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Historic Overview
Wilton Heritage Society
In 2018, The Town of Wilton NY celebrated it's 200 birthday. Looking ahead to the future, Wilton continues to support the heritage of our community.
The Friends of Ulysses S. Grant maintain Grant's Cottage, a state owned historic landmark on the summit of Mt. McGregor. Eastern Outlook provides a breathtaking view of Wilton. It is definitely a "must see!" Ulysses S. Grant spent his final weeks finishing his memoirs prior to his death at the Cottage on July 23, 1885. The Cottage is open from Memorial Day until mid-October. Hours of operation can be obtained by calling 518-583-3645. Tours may also be arranged. It is well worth a visit.
At the base of the Mountain, the Wilton Heritage Society operates a museum in the former Wiltonville Church, located at 5 Parkhurst Road. The museum sits at the corner of Corinth Mountain Road (aka County Road 101),Parkhurst and Mt. McGregor Road. This museum shows the history of the Town from its creation in 1818 to the present. It is open to the public at no charge from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day, Friday through Sunday 1pm to 4pm.
The Wilton Heritage Society may be reached at 518-583-3645.
We hope you will take the time to visit these and other sites to learn more about Wilton, the place that you have decided to call Home. If you find it difficult to visit, our Historian Emeritus Jeannine Woutersz, has created a striking tribute to the Town in her published picture book entitled "Images of America- Wilton". This book combines more than two hundred historical images on the Town of Wilton. This memorable book is available for $21.00. Wilton Historical Calendars are also available for $5.00. All proceeds of the book will benefit the "Wilton Heritage Museum".
To obtain a copy of the book and/or calendar, please stop in to the Town Hall or contact Karen James at Historian@townofwilton.com .
Office hours by appointment
historian@townofwilton.com
22 Traver Road, Wilton NY 12831
The one common link between the Native Americans, early settlers, and present day residents of Wilton is " Love of the Land ". As the Iriquois were attracted by the forests, streams, mineral waters, and good fertile land, so were the first pioneer families
The Wilton Heritage Society operates a museum in the former Wiltonville Church at the corner of Corinth Mountain Road (aka County Road 101),Parkhurst and Mt. McGregor Road. This museum shows the history of the Town from its creation in 1818 to the present. It is open to the public at no charge from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day, Friday through Sunday 1pm to 4pm.
In this Adirondack Cottage Gen. Ulysses S. Grant died of throat cancer on July 23, 1885. He had arrived at the cottage from New York City on June 16, 1885, with his family, servants, and doctors; he was able to complete his memoirs in the short time he had left.


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La Catedral de Santa María o simplemente Catedral de Samarinda (en indonesio: Katedral Santa Maria también Paroki Katedral Samarinda) es el nombre que recibe un edificio religioso que se encuentra ubicado en la ciudad de Samarinda, parte de la provincia de Kalimantan Oriental en el este de la Isla de Borneo, en el país asiático de Indonesia.

El templo sigue el rito romano o latino y es la iglesia principal de la arquidiócesis de Samarinda (Archidioecesis Samarindaënsis o Keuskupan Agung Samarinda) que fue elevada a su actual estatus por la bula "Cum Ecclesia" del papa Juan Pablo II en 2003.

Esta bajo la responsabilidad pastoral del arzobispo Justinus Harjosusanto. En este sector hay tres parroquias que sirven a las fieles, además de la parroquia catedral  también incluye la iglesia  San Lucas en Temindung (Paroki Santo Lukas Temindung) y la iglesia del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús en Seberang (Paroki Hati Kudus Yesus). Adicionalmente la catedral tiene una capilla dedicada a  San Pedro y San Pablo (Kapel St.Petrus-Paulus)

Véase también
Iglesia católica
Catedral de Santa María

Referencias

Santa Maria (Samarinda)
Samarinda
Arquitectura de Indonesia del siglo XXI
Samarinda

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Chapter 70 Putting the Six Arts to Use!
~Ik it's short but enjoy!
Translated by : Naervon
"Since we are agreed on the rules, then let start. I will be the first to select." The person speaking was the General Secretary of the Avalon School Student Council Zamia. He waved his arm indicating 10 of the contestants to step forward.
"Alright, you ten are up first, at the same time, perform the Crystalline Arts for me."
Although the ten magicians are well known in their hometown for their talents, they are still very nervous in front of a world renown person like Zamia, after all, who wouldn't be nervous when facing a person who you normally only see in textbooks or the specter stone【Originally Magical Tv/Movie Stone】. Facing the panel of world-famous judges, almost all of the young girls feel anxiety and nervousness.
As each one of the girls performed her Crystalline Art, differences begin to show, some were very solid and crystalline, and some were very rough and crude. Zamia pointed at three of the girls and said
"You three can stay, the rest are out."
"Hurray!" the three who were picked cheered as the rest walked off the stage with a face drained of blood. The competition holds a great place in their minds, as it can very well determine their future, and this failure will leave a long lasting sting in their memory.
Seeing this, the male host standing below the stage said
"The Crystalline Art might be something unfamiliar to you martial artists, but most magicians should have heard of its name and know what its uses are. Compared to Qi armor, the Crystalline Art require much more understanding of its magic structure, and because of that, the more you understand it, the more solid and perfect the crystal is. Since it is fueled by magic, the more magic power you use the stronger the crystal gets. The Crystalline Art is much faster than the Sacred 12 Lunar shield magic, the Qi armor and the majority of other incantation shield spells. Because of its speed, the Crystalline Art is undoubtedly the best choice in combat. Of course, if you want to turn the battle in your favor, I still recommend using high level spells."
With the host explaining the essentials of the Crystalline Art, the crowd erupted in a rucks of reactions, some in sudden understanding, and some in haughty despise at the ignorant people next to them. The next judge was Nicola, she picked ten girls out and told them to perform the Healing Art. Even though 【Cage Emperor】Nicole is a martial artist, she still knows much more about magic than these inexperienced little girls, after all, Nicole has fought and killed many fully fledged powerful magicians in her past, and has seen her fair share of powerful spells.
Just like that, group after group of girls went through the judges, and very quickly, the vast majority of the 1000 original girls have been weeded out. Of course, it goes without saying that Lunaria passed with ease. Even Elena, because she studied in her elven homeland for many years before getting captured, passed the first segment without too many difficulties.
"And so, we shall continue with the Second Segment of the Second Round, the practical applications of the Six Arts." Nicola continued to read off of her slightly embarrassing piece of paper scrawled with notes.
"As I am sure everyone knows by now, the Six Arts are an integral part of magic. So much so, that many medium to high level magic spells rely on a solid understanding of the Six Arts to cast. Such an important part of magic must be fully tested, and so we will do just that in this second segment. Each of the 400 contestant that is left will face real problems set by the judges and will use spells to solve it."
"This segment will be performed in 1 to 1 fashion, with all five judges giving out problems and judging their assigned contestant continuously until only 100 are left to advance."
At this moment, all 400 of the girls tensed up and concentrated all their focus, because this is a very critical portion of the contest, the final stages!
Pointing at ten random girls, Zamia said "Lets begin with you ten."
Lunaria looked at the finger pointed towards her own face and twitched her eyebrows unconsciously, thinking to herself might as well get it over with, saves the trouble of waiting.
Zamia sweeped his eyes over the ten he just pointed at, and noticeably lingered on Lunaria when she stood out with the others. This guy is simply the example of leisureness, looking like he's just here for vacation instead of being a respectable judge, the laziness oozing out of his posture and eyes gave it away plain as day. But as soon as Lunaria stepped out that went away, and as if to approve of his choice the crowd roared in excitement and most of the male crowd audience plus a few judges started to secrete hormone enmasse.
"A crowd of wretched males…" Rafi-Nasi, Avalon Class rep, uttered in a soft and disgusted tone as she watched this from her judge's seat. Unfortunately, no one heard her as wave after wave of cheering blocked any chance of her soft voice from being heard by anyone not close to her. Nicola saw Rafi-Nasi's reaction and started panicking a bit, because there is a dark past to this Class rep that is both pitiful and scary. Back when Rafi was in a position of power, she almost lost her body and purity to the unspoken rules set by those in power at the time. Even though this wasn't known by many people, but because of this smear in her soul and memory, Rafi always found pleasure in tormenting the males in Avalon and rumors have it that she massacred over hundreds of males that were taking part in the unspoken rules in a single night. Rafi-Nasi's power is no joke, and adding that to her current state, Nicole could only do her best and try to make jokes to calm Rafi-Nasi down before another massacre happens!
"Let's start with you." Zamia pointed at Lunaria and said with a smirk on his face
"Cure this dog in front of you, remember, you only have one chance."
"I understand." Lunaria slightly nodded her head and then walked in front of the big dirt colored dog and squatted down to examine it. The dog has its tongue out and both eyes are showing whites, its breathing erratic and laboured, with an obvious cut on its front paw.
But all this is not the important part, Lunaria focused on the deeper instructions contained in Zamia's words. He had said 'Cure' and not 'Heal' the dog, so the surface wounds must be a hoax and the real question is inside the body.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Q: Framework in MacCatalyst app fails to open sqlite file I'm making a framework that needs to load some data from an sqlite file. It works great on iOS, but on Mac Catalyst it fails to open the file with the following error:
[NavigationDataProvider.swift:37] createDB() - NavigationData has been loaded from path /Users/username/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/AppName-finyqxyzgukrabcenmuloduaikbf/Build/Products/Debug-maccatalyst/NavigationData.framework/Resources/navdata.sqlite
2021-06-29 15:50:19.857298+0300 AppName[18534:531626] [logging-persist] cannot open file at line 45068 of [d880193994]

It looks like the file doesn't exist, but if i check it manually from the terminal on my Mac, it does indeed exist:
% file /Users/.../navdata.sqlite: SQLite 3.x database, last written using SQLite version 3035005

So is this some kind of permission issue with Mac Catalyst? It shouldn't be, because the file is included in the Framework bundle, yet still it doesn't work. Any ideas please?
I am getting the path like this:
Bundle(for: NavigationDataProvider.self).path(forResource: "navdata", ofType: "sqlite")

I have also tried Bundle.main without success. I have tried this on both the production version of Xcode and the latest Xcode-beta with the same result.

A: Found the problem. You cannot directly access sqlite files within the bundle, you have to copy the file out of the bundle first. In hindsight it is pretty obvious as sqlite probably tries to open the file in readwrite mode and that would not work for the file inside the bundle.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The protected mode opens a document in read-only mode keeping security in mind, while read mode opens the document for better viewing. By default, documents open in Read Mode. You can browse pages by using the arrow keys or by clicking the arrow buttons on the window.... 3/05/2013 · Crafting the right content takes time and attention. To help you minimize the distractions, we created a Read Mode layout in Word. Read Mode is an option in the View menu that hides toolbars and menus to leave more room for the pages themselves.
For developpers this means disable read mode as document opening, with (VB : ) .ActiveWindow.View.ReadingLayout = Not .ActiveWindow.View.ReadingLayout Another way is to use your tips, or do the same thing with registry (not found the key right now).
Every time I try to open a file downloaded from the internet (either from my mailbox or random websites), Microsoft Office Word automatically opens it in Read Mode.


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Online Bachelor Degree Programs in Iowa
Students who enjoy the flexibility of a distance learning format may wish to pursue a bachelor's degree online in Iowa. There are numerous options available for starting a career in nursing, business, the social sciences, liberal arts, and more. Consider the following schools in Iowa that offer an accredited bachelor's degree online:
Number of Online Bachelor's Degrees: 5
Fields Offered: Applied Studies, Social Work, Business Administration, Liberal Studies, Nursing
Accreditor: North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA)
The University of Iowa, a nationally ranked institution in Iowa City, offers online bachelor's degrees through its Continuing Education division. All of the University of Iowa's online bachelor's degree programs are aimed at adults who either hold an associate degree or who started a four-year degree program at one point but did not finish. For instance, students must possess either an associate degree from an accredited institution or 60 transferable semester hours of college credit before they are eligible for most of the university's online bachelor's degree programs. Both the online Bachelor of Applied Studies and the online Bachelor of Liberal Studies allow students to choose an individualized plan of study rather than a traditional major, with areas of emphasis including creative writing, human relations, justice studies, political science, and more.
The online Bachelor of Business Administration, however, requires a major in management. More specialized degrees include the Bachelor of Social Work, which prepares students for generalist practice in social work, and the online RN-to-BSN program for registered nurses. The RN-to-BSN program is primarily delivered online but also incorporates one clinical course with face-to-face requirements arranged close to where the student lives in Iowa. RNs must possess either a diploma in nursing or an associate degree in nursing before they can be eligible to start the RN-to-BSN program.
Fields Offered: Liberal Studies
Iowa State University, which is most recognized for its online graduate programs, also offers an online bachelor's degree, the Bachelor of Liberal Studies. This versatile degree is a good option for nontraditional students whose work and family obligations keep them from attending a traditional program. Unlike more traditional bachelor's programs, the online Bachelor of Liberal Studies does not require students to declare a major but instead allows students to take a selection of general studies courses in the humanities, communications and arts, math and natural sciences, social sciences, and professional studies. To be eligible for the program, students must have acquired either an associate degree or 62 semester credits. Students also have the option of taking a mixture of campus-based courses and distance education courses.
Upper Iowa University
Number of Online Bachelor's Degrees: 17
Fields Offered: Business, Criminal Justice, Emergency and Disaster Management, Health Services Administration, Human Services, Interdisciplinary Studies, Management Information Systems, Psychology, Public Administration, Social Science
Accreditor: North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
Upper Iowa University, a private not-for-profit school located in Fayette, offers a wide variety of online bachelor's degree programs through its Center for Distance Education (CDE). Unlike many other online bachelor's degree programs in Iowa, UIU's programs do not have any residency requirements, allowing UIU to have a more worldwide reach. Altogether, more than 3,000 students across the globe are served through the CDE. Courses are delivered asynchronously, meaning students and instructors do not need to be online at the same. This provides much-needed flexibility for working adults, military personnel, stay-at-home parents, and those who travel frequently. A hallmark of UIU's distance learning programs are online discussions, in which students actively participate in conversations that center on course topics.
Higher Education in Iowa
Iowa, tucked away in the American Midwest, has long made education a priority. In fact, Iowa had the fifth-highest public high school graduation rate in the country in the 2008-2009 school year, with the graduation rate exceeding 80%, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. More high school graduates means more of Iowa's students are prepared to pursue higher education, which is also highly valued in the Hawkeye State. Major public research universities in Iowa include the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and the University of Northern Iowa. In addition, the state's higher education system encompasses a wide range of private institutions, including liberal arts colleges, faith-based colleges, and proprietary institutions. Many of these schools offer online bachelor degrees in Iowa.
Iowa residents representing every county in the state take courses at public universities through distance education opportunities, according to the State of Iowa Board of Regents, the governing body for the state's five public educational institutions. Students can search for distance learning courses through the IowaLearns Distance Learning Catalog, a service of Iowa Public Television that catalogs distance learning opportunities available from both public and independent higher education institutions in the state. However, online education in Iowa starts even earlier than the college level. Iowa Learning Online allows high school students to take distance education courses through online classes and interactive video classrooms.


Australian-born art critic and author Robert Hughes died aged 74 at the Calvary Hospital in the Bronx, New York, on Monday after a long illness.
Here is Hughes typing on an Olivetti Lettera 32 portable typewriter as he works on his script for Perspective : The Collection, a film on the Australian National Collection of Art in Canberra.
Hughes made sure he still had a manual typewriter nearby in his loft in Soho, New York, in 1998.
Robert Studley Forrest Hughes was born in Sydney on July 28, 1938. He had lived in New York since 1970.
At the University of Sydney, Hughes associated with the Sydney "Push" – a group of artists, writers, intellectuals and drinkers who included Germaine Greer and Clive James. Hughes was also briefly involved in the original Sydney version of Oz magazine.
He left Australia for Europe in 1964, settling in London, where he wrote for The Spectator, The Daily Telegraph, The Times and The Observer, among others, and contributed to the London version of Oz.
In 1970 he became art critic for TIME magazine and moved to New York.
Hughes published The Fatal Shore in 1987. A study of the British penal colonies and early European settlement of Australia, it became an international best-seller. During the late 1990s, he was a prominent supporter of the Australian Republican Movement.
I'd love to have a room that size and all that book shelf space!!
Such a shame. I'd read much of his stuff, and he was an excellent writer.
FuNkY Atomic Retro Typewriter For Sale!
Talking About ... What Else? Typewriters!


Pirates-Old Boys halfback Jonty Wood gets ready to put the ball into a scrum as Eastern-Northern Barbarians halfback Issac Wairau and referee Sam Nicholson look on during a Southland premier club rugby fixture.
IT is simple really – Jonty Wood wants to play in the Mitre 10 Cup.
After a few years dancing around the fringes of New Zealand's premier provincial rugby competition, the 24-year-old has come south in an attempt to scratch that itch he has.
Wood hails from Hamilton, but in recent years he has played for the Bay of Plenty development team (2015 and 2016) and last year lined up for Thames Valley in the Heartland Championship.
The halfback was on track for a spot in the New Zealand Heartland team, but an injury late in the competition ended those hopes.
At the end of last year the primary school teacher looked at various options which might help him reach that desired Mitre 10 Cup target.
He settled on Southland after a conversation with Stags assistant coach Jason Kawau.
Wood said Kawau stressed he couldn't promise anything, but Wood was encouraged enough to get on a plane and head to Invercargill to line up for Pirates-Old Boys in Southland's premier club competition.
"As they say, you are going to get a few no's before you get a yes. So hopefully that yes does come for me," Wood said.
Wood is aware the pathway to Mitre 10 Cup game time with the Stags is not a clear one.
Nico Costa, who last year played for Auckland, and New Zealand under-20 halfback Jay Renton have already been signed for the Stags' 2018 campaign. At this stage they shape as the leading halfback contenders.
A spot in the Stags squad for Wood may come down to if the decision makers opt to sign three halfbacks, or possibly injury to those other halfbacks.
For Wood it is about banging as loudly as he can on the selection door through club rugby form with his new club.
"I'm just trying to control what I can control and trying not to stress about that other stuff.
Pirates-Old Boys sit fourth in the competition, five points ahead of fifth-placed Eastern-Northern Barbarians.
Outside of his rugby commitments, Wood is working at Southland Boys' High School as a relief teacher, which he said he was enjoying.


Unlike Egypt, Iraq accommodated not one but two provincial identities, the Assyrian and the Babylonian. Both cultures had of course suffered violent destruction on their fall a thousand years before the Arab conquests as Nabopolassar and the Medes turned Assyria into 'heaps and ruins' in 612 B.C. so Xerxes razed the walls of Babylon, expropriated its citizens and turned its god into bullion after the revolt of 482. Both identities nonetheless survived, the first under a Christian aegis, the second under a pagan.
This unusual division of labour between Christianity and paganism was a result of the differing impact of foreign rule on the two provinces. Assyria, which had neither the fabled wealth nor the strategic importance of Babylon, had been left virtually alone by the Achaemenids and Seleucids; condemned to oblivion by the outside world, it could recollect its own glorious past in a certain tranquillity. Consequently when the region came back into the focus of history under the Parthians, it was with an Assyrian, not a Persian let alone Greek, self-identification: the temple of Ashur was restored, the city was rebuilt, and an Assyrian successor state returned in the shape of the client kingdom of Adiabene. The Sasanids put an end to the autonomy of this kingdom, but they did not replace the local rulers with a Persian bureaucracy: though reduced to obedient servants of the Shahanshah, a native aristocracy therefore survived. In one respect, however, their position in the Persian state was an uncomfortable one. Already under the Parthians the Shahanshahs tended to demand religious conformity in return for political significance; and under the Sasanids they did so systematically, thus imposing a Persian truth on an Assyrian identity. As long as the level of integration remained low this disharmony could be disguised by syncretic manoeuvres; but as the Sasanids brought the local aristocracy into closer contact with the Persian court, the meshes were closed. A Persian monarchy thus did for an ethnic God in the east what an ethnic God did for Greek culture in the west, and here as elsewhere the provincials were faced with the choice between the rectification of genealogy and the rectification of faith, tashih al-nasab and tashih al-din. Like the provincials of the west, the Assyrians stuck to their genealogy, but unlike them they could not merely go heretical: even a heretical Zoroastrian was still conceptually a Persian, and vis-a-vis the Persians the Assyrians therefore needed a different religion altogether. On the other hand, even an orthodox Christian was still only a Greek by association; vis-a-vis the Greeks a heresy therefore sufficed. Consequently, after a detour via Judaism, the Assyrians adopted Christianity and found their heresy in Nestorianism.
Babylonia, by contrast, had never been left alone. Apart from its massive Jewish diaspora, it was flooded with Persian immigrants under the Achaemenids, Greeks under the Seleucids and more Persians with the Sasanids; the latter built their capital there and in due course added yet another batch of foreigners in the form of Greek and Syrian prisoners of war. As a result the Babylonian polity was dissolved. It is true that the ghost of Babylon haunted lower Iraq for some two centuries in the shape of the client kingdom of Mesene which, though founded by an Iranian satrap, soon went Aramaic; and there were no doubt other Aramean kings under the Parthians. But in the first place the Babylonian identification of Mesene was weak, and in the second place the Sasanid choice of lower Iraq as the centre of their empire hardly left much room for a native aristocracy, and whereas the Assyrians had a clear memory of their own past, the Babylonians did not. One might indeed have expected the Babylonian identity to vanish altogether, and if it did survive it was not because it remembered itself in isolation, but because it transcended itself and won universal respect: the Greeks bowed in deference to Babylonian astrology and borrowed it without disguising its Chaldean origin, and consequently the Chaldeans could borrow Greek philosophy without losing their identity. The fusion of Greek and Babylonian paganism generated a variety of astrological religions which, unlike the parent paganism, could hold their own against the supreme truths of Zoroastrianism, and which unlike Christianity were possessed of an ethnic label: an Assyrian had only an identity, a Christian had only a truth, but a Chaldean had both identity and truth. In Chaldea pagans therefore survived.
Christianity did, of course, spread to Babylonia; but whereas in Assyria it was a way of sanctifying a provincial identity, in Babylonia it was a way of desanctifying two. To the highly cosmopolitan environment of lower Iraq, Christianity, like Manichaeism, was a protest against ethnic religions, not a way of acquiring one: Manichaeism transcended the Chaldean and Persian truths by combining them as lesser insights within a larger and more grandiose scheme of things, and Christianity did the same by rejecting both as identical. The Christians of lower Iraq never lacked identity: they included Persians, Greeks, Elamites, Arameans, Qatraye, Arabs and others. Like the Assyrians, they might call themselves Suryane in contradistinction to the pagans; but they never shared any single identity between them: the only identity there was to inherit was Chaldean, and on conversion the Chaldean renounced his ethnicity as Magian and his culture as Zoroastrian. The Assyrian Christians have a genuine precedent for their name, but Christians were only called Chaldeans by way of abuse.
There were thus two distinct versions of Christianity within the Nestorian church: on the one hand the local church of Assyria, a chauvinist assertion of a provincial identity; and on the other the metropolitan church of Persia with its centre in Babylonia, a cosmopolitan assertion of a gentile truth. But if the Assyrian church was in this respect comparable to that of Egypt, its chauvinism took a rather different from. Egypt had preserved an ethnicity and a language peculiar to itself among its peasantry, whereas its aristocracy belonged to the larger Hellenised world; Assyria by contrast had an aristocracy peculiar to itself, whereas it shared its ethnicity and language with the larger Aramaic world. Hence where Coptic chauvinism was ethnic and linguistic, that of Assyria turned on the memory of a glorious past. In this connection two timely conversions served to dear the Assyrian kings of their Biblical disrepute. Firstly Sardana the son of Sennacherib, thirty-second king of Assyria after Belos and ruler of a third of the inhabited world, submitted to the monotheistic message of Jonah and instituted the Ninivite fast which saved Ninive from destruction; and the fast having saved the Assyrians from the wrath of God in the past, it was reinstituted by Sabrisho' of Karkha de-Bet Selokh to save them from a plague a thousand years later." Secondly, the conversion of Izates II of Adiabene to Judaism was reedited as the conversion of Narsai of Assyria to Christianity. In other words the Assyrians were monotheists before Christ and Christians after him, and the past therefore led on to the present without a break. Thus the history of Karkha de-Bet Selokh begins with the Assyrian kings and ends with the Assyrian martyrs: Sargon founded it and the martyrs made it 'a blessed field for Christianity'. Likewise in the seventh century before Christ all the world stood in awe of Sardana, and in the seventh century after Christ the saints took his place as the 'sun of Athor' and the 'glory of Ninive'.
The church in Babylonia, by contrast, had neither the ethnic and linguistic pride of Egypt nor the historical pride of Assyria. As against Egypt, they identified themselves as gentiles and used both Persian and Syriac. As against Assyria, they renounced the Babylonian past to the pagans: Nimrod, in Assyria an ancestral king commemorated in the names of Christian saints, in Babylonia retained his identification with Zoroaster and was either rejected as the originator of Persian paganism" or conciliated as the oracular guide of the Magians in search of Christ; in either case he remained a foreigner. Likewise the tradition represented by the Christian Isho'dad of Merv is as totally detached from the Babylonian past, for all its considerable learning, as that represented by the pagan Ibn Wahshiyya is totally in love with it, for all its considerable errors.
Both the Assyrian and the Babylonian churches, however, differed from that of Egypt in being aristocratically orientated; the first because its Assyrian identity was vested in a native aristocracy, the second because the disinvestment from a native identity permitted a full acceptance of Persian aristocratic values. Consequently the Nestorian church as such was constituted by its nobles: the endless succession of peasants in the sayings of the Egyptian fathers gives way to the endless succession of magnates in the acts of the Persian martyrs, and whereas the Egyptian magnates could only just redeem their wordly status by going Monophysite, the Nestorian sources virtually brim over with aristocratic legitimism. The awe of Assyria for its local Nimrodids or Sennacheribids is matched by the metropolitan reverence for the royal descent of a Saba, Yuhannan or Golindukht, and the Nestorians were thus united in their high esteem of power, wealth and wordly renown. It is true that from time to time the intolerance of the Shahanshahs precluded service at court; but local magnates could and did stay in power, laymen played a prominent role in the Nestorian church, and tolerant Shahanshahs received the willing services of their Christian subjects: of all laymen it was Yazdin of Kirkuk, the fiscal officer in charge of taxes, tribute and booty for Khusraw II, who was honoured as the 'defender of the church in the manner of Constantine and Theodosius'. Consequently the Nestorians were similarly united in their attitude to the Persian king: all had accepted the political supremacy of the Persian Empire, and even the Assyrians could hardly hope for a Sennacheribid restoration; what they resented was the ethnic intolerance of Zoroastrianism, and what they aimed at was therefore not secession from the rule of the Shahanshah, but his conversion. As members of an aristocratic church the Nestorians likewise differed from the Copts in having a rich secular culture: their high esteem for wordly power was matched by their high esteem for human reason, a point endorsed by Nestorian theology. Their official authority, Theodore of Mopsuestia, did of course know the traditional doctrine of the Fall, according to which an initial state of human immortality and bliss had been disrupted by sin and deteriorated progressively until the dramatic return of grace with the redemptive death of Christ. But he also taught a variant doctrine positing an initial state of imperfection from which man had progressed under divine guidance until immortality was regained with the exemplary resurrection of Christ. One doctrine emphasised man's need of grace, the other his ability to help himself: if the divine instruction was to be of any effect man must necessarily be able to distinguish between good and evil and to act in accordance with his reason, and sin must therefore be an act of will and an act against better knowledge. It was for this second view that the Nestorians opted, and if they did not go Pelagian or reduce the redemption to a mere symbol of future immortality, they certainly did play up reason at the expense of grace.
The possession of a secure social and doctrinal locus for secular intellection did two things for Nestorian culture. In the first place, whereas the Coptic church was boorish, the Nestorian church was academic. Most strikingly, it acquired one of the few non-monastic schools of theology in the Near East when the school of Edessa migrated to Nisibis, and Nisibis in turn spawned a series of lesser schools; and it similarly acquired a school of medicine with the settlement of prisoners of war in Gondeshapur. In general the foundation of schools recurs again and again in the lives of Nestorian worthies, and few monasteries were without one.
In the second place, whereas the Coptic church rejected Greek thought as morally pagan, the Nestorian church legitimised it as proleptically Christian. For it was not of course an Assyrian culture that was being taught in the Assyrian schools: the cultural impoverishment of Assyria had been hardly less thoroughgoing than that of Egypt, and just as the Egyptian heritage in Coptic literature is limited to motifs of popular stories, so the Assyrian heritage in Christian literature is limited to Ahiqar, the vizier of the Assyrian kings. But unlike the Coptic peasants, the Nestorian elite could replace what it had lost with the universal truths of Greek philosophy. The philosophers were not only translated but also exalted, and in due course the Nestorians became adept enough at philosophy to export it back to the west.
At the same time the fate of asceticism among the Nestorians was correspondingly different from what it was among the Monophysites. Mesopotamian Christianity had begun as an ascetic movement on the Syrian pattern, with the congregational church consisting of Nazirite 'sons of the Covenant'. But just as the Copts had found that they could rebuild Holy Egypt in the desert, so the Assyrians found that they could recreate an image of their polity around their aristocracy. It is not therefore surprising that, with the adoption of Nestorianism, asceticism was virtually eradicated: the 'sons of the Covenant' disappeared in all but name, the celibacy of the clergy was abolished, and monasticism discouraged. Equally when asceticism finally returned to stay, it was in a new and different shape. As in Egypt, cenobitism had been organised on a Pachomian pattern; yet in contrast to Egypt the cenobites represented merely a preparatory stage in the spiritual career. As in Syria, it was the anchorites who held pride of place; yet in contrast to Syria their raison d'etre was Evagrian. Iraq thus had no kibbutzim: the Nestorians were not averse to inhabiting the desert, but they did so for the solitude it afforded, not to grow roses in the sand. But equally, Iraq had no pillar saints: the Nestorians were not averse to mortifying the flesh, but they did so less to punish it for its sins than to spare themselves the cumberous ministration to its needs for which they had neither time nor thought in their pursuit of the mystic vision of God.


How healthy is your forum? How would you rate it?
Membership: Do we have the number of members we want, balancing the desire for optimal size, peer quality, and diversity of perspective?
Attendance: Are most, if not all, members showing up on time to every meeting?
Scheduling: Do we get our meetings on the calendar at least three months in advance? Are members willing to make forum a priority commitment so that scheduling does not become a huge time and emotional drain on the group?
Leadership: Is our moderator responsive, engaged, and committed to the group's success? Have we selected an assistant moderator, both to help now and to succeed the moderator when his/her term ends?
Presentations: Are members willing, even eager, to explore their toughest issues and highest aspirations in forum?
Retreats: Does our forum schedule an annual retreat to go deeper, reinforce best practices, add to its toolkit, and recommit to the shared forum journey?
Ask yourself these questions, and you can then qualitatively assess your own forum on a 1-5 scale: 1 (in real trouble), 2 (weak, needs support), 3 (doing pretty well), 4 (strong and high functioning), or 5 (very strong, transformational).
You still won't know how you compare to other forums, but you will have a basis to take action inside the forum and get the help you need from outside. As always, please don't hesitate to reach out to me with any questions.


Non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) is an urgent medical condition that requires prompt application of simultaneous pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic therapies. The variation in patient clinical characteristics coupled with the multitude of treatment modalities makes optimal and timely management challenging. This review summarizes risk stratification of patients, the role and timing of revascularization, and highlights important considerations in the revascularization approach with attention to individual patient characteristics.
The early invasive management of NSTEMI has fostered a reduction in future ischemic events. Risk calculators are helpful in determining which patients should receive early invasive management. As many patients have multivessel disease, identifying the true culprit lesion can be challenging. Special attention should be given to those at the highest risk, such as diabetics, patients with renal failure, and those with left main disease.
In patients with acute coronary syndrome, the decision and mode of revascularization should carefully integrate the patient's clinical characteristics as well as the complexity of the coronary anatomy.
Bennet George, Naoki Misumida, and Khaled M. Ziada declare that they have no conflict of interest.
This review complies with all ethical standards for clinical research on human subjects. This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.
AMI Trends: Incidence, Detection, and Treatment 2016. Available from: https://truvenhealth.com/Portals/0/assets/provider/201601-truven-health-fact-files.pdf. Accessed 29 Jan 2019.


In any case, here are my candidate principles of good debating. They're not primarily about winning, but about deserving to win. But I do think that they are crowd-pleasing as well as truth-seeking.
Principle #1: Strive to address people who don't already agree with you. Realistically, you'll at best change the minds of the undecided. But the best way to sway the undecided is to reach out to your most intransigent opponents.
Principle #2: Talk to your opponent like he's your best friend, even if he does the opposite. Not only are ad hominem arguments invalid, but they send the signal that you lack better arguments. You'll also think harder and more creatively about your position once you spurn invective.
Principle #3: Split your time between talking to your audience and talking to your opponent. The optimal balance might not be 50/50 exactly, but you should spend a goodly amount of time both appealing directly to your opponent, and pointing out his blind spots.
Principle #4: If you're uncomfortable publicly defending aspects of your position, reconsider your position. In extremely oppressive societies, keeping your thoughts to yourself is common sense. But in modernity's largely open societies, your discomfort says more about the quality of your beliefs than the unfairness of the world.
I would also say to make sure you understand your opponent's position before you begin attacking it. Go so far as to ask questions, even probing questions (but not attacking questions) in order to further understand the position. Once you feel like you have a good grasp of it, then you can point out its flaws.
Sometimes people don't even get past fully articulating their ideas before they (or the audience) realize the problems in their own arguments.
Somewhat cynically, debates are really "won" when you can get your opponent to say something that will look really silly when quoted out of context. Bonus points if it continues to be silly when examined in context, but it's not really necessary. Give yourself a gold star if the silliness highlights the fundamental errors in your opponent's case, but it is rare for anyone who is so unskilled in rationalizing to accept a debate challenge to begin with.
Caplan's principles apply when in a written debate held between academics, with an expected audience primarily composed of academics or other people who can be expected to participate in good faith.
Otherwise, well… there is a reason most scientists have become a little weary and wary of debating creationists and other assorted crackpots.
Point 4 depends heavily on what subpopulation you're addressing, and I would argue that it has almost zero truth-seeking value in real life. For example, arguing that historical evidence contradicts key passages in the Bible would be heresy in a red-state small town, but perfectly decorous in a university. Conversely, questioning the data (or the conclusions) of global warming research would be acceptable in the same small town but heresy in the academy.
I can accept that the point 4 is right more often than it is wrong if you're talking about the population as a whole. In reality most of us live in (and are influenced by the opinion of) fairly insular microcultures with various biases and taboos. Following rule 4 in reality would do nothing more than empower whatever group already has control of local opinion.
What about intolerant western societies?
I'm from Vermont where voicing even Friedmanlike libertarian opinions wont land you in jail, but will certainly alienate oneself from the audience. Whenever I find myself in Vermont and debating I need to dance around my points and hope the listener arrives at my position on their own.
Does this mean the mainstream libertarian view is potentially invalid? Or just that Americans leftists are intolerant?
I have met very few ideologically tolerant leftists. I have met far, far more ideologically tolerant social conservatives than tolerant leftists… which is surprising to me.
That's assuming the purpose of debate is to change minds. But if the debate is dialectic rather than eristic (truth-seeking rather than consensus-seeking), then the best case scenario could be that you'll change your own mind.
Since when are all academic arguments in good faith? No! No! They are designed to appear in good faith, they aren't necessarily in good faith.
True. But an academic environment limits the harm a debater acting in bad faith can do, and reduces their incentive to turn up at all. They cannot pull the standard rhetorical tricks that crackpots everywhere have honed – the Gish Gallop, accusations of bullying, FUD, JAQing to the audience, etc. Meta-debating by using the debate as a platform to gain wider publicity is a favorite.
As for tolerant conservatives vs intolerant liberals, you need to identify what hot-buttons to press. Try immigration, or existing wars, or military policy, or drug legalization, or crime policy, or wiretapping/privacy prosecutions of past administration officials, or culture-war issues (gay marriage/ten commandments monuments/One Nation Under God/etc.). Usually at least one of these works. If you know what industry they work in, advocate removing subsidies for it – many politically-dominated industries enjoy significant protection of some sort.
Principle #2 – have you heard how people talk to their best friends?
And has there been any scientific research into this?
Don't demand scientific proof of ordinary assumptions. See Tracy, above.
The best principle was formulated by Karl Popper, but I can't remember where.
He said that you should try really hard to find the best arguments against your own position.


Hearing your doctor tell you that you need a mammogram because of a concern, is not the kind of news that anyone enjoys. For most women it causes some anxiety. Even if the lump is very small, and you tell yourself it probably isn't anything, the first priority is to make an appointment as soon as possible.
My first contact with MIF was with the person who made my appointment. My insurance was a little unusual and I was concerned I would have to pay everything up front and out-of-pocket. My concerns were unfounded. Carrie was so helpful and kind. She called my insurance, contacted the doctor to make sure I had the correct script, and got me in the very next day. She said, "I am sure you would like to get in here and know what is going on." She was both compassionate and very understanding—calming my nerves before I even arrived at the office.
The same kind and compassionate tone was there to greet me when I arrived the next morning. At registration, Kim was attentive and undistracted by all the activity around her. I had my questions answered, filled out the paperwork (in the form of a very easy-to-use tablet), paid my co-pay, and sat comfortably to wait.
Within 10 minutes, Monae called me back to the exam rooms. She led me to a comfortable room where she gave me a gown and a locking cupboard for my clothes. Then she took me to a waiting room with other ladies. There was water, coffee, tea and snacks as well as blankets in case I was cold. The TV was on a station that all the ladies not only enjoyed watching but wanted to talk about—helping us all to relax and feel at home.
Then came my turn for the Mammogram. Mary Jude came to get me, brought me into her exam room and asked me a few questions. While taking me through the mammogram, she was kind and concerned for my comfort and my privacy. I could see her professionalism in a way that made me appreciate her competence and assured me that she was getting all the pictures the doctor would need.
I was brought back to the waiting room to await a follow-up ultrasound as prescribed by my doctor. About 15 minutes later, I was greeted by Deborah. "Are you cold?" she asked. She grabbed a warm blanket on the way to her exam room. I rested on a table, she turned down the lights, put that wonderful warm blanket on me, and pulled the curtain to ensure my privacy as she was doing the ultrasound. She was friendly, and we talked about her family, making me feel comfortable and at ease.
My report was sent to my doctor and emailed to me before the end of the day.
I will not go anywhere other than MIF for my imaging needs. It turned out to be a pleasant experience despite the circumstances that brought me to the office.


With the Final Four of the men's and women's NCAA tournaments upon us, sports bars are packed, business productivity is down and fingernails are bitten. In short, these three weeks can be summed up in a single word: Madness.
Pinterest is an often overlooked social media channel that can elevate a brand and capture new audiences. Here are four best practices for a winning Pinterest strategy.
Intern Kailey Middlebrooks shares her experience over two semesters with the SSG team.
Instagram continues to up its e-commerce game.
Summer may be heating up, but the SSG office is keeping it cool with the help of a few of our favorite things.
The perfect social media mix tells the right story to the right audience at the right time.
PR Rockstars on the Rise: Meet SSG's Spring 2018 Interns & Apprentices!
Allow us to introduce our Spring 2018 interns and apprentices.
Not convinced? Here are five reasons.
Josh is bringing his experience and expertise in results-driven solutions, systems architecture, relationship development and overall marketing strategy to See.Spark.Go.
Publicists and journalists have a common denominator that makes them much more similar than they may realize.
Airstream AND the Dawgs? We're in.
Meet the latest additions to the SSG team!
Intern with SSG in Summer '17—Athens or Atlanta!
College students, you're going to want to read this.
At See.Spark.Go, we always challenge our team to come up with new ways to do things. Always improve the process. Never accept the status quo.
As many of you know, we've opened SSG ATL, the second ever installment of See.Spark.Go. We may be laying roots throughout Georgia, but we tell the best stories all over. And, we have the best people (just sayin'). Our team and the company we keep attracted our first-ever Atlanta-based intern, Jordan Nations, all the way from Sarasota, Fla. See, we're all over.
In case you missed Part 1, Jordan shared about recent updates to formerly text-driven platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter. In this next installment, our social media/blog-writing protegé shares how you can put the tips to good use. Take it away, Jordan!
The positive impact of visual content in your organization's communication is measurable, and it has never been easier to create and share visuals straight to your targeted consumer's pocket.
Invest in quality pictures and graphics worth sharing.
Have a good quote to share from the CEO? Overlay that quote on top of a picture of them speaking. Want people to know the benefits of your product or service? Create an informative infographic that displays the information clearly with language consumers will understand. Use images from your events, office happenings or advertising to engage your audience and make your brand personal.
Another option is using high-quality photos from websites like Unsplash or Pixabay to enhance your content. These photos are free and can be used however you'd like according to each site's creative commons licensing policy.
Do not underestimate the power of video.
Videos require more investment but increasingly prove to be the most engaging content on all social media platforms.
Sharing your story—whether personally or professionally—on social media requires increasingly engaging content as the social space becomes more and more cluttered.
What are you doing to engage the world with your story?
We've asked our first Atlanta-based intern, Jordan Nations, to weigh in on all things visual marketing, social platform updates and how you can put the next best thing to good use as a marketer. Here's part 1. Enjoy!
LinkedIn and Twitter have lagged behind visually driven platforms like Instagram and Facebook when it comes to images and video — choosing to differentiate themselves by being predominantly text-dominated platforms — but with some hot new updates, they're both making a run at social media Gold in the unofficial user-engagement competition this year.
Twitter announced last week that media attached to a Tweet no longer counts against the ever-tantalizing 140-character count. The previous limit with media was 124 characters, and though 16 extra characters may not seem like much, it makes a difference. If nothing else, we can all start spelling out "You" instead of choosing "U" when posting that all-too-relatable GIF or funny picture from the latest office outing. With other updates coming down the line for video and the recently introduced live stream of Thursday Night Football, it seems Twitter is rising as a contender in the visual market.
LinkedIn rolled out a revamped version of its publishing tool last week as well that employs an ultra-simplistic post editor and increased visual incorporation. Users now can embed videos, podcasts and slideshows into posts. This update creates opportunities for businesses and job seekers to create more interesting content to attract their targeted audiences more effectively.
Social content with relevant visuals garner 94 percent more views than similar content without visuals.
Visual content is 40 times more likely to be shared on social networks.
After three days, people remember an average of 10 percent of content they hear. Retention jumps to 60 percent three days later when that information is accompanied by a relevant visual.
Have a social media tip or best practice? Share with us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
Every story has a beginning, an origin. When a journalist has the chance to personally experience a brand's process or foundation, it clarifies the lens through which he or she sees the brand. That's why familiarization trips offer the perfect opportunity to share your brand story through experience.
THRIVE Farmers is changing the way you and I get our morning brew. This coffee company was birthed out of both necessity and a leap of faith after two entrepreneurs realized the brokenness of the coffee industry. The duo set out to change the economic reality for farmers across the globe. Other businesses latched onto this heart-driven ethos, and the brand grew more than 8,500 percent in three years, placing nineteenth on the Inc. 500 list this past August.
We had the privilege of traveling to Costa Rica, the birthplace of THRIVE Farmers, with the incredibly talented photographer, Michael George, for Inc. magazine's September issue. If pictures say 1,000 words, an expert photojournalist can write a novel with his lens. Our job as communicators is to ensure the journalist has every opportunity to get that perfect shot.
In any media coordination, it is important to find out as much information about the editor's vision for the final piece as possible. The publicist's job is to serve as the resource to all parties, so ask as many questions as necessary to be sure everyone knows where to be when and what the overall goals are.
How many days are necessary? What are the best flight times? Where should you meet at the airport? Where will you stay? How long is the commute from the hotel to your daily destination? What time of daylight is best for photos? What will the climate and weather be? What style does the photographer typically use? Can you help provide context for the destination with images before he or she gets there? When will the team eat? Do they need large breaks to tend to urgent emails? Will internet be readily available and what kinds of outlets do they use?
Answering these questions and more will help inform your schedule and avoid simple oversights from interrupting the success and productivity of your trip.
Now that you have a crystal clear vision for all parties, throw rigid timeframes out the window. When was the last time you traveled without at least one unexpected interruption?
You never know when your photographer will need to scale a tree to capture the landscape or when your host will want to drive to his favorite spot to show you the Costa Rican sunset (no complaints here!).
In the same way you would offer a visitor a drink in your home, you want to be sure you host everyone around you.
The best way to do this is to be sure you're prepared with an "emergency everything" kit. Will there be bugs? Bring bug spray. Could someone cut themselves? Bring bandages. Will your team get hungry out in the field? Have snacks on hand.
If having an item on hand would make travel a little more comfortable for your host, your journalist or your subject, bring it along. This includes bottled water since we all can use the extra hydration. This extra preparation will pay off, promise!
Our goal was to showcase the story of THRIVE Farmers from farm to cup—through sight, sound, taste, smell, touch, laughter, tears and dusty roads. Co-founder and Chief Sustainability Officer Kenneth Lander brought us to a few of the very first THRIVE Farmers' hillside crops and breakfast tables to share the story's beginnings.
We hiked through the coffee trees, touched the waxy leaves and ate homegrown mango with tortillas and gallo pinto. We pet kittens, met farm hands and jostled our way down country roads in a pickup truck bed. Farmers looked into the photographer's eyes with sincere pride for their coffees and thriving crops, knowing they are the faces for something much bigger than themselves. Cuppers shared about the process with which coffee is tested to ensure utmost quality in a scientific lab. With every turn, Ken shared some piece of Costa Rican history or his own funny memory from a particular town.
The trip was steeped with purpose, and our photographer walked away with a deeper appreciation for his coffee than any email pitch could ever provide. He got it because he experienced it from farm to cup.
Remember, you're experiencing the story too! Be sure to soak in the little moments. Ask about what most interests you as it could lead to something significant for future storytelling opportunities. The more you learn, the better you'll be able to share. And, don't neglect your own lens. Personally share the story as it unfolds (but be sure you're allowed to before you post!). Volunteer to hold the light reflector or stand in if the photographer needs to test out his lighting, and drink in every drop of the experience.
Public relations, relating to the public, is founded on hundreds of personal relationships. We get to develop friendships with the people who hold the microphones of the world.
Whether the founder of a brand, a reporter on deadline or a coffee farmer, every person we interact with followed a dream, worked hard when no one noticed and took a risk to get where they are today. Our greatest privilege is to acknowledge just how much their work matters.
A hand-written note goes a long way. A swag bag allows the journalists to fondly remember their experience every time they pick up that mug or wear that T-shirt. A signed photo from the photographer to the subject creates a lasting connection that reaches far beyond the article. Gratitude marks the experience.
SeaWorld's Change of Heart: Is It Too Little Too Late?
On March 17, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment Inc. announced its decision to end its captive orca breeding program and phase out its "theatrical" orca shows. In recent years, SeaWorld has been at the heart of heated controversy following a series of violent scandals, brought to light by the 2013 documentary, "Blackfish." The documentary sparked both traditional and social media buzz and catalyzed a dialogue surrounding the ethicality of animal captivity and performance. Three years later, SeaWorld has finally succumbed to societal pressure (in the form of plummeting ticket sales and falling stock prices) to overhaul its best-selling act in favor of a more organic and educational orca experience. But is this decision too little too late, and can the brand survive without its cash cow?
In the wake of "Blackfish," SeaWorld launched its "truth campaign" in an attempt to salvage its reputation and reassure the public of its commitment to the well-being of its animals. According to SeaWorld, the focus of this campaign was to address the wealth of "misinformation" surrounding the brand post-"Blackfish." The campaign's primary focus was its veterinary staff, its rescue efforts, and its non-whale species. Unfortunately, the campaign's limited successes were overshadowed by its failed social media campaign, #AskSeaWorld, which invited more nasty criticism than sincere questions. In addition to its ongoing PR nightmare, SeaWorld has also faced substantial legislative and regulatory hurdles within the past two years: in early 2015, SeaWorld San Diego proposed plans to expand its orca habitat in an attempt to appease animal-rights activists while still continuing its orca shows. Later that year, the California Coastal Commission approved the project under one condition: the park would have to cease its captive orca breeding program. Then, in November, California Congressman Adam Schiff proposed the Orca Responsibility and Care Advancement Act, a bill designed to end orca shows and illegalize captive breeding and capture of wild orcas. This series of complications has positioned the brand between a rock and a hard place, forcing it to do the unthinkable: bow to the mounting pressure and give up its orcas.
So, what happens when SeaWorld has to give up the animal upon which its brand is built? Fortunately, SeaWorld bought itself some time, so it won't have to completely reinvent its brand overnight: the orca show phase-out will take several years, and the company has pledged to care for its whales for the rest of their natural lives, which could be decades. That being said, the verbiage used by CEO Joel Manby in his op-ed and various interviews since provides some insight into what we can expect of the "new" SeaWorld. In response to the announcement, Manby has discussed the overarching issues of animal endangerment and extinction, writing that "in this impending crisis, the real enemies of wildlife are poaching, pollution, unsustainable human development and man-made disasters such as oil spills — not zoos and aquariums." Manby also announced SeaWorld's partnership with its former adversary, the Humane Society––a move that is nothing short of strategic. Together, SeaWorld and the Humane Society intend to "work against commercial whaling and seal hunts, shark finning and ocean pollution." Manby's heavy emphasis on SeaWorld's commitment to wildlife education and conservation efforts suggests that its brand will begin diversifying in response to what he calls society's "attitudinal change." Moving forward, we can expect SeaWorld to promote itself as an animal advocacy, rescue, and protection organization instead of as an amusement park.
SeaWorld's "Blackfish" ordeal has taught the brand a lesson about the importance of trends and timeliness. Its first mistake was ignoring trends. In the 1970s, we knew little to nothing about orcas, so a combination of fear, awe, and curiosity attracted people to the parks; by the 1990s, Shamu was a household name, and Americans flocked to the parks for a seat in the "splash zone;" but by the 2010s, society had become disillusioned with the idea of animal captivity and performance, calling for reform of circuses and theme parks alike. SeaWorld's belated recognition and acceptance of the animal advocacy movement has critics conflicted––is the move too little too late, or better late than never? You be the judge.
SeaWorld was, however, cognizant of the importance of timeliness in crisis communication. Legislation and regulations were ready to order an end to orca captivity; SeaWorld recognized that it had lost all the battles but could still win the war if it could find a way to regain control of the message––and that's exactly what it did. Instead of waiting to be forced into major reform, SeaWorld beat them to the punch, allowing the brand to announce its changes on its own terms, in its own way. This proactive move is a welcome change from SeaWorld's swell of reactive PR in recent years.
SeaWorld's announcement, in conjunction with Ringling Brothers' 2015 decision to end its elephant shows, provides the pleasant reassurance that our dollars really do matter. When societal issues like commercial corruption seem overwhelming and impossible to tackle, it's nice to know that we, the consumers, really do have the power to affect change. Where and how we choose to spend our money reflect what we value as a society. This effect reaches beyond the amusement park industry; we see our dollars speaking volumes through the Made in America movement, the organic and local foods movements, and many more. So when you see the need for change in the world, just remember that you, the consumer, have the ability to make deliberate choices each and every day to show support and opposition of certain causes. Whether you agree with SeaWorld's decision or not, the fact that consumers were able to force the hand of a multibillion-dollar company is a testament to the power of the people (and also capitalism).


Even though we knew this would happen and some probably thought it should have long ago, this is not the adieu most imagined from one of the most recognizable characters in motion picture history.
But that is what happened to Rocky Balboa via Instagram, thanks to a thoughtful post from Sylvester Stallone following the opening weekend of Creed II.
Since 1976, Rocky has entertained and enthralled. The champion of the underdog is finally calling it quits and hanging his gloves up. And it's easy to assume the wild success of Michael B. Jordan resurrecting this franchise is the reason why Stallone feels it's safe to leave his hero behind.
So, will he? Or, will he just come out of retirement? You know, again.


2 ¶ To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: ¶ Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
5 when I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in you also.
6 Wherefore I put you in remembrance, that you stir up the gift of God, which is in you by the putting on of my hands.
12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
13 Hold fast the form of sound words, which you hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
14 That good thing which was committed unto you keep by the Holy Ghost which dwells in us.
15 ¶ This you knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.
18 The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, you knowest very well.


Today's Infographic Link: What Happens in an Internet Minute?
Prescient, a risk management firm co-founded by former naval intelligence officers and best known for federal counterintelligence and national security programs, launched its commercial spinoff. Prescient Traveler, a sophisticated traveler risk management system, analyzes petabytes of data from over 38,000 sources in real-time. Further, prescriptive analytics advise travelers on how to mitigate those risks or "react smartly" to the dangers.
Streaming and batch big data analytics technology Apache Apex has been elevated to a Top-Level Project by the Apache Software Foundation. Used by organizations including Capital One and GE, the technology can help developers more quickly create apps that leverage real-time data.
In anticipation of his upcoming conference presentation, Leveraging Hands on Approaches to Identify Actionable Topics in Property Insurance at Text Analytics World Chicago, June 21-22, 2016, we asked Frederick Guillot, Manager, Research and Innovation at Co-operators General Insurance Company, a few questions about his work in text analytics. Q: In your work with text analytics, what… The post Wise Practitioner – Text Analytics Interview Series: Frederick Guillot at Co-operators General Insurance Company appeared first on Predictive Analytics Times.
In this special guest feature, Ulrik Pedersen, Chief Operations Officer at TARGIT, highlights the constant battle between IT and finance on Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) when it comes to implementing a new BI solution.
The insideBIGDATA Guide to Streaming Analytics is a useful new resource directed toward enterprise thought leaders who wish to gain strategic insights into this exciting new area of technology. Many enterprises find themselves at a key inflection point in the big data timeline with respect to streaming analytics technology.
For half a decade, the federal government has operated under a policy to prioritize cloud computing as agency CIOs embark on new technology initiatives, but in such a vast and varied IT environment, it's not been a quick transition. [ Related: Government cloud adoption efforts lag as security concerns persist ] Five years into the so-called cloud-first policy, federal CIOs say they continue to struggle with procurement and management challenges, while security concerns about the safeguards around sensitive data still linger.
Professor Norm Matloff from the University of California, Davis has published From Algorithms to Z-Scores: Probabilistic and Statistical Modeling in Computer Science which is an open textbook. It approaches statistics from a computer science perspective. Dr. Matloff has been both a professor of statistics and computer science so he is well suited to write such a textbook.
The Node.js Foundation this week announced the release of Node.js 6, a version that is considerably faster and more secure than its predecessor.
A look at how Randstad Technologies got creative in regard to bolstering gender diversity in the workplace.
How easy it is to build a learning machine? Shouldn't one just hire some Machine Learning PhDs and have them run their algorithms? Well, this is most probably a good idea, but it won't be enough. I'll try to explain why in this blog entry. Before answering our questions, let's define what we are dealing with. A Learning Machine is a machine (a software, a web site, a mobile app, a robot, pick your favorite) that performs a task, and that gets better and better as it performs it. In recent years, some learning machines made headlines. For instance, IBM Watson defeated best humans at Jeopardy few years ago.
Google, Uber, Ford, Volvo and Lyft form self-driving car 'advocacy' group. State and U.S. regulators seem poised to crack down on feet- and hands-free driving, so Google's gang wants to head them off. Autonomous vehicles are likely to be a moneyspinner for the industry, so you can see their motivation. But it's easy to be cynical, given the fact that it's led by a former NHTSA honcho. Yes, the revolving door is alive and well in Washington, DC. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers revolve indoors. Your humble blogwatcher curated these bloggy bits for your entertainment.
Article: Why Won't They Pair?
IBM is expanding its flash storage lineup to power cloud data centers that carry out so-called cognitive computing. The company's newest FlashSystem arrays, introduced Wednesday, combine its fast and relatively affordable FlashCore technology with a scale-out architecture designed to be easy to expand. Cognitive computing, which IBM defines as real-time data analysis for immediate, automated decision-making, is at the heart of much of IBM's current technology push for enterprises and service providers.
Is "Inbox by Gmail" a game-changer for email marketing?
Transforming US community colleges starts with analyzing the data that you have. Learn how leading schools are building an analytics ecosystem.
Here's this week's news in Data Science and Big Data. Don't forget to subscribe if you find this useful! Interesting Data Science Articles and News IBM Watson Has a Few Predictions for 'Game of Thrones' Season Six — IBM Watson gives TV forecasting a go. Using personality insights, Watson predicts the fate of the characters in Game of Thrones. Data Visualization Drives the Era of Information Activism — This generation of passionate and tech savvy individuals is using data visualization tools for self expression.
Seeking a "generational change" in the economics of in-memory computing, database specialist Redis Labs Inc. has collaborated with South Korean memory chip powerhouse Samsung Electronics to accelerate the processing and analysis of bulging datasets using next-generation memory technology designed to significantly cut memory costs. Redis Labs, Mountain View, Calif., said this week its flash-based platform running on standard x86 servers is available now as part of the company's enterprise cluster.
AI has already proved its prowess in chess, Jeopardy and the ancient game of Go, but it's now come out victorious in yet another arena: the classic game of Foosball. A group of computer engineering students at Brigham Young University have spent the past semester creating a robotic, computer-controlled Foosball table with the goal of beating human players. The table is constructed so that a camera mounted above can track the movement of the ball, while an algorithm controls the rods on which the plastic players are attached.
ODPi, a nonprofit organization accelerating the open ecosystem of big data solutions, announced the first release of the ODPi Runtime Specification and test suite to ensure applications will work across multiple Apache Hadoop® distributions.
Command Query Responsibility Segregation (CQRS) was never meant to be the end goal of what we are trying to achieve, it is a stepping stone towards the ideas of Event sourcing, Greg Young stated in his presentation at the Domain-Driven Design Europe conference earlier this year. He noted though that just applying CQRS is still a valuable pattern.
You've probably heard terms like search, index, mine, extract, and even harvest referring to data collection. We use the term harvest and are frequently asked why we use that term. Watch our second educational video where in less than two minutes we explain why we use the term harvest and how we harvest data from… The post Video: Why We Use the Term Harvest When Talking About Web Data Collection appeared first on BrightPlanet.
A graph database with a quadrillion nodes? Such a monstrous entity is beyond the scope of what technologist are trying to do now. But with the latest release of the Neo4j database from Neo Technology, such a graph is theoretically possible. There is effectively no limit to the sizes of graphs that people can run with Neo4j 3.0, which was announced today, says Neo Vice President of Products Philip Rathle.
We see time and time again that users don't always have the same level of appreciation for or understanding of why we need device management tools.
The challenge of the IoT is finding efficient ways to reach networks. Low-power wide-area networks are an option.
Five simple ways to reinvigorate employees — solutions that not only take up little time, but will lead to a higher-performing workforce.
The European Commission plans to invest a billion euros in quantum computing as part of a larger initiative to strengthen Europe's competitiveness in the digital economy. The investment, about $1.1 billion, will be made through an effort called Quantum Flagship, akin to existing "flagship" projects in the European Union focused on graphene and on the human brain. It is expected to be partly funded by EU research and innovation programs. The aim is "to place Europe at the forefront of the second quantum revolution, bringing transformative advances to science, industry and society," said Nathalie Vandystadt, an EC spokesperson.
Over the last couple of years, Stitch Fix has amassed one of the more impressive data science teams around. The team has grown to 65 people, collaborates with all areas of the business, and has a well-respected data science blog plus several open source contributions.As a member of this team since late 2014, and someone… The post Data Science at Stitch Fix appeared first on Predictive Analytics Times.
Paxata, provider of the Adaptive Data Preparation™ platform for the enterprise, announced the availability of its Spring '16 product release. Paxata's latest release bridges the gap between analysts and IT with new intuitive capabilities, providing connected information to every person in the enterprise without compromising on security, scale, and cost efficiency.
Riverbed SteelConnect can be deployed as a virtual appliance on existing infrastructure or deployed as a physical appliance acquired from Riverbed.
See how Hershey's Brazil implemented IBM Cognos TM1 as the basis of an enterprise planning solution enabling enhanced analysis of sales and customer data to identify key value drivers and increase profit margins. And, get the full, inside story from The Hershey Company at IBM Vision 2016.
When CPL Training Group started providing Web-based training several years ago, the UK company expected strong but steady growth. But when unexpected demand threatened to freeze the relational database serving the application, the company turned to big data tech for solutions. If you work in certain fields in the UK, you're required by law to receive a certification, or a "personal license," that shows you have received a minimum level of training.
Datawire have released their open source Datawire Connect framework, which allows developers to 'resiliently connect microservices' using automatically generated RPC-style client libraries for Java, Python or NodeJS services. The client libraries generated provide service registration and discovery, dynamic load balancing and routing, automated timeouts and circuit breakers.
Teradata on AWS The availability of Teradata's eponymous database on both Amazon's AWS and Microsoft's Azure was announced in late 2015 for availability in Q1 2016. Lo and behold, the Teradata DBMS was duly available via the Amazon Marketplace a few weeks ago, just sqeaking into the promise of beaing available in Q1 2016. Many thanks to Teradata's own Mike Whelan for supplying the URL which yours truly was seemingly unable to find without help. Doh! At the time of writing there there is no sign of Teradata on Azure, but hey-ho, at least Teradata on AWS is available. EC2 Configurations OK, so Teradata is available on AWS so what configurations are available? Well, at least initially, Teradata is only available on AWS as a single node SMP server. Multi-node MPP availability is slated for Q4 2016. Teradata MPP via the public cloud is a bigger challenge than Teradata SMP.
I am both a very frequent (400k+ mileage last year) and demanding (lots of emails to airline CEOs) traveler. As I sit inside an aluminum can at 30,000 feet, I spend time thinking about the customer experience I have as an air traveler and contrasting that experience with what I find in the rest of my life. I think about the way airlines interact with me and see where that pales when compared to the way that other organizations (from e-tailers to technology companies, from traditional retail to insurance organizations) go about their communications. I'm often left unimpressed by the communication of the travel industry generally, and airlines specifically. Given that the bulk of my travel is with my national airline, Air New Zealand, that airline and its CEO, Christopher Luxon, has come in for an arguably unfair amount of criticism.
The transition to hyperconvergence will be gradual and measured, rather than frantic and disruptive.
The best-known graph database has a brand new version, with lots of the maturity associated with a third release.
The number of people who have lost their jobs over the failed mobile effort at Microsoft and Intel is massive.
Last month, SVDS CEO Sanjay Mathur spoke at O'Reilly's conference on engineering leadership, Cultivate, about How to Eat Change for Breakfast. While on site at the event, he spoke with Radar's managing editor, Jenn Webb, about creating an Experimental Enterprise. You can watch their full conversation above. Here are some notable highlights: At 0:21, Sanjay says that the reason we call it an Experimental Enterprise is the importance of adapting based on the information that you have. Data needs to change how you operate, he says, not just get stuck in a report.
Microsoft has recently announced the intention to integrate Linux Bash with Windows 10, making it possible to run native Linux ELF64 binaries on their operating system. To avoid incorrect speculation on how this is possible, Deepu Thomas, the Leader of the Windows Subsystem for Linux team, has provided details on how Linux runs on Windows.
Apple has announced that new watchOS apps submitted after June 1, 2016 must be native apps built with the watchOS 2 SDK or later. Furthermore, Apple has refreshed its review guidelines for the App Store.
Narrative Science, the leader in advanced natural language generation (Advanced NLG) for the enterprise, today announced availability of Narratives for Power BI, a first-of-its-kind extension for the Microsoft Power BI community. The extension, now available for download, allows users to access important insights from their data in the most intuitive, consumable way possible — dynamic, natural language narratives.
by Lixun Zhang, Data Scientist at Microsoft As a data scientist, I have experience with R. Naturally, when I was first exposed to Microsoft R Open (MRO, formerly Revolution R Open) and Microsoft R Server (MRS, formerly Revolution R Enterprise), I wanted to know the answers for 3 questions: What do R, MRO, and MRS have in common? What's new in MRO and MRS compared with R? Why should I use MRO or MRS instead of R? The publicly available information on MRS either describes it at a high level or explains the specific functions and the underlying algorithms. When they compare R, MRO, and MRS, the materials tend to be high level without many details at the functions and packages level, with which data scientists are most familiar.
The latest version of IBM BigInsights offers several value-add services that can be used with its core distribution of open source Hadoop for managing big data.
A MongoDB database filled with the personal information of 93 million Mexican voters was found configured improperly on the Amazon cloud. The incident raises issues of how information is protected in the cloud.
Zscaler's alternative to the VPN takes the IT organization out of the business of remotely configuring and managing remote access infrastructure.
The MapR Hadoop distribution replaces HDFS with its proprietary file system, MapR-FS, which is designed to provide more efficient management of data, reliability and ease of use.
Aerospike, the high-performance NoSQL database company recognized for "speed at scale" leadership and as the NoSQL leader in the digital media and ad tech industries, announced that Manage.com Group Inc. (Manage) has selected Aerospike to power its innovative demand-side platform for mobile advertising. Manage chose Aerospike to support its goals for technology evolution and business growth.
This year, ODSC is growing to bring together 2,500+ of the best and brightest at ODSC East in Boston! There will be 20+ workshops, 10+ training sessions, & 100+ speakers! Not to mention a career fair with top-notch companies ready to hire!
Big data use is only growing, with businesses realizing that their options are to jump on the craze or find themselves in an uphill battle against those utilizing the faster and more accurate information. However, with the next generation of entrepreneurs stepping onto the playing field, they're doing more than just joining the craze — they're innovating it. Rather than simply using the advantages already present, driving big data to grow, they're pushing forward and transforming the way data is accessed and used.
Introduction At Hortonworks we are pleased to announce the inaugural Kafka Summit 2016 to be held in San Francisco on April 26. The inaugural Kafka Summit is a full day conference that brings together the Apache Kafka community. At Hortonworks, since we are committed to delivering data-in-motion and data-at-rest completely in the open, we continue… The post Inaugural Apache Kafka Summit 2016 Kickoff appeared first on Hortonworks.
As the star of NoSQL technology rises over a diverse database landscape, many data scientists are turning to NoSQL in its various implementations to help them accomplish a host of data management tasks. Find the data storage and management solution that's right for you when you begin your NoSQL journey today.
Combining big data with the cloud seems like the perfect technology unity. Despite the many advantages that the cloud offers, many corporations have been slow to make this transition. In fact, according to a Gartner survey from 2014, less than half of all major corporations with big data programs confirm that they're using the cloud.
Visual Studio 2015 Update 2 has brought several new capabilities and improvements to VS2015. One area that has seen improvement is compiling code for .NET Native, yielding better support for generics and an improved backend compiler.
Over the past year our education programme has focussed on nurturing new talent, from sponsoring students to facilitating industry placements and scaling this with Data Talent Scotland. Increasing the pool of talented graduates is great; however, as the use of data to drive insight and decision making becomes increasingly important to many organisations, there is also a need and an opportunity to develop existing talent.
The accelerating pace of global business means that enterprises need more agile data-related systems and practices. Becoming more agile — and succeeding at it — isn't always easy given existing technology investments, constant technological evolution, and lingering cultural obstacles. No matter how agile your company is or isn't now, consider these important points.
Impala 2.5, now shipping in CDH 5.7, brings significant performance improvements and some highly requested features. Impala has proven to be a high-performance analytics query engine since the beginning. Even as an initial production release in 2013, it demonstrated performance 2x faster than a traditional DBMS, and each subsequent release has continued to demonstrate the wide performance gap between Impala's analytic-database architecture and SQL-on-Apache Hadoop alternatives. The post Apache Impala (incubating) in CDH 5.7: 4x Faster for BI Workloads on Apache Hadoop appeared first on Cloudera Engineering Blog.
A simple guide to understanding SQL-on-Hadoop choices When it comes to SQL-on-Hadoop, it is easy to feel overwhelmed with the number of choices available in the ecosystem. However, in reality, choosing the right tool to best help you tackle the job at hand can be simple if you know what you are planning to achieve, which in most cases is typically apparent from your job title or team function. There are three main classes of SQL-on-Hadoop tools available – ETL and Data Preparation Tools, Analytic Databases, and Data Engineering Tools.
News reports report news of Spotify hack — there seem to have been many users' account details leaked on Pastebin. But the Swedish streaming service says all is safe, rather implying it's users are the ones at fault. A Spotify spokesperson claims it proactively resets hacked passwords, but it doesn't appear to have done so this time. Users are also reporting problems working with Spotify to get back into their accounts. What's going on? In IT Blogwatch, bloggers try to get to the bottom of it. Not to mention: David Gilmour's tribute to Prince… Your humble blogwatcher curated these bloggy bits for your entertainment. Are you not entertained?
Dropbox has a futuristic vision for how its users will be able to share massive files and have quick access to them on their computers, without their hard drives overflowing. The cloud storage company announced a new initiative at its Open conference in London on Tuesday called Project Infinite. It's a push to create a new Dropbox interface that allows users to see all of the files they've stored in the cloud in their computer's file explorer without requiring them to keep local copies of each document, image, spreadsheet or other file. With Project Infinite, users will be able to manage their files in the cloud by moving them around inside the Mac OS X Finder or Windows File Explorer, just like they would any local files that are taking up space on their hard drives.
GRC Tuesdays: Return on Investment for Your GRC Program Anyone?
Analysis: Telcos were well represented during the keynotes in Austin.
Hadoop Summit – RetrospectiveAfter the last two special edition episodes where we quickly covered each Summit day in a "same-day" episode, we go over the full event in this episode, highlighting the sessions we enjoyed the most and sharing our general feelings about the 2016 Hadoop Summit in Dublin.
Why is it so Hard? Do you work for a data-driven organization, or one that claims to be a data-driven organization, or one that wants to be a data-driven organization? You probably do, whether you work for a big retailer or a small service provider. Every organization wants to believe that they use information to make decisions in an unbiased manner, although not every organization actually does that. It's definitely not easy getting to be a real data-driven organization. At a minimum, an organization has to address five issues: Funding. Being data-driven is a top-down decision because it must be supported by adequate funding.
I've been working a fair bit in the Healthcare space lately, which got me thinking about how Big Data and Advanced Analytics can be used to improve health outcomes and reduce spending. Before I moved into Data Science, a friend and former colleague of mine had already made the jump into bioinformatics working on cancer genomics, so right from the start it was on my radar. More and more data is being collected each year on medical treatments, drug prescriptions, hospital readmissions and so on. How can we use this ever-increasing deluge of data to improve people's lives?
In this omni channel world, consumers leave clues about their purchasing decisions at every touch point. What data analytics can you leverage to optimize your marketing message and merchandising? Well, it turns out, a lot.
IBM (NYSE: IBM) is making it easier and faster for organizations to access and analyze data in-place on the IBM z Systems mainframe with the new z/OS Platform for Apache Spark. This is creating new opportunities for data scientists and developers to apply advanced analytics to the system's rich data sets for real-time insights.
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Fertility treatments require making major lifestyle changes. So it may come as no surprise that many couples experience various levels of anxiety during fertility treatment. Some couples may find that the treatment regimen, which dramatically alters a couple's day-to-day lifestyle, can cause tensions to mount, and small incidents may cause heated arguments, taking a toll on a relationship.
Other couples experience stress due to the range of emotions that can occur during fertility treatment. Guilt, anger, grief, frustration, confusion and even loss are just some of the common emotions often found among people who experience infertility.
In addition, couples may have a heightened sensitivity to everyday events that remind them of children. For example, hearing a child's laughter, seeing baby clothes in a store window, learning of a friend's pregnancy, or going to a child's birthday party can often trigger a range of difficult emotions.
Once you begin fertility tratments, it is very important that you try to manage your stress. When you and your partner learn to recognize potential stress factors, you will be better equipped to handle the anxiety that accompanies fertility treatment.
While it is healthy for couples to express their emotions during this difficult time, it is best to seek solutions that alleviate as many anxieties as possible. Recognizing your stressors and your partner's stressors can help you avoid letting emotions escalate out of control and improve your chances of conceiving.
There are many ways for couples to alleviate stress during fertility treatment that can also work for life stressors in general. Learn more about alleviating stress.


Recent observations of visible, room-temperature photoluminescence in porous Si have stimulated research aimed at the realization of efficient, Si-based electroluminescent devices. To achieve electroluminescence, it may be beneficial to generate carriers with sufficient energy to populate the states of the quantum-confined Si structures. A viable method to accomplish this is to utilize a wide-band-gap heterojunction injector, such as GaP. Toward that end, we report the successful formation of porous Si buried underneath GaP islands, and we demonstrate that the buried porous Si layer exhibits strong photoluminescence (7000 Å). Applied Physics Letters is copyrighted by The American Institute of Physics.