text:
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[QUOTE=Avi;5208140]I mean, the interest was pretty much punched out of them by editorial... so there is to hoping it might get better thanks to the changes DC is going through. Dick's writers up to Ric had good ideas. Even Percy was coming around after his first arc. The second someone glimpsed that writers wanted to do something bigger with Dick it was snuffed out.[/QUOTE]
I don't think many writers are that interested in Nightwing. So I have doubts it will get any better because I don't think Nightwing is positioned well in DC to produce good stories, but maybe I'll be wrong. Dunno. My gut tells me that come March, or whenever we get some announcements post Future State, that the Nightwing book is just going to be the same stuff. Since it has been a long time since Didio was let go and there has been zero evidence that DC looks at Nightwing any differently than they did before. I need to see some change before I believe it.
Even a Seeley didn't want to write Nightwing at first because he had to use stuff like Bludhaven and Blockbuster. It's a problem when a writer that was already writing the character is hesitant to continue writing him because of his baggage, and a Percy I had issues with because he mostly just had a story idea about technology and slapped Nightwing on it kind of awkwardly. Like with having Dick be anti-technology and technology illiterate to try and fit him in the story he wanted to tell. Obviously I would have much preferred that story over the Ric stuff though, lol.
I was actually thinking about Percy's run the other day because I reread the Who is Donna Troy story since I was in the mood to read an actual GOOD Dick Grayson story since it has been so long, haha. That is probably the last great Dick as Robin story ever made which is a bit sad, but in it I noticed how he used computers and even science to try and figure out Donna's mystery. There is actually a panel of him at a science station. It struck me how strange that felt because you don't see Dick like that anymore because of how diffused the Robin identity/characters are now were Dick gets pigeonholed into "the Robin that can do flips well" so him using computers or science are completely absent from his modern stories, but if you try and have him use computers or science now I bet readers would say it is out of place because they have been conditioned for so long to only read the character one way.
Konja7
[QUOTE=Tzigone;5207196]I agree completely. Ideally, two members of the same family should not date the same person. And I do ship him with Barbara, and wouldn't want magic to be a major part of his story, anyway. And I think it'd be better for Zee not to be mired in Bats.
Though, was she ever Batman's love interest in main-universe in continuity in the comics? I know she was in animated verse.[/QUOTE]
I think Bruce and Zatanna have a romance in main continuity. I didn't even know they have a romance in animated verse.
[QUOTE=Badou;5208519]I don't think many writers are that interested in Nightwing. So I have doubts it will get any better because I don't think Nightwing is positioned well in DC to produce good stories, but maybe I'll be wrong. Dunno. My gut tells me that come March, or whenever we get some announcements post Future State, that the Nightwing book is just going to be the same stuff. Since it has been a long time since Didio was let go and there has been zero evidence that DC looks at Nightwing any differently than they did before. I need to see some change before I believe it.
I was actually thinking about Percy's run the other day because I reread the Who is Donna Troy story since I was in the mood to read an actual GOOD Dick Grayson story since it has been so long, haha. That is probably the last great Dick as Robin story ever made which is a bit sad, but in it I noticed how he used computers and even science to try and figure out Donna's mystery. There is actually a panel of him at a science station. It struck me how strange that felt because you don't see Dick like that anymore because of how diffused the Robin identity/characters are now were Dick gets pigeonholed into "the Robin that can do flips well" so him using computers or science are completely absent from his modern stories, but if you try and have him use computers or science now I bet readers would say it is out of place because they have been conditioned for so long to only read the character one way.[/QUOTE]
Yeah. I've remembered people saying Dick as Robin in Young Justice takes from Tim, because he was good with technology.
Dick having a lively and laid back personality wasn't part of NTT either. He was pretty stoic and serious at that time.
Pohzee
Yeah using technology isn't a character trait you steal in this day an age. Unless someone decided to write Dick as Amish that is...
bearman
Does anyone know if Dick is slated to join the Justice League proper?
[QUOTE=Pohzee;5209404]Yeah using technology isn't a character trait you steal in this day an age. Unless someone decided to write Dick as Amish that is...[/QUOTE]
LoL, right.
[QUOTE=bearman;5209462]Does anyone know if Dick is slated to join the Justice League proper?[/QUOTE]Unlikely as long as Batman is on the team. He should either lead an adult Titans team... or maybe a secondary JLA team. But he won't even make the main JL roster as long as Bruce is there.
[QUOTE=Digifiend;5209817]Unlikely as long as Batman is on the team. He should either lead an adult Titans team... or maybe a secondary JLA team. But he won't even make the main JL roster as long as Bruce is there.[/QUOTE]
Whilst I agree, my new hot take is that next time they redo the League's origin then Dick should have been with it from the start. Batman And Robin, The Dynamic Duo.
I dont even want Nightwing on the League. That's Bruce's team, and Dick being there would likely only further cement the idea of Dick being nothing but Bat-lite.
I actually think Dick should be one of the League's greatest critics. Not someone who is just all anti-League all the time, but someone who won't be blinded by the League's fame and status, who understands the kind of pressure they face, and will not only expect the highest possible moral/ethical standards from them but also get in the League's face when the team starts to slip.
There aren't a ton of people who could stand in front of the Justice League and tell them they're not doing their jobs well enough, that they're letting things slide and compromising....and of the few who would actually say those things, Dick's one of the few who everyone would actually listen to.
CrimsonEchidna
[QUOTE=Godlike13;5207712]You mean like how Babs did all the work to bring him back, despite being rejected and attack by him. Dick should have to do some work to repair his relationship with the only person who seemed to give a shit and tried to help. But he's still Bea obsessed. He's all focused on keeping her in his life, and resentful towards pretty much everyone else.[/QUOTE]
Having read the issue proper it comes off as victim blaming, sorry. Dude got shot in the head, lost his memories, had his mind manipulated by the Court of Owls, and then Brainwashed into becoming Joker's henchman. I think it can be forgiven if he didn't act like himself through all of that.
There was a better way to write that scene. Like maybe have Babs acknowledge that she know she isn't being fair but she still needs some space and hopes Dick accepts that. I think that comes off way better than punching down over something he had no control over.
[QUOTE=CrimsonEchidna;5210326]Having read the issue proper it comes off as victim blaming, sorry. Dude got shot in the head, lost his memories, had his mind manipulated by the Court of Owls, and then Brainwashed into becoming Joker's henchman. I think it can be forgiven if he didn't act like himself through all of that.
There was a better way to write that scene. Like maybe have Babs acknowledge that she know she isn't being fair but she still needs some space and hopes Dick accepts that. I think that comes off way better than punching down over something he had no control over.[/QUOTE]
Babs was being way too self-righteous and ungrateful to practically everyone but the domestic terrorist boyfriend in that issue in my opinion.
What are you talking about, Ric was fine though. He wasn't a victim. Ric was just who he was, and who he still wants to be :p. She's the jerk for wanting him back, but there is no accountability for him being a weak willed moron, criticizing everyone for not accepting who he was and what he wanted, while playing puppet boy to everyone and trying to kill her. Ric the perpetual victim. That didn't see himself as a victim, and rejected anyone who did. Even with his memories back Dick resents them, and pretty much anyone that isn't Bea.
Dude tried to kill her cause him and his girlfriend were too delusional and insensitive to listen to her in the first place and guilted her off. Ya he was brainwashed, but that's exactly my point. He was messed in the head to begin with. First Babs is criticized and guilt tripped for not accepting Ric, now she's being mean for not giving Dick a pass for what he did as Ric. Just like she's the bad guy for wanting him to be himself. It's ridiculous. What, she should just continue to be subservient to Nightwing's writers whims. They conveniently contort Babs to help the express what they want to forcefully impose on readers, but it's Ric's writers stupid narrative with here that you guys are defending here lol.
That whole issue was heavy handed in execution, but I still respect the intent there. Other creators should push back against Nightwing's current crap. What Babs tells him is actually rather meta. He's got his memories back, yet he still wants to be like Ric. The only thing that has been recognizable about his character in his book is the suit he didn't want to put on. And if they want to get readers interested in him again they need to do the work then with him. Prove that he's not just a haven for bad creative, and put in the work to produce things of actual quality with him.
From the start of Ric Babs was the audience surrogate there, and they treated the audience like poop, well now his audience surrogate is just telling him what needs to be done for him to be a viable character again. Just take what she tells him and apply the audience to it. You want an audience back in your life. Do the work. Earn their friendship. Maybe even ditch the constant reminder that is Bea. Otherwise people have other stuff to do.
WonderNight
[QUOTE=Rac7d*;5207790]Babs doesn't do that Batman does[/QUOTE]What? Everything about babs is gotham and Batman, that's her life. Even her superhero id has bat in it same as batman and she lives and works in gotham. So please tell me how babs does not lock dick into gotham and doesn't get in the way of dick independence? And no "I like them together" is not an answer.
Rac7d*
[QUOTE=WonderNight;5210633]What? Everything about babs is gotham and Batman, that's her life. Even her superhero id has bat in it same as batman and she lives and works in gotham. So please tell me how babs does not lock dick into gotham and doesn't get in the way of dick independence? And no "I like them together" is not an answer.[/QUOTE]
Oracle and Nightwing have worked together out side of Gotham
Collaboration with the Titans
Only Bruce centers dick in Gotham
I agree there's no place for Dick on the League with Bruce these. But Bucec is hugely overexposed... let his protege step in, do everything Batman does on the team, and do it with good humor and grace. MUCH better team dynamics.


Are you learning Dutch but still struggling with pronunciation? Do you keep making the same mistakes with sounds and want to improve your pronunciation? Our speech therapists can help you!
Every Thursday from 12.30 - 1.30 p.m.
Please note: there will be no open consultation hour on Thursday 25 April, 2 May and 30 May.
During the free consultation hours, we can make a personal action plan together with you for resolving your speech problems.
You are at least at CEFR A2+ level, but the course is also available for participants with a higher level.
Our speech support is related to teaching and therefore isn't covered by health insurance policies.
You can use the DUO loan to pay for the training to prepare for the State Examination in Dutch as a Second Language (level B2) or Staatsexamen NT2 .
The basic pronunciation training modules together cost € 350. The training can obviously be broadened on the basis of your personal goals. Contact us or come along to our consultation hour and we will be pleased to discuss the possibilities.
Material from the Language Centre is included in the price.
Last modified: 21 December 2018 10.19 a.m.


text:
Международный аэропорт Гвадалахары (), официальное название Международный аэропорт Гвадалахары имени Мигеля Идальго-и-Костилья () — главный аэропорт города Гвадалахара в штате Халиско, Мексика.  Находится в 16 км к югу от центра города.

Аэропорт открылся в 1966 году и занимает третье место среди аэропортов страны после Мехико и Канкуна. Пассажиропоток в 2014 году составил 8 733 500 человек.
Аэропорт является частью государственной компании , которая управляет двенадцатью аэропортами в стране, включая в Агуаскальентес, Эрмосильо, Ла-Пас, Леоне, Лос-Кабос, Лос-Мочис, Мансанильо, Мехикали, Морелии, Пуэрто-Вальярте и Тихуане.

Общие сведения

Аэропорт Гвадалахара обслуживает около 48 тысяч внутренних, 36 тысяч международных и трёх тысяч чартерных рейсов в год. Основные направления аэропорта — города Мексики, США и Канады. Порт имеет две взлётно-посадочные полосы и четыре пассажирских терминала, что позволяет осуществлять более 40 взлётов/посадок самолётов в час с суммарной пропускной способностью всех терминалов более 1400 пассажиров в час.

Аэропорт расположен в 16 километрах к югу от Гвадалахары в небольшом городке Tlajomulco de Zúñiga. Здания аэропорта постоянно находятся в состоянии строительства и реконструкции, в настоящее время закончены фасадные работы, построено новое крыло для обслуживания пассажиров международных маршрутов и торговая зона для магазинов и ресторанов быстрого питания.

Терминалы, авиакомпании

Терминал 1

Терминал 2

Внутренние рейсы

Грузовые

Сервис и услуги

Отели
Аэропорт Гвадалахара предоставляет пассажирам сервис отеля Casa Grande, который расположен между главным зданием аэровокзала и грузовым терминалом и соединён с Терминалом 1 телескопическим переходом. Отель предлагает услуги бизнес-центра, восемь конференц-залов, доступ в Интернет, факсимильную связь, копировально-множительные работы а также услуги переводчика-секретаря.

В пяти километрах от аэропорта в сторону Гвадалахары строится ещё одна гостиница — Hotel Hampton inn Aeropuerto. Остальные отели расположены минимум в 20 минутах езды от аэропорта.

Прокат автомашин
В терминалах аэропорта услуги по прокаты автомобилей предлагают следующие фирмы:
 Aries
 Budget
 Dollar
 Econorent
 Hertz
 National
 Ohana
 Optima

Ссылки
 Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico
 Aeropuerto de Guadalajara
 Guadalajara International Airport
 Grupo Aeroportuario del Pácifico
 AeropuertosMexico.com (in English)
 The Airport Guide: Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Intl (GDL/MMGL)

 FlightAware U.S. airport activity to/from: Don Miguel Hidalgo Y Costilla Int'l (MMGL)
 A-Z World Airports: Don Miguel Hidalgo Airport (GDL/MMGL)

Гвадалахара (Мексика)
Аэропорты Мексики, названные в честь людей

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Do you know what Jesus Christ looked like?
Monsignor Charles Pope offers some thoughts about the appearance of Jesus Christ.
Here's what you might see if you met Jesus Christ.
Ray Downing created this image; please visit his website for more information and to get prints of this wonderful image.
As part of God's plan of sheer goodness, the Father sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ as Redeemer and Savior (CCC 1). In the Incarnation (meaning, the 'act of being made flesh'), God purposefully chose to come to Man (CCC 456). By becoming flesh, Jesus demonstrates God's love (CCC 458), so that Man might have a perfect model of how to love God and neighbor (CCC 459) and so that Man might be able to participate in God's divine nature, becoming adopted children of God (CCC 460).
The Church places a great emphasis on the importance of Christ's physical body. "Since the Word became flesh in assuming a true humanity, Christ's body was finite. Therefore the human face of Jesus can be portrayed…" (CCC 476). "At the same time the Church has always acknowledged that in the body of Jesus "we see our God made visible and so are caught up in love of the God we cannot see." The individual characteristics of Christ's body express the divine person of God's Son. He has made the features of his human body his own, to the point that they can be venerated when portrayed in a holy image, for the believer "who venerates the icon is venerating in it the person of the one depicted" (CCC 477).
Is this a photo of Jesus?
Read about Ray Downing's remarkable work on creating the image of the Man on the Shroud of Turin; is this a "photo" of Jesus Christ?
Could the Shroud of Turin reveal the real face of Jesus Christ?


The industry's premium quality electric lift table! This table is powerful enough to be the workhorse of your business and is the strongest table in the PetLift line. The Low Rider reduces stress for the animal with it's easy walk-on and walk-off feature, while also offering back-saving relief to the handler. Table lowers to just 12" off the ground and raises to 42" at full height extension.


Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas said Roberto Soldado is not guaranteed to start against Liverpool on Sunday despite scoring his first hat-trick for the club against Anzhi Makhachkala.
The striker scored three in the 4-1 win with Spurs already having topped Europa League Group K prior to kick-off.
"We have to think about it," said Villas-Boas of Soldado's chances.
"It's a bit premature. We always wanted to give this game to Roberto after two games in a row for Jermain Defoe."
Fellow striker Defoe has started Tottenham's two previous Premier League games, where they have beaten Sunderland and Fulham.
"Jermain was deserving of his chance as well," added Villas-Boas. "Now it's about putting the best possible strategy of the game and seeing what we can do.
"What this will help is put the player back with confidence with his final touch and a striker always lives off goals so it's extremely important."
Soldado has faced criticism for his lack of goals since signing for £26m from Valencia in the summer.
But his opening two goals were the 28-year-old's first from open play at White Hart Lane before he slotted home a second-half penalty to take his season's tally to seven.
Lewis Holtby was also on the scoresheet as Tottenham qualified as one of two teams with a 100% group-stage record.
Villas-Boas said that the victory continued his side's rehabilitation after their 6-0 defeat by Manchester City last month.
Their unbeaten run is now five games ahead of the Premier League clash with second-placed Liverpool on Sunday.
"It was good response," he said. "We were focused on getting a result and the performance did go our way.
"We were sure of our talent and our responsibility to give something back to the fans."
Tottenham are sixth in the Premier League, eight points behind leaders Arsenal and three points behind Liverpool.
"We are going to a big game with Liverpool that can really put us back into our momentum," Villas-Boas added.
"The Premier League is very tight so to gather three points we can join the teams at the top - if we do that we can be completely back on track."
Given that his side and Anzhi had already progressed to the knockout stages, Villas-Boas said he was delighted with his team's dedication.
And the former Porto coach said he wanted to avoid the Portuguese side, with whom he won the Europa League in 2011.
He said: "I know the team I would not like to face would be Porto. There are some big teams, and with teams from Champions League you get some bigger teams, so hopefully we can get a good draw."


text:
WHO Report on Drug-Resistant TB Paints Unsettling Picture
By Guest Writer on March 22, 2010 .
What is more worrisome when it comes to drug-resistant TB: What we do know about the epidemic? Or what we don't know?
The latest World Health Organization report on the epidemic provides plenty of both—some grim facts and some disconcerting question marks. Take these nuggets:
*A shocking 41 percent of countries cannot provide reliable data on the scope of drug-resistant TB within their borders, according to the report, on the eve of World TB Day.
*The up-to-date tools needed to diagnose drug-resistant TB are not available in more than half of the 27 countries most heavily affected by multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB).
*An estimated 440,000 new cases of MDR-TB emerge each year, but only 7 percent of those cases are actually being detected. And even fewer are being treated. One-third of the estimated new cases each prove fatal. As for extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB), there's even less information.
In many of the places that do report good data, the WHO found MDR-TB at record levels; in one region of northwestern Russia, for example, 28 percent (more than 1 in four) new TB cases involved a strain of the bug that could not be treated with standard TB medicines. Other places could be even worse. But poor surveillance, inadequate laboratories, and antiquated diagnostics obscure the full scope of the threat.
Dr. Mario Raviglione, Director of the WHO Stop TB Department, and Dr. Marcos Espinal, Executive Secretary of the Stop TB Partnership, ran through some of this data in a briefing for TB advocates and experts in Washington today. They also highlighted the lack of adequate funding or political commitment to TB, saying this urgent global health threat simple was not getting the attention it requires.
Dr. Raviglione said Europe is "de facto" asleep when it comes to TB, no UN leader "has ever recognized TB as a priority," and no rich countries have ever launched a presidential-level initiative to combat the disease. They two WHO officials commended U.S. leadership on TB but said much more needs to be done here and around the world.
Click here to see the full WHO report.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged Marcos Espinal, Mario Raviglione, MDR-TB, WHO, XDR TB on March 22, 2010 .
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: Closing database connections in Java I am getting a little confused. I was reading the below from Java Database Connectivity:
Connection conn = DriverManager.getConnection(
     "jdbc:somejdbcvendor:other data needed by some jdbc vendor",
     "myLogin",
     "myPassword" );

Statement stmt = conn.createStatement();
try {
    stmt.executeUpdate( "INSERT INTO MyTable( name ) VALUES ( 'my name' ) " );
} finally {
    // It's important to close the statement when you are done with it
    stmt.close();
}

Do you not need to close the conn connection?
What is really happening if the conn.close() doesn't occur?
I have a private web application I'm maintaining that doesn't currently close either form, but is the important one really the stmt one, the conn one, or both?
The site keeps going down intermittently, but the server keeps saying it's a database connection issue. My suspicion is that it's not being closed, but I don't know which, if any, to close.

A: It is always better to close the database/resource objects after usage.
Better close the connection, resultset and statement objects in the finally block.
Until Java 7, all these resources need to be closed using a finally block. If you are using Java 7, then for closing the resources, you can do as follows.
try(Connection con = getConnection(url, username, password, "org.postgresql.Driver");
    Statement stmt = con.createStatement();
    ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery(sql);
) {

    // Statements
}
catch(....){}

Now, the con, stmt and rs objects become part of try block and Java automatically closes these resources after use.

A: Yes, you need to close Connection. Otherwise, the database client will typically keep the socket connection and other resources open.

A: When you are done with using your Connection, you need to explicitly close it by calling its close() method in order to release any other database resources (cursors, handles, etc.) the connection may be holding on to.
Actually, the safe pattern in Java is to close your ResultSet, Statement, and Connection (in that order) in a finally block when you are done with them. Something like this:
Connection conn = null;
PreparedStatement ps = null;
ResultSet rs = null;

try {
    // Do stuff
    ...

} catch (SQLException ex) {
    // Exception handling stuff
    ...
} finally {
    if (rs != null) {
        try {
            rs.close();
        } catch (SQLException e) { /* Ignored */}
    }
    if (ps != null) {
        try {
            ps.close();
        } catch (SQLException e) { /* Ignored */}
    }
    if (conn != null) {
        try {
            conn.close();
        } catch (SQLException e) { /* Ignored */}
    }
}

The finally block can be slightly improved into (to avoid the null check):
} finally {
    try { rs.close(); } catch (Exception e) { /* Ignored */ }
    try { ps.close(); } catch (Exception e) { /* Ignored */ }
    try { conn.close(); } catch (Exception e) { /* Ignored */ }
}

But, still, this is extremely verbose so you generally end up using an helper class to close the objects in null-safe helper methods and the finally block becomes something like this:
} finally {
    DbUtils.closeQuietly(rs);
    DbUtils.closeQuietly(ps);
    DbUtils.closeQuietly(conn);
}

And, actually, the Apache Commons DbUtils has a DbUtils class which is precisely doing that, so there isn't any need to write your own.

A: It is enough to close just Statement and Connection. There is no need to explicitly close the ResultSet object.
Java documentation says about java.sql.ResultSet:

A ResultSet object is automatically closed by the Statement object that generated it when that Statement object is closed, re-executed, or is used to retrieve the next result from a sequence of multiple results.

Thanks BalusC for comments: "I wouldn't rely on that. Some JDBC drivers fail on that."

A: Actually, it is best if you use a try-with-resources block and Java will close all of the connections for you when you exit the try block.
You should do this with any object that implements AutoClosable.
try (Connection connection = getDatabaseConnection(); Statement statement = connection.createStatement()) {
    String sqlToExecute = "SELECT * FROM persons";
    try (ResultSet resultSet = statement.execute(sqlToExecute)) {
        if (resultSet.next()) {
            System.out.println(resultSet.getString("name");
        }
    }
} catch (SQLException e) {
    System.out.println("Failed to select persons.");
}

The call to getDatabaseConnection is just made up.  Replace it with a call that gets you a JDBC SQL connection or a connection from a pool.

A: Yes. You need to close the resultset, the statement and the connection. If the connection has come from a pool, closing it actually sends it back to the pool for reuse.
You typically have to do this in a finally{} block, such that if an exception is thrown, you still get the chance to close this.
Many frameworks will look after this resource allocation/deallocation issue for you. e.g. Spring's JdbcTemplate. Apache DbUtils has methods to look after closing the resultset/statement/connection whether null or not (and catching exceptions upon closing), which may also help.

A: Even better would be to use a Try With Resources block
try (Connection connection = DriverManager.getConnection(connectionStr, username, password)) {
    try (PreparedStatement statement = connection.prepareStatement(query)) {
        statement.setFetchSize(100);
        try (ResultSet resultSet = statement.executeQuery()) {
            List<String> results = new ArrayList<>();
            while (resultSet.next()) {
                String value = resultSet.getString(1);
                results.add(value);
                System.out.println(value);
            }
            return results;
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Localized, renewable energy solutions needed to electrify underserved communities
Cebu City—Renewable energy systems tailored fit per locality are the best solutions to rising fossil fuel prices and energy poverty across the Philippines.
This was highlighted by Cebu-based clean energy advocate Jovie Gil Montajes during the third episode of Klima Ug Kalikupan, a joint webcast series by Cebu Technological University (CTU) and The Climate Reality Project Philippines.
Montajes is a Climate Reality Leader and the founder of Light Of Hope PH, a grassroots movement that aims to help mitigate climate change and uplift the lives of the less privileged off-the-grid communities through the use of clean renewable energy technologies.
"All renewable energy sources are good, but we need to design the solution depending on the locality. While solar is good for some island communities, it will not be good for island communities where there is thick vegetation that will cover solar panels," Montajes said during the webcast. "That's why it should be a localized solution based on the needs of the community. We need to fully understand the problem before building a solution," he added.
Energy poverty in the country
According to Montajes, approximately 2.4 million Filipinos still do not have access to electricity, including 500,000 families in the Visayas.
He shared that families in off-grid c0muunitis are spending up to 50 pesos per day for buying gas and paying for charging mobile devices. Families in urban marginalized communities have to pay 5-10 pesos per charge at least twice a day for one device. On average, there are 2-3 mobile devices at home.
"If you look at the island communities, the worst scenario is that they are tapping on diesel or gasoline-powered generators, which only run from 6 to 10 PM every day. And because gasoline is expensive, they have to pay at least 10 to 15 pesos to charge their mobile phones, on top of having to buy kerosene to use for their house," he said, explaining the burden brought by the fossil-fuel-dominated power system.
Cloudgrid solutions
To provide sustainable clean energy access for less privileged and off-the-grid communities, Light of Hope PH deploys Cloudgrid units which are solar-powered generator sets equipped with a built-in IoT monitoring system for energy usage and GPS locations.
Through the Cloudgrid units, Montajes said that beneficiary communities can access clean energy 24 hours a day for lighting and mobile charging. He added that Cloudgrid units can reduce 130 kg of CO2 emissions per year, equivalent to planting six trees.
"For our beneficiaries, they only need to subscribe for the Cloudgrid units for ten pesos a day, which covers maintenance," he said. "As of now, we were able to reduce 6.845 kg of CO2 emissions with the 53 Cloudgrid units deployed, directly impacting the lives of 265 people," he added.
Montajes said that they are targeting to serve 1,000 households in island communities in Cebu, Bohol, and Mindanao, which would approximately impact the lives of 5,000 people and reduce 130,000 kg of CO2 emissions per year equivalent to planting 6,190 trees.
The production and deployment of one Cloudgrid unit cost PhP10,000.00. Individuals and organizations could help fund Cloudgrid units by donating at https://lightofhopeph.org/#donate.
energy transition, klima ug kalikupan, light of hope ph, renewable energy


The Danish Embassy organised a seminar called Heat Networks for Social Housing on 5 October 2017 at the Embassy in London. The event was open to Local Authorities and Housing Associations and around fifty people attended. Fuel poverty and heating costs are important issues for tenants and social housing providers. This free seminar aimed to help social landlords improve the heating efficiency of their housing stock. The event offered insights to the practical ways for new and existing estates to reach low and zero carbon using heat networks (district heating), bringing in the experience of Danish companies as well as UK examples.
- The creation of dedicated schemes on site and how their development can be financed, plus the proposal that social landlords should be able to more easily access the £320m Heat Networks Investment Project (HNIP).
- Metering and billing - what is happening to the Regulations, and how the data can help find operational efficiencies.
- How there are still resources left in the Energy Company Obligation, with information from a leading energy supplier.
- Relevant policies and heat technologies such as co-generation, biomass and heat pumps.
If you are interested in more information, then please email Ian Manders at the Danish Embassy on ianman@um.dk.


text:
Uber investigates "total compromise" of its internal systems
Ride-hailing giant Uber is investigating a cybersecurity breach by a hacker who claims to have stolen sensitive data from the company's internal systems.
The New York Times first reported the incident, explaining that Uber took several of its internal communication systems, including Slack and engineering systems, offline to investigate the scope of the attack.
A source told the publication Uber employees received a Slack message Thursday from an unknown sender, saying they were a hacker and "Uber has suffered a data breach."
The person provided a number of internal databases that they claimed to have hacked.
They appear to have compromised an employee's Slack app and used it to relay the message to other employees. Uber decided to take the Slack system completely offline in response, the report said.
The attacker was apparently able to use their Slack access to reach other internal company systems, according to an explicit image posted to an internal employee information page.
The person sent screenshots from emails, cloud storage, and code repositories to both The New York Times and cybersecurity researchers.
The person said they texted an Uber employee pretending to be a member of the company's IT department. They were able to convince the employee to provide a password that would give them access to Uber's systems.
Jake Moore, global cyber consultant at ESET, said the allegation "highlights once again the importance of training employees to stay alert and be able to identify and verify targeted phishing attempts, before handing out any credentials."
Deryck Mitchelson, Field CISO at Check Point, said, "There are solutions that can actively protect against sophisticated phishing techniques like this, but it's also absolutely critical that organizations take the time to educate their employees about the threat."
The hacker claims to be 18 and said the company's lax security measures were the reason they were able to access Uber's servers. They also advocated higher compensation for Uber drivers in the Slack message.
Sam Curry, a security engineer at Yuga Labs who spoke with the hacker, said they had "pretty much full access to Uber."
"As it stands, it's a total compromise."
bleeding computer says it contacted the attacker and saw screenshots showing access to Uber's IT systems, including the company's security software and Windows domain.
The screenshots also indicate that the hacker has access to the Google Workspace email admin dashboard, VMware ESXi virtual machines, the AWS console and the Slack server.
An Uber spokesman said the company is investigating the incident and is in contact with law enforcement.
We are currently responding to a cybersecurity incident. We are in contact with law enforcement and will post further updates here as they become available.
— Uber Comms (@Uber_Comms) 09/16/2022
This isn't the first time Uber has been hit by a data breach.
The company came under fire for failing to properly report a data breach in 2016 that affected 57 million passengers and drivers. Uber eventually paid the hackers $100,000 to cover the breach and it wasn't released until the second half of 2017.
US federal prosecutors have meanwhile charged the company's former security officer, Joe Sullivan, with attempting to cover up the incident.
They state that he "has instructed his team to strictly control knowledge of the 2016 breach." Sullivan has denied the allegations against him.


The Cessna 180 Skywagon respectively Cessna 185 Skywagon is a single-engine four or six-seat light utility and touring aircraft produced by the US-American manufacturer Cessna Aircraft Company.
Total Production: 180=6210, 185=4339. Based on Cessna 170B but is eqquiped with a more powerfull engine. Was also available with floats.


text:
Q: How to efficiently add sparse matrices in Python I want to know how to efficiently add sparse matrices in Python.
I have a program that breaks a big task into subtasks and distributes them across several CPUs. Each subtask yields a result (a scipy sparse matrix formatted as: lil_matrix).
The sparse matrix dimensions are: 100000x500000 , which is quite huge, so I really need the most efficient way to sum all the resulting sparse matrices into a single sparse matrix, using some C-compiled method or something.

A: Have you tried timing the simplest method?
matrix_result = matrix_a + matrix_b

The documentation warns this may be slow for LIL matrices, suggesting the following may be faster:
matrix_result = (matrix_a.tocsr() + matrix_b.tocsr()).tolil()


The images below summarize the steps used to go from the initial photograph to the final image as described in the video above.
U R GREAT in Your work.
This looks really smooth, Alex. Thanks once again.
Any plans for more post-production tuts (photoshop)? A couple of modeling tuts in sketchup would be nice too. I mean, sketchup is a fairly simple software, but you seam to be able to model not so simple geometry with it. I would be really nice to see a couple of tuts, perhaps covering your usual workflow. Think about it.
Great stuff Alex, thanks for sharing. Could you please make a tutorial showing some scanned-sketch post editing for portfolios and presentation boards? Thanks again!
what technique do you use to accomplish the wave form with the paper?
Hot glue, card stock paper, and a coffee at 12:00 midnight.
Appreciate it and all the best!
You are so helpful. Thank you for saving my career as an Architecture Student. Your blog is so relevant and not filled with stuff that I don't need to know.


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text:
Qatar's new exit permit grievance panel gets 500 complaints in a month
By Shabina S. Khatri
Expats seek help with exit permit problems.
Some 500 Qatar residents have sought help from the government after their employers denied them permission to leave the country over the past month.
The country's Ministry of Interior set up an Exit Permit Grievance Committee in mid-December after new labor reforms took effect.
Since then, it has met almost a dozen times and resolved some 321 cases. That's about 64 percent of the petitions.
Photo for illustrative purposes only.
In a statement, the MOI said that 20 exit permits were issued immediately. And another 296 were granted after "friendly coordination" with employers.
But the MOI added that 177 applications had issues that were beyond the scope of the committee.
This included petitions filed by expats who quit their jobs by fleeing their employers (labeled "absconders" under the law) and people who face travel bans.
Flawed system
The government noted that once it got involved, employers were usually willing to grant the exit permits fairly quickly.
However, Qatar has come under fire from rights groups over the past month for not removing its exit permit requirement in the first place.
This was not initially the plan.
When it was signed by the Emir, Law No. 21 of 2015 on the entry, exit, and residence of expatriates stated that an automated system would be set up under the MOI to grant "leave certificates" for expats.
However, an amendment to the law was approved this month to keep control of exit permits under one's employer.
Any expats who have trouble leaving the country can appeal to the new Exit Permit Grievance Committee.
This can be done by visiting a government services complex or a police station.
The committee must respond to requests for an exit permit within 72 hours of a complaint being lodged, although it may be sooner, especially in emergency situations.
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text:
Meet Lottie Moss, Kate Moss's 13-Year-Old Sister and Future Model
All of 13, Charlotte Moss has reportedly signed to her sister's agency, and Mario Testino may shoot her.
Isabel Wilkinson
Rui Viera, PA Wire / Landov
When Kate Moss wed Jamie Hince in Gloucestershire in early July, she arrived in a silver Rolls-Royce, glittered in a John Galliano dress, and smiled for pictures by Mario Testino. During the ceremony, she was surrounded by 15 towheaded flower girls, each in a white eyelet dress and flower crown. But one stood out from the rest: Charlotte, Kate's 13-year-old sister, who stood quietly in the back row, towering over the other girls.
Now it's her moment. Known as "Lottie" to her family, the teenager has just completed her first photo shoot, called a "test shoot," organized by Storm, the British modeling agency that discovered her older sister at 14 as she strolled through John F. Kennedy airport. When the photos hit the Internet late last week, the blogosphere exploded with excitement.
She has her older sister's wide-set eyes, high cheekbones, porcelain skin, and slender nose. In the black-and-white photos, shot by frequent Vogue contributor Andrea Carter-Bowman, the 13-year-old sits on a wooden stool in a series of outfits: short-shorts, platform heels, leather pants, and a pair of studded go-go boots. Though the photos are far from sexual, Lottie wears thick mascara as she flashes the camera a come-hither stare.
Now several agencies are reportedly rushing to sign the younger Moss. "It's early days, really," Peter Moss, father to Kate and Lottie, told the Daily Mail. But despite intense interest, it seems he's already committed to the agency that discovered Kate. "Storm felt that it was worth giving Lottie a test shoot and seeing how she turned out. She had a lovely time and she seemed to come out quite well—so everybody's happy."
Lottie is the daughter of Peter and his second wife, Inger. She's reportedly already helped out around the house, modeling vintage clothes at the family's store in West Sussex. As fashion expert Karen Kay told the Daily Mail: "She's the full package. If she plays her cards right, she could eclipse Kate."
For now, Peter says, the family isn't rushing into anything—as Lottie has yet to turn 14. Apparently, they're entrusting everything to the agent that discovered Kate, Sarah Doukas. "It will all be left to Sarah and Simon to decide what the best way ahead is," he said, explaining that they're going to strategize about next steps in Lottie's career in the coming months—possibly for Christmas. Mario Testino is rumored to be lined up to photograph Lottie next.
This year, high-end fashion labels have embraced pretty young things like never before. Though runway models have an age minimum of 16, there are no regulations that dictate age in editorial spreads and ads. As The Daily Beast first reported, Miu Miu chose Hailee Steinfeld, the 14-year-old star of True Grit, as the face of its fall 2011 campaign. Thirteen-year-old Elle Fanning appeared in Marc Jacobs ads, and 10-year-old French sensation Thylane Blondeau caused a stir with her racy photographs.
But for Peter Moss, there's no question Lottie should make the most of her talent—despite her tender age. "You have to take advantage of any opportunities that come along, haven't you?" he said. "If things work out for Lottie and she eventually gets some work, it could help in her future. It's getting harder and harder to get jobs, university and things like that—so if she can get a couple of jobs early on and get something behind her, maybe it makes life easier."


YouTube trailers for Dundee: The Son Of A Legend Returns Home had viewers laughing and scratching their heads in equal measure: What was McBride doing playing the American son of Paul Hogan's classic outback maverick alongside Aussie A-listers Chris Hemsworth, Margot Robbie, Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe?
Tourism Australia went to a lot of effort to keep the hoax a secret until its reveal at the Super Bowl. Many thought it was a real movie.
The teaser trailer pretended it was an actual movie, coming to cinemas in 2018.
We now know the trailer was all part of a cheeky ad campaign from Tourism Australia to encourage Americans to come Down Under after it aired during the Super Bowl.
The move was part of a strategy to target high value, or high spending travellers, rather than targeting the mass market.
Tourism Australia has invested $36m in the campaign, which is the tourism body's largest investment in the US market since Paul Hogan, the original Crocodile Dundee, fronted the iconic Come Say G'Day ads more than 30 years ago.


text:
Canadians who partied without masks on flight allowed to leave Mexico
Canadian passengers who filmed themselves partying without masks aboard a chartered flight from Montreal to Mexico on 30th December have finally returned home
Sunwing Airlines cancelled the return charter flight from Cancun on January 4, while Air Transat and Air Canada were both refusing to carry the passengers
On Twitter, Air Transat said the "disruptive passengers" from the Sunwing flight had been trying to return home on its flights, but were denied boarding based on the company's obligation to ensure passenger and crew safety
CANCUN, Mexico: Canadian passengers who filmed themselves partying without masks aboard a chartered flight from Montreal to Mexico on 30th December have finally returned home, after three airlines are refusing to fly them home.
Sunwing Airlines cancelled the return charter flight from Cancun scheduled for January 4, while Air Transat and Air Canada were both refusing to carry the passengers, who were branded as "idiots" by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
On Twitter, Air Transat said the "disruptive passengers" from the Sunwing flight had been trying to return home on its flights, but were denied boarding based on the company's obligation to ensure passenger and crew safety.
Meanwhile, Air Canada issued a statement that said, "To the extent that we can identify the passengers who were part of the group, Air Canada is denying boarding to ensure the safety of other passengers and its crew."
The passengers include student Rebecca St-Pierre, 19, from Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, who said she felt abandoned and did not know how she will pay for her hotel room, as her stay has been extended indefinitely, as reported by the Associated Press.
She added that she tested positive for COVID-19 on January 4, and some 30 others on the flight have also tested positive.
"The organizer just left everybody. I do not know who is still here. All the flights have been cancelled," St-Pierre, who said she won the trip on Instagram, told the Canadian Press.
The trip's organizer, James William Awad, wrote on Twitter that a "simple party" on a plane was behind the controversy.
"I will take a moment to sit down and rethink everything. Especially how I can do things better next time," he said.
Awad, who operates 111 Private Club, organized the trip, which included a group of social media influencers and reality TV stars, such as Karl Sabourin, Sandrine Seguin and Anna-Maelle Laprise.
On January 4, Federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos and Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino issued a joint statement saying they had directed their departments to investigate, and passengers who violated Transport Department regulations could face fines of up to $3,930.
Trudeau called the passengers' conduct irresponsible and a "slap in the face" to everyone who has been following public health restrictions.
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text:
Informaatiomuotoilu.fi
Kuinka tieto tehdään näkyväksi
Julkaistu 2011-09-16 2011-09-27 kirjoittanut Juuso Koponen
Presentation: What is visualization?
In Finnish: Suomennamme tämän artikkelin myöhemmin blogia varten, tässä se on englanninkielisenä siinä muodossa kuin se esitettiin aiemmin tänään PICNIC-festivaalilla.
We were asked to do a short (20 min.) presentation about what visualization is and why it matters for Open Data Breakfast at PICNIC Amsterdam. You can download this presentation as a pdf here, annotated with the text of the presentation as comments, or if you prefer, read the full text below.
edit (September 27th 2011): The same presentation was given at the IBM Smarter Cities Challenge workshop at Aalto Design Factory yesterday, where it was recorded and is now viewable online:
I'll start with a quick definition of what we're talking about here. We ourselves usually use these three terms more or less interchangeably:
• information design
• visualization
• infographics
There is a slight distinction: information design is an active pursuit to make information more understandable. The German word for design, "Gestaltung", roughly translatable as "to give a form to something" I think captures this idea better than the English "design".
Information design, therefore, is giving the information a form. In the widest sense this need not necessarily be a visual form, although information design does mostly concern itself with the visual presentation. But I would say, that for example, what the design consultancy Siegel+Gale does when they simplify things such as this credit card agreement here, is information design, too.
Visualization is a slightly narrower pursuit, strictly concerning with the visual presentation of data. Infographic is a narrower concept still. It is what may or may not be the end result of an information design or visualization process, a specific end result, a piece of graphics presenting data.
For many in the scene, these distinctions are a lot more clear cut and they would strongly disgree to equating them to the extent I'm doing here. During this presentation, I will use them more or less interchangably. I hope I'm not stabbed to death afterwards.
What then, exactly is visualization, or visual information design, if you prefer? Visualization researcher and blogger Robert Kosara defines it like this:
• based on non-visual data
• produces an image
• readable and recognizable
So first of all, visualization is all about presenting data, and more specifically data that is not inherently visual, or at least can't be seen with a naked eye or photographed, such as the inside of a living human body. Second, visualization means producing an image and using that image as the primary means of communication. And third, it must be readable and recognizable. That is, the visualization should show something most of the audience doesn't already know and in a way that is understandable, preferably intuitively so, ruling out data art.
The term "information design" was coined by Pentagram Design in the 1970s. Although the term is relatively new, the "genres", so to say, of information design are a lot older, even if they weren't always thought of belonging to the same discipline. These genres include maps, statistical graphics, various kinds of scientific visualizations, wayfinding tools such as signage, navigation tools or region identification systems, "info-illustration" such as technical drawings and cut-out pictures, and more.
Why do we need visualizations then?
Sight is our strongest sense. The throughput of the visual sensory system has been estimated at ten million bits per second, an order of magnitude or several higher than the capacity of the other senses. Although raw sensory throughput is not the same thing as what gets consciously processed in the brain, it is clear that sight is our primary mode of percieving the world around us. We understand visual intuitively, whereas the same information presented visually usually must be decoded before we "get" it. Philosopher Paul Valéry puts it like this:
"Seeing is forgetting the name of the thing one sees."
Several studies show that we remember things better when they are presented visually, as opposed to verbally, and even better when both modes of presentation are used. Therefore it comes as no surprise that pictures have been used to aid recollection long before the invention of writing. In fact, alphabetic writing grew out of pictorial symbols used for such a purpose, and some writing systems, such as the Chinese characters, still retain some pictographic aspects.
Natural languages are linear by their nature. This is especially true of spoken word, but applies to writing too. The order in which subject matter is presented in a text is decided by the person who wrote it, whereas a visual presentation gives control to the viewer, who can go through the content in whichever sequence and extent works for them.
And of course there are things which are near impossible to explain in writing, but easily understood as a picture.
So, pictures clearly serve an important function in communication. But what advantages are gained by leaving the domain of lifelike pictures such as photographs, for the more abstract visual presentation style of infographics?
First, consider how the main modes of visualizations, such as this map here, work. The difference with the annotated aerial photo next to it, is that it contains less information than the photo, which has information about things like roof materials and parked vehicles. But for most users, this extra data is useless, and in fact hinders their perception. By removing the uninteresting information from the picture, the map gives more prominence to what is left in.
Here we have a bar chart, or more accurately, a meaningless rectangle posing as a bar chart. Visualizing a single number like this serves no purpose whatsoever. We can add a second bar, so it makes a little sense, but still this tells us little more than a simple sentence "X is twice the amount of Y" would. But when you add more bars, it becomes more interesting. With two bars there is just one comparison to be made, between X and Y. With three, there's three: between X and Y, Y and Z and X and Z. With four, there's six, with five, it's ten. Ten bars facilitates 45 pairwise comparisons, not to mention that visual patterns begin to emerge, such as that these here form a group distinct from the others, and so on.
So, the main modes of how visualizations, as opposed to lifelike pictures work, are by:
• reducing the data for emphasis, and
• juxtaposing the data for comparison
Then the main functions of visualization:
• convey information
• guide action
• influence decision-making
• analyze data
What do I mean by these? The first one is pretty straightforward. Quite often it's easier to get an idea across visually than verbally. This is what, for example, newspaper graphics are all about. Guiding action is a special case of that, directly connected to something the viewer wants to do, or that we want them to do. Assembly instructions would be a typical example, or signage. Influencing decision-making happens when the information conveyed is persuasive enough to influence decisions taken. A good executive summary is visual, not text-heavy.
Analyzing data, I think, is the most interesting aspect of visualization. We humans are very good in percieving patterns visually. Take these four data sets, known as the Anscombe's quartet. It's pretty hard to say much about them by just looking at numbers. Even many of their mathematical properties happen to be identical. But when we plot them visually, it becomes immediately clear that they have interesting properties that are not immediately obvious from the numbers alone.
So, a visualization can reveal us something we didn't know ourselves when we started to plot the data. Here's an example. I was interested in how weather conditions might affect the number of car accidents. I plotted a variety of weather data from two different provinces in Finland against the accident data from the same year and same place. None of it looked very promising until I happened to plot the amount of daylight, which in Finland varies a lot from winter to summer. I'm not showing you exact numbers or anything here, because the quality of the data I had is not good enough to really make conclusions, this is just to demonstrate the basic principle.
So, I started to think, hmm, these graphs look a bit like upside-down versions of each other, what would happen if I flipped these over and then overlaid them? They fit quite nicely, except that they're a bit off. But if we offset the sunlight graph by a month like this, the fit is almost perfect. If the data was good enough, I would say this suggests a correlation between the number of accidents and the change in, as opposed to the absolute amount of, daylight. The number of accidents starts rising in the autumn when the amount of light decreases, maybe because drivers adjust slowly to the more challenging driving conditions? Whether it is really true is hard to say, because of the poor data, but it's an interesting idea maybe worth further research, and one that was not obvious by just looking at the numbers.
A few words about different visualization philosophies. Deep divides exist within the wide field we call here "information design". We can roughly describe this as:
"Statistical graphics vs. Everyone else"
The history of statistical graphics starts with the late 18th century economist William Playfair who invented the line graph, the bar chart and the pie chart. After a few additions such as the scatterplot and the histogram, the bulk of the statistical graphics toolkit was in existence by the beginning of the 20th century. A few additions were made after World War II by John Tukey and others, but in essence most of statistical graphics works with a limited, but thoroughly tried and tested palette of tools.
The statistical graphics school of thought, nowadays most prominently advocated by professor emeritus Edward Tufte, views its audience as intelligent, insightful and interested in the data on display, willing to spend time exploring the intricacies of the presentation. It emphasizes methodologically consistent presentation using established coding systems, neutral point of view and a cool, minimalist visual style, lashing out against "chartjunk" and low "data–ink ratios", in Tufte's terms, to the point of often seeming unwelcoming or boring to the casual reader.
In 1920s Germany a completely different approach gained ground. The ISOTYPE movement, founded by the philosopher Otto Neurath, has since proven hugely influential, especially in newspaper graphics. Neurath called his method "pictorial statistics", but the ISOTYPE approach is nearly a polar opposite of what the "Tuftean" school advocates. Its roots lie in the socialist workers' education movement. Neurath's aim was to help the uneducated and often uninterested masses to understand the world around them by producing visually appealing and easy to understand data displays that were originally presented in display windows on the street and as travelling exhibitions. The premise is that the viewer must be lured in and the data must be presented in the simplest possible form, even at the cost of accuracy. Neurath was not afraid of being partisan in his selection of the data to be presented: whatever best made his point was shown, and data diluting that point was often left out. ISOTYPE was a major influence on Fortune magazine, one of the first news publications to extensively use infographics. Fortune in turn influenced Time, Newsweek, St. Peterburg Times and other pioneering American newspapers and magazines, whose influence again spread the ISOTYPE approach to graphic presentation to news media all around the world.
With the advent of computer graphics, a new school of visualization has gained traction. "Infovis" is the term that is, often disparagingly, used to describe the group of novel, often interactive data visualizations that have appeared in the past 20 years. This is maybe what you in the audience, this being the PICNIC festival, most closely associate with the term "visualization". Infovis can be seen as an outgrowth of the ISOTYPE movement, as it also puts huge emphasis on luring the viewer in with a striking presentation and crafting the visual according to the task at hand instead of relying on a limited palette of tools like the Tuftean school usually does. Many prominent names in this camp, such as David McCandless who runs the blog Information Is Beautiful, also work with ISOTYPE-like visualizations. Infovis differs from ISOTYPE philosophy in at least one crucial way, however. The ease of understanding is not usually the first priority, and infovis presentations can be visually intricate to the point of being so hard to decipher that they would sometimes better be classified as data art.
All these philosophies have their strong points and weaknesses. We personally think that the debate over the merits of a particular school of thought over another is a bit sterile, as we should rather try to find solutions that bridge the trenches to get the best of all worlds: the integrity, clarity and neutral point of view of statistical graphics combined with the ease of understanding and visual appeal of ISOTYPE and the power of innovation, interactivity and automation offered by infovis. The question of esthetics and style remains of course, but we believe it is one that should be addressed according to the needs of the audience and context, not by personal preference or the inherent limitations of the tools used. Certainly all this is easier said than done, but it is an aim to strive for.
So, to wrap it up: information design is a tool, or a toolkit really, to make our world more intuitively understandable. It serves a wide variety of specific purposes as well as audiences, from illiterate to academic. There are no universal solutions that work for all data, all audiences or all contexts. Visualization is not an exact science, although science, for example gestalt psychology, can tell us much about what kind of visual solutions might do the trick.
Information design is a way of thinking, not a visual style. You often see things like this, that use the clichéd visual style of infographics, but are just pretty pictures, or worse, visual puzzles. What does this "visualization" really tell us that a simple numerical table, or a few bar charts couldn't have? Infographics should make the viewer feel smart because they learn something new, not stupid because they can't decipher the visual puzzle. to quote the artist Ad Reinhardt: "As for a picture, if it isn't worth a thousand words, the hell with it."
We strongly believe reading and creating visualizations is quickly becoming an essential skill for all knowledge workers. This is especially true of scientists, engineers, journalists and teachers, but also of political activists, middle managers, lawyers and even doctors, to name just a few of the professions that would benefit from using more visualizations. With tools like Mathematica and Google App Inventor even fields as abstract as mathematics and programming are becoming increasingly visual. Even people who don't create visual presentations themselves should have a degree of visual literacy required to be able to see when a visualization distorts the data by accident – or by purpose. Think about visualization like writing. Although our society provides plenty of work for professional writers, no one thinks basic writing skills shouldn't be taught to everyone. So it should be with information visualization as well. Thank you.
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4 Replies to "Presentation: What is visualization?"
Paluuviite: Informaatiomuotoilu.fi • Presentation: What is visualization? | VisualPoint | Scoop.it
Paluuviite: Open Government Data and People in Finland 2011 | apoikola
Paluuviite: Open Government Data and People in Finland 2011 | Mahdollista
Paluuviite: Week 6 – sieczko
Edellinen artikkeliEdellinen We are at PICNIC Amsterdam this week
Seuraava artikkeliSeuraava Datajournalismin päivä 29.9. Tampereella
Informaatiomuotoilu.fi on Juuso Koposen ja Jonatan Hildénin ylläpitämä suomenkielinen informaatiomuotoilua ja tiedon visualisointia käsittelevä blogi.
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Student projects from our course at Aalto, spring 2018
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Mercatorin projektio ei sovi maailmankarttoihin. Gall-Peters on lähes yhtä surkea vaihtoehto
Some thoughts on interactivity and storytelling
"Kuva on arvokkaimmillaan kun se pakottaa meidät huomaamaan jotakin, mitä emme ikinä osanneet odottaa näkevämme."
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Light, lightly bitter, a little lemon-y, refreshing. I've managed to conjure up a salad that tastes exactly like what I've been envisioning since, well, lunch.
I think the key is the endive, Annie's lemon & chive dressing and the couple of spoonfuls of Wakim's Foods garbanzo salad — which, being just chick peas, spinach, oil, roasted garlic, lemon juice, salt and spices I perpetually almost feel bad for buying and make note to self to try to find out how to recreate every single time.
What else was in there? Mixed greens, red onion, some cooked beets. After a couple of glasses of red wine, I'm going to sleep like a baby tonight.


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SoapsComings & Goings
See All Soaps Comings & Goings
Actors came and went so fast in 2021, we couldn't keep the casts of The Young and the Restless, Days of Our Lives, General Hospital and The Bold and the Beautiful straight without a scorecard. Luckily, we had a scorecard — several of them, in fact.
To stay on top of the changing population of The Young and the Restless' Genoa City, we referred to this photo gallery full of goodbyes that, let's be real, we didn't always think were good. Among those saying so long were not only a supercouple whose sayonara left us scratching our heads but a former favorite whose character was twisted so badly, we hardly felt like we knew him anymore.
Above: Pictured is an expression that perfectly encapsulates our reaction to Stitch's strange, strange comeback.
Over on Days of Our Lives, it seemed like for every exit — and there were a lot of 'em (review the list here) — there was an entrance (we've lined them up all to count them down here). One in particular came as such a shock, our jaws are still sore from hitting the floor so hard.
Above: Here's Sami looking pretty much like we do when trying to keep all of this straight in our heads.
The Bold and the Beautiful could've been renamed The Coming and the Going in the past 12 months, as Finn's family tree sprouted one new branch after another, Paris' was cut in half, and a long-running character got a new look that had the audience "wigging out." Peruse the list of incoming and outgoing actors here.
Above: Did someone say "wigging out"?
Finally, perhaps hardest hit this year by cast changes was General Hospital, which lost one of its most beloved leading men and recast almost enough kids to form a Little League team. Yet the exit that most fans celebrated — of a character not nearly as well-liked as his portrayer — turned out to be a false alarm. You'll understand what we mean when you review the show's 2021 sendoffs.
Above: "Jitt" was fun while it lasted. Or were they "Brason"?
While you're here, reeling from the sheer number of cast changes this year, put the awe as well as the "Aw, shucks" in perspective by looking back at a bunch of exits that even eons later, we're still not over.
The population of Salem is about to grow by one — and not just any one, either. On May 24, soap vet Richard Steinmetz took to Facebook to share "some good news. I landed a role on the soap Days of Our Lives."
What, exactly, that role is remains to be seen. If we had to guess, though, we would wager that the daytime vet will be playing a member of Ava's Mob family or perhaps someone connected to Dan Feuerriegel's arrival as the new EJ DiMera.
Regardless of what the part turns out to be, "I start shooting tomorrow," Steinmetz said, adding that "it's a terrific role. Not sure if I can say what it is yet… "
So he wisely didn't. (Way to stay out of hot water with the powers that be!) "But I'll keep you posted… and [let you know] when the episodes start airing."
Longtime soap fans will recall that Steinmetz made his daytime debut back in the late 1980s as Loving's Jeff Hartman, who slept with both Gwyneth Alden and daughter Trisha before losing his marbles. The actor also played Martin Fitzgerald on Passions in the mid-2000s and, most recently, second-generation mobster Joe Scully Jr. on General Hospital in 2012. (The short-lived character's long-ago rape of Connie Falconeri resulted in the birth of Kristina Corinthos' onetime husband, Trey Mitchell.)
As you count down to Steinmetz's first appearance — we'll let you know when it is — stop off at a photo gallery full of other stars like him, who have appeared on more than one show.


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Q: Excel 2007 - selecting multiple non-contiguous cells within one column I've noticed that when one performs the above action and then copies the result back into an Excel sheet you get only those cells selected - which is great. However when one copies the selected cells into notepad, you get the complete range.
Is there a way around this..?

A: Yes - copy once - to excel and then - the copied column to notepad....


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Smoke Screen: Fake Priest
For 30 years, a man claimed to be a priest. He performed baptisms and took confession. Every time he ran into trouble, Father Ryan would move on to another small Midwestern town and start his scheme all over again. Followers who once worshiped him, now accuse him of exploitation, fraud and abuse. Multiple prosecutors have charged him, but he's never been imprisoned for his crimes. Investigative reporter Alex Schuman, who hails from a small Iowa town himself, set out to find out how Father Ryan got away with it for so long and why on earth he did it. Along the way, he discovers Father Ryan has connections to a murdered priest, a false prophet, and an entire subculture where he and other frauds can thrive. In season one of Smoke Screen, join Alex Schuman as he unravels this con and gets answers from this white-collar criminal himself. Listen to Smoke Screen: Season 1 Fake Priest, an all-new podcast from Neon Hum Media.
Society & Culture True Crime
Introducing Chameleon: Hollywood Con Queen
For the past 6 years, someone — or some group — has been terrorizing a certain class of Hollywood workers. Strivers — day players and physical trainers and make-up artists and security guards — receive a phone call or email offering the job of a lifetime. A key role on a major film, or TV show. This offer comes from a powerful woman — one of the biggest producers or studio executives in the industry. All these strivers have to do is get on a plane, for Jakarta, immediately. But when they land, there is no producer. There is no movie. It's all a fraud. This is the incredible true story of one the longest and strangest cons in history. Tag along as two long-time journalists untangle the story of the Hollywood Con Queen scam, and embark upon an obsessive quest to figure out who's behind it.
Episode 9: How To Get Away With Fraud
Until now, Father Ryan has mostly escaped punishment for stealing money from followers under false pretenses. What would it take for him to face a jury of his peers?
Episode 7: Two Dead Priests
In his autobiography, Father Ryan connects himself to two priests who died suspiciously. One he accuses of molesting children. The other? He says he teamed up with to publicly shame pedophile priests. What's the truth?
Episode 6: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
The father-daughter investigator team discovers the cop who arrested Father Ryan may have an ulterior motive. They defend Father Ryan tooth and nail - until they get a troubling surprise of their own.
Episode 5: Meet The Browns
A sheriff deputy arrests Father Ryan for taking more than $70,000 from an elderly follower. It's looking like he might get 7 years in prison, but then he meets a father-daughter pair of private investigators who change everything.
Episode 3: The Teacher
Even con artists need mentors. Meet the false prophet who teaches Father Ryan how to perfect his con. Father Ryan evades criminal charges again and Alex learns about an unspoken reason prosecutors could let many criminals go free.
Episode 2: Coming Home
Alex tracks down Father Ryan's son, Jonathan Brady, and discovers Father Ryan was a scammer and manipulator long before he wore a priestly robe. Turns out he had plenty of practice committing fraud before he opened his first church in Wisconsin.
Episode 1: An Unholy Priest
Investigative reporter Alex Schuman hears about a guy accused of swindling millions who has travelled the Midwest for decades pretending to be a priest. Alex starts his journey talking to two people who have long tried to expose the truth. Alex is hoping to finally figure out why anyone would try to pull off such an elaborate con.
Smoke Screen: Fake Priest Trailer
For 30 years, a man claimed to be a priest. He performed baptisms and took confession. Every time he ran into trouble, Father Ryan would move on to another small Midwestern town and start his scheme all over again. Followers who once worshiped him, now accuse him of exploitation, fraud and abuse. In season one of Smoke Screen, join Alex Schuman as he unravels this con and gets answers from this white-collar criminal himself.


It was love at first sight for Amanda, when she set eyes on the Luxmore Grande Estate- and her hubby-to-be, Sean, of course! Amanda and Sean's classic, burgundy wedding was a perfect match for the Autumn day on which they exchanged their vows.
Hair and makeup began bright & early- the Luxmore's bridal suite was abuzz with wedding-day jitters! Amanda and her ladies sported matching ensembles: matching tops that made for cute getting-ready photos. Khim Higgins Photography captured the morning's sweet & tender moments between Amanda and her loved ones.
Meanwhile, Sean and his groomsmen made their own fun and arrived at the Luxmore Grande Estate a little later in the day. Sean wore a classic black Tux & tie, with a burgundy-colored vest and black shoes. The groomsmen were also clad in black tuxes, blush vests and ties with black shoes.
Amanda looked so beautiful in her trumpet laced gown by Oleg Cassini. Amanda's bridesmaids complemented her look by dressing in tea-length gowns that matched. Amanda's two, Junior bridesmaids sported burgundy dresses that matched the overall wedding theme.
The couple 's twin boys were the cutest ring-bearers! They looked the part in their white button-up shirts, burgundy bows-ties, and suspenders.
During the couple's First Look, Sean was blindfolded with his grandfather's tie to prolong the anticipation of seeing Amanda. We can still hear their giggles! When Sean finally got to see Amanda in her full bridal glory, he was blown away.
From the First Look, Amanda was ready to hop in a limo and head to the ceremony location: Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church. But first, Amanda's dad was waiting for her, so he could catch his First Look before escorting her down the aisle.
The couple's ceremony was a full mass and included a live singer. It was incredible! After being pronounced "Husband and Wife," Amanda & Sean strolled around the church and took photos before heading back to the Luxmore for the cocktail hour & reception.
The reception space was dressed in burgundy, blush, taupe, and gold. Underneath the Luxmore's stunning chandelier in the grand foyer, a loose garland of greenery adorned the staircase. In front of the staircase banisters, a collection of small & large lanterns lit the way. Seating assignments were displayed on two mirrors placed atop easels. The guests' tables were fitted with burgundy Lamour linens, blush Lamour napkins, gold Belmont chargers, mahogany Chiavari chairs. Complementing the reception design, was Amanda and Sean's sweetheart table; both the sweetheart table and the cake table were dressed in lace, taupe overlay.
Let's talk about the party! The intros were fun, the couple's first dance was touching- as were the parent dances. The dancing didn't end! Rather than planning a special exit, Amanda & Sean boogied the night away with their friends and family.
At the evening's end, guests were invited to take home a scented candle, as well as, some sweet treats courtesy of Florida Candy Buffets.


The characters who populate Terrence McNally's It's Only a Play, currently running at San Francisco's New Conservatory Theatre Center, are caught up in a variety of love/hate relationships—with each other, and with the theatre itself. It's opening night of playwright Peter Austin's newest offering (and first Broadway production) and, while he, his producer, his director, the show's star, and his best friend (a successful TV actor) wait for the reviews, they snipe, fling barbs, talk trash behind each other's backs but lavish praise in face-to-face encounters, and generally behave like spoiled, entitled (but witty) children. The theatre itself, with all its disappointments, disasters, and occasional triumphs, gets its fair share of abuse and adulation, as well. Under Arturo Catricala's skilled direction, the result is a fantastically entertaining evening of theatre about theatre.
The action takes place in the Manhattan apartment of producer Julia Budder (Melissa Keith), which is decorated in perfectly horrific taste by Kuo-Hao Lo. While a star-studded party rages downstairs (Pacino! Obama! Oprah! The Pope!), Jimmy Wicker (a delightfully bitchy P.A. Cooley) has retreated to the master bedroom where young wannabe actor Gus (Nicholas Decker) is working as a coat-check boy to get some privacy so he can tell his West Coast friends how perfectly awful his best friend Peter's new play is. Over the course of the evening, as they wait for the all-important New York Times review to come in, Jimmy will be joined by enfant terrible British director Sir Frank Finger (Kevin Singer) who, fresh off 14 successes in a row in London, is oddly anxious for the American critics to tear him a new one. Like many artists, he believes himself a fraud and desperately wants a flop to prove him right.
The show's star, Virginia Noyes (Michaela Greeley), an Oscar-winning actress whose stint in rehab, while making her toxic to the movie business ("I couldn't even book an AA meeting in LA!"), doesn't stop her from running a small pharmacy out of her handbag. Once the second-rate critic Ira Drew (Geoffrey Colton) and playwright Austin (Chris Morrell) join the group hiding out in the bedroom, the sparks begin to fly. Everyone rags on Jimmy Wicker for leaving Broadway behind to do a mainstream sitcom for nine seasons. Oscar winner Noyes snips "I do a lot of self-destructive things, but I draw the line at television."
There's a lot going in It's Only a Play, but McNally seems to keep it all moving forward so we never get confused or bored. Despite the fact that the characters he has created are all too self-absorbed and egotistical to truly be likeable, once the second act hits—and the reviews start coming in—they throw their differences aside and unite in the shared misery of a life in the theatre.
Though everyone should be able to find something to love about It's Only a Play, if you're fanatical about the theatre, McNally has thrown one Easter egg after another into his text to delight you. When one reviewer lists Peter Austin among a group of successful but still up-and-coming playwrights, it's funny enough that the list is nearly 20 names long. But it's even funnier if you recognize every one of those names. As P.A. Cooley as Jimmy Wicker complains on the phone about the play's "tilted disc" set and near complete lack of furniture, he leans back in his chair and says (with a complete lack of self-referential irony), "Call me old-fashioned, but give me a comfortable chair and a phone for exposition."
The cast lap up their parts like kittens at cream. Cooley can shift from bitchy to sycophantic in the blink of an eye, and Greeley—as the drug-addled star whose best years are well in the rear view—has a tottering languor that is perfect for her role. Nicholas Decker brings a real fresh-faced innocence to star-struck lad Gus, and Kevin Singer garners some of the biggest laughs of the night with a hysterical re-enactment of the abuse (verbal and physical) he received as a child for wanting a career in the arts. But Melissa Keith nearly steals the show with her hysterical portrayal of the very rich but very dim producer.
It's Only a Play, through April 1, 2018, at New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco CA. Performances are Wednesdays-Saturdays at 8:00pm and Sundays at 2:00pm. Tickets are $25-$50, and can be purchased at nctcsf.org, or by calling the box office at 415-861-8972.


It's really hard for many to put the words young and depressed side by side in a single sentence. However, times they are but changing, and so should be our understanding of depression.
Life for youngsters can get really stressful at times. The pressure to belong in alien environments at universities and colleges, the struggle to garner acceptance from peers for who you are and what you believe in, and the constant battles with bullying and shaming from mates, and even teachers, often leave young boys and girls in a state of self-doubt. And often, these symptoms of low self-esteem and diminished self-worth turn into full blown disease of chronic or clinical depression for many if the right external interventions are not enforced.
The recent death of a BNU student in Lahore who committed suicide on university premises and last month's suicide by an engineering student at Institute of Engineering and Fertilizer Research (IEFR) offer hints about the fatal repercussions depression in youngsters can lead to.
The girl in question, as evident from her posts, had been a subject of ridiculing by her peers, while the boy from IEFR cited continued failure in exams at the hands of an alleged biased teacher as the reason for taking the drastic step.
No matter how sad the deaths make us, they cannot be more saddening than the fact that depression and other such mental health issues, especially among the younger lot, are still not given the importance and attention these potent diseases merit.
Depression is one of the most common global mental health problems in the present times. The seriousness and severity of the problem varies, from temporary stress and anxiety to a permanent feelings of loss and loneliness. Some common symptoms of depression include a feeling of hopelessness or emptiness, sadness and inability to experience pleasure, irregular sleeping patterns, irregular eating patterns and problems in concentration and decision making.
In its most serious form, depression can lead to self-destructive thoughts where a person looks for ways to liberate oneself from the emotional pain through extreme measures, such as suicide.
However, the Pakistani society is still struggling to come to terms with the fact that depression exists, is real and that chronic depression needs as much medical care as any other life-threatening disease.
The mere mention of anyone being a depressive attracts comments like "drama queen" and "actor", highlighting the apathy our society has towards the suffering of others. What is most surprising is the fact that even the most relatable sources of emotional comfort for us humans – family, friends, parents, siblings – also tend to play down the suffering of a depressive, hence catapulting the patient into an abyss of pain and agony.
Depression can be alleviated with timely measures and strategies such as social support, family support, changes in routine and coping strategies, such as exercise and reading. Sometimes, all a depressive may need is someone to understand his or her pain and offer a few words of comfort and support. Sadly, many seeking just these small kindness are subjected to even more ridicule from some of the closest people around them.
And that has become the reason that people with depressive notions tend to keep cocooned within themselves; pushing their selves deeper into the void.
According to a report by released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2018, almost 800,000 people commit suicide annually. This is also becoming one of the leading causes of death around the world, where approximately 2,190 people commit suicide each day, 90 in one hour and almost four people die each minute on the hands of mental health issues.
The first step for Pakistan in the fight against depression has to be recognising the fact that depression is not an antic to gain attention or "look cool and different". Only the person wearing the shoe knows where it bites, so it's imperative to take people for their word and stop judging them for anything else.
Tackling, and helping those suffering around you tackle, depression is not necessarily hard. If you think one of your friends or even a family member exhibits any of the signs of depression discussed above, you should step in to help. Some of the most basic things one can do to help a depressive is talk to him or her in private. Listen carefully and validate their feelings and experiences like you mean it. Be and act supportive and do not shy away from expressing concern about the situation. Ask him, or her, if he or she is having thoughts of suicide to gauge the level of frustration and depression. Encourage and convince the sufferer to seek counselling and assure him or her that there is no stigma in seeking medical aid. These simple deeds can well mean the difference between well-being and suffering for a depressive.
University administrations should also up their game in this respect. Besides the routine career counselling that many educational institutes offer, there should be a resource for personal counselling as well available at all university campuses. Experts like clinical psychologist should be at the beck and call of students in case they need support to make it through the pressures of personal and academic struggles.
Youngsters who think they are experiencing bouts of depression must also realise that there is no shame in seeking help, and that seeking it may actually help alleviate their suffering.
But the shame attached to talking about depression will only dilute if the society in general becomes accepting of depression as a medical condition, not an attention-gaining antic. A greater public debate on the matter is the need of the hour.
We will continue to express our two minutes of sadness and RIP posts on social media unless we realise the reality of depression and its effect. Let's start today, for someone in pain might be contemplating ending the agony once and for all tomorrow.


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Marloes Sands Beach01437 775603work Beachhe colourful cliffs behind the beach contain a complex mixture of rocks formed around 410 million years ago and there are striking rock formations. Visitors come here to bathe, surf, fish and enjoy the tranquillity. Marloes Sands faces south west towards the offshore island of Skokholm. Skokholm Island is a nature reserve and home to an abundance of flora and fauna. Gateholm Island, at the north-west end of the beach, was inhabited from Neolithic to Medieval times and the remains of huts from the period can still be seen. The Pembrokeshire Coast Path runs along the cliff top and offers fine views in both directions. Access to the beach is via a sunken lane down a steep stream valley and may cause difficulty for people with limited mobility.
Green Coast and Seaside Award beach. Parking is approx. 0.5 mile - National Trust car park. Dogs are allowed. Nearest facilities can be found in Marloes village which has a shops, pub, restaurant and café/bar.
MarloesPembrokeshireSA62 3BHUnited Kingdom51.723642913315-5.214707425148http://www.showmewales.co.uk/southwestwales
Marloes Sands Beach
Beach, free entry
he colourful cliffs behind the beach contain a complex mixture of rocks formed around 410 million years ago and there are striking rock formations. Visitors come here to bathe, surf, fish and enjoy the tranquillity. Marloes Sands faces south west towards the offshore island of Skokholm. Skokholm Island is a nature reserve and home to an abundance of flora and fauna. Gateholm Island, at the north-west end of the beach, was inhabited from Neolithic to Medieval times and the remains of huts from the period can still be seen. The Pembrokeshire Coast Path runs along the cliff top and offers fine views in both directions. Access to the beach is via a sunken lane down a steep stream valley and may cause difficulty for people with limited mobility.
www.showmewales.co.uk/southwestwales
Wed 24 Jul The Big Beach Clean Challenge
Fri 30 Aug - Sun 1 Sep Summer Seal pup walks
Wed 4 Sep Autumn seal pup walks
Sat 7 Sep Autumn seal pup walks
Wed 11 Sep Autumn seal pup walks
Sat 14 Sep Autumn seal pup walks
Tenby Tourist Information Centre
Marloes,
Pembrokeshire,
SA62 3BH
Map reference: SM 780076 Lat: 51.72364 Long: -5.21471
Take the B4327 Dale road from Haverfordwest; 1.5 miles north of Dale, turn right where signed for Marleos, left in the village signed Marleos Sands; continue on this road to the car park.
Accessible by Public Transport: 11 miles from Milford Haven station


Citation: Dimeo P (2014) Why Lance Armstrong? Historical context and key turning-points in the 'cleaning up' of professional cycling , International Journal of the History of Sport, 31 (8), pp. 951-968.
Abstract: The US Anti-Doping Agency published its evidence against Lance Armstrong in October 2012 after a lengthy investigation and a series of testimonies from his former US Postal Service teammates. This article aims to understand the development processes - local and global - that led eventually to his 'confession' in January 2013 on the Oprah Winfrey show. By taking a chronological approach from the 1980s onwards, the following key themes will be addressed: the doping state of play when Armstrong began his career; the incremental confessions of other cyclists that helped break down cycling's secret doping culture; the broader organisational changes in anti-doping; the reasons why Armstrong became the focal point of anti-doping efforts; and the implications for professional cycling and anti-doping in the near future. Thus, the aim is to synthesise macro- and micro-level developments to explain the outcomes, and to further understand the consequences of this 'scandal'.