The findings of this report received considerable ink in The New York Times and The Washington Post and plenty of airtime on networks around the world, including on CNN. And the day the report was released Vice President-elect Joseph Biden was briefed on its contents.
So is the sky falling?
Not really. Terrorists have already used weapons of mass destruction in the past decade in attacks around the world, and they have proven to be something of a dud.
In the fall of 2001, the anthrax attacks in the United States that targeted politicians and journalists caused considerable panic but did not lead to many deaths. Five people were killed.
The alleged author of that attack, Bruce E. Ivins, was one of the leading biological weapons researchers in the United States. Even this brilliant scientist could only "weaponize" anthrax to the point that it killed a handful of people. Imagine then how difficult it would be for the average terrorist, or even the above-average terrorist, to replicate such efforts.
Similarly, the bizarre Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo, which recruited leading scientists and had hundreds of millions of dollars in the bank, embarked on a large-scale WMD program in the early 1990s in which cult members experimented with anthrax and invested in land in Australia to mine uranium.
In the end, Aum found biological and nuclear attacks too complex to organize and settled instead on a chemical weapons operation, setting off sarin gas in the Tokyo subway in 1995 that killed 12 commuters. It is hard to imagine a place better suited to killing a lot of people than the jam-packed Tokyo subway, yet the death toll turned out to be small in Aum's chemical weapons assault.
More recently, in 2006 and 2007 al Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate laced several of its bombs with chlorine. Those attacks sickened hundreds of Iraqis, but victims who died in the assaults did so more from the blast of the bombs than because of inhaling chlorine. Al Qaeda stopped using chlorine in its bombs in Iraq more than a year ago.
There is a semantic problem in any discussion of WMDs because the ominous term "Weapons of Mass Destruction" is something of a misnomer. In the popular imagination, chemical, biological and nuclear devices are all weapons of mass destruction. In fact, there is only one weapon of mass destruction that can kill tens or hundreds of thousands and that is a nuclear device.
So the real question is: Can terrorists deploy nuclear weapons any time in the next five years or even further in the future? To do so, terrorists would have one of four options: to buy, steal, develop or be given a nuclear weapon.
But none of those scenarios are remotely realistic outside the world of Hollywood.
To understand how complex it is to develop a nuclear weapon, it is worth recalling that Saddam Hussein put tens of millions of dollars into his nuclear program with no success.
Iran, which has had a nuclear program for almost two decades, is still years away from developing a nuclear bomb. Terrorist groups simply don't have the massive resources of states, and so the notion that they could develop their own, even crude, nuclear weapons is fanciful.
Well, what about terrorists being given nukes? Preventing this was one of the underlying rationales of the push to topple Hussein in 2003. This does not pass the laugh test. Brian Michael Jenkins, one of the leading U.S. terrorism experts in a book published this year, "Will Terrorists Go Nuclear?," points out that there are two reasons this is quite unlikely.
For the same reason that states won't give nukes to terrorists, they also won't sell them either, which leaves the option of stealing a nuclear weapon. But that is similarly unlikely because nuclear-armed governments, including Pakistan, are pretty careful about the security measures they place around their most valued weapons.
None of this of course is to suggest that al Qaeda is not interested in deploying nuclear devices. Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders have repeatedly bloviated about the necessity of nuking the West and have even implied that they have the capability to do so.
Yes, in the mid-1990s when Al Qaeda was based in Sudan, members of the group tried to buy highly enriched uranium suitable for a nuke, but the deal did not go through. And it is certainly the case that a year or so before 9/11, bin Laden was meeting with veterans of Pakistan's nuclear program to discuss how al Qaeda might get into the nuclear weapons business.
But all of this was aspirational, not operational. There is not a shred of evidence that any of this got beyond the talking stage.
In 2002, former U.N. weapons inspector David Albright undertook a careful study of al Qaeda's nuclear research program and concluded it was virtually impossible for al Qaeda to have acquired any type of nuclear weapon.
However, there is plenty of evidence that the group has experimented with crude chemical and biological weapons, and also attempted to acquire radioactive materials suitable for a "dirty" bomb, a device that marries conventional explosives to radioactive materials.
But even if al Qaeda successfully deployed a crude chemical, biological or radiological weapon these would not be weapons of mass destruction that killed thousands. Instead, these would be weapons of mass disruption, whose principal effect would be panic — not mass casualties.
So if not WMDs, what will terrorists use in their attacks over the next five years?
Small-bore chemical, biological and radiological attacks are all quite probable, but those attacks would kill scores, not thousands.
The first vehicle bomb blew up on Wall Street in 1920 detonated by an Italian-American anarchist. Since then, the car/truck bomb has been reliably deployed by terrorists thousands of times.
Assassinations, such as the one that killed Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914, sparking one of the bloodiest wars in history.
Hijackings, such as those that inaugurated the worst terrorist attack in history on 9/11.
Guys armed with AK-47s intent on murder and mayhem as we saw in Mumbai, India, brought one of the world's largest countries to a standstill and generated continuous news coverage around the globe for 60 hours.
Why go the deeply uncertain, and enormously complex and expensive WMD route when other methods have proved so successful in getting attention for terrorists in the past?
The Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism makes all sorts of sensible recommendations. Among them is creating a WMD adviser in the White House who would coordinate all the issues of WMD proliferation and terrorism, something the Obama administration would do well to implement. Right now, responsibility for this important job is diffused over numerous agencies, from the Department of Energy to the Pentagon.
But the report's overall conclusion that WMD terrorism is likely to happen "somewhere in the world" in the next five years is simultaneously stating the obvious — because terrorists already have engaged in crude chemical and biological weapons attacks — but also highly unlikely because deploying true WMDs remains beyond the capabilities of terrorist groups today and for the foreseeable future.


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Platelet biomechanics sheds light on coronary disease
by Holly Korschun, Emory University
Credit: Emory University
The answer to a 20-year-old physiology question may offer clues for the treatment and prevention of thrombosis and its related conditions, as well as heart attacks.
Renhao Li, PhD, is a member of a research team that discovered how tiny, clot-producing blood cells called platelets respond to shear stress, the force exerted by blood on blood cells when it moves rapidly through a vessel or artery. Li is professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology and Oncology, at Emory University School of Medicine, and Aflac Cancer & Blood Disorders Center of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.
The research will be reported in the Sept. 27 issue of Nature Communications, in a paper titled "Platelet clearance via shear-induced unfolding of a membrane mechanoreceptor."
To illustrate shear stress, Li uses a metaphor of a flowing river. "If you put a boulder in the middle of a river, the water exerts a force—shear—on that boulder," he says. "The stronger the current, the stronger the force on the boulder." The current speeds up if one could narrow the river channel; likewise, in the human circulatory system, blood flows faster when, for instance, vessels are contracted.
"There are three major components that determine thrombosis risk," he explains. "One is blood, the other one is vessel, and the third component is flow."
Understanding the interplay among these components, specifically how platelets respond to blood flow shear, is significant in terms of understanding a number of blood diseases, Li notes.
When a blood vessel is injured, platelets release clotting factors that plug the hole at the injury site and stop the bleeding. But clot formation also may be triggered if blood is flowing too quickly. These clots (emboli) are not good news. They impede blood flow to tissue, and may break off from the spot where they were formed to travel through the bloodstream where they get stuck, blocking blood from reaching the heart, lungs or other vital organs.
Medical researchers long ago established that platelets can respond to blood shear through a protein complex called GPIb-IX located on the platelet surface, but how this protein complex senses and responds to shear or force has remained a mystery for the past 20 years. Li and his colleagues recently found that, contrary to popular belief, a certain region within GPIb-IX is, in fact, structured. This so-called mechanosensory domain or MSD becomes unfolded on the platelet surface when certain protein molecules found in the plasma bind to GPIb-IX under blood shear and impose a pulling force on it. The unfolding of MSD sets off a complex chain of events and sends an intracellular signal into the platelet that results in rapid platelet clearance.
"Every day your bone marrow generates more than a billion platelets, and every day you clear the same number," Li says. "It's critical that your platelet count stays constant. Too few platelets can lead to a condition called thrombocytopenia and may cause spontaneous bleeding or stroke. In addition, cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy are likely to have damaged platelets and thrombocytopenia, too. Thus, identifying the molecular "switch" that triggers platelet clearance is important for designing new therapies to treat thrombocytopenia."
While the mechanism behind MSD unfolding-induced platelet clearance remains an open question, according to Li, his research provides a good starting point for further inquiry into the phenomenon.
Study in mice may identify new ways to treat immune thrombocytopenia
Provided by Emory University
Citation: Platelet biomechanics sheds light on coronary disease (2016, September 28) retrieved 21 January 2022 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-09-platelet-biomechanics-coronary-disease.html
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Carrie the Caregiver Can you keep the babies happy and healthy?
Can you keep the babies happy and healthy?
Travel 5 continents Show Carrie how to use the tools of the trade to keep the chaos at bay and discover the super-Caregiver within.
Things are getting crazy in the maternity ward, but Carrie, a recent nursing school graduate, has a strategy to keep the babies healthy and happy until they go home with their parents.
Traveling around the world with Caregivers International, our heroine's journey progresses as she learns to feed, clean, and soothe adorable babies as well as care for herself.
The charming story will keep you hooked.


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Movies and TV | August 31, 2011
Top 10 Lost Films
Michael M. Shimp
A lost film is one for which there is no known print to exhibit. Most of these films come, roughly, from around the turn of the century into the fifties, when less flammable film stock was adopted by the motion picture industry. It is estimated that more silent pictures are lost than survive, and there are scores of talking pictures from the thirties that are missing, as well. There are many reasons that a film becomes lost. The early film stock was flammable, and film warehouse fires were not uncommon. Sometimes studios destroyed the films themselves, through neglect, silver recovery processes or simply throwing them away. Additionally, old film stock turned to goo, even when properly stored, and films have been lost to film degradation. This is especially true of silent pictures. There are exceptions: Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton have only one or two lost films each.
Lost films turn up, usually in a forgotten closet in an old motion picture theater. A good example is the silent movie Wings, which won multiple Academy Awards.
Here is a list of the most sought-after lost films. There are dozens of others that could have made the list.
This silent movie is, arguably, the most sought after lost film. The interest here is Chaney's portrayal of a vampire. It's directed by Todd Browning, who later directed Dracula, with Bela Lugosi. Turner Classic Movies recreated the film using the script and still photographs a few years ago, and has shown the re-creation as recently as 2011. Lon Chaney was a great actor (maybe the greatest), and his other lost features include The Tower Of Lies (1925) and The Big City (1928). These would be as important a find as London After Midnight.
The Mountain Eagle
A silent movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock, it was lost during Hitchcock's lifetime, and he apparently seemed pleased that it was. It's the only lost picture Hitchcock directed, and it's number one on the list of lost British films.
Convention City
Convention City was scandalous enough that, after the motion picture production code was passed, further screenings were banned. It had name stars like Joan Blondell, Dick Powell and Mary Astor. It pushed the boundaries of 1930's morality and, in fact, this movie could have hastened adoption of the code. Warner Brothers apparently destroyed this one deliberately. It competes with London After Midnight as the most sought-after lost film. The plot revolved around drunk and sexed-up employees of the Honeywell Rubber Company, at a convention in Atlantic City. Dr. James Wingate, chair of the Motion Picture Division of the State of New York Department of Education — which oversaw the state's censorship board — described it as "a pretty rowdy picture, dealing largely with drunkenness, blackmail and lechery, and without any particularly sympathetic characters or elements."
Charlie Chan Carries on
This isn't on many top lost film lists but it should be. The first Chan film starring Warner Oland, it started the long running popular detective series, which was very profitable for Fox Films. While today some find the idea of a Caucasian actor (Oland was Swedish) portraying an oriental distasteful, the character of Chan was portrayed as an honest, hard working family man who was always the smartest guy in the room. This Charlie Chan film, as well as most of Fox Studio films made before 1935, was lost in a warehouse fire. Of the first six Chan films with Oland, only one survives.
Cleopatra starred Theda Bara, a popular silent screen star. Of forty movies that she made, only six survive. Cleopatra was an expensive film for the time, and stills from it suggest a lavish spectacle. Theda Bara's costumes, alone, received quite a bit of press coverage. Other lost Theda Bara films are Camille (1917), Romeo and Juliet (1916), The Two Orphans (1915), The Serpent (1916) and Salome (1918).
The Life of General Villa
Pancho Villa (the Mexican revolutionary general) was raising money for his revolution, and D.W. Griffith paid Villa to star in this film. A few seconds of the film survive.
This Man Is Dangerous
This James Mason film was shown on British television, in 1987, and has since gone missing from the British movie archives. Hard to believe no one videotaped this, even back in 1987. It is included here as the film most likely to be found.
A Daughter of the Gods
This film is said to be the first feature to cost more than a million dollars, and to feature complete nudity by a major star, actress Annette Kellerman. In the film, a sultan agrees to help an evil witch destroy a mysterious beauty, if the witch will bring his young son back to life.
Nominated for Best Picture at the second Academy awards, it's the only lost best picture nominee. It starred Emil Jannings, who also starred in the picture next on this list. The film is a 1928 semi-biographical film that was directed by Ernst Lubitsch, and released by Paramount Pictures. It depicts the life of Tsar Paul I, of Russia.
The Way of All Flesh
The only lost Academy Award winning performance. Emil Jannings won the first best actor Oscar for this film and another made the same year, under rules that were then changed the following year. No known copies of this film in its entirety survive. This makes Jannings the only Oscar-winning performance with no copy of the film in any private collection or film archive. This may also be Victor Fleming's only missing film.
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Our past experience with Catholic college graduations we have attended has been that there's an opening prayer and that's the last we would hear about God. At my daughter's graduation, not only was there an opening prayer, but God was interwoven in all the speeches thereafter. It was refreshing!
Each speaker talked about God's role in their lives and although the speaker had their own plans, God seemed to make Himself known to let that individual know that He had His plans for them. From the student speaker to the president, God was spoken of in a way that my husband and I hadn't heard in a very long time.
From the time my daughter arrived on campus, she was welcomed and nurtured for her chosen field. The smallness of the college gave her the attention that she hadn't received at the secular and more prestigious college she had attended. During her religion classes, she asked a lot a questions about the Lutheran faith and she shared her Catholic faith with enthusiasm and conviction, challenging her professors when she felt her questions weren't being answered.
On graduation day, I spoke with two of her professors. Both of them looked me in the eye and said, "If you need anything, let us know." I didn't know what to say.
My husband and I spoke about our experience for several days after the graduation. It takes a lot to impress my husband and I could see that he found the graduation to be a satisfying experience. The hour and a half moved quickly and neither of us felt bored.
Don't be afraid to talk about my faith. Speak about it and tell my story how God has worked in my life. The speeches we heard were told in loving voices that didn't "preach" or sound prideful.
Be nurturing. By that I mean, help others along the way of their life's journey no matter who they are and what they believe.
Warmly invite people to church. My daughter was always invited to attend prayer services even though it was known she was Catholic.
.Look people in the eye and say, "If you need anything, let me know," and mean it.


The publication apologizes for the posts.
On Friday, January 13, around 11 am the Twitter account of Ukrainian publication ZN.ua was hacked.
The hackers immediately posted a twit in which President Petro Poroshenko, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, and Kyiv mayor Vitaliy Klitschko are promises a "confinement in prison."
The publication apologizes for Twitter messages published on its behalf and stated that the problem was being resolved.
In August, the accounts of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the National Guard on Twitter and the page of ATO on Facebook were hacked.


For the first time in many years The Köln Concert is being made available by ECM in double 180grams audiophile Vinyl. ECM's No.1 selling album, is also the best selling solo piano album of all time. MOJO magazine has recommended it as their favourite ECM album, in their 'How to Buy ECM' guide, "confirms his genius...a masterpiece."
Want to know when Keith Jarrett - The Koln Concert Vinyl - ozgameshop.com drops below a certain price? Enter your email address and price below and we'll let you know when it drops below that price!


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Award goes to "God's Donkey"
byStaff writers
11 February 2007 - Updated on 16 March 2021
BRISBANE-born Sr Mary Theodore has received an award recognising more than 50 years of service to disabled children in India.
The Asialink Sir Edward "Weary" Dunlop Medal was presented in Sydney on February 1 by the Prime Minister's wife Jeanette Howard.
The 83-year-old nun, who humbly calls herself "God's Donkey", joined the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary in 1948, but subsequently went out on her own and now works independently in India.
One of eight children born to wealthy Lebanese migrants in Australia, she wanted at 17 to become nothing more than a penniless missionary nun.
Her family made her wait another four years before she could join the order.
The day she finished her religious training she received her travel orders to India.
Sr Mary Theodore dedicated her life to the care and rehabilitation of mentally and physically disabled children in Madras, now Chennai, when she arrived in 1951 from Australia.
She recommended to the Archbishop of Madras to found an institute for the physically and mentally disabled.
The Madras Institute to Habilitate Retarded Afflicted (MITHRA) was registered in 1973.
Sr Mary Theodore was nominated for the award by Australia's ambassador to India, John McCarthy.
Nigerian seminarians arrive
Bishop renews call for release of Hicks
In praise of marriage


Wall Art, Metal Tree Wall Art was posted August 16, 2017 at 2:49 pm by davidahrens.us . More over Metal Tree Wall Art has viewed by 8728 visitor.
Wall Art, Tree Of Life Metal Wall Art was posted November 24, 2017 at 3:49 pm by davidahrens.us . More over Tree Of Life Metal Wall Art has viewed by 8726 visitor.


The increase among women receiving supplementary pensions is due to younger generations of AOW recipients, who more often receive supplementary pensions than older generations. In 2010, for example, only 27 percent of 75 to 80-year-old women with a partner received supplementary pensions versus 45 percent of their 65 to 75-year-old counterparts.
Women's supplementary pensions are generally much lower than men's. In 2010, the gross, average, supplementary pension of women was 8,000 euro; men's supplementary pensions were on average twice as high.
The largest gap between men and women was found in the category over-65s with partners and over the past decade the gap in this category has widened. Supplementary pensions of women with partners were on average 38 percent of men's supplementary pensions in 2000 versus 33 percent in 2010.


CALL them animal code-breakers. Red-breasted nuthatches in the forests of North America have developed ways of distinguishing between the seemingly identical alarm calls of a chickadee. It's the first time such subtle eavesdropping has been seen.
The nuthatches tune into alarm calls made by black-capped chickadees when they're threatened by owls. To humans, all chickadee alerts sound the same. But nuthatches can tell whether the would-be predators are pygmy owls, which also attack small birds like themselves, or the larger great horned owls, which tend not to.


The cervical spine, better known as the neck, starts at the base of the skull; a neck contains seven vertebrae. The neck supports the head which typically weighs 11 or 12 pounds. The neck allows the head to move in almost every direction.
Due to the inherent flexibility of the neck is quite susceptible to injury which results in considerable neck pain in Chicago. Accidents are a major cause of neck injury however sitting in one position for an extended period of time; aging and every day "wear and tear" affect the cervical biometrics.
* A sudden movement of the neck and the subsequent rebound is known as "whiplash." This whipping motion causes injury to the supporting tissues, muscles will tense and contract under these circumstances. The result is pain and stiffness and can also injure the ligaments, disc and nerves in the neck.
* Aging: As one ages there is the possibility of degenerative disorders such as arthritis and degenerative disc disease, both of which can affect the neck.
* Poor posture is a major contributor to neck pain in Chicago. The working environment of many people means they are tied to a computer screen for long periods of time, the muscles tighten, resulting in neck pain and stiffness.
The chiropractor will perform a physical examination, noting the range of neck motion, curvature and alignment. A neck adjustment is a chiropractic procedure; precise pressure is applied by hand to specific areas of the neck. A neck adjustment improves mobility and restores the expected range of motion. Patients will find that their ability to turn their head to the far right and left a well as tilt their head is greatly enhanced and the associated pain and stiffness is greatly reduced.
There are numerous reasons why an individual gets neck pain in Chicago; accidents, aging and work related poor posture are common causes. If you suffer neck pain, you are welcome to visit any of the four Chicago Chiropractic & Sports Injury Centers.


We're almost back to normal now! At least when it comes to Monday mail posts... Christmas and the blizzard we got messed up the regular postal schedule and I still got some holiday cards early last week. So, this is (hopefully) the last week with a mail love post that's a tad Christmassy and all over the place.
Before we get into more detailed photos of the outgoing and incoming mail, I wanted to show you a collection of incoming holiday mail. I wanted to display the cards we got, so I taped them to the wall in the living room. I think the display turned out awesome and I don't see why I wouldn't do this with regular mail too... Maybe not in the living room, but I think it would look fun next to my work space.
Another great use for washi tape!
Another one of my brightly colored, all over the place pieces of mail. Sometimes I just feel like adding everything on an envelope.
Other times simple is better. The top one is made from a piece of drawer liner, so it smells like lilies and the second one is made from a book page.
With all sorts of things coming in the mail, I wanted to share the few that aren't for Christmas. A cat postcard from an art exhibit and a letter. The envelope has puffy sushi stickers... Pretty awesome. Thank you!
So, have you returned to regular mailing?


A great deal has been written about the far reaching transportation implications of Crossrail's arrival in Farringdon, but little has explored the potential impact Crossrail will have on Security in Farringdon, EC1 and its neighbouring areas of Old Street, Clerkenwell, Hatton Garden and Mid-Town when the Elizabeth line opens in December 2018.
As a Security Company based in Farringdon, this is a subject at the forefront of our minds. Farringdon station is expected to become one of the busiest stations in London and this increased footfall will undoubtedly bring with it an increase in crime. According to UK Crime Stats, Theft from the Person is already the highest threat to personal safety in Farringdon and Clerkenwell and a busy station with passengers travelling in close proximity to one another does mean petty theft is likely to increase in frequency.
As a professional Security company based in Farringdon, EC1 we believe in prevention through deterrence. We provide solutions including perimeter protection by Security guards, patrols by trained and equipped Security dog handlers and an increase in visibility of guarding personnel. These are effective measures which reduce crime. We know that it is crucial in crowded areas and train stations like Farringdon, which will become a major transport artery, that vigilant staff will need to be on hand to protect passengers and ensure that their personal safety is treated with the utmost importance. We have been troubled to see a rise in violent crime and knife crime in the capital and particularly on the London Underground, including assaults committed during daytime hours. We encourage an increased presence of staff and a full review of Security measures in order to tackle this. This should be taken into account in Farringdon before Crossrail opens at the end of this year. While we recognise how much Farringdon has to offer and welcome new businesses moving to the area thanks to Crossrail links, Security in Farringdon and Clerkenwell and its residents and employees will remain central to our daily activities and efforts.
We look forward to working with local businesses, as we have been doing successfully since 2013, and offer a free risk assessment for any businesses who require Security Services in Farringdon, EC1 Clerkenwell, Old Street, Hatton Garden, Mid Town and Central London.


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Common Google Pixel 4 problems and how to fix them
Let's fix your Pixel issues.
Andrew Martonik
Source: Android Central
Every Pixel seems to have its fair share of issues and problems that crop up in the weeks and months after launch. The Pixel 4 is pretty solid so far, but no phone is free from issues. We're here to help you troubleshoot and solve your Pixel 4 problems, big or small.
Motion Sense doesn't work
No matter how good you get at Motion Sense gestures, they just aren't going to have a 100% acceptance rate. But you can do yourself a favor by at least knowing the right way to hold your hand and swipe. The natural instinct for most of us is to wave with our palm facing the screen, but Motion Sense is designed to expect your palm to be perpendicular to the screen. You should be able to just casually wave your hand over the screen without rotating your wrist to hit an exact angle.
You also don't need to try and get your hand to go over the top bezel of the phone where the Soli radar sensor is. Getting your hand over the top half of the screen is just fine; the phone doesn't expect you to be that precise.
If you're finding Motion Sense tough to use, you're not alone. Despite their best efforts and training, many people have found it to work a majority of the time but nowhere near 100%. If you find it isn't working at all, it's worth making sure Motion Sense is actually enabled. Go into Settings, System and Motion Sense. This is where you can also make sure that the individual settings for skipping songs and silencing notifications are turned on.
You should also be aware that Motion Sense only works in certain countries. As of October 2019, those countries are the U.S., Canada, Singapore, Australia, Taiwan, and most European countries. If you travel to other countries, Motion Sense is not guaranteed to work — no matter where your Pixel 4 is from originally.
Face unlock doesn't recognize me
Google's face unlock technology is really good, and is able to securely identify your face in a variety of lighting conditions. It can even handle when you're wearing glasses, a hat, a scarf or a different hairstyle. It's a pretty robust system — so if you're having issues with face unlock recognizing your face, that's not to be expected.
The simplest way to address this issue is to un-enroll and re-enroll your face. Just like with using a fingerprint sensor, the second time you enroll your face will usually be a bit more methodical and measured — not to mention done with the understanding of the situations in which the phone has failed to register your face in the past.
Go into Settings, Security, Face unlock and tap "Delete face data" and start over. Now it's important this time around to give the phone the best-possible scan of your face. Do the scan when you have a few moments so you're not in a rush, in a room with good lighting, and without a hat or sunglasses on. The on-screen prompts will do the rest when it comes to how you should position and tilt your head.
Face unlock doesn't work in apps
This is a separate issue from face unlock not working to unlock your phone — you're not alone in finding that most apps that used to require a fingerprint sensor won't work with face unlock instead. Unfortunately, any app that was specifically designed to use a fingerprint sensor won't automatically use face unlock — the developer has to update their app to the latest API that supports both.
The number of apps supporting Face unlock is dismal, and Google can't force developers to adopt it.
Since very few people have a Pixel 4, and Google can't force developers to use the latest API, that means there's going to be a frustrating (and potentially long) period where apps won't use face unlock. Some apps jumped on the new API, but it's notable that most banking and financial apps are taking their time in switching over.
So in the meantime, you can at least know that it isn't just you. When an app does add face unlock support, it'll be clear — you'll be able to enable it right in the settings of the app just like fingerprint, and when you do it'll work just like the lock screen does. And a miniature workaround for this issue is to at least use a password manager that does have face unlock support, and use its autofill service to put in usernames and passwords into your other secure apps. It's annoying, and we wish Google had a way to force developers to make the change, but this is what we have to deal with right now.
Bad battery life
This is easily the most common "problem" with the Pixel 4; so no, you're not alone in having bad battery life. We go into much deeper detail with battery life improvements in a dedicated article, but here's the condensed version:
Make sure Adaptive Battery is turned on: It's turned on by default, but it's worth double checking in Settings, Battery, Adaptive Battery. The system watches how you use your phone and makes tweaks to extend battery life. It will also permanently sleep apps you don't use for a long time, and show them in this settings screen.
Use Battery Saver mode: Toggle it on at any time from the notification shade, and when you do the phone makes a bunch of battery-saving changes. It restricts apps from refreshing in the background, turns off location services when the screen is off, turns off "OK Google" hotword detection, and turns on the system's dark theme. You can also set Battery Saver to come on automatically based on your usage, or at a specific battery percentage.
Uninstall unused apps: This is dead simple: apps can't drain your battery if they aren't installed. Android 10 does a fine job of restricting apps it notices you don't use often, but you can go a step further and uninstall them completely. You can always reinstall one later if you find you need it!
Restrict background location access: Android 10 lets you give location access to apps only when you're using them, which is great for privacy but also helps battery life. Go to Settings, Privacy, Permission manager and then Location to see every app that has access to your location — restrict the ones you don't want to have full background access.
Charge faster, charge easier: No matter what you do, the Pixel 4 is going to need to be charged. The least you can do is make it convenient to charge throughout the day, and make that charging faster. That means making sure you have a good full-speed wall charger, a wireless charger, a car charger, and a portable battery.
Turn off Motion Sense: You can turn off Motion Sense entirely, but there are downsides — the phone won't be able to sense when you're reaching for it, and will be slower to respond to your presence to enable face unlock. You can specifically turn off the "skip songs" and "silence interruptions" options, though, if you don't find them useful anyway.
Change your Ambient Display settings: Ambient Display doesn't use as much battery as you'd think, but it uses some. You can turn it off entirely by toggling all of the options in Display and Lock screen display settings, but a good middle ground is to turn off "Always on" and leave the others enabled — that way it still comes on when a notification arrives, you tap your screen, or you pick up your phone.
Turn off Smooth Display 90Hz refresh: The Pixel 4's display looks great, but there's a cost: refreshing the screen 50% more often than other phones requires more battery. Turning it off, if you choose to do so, is easy. Go into your Settings, Display and Smooth Display — there's a single toggle, and that's it.
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS connection problems
The Pixel 4 doesn't seem to have any notable or widespread issues with radios, but it seems like there are an unlimited number of ways Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS can be broken on any phone.
Bluetooth problems: Hop into the Bluetooth settings and make sure the device you want to connect to is paired. If it is, tap the gear icon and make sure it has the profiles selected that you need. If all else fails, unpair and re-pair each device you're having issues with. You can also rename devices if you feel there's a conflict between multiple headphones or speakers.
Wi-Fi problems: It's far more likely that any Wi-Fi issues you're experiencing are on the router's end, but it doesn't hurt to forget and re-authenticate the network with its password. In the Wi-Fi settings you can tap the network you're connected to and actually see your signal strength, network usage, MAC address, IP address and more that can be helpful if you're troubleshooting from the router side.
GPS problems: If you're having issues with location accuracy, it may be related to having restricted background location access to that app. Some navigation, fitness and other apps really do need background location access to work properly, and you may have to whitelist them. Thankfully, you can do this on a per-app basis. You can also go into the Location settings to make sure your phone is using Google Location Accuracy and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth scanning.
If you feel like there are some serious radio demons in your phone, or you just can't get things to work properly no matter what troubleshooting steps you take, it can be smart to reset the network options for Wi-FI, Bluetooth and mobile networks. Go into Settings, System, Advanced and Reset options — tap "Reset Wi-Fi, mobile & Bluetooth" to completely blow away the settings for all of these back to their defaults. You'll lose your paired Bluetooth devices and Wi-Fi networks, but that's a small price to pay if it happens to also clear out whatever issues you were having.
90Hz Smooth Display isn't ... smooth
You may have noticed — or, more likely, been told to notice — that the Pixel 4's "Smooth Display" 90Hz refresh rate isn't always enabled. Specifically, when the screen brightness is low and/or the ambient lighting conditions aren't bright. You aren't imagining things, this is happening — Google reduces the refresh rate in certain conditions. It has good reasons for doing so, not the least of which being reducing eye strain and reducing battery drain.
You aren't alone — the display isn't always at 90Hz.
But its implementation may be ... a bit off. People have rightly pointed out that Google's threshold for when to turn off 90Hz is very conservative, and it probably should stay on more often than it does. Google says a fix is on the way that will change the parameters of when the screen refresh rate changes, but until then you have two options: you can leave it as is, knowing the refresh will drop to 60Hz regularly, or you can hop into the Developer options and force it to be 90Hz all of the time.
We highly recommend staying out of the Developer options in general. But if you're willing to proceed carefully, you can do it. Go to Settings, About phone and scroll down to "Build number" and tap it 7 times. Now go back, go to System, Advanced and Developer options — find "Force 90Hz refresh rate" and toggle it on. This is likely to affect battery life, and could cause other problems. But it's there, and may tide you over until Google addresses this problem officially.
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Andrew is the Executive Editor, U.S. at Android Central. He has been a mobile enthusiast since the Windows Mobile days, and covering all things Android-related with a unique perspective at AC since 2012. For suggestions and updates, you can reach him at andrew.martonik@androidcentral.com or on Twitter at @andrewmartonik.


A. Abram and Lot separate.
1. (1-4) Abram returns to the land promised to him.
Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South. Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD.
a. To the place where his tent had been at the beginning: Even though Abram came back from Egypt with great riches, he returned to the same place as before. He was right back where he started. Essentially, Abram's time in Egypt was wasted time. God could have and would have provided for his needs in Canaan, even in a time of famine (Genesis 12:10).
i. Abram should not have used the blessing God brought to him in Egypt as a justification for going there. Even though God is great enough to bring good even when we disobey, there is still a cost built into disobedience.
ii. Abram's unbelief took him from his place of worship; it led him into sin, and caused him to lead others into sin. It made him more confident in his ability to lie than in the protecting power of God. It even broke apart his family for a while. Finally, even an ungodly king rightly rebuked him.
b. To the place of the altar which he had made there at first: Yet, at this point Abram did what he should. Instead of torturing himself about his past sin, he got busy doing what he needed to do: living with the tent as a pilgrim and the altar as a worshipper, calling on the name of the LORD.
i. The church has always had the challenge of what to do with believers who slip into sin and want to come back into the church. For example, in the third century, the heroes of the faith were the martyrs and the confessors, but there were also many lapsed believers who failed under the threat of persecution. Some churches were too lax, admitting those lapsed ones back as if nothing happened. Some were too harsh toward the lapsed, saying they could never come back to the church and be used of God. Most churches did the right thing: they allowed the lapsed back, but basically as beginners again, not pretending as if nothing happened.
ii. Here, Abram came back into the Promised Land basically as a beginner. He came back to Bethel, back with the tent and the altar, back doing what he should.
iii. God wants us to walk in our first love and our first works (Revelation 2:4-5).
2. (5-7) Contention between Abram's and Lot's hired workers.
Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.
a. Lot also, who went with Abram: God commanded Abram to leave his family behind when he came to the land of Canaan (Genesis 12:1), but Abram brought his nephew Lot along with him. Trouble like this was the result.
i. This conflict came after Abram did the right thing. When we get right with God, we can often expect attack from the devil.
b. There was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock: Something had to be done about this strife between the estates of Abram and Lot, because they could not continue a conflict like this before the unbelieving inhabitants of Canaan.
c. Their possessions were so great: There was a great difference between the riches of Abram and the riches of Lot. They both had great wealth, but Lot's wealth possessed him. Abram had great possessions, but they did not possess him.
3. (8-9) Abram's generous offer to Lot.
a. Is not the whole land before you? Since Abram was the eldest, and God gave all the land to Abram (not to Lot), it was pure generosity on Abram's part that caused him to make this offer to Lot.
b. If you take the left, then I will go to the right: Abram was able to fight when the occasion demanded it. He did not yield to Lot out of weakness, but out of love and trust in God. A few acres of grazing land didn't seem worth fighting for to a man who lived with an eternal perspective.
i. God was glorified when Paul, out of love, waived his right to be supported by the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:14-18). God was glorified when Jesus, out of love, waived his right to an existence that knew no human suffering or trial by experience (Philippians 2:5-11).
ii. Abram fulfilled the New Testament principle of love: Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others (Philippians 2:4).
c. If you go to the right, then I will go to the left: Right or left, Abram knew he could trust God. He did it because he learned God would provide for his needs, and he did not have to worry about being too generous. Abram knew whatever Lot chose God would make sure Abram prospered.
i. In Egypt, Abram thought he had to take his fate into his own hands. He had to look out for himself. Now, he was wiser and was willing to let God look out for his interests. Right or left, it didn't matter to Abram, because God would be there.
ii. Because he trusted in God, Abram did not have to be obsessed with his own rights and neither do we. Everything we receive is the free gift of God and has nothing to do with our concept of rights.
4. (10-13) Lot chooses his portion of land.
And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD.
a. Like the garden of the LORD: Lot made his choice purely based on what he could see with his eyes. He cared only for the material abundance of the land, and cared nothing for how it would impact him and his family spiritually.
i. As much as anything, faith means we do not walk by what we see, but by what we know to be true in God: For we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Abram walked by faith; Lot walked only by sight.
b. Pitched his tent even as far as Sodom: It was only this far for now, but later Lot became a leader of this sinful city. Valuing only the things that can be seen increased his wealth temporarily, but Lot would eventually lose it all.
i. Of course Lot thought, "I can serve God as well there as here. They probably need a witness." But he deceived himself, as many since him have done. Jeremiah 17:9 states, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?
iii. It wasn't Lot's choice that led his heart astray. His heart was already astray, and it was demonstrated by his choice.
B. God confirms His promise to Abram.
1. (14-15) God promises the land to Abram and to his descendants forever.
a. After Lot had separated from him: God wanted to talk to Abram alone after Lot left. This was a promise made to Abram, not to Abram's nephew.
i. This promise of the land had been made to Abram when he lived in Ur of the Chaldeans (Genesis 12:1-3, Acts 7:2-4). God now repeated the promise.
b. All the land which you see I give to you: God also wanted to remind Abram that even though Abram had been generous enough to grant some of the land to his nephew Lot, God still said the land belonged to Abram.
2. (16) God reminds Abram of His promise to give Abram many descendants.
a. I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth: This was quite a promise to make to a childless man in his seventies or eighties. Yet Abram knew to walk by faith and not by sight.
b. Your descendants: Again, this promise of many descendants was made to Abram when he lived in Ur of the Chaldeans (Genesis 12:1-3, Acts 7:2-4). To assure Abram, God repeated the promise.
3. (17-18) Abram walks through the land God gave to him.
"Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you." Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the LORD.
a. Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you: As a token of Abram's reception of the land by faith, God wants Abram to explore the land of promise, to walk through it as if it were his, though he did not have a record of ownership to the land yet.
i. In the same way, God wants us to explore a land of promise, for us – His Word – where God has given to us exceedingly great and precious promises (2 Peter 1:4), where He has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). He wants us to walk through this land, possessing it by faith.
b. Dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron: The name Mamre means, vision. Hebron means communion. Abram once again walked in the LORD's vision for him and in communion with the LORD.
c. And built an altar there to the LORD: Abram built another altar. He lived life in constant awareness of the need for a sacrificial atonement and covering.


text:
Q: Как узнать что БД скопирована на устройство? При первой инициализации объекта dbHelper extends SQLiteOpenHelper вылезает ошибка java.lang.NullPointerException, а при повторном вызове, ошибки нет.
public DBHelper(Context context) throws IOException {
    super(context, DB_NAME, null, 1);
    System.out.print(context.getFilesDir().getPath());
    DB_PATH = context.getFilesDir().getPath() + "/" + DB_NAME;
    this.mycontext = context;
    boolean dbExists = checkdatabase();
    if (dbExists)
        opendatabase();
    else
        createdatabase();
    //dbIsReady = true;
}

createdatabase() opendatabase() opendatabase() описывать не буду, т.к. названия говорящие
Есть ли адекватный способ проверить существует ли база данных на устройстве или как-то приостановить основной поток, пока база данных копируется на устройство
просто я сделал корявый, с переменной boolean в классе dbHelper, которая становится true в конце конструктора (который копирует бд на устройство, если её нет), и в главном потоке
...
do {} while(db.isDbReady());
...

БД своя, сделанная на компьютере.
Добавил её в assets проекта и мне надо, чтобы бд копировалась в устройство, к примеру 2гис, по городам и в каждом городе БД заведений, транспорта, и т.д.
Вот я собираюсь сделать БД кафе в городе, и поэтому делаю бд на компьютере, чтобы не париться с ContentValues
LogCat
04-04 12:21:23.670 14687-14687/ru.vladdev.andrmenu E: FATAL EXCEPTION: main
 Process: ru.vladdev.andrmenu, PID: 14687
 java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to start activity ComponentInfo{ru.vladdev.andrmenu/ru.vladdev.andrmenu.CafeMenuActivity}: java.lang.NullPointerException: Attempt to invoke virtual method 'android.database.Cursor android.database.sqlite.SQLiteDatabase.query(java.lang.String, java.lang.String[], java.lang.String, java.lang.String[], java.lang.String, java.lang.String, java.lang.String)' on a null object reference
 at android.app.ActivityThread.performLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2476)
 at android.app.ActivityThread.handleLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2538)
 at android.app.ActivityThread.access$1000(ActivityThread.java:168)
 at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1433)
 at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:111)
 at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:194)
 at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5589)
 at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method)
 at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:372)
 at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:956)
 at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:751)
 Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException: Attempt to invoke virtual method 'android.database.Cursor android.database.sqlite.SQLiteDatabase.query(java.lang.String, java.lang.String[], java.lang.String, java.lang.String[], java.lang.String, java.lang.String, java.lang.String)' on a null object reference
 at ru.vladdev.andrmenu.CafeMenuActivity.onCreate(CafeMenuActivity.java:32)
 at android.app.Activity.performCreate(Activity.java:5993)
 at android.app.Instrumentation.callActivityOnCreate(Instrumentation.java:1111)
 at android.app.ActivityThread.performLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2429)
 at android.app.ActivityThread.handleLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2538)
 at android.app.ActivityThread.access$1000(ActivityThread.java:168)
 at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1433)
 at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:111)
 at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:194)
 at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5589)
 at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method)
 at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:372)
 at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:956)
 at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:751)

A: Посмотреть и скопировать бд можно через Android Device Monitor.
Обрати внимание на методы SQLiteOpenHelper
onCreate () - здесь создаешь БД
onUpgrade () - здесь обновляешь БД для след релиза

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Sciency Thoughts: Chelonus spinigaster: A new species of Braconid Wasp from Uttar Pradesh.
Chelonus spinigaster: A new species of Braconid Wasp from Uttar Pradesh.
Moths of the Family Gracillariidae are found throughout the world except on Antarctica and some remote islands. Their larvae are leaf-miners, worm-like caterpillars that live in tunnels inside leaves. This makes these Moths significant agricultural pests, and considerable amounts of research have been dedicated to finding ways to control them. One of the most successful methods of reducing Mining Moth populations is the deliberate introduction of parasitoid predators, Insects (usually Wasps) which lay their eggs on or in the leaf-mining caterpillar, which the parasitoid larvae then consume. Since most parasitoids target only a single prey species, which is an advantage when introducing a biological control, as it makes them highly unlikely to target unintended species. However, before this can be done, suitable parasitoids need to be identified, something which has not been done in every part of the world.
In a paper published in the journal ZooKeys on 12 February 2018, Zubair Ahmad of the Department of Biology at King Khalid University, and Hamed Ghramh, also of the Department of Biology, and of the Research Centre for Advance materials Science, at King Khalid University, describe a new species of Braconid Wasp targetting Acrocercops lysibathra, a Mining Moth which feeds on a number of fruiting trees in India, a country where parasitoid-prey relationships have been little studied.
Braconid Wasps are small parasitoid wasps (Wasps whose larvae grow inside the bodies of a living animal host) targeting a variety of Insect and Spider species. They are unusual in that they will lay multiple eggs within the same host (most parasitoid Wasps lay a single egg on each host), thereby allowing multiple larvae to mature within a large host, which is not necessarily killed in the process. Braconid Wasps are often fearsome in appearance, but are harmless, other than to targeted host species, as they lack stings.
The new species is placed in the genus Chelonus and given the specific name spinigaster, meaning 'spiney tail'. The species is described from eight female and fourteen females collected from Acrocercops lysibathra caterpillars living on Cordia latifolia (Sebesten Fruit) trees at Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh. These are small Wasps, reaching about 2.4 mm, black in colour with yellow and brown markings, with a rugose (corrugated) epidermis.
Chelonus spinigaster, female specimen. Ahmed & Ghramh (2018).


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Almost everyone who comes for Alexander lesson is interested in learning how to reduce the amount of tension created by computer work and long hours of sitting in meetings.
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Sitiing in the way of health, ease, uprighness and balance.
How much time should you spend sitting?
"You may want to stand up while you read this -- and a lot of other stuff. Experts now say you should start standing up at work for at least two hours a day -- and work your way toward four.
Medical researchers have long warned that prolonged sitting is dangerous, associated with a significantly higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, and depression, as well as muscle and joint problems. Some have gone on to say that the office chair is worse for your health than smoking and kills more people than HIV. Even working out vigorously before or after work may not compensate for extending sitting..."


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On this page you'll be able to find resources for Year of Wellbeing campaigns and events.
'Boost your Wellbeing' posters to download and print out - Coventry poster and Warwickshire poster.
Pee chart - intended to go on the inside of toilet doors in gents and ladies' toilets.
8 to hydrate - intended to go in kitchens and/or public spaces.
Time to Talk Day 2019 resource page.


text:
import numpy as np
from scipy import sparse
from os import path as op

from .externals.six import string_types, text_type

##############################################################################
# WRITE

def _create_titled_group(root, key, title):
    """Helper to create a titled group in h5py"""
    out = root.create_group(key)
    out.attrs['TITLE'] = title
    return out

def _create_titled_dataset(root, key, title, data, comp_kw=None):
    """Helper to create a titled dataset in h5py"""
    comp_kw = {} if comp_kw is None else comp_kw
    out = root.create_dataset(key, data=data, **comp_kw)
    out.attrs['TITLE'] = title
    return out

def write_hdf5(fname, data, overwrite=False, compression=4):
    """Write python object to HDF5 format using h5py

    Parameters
    ----------
    fname : str
        Filename to use.
    data : object
        Object to write. Can be of any of these types:
            {ndarray, dict, list, tuple, int, float, str}
        Note that dict objects must only have ``str`` keys.
    overwrite : bool
        If True, overwrite file (if it exists).
    compression : int
        Compression level to use (0-9) to compress data using gzip.
    """
    import h5py
    if op.isfile(fname) and not overwrite:
        raise IOError('file "%s" exists, use overwrite=True to overwrite'
                      % fname)
    comp_kw = dict()
    if compression > 0:
        comp_kw = dict(compression='gzip', compression_opts=compression)
    with h5py.File(fname, mode='w') as fid:
        _triage_write('mnepython', data, fid, comp_kw, str(type(data)))

def _triage_write(key, value, root, comp_kw, where):
    if isinstance(value, dict):
        sub_root = _create_titled_group(root, key, 'dict')
        for key, sub_value in value.items():
            if not isinstance(key, string_types):
                raise TypeError('All dict keys must be strings')
            _triage_write('key_{0}'.format(key), sub_value, sub_root, comp_kw,
                          where + '["%s"]' % key)
    elif isinstance(value, (list, tuple)):
        title = 'list' if isinstance(value, list) else 'tuple'
        sub_root = _create_titled_group(root, key, title)
        for vi, sub_value in enumerate(value):
            _triage_write('idx_{0}'.format(vi), sub_value, sub_root, comp_kw,
                          where + '[%s]' % vi)
    elif isinstance(value, type(None)):
        _create_titled_dataset(root, key, 'None', [False])
    elif isinstance(value, (int, float)):
        if isinstance(value, int):
            title = 'int'
        else:  # isinstance(value, float):
            title = 'float'
        _create_titled_dataset(root, key, title, np.atleast_1d(value))
    elif isinstance(value, string_types):
        if isinstance(value, text_type):  # unicode
            value = np.fromstring(value.encode('utf-8'), np.uint8)
            title = 'unicode'
        else:
            value = np.fromstring(value.encode('ASCII'), np.uint8)
            title = 'ascii'
        _create_titled_dataset(root, key, title, value, comp_kw)
    elif isinstance(value, np.ndarray):
        _create_titled_dataset(root, key, 'ndarray', value)
    elif isinstance(value, sparse.csc_matrix):
        sub_root = _create_titled_group(root, key, 'csc_matrix')
        _triage_write('data', value.data, sub_root, comp_kw,
                      where + '.csc_matrix_data')
        _triage_write('indices', value.indices, sub_root, comp_kw,
                      where + '.csc_matrix_indices')
        _triage_write('indptr', value.indptr, sub_root, comp_kw,
                      where + '.csc_matrix_indptr')
    else:
        raise TypeError('unsupported type %s (in %s)' % (type(value), where))

##############################################################################
# READ

def read_hdf5(fname):
    """Read python object from HDF5 format using h5py

    Parameters
    ----------
    fname : str
        File to load.

    Returns
    -------
    data : object
        The loaded data. Can be of any type supported by ``write_hdf5``.
    """
    import h5py
    if not op.isfile(fname):
        raise IOError('file "%s" not found' % fname)
    with h5py.File(fname, mode='r') as fid:
        if 'mnepython' not in fid.keys():
            raise TypeError('no mne-python data found')
        data = _triage_read(fid['mnepython'])
    return data

def _triage_read(node):
    import h5py
    type_str = node.attrs['TITLE']
    if isinstance(type_str, bytes):
        type_str = type_str.decode()
    if isinstance(node, h5py.Group):
        if type_str == 'dict':
            data = dict()
            for key, subnode in node.items():
                data[key[4:]] = _triage_read(subnode)
        elif type_str in ['list', 'tuple']:
            data = list()
            ii = 0
            while True:
                subnode = node.get('idx_{0}'.format(ii), None)
                if subnode is None:
                    break
                data.append(_triage_read(subnode))
                ii += 1
            assert len(data) == ii
            data = tuple(data) if type_str == 'tuple' else data
            return data
        elif type_str == 'csc_matrix':
            data = sparse.csc_matrix((_triage_read(node['data']),
                                      _triage_read(node['indices']),
                                      _triage_read(node['indptr'])))
        else:
            raise NotImplementedError('Unknown group type: {0}'
                                      ''.format(type_str))
    elif type_str == 'ndarray':
        data = np.array(node)
    elif type_str in ('int', 'float'):
        cast = int if type_str == 'int' else float
        data = cast(np.array(node)[0])
    elif type_str in ('unicode', 'ascii', 'str'):  # 'str' for backward compat
        decoder = 'utf-8' if type_str == 'unicode' else 'ASCII'
        cast = text_type if type_str == 'unicode' else str
        data = cast(np.array(node).tostring().decode(decoder))
    elif type_str == 'None':
        data = None
    else:
        raise TypeError('Unknown node type: {0}'.format(type_str))
    return data

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Kiwi will live almost anywhere – they don't need pristine native forest, and are also found in scrub, exotic plantation forests, rough farmland and sand dunes, even mangroves. They especially like places with wetland vegetation, and where trees run down to river edges.
Published in 2004, by the Department of Conservation in Northland, Restoring the balance covers what landowners can do to help protect biodiversity values on their land. It provides a one-stop-shop of practical ideas, tools and actions to help landowners identify their property's natural values and the threats they may face, and decide what management techniques they may want to apply.
Legal protection ensures that your conservation achievements will continue, usually forever. It also means you can ask agencies, such as the Nature Heritage Fund, QEII National Trust, local authorities or Ngā Whenua Rāhui (for Māori land), to help with funding for survey, legal and fencing costs.
As part of its publication – Protecting and restoring our natural heritage: A practical guide – the Department of Conservation explains some of the legal protection options available – many can be tailored to suit the wishes of the landholder.
Greater Wellington Regional Council has published a resource called Managing your bush block: A guide to looking after indigenous forest remnants in the Wellington region. It provides tips and techniques of managing bush blocks, small patches of native forest or scrub.


2018 North Korea March Tour. The application deadline for this tour is February 14 2018. If interested in extending your tour please send us an e-mail stating how long you would like to extend for and if there are any specific places / aspects of the DPRK you would like to see.
We will stay in one of the best hotels in Pyongyang, the Yanggakdo Hotel. Unlike budget hotels such as the Sosan Hotel, the Ryanggang Hotel, Haebangsan Hotel, Chongnyon Hotel, or the Changwangsan Hotel, the Yanggakdo Hotel has 24 hour running hot water with high pressure and common areas are not chilly, something that you will appreciate in the winter!
Please note that our group tours tend to be small, with an average of less than 10 people, which we believe is, together with the presence of one of our Western tour leaders and long lasting relationship with our Korean partners and guides, essential in allowing you having closer rapport with the Koreans, more flexibility in the official program and an invaluable chance of interacting more with local people, something that is logistically not possible with large groups.
If we have 19 people in a group we will divide it into two, each with their own guides, driver and vehicle in order to keep these small.
Mansudae Grand Monuments - Giant bronze statues of the Leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. Please note that we are kindly asked to show our respects to the Leaders here. Please note that this is not a tourist site and it is a place of great importance to Koreans. You will be briefed as how to behave in Korea before the trip.
Depart to Kaesong (Panmunjom, the DMZ) - we leave Pyongyang early and will have a break on the 2.5 hour drive towards the divisionary line. There are several military check-points on the way and our guides will tell us when we cannot take pictures. Driving on the empty highway is an experience itself! Our Korean guides will explain to us the DPRK's principles for the reunification of Korea.
38th Parallel (DMZ) - chance to enter the famous blue negotiation rooms where talks between North & South Korea have taken place. Please note that if these are closed due to the DPRK and South Korea having any negotiation talks (as was the case in 2013) we will still have a close up look to the rooms. A North Korean soldier will hop on our coach and show us around Panmunjom. They tend to be quite curious about what foreigners think regarding the Korean War and the political situation of Korea. This is a unique chance to interact with a DPRK soldier.
Lunch at Tongil Restaurant (Kaesong) - chance to enjoy a king's meal! Up to 12 small dishes will be served to each person, each dish in a covered, golden-plated bowl.
Koryo Museum (Kaesong) - Kaesong used to be the capital of the Koryo Dynasty.
Kaesong Stamp Shop - apart from stamps in all forms and sizes, we can also purchase DPRK postcards (these can be mailed home from our hotel in Pyongyang), artwork, books, etc. Please note that you will also be able to purchase these at different points throughout the trip.
Drive to Sariwon City - The capital of North Hwanghae Province is a lively city in the DPRK.
Walk around Folk Street - we will be explained the history of the Korean Peninsula in the folk street. This area usually has a lot of local children who are always curious when seeing a foreigner. There also tend to be locals playing games and we are always more than welcome to join!
Mount Kyongnam - we can walk up this hill to the main pavilion and enjoy great views of the city and of its surroundings. seeing a foreigner.
Check out our 360° image taken in Mount Kyongnam by clicking on the round image on the right!
Try some local Makoli! - we will ask to have some local Makoli, sweet Korean wine, at a "Suljib" meaning "winehouse" in Korean. This drink has a very low volume of alcohol.
Stop by the Re-Unification Monuments - An important symbol of the reunification of Korea. A stop here offers us a chance to take some pictures.
The International Friendship Exhibition Centre - presenting thousands of presents given to the founder of the country President Kim Il Sung, his son General Kim Jong Il and his wife Kim Jong Suk. There is now too a section for the Leader Kim Jong Un. See what people and organisations from your country have sent!
Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum (Korean War Museum) this was relocated in 2013 and is now a huge museum fully explaining the DPRK version of the Korean War with extremely explicit details.
USS Pueblo - US spy ship, the only US vessel in possession of a foreign country. This was captured in 1968 and is shown as a trophy. It has now been moved to the outdoors section of the Korean War Museum.
Kumsusan Memorial Palace - this is where the Leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il remain in state. This is a very respectful place in the DPRK and formal clothing is required. We will fully brief you before your trip to the DPRK.
Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery - dedicated to those fallen for the cause of the revolution. Situated on a hill, the views of Pyongyang are spectacular.
Ride on Pyongyang Metro - one of the deepest in the world - extended ride. Join locals and explore the Pyongyang subway system. The carriages were purchased from former East Germany. The metro decoration is amazing as well as the fact that we will go around 100 metres underground!
Arch of Triumph - brief walk around the area. We can see the Kim Il Sung Stadium from here and the giant mural showing a young Kim Il Sung giving the Liberation Speech.
Moranbong Park, weather permitting - where locals gather. Do not be surprised if, in the case of there being any dances, you are asked to join in any of the dances! With a very limited number of foreigners visiting the DPRK each year, the site of westerners in North Korea is very rare.
Walk around Kim Il Sung Square - located in the city centre, this is the places where military parades and mass rallies (those that we usually see on television) are held.
DPRK Bookstore - chance to purchase DPRK publications (including the Pyongyang Times) translated into different languages.
Juche Tower - we go up the 150 metre tower (170 metres including the torch) that offers a panoramic view of Pyongyang.
Workers' Party Foundation Monument - consisting of the Workers' Party of Korea's symbol; a hammer, sickle and brush, all rising 50 metres high in the sky.
Paeksongri Revolutionary Site - site where the most prestigious university in North Korea, Kim Il Sung University, was moved to during the Korean War. We will see where President Kim Il Sung met students and how he encouraged them during the war.
Central Square in Pyongysong- we can walk around the square where we can read the Korean slogan "Single Minded Unity" (literally translated as "One United Heart"). We will also be able to see the bronze statue of a young President Kim Il Sung. You can see a short clip in our Youtube video below.
Pyongsong Local primary school in Pyongsong - we will be shown around the school by its headmaster and will be able to join a lesson where you can let the students practice their English with you if you like, or like KTG's staff member Tim Harrington, below, challenge the students to a game of Ping-Pong!
Paeksong Food Factory or Taedonggang Textile Factory - unique chance to see a DPRK factory.
2018 North Korea March Extended Tour Farewell Dinner - Hotpot restaurant, Pyongyang (located just across from the Romanian embassy).
Those ending the trip in Beijing will take the overnight train (with beds) and arrive in Beijing the next morning.
Please go to our North Korea tourism page to see more information on other tours that we offer other than our North Korea March Extended Tour.
New! Korean Language Course in Pyongyang!
Spend up to 25 days Studying and Travelling in North Korea!
Explore Pyongyang on two wheels!
Bike trips available for all tours!
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Sign up today for early booking rates and a free KTG hoody!
Sign up today and get a free hoody!
DPRK Tours available all year-round!
"The whole experience was actually even better than I thought, especially the Mass Games which I can't even find words to describe."
P. Simon - attending the Ocotober 10th Military Parade rehearsal "We had a very enlightening trip and were most impressed with how well organised it all was...and would not have changed anything..."
Please check our forum for more reviews, questions & comments.
Upload your own pictures and reviews!


All orders placed before 3pm GMT will be despatched same day as the order is placed and if payment has been cleared.
All UK 1st Class items sent should be received in 1-3 business days. 1st class packages cannot be tracked or traced so if you require secure delivery please choose the Recorded delivery option.
For bulky items that may not fit through your letter box please be aware if your not in to accept delivery your item may then be left at your local Royal Mail sorting office. Your postman should leave a red card if this is the case but doesnt always happen.
All UK 1st Class Recorded items should be received within 1-2 business days and a signature will be required upon delivery.
As the same as above if your item hasn't arrive please check with your local Royal Mail sorting office.
If your item has not been delivered after a short period of time please contact your Royal Mail Sorting Office before contacting us. If they do not have it the item should then have been returned back to me. If this is the case i can then resend but it will incure further postage costs to you. If the item is lost completely i cannot do anything until i can claim the item as lost through the official Royal Mail lost items process.
All items sent at the basic cost will be sent by Royal Mail Airmail Small Packets service. This service takes 3-5 business days for European Shipping and 5-7 business days for International. These are average times but can take longer or shorter depandant on customs and your local Postal Service.
This service is not trackable at all once sent. It is the basic and cheapest service possible. If you would like a tracking number or for your item to be signed for upon delivery please choose the International Signed For delivery option.
This shipping method means your item can be tracked and will also require your signature upon delivery. Shipping times are usually 1 day faster than the normal Airmail Small Packets Service.


text:
Africa's Fastest-Growing Region For Gold
October 31st 2012
Despite a 5% fall in South African output, production continent-wide rose more than 3%, leaving the rest of the world in its wake. Investment volumes remain key as the continent's miners look to expand further. Report by MJ Morgan.
Gold prices remain sustained by continuing uncertainty in the global economy due to a stalling US economy, which may reach for further quantitative easing any time soon, a rudderless Eurozone and stuttering Chinese growth.
But whilst world gold production as a whole is static, Africa's producers, collectively, continue to steadily increase output. According to Thomson Reuters GFMS, South African production fell by over 4t in the first half 2012, compared to the same period the year before, to 93t as a consequence largely of increased Section 54 safety stoppages and lower mill head grades.
Bucking the trend
Nevertheless continent-wide output expanded by 9t to 297t. Ghana grew fastest, followed by Mali and Sudan as well as more moderate increases elsewhere.
South Africa's gold miners remain in a bind. Cash costs (of extraction) in South Africa remain the world's highest at above $900/oz and continue to accelerate relative to prices – even following one of the greatest, decade-long gold price bull runs ever.
Giant producer Gold Fields, for instance, has seen its total cash costs in the country rise from $618/oz in 2007 to $1,360/oz last year.
Average cash costs in the industry as a whole, worldwide, rose 19% to $727/oz, while GFMS estimates that all-in costs (their own, broader metric) now stand at $1,050/oz. In spite of rising prices, rising costs mean that, on a quarterly basis, margins have declined for three consecutive quarters.
South African producers face very strong headwinds at best as costs, particularly in terms of electricity prices and wage demands, significantly exceed the pace of price development.
Given that the country is already the most expensive place in the world to mine gold, circumstances are economically extremely challenging.
Perilous predicament
This is nothing of course compared to the political challenges that face the mining sector in general in South Africa. The deaths of 34 miners on 16th August during the wildcat strike at Lonmin's Marikana platinum mine, coming two days after the deaths of 10 workers, has shocked the nation like no other event since the end of apartheid.
Activity at Marikana is still hamstrung. An illegal strike at Gold Fields KDC East mine, which employs 12,000 miners, in the first week of September has since been resolved, although trouble has spread to some of the 15,000 workers at KDC West. Some commentators have speculated that the events will lead to a 'miner spring' as reaction spreads, stirred by the demagogic Julius Malema, who has been calling for a mining shut-down whilst addressing workers at KDC West. "Leaders of the NUM should know that you can't act for workers without consulting them, and don't take workers for granted" Malema told strikers, "If they fail you, you must lead yourself."
Hitherto, the National Union of Mines (NUM) has held to an informal compact with the government, whereby wages have risen steadily in return for a broadly cooperative workforce. However, with swathes of miners now extremely disaffected with the achievements, or lack of them, by the ANC government, and the NUM, who are seen as in the ruling party's pocket, the compact has disintegrated. Furthermore, the new, militant union, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) has been agitating for wages and conditions to improve much faster and for strike action in support of members demands. How much control they exercise over strikers is not entirely clear and some say their influence is much greater over platinum than gold miners.
More positively, lower-cost West Africa is increasingly attracting investment. According to consultants Ernst & Young, the region is a sweet spot for gold investors. Quality deposits and lowering perceptions of political risks have been driving factors. Ghana and Mali are already second and third only to South Africa in terms of African gold production. Output reached 6.7m oz in 2010, some 8% of global output, and is expected to rise to 11m oz by 2015.
Price outlook
Looking at the gold market as a whole, Thomson Reuters GFMS, a highly respected precious metals consultancy, just released its Gold Survey 2012 – Update 1.
It's a bullish picture, with prices predicted to breach the $1,800/oz level by the end of the year, although without the expectation that last year's highs over $1,900/oz will be exceeded. The key issue for prices is investment demand. Investment globally in gold in the second half of the year is expected to be in the region of 970t or around $53bn – both record figures.
Philip Klapwijk, Global Head of Metals Analytics at Thomson Reuters GFMS, said "I think we're on pretty safe ground saying that we've already seen the lows for the year and that firmer prices, particularly towards year-end, are on the cards, but we're also expecting a bumpy ride looking ahead – any intensification of the Eurozone crisis or dashing of hopes for further easing by the Fed and you could easily see the rally derailed for a while".
Loose monetary policy continues to be a feature of many of the world's governments as a result of the global economic slowdown. The negative effect this has on fiat currencies, particularly the US dollar, undermines faith in them, raises fears of inflation and the expectation of sustained low interest rates. The perception of gold as a hedge against inflation and uncertainty drives safe haven buying. Given that gold is a non-yielding asset, low interest rates reduce the opportunity cost of holding gold.
Central bank buying
Also of interest to investors is the high and growing level of central bank purchasing – which amounted to 270t in the first half of 2012. GFMS say that the driving force behind these purchases is the desire to diversify their holdings away from the US dollar and observes that the timing of purchases has focused on dips in price, supporting prices. Because the consultancy expects prices to rise, it estimates a lower figure for central bank purchasing for the second half of 220t.
As Klapwijk puts it, "We've recently seen how gold can react sharply to any prospect of more QE in the US and we're fairly confident that some form of easing is more likely than not in the end; we may have seen periodic items of good news on the US economy but that invariably seems followed by bad, and this is all before a probable slowdown in both European and Chinese economic growth. Neither can we ignore its domestic problem of the fiscal cliff, with all the uncertainty and recessionary potential bound up in that".
Jewellery demand fell 13% in the first half, largely due to falling demand in India, the world's biggest gold market. The second half is expected to see modest growth in jewellery demand, as rising prices encourage its purchase as a kind of investment. China, the second biggest buyer of gold, has also seen less robust demand. Global mine production is forecast to grow by a modest 24t in the second half, with full year output falling slightly below earlier expectations. The continued lack of producer hedging suggests a bullishness about prices. Scrap sales meanwhile are predicted to remain unchanged.
Whilst South Africa is on the brink of, at best, challenging trading circumstances, and, at worst, a major calamity, producers elsewhere are perfectly placed to capitalise on prices well in excess of production costs.
African leaders push to secure climate adaptation funding
European countries have committed $55m to Africa's flagship climate adaptation programme but pledges still fall far short of what is required.
By Tom Collins
Mining Special Report: Price recovery buoys African mining
A rise in demand for raw materials could herald better times for African producers.
The Choiseul Africa Business Forum, a must-attend event for the business community in Africa
Next edition on October 19th and 20th, 2022 Casablanca, Morocco
Investor challenge and call to action: The road from Glasgow to Sharm El-Sheikh
In the run-up to COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, in November, the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) team challenge all investors and stakeholders to ensure that the lessons from COP26 translate into action.
By Dr Desné Masie
Africa loses more than $84bn in illicit financial flows annually
UNECA estimates that more than $84bn is lost in illicit financial flows from Africa each year. "This is more than the annual health financing gap, twice the needs of the education finance gap and it is almost equal to the amount Africa receives in remittances each year," said Hanan Morsy, Depu…
Come to Niger and see our exceptional oil opportunities
In an exclusive interview, Mahamane Sani Mahamadou, Minister for Oil, Energy and Renewable Energies of the Republic of Niger, answers our questions.


The aspiring small business is at the heart of The Medrala Law Firm, PLLC. We offer proactive, innovative practice solutions that emphasize planning and long-term goal setting as a means for a successful business. From starting your own enterprise, to creating and implementing an exit strategy, our attorneys can help you uncover your business's greatest potential. Our ultimate goal is to see that you succeed in all of your business endeavors.
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