text:
Authorizing Legislation
Policy Letters
Office of Budget and Policy
1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
8:30 am-5 pm ET, M-F
Value Engineering (VE) on Transit Projects
Title: Value Engineering on Transit Projects
Phase(s): Preliminary Engineering
Category: Management
The RAILTRAN Commuter Rail Project extends between Fort Worth and Dallas along an existing 34-mile corridor which was acquired jointly by the cities in 1983 from the trustee of the former Chicago Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. The Federal Transit Administration also participated in the acquisition of this real estate. The cities have designated their local transit agencies, The Fort Worth Transportation Authority (The T) and Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), to develop the commuter rail services for the cities.
Service is being implemented in several phases. Phase 1, being implemented by DART, extends 10 miles from Dallas to South Irving. Phase 2, being implemented by the T, extends from South Irving to Fort Worth. Phase 2 is comprised of a series of elements:
An Intermodal Transportation Center (ITC) located at the site of the Texas and Pacific Railway Terminal Building (listed in the National Register of Historic Buildings); a 1.5 mile "downtown" connection between the ITC building and the existing RAILTRAN corridor; improvements and additions to the existing rail facilities within the existing RAILTRAN corridor to allow joint use of operations with freight trains and passenger service which includes passing sidings, signals, upgraded track, etc.; five new passenger stations between the ITC and South Irving; expansion of the Equipment Maintenance Facility developed by DART; and acquisition of diesel locomotives and passenger coaches.
At the concept phase, the project had an estimated cost of $101 million (1992 dollars) at completion. Based on a more detailed preliminary engineering work, the estimated project cost increased to $140 million, significantly above what was considered feasible. At this point the planned Value Engineering program was initiated.
2. The Lesson
Value Engineering (VE) is defined as an organized effort to analyze the function of systems, equipment, facilities, procedures and supplies by a multi-disciplined group for the purpose of achieving the required function at the lowest total cost. Considerations are given to effective ownership consistent with requirements for performance, reliability, quality, maintainability and safety. FTA guidelines endorse the use of value engineering in analyzing the design and cost effectiveness of federally funded projects. In keeping with the FTA guidelines, The T, through their standard consultant selection process, solicited proposals for value engineering services to be performed on three of their major design components of the Commuter Rail Project. These components included the Intermodal Transportation Center in downtown Fort Worth, the Downtown Rail Corridor, and the RAILTRAN Corridor. Following selection of the VE consultant, The T collaborated with the consultant in the development of a customized work program which was tailored to the specific issues and needs of the Railtran/Commuter Rail project. The five - phase VE process (Information, Speculation, Analysis, Development and Presentation) was followed; however, additional program features were introduced to maximize the VE results.
A Preparation phase was added to familiarize the design consultants and the owner with the VE process and to establish a "team" concept among the design consultants and the owner. A Decision phase was also added following the VE Presentation phase during which the team members discussed each proposal prior to the owner's decision on acceptance, acceptance with modification, or rejection. This was followed by an Implementation phase during which the design consultants confirmed the cost savings of each VE proposal through more detailed estimates. The VE Manager then monitored the implementation of the proposals through final design. Also, each VE team was staffed to ensure that the necessary specialized expertise was represented. This was considered especially important on this project which included many diverse and specialized components.
The Fort Worth Transportation Authority recognized early in their Preliminary Engineering design that the available budget could not support the escalating costs of the Project and remain debt free. Prudent management decisions lead to the use of value engineering as one means to bring the costs back into line with available funding. An important part of the VE Studies included the direct involvement of the T's management staff and the design consultants. The design consultants presented the design concepts to the VE team as well as provided them with preliminary design documents, preliminary estimates and schedules. The VE team made a site visit to each of the project components and was accompanied by the project management staff and consultants who pointed out various aspects of the existing conditions and proposed plans. The VE team then began to develop proposals for presentation to The T and it's project management staff.
The VE process was successful in identifying cost savings proposals. Proposals that were not accepted, were rejected primarily because they did not maintain The T's program requirements. Many proposals were not accepted as presented but were noted as warranted for further study. All accepted proposals will be incorporated into the Project during final design.
There were 87 VE Proposals offered for consideration, of which 38 were accepted. The total estimated savings identified by the VE proposals was approximately $11 million. The estimated project cost in which the VE team analyzed was approximately $78 million. The percentage of savings equates to approximately 14%. The cost to perform the VE study was $129,000, resulting in a return of $85 for every $1 invested.
The T's success in achieving a significant reduction in the project cost is attributable to a number of factors: a prudent management decision to utilize the VE process was fundamental; the timing of the VE studies at the conclusion of preliminary engineering and before final design provided the VE team with the necessary level of design development information and, at the same time, allowed adoption of the proposals without causing serious delays due to lost design effort; the establishment of a team concept involving the collaboration of the owner, VE consultant and the design consultant resulted in a cooperative productive effort; and, finally, the addition of formal preparatory and follow-up phases to the basic five step VE process resulted in a complete program designed to deliver the maximum potential VE result.
The application of Value Engineering can be applied to most major Transit Capital projects across the nation. It has proven to be a successful method for reducing project costs while maintaining a project's functional objectives. The success of VE can be maximized by tailoring the basic VE process to the specific needs of each project and by integrating the VE effort into the overall project design development process.


text:
Miss Universe 2005 crowned
Miss Canada, Natalie Glebova, was crowned Miss Universe in a finale broadcast around the world and watched by an estimated one billion people(!)
Glebova, 23, who was born in Russia but emigrated to Toronto as a young girl, won the beauty pageant ahead of Puerto Rico's Cynthia Olavarria, who was first runner-up.
Earlier today, 15 semifinalists competed first in a glamour evening gown competition before they were whittled down to 10 contestants, who paraded in swimsuits.
The final five then faced a live interview session to determine the new Miss Universe.
The five finalists were Canada's Glebova, Miss Dominican Republic Renata Sone, Miss Mexico Laura Elizondo, Miss Puerto Rico Cynthia Olavarria and Miss Venezuela Monica Spear.
Winners of the three other awards were:
Best National Dress: Miss Thailand, Chananporn Rosjan
Miss Photogenic: Miss Philippines, Gionna Cabrera
Miss Congeniality: Miss US Virgin Islands, Tricia Homer.
Eh, Miss Malaysia ler?
commented by SK, 5/31/2005 06:06:00 pm
Go Canada! ;)
commented by Jordan F. MacVay, 6/01/2005 09:40:00 am
Lesson for the Day: Getting that Job
F1: Kimi's Heroic Failure!
Hilarious Sign Board
Liverpool, what a comeback!
American Idol: And the winner is...
Top 5 Rejected Names for TV3's Mentor
EPL: Where's Fergie?
Madagascar's Penguin uses the Force
F1: Two in a row for Kimi
Miss Universe 2005 crowned Eh, Miss Malaysia ler?
:D Go Canada! ;)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Lismore, Ballina Byron Bay, Lennox Head, Northern Rivers NSW, Summerland Environmental Liquid Waste collection and processing specialises in oil recycling, oil spills, recovery, cleanup processing and removal of oily waters, located in Lismore, NSW.
we do Recycling, Oil Spill Collection, Oil Spill Recovery, oil spill cleanup in Northern Rivers, Far North Coast NSW. Summerland Environmental is a Liquid Waste / Septic Waste removal company specialising in liquid waste removal, septic waste removal, oil spill, recovery, cleanup chemical spills, waste, processing, portable toilets, portable toilet hire, event waste, environmental waste, located in Lismore, northern rivers, far north coast NSW.
Summerland Environmental are specialists in the removal and processing of oily waters.
Pits capturing water from commercial I industrial wash down activities contain oil and other petroleum based products. These are captured in pits before entering the sewer system. These pits need to be pumped at regular intervals to prevent contaminants entering the sewer system, and are transported to our Oily Waters Processing Plant.
Summerland Environmental also collect clean used sump oil direct from the automotive industry that is directly out of engines and other equipment. This product contains very little contaminants and is able to be refined for reuse in further lubrication processes or as fuel.
The removal of oily waters and accompanying sludge from the waste stream is an obvious and basic feature of environmental protection.
Summerland Environmental Liquid Waste collection and processing specialises in oil recycling, waste oil collection and disposal, oil spills, recovery, cleanup processing and removal of oily waters, located in Lismore, NSW.


text:
Mandy Morton
Presented by Mandy Morton
Mandy Morton is a freelance radio presenter from BBC Radio Cambridgeshire. At one time she hosted a Saturday morning programme, and once a month The Naked Scientists would join her on air to talk science for half an hour. Once the Naked Scientists became a firm presence at BBC Cambridgeshire Mandy became the ideal choice to step in and host the show when Chris was away. She how presents an arts programme on a weekday evening and is writing a book. We're very grateful to her for all her help and support along the way.
Music Technology and the Science of Sound
Chinese Medicine and the Healing Power of Plants
Parasites, Hookworms and Allergies
Cancer, How Cancer Spreads, and Complementary Therapies


I recently ran into an issue when printing colored elevations for a city review process. My elevations seem to have a white silhouette of the elevation placed over the top of them. It at first looked like a white filled region, but then I noticed my brick rowlock shape showing up along the edge of the silhouette. Every time I print it seems to put these "silhouettes" in a different place. It doesn't matter if I print to a printer, plotter, or to PDF (using Bluebeam and CutePDF) - all the same result... and only on these specific elevation views (none of the other elevations in the project have this issue). Any thoughts on what could be causing this?
What's so "special" about "Specialty Equipment" ?


text:
Pre-Orders begin on November 1st 2017 and the initial shipments will be during the first week of January
Sports Lists
Men and Women of Distinction
Minor League Ballplayers
The Most Accurate
Address Lists Being Sold… Period
2019 Address List
Current/Updated Addresses
SportsAddressLists.Com was started in 1996 to fill a great void for "through the mail autograph collectors", and that included me because I have been an autograph collector since 1970. Our mission was, and continues to this very day to include 3 interrelated parts:
Address List Quality:
My main goal is that the address lists we produce have to be the highest quality available for collectors. The initial address research is done using only the most reliable search engines, not the free Internet ones like ZabaSearch, WhitePages and others where old, old addresses are kept in their database for years and updating is done very infrequently. We start out researching the most current addresses, confirmed by full names and date of birth and then submitting our address database to companies who update them against a National Change of Address Database three to four times a year to make sure they stay up to date. But this is not a perfect world, and athletes move frequently. That's why the second part of our mission statement is very important.
Ease of Updates:
When you buy one of our address lists, that's not where our obligation to you ends. When you receive an RTS envelope, please notify us by email and we will do our best to update that address within 3 business days, the fastest update turnaround time in the industry. Since the time the 2018 address lists began to ship this past January, to the present time, 1,104 invalid addresses were reported to me by my customers for updating and 1086 were successfully updated which is a 98.4% success rate. That's not too bad in any league!!!
Total Customer Service:
This is the most important part of our Mission because it affects our company's greatest asset, our customers. During the year that you purchase an address list, all my customers who have provided me with their email address receive the same periodic email address updates notifying them of any address changes, addresses that are no longer valid and couldn't be updated yet and players who have died since the address list was published. During the year there are over 1,000 pieces of information sent out to keep our customers informed.
2019 SPORTS
Auto Racing Address List
Baseball Address List
Basketball Address List
Football Address List
Golf Address List
Hockey Address List
Men and Women of Distinction Address List
Minor League Ballplayers Address List
Olympians Address List
ALL OF THIS IS GEARED TOWARDS MAKING YOUR THROUGH THE MAIL AUTOGRAPH COLLECTING AS SUCCESSFUL AS IT CAN BE TO ADD ALL THE AUTOGRAPHS THAT YOU SEEK TO YOUR COLLECTION.
"Thanks to Harvey and his lists my collection has doubled within 3 months! 100% accurate addresses and results from a proven leader in the industry! Great customer service and always answers questions and concerns quickly and professionally! You have gained another satisfied customer for life!"
Andrew Vos / Wayne, NJ
"Harvey may not have invented autograph collecting, but he sure has perfected it! He is as passionate about building your collection as you are, and that comes out in the quality, depth and scope of his address lists. I have repeatedly purchased many of them year after year because they yield a personal success rate of over 86 percent returns! My only regret is I didn't begin using Harvey's lists earlier!"
Mark C. / Florida
"And I want you to know that I currently have more than 2,000 autographs directly related to your address books. Thank You."
Carl Ambrogio / Westport, CT
"I spend too much time and money on autograph collecting not to use the best address lists possible and Harvey's lists are simply the best. Every year they get bigger and better and his free updates are always much appreciated."
John Haffner / Zionsville, IN
"I have the pleasure of being the recipient of one of the best pieces of autograph collector ammunition there is. Your list continues to improve each and every year. As a baseball historian, and a collector of autographs I must add that I could not handle the regular correspondence and contacting players I do without it. Your list covers more than just the MLB players, and was the first I ever saw with Negro Leaguer and AAGPBL players – giving the fans true access to the full spectrum of the collecting realm of baseball.
I commend you for another fine edition for 2010! I am particularly pleased with how you have separated out the deceased players from the currently living players! And I am intrigued by the Baseball Personalities!
Harvey thank you again.. it is nice to see another fine item on my bookshelf bearing your name!"
Dave Lambert / Stoughton, MA
"Harvey does a great job in not only creating the sports address lists, but also in updating any addresses that are either returned or bad. Harvey is extremely fast in updating bad addresses. The spiral type binding is AWESOME and makes the lists easier to use. The debut year and teams played for are very nice additions when doing research on players to write to. What more can I say? Harvey's detailed sports address lists have helped me increase my collection on a daily basis. Going to the mailbox is like celebrating Christmas EVERY single day!"
Michael Gearhart / Rockford, IL
"The changes you made for the 2007 lists make it easier to read. I do like the newer spiral-type binding. Most important, as I know quite well, you are very accurate — and always updating your work. You have to be the top person in the US in your field. The Smalling Baseball List used to be the benchmark, maybe ten years ago. I believe anyone who is familiar with address lists and has used any of the Meiselman lists would have to rank yours on top. I admire your first class work. Keep up the good work!"
Jim Sargent / Roanoke, VA
"The best address books around for getting those 'hard to get' autographs that you thought were never possible. Keep up the great work!!!"
Leo Weisman / Wilmington, CA
"I started collecting baseball autographs through the mail in 1995, but after a couple of years, quit because of a lack of accurate addresses. It seemed one out of every three requests I sent out came back with an invalid address. Some nine years later, a friend told me about a guy named Harvey, and swore by the accuracy of his addresses. I was skeptical at first because I hadn't ever used him, but two years later, am happy to say that over 95% of Harvey's addresses are accurate, and if they aren't, he'll get you an updated one once you notify him. It's like having your own personal address finder. Buy one of Harvey's address lists and I guarantee you'll be hooked. Harvey is like a cable modem compared to dial up."
Dave O / Jacksonville, FL
"How did I collect hockey autographs before I purchased your address lists? I don't know, but keep up the great work."
Peter Borkowski / Canada
"The best thing about the list is the new ideas for mail requests it gave me. Remember, I have been writing away for 25 years, but I found addresses I could not find anywhere else, on your list, plus names of people that I instantly realized I wanted."
Michael Hecht (UACC Director) / Claremont, CA
"I would highly recommend Harvey's lists to any sports fan who is a collector. I received my list last year and I have been having a great deal of success with it. Now I enjoy getting my sports cards signed and I would not go to any other place for addresses. This is the best address list I have found."
Len Bytnar / Glenshaw, PA
"Your address lists are the best, Harvey. I've added autographs to my collection from players that I thought were deceased a long time ago. But you found them!"
Arnie Berman / Ft. Lauderdale, FL
"You are the best. How do you find all these great addresses?"
"Your lists are the most up to date. I get very few 'Return To Senders'. Keep up the great work"
BY / Georgia
"Here's my order for my third different list I bought from you. Each one is great. Don't stop, they're the best"
BH / Virginia
"Harvey, you do all the work for autograph collectors except write the letters… thank you, you're the best"
JR / Florida
"The BEST, that's the only way to describe your address lists. I look forward to buying your update next year."
AN / Missouri
"What do you do? Stay up 24 hours a day researching addresses? However you do it, thanks."
GS / Arizona
Copyright © 2018 SportsAddressLists.com. All rights reserved.


F7 will give more details on getting the boot strings right.
You would probably need to figure out the debconf answers you need to provide tough, only a couple of them are shown on the help screen.
Was not enough to stop it asking for the country, language or keyboard map.


Splendid traditional detached bungalow with extensive family accommodation of approx 3,000 sqft. Sunnemede enjoys wonderful mature gardens of approx 1 acre located in this tranquil village lane. The property has been remodelled and extended providing split level living.


text:
For Me, Self-Publishing Means Professional Satisfaction And Financial Success. Trade Places With Ros Barber? Fuck No.
A couple of days ago, the shit hit the fan on my Facebook feed, and for once it had nothing to do with Donald Trump or any of the other candidates in the upcoming election. This shit was about publishing.
If you haven't already read it, here's the article. It blipped on my radar when fellow DeadPixel Publications author Renee Miller wrote a response to it, then again when fellow Authors & Dragons player Rick Gualtieri also wrote a response to it.
I couldn't very well let those two fuckers have all the fun, could I? As one of the community of self-published authors who are under attack in this article, I feel compelled to weigh in, examining Ros Barber's seven points in the order that she lists them.
1. You have to forget writing for a living
In this entry, Ros Barber claims that self-published authors, on average, spend 10% of their time writing, and 90% of their time marketing. This is based on anecdotal evidence from one person who commented on her blog.
"All I'm saying is that peanuts don't cause my kid's head to swell up like a balloon. I must conclude, therefore, that your son is simply very ugly."
I've asked my favorite self-published author, thus doubling the statistical integrity of the survey, and he said that his own ratio of writing to marketing is nowhere even close to that.
But let's play Devil's Advocate for a moment, and assume that the random commenter on Ros Barber's blog post speaks for the entire community of self-published authors.
The title of Ros Barber's article starts with "For me, traditional publishing means poverty." It would seem to me, then, that she, too, can forget writing for a living. So I'm not exactly sure of the point she was trying to make in this entry.
2. Self-publishing can make you behave like a fool
This entry was just a rant about authors spamming their shit on Twitter. Guilty as charged, I guess. I'm on there every day, part of that circle jerk of authors spamming my own shit and spamming other authors' shit in reciprocation for spamming mine. As far as I'm concerned, that's all Twitter's good for. It's not a social media avenue that I personally enjoy, but I do appreciate its effectiveness.
Does that make me a fool? More so than a person who mocks me for doing it while her own books (according to her books' Amazon rankings) aren't selling for shit?
At the time of this writing, Ros Barber's highest ranked book, a full three days after the exposure she enjoyed through getting an article published in The Guardian. I'm prepared to be judged.
3. Gatekeepers are saving you from your own ego
Here, Ros Barber makes an analogy comparing writing to cabinet making, which has little to do with ego, and really could have been combined with the following entry. It's a filler entry.
Here's the gist... You're a novice cabinet maker. You make a shitty cabinet and try to sell it to furniture stores, none of whom want your cabinet. The furniture stores, I assume, are analogous to Big 5 publishers.
I have a couple of issues with this entry.
1. The only gatekeepers that truly matter are the readers.
I'll admit that there are a whole lot of shitty self-published books out there. But those aren't the only ones that don't make it out of the slush piles of agents and big name publishing houses.
There are any number of reasons a publishing house might want nothing to do with your book. Maybe you wrote about a controversial subject. Maybe they feel your book will only appeal to too small a niche. Maybe you write books that are nothing but dick jokes and gratuitous swearing. Publishing is a business, and with all the submissions these big name houses get, they don't need to gamble on titles that might be problematic down the road. Safer bets are the way to go.
But self-publishers have nothing to lose. The readers keep those gates. Books that people actually want to read rise to the top. While there are some floaters here and there, most of the shit sinks.
2. If the furniture store buys your shitty cabinet, all you've really succeeded in doing is fucking over the furniture store.
Ros Barber claims to have gotten a £5,000 advance for her latest novel, Devotion. If its Amazon ranking is an accurate metric with which to judge it by, Oneworld Publications isn't really seeing a great return on its investment.
That's almost twice as shitty as her best selling novel's catastrophically shitty ranking.
It would seem that neither Ros Barber nor her publisher was saved from Ros Barber's ego.
"Suck it, IKEA!" -- Ros Barber
4. Good writers become good because they undertake an apprenticeship. Serving your apprenticeship is important
I mentioned above that entries 3 and 4 could have easily been combined (She even uses the same goddamn cabinet analogy in this one.). As I strive to be a less shitty writer than Ros Barber, I'll keep this brief.
This entry is only relevant to those self-published authors who publish the first shit they ever write. It should go without saying that the first shit you ever write will, in fact, be shit.
The comparison here, then, is not between competent writers who choose to self-publish and competent writers who need Random House to pat them on the back. The comparison is between godawful writers who rush to publish their own ass-wipings and (perhaps) competent writers who need Random House to pat them on the back.
Fuck this stupid shit. Next.
5. You can forget Hay festival and the Booker
This is advice you can take to the bank, because it comes from someone who has repeatedly won the Jack Shit award.
Ros Barber's books have won Jack Shit for many consecutive years.
This is my favorite entry, because this is the one where Ros Barber takes off the gloves and goes into full-on pretentious asshole mode.
Traditional publishing is the only way to go for someone who writes literary fiction.
Literary fiction, as defined by Wikipedia, is "a term principally used for fictional works that hold literary merit, that is to say, they are works that offer deliberate social commentary or political criticism, or focus on the individual to explore some part of the human condition."
But let's be honest here. For 99.999% of those who claim to write "literary fiction" the term can be more accurately described as "pretentious bullshit which includes a safety net of being able to claim the lack of interest in it is a result of it being too intellectual for the average reader to appreciate".
If genre fiction is chart music, literary fiction is opera
But maybe I'm being unfair. Maybe Ros Barber really has the chops to weave an opera of words. For someone whose passions include "reveling in language", this leaves something to be desired:
The chance of a self-published novelist getting their book reviewed in the mainstream press is the same as the chance of my dog not eating a sausage.
I don't claim to know how frequently Ros Barber's dog eats sausages, but I'm willing to bet it's not perpetually. In fact, I'd go so far as to wager that her dog, even as I write this sentence, is not eating a sausage. With the money Ros Barber makes from her shitty books, she simply can't afford to feed the dog that many sausages. They're probably splitting a bowl of store brand dog food.
"Sorry, Baxter. When the world recognizes my genius, we'll share the opera of dog food."
But of course, that's not what she meant. I'm only speculating here, but I would imagine the meaning she was going for was more along the lines of "The chance of a self-published novelist getting their book reviewed in the mainstream press is the same as the chance of my dog, upon being offered a sausage, not eating it."
Or if she wanted to flex her vocabulary muscles, she might say, "The chance of a self-published novelist getting their book reviewed in the mainstream press is the same as the chance of my dog, upon being offered a sausage, refusing it."
If she really wanted to get fancy, cutting extraneous words, she might even say, "The chance of a self-published novelist getting their book reviewed in the mainstream press is the same as that of my dog refusing a sausage."
Don't worry, Ros. You'll pick up these tricks as you come closer to being a real writer.
6. You risk looking like an amateur
Good writers need even better editors. They need brilliant cover designers. They need imaginative marketers and well-connected publicists.
I can't judge the editors that Ros Barber's publishers employ, because their cover designers, marketers, and publicists have fallen short in their task of making me, along with the overwhelming majority of the world's population, the least bit interested in reading her literary drivel.
I'll admit that my own covers are nothing if not amateurish, and I'm perfectly okay with that. The purpose of a cover is to catch a potential customer's attention and make them stop to take a closer look at what you have to offer. I've had many readers tell me that they checked out my first book, Critical Failures, because of the big-ass d20 pictured on the cover.
Believe it or not, I didn't pay anything for this.
Making a simple, yet effective cover doesn't have to be as complicated or expensive as the "professionals" would have you believe it is. Same goes for editing and marketing. Diving in and experimenting, building on what works and cutting what doesn't, is a great way to learn some of the ins and outs of the industry.
Honestly, if you're a self-published author making a sale a week, your book probably has a higher ranking than any of Ros Barber's. That means you're out-designing her "brilliant" cover designers, out-marketing her "imaginative" marketers, and out-publicizing her "well-connected" publicists. Way to go, amateur!
7. 70% of nothing is nothing
I did a bit of number crunching on a post I wrote last May, in which I tweaked the above equation a bit, and discovered some interesting results.
But there might be some validity in this argument if it were coming from a traditionally published author whose books were making money. Instead, it's coming from Ros Barber.
Just like in entry 1, she supports her claim with anecdotal evidence from a single author. Unfortunately, according to her books' Amazon rankings, the quoted author is somehow managing the impressive feat of selling even fewer books than Ros Barber.
I'm not sure Ms Barber understands how arguments work. Let me give you a tip, Ros. You want to offer evidence which supports your position, rather than evidence which contradicts it. And when presenting your argument in a list format, it's often a good idea to end with your strongest point.
In this article, you appear to be trying to make the argument that traditional publishing is superior to self-publishing. If I may quote the beginning of your final entry:
My final caveat is fiscal. You can put all of that effort in, do all that marketing, and still not make a living.
Good point, Ros. Counterpoint, YOU AREN'T MAKING A FUCKING LIVING AT THIS!!! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, YOU CRAZY BITCH???
It's okay. I'm... better now.
In conclusion, I'd like to respond to Ros Barber's concluding paragraph.
Self-publishing? It generates a lot of noise on social media. It results in many flashy-looking websites from authorpreneurs keen to sell success secrets to other aspiring authorpreneurs. With Amazon's Kindle and CreateSpace as the major outlets, it continues to put money in the coffers of the company largely responsible for destroying author incomes in the first place. But it isn't a route to financial security. For those who prefer orchestrated backing to blowing their own trumpet, who'd privilege running a narrative scenario over running a small business, who'd rather write adventures than adverts, self-publishing is not the answer.
Whose author incomes is Amazon destroying? Not Ros Barber's. She's never had one. Certainly not mine. Thanks to Amazon, I've been able to quit my day job and write full time.
Two little gems shine from that paragraph for me. "But it isn't a route to self financial security" and "self-publishing is not the answer". No "probablys" or "usuallys" thrown in there. Just straight up 'Self-publishing is absolutely always a direct path to failure.'
Maybe she's right. What do I know? I'm just a guy making a living by self-publishing awesome books.
Want to prove Ros Barber even more wrong? Buy my books.
And come visit my Facebook page.
← How Not To Sell Books And/Or Run For Political OfficeROAD TRIP!!! (maybe... probably not... we'll see) →


text:
Q: Recycler view's item background doesn't update on click events? I have audio player layout as an item in recycler view . I want the play icon to change into pause icon on icon clicked . The log shows that icon has been set but the icon doesn't change in appearance in recycler view .
My code:
@Override
    public void onBindViewHolder(@NonNull final ViewHolder viewHolder, final int i) {

        customNoteView = notesList.get(i);
        notesText = viewHolder.notesWriteArea;
        notesImage = viewHolder.notesImage;
        notesAudio = viewHolder.notesAudio;
        notesAudioPlayButton = viewHolder.notesAudioPlayButton;
        notesAudioSeekBar = viewHolder.notesAudioSeekBar;
        notesAudioDeleteButton = viewHolder.notesAudioDeleteButton;

        if(customNoteView.getNoteText()!=null){
            editTextList.add(notesText);
            notesText.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
            notesImage.setVisibility(View.GONE);
            notesAudio.setVisibility(View.GONE);
            notesText.requestFocus();
            focussedEditText = notesText;
            notesText.setOnFocusChangeListener(new View.OnFocusChangeListener() {
                @Override
                public void onFocusChange(View view, boolean b) {
                    if(b){
                        focussedEditText = ((CustomEditText)view);
                        //Toast.makeText(context, ((CustomEditText) view).getText().toString(), Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                    }
                }
            });
        }
        else if(customNoteView.getImageUri()!=0){
            notesImage.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
            notesText.setVisibility(View.GONE);
            notesAudio.setVisibility(View.GONE);
            Glide.with(notesImage.getContext())
                    .load(notesImage.getContext().getDrawable(customNoteView.getImageUri()))
                    .into(notesImage);

            notesImage.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
                @Override
                public void onClick(View view) {
                    Intent intent = new Intent(context, FullScreen.class);
                    ActivityOptionsCompat options =  ActivityOptionsCompat.makeSceneTransitionAnimation((Activity) context,
                            notesImage,
                            ViewCompat.getTransitionName(notesImage)
                            );

                    context.startActivity(intent, options.toBundle());

                }
            });
        }
        else if(customNoteView.getAudioUri()!=null){
            notesAudio.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
            notesImage.setVisibility(View.GONE);
            notesText.setVisibility(View.GONE);
            notesAudioPlayButton.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
                @Override
                public void onClick(View view) {
                    notesAudioPlayButton.setBackground(context.getDrawable(R.drawable.ic_pause));
                    notesAudio.setBackground(context.getDrawable(R.drawable.gray_rectangular_background));
                    Adapter.this.notifyItemChanged(viewHolder.getAdapterPosition());

                    Toast.makeText(context, ""+viewHolder.getAdapterPosition(), Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                }
            });

        }

    }

I actually have a linear layout for audio item. I'm setting onClickListener() no an ImageButton to change it's background from play to pause.
Extra information:
I have observed that clicking the icon first time doesn't do anything .
Clicking it second time changes it to pause icon but then it quickly turns back to play icon .
Clicking it third time changes it to pause icon .
Any suggestion to get this working be great !

A: Do you execute the code you showed in Adapter? If so, why don't you call notifyItemChanged(position)?
And if not, why don't you create method in Adapter that update view with the parameter of position and call it from Activity or Fragment?

A: delete this line :
Adapter.this.notifyItemChanged(viewHolder.getAdapterPosition());
or save current background icon for recyclerview item

A: I'm always using notifyDataSetChanged() and never had any problem with that. Can you just use that or are there certain reasons you doing it otherwise?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: Matlab loop through functions using an array in a for loop I am writing a code to do some very simple descriptive statistics,  but I found myself being very repetitive with my syntax.
I know there's a way to shorten this code and make it more elegant and time efficient with something like a for-loop, but I am not quite keen enough in coding (yet) to know how to do this...
I have three variables, or groups (All data, condition 1, and condition 2). I also have 8 matlab functions that I need to perform on each of the three groups (e.g mean, median). I am saving all of the data in a table where each column corresponds to one of the functions (e.g. mean) and each row is that function performed on the correspnding group  (e.g. (1,1) is mean of 'all data', (2,1) is mean of 'cond 1', and (3,1) is mean of 'cond 2'). It is important to preserve this structure as I am outputting to a csv file that I can open in excel. The columns, again, are labeled according the function, and the rows are ordered by 1) all data 2) cond 1, and 3) cond 2.
The data I am working with is in the second column of these matrices, by the way.
So here is the tedious way I am accomplishing this:
x = cell(3,8);

x{1,1} = mean(alldata(:,2));
x{2,1} = mean(cond1data(:,2));
x{3,1} = mean(cond2data(:,2));

x{1,2} = median(alldata(:,2));
x{2,2} = median(cond1data(:,2));
x{3,2} = median(cond2data(:,2));

x{1,3} = std(alldata(:,2));
x{2,3} = std(cond1data(:,2));
x{3,3} = std(cond2data(:,2));

x{1,4} = var(alldata(:,2));   % variance
x{2,4} = var(cond1data(:,2));
x{3,4} = var(cond2data(:,2));

x{1,5} = range(alldata(:,2));
x{2,5} = range(cond1data(:,2));
x{3,5} = range(cond2data(:,2));

x{1,6} = iqr(alldata(:,2));  % inter quartile range
x{2,6} = iqr(cond1data(:,2));
x{3,6} = iqr(cond2data(:,2));

x{1,7} = skewness(alldata(:,2));
x{2,7} = skewness(cond1data(:,2));
x{3,7} = skewness(cond2data(:,2));

x{1,8} = kurtosis(alldata(:,2));
x{2,8} = kurtosis(cond1data(:,2));
x{3,8} = kurtosis(cond2data(:,2));

%  write output to .csv file using cell to table conversion

T = cell2table(x, 'VariableNames',{'mean', 'median', 'stddev', 'variance', 'range', 'IQR', 'skewness', 'kurtosis'});
writetable(T,'descriptivestats.csv')

I know there is a way to loop through this stuff and get the same output in a much shorter code. I tried to write a for-loop but I am just confusing myself and not sure how to do this. I'll include it anyway so maybe you can get an idea of what I'm trying to do.
x = cell(3,8);
data = [alldata, cond2data, cond2data];
dfunction = ['mean', 'median', 'std', 'var', 'range', 'iqr', 'skewness', 'kurtosis'];
for i = 1:8,
    for y = 1:3
        x{y,i} = dfucntion(i)(data(1)(:,2));
        x{y+1,i} = dfunction(i)(data(2)(:,2));
        x{y+2,i} = dfunction(i)(data(3)(:,2));
    end
end

T = cell2table(x, 'VariableNames',{'mean', 'median', 'stddev', 'variance', 'range', 'IQR', 'skewness', 'kurtosis'});
writetable(T,'descriptivestats.csv')

Any ideas on how to make this work??

A: You want to use a cell array of function handles. The easiest way to do that is to use the @ operator, as in
dfunctions = {@mean, @median, @std, @var, @range, @iqr, @skewness, @kurtosis};

Also, you want to combine your three data variables into one variable, to make it easier to iterate over them. There are two choices I can see. If your data variables are all M-by-2 in dimension, you could concatenate them into a M-by-2-by-3 three-dimensional array. You could do that with
data = cat(3, alldata, cond1data, cond2data);

The indexing expression into data that retrieves the values you want would be data(:, 2, y). That said, I think this approach would have to copy a lot of data around and probably isn't the best for performance. The other way to combine data together is in 1-by-3 cell array, like this:
data = {alldata, cond1data, cond2data};

The indexing expression into data that retrieves the values you want in this case would be data{y}(:, 2).
Since you are looping from y == 1 to y == 3, you only need one line in your inner loop body, not three.
for y = 1:3
    x{y, i} = dfunctions{i}(data{y}(:,2));
end

Finally, to get the cell array of strings containing function names to pass to cell2table, you can use cellfun to apply func2str to each element of dfunctions:
funcnames = cellfun(@func2str, dfunctions, 'UniformOutput', false);

The final version looks like this:
dfunctions = {@mean, @median, @std, @var, @range, @iqr, @skewness, @kurtosis};
data = {alldata, cond1data, cond2data};
x = cell(length(data), length(dfunctions));
for i = 1:length(dfunctions)
    for y = 1:length(data)
        x{y, i} = dfunctions{i}(data{y}(:,2));
    end
end

funcnames = cellfun(@func2str, dfunctions, 'UniformOutput', false);
T = cell2table(x, 'VariableNames', funcnames);
writetable(T,'descriptivestats.csv');

A: You can create a cell array of functions using str2func :
function_string = {'mean', 'median', 'std', 'var', 'range', 'iqr', 'skewness', 'kurtosis'};
dfunction = {};
for ii = 1:length(function_string)
    fun{ii} = str2func(function_string{ii})
end

Then you can use it on your data as you'd like to :
for ii = 1:8,
    for y = 1:3
        x{y,i} = dfucntion{ii}(data(1)(:,2));
        x{y+1,i} = dfunction{ii}(data(2)(:,2));
        x{y+2,i} = dfunction{ii}(data(3)(:,2));
    end
end


"We like to sit in a room, look at each other and write together, rather than send ideas to each other over email. We sat in my old house and we sat in the studio, looked at each other, had our acoustic guitars and began writing the album".
"The album cover does describe the album pretty well. There's some songs that are up and then there's some songs that are down. There's songs that deal with mortality, loss and relationships within our lives. I talk about people that I love like my mum, my Grandfather and the only way I know how to honour them in some way is through songs and through singing".
"We've done it on every album. They are the things that people collect and keep forever. I also love the quality of vinyl; it sounds really amazing. It's an experience; you go into your collection, search for the one you want, place it on the record player and enjoy".
"It was amazing and so humbling. It was a thrill to do it and work with so many incredible singers. There's so many amazing people who have performed 'Thunderchild' before and you want to make sure you perform to the best of your ability every single night".
Following the release of their third album, Inglorious will be back on the road with a headline tour. Beginning in Southampton on Monday 28th January 2019, Nathan promises that the shows will be a mixture of all their albums to date.
"Wayward Sons have supported us on a tour before and I absolutely love them. They're amazing. They're incredible musicians and Toby is a wonderful songwriter and singer. Bigfoot are on the billing too and we just can't wait".
Ride to Nowhere is released on Friday 25th January 2019.
Inglorious' UK Tour begins on Monday 28th January 2019 at the Engine Rooms, Southampton.


Green Brick is a friendly, oversized, larger than life Lego brick inanimate character costume. He has lycra arms and legs, oversized lycra character gloves and a trendy pair of green and white high top trainers which feature the Legoland Windsor logo on the sides.
He is made from vinyl, and has the Lego logo stitched on to four of his six studs. The uppermost studs have been made in to friendly character eyes, with sublimation-printed gauzes. He has been produced for Legoland Windsor and features regularly at the theme park for meet and greet events. Green Brick is the male counterpart to Pink Brick.


The Workshop is part of project IRC-HERMES, funded by Interreg Balkan- Mediterranean. IRC-HERMES addresses the rescue, promotion and development of cultural heritage. It focuses on preventing the danger of collapse by means of management and prevention algorithms for historic buildings. .


Basketball takes center stage today, with plenty of action throughout the day in both college and pro hoops. Inside you'll find two college basketball picks that we feel confident in.
OK, so the Wolfpack have lost three in a row and are 2-5 SU over their last seven. We know they've been struggling.
However, this is still a mega-talented team and we feel there's a lot of value here against a Clemson team that's failed to cash ATS in four straight contests. NCAAB Odds makers are losing faith in NC State, as they're favored by just 2.5 points against the Tigers.
We recommend not getting too caught up in the fact the Wolfpack have dropped three straight. Let's take a closer look at those games. Firstly, they lost to Virginia on the road – the Cavaliers are very tough to beat on their own court, as evident by their 14-0 SU and 10-1-1 ATS records there. Then you've got a defeat to Miami (FL), perhaps the hottest team in the nation right now.
Finally there's Thursday's loss to Duke in Cameron Indoor, and you knew it was going to be difficult for the Wolfpack to go in there and get the job done against the Blue Devils, who came out with ridiculous energy.
Basically, all three losses came in difficult circumstances. There won't be any excuses today though, since Clemson has lost two in a row, the latest a 78-41 meltdown against the Cavaliers.
This season the Tigers are just 3-5 ATS on their own floor and we just don't think they'll be able to keep pace with the Wolfpack today, even with starting point guard Lorenzo Brown set to miss out again. Lay the points and take the more talented squad.
We are taking another crack at a road team, only this time it's on a heavy underdog: the Golden Bears, who are currently getting 13.5 points from sportsbooks.
Four days ago we picked Stanford to cover against Arizona in Tucson and that worked out well for us. It could be trickier this time around, but the good news is we're getting three more points to work with, which of course makes us a little more at ease.
The Golden Bears lost their last time out (65-62 on the road against Arizona State), but they haven't been playing too badly in all actuality. Last week they even managed a 58-54 home win over a ranked Oregon squad.
This California team has some nice pieces to work with. They have a terrific backcourt with Allen Crabbe and Justin Cobbs, who between them are averaging 33.6 PPG on the season. Then there's Richard Solomon and David Kravish inside, who have been equally as productive on the glass. If Crabbe and Cobbs can get into a rhythm early, we don't see why this game can't end up being closer than a lot of people expect.
Over recent years, the Golden Bears have always seemed to give Arizona a run for their money. While this season's California team is less talented, we still think they'll be able to keep this game close enough to cover this huge number.
We will therefore be recommending a play on the Golden Bears to wrap up our college basketball picks.