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Government long-term bond yields in Bulgaria 2003-2018
Published by James Cherowbrier, Feb 14, 2019
The statistic shows the long-term government bond yields rate in Bulgaria from 2003 to 2018 as annual average values. In 2003, the average bond yields in Bulgaria amounted to 6.45 percent. That value has decreased overall to the level of 0.9 percent by the end of 2018.
Annual average yields on long-term government bonds in Bulgaria from 2003 to 2018
Long-term government bond yields
Monthly Dow Jones Industrial Average index performance 2013-2019
Direct investment position of the U.S. in China 2000-2018
Average daily trading volume of U.S. treasury securities 2000-2017
Annual S&P 500 index performance 1986-2019
Statistics on "Financial market in the United States"
Primary credit rate in the U.S. 2003-2018
Interest rates on short term U.S. government securities 2007-2018, by maturity
Federal funds rate level in the United States 1990-2019
Yield on 3-month U.S. treasury bills on the secondary market 1970-2018
Value of private equity-backed buyout deals in North America 2008-2018
Assets of domestic equity ETFs in the U.S. 2017-2019
Assets of international equity ETFs in the U.S. 2017-2019
Expense ratios of equity mutual funds globally 2000-2018
U.S. corporate stocks held by foreign residents 2017, by country
Market yield on 10-year U.S. treasury securities 1970-2018
Corporate and foreign bonds held by U.S. households & NPO's 2000-2017
Average annual return on 10-year bonds in the U.S. 2001-2017
Total debt securities of U.S. domestic nonfinancial sector 2000-2017
Total debt securities in U.S. household sector 2000-2017
Total debt securities of U.S. financial sector 2000-2017
NYSE Composite Index values 2010-2017
NASDAQ Industrial Index closing values 2010-2017
NASDAQ Composite Index value 2000-2018
Number of mutual funds in the U.S. 1997-2018
Financial assets of U.S. mutual funds 2000-2017
Total net assets of US-based mutual funds worldwide 1998-2018
Net new cash flow to mutual funds in the U.S. 2000-2018, by fund type
Assets of bond ETFs in the U.S. 2016-2018
Share of households owning mutual funds in the U.S. 1980-2018
Financial assets of U.S. exchange-traded funds 2000-2017
Direct investment position of the U.S. abroad 2000-2018
Direct investment position of the U.S. in Europe 2000-2018
Direct investment position of the U.S. in Central and South America 2000-2018
Countries with highest FDI position in the U.S. 2018
Government long-term bond yields in Greece 2000-2018
Government long-term bond yields in Hungary 2001-2017
Government long-term bond yields in Slovakia 2001-2018
Government long-term bond yields in Ireland 2000-2018
Government long-term bond yields in Portugal 2000-2018
Government long-term bond yields in Germany 2000-2018
Government long-term bond yields in Finland 2000-2018
Government long-term bond yields in Austria 2000-2018
Government long-term bond yields in Latvia 2001-2018
Government long-term bond yields in Poland 2001-2018
Government long-term bond yields in Italy 2000-2018
Government long-term bond yields in Czechia 2001-2018
Government long-term bond yields in Lithuania 2001-2018
Government long-term bond yields in the United Kingdom (UK) 2000-2017
Government long-term bond yields in Spain 2000-2017
Long-term government bond yields in Switzerland 1993-2018
Long-term government bond yields in France 1994-2018
Long-term government bond yields Japan 1993-2018
Long-term government bond yields in Germany 1994-2017
Yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury bond 1987-2018
Banking Industry in China Employment in China Population in China Bank of America HSBC
Österreichische Nationalbank. (February 12, 2019). Annual average yields on long-term government bonds in Bulgaria from 2003 to 2018 [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved January 19, 2020, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/576310/capital-market-interest-rate-bulgaria-europe/
Österreichische Nationalbank. "Annual average yields on long-term government bonds in Bulgaria from 2003 to 2018." Chart. February 12, 2019. Statista. Accessed January 19, 2020. https://www.statista.com/statistics/576310/capital-market-interest-rate-bulgaria-europe/
Österreichische Nationalbank. (2019). Annual average yields on long-term government bonds in Bulgaria from 2003 to 2018. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: January 19, 2020. https://www.statista.com/statistics/576310/capital-market-interest-rate-bulgaria-europe/
Österreichische Nationalbank. "Annual Average Yields on Long-term Government Bonds in Bulgaria from 2003 to 2018." Statista, Statista Inc., 12 Feb 2019, https://www.statista.com/statistics/576310/capital-market-interest-rate-bulgaria-europe/
Österreichische Nationalbank, Annual average yields on long-term government bonds in Bulgaria from 2003 to 2018 Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/576310/capital-market-interest-rate-bulgaria-europe/ (last visited January 19, 2020)


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Sony's throwing a huge PS4 sale with a deal on PlayStation Plus subs
There's over a thousand things on sale
If you're looking to top up your PlayStation Plus subscription at a discount, now's the time. Sony is offering 12-month PS Plus memberships for $44.99, which still sounds like a lot, but that's 25 percent off the normal rate. Even moderate price cuts don't come around all that frequently for the service.
Elsewhere in the Great Indoors Sale, you can save on over a thousand PS4 games, add-ons, and digital trinkets. For a full list of deals in an easy-to-skim table, you can consult this helpful reddit post. One day Sony will give us painless browsing options on the PlayStation Store, but today isn't that day.
This is one of the better North American PSN sales in a while if you're after big-name games, so give that list a look. I'm only going to highlight a single title that I know some of you have been waiting for: Castlevania Requiem. It's $11.99 (or $9.99 with PS Plus), which is worthy of an impulse buy.
After an accidental discount, it's nice to see that pop up again. Let us know if anything else stands out.
Disclosure-bot: Just in case the editor neglected to mention it, we have zero control when deals start and end. Deals can sometimes be gone within minutes (please don't shoot the messenger). Trying deal links even hours after this article's time stamp may lead to self-punching, so maybe bookmark our video game deals if you're on the hunt. Also, it goes without saying, but some shopping links do directly support the author. If you've spotted any inaccuracy please let us know asap.
Filed under... #Deals #PlayStation Plus #PS4 #PSN

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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G2 Esports Improve Fortnite Roster Once Again With Smqcked Signing
1 G2 Esports Fortnite Squad Signings
2 Glowing Reviews
3 What Now for G2 Esports Fortnite Squad?
G2 Esports are one of the most recognisable multi-disciplinary esports teams and the current fan-voted "Esports Organization of the Year" has been busy giving its Fortnite roster something of a revamp and in the process, facilitate a rather large upgrade with the signing of Smqcked confirmed on December 28.
After announcing the signing via a short Tweet that contained a link to video footage of some of Smqcked most impressive performances in Fortnite, G2 Esports confirmed that they had indeed acquired his signature as the newest member of their "G2ARMY".
G2 Esports Fortnite Squad Signings
This is the latest move in what has been a busy period of time for the team. The Founder and CEO of G2 Esports, Carlos "ocelote" Rodriguez, has taken a big interest in the Fortnite team and has been crucial in securing the earlier signings of two more marquee players, Coop and LeTsHe back in November 2020.
Not satisfied with just those two big name additions, a short time later Rodriguez moved to add the four-time Fortnite Champion Series finalist Jahq to the roster a short time ago.
Now another player who made his name in the NA East has signed up to the roster and he comes with the support of a number of his new teammates.
It is believed that the performances of Smqcked in a number of events had caught the eye of new team members LeTsHe and Niko, both of whom have the player glowing reviews to Rodriguez as a possible addition to their already hugely talented squad.
Smqcked has appeared in the FNCS Grand Final on five occasions over the last two years amongst a number of other achievements.
While something of an unknown quantity for many in the Fortnite Esports scene, Smqcked has been a consistent performer since he made his debut on the professional Fortnite scene back in 2019. He qualified regularly for the FNCS Grand Finals in Season X, Chapter 2 – Season 1, Invitational, Chapter 2 – Season 3 and Chapter 2 Season 4.
His best performance in those events came in Chapter 2 Season 1 where he and his teammates landed fifth place in the tournament and pocketed a prize of $37,500.
Unfortunately, Smqcked didn't quite do enough to qualify for the Fortnite World Cup, however, his performances in those other events, as well as a number of memorable performances in others, brought him to the attention of a couple of the current G2 Esports Fortnite squad.
What Now for G2 Esports Fortnite Squad?
This latest signing means that since November, G2 Esports have now snapped up four new, top-level Fortnite players to their squad. It is abundantly clear that Rodriguez has plans for his team to make major waves at the top level of Fortnite Esports and given the depth of quality in this squad, few would bet against G2 Esports being involved in the top events at the sharp end of things, for many of the top tournaments in 2020.
However, it will take time for this new team to gel together and get to know each other and as such, as they go through that process, it is going to be interesting to see just how quickly this new unit can perform well together.
Featured Image Credits: G2 Esports
EsportsBets.com > Esports News > G2 Esports Improve Fortnite Roster Once Again With Smqcked Signing


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Top UFC Athletes Weigh-In On Their Predictions For UFC 246: McGregor vs Cowboy
This Sunday, the champions will battle it out
Credit: Photo by Harry How/Getty Images
During the turn of the decade, one of the most anticipated match-ups is upon us for UFC 246. Conor McGregor will face off against Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone and with two legends in the same octagon, it will be the MMA fight of the year. Returning after a two-year hiatus, fans are keen to see Cowboy take to the ring but as anybody knows, McGregor is ready for a fiery fight.
The bets are well and truly on for who will leave the octagon as champion, with these Australian and New Zealand top UFC athletes making their own predictions.
Israel Adesanya – UFC middleweight champion
"I feel Conor is in for a tough fight, but he has to make it look easy to win. He hasn't done as much media and he is refocused as I've seen. Cowboy has been fighting so much lately which is good, but coming off 2 losses… we'll see how that is for him because he has nothing to lose. My bet, Conor by TKO."
Alex Volkanovski – UFC featherweight champion
"I'll have to go with Conor. I believe that if it stays on the feet and as much of a fan as I am of Donald, I think Conor gets the win. Conor's timing/ accuracy and his explosiveness will get him the finish inside the first two rounds."
Robert Whittaker – No.1 UFC middleweight
"I think this is a picture perfect fight for Conor's return. Stylistically, it suits him to a tee. That's not saying Cowboy can't win, he's an amazing fighter and has been much more active. I just think this is a good fight for Conor."
Kai Kara-France – No. 8 UFC flyweight
"Conor by TKO in round 2. I feel like the old Conor is back. He's motivated, focused and looking sharp. I think Cowboy will give him a good first round but Conor will welcome the chaos and find a way to put him away in the second."
Dan Hooker – No. 7 UFC lightweight
"Conor TKO."
Brad Riddell – UFC lightweight
"I reckon Connor will knock Cowboy out if he returns to the cage as his former self. The last time Conor carried himself at 170 he seemed to gas a bit more than usual – maybe he wasn't used to the weight and now he is, we'll find out."
Tai Tuivasa – UFC heavyweight
"I think it's going to be a great fight, two great fighters. Cowboy has been much more active and I think he'll come away with the win. The fight may go the distance or Cowboy will finish him in the 4th round."
Jake Matthews – UFC welterweight
"I'm going to pick McGregor by unanimous decision. I can see a close stand up exchange in the first round, Cowboy's leg kicks will start to slow down McGregor. From there, McGregor will start to look for take downs and close the distance to clinch and grind out the fight for the decision."
The fight will be available live on PPV this Sunday, January 19. Stay tuned.
topics: life, sport, UFC, conor mcgregor, Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone
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I like (a) completing the circle of life by checking our answer and (b) each column showing equal values.
Yeah, I'm totally digging the two arrows for square root, too.
So one place where this method has problems is if there are variables on both sides. But I want to use this more as an introduction in each section, not a method for solving each individual equation. However, we can use the fact that each column is equal to set up the rest of the problem and finish with quadratic formula.
Now I thought for sure this could not work with quadratics. OR COULD IT?
Ok, guys, we're going to jump into the deep end now….ABSOLUTE VALUE!
Update: I was so excited about "un-absolute valuing" that I forgot to "un-multiply". -6 should turn into 3, which would then turn into -3 and 3; and finally -6 and 0 as the answers. Which I probably would have noticed if I followed my own recommendation to circle back through.
Holy cow I'm in LOVE LOVE LOVE with having to "unabsolute value" as a step, because of course to "unabsolute value" you go back to positive or negative.
Ok, ok, a little tricky, but not undo-able.
After this, my brain was pretty much done for the day. Or at least, I thought it was. Then I had a shower thought (where all problems are solved): hey, wonder if I could tie it to graphing transformations?
GAH!!!!! So you go through all the steps, then find your parent function, in this case absolute value. You have to use inverses to get to x (minus three, or in this case three to the left) and OH I SHOULD HAVE PUT = Y AT THE VERY END BECAUSE THEN YOU TRAVEL "FORWARD" (stretch 2, down 4) FROM THE PARENT FUNCTION TO GET TO Y.
This totally made my day. Then I felt really sad.
When I thought ninth grade I remember telling kids to stop using this picture method that they love because in order to do more sophisticated math they'll need to learn the "stack" method, as if this picture method only works for two step equations. Now I know that this method could be used as a way to help all kids really understand the fundamental rules of math. Awesome!
I'm guilty of making them do "big people" math, too, when "common sense" math would work just as well. Now you can tell the kids that they were right, and they'll love to hear that!
Thank you for posting this. I found this post over the summer and used this method for solving equations with variables on one side and for finding inverses. My students are in a class called algebraic reasoning, which is a bridge course between algebra 1 and algebra 2. They have been extremely successful using this method.
Awesome!! I am so glad this helped your students be successful and I'm so glad you let me know!
This post was so helpful. Thank you! I tried showing my kids the do/undo method and it left them more confused. This was really helpful and I think will make a big difference when I show them the flowchart method.
You are very welcome! I hope it helped!!


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Nuclear Nostalgia
A few days ago Der Spiegel revealed that the European Commission is supporting the development of new types of nuclear reactors notably the building of a mini-reactor. The first one should be operational in 2030.
Do not worry that they will not fit into ecological cars to make them eventually independent of lithium batteries that are still too low in their electrical storage capacity. These new reactors will however fulfill the need for scattered small energy units since nobody likes long overland cables for the transport of electricity. Already nowadays distributed small gas-operated power stations support the existing grid locally in cases where wind and solar energy are lacking.
The basic idea behind the new generation of reactors is to lower Europe's dependence on Russian gas. At the same time CO2 emissions are to be diminished in the European Union.
Red Baron shakes his head. While Germany will shut down its last power reactor in 2022 shall it schizophrenically support the development of new reactors at the same time ? On several occasions I have fustigated nuclear industry for the unsolved problem of a permanent safe storage of nuclear waste. The development of new devices does not help.
Fessenheim nuclear power station at the Grand Canal d'Alsace (©Wikipedia/Florival)
Here in Freiburg people are particularly sensitive when nuclear energy is involved. The reason is the oldest operational power plant in Fessenheim located in Alsace on the other side of the Rhine river 1.5 kilometers from the German border and in particular at at a distance of 25 kilometer from Freiburg in the prominent westerly wind direction. The plant was commissioned in 1977 and is technologically outdated. It has no cooling towers but uses the water of the Grand Canal d'Alsace, a canal channeling the Upper Rhine river.
Fessenheim and Freiburg too close for comfort (©Wikipedia/Sebturner)
The Fessenheim plant located in the Rhine Graben is subject to risks from seismic activity and flooding. There is an on-going debate about the adequacy of its design in these respects.
Although French president François Hollande had promised to shut-down Fessenheim in 2016 his environment minister and former companion Ségolène Royal ironically postponed the closing date to 2017. Does Ségolène have to settle an old score with François? Again, I can only shake my head.
Two weeks from now I shall start on my long-awaited trip to Lutherland. You may know that next year the Protestant world celebrates the 500th anniversary of the Reformation so it seemed to me wise to visit Wittenberg on the eve of all those religio-cultural activities. However, not only the city where in 1517 Luther "nailed" his 95 Theses on the door of the Schlosskirche demanding reforms of the almighty Catholic Church is worth a blog but other cities in Lutherland like Erfurt, Leipzig, Weimar, and Luther's birthplace Eisleben too.
In the meanwhile I must hurry up to finish my promised two photo blogs of the Holy Land starting here with Masada.
Heading by bus through a desert southeast
to visit Masada, Israel's national shrine.
Approaching the Dead Sea
Willkommen next-to-last at a shopping stop
Outside the shop beautiful blossoms on bushes caught our eye
In the year 73 Fort Masada became the last resort for the Jewish revolt when the uprising against the Roman occupation that had started in 66 was finally quashed in ruins and blood. To clean out the last Jewish stronghold the tenth legion stationed in Jerusalem and reinforced by 6000 auxiliary forces was dispatched to Masada under the command of Flavius Silva.
The high plateau of Masada is on the right, the National Museum on the left
but this was not the correct approach either for us or for the Romans.
German cartographers noted Turm, Kaserne, and Kirche
A few people walked but most took the cable car
Our guide Johannes showed us: 40.1% relative humidity
at 30.1 degrees Celsius on the plateau
While the Roman task force approached Masada the Jewish occupants of the plateau were transforming the former palace compounds of King Herod the Great into fortifications.
The remains of Herod's north palace
The only way for the Romans to conquer the high plain was to build a ramp. However, several of their attempts to break into the Jewish fortifications failed but eventually with well-known Roman tenacity they succeeded. They retired for the evening with their final assault scheduled for the following morning.
The remainder of the Roman ramp
When the Jewish commander Elesar Ben-Jair saw that he and the remaining 960 Jews were doomed he convinced his countrymen and -women to die by their own hands rather than to be violated and slaughtered by the infidel Romans. The encircled Jews selected ten men by lot who were to first kill all the other men, women, and children and then themselves. Josephus Flavius writes in his history of the First Jewish-Roman War: Then the ten having unswervingly slaughtered all, ordained the same rule of the lot for one another, that he on whom it fell should first slay the nine and then himself last of all.
The last ten lots bearing the names of the last ten men
Roman mosaic
Ruins of the Byzantine church sketched above
Driving to the bathing area along the Dead Sea.
What you see along the shoreline are no whitecaps but salt deposits.
The moment Red Baron had and possibly you have been waiting for.
The water at the only place where swimming was allowed was dirty and so were my feet after walking on muddy salt crusts while going into deeper water. Once afloat you have to be careful not to get any water into your eyes and mouth. Keeping this in mind it is impossible to stand up. You can get one foot on the ground but not the other. Luckily there are many people around you to help.
On Containers
Another anniversary. Fifty years ago on May 5, 1966, the first shipping container on Sea-Land's MS Fairland landed in Bremen's port and simply fell from the hook. It seemed that the Klabautermann (ship's kobold) and with him the traditional dockers had cursed this neumod'schen Kroam (modern stuff). The accident was enough proof for Hamburg's port authorities not to accept the standard 40 feet containers. They only followed with a delay of several years. Now the port authorities ask to deepen the Elbe River against the opposing Greens governing the city state as a junior partner in a coalition with the Reds (Social Democrats).
MSC Zoe, biggest container ship in the world, only half loaded
arrives at Hamburg port on August 1, 2015 (©dpa).
CSCL Indian Ocean run aground due to a damaged rudder on the Elbe River on February 4, 2016.
Tugboats had to wait several days before the ship could be towed free at a high tide (©dpa)
In fact, Hamburg risks that the super container carriers will avoid to "diesel" up the 100 kilometers from the German Sea and rather head to the Jade deepwater port Red Baron visited in 2009.
Still all empty. Jade deepwater port in 2009.
Containers are a rather traditional way of transporting goods. In the Middle Ages and beyond wooden barrels were the favorite containers to store goods. Whether it was the transport of salted herrings from the Baltic Sea, olive oil from Spain, or gunpowder all over Europe barrels were used. Hence the trade of Küfer (cooper) was in demand and highly profitable. Looking at the stained glass windows of the Minster Church donated by the rich cooper guild you will notice that wine was the mayor trade around Freiburg and therefore relevant utensils are shown at the bottom.
©Joergens.mi/Wikipedia
The upper parts represent from left to right: The man grilled to death and shown as a deacon with his grate, Saint Laurentius (Lawrence of Rome). He is the patron of trades that have to do with fire. Iron bands around the barrels were applied glowing red. They subsequently shrunk and forced the wooden staves into shape. In the middle the Virgin is shown as the Queen of Heaven carrying little Jesus. On the right hand side the legendary Bishop of Myra with miter and crozier, Saint Nicholas, the patron of trade, is depicted.
A Swabian farmer once decided to buy the city of Freiburg. So one evening he filled several barrels (sic!) with his gold ducats and left with his horse carts in the direction of Freiburg early in the morning. When he arrived at the city's Swabian Gate in the afternoon he immediately saw the city council formulating his demand. Some of the city councillors went with him to the Schwabentor but when they opened the barrels they only found pebble stones. What had happened? During the night the down-to-earth wife of the farmer had simply replaced the gold by stones. Over the centuries the painting on the Gate was conserved and the laughter about the naive Swabian farmer is still going on.
Sitting on a powder keg (©Wikipedia)
In the 19th century Thomas Nast, a German-born American caricaturist, considered to be the Father of the American Cartoon, depicted a drunk Irishman sitting on and lighting a powder keg. The cartoon is called The Usual Irish Way of Doing Things.
European Campus
Somewhat late and in the midst of European turmoil five universities on the Upper Rhine have signed a paper founding a European Campus.
The universities: Basel, Freiburg, Strasbourg, Haute-Alsace (Muhlhouse and Colmar), and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.
The motto: Think European, bundle the forces.
While Greek Prime Minister Tsipras is again asking for fresh European money to keep over-indebted Greece in the Euro zone, the deal with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan to keep refugees out of Central Europe is tilting back, and British Prime Minister Cameron is sluggishly fighting the Brexit of the United Kingdom from the European Union the presidents of five universities in spite of the ongoing crisis plan an unbureaucratic European network without borders between their respective colleges.
Students of three countries will easily switch between various places of the European Campus with the help of a Trinational Regio Ticket using trains and buses. What is most important to Professor Hans-Jochen Schiewer, Rector of the Abertina-Ludovica: The end result of a bi- or trinational academic curriculum will be the European doctorate. The European Campus promoting a common infrastructure for research will become a magnet for the best young scholars and scientists, provided, as Red Baron likes to add, they speak French and German. Possibly the projected potential of 15,000 scholars and scientists, 11,000 doctoral students, and 115,000 students with a total budget of 2.3 billion euros will rather depend on how many of these speak English as lingua franca.
Haute-Alsace
KIT Karlsruhe
For some of the participating universities and institutes the European Campus is just an experiment, for others it is a centennial project. Rector Schiewer again: We shall give ourselves a period of ten years. If it does not work we shall stop it.
This fall the first summer schools are scheduled at Freiburg University and Red Baron will participate in a well established one by the Frankreich-Institut in the beginning of September with this year's topic: De Tintin au Congo à Charlie Hebdo; Bandes dessinées et caricatures de langue française.
All photos are ©Der Sonntag, Freiburg
Achtzehnhundertunderfroren
Eighteen hundred and frozen to death or 1816 is known as the Year Without a Summer. In Wikipedia we read: Evidence suggests that the anomaly was predominantly a volcanic winter event caused by the massive April 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in the Dutch East Indies, the largest eruption in at least 1,300 years after the extreme weather events of 535–536.
An article in Freiburg's Sunday newspaper recalled the 200th anniversary of Europe's greatest famine causing the death of 200,000 people and described the situation in Switzerland and Germany's southwest. For the impact of the weather anomaly on North America consult Wikipedia.
Indeed the situation in Baden and Switzerland in 1816 was catastrophic, with constant rain up to the beginning of May and a midsummer with hailstorms and temperatures around 10 degrees Celsius. Until the end of April there was not a single day where when planting was possible, it was too cold for potatoes, fruit, and vegetables and in August a single hailstorm destroyed the pathetic crop entirely.
Food prices soared in 1817 (©Gustave Graetzlin/Wikipedia)
A Hungertafel (hunger tablet) from fall 1817 shows starving people grazing together with their cattle in Switzerland. Oft zählte man in einer einzigen Wiese, zur gleichen Stunde, 30 bis 40 Menschen, die unter dem Vieh ihre Nahrung aufsuchten (Often one counted in a single meadow at the same hour 30 to 40 people looking for food among the cattle). Their efforts resulted in meals composed of boiled bones with meadow herbs.
©Toggenburger Museum, Lichtensteig
Lord Byron wrote the poem Darkness while he was in Geneva in 1816:
I had a dream, which was not all a dream.
The bright sun was extinguish'd, and the stars
Did wander darkling in the eternal space,
Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth
Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air;
Morn came and went and came, and brought no day.
It was a bad time for a Europe still recuperating from the Napoleonic Wars. In the winter of 1812/13 Freiburg in particular had to cope with allied troopes and their horses on the heels of Napoleon moving through the Breisgau at a rate of up to 20,000 per day eating up all the supplies.
Now in 1817 people wanted to leave Baden. In the vicinity of Freiburg nearly 14,000 Breisgauers sold their possessions for a ship passage to America. How many arrived? Some of them became victims of trafficking and eventually found themselves lost in Amsterdam without money and tickets.
Stories that refugees can tell have not much changed since then.
P.S.: 100 years ago during the last year of the First World War people not only in Germany's southwest but all over the country were hungry too.
My Digital Revolution
This is not my title but the title of the first German-American Dialogue Baden-Wuerttemberg Red Baron went to last week. I personally experienced my digital development more as an evolution rather than as a revolution. I started with punched cards in 1966, lived through the beginning of e-mails and the World Wide Web at CERN, and relied rather early on silicon memory instead of brain cells for my appointments and tasks using pocket computers and smartphones.
In the framework of its "American Days" the Carl-Schurz-Haus and its dynamic director Friederike Schulte had organized the German-American Dialogue at Freiburg's United World College, UWC Robert Bosch.
Gray-haired Red Baron with FMG President Toni Schlegel listening (©Carl-Schurz-Haus)
The opening lecture by John Gerosa, sales director of Google Germany, "Google Story and Digital Trends" set the pace with three interesting slides.
Yes, Google makes information universally accessible. A good example is the scanning of out-of-copyright books from Munich's University Library (Munich is the headquarters of Google Germany). I already thanked Google in a previous blog since the books written by Hecker, Struve, Mördes, Morel, and company giving their view of the Badische Revolution are now available online and helped me to round out my web site about the years 1848/49. Thanks again, Google.
However, the next slide from John Geroso's presentation shows the whole misery of the digital age. The family no longer watches television as a family but members are using or playing with various electronic devices separately. The family is only connected via the internet. Let's face it: We live in an online world and sooner or later in Virtual Reality.
How generous. It is always Google's problem.
For me the panel discussion on Identity and living together in the digital age started badly when at the beginning the word "angst" was invoked. Indeed, nobody can say how far the digital world will take us. We are more and more nerve-rackingly multitasking sometimes even dangerously when driving and phoning, texting, or just simultaneously looking at one of our devices. One panel member talked about the industrialization of our brains, other members brought in "socialist" ideas and their Christian God.
Families have started to introduce rules when members may be online or must be offline with parents frequently cheating. Because we communicate with virtual instead face-to-face partners the tone of conversation gets rougher for it's easier to make insults online. How will the young generation transport digital mobbing into their upcoming family and professional lives?
Due to the lack of time the discussion had to be limited to three questions from the audience but I could get my remark in. However, before the moderator handed me the microphone he asked me - apparently doubting my competence when looking at my gray hair - whether I am on Facebook. I snappishly answered: Yes, but I use it my way and continued that angst with respect to a digitized world is born out of ignorance. The young generation has no problem with following the digital development. Nevertheless they still may lack the maturity to use their digital possibilities competently. The UWC psychologist answered that she got one message across to the pupils: Many Likes do not strengthen your self-confidence. On that point I think that her selected international elite clientele is not representative of the rest of the present young generation. I feel that society has yet to come to grips with Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and the rest.
The second panel Rethinking Business was somehow disjointed because panel members tended to talk about their particular interests, rarely listening to each other. John Geroso immediately contradicted the chairman's introductory remark that Only the No.1 counts: Google does not feel like No.1 but rather thinks that competition will spur development or as we say in German: Konkurrenz hebt das Geschäft.
It seems that you cannot simply transform an analog enterprise into a digital one. You'd better start from scratch. Existing firms must get agile, some try to circumvent the problem by incorporating startups into their firms. Future enterprises will have no managers but ruling teams.
There was agreement that not everything that can be done in the digital world necessarily has to be done although I have not yet seen an enterprise that does not use an opportunity to make money. The young generation criticized the exploitation of natural resources on which other panel members did not comment. When the specialist in robotics was asked whether robots can do all human activities he answered yes except they have no feelings. He then admitted that one of his robots had complained, messaging: I can simulate feelings.
During the long afternoon some of the impacts of the digital revolution were addressed and some were even discussed but we are far from knowing the impact the digital world will have on future society. While it took two generations to get accustomed to the hard-wired telephone, analogue television, or the automobile it now takes only about 10 years before a "new" technology is already obsolete. It is this pace of development that leaves us little time to digest.


The Sunset Skating Club (SSC), a member club of Skate Canada, is a non-profit society with club activities overseen by a group of volunteers which forms the Board of Directors. The club operates in accordance with the Rules, Regulations and Policies of Skate Canada, is based in the City of Vancouver and operates year round out of the Sunset arena, which is part of the Sunset Community Centre Complex. The arena address is 390 East 51st Avenue, Vancouver B.C. The club office is separate from the Community Centre rink office and is located by the skate rental area.
The Sunset Skating Club is an energetic and competitive club of over 400 members, operating 12 months per year with Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer sessions. We offer over 30 hours of programming weekly, including CanSkate, Junior Development Program, Junior Star Program, Special Olympics, StarSkate and Competitive Programs. Our Skate Canada NCCP certified coaches are dedicated, knowledgeable and enthusiastic. The success of the club is also due to ongoing volunteer support. Many of the daily administrative duties, marketing, promotions, fund-raising and non-profit requirements are fulfilled by club volunteers.
The club is thriving and gaining momentum with every passing season. Our members compete locally, provincially and nationally. The executive board continually re-evaluates club programs and needs to order to service the community and continue to promote the love of skating and healthy living through ice skating and ice sports. We are proud to be able to offer many skating choices and opportunities to our members and to watch them achieve their goals.
Our mission is to create, maintain, and enhance a healthy and positive environment in which our members can develop physically and emotionally while building character through the sport of figure skating at all levels. We wish to provide an atmosphere of mutual respect and social interaction, while promoting healthy living, positive role models, good sportsmanship, and lasting friendships through ice skating and ice sports. We hope to inspire strong qualities of discipline, poise, and self-confidence that will continue throughout the members' life and carry out the general policies and objectives of the Skate Canada Figure Skating Association.


text:
export const TLPT_TERMINAL_INIT = 'TLPT_TERMINAL_INIT'
export const TLPT_TERMINAL_CLOSE = 'TLPT_TERMINAL_CLOSE';
export const TLPT_TERMINAL_SET_STATUS = 'TLPT_TERMINAL_SET_STATUS';

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


TXT e-solutions provides IT, consulting and R&D services to aerospace, aviation, automotive, banking and finance customers.
Group organic revenue growth of 7.5% in FY18 was driven by double-digit growth of the aerospace business. TXT started investing some of its substantial cash pile in H218, acquiring two Italian fintech businesses, providing growth opportunities for the Banking & Finance business. Increased investment in sales and R&D in FY19 reduces our normalised EPS forecast by 15.5%; we introduce a forecast for 21% EPS growth in FY20. TXT continues to assess targets in both business lines and has net cash of €60m available to fund M&A.
TXT Next is a beneficiary of the trend to outsource elements of IT and engineering, which gives the customer greater flexibility on cost and better access to specialist skills. Its main focus is on the aerospace and aviation market, where the rapid pace of innovation, combined with increasing regulation, drives growth in R&D. It also serves the Italian banking market, where the emergence of fintech companies is driving innovation, and regulation is increasing the need for software quality assurance.


text:
Q: Inline Query vs Stored Procedures to use in PHP I have been using inline query statements within my model of my application... As of now many people said that stored procedures would be a good practise... I have the following question

*

*How to use MySql stored procedures in PHP Codeigniter?

*What are the advantages of using Mysql stored procedures?

A: Stored procedures are a tool just like anything else (triggers, views, etc) and should only be used where the tool fits.  Taking every inline SQL statement that you have and converting it into a stored procedure is not the right direction.
Stored procedures are written using very rough logic and using cursors to loop through data sets which is going to be a hindrance when you are used to PHP's ability to handle logic.
The only project I have worked on that used SP was a large accounting system where hundreds of thousands of records had to be updated frequently with very little direct input from code.  We basically just told it when to start and didn't have need to pass values to the SP (though it is possible to do so).  This was, however, only one or two out of thousands of inline queries we used in the system.   I am not saying this is the only place to use them, but I have built some very large systems and have not yet had the 'NEED' to use them elsewhere.
In my opinion it would be better to spend your time learning to write high-speed, low-drag queries inline and use EXPLAIN to verify that you have indexes set up correctly.  I think that unless you have a VERY specific need for Stored Procedures you would find them very unfriendly for every day use.

A: I'm not saying stored procs are necessarily the answer to everything.  But, the use of cursors is not required.  I agree that cursors are a hindrance (slow), and should therefore only be used when absolutely necessary.  In my experience, cursors have only been used on badly designed (not normalized) databases, usually because normal queries can't extract the data as needed.
My background is with .NET, where I would say stored procs are the absolute best way to query the database.  I think that's partially because ASP.NET is designed to facilitate them.  It provides great separation between data and code - you write a stored procedure to return the data you need, then test it.  Now I am just now getting into php, so I can't recommend best practice for that.  It probably depends on the specifics of your project (scale, complexity, etc.).
But don't discount stored procs because of misinformation.  Stored procs does not necessarily mean tying yourself to using slow, costly cursors.  Except for setting output parameters, they use essentially all the same statements and logic that any SQL query uses.  There's no special "rough" logic you need to learn.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Do you know all of these ovarian cancer signs and symptoms?
A new study has predicted that ovarian cancer diagnoses are set to rise worldwide by nearly 55% in the next two decades, so it's time to get familiar with the early signs and symptoms.
Global organisation, World Ovarian Cancer Coalition, has highlighted the need for more education around the signs and symptons of ovarian cancer, after its new study found that the amount of women diagnosed will rise by 55% world wide in the next 20 years, and 15% in the UK alone.
The coalition's 2018 Every Woman study reviewed last year's global statistics for ovarian cancer, worked with other patient-focused organisations across the world and used findings from in-depth patient surveys to make the predictions.
Ovarian cancer is the sixth most common cancer in British women, accounting for 4% of all cancer diagnoses in the UK.
But despite this fact, a surprisingly low number of us (we're putting our hands up here, too) can name the full list of ovarian cancer symptoms, or recognise how to spot it early on - both of which are essential to improving chances of survival.
For example, most of us have experienced bloating in our stomachs, but if you're noticing consistent bloating then there is a chance this could be a sign of ovarian cancer.
According to a study from Target Ovarian Cancer, women in the UK are more likely to consider changing their diet when experiencing bloating rather than visiting their GP, because so few of us recognise the potential link to cancer.
The charity reports that 50% of women in Britain said that they would do something to change their diet, such as cutting out gluten, dairy or trying probiotic yogurts, if they noticed consistent bloating.
Some 34% of women said they would see a doctor if they were concerned about bloating, but only one in five could name it as an ovarian cancer symptom, which the charity describes as "an alarmingly low rate of awareness".
As with most cancers, early diagnosis results in a higher chance of survival. Ovarian cancer in particular is known to spread if it is not caught in the beginning stages.
To help educate ourselves about ovarian cancer, we've written a guide to its signs and symptoms, which you can find below.
When diagnosed at its earliest stage, nine in 10 women with ovarian cancer will survive for five years or more.
The ovaries are a pair of small organs located in the lower abdomen, that are connected to the womb and store our reproductive eggs.
Ovarian cancer affects these organs by causing abnormal cells to multiply rapidly, resulting in the growth of a tumour.
The NHS cites the following symptoms as common indicators of ovarian cancer:
Feeling constantly bloated
A swollen tummy
Discomfort in your tummy or pelvic area
Feeling full quickly when eating
Needing to pee more often than normal
Unfortunately, these symptoms are easily confused for general tummy ache or even irritable bowel syndrome, which makes them harder to diagnose.
The key to recognising these signs as something more serious is by noting the length of time they've been going on. If you've been feeling bloated most days for three weeks or more, or you have persistently felt the urge to urinate more than usual, you should visit your GP.
Those with a family history of ovarian cancer should also be more alert to these symptoms.
What is the cause of ovarian cancer?
The cause of ovarian cancer is unknown.
It is more common in women over the age of 50, as well as those who are overweight or have a family history of ovarian cancer.
It is also thought that endometriosis, a condition where tissue that behaves like the lining of the womb is found outside of the womb, could increase a woman's risk of getting it.
How is ovarian cancer diagnosed?
If you are experiencing any of the symptoms of ovarian cancer, you should visit your GP. They will check if there are any swellings or lumps in your tummy, and may do an internal examination. They may also take a blood test.
Depending on the results of the examination and blood test, you may be asked for an ultrasound scan. You may then need further tests following this.
For more information on being diagnosed with ovarian cancer, head to the NHS website here.
What is the treatment for ovarian cancer?
The treatment for ovarian cancer will depend on what stage the cancer is at, and whether it has spread.
Surgery may be used to remove as much of the cancer as possible, which could involve removing both ovaries, the womb and the fallopian tubes.
Chemotherapy may be used after surgery in order to kill any remaining cancer cells, or beforehand to shrink the tumour before removal.
Ovarian cancer survival statistics
The most recent statistics made available by Cancer Research UK, show that ovarian cancer survival rates are improving. In fact, they have almost doubled in the last 40 years in the UK.
In the Seventies, less than a fifth of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer survived their disease beyond 10 years, but now it's more than a third.
However, less than five women out of 100 will survive ovarian cancer if diagnosed at the latest stage.
These facts make an impossible-to-ignore case for more awareness and education around ovarian cancer symptoms.
Read this guide and then send it to a friend, a sister, or a colleague, and help us continue to encourage women to actively look for these symptoms in themselves and deal with them as early as possible.
Images: iStock
Megan Murray is a digital journalist for stylist.co.uk, who enjoys writing about London happenings, beautiful places, delicious morsels and generally spreading sparkle wherever she can.


text:
Brovallen är en idrottsanläggning i Bunkeflostrand, Malmö med en kapacitet på ungefär 2 000 åskådare.

Arenan var hemmaplan för Bunkeflo IF fram till 2007, då laget kom upp i Superettan. För att uppfylla de anläggningskrav som spel i Superettan ställer flyttade klubben då till Limhamns IP och Malmö IP.

Lag som idag spelar på Brovallen är Bunkeflo IF:s damlag och ungdomslag samt Bunkeflo FF som bildades 1999 som ett farmarlag till ursprungsklubben.

Sportanläggningar i Malmö
Fotbollsanläggningar i Sverige

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Q: How can I stop redis memory usage increasing with connection count We are running redis via elasticache on AWS and are seeing memory usage spike when running a large number of lambda functions which just read.  Here is some example output from redis-cli --stat
------- data ------ --------------------- load -------------------- - child -
keys       mem      clients blocked requests            connections
1002       28.11M   15      0       2751795 (+11)       53877
1002       28.07M   15      0       2751797 (+2)        53877
1002       28.07M   15      0       2751799 (+2)        53877
1002       28.11M   15      0       2751803 (+4)        53877
1002       28.07M   15      0       2751806 (+3)        53877
1001       28.11M   15      0       2751808 (+2)        53877
1007       28.08M   15      0       2751837 (+29)       53877
1007       28.08M   15      0       2751839 (+2)        53877
1005       28.10M   16      0       2751841 (+2)        53878
1007       171.68M  94      0       2752012 (+171)      53957
1006       545.93M  316     0       2752683 (+671)      54179
1006       1.07G    483     0       2753508 (+825)      54346
1006       1.54G    677     0       2754251 (+743)      54540
1006       1.98G    882     0       2755024 (+773)      54745
1006       2.35G    1010    0       2755776 (+752)      54873
1005       2.78G    1014    0       2756548 (+772)      54877
1005       2.80G    1014    0       2756649 (+101)      54877
1004       2.79G    1014    0       2756652 (+3)        54877
1008       2.79G    1014    0       2756682 (+30)       54877
1007       2.79G    1014    0       2756685 (+3)        54877

As you can see the number of keys is pretty much constant but as the number of clients increases the memory usage ramps up to 2.8GB.  Is this memory pattern expected and if so is there a way to mitigate it other than increasing the amount of RAM available to the process?
The lambda clients are written in Java using lettuce 5.2.1.RELEASE and spring-data-redis 2.2.1.RELEASE
Unless there is some additional redis interaction within spring-data-redis the client code is basically as follows
public <T> T get(final String label, final RedisTemplate<String, ?> redisTemplate) {
    final BoundHashOperations<String, String, T> cache = redisTemplate.boundHashOps(REDIS_KEY);
    return cache.get(label);
}

There are no usages of RedisTemplate#keys in my codebase, the only interaction with redis is via RedisTemplate#boundHashOps
Here is the output from redis-cli info memory before and after the spike:
Before
# Memory
used_memory:31558400
used_memory_human:30.10M
used_memory_rss:50384896
used_memory_rss_human:48.05M
used_memory_peak:6498905008
used_memory_peak_human:6.05G
used_memory_peak_perc:0.49%
used_memory_overhead:4593040
used_memory_startup:4203584
used_memory_dataset:26965360
used_memory_dataset_perc:98.58%
allocator_allocated:32930040
allocator_active:34332672
allocator_resident:50593792
used_memory_lua:37888
used_memory_lua_human:37.00K
used_memory_scripts:0
used_memory_scripts_human:0B
number_of_cached_scripts:0
maxmemory:5140907060
maxmemory_human:4.79G
maxmemory_policy:volatile-lru
allocator_frag_ratio:1.04
allocator_frag_bytes:1402632
allocator_rss_ratio:1.47
allocator_rss_bytes:16261120
rss_overhead_ratio:1.00
rss_overhead_bytes:-208896
mem_fragmentation_ratio:1.60
mem_fragmentation_bytes:18826560
mem_not_counted_for_evict:0
mem_replication_backlog:0
mem_clients_slaves:0
mem_clients_normal:269952
mem_aof_buffer:0
mem_allocator:jemalloc-5.1.0
active_defrag_running:0
lazyfree_pending_objects:0

After
# Memory
used_memory:4939687896
used_memory_human:4.60G
used_memory_rss:4754452480
used_memory_rss_human:4.43G
used_memory_peak:6498905008
used_memory_peak_human:6.05G
used_memory_peak_perc:76.01%
used_memory_overhead:4908463998
used_memory_startup:4203584
used_memory_dataset:31223898
used_memory_dataset_perc:0.63%
allocator_allocated:5017947040
allocator_active:5043314688
allocator_resident:5161398272
used_memory_lua:37888
used_memory_lua_human:37.00K
used_memory_scripts:0
used_memory_scripts_human:0B
number_of_cached_scripts:0
maxmemory:5140907060
maxmemory_human:4.79G
maxmemory_policy:volatile-lru
allocator_frag_ratio:1.01
allocator_frag_bytes:25367648
allocator_rss_ratio:1.02
allocator_rss_bytes:118083584
rss_overhead_ratio:0.92
rss_overhead_bytes:-406945792
mem_fragmentation_ratio:0.96
mem_fragmentation_bytes:-185235352
mem_not_counted_for_evict:0
mem_replication_backlog:0
mem_clients_slaves:0
mem_clients_normal:4904133550
mem_aof_buffer:0
mem_allocator:jemalloc-5.1.0
active_defrag_running:0
lazyfree_pending_objects:0

A: Having discussed this with AWS support the cause of this memory spike is that each of the 1000 lambda clients is filling up a read buffer with ~5mb of data as the data we are storing in redis is large serialized json objects.
Their recommendations are to either:
Add 2-3 replicas in the cluster and use replica nodes for read requests. You can use reader endpoints for load balancing the requests
Or control client output buffers with the parameters but note the clients will be disconnect if they reach the buffer limit.

*

*client-output-buffer-limit-normal-hard-limit >> If a client's output buffer reaches the specified number of bytes, the client will be disconnected. The default is zero (no hard limit). By default is 0 which means client can use as much memory they can.

*client-output-buffer-limit-normal-soft-limit >> If a client's output buffer reaches the specified number of bytes, the client will be disconnected, but only if this condition persists for client-output-buffer-limit-normal-soft-seconds. The default is zero (no soft limit).

*client-output-buffer-limit-normal-soft-seconds >> For Redis publish/subscribe clients: If a client's output buffer reaches the specified number of bytes, the client will be disconnected. Default value is 0

Given these constraints and our usage profile we're actually going to switch to use S3 in this instance.


text:
Harry Owens (Nebraska, Estados Unidos, 18 de abril de 1902-Eugene (Oregon), 12 de diciembre de 1986) fue un compositor de canciones estadounidense, principalmente conocido por haber compuesto Sweet Leilani en 1934, canción que fue interpretada tres años después por Bing Crosby en la película Waikiki Wedding, ganando el premio Óscar a la mejor canción original de dicho año.

Premios y distinciones
Premios Óscar

Referencias

Enlaces externos
Canción Sweet Leilani por Bing Crosby YouTube.

Ganadores del premio Óscar a la mejor canción original
Fallecidos en Eugene


Model stitched on 32 Ct. Smokey Pearl Cashel Linen with Mill Hill Beads, Kreinik Silk Mori and Needlepoint Inc Silk. Stitch Count: 77h x 82w. An accessory pack is available that contains all of the threads needed to complete the designs as shown. Finishing instructions included.
This No Count Cross Stitch Kit contains precise print, color printed 14 count Aida cloth, pre-sorted luxury polyester embroidery threads, embroidery needle, color printed chart and complete multi-lingual stitching instructions. Design size 19" x 12.25".
From the Cottage Cakes Series. The model is stitched on 30 count Parchment Linen with Crescent Colours. The stitch count is 105W x 105H. Thread is included with the pattern - fabric is sold separately.
From the Cottage Cakes Series. The model is stitched on 30 count Parchment Linen with Crescent Colours (Crushed Pineapple, Frog Legs, Green Onion, Magnolia Blossom, Sunflower). The stitch count is 105W x 105H. Thread is included with the pattern - fabric is sold separately.
From the Cottage Cakes Series. The model is stitched on 30 count Parchment Linen with Crescent Colours (Toasted Marshmallo, Cupid, Lunar Eclipse, Bean Sprout & Peanut Brittle). The stitch count is 105W x 105H. Thread is included with the pattern - fabric is sold separately.


William's Blog...with a smile!: Advice for MEN on Valentines Day!
Well guys we sometimes need help.
So, I have some help.
This example was designed for the guy getting married.
But, I have found that this example works for guys during most any celebration.
So, do your self a favor and read and learn.
This example could save you a lot of grief even when you did nothing wrong.
Good morning William. This is something. I'll leave it at that. Hope you have a great day.
You can say all you want!
My wife never reads Active Rain blogs ... so no worries at all.
Costco has the Best price for Roses!
Gotta love the meme, William! It demonstrates you are beginning to get the hang of it!
Hi William- as they say, when mama isn't happy, no one is happy. Just say "I'm sorry."
Agreeing wholeheartedly with Kathy Streib ...sorry can be the word of the day.
Thanks, William, for sharing your advice.
Make sure you select a nice restaurant for your Valentine's Day dinner.
I'm single, so I can laugh. Glad the son aced his training.
Thanks for the advice, William. And, I'm sorry.
Well that advice can get a guy out of a lot of hot water, depends a lot on the girl too.


Modular Scale sponsored by Typecast is a handy tool for converting type sizes from pixels to ems and beyond. Enter the size of your text in pixels and translate it using one of almost a dozen perfect ratios and the pixels will be translated into ems, ems@16 and %of 13. If you are using rems, this makes it a lot easier.
If you don't understand any of this, you probably don't need to. If you want an explanation, please don't ask me. I have to look up the reasons every time I scale fonts. It's complicated, arcane, and only of value if you code CSS.
Modular Scale by Tim Brown, Type Manager for TypeKit.


text:
A 2012-es wimbledoni teniszbajnokság az év harmadik Grand Slam-tornája, a wimbledoni teniszbajnokság 126. kiadása volt. Az eseményt 2012. június 25. és július 8. között rendezték meg Londonban. A mérkőzéseket az All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club füves pályáin játszották le, összesen  néző tekintette meg őket a helyszínen.

Győztesek
Férfi egyes
A győzelmet Roger Federer szerezte meg, az elődöntőben a címvédő Novak Đokovićot 6–3, 3–6, 6–4, 6–3-ra, majd a döntőben 4–6, 7–5, 6–3, 6–4-re a brit Andy Murray-t is legyőzve. A svájci játékos ezzel összességében a tizenhetedik Grand Slam-győzelmét érte el, ebből a hetediket az All England Clubon. Utóbbival beállította a szintén hétszeres wimbledoni bajnok Pete Sampras, valamint a sikereit az 1880-as években elérő William Renshaw csúcsát. Federer a hatvanhatodik wimbledoni mérkőzését nyerte meg a döntővel, amivel Jimmy Connors (84) és Boris Becker (71) mögött a harmadik helyen állt ekkor ebben a tekintetben. A bajnoki cím megszerzésének értékét növelte, hogy ennek köszönhetően a svájci játékos több mint két év szünet után ismét átvette a vezetést a világranglistán.

Női egyes
A nőknél Serena Williams diadalmaskodott, aki a negyeddöntőben a címvédő Petra Kvitovát, az elődöntőben Viktorija Azarankát is elbúcsúztatta, majd a fináléban 6–1, 5–7, 6–2-re legyőzte a lengyel Agnieszka Radwańskát. Williams 2002, 2003, 2009 és 2010 után az ötödik tornagyőzelmét szerezte meg Wimbledonban, s a tizennegyedik egyéni Grand Slam-diadalát aratta pályafutása során. Újabb wimbledoni sikerével beérte nővérét, Venust, akivel holtversenyben a harmadik helyen állnak a nyílt érában a kilencszeres bajnok Martina Navratilova és a hétszeres győztes Steffi Graf mögött. Az 1956 októberében született Navratilova 1990-es tornagyőzelme óta Serena lett az első olyan wimbledoni bajnok, aki betöltötte a harmincadik életévét.

Párosok
A férfiak páros versenyét az elődöntőben a címvédő Bob Bryan–Mike Bryan-testvérpárt is kiejtő, szabadkártyával elinduló Jonathan Marray–Frederik Nielsen-kettős nyerte meg. A brit-dán páros a döntőben 4–6, 6–4, 7–6(5), 6–7(5), 6–3-ra diadalmaskodott a Robert Lindstedt–Horia Tecău-kettős felett. Marray 1936 óta az első brit férfi, aki ebben a versenyszámban győzni tudott az All England Clubon. Nielsen az első dán játékos, aki egyesben vagy párosban (nem ideértve a vegyes párost) Grand Slam-tornát nyert. Éppen az ő nagyapja, Kurt Nielsen volt az egyetlen dán teniszező eddig, aki Wimbledonban döntőbe jutott egyéniben, de 1953-ban és 1955-ben is vesztesen hagyta el a pályát.

A női párosok küzdelmét Serena Williams és Venus Williams nyerte meg, a 78 percig tartó fináléban 7–5, 6–4-re legyőzve az Andrea Hlaváčková–Lucie Hradecká-duót. A Williams testvérek tizenharmadik közös Grand Slam-győzelmüket aratták, ebből az ötödiket Wimbledonban. A nyílt érában ezzel ők a harmadik legsikeresebb páros a korábban húsz Grand Slam-diadalt elérő Martina Navratilova–Pam Shriver-kettős és a tizennégyszeres bajnok Gigi Fernández–Natallja Zverava-duó mögött.

Vegyes párosban a tornagyőzelmet a Mike Bryan–Lisa Raymond-duó szerezte meg, a két óra 24 perces döntőben 6–3, 5–7, 6–4-re legyőzve a Lijendar Pedzs–Jelena Vesznyina-párost. Bryan és Raymond harmadik közös címüket szerezték meg, 2002-ben a US Openen, 2003-ban a Roland Garroson diadalmaskodtak. Wimbledonban Bryannek ez volt az első győzelme vegyes párosban, míg Raymond 1999-ben már nyert egyszer, akkor éppen a mostani ellenfél, Lijendar Pedzs volt a partnere.

Érdekességek
 A második kiemelt, korábbi világelső Rafael Nadal a második körben nagy meglepetésre öt játszmában kikapott a cseh Lukáš Rosoltól. Nadallal 2005 óta nem fordult elő, hogy ilyen korán búcsúzott egy Grand Slam-viadaltól. Abban az évben szintén Wimbledonban Gilles Müllertől kapott ki a torna második fordulójában.
 Jaroszlava Svedova a harmadik körben úgy nyerte meg 6–0-ra az első játszmát Sara Errani ellen, hogy egyetlen labdamenetet sem veszített. A mindössze tizenöt percig tartó szett során a kazah versenyző 24 pontot nyert meg egymás után, teljesítve az "aranyszettet". Erre utoljára 1983-ban volt példa, amikor Bill Scanlon hasonló módon nyert játszmát Marcos Hocevar ellen a Gold Coast Classicon. A női mezőnyben Svedovának sikerült először ez a bravúr az open éra ideje alatt, s Wimbledonban is első alkalommal fordult elő ilyen eset. A mérkőzést végül Svedova nyerte 6–0, 6–4-re.
 Andy Murray és Márkosz Pagdatísz centerpályán lejátszott harmadik fordulós találkozója, amelyet Murray 7–5, 3–6, 7–5, 6–1-re nyert meg, a torna történetének legkésőbb véget ért mérkőzése lett, mivel helyi idő szerint 23 óra 2 perckor fejeződött be. Az összecsapás 19.12-kor vette kezdetét, s 21.03-kor félbeszakadt sötétedés miatt, de 36 percnyi szünet után, a világítást is biztosító tető behúzását követően folytatódott. Bár technikai akadálya így nem lett volna a mérkőzés aznapi befejezésének, a wimbledoni torna szabályai szerint este 11 órakor mindenképpen fel kell függeszteni a centerpályán folyó mérkőzést is, függetlenül az állástól. A negyedik szettben, Murray 4–1-es vezetésénél már 22.57-et mutatott az óra, amikor Pagdatísz adogatni kezdett, s éppen azután ugrott 23.00-ra, hogy 5–1 lett. A verseny főbírója azonban engedélyt adott, hogy Murray elkezdjen szerválni, aki két perc alatt meg is nyerte az adogatójátékát, s vele a mérkőzést is. A legkésőbb befejezett wimbledoni meccs rekordját korábban Novak Đoković és Olivier Rochus 2010-es mérkőzése tartotta, amely 22.58-kor ért véget a szerb játékos győzelmével.
 A horvát Marin Čilić a harmadik körben öt óra harmincegy perc alatt 7–6(6), 6–4, 6–7(2), 6–7(3), 17–15-re győzte le az amerikai Sam Querrey-t. A 2010-ben szintén Wimbledonban lejátszott, tizenegy óra öt perces játékidejével minden létező rekordot megdöntő Isner–Mahut-meccs után ez volt a második leghosszabb mérkőzés, amelyet valaha lejátszottak az All England Club füves pályáin.
 Serena Williams 24 ászt ütött a Viktorija Azaranka ellen 6–3, 7–6(6)-ra megnyert elődöntőben, ezzel új wimbledoni rekordot állított fel a női mezőnyben. Teljesítménye egyben világcsúcsnak is számít, de holtversenyben, mivel 2008-ban Tokióban az észt Kaia  Kanepi is ugyanennyi ászt ütött a Lucie Šafářová elleni – igaz, háromszettes – mérkőzésén az első fordulóban. Serena a torna során összesen 102 ászt mutatott be (ebből tizenhetet a döntőben), amivel megdöntötte az eddig is általa tartott wimbledoni rekordot a nők egyéni mezőnyében (2010-ben 89 ásszal zárta a viadalt). Ráadásul az egész versenyen ő ütötte a legtöbb fogadhatatlan adogatást, néggyel többet, mint a férfiak statisztikáját vezető Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Döntők

Férfi egyes

 Roger Federer –  Andy Murray 4–6, 7–5, 6–3, 6–4

Női egyes

 Serena Williams –  Agnieszka Radwańska 6–1, 5–7, 6–2

Férfi páros

 Jonathan Marray /  Frederik Nielsen –  Robert Lindstedt /  Horia Tecău 4–6, 6–4, 7–6(5), 6–7(5), 6–3

Női páros

 Serena Williams /  Venus Williams –  Andrea Hlaváčková /  Lucie Hradecká 7–5, 6–4

Vegyes páros

 Mike Bryan /  Lisa Raymond –  Lijendar Pedzs /  Jelena Vesznyina 6–3, 5–7, 6–4

Juniorok

Fiú egyéni
 Filip Peliwo –  Luke Saville, 7–5, 6–4

Lány egyéni
 Eugenie Bouchard –  Elina Szvitolina, 6–2, 6–2

Fiú páros
 Andrew Harris /  Nick Kyrgios –  Matteo Donati /  Pietro Licciardi, 6–2, 6–4

Lány páros
 Eugenie Bouchard /   Taylor Townsend –  Belinda Bencic /  Ana Konjuh, 6–4, 6–3

Világranglistapontok

Pénzdíjazás
A torna összdíjazása  tett ki. Ez az összeg 10%-kal volt magasabb az előző évinél; 1993 óta nem emelték meg ilyen jelentős mértékben a teljes díjazást. A férfi és a női egyéni győztes fejenként  részesült.

Jegyzetek

Források
 A verseny hivatalos honlapja

Kapcsolódó szócikkek

2012-es WTA-szezon
2012-es ATP-szezon


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New College showing of 'The Education of Auma Obama'
Post author:Jasmine Respess
Branwen Okpako's 2011 film "The Education of Auma Obama" follows the life of Barrack Obama's half-sister, Auma Obama, in her homestead in Kenya during the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Although this film does not shy away from including Barrack Obama, it is ultimately dismantles misconceptions that were commonly held about the President's "Kenyan family" and reveals that Auma Obama is not just the presidents sister. She is a multilingual academic, a film maker, artist, activist and an influence in the world by her own right.
The film showing was sponsored by Gender Studies, the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Office of the Provost and the Office of the Provost. A mixed crowd of professors, students and members of the larger Sarasota community gathered in the New College Teaching Auditorium to watch the 2011 Africa International Film Festival's Best People's Choice and the 2012 Africa Movie Academy Awards' Best Diaspora Documentary winning documentary on Wednesday, March 18th.
"My reason for inviting [Branween Okpako to show her film] was to show who speaks German," German language
and literature Professor Wendy Sutherland said. "I do not think people would think the president's sister speaks German and is fluent in it."
Okpako introduced the film by explaining that she and Auma Obama had both attended the German Film & Television Academy Berlin in the 1990s. Okpako said when she approached Obama with her idea for a documentary on Auma's life and experiences during the 2008 presidential election, Obama was hesitant due to the new level of media scrutiny she and he family were already facing, but eventually she agreed.
"This is an opportunity to tell our story," Okpako said she told Auma Obama when convincing her to participate in her film. "We will not get another chance like this."
Okpako said that she and Obama had a lot of things in common. They were highly educated African women who occupied realms in Africa and in Europe. Okpako was born in Lagos, Nigeria, completed the International Baccalaureate at United World College in Wales and went on to study political science at the University of Bristol before attending film school, while Obama studied German at the University of Heidelberg, earned a Phd at the University of Bayreuth before film school. Okpako explained that both women also dealt with the navigation of different cultural spaces and the colonial wounds as well as the postcolonial disappointment felt by their parents and other members of the generation before them.
The film covers three generations of the Obama family going from grandfather, father to Auma Obama and her siblings.
"This is the Obama phenomenon from a purely African perspective," Okpako said.
The film covers everything from Auma's grandfather's job as a cook for an English family, the story of how Auma's mother met Barrack Obama Sr., Obama Sr. marrying a white American women and her role in Auma's life, Barrack Sr.'s influential role in Kenyan politics, Auma Obama's break with her father and her move to Germany to the first time Auma meet Barrack Obama Jr.
The film reveals Auma and her family's struggle to remain an entity, independent of her brothers fame, while there were many false and altered depictions of who they were and what being Kenyan was. This tension reveals the greater problem of how the African
continent is depicted in the Western world and what the effects of that have
been.
After the film Okpako opened the floor up for questions. She explained that Auma Obama is now an activists, who works with the
young people of Kenya. Auma Obama's message is that there are opportunities everywhere and a big city life is not better than a rural one. Obama believes in ecological, economic and social sustainability and motivating the young to help themselves.
"Auma wanted to show 'we are more alike than different,'" Okpako said.


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Gaffer commends matchwinner after sublime brace
Stags' boss Steve Evans praised matchwinner Danny Rose after the Barnsley-born frontman bagged a second half brace to send Mansfield Town into the second round of the Emirates FA Cup with a 3-1 win over Shaw Lane.
After the Ducks' Lee Bennett cancelled out defender Krystian Pearce's first half header, striker Rose headed Stags back into the lead before producing a sublime overhead kick minutes later.
And speaking after the match – which was screened live to the nation on BT Sport – the gaffer heaped praise on Barnsley-born Rose, who moved into double figures for the season with today's brace.
"I don't think you could wish to be a young striker like Danny Rose and score two better goals. The header, for me, is the better of the two, it's absolutely fantastic," the gaffer said.
"To then come out two minutes later and score an overhead kick like that, if you're watching the best of the Premiership, if it's the Drogbas or the Ronaldos and people like that, Harry Kane, if he scores two like that this weekend then we'll be watching it over and over again on BT.
"He said to me all week: 'please don't leave me out for this game' and he just couldn't lose it (the match) because he probably knows three-quarters of the supporters for Shaw Lane! He's a professional; he has to come and do his job and he has a wonderful affinity for the club."
"I don't think you could wish to be a young striker like Danny Rose and score two better goals."
Steve Evans, manager
The gaffer also had kind words for today's hosts, Shaw Lane, for staging what he described as 'a wonderful cup tie' and predicted that the Ducks will go on to enjoy a successful season.
"It was always going to be where everyone outside Mansfield wants you to lose and the only credit goes to Shaw Lane. They put up a wonderful cup tie, they stretched us at times, it was very physical at times and we're just pleased we've come and dealt with it and we're in the next round.
"We had to turn up here and work so hard against a real difficult opponent. There would be league clubs come here and lose today – we dealt with it.
"[Danny Rose has] been telling me since the summer about the quality of player that's been brought in by the chairman here so fair play to the chairman (Craig Wood) at Shaw Lane, and the gaffer (Craig Elliott). He has to go and find the players and the chairman supports him.
"We were met here earlier by real respect and courtesy all the way through and we wish them every success. I think they'll go and be league champions in the league they're in by some distance and I remember when I took my team to Old Trafford, Alex Ferguson told me that. I didn't believe it but the record book speaks for itself now."
Stags will be ball number 19 in Monday's second round draw, but who does the gaffer want to be paired with?
"Either a team that's lower ranked in the competition – hopefully at home, if not away.
"I'm not a manager in the early rounds of the cup that wants the big boys – leave the big boys until the fifth round, that's where I like to see them."
Supporters will be able to login to iFollow Stags later today to view the manager's post-match interview.
Lapslie: 'We can't let it be comfortable for them'
Mansfield Town midfielder George Lapslie hopes the Stags can disrupt Sunderland by 'getting in their faces' when the two teams meet in the FA Cup first round on Saturday.
Boss sets sights on cup upset
Stags' manager Nigel Clough has called for his team to cause an upset against League One Sunderland when they head to The Stadium of Light this Saturday in the Emirates FA Cup first round.
Boss assesses Exeter loss
Manager Nigel Clough has delivered his post-match assessment following this afternoon's 2-1 defeat away at Exeter City.
Spirits lifted after positive display - forward
Mansfield Town forward Rhys Oates says the team's confidence has been lifted following their impressive 1-1 draw with Port Vale at One Call Stadium.


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European Super League: Uefa furious at 11 major clubs signing up to breakaway plans
By Mutala Yakubu
Senior Uefa figures are furious after discovering 11 major European clubs, including five from England, have signed up to a breakaway European Super League.
BBC Sport was told last week of plans for some kind of confirmation about a European Super League.
Uefa hoped to head off plans with a new-look 36-team Champions League set to be confirmed on Monday.
The Premier League said it condemned plans for a European Super League.
In a statement, they said it "attacks the principles of open competition and sporting merit which are at the heart" of domestic and European football.
The Premier League also released a joint statement alongside Uefa, the English Football Association, Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and La Liga, and the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) and Serie A, strongly opposing the plans.
They said they will "remain united" in their attempts to stop this "cynical project" and will "consider all measures available" including both judicial and sporting.
Juventus owner Andrea Agnelli, Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward and AC Milan chief executive Ivan Gazidis would all have had a significant input into the Champions League discussions on Friday.
However, it appears those clubs are among those to have broken ranks, to the fury of Uefa, whose president Aleksander Ceferin wanted to stave off a Super League threat.
Spanish La Liga sides Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are also part of the 11-team group, as are Italian Serie A club Inter Milan.
None of the clubs concerned have responded to questions about the proposals.
The Premier League said a European Super League would "destroy" the dream of fans that "their team may climb to the top and play against the best".
It added such a league would "undermine the appeal of the whole game" and that they would work with the FA, the English Football League, Professional Footballers' Association, League Managers Association and fans to "defend the integrity and future prospects of English football".
Bundesliga sides are opposed to the plans because the German model means commercial investors cannot have more than a 49% stake in clubs, so fans hold a majority of their own voting rights.
It is understood French Ligue 1 side Paris St-Germain are not part of the 11-team group.
Uefa said it thanked "those clubs in other countries, especially the French and German clubs, who have refused to sign up" to the breakaway league.
"We call on all lovers of football, supporters and politicians, to join us in fighting against such a project if it were to be announced," they added.
"This persistent self-interest of a few has been going on for too long. Enough is enough."
It has been agreed the new-look Champions League will involve an initial phase where every club plays 10 matches each rather than the current group phase.
In addition there would be play-offs, followed by a knockout phase.
The most controversial aspect of the proposals surround the allocation of the four additional places, with two being reserved for the clubs ranked highest in Uefa's co-efficient table who fail to qualify for the Champions League through their domestic competition, but do secure some kind of European football.
At the moment, Liverpool and Chelsea would be the clubs who benefited from that system if it was in place this season.
Quite when the European Super League would start is unclear.
However, world governing body Fifa has already said it would not recognise such a competition and any players involved in it would be denied the chance to play at a World Cup.
Serie A have called an emergency board meeting to discuss the matter.


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Headlines Pacific News Solomon Islands News
Solomon Islands maintains Diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Democratic Coalition for Advancement Government (DCAG) is still to make a stand to switch from Republic of China (Taiwan) to China.
This came after a lot of talks that Solomon Islands may switch diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China.
Newly elected Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare told the media recently that a decision on this diplomatic switch can only be made through discussion within the coalition.
Sogavare said at the moment the status quo is still being maintained.
He said this is something they will continue to develop and see how they benefit from the relationship.
"At this time, there's nothing in place. We are aware, so many talks are going on, we will discuss through coalition and see the position of new government at an appropriate time," he said.
Solomon Islands has diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 1983.
Both countries maintain resident diplomatic missions in their respective capitals namely Honiara and Taipei.
On the other hand, Sogavare said he still maintains his stand as former chairman of Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) for the rights of West Papua.
He said MSG is fighting for the rights of Melanesian states.
"As we know New Caledonia is still going. At the end of the day, if people of New Caledonia decide to stay with France, so be it," he said.
Sogavare said this is same with West Papua, if Melanesians rights are respected, so who are we to talk about rights of West Papua.
"Unfortunately, that's not the way in West Papua, atrocities are still committed there.
"It was a sad story that 600,000 Melanesians died when they wanted to talk about their rights and were suppressed," he said.
However, Sogavare said if the MSG approach hits a brick wall, then there should be a friendly approach to address issues with West Papua.
"We need to actively engage with Indonesia.
"I had a call with Indonesia Embassy in Port Moresby. Iam looking forward to the friendly dialogue, consultation and talk about these issues as friendly neighbour that we have in our region," he added.
SOURCE: ISLAND SUN/PACNEWS


A police officer was arrested on charges of assault after allegedly stomping on the head of a suspect while he was being arrested, prosecutors in New York said.
Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson announced that a New York City Police Officer has been arraigned on an indictment in which he is charged with third-degree assault and other charges for allegedly stomping on the head of the suspect while he was face down on the ground and being handcuffed by other officers.
Joel Edouard, 37, was assigned to the 81st precinct at the time of the incident.
Edouard was arraigned before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun, on an indictment in which he is charged with one count of third-degree assault, one count of third-degree attempted assault and one count of official misconduct.
He was released on his own recognizance. If convicted, he faces up to one year in jail.
According to the police investigation, around 7:30 p.m., in the vicinity of 223 Malcolm X Boulevard, in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, the defendant and his partner allegedly observed Jahmiel Cuffee, 32, drinking on the sidewalk and possessing what appeared to be marijuana.
Cuffee resisted arrest and tussled with the officers. Additional officers arrived on the scene to assist Officer Edouard and his partner.
A witness to the incident captured a cellphone video, which showed Cuffie on the ground, face down and being handcuffed.
It also showed Officer Edouard briefly pointing his gun at Cuffee, walking away from the scene of the arrest and then walking back and stomping on his head as he lay on the ground.
Cuffee's head then hit the concrete, causing him to suffer abrasions and headaches.


Need training tips to help Kai with a behavioral issue diagnosed by the Vet. She is constantly eating everything in site (including her poop and my other shiba's poop) and drinking a lot. I would say more then any puppy I have ever seen. She has been very hyper and energetic since the day I got her. He says she will need to be trained out of this behavior. I do scoop to remove any waste but she will go for it right after she does it. I will tell her NO and she will look to me and go back to it. I have to go to her and make her leave it. She does know what no means but ignores me. I have started using unseasoned meat tendorizer this hasn't worked yet, so I will be buying forbid soon. I feed her Blue Buffalo so I wouldn't think she is lacking anything from her food. I feed her twice a day 3/4 a cup each time. She eats more then my year old shiba. She tries to get his food when she is finished. I do train everyday so they get extra treats. They both also have bully sticks and other bones available along with dental sticks daily. However, when she is finished with these she eats grass, bugs and anything else she finds. So often that when I am trying to play with her ex. fetch she will leave mid game or play and go find something to eat.
Am I doing something wrong? My older shiba Si was never like this. Super easy to train and has always seemed satisfied with his meals. Again, she eats more then him. She weighs 7.6 pounds and he weighs 25-30 pounds. She just never seems satisfied.
I have searched for days on different posts to try and find another post similar but was unsuccessful. So my apologies for a new post if there is one already like it that I may have missed.
@LuvourSi - There are multiple threads regarding poop eating.


Check back soon to learn more about our new bakery owners! This next training session brings people from all over the country. We will have trainees from Utah, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Colorado, and Nevada!
Feed your body AND your brain! The Great Harvest University in Dillon will be donating proceeds to local Beaverhead County High School seniors this May to help with their college tuition.


Pac Pobric is a writer and the managing editor at artnet News.
From 2017–2018, he was an editor at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and oversaw its marquee digital publication, the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, a general-audience encyclopedia of the Met's collection. During his tenure, he worked with curators and researchers to publish essays on the museum's extensive collection of baseball cards; the life and work of Joan Miró; and the art of the Sufis, among many other subjects.
A former contributor to the Village Voice, Pobric is also a longtime critic for the Brooklyn Rail and former journalist for The Art Newspaper, where he was previously the Exhibitions editor.
He is also the editor of Matteau! Matteau!, an editorial project about the New York Rangers and the world of hockey.
Pobric has written catalogue essays on Minimalism and its legacy for the Mnuchin gallery and on Sean Scully's recent work for Cheim & Read. He has an M.A. in Art History from Hunter College, where he studied with William C. Agee and wrote about Ellsworth Kelly's years in New York. He lives in Spuyten Duyvil.
Is Matthew Barney becoming conventional?


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Kiwi Business
Catapulting Kiwi supply chain management onto the global market
May 19, 2020 | Ashlea Lynch
Share on Flipboard (opens new window)
While the global market offers so many opportunities for local tech businesses, scaling up and branching out can be a daunting challenge. Where to start? Which platform works best for multiple markets? Will all the existing code need rewriting from scratch? With support from its partner, Microsoft, supply chain management company Coretex has pushed through its growing pains to become a leader on the international scene, enabling businesses of all sizes to deliver products faster, more sustainably and just as fresh as when they left the warehouse.
Supply chain management is a complicated and ever-changing challenge for businesses. Sometimes there are thousands of moving parts – human, mechanical and technological. When they all work harmoniously it can be a beautiful thing, but an error somewhere along the chain can have the whole system grinding to a halt.
Coretex was born five years ago out of the merger of two companies, International Telematics Holdings and Imarda. Its founding goal was to build technology that helps businesses manage their supply chain better, working safer, greener and more productively. As Chief Technology Officer, Akinyemi Koyi (AK), explains:
"Coretex technology brings together thousands of data points across the supply chain and gives an overview of the operation in real-time. For example, by putting connected sensors on every vehicle in a corporate fleet and building software that analyses the data collected, we can track the route each vehicle takes, the average speed, see where the driver takes rests and even provide updates in real-time to the driver about the fastest route. Then instant notifications can be sent based on driving hours to let drivers know when they should be taking a break to avoid fatigue and accidents."
Tracking the condition of perishable items is another core function. To use a concrete example, cement trucks run on strict timings. Firstly, because they form part of a wider construction schedule and if they are late it sets the whole project out of synch, but also because the longer cement sits in the barrel the more likely it is to harden and set. This can cause huge amounts of damage to the truck and requires extensive repairs.
"We've gone as far as creating technology that monitors the viscosity of cement and can alert the driver when the cement is starting to harden. This gives the driver the option of adding more water to keep the product in good condition," AK says.
In just the last three years the business has grown more than 50% and is showing no sign of slowing down. To match its customer base, the business has offices across the globe, from Auckland to New York, San Diego and Sydney. The cloud-based software platform and in-vehicle sensor technology has been proven over 16 years in the most demanding sectors possible: construction, reefer (refrigerated shipping) and waste.
But the road to success had its twists and turns.
Cracking the code to international expansion
While Coretex had a winning idea, when it came time to scale the business and move into different geographies, it needed expert support. AK and the team saw the benefits of harnessing the accessibility and breadth of Microsoft's suite of Azure cloud products to make their solution scalable and enable it to be replicated in any market.
"We'd reached a critical point around the way we were managing applications and deploying updates within the original system. We needed to find the next generation technology that would drive us through the next phase of growth. That technology was Microsoft Azure."
The task for Microsoft wasn't easy, with an old legacy system making it hard for Coretex to find any form of scale.
"We have a large code base that extends from hardware to firmware, then we've got the back end services, UI and mobile. Add this all together and we're a large domain to migrate to the cloud. To overcome this we had to be pragmatic, go back to the drawing board and identify our biggest pain point," AK explains.
This led the team to realise it was the business's data pipeline that was stonewalling its ability to scale. In the original code base, there were a lot of in-memory caches, requiring workarounds every time they wanted to deploy a new update. So, working closely with Microsoft they implemented a Redis cache database in Azure to vastly simplify the process.
Padi Quesnel, Microsoft Azure Cloud Lead says Microsoft gets a lot of independent software vendors approaching the vendor with a similar problem.
"Old legacy systems and code, stuff that was written when the organisation was in its infancy and doesn't match the size or ambition of the organisation today is such a common challenge for ISVs. They start small, but grow quickly and then before they know it, lines of code written in the first week are getting in the way. We were happy to help with the migration and help Coretex start the next phase of its journey."
"De-risking" the approach
Microsoft's help went beyond the initial migration to Azure. In fact, the Microsoft team has become a core extension of the team, from sales and marketing to build.
Says AK: "Microsoft has gone beyond just helping with the migration and then being there to call whenever things go wrong. Now they are there as we make critical decisions, providing advice and guidance around architecture, cost components, scaling the system out."
"We were overwhelmed with the support from Microsoft. Not only did their advice help to de-risk our approach, but we received dedicated support from a local engineering team that ensured any issues were ironed out quickly. We had some of the smartest people specialising in cloud architecture working with my team to help develop and help accelerate our modernisation journey. We were also given a direct line to the product teams to help us tweak and review our architecture throughout the process."
A world of connected vehicles
These days Coretex delivers compliance and fleet management solutions to connected vehicles around the world.
"We now manage more than 70,000 vehicles around the globe and monitor everything that happens in the vehicle, from engine analytics, to the quality of the product as it's being shipped," says AK.
"It was through our partnership with Microsoft that we were able to achieve this scale of growth," AK says simply. "The support we got from the team in the early days was second to none and we are so glad we chose a tech partner that was established in the market. Without the background knowledge and experience of the team it would have been impossible to grow to where we are today."
Jan 26, 2022	| Microsoft New Zealand News Centre
Azure express mail: Datam cloud migration gets the stamp of approval
The new taste makers: Kiwi honey brand Comvita goes virtual to transform health through our tastebuds
Jan 20, 2022	| Susanna Ray
The art of diplomacy gets a tech makeover, looking beyond coffee and corridors to a post-pandemic world
Natural disaster recovery: How an Earthquake Commission shake-up is putting Kiwis on safer ground


From the world's tallest buildings to its driest places, Xylem - Applied Water Systems brands provide solutions to keep the water flowing, while sustainably managing our most precious resource.
Lowara plays its part in Bahrain's global ambitions.
Pumping up the power in Cyprus.


SOUTH BEND - Dorothy (VanScyok) Crowder, 65, of Modesto, Calif., formerly of South Bend. died May 15 in Kaiser Foundation Hospital, Modesto, of natural causes. Survivors include her husband, Donald; a son, William VanScyok of South Bend; a stepdaughter, Sarah James of Toulune City, Calif.; and a stepson, Bryan Crowder of Antelope, Calif. Services will be at 2 p.m. Thursday in St. Mary Polish National Church, where friends may call one hour before services. Bubb Funeral Chapel, Mishawaka, is handling arrangements.


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Faculty of Science Graduation – 19 July 2021 at 18:00
19 July 2021 | Directors Roxanne Harris and Evan Zerf. Videography Oatmeal Productions, Peter Harper and Jarryd Visual Studios. Video Edit Michael van Ryneveld, Sean Sivertsen, Sean Chalkley, Peter Harper. Photos Lerato Maduna.
With COVID-19 restrictions rendering it impossible to host in-person graduation ceremonies, UCT honours 667 graduates from the Faculty of Science in a virtual ceremony on Monday, 19 July 2021, with musical performances and social media elements created to add some fun and excitement. We congratulate the July 2021 graduates on their academic success during an exceptionally challenging year.
You can also watch the zero-rated version of this video on Vula.
UCT hosts Parent Orientation 2023 30 Jan 2023
Vice-Chancellor's welcome message for new UCT students 27 Jan 2023
UCT vice-chancellor shares a message to matriculants joining UCT in 2023 20 Jan 2023
A season's greetings message from the Chancellor to the UCT community 22 Dec 2022
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Nike + iPod Exercise
The Nike + iPod Sport Kit Sensor and Receiver. See more iPod pictures.
HowStuffWorks 2007
Over the last few years, warnings about the health risks associated with obesity have become increasingly dire. At the same time, computers, game consoles and other electronic devices have become increasingly present in people's homes. So it's not surprising that many new gadgets, from the Nintendo Wii to the ExerStation console controller, combine technology with fitness.
The Nike + iPod Sport Kit is similar. Essentially, it combines a portable music player with a pedometer -- two devices that runners have used for years. But the Sport Kit is considerably more advanced than an ordinary pedometer. It uses circuitry, radio waves and software to track and report on a person's workout.
The Kit has two components -- a sensor and a receiver, both of which are about an inch (2.5 centimeters) long. The sensor fits into a small space under the insole of a Nike+ shoe. The receiver plugs into an iPod Nano.
The Nano is not included, but it is required for the system to work. It provides battery power for the receiver and a user interface for the workout software. Runners use their Nano's click wheel to control the software, which is accessible through the "Nike+ iPod" menu. The workout software lets people:
Create workout playlists
See how far and how fast they've run as well as how many calories they've burned
View statistics about past workouts
Set workout goals
 All iPod Nanos shipped after July 13, 2006 come with the workout software already installed. Older Nanos can automatically download the software using the iPod Update feature in iTunes.
In addition to providing power and a user interface, the Nano tells runners how the workout is progressing. A computerized voice describes how far they've run, how quickly and how far away the destination is.
The Nano's flash drive also provides storage space for workout data. When synched, the Nano transfers that data to a PC or Mac. The computer's iTunes software can automatically upload the data to a Nike+ account. At the Nike+ Web site, runners can view workout statistics and send challenges to other runners. People can also use the site's MapIt feature to map and share their routes.
This user-submitted route begins near the HowStuffWorks office.
All of this data comes from the interaction between two devices -- the Nike + iPod sensor and receiver. We'll look at them in more detail next.
More iPods
iPod Touch


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