If "all the world is a stage," according to he whom we deem to be a preeminent authority on the subject (Shakespeare), why wouldn't anywhere in the world be the perfect setting for the screen? Ladies and gentlemen, we are proud to present to you the 22 incredibly unique outdoor cinema experiences in the world – for your viewing pleasure, of course. Did we start another #BucketList?!
No matter how old you are, you'll want to play in this Sandbox. The Miami Beach Edition Hotel's sleek and modern tropical hideout is outfitted with hammocks, seaside, low-lying beds and a huge outdoor movie screen, where you can watch movies under the stars for special events.
Photo: The Graham and Co.
A group of real-goods got together and bought a retro motel in the cool, artsy town of Phoenicia, NY in the Catskills. Besides the beautiful interiors and setting at The Graham & Co., you'll find vintage touches, free bikes to ride about as well as magical movie nights under the stars.
How does an on-the-sand cinema in the Maldives sound? Park your lounger seaside at Soneva Fushi and kick back with a hand-crafted cocktail coupled with complimentary ice cream and popcorn.
This pop-up is pretty much hot-tub party perfection. Operating in London, NYC & Ibiza, Hot Tub Cinema's simple, but magical formula for a cine-magical night out is: great films, amazing spaces and lots of hot tubs. You are encouraged to dress up, sing, dance, drink, play and most of all enjoy your favorite films, alongside friends old and new... while inside a hot tub. Book a whole tub to share with six or eight of your nearest and dearest, or you can buy a pair or more tickets to share with others and make a few new friends along the way. UK peeps - grab your tickets for the end of September showing of Spice World!
While this 17th century fortress has a dark past, Sala Montjuic is one of the most successful examples at reclaiming this castle for public use. Bring a picnic blanket and dinner as you savor both the screen and the sunset.
Watch the 'stars' under the stars at Gili Lankanfushi's "jungle" cinema in the sand. Or if you prefer, Trip Advisor's "Best Hotel in the World" will move the cinema to your overwater bungalow for a private viewing, any day of the week.
With an ever-evolving high-end menu coupled with a classic, foreign or acclaimed movie screening while you feast, the fabulous, San Francisco Foreign Cinema has divine date night written all over it. Movies run for an entire month so your FOMO should be kept at bay.
They're screening the classic "Diner" for September and you can look forward to "The Wizard of Oz" in October.
One of the best and most inventive ways to watch the epic shark tale, "Jaws," came back in full force this past summer at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, TX. Price of admission included surrenduring your wits and gaining a free inner tube. This rolling roadshow is a must-see/do for you adventurous movie-loving types!
Have you ever watched a movie under a starry sky by the beach before? When the night falls at Six Senses Ninh Van Bay, the decking at 'Drinks by the Beach' transforms into a starlit cinema, featuring a silver screen classic!
Porsche Design Studio incorporated the largest LED TV in the world in their theater system for the Archipelago Cinema the grand, floating movie-theater set off the private island of Yao Noi in Andaman Sea, Thailand for the Film on the Rocks Yao Noi Foundation film festival. The good news, cinephiles? The floating auditorium can easily be assembled again and is sure to pop up in a private, Thai lagoon near you.
Every Monday The Skybar at the Mondrian hosts a Dive In Theater! They screen your favorite movies and serve delicious gourmet bites to wash down with bubbly. Buy tickets here.
Talk about a world-class cinematic experience! Watch a classic movie on the beach in Oman at Six Senses Zighy Bay on a warm summer's night, bathed only in moonlight. Plush loungers, gourmet popcorn and cool cocktails included.
Besides being a major cultural hub in the heart of London, Somerset House turns into a city-welcoming cinematic experience for 14 nights in the summer months. When it's not screening sweet cinema, it's got 55 dancing fountains in the courtyard and an ice rink in the winter. Otherwise, it also doubles as your extraordinary, not-at-all run of the mill special event or gorgeous wedding venue.
Ever thought you'd sit with 16,000 of your closest friends to watch a movie in an "acoustically perfect" amphitheater described by some as "carved by Mother Nature herself?" That's just what happens at Film on the Rocks at Red Rocks Amphitheater, a geologically formed, open-air Amphitheatre that is not duplicated anywhere in the world. As spectators gaze at the towering red sandstone rocks, they view the ancient tales of prehistoric times." If that isn't enough for you, each screening is preceeded by a comedian and a local band's set. Hurray!
For less than than 10 euros you can watch classic comedies with cocktails on the magical island of Santorini at Cinekamri. Head to the beach during the day, and this magical garden open-air cinema at night! English movies with Greek subtitles.
Upcoming Showtimes: September 9-11: Mamma Mia | September 12-15: Mission Impossible | September 16-18: A Walk in The Woods | September 23-25: How To Make Love Like An Englishman | October 3-6: Infinitely Polar Bear | October 10-13: Solace. For the full list see showtimes here.
Looking for a romantic bucket list item? Here it is. The setting is spectacular at one of the most famous open-air cinemas in Italy. Located on the water and set beneath the romantic shadow of the bridge of Isola Tiberina, you can watch foreign films surrounded by history.
Originally founded in 1989, this is the world's first IceHotel. Artists come from all over the world each winter to contribute to this ever-evolving art exhibit, constructed from ice and snow, then melting back into the Earth come Spring. To celebrate the 25th anniversary, artists erected a full Ice Bar, hotel rooms and this cinema, not technically outdoors, but we would bet it feels like it. Cool factor at an all-time high. Literally.
Maybe a bit macabre for some, Cinespia has been making Hollywood movie magic since 2002 amid the gravestones of some of Tinsel Town's industry elite. In addition to showcasing the best of cinema, Cinespia cemetery screenings feature pre-show DJs, themed photo booths, a picnic at a gorgeous Hollywood landmark, and even occasional visits by stars, directors and filmmakers, oh my. Running every Saturday through the end of September, get your tickets for one of Hollywood's most exciting and must-do experiences of the summer.
We've heard of "Drive-In" theaters, but Dive-In? In sunny, southern California beach town, San Diego, The Pearl gleams like a retro modern beacon in the midst of the shiny, new edificies of downtown. Just off-the-beaten path, this is THE spot to swim, soiree and screen your classic cinematic faves.
Upcoming Showtimes: Thanks to that sweet San Diego weather, you can "dive-in" every Wednesday night at 8p through November, find the schedule here.
The glitz and glam of Vegas just got even cooler... literally. Each Monday the hip hotel & casino that is The Cosmpolitan shows a "Dive-In" movie, backlit by the lights of the Vegas strip. Grab a lounger and congregate around the Boulevard pool, perfect for larger-than-life classics like The Karate Kid and Father of the Bride.
With only two more showings left for the summer, Sept. 7th Rango | Life of Pi, Sept, 14th Kung Fu Panda | Kung Fu Panda 2 - dive-on in for your double feature.


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Monash University President and Vice-Chancellor Announced as Inaugural Chair of CASE Asia-Pacific Regional Council
Educational advancement, the building of philanthropic and civic engagement, is increasing across the Asia-Pacific region. This is evidenced, not only by the growth in philanthropic investment to education and research institutions but also through their vital importance and role in community, society building and the success of the region. At this time, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education is proud to announce the appointment of the first chair to the CASE Asia-Pacific Regional Council, Professor Margaret Gardner AO, President and Vice-Chancellor of Monash University.
Since her appointment as President and Vice-Chancellor in 2014, Professor Gardner has championed advancement activities at Monash and advocated strongly for deeper community and industry engagement across Australian universities. Her leadership on behalf of universities and her deep record of engagement throughout the Asia-Pacific will bring invaluable insight to CASE's activities in the region.
"Education is fundamental to unlocking human potential and research drives all discovery and innovation. Schools, colleges, and universities are vital to growing prosperity. By helping education and research providers to better engage with their communities, share the impact of their work and to form new partnerships, CASE provides an invaluable contribution to collaboration and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific. As new Chair of CASE Asia-Pacific, I am grateful for the opportunity to build on the organisation's record of contributions and further advance education, research, and innovation in the region," says Professor Gardner.
Sue Cunningham, president and CEO of CASE, said, "Having a leader of the calibre of Professor Gardner at the helm of the new Asia-Pacific Regional Council underscores the importance of institutional leaders in advancing education and research. She brings to CASE a deep understanding of the opportunities for advancing institutions in the region through her impressive international experience in the sector. Her leadership will provide CASE with valuable guidance as CASE builds on its support for the region under this new volunteer leadership structure."
Earlier this year, CASE members globally approved a new volunteer leadership structure that establishes Councils in each of the organisation's four regions: Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and US-Canada. The Regional Councils will set strategy, advise on member growth and retention opportunities, and ensure that CASE's programs, products and services continue to meet the needs of members within the region. The CASE Asia-Pacific Regional Council is the first to convene.
CASE believes in advancing education to transform lives and society. As a global nonprofit membership association of educational institutions, CASE helps develop the communities of professional practice that build institutional resilience and success in challenging times. The communities include staff engaged in alumni relations, advancement services, communications, fundraising, government relations, marketing and student recruitment. CASE is volunteer-led and uses the intellectual capital of senior practitioners to build capacity and capability across the world.
CASE believes in advancing education to transform lives and society. As a global nonprofit membership association of educational institutions, CASE helps develop the communities of professional practice that build institutional resilience and success in challenging times. The communities include staff engaged in alumni relations, advancement services, communications, fundraising, government relations, marketing, and student recruitment. CASE is volunteer-led and uses the intellectual capital of senior practitioners to build capacity and capability across the world.
CASE has offices in Washington, D.C., London, Singapore and Mexico City. Member institutions include more than 3,600 colleges and universities, primary and secondary independent and international schools, and nonprofit organizations in 82 countries. CASE serves more than 90,000 practitioners. For more information about CASE, please visit www.case.org.
For media inquiries contact media@case.org or to learn more about CASE visit www.case.org.
Asia-Pacific Higher Education Advancement Services Engagement Faculty & Staff Leadership Volunteers Press Release

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Posts Tagged ' msad #40 '
When Boobs Distract Teachers
My niece is 12 years old and has about as much boob tissue as she came out of the womb with. Seriously, she has yet to 'blossom' and couldn't fill out a training bra if she stuffed water balloons in there. Today she threw on a t-shirt she had been given by a friend. It was colorful with a mask on it in a Mardis Gras theme.
About half way through the day her classroom teacher told her that she needed to put on a jacket. She asked why and the teacher took her aside and explained that it was "too distracting." Not understanding, my niece asked, "Why?" Her teacher told her quietly that the mask on the shirt was drawing attention to her breasts. What breasts? Do you see any breasts in this picture?
Considering the fact that she'd worn the shirt all day long and none of her friends had been hypnotized into staring at her non-existent mammaries, it does seem rather clear that the 'attention' being drawn to her tiny titties was a result of the teacher bringing it up.
I can't help but wonder after this and many previous incident's with MSAD #40 if they hire teachers who are clinically insane or at least borderline. It's pretty bad when a pre-pubescent child can't wear a shirt depicting eyes and masks.
One more thought… I think that what got me the most was that I had to wonder WHO was being so distracted that they felt they had to stare at this kids concave chest? My guess is that it's the teacher. She was the only one who seemed concerned, or….distracted as she said. I wonder if she scrutinizes the little boys too. Targeting the ones who are wearing pants with pleats or extra large zippers. I can see it now.
Teacher: Justin, you need to cover up your pants.
Teacher: Because they are distracting.
Justin: How so?
Teacher: The pleats are drawing attention to your penis.
Justin: um…..
Teacher: Hey, Bri I need to speak with you and Justin in private.
Teacher and two innocent children enter the coat closet together during recess….ewwwww.
Another example of how the school system only serves to prematurely sexualize children these days.
msad #40
Children and Power
A girlfriend of mine found out in October just how much power the State of Maine grants to children under the laws involving anonymous abuse reporting. For those of you with children of your own, be afraid.
On a lazy day in the middle of October, Glen was taking a nap when she heard a knock at the door. Because she had worked all night and was subsequently exhausted, she chose to ignore it the first few times, assuming it was a Jehovah's Witness or CMP, etc. The knocking persisted and got more intense so she dragged herself off the couch and over to the door. On her porch was a deputy from the Lincoln County Sherriff's office and a woman she didn't recognize. She had been having some trouble with her son lately and hesitated to open the door, fearing that he'd done something stupid and they were here to talk about it. Oddly enough, her thoughts ran along the lines of him being truant or acting up in class. Boy was she wrong.
Grudgingly she opened the door and that's where her nightmare began. According to the officer an anonymous complaint had been made with the Department of Human Services, claiming that her then 17 year old son had been molesting her 12 year old daughter. The acts that were detailed included innappropriate touching all the way to full penetration. Like any mother, Glen was absolutely floored and could barely begin to imagine what these accusations would mean for her family. She was told that both of her children were being detained in their respective schools for questioning and that she would need to consent for her son to be interrogated.
Glen threw on her shoes and dashed out the door, rushing to her son's side. He wasn't exactly an angelic kid, but molestation was certainly nothing that she could even picture him capable of. He was questioned inside the office at MVHS, but it was definitely more accusation than fact finding. He was told that if he'd just come clean about the whole thing, he wouldn't do as much time. How's that for our justice system? Guilty before proven seems to contradict its very foundations.
While she was at the school with her son, her husband picked her daughter up from the middle school and brought her home. The investigator's required that she have a full rape kit done at her physician's office in light of the penetration allegations. When she arrived home she called the family Dr. and drove down immediately. The doctor, who'd known the family for countless years, was highly suspicious of the circumstances and greatly doubted he'd find any evidence of penetration. At the tender age of 12, before she'd even begun to go through puberty, she was put through the embarassment and invasion of a complete pelvic examination. The goal was to rule out penetration by viewing her intact hymen. Of course, it was completely intact and there was nothing to suggest this had ever happened to her.
Her daughter was in a state of shock and her son was truly devastated that he had been accused of something so disgusting. Glen allowed him to stay at a friend's house that weekend in hopes he'd calm down while the investigation continued. Little did she know that the trauma he'd experienced forced him to decide to never come home. After the weekend was over, her son refused to come home, stating that he was afraid to be around his sister for fear he'd get accused of molesting her again.
A few days later, the Department of Human Services closed the case as unsubstantiated. A Waldoboro Police Officer assisting with the investigation stopped by Glen's house to inform her that he had discovered that just before the anonymous tip was received, her daughter had had a fight with some girls in her class. It appeared as though her family had been torn apart because of the twisted whim's of a couple of little girls.
Life carried on and the allegation began to fade into the background of their busy life. Even though her son still wouldn't come home (Mom, what if it happens again?), they managed to get through the holidays and start out the new year fresh. Glen had major surgery in January and had just gone back to work in February when…
She was napping and heard a knock at the door. With a sinking stomach, she looked out through the glass only to see Waldoboro PD and the same woman from Human Services. Her immediate reaction was to roll her eyes and head back to the couch, but somehow forced herself to answer the door. Without letting them speak, she asked, "Again?" They nodded in agreement. Glen asked for details about the latest allegation and was told that another anonymous complaint had been called in to the DHS and this time her son was supposedly using her daughter as "his sex toy". Also that he'd been picking her up from school and innapropriately touching her.
There were two glaring defects in the allegations. First, the accuser didn't seem to account for the fact that the children hadn't even seen each other more than twice since the October incident, each time supervised by multiple family members and that her daughter had never once missed the bus or been late coming home. There was no way he could have been picking her up from school. Glen was also told that another argument between her daughter and a couple of girls had occured just prior to the accusation. Now it was time to raise hell.
What we have here is a case of two little girls who thought the only way to get back at their former friend was to toss out allegations of incestuous sexual abuse. Is this an eye opener? Instead of name calling or removing her from their clique, they decided that they'd tear at the very foundations of her family life by making up vulgar stories. Glen was forced to wonder when the next allegation would occur and who would be the victim then. Would it be her husband? Herself? How many times would these girls use the system to their advantage and cause her entire family this utter devastation?
In Maine, and probably most other states, children are encouraged to report any possible cases of molestation to an authority figure. The accuser is given complete anonymity without any fear of recourse, even in Glen's case where both allegations were proven to be unsubstantiated. It's not a stretch to see how a particularly spiteful and imaginitive child would figure out how to use this to their advantage. Scary.
Glen pursued all legal recourse she could and found a dead end at every turn. Her family has no rights and these little girls are holding the cards now. They cannot be punished for their actions and are free to use this 'tool' whenever and to whomever they choose. What is particularly terrifying is that there may just come a time when the reports can't be proven wrong and a child is forever scarred. Here's what I mean.
Suppose her daughter's hymen had been broken during rough play or even bike or horseback riding. These things happen. How could they have NOT taken the allegation seriously? Glen's son would be in Juvi right now and his future would be bleak indeed. What if the next child these two girls attack has actually been sexually active? There will be no help or hope for their brother or father or uncle. This isn't something you can simply deny and have go away.
Glen spoke with the Superintendent, the School Board, the Principal's of each school. Noone could or was willing to help her. In fact, noone would even respond to her requests for assistance until she threatened to take the story to the press. Strange that they insisted they were all doing the right thing until the word Newspaper entered into the conversation. After that they offered to hold a special session school board meeting and it was revealed that the second report had come from Julia Levensaler (the principal) herself.
It's all well and good that people are required to report these things, however some accountability needs to be in place for those that abuse the reporting system. As in the case of these two girls. As far as we know, neither of them have been punished for what they did and we're just waiting for them to have another fight with her daughter and the next round of interrogations to be begin.
Teach your children to do the right thing. Understand their motivations. The parents of these girls were fully aware what was going on, but because of the secrecy involved in the process, noone was able to put two and two together, even after the second allegation. The parents weren't informed that there had been an argument, and that the son hadn't even been living in the house after the first complaint. They were taking their devious little child's word for it and probably assumed they'd get a medal for their valiant efforts.
What needs to happen is that these children need to be punished for abusing something that was put in place to be helpful. They need to be subjected to the humiliation of a vaginal exam. Having their siblings taken away from them. At the very least, be spoken to. Filing a false report is a crime and an adult would have been fined or jailed for a similar offense. These girls cost the tax payers money and caused emotional distress to this family that simply will not go away.
To this day, her son still refused to come home. Justifiably I might add. Why would you want to set yourself up for jail time. The next allegation might be the last even though it's untrue. These two previously loving siblings now have no contact with each other and it had devastated them both. Not to mention the stress its caused their parents.
abusing the system
false reports
sexualized children


A totally awesome list of all the things I love doing for Christmas!
I love the holiday season. Regardless of what everyone celebrates at this time of year, I believe there's something truly magical in the air. Even though this has been a particularly stressful month for me, I still love every tinselly bit of Christmas. I've compiled a list (not exhaustive!) of a few of my favorite Christmassy things, as well as a few traditions my family likes to do!
"In the Christmas tree" by Susanne Nilsson is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.


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ACG NJ's Sally Glick and NJBIA's Michele Siekerka.
Honoring Innovative Pioneers; A Town Hall with NJBIA's Michele Siekerka
By George N. Saliba, Managing Editor On May 4, 2017
Michele Siekerka, president and CEO of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association (NJBIA), today led a town-hall style session at the Association for Corporate Growth NJ (ACG NJ) 2017 Conference and Awards event at The Palace at Somerset Park, and focused on the intricate triumphs and challenges New Jersey now faces. Much of her message was positive, and she said, in part, "What we have seen over the last few years is continuous slow and steady [economic] growth in New Jersey, and I think we are all very proud to know that [labor market] gain in 2016, in the state of New Jersey, was the highest since the year 2000. That's a great reflection of where we are in our state of New Jersey."
That said, NJBIA members are broadly concerned about the cost of providing healthcare to their employees, property taxes (as well as taxes, overall), and the general cost of doing business. And while housing construction, healthcare facilities and traditional retail companies may be struggling, strong industries in New Jersey include finance, insurance, real estate, non-business construction, utilities/services and manufacturing.
On the last point, Siekerka said, "Today, manufacturing is strong, alive and well in the state of New Jersey, but we have room for more. We have great room for growth, and as we hear at the federal level the discussion of policies to bring manufacturing back to the state of New Jersey, we want to make sure that New Jersey is poised to growth with that, and to bring in manufacturing back to the state."
While in 2016 some 70 percent of NJBIA members made investments in their companies (including, but not limited to technology, equipment, products and the workforce), Siekerka said, "Coming into 2017, your hands are frozen on your wallet. You are waiting for some signs, and I think that comes from a little bit of regulatory and political uncertainty." At the federal level, there is much partisanship, and within New Jersey, all legislators are up for election.
Siekerka said, "You feel really good about what you can control in your own business climate to grow your business, but you get a little sketchy when you have to start thinking about what the government is going to do to you. And I think that's where the caution and the optimism comes in," adding, "I think the message is that slow and steady [growth] continues in the state of New Jersey."
New Jersey's Qualities
While New Jersey has been noted for the incentives it offers for job creation, its highly-educated workforce, access to capital, a quality transportation infrastructure and world-class location, it nonetheless: has the highest taxes in the nation, is saddled with state debt, has a public pension funding crisis; is rife with regulatory burdens and is replete with cost of living/affordability challenges.
On the latter points, wealth is leaving the state. Siekerka said, "We are going to bring economic data to the game, so people can't argue with numbers. … We looked back over a decade, and we learned that New Jersey lost over $21 billion in net adjusted gross income, over those 11 years; [Again, that's] net adjusted income. This is not an issue about population; two million people left; two million came in. The two million that came in didn't bring that net adjusted gross income with them. This is the movement of money that is affecting our economy. Think of all the jobs that left with that $21 billion. Think about all the economic activity that left with that $21 billion. Think about that if we could have taxed that money to our general fund, we wouldn't be in the crisis that we are, maybe with our pension and our debt."
Although New Jersey has had progress with the upcoming 2018 repealing of the New Jersey estate tax and an easing on retirement income, at least for now, residents are often fleeing for the nearby states of Pennsylvania and New York.
Yes, retirees may leave New Jersey, but the United States' largest movement of people is Millennials (people born between the early 1980s and 1999), who are exiting the state, often after high school. Siekerka called the generation the "future workforce," and noted that taxpayers shell out $19,000 per pupil, over 13 years (K-12), for each student.
She said, "To let that asset that we just invested in through our property taxes (which are No. 1 highest in the nation) leave the state of New Jersey and probably not to come back is shameful."
Additional Speakers
The event also provided the audience with an array of other speakers. ACG NJ President Sally Glick, who is also principal at the accounting firm Sobel & Co., said in a statement that the day "provides us with the opportunity to highlight some of the most innovative and successful companies in the state, and at the same time present you with the chance to hear first-hand what key initiatives they have adopted as pioneers in their industries."
Regarding the first point, some event participants showcased their companies' time-tested focus on integrity and partnering with other firms, for example, while they also spoke about the current, deeply complex business ecosystem in which – for example – the "balance of power" in the "tightening labor" market might now be shifting toward employees.
The audience heard from the likes of renowned keynote speaker, 2017 Corporate Lifetime Achievement honoree, and ADP President and CEO Carlos Rodriquez, as well as four leaders of innovative companies (who were also 2017 ACG NJ Corporate Growth Award Honorees): LB Electric Co.,'s Mr. Leon Baptiste; Billtrust's Mr. Flint Lane; Tucker Toys' Mr. Mark Nathan; and LPS Industries' Ms. Madeline Robinson.
2017 Conference and Awards
Association for Corporate Growth NJ (ACG NJ)
New Jersey Business & Industry Association
The Palace at Somerset Park
Reclaiming New Jersey's Stature as The Innovation State
NJBIA Endorses Menendez's $500B SMART Fund
2016 Profiles in Success


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Miscellaneous 2 min. read
This 11-year-old boy hacked a replica U.S. voting website in minutes
Robert Siciliano
Election hacking is a hot topic right now. Could someone really hack into a voting website and manipulate election results? According to this recent test at a hacker's convention, the answer is definitely yes—even if you're only 11 years old.
White hat hackers—the "good guys" of the hacking world who try to stay one step ahead of the "bad guys"—have conventions. These meetings allow them to gather as a group, brush up on their techniques, and discuss some of the latest threats that criminals are using.
At one recent hacker's convention, Def Con, organizers set up a replica voting website. It was the same voting site people in Florida use during every election. They invited around 50 children, all between 6- and 17-years old. Shockingly, 30 of the kids managed to hack the replica site. The child who was the fastest—an 11-year old boy—not only hacked the site within 10 minutes, he also changed the votes and names.
Why did organizers do this? To test how weak our election infrastructure is and show the vulnerabilities that are present.
The government's response to election hacking
When this information was made public, you might think that the government would be concerned. However, the spokesperson for the National Association of Secretaries of State, the organization responsible for counting votes, wasn't particularly responsive.
The organization said that Def Con's efforts were welcomed, but they didn't believe the same thing could happen with the actual voting machines as they will likely have additional protection.
President Trump's security team, however, recently warned that Russian hackers have already made attempts to interfere in the vote this upcoming November. With election time right around the corner, the results of this election hacking demo are definitely concerning.
This is even more alarming when you consider that the hackers at Def Con were able to change party names and add billions of votes to a specific candidate's tallies. They could even change the individual candidate's names themselves; one hacker reportedly switched out a name to "Richard Nixon's Head."
The boy who won the hacking competition, Emmett Brewer, changed the name of the mock election winner to his own. He also added billions of votes to his tally.
This is certainly worrying news, despite what the National Association of Secretaries of State says. It also, of course, raises questions about past elections.
Are you concerned about election hacking? Let us know in the comments. And be sure to download Hotspot Shield for free to protect your devices against black hat hackers—aka, the "bad guys."
Filed under: election hacking, hacking, protect yourself from hackers
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Private Voluntary Organisations (Amendment) Bill, 2021 Factsheet
Democracy | Analysis and Comment | Human Rights | Legislation
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)
What are Private Voluntary Organisations (PVOS)?
PVOs are groups of persons or institutions that are private, non-profit driven and independent. PVOs play a very important role in supporting government efforts in various areas including development and governance. They assist in areas such as charity work, legal aid, and emergency aid in times of natural disasters. For example, during Cyclone Idai, they played a critical role in providing humanitarian support and help to affected communities and places where government support was not enough.
PVOs are regulated by the Private Voluntary Organisations Act [Chapter 17:05], however, some organisations such as trusts and common law associations are exempt under the Act.
What is the PVO Amendment Bill?
This Bill was gazetted on 5 November 2021. It seeks to amend the PVO Act for reasons including:
To comply with the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)
To facilitate the easier registration and operation of PV0s
To prevent PVOs from engaging in political activities
How does the FATF relate to the intended amendments?
The FATF is a body that checks to see if countries around the world are taking measures to fight money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF). It has developed 40 standards and these include recommendation 8 which focuses on non-profit organisations (including PVOs) and requires the government to apply ML/TF measures:
Only to non-profit organisations / PVOs that have been identified to be at risk (not the whole non-profit / PVO sector);
To consult with non-profit organisations / PVOs in the process; and
To apply equal, fair, balanced and focused measures.
Are the amendments fulfilling FATF recommendation 8?
No. The suggested amendments will restrict the work of all PVOs, not just those at risk of ML/TF. They do not advance FATF measures. They violate important human rights and affect communities that depend on the work of PVOs. The Bill seeks to legalise attacks on those who do not agree with the government or those who may be seen as opponents of the government. It limits the ability of citizens to access health, legal, humanitarian and other support that is offered by PVOs.
Who is affected by this Bill?
This Bill affects PVOs, trusts, associations, and all organisations providing charitable services, and everyone who benefits from, and supports, their work.
What are some of the unfair measures being introduced in the Bill?
Trusts and common law universitas associations will be ordered to register under the PVO Act. Designated organisations will become unlawful entities unless they register under the Act. Registration under the PVO Act is a very difficult registration process.
Organisations will not be allowed to receive funds and contributions from well-wishers, including those who are outside the country, to support their operations and be able to pay their workers, unless they register and disclose such funding. The Bill makes it a punishable crime for designated organisations to receive such funds and contributions without registration.
It bans PVOs from working on issues involving politics. PVOs are not allowed to support or oppose any political parties or candidate in any elections. The Constitution of Zimbabwe, the highest law of the land, gives everyone (including PVOs) important rights to participate in democratic processes and to have a say in local and national issues, including politics. The Bill is not clear on the exact meaning of "support" (or "oppose"), which means that PVOs who assist victims of political violence, conduct voter education, provide legal support to opposition candidates who are victims of rights violations, or support a political party's positions that advance good governance and human rights, may be punished and jailed for exercising their rights.
The Bill allows for suspension and removal of executive committees of PVOs. The Minister of Public Service and Social Welfare is given very wide powers to remove those in charge of or running these organisations and replace them with those he may choose. This is unlawful because it affects the ability of PVOs to decide their own leaders. The Minister may appoint people who have no interest in advancing the work of PVOs. This violates the right to freedom of assembly protected by the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
The Minister is given too much power to label any PVO as "high risk" or "vulnerable to" misuse for terrorism funding and impose measures against them. The Bill fails to show the way or manner in which the Minister may impose such dangerous measures. There is no consultation with PVOs. This violates the law and FATF standards, as it gives unchecked powers to the Minister to do as he pleases and subject those whom he may not like to very harsh measures.
The Bill forces PVOs to reveal to the Minister any funding that comes from outside of Zimbabwe. This is a violation of the right to privacy protected in the Constitution.
The Bill makes it a duty for organisations to apply to the Registrar for approval for "material changes" in the organisation, including changes to their Constitution, institutional changes, or changes in management/ board. The Registrar can refuse such changes and deregister organisations, directing them to re-register.
The Registrar, who is a civil servant and part of the Public Service, is given very wide powers to interfere with activities of PVOs. The Registrar's office reports and is controlled by the President. This can potentially affect independence of PVOs as they will not be able to speak freely on issues to avoid getting on the wrong side of the Registrar.
What happens if this Bill becomes law?
PVOs will not be able to freely carry out their work
Human rights violations such as police brutality and political violence would increase without victims getting justice
Humanitarian work would cease, or be severely restricted
PVOs would not be able to continue with their work due to lack of funding and support from local and international partners
Communities in distress will not get aid and services they currently receive through the work of PVOs
3 Reasons to oppose the Bill
1) It hurts you and me
If passed, the Bill would affect the work of all non-profit organisations working in Zimbabwe, including those providing life-saving assistance (think sanitary pad drives, community feeding centres and burial societies), religious charities, educational services, food aid, water and sanitation assistance, care for vulnerable children and more.
2) It does not promote our rights
It limits rights like freedom of association, right to privacy and political rights, which are provided for in Zimbabwe's Constitution.
3) It is unnecessary
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations which this Bill claims to respond to have already been addressed in other laws and policies.
Participate and make you voice be heard.
To preserve the work that PVOs do, you can:
Make written submissions to the clerk of Parliament making your concerns known. Email clerk@parlzim.gov.zw
Lobby or put pressure on local MPs or Senators to protect the freedom and independence of NGOs as this preserves their development work and development of communities.
Participate in upcoming public hearings and make your views or concerns known.
Spread the word – Tell your friends and family about this Bill and encourage them to also get informed and involved.
Source: Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, Legal Resources Foundation (LRF) and Kubatana
Green Governance Zimbabwe Trust Newsletter: Vol. 09 - November 2021 Newsletter
Over 30 000 Students Failed to Register for ZIMSEC
Crisis Coalition Letter to the Ministry of Justice… Attention: The Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Hon.…
Legislative Agenda for Fourth Session 2021-2022:… Both Houses of Parliament will meet on Tuesday 19th October…
Constitution of Zimbabwe Fast-tracked with… Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 2) Bill unconstitutionally amended and…
The Proposed PVO Amendment Bill in Zimbabwe: A… The gazetting of the PVO Amendment Bill has generated a…
How Far Has the Legislative Agenda Progressed? Bill… The Legislative Agenda for Parliament's 2018/2019 Session How Far Has…
Forest & Cyber Bills passed; Principles of new PVO… Both Houses of Parliament met last week, on Tuesday 24th,…


text:
Q: Android How to change layout_below to TextView programmatically <TextView
    android:id="@+id/aaa"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_below="@id/xxx" />

How to remove or add layout_below in the TextView, programmatically?

A: I see 2 ways.
First way, you need to create new layout with same name but in folder layout-land, copy all content here and remove layout_below rule.
In this case, you just declare another layout, which not contains layout_below rule
See this screenshot:

This means, that you defined different layouts for different orientation.
in layout/my_layout.xml:
<TextView
        android:id="@+id/aaa"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_below="@id/xxx" />

in layout-land/my_layout.xml:
<TextView
            android:id="@+id/aaa"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"/>

For more information, see this link:

Table 2. Configuration qualifier names, row with name "Screen orientation"

Second way, in your java code(onCreate() method for example):
if(Activity.getResources().getConfiguration().orientation == Configuration.ORIENTATION_LANDSCAPE){
    RelativeLayout.LayoutParams lp = (RelativeLayout.LayoutParams) yourView.getLayoutParams();
    lp.addRule(RelativeLayout.BELOW, 0);
    yourView.setLayoutParams(lp);
}

EDITED

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Episode 7: Blockchain Technology in Fintech Today - Daniel Cage, Speedchain and Cameron Vandewiele, Georgia State Robinson College of Business
April 17, 2020 Georgia Fintech Academy Season 1 Episode 7
Apr 17, 2020 Season 1 Episode 7
Daniel Cage is the CEO and Founder of Blockchain Technology company Speedchain. He joins Cameron Vandewiele, a sophmore at the Georgia State Robinson College of Business to talk about the role of blockchain technology in financial services.
Show Notes Transcript
spk_0: 0:06
Welcome to the Georgia Fintech Academy podcast. The Georgia Fintech Academy is a co operation between Georgia's FINTECH industry and the university System of Georgia. This talent development initiative addresses a massive demand for fintech professionals and gives learners the specialized education experience is needed to enter the fin tech sector. Hi,
everybody. This is Tommy Marshall, the executive director of the Georgia Fintech Academy. Well, welcome to Episode seven of our Georgia Fintech Academy podcast. Today is April 16th and I have two guests with me today that I'll introduce here in a second. But first, just for historical purposes, we've been keeping track of the Hogan 19 public health crisis metrics Azzam Today worldwide, there's two million cases of, um, Kobe, 19 and in the U. S. We're now at 644,000. And in the state of Georgia, where the three of us are today, there's for a little over 14,000 paces. Recent news on the viruses that seeing things seem to be peaking and the New York market um and then there's been there was a big, really scary outbreak in South Dakota in a meatpacking factory that was very concentrated and those. Those two items have been getting a lot of press. And then there's been beginnings of a lot of talk about how do we reopen the economy? Indifferent disagreements between governors and the federal government, the president and whatnot. So that's been dominated. The news. Why did it with regards to the public health prices, Um, but today we've got Daniel Cage shoes, the CEO and founder of Speed, chain and camera vendor Will who is a student at Georgia State. Welcome to you both. Thank
you. Thanks for having us,
Daniel. Um, I wanted to give you some time to start with introductions and just tell us about yourself. Tell us about your career and Fintech and tell us about speeches.
All right. Well, Tommy, thanks for having me. Uh, yes. Oh, Speech Ain is a a company that's focused on distributed applications to a private Blockchain ecosystem. And what we are is a primarily business to business, uh, digital transformation company. So if you think about Blockchain is Cryptocurrency, that is not what we do. What we do is really used smart contracts, private Blockchain ecosystems and distributed applications to make communication between companies and agencies easier and we're focused on on payments and security
and just tell us a little bit about you. And, um what your your career trajectory has been
S O. I am, I think, probably not too different than other entrepreneurs where I had a serious of companies and been real fortunate to come across incredibly talented people and, um, been able to build some really neat things we've been. I started out years ago in actually in the Advertising world, and we were a service company advertising agencies. And then, out of that, I had my first payments company, which was really a We created a national payments network that allowed state governments to modernize their infrastructure. So it just one of the things that we what we did most of was actually modernized lotteries in a lot of the states, but really gave us a deep understanding of the regulatory environment of payments. What kind of modern e commerce technology platforms were available on DDE have always been kind of a, um I guess, really a fan of innovative fintech.
Cameron, tell us about you.
It's almost off more Georgia State University. Um, I'm pursuing a finance undergraduate degree with a fintech certificate. Um, first started getting interested in Fintech. My dad, he works in payment processing for Enterprise Holdings. Um, so I was grew up hearing him talking about it, and I have really understood it. Um, but now that I am pursuing a degree in it, a lot of the things he said growing up are starting to make sense. He would always talk about, um, like bits and coins, and they do a lot with credit cards. So how do they store those numbers safely and securely, And how is their front end meeting with their back end? And how are they meeting client expectations?
Well, that's that's I love that. And then I love you gotten involved with the Georgia Fintech Academy. I think your timing's good before being interested in this industry. You know, the Fintech academies just a little bit over a year old, and so you're kind of showing up really a great time when there's more focus being placed by the university system on this. This industry.
Yes. So, um, I first heard about the Fintech Academy when I worked the Robinson College of Business holiday party. Um, I'm a student assistant in the dean's office and Mr Meadows Govind on, uh, walked up to me, and it was like, Hey, what do you do in here? You look a little young. Um, and, uh, we we got to know each other, and he his interest in me started recirculated and came back into the Fintech Academy. So part of it was where I grew up in part of it was just being in the right place at the right time. Uh, so I'm happy to be here and happy to learn more.
That's good. The well, you know, my nose is one of the greatest sales people in the history of the fintech industry. Uh, we had him on this podcast just a few episodes ago talking about the new initiative. He's been working on the shot ventures. Um, but, you know, my nose. Um, he started the technology partnerships group at Bank of America. Um, what kind of over 10 years ago and then got involved in, um, doing a similar kind of building a similar organization at Wells Fargo. So he's he's really got some deep roots into the into the fintech industry. So that's you know, that's great. I'm thrilled. I'm thrilled that you've gotten a chance to interact with that. Well, so I thought, you know, Daniel, particularly since we've got you here is in the depth of your expertise and Blockchain technology and the fact you're building a company, um, Thio to support the evolution of that technology. I thought we we kind of get started. Um, kind of diving into watching tech. Ah, a bit. And how we've been seeing this develop over the last. You know what's own, I think almost exactly 11 years now since, um, Satoshi Nakamoto, whoever that is or whomever that is ah dropped the Bitcoin. Um, but and then, you know what? What kind of focused your attention on this technology in regards to the establishment of speed change?
So I think that I think there's there's a couple elements to the actually underlying technology that attracted not only me, but, you know, a number of of, uh, business owners. Really? I think you can boil it down to its really scalability, security on and usefulness for businesses. So if you think about kind of a migration to cloud, you know, was was revolutionary for businesses and how, uh what used to what we all grew up. Being a technology stack was transferred into different types of technology, and certainly cloud based has changed the way we all behave in a business setting. The Blockchain, certainly certain types of Blockchain or certain elements of the underlying technology will do the same. So if you think about both from, I don't think the end user will know the difference on Lee that they will be more secure and their providers will be able to scale more quickly and be more efficient. So, um and that that has to do with the underlying decentralization and the host the way you can host data on dhe. Secure it. And so that really is what, um, you know, we ought We say internally that it's not technology that we need to be more functional. It's the user's need to be functional by using the technology. So if this new technology allows companies to provide products that arm or efficient for their users, that costs less that are more secure than it is useful on DSO. It's about I should say it's valuable. So that's really what excited us and, you know, um and continues to excite us. Uh, and I think really there. There is so much opportunity in different verticals. It's really kind of up thio up to us to really, you know, pick the most useful and most valuable use cases for it and really, the markets that have the least traction Or I could say it a different way where adoption is easier for the end user and we're the most valuable kind of pieces of it for partners are. And I think Fintech is, um, certainly one of them. And I think that you can I you know, obviously there's some big names that are already in it in financial service is, But I do think for merchant payments and some other some other areas that are less kind of traveled so far will become more so over the next 2 to 3 to five years.
spk_2: 10:23
Yeah, the, um, in in late 2018 me shot dos, who's the associate professor of finance at the Scheller College of Business. That George attack, Um, he teamed up with me and we we did it just a very quick study on, um where Blockchain technology was beginning to take hold as a as a kind of to create some of these meaningful infrastructural opportunities and pipes. And, um, you know, what we immediately were seeing was the cross industry, uh, application. I mean, everything agriculture, arts and wreck automotive financial service is, of course, health care, insurance, manufacturing, mining, property, public sector, retail, tech, media, telecom, transportation, utilities These air the all the, you know, just with every segment of the economy. And we found a study that Mackenzie had done in the middle of 2018. That was Ah, that was interesting to us. And they were talking or they measured more qualitatively like watching adoption, um, in all these various industry sectors. And then they were looking at it from where there's a revenue growth potential where there's a costs, a potential where it could bring meaningful social impacts. Um, and some of the ones that really popped out were, um not surprisingly, ones We hear Maur and more of I think as, uh or I certainly do is is ah, trying to stay on top of the space. So it's like agriculture. Um, there's this Ah, guess example. There is the food trust that's been built up by Wal Mart and IBM has been very involved in that. And others. Financialservices, which will talk more about health care, which we've seen different engagement on resource is insurance was noted as a big area for potential cross saves property. The public sector, um, were those were the handful that really popped in terms of opportunity industries. Um, and it sounds like when you, as you've been, is they been taken, speak changing market. A handful of those industries are ones that have been resonating. Absolutely. Yeah, it's a long you know, the list that you
just read off his long but but accurate. You know, I think that there's really what you're underscoring is anywhere we're interoperability or communication between different different organizations or and or the importance of the chain of custody of data. And as you said in agriculture and some other things, it's also tied to actual physical assets so you can talk about the token, token ization or digitization of ownership. Those are all things that kind of underlying benefits of, Blockchain said. So it's not surprising that it would have a wide out of use appeal.
The in my consulting business second was in it was in early 2013. Um, we had we were doing a fair number of, like, short sprint projects that were more focused on clients. These air, all financialservices clients, that air we're just trying to understand. Okay, What is this tech? And how could this be useful to us in terms of either service delivery or how we run our business and that we were doing those types of projects and then began to get exposed to, um, some different start ups as well as, um, we had some of our technology teams working with the with, um, Ethereum and Hyper Ledger in particular. And we It was pretty interesting because we could see, um, where you could really get some amazing efficiencies, um, and improve security. Uh, and there's this smart contract feature that began Thio. But when's Ethereum was launched in particular became an interesting component. Where are you know, as we learn more about it, we would joke because we were like, you know, they're not smart contracts is a fun word that they're not really that smart. It's kind of this if if then statements that air pretty, somewhat simplistic, crowded. But we had this really cool project for one of the large global investment banks. They were has a meaningful securities lending business, and I didn't know a lot about SEC lending until we got into this. But as we were studying it, we realized that that's Ah, that's Ah, kind of part of the market. That's pretty manual, heavily manual lot of excel spreadsheets, a lot of phone calling. Um, And this Ah, there's just some way didn't approve a concept, or we could just see their beast really remarkable scale improvements and claw saves. I am using this Blockchain technology thio. Just keep track of the loans that were being securitized and, um, into these all these various private placements and then all these different rules that for each, um, each provider of the different trying to the loan, they would get different kind of rights given to them based on, you know, whatever they put in, or they could negotiate different rights. So full seconding pockets can get quite complex as you've got more participants in it. And you could really see the benefits of this. Yeah, um, but camera You telling me that you had a chance to Tito be part of that Georgia State Fintech conference that was hosted back in early Feb. And I know there was a lot of some good papers that were provided around Blockchain. What kind of jumped out at you in that conference
s o? It was the second year of the Fintech research conference. Um, and on Saturday morning, they had a paper called Corporate Governance of Corporate Capture of Blockchain governance. Um, and it focused on proof of work Blockchain and profit squeezing, um, so kind of taking a look at how can Blockchain be manipulated? Um, and how can participants be hurt or helped by, um, the the equipment producers? So they're the two main goals they're trying to measure. Where equipment producers owning and operating their own mining pool. Um, that lowers the average fee. But then they also start to take more ownership of the pool. So there's less for reward for the miners, and then equipment producers without pool have a stronger incentive toe enter the market. Um, but they also like, how is that profit squeezing as well? Um, I'm that's probably a little bit more into Cryptocurrency than, um, Mr Cages. Speed chain. Um But I would like to hear more about how proof of work and proof of steak and how, if there's do effect, speed train.
Hey, thanks, Cameron. It's It's It's really cool and heartening to hear of, you know, um, students like you diving so deeply into it and look the future, the future of our businesses is really gonna be based on your talent and your and your ability to go get it. So I know Tommy shares that we both love to see you in this conversation and appreciate all the work and talent you're thrown at it. So because our futures ultimately got in your hand. So, um, you know, it's funny, so you bring up a really cool delineation in the business. And with any new technology, I think there's this kind of, you know, there's this migration of different and I don't want to overuse the word forks because we use the word forks and a lot of in a lot of Blockchain, but their forks in the road, in strategy and in business and so proof of proof of work. And Tom, you know, some companies in town here that that are have blocked trains that are based on proof of steak, which is a slightly different take on that, um, are are kind of were actually, you're right. We're actually not really in that side of the business, but Aiken lend a little bit of it of, I guess, thoughts on it. It is very effective for public block chains and to establish trust in a network. And that's really basically what proof of steak and what proof of work. D'oh! Um, you know, over time the efficiency both from an energy perspective but also from a business model perspective has gotten better as it's mature as the business is mature, there's more miners theirs. But to your point, there's also a more sophisticated owner. Now that is saying, Well, wait a second. If I own the machines, why am I going to give this percentage to the just the the actual the minor themselves, with the kind of wood I would go out of Network Minor, I guess. And so they changed the economics of that business a little bit. I think, you know, and Tommy will get some other people on that arm or kind of know this side of the business better than I. I think that once you start dealing in crypto currencies in the secondary market, there's just different market pressures that will drive the maturity of that market right. So if you're ah, you're mining forms, where they I mean, there's some talk now about, like where are they going to be allowed to reside like physically? Do they have to be in the States? Can they not be in certain areas? Because the regulations are different. So they're those kind of, um, you know, those kind of market pressures will come up a swell as we go. So certainly you do bring up a delineation between public Block Jane's and permission or private box chains. They operate very, very differently, and the end consumer is very different. Um, typically enterprises will for a private Blockchain that's processing their data where a Cryptocurrency company can rely on a much bigger group of miners or public.
It's been it's just been fascinating to me to see all of these different protocol iterations beginning Thio come forward and I think it's a great sign to me. Just shows there's continues to be meaningful research, meaningful investment. Um, there's lots of business opportunity that's helping to drive that. Um, and it, uh, I think that's it's very encouraging. Um, you know, it's it's been frustrating to me, Justus having gotten into this again, as I mentioned from a consulting's perspective back in 2013 I just thought, Well, you know, almost three years ago now that this was gonna be a technology that was gonna get engaged more quickly and, um, in the enterprise businesses, I would say, I mean, I thought it was gonna be like, really bitter kind of more wide scale adoption. And 2014 2015 2016. And it's really not until now. And I mean, your company is a testament to this, that the kind of large corporate enterprises are really beginning to put very important mission critical types of business processes, um, onto this technology in different different ways. Um, so it's Ah, it's been, I guess, more of marathon than a sprint. But it was It's clear, I guess, what's encouraging that it's clear that this this isn't a it's not a technology that's going away. Um, and it's continuing to improve. Um, so it it certainly seems like one that's worth continuing to make really meaningful. That's on, uh, and Bill Businesses Room. Well, Tommy, you know, it's funny. You know, we always say that people don't like
the way things are, but they don't like to change right. So I think that in solving some problems from a process perspective, so when you're really dealing in enterprise, workflow and risk and security, it's very easy when to just put those decisions off, You know, and and so I think that it's digital transformation. I think some companies every company sees it as a must. But depending on the depending on the actual use case or the problem that you're solving, it's just a matter of kind of where are you on that priority list?
Yeah, um, the other thing, like we have in this conversation over the last 23 minutes, done what so often happens. It's so difficult, it seems, to get into a conversation about Blockchain technology without getting into some degree of a conversation around Could go currency and, uh, Thea that always interested me and, uh and then, of course, it you know, there's continues to be, um, a lot of effort into trying to clarify you know, differences between Cryptocurrency and watching technology, Um, against the way I try to simply keep it straight in my head is to be like, Okay, Bitcoin is the first use case executed on Blockchain technology. And then there's a course other currencies that have come forward but that are additional execution of a use case on Blockchain technology. Uh and then, you know, And then the two, of course, continue to have no sort of a symbiotic relationship, because I that makes sense to me. I mean, as as thieves cryptocurrencies become further adopted and engage with by consumers and enterprises, et cetera, Um, that just, you know, continues to evolve that that use case of blockade technology. Um, I bet I mean, I know like even in the middle of this in this there's been Ah, I've been involved in a lot of different different cars, calls or whatnot, Maurine the Fintech venture capital community. Just over the last month, as there's several several companies like, cos we've got Georgia Tech in the Advanced Technology Development Center that are you no good? Just good entrepreneurs that are thinking Okay, I've got this really early stage company is there some way I should pivot in relation to this covert 19 crisis. Um, and there's a lot of particularly government funds that are looking thio be deployed against innovative ideas that can help with response to this public health crisis in all sorts of ways. Eso Well, I know there's several ideas that I've heard of that would be supported by blocking technology in responding to the crisis Will be surprised at all if there's some kind of interesting new companies that come out of this in that regard. Um, but, Cameron, um, you news? Facebook?
Not really. Um,
you know, do you know what I'm talking about?
when I say facebook being what I'm talking
about. Yeah, um, I used to keep up with with family members, and that's usually about it. I'm not very active in that space. Um, a lot of my friends,
only old people like me and Daniel would probably be the ones on Facebook,
so we actually talked about this in our marketing class. Um, I think Facebook just kind of hit this when it hit the market. Um, it was very like that. The the consumers that were open to Facebook were, um, of older generations in mind. Like I think I was probably think Facebook Facebook was 2012 right? I think so. I was 12 at the time. No,
no, no, wait, Hang on. No Facebook. I'm just looking as love. I don't know if it was founded in 2004
right? But when when did it start
with? You were you were probably about five.
Okay, so All right. Um, s so that's a little bit, um, past me? Um, no, we don't. Social
media moisture, social media platform of choice.
Uh, probably Instagram just gets that's That's what I grew up into
now did it? Now who owns Instagram? Facebook? But by the way, 50 I have a 15 year old daughter
and she's same thing Instagram is is there They're doing a good job in a wide
one wonder even I'm bringing out Facebook is You know, a year ago, they announced their intentions to create this global digital current CD that they called Libra and the regulatory this regulators across the world basically readout and we're just like, No, you're not doing this. And you're gonna have thio, you know, really work through all our different regulatory bodies. But I'm only leaving back to that because just today, um, Libera made a big announcement, Or Facebook lever made a big announcement that, um, they formally commence the process of obtaining a, uh, payment system license in Switzerland. Uh, and they said they're expecting and will be asking for input from other central banks and regulatory bodies. Bodies around the world, not just from the Swiss. So, um, that, uh, it's it's almost like they're coming out of, um, along. You know, we just haven't heard a lot about you know, how they were gonna work on repositioning related to a liberal, and we're gonna engage in with with regulators. So, um, it'll be interesting to see how this new news is received and for us to understand. I'm sure they've had the reposition, the labor currency. Um, I think they're thinking about doing it. Mora's ah, uh, supporting specific, stable coins. Um, that I think would be tied to particular nation states. But I'm speculating, coming wantto get into the news of the outside. It's over the next day, but I guess one last question I wanna have we'll ask you, Cameron is like win. Like, how did you personally engage with financial service? Is technology fintech?
I'd say the biggest one as far as, like, payment processing would be Venmo like That's how most of my friends and I'd, uh, split checks and share money. Um, some of us also use l that one starting to come up because it is integrated into your bank account. Um, it's for his Cryptocurrency. I haven't really touched the stuff. Um, partially because some of them can get pretty pricey, but also it for me. It's too new for want to accept that risk. Like as a younger person. I probably could take on that risk, but then it becomes the talk about it. It is a high cost to enter that market. Um, and for a social media platform, to have their own Cryptocurrency is an interesting idea. I know. Personally, I'd probably want to keep I like to keep my my spaces separate, so I probably wouldn't entangle my finances with a social media platform.
Zell, um, comment reminded me last week. Uh, I was invited to get involved with, um, Glenbrook partners. They put together a, uh They're great payment boutique consulting firm, but they also do training around payments. And they put together a new virtual training that they invited me to be part of last week, which was really good. And we're we're gonna spore maybe having relations between them and the French Academy. But they had they had really good data on Zell. And, um, they said that in 2019 Zell had 187 billion and processing volume. There's now 766 member banks. Um, that air signed on to the cell network. Um, the $252 is the average transaction amount. Ah. And, um, you know, it's really been significant. And they and they handsome dated too, where they were showing that Zell adoption has surpassed, uh, Venmo which, um, you know, I found particularly interesting. Uh, and I and it's really that that's been a recent development, like in the last 12 months s. So it just kind of it shows once again the power of these large banks. You, um, control their destiny in this fintech space.
Yeah, I know personally that the backing of of lots of banks has been a big draw for me to start moving more into Zel and to encourage my friends and family to move over to Zo. Um, that Mo just has is pretty easy to use when it came out. I know that was a big initial draw for a lot of my friends and I,
you know? Yeah, I just on the date I was looking for the queue for this is key For 2019 the transaction volume was about 25 billion ish Venmo. But Zell's transaction volume was like 55 billion, So it really has overtaken, and no one is significant in a significant way. Um And then what? And then what's also interesting is that the it's, um, in terms of P to p usage, it's kind of dead, even with Venmo. Um, but the, uh, there's clearly the folks using Zell are moving larger sums on cell, then on then on bimbo, which is why you see that transaction volume. Yeah, I know. So so much significantly high. So yeah, I'm a just this whole PGP area is really interesting to me. Um, because I'm still not convinced anybodies making profit on it. They're making revenue, but I'm not convinced they're making profit. Um, on that on that part of the business and we'll see how that might change a SZ Folks like yourself continue to use these platforms and use them for ever increasing sums of money. Let's just, uh, kind of pivot towards the final part of our conversation. Um, well, I wanted to just hit on kind of think any big fintech news we heard in the past, um, in the past week, Daniel, what's caught? What's caught your attention.
You know, I think probably I think, more than anything is just business continuity. I mean, you know, I think everyone for rightly so you know, has now that we're working at home and any time that there's a cop. I mean, this is unprecedented kind of common challenge, you know? So every everybody across every strata, regardless of where in the world you live on DDE what you do every day. Everyone's affected by something by this one thing, which is very, very unique. But I think what it's underscored. I think you mentioned it earlier today in our conversation is whatever transfer mission was gonna happen is just it will accelerate, and I think, and that's really kind of what we're hearing as well, and I think it's what we're hearing. It's more around business continuity, right? So we know that we're gonna have employer employees either working remotely or working in a different way. And I think the more that we can trust data and our communication with each other, the better on. And that includes friend. I mean, Finn Tex Right in the middle of that, Um and so I think more than anything, it's it's that I think it's the It's security. It's it's the transformation. And it's really just kind of digitizing our communication as we are doing right now.
Yeah, um, came in. How about you?
I thought the papal into it and square getting approved for the help of the small business. Really fun was was pretty interesting. Um, whether that is a move to encourage the small businesses they lend thio continue to do business was with them or to just, um, take a stake in being responsible and giving back to communities. I thought that was pretty impressive. And as someone who's looking to be employed in the future, that that means a lot to me as well.
And then there was right as the cares that got passing the wall. There was a lot of lobbying that was taking place on behalf of authentic industry to determine how toe you basically get thin tax engaged. And, uh so I mean, it made all the sense in the world to me that these kind of where I think up, some of the more the older I don't more mature intact, like paper. How square would would really, you know, find find a good argument to get engaged, didn't provide a ton of value. Um, and helping that that hero protection program, Tommy. There's also just a just
a credit to a local company who's doing great is cabbage was part of that as well, because they have outreach to small businesses, and I know that they were right in the middle of that on DSO. That's that's another example. Ah ah younger, smaller company. That's not so small anymore. But they have done some good stuff as well.
That's right. Um, the other two bits of news that I found significant in the past week one so fi announced $1.2 billion acquisition of Galileo Financial Technologies which is a payment payment prepaid card processor, just indicating so five moving further into the payment space. And then Marcus pay was launched, which is the markets again, as the Consumer financial Service is arm of Goldman Sachs. And they launched the point of sale installment lending business, uh, with their first major rollout customer being JetBlue. Um, so there is a very large POS installment lending business born here in Atlanta called Green Sky Financial. Um, so it's, I think, just continued validation that this corner sale installment living space is here to stay. It is going to continue to grow. Um Well, good. I'm gonna wrap up there. Um, Cameron, thank you so much for being with us.
Thanks for having me
and Daniel. Thanks for being engaged with the Georgia Fintech Academy in such a significant way. Uh, and just we're here. Thio, uh, hopefully participate or support the growth of speed chain, as that continues to happen.
Tommy, Thanks for having in love with what you and the Academy are doing. It's great.
The Georgia Fintech Academy podcasts are available on iTunes and Spotify To obtain additional information about the Georgia Fintech Academy, please visit our website at Georgia fintech academy dot org's


The latest theory to hit Fortnite suggests that Epic Games plan to get rid of Tilted Towers in the near future. Tilted Towers is definitely one of the biggest hot spots of the game, so it'd make sense for Epic to shake it up a bit.
If you've been playing over the weekend, you might have noticed a massive meteor in the sky as well as some new telescopes that are on the mountain below it.
Now, looking up at the meteor makes it appear to be headed towards Tilted Towers. This coupled with the fact that the current Battle Pass is space themed, leads people to believe that Tilted Towers will soon be replaced with a space station of sorts.
Other people believe that this could be hinting at a new space-themed map, as Epic has previously revealed that they'd be open to bringing other maps to the game.


Like every programmer, I often come across code that isn't quite right or just plain bad. Sometimes it's my own, sometimes it's not. It happens to every programmer though. You write some code in a hurry, maybe don't quite understand the problem very well, or just learn a much better way to do something after the fact. The question though, is how to handle refactoring that code?
I sometimes have perfectionist tendencies so when I come across bad code it's often tempting to dive in and start refactoring. It feels great to take some ugly code and turn it into a work of art! While often times this is not a problem, especially if it's a small refactor, I often find that I have blind spots that prevent me realizing what I'm getting myself in for.
Here are a couple problems I've noticed when undertaking large refactorings.
Not fully understanding why the previous programmer did what they did.
Often times programmers think it's going to be easy to refactor code because they can't see the full picture and don't understand the challenges the previous programmer faced or thought process for solving it. They don't know the meetings that took place to discuss the best solution or the alterantive approaches that were tried and failed.
It may take longer than expected or lack of time.
I'm a severe underestimator of the time it takes to finish a project or feature and I've found most programmers are the same. With that in mind it can be dangerous for a project when a programmer jumps into a big refactor with limited time and an underestimation of the required time.
Nowadays when I come across some shoddy code, if it's not quick and simple, I try to be diligent about noting it somewhere, whether in a ticket tracking system or as a simple "TODO" in the code, and then come back at a later time. This keeps me from wasting time that I don't have and prevents me from forgetting about it and letting bad code go forever.
We all write shoddy code so let's make better. Just don't do it blindly.


Neutrik NP2X 1/4" professional phone plug, 2 pole, nickel contacts, nickel shell. Sommer Cable 300-0031 Patch & Instrument Cable SC-Onyx Tynee; 1 x 0,22 mm; PVC4,00 mm; black Rean NYS2202P 1/4" cable female jack, 2 pole, nickel contacts, nickel shell.
2 pole, nickel contacts, nickel shell. The heavy duty professional phone plug series improves on the design of the existing C series by offering the thinnest available A-gauge 1/4" plug with unique Neutrik chuck type strain relief on the market. The slimline shell with a width of 14.5 mm meets the most recent requirements for highest density jackfields (15.88mm jack pitch). The precise machined one-piece tip contact without rivets makes it unique and avoids hook up in a socket or break off the tip.
Inconspicuous and yet so important... are those little helpers which are built into almost every electrical appliance today. These small shielded instrument cables are also called diode cables colloquially and they are quasi the simpler version of instrument cables like the ones used in professional audio technology. Because of their mobile application, instrument cables for guitars have mostly a dual shielding provided by a helical mesh screen and a carbon screen, while the diode cable has a simple helical copper mesh which is sufficient if the cable is not moved around or even if it is permanently installed in electrical components. In the audio sector, diode cables are used as connection lead for hifi components or as a budget keyboard lead, whereas in the electrical sector we see incredibly versatile applications. The SC-Onyx Tynee is especially popular with developers, manufacturers and electronics tinkerers since it features a tight litz stranding, a high copper quality (OFC class 6) and a very durable jacket compound.
2 pole, nickel contacts, nickel shell. The heavy duty professional phone plug full metal, max. cable O.D. 6 mm.


Mike Stroud and Evan Mast, better known as the duo Ratatat, had been idle on the production front since the release of their 2010 LP4. However, fans were led to believe that they would be picking up where they left off following the announcement of several festival performances in 2015. On the day that Ratatat would close out Coachella's Sahara tent, they have released a brand new track, "Cream On Chrome." Fans got another taste of the forthcoming album, Magnifique, with "Abrasive." Both tracks showed that the group would still bring the kind of shredding sound they had become known for. Now, the full album is available for stream via NPR's First Listen. Stream the album below.


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The former CEO of Google Iberia and of General Electric Spain and Portugal, Isabel Aguilera is an international keynote speaker whose talks range from competitive leadership and successful human resource management, to new technologies and the challenges of the 21st century.
Drawing on her extensive executive experience in creating unique business models following mergers and acquisitions, Isabel consults multinational, multidisciplinary businesses on optimisation, management and monitoring processes.
Isabel the author - one of the best lectures I have heard taught in the closure of our MBA, several years ago.
According to Isabel, the recipe for corporate success is to internationalize corporations and increase competitiveness by focusing on innovation, human potential and brand.
Isabel was responsible for establishing Google Iberia in Spain and Portugal (2006-2008) and later served as the CEO of General Electric in Spain and Portugal (2008-2009).
Prior to this, she was responsible for creating NH Hotel Group's international business model after it purchased hotel chains in Mexico, Germany and Holland. Developing her activity as a global COO, Isabel led the integration of all the operational models in record time and achieved savings of 38 million euros as a result.
One of the only two Spanish women included in Fortune Magazine's 'Top 50 Most Influential Executives in the World', Isabel is also listed amongst the 'Top 25 Senior Managers in Europe' by The Financial Times and the '100 Most Influential People in Spain' by El Mundo.
Her role in leading Dell Computer from ninth to first in the Spanish market (1997-2002) resulted in The Wall Street Journal naming her one of the '30 Most Influential Business Women in Europe' in 2001. She has also worked in sales and marketing capacities for Airtel and HP Compaq.
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Isabel was an independent board member of Indra (a leading Spanish IT company), Banco Mare Nostrum (a bank), Oryzon (a biopharmaceutical Company), Egasa (a gaming and entertainment company), Globalia (a Spanish travel Company), and Playa: Hotels&Resort. In 2009 Isabel founded her own Consultancy called IMAN.
She is a member of the advisory boards of Oracle Iberia, Deusto Business School, Manpower Group, Laureate and Aegón. Also is an associate professor at ESADE and at Deusto Business School, as well as a business consultant and takes part in several entrepreneurial projects.
Moreover, Isabel serves as a member of the advisory boards of Aegon Spain, Oracle Iberia, Deusto Business School and Manpower Group.
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Early on in the development of "Wicked,'' composer Stephen Schwartz says, it became clear to him and co-creator Winnie Holzman that "we're really on to something. If we do this right, we've got something here.''
Oh, they did it right, and not just in the box-office terms by which this blockbuster is too often judged.
It was 10 years ago this October that "Wicked'' premiered on Broadway. What the ensuing decade has shown is that the best and truest measure of this underrated musical — which is at the Boston Opera House through Sept. 15 — is the extraordinary and undiminished strength of its appeal to girls.
Why does it have such a hold on them? Because "Wicked'' takes seriously their dilemmas and their dreams. And that is more important now than ever, as a countervailing force to a wider culture that is often discouraging or even hostile.
Imagine you're an adolescent girl. Consider the dismissive, often misogynistic messages with which you're bombarded. To cite just one of countless examples, you saw Seth MacFarlane on the Academy Awards, smirking his way through an actress-mocking number whose refrain was "We saw your boobs,'' signaling that no matter how much women achieve, some pinhead will try to reduce them to a punch line.
Consider how that mindless frat-boy ethos oozes out of so much of pop culture, not just movies but also TV, music, the Internet, shock radio, advertising — all of which do their utmost to reduce women to one dimension: sexual. Consider how much more difficult that makes the already challenging task of forging an identity in middle or high school.
And then, blessedly, consider "Wicked.'' For the past decade, with wit and heart and a boatload of gorgeous tunes, "Wicked'' has celebrated the power of female friendship. While giving full weight to the complexity of the path girls have to navigate, the show has affirmed the importance of standing up to groupthink, otherwise known as peer pressure.
A prequel to "The Wizard of Oz'' based on a novel by Gregory Maguire, "Wicked'' focuses on the shifting relationship between the green-skinned Elphaba — later to become the Wicked Witch of the West — and the blond, popular Galinda, later to become Glinda the Good. Schwartz wrote the music and lyrics, and the book is by Holzman, who created "My So-Called Life,'' a terrific mid-1990s TV drama that revolved around a teenage girl played by Claire Danes.
Elphaba is a despised pariah and Glinda sits atop the social pyramid at Shiz University. To their initial dismay, they are forced to be roommates — a circumstance captured in "What Is This Feeling?,'' which amusingly inverts love-ballad conventions into an expression of antipathy. A clique-ish vibe pervades Shiz, and at first Glinda behaves toward Elphaba like a classic Mean Girl.
But these two very dissimilar young women slowly build a bond that deepens and changes both of them — for good, to borrow the title of one of the most beautiful songs in the show. They learn about the transformative effect deep friendship can have, especially when you're young. Each of them has to make choices while figuring out what her values are. Each of them learns that the facile equation of good vs. evil doesn't always stand up to close scrutiny. Each of them learns to forgive, one of the hallmarks of maturity. (It's also noteworthy that — spoiler alert! — the character who does not conform to traditional standards of beauty is the one who ultimately gets the guy.)
Elphaba is confronted with a choice between taking an easy path to power and status on the one hand, and, on the other, doing the right thing by standing on the side of the disenfranchised and oppressed. She spells out her choices and her values in "Defying Gravity'' — and think how thrilling and liberating it must be for an adolescent girl to see and hear this soaring declaration of independence:
"Something has changed within me/ Something is not the same/ I'm through with playing by/ The rules of someone else's game . . . I'm through accepting limits/ 'Cause someone says they're so . . . And if I'm flying solo/ At least I'm flying free/ To those who'd ground me/ Take a message back from me/ Tell them how I am defying gravity. . . ''
It's not just gravity Elphaba is defying but a whole set of social expectations and limitations, and many girls instinctively get that. My wife, Carol, took our daughter Christine to see "Wicked'' on Broadway when she was in third grade. Now 17, Christine has seen it several times since then. A photo hangs on a wall in our home of her singing "For Good'' with a friend in an elementary school performance. Like a lot of girls her age, she has listened to the soundtrack countless times over the years. She is part of an entire generation whose love of musical theater was kindled, at least in part, by "Wicked.'' She's not just a fan, though, but a connoisseur, and as her knowledge of musical theater has expanded, it has only renewed her appreciation for the craftsmanship and artistry of "Wicked.'' Meanwhile, the show's message continues to resonate.
In an e-mail, Christine explained what "Wicked'' has meant to her: "The night I saw 'Wicked' on Broadway is one of my happiest memories. In a culture where the main concern of female protagonists is usually their love interest, seeing a show focused on female friendship was huge to eight-year-old me.
"Sure, they fight over a guy, but Fiyero takes a backseat to the two powerful, interesting, complicated women at center stage,'' she added. "Their struggles (those not involving wizards and green skin) are easily relatable to young women: learning to value your own opinion of yourself over others', exploring what makes you truly happy, building a friendship with someone different from yourself. During the trial-by-fire that is female adolescence, it's heartening to see Elphaba defying gravity . . . and you can't bring her down.''
Schwartz seems to see his creation that way, too. When I asked the songwriter in a telephone interview whether he believes "Wicked'' is so deeply meaningful to girls because it helps counteract an often-toxic cultural environment, Schwartz immediately replied: "I do. I do think that. I think that the sort of empowerment of Elphaba is very inspiring. And it's more than just to girls. I get all these e-mails from young gay male teens, and from older women, women who are in bad marriages and are affected by 'Defying Gravity.' "
Alison Luff (left) as Elphaba and Jenn Gambatese as Glinda in "Wicked," at the Boston Opera House.Joan Marcus
It's true that "Wicked'' appeals to a broad cross-section, including middle-aged guys like yours truly; otherwise, it couldn't be as big a hit as it is. A 2006 survey found that 53 percent of New York audiences for "Wicked'' were 35 or over. When I spoke with Schwartz, he repeated a much-quoted line from David Stone, one of the show's producers: "We all have that green girl inside us.''
However, there's no question whom the show's core audience is. That 2006 survey found that seven out of 10 audience members at "Wicked'' were female. Granted, that's only a bit higher than the Broadway norm, but no survey can measure fervor. Anyone who has ever attended a performance of "Wicked'' knows how much this show matters to girls, and to their mothers and aunts, too. (Ours is far from the only family where "Wicked'' was a mother-daughter bonding experience.)
Part of what they respond to is the fact that Elphaba is guided by such a firm moral compass as she picks her way through a maze of life challenges. "She starts as an outcast girl who wants nothing more than to fit in, and the whole first act she pursues that opportunity,'' Schwartz noted. "But when it's finally within her grasp, in order to take that opportunity it means selling her soul. And she won't do it.''
What that means is that Elphaba's story has an equivocal, real-world quality. Yes, "Wicked'' is a coming-of-age tale, but it deviates slightly from the usual simplistic narrative of the underdog who ends up on top. "While she is empowered, it's not like 'The Bad News Bears' and she wins the championship and lives happily ever after. It's very bittersweet,'' observed Schwartz. "It's funny to say about a green witch in 'The Wizard of Oz,' but there's something realistic about how her power worked out for her. The fact that it's not an unmitigated triumph feels real to people.
"Her courage in giving up her chance to fit in in order to stay true to what she believes is inspiring,'' he added. "And the friendship between those two [Elphaba and Glinda] is also complicated and nuanced. That relationship speaks to girls and women.''
Don Aucoin can be reached at aucoin@globe.com.


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Q: sqlite nomem error on integrity check I have a embedded system which uses C/C++ api with a compiled version of SQLite v3. I get a SQLITE_NOMEM error on pragma integrity_check(10);. I asked the underlying system programmer what the applications heap size is and he tells me that the value is 500k. And also there's a SQL vector size of 4096.
What options do I have to get rid of this? Except splitting the databases to multiple ones?

A: Increasing heap memory size to 1.5M fixed this problem.


Prof. Dr. Mansour Hassan, President of Beni-Suef University, received on Tuesday a high-level delegation from Banque Misr to discuss ways of cooperation between the two sides. The delegation included a number of the bank's leaders and the branch Head, in the presence of the financial advisor of the University.
It is worth mentioning that the meeting reviewed the services provided by the bank to students, faculty members and employees, in addition to discussing the possibility of allocating a headquarters for the Bank at the university, east of the Nile.


Why wear just one wedding dress when you can wear two?!
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