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James Fenimore Cooper, The Spy
Opening Passage:
It was near the close of the year 1780 that a solitary traveler was seen pursuing his way through one of the numerous little valleys of Westchester.The easterly wind, with its chilling dampness and increasing violence, gave unerring notice of the approach of a storm, which, as usual, might be expected to continue for several days; and the experienced eye of the traveler was turned in vain, through the darkness of the evening, in quest of some convenient shelter, in which, for the term of his confinement by the rain that already began to mix with the atmosphere in a thick mist, he might obtain such accommodations as his purposes required. Nothing whatever offered but the small and inconvenient tenements of the lower order of the inhabitants, with whom, in that immediate neighborhood, he did not think it either safe or politic to trust himself.
Summary: It is the American Revolution and a significant portion of New York is a 'neutral ground', not clearly controlled by either the British or the Americans. Much of The Spy is taken up with examining the lives of people who are trying to get along with their lives despite the divisions caused by the Revolution in families and between lifelong friends, and trying to negotiate this neutral ground where one day you may be dealing with Americans and the next you may be dealing with the British or,even more likely, with a gang, the Skinners or the Cowboys, looting and bullying in the name of one side or the other.
As the title suggests, it is a novel of espionage. I was interested to see Cooper's technique in handling it, which is quite skillful. Harvey Birch, the spy in question, is known by almost everyone to be a spy, probably although not certainly for the British; he makes use of clever disguises and cunning means of escape. The novel does not follow Birch, though; he is woven throughout the story, but there's a fairly straightforward sense in which the main action of the novel is simply a love story, if you can believe it, between Frances Wharton and Major Dunwoodie, complicated by the fact that Frances's brother is in the British army. This way of handling the 'spy stuff' shows something of the author's skill, since I think history shows that it is usually the best way to handle it -- as in Marquand's Mr. Moto books, in which Mr. Moto is always a secondary character because a good spy would be. Birch is a bit more in the foreground than Mr. Moto, but he is also a more ambiguous figure, since no one knows entirely what to make of him.
This book is, I think, a bit more readable than his more famous Leatherstocking Tales. In part this is because the humor is, not better, but more obvious. James Fenimore Cooper's humor is never entirely given the credit it deserves, but it is true that you have to be in the right frame of mind to catch it when reading some of his other works. We get it a bit more thickly here, and the story allows him to play to his strengths. One thing he is very good at it is depicting plausibly obsessive characters; David Gamut in The Last of the Mohicans is a quite hilarious character, with his completely incongruous faith in the absolute importance of singing while he goes around in the middle of the wilderness baffling Mohawks, Mohicans, and white men alike. We have another finely drawn obsessive here, in Dr.Sitgreaves, the surgeon, who often seems unable to think of anything except insofar as it is somehow related to scientific advances in surgery. Cooper also does some excellent comic work with juxtaposition, both of characters and scenes. It's not uproarious, but there is undeniably humor throughout.
The love story is not, I think, just a frame for the Harvey Birch tale; it does, rather, real work. In his old age Harvey Birch learns of Frances and Dunwoodie and what happened to them, and his response is, "'Tis like our native land! improving with time; God has blessed both." Birch's actions don't make sense as taking place for a certain territory; America is a people as much as, or even more than, a land. Its bounty is not a mere bounty of resources; it lies as much, or more, in the bounty of its people, young Frances and young Dunwoodie getting together despite the odds, getting married despite the uncertainties of the future, and having children that carry on the traditions in such a way that they and the world around them are improving with time. One of the sacrifices Birch has to make to serve his country is to forego family; that he helped make other families possible is a fitting compensation. It has always been a peculiarity of American patriotism that its primary expression is never in terms of ideology or territory, like most other patriotisms; American patriots are patriots for American sons and daughters. A spy story depicting American patriotism would be incomplete without marriage and children; marriage and children are part of what American patriotism has always been.
Favorite Passage:
"Pray, Colonel Wellmere," said Frances, recovering her good humor, and raising her joyous eyes once more to the face of the gentleman, "was the Lord Percy of Lexington a kinsman of him who fought at Chevy Chase?"
"Why, Miss Fanny, you are becoming a rebel," said the colonel, endeavoring to laugh away the anger he felt; "what you are pleased to insinuate was a chase at Lexington, was nothing more than a judicious retreat—a—kind of—"
"Running fight," interrupted the good-humored girl, laying a great emphasis on the first word.
"Positively, young lady"—Colonel Wellmere was interrupted by a laugh from a person who had hitherto been unnoticed.
Recommendation: Highly recommended; but for Americans it is really a must-read, part of the American heritage, capturing a strand of the American spirit.
Cristian Ciopron 9:14 PM
A very good post, about a lovely
book. I liked very much this post, and your careful and unbiased reading. Cooper
belonged to Marryat's generation, between the generation of Scott and that of Ainsworth
and Bulwer (the latter, a hesitant generation in the English letters).
I don't believe the authors of
westerns were his successors (except insofar as they have been preceded by West
tales, etc.). He did something else, unrelated to their trade.
If he wasn't the American Scott,
he certainly was the American Marryat, or the American Henty. He was, as I gather, less liked as a person than Scott, as he had an
unenviable personality.
In Romanian,
five of his novels have been translated—four of the Leatherstocking
Tales (the last four of them, in publication order), and The Red Rover, I
believe.
branemrys 9:28 PM
I'm actually surprised that The Spy isn't one of the Romanian translations; there was a time when it was the most widely translated of his novels.


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Stand down implemented for Perdido helipad
Will Isern
wisern@pnj.com
Emergency response helicopters will not have use of the helipad atop the Perdido Key Fire Station except in situations when no other alternative is available until the Florida Department of Transportation completes an inspection of the facility. The inspection process could take as long as 65 days, though county leaders will push to see it completed sooner.
In the interim, should helicopter response be necessary in an emergency situation on Perdido Key, responding pilots will be forced to land in areas other than the helipad. The exception will be in situations in which the acting fire lieutenant at the Perdido Key station determines that no other landing area is availableand authorizes a landing on the helipad.
Tiger Point, Perdido buildings among state's 'best'
County commissioners voted 4-1 Thursday night to implement a safety stand down of the helipad after concerns were raised by District 2 commissioner Doug Underhill. Underhill pointed out that the helipad had not been inspected since it was built in 2011-2012, and was never inspected by FDOT as required by Federal Aviation Administration guidelines. The helipad was inspected by the FAA when it was constructed, but a requirement for FDOT inspections was implemented shortly after the helipad was built. County staff were not made aware of the requirements at that time.
Other concerns raised by Underhill included that the helipad had not been insured in case of an accident and that foreign object damage (FOD) walks had not been performed. District 1 commissioner Wilson Robertson cast the dissenting vote Thursday night, noting the newness of the helipad.
Emails and word of mouth spread throughout the day Thursday and led many to believe the commission was considering doing away with the helipad. Accordingly, a number of people, including a cadre of Lifeflight helicopter pilots and the president of the Perdido Key Association, turned out to oppose the action.
Increased fire tax to fund professional firefighters
"I think it's much safer to operate to a known place," said lead Lifeflight pilot Bill Dvorak. "All the pilots would agree that we would like to keep the helipad open at the fire station."
Underhill fought back against the perception that he wanted to shutter the helipad and said his calling for a stand down was made from a risk management perspective.
"God forbid if, in fact, there is a mishap involving that platform," Underhill said. "The first thing that's going to have to happen is the lawyers are going to figure out the division of responsibly and it is imperative, I believe, to ensure that we have it properly insured, properly inspected, safety procedures in place, exercises done to ensure that it is the safest possible facility that it can be."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The Riverside Company has acquired Learning Seat, a Melbourne, Australia-based developer and provider of eLearning courses. With offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide, the company delivers its compliance and professional development training to corporate, healthcare, and government clients. The company had been a division of News Limited.
Learning Seat is the third platform investment for Riverside in Australia. The company's online courses, training tools and eLearning resources are geared toward compliance, professional development and accredited training. Learning Seat also develops customized online courses for clients.
Riverside's Education & Training Specialization includes 33 lifetime investments, backed by a global team of dedicated expert resources. In addition to deep experience in the industry, Riverside has completed multiple carve-outs from corporations like General Electric and Siemens.
Working with Feiglin and Lynch on the transaction for Riverside were Senior Associate Steven Spiteri and Associate Jonathan Shin. The Wingate Group sourced the opportunity for Riverside and also partnered with Riverside in providing equity financing for the transaction. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia provided debt financing for the transaction.
The Riverside Company is a global private equity firm focused on acquiring growing businesses valued at up to $200 million (€200 million in Europe). Since its founding in 1988, Riverside has invested in 300 transactions. The firm's international portfolio includes more than 70 companies.


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School closures in France as Germany imposes motorway curbs amid heatwave
Wednesday, June 26, 2019 - 04:25 PM
Large parts of western and central Europe sweltered in scorching weather, with German authorities imposing motorway speed limits amid fears of buckling road surfaces and some French schools staying closed as a precaution.
Authorities have warned that temperatures could top 40C (104F) in parts of the continent over the coming days as a plume of dry, hot air moves north from Africa.
The transport ministry in Germany's eastern Saxony-Anhalt state said it has imposed speed limits of 62 mph or 75 mph on several short stretches of road until further notice.
Children, the elderly and people with underlying health conditions are particularly at risk
Those stretches usually have no speed limit, but officials fear they might crack in the heat and endanger drivers.
Professor Hannah Cloke, a natural hazards researcher at the University of Reading, said the heat along with a build-up of humidity is a "potentially lethal combination".
"Children, the elderly and people with underlying health conditions are particularly at risk," she said.
Around France, some schools have been closed because of the high temperatures, which are expected to go up to 39C (102F) in the Paris area later this week and bake much of the country, from the Pyrenees in the southwest to the German border in the northeast.
Such temperatures are rare in France, where most homes and many buildings do not have air conditioning.
A woman sunbathes along the Seine river in Paris (Kamil Zihnioglu/AP)
In Paris, authorities banned older cars from the city for the day as the heat wave aggravates the city's pollution.
Regional authorities estimate the measure put into place Wednesday affects nearly 60% of vehicles circulating in the Paris region, including many delivery lorries and older cars with higher emissions than newer models.
Violators face fines.
French charities and local officials are providing extra help for the elderly, the homeless and the sick this week, remembering that some 15,000 people, many of them elderly, died in France during a 2003 heat wave.
The country's prime minister Edouard Philippe cited the heatwave as evidence of climate destabilisation and vowed to step up the government's fight against climate change.
With temperatures in Milan forecast to hit 40C (104F), an aid group said it was preparing to distribute 10,000 bottles of free water to the homeless and other needy people.
About half of Spain's provinces are on alert for high temperatures, which are expected to rise as the weekend approaches.
The northeastern city of Zaragoza was forecast to be the hottest on Wednesday at 39C (102F), building to 44C (111F) on Saturday, according to the government weather agency Aemet.
In southwestern Europe, however, some people had other reasons to complain during their summer vacation: the Portuguese capital Lisbon, on Europe's Atlantic coast, awoke cloudy and wet on Wednesday.
Flood and tornado risks remain across US Gulf Coast
Heavy rain leaves scores dead in Nepal, India and Bangladesh
Gulf Coast drenched as Storm Barry makes landfall
Ulster weather: Fine day ahead
heatwaveTOPIC: Weather
Iran's Revolutionary Guard forces 'seize tanker accused of smuggling oil'
Donald Trump leans into issue of race in bid for 2020 re-election
Live animal testing at lowest level since 2007


text:
By-election exposed fake elections of 2018, says Maryam Nawaz
WAZIRABAD (92 News) – PML-N vice-president Maryam Nawaz said that the by-election had exposed the fake elections of 2018.
Addressing a gathering on Wednesday, she said that earlier votes were stolen and now the election staff had been stolen.
She demanded that the by-election should be re-conducted in the entire constituency of Daska. "It was not an election, but a referendum and its verdict came from the four provinces," he added.
The PML-N vice-president said that phones were shut along with disappearance of the staff in fog. "Imran Khan was caught red-handed while stealing votes. Their surety bonds would have been withheld had they not done rigging," he added.
She said that the ECP would have to make bold decision if it wants to regain its lost dignity.
Maryam Nawaz


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Tech Coast Conference
Jacksonville IT Council
TIAA Bank Field
MAIN CONFERENCE OBJECTIVE
The Tech Coast Conference provides a forum for local businesses, IT decision makers, technology innovators from around the world and the skilled local talent pool to present, discuss and share advances, opportunities and solutions.
The Jacksonville Chamber IT Council is showcasing and promoting the culture of innovation and creativity, talent and expertise and the growing concentration of IT businesses that advance Jacksonville as a dynamic hub for technology development and employment.
Innovators: Business Owners, Executive, Investment, Strategy
IT Pros: Information Technology, Data, Analysis, Enterprise, Architecture, Cyber Security, Blockchain, Internet of Things
Product Development: Software, Drone, Product Managers
Customer: Marketing, Digital, Customer Experience, Sales
Other: Healthcare, FinTech, Robotics, Talent
Famous Speakers
Hear from industry-known speakers.
Hear speaker topics you care about: blockchain, security and more.
Coffee Breaks Included
Refreshments come included for all tickets.
Meet with speakers and sponsors one-on-one.
Take homes, giveaways and prizes at the conference.
So, what are you waiting for? Sign your team up below and we will TC-C you there!
INTEREST IN SPONSORING?
Tech Coast Conference 2019 is brought to you by our Platinum Sponsor: Cloudhesive.
Tech Coast Conference 2019 Premium Sponsors
DAY OF CONFERENCE
8:00 Conference Opens
Opening Ceremony with Josh Scobee
Speaker: Josh Scobee, Former Jacksonville Jaguars Football Player
Keynote: TBD
Speaker: TBD
9:15 - 10:00 AM Vendors / Networking
Panel: JAX Chamber CIO
Karen Green, CIO of Brooks Rehabilitation
Jay Majety, VP & CIO of ITEL Laboratories
Craig Pichanick, CTO of Martin Gottlieb & Associates
Mark Mitton, CIO of Deutsche Bank
Jane Landon, SVP & CTO of Web.com
Jim Gruhn, CIO of Holmes Custom
Panel: Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA)
Jeff Sheffield, Executive Director at North Florida TPO
Joe Tenga, CIO at Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA)
Kevin Salzer, Transportation Innovation Officer at Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA)
Lunch Sponsor Video
Speaker: Lunch Sponsor TBD
Platinum Sponsor: Cloudhesive and Amazon Web Services
Speaker: Cloudhesive and Amazon Web Services
12:40 - 2:50 PM Vendors / Networking
Keynote: Measuring the Evolution of Evil - Current Threats of Your Online Identity
Speaker: Dr. Johannes Ullrich, Dean of Research at SANS Technology Institute
Keynote: The Future is Now - Tech Advancements such as AI, Automation, Personalization, and Customization
Speaker: Jim Stallings, CEO at PS27 Ventures
CLOSING CEREMONIES / AFTERPARTY ANNOUNCEMENT
Manifest Distilling – starting at 5:30 PM
Come hang out with the best in technology, the ROAR cheerleaders, the committee that organized this program, and just have fun!
Jim Stallings
Founder & CEO, PS27 Ventures
The Future is Now: Tech Advancements such as Artificial Intelligence, Automation, Personalization, and Customization
Jim Stallings is an internationally recognized business leader, entrepreneur and investor in areas of technology and e-commerce. Jim is the Founder and CEO of PS27 Ventures and has helped start dozens of new ventures in FinTech, HealthTech and Software. Jim's career spans over 30 years as IBM General Manager. He started his career as a data analyst in the Space Division at GE. Jim earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the US Naval Academy and served as a Captain in the US Marine Corps. He is on the Board of Directors at Fidelity National Informations Systems (FIS), UGI Corporation (UGI) and Cannae Holdings, Inc (CNNE). He also serves as a Trustee on the Folded Flag Foundation which provide scholarships to descendants of fallen warriors in the US Military.
Dr. Johannes Ullrich
Dean of Research, SANS Technology Institute
Measuring the Evolution of Evil: Current Threats to Your Online Identity
Johannes is currently responsible for the SANS Internet Storm Center (ISC) and the GIAC Gold program. In 2000, he founded DShield.org, which is now the data collection engine behind the ISC. His work with the ISC has been widely recognized, and in 2004, Network World named him one of the 50 most powerful people in the networking industry. Prior to working for SANS, Johannes worked as a lead support engineer for a web development company and as a research physicist. Johannes holds a PhD in physics from SUNY Albany and is based in Jacksonville, Florida. His daily podcast summarizes current security news in a concise format.
Josh Scobee
Former Jacksonville Jaguars Football Player
Josh Scobee is a former American football placekicker. He was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the fifth round of the 2004 NFL draft. He also played for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college football at Louisiana Tech, setting several school records.
The Jacksonville Jaguars selected Scobee with the 137th overall pick in the fifth round of the 2004 NFL Draft. In the 2004 season, he led the team with 93 points after connecting with 24-of-31 field goals and 20-of-21 of his extra points. In addition, he ranked 13th in the AFC in field goal percentage and tied for third on touchbacks with 11 on 58 kickoffs. During his first five NFL seasons, he was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week four times. Scobee would remain with the Jaguars through the 2014 season.
PANEL SPEAKERS
Kevin Salzer
Transportation Innovation Officer, Jacksonville Transportation Authority
Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) Panel
Kevin Salzer, AICP, MSP is Jacksonville Transportation Authority's (JTA's) Transportation Innovation Officer. Before JTA, Kevin was a Senior Research Associate at the University of South Florida's Center of Urban Transportation Research. Kevin is an appointed US expert on the International Standards Organization (ISO) Work Group for Intelligent Transport Systems. He also serves on two national Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) panels. The two panels are: "Reinventing Transit Networks for a New Mobility Future" and "Analysis of Low-speed Automated Vehicle Pilots and Deployments."
His expertise is in testing and applying intelligent transportation systems for connected and autonomous vehicles, shared mobility, transit operations, and service planning. Kevin holds a Master of Science Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Florida State University and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners.
Joe Tenga
CIO, Jacksonville Transportation Authority
As the Jacksonville Transportation Authority's Chief Information Officer, Joe Tenga is responsible for strategic technology planning, as well as the delivery of innovative, secure and scalable IT & ITS services to JTA employees, customers and transportation partners. Prior to joining the JTA, Tenga has held executive technology roles in several industries including healthcare, e-Payments, loan servicing, management consulting, collections and print & mail. In these roles, he has provided leadership to IT Operations, Web & Mobile Software Development, Quality Assurance and Information Security teams. His strong background in Solutions Architecture, Technology Assessments and Business Analysis has allowed him to deliver productivity enhancements, improve customer satisfaction and ensure the privacy and security of sensitive data.
Tenga was named the Jacksonville Business Journal's 2016 Tech Innovation Award—Best CIO. Tenga holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He is certified as an Internal Controls Risk Analyst, Internal Security Controls Architect and Business Continuity Manager.
Jeff Sheffield
Executive Director, North Florida TPO
Jeff Sheffield, a 27-year transportation professional, is the executive director of the independent four-county North Florida Transportation Planning Organization (North Florida TPO) handling transportation planning and prioritizing in the region. He has a Master of Science in urban planning from Florida State University.
Working with partner agencies, he has championed results-oriented investment in intelligent transportation systems (ITS), traffic incident management, safety, bicycle and pedestrian planning, freight and logistics planning, Clean Fuels Coalition and multi-modal mobility improvements. Most recently, Mr. Sheffield has focused on implementing the TPO's Smart Region Master Plan that uses innovative and emerging technologies to collect, analyze and apply data from many sources to enhance the region's economic vitality and quality of life. This includes developing an integrated data exchange (IDE) and the Bay JAX Innovation Corridor. The Florida Transportation Commission has cited the North Florida TPO as the model for regional transportation planning organizations.
Craig Pichanick
CTO, Gottlieb & Associates
CIO Panel
As Chief Technology officer, Craig is responsible for the strategic execution of technologies which drive Gottlieb & Associates. Craig is a highly creative executive technology leader with nearly 20 years in the technology industry performing a wide array of roles encompassing senior leadership, architecture and development, project management and complex M&A delivery. Most of his career has been within the Health Care Technology space including companies such as Align Networks, OneCall Care Management, Quadramed and Medical Tracking Solutions with leadership roles of IT Director, Vice President and CTO.
Craig is a passionate and driven individual who is a member of the Jacksonville CIO Council, ITIL® Certified and driven to leverage the best technologies in order to deliver maximum value to the business, while also developing highly collaborative cultures and teams. Craig graduated from Mohawk College in Canada with Honors.
WHY YOU NEED TO ATTEND
Exclusive Information
You will receive access to information and presentations to speakers that people outside of the conference just won't get.
Personal Connections
The key in business is networking, and we just can't get enough of it! Come meet our professionals, so we can meet yours.
Technology changes constantly, we all know that. Come to listen about the latest trends in Jacksonville for IT and use it to stay current!
It's all about topics. Blockchain, Automation, Lead Conversions, Chatbots, Cyber Attacks, Data Governance, and more!
Our annual conference provides insight into unique business strategies and learning experiences in all areas of technology.
Become part of something that is bigger than us. By coming to our event, you are helping Tech Coast Conference continue our scholarship program.
FROM LAST YEAR'S CONFERENCE
A wealth of information, great presentations, and opportunities to meet representatives from a variety of organizations. All for a very low cost. Great deal!
Kayleigh A.
Awesome experience! The MC was THE best part!!!
Sam S.
I attended Tech Coast Conference for the first time last year and it was such an enriching event. Best Conference in Jax to attend! Cant wait to go again this year!!
Calvin B.
As a business leader, my investments have benefited tremendously from TCC through the strengthening of existing relationships and the formation of new ones. On top of all of that, it's a really fun day for everyone involved.
Kaitlyn C.
Jacksonville's Tech Coast Conference keeps me 'in the know' about what's going on in the tech world in my city. I learned a lot last year, and ready for another great one!
PARTICIPATION COST (PRICES GO UP 8/1/19)
Contact us to see how you can get discounted tickets in order to bring your whole team.
For this price you'll get:
1 Attendee August 21, 2019 Conference Pass
Breakfast, Lunch and Refreshments
Included Scholarship Donation
Access to Speakers and Breakouts
Access to Vendor Booths and Sponsors
TCC Branded Bag, Nametag, and Lanyard
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This is a digital download only of the same beautifully designed, full color forms and worksheets to help you record and track your home's reference information quickly and efficiently that are included in our physical binder. You will not receive a physical binder.
With your digital copy of the contents, you can customize it exactly to your needs. If you need to update the information, or just need an additional page for your new refrigerator, simply print another one and pop it into your binder.


Two new apartments with solar panels on the roof are set to be built in a sleepy Ribbleton cul-de-sac.
Land at Village Drive has been earmarked to be built on and provide new homes for the city.
The proposals by Stephen Rimmer, and tabled by Michael Jackson Associates, show how an empty plot of land could be transformed.
Land between 52 and 53 Village Drive is currently overgrown with trees and shrubs after an end of terrace house was demolished becase of its poor condition. It was previously a council house.
Documents sent to Preston City Council's planning department show the plans include 10 solar panels on the front and rear roof of the building.
The plans are available on the council website and anyone can comment on the application or email devcon@preston.gov.uk with their comments quoting reference 06/2013/0162 by Saturday 13 April.


text:
Image credit: Photo ID 317757. 01/01/1983. Karachi, Pakistan. UN Photo/John Isaac. www.unmultimedia.org/photo/
A young girl does her school work in Karachi, Pakistan.
Children's Rights Gender Right to Equality and Non-Discrimination
Girls with Books, Better Laws, Pave the Way Ahead
by Jeni Klugman | May 14, 2014
About Jeni Klugman
Jeni Klugman is director of the World Bank's gender and development group. She has graduate degrees in law and economics from Oxford University.|Jeni Klugman is director of the World Bank's gender and development group. She has graduate degrees in law and economics from Oxford University.|Jeni Klugman is director of the World Bank's gender and development group. She has graduate degrees in law and economics from Oxford University.|Jeni Klugman is director of the World Bank's gender and development group. She has graduate degrees in law and economics from Oxford University.
Jeni Klugman "Girls with Books, Better Laws, Pave the Way Ahead" (OxHRH 14 May 2014) <http://humanrights.dev3.oneltd.eu/?p=7493> [Date of access].|Jeni Klugman "Girls with Books, Better Laws, Pave the Way Ahead" (OxHRH 14 May 2014) <https://ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/?p=7493> [Date of access].|Jeni Klugman "Girls with Books, Better Laws, Pave the Way Ahead" (OxHRH 14 May 2014) <https://ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/?p=7493> [Date of access].|Jeni Klugman "Girls with Books, Better Laws, Pave the Way Ahead" (OxHRH 14 May 2014) <https://ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/?p=7493> [Date of access].
"The extremists are afraid of books and pens. The power of education frightens them," Pakistan's teenage activist Malala Yousafzai said in her speech at the United Nations. "They are afraid of women. The power of the voice of women frightens them."
Supporting evidence, unfortunately, is everywhere.
In Nigeria just last month, the extremist Boko Haram group deliberately kidnapped more than 270 schoolgirls preparing for exams —possibly selling them into "marriage" as part of a campaign to purge the country of "impure" Islam. Once again, as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said of Malala after the Taliban nearly killed her for her activism on behalf of girls' education, a brazen attack has shown what frightens extremists most: a girl with a book.
But while the attack on Malala and kidnapping in Nigeria rightly sparked an international outcry, women and girls from Pakistan to Papua New Guinea, Tunisia to Turkmenistan, endure pervasive violence, inequality, and bias that go largely unremarked, mostly unreported, and overwhelmingly ignored—around the world, ever hour of every day.
Appalling violations of their most basic human rights both reflect and reinforce discriminatory laws and powerful social norms, which together tell women and girls they are less entitled to health and hope, education and autonomy, freedom from violence and fear, than their fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons.
This major breach of human rights also carries enormous costs for development. We have estimated that the costs of domestic violence — solely in terms of lost incomes and reduced productivity — amount to about as much as what most governments spend on primary education.
The World Bank Group this week launches a new report showing that systematic disparities in voice and agency persist, affecting hundreds of millions of girls and women around the world. Voice and Agency: Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity focuses on several key areas: freedom from violence, sexual and reproductive health and rights, ownership of land and housing, and voice and collective action. It explores the power of social norms in dictating how men and women can and cannot behave, and what works to achieve change.
Here we are talking about girls and women who have no say whether, when and how many children to have, who cannot buy or inherit land, who have no say in major decisions at home and in their community, who cannot leave when their husbands beat them, who cannot ensure that their daughters attend school rather than being married off as children.
Our report distills vast data and hundreds of studies to shed new light on constraints facing women and girls worldwide, from epidemic levels of gender-based violence to laws and norms that prevent them from owning property, working, and making decisions about their own lives. It argues that expanding women's agency—their ability to make decisions and take advantage of opportunities—is vital to improving their lives as well as the world we all share.
We present powerful new sets of results showing the powerful links between women's agency and their education. We also highlight the power of laws—for better or worse—to shape gender norms and the lives of women and girls locally and globally.
Among countries with the most child marriages, for example, girls with limited schooling are up to six times more likely to marry young than girls who finish high school. In all regions, better educated women tend to marry later and have fewer children. Better educated women are less likely to live in poverty and less likely to be subjected to domestic violence. Enhanced agency is a key reason why children of better educated women are less likely to be stunted: Educated mothers have greater autonomy in making decisions and more power to act for their children's benefit.
Governments clearly have a powerful role in ending legal discrimination: Well into the 21st century, some 128 countries maintain legal barriers to women in such basic areas of life as obtaining official ID cards, owning property, and getting a job. In 28 countries, mainly in the Middle East and North Africa and South Asia, more than 10 such discriminatory laws are on the books. But change does happen. The number of countries recognizing domestic violence as a crime has risen from close to zero to 76 in less than four decades. We present new analysis that shows that the longer the legislation is in place, the lower the tolerance of violence.
Expanding opportunities and amplifying the voices of women and girls isn't a zero-sum game. Leveling the playing field for women and girls brings broad development dividends for men and boys, families, communities, and societies. The data and evidence are clear.
Ensuring that women and men, boys and girls, all have the opportunity to fulfill their potential and author their own lives is vital if we are to create more resilient, more prosperous world.
And while there's no magic formula for getting there, sending more girls to quality schools, keeping them there, and passing progressive laws go a long way.
Follow the launch of Voice and Agency: Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity live on May 14 at 5:15 EST with Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, and UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
Join the conversation on Twitter using #WomenCan
Racial Hierarchy and Role of Whiteness (with Savala Trepczynski)
This episode is part of a four-part series in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. In this episode, we talk ...
The Politics of Global Health Data (with Sara Davis)
Right to Health, Right to Privacy
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought questions around global healthcare financing and equitable access to treatments ...
Transforming Women's Lives Through Education
United Nations, Gender, Right to Education, Right to Equality and Non-Discrimination, Socio-Economic Rights
The virtues of education are uncontested. It is a multiplier right, it creates an empowered workforce and ...


A Taste of Honey is the first play by the British dramatist Shelagh Delaney, written when she was 19. It was initially intended as a novel, but she turned it into a play because she hoped to revitalise British theatre and to address social issues that she felt were not being presented. The play was first produced by Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop and was premiered at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, a small fringe theatre in London, on 27 May 1958. The production then transferred to the larger Wyndham's Theatre in the West End on 10 February 1959. The play was adapted into a film of the same title in 1961.
A Taste of Honey is set in Salford in North West England in the 1950s. It tells the story of Jo, a seventeen-year-old working class girl, and her mother, Helen, who is presented as crude and sexually indiscriminate. Helen leaves Jo alone in their new flat after she begins a relationship with Peter, a rich lover who is younger than she. At the same time Jo begins a romantic relationship with Jimmy, a black sailor. He proposes marriage but then goes to sea, leaving Jo pregnant and alone. She finds lodgings with a homosexual acquaintance, Geoffrey, who assumes the role of surrogate father. Helen returns after leaving her lover and the future of Jo's new home is put into question.
A Taste of Honey comments on, and puts into question, class, race, gender and sexual orientation in mid-twentieth-century Britain. It became known as a "kitchen sink" play, part of a genre revolutionising British theatre at the time.
By way of a visual backdrop to A Taste of Honey, Delaney reflected on life in Salford in a documentary, directed by Ken Russell, for BBC television's Monitor that was broadcast on 26 September 1960.
In the first scene, Helen and her teenage daughter; Jo, are moving into a shabby flat. Within a few minutes the audience learns that they have little money, living off Helen's immoral earnings - money given her by her lovers, although she is not a true prostitute, being more of a "good time girl". Helen is a regular drinker, and she and Jo have a confrontational and ambiguously interdependent relationship. As they settle in, Helen's surprise at some of Jo's drawings both suggests Jo's talent and originality and shows Helen's lack of interest in and knowledge about her daughter. Jo rejects the idea of going to an art school, blaming Helen for having interrupted her training all too often by moving her constantly from one school to another. Jo now only wants to leave school and earn her own money so that she can get away from Helen. After this conversation, Peter (Helen's younger boyfriend) comes in. Jo assumes that Helen has moved here to escape from him, but the audience is never told the reason why. Peter had not realised how old Helen was until he sees her daughter. Nonetheless he asks Helen to marry him, first half jokingly, then more or less in earnest.
In the next scene, Jo is walking home in the company of her black boyfriend. During a light-hearted, semi-serious dialogue, he asks her to marry him, and she agrees, although he is in the navy and will be away on his ship for six months before they can marry. He gives Jo a ring which she hangs round her neck under her clothes to hide it from Helen. Jo tells him that she is really leaving school and is going to start a part-time job in a pub.
Back at the flat, Helen informs Jo that she is going to marry Peter. Peter enters, and a dialogue ensues among the three: instead of only Jo and Helen attacking each other, a more complex pattern evolves, with Jo attacking the others, the others attacking Jo, and Helen attacking both Peter and Jo. Jo is truly upset at the thought of Helen marrying Peter, but also pesters and provokes him in an effort to antagonise him even more. After Helen and Peter leave her on her own for Christmas, Jo weeps and is consoled by her boyfriend. She invites him to stay over Christmas, although she has a feeling that she will never see him again.
The action moves to the occasion of Helen's wedding, the day after Christmas. Jo has a cold and will not be able to attend at the wedding. Since she is in her pyjamas, Helen catches a glimpse of the ring around her neck and learns the truth. She scolds Jo violently for thinking of marrying so young, one of her occasional bursts of real feeling and concern for her daughter. Asked by Jo about her real father, Helen explains that she had been married to a "Puritan" and that she had to look elsewhere for sexual pleasure. Thus she had her first sexual experience with Jo's father, a "not very bright man," a "bit retarded". She then hurries off to her wedding.
Several months later, Jo is living alone in the same shabby flat. She works in a shoe shop by day and in a bar in the evenings to afford the rent. She is pregnant, and her boyfriend has not come back to her. She returns from a funfair to the flat in the company of Geof, an "effeminate" art student, who has possibly been thrown out from his former lodgings because his landlady suspected he was gay. Jo offends him with insensitive questions about his sexuality, and he in turn maliciously criticises her drawings. She apologises and asks him to stay, sleeping on the couch. Geof shows concern for Jo's problems, and they develop a friendly, joking relationship.
The audience next sees Jo irritable and depressed by her pregnancy, with Geof patiently consoling her. Then, seeking reassurance himself, he kisses her and asks her to marry him. Jo says that although she likes him she cannot marry him. She makes a sexual pass at him which he fails to recognize, confirming that "it is not marrying love between us". At this point, Helen enters. She has been contacted by Geof, who wishes to keep this fact secret from Jo. Jo, however, guesses as much and is angry with both Helen and Geof. Geof tries to interfere in the quarrel between the two women, but each time he is attacked by one or the other or both. As Helen is offering Jo money, Peter comes in, very drunk, and takes back the money and Helen's offer of a home to Jo. He leaves, insisting that Helen come with him; after a moment's hesitation she runs after him.
In the next scene, the baby is due any moment. Jo and Geof seem happy. He reassures her that Helen was probably mistaken about or exaggerating the mental deficiencies of Jo's father. Geof has bought a doll for Jo to practise handling the baby but Jo flings it to the ground because it is the wrong colour: Jo assumes that her baby will be as black as its father. Her momentary outburst against the baby, motherhood and womanhood is short-lived, however, and she and Geof are about to have tea when Helen enters with all her luggage. Apparently, she has been thrown out by Peter and now plans to stay with Jo. To get rid of Geof, she behaves rudely to him, while overwhelming Jo with advice and presents. Jo defends Geof, but while she is asleep, Geof decides to leave, since Helen is too strong for him and he does not want Jo to be pulled between them. Jo wakes, and Helen pretends that Geof is out doing the shopping. When she learns that the baby will be black, she loses her nerve and rushes out for a drink, even though Jo's labour pains have just begun. Alone, Jo happily hums a tune Geof sang before, still not having realised that he is gone.
Helen: A hardened, working class single mother and alcoholic.
Josephine, her teenage daughter, known as 'Jo', raised solely by Helen.
Peter: Helen's younger, wealthy boyfriend from London.
The Boy: Also known as Jimmy, a black sailor. Jo falls in love with him and becomes pregnant.
Geoffrey: An art student in his early twenties who becomes Jo's roommate and friend.
The play was admired by Morrissey of the band The Smiths, who used Delaney's photo on the album cover artwork for Louder Than Bombs. A photograph of Shelagh Delaney appears on the cover for The Smiths' single "Girlfriend in a Coma". An earlier Smiths song, "This Night Has Opened My Eyes", is based on the play and includes a paraphrase of Geoffrey's line to Jo near the end: "The dream has gone but the baby is real." Morrissey's lyrics include other borrowings from Delaney including 'I dreamt about you last night. Fell out of bed twice,' as well as 'river the colour of lead' and 'I'm not happy and I'm not sad', both of which are spoken by the lead character Jo. Other quotations and near-quotations appear in several other songs by The Smiths and Morrissey.
The play is referred to by Akira the Don in the title track on the album Thieving (2008), in which it appears to awaken him to literature in a school English lesson.
It appears in On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan, as a film watched by the main characters.
^ This was re-broadcast on BBC Four exactly fifty years later, in September 2010.
^ The Broadway League. "A Taste of Honey | IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information". IBDB. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
^ "A Taste of Honey". The Watford Observer. 2 November 2000. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
^ "Radio 3 – Drama on 3 – A Taste of Honey". BBC. 7 November 2004. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
Delaney, Shelagh. A Taste of Honey. Methuen Student Edition with commentary and notes. London: Methuen Publishing, 1982.


The Council reviews the discretionary fees and charges that apply to the goods/services supplied.
Refer to the Current Fee and charges schedule below.
The City of Port Adelaide Enfield plays an important role in the community, providing and maintaining essential infrastructure and services to the community. Each year Council undertakes a comprehensive business planning process to ensure we continue to enhance the City to meet the needs of the community whilst ensuring proper stewardship of our resources.
The Annual Business Plan is Council's statement of intended programs, activities and outcomes it plans for the coming financial year. The plan defines the continuing service programs and strategic directions embodied in the Council's City Plan, Corporate Plan, Long Term Financial Plan and Long Term Infrastructure and Asset Management Plans.
The statements must be prepared according to the requirements of Australian Accounting Standards.


Of lariat design, composed of alternating high-polish and diamond-set open navette links, joined by smaller navette links, to a concealed central clasp, in 18k white gold. Signed Cartier. Includes manufacturer's box and paperwork. The retail price in 2001 was $23,900.


Our directors Steve and Simon recently attended the Sophos Solution Partner Event in November which was held at the Mercedes-Benz World and Brooklands Hotel. The day started with a driving experience which included 4×4 off-roading, skid pan, fast track laps and F1 simulator. The partner conference followed in the afternoon looking at Sophos SG and XG firewalls and the fantastic new product Intercept X that's protects against Ransonware.
The day ended with an award ceremony which we were very surprised to be nominated for. We were in the top 3 solution partners that had achieved the most new business of the year and we had been nominated for the Rising Star award. We narrowly missed out on the first award but were extremely proud to win the Rising Star of the year award.
Tech Issue – Issue 18 released.


Monitor the status of labs for multiple patients, view orders and results, and manage lab tasks—all within one PracticeStudio folder.
The Lab Management function within PracticeStudio centralizes the information relating to labs for all patients and uses the Smart Messaging system to provide reminders and assign lab tasks to different members of a clinic staff.
View all open labs and track the orders based on Provider, Facility, Patient, and more.
Send lab orders electronically to labs (including local labs).
Receive corresponding lab results electronically from bidirectional labs—and PracticeStudio will automatically update the appropriate patient chart.
Post discrete analyte information in the patient's chart for reporting and graphing purposes, eliminating manual entry of the lab order and lab results while providing the best access to both provider and patient.
Patient Media: Scan or import lab results into Patient Media and view them in the Lab Management folder without having to navigate back to Patient Media.
Custom Observation Data: Customized AOE questions for seamless clinic and lab interfacing.
Check the findings and the status of Pathology Results. See the Diagnosis Codes for each Pathology test.
PracticeStudio offers the unique Chronograph which allows the user to observe patient's data over time. Any lab values that come in will automatically appear here whether entered manually or if they come in automatically through a lab interface. When a value falls above or below a normal, an arrow will be shown as an indicator to that affect.


Wrap yourself in cozy knit comfort with this soft, lace adorned robe. Pair with a coordinating nightgown or pajama set for super soft slumber. Kimono-style sleeves, removable sash, tie waist. Delicate lace detail on sleeve and hem. Above knee length.


By jdupuis on March 24, 2017.
The world is going to hell in a hand basket. But at least we can laugh as we're sucked relentlessly into the Hellmouth.
Maybe if we all collectively understood science and evidence better, the path to Hell wouldn't be quite so straight and narrow. So maybe that's what's making me think of these particular funny bits today. And by funny I mean so funny in hurts.
First up, we have retired basketball superstar Shaquille O'Neal, who apparently really and truly believes the world is flat. He has a doctorate in Education, by the way, which I just can't even.
At this point, you might as well just assume that your favorite NBA person fundamentally rejects a basic tenet of astronomy, and believes that the Earth is in fact flat, and not a sphere. You can now add Shaquille O'Neal to the list of people who buy into the theory that Kyrie Irving revealed he subscribes to over the All-Star Break.
Other Cavaliers have backed him in this belief, and other players have hinted at it. Maybe it's just one big marketing stunt. Maybe it's just players toying with fans and the media.
Or maybe they really believe this, rejecting accepted scientific principles and the first-person accounts of those who have, you know, actually been to space. As this mindset willfully ignores and rejects evidence accepted as fact by the entire scientific community, there's no real way of arguing against it. We've reached a point where basic elements of human existence in the universe are subject to interpretation and subjective reassessment. Whatever that says about the state of the world, at least it shows a level of intellectual curiosity and contemplative thought from NBA players have that has been absent in years past.
GENEVA — Some of the world's top climate scientists have penned a letter to the International Journal of Climatology, Friday, expressing their belief that humanity's only hope for survival is the accuracy of Trump's global warming Chinese hoax connection.
Of course, there's also the Borowitz Report point of view, in which we're basically all fucked.
MINNEAPOLIS (The Borowitz Report)—Historians studying archival photographs from four decades ago have come to the conclusion that the U.S. must have believed in science at some point.
According to the historian Davis Logsdon, who has been sifting through mounds of photographic evidence at the University of Minnesota, the nation apparently once held the view that investing in science and even math could yield accomplishments that would be a source of national pride.
2016.11.17. Presentation: The Conservative War on Science: What's a Librarian to Do?
2017.01.25. The Trump War on Science: What Can the US Learn From Canada's Experience?
2017.01.30. The Donald Trump War on Science: Week 1: How bad could it be?
2017.02.13. The Trump War on Science: Is the March for Science too political or not political enough?
The posts are all tagged here.
Hey i am also a Science Librarian!


A new credit scheme especially for retail employees has been launched with financial backing from key retailers including Theo Paphitis, John Lewis and New Look.
The credit union dubbed RetailCUre is available to anyone over 16 working in the retail sector in the UK, allowing workers to access loans of between £500 and £5000, as well as offering savings accounts of up to £15,000 with interest rates of three per cent on one year deposits.
Loans taken from the not-for-profit scheme will be paid off over six months at a rate of around 11 per cent.
Other retailers backing the scheme include Ryman, Iceland, Schuh and Pets at Home, with many more expected to join.
The union is run "by the industry, for the industry" and operates as a cooperative and is controlled by its members. It seeks to offer a fair alternative to banks and payday lenders who are often the only choice for the millions of low-paid retail workers.
"There has never been a credit union for the retail industry before, so for the first time ever we can give our retail colleagues the toolset needed to live a responsible financial lifestyle," Theo Paphitis, whose companies have invested a six-figure sum in the scheme, told Retail Week.
"The economy as it stands at the moment does not offer a great incentive for people to save money.


text:
Particular vs. Specific
A reader asks if there is a distinction to be made between the words particular and specific.
In some contexts, the words are close synonyms, but not in all.
Both particular and specific mean "distinguished in some way among others of the same kind," so the following sets of statements would have the same meaning:
Do you have a particular company in mind?
Do you have a specific company in mind?
Do you have a particular movie you want to see?
Do you have a specific movie you want to see?
To me specific has a more formal connotation than particular. Although the meanings are identical in these examples, I'd probably choose specific in the business context and particular in the leisure context.
Specific has several technical uses. It can mean "pertaining to a distinct species of animals or plants. For example, "Gaspard Bauhin, a Swiss botanist of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, designated plants by a generic and a specific name." In medicine, a "specific remedy" is a remedy supposed to act on a particular ailment or part of the body.
In the study of logic, a statement that is true of all of a group is a universal statement, while a statement that is true of a certain kind of thing is a particular statement. For example, "All fish live in water" is a universal statement; "Goldfish are often kept as pets" is a particular statement.
In general usage, the two words are used interchangeably when referring to plans:
Did you ever have any particular plans at the beginning of your career, any particular vision of where performing would take you?
The Barons did the show and, as an amateur group without particular plans,
Asked about the future, Paul Simon says he has no particular plans.
"At this point, no specific plans have been announced," the statement said.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie haven't yet set a date for the wedding or made any specific plans.
Generally speaking, I'd choose specific when the content seems to call for precision.
Definitely use "the" or "a"
The Many Forms of the Verb TO BE
Practice or Practise?
8 Responses to "Particular vs. Specific"
Shing on April 18, 2014 1:53 am
They are very different words.
Specific implies uniqueness. Something specific means something that meets some specifics or criteria. Something specific needs to meet a set of conditions or requirement.
Although particular means "distinguished" Something particular has NO implied requirements nor conditions.
Something particular is usually something NON-specific.
A ring can be a particular gift. Any ring can be that particular gift.
A specific gift cannot be just ANY ring. It HAS to have some DEFINED quality: costs at least such and such, sold at such and such, be such and such size…
"I am looking for a particular person" means looking for someone, just one out of many.
"I am looking for a specific person" means looking for someone who is red headed, male, in his 30s, etc. There are requirements.
Rich Wheeler on April 18, 2014 6:05 am
In my experience regarding plans, specific often implies greater detail.
"Do you have any particular plans?"
"Yes, we decided to go for a drive in the Gold Country."
"Do you have specific plans?"
"Yes, we're driving up Highway 49 to Columbia for the morning, spending the afternoon in Angel's Camp, and having dinner and the concert at Ironstone Vineyard."
Also, as adjectives, particular can imply choosiness or fussiness, whereas specific denotes detail or precision.
Sherry on April 18, 2014 1:17 pm
IMO, the two are distinguished by amount of focus, where "Do you have a particular movie you want to see?" is more 'Do you have a particular [kind of] movie you want to see?' (i.e., a period piece), while "Do you have a specific movie you want to see?" indicates one specific movie. Or maybe that's just me, because I'd reply "nothing in particular" as a response to 'what are you up to today', indicating something (or nothing) more broadly than specific.
venqax on April 19, 2014 3:14 pm
Sometimes I think the comparison of 2 synonyms goes a little off track. E.g.
Specific can mean "pertaining to a distinct species of animals or plants."
True, but that specific definition of specific, really has nothing to do with the comparison of that particular definition of specific to particular. I bring this up only because we recently had a similar discussion about what preposition is taken by "disturbed"—at or by or both. The point was raised that you would use "from" in the sense of "being interrupted", e.g. disturbed from your sleep. But that is an entirely different meaning of disturbed—for all intents and purposes a different word—from its meaning of "emotionally or mentally upset" which the subject at hand. Just sayin'.
None of the above distinctions between particular and specific seem to have any authority or persuasiveness to them as far as I can tell. In any of the sentences the words could be interchanged and mean the same thing except maybe in the mind of the speaker/writer.
Sherry on April 20, 2014 5:07 am
Venqax,
Can you be more specific? (Can you be more particular? 😉 )
Like most synonyms, a case can be made for similarity, but there will be exceptions (which is why they are not the same word).
Given that the origin of 'particular' is a part of a whole, while 'specific' means having a special determining quality, I have to stick with Shing and Rich on this one.
Umer Baloch on April 21, 2014 2:15 am
There is one difference that you may have missed:
Correct: I am interested in this particular kind of movies.
Wrong: I am interested in this specific kind of movies.
@Umer Baloch:
No, sorry. Without the plural on movies— in both cases—I'd have to say that I am interested in this particular kind of movie, and I am interested in this specific kind of movie mean the same thing. No difference. This kind of movie that I am singling out versus other kinds of movies. You as the writer may intendsome nuanced difference in meaning between the 2, but I don't think it is there for the reader to get.
@Sherry: Like most synonyms, a case can be made for similarity, but there will be exceptions (which is why they are not the same word).
While I agree it's true than no 2 words are completely synonymous, that doesn't mean that 2 can't be so close to it that the difference implied by the writer has no realistic hope of being inferred by the reader (or speaker and listener). I may mean 2 things by saying, the large man vs the big man, or by saying a 10 is twice the power of a 5 vs 10 is 2 times the power of 5. But what distinction could I reasonably expect anyone else to make?
Given that the origin of 'particular' is a part of a whole, while 'specific' means having a special determining quality.
That is true, those are their origins. But now, in this context? Hmmm…


text:
Residents Flee Community…
Residents Flee Community Over 'Declaration Of Niger Delta Republic'
Featured Nigeria
• Ijaw youths vow reprisal on OPC threat
Residents of Kaiama community in Kolokuma Opukuma Local Council, Bayelsa State, where the Adaka Boro Avengers threatened to proclaim the Niger Delta Republic today, are fleeing the town for fear of hostilities with security agencies.
Spokesman of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Mr. Eric Omare, said it is regrettable that the massive movement of residents from the community is coming on the heels of apprehension by Ijaw people in the South West, as a result of the expiration of an ultimatum issued by the Reformed Odua Peoples' Congress (OPC), following attacks by unknown gunmen in parts of Lagos and Ogun States.
The IYC urged residents of Kaiama to be calm and go about their normal activities, saying there is no plan by the Ijaw people to declare a republic and that the threat by the Adaka Boro Avengers should be ignored.
The IYC also urged security agencies to stop threats and attacks on Ijaw and other Niger Delta communities because of the activities of faceless groups. "The Ijaw nation has a leadership and they should check with the leadership on issues of security, instead of threatening or attacking the innocent," it said.
The Council urged OPC members and the leadership of the Yoruba nation to allow security agents perform their constitutional duty of apprehending criminals responsible for the Ogun and Lagos attacks.
Omare said: "As at this morning, information at the disposal of the IYC indicate that some Ijaw people in Lagos and Ogun States, for fear of attack, are already relocating to the South South.
"The IYC seriously warns against attacks on innocent Ijaw people in the South West, as it would result in reprisals in the South-South where Yoruba people are also resident. An inter-ethnic clash between the Ijaw and Yoruba is totally unnecessary. The Ogun and Lagos attacks are clear cases of criminality and should be treated as such, instead of threatening to attack innocent Ijaw people and their businesses."


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Google announced a major update to Google Play Music this morning, one that will show you smarter and timelier recommendations with a new home screen layout and always-available offline playback. This is a big one, and it starts arriving today.
Up front, when you open the new app after updating, Google is showing you a new layout that they are calling the "ultimate personal DJ." That means bigger cards of playlists and stations of "what you like, but also when you like it." The images above give you a good feel for how this will look, including a "Recents" button, that we're assuming gets you into recently played tracks. The update isn't live yet, but my gut tells me that there is more to this new interface than just a fancy new home screen.
Outside of the UI changes, Google is applying its machine learning secrets to music now. Those secrets should get you proper music and mixes based on location, activity, and even the weather, according to Google. This is an opt-in feature, so none of it will happen out of the box. Should you opt-in, your musical choices could change at work, while flying, when in new cities, or as you hit the gym.
Finally, a new offline playlist will be automatically stored for you, of songs that you listened to recently (probably that "Recents" button). Assuming you charge your phone regularly, songs will be stored and available even if you lose a data connection.
Google says the update arrives today, but we aren't seeing it quite yet. Let us know if you do!


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Thousands of College Kids Are Powering a Clickbait Empire
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Author: Jane PorterJane Porter
In the spring of 2015, the internet briefly became obsessed with the virility of the "dadbod." For a moment, the merits of the pudgy-middled male physique seemed to outweigh a six pack or chiseled biceps. That year, the Collins English Dictionary added the term "dadbod" to its list of new words. "Hail to the average man," the fad seemed to suggest. Like all short-lived, much-loved internet phenomenon, the dadbod had to start somewhere, and in this case, it started as a story published by a 19-year-old college student, posted to an online platform called Odyssey. Odyssey began as a 16-page tabloid-sized weekly, distributed at fraternities and sororities—first at Indiana State University, then at a handful of Greek houses across college campuses. It was first conceived in 2010 by Evan Burns and Adrian France—then Indiana State seniors—as a newspaper covering Greek life. By 2014, Burns was at the helm as CEO and Odyssey's ambitions had shifted: It was now a sprawling online repository of writing. Today, Odyssey is an expansive platform with 15,000 creators, most of them college students across US campuses. Since its launch, it's raised $32 million of backing by investors. Burns believes Odyssey could become the Facebook or Instagram of user-generated stories. "We've thought about our growth strategy as creating communities rather than building a blog platform," he says.
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For a website most people have never heard of, Odyssey has managed to rank up a substantial following, averaging 30 million unique views a month. More impressively, those views result from people—many of them Odyssey contributors—posting and sharing Odyssey stories across social media, unprompted by the site. That traffic is fueled by a massive amount of content. According to Odyssey, most stories average between 1,750 and 2,500 reads per month, a figure that lumps together those few pieces that go viral with the majority, which sometimes get only a handful of shares.
Of the half dozen former and current Odyssey contributors Backchannel spoke with, perceptions of the site's reputation varied. "Some people feel it's all clickbait and copy-paste articles, and others feel they can really express themselves there," says Tyler Hoskins, a sophomore at Providence College who has been writing for Odyssey since the start of the school year.
Yet when Burns and France launched Odyssey as a newspaper back in 2010, they had big ideas. They wanted to scale what they were doing into a social network for "fully formed ideas." Those ideas would be written by contributors and curated on a grand scale. For three years, the small team they'd assembled tried to build an algorithm that would streamline the workflow of such an undertaking. By 2014, they'd launched one and given it the Orwellian name of the "Invisible Hand." Odyssey was counting on the Invisible Hand to allow it to succeed where others like it had failed. By passing pieces seamlessly through an edit desk, they hoped to create a sustainable business model that would churn out high-volume content for free.
Step into Odyssey's brand new, sprawling office in Manhattan's NoHo neighborhood, and you feel a college-chic vibe. Metal lockers line the wall from floor to ceiling. A bar adorned in silver cushions and topped with a faux crystal chandelier stands in one corner, waiting to be stocked and put to use by the decidedly young, bearded bunch of employees. Every two weeks as part of a "hot-desk plan," employees swap desks, wheeling their individual metal filing cabinets to a new spot in the high-ceilinged workspace. That includes Burns, now a thin, fast-talking 29-year-old. It also includes a cadre of more than 60 content strategists, busy editing the 15,000 writers who each contribute at least one story per week — a task that would be dizzying for even the most prolific of newsrooms.
Handling this kind of volume has tripped up companies like Odyssey in the past. User-generated content sites, like Odyssey, rely mostly on unpaid users to fill their coffers of material—which is a boom for volume, but tends to mean the quality is lacking. Finding a way to stay relevant, keep users engaged, and scale a business model has proven to be a real challenge for UGC platforms over the years. AOL's attempt, a hyper-local vertical of platforms called Patch that was edited by professional writers, fizzled out of existence — advertisers weren't willing to pay for ad space, and traffic was abysmal. Turner media's sports platform, Bleacher Report, lost credibility because of shoddy writing. Eventually, the site hired professional writers. Other sites—such as the Huffington Post, which launched with unpaid contributors and now employs a full staff of reporters—have followed suit. "These types of networks have petered out because it is resource intensive to work with contributors," says Claire Wardle, research director at Columbia University's Tow Center for Digital Journalism.
That's where Odyssey believes it has developed a secret sauce with its Invisible Hand. Despite the ominous name, it's a workflow tool that organizes stories by subject matter and content, ranking their newsworthiness, topic, and popularity. Stories that come in are ordered and organized from most relevant to least depending on a range of factors, and then funneled to the editor focused on the pertinent topic, such as sports or politics.
First, the algorithm feeds stories to community editors—locally based individuals who are not paid for their job—to be edited. Then they're sent off to content strategists — the company's name for its in-house editors, who are all responsible for managing 20 communities each comprised of around 12 to 25 writers. That means a content strategist is editing anywhere between 240 to 500 stories per week. The Invisible Hand is what keeps these editors from losing their minds, managing their workflow so they don't waste time sifting through stories to determine what their priority should be.
Emi Gutgold, a recent graduate from Penn State who majored in advertising, served as editor-in-chief of Penn State's Odyssey community for the past year. Odyssey is particularly robust on her campus, with what Gutgold calls "a powerhouse community" of 60 writers. Gutgold first heard about Odyssey two years ago in an email from her sorority, Kappa Delta, describing the chance to write about Greek life on campus for a new publication. At the time, Odyssey was still a tabloid-style print newspaper delivered weekly to fraternity and sorority houses at a handful of schools. As far as Gutgold knew, it was the first publication targeted to the Greek community, which intrigued her. She started writing a story a week, and "it snowballed from there," she says. "I grew a name for myself at Penn State as the cool girl who writes about Greek life."
But though there's no shortage of stories on the Greek scene, Gutgold—who interned at the company's New York office last summer and is starting a paid job as a content strategist this month—also insists that the platform creates space for perspectives that might otherwise get overlooked by mainstream media. Take for example the Jerry Sandusky Penn State child sex abuse scandal. "A lot of the media outlets were really missing the opinion of students and how they felt," Gutgold says. On Odyssey you could find those stories. But scan down a sampling of her story headlines — "Everything You Need to Know to Hack The HUB Salad Line," "The Only Outfit You Need For The Rose Bowl," "Make Up Tips For A Flawless Sorority Recruitment" — and there seems to be far more puffery than hard-hitting ideas.
Investors have been charmed by the Odyssey model. In 2015, around the time of the dadbod story, Odyssey began touting that piece as an example of how far the platform's reach could span. It earned hundreds of thousands of shares and racked up thousands of comments in a few days. Soon, the company announced a $3 million seed round of funding, and to date VCs have invested a total of $32 million in the company. The latest of that came in a $25 million investment round this spring, led by Columbus Nova Managing Partner Jason Epstein and Michael Lazerow, who's called Odyssey "the most exciting company I've seen since Buzzfeed."
What most impressed Lazerow, and what investors see as Odyssey's boon, is that the platform's 30 million monthly views come predominantly through user and reader shares, as opposed to traffic driven by Odyssey's own social media accounts. The Odyssey Facebook account, for example, takes credit for just .16 percent of the site's traffic, while social media shares by users and readers account for 81 percent of traffic overall, according to company metrics. The Odyssey website isn't designed as a place people visit to find stories, and its social media feeds aren't steering readers—its 15,000 contributors are. Lazerow views Odyssey as combining "the best of social networking" and "the best of publishing," with writers across the country writing and sharing stories while editors at a New York office tighten up the pieces before they go live.
Every UGC business faces the hurdle of finding a way to not just make money, but keep making money. At Odyssey, that's where Lauri Baker, SVP of sales and marketing, comes in. In 2016, Baker left the Huffington Post—where she'd served as vice president of brand strategy and sales, building out Huffington Post's native publishing platform—to join Burns' team. Since arriving at Odyssey last March, she's helped create a strategy that uses Odyssey's coffers of contributor data to pinpoint which of its writers might serve as the best ambassadors for specific brands. "We're connecting brands with real consumers," says Baker. "We are shifting the focus from reach to relevance."
Particularly relevant contributors are brought in for focus groups, given incentives from Odyssey's advertisers, and then paid by Odyssey to write pieces of sponsored content. Brands such as Victoria Secret, Starbucks, and Red Bull have already invested in the strategy. Though sponsored content makes up just 3 percent of Odyssey's stories, nearly all of the company's revenue comes from this targeted sponsored content. According to Burns, Odyssey is aiming to have 10 to 15 companies each pay between $2 to $5 million dollars per campaign for the privilege of tapping into this network of young content creators.
And, by using primarily college students, the strategy is supremely cost-effective. Gutgold, for example, was paid $20 by Odyssey to write a sponsored story for the dating app Bumble called "The Hottest Players In The Bumble Game," which included a mashup of photos alongside her cheeky commentary. These low rates allow companies to get a ton of advertising for their dollar. "We can produce 100 pieces of content for a brand for how much it costs them to get three pieces elsewhere," says Baker.
Baker's marketing strategy rests on a marketing truth that's resulted in a boom for user-generated content. "[Brands have] recognized that [working with users] was a way of appearing authentic and getting potential consumers involved in a marketing campaign (and ultimately not having to pay anything or very much for that authentic content)," Wardle wrote in an email. Yet contributors like Gutgold, who starts her new job at the Odyssey New York office this month, don't seem to mind. "It's really fun to mix the editorial and business side of sales," she says.
Odyssey is planning to take this strategy one step further, using the data it's gathered on its many contributors to tailor targeted ads to readers based on their reading history and interests. " If we know you've read this many articles about a certain topic like American sports cars, we can go to a brand like Ford and say, 'Hey Ford, we know this person loves American sports cars,'" says Burns. In this way, Odyssey plans to offer what Burns calls a "relevance product" that gives brands a chance to microtarget their ads to user interests. That sales product is currently in the works, and Burns believes that down the line, it will be Odyssey's key to generating the bulk of its revenue.
Courtesy of Odyssey
To keep creating such content, of course, Odyssey must continue attracting contributors. If it doesn't, it will fail. But retaining contributors over time is another big challenge for UGC platforms. "If I can build my platform on Odyssey, do I have to continue using it as my platform if I'm not getting paid when I can go elsewhere and my following will come with me?" says David Schweidel, associate professor of marketing at Emory University's business school. The sustainability of such a business model is uncertain. "When platforms are dependent on the content from individuals, if you want to keep those individuals contributing content to you, you need to make it worth it for them," he says. Otherwise, "you are constantly refilling the ranks with new content creators."
Of course, rewarding contributors for their traffic numbers is another strategy to keep writers from leaving, and it's one Odyssey has tried and continues to use. Recently, for instance, one of Gutgold's writers at Penn State was paid $1,500 after a story she wrote about a drinking game went viral. Today, Odyssey has a rewards system that pays content creators based on total monthly page views, ranging from $20 a month for 15,000+ views to $1,500 for more than a million views.
In Odyssey's early days, the financial incentives differed. Mackenzie Pearson, the author of the dadbod story, says she would receive $10 if her story got the most page views on the site in a given week. And most Odyssey contributors aren't in it for the money at all. "I think it's a great experience for someone who's trying to test the waters and thinking about becoming a writer," says Hoskins. But does the editorial feedback and exposure — things Odyssey argues it gives its writers —actually help its participants build something of value?
With such a vast conglomerate of contributors, there's bound to be a difference of opinion. Take Pearson, for example, who wrote that viral dadbod story. Pearson was a sophomore at Clemson University when she wrote that story. She began writing for Odyssey because it seemed like a fun and easy way to make a few extra bucks as a college student. The dadbod idea was an inside joke she'd had with a group of girlfriends, and after she sent it off to Odyssey, she didn't think much about it.
Not long after the piece went viral, Odyssey asked Pearson to write an encore piece. But when Pearson turned in a more serious story, this time about the "mombod" and the pressures women face after having children, she was encouraged to write something more lighthearted. The story wasn't published for weeks. "I was kept very much out of the loop," she says. "I was told what I needed to be told, when I needed to be told." Soon after, Odyssey reached out to ask Pearson to do some marketing and recruiting for the company. When she asked how much she'd be paid, she was told: nothing. "I started realizing that what they were doing was exploitation," says Pearson, now a senior at Clemson planning to study copyright infringement in law school as a result of the experience she had with Odyssey.
She's not the only contributor to feel exploited. The summer before her junior year at the University of Rochester, Dominique Noriega, now a senior, learned about Odyssey through a Facebook post by a friend scouting new contributors for the platform. Excited by the opportunity to write, Noriega signed up. In the beginning she enjoyed it, but soon it became a slog. "The weekly [requirement] was a little dreadful because it really is such a cranking machine," she says. "You don't always have the time to make something that's good. You just have to make something."
In the fall of her junior year, Noriega's community editor-in-chief stepped down and she took on the role. She started aggressively recruiting writers across campus to balance the ratio of "fluff pieces" her group was producing. Once her community had grown larger than 20 writers, Odyssey decided to split the group into two chapters — a strategy that helps in maximizing the number of communities overall.
But the division meant Noriega had lost half her team and was now competing with them for readers. "It was just really transparent how much they wanted to get bigger. It took the individualism out of it," she says. What's more, she and the other student editors were flooded with emails from their content strategist checking in and urging them to turn around more stories, faster. "We were so drained by this man's persistent emails and demands. We couldn't do it any more," Noriega says. Last September, she and two other editors resigned in a published letter.
Burns attributes any glitches contributors like Pearson and Noriega might have experienced to the growing pains of a young platform. Keeping up with the particular complaints and challenges of every writer and community is not something he as CEO can feasibly manage, of course. He said that Odyssey is still in the process of revamping and building out new creator tools to give writers more say in how and when Odyssey reaches out to them. Burns says writers and community editors are never required to do marketing or recruiting. And splitting a single university community like Rochester's in half, he says, is "an unusual thing."
Burns is adamant that as a company, Odyssey doesn't want to tell people what to create. "From a top-down level we try not to dictate: 'Write this topic. Write this stuff.' It might happen here and there with an individual editor, but we don't want to create an echo chamber," he says. "With over a thousand communities, we are never going to guarantee exact uniformity around how that's going to happen."
Adding to the complexity is the inherent tension for a site that's not trying to be a publisher, but rather a community — an invisible distinction that platforms draw when trying to make money off their content. As Burns puts it. "Who are we to decide what's relevant?"
Inviting as he wants the community to be, Burns says the platform also vets contributors before taking them on, only accepting five to six percent of all people signing on to become contributors. "We are looking at their socials. When you speak, do people listen online, and are you a leader in your community?" asks Burns.
Because if you are, Odyssey could stand to make a penny off of your opinion.
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Who can wear compression socks? The answer is anyone! Medical Compression Socks are a fantastic product for anyone who may sit all day, stand all day, have poor blood circulation, swelling in the feet and ankles, are pregnant, and so much more! The socks are a graduated compression, meaning the compression grade is higher around the ankle than it is around the calf which helps promote blood flow back up towards the heart. Not to mention, there are a ton of funky colours and patterns to choose from. The socks are very versatile as they can be worn at work, around the house, or even for hiking, sports and at the gym.
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Just when you think you've seen every variation on the tailored shirt there is, palmer//harding manages to conjure up something new. Cut with a relaxed fit from striped fabric, its body extends into a train of sorts with a high-low hem and belted waist. Layer yours over cropped trousers with a classic pair of heels.


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Q: Possible to install windows 8 apps without online account? Is it possible to install windows 8 apps without using online microsoft account to login to windows ? I had heard to be able to install windoes 8 apps, we need to use online account to login to windows but i want to use local account instead ?

A: Only Enterprise customers can deploy apps inside the cooperation without using the store with Windows 8 Enterprise. This is called Sideloading

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Big D and the Kids Table
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