Our Project Managers are Indiana natives who have worked in larger markets, and have made the decision to settle their families in Lafayette.
The Tecton professionals start with advanced study of building construction, followed by decades of design, project administration, and experience in the field.
We have contributed our time, services and resources to a variety of special projects over the years.


Ken is a principal in the Deloitte Advisory US practice and the Quality and Risk Management Leader for Global Risk Advisory. He is the National Quality and Risk Management leader for the Deloitte Advisory business, a member of the Deloitte Advisory Executive Committee and Deloitte LLP's Operating Risk Committee and Acquisitions Working Group. Ken is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP). Ken has led numerous projects involving the design and implementation of strategic risk management programs and information security, privacy, and data protection programs based on regulatory requirements (e.g., ISO, PCI, GLBA). He has over 25 years of experience in strategic risk management, cyber risks, security, privacy, and data protection.


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'True Detective' Season 3 set at HBO starring Mahershala Ali
By Debra Birnbaum
| Variety |
Sep 01, 2017 | 7:51 AM
Mahershala Ali, winner of the Best Supporting Actor award for "Moonlight," in 2017. (Jean-Baptiste Lacroix, AFP/Getty Images)
"True Detective" is back on the case.
HBO's limited series will officially return for a third season, this time starring Oscar winner Mahershala Ali. Nic Pizzolatto is set to direct, along with Jeremy Saulnier.
The next installment tells the story of a macabre crime in the heart of the Ozarks, and a mystery that deepens over decades and plays out in three separate time periods. Ali will play the lead role of Wayne Hays, a state police detective from Northwest Arkansas. It does not currently have an air date, nor is there a set date for the start of production.
"Nic has written truly remarkable scripts," said Casey Bloys, HBO's president of programming. "With his ambitious vision and Mahershala Ali and Jeremy Saulnier aboard, we are excited to embark on the next installment of True Detective."
Pizzolatto is the sole writer of the series, with the exception of episode 4 which he co-wrote with David Milch. "I'm tremendously thrilled to be working with artists at the level of Mahershala and Jeremy,' said Pizzolatto. "I hope the material can do justice to their talents, and we're all very excited to tell this story."
"True Detective's" critically acclaimed first season starred Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson; Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams and Taylor Kitsch appeared in the second season.
Executive producers also include Scott Stephens, McConaughey, Harrelson, Cary Joji Fukunaga, along with Steve Golin, Bard Dorros, and Richard Brown.
Pizzolatto is represented by Jill Gillett, Sylvie Rabineau, Phil Raskind at WME, Bard Dorros at Anonymous Content. Ali is repped by Brandt Joel and Brian DePersia at WME, Carolyn Govers at Anonymous Content. And Jeremy Saulnier is represented by Rob Kenneally, Maha Dakhil, Craig Gering at CAA, Keith Redmon at Anonymous Content.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Still here? Ok, so it relates to the new house, after all. In our last house we had a Foxtel IQ PVR and this connected via Cat 5 cables to the TV in the bedroom. We also had another non-PVR Foxtel box on the kid's TV. This was generally fine, except sometimes the kids wanted to watch a recording at the same time as we did. Now ideally Foxtel would get into the 21st century and let you playback content from your IQ on another box that was on the home network. Maybe one day.
Anyhoo, in the new house we are going to have Austar, who have their (much buggier) equivalent to the IQ, Mystar. So I hatched a plan – we would still have two boxes (both Mystar HD), but I wanted to locate them centrally and then be able to switch them to the TVs located around the house. After (quite) a bit of research I decided that an HDMI matrix switch was the way to go. I needed a switch that could send the signal over Cat 5 and I needed it to send the IR remote control signals from the TV back to the source. As I will have two Mystar HD boxes, and they respond to the same remote control codes, I needed the matrix to route the IR signal from the TV to the connected source. I eventually purchased one of these.
Once I got it and did some testing I found that while it worked well for audio & video, it wouldn't send the IR signals back to the Austar box.
Let's digress for a minute and talk about how IR remote controls work; basically they send pulses of infrared light. Infrared light is invisible to the human eye, but if you point your remote control at a digital camera you should see it flashing on the camera's display because the camera's sensor can detect IR light. The environment is full of IR light, so the pulses that the remote sends is a 38KHz signal; the IR LED turns on and off 38,000 per second. These pulses are sent for different durations to indicate 1s and 0s to the controlled device (e.g. pulses sent for .2 of a second might be a 1, 0.4 of a second for a 0). To make it easier on the receiving end you can get these great little detector chips that detect the 38KHz flashes and turn them back into straight voltages, so you get a signal that is on for .2 or .4 of a second, for example.
IR repeater systems use one of the receiver chips and then send the signal down a wire to another LED located near the controlled device. This LED flashes on and off (with the 38KHz carrier signal) and your device responds.
All great in theory. What I found out is that Foxtel/Austar remotes use a 56KHz carrier, not 38KHz. This means that the detector chip in my matrix can't see the signal. Now I do have another IR repeater system that does work with Foxtel. I have confirmed that the receiver chip in this system can detect the Austar remote. Interestingly the signal that it sends out at the other end is 38KHz, and the Mystar box accepts that – so it seems that even though it uses 56KHz, it works with 38KHz signals too.
So, what next? Well, I have ordered some 56KHz receiver chips and hopefully if I swap out the chip in the Matrix receiver it will respond to the Austar remote and we will be in business. The chips should arrive sometime next week, so watch this space.


A Midtown Manhattan Hotel lounge, February, 2013.
How do you recognize genuine talent?
Genuine talents have an aura that shines like a beacon on a hill. Sounds so cliche but life has shown this to be true in almost every capacity of my life and work . The fact is, everyone is genuinely talented but very few people tap into or cultivate it, and those that do – by walking and working with their given talents – are so obvious that you don't have to look too hard to recognize it or them.
Tell me about your new job as a professor.
It's surreal. I attended the Newhouse School at Syracuse University as an undergrad almost ten years ago – so it's super cool and super strange – to walk those same hallways as a professor. In fact, my faculty i.d photo is the same as the student i.d one I used years ago. I teach Fashion & Beauty Journalism. The class is such a great outlet to share all I've learned – and who I've learned from – over my last few years as an editor at magazines like Paper, Essence and as a columnist at The Huffington Post. But the coolest thing about it is that these students teach me way more in a given day than I can ever teach them in a semester. I feel really fortunate for this experience.
Who or what today, inspires you?
Always, always, always and forever my family – especially my mother, aunt and sister. Their strength, their love, their spirit, and their stories set a bar that I hope I can reach in my lifetime.
Zandile Blay gets it and will tell you just how well she does.
My encounters with Zandile have always been brief but never boring or conventional. I adore her and look up to her.
Z is the kind of girl who is supportive and also ambitious. In her professional career, as she mentions above, the positions she's held include; Style Columnist for the Huffington Post, Digital Fashion Editor for ESSENCE Magazine, Women's Fashion Editor for Paper Magazine and Readers Editor at SEVENTEEN Magazine.
When we met for this photo op, Zandile was patiently waiting for me in a hotel lobby somewhere in Midtown where she was about to sit on a panel for South African Tech & social media week. During and after our shoot the women who came up to greet Zandile expressed so much appreciation and respect for her work. I was standing off to the side rather sheepishly smiling at the beautiful and striking women in front of me.
Zandile's future will always bright because she fully believes in herself, her strengths and also understands her weaknesses. Understanding the dynamic between strength and weakness is a muscle used most efficiently when both ideas of self are accepted. This is what I've learn from Zandile: to own it. And that's all I can really say.
Zandile will be moving to Africa for a new adventure come May. We will checking in with her then and also checking up on her blog, Africa Style Daily.


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09. Institutional Documents of Reference
Agreement on the European Master's Degree in Human Rights and Democratisation (EMA Joint Programme)
EMA; EIUC; University of Graz; Ruhr University Bochum; University of Hamburg; University of Padua; Ca' Foscari University of Venice; University of Ljubljana; University of Deusto, Bilbao (2017-12-12)
When EMA universities decided to develop into the association EIUC, this important evolution had a fundamental impact also on the conception of the EMA degree. Upon initiative of the University of Padua, the coordinator ...
Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Venice and the European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation
EIUC; Venice. City (2011-07-15)
EIUC and the City of Venice signed in 2011 an MoU which came to provide a steadier grounding for the institution, both in terms of confirming the Monastery of San Nicolò in Venice-Lido as its location, and strengthening ...
EIUC Statute
EIUC (2017-02-18)
EIUC was established in 2002 as natural development to the cooperation established – under the coordination of the University of Padua - between the universities organising EMA since 1997, and upon initiative of the European ...
EIUC/GC Mission and Vision
Global Campus of Human Rights; EIUC (2017-02)
The joint vision of EIUC / Global Campus – which was adopted in February 2017 - is directed to express the network's willingness to act and react to the increasing number of global crises and human rights challenges. At ...
EIUC (4)
Ca' Foscari University of Venice (1)EMA (1)Global Campus of Human Rights (1)Ruhr University Bochum (1)University of Deusto, Bilbao (1)University of Graz (1)University of Hamburg (1)University of Ljubljana (1)University of Padua (1)... View MoreSubjectEIUC (3)European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation (3)EMA (1)European Master's Programme in Human Rights and Democratisation (1)GC (1)Global Campus of Human Rights (1)Inner Circle Universities (1)Venice. City (1)... View MoreDate Issued2017 (3)2011 (1)


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User talk:MikeTheRed
Here be more detail than you ever wanted to know. Please put comments/questions in italics. If you want an email reply, please use the "Email this user" link in the lower left panel.
1 The Experience of Experience
1.1 My Test Setup
1.2 Testing Skill Point Increase
1.3 Another Look at Primary Point Increases
1.4 Non-Randomness in Primaries
1.5 Secondary "Steps"
2 Tips on Increasing Skills
3 Psi Testing
4 Base Design Scratch Pad
4.1 Turn Sequencing
The Experience of Experience
A.K.A. more details than you ever wanted to know, about testing XCOM:UD 1.4 experience counters versus stat increases
My observations under Experience are getting incredibly long-winded. And at the same time, I am doing yet more research on it. So I've made this space to put levels of detail that are way more than a casual player is interested in. I will probably move some stuff out of Experience and over to here as I polish the info.
My Test Setup
For my testing, I have a MS Access VBA module that sucks in a savegame and compares it to another one (from before the combat). I edit experience counters (offsets 80-85 in UNITREF.DAT) and soldier stats (bytes 43-62 in SOLDIER.DAT) from a savegame ready to be ended (a Muton base with 16 soldiers standing in the entry area). Although it took weeks of futzing with Access to get it set up nicely, now that it's done, I can generate each combat-mission skill-point result in as quickly as I can load a savegame, end the mission, and then savegame on the geoscape (approx. 15 seconds). As of this writing, I have 4,544 individual soldier results (a.k.a. 284 savegame results at 16 soldiers each). This was for 11 different configurations of experience counters and soldier stats, as I zeroed in on different questions to ask (an average of about 25 savegames per configuration).
Psi Lab end-of-month increases vs. Psi Skill
FWIW, the Psi Lab training tests were way easier than combat-mission experience-vs.-skill-point tests. For three reasons: 1) I only had 16 soldiers in my base combat-mission scenario, whereas I could use all 250 soldiers when testing the Lab. (It took a lot of manual Soldier.Dat hacking, though!) 2) The Psi Lab results were much more simple and clear vs. combat results, as the wiki shows. Finally, 3) only one stat was being looked at, whereas combat results can affect 9 stats, each of which has to be examined in its own way. For the Psi Lab tests, I quickly generated 8,500 datapoints (34 savegames) and within just two different savegame configurations, it's behavior was crystal clear. (I didn't include these 8,500 results in the 4,544 counts I mentioned for combat results, of course.)
I'm happy to share my MS Access setup with anybody that wants it; just send me an email. But you are warned - it's all home grown code. I'll walk you through it, but you have to do it exactly right... there ain't no user manual or Help routines for this baby! You coders know what I mean. Also, just so you know... the only thing it does relative to game files, is read Soldier.Dat. It doesn't touch any other file, and it doesn't write to anything (except itself, of course). I did all my Soldier and Unitref hacking by hand.
FWIW, at first I used Hex Workshop to hack Soldier and Unitref (thanks Danial!), but lately I've only been using EDIT... I couldn't figure out a way to make HW "remember" where to place its structure overlays, and it's a hassle to place them back on all 16 soldiers every time I use it. (If anybody knows a way to get HW to remember where they should be placed, let me know!) In the long run, I find it easier to just scroll through Soldier or Unitref with EDIT. Either way is real work, but at least with EDIT, it's "just show me the #$@!$ bytes!" I also wish HW had a wider data view (with smaller fonts for it) and would let you re-arrange the fields shown in the structure overlay in whatever order you want (i.e., one that makes more sense for my purposes than their somewhat scattered layout).
Testing Skill Point Increase
For anyone who's interested in testing combat mission experience vs. resulting skill point increases:
You only need to edit the experience counters in UNITREF, and the soldier stat values in SOLDIER. That is to say, XCOM does not carry the soldier stat values in UNITREF back to the geoscape... it just re-reads them out of SOLDIER. So stats in UNITREF are "read only" (for that combat only) and lost when combat ends. The "Kills" variable is the only value I know of in UNITREF that's directly carried forward into the geoscape, although other things like experience counters (for skill increase) and health (for hospitalization) indirectly carry forward / affect values in the geoscape.
Another Look at Primary Point Increases
Here's another way to look at primary stat increases:
Sorted on Number of Actions        Sorted on AvePtInc/Actions
Average       AvePtInc/               AvePtInc/
Actions Pt.Inc. Delta  Actions        Actions  Actions
1    +0.5   +0.5    +0.500            3     +0.667
2    +0.5     -     +0.250            1     +0.500
6    +2.5   +0.5    +0.417           11     +0.364
10    +2.5     -     +0.250            2     +0.250
11    +4.0   +1.5    +0.364           10     +0.250
Average Point Increase (Ave.Pt.Inc.) shows the average number of primary skill points earned relative to primary actions taken. Delta shows the difference in skill points earned, from one action to the next. Note that many actions are "wasted" in the sense they cause no further skill points - unless, of course, you get all the way to the next breakpoint. This is especially critical when only a limited number of actions are available to your crew (i.e., only so many shots aliens can take before they're all dead). Finally Average Point Increase Per Actions Taken is the Average Point Increase divided by Actions for that same row. When the table on the left is sorted on this latter column (on the right), you can more clearly see how e.g. 10 actions is a bad idea, unless it gets you to 11. (And anything over 11 is truly wasted.) Note that 1 or 2 actions did not actually earn the expected 0.5 points in my testing - see next section.
Non-Randomness in Primaries
This section only applies to primary skill increases:
When I've talked about experience rolls, I've made it sound like you always get the average (halfway between the ranges). But this is definitely not the case, especially when there are very few experience points (EPs) in UNITREF offsets 80-85. Specifically, when there are only 1 or 2 primary actions - the first 'step' for primary skill points - I saw very weird, non-random stuff. Example: I would set up 16 soldiers, with only 1 or 2 EPs for each soldier. When I ended the combat, the skill point range was undeniably 0-1. But far more often than not, the 16 soldiers in my test crew would all get 0 skill points, all across the board. Then every now and then they would all get 1 skill point, all across the board. And even less often, there would be a mix of 0s and 1s in the results. The actual average increase was about 0.33 points, not the 0.5 points I wrote in Experience. (Individual stat averages for first step: Psi Skill 0.18, Firing Acc 0.53, Reactions 0.18, Throw Acc 0.81, Melee Acc 0.19; average across all: 0.33. This is with 400-900 samples per stat average.) To this day, I cannot get a handle on what is triggering them to all be 0 or 1. It's not influenced by total experience counters, number of other types of experience gained, or secondary points awarded. My best guess is that it is based on some high-level bit mask over the system clock, because it seems to come and go in unpredictable spurts. (If this is true, it's possible that my DosBox wrapper is messing with the results. But then, it would be for anyone using DosBox.) Then again, stuff that comes and goes in unpredictable spurts could be almost anything. I did my testing by reloading and combat-ending only about a dozen different hacked combat-mission savegames (as I zeroed in on issues to test) hundreds of times in sum total, so I can never be sure my problems weren't caused by the simple fact that I was reloading a few games many times, instead of racking up experience points au natural, where some unknown randomness seed might be being kept / ticked away.
Anyway, I kept the main wiki summary simple, and just strongly advised people to try to get at least three primary actions. Although 1-2 actions was weird, by 3 actions I saw little non-randomness. More precisely, I saw some non-randomness, such as all stats getting the exact same result for several tests in a row. Melee was oddly low at its third step, averaging 1.99 instead of 2.5 (n=744). But in general, when summarized across any larger n (100+ datapoints), the summary stats were almost always very close to the expected average of the range. So, there was a little bit of weirdness at 3+ actions... but it was nothing like at 1-2 actions.
Secondary "Steps"
In the wiki on secondary stats, I said that there is an even slope for secondary skill point gains, from an average of 4 (range 0-8) at (hacked) secondary level 0, to an average of 1 (range 0-2) at Cap-1. That was a simplification, to keep the wiki short. In actuality, it's like this:
The three stats TUs, Health, and Strength have a maximum range that increases by 1 at every increment of 10, working backward from the cap. Stamina - that high-winded beast - increases at multiples of 15. This follows the usual X-COM approach of defining a range and rolling randomly within it. So a graph of the maximum range of points possible vs. current stat level looks like this:
Thus e.g. TUs has a range max of 2 from stat level 71-79 (80 is the cap), 3 from 61-70, 4 from 51-60, etc. TUs, Health, and Strength work backward in increments of 10, but Stamina has steps 15 stat points wide. So it has a range max of 2 from stat level level 86-99, 3 from 71-85, etc.
(All secondary skills have a range minimum of 0 across their span; it's entirely possible to not get an increase in a secondary skill after a combat. So on average, you expect to get half the range maximum.)
Interestingly, at (hacked) stat level=0, Stamina and Health can get 8 points assigned (like I said in the wiki), but Strength can get 9 points, and TUs can get 10. Then all of them quickly drop the range to 1 point less, at level=1 (except Stamina, working backwards in steps of 15).
So this step function means that the "even slope" I talked about is not quite correct, nor are the averages that I put in that table for each level (those are based on a linear slope equation instead of half of that step's range maximum, which is what the true case is). Still, it's a very good simplification, especially when you're talking about the average number of CMs to go from e.g. Recruit Max to Cap. So I kept the wiki shorter by not going into the level of detail shown here.
Tips on Increasing Skills
Here are more tips (too much detail for the wiki!) for increasing stats with the popular "firing squad" tactic. For anyone not familiar with it, here's how it works. First, you have to have good psi soldiers in powered/flying armor. Then:
Mind control all the aliens, and gather them in one spot
Line up your guys a la a firing squad
Give one or two aliens a laser pistol
Kill everybody via reaction shots with something weak like the standard-issue pistol
This has the advantage of increasing psi, firing, and reaction skills all at once. The weak pistol lets you make more hits before you kill them; only hits count toward Firing Accuracy increase (not Kills per se). Mutons are by far the best for this, because they are relatively thick skinned but mainly because they have a ton of hit points. And their friends the silacoids are almost (but not quite) invulnerable to the little popgun at higher difficulty levels than Beginner, due to higher alien armor levels (see Kill Modelling).
Some tips, then. Veteran players will know most of these (except the first one), but newbies may not:
Notice that the standard pistol carries 12 rounds - and that it takes 11 actions to get the best roll possible (2-6) for a skill increase. So if your soldiers have shot a full clip, stop having them react-fire, and let other guys who haven't used up their clip (or haven't had a go at all yet) shoot. (Or stop them when they have 1 bullet left, if you want.) Reaction firing counts toward a Reaction increase even if you miss, so counting bullets is an easy way to track it. Once they've used a clip, it's time to let low Firing-Accuracy guys get 3 or 11 non-reaction, sure hits (the primary-skill breakpoints) to increase their Firing Accuracy. That is, if you haven't been keeping tracking of everybody's hits (a challenging thing to do).
If some of your soldiers have very low reaction levels (less than 50, or especially less than 40), others are liable to shoot before them. In severe situations, all aliens may be killed before your low-reaction guys fire at all. Assuming you want to build their reaction skill(!), make sure low-reaction guys do get to fire off their whole clip, even if they're the last one with any bullets left in the firing squad. They're the ones that need it most. There's no rush with larger UFOs (see the Alien Deployment counts for UFOs)... Mutons take approx. 13 hits to kill at Beginner difficulty level, and 34 hits at higher levels (see Kill Modelling). Or let your low-reaction guys shoot first, if it won't take much to kill all the targets. In the long run, consider rejecting recruits with Reaction under 50 or especially 40. (You'll have plenty of money by the time you've got good Psi.)
Oddly, every now and then, your soldiers will get a higher reaction experience count, than reaction shots they have made. I've seen soldiers with 15 in Unitref[80] when they had only reaction-shot one clip of 12 bullets. The extra counts occur right when an alien dies (or is knocked unconcious), in a situation where more than one of your soldiers could've reaction fired. Apparently all your soldiers's reactions are "queued" and the next guy's reaction counter is ticked before it checks whether the alien is still up. It only happens if there's an extra guy's reaction queued who didn't get to fire, so the more guys you have, the more likely it is that the alien won't be killed or knocked out by the last guy shooting. Thus, you have the potential to get extra reaction counts up to the number of aliens killed, although just who will get them (if you have a lot of shooters) is anybody's guess. Unless you peak at Unitref and see exactly who did get it. There's not much you can do with this factoid, but there it is. Update: Additional limited testing shows that soldiers with lower reactions (relative to others shooting) tend to get the extra Reaction experience. This supports the idea that it's a reaction queue at work - soldiers with lower reactions will be toward the end of the queue, and more likely to have an alien killed before they shoot.
If you're really serious about increasing skills as evenly as possible, you can put aliens up for execution one at a time. And if you're insanely serious, it can be mano a mano versus one soldier at a time. This is the best way to keep track of number of hits your guys have made. But it's incredibly tedious work and can take a grueling hour or more vs. mutons. It's WAY funner to just line everybody up and let the lead fly!
If you are counting hits, it's easier if you have some distance to your target and a wide open space behind them. (Not against a wall or the edge of the map.) This way, some of your misses will clearly keep going past the target. With a wall or map edge, though, it can be harder to tell what hit and what didn't. (And if you're right next to them, you sometimes miss into the ground, which can be hard to judge as a hit or miss.)
Perversely, it's easier to hit, if you're right next to the target. Due to how, even though there are stated accuracies, etc., if you're right next to them, even calculated misses may very well still intersect them. But it will also be harder to detect if you missed because you'll e.g. shoot directly into the ground sometimes. Shrug.
If you have a lot of Mutons lined up, you don't need to worry about some of the above. Especially reaction shots... all of your crew should easily be able to get 11+ reactions. Half your crew should be able to get 11+ hits, especially if you do the next item, to make sure you spread them evenly...
The truly dedicated can save the game and peek at the UNITREF experience counters, offsets 80-85. As long as you don't hack the file, it ain't cheating. It's a sure way to know exactly how folks are doing, including for psi. Just be sure to close your hex editor before saving your game! Otherwise the editor may "lock" the file and it won't actually be written (but XCOM won't complain!). Maybe I'll make an applet that reads them on demand... anyone interested?
Along these lines, shots do count as hits (to increase Firing Accuracy) if your soldier aimed/reacted at one alien, but hit another. Any hit on any alien counts.
But of course, not if they're currently mind controlled. They are considered "friendlies" then, and hits on friendlies don't increase your score. So don't mix MC'd with non-MC'd aliens, if some of your guys are liable to reaction fire on un-friendlies. Either MC everybody or nobody, in that case.
Another reason to MC all aliens or none, is because uncontrolled aliens will target MC'd aliens. They know who has the least armor, making for their best shot - and it'll be friendly aliens, all of whose armor is less than your power/flying armor.
One way to avoid reaction shots by your guys into a mixed crowd of non/MC'd aliens, is to turn your shooters around for a turn. And a way to (sometimes) keep an MC'd alien from shooting unfriendly ones, is to turn that alien around. And possibly just MC the aliens right next to him, blocking the view of farther, enemy ones (if they're all in a line).
It's said that powered armor and flying suits are safe from laser pistols. This is only partly true. Laser pistols (LPs) do an average of 46 laser damage, but this can be up to twice as high (92). XCOM armor is as follows:
Front  Sides  Rear  Under
Coveralls    12     8      5      2
Personal     50    40     30     30
Powered     100    80     70     60
Flying      110    90     80     70
As you can see, even the sides of Flying Armor can take damage from a LP (although only ~2% of the time, and very light damage at that). LP shots in the back won't give you a deep wound (up to 12 damage), but they can put you in the hospital for a week or three. So be careful, especially about moving so as to turn your back (giving an alien a reaction shot). They WILL target your back or under armor! They know where your weaknesses are.
Be careful of using silicoids, celatids, and other critters with built-in weapons for reaction-fire target practice. Sometimes they won't shoot you, but you never know! Get them out of the way first with directed fire by low FA guys. (And keep track of their hits!) Psst: Did you know the celatid has a very limited range?
Large aliens (sectopods, reapers, and cyberdiscs) do weird things when MC'd. You're only MC'ing one-fourth of them, so the rest "takes over" and basically, it's not MC'd. (Has anybody ever tried MC'ing all four quarters??) You wouldn't want to try it with sectopods and cyberdiscs (cuz they can shoot), but with the floaters' pet reaper, you can still use them for target practice. You just have to keep moving reapers farther away than they can run to you, each round. And hope your hits land on their non-MC'd quarters. (Maybe you should MC their butt instead of their head, since they'll run toward you??) I haven't actually tested this vs. the experience counter, but I presume it's true. You can probably get a lot of reaction-fire experience (even on a floater mission - floaters die like flies), since it will take many pistol shots to take down a reaper at long distance. 7Saturn (talk) 10:30, 14 September 2015 (EDT) The fun part is, that you still can do another MC on one of the remaining parts and get their starting stats again. So in essence, you can let them run four times as far, as if conventional MC of the whole unit took place. But partial MC will not keep a Cyberdisc or Sectopod from shooting itself or any other of your units, when reaction fire triggering kicks in. MC'ing their butt instead of their head won't help that, as it's not about the used graphics but the part that is being controlled. The upper right corner will stay MCed, even when you turn the unit. So better wait until it's the next round for you, if you want to have a clear shot. This also means, you can make a Cyberdisc or a Sectopod shoot itself. As they don't make a very good training unit this way, shooting them is rather usefull, especially with sectopods, as they have autoshot. Take care, none of your soldiers is near, as Cyberdiscs explode and Sectopods will finish their auto shot, even when kill by the very first shot. So the remaining shots might end up, where you don't want them to.
You might have considered stun-rodding (SRing) aliens, to increase your Melee Accuracy. Then, revive them to SR again, or shoot. But the SR can put up to 65 unconscious points on them, which can take forever to revive with a medkit (or even use up all your med supplies without being revived). So Melee Accuracy is not a very viable skill to develop. We'd all much rather build our Firing Accuracy and Reaction, than this obtuse irrelevant-in-UFO skill! It might be more important in TFTD, though.
In case you hadn't noticed - Aliens that have no weapons and have nowhere to go within one turn that's out of your line of sight, rarely move at all (except to turn/look around sometimes). Which is to say, you don't have to MC them if you don't want to (or don't need any more psi experience) - they aren't going anywhere. But keep in mind that if they see just one of you, they know where all your men are. And so they always know if there is anywhere that even one of them can go run and hide. The sneaky little sh$ts!
Enemy units never get fatal wounds - but friendly units can. And MC'd aliens are considered friendly. So if you accidentally hit MC'd aliens, you have to check them for wounds. (Yet another reason to MC all or none, so you don't reaction-fire into a pack of mixed ones.) Here's where I got another of XCOM's many little "surprises": I was marching a lot of aliens back to their base's exit zone while they still had their weapons. (So they could drop their stuff in the zone, and I could withdraw and come back and milk the base again.) I accidentally forgot to MC one (hard to see in a big pack of MC'd guys) and all he had left on him was a grenade. So of course he chucks the grenade, which bounces off the MC'd guys and comes to rest right in the middle of the pack. This 1) destroyed every bit of loot that had been dropped, 2) killed a couple of aliens (including himself) and gave most of the other Mutons 2-3 fatal wounds, plus many lost a lot of health (=skill point training down the tubes), and finally 3) when all the gear got destroyed, there wasn't a single weapon left that I could use to shoot some Elerium out of a Power Source. (I only had pistols, since they always have Heavy Plasmas.) Damn, was I cussing a mean streak, kicking myself! LOL
Psi Testing
I've made a separate page for notes on my Psi Testing, here.
Base Design Scratch Pad
Scratch pad for base designs, using NKF's design tool. Also see X-COM Base Module Pix and Base_Layout_Strategy. Possible entries:
small_radar
large_radar
Turn Sequencing
Mike, the problem with making the turn sequencing it's own page is that some of that in theory. My actual patience for testing is very low(the person who does that lives about thirty minutes away from me, actually). But if you think it's worth a page, I'll put it down. Reply when able. (Actually, I recently thought that the 'Anyone Alive' check might be performed not for BOTH sides each turn, but only after that side's turn. This would explain why, after you kill all the aliens, you see the alien turn screen briefly after ending the X-Com turn. Similar if the aliens off all the soldiers during the Alien turn.) Arrow Quivershaft 19:54, 10 October 2007 (PDT)
Get better soon, man! Arrow Quivershaft 02:04, 1 November 2008 (CDT)
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A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the city's first tiny home took place June 28 at 1526 Prescott St. S.
ST. PETERSBURG – The Tiny home movement has made its way to St. Pete, and the Pinellas Ex-Offender Re-entry Coalition (PERC) is at the forefront of the crusade. On June 28, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the city's first tiny home on Prescott Street South.
Mayor Kriseman touted the city's innovative spirit in meeting the needs of its residents.
PERC's mission is to help offenders become and remain ex-offenders by reuniting families through advocacy, comprehensive service delivery and referral and education. One such program is the Second Chance Tiny House program where ex-offenders will build 25 tiny homes for homeless veterans in St. Pete and 30 affordable homes in the Lealman area.
The program provides students with the knowledge and skills needed to obtain a successful career in the building construction industry. It also provides second chance opportunities for participants with criminal records or without a high school diploma or GED.
Students receive carpentry and OSHA certification at Pinellas Technical College and are paid part-time for hands-on training in the construction trades. The first class of this program has already seen 13 people placed in jobs, with multiple contractors offering graduates jobs on the spot.
Jacquis Monroe finished the program and is now a mentor and instructor for the new class. In 2013 as he sat in jail, he was determined to turn his life around. He made goals and promised himself that before he turned 40, he would be a productive citizen.
"I worked my behind off to learn everything that I really wanted to accomplish," Monroe said, noting that he earned his carpentry license, OSHA certificate and other certifications that allowed him to be employable within four months.
From the age of 18 until 33, he was incarcerated at least once a year. Turning 38 on June 26, he is now employed full time with PERC helping others who need a second chance to meet their goals.
Students in the comprehensive four-month-long program spend Monday through Thursday from 7:45-11:15 a.m. at a construction job site getting hands-on training. Then from 12:15-5 p.m., students report to Pinellas Technical College to not only receive hands-on training but also classroom time. They learn to read blueprints, how to handle tools and proper safety techniques. On Fridays, students are back at the job site earning money.
No prior construction training is required to enter the program. All you need is dedication.
And if you are the type of person that gets bored quickly, Monroe said this program is for you.
"One day you might be laying tile. The next day you might be doing drywall. The next day you might paint. The next day you might be hooking up a sink," he said, adding that he's a fast learner.
Monroe came into the program thinking that after graduation he would get into the house flipping business. Although he's an instructor with PERC, he still hasn't abandoned the idea for the future.
Deputy Mayor Dr. Kanika Tomalin said it's important to congratulate ourselves for being a city that not only has a vision but has the courage and commitment to live it.
Michael Jalazo, CEO and executive director of PERC, put the whole morning into perspective when he stated that Pinellas County is the third most densely populated county in the nation, and the most densely populated county Florida.
"We don't have more places we can build; we have to think outside the box," he said, revealing that PERC also plans to build and sell tiny houses to individuals and families.
And as for Monroe, the Second Chance Tiny House program serves not only as a second chance for him but for his community.
"I did wrong my whole life…I lived wrong. I was in and out. I helped kinda ruin my community. Now, this is like my chance to give back to the community," he finished.
The Second Chance Tiny House program is made possible by the collaboration of PERC and the City of St. Petersburg to improve commercial, business and economic development through the newly formed St. Petersburg Works Program, designed to join resources of several community organizations to work with employers and local government agencies to connect hire and employ.
The program will concentrate within the South St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Area. As a result of receiving support from the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay, Bon Secours Health Systems and a private family foundation, the Second Chance Tiny House Manufacturing Company was established providing a valuable collaboration of employment for those returning home from incarceration to build homes for some of St. Pete's distressed populations.


Window's Blog released information about tweaking their fitness band to make it far easier to communicate your fitness plans with your friends, showing off your achievements, or posting summaries to social media pages like Facebook and Twitter. In addition to burning calories and getting fit, people like sharing the fun things that they do with other people to help memorialize impressive events, stats, and photographs.
Microsoft is updating a new mode called "Tournament Mode for Golf," allowing users to play an entire round of golf while your Microsoft Band tracks all of the rules that the United States Golf Association has for the game. Additionally, the device will track your movement and health activity stats, but hide these stats (your step count, distance traveled, and heart rate) while you're playing to keep you focused. After your game, you can log into the Microsoft Health App to record your progress and see how you did when you finish your 18 holes.
The Microsoft Band tracks everything, even without GPS activated.
Microsoft is cutting corners, allowing users to connect directly to Cortana without using your mobile phone or smart device. You can immediately put in steps, calories, and comparisons, and later keep up with your progress. Microsoft has published an informative page about connecting with Cortana here.


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text:
Elisabeth von Künsberg (* 1425; † 31. Januar 1484) war von 1460 bis 1484 Äbtissin des Klosters Himmelkron.

Sie stammte aus der Familie von Künsberg. Ihr Vater war Friedrich III. von Künsberg (1395–1429) auf Altenkünsberg bei Creußen, von ihrer Mutter wird vermutet, dass sie aus dem Geschlecht der Voit von Rieneck stammte. Es sind vier Brüder bekannt. Man geht aufgrund eines verschollenen Grabsteins davon aus, dass sich der Cousin Friedrichs III. namens Ulrich I. aus der Wernsteiner Linie im Kloster bestatten ließ. Vorhanden sind die Grabplatten seiner beiden Söhne Hans I. (1418–1470) und Heinrich VII. (1420–1473), die die Bauvorhaben der Äbtissin förderten.

In der Zeit der Äbtissin Elisabeth ist eine rege Bautätigkeit belegt; ihr Familienwappen, eine silberne eingebogene Spitze auf blauem Grund ist mehrfach im Kloster zu finden. Die bedeutendste Baumaßnahme war wohl 1473 die Errichtung des Kreuzganges mit seinen vielen künstlerischen Elementen. Die Stiftung des Kreuzganges ist neben dem Eingang in Form ihres Wappens und einer Inschrift in Stein gehauen. Am Ende des Kreuzganges befindet sich im Deckengewölbe ein weiteres Wappen der Künsberg, umgeben von 16 Darstellungen, die Ordenszugehörigkeiten im europäischen Raum repräsentieren. Untersuchungen von Werner Bergmann gehen davon aus, dass sich das Wappen auf eine Person aus dem engsten Umfeld der Äbtissin bezieht. Elisabeths Epitaph wurde 1909 bei Renovierungsarbeiten in der Klosterkirche geborgen und später aufgestellt.

Literatur
 Ernst Kießkalt: Die Bildwerke des ehemaligen Zistercineserinnen-Klosters Himmelkron. Bayreuth 1909. S. 10f., 15.
 Theodor Zinck: Himmelkron – Beschreibung seiner Vergangenheit und Gegenwart. Bayreuth 1925. S. 20f.

Einzelnachweise

Elisabeth
Äbtissin
Adliger
Deutscher
Geboren 1425
Gestorben 1484
Frau

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
efcc
NDLEA nabs drug dealer behind cocaine hidden in Lagos airport toilet
Broad Admin
A Brazil based drug dealer, Okafor Okwudili Moses has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA over a 2.55 kilograms of cocaine recovered from a toilet at the E-Arrival hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja Lagos. The drug was discovered in the toilet of the airport on […]
BREAKING: EFCC arrests Obi Cubana for money laundering, tax fraud
Popular socialite and businessman, Obinna Iyiegbu, aka Obi Cubana, has been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for money laundering. The Anambra-born club owner, who arrived the headquarters of the EFCC at Jabi, Abuja, at about noon on Monday, is currently being interrogated by operatives of the commission. Though allegations against the socialite […]
Broadstreet News
EFCC denies raiding Justice Odili's home
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) revealed that it did not raid the home of Justice Mary Odili, as earlier reported by the media. The Spokesperson for the Commission, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja. He added that media reports of operatives invading the home of the Supreme Court judge […]
EFCC displays CD of 51,933 pages, depicting content of Naira Marley's iPhone
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday, displayed before a Federal High Court Lagos, virtual projection of a Compact Disc (CD) with 51,933 pages analysis of the iPhone of Azeez Fashola a.k.a Naira Marley. Naira Marley being led to court by men of the EFCC amidst a watertight security. [Twitter/@officialEFCC] The EFCC projected […]
EFCC presents N31.35 billion 2022 budget to NASS
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has presented a budget of N31, 350, 512, 836 to the National Assembly for its operations in 2022. The figure represents a slight improvement over the N29, 575,694,747.46 appropriated for the Commission in 2021. This was disclosed by the anti-graft agency in a statement issued on Tuesday, October 26, 2021.


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Context and Culture
From Alexander the Great to Ahmad Shah Massud: A social history of the pakol
Fabrizio Foschini • 3 Jan 2014 10 min
Home » Reports » Context and Culture » From Alexander the Great to Ahmad Shah Massud: A social history of the pakol
A suspected pakol on a Macedonian soldier in a fresco from Villa Boscoreale, Pompei - photo: Fabrizio Foschini
The flat, woollen, rolled-up hat called a pakol is nowadays one of the undisputed symbols of Afghanistan. But how such a humble garment, stemming from the remotest corners of the Hindu Kush mountains, made it to international appreciation on par with lavish silky chapans and majestic four-meter-long lungis, remains somewhat of a mystery. AAN's Fabrizio Foschini has tried to pull together the threads, retracing this notable development in the Afghan history of couture.
Ages ago – it must have been early 2002 – I was taking part in one of the countless manifestazioni (demonstrations) for peace in Palestine held in the university town of Bologna, when a middle-aged lady recognised the pakol on my head and exclaimed: "Cool, you have the Tajik hat!" Flattered and amazed that somebody had not only acknowledged my Afghan headgear, but linked it in a reasonable way to a specific group of the country's population, I nodded and smiled. I didn't want to dampen her enthusiasm by correcting her.
The pakol owes its global celebrity to the Tajik-majority members of the Jamiat-e Islami-ye Afghanistan, and in particular to the Shura-e Nezar group with its core Panjshiri mujahedin who, following their leader Ahmad Shah Massud, first adopted it as a standard item of their outfit. Because of this, several authors, some even deeply acquainted with Afghanistan, have sometimes condoned definitions like "Tajik hat" or "Panjshiri hat". Actually, it could be termed by the same right, "Eastern Pashtun hat" or "Pashai hat", while labels like "Nuristani hat" or even better, "Chitrali hat", would come closer to the historical truth. In any case, pakols are now donned by countless tribes and ethnic groups: Hazara, Uzbek, Turkmen, Pamiri, Aimaq – and French, among the rest.
The origins of this extraordinary garment are in fact quite complex, and multiple are the reasons for its lasting fortunes. Therefore, it deserves a proper treatment; at least that's what we at AAN thought. (1)
As noted, the image indissolubly linked to this flat, round, rolled-up, woolen hat is that of late Commander Massud. His portraits, still ubiquitous in many parts of Afghanistan, are a strong reminder of the lifelong bond between the soldier and his hat, together turned into an icon of the early 1980s thanks to the work of foreign (mainly French) photographers and documentary film makers (see here a short gallery of photos). However, the pakol caught the eye of foreigners long before, although to mixed reviews. If cultivated travelers like Bruce Chatwin and Peter Levi compared it to "the hats of Italian Renaissance men", other more pedestrian farers of the 1960s and 1970s called it squarely a "pie crust" or "pancake" hat.
But where did they find pakols to admire back then? And whence does the pakol come originally? Let's try and put together some facts.
Looking at Hellenistic coins, statues or frescoes found from Italy to India, hats similar to pakols were a relatively common sight on the heads of Macedonians. Pictures of the ancient headgear (also see our illustration for this dispatch) called kausia bear in fact a striking resemblance to the modern pakol, most likely rendering the pakol a legacy of that crazy ride to the East that Alexander the Great undertook out of ambition or boredom in the 4th century BC.
Conversely, the kausia represents by far the most persuasive claim that Nuristanis can make to be the actual descendants of Alexander's Macedonian troops – a claim stronger than local folklore tales about the Macedonian monarch, or Nuristanis' fair complexion and often light hair and eyes (both features being common to many other communities of the Hindu Kush and the Karakoram), or their impressive sculptures, explainable by their late Islamisation, or even the fact that they used to produce wine–as if wine-making had first been developed in Europe! (2)
However, if Nuristan is reputed by many to be the birthplace of the pakol, the original source for the production and spread of this type of hat seems to have been neighboring Chitral, in today's Pakistan.
According to the first proto-ethnographic accounts, the Kafirs – as the Nuristanis were known before their conversion to Islam in 1895-96 – used to go about with their heads generally uncovered. John Biddulph, in 1878, has them avoiding any headgear at all (at least the men).
Twelve years later, George Scott Robertson found what he termed the Chitrali cap (not so significant a term in itself because the British encountered the Chitralis first) to be a favorite among the Kafirs. However, he specified that only those of Bashgal, the easternmost valley of Kafiristan proper and the one with more intercourse with Chitral, acquired the hat through trade. By the end of the 19th century, in fact, pakols, together with most other clothing goods, had begun to constitute a major import item for the Kafirs. Cotton cloth as well as woolen items were most likely produced outside Nuristan, on whose steep and forested slopes goats rather than sheep were usually kept; goatskins had long provided the traditional clothing for the famous Siaposh ("black-clad") Kafirs.
However, pakols must have spread at a quick pace among the locals, now renamed Nuristanis, after and partially as a consequence of the conquest of Kafiristan by Abdul Rahman Khan of Afghanistan. The opening up of the valleys to increased contact and trade, and the population's conversion to Islam, might have provided incentives for the residents to abandon their previously distinctive hairstyle and cover their heads with hats. It seems logical that the men adopted one with which they were already acquainted, and that was readily available locally. The adoption of specific items of clothing to mark a new identity, especially a religious one, is well-established in history. (3)
Finally, Chitral's claim to the original ownership of the pakol is also supported by the fact that the place used to be at the center of the pakol's early "range of distribution", which at the beginning of the 20th century encompassed mainly Northern Swat, Gilgit, Hunza and Nuristan.
It is possible to follow, at least approximately, the shifting boundaries of this area, using the pictorial material left by travelers and tourists over the following decades. Wilfred Thesiger has left a valuable collection of photographs from his 1956 trip (see some here), which shows the pakol firmly established in the whole of Nuristan, although the westernmost valley of Ramgal still shows a mix of pakols and small white turbans similar to those then used by the inhabitants of neighboring Panjshir. Also, among other ethnic groups bordering Nuristan, the Pashais do not appear to have used the pakol at that time, while some of Thesiger's porters from the Safi Pashtun tribe of upper Kunar did. In the neighbouring Munjan valley of Badakhshan, even the Munjanis, who had previously produced and exported a simpler type of woolen hat with a single fold and no brim (similar to that still produced by their fellow Ismailis in Shughnan of Badakhshan), seem to have fallen for the Chitrali fashion. (4)
Thanks to excursions in the summer of 1960 by western diplomats based in Kabul, including Barrington, Kendrick and Schlagintweit, we know that by that year, the Safis were increasingly adopting the hat, while villagers of the lower Kunar valley still used other types of headgear. Over the following two decades, the sturdy mountain hat made its way as far as Jalalabad, but failed to make an impression on the locals who were very fond of the turban and its religiously dignified status. Indeed, in that largely non-globalised world that was the Hindu Kush before jihad and Facebook, pakols made only limited progress.
However, according to many Panjshiris and some foreigners, the so-called "butter trail" had brought the first pakols to Panjshir, at least to the higher valley around Parian, whose people engaged in petty trade with Nuristani valleys like Mandol/Ramgal. The Panjshir valley was to be, during ten years of war, the strategic redoubt from where the pakols would make their bid for world domination (meaning, of course, the world of male headgear).
Warpaths
Massud wearing the pakol looked like a cross between Bob Marley and Bob Dylan. I realised this as a teenager, and the impression remains with me. While making his way from Chitral to Panjshir in late 1978, the future "Lion of Panjshir" stopped for a while in Nuristan, joining the local mujahedin there. It was most likely then that he and his Panjshiris got themselves some fine pakols. Some pictures from that time show a young Massud still pakol-less, but already surrounded by mujahedin wearing the hat (see here).
The Panjshiris took well to the pakols; they liked (and still like) theirs very thick with chubby rolls, kind of like helmets, recalling the military purpose for which they were first meant. Massud developed a very carefree and cocky way of sporting the pakol, aslant on his head (even in the midst of the battle, judging by pictorial evidence), or as we say in Italy, "sulle ventitré" ("on the eleventh hour", referring to the quadrant of a watch).
Thus, one of the catchiest icons of the mujahedin insurgency was created. Soon, the hat became the trademark of the mujahedin in many other areas of the country, and pakols found their way to the heads of mujahedin in most of the Southeast and Northeast of Afghanistan, from Logar to Badakhshan, and from Nangarhar to Kunduz.
One of the first areas to witness the adoption of the pakol, at least from the early 1980s, was Paktia (in its modern sense, without Khost and Paktika, formerly part of the same province, where turbans still hold sway). The Paktian pakol became easily recognisable as particularly broad-brimmed with a tight and thin roll, features that make the hat very rigid and lend to the human figure a "mushroom" effect.
Notwithstanding the fact that in due time many other commanders from a variety of mujahedin factions and in most provinces of Afghanistan started wearing the pakol, the hat remained closely associated with Massud's faction, in particular during the conflict between the Taleban and the Northern Alliance. The Taleban themselves attached a strong political significance to clothing, and identified with the turban, which had a partly religious, partly regional rationale.
But beyond all ethnic or political identifications, there are other reasons for the rise of the pakol: the pakol is really one of the loftiest human achievements in the art of covering the head. It is warm, practical, pocketable; it doesn't make you sweat and (supposedly) lends you a tough guerrilla look. You can even tuck flowers, pheasant feathers or porcupine quills found on the road in its fold, together with pre-rolled cigarettes and talkhan (dried mulberry powder) stored there for the journey to come. (Not least, the pakol can passably substitute for a frisbee at close-medium range – but only if properly rolled). Above all, with its earthy colors and practicality, it is particularly well-suited to the needs of guerrillas fighting in hilly terrain.
To be fair, we can say that since Massud, with his charisma and camera-friendliness, launched the pakol on the visual world stage, this humble hat has done a lot to help establish the myth of the commander and his icon, among friends and foes alike. In fact, with the demise of Massud in September 2001, many imitators have tried to derive some visual charisma by use of the pakol, with various degrees of success.
Epigones
We're not talking here about some inept Western users and their despicable idea of unrolling a pakol to make it look like a luna park hat (why don't you buy a luna park hat, instead?). Other regional militant leaders, Afghan or not, took up the pakol when seeking a particularly guerrillero look. Among them were even such fierce enemies of the late Massud as Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Osama Bin Laden, who, after the NATO attacks of 2001, wanted to appear to be leading their men like mujahedin guerrillas did against the Soviets. Neither tried to imitate Massud's bold slant, though.
The Afghan Taleban, obviously, did not adopt the pakol; even new insurgents seem to retain a deep affection for the turban, while only occasionally and locally using the pakol. It is the members of the Tehrik-e Taleban-e Pakistan (TTP) who, despicable as they may be for their ruthless strategy of targeting civilians and soft targets, have recently made serious attempts to develop a personal style of wearing pakols, and not just for the camera like Bin Laden and Hekmatyar. The Mehsud faction of the TTP in particular has recently popularised a way of sporting long hair under broad and flat Paktiawali pakols worn horizontally. It seems to be catching on quite quickly. It might even be possible in the near future to evaluate the cohesiveness among TTP factions following the recent death of Hakimullah Mehsud and the resulting change in leadership, based on the readiness of the new head, Maulana Fazlullah, to discard his black turban and don the pakol.
That would not cost the new TTP leader much, as his home province Swat is one of the main producers of pakols. Actually, although most pakols are now worn in Afghanistan, they are still mainly produced in Pakistan.
Probe the Kabul bazaars and you will find that most of the pakols available are produced in Peshawar, some even in Lahore, and only a tiny fraction of the products are the superior specimens made in Swat, or the even better ones from Chitral. Until recently, many Peshawari pakols were actually sewn by Afghan refugees in the nearby camps, but the production seems to have relocated to the Qissa Khwahani bazaar of Peshawar city. Some Kabuli shopkeepers may claim to sell Afghan pakols, but check the interior of the hat: in most cases you will spot small holes in the lining fabric, evidence that a Pakistani producer's label was removed in a fit of patriotism or as a marketing strategy. Only a handful of real Afghan pakols, made in Kunar or Jalalabad, may be found among countless permutations (including some made in Badakhshan, available only locally), but at much higher prices. An average Peshawari pakol costs traders around one dollar in Pakistan, and they are able to sell it for three-four times that amount in Kabul, but Afghan pakols command a much higher and decisively non-competitive price of around 15 to 20 dollar.
The fact that the market for turbans faces a similar situation, with the once flourishing production centres of Mazar-e Sharif and Herat reduced to insignificance, and the vast majority of turbans now coming from Peshawar and Multan, could give food for thought to Afghan businessmen, customers and politicians, in the face of the sometimes high anti-Pakistani sentiment in the political domain.
But that's too serious an ending for such a light-hearted dispatch. Let's instead close by asking a question to trigger further research. What were the Afghans most commonly wearing before the pakol rocked the stage? Qaraquli lambskin hats and simple white prayer skullcaps? Round headgear with kilim-like colorful designs or golden araqchin embroidery? Or that sort of nameless, close-fitting, single fold, bi-color cap common in pictures taken in Kunar in the 1950s and in drawings of Kandaharis from the time of Mountstuart Elphinstone? Photographic archives and travelers' accounts lie waiting …
(1) The only study on the pakol of which the author is aware is by one of the most distinguished historians of Afghanistan and scholars of Central Asian textiles, Willem Vogelsang: The Pakol. A Distinctive, but Apparently not so Very Old Headgear from the Indo-Iranian Borderlands, Khil'a, vol.2 (2006), pp 149-155. The essay has been kindly forwarded to AAN by Prof. Vogelsang, although by then this dispatch was being published; of note here that its conclusions as to the origin of the pakol differ, putting them further to the east (or northeast) of Chitral in Hunza. In fact, Albert Herrlich, a German traveler who visited Nuristan in 1935 called the cap "Kashgari", after the town in Chinese Turkestan (Albert Herrlich, Land des Lichts, Knorr & Hirth: Munich 1938, p 55).
(2) Babur, who gives us a full list of the wine terroirs of Eastern Afghanistan in the early 16th century, rated the enological skills of the Pashais of Darra-e Nur above that of the Nuristanis (then still Kafirs). To further dispel the myth of European wine origin, note that the Pashais are a Dardic-speaking people to which Indian "brown" features are often arbitrarily attributed (here of interest only for the equally stereotyped "white" European phenotypes called in for their Nuristani neighbors).
(3) However, pakols did not necessarily follow the victorious armies of Islam. A 1929 picture taken by the great Norwegian linguist Georg Morgenstierne (see it here) shows two Kafir elders with pakols in Chitral, where some Kafir die-hards had fled as refugees in 1896 to avoid conversion to Islam. They had been allowed by the ruler of Chitral to settle in the three valleys already inhabited by the Kalasha, a group once client to them and following similar religious practices. The uprooted Kafirs however had mainly converted to Islam in the span of few decades, and some had gone back to Afghanistan. The two men, although respectively a headman and a singing priest, and thus likely to have remained more attached to their original culture and, judging by their non-Muslim names, their original faith, had notwithstanding adopted the Chitrali cap in their exile.
(4) This could be easily explained by the stable trade relations existing between Kafiristan/Nuristan and Munjan, the southernmost valley of Badakhshan, and also by the fact that a colony of Kafirs/Nuristanis had long been settled in the village of Naw, in upper Munjan valley.
Revisions:
This article was last updated on 9 Mar 2020
Afghan hat Alexander the Great fashion hat History Pakol Tajik hat
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Regional Relations


t*rexes and tiaras: 'Cause in your warmth I forget how cold it can be..
'Cause in your warmth I forget how cold it can be..
Over the years I've built up quite the collection of Emily and Fin dresses but this is possibly my favourite. I saw it in the shops an absolute age ago, and ummed and ahhed because I already own other seaside print dresses. Then it went into the sale and I remembered how much I adore the seaside as it calms me. And so, I justified it to myself and here we are.
I know, I'm pretty weird. I'm learning to be cool with that.
Also very much liked the opportunity to wear my Miette cardigan again - I really want to make another but there is so much knitting to be done first. I have a huge list of knitting to do before the dreaded C-word. These collar clips go pretty nicely with it, though, I'm pleased at the prospect of wearing them on cardigans, as I rarely wear blouses with collars.
What a pretty outfit! You do look lovely and yes, it is good to wear collar clips as cardigan clips too! I rarely do that but it is a good idea when wearing an open cardie but want it to stay in perfect condition!
Thanks. I like the way they work with this cardigan.
Yeah I also wear collar clips on cardi's instead because I don't wear blouses/shirts. I absolutely love this dress. I don't think you can ever have too many seaside/landscape printed items!! I also adore Pretty Poodle.
Thanks - me too; all of the seaside prints!
You can never have too many dresses. Ever. This one is a beaut!
Hahha, that's fast becoming my motto!


text:
Home › Articles › St. Stephen: The Martyr Who Opposed the Dark
St. Stephen: The Martyr Who Opposed the Dark
Fr. Steve Grunow
Today the Church remembers the witness of Saint Stephen, the first of the Church's martyrs. The cruelty of his death is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, as is the manner in which he died, transforming the violence that took his life into an occasion to give witness to an authority greater than those fallen powers who would rule us by fear and threats.
That the Church remembers Saint Stephen today is no accident. Strip away the sentimentality that obscures the story of Christ's Nativity and one realizes that Christ came into this world, and from the first instant he showed his infant face, he was opposed. Recall yesterday's excerpt from the magnificent prologue to the Gospel of John which testifies that Christ came to his own (us) and his own (again, that means us) "knew him not." But worse than this- we refused him.
And many still do.
The Holy Child came ready for this fight, and the world was willing to fight him. However, the world discovered that it was outmatched and the fallen powers of this world turned against those whom the Holy Child loves. Unable to harm the Body of his human nature any longer, the world strikes at his Body, the Church.
Therefore, when the Church remembers its martyrs, like Saint Stephen, it is not merely out of a concern that the faithful become conversant in the details of Church history. Instead it is to keep us honest- not only about the past, but also about the present. It has never been easy to be a Christian, and being a Christian has always been counter-cultural. If lived authentically, it is lived in defiance against the fallen powers of the world.
This means that like our Savior we have to be ready. We have to learn the strategy that he used to defeat the fallen powers of this world and how he claimed victory when it seemed that these fallen powers could not be defeated. We must learn his strategy- enacted in the witness of Saint Stephen and all the Church's martyrs, past and present- lest in our opposition to the powers of this world, we become just like them.
Grant, Lord we pray,
that we may imitate what we worship,
and so learn to love even our enemies,
for we celebrate the heavenly birthday
of Saint Stephen, who knew how to pray for his persecutors.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son,
one God, for ever and ever.
St. Stephen
Father Steve Grunow is the CEO of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.
More From Fr. Steve Grunow
Our Lady of Guadalupe and True Human Nature
What the Immaculate Conception Means
Wonder-Filled Saints
Dr. Tom Neal
The Crown of Martyrs
Dominicans of the Province of St. Joseph
Why Pray to the Saints? (#AskFrBarron)
Christmas Octave
Why are Some Saints Called Doctors of the Church? (#AskFrBarron)
Stephen Fry, Job, and the Cross of Jesus
What Eye Has Not Seen: Divinization and the Saints
Joe Heschmeyer
Stephen Fry, Job, and Suffering
We Need Strange Saints


text:
Ludwik Wilczyński – aktor i reżyser
 Ludwik Wilczyński (1887–1940) – przodownik Policji Państwowej zamordowany w Twerze
 Ludwik Wilczyński (ur. 1892) – major piechoty Wojska Polskiego, kawaler Virtuti Militari i Krzyża Niepodległości

Przypisy


Recruit Inc Team was elated to win her first HR award for Best Recruitment Firm Boutique Award at HRM Asia Readers Choice 2016.
Recruit Inc battled against the big players to win the Best Recruitment Firm Bronze for Junior Level at the HR Vendor of The Year Award 2017 held at Shangri La Hotel on 24 November 2017.
Recruit Inc makes a yearly contribution from its profit, to donate to the Project Khmer H.O.P.E fund to provide education and school services to needy children in Cambodia. The CEO also pay a visit yearly to Cambodia to visit the children and does community services.


text:
Signe (altresì scritta Signy) è il nome di due eroine in due leggende connesse della mitologia norrena che erano molto popolari nella Scandinavia medievale. Appaiono entrambe nella Saga di Volsung, che venne adattata in altri lavori come ad esempio in L'anello del Nibelungo, inclusa la famosa opera La Valchiria.

La prima Signe era la figlia del re Völsung. Era sposata con il villano re dei Geati Siggeir che le assassinò l'intera famiglia.
Dapprima trucidò Volsung a tradimento; poi, di notte, ne incatenò i figli ad uno ad uno là dove i lupi potessero trovarli e divorarli. Signy salvò il fratello da quell'orribile destino, ebbe con lui un'unione incestuosa e diede alla luce un figlio, Sinfjötli. Si bruciò viva con l'odiato marito.

La seconda Signe era la figlia del nipote di re Siggeir, Sigar. Si innamorò del re del mare Hagbarðr, e gli promise che non sarebbe sopravvissuta se egli fosse morto. Essi vennero scoperti e Hagbarðr venne condannato all'impiccagione. Hagbarðr riuscì a farlo sapere a Signy che diede fuoco alla sua casa morendo tra le fiamme, così Hagbarðr si uccise a sua volta, impiccandosi.

Una terza Signe era la figlia di una strega chiamata Grid nella Illuga saga Gríðarfóstra. Esse sono entrambe bersaglio di una maledizione lanciata da un giovane chiamato Illugi.

Una quarta Signe era la sorella di Hroðgar nella Saga degli Skjöldungar e Hrólfs saga kraka ok kappa hans. Nel Beowulf è sconosciuta.

Ciclo di Völsung
Divinità norrene


Aubrey Homes has the knowledge and expertise to ensure all the individual tasks necessary on your project happen at the right time, in the right order and that the completed work is of the highest standard. Using only the best materials and the highest standard of workmanship, we'll ensure your building project is completed on time, within budget and with outstanding results.
For Aubrey Homes, good communication is key to ensuring the smooth running of any projects. We want our clients to be able to come to us at any stage of the project with any question or concern, however big or small. We will make sure your experience is stress free and you are nothing short of delighted with the finished work.


text:
One Piece Netflix: "Sanji Will Be More A Flirt Than A Simp"
One Piece is currently in the middle of the War For Wano in both its anime adaptation, One Piece: Red, which is currently playing in theatres across North America, and its manga, which is currently in the process of unfurling the Final Arc of Eiichiro Oda's decades-long journey featuring Luffy and his crew of Straw Hat Pirates.
Both of these stories feature the Straw Hat Pirates. However, these two forms of storytelling are not the only ones that are in store for the Straw Hats. Netflix is now working on the first-ever live-action version of the series, and showrunner Matt Owens just revealed some interesting information regarding Sanji in particular.
Netflix Avatar: The Last Airbender: Will There Be Any Chances Of Release In 2023?
Wednesday Cast: Meet Netflix Addams Family
Actor Taz Skylar is going to be the one to bring Sanji to life. The young performer has shared a number of videos on his social media accounts that demonstrate that he is not only attempting to train to give himself the ability to kick like his character but that he has also shown himself making meals for his fellow actors, which will help in bringing the Straw Hat Pirates to the "real world." Sanji is going to be played by Taz Skylar.
In addition to Skylar, the cast of the live-action adaptation of Straw Hat Pirates will feature Iaki Godoy in the role of Monkey D. Luffy, Mackenyu in the role of Roronoa Zoro, and Jacob Romero Gibson as Usopp.
Many Shonen fans' concerns about the planned project have been alleviated by the fact that creator Eiichiro Oda would be involved in it in some capacity as an executive producer. While the concept of a live-action adaptation may have caused some to be on edge.
Sanji, Simp No More
Twitter User One Piece Netflix Fan shared this snippet from a recent interview in which showrunner Matt Owens revealed that the upcoming series was taking a different approach in bringing the Straw Hat Pirates' chef to live-action, teasing that he would be more of a "flirt" rather than a "simp" in the upcoming series:
Black Mirror Season 6: The Return Of The Netflix Series
Is Terrifier 2 On Netflix: Will Season 2 Be Streaming?
Netflix Fan shared this snippet from a recent interview in which showrunner Matt Owens revealed that the upcoming series was taking a different approach in Netflix has been tight-lipped on when we may anticipate the release of this live-action adaptation of the show, and there is currently no video or trailer for the show itself that has been released on the internet. In addition to the forthcoming adaptation of One Piece into a live-action series, the streaming service is also working on live-action adaptations of Avatar: The Last Airbender and Yu Yu Hakusho, and the platform is continuing to delve further into original anime concepts.
Final Lines:
Hope you find our post valuable for you… Many thanks for taking the time to read this! If you appreciate it, please leave a comment and share it with your friends. There are other articles available on newsconduct.com
Peaky Blinders Season 6 Release Date Status, Cast and Latest News
Leave a Comment / Entertainment / By News Conduct
Last Kingdom Season 5 Release Date Status, Cast Plot and Trailer


text:
Q: Cannot convert excel to csv : Azure Synapse Analytics I want to convert Excel to CVS in Azure Synapse Analytics but I got an error.
The error message is "Invalid excel header with empty value".
The Excel file I want to convert looks like this (created for the question) and I need to remove the blank column A when converting to csv.
I have never used ADF before so I don't know.
Can someone please tell me how to do this?
Any help would be appreciated.
sample.excel

A: You have to use dataflows to do that in ADF.
First create a linked service for your source data set.
Create linked service for your target folder.
My input looks like this (took from your attached sheet)

Go to the author tab of data factory and select on new dataflow.
Source settings should look like this

Source options: Point to the location where you have stored excel sheet and also select the sheetname, in my case it is sheet1 (For this example I have used Azure Blob storage)

Keep rest of the tabs as default and add a sink to your data flow.
Sink Settings should look like below

Point to the target location where you want to store your csv file (I have used Azure blob storage). Keep rest of the things on default

Go to the new pipeline and pull dataflow activity in your canvas and trigger your dataflow.

And my output in csv looks like this

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Lil Wayne's comeback tour set to make a stop at Hampton Coliseum
By Sam McDonald
After a brief pause, rapper Lil Wayne is ready to switch his career back to fast forward.
The tattooed rhyme wizard is launching a tour – his first major outing since his release last year from Rikers Island where he served eight months on a gun possession charge.
Did prison change him? Not significantly.
"I was never scared, worried or bothered by the situation," he posted on a website. "I will be the same Martian I was when I left, just better" he boasted to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
That means his concert Wednesday, March 23, at Hampton Coliseum is likely to include plenty of dazzling, outer-space flash.
His concerts are apt to feature an array of guest stars and a barrage of light and pyro — not to mention the star's mind-bending wordplay.
Fans caught a glimpse of the rapper's state of mind when he and Eminem appeared as musical guests on "Saturday Night Live" back in December.
It's easy to see Wayne's "I Am Still Music" tour as a pivotal moment for the famously wild-living artist. What's harder to predict is exactly what kind of music Lil Wayne will perform in Hampton.
His musical life has been nearly as tumultuous as his personal life in recent years.
While Wayne cooled off in jail, his career stayed hot. His album "I Am Not a Human Being" released in September 2010, soared to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart in October. His tune "6 Foot 7 Foot," which peaked in the pop Top 10, is now hovering at No. 24.
Critics have not been as supportive, however.
"Consisting of tracks allegedly intended for the indefinitely postponed album 'Tha Carter IV,' 'I Am Not a Human Being' represents a stopgap effort, with Wayne mired in a peculiar stasis," wrote Margaret Wappler in the Los Angeles Times. "Wildly profane, the New Orleans trickster ascended to hip-hop's top spot through his surreal spontaneity and marathon recording sessions that yielded a singular eccentricity. But where it was once impossible to predict his next couplet, Wayne and his protégé Drake have calcified into a stiff simile-laden formalism."
Writing for EW.com, critic Brad Wete also accused Wayne of treading water creatively. "It seems like he's light on new ideas," Wete wrote. "Unfortunately, none of the new songs on this set hold a candle to … his platinum-in-a-week 2008 smash, 'Tha Carter III.'"
Lil Wayne's album "Rebirth" — released just before he went to jail — found him experimenting with arena rock styles. Fans indulged him, but some listeners regarded the album as a bad idea gone terribly wrong.
"'Rebirth,' his seventh album, arrives as a huge letdown," the Chicago Tribune's Greg Kot wrote. "Wayne's normally impeccable instincts desert him … How does Wayne define 'rock'? Apparently for him, the state of the art is the pedestrian (if best-selling) rap-rock of Linkin Park: angst-ridden lyrics barked over arena-size riffs and fat, sluggish beats. 'Rebirth' doesn't swing, it staggers, and Wayne's bullfrog rasp is distorted by Auto-Tune, apparently to mask the fact that he can't sing."
Kot went on to compare "Rebirth" to other notorious missteps such as Garth Brooks' "Chris Gaines" experiment and Chris Cornell's laughable collaboration with Timbaland.
New York Times critic Jon Pareles also described it as regrettable. "This is rock at its most humorless, as learned from grim-faced latter-day grunge bands, self-absorbed pop-punks, wounded macho rap-rockers and earnest U2 imitators of modern-rock radio," Pareles wrote. "The songs might have been better as parodies than as imitations."
Let's set aside artistic concerns. In terms of business, Lil Wayne's concert at Hampton Coliseum promises to be home run.
The Hampton show is to be the tour's fifth stop. Staff at the Coliseum say that sales have been brisk, noting that Wayne shares the bill with red-hot female rapper Nicki Minaj and Miami rhyme slinger Rick Ross.
While tickets are still available, a full house is expected. That's music to the ears of Coliseum director Joe Tsao, who has seen several major concerts slip through his hands recently. Elton John opted to play the Ted Constant Center in Norfolk. Phish — a band with a demonstrated love of Hampton — decided to play the Harbor Center amphitheater in Portsmouth this year instead of the Coliseum.
"Not everybody wins every time," Tsao said. "The fact that shows are being spread out in the region is a function of competitiveness of the marketplace. But in terms of hip-hop, I think Lil Wayne is as big as it comes right now, certainly the biggest one touring right now."
With area venues and promoters aggressively fighting for quality shows, Tsao said he's happy to celebrate a victory with Lil Wayne, the self-proclaimed "best rapper alive."
"It's exciting for people who are hip-hop fans to see one of the premier artists on tour here in Hampton," Tsao said. "What's in store? I don't know. But for now, it's good."
Who: Lil Wayne with Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross, Travis Barker and Mixmaster Mike
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 23
Where: Hampton Coliseum
Tickets: $49.75 to $89.75 from Ticketmaster
Info: http://www.hampton.gov/coliseum or 838-4203
New project to identify descendants of Pocahontas underway


text:
We were wrong about Chris Pratt as Mario – Destructoid
By Mike Wilson Last updated Nov 30, 2022
He isn't so bad
Welcome back! It's another Tuesday, which means tonight there will be a new episode of the Spot Dodge Podcast exclusively on Destructoid. Topics: The crew reacts to the new Super Mario Bros. Movie trailer. Aside from that, the team discusses recent releases like Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, God of War Ragnarok, Somerville, and more!
Today we finally got a longer look at The Super Mario Bros. Movie and it did not disappoint. The CG looks breathtaking, the writing seems charming and witty, and it looks to be a celebration of the Super Mario franchise as a whole.
One thing many people were upset with from the first teaser trailer was the brief snippet we heard of Chris Pratt's Mario voice. It just didn't have the same personality and familiarity as Charles Martinet, so it was hard to accept. That said, I tried not to judge it too harshly, as it was extremely brief. Turns out, Chris Pratt's Mario voice isn't so bad after all. Now that we have all the context of what's going on with Mario in this film, Chris Pratt's Mario seems like a totally competent iteration of everyone's favorite plumber.
He's no Charles Martinet, but Nintendo is obviously aiming for star power with this movie, and with such a star-studded cast, it's hard to imagine the film doing anything less than great at the box office. One thing is for sure, Jack Black as Bowser was the best choice they could've made for a Mario movie. Pure perfection!
Our lovely cast from around the web: Brett Medlock (me) and Mary Stowe from Destructoid, John Friscia from The Escapist, Greg Bargas from PC Invasion, and Brett Larsen, our extra special guest. Behind the scenes, Gamurs' Eric Weichhart is live-editing this week's show. Do you dig the Chris Pratt Mario voice? Let us know in the comments!
Spot Dodge is a weekly Nintendo-focused Podcast here at Destructoid where we dedicate an hour or two to go over the latest Nintendo news and discuss the games we're playing. If you're a fan of Nintendo Switch, RPGs, or having a good time, Spot Dodge will be a great addition to your podcast rotation. So be sure to subscribe!
Spot Dodge is streaming live every Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. PT / 7:00 p.m. ET on Twitch channel. ICYMI: We now have a dedicated Spot Dodge YouTube channel! All future episodes will be live-streamed and uploaded there.
Afterward, the show will be available on-demand for audio listeners via Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more. The live video version will remain on both YouTube and Twitch (don't forget to follow and subscribe). So many options!
Brett Medlock
Head of video at Destructoid
Mike Wilson 55732 posts 0 comments
Peach arrives in the second trailer for The Super Mario Bros. Movie
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I would like to be able to use pano images from my iPhone in my websites and have them display to fill full screen height, depending on individual browsers and scrollable from left to right to view the complete image. Not 360 pano but original images that average around 9000 x 2500 pixels, approximately 180 degree views. Anyone have a suggestion for how to do this?
Thanks Patrick but I may have asked this question wrong. I had found these plugins earlier but they both refer to linking to HTML, php, iframes, and complete directories with all the files created by pano programs, etc., etc. Even though Iphone calls these panorama images they are actually just a single, un-stitched, wide-angle view. All I want to do is display a single image at full height with the side edges extending out of view and a scroll bar at the bottom to allow to the full image to be seen. Although they would be at much higher resolution I've attached an example of the type of images I'd like to display.
Feel free to suggest if I misunderstand.


Matrimony Profile of archana1 - Hindu Hindi, Kayastha Bride/ Girl from Uttar Pradesh, Kushinagar.
Hi, I am Archana Srivastava, I am 5ft 4in - 162cm tall from India - India - Kushinagar. I am Hindu - Kayastha from Hindi speaking community. Interested people please make contact.


If you are looking for qualified and low-cost window replacement contractor in Saint Joseph, MO, you do not need to look any further. Just in a twinkling of an eye, you can receive free detailed window replacement estimate from pre-selected contractors in Saint Joseph, MO. Simply by filling in your details on our form you will have an opportunity to select window contractor pros of your choice.
And we also work in other US cities like Kansas City, MO or Joplin, MO.


text:
Q: RSA decryption error with PKCS#1: javax.crypto.IllegalBlockSizeException: Data must not be longer than 256 bytes I am running into this problem when trying to decrypt a message.
Error
An exception or error caused a run to abort: Data must not be longer than 256 bytes
javax.crypto.IllegalBlockSizeException: Data must not be longer than 256 bytes

My code is as follows.
package com.smth.what.api

import java.security.spec.X509EncodedKeySpec
import java.security.{KeyFactory, PrivateKey, PublicKey}

import javax.crypto.Cipher
import org.apache.commons.codec.binary.Base64

object Encryptor {
  private val publicKeyString: String = System.getenv("PUB_KEY")
  private val privateKeyString: String = System.getenv("PRIV_KEY")

  private val publicKey = readPemPublicKey(publicKeyString)
  private val privateKey = readPemPrivateKey(privateKeyString)

  private def readPemPublicKey(publicKey: String): PublicKey = {
    val pemPublicKey = publicKey.replace("\n", "")
      .replace("-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----", "")
      .replace("-----END PUBLIC KEY-----", "")
      .replace(" ", "")

    val publicKeyBytes: Array[Byte] = Base64.decodeBase64(pemPublicKey)
    val publicKeySpec = new X509EncodedKeySpec(publicKeyBytes)

    val keyFactory = KeyFactory.getInstance("RSA")

    keyFactory.generatePublic(publicKeySpec)
  }

  private def readPemPrivateKey (privateKey: String): PrivateKey = {
    val pemPrivateKey = privateKey.replace("\n", "")
      .replace("-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----", "")
      .replace("-----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----", "")
      .replace(" ", "")

    val privateKeyBytes: Array[Byte] = Base64.decodeBase64(pemPrivateKey)

    val keyFactory = KeyFactory.getInstance("RSA")

    import java.security.spec.RSAPrivateCrtKeySpec

    import sun.security.util.DerInputStream

    val derReader = new DerInputStream(privateKeyBytes)
    val seq = derReader.getSequence(0)
    val modulus = seq(1).getBigInteger
    val publicExp = seq(2).getBigInteger
    val privateExp = seq(3).getBigInteger
    val prime1 = seq(4).getBigInteger
    val prime2 = seq(5).getBigInteger
    val exp1 = seq(6).getBigInteger
    val exp2 = seq(7).getBigInteger
    val crtCoef = seq(8).getBigInteger

    val keySpec = new RSAPrivateCrtKeySpec(modulus, publicExp, privateExp, prime1, prime2, exp1, exp2, crtCoef)

    keyFactory.generatePrivate(keySpec)
  }

  def encrypt(inputString: String, key: PublicKey = publicKey): String = {
    val cipher: Cipher = Cipher.getInstance("RSA")
    cipher.init(Cipher.ENCRYPT_MODE, key)

    new String(cipher.doFinal(inputString.getBytes("UTF-8")))
  }

  def decrypt(inputString: String, key: PrivateKey = privateKey): String = {
    val cipher: Cipher = Cipher.getInstance("RSA")
    cipher.init(Cipher.DECRYPT_MODE, key)

    val inputStringBytes = inputString.getBytes("UTF-8")

    new String(cipher.doFinal(inputStringBytes))

  }
}

My key's size is 2048. It was generated via openssl genrsa with .pem output.
I use IntelliJ's environment variable to provide both public and private keys (via the Edit Configurations, copying and pasting them).
The error came from this line
new String(cipher.doFinal(inputStringBytes)) from decrypt function.
I have been reading a few stackoverflow's posts (such as this one), however, I still do not understand what is going on.
If possible, I would like a very basic explanation, as encryption/ decryption is a new area for me.

A: After attempting different things, what works is to apply Base64 encoding to the encrypted message and then use Base64 decoding when decrypting the encrypted message. This is aligned with what @James K Polk comment is saying.
See the updated code (only for the functions encrypt and decrypt as the rest remains the same)
  def encrypt(inputString: String, key: PublicKey = publicKey): String = {

    cipher.init(Cipher.ENCRYPT_MODE, key)

    val encrypted: Array[Byte] = cipher.doFinal(inputString.getBytes())

    Base64.encodeBase64String(encrypted)
  }

  def decrypt(inputString: String, key: PrivateKey = privateKey): String = {

    cipher.init(Cipher.DECRYPT_MODE, key)

    val decodedInputString: Array[Byte] = Base64.decodeBase64(inputString)

    val decrypted: Array[Byte] = cipher.doFinal(decodedInputString)

    new String(decrypted)
  }


text:
Iowa audit shows county didn't collect all fees, taxes
Updated: 10:57 AM CDT Jun 28, 2016
A Cerro Gordo County treasurer's office supervisor has been fired in the wake of a state audit that shows that thousands of dollars in vehicle use taxes and fees were not collected.County Treasurer Pat Wright told the Mason City Globe Gazette that there was no misuse of money -- only that the county didn't collect nearly $284,000 it should have from a vehicle dealership and a company it was working with.She requested the audit after determining that vehicle registration and title transactions were not being properly processed and fees were not being properly charged. The audit confirmed her suspicions. The audit report didn't name the dealership.Paul Steier is director of the Iowa Transportation Department's investigations, and he says department officials don't believe criminal charges are warranted.
MASON CITY, Iowa —
A Cerro Gordo County treasurer's office supervisor has been fired in the wake of a state audit that shows that thousands of dollars in vehicle use taxes and fees were not collected.
County Treasurer Pat Wright told the Mason City Globe Gazette that there was no misuse of money -- only that the county didn't collect nearly $284,000 it should have from a vehicle dealership and a company it was working with.
She requested the audit after determining that vehicle registration and title transactions were not being properly processed and fees were not being properly charged. The audit confirmed her suspicions. The audit report didn't name the dealership.
Paul Steier is director of the Iowa Transportation Department's investigations, and he says department officials don't believe criminal charges are warranted.