Apple this morning announced the expansion of its "Everyone Can Code" initiative to 70 educational institutions across Europe, and following the announcement, Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke at Harlow College in Essex, one of the schools that will adopt the new curriculum.
The Guardian shared several of Cook's comments, which covered overuse of technology and boundaries for children.
Cook said he believes there are concepts that can't be taught using technology, and in many courses, technology shouldn't dominate.
Even in computer-aided courses, such as graphic design, technology should not dominate, he said.
According to Cook, Apple cares about children out of the classroom, a topic that's notable as Apple investors recently urged Apple to do more to protect children from smartphone addiction.
Apple in early January said in a statement that it thinks deeply about how its products are used and the impact they have on people, including children. Apple takes its responsibility to protect children "very seriously," and has promised more robust parental controls for iOS devices in the future.
Though he does not have children of his own, Cook says in his own personal life, he "put some boundaries" on his nephew. "There here are some things that I won't allow; I don't want them on a social network," he said.
On the topic of learning to code, Cook spoke passionately, as he has done several times in the past. Learning to code, he says, is more important than learning a foreign language.
Cook said: "I think if you had to make a choice, it's more important to learn coding than a foreign language. I know people who disagree with me on that. But coding is a global language; it's the way you can converse with 7 billion people."
Cook's full commentary, which covers diversity, coding at an early age, and the importance of the press, can be read over at The Guardian.
Is it just me or did the headline got his message wrong?
... says the CEO of a multinational technology company, whose compensation is tied almost entirely to revenue and profit performance.
That's like asking an ExxonMobil exec whether he believes oil use is related to climate change.
Yup. The headline makes it sound as though he believes the exact opposite of what he believes. It's taken out of its context, because in the context it is clear he thinks tech should not be used all of the time.
* How much experience does he have with coding?
* How much experience does he have with living in another country, learning another language, and getting to know another culture?
* Coding is a shallow term and only addresses the most mundane aspect of creating software.
* Coding is a horrible term and does not do right to the complex task of creating software.
* People can't often converse using natural language, why would coding be better?
* There are many programming languages.
I find this an ignorant remark at best.
Agreed. His opinion is clearly that overuse of technology *is* something he believes in and thinks should be avoided.
Learning to code, he says, is more important than learning a foreign language.
Oh how mistaken he is. If I can repeat my young life, learning more foreign languages would be the top things I would do. Simply learning a language like Chinese can take you to far more places than knowing java/phyton. People do business using human language, not codes.
In education, very few things replace written text. All the power to books!
Of course you don't. You don't even get technology.
So when can we expect to see your app, monsieur phony?


text:
Five James Bond Girls at Hollywood Collector Show
By: FSWL team
The Hollywood Show, Inc. presents vendor / exhibitor and celebrity guests shows in Chicago, Illinois and Burbank, California.
2010 represents their 20th year of promoting celebrity guests and movie memorabilia shows.
Annouonced James Bond film related guests for their next event in California include:
• CAROLINE MUNRO - Leggy, brunette-maned pin-up actress Caroline Munro was born in Windsor and lived in Rottingdean near Brighton where she attended a Catholic Convent School. By chance her mother and a photographer entered her picture in a "Face of the Year" competition for the British newspaper The Evening News and won. This led to modeling chores, her first job being for Vogue Magazine at the age of 17. She moved to London to pursue top modeling jobs and became a major cover girl for fashion and TV ads while there.
Decorative bit parts came her way in such films as Casino Royale (1967) and Where's Jack? (1969). One of her many gorgeous photo ads earned her a screen test and a one-year contract at Paramount where she won the role of Richard Widmark's daughter in the comedy/western A Talent for Loving (1969). She met first husband/actor Judd Hamilton filming this movie but they later divorced. Also in 1969 she became the commercial poster girl for "Lamb's Navy Rum," a gig that lasted ten years. She had no lines as Vincent Price's dead wife in The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) and Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972) which, in turn, led to a Hammer Studios contract and such lowbudget spine-tinglers as Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972) and Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter (1974).
More noticeable roles came outside the studio as the slave girl/love interest in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974), the princess in At the Earth's Core (1976) and a lethal Bondian girl in the top-notch The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), one of Roger Moore's best outings in the '007' series. Her voluptuous looks got her Starcrash (1978), Maniac (1980), and Slaughter High (1986).
• GLORIA HENDRY - Gloria's first job was as an assistant to the legal secretary in the New York office of the NAACP. She also became a model around this time and worked at the Playboy Club as a "Bunny." This exposure led to her being cast in her first movie, Hendry began her acting career in the 1968 Sidney Poitier film For Love of Ivy.
She is perhaps best known for portraying the Bond girl, Rosie Carver in the James Bond film Live and Let Die. In that film, she became the first African American woman to become romantically involved with 007. She is not, however, the first African-American Bond girl; that title went to Trina Parks. When the film was first released in South Africa, her love scenes with Roger Moore were cut out because it was prohibited by the Apartheid government.
She later starred in several 1970s blaxploitation films, including the 1973 film Black Caesar and its sequel, the 1974 film Hell Up in Harlem. She also portrayed the martial arts expert, Sydney, in Black Belt Jones.
• LANA WOOD - Svetlana Smedley (born March 1, 1946; as Svetlana Nikolaevna Gurdin), better known as Lana Wood, is an American actress and producer born to Russian emigré parents, Nikolai and Maria Zakharenko.
Lana Wood's parents were Russian, but they grew up far from their homeland: her father lived in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, while her mother grew up in a Chinese province. After her parents were married, they settled in Santa Monica, California, where Lana was born. By this time her parents had legally changed their surname to Gurdin.
Her sister, Natalie Wood, was named after director Sam Wood when Natalie first launched her child acting career. When Lana made her film debut, with sister Natalie in The Searchers (1956), their mother was asked under what last name should Lana be credited, and Maria agreed it would be best if she could be credited as "Wood", like her famous sister.
In 1970, Lana Wood pictures were published in Playboy. The Playboy pictures appeared in the April 1971 issue, along with Wood's poetry. This and many other factors lead to her being cast as bond girl Plenty O'Toole in the 1971 James Bond film:"Diamonds Are Forever." Her character may be brief in the movie, but is beloved by many fans. Two of Lana's scenes as Plenty O'Toole in Diamonds Are Forever were deleted from the final film but are now available on DVD. The first scene is a deleted scene of Lana having dinner with Sean Connery. The second scene took place after Lana was thrown half naked into the pool; she returned to James Bond's apartment, soaking wet, wearing nothing but a white towel and to get the rest of her clothes and see what has become of Bond and sees him making love to Tiffany Case (Jill St. John). Before leaving, an agitated Lana took a card out of Tiffany's purse with her address on it; this second scene accounted for her death later in the film.
Wood had participated in more than 20 other films or television shows through her career, including:"Peyton Place". She retired from acting in 1982, concentrating on her career as a producer. But recently she is an in demand actress in such diverse projects (and upcoming ones) as: "The Book of Ruth: Journey of Faith","War of Heaven","War of Heaven","Renovation","You'll Never Amount to Anything","Wild Michigan", and "Holly, Jingles and Clyde 3D."
She continues to enjoy the process of working in film and television and is blessed with a loving family.
• LUCIANA PALUZZI - Paluzzi's very first film was an uncredited walk-on part in Three Coins in the Fountain (1954). She went on to appear in many movies, most of which were made in her native Italy. In her early films, she is credited as Luciana Paoluzzi.
Even though Paluzzi had an extensive resume before and after her brush with Bond, audiences worldwide still remember her best as the fiery, red-haired villainess she played in Thunderball. Paluzzi originally auditioned for the part of the lead Bond girl, Dominetta "Domino" Palazzi. The producers eventually cast a former Miss France, Claudine Auger, changing the Domino character from an Italian to a Frenchwoman. Initially crestfallen when informed she did not get the part, Paluzzi rejoiced when told her consolatory prize was the part of the "bad girl", Fiona Volpe, which she said was "more fun to play".
In the 1959-1960 season, she appeared with David Hedison in the short-lived espionage television series, Five Fingers, a Martin Manulis Production on NBC. In 1964 she played the villainess in another espionage-based Ian Fleming creation, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. She appeared as the seductive THRUSH agent Angela in the first season episode "The Four Steps Affair" and in the movie version of the show's pilot episode, To Trap a Spy.[1] She was also second female lead in the Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello comedy vehicle Muscle Beach Party (1964). And she made appearances in many American television series.
Years later, Paluzzi admitted that being a Bond girl was a double-edged sword. She was amazed at the level of fame, publicity and recognition she received from Thunderball; but as a result of being in such an outlandish film, she felt she was taken less seriously as an actress when returning to the Italian film industry.
In 1975, Paluzzi acted alongside fellow Bond girl Ursula Andress in The Sensuous Nurse.
• SERENA SCOTT THOMAS - Born in Dorset, England, Serena Scott Thomas has lived across Europe and the US including Ibiza, Barcelona, Paris, Milan and Miami.
Serena turned to acting from a successful career in modeling when she appeared in the BBC production of THE GREEN MAN. Early television credits include the POIROT series and SHE WOLF OF LONDON for HTV. She made her feature film debut in Peter Medaks LET HIM HAVE IT, which was based on a true story.
Thomas transition to U.S. television was as a series regular on the CBS drama NASH BRIDGES followed by a role on BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER; leading to a cult following of the character Gwendolyn Post. Her film career continued with the independent feature RELAX It's JUST SEX and the 19th film in the James Bond series, THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH.
Her recent work has been split between the film and television world with the independent feature HAVEN opposite Stephen Dillaine and Orlando Bloom, HOSTAGE opposite Bruce Willis, THE THIRST opposite Jeremy Sisto, a recurring role on the WB series SUMMERLAND and guest appearances on F/X OVER THERE, and ABC FREDDIE.
Thomassubsequent television credits encompass performances in THE GUILTY, INSPECTOR ALLEYN, HEADHUNTERS and HARNESSING PEACOCKS. She received wide critical and popular praise for her performance in the title role of the mini-series DIANA: HER TRUE STORY. Her other TV credits include BERMUDA GRACE, AFTER ALL, SHERWOOD TRAVELS and the BBC mini-series NOSTROMO. Serena was a regular on the nightly drama, WICKED WICKED GAMES on My Network TV. She also stars as a mysterious recurring arms dealer in the hit CBS drama N.C.I.S.
All event details can be found on the official Hollywood Show website:
hollywoodshow.com
#caroline_munro
#collector_shows
#gloria_hendry
#luciana_paluzzi

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: Float ignora a margem Quero alinhar uma div para a direita, mas que fique com as margens como foram impostas, só que ele as ignora e fica fora da div box. Acho que com essa foto vai dar pra ver melhor

.answer {margin: 20px !important; float: right;}

Vi que estavam faltando muitos códigos para auxiliarem vocês:
O CSS da div "box":
.post{background: #fff; border: 1px solid #f0f0f0; padding: 10px; margin: auto auto 30px auto; width: 500px;}

O CSS desse "perguntas e respostas":
.ask{margin: 0; padding: 0;}
.question{margin: 10px; position: relative; top: -10px;}
.asking{color: #012551; font-weight: bold; text-transform: lowercase;}
.answer {margin: 20px !important; float: right;}
.asking-avatar{border-radius: 100%; margin-left: 10px;}
.answer-avatar{border-radius: 100%; float: right;}

O HTML do "perguntas e respostas"
{block:Answer}

        {Asker}: {Question}

            {Answer}

{/block:Answer}

A: O float faz com que o elemento pai não adapte a altura ao conteudo, para resolver isto é necessário usar clear: both com um elemento no final ou com um pseudo-elemento, um exemplo:

.content {
   border: 1px solid #ccc;
}

.c-l, .c-r {
   border-bottom: 1px solid #ccc;
}

.c-r:last-child {
   border: none;
}

.content img {
    background: #fcfcfc;
    border-radius: 50%;
}

.c-l img {
   margin: 20px;
   float: left;
}
.c-r img {
   margin: 20px;
   float: right;
}

.c-l:after, .c-r:after {
    content: "";
    display: block;
    height: 0;
    clear: both;
}

no caso acima usei pseudo elemento :after, que ajuda a escrever menos HTML, se souber usar "estrategicamente", mas poderia usar um div também, exemplo:

.content {
   border: 1px solid #ccc;
}

.c-l, .c-r {
   border-bottom: 1px solid #ccc;
}

.c-r:last-child {
   border: none;
}

.content img {
    background: #fcfcfc;
    border-radius: 50%;
}

.c-l img {
   margin: 20px;
   float: left;
}
.c-r img {
   margin: 20px;
   float: right;
}

div.clear {
    clear: both;
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Single-serve wine packs portable
These stacked PET containers hold individual servings of wine. Stacks of four are overwrapped. Each container has its own foil seal. (Stacked Wines LLC/Ryan Beck photo)
LOS ANGELES (Nov. 16, 2 p.m. ET) — Drinking wine may never be the same — thanks to Los Angeles inventor Matt Zimmer, who worked with mold maker R&D/Leverage to develop interlocking individual wine jars made of PET.
Stacked Wines LLC. The company name says it all.
Zimmer said the wine industry already was moving toward alternatives to the traditional cork and glass bottle, to things like bag-in-box, aseptic packs, cans and screw caps. "Sometimes, today's on-the-go consumer just wants one glass of wine without opening an entire bottle," he said in a recent phone interview.
The four blow molded, recyclable containers hold a total of 750 milliliters, equal to one bottle.
Zimmer used to work for Niagara Bottling LLC after earning a master's degree in mechanical engineering. He said he became project management director, setting up major capital projects for the California-based bottled-water company.
Zimmer said he thought up the package idea and approached R&D/Leverage in Lee's Summit, Mo. "They kind of took my idea and revised it into something that could be run on a mass-manufacturing line," he said.
Stacked Wines became a series of blow molded PET wine goblets, stacked onto of each other and overwrapped. Each individual serving has a foil seal.
It took R&D/Leverage just three weeks to design the tool.
"Matt came to us with a sketch," said Jeff Beason, project engineer at R&D/Leverage. "It's obvious that he had a well-designed bottle because we just had to tweak it. The plan really stayed intact."
Zimmer said the package uses a medical grade of PET for clarity and design features. The container, with its thick walls and bubble shape, doesn't flex when squeezed. Like a glass jar.
A key challenge was a snap-together feature that involved precise undercuts in the mold. "The real difficult thing with that was, we're trying to get a container that mimics glass, and it's really high clarity, and we have to get these undercuts," Zimmer said.
As of October, Stacked Wines was selling in 400 Southern California stores, and online, retailing for $14.99.


text:
« Another Set of Favorite Roads II, part 2
"The Knowledge" »
August 15, 2012 by Paul Stroble
After writing about Ramsey, IL (and childhood memories) in the previous two posts, let me import these thoughts from my "Journeys Home" blog.
First, let me give full credit to the photographer of these pictures. They were taken by Mr. John Kohlberg, who sells on eBay some of his railroad photographs from many midwestern communities. He took these photos in Ramsey, IL in November 1991. Ramsey is a small village in my native Fayette County, Illinois, north of my hometown Vandalia; my Strobel great-grandparents and four of their ten children are buried in Ramsey (though my grandfather, number eight of the ten, is buried in Vandalia). Mr. Kohlberg's original photos are sharper and better than my scans. I received his permission to post these and so please don't download them yourself.
The photographs depict the Norfolk & Western railroad. He says that originally this was the NKP's Cloverleaf District, St. Lous Division, 4th Subvision from Madison, IL to Charleston, IL, later acquired by the N&W. (The "Nickel Plate Road" was the New York, Chicago, and St. Louis Railroad, reporting mark NKP). The views were taken on the west end of Ramsey, east of the Illinois Central Interlocking Tower, and also from the stairwell of that tower. The line is abandoned.
I like to use eBay to find postcards and antiques related to Fayette County. Mr. Kohlberg's photographs came up for bid as I did a "Ramsey" search. I purchased the photos not because I was familiar with those specific views (and I've not been to Ramsey for several years), but because that my heart was so warmed by them.
I grew up on a residential street traversed by the Illinois Central tracks. The railroad still operated when I was young; it rumbled across Fillmore Street, and sometimes you had to wait a while as it passed. The ICRR crossed Vandalia's main street at a slight angle and sometimes halted downtown traffic as it rolled past the old debot, one of the town's hotels, the grain elevators, and a lumber yard. The Pennsylvania Railroad also passed through Vandalia, but west and east. Those trains rushed through town much more quickly, stopping north-south traffic. I remember so many times when, as a little kid, we'd have to wait at the railroad tracks during a downtown errand, and I'd try to count the passing cars but either lose count or became motion-sick.
My dad was a truck driver who hauled gasoline and fuel oil to places around southern and central Illinois. Over the years he had two places where he parked his truck, one at Fifth and Johnson Streets and the other at Sixth and Main (Main is not Vandalia's primary thoroughfare, in spite of its name, so a large truck parked beside white storage tanks were off the principal section of the downtown). The first place was along the Illinois Central tracks, where a wooden trestle carried Johnson Street above the ICRR tracks, and the second was near the intersection of the PRR and ICRR, where both current and exempt tracks lay across a small, gravel landscape, where tenacious grassy plants nevertheless persevered.
Sometimes I walked to downtown Vandalia along the ICRR. It was a stupid thing to do, but this was the 1960s and early 1970s, long before the headphones and music devices that have tragically contributed to the deaths of people walking along tracks, hit and killed on the trails. My only distraction was my own thoughts, and popular music like The Who'sWho's Next or Jethro Tull's "Locomotive Breath" in my mind. At a young age, when my friends and I played in the park beside the railroad tracks, we wondered if we might find hobos inside box cars that were occasionally parked along the ICRR. We had little idea of what a hobo was, but we imagined he'd be good natured, if ragged, and would befriend us and talk to us about life on the way. (Again, this was the 1960s, when we knew not to talk to strangers, but child abductions and the like weren't in the news as they'd become much later.)
Once downtown—a kid walking on my own in our small, safe town—-I looked into the hazy, summer distance of the PRR tracks, and I sometimes became wistful and curious about the direction my life might take—as much as a young person can form such thoughts. I felt at home in our small town, but the railroads represented the world beyond our town: places to which to travel, the unknown to face as it came. The railroads also represented to me a kind of passing world because, although I'd no knowledge of the state of railroad business in America, I knew that passenger trains no longer stopped at Vandalia, and in fact such service had ceased when I was four or five years old. Vandalia had four or five hotels, though I only knew of the two that still operated as such; another had been converted to the First National Bank, and two others had long since become local businesses. I had a very basic idea that Vandalia's hotels had once been busy, necessary places for travelers, salesmen, and the like who rode the trains. Vandalia had several bars and package stores. "Package" sounded like such a nice word, a word we used at Christmas. And although my parents didn't drink, I eventually became nostalgic for old beer signs for Stag, Falstaff, Miller Hi-Life, and others. Somehow I associated these familiar beer signs with the railroad, not logically, but I suppose because of the ICRR to the business district. A lot of hometown landscapes and features became sentimentally mixed in my mind.
My parents and I would drive to other small towns in the area, visiting relatives, or shopping for antiques in small shops along U.S. 51 or U.S. 40 or the more distant U.S. 50. These towns, too, had railroads. Bored while visiting relatives, I might play in the yard and see the nearby railroad tracks, the lines that accompanied it, the untidy landscape that also followed the tracks along their course. As we traveled, I might see a rusty storage tank beside the tracks, or a railroad tower, or we might pass over a very bumpy railroad crossing, marked with the familiar Railroad Crossing "crossbucks" sign. (The really old railroad signs were "sawbucks" and cast iron. There were examples of those at a gasoline storage area just west of nearby Effingham, IL, and I thought they seemed so old upon the landscape, where old U.S. 40 and its motels, corn fields, and farmhouses paralleled the PRR.)
Once I grew up and no longer traveled with my parents, I still loved to pass through small towns and reflect upon their landscapes. Of course, I enjoyed railroad landscapes, and although I'm not a railroad buff as such I appreciate the history and become deeply nostalgic when I see a trains passing through a small town, or abandoned tracks crossing a village road and very old sidewalks, or storage tanks and towers, or tracks that pass by someone's old small house, with its yard and clothesline and "stuff."
Thus, Mr. Kohlberg's photographs filled me with nostalgia, though I wasn't familiar with those particular scenes in the village where my family once lived. But they're familiar in that sense that I knew these kinds of landscapes from a young age. They're typical of my small town Illinois "home places. "
I wonder: what everyday landscapes move you deeply, even though they may be very plain and, to some people, unattractive? One of my best friends, for instance, is cheered by the urban landscapes of Queens. Another loves the hilly vistas of small town Pennsylvania, where old homes perch on steep hills or stand along the very street. What sights and topographies would remain dear to your thoughts when, as Annie Dillard writes in her memoir, everything else in your mind is fading away, because you so love them?
Posted in Highways and Travel | Leave a Comment


text:
Q: $\pm A$ is sectorial implies it is bounded The question is as follows: suppose $(A,D(A))$ is a sectorial operator on a Banach space $X$ such that $-A$ is sectorial as well, prove that $A$ must be bounded.
Since I've found there are many more or less equivalent conventions on sectoriality I'll state the one I'm more familiar with:
$A$ is sectorial if the sector
$\Sigma(\omega,\theta):=\left\{ z\in\mathbb{C}| \;\;|\arg(\omega-z)|<\theta\right\}$
is contained in the resolvent set $\rho(A)$, where $\omega\in\mathbb{R}$ and $\theta\in\left(\frac {\pi}2,\pi\right)$ and
$\forall z\in\Sigma(\omega,\theta)\;\;\; ||R(z,A)||\leq M|z|^{-1},$
for some positive constant $M$.
It is straightforward to show that if $\pm A$ is sectorial then the spectrum $\sigma(A)$ is bounded. Now, I have two strategies in my mind that I cannot conclude:

*

*Showing that the generated Analytic Semigroup is actually Uniformly Continuous, since I know that then such semigroup is of the form $e^{tA}$, for bounded $A$ and since the generator is unique we can conclude. It may help to use the fact that, if we call $T(t)$ the generated semigroup, we now that

$$\forall x\in X\;\;\; A\int_0^s T(s)xds=T(t)x-x,$$
since showing uniform continuity amounts to show that $||T(t)-I|| \rightarrow 0^+$ in the operator norm, however this puts me in a vicious cycle since what we need is precisely a bound on the norm of $A$.

*Another property I've seen is that the image of $T(t)$ is contained in $D(A)$, thus if we show that $T(t)$ is surjective (in particular invertible) we can conclude immediately. Now, in the context of $C_0$-semigroups I would simply note that $A$ actually generates a group, i.e. $-A$ generates the semigroup $T(-t)=T(t)^{-1}$ but, after doing some research, I was surprised to not found a single piece of literature on "Analytic Groups of Operators". This makes me think that this approach won't work, at least not that straight-forwardly, to show that $T(t)$ is invertible (which it must be, since a uniform semigroup is actually a group of operators).

Do you have any idea on how to conclude one of this approaches? A new approach would of course be welcome too!

A: Let $(S_t)$ and $(T_t)$ be the semigroups generated by $A$ and $-A$, respectively. As both of them are analytic, they map $X$ into $D(A)$ for $t>0$ and commute with $A$. If $\xi\in X$, then
$$
\frac{d}{dt}S_tT_t\xi=AS_t T_t\xi-S_tAT_t\xi=0
$$
for $t>0$. Thus $S_tT_t=\mathrm{id}_X$. The proof of $T_t S_t=\mathrm{id}_X$ is analogous. Thus $S_t$ is invertible for every $t>0$. Since $S_t(X)\subset D(A)$, this implies $D(A)=X$. By the closed graph theorem, $A$ must hence be bounded.


Estate agents, like most businesses, have found their ability to organically reach new and existing clients on Facebook has diminished. There have been a number of major algorithms on the popular social media platform, and it has left many professionals unsure of how they can best reach their audience.
In early 2018, Facebook announced that they were placing greater importance on engagement between family and friends, and less with businesses. The organisation was dealing with a few scandals which meant that many people had lost trust in the platform. This move was undertaken to improve confidence in users, but it harmed many businesses.
Cynical people would also suggest that this move meant that firms looking to reach people had to pay for the privilege through Facebook Ads. There is still a lot to be said for investing in social media adverts but throughout the rest of 2018 and into early 2019, there have been viable ways for a business to reach their audience.
As an estate agent, it is likely you are focused on reaching a local audience, and this provides you with a fantastic opportunity to utilise Facebook. This is because Facebook is favouring local content. The algorithms employed by Facebook are keen to support business content that is relevant and of value to users, and Facebook believes that local content which provides information to people is of greater importance than other forms of business posts.
This is the sort of content that is more likely to be shared by users with their friends and family. Local news stories or promotions relating to their area or their everyday life engage people, and Facebook is keen for users to engage each other as often as they can on the platform.
Therefore, estate agents who have a local presence should look to increase their localised posts. There are many ways you can offer relevant local news or posts while still promoting your business. If you can position yourself as an estate agent that has local knowledge and provides content that people in your area want to see, the algorithms will give your content a helping hand.
Another area where Facebook is prioritising content is video, particularly live video. Recent reviews of Facebook suggest that Facebook Live content has six times the level of interaction that has been pre-filmed, so if you are looking to engage your audience, create live video content that talks about your local area.
Of course, there will always be a time and a place for engaging written content. You will find that engagement-baiting posts, which asked people for comments or likes and shares are not as popular with the algorithms as they used to be but if you create content that starts a conversation, Facebook will ensure that more people see it.
It is understandable that many estate agents have been left exasperated at Facebook changes and the impact on their business. However, with a local focus, you can reach your audience while showcasing your strengths. If you need assistance in reaching your audience, contact Agent Media and we will do what we can to support you.


text:
The Bus to Hornby
King Rich, by Joe Bennett (Harper-Collins/Fourth Estate, 2015), 290 pp., $36.99
According to a publisher's flyer, a mate in a pub told Joe Bennett that, after Christchurch's big shake in 2011, thermal imaging detected somebody living in a condemned luxury hotel in the central city's red zone. 'Who could such a person possibly be?' thought Bennett, and the idea for his first novel King Rich developed from there.
The guy hiding in the condemned hotel is Richard Hugh Jones, referred to throughout as Rich, aged about 60, sick and derelict. Even given the city's confusion after the earthquake, why has nobody missed him? Because the wife he divorced over twenty years earlier lives in Blenheim, she has had no contact with him since the divorce, and she isn't in the least interested in him. And because his sole daughter Annie lives in faraway London and hasn't seen her father since she was a small child. But once she hears about the earthquake, Annie feels it's her duty to come back to Christchurch and catch up with the old man. The trouble is, nobody knows where he is. All the people she contacts lost touch with Rich years previously.
So here's shaggy Rich subsisting, undetected, in the big abandoned hotel that is scheduled for demolition (my non-Christchurch mind at once conjures up TV images of the Hotel Grand Chancellor, which I think was Bennett's intention). And there's his daughter Annie, teamed up with her nursing mate Jess, doggedly searching for him, piecing together his life and all the things she has never known about him. The chapters concerning Rich are written in the immediate present tense. The chapters concerning Annie are written in the narrative past tense.
This sort of set-up could develop in a number of ways: eccentric adventure, documentary or family psychodrama. Bennett tries for all three.
Of course, Rich's experience is eccentric adventure. Dodging police and soldiers and the prying eyes of helicopters in the red zone are part of it. But so is that daydream we've all had of raiding with impunity the alcohol cabinets of a big hotel, wallowing in its beds and luxury suites and enjoying, for free, things that only big money can usually buy. When Rich adopts an abandoned dog, which becomes his devoted companion, he names it Friday. Just in case you don't get the allusion, we are considerately told late in the piece that Rich used to enjoy having Robinson Crusoe read to him. This is man-alone adventure, predicated on the man-alone's ingenuity in surviving. Such adventure is tempered by the fact that Rich is virtually an alcoholic and certainly a severely sick old man with body wounds and an aching gut. The adventure is painful.
The documentary aspect is inevitable. As Annie searches, she observes such post-'quake Christchurch scenes as landscape changing 'from workable suburban affluence to something post-apocalyptic … downed bridges, ruptured drains and shattered roads … Streets lined with bulldozed heaps of grey and sodden silt. Crudely painted notices [begging] drivers to slow down, or [urging] rubber-neckers to go elsewhere.'
Annie also encounters a cross-section of society. There is the bereft and broken old woman in a modest suburb, who was Annie's childhood neighbour but is now helpless in a wrecked home. At the other end of the Christchurch social scale, there is the city's moneyed aristocracy: the suave, Christ's College-educated old toff who owns a block of flats and can call on associates in the business world to thwart Annie's search while pretending to help her.
And what of the unfolding family psychodrama? As I have done before, I plead the case that it is unmannerly for reviewers to spike the intended surprises of newly published novels. Without providing such spoilers, I can say that from quite early in the novel, the alert reader will have a fair idea of what dire, hidden things Annie is going to discover about her dad. To be precise, there's a big hint on page 68 of this 290-page novel. I think it is Bennett's intention to suggest that Rich has become the derelict and outcast that he is because of the treatment given to the subgroup to which he belongs. As social commentary, this might have been mildly daring forty or so years ago. By the early twenty-first century it had become a very common theme and therefore does not now carry the surprise or shock value the author might have intended. Enough said on this aspect of the novel.
King Rich is written with brisk efficiency and holds up very well as pure yarn. The female Telemachus searching for her Ulysses makes for that sturdy 'quest' narrative line, tried and true since antiquity. Or could she be the reporter searching for the 'Rosebud' of Kane? Joe Bennett garnishes it with suspense elements. What's going to happen to Rich when the hotel gets demolished? Will Annie or won't Annie marry the boyfriend she left in England, who proposed to her on her last night in London?
But the potholes in this well-constructed road knock us about a bit too.
Annie, the observer who has not seen Christchurch for years, becomes our eyes as she discovers the effects of the earthquake and makes judgments on the city and its people. Fair enough. But Annie's voice is often indistinguishable from the novelist's. When Annie meets her bereft childhood neighbour we are told:
How many more Mrs Yeats were there in the city, Annie wondered, as the bus to Hornby battled the broken roads, old people who had been discarded? Only in the wealthy Western world could such a thing happen. For the first time in the history of the species the old had become encumbrances. We neglected them, segregated them in walled villages of their own kind with minders to look after them, benign concentration camps, leaving to the young the actual world beyond the walls.
Is most of this paragraph really the voice of Annie, or is it the voice of Joe Bennett, columnist and satirist, recycling a discarded opinion-piece? Later in the novel, the old republican in me agrees with the sardonic and disenchanted way Annie views the big jamboree and memorial service, starring Prince William, which is held in Hagley Park. But again, isn't this really Bennett the satirist letting rip, rather than Annie? As often as this sort of thing happens, so often does Annie become a cipher and a mouthpiece, rather than a believable individual person.
There are other problems with voice in this novel. As a shortcut to delineating character, Bennett sometimes invents long, self-revelatory set-piece speeches. Annie's boyfriend Paul gets four pages to outline his views on love, marriage and having children, in order to set up Annie's dilemma about whether she will marry him or not. More unavoidable, I suppose, is the whole chapter (chapter 13) in which Rich's old schoolmate Vince fills Annie in on his schoolboy intimacies. If your main character is going to interview a lot of leads, I guess this sort of scene has to happen. More distracting than this, though, is the artificiality of some voices. The old toff is given a super-refined idiom, which is more caricature than credible. When Annie's mother eventually turns up, very late in the novel, she speaks like a stage version of an uptight, scorned and puritanical woman. I don't believe the voice of either of them.
I enjoyed King Rich as yarn, and sometimes as social commentary, but not as profound revelation of character. It is well planned, but in execution its style is filled with liquefaction, potholes and broken bridges. A bit like the city it describes.
NICHOLAS REID is an Auckland poet, historian, teacher and biographer, and he runs the weekly book blog Reid's Reader.


Remembrance Day: Does a Call Center Close it's Lines?
Remembrance Day: Does a Call Center Close it's Lines?
The Question: Does a 24/7 inbound call center shut down it's lines for a moment of silence?
A few days ago I was speaking to a woman in line while waiting my morning coffee, ( Sad to admit, we're both caffeine dependent…we see each other often.) Small talk turned to our careers. Which in turn prompted her to ask a question.
Do you or even can you, close the lines for a moment of silence?
There are a lot of things as a 24/7 call center that we cannot control. Sudden weather changes, who is going to call, and other external forces that prompt us to have to react.
But one thing we can control is how many calls come into our Virtual Receptionists and who they go to.
We can also tell them to turn off for two minutes while we observe the moment of silence.
I know some of you may be wondering why we are telling the world that we literally ignore calls for 2 minutes. How can we promise such high service levels, and then talk about leaving calls in limbo?
But here's the thing every November 11th, from about 10:55 until 11:05 AnswerPlus receives very few calls.
The world is silent and we remember.
And if I'm being honest even if we were extremely busy. AnswerPlus will never keep it's lines open during the moment of silence.


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Former Sutton Bridge Crop Storage Research expert starts support service for potato storage
By Pete Woodhouse
A key member of the former Sutton Bridge Crop Storage Research (CSR) facility has taken root with a new support service for the potato storage sector.
After the closure of the world-renowned Sutton Bridge CSR facility last week, following the loss of the potato levy ballot in March and subsequent announcement of AHDB Potatoes' demise in September, former head of site Adrian Cunnington has moved swiftly to plug the advisory gap for the potato storage industry.
He has set up Potato Storage Insight Ltd, an independent advisory and support service for the potato storage sector.
Adrian Cunnington.
Although the loss of research activity at Sutton Bridge will take longer to rectify, PSI will be providing technical advice and best practice guidance across the industry.
He has more than 35 years' experience working on potato storage issues and will be introducing a storage bulletin subscription, discussion groups and store management training courses.
His first training course is planned for March 15/16 at Retford, Nottinghamshire and he is offering a discount for early-bird bookings made before January 24.
Mr Cunnington said: "Providing support to the industry through skills enhancement is a very important role that PSI is hoping to fulfil.
"It is crucial to ensure that knowledge is passed on to younger generations of farmers and managers to enable them to store crops as well as they can.
"Potato storage can prove very costly if it isn't done right and understanding the risks to make sure that returns are earned year on year is a key requirement for any potato production enterprise looking to deliver from store."
Business Pete Woodhouse


aid entirely by Indians through taxes, especially on farmland and on salt. The large, well-trained Indian Army played major roles in both World Wars; the rest of the time it trained to fight off a possible Russian invasion through Afghanistan. The great majority of the Indian people were very poor farmers; economic growth at 1% a year was neutralized by population growth of 1%. Geographical extent The British raja extended over almost all present-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, with exceptions such as Goa and Pondicherry. In addition, at various times, it included Aden (from 1858 to 1937), Lower Burma (from 1858 to 1937), Upper Burma (from 1886 to 1937), British Somaliland (briefly from 1884 to 1898), and Singapore (briefly from 1858 to 1867). Burma was separated from India and directly administered by the British Crown from 1937 until its independence in 1948. The Trucial States of the Persian Gulf were theoretically princely states of British India until 1946 and used the rupee as their unit of currency. Among other countries in the region, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) was ceded to Britain in 1802 under the Treaty of Amiens. Ceylon was a British crown colony but not part of British India. The kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan, having fought wars with the British, subsequently signed treaties with them and were recognised by the British as independent states. The Kingdom of Sikkim was established as a princely state after the Anglo-Sikkimese Treaty of 1861; however, the issue of sovereignty was left undefined. The Maldive Islands were a British protectorate from 1887 to 1965 but not part of British India.


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Alexandra Chrysostomou
Nottingham Street Food
Kojey Radical and MJ Cole's 'Soak It Up' video is all about dealing with loss
MJ Cole and Kojey Radical have dropped the video for 'Soak It Up.' Kojey's soulful vocals over Cole's piano chords are combined with poignant shots of a grieving family, tying in with the track's theme of loss. The video also features a hard-hitting solo dance, as Kojey's bars describe the grief of losing someone close to you.
Moga Festival is returning to Game Of Thrones location The Red City
Moga Festival has announced its return to the filming location of 'The Red City' in Game of Thrones, for three days of electronic music and digital arts. The UNESCO world heritage site will play host to a number of underground artists, including Jilaa, Agoria and native artists Amine Dhobb and Achil.
MUZI explores African space travel in colourful video for 'Zulu Skywalker'
South African artist MUZI has dropped the animated video for his new single 'Zulu Skywalker.' The sunny cartoon shows a young African girl travelling to space in a rocket, said to be inspired by his niece. "My niece loves cartoons but there are rarely any cartoons that look like her, hence this video.
Printworks London promises "world class production" with its audio upgrade
Printworks London has announced plans to run another season of live music for autumn and winter, including more than 25 dates. The Surrey Quays event space has also revealed new technology from dbnAudile, which promises "world class production." This builds on the "audiophile-grade sound quality and next-level bass performance" made possible through moving rig technology and a J and V-series soundsystem.
Top 10 Doughnotts
Gucci to hold its SS19 runway show at Théâtre Le Palace in Paris
Gucci's SS19 collection will debut at the famous Théâtre Le Palace in Paris on September 24. The venue has been heralded as "Paris' answer to Studio 54," and is known for its reputation as a discotheque during the 1970s.
University of Nottingham's Official Music Magazine
Dusky at The Brickworks - University of Nottingham's Official Music Magazine
It was the most packed I had ever seen The Brickworks, the atmosphere inside was electric, and the strobe lighting was in full force, which could only mean that Dusky had finally arrived in Nottingham.
Madhouse to release 25th anniversary album mixed by Kerri Chandler
Madhouse will be releasing a 25-year anniversary album in September mixed by co-founder, Kerri Chandler. '25 Years Of Madhouse' will comprise of an individual track digital and CD album, a continuous DJ mix from Kerri himself and an eight-track vinyl sampler.
Flohio's new video 'Watchout' is set in dystopian London
Flohio has dropped a striking new visual for the single 'Watchout,' directed by Stella Scott. Dressed in white and armed with a Rottweiler, Flohio cuts an authoritative figure through a grainy lens, reminiscent of security footage, alluding to the dangers of surveillance in the future.


The global mobile virtual network operator market is estimated to be valued at $61.7 billion in 2018 and is forecasted to witness a CAGR of 9.7% during 2018–2023. MVNOs focus largely on customer, community, and value-added services. Technical flexibility can be viewed as a major factor driving the market growth during the forecast period. Although the growth in the number of new telecom subscribers is expected to slow down considerably during the forecast period, owing to the maturing telecom market in developed countries, the rising demand for mobile internet in developing countries is expected to provide significant growth opportunities to market players.
Based on type, the mobile virtual network operator market has been categorized into discount, telecom, media/entertainment, business, retail, migrant, cellular M2M, and roaming. Among these, the discount category is estimated to have contributed the largest revenue to the market in 2018. During the forecast period, the market for roaming category is projected to grow at the fastest pace, as MVNOs in several countries are taking new initiatives, such as comprehensive roaming tariffs, to encourage people to travel more frequently, which, in turn, will increase the demand for roaming offers.
On the basis of category, the market has been classified into prepaid and postpaid MVNOs. The postpaid category is estimated to have garnered a larger share in the market in 2018. During the forecast period, the trend is projected to reverse, as prepaid MVNO revenue is anticipated to surpass that of postpaid MVNO by 2022. This is because of the growing mobile penetration in developing countries of Asia-Pacific, Africa, and Latin America, where prepaid schemes like pay-as-you-use are more preferred over postpaid schemes, which carry fixed monthly rentals, irrespective of the usage.
The MVNO business model is evolving, with changes in the industry dynamics and the regulatory environment. Players in the market are shifting from discount-based approach to a more value-based approach. The balance between cost and product differentiation is expected to have a high impact on the business model during the forecast period.
North America is one of the most developed mobile virtual network operator markets in the world, second only to Europe in the total number of subscribers. In Western Europe, MVNOs are encouraged and supported by telecom regulatory bodies. During the historical period, Western Europe witnessed the highest MVNO penetration among all the regions. The success of MVNOs in Western Europe has led to an increase in the level of competition among telecom operators, resulting in reduced prices of telecom services in the region.
In recent years, competition in the mobile virtual network operator market has shifted from pricing to value-added services and product differentiation, owing to the dominance of mobile network operators (MNOs) in the low-cost cellular services market in both developed and developing countries. Moreover, collaborations between MNOs and MVNOs have strengthened in recent years. Stiff competition among MNOs has led to the underutilization of a large portion of the spectrum. Hence, MNOs with below par growth rate are looking for MVNO partners for optimum utilization of their resources.
Although traditional full MVNOs are expected to account for majority of the market revenue in 2018, new players are entering the market, with focus on value-added services, to gain traction. Banks, smartphone vendors, supermarkets, and media companies have entered the market with new business models. These new players are giving stiff competition to the existing players in terms of cost differentiation. As a result, traditional players in the market have started focusing on value-added services, such as managed services, internet protocol private branch exchange (IP PBX), and business solutions, instead of price differentiation.
Segment-targeted pricing and innovative marketing strategies such as use of social media are the key factors driving the mobile virtual network operator market in developed countries of Western Europe and North America. The growth of triple-play and quadruple-play services is expected to be a major driver for the African market during the forecast period. The growth of the MVNO industry largely depends on the limitations of MNOs in terms of their marketing and distribution strategies. Successful MVNOs make optimum utilization of the existing marketing assets, such as media and telecom, channel infrastructure, and customer database of MNOs, further driving mobile virtual network operator market growth.
MVNOs differentiate themselves from MNOs in terms of pricing and user experience, by offering low-cost and easy alternatives. The effective partnership between MNOs and MVNOs is expected to have a high impact on price sensitivity in the telecom market. Several new MVNOs with specific target audience are planning to enter developing countries, where the market is in its embryonic stage. However, high price sensitivity along with lower average revenue per user (ARPU) is acting as a roadblock to the growth of mobile virtual network operator market.
Developing countries are proving to be huge potential markets for the MVNO industry. In 2014, China opened its telecom market for MVNOs. With a telecom subscriber base of more than one billion, China continues to provide ample growth opportunities to the players in the market. Likewise, in India, the opening up of the Indian telecom market for MVNOs is expected to provide growth opportunities to the players.
The overall intensity of rivalry in the mobile virtual network operator market is medium. Competition in mature markets of North America and Europe is high in the industry. While, competition is relatively low in Asia-Pacific and Africa due to large amount of unutilized mobile spectrum and limited players in the region. Some of the major companies operating in the global mobile virtual network operator market are AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc., T-Mobile AG, CITIC Telecom International Holding Limited, Truphone Limited, Telefonica S.A., Virgin Mobile, Tracfone Wireless Inc., Lycamobile Group, Red Pocket, Inc., America Movil S.A.B. de C.V. and Sierra Wireless, Inc.


Summer is coming up and Lexus has just made it in enough time to reveal their new roadster the LF-A. The Lexus LF-A is probably one of the most hottest cars that I've seen out in a long time but I'm not pretty sure if it's worth the money.
Lexus has said the first number of the car's price will be a "2," and Inside Line has word that the car might run $225,000. That is more than either a Gallardo or an F430 Spider, including European delivery and two weeks of vacation in Via Reggio. The LF-A convertible will cost even more.


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One of the highlights of each Annual Conference is the celebration of remarkable accomplishments across the equal justice community. In 2015, six individuals and one organization received awards during two separate ceremonies.
The Award for Justice through Philanthropy recognizes that achieving justice is not the responsibility of the legal profession alone and honors the contributions of a member of the philanthropic community to this cause.
Dr. Gail Christopher, Vice President for Policy and Senior Advisor, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
The Champion of Justice Award honors a member of the equal justice community whose career has brought about significant expansion of access to justice.
Esther F. Lardent, President & CEO, Pro Bono Institute
The Charles Dorsey Award honors an individual who has provided extraordinary and dedicated service to the equal justice community and to organizations that promote improving access to justice for low-income people.
Linda Rexer, Executive Director, Michigan State Bar Foundation
The Reginald Heber Smith Award recognizes the dedicated service and outstanding achievements of a civil legal aid or indigent defense attorney while employed by an organization supporting such services.
Steve Gottlieb, Executive Director, Atlanta Legal Aid
The Mary Ellen Hamilton Award honors a legal services client or low-income community leader who has provided extraordinary service or support to the delivery of legal assistance to low-income people.
Charlie Morris, Former Board Member, Memphis Area Legal Services
The New Leaders in Advocacy Award honors rising attorneys who exhibit extraordinary leadership early in their careers as civil legal aid or indigent defense advocates.
Todd L. Belcore, Adjunct Professor, Northwestern University School of Law
The Clara Shortridge Foltz Award commends a public defender program or public defense delivery system for outstanding achievement in the provision of services to indigent defendants.
Orleans Public Defender Office, Louisiana
Agenda/Workshops


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The back of the artwork
Utopia, 2018
Georges Rousse
Fine Art Drawings : watercolour 42 x 52 x 4 cm 16.5 x 20.5 x 1.6 inch
Georges Rousse is a visual artist of fantasized space. The encounter with an abandoned place is the starting point of his creative act. Ruin, this fertile ground for poetry, is questioned by light and then by a simple form. To succeed in creating the dimensions and scales that reveal the space, the artist sketches preparatory drawings where his forms run along the walls, floors and ceilings. "I visit a building. At a certain place, I stop because I perceive in space things that interest me. I see the light. I often look for the impact of light on architecture. I observe the complexity of the volumes in the place » His sketching work allows him to understand the place, the spatial support of the work, which he does not refrain from modifying or altering. But, it also allows him to perceive his photographic cliché in the making. Finally, comes photography, which freezes the place in the work, this space which continues its evolution, its degradation, its poetry. "When I make a work I take a photo of it, I would like to stop before and stay in the transformation of the place. It would be a gratuitous artistic act. »
GALERIE GAÏA • NANTES, France
Fine Art Drawings: watercolour
42 x 52 x 4 cm 16.5 x 20.5 x 1.6 inch
Fine Art Drawings on Canson paper
Unique work
Hand-signed by artist
Collecting Drawings
A short glossary of fine art drawing
Our advice for framing drawings
The artwork is available for pickup from the gallery in NANTES, France or can be delivered to the address of your choice less than a week after validation of your order. The work is insured during transport, so it's risk-free.
Origin: France Find out more about delivery
Blanc Mesnil
Bomdok
Photography - 24 x 29.9 inch
Chateau des Alpilles
Le Pavillon de la Muette #2
Fine Art Drawings - 22.4 x 29.9 x 1.6 inch
Nantes #2
Draughtsmen Artists
Georges Rousse was born in 1947 in Paris, which is where he currently lives and works. While still a medical student, Georges Rousse decided to fully devote himself to photography. After having explored the diverse forms of the medium –in particular architectural photography— his passion pushed him towards an artistic practice in the footsteps of the great American Masters: Stieglitz, Weston, and Adams. Drawing inspiration from Land Art to intervene in the photographic field and Malevich's "Black Square" to manipulate space with painting, Rousse's evocative work has remained in the contemporary photographic landscape since the beginning of the 1980s. He has not stopped since.
In a new manner, Georges Rousse assembles painting, sculpture, and architecture with photography in order to transform real places – most often those destined to be destroyed. For several days, he checks into empty buildings, choosing spaces for their architectonic qualities and lighting, and transforms them into an another space, a fictional, utopian space, depending on his artistic preoccupations, his imagination, as well as his relations to the country and its literature and culture.
Unfolding, shattering into the physical space, the forms that Rousse paints, draws, and builds reconstruct themselves into exact and legible images when regarded from a specific point of view: the point which renders the large-scale photographs that he displays. In creating a new space, a fusion of existing and fictive space, these enigmatic pieces upturn our beliefs and perceptual habits. However, they go beyond simple optical illusions. For Rousse, the process of creating such a work is a metaphysical experience. Through his lens, he projects his world view, his imaginary space into that which already exists. Here, the camera allows for the artist's dream to materialize and invites us to discover "another time and another space." The photographic image is at once a memory of place, of its history, and its transformation by the artist.
More works from GALERIE GAÏA
Piscine Végétation
Marie Vandooren
Corail orangé et bleu
Valérie Le Roux
Jean-François Mollière
Buste (1)
Kazy Usclef
Fine Art Drawings - 24.8 x 31.5 inch
117 RI
Edwin Wide Donnart
Painting - 37.4 x 29.5 inch
Brigneau 3
Job Peinture
Keniros (1)
Pierre Tual
Crush of the Month: December


Abstract: This study presents a case of severe water intoxication in a female patient with delusional infestation. Self-induced excessive water ingestion is a rare medical condition, which has not been reported in patients with delusional infestation yet. The patient in this case study was a 60-year-old Chinese woman, who was admitted to our hospital because of a feeling of skin infestation. She suffered from loss of consciousness and generalized tonic–clonic seizure after drinking 12 L of water during bowel cleansing before colonoscopy. Sufficient laboratory and imaging examinations were performed to exclude other possible causes of severe hyponatremia, such as hypothyroidism, diabetes insipidus, and syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone. Besides, the cystic lesion in the posterior pituitary revealed by cranial magnetic resonance imaging was not accountable for her delusional symptoms as well as excessive drinking behavior. Her delusional symptoms were in complete remission with a combination of risperidone and aripiprazole. However, nearly 3 months after discharge, this patient suffered from depressed mood and was diagnosed with depressive syndrome, and even attempted suicide. This case highlights the possibility of self-induced water intoxication in patients with delusional infestation, inevitably adding to the complexity of the disease, and indicates the necessity of precautions for secondary psychotic or mood problems after symptomatological remission.


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Here Are All the Reasons People Avoid Having Sex
And what to do about them, because sex is awesome.
The 40-Year-Old Virgin
By Shervin Assari, University of Michigan
Sex has a strong influence on many aspects of well-being: it is one of our most basic physiological needs. Sex feeds our identity and is a core element of our social life.
But millions of people spend at least some of their adulthood not having sex. This sexual avoidance can result in emotional distress, shame and low self-esteem – both for the individual who avoids sex and for the partner who is rejected.
Yet while our society focuses a lot on having sex, we do not know as much about not having it.
As a researcher of human behavior who is fascinated by how sex and gender interact, I have found that sexual avoidance influences multiple aspects of our well-being. I also have found that people avoid sex for many different reasons, some of which can be easily addressed.
The More Sex the Merrier?
People who have more sex report higher self-esteem, life satisfaction and quality of life. In contrast, lower frequency of sex and avoiding sex are linked to psychological distress, anxiety, depression and relationship problems.
In his landmark work, Alfred Kinsey found that up to 19 percent of adults do not engage in sex. This varies by gender and marriage status, with nearly no married males going without sex for a long duration.
Other research also confirms that women more commonly avoid sex than men. In fact, up to 40 percent of women avoid sex some time in their lives. Pain during sex and low libido are big issues.
The gender differences start early. More teenage females than teenage males abstain from sex.
Women also are more likely to avoid sex because of childhood sexual abuse. Pregnant women fear miscarriage or harming the fetus – and can also refuse sex because of lack of interest and fatigue.
The most common reasons for men avoiding sex are erectile dysfunction, chronic medical conditions and lack of opportunity.
Medical Problems Top the List
For both men and women, however, our research and the work of others have shown that medical problems are the main reasons for sex avoidance.
For example, heart disease patients often avoid sex because they are afraid of a heart attack. Other research has shown the same for individuals with cerebrovascular conditions, such as a stroke.
Chronic pain diminishes the pleasure of the sexual act and directly interferes by limiting positions. The depression and stress it causes can get in the way, as can certain medications for chronic pain.
Metabolic conditions such as diabetes and obesity reduce sexual activity. In fact, diabetes hastens sexual decline in men by as much as 15 years. Large body mass and poor body image ruin intimacy, which is core to the opportunity for having sex.
Personality disorders, addiction and substance abuse and poor sleep quality all play major roles in sexual interest and abilities.
Many medications, such as antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs, reduce libido and sexual activity, and, as a result, increase the risk of sexual avoidance.
Finally, low levels of testosterone for men and low levels of dopamine and serotonin in men and women can play a role.
Social and Emotional Factors — and Consequences
For both genders, loneliness reduces the amount of time spent with other people and the opportunity for interactions with others and intimacy. Individuals who are lonely sometimes replace actual sexual relations with the use of pornography. This becomes important as pornography may negatively affect sexual performance over time.
Many older adults do not engage in sex because of shame and feelings of guilt or simply because they think they are "too old for sex." However, it would be wrong to assume that older adults are not interested in engaging in sex.
Few people talk with their doctors about their sexual problems. Indeed, at least half of all medical visits do not address sexual issues.
Embarrassment, cultural and religious factors, and lack of time may hold some doctors back from asking about the sex lives of their patients. Some doctors feel that addressing sexual issues creates too much closeness to the patient. Others think talking about sexuality will take too much time.
Yet while some doctors may be afraid to ask about sex with patients, research has shown that patients appear to be willing to provide a response if asked. This means that their sexual problems are not being addressed unless the doctor brings it up.
Patients could benefit from a little help. To take just one example, patients with arthritis and low back pain need information and advice from their health care provider about recommended intercourse positions so as to avoid pain.
The "Don't ask, don't tell" culture should become "Do ask, do tell."
Shervin Assari, Research Investigator of Psychiatry, Public Health, and Poverty Solutions, University of Michigan
Infection expert answers 7 top questions about Covid-19's "Kraken" subvariant
By The Conversation and Sameer Elsayed
A deadly fungal plague swept the world of The Last of Us — is it realistic?
By Tara Yarlagadda
Swapping Cigarettes for Vaping May Help You Quit — but There's a Catch
By Elana Spivack


From the best cared for and well rooted olive groves in the Mediterranean comes this delicious masterpiece with bitter notes and an elegant, pungent flavor on the palate.
This Extra Virgin oil is a classic nurtured by the very essence of the oil: the olive tree. Inspired by years and experience, it has a strong, powerful flavor with a wealth of nuances that add to its unique exquisite quality. From the growth process to the bottling, it is a tribute to the classical methods that turn this oil into a pure art form.
Mediterranean cuisine's most treasured ingredient has shone throughout history. At Carapelli we have turned this natural production method into art.
To create the highest quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil, we observe, feel and taste. We know our olive groves like the back of our hand, harvesting the olives when they are ripe and working with both oliari and blending masters, who select the precise samples to ensure Extra Virgin Olive Oil blends of the utmost quality.
Contemporary, Fresh and Elegant. A well-balanced olive oil. It has a fruity taste and light flavor of leafy greens, with aromas of tomato leaves, fresh vegetables and artichoke. It produces a pleasant bitterness on the palate, which conveys freshness and an elegant, spicy finish.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a living product, so care is taken at every step from selecting the best raw materials to bottling the oil. Art gives form to the entire process. The elegant Carapelli bottle flows from the genius of an italian artist to bring together history, passion, finesse and pure substance.
Dark glass protects the oil from UV radiation, guaranteeing the best possible preservation of its color, flavor and aroma.
The infinite spirals molded into the glass, besides lending an air of elegance, are designed to make the bottle easier to hold.
Innovation extends to the spout as well. It is designed to dispense only the necessary amount of oil.
An Extra Virgin tribute to 100-year-old olive groves, craftsmanship and expertise.


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Doing Good, Better: New Initiative Will Support Socially Focused Designers
A new project hopes to support designers in their quest to create social change in a way that doesn't threaten their practices.
Alissa Walker
From a story about Occupy Design's infographic kits to a challenge asking readers to redesign the report card, GOOD features designers using their talents to improve their communities almost every day. But the triumph of solving a social challenge often comes at great cost: Most of this work is done without pay and during overtime hours, which can strain a designer's business. "Designers say, 'I'll take my own time and my own resources and try and solve a problem alone,'" says Manuel Toscano, principal of the corporate identity firm Zago. "That's wrong."
A new initiative by AIGA, one of the country's largest design associations, hopes to support designers in their quest to create social change in a way that doesn't threaten their practices. The group launched a new initiative, Design for Good, at its biennial conference, Pivot, last weekend in Phoenix. Toscano, AIGA's national director of social engagement, says the project could shift the traditional role of socially focused design. "It's a transformation from a singular individual working alone to a community working in groups toward solutions that are not driven by the ego, but by the needs of a community," he says.
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For AIGA, the initiative is an opportunity to serve the design community in new ways. "We know designers are doing this kind of work everywhere and it's having impact, but it's fragmented," says Doug Powell, principal of Schwartz Powell in Minneapolis and president of AIGA. Often, he says, the project relies on one or two people who are passionate about the cause, but eventually run out of steam. Using AIGA's network of over 22,000 designers in 66 chapters, he says, the program can lessen the burden on individuals by combining complementary efforts, publishing case studies, and teaching designers how to get funding for their solutions. The project has already attracted major corporate funding, as well as a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts' Art Works program.
Ideally, Powell says, AIGA can help designers on multiple levels: Enabling individuals working on similar projects to share resources, allowing individual AIGA chapters to take on a specific projects in their home cities, and proposing nationwide problems that designers can work on remotely. The goal, he says, is to connect and amplify existing efforts, and to allow other people to learn from them. "We're hoping to create a network so people can share best practices and work together," he says.
A farmers market in Bertie County, North Carolina built by high school students as part of Project H, a social design program cited by Design for Good
For now, there's plenty for to dig into on the Design for Good site. A list of resources allows designers to connect with each other. A series of case studies provide useful templates. Another effort will look at how schools are integrating the work into their curricula. Design for Good workshops will start in several cities next year.
GOOD is involved in the Design for Good program through GOOD Ideas for Cities, which matches creative professionals with local civic leaders to address urban challenges. Working with AIGA's vast network, we're hosting five events in mid-sized cities across the country to connect designers with their communities and develop creative solutions to urban problems.
If you're a designer, tell AIGA how Design for Good can support your work for social causes. Leave your ideas in the comments, share your story, or use the hashtag #dgAIGA