A Lesson for other MMOs?
In this very interesting interviewon MMORPG, Petur Oskarrson talks about the EVE Online Council on Stellar Management (CSM) — a group of players elected to represent the players interests with the game company at face to face meetings in Iceland. Petur describes some of the changes that were implemented and some of the changes that could not be implemented (he says for technological reasons). Of special interest is his discussion halfway through the interview of the advantages of this method of getting user feedback over the usual way — which is selectively reading user forums. Obviously users that camp out on forums are not necessarily the people you want directing your operations, but also Petur points out that reading forums is selective and incomplete so that the picture you get is biased. Shock!
Isn't an "elected" "council" just a way of saying "users with time to waste and a lot of fanboys"….I mean, I'm just saying.
But I'm sure the Herald would love something like that. After all, the election campaigns would be the mother of all drama bitchfests, which for Herald writers is practically like tossing rotting fish carcasses into a bay full of sharks.
I'm also not sure how an "elected" "council" would necessarily be less selective or less biased, but whatever. It's not how it's done in SL, thus it must be teh win in the Herald's eyes.


text:
Interpreter Staff
4 Ukrainian Soldiers Killed, 5 Wounded in Battles in Last 24 Hours; Ukrainian Army Returns Fire in Shirokino
Home damaged in Avdeyevka March 18, 2017. Photo by ATO
Ukraine Day 1125: LIVE UPDATES BELOW. Four Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 5 wounded in the last 24 hours, the Ukrainian military reports.
Yesterday's live coverage of the Ukraine conflict can be found here.
READ OUR SPECIAL REPORT:
An Invasion By Any Other Name: The Kremlin's Dirty War in Ukraine
A shell fired by Russia-backed forces came through the roof of the home of an 87-year-old pensioner March 18, 2017. He was unharmed and police helped to evacuate him. Photo by ATO.
Four Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 3 wounded in night-time battles in the past 24 hours, Apostrophe.ua reported, citing the ATO [Anti-Terrorist Operation] dispatch at 6:00 am. This includes the 1 soldier killed and 1 wounded at Lobachevo, reported yesterday.
In the dispatch at 18:00, the ATO reported 36 more attacks and 2 more soldiers wounded. Thus the total is 4 killed and 5 wounded for the past 24 hours.
There were 112 attacks in the previous day on Ukrainian positions, many with heavy artillery, Apostrophe reported, citing the ATO.
On the Donetsk like, heavy weapons, tanks and 120-mm mortar-launchers were fired on Avdeyevka, including on the old town.
On the Lugansk line, mortars and SPGs were used on Novozvanovka, Slavnoye and Katerinovka.
On the Mariupol line, there were attacks on Lebedinskoye, Shirokino, Gnutovo and Vodyanoye with 120-mm mortar launchers and 122-mm artillery; 120-mm mortars were fired on Talakovka and Chermalyk. Grenade-launchers and 82-mm and 120-mm mortars were fired on Maryinka and Krasnogorovka; later in the day 122-mm and 152-mm artillery was brought in.
Then today there were further attacks on Avdeyevka with 82-m and 120-mm mortars and grenade-launchers and 120-mm mortars fired on Nevelsk and Luganskoye; Peski also fell under fire from heavy machine guns as did Zaytsevo.
Apostrophe reported two homes were damaged in Avdeyevka on Lermontova St. One shell went through the roof and landing in a room of an 87-year-old pensioner; fortunately he happened to be in the next room at the time and was unharmed. Police evacuated him to a shelter.
Homes were also damaged on Geroyev Chernobylya, Yubileynaya and Lermnotova streets in Krasnogorovka, Apostrophe.ua reported.
On the Mariupol line, 122-mm artillery was used on Vodyanoye; small arms were used on Gunotovo and a BMP fired on Shirokino.
On the Lugansk line, 120-mm mortars were fired on Troitskoye; grenade-launchers were used near Krymskoye as well as 85-mm and 120-mm mortars; a tank fired on Tryokhizbenka and an SPG on Popasnyaya.
Espreso TV reported that Shirokino is particularly targeted again with "provocations", citing a post from the ATO.
The Mariupol Operations Group told journalists that the Ukrainian brigade commander in the area of Shirokino gave the command to fire back after a deluge of shelling today from Russia-backed forces.
The ATO uploaded a video of Ukrainian marines en route to battle on the beach in Shirokino, showing young soldiers speaking Russian and Ukrainian. One soldier said that "within five minutes" of firing from a ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft weapon mounted on a truck, the Russia-backed forces were on the run.
"Meter by meter, we are liberating our homeland," said the soldier.
While the levels of fighting and casualties seem higher than they were six months ago or last year, OSCE Special Monitoring Mission says there has been a lessoning of ceasefire violations in its latest report for March 17 dated March 18.
To be sure, the SMM team noted that bullets flew over their own heads and they heard explosions and small-arms fire as they went to check the status of the Donetsk Water Filtration Station, and were forced to leave the area.
The SMM visited a 15-year-old boy wounded March 16 in Valuysk, 20 km northeast of Lugansk. He said he had been shot in the leg while at his home.
Prompted by the Russian JCCC, the SMM also visited sites where residents said their homes had suffered shell damage reportedly from the direction of Ukrainian positions. There were no casualties. The SMM also heard explosions in the Stanitsa Luganskaya area which is slated for disengagement but which keeps having setbacks. The SMM also noted heavy armor on both sides of the conflict despite agreements to withdraw such armor beyond the line of contact..
— Catherine A. Fitzpatrick

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Client demand continues to drive Admiral Markets' crypto CFD offering.
Admiral Markets has once again expanded its cryptocurrency contracts-for-difference (CFDs) offering, this time include Dash, Monero, and Zcash. The introduction of new instruments adds to its rapidly expanding suite of cryptos, following strong demand from clients over the past few months.
Many brokers have been quickly shoring up their offerings with more altcoins in 2018. While 2017 marked the launch of Bitcoin CFDs and a gradual embrace of crypto products, the latest expansions have been fueled by consistent demand for more diverse options.
Last year saw Admiral Markets roll out multiple crypto-related offerings, including Bitcoin Cash and short selling on crypto CFDs in August. The group also offered tiered leverage on several crypto products last year as well, given strong demand and client feedback.
As recently as last month, Admiral Markets reinstated trading on its cryptocurrency CFDs on its Metatrader 5 (MT5) trading platform. The company currently offers traders the ability to trade Bitcoin and Ethereum with leverage of up to 5:1, and up to 2:1 on Ripple, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash. Today's expansion will see Dash, Monero, and Zcash added to Admiral Markets' offering.
Cryptocurrency CFDs traders at Admiral Markets should note that contracts expire each week on Friday, and are rolled over to the weekend. This was instituted to prevent potential gaps that can be incurred by clients to reflect price changes while Admiral Markets trading is closed outside of trading hours. The changes applied by Admiral Markets helped some of the underlying issues that have made it challenging for CFD brokerages to provide access to cryptocurrency trading.


MAP can advise that this is not generally the case. Home loans are available to prospective marriage visa holders up to 95% LVR providing they are purchasing jointly with an Australian citizen or permanent resident. Here is some more information.
Do I need to seek FIRB approval for my home loan?
Providing one of the applicants is an Australian citizen or permanent resident you will not need to obtain approval from the Australian government for your loan to be finalised. You must however be buying as "Joint Tenants" to not require FIRB approval.
Can I get a loan with extra features?
A redraw facility so that you can make extra repayments and then withdraw them in the future if necessary.
An offset account so you can offset your savings against your home loan and save money on interest costs.
What level of interest rate will I need to pay?
You will pay no more than the standard rate of interest on your home loan including interest rates that are well below the standard variable rate. There is no reason you have to pay more in rates or fees due to your temporary visa.
What will my borrowing limit be?
As a rule, subclass 300 visa holders are able to borrow 80% of the total value of the property. However, provided one of the applicants is an Australian citizen or permanent resident it is possible to arrange up to 95% of the total price of the property.
I want to borrow more than 80% LVR – is there anything I can do?
If you want to borrow more than the standard 80% of your total purchase price give us a call to discuss how we can help. We have alliances with some lenders and financial institutions which may enable us to help you borrow up to 95% LVR.
If you are on a subclass 300 visa and looking to purchase a home give us a call to see how we can help. We are specialists in helping recent immigrants and temporary residents find the best finance for their needs and would be more than happy to discuss your situation with you.


Growing up with parents who are hearing-loss professionals — dad is an audiologist; mom is a certified hearing-health specialist — Blaise Delfino heard their messages loud and clear.
In 2015, the Hanover Township, Northampton County, resident launched Fader Plugs LLC, offering the first earplug of its kind that allows users to adjust noise levels without taking the plug out of the ear.
On Wednesday, Fader Plugs announced it has hired Starkey Hearing Technologies of Eden Prairie, Minn. to manufacture the Fader Plugs molds. Delfino, who is CEO, said he hopes the noise-canceling device will be available for consumers this summer. He said the price ranges from approximately $40 for a "universal" set to $300 for custom-made plugs.
The American Academy of Audiology, citing 2014 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says about 37.5 million Americans suffer from hearing loss, with hearing loss the third-most common health problem nationally.
Delfino, who holds a master's degree from East Stroudsburg University in communications sciences and disorders, wanted to create a product to help people with hearing loss and more. He said the company's mission is to remove the stigma many people face, and to "aesthetically refashion and perceptually transform" hearing protection.
Delfino developed the device with expertise from his father, audiologist Dr. Gregory Delfino, and blessings from his mother, Cheryl Delfino. He and his father have a patent pending on the Fader Plug.
The product marries a tiny device that is being molded by Starkey with a button that the user can adjust with a finger for noise reduction. ProtoCAM LLC of Upper Macungie Township makes the button, according to Delfino and ProtoCAM President Ron Belknap.
Neither Blaise Delfino nor Chris Marxen, Starkey's senior director of strategic initiatives, would discuss financial terms of the manufacturing deal. Marxen said Starkey, which makes "any device used inside the ear," liked Fader's "unique design" with its self-adjusting button.
"From working at a dentist's office to mowing lawn, to building bridges or attending concerts, people fail to realize the amount of damage done to their hearing," said Marxen. "We wish [Fader] success in selling a whole boatload of earplugs," he said. Starkey employs more than 5,000 people and operates 22 facilities in more than 100 worldwide markets.
It's been a wild ride, business-wise, for Delfino. Last year, the company won a TecBridge Business Plan Competition, earning $100,000 in cash and free rent in East Stroudsburg University's Innovation Center, where the business remains headquartered.
How did Delfino, who is a 2010 Bethlehem Catholic High School graduate, devise the name Fader for the earplugs? He said he went to his musical background: A fader is a device or control that can vary volume.
For more information about Fader Plugs, visit www.faderplugs.com.


"Look! Up in the sky! It's some birdseed! It's a packet of airline peanuts! It's Superkernel!"
That little bit with Batman was surreal.
Superkernel must have been a bigger hit with readers than Doug Henning and his Wonderdog 'cause the Kernel would be graduating to his own book while those two would all but disappear from later issues of Supermag.
The Weekly Reader Book Club even got itself renamed to 'The Popcorn Bag' in honor of the hero. The Superkernel in these two ads would be the one featured in the comics... as you can see, he's much more fleshed out than proto-Kernel was. Gone are the rosy cheeks and rough edges and added was a spiffy red cape. He also lost about 80% of his buttery coating.
The ad on the right shows the further evolution of the character. His head/body and nose are much rounder and his arms and legs just a bit chunkier, giving him a 'cuddlier' all around look. The random butter specks have become more defined as well; two eyebrows, a spit lock, a dimple and a gin blossom.
Now Superkernel was ready for the big time- his own comic book! An issue of 'Superkernel Comics' was added to every book club batch sent out to faithful subscribers. Created by cartoonist Guy Gilchrist, the comic followed the vaguely Pogo-esque, sorta Harvey Comics Enchanted Forest-like exploits of the Kernel of Steel and a mind-boggling wide cast of supporting characters as they battled (well 'tangled with' is maybe a better term. Or 'had words with', perhaps? This was one very non-violent comic) a gang of nasty bug creatures known collectively as the Ugbugs.
'Superkernel Comics' ran for at least four years in the late '70's, that's longer than 'Night Nurse', 'Black Goliath', 'Brother Power, The Geek', and every book put out by Atlas Comics combined. If for no other reason than this he deserves some props!
The next three posts here at Plastic Pumpkins will all focus on 'Superkernel Comics.' First a look at the cast of characters, next a gallery of the covers of all the issues I've managed to hold onto over the years and then a reprinting of the Secret Origin issue of 'Superkernel Comics' in it's entirety. Oooh!
Thank you for posting this! I had a subscription to The Popcorn Bag when I was a kid. Nice memories.
Wow, I absolutely LOVED my Popcorn Bag packages that came in the mail! In fact, I still have a few of the books: "The Ghost of Windy Hill," "The Boy Who Saw Bigfoot," "Peanuts' Snoopy," "The Rise and Fall of Ben Gizzard," etc. Between that club, school book orders, trips to the library, and enjoying what my family had at home, I became a bookworm early in life.


Pictures from the Fort Albany First Nation Community Land Based Healing Gathering and Residential School Special. Pictures from 2019 March 27, 28 and 29. These photos can be downloaded for printing or web use without charge; if you order prints they will come from the US at various prices.


Though DollyWood is fairly expensive at over $50 per ticket, it is certainly worth the amount simply because there is so much to do. It is a little under 30 miles from our Cherokee NC cabin rental.
DollyWood boasts just over 30 rides and attractions with another 4 that are open during the holiday season. That is one thing that is nice about DollyWood compared to some of the other parks near Cherokee, NC - they generally stay open for much of the year.
If you are into shows, then you should definitely plan a visit to DollyWorld. They have over 20 shows during the year, and have another 10 special shows during the Christmas season. If you are a Dolly Parton fan, make sure to check out their scheduled events as she usually performs several times a year.
DollyWood is also know for their vast collection of craft displays and workshops. Some of the featured craftsmen include a blacksmith, glassblower, woodcarver, and leathermaker. You can even purchase these handcrafted items from some of the many shops they have at DollyWood.
You will find plenty of food at DollyWood ranging from BBQ to Southern Home Cooking. If you get there in the morning, be sure to visit Aunt Granny's All You Can Eat Buffet.
Dollwood is also the site of the Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame.
The park first opened in 1961 as a small tourist attraction named "Rebel Railroad". It was very similar to a lot of the small theme parks you see around the Smokies. However, unlike the other "tourist traps", Rebel Railroad would become a huge business operation. In 1970 the Cleveland Browns purchased the attraction. The final transformation came in 1986 when Dolly Parton became co-owner and the park was renamed Dollywood.
In August of 2008, Dollywood announced plans for "Adventure Mountain", a multi-level attraction spread out across a two acre site. It is a $5 million dollar expansion to the Wilderness Pass section of the park, and is set to launch for the upcoming 75th anniversary of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.
Dollywood is an amazing spectacle. The theme park now has over 2.5 million visitors every year. If you enjoy Disney World and country living, you will really enjoy Dollywood. If you are not too keen on crowds and want to avoid that during your Smoky Mountain vacation, then this probably isn't the place for you.
If you have a little extra cash to spend, we would recommend a visit to DollyWood during your stay at Cherokee Cabin . They are usually open from the last week in March until the first week in January.


The Belmont Report is a report created by the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research. Its full title is the Belmont Report: Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research, Report of the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research.
The Report was issued on 30 September 1978 and published in the Federal Register on 18 April 1979. The Report took its name from the Belmont Conference Center where the document was drafted in part. The Belmont Conference Center, once a part of the Smithsonian Institution, is in Elkridge, Maryland, 10 miles south of Baltimore, and until the end of 2010 was operated by Howard Community College.
The Belmont Report summarizes ethical principles and guidelines for research involving human subjects. Three core principles are identified: respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. Three primary areas of application are also stated. They are informed consent, assessment of risks and benefits, and selection of subjects. According to Vollmer and Howard, the Belmont Report allows for a positive solution, which at times may be difficult to find, to future subjects who are not capable to make independent decisions.
The Belmont Report was first written by the National Commission for the Protection of Human Services of Biomedical and Behavioral Research. Prompted in part by problems arising from the Tuskegee Syphilis Study (1932–1972) and based on the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research (1974–1978), the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) revised and expanded its regulations for the protection of human subjects 45 CFR part 46 in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1978, the Commission's report Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research was released, and it was published in 1979 in the Federal Register. It was named the Belmont Report, for the Belmont Conference Center, where the National Commission met when first drafting the report. The Belmont Report is one of the leading works concerning ethics and health care research. It allows for the protection of participants in clinical trials and research studies.
The Belmont Report explains the unifying ethical principles that form the basis for the National Commission's topic-specific reports and the regulations that incorporate its recommendations.
These principles remain the basis for the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) human subject protection regulations.
Today, the Belmont Report continues as an essential reference for institutional review boards (IRBs) that review HHS-conducted or -supported human subjects research proposals involving human subjects, in order to ensure that the research meets the ethical foundations of the regulations.
Applications of these principles to conduct research requires careful consideration of i) informed consent, ii) risks benefit assessment, and iii)selection of subjects of research.
Outlined by Jennifer Sims in her article "A brief review of the Belmont Report", she states 7 things nurses, as primary caregivers for individuals participating in a study, must do to ensure the rights of the participant is met.
Support the privacy of the patients identity, their motivation to join or refuse the experiment.
Researchers must share the findings of their procedures regardless of them being good or bad results. Also in the case someone did not want to participate in research but would like treatment they cannot be turned away and must be treated with the same standard care.
On July 12, 1974, the National Research Act (Pub. L. 93-348) was signed into law, there-by creating the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research. One of the charges to the Commission was to identify the basic ethical principles that should underlie the conduct of biomedical and behavioral research involving human subjects and to develop guidelines which should be followed to assure that such research is conducted in accordance with those principles. In carrying out the above, the Commission was directed to consider: (i) the boundaries between biomedical and behavioral research and the accepted and routine practice of medicine, (ii) the role of assessment of risk-benefit criteria in the determination of the appropriateness of research involving human subjects, (iii) appropriate guidelines for the selection of human subjects for participation in such research and (iv) the nature and definition of informed consent in various research settings. The Belmont Report attempts to summarize the basic ethical principles identified by the Commission in the course of its deliberations. It is the outgrowth of an intensive four-day period of discussions that were held in February 1976 at the Smithsonian Institution's Belmont Conference Center supplemented by the monthly deliberations of the Commission that were held over a period of nearly four years. It is a statement of basic ethical principles and guidelines that should assist in resolving the ethical problems that surround the conduct of research with human subjects. By publishing the Report in the Federal Register, and providing reprints upon request, the Secretary intends that it may be made readily available to scientists, members of Institutional Review Boards, and Federal employees. The two-volume Appendix, containing the lengthy reports of experts and specialists who assisted the Commission in fulfilling this part of its charge, is available as DHEW Publication No. (OS) 78-0013 and No. (OS) 78-0014, for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. Unlike most other reports of the Commission, the Belmont Report does not make specific recommendations for administrative action by the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. Rather, the Commission recommended that the Belmont Report be adopted in its entirety, as a statement of the Department's policy. The Department requests public comment on this recommendation.
In 1991, 14 other Federal departments and agencies joined HHS in adopting a uniform set of rules for the protection of human subjects, identical to subpart A of 45 CFR part 46 of the HHS regulations. This uniform set of regulations is the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects, informally known as the "Common Rule." The Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) was also established within HHS.
Today, the Belmont Report serves as a historical document and provides the moral framework for understanding regulations in the United States on the use of humans in experimental research.
In a study by Nancy Shore, community-based participatory researchers were interviewed for their interpretation and critique of the Belmont Report. Interviewees expressed concerns regarding the Belmont Report's ethical principles and interpretations as being one size fits all and advocated researchers to resist the tendency to rely on those principles systematically. It argues that the ethical analysis should be extended to take into account more appropriate factors, such as cultural, gender, ethnic and geographical considerations. Debate continues over the ethics and regulations of research involving human subjects because of discrepancies over the meaning and priority of the Belmont Report's basic ethical principles: respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. Notably, the Belmont Report does not specify how its three ethical principles should be weighted or prioritized. According to Albert R. Jonsen, a member of the National Commission that composed the report, the Institutional Review Board is charged with weighing these principles and deciding how they should be applied. Matters become controversial when deciding if the principles should be interpreted as more or less weighty depending upon the particular circumstances of the research in question, if the principles should be viewed as an obligation that society must undertake on behalf of its members, or if it should be viewed as giving absolute priority to respect for persons' autonomy over the general good of society.
^ Carson, Larry (30 September 2010). "HCC to close Belmont Conference Center".
^ a b Vollmer, Sara H.; Howard, George (December 2010). "Statistical power, the Belmont Report, and the ethics of clinical trials". Science and Engineering Ethics: 675–91.
^ a b c d Sims, Jennifer (July–August 2010). "A brief review of the Belmont Report". Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing 29 (4): 173–4.
^ a b Shore, Nancy (2006). "Re-conceptualizing the Belmont Report: A community-based participatory research perspective". Journal of Community Practice 14 (4): 5–26.
^ Vanderpool, Harold Y. (1996). The Ethics of Research Involving Human Subjects: Facing the 21st Century. Frederick, MD: University Pub. Group.


At 2MCCTV our customers keep us on our toes. Everyone has specific security needs and sometimes an over the counter cameras will not work. We can create a specialty security camera to meet uncommon situations, our technicians are all trained and certified and can adjust a camera to a majority of needs. Our sales team and technicians can also help with recommendations and tips to make the install easier. Check out our wide range of security cameras and accessories and if they don't fit your specific need call our staff so the can help.


exactly what they have participated in throughout college.
will appear on the transcript.
Jay Johnson had just finished his fourth year at Bethel.
late June, though KTCA scheduling may vary.
where they are being held.
preferences while being religiously against homosexuality.
condemnation of homosexuals he found in the church.
"Religion is a vicious thing."


text:
Q&A: Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott talks diversity, taking some load off Satya Nadella, and whether the company needs to be cool
by Nat Levy & Todd Bishop on December 21, 2018 at 1:00 pm December 22, 2018 at 10:55 am
Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott discusses his role with the company with GeekWire's Todd Bishop. (GeekWire Photo / Nat Levy)
A company doesn't have to be cool to make an impact — just ask Microsoft.
The tech giant is, depending on the day, either the most-valuable company on earth or close to it. And it has done so via a radical reinvention that embraces building the tools to help others do their best work.
"I really like what (Microsoft CEO Satya (Nadella) says over and over again: our job is to make other people cool," Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott said in an interview with GeekWire. "We don't need to be cool ourselves."
Scott has been around the block in the technology world. He took the job of CTO in January 2017, following Microsoft's acquisition of LinkedIn. Scott led LinkedIn's engineering efforts during his six years there, helping take the company public.
LinkedIn's acquisition wasn't even the first big money deal that the technology executive has been a part of. He was the vice president of engineering and operations for mobile advertising company AdMob, which sold to Google for $750 million in 2010, a deal that remains one of the tech giant's largest.
Satya was the catchall for too many technical things. He was the one trying to spot a duplication of effort on technology or a hole or an error of a technology strategy in our portfolio.
Scott is also an angel investor and has his own foundation focused on hunger, early childhood education and women in technology. Scott is part of a group of tech executives who have banded together for a plan to bring tech jobs to rural Iowa and other places that have felt the pain of slowdown in recent years and decades.
Today, as CTO at Microsoft, Scott says he helps set the table for the company's overall technology strategy. Scott works with a small team that tracks the company's major initiatives. He has his own "three to five things" that occupy his personal attention, though he played coy on what exactly they are.
The company's push in artificial intelligence tops Scott's priority list. Microsoft is infusing the technology into its own hardware and software offerings and building tools for others to use. The company has also committed millions of dollars of work to various AI for Good initiatives to implement the technology in areas like accessibility and environmental protection.
Scott recently sat down with GeekWire to talk about how he spends his days at Microsoft, the company's bet on AI and why diversity should be a top priority for tech giants. The discussion has been edited for style, clarity and length.
GW: So what precisely do you do at Microsoft and what are your main objectives right now in your job?
KS: After the LinkedIn acquisition closed I was looking for my next thing, and simultaneously, Satya had this interesting problem that he was trying to solve. At Microsoft there's tens of thousands of engineers and 130,000-plus employees. He was the catchall for too many technical things. He was the one trying to spot a duplication of effort on technology or a hole or an error in a technology strategy in our portfolio.
He was looking for someone who could help with two things. His term is doing the "left-to-right scan" across the entire company and trying to make sure we have a sensible technology strategy, where we're building the right sets of things to empower the products and experiences for our customers over the next several years. And then making sure that over a three-to-five year time horizon we aren't either doing things or failing to do things we'd regret doing or not doing down the road.
The stuff that's going on here is so vast and broad. It's everything from building a quantum computer to making video games and everything in between. And so what I built is a small team of technical experts who have vertical domains of expertise and work with the teams across the breadth of Microsoft deciding "this is the data strategy, this is AI strategy, this is how we're thinking about this emerging intelligent edge computing platform." And then quarter by quarter, I reassess the three to five things that are most urgent for me to be paying direct attention to.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. (GeekWire Photo / Nat Levy)
GW: What are your current three to five things?
Most of them I can't say, but a bunch of it is around artificial intelligence, making sure that we have the right set of AI investments and anticipating these big trends that are coming in. When you believe that there are 10s of billions of IoT devices coming online over the next several years, all with increasingly high-fidelity sensors and increasingly cheap silicon so that you can do inferences on relatively complex models right there at the edge, it changes how you build user experiences and what the programming model is for software in that particular environment.
We think we've got a lot of data right now. It's nothing compared to the volumes of data that we will have relatively shortly as these IoT devices start, in high-fidelity, mapping the real world on to digital, and the problems you have are going to be different. Say, I've got a bunch of cameras in this environment that I want to make sense of, to do something valuable and compelling for customers. But with the frame rate of all of these cameras, I can't ship it all back to the cloud. I've got to do something with it here on the edge. Because of bandwidth restrictions I may have intermittent network connectivity if I'm on an oil rig, or in the self-driving car, or I have really serious legitimate privacy concerns, and I just don't want this data coming out of my environment.
GW: What's your elevator pitch for why people should take Microsoft seriously in AI? There are so many companies in this realm fighting for talent. Why does Microsoft matter in AI?
KS: The first thing that got to human parity with image labeling, the first thing that got to human parity with professional translators from Chinese to English, the first thing that got to human parity with question answering, we were the first ones there on a huge number of these things. We've got this long history of pushing the boundaries of what's possible with machine learning.
The thing that we are really well situated to do — given our developer ecosystem heritage and our platform heritage — is build AI so it's not just for our own benefit, going only into our own products, and it's not even just a set of tools and infrastructure that are for the expert AI developers. We're really trying to build a set of things that lets everybody participate. It's in our DNA, right? You build Visual C++ for the professional developers building these high performance applications. You build Visual Basic and macros in Excel to let people be more productive and do more automation.
(GeekWire Photo / Nat Levy)
GW: It's funny; I was going to say yes, this is Microsoft's DNA. but to me it's more like Windows and Office. I think that raises a fascinating question as you're looking at this, because you can see where Microsoft is, through its cloud technologies and developer tools, replicating that platform for the cloud and AI. But I don't think it's obvious yet, at least to the outside world what the killer app will be, like the word processor or the spreadsheet at work for the personal computer. Will Microsoft be the one creating those killer apps or will you be the one enabling others to create them?
KS: Yeah, I think it's going to be a mix of the two. We have some really exciting things coming down the pipeline for productivity.
GW: Under your top three to five things you're focusing on right now?
KS: There's some really interesting stuff — we rearchitected the entire back end of Office 365 to support these collaborative intelligent experiences — it's a bunch of goodness coming that I'm super excited about. I get pleasantly surprised all the time as the outsider coming in. One of the biggest surprises to me is how sophisticated the technology stack is that Bing has built, which is increasingly powered by really sophisticated machine learning.
Our job is to make other people cool. We don't need to be cool ourselves.
We have this beautiful cloud platform that gives us the opportunity take all the learning that we get from building our own products that we're selling to consumers and packaging that infrastructure up in a way that we can give to every developer everywhere so that they can build their own thing and have less of a struggle with it.
Even though I was not by training a machine learning expert, that was the first thing I worked on out of grad school. It has remained challenging to build these systems in a world class way. It's incumbent on us to build these tools and enable infrastructure for folks, especially given how scarce that expertise is in the world.
GW: It's obvious in the stock market that Microsoft is valuable again — and I think Microsoft is relevant for some segments of the population. How do you make Microsoft cool again?
KS: I don't know that that's even the objective. I really like what Satya says over and over again: our job is to make other people cool. We don't need to be cool ourselves. We need really good technical folks to understand that there are amazing things that we're trying to do here at Microsoft, and you can come here and learn and have huge amounts of impact and grow your career with us. We as a company are really happy when somebody can take our technology and then themselves make something that's great and interesting and valuable in the world.
Microsoft's latest leadership diversity stats. (Microsoft Chart)
GW: How do you diversify your engineering leadership?
KS: We have to create as many opportunities as humanly possible up and down the stack to get folks involved. I have a true, representatively diverse team that I got to build from scratch. My right hand is a woman. I don't know what the exact percentages are, but we tried to be about 50/50 inside of the office of the CTO in terms of gender balance.
We have a bunch of underrepresented minorities inside the team, and it's fantastic having that diversity. We tried to bring in people who were already super collaborative by nature because you can't get anything done at a job like this if your first order of business isn't "I'm here to help you all be successful. I'm here in service of what you're doing."
When you are building a bunch of enabling technology for everyone in the world, it's really good to have people who come at it from different perspectives and points of view.
Having that diversity inside of the team has been magnificent. I run this program I inherited from a member of my team who created it called LEAP. What LEAP does is it tries to provide an on-ramp into Microsoft and into a technology career for people who have non-traditional backgrounds. You may not have the set of things on your resume that will get you through a normal technology company interview process. We bring you in and put you in an apprenticeship program and give you on-the-job training that we believe you're going to be able to absorb and adapt really quick. Just focusing on that and not even paying attention to diversity metrics, you get more diversity that way.
GW: What are the practical implications of the diversity that you have on your team?
KS: You get better conversations. When you are building a bunch of enabling technology for everyone in the world, it's really good to have people who come at it from different perspectives and points of view. It's really easy if you are a computer scientist, and you're someone who looks like me, to get really myopic about what would be a good thing to do in service of customers. When you have diversity in the team — and it's not just gender diversity or ethnic diversity, it's diversity of experiences — your path to the field is different. You get all sorts of delightful, inspiring, revelatory conversations happening. I don't have a set of metrics where I can tell you this is 73 percent better because of this. I just feel it in my bones. It's the most delightful team I've ever worked with. And it's just fun to solve problems with them.
Nat Levy is a staff reporter at Geekwire covering a variety of technology topics, including Microsoft, Amazon, tech startups, and the intersection of technology with real estate, courts and government. Contact him at nat@geekwire.com and follow him on Twitter at @natjlevy.
Geek of the Week: Kevin Lin walks the talk as he left Amazon to launch startup and host his own podcast
Working Geek: ConDati co-founder and chief marketer Linh Ho reminds us to dream big
Filed Under: Microsoft Tagged With: AI • Kevin Scott • Microsoft • Satya Nadella
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella: Celebrating $1 trillion market cap would be 'the beginning of the end'
Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott sees 'mind-blowing' potential for AI, the cloud, 5G and devices
Microsoft's fiscal 2019 already ranks among its biggest years for acquisition spending
Microsoft Azure CTO: AI and machine learning "are going to transform every industry"
Computer Science InstructorRenton Technical College
Director, Growth MarketingRad Power Bikes


text:
Tonight's theme is "Songs from the Year you were Born" -- this is always an interesting one, and it usually ends with Simon saying they chose the wrong song. "With so many great songs from that year, why did you pick THAT one?"
We'll see how many times he says it tonight. :)
Danny Gokey - Stand By Me (1980) - I love this song. Last time I said I wanted to hear him sing a slower song so I could REALLY hear him SING. This week seemed to be that chance. Though he's extremely likable, he's definitely not the best singer in the group. I like him so much, I hate to say that I have not once finished watching him sing and said, "WOW."
Chris Allen - All She Wants to Do is Dance (1985) - I like him a lot. And I love that he went into the center of the crowd. It makes him seem like a big star. I don't know about the song choice - probably because I don't know the song. I think he's damn adorable though.
Lil Rounds - What's Love Got To Do With It (1984) - What an awesome song for her to do. Zomg. The only thing I can say is that though she did a few different things with the melody, a lot of it sounded very much like a copy cat performance. But I loved the way she ended it, and overall, best of the night so far.
Anoop Desai - True Colors (1986) - Cool choice... in fact, really good choice. He's got such a great voice. He did a really nice job - my favorite of the night so far. Oh, I love his sweater too.
Scott MacIntyre - The Search is Over (1986) - The guitar move was ambitious and I like a bit of the vocal stuff he brought out tonight, but his pitch was off in a few places. There needs to come a point where people stop voting him in because he's the blind guy. Seriously. He seems sweet and he's likable, but his TALENT does not stand up. I feel really bad for the guy - he seems really nice. :(
Allison Iraheta - I can't Make You Love Me (1992) - Oh boy I'm old. Someone so talented born in 1992??? WHAT? Okay. I love this song. I love her outfit. I love her voice. This girl is a BAD ASS. This is my favorite performance of this song on this show. That means over the likes of Kimberley Locke and Constantine Maroulis.
Matt Giraud - Part Time Lovers - I do NOT understand why this guy keeps ending up in the bottom 3 - he's one of the MOST talented guys in the whole damn group. And he's WAY sexy... Do people NOT hear him singing? WHAT THE HELL? He's phenomenal. And I think it ws a good choice for him to not do the piano thing tonight. It was great.
Adam Lambert - Mad World - This is one of my FAVORITE songs ever. He's just got to win this thing... holy crap. He's so dramatic and talented, this was AWESOME. Getting a standing ovation from Simon Cowell just sums it right on up, baby.
GAH! I went to trivia and forgot to reset the DVR so when I came home to watch Idol, it wasn't there and I about DIED! Dang. Sounds like I missed a good episode. I'll have to hit up YouTube tonite and hope for the best. Thanks for the recap!


Genetically modified crops are produced by introducing a _____ coding for desired character in plants.
Continuous use of fertilizers in area can destroy the soil_______.
_____ is the science of growing ornamental plants.
Composting done using earthworms is called _____.
Richest component in cereals is _____.
Milk producing females maintained in cattle farms are known as ______ animals.
Poultry breeds are improved for meat are known as____.
Poultry breeds improved for _____ production is known as layers.
Composite farming is an example of ____ fishery.
Apis dorsata and Apis florae are varieties of Indian ____.
Which of the following has highest content of carbohydrates?
Which of the following is prepared by growing and mulching of plants by ploughing in the field to increase the fertility of soil?


text:
/**
 * Created by Karl Moad on 12/15/16.
 */
var socketioJwt = require('socketio-jwt');
var express = require('express');
var app = express();
var server = require('http').createServer(app);
var io = require('socket.io')(server);
var port = 9000;

server.listen(port, function () {
    console.log('Server listening at port %d', port);
});

// io.set('authorization', socketioJwt.authorize({
//     secret: 'SAMPLE',
//     algorithm: 'HS512',
//     handshake: true
// }));

io.on('connection', function(socket){

    console.log("connection established");
    socket.emit("init", {user: "admin", msg: "Hello and welcome, how may I assist you today?"});
    socket.nummsg = 1;

    socket.on('msg', function(data){

        console.log("Message Received: %s", JSON.stringify(data));

        switch(socket.nummsg % 5){
            case 0:
            case 1:
                socket.emit("resp",{user: "admin", msg: "The answer remains the same."});
                break;
            case 2:
                socket.emit("resp",{user: "admin", msg: "You really can't take a hint huh?"});
                break;
            case 3:
                socket.emit("resp",{user: "admin", msg: "Don't you have something better to be doing?"});
                break;
            default:
                socket.emit("resp",{user: "admin", msg: "I am sorry, I can not help you with this at this time."});
                break;
        }
        socket.nummsg += 1;
    });
});

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Hardwood floors are synonymous with timeless beauty. This centuries old floor covering remains as popular today as ever, and with good reason. No other flooring type matches the natural beauty, elegance, and charm of a wood floor.
If you are thinking about purchasing hardwood floors for your home, learning about the different types, species, options and finishes is essential. Should you buy a solid or engineered wood floor? What does "handscraped" mean? Can a hardwood floor be installed over a concrete slab? How can you keep your flooring investment in top shape for years to come?
There are many choices when it comes to wood floors. Differences in the way each piece is constructed, harvesting methods, and finishing processes make some types of wood better for specific installations than others.
* Solid: Approximately 3/4″ of an inch thick, solid wood floors come from a single piece of hardwood cut into planks. Solid wood planks are installed above grade only, never in a basement or over a concrete slab.
* Engineered: Engineered wood floors are available in assorted thicknesses, generally ranging from 1/4″ to 1/2″. Construction involves laminating and gluing several wood plies together to form a single plank. Engineered planks may be installed over a dry concrete slab.
* Longstrip: Longstrip is a variation on engineered construction, resulting in a wider and longer single plank.
* Exotic: Exotic is the term used for wood floors that come from various world locations, including Asia, Australia, Africa, Germany, South America and Russia.
* Handscraped: Extremely popular, hand-scraped floors are wood planks that have been scraped by hand to give each piece a worn and ancient look. They are available in both engineered and solid construction.
* Distressed: Similar to handscraped, distressed hardwood is machine scraped to give it a unique look and texture.
* Pre-finished and Unfinished: Pre-finished means that the finish was applied at the factory, before purchase and installation. Unfinished floors must be finished after installation. Pre-finished floors offer a wider variety of choices and less clean-up after installation. Unfinished floors attain a more customized look after the finish is applied.
Nail or staple down: Nails or staples are used to secure each plank to the subfloor. These cannot be installed over concrete slabs.
Glue: Glue is used to secure individual planks to the subfloor.
Glue-less: A relatively new method, glue-less installation involves connecting interlocking planks without the use of wood adhesive.
Floating: A favorite with do-it-yourselfers, floating floors sit above the subfloor without being secured to it. In most cases, wood glue is used between each plank's tongue and groove.
For years, maintaining a hardwood floor meant a hefty commitment in both time and money. The initial cost notwithstanding, periodic sanding, buffing, and waxing was necessary to care for wood flooring. Modern advances in finishes have made great strides in the wear capabilities of wood floors, however. Buffing and waxing is, for the most part, a thing of the past. Specially designed urethane finishes offer advanced scratch, moisture, and stain resistance. Proper care is still necessary, but today's finishes greatly decrease the time spent in maintaining your floor.
Always follow the manufacturer's instructions for cleaning and maintenance procedures. Failure to do so may void your warranties.
Hardwood Floors are more beautiful and easier to maintain than ever. A much sought-after asset, wood floors increase the value of a home and bring tradition, charm, and natural beauty for years to come.


One of the main problems for businesses interested in the ecotourism sector is knowing where to go to access information on the subject. There are many organisations which support ecotourism initiatives through information and training, as well as publications and websites. From Failte Ireland to the United Nations, the LEADER networks to The International Centre for Responsible Tourism, all have important information to share. At grassroots level, there is a growing number of dynamic ecotourism providers and networks all offering an insight to good ecotourism experiences. As well as studying their websites, and supporting their blogs, the best way to learn about ecotourism is to go and visit them, learn from their ups and downs. Together with the international organisations, there is, literally, a whole world of inspiration and education available to those committing to ecotourism ventures.


text:
Researched and Written by Jacob McCormick
As a student group, the band had less rigidity in its uniform in its earliest days. The earliest uniform worn by the Cornet Band at the Agricultural College in the 1870s consisted of a white cotton cap and a pair of white cotton gloves, which cost each member 25 cents. When the band became a unit of the cadet corps in 1885, the Military Department issued uniforms to the band. The first uniforms were wool and dark navy blue in color with a half-inch black braid on the coat and a one-inch black braid on the trousers. This first cadet uniform cost each member anywhere from $14 to $20 and were intended to entirely replace civilian clothing while on campus. The cadet uniforms were not mandatory initially due to cost.
In 1892, the Board of Agriculture made cadet uniforms compulsory and replaced the old Civil War Blue uniforms with Cadet-Gray uniforms. Those already owning a uniform were not required to replace it for the new color, but all new members were required to purchase a gray uniform. In 1907, "MAC" was added to the collar of the cadet uniforms when the State Agricultural College became Michigan Agricultural College. The band uniforms were distinguished with a lyre detail.
The J.H. Reed Co. of Philadelphia was contracted to produce new cadet uniforms for Michigan Agricultural College in 1911. The band's uniforms remained the wool Cadet-Gray West Point-style uniforms through about 1920. Between 1918 and 1920, the band was allotted funds to purchase new uniforms. Campus opinion was that the band should have unique uniforms separate from the cadets, however, the College required the band to maintain a common appearance with the cadets as part of the Military Department. The new uniforms were purchased in 1920 and consisted of "dress uniforms of khaki serge, with officers' caps and spiral leggings. Cords of green and white on the left shoulder [distinguished] them from the regular military uniforms." So, although the campus community did not get altogether unique uniforms, a splash of green and white added some school spirit to the band for the first time.
Over the course of the next thirty years, the band wore khaki cadet and ROTC style uniforms, with replacements every so often. In 1937, the band got a slight change to its look. The World War I-style officer's uniforms, as had been worn since 1920, were retired. The new uniform consisted of "trousers, a shirt, a green and white lined overcoat cape, an olive drab cap, a Sam Brown belt, and a braided fourragere."
The ROTC military uniform tradition changed upon Michigan State College's entrance to the Big Ten Conference.
Green & White Uniforms, 1952-Present
The Inaugural Set, 1952-1964
Michigan State College was admitted to the Big Ten Conference in 1948, though did not begin conference play until 1952. In the period of 1948 to 1952, obtaining nonmilitary style uniforms was the top goal of most members of the campus community. Leonard Falcone wrote in a 1970 letter, "at that time, practically all university and college bands were wearing nonmilitary style uniforms with emphasis on the school colors." Moving into a highly visible environment in the Big Ten, band members sought uniforms that would stand out upon their debut in the new conference.
Colonel Dorsey R. Rodney, professor of military science and tactics at MSC, objected to new band uniforms as the band still had an active role in the ROTC and participated in weekly reviews, thus it was viewed as necessary for the band to fit in with the Military Department through its dress. Lloyd C. Emmons, dean of the College of Science and Arts at MSC, also opposed the uniforms as the current khaki set was still relatively new. Even band members at the time had split opinions on new uniforms. Some liked the idea and thought the old uniforms were "drab" and dragged down the band's ability to perform and stand out among its forthcoming counterparts in the new conference. Other band members were very tied to the tradition of khaki uniforms and preferred to maintain that look.
For about two full years, the uniform topic was debated on and off-campus. The issue was taken to MSC President John A. Hannah in mid-1951 by Falcone. Hannah decided that whatever Falcone decided was to be the final decision. With Hannah's backing, the State Board of Agriculture voted to fund the band uniforms in September 1951. As a result, a committee was formed to design the new uniforms. The committee was made up of eight members from across campus, including band director Leonard Falcone, MSC athletic director Ralph Young, and a student representative, among others. Among the committee's tasks was consulting on uniform materials and structure with Home Economics faculty members.
The Fechheimer Bros., a large Cincinnati-based uniform manufacturer, was selected to produce the new MSC Band uniforms in December 1951. The sample of the selected uniform arrived on campus in February 1952 for inspection. Once inspected, 160 uniforms were ordered including a drum major uniform. The new set of uniforms arrived on campus in July 1952. These uniforms were a vibrant shade of green and were accessorized with a white cross strap, white spats, white gloves, and an officer's hat with a green and white feather plume.
The band made their fall premiere on September 2, 1952, in Ann Arbor at the Michigan-Michigan State game donning their new green and white uniforms. Fritz Stansell, a member of the 120-piece 1952 SMB and eventual founder of the Blue Lakes Fine Arts Camp, recalled the first performance wearing the new uniforms, "when we ripped out onto the field at Ann Arbor with flashy new uniforms, a fast tempo, updated arrangements, kick turns, high steps, etc., etc., the MSU fans gave us a terrific reception. The attitude that the band was out of date changed overnight." The 1953 MSC Wolverine yearbook noted that the band's first appearance in new uniforms in Ann Arbor "[stole] the thunder from Michigan's famed marching unit."
Just three years into these uniforms and they were suddenly outdated. In 1955, Michigan State College became Michigan State University. When the uniforms were purchased, MSC Band patches were added to the shoulders. Since the uniforms were still so new, and given the lengthy process to get them, the SMB simply received new shoulder patches. The MSC Band patches were removed and the new MSU Band patches sewn on to reflect the change from MSC to MSU.
This inaugural green and white uniform set was worn at two Rose Bowls and, for the final time, at the 1964 World's Fair. After twelve years of continual use by the SMB, the uniforms had become worn and tattered. The band received so much attention that in January 1964 President Hannah received letters criticizing MSU for allowing its band to perform in such shabby uniforms. Hannah, along with Falcone's support, immediately took steps toward funding new uniforms for the band.
The Overlay Uniforms, 1964-1974
The process for obtaining this set of uniforms was much smoother than a decade prior. The new uniforms were designed and manufactured by Ostwald and premiered in the fall of 1964. They were a dark forest green wool uniform with a white vinyl overlay with fringe shoulder detail. A large block-S was emblazoned on the front of the overlay, and a shield-MSU on the back. This was the first time the shield appeared on the back of the SMB uniform and it remains a feature today. Zippers replaced earlier button closures on this new set of uniforms. When the overlay was removed, the uniform could be worn as a concert dress uniform. White hats with green and white plumes completed the marching band look.
A "Uniforms by Ostwald" advertisement highlighting the new convertible SMB uniforms is shown at the left.
Among the first major showcases of this uniform was in the 1965 inaugural parade of President Lyndon Johnson. The set was also worn at the 1966 Rose Bowl. These uniforms were worn until 1974. The lifespan of a band uniform is approximately a decade, and in this case, the vinyl overlay was not highly favored anymore.
The Stylized-S Uniforms, 1974-1985
In 1974, the old overlay uniforms were retired and Ostwald designed and produced a new set of uniforms for the SMB. The major features of the new uniforms were a unique shade of forest green highlighted with silver accents. The MSU shield remained on the back of the jacket and a shield was added to the front of the uniform hat, where it remains a feature today. This uniform also features a unique diamond-shaped "Michigan State University" patch on the shoulders.
A Consistent Look
On December 31, 1985, a new set of SMB uniforms debuted at the All-American Bowl in Birmingham, Alabama, with the halftime show shown in its entirety on national television. This was the first time a new set of uniforms did not premiere during a regular season. This was, however, the first of four sets of SMB uniforms with a fairly consistent design.
The 1985-1994 SMB uniform is distinguishable by its long jacket with white outward "swoops" on the front. This uniform laid the foundation for its successors in its design, including "Michigan State" on the shoulders and a Spartan-S on the jacket chest.
The 1994-2003 SMB uniform has a similar look to its predecessor. The jacket has the green and white areas reversed and lacks the "swoop" design on the front. This set is unique, however, in that it is the first with interchangeable pieces. This uniform came with one jacket and two pairs of pants – one green and one white. This jacket continues the "Michigan State" shoulder design and Spartan-S on the chest.
The 2003-2013 SMB uniform is the first with a cropped jacket. The jacket design also features a flap which camouflages the front zipper. This set had one pair of green pants and two interchangeable jackets – one green and one white. The "Michigan State" design remains on the shoulder and Block-S on the chest.
The SMB uniforms which debuted in 2013 and are currently in use have the same design as its immediate predecessor with a few minor additions. Among the additions are Spartan helmets and block-S details included inside the "Michigan State" shoulder design. This set also has one pair of green pants and two interchangeable jackets – one green and one white. The white jackets feature a Spartan helmet on the chest and a block-S on the shoulder, the green jackets have a reversed design with a block-S on the chest and Spartan helmet on the shoulder.


text:
Lufthansa CEO on Alitalia: "We need the right partner and restructuring"
Mario Masciullo - eTN ItalyJanuary 14, 2020 02:38
The Alitalia case returns with concerns over some of the critical activities of the Italian economy. The economic daily Sole 24 Ore reports: "Carsten Spohr [CEO of Lufthansa] explains the plan on Alitalia. The German carrier hypothesizes that Alitalia could have 90 planes (today they are 113) if it makes a 'realistic' reduction in costs. The employees of Nuova Alitalia (the new company) would be 5-6,000 (today they are 11,500). The handling should be sold, a partner for maintenance.
"The basic conditions wanted by Lufthansa to invest in Alitalia – profound restructuring and liquidity to meet the extra costs of at least one billion euros (born by the Italian government); Lufthansa would only be interested in the 'aviation' part of Alitalia, not the ground services and maintenance. This would cause 4,700 redundancies.
"A cut of 23 planes from the fleet and a drastic overhaul of the non-profitable routes are also planned. Lufthansa is interested in the hub of Rome Fiumicino that the Germans aim to transform into a strategic hub for South America and Southeast Asia. It will be up to the single commissioner and the unions to decide how big AZ must be and how many sacrifices they are willing to bear."
Lufthansa Managing Director Carsten Spohr explained: "For Alitalia to have a long-term future, it is important that it has the right partner and the right restructuring. This is the logic that is illustrated when I spoke with the Italian 'players' in the last few weeks ."
From Germany on the Lufthansa line: "First the restructuring. Then the commercial partnership. Only at the end of the journey, if Alitalia is profitable, will the company be purchased."
Contact with Patuanelli and Leogrande
The German airline is playing all its cards to take control of Alitalia, if possible, without risking even one euro. Spohr in recent weeks met with the Minister of Economic Development, Stefano Patuanelli.
The contacts are favored by the role played by Joerg Eberhardt, president and CEO of the subsidiary Air Dolomiti based in Verona. Lufthansa also had contact with the new commissioner chosen by the Italian government, Giuseppe Leogrande, and with other politicians, in particular the M5S (political party) Senator Giulia Lupo.
Fleet reduced to 90 aircraft
The New Alitalia hypothesized by Lufthansa, according to sources of the German group, could have a base of 90 planes, provided, however, there is a "realistic" reduction in costs. In recent months Lufthansa had proposed a more drastic plan, with 74 planes. The rise to 90 aircraft is, however, conditioned by a cost cut.
Alitalia's fleet of 118 aircraft at the end of 2018 is decreasing to 113 by the end of this year, due to the return to the owners of Airbus of the 320 family who have reached the end of the lease. The Germans are only interested in passenger and freight transport activities, including "line maintenance," the lightest maintenance, but not the rest of the maintenance nor the handling of Fiumicino. With fewer planes, the new Alitalia would make fewer flights and fewer routes than today.
Workforce for 5-6,000 employees
This means that, according to the assumptions made by Lufthansa but not officially declared, the new Alitalia could have 5-6,000 employees, compared to the current 11,500.
Lufthansa has clarified that they are not interested in handling the Fiumicino ground services in which there are approximately 3,170 workers. This activity should be divested. According to Lufthansa, buyers can be found without difficulty.
One hypothesis is that handling could go to Swissport. Aeroporti di Roma, operator of the Fiumicino airport, controlled by Atlantia, cannot be excluded.
Trade alliance by May 2020
There must be a reduction in costs in the first place, says Lufthansa. The German company requests that the lawyer Leogrande immediately start a restructuring. Only after a few months – not in January, but probably by May 2020 – would be available to make a commercial alliance to bring Alitalia into its network which also includes the American United and other partners in Asia, in particular Air China and the Japanese Ana.
Purchase not earlier than 18 months
Lufthansa could consider the purchase of Alitalia only when it has demonstrated that it has the accounts in surplus and is able to grow. For this to happen, it would take at least 18 months, in the meantime, the Italian state should finance the company, which this year will lose about 600 million euros, according to estimates.
Partnership for North America
Lufthansa claims that it could offer Alitalia a better commercial partnership than current ones both in North America and in Asia. Spohr believes that Alitalia's transatlantic joint venture with Air France-Klm and Delta is not going well because it limits the possibility for Alitalia to increase flights.
Lufthansa says his North Atlantic alliance with United allows those with lower costs to increase flights.
The previous Swissair
The recipe that the Germans repeat is: first Alitalia must shrink in size, then it can grow. In Frankfurt, the former Swissair precedent is remembered: when the new company, Swiss, was taken over by Lufthansa, it was half of the old Swissair left with the planes on the ground in October 2001, today it is bigger than then.
For now, Lufthansa does not put money on the plate. It gives the line of restructuring and awaits the moves of Leogrande and his government. The new commissioner has not yet taken office, he has not even been officially nominated.
It will be up to Leogrande to restart the transfer procedure. In which in addition to Lufthansa there may be other suitors, including the American Delta.
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text:
Q: Computing points for a football team everyone.
I am trying to calculate football team points.
I have my dataframe "df.work" with rownames = teamnames:
rownames(df.work) <- c(as.vector(teams$HomeTeam))
I have imported all played matches from another dataframe.
And for every team I try to execute if loop based on subset of team matches. First I filter all home matches.
So my code is
for (Team1 in row.names.data.frame(df.work)){
a1 <- filter(df.clean, HomeTeam == Team1)
  if (a1$home.goals > a1$away.goals) {
    df.work[Team1,"Points"] <- df.work[Team1,"Points"] + 3
  } else  if(a1$home.goals == a1$away.goals) {
    df.work[Team1,"Points"] <- df.work[Team1,"Points"] + 1
  }

But I struggle why it did not loop for every row in a1 and sum the points?
Edit:
this is head(df.clean):
        HomeTeam         AwayTeam home.goals away.goals
1      Liverpool          Norwich          4          1
2       West Ham         Man City          0          5
3    Bournemouth Sheffield United          1          1
4        Burnley      Southampton          3          0
5 Crystal Palace          Everton          0          0
6        Watford         Brighton          0          3

and head(df.work) is
               Games Goals.Scored Goals.Conceded Points
Liverpool         32           70             25      3
West Ham          32           38             56      0
Bournemouth       32           30             54      1
Burnley           32           36             45      3
Crystal Palace    32           28             37      1
Watford           32           29             49      0

A: Here's a dplyr solution to transform df.clean into the desired result without using loops. The data set was easy enough to replicate from public resources.
library(dplyr)
library(tidyr)

df.clean %>%
  pivot_longer(1:2, names_to = "HA", values_to = "Team") %>%
  group_by(Team) %>%
  mutate(Goals.Conceded = ifelse(HA == "HomeTeam", away.goals, home.goals)) %>%
  mutate(Goals.Scored = ifelse(HA == "HomeTeam", home.goals, away.goals)) %>%
  mutate(Points = ifelse(Goals.Scored > Goals.Conceded, 3,
                         ifelse(Goals.Scored == Goals.Conceded, 1, 0))) %>%
  mutate(Games = 1) %>%
  select(c(8, 6:5, 7)) %>%
  summarise_all(sum) %>%
  arrange(-Points)

Which yields:
#> # A tibble: 20 x 5
#>    Team           Games Goals.Scored Goals.Conceded Points
#>    <fct>          <dbl>        <dbl>          <dbl>  <dbl>
#>  1 Liverpool         32           70             25     86
#>  2 Man City          32           81             33     66
#>  3 Leicester         32           60             31     55
#>  4 Chelsea           32           57             44     54
#>  5 Man Utd           32           51             31     52
#>  6 Wolves            32           45             34     52
#>  7 Sheffield Utd     32           33             32     47
#>  8 Arsenal           32           47             41     46
#>  9 Burnley           32           36             45     45
#> 10 Spurs             32           51             44     45
#> 11 Everton           32           40             47     44
#> 12 Crystal Palace    32           28             37     42
#> 13 Newcastle         32           33             43     42
#> 14 Southampton       32           41             55     40
#> 15 Brighton          32           34             44     33
#> 16 West Ham          32           38             56     30
#> 17 Watford           32           29             49     28
#> 18 Aston Villa       32           36             60     27
#> 19 Bournemouth       32           30             54     27
#> 20 Norwich           32           25             60     21

Data
df.clean <- structure(list(HomeTeam = structure(c(10L, 19L, 3L, 5L, 7L, 18L,
17L, 9L, 13L, 12L, 1L, 2L, 4L, 8L, 14L, 16L, 11L, 15L, 6L, 20L,
2L, 14L, 4L, 12L, 15L, 18L, 10L, 3L, 17L, 20L, 16L, 6L, 7L, 9L,
11L, 13L, 19L, 5L, 8L, 1L, 10L, 4L, 12L, 15L, 17L, 20L, 14L,
3L, 18L, 2L, 16L, 9L, 5L, 8L, 11L, 13L, 7L, 19L, 1L, 6L, 15L,
3L, 2L, 6L, 7L, 17L, 20L, 8L, 9L, 12L, 4L, 5L, 10L, 14L, 18L,
19L, 1L, 11L, 16L, 13L, 8L, 3L, 2L, 6L, 9L, 17L, 20L, 7L, 12L,
15L, 16L, 11L, 4L, 18L, 19L, 5L, 13L, 1L, 10L, 14L, 3L, 1L, 2L,
4L, 11L, 15L, 19L, 18L, 7L, 8L, 14L, 6L, 5L, 13L, 16L, 17L, 9L,
12L, 20L, 10L, 19L, 3L, 1L, 4L, 7L, 8L, 18L, 11L, 15L, 2L, 13L,
5L, 6L, 10L, 17L, 16L, 14L, 20L, 9L, 12L, 7L, 5L, 9L, 20L, 12L,
6L, 16L, 10L, 15L, 1L, 8L, 3L, 17L, 18L, 11L, 2L, 13L, 14L, 4L,
19L, 10L, 5L, 6L, 9L, 15L, 16L, 12L, 20L, 1L, 7L, 8L, 3L, 2L,
4L, 13L, 14L, 11L, 18L, 17L, 17L, 3L, 2L, 6L, 7L, 8L, 15L, 12L,
9L, 20L, 4L, 13L, 16L, 18L, 14L, 19L, 5L, 1L, 10L, 11L, 4L, 5L,
13L, 16L, 18L, 11L, 14L, 19L, 1L, 10L, 15L, 7L, 6L, 8L, 9L, 12L,
20L, 17L, 3L, 2L, 18L, 1L, 4L, 11L, 14L, 16L, 19L, 13L, 5L, 10L,
3L, 2L, 8L, 15L, 7L, 6L, 9L, 17L, 12L, 20L, 19L, 9L, 3L, 7L,
10L, 13L, 18L, 19L, 12L, 5L, 17L, 8L, 4L, 15L, 20L, 16L, 14L,
2L, 1L, 6L, 11L, 6L, 5L, 7L, 15L, 16L, 9L, 12L, 20L, 1L, 10L,
14L, 4L, 3L, 13L, 19L, 18L, 8L, 17L, 10L, 1L, 7L, 15L, 16L, 20L,
5L, 6L, 12L, 9L, 2L, 11L, 14L, 17L, 18L, 4L, 19L, 3L, 13L, 2L,
8L, 11L, 9L, 17L, 12L, 13L, 14L, 20L, 10L, 5L, 16L, 6L, 2L, 18L,
7L, 4L, 3L, 1L, 8L, 19L, 15L, 11L), .Label = c("Arsenal", "Aston Villa",
"Bournemouth", "Brighton", "Burnley", "Chelsea", "Crystal Palace",
"Everton", "Leicester", "Liverpool", "Man City", "Man Utd", "Newcastle",
"Norwich", "Sheffield Utd", "Southampton", "Spurs", "Watford",
"West Ham", "Wolves"), class = "factor"), AwayTeam = structure(c(14L,
11L, 15L, 16L, 8L, 4L, 2L, 20L, 1L, 6L, 5L, 3L, 19L, 18L, 13L,
10L, 17L, 7L, 9L, 12L, 8L, 6L, 16L, 7L, 9L, 19L, 1L, 11L, 13L,
5L, 12L, 15L, 2L, 3L, 4L, 18L, 14L, 10L, 20L, 17L, 13L, 5L, 9L,
16L, 7L, 6L, 11L, 8L, 1L, 19L, 3L, 17L, 14L, 15L, 18L, 4L, 20L,
12L, 2L, 10L, 10L, 19L, 5L, 4L, 14L, 16L, 18L, 11L, 13L, 1L,
17L, 8L, 9L, 2L, 15L, 7L, 3L, 20L, 6L, 12L, 19L, 14L, 4L, 13L,
5L, 18L, 16L, 11L, 10L, 1L, 9L, 2L, 8L, 3L, 15L, 6L, 20L, 7L,
17L, 12L, 12L, 20L, 10L, 14L, 16L, 5L, 13L, 6L, 9L, 17L, 18L,
7L, 19L, 3L, 8L, 15L, 1L, 4L, 2L, 11L, 17L, 20L, 16L, 9L, 10L,
14L, 5L, 6L, 12L, 13L, 11L, 7L, 19L, 4L, 3L, 18L, 1L, 15L, 8L,
2L, 3L, 11L, 18L, 19L, 17L, 2L, 14L, 8L, 13L, 4L, 6L, 10L, 5L,
7L, 12L, 9L, 16L, 15L, 20L, 1L, 18L, 13L, 3L, 14L, 2L, 19L, 8L,
17L, 11L, 4L, 1L, 5L, 16L, 15L, 7L, 20L, 9L, 12L, 6L, 4L, 1L,
14L, 16L, 19L, 5L, 18L, 13L, 10L, 11L, 3L, 8L, 7L, 2L, 17L, 9L,
12L, 6L, 20L, 15L, 6L, 2L, 9L, 17L, 20L, 8L, 7L, 3L, 12L, 15L,
19L, 1L, 5L, 4L, 16L, 14L, 13L, 10L, 18L, 11L, 17L, 15L, 2L,
7L, 3L, 20L, 8L, 6L, 9L, 12L, 4L, 18L, 13L, 11L, 16L, 1L, 19L,
14L, 5L, 10L, 10L, 6L, 2L, 15L, 16L, 14L, 8L, 4L, 20L, 1L, 11L,
7L, 18L, 3L, 9L, 5L, 10L, 17L, 13L, 12L, 19L, 17L, 3L, 13L, 4L,
2L, 11L, 18L, 14L, 8L, 19L, 9L, 7L, 6L, 5L, 16L, 10L, 12L, 20L,
3L, 19L, 18L, 14L, 13L, 4L, 17L, 8L, 11L, 2L, 15L, 1L, 16L, 12L,
9L, 1L, 20L, 7L, 15L, 6L, 10L, 5L, 4L, 19L, 15L, 2L, 8L, 3L,
7L, 18L, 1L, 11L, 20L, 16L, 5L, 12L, 13L, 14L, 9L, 6L, 17L, 10L
), .Label = c("Arsenal", "Aston Villa", "Bournemouth", "Brighton",
"Burnley", "Chelsea", "Crystal Palace", "Everton", "Leicester",
"Liverpool", "Man City", "Man Utd", "Newcastle", "Norwich", "Sheffield Utd",
"Southampton", "Spurs", "Watford", "West Ham", "Wolves"), class = "factor"),
    home.goals = c(4, 0, 1, 3, 0, 0, 3, 0, 0, 4, 2, 1, 1, 1,
    3, 1, 2, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 0, 1, 1, 1, 3, 1, 0, 1, 1, 2, 1,
    3, 4, 1, 2, 0, 3, 2, 3, 1, 1, 0, 4, 2, 3, 3, 2, 0, 1, 2,
    2, 0, 8, 0, 1, 2, 3, 1, 0, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 5, 1, 3,
    1, 2, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 2, 0, 2, 1, 2, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1,
    0, 3, 3, 0, 1, 2, 1, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 2, 1, 0,
    1, 0, 2, 3, 2, 1, 1, 2, 3, 2, 3, 2, 1, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 2,
    3, 2, 2, 0, 0, 2, 3, 2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2,
    5, 0, 1, 3, 0, 5, 0, 1, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 0,
    1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 3, 2, 0, 2, 1, 1, 0, 2, 1,
    1, 4, 0, 3, 2, 1, 1, 3, 2, 1, 0, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 0, 1, 2,
    2, 1, 4, 2, 2, 1, 1, 3, 1, 1, 4, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 2,
    1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2, 0, 0, 2, 4, 2, 0, 1, 0, 2, 2,
    0, 4, 0, 2, 3, 0, 0, 2, 3, 1, 2, 0, 1, 0, 2, 4, 0, 2, 2,
    3, 1, 1, 2, 0, 3, 3, 3, 3, 1, 0, 2, 0, 3, 3, 1, 2, 2, 1,
    1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 4, 2, 4, 0, 3, 0, 1, 1, 2, 0, 0, 3, 1, 0,
    5, 0, 2, 3, 1, 0, 1, 4, 1, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 4, 2, 3,
    3, 4), away.goals = c(1, 5, 1, 0, 0, 3, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 2,
    1, 0, 1, 2, 2, 0, 1, 1, 0, 3, 2, 2, 2, 3, 1, 3, 1, 1, 1,
    2, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 3, 2, 2, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 5, 2, 1, 2, 0,
    3, 1, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 0, 2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 0, 0, 1, 0, 3, 0,
    1, 0, 0, 1, 5, 0, 2, 0, 2, 4, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 2,
    1, 0, 9, 0, 2, 0, 1, 4, 1, 2, 1, 3, 0, 1, 2, 0, 1, 0, 3,
    2, 2, 1, 2, 0, 0, 1, 2, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2,
    3, 1, 3, 0, 2, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 0, 4, 0, 0, 1,
    1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 1, 3, 0, 0, 2, 4, 1, 2, 2, 3, 0, 0, 1, 1,
    0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 1, 0, 1, 3, 1, 0, 2, 1, 0, 2, 1, 1, 0, 2,
    1, 0, 1, 1, 4, 2, 0, 2, 1, 0, 2, 2, 2, 2, 0, 0, 1, 2, 3,
    0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 2, 0, 1, 1, 3, 6, 0, 1,
    1, 2, 0, 3, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 2, 1, 2, 2, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2,
    2, 1, 1, 0, 0, 3, 3, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 2, 1, 3, 0, 2,
    0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 2, 2, 0, 1, 2, 0, 1, 0, 1, 3,
    1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 0,
    2, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 2, 1, 1, 3, 1, 3, 4, 0,
    1, 2, 1, 0)), row.names = c(NA, 320L), class = "data.frame")

A: I believe the following is what the question asks for.
goals2points <- function(x, y){
  pnts <- sign(x - y) + 1
  pnts[pnts == 2] <- 3
  sum(pnts)
}

hg <- aggregate(home.goals ~ HomeTeam, df.clean, sum)
ag <- aggregate(away.goals ~ AwayTeam, df.clean, sum)
Goals.Scored <- hg[[2]] + ag[[2]]
hg <- aggregate(home.goals ~ AwayTeam, df.clean, sum)
ag <- aggregate(away.goals ~ HomeTeam, df.clean, sum)
Goals.Conceded <- hg[[2]] + ag[[2]]

sp1 <- split(df.clean, df.clean$HomeTeam)
home <- sapply(sp1, function(DF){
  goals2points(DF[['home.goals']], DF[['away.goals']])
})

sp2 <- split(df.clean, df.clean$AwayTeam)
away <- sapply(sp2, function(DF){
  goals2points(DF[['away.goals']], DF[['home.goals']])
})

Points <- rowSums(cbind(home, away))
result <- data.frame(Games = lengths(sp1) + lengths(sp2),
                     Goals.Scored,
                     Goals.Conceded,
                     Points)
result
#  Games Goals.Scored Goals.Conceded Points
#A     8           24             22     12
#B     8           26             21     15
#C     8           23             21     12
#D     8           17             24      7
#E     8           23             25     13

Test data
set.seed(2020)
df.clean <- expand.grid(HomeTeam = LETTERS[1:5], AwayTeam = LETTERS[1:5])
df.clean <- df.clean[apply(df.clean, 1, function(x) x[1] != x[2]), ]
df.clean$home.goals <- sample(0:5, nrow(df.clean), TRUE)
df.clean$away.goals <- sample(0:5, nrow(df.clean), TRUE)

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text:
<?php

use Google\Auth\HttpHandler\HttpHandlerFactory;
use GuzzleHttp\ClientInterface;
use GuzzleHttp\Psr7;
use GuzzleHttp\Psr7\Request;

/**
 * Wrapper around Google Access Tokens which provides convenience functions
 *
 */
class Google_AccessToken_Revoke
{
  /**
   * @var GuzzleHttp\ClientInterface The http client
   */
  private $http;

  /**
   * Instantiates the class, but does not initiate the login flow, leaving it
   * to the discretion of the caller.
   */
  public function __construct(ClientInterface $http = null)
  {
    $this->http = $http;
  }

  /**
   * Revoke an OAuth2 access token or refresh token. This method will revoke the current access
   * token, if a token isn't provided.
   *
   * @param string|array $token The token (access token or a refresh token) that should be revoked.
   * @return boolean Returns True if the revocation was successful, otherwise False.
   */
  public function revokeToken($token)
  {
    if (is_array($token)) {
      if (isset($token['refresh_token'])) {
        $token = $token['refresh_token'];
      } else {
        $token = $token['access_token'];
      }
    }

    $body = Psr7\stream_for(http_build_query(array('token' => $token)));
    $request = new Request(
        'POST',
        Google_Client::OAUTH2_REVOKE_URI,
        [
          'Cache-Control' => 'no-store',
          'Content-Type'  => 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded',
        ],
        $body
    );

    $httpHandler = HttpHandlerFactory::build($this->http);

    $response = $httpHandler($request);
    if ($response->getStatusCode() == 200) {
      return true;
    }

    return false;
  }
}


text:
Home Rotations	The Yes Feeling by Honey Larochelle
by amc April 12, 2013
Canada can sure churn out exceptional soulful sirens when it's good and ready – Tamia, Divine Brown, Deborah Cox, Ivana Santilli, Melanie Fiona – and the list goes on. Now, give this lovely redhead some room and she will undoubtedly step right into the spotlight. Okay, Canada can't take all the credit with this one, but it is, of course, worth the mention. Say hello to Ms. Honey Larochelle. Honey is born in Vancouver, British Columbia, but she is Texas raised. Then to add to the mix a dash of Brooklyn flavour may sound a little crazy, but believe it or not, it's all in there. So she embodies both the Northern touch (by birth) and a great deal of Southern touch if you will. Stir it all together in one pot and there you have The Yes Feeling.
The Yes Feeling is undeniably an ode to old school and a funky good time. The influences are heavy from the instrumentation to the harmonies, the album is dripping with Motown innuendos, Stax sounds, and 70's kicks and choruses. "Be Your Baby" borrows from the Smokey Robinson & The Miracles favourite "Ooo Baby Baby" with Honey cooing to a certain someone trying to convince him to make time for her so she can become his baby. "Hey Love" is an open letter to Honey's ex holding firmly to faith that their love can be repaired in order to move forward. The lyrics certainly put things into perspective and speak truth straight from the heart. While on "Dear John," you find yourself strutting to the vibe, and all of a sudden acquired a diva attitude while singing along to this low-down funky fresh track. Press play and go along with the naughty little kick and groove on "Back of My Car," send up your 'lightah' for a couple of reggae tunes on "I Open My Heart" and "One 2 Three." The latter has a more commercial sound, while the former is straight up dancehall. Either way, she goes, Honey delivers both of them beautifully.
Honey has sung with the best of the best – Roberta Flack, Omar, and Joss Stone to name a few, and she also held the position as lead singer for The Brand New Heavies. Being the 'busy bee' that she is, she was also producing. writing, and arranging for many artists. To think this is her debut album; it surely doesn't sound like it. She is well seasoned, vocally angelic, and her lyrical prowess shines through as a writer. All around, The Yes Feeling is a strong and wicked album from beginning to end.
BrooklynCanadianhip hopHoney LarochelleReggaesingerSoulTexanThe Yes Feeling
The Grid's Muchmusic VJ Perspective Versus Mine
Saidah Baba Talibah Is Campaigning For Her "RedBlack & Blue"
The Compilation by Carlos Morgan
Distant Relatives by Nas & Damian Marley


text:
The Templars, the History & the Myth
From Salomon's Temple to the Freemasons:
A Guide to Templar History, Culture and locations
(Harper-Collins Publishers - 2009)
Author(s) : Michael Haag
Pages list about this topic :
Book presentation (current page)
The first history of the legendary knights since the Vatican momentously released the records of their trial and exoneration
Who were the Templars?
What was the secret of their wealth and power?
Why did the pope and the king of France act to destroy them?
The Knights Templar were founded on Christmas Day 1119, on the very spot in Jerusalem where Jesus Christ was crucified. A religious order of fighting knights, the Templars defended the Holy Land and Christian pilgrims in the decades after the First Crusade. Legendary for their bravery and dedication, the Templars became one of the wealthiest and most powerful bodies of the medieval world - until they were condemned for heresy two centuries after their founding, when the order was abolished and its leaders were burned at the stake.
In "The Templars", renowned historian Michael Haag investigates the origins and history, the enduring myths, and the soaring architecture of an enigmatic order long shrouded in mystery and controversy. The hand of the Templars, many believe, can be found in everything from Cathar heresy to Masonic conspiracies, and the Knights Templar still inspire popular culture, from Indiana Jones to Xbox games, to the novels of Dan Brown.
The author :
Historian, writer, and photographer Michael Haag has written widely on the Egyptian, classical, and medieval worlds. Born in New York City, he is a graduate of University College London, and he holds a B.S. and an M.S. in anthropology. He has broadcast for the BBC, and his journalism has appeared in major newspapers and magazines throughout America, Great Britain, and Egypt, including The Daily Telegraph (London), The Guardian (London), The Sunday Times (London), The Observer (London), the Los Angeles Times, and Vogue, among many others.
Haag has traveled widely across the Mediterranean and the Middle East, where he has visited every Crusader castle of note. He is the author of Alexandria: City of Memory, a definitive study of Cavafy, Forster, and Lawrence Durrell in the city; the U.K. bestsellers The Rough Guide to Tutankhamun and, The Rough Guide to "The Da Vinci Code" (of which he is the coauthor); and several travel guides to Egypt. He lives in London.
If you want to buy this book via our webshop partner Amazon.fr, follow this link
To go back to the books list


text:
ICYMI: WSJ: Marco Rubio Introduces a Bill to Boost the U.S. Rare Earth Industry
Marco Rubio Introduces a Bill to Boost the U.S. Rare Earth Industry
By Timothy Puko
Press Release/Bill Text
Legislation aimed at making the U.S. more competitive with China for processing critical rare-earth minerals is set to be introduced in Congress on Thursday.
The bill by Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.), would allow investors to form a cooperative that is exempt from antitrust laws, in an attempt to shield it from government-backed competition from China and volatile markets that have made it virtually nonexistent in the U.S. The Secretary of Commerce would secure a charter for the business, though it would need to be privately funded and operated under the terms of the legislation.
Rare earths are critical to making parts in high-tech applications including military equipment, parts almost exclusively supplied by China. One American mine recently restarted production and Mr. Rubio's legislation aims to help develop a U.S.-based industry for turning those raw materials into alloys, magnets and other products.
In a statement, Mr. Rubio said the Chinese government has subsidized its industry, causing "a market failure" that has hurt rare-earth development in the U.S. and elsewhere.
"Continued U.S. dependence on China for the mining and processing of rare earths and the manufacture of those metals into useful products is untenable—it threatens our national security, limits our economic productivity and robs working-class Americans of future opportunities for dignified work," he said.
The bill's aim is to give companies that need rare-earths-based products a vehicle to process alloys and manufacture parts in the U.S. at cost by allowing the co-op's owners to split the profits. That could limit risk for end-users so they can invest in and develop a more secure U.S.-based supply chain.
In May Chinese President Xi Jinpingtoured a region of China that calls itself a rare-earths kingdom with his top trade negotiator. Many, including Mr. Rubio, saw that as a signal China would consider instituting an export embargo to gain leverage in trade talks.


text:
The Loire Valley chansonniers are a related group of songbooks copied in the Loire Valley region of central France c. 1465-c. 1475 and produced in the context of the French royal court. They consist of six chansonniers: Copenhagen, Dijon, Nivelle, Laborde, Leuven and Wolfenbüttel. The songbooks, smaller than a modern paperback, personalized and lavishly decorated, are the earliest surviving examples of a new genre which offered a combination of words, music, and illuminations.

History
The chansonniers of the late 15th century were objects of leisure, offering artistic, musical and textual aspects to form a multidimensional reading experience. Prior to the 1470s, words were written first by scribes, and then musical symbols were aligned to them.  But in the 1470s, melodies were set out first, followed by their words, but not in systematic alignment, only in proximity. The books contain secular vernacular songs in three or four voice parts with text that drew upon the poetic tradition of courtly love, written by composers that were active in the Loire Valley region at approximately the same time. Each voice part is introduced by decorated initials. Out of a total 273 songs, 107 are songs surviving in just one source.

Two of the chansonniers (Dijon and Laborde), have quasi-alphabetical indexes.  Unlike those of Antoine Busnois, Firminus Caron's songs are poorly represented in the Loire Valley chansonniers. Of the two song attributed to Josquin des Prez, one is "Adieu mes amours".

Chansonniers
The Chansonnier Nivelle de la Chaussée is located at the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris. It contains many small-scale corrections and crossed-out notes which gives insight into its principal scribe as well as several instances of large-scale erasures, post-binding, where entire voice parts were erased. Seven works of the composer Johannes Delahaye appear in it. It is widely accepted as being the earliest of the group.

The Dijon Chansonnier is located in the Bibliothèque municipale de Dijon. The composers are Barbiguant, Gilles Binchois, Busnois, Caron, Compere, Convert, Delahaye, Guillaume Dufay, Hayne van Ghizeghem, Jean Molinet, Robert Morton, Johannes Ockeghem, and Johannes Tinctoris.

The Laborde Chansonnier contains over a hundred songs by Binchois, Busnois, Dufay, Ockeghem and others.  Many of the songs are unique and the pages are illustrated. The songbook first came to scholarly attention in 1857 at the "Comité de la langue, de l'histoire et des arts de la France", the manuscript having been presented by a Comité member, count Léon de Laborde, and having been sent to the Comité by L'abbé Jacques-Rémi-Antoine Texier. In 2011, Goldberg Stiftung made available their transcription of it in both modern and original clefs. It was the last to receive close musicological attention.

The Copenhagen Chansonnier is a parchment manuscript containing 33 three-voiced songs from the late 15th century; one song, "Lactens secours", which was added in the 16th century; as well as modulation essays. It has been characterized as the perhaps most valuable medieval manuscript of music in the Royal Danish Library.

The Wolfenbüttel Chansonnier Codex Guelf 287 Extrav is related to the Laborde Chansonnier. It is located at the Herzog August Library in Wolfenbüttel, Germany.

References

Chansonniers (books)
Loire Valley
Renaissance music manuscript sources

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Washington: As the relentless winter continues to grip the United States, the need to help those left out in the cold by devastating home fires is critical, according to the American Red Cross.
The Red Cross has urged the public to help families by donating to the #GiveWhatFireTakes campaign.
The Red Cross is helping fire victims with food, clothing and shelter and has seen its volume of cases nationwide go from 5,000 a month in the fall of 2014 to more than 8,000 per month recently.
Moreover, when compared to the summer and fall months of 2014, the monthly amount of assistance provided to fire victims in January has increased by over $1 million.
And it's not just families in areas like the Northeast and Mid-West who are at risk. Areas in the South are experiencing cold and subsequent home fires, too. For example, the Red Cross teams have responded to 590 home fires in Georgia alone since January 1.
More than one-third (37%) of home structure fire deaths occur during the winter months of December, January and February, according to the National Fire Protection Association. Moreover, the United States Fire Administration reports indicate that 885 lives have been lost thus far to home fires from December 1, 2014 through March 5, 2015. The winter is far from over in many areas around the country, and the Red Cross is urging Americans to stay vigilant and safeguard themselves against the threat of home fires.
#Follow the three feet rule. Heating equipment is one of the leading causes of home fire deaths. Keep children, pets and anything flammable at least three feet away from heating equipment. Turn off portable space heaters when you leave the room and when you go to sleep.
#Use gas wisely. Four percent of Americans admit to having used a gas stove to heat their home. Never use a cooking range or oven to heat your home.
#Flashlights, not candles. Use battery operated flashlights or lanterns instead of candles during power outages.
#Sound the alarm. Install smoke alarms on every level of your home, inside bedrooms and outside sleeping areas. Test smoke alarms once a month, if they're not working, change the batteries.
#Plan and practice. Ensure that all household members know two ways to escape from every room of your home. Make sure everyone knows where to meet outside in case of fire. Practice escaping from your home at least twice a year and at different times of the day.


text:
Manager steps into role at new St. Albans hotel
Experienced hotelier Will Glenn moves into the role following two years as general manager at Holiday Inn Express Cheltenham, and will be tasked with overseeing the launch of the St Albans hotel, as well as ensuring its ongoing success.
The new hotel within the London Colney Fields Shopping Park, which will feature 86 bedrooms and meeting facilities as well as a bar and restaurant for guests, represents a £10million investment.
The UK's leading independent hotel management company, Redefine BDL Hotels, will take full responsibility for the venue's operations when it opens its doors this spring.
Will, who has spent his career in hospitality with Redefine BDL Hotels, worked his way from night porter to general manager in just five years. As something of a Holiday Inn Express stalwart, he has held roles in the brand's Dunstable, Folkestone and Antrim properties and takes great pride in its reputation for great service and friendly personality.
His swift rise through the ranks has given him an unrivalled understanding of hotel operations.
A deputy general manager is being sought before a full recruitment drive kicks off, with the aim of finding various team members to undertake the mix of full and part time positions being created across front of house, housekeeping, waiting and maintenance departments.
The St Albans hotel has been designed around the recently launched Holiday Inn Express Generation 4 – or Next Generation – concept, which has been developed in conjunction with industry experts in order to meet the needs of today's 'smart travellers'.
Each en-suite bedroom will be adaptable to suit either business or leisure guests, with a choice of pillows; a comfortable bed with a noise-reducing headboard; a Smart television enabling visitors to stream their own media; and moveable work desk. Multiple bedside USB ports will ensure guests can stay connected.
Visitors will also be able to enjoy a new Express Café & Bar offering simple, honest food done well, with Express Start breakfasts that can be enjoyed in-hotel or 'to go' included in each stay.
Will Glenn, General Manager of Holiday Inn Express St Albans, said: "The new hotel is shaping up nicely and will be an exciting new offering for the area.
"The location – just 15 minutes from St Albans city centre and close to the M1 and M25 – is perfect for leisure or business guests looking for a warm, friendly welcome and a comfortable stay whilst visiting St Albans. The fact that the entire hotel has been designed in line with the new Holiday Inn Express Generation 4 concept means we can offer guests exactly what they need to make the most of their stay.
"This is the start of a wonderful journey and my first task will, of course, be to find the team that will offer our guests the fantastic service everyone expects from Holiday Inn Express, and I look forward to the recruitment drive getting under way in the coming weeks."
Steven Foster, Divisional Director at Redefine|BDL Hotels, said: "It's a landmark moment for Redefine|BDL Hotels as we welcome the first of a number of new hotels to the UK-wide portfolio this year.
"It's also a proud moment as we see one of our own high-flying employees take the next steps in his career, and create a number of new jobs within the local area. We look forward to seeing Will and his team make the hotel a resounding success."
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Social distancing is vital in our hotels. Reception areas have protective screens, and our teams operate in line with Government guidance. You will find way-finding signage throughout our properties to guide you and ensure your safety.
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Improved operational and cleanliness actions have taken place to ensure guest safety.
We have a duty of care to protect you and our team. And as such our team will be wearing PPE where applicable. Sanitising facilities are available through the properties.
We have increased cleaning protocols to optimise food safety.
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