Kudal (Maharashtra): Maharashtra's former chief minister Narayan Rane on Tuesday accused the Congress of reneging on the promise of making him the chief minister, a day after he ranted against the party over "injustice" done to him and his supporters.
"I went to Congress because I was assured that I will be made chief minister in six months," Rane, who joined the Congress in 2005 after being expelled from the Shiv Sena, said.
Rane, who has pockets of influence in the Konkan region of Maharashtra, was expelled by Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray after he voiced displeasure over Uddhav Thackeray gaining prominence in the party.
Asked about his next step after he blasted the Congress and its state chief Ashok Chavan at a rally here on Monday, Rane claimed, "For me, there are vacancies everywhere, even in the Shiv Sena. But I won't go there."
Rane, a tough talking Maratha leader, who was handpicked by Bal Thackeray as chief minister when he decided to remove the genial Manohar Joshi ahead of the 2005 Assembly elections, claimed he had received an offer from the Sena to return to its fold.
"It's not about any post. I said I don't want to rejoin the Sena. If the Sena doesn't want me, why would the offer have been made," Rane told a Marathi news channel.
The speculation about his joining BJP got triggered with reports that he had met BJP president Amit Shah in Ahmedabad a few months ago. During the recent Ganesh festival, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had visited Rane's residence, fuelling it further.
On the Sena's threat to withdraw from the BJP-led government in Maharashtra, Rane said, "This is the old style of Sena president Uddhav Thackeray."
Rane said Sena often enacted the "drama" of threatening to quit the government while enjoying the privileges of power.
After a meeting of senior party functionaries, MPs and legislators called by Uddhav Thackeray on Monday, its Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut had castigated the BJP-led governments in Maharashtra and at the Centre, and said the party was "very close" to taking a decision on its continuance in the Maharashtra government.
"We are very close to taking a decision (on whether to continue in the government)... wait and watch," he had said.
Asked to comment on the performance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Rane said he will speak on these issues on 21 September when he announces his next course of action.
He, however, left the door ajar for reconciliation with the Congress, saying if he was invited for talks by Chavan at 'Tilak Bhavan', the state party headquarters, he would go for it but at no other place.
"As of now, I am still in Congress," Rane said.
At Monday's rally, Rane had blasted the Congress for the "injustice" it has done to him and his supporters and hinted at quitting the party he had joined 12 years ago.
He said his supporters would contest the upcoming panchayat polls under a new entity- 'Samarth Vikas Panel'.
Rane had said he would announce the decision of "going in a new direction" at a press conference on 21 September.


A bus stop along Richmond Highway today. Image by Southeast Fairfax Development Corporation used with permission.
Southeastern Fairfax County could see big transportation improvements along Richmond Highway (the local name for US Route 1), including an extended Yellow Line, Bus Rapid Transit, and new bike and pedestrian infrastructure. These improvements are badly needed in the area where commutes are long and many residents rely heavily on transit. The transit changes could even help organize the area's suburban sprawl back into a string of distinct places with their own identities.
South of the City of Alexandria, Richmond Highway is a busy commercial street lined with sprawling shopping centers with housing subdivisions behind the main drag. (Confusingly, this part of Fairfax County is also known as Alexandria, thanks to the Post Office.) Further south, the road runs alongside Fort Belvoir, which has seen a lot of job growth thanks to the Base Realignment and Closure. The area is relatively affordable, but has also been a little neglected when it comes to investment from the county.
Incomes are lower here relative to other parts of Fairfax. Despite geographic closeness to job centers in Alexandria, Springfield, and even Fort Belvoir, commutes are still long. This is due to a double whammy of residents relying on public transportation despite the area not being that transit friendly, and the fact that Richmond Highway is a major commercial street and commuting road. That can lead to huge traffic backups, which have gotten worse as more jobs have come to Fort Belvoir and other parts of the area that still does not have great transit. It has also made walking and biking bad options when it comes to getting around, putting more people into cars or stuck waiting for the bus.
Fairfax County has been trying to come up with solutions for the area since 2015. Using a process called "Embark Richmond Highway," the county studied various transit options including light rail, bus rapid transit (BRT), and extending the Yellow Line. Now the county has an idea of what they want to change! Using what Fairfax calls a "hybrid" approach, neighborhoods along Richmond highway could get a mix of new metro stations and a BRT system.
Part of the plan would be to extend Metro's Yellow Line from Huntington to Hybla Valley, and two new stations would be built at Hybla Valley and Beacon Hill, respectively. Both areas are home to large shopping centers that could be redeveloped to become new neighborhoods with retail, offices, and new homes built around a street grid. It would be a smaller-scale redevelopment than Tysons Corner or Potomac Yard.
A new street grid would help people walk between new homes and an eventual metro station. Image by Fairfax County.
The Yellow Line is well suited for an extension. It does not have the same congestion problems crossing the river into DC like the Silver/Orange/Blue Lines, and Huntington was built with the expectation the line would one day be extended.
Similar redevelopment is happening right now closer to Huntington. The Penn-Daw shopping center closer to Huntington has been building on its property to include new apartments in addition to retail. Even that will be dwarfed once hundreds of new apartments and townhomes come to the the site of the soon-to-be former Huntington Condo Club.
New housing near Huntington Metro Image by Southeast Fairfax Development Corporation. used with permission.
The plan calls for a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system that would mostly run in the median of Richmond Highway from Huntington to Fort Belvoir and eventually Woodbridge. If extended to Woodbridge the BRT line would be about 15 miles long, dwarfing MetroWay, a BRT line running in Arlington and Alexandria, and Richmond's Pulse BRT line which should open later this year.
BRT would build on the success of the Richmond Highway Express (REX) buses that run along Richmond Highway today. The buses run often and cover major destinations both along Richmond Highway and in the City of Alexandria, but the lack of a dedicated lane means the buses can get stuck in the same traffic as everyone else. New stations and BRT lanes would improve the experience for the many people living along Richmond Highway who depend on transit but live in an area built for cars.
BRT running in a median in California. Image by Erick Fredericks used with permission.
There are no bike lanes along Richmond Highway and sidewalks can be inconsistent, especially further south closer to Woodbridge. Plans would put sidewalks along the whole route and install dedicated bicycle paths. Combined with efforts to create walkable street grids in place of current sprawling shopping centers, this would make Richmond Highway far more accessible to pedestrians than it is today. That's especially important in this area of Fairfax County, which sees a higher proportion of households that do not have a car.
That being said, the road for cars will be widened as well. The plan calls for a uniform six traffic lanes along the length of the route. At the moment it is inconsistent, which can lead to backups on top of the regular traffic. With BRT slated to run in the median and at least six lanes of for personal vehicles, any person trying to cross Richmond Highway is going to have to deal with long waits.
A cross section of a widened Richmond Highway. Image by Southeast Fairfax Development Corporation used with permission.
Local governments have a tough time when it comes to providing better transit, pedestrian, or bicycle options for people while simultaneously making it look like things are not going to get worse for drivers. The end result is plans for transit, walking, and biking in the middle of super wide roads. That is a challenge today in Tysons Corner, where construction to continue widening Route 7 and Route 123 are well underway. It's also a problem in Montgomery County's super-wide Rockville Pike, which will feature 18 travel lanes for people to cross. Richmond Highway looks modest being "only" 178 feet wide, compared to Rockville Pike's 252 feet.
Still, it's a big improvement to be able to walk or bike anywhere along Richmond Highway and not worry about losing your path, or to be able to ride in a bus that avoids the worst of congestion. Embark Richmond Highway is an ambitious plan that would bring a slew of benefits to a part of Fairfax that does not get as much attention as other parts of the county.
There is still a lot of work to be done. Current plans envision all of this being in place by 2040, meaning planners, officials, and communities will have to work together to get the necessary studies done and the funding in place. Doing so will help current residents and give neighborhoods their identity back. One day, Richmond Highway could become another one of the region's great transit success stories.
If you are at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Metrorail station and head outbound on the (full time) Yellow Line, what is the next station you will reach? Feel free to ignore station subtitles.


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Home > News > All News > General > Demand for Flexible Workspaces Increases 18% Globally
Demand for Flexible Workspaces Increases 18% Globally
29 July 2017 by Lisa Rossi | SHARE
According to the Global Cities Report by The Instant Group, flexible working is becoming one of the major success stories for the commercial real estate sector. In the first-ever comparison of flexible workspace in key cities around the world, data reveals the market has grown a massive 18% in just 12 months. With emerging markets showing larger proportional growth than more established ones, co-working is steadily changing the way we all work. In the latest and most comprehensive market research to date, Instant reveals which markets are leading the way and where the industry is headed.
Enquiries for Flexible Office Space in Australia Triple in Two Years
The number of enquiries for flexible workspace in Australia have tripled in just two years, while co-working and flexible office space has grown by up to 36% in five years. This massive increase in Australian supply exceeds that of the world's largest market for such space – London – which grew from 9% to 16% in 2016. It also outstrips growth in New York, which has long been one of the fastest growing flexible work centres in the world.
Sydney saw 19% growth in 2016 with co-working and hybrid space growing three times faster than serviced offices. An average workstation rate of $565 per person, per month, Sydney is the 11th most expensive key market in which to rent space, while Melbourne is the 13th at $480 per person, per month.
Renting a Desk in London is 19% Cheaper than in New York
$897 – average desk space in London With 16% growth in 2016, London has seen massive expansion of new operators and additional centres, with key expansion occurring in cities like Manchester and Birmingham. At $897 on average for a desk space in London, the capital boasts the fifth highest workstation rates of all key cities after New York, San Francisco, Chicago and Los Angeles, largely due to increased demand within the city as large-scale projects take off.
The Future of Flexible Working Will Lead to a More Consumerised Workplace
Key findings in the Global Cities Report revealed several unifying themes across all of the global cities which will drive expected trends going forward:
Occupier demand will shape the market more than ever before
Operators will be able to observe the customer experience far more quickly, enabling them to adjust offers accordingly
More hybrid spaces are expected to emerge as more operators recognise the co-working trend
More landlords will look to the operator model to drive engagement with occupiers
Disclaimer: The content was provided by Bryony Bower at Media Vision.
Want to live and work Down Under? Click here for expert help: Skilled Migration to Australia
Want to get a job Down Under? Click here for expert help: How to Get a Job in Australia
Click here for expert help with travel visas: Travel Visas to Australia
Click here for tourist information about Australia: Visit Australia
For more information about The Instant Group, the flexible workspace specialists, head to http://www.theinstantgroup.com

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


What's better than flying around in space? Getting out of your ship and exploring extra-terrestrial terrains in your own Mission Rover! Planning a trip to the Moon, Mars or Venus? You will certainly need your own Mission Rover to work up samples in your mobile space lab.
My son was so thrilled when Disney sent us a Miles from Tomorrowland Stellosphere to review that he was too busy jumping around to see the amazing Mission Rover sitting on the bottom of the box. Once I reigned him in he was ecstatic to be able to play with both.
Like the Stellosphere, the Mission Rover is sturdy and durable. I can't tell you how much I appreciate this as a mother. I am constantly finding broken toy pieces around the apartment. I don't expect to see many broken Mission Rover parts. The toy is appropriate for younger children as there are only a few small pieces (4 space instruments) that are non essential to play. The instruments can be taken away and hidden until the child reaches an appropriate age.
The Mission Rover opens up to reveal a mobile space lab. Miles and his family easily fit into the lab and can run experiments on space rocks and foreign objects. The Mission Rover has two cool robotic arms that can move in different directions. One arm can blast away space jun with its flash beam launcher and the other arm can pick up the debris for inspection.
Logan really liked the green Terra Skiff which rolls off he back of the Mission Rover to help Miles explore exotic locales such as Mars.
The Mission Rover retails for $39.99 and will provide your child with many hours of interesting and imaginative play time.
Miles and his friends are all part of the Cosmic Explorers who use the Mission Rover as a mobile space lab. Once the Cosmic Explorers reach their destination they can open up the back of the Mission Rover to reveal the mobile space lab. Inside the lab, Leo can give Miles missions with the touch of a button. To help Miles complete any mission the Rover has 2 Robotic Arms that can be moved to different locations on the vehicle to blast away obstacles with the flash beam launcher, or move space debris with the grappling claw. Miles can use the Terra Skiff for any missions that require him to leave the safety of the Rover. Once Miles is ready to use the Space Lab, it is equipped with 4 space tools, including robotic IO, to help with whatever they may need. Join Miles as he explores Mars in his Rover!


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Q: Finding a word's frequency in a text file line by line c++ I need to read a file then ask to user for a word, after that i need to display occurrence of that word line by line. Also I need to check this with char arrays. You can check my
Output example;
Line 2: 1 occurrence(s)
line 4: 2 occurrence(s)
Line 7: 1 occurrence(s)

As you can see I divided line lenght by searchString lenght, this is the maximum time of searchString's possiblity of occurrence. So, I need to display occurence(s) but my code shows this division as occurrence. Can you help me about this?
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <fstream>
#include <istream>

using namespace std;
int number_of_lines = 1;

void numberoflines();

unsigned int GetFileLength(std::string FileName)
{
    std::ifstream InFile(FileName.c_str());
    unsigned int FileLength = 0;
    while (InFile.get() != EOF) FileLength++;
    InFile.close();
    cout<<"Numbers of character in your file : "<<FileLength<<endl;
    return FileLength;
}

int main()
{
    string searchString, fileName, line;
    int a;
    string *b;
    char *c,*d;
    int wordCount = 0, count = 0,count1=0;
    cout << "Enter file name : " << endl;
    cin >> fileName;
    GetFileLength(fileName);
    cout << "Enter a word for searching procces : " << endl;
    cin >> searchString;

    ifstream in (fileName.c_str(), ios::in);
    d= new char[searchString.length()+1];

    strcpy(d,searchString.c_str());

    a=GetFileLength(fileName);
    b= new string [a];

    if(in.is_open()){
        while(!in.eof()){
            getline(in,line);
            c= new char[line.length()+1];
            count++;

            strcpy(c,line.c_str());

            count1=0;
            for (int i = 0; i < line.length()/searchString.length(); i++)
            {

                char *output = NULL;
                output = strstr (c,d);
                if(output) {
                    count1++;
                }
                else count1--;
            }
            if(count1>0){cout<<"Line "<<number_of_lines<<": "<<count1<<" occurrence(s) "<<endl;}
            number_of_lines++;
            if (count==10)
            {
                break;
            }
        }

        numberoflines();
    }

    return 0;
}

void numberoflines(){
    number_of_lines--;
    cout<<"number of lines in text file: " << number_of_lines << endl;
}

Output:

A: This loop:
        for (int i = 0; i < line.length()/searchString.length(); i++)
        {
            char *output = NULL;
            output = strstr (c,d);
            if(output) {
                count1++;
            }
            else count1--;
        }

is not counting all the matches of the string in the line, because c and d are the same each time you call strstr(). When you repeat the search, you have to start from somewhere after the previous match.
There's also no reason to subtract from count1 when you don't find a match. You should just exit the loop when that happens. And there's little point in using a for loop, because you're not doing anything with i; just use a while loop.
        char *start = c;
        size_t searchlen = searchString.length();
        while (true)
        {
            char *output = strstr (start,d);
            if(output) {
                count1++;
                start = output + searchlen;
            } else {
                break;
            }
        }

A: You don't need to read in the entire file into an array or std::string.  I recommend you keep this program simple before optimizing.
As noted in your question, you are required to use character arrays and to read line by line.
Look up the istream::getline function as it will be very useful.
Let's declare a maximum line length of 1024.
Here's the reading file part:
#define MAX_LINE_LENGTH (1024)
char text_buffer[MAX_LINE_LENGTH]; // Look, no "new" operator. :-)
//...
while (my_text_file.getline(text_buffer, MAX_LINE_LENGTH, '\n'))
{
 //... TBD
}

The above code fragment reads a line of text into the variable text_buffer.
Because you are using character arrays, please read through the "str" functions in your favorite texts, such as strstr; or you may have to write your own.
The next step would be to extract a "word" from the text line.
In order to extract a word, we need to know where it starts and where it ends.  So, the text line will need to be searched.  See the isalpha funciton as it will be useful.
Here's a loop for finding the beginning and ending of a word:
unsigned int word_start_position = 0; // start at beginning of the line.
unsigned int word_end_position = 0;
const unsigned int length = strlen(text_buffer); // Calculate only once.
while (word_start_position < length)
{
  // Find the start of a word.
  while (!isalpha(text_buffer[word_start_position]))
  {
    ++word_start_position;
  }

  // Find end of the word.
  word_end_position = word_start_position;
  while (isalpha(text_buffer[word_end_position]))
  {
    ++word_end_position;
  }
}

There some logic issues remaining in the above code fragments for the O.P. to resolve.
The next part would be to add code that uses the start and end position of the word to copy the characters in the word to another variable.   This variable would then be used in a map or associative array or dictionary which contains the number of occurrences.
In other terms, search the container for the word.  If the word exists, increment the associated occurrence variable.  If it doesn't exist, add the word to the container with an occurrence of 1.
Good Luck!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Will Norris says that Wolves are happy to progress to the fourth round of the Carabao cup despite being taken to extra time by Bristol Rovers on Tuesday evening at Molineux.
It took Wolves until the 98th minute to break the deadlock as Bright Enobakhare converted a Barry Douglas cross.
The hosts also had Norris to thank for some heroic goalkeeping to preserve Wolves' clean sheet on the night.
Norris admitted it was a busy night for him but praised his team mates for going on to win the game.
He said, "Yeah, it was a fairly busy night for myself but I'm just here to do my job and it's all I can do really.
"We're only three games into the season for me but I'll make sure that I'm absolutely ready for every opportunity in case I'm called upon.
"I can only pull on the shirt, do the best I can , get the clean sheets and have a real good go in this cup run.
"That's how we've got to look at it - we've got as many games as possible in this cup, it's only going to be good for me.
"Bristol gave us a really good test, I thought they were absolutely excellent - full credit to them.
"The main thing is that we've got through - a few extra minutes under our belts which we didn't really want but I thought the boys did really well to keep our composure, keep the ball moving well and ultimately to get the win in the end.
"I prefer the quiet games, I've always said that but when I'm called upon, I'm just pleased to make the saves.
Wolves have now been drawn against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.
Norris is delighted for Wolves to progress as he says it is providing players with a chance to show Nuno Espirito Santo what they can do.
"The more games we have in this cup, the more games I'll play and as a footballer, all you want to do is play games - the more the better really," Norris said.
"It gives the players who aren't getting much of a look-in in the league a chance to go out and get a full 90 minutes.
"The young lads coming through are experiencing some first team football as well - it's excellent for the whole squad really.
Wolves tie against Manchester City will be played during the week commencing 23rd October - further details of the fixture as well as ticket news will be announced when the date is finalised.


text:
Home News Home energy-saving unit launched
Home energy-saving unit launched
Carl Collison
South Africa's first locally developed integrated battery and inverter solution is punted as having "the potential to minimise the residential users' dependence on the national energy grid".
Created by the Bellville-based company, Energy Partners Home Solutions, the unit was launched in mid-April at Inner City Ideas Cartel on Waterkant Street.
The Icon Home Energy Hub allows residential users to improve efficiency in their overall energy usage, generate their own energy and store extra solar electricity for everyday use or for back-up electricity.
Alan Matthews, managing director of Energy Partners Home Solutions, said: "We believe it is going to revolutionise how South Africans manage and store their energy at home."
Mr Matthews added that the company embarked on developing the product to assist South African homeowners with a solution for controlling their energy use, especially when subjected to unreliable supply during load shedding by Eskom.
"Like our corporate clients, they too were at the mercy of tariff increases. But, unlike corporate clients, they did not have teams of engineers and strong financial skills to draw on," he said.
With the increased electricity costs, the unit appears to be a well-timed offering to residents looking to switch to living off the grid.
The hub is made up of two components: the Energy Hub Inverter and the Lithium Ion Phosphate Battery.
"The inverter is a critical component in any solar energy solution. Its main function is to take the electricity generated (DC) from the solar panels and convert it into an energy form that can be utilised in the home (AC). The inverter also integrates with the battery to allow all excess generated energy to be stored in the batteries for later usage," said Mr Matthews.
"The Energy Partners solution enables a family sized home to save up to 70% of its electricity bill and earn from a 16% return on their investment. That is twice the saving a standard solar solution would provide."
While the long-term costs savings might seem appealing, the reality is that, at a starting price of R167 000 for the entire unit, the initial financial outlay is beyond the capabilities of most South Africans.
Commenting on this, however, Mr Matthews said: "The system is designed to be modular, so homeowners can start by purchasing one or two components and then build up to a full system."
Adamant that the unit is, despite the hefty initial cost, ideal for the South African market, Mr Matthews said: "The system is made to include batteries. In overseas markets there is no loadshedding and homeowners can feed energy back into the grid at attractive tariffs – so batteries are not needed. As a result, batteries are seen as an optional add-on and often aren't designed as part of the system. Our energy system comes with the latest battery technology included, or it can be installed 'battery ready' so that batteries can be easily added later."
The 18-month process creating the unit came, according to Mr Matthews, with a unique set of challenges.
"Some of the challenges experienced, were finding the right combination of products so that we could combine energy efficiency and solar power into a single system, local regulations as well as managing the cost of the system with the exchange rate fluctuations."
Commenting on why he felt it important for South Africans to start looking into adopting alternative means of energy generation as well as saving energy, Mr Matthews said: "It is crucial because homeowners can save a lot of money through energy efficiency and renewable energy. These savings will continue to increase with the steep electricity tariffs as electricity becomes more expensive over the coming years. Being more energy independent will reduce the impact of load shedding on homeowners. It is also vital for us to consider our environmental impact."
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text:
Ruscha Does Sunset
from LAist
How Ed Ruscha Photographed Every Building On The Sunset Strip
BY JULIA WICK
For his iconic book "Every Building on the Sunset Strip", Ruscha used a motorized camera to shoot a "long picture" of the Sunset Strip. (Via YouTube)
Contemporary artist Ed Ruscha has lived in Los Angeles for more than sixty years. Though he is surely one of our brightest art world luminaries, his work has done far more than just shape the meaning of L.A. art—Ruscha has fundamentally shaped the way we see the city itself, making art of our vernacular landscape and sanctifying the California mundane. We truly seeour palm trees, dingbat apartment buildings, billboards and gas stations in large part because Ruscha showed them to us.
In Ed Ruscha: Buildings and Words, a new short documentary commissioned by MOCA, director Felipe Lima presents the story of Ruscha's art practice and immersion in Los Angeles, from his word paintings to his photographing of Los Angeles apartment buildings.
Narrated by Owen Wilson—who promises that he isn't going to try and explain Ruscha's work to us, just show us what there is—the mini-doc blends archival footage and personal photographs with new interviews, taking viewers on a rapid-fire, immersive tour through the work and obsessions of one of America's most iconic living artists.
[ click to continue reading at LAist.com ]
Posted on July 29, 2016 by Editor
Filed under Culture Music Art, Los Angeles | | No Comments »
The Revolution Is Really Here! Yeah, baby!
from FORTUNE
7-Eleven Just Used a Drone to Deliver a Chicken Sandwich and Slurpees
by Jonathan Vanian
Image by Flirtey
Another milestone in drone deliveries.
A 7-Eleven customer's order for Slurpees, a chicken sandwich, donuts, hot coffee, and candy will forever go down in history.
What makes it remarkable is that the convenience store chain used a drone to deliver the order to a family in Reno, Nev., 7-Eleven said on Friday. The company partnered with drone startup Flirtey for the delivery, which the companies said was the first time a drone has legally delivered a package to a U.S. resident who placed an order from a retailer.
But the drone delivery wasn't a casual affair.
"This delivery required special flight planning, risk analysis, and detailed flight procedures ensuring residential safety and privacy were equally integrated," Chris Walach, the director of operations for the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems (NIAS), said in a statement. The NIAS is a Nevada government-backed non-profit autonomous vehicle advocacy group that helped oversee the delivery.
[ click to continue reading at FORTUNE ]
Ka-boom Over Argentina
from GMA News
What was that explosion? A meteor, it turns out
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Residents of a city in southern Argentina got a scare when a series of powerful explosions shook homes and buildings Wednesday, but the cause turned out to be a natural wonder: a meteor disintegrating overhead.
It was an ordinary Wednesday afternoon in General Roca, a city of 85,000 people, when suddenly a series of loud blasts caused buildings to shake and windows to rattle.
"Everything trembled," said Martin Soria, the local mayor.
Police, firefighters and emergency workers rushed to the scene, but found no evidence of a bomb, earthquake or calamity.
Finally, scientists pieced together the reason: A meteor had entered the Earth's atmosphere some 10,000 meters (33,000 feet) overhead, traveling at 2,400 kilometers (1,500 miles) per hour.
"It took everyone by surprise because it entered the atmosphere over an inhabited area. If it had fallen over the desert, the sea, Antarctica, we would never have known," said astronomer Roberto Figueroa, head of the nearby Neuquen observatory.
[ click to continue reading at GMA News ]
"A blob of light that's about 4,500 times brighter than it should be…"
from Atlas Obscura
The Scientist Who Thinks He Found Proof of a Parallel Dimension
Not sci-fi, just science.
Mapping cosmic radiation: the different colors indicate 3.77 billion year old temperature fluctuations. (Photo: NASA/WMAP Science Team/Public Domain)
Parallel universes have long been a staple of superhero comic books, where they usually go hand-in-hand with stories about bizarro worlds just like ours, gone terribly wrong.
But despite their place in science fiction, scientists have taken the idea of parallel universes seriously for quite awhile now. And a mysterious blob discovered in 2015, in a map of our own universe's glow, might actually be a cosmic bruise—a sign that our universe has collided with another one.
How does this work? First, you need to understand the cosmic microwave background, or CMB—the oldest light in the cosmos. Essentially, it's a steady, persistent background radiation filling the universe, left over from the Big Bang. (It's believed to be the vestigial result of recombination, the moment when neutrons and electrons first combined to create hydrogen.)
After mapping and analyzing the CMB using data from the European Space Agency's Planck telescope, Ranga-Ram Chary, a cosmologist at the California Institute of Technology, thinks that he's spotted a telling inconsistency in the pattern: a blob of light that's about 4,500 times brighter than it should be, based on our existing understanding of the early universe. As Phys.org explains it, the blob's signature is "more consistent with a universe whose ratio of matter particles to photons is about 65x greater than our own."
[ click to continue reading at AtlasObscura.com ]
Billy Name Gone
Billy Name, Who Glazed Warhol's Factory in Silver, Dies at 76
By RANDY KENNEDY
Andy Warhol's New York loft on East 47th Street in Midtown Manhattan, called the Silver Factory because every surface was embellished with aluminum foil and silver paint, was to the social life of postwar art what Gertrude Stein's Rue de Fleurus apartment in Paris or the Royal Academy of Art's drawing rooms in London were to previous eras.
But the Silver Factory wouldn't have been the hallowed salon it was had Warhol, in 1959, not run into a handsome, brooding waiter named William Linich Jr., a refugee from the middle-class straits of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., who had moved to the city and plunged into its ferment as the Beat years gave way to the counterculture.
When Warhol later went to get a haircut at Mr. Linich's apartment, he was so wowed by its obsessive reflective décor ("I even painted the silverware silver," Mr. Linich once recalled) that he invited Mr. Linich uptown to decorate the loft the same way — an act that came to symbolize an entire Pop worldview that Warhol would invent.
"Why he loved silver so much I don't know," Warhol wrote of the man who later rechristened himself Billy Name. "But it was great. It was the perfect time to think silver." It was the future, he said, the space age, and also the past, the silver screen and old Hollywood. "Maybe more than anything," he added, "silver was narcissism — mirrors were backed with silver."
Billy Name, who became Warhol's lover, muse and court photographer, leaving behind a monumental visual record of the 1960s art world in and around the Silver Factory, died in Poughkeepsie on Monday at 76. His agent and executor, Dagon James, said the cause was heart failure.
[ click to continue reading at NYT ]
THE KICKS Streams on Amazon Starting August 26
from Stream Daily
The Kicks starts streaming in August
The soccer-themed live-action series, based on books written by U.S. Olympic gold medalist Alex Morgan, will make its Amazon debut on Aug. 26.
Brand-new Amazon original kids live-actioner The Kicks is set to launch Aug. 26 on Prime Video in the U.S., U.K., Germany and Austria. The show is based on a book series by U.S. Olympic gold medalist and current U.S. Women's National Team soccer player Alex Morgan.
Aimed at kids ages six to 11 years, the series follows young female soccer star Devin Burke (Sixx Orange), who, after moving to California with her family in the middle of the school year, must cope with turning around her struggling new team.
The series' pilot episode is available to stream from today and nine additional episodes will debut exclusively for Prime members via the Amazon Video app for TVs, and internet-connected devices including Fire TV, mobile devices and online on Aug. 26.
Full Fathom Five novelist James Frey (I Am Number Four), Todd Cohen (Lumen), David Babcock (Twisted) and Andrew Orenstein (Malcolm in the Middle) are the series' executive producers.
The Kicks is co-executive produced by Nastaran Dibai (According to Jim) and written by Orenstein, David Steinberg (Space Racers), Taylor Cox (King Julien Stand Up) and Jacquie Walters (Building Wild).
[ click to continue reading at StreamDaily.tv ]
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AMERICAN GOTHIC @ Comic-Con
Comic-Con 2016: American Gothic panel ponders the killer
BY NATALIE ABRAMS
As CBS' summer murder mystery thriller American Gothic heats up, the cast was on hand at Comic-Con on Thursday to tease the identity of the killer.
On the series, the wealthy Hawthorne family discovers that not only was their now-deceased patriarch (Jamey Sheridan) possibly a serial killer, but he could've been aided by one of their own. Was it the steely matriarch (Virginia Madsen), the black sheep prodigal son Garrett (Antony Starr), the ambitious eldest daughter Alison (Juliet Rylance), the innocent younger school teacher Tessa (Megan Ketch), or the former junkie cartoonist Cam (Justin Chatwin)?
During Wednesday's episode, Cam was seemingly cleared since his DNA didn't match the blood found on the Silver Bells Killer belt, but there was a familial match, which means one of the Hawthornes was definitely the killer. So who is it? Chatwin, Starr, and Ketch stayed mum during the panel, though they have finally discovered the answer since American Gothic is currently shooting the finale in which fans will discover the truth.
[ click to continue reading at EW.com ]
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THE KICKS (Official Trailer)
Stream with Prime 8/26 on Amazon Video: http://amzn.to/29Bnlam
Based on a book series by US Olympic Gold Medalist and current US Women's National Team soccer player Alex Morgan
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The Real American Tragedy
Half of all US food produce is thrown away, new research suggests
The demand for 'perfect' fruit and veg means much is discarded, damaging the climate and leaving people hungry
By Suzanne Goldenberg US environment correspondent
Discarded food is the biggest single component of US landfill and incinerators, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Photograph: Dan Tuffs/for the Guardian
Americans throw away almost as much food as they eat because of a "cult of perfection", deepening hunger and poverty, and inflicting a heavy toll on the environment.
Vast quantities of fresh produce grown in the US are left in the field to rot, fed to livestock or hauled directly from the field to landfill, because of unrealistic and unyielding cosmetic standards, according to official data and interviews with dozens of farmers, packers, truckers, researchers, campaigners and government officials.
From the fields and orchards of California to the population centres of the east coast, farmers and others on the food distribution chain say high-value and nutritious food is being sacrificed to retailers' demand for unattainable perfection.
"It's all about blemish-free produce," says Jay Johnson, who ships fresh fruit and vegetables from North Carolina and central Florida. "What happens in our business today is that it is either perfect, or it gets rejected. It is perfect to them, or they turn it down. And then you are stuck."
[ click to continue reading at The Guardian ]
Yes, there were.
from NPR
Were There Aliens Before Us?
By ADAM FRANK
University of Rochester/Courtesy of Adam Frank
Are we the only civilization-building intelligent species that has ever occurred in the universe?
It's one of science's oldest questions. Earlier this year, my colleague Woody Sullivan and I published a paper in the journal Astrobiology presenting new results that, I believe, throw new light on the ancient question. And, based on that work, last month I wrote an OpEd in The New York Times that ran with provocative title "Yes, There Were Aliens." The Times piece found a large audience and generated strong responses running from agreement to dissent to folks telling me I really should look into UFOs (sorry, not my thing).
Today, I would like, once again, to present our argument and dive a little deeper into its meaning and its limits. In particular, I want to address two excellent rebuttals written by Ross Andersen in The Atlantic and Ethan Siegel in Forbes. Neither Andersen or Siegel was buying some of my contentions and they both made good points. The thing about science (take note climate deniers) is that it's really a call and response. Both Andersen and Siegel are great writers. Their skepticism made me think even harder about the ideas in our paper and that was really helpful.
One note before we begin. This piece is a tad long because I need to introduce some of the background for the rest of my argument to make sense. Those familiar with the "Drake equation" and its history can skip the next section.
[ click to continue reading at NPR ]
UNITED AS ONE Makes I AM NUMBER FOUR Series #1 Again
[ click to read full list at The New York Times ]
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Death of The Cowboy
from Popular Mechanics
Meet SwagBot: The Four-Wheeled Robot Cowboy
By David Grossman
SwagBot is the world's first robot cowboy, built to roam the rugged Australian terrain.
While it will be doing some cowboy work, make no mistake: SwagBot is less like John Wayne and maybe a little more like a hyper-competent herding dog. It can corral cows and pull trailers, doing the type of work seen in the early parts of Brokeback Mountain. It can go through swamps, up hills, and over rocks. It's not the first robot to hit the farms of the Australian outback, which are vast, remote and often difficult to access.
[ click to continue reading at Popular Mechanics ]
12-Minutes Of Total Horror
from RealClear Life
History of the Horror Genre in 12 Minutes
[ click to view at RealClear Life ]
Selfie Suicide
from Rolling Stone
Death by Selfie: 11 Disturbing Stories of Social Media Pics Gone Wrong
Fatal poses with walruses, bulls and even a live grenade
By Bryn Lovitt
The never-ending pursuit of the ultimate shot for social media sharing has reached a startling new height: 8,000 feet above sea level. This month, a grown man fell to his death while posing for a picture on a ledge at Machu Picchu, the ancient Incan citadel in Peru. But death by selfie at a temple built for human sacrifice begs the question: How far would you go to get that killer shot?
The facts speak for themselves. In 2015, more people died from taking selfies than from shark attacks. Tourist destinations such as Mumbai have gone so far as to designate selfie-free zones. Even the notoriously unsympathetic Russian government issued a manual for how to safely take a selfie. Our need to capture the present moment via social media has completely changed the way we experience life, and a tragic irony presents itself when that results in death.
From falling down the steps of the Taj Mahal to being gored alive by wild animals, here are the 11 most disturbing stories of selfies gone disastrously wrong.
[ click to continue reading at Rolling Stone ]
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Hot Rods & Girls in Wildwood
NASA Lies
from The Mirror
NASA shuts down live International Space Station feed as 'mysterious UFO enters Earth's atmosphere'
The incident caused speculation online – and is not the first time NASA have been accused of tampering with the feed
BY ELLE GRIFFITHS
UFO spotters have raised the alarm after the International Space Station live feed cut out just as a large mysterious object appeared to enter Earth's atmosphere.
The incident occurred on July 9 and was first reported by prolific UFO hunter Streetcap1 in a video uploaded the same day.
The enthusiast did not directly imply that the object was an alien spacecraft saying: "This could well be a meteor or the like.
But he implied that the camera being turned off was slightly sinister: "What made it interesting was that the camera cut off when the UFO seemed to stop."
Other enthusiasts put forward theories including one who suggested in could be the Chinese space cargo ship Tiangong-1.
[ click to continue reading at The Mirror ]
Humpback On The Beach
from grindtv
Jogger stopped in tracks as humpback whale nearly storms beach
By Pete Thomas
A woman jogging on the beach in Pacifica, Calif., was astonished to see a humpback whale swimming straight toward her through the surf, seemingly intent on beaching itself.
"Whoa, stay back, buddy!," Roberta Gamble said to the whale, while videotaping the rare encounter on Monday morning.
Humpback whales were feeding beyond the surf zone, but this whale had chased a school of anchovies almost onto the shore. It opens wide to gulp the bait fish, directly in front of Gamble, about 5 seconds into the video.
"Oh dear," she says in the short clip, which on Thursday began circulating on whale-themed Facebook pages.
"Although humpbacks have at times been observed lunge-feeding just outside the surf zone, it is extraordinarily rare to catch one with its belly actually on the sand," whale researcher Alisa Schulman-Janiger posted on the public group, Cetal Fauna. "I've witnessed humpbacks feeding close to shore here, but always just outside the surf – never this close!"
[ click to continue reading at grindtv.com ]
Dawn of The Musical Cosmos
from Nautilus
Brian Eno Plays the Universe
A physicist explains what the composer has in common with the dawn of the cosmos.
BY STEPHON ALEXANDER
Michael Putland / Getty Images
Everyone had his or her favorite drink in hand. There were bubbles and deep reds, and the sound of ice clinking in cocktail glasses underlay the hum of contented chatter. Gracing the room were women with long hair and men dressed in black suits, with glints of gold necklaces and cuff links. But it was no Gatsby affair. It was the annual Imperial College quantum gravity cocktail hour. Like the other eager postdocs, this informal meeting was an opportunity to mingle with some of the top researchers in quantum gravity and hopefully ignite a collaboration, with a drink to sooth our nerves. But for me this party would provide a chance encounter that encouraged me to connect music with the physics of the early universe.
The host was dressed down in black from head to toe—black turtleneck, jeans, and trench coat. On my first day as a postdoctoral student at Imperial College, I had spotted him at the end of a long hallway in the theoretical physics wing of Blackett Lab. With jet-black wild hair, beard, and glasses, he definitely stood out. I said, "Hi," as he walked by, curious who he was, and with his "How's it going?" response, I had him pegged. "You from New York?" I asked. He was.
My new friend was Lee Smolin, one of the fathers of a theory known as loop quantum gravity, and he was in town considering a permanent job at Imperial. Along with string theory, loop quantum gravity is one of the most compelling approaches to unifying Einstein's general relativity with quantum mechanics. As opposed to string theory, which says that the stuff in our universe is made up of fundamental vibrating strings, loop quantum gravity focuses on space itself as a woven network of loops of the same size as the strings in string theory.
Lee had offered up his West Kensington flat for the quantum gravity drinks that evening to give the usual annual host, Faye Dowker, a break. Faye enjoyed being the guest lecturer that evening. Bespectacled, and brilliant, she was also a quantum gravity pioneer. While Professor Dowker was a postdoc she studied under Steven Hawking, working on wormholes and quantum cosmology, but her specialty transformed into causal set theory. After a couple of hours, the contented chatter gave way to Faye as she presented her usual crystal-clear exposition of causal sets as an alternate to strings and loops. Like loop quantum gravity, causal sets are less about the stuff in the universe and more about the structure of spacetime itself. But instead of being woven out of loops, spacetime is described by a discrete structure that is organized in a causal way. The causal-set approach envisions the structure of space analogous to sand on a beachhead. If we view the beachhead from afar, we see a uniform distribution of sand. But as we zoom in, we can discern the individual sand grains. In a causal set, spacetime, like a beach made up of sand, is composed of granular "atoms" of space-time.
[ click to continue reading at Nautilus ]
The Biology of Music
Breakthrough in understanding the chills and thrills of musical rapture
How certain pieces of music send tingles up the spine has stumped researchers for centuries, but a recent brain scan study may have provided some clues
By Ian Sample Science editor
How does music evoke goosebumps and spine tingles? Photograph: Hiroyuki Ito/Getty Images
The skin comes out in goosebumps and tingles run up the spine. But how particular pieces of music can induce such rapturous effects in people has stumped researchers for centuries.
With the passing of time comes new technology though, and suitably equipped with modern brain scanning equipment, scientists may now have made some headway.
In the latest effort to understand "the chills", researchers in the US put out a call for music fans who either consistently experienced euphoric sensations on hearing certain tracks, or who hardly ever felt them at all.
"It stemmed from a deep interest in intense, profound emotional responses, in particular those that come from music," said Matthew Sachs, a graduate student at the University of Southern California who conducted the experiments at Harvard University. "I've always been fascinated by how a collection of tones changing over time has the ability to evoke these very strong sensations."
More than 200 people responded to the call and filled out online personality questionnaires. From these, Sachs and others at Harvard and Wesleyan University in Connecticut selected 10 to form a "chill group" and another 10 to form a "no chill" group.
Before having their brains scanned, the 20 volunteers went into the lab with playlists of music they found most pleasurable. The tracks ranged from the Liebestod from Wagner's Tristan and Isolde and Coldplay's Strawberry Swing to Bag Raiders' Shooting Stars and Blue Devils Drum Corps's Constantly Risking Absurdity.
Dino-myths
from RealClear Science
The Top Six Dinosaur Myths
By Nick Longrich
We can go to the gift shop after you've eaten Dave Catchpole/Flickr, CC BY
When the first dinosaur bone was described in 1676, it was thought to come from an elephant or perhaps a giant. Over a century later, scientists realised such fossils came from a creature they named Megalosaurus, portrayed as a sort of stocky, overgrown lizard. Then, in 1842, leading anatomist Richard Owen recognised Megalosaurus as part of a whole new group of animals, which he named Dinosauria, or "Terrible Lizards".
Since then, around 700 different dinosaur species have been described, with more found everymonth. Our ideas about dinosaurs have also changed radically. The dinosaurs we know today are very different from the ones in the books you may have read as a child.
Myth 1: Dinosaurs were all big
The name dinosaur tends to evoke images of giants – and certainly many were very large. Tyrannosaurus rex was around 12 metres long and weighed more than five tonnes, the size of an elephant, and it probably wasn't even the biggest carnivore. Long-necked, plant-eating sauropods grew to titanic proportions. The enormous Argentinosaurus is known from just a few bones, but its size has been estimated at 30 metres in length and 80 tonnes in weight. That's larger than any living land mammal and all but the largest whales. And dinosaurs are unique here. No other group of land animals before or since was able to grow as large.
But not all dinosaurs were giants. The horned dinosaur Protoceratops was the size of a sheep. Velociraptor was the size of a golden retriever and had to be scaled up for Jurassic Park to make it more terrifying. Recent years have seen an explosion in the number of small species discovered, such as the
cat-sized raptor Hesperonychus, the rabbit-sized plant-eater Tianyulong, and the quail-sized insect-eater Parvicursor. The smaller species were probably more common than their giant cousins. It's just that the massive bones of a T. rex are more likely to have been preserved and a lot easier to spot in the field.
[ click to continue reading at RealClear Science ]
from R. Hubbard via FB
[ view on Facebook ]
Fine Art Gothic
from The Hollywood Reporter
How Classic Paintings Influence 'American Gothic'
by Sarah Huggins
Christos Kalohoridis/CBS
American Gothic is more than meets the eye.
The new CBS drama centers on a prominent Boston family and their secrets, and to hear showrunner Corinne Brinkerhoff tell it, features a nod to classical pieces of art in each episode.
The artistic gems should come as no surprise as the series itself shares its name with a famous painting — American Gothic by Grant Wood, which features a pitchfork-toting farmer with a female companion standing in front of a gothic-style ranch home. It's perhaps one of the most recognizable 20th century American works.
"One of my favorite elements of the show is off of the fact it's called American Gothic and the family is collectors of fine art," Brinkerhoff tells The Hollywood Reporter. "We have artists in the family and it is sort of in the fabric of the show already."
The artists in the Hawthorne family include Cam (Justin Chatwin), a cartoonist, and his possible serial-killer-in-the-making offspring Jack (Gabriel Bateman), who has a passion for drawing dead animals.
Each episode of the drama series is titled after and shows admiration for a famous painting. "We chose a painting that had some thematic resonance with that chapter of our story," Brinkerhoff explains. "We also looked for a moment that within the frame we could put an homage to the actual painting itself. Those kinds of things distinguish us in a way where it's not high concept, but there's details if you're paying close attention add another layer to the show."
[ click to continue reading at THR ]
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If you found this article chances are you are in need of acupuncture. Something probably hurts and needs attention. Acupuncture is very effective for relieving pain. After reading this article, click the HOME button on the left hand side of this page and explore the different conditions we treat. Welcome to the Denver Tech Center Acupuncture Clinic!
At Denver Acupuncture, we are committed to bringing you the highest quality, safe and effective acupuncture and Chinese Medicine. When you come to us, we want to earn your trust. We want you to feel that our practice is a safe place where you can return to health, maintain your health, and thrive in your life. In today's world of healthcare it is extremely difficult to know if you are getting the care you need. We want you to see our practice as a refuge in this stormy world – where you know, without a doubt, that your greatest needs will be addressed with respect, commitment and quality.
The Denver Tech Center Acupuncture Clinic has a staff of highly trained practitioners in the field of Chinese Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine. We have successfully treated tens of thousands of cases ranging from day to day ailments to the most difficult and chronic conditions. We know that Chinese medicine is critical to fill the gap in health care. So many conditions that do not respond to Western medicine can be completely resolved with Chinese medicine. In addition, our treatments have no negative side effects. So where a Western treatment will offer relief with medications or surgery, our treatment offers relief in a much less invasive fashion.
Many of our patients come to us after having tried other practitioners and other forms of health care. They always say that they are glad to have found us. Our treatments allow them to achieve the results they want.
At The Denver Tech Center Acupuncture Clinic we value your trust with the most important aspect of your life — your health. We partner with you using acupuncture, Chinese natural herbal medicine, dietary change, health education, physical exercise, and lifestyle changes. We stand out from the crowd to give you the best care, so you can stand out from the crowd in your quest for a fulfilling life.
The highest standard of patient care — the patient's best interest ALWAYS comes first.
Our office is conveniently located in the heart of the Denver Tech Center. We have ample free parking.
We accept insurance plans where there is acupuncture coverage, flexible spending and take credit cards.
Click on the practitioner names to watch a short video about them. Dr. Jade and Dr. Mark. We look forward to treating you!
Denver Tech Center Acupuncture Clinic for your health. Resolves back pain, neck pain, migraines, sciatica, insomnia. Safe, no side effects.


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's government has issued a tender for luxury furniture, including a gilded bed, triggering an outcry Wednesday in a country where the economy shrank 10.9 percent in the last quarter.
"I cannot imagine the need to purchase expensive items during such a difficult financial situation for the country," wrote blogger here shortly after the details became public.
The tender announcement said the bed should be sent to the ministry headquarters. Other items must be delivered to an address in an exclusive dacha district on Moscow's outskirts.
According to Russian newspaper Vedomosti, this is where several senior officials in the interior ministry reside in state-owned homes.
"Golden toilets would be more logical...and a negotiating table should be made of bulletproof and shock resistant material," wrote one comment on the Vedomosti website.
The publication of the tenders comes as part of Russian efforts to improve transparency and boost public confidence in efforts to cut corruption by holding public competitions for state purchases.


As dinner unfolds at Del Posto, the new addition to the Mario Batali–Bastianich-family fine-dining empire, it's hard to know whether you've entered restaurant nirvana or some strange, slightly comical pastiche of what an opulent five-star restaurant should be. First there is the bread, which comes with butter plus an offering of Batali's trademark "house-cured lardo," known in less lofty circles as pork fat. As you spread this lardo, Nutella style, on your house-baked focaccia, you can admire the plush, darkly glowing room, with its towering columns and tall curtained windows like those you'd find in the lobby of a grand Roosevelt-era New York hotel. You can peruse the menu, stuffed with $60 dishes of lobster risotto for two, and old Batali favorites like bollito misto, a medley of rustic Italian offal products that are carved, with elaborate ceremony, tableside. Like at Alain Ducasse's famously effete restaurant uptown, footstools are provided for ladies' handbags. And instead of the rock tunes that are piped into Batali's flagship restaurant, Babbo, you can enjoy live piano lounge music at Del Posto while sipping your $24 cup of "cave-aged" Chinese tea.
For grizzled Batali veterans (like me), this is all a little strange and unsettling, like watching a troop of lumberjacks tiptoe their way through a ballet. The great chef made his reputation peddling the opposite kind of dining experience, after all. At raucous, unpretentious restaurants like Babbo and Lupa, Batali and the Bastianich family created an intense, almost tribal enthusiasm for their particular brand of rustic Italian cooking. But at Del Posto they seem to have something else in mind. This is their Vegas enterprise, a splashy combination of canny marketing and aggressive haute-cuisine extravagance. It's located, naturally enough, on the westerly edge of the meatpacking district, the New York dining world's version of the Vegas Strip. With its valet parking and baronial balcony seating, the restaurant seems to have been designed, like a giant gill net, to catch the great schools of revelers and high rollers who troll the city at night. Food plays a part in this calculation, but in the end, Del Posto isn't really about food. It's about spectacle and entertainment.
With Mark Ladner (formerly of Lupa) in the kitchen, and Batali focusing all his attention on the restaurant's opening, the cooking is generally superb. But if you've managed to fight your way into Babbo over the last few years, none of it is exactly revelatory. Among the antipasti dishes, robust old favorites like lamb's-tongue vinaigrette and tripe alla parmigiana have been replaced by smaller, more refined offerings like funghi misti, indistinct little pots of cuttlefish and octopus cooked with tomatoes and chickpeas, and slices of the garlicky Italian sausage cotechino, served over lentils. My friend the sweetbread maniac greatly enjoyed his $16 sweetbreads piccata but complained that there was only one sweetbread on his plate. I liked my grilled radicchio (with a cream sauce made with Fontina cheese), and the lightly crisp vegetable fritto misto was very nice, too, but if you're not on an expense account (and maybe if you are), my advice is to ignore the antipasti and move on to the predictably excellent pasta.
Among other things, Del Posto represents Batali's conspicuous, somewhat strained attempt to put Italian cooking on the same level as high French cuisine. As a result, even the simplest peasant noodle dish is served with multiple rows of silver, on fine bone china, in the most exacting, Michelin-approved style. The first one I sampled (this being Batali, there are fifteen, plus four risottos) was a chewy tangle of pici (a Tuscan country pasta, mixed here with coxcombs and black truffles), which was very good but not good enough to merit its $30 price tag. The risottos (try the pumpkin with lardo) are similarly pricey but also good, especially if you enjoy having your risotto reverently served from a silver chafing dish. For $23 you can order little pork-stuffed agnolotti designed to be eaten with your fingers, and $27 buys an ingenious spaghetti dish tossed with fresh crab, scallions, and the slightest kick of jalapeño. Best of all, though, are little cigar-shaped chestnut ravioli ($25), which are stacked over a bed of sweet onions and pieces of roasted pigeon flavored inventively with myrtle.
If you think roasted pigeon and myrtle sound lofty by Batali's standards, you're right. At the same time, however, a vague disconnect develops, as the entrées roll around, between the restaurant's exaggerated surroundings and the type of Everyman gourmet cooking chef Batali is famous for. I enjoy my bollito misto as much as the next fat guy, but do we really need to see the parade of great stuffed pig's feet and bulbous sausages being hoisted from their steam cart, then sliced at the table? The offal of choice at Del Posto is calf's liver, stirred in a white-wine reduction, with a delicate combination of polenta and frizzled leeks, but the roast rabbit I sampled was bland, and the mostly unadorned serving of lamb's kidneys looked sad and overwhelmed on its exquisite china plate. The seafood dishes are better, particularly the orata, steamed in parchment and flavored with grapefruit zest and lemon, and so are old standbys like lamb (served three ways—a chop, a shoulder, and a mini breaded meatball) and duck (stuffed with duck sausage). Nothing I tried, however, tasted quite as good as the squab breast, which was deboned, broiled to a light crunchiness on the outside, and tinged with vinegar.
This food is accompanied by all sorts of pageantry and largesse, which, I'll admit, is easy to get used to. At the bar you can get Bellinis flavored with persimmon, and wines from 40 regions of Italy. There are intricate tasting menus available, and nine types of beef, fish, and fowl, carved for two or four at a serving station as big as the bridge of a battleship. For dessert, I recommend a superior, Italian version of baked Alaska called an apricot cassata di gelati, consisting of apricot sorbet and almond cake, encased in a decadent meringue top. There's a nice rich slice of gianduja flecked with gold leaf, and a tasting of chocolates you can wash down with a selection of esoteric rums. There's also a classic zabaglione, whisked up on the night I ordered it by Lidia Bastianich herself. The first lady of Italian cuisine beats the eggs, sugar, and Marsala over a low flame, then pours the mixture into little pink Venetian glasses. The result is creamy and faintly boozy, and, of course, delicious. But somehow, in that grand, cavernous space with its tall columns and endlessly tinkling piano music, a little of the essential flavor is lost.
Hours: Tuesday through Thursday, 5:30 to 10:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5:30 to 11.
Prices: Antipasti: $13 to $17. Pastas: $12 to $30. Entrées: $27 to $35.
Ideal Meal: Grilled radicchio, chestnut ravioli with pigeon, squab or calf's liver, apricot cassata.
Note: If you have the cash, try the veal rack for two ($95) and the pork loin for four ($140).
We subtract one star for the stagy atmosphere and another for the lack of what, for a better word, we'll call "Bataliness." The food's very good, but it's not Babbo in its prime.


Archaeological excavations at farm Geirsstadir in county Hroarstunga in 1997 lead to the discovery of a large farm, a small church, a so-called long- house and other ruins with a round shaped wall around them.
During the years 1999-2001 a conjectural church was built on the property of Litli Bakki. This "reconstruction" was mostly financed by some EU and domestic funds. The church was blessed in 2001 and the same summer it was used for a christening.
This church is right at the crossing opposite to farm Litlibakki, where the road takes you either to farm Husey in the east or to road #1 in the west.


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Allen Funt Biography
Allen Funt was an American television producer, best remembered as the creator and host of the television series 'Candid Camera'. This biography of Allen Funt provides detailed about his childhood, life, achievements, works & timeline.
http://entertainthis.usatoday.com/2014/08/10/candid-camera-returns-lets-look-back-on-some-ancient-tv-history/
http://mitchoconnell.blogspot.in/2014/01/candid-candid-camera-greatest-tv.html
Birthday: September 16, 1914
Famous: TV Presenters Reality TV Personalities
Died At Age: 84
Also Known As: Allen Albert Funt
Born in: New York City, New York, U.S.
Famous as: Television Host
Spouse/Ex-: Evelyn Kesler, Marilyn Ina Laron
father: Isidore Funt
mother: Paula Saferstein
siblings: Peter
children: John, Patricia, Peter
Died on: September 5, 1999
place of death: Pebble Beach, California, U.S.
U.S. State: New Yorkers
education: Cornell University, Pratt Institute
Allen Funt was an American television producer, best remembered as the creator and host of the television series 'Candid Camera'. After completing his graduation, he pursued a career in broadcasting along with the hobby of thinking up gimmicks for radio shows before he served in the Army Signal Corps during World War II. While stationed at war, he developed a keen interest in the wireless portable recorders. His idea was to use hidden cameras and microphones to record people's responses as they dealt with uncanny and bizarre situations. Initially, it started off as a radio show for a couple of years and later premiered on television as 'Candid Camera'. The show was an instant hit among the masses because it captured real-time reactions of people and did not contain any form of pre-scripted drama. The hidden cameras caught ordinary citizens unaware of the shocking situations and recorded their reactions. He appeared in many stunts himself and every one of his gag concluded with the catch-phrase, "Smile, you're on Candid Camera". Along with his television show, he also produced two feature films, wrote three books and recorded several albums, nearly all built on the concept of the hidden camera. He was a pioneer of world television who created an entire new programming genre for future generations, popularly known as reality-based television in the current times.
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He was born on September 16, 1914 in New York, U.S. to Isidore Funt, a diamond wholesaler, and his wife, Paula Saferstein. He had an elder sister, Dorothy.
He received his early education from the New Utrecht High School, Brooklyn, New York. After high school, he got enrolled at the Cornell University from where he earned a bachelor's degree in fine arts in 1934.
Then he went to Columbia University for a while and later attended the Pratt Art Institute, Brooklyn for a year before taking up a job.
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He started his career with a job in the art department of an advertising agency. Later he joined the world of broadcasting, working alongside Eleanor Roosevelt, the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, on her radio commentaries. He also provided gags for the hit quiz show 'Truth or Consequences', hosted by Ralph Edwards.
During the Second World War, he was drafted in the US Army Signal Corps and was stationed in Oklahoma where he served from 1943 to 1945. While serving in the army, he thought of an idea to record the complaints of fellow army men for broadcasting. But as the soldiers were hesitant to do so, he formulated the idea of a hidden microphone to record them which proved to be very amusing.
In 1946, he began the show titled 'Candid Microphone' on ABC Radio to record spontaneous reactions of people in weird situations. Initially he would lure victims into his office, with an offer or for some help, but later, with the introduction of portable recorders, he used to roam around to record material for his radio show.
On August 10, 1948, ABC aired the show on television under the same name which consisted of some footage in the form of theatrical short films showing the common people getting startled by the gags.
In 1949, the show was transferred to NBC as 'Candid Camera' and in 1960, CBS selected it for a seven-year broadcast.
The show became an immediate success among the audiences and played on all three major networks in the United States, achieving top ratings both on the networks and in syndication. One of its early hilarious gags included a sequence in which a car came down a hill and pulled up in front of a passer-by, the driver asking for help to get it started. When the hood was raised, people were shocked and confused to see that there was no engine.
Some of its other unusual gags included 'talking mailboxes' or 'bowling balls without holes'. In a classic stunt, members of his crew rode on an elevator facing the rear rather than the door. Soon, the general public would also turn around creating an uncanny comical situation. Another one of his social psychological experiments included two doors in a corridor, one with a sign reading, 'Use Other Door', and the other 'Do Not Enter'.
He also produced two movies which belonged to the same genre of reality-based television. One of his movies was 'What Do You Say to a Naked Lady?' (1970), an adult film featuring reactions of different people to a number of erotic situations. His second production was 'Money Talks' (1972), in which people expressed their opinions towards money unaware of the fact that they are being filmed.
He also wrote several books in his career such as 'Eavesdropper at Large: Adventures in Human Nature with "Candid Mike"' (1952), 'Candid Kids' (1964) and 'Candidly, Allen Funt: A Million Smiles Later' (1994).
After he retired due to poor health in 1993, the show was continued by his son, Peter Funt. The show went off the air and made comebacks several times throughout the years, as either a regular show or a series of specials.
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In 1946, he married Evelyn Kesler. The couple was blessed with three children; two sons, Peter and John, and a daughter, Patricia. The couple got divorced in 1964.
In 1964, he married Marilyn Ina Laron. The couple had two children, William and Juliet. This marriage too ended in divorce.
In 1993, he suffered a stroke and remained ill thereafter. He died on September 5, 1999, in Pebble Beach, California.
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See the events in life of Allen Funt in Chronological Order
Allen Funt Bio As PDF
- Allen Funt Biography
- https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/allen-funt-4574.php
Allen Funt
Was this Marvel character a Stan Lee original?
(American)
20th Century | Celebrity Names With Letter A | Male Celebrity Names With Letter A | 20th Century TV Presenters | 20th Century Media Personalities | 20th Century T V & Movie Producers | 20th Century Film & Theater Personalities | 20th Century American Film & Theater Personalities


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OU Regents Approve Changes to Employee Benefits, Degree Programs
Mike Seals - October 5, 2020 9:42 am
OKLAHOMA CITY – The University of Oklahoma Board of Regents met today to consider modifications to employee health benefits, the formation of search committees for three academic leadership positions, new degree programs and other items.
During the meeting, held on the OU Health Sciences Center campus, the Regents approved changes to the university's medical benefits structure and plan design for employees. The changes will align the active employee and pre-Medicare retiree populations on the Norman campus with the Health Sciences Center medical plan design, adjusting the Norman campus medical premiums from a six-tier contribution model to a three-tier contribution model in 2021.
In his remarks, OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. noted that the pandemic has amplified the economic challenges facing all of higher education. OU is better positioned than most, Harroz said, referencing the university's well-chronicled operating cuts of the last few years, which amounted to nearly $80 million between fiscal years 2019 and 2020.
"Nationwide, we have seen universities raise tuition and fees to cover rising costs, but at OU we have frozen tuition and mandatory fees for three years in a row," Harroz said. "Even still, students pay the lion's share of the cost of their education – something we must address with increasing urgency."
Among OU's increasing fixed costs are employee benefits offerings, which have risen approximately 10% annually in the recent years. Recently, the Board of Regents directed OU to assess its benefits offerings and to align with the peer market in a way that makes employee benefits competitive and attractive to top talent.
"If the cost of benefits to the institution is too low, we will lose the talent we require to achieve excellence, and if the cost is too high, we cannot achieve affordability for our students," Harroz said. "Our goal is to address the need for change to the market standard in a way that minimizes negative impacts on our faculty and staff."
OU is taking steps to mitigate the financial burden on its lowest-paid employees as well, Harroz said. The university has created a pool of resources throughout the transition period that will alleviate the additional burden the increases may cause this first year. Also, in an effort to address both benefits and fair compensation, particularly for those in lowest-paid positions, OU will enact a compensation study to ensure those in the lowest-paid positions are paid fairly in the market. The university is committing the first dollars of its next campus-wide salary program to those employees.
"We are taking steps to mitigate the negative impact of these changes," said Harroz. "We will address this honestly and fairly, assessing both benefits and compensation, in particular for our lowest-paid positions. The measures we are taking have been forged in cooperation with the Staff Senate Executive Committee and have their full support."
Also during the meeting, the board approved the formation of search committees for deans of the Honors College and the College of Law, as well as the senior vice president and provost for the Norman campus. Nationwide searches will be conducted for the positions.
"Finding the best-suited individuals to fill these key academic leadership roles will be crucial as we work toward unlocking our greatest potential as one of the nation's top public research universities," Harroz said.
The Regents also considered the addition of several new degree offerings, including a Master of Construction Business; a Master of Arts in Integrated Child Well-Being, which would be offered at OU-Tulsa; and two new online Master of Laws degrees in Healthcare Law and International Business Law. In addition, the board approved an online delivery option for four existing programs – the Master of Science in Architecture, the Master of Science in Computer Science, the Master of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communication, and the graduate certificate in geospatial technologies.
"These specialized degree programs, which capitalize on a number of OU's areas of academic strength, are specifically designed to meet economic and societal needs," Harroz said. "Expanding our strategic areas of expertise will ultimately benefit people and communities here in Oklahoma and far beyond."
The proposed program offerings and delivery modifications will now go before the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education for final approval.
The board will next meet in January.
Rep. Humphrey Bill Would Open Bigfoot Hunting Season
OKLAHOMA CITY – State Rep. Justin Humphrey, R-Lane, this week filed legislation that would establish a...
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Melissa Ingram-Perdue thought to be in custody of her 3-month-old daughter ARKANSAS CITY, Kan. (January 21,...
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Arts: Feature
Dance Trifecta
Ballet Tucson adds Balanchine ballet, jazz dance and old-time music to Desert Song Festival
By Margaret Regan
Ed Flores
Prima ballerina Jenna Johnson turns to jazz in Unsquare, a dance that premiers in Ballet Tucson's concert this weekend.
Made in America Dance and Music Concert
Performed by Ballet Tucson, singers Katherine Byrnes and Rob Wright, and a quarter of musicians
Presented in collaboration with Tucson Desert Song Festival 2020
Pima Community College West Proscenium Theatre, 2202 W. Anklam Road 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 31; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 1; 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 2
$45, general; $40 for seniors, students and military Tickets available at Brown Paper Tickets by phone at 800-838-3006 on online at www.brownpapertickets.com, under name Ballet Tucson Winter Concert.
623-3373; ballettucson.org
EXTRA: The Tucson Desert Song Festival 2020 continues through Feb. 16. Remaining events include Arizona Opera's La Bohème on Feb. 1 and 2, and soprano Renée Fleming performance with Tucson Symphony Orchestra Feb. 6. For all events, see tucsondesertsongfestival.org.
Midway through the eighth annual Tucson Desert Song Festival—devoted this year entirely to the American voice—Ballet Tucson is stepping up to perform three dances with American roots.
"Our theme is Made in America," artistic director Mary Beth Cabana says. "The whole show has ties to that."
At the company concert this weekend, choreographer Mark Schneider's new dance, Recollections, will mix dance and live music, with Katherine Byrnes and Rob Wright singing popular American songs from the turn of the last century.
Unsquare, another a brand-new dance, this one by the company's Chieko Imada, pays tribute to jazz, a musical genre born and bred in African American clubs and dance halls.
The opening work is the wondrous 1934 Serenade, composed by revered choreographer George Balanchine. The beloved dance is set to music by the very Russian composer Tchaikovsky, but it nevertheless has an American pedigree: Serenade was the first ballet the Russian-born choreographer made in America.
"The show starts with high level ballet, then an original jazz piece, and a fun ending with live music and old songs," Cabana says.
Here's a look at all three dances:
Balanchine was Russian, and Serenade was born when he was new to the U.S. and had not yet established his storied New York City Ballet.
"Balanchine was forming what would become the School of American Ballet." Cabana recounts. "He used his advanced students. He created it based on what happened in the studio."
When one girl fell, for example, Balanchine quickly added a stylized fall to the dance.
Acclaimed ever since, Serenade is a marvel of movement that deploys some 23 ballerinas on stage at once.
And with the women in pale blue dance dresses, "there's great beauty in the large ensemble," Cabana says. "Balanchine once said, 'Ballet is woman.' This exemplifies that."
The 32-minute work does offer roles for six men; and with triple casting, multiple dancers will get into the spotlight in solos, duets and trios. Among the troupe's female stars taking on featured roles are prima ballerina Jenna Johnson, Taylor Johnson and Megan Steffens. The men include Vasily Boldin, Jared Kelly and Charles Clark.
Elizabeth Kanning, a new, young dancer who acquitted herself beautifully in a Christopher Wheeldon piece in the October concert, will dance in the Russian solo.
Ballet Tucson first staged Serenade in 2016, when the Balanchine Foundation allowed the company to dance one of the master's works for the first time. To put it in sports terms, Balanchine is to ballet as the Super Bowl is to football.
Since that first Serenade four years ago, Ballet Tucson has danced two more of his works, Walpurgisnacht Ballet and Donazetto Variations, and the dancers will perform Concerto Barocco at the spring concert, March 13 to 15.
Serenade is the perfect Balanchine work to do first, Cabana says. "The movements are lush. And with its time, technique and musicality, it's quintessential Balanchine."
And there's a Serenade tie to the Desert Song Festival theme of American voice.
"It has fancy footwork. You work up to it. Articulate your feet. The feet are like a voice."
Unsquare, the middle dance in the concert, merges classical ballet movement with jazz; it's set to recorded American jazz. Choreographer Imada has made many works of blended aesthetics, including a dance that synced tango with ballet.
Visual artist Lawrence W. Lee took over the scenic design, creating geometric panels that echo the angles of jazz dancing.
The dancers wear steamy jazz dance garb, with the women in black crop tops and mesh leggings. Johnson, the company's versatile prima ballerina, stars in the piece, trading her elegant ballet moves for smoldering syncopation.
"It's an ensemble piece but everyone has a moment," Cabana says.
The grand finale, Recollections, is a trip down memory lane to the songs Americans loved in the 1890s and early 1900s.
"It's a turn of the century piece," Cabana says.
Local singers Katherine Byrnes and Rob Wright will sing the sweet harmonies of such favorites as "Shine on, Harvest Moon," a 1908 vaudeville hit; "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze," an 1867 song written by a pair of Englishmen but popularized in the U.S.; and "I Want a Girl (Just Like the Girl That Married Dear Old Dad)," a Tin Pan Alley tune from 1911.
Tucsonan Byrnes has sung with everyone from Calexico to the Tucson Pops Orchestra to audiences in Europe and China; she's soloing for Tucson Symphony Orchestra Feb. 18, and traveling the state this year in a Carole King tribute show.
Rob Wright, a jazz vocalist who also sings barbershop quartet, is a longtime Tucson resident who sang with The New Christy Minstrels, and later traveled the West on singing gigs wife, Linda. The singers will be accompanied by musicians playing trombone, ukulele, percussion and acoustic bass.
The dancers, 27 strong, will be clad in old-timey costumes: white shirtwaist blouses and voluminous skirts in red or pink for the women; red and white striped vests, black pants and straw hats for the men.
Recollections is one of many big, cheerful dance entertainments choreographer Schneider has made for Ballet Tucson. With its combination of theatrical dancing and ballet, Cabana notes, it's the "kind of dance that's Mark's strong suit." And with its candy-colored costumes, the dance is "kind of cued into Valentine's Day."
Margaret Regan
More by Margaret Regan
Dynamic Duo: A Pair of Shows at the Tucson Museum of Art Explore Radically Different Art Forms
Visions of Sugar Plum Fairies The Nutcracker is back!
Crying for Justice: A pair of artists explore America's suffering in a show at Bernal Gallery
Hip-Hop History: A marvelous 'Hamilton' finally takes the stage in Tucson
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Orchestral Tours 2023 / 2024
Chamber Orchestra Vienna ─ Berlin
Mozart Week on Tour
50 years ─ Music Matters!
In 1970, Dr. Raab, a trained singer and secondary school professor, began to represent singers.
In the same year, the Künstleragentur Dr. Raab is founded as an opera agency. The first offices are located in Gußhausstraße in the 4th district of Vienna.
Initially, the agencies activities were limited to Austria and Germany, but later expanded to also include e.g. Teheran and Cairo.
Among the singers represented are James King, Christa Ludwig, Walter Berry, Nicolai Gedda and George London.
In January 1973 the first move to Plankengasse in Vienna's 1st district took place. At that time the agency has three employees.
In September 1973 Dr. Böhm joined the artist agency and began to build up the orchestral touring department.
Dr. Böhm's first tour takes place in October 1973: The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Kurt Masur gives ten concerts in Austria, including Salzburg, Linz, Villach, Graz, Dornbirn, Klagenfurt and Vienna, as well as in Trieste, Italy.
This is followed by first tours with the Czech Philharmonic under Václav Neumann and the Hungarian National Philharmonic under János Ferencsik.
The first tour with a Russian orchestra was led by Dr. Böhm in December 1973 with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra and Kirill Kondraschin (assistant Dimitri Kitajenko) in cooperation with the Austrian-Soviet Society and the Soviet concert agency GOS-Concert.
In 1974 the assistant of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Mariss Jansons, is hired for the first time. Guest conducting engagements with the Niederösterreichisches Tonkünstler Orchestra and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra followed later.
In the same year the first tour with the Staatskapelle Dresden takes place. The concerts in Dornbirn and Graz are conducted by Herbert Blomstedt.
First tours with the Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest and the Orchestre de Paris followed in 1975/76.
1978 a tour of the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra with Evgeny Mravinsky (Mariss Jansons as assistant) takes place in cooperation with GOS-Concert.
Over the period 1980-86, the opera festivals of the Arena di Verona are held every two years in the Vienna Stadthalle, with productions of Aida, Turandot and Nabucco, among others. In the late 80s, guest performances at Luxor in Egypt and in Tokyo follow.
In October 1980 the artist agency Dr. Raab organized a gala tour with the 5 main singers of the Bolshoi Theatre: Tamara Milashkina, Yelena Obraszova, Vladimir Atlantov, Yuri Masurok and Yevgeny Nesterenko.
The 1983/84 season finally saw the first tour with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and violinist Dmitri Sitkowetski under the baton of Neeme Järvi. The destination is Switzerland.
In 1986 Georges Prêtre became first guest conductor of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. The close relationship between the agency and the orchestra continues to this day. The following period brings with it engagements as principal conductors of Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and Vladimir Fedoseyev, who were represented by the agency at the time. From the 2020/2021 season onwards, the Colombian conductor Andrés Orozco-Estrada will follow in this series.
In 1989, Dr. Böhm became a partner in the artist agency Dr. Raab, which resulted in the company being renamed "Dr. Raab & Dr. Böhm GesmbH".
13 concerts with 13 major works: In the 1990s Dimitri Kitajenko led a summer tour of the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra organized by the agency, during which 13 different major works were performed in 13 concerts - a tour de force for all involved.
In 1990, for the first time a tour took the artist agency Dr. Raab & Dr. Böhm to the Herodes Atticus Theatre in Athens: the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra travelled together with the Vienna Singverein, and the Psalmus Hungaricus by Kodály was among the works performed.
In the 1990s the first contacts with American orchestras were established, which were taken on tour together with Konzertdirektion Schmid.
In 1990, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra entrusted Raab & Böhm with the realization of the orchestra's anniversary tour, first to Germany and Austria and finally to Moscow, St. Petersburg and Budapest.
On site in Vienna, Raab & Böhm opened an audition studio directly opposite the offices in Plankengasse in the 1990s.
In the Mozart Year 1991, artist agency Dr. Raab & Dr. Böhm took the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Singverein and Georges Prêtre to the Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris for a concert as part of the "Festival de Paris", which this year has Austria as its theme. Mozart's Coronation Mass will be performed.
After managing the artists' agency for over two decades, Dr. Raab retired in 1994, whereupon Dr. Böhm continued to run the agency as sole proprietor.
1995 Austria joins the EU. As a result, the labour market laws change: Orchestra representation is now possible abroad and concerts no longer have to be handled by a domestic agency. This results in much greater opportunities for international tours.
Each year from 1995-2000, the CBSO and its then Principal Conductor Sir Simon Rattle are invited to the Vienna Konzerthaus for three evenings in March, giving a total of 15 concerts under the motto "Towards Millennium".
One of the first agency tours to Asia took place in November 1996 with concerts of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra in Taiwan and Korea.
The agency modernized and began using e-mail in 1998. A short time later the first website follows.
1999 sees a new century ahead and a true century project for the agency. 1999 the first tour to the USA takes place with two concerts at Carnegie Hall. In addition to the SWR Symphony Orchestra Freiburg and conductor Michael Gielen, the choirs of the SWR, WDR, Radio Chorus Berlin and the Europa Chor Akademie will also be coming to perform Zimmermann's Requiem. The touring size reaches around 300 persons.
In the 1990s, Jane Glover became the first female conductor to be represented by Raab & Böhm.
The 2000s bring a series of unique guest-performances by the John Neumeier Ballet, which travels to Vienna and Athens several times with Raab & Böhm.
In 2001, the artist agency Dr. Raab & Dr. Böhm sets up a summer tour of eight European cities for the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester under the baton of Franz Welser-Möst, also involving the St. Florian Boys Choir, the Prague Philharmonic Choir and the Wiener Singverein for the performance of Mahler's 8th Symphony.
Once again with the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, this time under the direction of its founder Claudio Abbado, a Raab & Böhm tour with Mahler's 9th Symphony takes place in 2004.
Mag. Nora Pötter began working for Raab & Böhm in 2006, first as a staff member in the tour department, later as Artist Manager for instrumentalists.
The first conductor of the agency conducting a New Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic in 2008 is Georges Prêtre.
With a complete Beethoven symphony cycle, Raab & Böhm leads the Orchestre National de France under the direction of Kurt Masur to the Beethovenfest Bonn in 2008.
In 2009, Raab & Böhm takes the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra with its principal conductor Mariss Jansons on a major tour of Eastern European cities such as Zagreb, Sofia, Moscow, St. Petersburg and Bucharest.
2011 Helga Machreich-Unterzaucher takes over the vocal department of the agency under the new name "Machreich Artists".
2013 Dr. Böhm puts the fate of the agency in the hands of Mag. Nora Pötter (as managing director and owner).
The agency begins to work increasingly for female conductors like Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, Giedrė Šlekytė and others.
In 2014 the office moves to Paniglgasse not far from the company's primary address in Gußhausstraße in Vienna's 4th district.
The agency intensifies its touring activities with up to 150 guest performances per year. New destinations such as Yekaterinburg or Kazan (RUS), Yerevan (ARM), Shen-Zen and Wuhan (CHN), Vail (USA), Reykjavík (ISL) or Aix-en-Provence (FRA) are also being developed.
In Artist Management, territorial representations are simultaneously expanding towards more general management or European representations.
Between 2015 and 2018, Raab & Böhm is participating in the EU project "RCO meets Europe" of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra.
Semyon Bychkov conducts as the agency's first conductor at the Bayreuth Festival in 2018.
In 2019 the first CD of a female composer represented by Raab & Böhm is released (Raminta Šerkšnytė).
In the same year the agency organized a world tour for Anne-Sophie Mutter & the Chamber Orchestra Vienna - Berlin (25 concerts).
The opening of the 100th Salzburg Festival by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla coincides with the 50th anniversary of the artist agency Dr. Raab & Dr. Böhm in 2020 - due to the global Covid-19 pandemic the festivities might be postponed to 2021.
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