text:
\section{Introduction}
\label{sec:introduction}
In optical photography, the number of pixels representing an object, \ie the image resolution, is directly proportional to square of the focal length of the camera~\cite{geo_optics}.
While one can use a long-focus lens to obtain a high-resolution image, the range of the captured scene is usually limited by the size of the sensor array at the image plane.
Thus, it is often desirable for users to capture the wide-range scene at a lower resolution with a short-focus camera (\eg a wide-angle lens),
and then apply the single image super-resolution technique which recovers a high-resolution image from its low-resolution version.

Most state-of-the-art super-resolution methods~\cite{SRCNN,SR-VDSR,SR-regression-accv14,SR-SCN,SR-laplacian,SR-dense,SR-residual-dense,xxy-iccv17} are based on data-driven models, and in particular, deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs)~\cite{SRCNN,xxy-tip19-dehazing,xxy-icip18-temporal}.
While these methods are effective on synthetic data, they do not perform well for real captured images by cameras or cellphones (examples shown in Figure~\ref{fig:teaser}(c)) owing to lack of realistic training data and information loss of network input.
To remedy these problems and enable real scene super-resolution, we propose a new pipeline for generating training data and a dual CNN model for exploiting additional raw information, which are described as below.

First, most existing methods cannot synthesize realistic training data; the low-resolution images are usually generated with a fixed downsampling blur kernel (\eg bicubic kernel) and homoscedastic Gaussian noise~\cite{SR-residual-dense,xxy-tip18-edgedeblur}.
On one hand, the blur kernel in practice may vary with zoom, focus, and camera shake during image capturing, which is beyond the fixed kernel assumption.
On the other hand, image noise usually obeys heteroscedastic Gaussian distribution~\cite{benchmarking_denoising} whose variance depends on the pixel intensity, which is in sharp contrast to the homoscedastic Gaussian noise.
More importantly, both the blur kernel and noise should be applied to the linear raw data whereas previous approaches use the pre-processed non-linear color images.
To solve above problems,
we synthesize the training data in linear space by simulating the imaging process of digital cameras, and applying different kernels and heteroscedastic Gaussian noise to approximate real scenarios.
As shown in Figure~\ref{fig:teaser}(d), we can obtain sharper results by training existing model~\cite{SR-residual-dense} with the data from our generation pipeline.

Second,
while modern cameras provide both the raw data and the pre-processed color image (produced by the image signal processing system, \ie ISP) to users~\cite{hdr+},
most super-resolution algorithms only take the color image as input, which does not make full use of the radiance information existing in raw data.
By contrast, we directly use raw data for restoring high-resolution clear images, which conveys several advantages:
(\rmnum{1}) More information could be exploited in raw pixels since they are typically 12 or 14 bits~\cite{adobe-mit-5k}, %
whereas the color pixels produced by ISP are typically 8 bits~\cite{hdr+}.
We show a typical ISP pipeline in Figure~\ref{fig:introduction}(a).
Except for the bit depth, there is additional information loss within the ISP pipeline, such as the noise reduction and compression~\cite{pennebaker1992jpeg}.
(\rmnum{2})
Raw data is proportional to scene radiance, while the ISP contains nonlinear operations, such as tone mapping.
Thus, the linear degradations in the imaging process, including blur and noise, are nonlinear in the processed RGB space, which brings more difficulties in image restoration~\cite{raw-reconstruction}.
(\rmnum{3}) %
The demosaicing step in the ISP is highly related to super-resolution, because these two problems both refer to the resolution limitations of cameras~\cite{SR_demosaic_deep}.
Therefore, to solve the super-resolution problem with pre-processed images is sub-optimal and could be inferior to a single unified model solving both problems simultaneously.

\begin{figure}[t]
	\footnotesize
	\begin{center}
		\begin{tabular}{c}
			%
			\includegraphics[width = 0.95\linewidth]{arxiv_fig/intro2} \\
			%
			%
			%
		\end{tabular}
	\end{center}
	%
	%
	\caption{%
		Typical ISP pipeline of digital cameras.
		%
		(b) represents a Bayer pattern raw image, where the sensels surrounded by the black-dot curve is a Bayer pattern block.
		}
	\label{fig:introduction}
	%
\end{figure}

\begin{figure*}[t]
	\footnotesize
	\begin{center}
		\begin{tabular}{c}
			%
			\includegraphics[width = 0.95\linewidth]{arxiv_fig/network_overview_update.png} \\
			%
			%
			%
		\end{tabular}
	\end{center}
	%
	%
	\caption{Overview of the proposed network.
		%
		Our model has two parallel branches,
		%
		where the first branch exploits raw data $X_{raw}$ to restore high-resolution linear measurements $\widehat{X}_{lin}$ for all color channels with clear structures and fine details,
		%
		and the second branch estimates the transformation matrix to recover the final color result $\widehat{X}$ using the low-resolution color image $X_{ref}$ as reference.
		%
		%
	}
	\label{fig:network_overview}
	%
\end{figure*}

In this paper, we introduce a new super-resolution method to exploit raw data from camera sensors.
Existing raw image processing networks~\cite{learning_to_see_in_the_dark,deepisp_tip} usually learn a direct mapping function from the degraded raw image to the desired full color output.
However, raw data does not have the relevant information for color corrections conducted within the ISP system, and thereby the networks trained with it could only be used for one specific camera.
To solve this problem,
we propose a dual CNN architecture (Figure~\ref{fig:network_overview}) which takes both the degraded raw and color images as input, so that our model could generalize well to different cameras.
The proposed model consists of two parallel branches,
where the first branch restores clear structures and fine details with the raw data,
and the second branch recovers high-fidelity colors with the low-resolution RGB image as reference.
To exploit multi-scale features, we use densely connected convolution layers~\cite{densenet} in an encoder-decoder framework for image restoration.
For the color correction branch, simply adopting the technique in \cite{deepisp_tip} to learn a global transformation usually leads to artifacts and incorrect color appearances.
To address this issue, we propose to learn pixel-wise color transformations to handle more complex spatially-variant color operations and generate more appealing results.
In addition, we introduce feature fusion for more accurate color correction estimation.
As shown in Figure~\ref{fig:teaser}(e), the proposed algorithm significantly improves the super-resolution results for real captured images.

The main contributions of this work are summarized as follows.
First, we design a new data generation pipeline which enables synthesizing realistic raw and color training data for image super-resolution.
Second, we develop a dual network architecture to exploit both raw data and color images for real scene super-resolution, which is able to generalize to different cameras.
In addition, we propose to learn spatial-variant color transformations as well as feature fusion for better performance.
Extensive experiments demonstrate that solving the problem using raw data helps recover fine details and clear structures, and more importantly, the proposed network and data generation pipeline achieve superior results for single image super-resolution in real scenarios.

\section{Related Work}
We discuss state-of-the-art super-resolution methods as well as learning-based raw image processing, and put this work in proper context.

\vspace{1ex}
{\noindent \bf{Super-resolution.}} %
Most state-of-the-art super-resolution methods~\cite{SR-SCN,SR-VDSR,SR-dense,SRCNN,SR-residual-dense,SR-laplacian,FSRCNN,xxy-iccv17} learn CNNs to reconstruct high-resolution images from low-resolution color inputs.
Dong \etal~\cite{SRCNN} propose a three-layer CNN for mapping the low-resolution patches to high-resolution space, but fail to get better results with deeper networks~\cite{SRCNN_pami}.
To solve this problem, Kim \etal~\cite{SR-VDSR} introduce residual learning to accelerate training and achieve better results.
Tong \etal~\cite{SR-dense} use dense skip connections to further speed up the reconstruction process.
While these methods are effective in interpolating pixels, they are based on preprocessed color images and thus have limitations in producing realistic details.
By contrast, we propose to exploit both raw data and color image in a unified framework for better super-resolution.

\vspace{1ex}
{\noindent \bf{Joint super-resolution and demosaicing.}} %
Many existing methods for this problem estimate a high-resolution color image with multiple low-resolution frames~\cite{farsiu2006multiframe,vandewalle2007joint}.
More closely related to our task, Zhou \etal~\cite{SR_demosaic_deep} propose a deep residual network for single image super-resolution with mosaiced images.
However, this model is trained on gamma-corrected image pairs which may not work well for real linear data.
More importantly, these works do not consider the complex color correction steps applied by camera ISPs, and thus cannot recover high-fidelity color appearances.
Different from them, the proposed algorithm solves the problems of image restoration and color correction simultaneously, which are more suitable for real applications.

\vspace{1ex}
{\noindent \bf{Learning-based raw image processing.}} %
In recent years, learning-based methods have been proposed for raw image processing~\cite{jiang2017learning,learning_to_see_in_the_dark,deepisp_tip}.
Jiang \etal~\cite{jiang2017learning} propose to learn a large collection of local linear filters to approximate the complex nonlinear ISP pipelines.
Following their work, Schwartz \etal~\cite{deepisp_tip} use deep CNNs for learning the color correction operations of specific digital cameras.
Chen~\etal~\cite{learning_to_see_in_the_dark} train a neural network with raw data as input for fast low-light imaging.
In this work, we learn color correction in the context of raw image super-resolution. Instead of learning a color correction pipeline for one specific camera, we use a low-resolution color image as reference for handling images from more diverse ISP systems.

\begin{figure*}[t]
	\footnotesize
	\begin{center}
		\begin{tabular}{c}
			%
			\includegraphics[width = 0.95\linewidth]{arxiv_fig/branch1_update} \\
			%
			%
			%
		\end{tabular}
	\end{center}
	%
	%
	\caption{%
		The image restoration branch adopts dense blocks in an encoder-decoder framework,
		%
		which reconstructs high-resolution linear color measurements $\widehat{X}_{lin}$ from the degraded low-resolution raw input $X_{raw}$.
		%
		%
	}
	\label{fig:branch1}
	%
\end{figure*}
\section{Method}
For better super-resolution results in real scenarios, we propose a new data generation pipeline to synthesize more realistic training data, and a dual CNN model to exploit the radiance information recorded in raw data.
We describe the synthetic data generation pipeline in Section~\ref{sec:training_data} and the network architecture in Section~\ref{sec:network}.

\subsection{Training Data}
\label{sec:training_data}
Most super-resolution methods~\cite{SR-VDSR,SRCNN} generate training data by downsampling high-resolution color images with a fixed bicubic blur kernel.
And homoscedastic Gaussian noise is often used to model real image noise~\cite{SR-residual-dense}.
However, as introduced in Section~\ref{sec:introduction}, the low-resolution images generated in this way does not resemble real captured images and will be less effective for training real scene super-resolution models.
Moreover, we need to generate low-resolution raw data as well for training the proposed dual CNN, which is often approached by directly mosaicing the low-resolution color images~\cite{demosaicking_denoising_deep,SR_demosaic_deep}.
This strategy ignores the fact that the color images have been processed by nonlinear operations of the ISP system  while the raw data should be from linear color measurements of the pixels.
To solve these problems, we start with high-quality raw images~\cite{adobe-mit-5k} and generate realistic training data by simulating the imaging process of the degraded images.
We first synthesize ground truth linear color measurements by downsampling the high-quality raw images so that each pixel could have its ground truth red, green and blue values.
In particular, for Bayer pattern raw data (Figure~\ref{fig:introduction}(b)), we define a block of Bayer pattern sensels as one new virtual sensel,
where all color measurements are available.
In this way, we can obtain the desired images $X_{lin} \in \mathbb{R}^{H\times W \times 3}$ with linear measurements of all three colors for each pixel.
$H$ and $W$ denote the height and width of the ground truth linear image.
Similar with~\cite{demosaic_denoise_randomfields}, we compensate the color shift artifact by aligning the center of mass of each color in the new sensel.
With the ground truth linear measurements $X_{lin}$, we can easily generate the ground truth color images $X_{gt} \in \mathbb{R}^{H\times W \times 3}$ by simulating the color correction steps of the camera ISP system, such as color space conversion and tone adjustment.
For the simulation, we use Dcraw~\cite{dcraw}  which is a widely-used raw processing software.

To generate degraded low-resolution raw images $X_{raw} \in \mathbb{R}^{\frac{H}{2}\times \frac{W}{2}}$, we separately apply blurring, downsampling, Bayer sampling, and noise onto the linear color measurements:
\begin{align}
X_{raw}=f_{Bayer}(f_{down}(X_{lin}*k_{def}*k_{mot}))+n,
\end{align}
where $f_{Bayer}$ is the Bayer sampling function which mosaics images in accordance with the Bayer pattern (Figure~\ref{fig:introduction}(b)).
$f_{down}$ represents the downsampling function with a sampling factor of two.
Since the imaging process is likely to be affected by out-of-focus effect as well as camera shake,
we consider both defocus blur $k_{def}$ modeled as disk kernels with variant sizes, and modest motion blur $k_{mot}$ generated by random walk~\cite{schuler2013machine}.
$*$ denotes the convolution operator.
To synthesize more realistic training data,
we add heteroscedastic Gaussian noise~\cite{KPN,benchmarking_denoising,healey1994radiometric} to the generated raw data:
\begin{align}
n(x) \sim \mathcal{N}(0, \sigma_1^2 x+\sigma_2^2),
\end{align}
where the variance of noise $n$ depends on the pixel intensity $x$. $\sigma_1$ and $\sigma_2$ are parameters of the noise.
Finally,  the raw image $X_{raw}$ is demosaiced with the AHD~\cite{AHD2005}, a commonly-used demosaicing method, and further processed by Dcraw to produce the low-resolution color image $X_{ref} \in \mathbb{R}^{\frac{H}{2}\times \frac{W}{2} \times 3}$.
We compress $X_{ref}$ as 8-bit JPEG as normally done in digital cameras.
Note that the settings for the color correction steps in Dcraw are the same as those used in generating $X_{gt}$, so that the reference colors correspond well to the ground truth.
The proposed pipeline synthesizes realistic data so that the models trained on $X_{raw}$ and $X_{ref}$ generalize well to real degraded raw and color images (Figure~\ref{fig:teaser}(e)).

\subsection{Network Architecture}
\label{sec:network}
A straightforward way to exploit raw data for super-resolution is to directly learn a mapping function from raw images to high-resolution color images with neural networks.
While the raw data is advantageous for image restoration,
this naive strategy does not work well in practice;
because the raw data does not have the relevant information for color correction and tone enhancement which have been conducted within the ISP system of digital cameras.
In fact, one raw image could potentially correspond to multiple ground truth color images generated by different image processing algorithms of various ISP pipelines, which will confuse the network training and make it non-practical to train a model to reconstruct high-resolution images with desired colors.
To solve this problem, we propose a two-branch CNN as shown in Figure~\ref{fig:network_overview}, where the first branch exploits raw data to restore high-resolution linear measurements for all color channels with clear structures and fine details,
and the second branch estimates the transformation matrix to recover high-fidelity color appearances using the low-resolution color image as reference.
The reference image complements the limitations of raw data; thus, jointly training two branches with raw and color data could essentially help recover better results.

\vspace{1ex}
{{\noindent \bf{Image restoration.}}} %
We show an illustration of the image restoration network in Figure~\ref{fig:branch1}.
Similar with~\cite{learning_to_see_in_the_dark}, we first pack the raw data $X_{raw}$ into four channels which respectively correspond to the R, G, B, G patterns in Figure~\ref{fig:introduction}(b). %
Then we apply a convolution layer to the packed four-channel input for learning low-level features, and consecutively adopt four dense blocks~\cite{densenet,SR-dense} to learn more complex nonlinear mappings for image restoration.
The dense block is composed of eight densely connected convolution layers.
Different from previous work~\cite{densenet,SR-dense}, we deploy the dense blocks in an encoder-decoder framework to make the model more compact and efficient. We use $g_1(X_{raw})$ to denote the encoded features as shown in Figure~\ref{fig:branch1}.
Finally, the feature maps with the same spatial size are concatenated and fed into a convolution layer, and this layer produces $48$ feature maps which are rearranged by a sub-pixel layer~\cite{shi2016real} to restore the three-channel linear measurements  $\widehat{X}_{lin} \in \mathbb{R}^{H\times W \times 3}$  with $2$ times resolution of the input.

\begin{figure}[t]
	\footnotesize
	\begin{center}
		\begin{tabular}{c}
			%
			\includegraphics[width = 1\linewidth]{arxiv_fig/branch2_update.png} \\
			%
			%
			%
		\end{tabular}
	\end{center}
	%
	%
	\caption{%
		Network architecture of the color correction branch.
		%
		Our model predicts the pixel-wise transformation $\mathscr{L}(X_{ref})$ with a reference color image.
		%
		%
	}
	\label{fig:branch2}
	%
\end{figure}

\vspace{1ex}
{\noindent \bf{Color correction.}}
With the predicted linear measurements  $\widehat{X}_{lin}$, we learn the second branch for color correction which reconstructs the final result $\widehat{X}  \in \mathbb{R}^{H\times W \times 3}$ using the color reference image $X_{ref}$.
Similar with~\cite{deepisp_tip},
we use a CNN to estimate a transformation $\mathscr{G}(X_{ref}) \in \mathbb{R}^{3\times 3}$ to produce a global color correction of the image.
Mathematically, the correction could be formulated as:  $\mathscr{G}(X_{ref}) \widehat{X}_{lin}[i, j]$,
where $\widehat{X}_{lin}[i,j] \in \mathbb{R}^{3\times 1}$ represents the RGB values at pixel $[i,j]$ of the linear image.
However, this global correction strategy does not work well when the color transformation of camera ISP involves spatially-variant operations.

To solve this problem,
we propose to learn a pixel-wise transformation $\mathscr{L}(X_{ref}) \in \mathbb{R}^{H\times W \times 3\times 3}$ which allows different color corrections for each spatial location.
Thus, we can generate the final results as:
\begin{align}
\widehat{X}[i,j]=\mathscr{L}(X_{ref})[i,j] \widehat{X}_{lin}[i, j],
\end{align}
where $\mathscr{L}(X_{ref})[i,j] \in \mathbb{R}^{3\times 3}$ is the local transformation matrix for the RGB vector at pixel $[i,j]$.
Note that we directly transform the RGB vectors instead of using the quadratic form in~\cite{deepisp_tip} as we empirically find no benefits from it.

We adopt a U-Net structure~\cite{xxy-eccv18-monodepth,xxy-eccv18-rendering} for predicting the transformation $\mathscr{L}(X_{ref})$ in Figure~\ref{fig:branch2}.
The CNN starts with an encoder including three convolution layers with $2\times2$ average pooling to extract the encoded features $g_2(X_{ref})$.
To estimate the spatially-variant transformations,
we adopt a decoder consisting of consecutive deconvolution and convolution layers, which expands the encoded features to the desired resolution $H\times W$.
We concatenate the feature maps with the same resolution in the encoder and decoder to exploit hierarchy features.
Finally, the output layer of the decoder  generates $3\times 3$ weights for each pixel, which form the pixel-wise transformation matrix $\mathscr{L}(X_{ref})$.

\vspace{1ex}
{\noindent \bf{Feature fusion.}}
As the transformation $\mathscr{L}(X_{ref})$ is applied to the restored image,
it would be beneficial to make the matrix estimation network aware of the features in the image restoration branch, so that $\mathscr{L}(X_{ref})$ could more accurately adapt to the structures of the restored image.
Towards this end,
we develop feature fusion for $g_2(X_{ref})$ using the encoded features from the first branch $g_1(X_{raw})$.
As $g_2(X_{ref})$ and $g_1(X_{raw})$ are likely to have different scales, we fuse them by weighted sum where the weights are learned to adaptively update the features.
We could formulate the feature fusion as:
\begin{align}
	g_2(X_{ref}) \leftarrow g_2(X_{ref})+\phi (g_1(X_{raw})),
\end{align}
where $\phi$ is a $1 \times 1$ convolution.
After this, we put the updated $g_2(X_{ref})$ back into the original branch, and the following decoder could further use the fused features for transformation estimation.
The convolutions are initialized with zeros to avoid interrupting the initial behavior of the color correction branch.

\begin{figure*}[t]
	\footnotesize
	\begin{center}
		\begin{tabular}{c}
			%
			\includegraphics[width = 0.99\linewidth]{arxiv_fig/syn1.jpg} \\
			%
			%
			%
		\end{tabular}
	\end{center}
	%
	%
	\caption{%
		Results on our synthetic dataset. References for the baseline methods could be found in Table~\ref{tab:syn1}. ``GT" represent ground truth.
	}
	\label{fig:synthetic}
	%
\end{figure*}

\section{Experimental Results}
We describe the implementation details of our method and present analysis and evaluations on both synthetic and real data in this section.

\subsection{Implementation Details}
For generating training data, we use the MIT-Adobe 5K dataset~\cite{adobe-mit-5k} which is composed of $5000$ raw photographs with size around $2000\times 3000$.
After manually removing images with noticeable noise and blur,
we obtain $1300$ high-quality images for training and $150$ for testing which are captured by $19$ types of Canon cameras.
We use the method described in Section~\ref{sec:training_data} to synthesize the training and test datasets.
The radius of the defocus blur is randomly sampled from $[1, 5]$ and the maximum size of the motion kernel is sampled from $[3, 11]$.
The noise parameters $\sigma_1, \sigma_2$ are respectively sampled from $[0,10^{-2}]$ and $[0,10^{-3}]$.

We use the Xavier initializer~\cite{glorot2010understanding} for the network weights and the LeakyReLU~\cite{leakyRelu} with slope 0.2 as the activation function.
We adopt the $L_1$ loss function for training the network and use the Adam optimizer~\cite{kingma2014adam} with initial learning rate $2\times 10^{-4}$.
We crop $256\times 256$ patches as input and use a batch size of $6$.
We first train the model with $4\times10^{4}$ iterations where the learning rate is decreased by a factor of $0.96$ every $2\times 10^3$ updates, and then another $4\times10^{4}$ iterations at a lower rate $10^{-5}$.
During the test phase,
we chop the input into overlapping patches and process each patch separately.
The reconstructed high-resolution patches are placed back to the corresponding locations and averaged in overlapping regions.

\vspace{1ex}
{\noindent \bf{Baseline methods.}} %
We compare our method with state-of-the-art super-resolution methods~\cite{SRCNN,SR-VDSR,SR-dense,SR-residual-dense} as well as learning-based raw image processing algorithms~\cite{learning_to_see_in_the_dark,deepisp_tip}.
As the raw image processing networks~\cite{learning_to_see_in_the_dark,deepisp_tip} are not originally designed for super-resolution, we add deconvolution layers after them for increasing the output resolution.
All the baseline models are trained on our data with the same settings.

\begin{figure*}[t]
	\footnotesize
	\begin{center}
		\begin{tabular}{c}
			%
			\includegraphics[width = 0.99\linewidth]{arxiv_fig/ablation_average.jpg} \\
			%
			%
			%
		\end{tabular}
	\end{center}
	%
	%
	\caption{%
		Ablation study of the proposed network on the synthetic dataset.
	}
	\label{fig:ablation}
	%
\end{figure*}

\begin{figure*}[t]
	\footnotesize
	\begin{center}
		\begin{tabular}{c}
			%
			\includegraphics[width = 0.99\linewidth]{arxiv_fig/artistic2_new.jpg} \\
			%
			%
			%
		\end{tabular}
	\end{center}
	%
	%
	\caption{%
		Generalization to manually retouched color images from MIT-Adobe 5K dataset~\cite{adobe-mit-5k}. The proposed method generates clear structures and high-fidelity colors.
	}
	\label{fig:artistic}
	%
\end{figure*}

\begin{table}[t]
	%
	\caption{\label{tab:syn1}Quantitative evaluations on the proposed synthetic dataset. ``Blind" represents the images with variable blur kernels, and ``Non-blind" denotes fixed kernel.
		%
		{\color{red}Red} and {\color{blue}blue} text indicates the first and second best performance, respectively.
		%
	}
	%
	%
	\footnotesize
	%
	%
	\centering
	%
	\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|c|}
		\hline
		\multicolumn{1}{|c|}{\multirow{2}*{Methods}}&\multicolumn{2}{|c|}{Blind}&\multicolumn{2}{|c|}{Non-blind}\\
		\cline{2-5}
		& PSNR & SSIM & PSNR & SSIM \\    %
		\hline
		%
		%
		%
		SID~\cite{learning_to_see_in_the_dark} & 21.87 & 0.7325 & 21.89 & 0.7346  \\
		%
		DeepISP~\cite{deepisp_tip}& 21.71 & 0.7323 & 21.84 & 0.7382  \\
		%
		\hline
		%
		SRCNN~\cite{SRCNN}& 28.83 & 0.7556 & 29.19 & 0.7625  \\
		%
		VDSR~\cite{SR-VDSR} & 29.32 & 0.7686 & 29.88 & 0.7803  \\
		%
		SRDenseNet~\cite{SR-dense} & 29.46 & 0.7732 & 30.05 & 0.7844  \\
		%
		RDN~\cite{SR-residual-dense}& 29.93 & 0.7804 & 30.46 & 0.7897  \\
		%
		%
		%
		%
		\hline
		w/o color branch& 20.54 & 0.7252  & 21.13 & 0.7413 \\
		%
		w/o local color correction& 29.81 & 0.7954 & 30.29 & 0.8095 \\
		%
		w/o raw input & 30.05 & 0.7827 & 30.51 & 0.7921  \\
		%
		w/o feature fusion & {\color{blue}30.73} & {\color{blue}0.8025} & {\color{blue}31.68} & {\color{blue}0.8252}  \\
		%
		Ours full model & {\color{red}30.79} & {\color{red}0.8044} & {\color{red}31.79} & {\color{red}0.8272}  \\
		\hline
		%
	\end{tabular}
\end{table}

 %
 %
\subsection{Results on Synthetic Data}
We quantitatively evaluate our method using the test dataset described above.
Table~\ref{tab:syn1} shows that the proposed algorithm performs favorably against the baseline methods in terms of both PSNR and structural similarity (SSIM).
Figures~\ref{fig:synthetic} shows some restored results from our synthetic dataset.
Since the low-resolution raw input does not have the relevant information for color conversion and tone adjustment conducted within the ISP system, the raw image processing methods~\cite{learning_to_see_in_the_dark,deepisp_tip} can only approximate the color corrections of one specific camera, and thereby cannot recover good results for different camera types in our test set.
In addition, the training process of the raw processing models is influenced by the color differences between the predictions and ground truth, and cannot focus on restoring sharp structures. Thus, the results in Figures~\ref{fig:synthetic}(c) are still blurry.
Figure~\ref{fig:synthetic}(d)-(e) show that the super-resolution methods with low-resolution color image as input generate shaper results with correct colors, which, however, still lack fine details.
In contrast, our method achieves better results with clear structures and fine details in Figure~\ref{fig:synthetic}(f) by exploiting both the color input and raw radiance information.

\begin{figure*}[t]
	\footnotesize
	\begin{center}
		\begin{tabular}{c}
			%
			\includegraphics[width = 0.99\linewidth]{arxiv_fig/real2.jpg} \\
			%
			%
			%
		\end{tabular}
	\end{center}
	%
	%
	\caption{%
		Results on real images. Since the outputs are of ultra-high resolution, typically $8000\times12000$ for a Leica camera and $4000\times 6000$ for Canon, we only show image patches cropped from the tiny yellow boxes in (a). The images from top to bottom are captured by Canon, Sony, Nikon and Leica cameras, respectively.
	}
	\label{fig:real}
	%
\end{figure*}

\vspace{1ex}
{\noindent \bf{Non-blind super-resolution.}} %
Since most super-resolution methods~\cite{SRCNN,SR-VDSR,SR-residual-dense} are non-blind with the assumption that the downsampling blur kernel is known and fixed,
we also evaluate our method for this case by using fixed defocus kernel with radius 5 to synthesize training and test datasets.
As shown in Table~\ref{tab:syn1}, the proposed method achieves competitive super-resolution results under non-blind settings.

\vspace{1ex}
{\noindent \bf{Learning more complex color corrections.}} %
In addition to the reference images rendered by Dcraw,
we also train the proposed model on manually retouched images by photography artists from the MIT-Adobe 5K dataset~\cite{adobe-mit-5k},
which represent more diverse ISP systems.
We test our model on the same raw input with different reference images produced by different artists in Figure~\ref{fig:artistic}.
The proposed algorithm generates clear structures as well as high-fidelity colors, which shows that our method is able to generalize to more diverse and complex ISP systems.

\subsection{Ablation Study}
For better evaluation of the proposed algorithm,
we test variant versions of our model by removing each component.
We show the quantitative results on the synthetic datasets in Table~\ref{tab:syn1} and provide qualitative comparisons in Figure~\ref{fig:ablation}.
First, without the color correction branch, the network directly uses the low-resolution raw input for super-resolution, which cannot effectively recover high-fidelity colors for diverse cameras (Figure~\ref{fig:ablation}(c)).
Second, simply adopting the global color correction strategy from~\cite{deepisp_tip} could only recover holistic color appearances, such as in the background of Figure~\ref{fig:ablation}(d), but there are still significant color errors in local regions without the proposed pixel-wise transformations.
Third, to evaluate the importance of the raw input, we use the low-resolution color image as the input for both branches of our network, which is enabled by adaptively changing the packing layer of the image restoration branch.
As shown in Figure~\ref{fig:ablation}(e), the model without raw input cannot generate fine structures and details due to the information loss in the ISP system.
In addition, the network without feature fusion cannot predict accurate transformations and tends to bring color artifacts around subtle structures in Figure~\ref{fig:ablation}(f).
By contrast, our full model effectively integrates different components, and generates sharper results with better details and fewer artifacts in Figure~\ref{fig:ablation}(g) by exploiting the complementary information in raw data and preprocessed color images.

\subsection{Effectiveness on Real Images}
We qualitatively evaluate our data generation method as well as the proposed network on real captured images.
As shown in Figure~\ref{fig:teaser}(d) and \ref{fig:real}(d),
the results of RDN become sharper after re-training with the data generated by our pipeline.
On the other hand,
the proposed dual CNN model cannot generate clear images (Figure~\ref{fig:real}(e)) by training on previous data generated by bicubic downsampling, homoscedastic Gaussian noise and non-linear space mosaicing~\cite{SRCNN,demosaicking_denoising_deep}.
By contrast, we achieve better results with sharper edges and finer details by training the proposed network on our synthetic dataset as shown in Figure~\ref{fig:teaser}(e) and \ref{fig:real}(f), which demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed data generation pipeline as well as the raw super-resolution algorithm.
Note that the real images are captured by different types of cameras, and all of them are not seen during training.

\section{Conclusions}
We propose a new pipeline to generate realistic training data by simulating the imaging process of digital cameras.
In addition, we develop a dual CNN to exploit the radiance information recorded in raw data.
The proposed algorithm compares favorably against state-of-the-art  methods both quantitatively and qualitatively, and more importantly, enables super-resolution for real captured images.
This work shows the superiority of learning with raw data, and we expect more applications of our work in other image processing problems.

{\small
\bibliographystyle{ieee}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


According to a first aspect of the present application, a method of wirelessly communicating with a mobile unit is disclosed. The method comprises: establishing a communication link between a first mobile unit and a website; searching a list of users via a log comprising an address of a second mobile unit; outputting a match comprising the address of the second mobile unit via a display; constructing a communication comprising a plurality of information fields, the plurality of information fields comprising an address of the first mobile unit and the address of the second mobile unit; transmitting the communication from the first mobile unit, through the website, to the second mobile unit; and storing information related to the communication in a communication log.
According to a second aspect of the present application, a method of wirelessly communicating with a mobile unit is disclosed. The method comprises: establishing a communication link between a first mobile unit and a website; receiving a first communication by a user of the first mobile unit, through the website, from a second mobile unit; displaying the first communication via an audio-visual interface of the first mobile unit; inputting, from the user, a second communication via the audio-visual interface of the first mobile unit; sending the second communication, through the website, to the second mobile unit; and storing information related to the second communication in a communication log.
According to a third aspect of the present application, a method of wirelessly communicating with a first mobile unit is disclosed. The method comprises: storing information at a website, the information associated with the first mobile unit comprising a microprocessor; establishing a communication link between the first mobile unit and the website; establishing a communication link between a second mobile unit and the website; receiving, by the website, a first communication from the second mobile unit; forwarding, by the website, information related to the first communication to the first mobile unit; receiving, by the website, a second communication from the first mobile unit; forwarding, by the website, information related to the second communication to the second mobile unit; and storing information related to the first communication in a communication log.
FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a first example method of wirelessly communicating with a mobile unit.
FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a second example method of wirelessly communicating with a mobile unit.
FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of an example method of wirelessly communicating with a first mobile unit.
The system could be programmed to recognize an accident. When, or if, an accident occurs, a signal could be sent (and received) by any vehicle(s) involved to all vehicles in the area recording speed (including acceleration and deceleration that each vehicle was traveling at the time of the accident). The system could also provide registration and time that the accident occurred. The system could allow this information regarding the accident to be downloaded from all vehicles and stored for later review by police or printed by a police officer who arrived at the accident scene. The police officer's system could compare information from each of the vehicle's systems to determine the cause of the accident.
The system could include a "repeater" built into vehicles and/or toll booth(s), red light(s), telephone pole(s), towers, and the like. The repeater service could allow "signals" and "receivers" to carry much farther. The repeater service could network in such a way to give an overall "grid coverage" to very large geographical areas. The system could be monitored with a "system administrator" that would be able to perform numerous tasks such as find individual vehicles within the grid, change vehicle signals, or privately warn other vehicles about another vehicle traveling in their proximity.
The system could be linked to a web site such as "vehicletalk.com" that would allow storage of information and system administering through the Internet.
Referring to FIG. 7, a first example method 700 of wirelessly communicating with a mobile unit is illustrated. As shown at block 705, a communication link is established between a first mobile unit and a website. At block 710, a list of users is searched via a log comprising an address of a second mobile unit. A match comprising the address of the second mobile unit is output via a display at block 715.
As shown at block 720, a communication is constructed. The communication comprises a plurality of information fields which comprises an address of the first mobile unit and the address of the second mobile unit. The communication is transmitted from the first mobile unit, through the website, to the second mobile unit, as shown at block 725, and information related to the communication is stored in a communication log, as shown at block 730.
Referring to FIG. 8, a second example method 800 of wirelessly communicating with a mobile unit is illustrated. As shown at block 805, a communication link is established between a first mobile unit and a website. At block 810, a user of the first mobile unit receives a first communication, through the website, from a second mobile unit. The first communication is displayed via an audio-visual interface of the first mobile unit, as shown by block 815.
As shown at block 820, a second communication is input from the user via the audio-visual interface of the first mobile unit. The second communication is sent, through the website, to the second mobile unit, as shown at block 825, and information related to the second communication is stored in a communication log, as shown at block 830.
Referring to FIG. 9, an example method 900 of wirelessly communicating with a first mobile unit is illustrated. As shown at block 905, information is stored at a website. The information is associated with the first mobile unit comprising a microprocessor. A communication link is established between the first mobile unit and the website at block 910; and a communication link is established between a second mobile unit and the website at block 915. As shown at block 920, the website receives a first communication from the second mobile unit; and the website forwards information related to the first communication to the first mobile unit at block 925.
At block 930, the website receives a second communication from the first mobile unit; and the website forwards information related to the second communication to the second mobile unit at block 935. At block 940, information related to the first communication is stored in a communication log.
storing information related to the communication in a communication log.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication comprises a text file.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first mobile unit and/or the second mobile comprises a cellular phone.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of information fields further comprises the position of the first mobile unit.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of information fields further comprises an advertisement.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of information fields further comprises a traffic update.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of information fields further comprises weather information.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of information fields further comprises a security field.
storing information related to the second communication in a communication log.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first communication and/or the second communication comprises a text file.
11. The method of claim 9 wherein the first mobile unit and/or the second mobile unit comprises a cellular phone.
12. The method of claim 9, wherein the second communication comprises the position of the first mobile unit.
13. The method of claim 9, wherein the first communication comprises an advertisement.
14. The method of claim 9, wherein the first communication comprises a traffic update.
15. The method of claim 9, wherein the first communication comprises weather information.
storing information related to the first communication in a communication log.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the first communication and/or the second communication comprises a text file.
18. The method of claim 16, wherein the first mobile unit and/or the second mobile unit comprises a cellular phone.
19. The method of claim 16, wherein the first communication comprises the position of the second mobile unit.
20. The method of claim 16, wherein the second communication comprises an advertisement.
21. The method of claim 16, wherein the second communication comprises a traffic update.
22. The method of claim 16, wherein the second communication comprises weather information.


text:
Main Latest Sport News
Latest Sport NewsFootball NewsLatest World News
Lionel Messi wins 6th Pichichi Trophy, equals Telmo Zarra 66 years record
a month ago 2611 views by Oluwatomiwa Babalola
- Lionel Messi has won his sixth Spanish League top scorer's award after finishing the season with 36 goals
- The 32-year-old star beats teammate Suarez and Real Madrid star Karim Benzema to win the prize
- It will be the first time in the history of the league that the winner would beat other competitors by five goals margin
Lionel Messi scored twice against Eibar to help Barcelona end their La Liga season with a 2-2 draw against Eibar at the Municipal del Ipurua on Sunday, May 19.
The two goals took the Argentine's tally in the Spanish League to 36 after featuring in just 34 games at the recently concluded season. He also assisted 13 other goals in the process.
At the end of the campaign, the 32-year-old finished as the highest goals scorer with 36 goals - beating teammate, Luis Suarez (29) and Karim Benzema (29) to win the top prize.
Messi, who won the top goals scorer in Spain for the third consecutive time took his tally of Pichichi Trophies to six and equal the record set by former Athletic Club star Telmo Zarra 66 years ago.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner also contributed heavily to his side emerging victorious in the league, although was unable to help them avoid crashing out of the Champions League.
According to Goal.com, no player has ever won the Pichichi by such a clear margin - the previous record of 14 was set in 1986-87 by Hugo Sanchez.
This is the fifth season the Argentine has scored 50 goals in a season and could increase the tally when Barcelona battle Valencia for the Copa Del Rey title this weekend.
His incredible performance in the season makes him one of the favourites to win the Ballon d'Or title this year.
PAY ATTENTION: Install Pitch Football App for FREE to get the latest football News & Scores
The five-time winner of the award finished fifth in the running last year as he and Cristiano Ronaldo's long hold on it was brought to an end by Luka Modric.
Messi is also on course to win the European golden boot award this season having scored a total of 50 goals in all competitions for Barcelona in the out-gone season.
The Catalans captain is battling with Paris Saint Germain youngster Kylian Mbappe, who has 38 goals in all competitions so far.
Legit.ng earlier reported that Lionel Messi scored twice as Barcelona were forced to 2-2 draw by Eibar in last La Liga match of the season.
A goal each from Marc Cucurella and Pablo De Blasis in either halves of the meeting ensure the home team share spoils at the end of the game.
The Catalans finished the league with 87 points after 38 matches and retain the La Liga title at the end of the recently concluded season.
NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better
Lionel Messi is a game changer and can destroy - Moses Simon - Legit TV
Lionel Messi Latest NewsBarcelona FC Latest NewsReal Madrid Latest NewsSuarez
Zidane agrees new 4-year extension for Real Madrid star despite coming under huge criticisms

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
OKC eyes Cavs' Alec Burks, Hawks' Taurean Prince before NBA trade deadline
Kenny Honaker
Though the NBA's trade deadline is just over 24 hours away (Feb. 7 at 3:00 p.m. ET), the Oklahoma City Thunder are still searching for ways to bolster their roster. There are several players available, but OKC seems to have their eyes on two players in particular: Cavs shooting guard Alec Burks and Hawks swingman Taurean Prince.
The Thunder, who are currently holding the No. 2 seed in the Northwest Division standings with a 34-19 overall record, are said to be interested in adding a solid wing player. Whether it be Burks or Prince, both would fit that bill.
Via Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer:
The Thunder are said to have interest in Burks as they scope out the market for a backup wing, according to league sources. Oklahoma City has a $10.9 million traded-player exception to use to absorb a salary. The Thunder have also inquired about Hawks forward Taurean Prince, who I reported was available last month on The Ringer NBA Show.
Burks, now 27 years of age, is enjoying a fine season with the downtrodden Cavs. The former 12th overall pick has made 34 appearances with Cleveland this season (24 starts), racking up averages of 11.6 points on 40.6 percent shooting from the field (37.8 percent from beyond the arc), 5.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 28.8 minutes per outing.
The Cavs acquired Burks by way of a trade with the Jazz in November — the same deal that sent Kyle Korver to Utah. Burks, who's earning roughly $11.2 million this season, is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent following the 2018-19 campaign.
Prince, 24, is in his third year of service with the Hawks. The former Baylor Bear has played in 32 games this season, averaging 13.5 points on 44.0 percent shooting from the field (37.4 percent from downtown), 3.8 rebounds. 1.9 assists and 1.1 steals in 27.4 minutes per contest.
According to spotrac.com, Prince is slated to earn a base salary of $2,526,840 for the 2018-19 season, while carrying a cap hit of $2,526,840 and a dead cap value of $6,008,826. He'll have a shot at restricted free agency in 2020.
Prince knows his name is being tossed about in trade discussions, but he's made it known that he would like to stay in Atlanta.
"It's part of the game, but I think everyone in this locker room knows, my family knows, Travis [Schlenk] knows and from top to bottom down, I want to be here," Prince told The Athletic.
Whether or not the Thunder will be able to land either of these players remains to be seen, but it sounds like they're interested. Stay tuned for more updates on this topic as they become available.
JUST IN: New Orleans still exploring Julius Randle, Nikola Mirotic trade before deadline
Related TopicsAlec BurksCavaliersHawkstaurean princeThunder


Want to access inspiring stories and growth techniques to accelerate your leadership impact?
Sign-up to receive monthly leadership development tips, videos, growth exercises & insights directly to your inbox, from both myself and other senior leaders.
Plus be in with a chance to be selected for a complimentary 30 minute live change mentoring telephone clinic to help overcome a leadership, change or growth challenge that you, your senior leadership team or your business is currently facing.
Look forward to you joining my community!
To put yourself forward (in the strictest of confidence) to benefit from the complimentary live Change Mentoring, send me a quick overview of your situation and what would be most helpful to accelerate your progress.


Phoebe, a French bulldog, was attacked by a red hawk and luckily escaped alive.
According to News12, Phoebe was in the front yard of her owner, Chris Gooch. The hawk swooped down and attacked the dog. While Phoebe was able to fight off the bird, she still suffered injuries from the hawk's talons.
Red-tailed Hawks weigh between 1.5 and 3.5 pounds, so they normally prey on smaller animals like mice and squirrels. The 25-pound Phoebe was in no danger of being swooped up, but could have been severely injured if the talons had struck her major arteries.
Veterinarians recommend keeping pets on a leash or in a fenced area. Owners should always keep a close eye on their pets while they are outside.


Samples - Save $1.00 on Lindt Lindor Chocolate!
Save $1.00 on Lindt Lindor Chocolate!
Everybody loves chocolate, especially rich and creamy chocolate like Lindt!
Right now you can save $1.00 on any one bag of Lindt Lindor Chocolates. Valentine's Day will be here before you know it.
Clip this coupon to get ahead of the game!


, we all selects the best choices along with greatest resolution just for you, and now this images is actually among photographs choices in this finest pictures gallery about Medical Sales Resume Examples. I am hoping you will enjoy it.
published by keepupdated from 2018-07-22 11:22:45. To see almost all photos throughout Medical Sales Resume Examples images gallery remember to adhere to this kind of hyperlink.
Never forget to look up the following photo gallery, which also includes the Medical Sales Resume Examples In 2018 Pharmaceutical Sales Sample Resume picture showed above. If you have any thoughts, questions or just want to say hello to other people, please do not hestitate to submit your opinion/ideas via the following comment form.


For too long, corporate activities have been thought of as boring and unproductive – this is far from the case at Ellenborough Park. We understand the importance of boosting morale and creativity within your business – and there's no better way to achieve this than through team building.
Cheltenham is 2 hours from London and we are just 50 miles from Birmingham Airport, so there is no excuse why you shouldn't gather your team and get them out of the office and into Ellenborough Park.
With links to London, Oxford, Bath, Bristol and Birmingham, wherever your business is based we are accessible and ready to both reward and re-energize your team with a plethora of on-site and off-site activities. We are in the ideal location to get the most from your team building; the Cotswolds boasts brilliant and challenging landscapes that can be utilised to drive fresh thinking from your team without clichéd activities. Put simply, Ellenborough Park will make sure that your team develops real skills that can easily translate to the workplace – not forgetting a true sense of achievement that you can all be proud of.
If you are looking for hands-on team building, exciting away days and a location that can help generate creative solutions for tackling strategy and communication challenges, then book your team building in Gloucestershire today.
Our away days are both memorable and informative. From fast-paced husky dog sledding that will see you hone your leadership skills to laser clay pigeon shooting with six-time GB Olympic coach Ian Coley, your team will be able to work on how you approach working relationships and competition. We can also arrange for your team to visit the nearby Longdole Polo Club for a lesson or participate in outdoor adventure classes with Tim Treloar. An expert in his field, the time you spend with him will test your survival skills and place you in challenging scenarios; perfect for developing crisis management skills and creating future leaders.


WASHINGTON– Improving the quality and professionalism of Afghanistan's central government will not be accomplished quickly, and will involve continued discussion between U.S. and Afghan officials, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today.
"My view on all this is that improvements in governance in Afghanistan will be evolutionary," said Gates, in response to a Pentagon reporter's question on the possibility the United States could link the amount of assistance it provides the Afghan government through its performance in rooting out alleged corruption.
Newly re-elected Afghan President Hamid Karzai has pledged that he will fight government corruption.
"Those who spread corruption should be tried and prosecuted," Karzai said yesterday during his inauguration in Kabul. Karzai is embarking on his second five-year term as Afghanistan's chief of state.
However, achieving governmental reform in Afghanistan will take some time, Gates told reporters.
"We are not going to go from a situation where we have a fair amount of dissatisfaction now, to believing that these problems have been solved in two weeks or a month, or on the basis of a single speech," Gates said.
The United States wants Afghanistan to achieve stability and prosperity, Gates said, but that endeavor would be crippled if the Afghan central government is managed in an unprofessional manner.
Referring to news reports citing allegations of bribery among some Afghan government bureaucrats, Karzai said such officials "should be professional and servants of the people." Afghan government officials "should register their earnings," he said, so as to better prevent potential financial wrongdoing.
"Corruption is a very dangerous enemy of the state," Karzai said, noting his government will soon organize a conference in Kabul "to organize new and effective ways to combat" corruption.
Karzai also expressed his desire that NATO would accelerate the training of new Afghan soldiers and police.
"We hope that the Afghan forces will lead the task of security and stability throughout the country in the coming five years," Karzai said.
Karzai's inaugural address "laid out Afghanistan's commitment to take responsibility for the security of its own country by speeding efforts to stand up a capable and effective Afghan national security force that can replace international forces over time," Clinton said.
And, though the United States and its allies are helping Afghanistan to defeat terrorists, the relationship with Afghanistan "is not exclusively military," Clinton said.
The United States and its coalition partners also are "committed to a long-term relationship with Afghanistan," Clinton said, to help its people realize a better future through education and health care opportunities, modern agricultural science, and improving infrastructure that will enhance the growth of Afghanistan's economy.


text:
Q: Parsing error: Unexpected character '�' from react file I got this error from index.js file
it's a create-react-app project
here is the error:
ERROR in ./src/index.js
Module build failed (from ./node_modules/babel-loader/lib/index.js):
SyntaxError: C:\Users\reyna\OneDrive\Documents\WEBSITE\home\powersite\NOC-Nature-of-Code\noc\src\index.js: Unexpected character '�'. (1:0)

> 1 | ��import React from 'react';
    | ^
  2 |
  3 | import ReactDOM from 'react-dom';
  4 |
    at instantiate (C:\Users\reyna\OneDrive\Documents\WEBSITE\home\powersite\NOC-Nature-of-Code\noc\node_modules\@babel\parser\lib\index.js:72:32)
    at constructor (C:\Users\reyna\OneDrive\Documents\WEBSITE\home\powersite\NOC-Nature-of-Code\noc\node_modules\@babel\parser\lib\index.js:358:12)
    at Object.raise (C:\Users\reyna\OneDrive\Documents\WEBSITE\home\powersite\NOC-Nature-of-Code\noc\node_modules\@babel\parser\lib\index.js:3334:19)
    at Object.getTokenFromCode (C:\Users\reyna\OneDrive\Documents\WEBSITE\home\powersite\NOC-Nature-of-Code\noc\node_modules\@babel\parser\lib\index.js:2679:16)
    at Object.getTokenFromCode (C:\Users\reyna\OneDrive\Documents\WEBSITE\home\powersite\NOC-Nature-of-Code\noc\node_modules\@babel\parser\lib\index.js:8069:18)
    at Object.getTokenFromCode (C:\Users\reyna\OneDrive\Documents\WEBSITE\home\powersite\NOC-Nature-of-Code\noc\node_modules\@babel\parser\lib\index.js:6180:20)
    at Object.nextToken (C:\Users\reyna\OneDrive\Documents\WEBSITE\home\powersite\NOC-Nature-of-Code\noc\node_modules\@babel\parser\lib\index.js:2018:10)
    at Object.parse (C:\Users\reyna\OneDrive\Documents\WEBSITE\home\powersite\NOC-Nature-of-Code\noc\node_modules\@babel\parser\lib\index.js:16418:10)
    at parse (C:\Users\reyna\OneDrive\Documents\WEBSITE\home\powersite\NOC-Nature-of-Code\noc\node_modules\@babel\parser\lib\index.js:16472:38)
    at parser (C:\Users\reyna\OneDrive\Documents\WEBSITE\home\powersite\NOC-Nature-of-Code\noc\node_modules\@babel\core\lib\parser\index.js:52:34)

ERROR in src\index.js
  Line 1:  Parsing error: Unexpected character '�'. (1:0)

here is my index.js:
import React from 'react';  --> error is this line
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom';
import './index.css';
import App from './App.jsx';
import reportWebVitals from './reportWebVitals';
import { StateProvider } from './StateProvider.jsx';
import reducer, { initialState } from './reducer';

ReactDOM.render(
  <React.StrictMode>
    <StateProvider initialState={initialState} reducer={reducer}>
      <App />
    </StateProvider>
  </React.StrictMode>,
  document.getElementById('root'),
);

// If you want to start measuring performance in your app, pass a function
// to log results (for example: reportWebVitals(console.log))

reportWebVitals();

here is the eslint conf file in case there something to do with it:
{
  "env": {
    "browser": true,
    "es2021": true
  },
  "extends": ["eslint:recommended", "plugin:react/recommended"],
  "parserOptions": {
    "ecmaFeatures": {
      "jsx": true
    },
    "ecmaVersion": "latest",
    "sourceType": "module"
  },
  "plugins": ["react"],
  "rules": {
    "no-unused-vars": "warn"
  }
}

Any idea why do i get this error ? and how to solve it. Thank you

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Confederation – Dictionary of Canadian Biography
National Unity
Opposition in Canada East
Resistance in the Maritimes
Upheaval in the West
Fear of French Canada
The Manitoba School Question
Canada's Place in the British Empire
Different Nationalisms
A Strong Central Government
Minority Rights
National Expansion
Railways and Economic Development
Cultural Nationalism
Source: Library and Archives Canada/MIKAN
The political conflicts raised by Canadian participation in the South African War (1899–1902) deepened with the debates over the question of a Canadian navy [see The Election Campaign of 1911]. During the First World War, the issue of compulsory military service highlighted the divisions between English and French Canada [see Laurier, Leader of the Opposition (1911–19)]. By 1917 differences over conscription had become so contentious that they threatened confederation itself [see Conscription Divides Canada]. Quebec premier Sir Lomer GOUIN confronted the matter in the Legislative Assembly:
"In December 1917, in the face of a frequently acerbic campaign in the English-Canadian press to denounce the so-called 'disloyalty' of French Canadians and their rejection of compulsory military service, Gouin allowed one of his mlas, Joseph-Napoléon Francœur, to present a notice of motion stating that the province of Quebec would be prepared to accept the breaking up of the confederation pact if the other provinces considered it an obstacle to the development of Canada. Gouin made a vigorous and memorable defence of confederation at that time. After reminding his listeners that the federal system was the only one suitable for Canada, that separatism was impossible, and that confederation had brought notable benefits, the premier declared his confidence that the storm would pass. He was proud, he said, to be called a Canadian, and proud of his country, Canada. This part of his speech drew very positive reviews in the anglophone press. But at the same time, Gouin made a point of recalling the sufferings of 'our fathers' in the wake of insults and appeals to prejudices, and he declared that the slanders of the present moment were the work of a 'small number' and not the majority of anglophones. These references were probably intended to satisfy the Nationalistes in particular. At the end of the speech, Francœur withdrew his motion, declaring that it had had 'the desired effect.'"
For more information see our projects on the First World War and Canada's wartime prime ministers, as well as the following biographies.
Debates over the South African War (1899—1902)
ASSELIN, OLIVAR
BORDEN, Sir FREDERICK WILLIAM
BOUCHER DE BOUCHERVILLE, Sir CHARLES (baptized Charles-Eugêne-Napoléon; C. B. de Boucherville)
BOURASSA, HENRI
CARON, JOSEPH-ÉDOUARD
CHASE-CASGRAIN, THOMAS
CLOUSTON, Sir EDWARD SEABORNE
DENISON, GEORGE TAYLOR (1839-1925)
DOMVILLE, JAMES
GOUIN, Sir LOMER
GRAHAM, HUGH, 1st Baron ATHOLSTAN
HERCHMER, LAWRENCE WILLIAM
HUGHES, Sir SAMUEL
HUTTON, Sir EDWARD THOMAS HENRY
KEMP, Sir ALBERT EDWARD
LAURIER, Sir WILFRID (baptized Henry-Charles-Wilfrid)
LEMIEUX, RODOLPHE (baptized Rodolphe-Toussaint)
LESSARD, FRANÇOIS-LOUIS (baptized Louis-François-Guillaume)
MONK, FREDERICK DEBARTZCH
NANTEL, GUILLAUME-ALPHONSE
OTTER, Sir WILLIAM DILLON
PARKIN, Sir GEORGE ROBERT
ROWELL, NEWTON WESLEY
SCOTT, Sir RICHARD WILLIAM
SMITH, DONALD ALEXANDER, 1st Baron STRATHCONA and MOUNT ROYAL
SPROULE, THOMAS SIMPSON
STEELE, Sir SAMUEL BENFIELD
TAILLON, Sir LOUIS-OLIVIER
TARTE, JOSEPH-ISRAËL
TRENHOLME, CLEMENTINA
TUPPER, Sir CHARLES
WILLISON, Sir JOHN STEPHEN
The Conscription Conflict
BORDEN, Sir ROBERT LAIRD
BUREAU, JACQUES (baptized Marie-Joseph-Jacques-Napoléon)
DEMEULE, GEORGES
GOODWIN, ALBERT
LAPOINTE, ERNEST
MEIGHEN, ARTHUR
◀◀ ◀ …7 8 9 10 11 12 13 …▶ ▶▶
We acknowledge the support of the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage.
Nous reconnaissons l'appui du gouvernement du Canada par l'entremise du ministère du Patrimoine canadien.


Seeing fall is upon us, it is time to start being proactive and make arrangements for the upcoming cold winter months. As an Albany home inspector, we highly recommend taking a proactive approach as opposed to a reactive approach. It's kind of like changing your engine versus changing your oil. It is more cost-effective to change your oil on a regular Schedule to keep it in good working order. The same goes for your house. You want to make sure that you are maintaining all aspects of your home both inside and outside to ensure that they are working properly.
That being said, is important that you conduct regular roof inspections throughout the fall and winter months as best you can to ensure your roof is working as it should. You would be surprised how many people have homes that we do inspections for and could have implemented a little bit of preventative measures to have saved a major catastrophe that took place over the winter months.
Houses in the Saratoga Springs, Ballston Spa, Clifton Park and surrounding areas are prone to experiencing bad weather heavy rainfall and heavy snow in the winter months. It is crucial to do a roof inspection to ensure is working properly before there is a crisis. One suggestion would be to schedule to have your roof inspected prior to the season taking full effect.
The other thing to take into consideration is the age of your roof and/or your home. Most roofers have a life span of 15 to 20 years and most homes in the capital region are well be on that in age.
The other thing to keep in mind is to be sure your chimney is working properly and if you have any heavy equipment that has been put on your roof to do repairs in the past. That can cause weakness and issues to your roof.
If you are looking for a Ballston Spa or Saratoga Springs home inspector, please consider calling Bald Eagle Inspection Services today.


I'm not sure if it's the world or universe's first space beer but it has become a reality. Japanese beer giants Sapporo have unveiled what they are calling "Sapporo Space Barley" will be going on sale. Only a lucky few will be able to purchase the very limited edition beer. This will surely make it one of the most sought after beers. Here is what the press release has to say about the beer.
"Sapporo Breweries Ltd. is launching sales of the world's first beer produced using malt made 100% from "space barley," the progenies of spaceflight barley seeds, This limited offer is exclusive to the Internet and proceeds will go to charity. Applications to purchase the beer, which is dubbed "SAPPORO Space Barley," can be made from December 3 (Thu), 2009 on the dedicated web page set up on our company's website. Two hundred and fifty successful customers will be selected from among the applicants by lottery.
We have hosted a range of promotional events that capitalize on "space barley" since 2008 in an effort to foster children's interest in space and science. We also want SAPPORO Space Barley to contribute to the promotion of science education for children and the development of space science research in Japan and Russia by donating all of the proceeds to Okayama University.
It is our hope that our customers will feel able to sit back, relax, and enjoy SAPPORO Space Barley, letting their minds drift through the infinities of space and into dreams of the future.
3. Featured contents: Beer brewed using malt made 100% from "space barley" (fourth generation) Roasted malt was used to bring out a slightly dark color that evokes an image of cosmic space. The beer features a mellow fragrance with a distinctive taste of roasted barley.
4. Volume/number of bottles: 330 ml in a one-way bottle; Bottles are packed in a special box (one box contains six bottles).
5. Package design: Stars studded against a gradated dark navy background representing cosmic space, with a large star, our corporate symbol, placed at the center. The product name is displayed in the shape of a shooting star, exuding refined taste.
* This beer will be sold for charity, to contribute to the promotion of science education for children and the development of space science research in Japan and Russia, through donation of all proceeds to Okayama University.
8. How to request purchase: Applications for the lottery to buy the beer are accepted on the dedicated web page set up on our company's website.
Purchase will be limited to applicants living in Japan and aged 20 or older.
Haruna Nijo malting barley developed by Sapporo Breweries through collaborative research with Okayama University and the Russian Academy of Sciences was kept aboard the Zvezda Service Module, a component of the International Space Station (ISS), for five months (first-generation "space barley").
Seeded the first-generation "space barley". November 2007 Harvested the second-generation "space barley"; seeded the second-generation "space barley".
Harvested the third-generation "space barley".
Trial brewing of the world's first beer made from the third-generation "space barley".
Seeded the third-generation "space barley".
Tasting events held at breweries nationwide for beer made from the third-generation "space barley".
Harvested the fourth-generation "space barley".
Hop seeds from Furano, Hokkaido launched into space.
Tasting events held at five breweries nationwide for barley tea made from "space barley".
Seeded the fourth-generation "space barley".
Applications accepted to buy SAPPORO Space Barley-the beer brewed from the fourth-generation "space barley"."


Davao City, the hometown of President Rodrigo Duterte where he was mayor for decades, is known for safety and discipline. Now, it can also boast as one of the pioneering cities where the government's ambitious taxi modernization program is being rolled out.
A key element of the modernization scheme is for taxis to be equipped with ride-hailing apps so they are accessible via smartphones to customers, improving transparency, efficiency as well as public safety.
At least 4,000 cabs in Davao City are part of an online ride-hailing network, allowing commuters to use their smartphones to search and book taxi rides. With these ride-hailing apps, it's possible for taxi passengers to find out the brand and plate number of the cab that will pick them, along with the name and even picture of the driver as well as estimated cost of the ride.
In Metro Manila, these amenities are mainly available to users of ride-sharing networks Grab and Uber (before the latter was acquired by the former in April), which consist largely of private cars. Except for very few taxis that are part of the Grab transport network, most cabs in Metro Manila and other urban centers are not equipped with ride-hailing apps.
One reason why thousands of cabs in Davao are accessible via smartphones is because of Hirna Mobility Solutions, a tech startup that developed an app called "Hirna" especially for the city.
Co-founded by Francisco Mauricio, president of the Philippine unit of global car rental company Avis, and Sherwin Chu, a computer programmer, Hirna worked with the office of Davao Mayor Sara Duterte and the Metro Davao Taxi Operators Association (MEDATOA) under the guidance of the Department of Transportation (DOTr). The result is a ride-hailing service that charges no booking fees or surge prices. Passengers only pay for the metered fare.
Hirna also comes with in-app messaging and hotlines to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB). There is also a 24/7 customer service support to assist all passengers, including those without smartphones.
The call center is particularly useful in Davao City, where smartphone penetration is still quite low in certain passenger demographics. "Hailing by phone call is still prevalent here in Davao. Many households still call taxi operators to make a booking and then wait for the cab to arrive at their doorstep," said Aron Sapasap, a taxi rider who has used the Hirna app at least three times since its beta version became available in February.
The LTFRB's taxi modernization program is an ambitious plan to improve transparency, efficiency and public safety of both users and drivers of cabs all over the country. To push taxi operators to invest some money to upgrade the quality of their service, the LTFRB approved the cab operators' long-time petition for a fare hike in November 2017 but made the implementation of the increase contingent on a number of conditions.
Among these conditions is that cabs must be equipped with ride-hailing apps and belong to an online transportation network or platform. Other conditions require the taxis to install a GNSS or Global Navigation Satellite System receiver, a CCTV with a recording capacity of 72 hours, a dashboard camera and even provide free wi-fi to passengers.
Related story: Whatever Happened to the LTFRB's Plan to Push Taxis to Modernize as COndition for Fare Hikes?
While many Davao taxis have not yet installed the other requirements, at least 4,000 of them are already equipped with the Hirna app, perhaps the most important of the components of the LTFRB's taxi modernization program. The smartphone or tablet that runs the Hirna app can also serve as GPS device and can be used to provide free Wi-Fi service by turning on the personal hotspot option.
In contrast, the taxi modernization program has yet to begin in Metro Manila and most other cities. Most taxis in the National Capital Region have yet to install ride-hailing apps and sign up with a transport network or platform. At the same time, the LTFRB has not yet announced a deadline for taxi operators in Metro Manila to comply with the terms of the modernization plan. It has, however, accredited a taxi-hailing company, Micab, to operate in Metro Manila.
The Hirna app is aimed at benefiting multiple stakeholders. For consumers, the app can offer added reliability, safety and convenience. Also, when the app was launched, "Hirna referred to pioneering app registrants like myself as co-founders. We were promised priority bookings and other rewards," shares Sapasap.
For drivers, it helps them to be compliant with LTFRB's modernization program. For taxi operators, it helps to record transactions and monitor the driver and passenger experience.
The co-founders of Hirna encourage Davao passengers to book via the app so that their rides are tracked and the data gathered can inform the local government of unmet riding experience needs. As of April, the fully operational version of Hirna is available for download at Google Play Store and Apple Store.
This story was edited on Wednesday, July 4 to correct the name of one of Hirna's co-founders Sherwin Chu. It initially stated Stephen Chu. We apologize for this error.


text:
Q: How to resize images on node.js So basically my front end is displaying images that are about 3-5mb. I need to find a way to make their size way smaller.
Basically I have the file object on node.js uploading to amazon aws. I just need to compress it before it uploads.
Also whats the best way to resize images on node.js?

A: The best way is use Canvas Node js module. This module is up to 3 times faster than ImageMagic.
Images manipulation comparation - https://github.com/ivanoff/images-manipulation-performance
author's results:
  canvas.js : 4.001 img/sec;
  gm-imagemagic.js : 1.206 img/sec;
  gm.js : 1.536 img/sec;
  lwip.js : 0.406 img/sec;


I am the only person to have a bar mitzva at the Marshall Chess Club. What I like about Judaism is the humanistic philosophy, the metaphysics, and the history. I believe in God some of the time. When I had my nervous breakdown, I expressed that I wanted to have a big party and get all my friends together, and this is how I managed to do that. I think it was especially meaningful to my Aunt Roz who passed on last year.
Even though Frank was president when the event was authorized, I believe it was Marcus who facilitated it happening at the Marshall. Marcus was quite helpful about this, and very respectful of religious and cultural issues. My father didn't want to go at first. He thought the club would be a dump. But he actually enjoyed the event. He and my stepmother danced in the middle of the Marshall Chess Club!
After the event, I saw Stuart Chagrin and I thanked him for the use of the club. He reminded me that the event had been approved before he became president. In other words, things would change again.
I'm a fan of his too. He was the captain of several successful teams I was on at ICC.


Welcome to our Portal about Home Furniture! Our web pages 486 repressents photo materials and notes, other materials and screenshots for themes: "furniture factory warehouse of texas", "used furniture everett wa", "furniture atlanta tucker", "furniture repair restoration" and "furniture repair dallas tx" for "furniture upholstery fabric manufacturers", the furniture plus wilmington nc. And also you can find more TOP Rated products and offers. Scroll Down!
The Collection of screenshots and other info, find more for themes: "furniture upholstery atlanta ga", "furniture risers bed bath beyond", "furniture on sale on ebay", "furniture rental evanston il", "furniture in a box coupon".
The furniture and other online offers on page 567; "furniture donations pick up massachusetts"; "furniture of america in city of industry"; "furniture in the raw au".
Screenshots 1242 furniture direct from manufacturer; furniture refinishing equipment; furniture of america in city of industry; furniture on sale at ebay; used furniture everett wa furniture auctions lancashire.
Rearn more information about: "furniture in the raw au", "furniture discount nj", "furniture outlet stores raleigh", "furniture risers bed bath beyond", "furniture plus wilmington nc"!
Best and hidden tips from page 2406 about themes: furniture donation reno, furniture on sale on ebay and furniture options goshen reviews, furniture upholstery atlanta ga or also furniture auctions lancashire.
Reference to other screen-shots and photos of our site for themes: "furniture plus cook mn", "furniture for less 44663", "furniture pads michigan", "furniture options goshen reviews" and "furniture wholesale edmonton".
Look at photos 935 and screenshots 1401 for my design: used furniture everett wa, furniture rental evanston il and furniture donation reno furniture auctions orange county.
Read more tips at photos 408 from Themes: furniture in a box pleasant hills, furniture factory warehouse of texas - furniture refinishing equipment.
Veternas stories on page 556 from Themes: furniture repair and refinishing, furniture plus wilmington nc and also furniture rental fayetteville nc.
Look here New extreme offers! On pictures 2116 and 1499 from the furniture stores in chicago that deliver furniture options goshen reviews. furniture refinishing equipment, used furniture everett wa, furniture to go in raleigh nc, furniture plus wilmington nc, furniture direct from manufacturer, furniture denver locations!
And Also you can find and learn more about the furniture paint online plus furniture factory warehouse phone number. furniture atlanta tucker, furniture atlanta tucker, furniture and things in minnesota, global furniture usa showroom, the discount patio furniture aluminum sale reduced and furniture upholstery fabric manufacturers, furniture atlanta design!
ATTENTION! Our Exclusive materials on themes "furniture rental evanston il" and "Furniture Donation Reno" from our stock photos is copyrighted!
Scroll UP and look at page 20637 from theme furniture online mn, furniture rental england, furniture depot victorville ca and furniture auctions orange county, office furniture used dallas or visit site about earthlite massage chair and furniture stores in chicago that deliver!


Fill out the form below to sign up for more information about Technician Pharmacy Law. Required fields are indicated with an asterisk after their label.
A course for pharmacy technicians interested in developing knowledge of pharmacy law.
The Technician is a key member of the pharmacy team. Working under the direct supervision and control of the Pharmacist, the Technician performs essential duties in a complex work environment. Without the assistance of the Technicians, the Pharmacists would not have the additional time necessary for them to expand pharmacy services in today's changing health care environment. This module will provide an overview of the qualifications, responsibilities, and expectations of the Technician. Using several case study examples, you will have a better understanding on why the Technician must be aware of all federal and state laws. The role of the Technician varies from state to state, depending on the rules and statutes in each state. It is the responsibility of the Technician to be knowledgeable and follow all federal and state pharmacy laws in the state(s) in which they practice.
Ken Wells, RPh, is an affiliate faculty member at Oregon State College of Pharmacy. In 2013, he retired after forty plus years, working in the community practice setting. Ken is currently a member of the Oregon State Board of Pharmacy, appointed in 2009 and reappointed in 2013. He has served on various Board and NABP committees. He is active in OSPA, serving on their Board of Directions, as President, and on various committees.


text:
Home » News » National News » Ghana Atomic Energy Commission Board inaugurated
Ghana Atomic Energy Commission Board inaugurated
Posted by: webmaster in National News August 12, 2014	0 808 Views
The reconstituted Board of Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) was inaugurated on Monday, to provide direction to Management to help mitigate the myriad of challenges facing the country and ensure sustainable development.
The seven-member Board which is chaired by Dr Albert W. N. Q Barnor has Dr Walter A. Alhassan, Ms Isabel Boaten, Professor Kwasi Obiri-Danso, Professor Francis K. A. Allotey, Professor Benjamin J. B Nyarko and Professor Alexander K. Nyarko, as Members.
The Board has a five-year term and shall be eligible for re-appointment.
Mr Akwasi Opong-Fosu, Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, who inaugurated the Board on behalf of President John Dramani Mahama, said the socio-economic challenges facing the country requires practical measures to put the economy on the path of sustainable development.
He mentioned the increasing energy demand which is characterised by frequent power outages, threats on food security due to population increases, the impact of climate change on agriculture, health and the construction industry, as well as the high frequency and severity of natural disasters, as worrying events that requires urgent attention.
According to him, the galamsey (illegal small scale mining) menace and other aspects of water, land and forest degradation as well as the increasing incidence of non-communicable diseases, notably the cancers are unacceptable and must be confronted with much gravity to address the problems.
Mr Opong-Fosu said after touring GAEC's facility last week, he is convinced that the Commission undoubtedly has a huge potential to help turn Ghana round in its quest to develop into a proper upper middle income country.
"I realised that a lot is being done by GAEC to help address these challenges facing us in our effort to develop," he said.
He said a clear pathway has been outlined for Ghana to add nuclear energy to her power mix in the not too distant future, citing the Nuclear Regulatory Authority Bill, the Convention on Early Notification of Nuclear of Nuclear Accident, Ratification of the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage and the Ratification of the Convention on Assistance in the case of Nuclear Accident of Radiological Emergency which are all before Parliament for approval.
The objective of the Commission broadly is the promotion, development and utilisation of the peaceful applications of nuclear and biotechnological techniques for economic and social advancement of Ghana.
Mr Opong-Fosu said the functions of the Commission among other things is to make proposals to government for legislation in the field of nuclear radiation and radio-active waste management, to encourage and promote the commercialisation of research and development results through its institutes, to engage in research and development activities, as well as in the publication and determination of research findings and other useful technical information.
GAEC also ensures that Ghana maintains its relations with the International Atomic Energy Agency and other similar international and national organisations on matters of research and development of nuclear energy and nuclear technology, and collaborate with Universities and Research Institutes for the purposes of conducting research into matters connected with the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and technology.
The Minister said government would be counting the hard work of the Board to turn the situation of the country around.
He led the members to swear the Oath of Office and the Oath of Secrecy and also handed over their appointment letters to them.
Dr Barnor, on behalf of the other members expressed appreciation for the honour bestowed upon them and pledged to work hard and collaborate with the Ministry to ensure the fulfillment of their mandate.
Previous: A-G chases Woyome Gh₵51 million
Next: Ebola-infected Spanish priest becomes first man to die in Europe
GOVERNMENT IN PARTNERSHIP WITH FOREIGN COMPANIES TO USE REFUSE TO GENERATE ELECTRICITY.
YOUTH ENTERPRISE SUPPORT MEETS BRONG-AHAFO REGION APPLICANTS
 NLC to thrash gov't petition over striking unions if…
Gov't rubbishes Afrobarometer report
No change in transport fares despite fuel price reduction – GPRTU
Pay us now or else… – HISPAG warns gov't


Welcome to the school chess tournament in Stavanger – simultaneously when the 10 best players in the world are in town!
For the 5th year in a row, the Altibox Norway Chess school tournament is organised for kids in elementary school from all over Norway!
There will be fun activities and prizes throughout the weekend.
Participation in the school team tournament is free of charge.
200 kroner to attend the Energy Match with subsequent taco buffet 10th June. The Energy match start at 10am and enda at 12pm. The games start at 1pm.
Each team must have a team leader accompanying the children. Are you interested in getting students from your school participate the tournament in June? It is a unique opportunity for children to be present when the world's best chess players are in town. Join!


Glamorous and eye catching Emerald Green necklace with large stunning Swarovski Emerald Cut Fancy Stone. These dramatic octagon shaped crystals have a vintage feel to them and are designed with precise machine-cut facet patterns that produce the signature Swarovski sparkle! The impression these bold stones will leave will last a lifetime!


text:
Theodore Charles Menze (November 4, 1897 – December 23, 1969) was an outfielder in Major League Baseball. He played for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1918.

References

External links

1897 births
1969 deaths
Major League Baseball outfielders
St. Louis Cardinals players
Baseball players from St. Louis
Rochester Hustlers players
Galveston Pirates players
Houston Buffaloes players
Peoria Tractors players
Kansas City Blues (baseball) players
Oklahoma City Indians players
Wichita Falls Spudders players
Springfield Senators players
Fort Wayne Chiefs players

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Anna Benson Husband, Divorce and Wiki
Beautiful and sexy Anna Benson is an American model, former stripper and former Major League Baseball pitcher Kris Benson ex-wife. She has also made some guest appearance on the Television shows like 'The Neil Cavuto Show,' 'Baseball Wives,' 'Dr. Phil' and so on. She belongs to white ethnicity.
She is a reality TV star, a talented model, and an exotic dancer.
She was born on February 12, 1976, as Anna Benson in Mableton, Georgia, U.S. She grew up in Mableton with her family until she left her home when she was 16. She dropped out of the high school during her sophomore year.
After she had left home, she worked as a stripper in the Atlanta Strip Clubs. She was 17 when she got married to her first husband when but the name of the person she is married is unavailable. She had one child with her first husband. Later, she divorced within the year 1998. She then met her future husband Major League Baseball pitcher Kris Benson in a strip club in Atlanta named Mardi Gras while she was dancing.
Kris was then playing in the minor leagues for the Nashville Sounds. Later she got married to Kris in October 1999, and this was her second marriage. Her economic status was low before getting married to Kris, but after she had married to Kris, her financial situation rose directly to the top. They two were the most famous baseball couple in the US.
They had three children together. She gave birth to daughter Haylee with first husband and sons Paul James and Devin with her second husband, Kris. Later on March 31, 2006, she filed for divorce with Kris. But then she withdrew the petition after which she gave birth to her son Devin. But later when she was served with divorce paper by Kris she threatened him with a gun and metal baton.
She got arrested for allegedly treating Kris on July 8, 2013, as she found Kris cheating her. She was sentenced jail for 15 years after she was convicted on 5 November 2013. In Las Vegas in 2005, she started to play World Series of Poker tournament but was later ejected for poor etiquette and foul language.
Even though she has been in controversies, she is one of the hot and sexy models. As she has been a stripper in her past life, she obviously has an astonishing body figure and body measurements. She has the impressive body measurement of 34-24-34 inches with an attractive body shape. As her height, she has got a tall height she stands 5 feet and 5 inches tall.
Anna Benson is a hot and sexy girl who has well maintained her body doing different workouts even after her pregnancy for five times. Along with her glamorous body, she has her sexy legs and feet to make her look more beautiful and hot and sexy.
When she comes up in a bikini, she looks fabulous showing up her perfect figure and legs. She has posed topless for the FHM magazine cover being named "baseball's hottest wife." She ranked 29th and 48th simultaneously on the FHM-US's 100 Sexiest Women in 2006 and 2005. She has an astonishing net worth of $500 Thousand Dollars.
Her more wiki, biography, interviews, video, net worth and news can be found on the internet. Galleries of her pictures also can be consulted on the internet her bikini posted photos where she looks hot and sexy also can be consulted on the web. All of her fans and followers can follow her on the social networking site Twitter.


text:
Tom Cruise banned Nicole Kidman for Scientology
Tom Cruise banned Nicole Kidman from coming to their son`s wedding
28 of March 2019
After divorcing Kidman, cruise was the only guardian of their common foster children, and now has banned his ex-wife to come to the wedding of their 24-year-old son.
The star couple, married for 11 years, has two adopted children – Connor and Isabella. After the divorce in 2001, the right to guardianship passed to the actor. Both children, growing up, adopted the religious views of the father, also becoming members of the Church of Scientology. Cruise came to this religion in 1990, when it helped him cope with dyslexia, which he suffered from since childhood.
Nicole Kidman is not popular with followers of this religion due to the fact that her father, a psychologist, influenced the views of Tom during his marriage to Nicole. While the actor himself has always been friends with the leader of Scientologists David Mickiewicz.
Tom Cruise with his son
Tom Cruise's future daughter-in-law is also a devoted follower of Scientology, and in her community is nicknamed "the Scientology Princess."
Zoomboola.com notes that many stars made serious decisions based on religious beliefs. Madonna because of their Kabbalistic views divorced Guy Ritchie, and John Travolta some time adjusted its schedule under horoscope predictions.
Krysten Ritter high school pics
Donald Glover how did he became famous
Luke Evans where does he live
Ruby Rose age
Jenna Ortega does she have kids
Christopher Nolan the latest news


text:
Ditch Plains Beach Will Be Saved By the Feds Just in Time, Thanks to Congressman Tim Bishop
By David Lion Rattiner
On Tuesday I got a frantic email forwarded to me from Laraine Creegan from the Montauk Chamber of Commerce regarding Ditch Plains Beach and how bad the erosion was there, and also how important it was that the Town of East Hampton come up with the money for the beach to be restored. The email read,
"At the Montauk CAC meeting last night we discussed Ditch Plains Beach and the need for the TOWN to place sand on the beach ASAP. There was a resolution WITH 100% agreement for the EH Town Board to do so. We need all hands on board to appeal to the EH Town Board to insist this be done. PLEASE attend the work session meeting this morning at TOWN HALL East Hampton to voice your concern that we need 15,000 yards of sand to be dumped on Ditch Plains Beach NOW! This will be a devastating July / August once school lets out and you can't even spread a towel on the beach! Ditch Plains is world famous and we need to tell our Town Board that wherever they can get the money to do this it is critical to this summer, it's residents, and our economy are counting on them! If you cannot go to the meeting today then send Emails to all Board members TODAY!! ASAP!"
The email got me startled for two reasons. One is because Ditch Plains beach is in fact a very important tourist attraction and world famous destination in Montauk, and two, because the Town of East Hampton, like many other towns, are under the financial microscope right now, and it didn't seem like a sure thing that the beach was going to get restored quickly.
But it wasn't too long afterwards that I found out that Congressman Tim Bishop and state and local officials representing East Hampton Town announced that federal funding was going to be pumped into Montauk to begin the process of rebuilding heavily-eroded beaches of the South Fork. The money was approved by the federal Office of Management and Budget yesterday, just a few hours after Laraine's email was sent out, as part of the implementation of the US Army Corps of Engineers' (USACE) Fire Island to Montauk Point (FIMP) Reformulation Study.
I'm rarely thrilled with the work that politicians do for our community, but Bishop really has put a lot of worry at ease when it comes to beach erosion on Long Island, and he's also going to be putting a lot of people to work at the same time.
The USACE included $700 million for implementation of FIMP in its second interim report for a strategy to expend $3.461 billion appropriated by Congress for construction of previously authorized Corps projects in the areas impacted by Sandy.
Bishop said that, "Superstorm Sandy was a once-in-a-generation storm that dealt a heavy blow to Downtown Montauk and other areas along the South Shore, but it has provided a unique opportunity to secure a stronger and more resilient coastline for the long term at 100 percent federal expense," said Congressman Bishop. "I will continue to advocate in the strongest terms for a plan that will protect vulnerable beachfront properties and the beaches that make Montauk a world-class vacation destination."
New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele said, "Our coastlines, the crux of the East End's economy, were severely impacted by Superstorm Sandy. This funding will allow us to address the serious erosion issues Montauk is facing in the immediate future, as well as providing a long term solution to ensuring a more resilient coastline. I want to personally thank Congressman Bishop for his tireless efforts to help ensure federal aid is directed to the areas of highest concern."
I applaud Congressman Bishop's efforts in securing funds to help rebuild our valuable beaches, from Fire Island to Montauk," said Suffolk County Legislator Jay Schneiderman. "Areas such as Montauk are important to our economy and our beaches are not only a tourist attraction but they provide important protective barriers to residential and commercial areas during storms."
This is great news for the hamlet of Montauk and the Town of East Hampton," said East Hampton Town Supervisor Bill Wilkinson. "Sandy painfully highlighted the vulnerability of downtown Montauk. The global attraction of these beaches are an economic asset to all of New York and I, the people of Montauk and the residents of East Hampton want to personally thank Congressman Bishop for his extraordinary efforts in securing the expertise and funding to complete this renourishment."
In addition, Bishop announced that the ACOE's second interim report also includes $18 million to fund design work and construction of an 840-feet of riprap stone revetment for long-term erosion control at Montauk Point to protect the historic Montauk Lighthouse and associated facilities. USACE has not yet released a timetable for the next phases of the project.
Hamptons Soul: Taking Personal Inventory
Hamptons Soul: Who Will Give to Those in Need This Holiday Season?
Hamptons Soul: Be the Light
Shinnecock Voices: Heritage Month Burnout


A Wyoming company has entered a partnership to develop a Washington state coal port for shipments of the fuel to Asia, in a deal that gives Montana's Crow Tribe the future option of a 5 percent stake in the project.
Cloud Peak Energy paid $2 million up front and will pay up to $30 million to cover permitting expenses for the Gateway Pacific Terminal, in exchange for a 49 percent stake in the project, spokesman Rick Curtsinger said Friday.
The port in the Puget Sound, just south of the U.S.-Canada border, would accommodate almost 60 million tons a year of coal and other commodities.
Cloud Peak, based in Gillette, plans to construct a major mine on the Crow Reservation.
Coal companies hope exports to Asia will shore up their industry, which has been battered by competition from cheap natural gas and more stringent restrictions on pollution caused by burning the fuel.
Port sponsor SSA Marine retained a 51 percent ownership in the project. The tribe's stake in the port would come out of Cloud Peak's share, and Curtsinger said there is no upfront financial obligation for the Crow.
However, if the Crow exercises its ownership option, the tribe would be responsible for 5 percent of construction financing, Curtsinger said.
Washington state's Lummi Nation has pressed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to deny the project's permit because it would disrupt the tribe's fishing practices.
The proposal also has met strong opposition from environmental groups worried about the greenhouse gases and other pollutants produced by burning coal.
Crow Chairman Darren Old Coyote said the deal still needs approval from the tribal Legislature. Construction of the port would make it easier for Cloud Peak to develop and mine coal on the reservation, he said.
"It's basically a low-risk, 5 percent stake," he said.
Construction costs for Gateway Pacific have been estimated at $700 million, although that could change depending on any conditions attached to pending permits from state and federal agencies, said SSA Marine Senior Vice President Bob Watters.
Watters said environmental studies on the proposed port could be done by the end of 2016.
The ownership agreement gives Cloud Peak the right to exit the deal during the permitting phase and return its interests to SSA Marine. A previous deal gave Cloud Peak the option to move almost 18 million tons of coal annually through the port.


I have always enjoyed the outdoors, hiking took me to another level of enjoyment. Photographing the flora and fauna, lots of fresh air and great exercise. While backpacking I realized my back quit hurting, crazy huh? But I truly enjoyed getting into places I normally would have not gone. Now when I read an article in Arizona Highways or Backpackers magazine, I know it's possible to see it with my own eyes. Eventually I evolved to the next level where I really enjoyed knowing I could live very happy off my back! Everything I really needed was at my fingertips. I also enjoyed the challenge of being able to go out for several days even weeks at a time. My husband was not as interested in backpacking as I was, so over time I found other ladies, co-workers & friends that were in the same situation as I was, this was the beginning of Hiken Girls.
Our mission is to advance ourselves and one another to grow physically, emotionally, and socially, through the challenges of the Wilderness. To help in the conservation of our natural resources and the protection of habitats in our back yard and everywhere we trod.