text:
Nancy Berns Ph.D.
Freedom to Grieve
We Can Carry Grief and Joy Together
You have the ability to hold complicated emotions.
Find a therapist to heal from grief
Settling back in the chair, Tim talks about his wife Leah, who died 15 years ago. "There's not a day that goes by without me thinking about her. You know, 'What would she look like today? Would she still be working?' You just kind of think about what our life might have been like. 'What would she think about this? What would she say about that?' And a lot of times you just don't want to think about it because, you know, she's gone, I've got somebody else, let's just keep going on with life."
I ask him, "Does it surprise you that you think about her every day?"
He replies, "No. No. We were just too close for me to not think of her."
In our conversation, Tim describes a bond he continues to have with Leah, even though she died many years ago. These examples, plus more that he shares, might be enough for some to echo familiar myths about grief, such as, he has no closure, he is stuck in his grief, or he is suffering from a disorder.
But Tim would tell you that he is doing just fine. He is happily remarried and enjoys grandchildren, friends, and a fulfilling job. Yes, he misses Leah yet, but that makes sense to him. He loved her. He still does.
That does not mean Tim is "stuck" in his grief. He enjoys his current life, but Leah is still part of his family. The mother of his children. His first love.
We have the capacity to carry complicated emotions. Remembering people who have died is not disrespectful to those still living. And it does not keep us from living a full life and loving others. This may be hard to understand unless you have experienced it.
Before his wife died, Tim assumed people "got over" a death fairly quickly. Sure, the first year is really hard, he thought, but then it will be in the past. Not until Leah died did he realize how grief lingers.
Tim now has a different understanding of grief. He shares, "Imagine if you basically had your heart ripped out. And it hurts, it really hurts, and then it scabs over. And as it scabs over, you know, the pain is less but any little thing knocks the scab off. As time goes by, it takes more to knock the scab off. But when it gets knocked off, then it hurts just as bad as it did the first time. So it's been 15 years now and the scab is pretty well on there, but it could still get knocked off. And it hurts."
Part of our ongoing grief comes from milestone loss. There are special times, milestone events in our lives, when the absence of loved ones is particularly painful. We can still have joy in those events, such as getting married, having children, or watching graduations. But there is also the intense presence of loss when you know someone else should have been there to experience the joy with you.
Milestone loss can be especially hard for parents. When a child dies, say at age three, parents do not just lose a toddler. They lose a kindergartener, a first grader, a high school graduate, a mother or father of grandchildren, and a future caretaker.
How can you help? Do not pressure people to forget, move on, find closure, or get over a loss. If he or she wants to share stories, listen. If a person starts to cry, do not worry. Tears mark our love and pain, but they do not prevent joy. Sometimes, just acknowledging that you also remember can bring comfort.
If you are the one living with a loss, give yourself permission to grieve. It is okay.
We do not "get over" a death. We learn to carry the grief and integrate loss into our lives. In time, the grief becomes lighter, but still remains. At any point, something may knock off the scab on one's heart. And it hurts.
In our hearts and minds, we carry forward those who have died. We grieve because we loved. We remember because we still love, even as we bring new relationships—and new love—into our lives.
In the end, we want hope, love, and joy to be stronger than grief. Still, there is room to carry sorrow and joy together. Just ask Tim.
Grief Essential Reads
Grief at the Holidays
How to Help Someone in Grief This Holiday Season
Nancy Berns, Ph.D., is an associate professor of Sociology at Drake University and the author of Closure: The Rush to End Grief and What It Costs Us.
homepage, Twitter
Why We Need to Move Beyond the Idea of Closure
Can You Be Stuck in Grief?
Why People Hate "Closure"
Loss: 4 Ways to Move Forward and Counter If-Only Guilt
Why Do We Rush Grief?
The Myth of Closure
When Is Depression Not Depression? Part 4
Mourning Dawns Online: Creating Virtual Space for Grief
Why the Five Stages of Grief Are Wrong
Why Losing a Parent Hurts So Much, No Matter Your Age
Brain Injury Grief Is Extraordinary Grief


text:
Q: Drop Caps, but Capitalize First Letter with CSS The database provides all caps for the title of products.  They need to transformed to lower case, except the first letter.
What's a pure CSS approach that can work with IE8+, Safari 5+ (IE7 optional)?
Legacy code of my system:

THIS IS THE TITLE OF AN OBJECT

*

*Original: THIS IS THE TITLE OF AN OBJECT

*Desired CSS changes  This is the title of an object

A: Try something like this:

.TextToFix {
    text-transform:lowercase;
}

.TextToFix:first-letter {
    text-transform:uppercase;
}

MY PRODUCT

Should work back to IE 5.5.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Roundabout Theatre Company's Cabaret Offers Workshop To Milwaukee High School Students
February 22, 2016 Michael J. Roberts
The Marcus Center for the Performing Arts and Milwaukee Public Schools continue to team up for a new outreach program called Arts Connect. The Center is thrilled to continue to offer this program to area youth and is working with Roundabout Theatre Company'sCabaret to offer an acting workshop for students at MPS' Milwaukee High School of the Arts. This program is designed to allow these students to experience the various aspects of the performing arts including exploration of various college and career possibilities. Students will work with a cast member from the touring production on Thursday, February 25 at 9:00 am at the MPS' Milwaukee High School of the Arts.
These special opportunities with Broadway shows are made possible due to the partnership of Associated Bank and their support as the premier partner of the Marcus Center. Without their contributions as our Broadway series sponsor to bring these shows to Milwaukee, the outreach programs during this diverse season wouldn't have been possible.
The acting workshop on Thursday, February 25 will encourage the students to step into someone else's shoes for a day! In this hands-on participatory workshop, students and groups will explore how an actor uses physical and vocal choices to create a character inspired by those we meet in Cabaret. Students will use improvisation, tableau, and movement to discover how posture, movement, pitch, etc. can be adjusted to create a fully realized character onstage. They will also learn historical context of Cabaret and how this affects the creating a character.
The Arts Connect outreach program will continue throughout the year with the Marcus Center's upcoming Associated Bank Broadway at the Marcus Center series and Off Broadway 2015/2016 season.
For more information on the Arts Connect program and other community outreach engagement programs, visit www.marcuscenter.org/outreach/engagement.
ABOUT THE MARCUS CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
Established in 1969, the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts is the premier performing arts community gathering space in Southeastern Wisconsin. As the Marcus Center moves into its 47th year, it continues to build bridges between diverse members of our community through high-quality arts entertainment in the region and the state. The touring Broadway series, sponsored by Associated Bank, is recognized as bringing the best of Broadway entertainment to Milwaukee for the past 20 years and provides opportunities to educate, entertain and engage audiences. The Marcus Center is also the home to the Milwaukee Symphony, Milwaukee Ballet, Florentine Opera, First Stage plus a variety of other important community and family events throughout the year. For more information about events visit the Marcus Center website at www.MarcusCenter.org. The Marcus Center is a private non-profit 501(c) 3 corporation and is a dedicated veterans memorial in Milwaukee.
ABOUT ASSOCIATED BANC-CORP
Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE: ASB) has total assets of $27 billion and is one of the top 50, publicly traded, U.S. bank holding companies. Headquartered in Green Bay, Wis., Associated is a leading Midwest banking franchise, offering a full range of financial products and services in over 200 banking locations serving more than 100 communities throughout Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota, and commercial financial services in Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Texas. Associated Bank, N.A. is an Equal Housing Lender, Equal Opportunity Lender and Member FDIC. More information about Associated Banc-Corp is available atwww.associatedbank.com.
« A Red Orchid's THE MUTILATED Serves up a Gumbo of Comic Tragedy
New images for Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher's ROMEO AND JULIET at Lyric Opera »

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
import { tracklistIdForUserLikes, tracklistIdForUserTracks } from '../utils';

describe('users', () => {
  describe('utils', () => {
    const userId = 123;

    describe('tracklistIdForUserLikes()', () => {
      it('should return generated tracklist id using provided user id', () => {
        const expectedTracklistId = `users/${userId}/likes`;
        expect(tracklistIdForUserLikes(userId)).toBe(expectedTracklistId);
      });
    });

    describe('tracklistIdForUserTracks()', () => {
      it('should return generated tracklist id using provided user id', () => {
        const expectedTracklistId = `users/${userId}/tracks`;
        expect(tracklistIdForUserTracks(userId)).toBe(expectedTracklistId);
      });
    });
  });
});

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The Uttar Pradesh state government has started a new scholarship scheme UP Scholarship 2017-18 for the needy yet meritorious students across the state. The scholarship will be given to all the students from pre-matric that is school level to post-matric that is from 11th standard to post graduation as well as doctorate courses.
UP scholarship program has been set up with association with institutions in the state. For the post-matric courses such as post graduation and doctorate the program has associated with institution out of the state too. The online portal UP Scholarship and Fee Reimbursement Online System is being established by the state government of UP for better administration of the program.
To get the scholarship in Uttar Pradesh the applicant has to apply through online registration. The online registration for a new applicant was held from 1 June 17 to 31 Aug 17. The students who are already registered with the scholarship plan are required to renew their scholarship tenure for another year. The dates for renewal of the scholarship started from 1 June 17 and ended on 31 Jul 17.
Last date to apply for the renewal of post-matric students is 28 Sep 17. Within 3 days of submitting the form online students can rectify the information (if entered any wrong details). Last date for submitting the print out of the online form to the college authority is 4 Oct17. The transfer of benefit will be held by the Jan 18.
The Pre-matric section in the UP scholarship program covers the students who are in school level. Children who are studying in school from class 1 to class 10 are considered under the pre-matric section.
As mentioned that the applicant must be in school. She/he has to study in 1st to 10th standard.
Qualification: The applicant has to be a student of state / central government run school, government undertaking schools or any educational institution recognised by government.
Under post-matric, applicants who are student of 11th standard, 12th standard, Under Graduation, Post Graduation and also doctorate courses are being considered as eligible candidates.
Qualification: There are 575 courses in total that are being sponsored under UP Scholarship program. The entire courses are divided into 4 broad groups. On the basis of these groups the amount of scholarship is being paid to the students.
Family Income: The family income, unlike the pre-matric, is less than Rs. 2, 00,000/- for all the categories. Whether the applicant belongs to general, minor, SC, ST or OBC category, the annual family income must not exceed Rs. 2, 00,000/- to eligible for the program.
Registered Institution: Unlike the pre-matric section, here in post-matric section the institution or the college has to be registered with Online Master Database. If any college / institution / university failed to do so, the student, studying under the institution will not be eligible for scholarship. To register in Online Master Database college authorities have to give written application.
Students are required to fill up an online form to apply for the scholarship http://scholarship.up.nic.in/RegistrationNew.aspx. There is no offline mode of application for this program. For the post-matric students there are few steps to be considered while applying for the scholarship.
Step 1: This is for all the students (pre-matric and post-matric). Visit the official website of the scholarship authority. Find and fill up the online form given for the program in the website. One must enter all the mandatory information in the form.
Step 2: The Post-matric students are needed to take the print out of the filled up form and submit it to the college / institution / university authority for further process.
Step 3: The authority will verify the given information with the online details and other documents produced by the students to the college authority. Once the verification is completed the forms will be forwarded to higher authority by the college. For the pre-matric students, all these steps are done by the school authority.
For the students studying in 11th and 12th standard, the application and renewal process will be same as pre-matric. Only the UG, PG and Doctoral students will have to follow the steps mentioned above.
For the existing applicants, there is a unique registration ID for each of the student. This ID was generated and sent to the student at the time of fresh application. The students who are willing to renew the scholarship program can use the registration ID to log in to the website and apply for the renewal.
Uttar Pradesh Technical University or UPTU is established by the state government of UP. It is a university that offers various schemes and scholarship programs for the students studying under the university. Under this university students who are the batch toppers, rank holders and other position holder in various exams will be provided special schemes for competitive exams like GRE/Advanced GRE/GATE/GMAT/IAS and many more.
There are a number of courses and examinations held under this university. They are NTSE or National Talent Search Examination, UPSTSE or Uttar Pradesh Science and Technology Scholarship Examination and many others.
The applicants who have already applied for the scholarship but didn't get any further instruction or information from the authority can check their application status online. Visit the official website http://scholarship.up.nic.in/. In the top menu bar, the applicants will get the 'Status' tab. By clicking on the tab, the applicant will be redirected to the login page where registration number and date of birth must be entered to know the status of the application. As of now only 2016-17 status are being showing. Current year data is not available yet.
General: Total number of beneficiaries (Pre + Post Matric) is 43 Lac. Total granted scholarship amount is Rs. 380 Cr. (Approx) for both the pre-matric and post-matric students.
Scheduled Caste: Total number of beneficiaries (pre + post matric) is 110 Lac (approx). The granted scholarship amount is Rs. 435 Cr. (Approx).
Scheduled Tribe: Total number of beneficiaries (pre + post matric) is 2 Lac (approx). The granted scholarship amount is Rs. 10 Cr. (Approx).
Minority: Total number of beneficiaries (pre + post matric) is 42 Lac (approx). The granted scholarship amount is Rs. 200 Cr. (Approx).
Other Backward Class: Total number of beneficiaries (pre + post matric) is 170 Lac (approx). The granted scholarship amount is Rs. 950 Cr. (Approx).
The scholarship scheme in UP has witnessed a sharp success in past years. The more than Rs. 2000 Cr project has been started to enhance the educational system in the state. Those who have financial barriers and are unable to pursuit their higher studies can now easily take up more courses with the scholarship program. For the school students in remote rural areas or backward regions the UP scholarship 2017 program will wide open the path for education.


text:
Вибори Європарламенту в Чехії в 2009 році проходили 5 та 6 червня. Замість колишніх 24 представників від Чехії до нового складу Європарламенту повинні були увійти 22 депутати. Явка на виборах склала 28,22 %.

Результати

Посилання

 Депутати Європарламенту від Чехії на сайті Європарламенту

2009 у Чехії
Червень 2009
Вибори в Чехії
Вибори до Європарламенту 2009

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Mike Ryan comes from a family of creative-types, and it shows.
In fact, it was the combined interests and talents of him, his mom (an artist) and his dad (a musician), that led to the creation of GuitarGrip Guitar Hangers.
Based out of Plymouth, the popular invention allows musicians to mount a hand-shaped hanger to the wall to "hold" their guitars.
First launching in 2007, the family-owned business has grown a lot over the past 12 years. They design, manufacture, and market the grips right out of their metro Detroit facility, and sell them around the world.
Last week, Mike Ryan stopped by the MusicTown Detroit studios for an interview with Pam Rossi on Behind the Mic, where he talked about the trial and error of innovation and entrepreneurship that resulted in a successful company.
"Looking back, we definitely paid our dues as far as the 'homegrown' manufacturing process," Ryan told Rossi of the company's early days. "This whole process was key, because I was like, 'Somebody's not going to buy a second or third one of these if it doesn't function properly.'"
Watch Mike Ryan's entire interview with Pam Rossi below.


text:
© 2013 Carlos Otis Clinic
ORA Web Design
9:00 am – 5:00 pm,
At the base of
For same day appointments
Treatment of medical & orthopedic conditions • All ages welcome • Board Certified Physicians • X-ray on site • AEDs located at key areas
The Carlos Otis Clinic, established in 1971, was formed to provide both general and urgent care to the Stratton Mountain community during the ski season. The Clinic is an independent non-profit organization that provides emergency medical services and scheduled appointments. Our medical staff is made up of a full time professional nursing staff and an all-volunteer roster of Board Certified surgeons and physicians.
Patient fees do not cover the operating costs of the Clinic. Your charitable tax deductible gift helps to insure consistent,
high-quality care for all of us who enjoy the mountain. We invite you to support our efforts by making a charitable contribution.
The Carlos Otis Clinic was formed in 1971 thanks to the generosity and vision of the late E. Phillip Snyder, Jr. the brother of Stratton Mountain Resort's founder, Frank V. Snyder, and our founding Medical Director and local medical legend, Dr. Carlos Otis of Townshend, Vermont.
The Clinic was incorporated under the laws of Vermont as a nonprofit organization, with the intent to provide medical services to the Stratton community. A Board of Directors was appointed to guide all Clinic operations. Our facility was erected on land donated by the Stratton Corporation, and construction was funded by loans from Phil Snyder and the Stratton Corporation, and donations from various interested parties. The Clinic opened for operation on January 2, 1972.
"Emergency medical care right here on the mountain."
For many years, the Clinic has been serving Stratton skiers in a much-unheralded manner. It seems as though the only guests who are aware of the Clinic are skiers and boarders who have been injured. Since 1971, the Clinic has served thousands of skiers and boarders, setting broken bones, realigning dislocated shoulders, performing Advanced Life Support, stitching lacerations, treating sore throats and helping with a myriad of other maladies.
www.carlosotisclinic.org
From fractures to life-threatening events, from ear aches to stomach aches, from sore throats to sore muscles, our patients benefit from the highest level of care, right here at the base of Stratton Mountain.


text:
Q: Perform multiple operations on one element using XSLT stylesheet I am pretty new to XSLT stylesheets to transform XML and I need this for a larger BI project.
I have the following XML structure:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16" standalone="no"?>
<zylab>
    <document version="1.1" guid="{00A4A300-E76C-4373-A35B-1D2F0FF1336B}" date="20110908" time="08:48:52.436" size="2464" path="D:\ZYIMAGE DATA\INDEX DATA\EMD\TXT\2011\36\00000000\" name="00000GFP.TXT" key="">
        <fields>
            <field id="Document_datum">20110830</field>
            <field id="Document_type">value</field>
            ...
        </fields>
    </document>
</zylab>

which I would like to transform using XSLT to this format
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<zylab>
    <document version="1.1" guid="{00A4A300-E76C-4373-A35B-1D2F0FF1336B}" date="20110908" time="08:48:52.436" size="2464" path="D:\ZYIMAGE DATA\INDEX DATA\EMD\TXT\2011\36\00000000\" name="00000GFP.TXT" key="" />
    <fields Document_datum="20110830" Document_type="value" ... />
</zylab>

So far I have been able to get part of it going, using the following XSLT:
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">

    <!--Identity template, provides default behavior that copies all content into the output -->
    <xsl:template match="@*|node()">
        <xsl:copy>
            <xsl:apply-templates select="@*|node()"/>
        </xsl:copy>
    </xsl:template>

  <!-- copy node one level up -->
  <xsl:template match="fields">
    <xsl:copy>
        <xsl:apply-templates select="child::node()[not(self::field)]"/>
    </xsl:copy>
    <xsl:apply-templates select="field"/>
  </xsl:template>

  <!-- transpose elements to attributes -->
  <xsl:template match="fields">
    <xsl:element name="fields">
      <xsl:for-each select="*">
        <xsl:attribute name="{@id}">
          <xsl:value-of select="text()"/>
        </xsl:attribute>
      </xsl:for-each>
    </xsl:element>
  </xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

The problem is the fragments do work independently, but I fail to get it to perform both operations on the same element.
Output depends on the order of my fragments, the latter is always applied. If I comment out one of them the other seems to work OK.
Does anybody here know how to rework my XSLT to perform both operations on the fields element in order to merge it's fields child elements to attributes and move the fields element to the same leven as the document element?

A: How about simply:
XSLT 1.0
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
<xsl:output method="xml" version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" indent="yes"/>
<xsl:strip-space elements="*"/>

<!-- identity transform -->
<xsl:template match="@*|node()">
    <xsl:copy>
        <xsl:apply-templates select="@*|node()"/>
    </xsl:copy>
</xsl:template>

<!-- convert each field to an attribute of parent element (fields)  -->
<xsl:template match="field">
    <xsl:attribute name="{@id}">
        <xsl:value-of select="."/>
    </xsl:attribute>
</xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

Note that this assumes that the content of the id attribute is suitable to form a valid attribute name.

Edit:
If you want to move the fields element to be a sibling of document, add one more template:
<!-- move fields to be a sibling of document -->
<xsl:template match="document">
    <xsl:copy>
        <xsl:apply-templates select="@*"/>
    </xsl:copy>
    <xsl:apply-templates select="fields"/>
</xsl:template>

Edit 2:

it seems my BI (Microsoft SSIS) XSLT transformation does not like the
  strip-space macro: But it seems pretty relevant to the transformation
  as w/o it it does not work at all. Is there any alternative solution?

It's hard to tell what a non-conforming processor will or won't do. Try adding yet one more template:
<xsl:template match="fields">
    <xsl:copy>
        <xsl:apply-templates select="field"/>
    </xsl:copy>
</xsl:template>

or replace this template:
<!-- convert each field to an attribute of parent element (fields)  -->
<xsl:template match="field">
    <xsl:attribute name="{@id}">
        <xsl:value-of select="."/>
    </xsl:attribute>
</xsl:template>

with:
<xsl:template match="fields">
    <xsl:copy>
        <xsl:for-each select="field">
            <xsl:attribute name="{@id}">
                <xsl:value-of select="text()"/>
            </xsl:attribute>
        </xsl:for-each>
    </xsl:copy>
</xsl:template>

Or perhaps remove the whitespace-only text nodes using:
<xsl:template match="text()[not(string)]"/>

A: Eventually I went with a combination of my original setup and the answers from michael.hor257k, this is the XSLT stylesheet that is working both outside as well as inside my BI solution (SSIS):
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
    <xsl:output method="xml" version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" indent="yes"/>

    <!-- identity transform -->
    <xsl:template match="@*|node()">
        <xsl:copy>
            <xsl:apply-templates select="@*|node()"/>
        </xsl:copy>
    </xsl:template>

    <!-- transpose elements to attributes -->
    <xsl:template match="fields">
        <xsl:element name="fields">
            <xsl:for-each select="*">
                <xsl:attribute name="{@id}">
                    <xsl:value-of select="text()"/>
                </xsl:attribute>
            </xsl:for-each>
        </xsl:element>
    </xsl:template>

    <!-- move fields to be a sibling of document -->
    <xsl:template match="document">
        <xsl:copy>
            <xsl:apply-templates select="@*"/>
        </xsl:copy>
        <xsl:apply-templates select="fields"/>
    </xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>


Last year, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" premiered at Palace Theatre in London, leaving every city other than London Harry Potter-less. It was announced in May, however, that "Cursed Child" will be making its Broadway debut at the Lyric Theatre on April 22, 2018. And now we have a cast announcement: the lead cast from London will reprise their roles in New York.
"Cursed Child" is a two-part play that picks up the baton 19 years after "Deathly Hallows." The story follows Harry Potter, now a Ministry of Magic employee, who must reckon with his past as his son, Albus Potter, begins at Hogwarts. Along the way, Albus forges an unlikely friendship with Scorpius Malfoy, Draco's son.
You can register for tickets on Broadway starting October 1 at 10am right here.
Feature image courtesy of Pottermore.


Maruti Suzuki India introduced the third-generation WagonR hatchback on 23rd January, 2019. The hatch's new model has been doing really well for the carmaker and received over 16,000 bookings so far. While there was rumour about the 7-seater MPV version of the WagonR, a new digital rendering imagines a realistic look at what could it look like.
One must note that the carmaker has already denied any possibility of the WagonR 7-seater MPV for the Indian market due to its low demand. Just so you know, Suzuki showcased the concept version of the WagonR 7-seater MPV based on the second-generation model at the 2013 Indonesia International Motor Show.
The new Maruti WagonR 2019 has been made available in three trims – LXI, VXI and ZXI – and two petrol (1.0L and 1.2L) engine options. Prices of the 1.0L variants fall in the range of Rs 4.19 lakh – Rs 5.16 lakh, the 1.2L models are priced from Rs 4.89 lakh to Rs 5.69 lakh. All prices are ex-showroom, Delhi.


text:
Russia's pay-by-the-minute 'anti-cafés' are the next big thing in dining
By Katherine Scott| 3 years ago
Would you rather pay by the macchiato, or the minute?
The loitering struggle is real for café owners. The infamous café clinger can be spotted in coffee shops the world over, nursing or pretend-sipping the same cold cup of Joe, writing novellas or carrying out business dealings on their laptops while other paying customers queue for a free table. But a new dining concept threatens to bring the golden age of café dallying to an end.
Labelled by many as the "anti-café", a unique new dining concept offering a pay-as-you-stay system championed in Russia is rapidly proving to be the next huge global dining craze—and could spell bad news for serial loiterers.
Moscow cafés have been spruiking the business model since 2011, in which everything is free except the time you spend there, with great success. The last few years have seen the concept expand throughout Europe and, more recently, into the US.
The latest café of its kind to open in New York's trendy Williamsburg, Glass Hour, lets customers drink unlimited tea and coffee, snack on bottomless granola bars, cookies and treats, and play as many video games, board games and foosball games as they want for around $8 (US$6) in the first hour, and 15 cents (US 10 cents) per minute after that. If you stay longer than four hours ($31 – US$24) the rest of your time there is free.
Despite the hands of time looming over you during your stay, it's designed to be relaxed space for creatives and friends to gather and linger without guilt or pressure to finish your cuppa and leave.
(Cafe patrons at Glass Hour, Williamsburg. Image: Facebook/@glasshour.nyc)
Cafe patrons at Glass Hour, Williamsburg. Image: Facebook/@glasshour.nyc
Europe has its own pay-as-you-stay iteration, Ziferblat (derived from zifferblatt, literally Russian and German for "clock face"). Patrons of the UK branches in Manchester, Liverpool and trendy Shoreditch check in like hotel guests, registering their time of arrival, and are charged 10 cents (6p) by the minute—watch the clip above for a tour of the venue.
The venues mimic your grandma's house, with cushy furnishings and homely communal spaces. Customers become micro-tenants—they can help themselves to Wi-Fi, food and beverages, host (non-alcoholic) events, play with the games and musical instruments provided. They're also expected to wash up after themselves and respect other patrons.
Unlike some other cafes, Ziferblat don't have a one-hour minimum in place, leaving them open to exploitation—customers popping in for a quick, three-minute gorge-fest, and exiting having only paid around 30 cents. And yet despite this gaping loophole, the venues (which opened in early 2014) are now turning a profit.
Image: www.ziferblat.co.uk
Ziferblat's Liverpool branch has even gone a step further to launch an additional pay-what-you-feel "honesty box" for takeaway coffees, designed for customers in a hurry. Yep, they're not too worried about money at this joint, it seems. "There is no minimum spend, we are trying to build trust with our guests," Ziferblat's marketing manager Ben Davies told The Liverpool Echo.
The concept is not without its pitfalls—marketed as an "anti-café", there is a lingering negative perception of customers being chased out the door via the introduction of time costs. But considering the recent stink Down Under around $20+ smashed avocado on toast supposedly triggering a millennial housing affordability crisis, perhaps this innovative concept is just what the Aussie market has been waiting for.


For over three decades, Dr. Bobby Jones (aka "Mr. Gospel") has helped to revolutionize gospel music. Born of humble beginnings in Henry County, TN, Jones always dreamed of a career in music. He excelled academically, graduating from TSU and earning a doctorate from Vanderbilt University.
Dr. Jones started in television at WSM-TV in Nashville in 1976. He soon became credited with taking gospel music to the mainstream airwaves. Best known as host and executive producer of BET's longest running show, Bobby Jones Gospel, for over 35 years, Jones' stage has showcased the best of the best in Gospel and helped to launch many careers. His generosity and love for higher learning caused him to donate a tape library worth over one million dollars to his alma-mater, TSU.
When not writing, producing and hosting television shows Jones can be heard on the Bobby Jones Gospel Radio Show and the Bobby Jones Gospel Countdown. He and his choirs have recorded over 15 albums over the years and have received many GRAMMY®, Stellar, Dove and Soul Train awards nominations and wins. Other notable achievements include The Gabriel Award winner, GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductee, a Music City Walk of Fame star and his title as Dominica's Ambassador at Large. Dr. Jones has worked relentlessly to bring his love for Gospel music to the world. He has invested his life in spotlighting others with no sign of slowing down.


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Author Archives: psong
White Cane Day and Disability Mentoring Day celebrate independence of individuals with disabilities posted on Oct 19
Help blind pedestrians while you drive By MCB Commissioner Janet LaBreck The white cane is a symbol of independence reflecting an individual who is blind's ability to travel independently. Governor Deval L. Patrick has officially proclaimed October 15th as White Cane Safety Day in the …Continue Reading White Cane Day and Disability Mentoring Day celebrate independence of individuals with disabilities
Don't Give Up, Be Persistent: Lessons from Disability Mentoring Day at City Hall posted on Oct 19
By Daniela Trammell, director of marketing at MRC Last week the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC), the City of Boston, and a number of local businesses assembled in Boston's City Hall to celebrate "Disability Mentoring Day." This event affirmed the joint partnership between MRC and the City, both …Continue Reading Don't Give Up, Be Persistent: Lessons from Disability Mentoring Day at City Hall
September is Healthy Aging Month: Time to Stretch and Smile posted on Sep 18
By Executive Office of Elder Affairs Secretary Ann L. Hartstein Two years ago, the Executive Office of Elder Affairs developed an "Aging Agenda," underscoring the fact that aging begins at birth and is a lifelong process. Based on nine principles for improving the quality of …Continue Reading September is Healthy Aging Month: Time to Stretch and Smile
Community partnership addresses important barriers for DYS youth posted on Sep 18
By Daisy Gomez-Hugenberger, communications coordinator for the Department of Youth Services Through an enduring government and nonprofit partnership, youth engaged with the Department of Youth Services (DYS) are receiving leadership and employment training from social enterprise More Than Words (MTW). Since 2006, More Than Words (MTW) has …Continue Reading Community partnership addresses important barriers for DYS youth
Childcare for Refugee Populations: Partnerships for Increased Access posted on Aug 30
By: Diane M. Randolph, Director, Community Building Unit/ Massachusetts Office for Refugees and Immigrants (ORI) There is a well-known African adage: It takes a village to raise a child. Seemingly this phrase hasn't lost its accuracy. The United States has consistently received an influx of …Continue Reading Childcare for Refugee Populations: Partnerships for Increased Access
MCDHH and MRC's Transition to Work Program 2012 posted on Aug 29
By Commissioner Heidi Reed For the second consecutive summer, the Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (MCDHH), in collaboration with the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC) offers Summer Transition to Work services from June to September 2012. Sixty Deaf and Hard of Hearing …Continue Reading MCDHH and MRC's Transition to Work Program 2012
Worcester Recovery Center and Hospital opens today: New facility reflects new frontier for mental health posted on Aug 16
By DMH Commissioner Marcia Fowler Today marks the official opening of the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) Worcester Recovery Center and Hospital (WRCH). The new, state-of-the-art facility represents an evolution in modern public psychiatric care and treatment and reflects a remarkable collaboration among scores …Continue Reading Worcester Recovery Center and Hospital opens today: New facility reflects new frontier for mental health
DYS state-wide training event celebrates staff and client achievement posted on Jul 31
By DYS Commissioner Edward Dolan The dedication and efforts of DYS staff are critically important to the mission of impacting the lives of youth in our care. We recently recognized our employee's work by honoring more than 100 DYS clinicians, caseworkers, district managers and resource …Continue Reading DYS state-wide training event celebrates staff and client achievement
On the 22nd anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a resolve to continue championing all rights of all individuals with disabilities posted on Jul 25
By MRC Commissioner Charles Carr As we approach 22nd Anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) this Thursday, now is an ideal opportunity to reflect on the progress we have made. The ADA, a broad civil rights law for people with …Continue Reading On the 22nd anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a resolve to continue championing all rights of all individuals with disabilities
Fostering youth development at DCF's Annual Youth Summit posted on Jul 24
By DCF Commissioner Angelo McClain On July 19 the Department of Children and Families (DCF) hosted the agency's annual Foster Youth Summit for youth in our care. We were honored to be joined by Governor Patrick and Secretary Bigby to kick off this event. More …Continue Reading Fostering youth development at DCF's Annual Youth Summit


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sundance reviews & recap
January 28, 2019 by Caroline Given
I was thrilled I got to attend my first Sundance Film Festival this year. I've been a film freak since birth and it's always been a dream trip for me. Before departing, I was nervous that I'd end up schlepping through the sub-arctic conditions of Utah without getting to see any films at all and feel a bit ripped off by the experience. I never thought that I would get to see nearly every film at the top of my bucket list or that I would be so completely charmed by Park City.
films & shorts
Honey Boy
Seeing Honey Boy was unforgettable. My boyfriend and I lucked out and got #6 and #7 on an 150 person waitlist for a last minute, intimate screening at the remote Sundance Mountain Resort. It was a 40 minute drive away from civilization and we essentially had to hitchhike our way back to Park City after but the entire experience was well worth it. Indisputably, the power of the film was that it was a (only slightly) fictionalized version of Shia LaBeouf's own story. Honey Boy centers around the character of Otis, a grown up child actor who winds up in court-ordered rehab. The majority of the story is conveyed in flashbacks to Otis' youth where we witness the near constant abuse he endured at the hands of his "hired chaperone" father, a former rodeo clown and addict played by Shia himself. The performance is both brilliant and devastating. Shia, FKA Twigs, Byron Bowers (someone to really watch), and the director Alma Har'el actually came to the screening and did a Q&A after. The director shared that Shia had wrote the script and sent it to her in an email while in rehab following his 2017 arrest. I asked Shia if it was healing to watch his story take place on screen like this. To paraphrase his answer, he responded that it was not healing to watch because of "how much of a narcissist he is". He later amended his answer that acting it out was the aspect that was most healing.
The Inventor was one of the more buzzed about documentaries at Sundance. Elizabeth Holmes is a controversial and fascinating figure and I was intrigued to get a fresh perspective on her. I thought the documentary had some significant plot issues, used redundant footage, and ran too long. I also was curious why they chose to leave out some juicer details about Elizabeth Holmes' life that are all easily accessible online. The documentary gave barely any perspective into her family life or childhood (no mention of the fact that her father was a vice president at Enron?). They also glossed over her romantic history with Ramesh Balwani, whom she met while she was 18 and he was 37 and still married and not in 2009 when he joined Theranos as the documentary implied. I'm not sure if this was intentional so as to not have the film appear to be a biased character assassination or if Holmes' legal team got to them. Although I found the archival footage of Thomas Edison to be a little much and the whole theme of her as "an inventor" to be inconsistent throughout, one aspect that I did enjoy was the insight into Holmes' bigger vision. Her theory was that a more efficient blood work process in which people were able to get labs done quickly and with more frequency would eventually mean that this data could all be compiled into a sort of "movie" so that an individual could get a better sense of their own health and predict outcomes more successfully. Pretty revolutionary.
Midnight Family
One of the people I went to Sundance with was the cousin of the director of Midnight Family. The documentary details the lives of the Ochoa family who run a private ambulance in Mexico City, where there are only 45 government-run ambulances servicing a city of 9 million people. For a film exposing the brutality of a system in which private ambulances are racing on another to get to gruesome accidents first, I expected to see some stomach-churning scenes. I agree with other critics of the film when they say that the strength of this documentary, along with being beautifully shot, lies in its restraint to not show the gory details. Some of the most horrifying stories take place off screen, through one of the paramedics giving his girlfriend the play-by-play over the phone after work. Even the visuals for the most harrowing moments given on-screen are shown with respect and moderation: the hand of a baby reaching out into the camera's view and finally hearing him wailing after he is resuscitated following about 15 seconds of bone-chilling silence when the paramedic could not find his heart beat. Not only is this more effective storytelling, it's more human storytelling. There is an understanding by the filmmaker and those being filmed that they are working alongside the tragedy of real people. There was also the layer of moral complexity added by the fact that the Ochoa family is also impoverished, partially due to the police force requiring them to pay bribes in order to operate and for providing services that many are ultimately unable to pay them for. As an audience member, it is incredibly difficult to watch them attempt to collect payment for a patient who has just died when you have just witnessed the Ochoa's struggle to feed themselves and sleep all together on the floor of a small apartment. There is no clear villain in this situation except a corrupt and broken system.
Fast Horse
The documentary short Fast Horse gave me a snapshot into the bareback horse racing world from the perspective of a Blackfoot horseman. Even coming from a family with a competitive riding background, I had no idea the Indian Relay existed and it was thrilling to see the skill and danger involved. One of the opening moments of the short showed the jockey training by jumping rope in front of a teepee and it was one of the most exquisite shots I saw at Sundance. During the Q&A, the director stressed how importance it was to highlight indigenous people who were heroes within their own community rather than victims of systemic oppression. I think she more than accomplished this in Fast Horse. In just a thirteen minute short, you're exhilarated by the sport and uplifted by the noble spirit of the horseman she showcases.
desires of the flesh
I was dazzled by Desires of The Flesh, a Brazilian short that explored youth, sexuality, aggression, and Catholicism. Although young women are fetishized in media constantly and there are a multitude of stories detailing a boy's first erotic experiences, the story of a girl's sexual coming-of-age is rarely told, especially through the female gaze. The two actresses at the center of the short were unflinchingly raw and natural, had it been filmed with a handheld in bad lighting I could have believed I was watching a documentary about pre-teens in Brazil. But I think the biggest driving force behind the piece was that it was directed by a woman. The excitement, intensity, angst, and occasional horror of a girl discovering her sensuality was so convincingly represented, only a female director could have been behind it.
sometimes, I think about dying
As a therapist, this was one of the most accurate portrayals of depression and suicidality I've ever seen on film. Individuals who are suicidal in the cinematic universe are often depicted as hysterical, desperate, or low-functioning. Although people who experience suicidal thoughts can be all those things, the problem with those representations is that they can limit our idea of what a severely depressed person looks like. When our concept of sucidality is reduced to a caricature, it's easier for people who need help to go undetected. In this short, the main character Fran thinks of dying daily, but she is also funny and able to function. She shows that you can be suicidal and still into the idea of flirting with your coworker, that even people who think about their own death constantly aren't unidimensional drones. Fran's story also showed that there wasn't some "great tragedy" beneath her thoughts of dying like other films generally depict, which dangerously implies that a terrible event has to occur to you in order to feel suicidal. The short showcased those micro-moments of wincing embarrassment and self-hatred that you could imagine had accumulated over a lifetime and lead to a state of despair. The most poignant insight into the mind of Fran comes in the final scene when she discovers that her coworker chose to spend his birthday with her and she asks "Why?", as if the idea that someone would enjoy her company is utterly absurd. Any self-aware person who has experienced severe depression is familiar with this sensation: the feeling that you must be repulsive to others because you are repulsive to yourself. I do not believe this film had an agenda beyond art. The film was beautifully shot and the acting was flawless. However, I think it is important to acknowledge that art inherently plays a role in social change and I was pleased to see a piece at Sundance that had the potential to expand our view of mental health.
The major parts of town are very accessible by a free shuttle system and every volunteer and member of the community I talked to was authentically kind and helpful. Reservations for the most hyped restaurants (Chimayo, Adolph's, Wahso, etc.) are hard to come by but we preferred an excellent Mexican dive right next to The Ray theater called Sergio's. Most of the waitresses didn't speak English and you could see a grandmother making tortillas in the kitchen.
As far as shopping, it doesn't get more "mountain luxury" than The Gorsuch. I could easily imagine Pippa Middleton pheasant hunting in any number of the outfits displayed. Basically if you have money to blow and think that decorative antlers plucked from the wall of a German hunting manor in 1908 sound like a great gift idea, you'll be obsessed with this store. Another favorite that I found was Cake Boutique. Their clothes were cute and well curated (Elizabeth & James, Equipment, Rag & Bone, Le Superbe)but their buyer really excelled with the beauty product and lounge wear room. Think Byredo, Malin + Goetz, Barbara Sturm, Vinter's Daughter…I was in love.
January 28, 2019 /Caroline Given
sundance, sundance 2019, sundance film festival, sundance film festival 2019, honey boy, the inventor, elizabeth holmes, the gorsuch, cake boutique, park city, sundance film festival reviews, sundance reviews, sundance film reviews


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Q: Opening a popup window in the middle of the screen I have this little script and this function. I need to open a popup window every 15 minutes, like a reminder.
How can I put the target to be a popup window in the middle of the screen?
setTimeout(openUrl, 54000);
setInterval(openUrl, 54000);

function openUrl(){
   window.open('http://google.com');
}

A: You can modify the size of th opening window, if you do so, it'll be opening as a real popup
here's the code:
function openUrl(){
    window.open('http://google.com', 'test', 'height=100px;width=100px');

}

A: window.open has properties for the size and location. Example:
window.open('http://google.com', '_blank', 'height=400,width=400,top=400,left=400');

More Information


The Unvalentine by Sam Beeson and Jesse Draper. Published by Shadow Mountain.
'The Unvalentine' is a dark twist on Valentine's Day. It's about Lilly who doesn't believe in love and wish it didn't exist. She is the type of girl who would never wear pink and loves rainy days. All around her, a world that loves Valentine's Day is celebrating, and Lilly is stuck there. She absolutely dreads February. Good thing Ray hates it too! Ray is a boy who unvalentined Lilly. Now they both hate Valentine's Day but do they hate each other?
This book is very funny and I ejoyed it thoroughly. 'The Unvalentine' is made up of a lot of fun poems - it's like a picture book for adults. I think young adults will enjoy it the most. This book is wonderfully illustrated and can be read in about five minutes. Unvalentines are located in the back of the book so that you can give them to all your friends. It is a hilarious book and I would definitely recommend it to young single adults.


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You are in: Home - Authors - Ian Garbutt
Ian Garbutt
Ian Garbutt has worked in journalism and publishing. He was awarded a Scottish Arts Council New Writer's Bursary and attended Napier University, in Edinburgh, where he obtained a Master of Arts with Distinction in Creative Writing. Historical novels are his speciality, and he has published two historical novels for Piatkus under the pseudonym of Melanie Gifford.
Getting to know: Ian Garbutt
1. What inspired you to become a writer? As a boy I went through all the usual school textbooks and didn't regard reading as being different from arithmetic, geography or any other lesson. This changed when my mother signed me up to the local library and brought home a huge, full-colour book about an old woman who lived in a house in the forest with her cat. As a seven-year-old I found it absolutely enthralling. For the first time, reading was fun! After that I devoured everything I could get my hands on. I knew then that when I was "grown up" I would write books of my own. As it turned out I couldn't wait that long and wrote my first novel at age 14. It was only 40,000 words long and painfully typed out on quarto paper, but it was an enormous achievement at the time even though it will likely remain in my filing cabinet drawer.
2. What keeps you motivated as a writer? I'm so passionate about writing that motivation is seldom a problem. In fact if circumstances prevent me from writing for more than a day or so I start to get a little twitchy! I've never knowingly suffered from writer's block.
3. What's your favourite book, and why? My favourite book is the Bible as it's been a shaping force in civilisation for centuries and doesn't hold back from portraying the very best and very worst of humanity. It has also inspired and supported excellence in art, music, literature, architecture, ethics, philosophy, science, mathematics and has founded innumerable charitable institutions. It's also a gripping read and has topped the bestseller charts for generations.
4. Do you have a routine when you're writing (i.e. silence, a particular genre of music, only working in the morning, only working in your underpants?) I have no specific routine though I'm very much a coffee house writer, especially an independent coffee house as opposed to the big chains. Usually they're full of students, fellow writers and business people. The buzz can be fantastic.
5. What advice would you give to anyone who wants to be a writer? A passion for writing is vital as that will keep you going through the lean times. You have to understand that writing is an apprenticeship and it can take many years and a lot of hard work to perfect your craft. It's also important not to be too precious about your material. If a story isn't working you can always try to fix it or write something else. Improve your self-critical skills by seeking solid, constructive feedback.
6. How easy was it for you to find a publisher? You hear all sorts of doom and gloom tales about how difficult it is for new writers to achieve publication but every year the bookshops are full of debut novels. If you write a good enough book then a publisher will eventually find you. In my case attending a major writers' conference helped as I was able to interact directly with publishers and agents, and the same thing occurred when I undertook a creative writing master's degree. Word gets about and if you have a genuine talent you will be noticed.
7. What's the best experience you've had while writing a book? The act of writing itself. If I'm "in the zone" and can compose a solid chunk of good writing I'm usually on a high for the rest of the day.
8. Who are you generally writing for? Readers who are looking for an intelligent story but still want to be entertained. Also those who enjoy something a little different or quirky.
9. If you weren't a writer, what would you be? If I didn't write books I'd still want to be involved with their production. I had a ten-year career in journalism and publishing, which also interested me as a child, so I'd probably stick with that.
10. What one thing would improve your life? A better sense of empathy!
11. Where would you like to be right now, anywhere in the world? I've just been. My primary school class was shown a film of Brazil and its capital, Brasilia. I was so astonished at the space age architecture I made a boyhood vow that one day I would visit. I was 9-years-old at the time and it's taken decades to get there, but it was an ambition worth fulfilling.
12. Are any or your characters based on yourself or people you know? I'd be worried if they were! Inventing people who've never existed is part of the fun of writing fiction.
13. If you could swop lives with one of your characters, who would you choose and why? I wouldn't swap with any of them. Their lives are so challenging!
14. Have you ever regretted how you ended a story and wish you could change it? I never regret anything I've written. Sometimes I've visualised the ending before I've started the story proper. I don't write in a linear fashion but instead craft scenes from various parts of the novel which I later draw together.
15. If you weren't a writer, what would your 'dream' occupation be? A fiction editor or agent.
16. If your book was a film, who would you cast for the lead character? Rosamund Pike as Nightingale, Ray Winstone as the Fixer and Gillian Anderson as the Abbess. The other parts are up for grabs!
17. Why are books important in your opinion? They can entertain and inform at the same time. They've proved an ideal repository of human knowledge and can transport readers to other worlds, real and imagined.
18. What are you reading right now? Pulp science fiction from the 1950s.
19. Which authors do you particularly admire? Stephen King. He could write a menu for a Chinese takeaway and make it compulsive reading. Also J.K. Rowling who succeeded in showing millions of children that reading books is cool.
20. If you had a superpower what would it be? I'll go with Robert Burns and say I'd like the power to see myself how others see me.


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[email protected] Newsletter
RSIS Roundtable with Grant Newsham, Senior Research Fellow, Japan Forum for Strategic Studies, Tokyo
Amphibious Capability Development in the Indo-Pacific Region
RSIS Conference Room 2
Type: Lectures / Seminars
For Enquiries: [email protected]
Retired US Marine Col. Grant Newsham is a senior research fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies in Tokyo. He served as the first US Marine Liaison Officer to the Japan Ground Self Defense Force from 2011-2013 and was instrumental in the development of the JSDF's amphibious capability. Col. Newsham also worked with other SE Asian militaries and still consults on amphibious and defence matters in the Indo-Pacific region. He previously served at Marine Forces Pacific HQ as the reserve G2 (intelligence) and G5 (plans and policies).
Col Newsham lived in Japan for 20 years, working as a US diplomat, Marine Attaché, and in the private sector – to include as an executive director at a US investment bank. While serving with the US Foreign Service, he served at the US Embassy, Tokyo in the mid-1990's in addition to work in other countries and specialized in insurgencies and commercial matters. Col. Newsham is a lawyer with a specialty in international law and business, and previously served as co-head of the District of Columbia Bar's International Trade Committee. He speaks frequently at forums on Asian defence and business risk, and has published articles on regional defence and security issues in periodicals such as the Christian Science Monitor, Sankei Shimbun, Japan Times, and USNI Proceedings.
Organised by Maritime Security Programme, IDSS and RSIS Events Unit.
About the Speaker: Retired US Marine Col. Grant Newsham is a senior research fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies in Tokyo. He served as t ...


Venerable music player Winamp is being discontinued by parent company AOL. The announcement marks the end of an era, at least symbolically.
As a follow-up on that news, Internet radio platform SHOUTcast, developed by Winamp and housed under the Nullsoft umbrella brand, will also have its plug pulled. SHOUTcast is an Internet streaming enabler and aggregator. Its slate of about 50,000 pureplay stations is presented as an integrated feature of the Winamp desktop player, and on its own website.
The evolution of any industry has seminal moments. For digital music, one of those moments was the introduction of Winamp in 1997, the venerable desktop audio player. Initially launched as freeware that could play MP3 files, Winamp closed the gap between the existence of compressed music files (MP3) and their usability to most people.
The revolutionary aspect of MP3 was the small size of the files, and consequently their suitability for transmission over the Internet. Peer-to-peer file-sharing was part of the consequence, from Napster to emailing between friends. Another part was streaming audio through the narrow bandwidth pipes of late-1990s home connections.
All well and good, except that an MP3 file by itself did nothing -- to use an old-media analogy, it was like a CD without a CD player. Winamp, built by Justin Frankl (who also unleashed the Gnutella file-sharing protocol ... while he was an AOL employee), was the first popular MP3 desktop player, enabling early adopters to get first listens to music files. It closed a circle, and catalyzed much of what followed: file-sharing, early subscription music services like Rhapsody and eMusic, Internet-delivered music streams generally, portable MP3 players, and even iTunes, which used a different file format and desktop player.
Winamp was acquired by AOL (via Nullsoft) in 1999. That year, Nullsoft created SHOUTcast, a music-streaming protocol and self-serve platform that allowed anyone to webcast from a connected computer. SHOUTcast's influence was similar to Winamp's insofar as it introduced a new listening mode to its adopters -- in this case, pureplay streaming audio stations.
Winamp has been rocked by an eventful 15 years. The blockbuster success of iTunes and its proprietary formats shifted attention away from the MP3-oriented desktop player. Even as Winamp adapted to handle emerging file formats, it could not play Apple's locked-up DRM files during the first five years of the iTunes Music Store's growth. The smartphone's rise (thanks again to Apple) migrated listening activity off the desktop, and Winamp adjusted by extending to mobile apps. It also developed a strong European user base in the last few years.
But the rise of streaming services like Spotify and Pandora have further skewered Winamp's core competency of playing locally stored music files. Access is creeping up on ownership as a means of consuming music, and AOL's decision verifies a growing sense that Winamp's days are numbered. AOL announced that program development will be discontinued on December 20.
Of course, existing installations of the freeware version will remain functional. The termination of SHOUTcast has more severe implications, as that service furnishes live programming.
TechCrunch reported a rumor that Microsoft might snap up both Winamp and SHOUTcast. If it plays out that way, it will be second time that recently-discarded AOL Music properties found a new home. In June of this year, several AOL Music blogs (The Boombox, Noisecreep, The Boot) were cast out of the mothership and caught in freefall by TownSquare Media, whose EVP Bill Wilson developed them when he was chief of AOL Media.


The BBC reports that Blackpool has the highest proportion in England of children subject to child protection plans, three times the national rate.
Other areas with high rates are Nottingham, Coventry, Salford and the Isle of Wight, while Milton Keynes, Essex, Wokingham, Somerset, Windsor and Bath are all said to have low rates.
I am not sure how much any of this is 'news' because some variation in rates between different local authority areas (with different demographic profiles and different levels of social deprivation) is inevitable.
It may be, however, that it is differing practices rather than differing profiles that account for some of the variation and it would be useful to see if that was the case and to understand why. Perhaps Ofsted could conduct some thematic research on that issue? I'm not going to hold my breath, though, because I expect they are far too busy with other things.
While I was aware from government published figures  of high turnover rates in children's social work (17% for all of England and above 20% in the London area), it was only by reading this briefing that I became aware of research by Curtis et al which found that social workers remain in their professions for a very short time, compared with other professions. They found that the average working life for a social worker is under 8 years, compared to 16 years for a nurse, 25 years for a doctor and 28 years for a pharmacist.
That is a stunning and alarming statistic that I (and also I suspect a great many other people) seem to have missed since it was originally published more than five years ago. And the implications are huge. If social work careers were comparable to nurses we would need to train only half the current number required; and if they were comparable to doctors, we would only need to train one third as many.
I have always believed that retention is the key to staff shortages in children's social work. It seems that I was right.
Returning to the briefing, a very important table on page 10 summarises positive and negative organisational factors that influence staff retention.
Negative factors which militate against staff retention include: a culture of blame, lack of clarity about roles, micro-management, high workloads, high levels of bureaucracy, poor resources and support, poor or infrequent supervision, lack of training opportunities, lack of management attention to staff welfare and little opportunity to work directly with families and children.
Not surprisingly positive factors that predispose to staff retention are mostly the direct opposites of these negative factors, although I particularly liked the way the report expresses the alternative to the blame culture: a 'learning organisation' with 'a sense of collective responsibility'.
This is a report about staff retention and recruitment, but I think it could equally be a report about good management in general – do the opposite to each of those negative factors above and you are likely to have an organisation that not only retains its staff, but also achieves high quality by meeting the needs of service users in an efficient, safe and focused way.
More organisations should try it!!


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HomeNewsCranbrook Set to Host Climate Caucus
Cranbrook Set to Host Climate Caucus
By Ryley McCormack
(Supplied by Pixabay)
The City of Cranbrook is inviting residents to learn about climate change and its impacts on the community and discuss concerns they may have.
The event will be held at the College of the Rockies campus in Cranbrook in the Lecture Theatre from 7 to 9 p.m. on February 11th.
"We are pleased to have been asked to be part of this exciting discussion around climate change," said Mike Peabody, Acting Mayor for the City of Cranbrook. "As a City, we have been active in the past seven years in finding ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in our operations and undertaking changes to our processes to help conserve energy."
The City said the event, "For a livable climate: working on solutions," will be split into multiple parts. First off, the City will discuss its completed and in-progress climate mitigation, energy conservation, and adaptation projects. Following that, attendees will have an opportunity to look into information on how the climate is shifting within the region and projections for the future. Climate advocacy activist Laura Sacks will lead the evening's main presentation, which will focus on three questions: must we change, can we change and will we change. Participants will also be encouraged to speak about their concerns during breakout sessions.
"We look forward to this evening for information and community dialogue," says Sue Cairns with the East Kootenay Chapter of CCL. "I'm excited to be hosting along with the City who has proven strong leadership. The challenges and opportunities we face require broader participation which this event will support."
During the evening, the City said that Sacks will speak about global and local impacts of climate change, and transition into speaking about solutions and allow attendees to share ideas as well.
"Climate change is a topic often avoided because it can be divisive and depressing," explains Sacks. "What many may not be aware of is that many climate solutions are also good for our health and the local economy."
The City said the event will be jointly hosted by itself, the East Kootenay Chapter of Citizens' Climate Lobby and the Climate Caucus.


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Deep, dark dad tales
Family drama: Rhian Wood-Hill
Comic Rhian Wood-Hill's upcoming Queenstown gig 'How I Met My Father' is pretty self-explanatory.
The 26-year-old Kiwi met his biological dad, an ex-Mongrel Mob Samoan, when he was 21.
It was an accidental meeting that made him ponder his identity.
His youth was spent in white, middle-class Timaru — miles apart socially from the life his dad was leading.
Wood-Hill: "It wasn't a conscious decision [to meet him].
I wasn't going to try too hard to find him and at no point did anyone stop me meeting him.
It was more like it never seemed it was on the cards."
Wood-Hill retells the tale at The Sherwood next Thursday.
He reckons it isn't necessarily a comedy show — but more of a story-telling gig with funny elements mixed in.
"It deals with some pretty heavy shit.
It has a suicide in it and is pretty intense.
It's maybe 30 per cent comedy but the story is amusing in between the deep and dark stories."
Wood-Hill's entry into comedy wasn't the usual route.
On a night out drinking, while playing pool, a mate pointed out he wasn't funny.
Instead of agreeing he took it as a challenge and decided to give stand-up a go.
Apparently he was funny after all.
Another reason to have a go was because he didn't want to get a proper job.
He'd previously chanced his arm at acting, busking and even professional poker-playing.
But when he needed to fund the 'How I Met My Father' tour he stepped up and got a job as a teaching aid mentoring at-risk youngsters.
Wood-Hill, who is now based in Te Horo on the North Island's Kapiti Coast, says gig-goers can expect to have a good time and says it hasn't "gone bad" anywhere he's toured so far.
"It is not without its moments of darkness. But it does have a funny start, a funny ending and I will get you through it. It is entertaining."
Producer Eleanor Strathern, who used to be Wood-Hill's neighbour, reckons Queenstowners are in for a treat.
Initially she wasn't sure what she was signing up to as he'd only revealed the gist of the story.
"It sounded pretty wild to me. It is all 100 per cent true … I thought, 'this is his real life' which is crazy.
"When I saw the show for the first time it was good. It is not his usual stand-up gig — it is funny but it is also very real."
She says the show addresses some hard issues like suicide and mental health — subjects that don't always get air time in comedy gigs.
While it includes strong messages she guarantees giggles along the way.
Catch Rhian Wood-Hill next Thursday, 8pm, The Sherwood. Tickets $10
louises@scene.co.nz
LOUISE SCOTT


The town of Worcester, VT is considering increasing penalties for riding motorized vehicles on the Eagles Ledge trail and the Shepherd's Hill trail. Along with the increased penalties, the town is looking to increase enforcement, in an effort to prevent further damage.
The Eagle's Ledge Trail begins at the end of Eagle's Ledge Road and connects into Elmore. The trail shows up on Google Maps as a road and on Jimapco's popular Gazetteer maps. Town maps show the trail as a "legal trail", but does not indicate the type of access allowed. Shepherd's Hill Trail also shows up on Google Maps.
As with all roads designated as legal trails, motorcyclists should check with local selectboards to determine the type of access allowed. Frequently, motorized vehicles are barred from trails and carry fines and penalties if violated.
For more, see this article in the Burlington Free Press and this article in the Berkshire Eagle.


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Home Hyundai Ioniq 5 News
Hyundai Ioniq 5 Project 45 Priced At £48,000 ($67,700) In UK
That's the fully loaded derivative of the new electric crossover. Even so…
Feb 23, 2021 at 2:39pm ET
By: Gustavo Henrique Ruffo
After the Hyundai Ioniq 5 was presented, the main question in everybody's minds is: "How much will it cost?" We thought we would only hear about it close to deliveries, expected to start in the first half of 2021 in Europe and South Korea and in December 2021 in the US. Luckily, the British Hyundai website revealed at least one reference to us: the cost of the Project 45 derivative. You'll be able to buy one for £48,000.
The UK government grants £3,000 for electric cars, which will make customers end up disbursing £45,000. The price would be a smart reference to the 45 Concept if it were not such a high cost for the new Hyundai.
Just to put it into some perspective, the Tesla Model 3 Long Range costs £46,990 in the UK. Also eligible to the £3,000 grant – which would lower the price to §43,990 – it offers a WLTP range of 360 miles. The Ioniq 5's best shot at the range would be 296 miles, according to Hyundai.
In the UK, Volkswagen is selling the ID.4 First Edition for £43,800 without the government grant. The German carmaker includes it in the price and presents a lower one, at £40,800, but makes sure to mention that's because of the government incentives.
Comparing this price to those in the US is difficult due to differences in taxes and content between the same products depending on where it is sold. Yet, convert those £48,000 to dollars, and you end up with a price of $67,700 under the current exchange rate. The Model Y Long Range costs $48,990. Tesla charges $60,990 for the Performance version.
More Hyundai Ioniq 5 News:
⠀ Watch How Hyundai Ioniq 5 Tows And Charges All Your Gear
Hyundai IONIQ 5 Revealed As Sleek, Stylish CUV: It's Not A Hatchback
If we compare the Ioniq 5 to the VW ID.4, the First Edition will cost $45,190. Pick the Mustang Mach-E and the GT – the most expensive derivative of Ford's electric crossover – will cost $60,500. Like the Ioniq 5, these cars still have the $7,500 federal tax incentive.
Although we still have no idea how much the Ioniq 5 will cost in other markets, the UK reference shows it will not be an entry-level EV by any means. The future Ioniq 6 and Ioniq 7, respectively a sedan and an SUV, will probably also come with a premium in their market segments.
Hat tip to Zoran Albu!
Pricing Breaking


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Integra Buildings Ltd
Modular >
Marketing Suites & Retail
Information >
sales@integrabuildings.co.uk
Friday 14th, August 2020
Integra Buildings signs deal to sponsor Bridlington Town AFC after completing new clubhouse
Integra Buildings has signed up to sponsor Bridlington Town AFC, just weeks after completing a new clubhouse for the non-league football team.
East Yorkshire-based Integra, an award-winning designer and manufacturer of bespoke modular buildings, has become the principal club and shirt sponsor for the 2020/21 and 2021/22 seasons, providing the club with a major boost following the suspension of games due to the Covid-19 crisis.
It means the Seasiders, who play in the Premier Division of the Northern Counties East Football League, will wear the Integra company name and logo on their shirts when they return to action.
It follows Integra's successful completion last month of a new clubhouse at the Hudgell Solicitors Stadium, in partnership with the lead contractor, PBS Construction (North East) Ltd.
Built using cutting-edge modular techniques, the clubhouse was manufactured in seven parts at Integra's production facilities in Paull, east of Hull. These units were then transported by lorry to Bridlington, where they were assembled to create the new building.
The first-class facilities will help improve access to grassroots sport across Bridlington and the surrounding area and benefit the community for years to come.
At the heart of the clubhouse is the new Town Bar, which has proven to be a big hit with supporters and the public since opening on July 25, less than nine weeks after construction began on site. The facilities also include a boardroom, office, kitchen and large open plan bar and social area.
Gary Parker, Managing Director of Integra Buildings, said: "We're delighted to have agreed to sponsor the Seasiders for the next two seasons after enjoying such a strong relationship while working together on the new clubhouse.
"We've seen at first hand over the past few months what a great community club this is, so we're proud to be able to support their important work to promote grassroots football at all levels.
"By providing new, high-quality facilities, the new clubhouse will play a major part in attracting even more people – young and old – to the game and supporting Bridlington Town AFC.
"We've been starved of live football over the past few months, so we're really looking forward to the day when crowds are allowed to return and we can watch the players walk out in their new shirts proudly bearing the Integra Buildings name and logo. We wish Bridlington Town every success for the new season."
Integra Buildings Managing Director Gary Parker, left, and Bridlington Town Chairman Pete Smurthwaite celebrate the sponsorship deal by showing off the club's new shirt.
Pete Smurthwaite, Chairman of Bridlington Town AFC, said: "We'd like to thank Gary and his team for this wonderful sponsorship. Being supported by a company of the stature of Integra is a great boost for the club.
"Not only that, but they've built us a clubhouse that will be the envy of a great many non-league football clubs in this country. It's a fantastic facility.
"We had a very tight deadline to get the building up and running before the start of the new season, and despite all the challenges brought by coronavirus, Integra pulled out all the stops to complete on time.
"The clubhouse is not only a valuable asset to the football club but also to the community of Bridlington, as it is available for use seven days a week and will help us to improve grassroots sport in and around Bridlington.
"It's been a difficult period for the club and supporters, with competitive football being suspended for so long, but the support from Integra is a big boost and we can now look forward to a very successful season ahead, on and off the pitch."
The new Bridlington Town clubhouse, which was completed last month by new principal club and shirt sponsor, Integra Buildings, working in partnership with lead contractor, PBS Construction (North East) Ltd.
Integra Buildings is at the forefront of the UK's rapidly expanding modular construction sector. Its growing customer base ranges from major construction companies, to local authorities and other public sector bodies.
Integra also specialises in sports facilities and has delivered a series of grassroots football projects across the country.
Integra's achievements were recognised at the Hull Daily Mail Business Awards last November, when the company was named Large Business of the Year.
Bridlington Town is one of East Yorkshire's leading semi-professional football clubs, having been founded more than a century ago. The Seasiders have twice visited Wembley, winning the FA Vase in 1993.
The new clubhouse was made possible after Bridlington Town was awarded funding by the Premier League, through the Football Stadia Improvement Fund (FSIF). As the sister organisation of the Football Foundation, the FSIF is the largest funder of non-league football in the country.
The £100,000 FSIF grant, along with an £150,000 grant from the Yorkshire Coast Community Led Local Development Programme in connection with the East Riding of Yorkshire Council, enabled the club to replace an ageing clubhouse that had been in need of renovation.
The Town Bar, within the Seasiders' new clubhouse, which was completed by new club sponsor, Integra Buildings, and has proven to be a big hit with supporters and the public since opening last month.
The facilities support the club in giving 70 local players the chance to play football each week, including at senior and youth levels.
The Seasiders made a free donation of the former modular-built clubhouse to Bellshill Athletic, after a fire ravaged the Scottish non-league team's facilities. The assistance came about because Bridlington Town Manager Brett Agnew comes from the Scottish village of Holytown, close to the Bellshill Athletic ground.
Bridlington Town is currently playing pre-season friendlies, with matches held behind closed doors, following the abandonment of the 2019/20 season in March following the coronavirus outbreak. The club is currently looking to start the new league season in early September.
Although there will be no spectators in the stands, supporters will be able to watch live streams of games in the clubhouse until fans are allowed to return to the terraces.
For information about Bridlington Town AFC and use of the clubhouse for events, call 01262 606879 or go to www.bridtownafc.com
To find out more about Integra Buildings visit www.integrabuildings.co.uk, call 01964 626761 or e-mail sales@integrabuildings.co.uk
Integra Buildings named Large Business of the Year at Hull Daily Mail Business Awards
Integra Buildings Ltd accounts for year ended 31st December 2019
Integra House Humber Business Park,
Hedon Rd,
Paull,
HU12 8AA
Email: sales@integrabuildings.co.uk
Integra Buildings Ltd © 2021, all right reserved. Registered in England No 3386037 made by Strawberry


Disability Rights Legal Center is dedicated to practicing in the following areas.
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Depending on the legal service that is hired, it may be necessary to go to trial. As it is not insurance, expenses to go to court are not included. The same lawyer will propose a final fee budget that includes all legal and expert expenses.
We have decades of experience representing our clients in federal and state courts.


How can we build an effective team? This question returns like a boomerang to those who are looking for a way to implement their business plan successfully. It is nothing unusual. Connecting individuals that differ in personalities, work and communication styles by means of a common goal as well as creation of one body out of them is a real challenge. After all, the sum of even the most outstanding individuals does not automatically result in an outstanding group. Therefore, what enables a team to successfully accomplish the set goals? The devil's in the details. Although there may be many reasons for failures, today let us concentrate on cooperation and on what makes it difficult or even impossible in the project.
Any undertaking consists of a range of strictly connected tasks. It suffices that just one person fails to perform their part of work on time to make it impossible for the rest of the team members to do what they are supposed to. Nobody should also have any doubts that there is no room for collective responsibility in the project. This is why a clearly stated division of roles and competences as well as precisely defined scopes of responsibilities are not only the conditions required to avoid organisational chaos, but also to ensure effective cooperation. Moreover, each team member must be aware how their function contributes to accomplishment of the project's goal. Without this element, it is difficult to expect specific results.
Lack of understanding of others' tasks.
Responsibility for your contribution in the project is not enough to become a good team player. Good cooperation requires understanding of what work of other team members consists in: what their needs are, what limitations they have to take into account and how they can be supported. What happens if the above is missing? Potential problems may be regarded as a lack of skills and may affect atmosphere and team relations. Meanwhile, many difficulties in project implementation arise from organisational issues which can be nipped in the bud with help and encouragement of others.
It is also impossible to imagine effective team work without efficient communication. Despite its significant importance, this factor is one of the most underestimated. The ubiquitous rush results in the fact that meetings are often cancelled, reports are ignored and questions which, from the point of view of the project, should be taken into account are left without an answer. The result? Unclear statements and cooperation "failures". Therefore, it is important to set clear rules for the exchange of information at the very beginning and then to adjust them to the preferences and needs of the participants. Everyone will probably agree that electronic mail is not the best solution when it comes to effective communication. However, it is worth creating one place for storing all the project documents, submitting corrections and discussion. IC Project will work perfectly in this role.
Of course, there is no single universal recipe for success of a project. However, it is a known fact that the ability to build a team whose members will be willing to help each other, giving priority to the superior goal over their individual pursuits, is the basis for effective implementation of assigned tasks. That is why there can be no doubts: the flame of cooperation is what deserves and what should be continuously maintained in the team.


This time I added carrots and celery.
Then several nights ago I made these pizza pinwheels for a somewhat intoxicated friend.
They end more like mini cheese bread, but I like them that way.
I made them again this week and documented it.
I added goat cheese, melted garlic butter and italian spices before baking.
Also I suggest sticking the rolls in the freezer for a minute before slicing.
Mr. F topped his wheels with meatballs.
So you could try that too, I suppose.