David P. Steensma, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School in Boston, discussed how to use results from molecular genetic tests in the diagnosis and evaluation of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes. Below, we summarize his approach.
This material was repurposed from "How I use molecular genetic tests to evaluate patients who have or may have myelodysplastic syndromes," published in the October 18, 2018, issue of Blood.
Next-generation sequencing (NGS) assays that test for subsets of MDS-associated gene mutations at the DNA level are widely available in clinical practice, but we are still learning how best to use these assays.
NGS results may aid in selecting treatment or transplant decision making for MDS patients in selected circumstances.
Caution should be used in interpreting NGS results, given the high degree of allelic heterogeneity in MDS-associated genes.
As NGS panels become less expensive, it seems likely that they will move earlier in the diagnostic testing algorithm for patients with cytopenias.
Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are defined by the presence of persistent blood cytopenias associated with certain characteristic morphologic changes in blood and marrow cells. However, none of these morphologic findings is specific for MDS and the assessment of dysplasia is to some extent subjective. Therefore, to diagnose MDS, the 2016 World Health Organization (WHO) classification continues to require finding >10 percent dysplastic cells in more than one hematopoietic lineage, an abnormal karyotype, or an increase in myeloblasts (TABLE).
In the past 10 years, though, researchers have discovered more than 40 recurrent, MDS-associated gene mutations. This has raised hope that molecular genetic testing for these mutations might help clarify the diagnosis in ambiguous cases where patients present with cytopenias and nondiagnostic marrow morphologic findings.
Next-generation sequencing (NGS) assays that test for subsets of these MDS-associated gene mutations at the DNA level are now widely available in clinical practice and are frequently employed in diagnostic evaluation. As a hematology community, however, we are still learning how best to use these assays, both for the evaluation of patients with cytopenias who might have MDS and in patients with established MDS.
The following four cases illustrate some of the potential benefits and challenges related to the use of molecular genetic testing in clinical practice.
A 72-year-old woman was found to have macrocytic anemia after she saw a new primary-care physician and mentioned increased fatigue. Her white blood cell (WBC) count and absolute neutrophil count were within normal limits, and the blood smear showed no abnormal leukocytes. There was no obvious explanation for her cytopenias based on her medications or basic laboratory studies, including serum chemistries, vitamin B12 and red cell folate levels, and a serum protein electrophoresis.
Her primary-care physician requested that a marrow aspiration and biopsy be performed. Marrow morphology was nondiagnostic: 30 percent cellular (normocellular for age), with only rare dysplastic megakaryocytes representing <10 percent of cells in that lineage. Flow cytometry was reported as unremarkable, and the karyotype was normal female metaphase in 20 metaphases.
A 95-gene NGS panel showed no pathogenic single nucleotide variants or small insertions/deletions and read count analysis showed no copy number alterations. The patient was told that she had idiopathic cytopenia of undetermined significance (ICUS), and observation was recommended.
Commentary on Case 1: NGS panels can be useful for helping rule out a clonal disorder because they have a relatively high negative predictive value for MDS. A small proportion of patients with MDS will have negative results on an NGS panel; however, the finding of a negative result on a well-designed panel in an ambiguous case such as this one should prompt consideration of an alternative diagnosis. In this case, over time, it became clear that the patient had excessive alcohol consumption and experienced pathologic grief after the loss of her husband. After she was provided appropriate psychosocial support and discontinued use of alcohol, her blood counts returned to normal.
It can be argued that a patient like this one could be followed serially over time, sparing the expense of an NGS panel (and of a marrow biopsy). However, especially for patients with one or more cytopenias, there is often considerable worry about an evolving clonal disorder, which may co-exist with other potential causes of cytopenias, including alcohol use. When NGS panels are used, they must be interpreted in the context of the information obtained from morphology and conventional cytogenetic testing. As NGS panels become less expensive, it seems likely that they will move earlier in the diagnostic testing algorithm for patients with cytopenias.
A 67-year-old man was referred to our center after he was found to have macrocytic anemia, which persisted for nine months and was slightly worse at the time of initial evaluation. His WBC count and differential were unremarkable, and his platelet count was at the lower end of the normal range (188×109/L). His previous blood counts had been normal except for mild normocytic anemia noted at the time of a bacterial pneumonia three years earlier, which eventually resolved. There were no medications or comorbid conditions that were felt likely be contributing to his cytopenias, and he did not drink alcohol.
The patient was a physician with extensive previous exposure to fluoroscopy that raised concern for an exposure-related MDS, and therefore, he underwent a bone marrow aspirate and biopsy. This showed a 40 percent cellular marrow with rare megaloblastoid or binucleate erythroid cells, representing <10 percent of nucleated erythroid precursors. Flow cytometry was unremarkable, and the karyotype was normal male metaphase in all 20 metaphases tested.
However, a molecular genetic panel showed a DNMT3A R882H mutation with 14.6 percent variant allele frequency (VAF). The patient was concerned that he was evolving to MDS.
Commentary on Case 2: When a mutation is present in an older patient with a cytopenia, especially a mutation commonly associated with clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP; including DNMT3A, TET3, or ASXL1 at a VAF<20%), it raises the possibility that the mutation and the cytopenia may be unrelated. Still, research has shown that patients with clonal cytopenias of indeterminate significance (CCUS; defined as the presence of unexplained persistent cytopenias and mutations in leukemia-associated driver genes yet do not meet WHO criteria for MDS or acute myeloid leukemia [AML]) have a substantial risk of progression to AML or MDS. The risk is greatest for those with a higher mutation burden (VAF >20%), more than one mutation, or a mutation in a splicing factor.
In the future, it is possible that patients with certain mutation patterns may be able to be diagnosed as "MDS without dysplasia," given their shortened life expectancy and a natural disease history that is similar to that observed with MDS diagnosed using current WHO criteria.
A 64-year-old woman who had not had laboratory tests in more than five years presented with pancytopenia and underwent marrow aspiration and biopsy, which was consistent with MDS with excess blasts type I. Multilineage dysplasia was present, including 10 percent ring sideroblasts. The karyotype showed monosomy 7 in 6/20 metaphases, del20q and loss of the X chromosome in 8/20 metaphases, and 6 normal female metaphases. Mutation testing showed SF3B1 K700E (VAF=26.8%) and TP53 V197M (VAF=16.0%).
Commentary on Case 3: Molecular testing in patients with an established diagnosis of MDS can provide information that may influence risk stratification and, in some cases, treatment selection. For example, the presence of a mutation in TP53, ETV6, ASXL1, EZH2, or RUNX1 effectively raises an MDS patient's International Prognostic Scoring System risk stratification by one risk group and has been associated with poor overall survival. With the exception of rare targetable mutations, such as the IDH1/IDH2 mutations for which U.S. Food and Drug Administration–approved drugs are available (approved for patients with relapsed or refractory, IDH1– or IDH2-mutated AML), though, NGS results have relatively little influence on drug selection outside the context of a clinical trial.
A 72-year-old man had moderate splenomegaly, liver enlargement, and a few retroperitoneal lymph nodes that were also enlarged in the 2- to 3-cm range. His blood counts included a hemoglobin of 11.1 g/dL, mean corpuscular volume 93 fL, platelets of 140×109/L, and WBC of 6.65×109/L with 31 percent monocytes, 36 percent neutrophils, and 24 percent lymphocytes.
Bone marrow biopsy was hypercellular for age and consistent with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia type 1 (CMML-1). Karyotype was normal, and an MDS-focused fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) was also unrevealing. Single-gene testing for JAK2 was wild type. Biopsy of the retroperitoneal lymph nodes demonstrated fibrosis, which was interpreted as reactive, and biopsy of the enlarged liver showed focal irregular fibrosis and areas of portal effacement.
The patient was then referred to our center to assess whether his hepatic fibrosis might be paraneoplastic due to the CMML. Molecular typing of blood demonstrated ASXL1 G642fs* in 70.6 percent of 119 sequences reads, KIT D816V in 41.8 percent of 593 reads, TET2 Q866* in 45.4 percent of 1,442 reads, and TET2 Y1255* in 46.7 percent of 302 reads.
After noting the KIT mutation, a pathologist requested outside liver biopsy, and lymph node blocks and immunoperoxidase studies revealed small aggregates of spindled cells within the fibrosis that were positive for mast cell tryptase and C-Kit and also aberrantly co-expressed CD25. The patient's serum tryptase level was found to be >500 ng/mL and he had no mast cell mediator symptoms. He was then treated on a compassionate-use protocol with midostaurin and experienced clinical improvement. After he became resistant to midostaurin, he was treated with avapritinib (BLU-285), also by compassionate use, and regained response.
Commentary on Case 4: Occasionally, NGS panels may uncover an unexpected finding that reveals an additional diagnosis or an alternative diagnosis. In this patient, the discovery of a KIT D816 mutation commonly associated with systemic mastocytosis (SM) led to additional studies, which confirmed a diagnosis of SM with associated hematologic disease and allowed selection of a targeted therapy that improved the patient's symptoms.
The likelihood of finding an additional diagnosis depends on the composition of the sequencing panel. For example, for logistic and workflow reasons, our institution uses a single NGS panel with genes associated with lymphoid, plasma cell, and myeloid disorders.
Conversely, patients who are being evaluated for a plasma cell neoplasm or lymphoproliferative disorder may be found to have a CHIP-associated mutation, which may complicate the evaluation, because these mutations are also frequently associated with myeloid neoplasms. Thus, there may be uncertainty about whether there is concomitant MDS or another myeloid neoplasm being masked by the lymphoid or plasma cell disorder, and this uncertainty may influence eligibility for a myeloma or lymphoma treatment protocol.
When NGS results are interpreted or the consideration of obtaining molecular typing in a patient with MDS or possible MDS is being assessed, caution is indicated. In most publications to date, mutations have been treated as a binary variable – wild-type or mutant – but many MDS-associated genes have a high degree of allelic heterogeneity, and the specific allele may influence phenotype or clinical behavior.
Also, mutations are often considered in isolation, but combinations of cooperating mutations may influence outcomes differently than single mutations, and mutations need to be interpreted in the context of other clinical and pathologic data.
Importantly, some observed variants detected on NGS panels are germline rather than somatic, especially those with a VAF near 50 percent. The somatic-vs.-germline distinction is important for many reasons, including allogeneic transplant donor selection, monitoring of patients for nonhematologic complications, and family counseling.
There is great variability associated with the use of molecular testing to evaluate MDS – in the available panels' sensitivity and number of genes assayed, as well as in clinicians' comfort and skill in interpreting results. Ongoing education is important, and molecular pathologists signing out reports can help clinicians with clear, up-to-date interpretations of variants.


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Burlington City man pleads guilty to murder
Authorities say Samuel James fired into a crowd, killing a man who was not his target
Burlington City man pleads guilty to murder Authorities say Samuel James fired into a crowd, killing a man who was not his target Check out this story on courierpostonline.com: https://www.courierpostonline.com/story/news/crime/2017/06/27/burlington-city-samuel-james-murder/434242001/
Jim Walsh, @jimwalsh_cp Published 7:26 p.m. ET June 27, 2017 | Updated 11:42 a.m. ET June 28, 2017
Samuel James of Burlington City has admitted he killed a bystander when he shot into a crowd on a Burlington City street in August 2016.(Photo: Photo provided)
MOUNT HOLLY - A Burlington City man admitted Tuesday he fired into a crowd on a city street, killing a man who was not his target.
Samuel James, 27, pleaded guilty to the murder of 24-year-old Byron Turner, also of Burlington City, said the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office.
At a Superior Court hearing in Mount Holly, James admitted he opened fire at a group of people on the 100 block of East Federal Street on Aug. 20, 2016.
Turner was shot in the head outside his home.
More: Prison term for man who tried to entice Burlco teen
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"Samuel James walked through a crowded street with a gun in his hand, murder on his mind, and a complete disregard for those in front of him as he fired," Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina said in a statement.
Under a plea agreement, James is to serve 30 years in prison without the possibility of parole.
"Fortunately, society will be safer over the next three decades," Coffina said.
James, a resident of the 100 block of Barclay Street, was arrested two days after the shooting at a friend's home in Barrington. He is being held on $1 million bail in Burlington County Jail.
He is to be sentenced Aug. 11 by Superior Court Judge Jeanne T. Covert.
Jim Walsh: (856) 486-2646; jwalsh@gannettnj.com
Read or Share this story: https://www.courierpostonline.com/story/news/crime/2017/06/27/burlington-city-samuel-james-murder/434242001/
Groom from Willingboro gets probation in wedding incident with teenage server
Valor achievement for Lenape High School cadet

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Employer-provided benefits costs for civilian workers in private industry and state and local governments in December 2017 averaged $11.38 per hour worked, accounting for 31.7 percent of total compensation costs, which averaged $35.87 per hour worked. The cost of benefits as a percentage of compensation has risen over the past several years from 27.4 percent of total compensation. These are among the findings of the December 2017 Employer Costs for Employee Compensation report, produced quarterly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Insurance benefits costs averaged $3.14 per hour, or 8.7 percent of total compensation, in December 2017, representing the largest nonwage employer cost. Legally required benefits costs averaged $2.63 (7.3 percent), employer costs for paid leave benefits averaged $2.55 (7.1 percent), and the cost of retirement and savings benefits averaged $1.90 (5.3 percent).
According to the BLS, private industry benefits costs averaged $10.25 per hour in December 2017, accounting for 30.4 percent of total compensation costs, which averaged $33.72 per hour worked. Private industry employer costs for insurance benefits averaged $2.70 (8.0 percent), legally required benefits averaged $2.62 (7.8 percent), paid leave benefits averaged $2.36 per hour worked (7.0 percent), and retirement and savings benefits averaged $1.29 (3.8 percent).
Health care benefits, private industry.
The average cost for health care benefits in private industry was $2.55 per hour worked (7.6 percent of total compensation) in December 2017. Among occupational groups, employer costs for health care benefits ranged from $2.75 (9.8 percent) for production, transportation, and material moving occupations to $1.06 per hour (6.7 percent) for service occupations. Health care benefits for goods-producing industries averaged $3.55 per hour (9.1 percent of total compensation), compared with $2.35 (7.2 percent) for service-producing industries.
In December 2017, state and local government benefits costs accounted for 37.4 percent of total compensation, or $18.38 per hour worked. Employer costs for insurance benefits averaged $5.82 per hour, or 11.8 percent of total compensation. The largest component of insurance costs was for health insurance, which averaged $5.68 per hour worked, or 11.5 percent of total compensation. The average cost for retirement and savings benefits in state and local governments was $5.65 per hour worked, or 11.5 percent of total compensation. Costs for legally required benefits averaged $2.72 per hour worked, or 5.5 percent of total compensation.


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Developing story: Secure Act 2.0 Retirement Provisions
DEVELOPING STORY…On December 29, 2022, the president signed into law the 2023 omnibus appropriations bill. The bill contains Secure Act 2.0 retirement provisions and an expansion of the rules for qualified charitable donations (QCDs). A QCD is a direct transfer of funds from an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) to a qualified charity. QCDs can be counted toward satisfying required minimum distributions (RMDs) for the year if certain rules are met.
Here are some highlights of the law, which is effective for the 2023 tax year:
Increase in QCD limit: Under current law, individuals who are 70½ years old or older may use a QCD to donate up to $100,000 to qualified charities directly from an IRA. Section 307 indicates that the annual IRA QCD limit of $100,000 will be indexed for inflation, effective for tax years after 2023. The bill did not indicate any change to the current QCD age and QCDs continue to be ineligible for a donation to donor-advised fund sponsors, private foundations, or supporting organizations.
Increase in IRA RMD age: The age for required minimum distribution (RMD) from an IRA is increased to 73 effective on January 1, 2023, and again to 75 starting on January 1, 2033. (IRA owners turning age 72 in 2023 would not be required to take RMDs in 2023.)
One-time, split-interest election: Section 307 includes a one-time election for a QCD to a split-interest entity. This indicates an ability for donors to make a QCD of up to $50,000 to fund one of either a Charitable Remainder Unitrust (CRUT), Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust (CRAT) or Charitable Gift Annuity (CGA)
Stay tuned for additional insights and implication of this bill.
Want more info as it becomes available?
Sign up to receive additional insight as the story develops.
Check your inbox soon for updated information.


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Displaying items by tag: Volunteering - Derby College
Hundreds Attend Ilkeston Jobs Fair
Nearly 700 people attended a jobs fair at Ilkeston Community College organised by Derby College Group (DCG) and Job Centre Plus on Tuesday (October 29).
Monday, 09 September 2019 15:45
Regional Employers Inspire Future IT Stars
A former Derby College Group (DCG) IT student has returned to the Digital Communications Academy at the Joseph Wright post 16 Academic and Arts college to inspire young people at the start of their further education careers.
Published in: Public Services News
Derby College Students Join City Centre Clean Up
Nearly 90 Public Services students from Derby College's Broomfield Hall Land-based and Leisure college in Morley joined Derby City Council's Streetpride staff and councillors to help paint, clean and spruce up the streets in part of Derby city centre.
The iconic Derby Ram statue was particularly given a new lease of life with other activities including painting bollards and benches and planting flowers.
Derby College Students Join City Clean Up Event
Around 50 Public Services students from Derby College's Broomfield Hall joined a host of other organisations and Derby City Council to give the city centre a deep clean and face lift.
The students were involved in a wide range of activities including litter picking, painting street furniture and jet washing pavements.
Published in: Broomfield Hall News
Volunteers Appeal For Derby College's Broomfield Hall
Derby College is appealing for volunteers to help restore the historic gardens at the Broomfield Hall campus. The restoration programme has been launched by Head Gardener Samantha Harvey who is working with Horticulture students at the College to develop the gardens into a visitor attraction.
The gardens were created when the original hall was built in 1873 by industrialist Charles Schwind.
They still retain the Victorian layout and the plan is to improve these further with several developments including contemporary herbaceous planning, designing; planting a sub-tropical area and installing colourful rainbow planting.
Miss Harvey, who is a former student at Derby College and then trained at the Royal Botanic Kew Gardens in London, said: "We have got big plans for the gardens at Broomfield Hall and our aim is to make these a notable visitor attraction.
"The students are obviously involved and are gaining valuable work experience to improve their employability skills. However, we would also be grateful for the input of local people who can volunteer some of their time to be part of this exciting project.
"Our main volunteer days are Mondays to Wednesdays and volunteers are obviously welcome to work as many hours as they wish with us.
"We have already had interest from people including keen gardeners, some who have retired and others who are keen to progress into the industry.
"As the work progresses, we aim to open the grounds more frequently and welcome people to tour the picturesque grounds and learn more about the different trees."
Future courses at Broomfield Hall will include a new RHS practical skills course for keen gardeners. For more information visit www.derby-college.ac.uk or telephone 0800 028 0289. For more information on volunteering opportunities, please email Samantha.harvey@derby-college.ac.uk


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Included in the package:1pc Mini PC stick,1pc Power Adapter,1pc HDMI Cable,1pc Quick Start Guide. Operation:Connect HDMI to TV or monitor,Connect Mouse and Keyboard,Connect Power,Make sure your TV or monitor is on the correct input.
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Israel in Twilight
Obituaries rarely have twist endings and the obituaries of famous people are as predictable as the rain. The obituaries for Ariel Sharon, a man who died long ago, are falling now like distant rain.
The media left invokes the ghosts of Sabra and Shatila, a bout of inter-Arab violence that he had as much to do with as Jimmy Carter did with September 11, and describes him as a controversial figure. The right and the press releases from politicians claim he embodied all the qualities of Israel and was a mythical figure whose attributes were larger than life.
Sharon was certainly a larger than life figure because, like so many Israeli generals turned politicians, he built that myth. The generals of every country are also politicians. Those who cannot hack it as politicians, usually stay colonels. Israel's most famous generals invented their own reputations and made themselves into men of myth. Some were talented fighters, none were good leaders.
Israel's predicament today is the work of two mythical generals turned prime ministers who got halfway into a program and died leaving behind a mess that no one knows how to clean up.
Rabin and Sharon began ambitious ventures and then died early on. They used forceful tactics, steamrolling the opposition, bribing anyone who could be bribed and then left the project in the hands of their creepy and inept successors; Peres and Olmert.
Rabin's peace process destroyed Israel's national security and revitalized terrorism as a force in political affairs in Israel and around the world. It was the single worst decision in the short history of the modern State of Israel. To find a worse decision by an Israeli leader, it would be necessary to reach back to the Hasmonean kingdoms thousands of years ago.
It is not inconceivable that Rabin might have turned away from the peace process, especially as the public began to realize what a disaster it was. Rabin had never been especially enthusiastic about the idea, it had been thrust on him by the fringe left and he had grasped it as a hedge against the political oblivion of a Labor Party that had lost credibility in a new multicultural Israel no longer dominated by an elite that aspired to a Socialist myth of cooperatives and political bureaucracies.
That door was shut permanently by Rabin's death under mysterious circumstances at the hands of a gunman who was repeatedly urged to kill him by an informant working for the security services and who should never have been able to get within close range of the most protected man in Israel in a country whose security is second to none.
Conspiracy theories abound, but conspiracy theories do not bring back the dead.
Rabin became the martyr of the peace process and his death is commemorated annually and intertwined with the commitment to peace. Schoolchildren are brought to hear about Rabin's legacy and the importance of following in his footsteps. Generations of Israeli youth were sacrificed to the peace process, their blood shed in the name of peace, until Israelis grew tired of the nightmare.
Sharon's rise to power was made possible by the disaster that Rabin created. Israelis had attempted to make earlier course corrections by voting for Netanyahu over Peres. But Netanyahu, then as now, proved not to have the backbone to change course and stop the terrorism. And so, after Barak's disastrous retreat from Lebanon, Sharon's hour came.
There had only been and still are only two politically acceptable options in Israel for dealing with terrorism; either negotiated appeasement or holding the line. The latter meant making occasional forays after a terrorist atrocity into the territories under Palestinian Authority control, arresting a few wanted terrorists and then pulling back, and hoping the public would be satisfied.
Voters expected Sharon to go further. And he did.
After the Passover Massacre in 2002, Sharon issued a brief statement in which he dropped one phrase. "As we speak, the IDF is already inside the 'Mukta'a' (Arafat's compound) in Ramallah." Israeli forces took the compound, a previously unprecedented act, and arrested Marwan Barghouti, the terrorist leader behind much of the violence, who has yet to be released despite international protests.
In a speech to the Knesset, Sharon said, "Our dead lie in a long row: women and children, young and old. And we stand facing them, facing the vacuum created by their murders, and we are speechless."
"The murderous gangs have a leader, a purpose, and a directing hand. They have one mission: to chase us out of here, from everywhere — from our home in Elon Moreh and from the supermarket in Jerusalem, from the cafe in Tel Aviv and from the restaurant in Haifa, from the synagogue in Netzarim — where the murderers slaughtered... worshippers, walking in their prayer shawls to morning prayers — and from the Seder table in Netanya."
"And there is one dispatcher: Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasir Arafat."
But it would not be Arafat who would chase Israeli Jews out of the synagogue in Netzarim. Sharon would do that. All that would be left for Arafat's gangs would be to burn down the synagogue after its worshipers were gone.
Of the two options, negotiating or holding the line, Sharon had decided to choose a third option.
Few commanders like to do the predictable thing and Israeli generals have a weakness for seeking an impossible alternative and then making it work. Sometimes they succeed, other times they fail.
Sharon aspired to cut the Gordian Knot of negotiations and terrorism by putting as much space, real or virtual, as possible between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli population. There were to be no more negotiations and no more fruitless raids. Arafat could have the land he already controlled and would be kept out of the rest. It was a retreat meant as a consolidation.
The strategy was not an original one. The 'separation wall' that every trendy lefty denounces was begun by Rabin. The unilateral withdrawal from Gaza and the ethnic cleansing of the Jews living there wrapped up the strategy. But it was a bad strategy from the start.
Separation worked and it didn't. Israeli casualties dropped sharply since 2002. The days of the constant urban suicide bombing have receded into history. Israeli parents still worry, but the atmosphere isn't what it was a decade ago. Terrorist attacks are less successful than before and many Israelis are once again able to convince themselves that a West Bank withdrawal will stop putting soldiers and settlers at risk and end the terrorism threat once and for all.
Sharon, like Rabin, left behind an unfinished strategy, but his was the more tangled one. If Rabin was making a terrible mistake, many wonder whether Sharon had a bigger plan than mere separation. Did he intend for the Hamas takeover to happen all along to bring down the Palestinian Authority and end the farce of empty negotiations? Did he have an endgame that would have shifted the strategic landscape?.
Death has closed the door on these questions as firmly as it did on Rabin's second thoughts.
After Sharon, the country has floundered with no meaningful strategy except the old one of holding a shrinking line. The separation wall helped keep out suicide bombers, but not rockets and for the first time in a long time, rockets struck Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
Netanyahu has operated clumsily in the strategic twilight zone. On economic issues, he is a polished player, but his only strategic vision is to stick to the same defensive pathway, negotiating defensively and fighting defensively.
Israel's conservatives are overrun with the princes and princesses, the children and grandchildren of great men and women who are themselves diffident or destructive, who have no vision, but have grown up expecting to have political power handed to them. Sharon's victory was a symptom of the inability of that generation to present credible leaders either from the right or the left.
The country's current predicament was shaped by two men, one born in 1922 and the other in 1928; both products of the old left and of the military establishment. The baby boomer new left has done its damage, but there has been little in the way of leadership from that generation. Now that generation has grown old, it has done a decent job of modernizing and privatizing Israel, but it has no answers to its strategic questions. It can't even begin to formulate the questions.
The Netanyahus and Baraks, the Israeli leaders who were born in the forties, are now in their sixties, and it isn't likely that they will dominate Israel into their seventies and eighties the way that Sharon, Rabin and Peres did. Their successors, men like Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett, were born in the sixties and seventies and they are now coming into their own.
It will be up to Generation X to solve Israel's strategic problem. That is assuming that they ever get the chance.
Rabin's strategy put Israel on the path to oblivion. Sharon's strategy did little more than continue the process of buying time. Instead of a grand vision, he settled for a useless oral agreement with the US that Obama disavowed, another round of expulsions and no plan for fighting the growing threat of the terrorist states on the other side of the shifting border.
Strength is not a substitute for vision. A vision may need strong men to carry it out, but elevating strong men with no vision is a recipe for disaster. The military mind often considers the best answer for the moment and has a weakness for conventional wisdom and the advice of experts.
Israel fell into the trap of allowing military men and security figures to make too many decisions that
should have been made by popular consensus and the results were disastrous. And in their absence it has failed to develop leaders, instead allowing their place to be taken by generals and the post-ideological descendants of ideological figures.
The peace process is a gaping wound that Israel is unable to close. The public has no meaningful representation, instead an incestuous gang of quarreling post-ideological politicians who pretend to stand for the right or the left or for pragmatic solutions, for the Russians and the Haredim, for the Sefardim and for the working people, are squandering the time that the country is already short on for their own careers and their own wealth.
Israel has military experts and economic experts and both groups are talented and capable, but they lack the combination of vision and determination that makes for leadership. There are too many Netanyahus, smart and competent men, who know what needs to be done and lack the determination to do it, and there are too many Sharons, who have the strength and determination, but not the wisdom.
This is not an usual state of affairs in human history, but Israel cannot afford to exist in twilight, going along with the flow until something changes. If it were in a peaceful part of the world, if its people were not murderously hated by billions, if it were not constantly at war, it could move through an undistinguished prosperity without worry or doubt; but that is not its fate.
The Jewish State cannot persist in twilight. It will either fall into the darkness of an old night or step into the light of a new day.
For the lot of good Sharon did for his country his soul shall not have to endure further cleansing as "Twilight "was what I thought off where G'd had put Sharon into for eight years to have him endure his punishment in this life rather than in the next for him having removed Jews from Jewish soil.
Leaders like the ones you mention can not lead anymore in the traditional way we are used to thanks to them standing in the lime-light 24/7 thanks to the all seeing cloud of constant communication and the surrounding world reacting to each and every aspect of their every deed and word, trampling any budding plan and idea in the core by national and international waves of comment and criticism, be it positive or negative it shall prevent maturing. Israel shall in a manner have to return to the period before the people asked for a "King to be placed above them like the peoples surrounding us". There shall have to be a sort of totally new and to be tested "crowd-governing" even if this crowd consists of the elders and judges as Yitro had advised.
Davieboy said...
Hi Daniel, I tend to read your posts every day and generally agree with you on most things. It helps that you write so fluidly and articulately.
I realise I've neglected to thank you for your excellent essays, so....thanks!
mindrider, or the rogue warlords and prophets who were the judges
davieboy, thank you, I appreciate that
So how do you stop the endless cycle of killing? As I see it the Arabs will kill all the Jews or the Jews kill all the Arabs. It is a hate so old and so deep that it seems to have no end but Genocide. The Jewish State seems to have the bravest people on earth led by the most inept. So what is to be done?----Ray
Ray, it could be worse. What if Israel were led by our inepts?
Jew613 said...
Sultan, there are some leaders who have the vision and determination but they cant seem to win elections. Dr. Aryeh Eldad, or Michael Ben-Ari are the perfect examples.
Yes I know and that's the problem
Daniel, my biggest fear is that you are correct. I like Netanyahu, but fear that, despite his rhetoric, he may not have the stones to stand up for the hard line needed. Anyone who is not a Jew hater, or an Israel hater, can clearly see that peace will never be made with the PLO/PA/Hamas, etc. The younger pols, like Naftali Bennet, look to be the answer. Let's hope Israel survives to get to their leadership.
Victor said...
Mr. Greenfield, if strong & determined leaders with a vision cannot
get elected then I wonder what kind of vision they have. What in your opinion would constitute a vision which could galvanize the Israeli electorate to elect leaders who possess such a vision? It's one thing to talk vaguely about a vision which would enable Israel to step into the light, but are you able to describe such a vision? You seem to imply that you have some ideas in this regard.
A great leadership, at least in the realm of ideas, is provided by Dr Martin Sherman. He has a very well argued plan on how to move forward. Alex
a vision may need to be more internal in Israeli politics, rather than something you win elections with, that's the problem
Winning elections in Israeli politics involves dealing with people's grievances and there are a whole bunch of those
Buying the Arabs out, as Feiglin advises, seems to be the only answer.
The last chapter has not yet been written...Between Syrian and Iraqi refugees + the Palestinian population, it's hard to see how the Jordanian monarchy can survive more than a little while longer. You could say it will only last as long as Israel lets it last. With fall of Abdallah, the entire strategic jigsaw puzzle will be jumbled. Who knows where that goes? But in the end, that'll be Palestine. West of the river will be Israel. It'll take a quality of ruthlessness that we're not used to allowing ourselves to express; i.e., in the upheaval, we will have throw them out. The world won't like it...So what's new?
Olmert smh
Sharon Gush Katif:(
Keliata
malca said...
how do you define cycle?
When did you meet a Jew who wished anyone G-d forbid dead?
DenisO said...
I think everyone will agree that the problem is the "hate" generated in the Mosques, that keeps the Mullahs in power. It must always be there, whether directed externally or against opposing Muslim sects. People there are not that different from people everywhere; they all struggle to survive, but their leaders can convince them it is a holy thing to die for hate.
The West is full of Muslims, now, and those societies are targets of the same power-hungry religious leaders, whose hate-somebody strategy keeps them in control. Until the World "realizes" the danger inherent in this so-called religion, Israel will be the favored target of opportunity, for obvious reasons. Sometimes, special tactics are needed to convince...
The Muslim world needs to be freed from its religious leaders, and that should be the focus of the fight.
mushroom said...
There are too many Netanyahus, smart and competent men, who know what needs to be done and lack the determination to do it, and there are too many Sharons, who have the strength and determination, but not the wisdom.
As you say, this is far from unusual. It's twilight all over the world. We are probably all going one way or the other together.
My comment on forwarding this article to friends, most former military officers:
On Ariel Sharon's death, a detailed look at the history that has led to a current wishy-washy Country. Once upon a time, a stable Israel existed as a feared, aggressively defensive Nation. Politically-correct thinking and total dependence on America has a fearful leadership with their backs against the wall, and they can't see a way out. They seem to cringe, waiting for the flash of destruction. There is no ally in the U.S. Government, so they better get back on their ass-kicking horse and change their image. Punishment, quickly applied without explanation, speaks volumes, and gets their enemies looking for weaker, more passive targets of their hate-religion.
williambilek said...
This is the best and most insightful article that I have read in my memory (don't want to use the hyperbole "ever"!)
It clearly points out that democracy in Israel (as elsewhere) has been subverted by ego, greed, personal ambition, and not what is best for the country and the people. (Elsewhere, as you pointed out, it is not so much an existential question.)
There is no political, diplomatic solution to a problem where the immutable goal of one party to the conflict is to end the existence of the other. There is an inevitable storm approaching. Surely there is some leader, somewhere, that is prepared to offer the electorate a voice, a clear choice, which will entail a groundswell support for ACTING now; facing down a threatening "international community"; accepting the cost in blood, treasure, lives, and the RISK of actually losing, as opposed to the CERTAINTY of doing so by continuing the present retreat strategy.
We Jews are going to have to fight like we believe that Israel is our G-d-given land. We will have to be more afraid of what G-d will think of us for not doing it than what the rest of the world will think of us for doing it. We will have to stop making excuses for those want us dead. We have to stop thinking that if we "understood" our enemies and they "understood" us, then there could be peace. We need to act like we are in a war of survival, because we are.


text:
Through Mid-May, the Pace for LBM Deals, Openings, and Closures Tops Last Year's
Deals (blue pins), greenfield openings (green), and closures (red) of LBM facilities so far in 2019 (Webb Analytics data)
Through May 10, we have seen a total of 127 LBM dealer locations that were acquired, opened for the first time, or closed, Webb Analytics reports. That's about 18% better than the count at the same period in 2018.
Of those 127, a total of 72 facilities were acquired, there were 32 greenfield openings, and 23 facilities closed. Here's a roundup of what has happened since mid-April:
Kodiak Building Partners bought Christensen Lumber, the No. 69 firm on the 2018 ProSales 100. Christensen is headquarters in Nebraska and has three operations in that state as well as a showroom serving the Kansas City market.
SRS Distribution opened greenfield facilities in Delray Beach, FL; Medina, MN; Austin, TX; Kansas City, KS; Alexandria, VA; and Bristol, PA.
ABC Supply opened new greenfield branches in Rosenberg, TX, and Avondale, AZ.
L&W Supply, a unit of ABC Supply, bought Metro Building Products of Denver.
Professional Builders Supply entered upstate South Carolina with the opening of a facility in Taylors, SC.
Salt Lake City-based Sunroc bought Sierra Truss of Willard, UT.
Central Network Retail Group plans to open seven stores in California in locations formerly operated by Orchard Supply Hardware. The stores will be called Outdoor Supply Hardware. Locations and opening dates haven't been revealed yet.
Bliffert Lumber opened in Germantown, WI, taking over the space formerly occupied by Neu's Supply Line, which closed in late June 2018.
Travis Roofing Supply opened a branch in Nashville, TN.
Rasure Lumber, based in Goodland, KS, with a branch nearby in Colby, has been sold. The new owners already own Herman Lumber in Burlington, CO, and Cheyenne Wells (CO) Lumber. Plans are to rename the Rasure yards as Hoover Lumber, after new owner Cody Hoover.
Erickson Lumber in Hibbing, MN, was purchased by a local contractor and renamed Yoder Building Supplies.
Greenley Lumber in Independence, IA, closed.
Youngblood Lumber, a hardwood specialty shop based in Minneapolis, has closed.
The home center Busy Beaver expanded again, this time in Elkins, WV.
The current owners of Hibbert Lumber, Davis, CA, plan to retire. The fate of their company remains uncertain. Story
A contractor in Cedar Rapids, IA, bought both Ogden & Adams and Cedar Rapids Lumber in separate transactions and then renamed Cedar Rapids Lumber as a branch of Ogden & Adams. The deals closed on Feb. 28 but weren't reported until early May.
Fisher Lumber & Hardware, Santa Monica, CA, has given early notice that it plans to close in August 2020.
Franceski Lumber in Forest City, PA, plans to liquidate and go out of business before year-end. Story
An unidentified lumberyard in Michigan that was founded in 1905 and claims $4.5 million in annual revenue has put itself up for sale. No asking price was listed. Sale notice
An unnamed lumberyard in Perry County, IL, is for sale for $1.05 million. It claims $1.8 million in revenue last year. The sales price includes more than $780,000 worth of inventory, real estate, and equipment. Sale notice
Boise Cascade has completed its acquisition of Birmingham, AL-based American Lumber Distributors.


Our friends and collaborators at USC created a short video on the recent field season at the Maya site El Zotz in Guatemala. We spent about a week there developing 3D models of the various artifacts and excavations. See if you can find the Kastner Research Group members in the video.


Abe Tukhi is Vice President of Internal Sales and Dealer Operations at Westlake Financial Services.
Mr. Tukhi brings over 20 years of work experience from the banking and finance industry. Notable positions and roles include; executive management at a start-up auto finance company and management positions at Bay View Bank and AmeriCredit.
He joined Westlake Financial in 2011 and held the roles of Regional Sales Manager, Director of Corporate Sales and, most recently, AVP – Internal Sales. In his current position, he is responsible for Westlake's internal dealer operations and market-share growth. Abe's team offers a multitude of benefits to dealers, such as an experienced team of service professionals and streamlining services.
Mr. Tukhi holds a Masters of Business Administration (M.B.A) and a Bachelor's Degree (B.A) from the University of California at Irvine.


text:
Q: Check if Token belongs to a member of Admin group I have a code that should be able to tell if an application is running under an administrator user.
Right now, I can get the process's token and extract the SID of the owner of the process. Works well. So I have this "SecurityIdentifier" object, but I don't know how to check if it is indeed a member of admin group.
So if any one knows a way, that would be great.
However, now, I found a way to create a WindowsIdentity object from the token I retrieved from the process and it seems that it does the impersonating currently. But then, after calling the WindowsPrincipal.IsInRole method, I get a big "Access Denied" error from the Win32. So I actually hit an other dead end.
Any idea?
It is of no importance if the answer relies on WinAPI or .NetFramework.
Thanks

A: Well, after checking the source code of WindowsIdentity and WindowsPrincipal classes, I found that the reason for getting "Access Denied" was the way I retrieved the token in first place.
Let's start from beginning:
WindowsIdentity is a class representing a process/thread token. So a way to initialize one is to provide a token. In my case I retrieved the token from another process using the OpenProcessToken function.
This works great for querying the token data and retrieving information. As in my case I did. But when used next to WindowsPrincipal class, it is not enough.
WindowsPrincipal.IsInRole use the CheckTokenMembershipEx to see if the token belongs to a user group. But to be able to use the CheckTokenMembershipEx function, you need to impersonate the process/thread token. WindowsPrincipal.IsInRole is completely aware of that and will create an impersonating token using the DuplicateTokenEx if the provided WindowsIdentity has the impersonating level of None.
Unfortunately tho, I made a mistake. When opening the process to get the token, I didn't expect this behavior. In-fact I didn't even know that WindowsPrincipal.IsInRole uses the CheckTokenMembershipEx function under the hood. So I didn't asked for Duplicate access when opening the process token. This resulted in DuplicateTokenEx to fail and showing of "Access Denied" message. Adding the right, solved everything.
Here is the code for anyone interested:
    public static WindowsIdentity GetProcessIdentity(Process process)
    {
        SafeTokenHandle token = SafeTokenHandle.InvalidHandle;
        try
        {
            if (!Methods.OpenProcessToken(process.Handle, TokenAccessLevels.Query | TokenAccessLevels.Duplicate, out token))
            {
                throw new Win32Exception();
            }
            return new WindowsIdentity(token.DangerousGetHandle());
        }
        finally
        {
            token.Dispose();
        }
    }

   private static TokenElevationType GetTokenElevation(IntPtr token)
    {
        var elevationTypeLength = Marshal.SizeOf(typeof (int));
        var elevationType = (TokenElevationType) 0;
        if (!Methods.GetTokenInformation(token,
            TokenInformationClass.TokenElevationType,
            ref elevationType, elevationTypeLength, out elevationTypeLength))
        {
            throw new Win32Exception();
        }
        return elevationType;
    }

    public static bool IsProcessElevated(Process process)
    {
        WindowsIdentity processIdentity = GetProcessIdentity(process);
        var tokenElevation = GetTokenElevation(processIdentity.Token);
        if (tokenElevation == TokenElevationType.Limited)
        {
            return false;
        }
        if (tokenElevation == TokenElevationType.Full)
        {
            return true;
        }
        // Do we have a Default elevation type? Then the process elevation status depends directly
        // to the owner user being a member of the Administrative group.
        return new WindowsPrincipal(processIdentity).IsInRole(WindowsBuiltInRole.Administrator);
    }

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: How to print as a string a callable object? I think there should be a question like this already, but I haven't found it. It could be because I don't know the exact concepts/words about what I'm looking for, but here is the example:
I have this code:
group_1 = ['Hello', 'world', '!']
group_2 = [1,23,4,2,5,2]
group_3 = ['A', 'K', 'L']

all_groups = [group_1, group_2, group_3]
for i in all_groups:
    print(i, ':', len(i))

It gives this output:
['Hello', 'world', '!'] : 3
[1, 23, 4, 2, 5, 2] : 6
['A', 'K', 'L'] : 3

And this is the expected output:
'group_1' : 3
'group_2' : 6
'group_3' : 3

As you can see, I'm trying to print the names of the callable objects group_1, group_2, and group_3. Any suggestions?

A: Restructure your code so that it uses a dictionary to store the group names.
I would not recommend approaches that use anything related to reflection, the inspect module, or locals(), as described (or linked to) in the comments. The names of the variables in all_groups list aren't preserved when you add them to all_groups; even if they were, accessing these names would likely be more complex than just using a dictionary:
data = {
    'group_1': ['Hello', 'world', '!'],
    'group_2': [1,23,4,2,5,2],
    'group_3': ['A', 'K', 'L']
}

for k, v in data.items():
    print(k, ':', len(v))

This outputs:
group_1 : 3
group_2 : 6
group_3 : 3

A: The following code:
all_groups = [group_1, group_2, group_3]
for i in all_groups:
    print(i, ':', len(i))

Takes the values of those three existing variables group_1, group_2 and group_3 and puts them into a list with three items.
When you iterate over that list and print the items, you get their values, not their names (which is a concept reserved for humans, because we cannot understand code otherwise).
If you want to store their names, you store them in a dictionary:
all_groups = {
  'group_1': group_1,
  'group_2': group_2,
  'group_3': group_3
}

And then print their name using:
for k,v in all_groups.items():
    print(k, ':', len(v))

A: You can just use globals(), because why not:
group_1 = ['Hello', 'world', '!']
group_2 = [1,23,4,2,5,2]
group_3 = ['A', 'K', 'L']

all_groups = ['group_1', 'group_2', 'group_3']

for grp in all_groups:
    print(locals()['grp'], ':', len(globals()[grp]))


SKU: BBot 1008. Category: Tinctures.
German Chamomile Flower Tincture (Matricaria recutita) is from one of the two plants known as chamomile: the more popular German chamomile (this product) (Matricaria recutita) and Roman, or English, chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile ). Although they belong to different species, they are used to treat similar conditions. Both are used to calm frayed nerves, to treat various digestive disorders, to relieve muscle spasms, and to treat a range of skin conditions and mild infections.
New Products, Herbal & Mineral Clay Powders, Single Herbal Infusions, Products Beginning With "M"


COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov. 9, 2016 – ZED Digital is proud to announce it has been selected as the 2016 BizTech Awards Honoree in the Minority-Owned Business Enterprise category. The Columbus Business First BizTech Awards recognizes the people, organizations and companies that make an impact on technology and innovations in Central Ohio.
More than 75 nominations were submitted in total for this year's BizTech Awards. However, only one was selected as the honoree for this year's Minority-Owned Business Enterprise award. The award recognizes ZED for its leadership and innovation with data-driven website design and software development.
The newspaper will devote a special section in print published on Friday, December 9 for all honorees.


text:
GFA has chosen Chris Hughton because they can manipulate him – Sam George claims
Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram, Samuel Nartey George
Tue, 24 Jan 2023 Source: www.ghanaweb.com
Samuel Nartey George, the Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram has outlined a major reason why the Ghana Football Association has reportedly chosen Chris Hughton as the next Black Stars coach.
The Black Stars coaching role became vacant on the night of Friday, December 2, 2022, after Otto Addo resigned following Ghana's elimination from the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
With many speculations in the media space about who has been appointed, Sam George, on Joy Prime show (January 23) stated that a decision has already been made on the successor of Otto Addo and the person is former Newcastle United coach Chris Hughton.
He also alleged that Chris Hughton became the obvious choice for the Ghana Football Association because he is the one who will not object to the interference and manipulation of top officials during call-ups.
"That job has been given to Chris Hughton already. They've given it to him because they want someone they can manipulate. Someone they can use for their business. Someone whose selections they can interfere with. Let's not waste our time. People are using GFA to feed their families so let's go and look for money to eat," he said.
Chris Hughton was reportedly neck to neck with former Egypt coach, Hector Cuper and Manchester United assistant manager Steve McClaren.
Meanwhile, former Black Stars coach, James Kwasi Appiah, has confirmed that he has applied for the job as he hopes to handle the team for the third time.
2022 CHAN: Black Galaxies exit due to lack of investment - Coach JE Sarpong
From Techiman to Southampton: The story of Kamaldeen Sulemana
How many fans know him? - Coach Opeele blasts 'novice' Sam George over GFA allegations
Mohammed Kudus reveals 'greatest moment' of his career
Black Galaxies midfielder David Abagna joining Sudanese outfit Al Hilal


On New Year's Eve I posted my five favourite tunes of 2003. My only rule was that the song had to have been released in 2003. Songs released in 2002 that experienced most of their airplay in 2003 were ineligible. To refresh your memory, here was my top five.
Later that night, CFNY Edge 102 played their top 102 songs of 2003. Below I will reveal my feelings about their top five. Unlike my list, CFNY Edge 102 did not insist that the song be released in 2003. Here are their top five and my comments.
I'm rather shocked this is ranked as high as #1. I enjoy Linkin Park as much as the next guy, but this was only the third best song off of Meteora to receive heavy air play in 2003. I'll take the far superior "Faint" or "Numb" any day of the week. They were ranked #9 and #29 respectively. Does anyone really think "Somewhere I Belong" is a better song than "Faint"? If you do, write me.
What more can I say about the tune I had ranked as my favourite of 2003. The haunting simplicity of that bass line still finds its way into my psyche on a regular basis. The entire Elephant CD is great, but this was one helluva lead single. Awesome tune.
I'm a huge fan of this entire CD. It's fair to say this band had me at hello. When I first read that the members of Rage Against the Machine were forming a group with Chris Cornell of Soundgarden, it was music to my ears. I'm a huge fan of both Rage Against the Machine and Soundgarden, and Audioslave didn't disappoint. I too read the mediocre reviews, but then I gave it a spin. "Chohise" was one of my favourite tracks of 2002 (along with Nirvana's "You Know You're Right", Queens of the Stone Age's "No One Knows" and Johnny Cash's "Hurt") and this melodic trip ranks right up there as well. Of course, all songs off this CD did not qualify for my top five, having been released in November of 2002.
Lord knows CFNY Edge 102 played this song enough, but I just couldn't get into it. I liked it, but I didn't love it. It was a catchy ditty that I found myself singing each time I heard it, but I can't say it deserved a ranking as high as this.
And now for the CanCon portion of our chart. Three Days Grace are a Toronto-based trio originally from Norwood, Ontario. Don't get me wrong, "I Hate Everything About You" was a great tune, but the fifth best song of the year? Not if they're from Texas. Naturally, CFNY Edge 102 is going to favour a young Toronto-based band like this, and there's nothing wrong with that. A top five without any Canadian representation would be just wrong!
There you have it, my reaction to CFNY Edge 102's top five songs of 2003. If you're curious where the rest of my top five ranked on their chart, they had The Distillers at #94, The Strokes at #34, Stone Temple Pilots at #64 and Jet at #31.
I'm on my way back to the hospital now. If all goes well, James will be coming home tomorrow. I'm just looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, something I've yet to do this year. I'll update you all on his status tomorrow.
I've just discovered your blog and after reading a bunch of articles, I'm impressed. You have good taste in music (in what you like and what you think is crap). You've definitely found a new follower.


text:
Q: Changing date formats in excel 2013 How do I change a date such as 06/26/1987 to June-1987 in Excel.   It needs to separate month into one column and year in a separate column.
So Column F on the spreadsheet reads 06/26/1997.   Column O = 6  Column P =1997
Thanks

A: In O2:
=MONTH(F2)

If you want the month in its name form then use this:
=TEXT(F2,"mmmm")

Or just:
=F2

And change the format to mmmm.
IN P2:
=YEAR(F2)

A: Question : Change MM/DD/YYYY to DD/MM/YYYY in excel in date sequence

*

*6/12/2021 10:15:08 PM

*6/23/2021 6:04:35 PM

*7/1/2021 9:42:36 AM

Answer :
=DATE(RIGHT(TEXT(SUBSTITUTE(LEFT(N4,FIND(" ",N4)-1),"/","-"),"dd/mm/YYYY"),4),VALUE(SUBSTITUTE(MID(TEXT(LEFT(N4,FIND(" ",N4)-1),"dd/mm/YYYY"),1,2),"/","")),LEFT(RIGHT(LEFT(TEXT(SUBSTITUTE(LEFT(N4,FIND(" ",N4)-1),"/","-"),"dd/mm/YYYY"),10),7),2))


If you know anything about me you'll know that I don't like seeing any of the materials I arrange with going to waste.
Last weekend I bought some tulips from the market in my home town of Faversham. Some came with me to class at the Ashford Gateway on Monday and others will be making an appearance in one of the videos to accompany my online flower arranging classes. For the rest of the week they sat in a jug on my kitchen window sill.
You can expect a good week out of your tulips. Buy them when they are still in bud, with a hint of colour and watch them mature and unfurl over time. As is my way, I usually keep them until the petals have gone dry and start to twist. I love the change from silky softness to papery-ness.
After class on Monday one of my ladies (thanks Jan!) gave me a bundle of weeping willow she didn't want to take home. I swirled the stems into my hand and tied them with a piece of string, making an impromptu door wreath.
With the seed of an idea for a spring door wreath in mind I thought rather than let my tulips die in their vase, I'd see if I could get a day or two more out of them by creating a spring-themed door ring.
This is what you'll need to do if you fancy giving it a go.
Create a door wreath base. I had already had a ring made from honeysuckle vines left over from Christmas. It was being stored under my patio table – I've been creative and tidied up all in one go! First I took out the old greenery that had been in the wreath since December. Rather than work at the kitchen table I took my wreath out into the garden and hooked it onto our shed door, so I could work on it in situ. My top tip here is to fashion a hook out of a pipe cleaner.
What you need to do next is embellish the wreath with additional stems. They need to be flexible so you can fashion them into a circle without them breaking. Weeping willow is perfect. Silver birch would be good as well. I like the flash of yellow my stems gave me. A great contrast to the knarled/darker stems of the honeysuckle vine.
Rather than over binding with the willow (taking the stems over and over from front to back), I worked on the top surface only. This means you see everything you add to the wreath, giving it a raised surface profile.
The tricky bit next. Add your tulips. If your tulips are on their last legs too you'll need to bear in mind that the heads are highly likely to fall apart before you get them into your wreath and the stems may snap. I started by deciding where I wanted the heads to be and then threaded the flowers into the wreath, tucking the stems back in.
I'm really pleased with the finished wreath. A word of warning though – the materials I used and the method of construction will not result in a long lasting wreath. Mine looks great on my front door (which is in a sheltered position and protected by a porch canopy). One gust of wind, or too many slammed doors, is going to result in a pile of petals and dislodged moss.
Why not give it a go and let me know how you get on.
If you want to see how what I did with these tulips on video, you'll need to sign up to my 4-week online flower arranging class.
There's still time to join the FlowerStart 4-week online flower arranging class. Email me [julie@juliedaviesflowerworkshops.co.uk] and I'll send payment details – this course is exceptional value at only £129.
Not sure whether you want to commit?
Are you disappointed when your flowers don't last as long as you think they should? Sign up to five days of free handy tips direct to your inbox and make a start with getting your flowers to last longer.


text:
On This Day ...
ForumsCultural Similarities & Differences
On 29 November 1947, the problem begins and millions became lost. After that black day, millions became with no homes, no lands, no families. It is the matchstick that is thrown over a haycock then everything was exploded. From that day, the river of blood never dries. Nothing was left except the tears and the groan.
In that day, the United Nations General Assembly approved at the Resolution 181. This Resolution came to end the Israeli-Arabic conflict by dividing Palestine into two states: an Israeli one, and an Arabic one. This Resolution ended by the CATASTROPHE (alnakba). Kicking the Palestinian peasants out of their orange's orchards was the cornerstone of that event. Millions became homeless and were simply called "refugees". That ugly title that is still sticked with most of the Palestinians until today. My grandfather was only 17 years when he was forced to leave his house, and he didn't return their up to now. He is struggling with death refusing to die in the dirty camp where he was thrown from about 50 years. He hopes to die under the lemon tree that was at the door of his home. Many think that the "refugees" forgot their homelands in Haifa, Yafa (Jaffa), Bessan, .... They will never do so. The word itself "refugees" is a big lie. Palestinians who were kicked out from their homes, besides their children, and their grandsons will never find the "refuge" anywhere than their homelands.
Regardless to the consequences, this Resolution was very fair. It gives all the fertile areas in the coast to the Israeli state, and lefts the middle which is made of rough mountains to the Palestinians. Things didn't stop at that point. Even in that south which is under the hands of the Israelis, a big prison was built; to prison the Palestinians in their land.
After that Nakba, the Naksa took place. The "Naksa" is the second catastrophe that happened when these lucky Israelis weren't satisfied with their "small" state and wanted to make it larger; therefore, they occupied the region which is called now (the lands of the 1967). These lands were from the Palestinian state according to that plan. However, Israel respected the plan and those who approved it. It occupied these lands and forced its Palestinian dwellers to leave them. Many of them were from the "refugees". They became "double refugees".
Go back to history, to archives, or more easily to that map to find that all the lands were called "Palestine". However, it is now "Israel". Who knows what it will be after that?!
(This has been an interesting discussion, but I think that it has run its course. Thread locked. -- MM)
Nov 29 2006 17:42:35
the worst day i must say besides those catastrophes the bigest problem is that the world is just silent killing palestinians is just normal for them! i guess we were born to suffer
Thank you Anonumus for your reply.
Students: We have free audio pronunciation exercises.
Where are you guys?
44 viewed this topic and only 1 replied, why?
Yohf, benita,Kabayan, Tanit, Ruslana, ..., where are you?
Hi Teardrop. A good description of the suffering of the Palestinian people. In Europe and N. America the media want us to ignore these facts. The main news programmes tell us about the suffering of the Jewish people but very little about the Palestians. To hear the media you would think that the Palestinians are a mass of malcontents for reasons associated with religion, culture, racial inferiority and who knows what else.
Unfortunately the Palestine Liberation Organization didn't have a clear programme and strategy and lost support. For lack of alternative the Palestinians voted for Hamas. I believe that Islamic fundamentalism, like Jewish or Christian fundamentalism, will not show the way forward asnd will be used in the West to "prove" that it's all a question of religion.
PS I think you haven't had many replies because not many people look at this section - I don't usually look at it.
J Lewis
Hello L Jewis,
It is so nice from you to reply.
You are completely right about the media. Tge media shows what only serves its interests. It forgets its main mission "conveying the truth no matter what", and that's maybe the reason behind supportying Israeli in what it did, because such media doesn't talk about massacres on the hands of the Israeli soldiers in Gaza. Anyone who seees childern without hands or half heads will go to street shouting "stop that" "give the Palestinians their state".
About why Palestinians elected Hamas, you are 50% true. Palestinians became tired from the Palestinian Liberation Organization (Fatah), and they found what they look for in Hamas. Hamas members don't steal the money of the population, if a Palestinian will sleep withnothing in his belly, that'll be the head of Hamas. There are many of those leaders who are poor. That's not shameful. However, the goverment that was formed by Hamas was and is boycutted. Why doesthat happen? Didn't Hamas come to the government in a democratic way - and James Carter monitered it and assured that no cheating occures? Do you know why did that happen L Jewis? Simply because Israeli doesn't want Hamas to control the Palestinian Government. But Why is the world also against Hamas? It's not true that Hamas is a terrorist party. Hamas offered a long trace with Israel, and what in reply was Israel's action? Israel broke into Gaza, Israel arrests 150 people weekly, Israel kills more that 50 weekly. That is the olive branch that Israel holds, but how care? Noone.
Students: Are you brave enough to let our tutors analyse your pronunciation?
J Lewis PS I think you haven't had many replies because not many people look at this section - I don't usually look at it.
That's not true L Jewis, there are lots of active members look at this section, but few of them dare to say that I'm right because they don't want to hurt Israel. There are others who don't dare to say that I'm wrong, simply because that what I'm wrote is histroy.
More than 80 viewed the topic with only 2 replies, think about that L Jewis.
Take Care my friend[W]
Teardrop That's not true L Jewis, there are lots of active members look at this section, but few of them dare to say that I'm right because they don't want to hurt Israel. There are others who don't dare to say that I'm wrong, simply because that what I'm wrote is histroy.
I can think of four reasons why so few have replied (and I am one of those who haven't). Not all of those who have viewed the post have read it in its entirety because of these reasons:
1. The colour of the text makes it very difficult to read.
2. The passage is quite long.
3. Some are not interested in politics and don't read it because of that.
4. Some of those who take an interest in the Middle East and politics don't want to display their views on a public forum.
Hello Cool,
Cool Breeze I can think of four reasons why so few have replied (and I am one of those who haven't). Not all of those who have viewed the post have read it in its entirety because of these reasons:
1. If you said that before, I could change its color or asked a moderator to do so, no problem.
2. You are right, it's quite long, but not too long to read.
3. There are somes who don't care about politics, but not all the members!
4. If we are here, and don't want to share our views in public, how will we share our knowledge? and were we will display our views?
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India, the world's second most populous country, boasts the world's fourth largest economy and is seventh in size. There are more than one hundred official languages, but English is commonly spoken as well. A highly spiritual country, India is the birthplace of Buddhism and of Hinduism – which is followed today by 80% of the population.
The Indian subcontinent offers a vast array of sights and adventures for travelers, from snow-capped mountains to windswept deserts, lush jungles, stunning beaches, crowded cities, and traditional farming villages. Ride an elephant. Visit the Taj Mahal. Tour the Seven Sacred Cities. Pray at the Ganges. Whether your interest is cultural, historic, artistic, outdoor adventure or spiritual, your Hidden World Travel Expert will help you achieve it within your travel schedule and budget.
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Stroll markets, visit palaces and temples, and take in the breathtaking Taj Mahal.
Encounter the heart of Assam tea country and culturally significant plains tribes.


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text:
Budget proposals for 2019/20 financial year
Press release • Jan 24, 2019 08:45 GMT
A range of measures to get the Council closer to balancing its budget for 2019/20 were debated by councillors yesterday.
The measures will reduce the council's budget deficit by approximately £2m, with work continuing over the coming month to find another £5m to reach a balanced budget position on 27 February.
Subject to consultation with staff affected, the measures are expected to lead to a reduction of over 110 posts across a range of services as the Council's responsibilities and priorities go through a major period of change.
Full details on our website here
Speaking after the meeting, Chief Executive of Moray Council, Roddy Burns, said:
"This is the latest phase of a planned approach to the council's budget.
"Final decisions on these and other service reductions will be made when the council sets its budget on February 27, after consultation with staff affected. Like many other councils in Scotland, Moray Council has to find significant savings in order to fulfil our legal obligation and set a balanced budget. In our case we have to reduce our £214 million annual spend by £14.8 million for the coming financial year.
"Previously approved savings of £5.9 million and a Health and Social Care increase of £1.4 million - funded through the local government settlement from the Scottish Government -leaves a balance of £7.4 million savings to be found. If approved, the savings proposed in this report will reduce that outstanding total.
"There should be no doubt that most of the proposals are made on purely financial grounds.
"In the main they are not efficiency savings and do not represent levels of service that would be ordinarily suggested.
"However, finding these savings in addition to the £9.7 million already agreed and proposed will be a significant challenge for the council."
The Leader of Moray Council, Cllr Graham Leadbitter, wrote to Finance Minister Derek Mackay at the start of the year setting out Moray's financial position.
Areas where efficiencies, service reductions and increased charges proposed include:
Closing the remaining public toilets
Closing some six libraries and reducing opening hours of others
Increasing charges for harbour users by 10%, music instruction to £699, and burial fees for non-residents
Removing the remaining school crossing patrollers,
Reducing the community warden service, grass and roads winter gritting and maintenance programmes,
Charging for out-of-zone school transport,
Removing the Active Schools and sports development service, and Essential Skills programme
Reduction of Devolved School Management budgets (DSM) and increasing class size thresholds in P2 and P3
Relocation of Auchernack Access Point in Forres to Forres House Community Centre
Closure of two pools, Keith and Lossiemouth subject to securing increased usage
Reduce street sweeping
Introduction of new car parking charges in some towns across
Full details are here: http://www.moray.gov.uk/moray_standard/page_119975.html
Famous for its colony of dolphins, fabulous beaches and more malt whisky distilleries than any where else in Scotland, Moray is a thriving area and a great place to live. Nestling between Aberdeenshire and the Highlands, Moray stretches from Tomintoul in the south to the shores of the Moray Firth, from Keith in the east to Brodie Castle in the west.
Local/Regional influencePublic sector
MorayScotland
shqparcuonna.dmlunmubammr@ojmonxraqsy.xkgodzv.scukam
pexltemjr.hajofgnefcs@ekmourraxsy.nsgociv.qduknm


text:
Astragalus lentiginosus är en ärtväxtart som beskrevs av William Jackson Hooker. Astragalus lentiginosus ingår i släktet vedlar, och familjen ärtväxter.

Underarter

Arten delas in i följande underarter:

 A. l. albiflorus
 A. l. albifolius
 A. l. ambiguus
 A. l. antonius
 A. l. araneosus
 A. l. australis
 A. l. borreganus
 A. l. chartaceus
 A. l. coachellae
 A. l. diphysus
 A. l. floribundus
 A. l. fremontii
 A. l. higginsii
 A. l. idriensis
 A. l. ineptus
 A. l. kennedyi
 A. l. kernensis
 A. l. latus
 A. l. lentiginosus
 A. l. macrolobus
 A. l. maricopae
 A. l. micans
 A. l. nigricalycis
 A. l. oropedii
 A. l. palans
 A. l. piscinensis
 A. l. platyphyllidius
 A. l. pohlii
 A. l. salinus
 A. l. scorpionis
 A. l. semotus
 A. l. sesquimetralis
 A. l. sierrae
 A. l. stramineus
 A. l. toyabensis
 A. l. ursinus
 A. l. variabilis
 A. l. vitreus
 A. l. wahweapensis
 A. l. wilsonii
 A. l. yuccanus

Bildgalleri

Källor

Externa länkar

Vedlar
lentiginosus

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


For some Forest Hills residents, July 10 will be the high point of the summer.
That's the day Curaleaf Dispensary will officially open on 70th Road in Forest Hills, becoming Queens' second medical marijuana dispensary. There are currently five other dispensaries, including Vireos in Elmhurst.
Though Curaleaf has yet to officially open for business, staff were on-site Tuesday to sign up potential clients during an Open House event. Other Curaleaf employees stood outside to talk with curious passersby and a small crowd gathered under the shop's green awning.
Patients who suffer from an evolving list of conditions maintained by the New York State Department of Health can obtain a prescription for medical marijuana from a physician, nurse practitioner, or physician's assistant who is certified to prescribe marijuana.
The patient then registers online with the Health Department, which issues an identification card for the patient to use when purchasing medical marijuana products. The system also allows patients to specify a designated caregiver who can pick up prescription pot on the patient's behalf.
Francis declined to give his full name when discussing his health and marijuana use, but said he prefers to smoke blunts, cheap cigars filled with cannabis and tobacco. Smokable marijuana is not permitted for sale at dispensaries under the 2014 medical marijuana law so Francis said he will try vaping and oils.
Conway said New York has been slow to embrace medical marijuana.
Overall, 20 states have legalized or decriminalized recreational marijuana. Last month, New York City announced a new New York Police Department to limit the number of arrests related marijuana use in response to vast racial disparities in arrest data. The new policy instructs NYPD officers to issue summonses rather than make arrests for smoking marijuana except for suspects with outstanding warrants or who are on probation or parole.
In a May op-ed in the Amsterdam News, Queens Borough President Melinda Katz advocated for an end to low-level marijuana arrests.
"In the interest of justice and public trust, the city should no longer make arrests for low-level marijuana offenses," Katz wrote.


text:
Q: Changing {api} to {#} ASP.net Web API It's just a WHY question as it maybe a miss-concept :(
The following is the default Web API configuration in ASP.net Web Api Project
public static class WebApiConfig
{
    public static void Register(HttpConfiguration config)
    {
        config.Routes.MapHttpRoute(
            name: "DefaultApi",
            routeTemplate: "api/{controller}/{id}",
            defaults: new { id = RouteParameter.Optional }
        );
    }
}

I tried changing

api / {controller} / {id}

to

# / {controller} / {id}

Not working, the ambitious part is that it's being ignored ( NO 404 ) as if I'm routing to my Home page, however other consumptions worked perfectly like

- / {controller} / {id}

Seems to be an encoding issue miss-concept part, any help ?

A: The "#" sign is interpreted by browsers as a bookmark and is typically not sent to the server. I recommend running a tool such as Fiddler or your browser's development tools (such as the F12 tools in IE) and see what request is actually being sent to the server.

A: The # is wrong selection. This part is relevant only on a client and will allow to scroll to element with the name equal to part after the hash
Check this answer:
https://stackoverflow.com/a/967659/1679310
Extract:

... I am afraid not, since the hash (the string including the #) never
  gets passed to the server, it is solely a behavioural property of the
  browser. The $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'] variable will contain the rest
  however.

So, while part after (including) the # is never send to server, you cannot use it as a part of your routing


text:
Q: How to keep client request alive for delayed response from server in jsf I have a p:commandButton in my JSF page. When user clicks there is a huge amount of data being retrieved from the database and written in excel file and returned to user as a response. This can take up to hours. But after almost one hour using IE it shows "cannot load the page" error message even the process remains running at server side. I know it happens due to client's configuration for expected response time from server. it differs from browser to browser.
Even tough, i am continuously sending ajax updates from server to client during the calculation to show the percentage of the processed data to user and it works but still my client gets dead. Moreover, there is a p:progressBar on my JSF page, which is also showing the percentage in it's every update intervals.
How can I keep my client alive through code? So that after sending a request, it can wait for a long time for the response.
We have different users using different browsers. I need a solution which works for all major browsers. This is my code.
<p:dialog id="alert-exp-info-dialog"
          widgetVar="alertExpInfoDialog">

    <p:ajax event="close"
            listener="#{bean.onExportDialogClose}"
            process="@this"
            update=":alert-exp-info-form"
            immediate="true" />

    <h:form id="alert-exp-info-form">

        <h:outputFormat id="alert-exp-detail"
                        value="So info for user">
            <f:param value="#{bean.exportedAlertsCount}" />
            <f:param value="#{bean.totalExportableAlerts}" />
        </h:outputFormat>

        <p:progressBar id="alert-exp-progress"
                        widgetVar="alertExpProgress"
                        value="#{bean.exportProgress}"
                        labelTemplate="{value}%"
                        interval="3000"
                        ajax="true">
                <p:ajax event="complete"
                        listener="# {bean.onExportComplete}"/>
                <f:event type="preValidate"
                        update="alert-exp-abort-btn"
                        listener="#{bean.updateComponents}" />
        </p:progressBar>

        <h:panelGroup id="alert-exp-button-panel">
        <p:commandButton id="alert-exp-proceed-btn"
                        value="Process"
                        action="#{bean.doCalculation}"
                        onclick="alertExpProgress.start();"
                        ajax="false">
            <p:ajax update="alert-exp-button-panel" />
        </p:commandButton>
        </h:panelGroup>

    </h:form>

</p:dialog>

public void doCalculation()
{
    FacesContext context = FacesContext.getCurrentInstance();
    //Too long calculation...
    for ( loop )
    {
    ...
    ...
    }
    //Finally writing excel file on responce
    context.setResponseContentType( "application/vnd.openxmlformats- officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet" );
    context.setResponseHeader( "Expires", "0" );
    context.setResponseHeader( "Cache-Control", "must-revalidate, post-  check=0, pre-check=0" );
    context.setResponseHeader( "Pragma", "public" );
    context.setResponseHeader( "Content-disposition", "attachment;filename=" + ( fileName.endsWith( ".xlsx" ) ? fileName : fileName + ".xlsx" ) );
    context.addResponseCookie( Constants.DOWNLOAD_COOKIE, "true", new HashMap<String, Object>() );

    OutputStream out = context.getResponseOutputStream();
    generatedExcel.write( out );
    out.close();
    context.responseFlushBuffer();
    context.responseComplete();
}

public void updateComponents()
{
    RequestContext.getCurrentInstance().update( "alert-exp-info-form:alert-    exp-detail" );
}

public void onExportComplete()
{
    RequestContext context = RequestContext.getCurrentInstance();
    context.execute("alertExpInfoDialog.hide();");
}

A: I solved the problem by triggering the long processing via ajax and finally download the generated excel file via a separate button click.


text:
NSSF Condemns City of Gary, Ind., Scapegoating of Public Safety; Calls Upon Indiana to End Legal Abuse
NEWTOWN, Conn. — The National Shooting Sports Foundation®, the firearm industry trade association, strongly criticized the City of Gary, Ind., effort to revive its lawsuit against firearm manufacturers that seeks to hold members of the firearm industry legally responsible for the harm caused to the city by the actions of criminals who misuse firearms.
"The decision by elected officials in the City of Gary to try to breathe life back into this junk lawsuit after failing for two decades to litigate its case is unfathomable," said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF® Senior Vice President and General Counsel. "The city has ignored the basic tenets of enforcing law and holding criminals accountable for their misdeeds. Instead, they've chosen to squander citizen tax dollars to pursue baseless claims that have been repeatedly thrown out of court in similar cases when municipalities attempted lawsuit abuse tactics. The firearm industry has been proactive and responsible in preventing the criminal and negligent misuse of firearms. The same cannot be said of the City of Gary."
The City of Gary, Ind., first filed their claims in 1999, after 40 big city mayors conspired through the U.S. Conference of Mayors with gun control activist lawyers for claims of public nuisance and other crime-related injuries. New York's Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, then serving as President Bill Clinton's Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, organized dozens of local housing authorities to bring lawsuits against gunmakers and threatened the industry with "death by a thousand cuts."
Cases were dismissed, including those brought by the cities of New Orleans, Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston.
The claims brought by the City of Gary have been dismissed three times, only to be revived. The State of Indiana, in 2001, passed a statute to stop such frivolous lawsuits. From 2009-2015, the City did nothing to pursue its claims in court. In 2015, Indiana extended its law to apply retroactively to Aug. 26, 1999, days before the City of Gary filed its claims.
"On behalf of the entire firearm industry, NSSF calls upon the State of Indiana to immediately take the lawful steps necessary to end this lawsuit abuse by the City of Gary," said Keane. The future of the Second Amendment is at stake in the Hoosier State.
Procedural twists allowed the cases to be revived. NSSF denies that firearm manufacturers bear responsibility for the illegal actions committed by criminals through the unlawful use of a lawfully manufactured, lawfully sold product that is regulated by a verification through the FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). The firearm industry has long-standing partnerships with federal, state and local law enforcement to realize Real Solutions® for Safer Communities.
NSSF is the trade association for the firearm industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of thousands of manufacturers, distributors, firearm retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen's organizations and publishers nationwide. For more information, visit nssf.org.
Mark Oliva
Categories: BP Item, Featured, Government Relations, Press Releases, Top Stories


Just for curiosity, do you have some examples?
The rest of the comments are quite revealing as well, if you ask me. My conclusion: widgets are not dead, but they are on life support. Don't expect them to gain new features, see new cool widgets, or the likes.
I don't think is a matter of technology direction. Nokia business is mobile devices, Nokia acquired Qt, QML is Qt plan for mobile devices so we can't expect QML and the mobility projects to not be on the top of the priority list. If not for anything else, because that is the quickest moving target.
Qt before Nokia was all about cross platform (mainly desktop?) and the widgets are a big part of their success there. While I can see some instances where QML can be used for desktop applications (smaller flashy apps?) I believe using widgets is still the first approach for desktop applications ui.
Yes, perhaps it is understandable, and I also get that QML is the hot new thing and needs a lot of tender love & care (and hard work) to get it up to speed, so sure, a lot of attention is focussed there. However, as recently as on the last Dev Days, Sebastian Nyström (VP Qt Developer Frameworks) claimed* that investments in the desktop would not go down. It was still a primairy target for Qt. Well, to me, from the comments on that Jira issue, it seems widgets are degraded to maintenance mode. In my book, that is lowering investment levels.
*) see http://qt.nokia.com/developer/learning/online/talks/developerdays2010/keynotes/the-roadmap-next-generation-qt, first video, from minute 12:40 onwards. Development efforts for those platforms would remain stable. Since we have seen widget develoment, I expected that to continue. I guess I was wrong.
I get all itchy about this QML hype. I don't see yet how to create familiar looking and usable desktop apps with QML any time soon. So I hope they don't forget about the desktop and the QWidgets in there current mobile strategy. Unless I missed something nothing is wrong with creating mobile apps with QWidgets. The only question I have is, will QML in the future replace QWidgets?
I don't think even the most enthusiastic about QML can dream that QML will replace Widgets all together. Sure we will end up seeing QML applications on the desktop because they will be ported from the mobile world or because not being c++ based will attract more developers. Having the "standard widgets" project for QML completed will also contribute for more QML applications making to the desktop.
I believe the big appeal of Qt for developing desktop applications is/was that the applications, as much as possible, use/simulate the native look-and-feel of each platform. I think we are experiencing a paradigm shift from "standard look and feel" to "custom look and feel" on the mobile world but don't think this will apply to the desktop/productivity/business world any time soon, if ever.
Actually, I disagree with you on that last point.
On the one hand, there doesn't seem to be a huge "custom" look and feel on the mobile platform as you make it out to be. Yes, it is more smooth and animated, but if I look at the UI's of the apps on my iPhone, they look remarkably similar. And that is (still!) good! It makes it easy to find my way around in new apps, because often (not aways) they work in a similar way as the apps I already know. I think we'll see more standardization in UI interaction on mobile devices too. Maybe not by formal standards or HIGS, but at the very least by the copying of ideas between developers.
On the other hand, there are many platforms where a standard UI has never been much of an issue. Windows is one. Yes, it has some standards, and loads and loads of applications that don't integrate at all, introduce new UI components with every new version (from the same company as the OS, for instance...) or even do weird stuff with title bars and other non-standard tricks. Ever looked at an IM application or a media player and thought that it looked like it fitted the standards of the platform? I for one don't know many that do.
I think good QML components are sorely needed. It may be fun coding a button once or twice, but in the end, you want to have these things available. Same goes for more complicated interaction components like choosing an item from a list, selecting a time or a date, grouping options, etc. In this respect, QML is leagues behind the Qt widgets.
I don't actually have anything against custom look and feel on mobile or desktop applications. As I surely don't have anything against trying to follow UI design guidelines.
My point being: there is room for widgets and QML.
All true. My point was more: there is room for standard UI (-elements) even in the flashy, animated world of QML.
I too think that there is plenty of room for widgets still. I just hope that the Trolls keep that on their rader as well.
[quote author="Andre" date="1294412727"]I too think that there is plenty of room for widgets still. I just hope that the Trolls keep that on their rader as well.[/quote] Exactly my point.
I've read the thread and I find it quite alarming the way things seem to go. Since the aquisition of Qt by Nokia it is all about mobile development and each time I read articles like these my fear gets worse that traditional desktop development will be left out.
It took years for Qt to get stable for desktop development, I sincerly hope they don't expect people to switch for desktop development to QML, or any other for that matter, they have still a long way to go. Every release seems to add features and change the behavior of others. I want the code I write today to behave more or less as expected with the next major release, I don't see that happening with QML?
I'm too kinda disappointed with Qt focusing so much in QML and forgeting about QWidgets, which are the base of desktop applications..
o_o Sorry for my rusted english.
I feel somewhat alarmed that such issues are closed as "out of scope" with the recommendation to solve it using QML.
We started to use Qt some years ago, since it is kinda stable and don't think our development team would be happy if the future of UI development is only with QML.
That QML recommendation was given in the mailinglist thread, not in the closing comment on the bugreport. But still, I found it worrysome (and wrote so in a reply in that thread).
Yeah right. But what I meant is that it's alarming enough to close the issue because it is out of scope, because it's not considered important.
While it pertains to QGraphicsEffects on QWidgets in a scroll area, Quick/QML might be more suited to that specifically, but shifting to QML for our entire app isn't really an option.
Hey, this entire thread does not mention digia once. As I understand it, it is up to digia to maintain Qt widgets and fix related bugs.
Note that most of this thread is a bit older than that fact. So it is not surprising that Digia is not mentioned in it.
Nothing changes regarding maintainership etc. until we have the Open Governance processes in place.
There's a quite interesting article "here":http://zrusin.blogspot.com/2010/11/2d-musings.html about some of the advantages of moving to a QML / scenegraph based model for widgets in the future.
I think the qt-components project is going to be very important. Having a good collection of common widgets implemented in qml will go a long way to smoothing the development of consistent UIs for the next generation of devices and applications.
Ok. In that case, I hope someone will go through the out-of-scope tickets and review/flag them as "desktop issues" instead, as it might be important stuff in there that's useful for whoever will decide to maintain that part in the future.