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Why Going to the National Parks This Summer Might Be a Horrible Idea
The sequester will cut back on bathroom cleanings, and it's going to be hot.
By Brian Resnick and National Journal
With summer gas prices expected to be the lowest in three years, it would seem like a good idea to pack up the minivan, drag the kids out of the air conditioning, and take a quintessential American road trip to the National Parks, otherwise known as our "best idea."
Besides the usual reasons why such a trip might be awful — the kids refuse to walk more than a half mile in any given direction, cell service stinks, mosquitoes eat your flesh, you've stepped into a world where fanny packs are still acceptable — this summer might provide a few extra annoyances. Mainly, we can blame budget cuts due to sequestration. But there are some other reasons as well.
The bathrooms will stink even more than usual.
To prepare for the rush of tourists that come to the parks every summer, the Park Service usually hires about 10,000 seasonal workers to keep up the parks. This year, due to a $153.4 million budget cut, that number will be 9,000. And Stateline's Rita Beamish explains, the reduction will "result in less-frequent mowing, sand-covered bike paths, messier restrooms, and fewer interpretive programs." At the Grand Canyon, bathrooms will be cleaned only once a day, not twice a day as usual. The Park Service is also in a hiring freeze for its year-round staff, with 900 vacant positions remaining unfilled for the summer. Cuts will also reduce park hours, and, counter-intuitively cut volunteer workers because there won't be permanent staff to oversee them.
Waiting in line next to obnoxious, fanny-pack-wearing tourists will take longer.
Every park will handle the cuts differently, but the Grand Canyon will shrink its visitor center's hours by two and have fewer workers on the gate. That will likely cause longer waits than usual. And who likes to make small talk while waiting in line? "We hope that visitors are not impacted by those cuts, but you can't cut well over a million dollars from a park this size without feeling and noticing that," Maureen Oltrogge, a Grand Canyon spokesperson told a Florida TV station.
Prepare for minor annoyances at many major national attractions: No evening visiting hours for the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia; less garbage pickup in D.C.'s Rock Creek Park; closed roads in the Grand Tetons; fewer rangers in places like Isle Royale in Michigan (which can mean longer response times for emergencies).
It's going to be hot.
(NOAA)
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, climate models "indicate enhanced chances for above-normal temperatures" for much of the country. In June, above-average temperatures are predicted for the Western half of the country (where many of our more popular parks are). When stretched out to August, the outlook predicts above-average temperatures for just about all of the U.S. for the entire summer. So those uncleaned park bathrooms will be extra pleasant.
There may be a lot of traffic.
The worst part about a road trip is usually the road part of it. The U.S. Energy Information Administration anticipates the lowest gas prices in three years, at $3.63 a gallon. Yes, this can be seen as a good thing for summer vacationers. But lower gas prices may inspire more people to hit the road, which may require more drivers to hit the brakes.
(EIA)


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Throwback Tech Talk: Polyphonic Ringtones
by Michael FisherApril 25, 2012 2:24 pm
To me, the term "polyphonic ringtones" sounds a lot like it could refer to a Motown band from the 70s. Okay, maybe "Ring Tone and the Polyphonics" would work better, but you know what? It doesn't matter. Because it's not. It's not a band from the 70s. It describes a crucial step forward in mobile phone notifications.
Everyone remembers what cell phone ringers used to sound like: sharp, loud versions of old pagers' alert tones. They were extremely audible, but distinctly unpleasant. Even if you were lucky enough to own a phone that came loaded with Für Elise, the experience of hearing it one note at a time, usually at ear-splitting volume, got tired real fast.
It's creepy how many of these you'll remember.
These monophonic ringtones, imperfect though they were, kicked off a storm of frenzied tone building and buying that continues even today. Nokia, that always-referenced pioneer of early wireless technology, led the charge with a ringtone-making-and-sending technology called Harmonium in 1997. It was this advance, and similar developments which followed, that paved the way for the widespread adoption of custom ringtones and the multi-billion dollar business they spawned.
Fifteen years later, of course, the world of ringtones is entirely different. Though their importance has diminished somewhat as SMS, IM, and email overtake the voice call as the preferred means of mobile communication, the ringtones of today are more advanced than ever before. Increasingly capable speakers and software of incredible complexity (compared to 1997 standards) have resulted in real-music ringers, also known as "true tones." These are genuine audio clips, usually in .mp3, .wav, or .aac format, reproducing everything about the chosen track, vocals and all. They're essentially loud fragments of songs, or whatever else you're using as a ringtone, like the once-popular Boost Mobile "where you at?" shout.
You may not want to admit it, Americans, but you remember this.But the jump from monophonic to true tones didn't happen without an intermediary. Just as we needed resistive touchscreens to bridge the gap between dumb displays and the capacitive panels of today, ringtones needed a middle step. That step was polyphonics. Phone Scoop defines them thusly:
"Polyphonic ringtones can create multiple tones and/or notes simultaneously. This produces a more natural and realistic sound for melodies compared to very old phones that could only produce one note at a time. Unlike real-music ringers, polyphonic ringtones only simulate music using a pre-defined set of tones and instrument sounds. They cannot reproduce vocals or exact music."
That's a pretty cold description for what, in 2002, was an incredible step forward. I bought my first polyphonic-enabled phone without doing much research -it was enough for me that I liked the hardware design and blue LED backlighting- so I didn't know the feature was there until I got my first phone call. I was in a room with four friends, all of whom fell silent at the curiously soothing siren song emanating from my pocket.
So magical I almost didn't pick up.In retrospect, of course, it's a little ridiculous how impressed I was by this. I'd owned a handheld FM radio as a kid; I'd experienced far superior audio from gadgets as small as my cellphone before. This 16-chord doorbell-inspired MIDI file shouldn't have rung my bell (pardon the pun) so easily.
But compare it with the earlier-generation monophonic ringers and the difference becomes clear. Whereas before, a phone going off in a silent room was a jarring, heart-stopping blast of noise, polyphonics made playful, almost soothing tones like "Ringer 1" possible. Digging deeper into the Sanyo and Samsung selections of the day, the bells of Greensleeves rang out in festive glory. Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 had crashing, rattling cymbals and something faintly approximating horns. At the right volume level, Bizet's strings almost sounded like the real thing.
It's the novelty and the fun-factor of these approximations, these bits of music-but-not-quite-music, that so endeared them to mobile phone users of the early 2000s. Being the first to identify the music track being duplicated by someone's polyphonic MIDI ringtone became something of a sport in those days before true tones, whose recording-level quality outpaced polyphonics in cool-factor, but never in allure. Sasha Frere-Jones, in a 2005 New Yorker article on ringtones, put it perfectly: "Transitional stages of technology often have their own imperfect charms, memorable in ways that no one could have predicted. Polyphonic-ringtone nostalgia is approximately six months away."
Well, "six months" may have been a bit optimistic, but in an age where bottomless nostalgia gives us accessories like the POP Phone, retro polyphonic appreciation can't be far behind. Personally, I'm already there: I switched out an mp3 ringer on my Galaxy Nexus for "Samsung Ringer 1" weeks ago, and have been enjoying reliving the summer of 2002 every time someone calls. Of course, I'm a mobile-phone geek, and such behavior is to be expected of me. But just a couple hours ago, in the middle of writing this article, my self-proclaimed Luddite of a roommate interrupted to play the new custom ringtone she'd assigned me. When I called her to set it off, the dulcet tones of the original Star Trek theme song rang out from her iPhone 4S – not in a truetone MP3, but in full polyphonic glory.
If my tech-unsavvy roommate can still dig up polyphonic MIDIs as ringtones in 2012, it gives me hope for the future of this underappreciated medium. So … who's buying throwbackpolyphonics.com? All this nostalgia has made me punch drunk, and I'm ready to throw money at a MIDI version of the Star Wars Cantina song again.
Polyphonic Ringtones Definition Source: Phone Scoop
"Ring My Bell" Story Source: The New Yorker
Michael Fisher
Michael Fisher has followed the world of mobile technology for over ten years as hobbyist, retailer, and reviewer. A lengthy stint as a Sprint Nextel employee and a long-time devotion to webOS have cemented his love for the underdog platforms of the world. In addition to serving as Pocketnow's Reviews Editor, Michael is a stage, screen, and voice actor, as well as co-founder of a profitable YouTube-based business. He lives in Boston, MA. Read more about Michael Fisher!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Willie Nelson's First Performance Didn't Go All That Well
Carena Liptak Updated: February 23, 2021
Rick Kern, Getty Images
Anyone who's seen Willie Nelson live in concert can attest to the fact that he's a natural performer, with an unparalleled ease and sense of fun onstage that rarely disappoints. He's remained an avid live performer well into his 80s — and before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, the 87-year-old still kept up a lively touring schedule.
Although it may be hard to imagine the seasoned performer ever falling victim to stage jitters, that's exactly what happened at his very first performance in front of a crowd, over eight decades ago. Nelson recounted that memory during a recent appearance on NBC's Sunday Sitdown With Willie Geist, explaining that it consisted of reciting a poem to a crowd.
"I was about five years old, and my poem was, 'What are you looking at me for? / I ain't got nothin' to say / If you don't like the looks of me / Just look the other way,'" Nelson remembers. "I had on a little white sailor suit with red trim."
While he was onstage, the singer went on to say, he experienced a bout of stage fright. "I got nervous doing my poem, and I started pickin' my nose," the singer adds.
Fortunately for Nelson — and his audience! — those jitters quickly dissipated as the years went on. The year after that performance, at the age of six, he got his first guitar, and turned from a young singer-songwriter out of Texas into one of country music's living legends.
To date, Nelson has released upwards of 140 albums, and he's adding one more to that collection on Friday (Feb. 26) with the arrival of That's Life, his second Frank Sinatra tribute album. On That's Life, Nelson will tackle a number of the most iconic selections from Sinatra's catalogue, including "Luck Be a Lady," "You Make Me Feel So Young" and "I've Got You Under My Skin."
See Pictures of Willie Nelson Through the Years:
Source: Willie Nelson's First Performance Didn't Go All That Well
Filed Under: Willie Nelson
Categories: Country News, Legends


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Rich Girls – Luisa Black
by Alex Teitz
New York band Rich Girls is Luisa Black, August Churchill & Gavin Haag. After releasing EP's, Fiver & Love Is the Dealer, the band is releasing their full length album Black City on April 6. The singles "Hit" and "Wayne" show an alternative band released with no constraint. The album was recorded on both coasts and begs for a headlining tour. For info visit https://www.richgirlstheband.com/
FEMMUSIC: What was the biggest challenge making Black City?
LB: There was a ton of momentum heading into recording. We worked hard on pre-production and had this whirlwind week where we tracked basics in Brooklyn and I flew to San Francisco to finish guitars and vocals. And then two days into recording I got super sick and lost my voice. Just completely. So all that momentum came to a screeching halt. I had to cancel a bunch of sessions and there was a week there where I couldn't see how I would finish the record. I ended up canceling my return trip to NYC and stayed an extra two weeks in California to get it done.
FEMMUSIC: How was your approach different in making a full album vs EP's? What lessons did you learn from making EPs?
LB: I love EPs as a format because you can't fuck them up. You get a handful of songs to take a stand. And you can really dial in a sound and an idea. It's an exercise in subtraction. It's pure. Making a full album is harder. It forces you to expand. There was a lot more sonic range on Black City than on our previous EPs. New instrumentation, a bigger range of tempos. I took more chances.
FEMMUSIC: I see you recorded on both coasts. How did you choose Travis Harrison & Sean Beresford to record the album? What did they bring to the project?
LB: Travis we lucked out and found when we did a live session for Brooklyn Today Radio. Those mic-it-and-go things usually sound terrible but he did an amazing job and it sounded great.
Later when we were looking for a studio to track in, our friend Steve Matrick, the talent buyer at Piano's, recommended a guy who he said was the engineer for Guided by Voices and would be a great fit for us. It turned out to be Travis. So that was easy. And then Sean I've been working with since I was in The Blacks. He's been an incredible creative partner to me. At this point it's like we have a secret language. Plus he tolerates my incessant call for more reverb.
FEMMUSIC: You're signed to Tricycle Records. What made you sign with them? How are they to work with?
LB: Julie Schuchard, who runs the label, was a big supporter of local music in SF. She signed my first band, The Blacks, and I've been working with her pretty much ever since.
FEMMUSIC: Can you describe your songwriting technique?
LB: It almost always starts with a sound in my head and then I try to make the sound real by writing the song. So production is a big part of it for me. With Black City the writing process was much more raw. I was pushing into new sonic territory. Also my lyric writing process is sort of bizarre. I write phonetically. Meaning I mostly start with sounds instead of words. Occasionally I'll get lucky and start with full phrases but that's rare. I chase feeling first.
FEMMUSIC: What song (not your own) has had the biggest impact on you and why?
LB: Too hard. But the songs that have the biggest impact on me are the ones that spin me in new directions and change how I think about sound.
It's some kind of dark magic. I know when it happens because I stop whatever I'm doing and listen.
FEMMUSIC: As a woman in the music industry have you been discriminated against?
LB: There's so much low-level bullshit but it's not specific to the music industry. I can't tell you how many times a guy finds out I play in a band and immediately asks me if I play bass.
I used to explain that I play guitar. Now I say, "Why, because I'm a woman?"
FEMMUSIC: Whom would you most like to tour with or collaborate with? Why?
LB: Iggy Pop! I'd be honored to watch him wipe the floor with us.
FEMMUSIC: What one thing would you change about the music industry?
LB: Those right-wing country stars who tell artists to stay out of politics. Let's shoot them into space.
Posted in Interviews	Tagged with: Luisa Black, Rich Girls
Rich Girls – Hit
Song of the Month – March 2018
Posted in Song of the Month	Tagged with: Hit, Rich Girls


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Digital Records Management for Governments – The Road to Digitization, Compliance, and Beyond
by EDMS Consultants Sdn Bhd | Nov 5, 2020 | digital records management, driving digital, information security, Newgen, Uncategorized
The importance of robust processes and high-level security in managing organizational records and data cannot be overstated, especially for government organizations. Governmental organizations require various security and access control functionalities in order to ensure compliance with corporate information security guidelines. Further, they require records managers to aggregate records from multiple channels while adhering to dynamic guidelines and compliances.
A records manager facilitates document acquisition from multiple sources while arranging them in a predefined, hierarchical file plan—indexing, archiving, searching, and maintaining the integrity of the records by not allowing any sort of modifications to documents, marked as records. They also work to define filing and retention rules to keep records active for a stipulated period, including rules for naming, storage, and hierarchy management, among others.
Such detail-driven and complex records management processes are nearly impossible when executed manually, especially with the sheer volume of incoming records within government organizations. Digitizing and automating the records management process is the key to sustaining a high quality of work, without sacrificing efficiency, security, or compliance.
Digital is No Longer Optional—It's Imperative!
Take, for example, the custodian of national records and heritage need to digitize the operations of all government entities related to the archives to build a modern records management system. To successfully execute this vision across all the government agencies and entities with governmental stake, the custodian will have to define the regulatory guidelines and standards, to be adopted within a pre-determined time period.
For organizations like these, digitization is truly the only way forward. In an increasingly digital and technologically-forward world, they must be prepared to deal with documents and data in any format—be it analog or digital. Perhaps more importantly, governmental organizations, have a responsibility to maintain comprehensive and secure records, to easily manage those records as needed, and to remain on the cutting edge.
That means going digital.
Bumps in the Road to Digital
Digital places a variety of demands on government organizations, making it a challenge to fulfill requirements in time for compliance. Furthermore, adhering to a long-term vision requires organizations to look beyond compliance requirements, at the future impact of immediate steps.
Some of the specific challenges faced by governmental organizations include:
Unique compliance items, each with its comprehensive requirements
Managing electronic and physical records using the same platform
Managing metadata continuously across any record's lifecycle
Maintaining information per the standard guidelines
Balancing user experience against system complexity and compliance requirements
Updating the system in the future based on new, and continuously changing, retention schedules
Maintaining information security across various systems
Looking to the Horizon
While the goal for compliance is a short-term requirement, it is important to understand the long-term vision for digitizing records and correspondences by:
Treating information as an asset and exercising tight control of the record's end-to-end lifecycle, from creation to disposition (and archival), to ensure integrity and accountability
Ensuring that processes, as well as end-products (records, documents, correspondences), are digital, for effective governance and visibility
Making all records accessible, given the requisite authorizations, to immediate stakeholders, the broader community, and other departments and agencies
Building a system that is not only sustainable and scalable, but also secure and compliant with the applicable standards
The Path to Digital
Record managers and policy administrators can define the lifecycle of physical and electronic records within their system. The system then facilitates, (1) the definition of rules for the tracking and movement of records across users and, (2) the setting of rules for record archival and final destruction. To progress down the path of digitizing their records management process, organizations must move through certain stages:
Define their strategic and operational plans
Examine the organization's records, inventory, and taxonomy
Assess the policies and processes pertaining to records management
Establish retention schedules and disposition requirements
Establish a technology platform with digital capabilities
Implement end-to-end digital records management by leveraging a robust platform
Moving beyond compliance
Embrace the future with extensible records management
Leverage cutting-edge technologies
Scale and build adoption capabilities
Speeding into the Future
Digitization of national and state records is a critical achievement. However, it is more apt to consider it a series of ongoing steps, rather than a concrete milestone. These steps will continue indefinitely to achieve an efficient, secure, connected, and cutting-edge government ecosystem.
RPA on Your Priority List? Embrace it Now to Weather the COVID Storm
by EDMS Consultants Sdn Bhd | Oct 13, 2020 | Robotic Process Automation Solution, RPA, Uncategorized
When we were chalking out business plans in the board rooms, COVID-19 struck, affecting businesses globally and disrupting manual or partially automated processes. By now, we have learned to live with the pandemic around us. We've embraced the new normal of remote working. But are we as effective as before? Are manual processes hurting our business operations and customer service?
Thanks to technologies like robotic process automation (RPA) that came to our rescue during these testing times when survival meant the rapid adoption of digital. Automation of routine, mundane, and template-based processes with bots acted as a quick-fix in enabling smooth remote operations and maintaining business continuity.
RPA: A savior for businesses
RPA has made it easier for organizations to go digital and deliver uninterrupted services without compromising their speed and quality. Bots can work round the clock tirelessly and accurately, freeing up our valuable resources to take charge and talk strategy.
Further, RPA is enhancing business resilience by:
automating back-office activities
auto-generating responses to customer queries
reducing dependency on individual employees
scaling operations based on varying supply chain demands
Let's take a look at three industry-specific use cases where RPA is helping organizations survive and thrive in the new normal.
Faster loan disbursement
Financial institutions are leveraging bots to automate their loan qualification and validation processes, making disbursements more efficient. This is also helping them streamline their inbound loan processing and existing underwriting approvals.
Streamlined employee health screening
Government agencies and private organizations alike are deploying bots to send out periodic surveys through multiple channels with questions about their employees' health and travel history, among others. Based on the responses, the bot creates a risk score to assess whether a person is fit to physically attend the office or not.
Intelligent resource allocation
Hospitals are setting up bots to maintain a log with details about healthcare workers who are in good health, need quarantine, or have been exposed to or infected with COVID-19. This helps them allocate resources efficiently and ensure timely support for both the medical staff as well as the patients.
This is just a glimpse of how RPA has been enabling a secure, touchless environment to help businesses stay afloat through this crisis. RPA is the clear choice for organizations to stay current and gear up for the digital-only world.
Source: https://newgensoft.com/blog/rpa-on-your-priority-list-embrace-it-now-to-weather-the-covid-storm/


At March 19, 2019. we loaded indoor soft playground in 20 GP container for our Romania client.
This design was made according to client's room size and layout. There are different element, such as: electric carousel, slide, ball pool, rainbow bridge, trampoline, etc. Many games in limited space, hope client receive it and finish assembly soon. We are expecting that our playground bring much happiness for kids.


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Computational Research Service
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What are the conditions of use for restricted data?
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The CRS provides data reference service to social science researchers on the UC Davis campus. Services include:
Access to CRS data collections
The Data Service has developed the CRS Dataverse Network (DVN) to provide information on and access to its collections. Many items are freely available on the DVN. Items with licensing that permits such access can be downloaded using campus login id. Where licensing is more limited, data are available in the CRS Lab in SSH Room 111 on a dedicated Windows data workstation.
Locating and acquiring datasets in support of quantitative social science research
Users can consult the CRS Dataverse Network to determine the availability of specific titles held locally. In addition, staff can verify whether items are available through other sources and can assist with and acquisition.
Restricted access data
The CRS provides support for the use of restricted access, confidential data in social science research. Researchers must follow UC Davis procedures for acquiring research data from other sources. This process generally includes some form of review by the Institutional Review Board and approval and signature of data transfer agreements are handled by the Material Transfer Agreement team, in Tech Transfer, Office of Research. The Data Service now has a cold room available on a first come, first served basis, for research involving confidential data.
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Researchers should be aware that data management plans are now required by the National Science Foundation, and CRS has developed a set of resources to assist applicants in preparing their data management plans and locating appropriate sites for depositing their data.
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Two health-focussed events took place in Sooke recently.
First was a lesser-advertised Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) sponsored strategic plan road show that took place downstairs at the Community Hall. Second was a locally promoted community-led initiative titled A GP for Me. Both events addressed current issues with health care and both strove to find longer term solutions.
On Friday, November 29, VIHA with their open house, pitched the upcoming VIHA strategic health plan. About 20 residents from Sooke also showed up.
"The open houses that we are doing across Vancouver Island are so that we can seek input into the emerging strategic direction," said Shannon Marshall, the VIHA Director of Community Relations who was at the Sooke event.
The event consisted mostly of wandering around the room and looking at a series of five panels that spoke to the planned strategic plan.
Dr. Richard S. Stanwick, the Chief Medical Health Officer, was on hand to speak to the social determinants of health.
In a family where both parents are working and up to 50 per cent of their income goes towards housing, Stanwick asks, "What are the services in terms of the school system, in terms of quality daycare, that all go toward creating a healthy population?" He acknowledges that "while parents are busy putting bread on the table, their children are being cared for by the system." For many, it's simply a fact of life so that they can cover the bare necessities.
The rapid growth of population disparity also concerns Stanwick.
This number quoted by Stanwick comes from the recently published 2013 BC Child Poverty Report Card, which finds the latest figures from Statistics Canada (2011), showed that B.C. ranked the worst in Canada (see worstincanada.org) when it comes to child poverty.
B.C. had a child poverty rate of 18.6 per cent – the worst rate of any province in Canada, using the before-tax low income cut-offs of Statistics Canada as the measure of poverty.
B.C. had the worst poverty rate of any province for children living in single mother families – 49.8 per cent.
B.C. also had the worst poverty rate of any province for children living in two-parent families – 14 per cent.
B.C.'s poverty rate for children under six years at 20.7 per cent is eight percentage points higher than the Canadian average.
British Columbia also had the most unequal distribution of income among rich and poor families with children. The ratio of the average incomes of the richest 10 per cent compared to the poorest 10 per cent was 12. 6 – the worst of any province.
The correlation between low income and bad health become self-perpetuating.
Stanwick connected the dots between poverty, ill health, crime, increased stress and a decrease life expectancy.
Limited access to recreation due to limited funds have a direct impact on the future health of the population.
Fixing the system would require a more preventative approach to health, instead of the current reactive one. It would also require zeroing down to the community level, becoming for macro-focussed and engaging in an ongoing dialogue with elected officials.
It is up to the members of each community to provide the input that will be carried forward to the elected officials, and to stay engaged in the conversation for however long it takes.
Community engagement is key. Stanwick estimates that for every one dollar VIHA takes from the public purse, it returns upwards to five dollars of value. Not because they are alchemist, but because of the level of commitment from the community — we the people — to create and develop programs that make us safer drivers, that promote biking to work, and others.
A backgrounder of this proposed plan is available at http://www.viha.ca/about_viha/strategic_plan/, along with a link to the Island Health 2018 Consultation Survey (http://viha.fluidsurveys.com/s/ih2018/).
The draft strategic plan will be available online by the end of March.
The second part of this story will appear next week.