Influencer Marketing is a powerful strategy that incorporates social media and content to build relationships with trusted people in your industry and drive your brand's message to a target audience. It is essentially delivering your message or product directly to the audience who is already interested and engaged in your industry.
According to eMarketer, 81 percent of advertisers who have used influencer marketing judged it to be effective.
Whether an influencer's audience is small or large, they have the ability to communicate valuable content to your current or potential consumers via blogs or social media in a way that traditional advertising campaigns or agencies might not be able to. Influencer marketing helps add authenticity and trust to your brand.
We recently interviewed Liquipel, a brand that sells water-resistant casing and lightweight shatterproof protection phones.
A major component of of Liquipel's strategy was leveraging influencers / brand ambassadors to post about their products on social media. Liquipel was fortunate to partner with well known artists – Pharrell Williams, Steve Aoki and the highest paid pro skateboarder in the world, Nyjah Huston for their product launch.
Of course, not every retail brand has access to A-list celebrities with worldwide influence, but that doesn't mean they can't leverage the power of "micro-influencers." Niche or micro-influencers can have the same impact and ROI as A-list celebrities. Perhaps an even greater impact, because these social influencers are trusted in their communities and seen as an industry expert.
As I explained in my guest post for Shopify Plus, the assumption that influencer marketing only works if a big name celebrity is involved is no longer the case. The reality is most people are interested in what experts within a specific industry have to say.
You don't necessarily need to have hundreds of thousands of followers to be considered an "influencer" because the size of the influencer audience does not always reflect the amount of engagement.
Retail brands should aim to team up with influencers that are well respected in their community and have the ability to reach potential consumers through their blog, Facebook page, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube Channel, SnapChat, and more.
The trust and authenticity a micro-influencer can add to your brand is immensely impactful, yet how can you choose the best influencer to partner with? There are countless niche influencers, yet partnering with the one influencer or influencers who can best deliver your message to your desired audience is crucial. Luckily, there are many influencer marketing platforms and influencer marketplaces that do the hard work for you and curate the best influencers for you to partner with.
We compiled a list of influencer marketing platforms and influencer marketing marketplaces on the basis of services, featured clients and more. It's important to check out the individual platform reviews for a more in-depth perspective, but these influencer platforms are an excellent foundation to find the right partnership for your brand.
Tracking these efforts will also help retail brands determine how to invest their influencer marketing dollars in the future. Below you'll find the top curated influencer databases.
Who: The AspireIQ platform enables you to generate original content with influential content creators that can drive new customers and followers for your brand.
Agencies – Software solution is custom-built for agencies to run highly-customized influencer campaigns.
Creators – Get paid to create content on your terms and work with the right brands that can promote you and help you grow your audience.
Who: BuySellShoutouts connects their customers with popular Instagram page owners and provide a cost effective shoutout service to help get more publicity for your product or business or personal account.
BuySell Shoutouts allows their customers to buy Instagram shoutouts from the most popular pages on IG to boost their presence. Shoutouts start from as little as $5 and can be seen by millions of users on Instagram.
Who: YouTube Influencer Marketing. Grapevine's platform provides deep insights into the actual performance of content, including the number of sales or signups that each creator is generating for your business.
Who: Run your own influencer campaigns, own your influencer relationships, and build your proprietary influencer network. NeoReach is a comprehensive platform that enables you to unify and streamline every part of your influencer marketing: from influencer search and analytics to campaign management and reporting.
Who: Give free products. Get video reviews. Octoly will help you increase your brand's footprint on YouTube – with more videos, more views, and more engagement.
Who: Shopping Links connect Bloggers with Brands based on their specific requirements, taking the guesswork and time out of blogger outreach. Their real time, automatically updated, digital media kit for Bloggers means that Brands and PR Agencies are able to make more informed choices about the Bloggers they wish to work with; and Bloggers (or their Agents) are no longer required to manually update data as it changes.
Services: Access to over 8000+ Fashion, Beauty and Lifestyle Bloggers worldwide to match a range of Bloggers and Influencers to your specific campaign requirements.
Influencers – Right swipe Brands you Love. Brands will reach out if the feeling is mutual.
Brands – Meet the Influencers that Love your Brand. Swipe right to reach out to them.
Agents – Maximize your talents visibility to top Brands. Directly receive and Manage new opportunities on their behalf.
Who: TapInfluence centralizes influencer marketing into a single SaaS platform. Data, insights, expertise, automated influencer marketing campaigns, and a fully vetted /opt-in marketplace of influencers.
Services: Software for marketers & influencers. Delivers multi-channel tracking beyond blogs – Vine, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter – and analytics that make quantifying true engagement, Total Media Value, and ROI easy.
Who: Content BLVD is the fastest, easiest, most cost-effective way to get consumer products featured on YouTube. Simply list your product and have offers from creators come to you.
Services: Unlike other influencer marketing platforms where YouTube creators are paid to feature products, Content BLVD marketplace facilitates unpaid placements. YouTubers choose products because they would make great video content, not because they're paid to push a specific brand message.
Who: Boostinsider is an influencer marketing platform where influencers get paid to promote products they love.
Track your campaign's progress using a real-time dashboard. Monitor influencer posts, profiles, and most importantly their engagement.
Who: A central part of Reelio's mission is to make it easier for talented creators to support themselves through the amazing content they create. They've since expanded and now connect creators not only with brands, publishers and agencies but also with nonprofits through Reelio Cares to widen our global impact.
Who: Fosters authentic relationships with influencers, affiliates and ambassadors in your network and the capability to develop strong communities centered around your brand.
Services: Discover Influencers, Recruit / Reward Ambassadors, Launch Targeted Campaigns, Measure Authentic Results.
Who: HelloSociety's network of 1,500+ influencers is comprised of the most talented and influential creators on social media. This elite group features the leading tastemakers in a wide range of categories, including fashion, home décor, fitness, food, travel and more.
Who: Niche is the creator-first platform that provides creators with the ability to grow, understand, and activate their social presence across all networks. Niche, a part of the Twitter family since 2015, works with creators worldwide alongside top brands to develop authentic and resonating branded content.
Who: Klear is a social intelligence platform that helps brands do smarter marketing.
Monitor & Report – Social media listening and analytics, made simple. Track your landscape and develop your strategy.
Influence Search – Find Influencers in any skill, location in the world. Covering 500M profiles across all networks.
Social Profiles – Analyze any social user for smart qualification, and manage relationships with private lists.
Who: The goal of Employee Advocacy is to inform, educate and engage the workforce, thus keeping them in the know, and allowing them to become brand ambassadors.
Who: Linqia's influencer marketing programs inspire action with your target audience, whether it be launching a new product, engaging consumers around a new brand message or driving in-store sales.
Services: Brands & Agencies / Influencers – Linqia provides brands with performance-based pricing, a turn-key solution and an "always on" feed of proven, high-quality content that will supercharge your social advertising.
Who: Upfluence's solutions are designed to guide companies in their content marketing effort by helping them to create and manage their content. From your favorite blogs to your social media activities, your brand needs amazing content to tell its story.
Services: Influencer marketing / Content marketing – Planning, creating, publishing and amplifying content.
Who: Traackr's IRM platform is a system of record to manage, expand, validate, and scale your global influencer marketing.
Who: ReadyPulse is the leader in digital marketing technology and services dedicated to eliminate the barriers between consumer brands, social fans and campaigns to grow brand awareness, conversions and influence.
Who: Reign Agency is the premier agency for multicultural influencer marketing. Reach multicultural audiences through the largest multicultural influencer network. This agency works with influencers across different categories including fashion, beauty, gaming, fitness, travel, entertainment, and food.
Services: Culturally Relevant Campaigns, Content Creation, Product Promotion, Event & Travel Services, Analytics.
Who: Shout Our Biz is an influencer marketing platform built around machine learning and AI to offer proprietary analytical metrics on tens of thousands of influencers. The Shout Our Biz team is a group of young University of Toronto computer scientists with backgrounds in algorithm architecture, data structures, scientific computing and numerical analysis.
Services: They offer direct access to deep analytics and contact information for tens of thousands of influencers on Instagram and Twitter.


text:
layout: post

type: "article"

title: "_, __ and __fct__ Python"
subtitle: "Why does python use so much underscores?"
cover_image: posts/python-power.jpg
cover_image_caption: "Python."

excerpt: "Why does python use so much underscores?"

author:
  name: Mourad Mourafiq.
  twitter: mmourafiq
  bio: Maths, Technology, Philosophy, Startups, ...
  image: logo.png
---

I was asked this question about 2 days ago, why does python use so much underscores?

So here is a small documentation about different uses of underscores.

 * One underscore at the beginning:

Variables with a leading underscore are read only.

Functions with a leading underscore are not meant to be accessed out of the class. This function can be changed without notice.

from the python docs :

name prefixed with an underscore (e.g. _spam) should be treated as a non-public part of the API (whether it is a function, a method or a data member). It should be considered an implementation detail and subject to change without notice.

 * Two underscores at the beginning:

Variables with at least two leading underscores, at most one trailing underscore, used to define class-private instance and class variables, methods, variables stored in globals, and even variables stored in instances. private to this class on instances of other classes.

 * Two underscores at the beginning and Two underscores in the end:

Two leading and Two trailing underscore is a convention, a way for the Python system to use names that won't conflict with user names.

There is always an operator or native function that calls these magic methods. The idea here is to give you the ability to override operators in your own classes. Sometimes it's just a hook python calls in specific situations. `__init__()`, for example, is called when the object is created so you can initialize it. `__new__()` is called to build the instance, and so on…

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


D'Angelo, Karen E. (Adams), age 66, of Norfolk, passed peacefully on February 23, 2019, at home.
She was surrounded by her loving husband of 31 years, Leonard D'Angelo, and her two daughters Marie D'Angelo and Nicole D'Angelo. She was born in Chelsea to George S. Adams and Julia Adams (Gajewski), both of Chelsea. She leaves behind a loving sister Christine Ronan (Adams), wife of Edward Ronan, and brother James J. Adams. She was a loving daughter-in-law to Ida D'Angelo and the late Nicolo D'Angelo, both of Medford.
Karen dedicated over 35 years of her life to nursing, working as a hospital nurse, a visiting nurse, and then a public health nurse. Her devotion to others not only led her to her career in nursing, but also inspired her to be a constantly giving member of her church and the Norfolk community. A loving wife and mother, Karen's life was guided by her passion for family, friends, and faith.
Relatives and friends are invited to attend visiting hours in the Holden, Dunn and Lawler Funeral Home, 55 High Rock St., WESTWOOD on Thursday February 28th from 4-8pm. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday morning March 1st at St. Jude Church, 86 Main St., Norfolk at 11:30 am. Interment at Norfolk Cemetery.
The beautiful and interactive Eternal Tribute tells Karen 's life story the way it deserves to be told in words, pictures and video.
On behalf of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH), Public Health Nursing Office and the MDPH State Public Health Nurses I would like to offer our deepest sympathies to the D'Angelo family. Karen was a beautiful and caring woman and a caring and compassionate public health nurse. Karen will be truly missed! Our thoughts and prayers are with you all during this sorrowful time.
Karen was a very loyal and dedicated member of our MAPHN MetroWest/Central Chapter. She was a very gentle, likeable person, and so easy to talk to. May God Bless your family during this difficult time. You are in my prayers.
I was so sorry to hear of the news that Karen had passed. Karen inspired so many in public health nursing with her kind, thoughtful and caring ways.
I was saddened to hear of Karen's passing. I knew her from Curves, where we worked out together. She is dearly missed! Such a lovely lady. My deepest sympathies on your loss. God Bless!
I was informed that Karen had passed earlier this week by Bob Chu and Tim McQuillen. My deepest sympathies to you and your family. Prayers for Karen, you and your family have been and will continue to come from the Brandt family in Wisconsin.
I heard of Karen's death at noon today and, sadly, I am unable to concelebrate her funeral Mass tomorrow because I have three hours of class in the morning.
I will offer Mass for her here tomorrow.
Karen was a gem and so helpful a friend in the years I was pastor in Norfolk.
Your loss is great but God's gain is greater.
I am so sorry. Karen was so welcoming to me when I became a member of MAPHN, our Nursing Association. I will remember her as kind, caring, and helpful. She was always looking out for her community and shared her work and ideas.
My condolences to Karen's family. We worked together at the Millis Health Department. She was a kind, compassionate, and gentle person dedicated to public health. She will be missed.


text:
Ole Misc.: Holy Shit, Paul McLeod Killed a Guy at Graceland Too
I mean, it was a matter of time before something like this happened.
By The Ghost of Jay Cutler Jul 17, 2014, 9:47am EDT
Share All sharing options for: Ole Misc.: Holy Shit, Paul McLeod Killed a Guy at Graceland Too
Paul McLeod's eccentric Holly Springs home/shrine/museum
Graceland Too, an attraction which can only accurately be described as a shrine to Elvis Presley, was the scene of a fatal shooting two nights ago, as Paul McLeod, the sole owner and operator of the Holly Springs "museum," shot an alleged trespasser, who was found dead just inside the the establishment's front door.
An oddly important cultural institution in our odd neck of the woods, Graceland Too has seen countless students from Ole Miss and other schools in the area making the trek to Holly Springs for a visit. The site, which is nothing more than McLeod's eccentrically decorated home, features memorabilia, photographs, paintings, a room full of televisions (it's so that Mr. McLeod can record any instance where he sees Elvis Presley on air in any form), and an attempted recreation of the set of Jailhouse Rock. It is a popular spot to visit after a night of drinking, as the home is open 24-hours a day and only costs a meager five dollars to tour. McLeod himself serves more as the sideshow, offering amusing-but-hardly-true anecdotes (no, Paul, I don't believe that Bill Clinton showed up and offered "one million dollars cash" for some rare Elvis figurine you happen to possess) as entertainment throughout the tour.
The thing about a visit to Graceland Too that makes it both entertaining and haunting is that you really can't tell if what he is doing is an honest business venture or the inevitable result of his mentally unwell obsession with Elvis Presley. On the one hand, he's an honest fan and entertainer who really just loves talking about Elvis with complete strangers. But, on the other hand, he's a hoarder who lets people into his home, people who he routinely sexually harasses and threatens with violence.
That's why none of this is so surprising to anyone who has ever been to Graceland Too (I'm a lifetime member of that fine establishment, for whatever that's worth). McLeod's kooky and weird in a way that can only exist in a small town in north Mississippi. He's obsessive, easily agitated, and somehow simultaneously paranoid and hospitable. He even routinely brandishes what I can only presume is the same .45 caliber pistol used in this shooting while giving tours of his home, just to let you know who's really in charge at Graceland Too.
The victim is Dwight David Taylor, a 28-year-old man who McLeod alleges broke into the house and demanded money, leading to a violent altercation. Charges have not yet been brought against McLeod.
AND THEN THERE'S THIS, JUST AS I'M ABOUT TO CLICK PUBLISH
I can confirm that Graceland Too owner Paul McLeod has died.
— Clay Chandler (@claychand) July 17, 2014
Uh... wow.
It's Ole Miss' turn at SEC Media Days today! Hugh Freeze will speak, as will Bo Wallace, Cody Prewitt, and C.J. Johnson. We'll livetweet and liveblog it today, so stay tuned. There's actually not a link here. Whoops.
Ole Miss' talented sophomores will likely be the focus today during Media Days.
Somebody at Media Days voted Ole Miss to win the SEC Championship. What's more shocking is that somebody else voted for Arkansas.
The basketball team's nonconference schedule is out and, aside from a games against Creighton, Oregon, and Dayton, it's not all that great.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Live in or can travel to Romford, Greater London? (We can travel to you if necessary) What are you waiting for?
Here at Lovelylocks, we offer a relaxing space where hair and mind can combine in beauty and peace – while your hair is locked into Sisterlocks or Traditional locs, and maintained, let your mind and body unwind. We want you to leave each session with us, feeling empowered, uplifted and with a fresh 'do' and so we are dedicated to providing an exceptional service to every client.
Your comfort is our priority so we make sure you can comfortably relax in a purpose-built salon chair, with footrest.
In between sessions, I offer advice and guidance to help you maintain your Sisterlocks and Traditional locs, so your hair will flourish and do what it wants to do naturally, that is to 'loc up'.
What is the Sisterlocks package?
Where did Sisterlocks come from?
Want Sisterlocks or Traditional locs?
Email or call if you have any questions or want to book your consultation.
© 2017 Lovelylocks. All Rights Reserved.


Besides using the latest software for graphic and web design, our developments are characterized by our in-depth technical know-how. Designer, concept designer and developers are always working at our projects side by side. Each design proposal is already checked in advance on the technical implementability.
Terms such as: responsive design, usability and accessibility are no foreign words for us and will always find attention when creating a new website project.
Of course, we are gladly available if it comes to logo development, when creating advertising banners and the creation and selection of images.
In case you were looking for an agency that can not only implement innovative web design, but also provide the technical background, we would be pleased if you got in touch with us.


text:
<!DOCTYPE html>

    <title>screenrocket | A client library to use our screenshotting service</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="./demo/assets/normalize.css">

screenrocket

A client library to use our screenshotting service

Check out the project homepage.

Check out the source code on GitHub.

Copyright 2015 Visup S.r.l.


With their pockets completely filled with customers and having a great success in the social network market, Facebook has now become a fully- fledged company. Having Instagram and opera fully secured in the bank the very much rumored Face.com is now a official one.
In the starting when it was first released most of the people thought that Facebook was an over-valued and it was a big controversy, but thanks to mark Zuckerberg with his hard work and affords that he made, really impressed the shareholders. With this affords there are now more number of purchasers for the site of Face.com and Facebook is very happy about that and it is more happier because of the newly included impressive facial recognition technologies which has got updated.
The biggest success for the Facebook users is the Face.com's auto-tagging suggestions facility which is now already utilized by over 900 millions of users worldwide and zuck is the luckiest guy because it was his idea. As per the sources from AllThingsD, with the increasing number of purchasers it has declared that Facebook has got "a world class team and a long-time technology".
With the increase in the number of buyers Facebook's aim is to give a good look for it's mobile apps. There is no doubt that Instagram is still the leader when it comes to pure image sharing, Facebook has to still make some makeovers in this point. As per the Analysts Facebook is till now considered has a weakness in the mobile market. Eventhough they have got Instagram and face.com in their pockets and also with Opera and some other lookings they are hoping to make it as their strength.
AS per the sources we have come to know that it has made a deal of over 100 million and expected more when the purchase is completely closed.
Mark Zuckerberg's company is making a fortune with its increase in the large number of users using their smartphones and tablets to log on to Facebook. I think the next few moves are going to be crucial. The next few months would be interesting to see more number of users using Facebook from desktop, but i think they will be using from their mobiles, if this happens we have to see the company's response.


Last night, we only slept a few hours and next morning, me and Melih went to get breakfast on a hill. Derya went on to boat tour with bride, groom and a few more guests.
Then we walked back to Derya's apartment and Melih ran some errands. Then Melih and Derya met again as they had to attend another part of wedding. I decided to walk on beach from there to my hotel. Weather was sunny at the time I started walk. To be honest, sunshine was the only thing I enjoyed about the walk. I never liked beaches, they are full of people, crowded. I walked with my headphones on and then sat on rocks at a place where there were not too many people around.
After sometime, we were there and had ice cream, I got the chocolate, lemon and melon flavored. I don't usually like ice cream but that one was really good.
The neighborhood was not very lively, so we decided to go back to Uskudar, as we were walking towards Metro station, Melih show me a school with name "Kemal AtaTurk", I told him previously that my first school name was the same. Funny how things happen, I never could have imagined that I will visit Turkey 3-4 years ago.
Anyway, we went to Metro, and then went to a shopping mall to buy Lokum, for ourselves and friends. Lokum is a family of confections based on a gel of starch and sugar and they are awesome. By that time, we were really tired and wanted to sleep. We decided to eat something before leaving and that's when pregnant patates come in.
I couldn't finish the whole thing. After that, we went back to our places. I walked in a different direction and Melih took the bus. I felt like walking in my own city.


text:
Copa del Sol () — міжнародний товариський футбольний турнір серед скандинавських команд, який проходив в Іспанії. Турнір проводили під час зимової паузи в скандинавських чемпіонатах, він давав змогу підготувати команди до продовження сезону. Організатори турніру: шведська IEC in Sports (входить до Lagardère Group) та норвезька .

У турнірі також брали участь команди з України, Росії, Словенії та Румунії.

Регламент

 Проходить за олімпійською схемою.
 У турнірі беруть участь 16 команд.
 Тривалість матчу становить 90 хвилин. Якщо основний час матчу закінчується внічию, проводиться серія пенальті.
 Гравець, який отримав дві жовтих картки у двох різних матчах, пропускає наступну гру. Гравець, який отримав дві жовтих або одну червону картку в одному матчі, вилучається з поля і пропускає наступну гру.
 Дисциплінарний комітет може накласти на гравця додаткові санкції.

Призовий фонд

Призовий фонд турніру становить 2 млн. шведських крон (200 000 євро):
1 місце – 600 000 крон;
2 місце – 400 000 крон;
3 місце – 250 000 крон;
4 місце – 200 000 крон;
5 місце – 170 000 крон;
6 місце – 150 000 крон;
7 місце – 130 000 крон;
8 місце – 100 000 крон.

Переможці Copa del Sol

 2010 —  «Шахтар» (Донецьк, Україна),  ЦСКА (Москва, Росія)
 2011 —  «Карпати» (Львів, Україна)
 2012 —  «Спартак» (Москва, Росія)
 2013 —  «Шахтар» (Донецьк, Україна)

Телевізійні трансляції

  Данія — Canal 9
  Норвегія — TV 2 Sport
  Росія — НТВ Плюс
  Україна — Футбол
  Швеція — TV4 Sport

Посилання

 Офіційний сайт турніру
 Російськомовний сайт турніру

Міжнародні клубні футбольні змагання у Європі
Товариські футбольні змагання
Міжнародні футбольні змагання в Іспанії

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
網頁圖片
2 書評撰寫評論
My Life in China and America
作者:Wing Yung, Joseph Hopkins Twichell
關於此書
ePub 版
fine proportion. He had a broad chest and square shoulders surmounted by a large symmetrical head. He had a broad and high forehead; his eyes were set on a straight line under triangular-shaped eyelids, free from that obliquity so characteristic of the Mongolian type of countenance usually accompanied by high cheek bones, which is another feature peculiar to the Chinese physiognomy. His face was straight and somewhat hairy. He allowed his side whiskers their full growth; they hung down with his full beard which swept across a broad chest and added dignity to a commanding appearance. His eyes though not large were keen and penetrating. They were of a clear hazel color. His mouth was large but well compressed with thin lips which showed a strong will and a high purpose. Such was Tsang Kwoh Fan's external appearance, when I first met him at Ngan Khing.
Regarding his character, he was undoubtedly one of the most remarkable men of his age and time. As a military general, he might be called a self-made man; by dint of his indomitable persistence and perseverance, he rose from his high scholarship as a Hanlin (Chinese LL.D.) to be a generalissimo of all the imperial forces that were levied against the Taiping rebels, and in less than a decade after he headed his Hunan raw recruits, he succeeded in reducing the wide devastations of the rebellion that covered a territorial area of three of the richest provinces of China to the single one of Kiang Nan, till finally, by the constriction of his forces, he succeeded in crushing the life out of the rebellion by the fall and capture of Nanking. The Taiping Rebel
/ lion was of fifteen years' duration, from 1850 to 1865. It was no small task to bring it to its extinction. Its rise and progress had cost the Empire untold treasures, while 25,000,000 human lives were immolated in that political hecatomb. The close of the great rebellion gave the people a breathing respite. The Dowager Empress had special reasons to be grateful to the genius of
-/ Tsang Kwoh Fan, who was instrumental in restoring peace and order to the Manchu Dynasty. She was not slow, however, to recognize Tsang Kwoh Fan's merits and moral worth and created him a duke. But Tsang's greatness was not to be measured by any degree of conventional nobility; it did not consist in his victories over the rebels, much less in his re-capture of Nanking. It rose from his great virtues: his pure, unselfish patriotism, his deep and far-sighted statesmanship, and the purity of his official career. He is known in history as "the man of rectitude." This was his posthumous title conferred on him by imperial decree.
To resume the thread of my story, I was nearly two weeks in the viceroy's headquarters, occupying a suite of rooms in the same building assigned to my Shanghai friends—Li, Chang, Wha and Chu. There were living in his military headquarters at least two hundred officials, gathered there from all parts of the Empire, for various objects and purposes. Besides his secretaries, who numbered no less than a hundred, there were expectant officials, learned scholars, lawyers, mathematicians, astronomers and machinists; in short, the picked and noted men of China were all drawn there by the magnetic force of his character and great name. He always had a great admiration for men of distinguished learning and talents, and loved to associate and mingle with them. During the two weeks of my sojourn there, I had ample opportunity to call upon my Shanghai friends, and in that way incidentally found out what the object of the Viceroy was in urging me to be enrolled in the government service. It seemed that my friends had had frequent interviews with the Viceroy in regard to having a foreign machine shop established in China, but it had not been determined what kind of a machine shop should be established. One evening they gave me a dinner, at which time the subject of the machine shop was brought up and it became the chief topic. After each man had expressed his views on the subject excepting myself, they wanted to know what my views were, intimating that in all likelihood in my next interview with the Viceroy he would bring up the subject. I said that as I was not an expert in the matter, my opinions or suggestions might not be worth much, but nevertheless from my personal observation in the United States and from a common-sense point of view, I would say that a machine shop in the present state of China should be of a general and fundamental character and not one for specific purposes. In other words, I told them they ought to have a machine shop that would be able to create or reproduce other machine shops of the same character as itself; each and all of these should be able to turn out specific machinery for the manufacture of specific things. In plain words, they would have to have general and fundamental machinery in order to turn out specific machinery. A machine shop consisting of lathes of different kinds and sizes, planers and drills would be able to turn out machinery for making guns, engines, agricultural implements, clocks, etc. In a large country like China, I told them, they would need many primary or fundamental machine shops, but that after they had one (and a first-class one at that) they could make it the mother shop for reproducing others —perhaps better and more improved. If they had a number of them, it would enable them to have the shops co-operate with each other in case of need. It would be cheaper to have them reproduced and multiplied in China, I said, where labor and material were cheaper, than in Europe and America. Such was my crude idea of the subject. After I had finished, they were apparently much pleased and interested, and expressed the hope that I would state the same views to the Viceroy if he should ask me about the subject. Several days after the dinner and conversation, the Viceroy did send for me. In this interview he asked me what in my opinion was the best thing to do for China at that time. The question came with such a force of meaning, that if I had not been forwarned by my friends a few evenings before, or if their hearts had not been set on the introduction of a machine shop, and they had not
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(CNS Local Life): The Cayman Islands Crisis Centre (CICC) has launched a public awareness campaign to promote the shelter during the World Cup, with the Rotary Club of Grand Cayman financing the initiative with a $1,000 donation. The non-profit centre, which provides support and shelter to victims of domestic abuse, launched this campaign to remind women, men and children that help is available should victims need a safe refuge.
Ania Milanowska, CICC executive director, said globally there is a correlation between the World Cup and an increase in domestic-violence cases. "Based on our statistics from the 2014 World Cup, this increase in domestic violence cases also happened in Cayman," she said.
During the 2014 World Cup, the three bedroom, two-bathroom shelter housed 25 individuals (13 women and 12 children), with 17 of those seeking a safe house during the games.
Justin Bodden, president of the Rotary Club of Grand Cayman, said his organisation was happy to help the CICC with the funding of the campaign. "The Crisis Centre provides such an important resource to the Cayman Islands community and we are grateful for the opportunity to support this cause," he said.
For more information about the Crisis Centre go to its website. The 24-hour crisis line is always available at 943-CICC (2422).


text:
Q: AS3 FileStream append XML Node Hi i want to append xml nodes via filestream but dont know how to start im using filestream in flash heres the code to make it understandable
the xml file is
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<Sounds>
    <Value bez="falconp" id="0">
        <fad>falconpunch.swf.mp3</fad>
    </Value>
</Sounds>

now when i select an mp3 i want to add a new value node with fad and the properties id and bez (bez means the file name only a few chars length)
heres the code im using:
public class SoundboardMain
    {
        public var gui:Soundboard;
//      public var req:URLRequest=new URLRequest(string1);
        public var sound:Sound;
        public var xml:XML=new XML();
        public var loader:URLLoader=new URLLoader();
        public var file:File=new File();
        public var daten:FileStream=new FileStream();
        public var expl:File;
        public var fileStream:FileStream = new FileStream();
        public var bar:ProgressBar=new ProgressBar();
        public function SoundboardMain(gui:Soundboard)
        {
            this.gui=gui;

            file = File.documentsDirectory.resolvePath("Sounds.xml");
            loader.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, komp);
            fileStream.open(file, FileMode.WRITE);
//          xml = XML(fileStream.readUTFBytes(fileStream.bytesAvailable));
            loader.load(new URLRequest("Sounds.xml"));
//          fileStream.writeUTFBytes("HELLO");
//          fileStream.close();
            trace(xml);
            loader.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, komp);
            loader.addEventListener(IOErrorEvent.IO_ERROR ,Error);

        }
        public function Error(event:IOErrorEvent):void{
            trace("Fehler:! "+event.text);
        }
        public function komp(event:Event):void{
            trace("1");
            xml=XML(loader.data);
            gui.buttonshin();
        }
        public function custom(event:MouseEvent):void
        {
        expl=new File();
        expl.addEventListener(Event.SELECT, onSelec);
        var swfTypeFilter:FileFilter = new FileFilter("Mp3 Dateien","*.mp3;");
        expl.browse([swfTypeFilter]);

        }
        public function onSelec(event:Event):void{
        expl.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, onCompl);
        expl.addEventListener(ProgressEvent.PROGRESS, prog);
        expl.addEventListener(IOErrorEvent.IO_ERROR, onFileLoadError);

        expl.load()
        trace(expl.name);
        fileStream.writeUTFBytes(loader.data);
        bar.visible=true;
        bar.mode=ProgressBarMode.MANUAL;
        bar.minimum=0;
        bar.maximum=100;

        gui.start.addChild(bar);
        }
        public function prog(event:ProgressEvent):void{
        var percentLoaded:Number=event.bytesLoaded/event.bytesTotal*100;
        bar.setProgress(percentLoaded, 100);
        }
        public function onFileLoadError(event:IOErrorEvent):void{
            bar.visible=false;
            expl.removeEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, onCompl);
            expl.removeEventListener(IOErrorEvent.IO_ERROR, onFileLoadError);
            expl.removeEventListener(ProgressEvent.PROGRESS, prog);
            trace("File load error");
        }
//      private function saveFile():void
//      {
//          var writeStream:FileStream = new FileStream();
//          /*
//          * FileMode.WRITE will truncate (empty) the file on open.
//          * FileMode.APPEND will open the file "as is" and write in the end of it.
//          */
//          writeStream.open(expl, FileMode.WRITE);
//          writeStream.writeBytes(data); // Any other write method can be used
//          writeStream.close();
//      }
        public function onCompl(event:Event):void
        {

            var ur:URLRequest=new URLRequest(expl.name);
//          trace(event.target.nativePath);
            var string1n:String=new String(event.target.name.substr(0,event.target.nativePath.length-4));
//          trace(string1n);
//          daten.writeUTFBytes("Hekki");
//          var newxml:XML=xml.appendChild("TEST");
//          f.save(newxml,"Sounds.xml");
//          var fs : FileStream = new FileStream();
//          var targetFile : File = File(
//          fs.open(targetFile, FileMode.WRITE);
//          fs.writeUTF("test");
//          fs.close();
////            var ba:ByteArray=new ByteArray();
//          trace(xml);
//
        }
        public function mp3load(event:Event):void{

        }

        public function image1(event:MouseEvent):void{
            var reqe:URLRequest=new URLRequest("https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=philipp%2elippold%40yahoo%2ede&lc=DE&item_name=Solidtron&no_note=0&currency_code=EUR&bn=PP%2dDonationsBF%3abtn_donateCC_LG%2egif%3aNonHostedGuest");
//          navigateToURL(reqe);
        }
    }
}

For example if i add and mp3 called funk.mp3 bez=funk the xml should look like
  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
    <Sounds>
        <Value bez="falconp" id="0">
            <fad>falconpunch.swf.mp3</fad>
        </Value>
        <Value bez="funk" id="1">
            <fad>funk.mp3</fad>
        </Value>
    </Sounds>

A: You can use appendChild with inline XML and e4x expressions:
var fullname:String = event.target.name;
var shortname:String = name.substr(0, 5);
var id:int = xml.Value.length();
xml.appendChild(<Value baz={shortname} id={id}><fad>{fullname}</fad></Value>);

var fileStream:FileStream = new FileStream();
fileStream.open(file, FileMode.WRITE);
fileStream.writeUTFBytes(xml.toXMLString());
fileStream.close();

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Among the most discussed disease today is the progressed gum disease known as periodontitis. It has been observed that most of the patients where adults above 40 and mothers-to-be. Studies have demostrated that young children and teenagers get less of this because of their body's resistance. Whenever your body is too weak to battle bad bacteria, gum disease finds it as the right time to surface or attack.
That is why why patients with periodontal disease should make certain that they obtain the proper nutrition each day. Furthermore, taking of vitamin C may also help increase the immune system hence; preparing your body of bad bacteria. Besides these, as a patient, you should know the way to maintain a great dental hygiene primarily the proper method to brush your teeth. Brushing or washing off your teeth is the easiest task you can do for yourself nevertheless it can be the least of your priority being unsure of the consequences of your action.
Apart from brushing your teeth, you may also utilize dental floss and gargle anti-septic mouthwash. Dental floss is very useful each and every time your cleaning tools are not useful. Additionally, anti-septic mouthwash can freshen up your breath. These are the tips on how to evade periodontitis to happen.
Even so, in the event that you already have the signs and symptoms of periodontitis like consistent bad breath, inflamed gums, sensitive gums, bleeding and receding gums and worst of all teeth loss. Then the very first thing you must do to is to make sure you get a proper periodontitis treatment. How you can do this, schedule a check up with your dental professional. He is the best individual who can diagnose your gum problem. Furthermore, following the diagnosis, your doctor will be aware of what to do and the time period of your treatment.
Remember the treatment for your disease could be depressing. Some considered it as extremely traumatic. This is due to the hours you must spend opening your oral cavity and first and foremost the money that you'll have to spend. Advanced gum disease treatment can be quite costly depending on the procedure or type of surgery, your doctor will recommend.
Besides the amount, there is a big likelihood that you'll experience post term surgery. It is now time when the anesthesia has faded away. Picture the pain and discomfort that you had to undergo just to make certain you don't obtain this disease once again.


It is hard to believe that it is almost 100 years since the start of the Great War. When we view history in hind sight it is with they eyes of a 21st century mind. Back in the early 1900s Germany was already gearing up for war and had quite an extensive narrow gauge railway system developed and stockpiled for deployment, one that could be constructed quickly from pre made sections and transport the munitions and equipment they would need to supply a vast army in the field.
The French too were well developed with their narrow gauge system as a means of supplying their fortifications in anticipation of war and could transport it via the standard gauge to where they needed to deploy.
Britain on the other hand looked to the new form of mechanical transport although in reality that was too advanced an idea to cope with the needs of the time. Roads as we think of them were in most cases just dirt tracks and not really suited to the new heave vehicles. The vehicles them selves could be unreliable and broke down frequently.
The needs of an army in the field are vast and the British had to quickly adapt to the reality of the situation, utilising existing French narrow gauge where possible and improvising with ad hoc systems cobbled together to cope.
Whilst specialised narrow gauge trains and wagons existed one interim measure was to adapt anything that was to hand and so we see the use of the Model T Ford converted for use on narrow gauge rail as one means of filling this gap. Horses were also used to pull loads on rail.
The Resicast Ford Draisine kit has been available for many years and depicts one of these ad hoc conversions that proved so vital in the supply of munitions and the materials of war to the front line and could also be used to evacuate casualties to the rear for medical aid. These vehicles were considered tractors rather than trains.
The kit comes packed in a sturdy box with a cover label showing the product and manufacturers detail and a colour picture of the finished and painted kit . The kit consists of an instruction booklet, the Ford Draisine tractor and 3 wagons complete with loads plus2 sections of track to mount the kit on.
The kit parts are cast in a light grey resin and come in 12 separate ziploc plastic bags with a further two bags containing some plastic rod and some neat headlights and reflectors. Every thing was nicely wrapped in bubble wrap to avoid damage in transportation.
The Instructions are in the old style and could probably do with being up dated for clarity. The front page lists the kit parts and these match up against the part numbers on the pours. One thing I have always liked about the Resicast instructions is that they tell you what the part actually is so your knowledge and understanding of the kit is more complete. Page two list 5 steps toward assembly with the 6th step giving some suggested colour schemes for the vehicle. Pages 3 to 7 show the kit in black and white picture format with the part numbers indicated in small writing which for my eyes is hard to read. That said the pictures are fairly sharp so with the written instructions on page 2 and the photographs a successful build should be achieved. The remaining page of the instructions shows 3 completed models of the Resicast Model T Ford: the Ambulance version, The Model T Ford Light Reconnaissance Car and the Draisine kit.
Inside the box you get the Ford T Draisine which is a very nicely detailed kit of the converted Ford T. It looks to be very accurate compared to the reference pictures I have of it in use. There are 4 build steps detailed in the written part of the instructions so read these carefully and then use the pictures to help construct the main body and chassis. The build looks reasonable straightforward and the parts are expertly cast.
You also get 3 flat bed wagons to attach to the tractor and step 5 in the written instructions covers the assembly of these aided by the build pictures on page 7. Again these look to be a fairly straight forward build.
To load onto the wagons or place beside the rails you get two bags of stowage items consisting of a good selection of wooden boxes/creates and shells.
Finally to set the whole build off you get two sections of narrow gauge track. The longer section of track measures just over 8 ¼ inches and the shorter section just under 5 ¼ inches. The track sits on sleepers on top of a raise pile of small stones. The tracks are well detailed with appropriate bolts/brackets etc. Edge to edge the track measures approximately 22mm which according to my 1/35 scale rule is about 2ft 3in which is slightly wider than the 24 inches of the narrow gauge railways (60cm).
This a really interesting and detailed little kit that should allow for a very unusual stand alone build or a fine addition to a diorama. Detail on the parts is terrific, you get a good number of wagons to fill up as you want and some excellent stowage.
This is not a kit for beginners, there are a lot of small parts and the build will require a decent level of patience and skill.
The detail and casting looks excellent. The instructions are a bit dated but should be adequate to complete the build. The two track sections appear to mate up well and I'm not sure that 2 inches in track width would be that noticeable in 1.35 scale although for the purists this might cause a sleepless night.
The Ford Draisine is fairly well documented and there are a number of excellent photographic reference around. This is a kit that will take you back into a different world, a time of significant change, innovation and development. To a war that was fought to end all wars which unfortunately wasn't the case.
A very useful site on the Great War is the Western Front Association and you can access it here.


Who remembers Scott Hogan's 16-minute hat-trick when Rochdale faced AFC Wimbledon at Kingsmeadow February in 2014?
Hogan opened the scoring from a Matt Done cross in the 66th minute and doubled his tally in the 79th minute, rounding Ross Worner and finishing from a tight angle after latching on to a defence-splitting pass.
He claimed the match ball in style, lobbing the ball over the AFC Wimbledon goalkeeper from the edge of the area three minutes later.
Watch highlights from the game below.


Source Understanding Children's Work project based on data from ILO, UNICEF and the World Bank.
Source Source International Labour Organization, Key Indicators of the Labour Market database.
Source International Labour Organization, Key Indicators of the Labour Market database.
Refugees are people who are recognized as refugees under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, people recognized as refugees in accordance with the UNHCR statute, people granted refugee-like humanitarian status, and people provided temporary protection. Asylum seekers--people who have applied for asylum or refugee status and who have not yet received a decision or who are registered as asylum seekers--are excluded. Palestinian refugees are people (and their descendants) whose residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948 and who lost their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. Country of origin generally refers to the nationality or country of citizenship of a claimant.


These tiny meatballs are cooked in a sweet and savory sauce that is sure to delight your guests of all ages. If you prefer the sauce to be a little more savory just cut down on the amount of sugar. This is a great dish to make ahead and reheat just before serving.
In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients for the meatballs except the oil and butter. Mix well with your hands and form into individual meatballs, each about 1-inch in diameter.
In a large skillet, heat the oil and the butter over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and cook, turning until browned on all sides. Transfer to a 2 1/2 quart baking dish.
Make the sauce by combining all the ingredients in a medium bowl, whisking to dissolve the sugar and combine. Adjust the seasoning, to taste.
Pour the sauce over the meatballs and bake until the meat is cooked through and the sauce is bubbly, 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.


A sonic postcard from Mali, Africa, where the Fula people herd and worship their cattle. When the rainy season comes, the young Fula people from Mali leave for transhumance during six months with most of the herd. Cows cross the river Niger through the West. In the village, women work to feed their families, while men look after a couple of dairy cows. Fula people live simultaneously with their animals. It accompanies his everyday life with songs and prayers. The legend tells God first created the cow and then Fula people to go along with the animal and to protect him..


text:
Wieża Vasco da Gama (port. Torre Vasco da Gama) – wieża o wysokości 145 m w Lizbonie, zlokalizowana nad rzeką Tag. Nazwa wieży pochodzi od portugalskiego odkrywcy Vasco da Gamy.

Projektantami wieży są Leonor Janeiro, Nick Jacob oraz biuro architektoniczne Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. Stalowa konstrukcja wieży zaprojektowana na wzór płynącej karaweli została zbudowana przez firmę Martifer, specjalizującą się w konstrukcjach metalowych.

Wieża została zbudowana w 1998 roku z okazji odbywających się targów Expo '98. Na wysokości 120 m znajdowała się platforma widokowa, a tuż pod nią – luksusowa restauracja. U podstawy wieży znajduje się 3-kondygnacyjny budynek, gdzie podczas targów Expo znajdował się pawilon Unii Europejskiej. Po zakończeniu się targów Expo budynek został przeznaczony pod wynajem jako powierzchnia biurowa, jednak nigdy nie znalazł dzierżawcy.

W 2001 roku platforma oraz restauracja zostały zamknięte. Według projektu architekta Nuno Leónidasa, na terenie sztucznie wysuniętym poza pierwotną linię brzegową rzeki Tag wzniesiono 21-kondygnacyjny luksusowy hotel, tworzący z wieżą jedną budowlę.

W 2006 roku Alain Robert wspiął się na szczyt wieży.

V
Architektura w Lizbonie


text:
New luciferases and photoproteins in marine annelids (Annelida) and bioluminescent...
Studies of Chaetopterus variopedatus bioluminescence and new marine luminous sys...
Bioluminescence of the marine annelid Chaetopterus variopedatus: mechanistic study...
Bioluminescence in marine worms (Annelida): molecular pathways and evolution
Chaetopterus variopedatus bioluminescence: luciferase purification and ecological ...
Arthropod bioluminescence: biological diversity in Brazilian biomes, biochemical o...
Study on the bioluminescence of Chaetopterus variopedatus (Annelida, Polychaeta) and the search for new marine bioluminescent systems
Duration: March 01, 2016 - February 28, 2018
Principal researcher: Anderson Garbuglio de Oliveira
Grantee: Anderson Garbuglio de Oliveira
Home Institution: Instituto Oceanográfico (IO). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
Bioluminescence, the emission of cold and visible light by living beings, is an extremely important biological process. The vast majority of bioluminescent organisms live in the ocean, and of the more than 700 genera known to contain luminous species, 80% are marine. From polar to tropical environments these organisms occupy a diverse range of habitats from surface waters throughout the ocean down to the sea floor. Different chemical mechanisms and a wide range of phylogenetic distributions in these luminescent organisms show its ecological advantages. However, the origins, functions and the chemical nature of some bioluminescent systems still remain unclear.Among some of those poorly understood bioluminescent mechanisms, is the marine annelid Chaetopterus variopedatus. The luminescent reactions reported in vitro for this annelid are slower and less efficient when compared to their natural bioluminescence. The true intrinsic activation factor in their luminescence is still undetermined.This project aims to isolate and characterize the luciferin and photoprotein involved in the light emission mechanism of the annelid C. variopedatus. In addition, new bioluminescent systems from organisms collected on the Brazilian coast will also be investigated. (AU)
OBA, YUICHI; STEVANI, CASSIUS V.; OLIVEIRA, ANDERSON G.; TSARKOVA, ALEKSANDRA S.; CHEPURNYKH, TATIANA V.; YAMPOLSKY, ILIA V. Selected Least Studied but not Forgotten Bioluminescent Systems. Photochemistry and Photobiology, v. 93, n. 2, p. 405-415, MAR-APR 2017. Web of Science Citations: 9.


text:
Transportation headlines, Friday, January 10
by Steve Hymon , January 10, 2014
Have a transportation-related article you think should be included in headlines? Drop me an email! And don't forget, Metro is on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Pick your social media poison!
ART OF TRANSIT: The photo is by Bob Wick, a U.S. Bureau of Land Management California employee and was taken in Wyoming. The BLM is all over social media, including great Tumblr and Instagram streams.
Jerry Brown defends funding for bullet train (Sacramento Bee)
Governor Brown defends his budget plan to spend $300 million of the state's cap-and-trade money on the state high-speed rail project and the California Department of Transportation, saying the project could help tie the state together and reduce greenhouse gases in the future. Critics say the money is being used to prop up "expensive boondoggle."
Brown also said the budget will increase funding for the mapping of earthquake faults, a response to an ongoing series of articles in the L.A. Times about development plans being approved based on old or nonexistent maps. The latest, as you have probably heard, is that a new map of the Hollywood Fault shows that the proposed Millennium project would be on top of the fault, although developers say they have no evidence of that. Metro ran headlong into this issue when planning the Purple Line Extension and the agency did considerable work to locate fault zones in the Century City area, resulting in the subway route being adjusted to avoid running parallel to a fault zone.
Report calls L.A. a city in decline (L.A. Times)
A report commissioned by City Council President Herb Wesson lists many familiar complaints about L.A. — mostly along the lines that it takes too long to get anything done. As the Times notes, some of the complaints involved clients of those who wrote the report.
As for transportation, the big complaint is this: The Measure R projects will do little to impact traffic except perhaps keep it from getting worse.
This is one of those issues involving language and politics. I don't think any intelligent person presumed that Los Angeles — or any big city — can fix its traffic problems as long as automobiles remain affordable and convenient. Of course, it doesn't help when people say that traffic can be fixed, and people certainly like to say such things.
But many of the Measure R projects will provide an alternative to traffic and that's nothing to sneeze at.
My own three cents about Los Angeles: I think it's a far better city today than it was in 1994, when I moved here from New York. Downtown, Venice, NoHo, Studio City, Hollywood, Silver Lake, Los Feliz, Eagle Rock, Highland Park — to name only a few — have shown considerable improvement since then. New transit projects are underway. The L.A. River is going to see improvements. Staples Center and L.A. Live opened. The Getty Center opened.
That said, considerable parts of the city feel old, tired and in terrible need of any kind of investment. One of the most glaring issues, to me, is the condition of the city's commercial corridors, many of which are treated as mini-freeways and cater only to auto-oriented businesses. In many quarters, L.A. has a big decision to make: does it want to be a City of Parking Lots or a real city?
Cuiaba light rail won't be ready for World Cup in Brazil (Sports Illustrated)
The 13-mile light rail line in the city near the Brazil/Bolivia border won't be complete until December, five months after the soccer tournament takes place across Brazil. Officials say the transit and other projects are in the "completion phase" while also acknowledging that trains haven't yet been laid yet. Well, okay.
U.S. streetcar boom takes off in 2014 (Greater Greater Washington)
Four new projects are expected to open this year in Washington D.C., Tucson, Atlanta and Seattle and another dozen are under construction or in the pipeline (L.A.'s project isn't included as it's not yet fully funded). Here's a simulation of the Tucson line:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGOHmRGojaI]
Categories: Transportation Headlines, Transportation News
Tagged as: Brazil, Cuiaba, light rail, Los Angeles Streetcar, Measure R, streetcar boom, World Cup
Construction notice: full closure of California Avenue/Duarte Road intersection Monday for Gold Line Foothill Extension work
Friday Five: Insta-roundup, Jan 10
Josh Young says:
LA housing sucks,
Other countries were smart enough to build their cities compact and dense from the start instead of the ugly sprawl route that we took.
LA housing sucks says:
"Part of the problem is that the new crop of hipster/yuppies refuse to consider living in the ring of older suburbs, where housing is still relatively affordable."
That's exactly the core problem. The suburbs aren't "hip" enough for the new millennials.
Why spend hours on the freeway? Why buy a car? Why do you need to pay for gas or insurance? Everything "fun" and the cool jobs are in the city, within walking, bicycle, or public transit distance.
To millennials, living in the city where all the action is is more appealing than buying affordable homes way out in the suburbs which was the case with the generations before them. But this leads to clashes with older residents who become victims of gentrification.
There has to be a solution to this. How do other countries cope with this?
Phantom Commuter says:
"LA will become a city solely for the rich and the politically connected, with lots of poor people struggling day by day, and nothing else left for the middle and working class." Just like New York ! Ironically, almost everyone in the neighborhoods that Steve mentions are East Coast transplants.
Part of the problem is that the new crop of hipster/yuppies refuse to consider living in the ring of older suburbs, where housing is still relatively affordable. When everyone wants to live in a few "hip" neighborhoods, the price goes up. Even worse, it's the same areas getting all the attention from the city, while other parts of town continue to deteriorate, widening that gap between the rich and poor.
Taylor did make an excellent point about gentrification and highlighting the poor housing situation for Los Angeles. Many economists and urban experts call it a "housing donut" effect: a city that's solely for the rich and the poor, but nothing left for the middle class.
You see all these new apartments and condos being built in these gentrified neighborhoods. The young, talented, gifted, rich hipster and artisan urbanites come to live at these places. These young kids with tattoos and piercings all over, walking their Chihuahuas, buying $7 cup lattes and going out to eat at the new expensive restaurants. It looks nice and it looks like a revival of old blighted neighborhoods. Property owners love them because through the simple economics based on supply and demand, they can jack up the rents to whatever they please or as they call it "based on market value." The neighborhood is safer, cleaner, and a lot lively.
But behind this were also sheds of silent tears by the poor and the working class families, those who have lived in the same neighborhoods for years or even generations who have lost their working class jobs, do not earn the pay that they used to, who can't keep up with the rising cost of rent and the cost of living, those that could never afford home of their own, and were forced out into the streets or move elsewhere.
How many here can actually live in LA's housing prices today? It's not like there's any large-scale high density public housing projects either these days to help the poor who have no choice but to be shoved out into the street in the name of gentrification.
And many of these new apartments and condos that are being built in these neighborhoods look nice, but how many people in LA can realistically afford $2000 to $3000 a month price range rents or have the down payment, let alone pay off a mortgage of a $500,000 to a $1 million dollar condo?
Even at the low end, a mortgage on a $500,000 condo or townhome requires a 20% down payment of $100,000, amortized at a 30 year loan at 5% comes to about $1,200 a month in mortgage payments.
Even the middle class can't afford this, and this is bad because a strong middle class is what the key to the economic success of this city.
If nothing is done to ease the housing situation, LA will become a city solely for the rich and the politically connected, with lots of poor people struggling day by day, and nothing else left for the middle and working class.
Hi Steve, One Thing for sure that has improved in L.A. is the mass transit,Compared to cities like New Yawk(my home town).It used to be a long diesel fueled ordeal to go from the San Gabriel valley to the south bay,but no more in 2014. Things are looking up, and in the next five years it will only get better.
The congestion charge for central London has had excellent results to adress traffic but of course it is very controversial and I don't see it happening anytime soon in Los Angeles.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_congestion_charge
The HOT lanes seem to be working well and may expand soon to other freeways. The proceeds are funding expanded transit in the corridors and other laudible measures.
The new Reason Foundation report upon how transit impacts congestion doesn't seem to take latent demand into account. Also lower fares have problems as excess transit demand can be difficult to meet (look how long it took for Metro to find somewhere to put the new bus yard being built near Union Station).
http://reason.org/news/show/transit-utilization-and-congestion
Taylor J says:
All those neighborhoods that you mentioned Steve, "Downtown, Venice, NoHo, Studio City, Hollywood, Silver Lake, Los Feliz, Eagle Rock, Highland Park" have seen vast improvements.
These places used to be neighborhoods of the working class. Now because of gentrification, rich yuppies come in shoving off the poor to struggle to survive due to higher costs of living. And these working class people are not making the money as they used to because this city has lost so many companies and jobs to other places.
There is a stark contrast between the blaring city night life in LA Live to just a few blocks away west of the 110 where poor Hispanic families struggle to make a living by selling their meager belongings on the street.
The LA2020 report faces the stark reality of LA today: you're either extremely rich who can afford $3,000 a month rents, or extremely poor who struggle with an income of less than $20,000 a year, with a vastly shrinking middle class.
Hi Taylor;
I think you raise a good and fair issue about affordable housing. I think that's perhaps the greatest challenge going forward for a city — creating new jobs and investment while preserving places for people to live. The hardest part is if you do nothing but preserve old neighborhoods, then you have affordable housing with no jobs. If you go all-out gentrifying, then you certainly squeeze out people. Finding that balance is very difficult and I hope that L.A. manages to do it.
Well said on the state of LA. It is a far better city than the mid-90s when I moved in. Downtown is night and day as are many neighborhoods. As far as the City, they do need to get their fiscal house in order including employee pensions and overall compensation so they can begin addressing the poor condition of the roads and sidewalks like virtually every other city in America does.
Hi Matt;
Thank you. Sounds like we moved here about the same time. Like you, I certainly think the city has challenges — but I also think the report's criticisms could just as easily been directed at many other large American cities.


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Newspapers & Current Periodicals
Wright Brothers: Topics in Chronicling America
Wilbur and Orville Wright began creating gliders from their bicycle shop. The gliders would later become planes. This guide provides access to material related to the "Wright Brothers" in the Chronicling America digital collection of historic newspapers.
Search Strategies & Selected Articles
Newspapers & Current Periodicals: Ask a Librarian
Chat with a librarian, Monday through Friday, 12-2 pm Eastern Time (except Federal Holidays).
About Chronicling America
Chronicling America is a searchable digital collection of historic newspaper pages from 1777-1963 sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress.
Also, see the Directory of U.S. Newspapers in American Libraries, a searchable index to newspapers published in the United States since 1690, which helps researchers identify what titles exist for a specific place and time, and how to access them.
Wilbur Wright (left) and Orville Wright (right). September 21, 1908. The Spokane Press (Spokane, Washington), Page 2, Image 2. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers.
On December 17, 1903 the Wright Brothers' "flying machine" lifts off for the first time in history. The journey, lasting roughly twelve seconds, happens "as easily and graceful as a bird." Over the next three years the brilliant brothers work on their plan to conquer the sky, acquiring an official patent for their invention in 1906. Read more about it!
The information in this guide focuses on primary source materials found in the digitized historic newspapers from the digital collection Chronicling America.
The timeline below highlights important dates related to this topic and a section of this guide provides some suggested search strategies for further research in the collection.
Wilbur and Orville Wright begin to build "gliders" with profits earned from their bicycle repair shop. Flight experiments begin at Kill Devil Hill of the Kitty Hawk region in North Carolina.
Wright brothers achieve the first piloted, sustained flight of a heavier-than-air machine at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
Wright brothers make an announcement to the Associated Press about the success of their flights.
Wilbur and Orville continue their experiments and make improvements to their airplane.
U.S. Patent Office issues patent 821,393 to the Wright Brothers for their flying machine.
Wright Brothers receive National, State and City honors (medals) in honor of their aeroplane invention.
Orville Wright breaks the world's gliding (non-engine) record in his experimental trials at Kill Devil Hill.
Wilbur Wright dies from Typhoid Fever.
Orville Wright decides to send the Kitty Hawk aboard to the Science Museum at South Kensington, London due to a dispute with the Smithsonian Institute.
Orville Wright dies at age 76. Executors of his estate determine it was his desire to return the Kitty Hawk plane to the Smithsonian Institute.
Next: Search Strategies & Selected Articles >>
URL: https://guides.loc.gov/chronicling-america-wright-brothers
Subjects: Applied Science, Engineering and Technology, Individuals, Topics in Chronicling America


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A day before Arsene Wenger led his side to a redemption of sorts at Wembley Stadium, he was nursing the pains of a difficult season. Arsenal, for the first time under his leadership, did not make it to the Champions League. There was no St Totteringham's Day either. Never before had Tottenham been so superior to Arsenal in the Wenger era. The manager lost his precious gifts. The things Wenger always had to say for himself were no longer there to be said.
Records break and you make your peace with them. But it's the hurtful words that stay with you. At least that is what happened in Wenger's case. Numerous times this season he offered a pained expression. A man who was worried that his time might be up. A man who may have to vacate a home which he has decorated carefully for two decades now.
But a late rally may have secured Wenger's job. Speculation has been rife in recent weeks that there is a two-year deal on the table for the Frenchman. Despite a significant section of fans demanding his ouster, it is likely that Wenger will stay. This is a question which has shadowed Arsenal's season all along, with the bitter exchanges growing as the side slumped in 2017.
Wenger himself acknowledged that the uncertainty over his future may have affected the squad. Arsenal, however, have been there before. In the past few seasons, the clamour for manager's resignation has been steadily growing. The back-to-back FA Cup wins, in 2014 and 2015, stalled the momentum of Wenger's opposition but it is unlikely that the latest triumph will have a similar effect.
For Arsenal did slide this season in the league. Even stagnation could no longer be claimed as a prize. It seems remarkable that this was also the campaign where Arsenal was on a 20-game unbeaten streak (in all competitions) until the away loss to Manchester City in December. But the fall in the spring was incredible. In eight league games from the beginning of February, Arsenal won only two and drew just once. The death knell was sounded.
Then, of course, the transformation happened. The change which allowed Wenger to call his harshest critics out. For the first time at Arsenal, he set up a three-man defence. The Gunners went on to win nine of their next 10 matches, including the impressive display in the FA Cup final on Saturday evening.
Energised by the manager's strategic manoeuvre, the players spoke out in his defence too. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was among the major beneficiaries, excelling as a wing-back in the new formation. "Over the years, we have always played in a certain formation and I think teams got better at learning how to deal with us. When we changed the formation, that gave them something new to think about and the results have started coming," he said.
The shift to three at the back was forced by Arsenal's defensive problems; at one stage in the league, the Gunners conceded thrice in each of their four consecutive away games while their two Champions League meetings with Bayern Munich brought 10 goals in the against column. It is a problem which has troubled Wenger the most in the past decade. Even against Chelsea on Saturday, Arsenal conceded a cheap equaliser even though it was in the ascendancy — a goal up and the opposition down to ten men. But the three-man defence has certainly made it tougher to break the Gunners down in the past six weeks.
Wenger will now believe that he has a foundation from which he can oversee Arsenal's resurgence. Of course, we have seen numerous false dawns at the club in his time but he believes he is the man to solve the problems.
It does not seem that Wenger is fazed by the prospect of a difficult summer either. Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil will be in the final year of their contract and they have been frequently linked with moves to other clubs. In fact, Sanchez is coveted by Arsenal's domestic rivals and losing him to one of them would be a damning indictment of the club's ambitions. If Wenger stays, his immediate challenge is likely to be keeping the squad together rather than improving it.
But there's a more important fight for which he should be prepared too. It will be interesting to see if Wenger's renewal of a contract will be dependent on the restraints placed upon him. The 67-year-old has run Arsenal like a patriarch till now. His word is always the final word.
But the chief executive Ivan Gazidis has been looking to reform the club in the areas of data analytics and sports science. Wenger remains averse to a reliance on number-crunchers and scientists, who may know little about the other aspects of the game.
For now, thankfully, Arsenal has a human being who once caught his rivals out by introducing the latest methods for physical conditioning and training. After a season which tested the limits of Wenger's patience and his genius, it is unlikely that he would want to cede control. This was demonstrated in his categorical dismissal of the club's intention to appoint a director of football, who would work alongside him.
Wenger hopes that the higher-ups at Arsenal will continue to believe in his plans and principles. The most successful manager in FA Cup history wants the club to resist the charms of a decision which will be popular, but not right in his view. Even when he does not approve of the actions and words of his detractors, Wenger acknowledges that they are growing in numbers.
Just like one game should not decide the manager's future, the FA Cup win is also unlikely to appease Wenger's critics. He has a long way to go before he regains the trust of some of them. The win on Saturday was a beginning but it cannot obscure the struggles in the league. A place in the Europa League awaits, so does a summer which will determine how deeply the manager is valued. There might be more hurt and pain in store for Arsene Wenger.


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The Family of the Learned
Admin April 14, 2015 No Comments »
Excerpt from the up and coming book called the Jewels of Imam Malik:
Bismillah. Let us look at the root of the family of knowledge and how it came to be that the family of Imam Malik became known as the family of the learned.
Firstly, one must know that Imam Malik's great grandfather was a scholar whose name was Malik ibn Abi 'Amir al-Asbahi {May Allah have mercy upon him}. He is said to have died when Imam Malik was around 7 years of age.
^ He is known to have migrated from Yemen to Medina during the rule of Caliph 'Umar ibn al-Khattab {May Allah be well pleased with him}, leaving his tribe the Asbahi, which is branched from the Sayyid tribe of Himyar.
Imam Jalaludin as-Suyuti authenticates this in his book called Tanwir al-Hawalik ala Sharh Muwatta Malik, where he says:
" Imam Malik's lineage goes back to Ya`rab ibn Yashjab ibn Qahtan… His family was originally from the al-Asbahi tribe of Yemen, however his great grandfather Abu 'Amir made Hijrah with his family to the city of Medina al-Munawwarah, after reverting to Islam in 2 A.H."
In regard to his scholarship, he is known to have related many Hadith from the Sahaba including Caliph 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, Umm al-Mu'minin 'Aisha, Abu Hurayrah, Talha and Hassan ibn Thabit. May Allah be well pleased with them.
Imam Malik's grandfather, Malik ibn Anas, was also very important in society. He was a follower of the Companions being in close contact with Caliph Uthman ibn Affan. He was one of the ones who made copies of the Qur'an for Caliph Uthman.
He also was rewarded by being allowed to be one of the 4 to carry the body of Caliph 'Uthman to his grave. These are the honors given by Allah for those whom Allah pleases. Ma' Sha' Allah.
"Those who listen to the Word, and follow the best of it: those are the ones who Allah has guided, and those are the ones endowed with understanding." {Qur'an, 39:18}
Imam Malik's father is named Anas ibn Malik {May Allah have mercy upon him} and he was a businessman. He is known to love knowledge and to have supported his family by making arrows and Allah knows best.
The mother {May Allah have mercy upon her} of Imam Malik whose full name is 'Aliyah bint Sharik ibn 'Abd ar-Rahman al-Azdiyah from the Banu Assad Tribe was also a seeker of knowledge and wanted her children to learn within the sacred precints of Medinatul' Munawwarah. Thus, Imam Malik and his siblings received their education in Medina, which at the time, had the most important seat of Islamic learning, which was the Masjid of the Prophet Muhammad {Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him}.
She was famously known within the community as Ghaaliyah, because of her pretty well off family at the time. She is also famously known as Umm Malik ~ the mother of Malik.
She also had another son who loved knowledge and became very famous for his love of it. He was an-Nadr and it was known that he used to study at all time. Shaykh an-Nadr {May Allah have mercy upon him} listened very closely to his mother and teachers and became a scholar of Medina himself. Imagine, at one point Imam Malik was known as Akh an-Nadr ~ The Brother of an-Nadr.
This wisdom of Umm Malik in how she interacted with her children is clear as day, she was an amazing woman indeed. May Allah have mercy upon her soul. With all of the encouragement from the whole family, Imam Malik had acquired a huge amount of knowledge.
Imam Malik {May Allah have mercy upon him} said:
"My mother would dress me up in the clothes of the scholars while I still was a young boy and she would tell me, 'Go to the Masjid and seek knowledge from Imam ar-Rabia', study his manners before you take from his knowledge.'"
Imam Malik loved his mother dearly and did not want to see her upset. She would tell him when he was a child, that the entertainment world would use him and not care for him and thus seeking knowledge should be his trade. This was not an easy thing for Imam Malik, for he loved the arts and he was extremely fond of flying pigeons. He was a very active child and loved that way of life, however with the insistence of his mother and family he did go to Imam Rabia' {May Allah have mercy upon him} to study and then became so addicted to knowledge, that at home he would study in the gardens of his families' property as well. He would revise and memorize the entire Qur'an and a multitude of Ahadith.
He was not the type of person to be arrogant with his own abilities and thus he would go to the teachers to make sure that his knowledge of a specific science was correct. He himself through proper example would tell his students, "You need to learn etiquette before you acquire knowledge." and " Knowledge does not consist in narrating much. Knowledge is but a light which Allah places within the heart."
For all of these teachings, Imam Malik need not travel, nor did he want to, for the bulk of the scholars of Medina would teach right in the Masjid of the Prophet Muhammad.
Wa Sall'Allahu Ala Sayyidina Muhammad wa Ala Aalihi wa Sahbihi wa Sallam.
POSTED IN » 05 • Imam Malik ibn Anas, 06 • The Scholars of Madinah
The Light of Knowledge
Imam Malik ibn Anas, May Allah have mercy upon him, said: وَقَالَ أَحْمَد بْن صَالِح الْمِصْرِيّ عَنْ اِبْن وَهْب عَنْ مَالِك قَالَ : إِنَّ الْعِلْم ...
Great Early Scholars on Imam Malik
Imam Abu Hanifa (rahmatullahi 'alayhi) said, "My eyes have never fallen on anyone faster in understanding, correct in answering, and examining as Imam Malik." Imam ...
Doing Things of Piety
Imam an-Nawawi related that Imam Malik and Imam Rabia' ar-Ra'i {Allah have Mercy upon them} used to do what other people cannot stand and used ...
Leaving Madinah
Malik related to me from Hisham ibn Urwah from his father that the Messenger of Allah {Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him} said: ...
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