text:
using System.Linq;
using JetBrains.Application.changes;
using JetBrains.Application.Progress;
using JetBrains.Application.Threading;
using JetBrains.DataFlow;
using JetBrains.Lifetimes;
using JetBrains.ProjectModel;
using JetBrains.ReSharper.Plugins.Unity.Core.Feature.Caches;
using JetBrains.ReSharper.Plugins.Unity.Core.Psi.Modules;
using JetBrains.ReSharper.Psi.Modules;
using JetBrains.Util;

#nullable enable

namespace JetBrains.ReSharper.Plugins.Unity.Yaml.Psi.DeferredCaches
{
    [SolutionComponent]
    public class UnityAssetsCacheUpdater
    {
        public UnityAssetsCacheUpdater(Lifetime lifetime, ISolution solution,
                                       DeferredCacheController deferredCacheController,
                                       AssetIndexingSupport assetIndexingSupport, IShellLocks locks,
                                       ChangeManager changeManager, UnityExternalFilesModuleFactory factory)
        {
            var module = factory.PsiModule;
            assetIndexingSupport.IsEnabled.Change.Advise_NoAcknowledgement(lifetime, (handler) =>
            {
                if (handler.HasNew && handler.HasOld && handler.New == handler.Old)
                    return;

                locks.ExecuteOrQueueReadLockEx(lifetime, "Unity asset indexing cache state change", () =>
                {
                    var psiSourceFiles = module.SourceFiles.ToList();
                    if (psiSourceFiles.Any())
                    {
                        locks.ExecuteWithWriteLock(() =>
                        {
                            deferredCacheController.Invalidate<UnityAssetsCache>();

                            // TODO: Why is this being run through ChangeManager?
                            changeManager.ExecuteAfterChange(() =>
                            {
                                var changeBuilder = new PsiModuleChangeBuilder();
                                foreach (var sourceFile in psiSourceFiles)
                                {
                                    if (sourceFile.IsValid())
                                        changeBuilder.AddFileChange(sourceFile, PsiModuleChange.ChangeType.Modified);
                                }

                                changeManager.OnProviderChanged(solution, changeBuilder.Result,
                                    SimpleTaskExecutor.Instance);
                            });
                        });
                    }
                });
            });
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Dej Loaf Biography
Deja Trimble, better known by her stage name Dej Loaf (stylized as DeJ Loaf), is an American rapper and singer. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she began her music career in 2011 with Ajure Harding and released her debut mixtape Just Do It. the following year in 2012. In October 2014, her second mixtape, Sell Sole., came out. DeJ Loaf rose to greater popularity in 2014 with her single "Try Me", which initially attained viral internet popularity and has since peaked at number 45 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
DeJ Loaf was born on April 8, 1991 in Detroit, Michigan and raised on the Eastside of the city. Growing up, she would often listen to music with her parents and grandmother, ranging "from 2Pac to Rakim to Miles Davis." Her father was killed when she was four years old. A self-described "good kid and a decent student" who mostly kept to herself, she began writing her own original music as early as nine years old. She graduated high school in 2009, played basketball up to the junior varsity level, and later attended Saginaw Valley State University to study nursing for three semesters before deciding to focus on a full-time music career.
DeJ Loaf began her career as a hip hop artist in 2011; her stage name is a portmanteau of a shortened version of her first name, "Deja", and "loafer", as she took a keen interest in shoes growing up. She released her first mixtape Just Do It. in 2012 and attracted the attention of fellow Detroit rapper SAYITAINTTONE, who later signed her to his label IBGM (I Been Gettin' Money) and his management team.
The track "Try Me", produced by DDS and released as a single in July 2014, rose to viral popularity after Canadian recording artist Drake quoted lyrics from the song in an Instagram post. She signed to Columbia Records in October and shortly after released the mixtape Sell Sole. DeJ Loaf is featured in "Detroit vs. Everybody" on rapper Eminem's compilation Shady XV (2014).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Euclid and Archimedes are allowed to be knowing, and to have demonstrated what they say: and yet whosoever shall read over their writings without perceiving the connection of their proofs, and seeing what they show, though he may understand all their words, yet he is not the more knowing. He may believe, indeed, but does not know what they say, and so is not advanced one jot in mathematical knowledge by all his reading of those approved mathematicians.
In Conduct of the Understanding, sect. 24.


text:
Cathy Beasley
by Lynn Stanphill | Jun 18, 2014
Cathy became a TIAA lifetime member upon her retirement in January, 2013. "I knew the great reputation TIAA had, having worked closely with them on the annual retiree luncheon event as a TIer for several years." Cathy's retirement from TI actually concluded a 46-year career as a secretary/administrative assistant within several industries. Her tenure with TI was the final ten years of her career, from 2002 to 2012. As Cathy stated, "I wasn't born a TIer, but I got here as fast as I could." She was part of the RFID business unit for 18 months before moving into the Public Affairs department for 8-1/2 years. It was during her time in Public Affairs that she became involved with the TIAA folks. In most of her spare time, you can find Cathy in the cat and kitten rooms at Operation Kindness in Carrollton, where she has served as a volunteer cat adoption counselor for the past three years. "I love the challenge of matching the right animal with the right humans and homes. It's so gratifying to see the cats go into a home that you know will be PURRfect for them for the rest of their lives. I just love my 'job'!" Cathy lives in Carrollton with her two feline children; Bella-Blu and Beau.


text:
Italy's Monte dei Paschi to Open Books to Potential Partners
Monte dei Paschi di Siena said that it would grant access to confidential data to potential merger partners selected by its advisers, as Italy presses ahead with plans to cut its stake in the state-owned bank, Reuters reported. Confirming comments to Reuters from sources earlier on Monday, Monte dei Paschi (MPS) said its board had hired Credit Suisse to help Mediobanca in the task of studying strategic options and sounding out market interest for the Tuscan bank. Despite the turmoil in the ruling coalition which risks precipitating a government crisis, the Italian Treasury is moving forward with plans to cut its 64% stake in MPS and meet pledges made to the European Union as part of the 2017 bailout. Rome has identified UniCredit as the ideal merger partner for MPS, sources have said previously, but Italy's second-biggest bank wants strict terms to be met before considering an acquisition and is yet to sign a confidentiality agreement. The Treasury wants to see if Banco BPM, Italy's third-largest bank which Rome last year had looked at as a possible partner for MPS, could be interested in entering the data room, one of the sources said. Read more.


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"Hands down, the most impressive speaker we have heard in years. The response was nothing short of remarkable. I highly recommend him."
— Alex Rankin, archivist at the History of Nursing Archives at Boston University
"Bob is funny, nostalgic, sentimental, inspirational, poignant, and absolutely prolific as he hit the ball out of the park for our KIDSPORTS fundraising event. Forget raise the paddle; Bob motivated the group to raise the roof."
— Bev Smith, executive director, KIDSPORTS
"Bob is thoughtful and enlightening, a master story teller with a message. His presentation conveys purpose and insight into how each of us can make a difference, even in the worst of times, no matter what job we have. A wonderful speaker and motivator!"
— Mary Seymour, director of Professional Development, Emerson Hospital, Concord, Mass.
"Forget the hyperbole. Our 261 participants scored Welch a 4.81 on a 5.0-scale. I was impressed that he took time to learn about what we do so he could tailor his touching and humorous presentation to us. He did fantastic!"
— Julie Zander, organizer of the national Association of Personal Historians conference in Portland
"He was absolutely superb! Mesmerizing, motivating, challenging."
— Clara Richardson, director of Purdue University School of Nursing
"Stimulating, engaging … one of the highlights of the conference."
— Mike Monahan, executive director of the Uniformed Nurse Practitioner Association, New Orleans
"We were reminded why we became nurses. Totally consuming and uplifting. Humorous."
— Lynn Krater, chair, Oklahoma State Council of Perioperative Nurses
"Welch was both encouraging and inspiring. A true compliment to any professional association gathering and a 'must-have' for any conference."
— Ali Crane, program chair, Pacific Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, 2008 national conference, Portland
"Bob's wry, self-deprecating humor provided counterpoint to the touching and inspiring story of a World War II military nurse. I've never laughed and cried so much during one speech. The story of Frances Slanger and her colleagues is uplifting and relevant to our times, especially when told by this master story teller."
— Rosemary Garagnani, president of the Oregon Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, Bend, Ore.
"One of the most inspiring and entertaining evenings the Medical Society has sponsored."
— Candice Barr, executive director of the Lane County Medical Society, Eugene, Ore.
Event Speaker Request Form.


Emoji appeared in 1999 with a set of 176 symbols that were meant to convey weather, traffic, technology and time. Today, there are 2,823 emoji that convey information across language, culture, lifestyle and diversity.
Emoji have become part of our everyday language, used when conveying a meaning or emotion when words aren't enough. But what looks like a cute, harmless text symbol could mean something entirely different to your kids, who have become experts at using their own language to KPC (Keep Parents Clueless). Sometimes, all it takes is a single emoji to convey a threat, send a sexual advance, bully others, make racist comments or complete a drug deal.
Parents should be involved and not only monitor what their kids are doing, but be aware of this new and often complex ever-changing language. Below are four threats and the emoji that accompany them.
It wasn't long ago when a teenager who wanted to buy illegal drugs had to venture into a questionable neighborhood, find the right street corner, identify the dealer and exchange cash to get their goods. Now, 75 percent of drug deals happen through social media, frequently using cute, seemingly innocent icons.
In the age of shareable snapshots, quickly-deleted posts and lightening quick texting, teens can end up in dubious situations. Technology has made it easier for predators to talk to and solicit minors, often while PIR (Parent in Room) or PAL (Parents are Listening).
Bullies go to all extremes to torment their victim while keeping their actions a secret from others. Emoji allow bullies to hide their harmful messages. While the victim understands the meaning, if caught, the bully will hide behind the original meaning of the emoji to protect themselves.
Another troubling use of emoji is when they are used to communicate about criminal and physical threats. Bombs, guns and knives are pretty straightforward. But what about these other icons that are used to threaten others? Also, did you know that emoji are now permitted to be used as evidence in court? It's important to make sure your kids know the risk in using them.
As more emoji appear with every operating system update, it is critical to understand what they mean today, but also stay on top of what they will mean tomorrow.
Kim Albarella is a visionary, strategic security leader at ADP. As the Senior Director of Security Marketing and Educational Programming within ADP's Global Security Organization, she has strategic and operational oversight for cyber and physical security.


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Home Business 129 Indians out of 130 'students' arrested in US 'pay-and-stay' immigration scam
129 Indians out of 130 'students' arrested in US 'pay-and-stay' immigration scam
An illegal immigrant in the United States illegally is checked before boarding a deportation flight by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE authorities have arrested 130 people, 129 of them Indian, enrolled as students in a fake university in Detroit as an immigration fraud and will deport them (Representative Photo)(AP)
The arrested Indians have been placed in "removal proceedings" — marked for deportation, in other words — and will remain in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) until the conclusion of their case by immigration courts.
NEW DELHI – US authorities had arrested 129 Indians enrolled at a fake university ran by undercover agents in Detroit, Michigan to expose a "pay-to-stay" immigration fraud till Thursday and officials have said more apprehensions are expected.
US prosecutors announced Thursday the arrest of eight men of Indian descent for using the fake university, University of Farmington, to run a "pay-to-stay" for foreigners stay on a student visa and work. The institute, which touted itself as a "nationally accredited business and STEM institution", had no instructors and ran no classes or educational activities. It has since been shut down and its website has been taken down.
It enrolled at least 600 students, officials have said.
"As of yesterday morning, ICE had administratively arrested 130 foreign nationals enrolled at the University of Farmington for civil immigration violations," Carissa Cutrell, a spokesperson for ICE, wrote in an email.
Of the 130, she added, 129 were Indian nationals.
"These individuals have been placed in removal proceedings, and ICE will seek to maintain them in its custody pending the outcome of those proceedings."
Cutrell also said more arrests were expected.
Indian embassy in Washington DC has been in touch with US officials and has sought consular access to the arrested students and officials have said they are doing all then can to help.
Most of the affected are from Telengana and Andhra Pradesh and are also receiving help from community associations. One of them, the American Telugu Association has launched a webpage to help the students and organized a webinar with immigration lawyers to guide them "to be watchful with fake agents who promise illegal ways to stay in USA with admissions in unaccredited colleges".
Lawyers have argued many of the students enrolled believing the university was legal. Some of them were studying elsewhere and switched to Farmington when their course lost accreditation. Other were doing second masters as looked for speciality work under the B-1B programme, which grants 20,000 visas every year to holders of advanced degrees from US educational institutions.
"The government utilized very questionable and troubling methods to get these foreign students to join the institution," Ravi Mannam, an immigration lawyer in Atlanta, told The New York Times.
Prosecutors, however, have argued the students knew what they were getting into. The indictments unsealed Thursday said the students knew the university's programme was not approved by the government. "Each of the foreign citizens who 'enrolled' and made 'tuition' payments to the University knew that they would not attend any actual classes, earn credits, or make academic progress toward an actual degree in a particular field of study- a "pay to stay'' scheme.
"Rather, their intent was to fraudulently maintain their student visa status and to obtain work authorization under the CPT (a course-related curricular training programme that allows off-campus work authorization for foreign students)."
Courtesy/Source: PTI
H1-B
Immigrant Investor Visa Program
Tighter Check on Foreign Students
US Citizenship and Immigration Services
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These clever boys' bedroom ideas are easy to do.
You know he won't be obsessed with cars forever (or will he?), so how can you find clever boys' bedroom ideas that will remain cool for years to come? "Stay away from primary colors on anything permanent," says Patricia Davis Brown, an award-winning interior designer and creator of the blog Dig This Design. Another tip? "Brighten up a boys' room with some fun accent colors," says Jenna Pizzigati-Coppola, the owner of Pizzigati Designs, which focuses on eco-friendly interior designs.
This concept works for young and old alike, notes Brown. For younger kids, the loft bed can be used as a centerpiece for building forts as imaginations run wild. As boys age, you can use the lofted space as a place to put a reading area, a desk or additional storage. Down to Earth Style has a beautiful example of a loft bed.
Many young boys love pirates, sailors and -- as they get older -- fishing and sailing. This room from You Are The Roots kicks the design up a notch. Add real-life accessories, such as seashells gathered on the beach during a family vacation or old fishing gear. You'll be able to tweak this decor as your little one grows to adapt to a seafaring theme.
Organization is key in any boy's room. Create a wall unit with shelving to display your son's toys and collectibles. This keeps things off the floor and makes a cluttered room look organized and fun. You can customize the unit with special baskets or different shelf sizes to accommodate whatever your little one collects. This industrial example from Beneath My Heart uses fake brick paneling, steel pipes and thick wood shelves.
Get creative with wallpaper murals, especially if your son is a fan of outer space, as in this room from Maries Manor. You can likely find ready-made murals or images to adorn a wall, or you can design one yourself. The best part is that you can change the mural as your child grows.
Eco-friendly products often come in neutrals, but that's not the case with this bedroom design that has splashes of orange and blue from Pizzigati Designs. "You can go with a bright happy yellow for their younger years and then give it a hint of a less juvenile accent color by simply swapping out your yellow rugs, bedding and artwork with something like red or bold orange," explains Pizzigati-Coppola. "All the easier for your son's personality and tastes to evolve as he grows up too."
Trophies, basketballs, posters of famous athletes -- your son's imagination is the limit with a sports theme. With details like an artificial turf bulletin board as in this room from Today's Creative Blog, you'll be bringing the action to his room in a way you never thought possible.
Take an image of something your son loves -- such as his favorite character or athlete -- and make it into a life-size part of the room in this idea from Design Mom.
Need to fit three kids in one room? Get creative with these space-saving hanging beds from The Bumper Crop. You'll create more room for playtime while giving them a truly one-of-a-kind bedroom.
Use some of your son's favorite toys as inspiration. Add bright, eye-popping colors that match his prized possession, whether it's Mickey Mouse ears or a surfboard, like More Cake Less Frosting did.
Bring in different shades of the same color to foster a cohesive design. Painting the ceiling a distinct hue, as in this room from Pizzigati Designs, is one of the latest trends making bedrooms personalized and fun.
From robot designs on the walls to robot-themed bedding, this concept from Design Dazzle is a sure-fire hit for your little Martian.
From Pac-Man to Space Invaders, tie-in your child's favorite arcade game via accented walls and bedding with this idea from Design Dazzle. For a more permanent design, leave the walls alone and add select video game elements with posters, action figures and rugs.
Give your son's room an industrial look with this high-tech bedroom from The Boo and the Boy. This design is all about simplicity and bright pops of color, leaving you plenty of flexibility to adapt as he grows.
For more ideas on how to best design a bedroom, check out Feng Shui Your Child's Room. If your house could use a cleaning before you start painting and moving furniture, hire a housekeeper!
Judy Koutsky is the former editorial director of KIWI magazine, a green parenting publication. She was also executive editor of Parenting.com, AOL Parent and BabyTalk.com. Follow her on Twitter.


Metal Working Tools | O.E. Meyer Co.
The Slugger JHM ShortSlugger is a small, but powerful drill that packs an unexpected punch in a compact 22 pound package. With all metal construction and "Smart Magnet circuitry is a durable and efficient unit.
The Slugger JHM Holemaker II is a reliable, powerful drill capable of mag base drilling up to 1-3⁄8 inch Ø holes, 2 inches deep. The small size and low weight make it ideal for continual use on the job site.
The JHM USA 101 is a mag base drilling unit for diameters of 7⁄16" - 1 1⁄2" (13 mm – 38 mm). A special drill spindle guide makes this a highly durable tool and delivers efficient, precise drilling on the construction site.
The Slugger JHM 2x2 is a reliable, powerful drill capable of mag base drilling up to 2 inch Ø holes, 2 inches deep.
With its powerful 2-speed gearbox, the Slugger JHM USA 5 is suitable for drilling diameters of up to 2 3/8" (60 mm). The extra-long drill shaft allows for cutting depths of up to 3" (75 mm).
The Slugger JHM 4 x 4 is a powerhouse drilling system capable of mag base drilling up to 4 inch (100 mm) Ø holes, 3 inches (75 mm) deep.
Holes from 7/16" (12 mm) to 1 1/4" (32 mm) diameter can be made with the JCM 125 Q. The JCM125Q is ideal for installation work on site due to its compact dimensions and low weight of only 23.1lbs (10.5kg).
The JCM 200 QX is one of the lightest 2-speed tools in its segment and offers an extended area of application.
The lightweight JCM 200 U 2-speed tool with MT 3 holder offers a universal range of applications and high flexibility for all applications.
The 2-speed tool JCM 256 U combines a compact design with good output. Its universal equipment provides increased functionality in the workshop.
The JCM 312 U workshop machine is ideal for everyone who wants to use the full capabilities of a mag base drill unit: mag base drilling, drilling, tapping, countersinking, and reaming.
The JCM 312 auto workshop machine sets new standards in the areas of productivity, flexibility, and job safety for mag base drilling diameters up to 3 1/8" (80mm).
This small and lightweight hole cutting machine is the go anywhere tool and is idea for tight spots and out of position work.
Advanced semi-automatic drilling machine is the ideal solution for efficiently drilling large numbers of holes in plates, girders, and other steel fabrication applications.
The D2x is a powerful magnetic drilling machine with a high-torque 1260 watt electric motor and a 2" (51 mm) hole capacity in 3" (76 mm) thick material.
The D4x is equipped with a 4-speed mechanical gearbox and a motor overload protection system with LED indicator. Its precision and durability are significantly increased thanks to the one piece gearbox housing and slide.
The Disruptor 30 is the world's first magnetic drilling machine that works on both thin steel or pipe without costly adaptors or backer plates. Magswitch patented shallow-field magnetic technology incorporated into the base of the drill provides strong grip, even on gauge material.
The Steelmax BM20 is an easy-to-use, portable heavy-duty machine designed for beveling steel plates and pipes prior to welding.
Reduce your costs and lay the foundation for high-quality welds with the Steelmax BM21 and BM21-SS for use on stainless steel.
Plate Bevellers, Self Propelled, Portable - KBM-18® produce clean machined bevels with no thermal distortion on mild steel, stainless steel and aluminum plate from 1/4" (6.0 mm) to 1 1/2" (38.1 mm) thick.
Slugger HSS annular cutters combined with Slugger JHM magnetic base drills create the ultimate system for on or off site, cost effective, high performance metal magnetic drilling. Slugger HSS Nova cutters provide superior results in standard steel drilling operations.
Consisting of 10 cutters, ¹⁄2", 9⁄16", 5⁄8", ¹¹⁄16", ³⁄4", ¹³⁄16", 7⁄8" ¹5⁄16", 1", 1 ¹⁄6" diameter, (drilling depth ³⁄4"), and 1 centering pin, 1 arbor assembly, 1 hex key, 1 set screw, in a plastic carrying case.
Long service life and outstanding cutting performance. Available in a variety of sizes and depths.
Slugger HSS Nova cutters provide superior results in standard steel drilling operations. Provide longer service life and more efficient drilling in high strength and stainless steels.
Produces gap-free fits ready for welding. Operated with hand lever feed handle and manual vise adjustment left and right. Smooth operation with minimal vibration. Notches via adjustments straight= 90° to 30° in tube or pipe from 3/4" to 3" diameter in seconds.
Produces gap-free fits ready for welding. Smooth operation with minimal vibration. Operated with two handwheels or a hand lever. Notches via adjustments straight=90° to 30° in tube or pipe from 3/4" to 4" diameter in seconds.


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text:
Hao Zi Yoh – the luminosity and delicacy of a great artist at Cranleigh Arts
1 luglio 2022 5 luglio 2022 ChristopherAxworthyMusicCommentary
https://youtube.com/watch?v=PznuP-BdAhI&feature=share
Bach: Partita No. 4 in D Major BWV 828
– Ouverture -Allemande-Courante-Aria-Sarabande-Menuet- Gigue
Albeniz: Almeria – from Iberia Book 2
Chopin: Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante Op. 22
Schumann: Fantasy in C, Op. 17
I. Durchaus fantastisch und leidenschaftlich vorzutragen; Im Legenden Ton
II. Mäßig. Durchaus energisch
III. Langsam getragen. Durchweg leise zu halten
Debussy: Isle of Joy
Hao Zi Yoh
I have heard Hao Zi many times but today in this glorious programme she made me even more aware of her unique qualities of scrupulous musicianship but also with a sensitivity to sound and colour that brought everything she touched vividly to life.Even the encore that she introduced so eloquently depicting a Malaysian rain forest was played with the same artistry and luminosity that she had brought to the Bach Partita that had opened this programme.Gently coaxing out sounds by plucking and dampening the piano strings whilst gently intoning a native chant.Bursting into more traditional cascades of notes played in the traditional manner all done with the utmost seriousness that created the atmosphere of her native country.
I remember Stockhausen asking me in Rome if he could use our Steinway Concert grand instead of the Yamaha that had been brought in specially for his complete Klavierstucke.How could I say no?But I did specify that the piano could only be used with two hands and two feet in the traditional manner!I had recently seen John Tilbury fill a piano with nuts and bolts in the search for special sound effects.Adulescu too turned the piano on its side as he threw rocks onto the strings!Luckily they were pianos that were brought in for the occasion whilst mine sat safely locked in a corner of the hall.
It just shows the esteem that Stephen Dennison and his colleagues in Cranleigh have for the artistry of Hao Zi to allow her to search for sounds inside the piano instead of only from the exterior.Infact from the very first notes of Bach's glorious fourth partita we were aware of the extraordinarily luminous sounds that Hao Zi could conjure from this new Shegeru Kwai that was especially chosen by Sasha Grynyuk for the hall.
The opening of the fourth Partita BWV 828 was played with authority and with a sound of great clarity as the imperious opening chords in 2/2 are suddenly brought to life in 9/8 bringing a sense of rhythmic energy as it springs to life at the opening of this Partita written in 1728 and part of the Clavierubung n.1.There was an operatic freedom to the Allemande that was shaped with delicacy with some very subtle colouring that immediately brought a magic spell to this mellifluous outpouring .This contrasted with the injection of rhythmic energy of the Courante before the ravishing beauty of the Aria.Hao Zi brought subtle phrasing and a sense of colour with playing of great delicacy.Even the final cadence was judged to perfection before the playful Sarabande with its cascades of arpeggios ,just shifts of sounds creating an orchestral effect of shifting harmonies.There were ornaments in the Menuet that sparkled like jewels as even here she brought this playful movement vividly to life .She brought authority to the Gigue which was played with relentless rhythmic energy but was also shaped with such care with a sound that was never hard or mechanical as often it can be in lesser hands as they cope with the transcendental technical difficulties of this movement.Hao Zi was not at all intimidated as she turned any technical hurdles into music of searing intensity and intelligence .
Iberia is a suite for piano composed between 1905 and 1909 by Isaac Albeniz. There are four books of three pieces each; Almeria is from the second book.
Iberia is Albéniz's best-known work and considered his masterpiece. It was highly praised by Debussy and Messiaen , who said: "Iberia is the wonder for the piano; it is perhaps on the highest place among the more brilliant pieces for the king of instruments".A critic in New York in 1988 pointed out whilst praising Alicia de Larrocha's performance:'There is really nothing in Isaac Albeniz's Iberia that a good three-handed pianist could not master, given unlimited years of practice and permission to play at half tempo. But there are few pianists thus endowed'. The Andalusian seaport of Almeria, is loosely based on tarantas, a flamenco form characteristic of the region of Almeria.Alicia de Larrocha often played in my season in Rome so I could admire in rehearsal and performance her workmanlike simplicity and intelligence born of hard work and dedication.A small hand that could with rubber like placticity mould itself around even the most gargantuan chords.I was reminded of her today as I listened to the sumptuous performance of Hao Zi where she filled this tone poem with subtle sounds and passionate outpourings.There was heartrending nostalgia too as the melodic line just floated on a cloud of sounds without any sentimentality or added effects apart from those that Albeniz depicts in the score.Grandiose chords too of a fullness that was never hard or ungrateful but luminous and inviting as they dissolved into the magic land of Almeria
The spell had been set for the Chopin Andante Spianato that floated in on the wave of Almeria .An audience that was obviously too entranced to break this spell with applause was rewarded with a performance of such subtle beauty and shape.One was not aware of single notes as her sense of legato enveloped even the most elaborate of embellishments that were just streams of gold and silver sounds ornamenting this magic bel canto atmosphere.Playing the full orchestral introduction to the 'Grande Polonaise Brillante' this was more a Polonaise Fantasy with which Chopin would have entranced the aristocracy in the Parisian salons of the day so used to the funabulistic high jinks of Liszt or Thalberg.
It was to lead Schumann to exclaim 'Hats off gentlemen ,a genius'.Hao Zi spun a magic web where ,of course,there were moments of great brilliance and octaves of majestic grandeur. The jeux perlé streams of sound though were played with subtle shape and sense of phrasing that one was not aware of the 'fingerfertigkeit' involved.Music just streamed from Hao Zi's hands as it must have done from Chopin's creating a magic and enveloping sense of forward movement where every note was part of a musical shape of ravishing charm and elegance.
Liszt taking the Parisian salons by storm in his own inimitable way.
The Schumann Fantasy has its origin in early 1836, when Schumann composed a piece entitled 'Ruines'expressing his distress at being parted from his beloved Clara Wieck (later to become his wife). Schumann prefaced it with a quote from the poet Schlegel :'Resounding through all the notes
In the earth's colourful dream
There sounds a faint long-drawn note
For the one who listens in secret.' Also a quote from Beethoven's song cycle An die ferne Geliebte (to the distant beloved) in the coda of the first movement :'Accept then these songs beloved, which I sang for you alone'.Schumann wrote to Clara: 'The first movement may well be the most passionate I have ever composed – a deep lament for you.'It became the first movement of the Fantasy.Later that year, he wrote two more movements to create a work intended as a contribution to the appeal for funds by Liszt to erect a monument to Beethoven in his birthplace, Bonn.It is dedicated to Liszt who in turn dedicated to him his B minor Sonata – two pinnacles of the Romantic piano repertoire.It was exactly this romantic sweep and passionate beauty that Hao Zi brought to the first movement.With a great sense of architectural line she managed to piece together all the various episodes with a wonderful sense of colour and style.The middle,section Im leggenden ton had some truly magical moments as it built to a passionate climax of great intensity.There was rhythmic energy in the second movement which despite the intricate dotted rhythms was beautifully shaped and led to the transcendental difficulty of the coda where the difficulties just disappeared as Hao Zi turned these hurdles into music of passionate urgency.There was an aristocratic sense of timelessness in the last movement and the gentle resolution although not exactly what the composer asks for was a musical solution of sublime beauty.The three last chords were of such beauty and calm creating a magic atmosphere where the audience held their breath for many minutes after the last chord had sounded.
L'isle Joyeuse with its opening of mystery and delicacy as the astonishing clarity of Hao Zi's playing brought this very evocative piece vividly to life.Written in 1903 as originally part of a series of three pieces :L'isle joyeuse,Masques and a piece that became D'un cashier d'esquisses.L'isle joyeuse was inspired by a painting by Watteau:'Pèlerinage à l'ile de Cythère'.Most probably the island was Jersey,where Debussy had spent much time with his new companion Emma Bardac.Played with great temperament and sense of colour with the passionate outpouring of the final triumphant declaration bringing this beautiful recital to a stimulating conclusion.
Watteau:'Pèlerinage à l'ile de Cythère'
Malaysian pianist Hao Zi Yoh was born in 1995 and began her music studies at the age of 3. By the age of 12, she already performed at Carnegie Hall as a gold medalist of the Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition. Most recently, Hao Zi was selected as participant in the Preliminary Round of Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw 2021. At the age of 14, she moved to Germany to study with Prof. Elza Kolodin at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg. It was then she won top prizes in many international competitions including EPTA Belgium, Enschede, RNCM James Mottram (Manchester, 2012) and Concurso international de piano Rotary Club Palma Ramon LLull, Mallorca (Spain 2013).In 2014, she came under the tutelage of Prof. Christopher Elton at the Royal Academy of Music, London, generously supported by Lynn Foundation, Leverhulme Trust, Countess of Munster and Craxton Memorial Trust. She received 3rd Prize at Roma International Piano Competition, the Phillip Crawshaw Memorial Prize for an Outstanding Musician from Overseas at the Royal Overseas League Competition. She was also recipient of prestigious Martin Musical Scholarship Trust Philharmonia Piano Fellowships on the Emerging Artists Programme 2017/18. During her studies, she explored her relationship with music and her interest in creating sound colours: her MMus Project 2016 involved collaborating with percussionist Daniel Gonzalez to create a version of Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit for Piano and Percussion.Apart from this, Hao Zi also participated in creative outreach projects led by the Open Academy for children and elderly with Dementia, where she performed in Music for Moment Concerts at the Wigmore Hall. She collaborated with author-illustrator David Litchfield and improvised to his storytelling of award-winning book "The Bear and the Piano".She is further developing her performing career being part of the Keyboard Trust London, Talent Unlimited. Hao Zi is also a piano tutor at King's College London and gives masterclasses at Imperial College London.
A very interesting interval conversation between Stephen Dennison and Hao Zi Yoh
https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2022/03/31/hao-zi-yoh-at-the-l-s-e-puritysensibility-and-elegance-simply-expressed/
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Everyone knows David Beckham as a soccer superstar, but here's a musical side of him you probably haven't seen.
Beckham, who's Samsung's Official Ambassador for the London 2012 Olympic Games (of which Samsung is an official sponsor), helps demonstrate some of the unique features of the Samsung GALAXY Note and the new S Pen accessory.
Watch the impressive advertisement below, check out the press release below, and lastly don't forget to read the MEGATechNews review of the Samsung GALAXY Note that we posted some time back.
MISSISSAUGA, ON,22ndMay, 2012Samsung Canada, a global leader inwireless communicationsand sponsor of the London 2012 Olympicand ParalympicGames,announced today anexclusive new video featuring world-renowned athleteDavid Beckham, Samsungs Official Ambassadorforthe London 2012OlympicGames.
The video, which demonstrates the unique features of the Samsung GALAXY Note, showcases Beckhams incrediblesoccer skills as he reproduces the melody of Beethovens classic Ode to Joy by kicking a series ofsoccerballs against a 15-foot wall of drums. Beckham uses the GALAXYNotes large screen to plan his sequence of kicks against the drums. Then he usestheSPen toannotatea photograph and post it on Facebook, capturing his experience and sharing it instantly with all his seventeen million fans.
I am excited to be partnering with Samsung as the official sponsor of the London 2012 Games in my hometown, Beckham said. I hopeeveryonewill experience and enjoy theOlympic Games like they have neverbefore.
Later this summer, Samsung will also be offering a Premium Suite upgrade for GALAXY Note devices to provide a greater user experience of the device. The Premium Suitesoftware package includes advanced note-taking applications, enhanced productivity tools, and an Android 4.0 OS upgrade.
GALAXY Note introduces a revolutionary new mobile device category.Retaining all the portability of a smartphone, its immersive large screen and advanced pen-input capabilities enable new possibilities for creating, rendering and sharing content with unique self-expression and spontaneity. GALAXY Note continues to win praise from consumers across the globe, recently surpassing 5 million sales in only 5 months since its launch.
Samsung, the Worldwide Olympic Partner for Wireless Communications Equipment, will be demonstratingthe latest smartphones including GALAXY Notein the Olympic Village and throughout London for the duration of theLondon 2012Olympicand ParalympicGames.


"SORRY TO BOTHER YOU" CAST DISCUSSES THE FILM!
In an alternate present-day version of Oakland, telemarketer Cassius Green discovers a magical key to professional success, propelling him into a macabre universe. The cast of this Boots Riley-directed film includes Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Armie Hammer, Terry Crews, Steven Yeun, Omari Hardwick, Jermaine Fowler, and Danny Glover.


text:
Gustav Lahmeyer ist der Name von

* Gustav Lahmeyer (Lehrer) (1827–1915), deutscher Gymnasiallehrer und -direktor
 Gustav Lahmeyer (Politiker) (1889–1968), deutscher Verwaltungsjurist und Kommunalpolitiker, Oberbürgermeister von Kassel

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Mailing List Archive: [Wikimedia Announcements] Fwd: Announcement: New editor engagement	experiments team!
[Wikimedia Announcements] Fwd: Announcement: New editor engagement	experiments team!
Subject: Announcement: New editor engagement experiments team!
A couple of changes at the Wikimedia Foundation that I want you to know about.
creative/storytelling/community aspect of the fundraising team's work.
Engagement Innovation Lab or the Rapid Experimentation Team.
increase editor engagement and retention.
assigned to it, and it's clear they need engineering resources.
should be recruiting for this, please tell Alolita or Karyn!
experiments the team will run.
with some folks in the community.
members of the Wikimedia community to enable people to do useful work.
Finally, I want to talk for a minute about editor retention overall.
sense that it will take time to fix.
problem, and I look forward to future success moving the needle on it.
Q What's the impetus behind these changes?
Q What's happening to Zack?
final decisions have been made yet about what those titles will be.
just calling it Fundraising, if we don't think of anything better.
Q What's happening to the Community Department?
it makes less sense now as the organization has matured and evolved.
by giving it better access to UI/design and engineering resources.
Q How is the new product team different from Fabrice's team?
can be integrated into existing product roadmaps.
Q Will this new team be building new features?
as is appropriate for the task.
Q What kinds of projects will this new team be working on?
Q How can volunteers give input on this work?
A Ping Steven or Maryana.
Q Who will be in charge of this work?
Q Where will fellowships live and how do fellows fit with other teams?
by multiple groups, including this one.
Q What's happening to fundraising and storytelling?
by Zack and will continue to operate as planned.
people's titles and reporting lines all the time!
Q How can I join this team?
design experiments, track results, and communicate what we're doing.


At Organization Direct we provide personalized solutions to your organizing needs.
A meeting (in person or via the phone) to talk with you about your specific needs, desires and goals for your area. We also have a recommended Time, Space and Style Inventory Questionnaire for our clients. This tells us your specific personality and helps us help you make effective decisions to organize your space.
Regardless of whether you use our online questionnaire, our discussion will be based around you as a person and how we can help you meet and reach your personal and/or business goals to become organized.
Once we have met (on the phone or in person), we can begin discuss whether your goals can be met virtually (via the phone or online) or in person (via hands-on organizing). Virtual organizing allows us to help clients all over the US to reach their organizing goals.
Every client receives an Agreement that includes a breakdown of our conversation and a breakdown of your goals.
We also include a Confidentiality Agreement and a Photo Consent (which is optional).
Typically, larger projects are asked for an initial deposit in order to start the project. This 50% deposit is based on the estimated number of hours until completion. (This may be adjusted as the lead organizer deems appropriate). After an initial deposit is made and these hours are exhausted two options are available – a "pay as you go" option where payment is made at the end of every visit or for larger projects, an "end of the month" payment is available. The end of the month option is the most popular. Hours are tracked throughout the month and the balance of hours for that month are due on the last scheduled appointment for the month.


Items where Author is "Murray, Alicia"
Murray, Alicia (2009) Interactions between potassium channels and serotonin in pulmonary arterial hypertension. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.
This list was generated on Mon Apr 22 01:53:24 2019 BST.


Tonight as Tim left the house he said "Look we made it!" half jokingly. Commenting on the now three dogs passed out sleeping on the couch and floor, fire place roaring and the kids in bed. Except instead of joining me in sitting down, he was walking out the door to drive and help someone with frozen pipes and onto a second place with heat/water issues. This is also the 4th night in a row he hasn't been home. It is not easy, this past week even when he has "been home" he was off plowing, running out with the kids before running back to the firehouse for a shift.
We are a team, while he is out I am running the house, shuffling the kids around to school and activities. We have my parents who help out, they are the only constant in our lives with the kids. I don't know what I would do without them, especially my mom when I text her 100 times a days about the kids and random stuff.
We are 3 months into our new home. We have finished the basement, worked on garage, and painted the kids rooms. We have plans for bathrooms and kitchen remodels. Since we moved in and between the rain, cold and then snow, we only did tree work. Landscaping and outdoor play is coming this spring and I cannot wait to fully make this house a home inside and out.
The new school has been great. The drastic change and improvement with Jack in such a short time reinforces the fact we made a good choice. While is mouth and some of the back talking at 7.5, I could do without. Charlotte adjusted well and has a long list of friends to invite over. We are also about to begin planning her half birthday party with her new friends.
Apple Moms had a great year with events and new additions in 2017 and I plan on continuing for 2018. The Trunk or Treat and NYE Balloon Drop had record numbers. We have story times, new posts and other family fun adventures and reviews taking place. W have an Egg Hunt coming this weekend and more plans to come.
Family has been well interesting. My parents have been a constant, again I don't know what we would do without them. Actions Speak Louder Than Words is the expression I will use for the rest.
While we are a quarter way in, the rest is just beginning.


text:
Q: Extract a specific column from a list of list data I have a list of list where I want to extract a specific column from each data set.I used the following code to get the 7th column of each data in the list of list.
lapply(out, function(x) lapply(x, function(y) y[,7]))

However, it looks like some data has less than 7 columns. But I need to get only the 7th column wherever available and combine all of them into one data frame (The column name may be different in each data in list of list but I am sure that the required information is available only in the 7th column)

A: You can keep dataframe that has more than 6 columns using Filter. To get data in one dataframe use do.call + rbind
result <- do.call(rbind, lapply(out, function(x)
             do.call(rbind, lapply(Filter(function(z) ncol(z) > 6, x),
                             function(y) y[,7]))))

Using purrr might be shorter :
library(purrr)
map_df(out, function(x) map_df(keep(x, ~ncol(.x) > 6), function(y) y[,7]))

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


This past Saturday was my last post for Craft on MAKE. After more than three years I'm hanging up my mouse here on Craft and focusing on some projects back here at home in Detroit. It was a hard decision to make as the Craft community is so outstanding.
A few years back (like five, gulp!) I was asked to host one of Craft's issue release parties in Detroit. I was such a fan of the magazine that I jumped at the chance. Two years later I was asked to join the staff to help cover the launch of Maker Faire in Detroit and my craftiness was never the same.
Thanks to Craft I've met some amazing people, both readers and crafters, coming up with fantastic projects. While I won't be here on Craft sharing ideas, I'll be busy with Handmade Detroit and the Detroit Urban Craft Fair, as well as my own blog. Hopefully I'll hear from you all soon!


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The Ill-Planned Grand Tour Part VIII: Connemara, A Castle, and Cromwell's Barracks
Posted on 27 January 2016 by The Reluctant Girl Scout
A better person would have taken a non-reflective photo for you.
There's an old travel poster hanging above our bed back in Seattle that says Connemara "Ireland This Year", and since we got married, it has been a daily reminder that this wild and wide-open hunk of Ireland has been on our to-do list. Kerry's landscape might be green and lovely, and the lush mountains and charming villages dotting the countryside of Wicklow might make it a big tourist destination, but Connemara haunts my dreams.
It is moody in places and feels desolate in others, I often don't know if I'm looking at rocks or sheep, but it stirs my soul and calls to me every couple of years. Once I'm out there, I don't even necessarily know what to do with myself, but I'm happy to be looking at bog cotton and the barren mountains and little thatched cottages that look like something from a dream of Ireland instead of the real thing. As Z guides the Galway Hooker along the narrow road, he says, "It's a lot browner than I imagined," and I'm so in love with where I am, that I don't feel like I have to apologize that there are fewer of Johnny Cash's forty shades of green here than in other parts of the country.
Connemara and a few of Johnny's 40 shades.
A decade ago, I spent a week at a castle with a group of writers with ties to Aspen Words. We were at Kinnitty Castle in the Midlands and though it was lovely there and I had one of the most enriching writing experiences of my life—studying under novelist/memoirst Hugo Hamilton and spending a day and evening with novelist Colum McCann—I felt let down not to be in Connemara. When I arrived at the castle, which had been in existence in one form or another since the 13th century, I felt off my game. It was not in the Ireland that I was most familiar with, and the others in the group were all older than me and richer than me. We had in our midst, amongst others, a couple on the Fortune 400 list and a countess. The first night, alone in my four-post bed, staring out the Gothic window, I was near tears and ready to head home because I felt so out of place. But then my cousin Mary called me to see when I'd be coming "home" to County Galway, and suddenly, I felt not so alone and more than a little spoiled that I would let myself get into this low state when I was staying in a castle in very princess-y accommodations. Never mind I didn't have a second home (or even a first one) and hadn't been a major donor to a presidential campaign.
That week at Kinnitty was grand. Hugo Hamilton's writing workshops changed the way I led my own, I realized that despite the size of their stock portfolios the people in this group really were just people, and I made a few friends. The owner of the castle chatted with us one night in the dungeon pub about the various ghosts in residence, and he seemed a little too pleased that a ghost hunting show had come to the castle to film paranormal activity. Later though, talking to two different members of the wait staff, the tales of haunting seemed more legitimate. One server said she refused to go in the banquet hall alone and reported that someone down in the Dungeon Pub had seen a hooded monk there. It felt like the perfect setting for a murder mystery like Ten Little Indians, where one by one, various guests are picked off.
Kinnitty Castle, 2005
With Kinnitty as my only Irish castle experience, I'm not sure what to prepare myself for when Z and I pull off the N59 in Clifden looking for Abbeyglen Castle Hotel where we'll be spending the night. As we wind our way up the drive and spill into an overflow parking lot, the buildling is impressive enough there on the hillside overlooking the little town and the estuary that eventually spills into the Atlantic. It's more Victorian than I'd imagined, and with its helipad and tennis courts it seems more like a stately home. It's too early to check-in, but when we enter the lobby it's clear that it is more 19th century than actual archers-in-the-turrets castle like we were clambering around in Wales. Though it is much bigger, it gives me a sense of Fawlty Towers at first glance, perhaps because there is a parrot near the reception desk that says, "Goodbye" whenever guests walk past.
Abbeyglen Castle Hotel, complete with throne to greet you and a piece of our luggage.
Mary has recommended the castle restaurant for our evening meal where, it seems, you eat what is being served for the night instead of ordering from a menu. I am a picky eater with the palate of a four-year-old and the delicate stomach of an octogenarian, so after we walk back into town to kill time, we phone the front desk multiple times to see what will be on the evening's menu so we'll know if we need to make alternate plans. Every time we call, we're told to call back later because the chef hasn't decided yet what he's serving. On the last call, the receptionist says brightly, "Whatever it is, I'm sure it will be lovely. It always is!" We decide that a better plan for us might be to have an in-room picnic, so we walk to the nearest Clifden Gas-n-Sip and piece together the makings of a meal, and then head back to check in. Later, when we finally get the final word on the menu, it was the correct choice (for me anyhow–I am not a duck confit kind of person).
Abbeyglen Castle grounds looking towards Clifden
Our room is massive with a canopy bed, a fireplace, wing-back chairs, and a bathroom that our living room in Seattle would easily fit into, complete with a claw-foot tub where I spend an hour soaking and pretending my lady-in-waiting will be ushering me into a velvet robe when I get out.
The bed I've been looking for my entire life.
We watch rugby in our room, sitting in the worn wingback chairs by the fireplace, our feet propped on the single bed that randomly juts into the sitting area, and nosh on our meal. Z says, "This place is an interesting combination of 'posh' and 'worn', isn't it?" It is. But I feel strangely pleased by this combination and by our dining choices. It is comfortable, and I don't feel haunted or homesick at all. Also, there is supposedly a tie in our family lineage to Eleanor of Aquitane, so that canopy bed is feeling like my divine right even if we are in Ireland instead of England or France.
Abbeyglen Castle room with bonus single bed.
What does make me homesick, however, is the lack of room wi-fi. After dinner, we head to the lobby to check our mail. Though I know it is "ugly American" behavior, I feel indignant that I should be staying in castle where the website boasts fine amenities, but then I have to sit in the lobby with all the other guests glued to their screens. I grumble. It feels like an airport, as if we're killing time on Facebook before our planes take off to their disparate destinations. That said, I am wearing my glorious green cape, which makes it feel slightly more glamorous than the all Internet Call Shops I used to have to frequent on my Irish trips.
My kingdom for a hotspot.
We leave early the next morning for the teeny town of Cleggan and the ferry that will take us to Inisbofin, an island hanging off the western coast and a favorite spot of mine since I went there ages ago with another group of writers and poets Mickey Gorman and Gerry Donovan. Because we're so early and the ferry doesn't leave for a couple of hours, we wander into a pub next to the field where we've been directed to park, ask if they mind if we sit with our luggage, which still seems too huge despite John and Mary having reduced our load by half. We sip early-morning-appropriate beverages, eat crisps—the only food on offer at this time, write postcards, and wander outdoors to introduce ourselves to the neighbor donkey. While I sit there, I think about my fantasy of living in a small village and how idyllic it would be, but then simultaneously realize how much I'd feel like I was in a goldfish bowl with everybody down the pub knowing your business. There's no pleasing me.
Cleggan welcoming committee.
Finally, we roll our bags down to the dock to catch the ferry. A decade ago when my mother and I made this same trip, we stood at the back of the small boat like a pair of lunatics, getting soaked from the waves that splashed us, and cackling with glee as the boat heaved and ho'd through the icy Atlantic. I've been telling Z that the ride will be rough, but when we arrive at the dock, the boat is much larger than last time and it turns out we've had rougher rides on the sedate Washington State Ferry System than we will on this one.
ShellE, regular stowaway on all my journeys, enjoys the Inishbofin ferry.
We opt to sit out front and look at the mountains, the craggy cliff faces, and eventually as we nose our way into the island's harbor, Cromwell's barracks from the 16th century, where supposedly Grace O'Malley, the pirate queen, once lived. (Grace O'Malley seems to have lived a great many places in the west of Ireland!)
I prefer thinking of this as Grace O'Malley's castle instead of Cromwell's barracks, but suspect there is more historical accuracy in the latter.
On my other two trips here, I've stayed at the Doonmore Hotel, high up on the hill, partly because it was the only hotel on the island. On one of the rainy, gloomy days Mom and I were there, the power was cut while repairs were made to the cable that brings the electricity to the island, a relatively recent development: the island wasn't electrified until the 1980s. So Mom and I poked our noses into the hotel lounge to see if it was a place where we could pass some time, and as luck would have it, the owner, Mrs. Murray, was there. She ushered us in, commanded someone to bring a pot of tea and biscuits, and we settled in for the rest of the afternoon, getting to know her and learning about the island hotel life. It was one of those delightfully happy accidents that happens to me only in Ireland. Because of this fond memory, I can't say what made me book our room at the newer, closer-to-the-docks, Inishbofin House Hotel, but I did. Nearly as soon as we arrive there, who do I spy but my cousin Brendan (Catherine's brother), who has been working at the hotel for the summer. Another happy accident I wouldn't have had the benefit of if I'd been true to the Doonmore.
Inishbofin, heather and sheep/rocks.
Our room has a view of the harbor, and it's glorious out. Possibly the most beautiful day I've ever seen on all of my visits, and therefore I cannot explain what compels me to leave my camera back at the hotel when we venture out. I have no photographic evidence of how sunlight hits every surface in a perfect, magical way, and scenery looks like it was fabricated by a Hollywood prop department. But it's true. Everything sparkles and shines.
Inishbofin, view from our room.
I grew up with access to the country—spent summers frolicking in the cow pasture at my grandparents' farm, played with kittens in the hay mow at my aunt's farm—but until I am on Inishbofin, it is a quality of freedom that I forget ever having had. (Possibly, because there are no parental units here warning us off of a particular walk or activity, it is actually more free than those childhood rambles.) If you asked me what there is to do on the island, I would be honest and tell you the truth as I see it: absolutely nothing. And it is glorious.
Inishbofin
There are cars on the island, but they aren't really a worry and the drivers seem to know that tourists will be gawping in the middle of the road. (Plus, Irish drivers are at least 80% more careful and polite than in the US, even on the mainland.)
The narrow roads of Inishbofin.
So we walk. We talk to cows. We watch sheep scuttling across a distant hillside as a dog nips at their heals. We stop at an old cemetery and marvel at the Celtic cross gravestones marking the resting places of centuries of island dead. When we get to the water I'm shocked by how the best descriptor for its color is sapphire. It's windy and too cold to comfortably wade, so we find shelter next to a tall rock, eat a packet of crisps, and try to soak up all the beauty. We're on island time and the ocean air relaxes us better than any drug could. We eat supper in the hotel restaurant and sleep well.
On the island, we sleep like babies, but fortunately not like this one, found lashed to a post on one of our rambles.
The next day I'm determined to see the seal colony on the other side of the island. On the last two trips here it has been a failed goal due to weather or lethargy, so Z and I pack our lunch, grab the map that has little on it other than three trails we can take. I pick the one with "seal colony" written along the far coast and we start walking. On the way, we pass the public school, where the children have painted murals depicting the history of Inishbofin, including the 1927 Cleggan fishing disaster that is mentioned in all of the island literature because it was so devastating, the island getting electricity, and a mysterious panel from the 1960s called "The Cocoa Years" that leaves me hankering for a café and an explanation, neither of which is forthcoming.
The Cocoa Years predated the Electricity Years. Which would you pick?
The ground on our walk is uneven, rocky most places and then surprisingly spongy when we reach the bog—from which turf is cut to heat island homes. There in dark peat someone has spelled out with small rocks, "Aisling, will you marry me?" and someone, one hopes not Aisling, has spelled out beneath it a rocky "NO."
Maybe next time DON'T propose in the bog?
We reach the seal colony, and there they are, waiting on us, bobbing up in greeting. I peer west and pretend to see America. We settle down on a rock, ready to tuck into our picnic when the midges start biting. We move. They follow. We move again. There's no getting away from them unless we keep moving, so we have a walking picnic instead, munching and traipsing across the hillside. It's not part of my magical dream and we've walked about six miles so I had been looking forward to sitting down for a while, but I can, on occasion, still tap into my inner Girl Scout and adapt to changes of plan.
Amerikay is out there somewhere.
The place is covered in sheep and thus, sheep crap, but it is my idea of heaven. We run into very few people, so the walk is desolate (other than the sheep). I spin in circles with my arms outstretched, Julie Andrews style, and sing the first few bars of "The Hills are Alive" and Z just shakes his head.
Steep hill, sheep crap, midges–yet I couldn't be happier here.
I love being out here with no place to be, no one pushing us along to the next tourist site, no sense that I should be dong something better with my time. In the front of my journal, I have written "You are here; this is now." It's meant to remind me not to live in the future or the past, but I daily fail to live up to this goal and distract myself from the present with some memory or plan. Even if we are at a beach somewhere lovely, I often find that I'm troubled because I feel if I close my eyes for a nap or pick up a book to read, that I am somehow not fully taking in the moment. But on this day, hiking around these sheepy hills? This day, I reach my goal.
Inishbofin.
As we walk along the edge of the island, we can see the derelict buildings on Inishark in the distance, an island that is no longer inhabited. We hear the water crash against the rocks below us. A colony of big rabbits has threatened to take over the island, and I'm happy to see so many of them only because I'm not an islander and don't have to deal with the havoc they are wreaking.
A Bofin Bunny.
As we make our way back towards civilization, we pass the Doonmore and I say hello to it and think good thoughts about Mrs. Murray. By the time we make our way back to the hotel, we've hiked twelve miles and we're both in need of Advil, but this day will be one of my favorite memories of this entire trip. In the evening, a traditional céilidh band is playing, and I nudge Z away from the room and towards the music for what to me is the cherry on the top of a perfect day.
Inishbofin cottage
Before we arrived, I assumed I could comfortably make this my last trip to Inishbofin in lieu of future trips to other islands I've never investigated, but after today, I'm not sure I'll ever be done with this outpost. And what I don't know yet but learn the next day when we leave the island is that Mrs. Murray has just died and as we are sailing back to the mainland tomorrow, her body will be returning to the island one last time. This is no "happy" accident, but even so, I feel weirdly lucky to have been on Inishbofin, thinking of that afternoon tea with her eleven years ago, when her own island story was ending. It's a melancholy thing, but it warms me.
Filed under Etc., Goals, Ireland, Love, Memoir, Random Conversations with Strangers, Travel, Writing and tagged Abbeyglen Castle Hotel, Cleggan, Clifden, Connemara, Inishbofin, island life, islands |	1 Comment
The Ill-Planned Grand Tour, Part VII: Galway, a Girl in a Cape, and a Dream
When I was newly out of college and driving into town to work at the public library—a job I thought I'd love but didn't—I'd often find myself giving tours to imaginary people riding in my Dodge Omni. I don't know who the people were or why I thought they'd care about the historic train depot or the various beautiful but poorly attended Victorian churches in my little Midwestern town, but I'd sometimes arrive at work completely uncertain of how I got there because the intensity of my gig as an imaginary tour-guide had made time disappear.
It never occurred to me that this was odd behavior for a 23-year-old woman to indulge in. Certainly, it makes one wonder why I was in hot pursuit of a fiction degree if my imagination couldn't cook up better fantasies than driving figments around my hometown and pointing out the Tiffany windows at Reid Presbyterian Church. When my college friends (real humans, not imaginary) would visit from out of town, I'd often figure out routes to drive them from one of our two historic neighborhoods to the other, explaining about Richmond's Quaker heritage, telling them about how at some magical point in its history there were supposedly more millionaires per capita in Richmond than anywhere else in the U.S. I'd point to the old mansions that more recently had been turned into mortuaries and B&Bs as evidence. My friends always indulged me even if they were bored out of their minds.
This wasn't Richmond-exclusive behavior. I did the same when showing people around my college and grad school campuses, around Chicago after I'd spent years there with some regularity, and eventually around Ireland. Not only did I offer tours to family and friends, but on two occasions I invited people I'd met in other parts of Ireland to come with me to Galway so I could show it off. As an introvert, this behavior was out of character for me: inviting people who were very nearly strangers to come with me on a sacrosanct trip to Galway? But it felt like a venial sin if not a mortal one not to introduce them to this city I love and then point them into Connemara.
I've dreamed of giving Z the Grand Tour of Galway since before we were even a couple, so the minute we get off the train I'm hurrying him towards the luggage storage at the station so we can maximize the few hours we have before checking into our B&B. He is heavy laden with suitcases, but even so, I am an oversized border collie nipping at his heels to hurry him along. It is frustrating that we need lunch before my formal tour can begin because there is so much to show him and so little time: in three days we'll be heading into Connemara and the next leg of our adventure. Already, I'm regretting that I didn't schedule an entire week here in the City of Tribes.
Free of our luggage, we go across from the station to a pub that looks like it's been there for two centuries even though I know a decade ago it was a nightclub with sleek, modern decor. It's deserted, except for the barman who is friendly and fills us in on the upcoming sporting events that have Dublin, Galway, and neighboring Mayo full of excitement for rugby, Gaelic football, and hurling.
Galway is not, perhaps, the most Irish of Irish towns. Historically speaking, it was more English than Irish with a helping of Spanish influence. The course of Irish history was never changed significantly because of anything that happened here, and other than Claddagh rings (those rings with the heart and hands and crown that Irish Americans love), not much is exported out of Galway to make it noteworthy. Yet the twisty old Shop Street, the rapidly flowing River Corrib, the churches, the area by the bay called the Claddagh? It all calls to me. If I don't get there every few years, I start to twitch.
My plans are thrown into a tailspin when we leave the bar and find ourselves standing in Eyre Square in the midst of a heavy downpour. Because I had all those years of imaginary tour-guiding in the 1990s, I know that the hallmark of a good guide is one who can adapt to circumstances. I hurry Z into the shopping center across from the open park square. He hates shopping centers and is no doubt disappointed with my choice, but I nudge him towards the back where the medieval wall that used to surround the city still stands, incorporated into the heart of the mall. On the one hand, it's an historian's nightmare to have something so noteworthy jutting out of a Pennys. On the other, were this wall in America, it would have been ripped down with little thought of preservation. We admire the quirk of it and then head towards the Vodaphone store to see if it's possible to make our English cell phone magically Irish. It isn't. The woman who delivers the sad news is so charming that we don't really even mind forking out the money for another phone. She tells us that the store across the way might be able to help by cracking into our English phone (they can't) and refers to them as "the likes of them over there" with a dismissive head nod. Though it's not a phrase unique to Ireland, with her lilt, it sticks with me for the rest of the trip and I try to figure out ways to work it into my own conversation. Phone in hand, we venture back out where the rain has disappeared as quickly as it arrived.
Medieval wall-in-the-mall as decorated for Christmas, 2005.
Petra House is my favorite B&B ever, and that includes some posher places I've stayed in Ireland and America over the years. It really does feel like a home away from home. Over a decade ago I randomly picked it out of a Rick Steves' tour book when my mother and I were in Ireland, and now it is the gold standard to me of what an excellent B&B should be like: tasteful accommodations, a spotless room, a delicious breakfast, and friendly hosts who make you feel you're being looked after. Mom and I both had crushes on the owners, Frank and Joan, a couple who embody the "thousand welcomes" that Ireland is famous for. At one point, Joan and my mother were talking so animatedly that they could have been mistaken for girlhood friends, and Frank endeared himself to me on my second visit two years later, when he saw me at the breakfast table and said, "Ah, last time you were here, you were with your mother and were leaving us for Inishbofin. You know, the new dock they were building burned down right after you were there." This visit is no different, and when Z and I leave in three days time, Frank will walk us out to the car, hand us road maps, tell us to be careful on the narrower, rougher roads of Connemara, and generally make us feel like we're forlornly saying goodbye to a family member. Other than all meals with my cousins at the end of our trip, we won't have another meal as delicious as Joan's either.
Galway Hooker venturing towards Galway Bay
The three days we are in Galway, I walk the legs off of Z. I want him to see it all immediately. Admittedly, I tell some fibs so he readily agrees to walks that are three times as long as he is led to believe. I walk him along the River Corrib, the canal, to the cathedral, the Claddagh where we see postcard-perfect Galway Hookers (red-sailed boats that were used to haul turf to the Aran Islands but now seem to be used to sail tourists around in circles). There is an extra long walk along the Salthill Prom overlooking Galway Bay and the rocky moonscape of the Burren across the water in County Clare. I force Z to sing a chorus of Steve Earle's "Galway Girl." When we reach the end of the promenade, I insist that he "kick the wall" like a true Galwegian. Here, I am disappointed that where there was once just a wall and where you could imagine decades of citizens kicking it instinctively, now there is a donation box sloppily cemented into the wall for some charity wherein I'm meant to deposit euros for the privilege of the kick. In protest, I do not deposit coins ( also because I think we might need to take the bus back to the town center because we're knackered from the walk) but I do spend the rest of the day feeling guilty and uncharitable.
View from our damp dock picnic perch
Perhaps my worst sin against Z is the day I lead him on a long walk past the university to the area where I lived for a summer so we can have a picnic by the river. The walk takes longer than planned, Z is hungry, and when we arrive, the picnic table that had been there over a decade ago has been removed in an attempt to make the youth of Galway behave themselves. The view across the river is still lovely—with the city behind us, we look out across fields, at some oldish stone ruin and larger house. A boat tour glides past us and we wave, happy to be less touristy than the people on the boat. I feel momentarily victorious that I've brought us to such a lovely spot, but then, as we lower our middle-aged bones to the dock so we can eat our sandwiches along the river, it starts pouring with rain. Z has a look of annoyed resignation on his face. He's a trooper though and never says a word about the inconvenience of our lunch, or even the annoying walk to and from our destination during which I have lamented at every turn all the changes that have befallen the UCG campus since I was there last. The biggest sin, as far as I am concerned, is that the pub where the writer Dermot Healy once bought me a pint is no more (much like Dermot Healy himself). But I also lament the trees in the wooded area through which I'd walked to class every day like a modern, thirtysomething Red Riding Hood; they've been chopped down and an athletic center built there. It all feels like a travesty of justice. The place should have been laminated after I left. Buoyed from his lunch and a lessening of rain, Z happily sits with me in the inner courtyard of NUI Galway that is modeled on Christ Church at Oxford and lets me reminisce about the summer before I met him when I was here.
In the UCG courtyard, recounting past glories
Z has some research to do on this leg of the trip as well, and the half hour he turns me loose to interview someone, I make a beeline to a shop I like. Within two minutes, the clerk has dropped this rich green cape thing (don't even think about calling it a poncho) over my head and clearly it is meant for me. Another clerk comes up and says it matches my eyes and when I tell the likes of them that we'll soon be spending a night in a castle, they both nod their heads and say, "Sure, you'll be wanting this to wear while you sit by the fire with a glass of wine." This trip has not been about the buying of mementos, but even so, I'm an easy mark. I hand over my money and the clerk hands me the bag. I'm only half way out the store before I've tugged it on—all of this within five minutes of having said goodbye to Z. To my credit, it's lovely and I do not look as ridiculous in it as I did on the first trip when I bought a thick Aran sweater and insisted on wearing it daily even though it was summer and the sweater was heavy enough to be a winter coat. (Mom wears it as a coat now actually.) I have no doubt any Irish person passing me on the street must have thought then, "Americans are ridiculous." On this day though, I can only imagine they are all admiring my new purchase and assuming I'm a native Galwegian. When we are reunited, Z grins at me and shakes his head when he sees me sashaying up shop street in it. Because he likes to name things, he dubs it "Capey" and it becomes a sort of family pet for the rest of the journey. Did you pack Capey? Don't spill Ribena on Capey! Don't leave Capey behind?
Z with spendthrift wife, elderly passerby, and the beloved Capey
We do the things I always do when I am in Galway too. We poke our noses into the restaurants in the Latin Quarter trying to select the best one. We go into my favorite sweater shops and fondle sweaters we aren't going to buy. We look in the windows of jewelry stores at Claddagh rings we've no use for since I seem to already own three and Z refuses to wear one. We go into St. Nicholas Collegiate Church, a 14th century church said to have been visited by Cromwell. We look at the Spanish Arch and I tell Z about how Columbus popped by Galway when he was off on his exploring adventures. I point out Lynch's castle, now a bank, where the mayor of Galway hung his own son, who had killed another young man, and the mayor became a recluse afterward. Sometimes serving justice is a heart breaker.
Galway's Latin Quarter, geared up for the big match
We go to Charlie Byrne's Bookshop and buy books we'd have to work hard to find in America, including the latest Jack Taylor mystery by Ken Bruen that is set in Galway. Z and I are both big fans of this brutal series, and I know now that he's seen the city, the books will be even more (horrifying) fun—I've spent these three days reminding him of plot points and where I think Jack Taylor lives, where various crimes unfolded, etc. As we're checking out with our purchases, I spy a Charlie Byrne's tote and Z gallantly tells the clerk I'd like one; the clerk even more gallantly says, "No charge." In no time, I've filled it with books and postcards and pieces of detritus and added it to the increasing pile of luggage hogging our room at Petra House.
Oh, Charlie Byrne's–you never disappoint!
On our second night in the city, Z is presented to my cousin Mary and her husband John, who have driven into town to meet us at the hotel where their son Eoin is working for the summer. I see Eoin first, and am shocked that he has grown approximately 12 feet since last I saw him. On my first meeting, he was in "junior infants" (kindergarten) and finagling sweets out of his mother when we stopped to get petrol. It is a real joy to reconnect with all of them since I haven't seen them for six years, and a greater joy that at the conclusion of the evening when Z and I are snuggled in at Petra House, he tells me how much he enjoyed Mary and John, and I shortly receive a text from Mary telling me that they approve heartily of Z and are happy to see me so happy and healthy. The next night, we have dinner with Mary's niece Catherine—my "little" second-cousin-once-removed–who introduced me to nearly every cow on her grandfather's farm when she was about six and now she is a grown-up college student who loves to read and has a wicked sense of humor. Another delightful evening with family, and I feel so happy that all those years ago I was uncharacteristically nervy enough to demand that my grandfather give me the address of his cousins in Ireland so I could claim kin and be the first member of our little American branch of the tree to meet them. What a lucky day for me.
This day is also a lucky one for Z and me because John and Mary take half of our ridiculous amount of luggage back to their house since we'll be seeing them again, thus relieving us of the Samsonite albatrosses that have been weighing us down. There's a ferry ride to an island in our near future and I don't want to be seen as the ridiculous Americans with the steamer trunks for a two-night stay in the Inishbofin House Hotel.
Galway Cathedral window
On our last morning in Galway, Z and I walk down the hill to pick up a rental car—a little red one that we dub the Galway Hooker—and head back to Petra House to settle our bill and collect our luggage. Because I have trouble with The Leaving, I want to insist to Frank and Joan that they tell their next guests they have to find other accommodations because we're staying another eight nights and just forego the next leg of our adventure. They've made us feel so well taken care of, that I even feel a little nervous leaving. Who will be looking after us once we pull out of their driveway? Surely, we need looking after.
Galway Cathedral
Though I'm looking forward to the next leg of our trip—some of it familiar to me, some of it brand new territory—I am loathe to leave Galway. We've hit the highlights, but you can't really settle into a place in three days. I'm lucky to have had those days, but I am greedy and want more. No matter how much time I get here, I always want more. A week. A month. A year. I'm not sure how long it would take me to tire of Galway, but I'd really like to push those outer limits.
After Frank has kicked the tires of the Galway Hooker and waved us off, we head west into Connemara. We're out of Galway in a matter of minutes, and I distract myself from the sadness with self-congratulations that I was clever enough to have married a man who is used to driving on the "wrong" side of the road as I now have a built-in chauffeur. We wind around the bends and I feel giddy to be doing this with Z, pointing out favorite places of mine from past trips and oohing and aahing over sights I've never seen or have forgotten. Though I haven't hung up my tour guide cap entirely, from this point on, there will be a lot less of me giving Z mini history lessons and a lot more of us discovering places together. Abbeyglen Castle, here we come.
Galway's iconic swans
Filed under Anxiety, Books, Etc., Goals, Ireland, last-minute plans, Love, Travel and tagged Charlie Byrne's Bookshop, Claddagh, Galway, Galway Girl, Galway Hooker, imagined lives, Memoir, Nostalgia |	2 Comments


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Home » ESG » 15 December 2020
AIP Infrastructure II receives commitment from a consortium of Swiss institutional investors
AIP is pleased to announce that a consortium of Swiss institutional investors has made a significant commitment to AIP Infrastructure II, the latest AIP investment fund focused on energy transition assets in Europe and North America. The commitment was made with the help of InPact Partners, an alternative investment advisor based in Switzerland, who has brought together the Swiss institutional investors including Retraites Populaires, Vaudoise, and CPEG, with additional investors set to join during the first half of 2021. These investors share the same long-term risk/return objectives for the energy transition asset class as well as a strong focus on ESG.
"Our public institution as well as our partners wish to continue to invest in attractive and sustainable infrastructure assets, while optimizing management costs. In addition, our investments in the AIP fund are an extension of our responsible investment policy and the recently implemented climate strategy.", confirms Jean-Christophe Van Tilborgh, Head of the Investments Division at Retraites Populaires.
In November this year, AIP announced that Storebrand was to become the first international partner to join the AIP platform, as a co-owner and co-investor. With the commitments from PKA, PenSam, Storebrand, and the Swiss institutional consortium, AIP Infrastructure II has now reached its target commitment and is set to reach the EUR 4 billion hard cap for the fund.
"The latest commitment to AIP from renowned Swiss investors is a further validation of the AIP platform, our team and the successful investment strategy executed over the past 8 years. We are pleased to welcome the Swiss institutional consortium to the fund and look forward to continuing to deliver strong risk-adjusted returns to all of our investors", says Kasper Hansen, Managing Partner of AIP Management.
About AIP Management.
AIP Management is a Danish investment company dedicated to investing into energy and infrastructure assets in Europe and the US. To date, AIP has invested more than EUR 4 billion, primarily in assets that contribute to the green transition, including in six European offshore wind farms, three onshore wind farms in Sweden and the US, as well as in four large solar power plants in California and Texas. The existing investments deliver sustainable energy to cover the equivalent of 2.2 million households' consumption and they save more than 3 million tonnes of CO2 on a yearly basis. For more information, please visit aipmanagement.dk.
Apply for a job in AIP.
AIP recognised as a #1 leader within ESG
New energy transition fund of up to EUR 4 billion managed by AIP
previous post: 11 November 2020
© 2019 All Rights Reserved · AIP Management P/S · Rosenborggade 1B · 1130 Copenhagen · Denmark


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ModSquad Wins 2019 Silver Stevie® Award for Sales & Customer Service
ModSquad March 5, 2019
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, March 5, 2019 – ModSquad, the global leader in on-demand digital engagement services, announced the company is a 2019 winner of the Silver Stevie® Award in the Sales & Customer Service category for Contact Center or Customer Service Outsourcing Provider of the Year.
The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service are the world's top honors for customer service, contact center, business development, and sales professionals. The Stevie Awards organization stages seven of the world's leading business awards programs, including the prestigious American Business Awards® and International Business Awards®.
Honorees received the awards during a gala banquet on Friday, February 22 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, NV. More than 700 executives from the U.S.A. and several other nations attended.
More than 2,700 nominations from organizations in 45 nations of all sizes and in virtually every industry competed in this year's competition. Over 150 worldwide professionals in seven specialized judging committees determined the winners. The competition included 93 categories for customer service and contact center achievements, including Contact Center of the Year, Award for Innovation in Customer Service, and Customer Service Department of the Year.
Founded in 2007 by CEO Amy Pritchard, ModSquad has garnered a client list of leading global brands through its pioneering concept of ModSourcing — outsourcing, modernized. The Stevies judges lauded the company's customer support, moderation, social, and community services as "an innovative solution to customer service and customer engagement." They also cited ModSourcing as an "innovative way to approach outsourcing with flexibility for clients and employees without sacrificing customer satisfaction."
"We're honored the Steve Awards has honored us again for the standard-setting work of our global Mods," said Amy Pritchard, CEO and Founder of ModSquad. "The judges noted our year-over-year growth, the expansion of our Mod network, our many new client accounts, and deemed ModSquad as having 'created a great culture.' We are so grateful to have these amazing efforts recognized."
"All of the Stevie Award winners should be very proud of their achievements. Independent professionals around the world have agreed that their accomplishments are worthy of public recognition," said Stevie Awards President and Founder Michael Gallagher.
Details about the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service and the list of Stevie winners in all categories are available at stevieawards.com/sales/2019-stevie®-award-winners.
About ModSquad
ModSquad is a global provider of on-demand digital engagement services, known as ModSourcing: outsourcing, modernized. Our experienced professionals engage your customers and communities on a personal level across online, mobile, e-commerce, in-game, application, and social media channels. ModSquad offers expert-level service in customer support, moderation, social, and community. We've strategized, designed, and delivered digital initiatives for clients in more than 70 countries, with the capacity to respond in 50+ languages and dialects. We are the Mods!
About the Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in seven programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards®, The International Business Awards®, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 12,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 70 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at www.StevieAwards.com.
Amy Kennedy
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So I've covered that Placencia has first-rate drinking water and superb beach bars, but there are also plenty of other amenities that residents and visitors can enjoy and that's what I'll be outlining in this post.
Firstly, for anyone looking to stay somewhere longish-term, you're going to want to know about the grocery store situation. I wasn't sure what to except. We had been to a little town in Costa Rica a few years ago that didn't have a market within walking on biking distance. They had a baker and a butcher and a corner store that sold chips and beer but not much else. I was happy to discover that Placencia had plenty more to offer- no car trip required.
There are several grocery markets in town- like 5 of them- so food shopping is easy; you have a bit of variety and the competition between the markets keep them from price gouging you. For fruits and veggies there are at least 2 stands (one by the bus station and one by the soccer field) set up in the village every day. The stands are going to have produce from the mainland- usually Cayo district, and typically it's from the Mennonite farmers. Yea! Belize has Mennonites; like Pennsylvania has the Dutch Amish. Cool, right? A local told us the Mennonites are responsible for almost all the crops grown in Belize and if they ever decided to strike the country would be in for a world of hurt. I've read that once a month the Mennonites come down to Placencia and you can buy hand-made furniture directly from them, swap meet style. The internet says they make beautiful and durable wooden furniture and you could place an order with them for specific items you want commissioned. Sounds good to me.
Placencia also has a big modern fishing pier that you can check out for buying fresh fish, conch, and lobster direct from the fisherman's boats. The fishing pier has a nice new cleaning station for gutting and washing your catch and there are always pelicans and other sea birds hanging around the harbor waiting for the free snacks that are discarded.
Because Placencia is a tourist destination there are a number of souvenir shops and all day long you'll see a parade of women or children walking the beach peddling "Mayan crafts." These are trinkets like jewelry, small carvings and woven baskets. I local guy told us the crafts aren't carefully handmade in quiet Mayan villages tucked away in the rainforest like the sellers would lead you to believe but rather they're mass produced in Guatemala, bought for pennies on the dollar, and sold at ludicrously inflated prices to gullible vacationers. We bought a bowl.
The town also has a pharmacy that saved us from more motion sickness embarrassment—I can't believe I forgot the Dramamine! After looking through the small selection of over-the-counter meds available in the grocery stores we hit up the pharmacy and got what I needed. They don't have Dramamine, they have a generic version from Mexico and they sell it by the pill. I said I'd take 6 and they put half a dozen of the little pills in a tiny button bag. They set us back a whopping 20 cents apiece- Belizean. So for 60 American cents I was greatly reducing the odds I'd be tossing my cookies in front of strangers for the rest of the week- what a deal! They work fine but made me super sleepy, much more drowsy than our brands back home.
We also saw clothing stores in town though these definitely aren't your GAPs or Macy's. Most clothing stores are second-hand shops but they get freight shipments of gently used clothes from North America and you can find nice things cheaply. Personally, I love thrift shops so I don't see this being a problem when we live in Belize (and I can always steal stuff from friends when they come to visit me too—Andrea I'm specifically thinking of you).
Placencia also has a youth center (I think this was actually a grade school), a small healthcare clinic, banks, coffee shops, and a hardware store for building material and household items like pots and pans. They even have a Cross-fit gym that we took a class at. I'm thinking- if you need much more than all that; you needn't live in Placencia, right?


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Q: Save binary file generated in JavaScript to iPad I'm developing a web application that can be used offline. Among other features it should be able to save a binary file with user created data to the device. In particular, on iPad it should allow to download the file and get an "Open In..." dialog, e.g. to save the file to Dropbox. Possible browsers are Safari and Chrome (on iPad). How to do that from JavaScript?
This question - Using HTML5/Javascript to generate and save a file - provides a number of recipes. I've tried this - https://stackoverflow.com/a/19230609/404099 - and it allowed to open a text file in another tab. Alas - no way to save to Dropbox and didn't work with a binary file.
The https://github.com/eligrey/FileSaver.js library works the same. Text files are opened in another tab, binary files doesn't work. E.g.:
var blob = new Blob(["Hello, world!"], {type: "application/octet-stream"});
saveAs(blob, "hello-world.dat");

A: Since this question got some attention and no answer, I want to share a partial answer, which is what I ended up doing. I haven't found a way to trigger "Open in..." dialog for binary files. So my solution was to use Dropbox API directly to save the file to the Dropbox account of the user. The working architecture is:

*

*Web site with application caching for offline usage (the standard is deprecated)

*Web SQL for local data storage (the standard is deprecated)

*Dropbox API for saving data files aside and following usage in other apps. Any other cloud storage solution can be used here.


Well, sure enough, the corn is at least knee high. So 5 – 6 weeks are sufficient to reach that height when there is enough water and heat.
So on June 19, probably facing the threat of rain, The Farmer hurriedly hand planted all of the broom corn seeds in a small patch of ground that had been cleared.
How big do you think those plants were on July 6?
Not big at all! Not even as tall as a pair of scissors.
The multicolored maize – the one with tall stalks – will be ground into yummy corn meal, so The Farmer is glad it is growing well. The broom corn was something new to try. Hopefully it will fully mature and pictures can be posted this fall.
But if not, the cows will enjoy eating the stalks.


Thats good to know, I have actually done a fix to convert them both to non-optional, I will create a PR once the jenkins CI is working again and my PR#501 is merged.
> The correct one is the non-optional version. We changed it after some discussion about if it made sense for Data to attempt to return nil here, when there are so many ways for memory allocation to fail without returning an optional.
> We're working on updating the swift-corelibs-foundation API to match the overlay over the next few weeks.