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Illustrations by Uji Terkuma for TheNerve Africa
Here are 20 Africans that should inspire your 2016
Niyi Aderibigbe
Dec. 29 2015, 1:08 pm Feb. 15 2018, 7:02 am
The Africa rising narrative has been called into question several times. It was called a myth by former deputy governor of Nigeria's central bank, Kingsley Moghalu and Tanzanian millionaire Ali Mufuruki called it false. Although the old clichés of Africa being a continent where war and poverty reign with pestilence have not completely changed, as several parts of the continent still grapple with poverty, as well as war and terror, but the continent has one thing going for it, which makes the hopeful 'Africa rising' narrative bold enough to hold on to; its people. Even if Africa is not rising as claimed by Mufuruki, Africans are rising and are impacting the continent and the world at large. Their lives inspire other Africans to follow their dreams and they are moving Africa closer to the future we all hope for, one step at a time.
Our Africa 20 are listed below in no particular order. ~(Groups are counted as one)
Patrick Njoroge
When Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed Patrick Njoroge as central bank governor, he was relatively unknown, so the president was criticized over his choice. But getting to know Njoroge changed everything. What struck Kenyans was not his PhD in Economics. It was also not his years of experience working for global lender International Monetary Fund (IMF). What was captivating for most Kenyans was his modest lifestyle. Who rejects the perks of public office? Patrick Njoroge said no to three official cars and a palatial apartment.
It is just six months into his reign as central bank governor but the impact of his ingenuity is already being felt. He brought inflation under control in his first month and helped stabilise the shilling. Banks in Kenya know he is not going to overlook any incontinence and flouting of the law. Two banks have been hammered already. He is not the typical African public office holder. He made Africa proud in 2015.
Akinwumi Adesina
Adesina's story is a story of sheer determination to succeed. Born to a farmer in southwestern Nigerian State, Ogun, he didn't quite leave the path he knew from infancy; agriculture was everything. But he would not be the type of farmer his father was, he wanted more and Agricultural Economics seemed perfect. He stayed true to his dream and saw it through.
Adesina rose to prominence in Africa with his work as Nigeria's Minister of Agriculture. The world told and retold the story of how he sanitized the agricultural sector and made things work. He strengthened Nigeria's agricultural economy by pursuing bold reforms and innovative agricultural investment programs to expand opportunities for the private sector. He went about preaching the agricultural gospel — agriculture should no longer be seen as a development programme but like a business — winning souls as he did. This success would earn him a place in the annals of history as it propelled him to become the first Nigerian president of the African Development Bank (AfDB). Now as AfDB president, he wants to help Africa build its energy and agricultural infrastructure. Known to be a doer, Adesina has the world's support.
South Africa is not always tolerant of women, according to findings by the United Nations, but the brave women of the country have found a way to become relevant despite cultural constraints impeding their growth. Today, South Africa has one of the highest proportion of female parliamentarians in the world and Dlamini-Zuma occupies the top office at the African Union, the first woman to do so.
Having rose through the ranks in the African National Congress (ANC), South Africa's ruling party, the freedom fighter has become an inspiration to South African women and has been speaking up for women in Africa, urging empowerment by governments across the continent. She declared 2015 as the year of women empowerment. In September, she noted that few women in Africa have land rights and said it had to change.
The ex-wife of South Africa's President Jacob Zuma has become very important politically and she is being tipped as the successor to the father of her four children.
Chris Kirubi
Smart and opportunistic, sometimes eccentric; Kirubi is one of the greatest inspiration for any Kenyan who wants to go into business. He rose from his modest begining to prominence in the 1970s when there was coffee boom.
Although, he is Kenya's second richest man after Uhuru Kenyatta, but it is not his wealth that makes him inspirational, it is his investment acumen. Kirubi caused a stir earlier in the year when he bought 2.1 million shares of loss-making Kenyan Airways (KQ). He made the investment shortly after the airline announced that it suffered a record-setting net loss of Sh25.7 billion ($252 million) that left it in a negative capital position of Sh5.9 billion. But Kirubi said he was going to invest more money despite this. The businessman said he was showing support for the national carrier, but more importantly, he believes KQ has a bright future as a carrier owned by Kenya — the hub of growth in East Africa.
Kirubi doesn't just know when to invest, he also understands the perfect exit. He and Centum Investments sold their shares in insurance group UAP Holdings to Old Mutual in a deal that earned them over Sh7 billion ($69 million). Kirubi's 9.58 percent stake earned him over Sh2.8 billion while Centum Investments raked in more than Sh4 billion for a 13.75 percent stake. At the time, Kirubi held 25.2 percent stake in Centum, meaning he earned more. He had since increased his Centum stake to 29.9 percent.
Centum Investment where he has a controlling stake pulled a Kirubi earlier in the year, allotting each of its 90 employees Sh11.1 million in bonuses as it celebrated a 160 percent increase in profits for the financial year ended March 31.
Kirubi never stops to amaze. In 2004, he bought Kenyan radio Capital FM despite his conviction that the media sector is not profitable. He had one sole objective; having fun. He has been having fun ever since, presenting and deejaying his own radio show as DJ CK.
Tonje Bakang
The Cameroonian entrepreneur born in France did great in 2015. The subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) company he co-founded in 2013, Afrostream, had a lot of breakthrough in the year after launching out of Y-Combinator. Two years of hard work finally paid off with an investment from French telecommunications giant Orange, through its Orange Digital Ventures. He also raised money from Venture Funds TheFamily, Cross Culture Ventures ILP, ACE & Company.
Bakang has also signed a deal with BET France, the newly-created Gallic channel of the Viacom-owned network, and another multi-year deal with USA-based Sony Pictures Television to distribute 55 movies and 3 TV series on its streaming platform focused on African, African-American and African-Caribbean films and television series.
The Cameroonian entrepreneur is not worried that there are several players in the VOD services space already and more are coming on board. Rather, he sees an opportunity for quicker establishment of the market. He believes taking an approach different from what is already on ground will ensure Afrostream's success. With consumer behaviour tending towards on-demand services, 2016 will be an even greater year for Bakang. Already, the streaming service which launched in September has attracted well over 2,000 subscribers.
Almaz Ayana
She showed the world a glimpse of her brilliance in the 2013 Moscow world championships, winning a gold medal. Her 5000m victory at the 2014 Continental Cup in Marrakech, Morocco proved the previous year's feat was no fluke, but no one saw her breakthrough run of 14 minutes 14.32 seconds on a 5,000m race, coming. Her time at the Diamond League meeting in Shanghai, in May, is the third fastest ever and it left the athletics world surprised. She was very close to the world record held by fellow Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba (14:11.15) and with her progress, it seems it would be only a matter of time before she breaks it.
A month later, Ayana dominated the 3000m at the Mohammed VI d'Athletisme in Rabat, the Moroccan capital. She broke her personal best of 8:24.58, broke the African all-comers' record, and set an outdoor Ethiopian record.
Her great run continued in August when she won the World Championship in Beijing with a time of 14:26.83 beating world record holder Dibaba with 17 seconds. The 2015 IAAF Diamond League final in Zurich also ended with Ayana coming out tops finishing at 8:22.34, a meeting record.
Ayana is finishing 2015 better than the previous year and her success is the result of hard work and dedication as she says her rigorous training are done at high altitudes in Ethiopia. She used to live in a small rented room. Now, she has bought her own house where she lives with her husband who is also her coach.
Namwali Serpell
Never had a Zambian author won the prestigious Caine Prize for African writing until Namwali Serpell. Serpell, an associate professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley, won the Prize this year, for her short story The Sack. It was not her her first time being involved in the Caine Prize; her first published story, Muzungu, was shortlisted in 2010.
Serpell's historic victory is inspiring to many but more than the victory, observers were surprised by her decision to share the £10,000 (about $15,000) prize money equally with the four other shortlisted writers — Masande Ntshanga, FT Kola, Elnathan John and Segun Afolabi.
"I think people assume from the outside that it's an act of generosity or purported kindness on my part but it was not," she told South African online news platform Mail&Guardian, on Skype from the United States where she resides. "It was a protest against the structure of the prize, so I made the decision on my own, having looked at the various factors and thought about what meant the most to me. And the money is not what meant the most to me. I thought the prize structure worked against the spirit of supporting and encouraging my fellow writers," Serpell said.
Samuel Malinga
Young, creative and passionate about his community, Malinga is the archetypical African innovator. From a rural community in the very poor Kumi District of North East Uganda, Malinga grew up with the harsh socioeconomic challenges which pervade most African communities. At age 12 he moved to the Naguru slum in Kampala, Uganda's capital, and there he was faced with the community-wide problem of poor sanitation and lack of proper waste management. These difficulties inspired Malinga to think up innovative solutions that would tackle head on the pervasive challenges in rural areas, like the one he hails from, and urban slums, like the one in which he grew up in. One of his innovations is the conversion of faecal sludge into briquettes that basically do a better job as cooking fuel than charcoal or firewood.
Today, Malinga is one of the most revered young innovators in Africa and this year, he has been recognised in several publications and events for his innovations. Earlier in December, Samuel Malinga won The Tony O. Elumelu Prize in Business at The Future Africa Awards 2015.
Uzodimma Iweala
German theologian who lived in the 15th century, Martin Luther once said: "If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write." Iweala did and today, the book he wrote several years ago has gone down in history as Netflix's first original feature movie.
Beasts of No Nation was developed from the undergraduate thesis work (in creative writing) of the Nigerian at Harvard. It premiered on Netflix on October 16, 2015 and has been screened at major international movie festivals and nominated for several awards.
Uzodimma Iweala, who is also a medical doctor was 21 when he wrote Beasts of No Nation.
When Thiam was appointed the chief executive of British multinational life insurance and financial services company Prudential in 2009, he became the first black person to lead a FTSE 100 company. But his glorious career did not end there. In June, the Ivorian became the CEO of Switzerland-based multinational financial services holding company Credit Suisse. When news of his appointment came out in March, the bank's shares soared almost 8 percent.
Thiam was hired for one task: deal with the group's underperforming investment bank, and that is what the Ivorian has been trying to achieve, making some difficult but necessary decisions as he did.
The Group of Thirty (G30) announced earlier in December that Tidjane Thiam has accepted an invitation to join its membership. Thiam is also a member of the Africa Progress Panel.
Chude Jideonwo and Debola Williams
In Africa, you can theorize and it will be accepted as a fact that young people do not have what it takes to provide inspiration, direction and leadership to fellow youths. Such a theory might hold water until the Nigerian duo of Chude Jideonwo and Adebola Williams show up.
To most Nigerian youths and by virtue of their recent move across the African continent, this duo can be described as the Moses of the 21st century leading fellow youths out of a bleak socio-political and entrepreneurial past.
In 2004, Chude and Adebola, in their 20's, embarked on an ambitious journey to create a social enterprise focused on human capital development. Part of their strategy was to build a critical mass of passionate young people who are motivated to find effective and innovative ways of addressing social issues. They leveraged this relationship with youths to kick-start the annual Future Africa Awards, an event that has seen the spotlight thrown on over a thousand young achievers across the continent.
This year, they celebrated 10 years of The Future Awards. To some, it seemed like a double honours celebration as Chude an Adebola recently made the news around Africa as the youngest presidential campaign communications managers. Red Media, a marketing communications company founded by the duo was saddled with the responsibility of creating campaign messaging that helped upturn Nigeria's political default of always having an incumbent win elections, a feat that will go down in the annals of Nigeria's political history.
Noah is fast becoming one of Africa's best exports with his exploits at the American news satire television program The Daily Show, succeeding Jon Stewart who hosted the show until 2015 from 1999.
The South African's mixed-race heritage, his experiences growing up in a Soweto township, and his observations about race and ethnicity are leading themes in his comedy which has won him several accolades. While his audience figures are down from Stewart's, Comedy Central says Trevor is attracting a more 'millennial' audience, which is a good thing.
No one would ever expect a young South African to be the ideal successor to legendary Jon Stewart but Noah has proven show after show since September, that he was the right choice. 2016 can only be better.
Monica Musonda
When Musonda left Dangote group, a conglomerate owned by Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote, in 2012, she faced an uncertain future in her new company Java Foods, established to provide affordable nutrition to the southern African market. But she was brave. Today, the rapid growth of the food company testifies to how far-reaching the effects of determination and hard work can be.
Musonda noticed that wheat was only used to make a few products, with much of the country's annual harvest exported. Java Foods could use more of the wheat, and so came eeZee Instant Noodles among other products. The entrepreneur's noodles are now Zambia's biggest-selling brand and she hopes that the brand would become East and Southern Africa's leading quick meal option in the next five years. Her company also produces pasta and will start porridge production from local grains next year.
The Zambian lawyer has maintained a good relationship with her former boss and now serves on the board of Dangote Industries Zambia Limited. She also serves on the board of Central Bank of Zambia and she's the Chairperson of Kwacha Pension Trust Fund, Zambia's largest single employer pension fund.
Ibukun Awosika
Awosika made history by becoming the first woman to be appointed chairman of one of Africa's largest lenders First Bank of Nigeria Holdings Plc in the bank's 121 years of existence. She was non-Executive Director before her appointment in September.
Her rise to prominence in business is inspiring to African women as she started out early to pursue her goals. She worked as a show room Manager for just three months after the one-year compulsory youth service, at Alibert Nigeria Ltd, the furniture company where the bright idea of what she wanted to do was developed. She left and set up Quebees Ltd, a furniture manufacturing company, from which The Chair Centre Ltd later evolved.
In a bid to give back to the society and help Nigeria in addressing its unemployment challenges, Awosika co-founded the Afterschool Graduate Development Centre (AGDC), a national career centre in Lagos, Nigeria. She is also the immediate past chairperson of the board of trustees of Women in Management and Business (WIMBIZ), and currently the Chairperson of Intermac, the organisers of SmartCard Conferences in Nigeria and Kenya.
Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola
What started as a one-page assignment has grown to become a big deal, evolving to become Wecyclers, a social enterprise that works with low-income households using an incentive-based model to tackle the widespread waste problems in Lagos, Nigeria's most populous city.
Since Wecyclers started in 2012, the company has grown in leaps and bounds and has not finished any year without an award since 2013. This year, the social enterprise won the Seif Awards for social entrepreneurship. It also won $55,000 prize money at the Pitch For Lagos startup pitch event in July.
Adebiyi-Abiola knows that waste is currently a big problem for people living in poor conditions, but wants to turn it into a solution. Wecyclers, therefore, offers convenient household recycling service using a fleet of low-cost cargo bikes. The enterprise powers social change using the environment by allowing people in low-income communities to capture value from their waste. Households get rewarded with redeemable points based on the volume and quality of recyclables that they give. Wecyclers sort and aggregate the materials and then sells it to Nigerian recyclers.
Mo' Abudu
Are you an African woman looking for inspiration? Look no further, Mosunmola Folake Abudu (nee Akintunde) is the inspiration you need to do what seems impossible. Abudu is today one of the most powerful women in African media and one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Global TV but her influence in the space did not just fall on her laps; it took years of challenging herself and breaking boundaries.
Years of successful hosting of Africa's first syndicated talk show Moments with Mo, aired on M-Net with TV coverage in 48 African countries, proved her worth but what came thereafter was more than anyone's expectation. In 2013, she launched EbonyLife TV, Africa's first Global Black Entertainment and Lifestyle network, which is now ranked as one of the most watched channels on the DStv platform by women, and youth aged between 18 and 34. EbonyLife TV annually produces over 1000 hours of premium, original, and homegrown Anglo-African entertainment programming, 80 percent of which belongs exclusively to the TV, making it the largest self-owned library on the continent.
Often called Africa's answer to American media proprietor Oprah Winfrey, the Nigerian media entrepreneur and self-taught TV host had achieved so much but she wanted more. In 2014, she set up EbonyLife Films which has completed its first feature film titled FIFTY, released recently globally and also on on-demand internet streaming service Netflix.
Adii Pienaar
South African Pienaar and his partners Mark Forrester and Magnus Jepson saw the need for slick, professionally designed WordPress themes with advanced functionality after WordPress launched in 2008 and offered limited themes. By 2013, their hard work had paid off and the company they founded, WooThemes turned over more than $2 million that financial year. Apparently, they made very nice themes, as according to the Entrepreneur magazine 20 percent of the web was powered by their software. WordPress also noticed. Automattic, the parent company of WordPress, this year, acquired WooThemes in a deal estimated to be worth $30 million. WordPress's decision to snap up Pienaar's WooThemes was made easily. Apart from being one of the most popular makers of WordPress themes, WooThemes is also the maker of WooCommerce, a very popular e-Commerce platform used on nearly 25 percent of all e-Commerce websites.
With WooThemes sold, Pienaar moved on. He has a new startup called Receiptful which raised $500,000 from angel investors earlier in the year.
Clarisse Iribagiza
Iribaziga is the ceo of HeHe Limited, a leading mobile technologies Company she co-founded in 2010. The tech world is often seen as a place for men. Not to Clarisse. At 27, the computer engineer is driving Rwanda's tech industry. Over the last five years, Iribaziga has been working with other young and enthusiastic people to build mobile information systems and invest in research in appropriate mobile technologies for Africa.
The Rwandan was this year nominated among Africa's most promising young entrepreneurs under 30 by Forbes Magazine.
She's seen these days helping young Rwandans to build their capacity in information technology and entrepreneurship as she grows her company. She speaks at different events targeted at helping young entrepreneurs, across East Africa. Apart from the knowledge she shares, her story inspires other aspiring entrepreneurs.
National Dialogue Quartet
For its decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution of 2011, the Quartet made up of the Human Rights League; General Labour Union; the Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts; and the Order of Lawyers was awarded the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize.
Tunisia was on the brink of war when the different organisations came together as one and helped the country's transition to democracy, using dialogue, at a sensitive moment in 2013 when widespread social unrest threatened the process.
Kaci Kullman Five who chairs the Nobel peace committee said the Quartet's role in the democratisation of Tunisia was directly comparable to the peace conferences mentioned by Alfred Nobel in his will.
Njeri Rionge
Kenyan serial entrepreneur Rionge is the ceo and founder of Ignite Consulting & Investment Limited, as well as the director and co-founder of Wananchi Online Limited, an affordable accessible Internet Service Provider. This has expanded into something bigger; Wananchi Group, the leading provider of broadband internet, cable television and internet-based mobile services in East Africa.
She is another woman who holds her own in the tech world. Rionge was a member of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) board for five years. She also set up the leading startup incubator in Kenya, Business Lounge and founded one of Kenya's most popular digital marketing firms, Insite. The entrepreneur also turned her name Njeri Rionge, into a brand that helps budding entrepreneurs grow through coaching and motivational talks.
Rionge wants to see Africa develop into the next big economic miracle and she is committed to doing her part.
It is true that the year 2015 was a difficult one, fraught with challenges that ranged from slowing growth to terror attacks, displacement by war and violence and serious political challenges. But despite the disappointing turn, these 20 Africans continued their exploits, breaking barriers and bringing innovation into play in several ways, solving problems peculiar to Africa with homemade solutions. Their success in 2015 shows how great 2016 can be, regardless of not so encouraging forecasts for the new year.
The book that explains why Africa isn't rising: James Gibney
Guinea urged to strengthen health system as Ebola outbreak ends


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Sangaris geometrica is een keversoort uit de familie van de boktorren (Cerambycidae). De wetenschappelijke naam van de soort werd voor het eerst geldig gepubliceerd in 1872 door Bates.

geometrica

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Reconstructionists Call on AIPAC to Rescind Donald Trump Invitation
THIS IS NOT A TIME FOR BUSINESS AS USUAL
March 17, 2016 — The leadership of the Jewish Reconstructionist movement urges the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) to rescind its invitation to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to speak at its annual gathering next week. At a minimum, we call on AIPAC to clearly affirm that Muslims are welcome in the United States and to condemn all racist statements. The AIPAC gathering, which is the largest annual gathering of American Jews, should not be a platform for espousing hateful rhetoric and racist policies.
We understand that AIPAC invited all presidential candidates and that an invitation is not an endorsement. However, when the values a candidate espouses are inimical to both the lessons of Jewish history and our Jewish ethical values, we must avoid any misunderstanding. This invitation confers an unwarranted legitimacy on Donald Trump's positions, which include the outright banning of all Muslims from entering the United States.
If any significant organization invited a candidate who explicitly called for Jews to be banned from entering the United States, the entire Jewish community would demand that invitation be rescinded. Trump's extreme anti-immigrant rhetoric is highly reminiscent of the rhetoric deployed against Jews who immigrated to the United States, and especially, against those who were turned away. The most oft-repeated statement in the Torah is, "Do not oppress the stranger, for you were strangers in Egypt." We know from history that once any group is targeted as a scapegoat, no group is safe.
We are commanded to intervene to stop the spilling of our neighbor's blood. We ask AIPAC conference organizers to make a clear distinction, in whatever way possible, between Trump's hate speech and the American Jewish community that AIPAC claims to represent. The majority of Americans—and this includes everyone, Jews and non-Jews alike—who care about Israel do not want to see Israel advocacy associated with the xenophobic rhetoric that Trump promotes. AIPAC's repudiation of that rhetoric will express our highest ethical values as Jews and as Americans.
Rabbi Deborah Waxman
Chair, Board of Governors
Rabbi Nina Mandel
President, Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association
Rabbi Elyse Wechterman
Executive Director, Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association
Rabbi Joshua Lesser
Chair, Tikkun Olam Commission
Rabbi Mordechai Liebling
Director, Tikkun Olam Commission

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Music Technology - Feb 1990	Macworld '89
Macworld '89
by Mike Collins
The Atari ST may currently be the most popular music computer, but a lot of music software is still being pioneered on the Apple Mac. Mike Collins visited MacWorld '89 for the latest musical developments.
CONSIDERED THE ROLLS ROYCE OF MUSIC MICROS, THE MACINTOSH HAS OFTEN SEEN MUSIC SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENTS BEFORE OTHER MICROS. WHERE BETTER, THEN, TO KEEP UP TO DATE THAN THE MACWORLD EXPO? REPORT BY MIKE COLLINS.
ACCEPTING THE "AFFORDABLE" popularity of the Atari ST, the Apple Macintosh Computer is one of the front-runners when it comes to Musical applications. Which makes the annual Boston MacWorld Expo just about the best place to get the most up-to-date info on new developments. The show ran for four days from the 9th to the 12th of August last year and had quite a lot to say on behalf of the Mac.
The big news at Boston was that the MultiMedia revolution is about to hit us. MultiMedia is a "coming-together" of graphics, pictures, text, live or pre-recorded video signals, animation, dialogue, sound effects and music. These elements may all now be assembled using the Macintosh on your "desktop", or in your studio, and the final results may be replayed from the Mac, recorded onto a VCR, projected onto a screen using a variety of projection systems, transmitted via modem, broadcast on TV, or whatever. John Sculley, the charismatic Chief Executive Officer at Apple, predicts that the 1990's will see an explosion of this DeskTop Media similar to the DeskTop Publishing phenomenon which began on the Macintosh just a few years back.
Sculley and others demonstrated some of the most exciting new developments at a series of Keynote Addresses each morning at the Wang Centre for the Performing Arts in the centre of Boston - realistic animations (such as the one showing a lifelike animated snake moving at different speeds on three different windows on screen); new MultiMedia software from the BBC Interactive Television Unit in London; new CD formats controlled interactively from the Macintosh from Warner New Media and others; Videodiscs from ABC News Interactive and WGBH-TV, and from Harvard Interactive, all controlled from HyperCard on the Mac; Remote Control software for the Mac via modem; voice control of the Mac using a system called The Voice Navigator (and this really works - imagine telling your Mac sequencer to "record", "play", "stop", "rewind", "drop in', and so on, with no hands except on the notes you want to play on the keyboard); demonstration and presentation software called MacroMind Director which can even control MIDI equipment... Particular references were made to various developments which Apple felt were significant and important for the future. These included the newly-launched read/write optical disk storage media from Mass Microsystems (and others) which allow relatively cheap storage of hundreds of megabytes of information. Both sound and video files eat storage space, so these new optical systems will be of great interest to anyone wanting to make internal software links between several programs running in a pseudo-multitasking way on the Mac. You can send data internally from one program to another, as was demonstrated from Director to Vision to play sequences, or you can merge data from several programs and output it from one or other of the Mac's output ports. Newer versions of the Midi Manager software should work even better. Chris Hallaby reckoned Opcode were aiming to provide more and more integration of their programs, as well as allowing them to work with other people's via the Midi Manager. It's currently possible to link all their synth editor/librarian packages together to create one general controller for your MIDI equipment. A free desk accessory is now available to allow patches to be sent to and from your MIDI gear while running any program on the Mac. And Vision will work with the patch programs in a consistent way, allowing the instruments defined in the sequences to be linked to actual patch data, not just names of synths and patches, so that you always get the same sounds back when you come back to a piece of music at a later time. You can also map the relationships between note names and instruments in Vision, which is extremely useful when working with drum machines, samplers, or many of the multitimbral units currently available.
And talking of Vision, this just has to be the hottest sequencer around at the moment. It has both event list (like Performer) and graphic note editing (like MidiPaint) available. The new version of the program will scroll the note displays as the sequence runs, although a rather amusing 'bouncing ball" traverses the graphic editing window following the music while the sequence plays at the moment. Algorithmic composition is included, along with an incredible number of useful features like pop-up help boxes, and on-screen faders which can send MIDI Volume (Controller 7) messages to your MIDI gear for automated MIDI "mixing". More features than just about any other program, in fact - Opcode are definitely onto a winner here.
Warner New Media had two products on show at a Boston hotel hosting interactive videodisc and CDs. The first was a series of CD-Audio/ROM disks called Audio Notes. These playback on the new Apple CD-ROM player which can switch between the two formats (Audio and ROM). One of the first in this series was based round Mozart's Magic Flute opera, and a HyperCard program running on the Mac allows interactive control by the people working with either of these media on the Mac.
"APPLE PREDICT THAT THE 1990fS WILL SEE AH EXPLOSION OF DESKTOP MEDIA SIMILAR TO THE DESKTOP PUBLISHING PHENOMENON WHICH BEGAN ON THE MAC JUST A FEW YEARS BACK."
There were seminars each day at the World Trade Centre and at the Bayside Exposition Hall, ramming home the MultiMedia message even more, and the Music Conference on the Saturday with Dave Oppenheim of Opcode, Peter Gotcher of DigiDesign, and MIDI expert Paul Lehrman, amongst others, was no exception. Sound Tools from DigiDesign looks all set to become a very important system for musicians, recording engineers, and other professionals working with MultiMedia on the Macintosh. There is an A/D convertor to allow you to input/output analogue audio, and a digital I/O unit to allow you to input/output almost any professional digital audio format, from DAT to CD to Mitsubushi/Sony tape formats. An Audio Accelerator card with a powerful Digital Signal Processing (DSP) chip slots into your Mac II or SE, and allows direct-to-hard disk recording, auditioning, DSP, and subsequent output or playback of sounds from the Mac. The controlling software is a new version (version II) of the popular DigiDesign Sound Designer sample editor for the Mac. This will also allow you to import sounds from virtually any sampler on the market for editing or librarian purposes, either via MIDI or via SCSI. Special software is included to allow you to play back 16-bit, 44.1kHz sounds in Macintosh "snth" resource format, from a range of Macintosh applications including HyperCard, MacroMind Director, and many others. These 'snth' resources cause the sounds to be replayed via the Sound Accelerator card rather than by the Mac's central processor, and consequently don't involve any usage of precious Mac RAM, and free the central processor to handle tasks such as animation more readily. As a result, it is now feasible to record hours of professional-quality dialogue, effects, or music, to be synchronised with a HyperCard or Director presentation. The only limitation on recording time is storage space - and that's where the new optical disks come in.
Opcode's Chris Hallaby and Dave Oppenheim were very excited about the new Midi Manager and Midi Driver software which Apple have recently released to program developers. They had a beta test version of Vision on show at their stand, and Dave reckoned he had tested this running concurrently with MacroMind Director under MultiFinder. MacroMind Director can send MIDI Start, Stop, Song Position Pointer, and Continue commands to a MIDI sequencer to run dialogue, sound fx, and music in sync with visuals from the Mac. The Midi Manager software allows you to Audio on the CD using the ROM data which was transferred to the Mac.
The second format was no less exciting: CD+ Graphics+ MIDI. A new CD player is available from JVC with a video output to a TV screen, and a MIDI output to your MIDI gear. Some albums are already on release in America - such as Talking Heads' Naked, which includes graphics - and further albums are about to be released which include MIDI data as well. Examples could include using the MIDI data for 'music minus one' sessions, where you drop out an instrument and play that part yourself for practice. Or there might be an album containing a selection of original Top 40 hits, with synthesised versions as alternative audio recordings, and then with simplified sequence data, optimised for a common multitimbral instrument like the Roland MT32, for people to make what they will of at home, where the sequence data could be transferred to a home sequencer, say on a Mac. The graphics on the disk could include details of how to set up the MIDI instruments, and lyrics to sing along with - Karaoke style. Both of these new formats look set to generate a lot of interest both sides of the Atlantic.
The piece de resistance for me at the show was the HyperCard software developed in London by Max Whitby and Mark Wilson at the BBC Interactive Television Unit, in association with Apple Computers. This is called MediaMaker. They describe it as a "tool that enables users to create their own multimedia sequences, synchronising moving pictures and graphics with commentary, music, and sound effects". Elements of a MultiMedia 'production' can include material sourced from Video 8, videodisc, CD-ROM, digital audio (16-bit via Sounds Tools or 8-bit via MacRecorder). These can be easily assembled in the desired sequence, and then replayed from the Mac, for a corporate presentation for instance, or the final result could be output to a Video Cassette Recorder, allowing you to make your own "DeskTop Video'. This reminds me of MIDI sequencing and sampling (which could both be used in some ways anyway) but with the video and graphics tool. Will we now spawn a "Stock, Aitken and Waterman' of the multimedia scene? And what about the copyright situation now, with text, graphics, artwork and video all involved? Let's see what tomorrow brings...
Sansui WSX1
The Jupiter Legacy
Music Technology - Feb 1990
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Credit card skimmers are devices that steal your credit card magnetic stripe information, which are then used by criminals. One common location of the skimmers are at gas stations, where there are many credit card readers, no attendant nearby, and lots of transactions. The skimmers come in many forms, but one of the most commonly reported are those that plug into the pump, between the card reader and the pump controller.
Many of these skimmers can be identified by turning on your phone's blue tooth function, and seeing if there are any nearby bluetooth devices you can connect to — there shouldn't be any with unidentifiable names (like HC-05 or HC-06, for instance). If there are, report it to the gas station attendant to look into further.
For a simpler way to identify potential skimmers with bluetooth module, the electronics retailer Spark Fun has released an application for Android phones to detect known skimmers. It won't find them all, but hopefully will help reduce the time to detect and shut down skimmers.


Phyllis Jean Newsletter, Issue #017 -- New Store Coming!
We have finally found a store that meets the needs of this company!
Our new store will be up and running we hope in February. We will have the ability to have daily specials on a certain blouse, or put all the skirts up for sale, or free shipping on certain orders. All things that were more challenging or we were not able to do with the other store should be easier for us now.
We offer a lovely full jumper for little girls and young ladies. They come in corduroy or denim. The little girls jumpers have a cute little ruffled trim on the pockets and hem of the skirt.
Would you like to mix and match the sizes? Not a problem just email the size you would like and we'll ship it with your order.
Have you heard about pinterest? It is a web site that lets you create an online pin board of most anything you are interested in, from modest clothing to gardening and many other topics.
If you are already a member or decide to become one(it is free) we'd love for you to pin us! If you do we'll happily send out your next order with free shipping! Just email us to let us know!
We are also starting a facebook page for the business and are trying to get a like it button on our web site. As our store develops we will be having special deals for our facebook followers! We will keep you posted.


This page displays sold house prices for Avenue Road in Southampton.
Avenue Road in Southampton SO14 consists mainly of terraced houses and flats. Properties on Avenue Road typically have values around £200,000 - £250,000, ranging upwards of £400,000 for larger semi-detached houses.
Map showing Avenue Road in Southampton.


We were recently approached by a Croydon resident in desperate need of some assistance and advice regarding a planning proposal for a school extension adjacent to her home. She has lived in her family home for 20 years and has never been adversely affected by the neighbouring primary school, with the main school building standing almost 30 metres away. However this balance is set to come to an abrupt end following a controversial planning decision by Croydon Council to allow a significant extension.
The proposals consist of a multi-storey extension to the existing school building, rising up to three-storeys high to allow the capacity of the school to almost double from 240 to 420 pupils. The new building(s) will extend to within 5 metres of the homeowner's house. A new stepped walkway will direct all these new pupils along side the boundary of the house, and new outdoor play areas will be formed on raised terraces. In response the homeowner has expressed deep concerns about the impact that these proposals will have upon her amenities, and questioned whether the planners and councillors had given these issues thorough consideration.
The homeowner raised her concern about inadequate information within her official objection to the planning application. Her objections were presented by her son at the planning committee meeting at which this case was decided, which I also attended. During the meeting one councillor questioned whether amenity space at the rear of the house had been properly considered. He specifically asked "which rear windows of the house, if any, would be affected?" The planning department's representative did not know the answer off-hand, so she proceeded to review photos of the existing site. She could only find a partial photo of the rear of the house to inform her response, so could not declare the precise number or nature of windows at the rear of the property. However, she concluded from the photograph that there were no significant rear windows that stood to be seriously impacted by the extension. In my opinion this response highlighted the determination of the council to justify and support the development even in the absence of adequate, necessary information. In actual fact there are several windows at the rear of the house which serve primary habitable rooms that will be significantly affected, but this was not conveyed to the councillors before making their decision.
The fact that crucial information was missing from the drawings meant that the true extent of the intrusion of privacy could not have been thoroughly assessed. Opposite the rear of the house, where the new extension will be three storeys in height, there will be large clear windows on all levels which overlook the home owner's property. These windows serve busy main corridors and stairwells, and afford direct and indirect views into habitable rooms of the house.
As part of the original planning submission the developer included a shadow study to demonstrate what overshadowing, if any, would be caused by the proposed extensions. The shadow study was illustrated by a plan view of the proposed site with shadows simulated at set intervals during the year (Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter solstices).
Unfortunately it was almost impossible for me or the home owner to interpret the shadow study and evaluate the potential loss of light as a result of the extensions, mainly because the study did not show the shadow/ light that surrounds the homeowner's house prior to development. Therefore I created my own simulation model to give a more realistic demonstration of the additional shadow that would be cast by the new extensions.
The second illustration demonstrates that the proposed extensions will also result in significantly increased shadow cast across the front of the house, particularly at the south end of the house in Winter. Primary habitable rooms are situated at the south end of the house on both levels, so the effect of the increased overshadowing will be constantly felt by the homeowner.
Further to issues I raised about the drawing and design information provided with the application there were numerous other issues raised by the homeowner within her objections. She raised a prime concern about the increased noise and disturbances that would be generated during the development. This is because the development (including landscaping) extends all the way to the boundary along the full extent of her east and south boundaries. Furthermore she anticipates a significant rise in noise levels once the whole school is occupied as all the new pupils will be 'funnelled' along the new external pathway immediately adjacent to her boundary.
She has also expressed her extreme disappointment at the manner in which she was notified about the planning application. The council relied solely on public street notices, the nearest of which was probably 100 metres or more from her front gate. If it wasn't for a Party Wall notice being sent to her she wouldn't have found out until the decision was made. Furthermore, her feelings of being let down by the council were exacerbated by the disclosure that the school and council held several pre-application meetings. Some of these meetings were attended by school staff, parents and neighbours. I cannot understand why they didn't invite her to these meetings, especially considering that she stood, by far, to be the most affected of all the neighbours.
Despite strong objections, and our assistance, the homeowner was unsuccessful in convincing the councillors to refuse planning consent. Several councillors expressed "sympathy" for the neighbour, but explained that expansion of the school was of the highest priority. Full planning consent was thereby granted in July 2013. However, the final vote was marginal and there were serious questions raised about the information presented at the Planning Committee Meeting, so the homeowner decided to take legal action and seek a judicial review. This proved to be extremely costly, and unfortunately she cannot afford to take this course of action any further. She did manage to get to a preliminary stage where a judge decided whether a judicial review would be allowed, based on written information only. Although the case for a judicial review was proven in part, the judge ultimately decided that a review would not be permitted. He acknowledged that the perceived impact on the homeowner's property "may not have been as precise as arguably it might have been", but he sought to justify the council's final decision by stating that they were "balancing" the impact of the proposal on her property with the need for the development of the school.
No matter where the homeowner turns for help she is met with a similar response by those with the authority to make decisions. Planners, councillors, even judges express some sympathy for the homeowner. There seems to be universal acknowledgement that the development will impact upon her amenities. However, the issues she has raised continue to go unanswered as the need for school expansion apparently outweighs the need to protect her amenities.
I must clarify that I completely agree that expansion of schools in Croydon should be a primary objective, and I understand why this can sometimes result in adverse, unavoidable impacts on neighbouring amenities. However, in this situation I firmly believe that the extent of the impact could have been reduced if the relevant issues were promptly and correctly identified. There is no excuse for the fact that the only person that really stood to lose something was never directly informed about the planning application, never consulted, never properly considered. She should have been consulted at an early stage when other neighbours were apparently consulted. If she had been consulted I'm certain that a more considerate design approach could have been adopted whilst still providing the same amount of accommodation. I myself have worked on several schemes in the Croydon area, and although these were comparatively modest in size we advised the client to directly consult with the neighbours that stood to be affected. This has always proven to be a constructive, successful approach.
Overall I have been left feeling extremely disappointed the homeowner is being forced to reconsider her future in the home she has enjoyed for 20 years. I am also left feeling completely disenchanted by the planning decisions and reviews that were made. Historically residents have always been protected by numerous planning laws which prevent their private amenities being adversely impacted by development, but more often than not there will also be other policies which create a conflict of interest. This puts growing pressure and responsibility on planners to make balanced, informed decisions, but in my honest opinion this particular planning process was not as informed as it should have been, the design was not as considerate as it could have been, and by the time the final decision was due the council had undoubtedly run out of time to properly address any flaws that had been subsequently identified.
This isn't the only school in Croydon upsetting their neighbours. I wish the local council would be more considerate towards the local residents, but unfortunately they seem quite set in their ways.


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AQABA | The national aerobatic team of Jordan today posted the schedule for their annual European tour.
UK and France make up the bulk of the schedule, including an appearence for the first time at Old Warden. The team will also perform in Belgium, Greece and the Republic of Ireland.
This entry was posted in Airshow News Europe, Airshow News Military, Airshow News World on March 23, 2019 by Adam L..


A new subtype of immune cells carrying a unique genetic profile was identified and found to have an important role in the progression of fibrosis in the lungs, a study reports.
The study, "Reference-based analysis of lung single-cell sequencing reveals a transitional profibrotic macrophage," was published in the journal Nature Immunology.
The healthy adult lung has two types of resident macrophages. One called alveolar macrophages has stem-like properties and can self-renew. The second, interstitial macrophages, can be found near the larger airways and in lung support tissues, and are involved in inflammatory responses.
During injury, another type of immune cells — monocyte-derived cells — goes to the lung to help the protection and repair processes. These cells are known to be involved in the profibrotic effect, but the mechanism that mediates this process is not fully understood.
To improve understanding on how these subgroups of immune cells could contribute to lung fibrosis, researchers evaluated their genetic profile. The team used advanced technology to perform single-cell RNA sequencing, and characterize macrophage populations in a mouse model of lung fibrosis.
To assist in data analysis, the team also developed a new computer algorithm, called SingleR (single-cell recognition), which could recognize and assign cellular identities based on the RNA content of each cell.
"Single-cell sequencing is relatively new technology that's changing the face of biology," Dvir Aran, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, and co-lead author of the study, said in a press release. "SingleR works by connecting new single-cell data with existing data that was collected over many years using older methods.
"The data sets that were already available helped us characterize a new cell type that wasn't identified before," Aran said.
Using this new approach, the team could identify different subpopulations of immune cells in the lungs of mice with fibrosis. In particular, they found a subpopulation of macrophages exclusively in the fibrosis mouse models, but not in healthy mice.
These cells had a gene profile similar to monocyte-derived cells but also to alveolar macrophages, which suggested it was a transitioning subpopulation.
"This cell state wasn't recognized before, but it seemed to be very specific to the disease. These cells infiltrate the lung in a state similar to baseline interstitial macrophages, but then they start to lose their original identity and become alveolar. That transitional state is where they become profibrotic," Aran said.
Importantly, when the team evaluated the levels of several biomarkers in these cell populations, using data available from lung samples of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients and healthy controls, they discovered expression patterns like those found in the mice.
These results support the relevance of the identified genetic markers "to multiple contexts of fibrosis, mouse and human," the researchers wrote.
Further analysis revealed that these disease-associated macrophages were mainly localized in fibrotic lesions, and that they could exert a profibrotic effect by producing a signaling molecule called platelet-derived growth factor A (PDGFA) in mouse lungs.
This secreted protein was needed to promote the migration of fibroblasts, which are responsible for the overproduction of collagen in lung fibrosis, and to boost their expansion. By blocking PDGFA activity, the team could effectively prevent the progression of fibrosis in mice.
"Our results suggest a potential strategy for combating fibrosis: targeting these transitional macrophages that localize to the fibrotic niche," said Mallar Bhattacharya, MD, assistant professor of medicine and senior author of the study.
The team believes their results may be particularly relevant for patients with pulmonary fibrosis.
Tagged fibrosis, PDGF-A, profibrotic macophages, transitional macrophages.
Thank you for being there I was just diagnosed with ILD related to Scleroderma in 2015. I need oxygen to sleep. I am what my lung and Rhumi call "stable". I'm on Cellcept which seems to be helping. I'm grateful and thankful everyday for my wonderful husband. He keeps me motivated and wanting to get better.
NO THERE IS NOT !!
I was initially diagnosed with IPF, a genetic test of my blood for Scleroderma (SCL70) proved otherwise.
I was on Prednisone and Cellcept for one year. Now I am only on Cellcept 3,000mg per day. My last HRCT shows no new progression.


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9 out of 10 based on 851 ratings. 2,220 user reviews.
Contextual translation of "grade 12 afrikaans poem baby" into English. Human translations with examples: goes, english, caffeine, african poem ward.
Jul 07, 2012Read Shortcut to Afrikaans short stories Grade 12 by Piet Du Plessis for free with a 30 day free trial. Read unlimited* books and audiobooks on the web, iPad, iPhone and Android.
Op-Let (OPvoedkundige LETterkunde) | Afrikaans, First Additional Lang. (FAL) Gr. 10-12. The Op-Let Lugspieëlings 5 Kortverhale (Vol. 1) Handleiding en Gids is designed for learners. It comprises a comprehensive synopsis, analysis, and discussion of 5 short stories from Lugspieëlings by Myicelie Pienaar. Includes English summaries.


This system is great for public use. It can hold up to 1,000 fingerprints.
Can take wet or dry fingerprints. Works great at pool areas. Will log 100,000 entries. Hard-wired rather than battery operated. Comes with an interior "Exit" button for emergencies. Easy installation. Comes with 10 cards and key cards.
This is a magnetic lock and not a deadbolt lock, but it is built to withstand 600 pounds of pressure.
Lock has 5 different ways you can access including fingerprint ID.
You can grant limited access for certain people. Access through smartphone, keypad, ID card, fingerprint or key. Fingerprint enrollment works easily. Lock looks good and functions well.
The handle on this lock is not reversible. The lock is also not weatherproof.
A great value here with 3 locks in this package that work well and can be "keyed" the same.
Fingerprint features works well. Code pad can be used. Codes can be cloned to each other. Batteries last about 6 months. A good choice for an office environment where a lot of people need access to the building and you face turnover. Heavy and secure locks. 3 locks can work together with one app. Handle is reversible. Key backup.
The locks are supposed to be weatherproof, however, can sometimes fail in rain.
A solid biometric lock that can handle a lot of fingerprints and work reliably.
Can handle up to 100 fingerprints and 10 different codes. Key backup. Locks automatically every time it closes to prevent unwanted entry. Includes an anti-theft warning sound. Beeps when the battery is getting low. Includes a key backup.
Can be tricky to install. The instructions that come with this model can be hard to understand.
This door lock is a good choice for home use offering a deadbolt feature so you can be certain no one will override and enter when you do not want them in.
A good lock for a little less money than others on the market. Can hold up to 100 user codes and 100 fingerprints. Includes a deadbolt function that can be activated from the inside. Includes backup keys.
This requires a long code (8 digits). Lock is not reversible.
You've just left your house and closed the door behind you while struggling to remember what you forgot. Your keys. With a biometric door lock, that's not a problem, just press your finger to the screen, type in a code, and you're back in. When in the market for one of these handy gadgets, there are a few things you want to look for. If it will be for outdoor use, it needs to be weatherproof and lighted. Either a backup battery or a manual override is essential because at some point a battery-powered lock will fail – hardwired models also need a backup plan. Memory for additional scans and key codes is nice, as is an auto-lock feature and a built-in alarm.


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She came to us with such promise and yet has revealed herself to be an idle rich young woman. She shops, holidays and looks nice and that's about it, biding her time until she gets that, as yet elusive, royal proposal. In 2004 Kate Middleton was heralded as a breath of fresh air, a commoner whose down to earth nature would help the Royal Family become more like it's subjects. Looking back now how could we have been so wrong?
Vanessa Feltz from The Daily Express has echoed the sentiments of growing number of royal supporters with her article on the 'Princess in Waiting'. Ms Feltz questions why Kate would care about being called Catherine and reflects on what that says about Middleton as a person. Feltz writes: 'What does it say about this young woman that she countenances no nicknames, no affectionate diminutives, from those she knows and loves?'
Vanessa Feltz then discusses how Princess Diana coped with being called Lady Di (a name she didn't like): 'Nicknames - as long as they're not offensive - are a supreme compliment. The Princess of Wales, known to her family as Diana, revelled in her inaccurate tabloid title Lady Di. When foreign children mispronounced it Lady Dee, she simply gave them an extra cuddle and giggled. Meanwhile her then sister-in-law Sarah took the nickname Fergie squarely on the chin. The Duchess of York may be many things but precious has never been one of them.'
Rightly, Ms Feltz points out that not everyone is as enamoured with Prince William's girlfriend as the British media seems to be. She writes: 'As she lingers in the wings, poised to play the role of her life, I can't help wondering if the loyal subjects of her boyfriend's granny have truly taken to her.Of course, she cannot be said to have put a dainty, Prada-shod foot wrong. There was that blip when she appeared to bore William so silly he had to cut her loose and make a bolt for freedom. There have been a few carefully orchestrated shots of La Middleton falling daintily out of nightclubs without her handsome Prince. It didn't take Freud to work out her signals: "Look at me. I am fun and frolicsome, with or without a prince."There has been the fact that she doesn't actually do anything. She jettisoned her pretend "job" at Jigsaw and didn't exactly rush to busy herself at anything else productive.'
Again echoing the thoughts and discussions of the growing throng of royal fans, The Daily Express colmunist then delves into the murky topic of just how calculating Kate seems to be. Like most people who initially saw Kate Middleton with an eye to a promising future for the British Royal Family, it seems Ms Feltz's opinion of Kate has taken a nose dive in the subsequent years. Feltz writes: 'Catherine Middleton has done all a girl could to earn her colours as a House of Windsor princess. So why hasn't the British public embraced her? Why don't we unabashedly adore her as we did Diana?Could it be because there is something distinctly chilly about Miss M? There's a steely-eyed professionalism, a "don't dent the image, mustn't muck up this mega opportunity" edge to this 26-year-old girl which is, frankly, a little off-putting.We can't dislike Catherine. She hasn't given us cause. Yet we can't warm to her because we sense something just a tad cool, even cold and possibly calculating about an individual who plays her deck of cards with such consummate skill.'
Perhaps we all were wrong to think that Prince William would find someone that we could respect and call our own? In the same way you'd be asking for your money back if you toddled into Jigsaw and bought a dress that disappointingly shrunk when washed, Kate Middleton hasn't turned out to be the breath of fresh air the press billed her to be 4 years ago. I think we all deserve our money back don't you?
Labels: Kate Middleton, Prince William


text:
Prionovolva is een geslacht van weekdieren uit de klasse van de Gastropoda (slakken).

Soorten
 Prionovolva brevis (G. B. Sowerby I, 1828)
 Prionovolva choshiensis (Cate, 1973)
 Prionovolva freemani Liltved & Millard, 1994
 Prionovolva melonis Rosenberg, 2010

Ovulidae


Derick Santiago wants to become an energy company lineman – like his father and brother. He also wants to help rebuild his community.
Santiago, a native of Humacao, Puerto Rico, packed up and left the island last year after Hurricane Maria left millions without power. The Category 4 storm in September wiped out the power grid, leaving the island in the dark.
But he was also missing something important: the training he needed.
He headed for Florida, where he heard from his uncle about a school where he could receive lineman training. He moved to Winter Haven, where his mother lives, and commutes 80 miles each way to Lake-Sumter State College in Sumterville.
Santiago is working toward his Associate of Applied Science degree in electrical distribution technology, commonly known as the lineworker program. As part of the school's Energy Utility Institute, Lake-Sumter also offers an associate of science degree in engineering technology, substation and relay technology, which trains students to build and maintain the electrical grid.
The school has partnerships with several energy companies, including Duke Energy, which has donated $1.5 million over the years.
Duke Energy's support is crucial to the program, which is growing rapidly to meet a shortage of line personnel. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for electrical power line installers and repairers is projected to grow 14 percent in the next eight years.
Lake Sumter's job placement rate from the program is around 97 percent, according to Kevin Yurasek, the school's director of marketing and college relations.
Santiago expects to graduate in the fall, and he then plans to head back to Puerto Rico with his certificate in hand before trying to realize his dream – working for Duke Energy.


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Business Insider | Life
Marcia Cross says her anal cancer may have come from the same strain of HPV that caused her husband's throat cancer. Here's how that's possible.
Julia Naftulin , Business Insider US
Marcia Cross said she decided to publicly share her diagnosis and new HPV information in order to destigmatize anal cancer.
Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Gersh
During a Wednesday interview on "CBS This Morning," actress Marcia Cross said her anal cancer and her husband's throat cancer may both be traced back to the same strain of HPV.
HPV, or human papillomavirus, is a sexually transmitted infection known to cause cervical cancer, anal cancer, throat cancer, and vaginal cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
HPV is fairly common, with an estimated 14 million Americans infected annually. Most cases resolve on their own with no serious health consequences.
Some high-risk strains of HPV typically has no symtoms and most people don't know they have the STI until it has caused severe health problems like cancer, according to Planned Parenthood.
For more stories, see www.businessinsider.co.za.
A year and a half after being diagnosed with anal cancer, actress Marcia Cross is now speaking up about the potential cause of her illness: the sexually transmitted infection human papillomavirus, or HPV.
Cross appeared on "CBS This Morning" Wednesday, saying that doctors believe her anal cancer came from the same strain of HPV that caused her husband Tom Mahoney's throat cancer. Mahoney was diagnosed in 2009 and went into remission after treatment, but his cancer came back around the time Cross was diagnosed with anal cancer, People reported.
"It makes complete sense," gynecologist Dr. Donnica Moore told INSIDER. "It's a sexually transmitted infection and presumably people that are married are having sex and sharing bodily fluids."
Cross said she decided to publicly share her diagnosis and this new HPV information in order to destigmatize anal cancer.
"I know there are people who are ashamed. You have cancer! You have to then also feel ashamed? Like you did something bad, you know, because it took up residence in your anus? I mean, come on, really. There's enough on your plate," Cross told CBS News Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Jonathan LaPook.
Only some HPV infections lead to cancer
HPV is fairly common in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 14 million Americans including teenagers are infected with HPV every year and an estimated 80 million Americans are currently infected with the STI.
Most people with the infection don't experience any serious health consequences. In fact, people with low-risk HPV often see the STI go away on its own with no treatment, according to Planned Parenthood, and 9 out of 10 HPV cases resolve themselves in about two years' time, the CDC website noted.
But each year, 33,700 HPV cases result in some type of cancer - cervical, vaginal, penile, throat, or anal. This can happen if a person is infected with a high-risk strain of HPV because those forms can mutate a person's cells. According to the World Health Organization, there are more than 100 known types of HPV and 14 are known to cause cancer.
The only potential symptom of HPV is genital warts, but most people with the STI don't show any symptoms, and so can unknowingly spread it to a partner during vaginal, oral, or anal sex. If a high-risk strain is passed, a partner can develop cancer, though HPV-related cancers may take years or decades to develop after a person becomes infected.
That doesn't necessarily mean Cross got anal cancer from oral sex with her husband, Moore said. "HPV is systemic, so you can catch it from any sexual activity just one time and then get any number of cancers as a result."
The HPV vaccine is the best way to protect against the infection and cancers it may cause
The only way to fully protect yourself against HPV is to abstain from sex, but since that option isn't realistic for most people, the next best thing is to get an HPV vaccination.
The vaccine not only prevents over 90% of HPV-related cancers, but also can stop the rampant spread of the STI.
"Vaccination of children prior to sexual activity can potentially eradicate these cancers for future generations," Dr. Crystal Moore, a board-certified pathologist, previously told INSIDER. "Prevention with vaccination and safe sex practices are the best protection."
The CDC recommends all children get the HPV vaccine, which requires two separate doses, at 11 or 12 years old.
Often, people believe only women need the HPV vaccine because women are screened annually for cervical cancer, which is often caused by HPV. Plus, there is currently no HPV test for men, according to the CDC. But men can carry HPV too and pass the STI onto their partners, so getting the vaccine can prevent them from becoming infected in the first place.
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The logic of partially suspending aid to Egypt
By Sharanbir Grewal
Oct. 12, 2013 at 1:33 p.m. UTC
This is a guest post by Sharanbir Grewal, a PhD student at Princeton University and a former student and co-author of mine.
— Erik Voeten
The United States on Wednesday suspended part of its $1.55 billion in foreign assistance to Egypt "pending credible progress toward an inclusive, democratically elected civilian government." This decision comes after the July military coup that ousted former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi from power, and after growing concerns that the new regime's bloody crackdown on Morsi supporters is doing little more than encourage an Islamic insurgency.
The U.S. government has taken heat from all sides for its decision, receiving criticism for both cutting aid and for not cutting it enough. Strategically, however, this partial suspension of aid was the Obama administration's smartest possible option and demonstrates resourcefulness in maximizing what little leverage it has over Egypt.
The administration halted cash assistance and "large-scale military systems," including F-16 fighter jets, M1A1 Abrams tanks, Harpoon missiles and Apache helicopters, leaving all other aspects of the aid relationship — from counterterrorism to economic assistance — untouched. By doing so, the U.S. government suspended the portions of the relationship that are most important to the Egyptian military and least important to U.S. interests.
The Egyptian military is particularly keen on receiving the big-ticket items like F-16s for power projection, both to deter Israel and Iran and to compete for regional hegemony with the arsenals of the Persian Gulf. Indeed, the U.S. has for years been attempting to shift its military assistance to smaller weapons and equipment that actually serve a strategic purpose such as counterterrorism, yet the Egyptian military has been reluctant to give up these big, shiny toys.
It is precisely such big-ticket items that give the United States the least bang for its buck. These items cost upward of hundreds of millions of dollars yet are not, in the administration's words, "necessary to address vital security interests." They are generally cited as means of assuring that Egypt continues to maintain its peace treaty with Israel, but as the Brookings Institution's Shadi Hamid and Peter Mandaville recently noted, the aid is unnecessary: "it has been in Egypt's own strategic interest to maintain the peace treaty." Ironically, the F-16s and Abrams tanks actually strengthen Egypt's military, increasing the threat posed to Israel. Even if the partial suspension of aid does not improve the Egyptian regime's behavior, it may still have been strategically sensible to jettison of a portion of the assistance that had costs outweighing its benefits.
But there is ample reason to believe that this suspension will be felt by the Egyptian military. The commonly cited refrain that U.S. dollars will simply be replaced with Saudi riyals and Emirati dirhams is missing the point: It's not about the money; it's about the American hardware. Egypt cannot simply use Saudi money to purchase F-16s directly from Lockheed-Martin; the U.S. government reviews all direct commercial sales from American defense companies to foreign governments. While Egypt could purchase Chinese or Russian models, American jets are far and away the most technologically superior in the world. It would also be costly for Egypt's military to shift to another donor's jets and have to retrain officers to fly them, especially since it will have to maintain its existing training programs for the 240 F-16s it does have. Indeed, we saw the first indications that the suspension has hurt the military on Friday, when Egypt hired D.C.'s top lobbyists to improve its image in Washington.
Most critics of aid suspension have argued that it will weaken the United States' relationship with Egypt's military, depriving the administration of crucial leverage over Egypt's internal and foreign policies. However, much of the military-to-military relationship will continue despite the suspension, including counterterrorism assistance, spare parts for military equipment and, most importantly, the personal relations developed from joint military training and education.
It has also been made abundantly clear over the past four months that U.S. military assistance has not bought Washington much leverage. This is in part because Egypt's military has not considered the administration's threat to suspend aid as credible — a threat that, given the suspension, will now become more credible in the future. With a partial suspension, the United States now has a wider range of options to use for leverage, from cutting additional aid to reinstating part or all of the suspended aid. If anything, the U.S. leverage over the Egyptian military has now increased.
On the other side, the Obama administration's decision is also being criticized for its muddled message for not having cut all aid. As a senior administration official answered, "I think it's fair to say that holding up the deliveries of hundreds of millions [of] dollars in assistance is a pretty clear message." Leaving part of the relationship intact allows for continual feedback on the military's progress toward regaining the aid. Thus, while the administration seeks to reprimand the Egyptian military for the 1,000 people reported killed since the coup, it still extends a hand to recalibrate the close relationship. And that demonstrates very clever balancing of the multiple U.S. interests at stake in Egypt.


These demonstration sessions provide hands-on personal support and take place in classrooms, where consultants model lessons, student conferences, and/or small-group instruction. Coaches actively participate in this process by taking notes, asking questions, and reflecting on what they have observed and learned in order to fully understand, emulate, and re-teach. Each day often includes two or three sessions with varying grade-level groups of teachers.
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5GRAIL is organising a workshop during VTCspring 2023 in Florence from 20-23 June 2023. Submit your papers now! Deadline: 23 February
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5GRAIL receives innovation recognition from the EC!
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Around 7.5 million home owners have getaway homes. These are homes that take them away from the bustle of the city life and bring them much needed peace and tranquillity. While all of us do everything in our power to secure the homes in which we stay, it's important that we realise that our vacation homes need the love and security as well. While it's hard to get to know what's going on around these homes of ours, we give you a few tips to really boost their security up a notch.
Giving your local police the news about your vacation home is the first step towards security. Whenever they conduct regular patrols, they can also check on your beloved property. Should there be a mishap, they can investigate and inform you. Do let them know of your arrival and departure periods.
Using simple psychology can be beneficial to protecting your home. Frequent visits to fix up your home can go a long way in keeping burglars away. Also, hire someone to trim your lawn, rake leaves and clean out your swimming pool. A neat and tidy home setting is a marker of your regular presence in your property. This can go a long way in deterring a potential burglar.
Furthermore, home automation system can be an incredible addition to your safety endeavours. Timed lights and smart locks are the most common and useful forms of home automation technology. Use them to secure your household and rest easy with the knowledge that your home is safe.
There's nothing like the comfort of knowing everything's well in your absence. Installing a home security system will allow you to achieve just that. Motion sensors, smart notifications, and night vision are gifts of modern technology that have really set the standard when it comes to protecting your home. Furthermore, alarm systems can scare off any potential burglars before they even get to the deed.
A little bit of time and patience with securing your home will definitely contribute to the protection of your property and valuables. Get it done, and have happy holidays – every time!


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Associated Industries of Florida releases 2016 Voting Record
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Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster
The Associated Industries of Florida report card is out, and the Florida Legislature received passing grades.
Tom Feeney, the president and CEO of the Associated Industries of Florida, said the Florida Senate voted in favor of the business community 87 percent of the time, while the Florida House voted in favor of the business community 94 percent of the time.
The annual Voting Record report is compiled by using actual votes cast as reported in the official state records. AIF has published its Voting Records report for the last 41 years, calculating more than 203,290 votes on 1,896 bills with 798 legislators.
"We applaud them for their hard work and for powering the business community forward by eliminating the sales tax on manufacturing machinery and equipment and by passing a tax package that truly meets the needs of Florida's families and businesses," said Feeney in a statement.
Thirty-five lawmakers voted in favor of the business community 100 percent of the time, according to the report.
"One of our highest priorities going into this past session was encouraging our lawmakers to address Florida's major water challenges by developing sound, comprehensive science-based water policy," said Brewster Bevis, AIF's senior vice president of state and federal affairs. "We appreciate their passage of the comprehensive water reform legislation, which showed Floridians across the state that their elected officials are dedicated to improving our water quality and are ready to plan for our state's environmental and economic future."
In this article:2016 Legislative Session, Associated Indstries of Florida, Brewster Bevis, Tom Feeney
Written By Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster


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Nishikori upsets Djokovic, Federer wins at Basel
BASEL, Switzerland – Top-ranked Novak Djokovic was stunned in the Swiss Indoors semifinals on Saturday, losing 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-0 to Japan's Kei Nishikori.
Nishikori was overmatched in the first set but turned the match around by winning a thrilling rally when Djokovic was just two points from victory at 5-4 in the second.
The 32nd-ranked Nishikori, a wild card entry at the tournament, won the second-set tiebreaker then raced away with the final set for a career-best victory.
He will play Roger Federer in Sunday's final after the defending champion beat Stanislas Wawrinka — his gold medal-winning doubles partner at the Beijing Olympics — 7-6 (5), 6-2 in the other semifinal.
"It's unbelievable," said the 21-year-old, who is assured of his highest ATP ranking when the list is published Monday. "In the second set I started playing well and getting a rhythm."
Djokovic was twice treated for "pretty bad" pain in his right shoulder after having his serve broken, but praised Nishikori as a deserved winner.
"He was getting impossible balls back and really making me play every shot," said Djokovic, who was coming off a six-week break to treat a back injury. "He was better and I didn't use the opportunities I had. I don't think I should speak about that third set."
Djokovic dropped to 68-4 this year, with two of his losses the result of injury retirements.
Nishikori joins his boyhood idol Roger Federer, in the French Open semifinals, as the only players to beat Djokovic in a full match in 2011.
Federer revealed that he practiced with Nishikori on Saturday morning to prepare him to face the world No. 1.
"I warmed him up today," said the 30-year-old Swiss, who joked that "more and more often" he was facing opponents who grew up admiring him.
"It's funny and it's nice to play the future stars," said Federer, adding that he did not regret missing a rematch with Djokovic, after spurning two match points in their U.S. Open semifinal. "It's always special for me to play the final in my hometown no matter who it's against."
Nishikori was initially outclassed as Djokovic raced to a 5-1 lead, moving his opponent around the court with powerful ground strokes.
Djokovic then lost his serve and called for a medical timeout to treat his right shoulder. Pains in the same shoulder had prompted his retirement in the Cincinnati Masters final in August against Andy Murray.
However, Nishikori then found more service trouble — managing just a 24 percent first-serve rate in the opening set — and Djokovic took advantage.
Nishikori improved in the second set, and a break to lead 3-2 prompted Djokovic to again call for the trainer.
Djokovic was two points from victory when Nishikori showed tenacity to win a thrilling point that brought both men to the net, before Djokovic's defensive volley went out.
"It was, like, 20, 30 (shots)," Nishikori said of the defining rally. "If you lose the point, it's almost over. I was just concentrating on putting the ball in play."
In the tiebreaker, Nishikori profited from Djokovic's wayward double-handed backhands. Nishikori dominated the decider and clinched it when Djokovic sent another backhand long.
Djokovic did not commit to playing at the Paris Masters, which starts Monday, though he would have a first-round bye.
"With this condition of the shoulder, I don't think I will be able to practice in the next couple of days. It's pretty bad," he said.
In their only previous meeting, Djokovic allowed Nishikori just nine games in a straight-sets win at Roland Garros last year.
Nishikori has just one career title, on hard courts at Delray Beach, Florida, in 2008, and previously reached one final this year. He lost to American Ryan Sweeting on clay in Houston in April.
He has enjoyed his best series of results since the U.S Open, beating eighth-ranked Jo-Wilfried Tsonga en route to a Shanghai Masters semifinals loss to Murray.
In Basel, he also recovered from losing the opening set to beat seventh-ranked Tomas Berdych in the first round.