Using online analytics and social media trends to predict real-world events is nothing new. Twitter's been used to predict box-office sales (story link, detailed paper) and Google search data has been telling us about future flu epidemics for a while now.
Even I got in the act, demonstrating back in 2009 that Google Insights could anticipate changes in UK unemployment figures.
Maybe I should have followed through with that idea, because there's now a hedge fund that bases its investment decisions on data from Twitter. It's called Derwent Capital Markets, it opened for business last week, and if its managers end up making a mint there might well be a new bandwagon in town.
So how do you run a hedge fund based on tweets? From what I understand of Derwent's methodology, their algorithms measure the "calmness" of the Twittersphere – presumably based on sentiment analysis, which I'm a bit skeptical about. This is used to estimate the volatility of the Dow Jones Industrial Average index, with a three-day time lag.
This leaves a lot of unanswered questions. Does a non-calm day of Twitter conversations always correspond to a drop in the DJIA, or just volatility? Are they trying to predict metrics like trade volume and so on as well as broader day-to-day movements in the overall index? And are they ranking Twitter users based on credibility, or are spam bots equal to financial journalists, economists, and prominent investors?
Obviously algorithmic hedge funds aren't about to disclose their inner workings so questions like this will have to remain unanswered for now. But what of the other, larger, question – isn't the whole idea just, well, a bit… silly?
I can see why people might react in this way, and even I feel a bit skeptical about something describing itself as a "social media-based hedge fund" and that apparently pulls data only from Twitter, when there are lots of other sources that could be tapped. But it would be wrong to dismiss the basic concept.
Our everyday activities – web searches, page views, purchases, things we say on open social networks – leave a trail of data behind, which we tend to see as ephemeral or throwaway. We severely underestimate the value of this data but Google doesn't, Facebook doesn't, and we shouldn't either. This data becomes even more valuable when aggregated across entire countries, continents, or the planet as a whole. In fact, it could be argued that the predictive potential of aggregated global real-time data has yet to be fully imagined, let alone realised.
The biggest problem with this resource is that we don't really know how to exploit it yet. Things like Google Flu Trends or this Twitter-based hedge fund may be crude and experimental, and will definitely look even more so in five years time. Along the way there will be hype, bandwagonism, maybe even a stock market bubble, resulting from the application of real-time data to real-world problems.
But we need to make a start somewhere, and as silly as a Twitter-based hedge fund might sound, it's as good a place to begin as any.
When the concept of on-demand television was still new and exciting, it was tempting to think it might lead to the demise of the mass synchronous experience that was broadcast TV. After all, what value could broadcast TV deliver that on-demand services like the iPlayer couldn't? And was that value really worth the inconvenience and inflexibility it imposed on the viewer, who had to be in a set place at a set time to view the programme? Apart from sport and news, would anyone really care about the transmission times of programmes once on-demand TV had taken off?
By now we know that, yes, people do still care about the transmission times of TV programmes, and the synchronous viewing experience of broadcast TV can have a value that justifies the burdens it places on the viewer. But this isn't because on-demand hasn't taken off. On-demand services have transformed the way we view television, but the broadcast TV experience has a new lease of life too.
The internet, unsurprisingly, is the driving force behind both on-demand's success and the renaissance in broadcast viewing. But two intertwined yet distinct "strands" of the internet are at work here.
With on-demand, it's the internet's infrastructure – content delivery networks, consumer ISPs, the computers and set-top boxes found in the homes of viewers. The nuts and bolts of the internet's growth have enabled on-demand services and the design of products like the iPlayer.
But with broadcast TV, it's not so much the technological or infrastructural "strand" of the internet as its social layer – social use of the internet among the wider public has grown hugely in the last five years. At the same time social interactions have accelerated, becoming more synchronous and less like the newsgroup / messageboard model of old. We post less words, more frequently, and the result is a far more conversational mode of online interaction.
This has introduced a new dimension to the experience of watching broadcast TV. Viewers might not be physically connected to one another, as they were in the heyday of TV with the whole family gathered in the living room. But they're connected to hundreds, thousands, maybe millions of others, watching the same show as they are. Some of these people are friends and others are strangers, but all are in reach – all are potential contributors to a conversation about the programme. Even the viewer sat alone in their living room can feel connected and involved as they watch, in a way that they couldn't before.
So the internet has brought about an alternative to broadcast TV while giving it a new lease of life at the same time. And it's not just geeks that are engaged in this new way of TV viewing – if you need proof of this, a cursory glance at the #xfactor hashtag on Twitter should do it. The public has raced ahead of the technology here, using whatever gadgets come to hand to keep up with the conversations. No tool or "product" designed for social TV viewing is particularly prominent, it's something that the public just does, in its own way.
Is this going to change? Will technology catch up with the public – will new services specifically designed for social TV viewing come along, will they work, and will they bridge the gap between the on-demand and broadcast experiences? I'll explore these questions in more detail in part 2 of this post.
Unlike the visualisation of #inauguration posts I linked to recently, this isn't based on hash tags but instead uses moving tag clouds to illustrate the volume of Twitter posts on various subjects during the Super Bowl.
Examples include "Cardinals vs Steelers" (I know the Steelers are from Pittsburgh but from this animation I'd guess the Cardinals are from… Las Vegas? San Diego?), "talking about ads" (it's vaguely depressing to see how much conversation the ads inspire) and player names (a guy called Fitzgerald obviously does something notable in the fourth quarter).
This is maybe the most effective use of Twitter data I've seen so far, as it is centred around a single event but tracks various subjects of conversation related to that event. A far simpler and less interesting animation would have simply flagged every post with the hash tag #superbowl.
This animated map from FlowingData shows the global location of each Twitter post tagged as #inauguration between Monday and Wednesday this week.
Although the world map isn't shown, over time the US and the UK become almost perfectly defined by the density of Twitter post markers. You can also see outlines of south America and western Europe.


text:
30-Page Sampler
Chris is a Brand and Digital Tourism Expert with over 26 years' industry knowledge. He speaks at many tourism events worldwide, offering advice and guidance on how travel, tourism and destination businesses can gain brand recognition and increase bookings
Like many people who end up owning their own business, Chris left school at 16 and instantly jumped into the world of work.
He began working as an illustrator for a company that made children's education books and this job gave him a love for design. From there, he began teaching himself graphic design, web design, and marketing (both traditional and digital). Every skill he has developed over the years has been self taught — and being self taught has suited Chris' personality as it allows him to think outside of the box when executing marketing campaigns.
26 years later, Chris has now accumulated a vast amount of experience working in brand development and marketing, and has spent the last 13 years running his own company, Senshi Digital, which began as a web design company with additional SEO services. Soon after they launched, Chris realised that Senshi had a flair for marketing and that they loved working with tourism brands. One of their very first customers was a small adventure company called Macs Adventure, run by Neil Lapping.
Tourism interests Chris because it is a vibrant, ever-changing industry; it's about traveling, meeting new people, and learning about other cultures. Gradually, Senshi became a dedicated web design and digital marketing company for tourism brands. Then, as marketing came to the fore, Chris sold Senshi and the Tourism Marketing Agency (TMA) was born. It was also easier to explain the name!
Around 80% of TMA's customer base is now outside the UK and they have worked with some of the biggest players in the industry, including Gray Line, the oldest and largest sightseeing company in the world.
TMA helps businesses from all over Europe, The Americans, Asia, and even Antarctica. This has given Chris and his team vast knowledge and expertise of marketing to, and within, multiple destinations.
Chris and TMA have won numerous awards over the years, such as Best Tourism Website, Best Digital Agency and Scottish SME Businessman of the Year 2018. Chris speaks at numerous tourism events each year, such as the Scottish Tourism Alliance (STA) conferences, several Gray Line conferences, and the best tours and activities event of them all: Arival! Chris felt it was a tremendous honour to speak at both Arival Las Vegas and Arival Berlin.
For well over a decade, Chris has lived and breathed marketing for the tours and activities sector, and this book is his attempt to compile most of what he's learned into a practical resource for anyone who needs some help turning those lookers into bookers.
Download your FREE digital copy
Sign-up below to download the 30-page sampler
2019 © Tourism Marketing Agency, All rights reserved.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Raquel Couceiro is Head of Fashion Film at SHOWstudio. Born and raised in Lisbon, Portugal, Couceiro creates and edits films, for brands such as SHOWstduio, Beats, Nike.. Couceiro's work focuses on exploring a breadth of film techniques and combining various fields of multimedia and art in the hope of breaking traditional boundaries and create strong visual languages. Couceiro has previously worked in the broadcast industry in Havana, Bogota and Lisbon before moving to London in 2012.


text:
1980 - Top 25 Horror Movies
The Top 25 Best Horror Movies from 1980 Ranked by IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, MetaCritic and Amazon.
Rank movies by:
With an average IMDb score of 6 from over 21 horror movies released in 1980 you could say it was actually a pretty good year for horror movies. Sure there were some duds (Monster, Alien 2: On Earth), but we also got some real gems like The Shining (1980) and The Changeling (1980) to name just a few. As horror fans we've come to expect a wide ranging degree of quality from our vice but in 1980 we did pretty good.So grab some snacks and a drink (and maybe something to hide behind) and check out reviews, ratings and trailers for the 1980 - Top 25 Horror Movies ranked by IMDb.
Director: Stanley Kubrick
A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil and spiritual presence influences the father into violence,... [read more]
The Changeling
Director: Peter Medak
A man staying at a secluded historical mansion finds himself being haunted by the presence of a spectre.
The Ninth Configuration
Director: William Peter Blatty
A new commanding officer arrives at a remote castle serving as an insane asylum for crazy and AWOL U.S. Army soldiers where... [read more]
Director: Ken Russell
A Harvard scientist conducts experiments on himself with a hallucinatory drug and an isolation chamber that may be causing... [read more]
The Fog
Legend says that Antonio Bay was built in 1880 with blood money obtained from shipwrecked lepers but no one believes it. On... [read more]


If you are walking around the streets of Maseru, you will immediately notice that you are surrounded by Volkswagen and Toyota braded vehicles. These two brands are the most popular in Lesotho and by far it dominates the car markets in the country. The core reasons for the dominance of Volkswagen and Toyota in the Lesotho market are the easily availability and cheap price of spare parts as well as the availability of garages that handle minor servicing and maintenance, paint as well as heavy maintenance of those vehicles. Recently, the models Volkswagen Golf and Toyota Corolla are the most widely wanted in the market.
Models such as Toyota Vitz, Volkswagen Beetle and Polo are very popular due to their lower price and low fuel consumption; their small size also makes them easy for parking. They have lot of advantages to the urban life.
Hilux and Golf are among the top popular higher cost Toyota and Volkswagen brands in Maseru, as well as Audi A4 and Honda CR-V, and latest models of other brands.
Brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Honda, Mitsubishi and Peugeot also have significant share in the Lesotho market. However, due to their expensive price, high price of spare parts, uneasy access to garages of some of these brands, relatively higher fuel consumption, re-sale value, etc. they are less popular.
In recent years, many people are now turning into buying pickup trucks. Ford, Nissan and Toyota are among the most popular pickup trucks in the market.
See you soon on www.carsotho.com!


I've been quiet the past few weeks due to a manic cycle in which I could not stop working on my latest obsession, 3D modeling. At some point I'm going to have a rant about how terrible Blender is to work with, but for the moment I have to rant about something else: the modding community's confusion about what actually improves the look of models. I've seen people simply save original game textures at a larger size, call them higher resolution, and slap them up on a modding site for download. I'm not even going to be nice about this. Anyone who believes that improves anything is a moron. Resizing does not equal resampling. All that does is make the same level of pixelation take longer to load.
The oil lamp on the left was the one I intended to work with for a retexturing job, but after taking one look at its spaghettified texture map, decided to make my own from scratch (shown on the right). As you can probably see already, the original texture is less mushy on my model, and I was also able to use elements of the texture (the lines) that the model on the left couldn't without smearing.
The mushy model on the left has over 4400 polys. Mine has less than 1800. The difference is the former model was either made in a 3D sculpting program and never optimized, or someone took a lower-poly model, hit the subsurface button to "smooth" it by bloating its poly-count by about 10x without improving the texture map or shape, and called it a day.
I made mine by extruding a cylinder by hand, vertex by vertex. I quickly learned not to trust the sculpting tools in Blender because they're more likely to turn all my careful work to mush (though it's great for organic objects). It took more time to do, but all the while I knew every vertex was doing its job. If I could merge a few and retain the object's shape, I did so.
Subsurfacing is not for gaming. That button was designed for the animation industry, where rendering a single frame can take hours. It was never meant for models that are rendered in real time, which is on average about 30 frames per second. Every polygon adds up. Even a gamer running a PC built like the monolith from 2001 appreciates it when their extra horsepower isn't going towards rendering every cup and bowl and spoon cluttering NPC houses.
Even with my model, when it came to UV mapping that, don't even ask. Just don't.
That is a handsome lamp. Might it magic its way into UL at some point?
I'm loving the mod. I'm on my first playthrough of Morrowind (only 12 years late!) and I installed this, LGNPC Tel Uvirith, RoHT and BUUL before I even started building my stronghold, so I can't tell what's original game content and what's modded without actually looking up Uvirith's Legacy's features. But I love that. It speaks very highly to your skills. I'm having a blast and I'm not even Archmagister yet!
I'm glad you're enjoying the mod. The lamp will be making its way into the next version of the Tea Mod, which adds a new shop to Tel Mora and a ton of new stuff. It's all designed to go well with Telvanni decor, but I decided to make it available to more than just Telvanni.


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text:
Phillips, James.
You are here » Convicts transported to Australia » Western Australia. » Adelaide [195 Public Works, 65 Ticket of Leave] » 16 April 1855. » Phillips, James.
Convict name: Phillips, James.
sentence_details:
Convicted at Sussex Assizes Lewes for a term of 15 years on 14 March 1853.
vessel: Adelaide [195 Public Works, 65 Ticket of Leave]
date_of_departure: 16 April 1855.
place_of_arrival: Western Australia.
Microfilm Roll 93, Class and Piece Number HO11/18, Page Number 141 (72)
James Phillips, one of 260 convicts transported on the Adelaide, 16 April 1855.
publication_details:
Canberra [A.C.T.] :Australian Joint Copying Project,[1948-1990]
original_version_note:
This record is one of the entries in the British convict transportation registers 1787-1867 database compiled by State Library of Queensland from British Home Office (HO) records which are available on microfilm as part of the Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP).
topical_subject_heading: Convicts--Australia--Registers.
neographic_subject_heading: Australia--Genealogy.
: australia-genealogy
Connected with Phillips, James.
Campbell, Edward.
Convicted at Scotland. Edinburgh Court of Justiciary Edinburgh for a term of 14 years on 12 March 1853. Public Works.
Transported by Stag (02 February 1855.).
Clifford, Henry.
Convicted at Courts Martial Kingston Canada for a term of 10 years on 17 November 1851.
Transported by Adelaide [195 Public Works, 65 Ticket of Leave] (16 April 1855.).
Cunningham, James.
Convicted at Lancaster. Assizes Liverpool for a term of 20 years on 06 December 1852.
Green, John Underwood.
Convicted at Leicester. Assizes Leicester for a term of life on 18 March 1854.
Hull, William.
Convicted at Huntingdon. Assizes Huntingdon for a term of 14 years on 13 March 1854.
Lawrence, Henry.
Convicted at Berkshire. General Quarter Sessions Abingdon for a term of 15 years on 27 June 1853.
McColgan, William.
Convicted at Scotland. Glasgow Court of Justiciary Glasgow for a term of life on 05 October 1853.
Mitchell, Charles.
Convicted at Jersey Court Royal St Heliers for a term of 14 years on 12 March 1853. Public Works.
Murtough, Patrick.
Ovens, Isaac.
Convicted at Lancaster. Quarter Sessions Liverpool for a term of 10 years on 07 April 1851.
Rennie, Robert.
Convicted at Scotland. Glasgow Court of Justiciary Glasgow for a term of 10 years on 24 April 1851.


text:
Southeast Asia and COVID-19 Misinformation
By Asia Society Policy Institute
Read in 1 minute
Chinese Digital Diplomacy in Southeast Asia During the Pandemic
By Fangyuan Huo and Richard Maude
Published on 21st September 2021
Read in 16 minutes
The Political Implications of Thailand's COVID Crisis
By Craig Keating
Read in 6 minutes
PUBLIC ATTITUDES
The Pandemic and the People: Southeast Asian Attitudes to COVID-19 Responses
By Eve Warburton
Indonesia's COVID-19 "Catastrophe"
By Irma Hidayana and Richard Maude
Southeast Asia and COVID-19 Vaccines Explained
By Richard Maude
Published on 21st June 2021
Southeast Asia's Economic Outlook: New Variants Threaten Recovery
Experts on Southeast Asia and COVID-19
Strange Bedfellows: Crisis and Opportunity in ASEAN
By Sharon Li-Lian Seah
Trading Out of Trouble – Southeast Asia's Trade Prospects in a COVID-19 World
Published on 3rd February 2021
The COVID-19 Pandemic and Geopolitics in Southeast Asia
By Dr Huong Le Thu
COVID-19 and Southeast Asia's Long Road to Economic Recovery
A Green Recovery in Southeast Asia
By Patrick Suckling
COVID-19, Government and Security in Southeast Asia
Dealing With The Pandemic: Lessons Learnt And The Way Forward
By Dr Tikki Pang
As new Asia Society analysis recently explored, a surge of COVID-19 infections in Southeast Asia is costing lives and threatening to derail recovery from last year's painful recession.
Southeast Asia demonstrated in 2020 that it could keep the worst of the pandemic at bay through lockdowns and other mobility and social distancing restrictions.
But Southeast Asia also needs strong vaccination programs to allow it to move past the acute phase of the pandemic, keep on top of highly infectious new variants and ensure economies can stay open.
To date, Southeast Asia has been held back by vaccine shortages and other challenges.
That's about to change. A coming revolution in vaccine production and donation might just be in time for Southeast Asia as the region works desperately to ramp up vaccination programs.
But Southeast Asia's lower-income countries will still need significant external donor support, not just for vaccines but to turbo-charge vaccination rates, overcome vaccine hesitancy, and manage the logistical challenges of the so-called "last mile" of delivery.
A slow start Where are all the vaccines? What vaccines are going to Southeast Asia and how? Donated vaccines Purchased Vaccines Turning on the vaccines tap About the Author
A slow start
Except for Singapore, national vaccination rates in Southeast Asia as a percentage of populations are low.
Source: ourworldindata as of 16/06/2021
Factors affecting vaccination programs vary considerably from country to country, but include
significant vaccine supply shortages
large and/or dispersed populations that complicate "last mile" delivery
under-resourced public health systems and other bureaucratic constraints
lack of financial wherewithal to purchase large numbers of vaccines, in the case of the poorest countries in the region
conflict, in the case of Myanmar following the military's coup
limited local vaccine production capabilities
vaccine hesitancy, with reasons ranging from concerns from Moslems that vaccines might not be halal to doubts about the efficacy and safety of Chinese made vaccines. In the Philippines, the troubled introduction of a Dengue vaccination in 2016 also still reverberates.
Where are all the vaccines?
Global production has ramped up quickly as vaccines have been developed and approved.
One industry estimate suggests more than three billion doses of vaccines will have been produced globally by the end of June, with production rates continuing to rise through the year. New vaccine candidates are also being moved at a steady clip through development and safety trials.
To date, however, wealthy countries have monopolised the purchase of vaccines. As of mid-May, only 0.3 per cent of the total vaccines administrated globally had gone to low-income countries.
According to the Duke Global Health Innovation Centre, wealthy countries purchased enough doses in 2020 to vaccinate their populations several times over, even before any vaccine candidates were approved.
These deals have meant that a "smaller piece of the pie is available for low- and middle-income countries and for equity focussed partnerships like COVAX".
It's no surprise therefore that it's mostly wealthy countries that sit atop the global vaccination table.
The global vaccine supply picture is starting to change. Indeed, we are on the cusp of a revolution in vaccine production and donation. In the meantime, though, Southeast Asian countries still don't have enough doses to vaccinate most of their populations.
What vaccines are going to Southeast Asia and how?
The vaccine story in Southeast Asia is fast-moving, a complex mix of bilateral and multilateral donations, purchase orders with all major current COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers, emerging local production, home-grown vaccine development, and even private sector fund-raising.
Until very recently, Southeast Asia has been entirely dependent on external suppliers for its vaccine programs.
China quickly emerged as one of the largest source countries for the region, with the first Sinovac vaccines arriving in Indonesia in December 2020.
Indeed, perhaps nothing illustrated China's position as a first-mover as strongly as the very public vaccination of Indonesian President Joko Widodo in mid-January, well before World Health Organization approval of Sinovac for emergency use and at a time of swirling doubts about Sinovac trial data and its efficacy.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo receiving the coronavirus vaccine in January 2021 – Facebook
China's pandemic aid, including vaccine supply, has met urgent and genuine needs in Southeast Asia. It has also bought China goodwill and supported China's political, security and economic objectives at a time of sharp strategic contestation in the region.
Still, other global vaccine manufacturers are also now well-represented in Southeast Asia's direct purchase orders and through the COVAX initiative.
And a series of major announcements by the Biden Administration has positioned the United States to match or surpass Chinese vaccine donations to Southeast Asia.
Donated vaccines
COVAX AMC
The COVAX facility is a global risk-sharing mechanism for pooled procurement and equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. It is the primary multi-lateral mechanism striving to overcome vaccine nationalism.
Support for lower-income countries is provided through the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (COVAX/AMC) financing instrument, which aims to provide sufficient vaccines for participating countries to vaccinate almost 30 per cent of their populations, starting with high-priority target groups like front-line health care workers and the elderly or otherwise vulnerable.
Seven lower-middle income countries in Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Timor-Leste and Vietnam) are eligible countries under the COVAX AMC arrangement.
The United States, the European Union, Japan and Australia are among major donors to the facility.
COVAX has purchase agreements with a range of vaccine producers and is now delivering regularly into Southeast Asia. But most Southeast Asian participants did not begin to receive vaccines until March-April.
According to COVAX data, deliveries of vaccines as of 9 June have ranged from some 4.9 million doses for Indonesia down to 124,800 doses for Timor-Leste.
Across all eligible Southeast Asian countries, initial deliveries are small compared to the need.
Like everyone, COVAX has grappled with delays in securing supplies. In particular, India's decision to re-focus its huge vaccine production capability on its urgent domestic needs created a significant short-term shortfall in vaccine doses (some 190 million doses to end-June) for the COVAX initiative.
The Quad Indo-Pacific vaccines partnership
India's withdrawal from the export market could, if it is long-lasting, also affect the newly announced Quadrilateral Security Dialogue Indo-Pacific vaccines initiative, the centrepiece of which was financing and other support to boost Indian production of vaccines for export.
If this gap can be plugged, the initiative wants to supply one billion doses to the Indo-Pacific by the end of 2022.
Direct bilateral donations
Despite large funding backing for COVAX, until recently the United States was not making direct vaccine donations.
With vaccination rates rising in the United States, the Biden Administration has dramatically stepped-up US global leadership on the pandemic, beginning with a down payment of 80 million donated doses from US stockpiles.
Some seven million doses from the first 25 million of this allocation will be shared among South and Southeast Asian countries, either through COVAX or directly, with Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand benefitting (the White House fact sheet does not break these numbers down further).
On 10 June, Biden also announced his Administration would purchase an additional 500 million doses from Pfizer and donate them to nearly 100 lower-income countries – the largest single purchase and donation of COVID-19 vaccines by any single country.
It is not yet clear how many of these will go to Southeast Asia, but the United States clearly is now in position to match or surpass donations by China.
China is a significant direct donor of vaccines and other COVID-related medical supplies and support, including to Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines and Timor-Leste.
Precise numbers are difficult to verify as China does not appear to have a single central official summary of donated vaccines.
The Beijing-based consultancy firm Bridge estimates China has donated some 22.8 million vaccine doses globally, of which 14.25 million have gone to the Asia-Pacific. These donations are small compared to China's commercial agreements to export some 742 million doses globally (data as of 11 June).
China has also said it will provide 10 million vaccine doses to COVAX.
Based on an Asia Society survey of media reporting as of 13 June, China's estimated donations of vaccines to Southeast Asian counties range from 100,000 for Timor-Leste up to 2.2 million for Cambodia.[1]
Source: BridgeBeijing.com
China's early supply of donated vaccines allowed recipient countries to get vaccine programs underway for front-line health workers and other high-priority groups at a time when other supplies were slow in arriving.
As of 29 May, India had donated 1.7 million vaccine doses to Myanmar (prior to re-orienting production to domestic needs, Indian vaccines were also supplied through COVAX to Cambodia and Laos).
Australia is providing East Timor with vaccines from national stocks and is partnering with UNICEF to deliver vaccines for six million people in Timor-Leste and Pacific island nations, and 9 million people in other Southeast Asia countries.
Australia has also announced a 20 million dose contribution to the G7 vaccine initiative (see below) with a focus on Indo-Pacific countries.
The European Union, a generous donor to public health responses to the pandemic in Southeast Asia, has prioritised COVAX over direct bilateral donations.
Japan recently announced it will send one million doses to Vietnam and may make similar donations to other Southeast Asian countries.
[1] These estimates are broadly in line with the Bridge vaccine tracker.
Purchased Vaccines
Southeast Asian countries are also busy buying vaccines. The Duke Global Health Innovation Centre vaccines "speedometer" is a useful tracking tool for these.
Indonesia is the biggest buyer in the region, with advance purchase orders (as of 11 June) for a hefty 255.5 million doses, still not enough to cover its population of 276 million people.
Other purchase commitments vary considerably: a sample as of 11 June includes the Philippines (148m doses), Malaysia (66.3m) and Vietnam (80m). Cambodia records only 3.3 million purchased does.
Chinese vaccines account for the lion's share of Indonesian advance market commitments, including Sinovac in bulk form. Indonesia also hosted a phase three trial for Sinovac's vaccine.
Other Southeast Asians with large purchase commitments have more balanced portfolios, with Pfizer, Moderna, Russia's Sputnik V, AstraZeneca, and Novavax all represented across the region and new vaccine candidates being watched closely.
Vietnam has not to date purchased any Chinese vaccines but recently approved Sinopharm's vaccine for use.
These purchase commitments do not, of course, equate to vaccines delivered in the current very tight global market. Most countries report shipment delays and/or reduced numbers of doses.
Turning on the vaccines tap
Global supplies of vaccines are likely to rise quite quickly, even over the course of 2021, as vaccination rates jump in wealthy countries, production of existing vaccines is ramped up and new vaccines come on line.
COVAX argues that "if the world's leaders rally together", the original COVAX objectives – delivery of 2 billion doses of vaccines worldwide in 2021, and 1.8 billion doses to 92 lower-income economies by early 2022 – are still well within reach.
Southeast Asia is also moving to reduce its dependence on external manufacturers. AstraZeneca vaccines, for example, are just starting to be produced in Thailand for local and regional use.
Vietnam also wants to develop an indigenous manufacturing capability. And Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand have homegrown vaccines in development.
In recent weeks, there have also been welcome signs of the global ambition needed to accelerate vaccination programs in the developing world.
As noted above, the Biden Administration has announced its intention to step up global leadership on the pandemic.
At the 21 May EU-G20 Global Health Summit, the European Union announced it would donate 100 million doses of vaccines to low-and middle-income countries, including through COVAX. Major manufacturers also pledged additional "no profit" and "lower price" vaccines.
The COVAX summit in Japan on 2 June raised another $US2.4 billion, enough for COVAX to secure 1.8 billion free vaccine doses for lower-income countries in 2021 and early 2022.
And the June G7 summit committed to sharing "at least 870 million doses" over the next year, primarily channelled through COVAX "towards those in greatest need". The 500 million doses announced by President Biden on 10 June will form the lion's share of this new commitment.
The G7 summit also committed to several other ambitious but broad objectives, including boosting supply of raw materials, tests and personal protective equipment, along with "new partnerships based on voluntary licensing and technology transfer" to support production of vaccines in third countries.
While the medium-term outlook on vaccines production and supply looks hopeful, global needs are very high right now.
The international aid organisation Oxfam, for example, criticised the G7 outcome on vaccines as a "drop in the bucket" and called for immediate waivers of intellectual property rights.
And despite new donor pledges, there's still an urgent need for more grant financing to fight the pandemic globally.
The World Bank and IMF leadership have said that as much as $US50 billion of financing is needed to achieve more equitable access to vaccines, tests and treatments.
Even with stronger supply, some Southeast Asian countries will struggle to quickly ramp up national vaccination programs.
It would be a double tragedy for the region if the problem shifts from too few vaccines to too many to be used effectively.
Much of the region will need ongoing donor assistance to overcome vaccine hesitancy, expand vaccination services, and solve "last-mile" logistical and storage challenges.
Especially for the largest Southeast Asian countries, like Indonesia and the Philippines, and the poorest, such as Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Timor-Leste, keeping up with variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and continually vaccinating populations, will be a gargantuan task.
Some already rely heavily on external funding and UN procurement systems even for routine immunisations.
Finally, like the rest of the world, Southeast Asia will have to make a complex shift towards living with COVID-19.
Vaccines are critically important, but not the whole story. The region will need to keep mobility and social distancing measures and robust testing and contact tracing capabilities in their COVID response tool kits. Without such measures, fresh outbreaks could get away from the region quickly, even as vaccination rates rise.
Richard Maude is Executive Director of Policy at Asia Society Australia and a Senior Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute. Mr. Maude joined Asia Society after a 30-year career as an Australian diplomat and intelligence official. He is a former Deputy Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Director-General of the Office of National Assessments, and senior foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
More Essays:
Southeast Asia and COVID-19 is supported by the Australian Government through the Australia-ASEAN Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
©2020 Asia Society About Asia Society
Asia Society takes no institutional position on policy issues and has no affiliation with any government.
All views expressed in its publications and on its website are the sole responsibility of the author or authors.


I did a simple hardware twitter client using Omega2+ Arduino Dock2 and LCD Keypad Shield.
I use i2c to send tweets to arduino sketch. And sometimes python just segfaults.
But this is not a RussianHackers(tm) work, I checked!
People why do you even start writing new python2.7 libs in 2016? Only time since 2006 when I used py2 for a new project was when I needed scrapy, which was too big to port easily.


text:
Making History - Édouard Glissant And Linton Kwesi Johnson On Identity
This short film is a classic. The late French Caribbean writer Édouard Glissant (1928 – 2011) and the Britisch Jamaican Dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson discuss the concept of identity.
The late writer Édouard Glissant (1928 – 2011) is widely acknowledged as one of the most important Caribbean writers of the past half-century. In 2002, Linton Kwesi Johnson became the only second living poet and first black poet to have his work published in Penguin`s Modern Classic series. Both poets are major key-figures of this and the last century, Linton Kwesi Johnson, the father of Dub poetry and Edouard Glissant, has been nominated for the Nobel Prize in literature for his writings on creolization processes and aesthetics of worldliness. These two friends meet on a summer day....
Starring Edouard Glissant, Linton Kwesi Johnson and Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts, with music by Linton Kwesi Johnson and Paul D. Miller a.k.a. DJ Spooky That Subliminal Child. I loved the conversation and the atmosphere.
You can see the entire film at Culture unplugged
Fiction France Poetry UK


Margaret was born Auchterless parish, Aberdeenshire, Scotland before 10 July 1768. Margaret was the daughter of James Niven and Margaret Chapman. Margaret died before 31 January 1861 Redhill, Auchterless parish, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, at approximately 83 years of age.
+ 5 i. Alexander4 BARCLAY was born before 31 December 1795.
8 iv. Adam BARCLAY (#91) was born Bruckhills, Auchterless parish, Aberdeenshire, Scotland before 15 May 1801. He was baptized Bruckhills, Auchterless parish, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, 15 May 1801. Religion: Church of Scotland.
9 v. Robert BARCLAY (#92) was born Bruckhills, Auchterless parish, Aberdeenshire, Scotland before 1 December 1802. Robert died 31 January 1861 Redhill, Auchterless parish, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, at 58 years of age.(22) The following individuals are also linked to this event: Alexander BARCLAY (witness); N. PIRIE (recorder). He was baptized Bruckhills, Auchterless parish, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, 1 December 1802. Religion: Church of Scotland. He resided Redhill, Auchterless parish, Aberdeenshire, Scotland about 1841.(23) Robert's occupation: Grocer Redhill, Auchterless parish, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, before 31 January 1861. Robert was unmarried, 31 January 1861.


text:
// Copyright (c) 2006-2009 by Martin Stubenschrott <stubenschrott@vimperator.org>
// Copyright (c) 2007-2009 by Doug Kearns <dougkearns@gmail.com>
// Copyright (c) 2008-2009 by Kris Maglione <maglione.k at Gmail>
//
// This work is licensed for reuse under an MIT license. Details are
// given in the License.txt file included with this file.

const Config = Module("config", ConfigBase, {
    init: function () {
        // TODO: delete me when minversion is greater than 34
        var {isSupport} = Cu.import("resource://liberator/CheckTemplate.jsm", {});
        if (isSupport) this.features.add("template");
    },

    /*** required options, no checks done if they really exist, so be careful ***/
    name: "Vimperator",
    hostApplication: "Firefox",
    features: new Set(["bookmarks", "hints", "history", "marks", "quickmarks", "sanitizer", "session", "tabs", "tabs_undo", "windows", "tabgroup", "privatebrowsing"]),

    /*** optional options, there are checked for existence and a fallback provided  ***/

    autocommands: [["BookmarkAdd",        "Triggered after a page is bookmarked"],
                   ["ColorScheme",        "Triggered after a color scheme has been loaded"],
                   ["DOMLoad",            "Triggered when a page's DOM content has fully loaded"],
                   ["DownloadPost",       "Triggered when a download has completed"],
                   ["Fullscreen",         "Triggered when the browser's fullscreen state changes"],
                   ["LocationChange",     "Triggered when changing tabs or when navigation to a new location"],
                   ["PageLoadPre",        "Triggered after a page load is initiated"],
                   ["PageLoad",           "Triggered when a page gets (re)loaded/opened"],
                   // TODO: remove when FF ESR's version is over 20
                   ["PrivateMode",        "Triggered when private mode is activated or deactivated"],
                   ["Sanitize",           "Triggered when a sanitizeable item is cleared"],
                   ["ShellCmdPost",       "Triggered after executing a shell command with :!cmd"],
                   ["VimperatorEnter",    "Triggered after Firefox starts"],
                   ["VimperatorLeavePre", "Triggered before exiting Firefox, just before destroying each module"],
                   ["VimperatorLeave",    "Triggered before exiting Firefox"]],

    defaults: {
        complete: "sl",
        titlestring: "Vimperator"
    },

    dialogs: [
        ["about",            "About Firefox",
            function () { window.openDialog("chrome://browser/content/aboutDialog.xul", "_blank", "chrome,dialog,modal,centerscreen"); }],
        ["addbookmark",      "Add bookmark for the current page",
            function () { PlacesCommandHook.bookmarkCurrentPage(true, PlacesUtils.bookmarksRootId); }],
        ["addons",           "Manage Add-ons",
            function () { window.toOpenWindowByType("Addons:Manager", "about:addons", "chrome,centerscreen,resizable,dialog=no,width=700,height=600"); }],
        ["bookmarks",        "List your bookmarks",
            function () { window.openDialog("chrome://browser/content/bookmarks/bookmarksPanel.xul", "Bookmarks", "dialog,centerscreen,width=600,height=600"); }],
        ["checkupdates",     "Check for updates", // show the About dialog which includes the Check For Updates button
            function () { window.openDialog("chrome://browser/content/aboutDialog.xul", "_blank", "chrome,dialog,modal,centerscreen"); }],
            /*function () { window.checkForUpdates(); }],*/
        ["cleardata",        "Clear private data",
            function () { Cc["@mozilla.org/browser/browserglue;1"].getService(Ci.nsIBrowserGlue).sanitize(window || null); }],
        ["cookies",          "List your cookies",
            function () { window.toOpenWindowByType("Browser:Cookies", "chrome://browser/content/preferences/cookies.xul", "chrome,dialog=no,resizable"); }],
        ["console",          "JavaScript console",
            function () { window.toJavaScriptConsole(); }],
        ["customizetoolbar", "Customize the Toolbar",
            function () { window.BrowserCustomizeToolbar(); }],
        ["dominspector",     "DOM Inspector",
            function () { try { window.inspectDOMDocument(content.document); } catch (e) { liberator.echoerr("DOM Inspector extension not installed"); } }],
        ["downloads",        "Manage Downloads",
            function () { window.toOpenWindowByType("Download:Manager", "chrome://mozapps/content/downloads/downloads.xul", "chrome,dialog=no,resizable"); }],
        ["history",          "List your history",
            function () { window.openDialog("chrome://browser/content/history/history-panel.xul", "History", "dialog,centerscreen,width=600,height=600"); }],
        ["import",           "Import Preferences, Bookmarks, History, etc. from other browsers",
            function () { var tmp = {}; Cu.import("resource://app/modules/MigrationUtils.jsm", tmp); tmp.MigrationUtils.showMigrationWizard(window); } ],
        ["openfile",         "Open the file selector dialog",
            function () { window.BrowserOpenFileWindow(); }],
        ["pageinfo",         "Show information about the current page",
            function () { window.BrowserPageInfo(); }],
        ["pagesource",       "View page source",
            function () { window.BrowserViewSourceOfDocument(content.document); }],
        ["passwords",        "Show passwords window",
           function () { window.openDialog("chrome://passwordmgr/content/passwordManager.xul"); }],
        ["places",           "Places Organizer: Manage your bookmarks and history",
            function () { PlacesCommandHook.showPlacesOrganizer(ORGANIZER_ROOT_BOOKMARKS); }],
        ["preferences",      "Show Firefox preferences dialog",
            function () {
                var features = "chrome,titlebar,toolbar,centerscreen," +
                               (options.getPref("browser.preferences.instantApply", false) ? "dialog=no" : "modal");
                window.toOpenWindowByType("Browser:Preferences", "chrome://browser/content/preferences/preferences.xul", features);
             }],
        ["printpreview",     "Preview the page before printing",
            function () { PrintUtils.printPreview(PrintPreviewListener); }],
        ["printsetup",       "Setup the page size and orientation before printing",
            function () { PrintUtils.showPageSetup(); }],
        ["print",            "Show print dialog",
            function () { PrintUtils.print(); }],
        ["saveframe",        "Save frame to disk",
            function () { window.saveFrameDocument(); }],
        ["savepage",         "Save page to disk",
            function () { window.saveDocument(window.content.document); }],
        ["searchengines",    "Manage installed search engines",
            function () { window.openDialog("chrome://browser/content/search/engineManager.xul", "_blank", "chrome,dialog,modal,centerscreen"); }],
        ["selectionsource",  "View selection source",
            function () { buffer.viewSelectionSource(); }]
    ],

    hasTabbrowser: true,

    ignoreKeys: {},

    get mainToolbar() document.getElementById("nav-bar"),

    scripts: [
        "browser.js",
        "bookmarks.js",
        "history.js",
        "ignorekeys.js",
        "quickmarks.js",
        "sanitizer.js",
        "tabs.js",
        "tabgroup.js",
    ],

    styleableChrome: ["chrome://browser/content/browser.xul"],

    get tempFile() {
        let prefix = this.name.toLowerCase();

        try {
            prefix += "-" + window.content.document.location.hostname;
        }
        catch (e) {}

        return prefix + ".tmp";
    },

    toolbars: {
        addons:     [["addon-bar"],       "Add-on bar. By default, only visible if you have addons installed."],
        bookmarks:  [["PersonalToolbar"], "Bookmarks Toolbar"],
        menu:       [["toolbar-menubar"], "Menu Bar"],
        navigation: [["nav-bar"],         "Main toolbar with back/forward buttons location box"],
        tabs:       [["TabsToolbar"],     "Tab bar"]
    },

    get visualbellWindow() getBrowser().mPanelContainer,

    updateTitlebar: function () {
        config.tabbrowser.updateTitlebar();
    },
}, {
}, {
    commands: function () {
        commands.add(["winon[ly]"],
            "Close all other windows",
            function () {
                liberator.windows.forEach(function (win) {
                    if (win != window)
                        win.close();
                });
            },
            { argCount: "0" });

        commands.add(["pref[erences]", "prefs"],
            "Show " + config.hostApplication + " preferences",
            function (args) {
                if (args.bang) { // open Firefox settings GUI dialog
                    liberator.open("about:config",
                        (options["newtab"] && options.get("newtab").has("all", "prefs"))
                                ? liberator.NEW_TAB : liberator.CURRENT_TAB);
                }
                else
                    window.openPreferences();
            },
            {
                argCount: "0",
                bang: true
            });

        commands.add(["sbcl[ose]"],
            "Close the sidebar window",
            function () {
                if (!document.getElementById("sidebar-box").hidden)
                    window.toggleSidebar();
            },
            { argCount: "0" });

        commands.add(["sideb[ar]", "sb[ar]", "sbope[n]"],
            "Open the sidebar window",
            function (args) {
                let arg = args.literalArg;
                function compare(a, b) util.compareIgnoreCase(a, b) == 0

                // focus if the requested sidebar is already open
                if (compare(document.getElementById("sidebar-title").value, arg)) {
                    document.getElementById("sidebar-box").focus();
                    return;
                }

                let menu = document.getElementById("viewSidebarMenu");

                for (let [, panel] in Iterator(menu.childNodes)) {
                    if (compare(panel.label, arg)) {
                        panel.doCommand();
                        return;
                    }
                }

                liberator.echoerr("No such sidebar: " + arg);
            },
            {
                argCount: "1",
                completer: function (context) {
                    context.ignoreCase = true;
                    return completion.sidebar(context);
                },
                literal: 0
            });

        commands.add(["wind[ow]"],
            "Execute a command and tell it to output in a new window",
            function (args) {
                var prop = args["-private"] ? "forceNewPrivateWindow" : "forceNewWindow";
                try {
                    liberator[prop] = true;
                    liberator.execute(args.literalArg, null, true);
                }
                finally {
                    liberator[prop] = false;
                }
            },
            {
                argCount: "+",
                options: [
                    [["-private", "-p"], commands.OPTION_NOARG],
                ],
                completer: function (context) completion.ex(context),
                literal: 0
            });

        commands.add(["winc[lose]", "wc[lose]"],
            "Close window",
            function () { window.close(); },
            { argCount: "0" });

        commands.add(["wino[pen]", "wo[pen]"],
            "Open one or more URLs in a new window",
            function (args) {
                var where = args["-private"] ? liberator.NEW_PRIVATE_WINDOW : liberator.NEW_WINDOW;
                args = args.literalArg;

                if (args)
                    liberator.open(args, where);
                else
                    liberator.open("", where);
            },
            {
                options: [
                    [["-private", "-p"], commands.OPTION_NOARG],
                ],
                completer: function (context) completion.url(context),
                literal: 0,
                privateData: true
            });
    },
    completion: function () {
        completion.location = function location(context) {
            if (!services.get("autoCompleteSearch"))
                return;

            context.anchored = false;
            context.title = ["Smart Completions"];
            context.keys.icon = 2;
            context.incomplete = true;
            context.hasItems = context.completions.length > 0; // XXX
            context.filterFunc = null;
            context.cancel = function () { services.get("autoCompleteSearch").stopSearch(); context.completions = []; };
            context.compare = CompletionContext.Sort.unsorted;
            services.get("autoCompleteSearch").stopSearch(); // just to make sure we cancel old running completions
            let timer = new Timer(50, 100, function (result) {
                context.incomplete = result.searchResult >= result.RESULT_NOMATCH_ONGOING;
                context.completions = [
                    [result.getValueAt(i), result.getCommentAt(i), result.getImageAt(i)]
                        for (i in util.range(0, result.matchCount))
                ];
            });
            services.get("autoCompleteSearch").startSearch(context.filter, "", context.result, {
                onSearchResult: function onSearchResult(search, result) {
                    timer.tell(result);
                    if (result.searchResult <= result.RESULT_SUCCESS) {
                        timer.flush();
                    }
                }
            });
        };

        completion.sidebar = function sidebar(context) {
            let menu = document.getElementById("viewSidebarMenu");
            context.title = ["Sidebar Panel"];
            context.completions = Array.map(menu.childNodes, function (n) [n.label, ""]);
        };

        completion.addUrlCompleter("l",
            "Firefox location bar entries (bookmarks and history sorted in an intelligent way)",
            completion.location);
    },
    modes: function () {
        this.ignoreKeys = {
            "<Return>": modes.NORMAL | modes.INSERT,
            "<Space>": modes.NORMAL | modes.INSERT,
            "<Up>": modes.NORMAL | modes.INSERT,
            "<Down>": modes.NORMAL | modes.INSERT
        };
    },
    options: function () {
        options.add(["online"],
            "Set the 'work offline' option",
            "boolean", true,
            {
                setter: function (value) {
                    const ioService = services.get("io");
                    if (ioService.offline == value)
                        BrowserOffline.toggleOfflineStatus();
                    return value;
                },
                getter: function () !services.get("io").offline
            });
    }
});

// vim: set fdm=marker sw=4 ts=4 et:

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Reactogenicity: How Vaccines Affect Our Bodies
Grace Rivera, Staff Writer|May 27, 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world forever. It goes without saying that every nation experienced tremendous effects of the virus. In order to ameliorate these negative impacts, scientists in America began Operation Warp Speed which aimed to develop a vaccine in a timely manner. This would allow Americans to guard themselves against the virus and eventually return to normal activities once enough immunity was achieved. However, now that the vaccine is available for administration, many Americans refuse to receive it or only receive one of the two recommended doses. While many perspectives exist on the vaccine and its efficacy, there are factual sources being overlooked as people develop their opinions on the vaccine. As someone who trusts and respects science, I value the precision of knowing exactly what occurs biologically when the vaccine is administered. In order to better understand the vaccine, I researched how the vaccine actually affects the body and how it can cause side uncomfortable side effects. In this paper, I hope to amend some concerns about the vaccine by providing scientifically-based information.
First, we must address what the vaccine is composed of. For the purposes of this paper, I will only focus on the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines since they are both mRNA vaccines. Meredith Wadman from the Science Mag explains, "Both vaccines [Pfizer and Moderna] consist of a snippet of genetic code directing the production of the coronavirus' spike protein, delivered in a tiny fat bubble called a lipid nanoparticle." Essentially, the vaccine is composed of mRNA, a genetic sequence, that allows our bodies to produce antibodies for the COVID virus. After the mRNA is translated into the harmless spike protein, or antigen, of the virus, our body learns how to defend against the protein. In a way, the vaccine teaches our body how to react to a real COVID particle by presenting it a dummy particle so to speak. After the mRNA is translated, it degrades naturally in the body and is harmless to the host.
Although the contents of the vaccine itself are not harmful, the effects of the vaccination can cause discomfort. All vaccines have something called reactogenicity, which is simply stated as the expected bodily reactions to a vaccine such as fatigue, aches, or soreness in the injection site. These results are expected because they are indications that the vaccine is at work.
Biologically, when a vaccine is injected into the body, local cells react to the potentially harmful substance by producing cytokines to send signals to humoral immune cells. These cells travel through the circulatory system to the infection site where inflammation is triggered by cytokines, histamine, or prostaglandins. Inflammation causes redness, swelling, and pain, and it is the body's way of isolating an infected area and signaling other immune system cells to amend infection. Additionally, the COVID vaccine, among most vaccines, seems to elicit headaches, fever, or fatigue in individuals. This non-injection-site pain is caused when the aforementioned inflammatory molecules spill into the bloodstream and are thus transported around the body, causing inflammation in other body systems. For example, headaches caused by vaccines are simply explained as the inflammation of neurons. This creates sensitivity and pain in the neurons, thus causing discomfort in the brain.
In the end, inflammation is to blame for aches or soreness, fatigue, fever, and headaches. Although uncomfortable, these symptoms are natural, not harmful, and should subside as the immune system remedies the potential infection caused by the vaccine. For those who were previously infected with COVID, the vaccine is likely to re-engage negative symptoms of the virus as each vaccine dose is administered. This is simply because the body is re-visiting its immune response for the COVID antigens.
Yes, vaccine symptoms are harmless and simply indicate the proper functioning of the vaccine in your body. However, it should be noted that the COVID vaccine specifically has high rates of reactogenicity compared to normal flu vaccines. Science mag reports that of those participating in Moderna's trials 9.7% reported fatigue, 8.9% reported muscle pain, 5.2% reported joint pain, and 4.5% reported headache. The Pfizer vaccine trial saw lower percentages, but generally, these reactogenicity rates are higher than the average flu vaccine. Arnold Monto, an epidemiologist from the University of Michigan, says that the reactogenicity rates found in the Moderna and Pfizer trials are "higher than is ordinarily seen with most flu vaccines, even the high-dose ones." Science mag also reports that "most people will escape 'severe' side effects," but makes clear that if only 2% of individuals experience "severe" side effects, that would still be 700,000 worldwide. Thus, these reactions are widespread and affect many individuals.
With these higher rates of reactogenicity from the COVID vaccine, an issue arises. The New York Times reports that 8% of those who receive their first dose of the vaccine skip their second dose either because they feel adequately protected or because they wish to avoid the side effects of the second dose. In essence, those who suffer major side effects from their vaccination are electing to skip their second dose in order to avoid more symptoms. While 8% seems like a small percentage, this is still millions of individuals who are not fully protected against the virus. To be accurate, one dose of the vaccine will provide some immunity against the virus. However, the second dose of the vaccine bolsters the immunological response and allows the immune system to most effectively respond to the virus when encountered.
So yes, only one dose of the vaccine will offer some protection, but two will offer more immunity. Thus we must ask the question, at what point is the loss of immunity worth the avoidance of the vaccine's side effects? Experts advise against skipping your second dose. As an average person who did some research, I would advise against it as well. Here's why: Vaccine symptoms are uncomfortable, but they are temporary. Protecting yourself and those you love against a highly contagious virus, in my opinion, is worth more than a day or two of pain caused by simple inflammation. Drew Weissman, an immunologist at the University of Pennsylvania, says it best: "Take Tylenol and suck it up for a day."
Hopefully, this paper explains the biological phenomena behind vaccines in an easy-to-understand manner so that more individuals can understand the COVID-19 vaccine and construct educated opinions of it.
Grace Rivera
Grace Rivera is a senior and second year member of Crimsonian. She is a Class Officer, a Club of International Awareness member, a Camp Imagine If tutor,...
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Kuala Lumpur: A female giant panda in a zoo here has given birth to a second cub, zoo officials said on Wednesday.
The cub is the second born to giant pandas Xing Xing and Liang Liang, after Nuan Nuan was born in 2015. She was returned to China last November.
A video released by the National Zoo of Malaysia on Wednesday showed the tiny cub being cared for by its mother Liang Liang at the zoo, reported Efe news agency.
China loaned the cub's parents to Malaysia in 2014 as part of its so-called "panda diplomacy" initiative.
Beijing sends the animals, which are native to the central mountainous regions in China, to countries worldwide as a gesture of goodwill, an initiative that began in 1984, when the species was declared endangered.
Xing Xing and Liang Liang, known in China as Feng Yi and Fu Wa, were sent to Malaysia in 2014 to mark the 40th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations.
As part of the deal, cubs born outside of China to pandas loaned by Beijing must be returned by the age of four.
Malaysia was the fourth country in Southeast Asia to receive a loan from China to raise giant pandas.
In 2016, the International Union for Conservation of Nature removed the panda from its list of endangered species and classified it as "vulnerable", due to the increase in its population over the past few years.
However, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora continues to include the giant panda among its endangered species.


text:
Thursday, Sep 02, 2021, 14:07 Apple Watch
Apple Watch Series 7's New Features & Design Could Delay Launch
For years up until now, different generations of the Apple Watch have all had the same design – which isn't necessarily a bad thing. For one, others are immediately able to tell when someone is wearing an Apple Watch (as opposed to a smartwatch from a competitor) thanks to the design's uniformity over the years. Now, Cupertino has decided to finally change things up a little and is adapting the Apple Watch series 7's design to be more in line with that of the current iPhone/iPad (flat edges, and a more "aggressive", "professional" looking shape as opposed to the older flying saucer like iPad-based design with curved edges and base). Basically, the Apple Watch Series 7 will have sharper edges and be available in two different sizes. According to two current reports, however, the design changes could cause some issues and potentially seriously threaten the company's planned release date for the product.
Manufacturers Voice Quality Control Concerns
As per Nikkei Asia, manufacturers with started small batch production last week – only to encounter difficulties. Several individuals were cited as stating that the product's quality was not satisfactory. 3 sources even referred to the product's quality as disappointing and point to the complexity of the smartwatch's new design as the cause. The design is significantly different from that of the previous generation and is currently causing problems with assembly of electronic modules, displays, and other components.
Apple Watch Series 7 With Blood Preasure Measurement?
According to Nikkei Asia, contract manufactures have "called off production indefinitely", another reason for which could be the inclusion of a new feature: it's possible that the coming generation could be able to measure its wearer's blood pressure without any external device. The corresponding patent for which was registered just last year by Apple. If the feature is implemented, then the series 7 will need to be even more water resistant than previous series – leading to more challenges for the production teams. An article from Bloomberg has also delved into the issue and claims to have received information from a reliable source pointing to a delayed launch date for the product.
Bloomberg Confirms: iPhones Receiving Satellite Communication & What That Means For Users
Controversial Photo Scan, No Touch ID & More – Why Android Users Won't Switch To iPhone
The Mac App Store – New Numbers Show An Abrupt Drop In Interest
Driver's Licenses & ID Cards In The Apple Wallet – First States To Begin Soon
Impressed By Apple – Google Begins Work On Its Own Notebook Chips
Report: Apple's Upcoming VR Headset To Work With Only iPhone, iPad, or Mac


Some players prefer boots on the ground and some prefer the rumble of big tanks.
With the Imperial Guard Codex breathing new life into "treadheads" everywhere, the FTW Bloggers were tasked with collecting everything they could that concerned "armour" in 40k... and not just Guard stuff either.
Here's what we came up with. From modeling to painting and tactics, with a little bit of everything in between. If it deals with armour, it's probably in here.
If you've got something that you'd like to add, leave a comment with a link and I'll get it added.
Very nice collaborative post. I know I'll definitely be using some of those weathering techniques.


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Great designs happen when designers put in the effort to come up with something different all the time. You can't stick to the same old designing template and expect to..
Every website has a purpose and that is to convert. A conversion might involve the visitor buying a product or a service from the site, or asking for a quotation,..
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Boileroom's Dengfest to showcase local talent
Although taking it easier this month, The Boileroom keeps giving music lovers their necessary dose with Dengfest, a mini festival, taking place on Tuesday August 20, from 4pm
Our Lost Infantry
Headlining the event will be Our Lost Infantry. Thom Ashworth (guitar/vocals), Joe Ashworth (bass/vocals), Matt Phelps (keyboards/vocals) and Michael Parkin (drums/vocals).
They met at school in Aldershot and have been making music since. Their style has been variously described as post-rock, progressive and pop gone awry.
Last year the quartet released their debut album The New Art History. Full of gutsy riffs, fearless choruses, breathtaking harmonies and penchant to lean post rock harnessed with quieter spells of delicate beauty to deliver a refreshing progressive art-rock work.
Gaining airtime and with the release of the video All the Streetlights of My Hometown the band hailing from the mean streets of Aldershot is really going places.
Other acts making up the line-up include Dragons That Make Love To Pandas, Sam Darby and Friends Are Overrated, Graphite, Sabato and itoldyouiwouldeatyou.
There will also be competitions, drinks and free CDs on offer throughout the day.
For further details visit


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You are here: Home / Comcast / NBC / FIVB BEACH VOLLEYBALL OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
FIVB BEACH VOLLEYBALL OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Date Event TV Platform Time (ET) Streaming Time (ET) Streaming Platform
9/20/19 Men's Qualification Matches N/A 9 p.m. 9 p.m. OlympicChannel.com, Olympic Channel App
Women's Qualification Matches N/A 11:30 p.m. 11:30 p.m. OlympicChannel.com, Olympic Channel App
9/21/19 Men's Final N/A 2 a.m. 2 a.m. OlympicChannel.com, Olympic Channel App
Men's Qualification Matches * Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA 12 p.m. 12 p.m. OlympicChannel.com, Olympic Channel App
Women's Qualification Matches* Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA 2 p.m. 2 p.m. OlympicChannel.com, Olympic Channel App
Men's Finals* Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA 4 p.m. 4 p.m. OlympicChannel.com, Olympic Channel App
Women's Finals N/A 10 p.m. 10 p.m. OlympicChannel.com, Olympic Channel App
9/22/19 Women's Finals* Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA 12 p.m. 12 p.m. OlympicChannel.com, Olympic Channel App
Filed Under: NBC, Uncategorized


Commemorating the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804-5, the Mint released two different Jefferson nickels in 2004 — the first depicting the "handshake" of early peace medals, and the second Lewis and Clark's keelboat (shown in uncirculated condition, top). This year will bring two more versions, starting with the new American Bison design that was released Feb. 28, to be replaced in late summer by a view of the Pacific Ocean as Lewis and Clark might have seen it (shown in proof condition, bottom). In addition to the new reverse designs, the obverse of both 2005 nickels features a new portrait based on a French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon's 1789 marble bust of Jefferson, together with the word "Liberty" in Jefferson's own handwriting (at left, below).
he Jefferson nickel made its debut in 1938 in honor of Thomas Jefferson's 200th birthday. It remained unchanged in design until 2004.
To commemorate the role Jefferson played in the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804-05, two reverse designs were released in 2004 with minor changes to the obverse (the front).
One showed the design of an Indian peace medal. This device was taken by expeditions into Indian territories to present to chiefs as a sign of peace and friendship. The custom began during colonial days. The other showed the territory covered by the Lewis and Clark expedition.
This year, two more reverse designs are being released; so far, the buffalo reverse has been issued. A second reverse is due later.
The West coast end of the Lewis and Clark expedition was Portland, Ore. In honor of that event, the city of Portland put on a mini-world's fair in 1905 celebrating the western end of the expedition.
The fair lasted only four months and featured several buildings, including the largest log building ever erected. Several souvenirs of the Lewis and Clark Fair were issued, including a pair of medals, souvenir booklets, flyers and entry tickets.
The much larger and longer-lasting 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis honored the Louisiana Purchase, primarily — and secondarily, the Lewis and Clark expedition, which helped map the new territory and lay out travel routes for trails and eventually railroads. The 1904 fair was marked with a set of commemorative postage stamps, as well as various medals.
The U.S. Mint released a pair of gold $1 coins dated 1903 in honor of the Louisiana Purchase. It also issued a pair of gold dollars in 1905, one featuring Meriwether Lewis and the other William Clark, to coincide with the Portland Exposition, honoring the men on their historic expedition.
The new nickels are commemorative coins but are minted for general circulation — which means they do not have to be ordered from the Mint, and they are sold at face value. Ask your local bank for a roll of new nickels, and chances are, you'll receive one of the four new Lewis and Clark commemoratives. Unlike other commemoratives, which are usually half dollars, silver dollars and gold coins, these coins will be minted in quantities similar to regular issues.
For details of the Portland Exposition, read the article in the March 2004 edition of The Numismatist by Jim Hunt and Jim Wells. It details the 1905 fair and illustrates some of the souvenirs of the fair, including the privately minted gold 25-cent and 50-cent tokens showing Mt. Hood, just east of Portland.


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10 Worm Fishing Secrets You May Not Know
By Walker Smith • May 21, 2015
(Photo: Walker Smith)
It's easy to become enamored with the latest tackle trends but one thing is certain—you should never overlook the effectiveness of bass fishing with plastic worms. It may not be as sexy as heaving an umbrella rig on a river ledge or working a topwater frog across matted vegetation, but it's arguably the most effective bass fishing technique ever created.
FLW Tour pro and Bassmaster Classic champion Larry Nixon has made the majority of his living with three simple things—a hook, a weight and a plastic worm. Widely renowned as the best worm fisherman to pick up a rod, he believes there are 10 things you need to know in order to boost your confidence and success with this age-old, fish-catching technique.
1. A pegged sinker loses more fish
Whether we peg our Texas rigs with an old toothpick or a rubber bobber stop, we're all guilty of it. It's easier to skip under docks and it increases the longevity of your knot, so it's all good, right? Nixon doesn't necessarily buy into this theory.
"Plastic worms will always catch fish," Nixon said. "It doesn't matter where you are or what type of bass you're targeting. They're a bass angler's dream."
"I've always believed that a pegged sinker causes me to lose more fish," Nixon said. "With the weight so close to the worm, a big bass will get both the sinker and the hook in its mouth, which can result in many missed opportunities. Now, if I'm trying to penetrate cover and sink the worm into a small, precise area, I really don't have a choice but to peg it. If I'm casting a worm, however, 99 percent of the time my sinker is sliding free on the line."
Being the meticulous professional he is, Nixon has spent countless hours examining the action of plastic worms in swimming pools. Years of constant experimentation have allowed him to realize the unique properties of an unpegged Texas rig.
"If you throw an unpegged Texas rig into the water and watch it, the weight hits the bottom about eight inches in front of your worm," Nixon said. "Once the weight hits, the worm sinks downward like a dead-sticked Yamamoto Senko. I've always had so many quality bites at the beginning of my cast and I think that's why."
2. Your casting and pitching hooks shouldn't be the same
Again, this is something we all do. We pitch to a piece of shallow cover, make our way down the bank and start casting to a brush pile with the same setup. Although it may be easier for us, Nixon advises against it.
"If you don't have a straight shank hook when you're casting a worm, it's not going to look right in the water," Nixon said. "I exclusively use the Roboworm Rebarb Hooks for casting because they give my worms a much more streamlined profile. Not to mention, the plastic always slides down at the hook eye upon a hookset, resulting in excellent plastic penetration and better hookups."
When pitching a flipping a worm to cover, Nixon avoids big, heavy duty flipping hooks like the plague. In his opinion, the bigger hook you use, the more leverage you give the fish.
"I do not like heavy flipping hooks whatsoever," Nixon said. "I use a thin wire 5/0 Gamakatsu Offset EWG Worm Hook instead. A thinner wire promotes good penetration and the gap is just big enough to penetrate the worm. If I can pin a bass between the hook and plastic, she's mine—she's not going anywhere."
3. Not all plastic worms are the same
In order to get the most out of worm fishing, it's important to realize what situation each type of worm is best-suited for. Just because two worms are green and wiggle when you twitch them doesn't mean they're the same.
Straight tail worm—"A straight tail worm is the most versatile worm in existence, without a doubt," Nixon said. "They're more erratic, they sink very differently and come through cover well—there is no bad time for a straight tail worm. If you're just starting out, I suggest using the Yamamoto 6.75-inch Long Pro Senko and a 5-inch Yamamoto Pro Senko to cover all your bases. During cold fronts, stick with the smaller size and bump up to the 6.75-inch model when you're fishing in warmer water."
Curly tail worm—"The curly tail worm, such as the Yamamoto 12-inch Curly Tail Worm, is at its very best when you have vegetation in a body of water," Nixon said. "Whether you're fishing milfoil, hydrilla or lily pads, it provides an extremely realistic swimming action in cover. I'll also use it in brush piles and heavy cover so the fish don't get a great look at it—just work it over limbs and let it fall through any holes."
4. Fall rate is the determining factor in getting more bites
According to Nixon, the most important factor in getting strikes is your worm's fall rate. You can jiggle and gyrate your worm in every way imaginable, but the speed at which your worm sinks to the bottom is essential.
"I choose my weight size in accordance to the depth I'm targeting and the behavior of the bass," Nixon said. "You absolutely have to figure out the correct fall rate to catch more bass. If they get too good of a look at your worm, they won't touch it. There's no formula or guarantees because it changes every day, so it's important to always try different weight sizes."
As a general rule-of-thumb, Nixon utilizes a faster fall and presentation in clear water with a 5/16 or 3/8-ounce weight and a slower fall and presentation in dirty water with a 3/16 to 1/4-ounce weight.
"There are a lot of variables that determine weight selection, but I always tell beginners to start out with a 3/16 and 1/4-ounce weight," Nixon said. "If it's a tough bite in stained water, I'll slow down with a 1/8-ounce weight and make longer casts. If I'm trying to force reaction bites in clear water or battling windy conditions, I might beef it up to a 3/8-ounce weight for a faster fall and a better feel of the bottom."
5. Your rod is a tool, so use the right one
You probably shouldn't use a pair of pliers to hammer a nail—you could, but it's going to hinder your ability to get the job done correctly. Similarly, Nixon stresses the importance of using a versatile rod that can handle all kinds of worm fishing.
"Sensitivity is the most important thing to look for in a worm rod," Nixon said. "If you don't know when you have a bite, you're not going to catch many fish. You also want to use a rod with a solid backbone that allows you to wrench big ones out of cover. Almost all of the time, you'll see me using a 7-foot, medium-heavy Dobyns Champion Extreme Casting Rod for my worm fishing."
6. Use fluorocarbon and maintain it well
Fluorocarbon is not only difficult for fish to see, but it also has very little stretch which promotes direct energy transfer on big hooksets. When you're fishing with a worm, it's important to drive the hook into the bass' mouth past the barb. If not, you may have your heart broken.
"It's hard to go wrong with 15-pound Seaguar InvizX Fluorocarbon," Nixon said. "If I'm in clear water, I'll drop down to 12-pound test and when I'm using a heavy sinker in thick cover, I'll go up to 20-pound Seaguar AbrazX. If you use a line that's too heavy, you're going to be dealing with a lot of line management issues."
Before each fishing trip, Nixon puts a lot of time into properly maintaining his fluorocarbon line. He uses a few simple tricks to keep even his older line performing like new.
Stretch it—"If you haven't been out in a week or so, take two minutes to hook your line to something and stretch it," Nixon said. "Reel it back in with some tension and your first cast will feel like brand-new line. Fluorocarbon doesn't absorb water, so it will coil if it sits on your reel for too long. If it coils, you're not going to be able to feel what your worm is doing down there."
Wet your knot—"Regardless of the knot you tie, it's important to wet your knot every single time you tie it," Nixon said. "Fluorocarbon will burn itself if you cinch a dry knot and I can guarantee you'll lose fish if that happens. Always take the extra time to tie a solid, wet knot."
Don't over-spool—"Try not to put too much fluorocarbon on your reel," Nixon said. "When you pack a bunch of line on, you'll have a hard time controlling it. I use cheap monofilament line as backing followed by about 60 yards of fluorocarbon. Anything more is overkill—you won't find any bass that'll strip more than 15 yards of line, so there's no sense in wasting a bunch of nice line."
7. Hopping your worm will help you cover water quickly
When many of us started bass fishing with plastic worms, we were told to "drag and reel". You can certainly catch fish with this retrieve, but if you're looking to cover water and establish a productive pattern, hopping it may be a better alternative.
Stroke it: Nixon keeps a close eye on his Lowrance for suspended bass throughout the year. If they're within a few feet of the bottom, he loves to stroke a Texas rigged worm to pick up a few extra bites.
"I'm almost always hopping my worm—I'm not much of a dragger," Nixon said. "If you hop the worm about two feet and let it freefall to the bottom, you're going to cover water as fast as a spinnerbait angler. When you run across a piece of brush or a break line, that's when you need to slow it down."
Nixon believes his ability to quickly fish a plastic worm is the driving factor behind his illustrious career. He purposely blazes through stretches of bank until he is able to put together a pattern.
"When I'm looking for fish, I'm going to cast a worm into an area, hop it twice and move on," Nixon said. "I'm just looking for a few key bites that will tell me where the fish are positioned. If a bass is there, they're probably going to eat it. You're looking to dissect open water and cover with as few casts as you can get away with."
8. Tungsten makes all the difference, but be careful
Unless he's using a weight smaller than 1/4-ounce, Nixon is a huge believer in the sensitivity and subtle profile of tungsten sinkers. There is one requirement, however, that they must have before he even thinks about using them.
"The benefits of tungsten are undeniable, but you have you be extremely careful with it," Nixon said. "No matter what people say, if a tungsten weight doesn't have an insert, it's going to cost you a fish—I've seen it happen far too many times. If you feel your line within 1/4-inch of your hook, it'll be roughed-up if you're not using an insert. That's the tungsten doing that—it's just like a razor blade."
Quick tip: When your sinker collides with cover, it will cause your worm to jump which can result in vicious reaction strikes. If it starts feeling rough throughout your retrieve, slow down and run your sinker across the "good stuff".
Before you throw away all of your expensive insert-less tungsten weights, there's a way to save your investment and protect your line in the process.
"If you don't want to lose fish, you can insert shrink tube into your tungsten weights," Nixon said. "It will keep any sharp edges away from your line and enable you to fish with peace of mind."
9. Common mistakes are very avoidable
Nixon discovered the magic of plastic worms as a guide many years ago on Toledo Bend. While other guides were having problems catching quantity and quality, he and his clients were having incredible success with worms. This time spent teaching novice anglers gave him a unique insight into common worm fishing mistakes. Luckily, they're all easy to fix.
"A lot of people fish a worm too fast," Nixon said. "It's tempting to continuously cast and wind, but you have to be very deliberate in your presentation. I also see a lot of anglers using hooks that are way too big for the application. You don't need an enormous hook when you're worm fishing—a 4/0 hook will do the job just fine."
Nobody likes breaking off a big bass, but it's important to avoid using huge line. If you're able to feel the action of the worm, you'll have a much better idea of what your worm is doing.
"I think people tend to use heavier line that overpowers the worm," Nixon said. "You're going to get a lot more bites if you use smaller line because it sinks better, looks more natural and is easier to manage on your reel. With that being said, you always need to be aware of the size of the bass in a given fishery. If you go to Lake Falcon, throw it all out the window and buy whale rope."
10. Don't be afraid to swing and miss—hooksets are free
Learning to detect bites can be a frustrating obstacle to overcome when you're learning to fish a worm, but there are a few ways to quickly get the hang of it.
Hit 'em twice: If Nixon gets bit on a long cast, he'll crank the reel handle about five times after the initial hookset and set the hook a second time. This ensures he gets the barb of the hook through the bass' mouth.
"As soon as I feel tension and feel like there's a slight possibility of a bite, I'm going to set the hook," Nixon said. "Sometimes you whiff on it, but you never know until you try. It's important to realize, however, that you're not always going to feel a big "bump" on the end of your line. A lot of times it will feel mushy or simply swim to the side without you feeling anything at all. You have to be a constant line-watcher and be ready to react if it does anything out of the ordinary. If you feel the fish, you can bet he feels you so you better do something quickly!"
Bass fishing with plastic worms is effective throughout the entire year and if you put effort into it, it's a technique that will catch fish when other techniques fall short. With these simple tips, you'll be able to catch more fish and gain more confidence in an overlooked bait that has withstood the test of time.
Do you have any special tips for worm fishing? If so, share them below in the comments!
Walker Smith · May 21, 6:00am
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Everyone let's give a warm welcome to this amazing Weekday coat that really is keeping me very, very warm indeed. I bought it last week after seeing in store, having a moment with a few mirror selfies and then deciding I couldn't leave without it. And I am glad I did because I am writing this post from a rather chilly New York where this cosy number has come in very, very handy indeed. It's one of those pieces that is so effortlessly cool I can just throw it on with anything and it completes an outfit perfectly, and is ticking the boxes for practicality too. While I, along with many others I am sure, have spent years swooning over the Acne Velocity jacket, there is something about that classic aviator shape and style that I am tired of. This much boxier shape seems wayyyy more effortless and interesting. I am of course loving it with my straight leg denim, but it looks equally great with skinner jeans and some boots.
Also a mention needs to be given to my new bag, which I don't feel like I have officially introduced you all too. After months of swooning over the Puzzle in tan, I ended up changing my mind and setting my sights on the Hammock instead. I have always picked up this bag in store and loved it's shape, but always been a little put off by the fact it doesn't properly fasten up (just a clasp on the inside), so it doesn't feel that secure. In the end I decided it was something I could overlook, especially as I have a bad habit of not properly zipping up my Puzzle when I am out and about anyways. I have used it daily since it arrived, and it fits a huge amount in and I love how it's been looking with all my outfits. I find it as easy to wear cross body, on one shoulder, or held top handle which is something I always love with the bag. I am going to keep using it a little longer before sharing a full review with you all, comparing it to my Puzzle and Barcelona too - but so far it's all good things I have to say about this!


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