text:
Wright and Wrong
I'm not sure how I missed this long Robert Wright piece on fighting terrorism. It was written between 12/3/02 and 12/13/02 and certainly a great deal has happened between now and then. I last met Wright at a panel discussion where I was deeply unimpressed by his contributions.
There are two nice features to his (very long) Slate piece: 1) He highlighted the key propositions and key policy prescriptions in a way that makes the argument easy to summarize, and 2) it was written a while ago so we can see how some things worked out.
Below I have his propositions and prescriptions. I've used his wording throughout, and where there was ambiguity, I've added additional excerpts that clarify this meaning.
- Al-Qaida and radical Islam are not the problem.
- For the foreseeable future, smaller and smaller groups of intensely motivated people will have the ability to kill larger and larger numbers of people.
- The number of intensely aggrieved groups will almost certainly grow in the coming decades of rapid technological, and hence social, change.
- The amount of discontent in the world is becoming a highly significant national-security variable.
- The current phase in the evolution of information technology is anti-repression.
- The problem isn't poor people; the problem—or at least part of the problem— is poor nations—or, at least, underglobalized nations.
- Globalization, though a large part of the solution, is also a large part of the problem.
- Globalization has doubly bad short-term side effects, bringing transitional alienation to both developing and developed nations.
- We are seeing, and will continue to see, the globalization of resentment. ("Thanks to television and other technologies, the world has become a small town, even a neighborhood, and America is by far the richest kid in it. Do you remember how you felt about the richest kid in your neighborhood?")
- The lines separating domestic policing and foreign policing, national security and international security, are rapidly blurring.
- The force is with us but only so long as we see and respect its power ("Moral progress is directly rooted in technological progress. Technological advances, ever since the Stone Age, have correlated the fortunes of people at ever-greater distances. [That is, technological progress has put people in more long-distance "non-zero-sum" relationships, if you want to describe this historical trajectory technically, as I've been known to do]. And the result is a growing interdependence that translates enlightened self-interest into an expanding circle of moral consideration")
- Understanding where technology is moving us in the long run can save us lots of short-run turmoil. ("Could Europe have averted some of the chaos brought on by the age of print? Suppose that the pope had grasped the pluralizing import of the printing press back in the 16th century and had gracefully made reforms to accommodate the restive masses. Or suppose that four centuries later, on the eve of World War I, the rulers of the Austro-Hungarian empire had realized that to keep suppressing Balkan nationalism in the age of print wasn't practical. Could World War I have been averted?")
Policy Prescriptions
- Take your bitter medicine early ("So, if there are burdens we can bear now—in money, even in lives—that will dampen future terrorism, they're probably worth it.")
- The substance of policies should be subjected to a new kind of appraisal, one that explicitly accounts for the discontent and hatred the policies arouse.
- The ultimate target is memes; killing or arresting people is useful only to the extent that it leads to a net reduction in terrorism memes.
- In a war on terrorism, applying force inconspicuously makes sense more often than in regular wars
- Support free expression and, ultimately, democratization in authoritarian Arab and other Muslim states.
- Emphasize trade at least as heavily as aid in fighting the kind of economic deprivation that breeds terrorism.
- To blunt some of globalization's sharper edges, carry political governance beyond the level of the nation-state, to the transnational level.
- Honor President Bush's pledge—make America a humble nation.
- Share the blame. ("Invite allies to participate more fully in the conspicuous application of violence.")
- Develop a serious international inspection system for biological weapons.
- Use the World Trade Organization as the fulcrum for ensuring compliance with international weapons-control law.
- Imagine how biotechnology would have to be policed in all nations for the United States to feel secure 20 years from now; implement and then continually refine that policing strategy in the United States, while beginning the long, laborious task of getting every other nation on the planet to eventually adopt a comparable system.
While I agree with all of his propositions, I think many of his policy prescriptions make no sense. Like Wright, I agree that technology is enabling ever smaller groups to mount ever more dangerous attacks. I also agree that these disenfrachised groups come from repressive societies that 1) fail and 2) do not provide constructive outlets for feelings of frustration. Globalization both intensifies the accuteness of failure (now you can compare yourself to others and see how failed you really are) but also, ultimately, provides the solution (an integrated country with decent personal freedoms will both succeed and channel frustration efficiently). The last proposition, about being able to guess at the first world war from the invention of the printing press is simply ludicrous, although I think such preternatural foresight would be cool too.
His policy prescriptions seem to be centered around dodging blame, pushing freedom, and using transnational actors to push through good rules.
While I am all for the US dodging blame, I am not sure why any other country would want to play along (unless they were ideologically sympatico). I read an article recently where the author argued that the Arab world rallied around Bin Laden when Clinton scolded him for blowing up US embassies in Africa. The fact that Clinton paid attention to this guy and his bombing attacks were what made him #1. If that truly is the dynamic behind the blame, then it seems the key to getting the target of the US's back is to create competitive political systems in Arab countries -- then you have an entire structured section of soceity blaming the guys in charge -- something absolutely foreign to Arabs currently.
The "pushing freedom" prescription was not something that Wright seemed to back in Chicago, when he said he was opposed to the Iraq war. I'm not sure how Wright thinks open markets and accountable government will come to the region if not from the barrel of a gun. This path is certainly not easy, and maybe hopeless, but the lack of credible alternatives and the rapid transition of Afghanistan from an oppressive theocratic terrorist training camp to a stable, democratic, feudal narco state must surely go down as one of the surprise successes of the developing world. And the fact that that counts as a "success" shows how low the bar is. Moreover, last I checked the plan was for a freer Iraq to be a model for the rest of the region. It should not pass anyone's notice that Iran is just next door.
Bush's policies mark a dramatic change from the "prop up the local thug against Communism" that served the US well through the Cold War. With the Cold War won, it was time they changed -- a pity more did not happen under Bush I and Clinton.
Finally, Wright's proposal that transnational institutions create and enforce good rules seems the most ridiculous. I honestly cannot think of a single good rule that transnational institutions have enforced. The League of Nations did not prevent the Second World War, the UN has not prevented the Cold War (and the Korean War, and Vietnam), the Iraq/Iran War, the Bosnian War, genocide in Darfur, genocide in Rwanda, the first Gulf War, the second Gulf War, the Afghan War, the Stalinist Purges, Mao's "Great Leap Forwards", PolPot's killing fields, or any intra, inter, or extra-national conflict since it was founded. The IAEA failed to stop North Korea, India, and Pakistan getting nuclear weapons, and is obviously impotant with Iran. Wright's proposal to hobble the already beleagured WTO with weapons control laws would seem to reduce the incentive for disconnected nations to start connecting with the rest of the world through Trade. We both agree that this is a good thing, so why make it harder?
The question of how to integrate peoples that have isolated themselves from the rest of the world--North Korea, the Arab World, Africa--is tricky. Nation building is very hard. Global Guerillas are learning how to disconnect a country from the world as a prelude to hijacking it for their own cause. It is not unhelpful that the US Armed Forces are currently in Iraq learning how to set up civic institutions and combat those who are, very literally, the enemies of modern civilized life.
posted by winterspeak at 2:07 PM Wright and Wrong
Kevin Muphy on Social Security
Coming to a head
More "we are all behaviorists now"
There is no Transition Cost
Sanity and Prescription Drugs
It's a small world after all
Market vs Non-Market labor
Agency Risk
We are all behaviorists now


text:
using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Linq;

namespace NearForums.Configuration
{
	public class RedirectorUrlGroupCollection : ConfigurationElementCollection
	{
		protected override ConfigurationElement CreateNewElement()
		{
			return new RedirectorUrlGroup();
		}

		protected override object GetElementKey(ConfigurationElement element)
		{
			return ((RedirectorUrlGroup)(element)).Regex;
		}

		public RedirectorUrlGroup this[int idx]
		{
			get
			{
				return (RedirectorUrlGroup)BaseGet(idx);
			}
		}
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Light brown to orange lustrous Garnet crystals form a mass upon the matrix on this specimen. The luster is superb, the largest crystal is around 6mm in width and many of the bigger crystals are translucent and accompanied by tiny gemmy crystals. Great display specimen.


text:
BEAM, Inc.
Business & Education as Mission
About BEAM
President's Greetings
A Visual History of RACU
Reflections on Russia
Opening the Red Door
Teaching Moral Values in Russian Education
February 20, 2007 wpadmin
Education is an essential part of the foundation of an open and just society. It deserves to be a priority in a nation's life, and the Putin government has wisely designated education as one of Russia's "national projects." What's needed now is action and commitment to improve and enhance Russia's educational system. The Russian government is currently spending 1% of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) on education, which is substantially below that of the European Union (2%) and the United States (3%). But spending more money on education is only a small part of the answer.
Problems that arise in modern societies can usually be attributed to one of two things: one is when individuals drift apart from each other, or collide with one another and cause damage. The other is when things go wrong inside an individual and that person becomes confused, discouraged or disoriented. C. S. Lewis, the famous 20th century British writer, described it this way: "You can get the idea plain if you think of us as a fleet of ships sailing in formation. The voyage will be a success only, in the first place, if the ships do not collide and get in one another's way; and secondly, if each ship is seaworthy and has her engines in good order. As a matter of fact, you can not have either of these two things without the other."
But Lewis pointed out one more thing to take into account: Where is the fleet going? The ships may be sailing well and in formation, but the voyage will ultimately be a failure if the goal is Vladivostok and the ships arrive in Magadan.
Morality is concerned with three things. First, fairness and cooperation between people; second, happiness and well-being inside each person; and third, the general purpose of life as a whole. This third aspect, to again use the illustration of the ships, refers to the course of the fleet.
Education must address all three of these dimensions of life. Training for technical competence or simply to prepare people to play a role in the economy is not enough. Moral training is particularly important, since the basis of a free and just society is grounded in the virtuous character of its citizens. A society with no moral foundation quickly becomes a battleground of the powerful against the powerless, of interest groups struggling to protect their privileges, of injustice and poverty for most while the elite prosper.
History has shown that nothing but the courage and unselfishness of individuals is ever going to make a society work well. You cannot make people good by law, and without good people you cannot have a good society. This is why teaching about fairness and cooperation between people, while very important, is only the beginning. We must also teach about morality inside individuals — about character development.
But we cannot stop there either. As C. S. Lewis suggested, the deeper issues of what course we are on must also be integrated into subjects taught in every classroom. What values do Russians cherish for their society? What kind of country do Russians desire for their children? Dealing with these essential questions should lie at the heart of an educator's role. They are questions in which deep spiritual and moral values are at stake, and Russian literature, philosophy and theology offer great insight on these subjects. The freedom to discuss these issues and to teach moral values must be granted and protected for Russia's future to be promising. Different religious traditions and philosophical perspectives must be respected, since freedom of conscience is the most basic of all human rights.
Identifying education as one of four "national projects" is a good start. Investing in Russia's extraordinary wealth in "human capital" is important – more important, in my judgment, than investment in the country's natural resources. But the development of character – teaching Russian young people to be men and women of integrity, of compassion, of commitment – is the necessary foundation in the building of a healthy society. The same, of course, is true in the European Union and the United States. This is a challenge that all societies face, and a challenge that, if ignored, costs us everything.
Posted in: Reflections on Russia, Russian Education
← Russian Literary Classics Televised
Romanovs, Rasputin & Revolution →
Reflections on Russia: Topical Index
Russian Education
Russian Youth
Religious Life in Russia
Russian Culture and Values
U.S.-Russian Relations
Russia's Post-Communist Development
Russia's Pre-1991 History
About the Author: John A. Bernbaum
Prior to his work in Russia, Dr. Bernbaum worked for the Department of State from 1972‐1976 and then spent nearly two decades with the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities in Washington, D.C. During his time there, he founded and directed the American Studies Program, established the Latin American Studies Program and the Los Angeles Film Studies Program, served as the organization's Executive Vice President, and finally headed up their Russian Initiative and developed the Russian Studies Program. While working on the Russian Initiative, Dr. Bernbaum spent a semester teaching at Nizhni Novgorod State University.
In addition to his work in Russia, Dr. Bernbaum has written many articles and has authored three books, Opening the Red Door, Why Work?, and Perspectives on Peacemaking.
Donate to BEAM
Copyright © 2020 BEAM, Inc.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


This poor TV presenter got the sharp end of the stick, so to speak, when she volunteered to participate in a magic trick live on air.
The Polish TV presenter held her hand over one of three paper bags, one of which had a nail hidden inside.
Somehow the magician was supposed to choose one of them and pound her hand down on it safely.
But apparently something went wrong with the trick, and it appeared that the host's hand got pierced by a very long nail.
The host didn't reappear on the show, leading viewers to believe that she had been seriously injured.
Independent.ie Newsdesk Well-known kitesurfer Kevin Langeree amazed the crowd when he managed to grab a bite of a bystander's pizza mid-flight as he passed by in Co Mayo yesterday.
Ian Begley "Gerrup outta da", "Ya bleedin' spanner" and "Scarlet for your ma" are some of Dublin's many notable phrases you might hear walking through the city.
Caitlin McBride The internet can often be a dark place, but every now and then, a glimmer of optimism and warm fuzzy feelings emerges and makes it all worthwhile.


text:
Summer of Legends 99 to 1
ASU Football: 'Summer of Legends' No. 30 Jason Shivers
One of the Sun Devils best defenders since the turn of the century turns up in our "Summer of Legends" series.
By Kerry Crowley Aug 3, 2013, 10:00am MST
Share All sharing options for: ASU Football: 'Summer of Legends' No. 30 Jason Shivers
The Backstory: One of the more surprising parts of our "Summer of Legends" series is the lack of honorees we've had from the past 10 seasons. Though the Sun Devils' roster is always stocked with talent, the past decade has failed to turn up the same type of legends we saw from the 60s and 70s.
If we decided to run this series again 10 years from now, I would venture to guess that plenty of new legends would appear. Marion Grice and Alden Darby should be candidates after this season, while Chris Coyle and Will Sutton have already been honored.
Even with the lack of superstars from the 2000s, No. 30 gives us the rare opportunity to honor a recent Sun Devil standout. From the moment this player saw the field, Arizona State fans knew he had what it takes to be an impact performer.
The Player: Jason Shivers (2001-2003)
Many of our honorees have local ties to Arizona State, and today's legend is no exception. Upon graduating South Mountain High School in Phoenix, Jason Shivers took his talents a few miles over and joined forces with the Sun Devil defense.
Shivers is the rare Sun Devil to see extended playing time as a freshman, but he made the most of his opportunities. In his first season, Shivers led the Sun Devils in tackles with 89 and was named a Sporting News Freshman All-American.
Though the Sun Devils struggled to a 4-7 record, Shivers was a bright spot the defense could build around. The ball hawking safety stepped up again as a sophomore, and totaled a career high and team lead with 121 tackles.
For his efforts, Shivers was named an Honorable Mention Pac-10 performer, but his best work was still ahead of him. The 8-6 Sun Devils received quite a boost from their defensive leader, and he was still improving come his junior season.
In 2003, Shivers led the Sun Devils in both tackles (104) and interceptions (Three), but he made his most important marks as a special teams warrior. The Pac-10 honored Shivers with Second Team All-Conference recognition for his special teams work.
Shivers played just three seasons at Arizona State, as he elected to turn pro after his junior year. In each of his three years, Shivers led the team in tackles and received postseason notoriety, something only a handful of Sun Devils have ever accomplished.
In the Pros
Leaving school early turned out to be a disappointing decision for Shivers, as he was not drafted until the fifth round of the 2004 NFL Draft. After being cut by the Rams in training camp, Shivers failed to stick with the Chicago Bears.
Calvin Demery: Demery was one of the Sun Devils' first great receivers, as he led the team with more than 40 receptions in both 1969 and 1971. In 1969, Demery was honored as a First Team All-Western Athletic Confrence end.
Sun Devil Legends Series: Countdown to Kickoff
'Summer of Legends' No. 1 Phillippi Sparks
'Summer of Legends' No. 30 Jason Shivers
'Summer of Legends' No. 31 Windlan Hall


These release notes provide information for the 201510 Early Access release of Alfresco Community Edition.
Care should be taken when upgrading any previous Alfresco Community version. Backup your Alfresco alf_data and database before upgrading, and read the documentation.
Download this release from the 201510-EA File List.
Further instructions are with the GA releases on the Download and Install Alfresco page.
The Alfresco supplied installers will install all you need to run Alfresco on your machine; which includes JDK, Tomcat, SOLR, Share, Google Docs integration, LibreOffice, Sharepoint module etc.
This is the third release of the 5.1 code line of the Alfresco Platform and Alfresco Share. It contains no new features since 201509-EA, but has bug fixes completed since the last release. Though still an EA release due to a lack of documentation, incomplete localization, and our impending release of a few new features, our test results make us optimistic that this release should be reliable in most circumstances. Early adopters might consider upgrading after completing their own tests.
There have been a number of security fixes in the 5.1 code line. Deployments of Community Edition with specific security concerns might consider upgrading to this release to take advantage of these fixes..
We expect the next Community Edition EA release to be in December.
There are no new features since the previous release.
Many localization strings have been updated in this release.
The individual JIRA projects that contain the components of this release can be queried to get a complete list of issues addressed in this release since the previous GA release (5.0.d). Note that JIRA behaves inconsistently with these queries when you are not logged in.
In this release there were no ALF, MNT, SHA, or AKU fixes beyond the previous release.
This release is an Early Access and is still being tested.
There is no updated documentation for this release.
Not all strings in this release have been localized into all bundled languages, especially in Russian or Portuguese.
Records Management 2.3.c causes problems with the search screens and page permissions. We expect to soon release Records Management 2.4.a which should be compatible with Alfresco Share 5.1.b.
This release was built to be compatible with Java 7, but this has not yet been tested.


The ultimate troubleshooter, the Fault Finder pinpoints problems in electric fencing quickly and easily, whatever wire type or fence energiser you use.
Simultaneously measuring current and voltage, it follows the flow visually and audibly to any one of a series of faults. An essential tool for busy farmers or fence contractors.


text:
Q: Encrypt/Decrypt using Bouncy Castle in C# I am using the "BouncyCastle.Crypto.dll" for encrypt/decrypt a string in my app. I am using the
following code from this blog:

*

*I have a class BCEngine, exactly the same as the one given in the link mentioned above.
public class BCEngine
{
   private readonly Encoding _encoding;
   private readonly IBlockCipher _blockCipher;
   private PaddedBufferedBlockCipher _cipher;
   private IBlockCipherPadding _padding;

   public BCEngine(IBlockCipher blockCipher, Encoding encoding)
   {
      _blockCipher = blockCipher;
      _encoding = encoding;
   }

   public void SetPadding(IBlockCipherPadding padding)
   {
       if (padding != null)
         _padding = padding;
   }

   public string Encrypt(string plain, string key)
   {
       byte[] result = BouncyCastleCrypto(true, _encoding.GetBytes(plain), key);
       return Convert.ToBase64String(result);
   }

   public string Decrypt(string cipher, string key)
   {
      byte[] result = BouncyCastleCrypto(false, Convert.FromBase64String(cipher), key);
      return _encoding.GetString(result);
   }

   /// <summary>
   ///
   /// </summary>
   /// <param name="forEncrypt"></param>
   /// <param name="input"></param>
   /// <param name="key"></param>
   /// <returns></returns>
   /// <exception cref="CryptoException"></exception>
   private byte[] BouncyCastleCrypto(bool forEncrypt, byte[] input, string key)
   {
       try
       {
           _cipher = _padding == null ? new PaddedBufferedBlockCipher(_blockCipher) : new PaddedBufferedBlockCipher(_blockCipher, _padding);
           byte[] keyByte = _encoding.GetBytes(key);
           _cipher.Init(forEncrypt, new KeyParameter(keyByte));
           return _cipher.DoFinal(input);
       }
       catch (Org.BouncyCastle.Crypto.CryptoException ex)
       {
           throw new CryptoException(ex.Message);
       }
   }
}

I am using an asp.net form in which i have written code as given below:
    public partial class EncryptionForm : System.Web.UI.Page
    {
      Encoding _encoding;
      IBlockCipherPadding _padding;
      string key = "DFGFRT";
       string textToBeEncrypted = "Original text. Please encrypt me.";
       string txtEncryptedText = string.empty;
       string txtDecryptedText = string.empty;

      protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
      {
          _encoding = Encoding.ASCII;
          Pkcs7Padding pkcs = new Pkcs7Padding();
          _padding = pkcs;
      }

      protected void btnEncrypt_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
      {
          txtEncryptedText = AESEncryption(textToBeEncrypted, key, true);
      }

      protected void btnDecrypt_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
      {
          txtDecryptedText = AESDecryption(txtEncryptedText.Text, key, true);
      }

      public string AESEncryption(string plain, string key, bool fips)
      {
          BCEngine bcEngine = new BCEngine(new AesEngine(), _encoding);
          bcEngine.SetPadding(_padding);
          return bcEngine.Encrypt(plain, key);
      }

      public string AESDecryption(string cipher, string key, bool fips)
      {
          BCEngine bcEngine = new BCEngine(new AesEngine(), _encoding);
          bcEngine.SetPadding(_padding);
          return bcEngine.Decrypt(cipher, key);
      }
    }

Not sure, but due to some reason, I get an exception when I call the btnEncrypt_Click
"Key length not 128/192/256 bits."
Can anybody please guide? I am a complete newbie to this.
Thanks in Advance.

A: Your string key = "DFGFRT"; is not 128/192/256 bits.
DFGFRT is 6 characters, which is 6 (or 12?) bytes = 8*12 = 96 bits (at most).
To get a 128 bit key you need a 16 byte string, so I'd go on the safe side and use a 16 character string so it will be a 128 bit key if using single byte characters and 256 if using wide characters.

A: Fairly simple, your key is "DFGFRT" which is 6 characters/bytes, which is 6 * 8 = 48 bits.
The encryption methods used needs a key of 128/192/256 bits in length, which equals to 16/24/32 characters/bytes.

A: public class AesGcm256
{
private static readonly SecureRandom Random = new SecureRandom();
    // Pre-configured Encryption Parameters
    public static readonly int NonceBitSize = 128;
    public static readonly int MacBitSize = 128;
    public static readonly int KeyBitSize = 256;

    private AesGcm256() { }

    public static byte[] NewKey()
    {
        var key = new byte[KeyBitSize / 8];
        Random.NextBytes(key);
        return key;
    }

    public static byte[] NewIv()
    {
        var iv = new byte[NonceBitSize / 8];
        Random.NextBytes(iv);
        return iv;
    }

    public static Byte[] HexToByte(string hexStr)
    {
        byte[] bArray = new byte[hexStr.Length / 2];
        for (int i = 0; i < (hexStr.Length / 2); i++)
        {
            byte firstNibble = Byte.Parse(hexStr.Substring((2 * i), 1), System.Globalization.NumberStyles.HexNumber); // [x,y)
            byte secondNibble = Byte.Parse(hexStr.Substring((2 * i) + 1, 1), System.Globalization.NumberStyles.HexNumber);
            int finalByte = (secondNibble) | (firstNibble << 4); // bit-operations only with numbers, not bytes.
            bArray[i] = (byte)finalByte;
        }
        return bArray;
    }

    public static string toHex(byte[] data)
    {
        string hex = string.Empty;
        foreach (byte c in data)
        {
            hex += c.ToString("X2");
        }
        return hex;
    }

    public static string toHex(string asciiString)
    {
        string hex = string.Empty;
        foreach (char c in asciiString)
        {
            int tmp = c;
            hex += string.Format("{0:x2}", System.Convert.ToUInt32(tmp.ToString()));
        }
        return hex;
    }

    public static string encrypt(string PlainText, byte[] key, byte[] iv)
    {
        string sR = string.Empty;
        try
        {
            byte[] plainBytes = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(PlainText);

            GcmBlockCipher cipher = new GcmBlockCipher(new AesFastEngine());
            AeadParameters parameters = new AeadParameters(new KeyParameter(key), 128, iv, null);

            cipher.Init(true, parameters);

            byte[] encryptedBytes = new byte[cipher.GetOutputSize(plainBytes.Length)];
            Int32 retLen = cipher.ProcessBytes(plainBytes, 0, plainBytes.Length, encryptedBytes, 0);
            cipher.DoFinal(encryptedBytes, retLen);
            sR = Convert.ToBase64String(encryptedBytes, Base64FormattingOptions.None);
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
            Console.WriteLine(ex.StackTrace);
        }

        return sR;
    }

    public static string decrypt(string EncryptedText, byte[] key, byte[] iv)
    {
        string sR = string.Empty;
        try
        {
            byte[] encryptedBytes = Convert.FromBase64String(EncryptedText);

            GcmBlockCipher cipher = new GcmBlockCipher(new AesFastEngine());
            AeadParameters parameters = new AeadParameters(new KeyParameter(key), 128, iv, null);
            //ParametersWithIV parameters = new ParametersWithIV(new KeyParameter(key), iv);

            cipher.Init(false, parameters);
            byte[] plainBytes = new byte[cipher.GetOutputSize(encryptedBytes.Length)];
            Int32 retLen = cipher.ProcessBytes(encryptedBytes, 0, encryptedBytes.Length, plainBytes, 0);
            cipher.DoFinal(plainBytes, retLen);

            sR = Encoding.UTF8.GetString(plainBytes).TrimEnd("\r\n\0".ToCharArray());
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
            Console.WriteLine(ex.StackTrace);
        }

        return sR;
    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


According to the theory of Plate Tectonics, earthquakes are caused by the movement of plates. The Earth's crust is made up of huge slabs of rock called plates which fit together like an uneven jigsaw puzzle. The region where two or more plates meet is called a plate boundary. The plates are constantly moving but this plate movement is neither smooth nor continuous, rather the plates often lock together causing a build-up of energy. When the plates eventually move out of this locked position the energy that is released may be felt as an earthquake.
Much of the world's earthquake and volcanic activity takes place along plate boundaries. At these plate boundaries the plates interact with each other in different ways; some of them slide past each other, others spread apart and others move toward each other with crumpling or one dipping beneath the other. This last type of plate boundary is called a subduction zone which is the main type of plate interaction occurring in the Eastern Caribbean.


Whether you have visited the African continent several times, or you are planning your first overseas adventure, you should definitely put Mozambique on your list of must-see places. This small country offers gorgeous beaches, exquisite natural spaces and luxurious amenities for travellers.
If you are dreaming of spending your vacation on the shores of a secluded, tropical beach, Mozambique can provide you with endless opportunities to soak up the sun. Mainland Mozambique offers more than 1,400 miles of gorgeous coastline. For those travelers who prefer to get away from the pack, there are also dozens of private islands right off of Mozambique's shores. During your beach side getaway, you will encounter tropical fish, dolphins, and many other types of marine wildlife.
For those travelers who are seeking a true taste of Africa, Mozambique is a terrific destination. From the capital of Maputo to the coastal cities on the eastern shores, Mozambique's cities are filled with cultural sites, interesting architecture, and friendly locals. During your trip to Maputo, you can check out the capital's museums, concerts, and other cultural activities. Since the tourism industry here is less developed than in other countries, you can rest assured that you will have an authentic experience.
Some of Mozambique's finest attractions lie inland from the coast. Mozambique is renowned for its fantastic safaris, which cover hundred of miles of pristine savannah lands. When you embark on a safari in Mozambique, you will encounter elephants, hippos, lions and other animals that are native to the continent of Africa.
At DSA Vacations, we offer fabulous vacations throughout the continent of Africa. If Mozambique is on your list of countries to visit, we can help you plan a tour that allows you to experience the best sites and activities that this area has to offer. For help planning your upcoming vacation, give us a call at (800) 203-6724.


The Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, Mr. Damian Gjiknuri inspected today the investments made at ALBCONTROL, Air Navigations Services of Albania. Due to $ 6 million investments over the last four years, Tirana Tower has undergone essential operational improvement, increasing security, capacity and quality of services.
"It is a great progress and I am pleased to realise that ALBCONTROL is avant-garde in the region, it has a very modern technology and offers high standard services, compared to other countries" said Minister Gjiknuri during his visit. He emphasized that this investment is the result of appropriate management policies of the company, and moreover, in line with the Albanian Government's strategy to expand airport infrastructure, ALBCONTROL has undertaken measures for staff training and technology upgrades, creating sufficient capacities to provide quality and safe services.
The update of the Skyline System over the last years, brought among other improvements, the automation of the Control Tower functions, improving coordination and exchange of information, as well as data processing, and increased safety during landings and take offs.
During the investment phase, The Remote Surface Management System (RSMS), which includes the installation of Ultra HD Video System, located at the airport premises, captures real time videos of movements on the apron and surrounding area, offers the possibility of visual sight during landing and take-off, or on unusual situation. The activation of RSMS has significantly increased the visual control of TXW Whiskey, in the main and north part of the apron, the visual contact during landing and take-off and the visibility during night and bad weather.
Part of this 4-year investment, the Centralized Rostering System and Personal Rostering System has enabled online communication with all users, concerning every request through the online Personal Rostering System (PRS). PRS can also be downloaded as an application available for smartphones (Android and iPhone).


Taking photographs and videos of things that are plainly visible from public spaces is your constitutional right. That includes federal buildings, transportation facilities, and police and government officials carrying out their duties. Learn more about your rights--and how to protect them--by downloading our quick one-page guide.


To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to tackle the reported lack of confidence of staff at Education Scotland, in light of the findings of the Civil Service People Survey 2017.
These results are deeply disappointing. I believe, however that the appointment of the new Chief Inspector of Education and Chief Executive of Education Scotland, Gayle Gorman, last month will come to be seen as the critical step in improving the situation.
She is an experienced teacher, inspector, and, most recently, Education and Children's Services Director of Aberdeen City Council.
She is urgently reviewing the steps that need to be taken to ensure that the key concerns raised in the survey are addressed. A draft improvement plan, taking account of the concerns raised, is under development and has been shared with staff to seek their views. It is expected that the final plan, taking full account of staff views, will be implemented early in this new year.


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Govt Proposes to Increase India's Share in International Tourist arrival from 0.68 % to 1.00 %
By CA Satbir Singh | November 9, 2015
(Last Updated On: November 9, 2015)
Ministry of Culture of Govt of India on 09-November, 2015
Government Proposes to Increase India's Share in International Tourist arrival from 0.68 % to 1.00 % by 2016-17, says Dr. Mahesh Sharma
Parliamentary Consultative Committee of Ministry of Tourism and Culture Meets
Dr. Mahesh Sharma, the Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism and Culture has said that the Ministry of Tourism has set up a target to achieve 1.00 % share of International Tourist Arrivals by 2016-17 which is at present 0.68%. He was addressing the Meeting of Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism here today. The theme of the Meeting for M/o Tourism was "Swadesh Darshan and PRASAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive) Schemes" and the theme of M/o Culture was "Working of Zonal Cultural Centres. The Minister said that India's rich cultural, historical, religious and natural heritage provides a huge potential for development of tourism and job creation. He said "there is a need to raise the standards of existing tourist destinations and develop new tourism destinations of global standards with the integrated and well-coordinated efforts of Central and State Governments."
Dr. Sharma opined that Religious Tourism is an important segment of domestic tourism in the country and many important religions of the world have their major and minor pilgrimage centres in different parts of the country. Better services and infrastructure facilities at pilgrim sites can enrich the spiritual experience of pilgrims.
The Minister informed the Members that the Mission of two new schemes of the Ministry of Tourism "Swadesh Darshan"and "PRASAD" is to develop theme based tourist circuits and identify and develop pilgrimage tourist destinations. Both the schemes are implemented in mission mode.
Referring to Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs), he said that through them we develop and promote the rich diversity of our country and also encourage folk and tribal arts and aid the preservation of vanishing arts. Seven ZCCs preserve, innovate and promote the projection and dissemination of arts in their concerned zone. A Common Human Resource Development (HRD) Policy has been formulated for all ZCCs. Soon, Sub-Centres of these ZCCs will be established in all States.
The Minister informed the Members about the grand success of 'First Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav' organized by Ministry of Culture in coordination with all seven ZCCs from 1st to 8th November, 2015 at IGNCA, Janpath, New Delhi which will be institutionalized as an Annual Feature and now will be organized in different parts of the country on Rotation basis. This Mahotsav showcased unique element of Indian Culture i.e. Unity in Diversity and received huge response from masses.
The Members of Parliament who participated in the Meeting include – Smt. Aparupa Poddar; Shri Chhedi Paswan; Shri Maheish Giri; Smt. Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah; Shri Nishikant Dubey; Dr. Prabhas Kumar Singh; Shri Ram Swarop Sharma; and Shri Thangso Baite (All Lok Sabha) and Shri Anubhav Mohanty; Shri B.K. Hariprasad; Shri Narendra Budania; and Shri Ram Kumar Kashyap (All Rajya Sabha). Shri N.K. Sinha, Secretary, Ministry of Culture and senior officers of Ministry of Tourism and Culture were present in the Meeting.
Category: News Tags: Tourist
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10 Most Iconic Movies of the Decade
The 2010s were an iconic decade for movie watching. Laughs were shared, tears were shed, streaming sites became immensely popular, the Marvel Cinematic Universe completely overhauled the superhero movie genre, MoviePass happened (yikes) and so much more! Let's look back at some of the best movies from the 2010s.
2010 - Inception
Arguably one of the trippiest movies of its time, Leonardo DiCaprio stars as a professional thief who subconsciously steals corporate secrets by using dream-sharing technology in order to plant an idea in the mind of a CEO. The concept of being in a dream within a dream was riveting and still leaves movie watchers baffled to this day.
2011 - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
The finale captures the epic final battle between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort, turning into an all-out war in the wizarding world. The Harry Potter franchise took flight and captured the world's attention throughout the 2000s and this film offered a grave, deeply satisfying end to a legendary series.
2012 - The Dark Knight Rises
Eight years after Batman vanished into the night after turning from hero to fugitive, the emergence of a cat burglar, and more importantly, a masked terrorist named Bane, forces the Dark Knight to return to the spotlight in order to save Gotham City. It was a fitting end to an incredible trilogy and makes us wonder how Robert Pattinson will compare to Christian Bale as the caped crusader in The Batman (2021).
2013 - The Wolf of Wall Street
Oh hey, look, another film starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Based on the true story of Jordan Belfort, this film depicts the rise of a wealthy stockbroker living a wild, luxurious lifestyle and his fall due to crime and corruption. Matthew McConaughey's unforgettable chest-pounding ritual deserves a shout-out.
2014 - Whiplash
This film is the story of a promising young jazz drummer (Miles Teller) looking to make a name for himself by enrolling in an elite music conservatory. J.K. Simmons stars as a cutthroat instructor who will stop at nothing to get the best out of his students. Whiplash won big at the Oscars in 2015, bringing home three Academy Awards!
2015 - Mad Max: Fury Road
Nearly three decades after the release of the first installment of the Mad Max franchise, Fury Road does not disappoint. Action, explosions, violence and a post-apocalyptic, dystopian future; what more can you ask for? George Miller revolutionized post-apocalyptic entertainment over the years and recasting Tom Hardy as the title role helped make this installment live up to the hype.
2016 - Moonlight
In a decade full of movies relying on CGI to tell a story, Moonlight's success came from its deep, complex themes and character development. Moonlight follows the protagonist Chiron through different chapters of his life and his struggle with identity, sexuality, masculinity and family life. The film's focus on character development was masterfully done and led to two Academy Awards!
2017 - Get Out
Jordan Peele, known primarily for his comedic talent as an actor on Key & Peele, shows his versatility as a director in Get Out. Peele's directorial debut is a fresh, unique take on the horror genre that isn't afraid to be bold and leaves the audience with an experience unseen before in cinema. Rather than focusing on scares to make the audience jump, Get Out's style of horror is fear of the unknown and a feeling of not being welcome. The film was fantastic and won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
2018 - A Star Is Born
As the saying goes, "fourth time's a charm." Wait...that's not quite right; however, it is for A Star Is Born. The fourth remake of the famous film happened to be the directorial debut of Bradley Cooper and WOW was it successful. The tragic love story of a washed-up musician and hopeful, up-and-coming musician captured the hearts of millions and probably led to an increase in tissue sales (don't quote us on this). Cooper's and Lady Gaga's on-screen chemistry was electric and resulted in them being shipped in the social media world. Also, the soundtrack was incredible and it even won an Academy Award for Best Original Song.
2019 - Avengers: Endgame
The most highly anticipated movie of the year lived up to the hype. In an era of Marvel Cinematic Universe, this final chapter wrapped up the Infinity Saga beautifully on its way to becoming the highest grossing blockbuster of all time. The superhero genre has routinely dominated the box office, so it will be interesting to see how Marvel can replicate the success of Avengers: Endgame in future films.
The 2010s were a decade of many other impactful films that are well-deserving of being included on this list. As we look forward to the 2020s (wow, this is crazy), we can't wait to see which movies will dominate the box office and how the genres will compare to this list. Will superhero movies continue to dominate the box office or will actions/dramas come out on top? Will there be any box-office-smashing comedies? Stay tuned in 10 years to find out...only kidding.


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Microsoft word - michelmore.doc
ESTs and candidate gene approaches in the Compositae Genome
Richard Michelmore1, Alex Kozik1, María José Truco1, Marta Matviencho2, Oswaldo
Ochoa1, Mireille van Damme1, Dean Lavelle1, Hong Lin2, Barnaly Pande1, Leah
McHale1, Padma Sudarshana1, Jason Argyris1, Paula Ellison1, Kent Bradford1, Louise
Jackson1 and Rick Kesseli3
1Department of Vegetable Crops, University of California, Davis, CA 95616. 2Celera Agen, 1756 Picasso Avenue, Davis, CA 95616. 3Biology Department, University of Massachusetts, Boston MA. 02125. Abstract. The Compositae Genome Project (CGP) is in its third year. The initial phase has focused on
sequencing of expressed sequence tag (ESTs). Over 19,000 unigenes of lettuce have been identified, probably representing at least a third of all genes expressed in lettuce. The current focus is on mapping candidate genes to agriculturally important phenotypes.
Keywords: Lactuca sativa, genomics, expressed sequence tag, synteny, candidate gene.
The Compositae Genome Project (CGP) is a collaboration between the laboratories of Richard Michelmore, Kent Bradford and Louise Jackson (all at the University of California, Davis), Steven Knapp (Oregon State University, Corvallis), Loren Rieseberg (Indiana University, Bloomington), and Rick Kesseli (University of Massachusetts, Boston). The different responsibilities are shown in Figure 1. The CGP builds on long-standing interactions among these labs and has been running formally since 1999.
Rick Kesseli
& GENETICS
GENETICS &
SEED PHYSIOLOGY
Kent Bradford
Michelmore
Loren Rieseberg
Steve Knapp
ROOT ARCHITECTURE
Louise Jackson
Figure 1. Areas of interest and responsibility in the Compositae Genome Project.
• To develop comprehensive gene catalogs for economically important genera of the Compositae, particularly lettuce and sunflower.
CGN 2003. Eucarpia Leafy Vegetables 2003 (eds. Th.J.L. van Hintum, A. Lebeda, D. Pink, J.W. Schut) • To develop detailed genetic maps integrating phenotypic data for agriculturally important traits with candidate gene sequences.
• Determine the extent of synteny between lettuce and sunflower and to Arabidopsis as well as to other plant species such as tomato.
• To enhance the introgression of agriculturally useful alleles from wild species.
• To establish tools and resources for lettuce and sunflower that will be the basis of genomic investigations in these genera and in the Compositae more generally.
• To understand genome evolution and phenotypic diversification in the Compositae.
The article reviews the progress with respect to lettuce. Parallel progress has been made with sunflower but is not the subject of the current paper. More details can be found at http://compgenomics.ucdavis.edu.
The Compositae (Asteraceae) is one of the largest and most diverse families of flowering plants, comprising one-tenth of all known Angiosperm species. It is characterized by the compound inflorescence that has the appearance of a single "composite" flower. The Compositae is divided into two major subfamilies and one minor subfamily with 1,100 to 2,000 genera and over 20,000 species (Cronquist, 1977; Jansen et al., 1991). The family has undergone extensive diversification producing a cosmopolitan array of taxa. Compositae are found in diverse habitats; anaerophytic, xerophytic, and halophytic specialists thrive in some of the more inhospitable habitats (vertisols, deserts, and salt marshes). The size and adaptive success of the Compositae have stimulated considerable research into its systematics and evolution. However, molecular characterization has lagged behind other families (Kesseli and Multiple species have been domesticated within the Compositae including over 40 economically important species (Kesseli and Michelmore, 1997). These include food (lettuce, chicory, Jerusalem artichoke), oil (sunflower, safflower), medicinal (Echinacea, chamomile) and many ornamental (chrysanthemum, dahlia, zinnia, marigold) crops. High quality edible oils are low in saturated and high in mono- and di-unsaturated fatty acids. The Compositae are renowned for their variety of novel secondary chemicals including several novel industrial fatty acids (Caligari & Hind, 1996). The family is also a rich source of powerful insecticides and industrial chemicals, e.g., pyrethrum (Chrysanthemum) and rubber (guayule) (Heywood et al., 1977). Despite this interesting diversity, individual members of the Compositae have not been extensively studied genetically and until recently there had been minimal investment in developing genomics resources. Lettuce and sunflower are representatives of each of the two major subfamilies and are the best genetically characterized members of the Compositae.
Genetic Analysis
In collaboration with others, we have developed several genetic maps (Landry et al., 1987; Kesseli et al., 1994; unpublished data). One inter-specific cross L. sativa cv. Salinas x L. serriola UC96US23 is now the core mapping population for lettuce. In collaboration with Keygene and others, this population has so far been analyzed for 750 AFLP markers, 80 SSR loci, 51 ESTs (see below) as well as markers for the disease resistance clusters. We have completed the development of 115 F8 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) from this population and an additional 185 families are at F6. We now have an integrated map of over 1,400 markers and 9 linkage groups (R. Michelmore et al., unpublished). The core mapping population has been adopted by the European ANGEL Project (www.plant.wageningen- ur.nl/projects/angel/) and the RILs have been distributed to several groups for additional mapping of markers and phenotypic traits.
Numerous horticultural and morphological traits have been and are being analyzed genetically. We have conducted quantitative trait locus (QTL) analyses of many traits including bolting, root architecture, and the ability to extract water from different levels of the soil profile (Johnson et al., 2000 & unpublished). We identified several major loci for bolting, including one with an allele for slow bolting from the wild parent as well as a potential QTL for tipburn sensitivity. We have identified and mapped many genes for resistance to several diseases (e.g. Kesseli et al., 1993, 1994; Maisonneuve et al., 1994; Robbins et al., 1994; We are characterizing several genes of horticultural importance at the molecular level.
Our emphasis has been on disease resistance genes, particularly the major cluster that contains Dm3 and confers resistance to downy mildew. This has involved combinations of map-based cloning, mutagenesis, and candidate gene approaches (Meyers et al., 1998a, b; Shen et al., 1998, 2002). Dm3 homologs comprise a large family of NBS-LRR (nucleotide binding site- leucine rich repeat) encoding genes. As part of the Dm3 cloning strategy, we utilized PCR with degenerate oligonucleotide primers designed from resistance genes cloned from other species (Shen et al., 1998 & unpublished). At least 22 distinct families of RGC sequences have so far been identified. Several families had greater similarity to resistance genes from other species than to the other lettuce RGC sequences indicating that the different RGC families originated early in angiosperm evolution. Two families mapped to clusters of known resistance genes.
The Current CGP
Establishment of an extensive EST database for lettuce.
EST libraries were made using a modified SMARTTM (Clontech) approach. cDNAs were
made from ten pools of RNA from different tissues/developmental stages/environmental conditions of each of L. sativa cv. Salinas x L. serriola UC96US23, the two genotypes that had been used as parents for the core mapping population. For each genotype, each cDNA was made using oligonucleotide primers that incorporated unique 5' and 3' sequence tags so that the source of each sequence could be subsequently identified. The cDNAs were pooled and then size-fractionated into four size classes. Each size class was directionally cloned into a medium-copy vector and transformed separately to reduce size bias.
Table 1. Summary of ESTs developed for lettuce.
Over 68,000 ESTs were generated from L. sativa cv. Salinas and L. serriola (UC96US23).
Over 68,000 lettuce ESTs from the multiple libraries were assembled using CAP3 (Huang & Madan, 1999) into ~19,000 lettuce unigenes and organized in the CGP mySQL database.
Custom PHP and Python scripts were developed to manipulate the data and view the assemblies. Our utilization of diverse sources of mRNA and size fractionation strategy resulted in a very efficient gene discovery (Table 1). This number of unigenes probably represents at least a third of all genes expressed in lettuce.
Comprehensive EST data are displayed at the CGP web site. This includes the raw chromatograms, details on BLAST searches, SNP and indel polymorphisms, etc. In addition to releasing the sequences to GenBank, they were incorporated by TIGR into their latest gene indices (www.tigr.org/tdb/tgi/) and by MIPS into their SPUTNIK EST database (mips.gsf.de/proj/sputnik/lactuca/).
Development of high-density genetic maps based on transcribed sequences.
We are now focused on mapping numerous ESTs with an emphasis on candidate genes for
agricultural traits (Table 2). Sequences derived from each parent were compared using Python custom scripts to identify putative indels and single nucleotide polymorphism markers (SNPs). We have so far identified ~150 indels, 14,000 SSRs and 1,500 SNPs for lettuce. Wet lab experiments have confirmed the predicted indel polymorphisms in ~90% cases and SNP polymorphisms in ~70% cases. So far 51 ESTs have been mapped in lettuce using several technologies. Indel polymorphisms have been analyzed using agarose and acrylamide electrophoresis. Lettuce SNPs are being analyzed using temperature gradient capillary electrophoresis (TGCE; REVEALTM, http://www.spectrumedix.com/Reveal.htm).
In order to maximize mapping efficiency, we utilized MapPop (Vision et al., 2000) and our software Genoplayer (http://compgenomics.ucdavis.edu/genoplayer.htm) to identify a subset of the most informative individuals so that marker and phenotypic analyses have only to be run on 46 individuals with little loss of genetic information. We currently have a pipeline to map ~ 20 ESTs/week including SNP discovery and validation.
Table 2. Summary of Candidate Clones for Traits in Lettuce.
a putative from database or experimentally confirmed, analysis on going.
Studies of synteny between lettuce and sunflower and to Arabidopsis.
This phase of the project has only been initiated recently, as it required the availability of the EST sequences. To study macrosynteny, we have identified a COS (conserved ortholog sequence) set using a new clustering program, Graph9, and visualized using GenomePixelizer (Kozik et al., 2002; www.atgc.org/GenomePixelizer). About 1,200 lettuce putative COS (cgpdb.ucdavis.edu/database/est_vs_ath/arabidopsis_cos_map.html); subsets of these are currently being mapped. In addition, we are also utilizing the candidate genes as part of the We have also sequenced the majority of our 158 previously mapped RFLP markers. Of these, ~80% had significant sequence similarity to orthologous or paralogous loci in To study microsynteny, lettuce and sunflower EST assemblies were BLASTed against the Arabidopsis genome then the hits displayed as a linear graphical representation along the Arabidopsis genome. Each element represents a predicted ORF ordered according to position on the chromosome and there are links to each EST in the CGP database (cgpdb.ucdavis.edu/database/est_vs_ath/tigr_vs_let_and_sun.html). This has provided further candidate clusters of sequences that we are now mapping.
We have developed a series of public databases to facilitate ready access to the data. Lettcv (compositdb.ucdavis.edu/database/lettcv2/display) contains information on over 4,500 cultivars. The Compositae Genome Project site (compgenomics.ucdavis.edu) provides access to extensive EST information. Compositdb (compositdb.ucdavis.edu) contains the genetic map information and images for markers as well as descriptions of RFLP probes and PCR- based markers.
Future Directions of the CGP
Subject to funding, the next phase of the CGP will have the following objectives: Extension of the EST database.
This will involve sequencing more ESTs from four species each of Lactuca and Helianthus as well as single genotypes of safflower and chicory with the primary goal of comprehensive gene discovery and identification of allelic diversity.
Expansion of high-density genetic maps based on transcribed sequences.
Over 2000 ESTs will be added to the consensus maps. This will establish genetic correlations Analyses of synteny between lettuce, sunflower, tomato and Arabidopsis.
We will continue the analysis of macrosynteny and microsynteny based on genetic analysis as well as sequencing of BACs from syntenic regions in lettuce and sunflower.
Phenotypic and molecular analysis of natural variation in six genera.
This will examine variation for a spectrum of morphological and physiological traits at the phenotypic level and assess natural sequence variation for ~100 genes in 182 accessions distributed across the five and seven species of Lactuca and Helianthus respectively, as well as four wild and cultivated representatives of safflower, chicory, Echinacea and chrysanthemum. This will establish patterns of selection and indicate potential correlations between sequence and phenotype as well as the relative contributions of recombination and Acknowledgements
We thank the USDA Initiative for Future Agricultural Food Systems program for financial References
Caligari, P. and Hind, D (eds.). 1996. Compositae: Biology and Utilization. The Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew. Whitstable Litho Printers. UK. 689 pp.
Cronquist, A. 1977. The Compositae revisited. Brittonia 29:137-153.
Heywood V.H., Harbourne J.B., Turner B.L. 1977. An overture to the Compositae. In: Heywood VH, Harbourne JB, Turner BL Eds. The Biology and Chemistry of the Compositae. Acad. Press. pp1- Huang, X. and Madan, A. 1999. CAP3: A DNA Sequence Assembly Program. Genome Res. 9: 868- Jansen R.K., Michaels H.J., Palmer J.D. 1991. Phylogeny and character evolution in the Asteraceae based on chloroplast DNA restriction site mapping. Syst. Bot. 16:98-115.
Johnson, W.C., Jackson, L.E., Ochoa, O., Peleman, J., van Wijk, R., St. Clair, D.A., Michelmore, R.W. 2000. A shallow-rooted crop and its wild progenitor differ at loci determining root architecture and deep soil water exploitation. Theor.Appl. Genet.101:1066-1073.
Kesseli, R.V. and Michelmore, R.W. 1997. The Compositae: systematically fascinating but specifically neglected. In: Genome Mapping in Plants. (A.H. Paterson) ed. R.G. Landes Co.
Kesseli, R.V., Ochoa, O., Michelmore, R.W. 1991. Variation at RFLP loci in Lactuca spp. and origin of cultivated lettuce. Genome 34:430-436.
Kesseli, R.V., Paran, I., Michelmore, R.W. 1994. Analysis of a detailed genetic linkage map of Lactuca sativa (lettuce) constructed from RFLP and RAPD markers. Genetics 136:1435-1446.
Kesseli, R.V., Witsenboer, H., Stanghellini, M., Vandermark, G., Michelmore, R.W. 1993. Recessive resistance to Plasmopara lactucae-radicis maps by bulked segregant analysis to a cluster of dominant disease resistance genes in lettuce. Molec. Pl. Microbe Interact. 6:722-728.
Kozik. A., Kochetkova, E., Michelmore, R.W. 2002. GenomePixelizer-a visualization program for comparative genomics within and between species. Bioinformatics 18:335-336 Landry, B.S., Kesseli, R.V., Farrara, B., Michelmore, R.W. (1987. A genetic map of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) with restriction fragment length polymorphism, isozyme, disease resistance, and morphological markers. Genetics 116:331-337.
Maisonneuve, B., Bellec, Y., Anderson, P., Michelmore, R.W. 1994. Rapid mapping of two genes for resistance to downy mildew from Lactuca serriola to existing clusters of resistance genes. Theor.
Meyers, B.C., Chin, D.B., Shen, K.A., Sivaramakrishnan, S., Lavelle, D.O., Zhang, Z., Michelmore, R.W. 1998a. The major resistance gene cluster in lettuce is highly duplicated and spans several Meyers, B.C., Shen, K.A., Rohani, P., Gaut, B.S., Michelmore, R.W. 1998b. Receptor-like genes in the major resistance locus of lettuce are subject to divergent selection. Plant Cell 10:1833-1846.
Robbins, M.A., Witsenboer, H. Michelmore, R.W., Laliberte, J.F., Fortin, M. 1994. Genetic mapping of turnip mosiac virus resistance in Lactuca sativa. Theor. Appl. Genet. 89:583-589.
Shen, K.A., Meyers, B.C., Islam-Faridi, M.N. Chin, D.B., Stelly, D.M., Michelmore, R.W. 1998.
Resistance gene candidates identified using PCR with degenerate primers map to resistance genes clusters in lettuce. Mol. Plant-Microbe Interact. 11:815-823. Shen, K.A., Chin, D.B., Arroyo-Garcia, R., Ochoa, O.E., Lavelle, D.O., Wroblewski, T., Meyers, B.C., Michelmore, R.W. 2002. Dm3 is one member of a large constitutively expressed family of nucleotide binding site-leucine-rich repeat encoding genes. Mol. Plant Microbe Interact. 15:251- Vision, T.J., Brown, D.G., Shmoys, D.B., Durrett, R.T., Tanksley, S.D. 2000. Selective Mapping: A strategy for optimizing the construction of high-density linkage maps. Genetics 155:407-420.
Witsenboer, H., Kesseli, R.V., Fortin, M., Stanghellini, M., Michelmore, R.W. 1995. Sources and genetic structure of a cluster of genes for resistance to three pathogens in lettuce. Theor. Appl.
[R1]The same situation with Leah. See next comment[R2]I understood Padma did these and she was left out in the poster. I see Barnaly in the co- author list, I think you need to revise the list.
Source: http://www.leafyvegetables.nl/download/22_131-136_Michelmore.pdf
Servicio de emergencias – hospital municipal de agudos "dr
Servicio de Clínica Medica – Hospital Municipal de Agudos "Dr. Leónidas Lucero" Patología/Condición HEMORRAGIA DIGESTIVA ALTA (HDA) NO VARICOSA Autores López, Ana Clara; Uranga, Rolando Darío; Maruenda Maximiliano Martín Definición La HDA no varicosa se define como el sangrado del tracto digestivo desde el esfínter esofágico superior hasta el ángulo de Treitz que
Microsoft word - 4ae0a2f2-6be1-2855f6.doc
ALLERGY AND ASTHMA SPECIALTY SERVICE, P.S. COMMON ANTIHISTAMINE W. Pierre Andrade, M.D. James S. Brown, M.D. T. Ted Song, D.O. The following list provides the most common antihistamines used in the treatment of allergies. Patients needing to be tested should not take these medications 72 hours prior to the test. Names of Common Antihistamines Actidil – (tri


Fannie Mae mortgages qualify for mortgage reduction. If you are experiencing problem communicating together with your mortgage firm or lender about your want for mortgage reduction, housing counselors are available that will help you achieve this for free of charge. Support sustainable homeownership opportunities by including your organization to our revealed listing of Freddie Mac Sellers presently offering the Relief Refinance Mortgage. This system is intended to help these prone to foreclosure by decreasing their monthly mortgage funds.
Fast and easy choice to probably lower your monthly payments (often solely takes 3-5 days to complete and only a few documents to signal). The plan also gives financial incentives for lenders to cut back the mortgage payments of as many as 4 million homeowners who are prone to losing their properties. If the financial institution solely gives to decrease your month-to-month mortgage payment by $20, it is take it or leave it. Many people I worked with took even meager modifications like this-as a result of they don't get some other choice.
The Hardest Hit Fund is a federal program created to assist homeowners in areas most affected by the financial downturn that started in 2007. In tandem with the foreclosure plan, the Treasury Department announced it would double the scale of its lifeline to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, looking for to bolster confidence in the mortgage giants successfully taken over by the federal government final fall. To finish this system, homeowners need to undergo a 3-month trial interval and provide proof of their revenue, plus a letter documenting their monetary hardship.
That's when the Home Inexpensive Refinance Program was first proposed.
The Making House Reasonably priced Program (MHA) ® was launched in 2009 by the Obama Administration. In the event you're a home-owner that is missing mortgage funds, the bank goes to notice, and the issue will not be going to go away. Each lenders and the U.S. government outline an reasonably priced" mortgage fee as 31% of your gross monthly revenue. That doesn't embrace selling delinquent mortgages on which they've postponed foreclosure. Sudden diseases, changes at work and different on a regular basis challenges happen to the best of us, making it troublesome to keep up with mortgage payments.
HAMP works by encouraging taking part mortgage servicers to switch mortgages so struggling householders can have decrease monthly funds and keep away from foreclosures. The House Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) remains in effect by way of Sept. So what do the new modifications to the federal government's Home Reasonably priced Refinance Program (HARP) imply for you? In an effort to spice up enrollment in FHASecure, the program expanded to include not just ARM borrowers who had been current on their mortgage but in addition those who had missed as much as three mortgage payments within that year.
In Lakeland, Fla., Jaimie S. Smith, 29, known as her mortgage firm, then Washington Mutual, in October 2008, when she realized she would get a smaller bonus from her employer, a furnishings firm, threatening her capability to continue the $1,250 monthly mortgage payments on her three-bedroom home. Mortgage companies must consider all borrowers who've missed at least two funds to see if they are eligible.
The deadline for applying to a program that provides mortgage reduction to unemployed and medically challenged dwelling house owners has been prolonged to July 27.


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Chris Krimitsos: Motivational Change Maker
Podcasting has been exploding lately, and many more are jumping into the space to make their voices heard. In this episode, Steve Sims goes deep into the world of podcasting with no other than an expert in this space, Chris Krimitsos. Chris is the Chief Creative Officer of Podfest Multimedia Expo, an event that attracts content creators from around the world to attend and share their expertise while learning from the best in the field. Here, he takes us into a history class on the rise of podcasts and how we can continue to anticipate its explosion even more. Opening up the doors wider, Chris then shares how you can get into podcasting and create content that people would want to consume. As a motivational change maker, he puts forward the power of podcasting to transform people's lives, bringing us all together in this journey of increasing what we know and what we could add to human civilization.
Listen to the podcast here:
I've got Chris Krimitsos. I actually call him Chris K. It's a great Greek name. Chris is the Founder of Podfest. He wrote a book. He's a cool cat. We go into why podcasts exist, why they are only at the beginning, and why you need to be paying attention to the small little puppies of that industry. I enjoyed the interview with Chris. He's a solid cat. He's got some smart things to say and it can help you. Enjoy.
Chris, welcome to the show.
Thanks for having me, Steve.
We met due to a mutual friend, Cole and Sanja Hatter over to Thrive in Vegas. You are the Founder of Podfest. Why is there now Podfest? We seem to have seen podcasts appear and then all of a sudden explode and now there's Podfest. First of all, let's work backward. Why are podcasts so important now?
It's right now because of the on-demand technology and people could consume content on-demand as they need to. As YouTube is a printing out celebrities every day of the week in different niches, on-demand audio is having the same renaissance. We were delayed in our growth because the radio served a purpose inside the car for such a long time and people don't replace their car every year. About every eight years, so it lagged behind on demand video. There are all kinds of niches that are looking for leaders in the on-demand audio space called podcasting and you're seeing that renaissance. We're seeing it, Steve, across all platforms. We forget how corporatized audio had become. Do you remember Orson Welles, War of the Worlds?
There's no value to distribution anymore. It's all about content. Click To Tweet
There's no value to distribution anymore. It's all about content.
A lot of us studied it in history class, some of us experienced it, but this was when they used to do audio dramas and they'd read full-on scripts and people thought UFOs were going to attack their homes and they went into hiding. This is a real case study. That was the beginning of the radio. Back then, they didn't know how to monetize it and they know how to use it. What's interesting, Steve, I see a renaissance in what's called audio dramas. It's the same concept. Scripted, fictional, serialized content is experiencing a renaissance again and there are people literally that are getting hundreds of millions of downloads of scripted content that they're throwing up on audio. Hollywood has taken notice. They're picking up many of these podcasts and making them into series on different platforms. There's no value to distribution anymore. It's all about content, so you're going to see an explosion even more so than what we've already seen. Steve, I'm assuming you've done media. Have you done traditional media when you go into the local TV station and stuff like that?
I did but I learned early on that a podcast would be more powerful but I did a host of that stuff.
A lot of us did. What's the first thing you encounter when you show up at the station physically? What do you have to do to get into the building?
You've got security to go through, then you've got green rooms to get ready.
That's the point. When we all were growing up, why was there security keeping us out of the content? Back then, distribution was where all the value was. Honestly, Steve, you're a great communicator so am I, but it didn't matter. If we got on one of those channels, we had an audience because there was no other competition. Now you tell a young kid that we had to go through security to get access, they'll laugh at you. They'll be like, "What are you talking about? I put a green screen in my bedroom, I'm ready to rock. I'm playing video games and I've got 100,000 people watching me." They don't even understand that concept that we had to go to security to get access to the airwaves. The airwaves to them is free at all times, and they could consume all they want. Remember, consumption's going to go up precipitously with driverless cars because then we won't even have to look at the road when we drive. This whole curve, we're only at the beginning of it. It's a lifestyle change, changing how people communicate.
There's an audience that is almost absolutely waiting for your story or your show. Click To Tweet
Podcasts and a lot of people, for a start, it's a slight thing in reverse because this content that we've been consuming, we've been consuming or teaching ourselves of consuming bites. That little 45 to 60 seconds, but predominantly it's been video especially with things like TikTok, Vine, Instagram Stories. It has been short stories that we've been seeing it visually or hearing it. People are reading less and less, but they're enjoying hearing and they're enjoying audio. I know we got lazy with a visual, but it's good to see people are listening more than laying back and literally listening to a story. Is there is any reason why people go more for the audio and visual now?
Honestly, it's all converging, but the audio, the renaissance, is people are able now to listen to long-form content, which is what you're talking about. It's an area that the content creator could create really long stories. A beginning, middle, and end with no interruption. Joe Rogan was talking about this. Joe Rogan's podcasts are 2 to 3 hours. He said TV had tested back in the day that it had to be this short with a laugh track. That formula does work but what they never tested was long form because it wasn't profitable for them. That's allowed a lot of us to create long-form content that people are starving for. At the end of the day, it's all how you package it. You understand this better than anyone. You package yourself well that you're in demand. It's all about how to package what you have that people will consume it and there are a lot of people looking for long-form content, depending on what it is.
My segment of the influencer marketplace is older rather than younger and let me explain what I mean by that. I go to VidCon and Playlist. Those are two video conferences and I go to other conferences. The average age of those conferences is fifteen years, give or take 3 or 4 years up or down. The adults that are there are chaperones. They buy chaperone tickets to be there with their kids. There are few people catering to the eighteen or over demographic, 18 to 55, whatever the ages are. It doesn't really matter. The adult demographic and that's kind of who we cater. We cater to that influencer. The person that's like, "I've done this for twenty years. I think I have some value to add to this area. Do you think it would be great for me to create a show or be an audio influencer?" The answer almost always is absolutely. There's an audience waiting for your story or your show.
I'm 53 and I'm sitting here and I can slightly remember vaguely being fifteen years old. I think the beautiful thing about podcasts and the standing joke is you've got a beautiful face for radio. It doesn't matter on the age anymore. It matters on the content.
The younger kids don't have the patience yet. Somewhere when they get into college, they get more patient. They watch videos en masse. As you get older, the audio content, it's more cerebral. You want to learn, you want to ingest. I was at the consult on the first-ever conference for EDU professors at Harvard and they had professors from all over the world come in. Do you know what's amazing, Steve? They have to figure out how to make the content interesting on top of the fact that they have all this great content and that's a challenge. All of a sudden, they're putting ancient Greek texts and Roman times into a podcast format and they have 100,000, 200,000 people all over the world learning at the same time from the highest levels of educational institutions. It's going to not only improve the intelligence of the whole world, it's going to bring us all together on this huge journey of increasing what we know and what we could add to the human civilization.
There are a couple of things and then I'd want to go into your Podfest a little bit further on. There are a couple of things that people don't realize about podcasts. I'm a member and I'm now talking to any entrepreneur out there thinking, "How do I get my brand out to the masses?" I was having this conversation with a successful podcaster, Jordan Harbinger. We were talking about the fact that doing a podcast, setting up your own podcast, is very inexpensive. I'm here with my laptop, I've got a Shure 58 mic, I subscribed to SquadCast and I can do a podcast. Setting one up is easy, focusing on the content, things like that, that's where your effort should be. You meet way more people when you're on a podcast.
Correct me if you think I'm wrong here. When I was speaking to Jordan and he said, "Steve, I know you want to get on podcasts now because the return is instant." If you go and get an interview by Forbes, I remember getting interviewed by Forbes, Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal. Your article may not come out for 3 or 4 months. If something happens in the world, suddenly gripping news, your article gets bumped. When it does come out, you've got an article in the Wall Street Journal, but there's no way to spread it.
It's either a paper content or there may be a condensed version of it online. With a podcast, you can show on all social media and Jordan said to me, "If you really want to get it, stick to the ones that have got great downloads." I remember listening to that word and go in the opposite way. I had a philosophy about podcasts. I would go on to someone's podcast if they were breathing and see if they would have me. The joke was I was the original podcast slut. I found that people moved the needle quicker in the niche markets than they did in those with millions of downloads. Do you find that or am I freaking that side?
No, it's 100% correct. You and I were talking prior to this interview, I published a book called Start Ugly and it did well. My friend who does The Cash Flow Guys, it's a real estate podcast. He interviewed me about the book. I've done a whole bunch of interviews, but his niche is specific and his relationship with his audience is unique. I don't know how many books they bought because I don't know how to track it. All I know is my book went to the top 200 within 48 hours of his episode being released. We were down to five books to selling out the second printing but I could track it down it was his podcast that did it. I've been on much bigger shows that don't have the same relationship he does with his audience. I couldn't agree with you more.
If you have someone that has like the limo driving business podcast and they only have 200 downloads, that's a show I want to be on because those 200 people are listening to everything that an individual is telling them and that is a great show to be on. Those niche shows are phenomenal. I asked Mike Michalowicz of Profit First. He has that book. He does a lot of interviews. He says the same exact thing. He says, "It's those small little niche audiences with the unique relationship with the host always moves the needle in book sales. I've seen it every day of the week."
Why did you do Podfest and what does it do? You're doing 2021, correct?
We grew the community by focusing on our attendees and their experience. The experience was paramount to us in the community over having great speakers. We always had the best speakers, but big-name speakers, we didn't focus on that. We focused on the community and the experience. We're going to have close to 1,800 people and it gives me a lot of pride to help the next generation of content creators and watching them succeed in creating an environment that allows for excellence. I always say to people, "We treat our speakers and our attendees equally well. There is no distinction on who's going to get treated better." I think that's a huge fail that a lot of promoters do. Both parties get treated with white-glove service. That being said, we do have a lot higher levels like VIP and inner circle and they do get added perks because they're investing more money into the conference. Everybody across the board gets treated like family and the team that we've built up over the years.
In the future, we have Vidfest that we incubate, which is a YouTube conference at Podfest. That'll be spun off on its own. We're doing live event profits, which is for influencers learning how to do their own live events and be successful at it. We have a lot of different things that we're doing and I consulted on cheap podcast live first ever. Independently owned brand for females. There will be in Phoenix later on. Any of those things would be great. You look them up, they're all great things. Join the communities, there are Facebook groups for all of them. Our group has Podfest. Be part of it and we'll help you along your journey as a content creator.
That was going to be my question. Is this for people that are thinking of getting into doing a podcast or for people that are thinking of appearing on one or for both?
It's always better to be discovered and promoted. Click To Tweet
All three. You mentioned three people. We have a beginner track for beginners. People already have one that wants to grow. We have an audience-building track and then we have people that want to learn how to utilize being professional. I call it professional guesting, having a strategy of how to be a guest and do it right. We have a lot of training in that area. The professional guests start their own podcasts almost always if they do well with it because then they want to establish their own home base, but it's a great way to get started. I always tell people, "If I said to you twenty years ago everybody you hear on the radio or on TV is in a room where you can meet them personally, would you not run to that room?" That's what's happening. We have 1,800 content creators. You don't know who's going to be the next big mouthpiece with a huge audience. Meet them all, make friends, and then content creators, which is a huge value to whatever endeavors you're trying to do.
One thing I want to bring up is the beautiful thing about podcasts is when you subscribe, no matter where your episode, I'm talking about the person that was on the podcast. If I was on podcast episode three and someone was fantastic on podcast episode ten and you subscribed to that series, you would get me on your downloads. The beautiful thing about podcasts, I've been popping up in people's feeds where people have gone, "My buddy was on a podcast," or "I was listening to this subject matter. When I downloaded it and I was running all the episodes, I came across you." It's constant. It's like the same article being thrust in people's faces time and time again. It's evergreen. It's beautiful.
I always tell people it's one of my favorite things. If you have a good show or the show notes, a lot of people don't know what that is, but they literally put notes on their website with a link back to your things. Imagine having 100 of those. It spreads your message. My wife has Women's Meditation. It's a guided meditation. I go when my wife is sleeping. There are 2,000 people that are downloading what she did a week ago, every day. The impact of that is tremendous. Imagine if you're on a show and that podcast hits big and now everybody that's subscribing is looking at the back catalog. You're being marketed every day. That person is ingesting you because they're choosing to listen. That's the best marketing that you could ever ask for. They're finding you instead of you having to advertise to get them.
It's always better to be discovered and promoted. I want to talk about your book because it's quirky, it's fun, it's got a great point. The first question is, why did you write a book?
I wanted to do what I do in my event space naturally like what I was doing at calls. To have a book someone could then pay it forward to someone else. My objective with my book is to sell one million copies and I'm on my way. I was very intentional about what that book had to be in and it's 99 pages. It's an easy read. A ten-year-old could read it. I took all complex words out of it and it's a 100-year-old case study talking about innovation and change. I wanted it to go to all kinds of people, young and old, to see this example and learn from it in this day and age. It's a parable. It's a story, so it's unique in that it follows the who moved my cheese model and it's very simple, and people love it. We've already gotten 55 five-star reviews on Amazon and growing, so it's been amazing.
Give us a rundown on the book.
The book is about a gentleman in the early 1900s that wants to start a lumber mill and he wants to innovate the lumber mill on Manhattan Island. He creates an R&D facility. He starts measuring the swing of the lumberjack's axes, how they swing it. He provides them assistance. He then gives them days off to replenish their strength and even has an R&D lab to make sharper, lighter axes. The young man he hires, his name is Jeffrey, to do the R&D lab. One day, he is riding his bicycle into Manhattan Island into the lumber mill and they had put down brand new telephone poles. He ran aground into a telephone pole and his bike chain got caught up on it. When he got in, he started thinking about creating a bicycle chain with teeth and seeing if it could cut through wood. His boss, Mr. Sharp, said, "Son, I hired you to make me a lighter, sharper ax. Do me a favor, don't waste time on a bicycle chain. That sauce, it will never happen." Long story short, Mr. Sharp gets three warnings of people telling him you should pay attention to what this kid is doing. He eventually fires the kid after a failed prototype and gives him all rights to his waster parts, as Mr. Sharp would call it. He says, "You could have your waster parts," and gives him two weeks' pay, which in 1900 is revolutionary. The kid winds up getting an investor and almost puts Mr. Sharp out of business.
The story has a great end, but it's a nice short story about dealing with change. What I've learned is the people that are successful in life are the ones that are willing to start ugly and then perfectly execute along the way. What happens is success tends to trap many of us and we plateau. We're afraid to start ugly again because we have an image of ourselves. Other people have an image of us that we're afraid to experiment again and that actually limits our growth. If you look at the greatest innovators of our time, Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, look at Sara Blakely with Spanx. They're not afraid to innovate over and over again and start ugly and that's why they become successful. They also perfectly execute as they start ugly. Too many people start ugly and stay ugly and that's part of their problem. That's why they haven't improved on the original prototype, whatever it is. That's the philosophy and the book was made as a collectible to sit on your bookshelf, to stare back at you, to increase your productivity. When you have the word start ugly staring back at you, it robbed you of your excuses.
Start Ugly: A Timeless Tale About Innovation & Change
I want to make it clear, Start Ugly is the name of the book. Where can we get that book?
Go on Amazon. I think we have a handful left for the next printing that is still available and then it will go into our next printing. We're on our way selling out our second printing. It's the only book of its kind. It's a Post-it note that says Start Ugly and the story is amazing. It's a 40-minute read. If you're a slow reader, it's 1 hour and 5 minutes. It's a short read and easy. There are a lot of visuals. We made it for people that want a story to grab onto, to get out of their own way. The book has helped me double my conference size because we launched micro cons. We're incubating ten different conferences at Podfest and then we're going to spin them off. It's Start Ugly because we didn't have the systems, we didn't know what the systems were. We're discovering how to do the systems right. The team and I are going to suffer a little bit, some extra hours and figuring it out but we started ugly. We know what to do and we know that what we started will double our attendance numbers next time to anywhere to 3 to 3,500 attendees.
Are you going to do an audio version of the book?
I'm doing a scaled launch. The next thing is we're going to do a Kindle version. I'm going to spend some extra time. The book is short, I have to create more content for the audio version. Otherwise it would be 45-minute audio. We'll create a special audio series and we'll launch that out. We're excited. We've already sold 1,000 copies. People are buying them for their retreats. Consultants are buying them for their clients because sometimes you can't tell someone to start ugly. It's good for them to read the book and then, "Let's discuss what we saw in this." I always love when a successful business owner says, "I already started. I don't need this." I'm like, "It's funny you should say that. It's about a successful business owner that can't get out of their own way."
Steve, you'll appreciate this. I do a lot of speaking on it and a surgeon says to me, "I have trouble with this idea." I go, "Why is that?" He goes, "We can't start ugly on you when we're in surgery." I said, "Yes, but the book is about innovation. How did your surgery ever come about?" He smiled and goes, "You're right. Okay." "All those surgeries have to start ugly somewhere. There had to be a guinea pig somewhere along the line in order to protect it." He laughed. He goes, "You got me." He goes, "You've got a good point." I go, "I'm not telling you to start ugly on the patient now, but if you want to innovate what you're doing, someone's got to start off with somewhere along the way."
The story is a fictional story, isn't it?
A lot of people think it's real, but I made it up and I deal with many business owners, you can almost hear the language, so it's real.
As I was listening to your story before about someone being bought along with the concept of new technology and then the old guard ignoring it, it was straight away making me think of Kodak. A lot of people don't realize that it was Kodak that invented the digital camera and then discarded it thinking it was a novelty and they're not quite happy about that now.
Steve, the examples of what you said are endless. We do have some case studies in the back of the book like what you're talking about. Sears was a catalog company. What's Amazon? It's an internet catalog company. Why didn't Sears beat them to market? They got lazy.
It's also great that one of the concepts that I want to come and draw attention to it is the fact that you use each one of your platforms, whether it be the audiobook, the book, the Podfest, podcast. You use them to link to others. We're in a society where it's not a one and done philosophy. Your book helps perpetuate your podcast. It helps perpetuate your following and there's a lot of that integration that people need to be thinking about. You don't do a podcast. You do a podcast, it could potentially have your book deal with it and you could have a speaking gig with it. People need to think that there are other things you can use to get away from or to come above and get onto other platforms and you're using them a lot.
The people that are successful in life are the ones that are willing to start ugly and then perfectly execute along the way. Click To Tweet
We made a documentary film about podcasting. It's called The Messengers. It's a podcast documentary. We made a full-length documentary film and we had distribution out of LA. We took it off and put it up on YouTube free for everybody to see. When you see the quality of the film, it costs about $50,000 to make the film. We travel all over the world, but we have different things for each platform. For me, I had to ask myself, "What's the tie in on everything I do?" The tie in as I want people to achieve greatness in whatever it is that they want to and I use vehicles like Start Ugly, Podfest, live event profits to help content creators. For me, I like dealing with creatives. Content creators, especially ones that have a business background, helping them achieve greatness by growing their audiences. That's what gives me a lot of pride. You're right, everything that I have, if you look at it, that's the common thread across the spectrum.
For a lot of people that have known me from an early stage and I still use it now, one of my original websites was Ugly Sims. If you go to UglySims.com, it will boot you over to me. The reason that we did that was moved over to the Steve D. Sims website, was quite simply my book publishers at the time didn't like me having a phone to myself in an ugly fashion. I wasn't offended because I looked at the way that you've said about how you got to get ugly to get things going. They didn't like it, so I had to change the domain. It's a small world. How do we get more of you?
Look me up on social media. I have ChrisKrimitsos.com or if you go to the Podfest, I'm linked to all of that, so I'm not hard to find. Hit me up, send me a DM on whatever your favorite platform is. I'm on most of them at all times, checking things on a weekly basis. If you want to send me an email, Chris@PodfestExpo.com. Feel free to email me. I love to interact with people. It's one of my passions. My wife is always like, "I don't know how you do it." She goes, "You talk to all these amazing people." If I go on vacation, I want to go on vacation with my friends or meet people I already know there. I know that about me. I like new places, but I like doing it with other people. I'm an extrovert at the highest level.
Chris, it's been great. It's been enlightening. I want people to do two things. I want people to start paying attention to podcasts if they are not. Not only as a guest, if you've got an interest in the story, but also set your own podcasts up. I think Podfest may be the place, may be a cool way to find a little bit more about it. Make sure you're on there. I'm thrilled about the book as well, and I quite honestly can't wait to read the thing.
Thank you, Steve, and I appreciate your hospitality inviting me on and having me on the show. It means a lot. I appreciate it.
Look after yourself and no doubt I'll see you on a stage somewhere soon.
We'll run into each other. Be good.
Chris Krimitsos
Podfest
Vidcon
SquadCast
Start Ugly
Vidfest
Women's Meditation
UglySims.com
ChrisKrimitsos.com
Chris@PodfestExpo.com


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Q: How to ignore ignore spacing, capitalization, and punctuation I have written this code and tried to use regex global to check with no luck.

let numberOfOccurrences = (str) => {
  let charObject = {};
  for (let i = 0; i < str.length; i++){
    if ( charObject [str[i]]) {
      charObject [str[i]] += 1;
      console.log(charObject)
    } else {
      charObject [str[i]] = 1;
      console.log (charObject)
    }
  }
  return charObject;
}

numberOfOccurrences('aaabbc')

I am trying to have the function read strings and return the count of each character but ignore capital letters and special characters

A:

let numberOfOccurrences = (str) => {
  let charObject = {};
  for (let i = 0; i < str.length; i++){
    if (!str[i].match(/^[a-z]+$/)) continue;
    if (!charObject[str[i]]) charObject[str[i]] = 0;
    charObject [str[i]] += 1;
  }
  console.log(charObject)
  return charObject;
}

numberOfOccurrences('Aaaabb c#$2')

This will ignore all characters except lowercase letters


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