Contributions: (I) Conception and design: S Patel, A Burke-Gaffney, RG Bogle; (II) Administrative support: None; (III) Provision of study material or patients: None; (IV) Collection and assembly of data: S Patel, T Svermova; (V) Data analysis and interpretation: All authors; (VI) Manuscript writing: All authors; (VII) Final approval of manuscript: All authors.
Correspondence to: Dr. Richard G. Bogle. Cardiology Clinical Academic Group, St George's University Foundation Hospitals NHS Trust, Blackshaw Road, London SW17 0RE, UK. Email: richard.bogle1@nhs.net.
Results: Seventeen RCTs were included with 2,616 patients. Several comparative groups showed significant differences. DEB with BMS were inferior to DES for LLL [mean difference (MD) =0.12 mm; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.03 to 0.22; P=0.01]; and binary restenosis [risk ratio (RR) =1.89; (CI, 1.13 to 3.18); P=0.02]. DEB with BMS was superior to BMS for LLL [MD =−0.27 mm; (−0.45 to −0.10); P=0.002]; and MACE [RR =0.64; (0.46 to 0.90); P=0.010]. Finally, DEB alone was superior to POBA for LLL [MD =−0.39 mm; (−0.67 to −0.11); P=0.006] and binary restenosis [RR =0.20; (0.05 to 0.85); P=0.03] in bifurcation lesions.
Submitted Aug 16, 2017. Accepted for publication Sep 28, 2017.
Percutaneous coronary intervention and stenting is the most commonly used treatment for coronary artery disease. Plain-old balloon angioplasty (POBA) was the first technique (1) which facilitated a minimally-invasive expansion of a stenosed coronary artery (2). The technique was limited by acute complications including coronary dissection, which in some patients progressed to abrupt vessel closure requiring emergency bypass surgery; and acute elastic recoil, reducing the luminal gain following balloon dilatation. Post-procedure, restenosis due to neointimal proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells represented another limiting factor most common in patients with diabetes and complex coronary artery disease (3-5).
Bare-metal stents (BMS) virtually solved the problem of dissection; acute vessel closure and the need for emergency bypass surgery (2), but did not reduce the risk of restenosis. The implantation of stents also led to a new problem of acute, late and very late stent thrombosis (6). However, treatment with dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) reduced this risk (7). The introduction of drug-eluting stents (DES) and its generational enhancements (i.e., thinner struts) partially resolved the problem of restenosis through release of anti-mitotic agents but concerns surrounding prolonged DAPT still remained (8,9).
To overcome the limitations of POBA, BMS and DES, the drug-eluting balloons (DEB) was developed. Initially introduced as a treatment for in-stent restenosis (ISR) in BMS and DES-lesions (10) they have emerged as a potential treatment for de novo coronary lesions. This is because the DEB intervention has several advantages over DES such as homogenous transfer of drug across vessel wall, lack of foreign body implantation, reduced bleeding risk (1 month DAPT versus 6–12 months of therapy for DES) and access to complex lesions (4,11). However, one disadvantage is that in a small proportion of DEB-treated patients, bail-out stenting is required, following recoil or dissections (12). Despite the promising characteristics of this intervention type, the indication for DEB use in de novo coronary lesions is still unclear.
Previous meta-analyses have failed to address the DEB-only strategy for de novo coronary artery disease (13,14). Moreover, analyses have not yet explored a DEB-only approach in bifurcation lesions. As initial studies suggest that DEB-alone show success for treatment of high-risk restenotic areas (15,16), we hypothesised that DEB will also provide superior results compared with other interventional treatments, for the treatment of small vessel disease and bifurcation lesions in de novo coronary disease. This study, which includes data from DEB and adjunctive BMS as well as DEB-only studies, therefore aims to provide the most up-to-date and comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis for the treatment of de novo coronary artery disease. The safety and efficacy of DEB (with or without BMS) will be compared to other conventional management options (POBA, BMS and DES) in treating de novo lesions.
This study was performed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.
MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched for RCTs published from 1st January 2000 through to 1st May 2017 using the key terms: 'drug eluting balloon', 'drug coated balloon', 'paclitaxel eluting balloon', 'de novo coronary lesion', 'coronary stenosis', 'coronary disease', 'small vessel disease', 'bifurcation', 'complex long lesion', 'acute myocardial infarction', 'acute MI' and 'MI'. No filters were applied. Abstracts and conference proceedings of the American College of Cardiology and Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics Symposia were also screened. References included in literature reviews were searched manually to ensure all studies that complied with the inclusion criteria were identified. Two investigators (S Patel and T Svermova) independently reviewed the resulting articles. A qualitative risk of bias in seven domains (random sequence generation; allocation concealment; blinding of participants/personnel; outcome; incomplete outcome; selective reporting and other risk of bias) was conducted.
We included all studies that compared angioplasty using the DEB-only strategy as well as DEB with adjunctive BMS to: POBA, BMS and DES. For analysis, data pertaining to the longest available follow up periods were used. Exclusion criteria were patients treated for ISR and use of interventions other than DEB, POBA, BMS or DES (e.g., endothelial progenitor capturing stents). Non-randomised controlled trials and non-observational studies were also excluded. The primary endpoint collected was in-segment or in-stent late lumen loss (LLL). Secondary angiographic and clinical endpoints were: binary restenosis (in-stent or in-segment), target lesion revascularization (TLR), major adverse cardiac events (MACE), myocardial infarction (MI) and cardiac death.
Statistical analysis was performed using standard software packages (Review Manager version 5.3, The Nordic Cochrane Centre, The Cochrane Collaboration, 2014, Copenhagen, Norway; Comprehensive Meta-analysis version 3 software, Biostat Inc., Englewood, NJ, USA) with two-tailed P values <0.05 considered significant. Analyses are presented as forest plots—the conventional method for showing results from individual studies and meta-analysis. Risk ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) or mean differences (MDs) with standard deviations are presented as summary statistics. Subgroup analyses comparing DEB-only studies with DES were also performed. Heterogeneity between studies was compared by Q and I2 statistics (respectively, P<0.1 indicates heterogeneity; <25%, 25–50% and >50% indicate low, medium and high levels). Studies were combined using the random effect model. Publication bias was assessed using funnel plots and Egger's test (P<0.05 indicates significant bias).
A PRISMA diagram of the literature search and the subsequent selection is presented in Figure 1. In total, 606 articles were retrieved. Following screening for replicates, 405 remained; and after screening abstracts for relevance, a further 371 studies were removed. Finally, full text of the remaining 34 studies were screened, of which 17 randomised controlled trials (17-34) fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were qualitatively and quantitatively analysed.
Figure 1 Study selection process. EPC, endothelial progenitor cell-capturing stent.
A summary of the included studies is provided in Table 1 and this table also documents: (I) interventions compared; (II) DEB, DES and BMS type; (III) indication; (IV) primary endpoint; (V) percent bare metal stenting; and (VI) angiographic follow-up time.
A total of 2,616 patients, ranging from 30 to 637 per study, were enrolled in the meta-analysis. There were 1,218 patients treated with DEB + BMS; whereas, 347 were treated with BMS; 1,028 with DES; and 32 with POBA. The mean age of patients recruited was 65 years; and all of the studies had a majority of male patients. Studies recruited from different patient populations. In the trial by Ali and colleagues (31), all patients were diabetic; whereas, in trials conducted by Besic et al. (23) and Poerner et al. (25) all patients were hypertensive. Data for each trial are detailed in Table 2.
Risk of bias analysis revealed high-risk bias in open-label studies (17,22,27) and incomplete outcome data (25,27,30) where greater than 15% of patients were lost to follow-up (Table 3).
In subset analyses, DEB + BMS compared more favourably to POBA with a statistically significant difference observed for LLL [MD =−0.39; (−0.67 to −0.11); P=0.006]. DEB + BMS also had a significantly lower rate of LLL compared to the BMS group [MD =−0.27; (−0.45 to −0.10); P=0.002]. When compared to the DES group, the DEB + BMS group had an increased LLL and therefore was significantly less effective than DES [MD =0.12; (0.03 to 0.22); P=0.01] (Figure 2).
Figure 2 Forest plot of mean differences for late lumen loss. BMS, bare-metal stents; CI, confidence interval; DEB, drug-eluting balloons; DES, drug-eluting stents; POBA, plain-old balloon angioplasty.
In subset analyses, risk of binary restenosis in the DEB + BMS group was significantly lower compared to the POBA group [RR =0.20; (0.05 to 0.85); P=0.03]. This was also seen in the DEB + BMS and DES groups, where binary restenosis was significantly lower in the former mode of intervention [RR =1.89; (1.13 to 3.18); P=0.02]. There was no statistically significant difference in binary restenosis, however, between the DEB + BMS and BMS groups [RR =0.44; (0.18 to 1.06); P=0.07] (Figure 3).
Figure 3 Forest plot of risk ratios (RR) for binary restenosis. BMS, bare-metal stents; CI, confidence interval; DEB, drug-eluting balloons; DES, drug-eluting stents; POBA, plain-old balloon angioplasty.
Compared to the BMS group, the DEB + BMS group had a significantly lower need for TLR [RR =0.65; (0.44 to 0.97); P=0.04]. The need for TLR, on the other hand, was higher in the DEB + BMS group compared to the DES group although this did not reach statistical significance [RR =1.57; (0.94 to 2.62); P=0.08] (Figure 4).
Figure 4 Forest plot of risk ratios (RR) for TLR. BMS, bare-metal stents; CI, confidence interval; DEB, drug-eluting balloons; DES, drug-eluting stents; POBA, plain-old balloon angioplasty; TLR, target lesion revascularization.
Definitions of MACE had slight variations across the 17 studies within this review. However, they were still interpreted under one global outcome. When compared to the BMS alone group, DEB + BMS had a significantly more favourable outcome (lower rate of MACE) [RR =0.64; (0.46 to 0.90); P=0.010]. However, even though the rate of MACE was higher in the DEB + BMS group compared to the DES group, there was no statistically significant difference [RR =1.39; (0.96 to 2.01); P=0.08] (Figure 5).
Figure 5 Forest plot of risk ratios (RR) for MACE. BMS, bare-metal stents; CI, confidence interval; DEB, drug-eluting balloons; DES, drug-eluting stents; MACE, major adverse cardiac events; POBA, plain-old balloon angioplasty.
There was no significant differences reported between the DEB + BMS groups and BMS or DES groups for MI [RR =0.66; (0.19 to 2.29); P=0.51]; [RR =1.30; (0.60 to 2.84, 95% CI); P=0.51] (Figure 6).
Figure 6 Forest plot of risk ratios (RR) for MI. BMS, bare-metal stents; CI, confidence interval; DEB, drug-eluting balloons; DES, drug-eluting stents; MI, myocardial infarction; POBA, plain-old balloon angioplasty.
There was also no significant differences reported between the DEB + BMS groups and BMS or DES groups for death [RR =0.20; (0.02 to 1.70); P=0.14]; [RR =1.43; (0.45 to 4.52); P=0.54] (Figure 7).
Figure 7 Forest plot of risk ratios (RR) for death. BMS, bare-metal stents; CI, confidence interval; DEB, drug-eluting balloons; DES, drug-eluting stents; POBA, plain-old balloon angioplasty.
Stent thrombosis out of all the outcomes had the lowest incident rate. No statistically significant difference was reported in the DEB + BMS group versus control [RR =1.85; (0.84 to 4.08); P=0.13]. This was also the case for DEB + BMS compared with BMS alone and DES alone [RR =4.10; (0.46 to 36.40); P=0.21]; [RR =1.64; (0.70 to 3.83); P=0.26] (Figure 8).
Figure 8 Forest plot of risk ratios (RR) for stent thrombosis. BMS, bare-metal stents; CI, confidence interval; DEB, drug-eluting balloons; DES, drug-eluting stents; POBA, plain-old balloon angioplasty.
As part of the subgroup analysis, 'DEB-only' interventions were compared with DES. In terms of LLL, DEB-only had no statistically significant difference to DES [MD =−0.12; (−0.25 to 0.01); P=0.06]. This was also seen in binary restenosis, MACE, TLR, MI and death; binary restenosis—[RR =1.36; (0.31 to 6.04); P=0.69], MACE—[RR =1.15; (0.27 to 4.98); P=0.85], TLR—[RR =1.26; (0.24 to 6.79); P=0.78], MI—[RR =0.65; (0.11 to 3.86); P=0.64] and death—[RR =0.69; (0.12 to 4.17); P=0.69].
Egger's test revealed no evidence of significant publication bias within this meta-analysis (P>0.05). This lack of bias was also substantiated by the symmetrical funnel plot for our primary angiographic endpoint of LLL (Figure 9).
Figure 9 Funnel plot for publication bias using the primary angiographic endpoint of late lumen loss.
This is the first meta-analysis to compare DEB with and without BMS to all three management options: POBA, BMS alone and DES for treatment of de novo coronary lesions. Of the 17 RCTs included in the study, 14 studies compared DEB + BMS with DES and/or BMS, two studies compared DEB-only to DES and one, DEB alone to POBA.
The significant findings of this study can be summarised as follows: (I) DES was superior to DEB + BMS in angiographic (LLL) and clinical (binary restenosis) outcomes; (II) DEB + BMS was superior to BMS in LLL and clinical outcomes (MACE, TLR); and (III) DEB-only approach was superior to POBA for LLL and binary restenosis in bifurcation lesions.
The current standard of care for PCI treatment of de novo coronary lesions is implantation of a second generation DES (35). However, there is increasing concern about the longer term risk of DES, such as increased bleeding risk with prolonged antiplatelet therapy (10,36). Additional risks include development of ISR and late ST which remain a factor of concern for DES users despite a lower incidence of disease compared to BMS (37,38). DEB, advocated for their ability to reduce DAPT and promote homogeneous drug transfer have been proposed as an alternative to DES (39). However, drawbacks such as dissection and acute elastic recoil means that DEB treatment is often seen accompanied with BMS (39).
In this analysis, it was shown that DEB + BMS were significantly inferior to DES in clinical and angiographic outcomes. Apparent lack of efficacy of DEB + BMS compared to DES could be explained in part by the high use of first-generation paclitaxel based DEB which are likely to be inferior to DES in terms of drug delivery. Also, the relatively short contact time between DEB and vessel wall could result in a greater 'wash-off' effect than with DES. A study investigating DEB techniques found optimal concentrations of paclitaxel in the vessel wall following short inflation times of 30 to 45 seconds (40). The study which compared 1st and 2nd generation DIOR balloons in a porcine model also found higher tissue concentrations of drug and reduced arterial wall injury with 2nd generation DEBs (40). Coupling of 2nd generation DEBs with a shorter inflation time could therefore improve release kinetics and safety in future studies.
Different generation DES were also used. Eight trials used 1st generation DES, whilst five used 2nd generation devices. The TAXUS Liberté paclitaxel-eluting stent was the most common followed by the Xience V everolimus-eluting stent. A meta-analysis which compared 1st and 2nd generation DES found that 1st generation sirolimus-eluting stents compared well in efficacy to 2nd generation everolimus/zotarolimus eluting stents in TLR, MACE and restenosis (41,42); whereas, 2nd generation everolimus-based stents had better clinical outcomes (MI and ST rates) (41,42). Thus, it cannot be ruled out that some heterogeneity within results arose from a lack of uniformity in the DEB and DES employed.
DEB-only intervention is currently accepted in routine practice for treatment of ISR, re-restenosis or for side branch POBA. There may also be other niche indications including high-risk restenotic lesions such as bifurcations, long lesions, diffuse disease in diabetic patients and small vessel disease (43). The PEPCAD-BIF trial was the first randomised controlled trial to explore DEB-only use in side branch and/or distal main branch lesions (18). The trial showed that for bifurcations, DEB alone had a statistically significant reduction in LLL and binary restenosis (18). Whilst not having been directly compared to DES, the DEB-only approach is attractive for bifurcations owing to preservation of vessel patency and avoidance of carina shift—a phenomenon largely responsible for side branch occlusion following DES treatment (16,18). In addition, low rates of restenosis and TLR seen in the PEPCAD-BIF trial also suggested some promise for the DEB-only treatment of bifurcation lesions (18). However, more randomised controlled trials comparing DES and DEB alone are needed to determine whether these theoretical benefits translate to better angiographic and clinical outcomes.
Small vessel disease is another area where the DEB-only strategy has shown potential because short drug transfer time and lack of foreign body implantation reduces higher rates of neointimal proliferation and inflammatory response found in smaller-calibre vessels treated with BMS treatment (44). This was substantiated by our findings which suggested that DEB alone performed comparably to the current mainstay of treatment, DES, for both clinical and angiographic outcomes. It should be noted, however, that our meta-analysis only presented data from two studies comparing DES and DEB-alone (BELLO and PICCOLETO) since randomised controlled trials concerning this topic were scarce.
Despite these two trials portraying DEB-alone in a favourable light in small vessel disease, data from the study endpoints were rather heterogeneous. This could be explained by the use of IN.PACT Falcon, a 2nd generation DEB in the BELLO trial and DIOR I, a 1st generation DEB in the PICCOLETO trial. Furthermore, pre-dilatation rates were very low in the PICCOLETO trial compared with the BELLO trial (25% versus 96.8% respectively) (19,32). This is an important difference as pre-dilatation is a necessary prerequisite for optimal drug absorption through creation of micro-channels in the plaque and vessel wall (45). Importantly in this regard, studies did not also report the use of cutting or scoring balloon which may be important in improving drug access to the vessel wall. Experience has indicated that adequate and appropriate lesion preparation is essential when using DEB. It is important therefore that in future studies there is a standardised approach to lesion preparation, use of adjunctive technology such as cutting or scoring balloon and an adequate description of the methodology since it is possible that this will have an important effect on the efficacy of the DEB technique. Hence, the DEB-only approach with the right variant and preparation technique could show even more promise for small vessel lesions.
This meta-analysis had several limitations. For example, a large majority of studies had a small sample size and results were moderately heterogeneous. However, this was likely the result of different generations of DEB and DES used as well as different study design comparators such as DES, POBA and BMS. For this reason, stratified and subgroup analyses were taken into account to further isolate sources of variability. Secondly, 14 trials reported clinical outcomes from relatively short follow-up periods (≤1 year) which may have failed to capture episodes of late stent thrombosis and thus influenced results. As already mentioned, the latest generations of DES and DEB were not universally studied and therefore results should be interpreted with caution in the context of latest devices in current clinical use. Additionally, any future studies of DEB must be against the latest generation of DES so that a valid comparison can be made against the technology in current clinical use. Finally, some studies were susceptible to industry bias owing to author involvement in relevant device companies such as B. Braun, Boston Scientific Medtronic and Eurocor GmbH (18,21,22,28,29,31,33). Similarly, conflicts of interest may have arisen due to these companies funding studies which investigated their own products (18,21,26,28,30,31,33,34).
Overall, the results of this meta-analysis found that DEB in combination with BMS was not superior to DES in both clinical and angiographic outcomes for de novo coronary lesions. Compared to BMS alone, however, the combination of DEB and BMS was superior in LLL and MACE. The strategy of DEB alone has shown some promise. For example, DEB-only studies performed comparably to DES within the setting of small coronary vessels. In addition, the approach has shown early success in bifurcation lesions with DEB alone. These findings suggest that for major de novo coronary lesions, DEB + BMS should not be considered for treatment unless in patients who have significant contraindications to DES. Whilst the result from DEB-alone may be advantageous in cases of high-risk restenotic lesions such as small vessel disease following successful pre-dilatation and bifurcation lesions of certain classifications (Medina type 0, X, X) we conclude that DEB are still not a widely accepted modality of treatment.
Funding: This work was supported by the British Heart Foundation (grant number FS/14/6/30573) to T Svermova.
Ethical Statement: This study was performed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.
Ali RM, Degenhardt R, Zambahari R, et al. Paclitaxel-eluting balloon angioplasty and cobalt-chromium stents versus conventional angioplasty and paclitaxel-eluting stents in the treatment of native coronary artery stenoses in patients with diabetes mellitus. EuroIntervention 2011;7 Suppl K:K83-92.
Hamm CW, Cremers B, Moellmann H, et al. PEPCAD III: a randomised trial comparing a paclitaxel-coated balloon/stent system with a sirolimus eluting stent. Circulation 2009;120:2157.
Marzullo R, Aprile A, Biondi-Zoccai G, et al. Drug-eluting balloon technology. Cardiac Interventions Today 2011;40-9.


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Flushed with Success - AI Wins Multiplayer Poker Games
July 12, 2019 By IdeaConnection
Artificial intelligence has another victory notch on its belt. After a marathon 12-day poker session, an artificial intelligence program called Pluribus emerged victorious.
The bot defeated leading professionals in games of no-limit Texas hold'em poker, the most popular form of the game.
During one experiment, Pluribus played five professionals at a time for a total of 10,000 hands and won. Each of these players had previously racked up more than $1 million in prize money.
In another experiment, five copies of Pluribus took on two top professionals, playing around 5,000 hands each time. The AI program defeated them both.
Two years ago a forerunner of Pluribus called Libratus also beat human players, but this program only played one-on-one, not several players at once.
AI Achievement
"Pluribus achieved superhuman performance at multi-player poker, which is a recognized milestone in artificial intelligence and in game theory that has been open for decades," said Professor Tuomas Sandholm, who developed Pluribus with his PhD student Noam Brown at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
"Thus far, superhuman AI milestones in strategic reasoning have been limited to two-party competition.
"The ability to beat five other players in such a complicated game opens up new opportunities to use AI to solve a wide variety of real-world problems."
Real-World Problems
Among the real-world problems that Sandholm thinks Pluribus could be applied to are investment banking, deciding how much money political candidates should spend in advertising with various media outlets and negotiation strategies.
The AI poker achievement is described in a research article 'Superhuman AI for Multiplayer Poker' in the current edition of the journal Science.
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text:
on May 12, 2018 at 06:46 UTC
nique89
A guy I met online told me he has Generalised Anxiety. Opinions?
Met a guy online. Not tinder. He wanted to call me to chat on the phone before we meet. Shocked- as no-one bothers to do this anymore these days! Our first chat was an hour and a half. During that time, he told me he has Generalised Anxiety disorder and he is managing it. I asked him why he told me this so soon and he wanted to be as honest as possible instead of springing it upon me later on.
A part of me appreciates him telling me. Another part of me is cautious. I dont want to judge as I have anxiety too at times.
Edited on May 12, 2018 at 06:47 UTC by the author
Respond to nique89:
Immediate good impression would be honest and forthright. Concern would be how Generalized Anxiety Disorder manifests itself? There must be other plusses for you to be considering this.
IF this guy really wanted to convince people, he would have volunteered what he is doing to manage his situation. Meds, regular therapy sessions, self management and so on...... If you were to ask now, he might take your asking as a sign that you're interested. Had you asked when he first mentioned it, it would have appeared more spontaneous.
I also think that if he had it under control, he would have waited until the 2nd or 3rd date to mention it. Don't feel bad if you don't want to further this prospect. Had he said that he was a sex addict, I don't think you would be so conflicted but that's a mental health issue as well.
nique89 Send a private message
@eWicked: We haven't been on a date yet
He told me in our first phone conversation and it put me off.
I don't think I will continue
LadyKat Send a private message
For me, mentally healthy and no diagnosis is a non negotiating standard. I would be kind and back away. If it were me, I would never tell him it was the mental issue. Others find these things acceptable. I dont.
@LadyKat: Hm that's how I feel. It's just that I do think it has affected him. He is in his late 30s and has moved back home for example. He did a job for a decade that was basically way below his qualifications. Not sure how much of these are because of anxiety or lack of motivation.
I just feel bad because I have anxiety too and sometimes even panic attacks but I somehow push myself constantly out of my comfort zone career wise and in other ways too.
Cler16 Send a private message
If his condition concerns you, I think you need more detail as this evolves. Is he on medication? Is he in counseling? Many people with anxiety disorder live very normal lives. Each case is unique.
If he seems like a great guy, I would take it slow and see what happens.
on June 8, 2018 at 10:27 UTC
Wolfie339 Send a private message
I don t know why but I appreciate persons with anxiety... Cause I have it too and ik what is like.
Edited on June 8, 2018 at 10:27 UTC by the author
dollyk Send a private message
http://14ty.me/syhJr


What's more lovely than a personalized gift for your loved ones? Surprise your special someone with this DIY Explosion Gift Box! Style the box your way with stickers, photos, stamps, quotes and many more as if making a scrapbook in a box. Perfect for weddings, engagement, anniversary, birthday, baby shower, valentine's day, mother's day, christmas, etc. Very easy to assemble with ready to use templates!


text:
Exploration and Settlement of Connecticut
The first European settlers in the Connecticut area were the Dutch. Settlement did not occur until 1633, when a small fort was erected at the site of Hartford, then called New Hope. In that year, a small party from Plymouth also entered the Connecticut River. The Dutch asserted their claim to the lands, but the Massachusetts group, instead of retreating down river, sailed farther north and established a trading post at Windsor.The Dutch concentrated their main settlement efforts on Manhattan Island and never made a serious effort to colonize Connecticut.The Connecticut ColonyThe settlements that developed along the Connecticut River in the 1630s were the result of a search for fertile farmland more than a search for religious freedom.Thomas Hooker, a prominent minister in Newtown (Cambridge), Massachusetts, harbored clear democratic leanings, but was not an outspoken dissident. A settlement was established at Hartford, followed later by villages at Wethersfield and Windsor, where a small Pilgrim community already existed.At this time, another group of Puritans set up a trading post at the mouth of the Connecticut. Fort Saybrook was the fruit of the labors of John Winthrop Jr., son of the Massachusetts governor.In 1639, representatives from Hartford, Wethersfield and Windsor met to establish a government for the growing settlements. The settlers emulated many of the practices used in Massachusetts, but placed additional limitations on the governor's powers and instituted more liberal voting standards.The Connecticut Colony grew over the years and by the middle of the 17th century incorporated Fairfield, Farmington, Middletown, New London, Norwalk, Saybrook and Stratford.The New Haven Colony The Rev. In 1638, they founded a settlement at New Haven on Long Island Sound, a community intended to be both a trading post and a Bible Commonwealth. Puritanism's grip was strong in New Haven and the vote was restricted to church members, which rendered it considerably less democratic than the Connecticut colony. Other settlements along the Sound soon fell into the New Haven orbit, including Branford, Guilford, Milford, Stamford and Southold.Security was a major concern of the four major New England colonies — Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut and New Haven, all of whom refused to deal with independent-minded Rhode Island. In 1637, Connecticut was engulfed in the Pequot War, which resulted in that tribe's virtual extermination.The Connecticut Colony and New Haven existed as separate political entities until 1662, when a charter was granted to the Connecticut Colony. Initially, New Haven was not pleased about its absorption by a larger neighbor, but they were formally merged in 1665.
See Indian Wars Time Table.
Watch the video: New Haven, Connecticut, USA (January 2022).
BY FRANZ SIGEL, MAJOR–GENERAL, U. S. V. - History
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Copyright 2022 \ Exploration and Settlement of Connecticut...


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text:
Q: Phoenix in Production on EC2 not rendering in HTTPS with AWS Load Balancer I have followed this tutorial to set up my phoenix app on EC2, and later I added the load balancer for SSL.
I used ACM (Amazon Certificate Manager) to get the public certificate and applied on the Amazon Load Balancer (ALB).
I'm still a bit fuzzy on the port mapping, so I suppose it might be the cause.
# config/prod.exs

host = System.get_env("HOST") || "example.com"

config :app_web, AppWeb.Endpoint,
  force_ssl: [rewrite_on: [:x_forwarded_proto]],
  load_from_system_env: true,
  http: [port: 80],
  url: [host: host, port: 80],
  url: [host: host, port: 443, scheme: "https"],
  server: true,
  secret_key_base: System.get_env("SECRET_KEY_BASE")

# docker-compose.yml
version: '2'
services:
  kroo:
    image: [image url]
    environment:
      - HOST=0.0.0.0
    ports:
      - '443:443'
      - '80:80'

$ docker ps
PORTS
0.0.0.0:80->80/tcp, 0.0.0.0:443->443/tcp

$ docker logs
01:56:30.177 [info] Running AppWeb.Endpoint with cowboy 2.7.0 at 0.0.0.0:80 (http)
01:56:30.177 [info] Access AppWeb.Endpoint at https://example.com
Running Release tasks
[]
01:56:31.316 [info] Already up
01:56:33.085 [info] Plug.SSL is redirecting GET / to https://example.com with status 301

When I don't include force_ssl: [rewrite_on: [:x_forwarded_proto]], I'm able to have the page displayed fine in http, but when I include force_ssl, it redirects the https which is working fine, but I'm getting unable to connect error.
My confusion is that, since the load balancer is taking care of the SSL, I don't have the key and the certificate for SSL, which is why I don't have https: [] option in prod.exs.
Could someone point out what I'm doing wrong here?
Thanks
UPDATE: I finally got it working, below is my working configs in case anyone would find it helpful.
# config/prod.exs

# https config is not needed since ALB is handling the SSL
# Phoenix app serving in http is fine
config :app_web, AppWeb.Endpoint,
  load_from_system_env: true,
  http: [port: 8080],
  url: [host: "example.com"],
  server: true,
  secret_key_base: System.get_env("SECRET_KEY_BASE")

# docker-compose.yml
# map phoenix port 8080 to docker 8080
  ports:
    - '8080:8080'

Since I'm not providing SSL certificates, but I still want to force ssl, like @jamesvl suggested in answer, use your load balancer to redirect http traffic to https.
If you need help setting up SSL on ALB, I followed this guide
If somehow your app still not showing up under your domain, make sure that you have an A Record with an alias map to the DNS name of your load balancer

A: I would suggest setting the listen port of your docker container to something other than 80, and don't listen on 443 at all.
Rationale
I think the issue may lie in the fact that your http: configuration is listening on port 80.
With force_ssl: enabled, you're indicating that you want http connections to go to port 443, but when something arrives on 443 (via the load balancer), you send it to your (listening) port 80... which redirects it back to 443?
Fix
Let Phoenix listen on an arbitrary port (say... 4010) for http only connections. (Since the load balancer does your SSL termination, all your communication with the load balancer will be over http.) This involves changing your Docker container to forward connections to that port as well - you don't want to listen on 80 or 443 at all in your container.
Your url: configuration would then be looking only at headers, redirecting http requests to https as needed.
By the way, Amazon's ALB can also do 80 -> 443 redirection for you if you setup the rules; this saves Phoenix from even having to have a config url: setup for port 80 at all

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Navigational equipment includes sextants and GPS devices.
In this unit, students learn the very basics of navigation, including the different kinds of navigation and their purposes. The concepts of relative and absolute location, latitude, longitude and cardinal directions are explored, as well as the use and principles of maps and a compass. Students discover the history of navigation and learn the importance of math and how it ties into navigational techniques. Understanding how trilateration can determine one's location leads to a lesson on the global positioning system and how to use a GPS receiver. The unit concludes with an overview of orbits and spacecraft trajectories from Earth to other planets.
Many types of engineering are important to the development of navigational equipment used for travel on sea, in space and on land. Understanding the science of natural phenomena enables engineers to design and create structures and systems for a variety of navigational purposes. Mathematics is also essential to the development of navigational equipment. Satellites designed and tested by engineers use equations that take into account the relative effects of space and time.
Engineering is built upon a network of knowledge extending back in time. Even though celestial navigation is for the most part historical, the best engineers understand how things used to be done, building on the same mathematics concepts—such as geometry and trigonometry—used by engineers every day. Engineers make predictions and analyze circumstances related to motion; they must understand the relationships between speed, time and distance. They use many techniques that often involve computers to help process the many calculations required to make good estimations.
Engineers design systems that require precise and known locations, and often use triangulation calculations. They use triangulation with ground data to determine where in space satellites are located. Accurately determining a satellite's location is important to adjusting its position to keep it on course. The global positioning system (GPS) uses the same concept of triangulation; the development of this now-ubiquitous system was made possible by the contributions from many engineering disciplines. Mechanical engineers created satellite and other GPS equipment that performs reliably in the unique environment of space. Electrical engineers designed computers, circuit boards, power systems and wiring. Aerospace engineers determined satellite arrangement and orbit around the planet. Programming by software engineers enabled the satellites to operate on their own and transmit useful data to Earth receivers.
Engineering is vitally important to the creation of technology used in space, on water and on land. Without engineers, our ability to navigate our world and beyond would be much more difficult. The possibilities for future developments are only limited by our imaginations.
Earth and its solar system are part of the Milky Way galaxy, which is one of many galaxies in the universe.
The solar system appears to have formed from a disk of dust and gas, drawn together by gravity.


text:
Q: Draw neural network diagram with tikz I want to design the following two neural networks using tikZ , any packet already written ?

A: This is to give you a start. IMHO you do not need a package, just define a pic for the parentheses wrapping stuff. Examples for its usage:
\documentclass[tikz,border=3mm]{standalone}
\usetikzlibrary{fit,positioning}
\tikzset{pics/paren/.style={code={%
\tikzset{paren/.cd,#1}%
\def\pv##1{\pgfkeysvalueof{/tikz/paren/##1}}%
\node[fit/.expanded=\pv{fit},inner xsep=\pv{xsep},inner ysep=\pv{ysep}] (\pv{aux}){};
\draw[rounded corners=\pv{arc}] (\pv{aux}.north west) |-
([yshift=\pv{arc}]\pv{aux}.north) node[above] {\pv{upper label}}-| (\pv{aux}.north east);
\draw[rounded corners=\pv{arc}] (\pv{aux}.south west) |-
([yshift=-\pv{arc}]\pv{aux}.south) node[below] {\pv{lower label}}-|
(\pv{aux}.south east);
}},
paren/.cd,upper label/.initial={},lower label/.initial={},xsep/.initial=1em,ysep/.initial=1em,
fit/.initial={},aux/.initial=aux,arc/.initial=4pt}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[font=\sffamily,node distance=3em]
  \node[fill,minimum width=1em,minimum height=4em,label=below:4](A){};
  \node[right=of A,draw,thick,node font=\bfseries\large,
    label=below:{$\scriptstyle 2\times4$}](B) {W};
  \node[right=of B,draw,thick,minimum width=1.5em,minimum height=4em,
    label=below:4,path picture={\draw (180:1ex) -- (0:1ex)
    (-135:1ex) -- (45:1ex); }](C) {};
  \draw[thick,-latex] (A) --  node[above,node font=\bfseries]{p}
   node[below]{$\scriptstyle 4\times1$} (B);
  \draw[thick,-latex] (B) --  node[above,node font=\bfseries]{n}
   node[below]{$\scriptstyle 2\times1$} (C);
  \draw[thick,-latex] (C.east) --  node[above,node font=\bfseries]{a}
   node[below]{$\scriptstyle 2\times1$} ++ (3em,0);
  \path pic{paren={fit={(A)},upper label=Inputs}}
  pic{paren={fit={(B)(C)},upper label=Linear Layer,
  lower label={$\mathbf{a}=\mathbf{purelin}(\mathbf{W})$}}};
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}


text:
Home Game Reviews Nintendo Switch reinvigorates the original, at a price • Eurogamer.net
Nintendo Switch reinvigorates the original, at a price • Eurogamer.net
Six years ago, a nice man called Simon Read released a mobile version of a PC football series he was about to give up on, and New Star Soccer went on to change his life. On Google Play alone it's been downloaded more than 10 million times, and the App Store will be similar if not higher. It was a big success. And the long-awaited follow-up arrived last year.
Developer: New Star Games
Publisher: New Star Games
Platform: Reviewed on Switch
Availability: Out Feb 1st on Switch, and released last summer on Android and iOS
New Star Manager was bigger in every way. It put you in control of the whole team rather than an individual, as well as everything surrounding it: stadium, facilities, training, youth – yours to develop and tinker with, right down to ticket prices and interpersonal relationships. But New Star Manager didn't catch on in the same way. The numbers are smaller – ~500,000 downloads on Google Play – and the buzz less.
I bounced off it. What really irked me was a constant feeling I was being pushed towards an in-app card store. The cards in New Star Manager, you see, represent almost everything. They are your players, your training, your team-talk, your energy drinks – cards are everywhere. And those you earn naturally, through playing, come too slowly and frugally. Naturally, that's when the game prompts you into the shop.
The card packs aren't expensive – 99p for an energy-boosting pack, £1.99 for some better players and so on, and I bought a couple (because I wanted my League Two team to be overpowered) – but the constant presence of the shop ate away at me. It, along with frustration at fiddly controls and unpredictable gameplay, turned me away.
Then along came the Nintendo Switch version, earlier this month – the £15 Nintendo Switch version! Heck of a mark-up from a free mobile game. But the upfront fee means the in-game shop has been ripped out, and it changes much.
Some pictures from my time with New Star Manager on Switch.
On Switch, you earn a pack of cards whenever you level up, whereas you earn diddly-squat for levelling on mobile. It means, on Switch, you have the tools to solve your managerial puzzle, and you aren't missing what you know is in the shop. You just have to work out how best to use them.
It allows the game to breathe. It allows New Star Manager to settle at a slower pace which suits the deeper game underneath. This isn't crash-bang-wallop like New Star Soccer – New Star Manager takes time. I'm still, after a dozen hours on the Switch version, only one proper season and a promotion in. I've barely upgraded my stadium and my facilities, and I'm struggling against higher-tiered opponents. Even with the hours of mobile experience thrown in, I'm far from understanding everything.
There are other welcome additions, too – it being on a bigger screen than my phone, to say the least. But more importantly, the Switch version comes with optional thumbstick and button controls. I didn't like them to begin with, but the more time I spend with them, the more I do.
Dribbling with the sticks is easier and more precise, and does away with a finger blocking your view and ending up at weird angles as you try to weave players into the box. Plus, the trigger you press to move allows you to stop-animate your runs, which helps loads. Passing at the press of a button is comfortable, and shooting translates well – there's a reticule auto-hovering around the middle of the ball. All-in-all, once you adjust, the Switch controls offer a more fluid match day experience. Even navigating the many menus can be speedier – pressing B to go back a screen is a godsend.
In short: you can forego touch-screen controls entirely and have a good time. But the best way to enjoy NSS Manager on Switch is a combination of the two. Sometimes it's just easier to press the icon on the screen, and sometimes a free-kick needs a finger's pin-point accuracy to hit the net. The game supports this and you can switch between control methods fluidly – even mid-attack if you like. It's a great addition.
But beyond the controls, and the removal of the in-game store, I'm struggling to see what's new. It doesn't add up to much of a recommendation, does it? A few new things for £15 more? But is it £15 more? What if – as I believe – New Star Manager was a £15 game, in terms of depth, contorted by the need to compete with rock-bottom mobile pricing? What if £15 is the price it wanted to be but couldn't?
Regardless, the Switch version of New Star Manager Manager has reinvigorated my passion for the game. I'm itching to get back to my second season even as I write this. But it's not entirely successful. Reversing the business model works, but the spectre of what was once there, remains – and it's a shame the port isn't more responsive. There's still a lot to enjoy – more than meets the eye – but it's that £15 price I struggle with.
Reinvigorates


My pal Julien sent over two new books from his crew, Modèle Puissance. The first is a zine by n'roll called, Serpan's Advanture. The second is less a book and more a random selection of postcards called, Our God Is An Awesome God.


I'm a bit surprised more wasn't made of Google's acquisition of Wildfire, a 3rd party agency and sofware company that creates a lot of additional value to Facebook marketing. You can do a lot more with marketing campaigns (of which Facebook actually uses Wildfire themselves, probably when they don't have the time to create their own widgets).
Although in my opinion some of the Wildfire apps were hacky, there really were some creative things there that made Facebook way more engaging.
Excellent point Bill. So what are your thoughts regarding how Google has handled that acquisition – is Wildfire better, the same or worse off under its new ownership?


text:
Society-Lifestyle
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Colonial Sense
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NameNationalityBornActiveDied Selected
Cross-listed in Writers
James Mabbe
born died
an English scholar and poet, and a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. He was involved in translations from Spanish, in particular of some of the work of Miguel de Cervantes. He made a translation, in 1622, of the Picaresque novel by Mateo Alemán, Guzm...
an English scholar and poet, and a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. He was involved in translations from Spanish, in particular of some of the work of Miguel de Cervantes. He made a translation, in 1622, of the Picaresque novel by Mateo Alemán, Guzmán de Alfarache, and also, in 1631, Celestina, or the Tragicomedy of Calisto and Melibea, a 300-page play, or "novel in dialogue," by Fernando de Rojas.
Cross-listed in Governance
1796, May 4 1859, Aug 2
an American educational reformer and Whig politician known for his commitment to promoting public education. A central theme of his life was that "it is the law of our nature to desire happiness. This law is not local, but universal; not temporary, but eternal. It is not a law to be proved by exceptions, for it knows no exception."[1] He served in the Massac...
an American educational reformer and Whig politician known for his commitment to promoting public education. A central theme of his life was that "it is the law of our nature to desire happiness. This law is not local, but universal; not temporary, but eternal. It is not a law to be proved by exceptions, for it knows no exception."[1] He served in the Massachusetts State legislature (1827–1837). In 1848, after public service as Secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of Education, Mann was elected to the United States House of Representatives (1848–1853). From September 1852 to his death, he served as President of Antioch College.
Cross-listed in Governance • Writers
Ignac Martinovics
aka: Ignác
1755, Jul 20 1795, May 20
a Hungarian scholar, philosopher, writer, secret agent, Freemason and a leader of the Hungarian Jacobin movement. He was condemned to death for high treason and beheaded on 20 May 1795, along with count Jakab Sigray, Ferenc Szentmarjay, József Hajnóczy and others. From 1783 he was a teacher in natural sciences at the University of Lemberg. During his acade...
a Hungarian scholar, philosopher, writer, secret agent, Freemason and a leader of the Hungarian Jacobin movement. He was condemned to death for high treason and beheaded on 20 May 1795, along with count Jakab Sigray, Ferenc Szentmarjay, József Hajnóczy and others. From 1783 he was a teacher in natural sciences at the University of Lemberg. During his academic career in Lemberg he joined to the Austrian secret agency, where his talents were recognized. During that time, he had to travel a lot, he accomplished many missions at home and abroad.
Cross-listed in Composers
1792, Jan 8 1872, Aug 11
a leading figure in American church music, the composer of over 1600 hymn tunes, many of which are often sung today. His most well-known tunes include his arrangement of "Joy to the World" and "Bethany", his setting of the hymn, "Nearer, My God, to Thee". He was largely responsible for introducing music into American public schools, and is considered to be t...
a leading figure in American church music, the composer of over 1600 hymn tunes, many of which are often sung today. His most well-known tunes include his arrangement of "Joy to the World" and "Bethany", his setting of the hymn, "Nearer, My God, to Thee". He was largely responsible for introducing music into American public schools, and is considered to be the first important music educator in the United States. He is also widely criticized for his role in helping to largely eliminate the robust tradition of participatory sacred music that flourished in America before his time.
Timeline (1) Links (13)
Cross-listed in Astronomers • Naval
1806, Jan 14 1873, Feb 1
an American astronomer, historian, oceanographer, meteorologist, cartographer, author, geologist, and educator. n 1825 at age 19, Maury obtained a midshipman's warrant in the United States Navy. When a leg injury left him unfit for sea duty, Maury devoted his time to the study of navigation, meteorology, winds, and currents. He became Superintendent of the U...
an American astronomer, historian, oceanographer, meteorologist, cartographer, author, geologist, and educator. n 1825 at age 19, Maury obtained a midshipman's warrant in the United States Navy. When a leg injury left him unfit for sea duty, Maury devoted his time to the study of navigation, meteorology, winds, and currents. He became Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Observatory and head of the Depot of Charts and Instruments.
Sibella Elizabeth Miles
1800, Sep 28 1882, Mar 29
an English schoolteacher, poet and writer of the 19th century. Sibella Miles ran a girls' boarding-school at Penzance for a number of years prior to 1833 and occupied her leisure hours with the composition of poetry. Many of her contributions appeared in the Forget-me-Not for 1825 and subsequent years, the Selector or Cornish Magazine, 1826–8, the Oriental...
an English schoolteacher, poet and writer of the 19th century. Sibella Miles ran a girls' boarding-school at Penzance for a number of years prior to 1833 and occupied her leisure hours with the composition of poetry. Many of her contributions appeared in the Forget-me-Not for 1825 and subsequent years, the Selector or Cornish Magazine, 1826–8, the Oriental Herald for 1827 and later volumes, and the Nautical Magazine for 1833 onwards.
Cross-listed in Legal
George W. Minns
1813, Oct 6 1895, Jan 14
graduated from Harvard College with the class of 1836 and received a law degree from the Howard Dane Law School of Harvard. He practiced law in Massachusetts for several years before moving to California. After the Gold Rush caused the collapse of his law practice and Minns lost all of his savings, he became a teacher at the Union Grammar School, the first C...
graduated from Harvard College with the class of 1836 and received a law degree from the Howard Dane Law School of Harvard. He practiced law in Massachusetts for several years before moving to California. After the Gold Rush caused the collapse of his law practice and Minns lost all of his savings, he became a teacher at the Union Grammar School, the first California high school, and became principal of the Normal School the following year. He was an American teacher, notable for running the Minns Evening Normal School, which was established in San Francisco, California, in 1857 in order to train teachers for the city's public school system.
Cross-listed in Astronomers
born active died
1818, Aug 1 1835-1888 1889, Jun 28
an American astronomer who, in 1847, by using a telescope, discovered a comet which as a result became known as "Miss Mitchell's Comet". She won a gold medal prize for her discovery which was presented to her by King Frederick VI of Denmark - this was remarkable...
an American astronomer who, in 1847, by using a telescope, discovered a comet which as a result became known as "Miss Mitchell's Comet". She won a gold medal prize for her discovery which was presented to her by King Frederick VI of Denmark - this was remarkable for a woman.
Cross-listed in Astronomers • Scientists
August Ferdinand Mobius
aka: Möbius
1790, Nov 17 1816-1858 1868, Sep 26
a German mathematician and theoretical astronomer. He is best known for his discovery of the Möbius strip, a non-orientable two-dimensional surface with only one side when embedded in three-dimensional Euclidean space. Many mathematical concepts are named after him, including the Möbius plane, the Möbius transformations, important in projective geometry, ...
a German mathematician and theoretical astronomer. He is best known for his discovery of the Möbius strip, a non-orientable two-dimensional surface with only one side when embedded in three-dimensional Euclidean space. Many mathematical concepts are named after him, including the Möbius plane, the Möbius transformations, important in projective geometry, and the Möbius transform of number theory.
Timeline (1) Links (9) Notes (1)
Cross-listed in Scientists
Gerrit Moll
aka: Gerard
a Dutch scientist and mathematician. A polymath in his interests, he published in four languages. From a family background in Amsterdam of commerce, Moll was drawn towards science. His teacher at the Athenaeum Illustre of Amsterdam was Jean Henri van Swinden. He took up astronomy with Jan Frederik Keijser in 1801. In 1809 he was awarded a Candidaat degree by...
a Dutch scientist and mathematician. A polymath in his interests, he published in four languages. From a family background in Amsterdam of commerce, Moll was drawn towards science. His teacher at the Athenaeum Illustre of Amsterdam was Jean Henri van Swinden. He took up astronomy with Jan Frederik Keijser in 1801. In 1809 he was awarded a Candidaat degree by Leiden University; and in 1810 he went to Paris, where he studied under Delambre. Moll is noted for his later animus against "Napoleonic science", the tradition of the revolutionary period in France.
Timeline (1) Links (1)
Maria Frances Ann Morris
1813, Feb 12 1875, Oct 28
a teacher, artist and poet in Nova Scotia. Morris published several series of botanical lithographs: Wildflowers of Nova Scotia, with one series in 1839 to 1840 and a second series in 1853. In 1856, she published a volume of poetry Metrical musings with her sister Catherine.
Richard Mulcaster
1531 ca 1611, Apr 15
is known best for his headmasterships and pedagogic writings. He is often regarded as the founder of English language lexicography. In 1561 he became the first headmaster of Merchant Taylors' School in London, where he wrote his two treatises on education, Positions (1581) and Elementarie (1582). Merchant Taylors' School was at that time the largest school i...
is known best for his headmasterships and pedagogic writings. He is often regarded as the founder of English language lexicography. In 1561 he became the first headmaster of Merchant Taylors' School in London, where he wrote his two treatises on education, Positions (1581) and Elementarie (1582). Merchant Taylors' School was at that time the largest school in the country, and Mulcaster worked to establish a rigorous curriculum which was to set the standard for education in Latin, Greek and Hebrew. In 1596 he became High Master of St Paul's School.
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text:
MNN.com > Earth Matters > Energy
Vermont becomes first state to ban fracking
It may be a largely symbolic victory for environmentalists, but many critics of hydraulic fracturing hope it will set an example for other states to follow.
TROUBLED WATER: The sun rises behind a natural gas rig in Louisiana. (Photo: Daniel Foster/Flickr)
Vermont is now the first U.S. state where fracking is illegal. Gov. Peter Shumlin signed a statewide hydraulic-fracturing ban into law Wednesday, forbidding the drilling technique that has sparked a natural gas boom across the country in recent years.
The move was a symbolic victory for environmentalists, who cite the mounting risks of air pollution, water pollution and earthquakes linked to fracking. But it may be little more than that, since Vermont — unlike nearby states such as New York and Pennsylvania — isn't believed to have large gas deposits beneath its surface.
Despite Vermont's current lack of drilling prospects, however, Shumlin noted that the point of fracking is to squeeze oil and gas from rocks that previously seemed too dry to drill. "We don't know that we don't have natural gas in Vermont," he said Wednesday, according to the Burlington Free Press. "This bill will ensure we do not inject chemicals into groundwater in a desperate pursuit for energy."
Fracking involves blasting pressurized water, sand and chemicals deep underground, which frees natural gas from desposits of shale rock. That gas consists mostly of methane, some of which can then drift up to the air, where it dwarfs even carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. Methane may also migrate through bedrock into aquifers, which could explain why some groundwater becomes flammable near natural gas wells. Other chemicals have also been tied to environmental problems, whether it's benzene in the air or "fracking fluids" in drinking water. And when drillers re-inject their wastewater back underground, they might even be causing earthquakes.
"One of the biggest challenges that future generations are going to face is clean, drinkable water," Shumlin said Wednesday, predicting it will be more valuable than oil or gas in a few decades. "We have an abundance of it in Vermont. I think it's a great message that we're going to protect it at all costs. ... Human beings survived for thousands and thousands of years without oil and without natural gas. We have never known humanity or life on this planet to survive without clean water."
While Vermont's ban was welcomed by environmental and public-health advocates, it has drawn a much cooler response from the oil and gas industry. America's Natural Gas Alliance called it "poor policy" in a letter to Shumlin, and the American Petroleum Institute described it as "shortsighted and uninformed" in a press release earlier this month. "The decision by the Vermont Legislature to pass a statewide ban on hydraulic fracturing follows an irresponsible path that ignores three major needs: jobs, government revenue and energy security," said the API's Rolf Hanson.
New York has given municipalities the power to ban fracking within their borders, and environmentalists are now pushing Gov. Andrew Cuomo to outlaw the practice statewide. That will likely be harder than in Vermont, but activists remain undaunted. At an anti-fracking concert in Albany, N.Y., Tuesday night — where actors Mark Ruffalo, Melissa Leo and musician Natalie Merchant made appearances — the crowd reportedly went wild when someone mentioned Vermont was about to become the first state to ban fracking. "The place exploded," one attendee tells the Burlington Free Press. "It helps our cause tremendously."
Also on MNN:
The Hulk gets angry at hydraulic fracturing
U.S. proposes more fracking disclosure
U.S. to curb fracking emissions ... eventually
Posted 4 days, 13 hours ago:
Posted 1 week, 1 day ago:
Posted 2 weeks ago:
Related topics: Fossil Fuels, Fracking, Natural Gas, Shale Gas, Water Pollution


I posted about the need for blue to be paired with yellow and or orange back in 2011 and I think its just as relevant now with all the teals and navy's we are seeing this autumn. So as Vincent van Gogh's said there is "There is no blue without yellow and without orange" Original unamended post here.
It seems that in nearly every magazine and every blog I have read in the last couple of weeks, the colour blue is taking a staring role. Blue in all its hues from royal blue or inky midnight, teal or bluey grey all are taking on bigger roles in 2011 fashion and paint palettes.
Fabulous jazz soles on these shoes by Tom and Fiona Slack. I am so inspired by the Vincent van Gogh's quote: "There is no blue without yellow and without orange" It just makes me happy.
The Etsy Finds above (how funny is it seeing keep calm things on here – aren't we all so over those!) like the room sets below show that the secondary colour orange is the complement to blue on the colour wheel, it's a colour with warmth and evokes exotic climes – Morocco, the Caribbean, India…… Yellow also works particularly well as a complement to blue, probably because it's the colour of sunshine and creates a warming effect. It's also incredibly cheerful.
These bold colours can look great in interiors and are uplifting. The intense blues work well with yellow, orange, coral, pink, white and also partnered with black and gold.


I've got my studio all set up from my fun day of creating with my friend Karen. We had a super fun day! Got a bunch of work done, lots of chatting & catching up, then a quick trip to my favorite thrift shop, followed by a yummy homemade meal. We (me, Jared, & Karen) made apricot & almond stuffed chicken breasts (with a little help from Zannotto's), harvest grains blend (israeli cous cous, corn, carrots, & more good stuff mixed in), mashed roasted butternut squash, and a delicious reisling wine that we brought back from the Rhine Valley in Germany. For dessert, a scrumptious blood orange sorbet that was really amazing.
It was so great to see Karen again. We actually live pretty close to each other and should hang out more often. She and I were in the textiles department together at RISD and have lots of fun memories. Karen just opened shop at Esty actually! Her work is really unique and thoughtful and you'll love it so check it out! She brought a really sweet house warming gift and included one of her cards for me - it's from this print - I just love it & plan to put it in a little frame. Thanks Karen!
Karen worked on a gorgeous knit scarf for a lucky friend and a totally cute skirt for herself.
Phylo was a good boy and I think he really charmed Karen!
Gorgeous cinnamon orange tulips Karen brought. How I love tulips!! Did you know that they actually continue growing after being cut? I think that's fascinating. Tulips have so much personality.


text:
The Miami Dolphins Will Tell Us How Good the Las Vegas Raiders Are
Believe it or not, the Las Vegas Raiders are one of only two remaining undefeated teams in the AFC. And while the other squad, the Denver Broncos, beat the Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Giants (a combined 7-25 in 2020), the Raiders have wins against perennial contenders like the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers (who went 23-9 in 2020). However, before we start posing my favorite September and October question, "are the Raiders for real?," I'd like to see the Silver and Black pass one more test.
And believe it or not, that test is the Miami Dolphins. The same Miami Dolphins that just lost 35-0 at home.
On the surface, it's a silly sentiment. The Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens are consistently contending in the AFC, and the Raiders didn't look out of place delivering them their only losses of the young season. Why should Raider Nation care about the Dolphins, a squad that barely edged out the Mac Jones Patriots and was demolished by the Bills? Especially considering they'll be playing in Las Vegas and might even be without their starting quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa.
Frankly, that's exactly why I'm concerned. Because over the last few years, the Raiders have developed a nasty habit of competing with the best of the best, only to get caught napping by sub-.500 teams. Don't believe me? Here's some proof. In 2020, the Raiders played half of their games against eventual playoff teams. They won three of those games, coming down to the wire in losses against the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills. Their week five win over the Chiefs in Kansas City sent shockwaves throughout the NFL, and had people believing the Silver and Black were a playoff squad.
That same Raiders lost 43-6 to a three win Atlanta Falcons squad that hasn't sniffed a victory since. It took a last-second Hail Mary to beat a New York Jets team that won two games. They only beat a 5-11 Denver Broncos team by one point.
And it wasn't just last year. The year before, the Raiders were 6-4 with a high-profile win over the Chicago Bears, and then a three game win streak ended with a 34-3 drubbing by the Jets, who had the worst offense in football. The Raiders show up and compete against the class of the NFL, but then play down to the lesser competition.
Enter the Miami Dolphins.
Jackpot or Bankrupt
There is no reason why the Las Vegas Raiders shouldn't beat the Miami Dolphins. The Raiders should be healthier, they're at home, and they are on a hot streak. This Dolphins team just looked completely hopeless against the Bills, and they will probably start the hapless Jacoby Brissett under center. Even if they don't, it's not like Tua Tagovailoa has been a superstar at quarterback.
After mostly shutting down the offenses of the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers, Gus Bradley's much-improved Raiders defense should be able to handle what the Dolphins are doing. And next to the Steelers and Ravens defenses, does Miami really represent a threat?
All I'm saying is that, on paper, the Raiders should handily defeat Miami. The Silver and Black should have no issue with the Dolphins, and they should enter week four's match-up with the Los Angeles Chargers undefeated. And if the Raiders are "for real," that's exactly what they'll do.
However, if the Raiders need a fourth-quarter drive to beat the Dolphins, or god forbid, they lose, then it's groundhog day all over again. Another season of the Raiders proving they can beat anybody while simultaneously being able to lose to anybody, the curse of Jon Gruden's Raiders.
AFC, AFC East, AFC West, Las Vegas Raiders, Miami Dolphins, NFL, Professional Sports
AFC, AFC East, AFC West, Football, Las Vegas Raiders, Miami Dolphins, NFL
Ryan's Regrettable 2021 NFL Picks: Week Two
Ryan's Regrettable 2021 NFL Picks: Week Three
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Increasingly, short-term rental boom pits neighbor against neighbor
Elizabeth Findell
efindell@statesman.com
The two houses on West 10th Street are charming and tidy, one yellow, one teal. But ask the neighbors and they'll tell you some tales, of bachelor parties and noisy barbecues, of inflatable penises in the street and slamming car doors at 3 a.m. They'll tell you the houses are basically a hotel they can't get rid of.
As Austin code officer Khalid Marshall parked outside the houses one afternoon in mid-July, he was about to catch a break.
A blonde woman stood in front of the first house, unpacking shopping bags. She was renting the place for only a week, she quickly told the code inspector. That was all he needed to hear.
At the second house, employees of a maid service answered the door cautiously. They knew nothing about rentals, the man said, they were just hired to clean the place. No worries, Marshall said. Minutes later, the cleaner was grumbling that check-out time was at 11 a.m. and the guests had only just left.
The neighbors recognized Marshall's truck and started buzzing. Kat Britt and Karen Troutman know him well by now. They often file complaints about the properties being operated as unlicensed short-term rentals, and Marshall writes $1,000 tickets for the owner regularly.
Last night, there was catering for a party , Troutman told Marshall. Eight cars lined the narrow street. More arrived after 10 p.m. On the Fourth of July, strangers ignited buckets of fireworks beneath the electrical linesand shot bottle rockets from their hands. The Saturday morning before the Fourth, a bus with a crew administering IVs for hangovers idled in front of the houses for two hours. A bachelorette party that weekend left a 3-foot inflatable penis in the street with a wig tied in place of pubic hair.
"At this point, I see a colorful matching tank top and my blood pressure just shoots to the sky," Troutman said.
As she spoke, a car arrived at the second house. Zach Levitt, from Dallas, stepped out, a little concerned by the commotion. His group had rented the place for the weekend for a bachelor party, he said. Marshall strolled to the truck for his citation pad. Another inspector reassured Levitt that his rental wouldn't be impacted and he should have a great weekend.
Marshall tacked three more tickets on the door as Levitt carried a cooler inside.
It was another Friday afternoon in Central Austin.
Austin's short-term rental landscape, mapped
Sources: City of Austin, Inside Airbnb. Locations are approximate.
The enforcement game
The rise of such vacation rental websites as Airbnb, HomeAway and VRBO, paired with a rapid rise in Austin property values, has transformed the city's festival and tourism landscapes.
It's almost impossible to know how many Austin homes serve as short-term rentals, but American-Statesman searches returned more than 8,000 Austin listings on Airbnb alone in August. Inside Airbnb, a website that scrapes data from Airbnb listings, showed more than 11,300 Austin listings on the site in July, though not all of them necessarily actively booking.
Just more than 1,900 properties have active short-term rental licenses with the city, according to city records.
The boom in short-term rentals, or STRs, and the response to them, has left virtually no one but tourists happy. Not the residents living in desirable neighborhoods close to downtown who complain about party houses. Not the owners of the rentals, who consider the city of Austin's regulations burdensome and unfair. Not the city workers who struggle to enforce rules the City Council passed in 2016, regulations facing attacks from lawsuits and, possibly, state lawmakers.
The city ordinance put a moratorium on issuing licenses to full-time, full-property STRs in residential areas and ordered phasing out existing ones by 2022. It limits occupancy in rentals to no more than 10 adults. No more than six people may gather outdoors at a short-term rental, and code officers may enter such a rental at any time to inspect it.
In the first 614 months of 2018, Austin's 311 number fielded 868 STR-related complaints about 427 properties. Code officers wrote 98 citations against 38 properties. Sixteen citations were paid during that time.
Citations run $300 if paid by mail or, if the owner loses an administrative hearing, $500 for a first offense, $750 for a second and $1,000 from there out. Those fines can be pricey for a small rental or barely noticeable for a large home renting for hundreds or thousands of dollars nightly.
In certain areas, neighbors have organized to call 311 every time they notice activity at homes they believe to be shortterm rentals, ensuring that code officers keep responding. Having the ear of an elected official also can boost enforcement efforts.
At the West 10th Street houses, for example, code officers left 12 citations for owner Taylor Wilson during just three days in July.
"This one is designated 'council action,"' Marshall said. "A council member has said, 'I've gotten this complaint, and I want to know what's going on.' Those are the ones we work hardest to get into compliance."
Wilson did not return phone calls when asked to comment, and he did not attend an August administrative hearing to contest a citation he received in March.
For years, Austin has had only two code officers dedicated to STR complaints, and they must catch a renter in person or find an illegal property listing to write a citation. The city recently hired four more code officers and is looking at acquiring software to monitor illegal listings.
After six years on STR duty, Marshall has seen it all. He and Farah Presley, a code inspector who sometimes earns overtime helping out on STR issues, try to stay low- key. Their interactions are mostly with guests, who don't like to answer questions but typically blurt out "I'm just renting the place" as their first sentence.
That's the only information the inspectors really need. They usually tell the renters to have a good time and give them bar recommendations. They decline when the renters offer them drinks. Marshall, outfitted in a uniform, is sometimes mistaken for a stripper when he knocks on the door of a bachelorette party.
"They're more than happy to talk to you at that point," he said wryly.
Turning away taxes
Click "book now" on Airbnb for an Austin rental and you'll see a line listed for the Texas hotel occupancy tax that is sent directly to the state. To pay Austin's portion of hotel tax, however, hosts must separately write a check to the city.
If Airbnb collected hotel occupancy taxes automatically for the city, the tax revenue would average $7 million per year, according to a 2016 Airbnb report. That approach would bring in far more revenue than the city receives now, because it would tax the thousands of unlicensed rentals currently not paying city taxes.
Austin officials have so far rebuffed offers from Airbnb and locally based HomeAway to collect taxes automatically, unless the companies agree to turn over data about rental hosts and verily that those hosts have licensed their properties with the city. Hosting sites have done that in a few cases, most notably in San Francisco and Chicago, but only after extensive negotiation and legal battles. In both cities, Airbnb reached tax agreements with the cities years before reaching host-registration agreements.
City of Austin Controller Diana Thomas sent local Airbnb and HomeAway representatives a letter last month saying an agreement similar to the one Airbnb has with Texas, which requires the website to turn over only anonymized data, "would not provide the city with the level of detail that is needed to enforce" local ordinances.
It's unclear how either company will respond, but representatives of both said they consider STR enforcement a separate issue from tax collection. In other words, Austin can take the money or not, but the payments won't be tied to information sharing.
"The conversation about taxes needs to stand alone and distinct from the conversation about data," said Philip Minardi, communications director for Expedia, which owns HomeAway.
This year, 1,792 STRs have paid hotel occupancy taxes to Austin, and all but about 230 of them are licensed. If an unlicensed STR pays the tax to the city, Austin officials will use the payment as evidence to cite its owners.
Renting to keep a home
As short-term rentals have increased nationwide, concerns about their impact on housing stock and pricing has grown. A March report by a New Orleans neighborhood advocacy group found that 82 percent of Airbnb listings citywide were for whole homes, and rent increases had occurred in neighborhoods with the most listings.
Similarly, a 2016 University of Massachusetts study found that census tracts with the highest number of STR listings in Boston had the highest rent increases for residents. Both the New Orleans and Boston studies found that about half the Airbnb listings in both cities were owned by less than 20 percent of all owners.
The Boston study also found evidence for the flip side of the argument: that STR rentals allow some people to stay in their homes in increasingly expensive neighborhoods.
In Austin, some STR owners said, they used to rent garage apartments and extra buildings to college students and artists but now rent them to tourists. Others said they might have moved out of Austin if not for the added income from STRs.
While large party houses often draw the eye of neighbors and code compliance officers, thousands more unlicensed rentals go less noticed in Austin neighborhoods. One phenomenon involves travel trailers, which some Austinites keep in their backyards and rent nightly. Tourists like them because they're hip and retro, more private and less expensive than a hotel.
Airbnb lists 93 trailers for rent in the Austin area. In the city, however, they're considered mobile homes, and it is impossible to license them as short-term rentals. Code officers cite them when they're discovered.
That's unfortunate, said one owner of a popular East Austin Airstream trailer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she rents it, illegally, nearly every night. She and her husband would get a city license if they could, she said.
"We're both architects, with modest incomes, so this helps us keep up with the mortgage," she said of the rental trailer. "Our property taxes keep rising. ... Without this, it would be really hard for us to do the creative work that we do and stay close to Austin."
Building an extra bedroom to rent is far more expensive than buying a trailer, she added.
An owner of a trailer for rent in South Austin, who also wished to remain anonymous, said he has been "treading lightly" in renting it, both because he knows he's violating city regulations and because he's gauging his neighbors' reaction. So far, no one has expressed concerns, and he likes having the opportunity to show his city to visitors.
"In good faith, I don't feel like I'm doing anything wrong," he said.
'I wish I had normal neighbors'
Marshall and Presley's second stop on that Friday in mid July was an upscale home on East Eighth Street, with a historic landmark designation. The home, just two blocks from bars like Shangri-La and Violet Crown Social Club, was the subject of 54 short- term rental complaint calls to 311 in the first half of 2018. The total was more than that for any other property in the city.
Andrew and Dana Kull, who live across the street, know the schedule well for what Andrew calls a "weird bachelorette party hotel." On weekend days, 15 to 20 people will spend the day around the house's front pool. About 7 p.m., the house becomes quiet for the evening as the groups go out, but after the bars close at 2 a.m., the party resumes around the pool, often waking Andrew, who sleeps more lightly than Dana.
They submit complaints to the 311 line regularly, at the instruction of code officers, who have told them complaints are what bring response. Two doors down is another STR that's often rented to six or eight people, but only one loud party there has ever bothered the Kulls, and an email to the owner about it brought a quick and sincere response, they said.
"Sometimes they'll be out laughing, and you think, 'Oh gee, I wish I had normal neighbors,' but it's never really bad," Andrew Kull said of the quieter STR. "These guys across the street, they're just outlaws. They figured: 'This is a great way to make money. We're going to keep doing this until they stop us.' But it doesn't seem code enforcement has the means to stop them."
Rosa Santis, who owns the historic rental with her son Pedro Santis, declined to comment for this story. At a citation hearing in July, Aaron Ashmore, the Santis' representative, said his brother was staying at the house, and people were coming and
going because it is "hard to find roommates."
As Marshall and Presley approached the East Eighth Street house, women could be heard talking and laughing near a pool and a cabana, behind a tall fence. Two beer cans rested on either side of a front gate to mark the entrance.
The gate was padlocked.
That was new since code enforcement had last cited the property.
Without catching a renter on the move, the agents would be out of luck. Presley tried to call over the fence to the occupants, and Marshall went to search home rental sites to see whether the property was advertising illegally. No luck. From over the fence came the sound of a champagne bottle popping and loud cheers.
Marshall gave up and drove away. Maybe after dinner he would catch a break.
In this three-part report, American-Statesman city government reporter Elizabeth Findell examines the booming short-term rental market in Austin and the challenges associated with it.
How the rise of short-term rentals has pitted neighbor against neighbor
Short-term rental owners fight back against crackdowns
When upscale apartment complexes act like hotels


text:
Eerdmans to publish narrative biography of Billy Graham
Billy Graham christian ad sales Christian publishing network ECPA ECPA news
In a world rights deal, executive editor at Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. David Bratt has acquired One Soul at a Time: A Short Life of Billy Graham by Grant Wacker. One Soul at a Time offers a concise, reader-friendly narrative history of the life and ministry of Billy Graham—written by an authoritative voice in the field of American church history whose previous works include America's Pastor (Belknap Press, 2014), a thematic biography of Graham that established Wacker as an expert on one of the most beloved figures of 20th-century Christianity. Beginning with Graham's early days on the family farm and moving through his life as an itinerant preacher, crusade leader, and presidential advisor, Wacker's shorter biography will tell the story of the man whose plainspoken teaching has shaped the faith of millions.


In my July newsletter I mentioned that interest rates had just gone up about 2% (which is huge – 4% to 6%) about a week before I wrote it. They have now settled to just under 5% now (loans over $729,750 are somewhat higher), but the predictable effect has transpired: whereas in April when the market was absolutely berserk, there were as few as 112 homes for sale on the Hill; there are now 168, give or take. For perspective, in the early 1980's there were close to 600 (and there were fewer homes in existence then), so in the big picture it's not so bad.
On the subject of loans, whether you're selling or buying, it's important to have an agent who knows where to get the best ones. One of the benefits my clients receive in this area results from the purchase of my PVE house in 1980, when rates were 17% or so (which is why there were 600 for sale). My agent provided absolutely no assistance in financing that house, and the seller and I basically put the deal together. It was that transaction that drove me into this business with the idea that a reasonably focused and client-oriented agent is in an ideal position to provide good, unbiased advice on loans, especially since the agent cannot legally receive any compensation for it (which is one reason agents rarely get involved in it). This does require some extra time and effort on my part to know at any given time where the cheapest money is for each kind of buyer (big down payment but so-so credit, great credit but 5% down, down payment coming from relatives as a gift, etc), but I've had it save the sale in several cases, even when it was my listing and I found the buyer (not my client) his loan!
The new listings I talked about last time have sold, but I do have a totally remodeled 2737 square foot home on El Rodeo now for sale (see flyer enclosed) plus a lovely home for lease in Valmonte – 112 Via Las Vegas: about 3000 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, family room, rumpus room, storage room, totally renovated on 1.5 lots at $4000/month. Call me on these or others I may have further up the pipeline.
I did write the article on pocket listings I mentioned last time, which you'll find on my website www.DanaGraham.com, as well as an older (but still quite relevant) one entitled "It's Not Rocket Science", which I've re-printed and included here.
The seller who was the subject of the pocket listing article is moving to the Bay Area later this week, and I will be driving her car (and dog) up there for her. We made half a dozen trips up there to find her a house near her daughter and, working with a Bay Area agent, found her one. After staying over night, I'll be helping her place furniture on Friday the 6th and flying back later that day. Why do I tell you this? Well, for one, if you call me Friday, I may be hooking up her stereo and unable to answer the phone right away. But, more importantly, to remind you that customer service is more than talk with me. I know that selling your house is a really big event in your life and, if I were you, I'd want someone like me helping you get thru it. So what extra service did your agent provide?
I can be reached on my cell phone at 310 613-1076 or via email at [email protected].
This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 4th, 2013 at 6:04 am and is filed under Buyers, Everything I've Written, Newsletters, Real Estate General Info, Sellers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


text:
Q: Cypress verify options in a select box I have a select tag with no value attribute but only text. How can I validate the option list shown in the select box (text in this case).
<select id="market-select" onchange="updatePageDataForMarket()">
  <option>Dallas-Fort Worth</option>
  <option>El Paso</option>
  <option>San Antonio</option>
</select>

A: I am assuming you mean to validate each of the option text in the select. If so, you could do this:
const selectListOptions = ['Dallas-Fort Worth', 'El Paso', 'San Antonio'];
selectListOptions.forEach(item => cy.contains('#market-select', item));

A: You can try to manually trigger the input event/change event since those are the only ones it supports

A: If you want to ensure the items are in the correct order and have an exact match on the text string you could do:
const selectListOptions = ['Dallas-Fort Worth', 'El Paso', 'San Antonio'];
cy.get('#market-select option').each(($el, index) =>
  cy.wrap($el).should('have.text', selectListOptions[index])
);


text:
Q: Is there anyway I can make an if statement about an led on a button-shim being a certain color? I am currently making a burglar alarm for a school project. I am trying to make a button that will disable the alarm when pressed. I originally thought to have a variable change when the button shim is pressed but, while the rest of the activities in the if loop happen, the variable is not being changed.
My code looks like this:
while (check1 == 0):
    if (bE == 0): #if button E has not been pressed
        if (check() = 1): # a function that returns if there is moton
            check1 = 1
        @buttonshim.on_press(buttonshim.BUTTON_E)
        def button_e(button, pressed):
            buttonshim.set_pixel(0xff, 0x00, 0x00) #changes led to red no prob
            bE = 1 #supposed to change variable to 1 not working
            print "button e pressed" #prints out fine
        time.sleep(sleeptime) #so it's not checking constantly
    else:
        check1=1 #so it breaks out of while loop is E is pressed

I had already defined check1 and bE as variables before this code segment.
This is not working properly and I was wondering if there is any way that I can detect if the led is red so I can make an if statement and set the variable through that?

A: The syntax error in your first line might be the issue. Same with your if .statements
while (check1 = 0): #should be while (check1 == 0):
# rest of the code


An elderly Kentucky couple was killed in a train crash as the driver attempted to go around crossing arms but didn't see an oncoming train.
SLAUGHTERS, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky man who tried to go around railroad crossing arms and his wife have died in a crash with a train Sunday.
The Webster County sheriff's office said in a news release that a southbound train was stopped on a side switch track waiting for a northbound train to pass.
The release said 83-year-old James King of Slaughters proceeded over the tracks, failed to see the oncoming northbound CSX train and pulled into its path on Sunday.
The sheriff's office said King and 78-year-old Carolyn King were pronounced dead at the scene on Kentucky 138 at the railroad crossing in Slaughters, about 15 miles north of Madisonville.


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Browse: Home / 2016 / January / Veteran Political Consultants Coming to Campus for Kellogg Lecture Series
Veteran Political Consultants Coming to Campus for Kellogg Lecture Series
Veteran political consultant power couple James Carville and Mary Matalin will visit campus as part of the Kellogg Distinguished Public Lecture Series. (image courtesy of Flickr user JD Lasica)
He helped President Bill Clinton win the White House in 1992. She served as campaign director for President George H.W. Bush.
James "The Ragin' Cajun" Carville and Mary Matalin may come from opposite ends of the political spectrum, but in love, the married couple couldn't be more in sync.
In a talk billed as "All's Fair: Love, War and Politics," the duo will discuss their marriage and careers in politics at Cal Poly Pomona on Wednesday, Jan. 27 as part of the university's Kellogg Distinguished Public Lecture Series.
Check-in for the event is 6 p.m., when a light dinner will be provided. The lecture and question-and-answer session will start at 7 and a book signing will follow at 8:30 p.m. The event is open to the public, but registration is required. No photography or video recording is allowed.
Carville, America's best-known political consultant, became notable due to his talent for taking political underdogs and making them election victors. He earned national attention in 1991 when he brought Sen. Harris Wofford (D-Penn.) back from 40 points behind in the polls to pull off an upset victory over former Pennsylvania Governor and U.S. Attorney General Richard Thornburgh.
His most notable victory came in 1992 when he helped Clinton win the presidency over incumbent President George H.W. Bush and third-party challenger Ross Perot.
Matalin, an author, television and radio host, and political pundit, also found success in the political arena. She served under President Ronald Reagan, spearheaded the elder Bush's presidential campaign, and worked as assistant to President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, the first White House official in that dual role.
The couple lives in New Orleans with their two daughters and is very active in their community. They have co-authored the bestselling books "All's Fair: Love, War and Running for President" and "Love & War: Twenty Year, Three Presidents, Two Daughters and One Louisiana Home."
Visit the Kellogg Distinguished Public Lecture Series for more information.
Posted in News | Tags Bronco Student Center, guest speakers, Kellogg Distinguished Public Lecture Series, Kellogg Legacy Project Endowment, lecture, politics
Melanie Johnson
Melanie is a communications specialist in the Department of Strategic Communications and a Cal Poly Pomona alumna. The areas she writes about include ASI, University Library, CLASS, The Collins College of Hospitality Management, the College of Agriculture, student affairs, foundation, CEU, and events. Her other duties include CyberNews.
Bronco Student Center, guest speakers, Kellogg Distinguished Public Lecture Series, Kellogg Legacy Project Endowment, lecture, politics


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text:
Residential real estate market continues to thrive during COVID-19 restrictions
By Karen Scullin
Strong March housing market report despite pandemic
The Twin CIties housing market saw a strong March amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
(FOX 9) - While many industries are struggling during the coronavirus pandemic, one industry is continuing to thrive, as March was a great month for residential real estate.
The number of people looking to buy a home remains quite high, making it a good seller's market.
What is different are the mechanics of actually making the purchase, however.
Home buyers are relying on virtual tours now more than ever, primarily helping to narrow down the possibilities fast. For realtor Tricia Ryan, her home showings are taking on a whole new look. For one, only the buyer is allowed to be present, including no children or parents.
"They're leaving out hand sanitizer and wipes, and the buyer and I came with sanitizers, booties, gloves, wipes...so everyone's very respectful," said Ryan.
In March, Minnesota home sales were up by 10 percent over the prior year, and sellers were receiving 98 percent of their asking price. Inventory is low while the number of people looking to buy is high.
"Interest rates were like a roller coaster for about two weeks as people were trying to figure out what was going on with the economy. They stabilized [and] now they're very solid at about 3.25 percent - that's a very good interest rate," said Chris Galler of Minnesota realtors.
There was a 13.6 percent increase in new listings in March and pending sales grew 11.5 percent, but a lot of people have lost jobs and income.
"We think in April we'll start to see pending sales down and then into late May, June and July we'll see closed sales down," Galler said.
He says that sales won't be down by much, however. Overall, the outlook for buying and selling is good. Ryan says it has inspired a sense of team for everyone involved.
"We're very thankful we weren't shut down. So, for that I think we've all been very polite as colleagues, all the different fields in our industry. The appraisers, the inspectors, other agents, making sure that everyone follows the rules and protocols not only that the seller's set not only for COVID, but also that the particular seller's set so we can continue to work," said Ryan.
Ryan said that while there may be a slight dip, overall, the market should continue to do pretty well, especially if it turns out there is a baby boom when this is all said and done.


When we are designing your gates with you we will give you a few options to choose from one being what would you like it made out of? This is obviously a big decision as it will affect the overall design and beauty of your gates and the overall impression they leave.
Wrought iron gates have been used for centuries, they can contain very intricate designs or just simply get the job done, and they can have spikes or swirls, flowers or perhaps even skulls on them the choice is really never ending.
They can provide a great look to your home; your guests will be able to see your home through you gates but they will be welcomed by your beautiful set of gates which will set your home apart from everyone else's on your street. These gates can reflect your homes beauty and your family's beauty as well.
They are also a great deterrent, anyone thinking of gaining access to your property will think twice when they are greeted by our gates, simply because they add more security and they don't know what other security measures you have up your sleeve.
For a beautiful way to add security to your home and protect you and your family choose our wrought iron gates, they will be long lasting and not need too much looking after.
For more information regarding our wrought iron gates, real free to get in touch, we will be happy to answer any questions you may have.


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