INTERNET SECURITY ON YOUR FORUM : Habits to be avoided!
This issue is important, please completely read!
1. Do never provide your session ID.
When you want to specify (on a website, on a forum, in an email via msn, icq... brief everywhere) address your forum, a subject of a message, check although part of the address containing 'sid = 582c4678011cbd97139689c8' is never shown.
In rare cases if a user clicks on a link with this 'sid = 582c4678011cbd97139689c8', it is again directly connected on an a user, moderator, administrator or account.
2 Never use a public proxy server.
For reasons related to the previous point, the use of a proxy is not recommended. In addition your pages appear much more quickly if you disable your proxy.
3. Do keep / never provide your password.
This is rather obvious... do provide never your password to anyone who asks you.
If you can't do something, this forum self-help is for. And each problem can find its solution without that your password is requested.
When use you the feature 'I've forgotten my password', an email is sent with a new password. Once logged in, go on your Profile and edit the again by using a password you can perhaps more easily remember (but should not be too simple provided). If you do not change, keep this email on one box mailbox 'online' such as hotmail or caramail.
4 Disconnect you if you are using a public computer.
At the end of your session when you use a computer public (in a coffee shop, to the fac at a friend...), remember to always use the button Disconnecting. In these circumstances, never use the browser function ' do you want to keep this password ' (answer still not).


Are Commercial Bribes the "Broken Windows" of the FCPA?
The Department of Justice has a long history of prosecuting commercial bribery uncovered in FCPA cases under the Travel Act (18 U.S.C. § 1952), which prohibits the use of interstate commerce in furtherance of any "unlawful activity" such as commercial bribery in violation of state law. See United States v. Control Components Inc. (C.D. Cal. July 31, 2009). Similarly, the UK Bribery Act prohibits both commercial bribery and bribery of foreign government officials.
By contrast, the SEC traditionally has been reluctant to pursue purely commercial bribes. The SEC's position first shifted some 18 months, and is now confirmed again with Goodyear Tire & Rubber's $16 million settlement with the SEC on Tuesday, which resolved allegations that Goodyear subsidiaries in Kenya and Angola paid more than $3.2 million in bribes, and "falsely recorded [the bribery payments] as legitimate business expenses in [their] books and records." Highlighting the agency's renewed interest in pursuing liability based on commercial bribery, Scott W. Friestad, Associate Director of the SEC's Enforcement Division said in a press release that "[t]his settlement ensures that Goodyear must forfeit all of the illicit profits from business obtained through bribes to foreign officials as well as employees at commercial companies in Angola and Kenya." Notably, the Goodyear case was settled without any civil monetary penalty as Goodyear was required only to disgorge ill-gotten gains and pay pre-judgment interest.
In light of the apparent trend, Tuesday's settlement raises some key questions: Are the books and records provisions the SEC equivalent of the Travel Act? Do commercial bribes portend bribes to government officials such that they are the "broken windows" of SEC FCPA enforcement?
We certainly now have a good sense of how the SEC would answer these questions.


text:
Royal Caribbean Unveils 2012 European Deployment
Posted by travelwerke on March 25, 2011 · Leave a Comment
Cruise giant Royal Caribbean International unveiled its 2012 Europe cruise deployment earlier this week, becoming the latest cruise line to raise capacity in the fast growing region. In total, the line will have 12 vessels sailing European waters on itineraries ranging from 3 to 16 nights, calling at 101 ports in 34 countries, including maiden visits to Arhus, Kenes and Klaksvik. Guests will also have the option of boarding itineraries enroute at 8 "interports" (Bari, Genoa, Kusadasi, Le Havre, Marseille, Messina, Toulon and Valencia).
Amsterdam makes its debut as a homeport for Royal Caribbean, with the 90,090-GRT Brilliance of the Seas operating a series of 12-night Norwegian Fjord & Arctic Circle roundtrip sailings through mid-July 2012 from the Dutch city, as well as 7-night Scandinavia & Russia cruises from Copenhagen. Vision of the Seas will cruise the Arctic Circle on a 12-night roundtrip departing on 9 August 2012 from the Danish capital, in addition to 13 other different itineraries exploring ports in the British Isles, Norwegian fjords, Russia and Scandinavia. From Harwich, Jewel of the Seas continues to sail 12-night Scandinavia & Russia roundtrips from mid-May to mid-August 2012, whilst featuring a new Fjords & Iceland itinerary on 20 June 2012.
Canary Islands and Mediterranean
The 2,490-passenger Serenade of the Seas makes her European debut with 12-night alternating cruises from Barcelona, where selected sailings offer an overnight stay in Venice as well as port calls in Greece and Turkey. Navigator of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas will also homeport in Barcelona for their respective European seasons, operating itineraries ranging from 5 to 8 nights, while Grandeur of the Seas' cruise schedule will include 7-night Western Mediterranean roundtrips from Palma de Mallorca.
For the third consecutive year, Independence of the Seas will be positioned year-round in Southampton, primarily sailing an alternating series of 14-night Mediterranean Treasures and Italian Mediterranean cruises. In October and November 2012, she will also offer 10- and 11-night sailings to the Canary Islands. Adventure of the Seas will also call at the Canary Islands towards the end of her season, sailing 5 voyages from Malaga, prior to which the ship will continue its pattern of 7-night Western Mediterranean itineraries.
Mariner of the Seas returns to Europe with 7-night cruises and a new series of 12-night Holy Land roundtrip itineraries from Rome, featuring overnights in Alexandria and Jerusalem. Splendour of the Seas will spend the bulk of her season sailing 7-night explorations of the Greek Isles and Turkey out of Venice, where she is joined by the Voyager of the Seas operating 10- and 11-night itineraries that include overnights in Istanbul and Kusadasi.
For more information, visit www.royalcaribbean.com.
Filed under Cruises · Tagged with Adventure of the Seas, Ajaccio, Alesund, Alexandria, Alicante, Amsterdam, Arhus, Ashdod, Athens, Barcelona, Bari, Belgium, Bergen, Berlin, Bilbao, Bodrum, Brest, Brilliance of the Seas, Brussels, Cadiz, Cagliari, Canary Islands, Cannes, Capri, Cartagena, Celebrity Cruises, Chania, Cherbourg, Civitavecchia, Copenhagen, Corfu, Cork, Corsica, Crete, Croatia, Cruises, Denmark, Dublin, Dubrovnik, Edinburgh, Egypt, Ephesus, Estonia, Europe, Faroe Islands, Ferrol, Finland, Flam, France, Funchal, Gdansk, Geiranger, Genoa, Germany, Gibraltar, Gijon, Glasgow, Gothenburg, Gran Canaria, Grandeur of the Seas, Greece, Haifa, Harwich, Helsinki, Honningsvag, Ibiza, Iceland, Independence of the Seas, Ireland, Israel, Istanbul, Italy, Jewel of the Seas, Katakolon, Kenes, Klaksvik, Koper, Kotor, Kusadasi, La Spezia, Lanzarote, Las Palmas, Latvia, Le Havre, Liberty of the Seas, Lisbon, Liverpool, Livorno, Madeira, Malaga, Malta, Mariner of the Seas, Marseille, Messina, Monaco, Monte Carlo, Montenegro, Mykonos, Naples, Navigator of the Seas, Netherlands, Nice, Norway, Olden, Oslo, Palermo, Palma de Mallorca, Paris, Piraeus, Poland, Portugal, Princess Cruises, Provence, Ravenna, Reykjavik, Rhodes, Riga, Rome, Royal Caribbean, Russia, Santorini, Sardinia, Scandinavia, Scotland, Serenade of the Seas, Sicily, Slovenia, Southampton, Splendour of the Seas, Split, St. Peter Port, St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Sweden, Tallinn, Tenerife, Toulon, Tromso, Turkey, UK, Valencia, Valletta, Venice, Vigo, Villefranche, Visby, Vision of the Seas, Voyager of the Seas, Warnemünde
← Silver Shadow Emerges From Makeover
Courtyard By Marriott Opens 900th Hotel In Bali →

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Dan Gregor
writer-dir
Dan Gregor is a TV and film writer-director-producer. Currently writing on CW's "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend," past TV credits include CBS's "How I Met Your Mother," FX's "The Comedians" and Adult Swim's "NTSF:SD:SUV." He's written and developed pilots for NBC, Fox, ABC, CW, FX, Comedy Central, MTV and based off his long running UCB stage sketch show Banging My Dick Against A Wall a pilot script for IFC. His feature film directorial debut "Most Likely To Murder" premieres at South By Southwest 2018. Prior, he's written feature films for Disney, Paramount Studios, Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment. As a long-standing member of the UCB Theater he's written, directed and performed on house sketch, web-series and improv teams in New York and Los Angeles since 2002.
Events featuring Dan Gregor


Sat: Way hot in Silicon Valley. So, I went to Santa Cruz to see how my girl was doing. Turns out, her day was just getting better. (She says she's been ruined. You guys better step up your game. I'm raising the stakes here. ) The most I accomplished was food, friends, and fun till the wee hours in the morn.
Sun: BIG SUR BABY! Spent the night at Andrew Molera SB after a couple walks around and a salmon/lemon herb cous-cous dinner.
Mon: Sunrise on the beach. Off to Julia Pfeiffer Burns.... (Park? Beach? Don't Know: It's run by the Forest Service not the state park system.) For some climbing on the sandstone... Directly over the surf. Hell Yea. The cliffs closer to home (Santa Cruz) will crumble and are no good for sanity. Then, I just had to find a waterfall. Off to Pfeiffer BIG SUR State Park. -One of the main entry points to Ventana Wilderness. Didn't make it in to the Wilderness this time... There were closer falls. Heading back north, I see a hitch-hiker looking nice enough and sporting gear. (I won't look twice if you have no gear.) I hiked with this guy for a little on the AT a few years back. SWEET. We made it to a cliff overlooking the pier in Santa Cruz and made lunch out of my salmon/cous-cous leftovers. Said good bye to him and ran up the beloved Hwy. 9 a little. Sunset started in after a 6 mile hike in the Fall Creek Unit of Henry Cowell State Park. I hiked another 2 miles to my car, went home and ate ice cream.
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 13:06.


Hey guys! In today's video, I'll show you how to make a DIY serving board or cheese board using a dollar tree place-mat as a stencil. I'll show you the simple way to give it a rustic/farmhouse finish, and how to create layers or images in about 1 minute. I'll also share a few favorite Dollar Tree decor finds and even a tip for staying organized. I hope you enjoy! It's been so rainy and gloomy here, so sorry not all of the footage is the best (some of it was on my iPhone… but it's real life and that's cool, too). Love you guys and let me know if you want to see more Christmas DIYs!
Thanks! Happy Thanksgiving to you too, Suzie!
The board is 36" x 12" and the feet are just called pedestal feet. You'll have to look to see what is available in your store. Good luck!
Wow so simple yet elegant!
Another awesome project from you!
I bought two rolling pins at Dollar Tree cause you were going to show us something to do with them during holidays. Did I miss it somehow??
Can you refer to where I might find that rolling pin hack? Your help is greatly appreciated.
Kathryn, I have enjoyed your videos for several years now and have told all my friends about you as well. Keep up sharing with us about such great buys and deals and projects! And those cutie boys are growing up too fast. Happy Thanksgiving!!


Walk into any older home and you'll always find a lot of hardwood details - wainscoting, crown moulding, fireplace surrounds, spindled staircases, even chair rails - because decorative trimwork used to be standard in new home construction. But after World War II, builders began reducing the amount of trim, using just enough to cover gaps around windows, door frames and between walls and floors. Unfortunately, that cost reducing practice continues with most new home construction.
As a result, today's rooms often appear plain and featureless, lacking the warm ornamental details that would otherwise provide architectural character. But they don't have to be plain. Enhance the character of your home by installing or upgrading its trim. It can be as easy as it sounds. Consider some of these cost-effective ways to add hardwood details to your home.
Wainscoting is a type of paneling most often used to decorate the lower three feet of a wall. It comes in different styles, from simple flat panels to a raised design or beadboard; is installed with nails, screws, glue or a combination of these and is usually topped with crown moulding or a chair rail. During colonial times it served to protect the bottom portion of a wall from water damage arising from a cracked foundation. Today, it continues to ward off damage - scratches, dings and the like - while adding warmth and great architectural interest to any room.
In living and dining rooms, dens and libraries, it adds a formal look, especially when finished in a dark stain or paint. A white finished wainscoting in a living room suggests more of the country cottage look. And the wall above the wainscoting panels can then be painted or wallpapered to achieve the desired look.
In bathrooms, including wainscoting is a great way to add architectural interest without having to totally remodel. It is most commonly featured as white beadboard, which creates a clean, crisp feeling and complements any accent color. And try it on the ceiling. It's a great way to hide an old-fashioned textured ceiling without the bother of removing it.
Chair rail is functional as well as decorative. It helps protect areas where chair backs might damage the wall. Various chair rail styles are available. They can be a single piece of wood, called a moulding profile, or two or more different mouldings can be combined to create a built-up profile.
Chair rails are often used alone, but are also used to top wainscoting to give it a clean edge. When teamed with wainscoting, it will have a groove underneath that allows it to be placed onto the wainscoting, so be sure to install the wainscoting first.
Any moulding or group of mouldings installed between the wall and a ceiling is called a cornice. It provides a decorative transition between the wall and ceiling, and can improve the appearance of almost any room.
Crown moulding is the most popular cornice. It is a thin length of wood installed diagonally to the corner of the wall and ceiling. Like chair rails, crown mouldings can be a single piece of wood, or can be built up of a number of different profiles. Some cornices include details such as dentil blocks and other intricate features.
Since crown moulding is placed at an angle to the wall, the cuts needed to form corners are more complicated, so you might want to have it installed by a professional.
Redecorate by incorporating hardwood architectural details and see how wainscoting, chair rails and crown moulding create a greater sense of warmth and indeed enhance the beauty of your home. These easy and cost-effective additions will transform any room from plain and empty, to a richly textured, even elegant living space.


Upon crossing the threshold of the Palais Oriental, you will be swept away on a fabulous journey of the senses to the heart of A Thousand and One Nights. Located in a naturally majestic setting on the shores of Lake Geneva, this grand Moorish-style building invites you to discover the culinary specialities of Iran, Lebanon and Morocco right in the centre of Montreux!
In warm and intimate surroundings enhanced by delicate and refined decoration, immerse yourself in a universe imbued with a subtle mixture of exotic scents and sweetness. Come let yourself be surprised by the fantastic flavours of an authentic cuisine.


With a charter flight, you also don't have to worry about the luggage you bring. 今天, most commercial carriers have exorbitant fees for checking bags. 當然, most people want to bring more clothes and personal items than they can fit in a small carry-on bag. You'll also get far more leg room and you can enjoy the pleasure of traveling in a much more relaxed and comfortable fashion.


Zebbian Hill is a great example of a TempForce success story! Zebbian started out as a TempForce team member, working for our Anniston Branch as an embroidery machine operator.
After dedicating herself to months of excellent service, her company hired her on as a permanent employee.
She stands out for her safe work habits, so even after taking her on as a permanent employee, her company nominated her for TempForce's Safety Leader Awards.
Zebbian is always very careful at work and while operating the embroidery machine. She always asks questions and doesn't just "jump in" without knowing what to do.
Thank you for setting a safe example, Zebbian!


We guarantee results. We guarantee ROI.
We help your sales team become courageous warriors in the selling profession. In the process we help your company improve sales productivity and effectiveness, which boosts your company's revenue and profitability.
We utilize a comprehensive approach incorporating in-depth analysis, customized training, and one-on-one coaching. We believe that the selling profession is an honorable one, and support the notion that skill improvement increases sales success.
Further, one cannot help sales teams improve unless the areas of need within each individual are clearly understood. We therefore engage in a thorough analysis process, including the use of state-of-the art evaluation tools to improvement. We can uncover both the obvious weaknesses as well as the hidden and not-so-obvious weaknesses that prevent sales professionals from excelling. We also identify the economic benefit to the company of improving the sales professionals' skills. We also believe that it is fruitless to engage in occasional or once-a-year training seminars to help professionals improve their sales skills. It takes customized curriculum reinforced over a period of time for new skills and behaviors to become permanent.
Learn the 5 key ingredients of successful sales management, then use the information to improve your sales management TODAY.
Strategic hiring and onboarding are essential to building a high-performance, revenue-generating sales team. Learn how to make every sales hire a smart investment with our ebook.
If your sales reps aren't getting enough quality leads and introductions, they may need to supplement their efforts with some cold calling. This white paper will provide the roadmap for doing it as effectively possible.
A compilation of case studies from our clients in the security industry.
A study of a Braveheart client contemplating whether or not it was prudent to promote a superstar salesperson to manager or not.
I don't want my people out of the field. I want them selling. How long will this take?
Completing the sales force evaluation will take about two hour's of executive management's time; 45 minutes for each team member and then about 3 hours to review all the information and discuss action steps after we have completed our analysis. After the initial analysis, the time commitment varies, but we have structured programs designed to disrupt sales time as little as possible by using a variety of delivery systems, allowing distributed sales team members to stay in the field rather than having to travel for training.
How is what you do different from what we have done before?
By starting with a deep-dive analytical process on the front-end, we can then easily tailor our suggested solutions for your specific needs to help increase sales as quickly as possible. Further, it allows us to customize our solutions not only for the team but also for the individuals on the team. We also are accustomed to working with distributed sales teams and have created our systems to allow them to stay in the field without having to travel for training.
How will I know it will work?
I see you are based in Columbus, Ohio, do you only work with local companies?
We primarily work with companies across North America. We are structured to work efficiently with sales teams that are in various locations by combining both in person and remote delivery solutions.
What types of businesses do you help?
We work with companies who are looking to increase sales, create repeatable processes, and increase profitability. We can work with teams that are all housed in one location, but are also particularly well suited for companies that have salespeople spread around.
This article explains the name choice.
We help our clients' sales teams become overachievers. Our clients routinely experience sales growth ranging from 20% to as high as 522% increase. Here is a sampling of what our clients say about our work, and the results we help them achieve.
Through a variety of efforts, we have increased both the average installation revenue per rep and the average RMR sold per rep considerably over last year. Braveheart has helped us upgrade our sales team to achieve this improved efficiency and increased effectiveness.


text:
Q: Error org.json.JSONException I am creating an application for Android. It is the task of retrieving data from an external database server mysql.
Everything was fine, but by the time of compilation. Gave me the error:

Errororg.json.JSONException: Value

A link to a database using php script:
$host="localhost";
$username="root";
$password="password";
$db_name="baza";

$con=mysql_connect("$host", "$username", "$password")or die("cannot connect");
mysql_select_db("$db_name")or die("cannot select DB");
$sql = "select * from zastep";
$result = mysql_query($sql);
$json = array();

if(mysql_num_rows($result)){
while($row=mysql_fetch_assoc($result)){
$json['zastep'][]=$row;
}
}
mysql_close($con);
echo json_encode($json);
?>

The script is working correctly, the error shows up when compiling apk.
 import android.app.Activity;
import android.os.AsyncTask;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.widget.ListView;
import android.widget.SimpleAdapter;
import android.widget.Toast;

import org.apache.http.HttpResponse;
import org.apache.http.client.ClientProtocolException;
import org.apache.http.client.HttpClient;
import org.apache.http.client.methods.HttpPost;
import org.apache.http.impl.client.DefaultHttpClient;
import org.json.JSONArray;
import org.json.JSONException;
import org.json.JSONObject;

import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Map;

public class MainActivity extends Activity{
    private String jsonResult;
    private String url = "http://192.168.2.100/tyr/conn.php";
    private ListView listView;
    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState)
    {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
        listView = (ListView) findViewById(R.id.listView);
        accessWebService();
    }
     @Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
        // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
        getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.menu_main, menu);
        return true;
    }
    //uzyskiwanie dostępu do sieci
    private class JsonReadTask extends AsyncTask<String,Void, String> {
        @Override
        protected String doInBackground(String... params)
        {
            HttpClient httpclient = new DefaultHttpClient();
            HttpPost httppost = new HttpPost(params[0]);
            try
            {
                HttpResponse response = httpclient.execute(httppost);
                jsonResult = inputStreamToString(response.getEntity().getContent()).toString();
            } catch (ClientProtocolException e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
            }
            catch (IOException e)
            {
                e.printStackTrace();
            }
            return null;
        }
        private StringBuilder inputStreamToString(InputStream is)
        {
            String rLine = "";
            StringBuilder answer = new StringBuilder();
            BufferedReader rd = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(is));
            try {
                while ((rLine = rd.readLine())!= null)
                {
                    answer.append(rLine);
                }
            } catch (IOException e) {
                Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "Error..." + e.toString(), Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
            }
            return answer;
        }
        @Override
        protected void onPostExecute(String result)
        {
            ListDrwaer();
        }
    }
    public void accessWebService()
    {
        JsonReadTask task = new JsonReadTask();
        task.execute(new String[] {url});
    }
    public void ListDrwaer()
    {
        List<Map<String, String>> employeeList = new ArrayList<Map<String, String>>();
        try
        {
            JSONObject jsonResponse = new JSONObject(jsonResult);
            JSONArray jsonMainNode = jsonResponse.optJSONArray("zastep");
            for (int i = 0; i < jsonMainNode.length(); i++)
            {
                JSONObject jsonChildNode = jsonMainNode.getJSONObject(i);
                String name = jsonChildNode.optString("klasa");
                String data = jsonChildNode.optString("data");
                String outPut = name + "-" + data;
                employeeList.add(createEmployee("employees", outPut));
            }
        }
        catch (JSONException e)
        {
            Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "Error" + e.toString(),Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
        }
        SimpleAdapter simpleAdapter = new SimpleAdapter(this, employeeList,android.R.layout.simple_list_item_1, new String[]{"employees"}, new int[] {android.R.id.text1});
        listView.setAdapter(simpleAdapter);
    }
    private HashMap<String, String> createEmployee(String name, String data)
    {
        HashMap<String, String> employeeNameNo = new HashMap<String,String>();
        employeeNameNo.put(name, data);
        return employeeNameNo;
    }

}

Logcat:
03-11 17:26:07.790  26957-26957/pl.saperdak1gmail.rrt E/﹕ appName=pl.saperdak1gmail.rrt, acAppName=/system/bin/surfaceflinger
03-11 17:26:07.790  26957-26957/pl.saperdak1gmail.rrt E/﹕ 0

please help

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


For eight years and across several continents, Alex Majoli has been photographing events and non-events. Political demonstrations, humanitarian emergencies, and quiet moments of everyday life. What holds all these images together is a sense of theatre. A sense that we are all actors, all playing, or failing to play the parts that history and circumstance demand of us. Majoli's photographs result from his own performance. Entering a situation, he and his assistants slowly go about setting up a camera and lights. This activity is a kind of spectacle in itself, observed by those who will eventually be photographed. Majoli begins to shoot, offering no direction to the people before his camera. This might happen over twenty minutes. It might be an hour or so.
Perhaps the people adjust their actions in anticipation of the image to come. Perhaps they refine their gestures in self-consciousness. Perhaps they do not. The representation of drama and the drama of representation become one.
The camera flash is instantaneous and much stronger than daylight. But all this light plunges the world into night, or moonlight. The world appears as an illuminated stage. Everything seems to be happening at the end of the day. Just when the world should be sleeping, it offers a heightened performance of itself.
We never really see people or places: we see the light they reflect. And the quality of that light affects how we understand them.


VV1158 Selfies with washed up sperm whale 2 | Viral Video UK - Upload, Share, License! Get the most for your video!
Summary: Selfless with washed up sperm whale 2 - 25/01/2016 Three dead sperm whales have washed up on a beach near Skegness. Crowds flocked to see the creatures, believed to be from the same pod as one that died on Hunstanton beach in Norfolk, despite efforts to help it back into deeper water after it became stranded.


Contact Colton Ashabranner at cashabranner@sanmarcosrecord.
The San Marcos Young Professionals Monthly Pub Club was held at Industry on Nov. 14.
Freddy C's opened last month and the San Marcos Young Professionals were some of the first to give the downtown bar a try for their monthly Pub Club.


I first made a version of this when I realised I had some of my friend's children coming round for a glorified playdate at Christmas time and because we do parties at other times of the year, she happened to say how much her girls were looking forward to the mini-Christmas party. Oh. Well. Er… a few minutes later and I'd concocted some party games for the expectant visitors….
The basis for this is just a kitchen roll stuck to a piece of card (to stop it rolling over). Whilst the first version of this had just one arrow, this double-ended version for this year is more fun, in that there are two 'winners' on each spin. Just one of them will get the sweet though and the other gets the forfeit!


text:
require "bunny"

module Marketplace
  class Bot::Workers::ParseWorker

    # Создает очередь **parse** и начинает слушать ее. Забирает сообщения, _:routing_key_ которых заканчивается на **.parse**
    # @example
    #   run()
    def run()
      conn = Bunny.new(:host => "localhost", :vhost => "/", :user => "amigo", :password => "42Amigo_Rabbit")
      conn.start

      ch = conn.create_channel
      x = ch.topic("common")
      q = ch.queue("parse", :exclusive => true)

      q.bind(x, :routing_key => "*.parse")

      begin
        q.subscribe(:block => true) do |delivery_info, properties, body|
          obj = delivery_info.routing_key.split(".")[1]

          parsed_str = JSON.parse(body)

          type = parsed_str[:type]

          if obj == "list"
            list_parser = ListParser.new
            list_parser.get_ids(type, parsed_str[:page], parsed_str[:start_price], parsed_str[:end_price])
          elsif obj == "order"
            case type
            when "fz_44"
              parser = ParserFz44.new
            when "fz_94"
              parser = ParserFz94.new
            when "fz_223"
              parser = ParserFz223.new
            else
              puts "unknown order type in parse_worker"
            end
            order_json = parser.run(parsed_str[:page])

            producer = Producer.instance
            producer.load_to_db(order_json)

          else
            puts "unknown object"
          end

        end
      rescue Interrupt => _
        ch.close
        conn.close
      end

    end
  end
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Q: Hide/show div based on form input filed I have an advanced search div that has 5 form input fields within. This div is hidden by default and it is part of a search form. When a user returns to this page from a results page, I want the div to show assuming any of the 5 fields were populated.
The html is
 + show advanced fields

    <form>
     <input type="text" name="first_name">
     <input type="text" name="last_name">
     <input type="text" name="street">
     <input type="text" name="town">
     <input type="text" name="country">
    </form>

- hide advanced fields

The existing jQuery code that hide / show the divs is:
function HideDiv() {
         $('.slide').hide();
     }
     function ShowDiv(ctrl) {
         HideDiv();
         $('#' + ctrl).show();
     }
     ShowDiv('Basic');

A: If you want to check your form's input elements at page load those are contained in the div (that has id 'Adv') then you should run your check inside document ready event
$(function(){
    $("div#Adv input").each(function(){
        if($(this).val()!='')
           $(this).parent().parent().show(); // 1st parent is form, 2nd parent is Adv div
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Antoine Fuqua's remake of a remake with a star-studded cast, is a fun action adventure that will keep viewers engaged throughout. With its amazing action set pieces and great sense of humour Magnificent Seven is an enjoyable ride. Denzel Washington brings his normal charisma to his role as the leader and delivers a strong performance. The rest of the cast including Chris Pratt and Ethan Hawke displayed a strong chemistry for people who had only just met each other which worked well in the films favour.
Having not seen the Original Steve McQueen version or even Seven Samurai it is hard to compare these movies, this story will not be considered a classic in modern cinema, or even one of Fuqua's best (see Training Day) but like many of his films they are great action films with strong leads. Magnificent Seven is just that. That is not to put down the movie, as it was highly enjoyable. The film also falls into the category of too long, coming in at 2 hours and 13 minutes the movie began to feel long. That being said the action pieces in this film were well choreographed and fantastic to watch with all the cast looking the part as western gun fighters.
Magnificent Seven is an entertaining movie that the audience can enjoy but may not feel the desire for repeat views. Chris Pratt gives a strong performance mixing action and comedy that he does so well, Denzel Washington is a strong lead as expected and Peter Sarsgaard is a convincing villain.
Magnificent Seven scores a 70.


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Ketchup, mustard and spice packets are selling like hotcakes
Posted: Jul 1, 2020 10:57 AM CST
Credit: iStock/BalkansCat
By Danielle Wiener-Bronner, CNN Business
(CNN) -- The pandemic has boosted demand for several products. Sales of toilet paper, hand sanitizer and canned goods all grew dramatically in the early days of the crisis.
Another pandemic best-seller? Ketchup packets. And salt packets. And even single-serve pizza seasoning.
When restaurants shut their dining room doors this spring in accordance with stay-at-home orders designed to help curb the spread of Covid-19, they quickly pivoted to delivery and pickup orders that oftencome with single-serve condiments. Now, as they start to reopen their doors, many are being instructed to limit the use of shared condiments and spices. The two shifts mean that demand for individually-sized packages are way up, according to industry experts and sellers of those items.
Both packets and portion cups used to dole out condiments to individual customers "are seeing rapid gains so far in 2020," said Jennifer Mapes-Christ, consumer and commercial group leader for the Freedonia Group, a market research firm.
It's a trend that could have negative implications for the environment, warned Kate O'Neill, a professor in the department of environmental science, policy and management at UC Berkeley.
Paper salt and pepper packets aren't that bad, she told CNN Business. If they're only made of paper, consumers could empty them out and recycle them.
But the messier condiment packets, like single-serveketchup and mustard, are basically impossible to recycle, she explained, because they are contaminated by food. If contaminated products are recycled along with clean ones, they can ruin the whole batch. And because these packets are flimsy and often made with mixed materials, like foil and plastic, recycling facilities won't find them valuable even when cleaned.
"It adds in to the huge volume of single-use disposable plastics that we're seeing in general," she said. Trash collectors have been overwhelmed by household waste in areas where stay-at-home orders were put in place.
"These packets will show up in the waste stream," O'Neill said.
'Tremendous growth'
US Foods, a food service distributor that works with about 300,000 restaurants and food service operators, has been "seeing tremendous growth" in single-serve salt, pepper, ketchup, mustard and hot sauce, said Jim Osborne, the company's senior vice president of customer strategy and innovation.
Since some restaurants started reopening in May, sales of single-serve condiments have increased up to 40% compared to last year, he said. The highest increases have been in condiments that restaurants would normally put on table tops. Osborne noted that US Foods sells biodegradable and compostable cups and lids, which the company recommends to businesses that want more sustainable options.
The CDC has issued some reopening "considerations" for bars and restaurants, which include avoiding the use of shared condiments in dining rooms and switching to single-serve condiment packets.
Beyond hygiene implications, the switch could make customers more comfortable. Tanya Spaulding, principal at Shea Inc., a full-service restaurant design firm based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, recently told CNN Business that to entice customers, restaurants should clear their tables of anything that could be seen as unhygienic.
"People don't want to pick up something and use something that someone else may have," she said.
Some restaurants needed more spice packets when they started selling more off-premise meals, which also contributed to the spike in demand.
Dan Scott, head of operations for FoodServiceDirect.com, an online food service provider that sells to restaurants, offices, ghost kitchens, schools and other places that sell food, started seeing orders spike in mid-March, when some states instructed restaurants to close their doors.
Since mid-March, there's "been a massive demand ... for individually packaged items of absolutely everything," he said. In the first half of the year, sales of single-serve condiments like mayo, ketchup and salad dressings grew by 300% compared to the same time last year, he noted.
Pizza Spice Packet, which sells individual packets of garlic powder, Parmesan cheese, red pepper and other pizza spices, has also seen a spike in demand.
"We've seen an incredible, significant increase in [business to business] sales due to the unprecedented demand in the single-serve condiment packets," said David New, the company's CEO. "We're just trying to keep up with demand," he added. "It's been a really crazy time for us."
He said the packets, which are not recyclable, are less wasteful than individual plastic cups for sauces and the company is working on a biodegradable version of its product.
The uptick could continue into the future.
McCormick & Company is planning to increase the amount of single-serve spices it makes in order to accommodate new restaurant guidelines.
"As many places will be moving away from tabletop condiments, we are pivoting to portion-controlled packaging for dining and carryout," said CEO Lawrence Kurzius during a recent analyst call discussing the company's second-quarter financial results. "We're also exploring other options to expand our portion-controlled offering further." McCormick's single-serve dip cups are recyclable, and its single-serve sachets will be fully recyclable by 2025, a company representative told CNN Business in an email.
"If there is a significant presence of virus in the US, single-serve packaging for condiments should pick up materially in the coming months," predicted David Driscoll, an analyst covering packaged food at DD Research.
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You are here: Home / The opening of the new HOME Art and Cultural House is another step in Manchester's economic and social regeneration.
The opening of the new HOME Art and Cultural House is another step in Manchester's economic and social regeneration.
Manchester is achieving a social and economic renaissance with a multi-faceted strategy that includes science and innovation in partnership with its universities and culture through new arts facilities, building on the successful extension of the Manchester Art Gallery designed by Hopkins Architects and completed over a decade ago and HOME, the new £25m arts centre which opened this week to rehouse the Cornerhouse cinema and gallery and the Library theatre company.
The HOME Art and Culture House, designed by Dutch architects Mecanoo and incorporating four listed viaduct arches into the design, is the first stage in the transformation of the southwest part of inner Manchester into a vibrant cultural district.
Mecanoo, who are also architects for the The University of Manchester's new £200 million Engineering Campus, sought to accommodate the arts functions on the constrained site with spacious foyer and circulation areas housed in a distinctive building with a triangular shape with curved corners and a dynamic facade of vertical slats.
The spacious foyers, finished in natural materials – concrete, timber and glass, overlook the adjacent square while a terrace connects the square with the theatre café. The entrance to 550-seat theatre is on the ground floor with a small theatre and restaurant on the first floor and cinemas and a roof terrace on the second floor. The timber staircase is a unifying feature that rises through the building. HOME is also energy efficient and has achieved a BREEAM Very Good rating
The first theatre production is The Funfair, Simon Stephens's new version of the 1932 Hungarian play Kasimir and Karoline, which is set in modern-day Manchester. Stephens has compared the current "optimism and energy" in Manchester's theatres with the city's music scene in the 1980s: "It comes at a time when Manchester's theatre is increasingly confident….I think it's remarkable, and I think Home will crystallise that. There's a whole generation of writers, actors and directors who can't afford to live in London any more because it's becoming prohibitively expensive. They're moving to Birmingham, they're moving to Cardiff, and in their handfuls they're moving to Manchester. I think this has the potential to be the most exciting theatre city in the UK." (Simon Stephens)
The next stage in this cultural regeneration is a new £78 million theatre and arts venue is to be built on the former site of Granada's TV studios, to be called The Factory, in homage to the city's legendary Factory Records label, and which will house a "large scale, ultra-flexible arts space" that would hold 2,200 people when seated, or 5,000 standing and, when it opens in 2019, will provide a permanent home for the Manchester International Festival (MIF).
The Factory will be "a new kind of large-scale venue comparable in scale to London's Coliseum connected to one side of a Tate Modern Turbine Hall-type structure. As well as providing a new home base for MIF, it will commission and welcome innovative works from companies and artists around the world. Like MIF, it will attract groundbreaking and pioneering works which might not otherwise come to the north of England, or even the UK, and the concept is in many ways born from MIF." (MIF chairman and Chancellor of Manchester University Tom Bloxham)
Earlier this year, Mecanoo announced that in order to support the growing number of projects in the region, the practice was moving into larger office on Princess Street, a sign of its commitment to the Great Manchester area and the UK as a whole.
"International experience and local presence, fresh thinking and new ideas are embraced here in Manchester and the North West. We have found being based locally is essential to allow for a strong client engagement and collaboration. The North West has become a second home to Mecanoo." (Francesco Veenstra)
Photographs from Mecanoo.
Posted in Architecture, Art, Sustainability | Tagged Arts Centre, cinemas, cultural facilities, Manchester, Mecanoo, regeneration, theatres


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Even as a little kid who enjoyed little kid things like action figures, I used Star Wars and its middle school mythos as a sort of unconscious personal litmus test to decide whether or not a person was lame, banal, and/or otherwise annoying. Although I had yet to see any of the films as a young kid because I was absolutely repelled by what little I did know about them and did not want to endure a movie with a retard-sounding hairy dog-man and a green midget alien with big ears that resembled a cross between an elderly shtetl bum and a giant booger, I became painfully aware at an early age that the bigger the Star Wars fan, the more likely person was completely insufferable and/or autistic. When I finally got around to seeing Lucas' first film in the franchise after being forced to watch it in a high school film class (!), I was somewhat shocked that it was not nearly as horrendous as I expected it to be, though I was equally surprised that such a decidedly derivative, hokey, and somewhat sloppy piece of seemingly asexual pseudo-spiritual celluloid had become so absurdly popular, at least until I realized that it owed a good portion of its fame to strategic merchandising, which Lucas would indubitably become the grand Dark Lord of the Sith of as a man that sired a virtual consumer religion with its own gods and pseudo-biblical tales and parables, thereupon turning an entire generation of American youth into materialistic zombies that worshiped Luke Skywalker as their Christ and could use Darth Vader as an excuse to hate their more masculine fathers (not surprisingly, as detailed in Easy Riders, Raging Bulls (1998) by Peter Biskind, Lucas loathed his father, who once described his son as a "scrawny little devil"). The intentional sellout picture of a failed avant-garde filmmaker who once gleefully stated, "Emotionally involving the audience is easy. Anybody can do it blindfolded, get a little kitten and have some guy wring its neck," Star Wars is cinema as a calculated consumer good and a work that, aside from Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975), has done more than any other film to destroy American cinema and turn it into an industry that produces feature-length commercials for a seemingly endless array of autism-inducing consumer products ranging from children's underwear to Band-Aids to diapers. Indeed, as Paul Schrader—a true auteur filmmaker that is one of the very filmmakers of his generation to never completely sellout and give up on making personal films—once stated regarding the film and its decidedly deleterious effect on the auteur oriented New Hollywood movement, "STAR WARS was the film that ate the heart and the soul of Hollywood. It created the big budget comic book mentality." Undoubtedly, there are many reasons to hate the film, including its black-and-white cardboard morality, idiotically idealistic and delusional emphasis on the perennial triumph of good over evil, conspicuously castrated view of love and sexuality, beta-boy father complex themes, and cinematically sacrilegious fan-boy jerk-off nods to much superior works ranging from Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927) to Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress (1958), but arguably the most heinous and unforgivable thing about Star Wars it is that it peddles feel-good lies to children and sets them up for psychological defeat and/or disappoint once they realize that life is not nearly as simple or magical as the film(s) so shamelessly depicts.
Of course, the franchise only got all the more phony and irredeemable when it was Judaized after being sold to Disney, with Hebraic hack J.J. Abrams' Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015) being the most radically retarded and anti-reality one yet as a soulless and sapless social justice warrior orgy where a singularly vapid all-competent-ingénue is the most immaculate and powerful person in the entire universe despite having nil training or personal experience and a burly black brother with a bad case of prognathism is naturally said all-competent-ingénue's right-hand negro man (interestingly, Lucas has gone on to describe to bash the new film and its creators and describe kosher culture-distorters Bob Iger and Abrams as "white slavers," thereupon potentially alluding to Jewry's long tradition of slave-trading, including in contemporary Israel where Eastern Europe girls are a great unkosher delicacy). Of course, when I recently happened upon a sort of low-budget arthouse-ish anti-Star Wars, I naturally found myself completely embracing it, even if it is French. Indeed, the French dystopian sci-fi short Star Suburb: La banlieue des étoiles (1983) directed by one-time auteur Stéphane Drouot tells the sad yet sardonic and socially scathing tale of a teenage girl that lives in a French orbital suburb in outerspace who, after flipping through an American magazine, fantasizes that she is a glamorous Princess Leia-like figure, only for her to suffer a catastrophic mental meltdown after he dreams are squashed when reality sets in. Notably, I discovered the film by accident after doing some research on Gaspar Noé and reading that it was one of his favorite films. In fact, Noé and his wife, arthouse filmmaker Lucile Hadžihalilović (La Bouche de Jean-Pierre, Innocence), were good friends with Drouot until his death in early 2012. Needless to say, as the same man that also introduced me to the criminally underrated Austrian serial killer flick Angst (1983) directed by Gerald Kargl and who regards Stanley Kubrick's magnum opus 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) as his all-time favorite film, I knew I could trust Noé's opinion on the film. Described by a Cahiers du cinéma writer as being like "ERASERHEAD and STAR WARS," Star Suburb was amazingly shot entirely in Drouot's apartment, with the auteur's then-girlfriend Sophie Herr (who also acted as a set designer) acting as a driving force of the production (the fact that Drouot only completely one film hints that she should have probably stayed with her). Despite his girlfriend's imperative influence, the film is indubitably a true auteur piece as a work that was written, directed, art directed, set decorated, and shot by Monsieur Drouot. Directed by a tragic momma's boy who never knew his father and strange social recluse who spent a good portion of his sad and pathetic life getting drunk and high in his apartment, Star Suburb not surprisingly depicts a fairly forlorn looking and highly introverted teenage girl that suffers from insomnia who ultimately breaks down in a fairly tragic way when he dreams are irrevocably shattered.
A film that earned its an auteur a coveted César Award—the French equivalent to an Oscar—for "Best Short Film – Fiction" (Meilleur court-métrage de fiction) in 1984 and various other awards, Star Suburb unequivocally demonstrated that Drouot was a talented young filmmaker with a distinct vision who had the capacity to bring a darker and more socially perceptive layer to the then-quite-vogue Cinéma du look movement. Notably, the filmmakers associated with the movement, including Jean-Jacques Beineix, Luc Besson and Leos Carax, were heavily aesthetically influenced by late era New Hollywood works, especially Francis Ford Coppola's super glossy and technically ambitious style-over-substance pieces One from the Heart (1982) and Rumble Fish (1983), so it is only fitting that Drouot would choose Stars Wars—a work that was more or less responsible for destroying the integrity of the American New Wave—as a film to ruthlessly deconstruct and smash to pieces. Indeed, Star Suburb is a somewhat covertly iconoclastic work that uses Star Wars imagery and motifs to savagely attack the sinister nature of Lucas-esque advertising and merchandising. In short, not only does Drouot's short demystify the fantasy and pageantry of the Lucasian celluloid universe, but it also reveals in a rather extreme way that Hollywood style advertising and merchandising instills highly deleterious dreams and expectations in young people that can only lead to them eventually encountering abject disappoint, or worse. A simultaneously cynical and pessimistic yet warm and empathetic work, Drouot's film is a short but sweet 27-minute coming-of-age sci-fi piece where the future looks like a fairly gloomy place, even for cutesy teenage girls.
Opening with a shoot of a desolate moon-like planet and then panning to a decidedly dystopian vision of a series of large cold and clinical looking neo-suburban housing blocks that are numbered and divided by nationality, the film then zooms in on the French quarters where a light is flickering in an almost throbbing fashion from one of the building's windows. From there, the viewer enters inside the window where a little frog girl named Mireille (Caroline Appéré, who is probably best known for her small role as a cashier in George Sluizer's Spoorloos (1988) aka The Vanishing) is rudely awakened by her growling pet mutant cat, which looks like the progeny of a rabid gremlin raping a kitty. While the protagonist lives in what is supposed to be a sort of futuristic suburb as indicated by the film's title, it seems more like a sterile hole-in-the-wall space-ghetto, as Mireille shares a conspicuously cramped room with multiple brothers (at least one of whom has large elf ears, thus hinting that humans have bred with extraterrestrials) that seems even smaller than a train car. When a light blinking all of the colors of the rainbow begins beaming into her room, Mireille stares at it while in a seemingly hypnotized state and then proceeds to exit her room and investigate. As indicated by the large black circles under her eyes, Mireille is an insomniac and she has a very tragic and melancholic essence about her that makes you immediately feel for her, as it is almost a tragic sight to see a cute girl that is so young and pure yet so sullen and wounded. After exiting her room, a large book flips open as if begging to be read, but Mireille does not take the hint and instead shuts it and sticks it back on a bookshelf. As the somewhat pretty yet pedomorphic teenage protagonist will soon demonstrate, she is only interested in reading magazine advertisements, as it provides her with a much needed source of escapism from a life that she seems to completely loathe. Indeed, after examining the water and pressure gauges of her suburban spacecraft, Mireille heads to the kitchen where she grabs a can of Coca-Cola style soda and a grotesque looking Oreo-cookie-colored burger that is wrapped in McDonalds-like packaging. Naturally, as a fast food addict, Mireille is also a loyal fan of trashy magazines that are full of sleazy suggestive advertising. While she lives in outerspace in a spaceship, Mireille's mind dwells in the idiotic imaginary fantasy realm of yellow press magazines, thus demonstrating that there is truly no escape from the pernicious influence of Hebraic mind-raper Edward Bernays.
While mindlessly chowing down on her less than organic looking burger, Mireille looks like she is in complete ecstasy as she carefully flips through a glamour magazine that features the headline: "Lydia's Wedding with Prince Xan." As is quite clear to anyone watching the film, Countess Lydia is a Princess Leia clone and Prince Xan is a sort of boyishly blond Luke Skywalker man-boy figure, albeit somewhat more aristocratic and unquestioning less obnoxious looking. Acting as if she has never seen any advertisements before, Mireille stares in fawning admiration at generic fast food, cigarette and lipstick ads. Undoubtedly, Mireille seems most impressed with an advertisement featuring Countess Lydia promoting futuristic IKEA-esque furniture that somewhat looks like the kaleidoscopic furnishings that were typical of 1970s French fuck flicks like Paul Vecchiali's erotic thriller Change Pas de Main (1975) aka Don't Change Hands and to a lesser extent Didier Philippe-Gérard's The Kinky Ladies of Bourbon Street (1976) aka Mes nuits avec... Alice, Pénélope, Arnold, Maud et Richard. Notably, a makeup ad for a company called "Royal" advertises its red lipstick as the, "Greatest Creation For Women." Rather pathetically, Mireille seems to completely believe the hype of the puffery-plagued advertising.
When a bunch of colorful lights begin beaming into the spaceship, Mireille becomes so petrified that she turns off the lights in the kitchen and briefly hides under a table. Upon investigating by looking out of a window, Mireille spots a dark red spaceship with "RK2" written on it and then proceeds to refer to her magazine, thereupon confirming her suspicions that it is a popular radio station that describes itself as the, "best radio in the galaxy." Naturally, Mireille then decides to turn on a radio to listen to RK2 where an English-language DJ with an American accent named Tobby reveals they are holding a "lightning window game" for "5,000 tokens." Indeed, the only thing that Mireille has to do to win the prize is turn on her light while the RK2 spaceship is hovering outside of her home. Naturally completely convinced that she will win the prize, Mireille then begins falling into a deep daydream that is indubitably the centerpiece of the film where she imagines that she is Countess Lydia and that she is literally inside the phony worlds featured in the advertisements that she admired in the magazine. Towards the end of the exceedingly ethereal and solacing yet nonetheless tacky dream-sequence, Mireille joins Prince Xan on his throne where he proceeds to gracefully put a wedding ring on her finger while members of the paparazzi snaps photographs of them. When the Prince Xan has a hard time placing the ring on Mireille's finger, the film then abruptly cuts back to reality and the female protagonist then proceeds to attempt to claim her prize. While Mireille manages to flash her lights in front of the RK2 spaccraft, she must also contact Tobby via telephone before she can officially win the prize, which ultimately proves to be an impossible task. Indeed, it seems that no one in Mireille's neo-lumpenprole family paid the phone bill.
Unfortunately, when Mireille attempts to phone RK2, she is quite distressed to discover that her phone line is down. Extremely upset that she might lose the prize, Mireille runs to her elderly overweight godmother's room and hysterically screams to her about how she won a radio contest, but cannot claim her prize because the phone line is down. Rather annoyed at being so rudely awakened at such a late hour, Mireille's godmother does not even pay attention to what the emotionally intemperate teen has to say and instead simply tries to fall back to sleep. Needless to say, Mireille completely breaks down when Tobby eventually announces that a woman named Mrs. Gloz from the Spanish building is the winner of the prize, thus completely destroying the protagonist's rather preposterous dreams about becoming an opulent and glamorous space princess. After announcing that Mrs. Gloz is the winner of the prize, Tobby quite fittingly plays a song entitled "The Chance of My Life" while Mireille sobs hysterically and then proceeds to hatefully scream the winner's name. In the end, Mireille pours a bowl of milk for her pet mutant kitty cat and then assumedly kills herself via electrocuting herself by putting an electric object that resembles a tiny lightsaber into a pot of water. Notably, in keeping in tune with the film's fairly potent light motif, the light flickers and then goes out after Mireille makes her seemingly successful attempt at self-slaughter. In a cute and lighthearted yet nonetheless vaguely haunting twist before Mireille's fairly melodramatic final act, the protagonist's godmother's husband is revealed to be a grotesque space alien that somewhat resembles the asexual extraterrestrial humanoid portrayed by Academy Award-winning negro Louis Gossett, Jr. in Wolfgang Petersen's Enemy Mine (1985). Unlike the lame crypto-commie message of inter-species harmony in Petersen's film, it is quite obvious while watching Star Suburb that Drouot saw America as a completely negative influence on France.
While winning a César Award and apparently beginning production on various more ambitious film projects, Stéphane Drouot never completed a single other film after Star Suburb and instead lead a considerably sad and pathetic life of perpetual stagnation that ended on January 22, 2012 when he died of complications relating to AIDS. Indeed, instead of pursuing a notable filmmaking career, Drouot contracted gay cancer and apparently spent much of his life battling alcoholism and drug addiction, among other problems. The sad thing is that, not unlike the female protagonist of Star Suburb, Drouot apparently began living in a fantasy world as a recluse with big dreams (including various failed projects, like an unfinished film entitled Johanna B.) but no means or drive to realize them. As a born bastard that never knew his father, Drouot also suffered from extreme Oedipal issues and apparently completely deteriorated after he mother died. If it were not for his young fan Gaspar Noé, who gave him cameo roles and 'honorary' credits in virtually all of his early films, Drouot would literally have no other film credits after his debut short. Aside from providing him with a 'film adviser' credit for his featurette Carne (1991) and a 'special thanks' credit for his first feature Seul contre tous (1998) aka I Stand Alone, Noé also provided Drouot with a cameo role at the beginning of Irréversible (2002) where Philippe 'The Butcher' Nahon has a drunken pseudo-philosophical conversation with him about incest. Admittedly, before even knowing anything about him, I assumed Drouot was some sort of real-life AIDS-ridden doper when I first saw this scene and I would have never suspected that he was ever an obscure cult filmmaker, but that just goes to show how bad a man can degenerate if he succumbs to defeat and drifts through life like a forsaken ghost. Of course, knowing this makes Star Suburb seem all the more haunting and prophetic, especially in regard to Drouot's atrocious fate.
Undoubtedly, if you need unequivocal proof that Drouot was not very sound of mind, Noé's minimalistic documentary short Intoxication (2002) is a must-see. Arguably the most seemingly pointless and uneventful film in Noé's entire oeuvre as a glaringly hastily assembled piece of painfully candid celluloid that would surely only interest fans of Star Suburb, the doc is nothing more than a single 5-minute master shot of Drouot, who resembles a deranged yet harmless and completely incapacitated junky hobo and whose apartment is cluttered with trash, staring at the ground while mumbling and taking AIDS medication. Intoxication is more or less a somewhat incoherent and longwinded stream-of-consciousness rant where Drouot attempts to explain why he has never made any other of films, stating, "…I'm taking this medication, a product that allows me to live with being HIV-positive, or with similar types of things […] 12 years ago, I directed a film thanks to an unbelievable producer, who, I was going to say 'also', died of AIDS, something that affected the completion of a complex production that lasted three years, a relationship that I wasn't able to establish with other producers, who were too quick to let me know that, since I had only directed two actors in that film, two actresses, I couldn't be responsible for a group of 40 characters and therefore couldn't make the films I was assigned to work on." Arguably the most bizarre thing Drouot states, especially considering his previous sci-fi short, is how he thinks he would be good at directing films with, "the obsessive vision of a woman who's 50 or 60 years old, or in the style of Chantal Akerman or of a few other directors, or women directors." Of course, then again, there is a sort of feminine essence to Star Suburb and I would not be surprised if the female protagonist—a seemingly melancholic dame with insomnia who literally loses all hope in life in a matter of mere minutes—was a sort of transexualized stand-in for the auteur. It is also interesting that Drouot mentions Akerman, as they both had extremely close yet troubled relationships with their mothers to the point where they more or less lost the will to live after their progenitor died.
Somewhat not surprisingly, upon doing research on Star Suburb, I could not find a single English language article or review on the film. Additionally, French-language writings on the film are also fairly scarce. Notably, one of the French comments about the filmmaker that that stuck up in my mind loosely translates as follows, "Stephane Drouot is one of the geniuses of France, like Rimbaud, Artaud, Baudelaire. The great poets, visionaries, artists are doomed to death today more than ever. He understood very quickly. His film is morally and politically an act of war against the annihilation of individuality by a totalitarian society already well established." Indeed, while I somewhat doubt that Drouot was an artistic heir of Rimbaud, a certain poetic sadness and hopelessness does permeate throughout Star Suburb that is quite fitting when one considers how the filmmaker lived the rest of his fairly lamentable life. Of course, to attack Star Wars in a retarded age where people look at the film franchise as a religion that is not to be questioned, Drouot also proved to be quite the iconoclast. Indeed, thankfully Star Suburb makes Mel Brooks' Spaceballs (1987) seem like a mindlessly masturbatory homage to Star Wars by comparison. Brought up in Americanized post-WWII France when ancient frog poets like Rimbaud and Baudelaire certainly could not compete with the frighteningly fraudulent fantasies of George Lucas, Drouot meticulously and obsessively assembled a film that feels like a haunting cry of desperation and disillusionment from an artist trapped in an absurdly artless age of cultural deracination, American cultural hegemony, and mass infantilization. Surely, the great irony of Drouot's films is that, were it not for its cynical references to Star Wars, probably no one would remember it today. Another great irony of the film is that Caroline Appéré makes for a much sexier Princess Leia than Carrie Fisher did, but I guess it would be unfair to compare American mischlings to French femmes. With its venomously bittersweet combination of pop chic aesthetics with a decidedly dejecting tone and patently pessimistic themes, Star Suburb is ultimately like the cinematic equivalent of a cyanide capsule wrapped in a Godiva chocolate bar wrapper. While Lucas' failed debut feature THX 1138 (1971) depicts a dystopian future where sex is illegal and everyone wears the same exact mundane uniform, little did he realize that he would help give birth to a very real nightmare involving masses of virginal middle-aged men that live in their parents' basement who wear t-shirts and collect toys based on a film that he made specifically for kids. Of course, Star Suburb depicts an even darker side to Lucas' legacy and, for that reason alone, I find it considerably more intriguing than any of the frog sci-fi flicks that were ever directed by punk avant-gardist F.J. Ossang or multicultural-friendly wimp Luc Besson. While it might be going too far to say that Drouot died for the sins of George Lucas, the failed French auteur ultimately did something more interesting by poetically exposing the cultural and cinematic sins of Star Wars, which is like the AIDS of world cinema, albeit more deceptive and less treatable.
I actually enjoyed the original Star Wars acting for what type of movie it was. As a kid I had seen Blade Runner on VHS before I saw Star Wars. That movie got me interested in Sci Fi and I remember it was also intriguing to see Harrison Ford again in a Sci Fi movie when I saw Star Wars. While the plot may have been a simple good vs bad guy movie I don't see the anti macho aspect as much as Ty E does. Han Solo had some cool aspects and even did things in the movie that probably would be considered rape today. Even Luke Skywalker is not what I would think of as a weak man. Now lets compare that to the Star Wars was just released. George Lucas is 100% right, the movie has been taken over by slavers and I think we all know their ethnicity. If you cant guess just watch the movie and see how they portray the men. The male characters in the recent movie are total losers. Even the colored guy is shown as stupid and dependent on that girl. The villain is even a loser. I don't think there is one strong male character in the entire movie. Even if one could argue Han Solo had something left in him (which he didn't) they killed him off anyway. In closing I did not dislike Star Wars originally as it seems Ty E did but that makes it all more terrible with this current sellout to Disney and their handlers. I will not be supporting the franchise anymore.


SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The Tower Bridge is being battered by debris, a dramatic example of just how powerful the winter storms have been. A floating wood and metal dock broke free somewhere upstream and slammed into the concrete support structure of the bridge.
"It could just jam up some equipment that's being used on the bridge," said Dennis Keaton with Caltrans.
Caltrans bridge inspectors say there doesn't appear to be any structural damage.
"They'll know more about it once they're able to get down there and take a look," Keaton said.
Eventually, a crew will be sent out on a boat to remove the debris, but the swift runoff is making it too dangerous to remove now.
"At this point, it has to do with the currents more than anything else. Not only are the river levels higher up on the banks, but with that brings stronger currents," Keaton said.
It's the latest example of UFOs, unidentified floating objects being washed downstream.
"This went up extremely fast," said Ross Billingsley, manager of Rio City Café.
He and has a waterfront view in Old Sacramento and has been monitoring the rapid rise of the river over the last two weeks.
"You come in the next day and it will be two, four feet higher when it's raining," he said.
He and his coworkers have seen some strange things float by.
"My manager actually told me a funny story, he saw a large mattress floating down the river," Billingsley said.
Anything in the water like boats, bridges, and docks are a potential target for debris.
"We've had a few trees that hit the Delta King that caused damage," Billingsley said.
It's not just a problem at Tower Bridge. The Paintersville Bridge in the delta also has a large mass of debris piled up against its abutment.
Caltrans says that while having an entire dock is unusual, debris accumulation is actually common this time of year and part of living in a river city.
"You know Mother Nature, there's not much you can do," Keaton said.
Another issue is that the bridge is stuck in the down position. Caltrans will have to wait until the bridge is fixed so it can bring in a boat big enough to remove the debris but can also fit under the bridge.


This post is part of a weekly series on YWP, aptly titled "The Writer's Weekly Wrap-Up".
Each Sunday, I will endeavour to provide you with a curated list of the best articles I have seen throughout the week that relate to building your platform.
I often like to use a 'learning to drive' analogy when giving authors hope that things will get easier as they embark on their book marketing and platform building journey.
You may have to reach back a bit (as I do), but I think most of you can recall your experience, excitement–and trepidation–when first learning to master the skills necessary to safely handle a 3500 lbs automobile.
At first, the number of things to know and apply is utterly overwhelming, and you wonder how you'll ever manage to make a left turn in rush hour traffic, or successfully merge onto a freeway before your lane runs out.
Hands at ten and two.
Adjust speed to road conditions.
Of course, you were a highly motivated teen–your freedom hanging in the balance. Failure was not an option (unless your best buddy already had wheels).
If you've just started working on your platform, hang in there.
Your motivation should be to get your book into the hands of your readers. And if you work at it now, building your platform will soon become second nature.
You'll wonder how you ever got from point A to point B without it!
Now on to the best of the best for this week.
Joe asks the 'experts' how, as creatives, we can satisfy both our own creative needs, while still fulfilling the needs or our readers.
Looking for reviewers for your self-published book? This may make your life a whole lot easier!
Need a book cover, logo or a design for a project you have on the go? Michael shares his experience and thoughts on crowdsourcing, and utilizing companies like 99 Designs.
Carol gives us a little tough love on why our attempts to 'catch the eye' of a top blogger with a mention in our post, can fall flat.
Should you offer customers a 'trial version' of your book? In this article, Nathan shows us how to setup a sample chapter giveaway and gives us tips on ways to promote it.
Linda's post is a great reminder that we sometimes waste energy focusing on things that are unnecessary and do nothing to advance our writing career.
Have you ever considered marketing your book as a startup rather than a book? Tim Ferris did. Find out how he did it, as well as what is a critical part of 2.0 book promotion.
Get some insider tips straight from the horse's mouth – or in this case, straight from a highly successful podcaster, blogger and author, Pat Flynn.
In this article, Rick gives a nice introduction to book marketing as well as some excellent advice.
Great walkthrough on how to set up a giveaway using Rafflecopter.
Hopefully this is not the situation for many of you, but I'm sure we've all at least received a skeptically raised eyebrow or two when telling someone we're a writer. Check out Derek's video on how to handle lack of support from the people closest to you.
Some great tips and tricks to help you create your email opt-in freebie, and start increasing those subscribers!
Derek does a little design myth-busting, and states that his views go "against common indie publishing rhetoric". He welcomes your opinion (or disagreement) on his advice.
Katherine gives a quick run down of yet another new program at Amazon.
Need a way to fill up your 'creative well' and gain a new perspective? Here's a list of fifty. Go get inspired!
Hope you've enjoyed this week's articles and have a clearer understanding of how to encourage your marketing 'habit'.
If you're still feeling overwhelmed, let me know what you are struggling with in the comments below.
Love the learning to drive analogy!
I learned to drive on a stuck shift and gave my Dad motion sickness every time we practiced 'the uphill start' (and probably took a few years off the clutch, too).
Starting something new is always a little painful, but keeping your eye on the prize and taking things one step at a time will get you to where you want to go.
Great articles, I always check out your weekly roundups but this is my first time commenting. I just couldn't resist the urge this time. Going to spend some time going through these articles now.
YWP is a very casual and welcoming community, so feel free to add your thoughts, experiences and questions anytime, Brian.
Enjoy wading through this week's line up!


tl;dr "I dont want to read your article, I want to download the code" : Skip to this section of the article for the link to the Github repository.
Lately I started using Last.fm a bit more thoroughly. For those who don't know what Last.fm is, it's a webstite that allows you to "scrobble" (log) every song you listen to.
It's cool because then you can have cool stats about your listening habits, but also discover new artists related to what you like (Spotify largely copied what Last.fm was doing, with the artist/album/song radio and "daily mix" playlists).
I was browsing the website and looking at what my friends were listening to, when suddenly I thought that it would be cool to be able to listen to what another user is listening to, at the same time. It's a cool way to discover new music while relying on someone's tastes isntead of the Spotify algorithms, that unfortunately often brings you the same songs that you already know too well.
I started googling, but unfortunately didn't find anything remotely close to what I was trying to do, except a very old website called "overhere" that apparently did the same thing, but is now long dead.
So I knew I had to do it myself.
After a few moments researching the Last.fm API and the Spotify API, I came to the conclusion it should be doable and reasonably easy to do.
I ended up doing it in Python, since it makes such little scripts easy and quick to code, and libraries were available to interact with the aforementionned APIs.
Basically, the program checks what a user (of your choice) is listening to on Last.fm, and if he/she is listening to a song, it will search for it on Spotify, and play it, if available. At the end of the song, it does it again. Rinse and repeat.
And voilà, you are listening along a Last.fm user, to the exact same songs, at the same time.
Everything needed is explained in the README.md file.


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New Adds: Shadow, serpentwithfeet, the Buttertones and more!
serpentwithfeet - blisters: Avantgarde, chilling, haunting - just some of the many words that come to mind when listening to isters, he latest and debut release from Baltimore-bred Josiah Wise, aka serpentwithfeet. blisters, coming in at just under 21 minutes, is a short trip into the world and style of his self-coined, "pagan gospel." It feels immersive and deep.
The EP opens with the title track, a reminder: his space is holy. Harps are effortlessly plucked, reverberating in a massively spaced track. White noise is faintly heard in the background as we are sucked in with his soft, calming vocals reminiscent of biblical hymns. "The darkness of the leaves has come/forgiveness has not." serpentwithfeet is a modern day prophet.
Themes of forgiveness, self-love, death and the long struggle of finding, if not always questioning, happiness are emoted in its entirety.
Even when he sing, "Dying/Dying" in "flickering" I'm still not sure whether to be concerned - his vocals are so pure, that even a subject so dark sounds angelic. He continues, "Take this body as yours/don't let me doubt you/I offer myself to you." Thematically, pain and loss testify to his experience, but more so explain stylistically his influences of neo-soul, Kirk Franklin, Tchaikovsky and opera.
"four ethers" is a stand out track. With help from producer, Haxan Cloax (Björk), serpentwithfeet cleverly constructed a song that works like a cinematic masterpiece. Dynamic crescendos and string pieces force listeners to stay attentive - or else you might just miss an intimate moment. Piercing phrases like, "Babe, I know you learned some fucked up shit from your mother/Had you tucking your dick/Had you hiding the shit that would have made you special/Show me yourself." A battle of queer self-love and acctance, told raight up.
It makes sense that we part our journey with a redemption song. "redemption" leaves us wondering, just like serpentwithfeet. He asks about salvation and the savior, how attainable the feelings is. Will he be saved? We don't know. The EP is frightening in the best way possible and comes off like performance art: it is complex and at times confusing, frustrating and over your head but hard to let go. Coming to terms with our internal/eternal truths and struggles is a timeless story, however, his provocative, alluring and almost erotic telling of the tale is unbelievably inviting. LANI
RIYL: Frank Ocean, James Fauntleroy, dvsn, Charlotte Day Wilson
Recommended Tracks: 3, 5
Shadow - Sweet Sweet Dreams: Thirty-two years after it's initial release, Sweet Sweet Dreams is finally receiving the re-pressing it deserves. With regular Discogs prices for the original LP reaching over $200 it was clear there was ample demand for this calypsonian disco classic.
Shadow's futuristic endeavor, packed full of sinister synth-riffs, sounds ahead of time especially for its 1984 release date. Shadow strived to create a music styling that would incorporate the mainstream commercial trend of disco without having to sacrifice his Trinidadian roots. The result is an innately unique release that should find its place in the music collection of any lover of rhythm, funk, disco, love, happiness, or smiling.
Stand-out tracks include the pulsating "D'Hardest" that provides the greatest amount of electronic disco pump. "Way, Way Out" is where one can find the most traditional of caribbean tracks with a closing melody that's downright chilling. "Let's Get It Together" provides another haunting display of groovy synth combinations that will have you dancing through graveyards in no time. RAMIRO
RIYL: Lord Shorty, Ebo Taylor
Recommended Tracks: 2, 3, 6, 7
Happy Apple - Please Refrain From Fronting: So, when, very late in the history of our planet, the incredible accident of life occurred, a balance was struck between order and chaos. The human correspondence of this dichotomy manifests itself as a balance of premeditated and improvised actions. In music, particularly the music formerly known as jazz, balancing free improvisation with pre-written motifs is paramount to the emotional depth and content of the music. From this perspective, every aspect of musical performance can be seen as a reflection of human life: improvised music is a commentary on how humans conduct themselves in the absence of rules or structure, while written music shows how we relate to the order around us.
We often have structure in life, as well as the ability to improvise within that structure, for example choosing what to eat for dinner, or where to sit in a classroom. However, we are sometimes forced into situations for which we are not prepared, requiring us to improvise to the fullest extent, exploring all the options available to us theoretically, while remaining grounded in the reality of the situation. In art, as in life, this is when the most beautiful moments occur: when our spiritual selves and our physical realities collide to form something new, something never before seen, something fresh and original. Although these moments have an inherently ephemeral quality, by recording them in some way, we can preserve a moment for future reflection, allowing it to be repeated- a repetition that naturally gives way again to order. Thus, it is not only art that mirrors life, but the recording of that art as well.
Few artists today understand these dichotomies of order and chaos, structure and improvisation, ephemerality and repetition, and exploring possibilities while maintaining a realist foundation to the extent of drummer Dave King, as seen in his lectures at Lawrence University and the Walker Art Center, as well as his TV series Rational Funk with Dave King, Runnin' and Gunnin' With Ron Miles, and Lights Cameron Jackson. King's partners in Happy Apple, bassist Erik Fratzke and saxophonist Michael Lewis are themselves iconoclastic musicians each with a uniquely philosophical take on their work, resulting in a band that combines great tension and raucousness with moments of serenity and peace. Much of Minnesota's current improvised music scene, from John Raymond and Chris Morrissey to Mancrush and Craig Taborn, owes its sound to Happy Apple's innovations and deep philosophical considerations of the music they create.
What is life if not a series of moments too recent or powerful to be forgotten? What is a moment if not that which connects the future and past, too fleeting to be appreciated, too precious to be ignored? How better to define structure than by exploring all that lies outside of it? What is our purpose if not to create that which has never before been created and never can be recreated? And after years of struggle, we find that all thought tends towards the most profound: the consideration of whether existence actually has meaning or not, in other words, is this a joke? JATIN
RIYL: The Bad Plus, BADBADNOTGOOD, Keith Jarrett American Quartet
Recommended Tracks: 1, 3, 6, 7, 9
Drake - More Life: At this point in his career, I don't really know how I feel about Drake. I loathe pretty much all of his albums, but the singles he's dropped in between these projects, especially non-album bangers like "Sneakin'," "0 to 100," and "Back to Back," have kept me interested in the work of the king as he sits atop his throne.
But, what initially intrigued me about More Life wasn't so much its music, but its branding. I was hoping that the release of a "playlist" instead of an album would lead to the tighter, more concise, nothing-but-the-hits kind of project I've wanted Drake to drop from the beginning. Sometimes More Life hits these highs; other times, I can't help but feel like it was a missed opportunity.
Let's get the negatives out of the way first; this album is too long. Way too long. This is a bone I have to pick with every Drake album, but I was hoping that the alternative approach Drake seemed to be taking here would lead to a lot of the subpar tracks being left on the cutting room floor. However, this album is over 80 minutes long, and a lot of the tracks, while not bad, don't feel essential enough to warrant inclusion. Overly long albums are one of my biggest musical pet peeves, and on More Life, Drake continues to test my patience.
Also, this thing is an album. It's not a playlist. Drake is on all of the songs but two ("Skepta Interlude" and "4422" with Sampha, which is ironically, one of the highlights of the album). The presentation that initially fascinated me about this album ended up being as fake as the love that Drake raps about on this album's lead single.
That all being said, though, I'm actually not super down on this album. Yeah, it's aggravating that Drake seems to think that he's the shit so much that he can consistently justify putting out 80-minute side projects, but there are real highlights on here. "Free Smoke" is a burner of an opener. "Get it Together" and "Passionfruit" are super fun and funky tracks with great beats. "4422" is hauntingly beautiful, and its encouraging to see Sampha getting high profile spots on big albums. And even though "Fake Love" is everywhere right now, I think it's deserved. That song is a a great distillation of everything that Drake does well. I'm just disappointed because I see enough content here for a great 45-minute album, and I wish that Drake had put that album out instead- or at the very least was honest about the kind of project he was making. JACK
RIYL: It's Drake. Listen to it if you like Drake
Recommended Tracks: 1, 3, 5, 8, 20
Power Trip - Nightmare Logic: Power Trip is an up-and-coming five piece thrash metal group hailing from Dallas, Texas. After a long wait since their debut in 2013, their second album, Nightmare Logic, makes a beautifully worthy homage to the "Big Four": Slayer, Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax. The influence is undeniable, and some old-school metal fans will consider this record an unnecessary addition to a genre saturated with classic goodies. I would say that's the impression you might get if you only listen to snippets of the album. Further listening will reveal that in Nightmare Logic, Power Trip has actually smoothly blended elements of all the original Forefathers of Thrash and created their own unique sound. Nightmare Logic will hit you with nostalgia time and time again, and you'll keep coming back because it's just original enough to be intriguing. Luckily, this album isn't a difficult read. If you enjoy blistering thrash riffs mixed with headbanging unholy breakdowns, Nightmare Logic will hit the spot. CHRISTIAN
RIYL: Slayer, Metallica, Anthrax
Recommended Tracks: 1, 4, 6
The Buttertones - Gravedigging: Anyone who knows me knows that I adore The Buttertones, and this album reinforced that adoration. The local band was formed by bassist Sean Redman (previously of Cherry Glazerr), lead singer and guitarist Richard Araiza, and drummer Modesto Cobian in 2011. Then, Araiza brought in guitarist Dakota Boettcher (who, incidentally is dating the former drummer of Cherry Glazerr), and sax player/handsome devil London Guzman joined the group and The Buttertones were born.
From the first licks of the guitar in "Pistol Whip," I was totally drawn in. Reminiscent of The Clash's surfier moments in this opening track, the driving rhythm guitar chords lead into sax player London Guzman's flourishes wonderfully. Totally spooky and ominous, this track definitely sets the tone for the album as a whole, which is more of a series of cinematic vignettes than anything else. The galloping percussion in "Neon Cowboy" is a tribute to old westerns, along with the back up vocals which are decidedly ghostlike and foreboding.
Frontman and heartthrob Richard Araiza's voice is the best it has ever been in this album. He explores his range and is far more expressive here than in previous projects. From the passionate screaming at the end of "Two-Headed Shark," to the Tiny Tim-esque humming in "Matador," Araiza has come into his own and has no qualms about using his voice as an instrument in its own right. As each song has its own micro-theme, Araiza's voice seems to adopt a character to suit each song's story.
Gravedigging displays the Buttertones' depth and creativity in a way past albums have been unable to do. I am very psyched to see them perform these new tracks ASAP. VIRGINIA (Guest DJ Review)
RIYL: The Clash, Slow Hollows, The Beach Boys
Recommended: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8,
Listen to our New Adds Highlights on Spotify HERE:
Tagged: Drake, the buttertones, serpentwithfeet, shadow, Please Refrain From Fronting, Power Trip, new music
Show Review: Electric Guest
Show Review: The Orwells


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2020 – Striking Junior Doctors Hope To Bury Hatchet And Resume Work
3rd January 2020 Zimbabwe
By Thandiwe Garusa
HUNDREDS of Zimbabwe public hospital junior doctors who are on strike over better salaries and working conditions, remain hopeful that government will finally engage them for meaningful dialogue to end the four-month impasse between the parties.
Junior doctors downed their tools in September 2019, demanding that their salaries be pegged in US dollars, better working conditions and for government to provide the country's hospitals with new equipment and medicines.
In response to the doctors' demands, government decided to dismiss over 400 professionals and only a paltry 46 of them, were allowed to resume duty, according to media reports late last year.
However, the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA) which has spearheaded the crippling job action said Thursday, it was now time both government and the striking staff bury the hatchet and engage in fruitful discussion.
The ZHDA went on to concede that 2019 had been "tough year for the entire profession".
"2020 is the year that as the ZHDA, we are hopeful that a solution will be finally found through dialogue and continuous engagement with all interested stakeholders," ZDHA said.
"The ZHDA remains committed to advocating for the improvement of conditions of services and for the best treatment outcomes for our patients. We are committed to promote dialogue between medical professionals and policy makers.
"As a labour movement, the ZHDA takes pride in representing all government doctors on issues concerning their welfare and the promotion of a healthy working environment," the ZHDA said.
Last month, the junior doctors also rejected an offer made by billionaire businessman and Econet founder Strive Masiyiwa of giving each doctor a $5 000 monthly incentive, transport and lunch for six months. The incentive was being availed through Masiwa's philanthropic organisation, the Highlife Foundation.
However, the government has since indicated that it is recruiting doctors from China and Cuba to fill up the vacuum left by the striking doctors.


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Published On: Mon, Jan 30th, 2017
Region | By Edition
Environmental tax about to take effect in Guyana
The levy will be charged on every non-returnable unit of metal, plastic or glass container of any alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage or water.
GEORGETOWN - Consumers in Guyana are bracing for a possible price hike on local and imported beverages this week as the Government's new $10 tax on non-returnable containers takes effect on Wednesday.
According to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), the Customs Act provides for the levy to be charged on every non-returnable unit of metal, plastic or glass container of any alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage or water.
"The levy . . . will be applicable to non-returnable units imported, locally manufactured or produced in Guyana," the GRA said in a statement.
Authorities say the levy is an important move as Guyana transforms into a more sustainable, green economy.
"[It] is in keeping with government's broad agenda to promote a green economy and protect the environment," the tax agency said, pointing out that the levy applies across the board, "whether they are imported and not warehoused or imported and removed from a warehouse, factory, bond or other place of storage".
Exports will however not be subjected to the Environmental Levy.
According to Demerara Waves, the previously imposed Environmental Levy on imported beverages, including those made in sister Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member states, had been deemed by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as discriminatory and in violation of regional trade rules, because local companies had not been charged the tax.
As a result, the Surinamese beverage company, Rudisa Beverages and Juices NV secured a CCJ judgment for Guyana to repay US$6 million in environmental tax that had been paid.
CaribbeanEnvironmentGuyanaRegion
Labour Overview 2018: Unemployment in Latin America and the Caribbean down slightly in 2018
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Genuine 74011665 Jenn-Air Range Knob Burner (dual). Part Number 74011665 replaces 1189207, AH2088959, EA2088959, PS2088959. Whirlpool brands include Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Amana, Magic Chef, Admiral, Norge, Roper, and others. Your satisfaction is our goal. Our guarantee doesnt cover ordinary wear and tear or damage caused by improper use or accidents. Put the original packing slip in the package. Pack your return securely in the original packaging or your own packaging. Use the return-address label printed on the packing slip or make your own and tape it to the package.
We response to all questions and concerns within 24 hours. Once you have received your item, please leave us your feedback, as this will inform us that you have received your items. When you shop with us, you'll choose from factory certified parts at great prices. But that's just the beginning. We also carry a vast inventory of: main boards, switches, gaskets, motors, pumps and more.
And we intend to continue serving you. The item "Genuine 74011665 Jenn-Air Range Knob Burner (dual)" is in sale since Sunday, February 01, 2015. This item is in the category "Home & Garden\Major Appliances\Ranges & Cooking Appliances\Parts & Accessories". The seller is "overdealz" and is located in Los Angeles, California.


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Q: How to keep css block in the same position on window resize? So I have a block  and it should keep it's place and proportions to fit background so when I resize the window, the block resizes aswell but background and block do resize in different ways.
html,body {
    height:100%;
    width:100%;
}

body {
    top: 0;
    left: 0;
    position: fixed;
    width: 100%;
    height: 100%;

    background: url('../img/mainpage/555.png') no-repeat center center fixed;
    -webkit-background-size: cover;
    -moz-background-size: cover;
    -o-background-size: cover;
    background-size: cover;
}

a#easttoplink {
    position:relative;
    display:block;
    left:40%;
    top:26.5%;
    background-color: #00ff00;
    opacity: 0.3;
    width:21.5%;
    height:4%;
}
a#easttoplink:hover {
    opacity:0.7;
    background-color: #ffff00;
}

A: Made it that way:
CSS
#wrapper {
    position: absolute;
    top: 50%;
    margin-top: -25%;/* half of #content height*/
    left: 0;
    width: 100%;

}
#container {
    position: relative;
    width:100%;
    display: inline-block;
    margin: auto auto;
}
#container:after {
    padding-top: 56.25%;
    display: block;
    content: '';
    overflow:hidden;
}

Wrapper is a  outside the #container


One longstanding bug with joining Mac workstations to Active Directory is mysteriously, for reasons I have yet to pinpoint, a Mac will become unbound from the AD… but the Mac gives no indication that the binding has been lost. A green dot will continue to show when viewing the Network account Server status, instead of a red dot indicating a communication failure.
Typically the user of the Mac will not be aware they've lost AD binding until their AD password expires. Often times this leads to the AD and Mac passwords getting out of sync, the user possibly getting locked out of their Mac, and a variety of Keychain problems. Most of the time you can un-join and re-join the Mac to AD, and the user account will start working again after fiddling with the Keychain, but there are scenarios that can cause data loss if the process isn't done correctly. The un-join/re-join process also requires knowing an AD network administrator's credentials, and it must be done while logged in using a local admin account. It is not easy to perform remotely.
This AD issue is interment and might only occur once or twice over the lifespan of the Mac, or may never surface at all.
The id command will return details about the identity of the logged in user, including all the groups they are a member of. If you only see OS X groups, and don't see AD groups, then the Mac is not joined to AD.
If the Terminal responds "no such user", and you're sure this account exists in AD, then the Mac is not joined to AD.
For our clients that have Mac workstations joined to AD, I can see this as a beneficial command to run during proactive All Covered onsite visits. If a Mac is found to be unbound, the engineer can correct the problem before it becomes a bigger one later.