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Home > Farm Animal Intelligence > Celebrating and Remembering an Adopted Turkey Named Amelia this Thanksgiving
Celebrating and Remembering an Adopted Turkey Named Amelia this Thanksgiving
By Free From Harm Staff Writers | November 24, 2011 | Categories Farm Animal Intelligence, Farm Animal Welfare
We celebrate Amelia the adopted turkey this Thanksgiving
Most people only know turkey from the supermarket shelf tightly wrapped in flashy packaging or sliced into deli meats. Food advertising has completely and deliberately dissociated us from the source of the food: the living, breathing, beautiful birds who have individual personalities and lead complex social and emotional lives. This Thanksgiving we are celebrating the life of a very special female turkey named Amelia, a bird who touched the lives of many, and whose story is told by the kind hearted soul who became her guardian, Karen Davis, President of United Poultry Concerns.
We adopted Amelia as a young turkey in the fall of 2007 after a local farmer gave her up. She lived in our sanctuary until August this year when her legs gave out and we had to call our veterinarian, a very kind man, to put her to rest in the yard surrounded by her friends. Until those last sad days she hung out with the chickens and ducks, sat with them under the trees in the afternoon, and when people visited she'd fan out her snow white tail feathers, just like a male turkey, and stroll with the visitors, never leaving their side.
She chose a leafy nesting spot which she hollowed out a little to lay her eggs in. In the evening she loved to stay outside with the ducks, poking around until the last minute of sinking sunlight, but when I called her, "Come on, Amelia, time for bed," she would amble into her house with the ducks to join the chickens, already perched for the night.
In her first year of life, Amelia slept on a low perch in the bird house or sat on a straw bale we kept for her there. But soon she was so heavy it was hard for her to make even a low leap, so she nestled in a corner next to the ducks, but this wasn't her first choice. If turkeys and chickens can perch high off the ground after dark, they will.
Over the years I've watched many young turkeys and chickens, with their oversized breasts bred pendulously heavy for the meat industry, try to calculate a leap precisely onto a perch, a straw bale or a sawhorse. They will test the spring from the ground before making it, as if reliving an experience built into their bones and brain cells. I've watched them revise their position, test it again, and quit if they perceive it's no go, with a show of disappointment and frustration, often circling the area with their necks craned before giving up entirely.
In America as late as the 1930s, turkeys were often still being driven on foot from farms to towns and cities, anywhere from 50 to 200 miles, through terrain ranging from densely wooded mountain trails to treeless Texas plains. The birds' amiability, vigorous constitution, and long, strong legs made these drives to distant locations possible. A point made about the drives was that if the birds were not successfully regrouped each morning, they scattered in the woods and fields and could not be recovered. In addition, the birds' determination to roost every night in the trees had to be accommodated.
In 1907 a New Hampshire historian named E. Gilbert described how during the long drives, the whole turkey flock with one accord, "rose from the road and sought a perch in the neighboring trees" at dusk. More recently, biologist William Healy noted that the determination of turkeys to perch for the night was so strong at his research station that he and his colleagues could not keep them out of the treetops even by clipping their flight feathers. "The turkeys would climb leaning branches and leap from limb to limb to get into tree crowns and then gradually work their way to the top," he wrote.
Sanctuary workers like myself who've spent years in the company of turkeys and chickens bred for the meat industry know that these birds have not lost their ancestral desire to perch, mate, run, walk and be sociable. We know that the inability of turkeys to mate properly does not reflect a loss of desire to do so, but, as we see from watching them, it results from growth disorders often abetted by the fact that their claws and part of their beaks were cut off at the hatchery, so they can't get a grip on anything. And like our Amelia, they frequently suffer from painful degenerative joint diseases that reduce their spontaneous activity and age them well before their natural 20-year lifespan.
Despite all these things, sanctuary turkeys are a joy to have around. Visitors unfamiliar with turkeys are delighted and quite taken aback at how friendly they are, and not just in the hope or presence of food being offered, but because turkeys really like people who are nice to them. In his book "Illumination in the Flatwoods," naturalist Joe Hutto describes how a group of orphaned young turkeys he was raising, upon seeing him, would drop from their roosting limbs where they had sat "softly chattering" in the dawn, stretch their wings and do what he calls "their strange little dance, a joyful, happy dance, expressing an exuberance." This exuberance is an element of the life that we share with our feathered friends and we can best give thanks by letting them live to enjoy it.
Karen Davis is president of United Poultry Concerns (www.upc-online.org), a nonprofit organization that promotes the compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl. Readers may write to her at: United Poultry Concerns, P.O. Box 150, Machipongo, Va. 23405; website: www.upc-online.org.
Posted In: Farm Animal Intelligence, Farm Animal Welfare
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The Case of Musashi v A-Sashi
What You Don't Know Will Hurt You
The Federal Court of Australia recently granted an injunction to prevent one business owner from using its trade mark because it was substantially identical or deceptively similar to an existing trade mark owned by another business. The case is this…
In one corner, we have the owner of the registered trade mark, Nestle, who supplies dietary supplements using the trade mark "Musashi". In the other corner, we have small business owner and entrepreneur, James Christian, who established an online vitamin business called "A-Sashi Vitamins" in 2013.
While Christian followed the road taken by many entrepreneurs before him – he registered his business name, secured a domain name and created a logo showcasing his brand, "A-Sashi", he was unaware of Nestle's registered Musashi trademark. Currently, the battle remains ongoing as reports show that Christian "will seek special leave to appeal to the High Court". However, the damage has already been done, it is reported that the matter has been ongoing for 3 years and Christian has "lost the $200,000 invested in A-Sashi and now owes the costs to Nestle".
Unfortunately, Christian's story isn't a stand-alone one. We've met with many clients who have invested time and capital into their business only to realise that they have unintentionally infringed on a registered trademark. The lesson here is the importance of seeking proper advice before investing precious time and resource into a business investment. It is money well spent to ensure that you're not infringing on any existing trade marks but that ultimately, you're building a brand that belongs solely to you.
If you're thinking of starting a business or would like to speak with someone about registering a trade mark, feel free to get in touch. We look forward to hearing from you!
The post The Case of Musashi v A-Sashi appeared first on Sydney Trade Mark Lawyer.
« Intestacy – Not leaving a will» Welcome to 2016 Notary Public Services

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text: sudo apt-get -y install salt-master salt-minion

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12 Principles of Animation Workshop this Saturday, August 17!
There are two different approaches to animating a scene. "Straight Ahead Action" means drawing out a scene frame by frame from start to finish. While "Pose to Pose" involves starting with drawing the key frames, and then filling in the inbetween drawings later.
John Ramirez, animator artist for Disney movies such as "Beauty and the Beast", "Aladdin" and "The Lion King". All classes will be held at the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity.
This principle is similar to staging as it is know in the theatre and film. Its purpose is to direct the audience's attention, and make it clear. What is of greatest importance in a scene; what is happening, and what is about to happen. The presentation of any idea so that it is completely and unmistakably clear. Whether that idea is an action, a personality, an expression or a mood.
Sorry folks! Drop In and Draw has been canceled due to a special event.Check back with us next week!


Chapter 28. Membership Web Sites and Recurring Revenue, Oh My!
How would you like to make money from the same customer not once, not twice, but over and over and over again? Smart businesses understand that this model is a much better way to feed their balance sheets and keep the budgets overflowing. The idea is to get a customer to give them money on a recurring basis rather than just once. This is called continuity or recurring revenue and is practiced on the Web in the form of a membership program.
The reason membership programs are so valuable is that they can replace your salary by giving you an almost guaranteed stream of revenue month to month, and frankly, if you're going to quit your job to start an online business, you want to ensure you have that recurring revenue. If you've ever worked on the financial aspects of a business, or worked with a venture capitalist, you know that recurring revenue is one of the most important objectives to achieve. It's simple. Your business is much more valuable to you and to potential investors if you can show consistent revenue over time, hopefully on an upward scale.


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Board index » General Discussion » Joke Section
Moderator: G0BXU
M0YDC
Location: West Sussex IO90UV
Jack, a handsome man, walked into a sports bar around 9:58 pm. He sat down next to this blonde at the bar and stared up at the TV as the 10:00 news came on. The news crew was covering a story of a man on a ledge of a large building preparing to jump.
The blonde looked at Jack and said, "Do you think he'll jump?"
Jack says, "You know what, I bet he will." The blonde replied, "Well, I bet he won't." Jack placed $30 on the bar and said, "You're on!"
Just as the blonde placed her money on the bar, the guy did a swan dive off of the building, falling to his death. The blonde was very upset and handed her $30 to Jack, saying, "Fair's fair... Here's your money."
Jack replied, "I can't take your money, I saw this earlier on the 5 o'clock news and knew he would jump."
The blonde replies, "I did too, but I didn't think he'd do it again."
Jack took the money.
Jump to: Select a forum ------------------ Welcome to hamradiodeals.... A Free Forum For All Radio Enthusiasts Welcome to hamradiodeals...Established since May 2007 General Discussion Welcome to HamRadioDeals New to Amateur Radio? Antennas with Steve G3TXQ Technical Puzzles Eznec Tutorials 6 metres and down Technical drawings and designs EMC Dstar / Fusion / DMR Software Defined Radio Constructors Corner CW Joke Section Radio Clubs Radio clubs in the North Radio clubs in the South Feedback Contact Admin


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Pseudaphomomyrmex emeryi är en myrart som först beskrevs av William Harris Ashmead 1905.  Pseudaphomomyrmex emeryi ingår i släktet Pseudaphomomyrmex och familjen myror. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

Myror
emeryi

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PUI: Not PLM UI. Future User Experience.
I'd suggest to have some fun in the beginning. What is PUI? Do you think this is a new PLM UI? No, marketing didn't get it yet… I hope, they will not do so. I've got this PUI TLA reading Enterprise Irregulars Blog – Three Types of GUIs: Past Present and Future. Thanks ArnoldIT blog for referencing me to this article. The author explains three different type of GUI – Task UI, Desktop UI and Process UI. I found it very interesting. It made me think about the evolution of user experience in engineering applications and PLM.
If you think about CAD applications, they look very task oriented. You have a 2D drawing (lately transformed into 3D model) and everything you do around this drawing or model, can be considered as tasks. You can create a new model or modify an existing one. Another big group of applications, CAE is also focusing on different tasks (i.e. calculations, etc.) around 2D/3D models.
The initial development of data management application created an idea of "Desktop". In the beginning, data management was focused on "meta-data" management. Meta-data was considered as everything surrounding CAD files. The need to present data in various forms created lots of modifications of data forms. You can find it in most PDM/PLM applications during last 10-15 years.
Process was one of the top ideas that PLM focused on for the past 5-6 years. Organization can understand a "process language". Software vendors in PLM space learned it from their big ERP brothers. I had chance to see lots of PUI modifications focusing on different processes.
Now imagine business or enterprise apps that are process based, not single task items knit together by DIY process: An app that can pick up an idea, issue or request and run it through an unpredictable process that might look like a ball of yarn all the way to an implemented idea, a solved issue or a happy customer.
Where is the problem? In my view, the biggest problem is a scalability of this process. Every organization is different. Process oriented applications became very complex. This is what happens to PUI in PLM. Customers cannot implement an existing process oriented application. However, to tailor it will skyrocket cost of services.
It is clear to everybody that the level of the complication kills. So, what will be the UI in the future? Many of companies are looking for the next big thing in UI. I can identify two main trends in PLM UI simplification – 1/ Embedding into the mainstream UI (i.e. Email, Excel, SharePoint, etc.), 2/Imitating successful applications in consumer space (i.e. Facebook). What will be the next big thing in UI? Do you think it will come from augmented reality? Games? Voice? I can see SIRI acquisition by Apple as the sign of possible direction in the future. I had chance to write about how I see the future user experience in my blog too.
What is my conclusion? User Interface is a hard problem in PLM apps. I think, we are in the mist of UI discussions. I can see many people are innovating in this space and trying to find a solution to this problem. We are in the beginning of mass migration of application from consumer space to the enterprise software. It will be very interesting to get back to this discussion in a couple of years.
All good points. I have heard many complaints about interface issues on ERP and PLM side. One group of users like the UI while another really loaths it. I am excited to see what the future holds, it can only get better.
Allow me to suggest: Expand the notion of "process" from the usual predictable and quite linear (ERP as in Easily Repeatable Process), "process" is after all "a sequence of activities to achieve a goal", even putting on your shoes is a process.
Then imagine a process engine that can handle BRPs as in Barely Repeatable Processes where the participant can make process path choices in-process in-task (MD checking xray, then decide what next).


To find out more information about Dr. Kent M Krug, please review the contact information below in order speak with Dr. Kent M Krug.
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Ah, another St. Patrick's Day has shined down upon us, me boyos, and the old Irish traditions are still with us. Epic Games' Fortnite has managed to remain one of the most popular video games in the industry thanks to its continuous updates to keep players coming back for more. Fortnite is well known for rapidly cycling through its available items, and some of the most sought after limited-time items are themed around holidays. Just like last year, new St. Patrick's Day Fortnite items have been made available, and it has now been confirmed that included with these items is the return of Sgt. Green Clover.
The official Fortnite Twitter account has announced the new St. Patrick's Day items available now in the Fortnite item shop. The big highlight is Sgt. Green Clover, who made her debut for last year's St. Patrick's Day celebrations, but has been notoriously rare to find since then. Now, both newer and veteran players looking for the leprechaun gear-clad lass can finally bring her into the battle.
There is also plenty of St. Patty's gear for players to find here, including lucky wrap that will cover your weapons and vehicles with four leaf clovers, and a pot of gold that can be worn as back bling. There's also a pickaxe made out of a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, and a Raining Doubloons emote. These items are not expected to be available for long, so it would be advisable for players to leg it to the item shop right away to get these lucky charms before they are gone.
Are you guys going to pick up Sgt. Green Clover or any other St. Patrick's Day Fortnite items? Let us know in the comments below! Be sure to stay tuned for the latest Fortnite news, such as Nintendo Switch Fortnite crossplay no-longer working with Xbox One and PS4, here on Don't Feed the Gamers! Follow us on Twitter to see our updates the minute they go live!


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Q: Difference Between Lyapunov and Strong Lyapunov Function. Good Day everyone. I was assigned to show that given an autonomous system of Differential Equations and a function $V$, I need to show that $V$ is Lyapunov function.
To show that $V$ is Lyapunov. I will show the following: (there is no problem here)

*

*$V$ and its first partial derivatives are continuous.

*$V$ is positive definite.

*$\dot{V}$ (given by certain equation) is negative definite.
On a domain $D$ on the xy-plane containing $(0,0)$, then $V$ is a Lyapunov Function. However, the question that I need to answer is followed by: is it a strong Lyapunov Function (I do not know how to show that a function is strong Lyapunov)?
My question is, what is the difference between Lyapunov and Strong Lyapunov Function?

A: It is better to refer the exact definition given in your course, because it is not a standard notion.
One of possibilities is that if $\vec x(t)$ is the solution of your differential equation, then you will have $$\frac{d}{dt}V(\vec x(t))\le 0$$ for Lyapunov function and $$\frac{d}{dt}V(\vec x(t))< 0 \text{ whenever }x\ne 0$$ for strong Lyapunov function.
Another possibility would be to say that we impose $\nabla V( x)\cdot x \le -c\|x\|^2$ for strong Lyapunov functions (as in strong convexity).

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"Welcome to the first European XFEL user meeting with actual users!" said Martin Meedom Nielsen, head of the European XFEL council as he opened the three day event on 24 January in front of a packed lecture hall on the DESY campus in Hamburg. With 1200 registered participants from ca. 100 institutions from 30 countries, this year's joint European XFEL and DESY photon science users' meeting, the first since operation began, was the biggest yet.
Meedom Nielsen and European XFEL Managing Director Robert Feidenhans'l started the meeting by summarizing the achievements and developments of the last year and thanking everyone who had contributed to the facility's success. "It has been a fantastic year," said Feidenhans'l looking back on his first year as director of the facility, "a tough year and we have worked really hard, but a fantastic year." "2017 was a year of glorious firsts" said Meedom Nielsen, highlighting especially the facility's inauguration in September and the beams of laser light that shone across the city to mark the occasion. "Hamburg was shining for European XFEL, and European XFEL was shining back" he said.


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Really enjoy this indica, good night time smoke been smoking it mixed with some white russian kief peppered on top, would order again. really nice notes of earthy pine, decent amount on crystals. overall would recommend!
Good price and high. Would buy again.
Decent bud. It has that quick burn where the smoke is kind of dry. Last round of triples were definitely better.


It might have got a little lost in the controversy over tax rises for the self-employed , which broke a Conservative manifesto promise not to raise National Insurance Contributions, but Phillip Hammond's budget did address another growing controversy – spiralling business rates.
Unfortunately he could only take action in England – meaning it's critical for Scotland's financial future that Derek Mackay does the same.
A long-delayed evaluation of property values had left some businesses facing tax rises of 350% or more – threatening to forcing many out of business.
The Chancellor this week announced that any businesses coming out of small business rate relief as a result of the imminent property values revaluation south of the border will see tax increases capped at £50 per month.
He also announced a £300m hardship fund for councils to allow them to provide discretional relief to affected businesses.
These changes will not affect us here in Scotland, where business rates are devolved to the Scottish Government. But businesses here are currently undergoing a similar revaluation. And so far, Derek Mackay has only promised to protect some of them.
Last month the Holyrood finance secretary promised to cap rate rises for the tourism and energy sectors.
He also announced appeals against revaluation will be free in Scotland, unlike in other parts of the UK.
He didn't go far enough.
Granted, Philip Hammond did single one sector out for special treatment – with pubs set to get a discount on their rates – but apart from that every business benefits equally from the new protections.
We need that in Scotland too.
Derek Mackay has promised to work with local authorities to introduce a business rate system which supports key local economic sectors and here in Glasgow key sectors like design and engineering, life sciences and financial services need the same support which has already been offered to the tourism and energy sectors.
Whether our future lies in independence or within the United Kingdom businesses like these are critical to our financial future and we desperately need to attract, retain and support them.
The budget also handed the Scottish government an extra £350m of spending power and some of that windfall needs to go towards matching England's small business rate relief cap– ensuring rates do not increase by more than £50 a month. The government also needs to offer further tax relief for small start-ups firms that provide employment and training to their staff.
The last thing we want is for our best young businesses to relocate south of the border for tax reasons – that's why it's critical that the Scottish Government keeps down business rates if we are to keep up with the rest of the UK.


This four star property is within close proximity to Mekong River and just a short drive from International Airport. Boasting 85 luxurious rooms, some of which also overlook the beautiful river scenery, the property also offers a list of modern facilities. Unwind by taking a nice dip in the pool or indulge yourself at Golden Castle Restaurant with delicious treat after a tiring day. Corporate travelers will find the fully equipped business centre and meeting room useful. Keeping you occupied with the nearby markets and shops, many entertainment venues and major banks. To experience "The Spirit of Khmer Hospitality ", guests should stay at Ohana Hotel.


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Jalen and Jacoby on Police Violence, the NBA, Lil Wayne, and More
Illustration by Roderick Mills
Paul Thomas Anderson Week
The Valley Plays Itself
Paul Thomas Anderson's Los Angeles
by Molly Lambert on December 8, 2014
Three of Paul Thomas Anderson's first four movies take place in the San Fernando Valley, where he and I both grew up. This alone probably made me a mark for PTA fandom, as no other director has ever portrayed the Valley as Anderson does: lovingly. The Valley's reputation in Los Angeles is a bit like New Jersey's in New York. People in Los Angeles proper are known to hate on the Valley for being 10 degrees hotter, for its supposed lack of culture, for being far away (mostly psychologically). But if you've grown up there, you find that those hang-ups are irrelevant. The Valley is its own creature, part of Los Angeles but also a world of its own. Suburban sprawl means lots of space for riding bikes, green city parks, big backyards with avocado trees and swimming pools. It includes a diverse cross-section of industrial zones, rich neighborhoods littered with tacky McMansions, and ranch land right out of the Old West.
In honor of the release of Paul Thomas Anderson's seventh feature film, Inherent Vice, Grantland is celebrating his career. Read more here.
Paul Thomas Anderson, like his L.A. forefather Robert Altman, embraces the sprawl. Why not tell several different stories with loose threads? Why limit yourself to one great performance in a movie if you can get 20? Why pick one genre when you can pull from everything and make movies that push the whole idea of genre to its city limits?
There are a couple of actual backlots (Universal Studios and Warner Bros.), but many shows and movies are shot in locations throughout the Valley. If you have watched television or films at any point over the last half-century, you are familiar with the Valley. Most things shot in the Valley are theoretically set somewhere else. The Valley is the Spielbergian suburbs of E.T., the dystopian dust-land of The Terminator, and the literal dust bowl where the Joads live in The Grapes of Wrath. The Bates house was built on that Universal backlot for Psycho in 1960, modeled after the Edward Hopper painting House by the Railroad, and the airport runway good-bye between Rick and Ilsa in Casablanca was shot in part at Van Nuys Airport. While the Valley's many suburbs often play safe, suburban small towns, the Valley proper is more complicated. When you Google "shot in the valley" without specifying "film" or "TV," all kinds of nightmare news stories come up, some of which were also recycled into plotlines in Hollywood movies. The 1997 North Hollywood shootout that's referenced in Nightcrawler and whose perpetrators were reportedly inspired by Heat happened at a Bank of America a couple of miles from my family's house.
In the '80s, the Valley became famous for the mall culture depicted in Amy Heckerling's Fast Times at Ridgemont High and for the yuppie subtype known as the Valley girl, skewered in Martha Coolidge's brilliant Valley Girl. The Valley girl was denigrated as empty-headed and consumerist, perpetuating the downfall of the English language through upspeak, "like," and, later, vocal fry. But as a Valley girl hanging out aimlessly at the mall in the '80s, I didn't see the mall as a cultural wasteland. It was just a place to observe human beings in a habitat, to check out an endless carnival of faces. To, like, y'know, hang out? Susan Sontag graduated from North Hollywood High at age 15, which means that "Valley girl" is a term that encompasses both Sontag and Kim Kardashian, each pushing her own unique brand of California English.
The Valley is everywhere and nowhere in media. But in reality, it's peculiar and extraordinary, which is exactly what Paul Thomas Anderson captures in his movies set there. He portrays the Valley as a specific place, rather than as a stand-in for Anytown, USA. And furthermore, he saw the same beauty that I felt I saw in the Valley's wonderland: the Ed Ruscha–like beauty of mini malls and gas stations painted against dark night skies and flat, open, blue daylight.
PTA's Boogie Nights (1997) focuses on the porn industry, which has traditionally been located in the Valley. I have always found the porn world fascinating, and not just for the obvious reasons. It's such a microcosm of the movie studio system, with its own stars, awards shows, premieres, and studio rivalries. (Like the real studio system, the porn studio system has also fallen victim to pirating and the widespread availability of content on the Internet.) Just as porn is the fun-house mirror version of the studio system, the Valley is the fun-house mirror version of Los Angeles. L.A. has mansions that are rented out for films, but it's only in the Valley that the mansions are rented out for porn shoots, too. Boogie Nights is a valentine to the '70s golden age of porn, but it's also a nostalgia trip for porn in the late '90s, when the studio system in the Valley was at its most baroque.
PTA returned to the Valley for 1999's Magnolia and for 2002's Punch-Drunk Love, and each is, in its own way, a love letter to its setting. I saw Magnolia on Magnolia Boulevard, at the AMC Burbank Town Center 8, a multiplex that already felt like a dinosaur by then. I watched Punch-Drunk Love, which made me homesick, in an East Coast college dorm room with a confused friend who kept yelling, "THIS MOVIE IS WEIRD!" despite my repeated death stares every time she did so.
What follows is a selected Los Angeles travelogue related to Paul Thomas Anderson's San Fernando Valley trilogy, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and Punch-Drunk Love,1 with a couple of non-Valley locations.
Hot Traxx Disco
John Humble
You probably know the San Fernando Valley suburb of Reseda from The Karate Kid. The building that plays Hot Traxx Disco, where Boogie Nights opens, was actually a musical venue called the Reseda Country Club in 1979, around the time the movie takes place. Generations of important West Coast acts played the club, including the Beach Boys, Guns N' Roses, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The club, whose interior also serves as the interior of Hot Traxx, closed in the late '90s, and the site has since been repurposed into a church, but the club entrance as it appears in the movie is still clearly visible.
There was a real Hot Traxx, an actual disco on Van Nuys Boulevard. But it was 21-and-under, so it's more likely that the fictional club is a conflation of 21-and-up '70s Valley discos like My Uncle's Disco and Shot of Gold. The Boogie Nights script describes the club as being in Van Nuys, which makes more sense than Reseda because Van Nuys was the epicenter of the porn industry during the golden age. Van Nuys is, to me, the ur-Valley neighborhood: simultaneously urban, suburban, and industrial; at once run-down and brand gleaming new. The neighborhood is oriented around the main drag of Van Nuys Boulevard, an arterial thoroughfare that runs north and south through the heart of the Valley. In the Boogie Nights '70s, Van Nuys Boulevard was a hub for cruising, the practice of aimlessly driving up and down the strip to show off your sweet customized ride. The Van Nuys cruising2 culture is captured for all eternity in the 1979 movie Van Nuys Blvd., which, like Boogie Nights, is an amazing depiction of Los Angeles on the cusp of the '80s. It's a must-see, along with Exhausted: John C. Holmes, the Real Story, for Boogie Nights completists and anyone who likes B movies.
Jack Horner's House
Jack Horner's house is presumably in the San Fernando Valley, but the actual shooting location is in West Covina, a suburb in the neighboring San Gabriel Valley. Nevertheless, Jack's place is a quintessential Valley house. In California homes, the swimming pool is the hearth, the place where all the action takes place. Pools serve as gathering places for families and friends who don't have pools, and in Boogie Nights, the pool is the home base for Jack Horner's pseudo family of porn stars and film crew. The tiki bar, sadly, does not line the pool in real life, but other than that, the backyard still looks pretty much exactly the same as it does in the movie, although it feels more wholesome without the cocaine that flows like guacamole throughout that scene.
While Hollywood's rich and famous live in tony communities like Bel Air, Brentwood, and Malibu, the Valley is the home of celebrities B-list and under and all the people who work below the line (although, Calabasas … ). It's not exactly porn, but the Valley accommodates all kinds of entertainment fringe communities — like the one PTA's father, Ernie Anderson, a horror-movie-show host by the name of "Ghoulardi," was part of. Ernie moved to L.A. and found success as a voice actor, and entertained friends like Tim Conway and Harvey Korman with drinks and jokes at his Studio City home. Conway has said he thinks Horner was based on Ernie Anderson.
There's never an L.A. season when it's inappropriate to lounge around the pool, and February just means more reason to turn on the hot tub. If that sounds like nonstop hedonism, it's mostly a lot more innocent than that. The California pool party is characterized by a few phenomena familiar to locals: the presence of random children running around, the wafting scent of pot smoke, and infinite reserves of chips and salsa. Some other great depictions of the California endless pool-party lifestyle are found in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, Laurel Canyon, and that fairly recent episode of Mad Men in which Don Draper trips the light fantastic at such a gathering.
The Drug Dealer's House
On the Boogie Nights director's commentary track during the epic drug-deal-gone-wrong scene in the last third of the movie, PTA says, "This scene, I think, is also just a definitive Valley scene. If you grew up in the fuckin' Valley and you ever went up to any of those houses in the Hills, y'know, it makes sense for you. With the rocks on the wall." And yes, growing up in the Valley, you eventually find yourself in a car on the way to some random house of ill repute in the Hills, through a friend of a friend of a friend, feeling weird and tense in the party atmosphere. The winding roads and many cul-de-sacs of the Encino Hills are a favorite stop for teenagers aimlessly driving around, since they are a great spot to … study.
If the Encino house where Alfred Molina's character, Rahad Jackson, lives looks familiar, it might be because it looks like any number of houses in vintage porn. Like the movie itself, it's a symbol of transition, the tropes of one decade's louche drug mansions morphing into those of the next. The '70s are still there in the "rocks on the wall," but the jewel-toned lighting scheme and brand-new technology (cassettes!) are pure '80s. It's still early when we see the house in Boogie Nights, but in a few years, sketchy mansions like these will have assumed their full '80s coke-palace form: ultramodernist boxy architecture, black leather couches, walls of Lucite bricks, plush white carpeting, glass-and-marble furniture.
The whole scene at Rahad's house is a heavily fictionalized take on some aspects of the Wonderland murders. While Dirk Diggler is mostly based on John Holmes, Rahad Jackson is based somewhat on Eddie Nash, the cocaine kingpin whom Holmes betrayed. Anderson was beguiled by the description in a Rolling Stone article of the "sheen of sweat" on Nash's body in a Speedo. The real Wonderland murders took place not in a Valley mansion, but in a Laurel Canyon townhouse. In contrast with the actual Wonderland massacre, which was one of the bloodiest and most notorious L.A. crimes since the Manson family murders, Anderson gives Boogie Nights an upbeat twist and delivers one last reversal you're not expecting. It's a surprise '70s happy ending!
The Fox Fire Room
In making "the epic, the all-time great San Fernando Valley movie," PTA set much of the action along the east-west thoroughfare of Magnolia Boulevard, which spans the east side of the SFV. The Fox Fire Room is where William H. Macy's character, "Quiz Kid" Donnie Smith, has a meltdown confessing his love for Brad, the hot bartender with braces. The Valley is dotted with dive bars like the Fox Fire, dark holes in the wall lit with dim Christmas lights that feel permanently stuck in the mid-'60s, despite now being shoulder to shoulder with dispensaries and vaporizer stores. Los Angeles is not much of a bar town for one very obvious reason (driving) and a less obvious one: There is nothing that is not better in Los Angeles when done outside. I have always felt that the dark, dim confines of a bar might be more appealing to me if I had bad weather to escape from. For bars to escape into, though, the Fox Fire Room is perfect. It has dark wood and wine-colored carpeting, and it's impossible to tell what time of day it might be outside when you're in there.
Bryson Apartment Hotel
Magnolia's prologue takes place at the Bryson Apartment Hotel, a historic building in MacArthur Park that dates back to 1913, which in Los Angeles qualifies as incredibly old. It was designed in the Beaux Arts style and became known as a glamorous destination in the '20s, before fading into disrepair as MacArthur Park became increasingly run-down over the years. The Bryson played Walter Neff's home in Double Indemnity, and it also shows up in late-20th-century neo-noirs The Grifters and Barfly. It was designated a historic place in 1983 and received a multimillion-dollar makeover in 1999 that brought it up to snuff. With its rooftop sign and glowering towers, the Bryson is a symbol of L.A. noir, which made it the perfect place to stage the darkly comic opening sequence about a paradoxical murder, narrated by magician Ricky Jay. MacArthur Park was built in the 1880s to be the Riviera of Los Angeles, but by the 1980s it was considered derelict and sleazy, like Times Square and many other aging urban centers during that decade. In 2007, a May Day rally for citizenship for undocumented immigrants ended with the LAPD coming in wearing riot gear, firing rubber bullets, and wielding batons, in an incident dubbed the "May Day Melee," foreshadowing current events.
Barry's Office
As a city of cars, Los Angeles is by necessity also a city of auto mechanics. Barry Egan works in a nondescript warehouse in Chatsworth that looks like any number of nondescript auto body shops in the Valley — a boxy building with a painted logo lettered on the outside. The genericness of Barry's office helps the specific and surreal narrative of the movie to feel as if it's taking place on a heightened plane. Punch-Drunk Love is PTA's last real SFV movie, and he depicts the Valley as William Eggleston did the South. Anderson finds the beauty in the Valley's unpretentious qualities — its concrete everywhereness, its beautiful neon lights, the breadth of Light and Space.
The Mattress Man's Store
The mattress store is another transformation of a mundane space — in this case, changing a little box mattress store in Pomona into the terror-dome where Barry confronts his nemesis, Dean the Mattress Man. PTA's Mattress Man, portrayed by Philip Seymour Hoffman, is a spoofily loving re-creation of an '80s commercial outtake featuring "Vinnie T The Furniture Guy." This is another example of Anderson infusing a very generic and common sight with holiness. The mattress store today is a 99-cent store. Even though it's the type of thing you see everywhere, this building feels Californian to me, if only for the amount of plate glass used.
Le Petit Chateau
The restaurant where Barry beats up the bathroom on his dinner date with Lena is a 50-year-old establishment in North Hollywood on Lankershim Boulevard. It is one of a handful of traditional fancy French restaurants in Los Angeles dating back to the Mad Men era, when they were most popular. With a Loire Valley castle exterior and a kitschy Francophilic interior, it feels frozen in time in a good way. In the Valley, recent history is blended down into one unidentifiable time span. That's one of the reasons it makes for such a great filming location: It can sub for any decade from the '40s onward. Any era before that, you're better heading downtown or to a soundstage. Le Petit Chateau is notable for surviving this long without changing, because in Los Angeles a restaurant from 1964 is practically an ancient relic.
This piece has been updated to reflect that the fictional settings of There Will Be Blood were New Mexico and California, not Texas, and that the perpetrators of the North Hollywood shootout were reportedly inspired by the movie Heat, not the other way around.
In case you are wondering where the others are set: There Will Be Blood (New Mexico and California), The Master (Northern California), and Hard Eight (Reno, Nevada).
Not to be confused with the Cruising kind of cruising.
Filed Under: Paul Thomas Anderson Week, Movies, Paul Thomas anderson, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch-Drunk Love, Los Angeles, San Fernando Valley
Molly Lambert is a staff writer for Grantland.
Archive @ mollylambert
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'B.S. Report': Bill and House's Top 20 'Boogie Nights' Characters December 17, 2014
IV Drip: Paul Thomas Anderson's Postlapsarian Comedy 'Inherent Vice' December 12, 2014
A Brief Oral History of Dirk's Diggler, by Mark Wahlberg December 12, 2014
Good Disintegration: Paul Thomas Anderson and Robert Altman's Special Relationship December 11, 2014
There Will Be Pod: A Conversation About the Films of Paul Thomas Anderson December 11, 2014
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• Ryan Gosling took pilates when preparing for "La La Land."
• He also did a lot of circuit training, and focused on his core.
• He doesn't worry about his diet too much — Gosling loves sugar.
Emma Stone might be the most relatable actor on the silver screen, but never more so than in 2011, when she uttered the words we were all thinking after seeing Ryan Gosling with his shirt off: "Seriously? It's like you're Photoshopped."
The line easily became the most memorable scene in "Crazy, Stupid, Love," as Gosling became a meme many times over — and renowned for his physique. Now, six years after their on-screen debut together, the duo's reunited, co-starring in "La La Land," a love story about a jazz pianist who falls for an actress. And once again, we're wondering: Has this guy been Photoshopped?!
For the movie's ads and posters, maybe. But in real life, it took plenty of training — and a level of discipline as intense as RyGos's brooding in "Drive" — to get where he is today. All presented in Gosling's most famous meme, because life is short and memes make the internet go round.
Gosling took dance and piano lessons to prepare for his role in "La La Land," but the true secret to his smooth moves involved taking a page from Kate Hudson and getting his Pilates on. "Once I had tired him out with squats and pull-ups, we brought in the Pilates table," trainer Arin Babaian told Men's Journal. "That helped us really improve his spine stability and postural strength."
He focused on his core.
He doesn't worry about his sugar intake.
Keeping your energy up while acting and dancing is crucial — not just so you don't slump through every routine, but so that your co-stars don't have to see you when you're hangry. Gosling must have known that, because he kept licorice on him pretty much at all times while filming.
"Ryan can eat more Twizzlers than anyone you've ever met," Stone told Vanity Fair. "He would keep it in his coat pocket and just, you know, hand out Twizzlers and eat Twizzlers himself."
Twizzlers aren't his only vice. In a 2011 interview with Esquire, Gosling hit up 7-Eleven, stocking up on green apple and grape Hi-Chews, Nerds Ropes, Kazoozles and Haribos.
"Sugar till you die," he told the reporter.
He does circuit training with running, deadlifts, and squats.
Gosling's "La La Land" gym sessions involved a 5-minute warm-up with a foam roller, then a two-part circuit training session, doing five rounds of the first circuit and three of the second, before hitting up Pilates. The first circuit featured a mix of running, deadlifts, presses and squats, while the second involved hanging leg raises and sit ups. You can get the exact workout here.
It may not make you a meme, but it could get you abs worthy of Photoshop rumors.


text:
FAT TOM es una abreviatura mnemotécnica utilizada en la industria de servicios alimentarios para describir las seis condiciones favorables requeridas para el crecimiento de patógenos transmitidos por los alimentos. Es un acrónimo de las siglas en inglés de alimentos, acidez, tiempo, temperatura, oxígeno y humedad.

Condiciones
Cada una de las seis condiciones que fomentan el crecimiento de patógenos transmitidos por los alimentos se definen en rangos establecidos:

Referencias

Véase también

 HACCP
 Procedimientos Operativos Estándar de Saneamiento

Seguridad alimentaria
Tecnología de los alimentos
Wikipedia:Páginas con traducciones sin revisar


text:
Q: JavaScript for loop of an array doesn't work I don't understand why this piece of code doesn't work:

let i = 0;
let arr = [];

while(i < 8){
  arr[i] = i;
  i++;
}

for(i = 0; arr[i]; i++) {
  console.log("Result:", arr[i]);
}

I want to log each element of the array while the condition is true
I know that i equals to 8 after the while loop, but even an "i=0" before the for doesn't solve the issue (BTW why the i = 0 inside the for initialisation doesn't set it to 0?)
Can someone explain me what breaks the code?

A: for loops run until the condition is not true.
The first time around the loop i is 0 so arr[i] is arr[0] which you've populated with a 0.
0 is a false value, so the condition is false and the loop ends before the first iteration.
You probably want the condition to be i < arr.length.

A: In your first look you set arr[i] = i. In the second loop your condition is arr[i], and on the first iteration i = 0, which means arr[i] is 0 which evaluates to false causing your loop to exit.


Icon Pools LLC is a superior retail and pool management company that strives on customer satisfaction. Included with every Hot Tub and Spa sold is our Platinum Delivery service. With this service we will spend time showing you how to maintain proper chemical levels, how to avoid cloudy water and most importantly, we will not leave until you are 100% satisfied.
Start exploring the features that Sundance® spas have to offer, and learn how to make spa time a focal point in your journey to share meaningful moments with the people you love.


text:
#ifndef LIBDPKG_TEST_H
#define LIBDPKG_TEST_H

#include <assert.h>
#include <string.h>

#ifndef TEST_MAIN_PROVIDED
#include <dpkg/ehandle.h>
#endif

/* Make sure NDEBUG is never defined, as we rely on the assert() macro. */
#undef NDEBUG

/**
 * @defgroup dpkg_test Test suite support
 * @ingroup dpkg-internal
 * @{
 */

#define test_pass(a)			assert((a))
#define test_fail(a)			assert(!(a))
#define test_str(a, op, b)		assert(strcmp((a), (b)) op 0)
#define test_mem(a, op, b, size)	assert(memcmp((a), (b), (size)) op 0)

/** @} */

#ifndef TEST_MAIN_PROVIDED
static void test(void);

int
main(int argc, char **argv)
{
	push_error_context();

	test();

	pop_error_context(ehflag_normaltidy);

	return 0;
}
#endif

#endif


Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.). Office of Communication	. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.), Public Health Practice Program Office.	. United States, Dept. of Health and Human Services.


There are only two things that are certain in life: death and taxes. While the former may be inevitable, the latter is open to interpretation!
With so many taxes on our income, lottery players may question whether or not lottery winnings are taxed – after all, a jackpot still counts as an income, regardless of whether or not it was earned!
However, the good news is that, fundamentally, lottery winnings are not taxed.
There are however some exceptions to this that you should be aware of before you buy your next ticket.
"There is no tax on the win itself, but if the win produces an income through interest, then that will be taxed as part of your normal income tax," says Andy Carter, Senior Winners' Advisor at the National Lottery. So what does this mean?
Just as you have money in your current account at the moment, you will receive interest from your banking provider either monthly or yearly.
This amount is usually small depending on your individual circumstances, but the amount paid to you will be awarded after tax has been deducted.
So, if you suddenly see your interest increasing considerably, note that this interest is still taxed – but by that point, you'll probably appreciate it either way!
So, we've covered income tax and made sure that you are awarded the full prize money you win – but what about other taxes? Should your circumstances change, there are some taxes you will need to consider.
For example, many people choose to gift their money to others. However, this could be subject to Gift Tax.
Gift Tax applies when you give anybody a sum of more than £3,000 over a one-year period. You can, however, apply for exemption under 'surplus income', but these need to be regular payments for which you have to produce proof, for example, payments into your child's account.
If your estate is worth more than £325,000 at your time of passing, then the inheritance you leave your loved ones will be subject to Inheritance Tax of 40% of the amount over £325,000 – for example, if you have £350,000, then £25,000 will be taxed. This can be reduced to 36% if you leave more than 10% of your estate to charity.
Another way of reducing Inheritance Tax is to gift the money as before, which will only be subject to tax if you give one person more than £3,000 a year. Alternatively, if you are married or in a civil partnership, then a living partner can receive half of your estate without having to pay Inheritance Tax.
The good news is, lottery winnings are not subject to any Capital Gains Tax, nor is any other form of gambling winnings. While we cannot advise you on how to manage your money, we would suggest speaking to a financial advisor and ensuring your loved ones are safe.


The EPT provides information, education and support to those whose lives are touched by early pregnancy complications and to the professionals who care for them.
The Trust produces a suite of patient orientated literature, designed to help those affected by the condition, with detailed information about their particular treatment and the condition in general. Our literature is widely used throughout hospitals in the UK to ensure that patients are supported and informed.
The website provides information about the diagnosis, treatment and after-care of the condition written by medico/nursing advisors to the Trust.
In 2002 and 2003 the website was nominated for an E-Commerce award. It was short listed for an E-Wellbeing award in 2007 and won in its category. Information designed by The Trust is recommended by health information gateways as a source of good quality health information including amongst others, NHS Direct.
The Trust regularly provides medical information to local and national newspapers and leading women's magazines on the subject of ectopic pregnancy. TV Programmes such as This Morning, GMTV, BBC Health Watchdog, Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Family Affairs and That's Esther, consult The Trust when including ectopic pregnancy in their schedules and story lines. The Trust's patrons, volunteers, trustees and staff also participate in television and radio interviews.


The school uses Parentmail to communicate to parents and for parents to pay for items in school.
If you are a parent of a child at Gusford then please click this link to log in.
If you do not have a password then please contact Gusford to arrange one with the office.
For more information and support then please click this link to visit the Parentmail help page.


text:
UAL Diploma in Art and Design, Level 2
Apply Online Make an Enquiry
Course code:
ART-DP2
Start Date from:
Bromsgrove Campus
St Dunstan's Worcester
Under 19: Free
Course Links
Bromsgrove Art 360° Tour
HOW College/ Courses/ Art and Design/ UAL Diploma in Art and Design, Level 2
Are you a budding artist who has a keen interest in art and design? Could you see yourself as the next Picasso? Would you like to further develop your existing skills and explore and experiment with a range of art and design disciplines? Then our UAL Diploma in Art and Design, Level 2, is the perfect opportunity for you to put your passion for art and design into practice.
Using our specialist design studios and computer suites, at either our Bromsgrove or Worcester campuses, you'll spend your time studying a range of disciplines including; drawing, painting, graphics, 3D design, fashion, textiles as well as looking at the work of other artists, designers and cultures.
All learners will take part in an end of year exhibition.
Please note that this course is predominantly aimed at 16 to 19 year old's. However, we do accept people over the age of 19.
4 GCSEs (A*-D) or (Grade 3 and above) including English and maths. Entry will be subject to a satisfactory reference, interview and portfolio.
Entry decisions will be discretionary at interview. Students will continually be assessed through probation period to ensure they are on the correct level.
- Live Briefs for Specific Creative Scenario
- Visual Communication
- Design Crafts
- Painting and Observational Drawing
- Art History
- Developing an Art and Design Portfolio
You will be continually assessed throughout your course at the end of each project. You will build up a portfolio of work that will include sketchbooks, design sheets, written work, samples, models and final outcomes.
Please be aware that you will be required to complete 30 hours of relevant work experience alongside this course. Work experience is compulsory to the successful completion of this qualification. The college has excellent links with local employers and a dedicated work experience team who will be on hand to support you when sourcing and undertaking your placement.
What can I do next
This course will open up opportunities to continue studying art and design subjects and to progress to a higher Level 3 course.
You may wish to progress to our UAL Applied General Diploma/Extended Diploma in Art and Design, Level 3. If you don't want to continue studying, then you may want to progress into creative arts based careers such as studio assistants and retail work in the areas of print and reprographics, arts and crafts, photography, textiles and garment making or continue with your own artwork.
Please select a campus
Please select the campus you would like to apply to.
Programmes can be offered at different locations and may differ by study type or start date, so please make your choice carefully.
WART-DP2-2324 St Dunstan's Worcester Full Time 11 Sep 2023 Apply
BART-DP2-2324 Bromsgrove Campus Full Time 11 Sep 2023 Apply
Campus -- Please select -- Bromsgrove Redditch Worcester


"Clements Mountain, Star Trails, Waterfall." © Tim Cooper.
I am fortunate to live in Montana. It's a beautiful state filled with wonderful people and fantastic landscapes. My "backyard" is Glacier National Park. Glacier is truly one of America's great alpine experiences—from gorgeous glaciated peaks to alpine meadows carpeted with wildflowers to the host of wildlife visible on a near daily basis. I take every chance I can to get up to the park.
When it comes to photography, I always give luck a little credit. Did the clouds cover the sky? Or did they add a nice accent? Did it rain on the night I had planned to shoot? There are so many small blessings that are easy to overlook.
Luck, however, is no substitute for planning. If you read this blog often then you have seen us discuss many times the importance of planning a night shoot. My familiarity with Glacier helped enormously with planning this shot. I already knew the location of the waterfall and exactly where I wanted the moon to be so that it would backlight the water. It was just a simple matter of using the indispensable phone app, PhotoPills, to determine when the moon would reach the necessary spot in the sky (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. The zoomed-out and zoomed-in views of the shoot location, as seen in PhotoPills'' Planner mode. The blue lines told me where the moon would be at different times of the night, which told me when to shoot for the effect I wanted.
I wanted to use the moon to illuminate the falls, but I also envisioned star trails rather than star points in my image. To create the effect of star trails, you have to make a very long exposure—15 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour or even longer. This makes the stars appear as if they are trailing through the sky. Another method to create these trails is to break up the exposure time into shorter chunks, and then stack the resulting set of images in post-production. This is especially helpful under bright moon situations or when you want to light paint.
Using multiple short exposures was my plan for this setup. The first step was to calculate an exposure using a high ISO test (i.e., the 6 Stop Rule). Setting my Nikon D4s to ISO 3200 and f/4, my final test shot (Figure 2) was exposed for 30 seconds.
Figure 2. Test shot at 30 seconds, f/4, ISO 3200.
Typically night photographers use an ISO of 6400 for test shots because, according to that 6 Stop Rule, we know that an exposure time of X seconds at ISO 6400 equals X minutes at ISO 100. This is a very handy little trick for calculating long exposures easily.
Because my successful test exposure was 30 seconds at ISO 3200, which equals 15 seconds at ISO 6400, then my long low-ISO exposure would be 15 minutes at ISO 100. Or—to shorten things up a bit—8 minutes at ISO 200. Using this exposure, I could shoot multiple frames at 8 minutes and blend them later in post using the star-stacking technique.
This evening, however, I either miscalculated or mistakenly set my camera wrong. My final exposures (Figure 3) ended up being shot at 5 minutes, f/4, ISO 100. That's about two stops underexposed!
I didn't notice that at the time. I finished shooting and had to leave immediately, so there was no time to reshoot the frames. I was destined to have to fix it later in post.
The next step was to blend all the frames together to create the star trail effect. I began by selecting all of the images in Lightroom. Next, from the menu I selected Photo > Edit In > Open as Layers in Photoshop. This opens all of the images into Photoshop as layers within one file.
Once the file opened, I clicked on the top layer, held down the Shift key, then clicked on the bottom layer. This selects all of the layers in the file.
Next, in the Blending Mode drop-down list (circled in red in Figure 5), I selected Lighten (Figure 6).
This blending mode allows the brightest part of each layer to show through on the final image, which in this case creates the effect of the stars trailing across the sky. Figure 7 shows the result of blending the images with this technique.
Did you notice the multiple car headlights that showed up after blending the layers? They were in the first, second and last photo frames (Figure 8). Because using the Lighten mode reveals the brightest parts of each layer, all the headlights showed up after blending.
So, the next step was to remove the unwanted car lights. One of the benefits of stacking frames rather than taking one long exposure is that you can use layer masks to remove unwanted artifacts that show up in just a few frames rather than overwhelming an entire final photo. To do this, I clicked on the first layer that contained headlights to select it. Then at the bottom of the Layers palette I clicked on the Add a Mask icon (Figure 9).
Next I selected the paintbrush tool and chose black as my foreground color. Then I just painted on the mask over the area I wanted to remove. Notice in Figure 10 how I painted over the tunnel where the car headlights appeared. Also notice the corresponding black area on the white mask thumbnail, indicating the shape and location of the mask.
I followed the same steps for the other two layers with the artifact, painting out the headlights further up the road. Figure 11 shows the three masks with black painted on them covering up all of the headlights that exist on the different layers.
Finally, I wanted to separate the cool tones of the sky from the foreground waterfall. I clicked on the bottom layer, chose the Quick Select tool and then selected the foreground waterfall and cliff face (Figure 12).
Then I created a Color Balance layer by choosing Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Color Balance. Adding some warmth via the Red and Yellow sliders started to really separate the warm colors in the foreground from the cool colors of the background.
Figure 13 shows the final image.
Figure 13. Five stacked frames, each shot at 5 minutes, f/4, ISO 100 with a Nikon D4s and Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 lens zoomed out to 14mm.
While this may sound like a lot of work, after a little practice in Photoshop, you'll find that completing these types of images takes no time at all!


text:
Q: Authenticated on ADFS with Python We are using Microsoft ADFS at my company for single sign-on to access all the different internal tools.
I would like to know how I can reproduce my manual sign-in (in Google chrome for example) to be authenticated in Python.
I basically wrote a Python script downloading a file from one of our internal tools but to make it work, I have to make it open the link by Google Chrome where I'm already authenticated (I entered my login/password on the webpage before).
I want to avoid that step and have it directly downloaded by the script but for that I need to be authenticated in Python.
Do you know how I could do that please?
Thanks a lot!

A: You could use Selenium with Python to control Chrome. Something like this:
from xvfbwrapper import Xvfb
from selenium.webdriver import Chrome

from settings import url, username, password

xvfb = Xvfb()
xvfb.start()

browser = Chrome()
browser.get(url)

browser.find_element_by_id("usernameinput").send_keys(username)
browser.find_element_by_id("passwordinput").send_keys(password)
browser.find_element_by_id("submit").click()

If anyone knows of a more elegant way, I'm interested to hear about it as well.


E3 2019 is just around the corner so we might as well expect some surprises from Capcom.
Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition is free for now!
Capcom is hoping to steal the show from NetherRealm Studios.
Don't be alarmed - NetherRealm Studios is on the case.
SEGA Mega Drive Mini will launch on September 19th, 2019.
Mortal Kombat 11 launch trailer is awesome!
Game's director Jeff Kaplan confirmed that Havana comes as the newest map in Overwatch.
The new PlayStation looks to be even more powerful than predicted previously.
Even if you haven't played God of War you can download a free dynamic theme for your PlayStation console.
SUPERHOT VR sold over 800 000 copies across platforms.
Tomb Raider 2 seems inevitable according to the report by Deadline.
Rise of Azshara is tackling the biggest Battle for Azeroth expansion problems voiced by the community.


have a look and feel free to comment. one question i have for yall is how you got so good at this?! in addition to lots of practice, what are some good resources for learning and improving? thanks!
the first one is just watercolor, airbrush + a stencil for the text.
the second is a whole mess of stuff.
the third is mostly just watercolor.
another edit: added the rose painting...i think i like watercolor thanks Someonesane for the g7 carpet grain!
also thanks for the comments guys!!!
Last edited by cwill51; 07-15-2012 at 03:39 PM.
great beginning...keep it up and Welcome to Art Rage Forums!!!!!
I enjoyed all three of these. I almost did not see the elephant and tree!
Just keep at it buddy, improvement will come, but a good start and WELCOME.
nice start, you have a good sense of color and tone.. the little sketch of the womans face for example, I like the crucifix with the bible verses... seems like you have lots of ideas and these are a great start..
Especially on the seemingly tie dyed rose.
Welcome and keep enjoying Your visual explorations. You'll soon master enough of AR to find Your own style.
very cool effects you are showing right out of the gate. these are great.


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Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
Who Fears Death is a novel set in Africa. In fact, it is a fantasy / science fiction novel set in a postapocalyptic Africa, but to be honest, this only became clear to me very late in the novel.
Our heroine, Onyesonwu, is an "Ewu", a mixed race girl, born as a result of a rape. Permanently an outsider, she is passionate, stubborn, quick to anger, and, it turns out, adept at using magic / juju. She is determined to learn magic and change the world.
The world, meanwhile, is a desert, populated by two tribes / races: Nurus and Okekes. Nurus rule, Okekes are slaves. There's been an uprising by Okekes before Onye was born. Now there is a slow-moving genocide (Nurus killing Okekes), ongoing since before Onye's birth, and continuing, brutally.
There is a lot of stuff in this novel that makes the reader think, and which offers itself for debate and discussion. Much of its core is about the relationship between a group of young people. The novel clearly has a lot to say about women and sex and gender politics. The shifting relationships between our questing youths (four girls, two guys), and the importance of sex, are as much part of the novel as magic and genocide.
Who Fears Death is not a young adult novel (based on the cartoonish cover, and having read only a YA novel by Nnedi Okorafor previously, I had the wrong expectations). It is a novel that feels authentically African (which is an achievement, as the author was born and lives in America). The way the story handles tribes, beliefs in juju / magic, and the strange way in which life can go on while civil war and genocide are also occurring, in close proximity - it all feels authentic, incredibly, depressing and uncanny. We witness female genital mutilation, angry, hateful mobs, weaponised rape, tribalism, execution by stoning to death, incest - at times, this novel feels like a highlights reel of the worst and ugliest sides of Africa (and families in general).
I realise that it is meant to be a novel of hope, of sorts, with a hero who does not readily accept being an outcast for her race, or being seen as a lesser person because of her sex, and who goes on to try to change things. But to me, it was a very hard novel to read. The realistic elements are brutal. The fact that the novel uses magic and prophecy as an agent of change leaves a bitter aftertaste in my mouth. It makes me feel that there is no real hope for Africa at all, and dreaming of a magic solution is the only dream that Africa has left. Along the way, we even briefly encounter an almost utopian society in a dream-like sequence, which is founded entirely upon magic. All the reality in this book is grim, all the hope is carried in its magic.
Who Fears Death is an original novel - who else writes science fiction about Africa? It is also an effective novel, putting some of the brutality that I try not to think about into my life by embedding it in a book I chose for leisure reading. But it is not a book that makes me hopeful, or that gives me any happiness. It made me realise how my image of Africa is already postapocalyptic / dystopian - if it takes me until 80% of a book have passed before I understand that this is meant to be a post-climate-change, post-technological-collapse future, then that tells me something. It tells me I am ignorant, but it also tells me that Africa must be a grim and terrible place, to be so indistinguishable from postapocalyptic dystopias to the ignorant. Most of all, the book tells me that there is no hope for some parts of Africa ever to develop, to become something less brutal, less oppressive, more humane: even in science fiction, it takes god-like magic, and god-like prophets and messiahs for anything to change. To me, Who Fears Death is terrifying and grim.
Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson
Alif the Unseen is a book unlike any other I've ever read. It is the story of Alif, an internet service provider / hacker, living in an unspecified City, in an unspecified Emirate, somewhere in the Arabian Peninsula.
To begin with, it's just a tale of nerd-has-girl-trouble: his girlfriend is leaving him to marry another man. She tells him she never wants to see him again, never wants to hear from him again. In a fit of angry despair, Alif decides to make her wish come true, and write a programme which can identify her, no matter which computer in the world she uses, and make his own email address, web handles, avatars, phone numbers etc. forever invisible and unreachable for her. Only after some manic coding does he realise that this programme in the wrong hands could be a terrible weapon against any activists.
Soon, things get a little out of hand. Before we know it, the story involves an ancient mythical manuscript, people who seem supernatural (djinn!) and sinister state security forces / persecution.
If you took Cory Doctorow's Little Brother, jumbled it up with The Arabian Nights, injected a little bit of Zoe Ferraris's Kingdom Of Strangers' Middle Eastern atmosphere and setting, sprinkled in a dusting of Islam, and turned it all into a beautifully written novel set in the Arab Spring, then the outcome would be this. It is not a mixture I would ever have thought of. It's thrilling, original, fresh and new. Even the Arab Spring is handled with elegance, deftness and complexity. (I would almost compare it to Ian MacDonald's The Dervish House, but the prose in Alif the Unseen is much lighter and more accessible - it creates a similarly rich atmosphere, but relying less on a barrage of alien vocabulary)
The book is not flawless. For this particular reader, there is something uncomfortable about the way Islam is infused in the mix, especially in the later parts, and how faith in Islam is promoted. I'm never going to enjoy a book where anything is driven away by the power of Faith / God, Islamic or otherwise, but that aside, it's not really fun to detect an author's pet subject / propaganda sneaking into a novel that's otherwise an adventure story.
That aside, buy this book! It's hard to beat in terms of entertainment value: beautifully written, no hint of purple prose, thrilling, and full of the magic of Arabian Nights and the techy dazzle of teh interwebs, in an exotic combination you've never encountered before. A stunning debut novel, brilliant despite a small handful of preachy moments, and unusually current and topical.
For another great review of this book, see Sheenagh Pugh's review of Alif the Unseen.
Labels: Fairy Tales and Myths, Fantasy


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Man Utd moved for Cristiano Ronaldo after his conversation with Sir Alex Ferguson
Simon Lloyd
Ronaldo is coming back to Manchester
We can scarcely believe we're writing this but here goes: Cristiano Ronaldo looks set to imminently join Manchester United - not Manchester City.
No, really.
Despite appearing certain to seal a move to the Etihad on Thursday night, a drastic turn of events has now seen City pull out of a deal to sign the 36-year-old, with United now expected to take him back for a second stint at Old Trafford.
Ronaldo was first signed for United by Sir Alex Ferguson in 2003, leaving for Real Madrid six years later. In his time at United he helped the club to its third European Cup along with three league titles.
Ferguson, it seems, has played a key role in what appears to be his return to the club. According to the Manchester Evening News' Samuel Luckhurst, Ronaldo had a conversation with his former manager on Friday morning, when a move to City looked imminent. United are said to have made him a contract offer soon after.
United have submitted a contract offer to Cristiano Ronaldo after he spoke to Sir Alex Ferguson this morning. #mufc
— Samuel Luckhurst (@samuelluckhurst) August 27, 2021
Ronaldo is, for now, a Juventus player but reports claim talks with United and their former number seven are at an advanced stage.
Earlier on Friday, Ronaldo's former teammate Rio Ferdinand had given hope to United fans that the move to City had broken down via a cryptic tweet. Few at that stage would have envisaged it meant United were considering a move for him.
Speaking later in the day, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hinted that United were in talks to sign Ronaldo after all.
For now, he looks set to rejoin United. We should probably stress the "for now" part. At this stage it feels like anything can happen.
Manchester United,
Cristiano Ronaldo,
Sir Alex Ferguson.


The Challenge to CIOs: "Clearly Demonstrate Your Value!"
CIOs are expected to overcome challenges, deliver results, reduce costs, and hopefully even make IT a revenue center instead of a cost center. Basically, Superman without the outfit. This series provides some down-to-earth suggestions on how to get there.
This article is the first in a series describing the fundamental elements of a framework that links business, service delivery, and information technology to achieve desired business outcomes. It describes the key issues surrounding IT executives and establishes an approach to address the challenges and seize opportunities.


text:
Iowa Legislature
Publications Site Committees
The Iowa Legislature > Committees & Schedules > Mental Health and Disability Services Redesign Fiscal Viability Study Committee Print Permanent Link
Mental Health and Disability Services Redesign Fiscal Viability Study Committee (J)
General Assembly: 84 Session: 2 (01/09/2012 - 01/13/2013) ▼
General Assembly: 89 Session: 2 (01/10/2022 - 01/08/2023)
General Assembly: 9 Session: 1 (01/13/1862 - 01/10/1864)
Legislative Assembly: 8 Session: 1 (12/01/1845 - 11/29/1846)
The Legislative Council continued this committee from the 2012 Interim with a new charge. In addition to monitoring implementation of the mental health and disability services redesign and receiving reports from stakeholder groups engaged in implementation of the redesign, the study committee shall propose a permanent approach for state, county, and regional financing of the redesign and identify potential cost savings and service improvements that may be realized by working with community-based corrections services and other programs and services that address common needs or populations (2013 Iowa Acts, SF 452, §184). The study committee shall also study the provisions for implementing mental health and disability service Medicaid offset amounts and repayments by counties relating to the Iowa Health and Wellness Plan. The study committee shall consider the potential effects of the repayment provisions on the ability of the mental health and disability service regions to adequately fund the initial core services and additional core services and to make recommendations to address funding insufficiencies (2013 Iowa Acts, SF 446, §181).
Joe Bolkcom (D, District 39), Co-Chair
Jack Hatch (D, District 33)
David Johnson (R, District 3)
Amanda Ragan (D, District 7)
Renee Schulte (R, District 37), Co-Chair
David E. Heaton (R, District 91)
Lisa Heddens (D, District 46)
Linda J. Miller (R, District 82)
Mark D. Smith (D, District 43)
Former Committee Members and Positions
Mark Segebart (12/28/2012 - 01/13/2013)
Meetings (Schedules, Agendas & Minutes)
Comments? webmaster@legis.iowa.gov
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* methods since a polynom can be easily also viewed as a fraction.
* is viewed as a polynom.
* ?- X is (1+A)^2.
* ?- X is (1+A)/(1+A)^2.
* currently not supported. Error handling is rudimentary.
* The predicate succeeds in Q with the P negated.
* The predicate succeeds in R with the sum of P and Q.
* The predicate succeeds in R with P subtracted by Q.
* The predicate succeeds in R with the product of P and Q.
* The predicate succeeds in R with P divided by Q.
* The predicate succeeds in R with P raised by Q.
sys_poly_add(, L, L) :- !.
sys_make_power(_, 0, 1) :- !.
sys_make_power(Y, 1, Y) :- !.
sys_make_mul(X, 1, X) :- !.
sys_make_mul(1, X, X) :- !.
sys_make_add(0, X, X) :- !.
sys_make_add(X, -Y, X-Y) :- !.
* The predicate succeeds in evaluating E by using polymorphism.


A WOZ system enables "ideal" system performance on selected tasks by having a human "Wizard" perform those tasks. In our WOZ spoken dialogue tutoring system, the human "Wizard" performs speech recognition, natural language understanding, and recognition of uncertainty, for each student answer.
This page was last modified on 15 February 2007, at 14:42.


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Bitcoin Ransom Attack in Argentina Attempts to Block Access to 10 Years of Government Files
in Scams, Schemes and Hacks
Alicia Bañuelos, Minister of Science and Technology of Argentina's local government in San Luis, confirms that hackers launched an attack on a government-owned data center located in the South American country. The hacking group allegedly demanded ransom payments in Bitcoin (BTC).
Around 7,700 GB of data, accumulated over a 10 year-period, was reportedly compromised due to the security breach. Bañuelos says the data center has recovered around 90% of the data that was encrypted by the hackers and that it will take around 15 days to decrypt all the files, "mostly due to the sheer size of the archive."
Bitcoin ransoms reaching into the hundreds of thousands, which are tied to crippling malware, have impacted cities around the world. In June, government officials in Baltimore, Maryland who refused to pay a 13 BTC ransom worth roughly $100,000 at that time, ended up losing at least $18 million in repair costs and lost revenue due to hijacked systems.
Johannesburg got hit with a Bitcoin ransom in October
Ransom-seeking hackers hit two cities in Florida
Riviera Beach, Florida agreed to pay hackers $600,000 in Bitcoin
The exact amount of the Bitcoin ransom demanded in the San Luis hack is unknown; however, reports indicate that the extortionists may have asked for anywhere between $37,000 and $370,000 in Bitcoin, in exchange for decrypting the affected files.
An official who was working at the data center says that they are unable to confirm whether the person(s) sending the email messages is the one who actually created the malware scripts.
However, it appears that the criminals who engage in these activities have the financial resources to develop the software tools needed to launch such attacks.


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The DS Lite
Koffdrop January 30, 2006 3 Comments
Working at 500% capacity due to ever decreasing size of my team here at the office means that those moments I would choose to update koffdrop.com are becoming more and more scarce. It's not that I have less to say, far from it, it's just that I have so much less time to say it in.
My workplace has kindly offered to help out by blocking pretty much every website I normally visit in my working hours and a few more just to be on the safe side. This, the fact that I'm doing the work of at least three people whilst remaining underpaid in the first place and a number of other factors are not helping my mood.
I'll always make some time to deliver some critique of Nintendo's latest moves though, of that you can be sure.
Whilst expectations of a redesigned DS were high Nintendo apparently snubbed them with a statement indicating that no information would be forthcoming at this years E3 show, they firmly denied any such redesign would be available. In a move that barely conceals their smugness they announced the DS Lite, due for release on March 2nd in Japan.
Of course, this confirms that there is no need for an unveiling at E3 in May due to the unit having been available for two months by that time. Nintendo, once again, enjoying the delivery of misinformation to their industry and consumers and the bizarre psychology whereby thousands of gamers thank them for such treatment. I remain unimpressed by such behaviour and fully expect some mention of the DS Lite at E3 regardless of Nintendo's claims.
So, barely a year after it's initial release, Nintendo have redesigned the unit, moved a few things around and make it look as much as an Apple product as the Revolution appears to be. I guess Apple-chic is probably a little more important if you're going to be out and about trying to look hip with your iPod and DS at the same time. I suspect it's only a matter of time before Mr. Jobs and Mr. Iwata get into bed together and spit out some MP3 playing DS compatible gizmo that is the size of your fingernail and comes with the complete works of Pixar pre-loaded and launches with a re-release of Mario 64. God, I bet some of you would love that.
Will the DS Lite follow in the same footsteps as the GBA's redesign into the SP and mysteriously lose some basic functionality that can only be restored by buying a Nintendo made adaptor? If you're not sure what I'm going on about, try locating the earphone socket on your GBA SP. I'm all for improved design (although, frankly, I'd rather they got it right the first time rather than staggered out their designs to an easily swayed public) but not at the expense of basic features. It becomes a game of smoke and mirrors:
"Look at our lovely redesigned DS. Don't you want it? You WANT it! See how sleek it is, how cool it will make you feel. You will say WOW"
"Erm.. ..where do I plug my headphones in, dude?"
"See it sleek and pale design. Just like other top luxury product! You can play GBA games! You can play DS games! You can run Linux!"
"Headphone socket. Where?"
"See how it will compare to Nintendo Revolution in appearance. All this is better! All this is new! This is not as it was before! BUY NOW!"
OK, so I'm being overly harsh towards this redesign. Once bitten twice shy, right? I mean, if Nintendo hadn't already pulled that stunt once then I wouldn't have reason to question their morals. Oh, and before you feel sorry for Nintendo and claim that they simply didn't have space in the GBA SP to fit a 3.5mm headphone jack it's worth bearing in mind that the redesign didn't happen by accident. It's not like they said "We must make it this size, not 1mm larger". The exclusion of the earphone socket and it's decision to be replaced by an adapter at an additional cost was no accident of design – it was premeditated. Not only that, but in the GBA SP's current design it would have been possible to fit an earphone socket.
My final concerns on the redesigned DS is it's name. Nintendo state that the term DS Lite is in reference to the pale complexion and lighter weight of this new machine. In the English language, both those qualities would be described using the word "lighter". Logically, this would suggest a name of DS Light instead of DS Lite. Whilst "Lite" is a trendier term and, perhaps less easy to confuse with a lamp or torch it is tends to be associated with a product lighter in features or limited in some way when compare to the original. A consumer might read "DS Light" and think "torch" but, crucially, a consumer might read "DS Lite" and think "less". I recall that press conference with Reggie Fils-Aime lumbering around on stage giving definitions for the term "DS". Everyone instantly assumed "Dual Screen" but the man from Nintendo tried to convince us it stood for, amongst other things "Developers System". I don't think anyone believed him.
For the reason's stated above, I don't believe "Lite" stands for lighter weight and lighter appearance. It may be the most poorly chosen of names from a company who have a tendancy to consistently abuse their position as industry icons.
Apart from that, I wish it every success.
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Dr Kong January 30, 2006 / 7:03 pm
I really wish they hadn't redesigned it. I feel irrelivent now and despite peoples quarrels with the current DS design, its grown on me. Its robust which means I can throw it about and not worry if it will break and when I open it up it looks as sleek as anything (forgetting the PSP). Sigh… yet I'll probs get this "lite" anyway if it feels lighter in my pocket trousers. But think of all the poor sods who just got a DS!
AirRaven January 31, 2006 / 4:05 pm
They've not confirmed that it's going to lack a headphone socket, or any other such essential yet, thankfully.
Jumping the gun a little, I suppose. Their track record is anything but admirable, though.
Samor February 1, 2006 / 3:49 pm
I feel slightly cheated… I happen to have the DS, but a redesign within little more than a year? I could've waited… =P
Then again, I have my DS modified for homebrew/emulators. It's no telling if the redesign will be as easy to alter.
If they announce a GBA successor at E3 I'm gonna get pissed ;p


We are excited to welcome you to Women Encouraged 2018 for a ladies night out on Friday, September 28, 2018!
Come join other Christian women for an evening of fellowship, thanksgiving, and delicious dessert.
We will be hearing from Bible teacher Sharon Neufeld about what it means to "taste and see that the Lord is good."
For ticket purchases via e-transfer, please call 780-933-8509.
Please note, tickets are not refundable, but are transferrable. Please email us at info@womenencouraged.ca if you have any questions, or need to transfer your ticket.
Each ticket purchased is automatically entered into a draw for a gift basket prepared by Women Encouraged! Tickets are available until September 26th or while supplies last.


General Motors is recalling more cars.
The company announced this morning that it is recalling all current generation Chevrolet Camaros because of a possible loss of power.
The total recall population is more than 500,000 vehicles.
The company also announced two additional safety recalls and one non-compliance recall involving more than 65,000 cars.
GM shares were down 0.5% Friday morning pre-market.
DETROIT - General Motors will recall all current generation Chevrolet Camaros because a driver's knee can bump the key FOB and cause the key to inadvertently move out of the "run" position, with a corresponding reduction or loss of power.
The issue, which may primarily affect drivers sitting close to the steering column, was discovered by GM during internal testing following the ignition switch recall earlier this year.
"Discovering and acting on this issue quickly is an example of the new norm for product safety at GM," said Jeff Boyer, vice president of GM Global Safety.
The Camaro ignition system meets all GM engineering specifications and is unrelated to the ignition system used in Chevrolet Cobalts and other small cars included in the ignition switch recall.
GM is aware of three crashes that resulted in four minor injuries that it believes may be attributed to this condition.
The company will change the Camaro key to a standard design from one in which the key is concealed in the FOB and is opened by pushing a button. The change will make the ignition key and FOB independent of each other, so that inadvertent contact with the FOB won't move the key from the "run" position. There are 464,712 Camaros from the 2010-2014 model years in the U.S. included in the recall. Including Canada, Mexico and exports, the total recall population is 511,528.
Separately, GM also announced two safety recalls and one non-compliance recall involving a total of 65,121 cars in the U.S. all three of which were reported to the NHTSA on Wednesday, June 11, 2014. Including Canada, Mexico and exports, the total recall population is 69,839.
In all cases, customers will receive letters from GM letting them know when they can bring their vehicles into a dealership, where the recall repairs will be performed free of charge and courtesy transportation would be provided as needed.
21,567 Chevrolet Sonic 2012 model year compacts equipped with a six-speed automatic transmission and a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine for a condition in which the transmission turbine shaft may fracture as a result of a supplier quality issue. If this were to occur in first or second gear, the vehicle could not upshift into third through sixth gears. If the turbine shift fractured while in one of the higher gears, the vehicle would coast until it was moving slow enough to downshift into first or second gear. In both instances, a malfunction indicator lamp may illuminate. If driven in this condition for a long period of time, all forward gears may become inoperable. The engine would continue to run and all power accessories would function. Dealers will replace the transmission turbine shaft. GM is unaware of any crashes, injuries or fatalities related to this condition.
14,765 model year 2014 Buick LaCrosse sedans because a wiring splice in the driver's door may corrode and break. That may communicate incorrect information to circuits that control the door chime and allow passenger windows, rear windows and the sunroof to function when the vehicle is turned off and the driver is not in the vehicle. In addition, a chime will not sound when the driver's door is opened if the key is in the ignition.
Dealers will inspect the driver door window motor harness and, if necessary, replace an electrical splice. GM is unaware of any thefts, crashes, injuries or fatalities related to this condition.