text:
Q: Datetime convert to yyyy/M/d anyway converts to M/d/yyyy I have date on format 11/19/2017 12:00:40 AM and I want to transform it to 2017/11/19 12:00:40 AM
var d = DateTime.ParseExact("11/19/2017 12:00:40 AM", "M/d/yyyy hh:mm:ss tt",
    CultureInfo.InvariantCulture).ToString("yyyy/M/d hh:mm:ss tt");

var dt = DateTime.ParseExact(d, "yyyy/M/d hh:mm:ss tt", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);

value of d is actually 2017/11/19 12:00:40 AM but it's string. In db I must write it as yyyy/M/d hh:mm:ss tt.
But result of dt is anyway the old value.

What's wrong?

A: You are running into representation of a value vs the actuall value.
In reality all dateTimes are a unsigned Int64 counting the number of Ticks since "point X" (wich is usually the start of the Unix Time, 1st Janurary 1970, 00:00:00). But users can not work with that. They need a human readable string format. Wich is also different between Langauges, much less Cultural regions. UK and US both speak english, but can not decide if the month or day should come first.
Both the ToString() and Parse() functions are designed to automagically extract the proper way a Number should look as string from the Region settings of Windows. The ToString() function that is part of the Debugger is no exception.

A: DateTime is backed by a number (ticks). It has no human-readable representation, at all! When you create a DateTime (by specifying each date component individually, or by parsing a date string), it converts the string date into a ticks.
So what are you seeing in the debugger? Well, that's the result of the DateTime object's default ToString() method. This depends on the culture of the thread which the code is running in. Unless you change it, it will be the same as the operating system culture by default.
Likewise, this culture is also used when parsing dates, so in the UK 5/1/2018 would be understood by DateTime.Parse(...) as the 5th of January, 2018, whereas in the US it would be understood as the 1st of May, 2018.
How should you use this information?

*

*Understand that the date format used in the debugger is based on your computer's culture, and it means nothing as to how the DateTime object will perform on computers in other cultures.

*If you want to display the date to a user, you need to use the ToString() methods (there are a few overloads) to produce a date formatted the way you want it to be. Of course, the parameterless ToString() method will work fine if you just want it formatted for the end-user's culture.

*If you need to send a specific format, again you should use one of the ToString() overloads. For example, you can pass the format o: DateTime.UtcNow.ToString("o"), and it will print the date in an ISO8601 compliant format: 2018-04-28T15:31:00.000Z
You can find different format strings here (MS docs).

One last thing: "In db I must write it as yyyy/M/d hh:mm:ss tt."
If you are using an SQL database (SQL Server, MySQL, etc.) and you are using a date-typed field in the database, you should build your SQL queries using parameters. You wouldn't need to format the date at all then, you could just pass the DateTime object as a parameter.
See here for more information on the SQL injection vulnerability and how to use parameterized queries.


text:
Żuławki steht für:

 Żuławki, Ortschaft der Gmina Stegna, Powiat Nowodworski, Woiwodschaft Pommern, Polen, bis 1945: Fürstenwerder, Kreis Danzig, (Danzig-)Westpreußen
 Żuławki (Ostróda), Ortschaft der Gmina Ostróda, Powiat Ostródzki, Woiwodschaft Ermland-Masuren, Polen

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


No reviews for Magical Mystery Mari Mari Hamada Libe 85 yet.
the price for Magical Mystery Mari Mari Hamada Libe 85 drops.
there are new images or links available for Magical Mystery Mari Mari Hamada Libe 85.


text:
Arum Flips Out: Shane Mosley Pilots Plane to Manny Pacquiao Fight
Mark Berman Opposing Views
Sugar Shane Mosley certainly knows how to make an entrance. He had to get to Las Vegas for his big weekend fight with Manny Pacquiao. So, like most of us, he flew there. But unlike most of us, Mosley co-piloted the plane.
Mosley was behind the controls as the small four-seater flew from Big Bear, California to Vegas on Tuesday. A pilot and another companion were on board for the one-hour flight.
Sounds pretty cool, right? Not if you're fight promoter Bob Arum, who has a lot of money tied up in Mosley being alive for the fight.
"I found out about it this morning and I went crazy," Arum said. "You think I would allow him to fly? I'm going to kick his ass."
He added, "It was more than dumb."
Asked if he had a fighter standing by to face Pacquiao if something tragic happened, Arum joked, "It's (Floyd) Mayweather."
Mayweather and Pacquiao have been famously reluctant to fight each other.
Here is the video of Mosley's flight:
Preview and Analysis: Manny Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley
Funny Shane Mosley: I Can Knock Out Manny Pacquiao
Mosley Fight Reveals Manny Pacquiao, Bob Arum Greed
What's Arum's Backup Plan if Manny Pacquiao Loses to Mosley?
Manny Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley Will Boost Vegas Economy by $200M+
Done Deal: Manny Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley on May 7
Manny Pacquiao Makes Excuses for Boring Mosley Fight
Video: Shane Mosley Begged to Stop Fight vs. Manny Pacquiao

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


When AMD purchased ATI Technologies nearly five year ago, a big part of its rationale for the purchase was the ability to combine processors and graphics chips into a single package.
That vision became a lot closer this week, as the chipmaker kicked off CES 2011 with the introduction of its first generation of Fusion Accelerated Processing Units (APUs), putting together the CPU and discrete graphics processing unit on one piece of silicon. The company announced its "Zacate" APU for mainstream notebooks and general desktop duties, as well as its "Ontario" APU for what it's calling "HD netbooks" and ultra-small form factors.
Raymond Dumbeck, senior manager of worldwide product marketing at AMD, said the Fusion product line is about high-definition across the board.
It's also about battery life, with the E series of processors (Zacate) consuming 18 watts for the processor and GPU combination, while the C series (Ontario) cuts that to nine watts. That means up to ten hours on a mainstream notebook and up tot 12 hours on lower-power systems, without sacrificing high-definition content, Dumbeck said.
As well as better battery life, Dumbeck said the APUs will allow for smaller form factors or for lower costs for standard form factors because of reduced thermals. As a result, Dumbeck expects OEMs and system builders to offer more powerful products at a lower price point.
And with the vast majority of major notebook OEMs – 11 of 12 – shipping systems based on Fusion, it seems to have some support for that.
Still to come is the A series Fusion APU, formerly known by the code-name Llano, which is the most powerful of the three Fusion family members, and the one designed to maximize the performance gains of the CPU/GPU integration rather than balancing performance gains with power consumption decreases. The A series is slated to debut in the first half of 2011.
Dumbeck said the Fusion family represents a few opportunities for the company's system builder partners, mostly centering around the units' lower power consumption. Those opportunities include lower-power desktop and thin-and-light laptops.
To help build drivers and other software friendly to Fusion, Dumbeck said the company is "investing in the software infrastructure with our friends and ISV partners" through the creation of an SDK dedicated to the processors. It's also created the Fusion Fund to help developers build solutions around Fusion. It will also host its first Developer Summit later this year, which will center on peer learning.
"We're riving this infrastructure for a reason – to do bigger, more powerful things at lower power levels," Dumbeck said.


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Giresun ist eine Provinz (İl) der Türkei. Sie liegt im Nordosten der Türkei am Schwarzen Meer. Sie hat Grenzen zu folgenden Provinzen: Trabzon im Osten, Gümüşhane im Südosten, Erzincan im Süden, Sivas im Süden und Südwesten sowie Ordu im Westen. Das Schwarze Meer bildet die natürliche Grenze im Norden.

Typisch für die gesamte östliche Schwarzmeerküste der Türkei sind die Gebirgszüge und Berge des Pontus-Gebirges, die bis zur Küste des Schwarzen Meeres reichen. Für dieses imposante Landschaftsbild ist die Region, nicht nur in der Türkei, bekannt. Ebene Flächen in der Stadt Giresun findet man lediglich an den schmalen Küstenstreifen und zwischen den beiden Flussläufen und -mündungen des Batlama und Aksu Deresi. Etwa zwei Kilometer vor der Küste Giresuns befindet sich die kleine Insel Giresun Adası (Aretias). Nach der Griechischen Mythologie soll auf dieser Insel Herakles den Amazonen begegnet sein.

Verwaltungsgliederung
Die Provinz Giresun besteht aus 16 Landkreisen:

Gemeinden, Mahalle, Dörfer
Nachfolgende Einwohnerzahlen basieren auf der Bevölkerungsfortschreibung vom 31. Dezember 2020.

Gemeinden
Neben den Kreisstädten existieren noch acht weitere Gemeinden (Belediye):

Mahalle
Die Provinzhauptstadt Giresun (28) und die zweitgrößte Stadt Bulancik (17) sowie Görele (14) haben die meisten Mahalle. Im Durchschnitt ist jeder Mahalle von 1.617 Einwohnern bewohnt, die meisten Menschen leben in diesen vier Mahalle:

Der kleinste Mahalle hat nur 93 Einwohner, das Ömerli Mah. (im Kreis Yağlıdere) war bis 2018 noch ein Dorf.

Dörfer
Es gibt in der Provinz 552 Dörfer (Köy) mit einer Durchschnittsbevölkerung von 230 Bewohnern je Dorf. Die meisten Bewohner je Dorf gibt es im Kreis Yağlıdere (280), die wenigsten im Kreis Şebinkarahisar (140). Kein Dorf hat über 1.000 Einwohner, Pazarsuyu im Kreis Bulancak ist das größte Dorf. Wie schon 2018, so ist Kayalı aus dem Kreis Şebinkarahisar das kleinste Dorf der Provinz (14 Einw.).

Bevölkerung
Die Bevölkerung besteht aus Türken und Lasen.

Ergebnisse der Bevölkerungsfortschreibung
Nachfolgende Tabelle zeigt die jährliche Bevölkerungsentwicklung am Jahresende nach der Fortschreibung durch das 2007 eingeführte adressierbare Einwohnerregister (ADNKS). Zusätzlich sind die Bevölkerungswachstumsrate und das Geschlechterverhältnis (Sex Ratio d. h. Anzahl der Frauen pro 1000 Männer) aufgeführt. Der Zensus von 2011 ermittelte 420.433 Einwohner, das sind über 103.000 Einwohner mehr als zum Zensus 2000.

Volkszählungsergebnisse
Nachfolgende Tabellen geben den bei den 14 Volkszählungen dokumentierten Einwohnerstand der Provinz Giresun wieder.Die Werte der linken Tabelle sind E-Books (der Originaldokumente) entnommen, die Werte der rechten Tabelle entstammen der Datenabfrage des Türkischen Statistikinstituts TÜIK – abrufbar über diese Webseite:

Anzahl der Provinzen bezogen auf die Censusjahre:

Wirtschaft
In Giresun befindet sich mit Fiskobirlik eine der größten Haselnussfabriken der Türkei. Sie verkauft neben frischen Haselnüssen auch Nuss-Nougat-Cremes, Haselnussöle und das Fındık ezmesi genannte Haselnussmus.

Landschaft und Klima
Die Stadt hat eine sehr reiche Landwirtschaft und baut die meisten Haselnüsse der Türkei an. Anbau von Walnüssen und Kirschen sowie Herstellung von Leder und Bauholz gibt es in Giresun ebenfalls. Das Klima in Giresun ist feucht und mild.

Interessante Plätze
Die Walderholungsstätten der Insel vor Giresun, Kulakkaya, Dokuzgöze, Salon Çayırı, der Sandstrand der Stadt, die Burg von Giresun (Kale), Arda, Kaledere, Kusluhan, Undoz, Eynesil, Şebinkarahisar, Zentrum (Saint Jean) und Bedrama (Bodrum).

Die Kirchen und Klöster von Meryem Ana in Giresun, Hisarköy (Dereli) und Şebinkarahisar, die gelbe Kirche, die Moscheen von Hacı Hüseyin, Hacı Mikdad, Fahreddin Behramsah, Fatih und Kurşunlu, Tas Mesdschid, das Badehaus und Brunnen von Kurşunlu, die Brunnen von Pertevniyal, die Tashans, Tirebolu Kalesi (Burg).

Wichtige Ereignisse

Lokale Feiern
 Atatürks Ankunft in Giresun am 19. September
 Atatürks Ankunft in Sebinkarahisar am 11. Oktober

Festspiele
Aksu Kultur- und Kunstfestival (beginnt an der Mündung des Flusses Aksu und wird in der Stadt fortgesetzt) 20.–23. Mai

Feierlichkeiten
 Sisdag; Otcu Feier; Sis Plateau; Letzte Woche im Juli
 Kümbet Plateau Feier; Kümbet Plateau; 2. Woche im Juli
 Seyh Mahmut Cagirtan Feier; Camoluk; 2. Woche im Juli
 Bulancak Kultur- und Kunstfeier; Bulancak Erikli Dorf; 22.–27. Juli
 Camoluk Honigfest; Camoluk; 30. September
 Bektas Plateau Fest; Bektas Plateau; Erste Woche im August

Persönlichkeiten
 Topal Osman (1883–1923), Akteur des Ersten Weltkrieges und des Türkischen Unabhängigkeitskrieges
 Gökdeniz Karadeniz (* 1980), Fußballspieler
 Avni Kertmen (* 1961), Badmintonspieler
 Tolga Seyhan (* 1977), Fußballspieler
 Ozan Arif (1949–2019), Musiker
 Teoman Yakupoğlu (* 1967), Rockmusiker

Weblinks

Einzelnachweise

Provinz der Türkei
Schwarzmeerregion

NUTS-3-Region


text:
Some random thoughts
Clark Booth Opinion Friday 25th of March 2011
We have four issues drifting about in the backwaters of a wayward mind looking to be thrashed out.
The wages of the NFL fiasco: Put it this way. They're beginning to look incalculable.
You want nasty? Try the tirade of the San Diego Chargers' player rep, Kevin Burnett, who loudly branded the NFL's Lord High Poobah, Roger Goodell, "a blatant liar" (unquote). Such challenges to the Commissioner's basic honesty have been rampant over the first two colorful weeks of this fracas, which in the long run may prove more entertaining and almost as violent as your basic NFL tilt. Which side might ultimately prevail in this deepening madness is the province of the gridiron gods, but the biggest loser has already been established. It's the aforementioned poobah, Squire Goodell.
Let's face it, all commissioners of all sports essentially represent the owners who hire them and pay their handsome, eight-figure, salaries. But the smart ones with Palmer "Pete" Rozelle, the most legendary of Goodell's predecessors being only the ultimate example, are exceedingly clever at pretending at least that the needs and affections of the stiffs who play the games are just as near and dear to their hearts as the lofty profit margins of their owner buddies. In this fundamental but highly approved deceit, Goodell has been a monumental failure. His allegiance to the owners and fierce defense of their interests has been total. So he's lost the players, totally.
Here's a prediction you can take to the bank. When this mess is resolved, which won't be before mid-August if it's allowed to play out in the courts, the clock will start ticking on Goodell and he'll be gone within a year. The owners may insist that a patsy occupy the chair but they want one who is a rather better actor.
"Get thee to the Library!" Which is what the President of the United States should have declared to the collegiate basketball delinquents of America instead of playing footsy with the perpetrators of March Nonsense again this year.
The first time the President staged that weak photo-op critiquing the NCAA basketball field and picking the final four it was kinda cool, you know, establishing him as a regular guy, no doubt, to the delight of his political choreographers. When he did it again his second year in office it became merely "okay," and you were tempted to snicker, "have you nothing better to do, sir?" Going back to the tired gimmick for a third time this year, however, was way over the top, especially coming at the height of a global double-header meltdown; literally in Japan and figuratively in Libya. At what point do the choreographers recognize this stunt plays into the hands of Mr. Obama's most irrational critics, you wonder?
But the biggest complaint here concerns the folly of the office of the presidency itself serving as a promoter of the moral and ethical outrage of this tournament which more than any other event on the collegiate sporting calendar makes a mockery of the pretense that major college sport is the province of genuine student-athletes.
Globe columnist Derrick Jackson did a brilliant job of exposing the monumental hypocrisy at the heart of this foolishness when he calculated that roughly one third of the teams in this year's tourney -- including all of those having a true chance to win the thing -- fail to graduate at least half their basketball players.
Mr. Jackson's advice to the President is gloriously simple but very wise. He suggests the President consider the proposal that any school that does not graduate at least half of its players be ineligible for this tourney. After all, that proposal happens to come from Mr. Obama's own Secretary of Education, that old Harvard hoopster Arne Duncan. You might say, "Three cheers for common sense!"
Quo Vadis Bruins (a reprise): They are Lions in winter reigning supreme over February when they win seven straight with six of them on the road prevailing in some of the toughest buildings in the league and some imprudently dare whisper, "the Cup."
Now it's March and they are toads again as they meekly tiptoe toward the playoffs. They would have six losses in the seven games since the win-streak if they played in a league where a loss was still a loss instead of a game they can pretend they didn't lose just because they survived until overtime. Precious good that mentality will do you in the playoffs. Win seven. Botch seven. There's something almost biblical about it. We remain undeceived. This team is flirting with another first-round wipe-out.
It would be easy to hammer on the coach or scorn the deadline deals made by the still green GM were it not for the fact that this irrational streakiness has been a Bruins' specialty some 20 years since their last really exceptional wagon featuring the likes of Brothers Neely and Oates, Bourque, Brickley, Dave "the Governor" Poulin and Glen Wesley were raising our hopes to unrealistic levels every year about this time. Keep in mind that batch of Bruins didn't win anything either although they might have come a lot closer if Wesley hadn't fired the puck over the Edmonton net when it was wide as the entrance to the Callahan Tunnel and utterly open.
Over the years there have been no more likeable sportsmen in this town than the Bruins. They are also the most frustrating. Wait until next year.
The Chara incident: Enough already. The hue and cry over the regrettable mishap in Montreal whereby the Bruins Goliath of a defenseman ran a luckless Canadien winger into a mis-placed stanchion amounts to an utterly bogus controversy.
Anybody who argues Chara should have recognized the looming problem along the boards and thereby avoided it has never been on skates let alone played the game of hockey. You have to understand these people are moving rather swiftly and when two chaps are entangled stride for stride and bouncing off the boards with sticks at high port the last thing they are going to realize is that just ahead there's a protruding stanchion that shouldn't be there in the first place. The culprit, if there is one, is the Montreal management responsible for the quirks of their rink, not Zdeno Chara.
Yet two weeks later the bickering increases. Hockey writers who had little to say when the Penguins Matt Cooke bushwhacked the Bruins Marc Savard with malice clearly aforethought now want Chara suspended upwards to 10 games. They've got it cockeyed. It's all about intent. Cooke viciously took aim at Savard's head and leveled him. There's no such evidence of malicious intent to injure in Chara's unfortunate encounter with Max Pacioretty.
But the dumbest argument of all which has been raised by several who should know better asserts that Chara escaped punishment only because he has a ''good reputation.'' This, the critics say, amounts to granting a guy a free pass for his first offense no matter how serious it may be. There's a certain perverse logic to that premise but if that's what it's come down to in the mounting furor over sport's gratuitous violence you wonder if there's any real hope of sensibly resolving this complex issue.
While the biggest man in the game and one of the toughest Chara has never been involved in a controversy having to do with excessive force in his 13 NHL seasons. He backs down from no one on the ice, nor should he, but given his immense size and strength he may be pound for pound as clean a player as you'll find lasting so long playing defense in this league. This is a bright, well-read man who speaks many languages. In all walks of the game he's respected as a sophisticated gentleman gracious in his dealings with others.
That doesn't mean he won't lay a stick across your shoulder blades if you refuse to budge from his crease. But in any field of endeavor that counts itself as "civilized" what a man's done and been for 13 years should count for something when his character is called into question.
Retreats February 2021


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Most of time you think about the spaces, best connectivity from other locations of city, greenness, Eco friendly environment, healthcare facilities and luxurious amenities in any apartment and these all kinds of facilities are provided by Sobha developer in Sobha Palm Court project. It has best residential locality of people and situated at posh region of city. This region has many other amenities such as schools, public schools, colleges, bus stations, shopping center, malls and big infrastructure region of developers. You will go anywhere of city by the use of high speed metro rail in instant time. This is why Sobha developer is going to invest their money in Sobha PalmCourt location that is advance region of Bangalore city.
It has big residential building along with an underground vehicles parking zone. The infrastructure has stood on solid crutch of beams made by sands, cement, rods and concretes. A big terrace is given that is connected to every flat of Sobha Palm Court apartment individually and you must climb on roof by lift & elevators. There are many of facilities are given for residents that are listed below. This has G+ 18 floors with 4 units on every floor.


I think Venus has slightly altered her orbit.
I can just feel it, In relation to other stars, and the space station and Hubble, I think Venus has moved a bit. This means our orbit over time will change slightly.
Anyway news has broken some of the climate change data was fudged up. I just knew God told me to buy the Olive trees and not worry about it.
I think our planet Earth might just not wobble quite so much. The clouds and skies have been beautiful today. The sky is such a gorgeous blue. The right sort of blue, not full of chemicals as usual.
Looks like everyone who wants rain is getting it. The polar caps are freezing nicely.
Hope the Polar bears and Penguins cope with it.
I notice Japan is getting cold. Perhaps an ice coastline will stop the Fukishima problem for now while we can work out what to do with all that radioactive water gushing out of it.
I have been watching the Ice form, it looks as though it is freshwater ice from rain and snow, perhaps the Oceans will just get a bit more salty again.
I have had a great day pottering in my garden tidying up. I took 8rose cuttings, planted my fig tree in the lane outside my house, some rosemary and flowers. I want to just do this little patch of ground and make it pretty. I also want some Figs! They won't grow in my garden as they don't get int the sun for long enough. Planted and moved some plants. I feel very chilled out.
I have been making some comments on RT, but I am trying not to be obsessive about watching the News. I like RT because the English is well written. Also there are hardly any stories about celebrities.
All news is written with an editorial viewpoint. I also like the spoof science type articles they put up for fun! It amuses me in the evenings while my husband watches TV.
The additive for painting on Fabric came today for my 'new sofa' project, so I want to go shopping for paint soon. I have decided I will try painting the body of the sofa with Annie Sloan chalk paint, and then wax it so it can be wiped. Then cover the cushions in my lovely fabric.
Here is my lovely fabric! We like it. I have already covered the part of the chair under the cushion, although will need to get new braiding to finish over the staples. I think I will paint this fabric the same blue as the sofa. I am thinking about it. Maybe I will just do the two armchairs differently so they look like unique chairs.
When I painted this, I was wondering how to manoeuvre the Earth. To slow it down if needed. My mind was full of calculations. I imagined the Tulips as parachutes. These Tulips grew in my garden.
I planted yellow and red, but the hybrid happened all by itself. The painting has seemed to fade since I painted it. The sunshine on the vase is minimal compared to how I painted it originally. It almost took out a third of the vase.
I spent weeks on the painting, and then obliterated the vase in seconds. Now it doesn't look bad at all. It has been in my loft for a few years.
Well here goes. Let's see if it loads!
Perhaps I could lift off the rest of the paint, yet the vase does need the sun on it.
I didn't crop it very well.
I got about as far as I can with this essay at the moment, and I am going to dig about for some more info on the bit that got me totally distracted from Geosciences.
I am easily distracated, only needs a butterfly to fly past and that's it... gone.
I am off to bed... on the day after the world was supposed to end ... again!
I wish people would stop making up wild speculations on the end of time. Only God knows what He is up to in His infinate wisdom.
When I was a child having to get passed the crows at the bottom of the road, someone had sprayed one of those 'ban the bomb' signs next to the letter box in flourescent paint. It looked HUGE to me when I was a child. I was probably about 6-7 years old. When I asked at home what it was I was horrified. I had terrible nightmares.
I would suggest that anyone who likes speculating on 'the end times' keep a close check on what the birds and animals are up to, they generally have a lot more sense. Can you imagine a bird not bothering to feed it's chick because the world is going to end tomorrow?
In my opinion all this Hoo-Ha is downright irresponsible, especially from people who are allegedly spiritual leaders.
Perhaps the ridiculous part of it all is that we need a jolly good wake up call to the reality around us, rather than speculation on some calenders that were relevent to a people long gone.
I would suggest a concentrated effort to get a grip on the current problems we face, rather than wasting a lot of effort worrying about an end of the world scenario.
Better to be wearing belt and braces getting the mess we are in sorted out, than caught napping with our pants down if Almighty God does turn up anytime soon.
Sweet dreams, peaceful rest, and wake tomorrow completely refreshed.
Just decided to edit this post as the site is working now.
As of 4.43 pm I decided to take this Essay off live, as I need to get some facts right.
I am kind of doing an excercise on the fist verses of Genisis under 'Not Just for Fun'. This is how I kind of 'unpack' what I read in the Bible.
It isn't meant to be offensive to anyone, it's just that I see reading the Bible as a multi - disciplined thing.
This essay is how I would interpret the creation story from a geosciences perspective.
Centrally my core is to work from the theology of what I read, but I do quite like doing it in other ways of unpacking the text.
It is a work in progress, and I thought it might be fun to do it 'live', so I am publishing it as it is being formulated.


yadifad: an authoritative Internet domain name server.
yadifad - an authoritative Internet domain name server.
reads the zone files from yadifad.conf, and starts up an authoritative name server.
It listens to UDP and TCP DNS queries and returns answers from its own database.
reloads the zone and key sections in the configuration file and reloads the zone file(s) with incremented serial number, and close all log files and reopens them.
yadifad requires OpenSSL version 0.9.8 or later.
Please check the README file from the source code.
(this is a read-only list).


In Goma, eastern DR Congo, a group of very young women living together in a suburb of the city and make their living as prostitutes. Most of them internally displaced person, come to Goma to flee the war. But life there is not much better. They drink and take drugs at home (a small wooden room of just 15 m2) before starting their night job in a whorehouse in the city.
The DR of Congo, 2013.


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text:
Court to hear Texas death row inmate DNA case
The justices agreed to hear Henry Skinner's appeal. On March 24, they granted him a stay about an hour before his scheduled execution to give them more time to decide whether to take up his case.
In an order issued Monday, the Supreme Court said it decided to rule on the issue presented by his case. Arguments are expected to be heard in the upcoming term that begins in October.
Skinner's lawyers maintain that his rights under the civil rights law were violated by authorities' refusal to grant DNA testing after his conviction.
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Skinner was convicted and sentenced to death for the murders of his girlfriend and her two adult sons on New Year's Eve in 1993 in the small town of Pampa, Texas. He has always maintained his innocence.
Skinner's attorneys are seeking DNA testing of key evidence from the crime scene, including a bloody towel, two knives and a man's windbreaker, and swabs from a rape kit.


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text:
Download Test Drive 4 (Windows)
Racing / Driving
试验驾驶4
Automobile, Street Racing, Vehicle Simulator
Accolade, Inc.
Pitbull Syndicate Limited, The
1st-Person, Behind view
Description of Test Drive 4
Quantity = Quality?
Racing games. Have you noticed how many racing games have appeared on the PC market during the last year or so? I mean, yes, there are lots of racing fans, but do you really believe that there are so MANY? Market forces indicate a positive answer, I guess, but still...
Whatever the case may be, one thing is sure: real quality, in a racing game, is still hard to find. Yes, in absolute terms, we saw quite a few excellent driving titles- but compared to the numbers of titles available, the number of really good ones suddenly looks a whole lot smaller. Quantity, it seems, does not quality make.
One of the most, if not the most, dominant driving sub-genres is arcade racing. No surprises there- the biggest crowd are the arcade people, who want to relive their gaming hall experience at home, in front of their PCs. And PCs are new to this business, as all of us who have a grinning friend with a console know. But ever since 3dfx, we PC owner have had a chance to laugh back, with such great better-than-the-original ports as Sega Rally, and original titles such as the amazing Screamer Rally.
In comes Accolade. The company who, many years ago, founded a new and interesting breed of racing games, in the form of Test Drive. That classic title planted the foundations for a series of games and a number of clones: "cannonball" races, with real traffic and police cars chasing you around while you were trying to get your own, real-life super car first to the finish line. Exciting indeed. That was before console gaming, remember, when companies had to give you something else because the graphics were never that good.
And now we have Test Drive 4. Released not long ago, into an age when graphics ARE good enough, this game is supposed to be the bearer of the flame for Accolade. After all, take a classic game and add some top-notch graphics to it, and it should be an even bigger classic, no? I am afraid to say that, in this case at least, the answer is a most resolute "no". Hear me out.
The faults of TD4 begin straight out of the box. Well, OK, I didn't actually get the box. But I can tell you that, for example, Accolade chose to include a Word "readme" file instead of the usual text variation. A minor inconvenience, yes, but indicative. And make sure you have Wordpad ready.
In any case, you go about installing the game, and you find to your amazement that the normal install is- deep breath now- 220MB in size. 260MB if you want the 3dfx version. Why the deep breath, apart from the obvious "why, this is way too much space" response? Because the manual specifically tells you that it should take 100MB. The readme file tells you otherwise, of course, and I may as well tell you that there are a number of omissions and mistakes present in the manual insert. For example, scores are not saved automatically, there is no "Duel" feature available, and only 6 players can play over a LAN, and not 8 as promised (I wonder if the box says 8 also). On the other hand, the readme file claims TCP/IP (Internet) support, but it seems like in this case, the manual is correct in stating IPX. To the good side, the manual goes into quite a bit of detail about each car, at least giving the impression that they each have a different "personality". That the game itself shatters this illusion is no fault of the manual.
The game's menu system continues to show a similar lack of thought, with the ESC key returning you way back to the main menu instead of the standard "one screen back", and the sound settings being unsaved between game sessions. The game interface is not exempt from problems either, with no way to restart a race without going back through the whole initialization process, particularly annoying when you wish to drag a few times in a row. You also do not have the privilege of seeing a top-down view of the tracks before running them, a silly omission which only serves to annoy you as you try to familiarize yourself with a track, completely unprepared.
All in all, TD4 's front end is rather disappointing, although this is certainly in line with the rest of the games in this genre. The arcade origins show, I suppose, although in this case, in a game which originated on the PC, I did expect something better. I also did not like the menu music, a weird sort of quiet techno (?) but I guess this is a matter of personal taste.
Graphically, TD4 looks good, but not too good. The cars are fine enough, with a relatively large number of details like working brakelights. You get burning rubber and smoke effects, the tires move realistically, and the car never seems to go into its separate parts, like it does in other games of its type. Sadly, you get very little jumps, even in places where you really expect them, like when you drive over a bump at 300KPH.
The scenery is also pretty good, but again, it leaves something to be desired. The main problem is that it is too static and has a "bitmappy" feel. This feeling is strengthened when you happen to drive near pedestrians, and see them in the full, never moving, 2D-bitmapped glory. The game incorporates invisible barriers around the track, so you cannot really run over someone. In a game where you can actually turn innocent, oncoming cars on their backs, this left me with a weird sort of disappointment. Or maybe I played too much Carmageddon. Some of these cars will do their best to avoid you, by the way, slowing down or moving to let you pass, but others will simply play dare with you until either you swerve or both of you die.
As for sounds, well, TD4 again delivers reasonable, yet not outstanding, performance. Tires screech, but the tone is mellowed down. The same goes for engine sounds. Crashes at high speeds are, for lack of a better word, boring, with none of the excitement generated from the likes of Screamer Rally. It isn't only the sound that is at fault here- the crashes themselves are very unspectacular, and when you expect tons of smashed glass and flying, deformed (car) body parts you instead get to look at the car's underbody as it turns over, but otherwise nothing. Again, TD4 isn't much different, really, then other arcade racers, but as the premise is SO different, it makes the actual performance disappointing.
But does it go... vroom?
Before I go on, a few words about options. TD4 gives you a lot of different ways to compete. You can obviously run a single race, or go for a championship, in which your aim is to gain the highest number of cumulative points in 12 races. Then there's the Challenge Cup, where you fight for the lowest cumulative time over 6 races. The Pitbull Cup again sees you running on 6 tracks, only this time you have to finish first on each before you advance to the next. The most complicated of all is the Masters Cup, in which you ride in ten different cars over ten different tracks in an effort to gain the lowest cumulative time. Finally, there is a "drag race" mode, in which you choose two, possibly identical, cars for a quarter mile drag, with manual shifting only. This can be quite fun when played with a friend, especially as simply pressing the gas pedal before time will only result in revving too high and losing time in a long power-wheelspin. The fun is almost immediately ruined, though, when you realize that you have to spend a minute going through all the menus before each 10-second drag race, instead of simply restarting.
All in all, there are 12 tracks, and the funny thing is that none of the above really has any relation to actually unlocking the "hidden" tracks. You simply have to win a single race at each of the first six to unlock its last 6 counterpart. No, the aim of all these championships is to place on the high scores table, which is as purely arcade as they come. Oh, and also, eventually, to unlock secret cars.
Test Drive 4 could have redeemed itself if it had great gameplay. Unfortunately, it does not. Racing using a keyboard is never even close to being realistic. We all know that, but a good game makes us feel good enough that we are willing to believe otherwise. TD4 on the other hand, left me a bitter taste of dissatisfaction.
There are several reasons for that. The first is the non-existence of any damage model whatsoever. The only bad effect of crashing is losing time- and in a game where your computer opponents usually drive very accurately, and in which the races are relatively short, losing time is not a good thing to do. But that's it- no blown tires, no overheated engine, no slowdown, and you go on racing even if you hit a brick wall at over 300 KPH. Nothing. You don't even see dents in your car. It must be all those new aluminum alloys.
The second, and most important reason, is the driving model. The Accolade team, please, I have a suggestion: take an advanced driving course. Preferably in Europe, if you can. You see, it is simply not true that a car will only stop spinning, sliding, or otherwise doing undesirable things related to controlling it, when you press the brakes. No, really. In fact, I know this may come as a shock to you, Accolade team, but pressing the brakes in the middle of a corner when your car starts losing grip is almost always going to send you to your death. You know what? I'll settle for a basic driving course.
Test Drive 4 has, and I want to make this absolutely clear, the most pathetic, far from real life driving engine I have encountered in a PC racing game in the last two years. No matter what happens, if you were going too fast, the ONLY way to fix your error is to first slam on the brakes, and then think. I don't know what they had in mind, but I had a nagging feeling that my mom designed that model. It is not only ridiculous, but also dangerous, as it may actually make some young kid who doesn't have a driving license yet believe that this is how real cars behave. Locking your wheel in the other direction? Hah! At most, you will do this about 6 or 7 times in a row, alternating from right to left (assuming you have a long enough clear stretch of road for that), until you realize that the damn car DOESN'T LOSE SPEED! Or at least, it loses speed so slowly that you may think you are riding on ice. No, no. Just slam on the damn brakes, and instead of the meeting the undertaker, as expected, you will miraculously regain control.
TD4 's driving model is so bad, that I hesitate whether there is any point in mentioning the other big fault of this game. You see, the sense of speed is terribly wrong. You never get a real impression of how fast you are going, until you reach a corner and find out that you are going way too fast. And those corners appear without adequate warning, not only as to how close they are, but also how hard. It feels like you are cruising along on the highway, when suddenly there is this BIG building coming towards you at terrifying speed, you have about 1 second to react, and you don't have a clue as to how much you have to slow down and turn the wheel! So, you guessed it right, you slam on the brakes, hard, while taking the corner, not caring much if you do crash because you know that nothing will happen to your car. Let me tell you people, this process can grow boring rather quickly.
As sorry as I am to say that, Test Drive 4 is not worth anybody's while. It isn't junk- it looks nice, the premise is fun, and Need For Speed 2 isn't all that good. But in this day and age of high adrenaline, believable, beautiful arcade racers, TD4 never manages to get past first gear. You want a good arcade racer? Get Screamer Rally. But do yourself a favor- no Shelby Cobra is worth this sort of treatment.
PCGamingWiki
Wikipedia Entry
drey 2023-01-02 0 point
Getting this to work on Windows 10 is tricky but possible.
- Install vDos. Open `C:\vDos\autoexec.txt` and delete all lines
- Copy 3.EXE from your Test Drive 4 folder into C:\vDos
- Find the Test Drive 4 NO-CD patch online. There's a PATCH.COM file inside.
- Copy PATCH.COM also into C:\vDos
- Run vDos
- Type PATCH.COM and press enter. When asked again, press any key. It should say that it successfully patched 3.EXE.
- Now you will have a patched 3.EXE file. Copy that from `C:\vDos\3.EXE` back into your Test Drive 4 folder, overwriting the existing file there.
- Right click 3.EXE - Click on Properties. Click Compatibility tab, click [ ] Run this program in compatibility mode for, and select Windows 95.
- Now you should be able to run the game and play it without a CD.
Usagi Tsukino 2022-12-24 -1 point
The game asks for CD when race is loading, & then goes back to main menu. I've both patch 1.12 & mounted CD. Anyone know how to make the game playable without the CD?
Rememberedthisbeingonthearcademachines 2022-02-14 0 point
My nickname says it all.
akiro 2021-01-19 1 point
yeah uh it doesn't work, rip version, 2 and 3 both show a black screen and then immediately close, iso version, 3dfx and regular pc version both do same thing
Walenko 2020-12-16 1 point
Last Played in 2001, one of the best car race games ever played, wit fine graphics
the syrian miserable 2020-10-07 -1 point
try downloading iso form and using a free application called virtual clone drive
ND4SPD 2019-12-23 -2 points
The game not start, is asking for the CD, does anyone know how to fix?
Keep the Beat 2019-02-13 1 point
mp3 official soundtrack:
https://downloads.khinsider.com/game-soundtracks/album/test-drive-4-psx
Share your gamer memories, help others to run the game or comment anything you'd like. If you have trouble to run Test Drive 4 (Windows), read the abandonware guide first!
Download Test Drive 4
DownloadRIP Version 123 MB DownloadISO Version 626 MB Manual 24 MB
Various files to help you run Test Drive 4, apply patches, fixes, maps or miscellaneous utilities.
PatchPatch 1.2 948 KB
Test Drive: Off-Road 2
The Duel: Test Drive II
DOS, Mac, C64, Amiga, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Apple IIgs1989
Test Drive: Off-Road


text:
Angaben gemäß § 5 Telemediengesetz (TMG):
Tierzeichnungen & Tierportraits
Mooser Straße 69
D-77839 Lichtenau
E-Mail: info(at)katja-sauer.de
Web: www.katja-sauer.de
Katja Sauer – Mooser Straße 69 – 77839 Lichtenau
The European Commission provides a platform for online dispute resolution (OS). You can find the platform here:
https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/odr/main/index.cfm?event=main.home.chooseLanguage
We do not participate in a dispute settlement procedure before a consumer arbitration board. However, the Law on Alternative Dispute Resolution in Consumer Matters demands that we nonetheless refer you to a Consumer Dispute Resolution Service responsible for you:
General Consumer Arbitration Center of the Conciliation Center e. V.
Strasbourg Str. 8
We make every effort to keep the information on our Web site current, but accept no liability whatsoever for the content provided. Pursuant to §7 par. 1 of TMG (German Tele-Media Act), the law limits our responsibility as a service provider to our own content on these Web pages.
According to §§8 to 10 of TMG, we are not obligated to monitor third party information provided or stored on our Web site. However, we shall promptly remove any content upon becoming aware that it violates the law. Our liability in such an instance shall commence at the time we become aware of the respective violation.
Our site contains links to third-party Web sites. We have no influence whatsoever on the information on these Web sites and accept no guaranty for its correctness. The content of such third-party sites is the responsibility of the respective owners/providers.
At the time third-party Web sites were linked to ours, we found NO GROUNDS WHATSOEVER of any likely contravention of the law. We shall promptly delete a link upon becoming aware that it violates the law.
The content and works provided on these Web pages are governed by the copyright laws of Germany. Duplication, processing, distribution, or any form of commercialization of such material beyond the scope of the copyright law shall require the prior written consent of its respective author or creator.
Please be aware that there are inherent security risks in transmitting data, such as e-mails, via the Internet, because it is impossible to safeguard completely against unauthorized access by third parties. Nevertheless, we shall safeguard your data, subject to this limitation. In particular, personal information will be transmitted via the Internet only if it does not infringe upon third-party rights, unless the respective party has given its prior consent in view of such security risks. Accordingly, as the Web site provider, we shall not be held liable for any damages incurred as a consequence of such security risks or for any related acts of omission on our part.
We oppose the use of any available contact information by a third party for sending unsolicited advertisements. As the Web site provider, we reserve the express right to take legal action against unsolicited mailing or e-mailing of spam and other similar advertising materials.
source: S&K Rechtsanwälte www.streifler.de; Englisch-Übersetzung durch Twigg's Translations
References and credits:
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The rollout for Solo: A Star Wars Story products has been pretty strange to say the least. Every year since 2015's Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Lucasfilm launched an annual event called "Force Friday", a day in which all the new products for that years Star Wars film is released. Rogue One had a smaller toy launch but was still heavily promotefd about a month prior to the event which was called "Go Rogue" day. On Monday, Lucasfilm officially confirmed that this Friday, April 13th, will be the day all Solo toys are released. Unfortunately, it was not really clear if there would be any special events planned for that day, such as midnight madness like years prior. The inital rumor was that Solo was going to have a Force Friday event called "Wookie Weekend", though that seems to be off the table at this point.
We have been getting a lot of emails in regards to a midnight event and I don't think that there will be one this year. The only store that might have them out at midnight are 24 hour Wal-Marts. Other stores such as Target will have them out when they open. I wanted to write this up to also make clear what stores will be carrying certain exclusives and so forth. All items that state "Available Spring 2018, will probably not be out on Friday.
Target will be carrying a pretty good amount of exclusives including Black Series Figures And Funko Pops.
Mystery Mini blind boxes. Available: 4/13. $5.99.
Fye will be selling an exclusive Funko Pop.
Dryden Voss $10.99. Available: 4/13.
Walmart will be carrying an exclusive Pop and Black Series Mimban Stormtrooper.
Mimban Stormtrooper (The Black Series). Available: Spring 2018.
Common Pops $8.99-10.99. Available: At all mass market retailers and online websites.
Funko Wobblers. $9.99. Available: 4/13.
Mystery Mini Plushes. Available: 4/13.
Funko Solo: A Star Wars Story Dorbz. Available: 4/13 at Disney Parks and the Disney Store.
Hasbro 3.75" Solo: A Star Wars Story Wave 1. Available: 4/13 at all retailers. Retail: $7.99.
Hasbro 3.75" Solo: A Star Wars Story 2 Packs Wave 1. $14.99. Available: 4/13 at all retailers.
*Images via In Demand Toys.
Solo: A Star Wars Story Hasbro 3.75" 2 Packs Wave 2. $14.99. Available at mass retailers Spring 2018.
Hasbro Solo: A Star Wars Story Wave 1 And 2. Available: 4/13 at mass retailers. $19.99.
*Images via The Fwoosh, Toy Wiz, And In Demand Toys.
Solo: A Star Wars Story Melinium Falcon (Kessel Run version) with Han Solo $99.99. Available at mass retail 4/13.
Solo: A Star Wars Story 3.75" Han Solo and Speeder. $29.99. Available at mass retailers 4/13.
Solo: A Star Wars Story 3.75" Packs. $19.99. Available at retailers 4/13.
*Images via Black Market Exchange on eBay.
Solo: A Star Wars Story Hasbro 12" Figures. $9.99. Available at retail 4/13.
Hasbro Star Wars The Vintage Collection Wave 17. Available at retail 4/13. $12.99-14.99.
Solo: A Star Wars Story Force Link 2.0 with Han Solo. $29.99. Available: 4/13.
Solo: A Star Wars Story Jakks Pacific 20" Figures. $19.99. Available: 4/13.
Lego Solo: A Star Wars Story Sets. $15-150. Available: 4/13.
Hasbro Solo: A Star Wars Story Might Muggs. Available: 4/13 at retail. Price: 9.99.
Solo: A Star Wars Story Monopoly. Price: Unknown. Available: 4/13.
Hasbro Star Wars Micro Blind Bags. Available: 4/13. $2.99.
Hot Wheels Solo: A Star Wars Story Cars. $3.99-9.99. Available: 4/13.
*Hot wheels in box images via eBay.
As far as we know, this is everything to be released on 4/13. I know that Disneyland, Disney World, And Disney Stores will have a lot more products not shown in any press releases yet, so you'll want to hit up those locations if you can. We'll continue to update this guide as more products are revealed.


text:
«Ківі!» () — короткометражний анімаційний мультфільм. Мультфільм створений у 2006 році Доні Пермеді, який намалював його на захист магістерської дисертації з анімації в Школі мистецтв Нью-Йорка. Музичний супровід до мультфільму написав Тім Касселл, шкільний друг Доні. Анимація зроблена за допомогою комп'ютерних програм Maya, After Effects і змонтована за допомогою The Setup Machine від студії Anzovin

Сюжет
Ця історія про птаха ківі, який мріє літати. Ківі вирішує здійснити свою мрію, він установлює дерева на високій вертикальній скелі та прибиває їх цвяхами. Після цього ківі скаче та «летить» над деревами, як справжніх птах.

Критика та популярність
Анімаційна історія стала дуже популярна в Інтернеті після опублікування мультфільму на сайті YouTube. Станом на травень 2011, мультфільм переглянутий понад 29 мільйонів разів, що робить його одним із найпопулярніших відео в категорії «анімаційних фільмів», і одним із найпопулярніших на всьому сайті. Мультфільм отримав офіційне визнання 26 березня 2007 року, коли глядачі проголосували за нього в першому щорічному YouTube Video Awards. Ця подія сильно привернула увагу міжнародних засобів масової інформації, ABC News описує мультфільм як «so cute it hurts» у той час як «International Herald Tribune» виступила із критикою нагороди, яка охарактеризувала відео як: «sweet but dull».

Примітки

Посилання

 Сайт Доні Пермеді .
 Інтерв'ю Доні Пермеді

Мультфільми за алфавітом
Мультфільми 2006
Відео на YouTube
Незалежні фільми
Анімаційні короткометражні фільми США
Комп'ютерні анімаційні фільми
Фільми про птахів


text:
Q: How to convert string with a delimiter to list of strings in Python? I'm querying a database and get this text:
"('username', '192.168.1.1', datetime.datetime(2013, 1, 3, 7, 18))"

I want to split into list like this:
['username', '192.168.1.1', datatime.datetime(2013, 1, 3, 7, 18)]

So, which way is the best way? I'm using Python 2.4.

A: One way would be to use eval and list:
>>> import datetime
>>> string = "('username', '192.168.1.1', datetime.datetime(2013, 1, 3, 7, 18))"
>>> list(eval(string))
['username', '192.168.1.1', datetime.datetime(2013, 1, 3, 7, 18)]

eval evaluates the string as a Python expression, here producing a tuple containing the two strings and a datetime instance. list converts this tuple to a list.

Caution: eval will potentially execute any valid Python code, even malicious code. There are safer alternatives such as ast.literal_eval which could be used if you're not sure whether you trust what's in your database.

A: You can use maxsplit parameter of the split function:
your_string = "('username', '192.168.1.1', datetime.datetime(2013, 1, 3, 7, 18))"
your_string[1:-1].split(",", 2)

# Returns:
# ["'username'", " '192.168.1.1'", ' datetime.datetime(2013, 1, 3, 7, 18)']

A: As noted in jonrsharpe comment, it looks like you are falling in a trap you have just digged yourself.
Any correct database can give you the individual columns, and if you correctly do the query, you get them in proper format.
Assuming you can use a DB-API 2.0 described in PEP 249, and assuming conn is an open connection to your database, you should do something like :
curs = conn.cursor()
curs.execute('SELECT name, ip, dat FROM tab')
t = curs.fetchone()

and t should directly be the tuple ('username', '192.168.1.1', datatime.datetime(2013, 1, 3, 7, 18)) (use list(t) if you need a list ...)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Smitten Kitten is looking for experienced rep groups or independent sales reps to sell and market our full line of products.
Currently we are looking for representation in the U.S. and overseas.
If you are interested in this partnership, please contact us. We look forward to hearing from you.


Wolfblood is a fantasy/supernatural British television series aimed at children. It is a co-production between CBBC and ZDF/ZDFE. There will be a DVD release of series 1. The series focuses on teenage wolfbloods Maddy Smith (played by Aimee Kelly) and Rhydian Morris (played by Bobby Lockwood) as they struggle living their double lives as wolfbloods, and keeping their secret concealed from the outside world.


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text:
Crypts & Catacombs: Exclusive Access Alone in St Agnes' Catacomb
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The rituals surrounding Christian burial sites in Rome have always offered more than mere insight into historic practices - they are a way to understand the Christian celebration of the eternal life of the soul. Exploring Rome's catacombs & crypts is an opportunity to step back in time to an extraordinary moment in the history of Christianity as you trace the evolution of ancient burial practices in three unique locations in Rome.
For many centuries the pagan worshipers of Ancient Roman gods struggled to comprehend the message & popularity of the new Christian religion that was sweeping across the empire. Christians were misunderstood & at various stages of Roman rule, persecuted for their beliefs. While there are many catacombs of Rome tours in the city, the opportunity to enter the Catacombs of St. Agnes after closing time is a uniquely moving experience.
Learn how these massive underground complexes were constructed and how Christians from the most humble origins, while persecuted in life & were honoured forever in their burial.
With the reign of Emperor Constantine in the 4th century, Christianity finally became accepted under the Edict of Milan. The conversion of the emperor himself laid the foundation for the rise & influence of the Catholic church in the following centuries. Visiting the Mausoleum of Emperor Constantine's daughter is a chance to reflect on this rare moment in history when those who were once persecuted were suddenly celebrated.
Her tomb, with a rare circular orientation, is replete with incredibly intricate and beautiful mosaics that honour the deceased as well as the new fortunes of Christians throughout the empire.
Lastly, the Capuchin Crypt, sometimes known as the bone chapel will take you to the 17th century where some imaginative monks decided to use the remains of deceased Franciscan friars to create one of the most surreal yet moving devotional arrangements in the city. Here, human bones cover the walls & even ceilings in intricate patterns & designs - a remarkable meditation on time, life, death, & eternity.


text:
Q: Text codifying using (s,c) dense code I am trying to codify text using (s,c) dense coding. I have found this encoding algorithm and I would like to translate it into PYTHON, but I can't understand what codeword command does (e.g. code[p].codeword[k-1]=c+(paux % s)).
What does code mean? Is it an empty string at the input moment? (def encode(code,n,s,c):)
def encode(code,n,s,c):
    firstkbytes <-- 0;
    numkbytes <-- s;
    p <-- 0;
    k <-- 1;
    while p<n
        paux <-- 0
        while (p<n) and (paux<numkbytes)
            code[p].codeword[k-1] <-- c+(paux mod s);
            paux <-- paux div s;
            for i <-- k-2 downto 0
                code[p].codeword[i] <-- paux mod c;
                paux <-- paux div c;
            p <-- p+1;
            paux <-- p-firstkbytes;
        k <-- k+1;
        firstkbytes <-- firstkbytes + numkbytes;
        numkbytes <-- numkbytes x c;


Headed back to Japan! Steve Mazan (US Navy), Benari Poulten (US Army) and Les Jennings (US Air Force) are headed Japan for a couple of shows! Kadena Air Base on 8 Feb & Yokota Air Base on 9 Feb! Check with FSS for details!


text: SPICATERRIBLE!!!!!!!!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
First Branch Forecast
Where Congress Learns About Congress
Reports & Analysis
Forecast for May 10, 2021.
ameliademandprogressorg	First Branch Forecast	 May 10, 2021
Welcome to the First Branch Forecast, your weekly look into the Legislative branch and government transparency. Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe here.
STOP EVERYTHING. "100% of my focus is on stopping this new administration," said Sen. McConnell at a press conference. He added: Democrats want to turn America into a "socialist country" and Senate Republicans are in "total unity… in opposition to what the new Biden administration is trying to do to this country." Does this makes it official?
The Justice Department was castigated for lying to a federal court in an effort to prevent public access to an Office of Legal Counsel Memorandum on whether Trump could be prosecuted. It's not the first time DOJ has lied to a court about FOIA requests. This also highlights the importance of public access to OLC's work, which we discuss below. We also note that Attorney General Barr okayed the collection of email contacts by journalists as part of a so-called "leak" investigation, another stab at the heart of government accountability.
Quill, an excellent new tool that allows Member offices to get electronic signatures on their Dear Colleagues, made its House debut; it is already available in the Senate. (More below.)
Kudos to the House Labor-HHS Approps subcommittee, which so far is the only subcommittee to hold public witness hearings. We are appreciative of Chair DeLauro for making it happen. We are tracking appropriations testimony deadlines here.
Earmarks. We also favorably note that the House Approps committee has both published earmark requests on its webpage ~and~ published them as a spreadsheet (downloadable here). We published recommendations on what data elements should be included in the spreadsheet, a spreadsheet being the bare minimum requirement for modern data disclosure. We welcome the appearance of data fields like Membername, subcommittee, project title, amount requested, recipient address, and explanation. However, there are serious deficiencies, such a lack of unique identifiers, missing data fields, and too many data elements in the same field. In addition, it is unclear whether the spreadsheet will be updated as earmarks move through the legislative process or how users would be informed that updates have occurred. I'm hoping this is an alpha release and it will be improved. There is a significant community of civic technologists who would be glad to help.
White House visitor logs will now (again) be made publicly available, but we are cranky about it. Transparency should be required by law and not granted at the sufferance of the sovereign. This illustrates one of the failings of the Obama administration, which repeatedly fought against turning good government norms into law.
This upcoming week will be busy: House Admin will hold hearings on Monday and Wednesday into the Capitol Police and the Architect. On Tuesday, Senate Rules will hold a business meeting on S. 1, which is the Democrats' democracy reform package. On Wednesday, House Oversight will look into unanswered questions on the Capitol Insurrection (what an anodyne name for what happened). And on Thursday House Modernization will look into recruiting, empowering, and retaining a diverse congressional staff.
Last week on the Hill was busy, too. The House Oversight Committee held a hearing on transparency and accountability legislation; Demand Progress hosted its Advisory Committee on Transparency panel discussion on what's on Congress's transparency agenda. The House Modernization Committee looked at congressional staff capacity. And the Lincoln Network hosted an excellent event on GAO at 100. (More below.)
(IN)SECURITY AND CAPITOL POLICE
The Capitol Police Inspector General will testify before House Admin today at 3 on the office's third flash report covering Capitol Police threat assessment and counter-surveillance before and during the attack on January 6th. (Note: the public version of the report is missing at least two appendices and has insufficient information to assess.) Chair Lofgren said the report "identified troubling deficiencies," according to Politico's Huddle newsletter. At the last House Admin hearing on the matter, USCP's IG told the committee that the Capitol Police need to make major changes to improve intel capabilities, reform training processes, strengthen recruitment, and shift culture towards being a protective agency and away from being a police department. The Police are going on the political offensive, implying they were underfunded and need more money; but we know, from testimony they gave to Senate appropriators, that they've always gotten the money they requested.
House Admin Republicans want a hearing with the Capitol Police Board. In a letter to Chair Lofgren, the minority noted it has been 76 years since Congress heard from all three voting Board members at the same time. The letter also implies reforms suggested by the IG aren't possible without involving the Board. It's worth noting that while the Board undoubtedly needs scrutiny and overhaul, several measures suggested by the IG can move ahead without the Board and many of the decisions around hiring, training, and resource allocation fall to leadership within the Capitol Police Department.
The Architect's emergency preparedness on January 6th will be reviewed at another House Admin hearing on Wednesday at 12. According to Chris Marquette, the AOC IG released a flash report — which, we note, is available at Oversight.gov unlike the Capitol Police IG reports — sounding the alarm about safety training for employees. The IG notes AOC employees hadn't been trained in active shooter safety in 2020 and the existing training protocol hasn't been updated and is not integrated with other Legislative branch entities. The IG also found that panic buttons were "unknowingly removed" from Rep. Ayanna Pressley's office — reading the report, I don't know what this means.
Insurrectionist Ashli Babbitt's family is filing a wrongful death suit against USCP for using lethal force to protect the Capitol and Congress on January 6th. In general, the public does not know much about Capitol Police use of force. Appropriators directed USCP to submit their use of force data to the FBI's national database and to participate in a training program covering the use of force and de-escalation, racial profiling, implicit bias, and procedural justice.
Capitol Police transparency, or the lack thereof, was the topic of a Friday news segment from NPR. The hook was the lawsuit by Ashli Babbit's family, but the main point was that the Capitol Police's failures can be directly tied to their lack of transparency because transparency empowers the accountability necessary to correct the failings inside the department before they become catastrophic.
Capitol Police's relationship with the press is being tested in the court. The department is claiming that an officer who shared a photo of another officer's unattended weapon in the Capitol Visitor Center bathroom, information that a member of the public or press could have just as easily discovered, was equivalent to sharing evidence gathered in an investigation. Her suspension and demotion could send the wrong message about raising concerns. When questioned about what would have happened if the officer had volunteered to testify before Congress (instead of going to the press), the Capitol Police's attorney maintained that they still could have punished her. Per Chris Marquette, "there would be an issue if Breiterman sent a letter to Congress that disclosed information from what she found as part of a department investigation." Blowing the whistle should be protected behavior — as should communicating with Congress.
USCP is still looking for a new chief, with its application deadline set for next Monday.
The Justice Department lied to the court about the status of an Office of Legal Counsel memo on whether Trump's obstruction of the Mueller investigation was an indictable offense, saying the memo was predecisional (not subject to release), when in reality the decision had been made. A judge ordered the memo be turned over to CREW as a result of the FOIA lawsuit. The court said that the DOJ had lied to the court, and we know this isn't the only time that has happened. There are two interrelated issues here: FOIA and OLC opinions.
• On the Freedom of Information Act, it is pellucidly clear that we cannot trust the government to make good faith decisions about what information to release when political interests are at stake. Civil society has a long list of FOIA reforms that we would like to see enacted, including a public-interest balancing test and further limits on claims of executive privilege.
• On Office of Legal Counsel Opinions, we know that they have been used to create a body of secret law that empowers the Executive branch and is dangerous to our democracy. Demand Progress's Ginger McCall recently submitted testimony calling for OLC's legal opinions to be proactively disclosed. In addition, Demand Progress supports the reintroduction of the OLC Sunlight Act and its Senate companion, which would require an index of all OLC legal opinions and cause the reports to be disclosed (except in certain circumstances).
The DOJ surveilled journalists by secretly obtaining their phone records and tried to obtain their email records, Devlin Barrett reported. This is utterly unacceptable. The government should not spy on journalists to see who they speak with. It is lawful for journalists to receive and publish information. Current practice requires surveillance of journalists to be approved by the head of the DOJ — at the time, Attorney General Barr — which shows you how tenuous those protections are. The Obama administration also had attempted to obtain journalists' phone records. The administration should be generally prohibited from gathering this information and Congress should go further and enact a reporter shield law, like the one proposed by Reps. Raskin and Jordan in 2017, that would "that would protect journalists from being compelled to reveal confidential sources."
Journalists in the US reported 438 physical attacks in 2020 — more than three times as many as the previous three years combined — according to a new Reporters' Committee report on its Press Freedom Tracker data. Police — yes, the police — were responsible for the vast majority of the attacks. Won't you be just shocked to find out that most of the attacks by police against journalists occurred at protests for racial justice and against police brutality. Journalists also reported 139 arrests — more than a 15-fold increase over the previous year — and 110 cases of equipment damage.
GOOD GOVERNMENT AGENDA FOR THE 117TH CONGRESS
The House Oversight Committee highlighted a slate of transparency bills at its hearing on transparency & accountability last week. Bills on the agenda —
• The Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act (H.R. 2485) provides for creating a single website housing agency reports submitted to Congress, in a searchable format, and free of charge. Currently, reports are extremely difficult to locate, if they're available to the public at all. First introduced more than a decade ago, the ACMRA enjoys bipartisan civil society support.
• The Federal Advisory Committee Transparency Act (H.R. 1930) would ensure disclosure of who is serving on federal advisory committees, financial conflicts of interest, and advisory subcommittee meeting records. The bill passed the House in the last three Congresses and has civil society support.
• The PLUM Act (H.R. 2043) would require OPM to create a publicly accessible website with data on who is serving in senior Executive branch positions. Currently the list is published every 4 years. The changes would address concerns raised by GAO and civil society.
• The Federal Employee Access to Information Act (H.R. 2042) would protect employees' right to request information through FOIA free of retaliation.
• The Presidential Records Preservation Act (H.R. 1929) would require POTUS, the VP, and other senior White House officials to make and preserve records that document official activities of the president, in addition to preserving electronic messages in a searchable format.
• The Whistleblower Protection Improvement Act (was H.R. 7935 in the 116th) clarifies that no federal employee (including POTUS or the VP) can interfere with or retaliate against a federal employee for sharing information with Congress. It also would provide faster legal recourse on retaliation claims. This means access to a jury trial when the MSPB can't act in a timely way — MSPB hasn't had quorum for 4 years and complaints go to the end of an over 3,000 case line.
• The Accountability for Acting Officials Act would reform the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, which was last updated in 1998. The bill requires notification of vacancies, regular testimony of acting officials before Congress, and limits acting agency heads to 120 day maximum tenure. The over reliance on acting officials could also stem from the fact that Senate confirmations take twice as long as when Reagan was in office. The bill also requires that Acting IGs be selected from an existing IG for another agency or senior staff in the OIG to ensure they're qualified. The bill (H.R. 6889), introduced by Rep. Porter, still needs a Republican lead on this historically bipartisan issue.
Bills to empower federal IGs, which save the government $17 for every $1 invested, were also on the agenda:
• The IG Independence and Empowerment Act (H.R. 2662)would protect Inspectors General from retaliatory firings by only allowing IGs to be removed for cause (e.g. neglect, misconduct); cause for removal must be documented and reported to Congress.
• The IG Subpoena Authority Act (H.R. 2089) gives watchdogs teeth. IGs could compel testimony from contractors and former government employees, who are currently out of reach, dramatically impacting investigative capacity.
Other bills for your radar: the Article One Act, which would require Congress to affirm presidential national emergency declarations, instead of just having the power to block, was reintroduced in the House by Rep. Chip Roy. The For the People Act, (S.1), will be considered by Senate Rules on Tuesday at 10. And you know we're a big fan of the Congressional Power of the Purse Act, which we hope will be reintroduced soon.
DEMOCRACY AND TRANSPARENCY
Congress shouldn't wait to prioritize transparency and accountability initiatives, according to panelists and last week's Advisory Committee on Transparency event. Topics ranged from protecting Inspectors General and whistleblowers to bolstering FOIA to grading Pres. Biden and evaluating whether our democracy can survive.
If you're looking for more ideas: the First Branch Forecast hosted lightning talks on reforms that can move through the appropriations process — everything from ensuring the government can run in an emergency to releasing secret Justice Department opinions, and more. And, of course, Demand Progress has its list of approps ideas.
CONGRESSIONAL STAFF CAPACITY
Congressional staff capacity was the primary focus of the latest House Modernization Committee hearing on Thursday. We have recommendations in our latest recommendation package for improving congressional staff capacity here.
Raising the MRA to pay staff more and increase benefits is one of the strongest ways to recruit and retain talented staff on Capitol Hill. Dao Ngugyn, former Executive Director of the Future Forum Caucus in the House, testified that she left the Hill last year because "the longer that I stayed on the Hill, the harder it became for me to plan for my future." She recommended the House increase its MRA by 20%, echoing the position of House Majority Leader Hoyer and Caucus Chair Jeffries, to correct cuts that were made in the House, establish non-binding pay bands and COLAs, removing franking-related costs from the MRA, decouple staff pay from member pay, provide staff with better training and certifications, ensure staff have access to child care, increase diversity, require implicit bias training, issue regular staff surveys, and ensure the safety and protection of staff on the Capitol Hill campus.
• Congressional Management Foundation President and CEO Brad Fitch echoed some of the same recommendation, testifying that the House must raise the MRA 20%, establish salary thresholds for junior staff, create an overtime pay standard, increase the budget for the Congressional Staff Academy within the CAO, consider reforming the student loan program to replicate the transit and healthcare benefits, and work to change the culture of employee expendability. The last recommendation was also echoed by Fran Peace, a witness who was a District Director for 26 years, who said retention is determined by how well you work through issues with your colleagues, especially during times of high conflict.
• Agreement. Vice Chair Timmons supported the idea to increase the MRA to retain staff after Chair Kilmer asked Lynnel Ruckert, a witness who was a former Chief of Staff for Minority Whip Steve Scalise, if an MRA increase required bipartisan support for enactment. Ruckert said she supports pay bands for certain positions as well as stronger management training.
Increasing benefits for congressional staffers will help incentivize them to stay on the Hill longer. Greta Engle, Vice President of Employee Benefits at USI Insurance Services, testified that in the private sector, employee benefits made up roughly one-third of total costs for businesses, and are seen as a highly effective recruitment and retention tool. Multiple witnesses mentioned that Congress, like any other employer, faces competition, and needs to increase its benefits package in order to compete with the Executive branch and the private sector.
Providing more professional development opportunities for employees in Congress is essential to retain talent. Chief Administrative Officer for the House Catherine Szpindor discussed the success of Congressional Staff Academy and testified that last year, registrations for non-required staff academy courses stood at 8,548, a five-fold increase from the prior year. This year, the CAO has already trained 3,676 employees and has received 97% positive feedback for its coursework and training. Szpindor mentioned the CAO is also in the process of expanding its training further by hiring four former staffers as program specialists. The office will begin to roll out new programs to member officers this summer.
A CAPABLE CONGRESS
The days of junior staff wandering the halls to collect signatures are over with the new House e-signature application, Quill. According to House Admin's announcement, "Offices can now share letters, collect supporting signatures and track the progress of the letter signing process from start to finish without ever making a phone call or visiting another office," free of charge. Watch this short video. We commend the CAO for developing this tool, but more than that, for taking technology developed for the Senate and modifying it to meet the specific needs of the House.
About 75% of House Members have been vaccinated, according to Speaker Pelosi's estimate, but…that was also true in March. The House won't return to pre-pandemic operations until more Members are vaccinated, according to the Speaker. I'm getting my second shot on Friday and I hope that I'm not alone.
Did you know the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights has a quarterly newsletter? Check out the first one for 2021 featuring information on the Ergonomics Outreach Program, workplace civility and inclusion training, and more.
The House plans to mark up FY 2022 appropriations bills in June and vote in July, Approps Chair DeLauro said during a Brookings Institution webinar on Thursday. That's an ambitious timeline given the late start of the budget process this year. Both House and Senate Budget Chairs Yarmuth and Sanders have yet to release FY 2022 budget resolutions; we think they're delayed by the late release of budgets by Pres. Biden. Both chambers have yet to release any information on the security supplemental.
A public witness hearing will be held by the House Appropriations Labor-HHS Subcommittee. This is excellent news, we know it's not easy during COVID; we appreciate the subcommittee's extra effort. Requests to testify are due today at 8pm.
Six Republican Senators expect to use earmarks — Sens. Shelby, Collins, Moore Capito, Graham, Murkowski, and Blunt — and less than 30 of Senate Republicans will commit to complying with their conference's earmark ban, Caitlin Emma and Jen Scholtes report. So the Senate Republican "earmark ban" is basically marketing.
The House's Statement of Expenditures, the quarterly report on where the House spends its money, was reported in the House, although the document (H. Doc. No. 117-33) does not appear to be available and the website containing the reports has not yet been updated. Generally speaking, this is a pretty smooth process — although we continue to wonder when the Capitol Police Statement of Expenditures will be published — they haven't been made publicly available (as far as we can tell) for half-a-decade.
TECHNOLOGY AND LEGISLATING
Happy 100th Anniversary, GAO. Lincoln Network hosted an event looking back at the institutional development of GAO over the past century and looking forward at the role the "government watchdog" will play in its next 100 years.
The Clerk is hiring two Software Engineers and a Senior Database Administrators; all three positions feature competitive pay. Share the posting with the techies in your life or apply here.
Do multipurpose rules help or hurt legislating? When legislation is going to be considered on the floor, the Rules Committee issues a rule governing the floor procedure for that bill. The practice was generally one bill per rule, until the Republican-controlled 112th Congress when a single set of rules could now govern multiple-measures' consideration. Multiple-measure rules made up 45% of House special rules last Congress.
• Pros & Cons. On the one hand, multiple-measure rules help manage floor time and provide a route for rank-and-file members' bills to reach the floor — multiple-measure rules are significantly more likely to include rank-and-file member sponsored bills — but on the other hand, the process centralizes leadership power and can force Members to vote on complex unrelated issues some of which they agree with and others they don't.
Confederate statues would be removed from Congress if legislation reintroduced by Rep. Hoyer and a dozen-and-a-half other members were to become law. You should read the written testimony from the R Street Institute's Eli Lehrer, or watch his presentation from our faux-ppropriations witness day, that calls for the removal of the statues. While it takes a law to return the statues to the states, the Joint Committee on the Library (in tandem with the AOC) could remove them from public view immediately. We wrote about how this could happen back in June 2020 — and joined Eli in a few op-eds making this point. The House already has named its members to the Joint Committee on the Library; if the Senate has done so, the committee can meet and act.
Minority Leader McCarthy is"renting" in a room in a fancy, nearly 7,000 square foot $4 million penthouse — and all for the low, low price of $1,500. Lol. That's about what I paid for an efficiency in U Street in 2006. I bet Frank Lunz, who is renting him the space, has a nicer setup than I did, although my decor was shabby chic. We are very sympathetic to making sure that Members can afford housing, and we think that Members shouldn't sleep in their offices, but the idea that Rep. McCarthy is paying market rate is simply not believable.
Congress.gov now includes a directory of Members' address & phone number, as well as a new citation tool.
Regime change. So… it appears Liz Cheney is about to lose her position running the Republican conference. We've already said what we wanted to say about Republican party politics… at least for the moment.
• House Administration Committee has an oversight hearing on the January 6th Attack: United States Capitol Police Threat Assessment and Counter-Surveillance Before and During the Attack at 3:00 pm ET.
• Senate Rules Committee has a business meeting on the For the People Act (S. 1) at 10:00 am ET.
• House Oversight and Reform is holding a hearing on "The Capitol Insurrection: Unexplained Delays and Unanswered Questions" at 10:00 am ET.
• House Administration Committee has an oversight hearing on the January 6th Attack: Review of the Architect of the Capitol's Emergency Preparedness at 12:00 pm ET.
• OGIS Annual Open Meeting is happening 10:00 am to 12:00 pm ET. Register here.
• House Modernization Committee is holding a hearing on "Recruiting, Empowering, and Retaining a Diverse Congressional Staff" at 9:00 am ET.
Down the Road
• The Data Foundation's four day virtual symposium focusing on the use of data for an equitable, data-informed society is happening May 18-21. Learn more here.
• FOIA Advisory Committee Meeting is being held on Thursday, June 10 from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm ET. Registration is not open yet.
Previous Post Tracking Appropriations Testimony Deadlines for FY 2022
Next Post Forecast for May 17, 2021
First Branch Forecast for January 18, 2022
Make U.S. Capitol Police IG Reports Publicly Available Online
First Branch Forecast for January 3, 2022
All Non-Confidential CRS Reports Should be Available Online
First Branch Forecast: ModCom, PODA, PACER, + USCP 12/13/2021
Put Senate Bills and Amendments Online Before Votes
First Branch Forecast: Police, PODA, and the Courts 12/06/2021
The Capitol Police Should Issue FOIA-like Regs — Here's our Model Regs That Show Them How
First Branch Forecast: Democratic slippage, court accountability, and the mother of parliaments 11/29/2021


The second edition of Microsoft's Guide on Architecture by "patterns & practices", that was also presented during TechED 2009, is now available for download as PDF and online as HTML version. There is even a printed version that you can buy at Amazon.
The guide covers all current architecture styles and serves as "Map" to help us in our architectural decisions from a Microsoft point of view. It has changed since the last versions that were available on CodePlex. Meaning that a review is also interesting for people, that already know and use the guide in their daily work.
Identify appropriate strategies and design patterns that will help you design your solution's layers, components, and services.
In my opinion it is a useful guide that does a good job in presentation all the rich possibilities of today's architecture and project solutions to customer problems. The first chapters also serve as an introduction to software architecture.
If you are interested in architecture and working in the Microsoft environment I highly advise you to take a look and integrate it into your architectural decision making.