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Tag Archive | "local elections 2012"
Tags: conservatives, david cameron, ed miliband, labour, lib dems, liberal democrats, local elections 2012, local government, local government elections, nick clegg
Local elections 2012: what will the gains and losses figures mean?
Posted on 02 May 2012 by admin
How should we assess the local election results when we have a sense of things on Friday morning? The gains/ losses figures are the most popular measure as far as the media is concerned, because perhaps the best and most comparable measure – National Equivalent Vote share – is complex to calculate and can be worked out in more ways than one.
Benchmarks for local election gains and losses vary year by year because:
Different numbers of seats are available each year; for instance there were 4,104 seats in the 2008 locals (the baseline for 2012) and over 10,000 in the big year for English local elections that is the 2007/11 year of the cycle. 2012 is a fairly small year for seat numbers, so that massive gains and losses like Labour's haul of around 2000 gains in 1995 are impossible.
Different sorts of area are contested in different years – Scotland and Wales this year, other years England only, and in general terms rural England in 2011 and 2013, and urban England in 2011 and 2012.
Different starting points. This year's starting point (except in Scotland) is 2008, which was a very good local election year for the Conservatives. Labour therefore have to win a biggish number of seats to be respectable, and the Conservatives can afford to shed a number of seats won at their high water mark.
Electoral system – the seats up in 2011 (and 2014 in London boroughs) will tend to magnify changes, because the multi-member first past the post system often involves large turnovers of seats if there is a swing. The STV PR system used in Scotland will produce smaller changes for a given swing.
Expectation management. This works in a couple of ways. The most obvious is that parties will try to under-claim their expected gains or exaggerate potential losses, to make the results on the day look 'better than expected'. The more subtle is that they are affected by opinion polls and the general climate. A party that is, say, 10 points ahead in the national polls but whose local results are in line with a 5-point lead may be said to have had a 'disappointing' set of results, even though they are 'objectively' better than those of a party that is level in the polls but gets a two point lead on the local result and claims a triumph.
Figures for gains and losses are fuzzy around the edges, for several reasons.
They are affected by a few or more councils each year having boundary changes and therefore not being comparable with past years (this year: Hartlepool, Rugby, Daventry, Broxbourne) and affecting the overall party numbers.
Another factor is by-elections; some of the changes, particularly in a cycle like 2008/12 when there has been a big change in political climate, will have been discounted because the seats have already changed hands in by-elections. Take Walsall, for instance, where two wards that were Conservative in 2008 have already been won by Labour in by-elections. There are also defections, which tend to pattern wider political trends and can be important in some individual authorities – for instance the collapse of the Liberal Democrats in Rochdale or the Conservative split in Sefton. In some such cases a party can make apparent 'gains' by just recapturing seats from defectors. Another complication is sometimes that by-elections run concurrently with the local elections. In Bolton for instance there is a triple vacancy in a safe Conservative area, Bradshaw, giving the Conservatives an apparent extra 2 seats.
Seat totals are also skewed against urban England. The number of electors in each seat is much smaller in rural and suburban authorities, and seats are particularly small in the most rural areas. In terms of seats coming up in 2012, Claverdon ward (Stratford on Avon DC, Warwickshire) with fewer than 2,000 electors is weighted the same as over 20,000 in some Birmingham wards. A party doing differentially well in big cities and poorly in smaller towns and rural areas (as Labour did in 2011) will find its seat gains looking unflattering.
With all these warnings, the starting point needs to be the previous set of local elections in England and Wales in 2008. This was a very good Conservative year and a Labour disaster (national equivalent vote Conservative 43 per cent, Labour 24 per cent and Lib Dem 23 per cent). The Conservatives gained 300 seats and Labour lost 434. Reversing these figures would more or less restore the position that existed in 2004. Allowing for the fact that there are fewer seats available (large councils in Cheshire and Durham were contested in 2008), by-elections, and a possible slippage in Scotland, a Labour gain overall of around 400 would be something like a repeat of 2004. Now this would be a poor result. The local elections in 2004 were not a good year for Labour, with urban voters in particular giving the party a 'kicking' over the Iraq war and general ennui, and the Tories picking up in a number of marginals like Tamworth and Swindon. It was not a drubbing like 2008, but it was still a defeat. Translated into a national vote share, the Conservatives were ahead with 37 per cent, Lib Dems on 27 per cent and Labour on 26 per cent.
So, a net Labour gain of fewer than 400 seats is bad, particularly as a repeat of the 2011 local elections would mean a net gain of over 250 seats in the 36 metropolitan boroughs alone, another 70 in the 16 comparable unitary authorities, and about another 130 (very approximately) in comparable district councils. Fewer than 400 net gains in England would suggest slippage from 2011 (Labour can expect to make more gains in Wales than losses suffered in Scotland).
A 'par' result for Labour would involve doing a bit better than 2011 in urban England, consistent with a clear (but not landslide) lead over the Conservatives in national vote share, and picking up considerably in Wales while slipping a bit in Scotland. Perhaps about 100 gains in Wales, 500 in England, and 30 losses in Scotland, gives us a net gain of 570. (Having examined the local detail, I have revised this down a bit).
Translating recent trends in by-elections and polls, the leading experts in local elections, Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher of Plymouth University, project about 700 Labour gains which feels a bit high. Anything from 550 to 700 should probably be regarded as more or less par.
Over 700 is therefore extremely good for Labour. The party cannot exceed this total much, because its ability to win seats is already 'maxed out' in many areas on the basis of the 2011 results (e.g. Manchester) or would be on a modest swing from 2011, and there are simply not all that many seats available. Also bear in mind the caveats about seats that have already switched in by-elections.
The Conservative picture is a mirror image of Labour's. They must expect losses to Labour, and unlike in 2011 there will not be many places where they can make compensating gains from Liberal Democrats and Independents.
A repeat of 2011 in England would involve net Conservative losses of the order of 180-200 seats. They should hold reasonably steady in Scotland, and lose a bit in Wales – perhaps 30 seats? A net loss of 200 must be accounted a success for the Conservatives if they manage it, given the poor context for the 2012 elections.
A par result would be a bit worse than this (300 odd), and a genuinely bad result would be something like 400 down.
The Liberal Democrats must expect to lose, possibly very severely. A repeat of 2011 would involve around 280 losses in England, perhaps 30 in Wales and something of a caning in Scotland, losing around half of their 166 seats from 2007. This adds up to a little short of 500 for the expected level of losses, assuming that they are pretty much where they were in May 2011. If they have recovered a bit since then, though local activism or a hint of recovery in the national position, they will do better. Because a repeat of 2011 would put them at rock bottom in many areas (the reverse phenomenon to Labour being maxed out in the big cities), there is not a lot of downside risk for the Lib Dems – the main forecast is pretty brutal. Much worse than this and they are still losing support compared to 2011.
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1533 days ago, Wild Oats created this page in support of Variety - the Children's Charity NSW.
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A patient's genetic sample holds great promise – but to capitalize on it, researchers need to crack open the information within, analyze it, and return the data to doctors in time to influence critical healthcare decisions. Broad Institute researcher Chris Friedrich and his team are challenging themselves to find ways to deliver information faster than ever before, efforts that in the future could help patients. They have streamlined the entire process by which a sample's DNA is obtained, prepared, and sequenced at the Broad, reducing the workflow to its most essential parts. They call this ultra-fast method Exome Express – and promise the delivery of data in 21 days or less.
Many projects need samples sequenced fast, especially those involving clinical research samples from patients. Other researchers may need results quickly in order to meet deadlines, apply for funding, or produce a publication.
The speed of Exome Express gives Friedrich's team and all of their colleagues in the Broad's Genomics Platform a flexible space in which to try out tweaks and adjustments to the method. It operates on a small scale, which means that the investment of time and resources is much lower while trying out a new way of doing things.
In this way, Exome Express complements the Broad's strong, stable, and high-throughput platforms that are used to sequence tens of thousands of exomes, whole human genomes, and more. The "exome" in Exome Express refers to the 1.5 percent of the genome that codes for protein. In many cases, this is the part of the genome that clinicians or researchers are primarily interested in.
Before Exome Express, it would take about seven weeks to sequence the exome of a sample at the Broad. For projects in which a researcher needs information on a large batch of samples, this timeframe is often sufficient. But for clinicians and patients looking for data that may help them make treatment choices, seven weeks is an eternity.
Nikhil Wagle is an instructor in medicine in the Department of Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and an associated researcher at the Broad. Wagle is part of a group effort known as the CanSeq initiative – a Broad, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Brigham and Women's Hospital collaboration. His group's need for quality data in a short period of time helped drive the development of Exome Express.
Previously, Wagle and his colleagues would scan samples looking for specific mutations known to cause cancer. The genes in which these influential mutations lie are called oncogenes, and the "map" that researchers at the Broad and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute created of where these genes fall in the genome is known as OncoMap. Clinicians at cancer research centers around the world use tools like OncoMap to look for "actionable" mutations in the genomes of cancer patients: these are mutations against which drugs either have been or are being developed. This means that patients who test positive for a particular mutation can be given a drug specifically tailored to their tumor or can be enrolled in a clinical trial designed for patients like them.
However, Oncomap and other tests like it are limited to a pre-specified set of genes, and adding new ones has been very challenging. Wagle and his clinical colleagues wanted a more expansive test, one that could help them spot mutations anywhere in the coding regions of the genome. They also needed a method that could turn around this information fast, allowing them to follow up on interesting leads with FDA-approved tests that could more definitively confirm telltale mutations. They teamed up with the Broad's Genomics Platform last summer to try out Exome Express and get a first glimpse of the genetic landscape of their samples.
"We've been thrilled to be one of the first users of Exome Express," said Wagle. His team's goal is to sequence samples from between 150 and 200 patients this year.
Exome Express's nimbleness is made possible not only through advances in sequencing technology, but also through a deliberate reimagining of the process by which samples make their way through the Broad. CanSeq researchers place patients' tissue samples in pre-arranged kits sent over from the Broad Institute and enter information about the samples into an online portal. Samples are then couriered over to the Broad Institute. And that's when the real streamlining begins.
"Last summer, we mapped out our workflow and we realized we had 46 steps," Friedrich explained. These steps include adding reagents to a test tube, running preliminary analysis steps, and checking back and forth between researchers at the Broad and users about the quality of the data. Friedrich and his colleagues were able to slim down this workflow to about a dozen essential steps by using a value-added approach to workflow design. This approach allowed the team to objectively assess which steps increased the quality of the final product.
In addition to Friedrich, the Exome Express team includes: Emily Wheeler, Tamara Mason, Teni Dowdell, Katie Larkin, and Cassandra Crawford.
The CanSeq initiative is a collaborative project made possible through the efforts of many individuals including: principle investigator Levi Garraway; computational biologist and medical oncologist Eli Van Allen; and project manager Jen Fostell.


david fenster was born and grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He learned of Meher Baba in 1972 and moved to India three years later. He continues to live at Meherabad with his wife Sheela, and makes annual visits to America to see their two sons Amman and Adeem and their families.
David is the author of the three-volume biography of Meher Baba's closest female disciple, Mehera-Meher: A Divine Romance. From tape recordings he made,he edited and produced his wife's memoirs, titled Growing Up With God. He also edited several of his father-in-law Bhau Kalchuri's books, including Meher Sarod, Meher Roshani, While the World Slept, and the multi-volume Lord Meher series.
David is currently the curator of a large collection of images of Meher Baba, available through Meher Nazar Publications.
Have you been compiling data since you began residing in India?
Pretty much. I decided early on to tape Mehera as much as I could, as I found her way of speaking and information both fascinating and inspiring, being so one-pointed and focused in her love for Baba.
I was editing Lord Meher and saw that there was a lot of material that Mehera was speaking about that wasn't in Lord Meher. So I thought it would be nice to include it as a companion volume to Baba's biography.
From where did the material come?
Almost all of the material in the book is from taped interviews I made. Besides taping Mehera and the women mandali, I went to Europe and America in 1981 to tape some of Baba's close Western followers for Lord Meher. While interviewing them, I also asked the women followers questions relating to Mehera, for Mehera-Meher. I also went to Nasik to meet Mehera's sister Freiny and contacted Colonel Irani's surviving relatives in Poona.
I made use of diaries, letters, and other written sources - if it pertained to Mehera and the women, and if it had not been published elsewhere. I was also fortunate to be living in India and to be able to spend time with the mandali informally, and note down their comments and additional information.
I'm in the first chapters of the second volume. I've been wishing for more information about Mehera specifically, as was the case throughout Volume One. Although the details of Meher Baba's activities during the World War II are extremely interesting.
Others have remarked on the same thing. I wanted to publish the parts of Mani's diary that weren't reproduced in Lord Meher (parts that dealt with household details, for example). Mani's diary ends before the end of WWII - so more of Mehera's voice picks up after this.
At first, Mehera was very shy and self-conscious about having a microphone planted in front of her each time she sat on the verandah. I was able to make her feel more at ease by using this idea: Before each session, I tied a big Baba button on the microphone stand and decorated it with flowers. It worked amazingly well. Looking directly at Baba's photograph not only made Mehera feel comfortable as she spoke, but it also served to have her speak towards the microphone rather than to someone sitting on either side of her. So the recordings became clearer. Eventually, Mehera got so used to me sitting on her verandah with my tape-recorder that she didn't mind.
Did she know you would be writing a book about her?
It was never mentioned specifically, because at that time I was only concerned with collecting as much material as I could. I began transcribing the tapes while Mehera was still alive, but I never discussed an actual book project with her.
Initially, I gave Meheru only a very few pages of the first volume, concerning her parents' marriage, as I thought she might be interested in reading what was new material. Meheru was pleased with it and asked, "Where's the rest of the book?" So I printed the entire manuscript, all three volumes, and sent it to her.
For a year-and-a-half, I didn't hear one word from her about it. I wasn't even sure she was reading it. Finally, I sent her a note explaining that the book was being readied for publication, and if she had any comments about it, now was the time to let me know so that I could include them.
I was flabbergasted when she returned the manuscript. On almost every page were Meheru's handwritten notes in the margins – to change something, or a comment about an incident. I incorporated everything, and it made the text so much richer to have her insight and additions.
I thought that the production was excellent - the choice of paper, font, the photos, and especially the covers and the box were exquisite.
While I oversaw the photographic side, including selecting the cover photos, all of the credit for the design, including the boxes, goes to Ed Legum of Atlanta – who carefully chose the paper and fonts, and spent five years on the entire layout.
The photos took three years to compile and edit. They were collected from sources all over the world. Each image was worked on in Photoshop by at least three and sometimes six individuals. They are printed in Duotone, a double printing process, to render them in the best possible way, on the paper chosen (which was specially imported from America into India for the book). Many of the photos have never been printed before, because they are slightly out of focus. But I felt they "fit" in the context of the story of the women's household, like family snapshots. So I believe they are a valuable addition to the material, even though they may not be of the highest quality. Most were shot by amateurs, of course.
To enhance the later years, I captured some color images from films. Some of these also are a bit fuzzy, because it was done within the constraints of equipment and copies of films available at Meherabad at the time, which was limited in quality. And I was learning as I did it.
I appreciated how you kept yourself out of the story, except for your very interesting speculations which I found very thought-provoking. I also appreciation your gentle humor, which I felt really added to the story.
I did consciously try and stay out of the narrative as much as possible, so that the reader could experience and reflect on Mehera's words directly. I thought some of the stories were very funny, so I'm glad you appreciated that angle.
Not really. I had to do a lot of papers for school and wrote a few articles for the old Meher News Exchange, in addition to editing several of Bhauji's books; but writing never came easily to me. That's part of the reason this book took so long to produce: I kept going back and re-writing it. I wanted to be sure to get it right; to do justice to the material.
Are you pleased with how the book turned out?
I am very pleased. It is still amazing to me that certain individuals felt compelled to render their wholehearted help to this project. Meheru, Janet Judson, Julia Ross, Ed Legum, Anne Giles, Hugh MacDonald, Balaji and others put their hearts into it and helped enormously. Of course, many, many times what I am sure was Baba's Ôdirect' help arrived: in finding a photo or resolving a printing problem, et cetera.
Since Mehera-Meher was published in 2003, many small additions and corrections have come my way, which I have incorporated in the paperback and more recently in the updated digital PDF edition. (A list of the additions and corrections can be found by clicking the CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS tab above).
[Bhau's daughter] Sheela's book Growing Up With God [click on the title to read an excerpt from this work] was completed several years ago and an updated e-book is in the works. Meanwhile, I am curating the large collection of photographs of Meher Baba and the mandali of the Meher Nazar Publications collection.
To me, Mehera-Meher seems definitely a part of "the active present-tense" of God's work on this earth. Your thoughts?
It is wonderful to know that Baba is still active in the world, as Bhauji so often repeats. To imagine that this work is part of His work is a great compliment.
To keep Baba's presence present is one of the central lessons of Mehera-Meher. That is why Mehera always reminded us to say to ourselves, "Baba, be in the car with me as I am driving ... it and eat with me at the table ... Be next to me as I type this email ..." to bring Baba's presence near and keep him with us always. Mehera was able to do this so naturally, and it is possible for us also, but it requires sincere dedication.
You have given me many, many hours of reading pleasure. Thank you so very much.
It's very gratifying to hear such feedback. For twenty years, I lived with this project, working alone at home with the beauty, power, and love of this magnificent story. For me, it was like seeing a terrific movie and then wanting to talk about it with your friends - but no one else had seen it. Finally, others are enjoying it!
I tried my best to capture a little of Mehera's unique qualities, and make the books worthy of her great, great love. I'm glad some of that came through.


The first car is a mixture of tools and scrap. It started out as a USA Trains tie and wheel car. Scrap pieces of rail were painted and weathered to look as if they had been well used. Junk ties and wheels were added to the bin on the front of the car. Assorted tools and signs were placed around the rest of the car. It was also well weathered to show signs of age.
Next is the rail and tie car. This is also a USA Trains flat. Again, rails and ties were painted and weathered to show signs of age. Three switch stands are also being transported down the line. This is a very heavy car to move.
This is a Bachmann gondola that I threw scrap rail and wheels into. It is also very heavy to move around.
A bulldozer is a necessary item at a wreck site. This was a 1,000+ piece kit that was painted and weathered. It is extremely detailed (all the way down to the foam showing out of the ripped seat) and the pictures do not do the weathering justice.
Every wreck site needs replacement wheels and trucks. This USA wheel car meets the need. The platform that the trucks are chained down to was scratch built. All the wheels and trucks were weathered to look like the real thing.


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A completist plays old games
« WoW: Grouping it
WoW: Choosing the Horde »
WoW: Getting Twinked
Posted January 20, 2011 Comments(2)
Joining World of Warcraft at this late date means having friends who are far more advanced than you, and, unlike in single-player games, that means more than just tips and spoilers. One associate, skilled in the Leathercrafting profession, has gifted Crumbcake a full set of leather armor (some bits of which she was too low-level to wear at the time of gifting), and another gave Oleari thirty gold pieces — more money than all my characters put together had ever seen. In both cases, I think these were trifles for the givers, easily parted-with. (I certainly know firsthand that practicing a craft involves making more items than you have any use for.)
In MMO lingo, this is called "twinking", derived from "twinkie", a derisive term from the pen-and-paper RPG community for the worse sorts of powergamer — particularly the sort who brings to the table a character decked out in magic items that they claim to have obtained from another DM who isn't available for comment. In this context, the word may be a corruption of "tweak", as in tweaking stats for min-maxing, but this is one of those words whose etymology is long on surmise and short on evidence. I've seen the term cause some confusion; role-players aren't the only subculture that's assigned a distinct meaning to it. The one constant seems to be that it's always an insult. A twinkie is something you don't want to be.
Obviously the MMO has shifted the term in meaning somewhat, and consequently, getting twinked is no bad thing — there's little suspicion of cheating when the rules are enforced by server code, and there's nothing shameful about being the recipient of a friend's generosity. Even using one of your own more-advanced characters to give a new one a leg up seems to be considered okay — even if the character didn't earn that sweet armor, you, the player, did. Still, Blizzard considers it disruptive enough to the intended experience that there are mechanisms in place to limit it — the most obvious being that most items require a minimum experience level for use (including, a little bizarrely, food items).
Even as a recipient of this kind of help, I'm a little leery of the effect it'll have on my experience of the game. Sure, I like dying less. But I also like meeting challenges, and the whole point of this is to make things less challenging. On the gripping hand, this game is really calibrated on the assumption that you're going to have help from other players, if only through grouping. (Pleasance has even gotten up to a quest where the game specifically advises this.) One definite downside is that it robs some of the quest rewards of their impact. So Oleari completes a quest and gets a whole silver piece — so what? It's even worse for Cumbcake: a lot of the quest rewards are armor. Advancing through the quest tree normally means a steady sequence of small improvements in your armor rating, but Crumbcake has jumped the queue, with the result that all of the armor rewards she's been offered lately are worse than what she already has.
malkav11 on 20 Jan 2011
To give you some idea, your friend could easily have earned that 30 gold in one, two quests at most at level 85. It was a lot of money back in pre-expansion WoW, though.
Merus on 20 Jan 2011
There's a class of item called an 'heirloom' item; they have gold text instead of the grey, white, green and possibly blue that you've already seen. These items are explicitly designed to be sent back to lower-level characters; they bind to an account, as opposed to a character, they have no level restriction, and their bonuses depend on the character's level, usually resembling a pretty good piece of gear. On top of that, many also grant a 10% bonus to experience. You need to have a max-level character and spend a good deal of resources in order to acquire heirlooms, though.
There is a mitigating factor, though: that Leatherworking set will likely be out-of-date fairly soon, and because 30 gold not a lot of money in the scheme of things, you can usually earn that in half an hour via cursory inspection of the auction house. Most players seem willing to clear out the auction house of low-level crafting materials to give their other characters a leg up, which means posting low-level materials tends to net you a lot more gold than you'd earn any other way. (You could, yourself, go and buy materials on the auction house to skip some of the more tedious profession levelling. This would also give more meaning to earning money.)
The idea of 'spending money to skip tedium' seems to map nicely to the wealth vs time dichotomy that tends to turn up with MMOs and real money transactions. Puzzle Pirates, a surprisingly interesting MMO, made it explicit, adding a currency bought via real money that could be traded in a special marketplace for pieces o' eight, the game's regular currency. The idea was that players who were cash-rich but time-poor could subsidise players who were cash-poor but time-rich. It more or less worked, in that game, because most of the meaningful interactions were heavily skill-based, so players could spend as much money as they liked and get the prestigious items, but not any material advantage.
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Statement on reported bias incident (Jan. 31, 2020)
President Stanley's letter to the Spartan community (Feb. 6, 2020)
Media statement (Jan. 31, 2020)
We were made aware of an inappropriate and insensitive display at the Wharton Center gift shop which used a tree-like rack to hold historical black figures. Regardless of the intent of the display, its impact cannot be ignored – people were hurt and offended.
We sincerely apologize to our community members and have immediately removed the display. Additionally, after the Wharton Center reported the incident, it agreed to provide employees and volunteers with racial bias training that focuses on the impact and understanding of intentional and unintentional racial bias.
We have work to do, and MSU remains committed to creating a culture that is inclusive and safe for all faculty, staff, students and visitors. As we enter Black History Month, it's important we not only recognize the many contributions of African Americans, but we remember history and confront all bias.
-MSU Spokesperson Emily Gerkin Guerrant


text:
Q: Mocking Firebase function with Jest (Unit testing) I am creating unit tests, but I can find a way to mock firebase functions and spesify the return type when I call them. Below I posted the what I want to mock(account.service.ts) and what test I currenlty have. I want to mock and specify what is to be returned with admin... (aka set the resp object value).
import * as admin from 'firebase-admin';
account.service.ts
    const resp = admin
        .auth()
        .createUser({
            email: registerDto.email,
            emailVerified: false,
            password: registerDto.password,
            displayName: registerDto.displayName,
            disabled: false,
        })
        .then(
            (userCredential): Account => ({
                uid: userCredential.uid,
                email: userCredential.email,
                emailVerified: userCredential.emailVerified,
                displayName: userCredential.displayName,
                message: 'User is successfully registered!',
            }),
        )
        .catch((error) => {
            // eslint-disable-next-line max-len
            throw new HttpException(`${'Bad Request Error creating new user: '}${error.message}`, HttpStatus.BAD_REQUEST);
        });

account.service.spec.ts
describe('61396089', () => {
        afterEach(() => {
            jest.restoreAllMocks();
        });

        const obj = {
            uid: 'uid',
            email: 'email',
            emailVerified: 'emailVerified',
            displayName: 'displayName',
            message: 'User is successfully registered!',
        };

        const jestAdminMock = {
            admin: () => ({
                auth: () => ({
                    createUser: () => ({
                        then: () => ({
                            catch: () => obj,
                        }),
                    }),
                }),
            }),
        };

        it('should pass', () => {
            const mockDataTable = {
                admin: jest.fn().mockReturnThis(),
                auth: jest.fn().mockReturnThis(),
                createUser: jest.fn().mockReturnThis(),
                then: jest.fn().mockReturnThis(),
                catch: jest.fn().mockReturnValueOnce(obj),
            };
            jest.spyOn(jestAdminMock, 'admin').mockImplementationOnce(() => mockDataTable);
            const actual = service.registerUser(registerDTO);
            expect(actual).toBe(obj);
        });
    });
});

A: I managed to make a test like this example
This is the function

import admin from 'firebase-admin'

admin.initializeApp({
  credential: admin.credential.cert(credentials),
})

const createClosure = (admin) => {
  if (!admin) {
    throw new Error(Errors.FIREBASE_ADMIN_SDK_NOT_PROVIDED)
  }
  return (data) => {
    if (
      data &&
      !Array.isArray(data) &&
      typeof data === 'object' &&
      Object.keys(data).length > 0
    ) {
      const { firstName, lastName } = data
      const displayName = `${firstName} ${lastName}`
      return admin.auth().createUser({ ...data, displayName })
    }
    throw new Error(Errors.INVALID_DATA)
  }
}

/*
.....
*/

const create = createClosure(admin)

export { create, createClosure }

This is a test example

import { createClosure } from "../path/to/function"

describe('createClosure', () => {
  it('should be a function', () => {
    expect(typeof createClosure).toBe('function')
  })

  describe('when admin is not provided', () => {
    it('should throw "Firebase Admin SDK not provided"', () => {
      const expected = Errors.FIREBASE_ADMIN_SDK_NOT_PROVIDED
      expect(() => createClosure()).toThrow(expected)
    })
  })
  describe('when admin is provided', () => {
    describe('when data is invalid', () => {
      const createUser = jest.fn()
      const admin = {
        auth: () => ({
          createUser,
        }),
      }
      const data1 = 123
      const data2 = 'hello'
      const data3 = ['a', 'b', 'c']
      const data4 = {}

      it('should throw "Invalid data"', () => {
        expect(() => createClosure(admin)()).toThrow(Errors.INVALID_DATA)
        expect(() => createClosure(admin)(data1)).toThrow(Errors.INVALID_DATA)
        expect(() => createClosure(admin)(data2)).toThrow(Errors.INVALID_DATA)
        expect(() => createClosure(admin)(data3)).toThrow(Errors.INVALID_DATA)
        expect(() => createClosure(admin)(data4)).toThrow(Errors.INVALID_DATA)
      })
    })
    describe('when data is valid', () => {
      const data = {
        firstName: 'Alice',
        lastName: 'Alley',
        foo: 'bar',
        baz: {
          boo: 'bii',
          buu: 'byy',
        },
      }
      describe('when createUser rejects', () => {
        const e = new Error('Error happened!')
        const createUser = jest.fn().mockRejectedValue(e)
        const admin = {
          auth: () => ({
            createUser,
          }),
        }
        const create = createClosure(admin)
        it('should call createUser once', async () => {
          try {
            await createUser(data)
          } catch (error) {}
          expect(createUser).toBeCalledTimes(1)
          expect(createUser).toBeCalledWith({ ...data })
        })
        it('should reject', async () => {
          await expect(create(data)).rejects.toEqual(e)
        })
      })
      describe('when save resolves', () => {
        const expected = {
          baz: { boo: 'bii', buu: 'byy' },
          displayName: 'Alice Alley',
          lastName: 'Alley',
        }
        const displayName = `${data.firstName} ${data.lastName}`
        const createUser = jest.fn().mockResolvedValue(expected)
        const admin = {
          auth: () => ({
            createUser,
          }),
        }
        const create = createClosure(admin)
        it('should call save once', async () => {
          try {
            await create(data)
          } catch (error) {}
          expect(createUser).toBeCalledTimes(1)
          expect(createUser).toBeCalledWith({ ...data, displayName })
        })
        it('should resolve', async () => {
          const result = await create(data)
          expect(result).toMatchObject(expected)
        })
      })
    })
  })
})

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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DELL Notebook WiFi Router is a free to try software. You can free download and try it for an evaluation period.
Turn your DELL notebook into wireless router.
Summary: DELL notebook WiFi Router is a software-based WiFi routing utility that turns your DELL notebook into a wireless router. Designed specially for DELL brand notebooks for sharing the DELL notebook's Internet with other WiFi-enabled devices.
Detailed: DELL Notebook WiFi Router is a handy and easy to use software router for DELL notebooks. After downloading and installing the lightweight application, DELL Notebook WiFi Router utilizes your DELL notebook's built in WiFi card to wirelessly share any available Internet connection: a wired broadband connection, a cable modem or 3G USB adapter. Other Wi-Fi enabled devices including notebooks, smart phones, music players, and gaming systems can see and join your DELL Notebook WiFi Router's wireless network just like any other Wi-Fi access point and are kept safe and secure by password-protected Encryption. With DELL Notebook WiFi Router you can create your own wireless network in your Ethernet-only hotel or meeting room. And you can find more possibilities.
System Requirements: WiFi-enabled DELL notebooks with Windows XP installed.


text:
Klotz Student Health Center
Laboratory and X-ray
Specialists and Specialties
Health Promotion & Wellness
Collaborations and Highlights
Health Topics and Resources
Staff and Health Care Providers
Klotz Student Health Center History
Clinical Services Main
Health Promotion & Wellness Main
YOU@CSUN
Access the platform
CURRENT KLOTZ STUDENT HEALTH CENTER OPERATIONS
The Klotz Student Health Center welcomes you and remains open from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday. Our phone operating hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 11:45 am and 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm.
*Please note: CSUN and the Klotz Student Health Center is not administering the COVID vaccines. Please contact The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health for more information or to schedule an appointment for the COVID vaccine.*
Until further notice, the following services are temporarily unavailable:
*Dental services are available for acute or emergency care. To schedule a dental appointment or for more information, please call (818) 677-3695.
We offer free Telehealth services. Telehealth is the use of electronic information and telecommunications technologies to support long-distance clinical health care with the use of a phone and/or videoconferencing capability.
Telehealth services available at the Klotz SHC include:
Please call (818) 677-3666, option 1 to schedule a telehealth appointment.
New: 8 Dimensions of Wellness (COVID-19 Resources) Website
Klotz Health Promotion views wellness in a holistic way, as depicted by the 8 Dimensions of Wellness. Incorporating these dimensions into your life, especially during times of uncertainty, can help you build resilience, better cope with stress, positively impact your academics, and lead a balanced life. Please visit 8 Dimensions of Wellness - COVID-19 Resources to learn more.
As new developments are occurring daily, we should prepare for the possibility that the Klotz SHC will remain open with reduced operating hours, or may close completely. The current pharmacy hours are 9:00 am to 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm.
We want to be sure that you do not run out of your medications. Please consider the following:
The Klotz SHC Pharmacy will continue to fill existing refills during its business hours, Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm.
If you decide to transfer your prescriptions to an off-campus pharmacy, please call the Klotz Pharmacy at (818) 677-3671 and we will assist you with this process. This phone line is available during our working hours.
Students should attempt to move quickly with regard to prescriptions to avoid delays in receiving medications.
Curbside pickup is available! Please call (818) 677-3671 for more information regarding your prescriptions.
At this time, to schedule appointments, we request that you call (818) 677-3666, Option 1 between 9:00 am to 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday. You will be provided with assistance regarding your medical concerns.
If you are on-campus and ill or injured, you are welcome to walk-in to the Klotz Student Health Center.
We are temporarily suspending all online appointments. Please call the Klotz Student Health Center for any questions.
For mental health services, please contact University Counseling Services.
What To Expect When You Arrive at the Klotz Student Health Center
To promote everyone's health and safety, the following procedures are in place until further notice . All visitors to the Klotz Student Health Center must enter through the front door of the building only. There, you will be met by a clinician dressed in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including special clothing, a mask, and eye goggles. The clinician will take your temperature and ask you a few questions to determine your infection risk.
If you have no fever, recent travel, or contact with someone with COVID-19, you may proceed into the building.
If you have a fever, recent travel, or contact with someone with COVID-19, you will be given further instructions by the clinician. Note: if you have had contact with someone with COVID-19 or COVID like symptoms in the last 14 days, please call the Klotz SHC at 818-677-3666 for advice before visiting in person.
Thank you for your patience with this new procedure. If you have any symptoms of illness, please call 818-677-3666, Option 1 to arrange an appointment before coming to the SHC. If the clinician decides the problem requires more extensive care than we can provide, we will help you get care at the nearest hospital. We welcome you at the SHC, but want to keep everyone as safe as possible.
If you have a medical emergency, please call 911 from any campus phone 24 hours a day. Campus police will answer the call and dispatch officers or paramedics as necessary. A medical emergency is any problem that may require immediate medical attention; it takes priority over less urgent medical complaints. Head injuries, difficulty breathing, chest pain, heavily bleeding wounds, repeated vomiting, extreme pain or feeling faint are just a few examples of emergencies.
If you walk in with an emergency during regular Klotz Student Health Center hours, you will be given immediate attention. If the clinician decides the problem requires more extensive care than we can provide, you will be treated at the nearest hospital.
Campus COVID-19 News
Campus COVID-19 information and updates are available at CSUN COVID-19.
Thank you for your patience and understanding during these challenging times. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us at (818) 677-3666. For medical assistance outside our operating hours, please visit "After Hours Care".
CSUN to Serve as a COVID Vaccination Site for LACDPH
Los Angeles County Department of Health Services has recently announced that they will be providing COVID vaccines at several sites in Los Angeles County, including CSUN. Please note that this service is not being administered by the university or the Klotz Student Health Center. Continue reading about COVID Vaccines
Smoking Cessation Education (SCE) at the Klotz SHC
Are you ready to quit smoking tobacco or using nicotine products? The Student Health Center is now offering free Telehealth sessions with a Smoking Cessation Educator (SCE). Continue Reading about Smoking Cessation Education
COVID-19 Testing: What You Need to Know
You may be hearing about the availability of new tests that can determine if you have COVID-19 or if you have been exposed to the virus. Although there are several types of tests that are currently being offered and studied, most are not yet recommended or available for everyone. We will keep students updated on test development, and if routine testing becomes available and recommended for our student health center. Continue Reading About Testing Information
New Curbside Pickup for Medications
Our highest priority is to protect the health and safety of our students, staff, and our campus community. We are adding some options for our pharmacy services to help our patients and staff stay safe during this COVID-19 pandemic. Continue Reading about Curbside Pickup
shcinfo@csun.edu
Appointment and
Primary Care Hours
9 a.m.-12 p.m.
and 1 p.m.-4 p.m.
Closed for lunch between
The Klotz SHC is closed during university holidays.
How do I make an appointment at the Klotz Student Health Center?


La Jolla, CA, USA — November 17, 2015 — MadCap Software, Inc., the leader in multi-channel content authoring and a showcase company for Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Visual Studio, today announced that it has published a new case study on Toon Boom Animation Inc. Toon Boom relies on MadCap Flare for single-source publishing of print and responsive HTML5 documentation to support its award-winning software for 2D animation and storyboarding for film, television, Web animation, games, mobile devices, training applications and education. The case study can be viewed at: https://www.madcapsoftware.com/casestudy/ToonBoom.aspx.
Headquartered in Montreal, Toon Boom counts Walt Disney Animation®, Rovio Entertainment®, Universal Studios®, Nelvana®, and 20th Century Fox Animation® as some of the customers. For the past 20 years, the company has changed the animation world one production at a time by setting a standard of excellence and aiding in the development of the world's finest animated productions. This includes not only Toon Boom animation software and guides on how to use its products, but also documentation on animation industry best practices.
MadCap Flare's topic-based single-source, multi-channel publishing streamlines the delivery of online and print documentation for 20 product versions and modules.
The ability to run builds in the background in MadCap Flare speeds weekly updates to content.
Conditional tags, TOCs, snippets, and skins in MadCap Flare enable Toon Boom to customize content, as well as the look and feel, for different versions of its documentation.
Top navigation and responsive design provide a modern, intuitive Web experience for desktop and mobile users, and enhance SEO.
Drop-down text in Flare-based online documentation helps readers get to the topics with collapsed content they need faster.
Integration between Flare and Apache SVN allows multiple writers to develop content for the same project at the same time.
MadCap Flare's built-in support for multi-language authoring, translation and publishing enables Toon Boom to localize all of its PDF documentation for the Japanese market.
Toon Boom Animation Inc.'s award-winning software is the global standard for 2D animation and storyboarding. Their solutions provide everyone from enthusiasts to professionals with the artistic freedom to create in any style and efficiently publish anywhere. Customers include Walt Disney Animation®, Rovio Entertainment®, Universal Studios®, Nelvana® and 20th Century Fox Animation®. For more information, visit www.toonboom.com.
MadCap Software, the MadCap Software logo, MadCap Flare, and MadCap Contributor are trademarks or registered trademarks of MadCap Software, Inc., in the United States and/or other countries.


text:
Santa Barbara Symphony Thrills with Beethoven's "Eroica" and a Reimagined Brahms
Critically acclaimed Israeli pianists Sivan Silver and Gil Garburg will present a unique arrangement of Johannes Brahms' G minor Piano Quartet, Op. 25 while the orchestra performs a truly heroic rendition of Beethoven's "Eroica" Symphony.
(January 2020) Santa Barbara, CA— The Santa Barbara Symphony kicks off the second half of its 2019-2020 season with Beethoven's "Eroica" on January 18th and 19th at the Granada Theatre. The evening begins with Michael Torke's Ash, followed by world-renowned Israeli pianists Sivan Silver and Gil Garburg performing a unique arrangement for piano four-hands and strings based on Johannes Brahms' G minor Piano Quartet, Op. 25. The program will close with Beethoven's revolutionary "Eroica" Symphony, conducted by Music & Artistic Director, Nir Kabaretti. The program has been made possible by the generosity of selection sponsors JoAnne Ando, Hans Koellner and Karin Jacobson, and Dr. Robert W. Weinman.
During this January Symphony Concert Week, Symphony donors who contribute $5,000 or more to the Annual Fund are invited to a special Prelude Event. This Prelude Event is scheduled for Friday, January 17th and will be hosted by Symphony Board Member Sarah Chrisman and her husband Roger. Wine and hors d'oeuvres will be served, and Music & Artistic Director Nir Kabaretti will introduce Sivan and Gil before the duo treats attendees to a preview of their masterful playing together on the Chrismans' two grand pianos. Please contact Anaïs Pellegrini, Vice President of Advancement, at 805-898-0107 for more information about this event and annual giving opportunities at the Symphony.
Silver and Garburg will present a special arrangement of Brahms' beloved Piano Quartet, Op. 25, created expressly for the duo by contemporary Austrian composer Richard Dünser, who combined Brahms' two original versions of the quartet. After 20 years of playing together, Sivan Silver and Gil Garburg have established themselves at the top echelon of the music world. The duo has delighted audiences and critics alike on five continents with visually stunning and emotionally evocative performances.
"As a piano duo, it's easy to make effects with virtuosity. But that alone is far too little," the duo explains on their website. "We want to move our listeners emotionally and bring them to the core of the music."
Honoring Beethoven's 250th birthday, the symphony will close the evening with the intensely emotional Symphony No. 3 "Eroica." Groundbreaking and heroic, Beethoven's "Eroica" stretched the boundaries of form, length, and harmony. Commenting on the influence of Beethoven's confessional and confrontational composition, American composer William Flanagan said, "The appearance of no single work has so completely and irretrievably altered the face of art."
The Symphony will also be performing Michael Torke's Ash, a winner of the American Prix de Rome as well as grants and prizes from the Koussevitzky Foundation, among others. Torke is one of a handful of American composers supporting himself entirely through his compositions. Ash was commissioned by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and has been described as "eclectic with energy, a gleaming modernization of the dynamic motor rhythms that drive the Baroque masterpieces of Johann Sebastian Bach."
Beethoven's "Eroica" will take place on January 18th and 19th at the landmark Granada Theatre. Tickets can be purchased online at thesymphony.org, granadasb.org, or by calling the Granada Theatre Box Office at 805-899-2222.
About Sivan Silver and Gil Garburg
Acclaimed by audiences and critics alike, Sivan Silver and Gil Garburg have been invited to perform time and time again by top orchestras, festivals, and concert organizers, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Vienna Musikverein. The duo has performed in approximately 70 countries on five continents, and have collaborated with the Israel Philharmonic, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Melbourne Symphony and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie. Their recording of Mendelssohn's concertos for two pianos and orchestra has been called "breathtaking" (Bayerische Rundfunk), "extremely exciting" (Süddeutsche Zeitung), and "brilliant" (Rondo). Their Stravinsky ballets CD has been described as "grandiose" (Pizzicato, Supersonic Award), "thrilling" (Fono Forum, CD of the Month) and "wonderfully enchanting" (Der Neue Merker). Since 2014, the Silver-Garburg Duo have occupied one of the few extant professorships for piano duo at the Graz University for the Arts. They present master-classes at leading academic institutes in Moscow, Beijing, Melbourne, Vienna, Jerusalem, Wellington, Helsinki, and more. Previously, they taught at the Hannover Musikhochschule, where they completed their studies in 2007 under Prof. Arie Vardi.
About Nir Kabaretti
Internationally acclaimed conductor, Nir Kabaretti, has established an impressive worldwide career with a vast symphonic, operatic and ballet repertoire. Music and Artistic Director of the Santa Barbara Symphony, Kabaretti has been described as "a conductor with immense musicality and warm personality" by Maestro Zubin Mehta. This season Kabaretti starts his tenure as Music Director of The Israel Sinfonietta Beer Sheva, and continues as Music Director of the Southwest Florida Symphony. Upon graduation from the prestigious University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Kabaretti began working as coach and Chorus Master at the Vienna State Opera and the Salzburg Festival. He was later appointed Assistant to the Music Director at the Teatro Real in Madrid and Personal Assistant to Maestro Zubin Mehta at Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Some of his engagements as guest conductor include the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Taiwan National Symphony, Orquesta Filarmonica de Buenos Aires, Orquestre National du Theatre du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestra Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini, Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, Zagreb
Philharmonic Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, La Orquesta Sinfonica de Madrid, and many others. Some of Kabaretti's operatic and ballet performances include stage productions at Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Teatro Real in Madrid, Israeli Opera, Opéra de Lausanne, New National Theatre in Tokyo, Teatro dell'Opera di
Roma, and Teatro Petruzzelli di Bari. Kabaretti also led Teatro San Carlo di Napoli on its first tour to Japan in 2005. Winner of the 1993 Forum Junger Kustler Conducting Competition
(Vienna), and a finalist of the 1994 Competition for Conductors in Douai (France), Kabaretti was also awarded the America-Israel Cultural Foundation Grant for Young Conductors. Upcoming engagements as guest conductor include a debut with the Bogotà Philharmonic Orchestra, a tour in Belgium with the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège and a return to the Opera di Roma.


This year I decided I am going to really focus on a more thankful heart (i need it) and to document one thing a day that I am grateful for. I already take one photo a day and document a lot of our lives, but this time I wanted more of a focus of things I am thankful for.
I thought this was an original idea to do 365 Grateful. I was wrong ;) I used the hashtag #365Grateful and quickly realized it wasn't the only one who thought of this. Which is kind of wonderful, if ya think about it!
It has already proven to be a really good challenge for me!
Day 1: For the little reminders that even on the roughest, most terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-day (parenting) days…They are here: blessings and breathing. For that I am beyond thankful, even on the bad days.
Day 2: For time to play pirates with them.
Day 3: For priceless moments like this one with Grandma Anisa. Day 4: For this little loud one.
Day 5: For a spontaneous homemade lunch with a dear friend.
for her. for them. for me.
snow globes & gingerbread trains.
I'm loving your blog!! I'm a mother of two as well and about to run my first race. Keep blogging, I'm listening!!
thank you so much! and have a blast on your race!!


text:
package net.bramp.db_patterns.queues;

import java.util.Collection;
import java.util.Iterator;
import java.util.NoSuchElementException;
import java.util.concurrent.BlockingQueue;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;

/**
 * To keep code neat, most of the simple methods are here
 * @author bramp
 *
 */
abstract class AbstractBlockingQueue<E> implements BlockingQueue<E> {

	public boolean isEmpty() {
		return size() == 0;
	}

	public boolean offer(E e) {
		return add(e);
	}

	public E element() {
		E head = peek();
		if (head == null)
			throw new NoSuchElementException();
		return head;
	}

	public E remove() {
		E head = poll();
		if (head == null)
			throw new NoSuchElementException();
		return head;
	}

	/**
	 * Blocks
	 */
	public E take() throws InterruptedException {
		// We loop around trying to get a item, blocking at most a minute at
		// a time this allows us to be interrupted
		E head = null;
		while (head == null) {
			if (Thread.interrupted())
				throw new InterruptedException();

			head = poll(1, TimeUnit.MINUTES);
		}
		return head;
	}

	/**
	 * Blocks
	 */
	public void put(E e) throws InterruptedException {
		add(e);
	}

	/**
	 * No blocking
	 */
	public int drainTo(Collection<? super E> c) {
		return drainTo(c, Integer.MAX_VALUE);
	}

	/**
	 * No blocking
	 */
	public int drainTo(Collection<? super E> c, int maxElements) {
		if (c == this)
			throw new IllegalArgumentException("Draining to self is not supported");

		int count = 0;
		while (count < maxElements) {
			E head = poll();
			if (head == null)
				break;

			c.add(head);
			count++;
		}

		return maxElements - count;
	}

	public void clear() {
		// Lazy! just keep poll'ng them off
		while (poll() != null) {
			// Nothing
		}
	}

	public int remainingCapacity() {
		return Integer.MAX_VALUE;
	}

	public boolean offer(E e, long timeout, TimeUnit unit) throws InterruptedException {
		// Right now, we have no concept of a full queue, so we don't block on insert
		return offer(e);
	}

	////// Nothing supported below

	public boolean contains(Object o) {
		throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
	}

	public Iterator<E> iterator() {
		throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
	}

	public Object[] toArray() {
		throw new UnsupportedOperationException();	}

	public <T> T[] toArray(T[] a) {
		throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
	}

	public boolean remove(Object o) {
		throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
	}

	public boolean containsAll(Collection<?> c) {
		throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
	}

	public boolean addAll(Collection<? extends E> c) {
		throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
	}

	public boolean removeAll(Collection<?> c) {
		throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
	}

	public boolean retainAll(Collection<?> c) {
		throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Everything You Should Know About Caffeinated Drinks and How they Affect Your Health
Food & Drinks Everything You Should Know About Caffeinated Drinks and How they Affect Your Health
Most of the people in India cannot wake up properly without having their usual bed tea. What is it that these drinks give us such energy and kick to move ahead through the day? It is the presence of caffeine in these drinks that give us this boost.
NDTV Food Desk
Updated: August 26, 2017 16:39 IST
We all love sipping on a cup of coffee or tea and even soft drinks
It is the presence of caffeine in these drinks that give energy
This natural stimulant is absorbed from the gut in the bloodstream
We all love sipping on a cup of coffee or tea and even soft drinks and why not? After all, they give us instant energy and some sugar rush. Most of the people in India cannot wake up properly without having their usual bed tea. What is it that these drinks give us such energy and kick to move ahead through the day? It is the presence of caffeine in these drinks that give us this boost. Caffeine is a natural stimulant that is one of the most commonly used ingredients in the world. It generally works by stimulating the brain and central nervous system, further helping you to stay alert and prevent the onset of tiredness and lethargy.
How Does Caffeine Work in Our Body?
Once consumed, this natural stimulant is quickly absorbed from the gut into the bloodstream. Then it travels to the liver and breaks down into compounds that can affect the function of various organs. Moreover, caffeine's main effect is on the brain. It functions by inhibiting the effects of a neurotransmitter called adenosine that relaxes the brain.
Caffeine helps you stay wide awake by connecting these neurotransmitter receptors in the brain without activating them. This further blocks the effects of adenosine, leading to reduced tiredness throughout the day.
It may also raise blood adrenaline levels and further increase brain activity of the neurotransmitters norepinephrine and dopamine. The combination of these two then stimulates the brain and promotes the state of arousal, focus and alertness.
Many studies have been conducted to find out if caffeine adversely affects our health or not. Many studies say that little doses of caffeine can protect the brain against several degenerative neurological disorders including dementia and Alzheimer's.
Anything in excess can lead to major health problems in the longer run. Similarly, excess of caffeine can be harmful. If it is ingested more than the daily limit, it may cause insomnia, nervousness, irritability, restlessness muscle tremors and an upset stomach.
Various forms of caffeinated drinks may include soft drinks, coffee beverages, tea, chocolate bars, chocolate powder, ice cream and various energy drinks.
For the latest food news, health tips and recipes, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and YouTube.
Caffeinated Beverages
Decided to Ditch Caffeine? 5 Common Withdrawal Symptoms You May Experience
Why Is It So Difficult to Quit Caffeine? Understanding Caffeine Withdrawal
7 Natural Alternatives To Coffee To Help You Stay Wide Awake!
6 Signs That Show You're Drinking Too Much Coffee
Drivers In Australia Use Leftover Cooking Oil To Charge Electric Vehicles
Watch: Funny Video Shows The Struggles Of Dining Out With A Mask On; Can You Relate?
Hina Khan Is Relishing A Healthy Breakfast Bowl Today


text:
Parents sue their 30-year-old son because he won't move out
Written by Shelby Slauer
If you're still living at home, try not to get sued.
Image: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press
The Speaker of the House Is Suing the President. Wait, Is That a Thing?
Written by Colin Daileda
It's the first time in American history that a chamber of Congress has approved a lawsuit against the president.
Twitter and La Russa Settle Lawsuit; Who'll Sue Next?
Written by Josh Catone
Well, that was quick. Two days ago we reported that St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa was suing Twitter for unspecified damages after he became aware of a Twitter user cybersquatting on the @tonylarussa name. According to the St. Louis Post D...


Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong wait on the streets for Thursday's midnight deadline set by their leaders for the chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, to resign.
Hong Kong's pro-democracy umbrella movement comes under attack from pro-government counter-protesters on Friday.
Hong Kong's anti-Occupy protesters confronted the Umbrella Movement in violent scenes in Mong Kok on Friday.
The Guardian meets Chris Lau – physics student, Umbrella Movement protester and one of thousands of citizen journalists who have been been filming clashes between protesters, police and anti-Occupy elements.
Carol and Adrian are the wife and son of former chief executive candidate, democrat Alan Leong.
How have student organizers mobilized tens of thousands of protesters to sites across Hong Kong – facilitating supply routes, warning of assaults on protest camps, coordinating teams of medics? Social media.


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How Sexism Made Me A Better Military Reporter
"Stolen valor."
"Women should not be writing articles about the military."
"I would love to see a few veteran journalists. This Sarah woman has written too many opinionated articles with NO military experience."
"Another moronic post from that dumb bitch Sarah Sicard."
These are a small selection of the lovely, constructive criticism that has graced the comment sections of my articles and email inbox since I started working for Task & Purpose. Terrible, right?
But I've been here a year and a half, and it's not because I'm a masochist. I actually love this job.
March 8 is International Women's Day, a United Nations-inspired holiday to celebrate the contributions of women to the workplace and open a dialogue about gender equality. Speaking as a fledgling female military journalist, I am honored to join women like Hope Hodge Seck, Oriana Pawlyk, and Tara Copp, who publish thoughtful, hard-hitting articles about issues that matter — powerful veterans stories, national security policy, and the culture of war — especially in light of a certain Marine Corps nude photo scandal that proves sexism is alive and well in the space we cover.
I also want to take this opportunity to say thank you to all the readers who take the time to write or say cruel, vile, or blatantly sexist things to me and about me, because comments like these make me a much better military journalist.
I grew up in Norfolk, Virginia, with a Navy pilot dad, surrounded by warships at the Little Creek naval base. Almost all of my friends as a kid came from military families. I've been on more tiger cruises than Carnival Cruises, and my first job after college was working as a defense reporter in Washington, D.C. When I got offered the job, I thought writing for Task & Purpose would feel like home, but I learned very quickly how hostile home can actually be.
I know I am not a veteran. This job doesn't make me feel like I've seen combat. I'm not trying to steal any valor. And it's damn near impossible to forget how much of a civilian I am while working on a staff stacked with male Marines, but just in case I do, I can always trust that the readers will remind me.
Because I never served, I worried every day of my first year at Task & Purpose about trying to make my writing seem credible. Every story I published was painstakingly researched and expertly sourced, and I would pore over the details with violent scrutiny because I couldn't afford to make a mistake or misspell a word — not ever. The readers were looking for any sign of weakness, and I simply refused to give anyone the satisfaction.
While my counterparts — mostly male veterans — are penning beautiful vignettes about piss bottles and trench foot, I am still struggling to find my own voice in this space. The guys get to come into work every day and be themselves, and I have to put on another persona in order to survive our audience. That means on video, I need to be tougher; online, I need to be funnier; outside, my reporting needs to be stronger; and to survive every week, my skin needs to be 10 times thicker.
When I started working on this article, I asked a few women reporters about their experiences in this space. Susan Katz Keating, from the mercenary magazine Soldier of Fortune, was kind enough to reach out to tell me that the longer you stay in the field, the more you learn to brush off chauvinism. "At Soldier of Fortune, the [staff] accepted me as an anomaly [or an] outlier, and we all got along just fine," she said. "I have been called a bimbo. That doesn't bother me. I don't take it personally, and I don't have time to worry about it."
Of course, she doesn't have time. She's been too busy — writing about prisoners of war in Vietnam, observing as the military plotted theoretical invasions, and touring the country in her Jeep while seeking out stories yet to be told — to care what any man thinks of her.
I used to get upset reading through the comments, feeling like I didn't belong on staff at Task & Purpose. But I don't give a shit anymore. I learned to own the fact that even the most harmless story I write is going to receive a barrage of criticism from people who think they know better or will discredit me as soon as they read my byline … like that time I wrote an article in support of Defense Secretary James Mattis, but was told that I am not qualified to shine his shoes, much less type his name into a Google Doc.
Now, readers' disdain for me is a joke among the staff, one that I can laugh at too. Once I accepted this as the nature of the game, I stopped worrying about the readers and started writing stories that matter to me and the people like me: military family members, civilians who love the military, and people who actually influence national security policy.
That's it. That's what we, the female military reporters, are doing.
I know I don't speak for women like Keating or Seck, but I love this beat. Covering the military as a female journalist isn't easy, but it's worthwhile. I care deeply about veterans and service members; I'm fascinated by national security issues; and military gear and technology have always been more interesting to me than lipstick and high heels. That's why I took this job, and the harsh criticism is only making me better at it.
Those habits I developed out of fear of fucking up — the double and triple checking — have strengthened my reporting, and I hope to continue to improve the longer I stick around. So by all means, bring on the comments.
female military female reporters military sexism sexism usmc scandal women's day
Illustration by Matt Battaglia


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where my girls at?
Since complaining about lists is the #1 blogosphere priority in December, I'm going to go a step further and rip-to-shreds my own list. Why? Because there isn't a single band on the entire list that is fronted by a woman. Not one. There's a few female band members scattered here and there (Xiu Xiu, Arcade Fire, Frog Eyes, Godspeed) but none of them are the primary songwriters.
But you probably didn't notice, right? That's part of the problem (that we both share) — how can we not think of any female fronted bands from this decade as canonical? In pop music, women have reversed rap's stranglehold on the charts by replacing the likes of DMX with electro-pop dance numbers. In the nineties female vocalists were called upon to lighten the mood of gangster pop songs — usually at the 2:15 mark. Today the roles are reversed. We are much more likely to catch Kanye midway through a Lady Gaga song rather than the other way around.
Still, this mainstream revolution is only a return to equilibrium. The Top 20 charts, if you look closely enough, have probably only returned to a 50% female/50% male balance. It's not as if women have completely removed men from the game, or the music industry. Which is fine, I'm not advocating anything of the sort. We will continue to need pop stars of both genders (and maybe the in-between genders, too?).
But, if we trace the line from pop music to indie music — a term that I suppose at this point is vaguely defined as artists who write their own songs and appeal to their fans' sense that their "indie" songs are some kind of higher or more serious art. However you want to divide indie and pop or genres in general, there does seem to be some dichotomy between the two — for one, the lack of true female indie stars. There are a few — perhaps the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Cat Power, and Sleater Kinney — but proportionally (which is the only useful measuring stick it seems to me) women are drastically under-represented in indie music. A lot of girls are listening to indie music (I've been to plenty of shows that demonstrate this) and yet where are their bands? Fifty percent of the population and, what, maybe ten percent of the bands reviewed on Pitchfork?
Maura, the ex-Idolator.com editor, wrote a short piece considering this very topic on her blog in 2002. As she points out, and rightly predicts, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs received their buzz from sex appeal in some way and, as soon as they moved from punk sex (S/T Debut) to softer, (more womanly?) ballads (Show Your Bones), the indie community would turn their backs, or at least reprimand the band for losing their "edge":
"You could feel the boners being popped beneath every writeup of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs by all the guys who loved the stylized "fuck me" pose of their lead singer. (See also: electroclash.) It was eerily reminiscent of the hype around "Exile in Guyville" — so expect, when Karen O ditches her stylist and settles down, tons of 'what? I never liked them denials'. Every band with a chick singer got compared to Sleater-Kinney, whether they sounded like them or not."
"But I think it's very telling that, in the Pitchfork top 50, the few female artists who are named are all people who have been in the indie consciousness for a while. (Are the members of Sleater-Kinney the only women in the world who can play their instruments?)
"Some might criticize me for being essentialist and focusing too much on gender. But isn't so much of what makes music vital for people the way it speaks to them, or for them? The overarching message I got from the collected weight of so much of the music I heard this year — even a lot of the records I liked! — was "If you can't look hot while you're dancing to our beats, you can't be part of our revolution."
"And, seriously, fuck that noise." (Maura 2002)
Seven years later and the world hasn't changed much. The Pitchfork lists continue to primarily cover male bands. But is it Pitchfork's fault? You can make the case, since almost all of their critics are male (there's a few ambiguous names I don't want to make assumptions about…) and we males tend to identify more with our own sex.
As a devoted Pitchfork reader and as someone who tries to get his hands on as much music as possible, I don't have any female artists to suggests as replacements for the male-centric bands fawned over on the P4k news page.
Part of it has to be that female vocalists have never done it for me. There are certain emotions, pure rage and reckless violence, for two, in the well-timed male scream that female singers just can't do for me. I don't know if it's because I haven't been properly educated about classic female singers, or if it's because in my formative middle school years I listened exclusively to Black Sabbath, Metallica, and Rammstein, but I still don't get girls and their songs.
And it's not just me. My friends aren't recommending any girl bands, either. So where are they? Is Sleater Kinney the only all-girl band, ever, to play their instruments well? Correct me if I'm wrong: girls can play the piano exquisitely. So why not guitar, drums, and bass? Am I missing something? Does the guitar's shape prohibit women from controlling the instrument as well as men?
But that instrument stuff is bullshit anyway; more than half the popular bands on P4k aren't virtuosos anyway. No one is ape-shit about the difficulty of Wavves' or Band of Horses or Girls (how, ironic). Especially considering the newest trend of glo-fi, lo-fi, beach pop nostalgia practically requires extra-simple instrumentation (easily recognizable melody lines are the only way to sort through all the fucking noise…).
So that's the question. Is it me (the boy) whose missing all the good girl stuff, or is it you (the girls) failing to produce? I might be leaning towards the latter. Prove me wrong?
Tagged as cat power, female vocalists, idolator, indie girls, karen o, maura, yeah yeah yeahs
6 responses to "where my girls at?"
AbeForLife
It's both, but I'd say it's more your fault than the industry's. First, I'd say it's impossible to ever find equality in any system. I don't want to delve into the idea of equality too deeply, but it's difficult to have equal representation in any genre. Do people complain about too few female DJs? Too few white rappers? Too few black country singers? In this way, it's the fault of the music industry that there isn't as much gender/ethnic variety in terms of artists – certain artists will sell better in certain realms. In that sense, you're off the hook. But knowing this, you should actively seek out the few female-fronted bands in the music scene where they are "under-represented."
How else will there be more if the few that exist go unnoticed? If they aren't listened to or written about, their records won't sell, and they'll be done. In this sense it's your job as a writer (even though that's not really your job) to get other people to recognize the great bands that are out there fronted by women. Here are a few:
Metric, Feist, Blonde Redhead, Mates of State (joint frontsmanship I guess), Regina Spektor, Rilo Kiley.
Sure, maybe they won't all make your top 25 list, but they exist. If only there were some way to implement affirmative action into music.
Good points, Abe (if I can call you that). You're right, it is my fault in some way. Something about the female voice doesn't do it for me.
Concerning a lack of equality in any system, if this is the case then that's the deeper question I am obscurely trying to get at. What is it about indie music and the biz that makes it so difficult for women to break through all the noise? Is criticism, by nature, gendered? Would an all-female-critics P4k site make a difference?
To me the question of gender in popular indie bands (and this is probably relevant for any band who plays their own instruments, regardless of genre) comes down to numbers. There are just as many women as men out there (if not more), so why aren't they making their sheer numbers felt in indie/rock/alternative music? It's a different question than considering whether or not there are enough white rappers, because rap traditionally (there are plenty of exceptions and things continue to change…) comes from a specific space that is of and by the black community.
But the question of female rappers does matter — there's nothing about the black community that excludes women. They are there, just not making a lot of music that's being heard. We know it's not getting the plays. Why not? For rap it's easy to make the case that the persistent themes of black-on-black violence, mistreatment of women, and general anger makes it a genre not especially friendly to female performers, although again, women have no problem consuming plenty of the music. But I think that's only a small piece of the puzzle, if even that.
You're right, too, that journalists should probably try to write about more female bands. But plenty of journalists don't find bands themselves — they are spoon fed albums to review and singles to chat-about from the record labels themselves. And it's these labels, it seems, who have concluded that girls just don't sell as well as Girls, the male fronted band. Again we are back to that fundamental question: Why not?
There's a bigger answer here that someone more familiar with gender studies/women's studies can probably provide. It seems similar to the question of why we've never had many female politicians, CEOs, or women-in-power. It's a male-centric world, yes. And someone has a deeper understanding of why and how you might stretch that point out to popular music. It's just not me.
(It's sort of funny that I've heard or heard of every band you listed. It seems like the same tired list that floats around everywhere when these kinds of discussions come up… there's got to be some others, right?)
Tired list? Hmm. Maybe you're right. I probably know very few female-led bands compared to people who actually know the music scene really well. I'm not qualified to name the bands that are breaking through or breaking trends. However, I would like to talk about some of the issues that you raise.
First, you ask whether or not criticism is gendered. Answer: fuck, yes. But not just gendered. We're naturally egocentric, and only through practice can we start to shift our focus. You said that female vocals don't speak to you the same way that male vocals do. Knowing your male, I'm going out on a limb and projecting that you feel you can relate to it more easily. Is this unique? Of course not. This is true with almost everything. We relate to things that are familiar to us. We are more comfortable and more easily persuaded by things with which we have commonalities. Think about it in terms of empathy. We empathize more easily with people or animals or situations with which we can identify.
So when it comes to music, we have a natural proclivity to listen to music that we identify with. You mention how rap is a special case because it comes from a certain culture, and is therefore dominated by artists that best represent that culture. But isn't indie music the same? Not only do you find very few female-led bands, but you find few ethnic minorities fronting popular indie rock bands. Why? Because indie rock is the music of white kids. Well, white kids with money, no real problems, and plenty of spare time on their hands. Who best to speak for that demographic than other white people who also like to show off their counter-culture styles by wearing cool t-shirts, and playing music that only white people can relate to? Is it any wonder that most albums are produced by white males and listened to by other white males?
But I lost myself there before getting to the idea of reviews. If a person has a natural tendency toward a certain kind of sound, or a certain mixture of band-name recognition, style, etc., then I'd say it follows that they are best suited to reviewing music within their comfort zone. Break away, and that person is no longer qualified. For example, are you (Fred) qualified to review a country album or reggae album within the context of that musical field? Answer: No! You could review it based on whether or not YOU liked it, but why should anyone listen to you if you have no expertise? Only an expert (or someone who in some sense is qualified) should be writing actual reviews of music. So. We have a genre dominated by white male musicians. I'm guessing that most reviewers are of the same demographic, and thus the entire system perpetuates. If more female reviews existed, or more male reviewers leaned more toward a love for female-fronted bands, maybe there would be more exposure. It's almost as if there is no room for mobility – once you start reviewing a certain genre, you get kind of stuck.
But maybe your second point is more important. Maybe it's the artists themselves that really don't exist to be represented. In other words, maybe that style of music simply doesn't speak to very many female musicians, and so they lean toward what they like and what they listen to. It could be a matter of chicken and egg. If there were more female indie rockers, there would be more indie rock music for female musicians to relate to, play, emulate, etc. Without it, there is less to relate to, less to mimic, and less to evolve. So they move into the music space that has established female leads, and they begin to play that style of music.
Agree? Mostly.
You mention that indie rock is made for middle class white people. No argument here. There was, however, a huge internet argument about that very subject when Sasha Frere Jones (the New Yorker pop music critic) wrote a piece ("A Paler Shade of White") criticizing indie music for not being "black" enough — in other words, for being too white. Here's his take on Arcade Fire:
"As I watched Arcade Fire, I realized that the drummer and the bassist rarely played syncopated patterns or lingered in the low registers. If there is a trace of soul, blues, reggae, or funk in Arcade Fire, it must be philosophical; it certainly isn't audible. And what I really wanted to hear, after a stretch of raucous sing-alongs, was a bit of swing, some empty space, and palpable bass frequencies—in other words, attributes of African-American popular music"
Anyway, that's sort of irrelevant but sort of interesting too, although I generally disagree with Sasha in that I don't really believe that just because he desires more African-American style in Arcade Fire's music justifies arguing that AF needs it.
More importantly, I am trying to hone in on the logic that lets one jump from a white middle class audience for indie music to white middle class males dominating the scene. I don't see why the equation prohibits white middle class women from producing and consuming indie music for themselves. White males for white males; white females for white females — except where are all the girls?
"We have a genre dominated by white male musicians. I'm guessing that most reviewers are of the same demographic, and thus the entire system perpetuates."
This could be the start of an answer. Perhaps indie started with males and therefore never really let females in to begin with? And since the most knowledgeable reviewers will also be male since they are most attracted to masculine music anyway, the 'entire system perpetuates.'
We've got to compare the relatively popular niche of indie music to the established barometer of pop music. As indie music becomes increasingly mainstream (see: commercials everywhere) should we expect to see a corresponding rise in the number of girl-centric bands? Women seem to have a pretty good hold on the Hot 100 — and these numbers of course aren't determined by genre but by sales, which means the best selling pop music is attractive, at least somewhat, to both sexes since it must appeal to a wide demographic to qualify as "pop" music.
In the end, if you're right and indie actually is manly, so much so that it drives women to other genres, what about indie is masculine? It's bookish, non-aggressive, fashionable, liberal, and so on; it's the stuff white people like. But not white women? Not enough of them? What scared them off? Pavement? Neutral Milk Hotel? My guess? Pretty Girls Make Graves.
Good point. I did make the argument that it's a white, middle-class music scene, which really doesn't address the lack of females. As you said, there are women out there that are both white and middle-class (surprising, no?) so there ought to be some representation. The only way to figure out the answer to this question is to look at where all these women end up. Are they all in pop? Folk? They must be somewhere. As an expert of indie rock, I assume that you've looked at this genre and found nothing. So we'll have to look outside of this genre to get some sense of this exodus.
AH! But I love that you brought up that person Sasha Frere Jones! That proved my earlier point way more succinctly. This reviewer wants Arcade Fire to have more African-American rooted sound. Why? I'm guessing because that's what this journalist likes to hear. Why else would you complain that a band doesn't sound like a completely different genre? Man, I really wish the Beatles would throw in some hip-hop to, you know, flesh out their sound. How much more egocentric can you get than to say that a band should add the sounds that YOU prefer. Wouldn't that make bands sound too similar? Should all bands branch out to incorporate every genre and sound to reach the broadest audience possible? It seems like that would just water down their sound and make them more easily forgettable.
Well, I'm not sure how much more I can contribute to this argument without some research. Everything I've said is pure conjecture, and if I kept going I'd just be saying more things that I can't back up. I'm glad you're thinking about this topic. Hopefully someone else will come weigh in on the ideas here and bring in a fresh perspective.
Pingback: Another interesting tidbit: No female hip-hop artists @ AMAs « FredFu


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text:
The 1999 City of Dundee City Council election took place on 6 May 1999 to elect members of City of Dundee Council, as part of that years Scottish local elections.

Election results

References

1999
1999 Scottish local elections
20th century in Dundee

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Located in the heart of Fairfi eld County, Wilton has a history dating back over 270 years. Today, Wilton is a growing town that features a mix of residential county charm and cosmopolitan commercial enterprise. Wilton is ideally located for residents, businesses and tourists alike. It is perfect for those who want a lot of land on which to live and enjoy. A wonderful, active, friendly community proud of its heritage, Wilton's town goals are to create a "better environment in which to live, work, plan, learn, enjoy and raise a family – blending the heritage of the past with the promise of the future." Recipient of numerous national awards, Wilton's public school system emphasizes a dedication to its children's superb education but also to their development in the arts and in sports. There are active youth soccer, baseball, football and lacrosse leagues as well as wonderful youth theatre and music groups. Fabulous public schools, charming downtown, gracious homes, all nestled in the wooded rolling hills of south western Connecticut.


A mean air temperature of 20°–25°C is optimum for its growth and high pod yield. French bean is grown over a wide range of well drained, alluvial friable soils, but is cannot withstand extreme acidic and alkaline soils. The optimum soil pH is 5.5–6.8.


The easiest, most effective way to keep camping gear mold and mildew at bay while camping is to avoid outdoor excursions during the rainy season. Understandably, this isn't always possible, but if you can postpone a trip due to storms, you'll save yourself some hassle in the long run.
If you've ever been camping in the rain, then you know how critical it is to have towels on hand. Even with the best water proof tents, if it's pouring outside, the interior of your tent and a majority of your camping gear going to get wet.
As soon as it starts raining, place dry, clean towels around the edges of your tent. Also, make sure to move all of your luggage and other valuables as far away from the tent walls as possible.
The tighter your tarps and rain guards are; the less rain will collect on or near your tent. Make sure to stake them down thoroughly, in case there are gusts of wind. Rain bounces off of a taught tarp, but collects in puddles with extra slack. This can be the start of camping gear mold.
A majority of camping gear mold happens because we rush camp breakdowns. After a long weekend, it's tempting to just pack up the tent as quickly as possible, throw it in the bag, and then head down the mountain.
If the tent, tarps, or any of your other camping gear is wet though, it's going to collect mold. Remember: There's no maid service to get things done for you, so dedicate a few extra hours for the sun to dry everything out if you can. Once the poles and stakes are removed, flip the tent upside down and let it dry out entirely.
Of course if it is raining when breaking down camp you will have to pack everything wet. Once you get home you will need to dry everything to ward off camping gear mold. You can do this by setting up your tent and laying out any gear in your backyard. If it is raining at home, you may need to dry things off the best you can in the garage. Then on the next sunny day set your camping gear out in the sun.
If you're on an extended camping trip and notice that mold has started to form on your tent or another piece of camping gear, you'll want to nip it in the bud right away. After all, there isn't a maid service to help out, and putting it off only allows the problem to grow.
You will need to pack a camping gear mold cleaning kit: an old toothbrush, some distilled vinegar and baking soda, and a sponge. Grab the toothbrush and carefully scrub off as much as the build-up as possible. Once that's done, mix the vinegar and baking soda to make a paste. You can use just the vinegar also. With a washcloth or sponge, scrub the area with your cleaning solution. Now, let it air dry.
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By following these simple tips, you're sure to keep the camping gear mold away. Enjoy your time in the great outdoors.
We recommend this The Glamping Guide.


The Dullstroom Bird Of Prey and Rehabilitation Centre was established in 1997 and has been located at its present site since November 2004. The Centre's original aim was as an educational centre, teaching members of the public about raptors and promoting an awareness of the raptor species and their plight as a growing endangered species. The need for care of injured and orphaned birds of prey prescribed the evolving of the rehabilitation centre as well.
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The Dullstroom Bird of Prey Centre is managed by the Wildlifesos Trust (IT000101/2015(M/N)) and incorporates Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre. We are a non-profit organisation (169-719 NPO) (930053148 PBO) and receive no subsidies from the government. We rely solely on the generosity of the public and corporate communities to ensure we achieve our goals and remain sustainable.
The entities work independently from, but under the close guidance, supervision and permission of the Mpumalanga Parks and Tourism Agency. This dictates a standard of professionalism, ethics and accountability to the Province we service and the public who support us. Having permits for wildlife educational centre (MP/EDU/90001) and a wildlife rehabilitation centre (MPB/R/0019).
To rescue, raise, rehabilitate and release indigenous wildlife back into a natural habitat, whilst maintaining the highest ethical standards, and furthering conservation by playing a role in education of wildlife professionals, volunteers, learners and members of the public.
To be a world-class, flagship, self-sustaining wildlife hospital, rehabilitation centre, and education facility caring for indigenous animals and making a difference in the conservation of our beautiful heritage through education.