text:
Make The Most Of Being Jobless
By Rachel Zupek
CareerBuilder writer
When Martin P.* was laid off from his job as a marketing vice president, he embarked on a two-year job search and still came up short.
Brian Smith recently experienced a 51-week lapse between steady employments. Lisa Wetherby was out of work 17 long months before finding full-time work and Domenick DeMarco has been unemployed for 10 months to date.
That's a long time to be out of work. So what exactly does one do during that time off?
"Do something, anything, especially something new or something [you've] not had time to do in the past," urges Laura George, author of "Excuse Me, Your Job is Waiting." "Doing something enjoyable gets brain cells firing, creates a new paradigm, brings in new people and improves morale and overall well-being."
What you don't do is treat your unemployment as a vacation.
"In the big picture, it's critical that you don't utilize your flexible time circumstances to procure a coach potato license," says Nicholas Nigro, author of "No Job? No Prob!" "You've got to be active—both physically and mentally—to apply your ample free time to the best of your advantage."
It's hard, however, for job seekers to use anything to their advantage, especially when the bleak economy makes them feel like they're up against the world—or at least millions of other people.
Competition in the work force is fiercer than ever before, with 9.5 million jobless people in the United States and only 3.3 million job openings at the end of August 2008, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Despite these grim facts, there is light at the end of the proverbial unemployment tunnel.
"No one can dispute that the absence of a job and a corresponding income stream is a potentially alarming scenario," Nigro says. "If you firmly believe that your current joblessness is merely a glitch in your abiding life expedition, your new outlook will noticeably brighten."
So desolate job seekers, the good news is that even with these tough times, things will get better and you will survive. Here's how you can make the most of your unemployment:
Step No. 1: Take care of logistics. When you're laid off, there are several unpleasant—albeit necessary—issues to tackle. Before anything else, apply for unemployment benefits, resolve severance concerns, figure out your health-care coverage and assess your financial situation.
Step No. 2: Mourn. Job loss is devastating. In fact, after the death of someone close to you and divorce, it's one of the biggest losses you suffer. Not only have you lost your job; you've lost routine, money, pride and perhaps most importantly, a sense of purpose.
Understandably, a little moping is allowed, says Jodi R. R. Smith, president of Mannersmith, an etiquette consulting firm. A week of bad daytime TV and junk food is about right; then it's time to dust off and find some balance, she says.
Step No. 3: Make good use of your time. With eight extra hours in your day and not much coming up in your job search, there are countless things you can do to improve yourself, personally and professionally. Here are some ideas:
· Create your own jobs. Suddenly being jobless throws a lot of people into a schedule-free day, says Lynette Radio. As consultants who are sometimes between assignments, she and her husband tackle projects around the house like painting or putting in new floors.
"It keeps us busy and on a schedule," she says. "Structure is what you need most at this point to not only feel professional, but not fall into a cycle of self-pity."
· Don't limit yourself. If you can't get a job in the industry you want, find a creative way to be a provider—not just a worker—in the industry you're interested in, says Vicki Kunkel, author of "Instant Appeal: The 8 Primal Factors That Create Blockbuster Success."
"Don't limit yourself to finding a job in the industry you've worked in for the past 15 or 20 years. A layoff is a good time to look at what really matters to you, what you love to do or what you've always wanted to try."
· Reassess your life. Joblessness allows you to reconsider your work situation, as well as other aspects of your life.</i>
"Ironically, unemployment also provides time to truly get it right in terms of work/life balance," says Paula Santonocito, a business journalist specializing in employment issues. "There are no more excuses for avoiding an exercise routine or getting enough sleep."
Such positive lifestyle habits have a positive impact on your job search, she says.
· Learn a new language. Spend 30 minutes every day learning a foreign language, suggests Jill Keto, author of "Don't Get Caught with Your Skirt Down: A Practical Girl's Recession Guide."
"Job skills of people with U.S. experience are in high demand in emerging economies around the world," Keto says. With a foreign language under your belt, you'll be in an excellent position to climb the ranks when the U.S. economy rebounds.
· Look for an internship. If you're interested in a career transition, an internship allows you to learn from a company in a different industry.
"Make yourself available for a learning opportunity, at a cut rate to the employer," says Lauren Milligan, founder of consulting firm ResuMAYDAY.com. "Seeking out this nontraditional type of situation will show initiative and confidence." And, if you do a great job, you'll be on the short list for a full-time position.
· Network, network, network. Always look for new ways to expand your network and utilize the one you already have. You can do so by getting involved with relevant professional associations, says Colette Ellis, a career and stress management coach for InStep Consulting.
"Find opportunities to take on leadership roles to increase your visibility within the industry," she says. You can also join committees that are working on strategic projects for the association.
· Re-invent yourself. Reinvention is simply re-examining yourself, taking what you've learned over time and evaluating what makes you tick, says Sean Simpson, communications director for Express Employment Professionals.
"Reconnect with what gets you excited," he says. "Once you have figured out what your passions are, match them to your skills and experience you have gained over the years. This will help you determine what jobs best utilize your strengths and which choices are most suitable for you."
· Set up a buddy system. "Find a friend, former colleague or a neighbor-someone with a positive attitude that you can chat with regularly to keep you going," says Cheri Paulson, senior vice president and director of operations with Keystone Associates, a career management company. "Set up small groups for support but make sure that it is an encouraging tone because you don't need to be around negative people."
· Take a class. Is there a skill that you lack or that might have previously held you back from advancement opportunities? In your free time, take a class that leads to professional credentials or technical proficiencies, Milligan says. It's an easy way to beef up your rթsum and make yourself more marketable.
· Volunteer. Eighty-one percent of employers view volunteering as relevant work experience, according to a recent CareerBuilder.com survey. Roxanne Ravenel, a job-search coach, says volunteering gives people a sense of purpose and empowerment, which is critical to the self-esteem of job hunters who feel powerless after weeks or months of a fruitless job search.
"Volunteering gives job hunters the opportunity to meet decision-makers in their community to which they wouldn't otherwise have access," Ravenel says. Decision-makers get to see the job seeker in action, which helps them envision working with that person full time.
Privacy In The Cloud
Cloud computing is no different than running your web site through some web host, rather than in house.
Both put a third party in control of your sensitive information.
Web sites HOSTED BY OTHERS are COMMON, but may not get much SCRUTINY regarding SECURITY.
'Illegal, Unethical, Untrustworthy' Clouds
By John Foley
Information Week
When word got out that medical researchers were contemplating ways to employ cloud computing, privacy rights watchdog Deborah Peel sounded an alarm. Is Peel right to be worried? Or does this potential storm cloud have a HIPAA-compliant lining?
The controversy was touched off when Harvard Medical School, along with Amazon.com and a few other sponsors, held an invitation-only symposium to discuss potential uses of computing in health care and biomedicine. As my colleague Marianne Kolbasuk McGee REPORTS, the forum was exploratory in nature, and speakers acknowledged that thorny questions over data security and patient privacy will have to be addressed.
But there also was optimism over this new way of doing things. "It's like a virtual lab," said Peter Tonellato, senior research scientist at Harvard Medical School's Center for Biomedical Informatics, adding that cloud computing "fits the vision of ubiquitous access to the lab on the Web regardless of location." Tonellato predicted that many research organizations will transition to private/public cloud infrastructures for elasticity and cost-efficiency. In fact, Harvard's Laboratory for Personalized Medicine already is using Amazon Web Services to develop genetic testing models, as described here.
This news, however, didn't sit well with Peel, who is the founder and chair of Patient Privacy Rights, a self-described "guardian" of health privacy rights. "Clouds by their nature do not have patient or consumer control over personal data built in. That makes such systems illegal and unethical," Peel writes in response to our article. She argues in favor of consumer-led certification.
Peel's not alone in sounding a note of caution. Many IT departments are evaluating the privacy, security, and governance issues of public compute clouds, and some will decide it's a route they're not willing to take. (See Bob Evans' related post on InformationWeek's Global CIO blog.)
What's the answer? Clearly, there will be scenarios where those responsible will determine that sensitive health-related data needs to be stored behind the firewall and not in the cloud. However, there will be other situations where health data can be processed and stored in the cloud, and we're beginning to see examples. On its Web site, Amazon offers case studies of HIPAA-compliant applications that have been deployed on AWS. On one example, TC3 Health minimizes the amount of "protected health information" that goes into Amazon's cloud, while encrypting any data that does go there. In another, health records service provider MedCommons has architected its application to include identity management, activity logs, and other protective measures.
Health care is just one industry where the security, privacy, and governance implications of cloud computing have yet to be thoroughly tested or answered. Financial services companies, schools, and public agencies face many of the same issues. As more organizations experiment with and move applications in the cloud, they should be prepared to hear from the likes of Deborah Peel.
Section Privacy And Rights •
Cable Competition Comes To Orlando
Oh Boy, AT&T is coming to town.
AT&T's U-verse stages duel with Bright House cable
By Etan Horowitz
Starting today, many Central Floridians have a new option for their TV and high-speed Internet called U-verse.
The AT&T service is the first real threat to Central Florida's largest pay-TV provider, Bright House Networks, which has more than 800,000 cable customers. U-verse offers many of the same channels as cable, more HD channels, similar pricing and more flexibility in recording shows.
U-verse is delivered to the home in a different way: through AT&T's existing phone lines.
That means it will be available only in parts of Central Florida where AT&T's local phone service is offered, such as Orlando, Altamonte Springs and DeBary. And initially, the service will only be available in part of that territory.
Citing competitive reasons, George Sammet, an AT&T official in Florida, would not say which Central Florida communities are included in today's launch. To find out whether U-verse is available in your area, log on HERE or call 1-800-ATT-2020.
"U-verse is all about enhancing the TV experience beyond what people are used to and making it interactive," said Gretchen Schultz, an AT&T spokeswoman in Orlando.
Unlike cable, each TV set requires its own digital box to receive U-verse programming. But because all of the boxes in the home are networked together, it allows for more advanced features.
For example, customers who have a U-verse digital video recorder connected to their living-room TV and three other TVs connected to U-verse boxes can watch their recorded programs from any of those TVs.
They also can start a program on one TV and then finish it in another room, or watch the same recorded program from multiple TVs at the same time. The U-verse DVR can be programmed from the Internet, and it can record four programs at once and hold more hours of programming than the Bright House DVRs.
The U-verse DSL Internet service adds additional features on your TV, such as the ability to see traffic, weather, sports scores and stock quotes, play games and access photos on the image-sharing site Flickr.
In addition to the local network affiliates, U-verse has more HD channels than Bright House and both the NFL Network and Fox Sports Florida. Neither of those channels is available on Bright House because of disputes over channel placement and pricing.
Schultz said U-verse likely will have local-government programming, but she did not know which channels.
Starts at $44 a month
The most basic U-verse package costs $44 a month and includes up to 120 channels and one receiver. Additional receivers cost $5 a month. Adding HD service costs $10 a month.
By comparison, the basic Bright House digital-cable package costs $60 a month and includes more than 250 channels, with HD service included. There is no extra cost for having standard cable on other TVs.
U-verse bundles of Internet service and TV range from $77 a month to $164 a month, while similar Bright House bundles range from $99 to $125. Some of U-verse's monthly packages and fees will increase in February.
U-verse's arrival in Central Florida has been expected since the passage of the Consumer Choice Act of 2007, a state law that paved the way for telephone companies to offer TV services by removing the requirement that agreements be negotiated at the local level.
A few months after the law went into effect, AT&T announced it would spend $750 million during the next few years to roll out U-verse in Florida.
Earlier this year, U-verse debuted in South Florida and Jacksonville.
Jeff Kagan, a telecommunications analyst from Atlanta, said competition from U-verse might help bring lower prices for consumers, at least initially.
Price drop—or not?
But Sammet said that in the areas of the Southeast where U-verse competes with cable, there hasn't been a drop in prices.
And Bright House spokeswoman Sara Brady said Bright House is not worried about customers switching to U-verse.
"We are proud of how we provide our services, and we have been competing for years. We are confident in our ability to continue to be the leader," she said.
Bright House has faced a backlash from customers recently over new digital-cable software, and an eight-hour outage last week. The company credited affected customers for the service interruption and has also been rolling out more HD channels and advanced features this year.
The hardest thing of all to see is what is really there. - J A Baker


text:
Royal Oak's Emagine Theater will host its previously postponed Juneteenth Film Festival to benefit the United Negro College Fund
By Jerilyn Jordan on Tue, Oct 13, 2020 at 10:32 am
Google Maps/Street View
The Juneteenth Film Festival is a go... in October?
Royal Oak's Emagine Theater is reviving its plans for a Juneteenth Film Festival now that, as of Oct. 9, movie theaters are legally allowed to reopen amid the pandemic.
In June, just a few days ahead of Juneteenth, the Royal Oak-based theater announced a weeklong festival highlighting Black cinema and films — despite not being able to legally do so under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's previous executive orders.
Needless to say, word spread fast and Emagine chairman Paul Glantz was served with a letter from the Attorney General's office threatening legal action should the theater host the festival as planned.
The film festival has been rescheduled for Friday, Oct. 16 through Thursday, Oct. 22. The festival, which will screen a dozen films that honor Black actors, actresses, writers, directors, and filmmakers, will include The Defiant Ones, If Beale Street Could Talk, Do The Right Thing, The Color Purple, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?, and American History X. Emagine will donate 100% of net ticket sales to the United Negro College Fund.
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased in advance via emagine-entertainment.com.
Emagine says it will enforce capacity limits and implement other COVID-19 preventative measures for guests and staff.
We have a new events newsletter! Find out the best things to do in the area every Thursday morning in your inbox.
Juneteenth,
Emagine,
Michigan movies,
film festival,
UNCF
Jerilyn Jordan
Read More about Jerilyn Jordan
Brooklyn artist brings absurdist 'Plastic Bag Store' installation to Ann Arbor
Royal Oak's Winter Blast rescheduled due to cold weather
Dearborn's Fairlane mall gears up for Lunar New Year celebration
The limits of 'Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody'
By Maurice Tracy
Free Will Astrology (Jan. 25-31)
By Rob Brezsny
Author Daralynn Walker pens 'Super Cities! Detroit' children's book

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The Nike Air Force 1 High '07 LV8 JDI Men's Shoe is a testament to the tried and true perfection of this style's legacy. An encapsulated Air-Sole unit provides responsive cushioning while an allover "Just Do It." print offers motivation from every angle.
High-cut collar provides a secure, comfortable fit.
Allover "Just Do It." print for motivation from every angle.


Alison Johnson lives in Warwickshire, UK and works from her home studio. Alison's work is driven by the desire to display atmosphere and emotion of a place. Through art she expresses feelings that are often inexpressible through words.
Her interest in nature and un-materialistic beauty has been a constant source of passion since childhood, be it relationships between people, the struggles of life and the ever changing but constant landscape around. Fueled by a previous career in nursing, Alison aims to combine these emotions.
Since studying art Alison has exhibited across the UK including Brighton, London, Chester, Wales, Yorkshire, and various Galleries in the Midlands. Her work has also reached international scale with work hanging in Italy, America, France, and the Middle East .
She has completed various commissions with clients such as the Prince of Saudi Arabia and The Waldorf Hotel London. Her inspiration is driven from travel and from feeling and seeing wild and raw coastlines to bleak and smoldering moors.
Your "Essence of Tropics" is almost ethereal, spiritual...very beautiful. You can feel emotions sliding across your canvas...how did you do that?
love the dynamic fluidity of color, movement and texture.


Celine outlet japan A gift from Andy Cheeseman Provincial Park.
Andy's Rainbow Park in Port aux Basques was built in celine outlet kate his memory. "I guess somewhere either she (Bungay) put it in a yard sale or she gave it to someone," Coffin said. The boot ended up in the hands of Nicole Street's mother in law, although Coffin said she isn't sure how. Street was looking through some items her mother in law had and came across the boot. Coffin said Street brought the boot home and decided to give it to small celine bag price a friend's child as a gift. But when Street handed the boot to her celine outlet in singapore friend, she saw the engraving on celine paris purse price the bottom. Coffin said Street immediately told her friend she couldn't give the boot away because she knew what the engraving meant. Coffin got a message from Street about the celine phantom bag price boot. "I thought 'My God, I just can't believe this,' " Coffin said. "This boot, to show up like this now is really strange." Coffin took the boot and made it into a centrepiece for the table this Christmas.
In a Facebook post after she received the boot, Coffin said she cried tears of joy when she found out about the remarkable gift. "Most of you may think that it's silly that this little outdated ceramic boot would mean so much but what are the chances of something 33 years old finding its way home to me," she wrote. .


imSitu is a dataset supporting situation recognition, the problem of producing a concise summary of the situation an image depicts including: (1) the main activity, (2) the participating actors, objects, substances, and locations and most importantly (3) the roles these participants play in the activity. The role set used by imSitu is derived from the linguistic resource FrameNet and the entities are derived from ImageNet. The data in imSitu can be used to create robust algorithms for situation recognition.
On September 19, 2016, the New York Times published an article about imSitu called Computer Vision: On the Way to Seeing More.
On the Browse page, you can search for images that match by verbs, nouns or both. As you select words, the dropdowns will update based on the number of remaining matching images. You can also browse using the convenient example links.
The imSitu demo will predict situations for images of your choice. You can start by clicking on the example images. The demo provides the nearest neighbors in the imSitu training set and a list of predicted situations and associated probability.


text:
Q: SpringBoot 2 use HikariCP can't connect to MySQL Phenomenon
When Sprint Boot project use application.properties  as default configure file can connect to MySQL,but when use application.yml the project can't connect to MySQL.
Error Message
Caused by: java.sql.SQLException: Access denied for user 'root'@'172.17.0.1' (using password: YES)
    at com.mysql.cj.jdbc.exceptions.SQLError.createSQLException(SQLError.java:129) ~[mysql-connector-java-8.0.16.jar:8.0.16]
    at com.mysql.cj.jdbc.exceptions.SQLError.createSQLException(SQLError.java:97) ~[mysql-connector-java-8.0.16.jar:8.0.16]
    at com.mysql.cj.jdbc.exceptions.SQLExceptionsMapping.translateException(SQLExceptionsMapping.java:122) ~[mysql-connector-java-8.0.16.jar:8.0.16]
    at com.mysql.cj.jdbc.ConnectionImpl.createNewIO(ConnectionImpl.java:835) ~[mysql-connector-java-8.0.16.jar:8.0.16]
    at com.mysql.cj.jdbc.ConnectionImpl.<init>(ConnectionImpl.java:455) ~[mysql-connector-java-8.0.16.jar:8.0.16]
    at com.mysql.cj.jdbc.ConnectionImpl.getInstance(ConnectionImpl.java:240) ~[mysql-connector-java-8.0.16.jar:8.0.16]
    at com.mysql.cj.jdbc.NonRegisteringDriver.connect(NonRegisteringDriver.java:199) ~[mysql-connector-java-8.0.16.jar:8.0.16]
    at com.zaxxer.hikari.util.DriverDataSource.getConnection(DriverDataSource.java:138) ~[HikariCP-3.3.1.jar:na]
    at com.zaxxer.hikari.pool.PoolBase.newConnection(PoolBase.java:353) ~[HikariCP-3.3.1.jar:na]
    at com.zaxxer.hikari.pool.PoolBase.newPoolEntry(PoolBase.java:201) ~[HikariCP-3.3.1.jar:na]
    at com.zaxxer.hikari.pool.HikariPool.createPoolEntry(HikariPool.java:473) ~[HikariCP-3.3.1.jar:na]
    at com.zaxxer.hikari.pool.HikariPool.checkFailFast(HikariPool.java:562) ~[HikariCP-3.3.1.jar:na]
    at com.zaxxer.hikari.pool.HikariPool.<init>(HikariPool.java:115) ~[HikariCP-3.3.1.jar:na]
    at com.zaxxer.hikari.HikariDataSource.getConnection(HikariDataSource.java:112) ~[HikariCP-3.3.1.jar:na]
    at org.hibernate.engine.jdbc.connections.internal.DatasourceConnectionProviderImpl.getConnection(DatasourceConnectionProviderImpl.java:122) ~[hibernate-core-5.3.10.Final.jar:5.3.10.Final]
    at org.hibernate.engine.jdbc.env.internal.JdbcEnvironmentInitiator$ConnectionProviderJdbcConnectionAccess.obtainConnection(JdbcEnvironmentInitiator.java:180) ~[hibernate-core-5.3.10.Final.jar:5.3.10.Final]
    at org.hibernate.resource.transaction.backend.jdbc.internal.DdlTransactionIsolatorNonJtaImpl.getIsolatedConnection(DdlTransactionIsolatorNonJtaImpl.java:43) ~[hibernate-core-5.3.10.Final.jar:5.3.10.Final]
    ... 36 common frames omitted

Software Info

*

*MySQL 8.0.16
start command:
docker run -p 10.70.49.75:3305:3306/tcp -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=0523 mysql

*

*Spring Boot 2.1.5.RELEASE

Configure
application.yml
spring:
  datasource:
    type: com.zaxxer.hikari.HikariDataSource
    url: jdbc:mysql://10.70.49.75:3305/jwt?useSSL=false&allowPublicKeyRetrieval=true
    driver-class-name: com.mysql.jdbc.Driver
    username: root
    password: 0523
    testWhileIdle: true
    validationQuery: SELECT 1
    hikari:
      idle-timeout: 10000
  jpa:
    hibernate:
      ddl-auto: create-drop
    properties:
      hibernate:
        dialect: org.hibernate.dialect.MySQL5Dialect
        format_sql: true
        id:
          new_generator_mappings: false

application.properties
spring.datasource.url = jdbc:mysql://10.70.49.75:3305/jwt?useSSL=false
spring.datasource.username = root
spring.datasource.password = 0523
spring.datasource.testWhileIdle = true
spring.datasource.validationQuery = SELECT 1
spring.jpa.show-sql = true
spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto = update
spring.jpa.hibernate.naming-strategy = org.hibernate.cfg.ImprovedNamingStrategy
spring.jpa.properties.hibernate.dialect = org.hibernate.dialect.MySQL5Dialect

Maven dependency
<dependencies>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-data-jpa</artifactId>
        <exclusions>
            <exclusion>
                <groupId>org.apache.tomcat</groupId>
                <artifactId>tomcat-jdbc</artifactId>
            </exclusion>
        </exclusions>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>com.zaxxer</groupId>
        <artifactId>HikariCP</artifactId>
        <version>3.3.1</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>mysql</groupId>
        <artifactId>mysql-connector-java</artifactId>
        <version>8.0.16</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <!-- JSON Web Token Support -->
        <groupId>io.jsonwebtoken</groupId>
        <artifactId>jjwt</artifactId>
        <version>0.7.0</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <!-- Starter for using Spring Security -->
        <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-security</artifactId>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-test</artifactId>
        <scope>test</scope>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework.security</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-security-core</artifactId>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>

A: The answer from @M. Deinum,modify the password as one string like this:
spring:
  datasource:
    type: com.zaxxer.hikari.HikariDataSource
    url: jdbc:mysql://10.70.49.75:3305/jwt?useSSL=false&allowPublicKeyRetrieval=true
    driver-class-name: com.mysql.jdbc.Driver
    username: root
    password: "0523"

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
New at OSDS?
Dance Etiquette FAQ
History of Lindy Hop
More dancing
Outside of Ottawa
A Short History of Lindy Hop
The history of Lindy Hop is incredibly complex, nuanced, and not without controversy. This page is an attempt to share some information and resources on the history of this artform. It is by no means exhaustive, but at the very least it is a good starting point for anyone seeking to dive into the roots of this fantastic dance.
What is Lindy Hop
Lindy Hop is a Black American dance that started in Harlem, NYC at the end of the 1920s. It happened in the context of the Harlem Renaissance: the cultural explosion of the Black diaspora after the mass migration of Black Americans from the South to the North.
UNIA parade in Harlem, 1920
Lindy Hop evokes in turn the rhythm of African-American work songs, gospel corporeality, and the formality of European ballroom dances. The music and the dance have been shaped by the experience of oppression, slavery, and segregation. However, the Lindy Hop (also known as the Jitterbug) became mostly an emblem of American popular and national culture: appropriated by Hollywood and the cultural industry at large as early as the 1930s. As a result, it is often known now as the dance of GIs and the "liberation" of Europe by Allied forces. The Africanity of Lindy Hop has almost been erased. 1 This is why it is important to highlight it and celebrate it.
Why is it called the Lindy Hop?
The creation date of the dance is untraceable. It is believed that the "Lindy Hop" received its name during a dance marathon in June 1928 at the Rockland Palace in Harlem. There, dancers from the Savoy Ballroom, George "Shorty" Snowden and Mattie Purnell, were particularly distinguished by their creative, fast and innovative steps, attracting the eye of a Fox Movietone News reporter.
During one of these contests, Shorty — as he remembers it — decided to do a breakaway; that is, flinging his partner out and improvising a few solo steps on his own. In the midst of the monotony of the marathon, the effect was electric, and even the musicians came to life. Shorty had started something.
The story goes that in response to the journalist's curiosity, Snowden spontaneously dubbed his creation "Lindy Hop", referring to the aviator Charles Lindbergh* who had just made the first non-stop transatlantic flight solo in May 1927. 2
George Snowden & Mattie Purnell, 1929
Lindy Hop was danced predominantly by Black dancers starting in the 1920s. Many of them lived in Harlem, where there were dance clubs such as the Savoy and Alhambra ballrooms. Lindy Hop emerged as a defiant, joyous response to financial hardship caused by the Great Depression, harsh living conditions, and systemic racism. The dance evolved out of several forms of social dance that preceded it, such as the Cakewalk, the Breakaway, and partnered Charleston.
The Savoy Ballroom was Lindy Hop's most famous home. In a time of racial segregation and strife, the Savoy was one of the most culturally and racially integrated of institutions, and its fame was international. 3 Bands headed by Chick Webb (the resident band leader), Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Benny Goodman performed there, as well as legendary singers Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday.
World-class dancers like "Shorty" George Snowden, "Big Bea", and second-generation dancers such as Al Minns, Leon James, Frankie Manning and Norma Miller would throw down at the Savoy till the early morning hours.
Frankie Manning (and Norma Miller flying)
Norma Miller, the "Queen of Swing", 1951 George"Shorty" Snowden & Beatrice 'Big Bea" Gay, 1937
Al Minns (left) & Leon James (1961)
Whitey's Lindy Hoppers 4 were also formed at the Savoy, when Savoy bouncer Herbert "Whitey" White brought some of the best dancers together and became their de facto agent. These dancers went on to be ambassadors of the dance on film, stage, and through worldwide tours.
A Lindy Hop Timeline
???- 1920s - Precursors: DNA of many different forms of black dance appear in Lindy Hop. This includes forms of vernacular jazz dance such as tap, partnered Charleston, the cakewalk, and the Texas Tommy (a dance that originated in San Francisco).
1929 - Lindy Hop appears on film: The breakaway, a close precursor to Lindy Hop, can be seen in footage from the film After Seben (1929) . 5 The dance, at this point, resembles a sort of Lindy Hop/Charleston hybrid.
1930s-1940s - Lindy Hop in Hollywood: Dean Collins popularizes LA-style Lindy Hop, while Whitey's Lindy Hoppers perform in films like A Day at the Races (1937) and Hellzapoppin (1941) . The dancers are often filmed apart from the rest of the film, in the event that Southern audiences ask that scenes with the black dancers be cut.
1940s and onward - Mainstream success and offshoots: While WWII takes famous Lindy Hoppers and musicians to war, white dancers like Arthur Murray develop simplified versions like the Jive and the East Coast Swing. Meanwhile, black musicians move jazz to bebop, and the dance evolves with it.
1980s to today - Resurgence: Although many Lindy Hoppers continued to dance and perform throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, Lindy Hop has regained popularity for social dancing in the general population in the last 20 years. A group of Swedish dancers see Lindy Hop on film, find the folks who pioneered it — including Frankie Manning and Al Minns , and invite them to show the new generation how it's done; this is how the famous Herrang Dance Camp was created. International dance scenes form. Meanwhile, Black dancers develop new forms of social dance, such as Hip Hop and House. Lindy Hop is now a flourishing community with tens of thousands of dancers worldwide. The Lindy Hop we dance today is very different from the Lindy Hop of the 1930s. It's influenced by the original dancers, the dances that sprung up around and after it — Carolina Shag, West Coast Swing, Boogie Woogie, St. Louis Shag, Balboa and more — and by those who teach and dance it. While dancers of color remain important contributors to the dance, the international scene now looks a lot whiter and more affluent than when and where it began. It's important that we honor the past while we continue to bring the dance into the future. That includes reflecting on our values and our place in the world, as well as acting on that knowledge to make our communities, and beyond, better and safer for everyone.
Herrang Dance Camp, Herrang, Sweden
This post relies heavily on info from Yehoodi, a website managed by Rik Panganiban, where you can find many more resources on Lindy Hop: yehoodi.com/history
20 Original Lindy Hoppers every swing dancer should know about 6 :
youtube.com/watch?v=fy2dR60-q1M
The Lindy by Margaret Batiuchok NYU Masters Thesis 16 May 1988 History of Swing Dancing: https://www.scribd.com/doc/36181005/The-Lindy-by-Margaret-Batiuchok-NYU-Masters-Thesis-16-May-1988-History-of-Swing-Dancing
-- Compiled by Anne Dagenais, July 2019
1 "Harlem embodied above all a power of autonomy and self-determination, a place of intellectual stimulation, of literary, political, artistic and creative exchanges, in which any involvement could be pushed towards the expression of a radicality and a revolt of identity until then inconceivable. In Caribbean Crusaders and the Harlem Renaissance, Joyce M. Turner describes: "Despite the negative aspects of large-scale urban life, Harlem beckoned as a light to help free the soul of the cancer of racism. (...) The intense exchange of ideas within and outside Harlem set young aspiring writers free to explore unconventional ideas and modes of expression." It is also in this context of intense explorations and creative exchanges through the body that Lindy Hop makes its appearance." Sékiné, Anaïs Leï (2017). Les mondes du Lindy Hop : Appropriation culturelle et politiques de la joie, Thèse (Ph.D.), Department of Sociology, University of Montreal, pp. 1-2.
2 Idem, pp. 229-30.
* It is important to be critical of historical figures. Even those so closely related to a dance we greatly love:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Lindbergh#Attitudes_toward_race_and_racism
3 Commemorative plaque unveiled on 26 May 2002 by Frankie Manning and Norma Miller in Harlem: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Savoyplaque_large.jpg
4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitey%27s_Lindy_Hoppers
5 After Seben clip with commentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtuZeI3n6gM This early sound short was set in a Harlem nightclub and features white vaudeville comic and dancer James Barton performing in blackface. Blackface is a form of theatrical make-up used predominantly by non-black performers to represent a caricature of a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereotypes. Early in the 20th century, blackface branched off from the minstrel show and became a form in its own right. In the United States, blackface had largely fallen out of favor by the turn of the 21st century, and is now generally considered racist, although many people continue to use it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackface
6 It is important to note the stereotypical nature of the facial expression performed by Leon James at 2:53 and critically reflect on its performance today: https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2011/07/05/race-appropriation-lindy-hop-how-to-honor-our-heroes/
Jazz music and dances are Black American art forms. Swing music and dance have been shaped by the experience of oppression, slavery, and segregation. Lindy Hop emerged as a defiant, joyous response to financial hardship caused by the Great Depression, harsh living conditions, and systemic racism.
As a community that enjoys this amazing dance and music, it is important to know and celebrate its history. It's also equally important to celebrate its culture, its values and the very people and communities who have created it. Not only out of respect and in an effort not to be appropriative, but because Lindy Hop is a dance of Black liberation, and simply because of our shared humanity. If we do not support Black liberation today, we have no business dancing and teaching Lindy Hop.
At OSDS, we strive to educate ourselves, to act in solidarity with Black liberation initiatives, and to make changes in order to make our community safer and more just for everyone.
If you want to contribute to these goals, please send us an email at osds.safety.committee@gmail.com
Please check out our summary of the history of Lindy Hop, as well as this list of educational resources and calls to action compiled for swing dancers in Canada.
- OSDS Executive Committee
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Pacific Sunwear (PSUN), staggering after nine consecutive annual losses, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
But the beach-life clothing chain hopes to find its footing and continue to operate its nearly 600 stores under an agreement with the private equity firm Golden Gate Capital, a lender which plans to take it private after it restructures.
Pacific Sunwear, which defined surf cool in the 1990s and early 2000s, joins several other teen retailers who have suffered the blues as they grapple with the fast-changing tastes of teens. Teens are shopping more online, resulting in declining traffic at the malls. And the young crowd wants to be more individualistic in how they dress. Moreover, the traditional chains are facing stiff competition from the likes of Forever 21, which frequently infuses the stores with trendy affordable fashion.
The bankruptcy filing from Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. comes just seven months after surfwear retailer Quicksilver -- another ubiquitous presence in malls during the 1990s -- announced its Chapter 11 reorganization. And ailing teen retailer Aeropostale Inc. said last month that it was considering selling itself or restructuring the company as it struggles with several years of falling sales.
Gary H. Schoenfeld, president and CEO at Pacific Sunwear, said in a statement that the restructuring plan with Golden Gate puts the retailer in a "promising position" as it continues to transform the brand.
He said the bankruptcy process will enable the company to fix two structural issues- a high occupancy cost of about $140 million per year and a nearly $90 million of long-term debt coming due later this year. He said the bankruptcy process will allow the company to reduce its long-term debt by more than 65 percent and reduce its annual occupancy costs, either through landlord negotiations or lease rejections. That will help adjust the fixed costs of operating the stores to better match the "shifting retail landscape," Schoenfeld said.
Golden Gate plans to convert about two-thirds of PacSun's debt into equity in the reorganized company and provide at least $20 million in additional capital. The company, based in Anaheim, California, also secured a five-year, $100 million line of credit from Wells Fargo.
But the retailer has an uphill battle. Pacific Sunwear reported a loss of $10 million in its fiscal fourth quarter, ended Jan. 30, though it narrowed from a $26 million loss in the year-ago period. Net revenue for the fiscal fourth quarter was $232.9 million, virtually even with the $231.6 million a year ago.
Shares, which once traded for around $30, fell to a close of 6 cents on Thursday.


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Home basketball Iguodala In Summer Transfer Links With Memphis Grizzlies, LA Lakers
Iguodala In Summer Transfer Links With Memphis Grizzlies, LA Lakers
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - MARCH 29: Andre Iguodala #9 of the Golden State Warriors looks on during the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on March 29, 2019 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
Summer transfer speculation is refusing to leave Golden State Warriors of America Nigerian-born basketball star, Andre Iguodala, as latest reports are now linking him with both Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Lakers.
Megasportsarena.com gathered that the report states that Iguodala, who signed a three-year contract with The Warriors during the summer of 2017, will not play for Golden State next season, because he will get buyout in Memphis or sign with Lakers.
Although Iguodala had previously denied reports linking him with The Lakers, nbcsportsbayarea.com added that Golden State are trading the 2015 NBA Finals most valuable player to Memphis.
However, a league source further told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski that Iguodala might not ever put on a Grizzlies uniform, as the star is billled to make just under $17.2m next season, but would have to relinquish a lot of cash in a buyout and become an unrestricted free agent.
The 35-year-old Iguodala's former agent, Rob Pelinka, is The Grizzlies' general manager, but ehstar has all alon ghad a specific connection to The Lakers.
ESPN's Stephen A. Smith said on his radio show: "He has basically — according to sources — informed everybody he's going to work out a buyout and then go to the Lakers.
"So Andre Iguodala is planning on joining the Lakers from what we're being told.
"I don't know how true that is, whether or not it is going to definitively happen. But that is the plan at this particular moment in time."
Shortly after the news of Iguodala being moved surfaced, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski stated: "Golden State is trading Andre Iguodala to the Memphis Grizzlies, league source tells ESPN.
"Warriors are sending a 2024 protected first-round pick in the 2024 (protected 1-4), 2025 (protected 1) and 2026 unprotected.
"If Iguodala does end up with the Lakers, and if Kawhi Leonard also signs with them, you might as well just give LA the 2020 Larry O'Brien Trophy right now.
"The Warriors simply would not be able to compete with LeBron James' squad next season."


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text:
Q: Formatting YYYYMMDDHHMMSS to YYYY/MM/DD HH:MM:SS Is there a simple way to convert a string "YYYYMMDDHHMMSS" to "YYYY/MM/DD HH:MM:SS" ?
For example I have
var date_string = "20121231023350";

And I would like the output as
new_date_string = "2012/12/31 02:33:50";

A: "20121231023350".replace(
    /^(\d{4})(\d{2})(\d{2})(\d{2})(\d{2})(\d{2})$/,
    "$1/$2/$3 $4:$5:$6");  // "2012/12/31 02:33:50"

A: function ConvertTime(OldTime)
{
    if(OldTime.length != 14)
        return "Error";

    return OldTime.substring(0,4) + "/" + OldTime.substring(4,6) + "/" + OldTime.substring(6,8) + " " + OldTime.substring(8,10) + ":" + OldTime.substring(10,12) + ":" + OldTime.substring(12,14);
}

ConvertTime("20121231023350");

A: Use a library such as date.js or Moment.js.
Either of these should make date Javascript handling/parsing/formatting a doddle.


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Russian MP suggests to make football hooliganism a sport
MOSCOW Football
Mar 05, 2017 12:00 am GMT+3
French riot police move in to detain Russian soccer fans after violence broke out ahead of Russia-England match in Marseille, France. (AP File Photo)
A Russian lawmaker has proposed an unorthodox solution to the country's problems with football hooliganism ahead of next year's World Cup — legalize it and make it a spectator sport.
Organized groups of Russian fans, many with martial arts training, fought English fans on the streets of Marseille during last year's European Championship.
That inspired Igor Lebedev, who sits in the Russian parliament, to draw up rules for what he calls "draka," the Russian word for "fight" — 20 fighters on each side, unarmed, in an arena.
In a statement on the website of the nationalist LDPR party, Lebedev said organized brawls "could turn fans' aggression in a peaceful direction." He also claimed it would serve as an "example" for English fans, who he characterized as undisciplined louts and poor fighters.
"Russia would be a pioneer in a new sport," said Lebedev, who also suggested fights between different fan groups could draw crowds of thousands. "English fans arrive, for example, and start picking fights. And they get the answer — challenge accepted. A meeting in a stadium at a set time."
Some fan groups in Russia already hold illicit fights along similar lines, typically pre-arranged mass brawls in rural locations, away from police.
It isn't the first time Lebedev has courted controversy with his views on hooligans. He hailed the violence in Marseille last year, telling Russian fans: "Well done lads, keep it up!"
In addition to his parliamentary duties as deputy speaker, Lebedev is also on the board of the Russian Football Union. He's a longtime associate of fan leader Alexander Shprygin, who was deported from France last year following the Marseille violence. Two board members of an organization run by Shprygin were given prison sentences.
Despite his enthusiasm for football-related violence, Lebedev insisted Russian policing meant foreign fans wouldn't be in danger at the World Cup.
"We've taken all the safety measures, modernized legislation. Not a single tourist has any reason to fear traveling to our country in the summer of 2018."
Last Update: Mar 05, 2017 5:19 pm


Is Mari Madison Your Match?
Mari Madison is a former multiple Emmy Award-winning television producer and author of novels for adults and teens. She's worked at television news stations in Boston, San Diego, and Orlando and helped launch the nationally syndicated morning show Better in New York City. Under the name Mari Mancusi, she writes young adult books, including the Blood Coven Vampire novels, the Scorched series, and Gamer Girl.
She lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and young daughter and their dog Mesquite.


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By Roberto Tanzie, Apr 28, 2020
On March 9, I was returning home on Metro Line 2, the red line, which passes through Sol, four minutes' walk from our piso. Some 120,000 people were dispersing from the International Women´s Day march, which had just concluded above my subway stop. My metro car was really packed—some still carrying banners with statements like "The Real Epidemic is Patriarchy." The young woman sitting opposite me had a placard reading "A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle." Looking at her, I smiled and said, "A quote from Gloria Steinem." She pulled out her earplugs to better hear me with "¿Que?" "What?" I repeated myself and added, "Gloria Steinem, you know, a founder of the Feminist Movement." So young! She confessed that she had no idea of whom I was speaking and was just given the placard for the demonstration.
That same weekend thousands more gathered for a political rally of Vox, a new right-wing party, and many tens of thousands packed out our stadium to see Real Madrid play Betis. Coronavirus does not discriminate between male and female, Socialist and Vox, Real Madrid and Betis. COVID-19 is a fiendishly clever disease. That weekend provided a feast of infection that spread to all corners of Spain.
The coronavirus arrived in Spain five weeks earlier with our first infection, a traveler from Germany, but most were not paying attention to what by now were a mere several thousand cases in a nation of 47 million. The next day, March 10, the number of infections doubled, and as I write, is now over 200,000 with some 20,000 fatalities.
That night was my last metro ride as Joanne and I went into isolation, a couple of days before the Kingdom of Spain declared a national lockdown, the strictest in Europe.
"La ultíma llamada" or "the last call" has entered into our vocabulary. This is the call the dying person makes on their cell phone to say goodbye to loved ones as he or she dies alone. (We are grateful that this practice just changed a bit as the medical situation has stabilized.) The health system did not crash, but some older people were left to die by doctors forced to make decisions usually only made in active combat.
Under lockdown, my big adventure is taking out the trash with mask and gloves, then shedding my street clothes upon reentry and immediately showering. We live in Puerta del Sol just opposite Plaza Mayor, the center of Madrid, an epicenter of this pandemic. Amid the eerie quiet there has been a heroic response by our doctors, food venders, and civil servants such as police and sanitation workers. Every night at 8:00 p.m. sharp the nation goes to its windows to loudly acclaim its thanks to those who clean the streets, tend the sick, and bury the dead.
Now we are on the other side of the curve with about 5,000 new infections daily. Most get better, though without knowing if they can be reinfected or have immunity. Four million construction workers and others deemed essential to the functioning of society are now back at work. Small children will be permitted outside for the first time on April 27. The rest of us remain inside till further notice excepting dog owners, the most envied class of Spanish society.
"Protestant Digital" reports that inquiries about God have gone through the roof. Hundreds of thousands are asking the deep questions that previously were put to the side. In our current church plant, worship, daily devotionals by the elders, English class, Wednesday prayers, Bible study, our young adults group (hosted by the Chos), and Joanne´s Sol Sistas continue virtually. These have been effective in sustaining us and those we serve. Our God has been a very present help in this time of distress.
We now debate how to reemerge to society, how to plan for a second wave of the virus next fall, and what should have been done with people occupying their familiar political corners. "A toro pasado," "the bull has passed" is a famous Spanish phrase. Everyone boasts of being a bullfighter when the bull has moved on and they are out of immediate danger.
So we carry on. All the ciphers are heading in the right direction here. Only 430 died last night in Spain from virus-related issues. The population continues to demonstrate a serious discipline. Nobody is crowding the beaches or protesting the government's actions, but clearly people would like to breathe freely—ourselves included.
Although our pharmacy delivers to our door, I went in person today. I saw a few dog walkers, the Hare Krishna woman who is somehow permitted to sit on her mat in the street, and a man without gloves or mask who appears to have arrived from Hollywood Central Casting. With a long white beard, flowing white hair and a staff, I thought of Moses in those epic Bible films of the 1950s. On returning to our building, our little neighbor, "Vela" or Candle, had posted a sign at our building entry, that reads "All will end well," and so it will—in God's good time.
Robert and Joanne Tanzie serve with MTW in Madrid.
Here in this deeply secular, post-Christian environment, MTW's Madrid team works to bring the hope of the true gospel of grace to the city.
Pray for missionaries seeking to minister to those who are critical and hard to love. Pray that missionaries would love their neighbor as Christ loved us.
Pray for the declining Church in Europe. Many see Europe as post-Christian and without hope. But we know that Christ will build His church.


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By Philip Michaels, Macworld | PT
capsule review
Review: iPhone football games
Generic Company Place Holder Paper Football Signature Edition
Generic Company Place Holder PocketSports Football
I have no idea what will happen at Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa on Sunday. But one scenario that I'm pretty sure will be off the table is this one: When the captains of the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers meet at midfield for the pregame coin toss, I do not expect one of the Steelers captains to snarl at his Cardinal counterpart, "Let's settle this like men... with our iPhones!"
But let's just say for argument's sake that both the Pittsburgh and Arizona players are really into their iPhones and that the situation I've just laid out is exactly what comes to pass. First off, wouldn't the companies that spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertising really feel like chumps? Second—and perhaps more important—what app should the Steelers and Cardinals turn to if they were to settle the championship of professional football iPhone-style? And would their game of choice be good enough for you to just pass away some of your idle hours?
The App Store does offer at least half-a-dozen pigskin-themed games. Peter Cohen has already covered the two best ones—LED Football ( ) and its sequel, LED Football 2 ( ). But are those the only football games worth considering?
For the most part, yeah. There's at least one other game—maybe two—that could sate the football-hungry iPhone user. But most of the apps I tested this Super Bowl weekend fell more than a few yards shy of the end zone.
Are You Ready for Some (Paper) Football: Paper Football takes that classic time-wasting mainstay of study hall and puts it on the iPhone.
The concept behind Paper Football will be familiar to any schoolboy who ever goofed off during study hall or any 9-to-5 drone driven to distraction during a particularly dull conference call. Take a piece of paper, fold up into a finger-sized triangle and try to flick it the length of your desk. Score a touchdown, and you kick an extra point by flicking the paper triangle through the uprights—which are generally your opponent's outstretched thumbs.
Jirbo's offering for the iPhone and iPod touch recreates that game in mobile form, right down to the wooden desk and the cafeteria-like setting. Slide your finger into the paper football to make it skid along the table surface—if it stops at the table's edge, you get six points and the chance to flick the football for an extra point. Hit the football too hard, and your opponent gets a shot. That opponent can either be another person (who slides the football from the opposite end of the screen) or a computerized foe. First person to 35 points wins.
The Fickle Finger of Fate: Player One is on his way to another impressive win in Finger Football from Jirbo.
Controls can be a little bit challenging, particularly when it comes to flicking that extra point through the uprights. That said, I never had much difficulty besting the computer opponent, even when I opted for the "tough" setting. Two-player contests were another matter. I played several games with my wife, and Player One always scored the victory, even with us alternating between One and Two. Shots from Player One that would skid to a graceful halt on the table's edge flew right off the table when Player Two was making the shot. The paper football could be three-quarters off the table's edge for Player One and still score points; for Player Two, the football would topple off the edge at the slightest provocation. Another flaw: Should Player Two be lucky enough to score, he'll then have to flip around the iPhone to kick the extra point.
"This is tedious," my wife said. And she was winning at the time.
There's also a $5 version, Paper Football Premium, which is ad-free. You also get to create an avatar and match your scores against other Jirbo community members. The former feature requires you to download a separate app; the latter never worked for me in my testing. And the gameplay is just as frustrating as in the free version. Run far away.
Jirbo's other football effort is Finger Football, a carbon copy of Paper Football only with an actual pigskin replacing the paper triangle, a football field replacing the tabletop, and field goal posts instead of fingers. There's a rule change, too—instead of games lasting until someone scores 35 points, you play four 30-second quarters. The highest score when time runs out wins.
Other than that, Finger Football is a dead ringer for Paper Football, with the same scoring, same controls, same sound effects, and same flaws. Player One is as invincible as ever. And Finger Football adds its own unique flaw: Because there's no shot clock, a player who's ahead on points can let the clock wind down without penalty. I had the lead and the ball against a computer opponent in the fourth quarter of one game with more than 20 seconds on the clock, and I never shot again. Tainted victory was mine!
Jirbo also offers a paid version of Finger Football, currently for $3. It's billed as the "Hard Edition." After my experience with Paper Football Premium, I didn't feel like paying for the privilege of being more frustrated.
Down, Down the Field: Figure out the timing on X's & O's Football, and it's relatively easy to maneuver your red-helmeted team to the end zone.
X's & O's Football from Skyworks at least delivers a more authentic football experience. In this game, you're both coach and quarterback. You pick a passing play out of a playbook of eight plays. Snap the football, and it's up to you to deliver a pass to your red-helmeted receiver who's being flanked by a computer-controlled defender. Just tap on the screen where you want to throw the ball—the playbook shows you the patterns your receivers will run—and if you time it right, your receiver will make the catch. Once the receiver catches the ball, you can tilt your iPhone or iPod touch to make the receiver run down the field. Because the defender is usually on your receiver like stink on an ape, though, you'll usually get tackled before you can make many moves.
You've got four downs to get 10 yards; fail to convert and it's game over. Otherwise, you keep playing through four 1-minute quarters, racking up passing yards and touchdowns in the process.
X's & O's is fun—to a point. But with only eight plays to choose from, all of them passing, the game quickly becomes repetitive. Also, it doesn't take that long to get the timing down, making it easier to complete passes. Let's just say that as tenacious as the blue-helmeted defenders may be, the Detroit Lions are probably kicking themselves for not scheduling them this past season. (To the game's credit, you do have to mix up your play calling, or the Blue Helmets will get wise to the fact that you keep throwing to the same receiver running the same pattern.) After just a few attempts, I was able to play a complete four-quarter game without once turning the ball over on downs. Since you play only offense, never defense, your score can take on an Arena Football-like quality; I broke triple digits in one game, and if the High Scores from other players are anything to go by, I'm just a pisher. Add a few more play-calling options and a more challenging defense, and X's & O's would be on to something.
Bust A Move: PocketSports Football makes great use of the iPhone's accelerometer to control the movements of players with the ball. On defense, not so much.
PocketSports Football from Solus Games is on to something promising as well, though there are still a few kinks to work out. Still, it's the only game I found on the App Store that offers a traditional football experience, so pigskin junkies will want to give it a try.
In PocketSports Football, you're in command of a seven-man team playing a four-quarter game. (You can set whether the quarters last one, two, or three minutes.) You call the plays when you're team is on offense and defense. And you can either play a quick game, or an eight-week season in which you control the destiny of one of 10 teams.
PocketSports Football makes great use of the iPhone's accelerometer, with you tilting your iPhone or iPod to control the movement of your players down the field. There's also a pregame warm-up mode which is great for getting the hang of the controls before you ever snap a ball in anger. Multiple camera angles give you three different views of the gameplay.
But there are some shortcomings. I found passing plays—in which you tap on the receiver you want to throw to—a little difficult to master; sometimes my quarterback would just hold on to the ball, no matter how frantically I tapped. And while you can set your defensive alignment by calling one of formations, you don't seem to be able to control individual players, so tackling seems to be a matter of getting lucky and having the offense run into one of your guys. There's no option for kicking a field goal, which is fine until you're facing a fourth down in the red zone and you realize your only option is to go for the first down. PocketSports Football lacks the depth of Real Soccer 2009 ( ), that's for certain.
Which is not to say that the game isn't fun, so long as you're willing to accept its limitations. I'm currently in the middle of a season—fight on, you New York Whateveryourcalleds—and I certainly find PocketSports Football a decent enough way to pass the time.
Hit Target, Win Prize: Whether in classic or progressive (pictured) modes, QB Pass Attack Football requires you to throw the ball through a pair of targets.
No, the best football game currently at the App Store—in the non-Mattel Football homage division, at least—is QB Pass Attack Football. Another offering from Skyworks, this game requires you toss a football through a couple of hoops—a scenario that will be familiar to anyone who's hung out an arcade, visited a carnival midway, or watched a Levitra ad. In Pass Attack's case, you've got two holes—designed to look like receivers' outstretched hands—and a rack full of footballs to toss at them. Touch a football to grab it, then slide your finger up the screen to hurl it at the target—it's challenging, but doable.
Pass Attack offers two modes of gameplay. The classic game gives you 60 seconds to toss as many footballs through the holes as your noodle arms allows. Tossing the ball through the nearest hole gets you seven points; the faraway hole is worth 30. A progressive version features four 60-second quarters in which you rack up as many points as possible, with bonuses for first downs and touchdowns.
Pass Attack is good casual fun, with a little strategy attached to it. (Do I rack up easy points with short, manageable throws to the nearest hoop, or do I go all Brett Favre and try for the long bomb?) The controls are easy to master, and the background music augments the game's frenetic pace. While Pass Attack logs the Top 10 scores for all players in both classic and progressive modes, it doesn't keep track of your own scores—I wish that it did. Still, in all my testing of football games, this was the one I found myself constantly reaching for.
If the Cardinals and Steelers want to save us all some time Sunday, they could do worse than settle their differences with QB Pass Attack. It may feature the only completed passes Matt Leinart gets to throw all day.
All the games reviewed here are compatible with both the iPhone and iPod touch. Jirbo's games run on any device with the iPhone 2.x software update. Other games require iPhone 2.2.
[Macworld.com executive editor Philip Michaels is making beef with barbecue sauce for his Super Bowl party.]


WHAT'S NEXT ………………LORD PLEASE HELP US!
Domino's — the fast-food-ish mainstay that serves up American-style pizzas topped with things like Philly cheese steak, ranch dressing, and buffalo chicken — just opened its first store in Italy, pizza's mother country. If I could insert a wide-eyed surprise-face emoji here, I would.
How will Italians react to Domino's very particular iteration of fast food that Americans have grown to know and love and identify as pizza over the past half century? It remains to be seen. But, according to the company's announcement, Dominos' Pizza Italia will be offering a slightly different menu — one that might play better to local sensibilities and tastes.
According to national surveys, Italians eat pizza on average seven times each month — with margherita pizza coming in on top as the country's overwhelming favorite. To that end, Domino's Milan will offer margherita pizzas — along with Napoli-style pizzas and Sicilian style, as well.
Even more exciting? Domino's will be bringing its online ordering system to Milan. Customers in the city will be able to have a hot takeout pizza delivered right to their door with just a few clicks of the mouse — not a dinnertime formula that's very popular at the moment in Italy.
What do you think about the export of American fast food pizza to Italy? Personally, I love trying out local versions of American fast food when I'm traveling abroad — do you?


text:
He Had a Hat is a 2007 album by jazz pianist Jeff Lorber. All compositions on this album were original, except for "Grandma's Hands" which was originally composed and performed by Bill Withers.

The album, and title track, are named after the punchline of an old Jewish joke about a grandmother whose grandson is saved from drowning in the ocean after she prays to God. The joke was told to Lorber by the album's producer, Bobby Colomby, in the recording studio, and Lorber felt it fit in well with the album's lighthearted mood.

He Had a Hat was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album, losing to Herbie Hancock's River: The Joni Letters.

Track listing
All songs written by Jeff Lorber and Bobby Colomby, except where noted.
 "Anthem For a New America" - 3:48
 "He Had a Hat" - 4:34
 "Grandma's Hands"; featuring Eric Benét (Bill Withers) - 4:07
 "Surreptitious" - 4:10
 "All Most Blues" - 4:24
 "Orchid"; featuring Chris Botti (Jeff Lorber, Chris Botti) - 3:53
 "Be Bop" - 2:28
 "The Other Side of the Heart"; featuring Eric Benét and Paula Cole - 5:35
 "Hudson" - 3:58
 "Super Fusion Unit" - 3:52
 "Eye Tunes" - 3:50
 "Requiem For Gandalf" - 3:44
 "Burn Brightly" - 3:52
 Bonus Track: "Deep Night" - 3:33

Personnel
 Jeff Lorber – all keyboards, keyboard solos, horn arrangements (2, 4, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13)
 Paul Jackson Jr. – guitars (2, 3, 4, 8, 10)
 Paul Brown – guitars (3)
 Russell Malone – guitars (13)
 Brian Bromberg – bass (1, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 14)
 Alex Al – bass (2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 13)
 Abe Laboriel Jr. – drums (1, 2, 3, 8, 9)
 Dave Weckl – drums (4, 10, 13)
 Vinnie Colaiuta – drums (5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 14)
 Lenny Castro – percussion (2, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14), tambourine (3)
 Kirk Whalum – tenor saxophone (2), horns (2)
 Gerald Albright – alto saxophone (3)
 Ada Rovatti – tenor saxophone (4)
 Tom Timko – saxophone (4, 7, 9, 11, 13)
 Tom Scott – horns (3), horn arrangements (3, 5), alto saxophone (5)
 John Mitchell – bass clarinet (5, 10, 12)
 Bob Sheppard – alto flute (5, 10, 12), flute (5, 10, 12), tenor saxophone (6, 9)
 Jeff Driskill – alto flute (5, 10, 12)
 Hubert Laws – flute (9, 11)
 Steven Durnin – French horn (5, 10, 12)
 Richard Todd – French horn (5, 10, 12)
 Jacques Voyemant – trombone (2)
 Jens Wendelboe – trombone (4, 7, 9, 11, 13), bass trombone (4, 7, 9, 11, 13)
 Bob McChesney – trombone (5, 10, 12)
 Greg Gosnell – bass trombone (5, 10, 12)
 Randy Brecker – trumpet (4), horn arrangements (4)
 Steve Jankowski – trumpet (4, 7, 9, 11, 13), flugelhorn (4, 7, 9, 11, 13)
 Hernan "Teddy" Mulet – trumpet (4, 7, 9, 11, 13), flugelhorn (4, 7, 9, 11, 13), horn arrangements (4)
 Gary Grant – trumpet (5, 10, 12)
 Chris Botti – trumpet (6, 14)
 Bobby Colomby – horn arrangements (7, 9, 11, 13)
 Jeremy Lubbock – orchestrations (1, 8)
 The Krim Symphonic Orchestra – orchestra (1, 8)
 Eric Benét – vocals (3, 8)
 Paula Cole – vocals (8)

Production
 Bobby Colomby – producer
 Jeff Lorber – recording, mixing (4, 6)
 Dave Rideau – basic track recording
 Kevin Killen – guitar recording (13)
 Paul Brown – mixing (1, 2, 3, 5, 7-13)
 Larry Goetz – recording assistant for horns (2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 11, 13)
 Dragan "DC" Capor – mix assistant (1, 2, 3, 5, 7-13)
 Chris Bellman – mastering at Bernie Grundman Mastering (Hollywood, California)
 Eli Wolf – A&R
 Keith Karwelies – A&R administration
 Josh Gold – product manager
 Adam Barber – orchestrations
 Dante DeSilva – music copyist
 Gordon H. Jee – creative direction
 Carla Leighton – art direction, design
 Jeff Bender – photography
 Bud Harner – management at Chapman Management

References

External links
He Had A Hat by Jeff Lorber on lorber.com

Jeff Lorber albums
2007 albums
Albums produced by Bobby Colomby
Blue Note Records albums

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Hi !! W3 R2 complete - I don't see how on Earth my calf muscles are going to take any more than 3 minutes ! Anyone got any tips on how to build them up more or am I running wrong, or is this normal ? My fitness is soooo much better but my legs just want to give up I am doing it on a treadmill at mo so maybe that is why as well ? I'm too scared to run outside x thanks in advance!
Try some ice then a hot bath may help. I had to use Nurofen gel a couple of times because my knees really hurt at start , but got better with time .
Are there lions or bears outside? You get out there and enjoy...!
The calf muscles.. they have to build up... strength and stamina exercise on rest days too is very helpful.
Then... slow and steady.. relax... land lightly.. I call it, kissing the ground with your feet... and stretch well after very single run!
Don't know if you are M or F..but these may help..
Thank you ! Scared girl all the way lol thanks !
Try using a roller after runs and maybe for a few minutes before you go out. They definately helps.
Thank you all ! Lol no no bears but just my fear of falling flat on my face or people laughing at me !! 🙈 I do stretch after and it always feels so good ! But bath and roller sound likes good idea 🙂 thank you !!
Do it. There is nothing like running outside. I love the wind and the rain, and the views and being nosey as you look in peoples gardens etc. I hate staring at nothing and going no where!
Don't be scared of running outside. I started C25K on the treadmill in the gym and was sure I'd never run outside, but actually now I find it hard to run on the machine. Outside no one actually notices you. And those that do have no idea if you've been running for two minutes or two hours (unlike the gym bunnies who know exactly how long you've been on that treadmill... actually they don't as when I'm in the gym I'm too busy coping with my own self torture to worry about what anyone else is doing).
One thing you need to work out is how slow to set the treadmill, as the slower the better. If you're outside then you just go with the slow pace of your body without having to decide on a setting.
What ever you decide to do, just take your time and believe in yourself. You can do this...!
I started running round a park where I'm fairly certain no one knows me. It helps its a nice circuit. Now I'm on week 2 I run from my home past all the neighbours, I'm not too bothered who sees me now.
Aching legs - What's the best way to shake off the lactic acid aches?
Very sore leg/hip - advice please?


41yrs / 5Ft. 1In. (155.5 cm).
41yrs / 5Ft. 10In. (177.5 cm).
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In 2004, after decades of study in the field of Sinology, the Taipei Ricci Institute established Renlai Magazine, a publication calling on readers to surpass set paradigms of thought and join us bathing in a sea of knowledge and debate. Seven years later, the Taipei Ricci Institute cooperated with the National Central Library in establishing for all Taiwanese the Matteo Ricci & Pacific Studies Reading Room, a space to study and to understand the ocean cultures of the Pacific – something all too often overlooked by Taiwanese people. Asides from the tangible location provided, the dissemination and exchange of this knowledge required the hard work of others with common ambitions. This is why the Taipei Ricci Institute worked to gather sufficient resources, culminating in 2010, when the Taiwan Society for Pacific Studies was established with the support of many other academics and organisations.
Pacific Studies is still an emerging field in Taiwan and the scholars can be counted on your fingers. Yet, this means there is a boundless future with unlimited possibilities in the field. The establishment of the Taiwan Society for Pacific Studies alone broke with the traditional concept of the Pacific; the ocean is now more than the Pacific Islanders' garden, becoming also 'a new world beginning' for the islanders on the brink of the Pacific i.e. the Taiwanese. The fledgling Taiwan Society for Pacific Studies will thus be holding a symposium 'Mapping and Unmapping the Pacific' on February 18th-19th, inviting Pacific scholars from all over the world to participate in this Taiwan-led observation and exploration of the Pacific. The island of Taiwan is bestowed with the highest peak along the suture between the Eurasian and Pacific plates (the Festoon Islands) and is also a cultural meeting point with the Asian continent. Not only is it the original home of the Austronesian language family, it was also a place of contention for both the western and eastern colonial powers and more recently a haven for South East Asian immigrants. On an island with such a colourful history, we Taiwanese naturally have different views and experiences when looking to and contemplating the Pacific. So as you peruse our articles and videos regarding Taiwan's navigation towards the Pacific, we invite you to attend our international conference in February, and to embrace a new world through face to face cultural exchange.


text:
Q: multiprocessing.Pool sharing large lists of lists read-only in memory across child process I'm strungling with this problem.
I have a big list of lists that I want to acess with parallel code to perform CPU intensive operations.  In order to do that i'm trying to use multiprocessing.Pool, the problem is that I also need to see this massive list of lists across my child process.
As the 'list of lists' is not regular (ex: [[1, 2], [1, 2, 3]]) I can't store them as a mp.Array, and as previouslly said, I'm not using mp.Process so I didin't figure out a way of using mp.Manager on this task. It's important to me to keep this list of lists because i'm applyng a function that querys based on indexes using from operator import itemgetter.
Here is a fictitious example of what i'm trying to achive:
import multiprocessing as mp
from operator import itemgetter
import numpy as np

def foo(indexes):
    # here I must guarantee read acess for big_list_of_lists on every child process somehow
    # as this code would work with only with one child process using global variables but would fail
    # with larger data.
    store_tuples = itemgetter(*indexes)(big_list_of_lists)
    return np.mean([item for sublista in store_tuples for item in sublista])

def main():
    # big_list_of_lists is the varible that I want to share across my child process
    big_list_of_lists = [[1, 3], [3, 1, 3], [1, 2], [2, 0]]

    ctx = mp.get_context('spawn')
    # big_list_of_lists elements are also passed as args
    pool = mp.Pool(ctx.Semaphore(mp.cpu_count()).get_value())
    res=list(pool.map(foo, big_list_of_lists))
    pool.close()
    pool.join()

    return res

if __name__ is '__main__':
    print(main())
# desired output is equivalente to:
# a = []
# for i in big_list_of_lists:
#     store_tuples = itemgetter(*i)(big_list_of_lists)
#     a.append(np.mean([item for sublista in store_tuples for item in sublista]))
# 'a' would be equal to [1.8, 1.5714285714285714, 2.0, 1.75]

other details: solution preferably should be achived using python 3.6 and must work on windows
Thank you very much!

A: It seems to work fine for me using mp.Manager, with an mp.Manager.list of mp.Manager.lists. I believe this will not copy the lists to every process.
The important line is:
big_list_of_lists_proxy = manager.list([manager.list(sublist) for sublist in big_list_of_lists])

You may want to use instead, depending on your use case:
big_list_of_lists_proxy = manager.list(big_list_of_lists)

Whether every sublist should be a proxy or not depends on whether each sublist is large, and also whether it is read in its entirety. If a sublist is large, then it is expensive to transfer the list object to each process that needs it (O(n) complexity) and so a proxy list from a manager should be used, however if every element is going to be needed anyway, there is no advantage to using a proxy.
import multiprocessing as mp
from operator import itemgetter
import numpy as np
from functools import partial

def foo(indexes, big_list_of_lists):
    # here I must guarantee read acess for big_list_of_lists on every child process somehow
    # as this code would work with only with one child process using global variables but would fail
    # with larger data.
    store_tuples = itemgetter(*indexes)(big_list_of_lists)
    return np.mean([item for sublista in store_tuples for item in sublista])

def main():
    # big_list_of_lists is the varible that I want to share across my child process
    big_list_of_lists = [[1, 3], [3, 1, 3], [1, 2], [2, 0]]
    ctx = mp.get_context('spawn')
    with ctx.Manager() as manager:
        big_list_of_lists_proxy = manager.list([manager.list(sublist) for sublist in big_list_of_lists])
        # big_list_of_lists elements are also passed as args
        pool = ctx.Pool(ctx.Semaphore(mp.cpu_count()).get_value())
        res = list(pool.map(partial(foo, big_list_of_lists=big_list_of_lists_proxy), big_list_of_lists))
        pool.close()
        pool.join()

    return res

if __name__ == '__main__':
    print(main())
# desired output is equivalente to:
# a = []
# for i in big_list_of_lists:
#     store_tuples = itemgetter(*i)(big_list_of_lists)
#     a.append(np.mean([item for sublista in store_tuples for item in sublista]))
# 'a' would be equal to [1.8, 1.5714285714285714, 2.0, 1.75]


GLAAD's "Where We Are on TV" report this year shows strides being made in the number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) characters on TV, while shining a spotlight on the need for greater diversity in those representations.
Broadcast TV's representation of LGBT characters this year stands at 4 percent (or 35 out of 881 series regular roles), an increase of a tenth of a percent vs. the previous measuring period. Broadcast TV also will have 35 recurring LGBT characters.
Cable TV went from 64 to 84 series regular LGBT characters plus an additional 58 recurring. (ABC Family and Showtime are the most inclusive, with 18 LGBT characters each.) Streaming services such as Hulu, Netflix and Amazon add 43 regulars plus 16 recurring.
On broadcast TV, lesbians make up 33 percent of the LGBT community (up 5 percent YOY) while bisexuals account for 20 percent. Of note, broadcast TV currently offers zero transgender characters, even on a recurring basis, while cable has three recurring trans characters. Streaming services total four transgender characters, with two being leads (on Transparent and Sense8).
GLAAD's report points out that while LGBT representation is up slightly, it is still dominantly white, with 69 percent (on broadcast), 71 percent (cable) and 73 percent (streaming) landing in that category.
The "Where We Are on TV" report also took stock of the representation of blacks and other people of color. This year, 16 percent of TV characters (or 145 total) are black, marking an all-time high — though females are underrepresented, making up 43 percent of that group (versus 51 percent of the actual population).
This year, the representation of people of color climbed to 33 percent, a six point jump from last season and a full 10 points over two years ago. NBC fares best with 41 percent, while The CW (29 percent) and CBS (25 percent) place fourth and fifth among broadcasters.
TV's representation of women rose three points this year, with 43 percent of series regulars being female — though the country's population is 51 percent female.
One last observation to cite from the report: TV's representation of characters living with a disability declined, from 1.4 percent to 0.9.
The "Where We Are on TV" report's forecasts for the 2015-16 TV season are based on scripted series which air or are expected to air in primetime between June 1, 2015 and May 31, 2016.


Edith Louise Thomas, October 8, 1919 – June 15, 2018, Vancouver B.C.
At age 98 Edith passed away with her granddaughter Kathleen and daughter Beverley at her side. She was a loving mother, grandmother, great grandmother, aunt and friend.
Edith established strong bonds of friendship throughout her life. Despite adversity including spending 18 months with TB in a sanatorium in London, Ontario, the loss of her husband (RCAF pilot), Joseph Frank (Tommy) in 1949, she had the strength and courage to raise her two children Beverley and Douglas, thankfully with the support of her parents. Her nature was to be independent, right to the end. Edith was a modern feminist when feminism wasn't popular nor heard of. She was often seen with her two grandchildren going door to door canvassing or walking in a peace march. She was an inspiration to many, having taught in Sunday School and guided young women in CGIT. Edith was always a beautiful, caring woman who had a wonderful sense of humour; she was non-judgmental with everyone. Edith enjoyed music, her church, travel, bridge, her choir and she particularly enjoyed her glass of wine with her sister-in-arms Dorothy.
Edith's first career started as a psychiatric nurse, and later as a dental assistant working for Dr. W.L. Elliot until her retirement in 1986. Edith then worked as a volunteer at the Everywoman's Health Centre.
Edith is survived by her daughter Beverley (Zan), son Douglas (Janet), grandchildren Kathleen (Bill) and Doug (Lisa), great grandchildren Tessa, Matthew and Carter and step great grandchildren Jessica and Chad. Her nephews, David (Gayle), Glenn & Gary (Colleen), and her great nieces Lindsay & Laurel and great nephew Jeffery were especially important to her. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews from Tommy's family. Edith is predeceased by her sister Phyllis, her brother Howard, her sister-in-law Norma and her niece Judy.
Edith's family wish to thank the staff at Amica at Arbutus and the Finnish Care Home and especially Remy, Rosa, Luisita and Jane from Evergreen Nursing Services for their loving care of our mother in her last weeks.
I consider myself the luckiest woman to have had Edith as my mother-in-law for over 50 years. She was a loving individual, caring and thoughtful throughout her life. She has inspired me in so many ways and I will never, ever forget you. You will live on in my heart forever.


text:
A history of molluscs in poetry
In volume one his classic 19th century work "British Conchology", John Gwyn Jeffreys wrote: "The snail has been but rarely the subject of poetical treatment. Minor poets would be afraid of touching it; and even in the hands of those great masters to whom it has been given to interpret the deeper harmonies of the universe, it is only upon rare occasions that this little animal could fittingly present itself as a link in the chain of their conceptions ..."
Jeffreys quotes from the poem "The Snail" by William Cowper. This is based on a Latin poem by his teacher at Westminster school, William Bourne, which, although written in the eighteenth century (Cowper died in 1800), was first published in William Hayley's "Life and letters of William Cowper" (1803) :-
To grass, or leaf, or fruit, or wall,
The Snail sticks close, nor fears to fall,
As if he grew there, house and all
"The House-Keeper" (Album verses, 1830) by Charles Lamb is also a verse translation of Bourne :-
The frugal snail, with fore-cast of repose,
Carries his house with him, where'er he goes;
Peeps out - and if there comes a shower of rain,
Retreats to his small domicle amain.
Poems on Conchology and Botany by Sarah Hoare (1831) contains two stanzas on Helix. The remaining occurrences of Helis aspersa L. in 19th century verse are in rhymes written for children.
The snail was amongst the guests invited to "The Butterfly's Ball, and the Grasshopper's feast," which was first published in The Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Chronicle for November, 1806, "Said to have been Written by WILLIAM ROSCOE, Esq. M.P. for Liverpool, for the Use of his Children; and set to Music by order of their MAJESTIES, for the Princess MARY."
And the Snail, with her horns peeping out of her shell,
Came, fatigu'd with the distance, the length of an ell.
With steps most majestic the Snail did advance,
And he promis'd the gazers a minuet to dance;
But they all laugh'd so loud that he drew in his head,
And went in his own little chamber to bed.
The snail has undergone a change of sex in the course of the narrative!
Next follows a trifle by M.L. Elliot, which is headed by a deplorable drawing by Ernest Griset, in "National Nursery Rhymes and Nursery Songs set to original music" by J.W. Elliott (Novello & Co., 1870):
Six little Snails
Liv'd in a tree,
Johnny threw a big stone,
Down came three.
One of her charming sketches (though the snails are microscopic) heads the following sextain by Kate Greenaway in "Under the Window: Pictures and Rhymes for Children" (Routledge, 1878):
Little Miss Patty and Master Paul
Have found two snails on the garden wall.
"These snails," said Paul, "how slow they walk!-
A great deal slower than we can talk.
Make haste, Mr Snail, travel quicker I pray;
In a race with our tongues you'd be beaten to-day."
The snail was not overlooked by that celebrated Devon 'squarson' the Revd. Sabine Baring-Gould, who like Cowper was a hymn writer, now best remembered, abetted by Sir Arthur Sullivan, for "Onward Christian Soldiers". Amongst the many publications of this prolific writer is A Book of Nursery Songs and Rhymes (Methuen, 1895), one of which is "The Snail":
The snail crawls out with his house on his back,
You may know whence he comes by his slimy track.
Creep, creep, how slowly he goes,
And you'd do the same if you carried your house.
But a blackbird is watching him on his track.
Tack, tack! on the roof of his house,
He gobbles him up as a cat does a mouse.
This theme of carrying its house on its back runs through so many of the snail verses that it grows tedious. Surely every author cannot have imagined that he was the originator of this whimsicality! The Fool tells King Lear, "I can tell why a Snaile has a house." Writes John Donne (1663):
And seeing the snaile, which every where doth rome,
Carrying his owne house still, still is at home.
Wordsworth (Liberty) in one of his less inspired moments perpetrated:
The beetle loves his unpretending track,
The snail the house he carries on his back;
The far-fetched worm with pleasure would disown
The bed we give him, though of softest down;
A noble instinct.
So many minor versifiers have followed these masters that one longs for a penal injunction against it. This recurrent drollery goes back over 2700 years to Hesiod, who in "Works and Days" nicknamed the snail "house-carrier" (phereoikos):
The House-bearer, from his winter quarters
Roused by Pleione's gentle daughters,
Ascends the plants. These vernal days
Indolent hinds must mend their ways;
The grape-vines should have all been hoed;
Sharpen your sickles, take the road.
Originally published by A.E. Ellis in Conchologist's Newsletter 55, Dec. 1975, pp.464-466


text:
Right moment and right message c(w)ould outbreak crisis winner
Published by Valicon on 7. 4. 2020
Author: Zenel Batagelj
One thing will remain – customer is the king, especially during and after the coronavirus outbreak. The magic formula of getting out of crisis as a winner hides a great understanding of the consumer in these difficult moments. It is important for businesses to understand how consumer operates and what his or her intentions are, where are we in comparison to pre-corona conditions thus how far from the (new) normal condition.
Therefore, we are in need to be consciously aware of the virus presence in the consumer's environment, its reality, its sense of security and level of concern. As the virus spreads exponentially, changes are rapid, thus daily monitoring is strongly recommended and required.
At VALICON, we have the largest community of randomly selected individuals on our online panels who occasionally respond to our survey research. We have repeatedly demonstrated that with advanced smart sampling, the results of these survey estimates work better than traditional survey data collection methods.
At this point we thank all of our jaZnam panelists (.si, .hr, .ba, .rs) who participated in the research.
Our goal is to have a better understanding of how the business environment will change as a result of the virus. The longer the emergency will last, the more the consumer will change, and thus the business environment.
Valicon presents its crisis understanding model on the diagram below. Most indicators will be presented comparatively across the four major countries of the region, emphasizing how the indicators will change with extension of the virus outbreak. The longer the period, the less likely we are to return to old normality after crisis ends.
Picture 1: Valicon COVID-19 indicators
Close to one-third of respondents said they were more likely to be at risk of being infected by coronavirus. This indicator shows us that people have taken the virus for real and that they are being vigilant even more than they actually should be, which is great, given the many unknowns related to virus. Although belonging to a risk group is a fairly objective fact (age, chronic disease…), various information is emerging that affects our subjective perception of the extent to which person is at risk. The indicator is far from stable. With higher mortality, more information about the dead and its implications will be available to analyse. The more of those under the age of 65, the greater the proportion of those who will self-diagnose being at risk. This group of indicators also includes level of concerns and changes in their employment status, which will not be shown this time due to space constraints.
Graph 1.: Risk of infection
Official statistics measure the (confirmed) prevalence of the virus. What we measure in the survey is prevalence in terms of physical presence – in the environment of the individual, and social prevalence – presence in the family circle, the circle of colleagues and friends.
Knowing the fact that when a phenomenon actually happens in the narrowest circles of an individual, the phenomenon becomes the actual reality of such. Given that the prevalence across four countries is fairly similar, we expected similar results across countries – on average, the virus is a reality for about 7% of respondents.
Graph 2.: Presence of COVID-19 in social and physical environment
Two weeks ago, which is a big thing in the survey business and public opinion during fast pace of epidemic, we measured the awareness of the virus. Familiarity is virtually ubiquitous, so as anxiety. Almost 90% of respondents are concerned, slightly over a quarter are very concerned. The proportion of those very concerned is likely to increase over the course of epidemic.
Graph 3.: Degree of concern
Answer to why respondents are concerned is probably the most indicative question related to virus outbreak as social phenomena. For once, the family is consistently in first place with a score between 75% and 85%, and the workplace (for once) is at the bottom with about 10%. Over time, the percentage of job-related concerns would presumably increase.
Graph 4.: Personal experience of COVID-19 outbreak
According to the results of the perception of the dynamics, we could say that the first wave of "panic" is behind us – more than half of them think that things are going towards better. We can observe BiH as an exception, which slightly lags behind the other three countries. The government measures are clearly "working". Half of respondents slowly adapted to the new reality, based on first package of countries' measures in this domain.
Graph 5.: Degree of optimism/pessimism
Security is exceptionally related to the perception of governments measures and decisions. We measure both aspects: short-term measures related to restraint, social distance and the perception of longer-term measures, which are primarily aimed at curbing economic negative consequences. Up to 14% of respondents in Serbia anticipate short-term measures as unacceptable, where taken measures were extremely fast and very restrictive from the outset, while Slovenia aspired toward stringent measures which were fetched on 29th of March.
Graph 6.: Attitudes towards actions and measures of Federal Government authorities regarding COVID-19
The public is satisfied with the long-term measures, the least satisfied in B&H, where the measures are lagging behind the other three countries. An important note is that the concrete proposal of measures was presented in Slovenia on 29th of March, the results of which are not yet covered. Thus, we can conclude that the general public is fairly pleased with the measures of the governments, while at least in Slovenia and Croatia there is still some space for introducing more stringent measures.
Graph 7.: Attitudes towards economic actions and measures of Federal Government authorities regarding COVID-19
Continuance
So far, all indicators have been of a more explanatory nature, hiding in themselves the elements of the KPI's of new "normality", which is our primary goal. However, continuance performance indicators are key to understanding actual changes in consumer behavior. The perception of the crisis duration is important because consumers make the most of their purchasing decisions relying on it. The longer this condition takes, the more time consumers will have for behavioral patterns to "anchor" in a period of new "normality". We can see that the most optimistic are Slovenians, estimating that outbreak will last 2 months. However, it is true that the first measures were first introduced in Slovenia and we have some "stocks" in Slovenia. Other countries in the region estimate that the situation will last slightly less than three months. While watching this indicator closely we put our hopes in further decreasement of it.
Graph 8.: Expected duration of COVID-19 outbreak
We are especially proud on this indicator. A colleague Esma from Sarajevo is still reliving the war period and thinks that sooner or later we will move to a "new reality", coherent to "normal, in the new situation" response. We are far away from normal, with an average of about 15% saying that the situation is normal. Observing this as a good, perceived situation is not hopeless nor critical, but across polled countries the most common answer is "unpleasant and exhausting". The road to (new) normality is still a long drive, but to begin change, the engine of respondents will have to turn on and move to an "acceptable" part of graph.
Graph 9.: Experiencing current situation
Analyzes made so far have shown absence of greater "panic". The government is acting accordingly, circumstances are directed better, of course we are concerned about being away from normal, but we think the matter will last no longer than 2 months.
The indicators below are "battle-tested" and have been used and measured on a regular basis since 2008 – the famous Marketing Monitor, which is implemented in conjunction with DMS. Consistently across each country, there is an expectation of deterioration.
Graph 10.: Financial situation during COVID-19 outbreak
Which logically affects the expected consumption (purple part of graph below) has not yet been fully realized, but it can be.
Graph 11.: Change in consumption habits
Based on these two questions, we've been creating a specific segmentation with a time series since 2008, which will be presented in time to come. Certainly the influence of the corona outbreak is already present and may be felt even more in the future.
No need to panic, Valicon is with you!
Keeping track of indicators (by the way, there are quite a few more) at least on a weekly basis and observe how events affect their movement. In addition, we have measured the same indicators at some of the relevant global focal points, so we have benchmarks for what lies ahead.
Based on this, we are working on Corona Index development, to predict break points. Of course, indicators are not only observed on the whole population, but also on key marketing segments, because the entire methodology is based on Valicon's online panels and the indicators themselves are compared with the situation before the crisis. Also, the possibility to monitor selected indicators in real-time on our website would be available shortly.