FAP: CON EL APOYO DEL GENERAL DEL AIRE JAVIER RAMIREZ GUILLEN LOGRE DESTERRAR EL ABUSO, EL ACOSO Y COMBATIR LA CORRUPCIÓN.
TAMBIÉN FUE DADO DE BAJA A LOS MALOS ELEMENTOS Y PASADO AL RETIRO A MALOS OFICIALES.
TAMBIÉN FUERON ASCENDIDOS Y SE DIERON COMANDO A LOS BUENOS OFICIALES. PERO ES UNA PENA QUE EL COCOGATO DE ESTA GESTIÓN NO SABE ESCUCHAR. POR ELLO LA NEGRA SERÁ RECORDADO SIEMPRE COMO EL MEJOR COMANDANTE GENERAL DEL AIRE .


text:
Ten Bhutanese receive Australia Awards scholarship
Coinciding with 20 years of diplomatic relationship between Australia and Bhutan, Australia Awards in collaboration with the Australian High Commission in New Delhi hosted a farewell event for 10 recipients of the Australia Awards scholarships. The event was attended by the Deputy Ambassador to Bhutan Sarah Storey along with government officials.
Of the 10 recipients, seven are civil servants and three are from the private and corporate sectors. They will be going to Canberra, Western Australia, Sydney and Melbourne.
Ever since the Colombo Plan of 1962, more than 1,200 Bhutanese have gone to Australia to pursue further studies. Since 2011, a total of 350 Bhutanese received the Australia Awards to study in Australia.
To commemorate the 20 years of diplomatic relationship between Australia and Bhutan, a book titled "A celebration of Alumni Impact in South Asia" was also launched.
The 10 recipients are the first batch of Bhutanese to receive the scholarships after the Covid-19 Pandemic.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Advocate Salutes Geraldine Greene of SFCS - Scarsdale Premier Insurance Agency | Advocate Brokerage Corp.
Long-time Executive Director of Scarsdale § Edgemont Family Counseling Services, Geraldine Greene, was honored on June 19th at the 21st Annual Gourmet Galaxy Benefit at The Fountainhead in New Rochelle.
Geraldine has been a driving force at SFCS for the past 35 years, leading its transition into a nationally accredited agency with support programs for people at every stage of life. Today SFCS and The Open Door she helped to create serves the broadest range of our neighbors in need.
Under Geraldine's stewardship, SFCS created the Youth Service Project. SFCS also provides a variety of support resources to help seniors remain in their homes.
Other valued programs of SFCS include Parent Groups, Young Women in Leadership, Women in Leadership, and Young Men in Leadership all designed to build self-confidence and leadership skills.
This year's event featured 30 of Westchester's finest chefs' as well as local Italian tenor Teo Ricciardella who provided beautiful music for the community who came out to celebrate Geraldine's outstanding service. The evening's auction rose over $20,000 which will benefit SFCS's Young Women and Young Men in leadership programs.
We wish Geraldine well and welcome Jay Genova, the new Executive Director as he continues the mission of strengthening our families and supporting our community.


We have committed the golden rule to memory; let us now commit it to life.
Tzu-kung asked, 'Is there a single word which can be a guide to conduct throughout one's life?' The Master said, 'It is perhaps the word 'shu.' Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire.


text:
Q: Installing javascript driver Mongodb-native on Windows server 2008 I have nodejs running with mongodb database and i'm trying to install the javascript driver mongodb-native.. When i try "npm install -g mongodb --mongodb:native"
I tried installing the same configuration on a Windows 7 machine and it works just fine. Any idea why it is not working with Windows server 2008 ?
here is the output i get from the npm install command:
npm http GET https://registry.npmjs.org/mongodb
npm http GET https://registry.npmjs.org/mongodb
npm http GET https://registry.npmjs.org/mongodb
npm http GET https://registry.npmjs.org/bson/0.1.5
npm http GET https://registry.npmjs.org/bson/0.1.5
npm http GET https://registry.npmjs.org/bson/0.1.5

> bson@0.1.5 install C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\mongodb\no
de_modules\bson
> node install.js || (exit 0)

================================================================================

=                                                                              =

=  Attempting to build bson c++ extension                                      =

=   Windows: no build will be attempted as binaries are prepackaged            =

=   Unix: on failure the package will still install without the C++ extension  =

=                                                                              =

================================================================================

mongodb@1.1.11 C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\mongodb
└── bson@0.1.5

C:\Users\xxx>npm ls
C:\Users\xxx
└── (empty)

A: I can confirm that the driver has only been tested on Windows 7, not W2K8 so it's not a surprise that it's not working.
It would be greatly appreciated if you could upload the debug information to the Node MongoDB Google Group for further analysis and testing. The issue can be tracked better there.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Humpback Breaches RIGHT Next to the Boat!
We had lots of sightings from our Whale Watches on Wednesday. Highlights included a big adult Humpback surprising us by surfacing 30 yards off our starboard rails on Seasmoke's Wake up with the Whales Cruise. Before this Humpback sounded, he waved his pectoral fin at us several times. On Manu Iwa's Wake up with the Whales Cruise, we were surprised by a breach so close to our port stern that we almost got splashed! We were also mugged for more than 10 minutes by 2 BIG humpbacks. These whales kept surfacing and spouting all over us…and then diving, only to surface on the other side of the boat. Though we know the spout contains a lot of mucus, it was pretty easy to get over the "ickiness" factor, even as it was landing all over us — to be that close to whales who obviously want to check us out is such an incredible experience, it even makes "whale boogers" acceptable!
Captain Claire's Humpback Fact of the Day: One of the questions we get asked most frequently on whale watches, is "Why are the whales doing that?" (and for "that", you can substitute any whale behavior we see…breaches, head lunges, peduncle throws…etc). Since we really can't ask the whales (well, we can ask, but they aren't answering) we tend to interpret behavior based on what else is going on in the whales' lives at that particular time. Humpbacks are in Hawaii to mate, calve, and take care of their babies. Aerial behaviors often result in big splashes which may be a great way for a whale to communicate size, status, location, excitement, aggression, irritation, or health to other whales (or to something/someone else he hears on the surface).


text:
UPDATE: Apple To Rebrand Beats Music
UPDATE 3: New reports confirm our initial conclusion: Apple may be rebranding Beats Music as part of a new iTunes music service, but it is not shutting it down. In fact, in a rare public repudiation, Apple spokesperson Tom Neumayr stated, "This is not true" when asked if Apple would shut down Beats Music.
The Orignal Story: Apple is said to be discontinuing the Beats Music service it purchased as part of a $3.2 billion deal that included Beats audio hardware, according to the usually reputable Techcrunch. 5 sources "including several prominent employees at Apple and Beats" confirmed to the blog that many engineers from Beats Music have been shifted to other projects at Apple, including iTunes.
Is Apple Shutting Down Beats Music Or Rebranding It?
Techcrunch cites the trouble that Beats Music has had gaining traction, and points to no mention of the service at the recent iPhone 6/Apple Watch mega-event as further proof. "The fact that the new iPhones did not come pre-installed with Beats Music, while several other Apple apps came loaded on the 6 and 6 Plus, should have been a red flag," according to the blog.
All true, but Beats has been cropping up elsewhere on Apple products, like last week on Apple TV. And then there's Apple CEO Tim Cook's expressed love of Beats Music during his recent Charlie Rose TV appearance. "Some people think they're all alike," said Cook of Beats vs. other subscription music services. "One night, I'm sitting playing with theirs versus some others," Cook continued, "and all of a sudden it dawns on me that when I listen to theirs for a while, I feel completely different. And the reason is: they recognised that human curation was important in the subscription service. The sequence of songs that you listen to affects how you feel… I couldn't sleep that night, so I was thinking 'we need to do this'."
Does that sound like a CEO ready to buy and shut down Beats Music?
I'm betting
that Techcrunch is wrong. (And, it turns out I bet right) Beats Music isn't shutting down. Rather, I suspect that it is being rebranded and folded into something new within iTunes. Mostly likely, its a paid subscription music service that will look and feel like an Apple product but operate a lot like… Beats Music.
In fact, in the same story Techcrunch offers evidence that could back up my theory: "Instead of Beats Music, the Apple Watch features an unannounced music app with a blue play button (top right in the photo below) that instantly starting playing songs when tapped during a demo."
Re/code now reports that its sources confirm ourt hunch, saying, " Apple won't shutter the streaming service. It may, however, modify it over time, and one of those changes could involved changing the Beats Music brand."
Apple CEO Tim Cook talks Steve Jobs, Beats, and why TV is stuck in the '70s
Tim Cook On Beats Music and Why Apple Paid $3.2 Billion: "I couldn't sleep that night…"
Apple Adds Beats Music to App Store List of 'Apps Made by Apple'
Bruce Houghton on 09/23/2014 in Music Business | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: Apple, Beat music, Beats Electronics, Charlie Rose, Dre, IPhone, iTunes, Jimmy Iovine, Subscription business model, TechCrunch


text:
Lapel Daggers and Other Covert Blades of World War II
Mamerto Adan
This article will discuss small, stealthy daggers that were used in World War II.
Blades in Modern Warfare
When people say that blades have lost their place in modern warfare, they are mistaken. It's true that we won't be seeing sword-wielding soldiers on the battlefield (swords nowadays are primarily used for ceremonial purposes). Yet, an edged implement is still an important part of a soldier's everyday equipment. Knives, machetes, and axes are the favorites here. Outside the front lines, they are great utility and survival tools. They come in handy when a soldier needs to chop wood, open ration cans, clean game, and do anything else that requires cutting. And we all know that soldiers need their blades when they must stab someone.
World War I, the start of the modern battle, showed the potential of knives and other bladed melee weapons in closed quarters. They complimented a soldier's firearms and were useful for silently killing. New sets of somewhat exotic battle blades emerged during the Second World War. They were weapons of last resort, meant to be carried in secret. They were the ultimate concealed weapons for SOE and OSS operatives. We often associate the World War II battle blades with Commando Knives in the West and the Bolos in the Pacific, but, in reality, these clandestine weapons were more the stuff of James Bond movies and, ironically, saw actual use in James Bond-style exploits.
Use of Covert Blades in War
Again, when we say WWII blades, the first thing that swims into our minds is the famous Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife, also known as the "Commando Knife." These blades were issued to British Commandos and other specialized units for use in surprise attacks and close combat. Basically, it's a modern-day version of the medieval dagger, with its double-edged stabbing blade meant for penetration and slashing.
In the Pacific, Filipino guerillas sported their local machetes, known as Bolos, to lay waste to the Japanese units. Though ill-equipped, Bolo-wielding soldiers staged asymmetric raids, which helped American forces end the Japanese occupation.
Overall, we could say that these are the blades that won the Second World War. Although operatives of the Special Operations Executive (SOE), trained for espionage, sabotage, reconnaissance and silent killing, carried a different set of bladed weapons. The same can be said of their American counterpart, the predecessor of the CIA, the Office of Strategic Defense (OSS).
Since they operate in secrecy, undercover agents require easily concealed weapons. They are also issued with the Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife and firearms. For specialized operations, they needed small fighting knives that could be concealed in their clothing.
Necessity is the mother of invention. The need for small-but-effective battle blades resulted in some of the most ingenious concealed weapons ever.
A collection of Lapel and Thumb Daggers.
Stealthy Is Healthy
One way to hide your blades is to keep them in your clothes, and this is exactly where Lapel Daggers are held. These blades are small enough to be stitched in jacket lapels for quick deployment, though they could also be concealed in various strategic locations, like pockets, boots or waistbands. They are basically miniature daggers with double-edged blades made for slashing and stabbing. They have tiny handles, though they could also be secured to the fingers with twines.
Because of the secretive nature of SOE operations, the origins of these weapons are shady. Yet they are designed for SOE Agents and other units that are prone to capture. In instances when an agent was likely to be arrested, they were trained to surreptitiously access the blade, loop the twine cord in their index finger and pinch their weapons with their thumb and index finger. When enemy policemen seized them, say a Gestapo, they would slash either the hand, neck or face before escaping. These could also be used for silent killing by stabbing the area under the jaw or the back of the head. It could even grant an agent honorable death by using it as a suicide weapon when they are captured.
These blades can be handled either by the pinch hold (between the index finger and thumb) or with a push dagger hold, where the blade will stick out between the index and middle finger.
Instructions on Lapel Dagger handling.
The Lapel Dagger
The image above shows a variation of the Lapel Dagger, the Thumb Dagger. It has a slightly larger and wider blade but with a smaller handle (in fact, as others pointed out, it had no handle). Usage and concealment are the same as the Lapel Dagger. An agent will employ the same hold as with Lapel Daggers when doing slashes and stabs.
A selection of Sleeve Daggers.
The Sleeve Dagger
This weapon is the SOE version of the medieval stiletto. With a blade length of 3.5 inches, it's larger than Lapel or Thumb Daggers (the overall length is 7 inches). And indeed, its stiletto blade features a triangular cross-section and is ideal for stabbing. The weapon is kept in a sheath made to be strapped to the arm. And yes, you might have guessed, since it is strapped in the arm, it is obviously hidden in the sleeve, which explains the name. Sleeve Daggers are also known by their colorful nickname, "Commando Nail."
An agent's Insole Dagger.
The Insole Dagger
One advantage of bladed weapons over firearms is that you can hide them almost anywhere. Prison staffs and law enforcers know this perfectly well. Agents exploited this in WWII by creating various daggers that could slip into your clothing, as mentioned above.
We heard of the Lapel Daggers, then Thumb Daggers. We also have the Sleeve Dagger, but did you know that SOE and OSS agents also hid their knives in their shoes? We know how boot knives work. In fact, I have one. But SOE upped the ante by coming up with weapons that could slip into the shoe's insoles.
The Insole Daggers, also known as Shoe Daggers, are made to fit the arch of an agent's foot. It is concealed in a pocket inside the leather insoles of shoes. Like the Lapel Dagger, it had a string lanyard for quick deployment. And sometimes, covert weapons are made from farming tools.
A Tine Dagger (right) side by side with another covert blade (left).
The Tine Dagger
Tines of pitchforks were broken off and fashioned into a form of WWII shank. The result is a stabbing weapon, with an 8-inch blade. They are crude, primitive, but effective. A twine wrapping provides the grip, while thumb notches are carved to help orient the weapon during handling.
1. Seman, Mark (2001). Secret Agent's Handbook. Lyons Press.
2. Windrum, William (2001). Clandestine Edged Weapons. Phillips Publications.
3. "Thumb & Lapel Daggers, Nails, Brochettes, Etc." fairbairnsykesfightingknives.com.
4. Thompson, Leroy (March 1997). "Tiny Terrors, WW2 Lapel, and Thumb Daggers" Tactical Knives Magazine.


It's a mysterious interplay between Eternal Vastness and the Little One we call "me". In truth, there is no separation between the two ... waves and ocean are one.
This life is a process of unfoldment in This ... this mysterious interplay, and both will always be while we live in this body form.
As we discover the truth of our divinity as Eternal Vastness ... as This that always is ... we can fall into denial of that which represents it in this body ... the "me" we believe ourselves to be ... the Little One we know as ourselves.
There's no point in denying this aspect of ourselves for it is a reflection of That/This ... the Eternal Vastness that embraces all and everything.
This Little One is not the whole truth, it's a very limited version of the Truth but, it is a vital part of the whole. To realise this brings a gentleness into being ... we no longer blame it for all our woes ... we simply acknowledge it as part of the divine play and respect it for the role it has to play in our continued deepening and awakening.
Without the Little One, the Eternal Vastness could not be in this form. We can certainly let go of our identification with the small reflection but it's a mistake to deny it. We are to co-work with life ... bringing our heart's desire into the world. This is what we're here for.
surely after closing the fist comes the opening.


text:
module WaveFile
  # Implementation of Writer that caches the raw wave data for each buffer that it has written.
  # If the Buffer is written again, it will write the version from cache instead of re-doing
  # a String.pack() call.
  class CachingWriter < Writer
    def initialize(io_or_file_name, format)
      super

      @buffer_cache = {}
    end

    def write(buffer)
      packed_buffer_data = {}

      key = buffer.hash
      if @buffer_cache.member?(key)
        packed_buffer_data = @buffer_cache[key]
      else
        samples = buffer.convert(@format).samples

        if @format.channels > 1
          data = samples.flatten.pack(@pack_code)
        else
          # Flattening an already flat array is a waste of time.
          data = samples.pack(@pack_code)
        end

        packed_buffer_data = { data: data, sample_count: samples.length }
        @buffer_cache[key] = packed_buffer_data
      end

      @io.write(packed_buffer_data[:data])
      @total_sample_frames += packed_buffer_data[:sample_count]
    end
  end
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
*pexpo is a PyxelEdit animation and tileset exporter, incorporating basic texture packing*

[PyxelEdit](http://pyxeledit.com/) is a lovely little pixel editor that excels when producing tile-sets and animations.

It has some built-in export options which let you export images, animations, and tilesets as PNGs, but has nothing to let you export associated meta-data (e.g. time delay between frames).

Additionally it's a common requirement for most pixelly games to want to assemble individual PNGs into spritesheets for faster rendering.

Luckily PyxelEdit has the sanest file format of any tool I've ever used. A PyxelEdit file (`.pyxel`) is simply a zipped collection of PNG files plus a JSON data file.

This Python script is pretty simple and was written specifically for my own purposes, but I'm sharing it here as it may prove useful for someone else, even if only as a starting point.

Warning: It's not pretty :)

## Usage
```
usage: pexpo [-h] [-t] -o <file> <path>

Export PNGs and meta-data from PyxelEdit files.

positional arguments:
  <path>                path to pyxel files (directory or single file)

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -t, --tileset         generate tileset instead of spritesheet
  -o <file>, --out <file>
                        filename of assembled PNG
```
By default, pexpo loops through animation definitions, generating names (based on the filename plus the animation name) and packing them into a spritesheet. It will output a single PNG plus an XML file listing each sprite with its sheet coordinates and other data, such as time delays (listed in the  `<anims>` element in the XML metadata).

If no animations exist, the script will export sprites from tiles chopped out of the canvas (listed in the  `<sprites>` element in the XML metadata).

Currently the script only picks image data from the first layer (I will add layer composition shortly).

(**Note** As this was written for my own purposes there is some special handling for any layer named 'mask'. Such a layer will be exported separately and the sprite coordinates specified as `mx` and `my` attributes in the parent sprite element.)

Alternatively the script can be run to export a tileset (using the `-t` flag). The width of the output PNG is set to the same as that defined in PyxelEdit. No metadata file is produced in this mode, as the expected use is as a zero-based index into the tileset.

The texture packing algorithm is an exceptionally stupid, but fast and effective, method whereby it simply sorts sprites by height and does scanline detection to find a space.

One final warning. The PyxelEdit file format is undocumented and probably changes between releases. The script has been used with PyxelEdit version 0.3.108.

## Example output spritesheet XML

```
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<spritesheet image="sprites.png">
  <anims>
    <a name="banana-spin">
      <s d="100" h="9" w="9" x="103" y="97"/>
      <s d="100" h="9" w="9" x="191" y="99"/>
      ...
    </a>
    ...
  </anims>
  <sprites>
    <sprite name="thingwithamask">
      <s h="11" mx="142" my="90" w="7" x="135" y="90"/>
      ...
    </sprite>
    ...
  </sprites>
</spritesheet>
```


Some women are able to maintain a busy career and a bustling family at the same time, and they do it beautifully. I admire them for their discipline and dedication. It has been my observation, however, that this dual responsibility is a formula for exhaustion and frustration for many others. It can be a never-ending struggle for survival. Why? Because there is only so much energy within the human body, and when it is invested in one place it is not available for use in another. Consider what it is like to be a mother of young children-one must rise early in the morning, get the kids dressed, fed, and situated for the day, then go to work, labor from ten to six, go by the grocery store and pick up some stuff for dinner, and then go home. One is dog tired by that point and needs to put her feet up for a few minutes. But you can't rest. The kids are hungry, and they've been waiting to see you all day.
"Read me a story, Mom," says the most needy.
Then begins another four to six hours of very demanding "mothering" that will extend into the late evening.One must fix dinner, help with homework, and give each child some "quality time." Then comes the task of getting them into bed, I get tired just thinking of a schedule like this.Coffeehas to be there to bail me out.
The first time I set my eyes on my daughter, I knew that my whole life would change. And what a change it was. Apart from dirty diapers, it was the beginning of sleepless nights.Babies have very strange timings for everything. They will sleep during the day and all the relatives and friends who will come to see the new baby will say that your baby is not demanding at all – see she is sleeping peacefully.They will develop colic in the late evenings and howl till midnight after which they will want to play till 4 AM. My second baby proved to be even more demanding than the first one (she still is). More colic, more wakefulness, more teething problems, and more cranky me.During such times coffee proves to be a great de-stressor for a young mother.
When I joined office after maternity leave; I used to take my daughter with me to office. She used to stay in the crèche within the office premises. My boss used to think that Aarti can be given a lot of extra work because her daughter is also there in the office.Alas, again coffee came to my rescue. I got a coffee making machine for my pantry, so that I could get my favourite brew even at odd hours.
I am waiting for them to grow up, so that when I return home after a long day at work, they prepare a nice cup of coffee for me.But I know it will happen the other way round – I will end up preparing coffee for them to help them cope with their lengthy school assignments. After all that is what motherhood is about.


text:
Yolandi Visser Singer Biography, Net Worth, Husband, Wiki, Age, Career
December 11, 2022 Maira
Let's talk about a talent powerhouse. Yolandi Visser, A well-known South African singer, songwriter, and actress.
Her dedication has resulted in a massive fan base from all over the world. Let's know how she started everything in her life and then achieved it with hard work and great efforts.
Who is Yolandi Visser?
Early Life of Yolandi Visser
Yolandi Visser Career
Yolandi Visser Personal Life
Yolandi Visser Net Worth
Name: Yolandi Visser
Birth Date: December 1, 1984,
Birth Place: Port Alfred, South Africa's east coast
Net Worth: $10 Million.
Profession: Singer, Songwriter, Actor.
School: boarding school in Pretoria
Brother: Leon
Children: Sixteen Jones, Tokkie, Meisie, and Jemile
(Photo by Martin Lagardere/Getty Images)
Yolandi Visser is a South African singer, songwriter, and actress best known as the frontwoman of the Zef-Rave-Rapper band 'Die Antwoord.'
She formed the band in 2008 with her then-partner Ninja and producer DJ Hi-Tek.
She has so far released four studio albums, two EPs, and one mixtape as a member of the band.
Interscope Records released their debut album, $O$, but they later left the label to avoid being pressured to become "more generic."
She was a member of the music and art groups 'The Constructs Corporation' and 'MaxNormal.tv' before forming the band.
She appeared on the cover of the February 2012 issue of South African Rolling Stone magazine, alongside Ninja and their daughter.
They also performed their latest song live on the 'Late Show with David Letterman.' She and Ninja appeared as meta-fictional versions of themselves in the 2015 film 'Chappie.'
She has also contributed to a number of short films.
Yolandi Visser was born on December 1, 1984, in Port Alfred, a small town on South Africa's east coast. She was adopted as a baby by a "cute little Afrikaans family" and never met her birth parents.
Her father was a priest, and her mother worked as a housewife.
Leon, her adoptive older brother, died in 2015. As a child growing up in a conservative Afrikaans society, she became very rebellious, frequently getting into fistfights.
She was sent to a boarding school in Pretoria when she was 16 years old.
Yolandi Visser was always interested in music as a child, but she didn't understand rap. She had also never considered a career in music.
She became friends with Markus, a musician, after moving to Pretoria to attend school.
Markus was an expert at creating electronic music using fruity loops. He frequently recorded her in order to incorporate it into his tracks.
She became interested in music after hearing Markus's tracks.
But she still had a lot of questions about how to make a career in music.
Yolandi also met Watkin Tudor Jones (Ninja) in Cape Town. When she showed Ninja the dome songs she had made with Markus, he invited her to join his rap group.
As a result, they formed their own band called 'Die Antwoord.' Fortunately, there were numerous chart-topping singles and albums.
Later on, they were joined by DJ Hi-Tek (Justin de Nobrega), a producer. Her video 'Enter the Ninja' was a smash hit, catapulting her career to new heights.
Damien Hirst, the great English artist, has canonized the lead female voice of 'Die Antwoord' in bronze and gold leaf. Yolandi Visser is the inspiration for Damien Hirst's artwork.
In addition, he regards her as a Goddess from an ancient civilization. There is no additional information available regarding her awards and nominations.
Also Read: Who is singer Sinach?
Yolandi Visser is dating her boyfriend Watkin Tudor Jones Jr. as of 2022. They've been dating for quite some time. He is a Libra and she is a Sagittarius.
Aries, Leo, Libra, and Aquarius are thought to be the most compatible signs with Sagittarius, while Virgo and Pisces are thought to be the least compatible signs with Sagittarius.
Watkin Tudor Jones Jr. is 47 years old, and Yolandi is 37.
Before this one, Yolandi Visser was in a relationship with Die Antwoord bandmate (Ninja) Jones.
She was 16 when moved to Cape Town after finishing school. There she met Ninja, who assisted her in determining her career goals.
She later fell in love with Ninja and had a daughter named Sixteen Jones who was born in 2005.
They never married and later divorced, but they are still close. Her daughter, who made her debut in the music video for "I Fink U Freaky" at the age of seven, is also a singer and songwriter who is a member of a band.
She later took in a street child named Tokkie.
She also has three adopted children: Tokkie, a boy, and Meisie, a girl, were adopted in 2010, and Jemile, a son, was adopted in 2015.
Also Read: Who is South African Businesswoman Evodia Mogase?
Yolandi is estimated to have a net worth of $10 million. She has a long history in the music industry.
She has undoubtedly amassed a large fortune, with the majority of her wealth derived from her professional music career.
Despite her obvious wealth, Yolandi prefers to live a simple life. Her salary is still unknown, but it will be updated as soon as it is available.
Yolandi is currently 36 years old. She is a woman of average stature; she also appears to be quite tall in stature in her photos. She stands at a height of 5 feet and 2 inches.
She also weighs 50 kg or 110 lbs. Her Eye Color is Blue and her Hair Color is Blonde. She looks like a doll.
Height Feet & Inches: 5'2"
I hope you enjoyed reading this article and had a great time going through it. Let us know your thoughts and opinion regarding this article below in the comment section.
Next Read: Who is South African Businesswoman Mercy Mogase?


moncler pharrell x bulletproof vestUsers can upload, view, and comment on videos. In April 2008, reports indicated that the site is host to over 83 million video clips, boasting more traffic than any other site. You can always gain more knowledge. That's the enlightenment part. Bright House Media Strategies, the advertising arm of Bright House Networks, offers businesses advanced targeted advertising solutions. Bright House Networks also owns and operates exclusive local news and sports channels in its Florida markets.. Method 2: Manually Replacing the BootAnimation System FileThis method is a little more tricky, but effective nonetheless. Be sure that in addition to being rooted, you have a file browser on your phone that has root privileges, like ES File Explorer File Manager.
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Q: Error: JavaFX runtime components are missing, and are required to run this application (with Maven) I get the error Error: JavaFX runtime components are missing, and are required to run this application in IDEA when I try to compile JavaFX application.
I added the modules via maven. There is pom.xml:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>

    <groupId>org.example</groupId>
    <artifactId>clockAlarm</artifactId>
    <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>

    <url>http://maven.apache.org</url>

    <properties>
        <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
    </properties>

    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.openjfx</groupId>
            <artifactId>javafx-controls</artifactId>
            <version>13</version>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>
    <build>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.openjfx</groupId>
                <artifactId>javafx-maven-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>0.0.5</version>
                <configuration>
                    <mainClass>Program</mainClass>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>
</project>

How it can be fixed if I want to use JavaFX modules only via maven with no downloading sdk and setup it by myself?
There is Programm class:
import javafx.application.Application;
import javafx.stage.Stage;
import javafx.scene.Scene;
import javafx.scene.Group;
import javafx.scene.text.Text;

public class Program extends Application {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        Application.launch(args);
    }

    public void start(Stage stage) {

        Text text = new Text("Alarm Clock");
        text.setLayoutY(80);
        text.setLayoutX(100);

        Group group = new Group(text);

        Scene scene = new Scene(group);
        stage.setScene(scene);
        stage.setTitle("alarmClock");
        stage.setWidth(300);
        stage.setHeight(250);
        stage.show();
    }
}

All project settings are set to 13 java version.


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7. His father is a "BARRISTER".


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Coin & Numismatic News COINS Act Seeks 1c Coin and $1 Note Elimination; 5c Composition Change
COINS Act Seeks 1c Coin and $1 Note Elimination; 5c Composition Change
Mike Unser
New legislation takes aim at eliminating the penny, replacing dollar bills with dollar coins, and changing the composition of nickels
New legislation takes aim at eliminating the penny, replacing dollar bills with dollar coins, and changing the metallic make-up of nickels
Legislation reintroduced in the U.S. Senate seeks to save taxpayers money by suspending production of the 1-cent coin, changing the 5-cent coin's composition, and replacing $1 notes with $1 coins.
Numbered S.759, the Currency Optimization, Innovation and National Savings (COINS) Act of 2017 was introduced by Sen. John McCain and Sen. Enzi on March 29, 2017.
"With our country facing $20 trillion in debt, Congress must act to protect the American taxpayer," Senator McCain said in a statement. "By reforming and modernizing America's outdated currency system, this commonsense bill would bring about billions in savings without raising taxes."
10-Year Suspension of 1-Cent Coin
In the U.S. Mint's FY 2016 Annual Report, the agency said that it costs 1.5 cents to strike and distribute each 1-cent coin. The nation's smallest denominated coin has been a money-loser for 11 straight years.
The COINS Act would suspend their production for circulation for 10 years and pave the way for their elimination by requiring a GAO study to determine the effect of the suspension and whether it should remain in place.
The legislation carves out an exception to the suspension, enabling the coin's production to fulfill the needs of numismatic collectors.
Change 5c Composition
The same U.S. Mint annual report said it costs 7.44 cents to produce and distribute every 5-cent coin. Similar to the cent, the nickel has lost money for 11 years in a row.
Five-cent coins are composed of 25% nickel with the balance copper. The COINS Act directs the U.S. Mint to make them from 80% copper and 20% nickel, and provides a provision to increase their copper content further.
Before any composition changes could happen, there are requirements that they must save taxpayers money and have no impact on the public or on stakeholders (like vending machine companies).
Replace $1 Notes with $1 Coins
Finally, the COINS Act would replace $1 Federal Reserve notes with longer lasting $1 coins.
"It is well-documented that replacing the dollar bill with a dollar coin would save taxpayers billions of dollars, and also be good for consumers, businesses, and the environment," said Tom Schatz, President of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW).
According to a GAO study published in 2011, median lifespans are 40 months for notes and 34 years for coins. The same report estimates costs at 2.7 cents per note compared to 15 cents per coin. The GAO's analysis concluded that replacing the $1 note with a $1 coin could save taxpayers approximately $5.5 billion over 30 years.
"The Council Citizens Against Government Waste has been advocating for the dollar coin for many years and we welcome the introduction of the COINS Act by Senators McCain and Enzi," Schatz added.
Beginning 2 years after its enactment, $1 notes would no longer be printed aside from numismatic purposes, and Federal Reserve Banks would remove them from circulation for destruction. They would remain legal tender currency.
Bill's Status
S.759 has been refereed to Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.
For it to become law, it must pass in the Senate and House and get signed by the President. Similar versions of the bill have been introduced in prior sessions of Congress but they died from inaction.
US Mint Seeks Public Comment on Metallic Coin Composition Factors and Modernization
U.S. Mint Director Ed Moy to Testify Tuesday about Metallic Composition of Coins
Reintroduced House Bill Seeks to Change the Composition of Metals in Coins
Previous articleAustralian 2017 Collector Coins for April
Next articleGold Futures Log New 5-Month High
Seth Riesling
Two week old news here published March 29 by coinworld.com. Better late than never!
-NumisDudeTX
M YF
The coins need major overhaul, none of them with the exception of the $1 coin is fit for purpose anymore. The 5 and 10 cent coins need to be produced in copper-plated steel and comparable in size to their respective values, the 25 cent or quarter needs to be re-issued as a coin comparable to the Dollar coin along with a practical and usable 50 cent coin – also in comparison to the Dollar coin and the Mint needs to explore the issue of a practical $2 coin. Change seems to never take place with circulation coins, if you have… Read more »
Good ideas and I like the way they will keep cents for proof and mint sets (and perhaps selling in bag lots like halves?). We really could easily get by with just a nickel, dime, and quarter, but overcoming inertia to change is hard (can anyone say "metric system"?). Getting rid of the cent is logical, given how its value has steadily decreased, but I doubt if any US government wants to admit this way that the money is worth less. After all, the shrunken Anthony dollar was derisively called the "Carter quarter". Still, it would be a good time… Read more »
michael angiolillo
I think it's a great idea. It would be better if a new $1 coin would be art like it used to be.
Unfortunately special interest groups will end up killing these proposals & nothing will change.
I'm surprised an old fogey like John McCain would sponsor this kind of bill but glad to see it and that something might be done about the penny and $1 bill. Don't understand the 10 year suspension on making the penny nor the continued production of the penny for numismatic purposes. Canada no longer mints pennies at all and their collector coin sets haven't suffered at all. Speaking of Canada at least when they stopped making the penny they provided a solution for purchases that ended in the odd cent whereas this bill makes no suggestion about what to do… Read more »
Chas Barber
In order to help business the Executive Branch proposes if pa$$ed all transactions will just be rounded up to the next dollar……seriously about time, but the vested mining etc., lobbyists will be out against this like a Chicago Aviation Security Team……what a drag
a Bob
These proposals are a little more popular each year. If they just add a provision to increase the two dollar bill production, it could get by the lobbies.
Robert F Hall
Anxious to see who will be on the Dollar coin?
Scott the Robot
Trump agreed not to veto this bill as long as his face was placed on the new nickel, dime, quarter, $1 and $2 coin.
Clifford Johnson
As ever, this article cites cost savings that completely ignore the $1 public debt reduction that accrues to the US Treasury from issuing each $1 coin. (There is no countervailing public debt increase due to $1 federal reserve notes being withdrawn, since they are issued by the twelve privately-owned federal reserve banks.) As a result, the benefits to the government over the same (30 year) period, based on the same production schedules, are some $50 billion more than the given estimates.
Ideally, the $1 coin should be redesigned, to match the size of the eliminated penny. Although pretty, the bulk of the $1 coin renders it inconvenient.
The penny is a loser – yes. But elimination of thie bill will cost everyone reading this more money as a whole. The government studies do not cover the realities of increased costs to consumers that happen in the real world. Yes – taxpayer money is saved THEORETICALLY and ON PAPER to look good for politicians. But the reality is that, just like when Canada eliminated one dollar bills, the costs to consumers on a daily basis rise from two main occurences: 1. When the dollar "psychologically" becomes the "new quarter," retailers take advantage of this and jack up prices.… Read more »
Munzen
The COINS Act conspicuously ignores the fact that every other country which replaced its $1 (or equivalent) bill also has a widely-circulating $2 denomination. Having both denominations greatly simplifies change-making AND negates the standard "pocket full of $1 coins" objection of the naysayers – any dollar amount less than five bucks can be given with at most two coins instead of the four needed in its absence. Ideally a $2 coin should be introduced at the same time as the $1 bill is ended. It should be small and distinctive, perhaps multi-sided and/or bimetallic. However given the politics surrounding ANY… Read more »
Reply to Munzen
The $2 coin could be cent-sized.
"The $2 coin could be cent-sized"
Definitely, although there'd have to be enough differences to avoid confusion, not to mention re-use of old 1¢ coins. The Australian $2 coin is a good example that a small, higher-denomination coin can be successful. It's 20.5 mm in diameter (very close to our cent's 19 mm) but has a distinctive thickness and color.
joera
This has been in the talks for a while now. Maybe it WILL happen this time. And maybe it would be a good time to put the half dollar back into circulation. But why would it be a 10 year period before it is all said and done.
The $5.5 billion savings over 30 years will never even be noticed the way our government goes through money. The savings per year would be just over 183 million, which in government terms is almost nothing. Sure the mint will save but it will be spent somewhere else.
Reply to JB
As my previous comment states, the actual savings would be ten times the GAO's estimate, owing to the GAO's failure to incorporate the Treasury's $1 per $1 coin debt reduction.
Steve Gonzales
There is such a glut of pennies out there does not make Sense (cents) to be producing them! Especially since we are loosing money. Hopefully President Trump will pass this bill reducing the deficit was his plan! Great Work Sen. Mcain. Hopefully the lobbyists will not have the power to block.


The hardest thing about having a baby is trying to get them to sleep during the day. Generally, parents will try rocking them in their arms, but most are just too busy to sit and rock their baby to sleep. That is when parents turn to baby rockers. Owning a baby rocker will allow parents to comfort their baby and get household chores done all at the same time. The best thing about baby rockers is there are four main types of rocker: baby rocker and swing, baby glider and rocker, baby rocker and sleeper and lastly, baby bouncer and rocker. This gives you the parent the freedom to pick the baby rocker that best suits you and your baby's needs.
Now you may be thinking to yourself what are the best baby rockers on the market? We know how busy parents are, so we did all the work for you by searching the Internet for the best baby rockers we could find. We read through and analyzed thousands of Amazon reviews to help us come up with our list of the ten best rockers for babies. Consumer reports were also helpful in deciding what a parent should be looking for in terms of safety and comfort in a baby rocker. Whatever you are looking for in a newborn rocker you will find it here.
For parents this is definitely a lifesaver. The vibrating action it has is very soothing for my baby, and the hanging toys which are colourful keep his eyes interested and busy. It is a great fit as it has a rocking action.
This Fisher Price baby rocker is perfect for your growing child. While your child is still a baby this product is ideal as an infant rocker. Then as your child grows, this model will be perfect for your toddler as a normal rocker. This item is ideal for parents on a budget and who want to get more usage out of one product.
The colorful hanging toys keep your baby's eyes and hands busy when you need sometime for yourself.
This newborn baby rocker is great for the price since you can use it in your child's toddler and infant stages. A bargain!
This is one of the best baby products we have! My daughter has slept in it every night right beside our bed since she was born. It rocks the whole night and we love that.
The second Fisher-Price baby rocker on the list will definitely do the job of getting your baby to sleep. This baby sleeper and rocker will help to calm your child and help them sleep peacefully. The hands-free rocking motion is especially handy for parents who multitask. This baby rocker is an Amazon bestseller, and a great buy!
Sleep and playtime seat all in one!
Includes hands-free rocking motions at the push of a button!
If your rubber band does happen to break, you can always replace it with a thick hair tie and it should work as good as new.
This infant rocker and sleeper is perfect for new parents on a budget.
My baby simply loves this product. It is the best thing for soothing the baby. He loves vibrations the most. Highly recommended.
The next reliable newborn rocker to make our list is another Fisher-Price model, but this product is a combination of a baby bouncer and rocker. Not only is this baby rocker the most affordable one on the list, it's also holds the highest rating on Amazon compared to the other baby rockers listed. For parents who need the best of the best, this model is definitely one to consider.
Since this Fisher Price baby bouncer and rocker is so long, your baby will be able to use this product for a long time.
Fisher-Price has done an amazing job on another budget friendly baby rocker while also not skimping out on important safety features. A great product at a fantastic price!
I bought this for a friend of mine as she is a new Mother. The first week she couldn't get any rest. They both have been sleeping comfortably after buying this. Well worth it.
The last Fisher-Price model on the list may come with a hefty price tag, but the automatic baby rocker feature makes this model worthwhile. This baby glider and rocker will surely do the job of getting your baby to sleep soundly.
Take the seat off the base and turn on the calming vibrations and rock the bouncer/rocker yourself so you can bond with your baby while it falls asleep in the baby rocker.
Even though it's pricier than most baby rocker recliners on this list, this baby glider and rocker is perfect for the busy parent.
It is an amazing little bouncer, my son can bounce in this and he stays put! It's also extremely easy to bounce it with my foot when I am busy with house chores! Perfect product for an affordable price!
As one of Amazons top choices in baby rockers, the Bright Starts playful pinwheel bouncer is wonderful for parents on a budget. Without a doubt, this baby bouncer and rocker will definitely calm and relax your child without having to break the bank!
The gender-neutral pattern is perfect in case you wanted a baby boy rocker or a baby girl rocker.
Ideal for families on a budget, plus you can feel safe leaving your child in the baby bouncer and rocker thanks to the three-point safety harness.
This thing is simply amazing, never gets out of balance and the speed is good. You can easily remove the pad as your baby can puke or have a diaper blowout. Totally worth it.
As a very popular brand in the parenting community, Graco finally makes its first appearance on our list of the best baby rockers. This baby rocker and swing comes with a baby rocking seat that gives your child the option to sway side to side or swing front to back. The addition of the removable baby rocker allows you the parent to pick up and rock your baby wherever you need to.
Features a five-point harness system!
The portable baby rocker feature is perfect for parents who want to be able to move their child with them around the house so stay close to them.
Overall, it has a lot of great features that could definitely benefit both you and your child, but it comes with a big price tag. Although the price is large, we would consider this model as the ideal baby-relaxing rocker.
I really find it easy to wash the cover. This is a great feature with babies because we all know that they spit up and sometimes the diaper leaks. It works on different speeds. The size is perfect. This swing is easy to move around your place or put in the car to go to vacation.
As the most expensive baby rocker on our list, the 4moms rockaRoo swing and rocker is ideal for parents who live in smaller living spaces. This baby rocker is one-third the size of a traditional swing, but still gently relaxes your baby like any other larger swing or rocker would. In this case, size definitely does not matter.
The addition of the MP3 plug in allows you to play your own calming music for your child!
A cool and unique product which is definitely worth the price if you need a smaller-than-usual rocker.
In love with this swing. It is so nice to set the speed to whatever I want. Seat is roomy and comfortable. My babies are easily soothed by it.
Your little one will love this baby glider and rocker that also doubles as a bouncer. This Graco glider elite baby swing will keep your baby feeling safe and comfortable at all times. The plush body support will make sure of your child's comfort, making it the perfect newborn rocker.
You can convert to the bouncer, so your baby can still have playtime while you move your baby around with you!
Perfect for busy parents who need a multitasking baby rocker!
This is definitely the best swing in the market. My second baby has not liked any swings until we bought this one. He absolutely loves this.
If your baby loves being comforted in a nursery rocking chair, then you will love the Graco glider lite lx baby swing. This newborn baby rocker comes with a very roomy seat and plush head support to keep your baby snug. The gliding speeds and the variety of melodies and nature sounds as well will keep your baby relaxed.
The lightweight, portable frame makes it easy for you to use this rocker in any room you'd like!
Ideal for parents who want a baby rocker you know will work and doesn't break the bank.
This is the best product I have bought in a long time. My baby loves it! He sleeps in it and quietly looks around while he's awake in it! Perfect buy!
When looking for the best baby rocker or swing, portability is definitely a positive feature. It easy to fit this two-in-one baby swing and rocker into any space thanks to its compact frame. The gentle swaying motion will allow your child to comfortably relax anywhere in your home. This baby rocker will certainly keep your little one feeling calm.
Since the baby glider and rocker is so small, this allows you to keep your baby close at all times while you child is entertained by the toys above them.
This rocker is perfect for busy parents who want to keep their baby close to them, while their child is relaxing.
Finding the right baby rocker for your child can be difficult. In order to fill this void, we rigorously scoured the Internet to find the best of the best. Collecting positive and negative reviews, we came to the conclusion that the baby rockers listed above will satisfy all the important requirements you are looking for. For prospective parents, there are many things you need to consider when purchasing a rocker for your baby, such as what type of baby rocker you need or whether it's a bouncer, swing, or glider. You might want an automatic baby rocker if you are usually busy and can't always be rocking your baby. Some parents might be looking for a portable baby rocker that they can easily bring with them wherever they go. It all depends on what your requirements are.
So, our question to you is, what type of baby rocker are you looking for? Once you go over our review and answer this question you will find your perfect fit. From our research, we found that the Fisher-Price Baby's Bouncer and the Graco DuetSoothe Swing and Rocker to be our top-rated models and were fairly well received among customers. Overall, you can't go wrong with any of the baby rockers listed, so pick the one that fits your lifestyle the best. Happy shopping!


Dmytro Sadovyi will visit CBC in February. On Thursday February 5 at 13:00, he will present a talk titeled: "Asymptotic approximation of a solution of a parabolic boundary-value problem on a large time interval" at Bakrommet.
"Asymptotic approximation of a solution of a parabolic boundary-value problem on a large time interval"
I also would like to include into my talk some results obtained by my scientific advisor together with his PhD student. They are about construction of asymptotic approximation of a solution of a BVP in a domain, which is a union of two thin rods of different thickness. They have studied the influence of a joint of these two rods on the asymptotic behavior of the solution. Such domain may me a model of an aneurysm, a stenosis, or a bifurcation in a blood vessel. Here the asymptotics is studied as thickness of both thin rods tends to 0.


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Postscript: Lessons from the great 2009 Birmingham City Council website disaster
The fallout from the relaunch of Birmingham City council's website (#bccwebsite) has continued, not just online but in the local press as well thanks to the strong interest of Birmingham Post Editor Marc Reeves.
It's not a coincidence that the Post has a 'web 2.0' site and in its reporting about #bccwebsite has even included comments left on its news stories as well as comment sourced from online feedback - including mine.
But by far the most interesting developing is the first step in the concretisation of webbie attempts to influence the council's web development in the shape of a wiki (capture above).
This echoes some of the major developments bringing together webbie citizens and government around the world, such as the just launched Code For America who say "we believe there is a wealth of talent in the web industry eager to contribute to the rebuilding of America."
It seems there's also a wealth of talent wanting to contribute in Birmingham as well. Whether they will be heard depends as much on their own abilities at lobbying as creating useful stuff online, alongside the council's abilities at listening of course. Let's not start off being cynical!
Socitm's Helen Williams noted on the Communities of Practice public sector social network my main point, that - from this disaster (and acknowledging it as a disaster) - Things Must Change:
I think there are some specific reasons for the level of interest (reaction to the high cost, perceptions of the third party contractor, the size of the council / city and the fact that it has many digitally active citizens). However, I also believe we have entered an era where councils can expect their websites and any re-launches to receive a whole new level of public scrutiny and comment (and not just in the Web Improvement and Usage Community!)
Let down by Comms, and politicians?
As I noted before, part of the disaster has been a PR one.
In private conversation I have expressed my sorrow for the staff member forced to step up to be the fallguy. Glyn Evans, Birmingham City Council's Corporate Director of Business Change, responses have been unfortunate but betray a lack of help from the Council's PR department.
Even more unfortunately why is he the fallguy and not a local politician? Doesn't it say something for the political leadership's attitude to their website - and possibly explaining why they got in this mess in the first place - that they can watch it be trashed in the press and online and say nothing?
Birmingham Post Editor Marc Reeves agrees with this analysis in a comment on my blog post:
I don't know Glyn Evans very well, but I do know he's an effective and passionate public servant who cares deeply about doing the best for the city of Birmingham and its citizens. Much of the opprobrium has centred on him, which I think is a little unfair, although no-one should shirk from holding him up to the 'cabinet responsibility' principle.
However, he has been let down by the absence of a cohesive, proactive strategic comms process which – if it existed – would have spared the council some devastating reputational damage, and Glyn this undeserved personal and professional embarrassment.
A well thought-out public affairs / public relations approach to this simply wouldn't have let the website 'launch' proceed. The simple expedient of quietly announcing that the first 'below the line' phase of the web overhaul was complete, with functionality to follow, would have avoided this mess. If, as Glyn says, there are major improvements on the way, then simply wait for them to be up ad running, then unveil all in a hail of publicity.
The website scandal just illustrates a much larger problem at the heart of BCC, I fear.
The non-reaction from local politicians (bar Sion Simon MP's retweet of my post) shows why the effects of the Birmingham digerati (aka 'twitterati') need to be as much political as they are digital.
Amongst other developments
It has been suggested that the task of transferring content fell to council staff rather than the contractor. Also that the statement '17,000 pages' actually means 17,000 content items.
An old post by Charles Arthur in The Guardian has surfaced which contains the claim that the project was "essentially trying to knit 35 sites operating under the council's umbrella into a single one. "
Reviewers have noted that the forms system, at the heart of any possible cost-savings and 'service transformation, is extremely outdated with "a bewildering array of options?" and has bits which simply don't work.
Reviewers have also noted that there are payment forms with no encryption.
Questions have been asked about whether there was any public consultation as well as pre-launch testing/breaking and fixing (including usability testing), partly as comments by Evans have suggested this is happening post-launch - "there is little point in assessing our residents' perspective – the view we value most – at this stage".
The exact role of the council's web team in the exercise remains a mystery.
The CMS wasn't built by Capita, it was a commercial java-based CMS called FatWire (source: Stef Lewandowski).
Going over the top (in another sense)
In a great post about the website, local web business owner Jake Grimley has bravely nailed his colours to the mast (more people with potential business to lose will have to follow Jake if efforts like that started by the Wiki are to succeed) and made concrete suggestions from his own experience of developing large and mission-critical websites. He also goes with my guess on what £2.8m actually bought.
For me, it's not really the lack of RSS Feeds (inexplicable as that is) or the failure of the CSS to validate, or the difficulties keeping the site up on its launch day that really bother me. It's the complete lack of attention to detail or quality in the content, design and information architecture that I find astounding. For those that need examples, there is a log of snarky highlights, but you just need to spend five minutes clicking around the site to see what I mean. It's the equivalent of re-launching the Town Hall with bits of plaster falling off, missing roof-tiles, and sign-posts to facilities that never got built.
Another great follow-up post by Pesky People details the accessibility issues and comes out fighting:
At the moment they are saying Disabled residents in Birmingham are not important enough as Gly Evans was quoted in the Birmingham Post
All the signs are that this one will not go away, for the reasons Helen Williams outlines. But it remains to be seen if the 'Lessons from the great 2009 Birmingham City Council website disaster' will actually be learned any time soon. That's down to all of us, including you, the reader of this blog post.
One other consequence
As I endeavored to make clear in my previous post, none of this should be taken as a criticism of the City Council's Web Team. It is unfortunate that it appears that this may not be the case. It would be more than good to hear from them as developments continue - it would be invaluable.
Past post: Lessons from the great 2009 Birmingham City Council website disaster
25 comments labels: accessibility, egov, media, pr, socitm, tech, usability, web design
A win-win in the cloud for UK Public Sector?
News that Portsmouth Uni has moved all of its students into the cloud with free, multi-lingual access to an advertising free version of Google Apps, including webmail with 7gb capacity, online documents, spreadsheets and calendars, chat and collaboration and site building functions.
They have around 30,000 students who will get @myport.ac.uk addresses.
In a deal with Google - which runs a similar discount exception for academe in the US - they get it for free for four years with no ads (Google quoted a commercial price of $33 per annum per user at the #googlelocalgov event last month). They will also - for free - establish application programme interfaces allowing data to be exported if the university decides to move.
The Uni believes that despite recent brief downtime, Google will provide a better service than doing it in-house. Answering critics, they repeat that Google is signed up to the Safe Harbour Act which commits a US company to comply with European data protection standards, even when information is stored outside Europe.
One of the best received presentations at their recent local government event was about Google Enterprise Tools. Given that the Government's CIO, John Suffolk, is promoting the take up of cloud computing it would seem that Google is kicking at an open door and pushing apps will be a key task for them (disclosure: I am currently in talks with Google).
This task is one they are taking up. Their local government targeted website has a savings calculator which specifically compares Google Apps with Microsoft Exchange 2007. Socitm 2009 in Edinburgh in October has Adrian Joseph, Managing Director of Google Enterprise, as a key speaker.
However, furious debate over the take-up of Google cloud in US local government should flash some warning signs about their potential progress, and where a backlash might come from, in the UK.
The discussion over the pond on the cloud computing push by White House lead Vivek Kundra has generated heat and light over issues such as transparency and how the regulatory constraints and certification and authorization should be handled and managed. This shows the potential for the cloud's seemingly, cost-savingly, obvious UK local government advance to become bogged down.
Those with most to lose, such as Microsoft, will undoubtedly have their own strategy to throw mud and it will be fascinating to see how this plays out, including how the incoming agenda and policy setters in Whitehall react.
7 comments labels: egov, google, googlelocalgov, microsoft, socitm, tech
Lessons from the great 2009 Birmingham City Council website disaster
The night before last - and in the night - Birmingham City Council without much fanfare switched over to its rejigged website.
Within moments the twittersphere was alight. It was crashing, it had obvious faults and it looked terrible. Over the next 36 hours reviewer after reviewer found fault after fault.
This would not be news - how often do bad government websites get launched? - if it hadn't been for the efforts of Paul Bradshaw (a lecturer from Birmingham in online journalism) and his project Help Me Investigate.
Following up on local Brummie whispers, they put in an FOI to the council and discovered that the cost of this website revamp was, wait for it, £2.8m.
Since the launch the lead for the council, Glyn Evans, director of business transformation, has written two blog posts and done a couple of interviews.
From this - not from information provided as a result of the FOI, because of 'commercial confidentiality' - it is possible to glean that this £2.8m essentially covers building a content management system (CMS, presumably from scratch a commercial java-based CMS called FatWire), transferring the content and building a workflow system (and there's a mention of training staff). Oh and 'find my local', which much smaller councils have had for ages.
From this new CMS they will be able to offer better (i.e. now standard) online services integrated into it and basics like RSS feeds - but nothing suggests that the cost of those developments is included and any webbie worth their salt will ask why any CMS should cost that much, even with bells and whistles and silver-service catered training sessions attached. Unfortunately we're unlikely to ever know real details, because of that ever so useful cover-up tool of 'commercial confidentiality'.
On the reality of what it has actually bought, the council admits at much in its response to the FOI:
Yes, the new council website is costing more than was originally estimated but actually it's not an overspend. Originally, the website replacement project was just that – a replacement for the (obsolete) technology we are using. And then we rethought; the new website will be at the heart of delivering improved services to everyone who lives in, works in or visits Birmingham. This is a totally different proposition, and a totally different approach – and budget – was required.
Also, yes, we did consider Open Source but no, it wasn't suitable, otherwise we'd be using it.
And again, yes, the website is being delivered later than was originally planned but it's not the same website as was originally planned."
None of this sounds other than just a CMS upgrade. And someone should ask for the papers on just how they decided that Open Source wasn't a solution.
Expensive leaches
Why was it £2.8m? It is hard to see how it could be that much - other than that the job was outsourced to the infamous public sector contractor Capita.
Says Stuart Harrison (aka pezholio):
By all accounts the web team have had very little involvement and most of the grunt work has been done by the council's outsourced IT 'partner' Service Birmingham – operated by everyone's favourite outsourcer Capita (or Crapita if you read Private Eye).
Stuart's comment about the rumours of the exclusion of the council's own webbies from the website development process is underlined by a comment on Josh Hart's blog about the irony of the City Council Website Manager giving a presentation about the semantic web presenting about triple-tagging at a local geeky meeting in a personal capacity, something as related to his own website as space travel is to an Indian villager.
I can relate. In my past capacity in local government there was a vast distance between my role in the 'egov community' (respected, invited to speak, present and comment) and my actual - professionally disrespected - influence in the council.
Every local gov webbie will have a tale or a tale told to them about the uselessness of Crapita - I certainly have one, let's just say that usability isn't part of their culture, or knowledge from my experience (and according to reports about Birmingham 'external testing' wasn't included in the original cost estimate) .
When tested the expensive system Crapita produced for Birmingham had a failure which just takes your breath away - it did not recognise pound or euro signs, apostrophes and quotation marks. They are a leach on the public sector who, like Rasputin, refuse to die despite failure after failure.
What they have produced is a disaster with failures thus far noted being:
It does not meet basic accessibility requirements. Twitterers noted that it launched with one accessibility statement which was changed the next morning to another which was more non-committal ('meets standard' to 'aims to meet standard').
Stacks of incoming links have broken including those at the top of Google natural search results.
Masses of internal links are broken.
Content remains often simply appalling such as an empty 'What's New' page.
Reviewers say online forms are broken.
Absolutely no thought given to SEO
Incomprehensible alt tags and title attributes for links and images
Lack of validation on many pages
Absent PR or just arrogant PR?
The manager sent out to respond to all this, Glyn Davies, has been rapidly digging himself into a bigger and bigger hole. Completely refusing to address any of the major faults found instead he has been reduced to accusing questioners of being members of the 'Twitterati' and pulling the stunt of finding his own expert to claim the website is all shades of stunning.
It is a major irony that the council's PR department actually isn't within the website, a while back they launched their own separate site complete with YouTube channel and Twitter feed. They obviously have the power to shape their own online destiny but not the power to control the council's messaging - Davies' statements have been a PR disaster with the Birmingham Post's editor furious and undoubtedly vengeful.
The effect on the city
Another element to the PR disaster is the effect on the attempts by the city to grow its digital sector.
They have reacted with sharp intakes of breath, expressions of horror and rapid distancing.
Martin Belam presaged this in his comment on the first news of the cost:
There is a rather fantastic irony of it happening in the city outside of London which has perhaps the most vibrant and vocal digital scene in the UK.
Successful local enterprise Clarity Digital said:
The most frustrating part is that on the one hand the City Council, AWM [Advantage West Midlands] and others want to develop the regions' creative offering. On the one hand the City is encouraging digital and talking up the region's ability to lead the economic recovery through a thriving, innovative digital industries. And then they release this nonsense that does nothing to help the credibility of these ambitions.
The Council's response was that the site is for the residents and not the Twitterati. That comment alone shows the sheer lack of understanding of digital in general and social media in particular. Most of those commenting were residents, business owners or people working in the City. Twitter enabled us to discuss this, for people to air their views. Prior to the Internet, a story like this would have resulted in a pile of letters to the local newspaper. Now people can discuss and debate via a range of sites, blogs and of course Twitter.
In a brilliant post which attracted a stack of comments Jon Hickman, from the research centre of the Birmingham School of Media at Birmingham City University, looked at the problems of managing such a large project, and the possible solutions.
The mass of concerned contributors points to the wealth of local - and national - professional goodwill which a local authority could draw on to improve its website if only it would get its head out of the sand (or its arse) and stop digging itself deeper into a hole of its own making.
Said Jon:
So if the root of the problem is the procurement process, what would I suggest instead? I'm going to be completely idealistic, and I do realise that there are quite huge barriers to this sort of change, but I have an answer. Here's a manifesto for better procurement of web projects (it would work for IT projects and service design too):
1. Let's focus on needs and the original problem, not best guess briefs by well meaning non-experts.
2. Let's be aware from the outset that your best guess cost is going to be wrong, and the project will be late.
3. Let's allow for changes in a radical way: not just contingency days in the spec, or a change management process.
4. Let's budget for innovation.
5. Let's open up the project and let users shape the end result.
Amongst the fascinating comments Jake Grimley (Managing Director of Made Media Ltd. in Birmingham) said:
In my experience, the developers and project managers tend to care deeply about the problems they're solving and feel that they are fighting a daily battle against organisational politics, third-party software vendors, and basic client-misunderstandings to get those problems solved. For that reason all websites are usually a compromise between the ideal, and the practicalities that have to be accepted in order to deliver.
And that last word is key. Steve Jobs said that 'real artists ship'. Solving the problems in new and innovative ways is nice, but delivering *something that works* is more important. When we work with larger public sector organisations at Made, we sometimes find that delivery is not really at the core of the organisation's ethos. For that reason it has to be us chasing the client, driving delivery rather than the other way around. That commitment to delivery takes sustained effort and joint experience, which is what would make me sceptical about your 'hire a bunch of freelancers and give them six years' approach.
Other than that, what you're describing is similar to agile software development methodologies. These always appeal to programmers because they saves one from having to think it all through before you start coding. However this methodology is completely at odds with the classic public sector tendering system, which attempts to specify the project in its entirity before even speaking to prospective developers. But then, if you had £600K to spend, wouldn't you want to know what you were going to get for it before you signed the contract? In addition, agile methodologies do not work well in large political organisations, because they rely on a client sponsor who's not afraid to take quick decisions when presented with alternatives. Does that sound like Birmingham City Council to you?
[Solution?] This one's quite simple I think:
Commission a specialist website development company with a track record of delivering complex websites to budget and to timescale, rather than – say – a generic IT outsourcing company.
The irony here is that the reality of the web team putting together the new BCC site is possibly uncannily similar to the 'ideal' process Jon outlined.
Another commentator was Brummie developer Stef Lewandowski:
From experience of public sector tendering if you don't match the brief fully in the pre-qualification stage then you have no chance of getting shortlisted. So the larger the project, the smaller the chance that the commissioned web company will have to influence the brief they are responding to?
These comments show both the willingness of professionals to help but also the frustration and drawing away from government which the actions and comments of so many 'lets-pat-ourselves-on-the-back' bureaucrats like Glyn Evans provoke.
What is the number one lesson I'd like readers in local government to take from this abject disaster? Rebellion.
Local government webbies did not cause this (as Stuart Harrison points out) and would not have made the series of bad decisions which led to the ship hitting the iceberg. Why? Because they're professional webbies and know what the heck they are doing.
This project was not run by them, it was outsourced by non-webbies to a company which is not about the web and doesn't live to build brilliant websites and which operates in an uncompetitive environment. Put simply, organisations like Crapita can get away with this and move on to the next excess and profits binge.
This disaster is the best argument for the new Public Sector Web Professionals organisation. Webbies need to develop the clout to call out those responsible for this and for the other council website disasters coming down the pipe.
Another point here is that local government website disasters know no party - all of them are responsible somewhere in the country for crap websites. In Birmingham it was Tories and LibDems, elsewhere it is Labour.
In Brum Deputy council leader Paul Tilsley, who has overall responsibility for 'business transformation', admitted that he was wary of switching on the revamped website.
He said he feared journalists would be logging on at 9am on the first morning in an attempt to identify any "glitches". Little did he know it would be webbies (aka Evans' dismissive and patronisingly described 'Twitterati') demolishing his council's website. One can only hope some Brummies make this political and hold Tilsley's feet to the proverbial fire.
What unites those wanting change is not party but profession. Those webbies in Conservative HQ and Tories elsewhere need to link up with the rest of us to raise our collective status.
We all need to reach out professionally to those who have commented, those who have shown anger and interest in this disaster and raise our collective voices and shout 'NO MORE!' We need to get together and elbow the Glyn Evans' of this world of ours out of the way because we are citizens as well as webbies and as such we know we can do better than this crap served up to us as 'transformation'.
This episode should be used a an object lesson in how-not-to-do-it and it should mark a turning point for web professionals in local government.
Make it so. Yes we can. You have the power.
293 comments labels: accessibility, egov, usability, web design
poster ··· ·· · · paulocanning ··· ·· · · 9.9.09
How to write a good tweet
My guru Jakob Nielsen has published on research Nielsen Norman Group has just completed on Tweet usability.
To my knowledge, no one else has done this sort of research although many of the recommendations have been picked up elsewhere and some are plain common sense (not that that often stops people ignoring sense ... !).
He walks us through their design of a promotional tweet, going through five iterations to end up with:
LAS VEGAS (October) and BERLIN (November): venues for our biggest usability conference ever http://bit.ly/UsabilityWeek
Here are some points for this tweet's development (with some embellishment from me):
Capitalising city names draws the eye, breaking up the quick scan
Because when people scan they typically only read the first few words of a sentence, those first words need to be information-rich
Promotional tweets can be ignored so include some sense of news /new to make them useful / less obviously promotional / more compelling
Tweets should be 130 chars or less to allow for retweeting
Full sentences aren't necessary in short content, which users are scanning, so ruthlessly chop unnecessary words and use quickly comprehensible characters like '+' and ':'
Use a meaningful URL - which may appear elsewhere alone and out-of-context
A tweet should be highly focused and not try to make multiple points
Nielsen frets over when to tweet, concluding that 7:51 a.m. Pacific time is his best option as it also catches Europe.
However for others than him it may be more useful to use a service like Twittertise (which allows you to schedule tweets) to overcome Twitter's ephemeral, stream driven nature (Nielsen says that with click-through decay, Twitter time passes ten times faster than email time) and hit more of your likely audience amongst your followers. Obviously don't over-egg this!
Finally he reiterates a point which really needs driving home in my experience as many people don't get it:
Text is a UI
and this applies doubly when you are talking about short text and when you're calling people to action.
15 comments labels: jakob nielsen, twitter, usability
Africa is bloo*y enormous
This is a stunning graphic
HT: Owen Barder
3 comments labels: africa, fabulous, maps
Repost: Fear the Google, don't fear the Google
I came back from a break (which included a fab visit to Wardman Towers) to the missed news that Google has settled out of court in its clash with US Publishers over its Google Books project.
Looking over last Friday's news coverage what immediately struck me as someone who has an interest in the story was the repetition that Google was the only one engaged in digitising books. Ben Cohen's Channel Four report even featured him at the British Library who are part of a competing book digitisation project!
I wrote about Google books on my blog in another context back in April and, reviewing the content, it seems appropriate to repost.
There's been a lot of paranoia around lately about Google. We've had Street View arriving in the UK and provoking posh protests blocking their camera car. Now we've got requests for investigations on the info they hold about their users.
The former seems bizarre to me in the country which has accepted more cameras looking down on us than anywhere else in the world. The latter appears worrying when it's suggested that they might disclose that information to states, but states can get far more from internet service providers (and already trawl our digital use anyway).
What's really exercised some though has been the Google business proposition, which is to use that data to better target ads.
Here's why I find this a bit ridiculous: Google just aren't very good at it.
I have been using Gmail for ages and send and receive heaps of email. Besides each one are text ads targeted at me using all the text in all that email plus the content of the particular email I'm looking at.
They're consistently mistargeted .
I swear I don't know why they think I might want Lionel Richie tickets. or have a legal problem.
After hunting I found one which is vaguely near to the content of the email. But only vaguely.
The area where we should be the most concerned is the one which I've yet to see British media really pick up on. And it's actually concerns Google's mission - to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.
Google Books is their project to make available digital copies of out-of-copyright books and make copyright book text searchable.
They've signed up Oxford University amongst other big name partners.
Trouble is there are several rivals to Google and they're open-source, not proprietary. Services like PublicDomainReprints.org and the Internet Archive.
Recently Google changed it's terms to specifically disallow any of these services from using books they'd digitised - public domain books. There's not been any legal action thus far but why change the terms if they didn't want to challenge others, like the Internet Archive which hosts over half a million public domain books downloaded from Google.
Google has also 'locked up' some public domain books.
Here's an example of a public domain book on Google that was once 'Full access' and is now 'Snippet only': The American Historical Review, 1920. For the time being, there is a copy on Internet Archive.
The agreements with libraries (which are mainly university libraries), which were only made public by legal action, means that they give Google all of their books for free, and in return they are given scans that they effectively cannot use for anything.
If they want access to the corpus, they have to subscribe just like everyone else. This means that Google is requiring them to buy back their own copyrighted books, if anyone wants to actually use them on or off the campus.
Their recent deal with publishers which includes the setting up of a Books Rights Registry appears to give Google different, more favourable terms to anyone else who enters into agreements with the Registry.
The Open Content Alliance (OCA) is a consortium with the Internet Archive at its centre which wants to build (a virtual) Alexandria Library II (a physical Bibliotheca Alexandrina exists). The OCA includes the British Library, the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and a number of corporations - though neither Google nor Microsoft, who recently left it after funding the scanning of 750,000 books to launch their own book scanning project.
Brewster Kahle, who founded the Internet Archive and heads the Open Content Alliance, warns of "the consequences of the consolidation of information into the hands of a few private organizations".
Google is digitizing some great libraries. But their contracts (which were actually secret contracts with libraries – which is bizarre, but anyway, they were secret until they got sued out of them by some governments) are under such restrictions that they're pretty useless... the copies that go back to the libraries. Pretty much Google is trying to set themselves up as the only place to get to these materials; the only library; the only access. The idea of having only one company control the library of human knowledge is a nightmare. I mean this is 1984 – a book about how bad the world would be if this really came about, if a few governments' control and corporations' control on information goes too far.
There's other issues here too with Google's relationship with libraries:
Some may have second thoughts if Google's system isn't set up to recognize some of their digital copies, said Gregory Crane, a Tufts University professor who is currently studying the difficulty accessing some digital content.
For instance, Tufts worries Google's optical reader won't recognize some books written in classical Greek. If the same problem were to crop up with a digital book in the Open Content Alliance, Crane thinks it will be more easily addressed because the group is allowing outside access to the material.
The OCA is trying to establish a standard and both Google and now Microsoft have opted out. Not only is there duplication (triplication) of these vital efforts for human knowledge but Google also refuses to even talk to them, it sees them as a rival.
The OCA are building a "permanent, publicly accessible archive" of digitized texts. Both Google and Microsoft are doing it to make money - not that there's anything wrong with that but it is right to fear when such knowledge is only available via corporate, proprietorial means.
Postscript: Thanks to Stefan Czerniawski for pointing me to this excellent piece by Doc Searls on the Google settlement.
I hope some journos are reading this because, thus far, the UK media's coverage of the Google settlement has been dire. And we're talking about an enormous, extremely significant issue here!
4 comments labels: google, media
What's the connection between asylum/migration and LGBT people?
Left Outside has a great post (following one by Carl Packman) which dissects the age-old anti-migration arguments :
Our modern debate on migration has not developed out of a vacuum. In fact, we are forced to watch tedious reruns of discussions concerning Huguenots in the 1680s, Irish migrants in the early 19th Century and Eastern Europeans in the late, Jews in the 1930s and West Indians and South Asians in the 1960 and 70s.
He says that any anti-migration media piece will always contain one of the following: The Disloyal Immigrant; Soft Touch Britain™; Diseased and sex obsessed migrants; Criminal immigrants; Lump of Labour/Housing/Hospitals/Women Fallacy; or Swamped.
He uses these memes to play 'Immigrant Bingo'.
There's actually another thread of migration stories in papers like The Daily Hate (much more often in local newspapers) and that's pro ones.
Stories about someone in Shetland being defended by the locals, for example.
You don't see them very often but they do exist, these 'genuine asylum seekers' say these stories, and when talked about these cases usually elicit majority sympathy from, yes, even Daily Hate (etc) readers. I saw this with the 19yo gay Iranian Mehdi Kazemi. Even in comments on The Sun's website most people wanted him granted asylum.
What strikes me, as someone who works to defend LGBT asylum seekers, is the parallels with attitudes to LGBT people.
It is well-established that once people have a LGBT person in the family, or have a LGBT friend or work colleague, they are far less likely to support anti-gay law and be prejudiced. I'd suggest this holds true for migrants and asylum seekers too, if you know one you are less likely to want them deported. If you don't know one migrants and asylum seekers are just numbers, a homogeneous mass.
This is why groups like Amnesty, UNHCR and the Refugee Council run campaigns which aim to put a human face on those who are defamed in the media on a daily basis. These, along with those occasional news stories, show that it is possible to get people to show some basic humanity.
3 comments labels: asylum, media, US politics
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Postscript: Lessons from the great 2009 Birmingham...
Lessons from the great 2009 Birmingham City Counci...
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text:
His Holiness the Dalai Lama Responds to Disastrous Flooding in Gujarat August 1, 2017
BDL MEDIA | August 2, 2017 |
His Holiness has written to the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Vijay Rupani, to express his sadness at the loss of life and devastation of property that has occurred as a result of severe monsoon flooding in parts of Gujarat.
"I understand that everything is being done to rescue those affected and that relief efforts are underway," he wrote. "I would like to express my deep condolences to you, the families who have lost loved ones and others affected by some of the worst flooding in more than a century.
"As a mark of my sympathy, I would like to make a donation from the Dalai Lama Trust towards the relief and rescue efforts."
Source: https://www.dalailama.com/news/2017/his-holiness-the-dalai-lama-responds-to-disastrous-flooding-in-gujarat


text:
Lady Gaga's world tour makeup look is gorgeous, glittery, and designed for fans to recreate
Wei-Ning Yu
Updated Aug 21, 2017 @ 12:00 pm
Lady Gaga never ceases to dazzle us with her avant-garde costumes, extravagant wigs, and awe-inspiring makeup. So, imagine how excited we are when we learned we can actually replicate Lady Gaga's makeup from her current Joanne World Tour. (Yes, we — the Little Monsters — can rock out to her catchy tunes while painted up Gaga-style. That's a perfect Sunday afternoon in our book.)
According to PeopleStyle, Lady Gaga's long time makeup artist Sarah Tanno wanted to give Gaga a "fresh elevated glam" for her fifth headlining tour. So, she incorporated cat eyes, Swarovski crystals, and glitter. The effect is positively stunning! And we're dying to know how we can give ourselves the same Lady Gaga glam.
Tanno told PeopleStyle that the eye makeup takes up to 45 minutes to apply.
However, it stays the same throughout the entire show. Tanno said she wanted to create a multi-dimensional look that has a dramatic effect on stage.
"I've been on this kick of doing more of a rounded shape winged liner as it complements her so well, and I've never seen it on stage before." She added that for the crystals, "I use seven on each eye. It's a combination of [Swarovski's] AB crystals so they reflect any color light that hits them."
Wowza, that's kinda intense. Swarovski crystals aren't exactly something we keep in our makeup bags. We may have to find a more affordable alternative if we're going to be glamming up Gaga-style. Perhaps a splotch of glitter?
As for Gaga's lips, Tanno changes up the color and style throughout the concert.
She works closely with Gaga's hairstylist and wig designer Frederic Aspiras on the perfect pout to match her glorious wigs. She loves the direction he's taken this tour — peach, pink and turquoise. Once she saw his color palette, she knew her makeup choices would perfectly compliment the overall look.
Tanno said that she and Aspiras keep Gaga's fans in mind at all times, because she knows they'll want to recreate Gaga's look.
"She is the happiest when she is with her fans and I felt a responsibility to give them a really great pop star look that they can recreate. They love wearing our looks to her shows and I love seeing them."
And hey, we're pretty sure we can substitute sequins for those Swarovski crystals!