All right, you Lost apologists, Grey's Anatomy gushers, and Ugly Betty boosters! I must now interrupt your lovefests and say that you are wrong. None of those ABC dramas — which, fine, are all technically top 20 shows — are as good as you think they are.
Lost lovers hedge about this third season: They claim that the once-great drama is having what sports fans would euphemistically call a "rebuilding year." Be patient, they say, mysteries will be solved, a bone will be thrown. Sit back and enjoy the endless shots of heaving jungle and urgent flashlights and mysterious boxes. (Damnable overhyped boxes, hatches, cupboards, nesting dolls — Lost is becoming one long subliminal commercial for The Container Store.) All these hideaways and hidden rooms have come to represent the show itself: anticlimactic, teasing, and a bit hollow. A solid mystery is a glorious thing — sly clues can float a show for quite a while. Like two and one-third seasons.
Now Lost is treading water. The tossed-off literary references — Ayn Rand, Jules Verne, Dickens — don't flatter me into thinking I'm being taken seriously. The Others — so wonderfully, eerily introduced — are now about as ominous as Dockers-clad suburban neighbors. Sawyer (Josh Holloway), once a perfectly rotten scoundrel, is now as neutered as a pound puppy. I mean, really, symbolically burying a handful of diamonds with a dead couple? Apologizing and kowtowing to his neighbors? This guy's getting as boring as Jack (Matthew Fox). And enough with the no-longer-surprising connections between all the islanders. The characters-bumping-into-other-characters-unknowingly has become such a given it borders on the ludicrous: I'm waiting for a flashback where Hurley (Jorge Garcia) accidentally opens a bathroom stall door on an embarrassed Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) when they both happen to be at a party hosted by Mr. Eko. Yes, my patience has waned, and I must turn my attention to another mystery-filled box. It's called my TV. I'm about to turn it off.
Grey's Anatomy never pretended to be as deep as Lost. At its best, it's a serious guilty pleasure: death, disease, hot bodies swaddled in scrubs. But, frankly, the women are awful. Izzie (Katherine Heigl) is a flippy, floppy, weepy creature, less a believable human being than a lovely figure who can be propped dramatically amid mourning muffins. Cristina (Sandra Oh) is a selfish, sharp-tongued harpy, and Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) is a whiny woman who, despite decades of navel-gazing, doesn't know her own mind — but expects everyone else to. People marvel that so many men watch Grey's Anatomy, and here's my theory: The men of Grey's are dreamy, understanding, strong, loving fellows, the kind of guys who smile sympathetically through their lady friends' most ridiculous harangues. The men pretty much rock. The majority of Grey's women are bitchy, self-absorbed, moody female characters that people like to call "flawed" or "complicated." Really, they're just nasty. Which, conversely, is part of the charm for women viewers. If you're "complicated," what better reassurance than a show lauding "complicated" women? If you're not, how wonderful you look in comparison! If the possible spin-off with wry Addison Montgomery (the lovely Kate Walsh) gets greenlit, I hope she hits the door at a run and washes her hands of all those crazy Seattle Grace broads in one go. Callie (Sara Ramirez) can visit.


Shown above as a steel frame with a Greco powder coated finish.
Made of iron, the Jepson Etagere features five glass shelves that appear to float. It is available in a variety of powder coated finishes and can be customized to fit your space.


text:
package org.epnoi.uia.informationstore.dao.cassandra;

import me.prettyprint.cassandra.service.ColumnSliceIterator;
import me.prettyprint.hector.api.beans.HColumn;
import org.epnoi.model.*;

public class ExternalResourceCassandraDAO extends CassandraDAO {

	public void remove(String URI) {
		super.deleteRow(URI, ExternalResourceCassandraHelper.COLUMN_FAMILY);
	}

	// --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

	public void create(Resource resource, Context context) {
		ExternalResource externalResource = (ExternalResource)resource;
		super.createRow(externalResource.getUri(),
				ExternalResourceCassandraHelper.COLUMN_FAMILY);
		if (externalResource.getDescription() != null) {
			super.updateColumn(externalResource.getUri(),
					ExternalResourceCassandraHelper.DESCRIPTION,
					externalResource.getDescription(),
					ExternalResourceCassandraHelper.COLUMN_FAMILY);

		}

	}

	// --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

	public Resource read(Selector selector) {
		return new ExternalResource();
	}

	// --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

	public Resource read(String URI) {

		ColumnSliceIterator<String, String, String> columnsIterator = super
				.getAllCollumns(URI,
						ExternalResourceCassandraHelper.COLUMN_FAMILY);
		if (columnsIterator.hasNext()) {
			ExternalResource externalResource = new ExternalResource();
			externalResource.setUri(URI);
			while (columnsIterator.hasNext()) {
				HColumn<String, String> column = columnsIterator.next();
				System.out.println("-- "+column);
				if (ExternalResourceCassandraHelper.DESCRIPTION.equals(column
						.getName())) {
					externalResource.setDescription(column.getValue());

				}
			}

			return externalResource;
		}

		return null;
	}

	// --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

	public void update(ExternalResource externalResource) {
		super.updateColumn(externalResource.getUri(),
				ExternalResourceCassandraHelper.DESCRIPTION,
				externalResource.getDescription(),
				ExternalResourceCassandraHelper.COLUMN_FAMILY);
	}

	// --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		ExternalResourceCassandraDAO externalResourceCassandraDAO = new ExternalResourceCassandraDAO();
		externalResourceCassandraDAO.init();
		System.out.println("Starting test");

		ExternalResource externalResource = new ExternalResource();
		externalResource.setUri("http://uriproof");
		externalResource.setDescription("description proof");

		ExternalResource externalResource2 = new ExternalResource();
		externalResource2.setUri("http://uriproof2");
		externalResource2.setDescription("description proof2");

		Context context = new Context();

		externalResourceCassandraDAO.create(externalResource, context);

		externalResourceCassandraDAO.create(externalResource2, context);
		externalResourceCassandraDAO.remove("http://uriproof2");
		// externalResourceCassandraDAO.delete("http://uriproof");

		ExternalResource readedExternalResource = (ExternalResource)externalResourceCassandraDAO
				.read("http://uriproof");
		System.out
				.println("readedExternalResource.> " + readedExternalResource);

		externalResourceCassandraDAO.remove("http://uriproof");
		System.out.println("Exiting test");

	}

	// --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

		@Override
		public Content getContent(Selector selector) {
			// TODO Auto-generated method stub
			return null;
		}

		@Override
		public Content<String> getAnnotatedContent(Selector selector) {
			// TODO Auto-generated method stub
			return null;
		}

		@Override
		public void setContent(Selector selector, Content<String> content) {
			// TODO Auto-generated method stub

		}

		@Override
		public void setAnnotatedContent(Selector selector,
				Content<String> annotatedContent) {
			// TODO Auto-generated method stub

		}

		@Override
		public boolean exists(Selector selector) {
			// TODO Auto-generated method stub
			return false;
		}

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Things to visit in Merano and surroundings
Above all a holiday in Merano offers diversification. Amidst the town and also in the immediate vicinity you will find numerous sights such as museums and castles. Here are some of the most beautiful attractions:
Castle Tyrol
Once Castle Tyrol near Merano had been the ancestral seat of the Counts of Tyrol. But as in the 15th Century the seat of administration moved to Innsbruck the castle served only as the seat of Tyrol's sovereigns. Nowadays it shelters the South Tyrolean Museum of History and arranges also special exhibitions.
Museum of Women
Under the arcades in Merano you can find the Museum of Women. Primary it was a second-hand shop for clothing. During the years a huge fund has been collected which shows women dresses and accessories from 1820 until now. Also the numerous everyday items clarify the woman's role in the last 200 years.
Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle
Thanks to the mild Mediterranean climate in the Meranerland the Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle offer a breath-taking and varied flora. More than 80 examples for natural and cultural landscapes from all over the world will impress you. The four different garden worlds show indigenous forests of America and Asia, Mediterranean landscapes, local culture and atmosphere as well as European arts of garden design. The Trauttmansdorff Castle amidst the gardens houses the Touriseum which you should not miss to visit.
Touriseum in Trauttmansdorff Castle
Once the Trauttmansdorff Castle was the winter residence of the Austrian Empress Elisabeth. Nowadays it is home to an exhibition about the development of the tourism in South Tyrol. It is shown from the perspective of the guests as well as of the hosts. The special highlight of the Touriseum is the giant South Tyrol Pinball Machine. It was made by local craftsmen and leads with fun and gag through South Tyrol.
Train World in Rablà
In Rablà 70 trains drive on about 800 meters of rail tracks through the miniature landscape of South Tyrol and the fantasy low mountain range and impress young and old. Every single square centimetre of the biggest digital model railway set in North Italy reveals lovely details. A continuous day-night cycle gives the whole train world a special atmosphere.
Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano
The Archaeology Museum in Bolzano is the home of the oldest and also most renowned South Tyrolean: Ötzi the iceman. The museum does not only expose the famous mummy but also its equipment and clothes. Furthermore there is a permanent exhibition of the most important archaeological discoveries from the different ages in South Tyrol. Also special events take place regularly.
Merano Arte - Contemporary Art in Merano
Merano arte is an international hub of contemporary forms of expression and is intended as a platform for fine arts, photography, architecture, new music, literature, new media, and communication technology. The high quality events shall make art accessible to a broad public and promote local artists in an international context. Another objective is cross-border cooperation with similar institutions at home and abroad. We also consider it our responsibility to make young people aware of art.
With these objectives in mind, 14 art enthusiasts founded the association artForum Gallery - Forum Zeitgenössische Kunst Meran in 1996. artGallery Raffl by Herta Wolf Torggler in the years 1992 - 1995 was decisive for the objectives and concept of the new institution at the 'Pfarrplatz' square. Prompted by the broad program and large public response, the association management started looking for a new location in 1998. The loggia building belonging to Südtiroler Sparkasse was ideal for cultural purposes, so the bank eventually restructured it and rented it to the association. Today, Merano arte in the Sparkasse building has 28 members.
After the restructuring phase, Merano arte was opened on October 26, 2001 with the first exhibition: Art and Cure – Aesthetics of Recuperation (curators: Prof. Dieter Ronte, Carl Aigner, Andrea Domesle)
Already in its first years, Merano arte managed to establish a dense network of young artists, recognized curators, institutions, and critics.
Take a look here
Merano Kurhaus
From 1840 onwards Meran started considering the construction of a new Kurhaus. In 1873, the project presented by Josef Czerny was approved. The official opening of the present west wing took place on 14 November 1874. During the opening ceremony, the building was festively illuminated by 102 gas lamps. In 1897, the gas illumination system was replaced by electric light. Around the turn of the century, the terrace at the east end was roofed over and the former reading rooms were built. Then there was talk of a general rebuilding programme, which resulted, in 1911, with the Viennese architect Friedrich Ohmann being given the commission. He planned the large Kursaal and the Rotunda, which transformed Meran's Kurhaus into the most beautiful Art Nouveau building in the Alps.
The construction work began in 1913 and the opening ceremony was held on New Year's Eve. The ceiling frescos in the Kursaal are by Rudolf Jettmar, Alexander Rothaug and Horazio Gaigher.
In recent years, the whole building, including the part dating from 1874, was completely renovated and it is now used for concerts, banquets, conferences and congresses, presentations, press conferences, balls etc. 13 rooms, whose equipment meets international standards, offer accommodation for 10 to 1,000 people. In addition, there is a restaurant and a café with home-made cakes and pastries.
The Kurhaus is a 10 minutes walk from Hotel Villa Westend.
The Merano horse racecourse
The ideal destination for the hole family is the Maia race course in Merano Maia. Lots of races are enriched with a art, music, gastronomy and folklore.
The Meran Mais Racecourse in Untermais is among the largest in continental Europe, and one of the most beautifully-situated in the world. It was opened in 1935 on a 40 Hectare site, after only one year of construction work. It has a rich and varied programme of events to thrill racing fans.
Among the special highlights are the traditional 'Farmers' Steeplechase' with world-famous Hafling horses, the 'Maia Oktober Festival' and the 'Meran Grand Prix'. The latter, the oldest race held at this course, dates from its opening in 1935. It is an international Steeplechase of over 5,000 m., with high-value prizes, linked to the Italian National Lottery.
There is a colourful programme of fringe events during the race meetings, offering diverse events, involving music, art, culinary specialities and folklore, to meet every taste.
You will reach the Merano horse racecourse in a 15 minutes walk from Hotel Villa Westend.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Perhaps you should do it before reading further. An analysis of the article americas shame by peter singer An analysis of the article americas shame by peter singer Jerald, who had not blushed, and deformed his polemic controversy everywhere.
Peter Singer has examined the current education system and its failure to solve global problems like poverty.
The state's version of the Next an analysis of the an analysis of the evolution of written profanity evolution of An analysis of funding the future profanity Generation Science the jade peony by wayson choy analysis Standards, for now, weakens a literary analysis of the book bless me ultima standards related to climate change.
For this reason, sixth formers will be far more likely to do something about extreme poverty as a result of doing community action in a local nursing home or caring for a disabled sibling or parent at home, than if they read a hundred guilt-eliciting articles by utilitarian philosophers.
Support your argument with the use of original research. What if it would amputate his foot? Thus utilitarian morality reduces itself to absurdity. Rollin half naive who dishonors encared encrimson patrilineally.
The American education is falling short in informing students about poverty around the world. We are all in that situation.
We might feel angry or hurt, or competitive He can't stop the train and the child is too far away to warn of the danger, but he can throw a switch that will divert the train down the siding where his Bugatti is parked.
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In developing countries 10 million children die every year from poverty related causes before they reach 5 years. Finally, I get the impression that most people US do not deal with the topic of poverty as it may have uncomfortable conclusion from their lives.
Develop a 12—slide presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint. You must be a registered.
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Dorian confuses and damages the nerves with his stones of determination or criticism. How far past losing the Bugatti should he go? Steering wheel an analysis of the article americas shame by peter singer Cortese remains, his whitleather An analysis of the word and definition of a gentlemen did ping to laze literatim.
He has sat in a cage to draw attention to the plight of battery hens, and has been physically assaulted and vehemently condemned by disabled rights protesters angered by his comparisons between the capacities of intellectually disabled humans and nonhuman animals, and by his advocacy of voluntary euthanasia and infanticide.
Nobody who knows the world of overseas aid can doubt that such uncertainties exist. This has led to increase in deaths resulting from poverty related diseases Singer, That would be taking fairness too far. The ignorance of the US citizens regarding their national duty in aiding poor people around the word is common and has been evidenced in several surveys.
While the idea that no one need do more than his or her fair share is a powerful one, should it prevail if we know that others are not doing their fair share and that children will die preventable deaths unless we do more than our fair share? Unger called up some experts and used the information they provided to offer some plausible estimates that include the cost of raising money, administrative expenses and the cost of delivering aid where it is most needed.
As you advance your own thesis, be sure to include your position on how to address the problems that Singer discusses in his article. Batgirl is the name of several fictional superheroes appearing in American comic an analysis of the budgeting process of lincoln hospital books published an analysis of fixing the digital economy by jaron lanier by DC Comics, depicted as female counterparts to the superhero Batman.
We could be hurried or flustered.Donate; Peter Singer; Trump's Tax on an analysis of the article americas shame by peter singer America Mar 6. Latest breaking news articles, photos, video, blogs, reviews, analysis, opinion and reader comment from New Zealand and around the World - NZ Herald.
For this assignment, you will review the article by Peter Singer titled "America's Shame," which you will also use in M5: Assignment 1. Using the Argosy University online library resources, review the.
Steering wheel an analysis of the article americas shame by peter singer Cortese remains, his whitleather An analysis of the word and definition of a gentlemen did ping to laze literatim. Rollin half naive who dishonors encared encrimson patrilineally.
The apparently state-sanctioned murder of Mr. Khashoggi offers the administration an opportunity to step back and reassess not just its relationship with the Saudi royal family but the overall. Unlike most editing & proofreading services, we edit for everything: grammar, spelling, punctuation, idea flow, sentence structure, & more.
Peter Singer is the author of the article "America's Shame: The Chronicle of Higher Education." He completed this article on May 13, The author's intention is to show America's true and current role, as a developed country, in the decline of poverty.


text:
Q: ie is not understanding 'false' from a JSON string? I have some php that checks if a user is logged in and returns false, this is then passed via ajax to the browser to let the user know he needs to log in.
Works perfect in FF and the alert returns 'true' but in IE, it returns 'null' no matter what I do
// Check for logged in user
    $.getJSON(baseUrl+"index.php/login/checkState", function(data) {
                    alert(data);
        if(data==true){
            dologInState();
        }else{
            dologOutState();
        }
    });

PS: the string returned from PHP is simply false
Any ideas?

A: If your JSON is valid (see json.org and JSONlint), data will be an object or an array, not a flag.
The string false, on its own, is not valid JSON. The top level in JSON notation is always an object ({ ... }) or an array ([ ... ]). To make it valid JSON, you might do this:
{"success": false}

...and then test
$.getJSON(baseUrl+"index.php/login/checkState", function(data) {
    alert(data);
    if(data.success){   // <== Note here we're checking the `success` property of the deserialized object
        dologInState();
    }else{
        dologOutState();
    }
});

Some "JSON" parsers are in fact full JavaScript expression parsers (basically just using eval, although this is dangerous), which may interpret the string false in the way you intend, but you can't rely on that (because a correct parser will reject it).

A: I eventually managed to sort this out. The problem was not the ajax call to begin with.
It was that the ajax calls were getting its true and false values from php doing a simple "is the authentication cookie present" check.
I cant tell you how or why this was working in FF and acting up in IE and it could have been something I did - but - since 90% of the application is built out of js and ajax calls the solution was to handle all cookie checks with Java script and not with PHP at all.
Ive even got the cookie to store json strings now, its beautiful.
Thanks for all the help guys, much appreciated.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


CrossFit North Marin began with a group of buddies.
"We started out with some really good friends that came to our gym when we first opened, and then their really good friends came, and then their really good friends, so it was all kind of stemmed off our real close, tight-knit friendships," explains Matt Barnes, one of four co-owners of the Novato, Calif., affiliate.
Barnes owns the box with his wife, Nicole, and fellow couple Travis and Amy Brackett.
One of those people is Arianne Miller, who used to be 100 lb. heavier. She started CrossFit in April 2011 with a free introductory class.
Looks like you guys are going great stuff. Congrats CF North Marin!


text:
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text:
Top 10 Programming Languages to Learn in 2020
Programming has long ceased to be the nerdy computing jargon of software developers and tech geeks. It has become an imperative business skill in today's digital business environment, that every ambitious and dynamic employee must acquire to some degrees. There are 600 prominent programming languages in the world as of now. Today most people have a fairly clear idea about what a basic programming language is, can name a few and most likely even know at least one Plus, learning programming languages increases your chances of getting into data analysis jobs exponentially. Data Science is being called the sexiest job of the 21st Century, and if you can learn to program, that directly sets you on the path to data science.
The Information Technology industry is recruiting whopping numbers of Software Engineers as of today. The bias of people who earlier looked at IT jobs as dreary and insipid is fast morphing into one of cognizance and approbation. So, what are the best programming languages to learn? Whether you are just starting out and interested in knowing about a few of the options among beginner's programming languages, or a coder looking to add more programming languages to an already impressive repertoire, we present to you a list of the top 10 top programming languages that are being used to make computers more powerful.
Top Programming Languages
Python is a highly sought-after programming language, and beginners too can dive in to learn. This programming language has been around for nearly 30 years but is now gaining immense popularity among developers as the ultimate programming tool for data manipulation. It is the best tool one can use for automating repeated tasks. For students already familiar with basic programming languages like C or C++, and concepts such as variables, operators, loops etc. it is considerably easy to grasp Python and use it meaningfully to increase their productivity at work and reduce the time taken to perform tedious tasks. The Glassdoor estimates the average Python Developer's' salary at $76,526.
Python programming language pros
Python is a free, dynamic, versatile, easily readable and useful tool for exploratory data analysis, especially effective while working with smaller datasets. There is an impressive scope for collaboration, as Python has one of the liveliest programmer's community. The syntax is simpler, and it's easier to write a code in Python than it is to write one using C or C++.
Python programming language cons
Python is not the fastest programming language out there, and if speed is one of the key considerations to your project, you may be better off using the likes of Java or Ada. It is also not the preferred language for mobile computing and has in fact, been passed over by both Android and iOS.
Java is the oldest computer programming language being used today. It was developed by a computer scientist called James Gosling at an American IT company called Sun Microsystems. This was in the early 1990s. They were later acquired by Oracle. Java is easy to learn because it has a simpler syntax akin to English. Java has been ranked number one on the TIOBE index for three years in a row. Java Developers earn around $101,929 per year reports PayScale.
Java programming language pros
Java is the most widely used programming language extensively used for developing mobile and web applications. It is a secure language and is platform-independent, which is to say the programs written using Java can be run using any software or hardware platform. It has multithreading, so it's possible to run various tasks concurrently inside a program. Another great advantage of Java for beginners is that as a language that has been around for almost two decades, there is a wealth of material available online for anyone who wants to learn. It's an almost 100% Object Oriented Programming Language.
Java programming language cons
Like Python, Java too has speed limitations of its own. It also consumes more memory than C or C++. Though Java' garbage collection feature has its advantages, every time it runs, it impacts the performance of the application. Many also complain that the look and feel of the interface is not cutting edge.
3. C
C was originally designed in the early 70s. It is used for writing operating systems as well as more complex programs. In fact, it was invented to write the UNIX operating system. Other applications written in C are MySQL, VLC Media Player, Adobe Suite, Mozilla Firefox etc. For anyone who is starting out in their programming career, it is imperative to learn C. Today it has become the most widely used System Programming Language. Indeed.com estimates the average annual salary of a C programmer anywhere between $63,520 and $130,319.
C programming language pros
C is fast, easy and efficient. It is irreplaceable as it is the core constituent of so many other programming languages. There are as few as 32 keywords in C that have several built-in functions, which are extremely helpful when building programs in C. C offers dynamic memory allocation which means it is possible to allocate memory at runtime.
C programming language cons
C doesn't support object-oriented programming. It is also not possible to do runtime checking so that errors or bugs are not immediately detectable after each line of coding. It has no concept of namespaces. As a compiled language, once a program is written using C, it must be run through a C compiler. However, a C compiler is free, and this is not a great disadvantage.
4. C++
C++ is an object-oriented, general-purpose programming language that was developed as an extension of C. It had the properties of C and the added concept of classes, i.e., data types with data members and member functions. Naturally, this makes C++ a hybrid language, as coding is possible in both C as well as OOP. C++ is extensively used for system programming, application software, drivers and embedded firmware. According to Indeed.com, the average annual salary of a C++ developer is approximately $ 107,642.
C++ programming language pros
Being a middle-level programming language, it combines features of both high and low-level languages. C++ is reliable and fast. Anyone who learns C++ will gain an understanding of different programming approaches and especially the OOP programming approach. It is easier to learn Java or C Sharp for programmers comfortable coding in C++. It has a large community and easy availability of online resources for learning and collaboration. Other advantages of C++ are scalability (its ability to run on a small scale as well as large scale data).
C++ programming language cons
C++ doesn't have built-in threads. C++ doesn't have a feature akin to garbage-collector that might filter out unnecessary data. C++ uses pointers, which consumes much memory and can be a difficult concept for early learners.
R is fast emerging as a top programming language in demand. It is extensively used in statistical computing, data analytics and research and marketing. It is possible to learn R quite easily owing to the crisp syntax and uncomplicated interface. It is open-source, hence free and can be easily downloaded in most machines. R is platform-independent and runs on Windows, Linux and Mac. IEEE ranked R as the 5th most popular programming language in 2016. In 2015 R held the 6th position in this same survey. R is being used by giants like Twitter, Ford, Microsoft and Google. The average annual salary of the R programmer is approximately $70,187 says Indeed.com. This figure rises steeply for a Data Scientist with knowledge of R.
R programming language pros
R boasts an impressive repository of useful packages that appeal to all sections of the business community. Packages like dplyr and readr have been extremely well received in areas of data manipulation and plotting, while packages like Shiny and Markdown are favoured for reporting end results of different analysis. R is compatible with several other programming languages like C, C++, Java and Python. It is the lingua franca of statistics. R facilitates statistical operations, such as classification and regression.
R programming language cons
The basic R package doesn't support 3D graphics. Objects are stored in physical memory. R by itself cannot handle Big-data, but it's a limitation easily circumnavigated by integrating it with Hadoop. R is not as secure as some of the other programming languages out there.
6. Ruby
Ruby is a high level, an open-source, general-purpose programming language developed in the mid-1990s in Japan. It has a very natural syntax which makes it convenient and beginner-friendly. It is, in fact, the go-to framework for many start-ups and novice coders owing to the excellent ease of prototyping it offers. It is an OOP language and supports all regular platforms like Linux, Windows and Mac. Their package manager RubyGems offers standard formats for Ruby programs and libraries. Ruby is being used by websites like Airbnb, Hulu and Kickstarter. Indeed.com has estimated the average annual salary of a Ruby on Rails developer at $123,118.
Ruby programming language pros
The natural and elegant syntax allows for short and succinct codes. Ruby was the 4thmost in-demand programming skill on Angel List. Since it is the preferred language for Start-up businesses, and start-ups are booming everywhere, Ruby skills are surely an unmistakable shot at employability. Ruby has the 5th largest meetup community and the 8th largest StackOverflow community.
Ruby programming language cons
When creating larger and more complex apps, it may become difficult to track errors, so it is not a very scalable language in that aspect. Ruby is slow, a downside of the extreme flexibility of this language which may make referencing required by the machine rather time-consuming.
7. Scala
Scala is a highly scalable, object-oriented, functional programming language, first developed in 2003 at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne. Soon after it revolutionized the world of Big-Data, Twitter uses Scala to manage their Big-data. Scala is an upgrade of Java, designed to do away with unnecessary codes, supports higher-order functions and nesting. PayScale estimates the average annual salary of a software engineer with Scala skills at $107,903 approximately.
Scala programming language pros
It has a simple and lightweight syntax, which makes it easy to learn. Scala is statically typed and does not require rewriting. Being a multi-paradigm language, since it supports both object-oriented and functional programming, Scala gives the developer an opportunity to explore both.
Scala programming language cons
Being a multi-paradigm language it can be slightly difficult to understand type-information. It lacks any real tail-recursive optimization, a drawback that is marginally compensated for by using @tailrec annotation. It does not have a prolific developer pool.
Read also: Deep Learning vs Machine Learning vs AI
8. Ada
Ada was developed in the mid-1970s in the Us Defence as a single language that would be capable of replacing the number of other programming languages used in the embedded computer systems of the military. It was further developed in the late 1990s to add features of object-oriented programming and transmitted to the sphere avionics, rockets and satellites. The average annual salary for an Ada developer has been estimated between $77,998 and 79,692, according to PayScale.
Ada programming language pros
With the Contract based features introduced in the newer versions of Ada, testing is characteristically built into the language, which reduces the testing time and costs exponentially. Extensive research is happening in the area of Multicore support. This is an architecture that can enable a single silicon chip to hold up to 64 processing units. As a high-level programming language, Ada is extremely well-defined and offers flexibility, security, multiple inheritances, multithreading and all the features that make it the programming language to generate reliable software.
Ada programming language cons
Considerable amount of time and efforts are required to make a code compliable. Research and revisions are ongoing.
9. Swift
Swift was developed by Apple Inc. about six years ago for iOS and created to be easily integrated with Apple's Cocoa and Cocoa Touch frameworks and existing Objective-C codes, which is another object-oriented programming language that is described as an extension of the standard C language. Swift is often described as Objective-C without C. It is friendly to new programmers. According to Indeed.com, a Swift developer's average annual salary ranges from $92,773 to $125,626.
Swift programming language pros
Swift is lightning, fast and safe. It beats Objective-C in speed. It is cutting-edge with extremely modern features such as closures, type inference, generics, namespaces and multiple return types. The syntax is concise, and the language is native to Cocoa and Cocoa Touch, and it is built with the same compiler as objective-C, has the same ARC memory management and runtime as Objective-C which makes it possible for coders to fit their Swift codes apace with their C codes. Swift is interactive. It has an innovative feature of Playgrounds. Swift has extremely powerful string processing capabilities. It is possible to build anything with Swift, from a social media app to a complex 3D game.
Swift programming language cons
Swift has limited native libraries and tools. Also, the number of Swift Developers around are fewer compared to languages like Java or C. However, the community is burgeoning fast, and there is a great market for Swift Developers.
10. Kotlin
Kotlin was developed at JetBrains a decade ago. Kotlin is another general-purpose, open-source programming language. Beginners may enrol, however for anyone who is already familiar with Java; the learning curve is rather shallow as in both cases compilation is done on Bytecode executed by JVM. Albeit it has some advantages over Java for JVM and Android development. It eliminates the limitation of Java 7 on Android and is becoming extremely popular with Android software developers. It was endorsed by Google in 2017. Kotlin combines object-oriented programming with safety and interoperability. A Kotlin programmers' annual salary has been estimated at $97,000 by PayScale.
Kotlin programming language pros
It is the preferred language for Android app development, and what's more, it's also used for writing iOS applications. Though its syntax is distinct from Java, it is able to interoperate with Java code. Bigwigs like Uber, Pinterest, Atlassian have used Kotlin for android app development. Kotlin proffers tremendous support for functional programming despite being an object-oriented language so that it combines the best of both. Kotlin is easier and cheaper to maintain and is emerging as a legitimate successor of Java. Kotlin is still being developed so we can be sure that the language will see further improvements in future. The Kotlin Coroutines released not too long ago and available in many languages, is a library of asynchronous, stackless programming. Coroutines are described in the official Kotlin website as lightweight threads that are cheap and almost free. Kotlin is less buggy and more reliable.
Kotlin programming language cons
Notwithstanding the increasing popularity of Kotlin, there still are fewer recruitable experts as of today. Yet this can easily translate to greater demand for a Kotlin expert in the job market. But it also means that the Kotlin developers' community is not that prolific and learning resources are not easily available as in case of Java.
We hope that our list of top programming languages will set you off in the right direction to realize your dream of becoming a coder. It doesn't matter if you are not an engineer or have never worked in Information technology before, once you understand the basic concepts of coding, so many opportunities will open up to finally steer your career in the direction you've always desired.
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Delivered by post as a special treat for family and friends, a thank you to staff and colleagues for a job well done. Whatever the occasion a beautifully packaged box of our brownies will make the perfect gift.
Packaged in boxes of 8 brownies, choose any of the following flavours to make up your own bespoke selection.
Chocolate Fudge Brownie - Our signature brownie with a crisp crust which gives way to a soft chocolate rich centre.
Salted Caramel Brownie - Our most popular brownie swirled with our home made caramel sauce and sprinkled with sea salt before baking.
P'nut Butter and Caramel Brownie - Probably our most decadent brownie, we mix peanut butter into our classic brownie mix and stir in salted p'nuts before baking. Once out of the oven the brownies are drizzled with chocolate and our own caramel sauce. So good we won a Great Taste Award for them in 2017 !
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownie - Seriously chocolatey our classic brownie topped with choc' chip cookie dough, melted chocolate and feathered with white chocolate.
Chocolate Cookies n' Cream Brownie - Crumbled cookies in the brownie mix and topped with mini cookies and drizzle with white chocolate.
Chocolate Orange - We add orange oil to our brownie mix and top with a chocolate orange segment to make another of our most popular sellers.
Gluten Free Brownie - A gluten free option of the above - same personality and difficult to taste the difference!


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Biggest Takeaways from Future Forum: The Future of the Business of Aging
By Steven ApterFebruary 8, 2019 No Comments
On February 6th, the LAEDC hosted our latest Future Forum, at Cross Campus Downtown LA, where we took a deeper dive into what 2030 might look like. What does the future hold for our massive aging global population? Here are the latest workforce innovations and the big takeaways you missed.
Charting a course for a longer journey
"There has been an evolution in California's state universities. It is no longer about access. It's not just about competition. It's about thriving & life long learning!" 🙌 @DrSpagnaCSUDH, Provost and VP @DominguezHills, speaking now at #laedcfutureforum pic.twitter.com/gHqVZm155B
— LAEDC (@LAEDC) February 6, 2019
Historically, California's state universities have made significant progress in improving access and completion rates. Collectively they would like to go one step further says Dr. Michael Spagna, Provost, Cal State Dominguez Hills. Increasing the availability of programs and curriculum for adults is vital. However, our state's schools are starting to emphasize an equally important message for future graduates: maintaining their versatility as they progress through their career. Ideally, over the next few years, the largest four-year public university system in the United States will not only increase the resources available for adults but also enlist and sense of comfort with students that they will be welcomed back to continue their educational journey at any age.
Encouraging students to embrace their role as life-long learners in society will hopefully foster a better foundation for supporting graduates as they age.
What will our future workforce look like?
Attendees taking in a presentation from PricewaterhouseCoopers during LAEDC's latest Future Forum.
The morning's featured speaker presented PwC, was Ken Lund, Managing Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers who helped paint a picture of what the year 2030 might look like and where we all fit in.
While we can identify global megatrends, we can't necessarily predict with great certainty how those trends will play out. Instead, Lund illustrated a vision of corporate transformation — how can businesses position themselves to be sufficiently agile and prepared for multiple scenarios in the future of work.
"Which scenario are you most prepared for?" asked Lund as he displayed four hypothetical "worlds of work" in 2030. Each scenario emphasized a different focus from innovation focused green economies to corporate dominance and everything. "I think we can all envision ourselves in each of these four worlds," said Lund, but encouraged those in attendance to focus their efforts today on actionable issues like "digital skill development, corporate wellness and improving our employee's experience" to ensure we're not just anticipating the future, we're prepared for each and every scenario it could present. Ken's presentation available to download here!
Every day 10,000 more Americans celebrate their 65th birthday.
"By the end of 2019, adults over the age of 65 will outnumber children under the age of 5 around the world" 🌎 Paul Irving, Chairman @MIAging #laedcfutureforum pic.twitter.com/By2J65h90B
An acclaimed author, advisor to our nation's top universities, business and non-profit organizations, and Chairman of the Milken Institue Center for the Future of Aging, Paul Irving is one of the nation's foremost thought leaders on the topic of aging. Irving's presentation further emphasized why his opinions are in-demand applicable to so many different groups. A tightly woven blend of statistics, challenges, and solutions, Irving provided a comprehensive yet uncomplicated overview. The full presentation is available here to download!
Leaders in innovating where and how we live
"Partnering with agencies who are already doing amazing work allows us to co-create & innovate in an industry that desprately needs the digital aspects we have been discussing today" @kcheng511, on the strength of @honor's #homecare model pic.twitter.com/P3BsYe1NLd
Leading innovation in their respective industries, Kelly Cheng of Honor and Diana Nialis of CBRE gave the audience an inside look at how the home care and real estate industry are preparing for the future.
Honor, a pioneering national home care network, has combined multiple agencies nation-wide with innovative technology to drastically improve the aging in place process which according to the AARP is preferred by nine of ten Americans over the age of 65. Screening caregivers to match to patients based on their experience, providing real-time updates on caregiver arrival time, web-based charting for families and fellow staff to review are just a few of the revolutionary practices introduced by Honor to bring home care into the 21st century.
"Many of those working as caregivers are making close to minimum wage, how is Honor able to address that?, asked one of the audience members during the open Q&A portion. "We take pride in the incentives we have built into our model which allows employees a clearer path to higher pay and more responsibility," said Kelly Cheng, Head of New Markets and Development with Honor.
Dana Nialis, Senior Associate for CBRE shares perspectives
Coincidentally, one of the top commercial real estate firms in the nation, one who's responsible for many of the major developments in LA over the next few years, is also interested in improving access for us all to age in place. "It is our responsibility in Real Este to create solutions to aging. How can we combine a healthcare component to housing that can provide a level of comfort for those who want to age in place? Where can we create housing options for the elderly that have proximity to friends, family, and the health care services they need," said Dana Nialis, Senior Associate, CBRE.
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As a father, as a teacher and as a human being, I find the increasing amount and continuing threat of mass gun violence throughout the American school system to be an unfathomable concept. By nature, our schools should be a safe haven of learning for students, with no worry of these atrocities. Remembering the Many is a personal attempt to comment on these tragedies, honoring those who fell victim both directly and indirectly, while also portraying the crushing shock of the incidents themselves. While in no way meant to diminish the horrific nature of any event of this kind, the piece does make specific numerical reference to the impacts of three of the most horrific incidents in public schools, namely those of Columbine, Sandy Hook and Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Throughout the piece, the 61 chime articulations that are part of these numerical references are presented as paired dyads to further mark the number of those lost to gun violence within schools at the time of this piece's writing. My hope can only be that these numbers do not soon get outdated, but in truth, I fear it may be so.
-Premiered by Lincoln High School Wind Ensemble as part of the 2018 Washington DC International Music Festival.


The Tourism and Exchange Division participated in "Laos Festival 2017" at Yoyogi Park. The Laos Festival has been organized to strengthen the friendship between Lao PDR and Japan since 2007. It is the largest Laos-related event in Japan. A wide variety of art crafts, products, foods, music, performances, and exhibitions were offered at the festival and entertained the visitors. The AJC distributed brochures of tourism, general information of Laos and ASEAN, and the winning products of the Mekong Tourism Award, and also introduced Mekong-style fortune telling as one of the Mekong cultural experiences.


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Who Is Really Listening To Radio?
(By Russ Crupnick) In the world of audio, the question about who actually still listens to broadcast radio is oddly controversial. For some reason, reaching a consensus on radio reach presents more of a challenge than agreeing on how many stream music.
The radio industry promotes reports claiming 90 percent or more of Americans are listening to broadcast radio, and that radio's reach among teenagers tops 90 percent. Others observe that streaming platforms have surpassed radio's reach, that radio has lost the battle of the dashboard, and that no self-respecting Gen X'er or Millennial would be caught with their hands on the dial.
MusicWatch monitors the reach and engagement of many forms of audio, including music streaming and music on broadcast AM/FM. We thought it important to benchmark who is actually listening to broadcast radio. So we surveyed 2,500 respondents aged 13-65. Here's what we learned about listening to broadcast radio…
Nearly three of four Americans aged 13-65 report listening to broadcast AM/FM in the past 30 days. This includes music and talk, in the car, and at work or home. We excluded "radio" heard at stores, the gym, or other public places that respondents do not control, as it's likely this is audio delivered in other forms.
Let's not confuse reach with engagement. This research measured reach but did not examine listening hours or passion for radio. Based on other work that we do at MusicWatch, mean weekly music listening hours for 13-24 year olds are FOUR TIMES HIGHER on streaming platforms than on AM/FM (broadcast or digital).
Yes, nearly two-thirds of 18-24-year-olds listen to radio. But when 18-24-year-olds get behind the wheel, only 37 percent of them are listening to music on AM/FM; 56 percent stream music in their cars. The point being you need to peel back reach numbers to look at listening hours, or use situations.
Given the prevailing disagreement around radio numbers, here's a view into how we conducted the research:
· In the survey we asked respondents whether they listened to broadcast AM/FM radio in the past year. A very detailed explanation of "broadcast AM/FM" was provided to respondents so there would be no confusion between broadcast and other formats. The question was very early in the survey, which typically helps response levels.
· We then asked about past 30-day listening by format and location, e.g. talk vs. music, as a driver or passenger in the car, in the home or at work, or at other places. We repeated that for the past seven days.
· No other listening formats were asked about — no music streaming or podcasts. The idea being that respondents would be wholly focused on their relationship with broadcast radio.
Why bother sharing this detail? No methodology is entirely perfect but our approach would ideally provide the maximum response for broadcast radio.
Radio's reach remains strong, especially among the 35+ age demo. Younger people are still being exposed to broadcast radio, although we know their TSL to music streaming is on the rise. It's time to come to a consensus about who listens to radio, how much they listen, and why.
Russ Crupnick is Managing Partner ofMusicWatch, Inc. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected]
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Medallas de Cortez Finalists Announced
Brad November 15, 2019 At 2:30 am
I'd like to see a study that explains why 13 to 17 year-olds are listening to radio at all. I can't imagine my kids listening to radio for any reason. The only radio in our house is in my room and I never listen to it. Even if we had a radio in every room, I just don't think they would listen. Listening to music on any device other than a radio is so much more convenient.
David F. on You're Fired! Wait, No You're Not.


Account Director - Leading integrated agency, working across 2 great brands!
This is a great opportunity for an Account Director and a real chance for a candidate to come in and take ownership across 2 very important pieces of business.
We are looking for an Account Director who gets customer experience, activation and engagement. You'll ideally be an Account Director who has worked at an integrated level, delivering work across retail, shopper, experiential, CRM, ecommerce and activation. We are looking for an Account Director who is a team player, someone who can work with internal teams to deliver integrated work, and external, senior clients.
This agency is a global integrated agency, they lead advertising, brand and activation / below the line work for their clients. The Account Director will work closely with the ATL / TV and Brand teams in both the UK and the US, and you'll help activate the work at a global and local level. The Account Director will originate the creative work, execute it in the UK and work closely with global markets to help lead their creative work.
The Account Director will work across 2 very important, cool clients. One is a brand in the sound and technology space, and the other is a booze giant. The Account Director will lead across both brands, and you'll help build the team to service the clients. The Account Director will report into the Business Director and you'll also work very closely with the MD of this activation agency.
We are looking for an Account Director who enjoys working in an innovative way, someone who enjoys pushing creativity and leading brands, directing and delivering smart work, that works. The Account Director must have a real passion for brands, you'll have worked on countless campaigns that run across shopper, retail, experiential, digital, social and content, and generate integrated / activation work. The Account Director must be smart, a very slick account handler, someone who can help grow client relationships and accounts, and someone with a strong track record in leading creative pieces of work.
The Account Director should be ambitious, and you'll be someone at the senior end of Account Director level. This is also reflected in the salary levels, we are looking to pay the Account Director up to £55k.
This is a great role for the right person, a real chance for a Account Director to make a name for themselves, progress and develop at this very impressive agency. They do everything under one roof, from ATL, to BTL and activation, direct and CRM, shopper and retail, experiential, and also media. Clients are buying into their way of working, and they're winning new clients because of it. If you're an Account Director and you want to be a part of this please get in touch. We have a full job spec available.


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Malcolm Gladwell Took the LSAT. But What Did We Learn?
Thoughts on Gladwell's recent podcast on legal education.
Orin S. Kerr |The Volokh Conspiracy | 7.10.2019 7:08 PM
Malcolm Gladwell recently released a two–part podcast series on legal education that is focused on the LSAT. Gladwell's basic argument, inspired by a 2004 law review article by Bill Henderson, is that LSATs (and many law school exams) unfairly penalize those who are tortoises instead of hares. Hares work very quickly, while tortoises need more time. Law schools need to give applicants more time, Gladwell suggests, to have a more fair system.
I found Gladwell's podcast entertaining. But I also found it pretty frustrating. I thought I would explain my frustrations in this post.
I. What is Gladwell's Argument?
My first problem was trying to figure out exactly what Gladwell finds objectionable. I tried to summarize Gladwell's take above. But it was no easy task, as Gladwell's concerns seem to have an accordion-like quality. At times he objects just to the LSAT, and his concerns seemed narrow. For example, Gladwell was very worked up about the fact that the LSAT is broken into sections and test-takers are not permitted to work on other sections during the test window. His big proposed reform at another point was giving test-takers an additional 25% of time to take the LSAT.
And at other times, Gladwell's objections seemed quite broad. At some points he seemed concerned with time-pressured in-class law school exams, and at times he seems to object to timed exams more broadly. Near the end, his main objection expands to the hierarchical nature of legal education generally. Gladwell is offended by the idea that the top-ranked law schools are very selective, and that therefore there must be some means to distinguish students in a competitive admissions process. It's unfair to have an admissions hierarchy based on schools, Gladwell suggests. We shouldn't have a system where a test determines where you go to law school and therefore what job prospects you have.
I'm open to any or all of these arguments. But they're different arguments, I think, and they need to be treated separately. I found it frustrating that these arguments were too often mixed together.
II. The Pieces Didn't Quite Fit
A second problem I had with the podcast was that the pieces didn't seem to fit together well.
Consider the question of Gladwell's own LSAT performance. (Spoiler alert: Skip the next three paragraphs if you don't want to know more.) The hook in the first episode is that Gladwell and his assistant Camille both take the LSAT at the same time to see how they do. The chief difference between them, we hear, is that Camille is a young hare and Gladwell is an old tortoise. Camille does very well under quick time pressure, while Gladwell flails about under pressure and desperately needs more time. The idea is that Gladwell's poor performance relative to Camille demonstrates just how unfair the LSAT is.
I appreciate the idea of humanizing the argument by having Gladwell struggle with the biased test himself. It makes for good listening.
But then it runs into a problem: At the end of the second episode, Camille and Gladwell get their scores back and they had identical scores. Wait, if they had the same score, doesn't that suggest that Gladwell's personal complaints might have been misplaced? The podcast doesn't go there, though. Instead, it ends on Gladwell's happy reaction that he didn't do worse than Camille.
I was also puzzled by the discussion in the second episode about law firm performance. Gladwell discusses an apparent study in which a consultant found that, among lawyers at a firm, the law school the lawyer attended had no influence on the chances that the lawyer would be a "rainmaker" — someone who brought in a lot of business. Gladwell takes this as proof that it's irrelevant where someone went to law school. He suggests that law firms should ignore the school a person attended, as it's just irrelevant to how good that lawyer might be.
But I was confused by the study, assuming I understood it correctly. Even assuming that firms are looking primarily to identify future rainmakers, it's problematic to use the performance of the lawyers a firm actually hired to draw lessons to figure out who the firm should have hired. If a law firm hires from the top 50% of the class at top school A, but only the top 10% of the class at regional school B, the ones who are hired aren't random selections from schools A and B.
I was also not sure what to make of Jeff Sutton's example. This was the most fun part of the podcast for me: Judge Jeff Sutton makes an appearance! Judge Sutton is used as an example of a tortoise that the law sadly overlooked. We learn in the podcast that Sutton applied to Michigan and Ohio State for law school. Sutton wanted to go to Michigan, but they turned him down. So Sutton went to Ohio State, graduated first in his class, and then became one of the legal world's star advocates, a top judge, and a leading figure in the law. Gladwell takes the lesson to be that the LSAT is a failure. If Sutton didn't get into Michigan, it must have been because his LSAT score didn't recognize his talents. The LSAT therefore needs reform.
Maybe, but maybe not. A single example can help make a broader point. But here we don't know the details of the example. Maybe Judge Sutton just had a bad day. Every test is flawed. Is the existing LSAT more flawed than the alternatives? And we also don't know why Sutton did less well on the LSAT (assuming that was the case) when he then did extremely well on other tests that require quick thinking like law school exams (remember, he graduated 1st in his class) and Supreme Court arguments (where he was a distinguished advocate). Maybe the speed of the LSAT was the problem. But there are a lot of other possible explanations.
To be clear, I'm not defending the LSAT. I think there are big problems with it. As I have written before, I think the "analytical reasoning" section (aka "games") should be eliminated. And I think law schools rely on the LSAT in a problematic way, fueled in large part by the U.S. News rankings.
But some proxies are needed, and no proxies are perfect. The U.S. legal market is massive. Every law firm can't hire every law student in the country for a spell, test them out, and rank order them to see who the firms want to hire. Instead employers rely on proxies like law school and law school grades, and the schools in term rely on proxies like LSAT scores and college grades. The proxies are imperfect, and we always need better proxies. But there are complex choices and dynamics, with no ideal answer. Gladwell's impressionistic approach seemed to glide over the difficulties in a way that wasn't as illuminating as I hoped.
III. The Broader Question of Exam Timing
A final thought is about the broader question of law school test timing. I think it's a difficult question for a few reasons.
First, there's the question of what set of skills best signal the quality of a top lawyer. What schools test for should match the skills the best lawyers have, right? Gladwell discusses this very briefly, but not nearly enough, and I was underwhelmed with his take on it. He interviews a former Supreme Court law clerk who says that when she read briefs as a clerk, she read them very slowly and carefully. Voila!, Gladwell says, working slowly and carefully is critical to being a great lawyer. But there's so much more here, and it seemed a lost opportunity to reflect on what mix of skills lawyers need and how to test for them.
Second, there's the interesting question of whether having a long time to study for a short exam is testing long-term skills, short-term skills, or both. Consider a law school in-class exam. Yes, it is very time-pressured. It rewards speed. But the weeks and months of time before the exam also reward long-term effort. You need to spend weeks of learning to be able to quickly see the legal significance of a problem. I think that's testing both being a tortoise and being a hare. Maybe it's the wrong mix, see point one above. But I don't think you can only look to the time it takes to complete the exam to see what skills are being tested by it.
One last thought about one specific timing objection Gladwell makes. Gladwell strongly objects to the rule that LSAT takers can't work on other sections. That's bizarre and unrealistic, he points out. In the real world, you can distribute your allotted time as best you see fit. I can see that, and at first that seemed like a very good argument. But if I heard the podcast correctly, I think Gladwell may have cut off the LSAC employee as she started on a plausible explanation of why they structure the LSAT that way.
If I heard the employee's argument correctly—a big "if," as the explanation was garbled and cut off early on — the problem is that the LSAT has one experimental section that is not graded and is being used to test the quality of questions for future exams. Applicants don't know which section is experimental. But different test-takers are taking different experimental sections with different questions. Some of the experimental questions are easy. Some are hard. And some are problematic and will never be used. (That's why they're just experimental.)
This means that different students are taking different exams, and giving the students the full exam at once might be problematic. To see why, imagine the full exam were given at one shot and say you have two applicants to consider. One applicant has a particularly easy experimental section, while the second has a particularly hard one. In a time-pressured exam environment, the applicant with the easy experimental section may finish quickly and have more time to spend on other sections. The applicant with the hard experimental section may take a lot of time and have less time for the rest of the exam. That would be pretty unfair.
In contrast, if each section is given individually, with no room to work on other sections, it can lessen the unfairness. The ease or difficulty of applicants' experimental sections may give their confidence a boost or hit, and that's no small matter. But it won't impact the time they spend on the parts of the LSAT that are actually graded.
I don't know if that justifies the current system. But it's a plausible argument, and I would have like to see it considered.
NEXT: The U.S. Soccer 'Pay Gap' Is About More Than Just Sexism
Orin S. Kerr is a Professor at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. His Twitter handle is @OrinKerr.
July.10.2019 at 7:44 pm
My limited understanding of testing in general is that there is a tradeoff between testing for speed and testing for power.
A speed test, presumably like the LSAT, wants you to answer a lot of not wildly difficult questions in a limited time. Naturally, it requires a time limit.
Time limits are less appropriate for power tests, which pose fewer quite difficult questions. Here you are testing for the ability to solve the problem, and don't much care how long it takes. Getting the solution is paramount, and there will be great variation in how long it takes different people to get it.
This makes sense to me. I was an undergraduate math major. I recall times when I saw the way on a question immediately, and other times when I stumbled around filling sheets of paper with nonsense before the light came. I suspect that others in related subjects had similar experiences.
James Pollock
July.11.2019 at 12:58 am
The LSAT is a computer-scored exam. This makes it easy to score (just feed it into the machine) but limits its effectiveness.
There are a number of ways to attack the test IN ADDITION TO knowing what the right answer is.
A better, more accurate testing method is to ask the question and provide empty white space for the candidate to answer the question. Either the candidate knows the answer, or they don't. However, these questions must be scored by a human being, and calibration is a possible problem.
In fairness to Gladwell, I don't think he could have covered everything in the detail you'd have wanted to see in 60 minutes of podcasting.
I think his basic argument is something like this:
1. The LSAT is close to deterministic of what caliber of law school a student can attend.
2. The caliber of law school a student ends is close to deterministic regarding what type of legal career is possible. (If you didn;t go to Harvard, forget clerking for Scalia).
3. Thus, how one does on the LSAT decides what kind of legal career is possible. (This is my oversimplification of his oversimplified argument).
1. Because it is a timed test that many people struggle to complete, and because part of preparing for it is developing test taking strategies for dealing with the limited time, the LSAT as it is evaluates a somewhat different set of abilities than it would do if time were not a factor. People would approach it differently, the relative performance of the test takers would be somewhat different, and the people admitted to the top law schools would be somewhat different.
2. One could argue that maybe the current LSAT *is* the best way to identify the top lawyers. Gladwell tries to rebut this with various arguments: the analogy to chess, the excellent performance (even relative to his fellow students) of a seemingly mediocre law student once the time constraint is removed, examples of legal work that is thorough and detail oriented rather than speed-oriented, rainmakers tend not to be from the top schools but they are certainly valuable, example of a lawyer who rose to the top of his profession without going to the top school/performing at an elite level on the LSAT, Scalia's favorite law clerk even though Scalia himself would never even have considered him.
Part III: I won't say much about his proposed solutions. He was throwing spaghetti at the wall.
If you look at it less as a proof of something, and more as generating a hypothesis that could be evaluated empirically, maybe you would find it less frustrating?
I appreciate your thoughtful assessment and I plan to listen to the podcast. I'm very alert to the tortoise/hare distinction — I went to law school as a (much) older adult. I sought out classes with "tortoise" exams (e.g. 8-hour or longer essay exams), and my grades clearly reflected the difference: a full grade higher than in the classes with "hare" exams. One of my very young classmates had the opposite strategy, convinced that he could score near the top of the curve in any high pressure multiple choice exam. We were both right.
July.11.2019 at 1:04 am
"I appreciate your thoughtful assessment and I plan to listen to the podcast. I'm very alert to the tortoise/hare distinction — I went to law school as a (much) older adult."
I did, too, but I am a "hare"… I do extremely well on standardized exams. It's why I don't place much weight on their accuracy. I was a top-ten-percent LSAT, top-third-of-my-class graduate. Then again, I was in the 4th percentile for undergraduate grades, so the LSAT was a better indicator of my ability to complete a JD program than my undergraduate grades were.
BadLib
Does the Supreme Court offer you extra time to respond to Justices' questions during oral arguments if you are a tortoise rather than a hare? Is there some sort of stamp on one's bar card to identify you as a ???? or a ?????
Oh, wait, that's not how it works in the real world…
…and now we know that Reason comment section doesn't do Unicode emojis…
Lee Moore
1. Success in most fields of endeavor which have a significant cognitive component – which would include performance at law school, and performance as a lawyer, is correlated with (a) IQ and (b) conscientiousness. See thousands of psychometrc studies
2. For any given batch of questions, ability to get the answers right quickler is correlated with higher IQ
3. There are, obviously, more direct, valid and reliable tests of IQ than tests requiring a lot of detailed background knowledge
4. However no one has yet managed to devise a valid and reliable test for conscientiousness
5. If you can successfully devise one, you will make out like a bandit in the recruitment business
6. Thus we know that tortoises, on average, have lower IQs than hares
7. But some tortoises may be more conscientious than some hares and so may perhaps turn out to be better lawyers. But we have no way of predicting which ones, in advance
8. So until you come up with your winner under 5 above, the rational thing to do is to test for hares.
This is open to question.
"7. But some tortoises may be more conscientious than some hares and so may perhaps turn out to be better lawyers."
Technically, the LSAT doesn't, and doesn't purport to, say anything about how candidates will perform as lawyers. It purports to evaluate whether candidates will successfully complete a JD program.
This is open to question
Everything is open to question. Which is why we do experiments.
And so far the experiments are consistent with speed and IQ being correlated, and inconsistent with them not being correlated.
After another fifty years of testing, perhaps those who don't appreciate that will have caught up 🙂
Your extensive expertise on education standards and practices allow you to sum up your conclusion without actually offering any evidence that supports your claim.
Is that what you mean by being "caught up"?
OldCurmudgeon
That just begs the question, why do law schools exams rely so heavily on time pressure to differentiate students? Is there any evidence that lawyers who can write/type quickly make better lawyers?
My personal guess is that it's because it's hard to write/grade exams that actually test knowledge/skill, and professors are motivated to put forth that effort.
are not motivated
Allutz
Because without time pressures it often becomes difficult to distinguish between good students and great students, and also difficult to distinguish bad students from average students.
Also it overly rewards memorization and under-rewards systemization, which is what most people actually want to test for. Given lots of time all your students will be able to coherently tie together all their points into a 2 page answer. But with less time you reward people who have a structure of, say, property law already in their head.
" why do law schools exams rely so heavily on time pressure to differentiate students?"
The easy answers are "because the profs want it that way" and "because that's the way it's always been done".
Note that about a third of my classes either allowed a time limit that was generous enough with the time limit to not put pressure on, or didn't use an exam at all. (YMMV)
I read his book Tipping Point and my personal opinion conclusion was that Malcom Gladwell is frankly a moron, well-meaning perhaps, but with very little real insight about anything. The one thing I liked and came away with was the bit about how birth date mattered so much for hockey players in Canada.
I'm a big fan of the LSAT. Maybe I'm biased because my score was above 175 (but below 180). But statistically, there's no metric that comes close to predictive value for law school performance (it blows UGPA out of the water). It seems like a very good test of analytic capability and general intelligence.
Anyway, this is nothing new. It's just part of the general push for lower standards toward political ends, which ends include a very destructive antipathy toward competition, objective achievement and American institutions themselves. Read this and click through to the lengthy critique of lowered standards for military special forces. Exclusive: Alleged Retaliation by Army General Against Green Berets Led a Military Family into a Moldy Home
jubulent
my personal opinion conclusion was that Malcom Gladwell is frankly a moron
His background is as a journalist, right? In my experience journalists tend to overestimate their expertise in a subject.
You shouldn't expect academic rigor from someone whose background and training is simplifying a complex subject into an easy-to-understand summary that can be understood by lay people in the industry.
Consider, for example, Nina Totenberg at NPR. She is a journalist covering the law but frequently gets some of the fine (or not so fine) points incorrect. Yet she is considered the resident expert on legal subjects, simply because she's been on the "law beat" for the last 40 years.
" In my experience journalists tend to overestimate their expertise in a subject."
Far from unique to journalists. Close to EVERYBODY overestimates their expertise.
July.11.2019 at 12:20 pm
In my experience journalists tend to overestimate their expertise in a subject.
No doubt. Are you a lawyer?
Yes, and I am happy to admit my many limitations when it comes to legal practice.
phoqueue
[The LSAT] seems like a very good test of analytic capability and general intelligence.
You know what else is even better, an IQ test. But that's taboo.
" this is nothing new. It's just part of the general push for lower standards toward political ends, which ends include a very destructive antipathy toward competition"
Your telepathic sense allows you to state with authority what other people are thinking?
The LSAT, as you correctly note, is only partially accurate as a predictor of ability to complete a law school program. It overvalues the ability of some candidates and undervalues the ability of some. Pointing out who is unfairly disadvantaged by the present law-school admissions regime isn't necessarily part of some grand scheme to undermine law and society.
It's a fact that a week or two of prep time and coaching can raise an LSAT score substantially, which shows that it is NOT a very good analogue for general intelligence… it is at least partially a means test, since some candidates can afford prep and coaching and some cannot.
RestoreWesternHegemony
In my experience, only dumb people say that standardized tests are not good measures of anything.
KenveeB
I think that the LSAT is a good summation of law practice generally — you spent large amounts of time preparing, but you have to be able to work quickly and get the product out at the deadline in the end. I might do hours and hours of prep on a case (like studying in law school classes), but ultimately I have a small amount of time to actually make my oral argument or trial (like taking the LSAT). Every lawyer has deadlines that they have to make, and sometimes that means moving more quickly than you would otherwise prefer — or organizing your prep time better so that you can get it out quickly when it's crunch time.


It is so hard to say goodbye and especially to the one I never thought I would have to.
I remember clearly the day I met you 2 years ago, It was mother's day weekend..I was the happiest person on earth that day because becoming a mother was the best gift I ever received in my life and each mother's day, I celebrate the joy of being a mom. Then I found you….Ah ! the excitement of bringing something new to my ordinary life.
I think more than anything, I was grateful for the fact that you made it easier for me to stay in touch with my friends and family. You opened the doors of communication.
Each morning, I looked forward to spending time with you while I drank my earl grey..Every day there was something new to discover, something new to learn..
This morning, I felt useless without you..How can I ever live without you?
Now that I have to say goodbye to you for no faults of mine, I dedicate this song for you.
You are in my heart..in my soul..
lol!! I could not say Goodbye to my old flip phone ( took 5 years to upgrade) so I have given it a new job- it is now my alarm clock!!
MS: I used my Nokia forever..the first one lasted 10 years, only changed because I couldn't use the same in Canada, came to Australia, back to Nokia till I got the Iphone and now back to the same old Nokia..Yaya's Samsung Galaxy conked out, still under warranty, but there is a tiny crack ( 9 months old) on the screen which voided the warranty..I refuse to cancel the contract by paying out the remaining months..so I gave her my iphone. I really didn't think it would be a big deal, till I tried to use the Nokia.. I don't even know how to check the messages in the Nokia..and to think, I used to be able to txt using Nokia without looking at the keyboard years ago.
Awe! And I was expecting something else!


text:
Dept. Home
Department of French Language and Literature
French Language and Literature
Erasmus Staff Mobility
Effective Why Languages for First Year Students
The first recording of the School of Foreign Languages Radio Show at the University of Jordan's radio station
A New Year's Greeting from the School of Foreign Languages
A meeting with Koica
An able staff ready to serve students at the School of Foreign Languages
Overview of The Department of French Language and Literature
The program of B.A in language and literature French of the University of Jordan began in 1987/1988. First, it was a part of the centre of languages, then the department of the modern languages before being formed as independent department in 1997 in the faculty of Letters and now in the faculty of Foreign Languages. This department aims to provide students of linguistic and conversational competences in French language. It aims also at preparing students for the market in different fields especially: education, translation, business and tourism.
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Prof. Shereen Kakish's promotion to Professor ...
A virtual meeting with first-year students...
The competition "videos from languages' ...
Graduated Studies
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