text:
package credentials

import (
	"fmt"
	"sync"

	"github.com/aws/amazon-ecs-agent/agent/acs/model/ecsacs"
	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws"
)

const (
	// CredentialsIDQueryParameterName is the name of GET query parameter for the task ID.
	CredentialsIDQueryParameterName = "id"

	// CredentialsPath is the path to the credentials handler.
	CredentialsPath = V2CredentialsPath

	V1CredentialsPath = "/v1/credentials"
	V2CredentialsPath = "/v2/credentials"

	// credentialsEndpointRelativeURIFormat defines the relative URI format
	// for the credentials endpoint. The place holders are the API Path and
	// credentials ID
	credentialsEndpointRelativeURIFormat = v2CredentialsEndpointRelativeURIFormat

	v1CredentialsEndpointRelativeURIFormat = "%s?" + CredentialsIDQueryParameterName + "=%s"
	v2CredentialsEndpointRelativeURIFormat = "%s/%s"

	// ApplicationRoleType specifies the credentials that are to be used by the
	// task itself
	ApplicationRoleType = "TaskApplication"

	// ExecutionRoleType specifies the credentials used for non task application
	// uses
	ExecutionRoleType = "TaskExecution"
)

// IAMRoleCredentials is used to save credentials sent by ACS
type IAMRoleCredentials struct {
	CredentialsID   string `json:"-"`
	RoleArn         string `json:"RoleArn"`
	AccessKeyID     string `json:"AccessKeyId"`
	SecretAccessKey string `json:"SecretAccessKey"`
	SessionToken    string `json:"Token"`
	// Expiration is a string instead of a timestamp. This is to avoid any loss of context
	// while marshalling/unmarshalling this field in the agent. The agent just echo's
	// whatever is sent by the backend.
	Expiration string `json:"Expiration"`
	// RoleType distinguishes between TaskRole and ExecutionRole for the
	// credentials that are sent from the backend
	RoleType string `json:"-"`
}

// TaskIAMRoleCredentials wraps the task arn and the credentials object for the same
type TaskIAMRoleCredentials struct {
	ARN                string
	IAMRoleCredentials IAMRoleCredentials
}

// GetIAMRoleCredentials returns the IAM role credentials in the task IAM role struct
func (role *TaskIAMRoleCredentials) GetIAMRoleCredentials() IAMRoleCredentials {
	return role.IAMRoleCredentials
}

// GenerateCredentialsEndpointRelativeURI generates the relative URI for the
// credentials endpoint, for a given task id.
func (roleCredentials *IAMRoleCredentials) GenerateCredentialsEndpointRelativeURI() string {
	return fmt.Sprintf(credentialsEndpointRelativeURIFormat, CredentialsPath, roleCredentials.CredentialsID)
}

// credentialsManager implements the Manager interface. It is used to
// save credentials sent from ACS and to retrieve credentials from
// the credentials endpoint
type credentialsManager struct {
	// idToTaskCredentials maps credentials id to its corresponding TaskIAMRoleCredentials object
	idToTaskCredentials map[string]TaskIAMRoleCredentials
	taskCredentialsLock sync.RWMutex
}

// IAMRoleCredentialsFromACS translates ecsacs.IAMRoleCredentials object to
// api.IAMRoleCredentials
func IAMRoleCredentialsFromACS(roleCredentials *ecsacs.IAMRoleCredentials, roleType string) IAMRoleCredentials {
	return IAMRoleCredentials{
		CredentialsID:   aws.StringValue(roleCredentials.CredentialsId),
		SessionToken:    aws.StringValue(roleCredentials.SessionToken),
		RoleArn:         aws.StringValue(roleCredentials.RoleArn),
		AccessKeyID:     aws.StringValue(roleCredentials.AccessKeyId),
		SecretAccessKey: aws.StringValue(roleCredentials.SecretAccessKey),
		Expiration:      aws.StringValue(roleCredentials.Expiration),
		RoleType:        roleType,
	}
}

// NewManager creates a new credentials manager object
func NewManager() Manager {
	return &credentialsManager{
		idToTaskCredentials: make(map[string]TaskIAMRoleCredentials),
	}
}

// SetTaskCredentials adds or updates credentials in the credentials manager
func (manager *credentialsManager) SetTaskCredentials(taskCredentials *TaskIAMRoleCredentials) error {
	manager.taskCredentialsLock.Lock()
	defer manager.taskCredentialsLock.Unlock()

	credentials := taskCredentials.IAMRoleCredentials
	// Validate that credentials id is not empty
	if credentials.CredentialsID == "" {
		return fmt.Errorf("CredentialsId is empty")
	}

	// Validate that task arn is not empty
	if taskCredentials.ARN == "" {
		return fmt.Errorf("task ARN is empty")
	}

	manager.idToTaskCredentials[credentials.CredentialsID] = TaskIAMRoleCredentials{
		ARN:                taskCredentials.ARN,
		IAMRoleCredentials: taskCredentials.GetIAMRoleCredentials(),
	}

	return nil
}

// GetTaskCredentials retrieves credentials for a given credentials id
func (manager *credentialsManager) GetTaskCredentials(id string) (TaskIAMRoleCredentials, bool) {
	manager.taskCredentialsLock.RLock()
	defer manager.taskCredentialsLock.RUnlock()

	taskCredentials, ok := manager.idToTaskCredentials[id]

	if !ok {
		return TaskIAMRoleCredentials{}, ok
	}
	return TaskIAMRoleCredentials{
		ARN:                taskCredentials.ARN,
		IAMRoleCredentials: taskCredentials.GetIAMRoleCredentials(),
	}, ok
}

// RemoveCredentials removes credentials from the credentials manager
func (manager *credentialsManager) RemoveCredentials(id string) {
	manager.taskCredentialsLock.Lock()
	defer manager.taskCredentialsLock.Unlock()

	delete(manager.idToTaskCredentials, id)
}

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Home Interviews	Interview: Space Force's Tawny Newsome
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Interview: Space Force's Tawny Newsome
written by Leora Heilbronn May 29, 2020
I have been in awe of the multi-talented Tawny Newsome for awhile now. If you didn't know, Newsome is a talented musician, actress, improv comic, and co-host of the podcast 'Yo, Is this racist?'. Coming soon she'll be heard as Ensign Mariner in the animated Star Trek: Lower Decks on CBS All Access and in an undisclosed role on season two of The Twilight Zone, also on CBS All Access. It was a thrill to get the opportunity to chat on the phone with Tawny Newsome about her engaging performance as Captain Angela Ali on Greg Daniels' new Netflix show Space Force (opposite fellow Second City alum, and the show's co-creator, Steve Carell).
The following is a condensed and edited version of our fun conversation.
Brief Take: Hi Tawny! How are you holding up in all of this?
Tawny Newsome: I'm doing well. It's certainly weird but I can't complain.
BT: You had mentioned in a previous interview that you do a lot of research to prepare for your roles. What sort of research did you do to prepare to play Captain Ali?
TN: So the first thing I did was call a friend who's in the military, just to well one, catch up, but this person is in a very different branch and a different job, so there weren't a lot of total similarities but just to get my head in the world it was good to talk to a person that I knew. I asked my Dad, who served in the army, what his time was like in the military, just because I've never served, I've never done anything close to serving in the military, so I just wanted the basics. And then we had a great military advisor on set who I loved just hanging out with in between scenes because he was an absolute wealth of knowledge that he joyously shared. It was fun to watch someone nerd out about something he was clearly so smart in. He taught me everything from how to stand, how to speak to generals and their rank, how certain people should address me, so we kind of vibed about that a lot. I was surprised to learn that there was any sort of flexibility in terms of whoever was the top general at the base you were stationed at, kind of set the tone for how strict or how lax some of the uniformed ranks might be. I just thought it was universal all over the military, but he said that if your four star general on your base has his hair a quarter of an inch longer than is normal, then everyone else on the base can relax about that as well. So that informed us a lot because General Naird is obviously so buttoned up and so strict, so that told me how Angela needed to be. And the last thing I did, I watched a lot of YouTube videos of take offs and landings of helicopter pilots, and that helped me just kind of know where to sit my hands.
BT: What you were saying about how the top general at the base sets the tone for the base in total can be said about sets as well and the first person on the call sheet setting the tone. In this case that person was Steve Carell, who you share a lot of scenes with, so what was it like collaborating with him? Did you bond over your shared Second City backgrounds?
TN: Yeah, it's like working with the Second City king. I was at Second City reading his scripts, scripts that he wrote that we would perform when we were on the touring company, it's called archival material at Second City. You perform stuff that the greats have written before you and then you're finally entrusted to write your own stuff. First of all, he's delightful. Every story you ever hear about Steve is that he's the nicest man in the world, and it's so true. He's just so lovely and so funny and so professional and makes you feel so comfortable. I did have a small embarrassing moment where I was talking with a fellow Second City alum who was a co-star on the show, my friend Punam Patel, about this scene that we performed over and over at Second City and we were reminiscing like "oh my gosh, we performed this scene so many times", it's called Pictionary. And Steve walked in the room and I, just to include him in the conversation, I said "oh Steve, you must remember this scene called Pictionary, or was that after your time?", and he just turned to me and said, "I wrote Pictionary". And I think all the colour just fell out of my face. [laughs]
BT: You had said recently on Nicole Byer's podcast that Greg Daniels was really open and collaborative about listening to your feedback regarding the look of your character and how you wanted her to wear her hair. Was it a very collaborative set all around?
TN: Oh yeah, it was very collaborative. We were welcomed to improvise, time permitting of course, and we were also invited into the Writers' Room. Jimmy O. Yang and I got to come into the Writers' Room twice I think and pitch ideas for our characters' dynamic together. Jimmy pitched that maybe our characters would have a friendship because he was one of the only people I knew in the cast before we started. I knew Ben Schwartz a little bit but Jimmy and I have a friend in common and we'd hung out once or twice, so I think Jimmy was like "let's have these characters interact more, even though they come from very different worlds, I think that would be interesting." So we just went into the Writers' Room and just talked about our experiences and how we might react in certain situations, and they just took all of our experiences and wove them into the story.
And then I think the first time I emailed Greg a question, he so generously opened the door to pitching him things, which was terrifying because he's, you know, the creator of one of the greatest shows of all time, so how dare you pitch an idea to him, [laughs] but he was so into it.
BT: As an improv comic, musician, actress, artist, and podcaster, who have you collaborated with in the past that you'd love to work with again?
TN: Ooh, a lot of people! You know this is my first time working with Roy Wood Jr., he's in a few episodes, and then I had him on my podcast after that, even though we're all quarantined, he called in from New York and it was just like "oh man, this dude is a gem, like Steve. One of the funniest, down-to-Earth, nicest dudes." He just makes you feel so warm. When someone of that generation and above you in the comedy world treats you like an equal and a peer, it's just so affirming. I would love to get to work with Roy more. So if we get a season two, that would be great, or maybe he and I just do a buddy cop movie. [laughs]
BT: Have you heard anything about a season two happening?
TN: I have not. I think everything is so up in the air. I know we all want to do it. The whole cast, we have these little Zoom happy hours where we sit and have a glass of wine and chat and catch up. I think we're all down to do it, I just don't know if anyone knows when we can get back to work.
BT: I loved watching your interviews for Brockmire where you were paired with Richard Kind, you two were hilarious together. You mentioned in one of those interviews that you learned that Richard could just fall asleep anywhere at any time. Did you learn anything similarly surprising about the Space Force cast when you were filming?
TN: Richard is such a kook! [laughs] But yes, this is a great question and one that no one has asked me and I've been dying to share this tidbit, so thank you! First of all, John Malkovich has an impressive binder. It's very well organized by scene, he's got his little tabs, he's got everything highlighted so he can be flipping through studying very easily. But I did not realize that he had highlighted in scented marker. He had this bouquet of scents going on in his binder, and so he'd have this corresponding purple tab with this grape smelling highlighted lines for that episode. It was very delightful to learn that he had these adorable scented markers.
BT: I think my favourite episode was where your character bonded with Diana Silvers' character and you stood up for her. What was it like working with her?
TN: Oh I loved it too, thank you! We loved working together. I love that, I hope to do more stuff with her because I love working with an early twenties, late teen woman because, I don't know, they haven't been beaten down by life yet. So it's kind of like having a fun kid sister who's super smart. She's also really into music. I feel like her parents were like mine and raised her on the greats, so we have good conversations about our record collections. And she makes me feel cool. You know when you hang out with a really cool twenty year-old? You're just like "yeah! I can hang!".
BT: What have you been listening to or reading or watching lately that you've really liked?
TN: I've gotten really heavy into spy shit. I don't know why, maybe it's because my life is all improv and frivolity and so now I'm like "well what's the CIA doing?". So I finished season eight of Homeland, which was one of my favourite shows of all time and I was sad to see it go. Once I finished that, my friend put me on the 'Wind of Change' podcast, have you heard of this?
BT: No. Tell me all about it!
TN: Oh my God! Go download it. It's about how there's a CIA rumour that the government wrote the Scorpions song 'Wind of Change'. It's wild! It's eight episodes of just like hair metal and intrigue, and it's totally up my alley. So yeah, a lot of spies these days.
Space Force is now streaming on Netflix
Interview: Space Force's Tawny Newsome was last modified: June 3rd, 2020 by Leora Heilbronn
Bajillion Dollar Propertie$Ben SchwartzBrockmireDiana SilversGreg DanielsJimmy O. YangJohn MalkovichLisa KudrowOwen DanielsPunam PatelRichard KindSecond CitySpace ForceStar Trek: Lower DecksSteve CarellTawny NewsomeThe OfficeThe Twilight ZoneUploadWoman Up
Leora Heilbronn
Leora is a self-described "nerd" but that doesn't stop her from conducting engaging and lively dialogues, understanding the heart of a piece of fiction, and just plain being efficient and friendly. She enjoys animated Disney movies and loves ultraviolence in films equally. She is a devoted caregiver to a jungle cat, as well as an accomplished clean person.
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Post by Bruigher Beard Club.
The Montana State Beard and Moustache Competition will take place at the Red Ants Pants Music Festival in White Sulphur Springs, Montana.
Registration will begin the morning of Saturday, July 26th at the Bruigher Beard Club Booth inside the Music Festival. (Contestants must have tickets to the Music Festival to compete).
The competition will start in the mid afternoon (time TBA) on the side stage.
The judges will be asked to determine which contestant's facial hair best enhances his overall appearance, style, and personality. In the freestyle categories the judges will be asked to consider originality and creativity as well.
The top three contestants in each category will be awarded trophies based on the results from a panel of judges.
This competition is part of the National Beards and Moustache Series, which qualifies all contestants to earn points toward Beardsman of the Year, to be honored at the 2014 World Beard and Moustache Championships in Portland, Oregon. For more information on the series visit BeardTeamUSA.com.
The Montana State Beard and Moustache Competition will feature four general categories. Full Beard, Partial Beard, Moustache, & Freestyle.
Below is a full list of the Beard Team USA sub-categories. Find the style that best represents your facial hair and start grooming.
The judges will be asked to determine which contestant's facial hair best enhances his overall appearance, style, and personality. In the freestyle categories the judges will be asked to consider originality and creativity as well.
As grown, moustache integrated. No styling aids allowed.
As grown, only moustache can be styled with aids and may start growing from up to maximum of 1.5 cm beyond the end of the upper lip.
Short, length not to exceed 10 cm, and round. Moustache may be styled. Aids are allowed.
Broad, full and round. Length not to exceed 20 cm, moustache integrated. Aids are not allowed.
Facial hair grown only on chin, upper and lower lip. Beard and moustache may be styled but without aids. Aids are not allowed. Moustache not required.
Chin shaved with moustache allowed to start to grow up to a maximum of 2 cm beyond and below the end of the upper lip.Tips are long and pulled down. Aids are allowed.
Slender with long tips, straight up or arching up. The hairs are only allowed to start growing up to the end of the upper lip. Aids are allowed.
Moustache long and slender. Hairs are allowed to start growing from up to maximum of 1.5 cm beyond the end of the upper lip. Beard small and pointed.
All sideburns with shaved chin.
Unbroken unshaven area from temple to chin to temple. Upper lip clean shaven.
Mustache may be styled but without aids. The hairs are allowed to start growing from up to a maximum of 1.5 cm beyond the end of the upper lip. No aids are allowed.
Slender, beginning from the middle of the upper lip with the hairs extremely long and pulled to the side. Tips may be lifted slightly. The hairs are only allowed to start growing up to the end of the upper lip. Aids are allowed.
Small and bushy with tips arching up. The hairs are only allowed to start growing up to the end of the upper lip. Aids are allowed.
Big and bushy, beginning from the middle of the upper lip and pulled to the side. The hairs are allowed to start growing from up to a maximum of 1.5 cm beyond the end of the upper lip. Aids are allowed.
All full beards not matching other classes will be considered full beard freestyle. Aids are allowed. Creativity is encouraged.
All partial beards not matching other classes will be considered partial beard freestyle. Aids are allowed.
All moustaches that do not match other classes. The hairs are allowed to start growing from up to a maximum of 1.5 cm beyond the end of the upper lip. Aids are allowed.


text:
Q: Request exceeded the limit of 10 internal redirects due to probable configuration error.? i have a simple rewrite
RewriteRule ^.*$ addnew/$0

however i get the
Request exceeded the limit of 10 internal redirects due to probable configuration error.

I am trying to rewrite
www.mysite.com/anycharacter
into
www.mysite.com/addnew/anycharacter

A: .*matches addnew/. Try with:
RewriteRule ^[^/]*$ addnew/$0

A: Try the folllowing solution, it works for me.I hope this will work for you too.

*

*BEFORE DOING ANYTHING - BACKUP YOUR DB!

*Now, go into wordpress > settings > permalinks

*Set it to one of the pretty permalink settings like //year/month/'

*Open a text editor on your PC/Mac and open the .htaccess file you downloaded from your
webserver

*Find this piece of code
# BEGIN Wordpress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
  RewriteEngine On
  RewriteBase /
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
  RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>
# END WordPress

*Replace it with this piece of code, courtesy of Scott Yang:
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
   RewriteEngine On
   RewriteBase /
   RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
   RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
   RewriteRule ^(.+)$ /index.php/$1 [L,QSA]
</IfModule>

*Upload this code into the main domain root directory on your server and you're done.
Everything should work

A: As RC already said, .* will also match addnew/. And since the L flag causes a reinjection of the rewritten rule, you will get an infinite recursion.
So adjust the rule so it doesn't match your addnew/:
RewriteRule !^addnew/ addnew%{REQUEST_URI}

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Danny Milne, me, Debra Westlake and Janet Sharp.
Here's me with the prize-winners of the Paignton Writers Circle competition at Churston Golf Club yesterday. Congratulations to them and all the other entrants. We enjoyed an excellent lunch and then read the winning poems and stories.
I was very impressed by the standard of writing in the group generally. My thanks to all of them for being so friendly and welcoming.


text:
Robert Orr papers
Handwritten poems, minutes of a meeting of the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and a biography of Zina D. H. Young, a wife of the second president of the Church, Brigham Young. The poems were written at the death of Brigham Young in 1877. The Relief Society minutes relate to a meeting held in the 64th District school house on 7 Nov. 1893 in an unknown location.
Orr, Robert (Person)
Materials are in English.
Originals restricted due to their poor condition. Photocopies are available for patron use.
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to publish material from Poems, minutes, and a biography must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Board of Curators.
Mormon pioneer and poet who settled in Tooele, Utah. The authorship is uncertain. The materials might have been produced by Orr's son, Robert Orr (1835- ).
4 items (10 pages)
19th Century Western and Mormon Manuscript.
Minutes (Records)
Mormons -- Utah -- Tooele -- History
Relief Society (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) -- History
Tooele (Utah) -- History
Young, Brigham, 1801-1877
Young, Zina Diantha Huntington Jacobs Smith, 1821-1901
Register of Poems, minutes, and a biography
Rose Frank
Appm
Folder: 1 (Text)
Initial citation: MSS 814; Robert Orr papers; 19th Century Western & Mormon Manuscripts; L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University. Following citations: MSS 814, LTPSC.
Initial citation: MSS 814; Robert Orr papers; 19th Century Western & Mormon Manuscripts; L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University. Following citations: MSS 814, LTPSC. https://archives.lib.byu.edu/repositories/14/resources/6346 Accessed February 01, 2023.


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My personal blog, started in 2006.
Archive for the 'culture' category
Looking back over the years
And whatever else that appears,
I remember I cried when my mother died
Never wishing to hide the tears.
And at fifty-nine years old,
My father, God rest his soul,
Couldn't understand why the only lass
He had ever loved had been taken,
Leaving him to start
With a heart so badly broken
Despite encouragement from me,
No words were ever spoken.
And when he passed away,
I cried and cried all day.
Alone again, naturally.
Considering Gilbert O'Sullivan was 21 when he wrote 'Alone Again', it's a remarkably mature lyric, particularly as he didn't know his father well, and his mother was alive when the song was penned.
But it is my current earworm and with a slight change in the words, it reflects my mood.
Of course I'm not "alone": I have a partner and a network of friends, but there is an element of loneliness as part of the immigrant experience that hardly anyone talks about.
When you emigrate to parts unknown with your parents, and you don't have a say in it, you arguably have a different perspective on your new home country than someone who perhaps chose to go there, and you certainly have a different perspective to someone born and bred there.
I've never blogged the full story though most of my friends know it.
There is a photo somewhere of my family as I knew it at age two or so: my parents, my maternal grandmother, and me. At that age, I knew there were other family members—paternal grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins—but this was my immediate definition of family, and I held on to that for a long time. Certainly it was my definition during my formative years.
I came with my parents and not my grandmother, landing here three days shy of my fourth birthday.
When my grandmother arrived in March 1978 under the family reunion policy, my mother and I being her only living descendants, I felt 'the family' was complete again.
Immigrants will probably tell you, more so if they are not of the majority race, that they have a sense that they need to face life in this new country together. That most of the people around you won't be able to share the experience you're having, because you're making sense of it through a different lens. We spoke Cantonese at home, and we will have talked about the odd customs of the people here, from the stupidity of the colloquialism bring a plate to my parents needing to fight for the Wellington Hospital Board to give my mother her correct pay (something which ultimately required the intervention of former mayor Frank Kitts). Most of your peers wouldn't know what it was like for a white person to tell your Mum and yourself to go back to where you came from. Or to be denied service at what is now Countdown on account of your race.
Repeated experiences like that give you a sense of "the family versus the world". Happy ones naturally outnumber negative ones—by and large, New Zealanders are a tolerant, embracing people—but it's probably natural for humans to build up some sort of defence, a thicker skin to cope with a few of the added complications that the majority don't have to think twice about. It's why some of us will jump to "racism" as an explanation for an injustice even when the motives may not be that at all. It's only come from experience and reinforcement, certainly at a time when overt racism was more commonplace in Aotearoa, and more subtle forms were at play (as they still are with decreasing frequency; hello, Dominion Post).
As the family's numbers dwindled, it impacts you. It certainly impacted my father in 1994, in the way O'Sullivan's song says, and as "the last man standing" there is a sense of being alone. Never mind that my father had aphasia in his last years and couldn't respond intelligibly when I spoke to him: the fact he could hear me and acknowledge me was of great comfort. He understood the context. And frankly, precious few others do.
Other than aunts, uncles and cousins, the only time I really get to use Cantonese now is at shops where Cantonese speakers serve me. The notion of an 'Asian' invasion where you're walking the streets not knowing what's being spoken (I'm looking at you, Winston) is rot. You feel the loss of identity as well as your family because identity is relative: while you have a soul, a deeper purpose, that is arguably more absolute, you answer who you are in relation to those around you. I am proud of my heritage, my culture, my whakapapa. They identify me to the rest of you. Each of you holds a different impression, part of the full picture, just as in branding. The last person who understood part of my identity, the one relative to my immediate family who came with me to this new land, is now gone, and that cannot be reclaimed.
Therefore, this isn't solely about the passing of an elderly man and the natural cycle of life. This is about how a little bit of you goes as well. Wisdom tells you that you form another part of your identity—say how I relate to my partner, for instance—and in time you rebuild who you are and how you face the world. However, that takes time, and O'Sullivan might be an earworm for a little while longer.
Tags: 1976, 1978, 2019, 2020, Aotearoa, Chinese, culture, customs, Dailymotion, Fairfax Press, family, hospital, identity, immigration, language, life, music, musician, New Zealand, personal identity, racism, Wellington, Whanganui-a-Tara
Posted in culture, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Wellington | No Comments »
History of the 2010s: a look back at the decade that was
When I first wrote a satirical look back at the decade, which ran on this blog in December 2009 (on the old Blogger service, as I was helping a friend fight a six-month battle with Google to restore his blog), it was pretty easy to make up little fictions based on reality. This one, covering the decade just gone, was a different matter. No matter how you did it, often the reality would be stranger than the satire.
The Australian establishment, especially large portions of its media, are shocked a woman could become prime minister. They spend her entire term telling the Australian public that this is morally wrong.
Americans decide that they needed less honesty from television, so Simon Cowell leaves the US version of Pop Idol, American Idol.
Donald Trump-hosted show The Apprentice gets its lowest ratings ever. He begins planning another show and brainstorms with his countrymen on Twitter.
Long-running shows Ashes to Ashes and Lost end with exactly the same conclusion. Frustrated at years of investment in the two shows, the Anglosphere is so turned off television that they would rather form silos on social media websites to make their owners rich. Two guys in San Francisco spot the opportunity and invent Instagram.
Jay Leno unquits The Tonight Show after discovering the $30 million per annum he made prior to leaving just couldn't sustain his car collecting hobby.
Kate loves Willy, so they get engaged.
It's revealed that Arnold Schwarzenegger does films, politics, and the family maid.
Following the example of HH the Dalai Lama, Charlie Sheen decides to impart his wisdom to the masses, gaining an extra million Twitter followers as a result.
Cheryl Cole starts on the US X Factor amid much buzz, then vanishes from the show. Only her dimples remain.
Proving Apple is either a cult or a religion, Steve Jobs shrines appear all over the world after his passing.
How I Met Your Mother concludes as we find out River Song is Amy Pond's daughter.
Kate loves Willy, so they get married.
Reality is stranger
Facebook launches Timeline, but it actually doesn't work on the 1st of each month as no one there has worked out there are time zones other than US Pacific. Still no one thinks they're stupid.
Google gets busted over its advertising preferences' manager, which actually doesn't stop gathering your preferences after you've opted out from having them gather your preferences. None of the other NAI members seem to have a problem with their opt-outs. As far as I can tell, Google has been lying about its opt-out for two years, affecting millions.
President Obama finally figures out that same-sex marriage would not bring about disaster—that could safely be left to Big Tech, as it enjoys monopolies. As a result, Facebook has its IPO.
Forget 2011's Steve Jobs shrines, Jesus got a new look in Zaragoza, thanks to a repair job. Not everyone is enamoured with the updated Jesus, but it saves the town and numerous businesses.
Prince Harry parties and brings a new meaning to 'Las Vegas strip'. Got to have something to mark his grandmother's 60th Jubilee.
The Hunger Games makes stars of Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Hemsworth, although people over a certain age thought it was The Unger Games, a remake of The Odd Couple.
Kate loves Willy, so they expect a kid.
In the real world
Malala Yousafzai kicks ass and a bullet to the head doesn't stop her. If anything, it makes her stronger and grows her reputation.
E. L. James gathers up her Twilight fan fic and puts it all into a book, called 50 Shades of Grey.
Remember, this is where Boris Johnson is mayor: the London Olympics use the Kazakh national anthem from Borat. High five!
Google gets busted over bypassing the 'Do not track' setting on Iphone Safari browsers by The Wall Street Journal. Despite trying to look innocent, it stops this the same day. Several US states' attorneys-general decide this was such a gross violation of privacy that they fine Google a few hours' earnings.
Proving boys can do anything, Brad Pitt became the face of Chanel No. 5.
Lana Del Rey has really good hair.
Jennifer Lawrence brings publicity to her new film, Silver Linings Playbook, by falling at the Oscars.
Miley Cyrus mainstreams twerking, which showed how far society had already descended. Her Dad's 'Achy Breaky Heart' release in 1992 wasn't considered a cultural high-point at the time: the apple does not fall far from the tree.
Edward Snowden exposes mass surveillance on US citizens and even US allies. There is mass panic over the collection of data and the private sector pushes back, ensuring encryption of users' private information … actually, nothing happened, and the NSA continued with its data collection while the Obama administration charged Snowden with a crime and tried to extradite him from Russia, where he had more freedom of speech.
HM Queen Elizabeth II evens things up with Helen Mirren by winning a BAFTA for playing HM Queen Elizabeth II.
Kate loves Willy, so they have a kid.
RIP Nelson Mandela.
Ellen Degeneres broke Twitter with a selfie, but since everyone knew why, no one recalls if the fail whale went up.
The world got a reminder not to upload private stuff to the cloud—as celebrities found out the hard way when their intimate pics were leaked. En masse, the world stopped uploading images to the cloud and to social media while they waited for Big Tech to fix things with their privacy … actually, nothing happened, and people uploaded more photos, in the hope that hackers would find them and release them.
Scotland decides to stay part of the Union—for now. Of course they could trust London not to do something silly like leave the European Union.
Bill Cosby makes Mel Gibson look respectable.
Jay Leno decides he's made enough for his car collecting hobby and leaves The Tonight Show, though he might still unquit. Watch your back, Jimmy.
Kate loves Willy, so they expect another kid.
You've heard of the website You Park Like a C***? An American exchange student in Tübingen wanted to be featured on You're Stuck in a C***.
RIP Robin Williams, one of the funniest actors on Earth.
Volkswagen, trying to outdo its links to Nazism and allegations of labour relations' corruption, recalls tens of millions of diesel vehicles to see how far its brand would stretch. The US plans to fine VW way more than Ford or GM when they cheated on emissions, because, foreign.
Donald Trump hits on an idea for a new reality show where he runs for president. Casting begins.
Steve Harvey named the wrong winner at the Miss Universe pageant. At this point, being 'Harveyed' is a fairly innocent term.
Jon Snow is very much alive and continues fronting the news on Channel 4.
Kate loves Willy, so they have another kid.
Forget that August 9, 1976 Sports Illustrated cover; Caitlyn Jenner appears on the cover of Vanity Fair.
The Chicago Cubs win the World Series, as detailed in Grey's Sports Almanac.
In November, the unthinkable happens: Wellington has a massive rainstorm, followed by an earthquake that triggers a tsunami warning, followed by flooding and extreme fog that leave the city cut off from the rest of the country. Summer would be called off while citizens figured out what to do. The UFO invasion does not take place, though with local body elections, certain candidates were replaced by replicants.
Kate loves Willy—and Harry loves Meghan. Not a bad way to mark HM the Queen's 90th birthday.
The UK votes to leave the European Union: Nigel Farage is overjoyed, but Boris Johnson and Michael Gove's body language and facial expression reveal their dismay, and their words don't match.
I discover first-hand that Facebook is forcing downloads on people with the guise of 'anti-malware', even though this claim is dubious, and Facebook admits data are transferred back to the mother ship. I spend two years finding a journalist with the guts to write about it. Potentially millions have already been affected stretching to the beginning of the decade.
RIP David Bowie.
With the approval of the US audience, a massive, multi-channel series débuts, starring Donald J. Trump. It shows a dystopian America that elects a game show host its president, and warns us what can follow. This four-year experiment is expected to culminate in 2020 with an election special, which determines the series' fate for a renewed batch of episodes.
Kendall Jenner can do anything. She can solve riots with cans of Pepsi. Forget flower power.
La La Land wins the Oscar for Best Picture, until it was taken off them and Midnight wins the Oscar for Best Picture. Someone Harveyed (first definition): presenter Warren Beatty had been handed the wrong card.
Someone unplugs British Airways' computers, and all flights at Heathrow and Gatwick are cancelled.
News of Harvey Weinstein's alleged sexual harassment changes the meaning of getting 'Harveyed', and this one is far more horrific.
Kanye West became Donald Trump's biggest fan and joins the cast of his experimental four-year show. He plays an unhinged character who believes slavery was a choice.
Harry loves Meg, and tie the knot. Meghan's Dad, however, was too busy pursuing a career in modelling to attend.
Taylor Swift gets the voters out, and the public hasn't seen anything like this since David Hasselhoff brought down the Berlin Wall.
Louise Matsakis at Wired writes the story on Facebook's forced downloads, after I tipped her off. Facebook stopped pushing these downloads, after affecting millions and telling them it was for their own good.
A month later, a pink-haired man named Christopher Wylie blew the lid on something much bigger: Facebook, in violation of a 2011 FTC consent decree, allowed a data company to harvest over 50 million users, swinging the outcome of the US presidential election.
Roseanne comes back, Roseanne Barr Tweets something racist, Roseanne goes away.
Some media job-shame actor Geoffrey Owens for working at Trader Joe's; people come to his defence.
Twelve boys are rescued from a cave in Thailand, after Elon Musk makes a coffin that others brand impractical, angering him so much he calls one of the rescuers 'pedo guy'.
Speaking of Elon, Tesla will call the cops on you if you're a whistleblower, telling them you're heading to work to shoot up the place.
And yes, this does mean that the real news was whackier than the fiction.
To keep the ratings up for his long-running show, Donald Trump gets jealous of Greta Thunberg, as she didn't have to fake her Time Person of the Year cover.
He heads to the UK for the D-Day commemorations, and bonds with HM the Queen, telling her, 'My Dad was German and my Mum was Scottish, too.'
The British attempt a remake of Donald Trump's show. They search for a man who is born in New York, cheated on his first two wives, has five kids, funny hair, used to espouse more liberal views, before trying to sell ethnonationalism as part of his schtick. They find him: Boris Johnson, best known for his earlier work on Little Britain USA. Within weeks he's already cheated on his partner Carrie by giving everyone in the UK a weak pound.
Harry loves Meg, and this year, they didn't need Kate and Willy to provide the baby news.
Facebook says it will act in the wake of the Christchurch massacre, but by the following month, New Zealand's privacy commissioner reveals they've done nothing, and are 'morally bankrupt, pathological liars'.
Twitter deletes the account of Will 'Egg Boy' Connolly, but not racist Australian politician Fraser Anning, again demonstrating how fearful they are of racists. Twitter also deleted an account that looked for anti-Semitic bots, as bots are good for business (just like Facebook).
The Hong Kong police show their nostalgia for the British, by using the same colonial, "the natives are revolting" techniques once developed to quash piccaninnies.
The UK charges in to the Ecuadorian Embassy to arrest Julian Assange, then subject him to psychological torture. The US and UK mainstream media continue vilifying him, while the Russian state media call it out.
Mark Zuckerberg keeps meeting with right-wing figures, and people still want to keep making him rich by using Facebook, despite being lied to constantly about everything.
Tags: 2010s, Aotearoa, Ashes to Ashes, Australia, BBC, Boris Johnson, Brexit, Caitlyn Jenner, celebrity, Chanel, Cheryl Cole, Condé Nast, Donald Trump, Edward Snowden, Ellen Degeneres, Facebook, film, Google, history, humour, Jennifer Lawrence, Kendall Jenner, Lucire, mainstream media, Malala Yousafzai, media, nationalism, New Zealand, news, politics, royalty, Simon Cowell, Taylor Swift, TV, Twitter, UK, USA, Volkswagen, Wired
Posted in business, culture, humour, interests, internet, media, New Zealand, politics, publishing, TV, UK, USA | No Comments »
Business as usual at Wikipedia
I know Wikipedia is full of fiction, so what's one more?
I know, you're thinking: why don't you stop moaning and go and fix it if it's such a big deal?
First up, for once I actually did try, as I thought the deletion of a sentence would be easy enough. But the site (or maybe my own settings) blocks me from editing, so that's that.
Secondly, it reinforces this blog post.
This one sentence was presumably written by a New Zealander, and one who knows very little, though they have more editing privileges than me.
Like the 12-year-old 'Ford CE14 platform' piece that only got corrected after I posted on Drivetribe, I have to ask: what possesses someone to invent fiction and to be so sure of themselves that they can commit it to an encyclopædia? (Incidentally, subsequent Wikipedians have reintroduced all the errors back on to the Ford page since editor Nick's 2017 effort to correct it—you simply cannot cure Wikipedia of stupid.)
I know we aren't being set very good examples by American politicians (on both sides) and by British ones these days, but surely individual citizens have some sort of integrity when they go online to tell us how great they are?
For the record, the Familia nameplate was never used here in the last generation for a new car—you only see it on Japanese imports. Secondly, the three-door BH shape was only ever sold here as a Ford Laser, never a Mazda—Familia, 323 or otherwise.
"Post-truth" is nothing new: it's been the way of Wikipedia for well over a decade. It was all foreshadowed online.
It still begs the question why I don't see such callous edits on the German or Japanese editions of that website.
Tags: 1990s, 2010s, 2019, Aotearoa, Ford, history, integrity, language, marketing, Mazda, New Zealand, Wikipedia
Posted in cars, culture, internet, marketing, New Zealand | No Comments »
Breaking Hart's
Usually, all our publications use Hart's Rules. It's well understood, enough compositors know it, and it's a credible enough style guide for us to point at and use as a defence. There are some departures, which so far few have complained to me about.
1. Citation style. The OUP publishes The British Year Book of International Law, which doesn't follow Hart's on citations; and we follow a version that can be found in older examples of the Year Book (you can tell it has to be an older one, for at some stage it was renamed The British Yearbook of International Law). It also happens to be the style I learned when I was starting out, from a book by Jost Hochuli, and I understand some use it on the Continent. Brexiteers will not approve.
2. Diphthongs. Man, I love diphthongs. How can you not? Typographically, these look great, and their abandonment, I believe, only came when typesetters using computers found it too hard. Today's computers make it easy again, so I see no reason to not have them present again. Hart's is silent on ligatures, so I'm quite happy to manœuvre Cæsar's minutiæ.
3. I am not a fan of the American short scale, because at some point, the numbers are going to get ridiculously large and it's going to be inconvenient to use it. Plus the Chinese language adopts long scales for names of numbers, so the British long scale makes more sense to my native culture. Ten to the power of nine is a thousand million or a milliard, not a billion, which traditionally (I believe till 1974, so within my lifetime) was ten to the power of twelve, or what the Americans call a trillion. So far our publications do not require massive numbers, so we still say three thousand million, but I suspect when we get into bigger figures, we may have to bring back milliard, which is still in the dictionary, albeit as a defunct term. On this, Jacob Rees-Mogg might be quite happy to agree as part of his mission to take the Commons back to the 19th century, before all this metric system nonsense, other than using milliard, which is just too French. Maybe when we get to citing American authorities, we may have to relent, and certainly in the Middle East, American English tends to be more greatly accepted.
4. Other than where requested, I go for the "road sign" approach to citing place names: Milano over Milan, Lyon over Lyons. On this, Chris Patten and I disagree. When doing transliterations and romanizations, I would actually write Beijing because that's what a Beijinger would call their home town.
I probably won't win the third one, as most of the two thousand million Anglophones disagree with me, and the ratio of one holdout versus a milliard plus aren't great odds.
Tags: 2019, history, JY&A Media, language, Oxford University, publishing, tradition, YouTube
Posted in China, culture, media, publishing, technology, UK | No Comments »
Victor Billot on the 2019 UK General Election
I often find myself in accord with my friend Victor Billot. His piece on the UK General Election can be found here. And yes, Britain, this is how many of us looking in see it—like Victor I have dual nationality (indeed, my British passport is my only current one, having been a little busy to get the Kiwi one renewed).
Highlights include (and this is from a man who is no fan of the EU):
When reporters with their TV cameras went out to the streets to ask the people about their concerns, their motives, their aspirations, they recorded a dogs dinner of reverse logic and outright gibberish. BoJo had screaming rows with his girlfriend, made up policy on the go and hid in a commercial fridge. Corbyn however was seen as the weirdo. "I don't like his mannerisms," stated one Tory convert as the hapless Labour leader made another stump speech about saving the NHS. "Britain's most dangerous man" shrieked a tabloid headline.
Corbyn made a honest mistake in thinking that people may have been concerned about waiting lists at hospitals. It turned out that voters are happy about queues as long as they don't have any foreigners in them, or doctors with 'foreign' looks at the end of them.
The Murdoch Press machine: predictably, business as usual.
A curious aspect of the election is how the behaviour of the leaders seems to be measured by a new matrix of values. The more boorish, and arrogant, the better, in a kind of pale reflection of the troglodyte Trump in the midnight dim of his tweet bunker. BoJo, a blustering, buffoonish figure with a colourful personal life and the cocksure confidence of an Old Etonian, can be contrasted to the measured and entirely decent Corbyn with his Tube pass and allotment. Perhaps this is an inevitable side effect of the growing rage and alienation that bubbles under the surface of society, providing the gravitational pull towards the 'strong man' who will 'make our nation great (again)' in a world of other people who aren't like us.
I shan't spoil the last paragraph but it all builds up to that nicely.
Tags: 2019, Boris Johnson, Jeremy Corbyn, media, Murdoch Press, newspaper, politics, propaganda, racism, society, trend, UK, Victor Billot, xenophobia
Posted in culture, politics, UK | No Comments »
The "fortress America" approach to the internet fuels piracy
There are websites such as CBS News in the US that no longer let us here in New Zealand view them. US Auto Trader is another one. It's a damned shame, because I feel it's a stab at the heart of what made the internet great—the fact that we could be in touch with each other across borders. These two US websites, and there are plenty more, are enacting the "fortress America" policy, and I've never believed that isolationism is a good thing.
Let's start with the Auto Trader one. As someone who found his car on the UK Auto Trader website, it seems daft for the US to limit itself to its own nation's buyers. What if someone abroad really would like an American classic? Then again, I accept that classic cars are few and far between on that site, and if photos from the US are anything to go by, the site's probably full of Hyundai Sonatas and Toyota Camrys anyway.
I went to the CBS website because of a Twitter link containing an interesting headline. Since we're blocked from seeing that site, then I logically fed the same headline into a search engine and found it in two places. The first was Microsoft News, which I imagine is fine for CBS since they probably still get paid a licence for it. The second, however, was an illegal content mill that had stolen the article.
I opted for the former to (a) do the right thing and (b) avoid the sort of pop-ups and other annoying ads that content mills often host, but what if the Microsoft version was unavailable? These geo-restrictions actually encourage piracy and does the original publisher out of income, and I can't see that as a good thing.
Some blamed the GDPR coming into force in the EU, so it appears CBS—which apparently is against Donald Trump talking isolationism yet practises it—decided to lump "not America" into one group and include us in it. But so what if GDPR is in force? It's asking you to have more reasonable protections for privacy—you know, the sort of thing your websites probably had 15 years ago by default?
I still don't think it's that hard to ask users to hop over to Aboutads.info and opt out of ad tracking on each of their browsers. We haven't anything as sophisticated as some websites, which put their controls front and centre, but we at least provide links; and we ourselves don't collect intrusive data. Yes, some ad networks we use do (which you can opt out of), but we'd never ask them for it. The way things are configured, I don't even know your IP address when you feed in a comment.
Ours isn't a perfect solution but at least we don't isolate—we welcome all walks of life, regardless of where you hail from. Just like the pioneers of the web, such as Sir Tim Berners-Lee. Make the internet great again.
Tags: 2010s, 2019, advertising, business, car, CBS, GDPR, internet, isolationism, law, media, Microsoft, news, privacy, retail, USA, World Wide Web
Posted in business, cars, culture, internet, media, publishing, USA | No Comments »
That's not Blofeld, it's Brofeld
I really had hoped that for the next Bond, we wouldn't see 'Brofeld'.
I've never had a problem with M being a woman or Q being a nerd, but ignoring Fleming's entire background for Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the Daniel Craig movies, and supplanting him into the Franz Oberhauser family as a foster brother to Bond, felt a step too far—a step, incidentally, that we have Sam Mendes to credit. We have yet another Bond villain, as penned by screenwriters Purvis and Wade, with Daddy issues, the same plot device used in The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day in the Brosnan era.
Looks like the third Austin Powers movie contributed something back to the cinematic Bond-lore, when we learn Dr Evil was really Dougie Powers. The ret-conning of the first three Craig Bonds in Spectre felt forced. And professional reviewers have said plenty.
No Time to Die looks decent enough from the trailer, but once again we're exploring back stories. While this may be how blockbusters do it in the 2010s and the start of the 2020s, I just really don't care about Brofeld and the silly world we find ourselves in now. The sooner they can get away from this tangent, the better, and as much as I liked Daniel Craig as Bond, I'm looking forward to the start of the new actor's tenure some time early next decade. I've no idea what the world would expect in cinematic tastes come 2023 or so, but let's hope all the pieces fall together once more for a satisfying Bond entry, well away from Mendes.
Trivium that no one cares about: No Time to Die is the first James Bond movie to be released in a year ending in 0.
Tags: 2020, Austin Powers, Eon Productions, film, Ian Fleming, James Bond, trailer, UK, USA, YouTube
Posted in culture, interests, marketing, UK, USA | No Comments »
Modern masculinity doesn't involve reinventing the wheel
When Douglas Bader recorded in his log book on the aeroplane accident that cost him his legs, he wrote, 'Bad show'.
It was men like Bader, Audie Murphy, Claire Lee Chennault and Douglas MacArthur that my father spoke of as heroes from his childhood.
There were plenty more from our own culture but I'm using these ones given my largely occidental audience, and Dad really did cite them as well.
None of these men, by the accounts I've read, were braggarts. Most were indeed very humble about their contributions to their countries.
But even my late pacifist veteran grandfather (he served, but desperately hated war) would consider these men heroes, as my father did.
I may have blogged at other times about my first years in New Zealand, but I won't go into depth about it as it would be too much of a digression from the point I want to make.
Perhaps it's growing up in an immigrant household that what your father tells you a real man should be trumps what you witness at school from your classmates about what they think masculinity is.
And you see your own father display the qualities of what he considered to be gentlemanly. Children are good mimics.
A gentleman, he would say, has the ability to refrain. A lesser man might act out, or strike someone, but that is not a civilized man. Society runs best when people are civilized.
Those ideas of what we call toxic masculinity today were never displayed in my household and are utterly foreign to me—and as an immigrant, 'foreign' has two meanings in that sentence. I may be the "foreigner" as far as others (such as certain Australian-owned newspapers) are concerned, even after living here for 43 years, but from your own perspective, you can more easily distance yourself from any undesirable behaviour, saying, 'That's not who I am.'
In the early years at my first high school, I may have had some cause to doubt the fatherly advice because what I witnessed was an extreme and intellectually stunted form of hero worship that might was right. That the brute force of the rugby player was true masculinity and if you didn't have it, then you were a 'poofter' or a 'faggot'. Brag, brag, brag, be it about sports or sexual encounters.
This, as any real rugby player knows, and I have met men who have represented our national side, is a wholly inaccurate perception of who they are.
They will tell you that true men display values of camaraderie, teamwork, quiet achievement, tolerance and decency. No All Black I know talks himself up as anything other than one of the boys who happened to be lucky enough to be chosen.
Indeed, some of the bigger blokes who wound up in the school rugby teams, especially the Polynesian and Māori lads, were generally gentle and protective fellows with strong family values.
Yet that misplaced perception held by immature high school boys, I fear, informs many young men of how they are to conduct themselves in adult life.
They think that being jerks toward women is the norm. 'Treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen,' is the familiar refrain.
I've had comments over the years of, 'Why didn't you make a move on me?' when I either could not read the signs or felt that forceful "masculine" behaviour was not particularly respectful. As a middle-aged man I wonder if the patriarchy, "just the way things are", has warped expectations for heterosexual men and women. (I can't obviously speak for our LGBTQI community.)
However, what I do know is sending intimate pictures of yourself via a dating app or messaging service is disgusting (and, incidentally, has not worked for any man in the history of the planet), and that constant desperation is particularly unappealing.
I remember a female friend showing me the sorts of messages she received from potential suitors on a dating website.
'Holy crap,' I said. 'This is the calibre of men out there?'
And when I talk to my partner today, she tells me that that was par for the course.
But I have a quality relationship because I did listen to my father and behaved in a way that I thought he would approve of. Whatever he taught me wound up being hard-wired in me and I never aped the boys in my first high school. He was right after all, even if it took longer for me to be in a long-term relationship.
No, I don't have a massive list of "conquests" because it honestly isn't about quantity and life is too short for empty encounters. And while my behaviour at uni age, and shortly after, wasn't always exemplary, as I tried to figure out the norms, I've also come through this knowing that I didn't have to lie to any woman, and not a single woman out there will be able to say I did anything physical without her consent.
While I obviously told my other half of my career when we met ('So what do you do?'), I never mentioned my mayoral bids till our fourth date, a month in to our courtship (she lived out of the country when I ran), and I admitted I didn't always have an easy time in business during a period of my life, including the recession. I am human, after all. And if one can't accept me for the bad as well as the good, then is the relationship founded on reality? Or simply fantasy?
We've recently had a murder trial here in New Zealand with the accused a young man who is described as a serial liar, and accounts from women he had met were tragic: he would lie about his occupation, bigging himself and his family up, or pretend he had terminal cancer. Enough has been written on this creep.
I had the misfortune to meet another young man who has since been exposed by the Fairfax Press as a con man, who also told constant lies about his life, thinking that talk of personal wealth would impress me and a co-director of one business we have.
Mercifully, the latter case didn't wind up with anyone physically hurt, and I know plenty of young people who would never behave like this. But it got me wondering whether the core of these cases tells us something about how certain young men feel inadequate, because of a misplaced hero worship of a warped form of masculinity that leaves them as outsiders.
I'm by no means excusing the murderer because he frankly committed a heinous crime, in a premeditated fashion. I remain appalled at the victim-shaming that I saw reported as though the deceased, the one person who couldn't answer, were on trial. I'm also not excusing the failed con-man who any viewer of Hustle would be able to spot a mile away: his actions, too, were his own. But I am pointing at society and how we men have shaped expectations.
For I look at some male behaviour and they are entirely at odds with what a man should be.
While examples like Douglas Bader might not resonate with young men today, because his example is too far back in history for them (the biopic is in black and white), surely we can find ones of humble men who accomplish great deeds and don't have to go on social media to talk themselves up.
Just tonight I was at a dinner for Merrill Fernando, the 89-year-old founder of Dilmah Tea, who was earlier today conferred an honorary doctorate by Massey University.
When I asked if he was now Dr Fernando, he replied that he would still be Merrill Fernando, and that all the honours he had received—and they are plentiful—would never change who he was. His humility and his faith continue to inspire me.
This is the mark of a decent and admirable man.
And surely we can find examples where men aren't being disrespectful to women and show us that that is the norm.
Surely we don't need to berate anyone who doesn't fit the trogoldyte mould and use homophobic slurs against them.
Because, chaps, I don't believe what defines a man, a real man, a fair dinkum bloke, has actually changed, at its core, from what my Dad told me.
There is room for the jocks, the geeks, the musos, the artists, the romantics, the extroverts and introverts, because we all have our strengths.
One female friend of mine tells me that it's safer for her to presume all men are jerks as her default position till proved otherwise, and I know fully why she would take that position. On social media she points to the 'bros', men who'll gang up on women because they don't like them for calling it as it is, or having a different viewpoint. In real life she has had unwanted attention, even after she tells them she's queer.
These men, the bros, the braggarts, the dick-pic senders, the liars, the bullies, the slanderers, are actually trying to change the definition of what a real man is—and that, to me, seems to be non-masculine, insecure and inadequate. We can do better—and history shows that we had done once.
Tags: 1940s, 2010s, 2018, 2019, Aotearoa, crime, criminal law, Dilmah Tea, Douglas Bader, Fairfax Press, faith, family, heroes, history, homophobia, humility, law, masculinity, Merrill J. Fernando, New Zealand, relationships, religion, social media, society, World War II
Posted in culture, internet, New Zealand | No Comments »
Tesla or SpaceX doesn't like you? They'll say you're an active shooter
What does Tesla do to whistleblowers?
They tell the cops you're an active shooter.
Apparently, this case about a gentleman called Martin Tripp emerged in 2018 but only today were the police documents released, and are worth reading.
Above: Two of the pages from the Storey County Sheriff's Office over the false Martin Tripp 'active shooter' incident at Tesla.
One could attempt to read it generously in Tesla's favour but I think you'd be fooling yourself.
Tripp had concerns about waste, and even raised them with Musk. From what I can tell, Musk only engaged Tripp after Tripp had been fired; and it was after that email exchange that the tip was given to police.
It's a far cry from the admirable firm I remember, being run by Martin Eberhard. Back then, it was optimistic and transparent. Nowadays it seems a truck prototype can't stand up to scrutiny for 25 minutes, CEO Elon Musk disses one of the Thai cave rescue divers, Vernon Unsworth, calling him 'pedo guy', and Tweets misleading information that lands him in trouble with the US SEC. As far as I can tell in the Twitter thread above, Musk knew about Tripp—enough to speak on the case and be excessively paranoid about him, thinking he could be part of a conspiracy involving oil companies, claiming he committed 'extensive and damaging sabotage'.
As Bloomberg put it: 'Many chief executive officers would try to ignore somebody like Tripp. Instead, as accounts from police, former employees, and documents produced by Tesla's own internal investigation reveal, Musk set out to destroy him.'
Also from Bloomberg:
The security manager at the Gigafactory, an ex-military guy with a high-and-tight haircut named Sean Gouthro, has filed a whistleblower report with the SEC. Gouthro says Tesla's security operation behaved unethically in its zeal to nail the leaker. Investigators, he claims, hacked into Tripp's phone, had him followed, and misled police about the surveillance. Gouthro says that Tripp didn't sabotage Tesla or hack anything and that Musk knew this and sought to damage his reputation by spreading misinformation.
When Gouthro says Facebook (where he had worked before) is more professional than Tesla, that's really worrying.
In another case, Jason Blasdell claims that SpaceX, another Musk venture, where he was employed, falsified test documents. When he brought this to his superior's attention, he was fired. In Blasdell's case, two of his managers suggested he would 'come in to work shooting.' His account makes for sobering reading as the legal avenues he had get shut down, one by one.
Google and Facebook might do some terrible things in the market-place, but I don't think I've come across this level of vindictiveness against employees further down the food chain from the CEO.
They seem to be mounting as well—I wouldn't have known about the two ex-employee cases if not for spotting the Tripp police report Tweets. They both follow a similar pattern of discrediting people with valid concerns, going well beyond any reasonableness. We're talking about lives and reputations getting destroyed.
It all points to a deep insecurity within these firms, which go beyond the sort of monopolistic, anticompetitive, un-American, anti-innovation behaviours of the usual Big Tech suspects. Yes, Google will go as far as to get your fired, according to Barry Lynn of Citizens Against Monopoly (Google denies it), or it might play silly buggers and seemingly shut down your Adwords account, or blacklist your site by falsely claiming it is infected, hack your Iphone and bypass its 'Do Not Track' setting, expose your private information for years, and plain lie about tracking, but I've yet to hear them sicking armed police on you and having their staff say you'd be heading to the office shooting. So maybe in this context, Google can say it hasn't been evil. Well done. Slow clap.
At this rate, it's Big Tech and the monopolies the US government has fostered that'll drag down the reputation of 'Made in the USA'.
Tags: Big Tech, car industry, corporate culture, defamation, Elon Musk, ethics, Google, law, Nevada, SpaceX, Tesla, USA, whistle-blowing
Posted in business, cars, culture, USA | 1 Comment »
Seasonal Canadian humour
My thanks to Sydney-based photographer Robert Catto for linking me to this one, especially near the festive season.
It is funnier than the one I took in Sweden many years ago, which in pun-land could be racist:
The sad thing is, at some point, the majority will not get the top joke.
I have a ringtone on my phone for SMSs, namely Derek Flint's ringtone from In Like Flint.
If I mention In Like Flint, in my circles there'd be about one person every two years who'll get what I mean.
Twenty years ago, everyone would have said, 'Who's Derek Flint? That's Austin Powers' ringtone!'
Today, some of my younger readers will ask, 'Who's Austin Powers?'
So far, only a tiny handful of people get my reference when I say, 'Dear guards, Jeffrey can be taken off suicide watch. Signed, Epstein's mother.'
No, what Epstein did to his victims—children—is no laughing matter.
However, I don't think I'm alone in needing humour as an anchor for my sanity when the news is abhorrent.
Tags: 1980s, 2010, 2019, actor, Canada, celebrity, crime, culture, film, humour, language, law, Montréal, Québec, Robert Catto, spy-fi, Stockholm, Sverige, Sweden, TV, Twitter
Posted in culture, humour, internet, Sweden, TV, USA | No Comments »
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A Final Stake Through the Heart for Telemarketers?
If You Hate Telemarketers as much as we do then you're going to like this post (video version here). You see, a brand new law went into effect last October 16. The Federal Communications Commission now only allows telemarketers to call consumers if the consumer has actively agreed to be on the call list.
While The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) already bans certain autodialed, prerecorded or artificially voiced calls (47 U.S.C. §227), the new FCC rule require telemarketers to get unambiguous, written consent from consumers regardless of any prior business relationship.
An express warning is now required that provides consumers with notice that they will be receiving telemarketing calls. Furthermore, it must be clear that agreeing to telemarketing phone calls is not a condition of a purchase or sale. The new regulation applies to prerecorded or artificially voiced phone calls to residential and cell phones and includes autodialed calls to cell phones. It is also noted that the FCC believes that the TCPA covers text messages.


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Ротердам () е вторият по големина град в Нидерландия, част от метрополиса Рандстад. Разположен е в провинция Южна Холандия, на един от ръкавите на река Маас. Населението му е около 620 000 души (2014).

География

История

Първото споменаване на града е през 1282 г. На 14 май 1940 г. е бил тежко бомбардиран от германската авиация. Сред малкото оцелели от бомбардировката старинни сгради са кметството и катедралата "Свети Лаврентий".

Население

Управление

Икономика

В Ротердам има много заводи за кораби, самолети, електротехника, нефтопродукти, химикали, хранителни продукти.

Инфраструктура

Ротердамското пристанище е третото по големина в света след тези на Шанхай и Сингапур. То е и най-голямото в Европейския съюз с 345,8 милиона тона преминали товари през 2005 г. Разположено е в делтата на Рейн-Маас-Схелде и обслужва обширен хинтерланд. Неговият аванпорт Хук ван Холанд е достъпен за кораби с голяма водоизместимост.

Култура

Известни личности
 Родени в Ротердам
 Лойцен Егбертус Ян Брауер (1881 – 1966), математик
 Джовани ван Бронкхорст (р. 1975), футболист
 Уинстън Богард, (р. 1970), футболист
 Жоржиньо Вейналдум, (р. 1990) футболист
 Джефри Брума (р. 1991), футболист
 Фаас Вилкес (1923 – 2006), футболист
 Симон де Влигер (1601 – 1653), художник
 Елизабет Гелерд (1909 – 1969), психоложка
 Едсхер Дейкстра (1930 – 2002), информатик
 Роберт Дорнбос (р. 1981), автомобилен състезател
 Еразъм Ротердамски (1466/1469 – 1536), хуманист и теолог
 Рем Колхас (р. 1944), архитект
 Фери Корстен (р. 1973), диджей
 Рихард Крайчек (р. 1971), тенисист
 Вилем де Кунинг (1904 – 1997), художник
 Кун Маулейн (1937 – 2011), футболист
 Робин ван Перси (р. 1983), футболист
 Гари Родригес (р. 1990), футболист
 Хенк Снейвлит (1883 – 1942), политик
 Якоб Вант Хоф (1852 – 1911), химик

 Починали в Ротердам
 Пиер Бейл (1647 – 1706), философ
 Фаас Вилкес (1923 – 2006), футболист
 Кун Маулейн (1937 – 2011), футболист

Източници

Външни препратки

 Официален сайт на града

Пристанищни градове на Атлантическия океан

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
A Father Daughter Story
Loop: Home of the Modern Skyscraper
River North: Historic Pubs
Prairie District: Street of the Elite
14 Things You Didn't Know Were Invented in Chicago
– By Tom Schaffner
For more stories about Chicago's fascinating history, take a look at what Chicago city tours we are currently running! L Stop Tours runs unique tours all across Chicago's neighborhoods that are guided by lifelong Chicago residents. Discover the amazing architecture, tasty food, and interesting tidbits about the city in one of our Chicago walking tours!
Although Chicago is commonly known as the "Second City," it's equally known as a city of "firsts."
Unfortunately, we're not referring to the success of local sports franchises. The "firsts" that we're talking about are things that were invented in Chicago or the metropolitan area. Many of these inventions are celebrated widely in the media — the Ferris Wheel (1893 World's Fair), deep dish pizza (Pizzeria Uno in 1943), the brownie (Bertha Palmer and the Palmer House, 1893), the world's first modern skyscraper (Home Insurance Building, 1888) and Playboy magazine (Hugh Hefner, 1953).
Many of Chicago's other firsts, however, are not as well known. So, in our never-ending quest to shed a spotlight on all things Chicago, we've compiled a list of lesser-known Chicago inventions or "firsts." Here they are in no particular order:
After observing the difficulties experienced by World War I soldiers who needed a certain blood type for a transfusion, Bernard Fantus, a Chicago physician came up with a better idea. He developed a method of blood preservation and storage that allowed patients to access blood without waiting for a donor. The nation's first blood bank opened at Cook County Hospital in 1937.
Although aerosol cans had been around for years, no one ever thought to fill the can with paint. In 1947, suburban Chicago resident Edward Seymour, at the suggestion of his wife, Bonnie, filled an aerosol can with aluminum-colored paint and pressed the button. The result was not only a smooth, evenly-coated painted surface, Seymour realized that he had now made painting easier and portable. Spray paint was an instant commercial success. In 1992, the Chicago City Council banned the sale of spray paint in an effort to crack down on graffiti.
Sleeping Cars on Trains
After a long, restless night on a train in 1862, George Pullman, a Chicago mechanical engineer, had the idea to create a luxury sleeping car for trains. The "Pioneer," as he called it, had rubberized springs that reduced shaking, its walls consisted of dark walnut and the seats were covered with plush velvet. Silk window shades, crystal chandeliers and brass fixtures added to the overall feeling of luxury. At night, the seats unfolded into lower sleeping berths and an upper berth dropped down from a cabinet in the ceiling. To mass produce the railcars, Pullman created the Pullman Palace Car Company (on Chicago's far South Side), which was responsible for other rail innovations like the dining car, the lounge car and the covered vestibule between passenger rail cars.
The first commercially successful car radio was designed and built in 1930 by Chicago's Galvin Manufacturing Company. When the stock market crashed in 1929, Paul Galvin noticed that radios sales were down but car sales remained steady— owning a vehicle was still important to consumers, even in a poor economy. Galvin found a way to mount a radio in his Studebaker and drove it 815 miles to Atlantic City where the 1930 Radio Manufacturers Association Convention was being held. Upon arrival, he parked the car at the base of the pier and turned up the volume. The radio was a big hit, so Galvin returned to Chicago to begin manufacturing his product. On the way home he decided to give his product and company a new name — Motorola — a combination of "motor car" and "Victrola."
Automatic Dishwasher
Josephine Garis Cochran did not like having to hand wash dishes after entertaining friends and relatives at her home. She is claimed to have said, "If nobody else is going to invent a dishwashing machine, I'll do it myself." She partnered with a mechanic, George Butters, and created a machine that she showed at the World's Columbian Exhibition in Chicago (1893). In addition to winning an award for its mechanical prowess and durability, it attracted considerable interest from restaurants and hotels, both of which saw the machine as a great way to become more efficient. Cochran's Crescent Washing Machine Company became part of KitchenAid in 1913 through an acquisition by Hobart Manufacturing Company.
After working as a staff writer at WGN in Chicago, former teacher Irna Phillips created a serialized daily program geared toward women, "Painted Dreams," which was about a widowed matriarch of a large Irish-American family. The year was 1930, the medium was radio and the program aired for two years on WGN. Because her show often was sponsored by soap manufacturers, it became known as a soap opera. Prolific in her writing, Phillips also created other soap operas that aired on radio and television, including "Guiding Light," "As the World Turns," "Another World" and "Love is a Many Splendored Thing."
Though roller skates were first introduced in London in 1735, the sport of Roller Derby was invented in 1935 by a Chicagoan, Leo Seltzer, an entrepreneur who was responsible for booking events at the old Chicago Coliseum just south of the Loop. For two years, the Coliseum hosted the "Transcontinental Roller Derby," a multi-week event in which teams of skaters raced against one another on "trips" (miles that were tracked and plotted daily on maps) between large American cities, like Chicago to San Diego or New York to Salt Lake City. In 1937, Seltzer changed the rules to make the sport more exciting. Instead of long-distance races, teams scored points by breaking through and passing players on the opposing team. At 10 cents per ticket, Roller Derby was by far the cheapest sports ticket in town, an important consideration for those looking for an escape from the hardships of the Great Depression and a main driver of the sport's rapid growth.
Although a carpet-sweeping device was introduced a few years earlier, the first manually-powered vacuum cleaner was invented in 1869 by Chicago inventor Ives W. McGaffey. Though it required a certain amount of athleticism to operate (you had to turn a hand crank while pushing the device across the floor), the machines were commercially successful and sold for $25 apiece. The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 destroyed McGaffey's inventory, however, one of his original models currently resides at the Hoover Historical Center in North Canton, Ohio.
Farm Silo
In ancient Greece, farmers stored grain in huge pits in the ground. In fact, the word silo is derived from Greek meaning, "pit for holding grain." In 1873, Fred Hatch of McHenry County, Illinois thought there had to be a better way. He built an above-ground "pit" with round walls made of wood — a structure that generally is acknowledged as the first modern silo. It was successful, too. The new silo on his farm was filled with green corn fodder, so much so that Hatch's cows stayed fatter and gave more milk than they ever had before.
Chicken Vesuvio
No one is quite sure about the origin of this popular dish but many have suggested that it first appeared on the menu of Vesuvio Restaurant, 15 E. Wacker Drive, Chicago, in the early 1930s. Served with potato wedges, this dish features a half chicken that is sautéed with garlic, oregano, white wine, lemon juice and olive oil. Though the restaurant has long since faded into the darkness, the recipe lives on in a number of Italian restaurants throughout the Chicago area.
Building on his company's earlier success with the car radio, color television and two-way walkie-talkies, Martin Cooper, an engineer at Motorola, produced the world's first handheld mobile phone in April 1973 in Schaumburg, Illinois. In 1983, the company launched its first retail mobile phone — the DynaTAC 8,000X. The handset (a phone only, not a smartphone!) offered 30 minutes of talk time, six hours of standby and could store 30 phone numbers. Its price, $3,995, was a little prohibitive by today's standards.
The Wienermobile
In 1936, when Oscar Mayer Company was headquartered in Chicago, Carl Mayer, nephew of company founder Oscar, had an idea — a 13-foot-long hotdog mounted on a car that would travel the streets of Chicago promoting the company's iconic brand. General Body Company of Chicago designed the first Wienermobile, which featured open cockpits in the center and rear of the vehicle. Today, a number of vehicles comprise the Wienermobile "fleet," all of which can serve fully prepared Oscar Mayer hotdogs on location. The fleet consists of the full-size Wienermobile, a Mini Wienermobile (a hotdog on the body of a Mini Cooper), a motorcycle with a hot dog sidecar, and the Wiener Rover and the Wiener Drone, two remote-controlled hotdog delivery vehicles.
Twinkies were invented in Schiller Park, Illinois on April 6, 1930 by James Dewar, a baker at Continental Baking Company. When Dewar saw machines used to make filling for strawberry shortcakes idled when strawberries were out of season, he came up with the idea to develop a snack cake filled with banana cream to increase the machines' utilization. A co-worker called the product a "Twinkie" after having seen a nearby billboard advertising "Twinkle Toe Shoes." When World War II caused bananas to be rationed, the company switched the filling to vanilla, which proved to be even more popular than the original.
A Chicagoan, Whitcomb Judson, is generally credited with inventing the first clothing fastener in 1891. Used mainly on shoes and boots, the device utilized a chain-lock mechanism that held leather together without separating. In 1893, Judson exhibited his invention at the Chicago World's Fair. The device enthralled fairgoers, leading him to launch the Universal Fastener Company in Chicago to manufacture his product. The chain-lock device never achieved commercial success, however, the clasping device was used by Judson and other inventors as a springboard to create new and improved fasteners that closely resemble the "zipper" that is commonly used today.
Holder of two journalism degrees, including a masters from Northwestern University, Tom Schaffner is a native of the Chicago area and has spent nearly 50 years as a writer, editor, publisher and professional communications consultant. He was also the founder, editor, and publisher of the Chicago File, as well as the co-owner of L Stop Tours.
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This drops from Volkhan in heroic mode. 2nd boss in Halls of Lightning.
Very nice and probably intended to be Druid tanking boots. Throw a +24 stam gem (or better) in there and an agility enchant, and you have yourself some very good tanking boots.
This are REALLY nice tanking boots. Add a +24 stam gem and a +22 stam enchant and you have 121 stam on just these boots alone, which is higher than any boots except from Ulduar crafting patterns.
Definitely grab these as a druid tank for sure.


text:
FREE WEBINAR RECORDING You Can Do This: Photo Organizing and Preservation
TOPICS:Genealogy BargainsLegacy Family TreeWebinars
Posted By: Thomas MacEntee 30 January 2019
FREE RECORDING You Can Do This: Photo Organizing and Preservation presented by Thomas MacEntee at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
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About You Can Do This: Photo Organizing and Preservation
"Are you sitting on a pile of old family photographs and wondering what is the best way to preserve them? What about boxes of family vacation slides, photo negatives or home movies? As more and more Baby Boomers take on the task of organizing family history materials, we're uncertain about the best way to preserve these memories. And an over-abundance of technology doesn't help! Participants will learn the best ways to organize and preserve family photos including outsourcing as well as the DIY approach. Starting with quick and easy inventory and organizing tips, we'll move on to creating a strategic plan to finally get this photo project done!"
Presenter: Thomas MacEntee
What happens when a "tech guy" with a love for history gets laid off during The Great Recession of 2008? You get Thomas MacEntee, a genealogy professional based in the United States who is also a blogger, educator, author, social media connector, online community builder and more.
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Thomas describes himself as a lifelong learner with a background in a multitude of topics who has finally figured out what he does best: teach, inspire, instigate, and serve as a curator and go-to-guy for concept nurturing and inspiration. Thomas is a big believer in success, and that we all succeed when we help each other find success.
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There are two L400 Models, know as a Space Gear.
The name is derived from Delivery Car. With lots of Space for Sports Gear.
These pics should let you work out which you have.
Images above show the high roof option. Options available on original factory order are:-.
Low roof = flat roof level with the gutters, which may have a front cab Sunroof.
If you are thinking of buying a Delica the following will answer most of your questions.
These are the model variations, engine's, engine ancilliaries (Fuel pump, water pump, air intake, turbo, manifolds, etc) Brakes, Brake discs, wheels, electrics and interior trim can vary greatly depending on grade options specified by original purchaser. You will find most parts suppliers will ask you for the chassis number as this will also list different parts used on your Deli during its construction, as specifications changed.
3000cc V6 (6G72 Petrol), column shift 3 mode 4A/T, Crystal Lite roof.
2800cc TD (4M40 Diesel), column shift 3 mode 4A/T, Crystal Lite roof.
3000cc V6 (6G72 Petrol), column shift 3 mode 4A/T, Crystal Lite roof or twin sunroof.
2800cc TD (4M40 Diesel), column shift 3 mode 4A/T, Crystal Lite roof, twin sunroof or high roof (no glass).
2800cc TD (4M40 Diesel), column shift 3 mode 4A/T, Twin sunroof or High roof.
2800cc TD (4M40 Diesel), floorshift 5M/T, High roof.
2800cc TD (4M40 Diesel), column shift 3 mode 4A/T, aero roof.
2800cc TD (4M40 Diesel), floorshift 5M/T, aero roof.
2400cc (4G64 Petrol), column shift 4A/T, Twin sunroof, High roof or Aero roof.
2800cc TD (4M40 Diesel), column shift 3 mode 4A/T, High roof or Aero roof.
3000cc V6 (6G72 Petrol), column shift 3 mode 4A/T, high roof.
2800cc TD (4M40 Engine), column shift 3 mode 4A/T, high roof.
2800cc TD (4M40 Diesel), column shift 3 mode 4A/T, high roof.
2500cc TD (4D56 Diesel), column shift 4A/T, Crystal Lite roof.
2400cc TD (4G64 Petrol), column shift 4A/T, Crystal Lite roof.
2500cc TD (4D56 Diesel), column shift 4A/T, twin sunroof, high roof or aero roof.
2500cc TD (4D56 Diesel), column shift 4A/T, aero roof.
2400cc (4G64 Petrol), column shift 4A/T, aero roof.
2500cc TD (4D56 Diesel), column shift 4A/T, high roof.
2500cc TD (4D56 Diesel), column shift 5M/T, high roof.
Difference in power output between a series 1 & 2 ?
Series 2 has an electronic fuel pump, the automatic gearbox is a Column shift INVECS-II 4 speed automatic, Air con system has the same compressor but different clutch setup.
The following description is of a short wheelbase (SWB) four wheel drive (4WD) Super Exceed 2.8TD. Only the engine sizes / specifications are different on other models, apart from the extra length of the LWB.
The L400 Delica Space Gear has two 4WD specs:- Part Time 4WD and Super Select 4WD. All auto gearss L, 2, N, D, R, P are on a shift lever on the steering column. the 2WD/4WD modes are on a floor shift lever. It will state super select on the dash display and the floor shift lever shows the 2WD - 4WD positions.
2H = 2 wheel drive High range gears.
Super Select gearing will let you shift from 2WD to 4WD (positions including H whilst still travelling at speeds up to 100Km/h (60mph). You can get Manual Gear boxes but most come in Automatic versions. You need to put the auto version into Neutral to switch into or out of Diff Lock. The dash has a comprehensive warning light system to show you which diff/ wheel mode you are driving in.
Diesel Fuel tank capacity on the 2.8TD 4WD is 75 Litre, and 60 Litre on the 2WD, with a low fuel warning light at approx 15 Litres left. The engine is capable of running on Vegetable oil and is very robust, Some members are useing 70% veg 30% bio diesel. Its been legal, since 31st July this year to use Veggie oil without paying extra tax provided you do not use more than 2,500 litres per annum (Approx 14,000 Miles worth), though this may be stopped in 2010. You should average between 24 and 28 mpg when fully loaded on a long run.
Height = 1.275 for the Crystal Lite roof version, which is slightly higher than the low roof version at 1.180 metres.
Below is a Long Wheel Base version. Note the larger rear side window, the panel width between the sliding door and the rear wheel arch and the longer overhang behind the rear wheel arch.
Seating capacity is seven or eight, depending on version. seven = a middle row of two fully revolving captain chairs and split drop down seats at the back for three people.
The eight seater has a rotating three seater bench in the middle, instead of the two revolving Captains chairs.
With the SWB you need to remove the rear seat headrests when driving with the seats folded flat to the sides. The LWB has a greater internal depth from the rear seats to the tailgate allowing the headrest to be left on the seat.
You can also put the seats flat and fit a cheapo £39'ish inflatable double ready bed from Argos or camping stores.
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Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 14:19 Post subject: Google Ads keep this community free to join!
Blimey I keep seeing loads of updates from you Lewis,good work and issue yourself extra beer tonight.


Troitskoe suburb - settlement on the left bank Svislochi. Territory became built up in the XII century, the very same name appeared in the XV century. It is curious that restore Troitskoe suburb was decided only after the visit of Nikita Khrushchev in 1962. He asked in the presence of the historic center, which could be visited. Such was not.
Among the components of Trinity Hill highlight Maxim Bogdanovich literary museum and Island of Tears. The latter is a memorial complex in honor of soldiers who died in Afghanistan.