text:
package com.github.magnusja.libaums.javafs;

import android.util.Log;

import com.github.magnusja.libaums.javafs.wrapper.device.DeviceWrapper;
import com.github.magnusja.libaums.javafs.wrapper.device.FSBlockDeviceWrapper;
import com.github.magnusja.libaums.javafs.wrapper.fs.FileSystemWrapper;
import com.github.mjdev.libaums.driver.BlockDeviceDriver;
import com.github.mjdev.libaums.fs.FileSystem;
import com.github.mjdev.libaums.fs.FileSystemCreator;
import com.github.mjdev.libaums.partition.PartitionTableEntry;

import org.jnode.fs.FileSystemException;
import org.jnode.fs.FileSystemType;
import org.jnode.fs.exfat.ExFatFileSystemType;
import org.jnode.fs.ext2.Ext2FileSystemType;
import org.jnode.fs.hfs.HfsWrapperFileSystemType;
import org.jnode.fs.hfsplus.HfsPlusFileSystemType;
import org.jnode.fs.iso9660.ISO9660FileSystemType;
import org.jnode.fs.jfat.FatFileSystemType;
import org.jnode.fs.ntfs.NTFSFileSystemType;
import org.jnode.fs.xfs.XfsFileSystemType;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;

/**
 * Created by magnusja on 3/1/17.
 */

public class JavaFsFileSystemCreator implements FileSystemCreator {

    private static final String TAG = JavaFsFileSystemCreator.class.getSimpleName();

    private static List<FileSystemType> fsTypes = new ArrayList<>();

    static {
        fsTypes.add(new NTFSFileSystemType());
        fsTypes.add(new ExFatFileSystemType());

        fsTypes.add(new FatFileSystemType());
        fsTypes.add(new org.jnode.fs.fat.FatFileSystemType());

        fsTypes.add(new HfsPlusFileSystemType());
        fsTypes.add(new HfsWrapperFileSystemType());

        fsTypes.add(new Ext2FileSystemType());
        fsTypes.add(new XfsFileSystemType());

        fsTypes.add(new ISO9660FileSystemType());
    }

    @Override
    public FileSystem read(PartitionTableEntry entry, BlockDeviceDriver blockDevice) throws IOException {
        ByteBuffer buffer = ByteBuffer.allocate(4096);
        blockDevice.read(0, buffer);

        FSBlockDeviceWrapper wrapper = new FSBlockDeviceWrapper(blockDevice, entry);

        for(FileSystemType type : fsTypes) {
            if(type.supports(wrapper.getPartitionTableEntry(), buffer.array(), wrapper)) {
                try {
                    return new FileSystemWrapper(type.create(new DeviceWrapper(blockDevice, entry), false));
                } catch (FileSystemException e) {
                    Log.e(TAG, "error creating fs with type " + type.getName(), e);
                }
            }
        }

        return null;
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Confessions of a 'Family Feud' warm-up man… Part I
Russell Fletcher, and the happy 'Family Feud' studio audience!
I've known Russell Fletcher for many years. He's a brilliant actor, an incredibly skilled improviser and a gifted theatrical director. In fact, he's directed three live stage shows that I've written or co-written over the years, and really is an outstandingly talented bloke. Versatile too – and that's what made me approach him to chat with me for HowToWinGameShows.com. You see, since 2014, Russell has been the audience warm up person on the hugely successful Australian revival of Family Feud. But Russell's duties on the show don't end there. In fact, he's really well placed to give us an up-close, behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of the show, which should prove fascinating for anyone who's interested in appearing on it. So let's get to it, and dive right in to Part One of my interview, with the one and only Russell Fletcher!
SH: Russell, thanks for chatting to me today for HowToWinGameShows.com.
RF: My pleasure, Hallington!
SH: How would you describe your role on Family Feud, and how did you come to be in that role ?
RF: Pam Barnes gave me a call at the start of 2014 checking availability and I think maybe I have received a slight handball from Michael Pope. I'd filled in for Popey over the span of 20 years, like twice, as a warm up person on Family Feud and a sitcom, a really bad one. Even though I think I was terrible warm up at the time I think I was the most entertaining person in the room. It was a really bad sitcom.
SH: What was it? You can name names!
RF: It was something with "school" in it.
SH: Late For School, starring Matthew Newton.
RF: It was like live recording in the studio. I had to go and fill in and I didn't know what to do so I just made it up a bit. I am not a stand-up comedian, I don't have 20 minutes. So when Pam called me, I was like "a warm up person? Really?" because I know my experience hadn't been good. But I'd spent the intervening years doing lots of corporate entertainment, just shooting the breeze in front of a live audience. Also hosting Spontaneous Broadway just gave me the confidence even to go even though I'm not a stand-up comedian I think I can manufacture something and just do an angle on that. And I have seen enough warm up to do what I think I could be a version of that. You have to develop a persona and you have to develop some schtick. I was hesitant at first but then I looked at my family and they were hungry and I thought "I gotta feed you guys". So I went "Regular gig? Hell.yeah!" Plus then it became apparent that I was also going to host the audition days so I was going to be (Family Feud host) Grant Denyer on those days. And I thought that's the sort of stuff that I really enjoy.
SH: Hosting.
RF: It's just hosting, shooting the breeze with contestants and that was the first part of the job: was actually auditioning families. So I just created a little bit of procedure about it in terms of warming them up and telling them about their expectations and it also grew from there. So I guess I'd put myself down as warm up / studio host. I am the audition day host. That's probably my post important role.
SH: Right. And how does an audition day run, from your perspective? For instance, you are in a hall or somewhere in a public space? Roughly how many people or families or groups would you have at a typical audition?
RF: Generally the producers will get about 40 families into the room and we will do the audition days at Media City Studios in South Melbourne – it's the old Channel 7 Studios and that's where we do Family Feud as well. Right next door to where Dancing with the Stars is filmed. Also The Chase….
SH: And Deal or No Deal, once upon a time.
RF: Yes indeed. On the day 40 families come along and they already have those procedures in mind because I think Pam worked on Bert's Family Feud and so has at least one of the other producers, Lalitha. So I remember Lalitha from the first Family Feud, where once or twice I'd done warm up. I also done a comedy festival charity episode of Family Feud and it was so much fun.
SH: On a team? Playing the game?
RF: Yes, on the team. It was so much fun, with Fiona O'Loghlin and all these other comedians. So the audition goes like this; 40 families turn up, they're all so excited because they think they are going to catch a break and be on the show very shortly and win ten thousand dollars and probably a car. That's what they all think.
SH: Well, you've got to aim high!
RF: But from those 40 families we warm them up, warm up their brains and say "here are the expectations you should have; you should aim to have a really fun day and we are looking for energetic people, bright people, you on your best day, basically". I just get them to do some very simple warm ups. I might get them to do a word association or a gift game or a "Yes, and".
SH: These are like Theatresports games?
RF: They are sort of workshop exercises that we do with groups and they are really fun and they are really silly and it gets people going. I even do tongue twisters and little bit of Brain Gym.
SH: Is that almost like patting your head and rubbing your tummy?
RF: Exactly the same sort of thing. Sarah, my partner, has done a Brain Gym course and we do this a lot when we do workshops because it actually gets people to be really present and they go " How do you do this?" and it actually does create new neural pathways in the brain like learning to juggle or play the piano with two hands and it's really simple. Then we do a survey and then each family has an interview with one of the producers. There's usually four tables; it's Pam, Mark, Tom and Delaney. So they interview the families and ask them about their lives, how would they describe themselves, their jobs and then ask them a few Family Feud questions and from that little interview with the families they can generally tell who is going to be able to stand up in front of the lights and an audience and play the game and also be fun to work with. And fun for Grant to work with, in particular. After that we do a callback after lunch and we might call back 20 families, we might call back 26 families. There has been an occasion where we had 27 families turn up and we called them all back.
And on that optimistic note, I'll sign off for this week. Next week, Russell continues to talk me through exactly how the Family Feud audition and record day unfolds, while giving plenty more great tips. So, if you're interested in trying out for this great fun game show, you won't want to miss that! Until then!
This entry was posted in 'Family Feud', Auditioning, Brain Training, Interviews, Updates by Stephen. Bookmark the permalink.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


SAN JOSE – UC Irvine had not lost a basketball game in two months and nine days. In the early minutes of the second half Sunday, it seemed the Anteaters had completely forgotten how.
Down by 12 at halftime, they held Oregon without a point for seven-and-a-half minutes and took a 37-35 lead when Robert Cartwright drove from midcourt for a layup.
UCI's season crested there. The Ducks, winners of 10 consecutive games in stifling fashion, pushed their way to a 73-54 victory in the NCAA South Regional second-round game that both ended UCI's 17-game winning streak and its landmark season.
The Anteaters finished with a 31-6 record and won their first-ever NCAA Tournament game on Friday, over Kansas State. Here, they couldn't hold off a tall, talented Oregon squad that thrived on 3-pointers.
However, UCI fans will save the footage of those early second-half minutes. Cartwright began the half with an open 3-pointer, and Evan Leonard and Tommy Rutherford each scored four points in the rally.
The Anteaters failed to score on three consecutive possessions with that 2-point lead, and Ehab Amin and Louis King hit threes for Oregon that put the Ducks ahead, 41-35.
It became a 15-2 run that gave the 12th seeded Ducks a 10-point advantage. UCI scrapped back to within eight points on Max Hazzard's three-pointer, but the Ducks went on a shot-blocking and dunking spree in the closing minutes.
UCI was trying to become the first Big West team to reach an NCAA Regional since UNLV did so in 1991. Instead, Oregon will fly to Louisville this week to play Virginia in the Sweet 16 round.
The Ducks hit 13 of 25 three-pointers and wound up blocking eight shots, mostly as the game got away near the end. Payton Pritchard, Oregon's leader, had 18 points and seven assists, and Amin hit all four of his three-pointers, including one in which he was falling back into the Oregon bench.
There were tears and hugs in the UCI locker room as the season skidded to a halt.
Cartwright had 13 points and Jonathan Galloway was tough inside with 11 rebounds and nine points. UCI outrebounded the taller, longer Ducks by three, but were held to 39.2 percent shooting.


Binnenkort verschijnt het boek Pop Goes the Library: Using Pop Culture To Connect With Your Whole Community, een must read als je het mij vraagt. Het boek is een gevolg van het blog Pop Goes the Library waar onder andere Sophie Brookover & Elizabeth Burns voor schrijven. En nu dan het boek. Maar ook een flickraccount. een twitterfeed en een wiki om de gebruikte bronnen op bij te kunnen houden.
You loved the blog—now read the book! Whether you regularly follow entertainment and gossip news, or wondered "Corbin Who?" when you saw the recent ALA READ poster, Pop Goes the Library will help you connect with your users and energize your staff. Pop culture blogger-librarians Sophie Brookover and Elizabeth Burns define what pop culture is (and isn't) and share insights, tips, techniques, and success stories from all types of libraries.
You'll discover practical strategies and ideas for incorporating the pop culture passions of your users into collections, programs, and services, plus a range of marketing and outreach ideas, technology tools, and ready-to-go programs you can start using today. Here is an eye-opening book that's as much fun to read as it is to apply!


Divided Spirits tells the stories of tequila and mezcal, two of Mexico's most iconic products.
In doing so, the book illustrates how neoliberalism influences the production, branding, and regulation of local foods and drinks. It also challenges the strategy of relying on "alternative" markets to protect food cultures and rural livelihoods.
Divided Spirits suggests that we must move beyond market-based models if we want to safeguard local products and the people who make them.
Instead, we need systems of production, consumption, and oversight that are more democratic, more inclusive, and more participatory. Lasting change is unlikely without the involvement of the state and a sustained commitment to addressing inequality and supporting rural development.
In May 2012, more than one hundred people crammed into a conference room at the Hotel El Ejecutivo in Mexico City, to debate proposed changes in the regulation of mezcal, a spirit distilled from the roasted heart of Mexico's native agave plant. It was a diverse group that included governmental officials, retailers, producers from all over Mexico, and even a group of American bartenders, whom I had come with. To casual observers, it likely sounded like another dry debate over governmental regulations. In late 2011, the Mexican government had unveiled proposals that would reserve the use of the word agave for producers inside government-designated regions, including specific territories reserved for tequila and mezcal. Proponents of the proposals argued that the latter would protect consumers by ensuring the quality and safety of distilled agave spirits. But the proposals made international headlines because the debate was about something much more profound. Critics contended that the proposals would protect the big tequila and mezcal companies that had pushed for them, and that they threatened small producers throughout Mexico, many of whom had been making distilled agave spirits for generations but which were not included in the protected regions.
Opponents organized quickly and convened two forums, one in Guadalajara and the other in Mexico City, in order to hear from those who had been excluded from the drafting of the original proposal. At the Mexico City forum, which I attended, the group spent a full day trying to collectively develop an alternative set of standards. A gentleman in a dark suit took the floor. "These are artisanal producers, who come in sandals," he said authoritatively. "If we include a thousand rules, the government is going to come and shut them down." The tension in the room was palpable as everyone waited to see how the small mezcal producers, identifiable by their cowboy hats and, in some cases, the aforementioned sandals, would react. One raised his hand. "No one can take away our rights," he said. "We are all equal, and it is our right to defend what we do. And we are proud of it. ... You need to have a little bit of respect, for us, the producers. We all know that the big companies have always gone above the laws; they have trampled us, but we are no longer in the sixteenth century. We are educated, and we want to do things in the best possible way." Many people applauded, while the governmental officials at the front of the room shifted awkwardly in their seats. Jorge Cruz, the owner of a high-end tequila company, was the first to respond. "I have more trust in a producer who is wearing sandals than in a person who is wearing the cowboy boots of an industry executive," he said.
The sentiments expressed in that meeting reflect a larger debate in Mexico, one with roots that reach deep into Mexico's colonial past. It is a debate about what constitutes Mexico's national "spirit" — a discussion of Mexico's national liquor industries, and also a conversation about the past and future of Mexico's people. What is mezcal? Who has the right to produce mezcal, and how should that right be protected? What does mezcal have to do with being Mexican?
For centuries, people in Mexico have battled over the right to make and sell mezcal and tequila, two of its most iconic products. The word mezcal comes from the Nahuatl words metl (meaning "agave") and ixcalli (meaning "cooked" or "baked"). Colonial settlers used the word mezcal to refer to the agave plants that indigenous populations in Mexico had consumed as food and in fermented beverages for thousands of years. There are more than two hundred species of agave, a stubborn succulent that thrives in dry climates and is endemic to Mexico. Eventually, the meaning of mezcal shifted to refer to distilled agave spirits, which likely originated in the Colima volcanoes region in western Mexico. Scholars debate whether indigenous populations started distilling before the arrival of colonial settlers, but they agree that distillation became widespread in the seventeenth century. Mezcal producers (also known as mezcaleros) collected wild agave, roasted the agave hearts (piñas) in earthen pits, and then chopped the piñas and fermented the mash. This process could take several weeks. They then slowly distilled the fermented juice in wood-fired stills. Distilled spirits were subject to frequent and ongoing periods of prohibition by colonial authorities, which drove production into isolated rural regions. As distillation techniques spread southward into indigenous communities, and northward into mining centers and along trade routes, the mezcaleros adapted their techniques to each region.
Today, at least twenty species of agave are commonly used in the production of mezcal, with some studies finding upward of forty-two species. The type of agave, production practices, and equipment used to make mezcal vary between regions. Of course, most people are familiar with the most famous version of mezcal: tequila, named after the town of Tequila in central Jalisco. In the late nineteenth century, the tequileros (the producers in and around Tequila) began to expand and industrialize, differentiating themselves from the mezcaleros in other parts of Mexico. Tequila is now made in huge factories, while thousands of small mezcaleros continue to make mezcal using methods similar to those employed by their ancestors.
In the second half of the nineteenth century, people began referring to "mezcal from Tequila" simply as tequila. Recalling his travels through Mexico in 1854 and 1855, French writer Ernest Vigneaux noted that "just as [the town of ] Cognac has given its name to French brandies in general, Tequila has given its name to the spirit mezcal." After a "mezcal brandy" from Tequila and a "Tequila wine" were recognized, respectively, at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and in San Antonio in 1910, the name of the drink became synonymous with the name of the town.
In the twentieth century, as the market for tequila grew, the tequileros sought protection from imposters outside Jalisco who were fraudulently attempting to pass off their products as tequila. In 1949, Mexico established the first official quality standard for tequila. The standard stated that tequila could be made only from one variety of agave (Agave tequilana Weber), cultivated in the state of Jalisco. But in practice, it did little to protect the tequileros from people who were trying to produce tequila abroad. In an attempt to solve this problem and legally establish tequila as Mexico's national spirit, tequila became, in 1974, the first product outside of Europe to be protected by a denomination of origin (DO). DOs, established by national governments in the places where they are produced, confer on particular places the right to produce a food or drink. They also set rules governing how those foods or drinks must be produced. The DO for tequila gave distilleries in Jalisco and parts of four other states the exclusive right to produce tequila. In 1994, the Mexican government established a DO for mezcal, defining the territory where mezcal could be produced, despite the fact that mezcal is a generic term for distilled agave spirits. According to the DO, mezcal can be legally produced only in eight states: in all of Durango, Guerrero, Oaxaca, San Luis Potosí, and Zacatecas; and in parts of Guanajuato, Michoacán, and Tamaulipas.
Advocates of the DOs and the corresponding quality standards argue that they protect Mexico's cultural heritage, expand market opportunities, and ensure the reputation and safety of Mexico's national spirits. However, my research shows that in practice, the institutions that regulate tequila and mezcal adopt a narrow and technical understanding of quality, one that focuses on maximizing economic efficiency and meeting the standards required for export markets. The regulations have not taken into account the perspectives of agave farmers, workers, and small tequila producers and mezcaleros. In addition, they exclude all of the producers who live outside the regions delineated by the DOs. One study found evidence of a history of mezcal production in twenty-four of thirty-one Mexican states and the Federal District of Mexico,10 but the DOs for tequila and mezcal include territories in only ten states.
The debates that I document and analyze in this book are intensely Mexican. At the same time, conflicts over tequila and mezcal mirror debates about the production (and protection) of foods and drinks that are unfolding throughout the world. In recent years, traditional foods and drinks have emerged as profitable and politically salient alternatives to the perceived homogenizing effects of globalization. Initiatives like the Slow Food movement and DOs attempt to "rescue eating establishments, dishes, and products from the flood of standardization" engendered by the industrial food system. In doing so, they strive to support the rural communities, farmers, and processors involved in the production of traditional products. And yet, as my research shows, efforts to regulate Mexico's iconic spirits illustrate the limitations of relying on alternative markets to protect food cultures and the livelihoods of those who produce them. My work demonstrates how cultural symbolism can be manipulated to perpetuate and deepen long-standing inequalities along global commodity chains.
In this book, I investigate the process of using DOs to protect and certify Mexican spirits. I do so by telling the stories of tequila and mezcal: the stories of the people who make them, the institutions that regulate them, and the retailers and consumers who buy and sell them. This book chronicles my work over the past ten years, a project that took me into the living rooms and kitchens of agave farmers and day laborers and to the glitzy offices and gleaming factory floors of tequila companies. It also took me to small mezcal distilleries and trendy mezcal and tequila bars from Oaxaca City to New York. In total, I visited more than thirty distilleries — from tiny family mezcal distilleries perched on mountain bluffs and almost hidden by the surrounding forest, to huge industrial tequila factories. And I participated in mezcal and tequila tastings, agave farmers' meetings, academic conferences, and forums organized by governmental organizations and the Tequila Regulatory Council (CRT). This book uses the stories of these places and these people to investigate the politics of protecting local products in a global market.
In a modern global food system characterized by "distance and durability," we can get tomatoes in the middle of winter; but many people have never had the sublime experience of biting into a ripe garden tomato on a hot August day. Agribusiness firms rely on global sourcing strategies, and contract arrangements are used to integrate farmers into what is essentially an industrial enterprise, in which hybrid seeds are combined with chemical inputs, and information technology is used to coordinate multiple production sites spread across the globe. And in a context in which our food comes to us from "a global everywhere, yet from nowhere ... in particular," people are trying to find ways to connect with the people — and the places — that produce their food.
Today, within just a few miles of my house in North Carolina, I have my pick of more "farm-to-table" restaurants than I could count on one hand. At these places, rotating chalkboard menus offer seasonal specialties, like fried pickled shrimp from the coast paired with an aioli made with ramps harvested in the mountains, or a salad that combines watermelon from the local farmer's market with farmstead goat cheese from a few counties over. The number of farmers' markets in the United States has exploded in the last twenty years; according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, there are now more than eight thousand, scattered in tiny towns and big cities all over the country. On-farm dinners and farm tours offer city dwellers the opportunity to see how working farms operate. Community-Supported Agriculture, another model, allows consumers to "invest" in a farm, paying upfront and then getting a weekly delivery of produce. Where I live, there are also community-supported fisheries, where customers get weekly deliveries of fresh fish and shellfish from the North Carolina coast. Even the grocery stores where I shop are trying to connect customers with the farmers who grow their produce. They hang huge color photographs of farmers over the coolers where I buy otherwise indistinguishable bags of apples or lettuce, inviting me to "meet my neighbors" who grow and make my food.
The posters at my grocery store are an example of how people who do not literally "know their farmer," as the Department of Agriculture tells us we should, can still have a sense of "knowing their food": by hearing the story of how their food was grown. In contrast to the "food from nowhere" regime, which operates on invisibility, obscuring the social and environmental bases of food production, the "food from somewhere" regime renders the food supply more visible, in response to increased consumer demand for traceability. The "food from somewhere" regime is characterized by wealthy consumption niches, complex new forms of auditing and inspection, and emblematic new products, from certified organic to fair trade. This new set of relations operates globally, in that it makes "local production conditions visible over global-scale distances," as in the case of Kenyan organic green beans that are audited by European certifiers and then sold through Swiss food cooperatives.
In this context, the French notion of terroir — literally translated as "region" or "earth" and understood as evoking the relationship between a product and the land, soil, and specific place that it comes from — has become increasingly salient. Terroir conveys the taste of place. As Starbucks put it in advertisements for their single-origin coffees, terroir is the idea that "geography is a flavor." As a legal concept, DOs, which originated in France but have now been exported around the world, are based on the belief that the environmental and cultural characteristics of particular places — their terroir — are translated into the tastes of the foods and drinks produced there and, moreover, that they deserve to be protected.
Because DOs link the production of agricultural goods to particular local places, but allow these goods to be traded in global markets and require protection by national and global institutions, DOs embody what some scholars refer to as glocalization. This term emphasizes how local cultures and global institutions mutually shape each other. Many scholars have focused on how DOs embed food systems in their social and ecological contexts, drawing on Karl Polanyi's notion of economic embeddedness. Sociologist Elizabeth Barham argues that "by insisting upon a strong link in production to the ecology and culture of specific places, [DOs] reembed a product in the natural processes and social context of its territory." Another rural sociologist, Henk Renting, and his colleagues argue that DOs constitute "short food supply chains" that have the capacity to "resocialize or respatialize food" by increasing the transparency of the people, places, and processes associated with particular foods. Advocates of DOs maintain that focusing on terroir opens up possibilities for an engagement with the "place of food" that goes deeper than simply measuring the distance between producers and consumers.
Excerpted from Divided Spirits by Sarah Bowen. Copyright © 2015 The Regents of the University of California. Excerpted by permission of UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS.
"This is far from a breezy read, and that's exactly the point.
In today's spirits landscape, where a new celebrity tequila brand seems to launch each month and mezcal has gone viral, it's rare that we pause to consider the consequences of our adoration . . . . Offers an exhaustively researched, academic look at the forces that threaten these two great spirits that should be essential reading for anyone with an interest in protecting all that makes them great."
"There is not much published about the two iconic Mexican spirits, except for consumer books and tasting guides to different brands. Bowen's perspective is fresh and thought-provoking."
"Engaging . . . A top gift book for the beverage drinker."
"Divided Spirits is written in a conversational tone. It is easy to follow even while it describes complex economic relations that span the local to the global. The book's topics are organized in a manner that flows well and the book builds upon itself throughout the chapters. The author writes in a manner that successfully conveys her experiences and knowledge of these production systems, and her years of study and dedication to the field become obvious as one reads through the book."


text:
Q: pointer vs handles in C (are the terms used to convey separate things?) Recently, I read a white paper by an individual who refers to a pointer to a struct as a handle.  The author was clearly someone who had written C code on the windows platform previously.  Googling indicates that windows programmers interact with system components via handles.  I am wondering if it is common practice for windows programmers to refer to all struct pointers as handles?  Or is the term handle meant to convey something beyond pointer to struct?  I am asking as a linux C programmer.
The white paper I am referring to is:
Duff, Heroux, and Pozo. An Overview of the Sparse Basic Linear Algebra Subprograms: The New Standard from the BLAS Technical Forum.  ACM Transactions on Mathematical Software, Vol 28, No. 2, June 2002, Pages 239-267.

A: The term handle generally means some opaque value that has meaning only to the API which produced it.  In Win32, the HANDLE type is either a pointer in kernel memory (which applications cannot access anyway) or an index into some kernel-internal array.

A: The term handle is used to mean any technique that lets you access to another object. A handle can be a pointer, a reference, a pointer to a pointer, etc.. But sure its related to classes, objects etc. So handle need not always be a pointer to structure.
-AD.

A: In the old days of MacOS programming, back before OSX, a handle was a pointer to a pointer. That allowed the OS to move things around without invalidating the user's pointers.  There were rules on when we could assume the pointed-to object wouldn't move, which I don't remember.

A: The term "handle" didn't orignate on Windows, though it became widespread among Windows programmers.
In the C standard library (stdio.h), file handles are pointers to a data structure used by the C library.
Pure Unix programming uses file descriptors, which are indexes into a kernel data structure, but pointers have been used as handles in Unix for over 30 years.

A: "Handle" is a logical term, not a physical one. It's meant as a proxy to a physical object to code that has more intimate knowledge of the object. A pointer to a struct is one such proxy, but there are many other possibilites.

A: A handle is an old and revered concept.
A cookie is much the same thing.  Or a GUID.  Or a ticket to retrieve your car from a car park, or your coat from a fancy restaurant, etc.
Its any unique value that when presented back to the issuer can be used to track back to the actual thing referred, by whatever opaque mechanism the issuer wants.  You may or may not know anything about that process, nor what the underlying thing is, exactly (only conceptually).
It was heavily used by Windows, but it is certainly not unique to Windows.
You would not normally use "handle" to mean "pointer to struct."  Handle is more like "token" than like "pointer."  It refers to something - file, system resource, memory, state-snapshot, etc.  But what-exactly-it-is is based on the context of the handle itself (i.e. who issued the handle).
Handles were also used heavily in early filesystem programming in K&R C.

A: No, it is not particularly common amongst Windows programmers to refer to pointers as handles, but doing so isn't WRONG either. The term "handle" is usually used to describe something you use to access something through, and in that sense are all pointers handles (but not all handles are pointers). Win32's handles are AFAIK usually not pointers, but instead indices to internal OS tables - but this might change in future versions of Windows.

A: A handle is a generic term for a reference (not specifically a C++ reference) to an object.
A pointer is a subset of handle, since it points to objects.
A foreign key in a database is also a handle, since it points to records in other tables; and it is not a pointer.
In the Windows API environment, they used the abstract term handle so they could use an integer into a table, a pointer, or other methods, without interfering with the client; IOW, defining an abstract interface.
In summary, a handle can be something other than a pointer, such as an integer index or an object containing more details about the object (such as a smart pointer).

A: I'm probably older than most of the respondents, having earned a living coding in C on both the early (late 80s) Macintosh and both 16 and 32-bit Windows.  In those ancient times (when an IBM mainframe might have only 256k of memory) a handle was always a pointer (or table offset) to a memory pointer.
As a previous respondent mentioned, that allowed tables of pointers to memory blocks to be managed by the OS without invalidating the "handles" used by the programmer.  Unfortunately, I do not remember how we guaranteed that an allocated block would not be moved while we using the handle.

A: I use the word handle to mean a pointer that points to an "object" that represents a resource - often an OS resource, whereas a pointer just points to some memory. If you have a handle to something, you shouldn't try to read and write bytes into it directly, but manipulate it through provided methods.
Often handles are implemented as an opaque void *, which is further encouragement not to try to directly dereference it.

A: Since you refer to handles being used as a pointer to a structure, as used by a Windows programmer, I'll answer within that context. Please note that there are clearly many different kinds of "handles", as it is a generic concept widely used within the computing environment. Certainly you will be familiar with the concept of a file handle; Windows also offers window handles and many other kinds of handles. Having said that:
A "memory handle" (that is similar to a pointer to a struct) is a concept from the land of 16-bit Windows programming, where there was no memory manager in the CPU and all memory management had to be done in software. Essentially, a "handle" was sort of a pointer, but the OS would be free to move around the memory that the handle referred to. You can't do that with a regular pointer, but the handle had functions that would get and release the actual memory address.
With the introduction of Win32, where the CPU had a hardware memory manager, the concept of the memory handle became obsolete. Other types of handles such as file handles and window handles still exist in Win32, but are not pointers to structs.

A: Windows defines handles for many things. They're not necessarily pointers at all -- some are, but others are things like offsets into particular tables. A few are intentionally obfuscated. There are handles for everything from windows to device contexts to bitmaps, and so on.
In any case, a handle is normally intended as an opaque data type -- i.e. you're not supposed to know anything about its value, only a set of predefined operations that can use it to accomplish various tasks. I believe C++/CLI also has a pointer-like object that's called a handle. I believe it's supposed to be closer to an opaque data type though -- if memory serves, you're not allowed to do any pointer arithmetic on them.

A: Handles are generally pointers that you don't directly need to dereference.  Rather you pass them to API calls which operate on the underlying structs.
Historically on Windows, handles were not pointers.  You would lock the handle to get a pointer before using it, and unlock it when you were done (and the pointer would become invalid).  In the days before paged memory, old-school Windows did it's own memory management by swapping out resources only referenced by handles and swap them back in when they got locked.  In practice, this made memory management a nightmare, but allowed Windows to simulate virtual memory on systems without hardware support for it.

A: A pointer is definitely different than a handle. A pointer is an address of something unspecified in memory. A pointer to a structure can be called a "handle" (usually by using 'typedef').
A handle is a concept used in writing the windows operating system.
A pointer is a part of the C language.

A: Actually a pointer is a variable which contains the address of another variable,but a handle is a pointer to a pointer i.e a pointer which contains the address of another pointer
FOR EX:
int x=10;

int *a=&x;// this is a simple pointer

int *b=a;// this is a handle

A:
A handle is a number, the pointer is not a handle

// storage
char data[0xFFFF] = {0} ;

// pointer aka "iterator"
char * storage_pointer = & data[42];

// handle
size_t storage_handle = 42 ;

The key difference or if you prefer to call it the "advantage" of handles is one can try to deduce if the handle is valid or if you prefer the term, "dangling".
I do use handles whenever feasible. Here is a good article on advantages and implementation practices.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: Making user notifications in rails I want to make a simple user notification in rails with just text.  I want there to be multiple notifications obviously so my question is do I have to create a whole new migration and create an association with my User model or is there some way to just extend a "notifications" text attribute in my User table?  I guess you can just insert line breaks in between notifications but that's not what I'm looking for as that sounds like it would get too messy.  Thanks!

A: If you just want to store notifications only you can tell Rails to treat it as an Array (notifications' column type should be text):
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
  serialize :notifications, Array
end

If you want to store any additional notification details (like author or timestamps or whatever) you should probably go for a separate model.
Rails docs: Active Record, search for "Saving arrays, hashes, and other non-mappable objects in text columns".

A: If you want to keep a history of the notifications for users to look at later then you would want to store it in the database. Meaning yes, you would want to create a new table in the DB. You should do this via a migration script. This new model should be associated to the User model so you could do something like user.notifications to retrieve all their notifications.
Also if you used timestamps in the new Notifications model you could do some fun analytics later.

A: you can use rails polymorphic association for this purpose, using this mechanism you can relate your notification model to other models without modifying target table.
A better example is given in this link
http://railscasts.com/episodes/154-polymorphic-association


text:
Trail RunningMetro Tartan
Conversations with Jack Cardiff – Jack Cardiff was undoubtedly the greatest of all cinematographers. His career spanned more then 80 years – from his first film as a child star in 1918 to his last work in 2002. Published to critical acclaim in 2003 by Batsford, the book was based on more than 20 hours of one-on-one interviews between myself and Jack.
Conversations with Jack Cardiff: Art, Light and Direction in Cinema is available from Amazon.co.uk
Jack's continued influence on film and filmmakers cannot be underestimated. He has worked with the finest directors and most accomplished actors to create a body of work – approaching 100 features, shorts and documentaries – that is unequalled in its breadth, depth or artistry…


Wrangled | How Do I Get Better?
I got really lucky and was in the perfect spot to get these shots. Even with the great access I had inside the fence between the spectators and the athletes, I tried to get closer. For this sequence, the officials were holding me back from getting any nearer. Behind me there were hundreds of people crushing against the fence, chanting and cheering.
Great coverage, great photos, waiting for more!


text:
Q: UpdateLayeredWindow blues on Windows XP I have a NET 2.0 Winforms app based partly on this code. It features a form transparency using UpdateLayeredWindow API. It works perfectly on Vista and Windows 7 but fails on Windows XP.
I have narrowed it down to UpdateLayeredWindow failing with last error 8 (not enough memory). While experimenting I also found out that swapping (desired) ULW_ALPHA for either ULW_COLORKEY or ULW_OPAQUE works on XP but produces the wrong effect (the image shows but the transparency is wrong).
I am wondering if something is wrong the way PNG bitmap is being loaded and handled by NET internally and that there is something about it UpdateLayeredWindow dislikes.

A: Looks like it's working, but the layered windows are not actually visible, I guess the opacity settings are wrong. With the code you linked to, changing line 67 in LayeredForm.cs from "BlendOp = 255" to "BlendOp = 0" fixes the issue for me (running on Windows XP SP3).


Camping Les Genêts is a modern, relaxed family campsite surrounded by mature woodland, just south of the town of St Jean-de-Monts. A highlight on camping Les Genêts is the amazing swimming pool complex which includes an indoor pool, numerous outdoor pools, water slides and a lazy river. During high season the campsite animation team organises entertainment for all the family and in high season there is also a children's club so there is lots to keep everyone busy. Alternatively, with sun loungers available and a poolside sun terrace relaxing for the afternoon has never been as easy. And, with a restaurant, bar and takeaways available there is no need to leave the campsite but there is so much to do in the surrounding area; St Jean-de-Monts itself is a busy and attractive seaside town with sea front bars, shops, cafés and restaurants including an excellent market once a week. Long sandy beaches are only 900 yds away, ideal for sunbathing, swimming, windsurfing and sailing. Alternatively, enjoy a relaxing walk through the sand dunes or discover the excellent cycle paths and head to the nearby forests.


text:
91outcomes.com
Gulf War Health & News
Iraq Veteran's Experiences Rhyme with those of 1991 Gulf War
6 years after Iraq, hexavalent chromium exposure weighs on veteran
Written by Julie Sullivan, The Oregonian
(ROCKAWAY, Ore. - December 28, 2009) -- The Naylor living room is all playroom, cleared to toddle, cuddle and roll. But when Dad's home, the children often head to the back bedroom to play quietly with Mom.
Six years after Guy Naylor returned from Iraq, he can't stand the clamor of his own family. The soft-spoken dialysis technician shouted at other drivers so often, his family moved to Rockaway to escape Portland traffic. The medic who ran every day has gained 80 pounds. Joint pain wakes him. He coughs so much, his patients constantly ask if he has a cold. He swallows nine different medications a day. Up from none.
"He doesn't seem like a 40-year-old man," says his wife, Toniann. "He seems 60."
Naylor is being treated for post-traumatic stress and exposure to hexavalent chromium, an industrial chemical and well-known carcinogen that soldiers unwittingly faced while guarding war contractors. He's one of 278 Oregon Army National Guard soldiers who were notified of possible exposure while serving at or near the Qarmat Ali water-treatment plant in 2003. Fleeing Iraqi troops loyal to Saddam Hussein had dumped the orange industrial chemical across the property.
Since the Oregon Guard's notified Naylor "out of the blue" last February of his exposure, he has taken all the recommended steps. He's been examined by the Portland Veterans Affairs environmental physician. He's enrolled in the Gulf War Registry.
The list includes the 112,515 veterans whose confounding symptoms are linked to tours in the Gulf in 1990-91 and in Iraq since 2003. Naylor's symptoms are a chief reason why the VA wants to track all Qarmat Ali veterans separately, flagging their records and studying them over time.
But naming Naylor's issues doesn't make living with them any easier. The weight of Naylor's war, like many combat veterans, is being shouldered almost entirely by his family.
"Everyone is supposed to be happy now because the spouse is home and everyone is together, putting the pieces back together again," says his wife, Toniann Naylor, 31.
"But the pieces no longer fit."
When Guy Naylor's Forest Grove unit was called up seven years ago, Capt. Jon Van Horn chose Naylor for a senior medic position. Naylor was a Portland native who had served in the Oregon Guard since 1987, combating fires and floods. He'd been an active duty soldier, in Korea and for two years at Walter Reed Medical Center. He worked as a kidney dialysis technician at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center. He was a married father of four. He was, Van Horn says, experienced, dependable, motivated and upbeat.
Their unit was among the first Oregon troops into Iraq, and they paid for the honor. Hygiene and air quality was so bad at their first Kuwaiti camp, soldiers suffered bloody diarrhea and could not safely exercise for all the burning industrial pollutants. Naylor, who'd also been trained as a machine gunner, was among the small number of Oregon soldiers sent to guard Kellogg Brown & Root employees working on Operation Restore Iraqi Oil. Small teams traveled to the Iraqi border, jumping into KBR vehicles headed to the oil fields.
One stop was the Qarmat Ali water-treatment plant, where the soldiers stayed outside while KBR contractors worked indoors. Months later, the Indiana Guard replacing Oregon troops learned the orange dust coating their clothing and boots at the plant was a corrosion fighter that contained the carcinogen, hexavalent chromium.
Last year, KBR employees and Indiana soldiers accused managers at the Halliburton subsidiary of deliberately withholding that information in order to restore the oil flow and earn millions in completion bonuses.
At the plant, Naylor both suffered and treated fellow soldiers for the coughs, sinus problems and headaches that he blamed on sand and dehydration.
After Naylor's unit left Qarmat Ali in June 2003, their problems persisted at a base outside Baghdad where they confronted other problems. "We saw terrible things. None of us were prepared for the local stuff," says Van Horn, a physician assistant at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center who specializes in trauma.
The medics would treat Iraqi families who came to the gate for care, sometimes with children who'd been dipped into boiling water for punishment. The scald victims were usually girls as young as 9 months. The child abuse haunted the soldiers, especially Naylor and other fathers, says Van Horn. "We were treating the kids at the gate for burns that would have landed them in a burn center here."
Naylor was also miserable in the 150-degree heat with stinging rashes on his back and chest. The first time he jumped from a troop truck, the weight of his body armor drove him to his knees. But he was also a superb medic, according to his supervisor, Staff Sgt. Rob Stevens, who said Naylor saved a soldier who'd been hurt in a Humvee rollover.
But Naylor never got comfortable in combat. "I was afraid all the time," he admits, and he worried constantly about his family back in Oregon.
He had met his wife at work at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, where Toniann, a single mom, was attracted by his calm and steady devotion. But at his homecoming in 2004, Naylor snapped at their kids.
"It was an instant change," she says. "I kept waiting for him to come back to his old normal self. It me took three years to realize that wasn't going to happen."
Sixteen soldiers from Naylor's unit have sued KBR for knowingly exposing them to hexavalent chromium. They join Guard soldiers from Indiana, West Virginia and South Carolina who say they suffer breathing and stomach problems, and are at a higher risk of cancer. At least three soldiers who served at Quarmat Ali have died of cancer, including Nicholas Thomas of Happy Valley. KBR has denied harming troops. KBR argues that no injury is linked to chemical exposure at the water treatment plant.
Complaints from KBR employees and Indiana Guard arose during Senate hearings on Iraq contract abuses in 2008. That led to the Oregon connection, virtually unknown until it was reported in The Oregonian last January. Shortly after, the Oregon Guard sent letters to soldiers who served at or near Quarmat Ali.
At least five others Oregon soldiers are expected to join the suit this week, bringing the total to 21, says Portland attorney David Sugerman. Attorneys are wrangling over whether KBR is subject to the jurisdiction of Oregon courts.
Meanwhile, Naylor has not had the time or the energy to join the suit, much less learn much about it. He puts 500 miles a week on his pickup commuting to St. Vincent's for his $35,000-a-year job. He works three 12-hour days, sleeping at his parents' home in Forest Grove, then returns home for long weekends. Older children Brett, 18, and Sierra, 15, live mostly with Naylor's first wife. Toniann stays home with Amyann, 13; Kayla, 7; Dominic, 5; and Joey, 14 months.
The family has felt the brunt of the war. When Naylor first came back from Iraq, he drank. He erupted in explosive rage. He was exhausted. As his mood steadily darkened, he threatened to drive off a cliff. He tried sawing through his arm with a knife and was hospitalized in the VA's psych unit, diagnosed with bipolar disorder that doctors told him emerged after his traumatic experiences in Iraq.
He's being treated by a VA psychologist and therapist, has stopped binge drinking, and medication has stabilized his mood. But like all rural veterans, access to PTSD experts with combat experience is limited.
Physically, his symptoms seem to mirror problems associated with hexavalent chromium: He takes medicine for high blood pressure and a racing heart and severe acid reflux. He still has short-term memory problems and severe sleep apnea.
And Dominic, now 5, conceived within a week of his homecoming has been diagnosed with autism. Naylor fears a connection to his Iraq service.
"I have a lot of guilt," Naylor says, "thinking maybe I brought something home."
Toniann refuses to blame her husband. She concentrates on surviving. The couple drained a pension fund and sold his CPR training equipment on eBay to help Santa Claus. They marvel they are still together and agree it's for the kids. They even supported his oldest son, Brett, whose dream has been to join Naylor's former Oregon Guard unit.
Van Horn, Naylor's medical commander in Iraq, says he was shocked when he first saw Naylor back at headquarters in Forest Grove after their return.
"Something got sucked out of him," Van Horn says. Naylor retired from the Guard in March, after 22 years.
Van Horn says for all the talk of the Greatest Generation, Naylor's generation faces the same issues as soldiers in World War II, Korea and Vietnam did. War is hell. And then you take it home.
"But I'm proud of Guy. Whatever his issues are, he's remained functional. He's returned to society, he's gone on with his life. He's carrying his load. And he has not quit.
"He has not quit."
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Gulf War Illness Internet Search Engine
Federal Regulation Tracker - "Gulf War" Regulation Changes
Khamisiyah Nerve Agent Plume in the Gulf
Active National Gulf War Health Research Programs
CDMRP-GWIRP-DOD - Gulf War Illness Research Program (GWIRP), Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP)
VA-OPH - Office of Public Health Epidemiology Studies
VA-ORD - Office of Research & Development, Recently Funded Gulf War Illness Research Studies
VA-WRIISC Research - War Related Illness and Injury Study Center
Major Gulf War Research Reports
RAC 2014 - "Gulf War Illness and the Health of Gulf War Veterans: Research Update and Recommendations, 2009-2013"
IOM 2010 - "Gulf War and Health, Volume 8: Update of Health Effects of Serving in the Gulf War (2010)"
RAC 2008 - " Gulf War Illness and the Health of Gulf War Veterans"
RAC 2004 - "Scientific Progress in Understanding Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses"
Gulf War Documents Archives
91outcomes Documents Archive
GWVRP - Gulf War Veteran Resource Pages Document Libary
GulfLINK - U.S. Department of Defense
RAC Committee Documents Archive
ScribD Gulf War Documents Archive
Gulf War Research Resources
White et al, Cortex 2015 - "Recent research on Gulf War illness and other health problems in veterans of the 1991 Gulf War: Effects of toxicant exposures during deployment"
VA Research on Health Effects of Gulf War Service
VA Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans & 2008 REPORT
VA - Information on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses
RAC - VA Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses
PubMed - Published Gulf War Research
NCPTSD - National Center for PTSD
NAS HMD IOM - Health and Medicine Division (HMD) (formally known as the Institute of Medicine) of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
MSRC - Military Suicide Research Consortium
Kansas/Steele Case Definition - "Prevalence and patterns of Gulf War illness in Kansas veterans: association of symptoms with characteristics of person, place, and time of military service"
Iowa Persian Gulf Study Group. "Self-reported illness and health status among Gulf War veterans: A population-based study"
Haley Case Definition - "Is there a Gulf War Syndrome? Searching for syndromes by factor analysis of symptoms"
Haley & Tuite, 2012, "Meteorological and intelligence evidence of long-distance transit of chemical weapons fallout from bombing early in the 1991 Persian Gulf War"
Haley & Tuite, 2012 - "Epidemiologic evidence of health effects from long-distance transit of chemical weapons fallout from bombing early in the 1991 Persian Gulf War"
Fukuda/CDC Case Definition - "Chronic multisymptom illness affecting Air Force veterans of the Gulf War"
DOD DeployMED ResearchLINK
ALS in Gulf War Veterans (CDC)
Gulf War Veterans Online Chat Groups
Australian Gulf War Veterans (Australia)
Gulf War Illnesses - Facebook Group
Veterans Benefits Network
ALS Association, The
AMVETS
American Fibromyalgia Syndrome Association
Arms Control Association - Chemical Weapons News
DAV - Disabled American Veterans
Fibromyalgia Network
Gulf War Research Planning Conference (CDC)
IACFS/ME - International Association for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
IFFGD, the International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders
Irritable Bowel Syndrome Self Help and Support Group
Mesothelioma.com
Mesothelioma.com Veterans Blog
Multiple Sclerosis Foundation
NACVSO - National Association of County Veterans Service Officers
NASDVA - National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs
NFA - National Fibromyalgia Association
NFRA - National Fibromyalgia Research Association
NGWRC - National Gulf War Resource Center
National MS Society
OPCW - Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
PVA - Paralyzed Veterans of America
Royal British Legion (UK)
Solve ME/CFS Initiative
U.S. Chemical Weapons Convention
VCS - Veterans for Common Sense
VFW - Veterans of Foreign Wars
VMW - Veterans of Modern Warfare (defunct?)
Veteranos del Golfo Persico "Argentina"
About 91outcomes
91outcomes.com is a health and news website for veterans of the 1991 Gulf War.
The health outcomes of the 1991 Gulf War continue to profoundly affect between one-fourth and one-third, according to official estimates, of the war's nearly 700,000 U.S. veterans.
They also affect innumerable fellow veterans from our Coalition partners, including the UK, Australia, Canada, and the Czech Republic, to name just a few.
The aim of 91outcomes.com is to provide fellow Gulf War veterans and their caregivers, advocates, and loved ones, with a credible source of information for health information on Gulf War Illness and other news, all in one place, some of which isn't available anywhere else.
Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Anthony Hardie, the publisher and editor of 91outcomes.com. I created 91outcomes.com in 2009** because I'm also one of the 250,000 veterans of the 1991 Gulf War afflicted by Gulf War Illness, and this is what I choose to do to help my fellow Gulf War veterans. Of course, there's much more that remains to be done -- please feel free to jump in and help however you may see fit to fill those many gaps.
I've been continuously active as a national advocate on Gulf War and other veterans' issues since 1995, shortly after my honorable discharge after seven years of U.S. Army service that included serving in the 1991 Gulf War and Somalia. Later, in part because of that advocacy work, I was selected to be a Congressional aide, and then a veterans' affairs state agency executive. If you're really interested, you can read more about me on my Google profile.
I also do my best to to help my fellow Gulf War veterans by serving as an affected veteran on the programmatic panel that leads and guides the Gulf War Illness Research Program, part of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP). And, I'm a former longtime member of VA's Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses (RAC) and the VA's Gulf War Illness [Research] Steering Committee. In my service on these panels, I do my very best to represent the many other ill and affected Gulf War veterans, including the readers of this website.
**NOTE: Much of the content on 91outcomes is "fair use" content archived for personal use and for single-site archival use by other Gulf War veterans. Articles dated prior to 2009 are archival in nature, and are pre-dated concurrent to the time noted in the article.
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Depleted Uranium (DU) in the Gulf
The content contained herein was not prepared by medical professionals and it is not intended, nor should it be considered, as a substitute for medical advice.
The information provided on this website is intended as educational material, designed solely to support, and not replace, the relationship that exists between a patient/site visitor and his/her healthcare professional.
The material contained herein is general in nature and may not apply to your particular factual or legal circumstances.
Online readers should not act on this information without seeking professional counsel and advice.
Congressional Hearings and Testimony - Gulf War
91outcomes Document Resource Library
2016-03-15 - HVAC - "Twenty Five Years After the Persian Gulf War: An Assessment of VA's Disability Claim Process with Respect to Gulf War Illness"
2016-02-23 - HVAC - "Persian Gulf War: An Assessment of Health Outcomes on the 25th Anniversary"
2013-03-13 - HVAC - "Gulf War: What Kind of Care are Veterans Receiving 20 Years Later?"
2010-07-27 - HVAC - "Gulf War Illness: The Future for Dissatisfied Veterans"
2009-07-30 - HVAC - "The Implications of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Limited Scope of Gulf War Illness Research"
2009-05-19 - HVAC - "Gulf War Illness Research: Is Enough Being Done?"
2007-09-25 - SVAC - " OVERSIGHT HEARING ON RESEARCH AND TREATMENT FOR GULF WAR ILLNESSES"
2007-07-26 - HVAC - "Gulf War Exposures"
2002-01-24 - HVAC - "Ten Years After: Lessons From the Gulf War"
2001-07-10 - HVAC - Markup of H.R. 1406, the Gulf War Undiagnosed Illness Act of 2001
1999-11-16 - HVAC - "Possible Health Effects of Pyridostigmine Bromide On Persian Gulf War Veterans"
1999-10-26 - HVAC - "Hearing on Persian Gulf War veterans issues"
1998-07-16 - HVAC - "Hearing on the standards for adjudicating claims presented by veterans suffering from hepatitis C, cerebral malaria and Persian Gulf illnesses"
1998-06-04 - HVAC - "Markup of the Persian Gulf War Veterans' Health Care and Research Act of 1998"
1998-02-05 - HVAC - "Hearing to receive updates on research, investigations, and programs involving Persian Gulf War veterans' illnesses"
1995-05-12 - HVAC - "Veterans Benefits Administration's processing of compensation claims, with an emphasis on Persian Gulf War claims; oversight of P.L. 103-446, Veterans' Benefits Improvements Act of 1994"
1995-03-09 - HVAC - "Progress of Research on Undiagnosed Illnesses of Persian Gulf War Veterans"
1994-12-08 - S. Prt. 103-97 - IS MILITARY RESEARCH HAZARDOUS TO VETERANS HEALTH - Committee Report 1994 - Rockefeller-Zuckerman
1994-05-06 - S. Hrg 103-984 Is military research hazardous to veterans health - lessons from World War II, the Persian Gulf, and today - Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs hearing, 103rd Congress 2nd Session
All Documents containing "gulf war" - Justia Regulation Tracker
GULF WAR ILLNESS
GULF WAR SYNDROME
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A construction accident at a Springfield, Missouri, housing development site killed a 25-year-old painter last month. Now the man's employer is blaming the company that supplied its paint for causing the tragic accident.
The incident occurred Thursday, March 24, at the Aspen Springfield center city housing complex. Joshua Halphin, of Springfield, was helping unload gallon buckets of paint from the forklift onto a fifth-floor balcony.
About 30 gallons of the paint had been loaded onto a plywood board that was placed on the lift truck's forks, but the board had not been secured. While Halphin was unloading the paint buckets, the load apparently shifted and he fell approximately 50 feet to his death.
Now Halphin's employer, RF Barratt Enterprises LLC, has accused the paint supplier, Sherwin-Williams, of contributing to the man's death by not following the contractor's instructions.
But instead of carrying the 30 gallons of paint up five sets of stairs — as Sherwin-Williams had agreed to do — instead the paint supplier's delivery person borrowed a forklift and operator, then ordered that the buckets of paint be loaded onto a sheet of plywood that had been laid across the vehicle's forks. The load was then lifted up to the fifth-floor balcony, according to the RF Barratt news release.
Each of the 30 gallons paint weighed an estimated 60 pounds. Halphin, who had only been employed by the contractor for about four months, fell approximately 50 feet from the balcony after the plywood sheet shifted while he was unloading the paint.
According to the RF Barratt news release, the contractor had spoken three times with the paint company's employees to assure that Sherwin-Williams workers would hand-carry the paint gallons up the five flights of stairs at the construction site. When the paint was delivered, however, a paint company delivery employee asked if the contractor would lend them some of its workers to help carry the paint up to the job site.
"As an accommodation" the contractor agreed, according to the news release. But instead of carrying the paint, the forklift was used to lift the paint up to the unguarded balcony.
The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the incident.
In the meantime, Halphin's family has started a GoFundMe page to raise the $3,000 it says it needs for his burial.
How to Load a 58-Ton Forklift Using a 50-Ton Capacity Crane?


text:
Skinheads (Romper Stomper) è un film del 1992 scritto e diretto da Geoffrey Wright con protagonisti Russell Crowe, Daniel Pollock e Jacqueline McKenzie.

La storia si incentra sul triste fenomeno del razzismo in Australia e di come la classe operaia bianca trovi sfogo al suo disagio nell'intolleranza. Il film, che provocò una notevole reazione dei mass media australiani, ottenne nove nomination all'edizione 1992 degli Australian Film Institute Awards, vincendo nelle categorie "Miglior sonoro", "Miglior attore protagonista" (Crowe) e "Miglior colonna sonora".

L'attore Daniel Pollock (Davey) si è suicidato lanciandosi da un treno in corsa poco prima del debutto cinematografico della pellicola. Tra i motivi del folle gesto, mai del tutto chiariti, sono stati messi in luce la sua dipendenza dall'eroina e il trauma causato dalla rottura con Jacqueline McKenzie, co-protagonista nel film. Per conservare il ricordo dell'amico, Crowe ha scritto e cantato la canzone The Night That Davey Hit the Train.

Trama
A Melbourne, nel quartiere popolare di Footscray, agisce un gruppo di skinhead capitanato dallo spavaldo e carismatico Hando e dal suo migliore amico Davey. La vita dell'intera comitiva subisce tuttavia un brusco cambiamento  dell'incontro in un pub tra Hando e Gabrielle, una ragazza appena scappata dal suo instabile ex.

Alcuni giorni dopo, alcuni Skin88 di Canberra si uniscono alla banda. Dopo aver organizzato una festa, i giovani scoprono che il bar  del loro quartiere, per anni in gestione ad una famiglia australiana e loro abituale luogo di ritrovo, è stato venduto a dei vietnamiti: armati quindi di spranghe, catene e armi bianche varie , la banda effettua un raid ferendo gravemente due figli dell'imprenditore immigrato. Sul finire della missione punitiva, tuttavia, il terzo fratello chiama alcuni suoi amici e, poco tempo dopo, sono gli asiatici che, armati di mazze e , costringono gli uomini di Hando alla fuga. Scampati al peggio, gli skinheads si rifugiano nel loro covo, ma vengono presto raggiunti dai giovani vietnamiti, che danno fuoco al posto e  alcuni ragazzi del gruppo. L'indomani i neonazisti  e iniziano a pianificare un contrattacco decisivo.

Hando, nel frattempo, ha iniziato una relazione con Gabrielle, ma quando questa viene colpita da un attacco di epilessia il giovane tronca la loro storia, mentre Davey comincia a mostrare un interesse sempre crescente per la ragazza. Il gruppo, amareggiato dai fatti accaduti e desideroso di vendicarsi, viene aizzato da Gabrielle a rubare nella villa di Martin, un ricco uomo di sua conoscenza, così da procurarsi i soldi per acquistare delle armi da fuoco. La notte seguente la villa viene quindi messa a soqquadro e la ragazza rivela che l'uomo è suo padre, giustificando l'azione vandalica come una vendetta per gli anni di violenza da lui subìta.

Il piano comunque fallisce, poiché l'uomo riesce a liberarsi dalla prigionia in cui il gruppo l'aveva costretto e ad armarsi di una pistola, costringendoli ad una fuga rocambolesca e per di più senza alcuna refurtiva. Tornati al magazzino Hando e Gabrielle litigano furiosamente e; Davey le dà il suo indirizzo di casa e lascia anche lui il gruppo. Gabrielle, una volta sola, fa una soffiata alla polizia, svelando il covo della banda , per poi recarsi da Davey, facendoci l'amore e rivelandogli di amarlo venendo ricambiata.

Al magazzino la polizia arresta tutti i neonazisti, uccidendo anche il giovanissimo Bubs; Hando, che , non può fare a meno di piangere l'amico e scappare in preda al panico. Il mattino successivo si presenta a casa di Davey, che scopre a letto con Gabrielle:, ma i due forniscono un alibi che Hando non riesce a contrastare. I tre, quindi, decidono di partire alla volta di Adelaide.

I tre rapinano il posto prefissato e Hando uccide senza alcun motivo apparente il cassiere, prendendo tutto il denaro in cassa.
Guidando  per tutta la notte, i tre decidono poi di sostare presso una spiaggia, dove Hando discute con l'amico la possibilità di abbandonare Gabrielle e di fuggire dall'Australia. La ragazza origlia la conversazione e, furibonda, dà fuoco all'auto di Hando, urlando in preda all'ira di aver chiamato lei la polizia.

Lo Skin88, furioso anch'egli, inizia a strangolare la ragazza, ma a questo punto interviene Davey, che per difenderla accoltella l'amico con un pugnale nazista che aveva acquistato con un contributo proprio di Hando. Questi muore subito dopo dissanguato, mentre Davey si china su Gabrielle consolandola e un gruppo di turisti giapponesi assiste alla scena.

Realizzazione
Dopo una parte della propria carriera passata come critico cinematografico, Geoffrey Wright realizza delle interviste a dei ragazzi che sono stati appartenenti a delle gang di teppisti skin88 e dalle loro esperienze stende la sceneggiatura di Romper Stomper.

Come protagonista viene scritturato l'esordiente Russell Crowe e le riprese durano qualche mese.

Alla sua uscita, Skinheads suscita scandalo per l'esplicita violenza e le scene di sesso piuttosto spinte, ma ottiene anche buone critiche che consacrano Wright come uno dei migliori registi australiani della sua generazione.

Il film, inoltre, trae ispirazione ed è stato paragonato al leggendario capolavoro di Stanley Kubrick Arancia meccanica.

Collegamenti esterni

Film drammatici
Film sul razzismo
Film ambientati in Australia
Film per ragazzi

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


THE UNCERTAINTY CREATED BY THE EXPIration of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (TRIA) at the end of this year can't help but make us recall the turmoil in the insurance and commercial lending industries in the months following Sept. 11, 2001. During that period, the commercial real estate mortgage industry, commercial property owners and the insurance industry spent enormous amounts of energy determining appropriate or acceptable amounts of coverage and whether that level of coverage was available. No group may have been more affected by this turmoil than commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) lenders, servicers and investors.
The specter of TRIA's expiration and replacement by a substantially reduced program that's less dependent on the federal taxpayer or by another short-term solution raises the question: When we look down the road ahead, do we see the same traffic jams and mishaps that are in our rear-view mirror?
Prior to the attacks of Sept. 11, obtaining property insurance for newly originated or existing commercial mortgage loans was a routine function, with borrowers providing coverage as required by the lender. The scope of required insurance coverage was rarely, if ever, a deal-breaker.
In the months following Sept. 11, however, insurance came center-stage. The commercial real estate mortgage market struggled to adjust to a new world where acts of terrorism on U.S. soil were thinkable; where insurance companies excluded acts of terrorism from "all risks" and "special perils" coverage policies; where specific premiums for terrorism coverage surfaced with dramatic increases in cost; and where coverage for terrorism in general was spotty and capacity in the standalone terrorism insurance market was extremely limited.
As 2002 unfolded, commercial real estate mortgage servicers were forced to perform additional work on policy renewals, interpreting the specific requirements of each loan and negotiating insurance coverage borrower-by-borrower and insurer-by-insurer. This was being done in an environment in which terrorism insurance capacity changed almost daily. In addition, specific requirements in loan documents relating to the ratings of insurance carriers and deductibles were weighed against coverage availability and cost.
Although commercial mortgage originators started with a clean slate when determining the insurance language requirements of their new deals, the challenge of making loans in this environment was daunting. This was especially true considering the sometimes limited and changing availability of coverage, borrower resistance to substantially higher insurance premiums and inconsistent investor views of appropriate coverage amounts. At the same time, commercial mortgage investors grew concerned with the new risks they were potentially exposed to--especially on large loans and "trophy" properties.
The passage of TRIA in November 2002 brought stability to both the real estate and insurance industries. This act required property and casualty insurance companies to make terrorism coverage available to all interested commercial property owners in connection with their purchase of property and casualty insurance. This was possible because the government was able to design a program to limit the loss exposure of primary insurers.
The defined backstop provided for in TRIA allowed insurance companies to better assess and price the risk of providing terrorism coverage in a standard "all risk" policy. With TRIA in place, insurers provided a terrorism insurance product that was readily available at reduced prices.
Publication information: Article title: The Rationale for TRIA: A Look at the Turmoil in the Commercial Mortgage Markets after Sept. 11, 2001, Suggests Some Reasons Why Congress Needs to Extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA). the Private Sector Is Not Ready to Go It Alone in This Area. Contributors: Glitz, Donald R. - Author, Marquardt, Kathryn - Author. Magazine title: Mortgage Banking. Volume: 65. Issue: 12 Publication date: September 2005. Page number: 53+. © Mortgage Bankers Association of America. COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group.


Words That Are 6 Letters And End In L - You Go Words!
Six letter words, and ending with l. List of 481 words that are 6 letters and end in l. Add length, consonants, vowels, syllables, origin, spelling and more. View word search examples.
6 letters and end in l was last updated on April 25, 2019.


Better Bathrooms presents to you the Elusive Hidden Waste Trays, strong, pristine and contemporary designs at affordable prices. The quadrant 900x 900 shower tray is ideal for corner fittings with its defined yet smooth edges for that added touch of sophistication to your bathroom.The level waste incorporates a standard waste outlet and is easy to access allowing for sufficient cleaning and maintenance. The shower trays are stylish and incorporate a number of features for maximum user efficiency such as a built-in ledge and contoured underside for ease of leg location. The ultimate easy plumb quadrant shower is accompanied with a curved panel of 550 radius, panel joining brackets,upright brackets, feet and circular base plates fit with adhesive pads and screws. It allows for easability of installation and provides full stress support across the tray. Manufactured from strong durable materials and adorned in ABS finish, the Elusive shower trays provide the perfect touch of style to modernise your bathroom.
Question from sandra: Asked on 20/08/2016 Is this a stone resin tray and not acrylic?
Yes this is a stone resin shower tray.
Question from Tressa Kong: Asked on 30/05/2015 Do you need to order a shower waste with this tray?
The waste and trap comes with this shower tray.
The product is made of a full cast stone base with an abs capping (acrylic cover).
If you would like to order this item please call us on 0161 667 6560 my name is Matt.
Question from emma: Asked on 05/05/2014 does this tray need a separate shower waste? and if so, please can you tell me what to order with it.
This tray comes with its own dedicated waste pre installed.


text:
function getImages(uri){
	var request = require('request');
	var path = require('path');
	var fs = require('fs');

	request(uri, function(error,response,body){
		if(!error && response.statusCode == 200){
			console.log("Downloading...");

			var img_url = JSON.parse(body)['images'][0]['urlbase'];

			var name_arr = img_url.split('/'),
				name = name_arr[name_arr.length-1]+ '_1366x768.jpg',
				url = "http://az619519.vo.msecnd.net/files/"+name,
				img_name = path.basename('picture.jpg');
				request(url).pipe(fs.createWriteStream(img_name));
				console.log("Changing Wallpaper");
				console.log("Done!");
		}
	})
}

getImages("http://www.bing.com/HPImageArchive.aspx?format=js&idx=1&n=1&mkt=en-US");


text:
Peter Fischli and David Weiss Bring Giant 'Kitty' to Times Square
Is this the original viral cat video?
Cait Munro, February 1, 2016
Still courtesy of Times Square Arts.
Years before videos of cats being cats become their own viral video genre, Peter Fischli and David Weiss created Büsi (Kitty), a 2001 short in which a cat coolly laps milk from a saucer, effusing the kind of inimitable nonchalance that makes cats great. For three minutes before midnight each night in February, you'll be able to watch an impervious cat not give a damn about your presence on a giant screen in New York's Times Square.
The film is an excerpt from the pair's epic 96-hour video installation Untitled (Venice Work), which appeared at the 1995 Venice Biennale. In 2001, Creative Time commissioned the cat footage for The 59th Minute, a celebration of video art that also screened in Times Square at the time. The pair's upcoming Guggenheim survey, which opens February 5, will feature all 96 hours of footage on display in the Aye Simon Reading Room.
However, the art duo is not out for cheap laughs. "Büsi was not made as a discussion about kitsch," Fischli said in a statement. "There was just something super-nice about this cat that we were attracted to."
Fischli and Weiss worked collaboratively for 33 years until Weiss's death in 2012, and often adopted animal alter egos—a rat and a bear—in their artworks as way of setting up a notion of themselves as "polar opposites." But taking on midtown Manhattan is a challenge, regardless of the subject matter.
"To do something that's more spectacular than what's going on in Times Square would be impossible" Fischli recalls. "We wanted to do something very simple and quiet: it was a logical step for us."
Büsi (Kitty) will play every night from February 1–29 at 11:57 in Times Square as part of the Times Square Arts Midnight Moment program.
"Peter Fischli David Weiss: How to Work Better" will be on display at the Guggenheim from February 5–April 27.
Cait Munro
This Snowman Sculpture Stayed Frozen All Summer—And Now It's Headed to MoMA
By Sarah Cascone , Sep 6, 2017
Gulliver's Gate, a $40 Million Model of the World's Most Famous Monuments Is Coming to NYC
By Sarah Cascone , Apr 4, 2017
Artist Alex Da Corte Will Host Giant Karaoke Singalong in Times Square
By Sarah Cascone , Jan 31, 2017
Peter Marino Curates A Sensual Robert Mapplethorpe Exhibition in Paris
By , Feb 2, 2016
The LA Art Show's New Focus on Modern and Contemporary Fuels Record Attendance


text:
Десантът в залива Лингайен от 6 – 9 януари 1945 година е морски десант в залива Лингайен на Филипините на Тихоокеанския театър на Втората световна война.

Той е началната операция на Битката за Лусон. На 6 януари американският флот, с ограничена подкрепа от Австралия, навлиза в залива и в продължение на три дни подлага на тежък артилерийски обстрел крайбрежните отбранителни съоръжения, защитавани от сили на Япония и Втората филипинска република. Съюзническият флот претърпява значителни щети от нападения на камикадзе, но до голяма степен унищожава фортификациите на противника. На 9 януари американски части с филипинска подкрепа извършват десант на брега на залива и без да срещнат значителна съпротива осигуряват 32-километрово предмостие, което играе важна роля при последвалите бойни действия.

Бележки

Битки на Тихоокеанския театър
Битки на САЩ през Втората световна война
Битки на Япония през Втората световна война
Битки на Австралия през Втората световна война
История на Филипините


Innovation sets off on tour once again and we're bringing the full Innovation drum and bass experience As We Enter a town near you!
If you love D&B and live in or near any of those cities then keep your eyes glued to our Facebook for more info as & when dates are announced. We can't wait to fire up the sound systems & hear you shouting INNO INNO INNO as soon as we enter your town!


text:
HEBRAIC RHAPSODY
WITH MATT HAIMOVITZ
GREAT SOLOISTS SERIES I
Saturday, November 2, 2013 at 8pm
Performance also available at Toronto's Koerner Hall on November 5, 2013 (a co-presentation with Mooredale Concerts): Click here
HEBRAIC RHAPSODY WITH MATT HAIMOVITZ
"The coolest cellist of our time" (The Boston Herald)
"Haimovitz is a major discovery." (Chicago Sun Times)
"If classical music didn't have Matt Haimovitz, it would have to invent him." (The Boston Herald)
Cello phenom Matt Haimovitz performs the heart-wrenching and extraordinary Schelomo by Ernest Bloch • The sensational Ontario Philharmonic and Marco Parisotto continue their Great Soloists Series at Koerner Hall with a look at two major works by composers of Jewish origin, including Mahler's "titanic" 1st Symphony.
Ernest BLOCH
(1880-1959) Schelomo (Hebraic Rhapsody)
Soloist: Matt Haimovitz
(1860-1911) Symphony No.1 "Titan" in D major
MATT HAIMOVITZ, Cello
Artist website: www.matthaimovitz.com
Renowned as a musical pioneer, cellist Matt Haimovitz has inspired classical music lovers and countless new listeners by bringing his artistry to concert halls and clubs, outdoor festivals and intimate coffee houses, any place where passionate music can be heard. He brings a fresh ear to familiar repertoire, champions new music and initiates groundbreaking collaborations as well as creating innovative recording projects for Oxingale Records. He has a tireless touring schedule as well all while mentoring an award-winning studio of young cellists at McGill University's Schulich School of Music in Montreal. Through his visionary approach, Haimovitz is redefining what it means to be an artist for the 21st century.
Haimovitz made his debut in 1984, at the age of 13, as soloist with Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic. At 17 he made his first recording with James Levine and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, for Deutsche Grammophon. Haimovitz has since gone on to perform on the world's most esteemed stages, with such orchestras and conductors as the Berlin Philharmonic with Levine, the New York Philharmonic with Mehta, the English Chamber Orchestra with Daniel Barenboim, the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Leonard Slatkin and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra with Kent Nagano. Haimovitz made his Carnegie Hall debut when he substituted for his teacher, the legendary Leonard Rose, in Schubert's String Quintet in C, alongside Isaac Stern, Shlomo Mintz, Pinchas Zukerman and Mstislav Rostropovich.
The solo cello recital is a Haimovitz trademark, both inside and outside the concert hall. In 2000, he made waves with his Bach "Listening-Room" Tour, for which, to great acclaim, Haimovitz took Bach's beloved cello suites out of the concert hall and into clubs across the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. Haimovitz's 50-state Anthem tour in 2003 celebrated living American composers, and featured his own arrangement of Jimi Hendrix's "Star-Spangled Banner." He was the first classical artist to play at New York's infamous CBGB club, in a performance filmed by ABC News for "Nightline UpClose."
Haimovitz's recording career encompasses more than 20 years of award-winning work on Deutche Grammophon and his own Oxingale Records, the trailblazing independent label he founded with composer/producer Luna Pearl Woolf. Two recent Oxingale albums have been nominated for Juno Awards and the latest release Meeting of the Spirits was nominated for a GRAMMY® for Best Classical Crossover Album and won a GRAMMY® for Best Producer of the Year (Classical).
Matt Haimovitz's 2011/12 season features the world premiere of Philip Glass' Cello Concerto No. 2 in Spring 2012 and a major North American tour and new recording with pianist Christopher O'Riley, Shuffle.Play.Listen, blurring the boundaries between Classical and Pop with music by Stravinsky, Radiohead, Janacek, Arcade Fire, Bernard Herrmann, Mahavishnu, among others. A live recording of Schumann's Cello Concerto with Gregory Nowak and the Orchestre de Bretagne is scheduled for release in fall 2011 as is a recording of Ligeti's Cello Concerto with Denys Bouliane and the Contemporary Music Ensemble of McGill University. Ongoing collaborations include a series of concerto commissions with Kent Nagano and the Montreal Symphony, string quartets with Mark O'Connor, Ida Kavafian, and Paul Neubauer, and chamber music with Leon Fleisher, Menahem Pressler, Michael Tree, David Krakauer, and hip-hop klezmer producer Socalled.
In 2006, Haimovitz received the Concert Music Award from ASCAP for his advocacy of living composers and pioneering spirit, and in 2004, the American Music Center awarded Haimovitz the Trailblazer Award, for his far-reaching contributions to American music. Born in Israel, Haimovitz has also been honored with the Avery Fisher Career Grant (1986), the Grand Prix du Disque (1991), the Diapason d'Or (1991) and he is the first cellist ever to receive the prestigious Premio Internazionale "Accademia Musicale Chigiana" (1999). Haimovitz studied at the Collegiate School in New York and at the Juilliard School, in the final class of Leonard Rose, after which he continued his cello studies with Ronald Leonard and Yo-Yo Ma. In 1996, he received a B.A. magna cum laude with highest honors from Harvard University. Matt Haimovitz plays a Venetian cello, made in 1710 by Matteo Gofriller.


text:
package co.orderly.scalapac

// Java
import java.net.URLEncoder
import javax.crypto.spec.SecretKeySpec
import javax.crypto.Mac

// Scala
import scala.collection.immutable.TreeMap

// commons-codec
import org.apache.commons.codec.binary.Base64

/**
 * A helper class to sign a given set of parameters ready for the Amazon Product API.
 */
class RequestSignatureHelper(awsAccessKeyId:  String,
                             awsSecretKey:    String,
                             endPoint:        String,
                             requestUri:      String,
                             requestMethod:   String = "GET"
                             )
{
  val UTF8_CHARSET = "UTF-8"
  val HMAC_SHA256_ALGORITHM = "HmacSHA256"

  /**
   * Takes an ordered map of parameters, signs it and returns the map
   * of parameters with the signature appended.
   */
  def sign(params: TreeMap[String, String]): TreeMap[String, String] = {

    val stringToSign = List(requestMethod,
                            endPoint,
                            requestUri,
                            canonicalize(params)
                            ).mkString("\n")

    params.insert("Signature", digest(stringToSign)) // Return TreeMap with Signature on the end
  }

  /**
   * Returns a canonicalized, escaped string of &key=value pairs from an ordered map of parameters
   */
  def canonicalize(params: TreeMap[String, String]): String = {

    params.map(
      (param) => escape( param._1 ) + "=" + escape(param._2)
    ).mkString("&")
  }

  /**
   * Returns the digest for a given string
   */
  protected def digest(x: String): String = {

    try {
      val mac = Mac.getInstance(HMAC_SHA256_ALGORITHM)
      val secretKeySpec = new SecretKeySpec(awsSecretKey.getBytes(UTF8_CHARSET), HMAC_SHA256_ALGORITHM);

      mac.init(secretKeySpec)

      val data = x.getBytes(UTF8_CHARSET)
      val rawHmac = mac.doFinal(data)

      val encoder = new Base64()
      return encoder.encodeToString(rawHmac).trim()

    } catch { // User has forgotten to include Base64()
      case e:NoClassDefFoundError => throw new RuntimeException("Cannot find apache.commons.codec.binary.Base64")
      case e => throw new RuntimeException(UTF8_CHARSET + " is unsupported")
    }
  }

  /**
   * Returns an escaped string
   */
  protected def escape(s: String): String = {

    try {
      return URLEncoder.encode(s, UTF8_CHARSET).replace("+", "%20").replace("*", "%2A").replace("%7E", "~")
    } catch  {
      case e => throw new RuntimeException(UTF8_CHARSET + " is unsupported")
    }
  }
}


Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Brett McGurk, the US envoy to the coalition against so-called Islamic State, was "definitely" supporting the YPG in Syria and the separatist PKK, Joinfo.com reports with reference to the BBC.
Turkey sees the YPG (Popular Protection Units) as a terrorist group linked to the PKK, which has been fighting inside Turkey since the 1980s. But last week the Pentagon said it was directly arming YPG fighters as they moved towards IS's Syrian stronghold of Raqqa.
On his return to Ankara, the foreign minister said Turkey had been assured that after the operation in Raqqa, territory seized from the jihadists would be handed back to the local Arab population. But he said Mr McGurk was openly supporting the Kurds and "it would be beneficial" if the US special envoy left.
President Erdogan told Turkish media in Washington that he had told Mr Trump that Turkey would hit back "without asking anyone" if it came under attack from the Syrian Kurds.
His visit was overshadowed by violence outside the Turkish ambassador's home.
Police in Washington said the clash "appeared to be a brutal attack on peaceful protesters" and video footage showed men in suits charging past police to kick and punch a group of demonstrators.
The US state department said Turkish security guards had been involved in the clash but Turkey blamed the protesters for the disturbance.
Mr Cavusoglu also took aim at Germany, after it said it would start considering alternatives to using the Incirlik airbase, which is being used by the international coalition as a launchpad for anti-IS air raids.
Turkey earlier this week refused to allow a group of German MPs to visit 250 members of the German armed forces at Incirlik.
The Turkish refusal was ostensibly in response to Germany's decision to grant asylum to Turkish military officers accused of backing last year's failed coup against President Erdogan.


SAP calculations are used to determine the energy performance of dwellings in the UK and form part of the Building Regulation compliance. The SAP document is usually updated every four years but the current one was issued in 2012 and therefore the latest SAP calc, referred to as SAP10 currently, is long overdue. The SAP10 methodology has been issued but will not come into effect until the Building Regulations Part L are revised in 2019 or 2020. However, the Greater London Authority has announced that the new CO2 emission factors included in SAP10 need to be used in all dwelling designs from 1st January 2019.
What is the main change in SAP10 and how will this affect our building designs?
The biggest change to the SAP calcs is the changes in the carbon emissions factor for electricity. Currently the SAP calc assumes that any electricity used produces 2.4 times more carbon than mains gas.
The new carbon emission factor takes into account the amount of renewable power being generated in the UK which is being fed into the national grid. The current carbon emissions factor and the proposed new emissions factors are shown in Table 1 below.
This change alone will start to see an increase in electricity use in apartments for heating and hot water. However, with the price of electricity still significantly higher than gas, the incorrect choice of heating and hot water plant could lead to higher energy bills for end users.
What are the other changes in SAP10?
For more information regarding these changes, please contact Elaine Bissell at elaine.bissell@patrickparsons.co.uk.


text:
Vertical Horizon ist eine aus Washington, D. C. stammende Alternative-Band. Sänger Matt Scannell und Gitarrist Keith Kane gründeten die Band 1991, als sie Studenten an der Georgetown-Universität waren. Die Band wurde durch ihre Nummer-Eins-Single Everything You Want von 1999 bekannt. Weitere Hits waren Singles wie You're a God, Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning) und I'm Still Here.

Bandgeschichte
Vertical Horizon wurde Anfang der 1990er Jahre von Matthew Scannell und Keith Kane gegründet, die zu dieser Zeit an der Georgetown University studierten. Nach ihrem Abschluss 1991 zogen die beiden nach Boston und veröffentlichten 1992 in Eigenregie ihr erstes Album There and Back Again, für das sie auch alle Instrumente selbst eingespielt hatten.

Die nächsten Jahre waren sie meist auf Tour mit ähnlich gelagerten Bands wie Jackopierce, The Allman Brothers Band und Better Than Ezra. Erst 1995 begaben sie sich wieder in ein Aufnahmestudio. Für das Album Running on Ice übernahmen sie den Gesang und die Akustikgitarren, holten sich für die restlichen Instrumente aber Gastmusiker wie Doug Derryberry, Jackopierce und Carter Beauford als Unterstützung.

Gemeinsam mit dem Schlagzeuger Ed Toth und dem Bassisten Ryan Fisher verbrachten Keith und Matt auch das Jahr 1996 auf Tour. Ergebnis davon war das Live-Album Live Stages, das Ende des Jahres erschien. Außerdem versuchte die Band nun ein Major-Label als Partner zu finden. Mit Erfolg, sie erhielten einen Plattenvertrag bei Sony BMG/RCA. Mitte 1997 wurde Fisher, der nie geplant hatte, ein dauerhaftes Bandmitglied zu werden, nach seinem Abgang kurzfristig durch Seth Horan ersetzt, bevor 1998 ein Casting abgehalten wurde. Bereits der erste Bassist, der sich vorstellte, – Sean Hurley – fand großen Anklang und nach zahlreichen weiteren Auditions entschied man sich schließlich für ihn als festes Mitglied.

1999 veröffentlichten sie bei RCA das Album Everything You Want. Die erste Single daraus – We Are – hatte nur mäßigen Erfolg, aber die zweite Single Everything You Want kletterte bis auf Platz 1 der US-amerikanischen Single-Charts und wurde so eines der im Radio meistgespielten Lieder des Jahres 2000. Die dritte Single You're a God war ebenfalls erfolgreich und wurde auch für den Soundtrack von Bruce Allmächtig verwendet. Mit Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning) wurde noch eine vierte Single veröffentlicht, war aber nicht mehr so erfolgreich, wie seine beiden Vorgänger. 2005 erschien von diesem Lied allerdings eine Coverversion des Country-Musikers Gary Allan, der damit in den Country-Charts einen Top10-Erfolg landen konnte.

Nach weiteren Touren begannen 2001 die Aufnahmen für das nächste Album Go, dessen ursprünglicher Erscheinungstermin September 2002 sein sollte. Probleme mit dem Label verzögerten die Veröffentlichung aber um ein ganzes Jahr. Im September 2003 wurde es schließlich ohne größere Ankündigung von Seiten des Labels auf den Markt gebracht und war nur wenig erfolgreich, weshalb sich Vertical Horizon Mitte 2004 schließlich von RCA trennten. Anfang 2005 unterschrieben sie bei Hybrid Recordings, die Go 2005 noch einmal neu und mit wesentlich mehr Erfolg veröffentlichten.

Im Juli 2005 verließ Schlagzeuger Ed Toth die Band, um bei den Doobie Brothers zu spielen. Als Ersatz sprangen Craig McIntyre und Blair Sinta ein, wobei noch keine dauerhafte Lösung gefunden wurde. Im Juni 2006 kündigte Matt Scannell auf der Bandhomepage an, dass die Arbeiten zu einem neuen Album begonnen hätten und dass Schlagzeuger Neil Peart von Rush als Gastmusiker nicht nur einige Lieder einspielt, sondern auch Material für einen Song beisteuert.

Diskografie

Studioalben

Livealben

Singles

Weblinks
 Offizielle Website

Einzelnachweise

Rockband
US-amerikanische Band