text:
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DMCA Policy Acceptable Use Policy Terms of Service
Xpand DMCA Policy
Xpand ("Xpand") respects the intellectual property rights of others and expects its users to do the same. In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, the text of which may be found on the U.S. Copyright Office website at http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf, Xpand will respond expeditiously to claims of copyright infringement committed using the Xpand service and/or the Xpand website (the "Site") if such claims are reported to Xpand's Designated Copyright Agent identified in the sample notice below.
If you are a copyright owner, authorized to act on behalf of one, or authorized to act under any exclusive right under copyright, please report alleged copyright infringements taking place on or through the Site by completing the following DMCA Notice of Alleged Infringement and delivering it to Xpand's Designated Copyright Agent. Upon receipt of Notice as described below, Xpand will take whatever action, in its sole discretion, it deems appropriate, including removal of the challenged content from the Site.
DMCA Notice of Alleged Infringement ("Notice")
Identify the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed, or - if multiple copyrighted works are covered by this Notice - you may provide a representative list of the copyrighted works that you claim have been infringed.
Identify the material or link you claim is infringing (or the subject of infringing activity) and to which access is to be disabled, including at a minimum, if applicable, the URL of the link shown on the Site or the exact location where such material may be found.
Provide your company affiliation (if applicable), mailing address, telephone number, and, if available, email address.
Include both of the following statements in the body of the Notice:
"I hereby state that I have a good faith belief that the disputed use of the copyrighted material is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law (e.g., as a fair use)."
"I hereby state that the information in this Notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that I am the owner, or authorized to act on behalf of, the owner, of the copyright or of an exclusive right under the copyright that is allegedly infringed."
Provide your full legal name and your electronic or physical signature.
Deliver this Notice, with all items completed, to Xpand's Designated Copyright Agent:
support@xpand.io
Submit DMCA notice
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Xpand is used by many people, and we're proud of the trust placed in us. In exchange, we trust you to use our services responsibly.
You agree not to misuse the Xpand services ("Services"). For example, you must not, and must not attempt to do the following:
probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of any system or network; breach or otherwise circumvent any security or authentication measures; access, tamper with, or use non-public areas or parts of the Services, or shared areas of the Services you haven't been invited to;
interfere with or disrupt any user, host, or network, for example by sending a virus, overloading, flooding, spamming, or mail-bombing any part of the Services;
access or search the Services by any means other than our publicly supported interfaces (for example, "scraping"); send unsolicited communications, promotions or advertisements, or spam; send altered, deceptive or false source-identifying information, including "spoofing" or "phishing"; promote or advertise products or services other than your own without appropriate authorization; abuse Xpand referrals or promotions to get more storage space than deserved; abuse the Services in a manner that circumvents their storage space limits; sell the Services or Services accounts via unauthorized channels; use automated or other means to create accounts in bulk or to access the Services other than by using our official interface and/or APIs;
publish or share materials that are unlawfully pornographic or indecent, or that advocate bigotry, religious, racial or ethnic hatred;
violate the law in any way including storing, publishing or sharing material that's fraudulent, defamatory, misleading, or that violates the privacy or infringes the rights of others.
Xpand Terms of Service
Effective: February 15, 2015
Thanks for using Xpand and our Xpand.io website! These terms of service ("Terms") cover your use and access to the services, client software and websites ("Services") provided by Whiteboard Ventures Inc. D/B/A as Xpand. Our Privacy Policy explains how we collect and use your information while our Acceptable Use Policy outlines your responsibilities when using our Services. By logging into the Web site, I understand and agree that the entry of my user name and password is the method this Web site uses to verify my identity. They serve as my electronic agreement, indicating that I agree to be bound by these Terms, and to review our Privacy and Acceptable Use policies.
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Any instructions, choices, or requests you make on this Web site will be considered your written permission to your employer and/or Xpand to provide information or conduct transactions on your behalf, in accordance with your employer's employee policies, programs, or employee on-boarding activities.
Please safeguard your password to the Services, make sure that others don't have access to it, and keep your account information current. You are solely responsible for any loss of privacy or confidentiality of information if you disclose your user name or password to a third party. You agree to contact your employer and/or Xpand immediately if you have reason to believe that someone has gained unauthorized access to your password, or any other identifier.
You are responsible for reviewing any instructions, choices, or requests that you make through this Web site. You are responsible for reviewing for inaccuracies all of the information transmitted to you. If there are inaccuracies, you are responsible for correcting them using the tools available to you on the Web site or by contacting your employer to point them out.
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Our Software services automatically function within your computer's web browser. This software ("Software") updates automatically. So long as you comply with these Terms, we give you a limited, nonexclusive, nontransferable, revocable license to use the Software, solely to access the Services. To the extent any component of the Software may be offered under an open source license, we'll make that license available to you and the provisions of that license may expressly override some of these Terms. Unless the following restrictions are prohibited by law, you agree not to reverse engineer or decompile the Services, attempt to do so, or assist anyone in doing so.
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Whiteboard Ventures Inc. D/B/A Xpand
31 W 34th St., 7th floor
You're free to stop using our Services at any time. We also reserve the right to suspend or end the Services at any time at our discretion and without notice. For example, we may suspend or terminate your use of the Services if you're not complying with these Terms, or use the Services in a manner that would cause us legal liability, disrupt the Services or disrupt others' use of the Services. We'll of course provide you with notice via the email address associated with your account before we do so.
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We Both Agree To Arbitrate. You and Xpand agree to resolve any claims relating to these Terms or the Services through final and binding arbitration, except as set forth under Exceptions to Agreement to Arbitrate below. Opt-out of Agreement to Arbitrate. You can decline this agreement to arbitrate by clicking here and submitting the opt-out form within 30 days of first accepting these Terms.
Arbitration Procedures. The Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Service (JAMS) will administer the arbitration under its Commercial Arbitration Rules and the Supplementary Procedures for Consumer Related Disputes. The arbitration will be held in the United States county where you live or work, New York (NY), or any other location to which we agree.
Arbitration Fees and Incentives. The JAMS rules will govern payment of all arbitration fees. Xpand will pay all arbitration fees for claims less than $75,000. If you receive an arbitration award that is more favorable than any offer we make to resolve the claim, we will pay you $1,000 in addition to the award. Xpand will not seek its attorneys' fees and costs in arbitration unless the arbitrator determines that your claim is frivolous.
Exceptions to Agreement to Arbitrate. Either you or Xpand may assert claims, if they qualify, in small claims court in New York (NY) or any United States county where you live or work. Either party may bring a lawsuit solely for injunctive relief to stop unauthorized use or abuse of the Services, or intellectual property infringement (for example, trademark, trade secret, copyright, or patent rights) without first engaging in arbitration or the informal dispute-resolution process described above.
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These Terms will be governed by New York law.
These Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and Xpand with respect to the subject matter of these Terms, and supersede and replace any other prior or contemporaneous agreements, or terms and conditions applicable to the subject matter of these Terms. These Terms create no third party beneficiary rights.
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Xpand's failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of its right to do so later. If a provision is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions of the Terms will remain in full effect and an enforceable term will be substituted reflecting our intent as closely as possible. You may not assign any of your rights under these Terms, and any such attempt will be void. Xpand may assign its rights to any of its affiliates or subsidiaries, or to any successor in interest of any business associated with the Services.
We may revise these Terms from time to time, and will always post the most current version on our website. If a revision meaningfully reduces your rights, we will notify you (by, for example, sending a message to the email address associated with your account, posting on our blog or on this page). By continuing to use or access the Services after the revisions come into effect, you agree to be bound by the revised Terms.
© Xpand -


Healthcare is an area where existing facilities are often added on to rather than set up from scratch, meaning that minimisation of disruption to the ongoing medical or care services on site is vital. STREIF's off site production system sees nearly all the construction taking place miles away in a factory, with only a short assembly phase on site. The system also lends itself well to the incorporation of the sophisticated service pods increasingly found within the medical sector.


Dude has got some wicked movement on his pitches.
Another fun fact: Mekkes has given up 6 runs this year. One of them was a 9th inning home run that he followed up with a scoreless 10th. All of the rest have come from innings with the contrived 'runner on 2nd' situation for extra innings, with 4 of the 5 being unearned because they were those runners.
17-year old SS Nestor Heredia ($200k bonus) hit his first pro HR too.
I'm all in on Morfa now.
Morfa's played CF the past two days as well.
First two pro HRs given up by Lange, who is already out of the game. He went 4.2 with 4 Ks and no walks. Pelicans getting beat by a pitcher I wanted to draft in 2016, Bernado Flores out of USC.
Zack Short's having a weird season with big Iso numbers, tons of fly balls, lots of Ks, and a .212 BA. I'm thinking next year is going to be a big, loud year for bats in the system. What Short is doing in AA should play in AAA and even today's Majors, maybe lol.
Anyone know why Swarmer was pulled after three innings?
Tim wrote: Anyone know why Swarmer was pulled after three innings?
They're still playing, so I'm thinking there was a rain delay. Looks like something after 1 out 8n the bottom of the third. Not sure if it was rain, how long it lasted, or what though.
Yep. Rain delay in the bottom of the third.
RHSP Jose Albertos continues to struggle with command (mostly by spiking his FB in front of home plate or throwing it over the batter's head), allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits (four singles and a double), four walks, a HBP, and two wild pitches in 3.1 IP (73 pitches), while throwing only 48% strikes. He was, however, also occasionally brilliant, striking out six and getting batters to repeatedly hit his pitches into the ground when he was not recording a punch-out, issuing a walk, hitting a batter, or throwing a WP (4/0 GO/AO).


text:
France 24 launches iPad app
April 8, 2010 11.04 Europe/London By Julian Clover
Video: France 24, one of the first broadcasters to make an application available on the iPhone, has turned its attentions to Apple's new baby.
The international news network's application for the iPad is now available free from the App Store. iPad users can enjoy live broadcast from France 24's three language channels, or watch the latest newscast, weather forecast and sports flash on demand.
An innovative mapping tool allows users to find news based on their geographical location.
The BBC has also released an iPad application, but so far it is only available in the United States, circumventing a BBC Trust investigation into the release of similar applications for the iPhone. Newspapers represented by the Newspaper Publishers Association (NPA) have complained the BBC might damage the market for their own applications.
Filed Under: Newsline, Technology Tagged With: France 24, iPad Edited: April 8, 2010 12:03
Telekom Romania to shed 700 staff
OTT milestone for Tricolor
Chris Dziadul Reports: All systems go for Vodafone

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
   const char *e = tagger ? tagger->what() : MeCab::getTaggerError(); \
   std::cerr << "Exception:" << e << std::endl; \
   delete tagger; \
   return -1; }

int main (int argc, char **argv) {
  char input[] = "太郎は次郎が持っている本を花子に渡した。";

  // Create model object.
  MeCab::Model *model = MeCab::createModel(argc, argv);

  // Create Tagger
  // All taggers generated by Model::createTagger() method share
  // the same model/dictoinary.
  MeCab::Tagger *tagger = model->createTagger();
  CHECK(tagger);

  // Create lattice object per thread.
  MeCab::Lattice *lattice = model->createLattice();

  // Gets tagged result in string
  lattice->set_sentence(input);

  // this method is thread safe, as long as |lattice| is thread local.
  CHECK(tagger->parse(lattice));
  std::cout << lattice->toString() << std::endl;

  // Gets node object.
  const MeCab::Node* node = lattice->bos_node();
  CHECK(node);
  for (; node; node = node->next) {
    std::cout << node->id << ' ';
    if (node->stat == MECAB_BOS_NODE)
      std::cout << "BOS";
    else if (node->stat == MECAB_EOS_NODE)
      std::cout << "EOS";
    else
      std::cout.write (node->surface, node->length);

    std::cout << ' ' << node->feature
	      << ' ' << (int)(node->surface - input)
	      << ' ' << (int)(node->surface - input + node->length)
	      << ' ' << node->rcAttr
	      << ' ' << node->lcAttr
	      << ' ' << node->posid
	      << ' ' << (int)node->char_type
	      << ' ' << (int)node->stat
	      << ' ' << (int)node->isbest
	      << ' ' << node->alpha
	      << ' ' << node->beta
	      << ' ' << node->prob
	      << ' ' << node->cost << std::endl;
  }

  // begin_nodes/end_nodes
  const size_t len = lattice->size();
  for (int i = 0; i <= len; ++i) {
    MeCab::Node *b = lattice->begin_nodes(i);
    MeCab::Node *e = lattice->end_nodes(i);
    for (; b; b = b->bnext) {
      printf("B[%d] %s\t%s\n", i, b->surface, b->feature);
    }
    for (; e; e = e->enext) {
      printf("E[%d] %s\t%s\n", i, e->surface, e->feature);
    }
  }

  // N best results
  lattice->set_request_type(MECAB_NBEST);
  lattice->set_sentence(input);
  CHECK(tagger->parse(lattice));
  for (int i = 0; i < 10; ++i) {
    std::cout << "NBEST: " << i << std::endl;
    std::cout << lattice->toString();
    if (!lattice->next()) {
      // No more results
      break;
    }
  }

  // Marginal probabilities
  lattice->remove_request_type(MECAB_NBEST);
  lattice->set_request_type(MECAB_MARGINAL_PROB);
  lattice->set_sentence(input);
  CHECK(tagger->parse(lattice));
  std::cout << lattice->theta() << std::endl;
  for (const MeCab::Node *node = lattice->bos_node();
       node; node = node->next) {
    std::cout.write(node->surface, node->length);
    std::cout << "\t" << node->feature;
    std::cout << "\t" << node->prob << std::endl;
  }

  // Dictionary info
  const MeCab::DictionaryInfo *d = model->dictionary_info();
  for (; d; d = d->next) {
    std::cout << "filename: " <<  d->filename << std::endl;
    std::cout << "charset: " <<  d->charset << std::endl;
    std::cout << "size: " <<  d->size << std::endl;
    std::cout << "type: " <<  d->type << std::endl;
    std::cout << "lsize: " <<  d->lsize << std::endl;
    std::cout << "rsize: " <<  d->rsize << std::endl;
    std::cout << "version: " <<  d->version << std::endl;
  }

  // Swap model atomically.
  MeCab::Model *another_model = MeCab::createModel("");
  model->swap(another_model);

  delete lattice;
  delete tagger;
  delete model;

  return 0;
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Catalytic Oxidizers from The CMM Group, LLC are designed to destroy air pollutants and volatile organic compounds in air from process exhaust streams at temperatures ranging from 260°C (500°F) to 345°C (650°F). Catalytic oxidizers utilize a high-efficiency counter-flow plate type heat exchanger. Oxidation is achieved as VOC emissions pass through a heated bed of precious metal catalyst.
The basic design concept of catalytic oxidation is to utilize an industrial grade catalyst to promote the chemical reaction at lower temperatures as compared to thermal oxidation. The air pollutant is mixed with oxygen, heated to an elevated temperature and passed through a catalyst, thus destroying the pollutant in the air stream by converting it to CO2, H2O and heat. The rate of reaction is controlled by the temperature of the catalyst chamber and the amount of time that the pollutant spends within the catalyst itself. Catalytic oxidation commonly requires less energy to operate due to lower operating temperatures.
During operation, the process exhaust fumes are forced into the catalytic oxidizer inlet plenum (using a high pressure supply fan) and directed through the "cold" side of a high-efficiency, counter-flow plate type heat exchanger.
The VOC/HAP laden air then enters into the combustion chamber (typically at a temperature very close to that required for oxidation) where it is thoroughly mixed for temperature uniformity. To maintain set point temperature, auxiliary fuel is introduced if necessary. The preheated stream then passes through a fixed bed of industrial grade catalyst where air pollutant destruction takes place.
After passing through the catalyst chamber, the clean (hot) air is routed back through the "hot" side of the heat exchanger where it continuously preheats the incoming process air. Upon exiting the heat exchanger, the clean (cooled) air is routed to the atmosphere through an exhaust chamber and ultimately through the exhaust stack. Heat exchangers in standard catalytic units are typically fabricated of heavy-duty stainless steel. Thermal recovery efficiencies (TRE) range from 50% to 80%. Internal chambers of a catalytic oxidizer are manufactured entirely of heavy gauge stainless steel. Thermal expansion joints are incorporated where necessary. To maintain low external shell temperatures and minimize radiant heat loss, the internal chambers are covered with blanket insulation and then clad, typically with embossed aluminum. Air pollutant destruction efficiencies of 99% can typically be guaranteed.


Recently I received an email from one of my beautiful followers, Alexandra asking me what books I would recommend for reading about Queen Victoria.
This inspired a new feature here on PTTP called "So, you wanna read about..."! Here I will be highlighting various historical characters along with some reading suggestions/recommendations for that person. I hope you enjoy! If you would like to see a post about anyone in particular, please send me an email!
Queen Victoria is the longest-reigning British monarch, with her reign lasting 63 years. She became Queen at the age of 18, when her uncle, William IV, died in 1837 and three years later she married Prince Albert. They would have nine children together.
What a terrific list and I think this is a great new feature. Another fiction title to add to this is "The young Victoria" by Cynthia Harrod Eagle. I really enjoyed this one.
I haven't read anything about Queen Victoria yet, so this list might come in handy, thanks Amy!
Michelle - thank you for adding the Harrod-Eagles book...I'll add it to my store on Amazon!
What a great list! I really haven't read much about Queen Victoria, so I'm happy to have a list of titles all in one place.
Thanks! I recently read We Two and want to read more. I've come across some of these titles but it is great to have more to pursue.
This is a really cool feature! Love this list.
Great List! I particularly love Kate William's bio of Queen Victoria. It's excellent.
Great themed recommendation post. I've never really read anything about Queen Victoria, so a few of these are bound to end up on my reading list.
What a fun idea! I'm looking forward to more!
Nice feature. What a wonderful list. The links at the end are also good.
It will do me good, not to read these though :D LOL!
And I have the Erickson and Gelardi as well.
Lots of great reading ahead of me!
There's also The Widow of Windsor and Victoria in the Wings by Plaidy. I've yet to read any of them!


This external notice board has been tested and accredited to the ""rainproof test"" (the Ingress Protection standard IP55 European Standard EN 60529:1992) against both dust (solids) and water (liquids) which means that it is certified as 100% weatherproof for all external locations.
The Weathershield showcase has a fully fire retardant core and textile tested to Class 0 that complies with BSEN13501: 2002.
With a satin silver anodised aluminium frame, this outdoor notice board is available in 7 sizes. The interior is covered with fire rated fabric which can be used with pins and velcro and comes in 4 colours - red, blue, green and grey.
This external notice board is lockable as it is fitted with concealed barrel locks.
Accredited to the ""rainproof test""


I suppose this is my last official tour post for this one! I realize it took my a bit to get them all up online, and I apologize to you all for making you wait. Work is work, and unfortunately I haven't been able to make freelance photography my full time job just yet. I had such a great time on this tour and I cannot wait to hit to road again in the future. Ottawa was the final stop on the tour. I had a day off prior while the boys played Montreal because of work, but couldn't miss the hometown show. TICTP pretty much sells out any show in Ottawa now. They are so loved by the hometown fans, it's really amazing to see! I had a blast because I got to enjoy them one last time but this time with my friends from the city!
They used their own lights for their hometown set, which is always great! The lighting is terrible in Maverick's, so I love when bands bring their own rig. Final photos from the tour, enjoy!


text:
Drag Race icons to reprise Snatch Game characters for sickening digital festival
Who's ready for Snatch Game Day?
Ten of the most legendary queens from RuPaul's Drag Race will be reprising their Snatch Game-winning characters this weekend (19 April) as part of the new sickening digital concert festival, Digital Drag Fest.
It will see the return of Alaska as Mae West, Alexis Michelle as Liza Minelli, Baga Chipz as Margaret Thatcher, Bob the Drag Queen as Carol Channing, Ginger Minj as Adele, Jinkx Monsoon as Little Edie, Kennedy Davenport as Little Richard, Nina West as Jo Anne Worley, Trinity the Tuck as Caitlyn Jenner and Sharon Needles as Michelle Visage.
The festival came to fruition after the coronavirus pandemic upended several live events and concerts around the world. Each 30-minute show is a "lifetime live experience" and features elements such as singing, cooking, lip syncing and more.
Other queens confirmed to participate in upcoming events include BenDeLaCreme, Divina De Campo, Jackie Beat, Jiggly Caliente, Jujubee, Manila Luzon, Miz Cracker, Monét X Change, Kasha Davis, Peppermint, Sherry Vine and Tammie Brown.
David Charpentier, founder and president of PEG (Producer Entertainment Group), said in a statement: "Drag is about resilience, and this festival is meant to share that message during a challenging time in our world."
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_DZySsJDjA/
Trinity the Tuck said: "With all that's going on in the world, we need an escape. Drag gives people some mental, stress and comic relief from the circumstances we face right now. I'm excited to share my art and hopefully make someone smile!"
"Art endures all disasters; with art, so can we," added Jinkx Monsoon, while Manila Luzon told fans that Digital Drag Fest is their chance to "see your favorite drag queens in a totally new context where their own living rooms are their world stage!"
Evan Lowenstein, founder and CEO of Stageit, said the festival's organisers "have no interest in replacing physical live events, but hopefully our service can help turn people on… to a completely new experience."
Tickets for the shows are limited to "keep audience sizes small and the experience intimate," but fans will have once in a lifetime opportunities to interact with their favourite queens and potentially win prizes and giveaways.
Prices for each performance start at $10 USD per household, and although they are suitable for all ages, parental discretion is "advised".
See more information about Snatch Game Day and other gag-worthy Digital Drag Fest performances on their official website here.
Related: The 20 best Snatch Game performances in Drag Race HERstory.
Related: Here's who fans think will be on RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race
Related: Here's your guide to all things RuPaul's Drag Race in 2020.


text:
Q: Import reg key using a bat file The issue is that an update pushed to my devices keeps setting the NumLock to on and the users have to turn it off in order to log in on the laptops. I want the NumLock to be off and I need to check to see if it has been changed to on and change it back to off.
I have a registry key that I want to drop into remote computers' startup folder so it will run without any intervention, i.e. UAC, or "Are you sure?".
The key I need to change is:
"HKEY_Users.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Keyboard\InitialKeyboardIndicators" /v 0 /t REG_SZ /f
The value I want to change is 2 and I need it to be v/0 to turn off the NumLock keyboard feature before users ever log in on the laptops.
I have exported this key and named it NumLockEdit.reg and can run it in a bat file as follows:
@ECHO OFF

NumLockEdit.reg

But, I want to have it run without any input from me or the user. No UAC or "Are you sure" questions.
I've also tried this,
@echo off

reg add "HKEY_Users\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Keyboard\InitialKeyboardIndicators" /v 0 /t REG_SZ /f

I've even tried creating a shortcut to my bat file and running it as admin but I still get the UAC and Are you sure? message.
Any help with this will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

A: Set-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKU.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Keyboard' -Name "InitialKeyboardIndicators" -Value "2"

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
// The MIT License (MIT)
//
// Copyright (c) 2016 Nelson Corrêa V. Júnior
//
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// of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
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using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using EnjoyCQRS.Collections;
using EnjoyCQRS.Events;
using EnjoyCQRS.EventSource;

namespace EnjoyCQRS.TestFramework
{
    public abstract class AggregateTestFixture<TAggregateRoot> where TAggregateRoot : Aggregate, new()
    {
        protected TAggregateRoot AggregateRoot;
        protected Exception CaughtException;
        protected IEnumerable<IDomainEvent> PublishedEvents;
        protected virtual IEnumerable<IDomainEvent> Given()
        {
            return new List<IDomainEvent>();
        }
        protected virtual void Finally() { }
        protected abstract void When();

        protected AggregateTestFixture()
        {
            CaughtException = new ThereWasNoExceptionButOneWasExpectedException();
            AggregateRoot = new TAggregateRoot();
            AggregateRoot.LoadFromHistory(new CommittedEventsCollection(Given()));

            try
            {
                When();
                PublishedEvents = AggregateRoot.UncommittedEvents.Select(e => e.Data);
            }
            catch (Exception exception)
            {
                CaughtException = exception;
            }
            finally
            {
                Finally();
            }
        }
    }
}


Mary came in to see me on a myriad of prescription medications. She relayed to me how she'd gotten on all those medicines. In her 40s when her periods started changing, she developed insomnia and depression. She was started on sleeping pills and antidepressants and initially felt better. When her periods stopped, she was put on Prempro and she gained 30 pounds in the first year. (women without estrogen often gain weight around their middle but it can also be worsened by oral estrogen.) Because of the weight gain and oral estrogen, she was diagnosed with high blood pressure and started on blood pressure medications. From the oral estrogen and weight gain, she developed high cholesterol and had to be started on cholesterol medications. Her weight gain continued and she developed fluid retention often seen with oral estrogen. She was then started on "fluid pills" (diuretics), to deal with her swollen hands and feet. She later developed anxiety and worsening depression at all the changes occurring in her body. Her antidepressants were increased and she was started on the strong, anti-anxiety medication (Xanax) which made her feel like a zombie throughout the day. She became sluggish throughout the day but she couldn't sleep at night with her sleeping pills and was up doing laundry. Because of her fatigue, she was then started on Adderall, which is a potent amphetamine to give her energy! Her weight gain had also caused her to develop reflux and so she'd been given a potent acid blocker, (Nexium), which relieved the reflux but gave her bloating and constipation and she was miserable. So in essence she had been put on seven prescription medications when she probably just needed to be treated with topical bioidentical HRT.
I wish I could tell you Mary's story is atypical, but sadly it's an oft-repeated scenario that occurs in all too many women when their symptoms are simply treated with a drug instead of correcting the underlying cause of the symptoms. Often drugs are given to treat the side effects of the initial drugs that were given! In pharmacy circles, this is often called "polypharmacy." After restoring appropriate levels of topical bioidentical estrogen, progesterone and testosterone, many of these prescription medications can often be gradually tapered off.
Previous post: Can Estrogen Help Prevent This Silent Killer?


The use of back painted glass has been on the rise lately as it is a budget friendly and low maintenance alternative for both homes and offices. If you love decoration your home interior with glass or if you're looking for glass interior design ideas for a corporate office, this article will be useful to you.
This colorful vibrant glass refers to ultra clear glass that has been painted in such a way that colors can be seen through it. It is also heat cured and this ensures that the paint remains as a permanent part of the glass. The glass cat be cut to fit any dimensions and custom cut back painted glass is a great decor option for those who want to try out a DIY interior project at home or for those who need to consider glass interior design ideas in the office.
Home interior with glass are quite common these days. Hence, back painted glass is a common trend found these days. It can be used on countertops as well. Therefore it provides a wide range of customizable options.
Back painted glass isn't limited to bathrooms and the kitchens. Interior designers and homeowners are increasingly updating other rooms with creative back painted glass ideas. This is also possible because the color possibilities are limitless. For a home, back painted glass could be implemented on table tops, counter tops, to replace bathroom tiles and so on. A new coffee table in the porch or living room with a paint design of your choice will be the perfect fit for your home.
This glass can even be used for dining tables or for decorative purposes in the living room and bedrooms. If accent walls interest you, then you can add a back painted sheets to the wall to any room will give it a unique look.
Glass interior design ideas for offices are vast when using back painted glass. In a corporate setup, this type of decor can be warmer and inviting. Business owners can modify the look of the interiors to suit their corporate theme using back painted glass. It gives off a smooth and brighter look which is perfect for contemporary office spaces.
That decorative kind of glass can be used even as a message board in offices as they can safely dry erase ink. It can even be used when designing the employee's workstation to create a more welcoming ambience plus a message board that keeps them feeling upbeat and productive work a place.
Overall, back painted glass has proven to be a viable option for interior decor both in the home and office space as it is cheaper and requires very little maintenance.


text:
Q: In cocoa, how do you connect the model to viewcontrollers? So from what I understand the basic application structure for cocoa programs is an AppController in MainMenu.xib. The AppController then initializes the WindowControllers and ViewControllers which has all the UI logic and in turn load the xib files for the rest of the application. The AppController also creates the Model classes.
My confusion is over how to get the data from the model classes into the views. I would like to use bindings and key-value observing. Should each view controller have a pointer to the AppController and the ModelController? If so how would you do that?
[[ViewController alloc] initWithModel:ModelController];

Is the only solution I can think of and it doesnt seem very clean.

A: I make a controller that creates/loads and owns the model. My application delegate creates and owns this controller.
That same controller usually also owns the window or view; I rarely use dedicated window controllers, and have never used view controllers. If you do use window/view controllers, the model controller would create and own those, too.
Thus, one controller is responsible for both the model (or some specific portion of it) and the (controller for the) window that displays that (portion of the) model.

A: A common way to link a NSViewController to a model is to set its representedObject value.  There is no need to set a pointer to the AppController, as it can always be obtained through [NSApplication sharedApplication].delegate.


In recent years, the city of Bogotá has seen major transformation. This was mainly due to increasing FDI and incentives for infrastructure mega projects such as skyscrapers, cultural and business centers, and transit systems.
Among these, the Bogotá metro certainly has been at the core of the capital city's agenda for development since the project has the potential to revolutionize the city's transport system.
For years, the project has united the majority of Colombian people, and more in particular the citizens of Bogotá, through the widespread necessity and support of better public transport service for the capital. People have started to claim the need for a new subway system to complement current transport offerings.
In 2000, the city adopted a bus rapid transit system called Transmilenio, which has been extremely successful and an example for neighboring countries. However, in a city like Bogotá, where roughly half of daily trips are made via public transport and 25% by foot or bicycle, a mass transport system such as a metro surely will be revolutionary.
In order to carry out the mobility project, the Metro de Bogotá SA Company was created by the city council and put in charge of the entire planning, construction, operation, and maintenance of the future subway lines.
According to Enrique Peñalosa, current mayor of Bogotá, and Andrés Escobar, the metro Manager, the project will be successful only if built following best practices such as those of Asian cities. In fact, the vision of the city council is that the metro will not only fulfill its purposes of easing daily transit of commuters and other citizens from one part of the city to the other, but also improve the current living and business environment of the city by allowing more interconnections between different areas. In 2017, the National Council for the Economic and Social Development (CONPES) released a new document that declared the first line of subway of strategic importance for Bogotá and Colombia more broadly.
Despite the lack of engineering details, the government took a step forward to guarantee the financing of the project. The latter was agreed to be undertaken as follows: the national government would contribute COP9.09 trillion, almost 70% of the COP12.95-trillion cost of the first line of the subway, while the district will cover the remaining 30%, which amounts to COP3.86 trillion.
According to the National Planning Department, the construction of the work is expected to start in 2019 and will take approximately five years. The first line will have a commercial length of 25.29km and will be 100% above ground. Moreover, it will pass across 15 stations, of which 10 will interchange with Transmilenio.
Indeed, sustainability is also at the core of the discussion since Bogotá is already highly polluted, and there are concerns that huge infrastructure projects such as the metro might endanger the already poor ecosystem of the city.
In this regard, Metro de Bogotá SA outlined the parameters of energy and environmental efficiency. It states that the metro will operate with natural light and ventilation. Moreover, the trains will operate using clean energy, and the system will be 100% electric, thus becoming a great source of green jobs for the Colombian workforce.
However, the project is not without its critics. One of the biggest critics is the former mayor of Bogotá and failed presidential candidate, Gustavo Petro, who warned that the new layout of the first line is more expensive while also moving fewer people.
Despite these critics and the delay in the construction process, the successful building of the Bogotá metro would represent the pillar of one of the most advanced public transportation systems in the world, bringing an effective change to the lives of its citizens while creating a more attractive business environment and increasing productivity.


text:
World Record 515 Pound Atlantic Halibut Caught by German Fisherman
Marco Liebenow was fishing with three friends in a 19-foot boat in Norwegian waters last month when he hooked what he thought was "a submarine," according to report in the UK Daily Mail. The halibut weighed in at 515 pounds and may be the largest caught yet. The current record stands at459 pounds for Pacific halibut (Alaska, 1996) and 418 pounds for Atlantic halibut(Norway, 2004), according to the International Game Fishing Association. Liebenow has reportedly contacted the IGFA, but is still waiting on the association's approval
After a 90-minute battle, Liebenow managed to reel the fish to the surface. But once the fishermen saw how big it was, they realized the fish was too big to haul into the small boat. So they tied a rope around its tail.
"The flounder could be towed only with the greatest effort and with great sensitivity to the port," fishing tour company Angelreisen Hamburg explained (via translation) on its Facebook page.
At the dock, the fish was hoisted out of the water by crane and weighed. After photos, Liebenow donated the fish to a local fish dealer, and then celebrated his catch with a few beers.
"[Marco] does not speak any English but has said it was a wonderful feeling to catch it and has called it a fish of a lifetime," David Bottcher, Angelreisen Hamburg fishing tours spokesman who arranged the trip, told the Daily Mail. "Before he left for the trip, he called us first to ask for a few hints about how and where to fish—I guess our advice paid off."
It did, in a big way.
Photos courtesy of Angelreisen Hamburg Facebook page.


text:
June 24, 2019 Russ Steele5 Comments
Guest Commentary by David Archibald at Watts Up With That
The area planted for corn and soybeans this season is well below historic averages. This was mostly due to waterlogged fields and flooding which precluded planting. The planting windows for corn and soybeans are now closed. The USDA crop progress reports provide weekly updates by state. For example this is the state of the corn crop in Indiana to Monday June 17:
Figure 1: Indiana corn crop progress to Monday June 17.
The emerged crop is one month behind where it was in 2018. Which means that maturity will be one month later at best, assuming that the rest of the summer isn't abnormally cold.
Figure 2 shows that the same situation in soybeans in Indiana:
Figure 2: Indiana soybean crop progress to Monday June 17.
The current expectation is that the US corn crop will be down 30% on 2018 which will push the price to about $9.00 per bushel at harvest. What could make the situation a lot worse is an early frost. The Corn Belt did warm slightly over the last 100 years due to the high solar activity of the second half of the 20th century. This is shown by the cumulative growing degree days (GDD) of the first decade of the 20th century (blue lines) compared to the first decade of the 21st century (red lines) in Figure 3 for Whitestown, Indiana:
Figure 3: Cumulative GDD for Whitestown, Indiana
Normally, for the 21st century, the corn crop is in the ground by April 27 and the crop has reached maturity with 2,500 GDD well before the normal first frost date for Whitestown of October 10. The earliest recorded date for Whitestown is September 3. That was in 1908. If that is repeated in 2019 the crop will be only 80% through its growth cycle. Yield and quality will be well down and the total crop may be 50% or less of the 2018 level.
The US will be able to feed itself but at much higher prices. Currently some 40% of the corn crop goes to ethanol production and this could be redirected to animal feed without too much trouble. But protein production would still be well down. Each 56 lb bushel of corn used in ethanol production results in 18 lbs of dried distillers grains (DDG) containing the protein. This is used as a feed supplement to pigs, chickens and cattle. Both pigs and chickens have a 25% conversion efficiency of vegetable protein to animal protein. The global warmers want us to adopt vegetarianism in order to save the planet. The public is going to get a taste of that future coming up soon. However animal fat is essential for infant neurological development and brain function so we can't go completely vegetarian.
What is happening in the Corn Belt is a mini version of the transition from the Medieval Warm Period to the Little Ice Age. The population of Europe exploded in benign conditions of the Medieval Warm Period from 1000 AD to 1300 AD, reaching population levels that weren't matched again until the 19th century. In fact parts of rural France have less population today than at the beginning of the 14th century.
The breakover from the Medieval Warm Period to the Little Ice Age in Europe had sustained periods of bad weather characterised by severe winters and rainy and cold summers. The Great Famine of 1315 – 1317 started with bad weather in the spring of 1315. Crop failures lasted through 1316 until the summer of 1317. The population decline over the two years is thought to be about 10%, associated with "extreme levels of crime, disease, mass death, cannibalism and infanticide." These conditions may be less in the Mormons amongst us who are instructed to keep one year's worth of food in stock.
The Modern Warm Period ended in 2006. Current solar activity is back to levels of the Little Ice Age. To paraphrase Santayana, those who don't remember history are condemned to being surprised and unprepared when it repeats itself.
A large and increasing number of nations are feeding their population growth with imported grain. That is going to be become more expensive to continue, with or without an early frost in the Corn Belt. Global warming hysteria has been a consequence of very benign conditions for the OECD countries where it is concentrated. That angst will be supplanted by more basic concerns.
David Archibald is the author of American Gripen: The Solution to the F-35 Nightmare
I am going to create a Google Alert to track early frost reports. I will share the results.
Dalton, History, little ice age., Maunder, medieval warm period, Uncategorized
When will people realize that. . .
June 19, 2019 June 20, 2019 Russ Steele1 Comment
The modern short pulse of beneficial Global warming stopped 20 years ago and recent global temperatures are now stable or declining.
The last millennium 1000 – 2000 AD was the coldest of our current Holocene interglacial and the world has already been cooling quite rapidly for the last 3000 years.
At 11,000 years our Holocene interglacial, responsible for all man-kind's advances, is reaching its end.
The weather gets worse in colder times.
The world will very soon (in geological time), revert to a true glaciation, again resulting in mile high ice sheets over New York.
Our current beneficial, warm Holocene interglacial has been the enabler of mankind's civilization for the last 10,000 years.
The congenial climate of the Holocene epoch spans from mankind's earliest farming to the scientific and technological advances of the last 100 years.
However all the Northern Hemisphere Ice Core records from Greenland show:
the last millennium 1000AD – 2000AD has been the coldest millennium of the entire Holocene interglacial.
each of the notable high points in the Holocene temperature record, (Holocene Climate Optimum – Minoan – Roman – Medieval – Modern), have been progressively colder than the previous high point.
for its first 7-8000 years the early Holocene, including its high point "climate optimum", had virtually flat temperatures, an average drop of only ~0.007 °C per millennium.
but the more recent Holocene, since a "tipping point" at ~1000BC, has seen a temperature diminution at more than 20 times that earlier rate at about 0.14 °C per millennium.
the Holocene interglacial is already 10 – 11,000 years old and judging from the length of previous interglacials the Holocene epoch should be drawing to its close: in this century, the next century or this millennium.
the beneficial warming at the end of the 20th century to the Modern high point has been transmuted into the "Great Man-made Global Warming Alarm".
eventually, this late 20th-century temperature blip will come to be seen as just noise in the system in the longer term progress of comparatively rapid cooling over the last 3000+ years.
other published Greenland Ice Core records as well as GISP2, (NGRIP1, GRIP) corroborate this finding. They also exhibit the same pattern of a prolonged relatively stable early Holocene period followed by a subsequent much more rapid decline in the more recent (3000 years) past.
When considering the scale of temperature changes that alarmists anticipate because of Man-made Global Warming and their view of the disastrous effects of additional Man-made Carbon Dioxide emissions in this century, it is useful to look at climate change from a longer term, century by century and even on a millennial perspective.
The much vaunted and much feared "fatal" tipping point of +2°C would only bring Global temperatures close to the level of the very congenial climate of "the Roman warm period".
If it were possible to reach the "horrendous" level of +4°C postulated by Warmists, that extreme level of warming would still only bring temperatures to about the level of the previous Eemian maximum, a warm and abundant epoch when hippopotami thrived in the Rhine delta.
Read the full paper HERE
Analysis, Dalton, History, little ice age., Maunder, Sporer Minimum
May 16, 2019 Russ Steele8 Comments
Between 1300 and 1850, the Earth experienced a Little Ice Age whose cause to this day is not known.
A blog post at Interesting Engineering has more details including the consequences and some paintings from the period. The causes listed are interesting:
The causes of the LIA are still not known, while potential candidates are reduced solar output, changes in atmospheric circulation, and volcanism.
Low sunspot activity is associated with lower solar output, and two periods of unusually low sunspot activity occurred during the Little Ice Age: the Spörer Minimum (1450–1540) and the Maunder Minimum (1645–1715), which is named for astronomer E.W. Maunder who discovered the absence of sunspots during that period. Both of these coincide with the coldest years of the LIA in parts of Europe.
Another possible candidate is a reversal of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). This is a large-scale atmospheric-circulation pattern over the North Atlantic and adjacent areas. During its "positive" phase, the track of North Atlantic storms is centered over the British Isles and Northern Europe. During its "negative" phase, cold Arctic air from Russia moves over northern Europe.
A final candidate is volcanic eruptions which propel gases and ash into the stratosphere, where they reflect incoming sunlight. In 1783, Iceland's Laki volcano erupted, and in 1815, the Tambora volcano on Sumbawa Island erupted.
I am voting for low sunspot activity. Your thoughts?
Analysis, Dalton, History, little ice age., Maunder, Solar, Sporer Minimum, Volcanism
Little Ice Age Summary at WUWT
April 4, 2019 Russ Steele1 Comment
What's Natural?
By Jim Steele
Extreme scientists and politicians warn we will suffer catastrophic climate change if the earth's average temperature rises 2.7°F above the Little Ice Age average. They claim we are in a climate crisis because average temperature has already warmed by 1.5°F since 1850 AD. Guided by climate fear, politicians fund whacky engineering schemes to shade the earth with mirrors or aerosols to lower temperatures. But the cooler Little Ice Age endured a much more disastrous climate.
The Little Ice Age coincides with the pre-industrial period. The Little Ice Age spanned a period from 1300 AD to 1850 AD, but the exact timing varies. It was a time of great droughts, retreating tree lines, and agricultural failures leading to massive global famines and rampant epidemics. Meanwhile advancing glaciers demolished European villages and farms and extensive sea ice blocked harbors and prevented trade.
Dr. Michael Mann who preaches dire predictions wrought by global warming described the Little Ice Age as a period of widespread "famine, disease, and increased child mortality in Europe during the 17th–19th century, probably related, at least in part, to colder temperatures and altered weather conditions." In contrast to current models suggesting global warming will cause wild weather swings, Mann concluded "the Little Ice Age may have been more significant in terms of increased variability of the climate". Indeed, historical documents from the Little Ice Age describe wild climate swings with extremely cold winters followed by very warm summers, and cold wet years followed by cold dry years.
A series of Little Ice Age droughts lasting several decades devastated Asia between the mid 1300s and 1400s. Resulting famines caused significant societal upheaval within India, China, Sri Lanka, and Cambodia. Bad weather resulted in the Great Famine of 1315-1317 which decimated Europe causing extreme levels of crime, disease, mass death, cannibalism and infanticide. The North American tree-ring data reveal megadroughts lasting several decades during the cool 1500s. The Victorian Great Drought from 1876 to 1878 brought great suffering across much of the tropics with India devastated the most. More than 30 million people are thought to have died at this time from famine worldwide.
The Little Ice Age droughts and famines forced great societal upheaval, and the resulting climate change refugees were forced to seek better lands. But those movements also spread horrendous epidemics. Wild climate swings brought cold and dry weather to central Asia. That forced the Mongols to search for better grazing. As they invaded new territories they spread the Bubonic plague which had devastated parts of Asia earlier. In the 1300s the Mongols passed the plague to Italian merchant ships who then brought it to Europe where it quickly killed one third of Europe's population. European explorers looking for new trade routes brought smallpox to the Americas, causing small native tribes to go extinct and decimating 25% to 50% of larger tribes. Introduced diseases rapidly reduced Mexico's population from 30 million to 3 million.
By the 1700s a new killer began to dominate – accidental hypothermia. When indoor temperatures fall below 48°F for prolonged periods, the human body struggles to keep warm, setting off a series of reactions that causes stress and can result in heart attacks. As recently as the 1960s in Great Britain, 20,000 elderly and malnourished people who lacked central heating died from accidental hypothermia. As people with poor heating faced bouts of extreme cold in the 1700s, accidental hypothermia was rampant.
What caused the tragic climate changes of the Little Ice Age? Some scientists suggest lower solar output associated with periods of fewer sunspots. Increasing solar output then reversed the cooling and warmed the 20th century world. As solar output is now falling to the lows of the Little Ice Age, a natural experiment is now in progress testing that solar theory. However other scientists suggest it was rising CO2 that delivered the world from the Little Ice Age.
Increasing CO2 also has a beneficial fertilization effect that is greening the earth. The 20th century warming, whether natural or driven by rising CO2 concentrations, has lengthened the growing season. Famines are being eliminated. Tree-lines stopped retreating and trees are now reclaiming territory lost over the past 500 years. So why is it that now we face a climate crisis?
At the end of the 1300's Great Famine and the Bubonic Plague epidemic, the earth sustained 350 million people. With today's advances in technology and milder growing conditions, record high crop yields are now feeding a human population that ballooned to over 7.6 billion.
H/T to WUWT
The open question is: Will our technology save us from the next grand minimum and little ice age? Your thoughts?
Analysis, History, little ice age.
Henrik Svensmark: FORCE MAJEURE The Sun's Role in Climate Change
March 18, 2019 March 18, 2019 Russ Steele6 Comments
I am still studying this paper but wanted to share and get your feedback
Over the last twenty years there has been good progress in understanding the solar influ- ence on climate. In particular, many scientific studies have shown that changes in solar activ- ity have impacted climate over the whole Holocene period (approximately the last 10,000 years). A well-known example is the existence of high solar activity during the Medieval Warm Period, around the year 1000 AD, and the subsequent low levels of solar activity during the cold period, now called The Little Ice Age (1300–1850 AD). An important scientific task has been to quantify the solar impact on climate, and it has been found that over the eleven- year solar cycle the energy that enters the Earth's system is of the order of 1.0–1.5 W/m2. This is nearly an order of magnitude larger than what would be expected from solar irradiance alone, and suggests that solar activity is getting amplified by some atmospheric process.
Three main theories have been put forward to explain the solar–climate link, which are:
• solarultravioletchanges
• theatmospheric-electric-fieldeffectoncloudcover
• cloudchangesproducedbysolar-modulatedgalacticcosmicrays(energeticparticles originating from inter stellar space and ending in our atmosphere).
Significant efforts has gone into understanding possible mechanisms, and at the moment cosmic ray modulation of Earth's cloud cover seems rather promising in explaining the size of solar impact. This theory suggests that solar activity has had a significant impact on climate during the Holocene period. This understanding is in contrast to the official consensus from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, where it is estimated that the change in solar radiative forcing between 1750 and 2011 was around 0.05 W/m2, a value which is en- tirely negligible relative to the effect of greenhouse gases, estimated at around 2.3 W/m2. However, the existence of an atmospheric solar-amplification mechanism would have im- plications for the estimated climate sensitivity to carbon dioxide, suggesting that it is much lower than currently thought.
In summary, the impact of solar activity on climate is much larger than the official consen- sus suggests. This is therefore an important scientific question that needs to be addressed by the scientific community.
Full paper at the GWPF website HERE.
Analysis, Cosmic Rays, Dalton, History, little ice age., Maunder, Solar, Sporer Minimum
Auroral Evidence of Upcoming Mini or Little Ice Age?
March 10, 2019 Russ Steele1 Comment
In a guess post at Watts Up With That on the cooling signals embedded in the Aurora Borealis, Dr Tim Ball concludes:
The current debate attracting more and more people is that we are cooling with the only question left as to the extent and intensity. Will it be [the] weather similar to the cooler period coincident with the Dalton Minimum from 1790 – 1830? Alternatively, will it be colder with similar conditions to those by the early fur traders in Hudson Bay or those that spanned the life of Sir Edmund Halley? The appearance of Aurora in northern England suggests the latter, although I can predict who will protest this suggestion.
This is an interesting analysis of historical documents. Read the full story HERE.
In the comments Leif Svalgaard offered this:
The sun sends us several 'messages' about its activity. One [beautiful] one is the aurora which has been observed since antiquity. I recently gave a seminar on those messengers:
https://leif.org/research/Multi-Messenger-Solar-Physics-Through-Time.pdf
The aurorae evidence is very difficult to calibrate. I have not studied Svalgaard's paper yet but its looks very interesting.
Looking forward to your comments on the questions: Is the auroral evidence of the next grand minimum and a little ice age?
Analysis, Dalton, little ice age., Maunder, Solar
Cosmic Rays Increasing for the 4th Year in a Row
FEBRUARY 21, 2019 / DR.TONY PHILLIPS
Feb. 21, 2019: Cosmic rays in the stratosphere are intensifying for the 4th year in a row. This finding comes from a campaign of almost weekly high-altitude balloon launches conducted by the students of Earth to Sky Calculus. Since March 2015, there has been a ~13% increase in X-rays and gamma-rays over central California, where the students have launched hundreds of balloons.
The grey points in the graph are Earth to Sky balloon data. Overlaid on that time series is a record of neutron monitor data from the Sodankyla Geophysical Observatory in Oulu, Finland. The correlation between the two data sets is impressive, especially considering their wide geographic separation and differing methodologies. Neutron monitors have long been considered a "gold standard" for monitoring cosmic rays on Earth. This shows that our student-built balloons are gathering data of similar quality.
Why are cosmic rays increasing? The short answer is "Solar Minimum." Right now, the 11-year solar cycle is plunging into one of the deepest minima of the Space Age. The sun's weakening magnetic field and flagging solar wind are not protecting us as usual from deep-space radiation. Earth to Sky balloon launches in multiple countries and US states show that this is a widespread phenomenon.
Cosmic rays are of interest to anyone who flies on airplanes. The International Commission on Radiological Protection has classified pilots as occupational radiation workers because of cosmic ray doses they receive while flying. A recent study by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health shows that flight attendants face an elevated risk of cancer compared to members of the general population. They listed cosmic rays as one of several risk factors. There are also controversial studies that suggest cosmic rays promote the formation of clouds in the atmosphere; if so, increasing cosmic rays could affect weather and climate.
Thanks to Dr. Phillips for sharing this post from Spaceweather.com [Emphasis added]
The more cosmic rays the more clouds, which results in more cooling of the planet.
Analysis, California, Cosmic Rays, little ice age.
On the Cusp of the Next Grand Minimum?
February 18, 2019 February 18, 2019 Russ Steele10 Comments
Definition — cusp: a point of transition between two different states
The transition from the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age was punctuated by extreme climate events, intense storms, floods, and droughts according to Lynn Ingram and Francis Malamud-Roam writing in The West Without Water. According to the authors, the transition from the Little Ice Age to the Modern Warm Period also experienced erratic weather extremes. Wolfgang Behringer, writing in the Cultural History of Climate, found similar transitions to more extreme weather. These extreme record-setting events are a signal that the overall climate is moving to a different state, in other words on the cusp of climate change.
Some recent record events:
Japan's northern island of Hokkaido: Record cold temperatures, minus 24.4 C, the lowest seen since it began compiling such data in 1957.
Seattle: Coldest February in 30 years, the 4th coldest in 75 years, the 3 years that were colder were 1989, 1949 and 1956. "This month has been so snowy that it is now setting records for daily and monthly totals," says the National Weather Service.
Minnesota: Minus 38 degrees recorded in Melrose, Minnesota, The nation's coldest wind chill factor, minus 70, was reported in Ely, Minnesota on 30 January 2019.
Moscow: the Strongest snowstorm in 140 years, 13 Feb 2019
Siberia: Many record lows, details HERE.
Australia: Hottest December since recording started, with Adelaide hit nearly 116 degrees Fahrenheit the last week in January 2019, breaking an 80-year-old record high set in January 1939.
Sierra Nevada: June Mountain picked up 72 inches of snow in 24 hours, 96 in 72 hours. The official record for 24-hour snowfall record is 67 inches, on Jan. 5, 1982.
The proponents of anthropogenic global warming are attributing these extreme weather to human emission of greenhouse gases. However, after looking back through climate history, such as the Cultural History of Climate and The West without Water, I am inclined to attribute these record-breaking events to the transition point for the Next Grand Minimum.
Your thoughts, are we on the cusp, or is it just climate change weather?
Analysis, History, little ice age., Weather
Munich Conference: Leading Danish Astrophysicist Says Solar Activity Has Significant Impact On Global Climate
January 26, 2019 January 26, 2019 Russ SteeleLeave a comment
By P Gosselin
Danish Professor Henrik Svensmark is a leading physicist of cosmic radiation. At the end of last year he made a presentation at the 12th International Climate Conference in Munich, where he demonstrated that the climate is indeed modulated in large part by cloud cover, which in turn is modulated by solar activity in combination with cosmic rays.
His theory is that cosmic rays, which are extremely fast-flying particles – which originate from dying supernovae – travel through the cosmos, strike the Earth's atmosphere and have a major impact on cloud cover and thus climate on the Earth's surface.
This, Svensmark says, has been confirmed in numerous laboratory experiments.
The full post with video and charts is available at the NoTricksZone.
Professor Henrik Svensmark is doing important research and should be given your consideration. If you do not agree, please post your arguments in the comments with links to your supporting evidence. Thanks!
Cosmic Rays, little ice age., Solar
The Coming Climate Crisis
January 24, 2019 January 24, 2019 Russ Steele2 Comments
The Little Ice Age Could Offer a Glimpse of Our Tumultuous Future.
BY AMITAV GHOSH
Over the last couple of decades, as the impact of global warming has intensified, the discussion of climate change has spilled out of the scientific and technocratic circles within which it was long confined. Today, the subject has also become an important concern in the humanities and arts.
Discussions of climate tend to focus on the future. Yet even scientific projections depend crucially on the study of the past…
Perhaps the most intensively researched of these periods is the Little Ice Age, which reached its peak between the late 15th and early 18th centuries. This early modern era is of particular interest because some of the most important geopolitical processes of our own time trace back to it.
During part of the Little Ice Age, decreased solar irradiance and increased seismic activity resulted in temperatures that, as Geoffrey Parker writes in Global Crisis, a groundbreaking global history of the period, were "more than 1 [degree Celsius] cooler than those of the later twentieth century."
The current cycle of human-induced global warming is likely to lead to a much greater climatic shift than that of the Little Ice Age.
Amitav Ghosh is the author of The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable. @GhoshAmitav
H/T to David Middleton writing at Watts Up With That for the Summary
By increased seismic activity I wonder if the author is referring to the volcanos shown in this graphic.
little ice age., Solar, Volcanism


text:
Q: java: use regular expression to extract a number in a string I have a string of format "[232]......." I want to extract the 232 out of the string, I did this
public static int getNumber(String str) {
    Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile("\\[([0-9]+)\\]");
    Matcher matcher = pattern.matcher(str);
    int number = 0;
    while (matcher.find()) {
        number = Integer.parseInt(matcher.group());
    }
    return number;
}

but it doesn't work, I got the following exception:
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NumberFormatException: For input string: "[232]"

Anyone knows how could I solve this problem, and if there is a more efficient way for me to do this kind of pattern matching in java?

A: group() without any parameters returns the entire match (equivalent to group(0)). That includes the square brackets that you've specified in your regex.
To extract the number, pass 1 to return only the first capture group within your regex (the ([0-9]+)):
number = Integer.parseInt(matcher.group(1));


The Cold Fusion can change relations between two giants: US and Russia. The last will do everything to stop mankind before obtaining this technology. But are American leaders interested in this invention?
This question is maybe hypothetical, as it will be faster the Deluge that Creator would give this ground breaking technology into hands of the man but he has made a first steep sending an introductory letter to the US Department of Energy. The letter that so far is unanswered.
And maybe will stay unanswered, as current administration, as in case of Syria, also in case of Poland that is a key to unlock the Cold Fusion will try to do all to avoid a war with Russia. It is hard to count that Obama administration in their last days will pick up Lord's invitation to further talks.
Then is the Donald Trump anyhow better? The media has just informed that his top advisor is a man that would like to cooperate with the Russians. Will Trump be, as soft, as Obama is? The stake is high and it can really lead West into another World War but winning this war would mean independence from the oil and gas. Independence for everyone.


text:
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The Grill is modeled after the great grills of New York and San Francisco in the 30s & 40s. The flagship location opened its doors over 30 years ago, just steps from famed Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, California and since has become known to locals as " … where Hollywood eats … " (Hollywood Reporter, 2014). As one of the country's best steakhouses, The Grill delivers unparalleled service in a sophisticated atmosphere.


text:
Q: Shrinking a Table I am in the process of writing up my dissertation and have fairly long regression tables meaning that I can only fit a limited space of text along with it on a page. Is there a way to move the table further up the page and well as shrink it, allowing for more explanatory text?
\documentclass[11pt]{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage{amsmath,amsfonts,amssymb}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{dcolumn}
\usepackage{mathtools}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{rotating}
\usepackage{adjustbox}
\usepackage{tabularx}
\usepackage[margin=35mm]{geometry}
\usepackage{titlesec}
\usepackage{siunitx}                        % added
\usepackage{threeparttable}
\newcommand\mc[1]{\multicolumn{1}{c}{#1}}
\titleformat*{\subsection}{\normalfont\large\itshape}
\makeatletter
\renewcommand\footnoterule{
\kern-3\p@
\hrule\@width \textwidth
\kern2.6\p@}
\makeatother

\usepackage{rotating}
\begin{document}

\section{Results}\label{Results}

\subsection{Objective 1}

\begin{table}[htbp]\centering
\def\sym#1{\ifmmode^{#1}\else\(^{#1}\)\fi}
\caption{Investment on Bribes: Pooled Sample table\label{tab1}}
\begin{tabular*}{0.7\columnwidth}{@{\hskip\tabcolsep\extracolsep\fill}l*{1}
{D{.}{.}{-1}}}
\toprule
                &\multicolumn{1}{c}{(1)}\\
                &\multicolumn{1}{c}{ln\_invest}\\
\midrule
Bribes&     0.008         \\
                &    (0.0136)         \\
\addlinespace
Medium(20-99)       &       0.529         \\
                &     (0.267)         \\
\addlinespace
Large(100 and over) &       2.171\sym{***}\\
                &     (0.460)         \\
\addlinespace
Government             &       0.427         \\
                &     (0.435)         \\
\addlinespace
Foreign               &      -0.337         \\
                &     (0.257)         \\
\addlinespace
Fincons            &       0.107         \\
                &     (0.154)         \\
\addlinespace
Court              &      -0.168         \\
                &     (0.148)         \\
\addlinespace
lnAge               &      0.069         \\
                &     (0.242)         \\
\addlinespace
Constant            &       9.976\sym{***}\\
                &     (0.574)         \\
                \addlinespace
 Year Dummies   & \multicolumn{1}{c}{YES}\\
        \addlinespace
        Industry Dummies & \multicolumn{1}{c}{YES}\\
        \addlinespace
        Missing Year Dummy  & \multicolumn{1}{c}{YES}\\
        \addlinespace
\midrule
Observations        &    \multicolumn{1}{c}{6417}           \\
\bottomrule
        \multicolumn{2}{l}{\footnotesize \sym{*} \(p<0.05\), \sym{**} \(p<0.01\),
            \sym{***} \(p<0.001\)}\\
        \multicolumn{2}{l}{\footnotesize Note: Robust standard errors in
parentheses, clustered by Country}\\
    \end{tabular*}
\end{table}

    The first model estimated, as shown in T, is the most basic form of the mechanism investigated. When controlling for industry and year effects, I find a positive relationship between corruption and bribery, although this result is statistically not significant. Results suggest that for a $1\%$ increase in bribe, this increases ln\_invest by 0.8 percentage points. This positive relationship contradicts our initial hypothesis of bribery
\end{document}

A:
\documentclass[11pt]{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage{amsmath,amsfonts,amssymb}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{dcolumn}
\usepackage{mathtools}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{rotating}
\usepackage{adjustbox}
\usepackage{tabularx}
\usepackage[margin=35mm]{geometry}
\usepackage{titlesec}
\usepackage{siunitx}                        % added
\usepackage{threeparttable}
\newcommand\mc[1]{\multicolumn{1}{c}{#1}}
\titleformat*{\subsection}{\normalfont\large\itshape}
\makeatletter
\renewcommand\footnoterule{
\kern-3\p@
\hrule\@width \textwidth
\kern2.6\p@}
\makeatother

\usepackage{rotating}
\begin{document}

\section{Results}\label{Results}

\subsection{Objective 1}

\begin{table}[htbp]\centering
\def\sym#1{\ifmmode^{#1}\else\(^{#1}\)\fi}
\caption{Investment on Bribes: Pooled Sample table\label{tab1}}
\begin{tabular*}{0.7\columnwidth}{@{\hskip\tabcolsep\extracolsep\fill}l*{2}
{D{.}{.}{-1}}}
\toprule
                \multicolumn{3}{c}{(1)}\\
                &\multicolumn{2}{c}{ln\_invest}\\
\midrule
Bribes&     0.008                  &    (0.0136)         \\
Medium(20-99)       &       0.529                  &     (0.267)         \\
Large(100 and over) &       2.171\sym{***}                &     (0.460)         \\
Government             &       0.427                  &     (0.435)         \\
Foreign               &      -0.337                  &     (0.257)         \\
Fincons            &       0.107                     &     (0.154)         \\
Court              &      -0.168                     &     (0.148)         \\
lnAge               &      0.069                     &     (0.242)         \\
Constant            &       9.976\sym{***}                &     (0.574)         \\
                \addlinespace
 Year Dummies   & \multicolumn{2}{c}{YES}\\
        Industry Dummies & \multicolumn{2}{c}{YES}\\
        Missing Year Dummy  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{YES}\\
\midrule
Observations        &    \multicolumn{1}{c}{6417}           \\
\bottomrule
        \multicolumn{3}{l}{\footnotesize \sym{*} \(p<0.05\), \sym{**} \(p<0.01\),
            \sym{***} \(p<0.001\)}\\
        \multicolumn{3}{l}{\footnotesize Note: Robust standard errors in
parentheses, clustered by Country}\\
    \end{tabular*}
\end{table}

    The first model estimated, as shown in T, is the most basic form of the mechanism investigated. When controlling for industry and year effects, I find a positive relationship between corruption and bribery, although this result is statistically not significant. Results suggest that for a $1\%$ increase in bribe, this increases ln\_invest by 0.8 percentage points. This positive relationship contradicts our initial hypothesis of bribery
\end{document}

A:
Difference to David Carlisle answer is that I exploit packages threeparttable and siunitx, not use any of OP definitions (they purpose are not clear to me), slightly change the definition for \mc which is now used in table and from preamble keep only package used in table:
\documentclass[11pt]{article}
\usepackage[margin=35mm]{geometry}

\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}

%\usepackage{mathtools,amsfonts,amssymb}
\usepackage{booktabs, threeparttable}
\newcommand\mc[1]{\multicolumn{2}{c}{#1}}% <-- changed
\usepackage{siunitx}

\begin{document}
    \begin{center}
\begin{threeparttable}[htb]
    \caption{Investment on Bribes: Pooled Sample table}
     \label{tab1}
\sisetup{ table-space-text-pre ={(},
          table-space-text-post={\textsuperscript{***}},
          table-align-text-pre=false,
          table-align-text-post=false,
          explicit-sign,
          input-open-uncertainty={[},
          input-close-uncertainty={]}
          }
\begin{tabular*}{0.6\linewidth}{l S[table-format=-1.4] S[table-format=1.4]}
\toprule
                    &   \mc{(1)}            \\
                    &   \mc{ln\_invest}     \\
\midrule
Bribes              &   0.008
                    &   (0.0136)            \\
Medium(20-99)       &   0.529
                    &   (0.267)             \\
Large(100 and over) &   2.171\tnote{***}
                    &   (0.460)             \\
Government          &   0.427
                    &   (0.435)             \\
Foreign             &   -0.337
                    &   (0.257)             \\
Fincons             &   0.107               \\
                    &   (0.154)             \\
Court               &   -0.168
                    &   (0.148)             \\
lnAge               &   0.069
                    &   (0.242)             \\
Constant            &   9.976\tnote{***}
                    &   (0.574)             \\
Year Dummies        &   \mc{YES}            \\
Industry Dummies    &   \mc{YES}            \\
Missing Year Dummy  &   \mc{YES}            \\
\midrule
Observations        &   \mc{6417}           \\
\bottomrule
    \end{tabular*}\scriptsize\raggedright\smallskip
    \begin{tablenotes}[para, flushleft]
    \item[*]    \(p<0.1\)
    \item[**]   \(p<0.01\)
    \item[***]  \(p<0.001\)
    \end{tablenotes}
     Note: Robust standard errors in parentheses, clustered by Country
\end{threeparttable}
    \end{center}
The first model estimated, as shown in T, is the most basic form of the mechanism investigated. When controlling for industry and year effects, I find a positive relationship between corruption and bribery, although this result is statistically not significant. Results suggest that for a $1\%$ increase in bribe, this increases ln\_invest by 0.8 percentage points. This positive relationship contradicts our initial hypothesis of bribery
\end{document}


The other day, my kaumātua and I went for a hikoi along the Wharemauku stream on the Kapiti Coast. We walked from maunga to moana — and saw nature's struggle with human intervention. This stream once flowed, clean and to its own accord. But now, it has quickly diminished into a murky, pond-like swamp.
On our journey we were lucky enough to witness its modest beginnings, a mere trickle in the Maungakotuktuku hills.
Before reaching the township, the stream eventuates into a mass of fast moving water, equipped with fish ladders, proper shelter and space for growth — all appropriate ecological conditions for life to thrive in the waters. Unaware of the ruinous future that lay ahead — the Wharemauku is about to fall victim to the hands of civilisation.
Upon reaching the first drain, the second drain, the third, and so on — not only is it visible (by the copper coloured discharge) that this once clean stream has met its destiny, but it also exudes an uninspiring force of lifelessness.
Orange and rid of life, the stream settles into a stagnant body of water. Out to the moana it slowly pours its last shred of innocence. A casualty to the concepts of progress and innovation, to the corrosive touch of industry and ignorance. A sad, and all too common conclusion for Paptūānuku today.
For the most part unfortunately, these polluted waters that fall on the shores of Raumati are the only part of the Wharemauku that people see. What I learnt from my kaumātua is how important it is to protect and preserve our waterways. In the same week that the Whanganui River was granted legal personhood, I urge Aotearoa to further take pride in maintaining the health and wellbeing of our whenua.


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