21, 2021 by Dmfox
High A
Dunedin 6 Clearwater 2
RHP Nick Frasso was electric in his pro debut as the D-Jays won their second straight.
The athletic 2020 4th rounder retired six of the seven hitters he faced, a first inning walk the only blemish on his night of work. Frasso fanned two, and generally showed Low A hitters the kind of velo they don't see often:
Miguel Hiraldo had three hits and drove in a run to pace the Dunedin offence. Alejandro Melean and Juan DePaula each tossed three innings of shutout relief in support of Frasso.
New Hampshire 11 Portland 2
LJ Talley had a career-best six RBIs and the Fisher Cats plated 8 runs in the 3rd inning to top the Sea Dogs. https://twitter.com/fishercats/status/1395535364006232069?s=21
Talley knocked out a pair of round trippers (including a grand slam), his first long balls of the season. Samad Taylor had his second four-hit game of the week, bashing his 2nd homer of the season as part of a 4-4 night.
Starter Maximo Castillo went five solid innings for the W. Otto Lopez extended his hit streak to 13 games, and Austin Martin made his return to the lineup after missing the first two games of the series.
Worcester 4 Buffalo 1
Thomas Hatch pitched three strong innings in a rehab start for the Bisons, but the Bisons offence was stymied by Sox starter Kyle Hart.
Hatch gave up a pair of runs (one earned), and struck out four. Kevin Smith's third home run of the season was the only run Buffalo managed to plate.
Vancouver 2 Hillsboro 1
CJ Van Eyk had by far his best career outing, going six innings and striking out 9 as the C's edged their stadium-mate their 8th win in a row. A bases-loaded walk to Rafael Lantigua brought the winning run home in the top of the 9th, and Parker Caracci retired the side in the bottom half of the inning for his second Save.
When a fellow blogger looked over the C's roster prior to Opening Day, we agreed that the C's would struggle to score runs. Certainly, they've been middle-of-the-pack in the High A West in OPS and average, and they garnered only two hits last night, but they sit atop the league standings two-plus weeks into the season.
How have they done it?
With outstanding pitching, for one thing. The C's seem to get a decent start every night, and their league-low 2.80 staff ERA would seem to indicate that pitching overall is a team strength.
On offence, the C's have players that can get on base, and take advantage of scoring opportunities. Spencer Horwitz' 20 walks leads the league, and demonstrates the patience much of the batting order has. Horwitz leads the league in OBP, and he, along with Tanner Kirwer and Cameron Eden, are in the top 10 in several offensive categories.
Before the season began, C's Manager Donnie Murphy said his team would grind things out, just like he did when he played. That's been a winning strategy so far.
Tagged CJ Van Eyk, Nick Frasso, Otto Lopez
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One thought on "Down on the Farm: 5/20"
FenixL says:
Awesome stuff about the Frasso velo!
Is there a minor league baseball savant to follow along with this?


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HomeNewsHouse of Fraser reveals new 'sustainable and green' store with champagne bar...
House of Fraser reveals new 'sustainable and green' store with champagne bar and 8-metre 'living wall' at Rushden Lakes development
House of Fraser will be opening its first store at an out of town retail and leisure complex at the £140 million Rushden Lakes development in Northants.
The newly constructed department store will not only be House of Fraser's first store to open in nearly nine years, it will also be the retailer's first sustainable and green store, according to a statement.
The department store giant will have 64,000 sq ft of retail space, with over 50 premium and high street brands.
House of Fraser at Rushden Lakes meets the BREEAM sustainable building certification, the world's leading sustainability assessment scheme for buildings. It specifies requirements for the building and operations to maximize its performance in terms of energy and climate change, resource, water and waste management It also takes into account that the Rushden Lakes development is adjacent to protected natural habitats. House of Fraser has partnered with The Wildlife Trust BCN, who are managing these wildlife habitats. The interior of House of Fraser at Rushden Lakes is designed to connect with the natural setting. It will include unique features such as a living wall of plants.
Designed by the Green Infrastructure Consultancy, the living wall will be 6 metres wide and 8 metres tall spanning over two floors positioned next to the escalators. It will be home to more than 2,000 indoor plants including species such as the familiar Philodendron and more unusual plants like Chinese Evergreen.
Dr Dorothy Maxwell, Head of Sustainability at House of Fraser said: "Being sensitive to the wildlife in and around Rushden Lakes has been a priority for House of Fraser as well as making the store meet high environmental standards. As a responsible retailer, we are delighted to be based in such as beautiful natural setting and aim to protect it and share this experience with our customers."
A luxury Champagne bar will open on the first floor with elevated views across the lakes, and the Italian Coffee house, Caffé Nero, will open on the ground floor.
Rushden Lakes is owned by the Crown Estate which is funding the £140 million scheme which brings together shopping in the most unique setting. Surrounded by 200 acres of wetlands, managed by The Wildlife Trust, the retail park concept is a one of a kind that proactively brings together shopping and eating alongside more unusual outdoor actives such as canoeing.
A spokesperson for The Crown Estate, said: "We are excited to welcome House of Fraser to Rushden Lakes, a shopping and leisure destination like no other. House of Fraser is an anchor retailer for Rushden Lakes and will bring a host of exciting new fashion brands, fabulous beauty and the best in homeware to Northamptonshire."
The huge shopping complex is due to start to open in just a few weeks and then throughout August at the site of a former dry ski slope off the A45, with Marks & Spencer expected to open on July 28.
Find out more at rushdenlakes.com
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Patreon Supporters can read everything I've worked on for Biomecha Book 2 digitally, as well as the conclusion of Biomecha Book 3. I upload 8 x pages of Book 3 per month, as often as I can throughout each year. Book 2 is available in full to Patrons, in part to everyone.
When the Patreon hits it's goal, there are also 8 x pages of Extra Comics from the PinkAppleJam archive for monthly subscribers to take a look at as well!
This can be reached via donations as little as $1+ per month to my Patreon account. Bargain!
Biomecha Book 2 is in print in it's entirety!
CLICK HERE to order Book 2 in full.


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Hey ZAM.
Hey ZAM.Follow
#1 Aug 10 2013 at 7:59 PM Rating: Good
Viertel
Let me say this upfront because otherwise people will think I'm being negative: thank you guys for being you.
We're not perfect and we do have our share of trolls (even if they're more cute and cuddly than anything). However, there is a general air of lessened stress when browsing and viewing. It isn't perfect and tempers do flare sometimes but it's generally a better place to hang out. GameFAQs is nothing short of trolls and generally isn't worth going unless you're actually looking for an FAQ. BG isn't too bad most of the time but during the debates game points become lost and it turns into a mini-soap opera half the time.
I bring this up because I recently had to forward information to the FBI for death threats on my own simply because the admin of the site did nothing. In fact he not only did nothing he threatened to remove my account if I continued to bother him.
Let that soak in a minute.
People were confused about FFXIV's registration process and post after post after post of telling them "You can't register now/the SE store isn't account management/read and do what the email says/if you're confused stop reading forums and contact your retailer". Someone came in and blasted me for being an inconsiderate ***hole and not bothering to answer questions and stating, quite publically how I should be beaten and that he'd like to do other things -- on a public forum. Quote him and reply "If you actually bothered to read, you'd see it's written already what you can and can't do.", he complains about my "trolling" and it immediately earns me a ban, yet someone threatening actual violence gets nothing. He follows that up with well over a dozen long PMs declaring what he'd like to do to me for being gay as well as being <insert dramatic, overused pointless profanity> and at least one death threat on a PM. From the sounds of most of the posts it sounded more like a stalker than anything else.
I forward all this information to an email to the website's admin. His response was posted above. So I ended up having to go beyond that and figure out how to submit information to the FBI (because from what I understand they actually take death threats seriously even if it's potentially only a hyped up teenager).
Contrast this with Kaolian.
He isn't perfect (a few topics I think he was too forceful on) but when someone continued to harass me in PMs over a year ago he did something about it. For that, he's earned my respect for the fact that a person was being harassed, he could see the proof, and he took action. When someone like Poubelle creates several accounts and continually acts out he forwards the information to his ISP provider.
So yeah, thanks ZAM staff. The community isn't perfect (none ever is), but the overall atmosphere's a lot more pleasant than people give it credit for.
I appreciate it (and the fact that I know I wouldn't have to deal with things like above myself if it were to occur).
#2 Aug 10 2013 at 8:27 PM Rating: Default
I agree with you that the admin should of handled the harassment, but seriously, you're wasting the time of the FBI all because you couldn't get justice from some retarded admin? We all know the threat is impossible to carry out because you're anonymous so it's just trash talking. I'm not defending this guy, but seriously you really need to chill out. Ignore this guy and move on instead of abusing the FBI all because the admin wouldn't cater to your demands.
Edit: I'm sorry if my reply came off a bit harsh, but you have to admit you're really making far too much out of this. I've had to deal with trolls in the past too. It's really best to ignore them and they'll give up eventually. Take it easy man, life's too damn short.
Edited, Aug 10th 2013 9:37pm by ShadowedgeFFXI
#3 Aug 10 2013 at 8:33 PM Rating: Excellent
Wint
Anterograde Amnesia
ShadowedgeFFXI wrote:
Edit: I'm sorry if my reply came off a bit harsh, but you have to admit you're really making far too much out of this. I've had to deal with trolls like you in the past too. It's really just to ignore them and they'll give up eventually.
Oh now this is ironic...
"Choosy MMO's choose Wint." - Louiscool
The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was to convince the world he didn't exist.
Keyser Soze - Ultros
Guide to Setting Up Mumble on a Raspberry Pi
FilthMcNasty
Viertel is new to the internets? People saying things like this really shouldn't come as a surprise at this point. I'm not saying that it's ok or that I endorse it, but it's going to happen and it happens quite frequently. Forums are no place for the soft of skin.
Forwarding this kinda crap to the FBI though... that's rich
Rinsui wrote:
Only hips + boobs all day and hips + boobs all over my icecream
HaibaneRenmei wrote:
30 bucks is almost free
cocodojo wrote:
Its personal preference and all, but yes we need to educate WoW players that this is OUR game, these are Characters and not Toons. Time to beat that into them one at a time.
PhoenixOmbre
I don't care if you think the threat isn't credible. Death threats are serious. Even if there is no intent for actual violence, there is still the intention to cause distress. That should be dealt with seriously, harshly. Hiding behind a computer is not an excuse to behave that way.
Nuit Midril - White Mage/Scholar on Ultros
Nuit the Insane! - Retired Druid on Sentinels.
Ombre - Retired Dragoon/bard on Phoenix.
Why is it so unusual to expect admins to do things about death threats? Look at what is going on with Twitter right now for example.
Edited, Aug 10th 2013 9:43pm by Wint
Wint wrote:
Look at what is going on with Twitter right now for example.
Are you suggesting we use the NSA scandal to get some free publicity?
I'm talking about the death threats some people are getting.
PhoenixOmbre wrote:
You didn't bother to read the reply, did you? Here let me break it down for you so you get it.
The OP wanted the admin to do something about it the death threats in which most people including me agree with 100%.
Now because the requests were denied, then he decides to seek justice by going around the admin. If the admin had actually done his job, the OP wouldn't be taking it this far. The troll would simply be banned and everyone would carry on with their everyday life.
Please thoroughly read the replies before you comment, it helps to understand the context.
#10 Aug 10 2013 at 8:50 PM Rating: Decent
Yeah, like I said there is no excuse for that behavior. At the same time, Viertel is anonymous too. How exactly can you take a threat seriously when the person making the threat really has no way of finding out who and where he is? C'mon now...
Here is one example of the absurd behavior going on there: http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2013/08/abuse-twitter?fsrc=scn%2Ffb%2Fwl%2Fbl%2Ftrollattack
As for the OP, I'm sorry to hear about the situation you're going through. I understand why you'd be concerned about the death threats along with what else this person knows about you. I hope you feel safer here.
Facebook and Twitter are dangerous as most accounts aren't anonymous. You have real life pictures and contact info so the threat rating goes sky high. It's important to point out the severity of a Twitter threat is usually more serious because of those risk conditions. You'd think Twitter would be sued if someone actually cared out a threat.
The OP is contacting the relevant authorities because the admins failed to do it themselves. That doesn't seem hard to grasp. Once you reach a certain age, you begin to realize that actions come with consequences, and death threats have pretty serious consequences in real life. There is no reason they should be tolerated on the Internet either, and in most cases a forum ban is not enough.
To be fair I doubt they've had to deal with a stalker situation before. I have (World of Warcraft) except rape was more on his mind than killing me (though both could have occured).
I don't **** around with this anymore.
Im with Shadowedge here, i dont think every little thing needs goverment intrvention. Someone throws a death threat at me, i tell them good luck they will need it lol.
It should of never got to this point. The person should of been banned long ago. Honestly the person trolling the OP was probably some 12 year old kid with a potty mouth. I agree with you though and that's all that matters, right?
As for the OP, I really feel for him/her. I know I would of handled it differently, but everyone is different.
Woah. Serious poo is going down in this thread. Interesting info about twitter (which I don't normally follow.) "Report Tweet" sounds like a good feature to add.
Sorry to hear you are having a hard time Viertel. Death threats do have to be taken seriously. It's a social no-no for a reason.
Is it illegal to threaten to kill someone? Can you be arrested for it?
(Google insues.)
Hmm, I guess not exactly. You can be arrested for coersion, harrassment, or intimidation.
It seems that internet threats are actually a new legal horizon that we are walking into. Society may have ignored these threats in 2000-2010, I'm thinking it that businesses/companies are going to have some debatable legal liability when a patron documents a death threat that is ignored, but later results in a fatality. Schools have had 0-tolerance for threats of any kind for as long as I can remember. Will internet forums become the same way over time?
Men make death threats on Facebook, go directly to jail
I wonder what penalty 1st degree murder of a forum avatar carries...
FilthMcNasty wrote:
Life!!
Ravashack
It also crosses national borders, too. Just examples of GIFT in action.
garethrogue
FF XI/XIV generally has a more mature fan base than other games, so places like this where the adults control the tone and narrative are refreshing, even if they're to be expected anyways. OP had the unfortunate luck of running into a child who has the anonymity of the internet to protect him, and allow him to act out without any repercussions. He also ran into an admin who seems to be the type who enjoys whatever imaginary power he can exert over those who use his site. It's a bad combo. We're all better off in a place like this.
Star Swirl on Behemoth AKA Best-hemoth AKA The Cool Kid's Table----60AST, 60WHM, 60SCH/SMN, 60BLM, 60MNK, 38 PLD, 34DRG, 31NIN, 27MRD
FFXI- Derpypony on Asura
Check out the Dream Network, a Twitch.tv community for XIV fans, featuring notable streamers like Mr. Happy, MTQcapture, Rahhzay, and Slyakagreyfox! http://dreamnetwork.tv/forum/index.php
Then maybe check out myself, EquestriaGuy, on twitch at http://www.twitch.tv/equestriaguy
Kaolian
Leet Haxör
Death threats are certanly no laughing matter, and any site admin that doesn't do something about one when reported is an idiot. If nothing else because they themselves would be liable for not reporting it to the authorities if you got killed by the guy. You don't get to threaten to end another human beings life. We take that very seriously around here. There are some absolutly ******* insane people on the internet, so you have to assume that the danger is real unless it's truely one of those rare cases of a joke or a comment between friends and treated by both parties as such. We've had a few death threats over the 13 years that I've been here, some of them ending more amusingly than others. We've had people literally stalked by people they had taken restraining orders out against, more than a few obsessed trolls, the occasional godraiden death threats, etc. None of those are ok. When we encounter something like that here, standard operating proceedure for all our admins is to if possible first contact the person who was threatened and ask them how they would like to proceed. If they want law enforcement involved, we provide any and all relevant ip, contact, and posting information to verified law enforcement officials. if they cannot be contacted in a timely manner, or if we feel it's a sufficient level of threat to justify calling the police (and thats only happened once) then we go that route. So far we've never had a poster killed by a crazy person at any rate! (ironically, hiding the karma numbers seems to have cut down on them for some reason.)
Anyways, Thank you! We definitly appriciate it when people notice what goes on (or in this case, things we prevent from going on?) behind the scenes. We try to keep things fairly invisible to minimize the admin interference into normal forum operations whenever we can. If any of you ever feel you are in danger from another poster here, think something illegal is happening, or even just have a bad feeling about something and want someone to take a look, please don't ever hesitate to contact any of us. That's what we're here for. Obviously our response will vary depending on circumstances, but I can and will garuntee that someone will look into the situation and see what is going on and act accordingly. If you ever get a response of "**** off, i'm busy" when you report a death threat to an admin here, let me know and I'll ban them myself.
As the Senior forum Admin, it sometimes falls to me to play "bad cop" in situations where a heavy "slap" might salvage a poster we would otherwise lose to a silent and permanent ban. Thats one of the reasons we'll occasionally seem too forceful in a given situation. Other times there are behind the scenes PM's and manouverings that go on leading up to a more public thread.
At the same time, Viertel is anonymous too. How exactly can you take a threat seriously when the person making the threat really has no way of finding out who and where he is? C'mon now...
You would be suprised what people can find if they dig enough. For example, in one case I know of, a certain individual managed to scam a younger child of a forum user out of an in game account. The only thing known was the name of the individual's in game character, the contents of the character that was stolen (a few of which were distinctive and rare) and an approximate geographic location and a few persistant spelling errors due to some chat screen captures (for eample, I always spell definitly wrong, etc.), Using that, certain people were able to locate another gaming forum where the scammer used the same tag, and then backtrace enough publically available information to eventually identify the person in question difinitivly, to the point where return of the stolen account was arranged. While that's an extreme example, it's not a huge task to get more details about someone if you are crazy enough or determined enough to go through the effort. It's why you have to basically interact online with the expectation that anything you write will eventually be seen by anyone on the planet, and proceed accordingly. It's the primary reason why we don't allow people to post phone numbers, etc here whenever possible just because of all the personal info you can glean from that.
retarded admin
What is up with you and calling admins retarded anyways? More than a few people find that term fairly offensive by the way. Most people who aren't 12 year olds find something better to do than call people names. You should probably think about maybe kinda stopping doing that before you annoy some admin somewhere and they ban you as a waste of bandidth. Just a suggestion and all. Oh, and please stop sassing Wint. It makes me cranky when people talk back to my admins. Thanks!
Happy posting everyone!
Senior Forum Administrator
Kaolian "Tim" Drachensborn
Arch Duke Kaolian Drachensborn, lvl 95 Ranger, Unrest Server
Tech support forum | FAQ (Support) | Mobile Zam: http://m.zam.com (Premium only)
My wife agrees, you definitly should not call people retarded. She has permanently banned that word from our household.
Spelling error detectives for the win! What a great story that is.
There sure is a great deal of appreciation for ZAM and its Admins floating around lately. You guys must be onto a pretty successful modus operandi.
#24ShadowedgeFFXI, Posted: Aug 10 2013 at 10:44 PM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) Ha Ha.... very funny. I guess they let you out of your cage, eh. I just knew you were going to troll me somehow. I suppose a sense of humor is important for the senior admin like you. I need to follow your lead for my own admin duties. If any admin somewhere in the world thinks they can ban me, it's be funny as hell to watch them try and epic fail.
If any admin somewhere in the world thinks they can ban me, it's be funny as hell to watch them try and epic fail.
Do you really want to find out?
MyAnimeList FFXIV Krystal Spoonless


First-time cruisers benefit from the knowledge of experienced cruisers who can provide help, including mechanical or other repair support if needed. They offer assistance with port entry and slip requirements and guidance to local provisioning, dining and fishing spots. Group cruising is also fun, extending the camaraderie of fellow boaters and the opportunity of new friendships.
Fall is the perfect time to go weather-wise – and organizers of the Baja Ha-Ha, the annual sailboat rally, and CUBAR, the powerboat equivalent which runs every other year, are still accepting applications from participants seeking to join their fleets.
Baja Ha-Ha began in 1994 and attracts over 150 sailboats to its fleet (last year there were 171 boats). This year they'll leave San Diego on Oct. 26 for the two-week cruise, which stops to anchor in Turtle Bay and Bahía Santa Maria prior to its planned completion in Cabo San Lucas Nov. 7. The Ha-Ha draws many repeat cruisers, with some continuing on to the Sea of Cortez, the Mexican mainland and points beyond.
The Ha-Ha is limited to "boats over 27 feet that were designed, built and have been maintained for open ocean sailing," its website (baja-haha.com) specifies, and is open to powerboats meeting the criteria.
CUBAR (Cruise Underway to Baja Rally), which Del Rey Yacht Club member Bruce Kessler organized as FUBAR (Fleet Underway…) in 2007, gives powerboaters the experience of group cruising down the Baja coast, while benefiting from experienced cruisers' knowledge. Mechanical, communications and medical support personnel accompany the fleet.
Now "homeported" at the San Diego Yacht Club, CUBAR is limited to about 50 boats with "a minimum range of 450 miles at 8.5 knots" able to "pass a comprehensive safety inspection just prior to departure" on the 12-day cruise.
The fleet leaves San Diego on Nov. 11 for Ensenada and concludes at Costa Baja/La Paz Nov. 23, with intermediate stops to anchor in Turtle Bay and Magdalena Bay before arriving at San José del Cabo, with a final anchorage in Muertos Cove on the way to La Paz. Full details are on the CUBAR website (cubar.sdyc.org).
My husband Arv and I, both USCG-certified captains, were fortunate to crew aboard the 60-foot Odyssey, owned by Robert and Jackie DeMicheli, on the 2013 FUBAR, and hope to find another crewing opportunity for this year's CUBAR. We both enjoyed the cruise and savored the hospitality and knowledge gained from our shipmates and fellow cruisers.
I distilled much of that new information into an article I wrote for Sea Magazine, "Long-range cruising: do you have what it takes?" available on the CUBAR website, along with other useful articles. It contains a comprehensive checklist for long-range cruisers and a set of specialized resources, including books, websites and blogs, to help cruisers prepare themselves and their boats for their cruise.
What became clear to me is that long range cruising is distinct from recreational boating. Anyone planning a long range cruise needs to prepare carefully, choosing a capable boat in excellent condition with adequate range and fuel, plus appropriate equipment (including a watermaker), navigation electronics and extensive spare parts and maintenance supplies. Most important, long range cruisers need to be self-sufficient and able to make their own repairs and know how to equip and provision their boats for an extended time at sea.
With the right boat, equipment, skills and outlook, prepare yourself for a wonderful experience of a lifetime by joining CUBAR or Baja Ha-Ha.
Sounds like a great cruise. We have friends who've done it and loved it. We had a sailboat with which we participate in the Baja Ha Ha in 2010. We now have a power boat and would like to make the trip again.


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How CEOs Can Benefit From New Technology
HomeTech WorldCloud
Tech WorldCloud
An average day
Zoom fatigue
Better meetings
Improved communication
The role of a chief executive officer (CEO) is to lead an organization or company, by providing a clear vision and overall direction, while also acting as a figurehead for the business. While many other executives and employees work together to ensure the success of the organization, the CEO takes ultimate responsibility for corporate decisions and actions. It is a position that requires long hours, hard work, and the ability to deal with potentially high levels of stress.
So, how can recent and emerging technologies make life easier for those shouldering this responsibility?
There is no such thing as an average CEO, as their responsibilities vary from one organization to another. For any CEO, every working day is different, as new challenges and opportunities present themselves. Nevertheless, surveys suggest that around 72% of a CEO's time is spent in meetings — a fact that these executives often bemoan.
Discussion and collaboration are vital, but everyone in business knows that meetings can be frustrating. Too often they are unproductive, or too time-consuming to justify the advances made. For a CEO like Patrick James of Trico Group, whose time is valuable and often in short supply, any technology that can reduce the time spent in meetings, or increase the benefits gained from them, is to be heartily welcomed.
Video conferencing and virtual meetings have become commonplace, especially in today's post-pandemic world. But these can be just as exhausting as face-to-face meetings — sometimes more so — and come with their own unique challenges. Remote meetings are meant to increase productivity and improve time management, but studies have shown that so-called 'Zoom fatigue' can dramatically reduce effectiveness.
Face-to-face contact has its own energy — something that is lacking in video conferencing. Talking to a screen all day can feel like you are using up your own energy without getting anything back. This can soon lead to lethargy and burnout. But given the advantages of virtual meetings in terms of geography, convenience, and health and safety, CEOs need to look for ways of improving these types of meetings through the use of new technology, rather than abandoning them.
Many CEOs say that long, unproductive meetings are their biggest single source of frustration. Executives would therefore appreciate new technology to make necessary meetings more efficient, and reduce the need for inessential meetings.
One major problem with business meetings is that the more participants there are, and the longer a meeting goes on, the more information is forgotten or misunderstood. This can be the case even if meetings are recorded, or minutes taken by hand.
Artificial intelligence (AI) technology can be used to summarize meetings, analyze content for essential or important information, and filter out 'noise' — i.e., parts considered inessential. This digested version can then be quickly absorbed by the busy CEO, and acted upon.
However, this process relies upon the AI system being able to accurately recognize genuinely vital data and to know exactly what to keep and what to discard. For a long time, existing technology has not been advanced enough to do this consistently. But we are now at the point where AI can effectively parse and condense information from meetings so that CEOs, among others, can better manage their time.
It is not just executives who can benefit from AI-augmented meetings. The technology can equally be used to improve and increase information flow both horizontally and vertically, so that all participants and even stakeholders who were not present at the meeting can always be on the same page.
AI can translate and analyze meetings using custom-created algorithms, providing not only handy summaries but also insights and suggestions for immediate and long-term action. The CEO still remains in control, and makes the final decision, but now has an automated advisor at hand.
Transcription technology and voice AI have already transformed traditional minute taking. Although these systems are still improving in terms of speech recognition, adapting to room acoustics, and other qualities, having an instant, digitally accessible record of meetings remains invaluable. These records can be stored on the cloud where they can be read, or listened to, by any legitimately interested parties. Passwords, encryption, and other methods can help to keep these records secure.
Technology can also be used to analyze the overall effectiveness of meetings by tracking engagement and sentiment, and by measuring the metrics of meetings against actual productivity data. The results can be used to determine whether certain meetings are necessary, or whether there are more efficient ways to touch base, share information, and make collective decisions.
This is just one way that new and emerging technology can help make a CEO's life easier. By increasing the effectiveness of meetings, and reducing the time spent preparing for and attending them, CEOs will be freed up for other tasks like corporate strategy and research. For busy executives, AI and similar innovations are transforming the way business is done.
Also Read: Cloud Computing, Cloud Applications And How Does It Work For Business
CEO Technology Benefits
CEOs Skills on New Technology
Cloud Stroage Organixation CEOs
Galaxy Z Fold 4: Release Date, Pre-order And More News
10 Best Wired Earbuds in 2022: Our Top Earphones And In-Ear Headphones For Any Budget


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Q: mutiple variable outliers with different condition With regards hope you all are doing well.
I have a data frame as below I want to flag different variables as an outlier with different conditions.
Basically, I want to check some columns that have values more than threshold as I mention them in the bottom  I will group_by id and flag those outlies and select id,question_name, outlier value as text_answer and count number of occurrences of particular value entered by a particular id. The problem is I can get only the required output for a single variable with my code but I want to have all of them at one go.
raw_data <- data.frame(
id=c(1,2,1,2,3,4,4,3),
shelter_number=c(3,2,3,2,11,15,15,11),
question_name=c("A","B","C","A"),
size=c(12,11,12,10,9,15,18,14),
shelter_age=c(20,35,50,55,62,44,70,65)
)

What  I am trying is
raw_data <- raw_data %>% filter(shelter_number>=10 )

outliers <- raw_data %>% select(id,shelter_number) %>%
  pivot_longer(cols = -id,
               names_to = "Question_name", values_to= "Value",
               values_drop_na = TRUE) %>%
  count(id, Question_name, Value) %>% rename(text_answer=Value,count=n)

What I want is as below
expected_output <- data.frame(
  id=c(3,4,1,2,2,3,4,4,1,2,3,3,4),
  question_name=c("shelter","shelter","size","size","size","size","size","size","shelter_age","shelter_age","shelter_age","shelter_age","shelter_age"),
  text_answer=c(11,15,12,10,11,14,15,18,50,55,62,65,70),
  count=c(2,2,2,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1)
)

Thresholds are as  below
shelter_age >50
shelter_number>10
size>10

Thanks in advance

A: Is this what you want?
raw_data %>%
  select(-question_name) %>%
  pivot_longer(-id, names_to = "question_name", values_to = "text_answer") %>%
  filter(
    question_name == "shelter_number" & text_answer > 10 |
      question_name == "shelter_age" & text_answer > 50 |
      question_name == "size" & text_answer > 10
  ) %>%
  count(id, question_name, text_answer, name = "count")

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


I'm not sure how long ago I heard about the PBS Series Downton Abbey. Could it have been last summer? Before then? I don't know. From last June until a minute ago, life has gone by so fast and furious I'm never sure what day it is. Or month. Truly. I do remember friends discussing this series and how they couldn't wait for it to begin. I remember I thought I should DVR it. Then along came Little Leighton. (Or she'd been here? As I said, who the heck knows, exactly.) Something happened to cause me to lose this series from my radar. I forgot to set the DVR. Sigh.
I would hear it mentioned, from time to time, in the past several months, on television shows like Extra or ET. Think I saw it nominated for some awards. Not sure if it (or the actors in it) won anything. Just know I would hear how much everyone was loving it.
When TLC couldn't figure out what to get me for Christmas (she is usually beyond clever, giving me the most unique/useful/fun/butnotexpensive gifts), I suggested she think about the first two seasons of Downton Abbey. I'd seen the boxed set at Target. Or Wally World. Again, I'm not my normally clear, sharp self.
TLC: What is Downtown Abbey?
ELC: It's Downton. Not Downtown. It was on PBS. Something about an English family. And their servants. In an earlier time in history. I don't know. But I want it.
TLC: Okay. But if I do get it, don't even expect me to watch it with you. That sounds B-O-R-I-N-G.
This past Tuesday, one of my nieces came to have lunch with me, TLC and Little Leighton. At my casa. We got to talking about what we were currently watching on the telly (Yes. My Royal English blood is taking over my American-ness. I never really know when that's going to happen. Kind of like The Incredible Hulk.), when she asked if we watched Downton Abbey.
ELC: Not yet. I have the first two seasons and I'm waiting for the energy to begin the process.
MSN (My Sweet Niece): You have to start it soon! You are going to ADORE it.
Since she is also obsessed with Dateline murder mysteries, like her Auntie ELC, I figured we must have similar entertainment tastes.
That night, after Little Leighton was put to bed and we urged My Sweet Hubby (MSH) to go watch his Weird Man Shows in our bedroom, TLC and I began our OBSESSION with Downton Abbey. OMGEE. We've finished the first season and are three shows into the second season. We've stayed up until 11:30 both Tuesday and Wednesday nights. We're sleepy. Kind of grumpy. And about to start watching in an hour-ish. I've vowed, however, we are NOT staying up past 10:00. This experience is reminiscent to me of the summer MSH and I watched six seasons of 24. In about a week. It took us six months to recover from that decision. Physically and emotionally.


As a CSP, you can see the customer information based upon the service profile requirements you specified. You'll also see the CSP-side information that you'll provide when you accept a pending request.
You can manage your connection requests from your dashboard.
Once a customer makes a connection request, the pending order displays in the "Important For You" section of your dashboard. Click Accept or Reject Connection to view the connection request details page. After reviewing the details, you have the option to accept or reject the request.
If you accept the request, click Accept Connection. In the "Service Provider Connection Details" section, select the required ports and enter the VLAN ID numbers.
If you turn down the request, click Reject Connection. In the "Service Provider Connection Details" section, enter the reason for rejection. Click Confirm Reject Connection. On the customer's dashboard, a "Connection Request Rejected" card displays, with the reason(s) listed.


text:
Q: How to change text color & font of QComboBox I'm trying to change text color of QComboBox.
I've been used stylesheet or palette.
But, they changed the color of all text item in dropbox.
I want to change the color and font of only currently selected text of combobox, not dropbox.
Please help me how to change them and show me some example code.
Thank you.
// It is my code:
QStringList itemList;
itemList << "item1" << "item2" << "item3" << "item4" << "item5";

ui->comboBox->addItems(itemList);
ui->comboBox->setCurrentIndex(2);
ui->comboBox->setItemData(2, QColor(Qt::red), Qt::TextColorRole);

// this is the ways to use stylesheet
// ui->comboBox->setStyleSheet("QComboBox { color: blue; font-weight: bold; }");

// this is the ways to use QPalette
QPalette pal = ui->comboBox->palette();
pal.setColor(QPalette::Text, Qt::blue);
ui->comboBox->setPalette(pal);


text:
Marshawn Lynch discusses Colin Kaepernick protest on Conan O'Brien
By David Fucillo@davidfucillo Sep 21, 2016, 7:55am PDT
Share All sharing options for: Marshawn Lynch discusses Colin Kaepernick protest on Conan O'Brien
Former Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch was on Conan O'Brien's late night show Tuesday, September 20, and he had some comments about Colin Kaepernick's protest. Lynch and Conan have had a lot of fun in the past, but they used this segment to briefly discuss the serious issues underlying Kaepernick's National Anthem protest.
Here's some video in which we see Lynch say, "With what's going on, I'd rather see him take a knee than stand up, put his hands up, and get murdered." During that statement he stands up with his hands up.
Lynch has done plenty in the Oakland communities, and it will be interesting to see if he and other athletes join in to work with Kaepernick and the community organizations the 49ers quarterback is going to financially support. Kaepernick said he would donate $1 million to charity. On Tuesday, he followed up by saying it would be $100,000 per month for ten months, and he is working up a website to offer transparency on where the money is going.
Tracking the movement Colin Kaepernick built by peacefully protesting during the National Anthem
Players Coalition invites Kaepernick, McNair to meeting
Marshawn Lynch on his support of Colin Kaepernick
Kaepernick discusses death threats, plans to track donations


I was given this link this morning and am very excited to share it with every Military Sexual Trauma survivor !!
I am very excited as a MALE that the wording in the item you will read admits males can also be victims.
Any person who freely enlists to serve the United States Armed Forces should read this; any veteran who has suffered sexual trauma-this is a very exciting break through; a mountain climbed….they admit there is sexual trauma and that PTSD is the damage.


Welcome to Pillerseetal! This valley in the heart of Austrian Tirol is not just beautiful, but also full of activities and things to do – not just skiing! Come and discover what to do in Tirol in winter with us!
Heading back to Tirol was a bit of a homecoming for me. My father's family is originally Austrian and I have spent several summers of my life near Wörthersee in Carinthia, where many uncles and aunties still lived when I was a child.
Tirol was one of the regions we drove through. As we travelled from Italian South Tyrol to Austrian Tirol, the landscape slowly changed – cities turned into villages, belfries became onion-shaped, German replaced Italian on street signs. We would see signs for Innsbruck, the regional capital. Entering Tirol meant we had almost arrived.
And the mountains. Oh, the mountains. Tirol was where the mountains were truly at their best. In summer, I could see them rising to the skies like giant slate-grey behemoths, overlooking the pristine valleys and lakes like ancestral wardens.
My family was never really into mountains – my love for mountains developed when I was well into my twenties, but back then, when I travelled through Tirol as a child, I remember wondering how those mountains would look covered in snow, and how it would be to visit Tirol in winter.
Twenty years later, I made it!
Fast forward twenty years, and I crossed the border into Tirol again. Our destination was Pillerseetal, where we would spend a week skiing, hiking and enjoying all the best of what Tirol has to offer in winter.
Pillerseetal – the name of our destination included two words that I immediately recognised, even in my rudimentary German. See, meaning lake, and Tal, valley, making Pillerseetal 'the valley of the Piller lake'.
I couldn't imagine that Pillerseetal would really exceed my wildest expectations. Not just with the beauty of its landscape, its flavours (the same flavours as my childhood) and those marvellous mountains, but also with the variety of activities and things to do, making winter truly a wonderful time to enjoy the area.
And what about summer? I guess I just need to go back, and experience it for myself.
The Alps in winter pretty much mean skiing – alpine or downhill skiing, that is. As a self-proclaimed mountain junkie, I am half ashamed to admit that I am in fact a terrible skier. I never learned to ski as a child, and I clicked on my first pair of downhill skis at the ripe old age of 31, during our trip to Iran.
Three years later, I can kind of ski – not well, by any means, but I can at least make our way downhill without panicking. Pillerseetal offers plenty of opportunities for ski lovers – Waidring, the village where we were based, is just a cable car ride away from the Steinplatte ski area, offering 42 km of slopes, including 18 km of blue pistes, ideal for us. We skied with a friendly instructor called Gary – who, strangely enough, was Australian!
Other ski areas in Pillerseetal include Saalbach near Fieberbrunn, the largest with 270 km of pistes and 60 mountain huts to choose from for a glass of weißbier between one run and another, and tiny Buchensteinwand, with 22 km of pistes, easy to reach from St.Jakob, St.Ulrich and Hochfilzen, all within a 20 minute drive from Waidring.
Snowboarding is also possible, and both Saalbach and Steinplatte have a snowpark – but if you're looking for a snowboarding instructor, make sure you book someone in advance, as there may not be one available at short notice.
One of the reasons why I was really looking forward to visiting Pillerseetal was cross-country skiing – see, I am terrible at Alpine skiing but I'm pretty good at cross-country! One of the main reasons to visit Pillerseetal is that snow is pretty much guaranteed between the end of November and Easter, making the place ideal for cross-country skiing, which is traditionally done at lower altitudes compared to Alpine skiing.
There are cross-country rings (known as loipe in German) around every village in Pillerseetal, varying in length and difficulty. The classification of cross-country rings is the same as downhill pistes – blue means easy, red is intermediate and black means hard.
You can choose between classic style, which is when you ski in 'rails' with a movement similar to walking, and skating, which is done outside the rails, and it is considerably faster (and also harder!) If you've never tried cross-country skiing before, we recommend starting with some lessons – classic style is definitely easier to grasp, or you can 'jump' straight into skating and enjoy a hell of a workout!
We skied at the Dorfloipe ring in Waidring with a wonderful teacher called Lisa, and in Hochfilzen, which also offers a 10 km 'Panoramaweg' – we didn't have time for that sadly, but it looked great!
The reason why we didn't have time to ski in Hochfilzen is that the main reason for our visit was a biathlon lesson at the Nordic Academy, a cross-country skiing school which also offers the opportunity to try biathlon, a discipline combining skiing and rifle shooting.
Our two hour lesson included a quick intro on the skating technique, a few trial runs learning to shoot targets with the rifle and finally a 'mini competition' where we challenged another team – and won! All in all, it was great fun.
There's no need to learn how to ski to enjoy the thrill of speed while gliding down a frozen runway – you can also do so on a toboggan! Every town in Pillerseetal has a purpose-built toboggan piste, where you can have fun at gliding up and down until late night, in some cases.
The toboggan piste in Waidring starts from the Alpengasthof Oberweißbach, a traditional mountain restaurant, and it's lit until midnight – do you know what that means, right? You can have dinner, followed by a few shots of schnapps, and than launch yourself down the toboggan run at full speed, which is exactly how we spent our first night in Waidring.
Don't forget your helmet, as you may end up taking a tumble or two if you're clumsy like me!
Skiing and tobogganing are all great fun, but it's hard to take pictures when you're zipping down the slopes! Snowshoeing is a great way to enjoy the frozen wilderness slowly, especially at sunset when the colours blending in the sky can create great photo opportunities.
It's easy enough to rent a set of snowshoes and wander around by yourself, looking for vantage points to take great pictures, but a local guide can really help find your way between snowy fields and forests. We went snowshoe hiking with Lisa, who shared some anecdotes about life in Waidring and what to do in Pillerseetal in winter and summer, before sharing some hot tea and homemade biscuits with us.
Walking with snowshoes can be really hard, especially if you spent the entire morning skiing ad your legs are reduced to jelly. If you want to experience the magic of the frozen wilderness at night, but don't want to do so with two clunky pieces of plastic under your feet, you can book Lisa to take you on a torchlight walk.
The torches (basically oversize candles) only last about one hour, so a torchlight walk is a great idea for something to do before or after dinner, for example – we walked from our base in Waidring to the Stueberl camping ground just outside town, across snowy fields with no light besides that of our candles.
One of the most unique things to do in Pillerseetal is llama trekking at Abenteuer Llama with Barbara, Ronaldo and Loriot, two friendly llamas and their human mum who call Fieberbrunn home. Despite being native of South America, llamas adapt well to the cold and snowy climate of Tirol, and llama trekking is becoming increasingly popular, not just in Pillerseetal but also in other locations across the Alps.
Barbara has three llamas – Ronaldo, Loriot and Simon, who was injured and couldn't join us on our two hour trek around the nearby Lauchsee. Trekking with llamas is a relaxing, almost meditative experience – for this reason, llamas are often used as service animals for people struggling with depression or anxiety, or for children with autism.
When you hike with llamas, you end up looking at the world differently. The landscape and the mountains weren't the primary focus of our experience – instead, we concentrated on our new furry friends, who were leading us around the frozen lake, we tried to follow their pace, and imagined to see the world through their eyes.
Normal archery experiences involve a quick briefing and a few turns at shooting arrows into a target – I do enjoy having a go at shooting with a bow and arrow, but I usually get bored rather quickly. On the other hand, archery in Waidring is a whole different story!
Marc from Bogenparcours Oberweissbach in Waidring created four trails through the woods around the village, with a total of 56 stations with 3D targets that you can practice shooting at. The targets are shaped like animals you'll find in the forest, allowing you to practice this ancient sport in a cruelty-free manner, that at the same time is a lot more exciting than shooting at a target on the wall.
There are easy targets and complicated ones, but Marc is always at hand helping you aim, or even teaching you how to shoot two arrows at the same time!
The village of St. Ulrich am Pillersee houses the yearly International Sled Dog Camp, an event gathering mushers and fluffy huskies from all over Europe, and turning this lakeside village into a little slice of Alaska. The camp lasts for two weeks and there are several events taking place – including bonfire gatherings, igloo buildings and naturally a big husky race!
We only had time to visit the Camp very briefly, but we were lucky to see some of the dog teams practicing for the race which was due to take place the following day… and we got a little homesick for Salla in Finland, where we had the best dogsledding experience ever!
There's nothing like a sauna after cross-country skiing!
As I'm sure you've noticed, visiting Pillerseetal in winter (and even the rest of Tirol, for that matter) means getting active! After spending the whole day in the snow, there's only one thing to soothe weary bones – a nice hot sauna.
We stayed at Alpegg Chalets, which all came with their own individual Bio Sauna with essential oils, but most hotels around Waidring seem to have an in-house SPA, and the opportunity to organise in-house massages.
Eating is truly one of the best things about Tirol! Since my family is from next door in Carinthia, I was already well accustomed with some of the specialties featured on restaurant menus – like cheesy käsespätzle, small dumplings in a cheese sauce, Tiroler Gröstl, a meat, potato and onion fry-up topped with a fried egg, and knödel of all shapes and sizes.
Tiroler cuisine is traditionally very meat-heavy, but vegetarians need not worry, as every restaurant offers salads, vegetable-based soups and lots of cheese-based specialties. If not, there's always dessert – make sure you try kaiserchmarrn, a cut-up pancake serves with jam or cream, or strudel!
Two great restaurants to sample Tiroler cuisine in Waidring are Schneidermann and recently-opened Sendlhof, both highly recommended!
You're given a hat-shaped pot, with the rim full of vegetables and steaming broth. The sides of the 'hat' have tiny hooks, where you can hang pieces of meat or vegetables which are slowly cooked by the steaming broth. You must remember not to drop veg or meat into the broth, or you have to have a shot of schnapps!
The second 'memorable' dinner was our final one at Forellenranch, where we ate in a small wooden hut with a fire at its centre, kind of like a Finnish kota. There was a barbecue on the fire and we took turns cooking our favourite meat, fish and vegetables, accompanied by schnapps and weißbier, of course!
Our base in Waidring were the super cute and cozy Alpegg Chalets, all built by hand and individually decorated by Conny and her husband, a local young couple. There are three chalets in total, all sleeping four in two separate rooms, with a back verandah including a private sauna and a sun bed to lounge in.
The chalets were bright and stylish, combining traditional wooden furniture with design pieces like Kartell chairs and locally-made art. What we loved best were the unique touches that Conny left for all her guests – hand-written thank you messages, fresh bread delivered each morning, and she even made a little tub of organic toothpaste for me when I told her I forgot to pack mine!
We loved staying at Alpegg Chalets – the central location meant we didn't have to walk much to reach the slopes or any of the points of interest around Waidring, and we were always glad to head back to the soft couches and comfy beds after a day of winter adventures around Tirol!
Pillerseetal is located in the northwestern corner of Tirol, close to the German border. The closest airport is Salzburg, about an hour away, otherwise the best choice is Munich, which is about a two-hour drive.
If you're travelling to Pillerseetal by train, the best station to get off at is Fieberbrunn. You can reach it by getting off at Wörgl, a busy station on the railway line connecting Northern Italy to Munich, and changing to a local train. Travel time from Verona to Wörgl is about 4 hours, plus a further hour to Fieberbrunn.
This post was brought to you as a result of the #BlogVille Europe campaign, created and managed by iambassador in partnership with Tirol.
Love this! Especially the Lama walk! I just go skiing there, didn't know there is so much else to do.
Oh yes! The lama walking is just amazing, and kids will love it!
Io scio molto meglio di te 😛 Che bella settimana abbiamo trascorso a Pillerseetal!
Not true 😛 Next time we head to Pillerseetal I'll show you who's boss!