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Arms-Length Management Organisation
http://www.northwardshousing.co.uk
Northwards Housing, Hexagon Tower, Higher Blackley, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M9 8GQ
About Northwards Housing
What is it like to work for Northwards Housing
76% of staff agreed:
This organisation is run on strong values / principles
Robin has led Northwards Housing since its creation. As the CEO, he ensures that he knows everyone's name, and each year sends everyone a personally signed birthday card. It's the small things that he does that make the biggest impact. Spending time at the team meetings, his weekly Yammer blog, listening to people's views over a cup of tea, making sure that his door is always open so anyone can drop in and share ideas or have a discussion.
74% of staff disagreed:
My health is suffering because of my work
Northwards Housing promote better health and offer quarterly health initiatives such as free flu jabs, signposting people to health websites, raising awareness of mental health linked to national campaigns, providing advice on healthy eating and tips to prevent colds and flu. The company also run a Global Corporate Challenge – this 100 day challenge is the opportunity for their teams to sign up to compete against each other and other organisations around the globe in trying to achieve a daily target of 10,000 steps of physical activity. Access to wellbeing support is available from their Employee Assistance Programme and includes a 24/7 helpline available to everyone.
My organisation encourages charitable activities
Northwards Housing's work on renewables saves CO2 and saves tenants money on their fuel bills, they have won the National Heat Pump of the year award for the second year in a row. They are also working on a proposal to install a micro hydro power generation facility with discussions taking place to jointly develop a community hydro scheme with HMG Paints. They are planning a further phase of PV installations – likely to be another 'rent a roof' type scheme. The organisation are currently looking into the possibility of a mixture of ground source and water source heating at Rushcroft and Pevensey Courts, using pipes submerged into Boggart Hole Clough boating lake. They have reviewed their progress in achieving Manchester's target of a 41% reduction in CO2 by 2020 compared to 2005 levels. When they had their CROHM assessment in 2013 the external assessors calculated that they'd made a 40.1% saving. Since then they have completed other improvements to their properties, and this figure now stands at just over 41% based on work completed or in progress at present. This means that they have achieved Manchester's target 6 years early. All of their properties have now reached minimum SAP band D, and nearly 10% are at SAP band A or B. They have recently taken part again in the Sustainable Homes Index for Tomorrow (SHIFT) external assessment. Last year they were awarded a silver award, and this year they are hopeful of gold.
On-site gym or subsidised gym memberships
Long Service
50% of employees with more than 5 years' service
At least 10 weeks' leave on full pay


This chapter examines the continuous ethical challenges for nurses providing care during situations involving patients with cancer. It gives nurses guidance to take more responsibility with dealing with those ethical challenges and points out the considerable opportunity for cancer nurses to facilitate and evaluate ethical decision-making processes, and adds that by doing so nurses will contribute to the development of a dynamic and progressive professional ethic in cancer nursing.
RN (General), Cert (Oncology Nursing), BN and Mbioethics.


This webinar shows a robust fusion method to prepare ferrochromium (FeCr) samples by borate fusion. It also shows a precise XRF method to determine Cr as major element as well as other low concentration elements required in international standard norms.
Process control managers, lab managers and buyers of FeCr, or analysts in FeCr production plants, service laboratory personnel which analyze FeCr.
Discover the benefits of the method now available on the market that improves their productivity and ensures the quality of processes.
How to prepare FeCr samples using borate fusion in order to have optimal XRF results and determine major/low concentration elements in the alloy.


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Russia tells Navalny to return or face jail
Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was given a last minute ultimatum by his home country Russia on Monday (December 28): Fly back home at once or face jail.
Navalny - a leading opponent of President Vladimir Putin - collapsed on a plane in August and was airlifted to Germany for treatment soon after.
Western nations allege he was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent.
Russia said it has seen no evidence he was poisoned and denied any involvement in the incident.
On Monday, Russia's Federal Prison Service - or FSIN - accused Navalny of violating the terms of a suspended sentence he is still serving from 2014.
They also said he had evaded the supervision of Russia's criminal inspection authority.
It used an article from British medical publication The Lancet about Navalny's treatment.
It said he had been discharged from hospital in Berlin on September 20th and that all symptoms of what it called his illness had vanished by mid-October.
Navalny is serving out a suspended three-and-a-half-year prison term over a theft case, a conviction he says was politically-motivated.
His probation expires on December 30th.
In a statement, the prison service warned Navalny's suspended sentence could be changed to a real jail term.
It gave no deadline for his return, but Navalny posed a screenshot of a message to his lawyer which he said he had until 9 a.m. Tuesday (December 29) to return and show up at a Moscow office.
His spokeswoman said on Twitter it was impossible for Navalny to return in time and that he was still recuperating after his poisoning.
Automotive manufacturing and production back on govt's 'essential' list under MCO 2.0

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Q: How can I write this canvas painting loop with a JS iterator? I'm reading through an article about continuously drawing frames of an HTML5 video player on canvas. I heard about JS iterators a while back and I think there's supposedly a performance advantage, so I'd like to know how to write this set of canvas painting functions into an Iterator:
function canvasVideo(){
    //DECLARE VARIABLES

    var $videoPlayer = $('#Video-Player');
    var $canvasPlayer = $('#Canvas-Player');
    var videoPlayer = $videoPlayer[0];
    var canvasPlayer = $canvasPlayer[0];
    var context = canvasPlayer.getContext("2d");

    //DEFINE FUNCTIONS

    //draw the video
    function  draw() {

      //Background
      context.fillStyle = '#ffffaa';
      context.fillRect(0, 0, canvasPlayer.width, canvasPlayer.height);

      //video
      context.drawImage(videoPlayer , 0, 0);

   }

   //update canvas at set interval with video frames
    function canvasRun(int){

        //set timer with interval
        var canvasTimer = setTimeout(canvasRun, int);

        //draw the video frame
        draw();
    }
    function videoLoaded(event){
        canvasRun(20);
    }

    //HANDLE EVENTS

    $videoPlayer.on("canplaythrough", function (){
        videoLoaded();
    });
}

How can this be done with JS Iterators?
I've tried using tutorials to learn iterators, but the generic examples have confused me, and think seeing it done with an example like this would help me learn.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Heritage House Lodging and Events, Opelika, Alabama, USA
Heritage House Lodging and Events, is a beautiful hotel located in Opelika, Alabama, USA. Heritage House Lodging and Events is one of our recommended establishments in Hosteliest.com in Opelika, Alabama, USA .
Heritage House Lodging and Events has received a rating of 5.0 out of 5.
Location: How to get to Heritage House Lodging and Events?
Information and details about Heritage House Lodging and Events in Opelika, Alabama, USA
Heritage House Lodging and Events – – Be part of our directory of Hotels in Alabama.
Heritage House Lodging and Events has a total of 48 Reviews.
Address: 714 2nd Ave, Opelika, AL 36801, United States
City: Opelika, Alabama, USA
Website: heritagehouse1913.com
Reviews and Ratings about Heritage House Lodging and Events
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Allegations of sexual assault and sexual harassment are found UNSUBSTANTIATED by a Board composed of Officers. Client is RETAINED.
May 2, 2021, E-5, Administrative Separation Board, United States Army Reserves, Chicago, Illinois. Sergeant (E-5) who is new to this reservist unit is accused of sexual assault on two separate dates by a female Specialist. According to the allegations, the Sergeant committed abusive sexual contact during a car ride to a casino in the St. Louis area. The second accusation was that the Sergeant engaged in "hip pocket training" and touched her multiple times on her buttocks and groin in tying a "Swiss Seat" used in rappelling during some downtime in the headquarters. Her two enlisted friends apparently corroborated both alleged assaults in sworn statements to CID. Accuser appears on CBS News with Norah O'Donnell and makes accusations on national television that she was assaulted during a training exercise. Several news articles were written about this command and how her allegations were met with reprisal, thereby resulting in the reprimand of multiple Officers and Senior NCOs, along with the removal of a Reserve Commanding General. Sergeant is caught in the middle of this high-profile turmoil and retains Mr. Gapasin to represent him. At the reservist separation board, Gapasin aggressively cross-examines the accuser, and her two friends, revealing multiple inconsistencies between their stories and failed attempts at corroboration. The accuser's male friend refused to continue answering questions during the board, requesting a lawyer following the reading of his Article 31 rights as he sat on the stand. Both the accuser and her friends clearly attempted to falsely corroborate their stories, and Gapasin revealed multiple inconsistencies and contradictions, to include a diagram where the witnesses failed to be consistent where individuals were supposedly standing when the "Swiss Seat" incident allegedly occurred. RESULT: Allegations of sexual assault and sexual harassment are found UNSUBSTANTIATED by a Board composed of Officers. Client is RETAINED.


INS offers infographics as a visual component to accompany news or feature stories, or even as standalone items. Infographics are a great way to help readers visualize complex concepts and data. They offer a compelling, easy to follow 'map' of a story.
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Stone Roses, Heaton Park, Manchester, Sunday 1st July 2012, review
It is now two days after the Stone Roses 3rd and final show at Heaton Park and I am still piecing together the various fragments of my mind after it was completely blown apart. The Roses nailed it…and then some, it was an exceptional performance.
I travelled down to Manchester by train on the Saturday with good friends Derek and Phil. Phil is my lucky mascot, he got me a ticket for the European Cup Final in Barcelona in 1999 and came up with the goods again for the Roses. The train journey went pretty smoothly, helped by a few beers and chat about music and football. We went for a couple in the Northern in the excellent Northern Quarter area near Manchester City Centre and then met up with my brothers friends Alan and Gareth. My brother was to have a full house for the weekend.
My brother Ross has actually seen the Roses back in 1994, travelling down to Sheffield Arena, he also went to Heaton Park on the Friday with friends and described the event and the atmosphere as incredible.
A quick tram out to Sale and then a taxi and we arrived at my brothers to crack open some more beers and get some tunes on. Neil and John were still there from Friday night, Neil would end up staying on the Saturday to continue partying and John ended up staying to the Monday and getting a ticket for Sunday night as well. My brothers place was turned into a B&B for the weekend!
On to the main event though…
After a later night than expected, Sunday morning into early afternoon was pretty chilled before the beers were cracked open and the tunes went on; some excellent mixes by GregWilson and A Skillz. Taxis were booked for 5.30pm, we couldn't be bothered going into and out of Manchester City Centre as reports from Friday consisted of horrendous queues for buses/trams.
The sun was shining as we arrived, the smiles on our faces got wider with every step as we entered the park which was vast and beautiful. Reports of bar queues over an hour long from Friday night (eventually leading to one bar being over-turned) seemed to have been sorted as Phil's mate Cheese met us with loads of beer saying he had only queued for 10-minutes. The Wailers provided the perfect mellow soundtrack to the early evening sunshine as we got into the mood. Plan B was pretty sh*t in my opinion, not that any of us cared as we were only there for one band, support was irrelevant.
A line check interrupted the music being played over the PA before it was cranked up and before we knew it The Supremes 'Stoned Love' was blaring out and then the Roses took to the stage for a rapturous reception. I'd been to see them at Amsterdam a couple of weeks previously and I could barely believe my eyes and ears, finally getting to see and hear them in the flesh and up close at that. Now, along with the rest of the crowd, I was ready to party and celebrate the exceptional music this band has created.
The bass from Adored kicked in, Reni came in with some high-hat action and then John's soaring guitar riff took it to another level, the crowd sang along to bass and guitar, it was quite something! Brown patrolled the stage and the closing crescendo 'I wanna, I wanna, I wanna be adored, I wanna, I wanna, I gotta be adored' sounded brilliant.
©Richard Johson/ NME/ IPC Media ©Richard Johnson/ NME/ IPC Media
We didn't make it into pit 1 but positioned ourselves strategically in front of a big speaker stand at the front of the second section, the sound was exceptional throughout. I was pleasantly surprised.
19.05.1985: The Stone Roses live at Lilla Marquee, Stockholm, in Sweden.
Mersey Paradise sprung into action, that crystal clear guitar riff sounded better than ever, pure pop perfection with Brown's bubblegum-esque 'Oh Yeah' before the final chorus belted out by 70,000 people getting lost in music. Brown barely spoke throughout the gig but he did say 'Brothers and sisters, brothers and sisters, if you see someone go down please pick them up', recognising the mayhem being created at the front of the stage.
(Song For My) Sugar Spun Sister slowed things down a bit before 'Sally Cinnamon' continued where 'Mersey Paradise' had left off with the band jamming on at the end 12-inch style. The run of Where Angels Play, Shoot You Down and Bye Bye Badman was glorious, really highlighting the beautiful chemistry between Mani, Reni and Squire, their playing was exquisite throughout, gentle tones, fluid grooves, all sprinkled with some magic from Squire's guitar.
Ten Storey Love Song was incredible, it didn't quite bring tears to my eyes as it did in Amsterdam, but I was hugging mates and punching the sky, euphoric. Standing Here was gorgeous, the closing section just highlighting what a special band this was. I can't remember what song it was after, but at one point Brown said something like 'they can really play these lads.' I had to agree with Ian and turned to my mate Phil to comment on the gentle grooves being coaxed out of the bass and guitar, Reni all over his kit but with purpose, it was glorious.
I should be safe forever, in your arms
Fools Gold was off the scale, an absolute revelation, starting with a loose jam before breaking into the funk riff that showed off Mani and Reni's talents to their full. It was extended in epic fashion, the tightness of the rhythm section allowing Squire to let rip with his full arsenal of effects, riffs and tricks on guitar. It was mind blowing, pure ecstasy. A psych funk attack. Something's Burning was looser, acid jazz from the planet Mars, really trippy but still with some funk vibes in there.
The closing run of songs took everyone off on a trip that they didn't want to end (see setlist below) starting with Waterfall with the band jamming on at the end, eventually arriving at Don't Stop and I couldn't help thinking when the hook was sung 'please don't stop'.
Don't stop, isn't it funny how you shine
Love Spreads sounded a lot more free flowing than it did in Amsterdam and Brown repeated his rap from the 'dam as the band jammed on at the end. Made of Stone received one of the best receptions of the night and the chorus was sung louder than any other, Brown's vocals were particularly good, backed by 70,000 singers. Quintessential Roses.
This Is The One was my personal highlight from Amsterdam and it blew me away again on the Sunday at Heaton Park. Going from quiet to loud but with a style and grace that other bands can only dream about.
This is the one, this is the one, she's waiting for
The band roared through She Bangs The Drums in double quick time, the band coming together to peak for 3-minutes of pure pop. Smiles all round in the audience and on stage, this really was a total celebration and the Roses had pulled it off big time. The camera cut to Mani at one point and he looked pretty f**ked (causing some people around me to burst out laughing) and gloriously so, enjoying himself as much as the crowd. At one point he turned his bass round to reveal Man United, met with noticeably more cheers than boos.
Elizabeth My Dear was short and bittersweet, Brown clearly voicing his opposition to the throne in his introduction and then in verse before the pounding drums of I Am The Resurrection were joined by bass and guitar, the trio locked in a groove before Brown came in to lead his congregation through verse after blissful verse before a truly euphoric chorus. People around me were pogo-ing, jumping, dancing, singing, crying, laughing, grinning, smiling, hugging and generally having one of the best nights of their life, many experiencing a night they hadn't even dared to dream would happen.
The band embraced on stage like many were in the audience, pats on the back, a group hug, saluting the crowd to huge cheers. Brown was the last to leave, acknowledging the crowd, knowing his band had smashed it in absolutely epic fashion as fireworks exploded over our heads to the soundtrack of Marley's 'Redemption Song'.
The resurrection of the Roses has brought people together, old friends, families, fans of the band. In troubled times it is good (and rare) to have someone or something to truly believe in, something to look forward to, to dream about. Who knows what the future holds for the Roses, they have a new record deal, there are hushed whispers of psychedelic pop demos and on the basis of their performances and ticket sales so far, every promoter in town is going to want to put them on. Incidentally Michael and Emily Eavis were down to see them, they are surely a shoe-in for Glastonbury next year.
For now, I am going to bask in the glory of having seen my favourite band of all-time twice in a matter of weeks. Who knows what will happen once this tour ends, you can imagine that party hardened and Primal Scream tour veteran Mani will want to keep it going, Reni hasn't toured for a couple of decades bar the odd gig with his band The Rub, quite what he makes of it will be very interesting indeed and have Squire and Brown patched up for good?
Who knows, who cares, live for the moment, enjoy it while it lasts.
Labels: heaton park, ian brown, john squire, Manchester Apollo, Mani, reni, stone roses, stone roses heaton park sunday review
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Price goes up to $75 on APRIL 1st.
to make your very own necklace!!!
I will supply everything you need and you will walk out with your own creation.
all (931) 919-3770 or text me at (931) 614-9660 to reserve your seat.


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I practically live in my college! Since IIM Raipur currently operates from a temporary campus in Government Engineering College Campus, we do not have separate hostels and academic buildings. One floor each is allotted for girls' and boys' hostels and the rest is academic block.
We'll be moving to the new campus pretty soon ,but this campus has perks of its own. We all live together ,eat together. We do not need to leave for the classes before 15-20 minutes as the classroom is just a floor below. Also, during late night, if you aren't feeling sleepy, there would always be a bunch of people feeling the same way and you could hang out with them.
The best thing about IIM Raipur is its diversity. It has a diverse community with people from all backgrounds, religious, cultural, and academic alike. We have engineers, commerce graduates, doctors ,Management graduates, pharmacists in our batch. This is one thing that makes studying in an top B-school so awesome. You get to know people from the ages of 20-28 , all sitting in one class and studying in the same batch.
This campus is also home to another institute of national importance, Indian Institute of Technology , Bhilai. So, GEC Campus, Sejbahar has a pool of students from all over India, making it such a vibrant and happening place to be .
Being in a B-school like this comes with its own set of advantage. When deadlines approach,since we all are in the same building, group activities become easier.
All the committees and clubs from placement to admissions to academics here is handled by the students of IIM Raipur.This ensures a perfect balance of studies and extra-curricular activities in the two years.
Which Aditya Birla Company I would like to join?
I would like to work for Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail limited company . ABFRL brings together the learnings and businesses of two renowned Indian fashion icons, Madura Fashion & Lifestyle and Pantaloons Fashion and Retail. ABFRL is India's No 1. Fashion Lifestyle brand. I would like to work in the marketing department of ABFRL as I find the line of clothes and accessories they have really great and would love to have more people knowing about them.
Arohi Prabhune is a First year student at IIM Raipur.


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Political Election Signs
City of San Ramon » Our City » Departments » City Clerk » Elections » District Elections
Proposed District Map
After the Public Hearing on May 14, 2019, the Council directed staff to prepare an ordinance to adopt district boundaries based on the Red map. The first reading of the ordinance is scheduled for June 11, 2019.
Click here for a PDF of the proposed district boundaries.
Click here for a PDF of the demographic information for the proposed district boundaries.
A Google interactive map has been created in order to view street-by-street detail for the proposed districts. You can view the map here.
Round 2 District Maps
At the April 23 Public Hearing, the Council gave direction for the creation of two additional maps. Map Ruby is a modified version of map Red to include all residences west of I-680 in Zone 1. Map Turquoise is a modified version of map Blue to also include all residences west of I-680 in Zone 1.
Click here for a PDF of the Round 2 maps.
Click here for a PDF of the demographic information for the Round 2 maps.
Four draft maps were created per Council direction at the Public Hearing held on March 26, 2019.
Click here for a PDF of all four Round 1 maps.
Public Submitted Maps
Maps submitted by the public are available for review below. If you would like to submit a map for Council consideration, please follow the instructions in the next section.
Public Map 1 Public Map 2
Public Map 3 Public Map 4 Public Map 5 Public Map 6
Public Map 7 Public Map 8 Public Map 9
Digitized versions of the public maps can be found here. The demographics associated with the public maps can be found here.
A Google interactive map displaying the public maps information can be found here: Google Interactive Public Maps
Submit Your District Proposal
Two tools were available to the public for submitting proposed district boundaries. The Redistricting Proposal Packet contained demographics information and guidelines to assist with the drawing of district boundaries on an attached map. The Redistricting Proposal Calculator was an excel spreadsheet that residents could use to assign census areas to a particular district in order to see a detailed population breakdown. Here are links to these tools:
Redistricting Proposal Packet
Redistricting Proposal Calculator
Maps submitted by the public will be distributed to the City Council for consideration during the formation of the district boundaries. These completed maps were submitted by April 12, 2019.
On November 5th, 2018, the City of San Ramon received a demand letter from a Walnut Creek based attorney, Scott Rafferty, representing the Bay Area Voting Rights Initiative and demanding the City change its current at large based voting process to a district based voting process. The letter alleges the City was in violation of the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA). The fact that the City has not intentionally discriminated is of no relevance when considering the CVRA. In response to the demand letter and the fact that all cities to date who have litigated similar demand letters have been unsuccessful, the City Council decided to begin the process of moving to district based elections. Consideration was given to litigating the issue however, in light of the unlikelihood of prevailing in a lawsuit as experienced by other jurisdictions, and the exposure to substantial legal fees which could range in the millions of dollars, the City Council directed staff to begin the process. In order to comply with the Letter and minimize exposure, the City will begin the process in January of 2019. There are legal protections capping legal fees if the City adheres to certain statutory timelines. Although the City has chosen to move to district based elections, the City has discretion on how the district maps are drawn. There will be multiple opportunities for community input prior to the maps being finalized.
On February 13, 2019 the City Council adopted a Resolution of Intent to move toward District elections and begin the public hearing process. There will be two public hearings, one on the March 11th City Council meeting and the second on the March 25th City Council meeting to establish the communities of interest that will guide the district map development process. The City Council will hold two additional public hearings on April 22nd and May 13th to review and choose district maps.
Public Hearing # 1 - Communities of Interest
On March 12, 2019 the City Council held the first of two public hearings discussing communities of interest that will guide the formation of City Council districts in the City of San Ramon. The public hearing provided an opportunity for the community to participate as the City Council determines how district maps will be drawn in San Ramon. The Council discussed general guidelines for developing draft boundaries. Examples of guidelines include: considering school boundaries, planning for growth to minimize future revisions, and beginning with four districts due to the City's Charter language.
Public Hearing # 2 - Gather Public Input to Develop Draft Maps
On March 26, 2019 the City Council will hold a second public hearing to receive additional input on communities of interest and establish priorities for redistricting criteria. Residents are encouraged to attend to help identify key communities in order to keep them whole when the district boundaries are drawn. Comments received from the public will be considered by the City Council when providing direction to the demographer, who will develop the first set of draft maps for the next public hearing.
Key Documents to help the public participate in the district formation process:
Descriptive Maps of San Ramon - series of maps that describe San Ramon. These maps include: Baseline Geography, Census Geography, Population by Census Block, Race/Ethnicity Dot Density, Slices, Precincts, Land Use, Zoning, Lighting and Landscaping Zones, Home Owner Associations, Subdivisions, and Parcels
Census Data for San Ramon - data on the total population in San Ramon according to the 2010 census. This data includes a breakdown of the Racial/Ethnic categories.
Communities of Interest FAQs + Sample Maps - allows the community to create sample maps for the City Council to consider. The four page document consists of the following items:
List of frequently asked questions (FAQ) regarding communities of interest
Form for community members to complete to express their priorities for communities of interest
Sample map that can be used to draft potential district for the council to consider
Instructions for a digital map that can be completed on line for the City Council to consider.
Google Interactive Map of San Ramon - link to a google map that can be used to understand more demographic information about a particular area within the City of San Ramon.
Meetings: Location - City Hall
Date Topic/Purpose Time
05/14/19 City Council Meeting: Discussion of Proposed District Maps (Hearing 2 of 2) - Video Available Here, Scroll to Agenda Item 10.1
03/26/19 City Council Meeting: Discussion of Communities of Interest (Hearing 2 of 2) - Video Available Here, Scroll to Agenda Item 10.2 7 pm
03/12/19 City Council Meeting: Discussion of Communities of Interest - Video Available Here, Scroll to Agenda Item 11.2 7 pm
City Council Meeting: Discussion of Resolution of Intention to Move to District Based Elections - Video Available Here, Scroll to Agenda Item 11.1
Public Informational Meeting on District Elections - Video Presentation Available Here
11/27/18 City Council Meeting: Discussion of District-Based Councilmember Elections, Item 11.3
Public Informational Meeting - January 29, 2019
In order to garner public feedback on the district based election format and prepare the community for further discussion on this issue, City staff hosted an informational meeting on January 29, 2019, to explain what will transpire if the City adopts the resolution of intent to move toward District Elections. During the meeting Michael Wagaman, the consulting demographer for the City of San Ramon, provided an overview of the District Election formation process and the legal requirements surrounding this issue. A copy of his presentation is posted here for the community to review. Click here to watch the January 29 Public Information Meeting.
You can download and read the entire demand letter from the Bay Area Voting Rights Initiative by clicking here.
Voting Rights Act Lawsuits
What is the CVRA?
The California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) prohibits the use of any election system "that impairs the ability of a protected class to elect candidates of its choice or its ability to influence the outcome of an election." Jurisdictions can be sued if they elect their governing body using an at-large, from-districts, or mixed election system. If the court finds against a jurisdiction, the jurisdiction must change its election system and pay the plaintiff's attorneys, experts, and other expenses.
How is the CVRA different from the FVRA?
The CVRA was adopted in 2002, and is based upon the Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 ("FVRA") with some important differences that make at-large election systems much more susceptible to legal challenges. For a plaintiff to be successful in a claim of violation under the FVRA relating to at-large elections, the plaintiff must show that: 1) a minority group is sufficiently large and geographically compact to form a majority of the eligible voters in a single-member district; 2) there is racially-polarized voting; and 3) there is "white bloc voting" (the term used by the courts reviewing such cases) sufficient usually to prevent minority voters from electing candidates of their choice. If a plaintiff proves these three elements, then the federal court will consider whether, under the "totality of circumstances," the votes of minority voters are diluted by the at-large election system.
The CVRA removes two of these factors. It eliminates what is known as the "geographically compact" FVRA precondition (e.g., can a majority-minority district be drawn) as well as the "totality of the circumstances" or "reasonableness" test. Because the CVRA eliminates some of the elements that a plaintiff must prove, defending a lawsuit brought pursuant to the CVRA is more difficult to defend against than a claim under the FVRA. As a result of the lower threshold for proving a claim under the CVRA, many jurisdictions have voluntarily switched to district-based election systems instead of facing litigation.
What is the Safe Harbor Provision?
The City Council is taking advantage of AB 350, California Elections Code 10010, which provides for a short window on opportunity to discuss, invite and receive public input and ultimately decide if the City should adopt a District Based Election Process.
The key provisions of AB 350 affords the City an additional 90 days to comply before a lawsuit can be filed as it is safe harbored from litigation throughout the public hearing and ordinance process.
What Have Other Cities Done When Facing Threats Of Litigation?
Almost without exception, other cities have either voluntarily, or been forced to adopt changes to their method of electing City Councilmembers. Many have settled out of court by ultimately agreeing to shift to district elections. Others have defended challenges through the courts. Those agencies that have attempted to defend their existing at-large electoral system in court have incurred significant legal costs because the CVRA gives plaintiffs the right to recover attorney's fees, but denies a city's ability to be reimbursed for its attorney's fees even if prevailing. A few examples:
Palmdale: $4.5 million
Modesto: $3 million
Anaheim: $1.1 million
Whittier: $1 million
Santa Barbara: $600,000
West Covina: $220,000
What's The Difference Between At-Large and District-Based Elections?
San Ramon's elections for the four members of the City Council as well as the Mayor are contested through an at-large election where voters of the entire city vote on every candidate. The change to district elections will divide the city into geographic sections. Voters within said section (district) will vote only for candidates residing within the same district. Voters will not vote for candidates outside of their own district. District elections are intended to allow groups of concentrated opposition voters to elect, or otherwise influence, candidates of their choice. It is permissible to have the Mayor elected on an at-large basis under a district model.
The graphic below represents sample district construction. At a basic level districting is simply the process of drawing boundaries to divide jurisdictions into smaller areas. How the lines are drawn affects how people are represented. Districts must be contiguous.
What is the timeline for the change?
The timeline for implementation is prescribed by California Election Code 10010. The City has 45 days from the receipt of the demand letter from the Bay Area Voting Rights Initiative dated November 5, 2018 to consider if it desires to transition to election by districts and to adopt a resolution that reflects this decision. These timelines are subject to change based on agreement with the legal representatives from the Bay Area Voting Rights Initiative.
When will these new districts take effect?
If approved, the new districts would not become effective until the election in November 2020. However, the specific date on which a council seat will be elected from each of the new districts (i.e., either in November 2020 or November 2022) will be determined as part of the ordinance that adopts the new districts.
How will creating voting districts affect me?
If approved, registered voters in the City of San Ramon will have the opportunity to vote for a candidate for City Council that lives in their district and for the Mayor, who will still be elected by all the registered voters of the City. Registered voters will not be able to vote for councilmember candidates from districts in which they do not reside.
Drawing District Boundaries
How can I get involved in the shaping of the districts?
The City Council will conduct four (4) Public Hearings to receive community feedback on the proposed composition of districts. Two Public Hearings will be held "pre-map" in which residents will be asked to provide input on potential "communities of interest" that will be used to influence the shaping of district maps. Two additional Public Hearings will be held "post-map" to provide the City Council with feedback in selecting a preferred district map for adoption.
How will the number of districts and shape of the districts chosen?
There is a two step process to the development of a district map. First, the City Council will determine the number of districts to go along with the at large Mayor seat. Second, the City Council will determine what what factors should be considered to draw the district. These factors include (but are not limited to) equal population, communities of interest, compactness, contiguity of the districts, visible boundaries, and respect for voters' wishes and continuity in office.
What is a community of interest?
A community of interest is any distinctive area within the City that has a definable group of people, unique geography or some other distinguishable feature or characteristic that it would be undesirable to divide in the creation of voting districts. Some of these may already be clearly established and others may be defined as a result of this process. This distinction requires strong community input to ensure communities of interest are protected in this process. Possible community features include:
shared interests in schools, housing, crime, transit, health conditions, land use, and environmental conditions;
common social and civic networks, including churches, temples, homeowner associations, and community centers, and shared use of community spaces, like parks and shopping centers;
racial and ethnic compositions, cultural identities, and households that predominantly speak a language other than English;
similar socio-economic status, including but not limited to income, home-ownership, and education levels;
shared political boundary lines from jurisdictions other than City Council, including school districts, community college districts, and water districts;
visible natural and man-made features, street lines and/or City boundary lines.
Who creates district boundaries?
The maps are created by a professional demographers hired by the City based on the direction of the City Council with the input of San Ramon residents.
What input will the public have on map selection other than submitting maps?
Once the map are released for public review on the City's website , the City Council will have two public hearings in which it will take public testimony regarding the draft maps. Members of the public and interested parties also have the option of submitting written comments on the draft maps, including which map or maps they support.
Shouldn't this go to the voters for approval?
Cities facing allegation of violating the CVRA could still be subject to litigation even if it submits the question of whether to switch to district elections to the voters. Even if the voters ultimately oppose switching to district elections, cities would remain vulnerable to accusations that the election resulted in polarized-voting in violation of the CVRA.
What happens if there are no candidates in a particular district?
The California Elections Code authorizes the City Council to solicit applications from interested parties that reside within the district. The applicants would be considered and finalists would be interviewed by the City Council. A nominee would be appointed to serve on the City Council to represent the district in question.
The demand letter from Scott Rafferty was addressed to five Jurisdictions. Does this make the process any different than if the letter were sent to San Ramon directly?
No. The requirements for the City of San Ramon are the same. The City is working with the other agencies included on the letter in an effort to achieve some operational efficiency and to minimize confusion to residents of the Tri-Valley area.
Why can't the district boundaries consider register voters instead of population?
The California Voting Rights act directs legislative bodies to create districts of equal population with no regard to voter registration or age. It is entirely possible that the number of registered voters in one district will exceed those in another district.
What are the other Tri-Valley Jurisdictions/Agencies who received the demand letter doing?
You can read about the actions taken the other agencies at the San Ramon Valley Unified School District webpage and the Dublin San Ramon Services District webpage:
SRVUSD
DSRSD
Does this impact where my kids go to school?
No. District elections do not change where your child goes to school. School Boundaries determine where your child goes to school based on their residential address. The election process is completely separate from school boundaries. You can visit the San Ramon Valley Unified School District webpage to learn more about school boundaries.


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Browse: Home / You Need Expert Writers-Google: Content Standards From the New Search Guidelines
You Need Expert Writers-Google: Content Standards From the New Search Guidelines
Peter Kivuti / December 28, 2015 / Comments Off on You Need Expert Writers-Google: Content Standards From the New Search Guidelines / Business, Engineering, News, Product Reviews, Technology, Work
If you're in the world of SEO, copywriting, or inbound marketing, it's likely that you've already heard about Google's release of the Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines in November 2015.
Designed to help Google's own site evaluators master their jobs and wade through Google's complex ranking system, these search guidelines are 160 pages of pure SEO goodness.
But what do they say, exactly?
One of the most important takeaways from the guidelines as a whole is the need for expert writers to add a true level of authority to the content. Someone who, as Google says, has real-life experience in what they're writing or talking about. Hence, a big need for expert writers and authors to produce content in an industry they already know.
Let's discuss this and what you need to know.
The 101 on Google's Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines
Despite all of their genius, ingenuity, and innovation, Google is a notoriously opaque organization and it has always been difficult at best (and impossible at worst) to understand their ranking algorithm.
While Google released a compressed version of the guidelines back in 2013, people wanted to know more. Recently, The SEM Post got ahold of a leaked copy and provided their own analysis on it. Google responded by releasing the guidelines in full in November of 2015, in this blog post, and the full 160-page PDF of Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines in its massive entirety.
While the guidelines don't simply tell marketers how to win at Google, they do provide a huge amount of information about what exactly Google evaluators are looking for, what makes a high-quality page, and how content should be written. It's the last part we are especially interested in.
The Need for Expert Writers, According to Google's Search Guidelines
It's no secret that Google has always loved original, useful, and well-written in-depth content. Many of Google's recent algorithm updates have been designed to reward high-quality pages that feature clear, concise, professional writing and to down-rank pages that feature duplicate, scraped, or careless content.
What is interesting about Google's new guidelines, however, is that they place a huge emphasis on the need for expert writers, especially on pages that Google views as being very important. While it's clear that Google has always valued quality content, it seems as if they're now placing an increased focus on things like authority, as well.
E-A-T: Expertise, Authority, Trustworthiness Page Standard
E-A-T is Google's acronym for what exactly makes up a high-quality page. E-A-T stands for "Expertise, authority, trustworthiness" and it sums up exactly what Google is looking for in high-quality pages.
E-A-T is Google's acronym for what exactly makes up a high-quality page.
According to Section 4.3 of Part 1 of the guidelines, "High-quality pages and websites need enough expertise to be authoritative and trustworthy on their topic."
At first glance, that may seem a bit vague, but Google goes on to clarify. The guidelines state that, in order for a page to possess those qualities, it needs to feature "expert" content written by "expert" writers:
Complex medical advice should only be given by people or organizations that possess appropriate accreditation. It should, likewise, be written in a professional style and will need to be reviewed, updated, and edited regularly in order to ensure that it remains current and authoritative.
Complex financial advice, tax advice, or legal advice should be written by expert writers and will need to be updated regularly.
Important advice pages that may affect a person's finances or well-being (this includes investment pages, home remodeling pages, and parenting pages) needs to be written by an "expert" source.
Hobby pages on topics like hockey, horseback riding, or photography, require expert writers.
Pages that don't feature this level of expertise or pages that cover a dense topic but offer little information will be marked as low-quality by Google's evaluators. This is also true for pages with low-quality main content or content that is simply distracting or unhelpful.
High-quality pages and websites need enough expertise to be authoritative and trustworthy on their topic.
What Makes an Expert?
Now that you know which pages require an expert writer, you may be wondering exactly what an "expert" is. Google makes it clear that that depends greatly on the topic at hand. Product or restaurant reviews, for example, can be considered "Expert" even if the person writing it isn't a mystery diner or secret shopper. As long as the reviews are detailed and helpful, Google considers them expert content.
The same is true for forum-type discussions. In this case, Google provides the example of a cancer support community forum at Cancer Compass, where average people provide information about how long their loved ones lived with cancer. While these people are not doctors and are thus not qualified to write "expert" medical content, their firsthand experience (what Google calls "everyday expertise") with cancer makes them qualified to write such content.
The takeaway? Pages require different levels of expertise. While advice on liver cancer itself needs to be written by an M.D., advice on coping with it in a family situation can absolutely be written by a layperson with firsthand experience.
Y-M-Y-L (Your Money or Your Life) Page Standard
There are some pages that Google places under special scrutiny. These pages are called, "Your Money or Your Life" (YMYL) pages. Examples of these pages include:
E-commerce pages that provide a platform for purchases, money transfers, bill pay, etc.
Pages that offer information about investing in stocks and bonds, planning for retirement, purchasing a home, financing college, buying insurance, or filing taxes.
Pages that offer specific information or advice about health conditions, drugs, mental health, and nutrition.
Pages that offer legal information on topics like child support and custody, divorce, becoming a legal citizen, and writing a will.
YMYL pages are subject to special Google scrutiny because low-quality pages can easily negatively impact a Google user's health, happiness, or finances. For this reason, it is especially important that these pages feature a high level of E-A-T and are written by qualified expert writers. That said, if you're working on any topic that could have a major impact on users (car safety and repair, for example) it's worthwhile to hire an expert writer.
While we've always known that Google loves high-quality content, it's obvious that now more than ever, Google values content that is written by authoritative and trustworthy experts.
As we move into the new year, we can expect to see content that possesses these traits be rewarded while low-quality, low-expertise content is down-ranked. While expert writing has always been important, Google's recently released guidelines make it clear that hiring expert writers is now necessary for a website to earn quality rankings. Webmasters are going to have to invest in a real author who knows their industry—an industry copywriting expert—instead of just the more general SEO copywriter.
This article first appeared on Search Engine Journal and Authored by Julia McCoy
Peter Kivuti
Lead Concept Developer at KayTouch Solutions
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"FROZEN 2" SOUNDTRACK AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER, PLUS NEW POSTER & SNEAK PEEK OF NEW SONG
September 30, 2019 April 8, 2020 Administrator
From the Walt Disney World News and written by: Michele
ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER
The NEW Soundtrack Features Seven Original Songs from Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez, Score by Christophe Beck, and Returning Voice Cast,
Including Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Josh Gad and Jonathan Groff
End-Credit Artists Include Panic! At The Disco, Kacey Musgraves and Weezer
Walt Disney Animation Studios' upcoming feature film "Frozen 2" features a stunning soundtrack, including original songs from Oscar®- and Grammy®-winning songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, original score by Grammy nominee Christophe Beck, and end-credit artists Panic! At The Disco, Kacey Musgraves and Weezer.The "Frozen 2" soundtrack, set for release from Walt Disney Records on Nov. 15, 2019, is now available for digital pre-order, pre-save at Spotify and pre-add at Apple Music (https://disneymusic.co/Frozen2). The "Frozen 2" vinyl cast songs soundtrack, "Frozen 2" score album and "Frozen 2" digital deluxe soundtrack are also available on Nov. 15. "Frozen 2" opens in U.S. theaters on Nov. 22.
The Academy Award®-winning team behind "Frozen" is back: "Frozen 2" is directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee; Peter Del Vecho produces, and Lee penned the screenplay with story by Lee, Buck, Marc Smith, Anderson-Lopez and Lopez. "The music of the Lopezes and Christophe Beck are part of the DNA of 'Frozen,'" said Buck. "We couldn't imagine building 'Frozen 2' without them. They bring such a rich, emotional understanding of the world and characters, and through their incredible music we have been able to really deepen and expand the story."
"The songs and score of 'Frozen 2' reflect the growth of the characters and the deepening of their story," added Lee, who also serves as chief creative officer at WDAS. "The music is fun but emotional, personal yet powerful, intimate but also epic. Kristen, Bobby and Christophe have definitely outdone themselves and taken the music to brave new heights."
ORIGINAL SONGS BY KRISTEN ANDERSON-LOPEZ & ROBERT LOPEZ
Seven all-new original songs were written for "Frozen 2." "From the beginning of our collaboration with Jennifer Lee, Chris Buck and Peter Del Vecho, everything we've created has come from big questions—what is the story that we all as artists, individually and collectively, need to tell?" said Anderson-Lopez. "Bobby and I approach the story through the lens of which moments of our story lead to big emotions—feelings so strong our characters can no longer talk but need to sing."
Added Lopez, "Our tradition of songwriting comes from the world of musical theater, where songs must always forward the story in a fresh and surprising way. Every song has to take a character on a journey."
The "Frozen 2" digital and physical track list follows. The vinyl soundtrack includes the first eight cast songs.
1. "All is Found" – performed by Evan Rachel Wood
2. "Some Things Never Change" – performed by Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Josh Gad and Jonathan Groff
3. "Into the Unknown" – performed by Idina Menzel (featuring Norwegian singer AURORA)
4. "When I Am Older" – performed by Josh Gad
5. "Reindeer(s) are Better than People (Cont.)" – performed by Jonathan Groff
6. "Lost in the Woods" – performed by Jonathan Groff
7. "Show Yourself" – performed by Idina Menzel and Evan Rachel Wood
8. "The Next Right Thing" – performed by Kristen Bell
9. "Into the Unknown" – performed by Panic! At The Disco (end credits)
10. "All is Found" – performed by Kacey Musgraves (end credits)
11. "Lost in the Woods" – performed by Weezer (end credits)
PANIC! AT THE DISCO, KACEY MUSGRAVES & WEEZER TAPPED FOR END CREDITS
According to executive music producer Tom MacDougall, who won a Grammy for the "Frozen" soundtrack, the "Frozen 2" soundtrack features a wide range of songs and an eclectic mix of artists performing the end credit versions. "While we can't wait for the world to hear these songs, we feel like we got a sneak peek of how people will react with how quickly our end credits artists signed on," he said. "Their excitement for this franchise and these songs is represented in their wildly creative takes on each of their versions."
Author: Michele
Michele Atwood is the Owner/Editor of The Main Street Mouse and it's subsidiaries and author of the book "Moving to Main Street U.S.A." Michele also contributes Disney news to the Joe Kelley Morning Show on 96.5 WDBO in Orlando. She and her family made the move from Michigan to the Orlando area to pursue their Disney dreams. Michele is a life long Disney fan, and has two sons who have followed suit, each going on their first Disney trip before their first birthday's. Part of the goal Michele has for The Main Street Mouse is not only to keep members informed, but to create somewhat of a Disney Family by relating to others through personal experiences and opinions. Also, Michele is making it a priority to share stories of inspiration and hope to other Disney Fans in an effort to share the Magic and hopefully make a difference in the lives of others.
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A Pokémon GO Safari Zone Adventure in Oberhausen!
A week ago I was headed towards the city of Oberhausen together with my wife and my 2 children. We were gonna meet 2 friends of ours. All 6 of us had the same goal….


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See Edinburgh like you've never seen it before.
Welcome to Invisible Edinburgh! We offer friendly walking tours of Edinburgh that showcase the city's historical landmarks and explore the social projects that make the city what it is!
Our experienced tour guides, all of whom have been affected by homelessness, simply live and breathe the city, and offer their own personal insight into Edinburgh's past, present and future.
Book your guided tour of Edinburgh
We run tours throughout the year.
Tours are available every day on request, ask us here!
Uncover Stories of Crime and Punishment
Sonny, an Edinburgh local, offers you a tour of his Edinburgh, taking you along the streets that he knows and following the stories of crimes, hangings, and jail time! Hear Sonny's story and uncover his journey!
The Paths of Inspirational Women
We believe you don't have to be a woman to be a feminist so this tour can be delivered by any of our Edinburgh guides, depending on availability (you cannot choose though!). Discover stories of women throughout History: witches, murderers, mothers and doctors.
History of the Trainspotting Generation
Paul, an Edinburgh local, will give you a tour of Leith, a buzzing port district located in the northern part of the city which is rich in local history.
Invisible (Edinburgh) Haggis Tour
Choose any of our Edinburgh Tour (except Leith; the Trainspotting Generation) and add a Haggis Box at local Business The Haggis Box which is situated at the Old Tolbooth Market where your guide will leave you.
The Royal Mile- A work in Progress
Start at the foot of the Edinburgh Castle Esplanade down to the Tron, on the junction with the Bridges for a brief introduction to how Edinburgh's Royal Mile has developed from timbered medieval buildings to the complex street of today.
Follow Angus who will will tell you about many of the Mile's famous closes, offering a quiet retreat from the busy main street, and a glimpse into the layers of language underlying the present names of many buildings and areas.
Continually altered, repaired, adapted and sometimes restored, the Royal Mile is a living witness to Scottish history since the Middle Ages.
The tour may run an extra five or ten minutes due to crowds or traffic.
Social Enterprise Tour
Are you interested in social entrepreneurship and want to learn more?
Take our special tour with Invisible Cities Founder, Zakia, and learn about Edinburgh city based social enterprises. This tour was created in partnership with Edinburgh Social Enterprise and is available for groups of 4 people minimum (maximum 15).
If you are interested, please fill out the form and we will get back to you.
Note: we charge £10 per person and all profits go to Invisible Cities.
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France's number one architectural review by circulation, Architecture À Vivre has covered contemporary homes, private houses, design and the world of architecture for the last 20 years. The 'Architect's house' reports present an overall project : plans, materials, products and fittings used in the construction and interior and exterior fit-outs. The 'products' pages selection introduces new releases and inspires readers in their choice of installation : heating, kitchens, bathrooms, wall coverings, furniture ... The latest in the world of architecture, design and portraits of architects complete the editorial content.


Yeah, this one's a pretty busy one. Took awhile to color given that. Speaking of, need to get to the next page later - a lot of this chapter's been kind of busy enough I've been living on a bit of a wire with that, though in terms of amount of pages drawn we're still a few ahead of the curve.
Funny thing though that I'm not sure how much to say on this one offhand. Do still like all the playing around bits with this leg of the plot though - fun to show them really playing up the gimmick and doing all kinds of goofy in-character stuff. Not been quite as much of that with WaR's Halloween chapter outside of Laura, though it'd be more out of place there since most of its cast is either teens or young adults instead of little kids like here.
Speaking of, I guess Andy and Vincent are getting along a little better lately. Not seen them interact in awhile but they're pretty civil here so that's something.
Funny thing, originally those mysterious kids in the fourth panel were drawn too tall and looked a lot older than they're actually supposed to be. Adam had to back up and fix those - originally some thought to just leaving them as-is for this one and adjusting it from there on, but between this page and the next one it was really jarring actually seeing it.
Heh. Yeah, back to the center away from Marvelous Man. Again, it's just always fun to get back to. I usually feel weird going from one to the other since the switches are always abrupt but I don't wanna spend too long a time on either plot.
I may or may not need another tooth removed; we're looking into a second opinion. Will let you guys know if we need another delay on the comic depending on our options.
I really love Lenore's response of "I appear to have been captured." Even if this was a real supervillain and not a goofy lady in a haunted house, I think that would still be her reaction.
When the one who can stretch to a rediculous degree threatens to eat you, you don't need to be worried about being chewed though still need to consider if they really meant it.
This is certainly an interesting page, wonder what's going to happen next.
I wonder if him 'eatting' someone would be more like him pulling a mr.fantastic and up and over them, wrapping around like a sheet..then again I dunno if he even has that level of control yet over his powers.
or if he'll be more of a monkey d luffy type.


Daniel Krauthammer, son of longtime Fox News commentator Charles Krauthammer, discussed his father's life ahead of a new Fox News special that will premiere Christmas weekend.
Daniel Krauthammer, son of the late political theorist, columnist and great friend of Fox News, Charles Krauthammer, spoke to "Fox & Friends" on Sunday about his father's life and a new book of his past writings and speeches released this month.
One year ago this week, the late Charles Krauthammer commented on the Democratic Party's "resistance" movement and what it could mean for President Trump going into the 2018 elections.
In light of the passing of longtime Fox News Channel commentator and syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer, Fox News Channel aired a special report: "Charles Krauthammer: His Words."
National Review senior editor Jonah Goldberg remembered his longtime colleague Charles Krauthammer as a "decent man who took the higher road."
Charles Krauthammer, one of the most influential political analysts of the modern era and a longtime favorite of Fox News Channel viewers, passed away Thursday at age 68 after a battle with cancer.
A.B. Stoddard delivered a touching tribute to her friend Charles Krauthammer on "Fox & Friends" Friday morning.
Tucker Carlson honored the life of Dr. Charles Krauthammer, who died Thursday at the age of 68.
The Five co-host Dana Perino remembered her friend Dr. Charles Krauthammer on The Story on Thursday.
Special Report anchor Bret Baier reacted to the death of his good friend and a friend of all at Fox News Channel, Dr. Charles Krauthammer.
Judge Andrew Napolitano reacted to the death of longtime Fox News commentator and syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer.


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Apple averts $150 bump in iPhone prices following Trump trade deal with China
December 13, 2019 mikezmac
President Donald Trump's tentative trade deal with China, announced earlier today, has saved Apple from raising the prices, or eating those price hikes itself, of some of its most popular products, including the iPhone.
According to Bloomberg, which cites Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, Apple's top iPhone models could have been hit with a 15 percent tariff, which equates to a bump in price of around $150 for the base model iPhone 11 Pro, if the trade deal had not been reached. The tariffs were set to go into effect on December 15th and would have impacted the iPhone, the iPad, and the MacBook line, among other products.
"Trump delivered an early Christmas present to Apple," Ives said in a note to investors obtained by Bloomberg. "If this tariff went through it would have been a major gut punch for semi players/Apple and could have thrown a major wrench into the supply chain and demand for the holiday season." Apple declined to comment.
The US-China trade war, which Trump has been waging since his first few months in office in the spring of 2017, has been escalating in dramatic fashion this past year, roping in scores of products from American companies that primarily manufacture in Chinese factories. Apple has been perhaps the most high-profile of the affected companies, considering the massive scope of its operations in China and Apple's strong ties to Beijing.
Although Apple has been developing contingency strategies to move manufacturing to other markets, like India and Vietnam, CEO Tim Cook has repeatedly lobbied Trump to either exempt Apple products from new tariffs or to reach a deal, like today's, that would put an end to the escalation. Trump has at times publicly denied Apple's requests related to certain products and components (although his administration has granted Apple others), and in September the company was hit with another round of 25 percent tariffs on parts related to the manufacturing of its new Mac Pro computer, after the US Trade Representative's office denied another of the company's exemption requests.
Apple is also bearing the brunt of tariffs on the Apple Watch, AirPods, its iMac desktop, and the HomePod speaker, Bloomberg reports. But those may be rolled back as part of the tentative trade deal. So far, Apple has not raised prices on any of its products due to the trade war. But analysts assume that either doing so or eating the cost any further, especially after the new round that was set to go into effect on Sunday, would have a noticeable negative impact on its profits.
Apple's latest startup purchase hints at the next big leap in iPhone photography
'Super Smash Bros. Ultimate' is the best selling fighting game in US history


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Nvidia is still crushing the data centre market
Nvidia's data centre segment is its largest business, fuelled by supercomputers, high-performance computing and AI. But AMD and Intel are upping the GPU competition.
Andy Patrizio (Network World) 23 December, 2022 08:50
Jensen Huang (Nvidia)
Credit: Nvidia
Nvidia is playing some serious games. When Jensen Huang and his two partners established Nvidia in 1993, the graphics chip market had many more competitors than the CPU market, which had just two. Nvidia's competitors in the gaming market included ATI Technologies, Matrox, S3, Chips Technology, and 3DFX.
A decade later, Nvidia had laid waste to every one of them except for ATI, which was purchased by AMD in 2006. For most of this century, Nvidia has shifted its focus to bring the same technology it uses to render video games in 4k pixel resolution to power supercomputers, high-performance computing (HPC) in the enterprise, and artificial intelligence.
The results of that shift are laid clear in Nvidia's financial reports and in the industry. For its most recent quarter, data centre revenue hit $3.81 billion, up 61 per cent from a year earlier, and it accounted for 56 per cent of Nvidia's total revenue.
In the latest Top500 list of supercomputers, 153 are running Nvidia accelerators while AMD only has nine. According to IDC, Nvidia held 91.4 per cent of the enterprise GPU market to AMD's 8.5 per cent in 2021.
How did it get here? Earlier in the century, Nvidia realised that the nature of the GPU, a floating-point math co-processor with thousands of cores running in parallel, lends itself very well to HPC and AI computing. Like 3D graphics, HPC and AI are heavily dependent on floating-point math.
The first steps toward an enterprise shift came in 2007, when former Stanford University computer science professor Ian Buck developed CUDA, a C++-like language for programming GPUs. Video game developers didn't code to the GPU; they programmed to Microsoft's DirectX graphics library, which in turn spoke to the GPU. CUDA presented an opportunity to code directly to the GPU just like a programmer working in C/C++ would to a CPU.
Fifteen years later, CUDA is taught in several hundred universities around the world and Buck is the head of Nvidia's AI efforts. CUDA allowed developers to make GPU-specific applications – something not doable before –but it also locked them into the Nvidia platform, because CUDA is not easily portable.
Few companies play in both the consumer and enterprise spaces. Hewlett-Packard split itself in two to better serve those markets. Manuvir Das, vice president of enterprise computing at Nvidia, says the company "is definitely focused on enterprise companies today. Of course, we're also a gaming company entity. That's not going to change."
The gaming and enterprise sides of the house both use the same GPU architecture, but the company thinks of these two businesses as separate entities. "So in that sense, we're almost sort of two companies within one. It's one architecture but two very different routes to market, sets of customers, use cases, all of that," he says.
Das adds that Nvidia has a range of GPUs, and they all have different functionality depending on the target market. The enterprise GPUs have a transformer engine that performs natural language processing, for example, and other functions which are not found in the gaming GPUs.
Addison Snell, principal researcher and CEO of Intersect360 Research, says Nvidia is straddling the two markets well for now. However, "the growth in GPU computing is really taking them full force into enterprise computing and AI. And I think they're predominantly now serving the hyperscale market there, which is the home of the majority of AI spending," Snell says.
Anshel Sag, principal analyst with Moor Insights Strategy, echoes this. "I feel like a lot of the company's efforts are very much focused on the enterprise today, but I still think that there's a lot of gaming that's still very much within its overall branding," he says.
Sag believes Nvidia's biggest room for improvement is in mobile technologies, where it plays second fiddle to Qualcomm. "I think they're very weak in the mobile space, and that mobile space is not just limited to smartphones, but handheld gaming, and AR/VR applications. I think it exposes them on the edge, and I think that they will have competition down the road," Sag says.
According to Snell, Nvidia is continuing to downplay HPC in favour of AI and focusing on hyperscale companies, counting on cloud computing as the delivery mechanism for all types of enterprise computing.
"This points to Nvidia aiming to be a complete solution provider for hyperscale and cloud, while diminishing its efforts as a component provider through traditional server OEMs to end users," Snell says.
Competing against its partners
Nvidia operates differently than other chip giants in that it competes with its OEM partners. That has caused at least one public blowup.
In September, peripheral maker EVGA announced it would no longer make Nvidia cards. EVGA was one of the top vendors in the market, and graphics cards accounted for 80 per cent of its income. So they had to be pretty angry with Nvidia to walk away from 80 per cent of its revenue.
EVGA CEO Andy Han cited several grievances with Nvidia, not the least of which was that it competes with Nvidia. Nvidia makes graphics cards and sells them to consumers under the brand name Founder's Edition, something AMD and Intel do very little or not at all.
In addition, Nvidia's line of graphics cards was being sold for less than what licensees were selling their cards. So not only was Nvidia competing with its licensees, but it was also undercutting them.
Nvidia does the same on the enterprise side, selling DGX server units (rack-mounted servers packed with eight A100 GPUs) in competition with OEM partners like HPE and Supermicro. Das defends this practice.
"DGX for us has always been sort of the AI innovation vehicle where we do a lot of item testing," he says, adding that building the DGX servers gives Nvidia the chance to shake out the bugs in the system, knowledge it passes on to OEMs. "Our work with DGX gives the OEMs a big head-start in getting their systems ready and out there. So it's actually an enabler for them."
But both Snell and Sag think Nvidia should not be competing against its partners. "I'm highly skeptical of that strategy," Snell says. "It defies the tenet of not competing with your own customers. If I were one of the major server OEMs, I wouldn't like the idea that Nvidia is now acting as a system provider and taking me out of the loop."
"I think those [DGX] systems do, to a certain degree, compete with what their partners are offering. But that said, I also think that Nvidia doesn't necessarily want to provide support and services for those systems, like their partners will. And I think that's a big component of the enterprise solutions that isn't really present on the consumer side," Sag says.
AMD, Intel bolster their GPU technologies
So who might knock Nvidia from its perch? Throughout the history of the Silicon Valley, most companies that experienced a great fall were not knocked off by a competitor but fell apart from within.
IBM and Apple in the 1990s, Sun Microsystems, SGI, Novell, and now Facebook were all undone or nearly undone because of bad management and bad decisions, not because somebody else came along and knocked them off.
Nvidia has had product misfires along the way, but it has always quickly course-corrected with the next generation of silicon. And it has had pretty much the same executive management team since the beginning, and they haven't made that many mistakes.
One thing that helped Nvidia achieve such dominance is that it had the market to itself. AMD was struggling to survive for years, and Intel repeatedly tried and failed to develop a GPU.
But that's not the case anymore. AMD is thoroughly revitalised, and it has bragging rights now that its GPU technology, Instinct, is powering the fastest supercomputer in the world, Frontier. And Intel finally seems to be on the right track with its Xe GPU architecture, found in the forthcoming Ponte Vecchio enterprise GPU.
If there's a company that has Das looking over his shoulder, he isn't admitting it, however. "I think the real competition we see is basically how do we [support] the workloads that already exist, that are running non-accelerated?" he asks.
More from Dell Technologies
Tags nvidiaData Centre


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Q: Positioning Content To Center I am trying to position the content of the span id "diet" and h1 tag to the center of the web page. I am currently not sure where exactly I am going wrong in the repositioning.
I tried removing the float property and changing the positioning to absolute and the output was not correct.
Appreciate some feedback on my work.
JSFiddle http://buff.ly/1aaJQKq

A: add text-align:center; to content in your style sheet
  #content {
font-family: monospace;
color: #46C;
-webkit-margin-before: 0.67em;
-webkit-margin-after: 0.67em;
-webkit-margin-start: 0px;
-webkit-margin-end: 0px;
font-weight: bold;
padding: 40px 0;
float: left;
width: 100%;
   text-align:center;
 }

here is the fiddle
http://jsfiddle.net/3caj2/1/

A: Just remove position:relative;, float:left; from #welcome and simply use margin:auto;
Here : http://jsfiddle.net/9E4KL/
#welcome {
    width: 500px;
    text-shadow: 0 3px 0px #FFF;
    margin:auto;
    margin-top: 30px;
}

A: You need to define a width to both the logo div and h1 tag (width: 100%) and (as Travis also mentioned) center the contents with text-align: center.
The CSS rules for the diet tag would look then as follows:
#logo {
  float: left;
  font-size: 71px;
  letter-spacing: 1px;
  font-weight: 200;
  text-transform: uppercase;
  font-family: "MARI&DAVID BOLD";
  text-decoration: none;
  margin: 7px 10px 10px 0;
  width: 100%;
  text-align: center;
}


text:
THE BMW INDIVIDUAL 7 SERIES THE NEXT 100 YEARS.
PURE LUXURY.
A jubilee edition to reveal the exquisite nature of the BMW brand. The BMW Individual 7 Series THE NEXT 100 YEARS is limited to only 100 models worldwide and offers highly exclusive equipment options.
" When you start going across a surface with your hands, when you start seeing a light reflect, shadow fall onto a surface, it starts coming to life, having a soul. That is the active creation. "
— Karim A. Habib, Head of Design BMW Automobile
BMW MEETS MONTBLANC.
Exquisite vehicle – exquisite accessory: the Jubilee Edition of the BMW 7 Series is delivered with an exclusive fountain pen from the house of Montblanc, which is also limited to a series of 100 – the Montblanc for BMW Centennial Fountain Pen.
The pen has resulted from close cooperation between designers from BMW and Montblanc and is exclusively available with the Jubilee Edition of the BMW 7 Series.
" What you see is motion. It is poetry and precision. It is a Montblanc for BMW. "
— Zaim Kamal, Head of Design Montblanc
It is so rare that the sight of it alone is pure luxury: worldwide just 100 models of the BMW Individual 7 Series THE NEXT 100 YEARS will be produced to mark the 100th anniversary of BMW.
UNIQUE PAINT FINISH.
BMW Individual M760Li xDrive model V12 Excellence THE
NEXT 100 YEARS:
Fuel consumption in l/100 km (combined): 12.6
CO2 emissions in g/km (combined): 294
The figures for fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and
power consumption depend on the wheel and tyre sizes selected. Fuel consumption
is determined in accordance with the ECE driving cycle. The models illustrated
may, in part, include optional equipment and accessories not fitted as
FINE FABRICS, EXCLUSIVE DETAILS.
FINEST CRAFTSMANSHIP.
The special edition of the BMW 7 Series impresses with equipment of supreme craftsmanship, with example including the BMW Individual special paint finish "Centennial Blue Metallic", the BMW Individual full leather upholstery Merino Smoke White, BMW Individual Black Piano Finish interior trims as well as exclusive signets to commemorate the 100th anniversary of BMW.
THE MOST EXQUISITE ACCESSORY.
Montblanc for BMW Centennial Fountain Pen – reserved exclusively for owners of the BMW 7 Series Jubilee Edition.
THREE ATTRACTIVE ENGINES
The Jubilee Edition of the BMW 7 Series is available in three engine versions:
BMW Individual 740Le iPerformance THE NEXT 100 YEARS (with xDrive)
BMW Individual 750Li THE NEXT 100 YEARS (with xDrive)
BMW Individual M760Li xDrive model V12 Excellence THE NEXT 100 YEARS.
BMW Individual 740Le xDrive model iPerformance THE NEXT 100 YEARS:
Fuel consumption in l/100 km (combined): 2.3
CO2 emissions in g/km (combined): 53
BMW Individual 750Li xDrive model THE NEXT 100 YEARS:
The figures for fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and power consumption depend on the wheel and tyre sizes selected. Fuel consumption is determined in accordance with the ECE driving cycle. The models illustrated may, in part, include optional equipment and accessories not fitted as standard
WORLD PREMIERE.
On 19 April in the BMW Classic in Munich.
AN EXCLUSIVE SETTING.
THE PRESENTATION IN MUNICH.
World premiere before invited guests: at the exclusive presentation of the BMW Individual 7 Series THE NEXT 100 YEARS on 19 April in the BMW Classic in Munich, selected guests and journalists were able to admire the Jubilee Edition of the BMW 7 Series.
LEADING THE WAY TODAY: .
Fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
Further information about the official fuel consumption and the official specific CO2 emissions for new passenger automobiles can be found in the 'New Passenger Vehicle Fuel Consumption and CO2 Emission Guidelines', which are available free of charge at all sales outlets, from Deutsche Automobil Treuhand GmbH (DAT), Hellmuth-Hirth-Str. 1, 73760 Ostfildern, Germany, or under http://www.dat.de/en/offers/publications/guideline-for-fuel-consumption.html.
The figures are not based on an individual vehicle and do not constitute part of the product offer; they are provided solely for the purposes of comparison between different vehicle types. CO2 emissions caused by the production and provision of fuel or other energy sources are not taken into account in the determination of CO2 emissions pursuant to Directive 1999/94/EC.


Search engine optimization (SEO) is using strategies and methods to make your website enticing to search engine crawlers. Because search engine rankings are key to driving traffic and sales, SEO has become a very popular service. You may have been told by people that effective SEO is complicated and should be left to the professionals. That is nonsense!
Getting your PageRank up requires getting, and keeping, visitors. The search engine results for your business can be affected by the time consumers spend looking at your site. This trend has been established through metrics like Quantcast scores. Discussion areas are a wonderful way to hold onto your visitors.
While video files are great for your site, they will not help at all with your SEO. Providing a site map with descriptive keywords for your videos will allow the crawler to access this information and will greatly improve your search engine optimization efforts.
Search engines can be a powerful tool when it comes to driving internet traffic to your site. Be sure your website is spider friendly for the best in search engine ratings. Tag all images on your website, since spiders only read text. Be sure to include keywords in the descriptions of your images.
Whether your site includes audio or visual content, you will want to have transcripts of the content available. Providing a transcript not only helps viewers that don't have the right browser plugins for your audio/video; it also provides you more content for the search engines to rank as relevant. This can get you higher in search results.
Do not place any copied content on your page, because if Google notices it they will lower the rank of your page. Target a different demographic with new and unique information.
If you go the link directory route to build backlinks, verify the legitimacy of the directories you use by checking to see if its sites are useful and interesting. Some directories are full of sites that are outdated or poorly designed. Take care to select good affiliates.
Try basing your articles on keywords to help improve SEO of your articles. When you put keywords in that are relevant to your content, you can ensure that a search engine will ferret them out. Therefore, it's easier for readers who may be trying to locate your articles. Make sure your chosen keyword is in the title of the article as well as the summary. It should also occur about 4-5 times throughout article itself.
Research information about keywords first so you know what to write. When you are building your website, you need to be aware of what keywords to focus on. Keyword research will allow you to understand what search terms people use to navigate in your particular categories. You should emphasize your keywords in your site in order to increase your search engine rankings.
Use the "alt" tag on webpage images to maximize SEO. The purpose of these tags is to replace images, should the viewer choose not to view them. You want to make sure the search engines read as well as index alt tags, this will improve your page ranking.
If you want a high ranking, help the web crawlers succeed in their mission. Spiders analyze all aspects of your site's content, but that content must first be easy to find. A sitemap allows you to present the hierarchy of each page on your site; this also makes it easier for spiders to assess relevancy.
Games and surveys can be included on your site to better assist you in finding the ideal target audience. A survey is something that will interest the consumer since they will then know which style would fit them best. Ask them about their shopping habits and interests. The more people enjoy taking your surveys, the more information you will gather about your targeted audience.
The strategic placement of keywords in the content on your website and within your blogs can have a significant impact on the amount of traffic driven to your site by search engines. Pack well-researched keywords into the first few lines of your text, but don't overdo it. Put in just enough to get noticed by the search engines. A common practice is to use your keyword two times in the first paragraph. You should continue to use the keyword throughout the body of the text, however, it should flow naturally and not feel stuffed or repetitive.
Create descriptive, short title tags to make it easier for search engines to understand and index your page's content. Your titles should not exceed sixty characters, as this is the limit of the majority of search engines. Search engines pay less attention to keywords after a certain point.
When getting your strategy together for search engine optimization, remember that content is king. In addition to being keyword driven, the content on your pages needs to be original, easy to understand and a reasonable number of words. It should also be grammatically correct. Simply having high-quality content puts your site on the path to good search engine optimization.
SEO is pretty complicated; it's always a good idea to get the advice of a professional. However, it's not impossible for the layman to understand it and do well enough to make a difference. These tools can help you to optimize your site by yourself without costly outside help. More customers can be right around the corner.


Rose McGrory Social Media Management - Promotions on Facebook – how not to get your page deleted and lose your fans!
Promotions on Facebook – how not to get your page deleted and lose your fans!
Running promotions on Facebook is one of the key strategies many businesses use to attract new Likers to their pages, and to increase the amount of activity on their pages. How many times do you see "Like this post to win…" or "share our page to enter" pop into your News feed? For us, it's at least a couple of times a week.
But. Facebook has very tight rules around running contests on their platform. You know that, right? Of course you do, you ticked that little box saying "I have read Facebook's terms of service" when you signed up for your business page.
Yes of course we're joking. Nobody reads those things. They run to many pages, and the majority of scenarios they cover won't apply to most users and, well, they really ought to know that "I have read the terms & conditions" is the most frequent lie of this decade. So no, Facebook aren't making it easy for you.
Nevertheless, there are one or two areas in there which will affect most organisations, and contests are one of them. Get on the wrong side of the law and Facebook will delete your page, just like that, gone. No discussion, and we've only heard anecdotally of ONE instance where a company got their page back – and that was because they knew someone who worked at Facebook HQ.
Until fairly recently, we've not heard of too many instances of pages being deleted, but it seems to be on the increase. The notice on the right was posted by a New Zealand-based burger chain who lost their almost 10,000 fans after someone complained about a contest breaking the rules.
Other brands we know have been hit include a French clothing retailer (lost 130,000 fans) and the Indian pages for FCUK and Cadbury's. Smaller companies don't tend to hit the news when their pages are lost, but we've heard of a few.
So statistically, given how many companies are in breach of the rules on a given day, it's not *likely* to be you, no. But all it takes is one of your Likers (or even, without wanting to be too cynical, a competitor) to complain about your page. At the click of the Facebook Terminator's mouse, all that time and money invested in building your community will be gone.
What can I do to protect my page?
Obviously our main advice is to read the rules, and take them seriously. Oh and make sure your agency does too, if you're outsourcing – we're aware of many who are running contests on their clients' behalf right now, either because they're ignorant of the rules or they think it's a reasonable risk. The full Facebook Promotions Guidelines can be found here.
Secondly, stay up to date. At the time of writing, the Promotions Guidelines were updated just over two months ago. Facebook don't make a big noise about it when they make changes, and they do so regularly.
Thirdly, if you're going to run contests, the easiest way to ensure you're compliant is to use a specialist application. These will keep the promotion on a separate tab on your page, and will guarantee that all the other guidelines are followed, such as disclaimers. The premium service we use to create custom facebook tabs for our clients is great for this, so give us a call if you'd like help.
Thirdly, don't put too many of your marketing strategy eggs in one basket. Remember, you don't have a contract with Facebook (or any other social media site you use!) and even if you do nothing wrong, they could pull the plug at any time. Try to diversify so that you've also got a communication channel with your customers via your website, or have encouraged many of them to opt-in to your email database.


Although there is still much work to be done in Haiti, the Christian school in Ganthier is alive and doing well! Healing Hands International's Director of International Education Development, Bobbie Solley, Ed.D. has committed to a long term relationship with the teachers and staff there, serving as mentor, evaluator, coach, and sister in Christ. She, along with a small team of help, spent the week emphasizing the importance of reading, writing, and experiential learning to both students and teachers.