Studio Arthur Casas have designed Casa AL, located in the hills near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
house right from the beginning with the architects, starting with choosing the right plot.
Located in the hills near São Conrado beach, the plot intrigued the client, as it had no direct view to the sea nor would be the best choice to contemplate the landscape. "For me it was clear we would be able to reach the view. I assured him that all the social areas would be intertwined with the landscape" affirmed Arthur Casas. The solution was to raise the entrance, the social areas and the pool to the second floor, above the guestrooms and service quarters surrounded by a garden. The spectacular views are present in all the living areas. Large glass panels slide and hide behind the walls in order to erase the borders between inside and outside. Great spans amplify spaces that have the same dimensions of a conventional construction. A third floor, with smaller proportions, houses private dependencies such as the master suite and the home office, both oriented to the horizon.
The materials employed are inspired by the landscape, with local stone and cumaru wood. The interior design project favors comfort and casualness, with Brazilian furniture blended with foreign items.
Architect: Studio Arthur Casas | Arthur Casas, Marina Werfel, Regiane Khristian and Renata Adoni.


A vector set of circular ornaments in chinese style. This vector is very good for design that needs chinese element. Available as a Vector in EPS8 format that can be scaled to any size without loss of quality. Elements could be separated for further editing, color could be easily changed.
Realistic red ribbons with golden Chinese ornament. Vector illustration.


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What Can Germany Teach Us About Solar Energy?
Image: aircon.com
ERIC WOLFERT, ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT DIRECTOR
Germany is hardly anyone's idea of a sunny paradise--its capital city of Berlin sits at a higher latitude than Detroit and Pittsburgh. Yet Europe's greatest economic power has become a world leader in the development of solar energy, with solar providing nearly 75% of the nation's energy over periods of several hours and 17% of its total consumption during the first six months of 2014. (By comparison, solar made up a paltry 0.23% of American energy consumption in 2013.) In doing so, Germany has demonstrated that transitioning away from fossil fuels, far from being a painful and expensive process, can actually have a number of positive effects. Its energy grid, far from being unreliable and blackout-prone as many postulated, has been ranked the most reliable in the world since at least 2008, and there is ample evidence that the increased production of renewable technologies is leading to reduced energy prices in Germany and neighboring countries.
Given the European Union's seemingly endless economic stagnation and the poor performance of austere economic policies since the global recession hit in 2008, cheaper energy prices provide a glimmer of hope for recovery. Furthermore, a September 2011 study from the German Institute for Economic Research found the deployment of renewable energy to positively impact GDP growth in Germany, citing a net increase in private investment, as well as a decline in energy imports, improving Germany's trade balance. If there is one sincere drawback to the program, it is that increased use of renewable energy technologies has not decreased the use of coal as quickly as many advocates had hoped--though coal use is unquestionably on the decline.
One simple, prominent reason for Germany's success with renewables comes from more sustained public support for the industries, especially when compared to the United States. German renewable energy producers have taken advantage of a program known as feed-in tariffs, in which the government pays the renewable energy companies a fixed amount per kilowatt of energy produced, thereby incentivizing the companies to expand and produce more.
Similar programs do exist in the United States, but are decidedly more fickle--programs such as the Production Tax Credit are structured in a similar way to Germany's feed-in tariffs. Unfortunately, they have become a case of political football, with conservative lawmakers often seeking to see the program halted, though some conservatives have rightfully lauded the tax credit for supporting jobs.
The program in Germany may also provide a geopolitical advantage. As Russia continues its rise as a global aggressor under President Putin, many of the nations in the region are dependent upon Russian natural gas imports as a crucial part of their energy supply. The less Germany is required to depend on Russia for energy, the better for German security; it is no wonder that Ukraine has begun to take steps to this effect.
Herein lies a lesson for policymakers in the United States: Consistent investment is key if we are to achieve the economic, environmental, and public health imperative of increasing renewable energy use. German renewable energy providers are virtually guaranteed that the feed-in tariff will provide a consistent source of revenue, even though the amount paid out by the German government has decreased recently as production and cost of the energies has bettered the projections. In the United States, the partisan wrangling over relatively modest programs like the Production Tax Credit has caused inconsistent deployment of renewable energy and often sacrifices jobs at the altar of ideology. Five times Congress has allowed the program to expire, and a corresponding loss in energy output and jobs has followed each time.
Image: AWEA
According to the Energy Research Center of the Netherlands, German solar energy "over its lifetime uses 86 to 89 percent less water, occupies or transforms over 80 percent less land, presents approximately 95 percent lower toxicity to humans, contributes 92 to 97 percent less to acid rain, and 97 to 98 percent less to marine eutrophication" when compared to coal. Perhaps it is unsurprising then that even in the United States, which leads the world in CO2 emissions per capita and has yet to significantly develop renewable energy, a decrease in the use of traditional energy saves more money on health impacts than it loses on slightly increased energy costs.
Solar energy has, on net, positively impacted Germany's economy, environment, public health, and national security, and much can be attributed to the feed-in tariffs described above- a relatively simple, straightforward policy. The United States is perfectly capable of following their path, but consistent investment in renewable technologies, as has been seen in Germany for several years now, will be key. Political posturing over a policy that is vital to the economy, public health, the environment, and national security is simply unnecessary and counterproductive.
Subsidized Transportation Cards: A Means to Help Students Work Unpaid Internships
Photo: washingtonpost.com
JACK NOLAND, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
Immediately after I had committed to GW, I searched for a student discount on a Metro SmarTrip card. Plans of exploring this historic city filled my head. Surely there must be some sort of deal for college students, I thought, but there was none to be found.
GW prides itself on its location and opportunities, but fails to fully equip students with the means to take advantage of both by doing nothing to ease the burden of access to these unique jobs and internships. Subsidizing student Metro transportation would allow the university to back up its commitment to community integration and would help to expose and ingratiate students into the city around them.
It's an open secret that there is a bubble in which GW students live, work, and play. Many students will stay in Foggy Bottom with occasional jaunts to Georgetown, Columbia Heights, or Capitol Hill, and in so doing miss out on much of what makes DC such an interesting place. Easier access to transportation would help expose students to a wider swath of such a diverse cultural and historical city.
Yes, discounted Metro fare would help students get to the nightlife of U Street and Adams Morgan more easily. Lowering transportation costs for students might just make it easier for students to travel to the places they already go. One way to better ensure that such a discount aids students doing unique off-campus work would be to grant transportation subsidies to those who have volunteer opportunities or unpaid internships, especially in underserved communities.
Anyone who has worked an unpaid internship or volunteered around the city can tell you that even with the professional experience and sense of accomplishment that may accompany those opportunities, there are very real costs at hand. This often leads to students having to pay for transportation to and from their work, which, over the course of a semester, or four years, can add up dramatically.
GW can ease this burden on its student body by subsidizing the cost of transportation for those students who demonstrate a willingness to get off-campus and work an unpaid position. Students could fill out a form with their transportation costs to go to and from the workplace, documenting daily and weekly costs of transportation, before having it signed by a supervisor and submitting it. The university could process these applications and distribute cards with the value for each student's transportation costs on a monthly or semester basis. This puts the burden of researching, applying for, and documenting costs on the students who want the benefits.
Distribution could be done at an event that also provides promotional materials for the wider range of transportation offerings in DC, including information about the robust but perhaps under-utilized bus system. While Metrobus ridership was up in Northwest DC in FY 2013, total ridership is down, especially in southeastern and eastern DC. Getting students to travel to those areas is key to widening their view of the city and its range of experiences. Prioritizing subsidies for students working in underdeveloped areas, as are many parts of southeastern and eastern DC, could help in this regard.
Conversely, a more difficult alternative that would require a good deal of negotiation with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which runs Metro, would involve allowing students to use their GWorld like a SmarTrip card. Interestingly, WMATA has just announced a pilot program that would allow the use of near-field communication (NFC) technology to pay at fare gates, along with federal ID cards, and contactless credit and debit cards. Should this program prove successful, GW could work with WMATA to expand the accepted payment methods to include GWorld. The university could conceivably credit students the transportation fare on their student IDs, which would also make it easier to ensure that the students who applied for and received the subsidy were using the transportation and not giving it away or selling it.
It is important to note that GW already acknowledges the financial burden unpaid internships can have. The Knowledge and Action Career Internship Fund (KACIF) provides grants of up to $3,000 for students working unpaid internships. It is a highly competitive process to receive such a grant, but it also evidences the Career Services Council's understanding of the heightened importance internships have in today's job market. KACIF is made possible through donations, which is the way a subsidized transportation system would almost necessarily have to work, given the school's current budget woes. This is a tenuous source for funding, but KACIF is also useful as a precedent for this kind of program. Donors clearly care about student internships, so it is not unreasonable to think that such a program could be expanded. In the pilot stages, the budget for this could be limited to less than $10,000 per semester. This would allow for the gauging of efficacy without significant financial investment. Ideally, subsidized transportation would be overseen by the Center for Career Services.
Some employers offer interns money to cover transportation costs already, and, while laudable, this is something that should be the norm. There is an argument to be made that if GW were to implement such a subsidy program, firms might end their subsidies, passing costs onto the university. This is a legitimate concern, but the smaller nature of this program, at least initially, could largely keep this from happening. Even with the KACIF program's internship subsidies, some employers still offer paid internships for students.
Ideally, WMATA would implement a student fare for the Metro. In Pittsburgh, the Port Authority of Allegheny County allows local college students to ride the bus for free by tapping their student ID on the farebox. This may not be feasible in DC, given the massive size and budget of the Metro program, but changing costs on the demand side may be reasonable.
Enabling students to work across the city would help lead to more-experienced graduates better prepared to enter the professional workforce. Subsidized transportation could also link nonprofits and programs across the city, especially in underdeveloped areas, with students willing to broaden their view. This double advantage, of creating more active, engaged students with more professional experience, is exactly the sort of benefit GW should undertake. One way to develop these students is to make it easier for them to take advantage of the opportunities that abound in and around DC.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Bank Bhd will invest up to RM5mil in 10 cafe banking outlets in collaboration with Old Town International Sdn Bhd within two years.
Head of consumer sales and distribution Sulaiman Mohd Tahir said the banking group was the first to integrate its services with food and beverage outlet OldTown White Coffee cafe and would invest about RM300,000 to RM500,000 in each outlet.
"We are looking at several locations in the Klang Valley, Malacca and Penang, including our new headquarters, Menara Bumiputra-Commerce in Kuala Lumpur, as well as high traffic commercial areas such as Bandar Utama," he told reporters after the launch of CIMB cafe banking yesterday.
CIMB cafe banking outlets would be equipped with self-service terminals comprising automated teller machines, cash deposit machines, cheque deposit machines and online banking portal CIMB Clicks to enable customers to "eat and bank" at one convenient location, said Sulaiman.
"We are pleased to take banking convenience to the next level by offering customers an alternative to the traditional branch environment. Busy customers can now save time by visiting our 'eat & bank' outlets and savouring the delights of OldTown White Coffee cafe," he said.
Besides having an in-house TV system promoting the bank's products, the outlets will have financial advisors on the ground to assist customers in buying wealth management products or applying for loans, he said.
On concerns over a potential slowdown in loans growth for banks this year, Sulaiman said it was too early to see the impact. "We are still on track to achieving our targeted loans growth of 20% for the year," he said, adding that the actual impact on the balance sheet would probably be felt early next year.
Since the opening of its first cafe banking outlet at Menara Hap Seng in Kuala Lumpur on April 3, the cafe has had an average of 300 customer visits daily.
CIMB has a customer base of 4.5 million people across its 366 branches nationwide.


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Ancient vines, extraordinary wines
By CM Guest Columnist December 11, 2022 December 11, 2022 01218
Santa Irene winery in Farmakas
In Farmakas a winemaker is making wine the old-fashioned way from old vines, with extraordinary results
By Matthew Stowell
Seven years ago, Daniel Anastasis, owner of Santa Irene Winery in Farmakas, and his viticulturist/winemaker, Evangelos Bakalexis, discovered that one of the high-altitude, abandoned vineyards they had taken over from a neighbour was replete with beautiful vines that were between 135 and 150 years old. Most were Mavro Ambelisimo vines, and the rest were Xinisteri, the two most often planted grape varieties in Cyprus since wine was first produced here about 5000 years ago. Thrilled with the discovery, they vowed to bring these old vines back to productive fruition and named the vineyard Vinea Ardua.
It takes about three years before a grape vine produces fruit that can be turned into wine. At seven to eight years old it is considered an 'adult', and from 12 to 25 years old it is called 'mature'. To be designated 'old' the vine must be more than 25 – preferably over 50 – years old.
At 400-plus years of age, the oldest living grape vines today are in Maribor, Slovenia, and wine is still being produced from their zametovka grapes.
Why would Daniel Anastasis and his winemaker be excited by gnarly, twisted old vines that had suffered through 150 years of intense Mediterranean sun, wind and rain? Isn't it better to make wine from fresh, energetic vines pulsing with the vigour of youth? Doesn't old mean weak, feeble and close to the end? If we are referring to humans or automobiles the answer is most often yes – but for grape vines it's an entirely different story.
Suffice it to say that the vine must struggle more to flower into fruit, and although that struggle produces less fruit, all the desirable qualities are more concentrated in those grapes by the time they are harvested, resulting in a more concentrated, more complex, more powerful and richly flavoured wine.
Old vines are also less affected by climate changes, and wines made from the fruit of old vines have proven to have a greater potential for ageing well.
Do old vines always produce better wines? Most of the time, yes, and certainly in Cyprus where almost all the indigenous grapes are celebrated; the Mavro Ambelisimo grape has been growing in Cyprus for 5-6,000 years and is still the most widely planted. Depending on how old the vines are, you will notice a marked difference in aroma, intricacy, depth and intensity of flavour.
The only real disadvantage to continuing to use old vines is that they produce far fewer grapes than young vines (the old vines of Santa Irene give only 2.5 tons of grapes per hectare against an average of 20-40 tons), so the winemaker must be resigned to having far fewer bottles to sell.
Ancient vines, ancient methods
Santa Irene's Vinea Ardua (meaning steep or arduously sloped vineyard) comprises 20 hectares of high-altitude, sharply inclined hills of old vines that Daniel and his crew have been labouring to make officially organic since 2018. Besides the enormous benefit of the ancient vines, there is an absence on these slopes of terracing – a system that can negatively affect drainage and sun exposure. And because there is plenty of morning dew misting across the vineyard, there is no need, or desire, for irrigation.
St Halletts old block vineyard
"To bring good health back to the vines," says Daniel, "we used special pruning methods that allow the body of the plant to renew itself while continuing to function with the same root system. This took a great deal of time and careful, detailed management. This vineyard, one of highest in Europe, is 1,350 metres above sea level, and its steepness can make for exhausting, sometimes dangerous, labour. We handpick the grapes and clean them, cutting the fruit from the stems, right there in the field."
Some would say that Daniel is unnecessarily making the whole process even more exhausting by reverting to ancient winemaking methods once the grapes are harvested. He is making three different wines from the Vinea Ardua fields: two Mavros (Aepys and Aeoneo) and one Xinisteri (Eteon). The Xinisteri and one of the Mavros are first fermented in pitharia, giant clay jars from the 1800s, that were found in or near Farmakas. No yeast is added, only naturally occurring yeast from the skins is relied upon to turn the grapes into wine. There is a thrice-daily stirring and punching down of the grapes with mankouria (shepherd's staffs) for six weeks, then a vertical manual press extracts the juice which is transferred to and matured in oak barrels for six to nine months. There is minimal intervention. The wine is not fined or stabilised and it goes into bottles slightly filtered where it rests for another six months. The other Mavro, the Aepys, is fermented in stainless steel and oak-barrelled for half a year.
"Our winemaking method for these special wines is from the time of Christ," says Daniel. "It took a lot of hard work to resurrect this Vinea Ardua vineyard. And we are getting only about 20,000 bottles of wine from the 16 hectares (39 acres), but we can now see, and our happy customers can see, that it has been worth it. The wine is truly something special!"
The proof is in the glass
Having sampled the wines, I have to say all three are nothing short of extraordinary!
The first harvest of the three wines – Eteon (meaning genuine), Aepys (high and steep), and Aeoneo (eternal) – was in 2020 and they are finally available this year.
The Xinisteri (its colour close to orange) is so rich, so complex for a Xinisteri, and so deeply satisfying you might be confused into thinking you are tasting a fine white Bordeaux. It has great body and roundness in the mouth, but at the same time, it is marvellously thirst quenching, as a good tart Xinisteri should be.
The steel-fermented Mavro, is several cuts above the majority of Mavros in Cyprus. It has high character and strength but is extremely smooth on the palate and will enhance any food it accompanies.
The Aeoneo Mavro is in a class by itself. In Cyprus we are lucky to have several world-class red wines that can rival the premium wines of France, Italy, Spain and the New World. The Aeoneo, in my opinion, is at the top of that list. From the first sip it elevates you to a loftier plane of oenological pleasure. The complexity, uplifting energy and lushness of this ancestral-vineyard Mavro are qualities usually found only in a vintage Cabernet Sauvignon, a high-end Shiraz or an old-style Merlot (as in Petrus). Master of Wine, Caroline Gilby, has said about old vines, ". . . because these venerable, gnarly beasts are not easy, nor generous with their yields, they tend to attract a certain kind of producer who is committed to quality above all."
And there we have a custom-tailored description of Daniel Anastasis and his Vinea Ardua vineyard at Santa Irene, Farmakas.
Matthew Stowell is a wine and food writer who has lived and worked in Cyprus since 2005. His Stowell's Guide to the Wines & Wineries of Cyprus is available from Amazon and from bookstores in Nicosia, Larnaca, Limassol and Paphos
Cyprus winepicks4wine
Lockerbie plane bombing suspect taken into U.S. custody
Christodoulides' support drops slightly but still ahead- poll
CM Guest Columnist


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Michael C. Maronna
Where Are They Now? — The Cast of Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
By Snakkle Staff on December 23, 2013
It just wouldn't be Christmas without Kevin McCallister unleashing his homemade deathtraps on the Wet/Sticky Bandits. 1990's Home Alone and 1992's Home Alone 2: Lost in New York have become as essential to the holiday season as It's a Wonderful Life or A Christmas Story. (Of course, Mr. Potter never took an iron to the face.) The mix of slapstick humor and heartwarming family moments have made the Home Alone movies endure as holiday classics.
So where are the McAllister kids and the rest of the cast of the first two (and best) Home Alone movies today? Grab a delicious cheese pizza just for you and take a look.
Favorite '90s Nickelodeon Stars: What Are They Doing Today!
By Lisa Angelo on August 1, 2011
Gather 'round the Big Orange Couch! Snakkle did some sleuthing and found out what the stars of Clarissa Explains It All, Salute Your Shorts, The Adventures of Pete & Pete—and many others—are doing today!
Alec and Billy Baldwin Have a Few Thoughts About Ireland Baldwin's Latest Nude Photo
Watch Taylor Swift and More Stars Embrace Their Inner Feline in First Cats Trailer
Dolly Parton's Response To Lil Nas X's 'Old Town Road' Request Is Classic Dolly
Khloe Kardashian Says She's 'Too Busy' Making Money To 'Hate' Tristan Thompson


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Engineering parallels at the Science Museum
I was in London's Science Museum yesterday, and couldn't help noticing that there some parallels and lessons to be learnt for our own times and developments in new media technologies.
Throughout the modern debate on computer software patents we have been assured by those in support of them that patents allow companies to innovate and help technological development. That view doesn't seem to be shared by the Science Museum's caption writer for their energy section. Talking about the rise of steam power one exhibit reads:
"In 1769, James Watt had taken out a patent that allowed him to dominate steam-engine design and improvement. As a result, other engineers were prevented by law from developing new, alternative designs."
When the patent expired other engineers were able to innovate again, particularly Richard Trevithick. He experimented with using steam under a much higher pressure, and as a result was able to build smaller and more powerful engines, which enabled him to build the first locomotive railway engine capable of hauling a load. Researching for this article it also seems that Watt himself was hindered by a patent that had been awarded to John Steed. Just think, without those patented monopolies on innovation, Britain may have developed the railway engine twenty or thirty years earlier, changing the development of early locomotive engines like Stephenson's "The Rocket" and "Puffing Billy" which are also on display in the Science Museum.
Of course, meddling with history and advancing the speed of the industrial revolution would no doubt bring a visit to the UK from the Doctor to sort it out, and I have to confess that most of my knowledge of Isambard Kingdom Brunel and the iconic image of him derives from having read the Doctor Who novel "Reckless Engineering"
The Science Museum currently has a small temporary exhibition devoted to the history of that photo of Brunel, called "Brunel - Fame and Fate", pointing out that it was probably the first occasion a public figure tried to manipulate their image through the medium of photography. Brunel posed for three photographic portraits in front of those massive chains, and the one that is well known seems to have been chosen because it illustrates him at his most commanding.
The photograph was taking during the construction of his last major project - The Great Eastern or SS Leviathan as she was originally known - at the time an attempt to build what was at the time the world's largest metal boat.
Although in the end it was seen as a financial failure, the ship did succeed in laying the first trans-Atlantic telegraph cables, and is such a powerful image of a ship in maritime history that there is even a website specifically devoted to trading original parts and memorabilia from the ship.
Thanks to the advance of photography at the time we actually have a pictorial record of the last stages of this mammoth undertaking. They reminded me of the pictures you can see in the walkways above Tower Bridge of the construction of that London landmark, another remarkable feat of Victorian engineering with metal.
It also made me realise that actually there hasn't been that much change over the last two centuries between the processes of mechanical engineering and the sort of software engineering I've been involved in. Three parallels in particular stood out for me.
1. Client requirements will cause difficult design constraints
The Great Eastern was required to be able to navigate the shallow Hooghly River in India, which meant that the propeller she was fitted with had to be too small to power the vessel alone. Brunel therefore also fitted 17 metre steam powered paddles to the sides of the ship. And it had sails. In fact the only means of known marine propulsion it didn't feature was a galley deck of slaves with oars.
2. A botched launch will attract more publicity than a successful one
Just ask the team behind the 1901 census website . Due to the extraordinary size of The Great Eastern it had to be launched into the Thames sideways in a new process. This didn't go without a hitch and the first attempt had to be abandoned when the ship got stuck, causing fatalities, and it took a further three months to get her into the water. The interest and publicity around the failed launch was enormous, to the extent that there is still a photographic record of the furore.
3. Once you launch a successful new technology, there is always someone there making money off the back of it
One of the displays in the temporary Brunel exhibition were sets of 'stereoscopic postcards' of pictures of The Great Eastern that were sold as a huge success by someone other than Brunel or the construction companies involved in building the ship itself.
what a boring webpage. I could do better
star | 9 February 2010


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PAYG IT Support
Telecom Solutions
The Data and Systems Security Programme – SOLD OUT –
Featured Article – Why Big Brands Are Boycotting Social Media
Blog Post / News
Large, mainly U.S.-based companies (many of which are household names) have said that they will be boycotting Facebook and Instagram in terms of paid advertising in July over concerns about the moderation of content and hate speech on the platforms.
The stopping of paid promotions on the platforms in July is part of the "Stop Hate For Profit" campaign, organised by the Anti-Defamation League, the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP), and other organisations.
The "Stop Hate For Profit" campaign, which aims to "hit pause on hate", says that it would like businesses to "stand in solidarity with our most deeply held American values of freedom, equality and justice and not advertise on Facebook's services in July."
The campaign has reported receiving an overwhelming response from businesses and organisations. The campaign website lists the considerable number of participating businesses and organisations here (90+): https://www.stophateforprofit.org/participating-businesses.
Ad Agencies Also Supporting
Unfortunately for Facebook, the campaign also has the support of agencies, some of which are reported to have even put guidelines in place for companies that want to participate.
The Main Issues
The main issues that the campaign and its participating businesses are objecting to are:
– That Facebook is allegedly appearing to take too much of a hands-off approach to the moderation of content that may be divisive, may promote what amounts to hate speech, and that Facebook is allegedly not doing enough to stop hate speech and disinformation being spread.
– In the context of the recent murder of George Floyd and the following protests, that Facebook was allegedly used by some people to spread false information about antifa, without it being picked up by Facebook or fact checkers.
– Even though Twitter publicly called-out some of President Trump's tweets, in terms of fact-checking and labelling them misleading or glorifying violence, Facebook has not been seen to do so with its own platform.
– Facebook is reported to have displayed ads from President Mr. Trump's re-election campaign featuring a red triangular symbol, which some thought was reminiscent of those symbols used by Nazis during World War II e.g. to label categories of prisoners in death camps. Facebook later removed the ads.
– Facebook appears to have sidestepped these sensitive issues at a recent media presentation.
Some of the main objections are also best put by some of the companies that are supporting the "Stop Hate For Profit" campaign.
For example, Ben & Jerry's announced on its website that "Ben & Jerry's stands with our friends at the NAACP and Colour of Change, the ADL, and all those calling for Facebook to take stronger action to stop its platforms from being used to divide our nation, suppress voters, foment and fan the flames of racism and violence, and undermine our democracy."
Also, as Magnolia Pictures announced in a Tweet, "In solidarity with the Stop Hate For Profit movement, Magnolia Pictures has chosen to stop advertising on Facebook and Instagram, starting immediately, through at least the end of July. We are seeking meaningful change at Facebook and the end to their amplification of hate speech."
Other Big Companies
Examples of other big companies that are also supporting the campaign by boycotting advertising on Facebook in June include the following.
In a recent blog post, Starbucks said that it will be pausing advertising on all social media platforms pending the outcome of its discussions internally, with the company's media partners and with civil rights organisations with a view to stopping the spread of hate speech.
The coffee giant also urged a wider discussion on the subject, saying "We believe more must be done to create welcoming and inclusive online communities, and we believe both business leaders and policy makers need to come together to affect real change. "
It has been reported that Starbucks will, however, continue to use YouTube, and to post to social media, but not to opt for paid promotions.
Coca-Cola's Chairman and CEO, James Quincey, took to the Media Centre on the drinks company's website to announce and even more stringent boycott. Mr Quincey said, "There is no place for racism in the world and there is no place for racism on social media. The Coca-Cola Company will pause paid advertising on all social media platforms globally for at least 30 days. We will take this time to reassess our advertising policies to determine whether revisions are needed. We also expect greater accountability and transparency from our social media partners".
Progress But Insufficient
To date the campaign has reported that although progress has been made with Facebook on these issues, the updates and policy changes made appear to be insufficient.
For example, areas where the "Stop Hate For Profit" campaign feels that Facebook is still falling short (according to the campaign's website) include:
– Facebook appearing not to address hate more broadly in groups and posts rather than just in adverts.
– The possible spreading of voter misinformation just be before the next U.S. election.
– Where posts are shown due to their apparent newsworthiness, but still appear to promote hate.
– The need for more information about the metrics of a third-party audit Facebook regarding hate speech.
– A lack of detail about Facebook's proposal to work with the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) and the Media Ratings Council to identify appropriate brand safety audit requirements.
Facebook Says
Some of the things that Facebook has said in response to the campaign are that it intends to start labelling potentially harmful posts that it leaves up (because of news value), that it will ban ads that describe groups, based on e.g. race or immigration status, as a threat and will remove any content if it appears to incite violence or suppresses voting, even if the post is from a politician.
Facebook has also highlighted the fact that a recent European Commission report found that Facebook removed 86% of hate speech last year, which is up from 82.6%.
For many businesses, Facebook is an important platform to advertise on, and this is particularly true coming out of a pandemic where sales need a dramatic boost. At the same time, as noted by Stephan Loerke, the chief executive of the World Federation of Advertisers, this has become a societal rather than just a brand issue, and it is good to see major brands adding their own pressure to force change.
Even though the action taken will mean that the brands aren't totally deserting Facebook and will most likely feel, for commercial reasons, that they must begin advertising with Facebook after July, the point will have been made, and those brands will also feel that they have been true to worthwhile values, and their brands may ultimately be strengthened as a result.
For Facebook, particularly in the light of the very poor publicity it received following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and over how the platform was shown to have been used to spread messages reportedly by Russia in relation to the last U.S. election, this campaign is likely to be another very public blow to its reputation and brand, as well as its advertising coffers. Although Twitter has been used by President Trump to express some very controversial views, it has received some very good publicity for publicly fact-checking the President's tweets, perhaps as a result of threats made to the platform by President Trump.
It remains to be seen, going forward, how far Facebook will go in terms of satisfying the campaign and many of its other critics as it too tries to walk a balance between commercial, operational and societal realities and where it can clearly and comfortably stand while trying to simply keep up with the practical management of a platform that receives hundreds of millions of posts a day.
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The weather in Boston at the end of June and the beginning of July was brutally hot. There wasn't any rain for two weeks and things were starting to droop. We resisted watering the vegetable garden for as long as we could, but finally gave in on the long July 4th holiday weekend.
Most of the plants in the GrowBed are doing great. The herbs have established themselves nicely. The basils seem to have something going on with the leaves. We are not sure what it is, but it does not appear to be the downy mildew issue which has been plaguing many of the local growers.
The zucchini plants have been flowering for a while, but we have not seen any zucchini yet. All of the tomato plants have flowered and many of them have fruits on the vine. Some of the cherry tomatoes are even starting to turn color. The only plant which has not taken off is the Winter Melon. Maybe it is the lack of water or maybe it takes a while for it to get going. As this is the first year for us with this vegetable, we are not sure what to expect.
The one plant which is loving the hot dry weather is the Passiflora. Over the past few weeks, it has really started to climb. There are multiple buds on the vine and some look ready to open. The same is true of the Gladiolus. A few red spikes have already started blooming, but the majority of them were still in the process of budding. All of the shade plants (Hostas, Astilbes) flowered in early July. The ferns got really big from the rain in May, but suffered a bit from the heat wave.
Fortunately, the rain finally came this past weekend. It rained so hard that part of Somerville was under 3′ of water! The heat and the heavy watering kicked the plants into high gear. Since the down pour, the garden has taken on an entirely different look. It seems like all of the plants are flowering at the same time.
The trumpet vine and the bamboo have both bounced back from the drought. Most of the Echinacea, Black Eye Susan, and Day Lilies have also recovered nicely. The Zebra grass, which is pretty drought-tolerant, did not seem to notice the lack of water. We moved it a year ago as it was not doing very well next to the bamboo. This is the first year in its new spot and it appears to prefer the sunnier and less competitive location.
In the Spring, we planted around 120 Gladious bulbs. The plants started to flower at the beginning of the month and we noticed that some of the spikes had fallen over. Since there was nothing to lose, we cut them and brought them inside. We were pleased to discover that Gladious will continue to grow and bloom even when just sitting in water. This is our first year planting Gladious and we found it very easy and rewarding to grow. It is definitely a flower which we'll continue to cultivate.


Aviva has transferred all shareholders, including staff participating in either its share incentive plan (Sip) or sharesave scheme, to a new share scheme provider.
The insurance firm, which completed the six-month long project in July, moved around 25,000 live employee share plan records move to Computershare from previous provider Equiniti.
Employees will be able to sign up to the next sharesave scheme, which already has around 9,000 participants, in September. Three, five and seven year saving periods are offered in the scheme.
Russell Tullo, deputy group company secretary at Aviva, said: "We offer share schemes to enhance employee engagement.


text:
O Quirguistão participou dos Jogos Olímpicos de Inverno de 2014, realizados na cidade de Sóchi, na Rússia. Foi a sexta aparição do país em Olimpíadas de Inverno.

Desempenho

Uma vaga no esqui alpino foi obtida pelo Quirguistão, sendo originalmente designada a Dmitry Trelevski. Porém durante os treinamentos em 12 de fevereiro, Trelevski sofreu uma grave contusão e precisou desistir dos Jogos, sendo substituído por Evgeniy Timofeev.

Masculino

Países nos Jogos Olímpicos de Inverno de 2014
2014
Desporto no Quirguistão em 2014

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Public discusses future of several Lake Mead ramps at forum
Updated: Dec. 7, 2022 at 5:59 PM PST
A public forum brought dozens of people out Wednesday afternoon in Boulder City to talk about concerns as the water levels continue to drop.
Hundreds of thousands of electric vehicles will be on Las Vegas Valley roadways in the next two decades, and work is being done to make sure there are more charging stations at public places to encourage drivers to go green.
The Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) is advising Las Vegas drivers of a full closure of Interstate 15 at Tropicana this weekend.
Events for the 2023 pro bowl kick off in just two days. Part of the festivities includes the NFL helping to give back to the youth.
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College of Southern Nevada now offering cannabis-related certificate programs
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Charity event allows people to drive their cars around Las Vegas Motor Speedway


Abstract: The selectr package translates a CSS selector into an equivalent XPath expression. This allows the use of CSS selectors to query XML documents using the XML package. Convenience functions are also provided to mimic functionality present in modern web browsers.
When working with XML documents a common task is to be able to search for parts of a document that match a search query. For example, if we have a document representing a collection of books, we might want to search through for a book matching a certain title or author. A language has been created that constructs search queries on XML documents called XPath . XPath is capable of constructing complex search queries but this is often at the cost of readability and terseness of the resulting expression.
An alternative way of searching for parts of a document is using CSS selectors . These are most commonly used in web browsers to apply styling information to components of a web page. We can use the same language that selects which nodes to style in a web page to select nodes in an XML document. This often produces more concise and readable queries than the equivalent XPath expression. It must be noted however that XPath expressions are more flexible than CSS selectors, so although all CSS selectors have an equivalent XPath expression, the reverse is not true.
Selecting all code elements that are descendants of the element with the ID "listing".
The XML package  for R  is able to parse XML documents, which can later be queried using XPath. No facility exists for using CSS selectors on XML documents in the XML package. This limitation is due to the XML package's dependence on the libxml2  library which can only search using XPath. For reasons mentioned above, it would be ideal if we had the option of using CSS selectors to query such documents as well as XPath. If we can translate a CSS selector to XPath, then the restriction to only using XPath no longer applies and we can therefore use a CSS selector whenever an XPath expression is required.
A mature Python package exists that performs translation of CSS selectors to XPath expressions. Unfortunately this package, cssselect , cannot be used in R because it would require Python to be present on a user's system which cannot be guaranteed, particularly on Windows. The selectr package  is a translation of cssselect to R so that we have the same functionality within R as we would have using Python.
The rest of this article describes the process that selectr takes to translate CSS selectors to XPath expressions along with example usage.
 "<S ' ' at 5>"
 "<S ' ' at 7>"
The selector body > p is a query that looks for all "p" elements within the document that are also direct descendants of a "body" element. We can see that the selector has been tokenised into 6 tokens. Each token has the following structure: type, value, position. The type is the type of token it is, an identifier, whitespace, a number or a delimiter. The value is the actual text that a token represents, while the position is simply the position along the string at which the character was found.
This shows that the selector is understood to be a combined selector that matches when a p element is a direct descendant of a body element. Once the parsing step is complete, it is necessary to translate this internal representation of a selector into its equivalent XPath expression.
XPath is a superset of the functionality of CSS selectors, so we can ensure that there is a mapping from CSS to XPath. Given that we already know the parsed structure of the selector, we work from the outer-most selector inwards. This means with the parsed selector body > p we look at the CombinedSelector first, then the remaining Element components. In this case we know that the CombinedSelector is going to map to Element[body]/Element[p], which in turn produces body/p.
These only touch on the possible translations, but it demonstrates that a mapping from CSS to XPath exists.
We will first see how querySelector() is used.
The main point to get across is that querySelector() returns a node, querySelectorAll() returns a list of nodes.
Both querySelector() and querySelectorAll() are paired with namespaced equivalents, querySelectorNS() and querySelectorAllNS() respectively. These functions will be demonstrated in more detail later in this article.
While the aforementioned functions are certainly useful, they do not cover all possible use cases. For other uses of CSS selectors, the css_to_xpath() function can be used where an XPath expression would normally be expected. The css_to_xpath() function has three parameters. The first parameter is simply the CSS selector, then a prefix on the resulting XPath expression. This prefix is useful in the circumstance when you already know some XPath and know where the selector should be scoped to. The final parameter determines the translator to use when translating selectors to XPath expressions. The generic translator is sufficient in most cases except when (X)HTML is used; in those cases a translator can be used is aware of (X)HTML pseudo-selectors. A case where css_to_xpath() may be used is when using XML's *apply functions, as shown below.
R> # What is the value of the class attribute on all "b" elements?
Rather than returning nodes, we are processing each node using a given function from the XML package, but specifying paths using CSS selectors instead.
While the example usage of the selectr package has been demonstrated earlier, the real-world usage may not be clear, or indeed the benefits over just using the XML package. To show how succinct it can be, we will try to create a data frame in R that lists the titles and URLs of technical reports hosted on the Department of Statistics Technical Report Blog, along with their publishing dates. First, lets examine part of the HTML that comprises the page to see how we're going to be selecting content.
title="Permalink to 2012-9 Writing grid Extensions"
This fragment shows us that we have the information available to us, we just need to know how to query it. For example, we can see that the URL to each technical report is in the href attribute within an a element. In particular, this a element has an h1 parent with a class of entry-title. The a element also contains the title of the technical report. Similarly we can see a time element that tells us via the datetime attribute when the post was published. We first start by loading the required packages and retrieving the data so that we can work with it.
Now that the page has been parsed into a queryable form, we can write the required CSS selectors to retrieve this information using querySelectorAll().
R> # CSS selector to get titles and URLs: "h1.entry-title > a"
Now that we have gathered the correct elements, it is reasonably simple to manipulate them using the XML package. We want to extract the correct attributes and values from the selected nodes. The code below shows how we would do this.
 "2012-8 Meta-analysis of a rare-variant association test"
 "2012-7 A Structured Approach for Generating SVG"
 "2012-6 Working with the gridSVG Coordinate System"
 "2012-5 Voronoi Treemaps in R"
 "2012-4 Two-sample rank tests under complex sampling"
 "2012-3 An empirical-process central limit theorem for complex sampling under bounds on the design effect"
 "2012-2: Two-phase subsampling designs for  genomic resequencing studies"
 "2012-1: Partial Likelihood Ratio Tests for the Cox model under Complex Sampling"
 "2012-11-06" "2012-11-04" "2012-10-15" "2012-10-10" "2012-09-19"
An example (see "XPath") written for the gridSVG package  will be revisited. The example first shows a ggplot2  plot that has been exported to SVG using gridSVG. The aim is to then remove the legend from the plot by removing the node containing all legend information. Once the node has been removed, the resulting document can be saved to produce an image with a legend removed.
What is of particular interest with this example is that it uses SVG, which is a namespaced XML document. This provides some challenges that require consideration, but the selectr package can handle this case.
This particular example demonstrates a case where the XPath approach is more concise. This is because the id attribute that we're searching for needs to have its CSS selector escaped (due to : and . being special characters in CSS), while the XPath expression remains unchanged. Additionally, we also need to specify a namespace-aware prefix for the XPath that is generated. To use CSS selectors in this case required knowledge of XPath that would rather be avoided.
The resulting use of CSS selection is now as concise as the XPath version, with the only special consideration being the requirement of escaping the CSS selector.
Now that the legend has been selected, we can remove it from the SVG document to produce an image with a legend omitted.
This article describes the new selectr package. Its main purpose is to allow the use of CSS selectors in a domain which previously only allowed XPath. In addition, convenience functions have also been described; allowing easy use of CSS selectors for the purpose of retrieving parts of an XML document. It has been demonstrated that the selectr package augments the XML package with the ability to use a more concise language for selecting content from an XML document.
This document is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand License . The code is freely available under the GPL. The described functionality of selectr is present in version 0.2-0. selectr is available on CRAN and development occurs on GitHub at https://github.com/sjp/selectr.
W3C (1999). XML Path Language (XPath) Version 1.0 Specification. http://www.w3.org/TR/xpath/.
W3C (2011). Selectors Level 3 Specification. http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-selectors/.
Mike Bostock (2012). D3: Data-Driven Documents. http://d3js.org/. Version 2.10.3.
R Development Core Team (2012). R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. ISBN 3-900051-07-0.
libxml2: The XML C parser and toolkit of Gnome. http://www.xmlsoft.org/.
Sapin S. and Bicking, I. (2012). cssselect: CSS Selectors for Python. https://packages.python.org/cssselect/. Version 0.7.1.
Potter, S., Sapin, S., & Bicking, I. (2012). selectr: Translate CSS Selectors to XPath Expressions. R package version 0.2-0.
Murrell, P. and Potter, S. (2012). gridSVG: Export grid graphics as SVG. https://r-forge.r-project.org/projects/gridsvg/. R package version 1.0-0.


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text:
Mastics, Coatings, and Sealants: The Little Things Count
Chad Loula
Chad Loula is the Global Market Manager for H.B. Fuller Construction Products, Inc., focusing on Foster and Childers brand products (www.fosterproducts.com). He has 18 years of experience in research and development, technical support, sales, and marketing of mechanical insulation accessory products for commercial and industrial applications. He can be reached at chad.loula@hbfuller.com.
Mechanical insulation systems are often a complex combination of materials designed to work in synergy with each other and provide specific benefits. Individual materials may be used to provide a number of features, and they often rely on the other products used to achieve the performance required over the life of the application. Some elements that must be considered are the pipe or vessel material, insulation type and thickness, installation accessories, and protective cladding options. All these products must be chosen carefully to get the operational benefits intended from the entire mechanical system. However, even when great care is used to select the optimum offering for each of these materials, they are often not enough to provide the long-term system performance an owner, engineer, or contractor requires of an application. Mastics, coatings, and sealants sometimes can be overlooked as just a small piece of the insulation system, but they are a crucial part of the system's overall design and longevity. In many cases, the mastic, coating, and/or sealants may be the system's last line of defense, protecting it from any number of sources of potential damage.
Purpose and Importance of Mastics, Coatings, and Sealants
Mastics, coatings, and sealants are used for many reasons in a mechanical insulation system. Some products provide multiple functions, while others are much more specific in their properties and function. In insulation applications, mastic typically refers to a high-viscosity coating applied by trowel or brush, or gloved on; while coatings are lower viscosity and applied by brush or spray. For the purposes of this article, the terms "mastics" and "coatings" will be referred to as mastics for simplicity. A variety of parameters should be considered when selecting these products for optimal system performance. For a detailed list of mastic properties and test methods, refer to ASTM C647–19, Standard Guide to Properties and Tests of Mastics and Coating Finishes for Thermal Insulation.
In many cases, mastics will provide physical protection to the insulation material itself. Their relatively thick application and inherent strength and flexibility provide a toughness that the insulation surface cannot achieve on its own. Most mastic manufacturers also recommend that reinforcing mesh be installed in conjunction with the mastic to reinforce the film and provide superior toughness and higher resistance to cracking during any expansion and contraction of the insulation system that may occur. Another characteristic of this type of product is its ability to protect insulation from degradation resulting from sunlight and ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Many insulation materials will not hold up or retain their properties when exposed to extended periods of sunlight, so a protective mastic designed for outdoor exposure can prevent damage from the elements and UV radiation, and help maintain overall system performance.
Arguably, the most important property of mastics and sealants in any insulation design is their ability to keep water (both liquid and vapor) out of the system. Water is always present and trying to enter the insulation system, coming from sources such as an adjacent operations process, rain exposure, or simply latent humidity in the surrounding air. In any case, water can cause several issues if allowed to get into an insulation system. Wet insulation will lose some of its thermal insulating value, resulting in a less efficient system, costing the owner more money to operate or affecting temperature regulation and system design. Water also can cause physical damage to the insulation as it expands and contracts on systems that fluctuate between temperature extremes. Most importantly, water can lead to corrosion under insulation (CUI) if the insulation system is allowed to remain wet and is operating within temperature ranges where CUI is most likely to occur. All these situations can lead to higher operating costs, increased maintenance, and potential harm to the system itself.
Water Vapor Transmission and Permeance
The best way to determine the type of product required to keep water out of a system is to consider the vapor drive for each application (see Figure 1). Vapor drive is the direction water vapor travels relative to the insulation system due to the partial pressure of water vapor at the piping or equipment surface in relation to the ambient environment. In hot applications, any water that gets into the insulation is likely to be heated and partly or mostly vaporized. That water vapor will likely be driven away from the hot surface out into the environment due to the higher partial pressure of water vapor at the hot surface compared to that in the ambient environment. On cold systems, the opposite is true: Vapor drive will tend to move any moisture in the ambient air into the insulation system and toward the cold pipe or vessel surface, where it likely will condense or freeze. By considering the vapor drive, you can determine which type of products will be best suited for the operating conditions of the application.
In order to understand how vapor drive relates to a product and its use on a system, you must also understand the term permeance. Permeance is a measure of the amount of water vapor that can pass through a given film of known thickness and area while under pressure over time—more simply, the water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) through a specified film at a specific water vapor pressure differential. The water vapor pressure differential is determined by the temperature and humidity on each side of the film. Permeance is most often expressed in the unit perms (grain/ft2•hr•in Hg) or metric perms (g/m2•24hr•mm Hg), but it also may be found using other combinations of units representing the mass per area, time, and vapor pressure differential. The lower the permeance value, the better it resists water from passing through
Two of the most common ways to measure permeance are ASTM E96–16, Standard Test Methods for Water Vapor Transmission of Materials, and ASTM F1249–13, Standard Test Method for Water Vapor Transmission Rate Through Plastic Film and Sheeting Using a Modulated Infrared Sensor. Manufacturers of vapor retarders often report results using one or both test methods. It is critical to make sure the data lists the dry film thickness at which the material was tested and the temperature and humidity at which the test was carried out. Without knowing these variables, it is impossible to compare the permeance values of 2 different products or ensure compliance with a given specification.
In the insulation industry, there is often confusion between the properties permeance and permeability. Permeability is the measure of a material's permeance through a unit material thickness and is expressed as perm-inch—in other words, the permeance through 1-inch thick material. For insulation materials, permeability is a standard property, and its expression makes sense as insulation is used in thicknesses of an inch or more. However, in the case of dried mastics, vapor retarders, or jacketing membranes, a 1-inch thick material is not reasonable, and permeability should not be reported because it does not accurately reflect the performance of the material and it implies values much lower than can be achieved by the thin film. In rare cases, a coating, vapor retarder, or other membrane manufacturer may list permeability instead of permeance for its coating products, resulting in numerical permeability values ranging from 1/20th to 1/50th of the true permeance in perms. When considering selection of vapor retarders for insulation system, this must be considered (see Figure 2).
Weather Barrier (Breather) and Vapor Retarder Mastics
All mastics are designed to prevent intrusion of liquid water; but for water vapor permeance, the performance requirements for the mastic types will be different. Breather mastics, often referred to as "weather barrier mastics" when used over outdoor insulation surfaces, will allow higher levels of water vapor to pass through their films and will have typical permeance values greater than 1 perm. On hot applications, where the vapor drive is away from the hot surface, it is important to choose a breather mastic so any moisture that gets into the insulation system can escape as water vapor. Failure to allow for this escape can lead to blistering of the mastic or other damage to the insulation.
A vapor retarder mastic, on the other hand, is a product that resists or considerably slows the rate of water vapor transmission through a film over time and has a low permeance value. On cold systems, where the vapor drive is from the ambient air toward the pipe or equipment, these products are crucial to keeping not only liquid water but also water vapor out of the system. A vapor retarder system must be used over the entire outer insulation surface.
The correct vapor retarder mastic is an essential component of any cold insulation system design. The complete system should be considered to select the best product, depending on the operating temperature, insulationtype being used, exposure to elements or chemicals, and other vapor retarder films or membranes that may or may not be used in
the system.
ASTM C755–19, Standard Practice for Selection of Water Vapor Retarders for Thermal Insulation, provides guidance and considerations for the selection of vapor retarder systems, depending on system design requirements. In Table 2 of the standard, maximum permeance requirements for vapor retarders are provided based on insulation type, insulation application, and operating temperatures of the system. For the most common commercial and industrial applications of mastics on thermal insulation for piping and vessels, the table specifies maximum permeance limits tested by ASTM E96–16, Procedure A (desiccant method), of 0.05 perms for systems operating between ambient and 33oF, and 0.02 perms for systems operating below 33oF. For HVAC duct systems, the required vapor retarder permeance values for systems operating between ambient and 40oF, and 39oF and below, are a maximum of 1.0 and 0.02 perms, respectively, for low permeability insulations; and maximum 0.03 and 0.02 perms, respectively, for insulations with permeability greater than 4.0 perm-inch. Section 7.2.2 of ASTM C755–19 specifically discusses the use of mastics as vapor retarders and provides guidance for the mastics when used as the sole cladding material or in conjunction with a separate very low permeance vapor retarder membrane. When used alone, the mastics and coatings must have permeance values in accordance with Table 2 of the standard, or as described in 7.2.2.4. When used with a very low permeance vapor retarder membrane, where the mastics are used only to seal cut ends, seams, punctures, or damage to the membrane, and represent no more than 10% of the surface area of the total vapor retarder system, the permeance value of the mastics may be up to 0.15 perms for systems operating from ambient to 33oF, or 0.05 perms for systems operating below 33oF, such that the total system performance is in accordance with Table 2.
Another commonly specified requirement of vapor retarder mastics is MIL-PRF-19565C, Performance Specification: Coating Compounds, Thermal Insulation, Fire- and Water-Resistant, Vapor-Barrier. This specification was developed by the U.S. military but is commonly cited in a variety of government and non-military design specifications for mastic-type vapor retarder materials. MIL‑PRF‑19565C is a performance specification consisting of many required vapor retarder mastic properties. Of major importance is the water vapor permeance requirement of 0.05 perms when tested to ASTM E96–16, Procedure A (desiccant method). In addition to the MIL-PRF-19565C specification, the U.S. Department of Defense also maintains a Qualified Product Database (QPD) of products that meet all the requirements of this specification. When choosing a product in compliance with MIL-PRF-19565C, it is important to select one listed on the QPD to ensure it has been tested to and meets the requirements as listed. Products that claim to meet the requirements of MIL-PRF-19565C but are not listed on the QPD have not been independently certified to comply with the requirements.
One important property to consider when selecting breather or vapor retarder mastics is the fire resistance of the dry film. Fire resistance is measured by ASTM E84–19, Standard Test Method for Surface Burning Characteristics of Building Materials, and is expressed in both a flame spread and smoke developed index. Many indoor applications require a flame spread of 25 or less, and a smoke developed of 50 or less; while outdoor applications often require a flame spread of 25 or less but have no smoke developed index requirement.
A variety of mastics are available in water- and solvent-based formulations, and each type has its benefits and disadvantages for certain applications. Water-based mastics are often preferable for indoor applications because they are non-flammable in the wet state and typically have lower odor during drying, due to a lower volatile organic content (VOC). Water-based mastics are usually compatible with all mechanical insulation types, as well. However, water-based mastics often have poorer (higher) water vapor permeance compared to solvent-based mastics. In some instances, such as cryogenic or industrial environments, a solvent-based mastic may be required where lower permeance, increased chemical resistance, or superior weather resistance are desired. In these instances, care must be taken when choosing the product to ensure it is compatible with the insulation to which it is being applied. Some insulation types, such as polystyrene foam insulation, will be attacked by the solvent makeup of some mastics, so care must be taken in the selection of the solvent-based mastic to prevent damage to the insulation material.
VOC content of coatings and sealants has become of increased importance in recent years due to air quality regulations in California, Canada, and several regions in the United States; in addition to the growth of green building standards, such as the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED® program. This has resulted in greater awareness and emphasis being put into low-VOC products. As these programs have evolved over the years, many manufacturers have developed products to meet the newer program requirements. Whether it be for air quality purposes or exposure limits, maximum VOC content limits for mastics have been set to ensure low VOCs, while still meeting necessary performance characteristics of the mastics. Selection of zero VOC mastics instead of merely low VOC is not of any additional LEED point value, with respect to meeting the regulations and standards; and, depending on the product selected, it may compromise other performance factors. In many cases, VOCs in the product are necessary to improve overall performance of a mastic, and the new regulations and programs have taken this into account by allowing some level of VOCs in the products.
More recently, green building standards for commercial building construction, such as LEED v4, have begun requiring VOC-emission testing in addition to requirements for VOC content. VOC emissions are typically tested to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Specification 01350, which also sets emissions limits for products used within the building envelope, including coatings, adhesives, and sealants. Users must now confirm that manufacturers have conducted the proper emissions testing when selecting products for applications requiring these new programs as part of their specifications.
Sealants and Vapor Stops
In addition to the use of vapor retarder mastics on the exterior of cold insulation systems, products such as joint sealants and vapor stops are commonly used in conjunction with other vapor retarders to provide additional protection from the damaging effects of water entering the insulation system.
Joint sealants are high-solids, soft, paste-like materials applied in the joints of rigid insulations. The sealants themselves should have good vapor retarder properties to keep moisture from passing through the butt and longitudinal joints of the insulation sections. In colder applications where multiple layers of insulation are used, the innermost layer is typically allowed to float and is installed without the sealants. This allows the innermost layer to move with any expansion and contraction that might occur, while the remaining outer layer(s) will use sealant to help prevent moisture intrusion.
Vapor-stop sealants or vapor dams are used to prevent moisture migration into the insulation system at an insulation termination and from one section of insulation to an adjacent section. They are applied at critical points within the insulation system where water entry is more likely, such as at pipe supports, valve boxes, flanges, or other areas where access and maintenance may be required, as well as at specified intervals along the piping.
When fibrous insulation is used for the warmer end of cold systems, such as chilled water applications, a water-based vapor retarder mastic may be used as a vapor stop to seal off the exposed fibrous cut end. Care should be taken to apply the mastic on the pipe surface and up over the insulation to the outer surface, but not under the insulation at the bore, to avoid water being trapped within the insulation system (see Figure 3). Once applied, the mastic must be allowed to fully dry before adjacent insulation is installed. Failure to allow the mastic to dry completely will result in trapped water or solvent within the insulation system.
On refrigeration or cryogenic applications down to -70oF, with rigid insulation such as polystyrene foam, a high-solids, oil-based vapor retarder sealant, compatible with the polystyrene insulation, may be used as a vapor stop. In these applications, the sealant can be applied in a continuous film under the insulation layer between the bore of the insulation and the pipe, ensuring full contact (see Figure 4). The butt joints of the insulation also must be sealed from the pipe to the outer surface.
On cryogenic systems, the vapor stops are of particular importance. Vapor stop sealants or coatings for cryogenic systems are high-performance products with very low permeance, <0.01 perms, that must perform across a wide service temperature range down to -265°F or below. Selecting the right product is vital to an insulation system's long-term performance. The products are applied directly to the pipe surface and onto each layer of insulation all the way to the outer insulation surface, where they tie into the exterior membrane-type vapor retarder. Because these products experience temperatures from the operating temperature through ambient conditions, it is critical to use reinforcing mesh when installing them to prevent cracking due to expansion and contraction. Additionally, a vapor stop always should be allowed to fully cure and dry before the final layers of insulation are installed over the vapor stop film. Failure to allow the product to fully dry will result in solvent entrapment in the insulation system and prevent further drying of the material once placed into service (see Figure 5).
Remember the Little Things While Keeping the Big Picture in Mind
Mechanical insulation systems are intricate designs consisting of many individual materials that must work together to achieve the intended result. On many systems, the mastics, coatings, and sealants used play a vital role in long-term system performance. Care always should be taken to ensure the products specified and used are compatible, designed for their intended use, and meet the specifications necessary to ensure a successful project. Taking the time and effort up front will ensure everyone involved completes an insulation system that will perform to its fullest potential for the life of the project.
This article was published in the October 2019 issue of Insulation Outlook magazine. Copyright © 2019 National Insulation Association. All rights reserved. The contents of this website and Insulation Outlook magazine may not be reproduced in any means, in whole or in part, without the prior written permission of the publisher and NIA. Any unauthorized duplication is strictly prohibited and would violate NIA's copyright and may violate other copyright agreements that NIA has with authors and partners. Contact publisher@insulation.org to reprint or reproduce this content.
Corrosion Under Insulation: The Inspection process
Keeping tabs on your insulation systems through frequent testing and analysis can save time and money
Does Insulation Cause Corrosion?
Original Article The many aspects of corrosion under insulation (CUI) have been debated for years. Does mechanical insulation cause corrosion or help prevent corrosion, or is it just an innocent bystander in the debate? I am by no means a corrosion specialist or an insulation technical guru, but I do take a practical approach to
Case Study: Creating a Program for CUI Prevention at a Refinery
Introduction This case study looks at a particular oil refinery located in the Midwest that has had a long-standing problem with corrosion under insulation (CUI). In the late summer of 2012, the refinery owner hired me as a consulting engineer to make practical recommendations to reduce the number of occurrences and severity of CUI. Unfortunately,
Corrosion Under Insulation: Differences in Gel-Coating Technology
Corrosion under insulation (CUI) of steel operating equipment and piping is a significant issue in the ammonia refrigeration, chilled water, chemical, and petroleum industries. A systems approach to CUI includes the correct material selection and design of the jacketing, insulation, and coating. This approach will help prevent CUI, but many corrosion engineers would agree that
Corrosion Under Insulation: Prevention Measures
The article "CUI: An In-Depth Analysis," which appeared in the November 2006 issue of Insulation Outlook,1 described the mechanism of corrosion under insulation (CUI) for carbon steel and stainless steel, as well as prevention tools and techniques available to minimize CUI's effects. This article, published in the September 2007 issue of Insulation Outlook magazine, provides


Ronda Rousey, Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch brought back some Attitude Era memories with a memorable backstage brawl that saw the three women fighting each other in handcuffs, attacking police officers, smashing police cars, smashing car widows, and everything in between!
The three history-making Superstars had a six-woman tag team match where they were not allowed to betray each other otherwise they would lose their spot at WrestleMania. But as soon as Ronda Rousey made Liv Morgan tap out, all hell broke lose.
Ronda attacked Charlotte after the bell rang, and then Becky joined the fray. All three beat up the security guards and eventually police officers entered the picture. First Ronda was handcuffed and Becky attacked her, leading her to get cuffed as well. Then Flair, who was outside the ring, attacked Rousey and police handcuffed Flair as well. The three were escorted backstage as they still tried to tackle the multiple police officers.
Once they reached backstage, it got even worse! Rousey and Lynch were thrown in the same police car and the two started kicking each other before Rousey smashed the window. Lynch got taken out of the car and then as she was going to be thrown in the other car with Flair, Flair exited the vehicle and attacked Lynch again. That prompted Rousey to somehow get in the front of her squad car, and drive the car into the other car while still in the cuffs!
Chaos continued as police officers put Ronda in the back seat again but the Raw Women's champion continued to run her mouth through the busted window, and Charlotte threw a sick knee to Ronda's face as Ronda wobbled back to her seat.
It was an incredible brawl and you can see it below.


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The Ending Of Money Heist Part 5 Volume 2 Explained
Tamara Arranz/Netflix
By Brooke Knappenberger/Dec. 3, 2021 6:12 pm EST
The Netflix international hit show "La Casa de Papel," or "Money Heist" in the U.S., has officially ended with the release of Part 5 Vol. 2, and boy, does it go out with a bang. While the gang behind the biggest heist in the world has gotten themselves in some pretty deep trouble before, nothing compares to the events that unfold in "Money Heist" Part 5 Vol. 2.
Going into the last episode of the series, the "Money Heist" characters seem to have lost all hope when it comes to getting Spain's gold reserve and escaping the bank. The Professor AKA Sergio (Álvaro Morte), former police inspector Alicia (Najwa Nimri), and the rest of the outside operations crew all find themselves captured by police. Meanwhile, an army unit bets on a "Trojan horse" plan that involves opening the bank using undercover surgeons in order to capture the entire crew inside.
With no idea where the gold was taken and his crew being held at gunpoint, the Professor decides the next step of action is to turn himself in so that he can be arrested alongside his crewmates. For a period of time, it seems like the Professor has given up. However, "Money Heist" couldn't possibly end without the Professor revealing one last card hidden up his sleeve.
Denver's true loyalty is revealed
Episode 10 of "Money Heist" Part 5 Vol. 2 starts with the show's crew on their knees and guns pointed at their heads. They all know that the police unit that captured the Professor and his outside crew was actually not the police, but rather another heist crew who knew their plan and stole all of the gold for themselves.
Despite all these issues, the Professor doesn't say much about his backup plan other than the fact that it's absolutely imperative no one reveals that the gold was stolen. He tasks Alicia with finding the stolen gold while he goes to the bank in what, at first, seems like surrender. However, much to police commander Tamayo's (Fernando Cayo) dismay, the Professor says the game hasn't ended, but that it has only just begun. The Professor and his co-conspirator and lover, Lisbon (Itziar Ituño), are then separated from the crew.
That's when Tamayo gives everyone an ultimatum: Each crew member will be individually interrogated and if they reveal where the gold is, they will be given a new identity and a government stipend. After getting angry at the Professor for risking all their lives, Denver (Jaime Lorente) is chosen as the first crew member to be interrogated.
During the interrogation, Tamayo upgrades his offer to include a pardon for Denver's wife, Mónica AKA Stockholm (Esther Acebo), and promises that he and his family can live happily ever after in witness protection if he complies with Tamayo's demands. But in a surprising twist, Denver refuses to talk and — even though he doesn't completely trust the Professor's plan — turns down the opportunity for freedom. In doing so, he reveals his unwavering loyalty to the Professor and his crewmates.
The Professor always has a backup plan
Another part of the Professor's final plan is enacted when a video is streamed across the globe that details exactly how the crew was able to mine the gold. In a flashback, it's revealed that the Professor was planning all along to cause Spain's financial collapse by stealing the 90 tons of gold, which is the country's entire financial reserve. Part of this plan is contingent on the fact that Spain's stock market will collapse, as will the country's relationship with foreign markets, when it's revealed the gold has been taken. With Spain's economy and government on the verge of collapse, the crew will have the only thing that can prevent that from happening: the gold.
Tamayo says the video did not work because he has the financial support of the Bank of Central Europe. But that turns out not actually the case, as the Bank no longer trusts Spain because of the crisis and decides to let the country fail — forcing Tamayo to try and get his answers through more violent means.
Meanwhile, Alicia finds herself on the tail of the stolen gold and figures out that it must be on some newly purchased land in the area. Alicia's intelligence is on full display when she finds the gold but things get tense when she comes to a standoff with the thieves, who are revealed to be two people who knew the plan all along: Berlin's ex-wife, Tatiana (Diana Gómez), and his son, Rafael (Patrick Criado).
Tamayo reaches his breaking point
While the crew is holed up and the Professor and Lisbon are being interrogated, Marsella (Luke Peros) enacts a plan called "Tom Thumb" to lead the police on a wild goose chase in search of the gold. Taking the bait, Tamayo calls on the Navy, Interpol, and the usage of global satellites in order to search for the gold, but comes up with nothing.
Tamayo, understandably, reaches his limit. He's desperate to solve the debt crisis and is willing to do so by any means necessary. At the Professor's urging, he makes a public statement saying he has found the gold, and several trucks even rush in to prove it.
However, Tamayo discovers that the trucks were carrying gold painted bronze and tells the Professor and Lisbon that the heist crew will be executed if he doesn't get answers. With the crew on their knees and all the guns locked and loaded, Tamayo begins counting down from 10, but the Professor assures him that the financial crisis will be over and Tamayo will be known as a national hero if he just keeps the truth about the bronze a secret.
Tamayo reaches the end of his countdown and a round of gunshots is heard before the screen cuts to black, leaving viewers to briefly think that the worst has occurred.
The Money Heist crew get away... or do they?
It is subsequently revealed that Spain's financial crisis has ended and Tamayo tells the public that the Professor, Lisbon, Helsinki (Darko Peric), Bogotá (Hovik Keuchkerian), Río (Miguel Herrán), Pamplona, Stockholm, Manila (Belén Cuesta), and Palermo (Rodrigo De la Serna) were all killed for resisting. Multiple body bags are wheeled out of the bank and into ambulances, and the crowd of their supporters begins to grieve their apparent deaths.
Thankfully, it all turns out to be nothing more than a final ruse played by the Professor, who is still alive along with the rest of the show's central crew. By some miracle, they all actually managed to pull off the world's biggest heist, and, better yet, no one will ever know that they did. Indeed, they all get what they wanted (even Rafael gets a portion of the loot as a tribute to his father's legacy). A day later, the crew, including Alicia and her newborn, are given passports and a military escort to their new lives.
Although the final episode of "Money Heist" ends on a fairly positive and triumphant note, its conclusion does raise a few questions. In specific, it's a bit hard to believe that Tamayo will simply let the Professor and his gang walk away with the country's entire financial reserve just so that their heist is put to an end. After all, if he knows the 90 tons of gold is still out there and will likely be claimed by the crew, is he really going to let them keep it forever? It's something worth thinking about, at the very least.
Fortunately, fans will get the chance to return to the series' unique crime world whenever the "Money Heist" spin-off makes its highly anticipated premiere.


To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to improve (a) road safety on and (b) the surface of the (i) A702 and (ii) A71.
Easter Howgate which was completed in April 2016 – This scheme involved the removal of a parking lay-by and a change in camber to the carriageway to reduce the possibility of vehicles leaving the carriageway. The scheme cost was £175k.
Carlops gateway treatment was partially completed in June 2016 – This scheme involves upgrading the gateway road markings and relocating two vehicle activated signs. The gateway road markings are complete and the relocation of the signs is programmed for later in 2016.
Garvald Bus Layby provision – This scheme involves the installation of a new bus lay-by and associated facilities (bus/ shelter) and will include resurfacing due to the change in alignment. This will be constructed in late summer/autumn 2016.
Biggar 20mph provision – This scheme was identified as part of Transport Scotland's Pilot 20mph areas. The promotion of the pilot 20 mph limits proposed for the trunk road network is intended to support road safety generally, but target safety benefits for vulnerable road users in particular. We held an exhibition to consult with the community on our proposals. The next stage is to formally promote the orders for the proposed changes through the traffic regulation order statutory process. Before promoting the order we will consult with the community council and other stakeholders to gain their views now the proposals are finalised.
Hillend – We are currently looking to promote a no waiting/loading/unloading traffic regulation order at Hillend to improve junction visibility, reduce indiscriminate parking and improve traffic flow through the A720 Lothianburn junction. We are also considering feedback from the community regarding the installation of an uncontrolled crossing traffic island near the chiropractor clinic on the A702.
In addition to these resurfacing schemes there is a £185,000 Structural Maintenance scheme programmed for Hazlieburn to Rutherford.
As always, these programmed works are subject to available budgets and competing priorities across the network.
The A71 is not a trunk road and as such is the responsibility of the local authority.


text: The University of Tehran was inaugurated in 1934, 84 years ago. The academic staff of the University consists of 2120 full-time faculty members with several hundred part-time and adjunct professors and affiliated members both national and international. The University has 19,000 undergraduate and 13,000 graduate students. The University of Tehran as a comprehensive university offers Bachelor, Master's and Doctoral degrees in Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, Biological Sciences, Physical sciences, Agricultural sciences, business, Engineering, Environmental science, Forest resources, Journalism and mass communication, Management, Psychology, Education, and Veterinary medicine. The University of Tehran is determined to build on its past achievements and so enhance its research and teaching. Teaching and research excellence remain core to the mission of the University of Tehran. UT ranked as the nation's first and most innovative university over the years and recognized with a good reputation through the world, it continues to stand out among Iranian universities. The latest world ranking position for the University of Tehran is as follows:


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The 4-hour Workshop is to gain an understanding and knowledge of how and why the 21 Tools for Lifelong Comfort and Ease work. How to practice them on your own. How to develop a daily habit of practicing 10 minutes of the tools for on-going development of neuroplasticity. The Workshop is a requirement for those who want to be Certified Instructors. The price for the workshop only is R850 if paid in advance, and R900 if paid at the door.


Renovations have taken place across 204 rooms and suites, to the luxury floors in the Queen of Sheba Hotel, Eilat.
Renovations have taken place across 204 rooms and suites, to the luxury floors in the Queen of Sheba Hotel, Eilat. These include full scale renovations to Premium rooms, including new furniture, carpeting and bathrooms; and partial renovations to Deluxe rooms to introduce new carpets, curtains, toiletries and some furniture. The lobby has also been renovated with a new carpet and furniture, and free Wi-Fi has been introduced throughout the hotel.
Future plans are in the works to open a new Business Lounge, relocating from its current 8th floor position to the 12th floor, with a larger space to accommodate an increased number of guests. In addition, a new chef restaurant serving Mediterranean cuisine is to open, and renovations will take place across the remaining 227 rooms and suites.


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by Colin Edwards | Aug 27, 2021 | Local Business, TipTop Media
Youth unemployment has been a problem for a while. Young people learn essential skills in employment that they can use later in their careers. When young people are unemployed, it can mean that they are deprived of learning these skills and it can negatively impact...
by Colin Edwards | Jul 27, 2021 | Recycling, Tape & Film, TipTop Media
Recycling contamination occurs when non-recyclable items are mixed in with recyclable materials. This can also happen when the wrong kinds of materials are placed in a material-specific bin. For example, placing a plastic bottle into your cardboard recycling can...
by Colin Edwards | Jul 7, 2021 | Document shredding, Recycling, TipTop Media
Recycling is crucial to a sustainable future as it allows us to prevent unwanted and used items from ending up in landfill sites. It promotes the resilience of biodiversity on the planet and has been repeatedly shown to raise the quality of human health and living...
by Colin Edwards | May 14, 2021 | Recycling, Security, Tape & Film, TipTop Media
The future of the planet is in true jeopardy if society does not act now to reduce its collective carbon footprint. Experts predict that if CO2 emissions continue to go unchecked, the earth's surface temperature could rise by 5 degrees Celsius by 2100. Such a...
by Colin Edwards | Apr 17, 2021 | Document Scanning, Recycling, Scanning, TipTop Media
With the exit from the most recent lockdown proceeding as planned, many business owners and directors are thinking about how to safely bring their employees back into the office. Ensuring that your workplace is COVID19 secure is paramount, but what isn't being...
Will Hybrid Working be the way forward?
by Colin Edwards | Mar 10, 2021 | Archive Storage Solutions in London, B2B, Document Scanning, Document shredding, Document Storage, Local Business, Recycling, TipTop Media
Suffice to say that the past twelve months have radically changed our working world, with many businesses successfully making the switch from working in a physical location to working from home. The full easing of all Covid restrictions has been, perhaps...


Happy Monday, lovelies! I'm over at Hearting Handmade today, and would love for you to come visit!
Sweet, right (the original one is called Pyxis Necklace, by the way)?
So, darlings, come check out the whole tutorial here and have fun exploring Hearting Handmade!


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