Home » movie buzz » question of the day: What's the weirdest movie or TV product tie-in you can imagine?
I thought the IHOP/Despicable Me connection was a tenuous one — you may have seen the ads on American TV in which little yellow blobby Minions are chowing down on pancakes — but even if IHOP is disgusting, at least there's something endlessly cute about watching Minions do anything.
But MasterCard prepaid credit cards featuring the characters of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (from Risky Business via Cinematical). Selling cheap replicas of Edward's engagement ring present to Bella makes sense, but credit cards? Because we're not indocrinating our children well enough into the use of plastic?
As International Promotions president Linda Swick recounts: "With the first film, there was no advertising budget for the C30, so when Volvo received a spike in sales, they realized it correlated with the release of the Twilight movie and, later, the DVD." Between increased sales and increased traffic in the dealerships, Volvo realized that Stephenie Meyer had written the company one hell of a marketing gift.
I would be shocked if they didn't take it to the next level and find a way to have an exclusive Twilight-customized satellite/electronic system. If Edward simply driving a Volvo can inspire a spike in sales with no marketing push, imagine what would happen if their line had the sparkly Cullen, hairy wolves, and human Swans in the mix. As I mused before, Alice would share weather and traffic, while Edward griped about recklessness. Maybe Jacob controls the heat, Charlie tells you to slow down when you're speeding (since radar detectors aren't quite kosher), Rosalie takes care of diagnostics, Carlisle handles the emergency alert system … they could even get Renesmee involved with some small, laptop-like camera that takes pictures inside the cabin.
It's an idea so crazy that it just might work.
What's the weirdest movie or TV product tie-in you can imagine?
I'm a little terrified to see what you'll come up with.


text:
package org.unipop.query.search;

import org.apache.tinkerpop.gremlin.process.traversal.Order;
import org.apache.tinkerpop.gremlin.process.traversal.Traversal;
import org.apache.tinkerpop.gremlin.structure.Direction;
import org.apache.tinkerpop.gremlin.structure.Edge;
import org.apache.tinkerpop.gremlin.structure.Vertex;
import org.javatuples.Pair;
import org.unipop.query.StepDescriptor;
import org.unipop.query.VertexQuery;
import org.unipop.query.controller.UniQueryController;
import org.unipop.query.predicates.PredicatesHolder;

import java.util.Iterator;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Set;

public class SearchVertexQuery extends SearchQuery<Edge> implements VertexQuery {

    private final List<Vertex> vertices;
    private final Direction direction;

    public SearchVertexQuery(Class<Edge> returnType, List<Vertex> vertices, Direction direction, PredicatesHolder predicates, int limit, Set<String> propertyKeys, List<Pair<String, Order>> orders, StepDescriptor stepDescriptor, Traversal traversal) {
        super(returnType, predicates, limit, propertyKeys, orders, stepDescriptor, traversal);
        this.vertices = vertices;
        this.direction = direction;
    }

    @Override
    public List<Vertex> getVertices() {
        return vertices;
    }

    @Override
    public Direction getDirection() {
        return direction;
    }

    public interface SearchVertexController extends UniQueryController {
        Iterator<Edge> search(SearchVertexQuery uniQuery);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean test(Edge element, PredicatesHolder predicates) {
        boolean edgePredicates = super.test(element, predicates);
        if (!edgePredicates) return false;
        if (direction.equals(Direction.OUT) || direction.equals(Direction.BOTH)) {
            if (vertices.contains(element.outVertex())) return true;
        }
        if (direction.equals(Direction.IN) || direction.equals(Direction.BOTH)) {
            if (vertices.contains(element.inVertex())) return true;
        }
        return false;
    }

    @Override
    public String toString() {
        return "SearchVertexQuery{" +
                "vertices=" + vertices +
                ", direction=" + direction +
                '}';
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Watch the Microsoft E3 Press Conference Right Here!
Home / Watch the Microsoft E3 Press Conference Right Here!
Here is Microsoft's E3 2015 Press Conference.
Senior Editor Alex Quevedo covered the event here.


text:
No One Will be Forced to Take Covid-19 Vaccine, No Need to Inoculate 1.3 Billion People: Govt Sources
Sneha Mordani
Highly placed sources within the Union Health Ministry have told News18 that there will not be any attempt to vaccinate people against COVID-19 if they do not wish to do so.
"This is a democracy. Even if you are in a priority group and have been identified as a vulnerable person, you will not be forced to take a vaccine," a source said on the condition of anonymity.
'NO NEED TO INOCULATE 1.3 BILLION PEOPLE'
The government has also said that it will not inoculate the entire country against coronavirus. This means priority groups would be inoculated with government support, while healthy adults without any underlying health conditions would have to buy the vaccine like any other medical product.
"The government never spoke about vaccinating the entire country. It is important to get factual information on these things," said Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan at a press briefing on Tuesday.
"The purpose is to break the chain of entire transmission. If we can vaccinate some and do that we will," said Professor Balram Bhargava, Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
"Masks should continue to be used even after vaccines. Possible that if we reach a critical mass, not everybody will need to be vaccinated," Bhargava added.
Discussion is also underway on whether those already infected and those who have developed anti-bodies would need vaccines.
Responding to a question on the government's strategy on whether there is any need to vaccinate those who have been carriers of the virus SARS CoV-2, the ICMR said this involves two things. One, if patients of COVID-19 can have an adverse effect after vaccination. Second, there is a need to spare vaccines. Both issues are under deliberation.
"The national expert group on vaccine administration is debating on whether people who have got the disease should be vaccinated. No decision has been taken on this yet," said Bhushan.
Bihar ministers might be involved in IndiGo manager murder case: Tejashwi Yadav
Patna (Bihar) [India], January 16 (ANI): Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav has said that rumours have been circulating that ministers in the Bihar government might be involved in the murder of the IndiGo airlines manager Rupesh Kumar Singh.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Dunmow and District Horticultural Society is a friendly society for anyone interested in gardening. You don't have to be an expert, just want to get together with people who share your interest.
We hold regular monthly meeting covering a range of topics to suit all interests. These are held on the 4th Wednesday of the month at Foakes Hall. Visitors are always welcome, so come along and say hello. You don't need to let anyone know, just come along and see what its all about.
During the summer there is a programme of outings to gardens, and other places of interest, and of course we make sure we leave room for a Christmas party.
If you fancy showing off your garden produce, flowers, handicrafts or cooking then you may want to enter something in our annual shows. Don't worry if you haven't entered a horticultural show before, its all about having fun and giving it a go. Entry is free and open to members and non-members so why not give it a go.
7.30pm start at Foakes Hall Great Dunmow.
23rd March 2019 at Foakes Hall, Great Dunmow. Doors open at 2pm.
See more information about exhibiting or visiting the show here.


SmartWipes are J type cleaning cloths made from recycled cotton to give them features not found in paper or cellulose based cleaning wipes.
SmartWipe cleaning cloths are soft, non-abrasive and open textured to enable them to pick up 5 times their weight of water.
SmartWipe cleaning cloths are washable, reusable and keep their strength when wet.
SmartWipes cleaning cloths decompose in landfill.
SmartWipes are available in packs of 50 or in rolls of 300 sheets. They come in 4 colours for applications where colour coding is important.


In his recent article, Iran at a Crossroad in 2017, my former colleague Jose Luis Masegosa (who I had a privilege working with at the OSCE in Bosnia) analyses the internal political dynamics in Iran, viewed through the lenses of the forthcoming presidential elections scheduled for May, 2017. This is a timely attempt to look closely at one of the critical events to follow this year. The outcome of the election has a potential to influence not only the internal policies of Iran but to shape political and security processes much beyond its geographic boundaries–including geopolitical dynamics in the Middle East region and the global security arrangements, for many years to come.
To understand the intricacy of developments in Iran, one has to employ the notion of complex systems. The complexity here derives from "multiple actors pursuing a multiplicity of actions and initiatives at numerous levels of social relationships in an interdependent setting at the same time. Complexity emerges from multiplicity, interdependency and simultaneity." Sounds as something overwhelming, does it not? But that is not all. What makes the analysis and political forecasts even more difficult is that, being a complex system in and by itself (it is enough to note that Iran is a theocratic state with quite a significant modern democratic element in its constitution), Iran is a key component of another, highly complex system that is Middle East and North Africa region. And all of this at the most volatile and uncertain time in decades when the old, post-Second World War global governance is no more effective, while a new world order has yet to take its final shape.
In such a setting, it is important to understand the drivers (ideas and motivations) and decisions taken in each component by its multiple agents; but, even more importantly, the interaction between those connected yet still independently varying components—such as internal political processes in Iran and its neighbouring countries (particularly its rivals Saudi Arabia and Israel, but also increasingly Turkey); proxies and proxy wars in Syria, Iraq, Yemen; and foreign policies and regional ambitions of such global players as the United States and Russia; along with non-state actors that seem to become regular players, such as Islamist militants and terrorist organisations (in first hand, al-Qaeda and ISIL).
The article of Jose Luis Masegosa focuses on the internal politics of Iran, particularly on the rivalry between pro-reform forces led by the incumbent President Hassan Rouhani and principlist conservative groups (frequently referred to in Western literature as "hardliners") close to Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamanei. The outcome, whatever seemingly favourable for the former forces, is vastly unclear at this point in time, and I dare to guess, will remain so up until the Election Day (which seems to be new normal, if to consider the recent Brexit and US Election 2016 surprises). As the author points out, it will largely depend on the Middle East policy of new US administration and its commitment to respecting the nuclear agreement (also known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA) signed between Iran and six world powers back in 2015.
So far, the indication of the future policy of Trump administration point to rather hard line against Iran (but not necessarily dismantling the JCPOA; at least not so overtly) and more reliance on its rivals–Saudi Arabia led coalition of Arab Gulf States and Israel. This has not gone unnoticed in Tehran, where both reformists and conservatives are closely following each and every statement of the new US President and his defence and security aides. And in the meantime, both camps are getting prepared for an epic battle at the ballot box, in a couple of month period.
While President Rouhani puts maximum effort in getting as much as possible benefits from the opportunities opened up thanks to the nuclear deal and in demonstrating some tangible economic improvements, his opponents are consolidating their ranks: Last week, the Popular Front of Islamic Revolutionary Forces, a coalition of conservative groups, has nominated ten "semi-finalists" for a single candidate (among them such prominent figures as Astan Quds Razavi Foundation Head and Assembly of Experts member Ebrahim Raisi; Expediency Discernment Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaee; Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf; senior former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili; and former parliamentarian Ali Reza Zakani).
One of interesting points made in the article of Jose Luis Masegosa is that this year's election occurs in the broader environment of generational change in Iran. In terms of demographics, the fact that 60 percent of the country's population are the young people under 30 years of age means that majority of polity, and thus significant part of the voter base, are people who were born in the Islamic Republic and do not have a point of reference to the Shah regime. Another observation of the author related to generational shift is that the leadership of Iran that has been comprised of politicians who ran the 1979 Revolution and established the Islamic Republic under the leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini is shrinking—the death of Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani is the latest loss among the old guard.
Whether present political elite (including theocratic leadership and the Supreme Leader himself) will be replaced in the coming years by more moderate politicians or by more aggressive actors (such as former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) of the younger cohort remains largely uncertain, and will depend on a host of internal and external factors and their combination and interplay at any given point in time. That is what complexity is about… so do not believe anyone who claims that they know what is going to happen in the next year—they are either manipulators or totally ignorant (or both).
How the Iranians will decide to secure the safe passage between the past and the future, without sacrificing either tradition or aspirations? And how do they see that future? That is the question of all questions for Iran today.
Ironically, in less than two decades the same very national unity challenged his power, effectively ending the longest lasting monarchic rule on the face of Earth. It seems that Iran is approaching yet another such junction point in its millennia long history of statehood. How the Iranians will decide to secure the safe passage between the past and the future, without sacrificing either tradition or aspirations? And how do they see that future? That is the question of all questions for Iran today.
Aquí va una reseña de mi artículo sobre las perspectivas de Irán en 2017.
An Arab NATO: The Birth of Another Black Swan in the Middle East?


After four orbits around Earth and a six-hour journey, three astronauts arrived at the International Space Station early today, bringing with them the Olympic torch that will light the Olympic flame in Sochi, Russia, for the 2014 Winter Games.
Flying at 260 miles above the Earth, the astronauts, aboard Russia's Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft, approached the space station, where crew members used one of the station's robotic arms to grab the spacecraft where it dock with the station.
The new crew members, NASA's Rick Mastracchio, Russia's Mikhail Tyurin and Japan's Koichi Wakata, are getting settled in the space that will be their home until May.
The spacecraft docked at 5:27 a.m. today after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 11:14 p.m. Wednesday.
The new arrivals joined the six crew members already on the space station. It's also the first time that nine people have lived on the orbiting station since 2009 without the presence of a space shuttle. It won't be crowded on the space station for long.
On Sunday, NASA's Karen Nyberg, Luca Parmitano with the European space agency, and Russia's Fyodor Yurchikhin will wrap up their work on the orbiter, and ride the Soyuz spacecraft back to Earth.
Before then, on Saturday, Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy are set to carry out the newly arrived Olympic torch on a historic spacewalk.
Trips to the space station have become faster in recent months. In March, a Soyuz spacecraft made a record-breaking six-hour journey from Earth to the space station.
Historically, it has taken NASA's space shuttle fleet, as well as Russian Soyuz spacecraft, two days from launch to rendezvous with the space station. The faster trip is possible with new techniques that were tested in three earlier unpiloted Russian cargo space crafts.
This article, Astronauts, Olympic torch arrive at space station, was originally published at Computerworld.com.


I'm currently studying Research in Software Engineering and Computer Science for my master's degree and decided to build this platform to complete some requirements for a class about Ubiquitous Computing.
In this class I've learned the basic concepts of IoT, starting with the initial intent to simulate the real world with smart devices. I believe the IoT train is passing and if we don't get on, we will miss out. That's why I decided to explore more.
Why not use WeDeploy to host my app? It already provides all the infrastructure I need.
With WeDeploy, you manage git repositories and wrap them into services that can be deployed into the platform. It also offers a set of useful, already-configured services such as Data, Users and Auth, or even a E-mail. This allows any developer to streamline a project with minimal infrastructure configuration so they can just focus on coding the application they want to develop.
An Android app that reads current speeds from a GPS and sends it each time the current location is changed.
A server that reads the metrics sent by the Android app and stores them into persistent storage.
A web interface to display the metrics stored in the database, reading from the server.
The Android app is super easy to create, and has nothing to do with WeDeploy, just knowing the URL of the server where to send the metrics, so I won't go anymore into it. The two things that really matter are related to the API I wanted to create to accept the metrics sent by the devices and the visualisation of those metrics.
In order to accept metrics from remote applications, I decided to create a REST API to handle the requests, and then it would store the metrics in a persistent storage. As WeDeploy offers a Data service, I decided that my REST API should communicate to that service to store the metrics.
Then, I chose the framework to create the API. As I'm a Java developer, I chose Spring Boot to build it, which lets you create tiny applications and define REST resources in an extremely easy manner.
So I created a project on the WeDeploy dashboard, and added a WeDeploy Java service named "api". I locally cloned the java example project on Github, and started coding my REST API's there.
Of course you can do this step with other technology you are more familiar with, and WeDeploy offers several server-side technologies to accomplish this including NodeJS and Ruby.
In order to implement a WeDeploy service, it's mandatory to create a wedeploy.json file in the root of your folder, where you specify the id of the service. As this project is a Gradle project, WeDeploy will infer its type with a Java recipe, that will wrap the project up into the official Gradle Docker image.
The following block of code demonstrates how to handle HTTP GET and POST requests in a Spring Boot controller.
* which is passed as input parameter to the method, using the annotation @PathVariable.
* It allows CORS requests from any domain.
* Define the resource for POST verb operations over this controller's path.
* processed in the request.
Our API service needs to store the metrics in the WeDeploy Data service so I added a new service to the project on the WeDeploy dashboard, naming it data. Again, I cloned the WeDeploy Data example on Github at the same level of my API service, and voilà! I have two services under my WeDeploy project.
And I also had to define how this collection of data is accessed, and which HTTP verbs are allowed.
You can configure this in WeDeploy data service with the api.json descriptor. This block shows the three REST resources that are accepted by my data service, and their specific paths: two for retrieving data, and one for storing data.
As you can see for the POST operation, I can validate the input parameters that are sent to the WeDeploy data service.
Ok, once I had the data service configured, how could I communicate with it from the Java service, which represents the API? Well, the smart guys from WeDeploy team have provided a set of libraries to communicate with any WeDeploy service in an easy manner: you can consume WeDeploy's APIs with language-specific clients. In my case I will use a Java client, which I added to Gradle dependencies in the Java service.
* that represents the body of the response into a collection of model entities.
Here the WeDeploy object hides the magic of communicating with other WeDeploy services. As I'm in the same project, it's possible to resolve the service name directly with only its name, without using its whole URL, because WeDeploy directly resolves service names when services run within the same project.
With WeDeploy I could accomplish the task of creating a very basic stack to handle requests. I wrote a a service representing an API for accepting requests, a service to store data, and a service representing a UI for the metrics. And all of that has been accomplish just using a couple lines of code + git skills, with no infrastructure knowledge needed!


1. What is a tribute fund?
A Beatson Cancer Charity Tribute Fund is a very special place where you can pay tribute to a loved one through photographs and memories. By adding donations to the fund over time, you and your family and friends can help the Beatson to provide the very best care, treatment and support for many more people with cancer and their families. Many families tell us that they gain immense strength and comfort knowing that their loved one's memory is living on through their Beatson Cancer Charity Tribute Fund – and that every penny raised in their name is making a big difference to thousands of people living with cancer across the west of Scotland.
2. How do I tell my friends and family about my page?
You'll easily be able to share the page with your family and friends by email or on your social networks. When you're creating your Beatson Cancer Charity Tribute Fund you can add the email addresses of family and friends and they will receive an email about the page. You can also share your Beatson Cancer Charity Tribute Fund on Facebook or Twitter by clicking on the social media buttons within the site, so as many people know about it as possible.
3. What do I do once my page is set up and friends and family have been notified?
4. Can I update and amend the tribute fund page?
You will have full control over how your tribute fund page looks and you can log in at any time to amend or update any information.
5. How do people go about making donations?
Donations, along with any gifts received in person, can be added to the fund simply and securely by credit or debit card, direct debit or bank transfer.
6. How will a Beatson Cancer Charity Tribute Fund help others?
Every penny raised by your loved one's tribute fund will enable the Beatson to continue providing the very best care, treatment and support for people with cancer and their families. Beatson Cancer Charity exists to fund services at The Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre, beyond what NHS funding alone can deliver. We support the Beatson to deliver world class cancer care through leading edge facilities, state-of-the-art equipment, pioneering research and dedicated cancer experts. The Wellbeing Centre at the Beatson is entirely funded by Beatson Cancer Charity. It's a tranquil haven away from the ward, where patients can relax or spend time with loved ones. Complementary therapies include Reiki, hypnotherapy, massage, reflexology, beauty therapies and a hair salon, and patients can also enjoy the cinema and soft drinks bar. Beatson Cancer Charity Tribute Funds are vital to ensuring the Beatson continues to be a world-class cancer treatment centre with the tools to give the best care possible at every stage of a patient's treatment.


text:
Julian Hopkins, PhD
Education and Publications
Anthropology, Internet, Social Media, Digital Literacy
Everyday Use of Social and Mobile Media in Malaysia
April 14, 2016Written by Julian
In Malaysia, broadband internet penetration is measured at 72.2% of households (MCMC 2015a: 3), with 87.1% of internet users reporting using social media (MCMC 2015b). Mobile phone subscriptions are ubiquitous, at 144.2 per 100 inhabitants, with 53.4% of these reporting owning a 'smartphone' (MCMC 2014: 6, 29).
This means that the majority of Malaysians are able to communicate with their family, friends, and colleagues wherever and whenever they want, and get near-instantaneous responses.
This research focuses on how computer-mediated communication in general, and social media in particular, are becoming integral parts of the everyday relationships that matter to individuals and communities. It asks questions about how people use social and mobile media with regard to their close family, extended family, close friends, other friends, and work colleagues.
There were two parts to the data gathering:
1. Online survey, November-December 2015. 279 responses were gathered.
2. Personal interviews, January 2016. Nineteen interviews (9 female, 10 male) were conducted.
Some more information is on the Facebook page.
The data is still being analysed, but the main finding so far is that WhatsApp is by far the most popular social/mobile media application, and that users are more likely to use Facebook to communicate with people who are less close to them – i.e. WhatsApp is preferred for stronger ties, and Facebook for weaker ties.
The survey data suggested that in the workplace WhatsApp was more likely to be used by younger respondents, but interviews suggested a connection with institutional policies and practices.
Download a preliminary discussion of the results that was presented at the Digital Ethnography Research Centre, RMIT in February 2016.
Research Malaysia, mobile media, research, social media, socialities
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Microcelebrity and Parenthood in Malaysia and Singapore
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Mike Bratcher on How to Search for a Specific Phrase in Windows 10 File Explorer
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Kate on How to Search for a Specific Phrase in Windows 10 File Explorer


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