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Gaming on Blockchain in the Web 3.0 Era
Video games have been around since the 1970s when Atari released Pong and Computer Space in arcades. Video games have come far from their humble beginnings in the 70s. In 2020, the gaming industry generated $159 billion in revenue and analysts predict the industry will generate more than $200 billion in revenue by 2023. To put this into context, this is larger than the music and movie industry combined. Thus it comes as no surprise that tech companies like Google, Apple, Facebook and even Netflix are looking to get a slice of this pie.
The advancements in the video gaming space haven't just been in terms of market size and technology, but akin to other industries, we have seen the video gaming industry go through several types of business models as well. Initially, legacy video game companies generated revenue only from the sales of their physical discs. The total return on a given game was based solely on how many physical units were sold.
As internet penetration increased worldwide, in the 2000s, companies began experimenting with different business models. These new business models involved extra paid downloadable content (DLCs) and microtransactions that came after the sale of the game to the users. This is widely regarded as the Web 2.0 model and this brought continued revenue streams to video game companies.
This Web 2.0 model also gave birth to Free-to-Play (F2P) games, where users could play the basic game for free but if they wanted to access some premium features or purchase some in-game items then they'd have to pay for them. This model has become immensely popular in the last few years with the rise in mobile gaming and this genre of gaming generated $88.7bn in revenue in 2020 alone.
For a more comprehensive read at how this business model is serving the mobile gaming industry rightly, you may refer to our earlier piece: Mobile Games are finally playing it right!
However, an issue with the F2P model is that only 2.2% of gamers actually spend money on F2P games. There are several reasons why only a small percentage of this large base actually spends money on these games. Some of these reasons include the fact that in-game purchases in current F2P games don't actually give you ownership of the items purchased.
What we mean by that is that the items purchased on one game are usually non-transferable to other games, so if you want to start playing a different game in the future, you'll have to start all over again. You wouldn't be able to make use of any of the investments you'd made previously in the old game. Simply put, the money a player thinks they're 'investing' in the game becomes 'sunken cost' as soon as they lose interest in the game.
Enter Web 3.0 and Gaming on the Blockchain
Issues such as above are being solved with the advent of decentralized gaming. This takes advantage of the innovations in Web 3.0 which brings cryptocurrencies, NFTs and blockchains into the world of video games.
Blockchain technology has multiple use cases and there are numerous startups around them which you can find here. But in the context of gaming, Blockchains by acting as immutable ledgers, cryptographically record all transactions on the network, and in doing so, allow for the generation of NFTs. NFTs, in their most basic form, represent data that can be verified as unique from all other data and can be tied to nearly anything — including in-game items.
As such, every costume, avatar, parcel of virtual land, or anything else in-game can be created as an NFT, which means they would be effectively unique, tangible, and retain value. They could be moved across multiple titles and even resold to other players on secondary markets. This makes all these transactions less like a sunk cost and a lot more like an investment. And thus, gamers don't need to spend money on items that effectively become worthless if the player loses interest in the game or if the game shuts down.
This Web 3.0 model is not only a win for gamers but also for video game developers as developers can still offer the same kinds of in-game products, but they could now offer them for a much lower price to gamers and bring in additional revenue by running in-game secondary markets and take a small fee of each transaction instead.
This Web 3.0 model could thus solve the issues of low penetration of paying users in the Web 2.0 model while also bringing a better product at a lower price to gamers – an ultimate win-win to both gamers and developers! In many ways, this could enable exponential growth in the gaming industry.
How do blockchain games actually work?
One of the first, popular blockchain games was CryptoKitties. The game was developed on the Ethereum blockchain and released in 2017 by a Canadian company called Dapper labs. The game allows players to buy, sell, collect and create virtual cats. Each of these cats was a unique NFT on the Ethereum blockchain.
The game was so popular upon its release that, in December 2017, the game's users congested Ethereum's blockchain and accounted for 25% of the network traffic at the time. This caused Ethereum to slow down significantly.
Since then, Crypto Kitties' parent company, Dapper Labs, has gone on to release its own blockchain, Flow, which is built specifically for blockchain gaming. They also signed an agreement with the NBA and developed NBA Top Shots, which is an NFT marketplace where fans can buy, sell and trade NBA moments, which are packaged highlight clips that operate like trading cards. The platform has over 1.1 million users and over $780 million has been traded on its platform. The most valuable NFT ever sold on the marketplace was LeBron James dunking against the Houston Rockets which went for a reported US$387,600.
The biggest crypto game, in terms of market capitalization, currently is Decentraland. Decentraland is a decentralized metaverse that consists of 90,601 parcels of land. These parcels of land are NFTs that can be bought by the platform native token MANA, which is based on the Ethereum blockchain. The game's native token, MANA, currently has a market cap of $8.28 billion at the time of writing.
Amidst all the latest buzz on metaverse, if you are confused we have got you covered. Let's look at what Decentraland is doing with it. Recently, a virtual property on Decntraland that was 6,090 square feet in size sold for 618,000 MANA or approximately $2.4 million! This is the largest acquisition in the Metaverse space and it was made by The Metaverse Group, which is a virtual real estate company for the Metaverse economy.
This plot of land was located in the heart of Decentraland's fashion district and the company plans to develop that piece of land for virtual fashion shows and commerce. This may turn out to be a wise investment as luxury fashion brands such as Gucci, Burberry, and Louis Vuitton have entered the Metaverse with designer NFTs. Nike also plans to release digital sneakers in its own digital metaverse named 'Nikeland'.
Another crypto game that is gaining massive popularity lately is Axie Infinity. It was developed by a Vietnamese game development company, Sky Mavis. It is a blockchain-based game that is built on the Ethereum blockchain and is available for Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS. The game resembles Pokemon, where players have teams of three Axies which they use to battle other teams led by other players or the computer.
The game incorporates blockchain technology into its mechanism as the Axie monsters are each unique NFTs present on the blockchain that can be tracked. This allows players to verify that these monsters took real-life time and work to make and thus have value based on this. The game is termed to be a Play-to-earn game as players can earn money by playing, collecting and selling Axie NFTs on marketplaces.
Sky Mavis, the developers of this game, earn money from the game in two ways. First, they get a cut from monster breeding fees, which is basically the fees charged by the game when a player chooses to breed their Axie with another player's Axie to give rise to a brand new Axie NFT. The company also earns 4.25% of each NFT sold in the NFT marketplace.
This game has not only made Sky Mavis a rich company, but several of their users have gotten rich playing the game too. For example, in the Philippines, Axie Infinity emerged as a popular way to pass the time for the people of the country amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Its 'play to earn' model allowed people to pay the bills and put food on the table after losing their jobs as the economy came to a standstill. There's even an 18-minute documentary about this phenomenon called 'Play-to-Earn'.
Thanks to its Play to Earn nature, Axie Infinity has seen incredible real-world traction lately. As of July 2021, the game has over 1,000,000 Daily Active Users with a monthly growth rate of 30-40% for every month in 2021. The company also generated $342mn in revenue in August 2021 and $220 million in revenue in September 2021.
Another positive metric for Axie Infinity is that among the new Axie Infinity users, the retention rate after 1 day is close to 60%, and 40% after 7 days. A good 1D/7D retention rate in the gaming industry is 30%/10%. The game's governance token, $AXS, which is comparable to a company's shares in traditional finance, has exploded from $4 in June 2021 to $135 now, which is a 33x increase in just 6 months. The total market cap for $AXS, which can be seen as a good proxy for the company's value, is currently $8.23 billion dollars.
Investments in Blockchain Gaming
No doubt the space around blockchain gaming is currently hot as far as investments are considered and even traditional institutional investors have gotten in on the action and have begun investing in this space.
Dapper Labs, the company we mentioned earlier, has raised over $857 million in funding to date and is currently valued at $7.6 billion. They have over 50 institutional investors on their cap table with the most notable ones being Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Venrock, Google's GV and Verizon One Ventures.
The Sandbox, a Hong Kong-based gaming platform that allows users to build a virtual world using NFTs, has raised $93 million from investors led by SoftBank's Vision Fund 2. SoftBank also led another round of investment in another crypto game named Sorare, which is a fantasy football (soccer) platform based on NFTs, where each digital card is registered as a unique token on the Ethereum blockchain. The French company raised $680 million in Series B funding and this round valued the company at $4.3 billion.
The largest round of funding seen in this space came recently in the company Forte. Forte is a platform that allows game publishers to integrate blockchain technologies into their games and enable features such as embeddable token wallets, NFT minting and selling, and an array of other services designed for blockchain technologies and the management of digital assets. They raised $725 million in Series B led by Sea Capital and Kora Management. Other investors in this round included Tiger Global, a16z, The Warner Music Group, Polygon Studios and Solana Ventures.
How well the bet on crypto gaming will pay-off?
The video games market is a big and growing one with a CAGR of nearly 11% as shown below.
But there is much more than the 11% CAGR that's up for grabs here because of the way blockchain and crypto are transforming the industry. The current crypto gaming market is only a sliver of its full future potential. We can expect the next decade to be massive for this space as the push to Web 3.0 continues and more and more companies invest in this space.
The biggest company to invest in this space has been Facebook, which rebranded to Meta. The idea of Facebook's metaverse will only help grow the decentralized gaming market and bring more attention to it in the coming years. Games like Decentraland and The Sandbox could have a massive role to play in the Metaverse, as players can buy and sell virtual parcels of land in the Metaverse through such games.
Thus, like all big revolutions, the Crypto gaming wave will have multiple heroes. That is, advancements are being made by various players on different fronts. Some will solve the marketplace problem better than others while some may improve on the immersive experience with AR-VR tech. These could be big companies like Meta or Microsoft, or smaller projects started during the cryptocurrency boom. If it is the latter, they do face a risk of facing the heat of consolidation when the Big Tech comes after them for acquisitions.
This brings forth one of the paradoxes regarding the decentralized future. The companies that are at the best spot to foster innovation in industries such as crypto gaming are the ones most accused of user data manhandling – the very thing that decentralized tech promises to eliminate.
It is safe to say that technologies such as blockchain are here to stay. But interesting will be to see how they'll shape the behemoth of Big Tech. Is it going to be amalgamation or annihilation, do share your thoughts!
This piece has been authored by Shaswat Ghosh.
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Good Going .. very informative though I am not in that zone but block chain technology ignites interest and I , in my field of work , am also studying how and where to apply the technology ..
This is the start .. waiting to read more from you ..
Very nice and informative, hope you continue to brief about further developments in future


Chris Rea's 'Driving Home For Christmas' is one of our favourite festive songs and perfectly encapsulates the fact that Christmas is a time for family and friends to come together. Driving home for Christmas is straight forward enough but sometimes living further apart from loved one's can make things difficult – especially if they reside overseas.
Whilst technology such as webcams enables us all to have virtual face to face conversations with loved one's wherever they are in the world, Christmas is the one time of the year when we will ideally all be together for the big day.
So in celebration of the festive season, Post Office, in partnership with Absolute Radio, is giving people the opportunity to fly friends or loved ones home to the UK for Christmas with ten prizes up for grabs. And time is running out to enter the 'flying home for Christmas' competition as entries will close this Thursday so be quick for your chance to enter!
But if your nominated friends or family members are not one of the ten lucky winners meaning you won't be able to open those Christmas gifts together in person, you'll need to make sure that you have all your mailing boxes ready in time to send presents far and wide bearing in mind the Christmas last posting dates.
Ten winners will be selected and invited live onto Christian O'Connell's Breakfast Show and Geoff Lloyd's Hometime Show on Absolute Radio to learn that they've won a flight home for their friend or loved one.


But Gossett agreed with prosecutor Will Lewis. She declined to make Desmond answer the question. Those matters are under seal.
Gosset also denied bond for Tyrell Fears, one of the three accused plotters.
Fears, 21, is a graduate of Dutch Fork High School, where he was on its wrestling team. Fears was going to join the U.S. Marines before being arrested and charged along with Young and Vance Voulious with conspiring to kill by using a mail bomb.
Gossett said Fears posed a danger to Shauna Clark, Young's ex-wife and the target of the alleged plot. As Young's primary, out-of-prison accomplice, Fears received the bomb, armed it, put labels on it and took it to the Irmo post office, Lewis said. The FBI seized the device before it was sent through the mail.
Fears is Young's nephew and has always regarded the inmate as a "father figure," Griffin said.
Young, 31, is serving a 50-year sentence for killing Clark's father and injuring her during a shooting at Columbiana Centre. He is trying to get his sentence overturned. She would be a key witness in any new trial, Lewis said.
▪ Young used a contraband cellphone from prison to access the internet and order the bomb.
▪ Young has sufficient standing in a prison gang to issue orders to people outside. The gang wasn't identified in court.
▪ Young, from prison, ran a business importing illegal drugs into South Carolina.
▪ The bomb wasn't powerful enough to hurt anyone. The box contained trace elements of RDX, a military explosive considered more powerful than TNT.


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The Danevirke or Danework (modern Danish spelling: Dannevirke; in Old Norse; Danavirki, in German; Danewerk, literally meaning earthwork of the Danes) is a system of Danish fortifications in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. This historically important linear defensive earthwork across the neck of the Cimbrian peninsula was initiated by the Danes in the Nordic Iron Age about AD 650. It was later expanded multiple times during Denmark's Viking Age and High Middle Ages. The Danevirke was last used for military purposes in 1864 during the Second War of Schleswig.

The Danevirke consists of several walls, trenches and the Schlei Barrier. The walls stretch for 30 km, from the former Viking trade centre of Hedeby near Schleswig on the Baltic Sea coast in the east to the extensive marshlands in the west of the peninsula. One of the walls (named Østervolden), between the Schlei and Eckernförde inlets, defended the Schwansen peninsula.

According to written sources, work on the Danevirke was started by the Danish King Gudfred in 808. Fearing an invasion by the Franks, who had conquered heathen Frisia over the previous 100 years and Old Saxony in 772 to 804, Godfred began work on an enormous structure to defend his realm, separating the Jutland peninsula from the northern extent of the Frankish empire. However, the Danes were also in conflict with the Saxons south of Hedeby during the Nordic Iron Age, and recent archaeological excavations have revealed that the Danevirke was initiated much earlier than King Gudfred's reign, at least as far back as 500 AD and probably well before that. Because of its historical importance and testimony to the defense of trade routes in the Viking Age, the Danevirke and the nearby Viking town of Hedeby were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2018.

Symbolism

Legend has it that Queen Thyra ordered the Danevirke to be built. She was the wife of the first historically recognized king of Denmark, Gorm the Old (reign c. 936 – c. 958).

With the emergence of national states in Europe during the 1800s, the Danevirke became a powerful symbol for Denmark and for the idea of a unique Danish people and Danish culture. Throughout the nineteenth century, Denmark and Germany struggled politically and militarily for possession of the territory variously known as Sønderjylland or Slesvig by the Danes and Schleswig by the Germans. Two wars were fought, the First Schleswig War (1848–1851) and the Second Schleswig War (1864), eventually resulting in a Danish defeat and subsequent German annexation. In this hostile context, the Danevirke played an important role, at first as a mental cultural barrier against Germany, but soon also as a concrete military fortification, when it was strengthened with cannon emplacements and entrenchments in 1850 and again in 1861.

In the early 1800s Dannevirke was adopted as the title of several Danish nationalist journals dealing specifically with the question of Danish autonomy vis-à-vis Germany, the most notable of these being published by N. F. S. Grundtvig in 1816–19. In earlier times, the Danevirke had indeed defined a cultural and linguistic border between Danish and German fiefdoms, but the cultural and linguistic frontiers had gradually moved north, and by the 19th century territory as far north as Flensburg was predominantly German-speaking, but remained part of Denmark.

Archaeological record
Archaeological excavations in 1969–1975 established, with the help of dendrochronology, that the main structure of the Danevirke had been built in three phases between AD 737 and 968. It is, therefore, contemporary with Offa's Dyke on the border between Wales and England, another great defensive structure of the late 8th century.

Recent investigations suggest that the Danevirke was not only, and not even primarily, built for military purposes. The archaeologist Henning Hellmuth Andersen found that in an early stage the main "wall" consisted of a ditch between two low embankments. The historian argued that the Kograben (Danish: Kovirke) south of the main wall consists of an embankment accompanied by a ditch on its northern side, which would have been counterproductive for a Danish fortification. Rather, the main construction, in its earliest stage, and the Kograben would have been shipping canals. The existence of a shortcut for shipping between the Baltic and the North Sea via the Schlei in the east and the rivers Treene and Eider in the west had long been recognized, but historians had previously believed that boats had been moved between the Schlei and Treene by portage on rollers.

New carbon-14 dating in 2013 has revealed that the second stage started around 500 AD, and the oldest fortifications are even older than that.
Previous carbon-14 dating had dated some of the early constructions to the second half of the 7th century, and dendrochronology also suggests that the examined constructions began not very long after 737, about 70 years before the reign of king Gudfred.

Size

The Danevirke is about  long overall, with a height varying between . During the Middle Ages, the structure was reinforced with palisades and masonry walls, and was used by Danish kings as a gathering point for Danish military excursions, including a series of crusader raids against the Slavs of the south Baltic. In particular, the 12th-century King Valdemar the Great reinforced parts of the Danevirke with a brick wall, which enabled a continued military use of this strategically important structure. The reinforced parts of the structure are consequently known in Danish as Valdemarsmuren (lit: Valdemar's wall).

Stages in the building of the Danevirke

Danevirke 1 – Hovedvolden ("the main rampart"), Nordvolden ("the north rampart"), Østervolden ("the east rampart")The first Danevirke was built in five stages, starting about 650, according to carbon-14 dating. The first three stages were simple ramparts of soil, and the fourth stage was a palisade rampart with heavy timber front, built in 737. In the final stages the timber palisade was reinforced with a heavy stone wall around the timber. Work is said to have been started by Angantyr, and continued by Siegfried, and ended by Guðfrið according to annales in 808.
 Hovedvolden: From Rejde Å (now called Rheider Au) to a small lake called Dannevirke Sø. It was the main segment of the Danevirke. About 2 m high and 12 m wide.
 Nordvolden: From the northeastern side of Dannevirke Sø, and further north about 7 km.
 Østervolden: About 3.3 km long, and protecting Schwansen.
 A 900 m long submerged construction in Slien.
Danevirke 2 – Kovirke ("cow-work")/Kograben ("cow-moat" or "district moat")Built either by Guðfrið or by Harald Bluetooth (if it is the work mentioned as newly made in the Frankish royal annals in 808, then Harald did not build it) it stretched from the Rheide Å about 7 km to a southern extension of the Schlei bay which is now a lake called Selker Noor. Its palisade was about 3 m high, and was a little more solid than that on the first ramparts. The bank of earth behind the palisade was about 2 m high and 7 m wide. It had a V-shaped moat, 4 m wide and 3 m deep.The construction period of this rampart would have been some time between 770 and 970.
Danevirke 3 – Hovedvolden/Hauptwall/"main rampart", Krumvolden/Krummwall/"curved rampart", Buevolden/Bogenwall/"bow rampart"), Dobbeltvolden/Doppelwall/"double rampart", Forbindelsesvolden ("the connecting rampart")/Margarethenwall ("Margret's rampart")Hovedvolden was expanded, so that it was now about 5 m high and about 20 m wide. Krumvolden was built through the Rheide Å, and overlapped with Hovedvolden. Forbindelsesvolden closed a gap between Halvkredsvolden ("the semicircle rampart", a bank that protected Hedeby) and Hovedvolden near Dannevirke Sø. Buevolden and Dobbeltvolden protected an important road junction. This wall is connected to most of the building work is attributed to Harald Bluetooth. Arild Hvitfeldt's Danmarks Riges Krønike adds a little detail to the extension of the Danevirke in that time period.  "Then summoned (Queen) Thyra (wife of Gorm the Old) Danes from all the kingdom's regions to meet at the border and under her supervision they built a wall of earth and timber from Slien over the moors to Trene. The Scanians received the western section from Karlegat to Trene. Zealanders and Funen dwellers received the section east from Slien (Schlei bay) to Karlegat. Jutlanders provided provisions to the whole army." This would place Thyra's extension sometime before 940. Forbindelsesvolden was attacked by the Saxons of the Ottonian dynasty in 974.
Danevirke 4 – Hovedvolden/Hauptwall/"main rampart".Reinforcement on the Main Wall finished in 954, and a new Forbindelsevold build from 964 to 968. Harald Bluetooth is thought to be the main constructor.
Danevirke 5 – Forbindelsesvolden, Krumvolden, and HovedvoldenUnder Canute IV of Denmark  (1080–86) Denmark was at war with the German empire. The Danevirke was strengthened at the beginning of the 12th century: the moats were deepened and the ramparts were made higher. A granite boulder palisade wall was built on a part of Hovedvolden.
Danevirke 6 – Hovedvolden and ThyraborgValdemar I fortified the rest of Hovedvolden with the famous "Valdemar-wall", a 7-m high wall of stones in mortar on a granite boulder base, propped up with buttresses and covered with tiles. This was a large reinforcement, and doubtless deterred many who tried to send an army northwards through Jutland. It was the last true reinforcement of the ramparts. Later Thyraborg castle was built.

The Danevirke began to lose its purpose in the 14th century, owing both to the expense of manning it and to the development of ballistas, trebuchets, and similar siege engines.

First and Second Schleswig Wars

First Schleswig War
The First Schleswig War commenced on 31 March 1848 but Prussia did not become involved until a naval incident on 19 April. Therefore, on 23 April, General Friedrich von Wrangel marched his 12,000 Prussian troops upon weak Danish resistance at the Danevirke entrenchment and, after a short engagement near the town of Dannewerk, drove the Danish army into retreat and seized the city of Schleswig. An armistice signed on 2 August 1848 caused the Prussians to evacuate Schleswig-Holstein but did not end the war. Further engagements in the next two years saw fighting in the vicinity of the Danevirke but not directly involving it. Final peace was signed on 8 May 1852.

Second Schleswig War

The last military use of the Danevirke was during the Second Schleswig War in 1864. Due especially to the above-mentioned emotive nationalist symbolism, public opinion in Denmark and the Danish military had expected the coming battle to take place along the Danevirke. After centuries of abandonment and decay, the Danevirke fortifications were partially restored, strengthened, and equipped with artillery installations in 1850 and 1861. In the Second War of Schleswig, there was some early skirmishing to the south of the Danevirke, but no battle took place at it, as the Danish Commander in Chief, General de Meza, withdrew all soldiers to the trenches at Dybbøl, owing to an unexpected threat of being outflanked, as the Schlei and the wetlands between the Danevirke and Husum had frozen solid in a hard winter and could be crossed easily, and the territory immediately south of the Danevirke had been conquered by the advancing German army. This retreat came as a surprise to the Austro-Prussian army, and almost all of the Danish army succeeded in completing the evacuation. It resulted, however, in the abandonment of important pieces of heavy artillery, and it remains a matter of historical debate why the railway to Flensburg was never properly used for the evacuation. News of the retreat came as a great shock to Danish public opinion which had considered the Danevirke to be impregnable, and General de Meza was promptly relieved of his command. The Danevirke has remained in German possession ever since.

In World War II
Following the Allied invasion of Normandy during World War II, the Wehrmacht feared that a second Allied invasion might take place through Denmark, and contemplated converting the earthen wall into an anti-tank trench to counter this threat. Had the proposal been implemented, it would have destroyed the structure.

Hearing of the plans, Danish archaeologist Søren Telling – aware that all archaeological investigation was under the ultimate jurisdiction of SS chief Heinrich Himmler – immediately telephoned both the head of the SS's archaeological department, Amt für Ahnenerbe ("Office for ancestral heritage"), and Himmler himself. Telling argued strongly against the destruction of an important remnant of "Aryan civilization" and Himmler authorized him to stop the construction of the anti-tank trench. He informed Telling that a written order would be dispatched but that it would take several days to arrive. Telling then drove to the site and ordered the commanding Wehrmacht officers to immediately stop the construction process. When the local Wehrmacht commander refused, Telling threatened him with reprisals from the SS. Construction was called off and Himmler's written order arrived two days later countering the Wehrmacht's original instructions. Telling later settled near the site and considered himself a custodian of it until his death in 1968.

See also

 List of walls
 Hadrian's Wall
 Offa's Dyke
 Dannevirke (town in New Zealand)
 Götavirke (Geatish Dyke)
 History of Denmark
 History of Schleswig-Holstein
 Silesian Walls

Literature
 H. Hellmuth Andersen: "Til hele rigets værn, Danevirkes arkæologi", edited by Moesgård and Wormianum in 2004 . About the archaeology of Dannevirke.

References

External links
 Archaeological Border complex of Hedeby and the Danevirke : UNESCO Officiel Website
 Slesvig Wars in English and Danish
 Klaus Goldmann on early medieval canals and water management (in German)
 Museum at the Danewerk
Parts of this article are based on the articles Dannevirke and Søren Telling on the Danish Wikipedia, accessed on 23 July 2006.

6th-century establishments in Germany
Germanic archaeological sites
Architecture in Denmark
Geography of Denmark
Geography of Schleswig-Holstein
History of Schleswig-Holstein
Military history of Denmark
Iron Age Scandinavia
Viking buildings and structures
Fortification lines
World Heritage Sites in Germany
Linear earthworks
Historic defensive lines

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Strong Mothers
November 21, 2017 August 7, 2018 Bhutan Leave a comment Boudhanath SupaBuddhist nunsChortenheap of jewels nunneryJigme Sungye Wangchuckpunakha bhutanReligious education for girlsRoyal Family of BhutanSangchhen Dorji Lhuendrup Lhakhang NunneryStrong Mothers
Heap of Jewels Nunnery (Punakha, Bhutan)
Sangchhen Dorji Lhuendrup Lhakhang Nunnery
Once upon a time and not so long ago, a very young King in the mystical Himalayan mountains discovered that he was the fulfillment of a 300 year-old prophecy. His destiny was to reunite and bring his country into the modern world. Being a descendant of the ancient and powerful Dorji family in mind and speech, he is the incarnation of a great holy man, Ngawang Namgyal (1594-1651).
Others held claim to the title too. The best way to unify a land is to marry into the other contenders with provenance. So the fourth king, Jigme Sungye Wangchuck married all four sisters from the opposing powerful family.
prayer wheel on the summit of the hill overlooking a narrow valley
The father of the four sisters ( also a Dorji family member) asked the king for land to build a Buddhist nun's university on the highest scenic hill above the Punaka valley in Bhutan. The official name–Sangchhen Dorji Lhuendrup Lhakhang Nunnery means, "Fortress of the heap of Jewels." The young ladies here are treasures far more precious than diamonds or pearls.
The four queen's parents have their homestead on this hill too, situated a wee bit lower, giving the nuns and religion the best position for grace and inspiration.
We visited many Buddhist landmarks and saw countless beautiful artifacts. Religious festivals with dance and music enriched our experiences. Listening to monks chant in the temple hit an inner cord of my soul. But the visit here touched my heart in deeper ways than any other place in Bhutan.
Give me one giggling nun willing to express her thoughts and beliefs any day over all the pomp and circumstance.
Laughter. This was the first thing different in the nunnery compared to a monastery. These girls look and act happy.
They wanted to talk to us, to explain with eloquence and passion why they decided to become nuns or what they're daily life is like. They study and pray. There are also classes in tailoring, embroidery, statue making, painting and ceremonial dancing. When they graduate from their studies they will go to other communities to support a religious life. One girl told me, "It's very important that I pray for every living thing, every day." They are dedicated to their mission of salvation.
curiosity. They also wanted to know about us and how we live. In my experience, the monks could have cared less. (Of course a woman cannot touch a monk. If I would have wanted to give an item, I'd have to pass it to a man who would then give it to the monk. )
Only monks can perform religious ceremonies and are paid for services. The nuns are supported with a stipend per month. Their parents may receive a spit of land to grow rice.
Sure, there are interesting architectural components to view here. A chorten (monument) that looks like a smaller Boudhanath Stupa sits at the point of the hill with stunning views into two narrow valleys.
The UNESCO site in Nepal is the largest stupa in the world, a place of great pilgrimage and was built by a mother of poor status who petitioned her king. It's fitting that this replica is a reminder to the young nuns of the strength within their hands and minds. It signifies the deep power within each woman.
Walk into the temple, under the crystal chandeliers to see statues of important rampoches'. It's impressive. But nothing compares with the beautiful spirit and promise for a rich future unfolding for the women here.
Central Park, little Italy, China town, the plaza hotel with picture of Heloise—fabulous day walking the streets.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Every parent is willing to provide the best education possible for their children and the first years of life are most vital in forming the future character of a grown-up person. The basic knowledge and skills the child learns and develops at an early age becomes the foundation for his or her further self-education and success in life.
Children are real quick-learners absorbing everything literally at a wink. So growing number of caring parents are trying to teach their kids English as a Second Language lessons as early as they could, even while the kids hardly started to master their mother tongue. Nowadays English has become so widespread as a world language beyond any boundaries that without speaking English you won't have a chance to live as a global citizen. Let's briefly discuss some of the pros and cons of such a parental decision for an early ESL education of their children.
It's true that the older one gets it becomes harder for him or her to learn. The age bring with it natural learning limitations. The human brain is developing most dramatically when the person is young - the brain doubles when the baby reaches 9 months and triples upon reaching 3 years old. So the child learns new things many times quicker than an adult would. It stands true with learning foreign languages also. Knowing this the earlier you start your studies the better results you could achieve. Most specialists agree that the best age for learning anything new is before approximately 7 years old. For instance, world renowned scholars in the field of psychology Wilder Penfield and Lamar Roberts say that the best age for learning is between 4 to 8 years old. Whether to start your consistent studies before the child gets 4 or 5 is the issue but after that age is the most right time without any doubt.
Putting regular efforts into your English lessons with your kid either at home or at an ESL school would quite soon bring the fruits that you would be amazed of. For example, it's ideal if one of the parents could speak English with the kid all the time. Conversation is one of the best ways to learn and it has no age limitations. Then your child will have the same fluency in English almost as he would in his native language. Teaching English should be consistent and natural to a child. If you would want to start teaching your small kid understanding English language grammar it won't probably make any reasonable effect. It makes no sense to start explaining your child some new fancy words or explicit grammar rules if he doesn't even able to understand the meaning of these words or doesn't know them well even in his own language. The child should first form the clear notion of his native language before you start your English language lessons.
It's best to organize English lessons with the child in the form of a game. The child would start repeating after you the pronunciation of words and that would be the real spoken English lessons. The child would copy you as all children do and would learn bit by bit, day after day.
Psychologists believe that the things learned at a young age would stick with the person all throughout his life. But it's within the nature of child's memory that the kid learns only what he listens and repeats numerous times. So once decided to start teaching your kids English, it's better to keep going on. If you think your child has enough spoken skills in his own language and is ready enough for starting his ESL studies, then approach it with all your parental seriousness.
You can teach your kid only in the form of spoken English. Ideal if the child could communicate often with English native speakers to develop English listening right. It also give an effect of immersion into the language environment. The right English speaking pronunciation, learning the pronunciation of words and whole phrases, understanding English grammar rules are the most crucial issues to consider. So it is really important who is teaching your child English and how the teacher does it.


2000 ford contour v6 engine diagram The spark plug firing order is 1 4 2 5 3 6 the engine cylinder locations are numbered 1 5 how do you replace the spark plugs and wires on a 1998 ford contour v6 if you gap How to change it i dont know if anyone has the answer please e mail me i have a 2000 nubira 2.0l engine and the camshaft position sensor is located inside the timing belt cover on the passenger.
It's possible to get or download caterpillar-wiring diagram from several websites. If you take a close look at the diagram you will observe the circuit includes the battery, relay, temperature sensor, wire, and a control, normally the engine control module. With an extensive collection of electronic symbols and components, it's been used among the most completed, easy and useful wiring diagram drawing program. 2000 Ford Contour V6 Engine Diagram. The wiring diagram on the opposite hand is particularly beneficial to an outside electrician. Sometimes wiring diagram may also refer to the architectural wiring program. The simplest approach to read a home wiring diagram is to begin at the source, or the major power supply. Basically, the home wiring diagram is simply utilized to reveal the DIYer where the wires are.
In a parallel circuit, each unit is directly linked to the power supply, so each system gets the exact voltage. There are 3 basic sorts of standard light switches. The circuit needs to be checked with a volt tester whatsoever points. 2000 Ford Contour V6 Engine Diagram. Each circuit displays a distinctive voltage condition. You are able to easily step up the voltage to the necessary level utilizing an inexpensive buck-boost transformer and steer clear of such issues. The voltage is the sum of electrical power produced by the battery. Be sure that the new fuse isn't blown, and carries the very same amperage.
The control box may have over three terminals. After you have the correct size box and have fed the cable to it, you're almost prepared to permit the wiring begin. Then there's also a fuse box that's for the body controls that is situated under the dash. 2000 Ford Contour V6 Engine Diagram. You will find that every circuit has to have a load and every load has to have a power side and a ground side. Make certain that the transformer nameplate power is enough to supply the load that you're connecting.
2000 jeep cherokee engine diagram 2002 ford explorer engine diagram 1997 ford contour engine diagram 1999 ford explorer engine diagram 1999 ford 4.6 engine diagram ford 3.8 v6 engine diagram 2000 ford mustang engine diagram 1995 ford taurus engine diagram.


I think it is absolutely amazing that fashion and consciousness are finally going hand in hand. Making clothes takes so much from the earth so when we shop we should definitely consider that. Looking good should do good too.
I went to the pre-shopping event here in Amsterdam to check out the Conscious collection before it hit the store. I fell in love with the prints and the shapes instantly. This particular collection truly transcends all the previous conscious designs they have ever made. It just screams fashion and I love it!
I managed to get my hands on the beautiful maxi skirt. Sadly I don't really have a big event to wear it to this Summer but maybe that means that I should wear it every day!
Did you get any of the pieces?
I saw that there are still some pieces available in the H&M webshop. And yes, you have read this correctly. We can now shop H&M online in Belgium, hooray!
Jealous much! Staat je heel leuk!
Past mooi bij je nieuwe haarkleur!
Staat je super Anouk en je nieuwe haren staan je ook goed !
pretty outfit! Wie heeft de foto's gemaakt??


The Southport branch of Eagle Boys Pizza on Ferry Road is another example of how this chain has taken a great concept and made it better to a degree that will make you glad every time you choose them for takeaway or delivery of pizza and Italian food. There are many gluten free items for those who cannot tolerate it, and everything is prepared fresh from quality ingredients by highly trained cooks. An online ordering system makes it convenient and accurate to place your order and pay with Eagle Boys Pizza.
Very bland pizzas, little toppings and cold when it arrived. Won't be reordering.
Express delivery to the particular fast, pizza has special delicious, I like pizza?
Abdolutely disgusting. Tasted like card board. Really really bad.
Came on time , order was correct and tasted good .
I have been a regular since the very first time it's been opened in Southport. But due to the ridiculous increase in delivery, you have lost a regular customer. Bad move from Pizza Hut.
Garlic cheese bread paid for and not delivered. Pizza ordered with tomato base, but BBQ base delivered.
Nice pizza good to finally have a pizza that has topping instead of 3 pieces of meat and cheese. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
prompt delivery, food was hot ice cream was cold - I thought the pizza was a bit overcooked. Poppin chicken had a nice spice and were not greasy.
order came 20 mins early. The pizzas were cooked perfect, full of toppings lashings of sauce. we will order again.
Order came 10 minutes earlier.
But if your feeding the family then why not I guess.
Very tasty pizzas, very happy with the food quality and nice ratio price/quality.
Only problem is the delivery charge. It is too expensive!
Mudpots are awesome. Ice cream needs to be cheaper.
cheap and average, but open late and delivery, what more do you want.
meatlovers was fantastic will order again as it arrived very quick.
Delivery price a is really high.. and misleading free garlic bread.. othrwise great! Thanks.
Very standard pizza. I found Doninos to be a much better option with greater deals. The chicken wings were very sloppy and not of a good quality and standard.
Great service as always. Keep up the good work.
Arrived a bit later than expected, but was great in taste, size, and we got free garlic bread too.
Food was good, had a little hiccup with delivery but it was all sorted out efficiently on the phone.
Overpriced, all 3 pizza's were disgusting. Do not recommend. quality was very poor.
Shocking. The delivery was confirmed 90 minutes after ordering and they did not show up for a further hour after that. Once arrived, they had missed things from the order. What food was there was cold.
The speed was awesome along with the quantity, however the pepperoni was a the only disappointment compared to the others.
I order from eagle boys because they're quick and the delivery drivers are always nice. I will order again.
Prompt delivery. Pizza was great.
Fast delivery and properly made as opposed to other pizza places where the pizza turned up not cut the right way.
Quick delivery and very pleasant customer service.
Took over one hour and 45 mins to arrive. Had to call three times to chase where the order was. Pizza was cold and the order was wrong. Didn't even get my pasta!!


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Home » The Trophic Transfer of Toxins throughout the Food Web
The Trophic Transfer of Toxins throughout the Food Web
A Case Study on the Economic and Medical Impacts of Red Tide.
By Lucaya Luckey-Bethany.
Based on the interview with Dr. Gabriel Vargo.
This case study is also available in the following formats:
Adobe PDF • Open Document • Word Document
Abstract • The Broad Picture • Indications of a Growing Problem • Goals • Questions and Scenarios • Bibliography
Red Tide is a naturally occurring phenomenon in which single-celled algae proliferate at an alarming rate; eventually becoming visible to the naked eye. Human pollutants are exacerbating this natural problem. The toxins produced by these algae are gradually being ingested by larger organisms and are quickly moving up the food web into species harvested for human consumption. This case study will display the significant medical and economic implications from red tide and its subsequent affects on all organisms.
The Broad Picture
"Trophic transfer" is defined as "dietary bioaccumulation… considered the major mechanism for contaminant accumulation in organisms higher up in the food web"; in other words, toxins ingested by single-celled organisms are subsequently eaten by larger and larger organisms, compounding the amount of toxin at each level in comparison to the amount of tainted food eaten.
Red tide is considered to a very rapid growth, (or "bloom") of specific types of algae, (one species contains a red pigment which eventually becomes visible from above). While scientists are attempting to discover the true catalyst for this natural phenomenon, human pollutants such as waste materials are a possible contributing factor to the increased cases of red tide that have been documented in the past few years. The introduction of nitrates from human waste materials into the ocean waters can serve as a type of fertilizer which may promote the growth of natural algae.
While the food web was once considered a veritable "chain", recent studies have indicated a much larger amount of interaction than originally perceived, thus resulting in a web of constant cause-and-effect relationships. Sea creatures that use ocean plants as a primary source of nutrients are affected first, while those preying upon the smaller grazing organisms quickly become affected. Alarmingly high levels of marine mortality rates may be a first indication of toxic algae levels found in some water supplies. These toxins will eventually poison shellfish and other popular seafoods for human consumption. This results in dangerous poisons introduced to the human digestive system. Four of the five most documented types of human poisoning have already been found in the United States, and the Fifth case is predicted to make an appearance very soon. Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning (ASP) comes from Domoic Acid and can be fatal, within 24-48 hours one may experience sever gastrointestinal discomfort and some alarming neurological affects, some resulting in death. In 1987 four people died of this poisoning in the United States. Ciguatera Fish Poisoning (CFP) results from the toxin ciguatoxin or maitotoxin and is possibly fatal, there is no way to test the food before consumption to see if the toxin is present and treatment of the poison can take years for a full recovery. The Center for Disease Control in Atlanta estimates that only 2-10% of all Ciguatera poisonings are actually documented, while 50,000 people who live in tropic or sub-tropic areas suffer from Ciguatera annually. Diarrhetic Shellfish Poisoning (DSP) is the only one that has not yet reached the U.S. and is also non-lethal—a full recovery is expected within three days, although rehabilitating gastrointestinal problems are expected to occur. Neurotoxic Shellfish Poisoning (NSP) is almost identical to CFP but much less severe; however, wave action in the shallow coastal regions can create an aerosol from the toxin brevetoxin which will result in asthma-like symptoms in beach-goers. Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) is possibly fatal, and total heart failure can occur within 24 hours of ingesting the toxin saxitoxin, there is no antidote yet survivors are expected to recover fully.
Economically, the red tide can prove disastrous. The disintegration of the commercial fishing industry is only one of many possible losses in necessary revenue. Beach closings and a fall in tourism can spell disaster for many coastal cities and Caribbean island countries. Clean-up efforts can become monumental, and the monetary affects of treatment not only for subsequent poisonings, but also bacterial infections stemming from massive amounts of decomposing marine life on the local beaches can become financially devastating affects. Some sort of concentrated and comprehensive effort to find both a cause and possible antidote for algae toxicity must be employed as quickly as possible in order to preserve the world's oceans.
Indications of a Growing Problem
Evidence of a continued red tide are beginning to alarm ocean scientists and economists alike, scientist Don Anderson and a highly specialized team of algae researchers have discovered the possibility that the Alexandrium cells within red tide algae have produced cysts, or seed-like forms of the algae which embed themselves in seafloor sediments off of the coast of New England after the dissipation of the red tide that has recently plagued Massachusetts. These cysts lie dormant until growing conditions become once more favorable—this leads to the prediction that red tide is a phenomenon just waiting for the right moment to invariably strike.
Continued red tide could have disastrous affects, when considering those casualties that have already occurred from a temporary problem. In 1991 over one hundred pelicans were found dead near Monterey Bay, California—their deaths attributed to the high toxicity of the fish found in their stomachs after the red tide troubled the area. In past years of red tide instances off the coast of Massachusetts 14 humpback whale corpses were beached within one month, in the year 2004 alone 107 dolphin deaths were attributed to the red tide, and in 1996 over 150 manatees were killed off the coast of Florida; this was approximately ten percent of the entire endangered species population.
Economically, the results are equally staggering. Estimates in the 1970s found that an average-sized bloom lasting three to four months could cost the state of Florida alone over 20 million dollars, and the 1995-96 bloom cost over double that figure. Today's findings are even more alarming: the cost of red tide clean-up, beach closings, and medical treatments can and will cost over 50 million dollars per year.
Governor Mitt Romney has declared a state of financial crisis in Massachusetts, asking for more than 24 million dollars in order to deal with the current red tide problem, and findings have shown that the commercial fishing industry is losing more than 3 million dollars a week during a red tide event.
Beach closings and inaccessible marine tourist hotspots have also had a drastic impact on the tropical and subtropical economy. One third of all Americans visit the United States' coastal regions each year, a total of 910 million trips and spending almost $44 billion. This money goes towards supporting the local economies—hotels, restaurants, and private entrepreneurs alike. Fishing is also an American pastime which has significant monetary ramifications. There are an estimated 35 million anglers who were estimated to spend $ 38 billion in 1996 alone, and the numbers are only increasing. That is one out of every six Americans of age sixteen spending over $1,000 in pursuit of their sport. The sport of kayaking or canoeing was a $99 million-dollar industry in 1996—also, these industries provided nearly seven million jobs in that year and generated sales reaching $450 billion, most of which were attributed to the recreation and tourist economic activity.
With continued affects from red tide manifesting themselves, the tourist economy will crumble as endangered species take on new onslaughts, leaving devastating numbers behind.
The catalyst which begins the algal bloom process is the first culprit to identify, once that is completed, there must be a concentrated effort to stem the red tide, as well as a genuine cut-back on human waste materials dumped into the oceans. Continued protection of endangered species must be increased, as well as a more in-depth analysis of the implications of a food web where all organisms form a very intricate global relationship. Only through continued research and a certain open-mindedness for the necessary fund to be granted can the destructive process of red tide be stopped before there are more cases of economic, medical, and biological crisis.
Questions and Scenarios
Provide short but concise answers to the following questions:
Are there any potential benefits that could result from the red tide? If so, what could they be and how could they help benefit society?
What are some theories of how algal blooms occur and how they are sustained?
What are some harmful implications of red tide that have not been addressed in this case study?
Assume you are putting together a proposal for an inland community to help financially support red tide research, how would you convince them that this is a sound and necessary investment?
http://www.erdc.usace.army.mil/pls/erdcpub/
http://www.gulfmex.org/
http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/
http://www.whoi.edu/redtide/
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Moved to 2021 Season
IMPORTANT UPDATE:
GREASE will be moving to the 2021 Season after careful consideration of the health and safety of our students, teaching artists, and staff.
Here is Rydell High's senior class of 1959: duck-tailed, hot-rodding "Burger Palace Boys" and their gum-snapping, hip-shaking "Pink Ladies" in bobby sox and pedal pushers, evoking the look and sound of the 1950s in this rollicking musical. Head "greaser" Danny Zuko and new (good) girl Sandy Dumbrowski try to relive the high romance of their "Summer Nights" as the rest of the gang sings and dances its way through such songs as "Greased Lightnin'," "It's Raining on Prom Night," "Alone at the Drive-In Movie" recalling the music of Buddy Holly, Little Richard, and Elvis Presley that became the soundtrack of a generation. An eight-year run on Broadway and two subsequent revivals, along with innumerable school and community productions place Grease among the world's most popular musicals.
Attention 7th & 8th graders:
There will be a limited amount of spots in the Main Cast Section, so sign up early if you would like to secure a spot in that section. Due to the content of the production, most roles will be assigned to older participants. We encourage all 7th and 8th graders to audition because there may be additional opportunities for Main Cast roles. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us.
Auditions:
TBD - an email will be sent to all 7th-12th grade students registered for Grease with more details.
Callbacks:
Thursday, April 9th | Time TBD
Rehearsals:
April 16 - June 13
Sundays 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM (All Cast)
Mondays 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM (Main Cast only)
Thursdays 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM (Groups as needed)
Production Crew (Grades 5-12)
Saturdays 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Mondays 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Thursdays 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Performances: Performances are June 13th - 21st with strike to follow. Please see CALENDAR for specifics.
All sales are final. No refunds or credits will be granted for non-attendance.
Meet the Director: Carrie Carlson
Carrie has a BA in Psychology and has been involved with performance groups that have traveled across the United States from New York to California. Carrie has been a part of CPA for 11 years and has been the primary director for the past 5 years.
Grease Volunteer Requirements:
CPA requires a $150.00 Volunteer Check at the time of registration.
If the parent/guardian completes their volunteer time, the check will be shredded. If not completed, you will be notified prior to cashing your check. The requirements are as follows:
6 hours of volunteer time
Volunteer at 2 performances
Participate in set strike following the final performance
Participation Fee for Grease is $295.00. Price includes theater education and t-shirt.
We also require a $25.00 non-refundable Registration Fee per child (paid once annually for our programs).
1) Fill out a Registration Form for each child.
2) Pay $25.00 Registration Fee (paid once per calendar year per child) either electronically or via mail
3) Pay the Participation Fee, $295 for Main Cast, $125 for Chorus, or $160 for Production Crew (per child) either electronically or via mail.
4) Turn in volunteer check of $150.00. Volunteer check will be held and shredded if requirements are met.
Main Cast Registration Form
Chorus Registration Form
Production Crew REgistration Form
$25.00 Registration Fee (paid once per year per child)
Participation Fee for Main Cast or Production Crew
Programming Option
Grease Cast 9th - 12th $295.00 USD Production Crew 5th - 12th $160.00 USD
Participation Fee for Chorus
*Please note! As you click the buttons your PayPal cart will update, you may also change quantities once in your cart for multiple children. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@childrensperformingartsmn.org.
"Grease" is presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc., a Concord Theatricals Company.
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey
JIM JACOBS (Book, Music and Lyrics). Jacobs, who created Grease (in 1970) with Warren Casey, was born and raised on the mean streets of Chicago's far northwest side. During the golden era of rock 'n' roll (1956-1960) he was a guitar-playing "greaser" student at Taft High School. In 1963, Jacobs met Warren Casey when they were both cast in a local theatre production of A Shot in the Dark. Seven years later they wrote what was to become one of the greatest musicals of all time. Grease opened in 1971 in a former trolley barn called the Kingston Mines Theatre in Chicago. A year later, Grease made it to Broadway and "Greasemania" took off, resulting in one of the longest running shows in Broadway history. The 1978 movie became and remains the highest grossing movie musical of all time. Originally an actor, Jacobs has been seen on television, in motion pictures, regional theatre, national tours, and on Broadway. He is the co-author of several other plays and musicals including Island of Lost Coeds, a musical spoof of the low budget sci-fi/horror/jungle movies of the 1950s, which he wrote with Warren Casey. In May 2014, Mr. Jacobs was presented with an honorary doctorate degree from Columbia College in Chicago. He currently resides in Southern California and remains active in the theatre, especially with the American Theatre Company of Chicago. WARREN CASEY (Author, Composer and Lyricist) was born in Yonkers, New York, and attended Syracuse University. During the late '50s, he learned all about "greasers" while working as an art teacher in upstate New York. He moved to Chicago in 1962, where he hoped to pursue an acting career. He appeared in dozens of productions, including creating the role of Bernie Litko in David Mamet's Sexual Perversity in Chicago. He supported himself with jobs in retail, including working as an assistant manager of a chain of apparel stores, and as a record salesman. In the meantime, he taught himself how to play the guitar and began writing songs. Mr. Casey acted with the Chicago Stage Guild (where he met Jim Jacobs), the Old Town Players, and the Kinston Mines Theatre. The latter company staged the original production of GREASE which he wrote with Jim Jacobs. After the incredible success of both the musical and the movie, the two collaborated on Island of Lost Coeds, a musical satire of the B-movies of the 1950s. Mr. Casey died in 1988.


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Trainer Bob Baffert Speaks Out After Two Horses Killed in Head On Collision at Del Mar
Kitty Alvarado Connect
July 18, 2019 5:27 PM July 19, 2019 8:35 AM
A freak accident claimed the lives of two thoroughbred horses and injured a jockey at Del Mar Racetrack on Thursday morning.
"From the clinical examination of the horses it appears both suffered cervical fractures and both were dead on the racetrack," said Dr. Rick Arthur, a veterinary with the California Racing Board.
One of the horses that died was trained by Triple Crown winning trainer Bob Baffert, he was there when it happened.
"I've been around a long time, I've never seen anything like that it happened so quick. I'm still shaken up from it," said Baffert.
He says during the morning training session a loose horse made a turn in front of three horses running full speed, the result was catastrophic, "I've seen horses like they'll get loose and they'll hit each other but never like a head on … it was like a car hanging a U right in front of the freeway and going the wrong way that's what happened."
He says the collision was unavoidable, "Those horses were coming around and they didn't see him until two seconds before, they just like, they spread out and hit the one in the middle."
Jockey Assael Espinoza suffered a bruised back and is expected to make a full recovery. He posted a picture to social media giving a thumbs up in from his hospital bed. One of the jockeys who narrowly escaped the impact was his uncle Hall of Fame rider Victor Espinoza.
Baffert is relieved they jockeys are okay, "Luckily the rider didn't get hurt it could have been really bad, you know it could have been really really bad."
He says he and his entire staff a heartbroken, "It's hard to explain to you Kitty, you know as a horse person, everybody's pretty down."


Due to low registration numbers, we have cancelled the program on Tuesday, August 14th. We will hopefully be rescheduling it for later this fall, so check back soon! If you have any questions, email Rachel or call the library at 319-377-3412.


I'm MC (full name Marie-Clémentine). I've been living in Montreal for the past 4 years, and working as a freelance visual artist and illustrator since 2010.
My techniques and creative process have been much influenced by my industrial design background. I like to expriment and divert traditional tools (color pencils or acrylic) on all kind of supports, but I enjoy as much creating using digital tools.
I'm a big fan of antique images and objects, as they have lived through out the years and have a story of their own, which makes them unique.


Did you ever thought about having business cards as a Blogger? Because I did! I started my blog as a personal one thinking about it more as a hobby rather than a business but with years passing by I realized this is my part-time job. So why not act as a professional person and have business cards for it? It was then when the guys from Aura Print contacted me and offered me the chance to review their service.
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I didn't have an artwork prepared, only a logo and chose Intensive Red as core colour. I let them know that I would like to have a surprise so they can design my business cards. They answered to me very prompt and sent an artwork they did for me so I can approve/amend it (change the design, check the spelling etc). Of course I approved it, it was exactly what I needed, they created the perfect design to describe my blog.
My business cards were sent via DPD and the guys from Aura Print provided the tracking details so I was able to see an estimated time of delivery.
Competitive prices starting from £35.00.
I received the business cards for free in return for my honest review.


text:
Q: invertibility of a matrix with a Gaussian perturbation Suppose that $A$ is an arbitrary fixed $n\times n$ matrix and $G$ a random $n\times n$ matrix with i.i.d. $N(0,1)$ entries. Is there a simple proof that $A+G$ is invertible with probability 1?
What if $G$ is a random Wigner matrix (symmetric, upper diagonal entries are i.i.d. $N(0,1)$)? Is $A+G$ still invertible with probability 1? Is there a simple proof?

A: We  use the idea suggested by Alekk.
Let $A_{i,j}$ the entries of $A$. Then in the first case, the entries of $M:=A+G$ are Gaussian independent random variables, that is, $M_{i,j}\sim N(A_{i,j},1)$. Denote $N$ the set of elements of $\Bbb R^{n^2}$ such that the matrix of generic term $x_{i,j}$ is not invertible. This set has null Lebesgue measure in $\Bbb R^{n^2}$ as it's the zeros of a polynomial. By independence, the family $(M_{i,j},i,j\in [n])$ is Gaussian, so
$$p:=P(A+G\mbox{ is not invertible})=P((M_{i,j})_{i,j=1}^n\in S).$$
As the law of $(M_{i,j},i,j\in [n])$ is absolutely continuous with respect to Lebesgue measure in $\Bbb R^{n^2}$, we conclude that $p=0$.
In the second case, write $\det(A+G)$ as a polynomial of the $G_{i,j},i\leqslant j$, and use the fact that $(G_{i,j},1\leqslant i\leqslant j\leqslant n)$ is Gaussian to conclude in the same way as in the first case.

*

*The result doesn't depend on the choice of the deterministic matrix $A$.

*We don't need i.i.d.ness, just the fact that $(G_{i,j},i,j\in [n])$ is Gaussian in the first case, $(G_{i,j},i\leqslant j,i,j\in [n])$ in the second.

*We can have a more general result when the law of $(A_{i,j}+G_{i,j})_{i,j\in [n]}$ is absolutely continuous with respect to Lebesgue measure on $\Bbb R^{n^2}$.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Date Set for Annual Awards Banquet — Highland Park Society of Model Railroad Engineers, Inc.
at Cocos Restaurant and Bakery in Arcadia.
Drinks and fellowship begin at 6:00 PM with dinner at 7:00 PM. Presentation of awards will follow.
All members and guests can order individually off the Cocos dinner menu. Make your reservation for you and your guests with James Keena, Chief Clerk (pjkeenawhittier@msn.com). Cocos needs to know how many members and guests plan on attending so they can plan accordingly.


text:
Q: Strip HTTP/HTTPS/WWW within an IF statement Have a front-end uploader on my site that users can input a URL. So I created an IF statement to show if they do input a URL (clickable), and nothing if they don't. Now I'm trying to strip the http or https, and www if it exists (trying to achieve https//www.link.com > link.com), but don't know where to put. Assuming I use the str_replace function.
<a href="<?php

if ( get_post_meta($post->ID, 'user_submit_url',true) ) {

    echo get_post_meta($post->ID, 'user_submit_url',true);

} else {}?>" target="_blank">

<?php

if ( get_post_meta($post->ID, 'user_submit_url',true) ) {

    echo get_post_meta($post->ID, 'user_submit_url',true);

} else {}?>

Any insight is greatly appreciated!

A: Perhaps not the best solution but you could use preg_replace to define a pattern that match the http and www.
var_dump(preg_replace("#https?:\/\/(www)?\.?#i","","https://www.test.de"));

something like this. Another solution is to work with parse_url somthing like this:
var_dump(parse_url("https://www.test.de", PHP_URL_HOST));

but then you have to remove the www because it's part of the host.

A: Why don't create a function like get_user_submit_url make your code cleaner.
function get_user_submit_url(){
    if ( get_post_meta($post->ID, 'user_submit_url',true) ) {
        $user_url = get_post_meta($post->ID, 'user_submit_url',true);
        // Strip domain here
        // Not sure if you only need full path URL or only domain, so I only get the domain
        $user_domain = preg_replace('#^www\.(.+\.)#i', '$1', $parse_url($user_url)['host']);
    }
    return $user_domain;
}

So your HTML will be:
<a href="<?php echo get_user_submit_url(); ?>" target="_blank">
    <?php echo get_user_submit_url(); ?>


1. Having an exceedingly bad reputation; notorious: an infamous outlaw.
2. Causing or deserving severe public condemnation; heinous: "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury" (US Constitution, Amendment 5).
3. Law Convicted of a crime, such as treason or felony, that carries a severe punishment. No longer in technical use.


text:
Brazil's Elano Insists England Are One Of The Favourites To Win World Cup
ELANO insists Brazil believe England are a genuine threat to their hopes of winning the World Cup.
Sunday People
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The former Manchester City midfielder will start for the Samba boys in their opener against North Korea on Tuesday.
And Elano, now at Galatasaray, said: "England have such wonderful players and we consider them to be one of the favourites to win the World Cup, along with ourselves.
"I saw Wayne Rooney doing a lot of growing up when I was at City and any team knows he will be a real threat."
But Elano claims his former City boss Sven Goran Eriksson, now manager of Ivory Coast, will provide a major obstacle for the Brazilians in the so-called Group of Death, which also includes Portugal.
Elano said: "I played for Sven in my first year at City and I was lucky to have worked under him. He was great for me, and improved under him.
"We always knew Ivory Coast had a lot of good players but now they have a world-class manager too.
"Having Sven is going to improve their chances because he has so much experience around the world."
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Ivory Coast Inc.
Sven Goran Eriksson
Premier LeagueChelsea 2-2 Arsenal: 6 talking points as 10-man Gunners battle back to earn pointHector Bellerin scored a second equaliser of the game late for Arsenal to earn a point for Mikel Arteta's side despite David Luiz's early red card
Bruno FernandesMan Utd transfer target Bruno Fernandes doesn't wave bye to fans and angrily slaps cameraBruno Fernandes was playing in what may well be his final match for Sporting Lisbon in what was an ill-tempered 2-1 defeat by league rivals Braga on Tuesday night


text:
Q: Conditional probability with dependent random variables Consider random variables $n_1$ and $n_2$ such that they are independent zero mean gaussian.
Let $r_1= s+n_1$ and $r_2=s+n_1+n_2$ where $s$ is a constant.
Then,
$$f(r_2|r_1,s) = f(r_2=s+n_1+n_2|\ r_1=s+n_1,s)$$
Since we are given the observation of $s+n_1$ and $s$, we can just plug in the "parameters" and we get,
$$f(r_2|r_1,s) = f(r_2=r_1+n_2)=N(r_1,\sigma^2)$$
Now, if $n_1$ and $n_2$ are dependent, how does this change the problem? We are still given an observation of $r_1$, why can't we just plug in the observation and get the same result?

A: In the dependent case, the observation of $r_1$ can actually tell you something about $n_2$, so you cannot just plug in the observation like that. ("Plugging in" is only valid when $n_1$ and $n_2$ are independent.)
The most extreme counterexample is complete dependence $n_1 = n_2$. Then $r_1 = s + n_1$ and $r_2 = s + 2 n_1$, so knowing $r_1$ and $s$ will force $r_2 = 2r_1 - s$.

In the general case, if $(n_1, n_2)$ is bivariate normal with standard Gaussian marginals, then $n_2$ can be written as $n_2 = an_1 + b z$ for some constants $a,b$ and standard normal $z$ independent of $n_1$. Then $r_2 = an_1 + b z + s$ and $r_1 = n_1 + s$, so $r_2 = ar_1 + bz + (1-a) s$. Since $z$ and $r_1$ are independent, you can now plug in the observation of $r_1$ and look at the remaining randomness in $z$ to obtain the conditional distribution.


O'Brien House, NCADD's Baton Rouge, LA Affiliate, offers an array of programs, including both inpatient and outpatient treatment.
Life Skills Program which includes career counseling, job readiness training and job placement assistance.
The program consists of three phases.
Phase One is an average of two to three weeks in which clients may not leave the premises unless they are accompanied by a staff member except with prior approval and special permission from the treatment director. During this phase clients must attend daily 12-step meetings, including at least three outside meetings/week; attend therapeutic groups daily; demonstrate appropriate recovery skills through interaction with peers; remain in compliance with all prescribed medications at proper dosage levels, among other requirements.
Phase Two is six to eight weeks on average and requires clients to sign in and out for each activity off-premises. Among the requirements of this phase are attending five 12-step meetings/week, two of which are outside meetings; demonstrating appropriate peer interaction with the community; finding and maintaining full-time employment and developing a money management plan.
Phase Three, the final phase of the clinical program, prepares the client for transition. In order to be in this phase, client should be approximately 60 days clean and sober, have a sponsor and home group, and have all fees and savings up-to-date. Phase Three clients no longer need passes to leave the property, but they must sign in and out.
For individuals able to live without the structure of residential treatment, O'Brien House offers a multi-level Outpatient Treatment Program that allow clients to remain productive citizens, employed and living with their families, while learning new skills to deal with their addiction. Entrance is based on an assessment to determine the severity of the addiction and the ability to live independently. Clients can move from one level of treatment to another according to their progress.
To qualify, the client must have a psychosocial evaluation to determine appropriate level of care. The IOP consists of three 3-hour session per week for four weeks.
The OP is for clients who have established a period of sobriety and stabilized. This group builds on what the clients have learned from the IOP program. It is a nine week course that meets once a week for four hours.
Adult Substance Education Program (ASEP) is a component of the local DWI Diversion Program which meets one evening/week for 2 hours.