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text:
Avaya wins Nortel enterprise unit for $915m
Avaya has won the bidding for Nortel's enterprise assets with a $915 million offer - nearly double its initial stalking horse bid.
Avaya will now gain control of the assets of the enterprise solutions business, as well as Nortel's stake DiamondWare and its government solutions unit, Nortel said.
Avaya beat Siemens Enterprise Communications, which submitted a last-minute bid, to acquire the unit. Avaya had set the floor price in July with a pre-auction bid of $475 million.
Avaya will pay Nortel $900 million in cash, with an additional $15 million reserved for employee retention.
"Our successful bid brings us closer to adding Nortel and its complementary channel, portfolio, research and development, and global presence to Avaya," Avaya CEO Kevin Kennedy said.
But due to the multinational nature of the unit, the sale is subject to court approvals in the US, Canada, France and Israel as well as regulatory approvals. If granted, the sale is expected to close in Q4.
In an email to Nortel Enterprise employees posted on the All Things Nortel blog, division head Joe Hackney said Avaya is expected to retain at least three quarters of the unit's employees in countries with employee protection legislation, and 60% in other jurisdictions.
Avaya gets green light for $900m Nortel buy
Court green-lights sale of Nortel assets to Avaya
Nortel enterprise unit on auction block today
Ericsson buys into LG-Nortel for $242m
Nortel sells CVAS unit to Genband
Daily News 22 May 2019 00:00 Bharti Infratel-Indus Towers merger due to close in June Daily News 14 May 2019 00:00 Vodafone to sell NZ subsidiary for $2.23b Daily News 09 May 2019 00:00 Australia's ACCC to oppose TPG-Vodafone merger

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Grief to Grace
Grief to Grace ministry helps individuals and families understand grief and move forward
The Grief to Grace ministry that is offered at Christ the Redeemer Church parish in Thibodaux was formed out of a desire to assist individuals and families through any situations in life which cause grief, and to comfort and care for all those who are grieving.
Cindy Ordoyne, the parish's office manager, says with Grief to Grace, the emphasis is on helping people to heal. She also points out that most of the time when we talk about grief, we do so with respect to loss of life, but Ordoyne reminds us that people lose many things in life that cause them grief, and Grief to Grace can help someone deal with all of the facets of grief.
"The idea of broadening our grief support was brought to Father Mark Toups in the fall of 2015 after one of our parishioners lost her husband. That idea continued to grow under the pastorate of Father Mitch Semar. The ministry has flourished in the years since with the participation of Dwight Boudreaux and Beth Marcello who facilitate our book study, special topic nights, annual retreat and one-on-one pastoral support," says Ordoyne. "The idea brought forward in the fall of 2015 by a concerned parishioner has evolved into a thriving ministry that reaches every corner of our diocese as well as outside the boundaries of our diocese from Donaldsonville to Gretna, and beyond."
The Grief to Grace ministry incorporates specific aspects to move individuals and families through the stages of grief. Participation in the ministry is completely free; there are no fees involved and participants do not have to be parishioners of Christ the Redeemer. One may choose to participate in any one or all of the components offered.
A book study, discussion groups, hot topic nights, one-on-one support, a one-day retreat, and a memorial Mass are part of the ministry. Grief to Grace volunteers also help with funeral hospitality, as well as funeral planning and preparation.
● On Grief & Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief Through the Five Stages of Loss by Elisabeh Kubler-Ross, M.D., and David Kessler is the book used in the ministry. Discussion groups are held twice per year in the spring and fall. These groups meet weekly for a seven-week session on Tuesday evenings at 6 p.m. in the parish's Family Life Center. Ordoyne says the groups are limited to about 10-12 people so that it allows for more sharing and more personal interaction.
● Hot Topic Nights – These gatherings are offered two or three times per year to provide information on relevant topics. Presentations are made by professionals with expertise on the topic being presented.
● One-on-One Support – If someone is having trouble coping or just needs someone to talk with, pastoral support in a one-on-one setting is available by appointment.
● Grief to Grace Retreat – A one-day retreat beginning with Mass is facilitated by a team of volunteers and includes personal prayer time, large group presentations, small group discussion, and question and answer sessions.
● Funeral Liturgy Planning – Compassionate volunteers will walk with the grieving through the process of planning all of the decisions and details of the funeral Mass. When someone in the church parish dies, the funeral home director notifies church parish personnel and they, in turn, contact the next of kin or the person responsible for making the arrangements. The goal of the volunteer is to offer support during this difficult time.
● Funeral Hospitality – A Grief to Grace volunteer hostess/host is there on the day of the funeral to support and assist the family with any last minute questions and to take care of any last minute details.
"Our team of funeral planners and funeral hostesses assist our parish staff by being present to our families to prepare the liturgies and provide funeral day hospitality," says Ordoyne. "We have a team of approximately five volunteers who work in conjunction with our three acolytes to be sure the sanctuary is prepared for the funeral liturgy. Through their presence our families are greeted with dignity and respect."
Ordoyne adds that with regard to hospitality, they don't cook meals. "We provide a presence for our families from the time we get the call from the funeral home all the way through the burial; then they follow up with all the other aspects of Grief to Grace. A hostess is there to offer hospitality on the day of the funeral, to assist the family throughout the service and to offer refreshments for their guests."
This year, explains Ordoyne, the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and regulations have really altered the way they are able to serve people through this ministry. "We are still able to offer funeral planning, but because we no longer are allowed to offer visitation at the church, the hospitality piece looks a lot different. A hostess is still available to greet the family and be with them throughout the funeral service. We are asking if someone needs help that they stop by our office and pick up a copy of the book. When we are able to start back up with the book study groups and the rest of our offerings, we will call them. So we are still trying to stay connected."
n Annual Memorial Mass – Families who have suffered a loss within the year are invited by personal invitation to participate in the presentation of candles at a special Memorial Mass on All Souls Day, Nov. 2, followed by a reception.
Because of the restrictions that need to be followed during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ordoyne says this year there will be two Memorial Masses. Families are asked to reserve a space at one of the Masses.
Mike Ordoyne lost his wife Stephanie in February 2019. The couple was married for 48-1/2 years and they have three children and seven grandchildren. Stephanie was active at St. Thomas Aquinas Church parish in Thibodaux for many years where she and Mike were parishioners. Mike knew about Grief to Grace through Beth Marcello, who was good friends with him and his wife. He was invited to participate in the ministry two weeks after his wife died.
"I knew I had to go on with my life, so I said to myself I'm going to go. When I sat in that group next to an old schoolmate of mine who had lost his wife in January and started talking to him, I began to understand that I wasn't alone in my suffering."
Mike says the book they use gives you guidelines to follow, and you can discuss the chapters that apply to your life. "There are so many examples in the book. You really need the book; it is a multipurpose tool and helps you to understand your own blessings. The cohesion of the group was molded by the administrators – they were excellent team builders. The circumstances for each individual in the group were different, but they showed us how to accept other people's different feelings and approaches to grief."
Without Grief to Grace, Mike says he would probably still be in the remorse stage. "Grief to Grace got me 'over the hump.' It was a life changing event. Once you get over the hump, you mentally accept that things have changed. It enlightened me to the fact that there is more in life. I still have difficulty; it's a day by day thing. But Grief to Grace helped me to better understand that I need to carry on with my life. It was an excellent start to adjusting to the rest of my life."
Kara Dumond's husband Devin passed away in May 2019, at the age of 40. The couple has two boys who were four and seven at the time of his death. They were not parishioners of Christ the Redeemer, but Kara found out about the ministry through Father Mark Toups. She began the program six months after her husband died.
"Grief to Grace has helped me learn how to move forward and be verbal about what grief is, and it taught me how to be brave. I never thought in a million years that I would be dealt this hand and I honestly don't know what I would have done without Grief to Grace. It helped me to grow in my faith and allowed me to accept my loss and to feel normal with others going through the same thing. Everyone had a different story, but we were all in it together. We were like a family. We could all be angry or crying or happy, and it was all okay. Where I started and where I ended was day and night."
Kara says she never even knew what grief was or all the feelings and emotions that went with it. The Grief to Grace ministry helped her learn about all the emotions and taught her that what she was feeling was normal, that she was going to be okay and how to grow from the experience.
"Being able to reflect on and understand what each emotion truly meant, to just understand the whole grief experience and all the details of what I was going through ... that was huge. The book was wonderful. We took notes, we journaled, we dissected the book … every quote … and looked at the meaning of every word. Those words are so powerful and you have to keep reiterating those words to yourself to grow … to figure out a new beginning and to move forward with grace, with strength, with positivity and with faith."
She says before her husband died, she was afraid of death, but Grief to Grace taught her not to be afraid. "My love for my husband will always be there and I know he will always be with us. I still relive it; I still go through all of the emotions and I probably always will, but this ministry opened my eyes to viewing grief in a different way. I learned that there is no right or wrong way to grieve."
Grief to Grace guides you throughout the whole grieving process, she says. "I don't know if I'd be where I am today without this ministry. By the end of it, I had a whole different understanding of grief. By the time I came out of that program I had gained so much knowledge and strength and bravery," says Kara.
Brandi Boudreaux has been a Grief to Grace volunteer for almost four years. She is part of the funeral liturgy planning where she meets with the family to plan the funeral Mass, by helping them choose the readings, songs, and find a musician, etc. Brandi also does funeral hospitality which entails helping to set up before the Mass, staying for Mass and helping to clean up afterwards.
She says this is not something she ever saw herself being a part of, but it has been life changing for her. "I have gotten so much more out of it than I could have ever imagined. I met so many wonderful people and even though it's emotionally draining, it has been such a beautiful experience for me. My faith and my hope has been strengthened so much."
After her mother passed away six years ago, she says that she felt a lot of sorrow and grief. "Then all of a sudden the Lord took all that sorrow and turned it into joy and I just had a heart that was overflowing with gratitude. I felt called to give back somehow, even if it was in a small way."
She was involved in another ministry at the time and some of the volunteers from Grief to Grace came to talk to them because they were looking for more volunteers.
"I couldn't stop thinking about it; the Lord just put it on my heart. But I really struggled with it because I didn't think I could do it."
Brandi started off by shadowing other volunteers and says ultimately the Lord gave her the grace to do this. "My participation in this ministry and dealing with this on a daily basis has made me much more aware of my own mortality and has taught me that I need to be prepared because at any moment this could be me facing my final judgement. It's just been such a grace for me."
Ordoyne says Grief to Grace is truly a team effort and a vital ministry for Christ the Redeemer. "Although the Covid-19 pandemic regulations have the ministry restricted at the present time, we are looking forward to re-engaging our team under the leadership of Father Alex Gaudet, our new pastor. We are always looking to add people to our volunteer team, so we welcome inquiries about our Grief to Grace ministry."
For more information or to become a volunteer, please contact the church parish office at (985) 447-2013.


text:
Fees for most popular state parks going up $3
Honeymoon Island State Park
The cost of visiting most Florida state parks will be going up July 1 with the entrance fees to some of the most popular parks increasing by $3 per vehicle.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection announced new entrance fees on Monday. A DEP spokeswoman today said the fee increases, the first statewide in five years, are expected to generate $7.2 million in fiscal year 2009-10.
Fees will increase to $8 per vehicle at eight of the 10 most popular parks: Honeymoon Island in Dunedin, Cape Florida on Key Biscayne, John Pennekamp in Key Largo, St. Andrews in Panama City Beach, Sebastian Inlet at Melbourne Beach, Lovers Key in Fort Myers Beach, Anastasia near St. Augustine Beach and Bahia Honda on Big Pine Key.
Those eight parks accounted for 6.5 million visitors in fiscal year 2007-08, according to data from the state Division of Recreation and Parks. The cost of entering those eight parks now is $5 except for Pennekamp and Bahia Honda, which charge $6 per vehicle.
Park fee increases were included as revenue in Gov. Charlie Crist's proposed fiscal year 2009-10 budget in February. DEP Secretary Mike Sole said May 27, when Crist signed the budget, that the fees would help cover operating costs for the parks.
"We also want to protect what I call the 'affordability factor,' " Sole said. "I think that's critical in the fact they (state parks) are affordable for us to go use."
DEP isn't closing any state parks as was considered earlier in response to the Legislature's requests for deeper budget reductions from all agencies.
"This fee increase will help keep Florida's state parks open for residents and visitors to experience while still proving to be one of the most affordable activities in the state," DEP Deputy Secretary Bob Ballard said in the DEP news release issued Monday.
Fees will increase by $1 per vehicle at many other state parks including Gasparilla Island near Boca Grande and Stump Pass Beach in Englewood, which also were top 10 beaches in 2007-08. The $2-per-vehicle entrance fee for those two parks will go up to $3 on July 1.
The entrance fees at a few other parks will increase from $4 per vehicle now to $6. They include Alfred B. Maclay Gardens in Tallahassee, Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound, St. Joseph Peninsula in Gulf County and Wakulla Springs in Wakulla County.
There is no entrance fee at 39 state parks, though many of those lack facilities for visitors. The list of new park fees is available at www.floridadep.org .
Top 10 state parks/VISITORS (07-08)
Honeymoon Island – 1,085,120
Cape Florida – 893,543
John Pennekamp – 878,939
St. Andrews – 877,788
Sebastian Inlet – 830,448
Lovers Key – 813,539
Gasparilla Island – 702,713
Anastasia – 637,762
Bahia Honda – 517,868
Stump Pass Beach – 503,926
Photo courtesy of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Story copyrighted by Bruce Ritchie and FloridaEnvironments.com . Do not redistribute without permission.
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text:
Lucien Londot était un footballeur belge.

Biographie
Il est membre du RFC de Liège de 1895 à 1905. Le 2 décembre 1894, il gagne un à zéro avec le club liégeois contre le R Antwerp FC au Transvaalstraat avec une équipe composée de Pierre Brouhon, A. E. Timmis, J. Douglas, H. McHardy, Émile Nyst, René Gillon, C. Delboeuf, Samuel Hickson et Paul Henn puis, le 13 décembre 1896, il gagne de nouveau deux à zéro contre le R Antwerp FC au terril du Bois d'Avroy avec Léon Lhoest, Michel Brouhon, E. McDonald-Smith, Alphonse Londot, Xavier Houdret, Gérard Kleinermann, Stanley Hickson, Fred Chatres, Samuel Hickson et Harry Menzies. Deux ans plus tard, le 30 octobre 1898, il gagne un match contre le même club quatre à deux au vélodrome de Zurenborg ; comme équipiers, il avait : Fernand Defalle, Alphonse Londot, Samuel Hickson, Fred Chatres, Paul Scholberg, Charles Chatres, Robert de Rossius d'Humain, Harry Menzies, Stanley Hickson et Émile Trasenster.

Il fait partie de la première équipe nationale de Belgique de football et dispute dès lors le premier match, le  à Anvers, qui sera dit non officiel à cause de joueurs étrangers, notamment anglais et néerlandais, dans la sélection de l'équipe belge. Parmi les joueurs de l'équipe, on retrouve Londot et deux de ses collègues du RFC de Liège ; Harry Menzies et Fernand Defalle. Il joue sous le numéro 10.

Jeux olympiques
Il participe aux Jeux olympiques de 1900 à Paris et remporte, avec l'équipe de l'Université de Bruxelles et la Fédération Athlétique Universitaire Belge, la médaille de bronze de l'épreuve de football en ne jouant qu'un seul match qui est perdu contre l'équipe de France. C'est la première médaille olympique pour l'équipe de Belgique de football aux Jeux olympiques et l'une des deux (l'autre, en or, ayant été remportée par l'équipe lors des Jeux olympiques de 1920 à Anvers) seules depuis la création des Jeux olympiques modernes en 1896.

Palmarès
  Belgique olympique
 Jeux olympiques :
  Bronze : Paris 1900.

Notes et références

Références

Footballeur belge
Footballeur aux Jeux olympiques de 1900
Médaillé de bronze olympique belge
Joueur du Royal Football Club de Liège
Date de naissance incertaine (XIXe siècle)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


- to specify test methods for checking conformity with those requirements.
a) Modification of construction requirements in line with IEC 60092-350. There has been some redistribution of test methods between IEC 60092-350 and this new standard to remove all tests carried out on complete cables.
b) Requirements for enhanced cold properties, oil resistance and resistance to drilling fluids have been aligned to IEC 60092-350.


text:
At the Ghost Factory
By Alison Lanier
After Nina McLaughin
A cinema studio is a factory for making ghosts. The cinema is a ghost language that has to be learned.
— Jean Cocteau
So Connie and I went to a movie. One of those crackling black-and-white ones, where their faces go ecstatic with every single emotion. La Belle et La Bête. Connie's always been more of an art person—galleries and museums, everything beginning and ending in the space of the frame. The visual guidance in movies is too prescriptive, she says. The gaze is too dictated. I reminded her
that she's a pretentious ivory tower millennial lesbian, and she reminded me that I am too. So we just went to the movie anyway.
So I'm watching this movie, watching the La Belle's narrow 1940s eyebrows hang ponderous with consternation, watching La Bête's overlarge, overbright cat eyes drilling back through the screen. And I think La and La. Not La and Le. Why did I never think about that? All the dead hours in the college moviehouse, absorbing flickering cultural standards, and I never thought how gay the language makes this movie. What if La Bête was just a butch lesbian living an eccentric lifestyle? I know Connie could've fucked with that reading. What if this is a crush-on-a-straight-girl, enemies-to-lovers, the jock-and-the-nerd-hooking up story? Damn. All these slow, sticky possibilities. Of course at the end — the happy ending — La Bête is revealed as the beautiful golden haired man La Belle always wanted him/her to be. But I mean. A beautiful man. Fuck.
Connie leans over and whispers, Hey that ruff and the hairline kind of make him look like Queen Elizabeth in the globe portrait, you know what I mean?
So now we're both thinking of Cate Blanchette, which only makes it gayer. Turning all these gentle myths into something for us instead of for that cooing hetero family a few rows up who are obviously here because they liked the Disney version. Connie wasn't even allowed to think the word gay when she was those kids' age. When I was those kids' age—like, nine? — I knew gay was a bad word. I had the Rent DVD in my hand once in the hall in high school and boom, everyone was like, you gay? Jean Cocteau, the director, he was gay. That guy in that Bête suit is his lover. Was. Everyone's dead. Gay and dead. Hell. This is a gay-ass myth. This is some sacrilegious bestiality minded fucking nonsense. In this story, it takes an act of pure love to make the gays look human. In this story, I'm making everything exactly what I want it.
What? God, no. I'm not saying that. Want her, want to be her. It's a distracting question. Queerness is messy like that. Like you've got your own body and the kind of body that you think is beautiful, and if they don't match up, that's whacked. But anyway yeah. I know Connie didn't look like La Belle. Neither do I. That isn't even what we're talking about is it?
So anyway, we went out for dinner after, and then we got ice cream. Minty and melty off the cone. It was a hot summer. We both had the movie score in our heads. Or at least I did, and Connie said she did. Or maybe she didn't say that. I don't know. Guess I wasn't really paying attention. You see. I was thinking a lot about how a few years ago I wouldn't have gone out for dinner and ice cream. That was when I did want to be beautiful. It was like the way La Belle était belle: stretched thin, luminously halved, smooth and bright under the closest scrutiny. Fragile as a reflection in glass. Just a shift: all gone, untraceable with its edges all afterimage. That's the beauty I wanted. Like Joan Crawford's twiggy arms struggling to support a typewriter in Grand Hotel. Like Brigitte Bardo's mysterious, unashamed slimness. Like all the endless legs sticking out of miniskirts in The Italian Job. Everything on screen was wanting wanting wanting. It's easier to make a story when you don't want as much, right? Don't you think so? I don't know, just asking. Like I just want to know.
But that skinny girl—La Belle, you know I recognize her when I see her on screen like that, falling in love, making her love pristine where it would have been messy. A prince, not really a beast at all. She's just so good at showing up the way you need her to. Maybe it's the beauty. I see her gay. I see her shining. All at once. She's me and the reflection-bright ghost of me I wanted to be. Like I'm carrying her around inside me, a smaller better me. A me that's really beautiful. Want her, want to be her. Want to kiss lips, want to kiss with lips like that. You see? It's all reflections. I don't know. Is that problematic? I mean that's always the fear, right? Like what if I've internalized something that I shouldn't have and I just don't know it's wrong yet? But how can you watch out for it if you don't know it's wrong? God I'm just asking. I'm not accusing you.
But shit I need to tell you what happened. That's the whole point. What was I saying? I was saying… I want a drink. I wanted a drink. I said, let's find a bar. It wasn't that late. We didn't have class tomorrow, I forget why. The city had gotten so quiet, like it was holding still, just watching. Leaning in. Bright yellow cat eyes. Yellow? I don't know why yellow. It was a black and white movie. I just thought those eyes must be yellow.
We were splitting a flight of beer — Connie always liked the ones that were way too hoppy. Like way too hoppy. I just let all that bitterness slide around me, mostly. I just drank to drink. I liked the softness. Wanting isn't so sharp when your brain feels like it just crawled inside a feather pillow. And I'm like damn. Everyone in this bar is so cute. Like really. It was like walking into an ad, you know, like the ones in the magazine, Vogue or something, where everything's just so beautiful it's painful? And it's like, if you want this bad enough, if you know this is what you want, all this can be yours? Like the house you know you'll never buy or the juicy hamburger in the subway ad or the travel picture of a lake and you're just like yes. That. I want that. Like a dream everyone's having at once. I don't know. Guess I was drinking too fast. But I could see that halved-down beauty—La Belle-level beauty—on everybody. Just glowing on them. And Connie was glowing like them too. Under all the ambery bar lights and doubled in all the different sized mirrors on the walls, they'd just clicked into exactly the way they were meant to be. And I was on the wrong side of things. The ugly side. Where all I could do was want.
There's nothing you can do when you want so bad. You can't day dream about something else. You're just there, magnetized to the thing you're never going to get to touch. What? No, I know. Connie and I were a thing. We touched all the time. That's not the kind of touch I mean. Like how you can touch a screen, but the picture on the screen is still just a picture? Like if I pulled up a picture of a cat, you wouldn't really be touching cat fur when you touched the screen.
Connie's face was too transparent for this moment — the looseness of the silences became too deep, too much like needles on skin. Her eyeliner was too perfect, too carved to be true somehow, like it wasn't really on her face, like it was the crystallized shape of her attention arrowing at me. That focus made me too trembly to speak.
I felt small, weirdly weighted down on one side. I felt unarmed—there was an enormous pressure, forward, forward, forward — I had to say something. Me to her, all settled and shining in the beautiful world. I kept waiting for her to turn into something else. I wanted that so badly. A shift to something easier, clearer. I didn't want to be outside of what she was anymore. Women used to turn into trees and nightingales and rivers and reeds back in the day, in the oldest stories. So I just—shifted. I took a step outside myself. Like I said, maybe I was drinking too fast. But I just wanted, you know. That's all. I don't know. I had it, for a second. Standing on the other side, looking back at me, seeing me shining and different in a way I didn't quite know how to look at. It was safe. There wasn't anything else to want. It was all that beauty, all that tangled brilliance. I'd just found it. All the beauty I'd be promised and promised again, and it was just here. And I had it. It was the end of every story.
That was the last time anyone saw me. I guess I'm still walking around out there — my body, my arms and legs and lungs and heart. Like you could see it going by on the sidewalk, but I don't have to be there anymore. I'm here. And you're listening. No, I'm not tempted to haunt them. To try to get a closer look. Connie likes my body. Takes it to the movies every week for classics night. So everybody's happy. It's like I cut all the strings and gave myself the room to breathe. Not that I have to. Breathe. You see how wanting is over? That's what I wanted to say. All things wane out of shape. The calm you want at the end of the workday. The peace you're supposed to wake up with in the morning. A reflection that knows you when you look in the mirror. They try to keep it all just out of reach. Hamburger on the subway ad. The art on the wall that's supposed to make you interesting. Smelling nice at the end of a whole day. Really getting that book not just reading it. The wonder you're supposed to feel when the moon is full. Belle-ish beauty up there on the screen. But here's what they don't tell you: Just make a story, and give it a happy ending.⅋
Alison Lanier is a writer and editor living in Boston. She's a graduate of Wellesley College and got her MFA in fiction from UMass Boston. Her work appears in Ms. Magazine, Origins, Atticus Review, and elsewhere, and she currently works and studies new media at MIT. She has read more Batman comics than you.


text:
Q: How to convert en-media to img when convert enml to html I'm working with evernote api on iOS, and want to translate enml to html. How to translate en-media to img? for example:
en-media:
<en-media type="image/jpeg" width="1200" hash="317ba2d234cd395150f2789cd574c722" height="1600" />

img:
<img src="imagePath"/>

I use core data to save information on iOS. So I can't give the local path of img file to "src = ". How to deal with this problem?

A: The simplest way is embedding image data using Data URI:

*

*Find a Evernote Resource associated with this hash code.

*Build the following Data URI (sorry for Java syntax, I'm not very familiar with Objective C):
String imgUrl = "data:" + resource.getMime() + ";base64," + java.util.prefs.Base64.byteArrayToBase64(resource.getData().getBody());

*Create HTML img tag using imgUrl from (2).

A: Note: the following solution will allow you to display the image outside of the note's content.
On this page, you'll find the following url template:
https://host.evernote.com/shard/shardId/res/GUID
First compile the url from some variables, then point the html image src = the url.
In ruby, you might compile the url with a method similar to this one:
def resource_url
    "https://#{EVERNOTE_HOST}/shard/#{self.note.notebook.user.evernote_shard_id}/res/#{self.evernote_id}"
end

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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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nendo draws visitors into bangkok retail complex with 13 uniquely themed spaces
nendo design has completed a wide redevelopment plan, covering both interior and exterior layouts, as well as floors one to five of the siam discovery – a large-scale retail complex in bangkok, thailand. the existing building was deep with a narrow façade that resulted in poor flow for visitors entering through the front. to deal with the issue the many existing circular atriums scattered through the building were extended and joined up to create an elongated canyon-like space of over 58 m that draws customers into the back of the building. in addition, a wall consisting of a stack of 202 frame-shaped boxes with video monitors, digital signage and displays of merchandise inside them was installed along one side of the atrium, which plays the role of a directory for the whole store. the main wall also has the effect of drawing visitors to the upper floors since it extends up from the first to the fourth floor. by repositioning the escalators to run through the atrium and wall, the design also facilitates a smoother flow of visitors.
the exterior of the siam discovery
all photographs courtesy of takumi ota
for the exterior design, nendo decided to open up the outside of the siam discovery as much as possible and so nendo design cleared away as much from the walls as structural constraints permitted with the aim of eliminating the previous sense of oppressiveness. however, since in bangkok it is important to alleviate the intense heat of the sun, the team created a double-skinned façade decorated with a pattern that reflects the stacked box installation in the atrium.
since the retail space was a hybrid between a shopping center and department store, nendo design worked on the environmental design not only for the common use areas, but also all for the self-curated retail space which comprises the majority of the site. rather than categorizing merchandise by brand the experience is organized around the theme of 'lifestyle laboratory'. this aims at encouraging visitors to discover and enjoy a mixture of tastes and lifestyles, and to reflect this they designed motifs at 13 different locations around the sales floors that include laboratory equipment such as beakers, flasks, and test-tubes, and diagrams of molecular structures, nucleotide DNA sequences, microscopes and amoeba, smoke and bubbles to reflect this.
furthermore, they blended the finishes on the floors and ceilings in the common areas and retail spaces in a graduated way which gives an impression that different materials are stirred together. in this way, they made a point of creating an atmosphere where people can feel relaxed and feel free to approach the stores.
finally, nendo design created a character called 'discovery man' as the symbol for the retail complex. they wanted to make a character that expresses intellectual curiosity and creativity, so his head is a cube like those used throughout the design of the building and the top is slightly open as if something is always popping in and out. the character serves as a guide in the complex, and as one of the opening events 30 creative artists from thailand and across the rest of Asia were chosen to paint and customize them to decorate the space.
full article here
piotr boruslawski I designboom
ARCHITECTURE IN THAILAND (188)
mpdstudio weaves fishing nets through the bamboo roof of 'theater cafe' in thailand
bangkok project studio elevates 'the walk' in thailand to highlight the importance of nature
enter projects transforms bangkok exhibition space with sculptural rattan
sher maker wraps billowing curtains around a multifunctional space in chiangmai
chiangmai life architects builds bamboo 'meditation cathedral & sunset sala' in thailand
NENDO (255)
nendo unveils non-inflatable soccer ball for impoverished communities of the world
nendo's music-link for OPPO is a collection of devices centered around a pair of earphones
nendo unveils a credit card-sized phone for OPPO that unfolds into three screens
nendo mines impromptu marble bench in façade of marsotto's brera showroom
nendo completes shanghai times square with curtain-like aluminum façade


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Darren McHale our MOTM from yesterday's game
Photo: Sports Joe
Seeing a player put in a storming performance at some stage in his first Championship season isn't all that rare and we've been fortunate to witness a fair few examples of this over the past decade. But I'm struggling to think of another example where a player making his full Championship debut put in a Man of the Match performance at the first time of asking.
Darren McHale did just that in yesterday's game against Sligo. The Knockmore player came off the bench against Leitrim in the Connacht quarter-final last November but was yesterday lining out from the start in the Championship for the first time. He was in the thick of the action right from the throw-in, confidently firing over our first two points from the two opportunities that came his way.
Darren eventually ended up with a personal tally of 1-5 yesterday, all of it from play. It was, in every sense, an eye-catching debut and while on Sky Sports Aidan O'Shea was selected, by co-commentator Billy Joe Padden, as their MOTM, Darren wins the poll here with 30% of the vote.
Aidan came a close second with 26% support, with Eoghan McLaughlin (11%), Paddy Durcan (9%) and Ryan O'Donoghue (5%) also polling strongly. Well done to them all.
Championship 2021, Connacht, MOTM, Polls, Sligo permalink
← Sunday match reports
Large victory margins are nothing new →
29 thoughts on "Darren McHale our MOTM from yesterday's game"
Spotlight says:
What I liked about him was he has no sign of nerves or uncertainty- he was straight in taking his scores and looking for the ball.
I also think Towey has talent.
You'd wonder whether the one-sided nature of some of the weekend's games could bring an end to the provincial championships- something needs to be done
I love to see a lad like that come in and make a real strong impact. He's demanding a starting berth now. He's a strong runner, really direct and can contribute on the scoreboard.
My+Ball says:
All that @Rock and very intelligent natural footballer.
Debutant should make their debut away from home, as it creates less pressure. Yes the provincial system vi's dead but vested provincial interests will keep it alive
Well done to Darren, he looked like he'd always been there. Here's hoping he can bring that form and confidence with him over the season ahead, however long it might last for us.
A good win for us, but what a depressing spectacle within our "premier" competition. How could a game like yesterday possibly benefit Sligo? Why, as a young fella with ambitions to play for county would you want to bother, when you know that's what awaits you?
How are the people charged with the responsibility of overseeing the health of the Association not embarrassed that they have allowed this to happen across the country, and how are they not even more embarrassed at the lack of decisive action to address it?
Ontheditch says:
@jr. Hopefully not. You have a healthy national football league system which could be used to seed teams for championship. Its of no benefit to Sligo that their championship season is over for another year.
Well done to Darren McHale. Makes it a bit easier to settle in when playing alongside clubmatekev McLoughlin. Hopefully Kieran King and others will make the jump nto panel at some stage.
Despite the uselessness of the game, we are starting to look like we have a panel with depth. Imminent return of Doherty Harrisson and DOConnor.
Ciaran+2 says:
Hi, Are you forgetting that tor years Mayo people and outside County wondered why Mayo even bothered putting out a team. A National disgrace.
The same couid be said for Clare, Louth etc. Human nature has not changed. The new high and mighty Mayo.
Be grateful for what you have been given and take a break from complaining.
Darren McHale is a player I've liked. He brings workrate moreso on the attacking side if that makes sense. He's always making himself dangerous with angled runs. He rarely seems to be running straight at goal. He's got quite an assured left foot from within 30 yards. Another feature of his, I'd imagine he played with Conn Rangers at some point but he's a real brave almost soccer striker poacher for goals. He'll dive in to get contact on the ball.
Lucero says:
Ann Marie it's not new for teams to get hammered in Connacht and Munster by 20 points or more. It happened in Connacht in 67, 69, 73, 76, 87, 90. Sligo nearly did it 65 when they beat Leitrim by 18
Don't get carried away with the win over Sligo. Scoring against Sligo is different then scoring against Ros or Galway.
Sligo got some fabulous points, one with 5 defenders around the kicker.
@Ciaran 2 Not forgetting about the hammering that Mayo took for over 40 years but I agree with you. Sligo are building at present and are more than capable of raiding the big houses of Connacht if they get their act together in the coming years. Remember 2010 as a recent example and you do not have to remind Galway people that were around the Championship of 07, 10, or 12 as another example. Rossies are even more potent and are always up to a challenge that appears above them. It's just a simple case of having something to moan about. Which reminds me, is their any sign of the Luxembourg National soccer being split up so that our best can give them a game.
Mayomad says:
Game on Saturday was nothing more than a training match but useful in adjusting to playing without Cillian as will the Leitrim game. Darren played well and looks a real find, will reserve final judgment until we play a top tier team.
Regarding the Championship structure, its been a joke for decades, and the two options up for debate at congress will not improve the situation much, in fact it could make things worse. IMO there is a simple solution to the whole mess, we already have the ideal competition in place, its called the league, the same structure all great competitions around the world are based on. Move the league to the summer and give the winner Sam, move the provincials to spring as secondary competitions. Its madness trying to come up with more and more convoluted structures in order to accommodate the traditionalists and the provincials.
Southmayo Exile says:
Is the GAA football championship the only competition in the world where they is no grading of teams or divisions or a need to qualify to take part. As it stands at present there is no incentive for a Sligo or Carlow player to put in same effort as a Mayo player- for what – to be beaten out the gate by a Mayo or Dublin.
What is needed is a proper championship where the weaker teams play teams of their own level with semifinals and final played in Croke Park as curtain raisers to the Sam Maguire semifinals and final.
Louth and Offaly got a lot more out of thier game yesterday than they would if they were playing Dublin.
The fact the teams were getting hammered 40 years ago doesn't mean its right. The fact that it was happening 40 years ago and there us still nothing done about it is the bigger disgrace on the gaa part
Hi, How I wish that I kept my thoughts private. There are far more knowledgable around than me.
To say nothing has been done is simply not true. Some things that were done that didn't work like the Tommy Murphy cup and then there's the tier two competition that was going to happen last year but was cancelled because of covid.
You are entitled to your opinion Ciarán as much as anyone else. I like Mayomads idea of prioritising the league, but the GAA are far too conservative to buy into that. It certainly doesnt mean that because teams were getting hammered in the past, that its ok to continue.
If weaker teams are to progress, then they should have competitive summer football when they can train in the evenings and get fitness levels up.
Also for irish people home on holidays, what a shame they never get to see their county playing. There is money in it for the GAA but they are stuck in a conservative rut… Does anybody really care who wins a provincial title.
Corick+bridge says:
I agree with you Ciaran +2,I have followed Mayo since the early sixties,some great footballers very badly managed,since James came in we have fought our best including with Pat and Noel and Stephen ,who was outstanding,hopefully Sligo will improve because it is always good to watch by footballers
richardmgd says:
Well done Darren,. he definitely brings a little bit of something different. Going on his style of play I think he will be influential regardless of the tier of opponent.
There are so many well considered alternatives out there to the current AI series that there is no great need to document them until the powers that be take a chance on an alternative. But seeing as covid has thrown upon us a somewhat different league format this year, how about the following approach:-
For League – Keep the current split leagues in place with every county guaranteed 4 games and league finalist getting a 5th game. Play Feb & March.
For Provincials – maintain them and play in April & May obviously playing all quarters on same weekends, then semis 2 weeks later and then all finals 2 weeks later.
For championship – 1st round of 16 games being div 1 & 2 teams seeded against division 3 & 4 teams. The 16 winners move on to all ireland sam maguire and enter 4 groups of 4 teams with the winners of each group going to AI-Sam Maguire semi and then final. The 16 losing teams drop into all ireland 2 championship and enter 4 groups of 4 teams with the winners of each group going to AI-2 semi and then final. Every team in country gets 4 championship games of football, and every team gets the opportunity to play for Sam first. Play the championship June to August.
So pre covid times, every team was guaranteed 7 league games, 1 championship game and 1 backdoor game. My humble alternative guarantees every team with 4 league games, 1 provincial game and 4 championship games.
The real carrot for the GAA….more money, the 70 championships across the summer months amongst teams of comparable abilities will generate far healthier revenues for GAA and for local economies.
Or am I dreaming again………..
John Mac says:
#richardmdg
I like the look of that format.
Willie the Post says:
Congrats on Saturdays victory but Kieran King from Knockmore, what happened to him ???
Mikey says:
12 counties have never won an All Ireland and 6 have never played in the final. Why we persist with a one size fits all is hard to believe.
Sligo are struggling to hold onto players and this must be related to their chances of success. In addition, the town has a strong soccer tradition and Sligo rugby have made strides in recent years. Both Sligo Rovers and Sligo RFC/ Connacht Development squads have required players to pick a sport during the important teenage years, which works against the gaa. This goes on in all counties but where there is a chance of success / profile there is more of a level playing field.
In my opinion, having a secondary competition would make a big difference but even recent Sligo captains have spoken out against it, so unsure what can be done.
We are Mayo says:
The championship is a bit like the English FA cup everyone gets a chance lose and you're out the last team unbeaten wins that's the way it's always been, it's up to every county to gradually better themselves like what Mayo has done in recent years
The provincial councils will never ever agree to a significant change in format because it will mean less coin for them. Financial incentives dominate decision making, not football considerations. Look at the Leinster Championship. County officials spent years voting to concede home advantage so that they could participate in a larger gate from Croke Park.
Justin Morgan says:
Willie the Post, Kieran King is playing away with Knockmore.
Not quite the same format as FA Cup. The pathway to semi final varies from province to province. But i do agree every county gets a shot at Sam. Losing a first round match should not be end of season. Remember, there is a real problem, how many teams can realisticaly win the All Ireland?
That comparison between the Championship and the FA Cup, while not fully accurate – as Ontheditch points out – is nonetheless historically relevant.
I think it was in one of Paul Rouse's books that I read it was the success of the FA Cup and the way that it captured the imagination of the public that persuaded the GAA and, in particular, Maurice Davin that national knockout competitions were needed in football and hurling. This thinking led directly to the establishment of the football and hurling Championships, which, in large, are with us in the same format today.
It was when soccer went professional in England that league football began (in 1888) and while the FA Cup retained its allure for another hundred years (finally waning in the Nineties after the Premier League was founded and big money began to pollute the game), the league was and has remained the main soccer competition to win.
By the time the GAA got around to starting league football, in 1925, the die was already cast. The Championship, for good and ill, had established its unshakeable position as the premier competition in the GAA.
Mayojoe says:
Very interesting piece Willie Joe.There's no doubt about it knockout competition is exciting, just watching Switzerland winning on penalties now reinforces that and we all say we hate penalty shootouts but they are exciting and we love to see the underdog winning.The difference between soccer and Gaelic football is the number of scores,one goal can win a soccer match so you are more likely to get an upset, whereas in GAA the better team usually wins.Whatever changes are made I want to see the Super 8s gone,too many games, dilutes the whole thing.The GAA is a democratic 32 county organisation so the weaker counties have an equal voice to top tier teams,so huge change is unlikely as every county feels they should be treated equally.Still think Provincial titles mean a lot to players and supporters whereas League titles don't seem to be as important.So we might be as well leave the system as it is.
Mayo88 says:
@Mayojoe, I have to admit that the 2020 Euros so far are providing better entertainment than the Gaa football championship this past 3 or 4 years, for one thing, there are at least 4 or 5 teams than can win the soccer tournament, we are turned off football this past few years as its a sure thing that the Dubs will always win out.
Mayo88 To be honest have only seen bits of Euros up to now. All the goals this evening that got me interested,soccer normally bores me to tears especially the Premiership. Rugby and Gaelic for me anyday and as for the Dubs love them except when they're playing us.


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Lowell Week in Review: April 24, 2016
April 24, 2016 by DickH Posted in Lowell 4 Comments
A family trip took me to Washington, DC last Sunday so I did not post a Week in Review. Since I returned, I've played catch up on the news but it doesn't seem like I missed too much locally. Still, there are a few items deserving of mention:
Proposed design for "new" Lord Overpass
Jeff Speck on Lord Overpass: Go Back to the Drawing Board
Internationally-known urban planning guru and one-time Lowell resident Jeff Speck stumbled upon the plans for the redesign of the Lord Overpass from afar and wrote a thoughtful blog post on the topic.
Speck is not impressed. Oh, he likes the proposal's idea of filling in the Overpass and raising Thorndike Street to the same grade as Appleton and Middlesex, but his fondness for the project ends there. He zooms in on the intended street layout and sees swooping curves and too-wide lanes that will encourage cars to drive too fast. He sees 'treeless concrete wedges, medians, and 'pork chops' designed to move traffic quickly" rather than pedestrians safely and enjoyably. He also condemns planners for wasting space on either side – the plan now calls for green space on either side – because Speck believes that buildings with businesses open to the public that touch the sidewalks and provide vertical definition are critical to a successful streetscape.
In perhaps his strongest indictment of the Lord Overpass plan, Speck presents an overhead photograph of the entrance to the parking lot of the Mall of America in Minnesota and shows how much the proposed Lord Overpass street layout resembles it.
Speck urges Lowell planners to look to the classic boulevard as a model for the remade overpass. He even provides a sketch of how it should look – at no charge – and offers the following as both a critique of the Lord Overpass plan and as suggestions for its improvement:
Walkable streets do not have swoops, slip lanes, pork chops, and other features that encourage drivers to make fast turns;
Walkable streets have narrow lanes, typically 10 feet wide—even for buses;
Walkable streets place continuous shade trees in any medians;
Walkable streets have parallel parking along every curb, to protect pedestrians (and potentially bikes) from moving traffic; and
Walkable streets are lined by buildings that give them life, and in urban locations these buildings are tall and sit directly against the sidewalk.
"All of the above criteria, in addition to making pedestrians feel welcome, contribute to an environment in which cars drive more safely. Students of urban form will recognize that they all come from studying the proper model, the classic boulevard."
Having heard Speck speak when he was last in Lowell, I know he has great affection for the city and what it has accomplished. His "tough love" approach here is meant to improve a concept that he readily acknowledges is a step in the right direction. I believe his blog post is a call to action for all of us, for as Speck says, "It is not too late for Lowell to embrace a model that will transform this site from a place that is easy to get through to a place worth arriving at."
City Council Activity
Like me, the council went on vacation last week, at least on Tuesday night. There was a meeting the previous Tuesday, April 12, which I haven't yet discussed (although I posted meeting notes that same evening). Here are the highlights of that April 12 meeting:
City Manager Murphy introduced the team from Skanska USA which will serve as the "clerk of the works" of the new Lowell High School project. Other than the introductions and some background about Skanska's experience in school construction (extensive), not much of substance regarding the process – like a construction time line or possible sites – was discussed.
Another interesting discussion arose from a seemingly innocuous request for travel funding. Unlike the typical request that sends a city employee to a conference or training somewhere, this one was to pay for airfare and hotel costs for City Councilor John Leahy to attend Congresswoman Niki Tsongas's 3rd District Day (for which Leahy was leaving the next day, I believe). An awkward silence was broken by Councilor Rita Mercier who questioned the propriety of the city paying for what she said "sounded like a junket." Rodney Elliott was mildly critical of the request, pointing out that when he and Councilor Mercier travelled to Cambodia two years ago, they paid their own way. Elliott's main point, though, was that nothing had been budgeted for something like this and this kind of ad hoc expenditure was not good fiscal policy. Mayor Kennedy and Councilor Samaras both spoke of the potential benefits to the city of such trips but seemed to concur that the council should establish a policy and some funding for future events like this. A motion to that effect passed as did Leahy's travel request, but not before Councilor Mercier demanded that he report back to the council at a future meeting on the benefits to the city that came from this trip. [We anxiously await that report].
There was also a council-initiated discussion on panhandling with councilors again expressing frustration about the continued complaints about panhandlers. As one of the commenters to my council meeting blog post observed, this is a complicated issue that needs "a multi-faceted strategy involving coordinated assistance and mitigation." As a starting point for this discussion, everyone should just accept as a given that one person has the right to ask another person for money. The Constitution as interpreted by the courts leaves no wriggle room on that issue, and efforts to get legislatively cute will just lead to more losing litigation and legal costs. Consistency is a good starting point when it comes to new ordinances: A city councilor who, as a candidate, will stand on a street corner with a campaign sign, waving at cars going by, but who as a councilor votes for a law that would ban someone else from holding a sign that asks for money while standing in the same spot and waving at the same cars, probably shouldn't be on the council in the first place.
Perhaps the best approach for the city to take is to copy its response to the opioid epidemic which is to throw everything imaginable at the problem: education, treatment, counseling, and enforcement of existing laws. Plus lots of meeting and lots of publicity. I'm not sure anything the city has done has made a dent in the opioid epidemic – the statistics don't show that happening – but at least everyone feels like we're DOING SOMETHING about it. With panhandling, it almost seems that the biggest problem is the feeling of impotency that the council has on the issue. More meetings, more discussions, more education, more forums, statistics on littering fines and jaywalking tickets, all of that stuff. It would make everyone at least feel that something was being done and, who knows, it might even help some of the panhandlers in a meaningful way.
Bob Forrant talking about Urban Renewal in Lowell
Lowell Walks 2016 Kickoff
The rain cleared just before the 10am start time of yesterday's Urban Renewal walk. Forty people joined UMass Lowell History Professor Bob Forrant on a walk through the Northern Canal Urban Renewal Project, now known as the UMass Lowell East Campus. The walk began at the University Suites dormitory at the corner of Aiken and Perkins Street with Bob displaying some poster-sized photographs of bulldozers plowing through the wood frame houses of Little Canada. From there, we walked up Pawtucket Street past Fox Hall to the Northern Canal, then down the north bank of the canal, past the Wannalancit Mills complex to the Jeanne d'Arc Credit Union headquarters. We ended up on the west lawn of the Tsongas Center, overlooking the Merrimack River. Urban Renewal was a federal program of the 1960s that paid cities to demolish "slums" (also known as people's homes) that is probably more controversial today than it was when implemented. Whatever one's opinions on the program might be, everyone can agree that Urban Renewal played an enormous role in shaping Lowell for at least a half century. If you want to learn more about the program and how it affected Lowell and other Merrimack Valley cities, Bob and his friends at the Lawrence History Center are holding an all-day symposium on the topic on Saturday, May 7, 2016. Check out the event's website for more information.
Vesna Nuon talking about Cambodians in Lowell at School St Cemetery
The Urban Renewal walk was not our only stroll through Lowell history yesterday. At 1:30, I was joined by Vesna Nuon in leading a Cambodiatown Walking tour that began at Clemente Park. This walk was organized by Lowell National Park as part of the Cambodian New Year celebration that took place at the park throughout the day. Twenty-four people joined this walk which talked about the history of the park (100 years ago it was the site of the most modern baseball stadium in America); then visited the School Street Cemetery; the site of the July 2014 fatal Branch Street fire; and the 1877 Branch Street fire station (the city's busiest). Across the street from that was the place where Lowell Police Officer Chris Rouses was shot and killed while responding to an armed robbery at Limby's Drug Store on November 17, 1987 (Officer Rouses and three other officers killed in the line of duty in earlier years are memorialized by the Christos G. Rouses Memorial, the sculpture of a police officer and a young boy located on JFK Plaza). The walked ended a Pailin Plaza, a vibrant neighborhood retail complex.
For 2016, Lowell Walks has plenty of downtown tours but has also branched out to the neighborhoods. To see the full schedule, check out the "Upcoming Events" section in the left column of this website (click "view all events" to see all the walks). To get weekly updates, add your email address in the "Sign Up for Lowell Walks Newsletter" box in the right column.
Below: You never know what you will encounter on a Lowell Walk.
Beaver damage to a tree on the West Lawn of Tsongas Center
4 Responses to Lowell Week in Review: April 24, 2016
Paul Early says: April 24, 2016 at 9:02 pm
Dick, thank you for this report. I agree fully about Jeff Speck's analysis of the Lord Overpass. Slips are difficult for pedestrians to navigate. Think about the parking garage on Market Street. The original Market Street project was meant to remove the traffic slips into the garage. But as I understand it there was some uproar about preserving the tree in front of the garage which meant keeping the slip. These slips are similar to my personal pet-peeve, the right hand turn arrow, especially where the city is trying to encourage pedestrians, i.e. Pawtucket and School Streets. This, in my opinion, makes drivers to become more anxious about getting through the light and forces pedestrians to stare down drivers into allowing them what should be the pedestrian's by right. And city councilors wonder why so many people jay walk?
There also should be parking along Thorndike at the Lord Overpass. This will encourage development of the land straddling the overpass. It also has a tendency to slow cars down. I am still not sure why we should be obsessed with moving cars quickly through Lowell. Should we be enabling people to get to NH or to Dracut? As I understand it, most of the Lord Overpass is going up Fletcher which quickly becomes one lane each way. As I see it, there will be a two minute savings by keeping the overpass auto-centric while keeping pedestrians as an afterthought. More pedestrians will bring more development whereas more cars brings more residents to Dracut and New Hampshire and more congestion in Lowell. I encourage everyone to send in comments to the city about the overpass. We need to make this area pedestrian friendly. Ten foot lanes are plenty wide enough for cars, buses and trucks. This will also free up more space for adequate parking, bike and pedestrian amenities. It may also free up more space for development.
Brian says: April 25, 2016 at 10:21 pm
Following Speck's plan to add street parking is the best thing that could happen to Sal's Thorndike St mill project. Lots of short term metered parking will be good for the two restaurants he plans on opening. The property value and tax revenue collected from the old mill will go up with Speck's plan. New parcels being created by Speck's plan that can defray costs is genius.
People are going to tie themselves in knots trying to say Speck's plan is not good while not trying to screw Sal Lupoli at the same time.
It's like arguing that biking is bad when every person on a bike is one less person in a car, contributing to congestion. Except Sal isn't some nameless loser on a bike.
WBUR is currently presenting reports on transportation issues, mostly inside route 128, but I find them quite informative. The following is a link to WBUR's main site: http://www.wbur.org. The articles are listed under their BOSTONOMIX section. The following site contains some of their poll results: http://www.wbur.org/2016/04/26/mcgee-ride-along-mass-traffic. One result that I find discouraging is that 34% of those polled would like to see highways widened in order to improve traffic problems.
Transportation is real problem in eastern Massachusetts and we need to find solutions that work locally and regionally to encourage alternatives to cars. I despair that there are no real regional alternatives other than the car. We should be thinking about making public transportation interconnecting with other gateway cities like Lawrence, Haverhill, and Worcester as well as places like Burlington, Woburn, Waltham, Somerville, Cambridge and Boston. One example is the Green line extension has no provision to meet up with the Lowell Line in Medford. This makes many places like Tufts much harder to reach.
Jack Walsh says: May 2, 2016 at 12:13 am
It's hard to come up with a reason to oppose the Speck plan. As Paul Early says, we don't gain anything by helping through traffic.
When I first moved to ATHM, I walked downtown on Dutton, which was just dreadful. Fortunately, cutting through the parking lots lets me avoid Dutton. I would be delighted to walk on a tree-lined Dutton, either to downtown or to the rail station.
If we think of extending downtown along Dutton and Thorndike, and through the Hamilton Canal development, the Lord Overpass plan — reimagined as the Speck plan — becomes completely obvious.


Still flipping kills me, though; if Vancouver hadn't axed that deal at the deadline, the Kings almost definitely wouldn't have won the Cup.
Hmm, I missed this little tidbit (bolded). Not surprised though.
You make a great point, the real issue was more Murray's trade deadline results, not so much the players (Penner - and I include Fasth) themselves. In a vacuum, neither of those moves warranted major concern at the time, but in hindsight I don't think either of those moves turned out to be as irrelevant as most expected them to be. He moved out Fasth, and goaltending became an issue as Hiller and the kids struggled. And he moved Penner while none of the kids progressed as hoped, none being able to provide Getz & Perry with a solid 3rd linemate. Getzy's line caught fire when Beleskey decided he was an Allstar, then fell off as soon as Matty was injured. It was further compounded by the fact that Murray wasn't able to bring a single upgrade to the front end, we could have used a #2C to take the pressure off Getzy, and a top six winger to fill the void. But hey, Murray did try, I give him credit for that.
I think your assessment of the Fasth deal is pretty harsh and one that you can only really say was bad with hindsight. No GM expects to lose their two starters. In fact, in general, if you lose your #1 GT your kind of f-ked, just look at MTL.
The only deal that gets my goat is the Kesler deal. Like you say, we could have used Kesler and could have been a real contender. However, given that the players and picks going the other way were, supposedly, much higher, it may just be a blessing in disguise.
We already have a bonafide #2 in Fowler, all he needs to do is round out his offensive game (ahem, learn to shoot) and he's a #1. I see Lindholm being a solid #2 D-man as well, not sure we actually need a #1 D-man if we have two solid #2's.
I'd be surprised if Lindholm doesn't develop into an elite #1 D-man. Meanwhile, Fowler will remain a strong #2. The only problem is that they both play on the left side. I would be all for playing Fowler and Lindholm together, but could easily see Vats playing will Fowler on the 2nd line in the next few years, but that still leaves that top #2 position. Needs to be filled, preferably with a RH shot.
Fasth was bad at the time and in hindsight IMO. It's not just the way things went in the playoffs, I think we'd be better served having an Andersen/Fasth tandem this season with Gibson playing the #1 role in Norfolk and available for injury relief and what-have-you. Fasth's contract would be up next summer and Andersen/Gibson should be a much more proven tandem by then. Still fuzzy on why Murray moved him at all.
Tough call on Kesler, maybe it is better to have waited and gotten him cheaper this summer, but what if he was the difference in the LA series? We could be talking the extra deadline cost buying a Stanley Cup! I could live with that.
I would have been willing to pay premium just to beat the stupid Kings.
I agree with you on Faust. I think a tandem of Andersen/Fasth would be more relia le. Something about having a veteran presence gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.
Gibson with the Admirals would also have given them a better competitve edge too. It also allows the big club to bring up the kids one at time.
And most importantly, Fasth deserves better than Edmonton. That blows.
Wouldn't have had to even play the Kings if Stoll didn't take out Vlasic the way he took out Fowler.
Yes it's a bit of a risk, but Fasth was having some injury problems....but I know he's awesome when healthy. I think Andersen/Gibson are going to flourish playing off eachother, should be exciting. I also believe Heatly will have a great year...he has a lot to prove and knew this was the place to do it.
Whilst I certainly prefer having Andersen play in front of a veteran GT, or, better yet, have Andersen player behind an elite, veteran GT, I don't think Fasth was that guy. As RogeyMod said, he's incredibly injury prone and we'd have lost at the end of this season for nothing. I stand by my statement that I think your assessment is pretty critical. Would Fasth really have made us that much better during the playoffs? I doubt it. What happens if BM signed Miller? Would you still complain that Fasth shouldn't have been traded?
Good point on Kesler though. He probably wasn't the difference maker tbh. Can't blame the GT for everything though. We needed better, more experienced D-men. Nabbing Girardi would have helped IMO, but I don't think he would taken us over the edge. Hopefully BM makes a similar move at this season deadline. I don't like LJ playing #2.
That's the upside with Stoner for sure, it'll be nice to have a badass on the back end again. Maroon is fine to chuck knuckles in my book though, that's a big part of his appeal.
I think it's fair to be critical, Murray traded Fasth due to the fact that he felt that Freddy the kid was ready for the pressure. He wasn't. It was a miscalculation on Murray's part, and I absolutely believe Fasth could have made a difference in the playoffs. Obviously there's no guaranteeing he would have, I have nothing to back that up but my winning smile, but Andersen cracked under pressure, Fasth is an older dude (32) and the guy was pretty much a veteran goalie in the tougher Swedish league before he came over. Not the NHL, I know, but comparing him to the rookie Andersen, I don't see how Murray "Mr. Insurance" was suddenly so willing to cut it so thin in a critical area just before the playoffs. It is good that he got a couple picks for Vik, but if Hiller is worth keeping and letting walk for nothing, then I think Vik's services would carry an equal value to those picks. He was injury prone, but so what? We call up Gibson as needed all the same.
Didn't like he trade then, don't like it now, but I can see both sides. Your points are all solid.
As much as I would love a designated brawler on this team, I don't like that it is Stoner. 1) I like the brawlers who can double as hockey players too. 2) And quite honestly this is the most important for the team, having a defenseman out for five minutes on an already questionable defense.
And since everyone on this board either hates Fowler or Allen, they will just get doubled shifted because of Stoner.
Then there is the question of Bruce. Bruce clearly is not a coach about fighting or getting vengeance for illegal hits. Which begs the point, why Stoner? Probably a philosophical organizational thing. BM (old fart hockey) vs BB (new fart hockey. something about speed, skills and not killing each other). My point is why use him as the bruiser? If anything, it should be a marginal 4th line player that is the bruiser. Something along the lines of Parros or May Day. Belesky fills that roll well. And if need be, Team Captain Maroon. None of them are great fighters in their own right, but there was a day when we gave Parros the win just for staying on his skates. Oh he was hilariously bad for a bit.
Also. If a defenseman wants to get cray-cray on a dude. That not so gentle giant Allen can go to pound town. Rare. But that one fight was soooo good.
 That other kid Fistric too. Heck. Allen, Fistric, Stoner. The latter two go for big hits. Fistric was benched against the Kings. Minnesota bemoans Stoners efforts in the playoffs. While Allen was probably the best defenseman come the playoffs for the Ducks.
STONER MAKES NO SENSE ZTHER! If he shuts me up (All-Star break, not having this Penner start strong then disappear nonsense), I will forcibly make my way down to the Pond and buy you a beer/cocktail/hotdog of your choice.
I wouldn't worry about Stoner too much, Vatanen is still our enforcer.
Seriously though, I don't think Stoner should be skating around without a stick shaking his gloves, itching for a fight. He needs to pick appropriate moments. But we've always had d-men that fight. Beauch, Sbisa, Fistric, even Allen hulked-out and pounded some little guy last season. Not long ago you could add Souray, Pronger, O'Donnell, Brookbank, DiPenta, Sutton (bad example maybe, if Stoner becomes Sutton 2.0 it doesn't bode well). It's just the fact that he's got that snarl and guys know he will get nasty if need be, he'll help keep teams honest, especially considering he'll most often be out there with our younger players.
After all the cheap shots every season that sideline our young players, I'm not saying Stoner should play enforcer and go after revenge, but maybe his presence alone will serve as some sort deterrent.
Well. With Pronger, O'Donnell, DiPenta (lol?) there was the other side of the coin. Scotty boy.
RC: Hey bro, you gotta out and cover another 3 minutes because of numbnuts in the box.
Scotty Boy: You swear like I don't got this on lock.
Anyway. I don't remember Pronger fighting. A walking two minute elbow suspension with possible further repercussions? Absolutely. Yet Scotty was there. Sean. Francois. Pff I even liked the marginally used Jackman.
Not a big fan of this team being down by a defenseman for 5 minutes. It's gonna happen for the two that will enviably happen. Just the 5 annoys me. As Stoner was suggested as the "go to guy" not a "HOLY CRAP BEAUCHEMIN BEAT IGNLA" rarity.
Haha, yeah, DiPenta was a stretch, but I recall a fight or two in his day with those quick rapid-fire punches. Pronger didn't fight? He was mean as hell, and huge, so he usually didn't need to, but I swear he had to have fought. Can't remember, too lazy to look it up.
I don't see the big deal though, d-men fight too, it happens. A couple guys get double-shifted and all is well. Heck, we may be better off with Stoner in the box lol.
I guess we disagree then. Tbh, I don't know how you can say that Fasth would have made a difference. He isn't an NHL veteran or elite. Heck, Hiller is an NHL veteran and even he played poorly at times. Heck, Miller is elite and look at what happened to him. Like you said, we can never know for sure if Fasth would have or wouldn't have made the difference, but I think given his 2.95 GAA + 0.855 SV% he had for us and the 2.73 GAA + 0.914 SV% he had for Edmonton during the season, I am going to lean towards the idea that he wouldn't have been that stellar and certainly wouldn't have taken us over the edge.
Now a the Kesler trade is another story.
Question though, what are your thoughts on Andersen going into this season. I mean, according to you, he cracked under the pressure. How's he going to manage this season? I don't remember you lobbying with me and Z for signing Miller or any other #1 veteran GT during the off-season. So I would assume that you are ok with Andersen playing as the #1.
I liked the trade then, and I still like it now. I just don't like having Andersen as our #1 and Gibson as our back-up. Too young for me, not enough experience and totally unproven in the role.
Miller at the deadline was intriguing, Miller now that he stunk it up in St Louis is less exciting. I have my doubts that he is ever going to be elite again after Lucic cranked him.
Though it's not my ideal, I'm OK with the kids this season only because they have last season's experience to draw on. By the time the playoffs come around again in 8 months or so, they should each have another training camp, preseason, and share the split of 82 regular season games (something like a 60/40% split?). I expect both to be fine for regular season games, that gives Murray plenty of time to assess where either is at and decide on picking up a reliable veteran goalie at the next trade deadline.


text:
Q: MapKit in iPhone: how to show grouped annotations? I would like to create an iPhone app that shows the map of the United States with annotations in different cities. When I zoom in a zone I would like to see annotations in single places (e.g. I see NewYork: 10 pictures, then I zoom in NY and I see 6 annotations in Central Park and  4 in 5th.avenue).
Has anyone already made a similar thing (like in the iPhone Photo application)?
Thanks in advance and greetings!