As a young woman, I wanted a doctor who could answer my questions, and who could openly communicate with. Throughout my years of practice, I've dedicated myself to helping women be their best in all phases of life by offering the most up-to-date, effective care available in obstetrics and gynecology. My goal is to be the best physician I can be.
That's why it's so important for me to connect with you—my patients.
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It's my hope that through communication, personal attention and time, you'll know that you can always count on me – for the medical care you need to be your healthiest and for the personal dedication you deserve from your physician. Wherever you are in life.
With the latest diagnostics – including in-office gynecologic ultrasound, a full lab and minimally invasive surgical solutions – Dr. Hessel works carefully and thoroughly to diagnose your condition. She also listens closely to you, concentrating on your medical history and your personal experience, preferences and needs.


text:
Schréder United Kingdom
Current country : United Kingdom
Our soul
Our spirit: LIGHTABILITY™
A Caledonian adventure
Jacob's Ladder in Edinburgh is a steep pedestrian pathway carved into the volcanic rock of the iconic Calton Hill in the city centre. Consisting of 140 steps, the route first appeared on a map in 1784 although it is thought to have existed long before then. Originally used as a procession route for funerals, Jacob's Ladder is a reference to the stairway to heaven in the Bible. Today the route – which connects Old and New Town – is regularly used by residents and visitors as they explore the city and its history.
As part of a £150,000 regeneration project funded by the New Waverley Community Fund, City of Edinburgh Council and Edinburgh World Heritage, the route is now illuminated for the first time in its long history.
Harmony with heritage
Illuminating a 235-year old structure is not easy: modern lighting requirements must be weighed against protecting the site from intrusive installation. It is a delicate balance – one that requires an experienced team to negotiate. City of Edinburgh Council and its regeneration partner, P1 Solutions Limited, approached our product special projects team in July 2016 to consult on plans to install a new lighting scheme along Jacob's Ladder.
In recent years the site had become overgrown with vegetation and was a target for vandals, leaving it in desperate need of renovation. Our brief for the project was to rejuvenate the pathway by replacing the dilapidated railings with a modern illuminated handrail; our Alinea handrail was specified to improve personal safety, eliminate any dark corners and encourage more pedestrians to use the route at night.
Problem-solving partnerships
With no blueprints or architectural drawings available, our team began by commissioning a 3D-mapping specialist to provide a detailed site scan, including the attachment points of the old railings and the various mix of stonework which makes up Jacob's Ladder.
The data was analysed and used to create comprehensive lighting and 3D mechanical designs of the walkway which allowed all stakeholders - including conservationists - to assess the plans and ensure they aligned with the new vision for the site.
To meet customer expectations for the final look, our engineering team designed and manufactured adjustable knuckles to allow some sections of handrail to be installed with variability of distances and heights from the supporting wall. This flexibility ensured we were able to achieve the desired aesthetic across the entire walkway.
During installation, it also became clear there were parts of Jacob's Ladder where the masonry and mortar were unsuitable to house the new handrail fittings. A local stonemason was then brought in to handle the repairs which included repointing, replacing broken sections and remoulding areas close to the new LED handrails. By working closely with all partners, we were able to ensure the surfaces were prepared properly and in a way that allowed the new lighting system to be correctly attached to the wall.
In total, more than 120 metres of our Alinea handrail was used to illuminate Jacob's Ladder. Our lighting has now helped celebrate the cultural importance of one of the oldest parts of Edinburgh and transformed Jacob's Ladder from an underused pathway, to a site tourists and visitors can enjoy safely and all year round.
P1 Solutions Ltd
contractors : Phoenix solutions
Application(s)
Urban & residential streets
The restoration of this historic pedestrian route has made it a much more attractive and accessible path for those enjoying the city by foot. I would encourage anyone able to manage the 140 stairs to go and check out the spectacular views and hidden stories from the past that make this such a great short cut down to the Old Town from Regent Road.
Neil Gardiner
Councillor at The City of Edinburgh Council commented
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You text me a full stop. Harbinger of things to come or just your phone 'playing silly beggars' again? Stiff fingers and failing eyes. Low battery. I'm tempted to reply with a question mark. But resist. And pick up the landline.


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Is this a single or dual driver?
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If the estimated ship time seems a bit long, it's because many items are shipped in bulk at the end of the sale (on Mar. 15), which is what affords you the discount. Some items are also made-to-order and/or are shipping internationally. The best things are worth waiting for!


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Q: Can React Router basename be configured to respect asset URLs in CSS? I am using BrowserRouter as Router from react-router-dom. I want to host my application at a path that is not /. I used the basename attribute on the router tag, and it works great.
<Router basename={'/my-cool-path'}>

I am referring to images in my react components like this:
<img class="number" src="one.svg"/>

The HTML reference works great. But in my CSS files, this breaks:
background-image: url(one.svg);

I tried this but it breaks for prod builds (dev env works) :
background-image: url(/one.svg);

This works, but only for production builds (react-scripts build). It breaks during dev (react-scripts start command).
background-image: url(/my-cool-path/one.svg);

I want to be able to have CSS URL paths that work when I do BOTH a production build and during dev (hot reloading with react-scripts start command).
Any ideas for a solution? Is this possible?

A: Short answer: not the way you're hoping.
Problem is, React is Javascript, and your CSS is not handled by Javascript.
You could be saved, if you're compiling CSS - from SCSS for example - you could create a file ie. env-vars.scss, and have it define a variable like $basePath, setting it to /my-cool-path/. ( like $basePath: "/my-cool-path/";)
Import that file into your main scss file, and have git (or whatever repo you use) ignore the file. Then you can manually recreate that file on the server, setting the $basePath to / ( $basePath: "/"; ).
You can then use the $basePath in your urls in scss, say for example background-image: url($basePath + "img/some-background.png");
When ever the scss is compiled, it'll pull the var from that file, and if your repo is ignoring it, you can create different values depending on the environment you're running the compile on.
However building with react-scripts start and react-scripts build might also provide you a way to set an ENV variable and import it into your scss, but I'm not entirely familiar with this so I'd have to direct you to google for that one I'm afraid.
If you're not compiling your CSS from a preprocessor, it'll be a tougher task.

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by Joan Smith Joan Smith
Ella Fairmont, as the anonymous Miss Prattle, has taken the Duke of Clare to task regularly in her gossip column. The duke, unsuspecting, includes Ella and her aunt in his week-long country houseparty. He has also included the blue-blooded Lady Honor, the strikingly beautiful Miss Sheridan, and the multi-talented Miss Prentiss. How could one "ordinary" young lady with a sharp tongue compete with three sterling debutantes?
Miss Puella Fairmont came to London to make her curtsy at St. James's in the spring season of 1811. She was duly chaperoned into polite society under the auspices of her aunt, Lady Sara Mantel, a dashing matron, who was soon sure she could make a respectable match for her niece in the six weeks set aside annually to present the debutantes. The girl had some looks, some conversation, and some money?not an outstanding quantity of any of the three, but enough to make a fairly interesting combination. Her rather simply styled brown hair was no great asset, but her brown eyes sparkled brightly when she was amused. Her quiet conversation sparkled too upon occasion, and if ten thousand pounds was not a fortune, it was at least respectable.
Her season began auspiciously enough. Puella caught the eye of Sir Horace Farthington, a baronet of easy means and presentable person, but somehow it came to nothing after a few weeks. A few other gentlemen came to call; they stood up with her regularly at the balls and routs she attended, so Sir Horace was allowed to slip away. But somehow, one by one, the others stopped coming around to Grosvenor Square, too. Then suddenly the season was over, and Puella had not received a single offer. No matter. She was only eighteen, and another season would see her more sure of herself, more at ease in society, more sought after.
Puella returned to her mama for the summer and again went to Lady Sara for the fall Little Season. But instead of growing more interested in the social scene, she became bored with it. She reduced her aunt to near hysterics by refusing a much sought-after voucher to Almack's in order to remain home and work onher book. During the summer she had begun a novel, based on her first unsuccessful season. Too Long at the Fair, she had tentatively entitled it. The theme had to do with the folly of the haut ton.
Lady Sara was not an intellectual woman, but she was shrewd and soon cooked up a scheme that would get Ella, as her niece was called at home, out to parties under the guise of training her eye and practicing her pen on the subject of her novel. Mr. Thorndyke of the Morning Observer wanted a gossip columnist to write a daily piece on the social doings of the ten thousand, and as he was a friend of Lady Sara's husband, Lady Sara came to hear of it. She would be his correspondent officially, but in fact the writing of the column would be largely left to Ella. She could feel she was gaining experience at writing and would simultaneously be forced into society. The idea appealed to Ella and was soon put into execution.
The pseudonym "Miss Prattle," was chosen, and the column proved a great success. That same season, Lady Sara's mother, the Dowager Countess of Watley, came to stay with her, and the three women managed to straddle the narrow band that constituted society. Lady Watley was a crony of Lady Melbourne and soon became a bosom friend of the Prince Regent and his set as well. She discovered all the on dits, the gossip, of that scandalous tribe: who was losing a fortune at Watiers, or Oatlands, where the Duke of York set his guests down to faro at twenty guineas a hand, while one or the other of his wife's twenty dogs gnawed their boots and chased their valets. If Prinney changed his affections from one aged damsel to another, as he regularly did, this too was observed and reported, frequently with a venomous quote from Richard Sheridan. Lady Sara gathered in information from the dashing young set and older gentlemen still on the catch for a wife, and Ella herself kept her ears cocked for the goings-on of the debutantes and their beaux. A more comprehensive intelligence service could hardly have been devised for the purpose, and to add richness to the column, Miss Prattle developed an acerbic manner of reporting that won her a wide and appreciative audience.
Almost, it seemed, Lady Sara's scheme had succeeded too well in one direction. The writing certainly increased Ella's interest in going out to parties, but it did not lead her to look for a husband. Quite the reverse, it made her a highly critical young lady, who tended to look for a fault, or at least a folly, in all the men she met. And follies she found a-plenty. Men, she soon discovered, came in three main species. They were either of the Corinthian school, who thought the world began on the riding field and finished in the green baize boxing ring; or they were dandies whose major interest was the cut of a coat and arrangement of a cravat; or they were inveterate gamblers, willing to risk a fortune on the turn of a card, or even on the progress of two flies across a pane of glass. They came, of course, in combinations of these three main patterns, with a few recognizable subspecies such as the poet, the fortune hunter, and the rake. Miss Fairmont acknowledged there were some good men in the world as well, but as they were of no use to Miss Prattle, they were hardly observed at all and never cultivated. She came, she wrote, she conquered, and became without quite realizing it a personage of some consequence herself, albeit anonymous. It was a foregone conclusion that her writing must remain a secret, or she'd have been barred from society.
Conjecture was rampant as to the author of these caustic reports who had an entree into all branches of society. It was variously reported to be Lady Caroline Lamb, doing it for a spree, or her sometime lover, Lord Byron, doing it for spite, or Beau Brummell doing it for money. Never once did it occur to anyone that it was being written by a young lady from the country, still in her teens that first year, and not even known to sight by three-quarters of the great people she lampooned with such scorn and familiarity.
Ella smiled softly to herself when her grandmama would tell her, upon returning from a soiree at Carlton House, the Prince Regent's residence, that the Prince himself had told her in the strictest confidence that Miss Prattle was in truth a purse-pinched and illustrious peeress, or when Lady Sara laughingly reported "Guess who they are saying we are now, love. Lady Oxford! Was there ever anything more absurd? I had it of Emily Cowper. I could hardly keep from laughing in her face, only of course I didn't, for it is she who will give Miss Prattle a voucher for Almack's."
Ella lifted an eyebrow, her brown eyes dancing. "You must certainly not offend her. Miss Prattle is very curious to see how her flirtation with Lord Palmerston goes on, and where shall she do it but at Almack's? Isn't it odd, Sara, that Almack's is considered such a citadel of propriety, when its very patronesses are such high flyers? I think Miss P should raise the point, don't you?"
"Miss P is becoming a crusader for respectability, is she? Your column would die on its feet if the ten thousand should turn respectable on you, Ella."
"Oh, I don't consider more than five thousand possible of conversion; the other half are lost souls," Ella returned airily, her mind following its latest bent--the shenanigans of the patronesses of Almack's. Sally Jersey too had a dozen beaux, she was thinking, as her mind flitted over the other hostesses.
"True--then, too, you always have Clare to fall back on in the unlikely case of mass conversion."
"There is no danger of his reforming at any rate," Ella said tartly. "One can always count on His Grace for some reportable piece of behavior."
"He's not so bad as some of the others," Lady Sara replied.
"You only say so because you are sweet on him," her niece charged. "You are as bad as all the other women, toadying to him, and puffing him up in his own conceit."
"Yes, Miss Prattle, but then we can always count on you to deflate his pretensions."
"No, I only try to. With him I never succeed. He pays me no heed."
"That doesn't stop you from trying."
"Oh, no, I will get him yet," Miss Prattle said, a determined and even martial light in her eyes. There, if only she would sparkle like that in public, Sara thought.
"Every eligible female in London wants to get him," Sara laughed. "That is precisely what makes it possible for him to behave so ill."
"Well, Sara, but Ido not want to get him in the sense of attracting him--I only want to straighten him out a little."
"I know, goose, and you have about as much chance of correcting his behavior as Ihave of marrying Napoleon Bonaparte."
"Rather less, I should think," Ella said. "But still, he is good copy for the column."
"People would read it avidly if you did no more than print a whole column of his name, and nothing else. There's a sort of magic about him."
"Well, he does not seem magic to me, only insufferably rude and overbearing."
"Quite right, but he has the most winning smile in London, when he cares to put himself to the bother of using it."
"A smile is not for using!" Ella asserted, and the two ladies fell into a philosophical argument till dinner was announced.
Romance - Other
Snowdrops and Scandalbroth
An Affair of Interest
A Wife For Big John
Miss Haycroft's Suitors [Wedding Seri…
Bachelor's Fare
The Rake and the Wallflower [Seabrook Trilogy Book 2]
When shy, intelligent Mary Seabrook is forced to accompany her self-centered sister to London for the Season, she encounters Lord Grayson, notorious rake, but also a gentleman who shares her
Elizabeth's Rake
When Elizabeth Dancy left London behind, she believed she would be avoiding the amorous importunings of Viscount Leighton. But there the stunningly handsome lord was in Surrey, ready to continue his
The Wooing of Miss Masters
Every eligible maiden in the entire shire declared that it was like something out of a fairy tale. The Duke of Raeburn - whose formidable scowl was as legendary as his fortune - was hosting a ball
A Lord for Miss Larkin
Alison Larkin thought it would be romantic to be loved by a lord, and her wealthy aunt granted her a Season in London to meet the ton. Unfortunately, the first eligible gentleman who came in her way
Hidden Inheritance
Beautiful, blonde Vanessa Tarleton dares to accept a position repairing tapestries for the Earl of Stone, knowing full well his reputation as a handsome rake. She had heard gossip about him during
The Beleaguered Earl
Hope Ashburton was living with her invalid mother at Redrock House when she learned that her home had been gambled away to the rake Maxwell Longford, Earl of Merimont. The earl discovered that Miss
The Miser's Sister
Lady Ruth Penderric lives with her miserly brother and selfish sister in a moldering castle. But when she is kidnapped for ransom, Oliver Pardoe, a banker's son, rescues her. His offer of assistance
The Christmas Carrolls
A MERRY TALE OF CHRISTMAS BELLES—AND THREE VERY WISE MEN.
If Lord Carroll had one wish, it was to see his lovely daughters— Joia, Hollice, and Meredith—happily wed. The problem was
Miss Timothy Perseveres [Wedding Series Book1]
Miss Persys Timothy has outlived her usefulness to her wealthy aunt after her cousin marries--and she is left without a home or position. The Duke of Eddington spirits her off to his estate to
The Dangerous Baron Leigh [Wedding Series Book 3]
Lady Jocelyn Robards had lived secluded since her fiancé's death, but when she traveled to her cousin's castle she was rescued from danger by Lord Leigh, the man she once loved but whose
The Rake's Revenge [Wedding Series Book 5]
Charming Regina Hawthorne had thought Lord Torrington was planning to offer for her--when he suddenly became engaged to another. Rakish Lord St. Aubyn sympathized with "Rejected Regina's" situation
The Improper Governess
Watching Lisa Findlay on the stage of the Royal Coburg Theatre, Lord Ashe was captivated. When Lisa rejected his romantic advances he offered her a job as governess to his nephew. If the "ton", or
The Unexpected Wife
Her father gone, her estate for the taking, Juliet Winterton was facing an arranged marriage to a drunken gambler. So she ran away--to a charming home on the country estate of Alexander Barr,
Lord Iverbrook's Heir
On his return from Jamaica, Viscount Iverbrook learns that his sister-in-law, Selena Whitton, has been made guardian of his brother's son. With every intention of restoring the child to the family
Miss Jacobson's Journey
'Improper and impious!' her family cried, but in a most unladylike fashion, Miriam Jacobson defied her parents. Finding the thought of marriage stupefying, she rejected the eminently suitable


BRYAN, TEXAS (seminoles.com) – Florida State freshman Kayla Jones finished in a tie for first place in the individual standings, and the Florida State women's golf team finished in second place in the team standings as play in the 19th Annual Mo Morial Invitational at the Traditions Club came to a close on Wednesday. Jones birdied her final two holes of the third round and finished in a first place tie in the individual standings with Clara Baena of Auburn. Jones and Baena finished with identical three round scores of 7-under par 209 to finish four strokes ahead of the field.
Auburn won the team title with a 13-stroke victory over Florida State (860-873). The Tigers took the lead in the first round and led the team standings for most of the three-day tournament in taking the victory. The Seminoles played their best team round of the event in the third round with a 2-over par team score of 286. Texas A&M, the host school, finished in third place with an 881 score.
Jones (Milton, Ga.) was nearly flawless throughout the 54-hole tournament as she carded a team-leading 17 birdies including five in the third round. She shot a career-best 4-under par score of 68 in the final round to finish with her total of 209. Jones finished her final 16 holes of the round at 5-under par with five birdies and 11 holes scored at par or better. Jones earned a par on her first hole and bogeyed her second hole before finishing in grand style and earning the first individual championship of her collegiate career in her first career event.
Jones led the tournament with an average score of 2.83 on the par 3 holes and was tied for first among the 65 player field with a 3.87 scoring average on the par 4 holes. She led the field with her total of 17 birdies. The next closest total for birdies by an individual was 11. Jones carded scores of 69 in the first round and 68 in the second round and finished with an even par 72 in the second round.
Senior Alex Milan (Lutz, Fla.) tied her career low with a 4-under par score of 68 in the final round and finished in a tie for fifth place in the individual standings. She carded a team-high six birdies in the third round and was never more than one stroke over par during her final 18 holes. After a bogey on her first hole of the round, she carded three consecutive birdies and finished her front nine at 4-under par. Milan was 5 under par with six birdies and 10 holes scored at par or better over the course of her final 16 holes of the day. She totaled eight birdies during the tournament.
Milan earned her fourth career top-five individual finish and carded her third career score in the 60s as she moved from a tie for 19th in the individual standings after the second round into fifth place in the final standings. Milan has now earned three top-five finishes in her last eight collegiate events.
Sophomore Lydia Gumm (Radcliff, Ky.) carded a 2-over par 74 in the final round and finished with a career-best tournament score of 219. Her total was good for a career-best seventh place finish and the first top-10 career placement. Gumm played the third round with one birdie and 15 holes scored at par or better.
Gumm earned career best statistics for single round score (70 in the second round), 36-hole score (145 in the first two rounds), tournament score (219) and best career finish (seventh) in the tournament.
Sophomore Anna Sophia Böhmer (Cali, Colombia) and Laure Castelain (Bordeaux, France) finished in a tie for 34th place in the individual standings.
Florida State will continue its four-match fall schedule at the Lady Paladin Invitational Sept. 21-23 at the Furman University Golf Course in Greenville, S.C.


Everything is Awesome with Bricks4Kidz!
This year my Valentine's Day was spent a little differently than years past. It wasn't about a romantic date for me and my husband. This year, we spent the morning together as a family on a super fun play date at The Awesome Playground in Eagle Rock, CA at a Bricks 4 Kidz blogger event.
LEGO® have become a big part of our everyday lives in the past few months. All my girls want to do when they get home is build with their LEGO® bricks and I must admit, I love their new hobby. Building with LEGO® inspires so much of their imagination and I love that they can build and then play for hours in the world that they have created.
Bricks 4 Kidz offers hands-on classes where students can design and build machines, catapults, pyramids, derby cars, buildings and other constructions out of LEGO® bricks. While exploring engineering, architecture and physics, it also helps children develop problem solving and critical thinking skills.
Kids already know how to build with LEGO® bricks, but with a little coaching they can learn engineering, architecture and concepts of physics and mathematics. Above, you can see my daughters had an assistant who handed them a tablet with their instructions, and guided them while building a car... with a motor! That was definitely my favorite part, I was so impressed.
If your kids are LEGO® lovers like mine and you are thinking about how to make their birthday party extra special this year, then definitely look into Bricks 4 Kidz. They throw such a fun party and caters to your party's theme. At this event, on Valentine's Day my girls made LEGO® heart necklaces and key chains with beads.
The Awesome Playground was the perfect place for this family event, with a huge jumper in the back, a race track with push cars, slides and climbers, and a fun house for dress up and make believe, the Awesome Playground is.. Awesome!
So, before I finish up talking about all of the awesomeness of this weekend, I wanted to tell you about the delicious food. I have heard of Mix n' Munch before and was so thrilled to finally get a taste of them. Mix n' Munch, located in Pasadena, CA takes the classic comfort food experience to another level. Featuring two all-time American favorites, cereal and grilled cheese sandwiches. I went straight to playing with the girls and sadly didn't get any good pictures of the food but I had a grilled cheese with pesto and mozzarella and my daughters had yogurt parfaits and a fun mix of cereals. If you are in the Pasadena area, head out there ASAP, I will be there soon.
Now that I told you about these three fun SoCal family friendly places, what are you waiting for? Check out The Awesome Playground, book Bricks4Kidz for your next birthday, and head down to Mix n' Munch for a delicious breakfast. You'll thank me for it later.


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| Space Science & Technology
Farming for the Future
Unlike travelers on Earth who have the convenience of roadside diners and fast-food restaurants, the dining options for space travelers are limited.
As NASA's astronauts prepare to fulfill the Vision for Space Exploration with increasingly lengthy missions, scientists are trying to find a way for them to grow their own food.
Plants offer a promising solution in providing food to astronauts thousands of miles from Earth. They could grow crops that would not only supplement a healthy diet, but also remove toxic carbon dioxide from the air inside their spacecraft and create life-sustaining oxygen.
Image to left: Radishes are one plant species researchers are studying for possible use as a food crop on long-duration missions. Credit: NASA/KSC
Since the Space Shuttle and even International Space Station expeditions are relatively short-duration endeavors, astronauts do well with physical and chemical forms of life support. But for future long-duration missions and colonies on the Moon or Mars, scientists believe a life support system with a biological component (such as plants) -- called a "bioregenerative life support system" -- has several benefits.
"If you continually resupply and deliver commodities like food, that will become much more costly than producing your own food," says Ray Wheeler, plant physiologist at Kennedy Space Center's Space Life Sciences Lab. "You can achieve some autonomy with bioregenerative capability."
But developing such a system isn't as simple as planting some fruits, vegetables and wheat in space or on distant planets.
"It's not a quick-start kind of thing," Wheeler says. "You don't suddenly say, 'We need a bioregenerative system for the Moon because we want to stay there for 12 months, or five years.' It takes a long time to build and evaluate these systems."
Scientists are investigating how different amounts of three factors -- light, temperature and carbon dioxide -- affect plant growth. A fourth factor is the species and variety of plants.
Inside closed plant growth chambers at KSC, radishes, lettuce and green onions grow "hydroponically" in nutrient-enriched fluid. Light, temperature and carbon dioxide levels are carefully controlled. Scientists are comparing how plant species grow together in "mixed cultures" versus by themselves in "monocultures."
Image to right: Plant physiologist Ray Wheeler checks onions being grown using hydroponic techniques. The other plants are Bibb lettuce (left) and radishes (right). Credit: NASA/KSC
Why would this matter? First, some plants give off chemical compounds that can poison their neighbors, clearing the way for the aggressive plant to spread.
"It's not common in crop plants. You don't see problems with invasive lettuce growing all around," Wheeler says with a smile. "But we want to confirm it."
Also, some plants may use nutrients more aggressively than others. For example, some species might be heavy nitrogen users that would be fine on their own but would take away from other species.
Another concern is the competition of plants for light, based on how they grow. If one species grows taller and spreads out wider than the species beside it, the larger plant may block the light from the smaller plants.
Apart from these environmental variables, scientists are examining the effects of different types of lighting on plants to determine which color best helps them grow. Another consideration is atmospheric pressure.
Image to left: Arabidopsis plants appear purple under red and green light produced by light-emitting diodes. Scientists are studying plant growth under various light conditions. Credit: NASA/KSC
"We want to see how plants are affected if we reduce the pressure inside their environment, to make it more like that of the surface," Wheeler explains. "Some benefits of lower pressure would be more leeway in structural material choices, better visibility because you wouldn't need as thick a cover, and fewer leaks."
In the Vision for Space Exploration, NASA is already looking ahead to a future on the Moon, Mars and beyond. Thanks in part to the life sciences research underway today, tomorrow's astronauts may enjoy a more efficient life-support system... and some freshly grown food.
Anna Heiney
NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center


This week's podcast is about Google Analytics and Goals. Many of us use Google's free analytics tool, but do we really get the most out of it?
To help your business make better decisions based on real data, you need actionable insight. Using Goals within Google Analytics can do just that.
Sean will walk you through the goal creation process and some ideas of things you can measure.
Facebook make changes to their video ranking algorithm.
MailChimp introduces Facebook Ad Management to their platform.
Twitter releases the Explore tab.
Amazon tops the charts as most trusted brands for SMBs.
Find out more about Google Analytics & Goals.
On this week's podcast, Sean answers your questions on Google AdWords Quality Score.
Improving the quality score on Google AdWords can not only result in more clicks. It can also reduce the cost of your overall campaign, as an improved score can lead to reduced click costs.
Facebook allows you to go Live from your desktop.
Twitter Dashboard is shutting down soon.
Facebook Dynamic Ads to start using competitor data for improved targeting.
Google release a new guide to RLSA and Customer Match for AdWords.


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Prince Harry is heading to Chicago this month to visit the Obamas. According to Kensington Palace, Harry will be stateside October 31 to attend the inaugural Summit of the Obama Foundation.
"His Royal Highness will attend the Summit at the invitation of former US President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama,"reads a press release from the Palace. "During the event Prince Harry will take part in a conversation about ways to support and encourage youth leadership to tackle both local and global challenges."
Last month, the former president announced the first summit for his foundation, which he launched back in 2014. "We're inviting civic leaders from around Chicago, the U.S., and the world to come together to exchange ideas, explore creative solutions to common problems, and experience civic art, technology, and music," he says in the announcement.
Obama recently joined the royal in Toronto for Harry's Invictus Games, where he reportedly asked about Harry's girlfriend, Meghan Markle.
"Obama just asked about her filming [Suits] and how it was going, and then Harry asked about Michelle and how she was doing," onlooker Hayley Stover, told The Telegraph.
"Then Harry said, send my love to Michelle."
The Obamas dine at Kensington Palace in 2016.
No word yet on if Markle will be joining Harry in Chicago.


The Oxford Food Surplus Cafe is back! Serving delicious, healthy lunches all made from food that otherwise would go to waste. All available on a pay as you feel basis. If you'd like to volunteer with the Cafe, email oxsurpluscafe@gmail.com.


Received a recess appointment from Abraham Lincoln on October 19, 1863, to a seat vacated by William Marvin; nominated to the same position by Abraham Lincoln on January 5, 1864. Confirmed by the Senate on January 20, 1864, and received commission on January 20, 1864. Service terminated on January 1, 1870, due to resignation.


text:
Teach Yourself Japanese: The Eddie Trombone Case
an overdue library book, a recovered manuscript, a transpacific saga
1. Appeal from Officer Dirkins
2. Teach Yourself Japanese
3. There is a pencil here
4. A shrimp is on white rice
5. Hippopotamus
6. Tendon
7. Socrates, Fuji apples, and Evil
8. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
9. Kanji are just pictures
10. Update on Consulate Staff
11. A Common Language
12. Two Birds with One Stone
13. Chicago Smelt: Mrs. Doyle's Report
14. Byron's
15. Weakly English
16. Latin (part 1)
17. Latin (part B)
18. Latin (part III)
19. Hindu Christmas
20. Child Labor
21. Battleship and Onions
22. Chūhai
23. Rokubutte
24. Click
25. All Strangers are Cops
26. Rehabilitation
27. Tsukemono
28. Martin Luther King
29. Confessions
30. The Book of Mormon
31. Honesty is the Best Policy
32. The Confession
33. A New Day
34. Freedom from Books
35. French Ventriloquism
36. The Common Cold
37. Life Raft
38. Culture Grind
39. Karma's for Suckers
41. The End of Karma
42. Cultural Abduction
43. Stay Puft Psychiatrist
44. Corner Boy
45. Hail Mary
46. The Thing With the Guy From the Place
47. I Got a Headache
48. Blue-sky Rocketship
49. Kọ Ara Rẹ Ni Ede Japanese
50. Redemption
51. Redemption (cont.)
52. Final Redemption
53. Mikoshi
54. You Say "Tomato"
55. Space Toilet
56. Space Toilet (number 2)
57. Japanese Gumption
58. Japanese Gumption II – The Archerfish
59. Brazilians 'n My Pajamas
60. Down the Rabbit Hole
← 10. An update on Consulate Staff
12. Two Birds with One Stone →
Posted on June 18, 2010	by staff
Americans (archive by Kikuchi)
people from England (archive by Kikuchi)
Two countries separated by a common language.
"And the Atlantic Ocean."
"No, I meant . . . "
"I know what you meant," my host interrupted. "I'm English."
I didn't understand.
"I'm English. I have a subtler sense of humor than you. I'm also more intelligent."
I was lost for words.
"You're lost for words, aren't you?"
"You're lost for words, and even when you find these words they will be very common ones, and you'll say them badly."
"No," I started, then not so much stopped as just didn't continue.
"You'll say them badly in your American accent."
"I won't," I said, finishing my previous thought.
"And no matter what I say, even if it is the most common drivel, it will always sound better than what you say because I will say it properly, with proper English pronunciation, and this will leave you feeling small and worthless."
CHING!
I was burning up. He reached down and turned the dial.
I was in the smallest apartment I had ever been in. It wasn't so much an apartment as it was a space between two walls that could just as easily have been the result of a bad architect's careless miscalculations.
It was my friend's place, though I hesitate to call Owen my friend because I didn't really like him and I don't think he liked me but it was hard to tell because he didn't seem to like anyone so maybe he did like me but I just didn't realize it. We nevertheless had come to feel a certain kinship with one another, having both been recently suspended for two weeks from our teaching jobs at Joyfull English.
I made a show of fanning myself with Owen's annotated copy of "Happy Joyfull Life: Teacher Support and Guidelines for Dismissal," but he went ahead and turned the dial anyway.
I had been suspended for a week for what my boss Mr. Inoue called cultural insensitivity, and I laughed a little at his funny pronunciation of "insensitivity." That's when he made it two weeks. On my way out, I met Owen for the first time. He was waiting to see Mr. Inoue, as it turns out to receive his two-week suspension. Not realizing that he had already been working for Joyfull for nearly six months, making him the second most senior teacher there next to the 16-year-old son of Christian missionaries who sold amphetamines to both Joyfull teachers and students, I asked if he was there to interview for a job.
"I have a job," he said without looking at me.
"Where?" I asked, also looking somewhere else just in case it turned out we were not actually in a conversation.
He suddenly turned and glared at me as if I was something unpleasant that had landed and begun to crawl across his windshield.
"Windscreen," he snapped.
Truly incredible.
"Windscreen?"
"Do you know what windscreen means?"
"It's . . . well . . . no, I don't . . . unless . . . no."
"Well, I know what windshield means. Why don't you know what windscreen means?"
"Lift!" I piped. "Lift means . . . "
"Elevator, yes, congratulations. You now know one English word."
"I just insulted you."
My smile disappeared.
"I just insulted you. I am English, and I've just insulted you. I made a joke, and I insulted you at the same time."
"I work here."
"You're a teacher?"
"No, I'm the tea boy."
I didn't know what to say. He rolled his eyes at a spot on the wall behind me.
"That is a joke."
The noise pulled me out of my little flashback and dropped me back in the tiny space where someone who might be my very first friend in Japan sat on a futon he rescued from one of the garbage piles famous among foreigners in Japan for the treasures they held. Futons, furniture, bicycles, electronics. This futon had to be folded lengthwise several times in order to fit in the small space, and this gave it such height that Owen's head nearly touched the ceiling. Up there, he looked just like one of those pictures you see of the Buddha seated on a lotus flower, except here the lotus flower was a sagging, gray futon, and Buddha was a tall, slightly gangly, sandy-haired young man from northern England who could either not smile or smiled in a way that went undetected by most people. I sat in the roughly two- by three-foot open space at the foot of the futon. Next to me, on a small folding table the color of a human liver, sat another treasure Owen had found in the garbage pile, one he had been using to heat the room.
He reached down and turned the dial again on the small toaster oven that, with its door open like that, kept the room exceptionally . . . well, toasty. The only downside that I could see, besides the obvious fire hazard, was the strong smell of cheese that emanated from the black lumps at the bottom of the toaster. Otherwise, it was doing a fantastic job. Too much of a good job actually, and I took off my shirt, and used it to mop the sweat that now freely rolled down my face.
"Why did you make those children cry?" Owen asked suddenly.
Yes, I had made the children cry. I had been teaching a children's class at the headquarters of Joyfull English, and I had made the children cry, which is what led to my meeting with Mr. Inoue where I was first suspended for one week, then two because Mr. Inoue says "insensitivity" funny.
It all began at the end of our 12th rendition of the ABC song only 15 minutes into the lesson, when I heard one of the children assembled in the small airless room say in a weary voice, "zed." I pushed my way through the waist-high bodies, and planted myself before the offender. Crouching down to get a better look at the child's face, I sang, "X, Y . . ." then stopped. The child, trembling now, said in a barely audible voice, "zed." Not knowing at the time that this was a British variation of "zee," and having neither an extensive background in child psychology nor a command of Japanese that allowed for nuance or complexity, I looked into the soft, delicate features of this young boy and said, "Anata ga warui desu," or "You are bad/inferior/evil."
The child's wails brought Mr. Inoue from the office next door. After finally calming the child down and speaking to him for a bit, Mr. Inoue turned to me and said that his mother, who had lived in England for many years, had taught him this "zed." I apologized profusely, and leaned down to speak to the boy again. I paused to consider how exactly I would say this in Japanese, then began, "You are not bad." The child's face lit up, and I had never seen such pure, innocent joy. I continued, "Your mother, she is bad/inferior/evil," and again the child returned to his incessant wailing, which got the other children to wailing, which got Mr. Inoue to physically pull me out of the room and into his office, where I was suspended, first for one week and then for another because Mr. Inoue talks funny.
(I have just minutes ago received a phone call from Mrs. Doyle, calling to say she has returned to Osaka and will be back at the office in two or three days. I reminded her that as she had been away from the office for almost two months she might want to get back to her cubicle a bit sooner, but my voice was drowned out by what Mrs. Doyle claimed was the neighbor's TV but what sounded to me like an airport announcement in a variety of English particular to Chicago in which the vowel sound found in words like "hot" or "job" is not unlike that sound the doctor makes you say just before he jams a popsicle stick into your throat. At any rate, Mrs. Doyle's return does seem imminent, even if not as imminent as I would like, and it is hoped she will have a report for us shortly thereafter. –Ofc. Dirkins)
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged humor, Japan, Japanese, satire. Bookmark the permalink.
Site of the recovered manuscript
© Donald E. Cherry and "Teach Yourself Japanese: The Eddie Trombone Case," 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog's author/owner is strictly prohibited.
10. An update on Consulate Staff
humor, Japan, Japanese
Teach Yourself Japanese: The Eddie Trombone Case by Donald E. Cherry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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Purity Ring: "we've never really given analogue synths the time they deserve"
Purity Ring: "I want a way to perform the songs that's interesting to me and fun; I don't want to be just pressing the spacebar feeling bored"
Originally a member of Canadian pop experimentalists Born Gold, Corin Roddick was first introduced to production in 2000. Teaming up with vocalist Megan James, the pair's first track, Ungirthed, was released online in 2011, and just over one year later Purity Ring were signed to UK label 4AD.
When the band's server crashed upon the release of a free download to celebrate the opening of their website, clearly something was stirring. Their debut album, Shrines, was released within months and high profile collaborations followed, with James providing vocals on Jon Hopkins' single Breathe This Air, while the duo got the nod to remix Lady Gaga's 2013 single Applause.
This year, Purity Ring released their second studio album, Another Eternity, supported by a string of concerts across the US and Europe. We caught up with Roddick ahead of soundcheck at one of their UK dates, to find out about the album's creation and check out the band's new custom-built audio-visual live setup.
You both come from the City of Edmonton in Canada. What was it like growing up there?
"Edmonton is a very creative place to grow up, I guess, because it's very northern and very cold for most of the year, so people are often inside. A lot of my friends would hole up and make things; everyone had bands. I grew up as a drummer and drumming was really my main focus for the early part of my life. I was always interested in electronic stuff, but never really delved into it too much. There really wasn't much of an electronic scene in Edmonton that I knew of, but I got to a point where I was sick of playing in bands. I think that was around the time that I got quite interested in the electronic side of things, because I started to see how much of it you could really do yourself, and that was quite appealing to me. All the things you normally need five people for to make a song, I could figure out on my own."
Did anyone inspire you further in the direction of music production?
"Long before I started to try and make anything electronic, Radiohead were always one of my favourite bands. They started to introduce a lot of electronics into their sound around Kid A and everything after that. So that was my first intro to anything vaguely electronic. From there I got into Bjork and a decent amount of hip-hop. A lot of that stuff was quite sample-based and acoustic sounding, but programmed or played on an MPC, so that style of chopping things up interested me as well."
Was the MPC your first step into production?
"Actually, I've never owned an MPC. My intro into electronic production was Ableton. I got a copy from a friend of mine and bought a legit copy later on. That was kind of when I started to see the possibilities of what I could really do, because previously I was interested in recording acoustic things with microphones and I was working in Cubase. Initially, I was running Ableton in Rewire inside of Cubase, just to see what elements I could add, then I started getting more and more interested in Ableton, until I realised I didn't really need Cubase at all. I never actually had any electronic instruments. I made our whole first album using the keypad on my laptop - there's a setting to turn it into a little keyboard controller."
So you never had any experience using hardware synths? Was that mostly down to affordability?
"At the time, it was something that I would have definitely been interested in, but hardware synths are very expensive compared to soft synths, and software was available to me, hardware wasn't. From there, I started to feel really comfortable working with soft synths, so I never actually felt the need to go back and explore the analogue side of things."
Most experienced producers would have started with hardware. For you, we assume using a mouse and software was a completely natural thing?
"If you're coming from using analogue Moogs and changing to a laptop, that would probably not be a very enjoyable transition; but I think I'm in that age range where digital stuff was starting to come up, and, as a 17-year-old, I could actually make sounds this way. I'm looking in a catalogue and there's this synth that looks pretty cool, but it's like $2,000 and huge [laughs]. Still to this day, I've never really given analogue synths the time they probably deserve. I do recognise that they sound different and I could do a lot of different stuff in them, but I like to have a very mobile rig and be able to work seamlessly without having to patch cables around. Maybe years down the road, when I have a very solid studio, I can expand."
Did you leap into making tracks with Ableton Live immediately?
"Definitely. I think a good way to learn is by getting right into it, and if there's something you don't know how to do, you can always look it up on YouTube and figure it out. The first stuff I was doing was quite simple, although I still think I do things quite simply. The best way to learn anything is just to dive right in and develop your style as you're learning, as opposed to completely understanding the whole program. When you don't totally know how to use something, it kind of sets you on a path because you have limited possibilities."
"The first stuff I was doing was quite simple, although I still think I do things quite simply."
When did you have a clear vision of the style of music you wanted to make?
"I didn't have much of a vision; I don't think I'm a visionary person in that way - I'm more mess around, start layering things and see what happens. That's almost always been my approach. On the first tracks I made, there was definitely a hip-hop influence, because that was what I was into when I was drumming, and those rhythms would always draw me in when I was creating programmed beats. Over the years, I guess I developed a catalogue in my head of the sounds that I liked and tried to cultivate those and see how I could morph them into being something unique to me, but I never sit down and know what kind of song I'm going to make."
When did you decide you needed to bring a vocalist in?
"I had known Megan for a few years, because she was also involved in the local music scene. We were both in a backing band for a friend of ours who now goes by the name of Born Gold. We kind of talked about collaborating for a long time; I'd heard her sing and not really known anyone who did something like that. There aren't many people you come across whose talent strikes you in a very unique way. Megan's melodic sensibility, her lyrics and just the tonality of her voice really stood out immediately. Once I started getting comfortable on Ableton, one of the first tracks I made sounded like something I thought would probably work better with vocals. I sent it to Megan and she came up with vocals almost immediately; we put it out a week later and set everything in motion."
You signed to the 4AD label before your first album, Shrines, was even released. Can you tell us about that process?
"From the month that we released that first song, we hand a handful of labels hitting us up, because our stuff was moving around the internet and people were noticing. We still felt like a very new band and only had a couple of songs. Around the time we were completing our first record, we'd been talking to a handful of labels, then 4AD got in touch and were really interested. It came together very quickly and seemed like an obvious choice, but we never sent them any demos - they'd just heard the tracks that we'd already released and were pretty excited about the project."
Did it surprise you how quickly you garnered positive attention from the media?
"It was very surprising, from the very beginning. We weren't really expecting any of it [laughs]. Music was something I was always trying to do for a living, somehow, whether as a recording engineer, a session drummer or even a sound guy. As long as I'm involved in music somehow and can make money that way, I'll be happy. But I really didn't expect it to come so quickly - we're still surprised and haven't got used to it yet."
On your second album, Another Eternity, did you have to think about whether you should stick with the style that made you stand out initially?
"That was definitely a tough decision. If we were a rock band, people would expect us to make another rock album, but when you're electronic, it's expected you're going to stay cutting-edge and relevant, so there's always pressure there.
"I knew that with Shrines we had accomplished the sound that we wanted and used a fairly small sound set to keep the album very unified and consistent. So it took us about a year and a half to really distance ourselves from it and feel like we were fresh and ready to start again. We didn't have a clear idea of what we were going to do this time, but we quickly started to realise that we had evolved a lot as musicians, and that feeling of progression came naturally."
The album's beautifully produced. Would it be fair to say you have a perfectionist approach?
"Yeah, I would say I'm very much a perfectionist. I think that's what draws me in about having a slower tempo. Having a lot of space between the beats, there's an opportunity to really focus in on each element and not have too many things happening on top of each other. I need to feel like I can focus on each element and make it what I want it to be, and having the space to do that is really necessary."
Do you work on the road or a fixed location?
"I've been working more and more in a fixed location, but during the making of our first album we were touring and opening for other bands, so I was working on my laptop a lot and putting stuff together. These days, I'll write a little bit on the road, but it's more comfortable for me to write in a controlled space. I definitely prefer to work with studio monitors; after a couple of hours of working on headphones I start to feel a little bit too closed in, or I'll get ear fatigue. Maybe it's just a question of finding the right headphones. I'm also just weird about ear stuff - my least favourite thing is when people touch my ears; that really bothered me as a kid [laughs]."
What make of monitors do you use?
Are the room acoustics important to you?
"I really care about room acoustics, because a lot of my friends who do electronic production seem much more relaxed about that kind of thing. I go into their setup and it's like, 'How do you work in here?'. Stuff's echoing all over the place and they've got parallel walls. I think it's because I have more of a background in engineering, where I learnt a lot about room acoustics and general studio stuff. I got used to working in nicely treated rooms, so I spent a full week doing all the measurements and fine-tuning the room that I'm working in now until I was really happy with it."
What was your approach to recording Another Eternity?
"Everything is still primarily made within Ableton, with various other third-party plugins. I started recording vocals in PreSonus Studio One because it's really handy for vocal comping and also has Melodyne built in. That was a bit of a game changer when it comes to saving time, recording vocals and then bringing them back into Ableton. That was my big change software wise.
"As I mentioned earlier, on Shrines I worked with a very small and consistent set of sounds, but one of the ways I wanted to expand with the new album was to lift some of those constraints and let each song have a little more freedom, sonically. Instead of having preset choices to pull from, I just went through a lot of stuff and started using what I thought would suit the song instead. So there are a lot of different types of percussion sounds and a broader range of synth tones and reverbs. I think it helped to make the album a bit more diverse, with a little more spread from song to song, without making the tracks disjointed."
"On Shrines I worked with a very small and consistent set of sounds, but one of the ways I wanted to expand with the new album was to lift some of those constraints and let each song have a little more freedom, sonically."
Do you have any favourite effect plugins?
"Yeah, the SoundToys stuff was essential, I used that constantly. EchoBoy and Decapitator were the main ones. I can't really imagine not using that stuff now; they just sound incredible. When it comes to analogue-sounding delay and distortion, which is the toughest thing to do with software, I've tried a lot of different plugins where you need to add a little bit of grittiness or a really warm-sounding echo, and SoundToys is kind of the only thing that's worked for me in that department. There's been a few plugins I've brought in for effects as well, like the Valhalla Shimmer reverb - it's kind of got this crazy, very synthetic sound, which is great when you're not trying to make a real reverb sound. It gives a lot of character and a weird, eerie smoothness. So I used that on a lot of the synths, and I used Sylenth a lot, which is a synth VST that I didn't use the last time. I used it to make a lot of the Moog-like sounds, whereas on Shrines I used the Arturia Moog replicas - but, to me, Sylenth made the Moog-sounding stuff better than the replica. I just found it had a lot more definition and bottom to it."
Did you use Ableton Live's compressors, too?
"I actually started using Ableton Glue Compressor, which they only introduced in the last version. That was really helpful in a lot of scenarios. On the last record I'd used a lot the Waves stuff, but I didn't so much this time; I tried to see if I could tone it down on the effects processing side of things and just use one compressor or one EQ most of the time."
Do you use sidechaining and ducking effects?
"I used a ton of sidechaining on our first album, where a lot of the synths were sidechained to invisible kicks, so it ducks and then there's nothing there - just creating big, empty spaces. I still did that a little bit on the new album, but I definitely toned it down a little and tried to use it more effectively in certain areas rather than it being a constant technique throughout the whole song. I think sidechaining is really helpful in getting a balance between things when you need to make it 'sound' like there's less going on than there really is."
Would you call yourself a sound designer, or do you prefer to arrange from a library of sounds?
"I really do both. I'll definitely mess around for a couple of hours on trying to create my own patch if there's something that I'm trying to find that I can't, but at the same time I have no hate for presets, either. If I find a preset and it sounds like what I'm looking for then I'm not going to try and create something from scratch instead. Sometimes I'm looking for something totally new and that can be a long process; I don't consider myself a pro who knows synthesisers totally in and out. If there's a sound I'm thinking of and I'm trying to create, I can't just do it in five minutes - I usually have to spend some serious time on it, like half a day.
"Sometimes I'll have whole days that I'll dedicate to building libraries and trying to create some new-sounding patches that are easy for me to draw upon later. When I'm feeling creative, the last thing I really want to do is get sidetracked and have to spend a couple of hours digging out a sound."
At what point does Megan come in with the vocals?
"On our first record, it was quite separated. I would basically write a full piece of music, then she would come up with all the vocals - it was more like a stream of consciousness. I find that once vocals are on a track, I'll often need to rearrange them to create a focal point. And that might mean moving something else that was underneath to a different part of the song, or just removing it altogether. I'm not very precious with any part of any track when it comes to trying to make it into an actual song; if it's taking up too much space, I'll gladly get rid of it.
"But for the new album, we actually made more of an effort to collaborate through the whole of the process. A lot of the songs started with a little melody or pattern of some sort, and Megan would add a vocal melody and we would build it up piece by piece. In doing so, we were able to focus more on each individual element of the song and really understand the focal points, have those in the centre and make sure everything else around [them] was working to enhance whatever it was that was important."
"I'm not very precious with any part of any track when it comes to trying to make it into an actual song; if it's taking up too much space, I'll gladly get rid of it."
You remixed the Lady Gaga single Applause. Was it a shock to get that call?
"Yeah, I was definitely surprised to get that call and very happy about it. It was a really cool opportunity. The way I went about it was that, instead of creating a dance or club version of the track - something that a lot of remixes end up being - I came at it more from the angle of just reproducing the track as if I was the person who originally produced it. So I just recreated it as if it were a pop song by her that I would have been involved in, and it was fun to work like that because then it's a totally different context."
Purity Ring's second album, Another Eternity, is out now via 4AD.


text:
Bündelfunk, engl. Trunked radio system, ist der Überbegriff für verschiedene Standards von Funksystemen mit Kanalbündelung für Funkgeräte. Der Begriff ist im deutschsprachigen Raum als Synonym für Professionellen Mobilfunk (engl. Professional Mobile Radio, PMR (nicht zu verwechseln mit dem Jedermann-Funkdienst PMR446)) verbreitet. Für Bündelfunk wird eine fest installierte Funkinfrastruktur bestehend aus Sendemasten und Kernnetzwerk benötigt. Jegliche Funkkommunikation wird über die fest installierte Funkinfrastruktur abgewickelt (TMO).

Kanalbündelung
Der Vorteil der Kanalbündelung (daher der Name) liegt darin, dass einer geschlossenen Benutzergruppe, z. B. der Müllabfuhr eines städtischen Entsorgungsbetriebs, nicht mehr eine (oder mehrere) feste Frequenz (ein fester Funkkanal) zugewiesen werden muss (die dann ggf. nur gering genutzt wird), sondern dass sich mehrere Benutzergruppen eines oder mehrerer Betriebe ein Bündel von Frequenzen teilen können. Dies ist im Hinblick auf den Bedarf an Frequenzen sehr viel effizienter; bei gleichem Kommunikationsbedarf werden bedeutend weniger Ressourcen (Frequenzen) benötigt. Im Falle öffentlicher Bündelfunknetze besteht so die Möglichkeit, dass viele Unternehmen eine gemeinsame Funkinfrastruktur verwenden, anstatt dass jede einzelne Firma eine eigene Funkinfrastruktur mit Sendemasten, Kernnetzwerk usw. aufbauen muss. Um den Ansprüchen möglichst vieler Nutzer in einer Region zu genügen, werden zur Erhöhung der Reichweite (Abdeckung) häufig mehrere Sendemaste über Glasfaserkabel, Standleitung oder Richtfunkstrecken zusammengeschaltet, so dass ein Funksystem entsteht, das sich über einen kompletten Wirtschaftsraum erstreckt.

Schlüsselfunktionen
Der größte Unterschied zu herkömmlichen Mobiltelefonen, mit denen nur Punkt-zu-Punkt Telefonate möglich sind (Unicast), ist bei Bündelfunk der Gruppenruf, bei der ein Funkgerät gleichzeitig mit mehreren anderen kommunizieren kann. Üblicherweise sind die Funkgeräte leicht zu bedienen – zum Sprechen wird ein Knopf gedrückt (Push-to-Talk) und innerhalb weniger 100 Millisekunden der Ruf aufgebaut, zum Zuhören wird er wieder losgelassen (release-to-listen). Der Einsatz von Sprechregeln (z. B. "verstanden"/"antworten") ist zu empfehlen.

Die Reichweiten der verschiedensten Standards variieren. Beim derzeit wachstums- und leistungsstärksten Bündelfunksystem TETRA, sind je nach Geländebeschaffenheit bis zu 30 Kilometer möglich. Allerdings ist dieser theoretische Wert aufgrund von Planungsparametern wie Teilnehmerdichte, Nutzungsverhalten und Geländetopographie wenig relevant. Zudem können mobile Relaisstationen eingesetzt werden, um den Funkversorgungsbereich auszudehnen.

Grundsätzlich arbeiten die innerhalb eines Bündelfunknetzes zusammengeschlossenen Gruppen vollständig unabhängig voneinander. Der Wechsel von einer Gruppe in die andere ist im digitalen System der Bündelfunknetze in der Regel ohne größere Umstände möglich. Dazu muss der Systemadministrator die gewünschten Gruppenzugänge "freischalten". Meist wird das schon beim Einrichten des Systems erledigt. Von den Nutzern wird genau diese Tatsache als sehr wohltuend empfunden: Nicht jeder muss mit dem System alles mithören, sondern kann sich, die entsprechende Berechtigung vorausgesetzt, in die jeweiligen Gruppenfunknetze einwählen, die für ihn von Belang sind.

Einsatzbereiche
Der Bündelfunk weist einige Vorteile gegenüber der Mobiltelefonie auf, die für professionelle Anwender unverzichtbar sind. Der wichtigste: Sprechen auf Knopfdruck (Push-to-Talk), anstatt zu wählen und auf den Rufaufbau zu warten. Auf Tastendruck wird nach dem "Frequenzbündelprinzip" aus einem Bündel an Funkkanälen jeweils ein Kanal bereitgestellt. Es erfolgt ein sofortiger Gesprächsaufbau zum gewünschten Einzelteilnehmer oder zur gesamten Gruppe. So sind alle Teilnehmer, sei es aus der eigenen Flotte oder aus anderen Flotten, extrem schnell mobil erreichbar. Sie können dynamisch zugeordnet und dringenden Aufträgen oder veränderten Situationen sofort flexibel angepasst werden. Neben der Schnelligkeit und Sicherheit der Technik besteht ein weiterer Vorzug in der von öffentlichen Kommunikationsnetzen unabhängigen Infrastruktur, die einen unterbrechungsfreien Betrieb z. B. auch Silvester oder bei Großveranstaltungen gewährleistet.

Anders als bei der Mobiltelefonie ist der Einsatz von Bündelfunk typischerweise auf eine bestimmte Region beschränkt. Bündelfunksysteme zeichnen sich im Vergleich zu älteren Mobilfunkstandards wie GSM durch eine höhere Spektrale Effizienz aus.

Für Bereiche der öffentlichen Sicherheit bieten Bündelfunksysteme Dienstmöglichkeiten wie dynamische Gruppenbildung oder die Möglichkeit, dass zwei oder mehrere Funkgeräte ohne fest installierte Funkinfrastruktur direkt miteinander kommunizieren können (DMO). Wie vom Büro aus können die Einsatzkräfte dabei auf Info-Systeme und Datenbanken zurückgreifen und Informationen abfragen: Informationen über chemische Produkte oder Wasserschutzgebiete, Kapazitäten der umliegenden Krankenhäuser oder die Standorte bestimmter Spezialfahrzeuge in der Region. Interessant sind Bündelfunksysteme deshalb besonders für Organe der öffentlichen Sicherheit wie Polizei, Feuerwehr oder Katastrophenschutz. Denn mit Hilfe des Digitalfunks wird die gesamte Sprach- oder Datenübertragung abhörsicher an die jeweiligen Einsatzkräfte übermittelt.

Genauso werden Bündelfunksysteme aber auch als Betriebsfunknetz installiert. Bei großen Unternehmen wie BMW, Audi oder M.A.N. gehören sie schon längst zur Grundausstattung. Solche Bündelfunksysteme können beispielsweise Mitarbeiter der Bereiche Werkschutz, Werkfeuerwehr, Instandhaltung oder aus dem Hochregallager über Funk miteinander verbinden. Bisher mussten die Mitarbeiter eine ganze Reihe unterschiedlicher Benachrichtigungssysteme nutzen.

Bündelfunk dient nicht nur der mobilen Sprachkommunikation, sondern auch der M2M-Kommunikation. So betreiben gerade Elektrizitätsversorgungsunternehmen oft regionale Betriebsfunknetze, die auch bei einem längeren Stromausfall die zuverlässige M2M-Kommunikation von der Leitstelle des EVU mit allen relevanten Komponenten des Stromnetzes ermöglichen.

Kommunikationsdienste
Komfortfunktionen:
 Direktruf und Gruppenruf
 Datenübertragung (IP-basierende Paketvermittlung, Unterstützung des Datagrammverfahrens)
 Rufumleitung/Rufweiterleitung, Konferenzschaltung

Abhörschutz:
 Authentifizierung der Kommunikationsteilnehmer
 Verschlüsselung der über die Luftschnittstelle übertragenen Sprache und Daten

Priorisierung und Verdrängung:
 Notruf mit garantierten, kurzen Rufaufbauzeiten
 Rufpriorisierung: Bei mehreren aufzubauenden Sprachrufe erhält zum Beispiel der Notruf Vorrang vor den anderen Sprachrufe.
 Verdrängung: Ist keine freie Übertragungskapazität auf der Luftschnittstelle vorhanden, wird zum Beispiel für den Notruf benötigte Datenübertragungskapazität von laufenden Sprachrufen und Datenübertragungen abgezweigt und für den Notruf reserviert. Laufende Sprachrufe werden notfalls automatisch getrennt.

Ausfallsicherheit:
 Direktmodus (DMO): Direkte Kommunikation zwischen Funkgeräte mit vollständiger Umgehung der fest installierten Funkinfrastruktur beim Ausfall der fest installierten Funkinfrastruktur oder bei fehlender Netzabdeckung der fest installierten Funkinfrastruktur (Funkloch).

Nachteile des Bündelfunks und Vergleich mit Mobilfunknetzwerken
Die für Sprachübertragungen zur Verfügung stehenden Datenübertragungsraten sind im Mobilfunknetzwerk deutlich größer als im digitalen Bündelfunk. Deshalb ist die Sprachqualität im Mobilfunknetzwerk deutlich besser als beim digitalen Bündelfunk. Digitaler Bündelfunk eignet sich wegen der schlechteren Sprachqualität nicht für längere Gespräche. Im modernen Mobilfunk wird häufig AMR mit 12,2 kbit/s eingesetzt. Moderner, digitaler Bündelfunk nutzt für die Sprachübertragungen Datenübertragungsraten im Bereich von 2,4 kbit/s (AMBE) bis 4,75 kbit/s (AMR).

Digitaler Bündelfunk erlaubt keine oder nur sehr umständliche Sprachtelefonie per MSISDN.

Die unten aufgeführten, modernen, digitalen Bündelfunksysteme nutzen ausschließlich FDM oder eine Kombination von FDM/TDM. Auf FDM oder auf eine Kombination von FDM/TDM basierte Funksysteme sind anfällig für schmalbandige Störungen und Mehrwegempfang. Moderne Funkverfahren wie CDM oder OFDM werden von keinem der unten aufgeführten, modernen digitalen Bündelfunksysteme verwendet. OFDM oder OFDM-ähnliche Verfahren sind aktueller Stand der Funktechnik für Mobilgeräte, welche schnelle Datenübertragungsraten (> 1 MBit/s) unterstützen müssen. OFDM bietet eine sehr hohe Spektrale Effizienz. OFDM in der Ausprägung COFDM ist immun gegen Mehrwegempfang und schmalbandigen Störungen.

Für langsame Datenübertragungen und Sprachübertragungen (< 20 kbit/s) eignet sich das Funkverfahren CDM am besten. Eine auf CDM basierende Funktechnik kann die Vorteile einer Frequenzspreizung mit DSSS ausnutzen. DSSS ist unempfindlich gegenüber schmalbandigen Störungen. Durch das eingesetzte DSSS kann im Funkempfänger ein Rake-Empfänger eingesetzt werden. Ein Rake-Empfänger kann den Mehrwegempfang zur Verbesserung des Funkempfangs ausnützen. Für das Funkzellen-Handover kann bei CDM basierten Funksysteme "Soft Handover" eingesetzt werden. "Soft Handover" ermöglicht stabilere und sichere Funkzellenwechsel. Aus diesen Gründen wird für UMTS CDM und DSSS eingesetzt.

Alle Mobilfunkstandards unterstützen das Funkzellen-Handover. Der Benutzer merkt während des Telefongesprächs nichts vom Wechsel der Funkzelle. Der Funkzellenwechsel erfolgt in Mobilfunknetzen für den Benutzer unterbruchsfrei. Die meisten Bündelfunksysteme unterstützen kein Handover. Verlässt das Handfunkgerät die Funkzelle, wird das laufende Gespräch abgebrochen. Einzig TETRA unterstützt das Funkzellen-Handover.

Alle Mobilfunkstandards unterstützen die automatische, adaptive Sendeleistungsregelung (TPC) der Mobilgeräte und der Basisstation. Bündelfunksysteme unterstützen in der Regel keine automatische, adaptive Sendeleistungsregelung (TPC). Einzig TETRA unterstützt für das Mobilgerät eine automatische, adaptive Sendeleitungsregelung (TPC). Mit TPC wird die Sendeleistung auf das erforderliche Minimum reduziert, was die Akkulaufzeit des Mobilgeräts oder Handfunkgeräts verlängert und die Gefahr von Funkstörungen reduziert. Ohne TPC wird immer mit der maximalen Sendeleistung gesendet, was eine unnötig große Strahlungsbelastung (hoher SAR-Wert) bedeutet. Bei Handfunkgeräten für den Bündelfunk liegt die maximale Sendeleistung am Antennenanschluss im Bereich von 0.5 bis 5.0 Watt. Ohne TPC und bei langen Sprechzeiten ist der Akku des Handfunkgeräts rasch leer.

In den Mobilfunknetzen ist mit speziellen Mobilgeräten Sprechen auf Knopfdruck (Push-to-Talk) möglich. Sprechen auf Knopfdruck im Mobilfunknetz wird Push-to-Talk over Cellular genannt.

Mit dem bei 5G eingeführten "Network Slicing" können im öffentlichen Mobilfunknetz Datenübertragungsraten und Paketumlaufzeiten auch bei einer Überlastung des öffentlichen Mobilfunknetzes garantiert werden. "Network Slicing" ermöglicht ein umfassendes QoS, welches die hohen Anforderungen der Behörden und Firmenkunden erfüllt. Gerade die Polizei benötigt neben dem nur für langsame Datenübertragungen geeigneten Bündelfunk ein schnelles (OFDM-basiertes) Funknetzwerk für die Übertragung von großen Datenmengen wie Landkarten, Fotos, Videoaufnahmen. Dieses Funknetzwerk muss geschützt sein vor Überlastung und über eine autonome Energieversorgung (USV) verfügen.

Als Alternative zum Bündelfunk oder dem öffentlichen Mobilfunknetzwerk mit "Network Slicing" kann auch ein eigenes, privates Mobilfunknetzwerk betrieben werden. Eisenbahninfrastrukturunternehmen betreiben oft für den Zugfunk und Rangierfunk ein eigenes, auf GSM-R basierendes, privates Mobilfunknetzwerk. GSM-R erweitert den Mobilfunkstandard GSM um die vom Bündelfunk bekannten Funktionen wie Push-to-Talk, Gruppenruf, Notruf, Rufpriorisierung, garantierte Rufaufbauzeiten und Verdrängung.

Keiner der Mobilfunkstandards unterstützt die Kommunikation mit vollständiger Umgehung der festinstallierten Funkinfrastruktur (Direktmodus (DMO)). In älteren Spezifikationen von GSM-R war DMO vorgesehen. In der aktuellen Spezifikationen von GSM-R ist DMO nicht mehr enthalten. Für den Rangierfunk bei fehlender Netzabdeckung der festinstallierten GSM-R-Funkinfrastruktur, zum Beispiel in Anschlussgleisen, muss auf Betriebsfunk oder Bündelfunk im Direktmodus (DMO) zurückgegriffen werden.

Öffentliche Mobilfunknetzwerke nutzen in ländlichen Regionen üblicherweise Funkfrequenzen im Bereich von 700 bis 1000 MHz. Für diese Funkfrequenzen können zwei Mobilfunkantennen im Gehäuse des Mobiltelefons untergebracht werden. Der Einsatz von zwei integrierten Mobilfunkantennen im Mobiltelefon ermöglicht dank der Empfangsdiversität und MIMO einen verbesserten Funksignalempfang und schnellere Datenübertragungsraten beim Senden. Bündelfunksysteme für geschlossene Benutzergruppen, wie etwa BOS, Industriebetriebe und Kommunen, sind im Regelfall im VHF-Frequenzband (136–174 MHz) und UHF-Band (350–470 MHz) beheimatet. Mit sinkender Frequenz und damit steigender Wellenlänge wird die Unterbringung der Antennen in Gehäusen von Funkgeräten schwieriger. Deshalb haben Handfunkgeräte für Funkanwendungen in den benannten Bereichen in der Regel eine gut sichtbare Gummiwurst-Antenne. Da sich mehrere externe Antennen auf Handfunkgeräte ergonomisch nachteilig auswirken, kommt MIMO in diesen Anwendungen nicht vor.

Systemarchitektur

Analoger Bündelfunk
Im analogen Bündelfunk wird (in Deutschland) vor allem der Standard MPT 1327 im Frequenzband von 410 bis 430 MHz genutzt.

Die Frequenzen von 410 bis 420 MHz für den Uplink, 420 bis 430 MHz für den Downlink.
Die Datenübertragung auf dem Organisationskanal erfolgt mit bis zu 1,2 kbit/s.

Digitaler Bündelfunk
Der digitale Bündelfunk weist technische Vorteile gegenüber dem analogen Bündelfunk auf. Analoger Bündelfunk basiert auf einem analogen Datenübertragungsverfahren (üblich: FM). Digitaler Bündelfunk profitiert von den Vorteilen eines digitalen Datenübertragungsverfahrens, wie zum Beispiel der Vorwärtsfehlerkorrektur. Digitaler Bündelfunk erreicht bei akzeptabel bleibender Sprachqualität eine höhere Reichweite als analoger Bündelfunk. Zwar ist die Reichweite von analogem Bündelfunk größer als die Reichweite vom digitalen Bündelfunk. Jedoch ist bei analogem Bündelfunk an der Zellgrenze die Sprachqualität miserabel.

Weltweit eingesetzte digitale Bündelfunkstandards für den Funk von Behörden und Organisationen mit Sicherheitsaufgaben (BOS-Funk (Deutschland, Österreich) oder BORS-Funk (Schweiz)) sind:

 TETRA
 Tetrapol
 APCO P25

Diese für den BOS-Funk und BORS-Funk geeignete digitalen Bündelfunkstandards können auch für den Betriebsfunk eingesetzt werden. Weitere oft und weltweit für den Betriebsfunk eingesetzte digitale Bündelfunkstandards sind:

 NXDN
 DMR
 dPMR

Sendemasten
Die Sendemasten für den Bündelfunk sind meist kaum von den bekannten Mobilfunkmasten zu unterscheiden. Lediglich die Antennenform ist variabel.

Siehe auch
 Reichweite (Funktechnik), maximale Entfernung zwischen Sender und Empfänger bei einer Funkverbindung
 Funkzelle

Weblinks
 NXDN-Forum
 Bundesverband Professioneller Mobilfunk e. V.

Belege

Funktechnik
Mobilfunk
BOS-Funk

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
The Waler is a rugged breed of horse that was formed in the very early years of Australian Colonial history; possibly with roots stemming as far back as from those horses who first arrived aboard the Lady Penrhyn in January of 1788, along with the First Fleet.
Horses were indispensable to early Settlers, and as the first Australian Colony was established and began to develop, demand for horses boomed. During this period only horses representing the best of their breed were imported due to the high cost of travel, and only the hardiest of stock survived the exhausting journey from their homelands to Australian shores.
These included Draught types such as the Clydesdale, Percheron, Suffolk Punch and the English Cart Horse, now known as the Shire Horse; Coaching breeds, including the Cleveland Bay, Yorkshire Coacher, Norfolk Roadster and Lincolnshire Trotter; Ponies, including the Timor Pony and many Native British Ponies, most numerously the Welsh Pony; early Thoroughbreds, strongly influenced by Galloway and Hobie blood, Arabians, Barbs, the Cape Horses of South Africa, now known as the African Cape Horse, and horses from Valparaiso, Chile. Amongst them came the highly esteemed Alonzo: a steely grey of whom arrived aboard the vessel Tiger, boasting to have sprung of Andalusian blood, and purchased as a brood stallion for the colony of New South Wales in 1828.
From these diverse breeds, Australia's own horse began to emerge. They were the first Walers, a nickname conceived in Calcutta around the mid-1840s to describe the horses imported from New South Wales to India.
In their infancy, the Waler was a working horse; used to work the land and for transporting goods, pulling coaches and as a means for personal transportation. They could cover long distances tirelessly at a steady pace, and needed little more than what the earth provided as nourishment. Eventually the Waler, thanks to selective breeding, further developed into four distinguishable types that have today been labelled based on their roles at War: Pony, Officer, Trooper and Artillery.
In 1816 the first Australian horses were shipped to India, purchased by a Mr. Alexander Riley, beginning the demand amongst private buyers for Australian-bred horses. By the 1830s they had caught to the attention of the British Army, and by the 1940s a steady trade was established for Walers to be used as remounts for the cavalry, artillery horses, and as carriage and sport horses for both the British Army and the Raj in India. The Waler was also fundamental in improving the Indian Cavalry, and the Indian Country Bred horse.
During the First Anglo-Boer War, Australia dispatched a total of 37,245 horses overseas for use by the Australian Infantry Forces in South Africa between 1899 and 1901 (figures from the Major-Genera William Truman's Report of the Court of Enquiry on the Administration of the Remount Service
Department of the War Office, Boer War).
In 1904, at least 10,000 Walers were shipped from Australia to Ujina, Japan, and a further 25,000 in 1905. In September of 1905 a fleet of large steamers shipped thousands directly to Manchuria for the
use of the Japanese Army against the Russians in the battle for Manchuria and Korea.
The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 saw a staggering 121,324 Walers sent overseas to the allied armies in Africa, Europe, India and Palestine. Of these, 39,348 served with the First Australian Imperial Force, mainly in the Middle East, while 81,976 were sent to India. It was this remarkable event
that gave birth to the legend, and the tragedy, that was to become Australia's Great War Horse.
October 31st, 1917, marks the epic event that the Waler today is most famous for; when two regiments of the Australian Lighthorse, the 4th, Victorians, and the 12th, from New South Wales, charged over six kilometres of open ground against the Turkish and German defences of BeerSheba, Palestine in a remarkably daring and desperate attack to save the British from a disastrous defeat. It is renowned as the last great successful cavalry charge in history.
Of the astonishing number of Australian horses that bore the burden of this campaign, only one came home; a bay gelding by the name of 'Sandy', the mount of one Major-General W.T. Bridges.
Of the remaining veterans, the aged and battle-worn were destroyed, while, as Australia's strict quarantine laws had forbidden their return, healthy animals were to be sold to the local population. Many of these horses were also destroyed, as troopers solicited to have their horses shot rather than leave them to starve.
Walers were again used in the Second World War by the North Australia Observer Unit, and a small number were also sent with the army to Papua New Guinea and Burma. For a time after, remount trades to India continued, but by the 1950's it had ultimately dissipated, and thereafter commercial breeding of Walers rapidly declined.
Some breeders simply abandoned their stock on their station properties, while others destroyed their horses, to be replaced by more fashionable breeds and motorised means of transportation. The pure lines of the old Waler horse gradually began to dilute through extensive cross-breeding to the more modernised Thoroughbred and Arabian types, along with a host of other recently imported breeds, such as the American Quarter Horse (imp. 1954). By the 1960's the Waler, once eulogised as one of the greatest cavalry horses in history, became an anachronism, and was pushed to the brink of extinction.
During the mid-1980s the Northern Territory Government's 'Tuberculosis Brucellosis Eradication Scheme', which aimed to eradicate all feral animals from the Territory, a large number of horses were being mustered and trucked to abattoirs or culled from helicopters. It was established by the foundation members of the Society, (now founders of WHOBAA), that a number of the localities on which horses were being slaughtered were once properties from which Walers had been sold, or used as Remount, Stock and working horses, and had been turned out to run feral after they were no longer required.
In 1986 the Waler's salvation set out on a campaign to find what remained of the breed, and the first herd of descendants was discovered where once there had been a remount station, near Alice Springs. Their efforts saw several truckloads of Walers saved from eradication and relocated to domestic homes across Australia. Similar achievements continued over the years, resulting in a number of horses from various isolated localities being saved and secured.
Today, some Walers are still brought in from the wild or off outback stations, and there are now several Waler Studs throughout Australia, preserving the number of horses with the Waler bloodlines and attributes, and it is thanks their efforts that this iconic Australian breed has slowly begun to re-establish itself, and is once again proving it's courage, hardiness and loyalty, not at war, but as recreational and competition mounts.
Photographs by Christiane Slawik and Julie Wilson
Written by Kayla Mills, based on research and documentation by Janet Lane and Peter Fischer


text:
Q: Passing mulitple and varied function arguments in Python Firstly I have already seen a number of similar questions, although they were not exactly my question. I am already familiar with *args and **kwargs.
Question Explanation:
I usually use positional arguments when calling a function. However, I often find myself needing to pass a plethora of arguments into a function, so using positional arguments has gotten quite burdensome. I have also found myself needing to pass a varied number of variables to a function that can accept more or other variables if needed.
How do I pass many arguments into a function that is able to take a varied number of arguments ?
I have tried to create an example that is as basic as possible. The functions just perform some arithmetic operations on some variables, and then prints them out.
a = 10
b = 20
c = 30

def firstFunction(*args):
    d = a *2
    e = b /2
    f = c +2

    x = d -10
    y = e -10
    z = f -10

    h = 1 #or 2

    secondFunction(d,e,f,h)
    thirdFunction(x,y,z,h)

def secondFunction(d,e,f,h):
    if h == 1:
        print d
        print e
        print f

def thirdFunction(x,y,z,h):
    if h == 2:
        print x
        print y
        print z

firstFunction(b,c,a)

And the results produced, as expected, for h=1 and h=2 respectively, are:
20
10
32

10
0
22

Now lets say I want to combine the second and third functions together, so I need to just call one function instead of two. The function would be, in this case:
def combinedFunction(d,e,f,h,x,y,z):
     if h == 1:
        print d
        print e
        print f

     if h == 2:
        print x
        print y
        print z

and would be called by: combinedFunction(d,e,f,h,x,y,z). As you can imagine, this can get extremely annoying for much more complicated functions. Also I am passing many different arguments that are not going to be used at all, and each of them has to be first declared. For example, in the example, if h = 1, x,y and z have to still be passed into the function, and maybe the value of one of them hasn't been determined as yet(in this simple case it is). I can't use 'combinedFunction(*args)' because not every argument is globally defined.
TLDR:
Basically I want the following:
def someFunction(accepts any number of arguments **and** in any order):
   # does some stuff using those arguments it received at the time it was called
# it can accept many more parameters if needed
# it won't need to do stuff to a variable that hasn't been passed through

and this function is called by:
someFunction(sends any number of arguments **and** in any order)
# can call the function again using different arguments and a
# different number of arguments if needed

Can this be easily achieved?

A: Using global variables from inside a function is generally a bad approach. Instead of it you can use **kwargs this way:
def firstFunction(**kwargs):
    d = kwargs.get('a') * 2

    secondFunction(d=d, **kwargs)
    thirdFunction(e=1, **kwargs)

def secondFunction(d, **kwargs):
    print d
    print kwargs.get('a')

def thirdFunction(**kwargs):
    print kwargs.get('e')

firstFunction(a=1, b=3, q=42)  # q will not be used

A: You could use a dict to pass the data to the functions, but it does makes it less intuitive when programming.
Each function could the convert the dict arguments as you please.
def func_a(input_dict):
    a = input_dict["a"]
    b = input_dict["b"]
    print(a+b)

def func_b(input_dict):
    c = input_dict["c"]
    d = input_dict["d"]
    print(c+d)

def combined_func(input_dict):
    func_a(input_dict)
    func_b(input_dict)

This is quite similar to kwargs, so it might not be what you are looking for.

A: If I understood correctly what you are looking for:
def something(*args):
    for i in args:
        print(i)

some_args = range(10)

something(*some_args)
print('-----------')
something(*some_args[::-1]) # reverse order

Output:
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
-----------
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0


Amnesty International, however, expressed shock at the hangings of 15 prisoners -- the largest number to be put to death on a single day in Jordan.
AMMAN: Jordan hanged 15 death row prisoners including convicted "terrorists" at dawn on Saturday, its information minister said, in a further break with a moratorium on executions it observed between 2006 and 2014.
The attorney general for Amman district, Ziad al-Dmour, said the executions represented "a clear message to anyone who tries to undermines the security of the nation".
"The horrific scale and secrecy around these executions is shocking," said Amnesty's deputy director at the group's Beirut regional office, Samah Hadid.
Momani said all those executed were Jordanians and were hanged in Swaqa prison, south of the capital Amman.
Among the terrorism offences were a 2006 attack on tourists at Amman's Roman amphitheatre that killed a Briton and a June 2016 attack on an intelligence service base north of the capital that left five agents dead.
Dmour, the Amman attorney general, said executions were "the fate of all those who carry out criminal offences".
But Amnesty International warned that the death penalty was not the way to improve security.
"This is a major step backwards for both Jordan and efforts to end the death penalty – a senseless and ineffective means of administering justice," Hadid said in a statement.
"Jordan had for years been a leading example in a region where recourse to the death penalty is all too frequent... Hanging people will not improve public security," Hadid added.


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MarTech » Performance Marketing » Google Provides AdSense Apps For iOS & Android
Google Provides AdSense Apps For iOS & Android
Google has officially launched official Google-made AdSense apps for iOS and Android. The Android version went live in the Google Play Store on July 31st, and the iOS version went live in the Apple App Store last night. The apps pretty much offer the same features, which include: Earnings overview reporting Earnings by top sites […]
Barry Schwartz on August 6, 2013 at 9:33 am
Google has officially launched official Google-made AdSense apps for iOS and Android.
The Android version went live in the Google Play Store on July 31st, and the iOS version went live in the Apple App Store last night. The apps pretty much offer the same features, which include:
Earnings overview reporting
Earnings by top sites
Earnings by top ad units
Earnings by top channels
Earnings by top URLs
Message notification area
Both the iOS and Android versions are free and available for download now.
Here are the iOS screen shots, which look very similar to the Android version.