text:
Reasonable Deviations
a rational approach to complexity
Home Post archive Revision notes Projects About Academic papers
Github LinkedIn
© Robert Andrew Martin 2020. All rights reserved. Disclaimer.
What we learnt building an enterprise-blockchain startup
01 Sep 2019 · 9 min read [ blockchain ]
It has been almost a year since the idea of HyperVault was first conceived. In that time, we built HyperVault up from a single sentence, gained and lost team members along the way, developed a functional proof-of-concept over the short winter holidays, crashed out of a few competitions (also won a couple of prizes), and finally decided to open source. This post aims to be an honest reflection on the journey – highlighting both the good bits and the times we wanted to give up.
What is HyperVault?
At a high level, the idea behind HyperVault is to use distributed ledger technology (we preferred to avoid the B-word) to provide a secure access layer to sensitive digital resources. If your company has some super-secret documents, what's the best way of sharing them with other people? From our market research, we found that most people would just chuck it into an email as an attachment. This is terrible from a security standpoint: system administrators can see everything that goes through and you have absolutely no access record or control whatsoever once the email goes into your 'sent' mailbox. HyperVault provides a provably tamper-proof system with smart sharing features, such as scheduled or location-based access.
The Beginning: October-November 2018
HyperVault was born at a Hackbridge cluster – a fortnightly meet-up for Cambridge students who want to build side projects. Li Xi had been thinking about the applications of private blockchains in file sharing and met Robert and a group of other undergrads who were interested in joining the team.
By far the hardest part of our HyperVault journey was balancing our desire to build something with the Cambridge term structure. An 8-week term, packed with lectures and supervisions, doesn't give you much time for entrepreneurial activities. However, we were excited enough about the idea to have weekly team meetings in a comfortable room at Trinity College, where we focused on defining what exactly we wanted the product to be.
At the same time, we were on a constant lookout for startup competitions that we could enter. Fortunately, Li Xi and Robert were also on the Cambridge Blockchain Society – one of whose sponsors (Stakezero Ventures) was launching the Future of Blockchain competition. This proved to be critical to HyperVault's progress because it gave us a "fixed point" on the timeline – whatever happened, we needed to have a working product and polished pitch by March 2019, when the competition was scheduled to happen.
Winter, literally and figuratively.
December was tough. We had to transition from talking at a high level about what kind of features we wanted to offer, how cool it'd be if we could do XYZ, into actually building a working prototype. To ensure that everyone was on the same page regarding the expected time commitments, in the last couple of weeks of term, we made a detailed project plan that outlined the deliverables, due dates, and expected time commitments (we concluded that it'd be at least 12 hours a week each).
Three team members dropped out at this point. There weren't any hard feelings – it is understandable for people to have conflicting priorities and it is better that they can say so upfront. This left Li Xi and Robert the considerable task of building a proof of concept, with Andrew taking the lead on the business plan. With the reduced manpower (and a good helping of classic underestimation), the weekly commitment was closer to 30 hours. It was a real hustle having to balance this with academics (and of course, winter festivities), but by the end of the holidays, we had our proof-of-concept. The main lesson to be drawn from this is the importance of having that "hard conversation" with your team. Give people the option to call it quits at the start, but have a "no ifs, no buts" understanding that come what may, your prototype/MVP must be done by a certain date.
The build-up to the competition (January – March)
At this stage, our proof-of-concept was something like a Google Drive or Dropbox, except with a blockchain backend. We were on track, so moved into "Phase 2" – doing real market research and nailing down a business plan. Andrew tapped into his network at the Judge Business School to get feedback from his peers, which was incredibly useful. One of them mentioned that our product offering was quite similar to something they had used in a previous job. This was very worrying, and after some further googling we were deeply troubled to find out that there was a whole class of products – virtual data rooms – that were doing exactly what we had offered. Robert and Li Xi were a little discouraged by this, but Andrew reminded us about a very important fact of entrepreneurship: you never have to be first, you just have to do things better.
Additionally, one of the oft-repeated pieces of advice from successful entrepreneurs is the need to focus on a very specific niche (a 'vertical') rather than trying to build a one-size-fits-all product. We saw that the incumbents had dominated the market for financial companies, so we decided to devote our attention to legal companies. With this in mind, we sat down as a team to really think through our business plan – we found the concept of a "lean business canvas" enthralling – its almost scientific approach to iterating your product via hypothesis and experimentation really appealed to us (indeed, all three of us have a STEM background).
Competition time (March, April)
Coming up on March, our academic commitments were noticeably picking up. But there was no time to waste, as it was competition-season. We agreed as a team that for any competition, there would need to be at least two of us there (three was unrealistic).
The first competition we entered did not go so well – we failed to convince the judges, who traditionally favoured biotech ideas, that blockchain was anything more than a fad. Despite making it to the finals, it was clear that there was very little engagement with our idea. At the time, we blamed the judges for being too closed-minded, but in retrospect, we see that it's really our responsibility in the pitch to sell the vision we have. Nevertheless, we used the feedback to refine our business plan and tidy up our proof-of-concept.
The main competition in March, however, was much more engaging and challenging (more than 100 teams participated). Due to a last-minute change of competition dates, Li Xi cut short his travel plans and flew back from Geneva for the Finals – luckily, he made it back just in time for the pitch with only a few hours to spare and the pitch went quite smoothly. The judges were intrigued by the idea and asked us some particularly challenging technical questions regarding encryption, which Li Xi dealt with deftly. Coming out of it, we won the £2000 Future of Blockchain Nucypher prize, which was a strong vote of confidence.
Q&A at the Future of Blockchain Finals
The last competition we attended was the R3 Global Pitch Competition. R3 is an enterprise blockchain software firm working with a large ecosystem of more than 300 of the worlds' largest companies. Even before the submission of our deck, R3 provided excellent guidance by connecting us to their legal teams and having numerous calls with us to refine our business plan, for which we were immensely grateful. We did well in the competition, winning a place in the global finals and subsequently being offered free office space at R3's office in London to continue building HyperVault.
With this opportunity in mind, we were talking to VCs about the idea of scaling up. In particular, we had good chemistry with the folks at Stakezero and Wilbe Ventures, and they gave us a lot of very thoughtful advice, emphasising the importance of not just identifying a vertical, but also targeting the size of the customer and the key stakeholders in a company that could make things happen. We hadn't put too much thought into this before; I guess we were implicitly making the naïve assumption that if we built a cool product, it would sell itself. Up until that point, in our team meetings, we had just said that we'd target "SMEs" (small and medium-sized enterprises). But after a lot more research and discussion, we came to the troubling realisation that our ideal customer was, in fact, an "elephant" – an organisation that would spend more than $100,000 a year on our product (see this excellent short blog post for more) – they are the only ones who have 1) enough secure documents and 2) a need to share these documents with scalability.
Image from Christopher Janz's blog
Regardless of our successes in talking with smaller companies, big companies are an entirely different ball game. You need enterprise sales teams and a polished, audited product. In principle, there was nothing stopping us. We could have used R3's office space to turn our proof of concept into a sleek MVP and earnestly begin the search for venture capital on the back of that. But ultimately, none of us felt particularly excited by this prospect. A startup is hard work – many hours spent fixing bugs, refining pitches, cold calling hundreds of companies, etc. The only thing keeping it together is the deep desire to build something and a fundamental belief that your product can "change the world". Faced with the prospect of an enterprise sales cycle and a product which is really an improvement over current technology instead of something brand new (don't get us wrong, we do still think it's a major improvement), we realised that HyperVault as a commercial startup had run its course, at least until we had more experience.
We truly believe that distributed ledgers applied to file-sharing could be a significant improvement over current technologies. To that end, we decided as a team that the best way forward would be to open-source our codebase, such that it becomes an example of a real-world enterprise blockchain app for others to build on.
We published most of our code on GitHub a few months ago and have already had someone reach out to us expressing interest in incorporating HyperVault into their product. We plan to continue cleaning up the codebase within the next couple of months, including comprehensive documentation and a contributors' guide. Do leave a clap or comment below if you think this is something we should devote more time to!
In any case, rather than inserting some banal Edison quote about failure, we'd like to end this post simply by saying that we are extremely grateful for the friendships we made, the people we met, and the chance to tell ourselves that we built something from nothing.
This post has been cross-posted on medium. Check out our website at hypervault.tech to learn more!
Stormy Seas for Proof of Work 25 Jun 2018
Black-Litterman allocation in algorithmic trading 04 Jan 2020
An asymmetric bet on interest rates 05 Dec 2019


Hiring a crane and driver can be a complex and time consuming procedure for the first time hirer. At Beattie Crane Hire we can make the process a lot easier by providing a Contract Lift service.
Our trained and experienced staff will visit the site and assess the object or objects that need to be lifted. A full audit and risk assessment of the job is then made in compliance with the BS7121 Safe Use of Cranes Part 1 General 1989 and the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment regulators. Our staff will choose the correct crane for the job and make all the arrangements for the lift.
In a contract lift job, the crane company is responsible for liability of the entire job. At Beattie's we take away the risk and concern away from our customers letting you get on with the rest of the project. Our trained and experienced personnel will arrive on site at the appointed time and manage the whole lifting process right through to the final lift.


text:
SUGAR BEAR FANS
Created by Jacque
http://codagroovesent.ning.com/group/fansofsugarbeartrio
Website: http://codagroovesent.ning.com/group/fansofsugarbeartrio
Latest Activity: Feb 8, 2011
SUGAR BEAR TRIO
Fan Site: World Movement Records Fan Site
Website: www.sugarbeartrio.com
Super Star Central Page: SUGAR BEAR Trio
Our Stage: www.ourstage.com
Sugar Bear was always a sideman playing guitar and backup vocals. He toured as N-Syncs lead guitar player in studio and live. He also toured with acts such as The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Gloria Estevan and The Miami Sound Machine, Goo Goo Dolls, R.E.M, Black Eyed Peas, A-Ha, Nazareth, The Police, John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band, and too many more to mention.
After years on the road with his band everybody went home brokenhearted. Sugar Bear landed a job in a hotel where he sat upon on a stool playing acoustic guitar and taking requests that someone would yell out. For the first time Sugar Bear was making money.
Another sideman Jim Burmeister was unemployed and joined Sugar Bear. Shortly after Jimmy Brotherton was added from the old N-Sync line up and they became The Beaver Brothers. The Beaver Brothers performed shows with The Dare Devils, Van Zants, Head East, Badfinger, and so on.
It was time for a change. Kort Elsworth (Drums), and his brother Ronzo (Bass/Vocals) had played and sang together since birth and became Sugar Bear Trio. The group opened for many acts, playing clubs, concerts, events, and even weddings. The band achieved air play of "Thats How Love" twice a day on ABC Radio Network. They also achieved air play in daily rotation for several other songs on all the affiliate ABC Radio Network stations.
Check Rotation www.meermusic.com.
Sugar Bear Trio are getting played every day on 11 Loud City affiliate stations and are in the rotation on those 11 stations. They are currently mini touring playing every show in site. They are playing bars and the venues are club format mixed with covers and their own material. They also do a 30, 60, and 90 minute original show in the concert venues. Touring has really made them BATTLE ready as a live act.
Loud City affiliates: Hundreds of stations in the organization and Sugar Bear Trio are hitting them all that are their genre. They are contacting newspapers, venues, and local people to get the buzz out in those towns where they get airplay and book venues.
Acclaims:
ABC Radio Network Effigy Award.
Second Annual Fame Games Effigy Awards 2008
Sugar Bear @ Stevie5 were the founders of N-Sync. They played, toured, wrote and sang in the band from 1982 to 1992. They toured with many acts throughout the world.
These songs are from the "I Believe It's Time" album that was scheduled to be released by Enigma in 92. It was the bands 13 Album, imagine that. Sugar Bear and Stevie5 have their own Ourstage sites individually. They thought it would be cool for the world to see what the original N-Sync sounded like before they jumped ship and it turned into the BOY BAND.
"Thanks for participating in our experiment" Sugar Bear & Stevie5 (guitar). Also Ben Tiskus (keys and vocals) and Jimmy Brotherton (percussion and drums). Remastered and restored to digital from tape @ EMR by Bill Ball.
Check Out The Work of Sugar Bear & Stevie5 HERE
From: Sugar Bear
"We had a blast with Kdiddy interview on I AM INDIE. Have a happy holiday!"
Sugar Bear,
Listen to Lamont interview Sugar Bear Trio live at BLOG TALK RADIO
You need to be a member of SUGAR BEAR FANS to add comments!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Using double-layer water cooling jacket structure, cooling water is passed into the interlayer, which can ensure that the temperature of the outer wall of the furnace body meets the national safety standard under high temperature heating. The material of the furnace body is carbon steel.
Oven door and furnace body through a hinge, USES the wrong tooth body lock, solved under the working condition of high vacuum and positive pressure alternating between the furnace body and oven door seal, and under the condition of positive pressure furnace body and the strength of the oven door. The opening, closing and locking operation of furnace door is simple, flexible, safe and reliable. 5 point temperature measuring flanges are reserved on the furnace body to facilitate users to detect temperature uniformity in the process of use.
Stainless steel frame is adopted, the outer cylinder body is 2mm stainless steel plate, and multiple reinforcing bars are adopted to ensure the long-term use of unchangeable type. The inner part is 20mm thick graphite felt tube, and the middle layer is 80mm soft carbon felt. The heating body is arranged in a graphite circle. The t-type 95 ceramic material and boron nitride material are used for insulation to increase the section area and reduce the pollution of volatile matter. The graphite tube is used to measure temperature, so the structure can avoid the influence of pollutant on the temperature control precision of infrared thermometer during sintering. The front of the hot chamber is equipped with an inflatable interface for degumming. Exhaust outlet and degumming water cooling pipe are arranged at the rear end of the heating chamber.
Furnace back with axial flow fan and cooling gas after copper, copper heat exchanger cooling by circulating air duct to the front of the heating chamber, the heating chamber before screen driven by the cylinder, the wind to the front of the workpieces after the throttle discharge circulating cooling. The motor is arranged on the water-cooled flange to ensure the long-term stable operation of the motor. The motor and water-cooled flange and impeller can be directly disassembled from the upper part to facilitate maintenance.
It is composed of rotary vane pump, roots pump, vacuum baffle valve, stainless steel corrugated pipe, electromagnetic relief valve (to prevent oil return) and vacuum tube circuit.
The inflating system consists of electromagnetic valve, fine tuning valve, pipeline, barometer, etc. When the inflating pressure reaches the set point of the upper pressure, it can stop the aeration automatically. When it is below the set point of the lower pressure, it can also supply air automatically. The defocusing gas valve automatically opens when the pressure setting is reached. The degumming gas goes through the pipeline through the degumming tank into the vacuum pump and out of the room.
The control cabinet is a standard electric control cabinet structure with integrated ventilation system, which can ensure that the normal use of components and instruments in the cabinet will not be affected by the high ambient temperature. There is a sound and light alarm above the cabinet. The electrical control system is concentrated in the control cabinet and adopts touch screen and PLC linkage control. The process setting and daily operation can be completed through the touch screen.
The control department is allocated with air switches, buttons, contactors, relays, indicator lights and other components to realize the logical control of external equipment through signals of various sensors. The overall operation of the equipment can real-time display on the LCD screen, working condition of all the action is equipped with safety interlock protection, overtemperature without electricity or maintain, water power (delay stop heating, vacuum pump, etc.), air pressure protection, etc.
Operating system interface to realize various operating instructions and process condition, design a system to monitor the picture at the same time, fault handling pictures and help interface, the system can at any time to view, record in running a variety of data. The red flash indicator on the panel is used to display various alarm functions. The operator can determine the alarm position and handle it immediately according to the prompt.
The temperature control part consists of temperature control meter, armored k-type single-core thermocouple, infrared thermometer and thyristor voltage regulator. Low temperature heating section within 900 ℃ using K temperature control, up to 900 ℃ after into infrared measuring temperature, thermocouple through heating cylinder is transferred to outdoor at the same time. Ensure the long and effective service life of thermocouple.
The heating power is supplied by thyristor power regulator. Feature 2: it has the advantages of soft start and soft shutdown, which can protect the power supply and reduce the impact on the load. Feature 3: wide range of pressure regulation, with constant current function, overcurrent and overheat protection function.
The cooling parts include furnace body, furnace door, vacuum unit and water-cooled copper electrode. The pipe and valve are made of 304 materials and nameplate is installed. The inlet pipe is equipped with a contact pressure gauge, and the return pipe is equipped with a flow scope. When the water pressure is below the set value of 0.15mpa, the acoustooptic alarm is started and the heating state is stopped.
The cooling water system is provided with emergency bypass water supply interface and tap water connection, with manual ball valve. When the equipment is not normally power off, open the emergency tap water valve to ensure the natural cooling of the equipment.
Including pneumatic triplex, electromagnetic directional valve, cylinder and nylon hose, can provide clean compressed air.


Equinix's Santa Clara South (SV2) data center is located at 1350 Duane Avenue, Santa Clara, CA 95054. The data center is two story building; non loadbearing tilt up concrete with steel framing structure; III-N fully sprinklered construction type, and seismic zone 4 design building. The data center building is fully complied with building code compliance standards. The data center is 4 miles from San Jose international airport, 31 miles from San Francisco international airport, and 35 miles from Oakland international airport. The facility has adjacent building parking available.
The data center offers half and full cabinet colocation, locked cabinets, caged space, and private suite colocation space. The data center is SSAE 16 SOC I Type II certified facility. The data center provides 160,000 square feet of total space, including 74,974 square feet of colocation space, and flex space of 2,520 square feet. The colocation space includes 5,454 square feet at 1st floor, and 69,520 square feet at second floor divided in multiple colocation rooms (CR). The slab floor is designed for the floor load of 250 lbs. per square feet, and raised floor of 400 lbs. per square feet. The data center has multilevel security including CCTV & recorders, motion detection, and 24 x 7 security guards. All doors, including cages, are secured with biometric hand geometry readers, and closed cabinets with kinetic & key locks. The data center has mantrap entry to access the data center resources. The multi types of fire suppression protects infrastructure from any fire spark, including pre action, double interlocked, dry pipe sprinkler system in all areas, FM 200 underfloor & in POP room, and wet pipe in unoccupied area.
Santa Clara South SV2 data center is N+1 power infrastructure, and offer 99.999% SLA on power. The data center is a LEED certified infrastructure, and provides electrical capacity of 2.4 kVA per cabinet in CR 1 & 3, and 4.8 kVA per cabinet in CR 2 & 4. The data center has four utility feeds, and nine power transformers. The data center provides AC power, and DC power to customer's equipment. The facility has 12 kV of utility voltage. The immediate power failure is protected by blocked redundant UPS system in N+1 configuration. The standby power is provided by 9 x 2,000 kW diesel generators in N+1 configuration. The cooling and humidity in the data center is controlled by water cooled centrifugal chillers and CRAC units. The facility is served with cooling of 2.4 kVA (8,191 BTUH) per cabinet in CR 1 & 3, and 4.8 kVA (16,382 BTUH) per cabinet in CR 2 & 4, and offers 99.99% SLA on temperature & humidity.
The data center is a carrier neutral facility offering connectivity to multiple carriers and service providers. The data center has overhead proprietary cable tray system with multi-tier ladder rack. The data center offers cross connect services including single mode fiber, multi-mode fiber, Cat 5, Cat 6, Cat5(T1), and Cat3 (POTS), and provides 99.99% SLA on cross connect availability. The facility provides Equinix Metro Connect, Equinix Internet Exchange, Equinix Direct, and Equinix Carrier Ethernet Exchange services. IBX staff of engineers, technicians, and customers support specialists offer onsite technical and logistic support 24 x 7 x 365, and provide smart hands services.
View all Equinix data center locations. You may also view all data centers in Santa Clara, or expand your search to all California data centers.
I would like a quote from Equinix - Santa Clara South Data Center SV2.


I found this book of sketches by Eileen Chang in a curio shop in a cute little Hutong near the Lama temple.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged Eileen Chang by Belle. Bookmark the permalink.


TradingTheTape was founded in 2006 to study how volume affects market momentum. Not volume per bar but rather volume at price per bar in order to profile support and resistance levels relative to current price action. With this study it became apparent that market knowledge was not enough and that trader discipline was also critical…and elusive. This led to automated trading strategies that placed and managed trades based on criteria pre-determined by the user and without any further input from the user. Today these program trading strategies run on Chicago-based dedicated servers that can be controlled by smart phones. Current software development is focused exclusively on automated order flow analysis for both scalping and trend trading, both discretionary and fully automated program trading.
What is 'the tape'? Think of a trader in the 1930's jumping out of a 40 story window trailing a long paper tape behind him and you get the idea. He just read the tape and all his holdings are plummeting on heavy volume…i.e. the market momentum is screaming down, it is not coming back and he is wiped out. The tape back then literally referred to a ribbon of tape spewing out of a glass-domed ticker machine (hence the term 'ticker tape') with a live market data feed with prints on the tape of the last price and volume of various market instruments. In good times there would be ticker tape parades. In bad times there would be 'jumpers'. The 'tape' therefore refers to order flow which is volume at price, i.e. what size traded at what price.
Today the tape figuratively refers to the typical Time and Sales window shown below. Same concept of volume at price and colored as to whether the last trade was at the Bid or the Ask. The problem with the Time and Sales window today is that, even if you could read it, it can and does give misleading information relative to expected price action. For example, a rapid series of green prints does not necessarily mean the market is going up and one should buy. Instead the prints could all be at the same price and the 'big money' is absorbing all the hits on the Ask until the market is forced down. In this case all those green prints mean sell.


Trails don't ever end, even those headed into the setting sun of the iconic west. Our Rough Writer Tour has trailed around the world, and this is our last stop, but not the final destination.
When I was younger, I feared I'd run out of ideas to write. Now that I'm older, I know I'll run out of days before the well of story ideas runs dry. Each week, I continue to marvel at the creative responses to a single prompt framed within 99 words, no more, no less. And each of those stories become beginnings.
Imagine taking all that creativity and harnessing it to one wagon. Now that's a trail drive, and that's the power of The Congress of Rough Writers Flash Fiction Anthology Vol. 1. Thirty-three writers banded together and created a compelling work of literary art.
The anthology extends far beyond that of a collection. It's several side-shows and behind the scenes action. It's not homogenized, but rather a mixture of different perspectives, experiences, and imagination. It's the creation of a community.
Every writer contributes to the whole. It's like a meadow full of wildflowers. It's not one flower that creates the stunning visage — it's the combination of all parts. To work with the creative expressions of thirty-three writers has been a thrilling experience.
I'd like to thank all the writers of Vol. 1 for contributing to a community effort that provides a platform and growth opportunity for all involved. As a first work, several professional book reviewers have given the book high praise. It's earned a 5-star review from Readers' Favorite and a silver award for Literary Titans.
Vol. 2 follows and is currently in the works. It's going to blast a new trail, going beyond where Vol. 1 left off and includes more writers. And readers can expect more unicorns. I got to speak about both Vol. 1 and 2 in a recent interview with Literary Titans which you can catch here.
Never doubt that literary art matters.
Through writing together on projects of creative expression, we are on the trail to happiness. We ride the trail of peace.
By Charli Mills in #roughwriters on May 8, 2018 .
Charli. Wowza. I jokingly left a comment awhile back at your (beautiful, bountiful) Ranch that 'fictional lives matter'. They do. Your weekly prompts make it so. Your Susan Vreeland quote says why and reinforces the idea that a literate populace strengthens an empathetic people who can step in and out of different shoes, and can step up and make a difference.
I have certainly had my fun here, using the iconic ranch setting as an easy already branded platform for my recurring stereotypical characters. These fictional characters and their author also deeply appreciate the World Wide participation and appreciation in all that goes on here at your Carrot Ranch.
I have enjoyed the celebration of this first anthology; it is also a celebration of you, Charli, your accomplishment of well-defined goals despite some formidable obstacles and delays. Your honest posting (reporting) has furthered my understanding of my own country, its protagonists and antagonists. In this difficult time, you have, in so many ways furthered Carrot Ranch – I have seen it! It must be truly amazing for those who have been with you from the beginning; I am immeasurably honored to be named in the ranks of these First Flank Rough Writers. The Volume One Anthology is before my time and yet I treasure it and show it off proudly; I am (now) a part of the community that produced this fine book.
Beautifully put – and your so-called stereotypical characters are fabulous fun. Here's to more of their conversations.
Yes! Those fictional lives matter — they help people navigate real lives through empathetic connections. I think when we have an outfit like this, we all get to witness growth. Sometimes it's hard to see our own, but we can reflect it back to one another. I still remember when you rode onto the scene, and I began uncoiling my rope to lasso you in, but you came willingly! 😀 Thank you for being such a fine contributor to many aspects of the Ranch, D.!
I am a beginning writer hoping to follow more writing prompts and extend my creativity!
Saddle up for an adventure! You are welcome to join us at the Ranch along your writing ride!
thank you! I'm not really sure how it works.
Each week (usually later in the day on Thursday, EST) I post a prompt under a heading such as, "May 17: Flash Fiction Challenge." At the end of the post is a prompt. Go wherever it leads you but respond in 99 words, no more, no less. After time, you'll come to learn that the constraint is a powerful writing tool. You can post your response in the comments of the current challenge, or post a link or pingback. Then join in the discussions and reading. You don't have to read all the responses, but join in to meet some people. If you'd like for your response to publish in the weekly collect, also submit it using the form in the challenge post. We're a friendly bunch and welcome you to write with us!
I've loved all the trail posts Charli and look forward to the involvement in Vol. 2!!!!!
You've created somewhere beautiful here on the Ranch! I'm so glad I found you!
Thank you for adding your shine to the stars at Carrot Ranch, Ritu! I'm glad found your way here, too!
And thank you Charli for being the hostess with the latest inspiration. It's always a pleasure and an education _ not that those two are mutually exclusive. And you're right about the time left to write. It will soon go.
Thanks for all your support and leadership at the Ranch, Geoff. You are a fountain pen of writer's ink!
Charli you have such great energy and ideas and you put them into action … it's so impressive. I totally enjoy both contributing and reading as you have the full range featured here!
It's been a great tour for great book, Charli. Well done you for leading the way.
I so agree about the bottomless pot of ideas – the challenge isn't so much finding something to write about that fitting those words together in the best possible way.
Thank you for all your thoughtful contributions to the Ranch, Anne! You've clarified the greater challenge. May it continue to be an interesting one!
I reblogged your interview on my page to explain to my readers where the many varied subjects of my Flash comes from. What an honor it is to tell people of my involvement in an international writing group. Thank you for your positive and creative leadership. You have helped me expand my outlook.
That's wonderful to hear you are sharing the interview with your readers and letting them know what you are a part of, Susan! Thank you for being a part of our community!
Yes, the trail continues and, through your vision, you have gathered a strong posse of talented writers who are inspired to continue writing our way to happiness and peace. The pen is mightier than the sword. Together our voices are stronger than one, but we don't speak as one, we speak as a collective of individuals, supporting, and receiving the support of, an amazing leader. Doubters may have considered your vision a puff of cloud easily erased. But it is a rainbow of inspiration under which unicorns dance, writers write and readers read. How delighted I am to have shared in the journey. I think we'll ride on until we disappear into the sunset – and beyond. Best wishes for all you wish to achieve, Charli. You can do it!
I love that we can be stronger together and yet remain individuals! Norah, thank you for taking a chance on an avalanche four years ago! Who knew it would lead to rainbows where unicorns dance. Thank you for your leadership and demonstrating the growth mindset. Let's keep heading into that beautiful sunset. We can do our individual rides together!
Riding the trails, gathering the herd, settling the dust. It is what made Vol 1 what it is. I am on my fourth re-read and enjoying it all over again. The World Tour could be bound in a book of its own. A fitting end to this stellar round up. Thank you Charli, and the team, for making it happen.
We have volumes yet to come, Ann! Thank you for diving into the pages, reading, and riding. The World Tour is a special edition, for certain!
You've put so much work into giving writer's like me the confidence and encouragement to go out there, write, and publish their work, Charli. Without you and the ranch, the blogging world wouldn't be quite the same. Thank you for all you've done for us. I, for one, think you deserve a medal.
Thank you, Hugh! That means a lot to me. I wanted to feel I could do it, too and together we focus on what is fun and inspirational, and in the end help one another along the trail.
Over the years you have invited us all into your home (wherever that was) and into your heart (which is just enormous!). You have brought us comfort and allowed us to also comfort you in time when you've asked. That sparks lasting friendships.
May Carrot Ranch continue to grow into the global community that adapts and creates Literary ART! I agree with Hugh – if there is such a thing as an award for the promotion, encouragement and confidence building you have provided for so many – It would get my vote to give it to you!
SparklyJules! Thank you for your words and friendship. You've brought much light to the Ranch and have bravely taken on many behind the scenes leadership. All I want is for literary art to be at our grasp and disposal so we can go forth in the world from our anywhere corners and spread ART.
Molly, I'm so glad you mention other participants because that is what amazes me most — how all of you have come to an imaginary ranch to play in a literary sandbox and yet have formed the kind of compassion-based community our world needs. I hope you keep that quote in your heart! You are doing your part!
It's been an amazing adventure Charli. I so admire your generosity, commitment and tenacity through times good and bad. My physical copy only arrived last week (damn those A-boys..) and it is so wonderful to hold it in my hands and connect physically with this community.
Thank you, Lisa! Wow, those A-boys strangled the distribution for certain. Likely I'll have to play with the A-boys to overcome that bullying practice. But onward and upward! Thank you for circling the wagon when needed, contributing, as well. All the best to your progress!
I respond, "The pen is mightier than the sword. Together our voices are stronger than one, but we don't speak as one, we speak as a collective of individuals, supporting, and receiving the support of, an amazing leader. Doubters may have considered your vision a puff of cloud easily erased. But it is a rainbow of inspiration under which unicorns dance, writers write and readers read. How delighted I am to have shared in the journey.
If you haven't yet, come and join us at the Carrot Ranch. There's always room for more in the posse on the trail to happiness and peace.


text:
Q: code convert binary to decimal I wrote this code to convert binary to decimal it's not the best code because I am a beginner. here is the code:
def bin_dec(a):
   binary_list = list(str(a))
   binary_list.reverse()
   g = 1
   double_list = [1]
   for i in binary_list:
       g = g * 2
       double_list.append(g)
   double_list.pop()
   l = 0
   ans = []
   while l < len(binary_list):
       g = binary_list[l]
       if g == "1":
           k = double_list[l]
           ans.append(k)
       l = l + 1
   return "Decimal Value : %r" % sum(ans)

you get a "0" if you do this print bin_dec(01101) output = "0" but if you do this print bin_dec(1101) the output is "13"
the code works pretty well but the problem is when the binary number starts with a zero like "00110" or "01010" Python immediately changes it to an octal number, causing the code to fail it ends up outputting "0" I have tried to change the variable "a" with the oct() function but it also changes binary numbers that don't start with 0. they only way that seems to work was using raw_input like
a = raw_input("type Binary Number : ") but I don't want to do that. I am hoping someone can help me. I also don't want to use any python functions to convert the binary number to decimal. Thanks.

A: How about this:
def bin_dec(a):
    result = 0
    for bit in a:
        result *= 2
        if bit == '1':
            result +=1
    return result

No functions at all, not even append, pop nor reverse! ;->
Oh, but you still have to use raw_input - unless you switch to Python3,  where input will do.

A: I like short pythonic solutions, so here you go
def bin_dec(a):
     return sum([int(a[-i])*2**(i-1) for i in range(1, len(a)+1)])

or, even shorter:
bin_dec <- lambda a: sum([int(a[-i])*2**(i-1) for i in range(1, len(a)+1)]))

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Putting Fowler Back in Fowler's
I'm sure NER readers will be relieved to learn that a new edition of Fowler's is coming out with the blood pumped back into it that had evidently been drained from the last edition. Luckily, I am in possession of a 1957 edition - true to the original - given to me some years ago by a thoughtful friend. (h/t: Arts & Letters):
Henry Watson Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage is an unabashedly prescriptivist tome, which is to say that it doesn't waffle in describing the right way, and the wrong way, to use English words. The archetypal usage manual, commonly called just "Fowler's," was initially published in 1926. It has undergone two revisions since, the product of the first of which, a book judiciously and lightly edited by Sir Ernest Gowers, was released in 1965. F.W. Bateson, the English literary scholar, reflected the general feeling when he wrote that Gowers was "remarkably successful . . . in retaining Fowler's ipsissima verba while making the minor corrections and qualifications that time has made necessary."
Similar approbation did not greet the second revision of Fowler's, published in 1996 and helmed by the late lexicographer and linguist Robert W. Burchfield. John Simon, reviewing that book for the New Criterion, wrote that Burchfield — who before editing Fowler's had edited both the Oxford English Dictionary and the Cambridge History of the English Language — had "made himself a true citizen of Oxbridge." "But an ox bridge," Simon quipped, "can be no better that a pons asinorum."
The trouble, simply put, was that Burchfield had expunged Fowler from Fowler's. Gone were some of the original author's beloved subheadings ("Pairs and Snares" was pared, "Unequal Yokefellows" unyoked) and gone, too, was his jaunty, slightly mischievous, scything-while-grinning tone. Most objectionable was that Burchfield had changed Fowler's from a prescriptive book to a descriptive one. Usage was no longer to be judged but understood. Entries that had earlier attacked ambiguity, castigated the careless, and lowered the boom on barbarism were suddenly more interested in explaining the origins and development of the English language's scofflaws than in pointing them out and locking up. The warden had become the prison psychologist.
William Safire wrote that the first Fowler's was "a body-and-soul book, rambling through the byways of usage" and "written with a style all its own: certain, authoritative, unafraid to make decisions." Burchfield's edition is not at all that. It is a fine reference manual assembled by a first-rate scholar, to be sure, and anyone seeking edification about the historical iterations of words and phrases would do well to consult its pages. But it does not follow its predecessor on a merry march through the English language, nor does it do much for Henry Fowler's originally intended reader, that "half-educated Englishman of literary proclivities" who just wants to know: "'Can I say so-&-so?'"
Today's half-educated supplicants, those less than obsessive about scouring used-book shops, have had to content themselves with Gowers's interpretation of Fowler's because the original version was long out of print. And young people growing up on Burchfield's book no doubt find Fowler's just another among the plodding reference manuals to be occasionally consulted and then quickly reshelved. Not a fine state of affairs. Thankfully, Oxford University Press has now swept to the rescue with the rerelease of the first edition, in effect putting Fowler back in charge of Fowler's...


text:
Livingmaps Network
Photograph by Debbie Humphry
Phil Cohen
Is Chief Editor of Livingmaps Review. He is Emeritus Professor at the Centre for Cultural Studies Research at the University of East London and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies, University College London. Phil started using mapping methods in working with young people in East London about their sense of place, identity and belonging. His publications include Knuckle Sandwich: Growing up in the Working Class City (1978), Rethinking the Youth Question (1990), London's Turning: the making of Thames Gateway (2006), On the Wrong Side of the Track: East London and the Post-Olympics (2013), London 2012 and the Post Olympic City (2017) and Archive That, Comrade: Left Legacies and the counter culture of remembrance (2018). Further information: www.philcohenworks.com
AdRian Chappell
Is an artist, researcher and freelance educator. He has worked in statutory education, in youth and community services and in higher education. At Arts Council (London) he was Head of Access and Education where he established a national Refugee Arts initiative and the Arts Learning Partnership. Later, at London Metropolitan University, he directed international vocational training projects and in his recent freelance career he created and managed a national music education programme for Paul Hamlyn Foundation. His art practice ('memory bridges') layers historical stories into contemporary settings; current projects are in London (Bankside), Berlin, Hull and Sydney.
Barbara Brayshay
Is a freelance researcher in the areas of social justice, digital media, community development and sustainability. Her academic background is in environmental science and social research. She has worked with charities and Local and Central Government funded projects. Barbara is interested in participatory mapping as a tool for data visualization and for building the evidence base to enable greater citizen empowerment. She edits the Waypoints section of Livingmaps Review.
john walletT
Is a graphic and information designer and educator who has worked with arts, education and campaign organisations in East London for over twenty-five years. He is a founder of the Common Knowledge network based in Bethnal Green and is a founder member of the pop-up community cinema project Moving Image, which is based in East Anglia. John has designed many Livingmaps' project proposals, displays and web-based projects.
JEREMY CRUMP
Is the finance director for Livingmaps Network and production editor of Livingmaps Review, for which he also edits the review section. He was a civil servant and worked in the IT industry. His research interests are in the history of popular culture.
NICOLAS FONTY
Is an urban designer and map maker. He has been involved in civic mapping for community-led planning through research, activism, practice and volunteer support. This includes justMap in London, and cartedebout and occupy in Paris. He is member of Civic Wise, an international network for civic design and a section editor of Livingmaps Review.
mIKE duggan
Is a visiting lecturer in Digital Culture at Kings College London where he teaches on the BA course 'Digital Cultures', including modules on Big Data, Culture and Society, The History of Networked Technologies and Theories of New Media. He has a PhD in Cultural Geography from Royal Holloway University of London, working in partnership with the Ordnance Survey on studying everyday mapping practices. His research is focused on the intersections between everyday life, mapping practices and digital technologies.
sol perez-MARTINEZ
Is an architect, researcher and educator. Before moving to London, Sol lectured in Universidad Catolica de Chile and ran an architectural practice where she developed projects for private clients and the Chilean government. Her long-term goal is to create awareness of how spaces affect the way people live so more citizens engage in the construction of the environments that surround them. Sol is a qualified architect with masters degrees in architecture and architectural history. She is a PhD candidate at the Bartlett School of Architecture and the Institute of Education, UCL.
Debbie Humphry
Is a social geographer, researcher and photographer. She is a Visiting Fellow at the University of East London (UEL), and has worked as a researcher for the University of Sussex, Goldsmiths University of London (Centre for Urban and Community Research) and a range of voluntary and public sector clients and partners. Her research interests include housing, neighbourhood and community, relations of class and inequality, and social mobility. She uses participative and visual methods to enhance the input of the research subjects. Her writing and research has been published widely in academic, education and media publications, as has her photography, including in The Guardian and the Observer magazine. Her work has been exhibited at The National Portrait Gallery and The Royal Festival Hall.
Blake Morris
Is a walking artist and researcher. He is a founding member of the Walk Exchange, a cross-disciplinary walking group based in New York City and London. Along with Clare Qualmann (Walking Artists Network), he co-edits Lines of Desire for Living Maps Review. His work has been shown at Ovalhouse Theatre (London), Bogart Salon (New York City) and Superfront Gallery (Los Angeles, Detroit, NYC). He is a visiting lecturer and researcher at the University of East London, where he focuses on walking as an artistic medium.
Janet Bowstead
Is a researcher with a background in frontline, policy and coordination work on violence against women. Her research is interdisciplinary in nature, across geography, social policy and sociology; integrating quantitative, spatial, qualitative and creative methods. She is currently a British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London. Her research draws on theory, concepts and analysis techniques from migration research and applies them to mapping the internal migration journeys of women within the UK escaping domestic violence. www.womensjourneyscapes.net
Makes work around walking, sound and the city. She is half of a collaboration called the Demolition Project (with Russian artist Alisa Oleva) which has made site-responsive walks and works for festivals and galleries in Ekaterinburg, Moscow, Krasnodar, Vilnius, Berlin, Belgrade, London, Leicester, Manchester and Leeds. She is researching the soundscapes of regeneration in Blackwall and Silvertown for a PhD at Goldsmiths and is a member of the Livingmaps team working on the Citizens Atlas of London.
Jina Lee
Is a PhD student at the University of Arts, London. Her artwork and research are about the collapse of territorial boundaries between social, political and geographical space, elements which are in a state of increasing fluidity and movement of emigration. Jina's observations and findings, made through various modes of drawing, open the possibility for unsuspected interactions of experience and knowledge in relation to geopolitical and cultural boundary issues.
kimbal QUIST BUMBSTEAD
Is an interdisciplinary artist based in London whose work spans painting, drawing, video and performance. His current project, unmapping, looks into the poetic side of cartography and considers the relationship between landscape, space and memory through the lens of subjectivity, fantasy and fiction. His practice includes storytelling, docu-narrative video and the physicality of mark making as a way of recording subjective and sensory experience. His work has been published in various journals such as Arhitext Magazine and Emergency Index and in learning resources for the Courtauld Gallery and the Live Art Development Agency. He has produced much of his work in the context of Artist in Residence projects in Sweden, Finland, Turkey, Tunisia, Israel and USA. Recent exhibitions include HaMiffal, Jerusalem; Crows Nest Gallery, London; Centre for Recent Drawing London; Turner Contemporary, Margate; Museum of Modern Art, Espoo, Finland; Espacio Gallery, London and Griffin Gallery, London.
Contact us info@livingmaps.org.uk
London, United Kingdom INFO@LIVINGMAPS.ORG.UK


text:
NB Courts
Chief Justice of NB
Chief Justice of New Brunswick
Historical List
Court of Queen's Bench
Provincial Court
Office of the Integrity Commissioner for New Brunswick
What is the role of the Court of Appeal of New Brunswick?
The Court of Appeal is an appeal court hearing cases that have been decided by lower courts or administrative tribunals in New Brunswick. Decisions and judgments of the Court of Appeal of New Brunswick may, in certain cases, be appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Where does the Court of Appeal of New Brunswick hear appeals and motions?
The Court of Appeal usually hears appeals and motions in Fredericton, New Brunswick. On occasion, it will sit and hear appeals or motions in other locations. Most motions are heard by a single judge of the Court of Appeal, usually in Fredericton but, occasionally, elsewhere.
How do I communicate with the Court of Appeal of New Brunswick?
Communications to the Court of Appeal of New Brunswick should be addressed to the Registrar (Caroline Lafontaine) or the Deputy Registrar of the Court.
When I go to court, what is the proper way to address the judges of the Court of Appeal of New Brunswick?
At the hearing, counsel or the parties should use "Chief Justice" when addressing the Chief Justice of New Brunswick, and "Justice", "Mr. Justice" or "Madam Justice", as the case may be, when addressing the other members of the panel hearing the appeal.
In written communications, the Chief Justice should be addressed as "The Honourable Chief Justice" and the other judges should be addressed as "The Honourable Madam Justice" or "The Honourable Mr. Justice", as the case may be.
What happens at a hearing before the Court of Appeal of New Brunswick?
Normally, there will be three judges hearing the appeal. There are usually no witnesses and no new evidence before the Court of Appeal.
The appealing party addresses the Court first, followed by the responding party. The appealing party is then allowed a short reply. The judges may ask questions at any stage of the hearing. At the end of the hearing, the judges may decide the appeal immediately or they may reserve their decision in which case the parties will be advised of the decision at a later date.
How much time do I have to appeal a decision from a lower court to the Court of Appeal of New Brunswick?
Rule 62 (Civil Appeals) and Rule 63 (Criminal Appeals) of the Rules of Court of New Brunswick both specify that an appeal from a final decision must be commenced, in writing, within 30 days after the lower court has given that decision. The permission of a judge of the Court of Appeal is required to appeal any interlocutory (That is, a decision of a lower court of a preliminary or secondary nature that does not resolve the issue as such) decision. The application for permission to appeal an interlocutory decision must be filed within 7 days after that decision has been rendered.
If the 30-day time period has expired, a party wishing to appeal may still ask the Court of Appeal for permission to extend the time within which to file an appeal. The request for an extension may or may not be granted by the Court. Different deadlines for appeal may be provided by statute.
Justices of the Court
Practice Directives
Interjurisdictional Child Abduction
List of Motions
Rulings on Motions
Annotated Rules of Court
Judiciary Photo
Articling Program
Judicial Internship
All content © NB Courts All Rights reserved


I recreated one of my favorite board games that I've had for 25+ years, Cathedral. The original board was just printed MDF and the pieces were made of cheap pine blocks glued together and stained their respective colors. I wanted to make a much nicer version with each piece carved from a solid block of contrasting woods. The board and pieces were done by hand prior to getting my Shapeoko but the lid relied heavily on it. I actually think my obsession with getting this made is 80% of the reason I bought a CNC, but I've got more than plenty of uses for it now!
Oh, if anyone is interested, here's a bit more of build album.
Really nice, I especially like the top with the vcarving through multiple veneer layers to create the text with a 2 part outline.
Thanks! That came about during a conversation with a very artistic friend of mine and I'm really happy with how it came out. Now I want to play with different wood combinations and "line weights" by varying the thickness of the middle veneer.
Have you ever considered getting a Jointmaker Pro for your handwork?
I had never heard of it until now so I checked out a video. Those look really cool and I can think of a ton of uses but then I noticed it's from Bridge City Toolworks. I didn't see a price but I know I can't afford it.
$1585.00 for the Pro model.
What a cool idea. You could just make a simple jig and let people run a regular block plane over it for a group activity.
Nice! I remember a long time ago you (?) posted a picture of "Cathedral" vcarved… That was you, right?
Yep, that was me, it wasn't even the only post about this project! I've been working on this and trying to learn my CNC for a while now. With a lot of help from this forum, I think I finally got it right.
Very nice. My brother has this game and I've played it a few times. It's been years and I had forgotten about it. Thanks for sharing!


If you're looking out to land your company's next big deal, keep up on the updated trends, counterfeit new connections, or learn new skills, then attending the right medical conference can turn out to be the best notion. But still if you are confused with selecting the right attendees list based on the factors of quality and time? Then, fortunately for you, our team of data managers have scrutinized the web and done the research in priority to offer Healthcare Industry Events Attendees and Exhibitors List.
At Healthcare Datacenter, we offer customers with Healthcare Conference Attendees List to enable them forge business partnerships. Our expertise team is adept at bestowing the most updated attendees list in this highly-competitive marketplace. Undoubtedly, our customers can help attendees by providing them Healthcare Summits Attendees list to identify the maximum opportunities; enhance their perspectives on the applicable solutions in today's time-sensitive, regulation-driven marketplace.


Some practitioners of alternative health care are blaming common symptoms such as fatigue, headache, and poor memory on an intestinal overgrowth of the fungus-like organism Candida albicans, or yeast syndrome.
To treat yeast syndrome, alternative health care practitioners recommend a Candida cleanse diet. Diet prohibits sugar, white flour, yeast and cheese because they believe that these foods encourage Candida growth.
However, according to Dr. Brent A. Bauer of the MayoClinic, there is very little evidence that support the diagnosis of yeast syndrome, and conventional health care practitioners question its validity. On top of that, there are no clinical trials that keep a record of the effectiveness of the Candida cleanse diet for treating any known medical condition.
It is not surprising though that a lot of people observe an improvement in their various symptoms when they follow the diet.
If you limit your intake of white flour and sugar, you are basically cutting out most processed foods which are usually high in calorie content but low on nutritive value.
You will start to feel better within weeks of taking out processed foods and switching to fresh one. Says Dr. Brent Bauer, "That, rather than stopping the growth of yeast in the gastrointestinal tract, is the main benefit of a Candida cleanse diet."


text:
for config_file ($ZSH_CUSTOM/ergoemacs-zsh-keybinds/*.zsh); do
  source $config_file
done

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
HomeWhat's OnNews2018Rimu Road improvements set to start
Rimu Road improvements set to start
Published 26 Feb 2018
The Kāpiti Coast District Council has rethought the timing and costings for improvements to Rimu Road, which means the scope for upcoming works has changed.
Group Manager Infrastructure Services Sean Mallon says original plans to install a pedestrian crossing with traffic signals between Coastlands and Iver Trask Place have been put on hold for now.
"Over the past few weeks, we've been reviewing timeframes, costings and priorities for some of our town centre and related projects.
"The east/west connector road project (to build a through road from Ihakara St heading west) has been moved out several years as a result of changing traffic patterns and funding priorities. This means that now isn't the right time to install the new traffic lights and pedestrian crossings we had planned at the Rimu Road intersection outside Council buildings.
"Instead we'll focus our available resources on improving the existing pedestrian crossing and landscaping," says Mr Mallon. "The traffic lights will be revisited at a later date."
The revised improvements will be carried out at the intersection of Rimu Road and Iver Trask Place over the coming months.
Site preparations start late next week with work beginning the week of Monday 5 March, and should be completed by the end of June (subject to good weather).
"On the corner of Rimu Road, Iver Trask and Kapiti Primary School we'll be paving, landscaping and planting. We'll also create a bay for buses to pull in and collect passengers, so traffic can flow more smoothly," says Mr Mallon.
On the eastern side of Rimu Road outside Tākiri House and the Coastlands car park, work will include:
making safety improvements to the existing pedestrian crossing
improving the access between the footpath and shops
creating a rain garden
installing a bike repair stand
providing more seating.
"As part of the improvements works we'll install ducting on both sides of Rimu Road so we don't have to dig up the road again when we decide to install traffic lights later at the Rimu Road/Iver Trask Place intersection. Ducting work will be carried out at night."
"There'll be some minor disruptions during the work. A small number of council car parks at the entrance to Iver Trask Place may be temporarily removed and put back when work's finished. There will also be road shoulder closures and some footpath closures. People who use this area regularly should keep an eye out for signage and take care around the work site."
These improvements aim to establish Rimu Road as the main street of Paraparaumu and are part of the Council's plans to revitalise the Paraparaumu town centre, to make it more vibrant, and the primary focus in our District for retail, commercial, cultural and civic activity.
For more information on the town centres improvements visit: www.kapiticoast.govt.nz/town-centres


text:
Q: HTML table text in rows alignment I have a HTML table which have text and numbers with different font size.
As you see big number are not aligned with the row text. How I can align them via CSS?
My CSS code:
.data_table_pricing {
    border-spacing: 12px;
    border-collapse: separate;
    width: 600px;
}


text:
Q: Tensorflow: How can I save a checkpoint only if the error is minimized during training? I am running a tensorflow program and I want to store the best model for later use. I am using estimator (tf.contrib.tpu.TPUEstimator module that takes a run_config argument, where I set save_checkpoints_secs=20*60) for training.
estimator.train takes a train_input_fn and num_train_steps as arguments.
eg:  estimator.train(input_fn=train_input_fn, max_steps=num_train_steps)
Instead of saving the checkpoint after every 'n' seconds, I want to store the best model which has minimal error while training.
Any help is welcomed.

A: tf.estimator.BestExporter seems like it's exactly what you're looking for. According to the documentation, it states:

This class performs a model export every time when the new model is
  better than any existing model.

  estimator = tf.estimator.DNNClassifier(
      config=tf.estimator.RunConfig(
          model_dir='/my_model', save_summary_steps=100),
      feature_columns=[categorial_feature_a_emb, ...],
      hidden_units=[1024, 512, 256])

  serving_feature_spec = tf.feature_column.make_parse_example_spec(
      categorial_feature_a_emb)
  serving_input_receiver_fn = (
      tf.estimator.export.build_parsing_serving_input_receiver_fn(
      serving_feature_spec))

  exporter = tf.estimator.BestExporter(
      name="best_exporter",
      serving_input_receiver_fn=serving_input_receiver_fn,
      exports_to_keep=5)

  train_spec = tf.estimator.TrainSpec(...)

  eval_spec = [tf.estimator.EvalSpec(
    input_fn=eval_input_fn,
    steps=100,
    exporters=exporter,
    start_delay_secs=0,
    throttle_secs=5)]


During the course of the film, the character played by Shahrukh Khan passes through each of the 7 shades of love defined in ancient Arabic literature - attraction, infatuation, love, reverence, worship, obsession and death.
Shah Rukh Khan did not use a safety harness while the filming the sequence aboard the moving train for the song "Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya."
The film's first song, "Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya", is also the opening song of the Hollywood movie Inside Man (2006) starring Denzel Washington and Clive Owen.
For the song "Jiya Jale, Jaan Chale," singer Lata Mangeshkar had some problems singing in the higher octaves due to her age, so composer A.R. Rahman kept her voice as low as possible.
The first hindi film of filmaker Mani Ratnam.
Kajol refused Manisha Koirala's role due to date issues.
Rani Mukherjee was offered Preity Zinta's role but declined it.
The film's first song, "Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya," is also the opening song of the second act of A.R. Rahman's, Don Black's, Shekhar Kapur's, and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical "Bombay Dreams," which opened in London in June 2002 and in New York in April 2004.
American TV show CSI used the song " Chaaiyan Chaiya " in a episode.
The film was previously titled " Ladakh - Ek Prem Kahani".
Mani Ratnam had the inspiration for the movie from a Sufi song called "Thayya Thayya" (which is available in the soundtracks.) The two lovers are said to share the relation of God and devotee.
Dubbed into Tamil as Uyire, with Arvind Swami giving voice for Shahrukh Khan.
Kajol was the first choice for Manisha's role.
Shilpa Shirodkar was signed for the Chaiya Chaiya song with Shahrukh Khan. Mani Ratnam was unhappy with Shilpa's weight problem and dropped her from the song.
Some of the parade scenes were shot during the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of India's independence.
Model Achala Sachdev was approached for Chhaiya Chhaiya but did not have any dates available.
"Proximas" by Shades of Paradise sampled " Chaiyan Chaiyan".
"Tchaiya Tchaiya " was a cover version of " Chaiyan Chaiyan" by Olli And The Bollywood Orchestra.
Sukh Knight song "Jiyajale" sampled the song "Jiya Jale".
Sukh Knight song "Prisoner" sampled the song "Jiya Jale".
Partho Gosh was directing a film titled " Chaiyan Chaiyan " with Fardeen Khan and Preity Zinta that he ended up shelving. This was in 2000.
The lyrics of Satrangi Re were sampled by Dr. Zeus for his song Aag Ka Dariya. The song was sung by Ravindra and had Yana Gupta in the music video.
The song "Jiya Jale" was sampled by Sid Vashi for the song "Rane" from the album Motherland and Tourism.
Cleopatra by Anik Khan sampled the song Jiya Jale.
Arjun 's original song "Chaiyan Chaiyan -Super Bass Remix" sampled the song "Chaiyan Chaiyan".


For more information about the Petroleum Technology Initiative, please feel free to contact us.
Petroleum Technology electives are focused on the application, implementation, and operational aspects of engineering. Continuous course content updates mirror industries that constantly change.
Students find that our labs feature the very latest professional hardware, software and equipment. Experienced faculty and industry experts bring countless hours of real-world work experience into our labs and classrooms. College of Technology students ultimately find mentors, internships and jobs through the knowledge they gain and strong connections they make here.
All PTI courses are taught by industry experts and can be included as petroleum technology electives in various majors. Within the Mechanical Engineering Technology Bachelor of Science degree program these courses prepare students for the competitive job market. PTI courses can be taken by industry employees, as a professional development certificate.
For official course descriptions and prerequisites visit the University of Houston Course Catalog.


text:
Learn what is considered a standard drink in this Howcast video featuring addictions specialist Paul J. Rinaldi, Ph.D.
People are often curious about what constitutes a standard drink. People who have trouble with alcohol will often talk about how many drinks they had per night or per week.
But you have to ask people what they consider a regular drink for them. What's considered a standard drink is different, depending on the kind of alcohol you're ingesting. So a typical beer would be a 12 ounce beer of 5% alcohol. There are beers of varying degrees, but a typical beer is 5% or a six ounce glass of wine, which is 12% alcohol. Again, that's an average percentage. Or if you're drinking hard liquor, that would be a one and a half ounce shot. That's a typical standard shot glass of liquor. which is of 80 proof or 40%. Those are considered standard drinks.
So when we talk about having one drink, that's the standard that's being used. So if you're having a drink that contains the equivalent of three shots of alcohol, you consider that one drink, but professionals would consider that having three drinks instead. So you have to really define your terms and understand what you're drinking.


Julie Yip-Williams' life story was intense before she was diagnosed with terminal cancer at 37. So she started a blog about living while dying, looking back at her childhood experiences as a refugee from Vietnam, her struggles with blindness, and her path to graduating from Harvard Law. Bringing together Yip-Williams' writing from her final five years, The Unwinding of the Miracle bears witness to her sadness and anger, as well as her tender feelings for her young children. Though she never claimed to be at peace with death, Yip-Williams' book is a parting gift that left us in awe of the depths of human strength.
When lawyer Yip-Williams was diagnosed with stage-IV colon cancer at the age of 37 in 2013, she decided to write her story, which resulted in this inspiring and remarkable work that chronicles her immigration to the U.S. and her final five years. Born in Vietnam with congenital cataracts, Yip-Williams writes that her grandmother who deemed her a burden to the family had found an herbalist she hoped would administer a potion to put the infant to "sleep forever." He refused, and Yip-Williams's ethnic Chinese family later moved to Hong Kong, where a Catholic charity sponsored their relocation to California, where Yip-Williams was raised and underwent corrective eye surgery. She attended Harvard Law School, joined a firm where she met her husband, moved to Brooklyn, and had two children. After her diagnosis, she was determined to make the most of the time left (she died in March 2018), and to leave a written legacy for her daughters. Yip-Williams faced cancer head on, with "brutal honesty," anger, humor, and resolve. Planning her death, she made Costco runs, traveled to the Galapagos Islands, found a child psychologist for her daughters ages six and eight, and even joked about her husband getting a "Slutty Second Wife." Yip-Williams's wise and moving account of her battle with cancer is an extraordinary call to live wholeheartedly.
A very powerful book written with passion, strength and a touch of humor. Julie writes not a story but a lesson in life.


Minor scuffles erupted between protesters and ABVP members during the screening of the film 'In the Name of Love -- Melancholy of God's Own Country'.
The screening of a film on the contentious issue of 'love jihad' at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi was disrupted by a few student groups, who alleged that a hate campaign was being propagated in its guise.
The incident had taken place last night.
The screening of the film "In the Name of Love-Melancholy of God's Own Country" was organised by the Global Indian Foundation and the Vivekanand Vichar Manch of the JNU.
Members of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union and the Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment had disrupted the film's screening, alleging a hate campaign was being propagated in its guise.
Minor scuffles had erupted between the protesters and ABVP members.
The Delhi Police said it received 13 complaints from both the sides and was probing the incident.
"We have received 13 complaints and are deliberating the ones that are actionable," said a senior police officer.
The complainants have made serious allegations, which were being probed, he said.
The JNUSU said it would take out a march on the campus tonight to protest the violence.
The ABVP will also take out a march titled "Save JNU from Left Lumpens" around same time.
According to the organisers, the film, directed by Sudipto Sen, focussed on the issue of 'love jihad' and religious conversion of girls in Kerala.
The JNUSU alleged that ABVP members attacked its former president Mohit Kumar Pandey.
"They abused and manhandled women students, and broke the window panes of a car in which Pandey took shelter to save himself," the JNUSU alleged.
Students opposed to the film had assembled at the Sabarmati dhaba to protest the "hate propaganda in the name of love jihad". They breached security cordons and disrupted the screening by holding placards in front of the screen.
"Why is ABVP/RSS hiding behind the Vivekanand Vichar Manch? We won't let the RSS's venomous 'Love Jihad' myth be propagated," read a statement issued by the protesters.
Former JNUSU president Geeta Kumari claimed the film "spreading communal venom and bigotry" has been screened by the Vivekananda Vichar Mach, a front organisation of the ABVP.
"JNU students standing up for gender justice and against politics of hate in the name of love jihad protested against such politics. The peaceful demonstrators were showered with eggs and stones to create a situation of chaos," she said.
"The JNUSU condemns these anti-social elements that have vitiated the university's atmosphere. It is reminiscent of Ramjas College, where the ABVP beat up university students," she added.
An effigy of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the ABVP was set on fire to protest the film's screening. In the melee, a few students got injured, while a private security guard had to be hospitalised.


It was impossible for me not to drink while in Tokyo. The questions were: what to drink, where to go, and how smashed it could be. And I did so, almost like a local did or to the same level as I would in the home cities.
The first two nights of the four-night stay were mild. It started with some mainstream beer at the capsule hotel on the arrival. The following day, I got to taste the first craft beer of the trip in Tsukiji Market and more beer along the day. That was it.
The last two nights, however, were worth elaborated.
The drinking ramped up on the third night. I booked Shinjuku walking tour from Air BNB Experience. The guide showed us the area including where to drink. Of course, there wasn't a shortage of it. I expressed I was into craft beer. He didn't take us to one but after the tour, he directed me to a local brewery, Yona Yona Beer Works. Their beers were very impressive. I ordered more than I should have just because it nearly hit the end of happy hour. The cutest thing was a sheet of paper laid down to indicate what beers on it.
As the result, I was drunk already when wandered off. However, I went back to where the guide showed us—Omoide Yokocho—to get the feel of izakaya culture. This alley was my kind of scenery and atmosphere. But with the amount of beer prior consumed, I could only get one sake and some snacks on skewers and needed to catch the train back before it got too blurry to do so.
But it didn't end when got back to the hotel. After re-checking-in and changing in a robe, I order a potato soju at the bar. It was just after midnight and there were more people than any other time I was at the bar. I could just assume they were stereotypical Japanese salarymen.
That night cost me a bad hangover in the morning after but I managed to Sensoji Temple. It was a long walk and got back to the hotel late in the afternoon to decide how to spend the last night in town, searching for a pub within a walking distance.
I ended up in a local, 338 Counter: Ueno Music Cafe & Bar. There was no expectation but the place was the tiniest I've ever been to. It was on the second floor of a small building. The seats were only at the bar and could accommodate just less than ten people. When I entered the room, others had to squeeze to let me sit at the near end of the bar.
On the other hand, that intimacy translated into a cozy and friendly mood. The hospitality of the pub owner and other customers was incredible. Apparently, the night was exactly its three-month anniversary. The owner kept feeding us food which I had to turn him down because of the sushi (with sake) I had earlier.
The only lady in the house introduced me to Kirin Whiskey that I stuck with all night. She also drew each one of us a portrait and gave us as a gift. When other guys found out I was Thai, they told me they took a holiday in Thailand every year. There was even a framed photo of them, riding an elephant, in the pub. Later on, a new customer got in and handed his music to the owner to play. We made more space for him.
The night went on, the group of the guys left, and I was pretty pissed. The owner walked me down the building but I decided to get back up. There were only four of us left. We took a selfie and that was the last thing I remembered. I wasn't sure if I could let myself get intoxicated like that if it wasn't Tokyo.
Consequently, the next morning was a real challenge, getting to Haneda Airport in a peak hour with a terrible hangover. I made it on board though. It was a reasonable price to pay for an extraordinary night.
Like last November in LA, before hitting Bangkok for a long work break, I took a detour to New York City. Unlike the LA trip, there wasn't real agenda for it. Well, frankly, it was just to check the box that I had been there. The city wasn't disappointing and neither was it as exuberant as it was hyped, I found.
I had some glimpses of the city twice: once in Queens last year and another one in Brooklyn on the way back to DC from Moscow. They were only overnight and my observations were limited. This time, four nights staying in the Bronx and wandering in the city gave me clearer thoughts about it.
The first two days were mostly in museums: MoMA, Museum of the Moving Image and MoMA PS1 respectively. With those, there were beers in between.
After done those, I was at U2 concert at Madison Square Garden. It was spectacular but not so memorable. Post-concert, I got a chance to sit down for a beer in an open-air bar. The summer breeze helped calm the buzzing chaos. And my mind started to process the experience of the city.
In the midst of the bright lights and busy street, it felt like everyone and everything was shouting at you but no one really cared to listen. It was hard to see contrasts I usually was drawn into. Until I ended up having long island iced tea at a Japanese karaoke bar across the street. It was a sanctuary from those noises.
However, the best of the city to offer was 24/7 subway system. It was convenient for a late-night drinker like me but it didn't feel 100% safe to ride the night train back with plenty of beers and cocktails.
After all of those seeing and drinking, it was time for my own photo shoots. I waited until late afternoon on the next day to go out. I walked from Chinatown to the Oculus and ended at Brooklyn Bridge.
Obviously, NYC was more photogenic than LA or DC. But with those days in the city I just could not find anything really appealing for my eyes. But I was just scratching the surface and might not have been at a right spot for my taste.
It took around four hours from DC to NYC on a coach or a train . I could take that for granted by visiting Big Apple more often. But honestly, I wasn't that thrilled about it and just didn't see the point. Because this short trip didn't add anything significant to my perspective neither did it inspire me that much. It would remain the biggest city in the US and maintain its cool but I wasn't sure how it'd go further from it in the future.
One of some few things I liked about living and working in the States was beer. I was curious to see what east coast had to offer when I got to LA last November. And it wasn't a disappointment at all. On top of that, there was a good guide to take me for a pub-crawl—my nephew.
The first taste of the local, Angel City IPA, was a brief introduction at a pub next to Egyptian Theatre before the movie. Unfortunately, the only choice I prefer at that same night at the Thai pub was Blue Moon. So, it didn't count.
The day after we had a big yum cha lunch with my cousin and his family. And his son offered me to be a guide to the local breweries in Art District. We got to Angel City Brewery, Wurstküche, and Art District Brewing Co. That was one of the best things in the trip for having good drinks and chat with a right person. Moreover, what made it so special was that the person was your own relative you hadn't met since we were little kid.
Somehow, it wasn't enough. After parted with the family, it was still early in the night (with three hours time different from DC). I got down to the Brickyard pub to get some more beer. There, no beers on taps, no worries. It was a chance to explore from bottles. And I got some journal written and digested my thoughts on the trip so far. I had been full on. By the end of the night, I was pretty smashed. Well, there were nine different beers I had that day.
The morning after, the plan to get out somewhere, like a cool café by Venice beach to write something, was scrapped. I stayed in the room for the whole last day of the trip. However, it really didn't feel like I needed to do anything more. Considered missions accomplished.
Over the years, I have developed a fondness of craft beer. It could not be possible to resist exploring Australian brew when I got down there.
My drink list wasn't as long as food craving mission. The very first beer I got had to be Coopers pale ale at the Bank Hotel, one of my favourite spots to watch the world flowing by. Coopers and James Squire were the two established breweries I was longing for. There were also my new-found favourite local craft beer, especially Young Henrys from Newtown. Shame that I didn't get a chance to visit their bar.
That was simply because my the pub time was in the regular one, Kelly's on King. And another one that I went more often this trip was the Townie, where I stopped for variety of Young Henrys and to write travel journals.
It was good to see that Kelly's, the Townie, and Warren View Hotel still had as the same vibe as when I left the city. Most of others in the local has changed. The Duke and Newtown Hotel became so hipster. The Sando was renamed to Newtown Social Club even tough it got the same spirit.
Closer to Sydney's CBD, Lansdowne Hotel is gone. The Clare Hotel turned posh. However, Stonewall Hotel on Oxford Street were still the same gay bar. And fortunately, Brighton Up Bar were as a dive bar as I hoped it would be.
Although the pub wasn't my usual spot because of the location but it always have a special place in my heart. It was where I started transitioning works. One day in winter 2007, I randomly sat down there to write a script for Anywhere Chairs while sipping beer. Since then, I found pubs have been my preferred choice of writing environment.


text:
Danny Leiner, comedy director of 'Harold and Kumar', dies aged 57
Comedy Director Danny Leiner has died at the age of 57.
According to reports, Leiner had been battling against cancer.
Having directed comedy cult films such as Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle and Dude, Where's My Car?, tributes are pouring in for the director who has been described as "so sharp, so funny".
Ross Putnam, who produced several films with Leiner, announced the news on Facebook. "If there's one thing I can say about Danny the professional, it's that he refused to let us settle for anything less than our best," Putman wrote in his post.
"He pushed us to do what he knew we were capable of. Danny the person was sardonic, sharp, and savvy, with a love for culture and comedy of all kinds. It hasn't really sunk in yet, but the world has lost a good one."
Leiner also directed a string of episodes for the likes of The Office, The Sopranos, Freaks and Geeks, Arrested Development, and more.
I am so saddened to hear about the passing of Danny Leiner, who became my friend when he directed Harold and Kumar go to Whitecastle. Danny was so sharp, so funny, and a great dinner companion. To his friends and family, my deepest condolences.
— John Cho (@JohnTheCho) October 20, 2018
Very sad to learn that our friend Danny Leiner passed away. We initially got to know each other when he directed Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle. Sending my love to his family & friends. He was such a funny, thoughtful, encouraging person.
— Kal Penn (@kalpenn) October 20, 2018


A team at the University of Toronto computer science lab have developed a neural network capable of writing melodies and lyrics on the prompting of an image. Their "neural karaoke" program was trained on 100 hours of holiday music (poor thing) and 50 hours of lyrics, then fed a collection of captioned images to make connections between visual data and associated concepts. chartattack.com.
Never say Neil Young isn't persistent. His Pono audiophile download service may not have captured the public imagination – launching, as it did, just as streaming became a huge force in music consumption – but that hasn't stopped the veteran Canadian rocker from deciding to take another push at saving our ears from over-compressed music files. TheGuardian.com.
All of this while Edison Research posts their Q-3 2016 study on the share of all audio listening and despite growth in many streaming services, AM/FM dominates with a 50% share of audio time spent. Streaming services are growing at the expense of pre-owned music, not AM/FM radio.
How can we let the passing of Alan Thicke, Farther of one Canadas' most well known musical exports, Robin Sparkles. go without at least a mention.
While I was looking through youtube for an Alan Thicke clip I found this. Could someone else listen to the intro music and let me know what she says before "glow" at the same time Alans' name is on screen.
How do you polish a beaver?
I mean, who wouldn't glow with pride at having a talking beaver, no matter what accent they had.
I heard polish my beaver and glow too. And I think that is all I will comment about that.
Morning all! I'm not always here, but I like to check in once in awhile. I'm still working on that player, it takes time. Sorry.
@Wynn… nice man… RE player.
We need MOAR peasants, and people around here, been quiet lately….
Dine Alone Records Winter Sampler. Woot!
I was going to share our Christmas playlist on FB. Any objections? Have the duplicate songs been taken out?
If you went to bed earlier this wouldn't be a problem.
Child: Sorry Mom, I must have polished my beaver too much. Now it won't stop glowing.
this elf is taking a lunch break! all of this holiday preparations stuff is taking a long time. all of the greenery and lights is making it look and smell good in here but I have made myself bleed a few times already.
perhaps what is missing in the decorations is a glowing beaver?
that robot song is … quite something.
i wonder about what those folks put on their resume from that experiment.
@garfielduk how many cookies are left?
the real ones, not the computer kind.
Suki and I just took a walk in the snow. We went to the ski hill office in town to pick up the paperwork for morgana jr to take AABBS. It is an avalanche awareness course.


text:
Call Us Today! +6088-270733|media@sabah-travel.com
MUST VISITS
Major Cities District
Map Guide
Kota Kinabalu Map
Kota Kinabalu City Map
Sandakan Map
Sandakan City Map
Tawau City Map
Kudat Map
Labuan Map
Labuan Town Map
Business/ Boutique
Budget/ Backpacker
Luxury Homestay
CULTURAL OF SABAH
RUNGUS OF KUDAT
COWBOYS OF THE EAST
SABAH STATE MUSEUM
MARI MARI CULTURAL VILLAGE
NORTH BORNEO RAILWAY
MONSOPIAD CULTURAL VILLAGE
SHOPPING IN SABAH
Night Life Recommendations
Spa & Fitness Recommendations
UNIQUE LOCAL PRODUCTS
PROPERTY & CONVENTION
TRAVEL ASSISTANT
GETTING TO SABAH
TRANSPORTATION IN SABAH
WEATHER IN SABAH
Home/LABUAN
LABUANSTG2020-09-15T11:52:54+08:00
LABUAN, THE INTERNATIONAL ISLAND GARDEN OF BORNEO is a popular retreat for corporate Asia to relax and recuperate. This is a place where the old and the new complement each other, where traditional ways and hi-tech methods co-exist, where people of diverse backgrounds live in perfect harmony.
Labuan has everything one would expect of a tropical island. Surrounding coral reefs provide a glimpse into the fascinating and delicate marine eco-system. Secluded beaches on nearby islands offer quiet solitude. Shipwrecks promise the thrill of danger for expert divers. Lovers of sea sports can enjoy an increasingly wide range of water sports and recreation. As a duty free port, Labuan is a haven for branded imports. Local customs and traditions, monuments and memorial parks, reflect the rich history of this island.
From world-class resorts and five star hotels to broadband telecommunications, Labuan is well equipped to serve as a venue for corporate meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions. Its success as a progressive International Offshore Financial Center in Asia further boosted the island's appeal among the world's rich and famous.
As a duty-free island, Labuan enjoys many special privileges and facilities. Besides great bargain shopping, the island offers plenty of business and investment opportunities. It has a similar status to the other free trade zones in Malaysia. They allow raw materials and components used in manufacturing to be brought in and exported free of duty and taxes. Such easing of custom control allows many profitable entre-port activities to be conducted freely in Labuan. Shipbuilding, ship repair, oil and gas are among the main industrial activities. Other fast-growing sectors include banking and finance, tourism and education.
The name Labuan derives from the Malay word labuhan meaning harbour. During World War II, the Japanese called it Maeda, taken after their first commander of Japanese forces in northern Borneo Labuan. The island was historically one of the important surrender points.
Labuan serves as a hub for visitors landing via ferry from Brunei en route to Jesselton Point.
LABUAN EARLY HISTORY
The British came to Labuan one hundred and fifty years ago. It was a strategic re-fuelling station for British steamships of the day. The island was ceded to the British by the Brunei Sultanate in 1840 and was subsequently established as a free port. The British ruled the island for the next one hundred and seventeen years until Labuan joined Malaysia in 1963.
Labuan was a British naval base to fight the pirates in the Brunei Bay. Some old graves bearing the names of young British officers who died fighting the pirates can still be seen today at the Botanical garden.
The only industry on the island then was coal mining. Five British companies consecutively mined the coal for 64 years. A railway line was built to transport coal from Tanjong Kubong coal mine to Victoria Port. Labuan was the only significant coal mining centre of the then British Empire in the Far East in 1847. The 106 feet high Chimney and the tunnels are remnants of the coal mining days.
The main town of the island was named Victoria, after Queen Victoria.
During the Japanese administration in 1942, the island was re-named Maida Island in memory of General Maida, the Chief Commander of the Japanese forces in Borneo who was later killed in an air crash from Bintulu to Labuan. The Japanese ruled the island for almost three years from 1942 to 1945. The liberation of Borneo by the Allied Forces started in Labuan on 10th June 1945. The Australian forces landed in Labuan under the command of General McArthur. The island was reverted back to British rule until 1963.
WWII MEMORIAL (LABUAN WAR CENTER)
Situated at Jalan Tanjung Batu, about 3,905 graves of soldiers mostly Australians and British lie here. A memorial service is held on the nearest Sunday to 11 th of November. This memorial is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
LABUAN BIRDS PARK
Located near the Tanjung Kubong Tunnel. This Birds Park shows a large variety of tropical birds from around the region such as hornbills, kingfishers, sharmas, mynas, herons and maybe even ostriches and peacocks.
THE CHIMNEY
The chimney has often been said to be the ventilation shaft for the underground tunnels. Some had even suggested smoke has passed through it but lately, excavation works around the immediate area has literally uncovered a mystery – beneath the base of the shaft are no tunnels to be found! So if it is really was supposed to be a ventilation shaft, why are there no tunnels? Furthermore, the diggings have revealed that the chimney is built on a base of white kaolin clay. It also has a foundation of twelve layers of bricks on which it sits, and there is no evidence of soot at all inside the chimney walls.
LABUAN SQUARE (DATARAN MERDEKA)
The heart of Bandar Labuan, formally known as Victoria town. Flags of all the Malaysian states flutter beside the town Padang. Nearby are the four historical "flame of the forest" trees. Many stone plaques recall the historical events of Labuan throughout the years.
LABUAN JAPANESE SURRENDER POINT
Located at Layang-Layangan, this is where the 37th Japanese Southern Army surrendered to the 9th Division Australian Imperial Forces on 9th September 1945 which led to the end of WWII in Borneo. It is also in this area that South East Asia's first war crime trials were conducted.
LABUAN MARINE PARK
The three islands of Rusukan Kecil, Rusukan Besar, and Kuraman make up this Park. Its wide sandy beaches are perfect for picnic and surf bathing. As it is close to the wreck-dive sites, many divers use it as their base. Rusukan Besar still has dense forest but is nice for picnicking, swimming and snorkelling. Rusukan Kecil in its unspoiled state is suitable for camping. An atoll in the middle of the marine park has many snakes sheltering there.
ATTRACTION POINTS
Labuan War Cemetery
Wreck Divings
Labuan Museum
Papan Island
Mystery Chimney
Peace Park
Founded in 1996, Reef Check is the world's largest international coral reef monitoring programme involving volunteer recreational divers and marine scientists
April 5th, 2019 | 0 Comments
About Us | Advertise | Borneo360 | Borneo Images | Traveller's Map | Contact Us


[The actual name of this cemetery is unknown.
Directions: Cemetery is on the East edge of Cartersville; From Hwy 41 by the hospital in Cartersville, take 411 N. Shortly before the I-75 interchange, turn Left onto Industrial Park Drive. The cemetery is immediately Left; a steep place big enough to park a couple of cars with a gate at the top. (You can walk around the gate.) The cemetery is not cared for.