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Explore how to best work with publishers to get your game to market this July at | Pocket Gamer.biz
Publishing your game can be an absolutely thrilling process, but the sheer amount of moving parts may leave you wondering how exactly it is that you can maximise your experience working with a publisher.
Pocket Gamer Connects conferences equip you with all the practical advice you need to go out and make empowered, evidence-based decisions for your business, and this track focused on giving you the top tricks of the trade when it comes to publishing is no different. Join us and 750 other games industry delegates for the first ever iteration of the top b2b gaming industry conference in Toronto. We're breaking it all down for you.
This unmissable track is part of the Brands x Ads x Games summit happening alongside Pocket Gamer Connects Toronto. All conference attendees get complimentary access to this summit, and it's an unparalleled opportunity to elevate your brand while discovering the biggest opportunities for growth in the industry. We'll be demystifying the key developments, celebrating the great work already being done and showcasing the tremendous potential both now (with mobile and PC/console platforms) but also in the future as blockchain, XR and the metaverse gaming worlds grow. You won't want to miss it.
It's the same conference you know and love with all-new opportunities in an incredible new city. Over July 6th to 7th you will get to hear from over 120 of the world's biggest authorities in gaming and connect with representatives from companies like Google, Netflix and Electronic Arts. What better way to expand your network and pick the most brilliant, forward-gazing minds in the industry? Don't miss out on your opportunity to join us this summer, we have recently released a wave of virtual tickets and we currently have a Mid-Term offer available – no excuse not to be there come July and truly invest in taking your career to the next level you've been dreaming of!
Today, we're shining the spotlight on our Art of Publishing track. In this track, you will find how best to work with publishers to get your game to market. The track will feature sessions tackling topics such as using social media as a vehicle to drive people to your game and the challenges and opportunities of cross-platform publishing. You won't want to miss out!
We want to give a big thank you to our amazing track sponsor, Gameloft. Gameloft Toronto has been developing and publishing games since 2011. With over a decade of experience specialising in partnerships with major rights holders like Disney®, LEGO® and Mattel®, their close-knit group of creatives combine the innovation of an independent studio with the global presence of one of the leading video game companies in the world. We couldn't do this without you!
Keep on reading to find out more about what the track is all about.
The Art of Publishing: July 6
14:00 – Find out why social media is the strongest way to drive people to your game in this insightful panel featuring Jacki Vause of Dimoso, Gabe Feldman of Viral Nation, Nee Nguyen of PTW, Julia Pokusa of Pingle Studio and Ryan Sno-Wood of Canadian Gaming Expo
14:40 – Next up is a session led by Andy Smith, Achimostawinan Games. Stay tuned to learn more!
15:00 – Next, Gameloft's Carolina Veliz delivers an unmissable session you won't want to miss. Stay tuned to learn more details!
15:20 – Last but certainly not least, don't miss out on learning all the challenges and opportunities of cross-platform publishing. This panel features Patty Toledo of YAHAHA, John Eberhardt of Wizards of the Coast, Tyson Gratton of DLA Piper LLP and Robert Segal of Get Set Games.
Book your ticket to Toronto now
There's no time like now to buy your ticket to Toronto! We have both virtual and in-person tickets available, and you can get them both at a reduced price with our Mid Term offer. This can save you up to $220 CAD, so don't wait up! It's only available for a limited time, be sure to take advantage of it while you still can and book your ticket before time runs out.
See you in Toronto!
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Uber received 3,824 reports of sexual assault and misconduct in 2019 and 2020, down 38% from 2017 and 2018, but the rate of fatal physical assaults rose 18% (Prarthana Prakash/Bloomberg)
Sebastian Vettel to retire from Formula 1 at the end of the 2022 season


Indie shop owner Adrianna Fie has turned a passion for travel and a love for the style and functionality of French cutlery into a specialty online business — The shop features European basics for the home, sourced directly from family-owned businesses and legacy manufacturers where their products are created in factories or workshops. Adrianna took her time traveling to seek out quality, well-designed and sturdy products that complement all homes and make each job they do just a little bit easier. At the end of the day, it's really Adrianna's passion and form-and-function curiosity that make a mom-and-pop shop in a sea of unlimited online resources. Today Adrianna shares some personal history and how her beloved Flotsam + Fork came to be.
Early on, I had a strong affinity for the science and the natural world. I was sure I'd grow up to be an archaeologist or an astronomer. Maybe a veterinarian. Over time, though, I realized I liked making things and set my sights on becoming a jewelry maker. Along the way, I developed a very strong desire to run my own business.
Well, it started in California (where I'm from) and has taken me across the country (to New York) and halfway back (I live in Minneapolis now). Along the way I pursued a variety of interests — jewelry making, food, retail — and continually sought out opportunities to work with people I admired.
How did you create Flotsam+Fork?
Naturally, it all started with a trip to France in 2011. The kitchen supply stores in Paris absolutely mesmerized me. Later, when I returned to America, I realized many of the products that caught my eye were not easily or readily available here. Basically, I figured I wasn't the only person who adored French cutlery, so I looked into the specifics of importing from Europe and starting an online retail site. It took a few years to get everything into place, but by 2013, Flotsam+Fork was up and running.
A lot of retailers would probably say the sales are the best part, but for me the best part of this is receiving a fresh delivery of new inventory from overseas. I still remember when our very first shipment of French linens from Charvet Editions [came in]. There's this undeniable sense of intrigue and wonder that washes over me whenever I first set eyes on [a] new package, with its European handwriting and foreign language labels. It's truly magical.
And the hardest part of the job?
Staying focused and on-task. This is my business, so there's no one telling [me] what to do or asking me to take care of things — that's on me. I love the independence, don't get me wrong, but sometimes it's challenging.
We run the shop on the Shopify platform, so that's the easy answer — whether it's fulfilling orders, adding products to the inventory, or posting content. The technology is always getting better! When the orders are coming in, though, the most essential tools are my trusty tape-guns!
Long walks around the lakes here in Minneapolis and regular trips to Europe.
I certainly like to think so. We pour most of our revenue back into the business and are always working to build on our success and use our available resources to develop the shop and grow our clientele.
What life skills have been most useful in pursuing a career as a creative and a buyer?
I'm an incredibly curious person. Does that count as life skill? I always want to learn more about objects that catch my eye. Where did it come from? Who made it? What makes this special? Combine that with my insatiable appetite for travel, and you essentially have the Flotsam+Fork blueprint.
The number one thing is travel. Like I said before, Flotsam+Fork was inspired by a trip, and going back to Europe — walking the streets, visiting the shops in my fav cities — is definitely how I refill the inspiration tank.
The ideal Flotsam+Fork customer is a curious traveler with an insatiable appetite for discovery… not to mention good food and wine. The kind of person who pulls a knife out of the drawer — perhaps a cute little paring knife she picked up on a trip to France — and [is] immediately transported back to the streets of Paris.
Is it hard to maintain regular customers online?
I would have to say no to that. Obviously every shop is unique, and we're fortunate enough to have a really strong group of core customers, people who come back again and again. I think the big thing is finding your niche, committing to your vision and delivering a consistently good experience. That's why we keep up regular correspondence with customers through our email newsletter, and work to keep our social channels compelling. These days, when a shopper can click away to some other site in the blink of an eye, it's really important to build relationships and cultivate loyalty.
What tips would you offer to new online shop owners?
Do not rush into it. Take the time to really decide what you want to do with your shop. Figure out what your potential customers want and how you can serve their needs. That being said, at a certain point, you just need to start. It won't be perfect, but you'll have something to build from.
Oh, and get an accountant to set up your books! You won't regret the additional investment when tax time rolls around. And finally, ask questions! People love to help and it never hurts to ask. This is something that definitely didn't come naturally to me, but it's a skill I have been cultivating. You can't always do it all on your own!
What is your favorite functional home product that you carry?
I absolutely love our newest French paring knives and regional knives. They are from a new vendor we found after a trip to France this summer. We were looking to expand our line of French cutlery to replace our best selling line that had been discontinued. We found these at a small specialty knife shop in the center of Paris and were so impressed by the quality that we knew they were the ones. It's such an everyday joy to use a well-crafted knife, and these are no exception.
Adrianna's shop looks wonderful! Nice linens are always so nice to have. And thank you for keeping the Biz Ladies posts! (I'm a long time reader and still think of them as that.) I'm working on opening my store this coming spring and these profiles always provide a little more inspiration.


The ability to communicate effectively can make or break a person's assessment of your intelligence, competence and authenticity. Just look at today's political landscape as an example. President Donald Trump has a brash, tell-it-like-it is style of communicating that is highly controversial but resonates with many supporters. In contrast, former President Barack Obama is often hailed as one of our nation's greatest orators for his poise and eloquence although detractors often found fault with the message.
In a recent article, Thrive Global staff writer, Stephanie Fairyington turned to communication expert Geoffrey Tumlin to explain how certain speakers are poised with certain skills to make them appear more powerful and persuasive. Tumlin, who is the author of Stop Talking, Start Communicating, puts Oprah Winfrey and Madeleine Albright in the same communicator category. "Oprah," he says, "is a great example of connection plus preparation and someone who lets you really see who she is."
In this issue of Promotional Consultant Today, we share Tumlin's three musts for powerful and persuasive communication, highlighted in Fairyington's recent article.
1. Be Still. Learning to harness uncontrolled energy and erratic movements while talking, whether in a meeting at work or on stage in an auditorium, will give the impression that you are calm and in command. "There's a lot of good research that suggests that we project influence and status on people when they aren't fidgeting around a lot when they are talking to people," Tumlin says. According to Tumlin, Obama is a master communicator because he has the skill of stillness. He projects a sense of calm. Tumlin says that there is something soothing and powerful about someone who can project a sense of calmness and composure.
2. Steady Your Emotions and Be Prepared. It doesn't matter if you're preparing for a one-on-one meeting or presenting a TED Talk, it helps to do your homework before opening your mouth. When there's an intense underlying emotion beneath the desire to communicate something, we tend to hyper-express a messy tangle of words that fail to capture what we're really trying to say. Instead, take time to find your center, perhaps with a breathing exercise or five minutes of meditation, and prepare.
As Tumlin points out, we tend to spend a great deal of time preparing for public speaking engagements out of fear of looking unprepared. However, our most critical dialog often comes in the form of one-to-one conversation, for which we often don't practice or prepare. When it's a serious conversation that involves family or friends, we usually don't prepare because we don't have the same fear of these conversations as we do with public speaking. However, as Tumlin points out, those are often where the most important dialog happens. So, prepare for it. Period."
3. Be Yourself. Tumlin says that the goal of interpersonal communication is to be yourself, and when you appear authentic, then you drive influence. Again, he points to Obama and Oprah Winfrey has examples of highly influential people who come across as very authentic. And he points out that authenticity can bring you unexpectedly high returns.
Whether you have a presentation or an important one-on-one conversation, use these skills to drive influence.
Source: Stephanie Fairyington is a staff writer at Thrive Global. A New York-based journalist, her work has appeared in The New York Times , The Atlantic (online), The New Republic (online), The Boston Globe and several other publications. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her spouse Sabrina and daughter Marty.


In 2019, MADA Architecture is offering a range of themed studios across the Year 2 & 3 Bachelor delivery and a range of studios and studies units in the Masters. We are currently doing a call for studio and studies unit proposals to fill Semester 1 slots. Applicants are free to apply to multiple calls.
To submit a proposals please download and complete the coversheet and supply all required information in a single PDF.
Deadline for submission is COB on Friday 14 December 2018.
Authorised by: Chief Marketing Officer, Strategic Marketing and Communications. Maintained by: MADA Webmaster Team. Last updated: Dec 2018.


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City Agrees To Sell Fishburn Park Cottage, Land To Roanoke Couple Proposing Coffee Shop
The fate of the dilapidated caretaker's cottage has been a point of contention over the years.
Roanoke has agreed to sell a 200-year-old cottage and just over an acre of Fishburn Park to a couple for use as a coffee shop.
City Council voted 6-1 on Monday to convey the Fishburn Park caretaker's cottage and land to residents Keri Kidd vanBlaricom and Justin vanBlaricom. Councilwoman Stephanie Moon Reynolds voted against the deal.
The vanBlaricoms intend to invest at least $150,000 to restore the dilapidated cottage into a cafe with the working name of Fishburn Perk, which would sell missional coffee.
City Council consented to sell the property for $10 on the condition that the vanBlaricoms substantially fix up the cabin within a year. If they sell the property within four years, the couple must pay the city $83,000, roughly the assessed value of the cottage.
"I'm happy to see the building restored and I'm looking forward to working with vanBlaricoms on improving the overall user experience at Fishburn Park," Michael Clark, the city's director of parks and recreation, said in an email.
The 1,080-foot caretaker's cottage is sometimes referred to as the Blackwell House after a family whose patriarch maintained the park as a city employee. Its fate has been a point of contention over the years.
The city's Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, which is made up of 11 citizens, opposed the vanBlaricom's proposal and said Roanoke should not give up 1.1 acres of parkland, which the vanBlaricoms said they needed to get a business loan.
Several neighbors also voiced strong opposition to the sale.
"This deal is not really about restoring an old cottage. It's about obtaining an acre of prime real estate for $10," Owen McGuire, president of the Grandin Court Neighborhood Association, told Council members Monday. "Our city parks are not a liability or excess inventory. They are treasured assets."
More than a decade ago, the neighborhood association raised money to fix the building's roof and proposed the city could retrofit the cottage as a community center. City leaders said the association never submitted a formal bid to buy the building.
In 2017, the neighborhood group led the opposition to a proposal to sell the property to Lora Katz, an architect and former city planning commissioner, to use as a private residence.
Council voted to sell the property. But Katz soon backed out of the deal, citing high cost estimates to renovate the structure, which dates to the 1830s or earlier.
Justin vanBlaricom acknowledged that restoring the cottage will require significant investment. He noted at a Council meeting last month that one construction company said it would cost more than $300,000 for the foundation alone.
Several neighbors have expressed support for the idea. An online petition started a month ago urging the city to approve the contract with the vanBlaricoms has garnered more than 600 signatures.
Ryan Blackwell, a descendant of the park's caretaker, has also expressed support for the vanBlaricom's proposal.
"My family is very deep-rooted in Roanoke and the park," he said at a Council meeting last month. "My grandfather took great pride in that house being well maintained. He would be very upset with the state that the house is in. He would be ecstatic knowing that someone wanted to bring it back."
The city's contract limits the property's use to certain businesses, such as a bakery, community market, meeting hall or eating establishment. Such a provision prevents the cottage from eventually becoming a fast-food restaurant, for example, according to the city attorney.
Roanoke's sale of the Fishburn Park property is not without precedent.
Since 2011, the city has sold off at least 17 acres of parkland or recreational facilities, according to a Rambler analysis of real estate data.
That includes several buildings in parks that were falling apart. In 2017, the city sold an 1820 mansion that served as a recreation center in Northwest Roanoke's Villa Heights Park. Restoration Housing has renovated the building, which now houses nonprofits. And in 2011, Roanoke sold a mansion in Belmont (then Jackson) Park for use as a private residence.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


A tropical citrus fruit grown year-round in tropical climates, mainly in China, India and Mexico. Limes are an excellent source of vitamin C, and are often used to accent the flavors of foods and beverages. One fruit weighs an average of 3 oz, and yields 1 oz of juice. It can be cut into 4 slices, each of which contains 0.25 oz of juice.


Many individuals find it difficult to obtain everything that has to obtain done in a day inspected off their list. From rising in the morning and making morning meal, getting the youngsters off to college or day care and also going to work, there is a lot to consider. By the time you choose the youngsters up from method, get residence from job and ultimately obtain dinner on the table, the last thing you intend to assume about is cleaning up the house. One point you ought to include in your listing is to discover the ideal house cleaners your city needs to use.
Coming residence to a clean home is a wonderful feeling. But it is not always very easy to discover the time to do all the work yourself. There many various other points that definitely must be done by you, so working with caretakers may be a great option for you.
Deciding to hire assistance is the primary step. Now you have to identify where to transform for the best housekeeper to cleanse your residence. There are numerous means to find a person that will certainly finish the job right for you, whether it is a full time placement or just an once work.
Looking online or perhaps in the phone book will certainly get you a lengthy checklist of outcomes. Having a lot of choices is an advantage, but how do you choose which one is the right option. If cost is variable for you, inspect with the different companies or independent house cleaners to see what does it cost? they bill.
One thing to remember so going by just how much a solution costs is that typically you get what you pay for. Bear in mind that recommendations are equally as crucial as price. You should be certain your house is getting cleaned just how you want it as well as there are no issues with individual cleansing your room.
website One more variable that you require to think around is just what type of a house cleaner you are searching for. There are some house cleaners that function full time for just one or more clients. In some cases these can be stay in settings. If you could not manage or do not require a person at your home full-time there are other options.
Perhaps you just require a person ahead tidy your residence simply when or perhaps once a month. Some individuals work with housemaids ahead and clean once a week or simply a couple of times a week. If any of these choices sound like something you have an interest in, you must have plenty of alternatives of companies or persons to employ.
If you have pets or kids, you may decide you just desire a person that utilizes chemical complimentary cleaning items to be your caretaker. Whatever the certain scenario might be, ask questions to make sure you hire the appropriate maid for you.
One point you must include to your checklist is to find the best maids your city has to provide.
There several other things that absolutely have to be done by you, so employing caretakers may be a good alternative for you.
Now you require to figure out where to turn for the excellent maid to cleanse your residence. There are some housekeepers that function complete time for just one or 2 clients. Some people work with housemaids to come as well as clean as soon as a week or just a few times a week.
It is perched high on a plateau ignoring the city of Athens, Greece as well as when standing before this Icon of history, time seems to stand still. Considering that the Acropolis is located high over the city of Athens, it could be seen from almost anywhere in the city gazing down as magnificent as the mythological Greek Siren in which it was developed, Athena.
Below the Castle, the trip to see it starts with a slim flow that end up the hill passing various other Greek ruins like a small ancient amphitheater and finally at the leading there are various other frameworks comparable to the Castle that are almost as motivating the Symbol itself, the Castle.
Greece is among the prettiest destinations in Europe as well as choosing just a couple of images of Greece for a recent photo contest was no simple task, but the Castle won't be disregarded. Our Greek trip included Athens, Mykonos, Paros as well as Santorini as well as the image that really won 2nd area in the contest was a photo of a gingerbread like home set down high on a high cliff in Santorini, Greece over looking distant mountains as well as the Aegean Sea.
Mykonos is a brief ferry flight from Athens as well as is a was an excellent starter island wherefore lay ahead on our getaway. It is an extremely small and beautiful island understood as the party location for springtime break visitors in Europe. The majority of the Greek style structures in Mykonos are painted white which is a preferred as well as conventional color for the Greek islands found in the Aegean sea. Renting out an ATV or scooter is a prominent choice of transport to see the island since it is small enough to travel a few minutes to see the beaches as well as towns located there.
Paros is the bigger of the Greeks islands checked out while on trip. Its resources city of Lefkes, is situated near the facility of island and also is set down high on a hill.
The last quit of our Greek Holiday was the very best, Santorini, Greece. Words can not precisely define Santorini. It is so beautiful and was the "Topping on the cake" of our vacation. There is a lot to see on that particular small island. Getting here by ferry, the ride right into the harbor is spectacular because every one of Santorini is situated roughly 200 feet over the water high on a plateau with red and also black high cliffs. The aqua blue waters of the Aegean Sea on the other hand with the colorful cliffs as well as white structures creates a stunning arrival. When the rising from the Dock to the top is made, there is a sight like nothing else. more details From anywhere on the island, there is an incredible raised sight over looking the Aegean Sea onto a volcano situated just across the harbor from Santorini. Words do not provide Santorini the justice it is entitled to and Santorini is thought to be the location of the shed city of Atlantis.
It is perched high on a plateau ignoring the city of Athens, Greece and also when standing prior to this Icon of history, time appears to stand still. Since the Acropolis is situated high above the city of Athens, it could be seen from almost everywhere in the city gazing down as magnificent as the mythological Greek Siren in which it was built, Athena.
From everywhere on the island, there is an amazing elevated sight over looking the Aegean Sea onto a volcano located simply across the harbor from Santorini. Words do not provide Santorini the justice it is worthy of and Santorini is thought to be the location of the shed city of Atlantis.


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The Yellow Vests. France. Bordeaux.
Gérard Mesnis © Rossa Primavera News Agency
French government agrees not to increase retirement age
January 12, 2020 January 12, 2020 Avis Krane
12.01.2020, Paris.
The French Government suspends a regulation on increasing the retirement age in response to many protests, a French media company France Info reports on January 11.
[© mathiaswasik, flockr.com]
US scientist speaks about LGBT propaganda results among schoolchildren
November 23, 2019 Avis Krane
Promotion of homosexuality and other deviance in the US has doubled the number of homosexuals among high schools students in the past decade, said Dr. Paul Cameron, psychologist and sociologist, Director of the Family Research Institute (FRI), during a roundtable discussion called "Legal Protection of Traditional Values", which took place in the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation (CCRF)
Family. Assemblage, stone
Anna Ryzhkova © Rossa Primavera News Agency
Russian police expert: 80% of violence happens outside family
October 19, 2019 Avis Krane
There is violence in the society; however, in contrast to feminists' statements, the family is the safest place for a person, All-Russian Research Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Russian: MVD) of the Russian Federation expert Elena Timoshina said on October 15 during hearings at the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, a correspondent of the Rossa Primavera News Agency reports.
Picture of a family
For the traditional family. Thousands of French people participate in Paris rally
A strong rally of traditional family supporters took place in the French capital, Paris, a correspondent of the Rossa Primavera News Agency reported on October 9.
Sex education to be introduced in Russian schools starting from September 1, 2019
August 24, 2019 Avis Krane
A new subject, "Psychology," which will include psychology, fundamentals of health and safety, and sex education, will be introduced in a pilot format in Russian schools starting from September 1, 2019, Chief Psychiatrist of the Ministry of Health and Director of the Serbsky Center for Social and Forensic Psychiatry Zurab Kekelidze said, Daily Storm reports on August 22.
Maniac and his victim
A quotation from the Jack the Ripper movie by Jesús Franco. 1976. Germany
A death culture is apparent in the contemporary USA – Congressman
August 6, 2019 Avis Krane
06.08.2019, Washington.
The cult of violence, which has become widespread in the United States today, is obvious, and it is resulting in terrible consequences, Republican congressman Steve Scalise wrote on Twitter on August 4.
A revolutionary
Quotation from The Chinese by Jean-Luc Godard. 1967. France
Urban battles in France: The Black Bloc attacks police
04.08.2019, Nantes.
The Black Bloc and other radical groups clashed with the police in the center of Nantes, a correspondent of the Rossa Primavera News Agency reported on August 3.
Implementation of forced foster care to accelerate in Armenia
July 6, 2019 Avis Krane
06.07.2019, Yerevan.
The Minister of Labor and Social Affairs of Armenia Zarui Batoyan complained on July 3 that the so-called program against domestic violence is intentionally being undermined in Armenia, Novosti Armenii reports.
AKSIO. Ulyanovsk
Skopina Olga © Rossa Primavera News Agency
AKSIO to survey Russian citizens on pension reform and its consequences
June 11, 2019 Avis Krane
The Agency for Cultural and Social Research of Society (Russian: AKSIO) is launching a survey on June 10 to study Russian residents' opinions on the pension reform and its consequences for the authorities and society, the Rossa Primavera News Agency reported on June 10.


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Q: Compiling Native code (c++) for windows phone 8 I have created a cocos2d-x 3.0 RC Project which I wanted to play in windows as well. I have added libraries such as CocosDension, libExtensions, libNetwork, libCurl etc to my project as those are required for the game. When I compile everything is working fine, but when I try to run I am getting the following runtime errors. Below mentioned the is the exception that is thrown.

An exception of type 'System.IO.FileNotFoundException' occurred in
  PhoneDirect3DXamlAppInterop.DLL but was not handled in user code. If
  there is a handler for this exception, the program may be safely
  continued.

This particular exception is thrown in below block of code
private void DrawingSurfaceBackground_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
        {
            if (m_d3dInterop == null)
            {
                m_d3dInterop = new Direct3DInterop();

                // Set WindowBounds to size of DrawingSurface
                m_d3dInterop.WindowBounds = new Windows.Foundation.Size(
                    (float)Application.Current.Host.Content.ActualWidth,
                    (float)Application.Current.Host.Content.ActualHeight
                    );

                // Hook-up native component to DrawingSurfaceBackgroundGrid
                DrawingSurfaceBackground.SetBackgroundContentProvider(m_d3dInterop.CreateContentProvider());
                DrawingSurfaceBackground.SetBackgroundManipulationHandler(m_d3dInterop);

                // Hook-up Cocos2d-x delegates
                m_d3dInterop.SetCocos2dEventDelegate(OnCocos2dEvent);
                m_d3dInterop.SetCocos2dMessageBoxDelegate(OnCocos2dMessageBoxEvent);`
                m_d3dInterop.SetCocos2dEditBoxDelegate(OpenEditBox);
            }
        }

Exception is thrown at line
m_d3dInterop = new Direct3DInterop();

I am also putting the error log below
The specified module could not be found. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8007007E)

   at System.StubHelpers.StubHelpers.GetWinRTFactoryObject(IntPtr pCPCMD)
   at PhoneDirect3DXamlAppComponent.Direct3DInterop..ctor()
   at PhoneDirect3DXamlAppInterop.MainPage.DrawingSurfaceBackground_Loaded(Object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
   at MS.Internal.CoreInvokeHandler.InvokeEventHandler(Int32 typeIndex, Delegate handlerDelegate, Object sender, Object args)
   at MS.Internal.JoltHelper.FireEvent(IntPtr unmanagedObj, IntPtr unmanagedObjArgs, Int32 argsTypeIndex, Int32 actualArgsTypeIndex, String eventName)

If anyone has any idea reg the same, please do help

A: I'd update the the newly released Cocos2d-x v3 as it has WP8 support.
http://cocos2d-x.org/download
Release Notes: https://github.com/cocos2d/cocos2d-x/blob/v3/docs/RELEASE_NOTES.md

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Australia helicopter crash: Surviving passenger filmed moment of fatal mid-air collision | World News
A new video has emerged made by one of the surviving passengers of a helicopter involved in a mid-air crash, showing the terrifying moment of impact and a passenger's reaction to the pilot. Warning attempts are shown.
The video was captured by a tourist in the cockpit of one of two helicopters that crashed near SeaWorld on Australia's Gold Coast. Four people were killed and three were seriously injured.
Shot by a passenger in the back seat, the 15-second clip begins with the camera panning around the windows from right to left, with the coastline not far away.
The man in the middle of the back seat points into the distance, then pauses for a moment with his hand in midair before tapping the pilot on the shoulder.
The tapping becomes increasingly frantic before the pilot's chair grips the moment of impact.
The camera pans to the side as the second helicopter's rotor crashes into their plane, shattering glass above the passengers.
The pilot was able to land the helicopter safely on a sandbar, with the occupants suffering minor injuries, mainly from the impact of the glass.
Two New Zealand couples, Elmery and Ryan Steinberg and Edward and Marl Swart, and another woman were on board the helicopter.
A statement from the couple said they were "absolutely devastated" by the crash, which "turned a 5-minute joy ride on holiday in Australia into a nightmare".
It read, "Our deepest sympathies and heartfelt condolences to the injured and deceased and their families."
"We are thankful and lucky to have survived but very sad for those who lost loved ones and little ones and the mother fighting for her life in the hospital. Our hearts go out to them.
"We are grateful to everyone who ran to help, to every police officer and emergency services personnel who helped us with our immediate needs to keep us calm and make us comfortable.
"To our pilot who, despite all the chaos, landed the helicopter safely, keeping us and others safe. You are our heroes. Thank you so much."
Four of the seven aboard the second helicopter, including the pilot, were killed. 36 year old mother And a British couple on holiday in Australia.


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A lot of people feel that all homeless folks are entirely to blame for their very own miserable circumstances. The ideal chance for change will come from inside the system. Generally speaking, individuals seem more likely to cover content when it's voiced.
A visit to the vet would be wise if you have any suspicions. The possibility of it containing the exact same magic are slim even with the best writers, the original cast, and the biggest budget. Kids can learn to draw with the aid of letters much faster.
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After the paint dries, it needs to be just darker. It's named Zymox, and it's honestly among the best products I have used. A number of the other cleaners leave the exact same issue.
Following manufacturers recommendations is always suggested but based on the brand that may vary also. It would be best to wash it using a green machine in case you have access to one. The item is outstanding!
You may create indoor obstacle courses. Landing an actual job was proving to be tougher than advertised. Hopefully you'll be, too.
You press your chest in your towel, in the sand. Read the label on your suit to learn what sort of fabric the suit is created from, which makes it possible to to decide on a suitable dye. You're unsure whether you're wearing any pants.
Obviously, plenty of folks call that 1940s dining room set antique but it's not. You will also wish to look at their beds for indications of infestation. If you're being plagued by invisible biting bugs, you've come to the proper location.
A little branch with a bell on it's always enjoyable. Now you should do a little bit of detail work. There are a few of her no makeup pictures to show your point.
If you discover that you have bedbugs, make an effort not to panic. So, depending on when he or she may have been bitten, you may have to inspect again later. Pretending at closeness is actually the only way forward for everyone who wishes to earn money on the web.
Yes, emojis may also accompany any written caption as an additive, but they're more than capable of standing independently. When you're looking for a speedy and simple caption, utilize an emoji. For me, text is an essential part of my look.


One of the newest members of the Keynotes family, Nisha will knock you off your feet with her sweet voice and her sweet personality. Her hobbies include dancing, biking, and reading. Her special talents include being semi-decent at driving, and loving the show Friends an abnormal amount. She loves coffee, so be sure to check for her around campus in your favorite coffee shop!


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Q: I am losing precision when converting from float to varchar I am working on Sql Server 2012.
I have 2 tables:
Create table tbl1 (formula varchar(50))

Insert into tbl1 values ('A-B')

Create table tbl2 (A float(53), B float(53))

Insert into tbl2 values (12.2466654, 11.7543289)

I am trying to get the result as variable @result:
Declare @result varchar(250);
Declare @a varchar(50);
Declare @b varchar(50);

Select @a = a from tbl2;
Select @b = b from tbl2;

Set @result = replace(tbl1, 'A', Cast(@A as float(53));
Set @result = replace(tbl1, 'B', Cast(@B as float(53));

When I select from @result I get something like 12.2-11.8 so it is almost good but I am losing precision.
Maybe you have an idea how to write the query correctly?

A: Is there a reason you can't use Decimal instead of float?  There is the possibility of precision loss with float.
Try using STR() instead of CAST() when converting to to VARCHAR().  This comes from the Converting float and read data on http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms173773.aspx
DECLARE @result varchar(250);

SELECT @result = STR( tbl2.A, 10,8) + '-' +  STR( tbl2.B, 10,8)
  FROM tbl2;

 PRINT @result;

This resulted in the string "12.2466654-11.7543289" for me.


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Neways average payment from customers is longer
Dutch EMS provider Neways' financial position, with a solvency ratio amply above 40%, remains strong, while the average payment term from customers is longer.
According to a press release issued Thursday, Neways Electronics International N.V. has, as expected, realised a substantially lower turnover in the first four months of 2009 compared with the same period of 2008. Despite the now reduced cost levels, the first four months showed a negative operating result, although a slightly positive operating result was recorded in March. The order portfolio remained reasonably stable in the first four months, although developments in the Electronic Manufacturing Services market remain uncertain. The impact of the lower turnover on the results has been reduced as much as possible by cost reductions Neways has introduced, which include an internal reorganisation and a reduction of temporary workforce. In the past months, Neways has made solid progress in this respect and the cost base has now been reduced to the break-even turnover level as presented at publication of the annual results. The still ongoing cost reduction programme will result in a further reduction of the break-even level this year. Neways' financial position, with a solvency ratio amply above 40%, remains strong, while the average payment term from customers is longer, Neways noted in the press release.
Neways calls off Bosch Security Systems acquisition
Neways order portfolio drops by 13.6%
Neways cuts staff in Germany and the Netherlands


text:
Workplace Injuries Claim Experts of Glasgow — Call Today For A Free, Claim Assessment & Impartial Advice
Scottish Fire Service In Fatal Safety Failing
Posted in: Workplace Injuries Wrongful & Accidental Death
The Scottish Fire and Rescue (SFRS) service has been fined £54,000 for failing to ensure proper health and safety procedures were in place, resulting in the death of a firefighter.
The SFRS admitted to breaches in their health and safety procedure which resulted in the workplace death of Ewan Williamson in 2009. He is the only firefighter to die fighting a fire in the history of Lothian and Borders Fire Brigade.
"Co-operation of the Highest Degree."
The SFRS had pled guilty to a charge that was brought forward from the incident, however when imposing the fine the judge stated that he took into account that he was dealing with an organisation designed to prevent injury and death and preserve property. He also stated that the SFRS had a remarkably high health and safety record in general and that the case regarding the Edinburgh firefighter was an isolated incident.
He said there had been "co-operation of the highest degree" from an employer with good health and safety record
Lord Uist said: "Their safety record in the execution of what is inevitably dangerous work was described by their counsel as commendable and excellent."
Serious Failings
Despite the ruling and the fine issued by the judge, a statement from the family of Mr Williamson stated that there had been a serious failing from the SFRS, and that had procedure and safety protocol been followed. A statement from the family said:
"There were serious failures in the fire service's incident command and control and firefighting procedures which have not been fully explored yet.
"We had hoped and expected that these failures would be brought to light in the course of the criminal prosecution but now that the Fire and Rescue Service have pleaded guilty to a reduced set of charges that is not going to happen as part of the criminal process."
If you require legal advice or representation regarding any personal injury or health and safety failing at work then our team of skilled solicitors can help. Our customer service advisors will be able to inform you in minutes if you are entitled to make a claim. Contact us today if you believe you are entitled to compensation using our online contact form.
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The Futility of Addiction
Lamphun Temples
Avuncular Gestures
Ah, yes!
Everything is Change
geezersabroad
Life Keeps Getting Better
Posted on May 17, 2014 May 5, 2016 in Uncategorized
IS PERSEVERANCE OVERRATED?
Either you exist or you don't; either you're alive or dead. People who are alive tend to repeat the same behaviors over and over again. If eventually such behaviors result in success, we applaud their"perseverance."
But isn't the reward of this label, like the Oscar's Lifetime Achievement Award, really just a tautology? Even the worst shot will eventually hit the target. Do we really need a special marksmanship award for this? Isn't all success at long last the result of perseverance, or simply not giving up? Maybe we'd all be better off if certain people had given up sooner and then went on to do something to which they were better suited.
Far more deserving of nurture are those who enjoyed early success and none afterward. Think of the rock stars who became celebrities in their early twenties and were never heard from again. What are they up to right now? Are they sitting in a rooming house lobby or an AA meeting and droning on about the time in the early seventies when they drank or did drugs with this or that celebrity, and slept with this that man's wife?
These are the men and women who need to be brought back to the limelight before it's too late. What's Gloria Gaynor doing right now? Her anthem "I Will Survive" literally changed the lives of tens of thousands of women, and a few homosexual men, as well.
No, I don't want to even search for her on the Internet. For all I know, she died of an overdose in 2001, or was beaten to death by an angry anti-disco mob in Islamabad last year, but instead of letting the facts invade my solace, I would like to believe that she's a happy grandmother in good health, living near her family, volunteering to teach music at a nearby orphanage.
OK, so Gloria doesn't need our help, but what about Gilbert O'Sullivan? Leo Sayer? The lead singer of Heart, you know the pretty one with the weight problem. Are they discouraged, resentful, in need of just a fraction of the praise they once so freely received? Have they found meaning and delight in an entirely unrelated line of work? Usually, former TV actors either go into real estate or become oil painters. Sometimes they do both.
When Mexican TV cowboys Pancho and Cisco saw the handwriting on the fifties television wall, they stepped out of their colorful gaucho clothes and went into real estate, doing quite well. It was hard not to do well in Los Angeles real estate in the decade after the war.
Often, maintaining your original course isn't a sign of virtue, on the contrary it's sometimes the result of having no apparent better option. I've been steadily if slowly learning to play the piano for more than fifty years. I'm still not very good at it. Is that virtue or vice? Success or failure? Do I deserve admiration or pity, an award or pubic castigation?
Yet someone could easily say that I've shown perseverance, and that's a virtue, right? Obviously we could stretch this argument to its breaking point. John Wayne Gacy displayed remarkable perseverance in killing boys and burying them under his house. Against great odds, he remained undetected for years. Likewise, Hitler and Stalin stayed in power for decades, foiling plots against their lives and at least in Hitler's case, the near total destruction of his country. Still, he was able to slip away to South America, where he lived to a ripe old age. If anybody could stick with a problem, it was 'Dolf.
I suppose perseverance is a subset of constancy, the ability to stay on task or on course no matter what happens. There are some people who get married and stay married for the rest of their lives, immune to temptation or the desire to make a better deal down the line. Others are always second-guessing their initial choice, imagining that they sold themselves short and will do better the next time.
Perseverance seems dramatic and courageous, while constancy sounds like a Victorian virtue for women who are housebound. In a world of wardrobe malfunctions and viral Youtube fame, constancy sounds very tame indeed. Wouldn't it be interesting if it made a comeback, and if our new heroes will show determination and constancy, against all odds?
Imagine a love song about a woman who can be depended on, rather than about someone who is hot.
"Ooh baby, you're totally predictable, and I dig it!"
CROWD WISDOM SANITY VIRTUE
IN ON THE JOKE
The Scam That Keeps on Scamming
One thought on "IS PERSEVERANCE OVERRATED?"
Thomas Casavant says:
Darwinian survival is oblivious to recognition or praise. People dont persevere because it makes people admire them. Its a survival trait and a damned good one. If you survive you pass more copies of those good genes on.
You're doing some great writing man.
geezersabroad wrote:
>	a:hover {	color: red;	} a { text-decoration: none; color: #0088cc; } a.primaryactionlink:link, a.primaryactionlink:visited { background-color: #2585B2; color: #fff; } a.primaryactionlink:hover, a.primaryactionlink:active { background-color: #11729E !important; color: #fff !important; } /* @media only screen and (max-device-width: 480px) { .post { min-width: 700px !important; } } */ WordPress.com geezersabroad posted: " Either you exist or you don't; either you're alive or dead. People who are alive tend to repeat the same behaviors over and over again. If eventually such behaviors result in success, we suddenly slap on the label of "perseverance" and applaud them for "


text:
Q: Flask-Admin override default view with a ModelView class? As described here you can override the the default view of Flask-Admin by declaring a child class of AdminIndexView and passing the view to the admin app. Is it possible to override the the default view with a ModelView class view? If so how would I go about doing that? I only really need ModelViews for my admin panel and can't figure out how to get rid of the default view. Thanks for the help.

A: You can do it if you give the endpoint 'admin' to your model view, as in:
admin = Admin(app, url='/', index_view=MyModelView(my_model, db.session, url='/', endpoint='admin'))


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Daniel Radcliffe Doesn't Want To Play Harry Potter Again
'I'm going to be working very hard to establish myself as an actor outside of this series,' 'Deathly Hallows' star tells MTV News.
archive-Kara-Warner 11/18/2010
In spite of the billions of dollars grossed by the "Harry Potter" film franchise and the book series it's based on, the obsessive devotion of fans, the endless merchandise, blogs and so forth, the wizard series is coming to an end. For real.
MTV News caught up with superstar Daniel Radcliffe as he promoted "Deathly Hallows - Part 1," and we asked him about J.K. Rowling's recent "Oprah" interview. The author denied to Oprah Winfrey that she had said she'd never write another "Potter" book. So we asked Radcliffe if he could foresee revisiting his Harry Potter character someday.
"I think Jo is being very kind to a lot of people by giving them that little bit of hope and me that mild heart attack," Radcliffe joked. "But I've been doing this for 10 years. A team of surgeons would be needed to reapply my jaw to my face if she did this. I would be incredibly surprised but, you know, the other thing is, people have been saying, 'If she did [write more books], would you be in [the films]?' And at this point in time, 'No' is the answer," he admitted. "I've done it for 10 years and that's a long time. But I'm also being careful to qualify that with, 'Better men than me have changed their mind.' "
Radcliffe went on to say that while he's resisting the urge to say "never again" to another "Potter" film, he also hopes he's able to move onward with his career.
"I don't want to say it would be a step backwards because these films have been so good to me, but over the next few years I'm going to be working very hard to establish myself as an actor outside of this series," he said. "It would seem self-defeating if I went back to them."
Are you sad to see the "Harry Potter" franchise ending? Should the series go on? Tell us in the comments!
Check out everything we've got on "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1."
For young Hollywood news, fashion and "Twilight" updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1
Rupert Grint


iProspect India, the digital agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, completes 20 years in India today, November 17, 2017. In this two decades of existence in the digital marketing industry, iProspect has emerged as India's No. 1 and largest digital performance agency.
iProspect India started life in the year 1997 as Communicate 2, founded by Vivek Bhargava. The agency was acquired by iProspect from Dentsu Aegis Network in 2012, following which Bhargava led iProspect Communicate 2 as the Founder and Managing Director. The company was rebranded as iProspect India at the end of 2015, with Bhargava leading as Chief Executive Officer, till Rubeena Singh took over as CEO of iProspect India in December 2016. Bhargava was then promoted to a larger role of CEO of DAN Performance Group.
The company enjoys a 160-plus client roster, including marquee brands like Myntra, Shopclues, Koovs, Raymond, Aegon Life, American Express, Axis Bank, Bharti Axa, HDFC, ICICI, Kotak, Maxlife, Reliance General Insurance, Royal Sundaram, Yes Bank, Cleartrip, Thomas Cook, Apollo Hospitals, Remit2India, Bloomberg|Quint, and Wildcraft, among others. It is home to over 250 people across four offices in Mumbai, Bengaluru, New Delhi and Chennai.
In this exclusive conversation with Adgully, Vivek Bhargava, CEO, DAN Performance Group, walks down memory lane and recalls his days as an entrepreneur, setting up Communicate 2, becoming part of a bigger set-up in Dentsu Aegis Network and more importantly, his major learnings while leading iProspect India over its two-decade presence in the Indian market and how the agency has carved out a successful place for itself.
Rubeena Singh, CEO, iProspect India, speaks to Adgully about her association with the agency, her vision for the team, 'Moment Marketing' and much more.
Inclined towards technology from an early age, Vivek Bhargava decided to move away from his family business under Bhargava Group and venture out on his own, taking the entrepreneurial road. His father, who was sceptical about this decision, told Bhargava never to come back to the family business if he failed in his venture. This spurred the young entrepreneur to trudge on and fight his way through the dotcom bust, facing bankruptcy, even having to tweak his business model several times.
Bhargava lived through all and turned around his digital venture. Today, he is passionate about sharing his experiences, insights and struggles with youngsters who are looking to become successful entrepreneurs. He has been mentoring promising young people as part of Unicorn India Ventures, which invests in seed and early stages of technology focussed businesses across industry verticals.
Giving a boost to budding entrepreneurs is not the only passion of Bhargava. He is also a table tennis enthusiast and plays the game competitively. In fact, he won medals in the 40-plus category of the last two national tournaments. Bhargava is taking forward the cause of table tennis with his Kamgar Academy situated in Elphinstone Road, Mumbai.
When you began, there was no sign of digital and no one knew what internet was all about. What made you get into this sector?
I come from a conventional business family, where we were made to work in various industries that came with other perks like visiting foreign locations like Paris. With those foreign trips, the idea of communications came to my mind. The way developed countries were using marketing communications to their advantage impressed me a lot. First of all, during that time, Indian companies were not good at marketing communication. And using technology for the same was an even bigger lacuna. That made me think of coming up with a company that would help Indian corporates create a niche for themselves.
You were very young when you started on this, but even then did you have any vision in place that this was what you wanted to do?
When I was working in my family business, I had a realisation that technology will change the face of the world and it will come to India as well. Although, it took a lot of time to come to India. But that vision was very clear and I wanted to do that for the rest of my life. My father supported the idea of me having a company and working in it for few hours a day. However, doing this would have put a limit on me coming back to my family business. That made me more resolute about my company and helped me stick to my work even though there were times when I wanted to go back to my family business.
But the vision was clear on a broader sense. You can never be sure of where your company will go in the future till you spend the first thousand days in any entrepreneurial venture, but the idea was very clear that I wanted to help companies use ad leverage technology for better marketing communications.
During the course did you change your areas of work?
Yes, during the course the business model had to pivot many times. For instance, when we began, marketing communications meant making websites for companies and when Chandra Babu Naidu had gone to the US for fundraiser, the CD he took with himself, which had the 'Muchchad Panwala' website was all done by us. At that time, we were called a full service agency. When the dotcom bust happened, everything was commoditised. We were doing a major website for a big enterprise and they wanted to cut the price by 90 per cent. Then 'Search' happened. I felt that was the next big thing as you could target the intent of the user. It was performance based. These experiences taught me to focus on fewer things and become the best at it. That business model of focussing on performance in the initial period and becoming the best at it was the change.
The business model changed again in 2008-09 due to media changes. Media went up and down, which affected us. 70-80 per cent of our revenue was coming from BFSI and every single of them stopped spending, which almost made us bankrupt. That made us change our business model, where we had to become retail based and charged for content, SEO, consulting, etc., and basically it made us less direct media. We also diversified to different verticals. Today, too, we are changing and evolving even as we speak. Because the digital industry came in so quickly, the broader vision remains the same. Having said that, how we were going to achieve that when the route we take keeps changing every year or 6 months, was a challenge.
What are the five high points of your journey?
As I mentioned earlier, we did this website called 'Muchchad Panwala', which was very exciting. We've had some amazing clients, including Chandra Babu Naidu, MTV, and we have also worked with some of the largest companies. We also won the first two Gold Awards in the Digital category in the history of the Abby Awards in India.
As and when business model changes, the low points become the high points. Changing the entire company around, maturing as an entrepreneur by trial and fire – those 4-5 years were the high points, although they were also low ones due to the market economy and a couple of more things. Negotiation became an issue and we had to lose out on a major account. That setback taught us a lot and with those learnings it became a high point as we were confident of doing well without that. After 4 years, we got back with a changed business model and made more revenue than what we would have made four years ago. So, in hind sight it proved beneficial for us.
The sale is the high point. For an entrepreneur, one flip establishes your credibility and creates a safety net and I believe, as an entrepreneur you are allowed to make mistakes and fail. Because if we look at it, we can realise that if we don't bet on it all the time, what's the worst that can happen?
You mentioned about a safety net. Does it make you confident that one can always bounce back? Will that entrepreneur ever stop?
When you are an entrepreneur, it's like being a trapeze artist doing somersaults. If you fall, there is no way of coming back. With a safety net, you can always fall and come back and do more somersaults. With this safety net, you can always climb back again.
How have you seen the industry grow over the last two decades? How many players were there?
Four-five players have survived. During the dotcom bust there were thousands of agencies, but once there was a fall, not many stayed back. It takes a lot of courage to stay back and stay persistent. I still believed in the vision because I was passionate. As they say, the future is digital and it always will be.
What are some of the challenges and learnings during the last two decades?
The biggest challenge was to let go of the talent. There were times when you did not know if the employee would come tomorrow to stick with you. Paying remunerations was also sometimes a hard phase, when you did not know how you would manage all the salaries. Despite all these, you smile and work on regardless of what the company is going. The challenge to talents and capital was a tough thing. The other challenge that we faced was that we never got access to decision makers for a good 10-15 years. We could not get access to the people who could move the needle for the organisation and working in digital was a big challenge. But we ways took the road less travelled and that gave us the edge over others.
My learning has been in the roads less travelled and having that optimism. People really underestimate this. Thirdly, being happy, as happiness brings you success. It is also important that you have likeability even though the industry is full of competition. Having a competitive spirit, but also thinking more of lending a helping hand and improving the industry and not making it just about you is an important thing. I have taken various workshops and built up one to one relationships.
Tell us more about the role you played in evangelising the digital ecosystem.
I realised that the only way to improve the digital landscape in India is to create digital fitness across the organisation. I have done hundreds of workshops to do that, getting digital in the DNA of the organisation. Having to pull off eight hours of content a day on digital can be really exhausting, but I have done all that. The ability to help people evangelising digital will develop the platform and in the performance sector you will be a dominant player. I still continue to do this.
What are the advantages of being an early mover?
There are more disadvantages than advantages as you get to face all the early problems and solve them for all the other following players. But, one of the advantages is the relationships that you build up along the way. It helps you realise now the problems that companies are facing today. This also helps you realise many of the business problems they are facing than just the digital problems. There is a digital hammer they have in the hand, but digital can't be the solution all the time. The ability to work on it with the CEOs and CMOs was one of the advantages that we had. The kind of credibility and reputation you build up is amazing, as you have the biggest longevity as compared to the thousands who have perished.
What are the international relations that you have built?
I realised that the US and the UK are far ahead of us in the digital domain. But we did not have the resources to hire those people to come here and train us, thus I thought of doing offshore work with a few of the largest companies like Yahoo. So I would go and speak in conferences like Adtech, SEM and many more and made good international relations there and pitched offshore. We have been in association with global experts for a long time and continue to be. The ability to stay close friends with entrepreneurs internationally with a lot of experience gives you a huge competitive advantage.
How has life changed from being an entrepreneur to being part of a larger organisation with a safety net?
I have always loved what I did, but one of the key things that Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) has done really well is not make things too differently for the entrepreneurs. 70 per cent of the entrepreneurs who worked with Dentsu have stayed back, but that ratio was from earlier times. It only means that Dentsu gives you the same kind of freedom that you get in your own business. That is how DAN works as one of the largest companies in India. It gives you a lot of confidence in what you do. One of the primary reasons why I am sticking around for more time is because of what I am allowed to do now. For instance, if I am about to start a new company, Dentsu gives me that freedom and the flexibility to do that. This also helps in retaining the talent for a longer time in an organisation.
When entrepreneurs are sold and the freedom is taken away, they become merely a cog in the wheel. Then they just want to get over with their earn-out to get over and go back home. I have never had the need to do this as Dentsu gave me the freedom that I wanted to work with.
There is not a lot of difference in what I was allowed to do as an entrepreneur and what I am allowed to do here. From future point of view, this is a good trait for others as well. The senior most managers in the organisation have been entrepreneurs themselves. So, all of them have enjoyed the quirks because they have made something successful and there is no reason why they should be changed. The reason why DAN is growing organically is because of their one-line philosophy and it has retained its entrepreneurs. That is where you feel the real electrifying buzz.
As they say, "Product to services" – the part you handled before and the one that you handle now, there is a huge difference, although the business remains more or less the same. How do you plan to take it on from here?
The reason why I took this risk of moving to a different kind of side of business is because, first, I found it very interesting and exciting. Second, because I have faith in the vision that Vivek has for the organisation. It's important to agree with it in order to carry that forward, otherwise your day to day life becomes extremely challenging. And it's true that you need to have likeability in the group of people you work with, as people work for people and not just for the job. On that front, we are fairly aligned on where we see iProspect to be. Coming from what I saw when I came in, iProspect is a company with huge pull-run and growing much ahead of the market and has become very large. So, I think that my role is devising how we manage this growth even at such a large and exaggerated rate, and how we keep growing at an accelerated rate. That has been my focus for the last ten months – to manage it as a large business, manage the teams, upscaling our business processes, going into diverse and allied areas to expand the business performance for our clients.
Tell us more about the technology and data you would be working on. Any new data technology that you shall be incorporating? What are the expectations that you seek to match up to?
The expectation that our clients have is that we bring excellence to the table and we have a high-performance team here and they are very committed to do that. It's a virtual cycle, the clients push us to do better and we work towards getting that done with the help of a great talent pool who want to give their best. If you look at it from the organisation's perspective, the investments that were made two and a half years ago in data technology have started to pay off now, giving us a big headstart vis-a-vis other agencies. So today, with those technology tools and our experience, what began as a small thing has now taken a bigger shape.
Things keep changing very quickly, so we have to keep adapting ourselves with the new digital ecosystem around us and start building on them. But in terms of the trends, you have to be very sharp and quickly identify the trends and alter your service in that area. For instance, content is going to play a big role in the coming year, because it's not just about optimising the media but also personalising the communication at a one to one level. So, we are focussing on how to use data driven content and marry that with performance.
Also, it is what we call "Moment Marketing", it is no longer about getting the leads but getting the people in the right context when they are ready to engage and making it more effective for clients. So, at the backend of it, we need more technology to effectively do that. We try to give our clients more personalised and moment driven marketing. Apart from that, the other leg is measuring outcomes and using technology tools to get the insights to co-optimise to improve performance.
What is your vision in terms of nurturing the talent and importance of having the right team?
In the services, you are as good as your team. It's the backbone of your organisation. We induct fresh talent and train them and get the people in the markets that are far ahead of us and get their learnings here and help the others in learning the same.


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When I lived in an apartment building, I like to think that I was pretty much the ideal owner (why not give myself some snaps!) – I paid my strata fees on time, parked where I was supposed to, didn't play loud music and generally kept to myself. When the time came to revamp our lobby, I looked at the plans, thanked the people involved for putting in the effort, pointed to the one I liked and pretty much left them to it. Getting highly involved in strata building work is not how I roll.
Not long after JD and I started seeing each other, he told me had something special planned for a Saturday morning. He's not one for hugely romantic gestures so I was excited by the thought of breakfast at a new cafe or perhaps a morning massage followed by lunch by th eocean? No chance. He told me to put on my Blunnies and hop in the 3-tonne tipper – we were off to the tip!
A couple of years ago my father and his wife sold their stunning property in a little town in Tasmania, and moved into a hay shed on 40ha of land they'd bought just down the road. Their plan was to build their dream home and maybe a little guest house. Collectively, the family thought they were nuts with a capital N, given that they were in their late 60s and already lived in a house that had been included in Vogue Living's Top 20 country houses not too long ago.
It's pretty exciting when you first start thinking about doing a renovation or decent-sized project around the house. You start tearing pages out of magazines (yes, I'm that old) or adding to Pinterest along with taking pictures of cool tiles you spot in cafés around town. However, getting from Pinterest to a new family room and kitchen is a long journey and there are a couple of things you can do right at the start to make life a little easier and give you a better chance of getting the result you're looking for.
Who do you need on your renovating team?
If you've been playing along with The Builderette for a while, you know that I'm a big believer in a renovating or building project being a team effort. Everyone needs to be working towards the same goal and to the same game plan. If they're not, that's when things can go off track. And when things go off track in a renovation, it can get stressful and expensive pretty quickly. So, who do you need on your renovating team?
You've heard me say it before, but undertaking a renovation or large building project (or sometimes even a small one) can be stressful. So I thought I'd put together a list of activities that are more fun than renovating just to, you know, take your mind off things.
I heard a wonderful interview with engineer Bill Lawson on a podcast the other day (Richard Fidler's Conversations) where he talked about how engineering is really the art of defying gravity. I thought this was such a wonderful way to describe a science that's all about working out how to keep heavy things from collapsing. Which is something that builders are pretty interested in too.
It's true – JD really likes helping people come up with building solutions that are within their budget and that will add value to their lifestyle and/or their home. The solution to your problem may not be a big, expensive renovation, but that's what a lot of builders prefer to work on. We like the smaller stuff.
If you live in one of Australia's capital cities you've probably noticed that real estate has been a little out of control lately (Sydney, I'm looking at you!). Prices have gone through the roof and it's becoming increasingly difficult to get onto that first rung of the property ladder unless you've got generous parents or win the lottery (if you're looking in Sydney you'll probably need both!). Which leaves you with staying at home (not my bag and not an option for a lot of people) or renting.


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In one universe, this blog is about quantum mechanics. In another universe, it is not.
Don't do algebra with numbers!
As a physics professor, I have certain pet peeves. For example, I cringe when someone says that "gravity" is 9.8 m/s2 when they mean the acceleration due to gravity. I'm annoyed if someone says that an object "weighs" 7 kg. And I stifle a laugh if someone says that a roller coaster is exciting because it goes so "fast"—humans can only detect acceleration, not speed, which is why we don't notice that we're traveling something like 67,000 mph right now in our orbit around the sun.
But my biggest pet peeve may be students doing algebra with numbers.
If you drop an object from a height of 20 m, how long will it take to hit the ground?
Over and over again I tell students, "don't plug numbers in until the end." But students love plugging in numbers. They feel they're actually getting closer to the answer if they're manipulating numbers. On some level, they still feel uncomfortable with letters—as if manipulating letters isn't really "math".
You can now plug in values if you like…and get Δt = √[2(-20)/-9.8] = 2.02 s.
Which of these approaches is more beautiful, more powerful? The approach you pick indicates whether you "get" algebra or not. If you do algebra with numbers, the answer you get is very narrow and very specific, even if you do it correctly. That hypothetical student could have gotten 2 seconds as an answer, and I would have given them full credit. But their answer would have been ugly.
The second approach is beautiful, because it is completely general and applicable to multiple situations. I try to tell students "Look! You found the time to fall a certain distance. You now know the answer no matter what the height is, and even no matter what planet you're on, since g doesn't have to be 9.8 m/s2." This is usually followed by a blank open-mouthed stare, much like Kristen Stewart in a Twilight movie.
There is a more practical reason to avoid doing algebra with numbers. It's simply that when you do algebra with numbers, other people cannot follow your work as easily. And then, if you make a mistake, it's harder for someone else to spot. Quick: what algebra error did the student make above? It takes a while to find the mistake.
My ultimate point is that students need experience seeing the power of algebra. It's all well and good that algebra classes stress real-world applications—else, why teach algebra in the first place? But real-world doesn't only mean with numbers. E=mc2 is certainly a real-world application of algebra, and it's a lot more elegant than saying that 378,000,000,000,000 Joules is released when a teaspoon of sugar with mass 4.2 grams is converted to pure energy, given that the speed of light is 300,000,000 m/s. The hard part, for us physics professors, is to help this spoonful of algebra go down.
Shostakovich makes the list twice.
Let's face it, classical music isn't all that popular compared to more "modern" genres. I guess people just think that Rihanna has more to say about the human condition that J. S. Bach. But part of the problem is that the same hackneyed classical pieces get played again and again, to the point of banality. If I ever hear Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Pachelbel's canon, Boccherini's minuet, Albinoni's adagio (written by Remo Giazotto in the 20th century!), Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik, Orff's "O Fortuna" from Carmina Burana, or Beethoven's Für Elise on the radio, I turn the dial immediately. Honestly, Rihanna's Diamonds seems more fresh.
But it's not the fault of classical music in general. There's a lot of crazy, beautiful, weird, awe-inspiring, emotional, frightening, uplifting classical music out there—you just have to know where to look.
Anyway, here's my list of the top 10 classical pieces that are probably off your radar but shouldn't be. These pieces aren't even that obscure (maybe someday I'll post about the Busoni piano concerto, George Antheil's Ballet mécanique, or Buxtehude or Meyerbeer or Piston or de la Guerre) but for whatever reason these pieces just aren't played that often. That's a shame; they should be. I hope you like them.
Amenhotep III's son was originally crowned Amenhotep IV, but soon re-named himself Akhenaten and tried to ditch Egyptian polytheism and replace it with a sort of cult-of-the-sun. It didn't stick, and everyone forgot about him. Except for Philip Glass, apparently.
Shostakovich dedicated this piece "to the victims of fascism and war". The 2nd movement is particularly chilling.
I know this isn't that obscure, but I think this is the most profound thing Mozart wrote and it doesn't get much attention. When the viola comes in at about 2:27, you realize it was already there for about 6 seconds without you realizing it. Sublime.
Savage, rhythmic chords in one section, eerie icy elfin menace in the other. Listen to this in the dark if possible.
A musical depiction of the eruption of Mt. St. Helens, belying the idea that Hovhaness only wrote "soothing" stuff.
Insanity. What can one say? Madness. If anyone ever makes a Cthulhu movie, this should be the soundtrack.
Chaotic. Good times. Oh, and there's a lullaby in the middle!
Might be the most soothing music that I am aware of.
Someone (Rubinstein?) described this as wind over your grave. And ya gotta love the ending.
After three dark and brooding movements, there is finally triumph. Why isn't Walton better known?
Should we pledge to enact sanctions against ancient Carthage?
It's time to start marginalizing Grover Norquist.
Haven't heard of him? That's because he hasn't really done anything noteworthy. Sure, he got an M.B.A. from Harvard, and he did write speeches for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for one year in the 1980's, but other than that he's done nothing except be a lobbyist. He's never had an elected position. His reputation is based on lobbying.
Have I said he's just a lobbyist?
Now, to the guy's credit, he's good at his job, and he wields power through his personal instrument Americans for Tax Reform. That's the lobbying group he founded. Its only purpose is to advocate for Norquist's world view. Part of that world view is to lower tax rates in America, and I won't comment on whether that's a good idea or not…that's a problem for economists to sort out. But part of that world view is getting politicians (by scare tactics and intimidation) to commit to a "no tax raises" pledge.
I can't think of anything sillier than a politician making such a pledge. What is this, the days of Hamilton and Burr at Weehawken?
First of all, tactically, it's always better to have options than to not have options. If you pledge to never raise taxes, ever, then you're a fool, plain and simple. You're locking yourself into a position that might make no sense at some point in the future. When taking such a pledge, you're saying, basically, the following: "I don't think raising taxes is a good idea. In fact, I feel strongly that it's a bad idea. But I am also convinced that I will never change my mind; I will never let new data change my mind; even if the circumstances change, it is logically inconceivable that I will ever change my mind; and even if I want to change my mind I won't be able to because I am locked into a pledge." By taking a pledge, you are thumbing your nose at a future self (and potential wiser self) and forcing them down a path they might not agree with.
What if scientists took pledges? Newtonian physics was on very firm footing in 1904. What if every physicist signed a pledge saying that Newtonian physics was 100% correct and was never to be doubted ever again? What, then, would have happened with patent clerk Einstein in 1905?
Let's all agree to never mention Grover Norquist again. He's irrelevant. He's a lobbyist, and his only purpose is to push his own agenda. His tax foundation doesn't do scientific research, doesn't create jobs, doesn't build things, doesn't design things, doesn't contribute to science, or culture, or human knowledge, or service, or humanity. Norquist himself is not a super villain. He's just a random dude with a loud megaphone. Luckily, we have the ability to ignore him if we like. Maybe then he'll just go away.
Then again, probably not. After all, he is a lobbyist.
Poor Einstein. Is there anyone else who is misquoted more often? Is there anyone else to whom more nonsense is attributed?
I have no desire to rehash things that Einstein said about "God". Einstein was by all accounts an atheist, an agnostic, or a pantheist—depending upon your definitions—and various religious apologists have been trying to co-opt the man for years by misquoting him. Others have already discussed this at length.
My goal today is to tackle that old chestnut, "Imagination is more important than knowledge," as seen on T-shirts, bumper stickers, and even on the packaging of the Albert Einstein action figure. Did Einstein really say this, and if so, what did he mean?
So Einstein did say this. However, I maintain that the full quote in context has a different feel to it than the quote in isolation.
The New Age meaning of the quote is this: "I'd rather daydream than study." It's Walt Whitman's "learn'd astronomer" nonsense all over again.
In context, it's clear that Einstein was talking about doing science. Imagination is more important in making scientific breakthroughs than knowledge, but that doesn't mean that knowledge is not important. Einstein worked very, very hard to learn an awful lot of physics. By all accounts, it took him almost 10 years to flesh out general relativity, during which time he had to acquire a lot of mathematical knowledge about Riemannian geometry and tensor analysis. The "intuition" that Einstein developed during this time frame is what allowed him to be so confident of the results of Eddington's expedition. What Einstein calls "intuition" is just knowledge that has become so ingrained that you are no longer cognizant of it.
Einstein may have been more famous than most of his contemporaries, and it was probably due to his superior imagination. But take Einstein's imagination today and give it to a twenty-five year old high school dropout, and he'd be lost in obscurity, stocking shelves at Wal-Mart. Imagination is more important than knowledge. But only slightly more.
This is so absurd on so many levels, I need to parse the quotation out bit by bit—partly to stretch out this blog post, of course, but partly to delve more deeply into the mind that is Marco Rubio.
Obviously. But GQ wasn't asking you to demonstrate the Earth's age using science. They were asking you how old the Earth is, which admittedly is code for: "Do you believe in the most basic science?" And apparently, you do not.
What does recorded history have to do with the age of the Earth?
But unfortunately the Bible doesn't actually say how old the Earth is.
Wait…what?! Theologians? We're talking about the age of the Earth. If geologists can't answer this question, no one can. Why? Because geology is the study of the Earth.
True, but the interviewer is really asking if you have any knowledge about science and the scientific method. If you don't believe the arguments for a 4 billion-year-old Earth, if you distrust that much the collective human body of knowledge, then you may not listen to economists when they tell you that printing a quadrillion dollar bills and passing them out to everyone would be a bad idea.
Do you have to be a historian to answer the question, when did the Crimean War start? Do you have to be a biologist to answer the question, what does RNA stand for? Do you have to be a mathematician to say that pi is irrational? Are you really claiming, Mr. Rubio, that you have to be an expert to answer the most basic, settled questions that humans have successfully answered? Are you really saying that you're not qualified to look up an answer on Wikipedia?
Including, no doubt, the story of the water beetle Dâyuni'sï that made the Earth from mud, and the story of how Buga set fire to the water…oh, and don't forget how Mbombo vomited the moon and the sun! Make sure elementary school curricula cover them all!
I'm not sure what his point is here. Is there a movement to ban what parents can and cannot teach their children?
Yes, a mystery, like how the tides work or how magnets work. I guess the real mystery is why anyone takes Marco Rubio seriously.
If you talk about some weird aspect of quantum mechanics, they will come.
They are the Deepak Chopras of the world: people who make money by peddling vague new age philosophies.
Suppose you've made up some sort of new religion. You want followers, people to buy your books and watch your DVD's and attend your seminars and drink your Flavor Ade and buy your T-shirts. (Yes, Deepak Chopra sells T-shirts.) What better way to attract attention, to give your puerile ideas a veneer of respectability than to cloak them in the mystique of quantum mechanics? Quantum mechanics is weird—everyone knows that—but almost no one really knows the details. PhD physicists don't grow on trees, after all. Therefore, if you appeal to quantum mechanics to cover up the stench of your ideology, you will most likely get away with it.
Your [mind] and [eternal light] have been exquisitely formed by [the cosmic warmth] to help you fulfill [your potential matrix] and your [soul capability]. This is because [wave-particle duality] and [the principle of decoherence] prove that your [neo-human consciousness] transcends the [body-mind paradox] to inhabit the [weak nuclear force] under the auspices of [string theory].
Easy, right? Yet Deepak Chopra is the one worth $80 million dollars. Sigh.
So back to the many-worlds interpretation. What could someone like Chopra ever do with such an idea? How could he co-opt the multiverse to scratch out a few more ducats? I shudder to think on it.
People have been using the strange ideas of physics for a long time now, with predictable results. Take this garbage: "What the #$*! Do We Know!?" I wish I had been blogging in 2004 when this farce came out; my review of the movie would have been six words: "Nothing about physics, that's for sure." Yet part of the blame rests with physicists themselves: they bandy about strange ideas amongst themselves, with nary a thought about how the public at large will perceive said ideas.
Consider Schrödinger's cat, for example, the popular notion of which is as follows: a cat can be alive and dead at the same time! Weird! And yet when Schrödinger first proposed this "paradox" his intent was to attack the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, by pointing out an obvious absurdity. I know of no physicist on the planet who seriously believes a cat can be alive and dead at the same time. And yet Chopra and others like him point to such quantum weirdness and use it to excuse all manner of hooey.
But what about many worlds? Isn't it just as crazy, just as loony, as anything Chopra peddles to the masses?
Well, no. It's weird, sure. But it is based in peer-reviewed science, and is an active topic of investigation to this day. (I doubt anyone's in a lab somewhere, trying to verify Chopra's claims.) Many worlds is an interesting mathematical structure to explain our universe, but it doesn't really affect anyone's life. It's not even relevant to how anyone should live their life. It should certainly never be used to prop up a shaky religion.


I participated as one of three installation artists and took the opportunity to return to an old love - Forts.
My interactive piece was built by playful participants aged 8 months to 89 years.
At the end of the day, it fit in a rolling suitcase.


Thirteen Philadelphia young men have banded themselves together, if rumors are true, in what timid superstitious ones will call a suicide club. This Club of Thirteen, as its name hints, has been organized in contempt of almost all knows popular superstitions. The club meetings occur on Friday evenings, and on the 13th of the month, in room 13 of a house number 13. The fiery-headed member is the first to enter the hall; all pass under a ladder raised in the room. On taking his seat, the president opens an umbrella handed him by the cross-eyed janitor, and sits under it during the session. The sergeant-at-arms opens the proceedings by breaking a looking glass.
Captain William Fowler was the founder of the club. In Fowler's time, fear of the number 13 was most often associated with the Last Supper, where Jesus dined with his twelve disciples shortly before he was crucified. As one superstitious person explained in 1863, "since the Last Supper, whenever there are thirteen persons assembled, one of them is sure to be a Judas." This belief was common enough to interrupt social occasions. Such luminaries as Victor Hugo would reportedly leave a table if exactly twelve other people were there.
Fowler himself, though, thought this was bunk. He'd lived a varied, happy life, and as he grew older, he realized that it featured repeated appearances by the number 13. He had attended P.S. 13, and graduated at age 13. During a brief stint as an architect, he built 13 public buildings. Later, he fought in the Union Army, and survived 13 battles. Eventually, he adopted the number as a sort of talisman.
In the late 19th century, "club life" provided an easy way to make friends, eat lavish meals, and, in some cases, engage in various goofy, themed pursuits.
New York City boasted scores of these clubs—from the more traditional "Loto" and "Union" Clubs to the "Liar's Club" (for men who loved to trick each other) and the "Candor Club" (for brutally honest ones).
When Fowler took over the Knickerbocker Cottage, he decided it was time to found one himself. Its aim, he decided, would be to fight the fear of 13—and various other superstitions—by engaging in as many unlucky practices as possible.
Although it took him nearly a year to drum up 12 other members, after their first meeting, the Thirteen Club began to grow, thanks largely to Fowler's sense of humor and pitch-perfect flair for the gothic. Menus generally numbered 13 courses, and wine lists were often shaped like gravestones.
Members came dressed in black suits, neckties, and top hats; before sitting down, they made a point of walking under a ladder, brought indoors for the occasion. "The atmosphere was funereal, and suggested a feast at which undertakers only were bidden," the New York Times wrote of April 1882's meeting, which featured a cake with a black cat on it.
Other meetings included mirror-smashing, salt-spilling, and mock trials of members who had purportedly acted superstitiously.
When they weren't tempting fate at dinner, the Thirteen Club's members advanced their cause in other ways. They wrote to local officials, asking them to rehabilitate Friday's unlucky reputation by "inducing Judges to select some other day… for hangings." (In at least one case, they succeeded.) They racked up high-profile honorary members, including Grover Cleveland, Chester A. Arthur, and Theodore Roosevelt. Some insisted on sitting only at tables of 13 even at other club meetings.
Word of these exploits spread quickly, and the Thirteen Club soon enjoyed a certain amount of renown. One 1886 dinner on Coney Island brought in 400 attendees. Chapters opened up in Chicago, France, and England. Sub-branches popped up, too, including New York City's "Thirteen Cycle Club," which traded lavish indoor banquets for outdoor clambakes.
In 1891, New York's flagship Thirteen Club began inviting women to certain dinners. (Each one got a welcome gift: a tiny glass bottle of perfume, with a stopper shaped like a human skull.) Two years later, 13 women opened up their very own chapter, in Iowa.
Despite this burgeoning popularity, though, some remained unimpressed. "The club has shown that it is as ignorant of the nature of ill-luck as it is reckless in trifling with it," wrote one opponent in the Times. Bad luck did occasionally rear its head. At one club meeting, a waiter fractured his skull when the traditional indoor ladder collapsed on him. Another time, someone blew up the New Jersey clubhouse with dynamite. (The members inside escaped with bruises.) The club ran into some crying-wolf problems, too—after one New York meeting place collapsed in 1888, causing several injuries, officials were so busy joking about it that the club had to agitate for an investigation.
Mortality is the worst luck of all, and everyone dies eventually, even devoted flouters of superstition. Fowler passed away suddenly in 1897, and in the following decades, this particular type of club life began petering out.
Starting around the mid-1920s, searching for the Thirteen Club in newspaper archives brings up only obituaries of former members.
But some unexpected bits of their legacy live on. According to one contemporary reporter, the Thirteen Club may be inadvertently responsible for one of today's most iconic bad luck charms: Friday the 13th. Although both Friday and the number 13 have both been considered unlucky for centuries, it's possible that no one made a point of combining them until the Thirteen Club, "Two of these vulgar superstitions you have combated resolutely and without flinching," commended the club's scribe in 1883. In their zeal to disprove each of them, the Club may have created a superstition superbug instead.
A short Times article, from 1887, also suggests the club may have had a hand in a piece of consistent good fortune: the weekend. That year, Justice David McAdam, a Thirteen Club branch president and a member of the New York City Court, declared Saturday an official half-holiday, during which public offices must close after noon. He did this, he said, partially to restore more esteem to Friday—a Thirteen Club priority.
"If the new idea met popular favor Friday might yet become the sailing day of all our ocean steamers," the Times wrote, "And Saturday, now less than half a day for business purposes, would in a short time become a full holiday for pleasure." About four decades later, in 1929, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America successfully demanded a five-day work week.