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Hauppauge WinTV-HD (PCI TV Tuner) review: Hauppauge WinTV-HD (PCI TV Tuner)
Peter Putman
The Good Displays DTV and HDTV at native resolution; tuner is very sensitive and tunes analog/digital channels sequentially; does not encrypt recordings.
The Bad Playback controls are limited: can't pause, fast-forward, or rewind.
The Bottom Line The WinTV-HD offers an inexpensive and easy way to view and record HDTV via your PC.
Hauppauge WinTV-HD (PCI TV Tuner)
With HD-ready TVs still costing far more than comparable analog TVs, adding Hauppauge's $399 WinTV-HD card to your PC is a much cheaper way to check out digital television and HDTV. The easy-to-install card packs a lot of features for the price, with just a few small drawbacks. With HD-ready TVs still costing far more than comparable analog TVs, adding Hauppauge's $399 WinTV-HD card to your PC is a much cheaper way to check out digital television and HDTV. The easy-to-install card packs a lot of features for the price, with just a few small drawbacks.
The next step up the digital ladder
You may be familiar with Hauppauge's earlier DTV card, the WinTV-D, which was able to receive and decode HDTV signals. However, it couldn't display them at true high-definition resolution. The WinTV-HD overcomes that hurdle and displays any DTV or HDTV signal at its native resolution or at any of 12 up- or down-converted resolutions that you select.
The WinTV-HD's package contains everything you need. You get the PCI card, a CD-ROM with drivers and software, an infrared remote control, and a small IR sensor that you connect to the computer. The included pod cable offers connections for a second monitor or an HD-ready TV and an A/V input for a VCR or DVD player. To run the WinTV-HD system, Hauppauge recommends at least a 400MHz Pentium III computer with 64MB of RAM and either Windows 98 (Second Edition), 2000, Me, or XP. Our PIII 866MHz PC with 128MB of RAM and Windows 98 SE provided more than enough horsepower for the task at hand.
Installation of the card is quite easy; in addition to the photocopied quick-start sheet that comes in the box, there's an extensive, well-written manual in PDF format on the supplied CD-ROM, with plenty of photos to help novices install the card properly. In most cases, your PC should recognize the card and get the correct driver from the CD-ROM (our test unit came with software version 1.9). Before you close up your PC's case, don't forget that the card only has one audio output. For surround sound, you must change a jumper on the card itself to switch the audio output from analog to digital. Hauppauge provides instructions for this somewhat awkward step. Problems with a driver installation error on some Windows machines have been reported, but Hauppauge attaches an addendum sheet that shows you how to deal with this minor glitch so that you can complete the installation.
When watching DTV on your PC, the image appears in a resizable window with a control panel on the left for changing channels and such. This window can be resized from 4:3 pan and scan to 4:3 letterbox to true 16:9. Like a normal TV, the WinTV-HD card can search for analog and digital channels automatically (it has two separate tuner inputs, so you can plug in an antenna and a cable line), or you can simply enter channel numbers directly. A simple right-click brings up a menu that lets you name channels, for instance, by call sign or network.
The WinTV-HD PC card is quite sensitive and plucks digital broadcasts from the air nearly as well as the that we've tested from Samsung and Princeton Graphics. As a bonus, the card can tune analog and digital channels sequentially. Pull-down menus let you set the aspect ratio that best matches your TV (4:3 or 16:9), as well as save suites of TV channels.
Recorder lacks features
The card's software lets you record the decoded MPEG-II data stream to a hard drive and requires about 9GB of space for each hour you record. To record a file, you simply pull down a menu and active the Transport Stream Recorder. To stop, you pull down the same menu and shut it off. Files are saved in the folder you choose with the name that you give them, and they are not encrypted, which may set pirates hearts' alight. Recording and copying HDTV programs is a hot-button issue for broadcasters, Hollywood, and electronics manufacturers. Alas, when you play back a file, there are no controls to pause, fast-forward, or rewind the video, like the ones found on most digital video recorders and on the comparable AccessDTV Digital Media Receiver PCI card.
Should anything go wrong, Hauppauge offers a 30-day money-back guarantee and a two-year warranty, plus tech support for the life of the card. The call is on your dime, but you can reach the support line in New York from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. ET. Hauppauge's Web site also has downloads and a brief FAQ.
A growing number of technically minded enthusiasts enjoy tinkering with computers and integrating them into home theaters. If you're one of them or if you just want to watch live digital TV broadcasts on your PC, the WinTV-HD card will do the job. But otherwise, the AccessDTV Digital Media Receiver's superior video recording and playback features make it a better choice. And a standalone HDTV decoder set-top box will be easier to integrate into your home theater if you already own an HD-ready TV.
Apple should probably charge more than $399
It's the perfect iPhone SE rival in every way but one
The smart display to beat
The old dog gets a few new tricks
The best thing I've tried this year.
Discuss Hauppauge WinTV-HD (PCI TV Tuner)
Discuss: Hauppauge WinTV-HD (PCI TV Tuner) review: Hauppauge WinTV-HD (PCI TV Tuner)


A 10-step checklist can keep a development's costs within the planned scope.
Compromise and sacrifice don't have to be your constant companions when implementing a construction project.
Once the budget has been established for your project, staying within it is a reasonable expectation. This can be accomplished by clearly identifying and documenting the scope of work for each aspect of the project in the early stages.
The following 10 steps, when followed throughout the project process, will ensure that your project excels within your budget.
1. Address an appetite — It's commonplace to have numerous appeals for additional programs and features that were not identified prior to the budget. Staff may get the impression that the dollars are flowing from a fountain and now's the time to implement a pet project.
A clear picture of success should be established early in the design process, and your team should evaluate and filter requests carefully based on how well they match your goals or achieve your vision. These requests need to be challenged. Capitalize on the opportunity to clarify the direction and vision for your facility as you evaluate the requests to determine their merit.
2. Consider constructability — Square footage isn't the only driver in determining costs. Additionally, the time it takes to construct your senior living campus will have significant and widespread implications; therefore, time will also impact your budget.
On one occasion, we recommended a modular construction system that dramatically decreased the construction schedule, thus reducing labor costs without compromising the integrity of the building at all. Because modular building facilities are assembled in controlled environments (sheltered from the elements) and then brought to the site, the building process is even less wasteful.
3. Value trading — Value trading is the art and science of making design choices that provide greater value, while "paying" for those by changing or eliminating design features or elements. This collaborative process keeps costs within budget while improving the design and performance of a building.
In one case, we found that energy modeling revealed a suggested chiller might be larger than necessary for the size of the facility. After scrutiny, we determined that the larger chiller would be used only in extremely infrequent and unlikely circumstances. Further analyses confirmed that the temperature might increase a mere 2 degrees Fahrenheit above optimum temperature in those infrequent and irregular situations.
As a result, we recommended a smaller chiller, which not only provided initial cost savings but limited future utility costs. Value trading allowed the developer to invest in other more valuable items.
4. Discuss deviations — It's imperative to consistently track any deviations to the scope of the work and regularly deliberate both the short- and long-term cost consequences. Then you can determine what adjustments should be made to allow for any cost increases and prepare accordingly.
5. Study finishes — Finishes (interior and exterior) can have a substantial influence on both initial costs and ongoing maintenance. They should be thoroughly discussed and evaluated to maximize the value of each choice.
For one facility, our project team realized a 40 percent reduction in brick costs by forgoing a conventional clay brick for a local concrete brick product. The concrete brick achieved the aesthetic goals completely. This is the kind of creative decision that impacts value, cost and satisfaction.
6. Partner up for savings — Subcontractors who regularly bid, install and service equipment can offer valuable insights on cost savings. Mechanical, plumbing and electrical engineers are sometimes unaware that the cost of systems and fixtures might be much higher than equally effective alternatives.
By taking advantage of a multi-disciplinary team of engineering, design, and construction professionals alongside expert consultants, you'll benefit from a unified approach. Through the team's combined knowledge and information exchange you'll be more likely to realize a design that is cost-effective while meeting or exceeding quality and performance expectations.
7. Look into the future — Be certain not to eliminate imperative items that can't be added later. Instead, create a base project with alternate bids to enhance space, finishes and building amenities. Alternative bids should consist of items where scope is clearly defined through drawings and/or specifications that are not included in the base project. Pricing is obtained at the time of bidding to ensure greater competitiveness. In the event that the base project comes in below budget, some of the alternate items can be selected for inclusion.
This is a more cost-effective tactic than eliminating an option that will be impossible or cost-prohibitive to add at a later date. For instance, it would be wise and less expensive to "shell out" future rooms (installing floors, walls, and roof) if you believe that you will need more bed space or administrative areas in the near future. Even if you can't afford to finish them out, it makes sense to do a little more construction now rather than start a completely new project later.
8. Compare budget to reality — A constant comparison of actual expenses to the original budget is crucial and should include site design, selections of materials and systems, and constructability. As the building design develops more clearly, the initial cost estimates in the conceptual and schematic design phases are replaced by more comprehensive quantity estimates of materials and systems. Obtaining up-to-date pricing from subcontractors is vital during the design process.
9. Think seasonal timing — The timing of construction can have an immense impact on costs. Rainy seasons and winter weather can make a sizable difference. Preferably, the vast majority of the exterior work should be carried out and the building fully enclosed before inclement weather is likely to impact project schedules. Unexpected delays can be expensive.
In addition, bidding out a project in the winter months can result in more competitive bids since subcontractors are trying to prepare for the upcoming spring and summer. Long lead times for items such as steel, custom fixtures or equipment should also be considered to eliminate paying a premium to have them expedited and/or to avoid costly schedule delays.
10. Stay centered on the target — An experienced estimator should work closely with the design team to enable adjustments while keeping the design near the center of the targeted budget. If bids come in above budget, avoid indiscriminately cutting the scope in order to keep the project in budget. This can taint the final deliverable, forcing compromises of function, aesthetics, and operations.
By following these 10 steps, you'll have a comprehensive strategy for maximizing your money, controlling costs and delivering a project that meets the needs of your customers and staff.
Chad Ulman is vice president of architecture and Kevin Madalinski is vice president of construction for Hoffman Planning, Design & Construction. They each have more than 20 years' experience in construction and design.


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MASA delivers simulation training software to Bangladesh Army
The Bangladesh Army Training and Doctrine Command (ARTDOC) has taken delivery of SWORD, a fully customised constructive simulation training software from MASA Group.
The SWORD war-game solution was supplied as part of a contract signed almost a year ago.
The ARTDOC will equip its computerised war-game centre (CWGC) with SWORD for command post training from battalion to division level.
"We anticipate an ongoing strong relationship with MASA as the army's demands for further SWORD features evolve with our use of the software."
MASA chairman and CEO David Chouraqui said: "Bangladesh was the third country in the region to adopt SWORD.
"The ARTDOC understood extremely well the full pedagogical potential of SWORD as a simulation tool, which has led the army to a solid commitment to train, educate and maintain war-game-specialised personnel, and helped in the smooth setup of the fully customised software.
"MASA's ability to respond to the Bangladesh Army's specific requirements demonstrates its potential to do the same for other Asian and Commonwealth countries in the future."
Using SWORD, ARTDOC will be able to train its personnel in a variety of military and civil emergency scenarios.
According to a statement posted on the company's website, SWORD can simulate and control tens of thousands of soldiers and units.
Prior to the delivery of SWORD, three test exercises were conducted by the ARTDOC and MASA.
Bangladesh ARTDOC CWGC director colonel Minhaz said: "MASA's commitment far exceeds what is written in the contract; their flexibility and ability to adapt to the army's needs beyond the contract has really helped us to achieve programme completion in such good time.
"We anticipate an ongoing strong relationship with MASA as the army's demands for further SWORD features evolve with our use of the software".
Since opening in November 2015, the CWGC has been helping Bangladesh to modernise its armed forces.
The Global Military Simulation and Virtual Training Market 2014-2024 - SWOT Analysis: Market Profile
The Bangladeshi Defense Industry - Procurement Market Dynamics to 2018: Market Profile
The Military Simulation and Virtual Training Market in the UAE to 2025: Market Brief
The Bangladeshi Defense Industry - Industry Dynamics to 2018: Market Profile
MASA Group SA

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


While it's important to go after the bounties at the right times, you have to keep an eye on your overall goal: winning. A lot of players will forget this and risk way too much as they try go after bounties. You have to be wary of these players and adjust your game accordingly. You will often have to tighten up as your opponents are willing to play a wider range of hands in pursuit of Knockout Bounties. While everyone else is pushing with a wider variety of hands, you need to play smart and remember not to stray too far from your normal game plan.
Of course, there are times when you should be more aggressive in trying to take down a bounty. If another online poker player at your table is short stacked, by all means go after him, especially in the early stages of the tournament. If you're in the small blind and a short stack is in the big blind, you should force his hand with pretty much any two cards. In this case, the small risk in doubling him up is outweighed by the reward of taking down the bounty.
Inversely, if you find yourself short stacked in a Knockout Bounty tournament, you should be willing to push all-in with a narrower range of hands than you might otherwise play in a non-bounty tournament. Remember, everyone at the table is going to be gunning for you and your bounty, so you want to give yourself the best possible chance of having your hand stand up so that you can rebuild your chip stack. To that end, you should also be more wary of bluffing and of trying to steal blinds with a marginal hand, because you're probably going to get called by at least one player, regardless of what cards they're holding.
In the later stages of these tournaments when you're getting close to the money, my advice is very simple – forget about the bounties and just play your normal game. If you've made it this far, you don't want to make any unconventional or risky moves just for the chance to take down an additional bounty. The risk simply doesn't justify the reward and your chips are just too precious to throw around when first-place could be within your grasp.
So go ahead and gun for a bounty when the opportunity presents itself, but don't go out of your way trying to take another player out just for the fun of delivering a knockout punch. Remember, even in a Knockout Bounty tournament, there's no sweeter reward than to be the last man standing after the final hand is dealt.


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Treat revenue cycle management as a strategic process
Jordan Rosenfeld
RCM requires a strategic approach across silos for the best results.
Revenue cycle management is a process, not a product, so it can often be tough to convince practice managers or hospital administrators to fund improvements to it the same way one might find new technology or equipment, says Brian Paradis, Senior Partner at CSuite Solutions, a healthcare advisory firm in Tamp, Fla.
"When you talk about enhancement to the revenue cycle, the financial people tend to migrate back to a controlling cost mindset," Paradis says.
However, Paradis considers this a mistake.
"You should be looking at it as a strategic investment as opposed to overhead costs that you're trying to constrain," he says. "If it's seen as something strategic for the entire organization, it opens the door to engage the entire organization in that process, instead of just relegating it to the billing office or the business manager."
Removing the silos
The challenge in many healthcare organizations is to make RCM a strategic process.
"You have the people sitting at the front desk who often have a disconnect from the people in the billing office," Paradis says. He suggests that "you need to manage that silo," which means bringing those people together in the same room on a regular basis to share goals and objectives and learn what affects the other.
This includes physicians. The financial people need to understand the clinical implications that stand in the way of managing the revenue cycle, and the physicians can help bridge that gap.
Merging silos isn't as simple as just imposing a set of goals. It's about "having very clear, mutually agreed upon goals and outcomes, and a clarity of how that benefits patients as well as providers," Paradis says.
A four-pronged approach
Paradis believes the four most important steps of making RCM more strategic are:
Engaging the broader organization to get on board and put RCM at the forefront, not the backburner.
Investing in the technology. RCM can be improved by products and software that add value to the process.
Focusing on retention and referrals. As healthcare moves to new modes of payment under value-based care, healthcare organizations will have to be more strategic about attracting and keeping patients.
Engaging new payment models. Patients are becoming more digital and mobile, and paper bills and statements are becoming outdated.
Advocate for the patient
Additionally, Paradis believes that RCM processes can be improved by thinking about the patient more up front. "Whenever I hear discussions take place within medical groups or systems, it's amazing how often the conversation doesn't revolve around the patient."
If all a patient knows is that their co-pays increased by 30%, he says, that's not adding new value for the patient's experience, and you run the risk of losing that patient. "I think physicians can be more of an advocate for the patient from a revenue cycle standpoint."
He says physicians could be the ones to help ask such question: "What aren't we delivering to patients? What services could we be providing? How can we find revenues?"
If RCM is seen as something strategic for the organization, Paradis says it provides everyone in the organization with a shared vision.


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Permanent Mission of the Republic of Cyprus to the United Nations
Cyprus at the UN
73rd Session of the UN General Assembly
72nd Session of the UN General Assembly
71st Session of the UN General Assembly
70th Session of the UN General Assembly
The Political Problem in Brief
UN Documents on Cyprus
Statement by Deputy Permanent Representative Mr. Menelaos Menelaou – 3rd Committee – Protection of Human Rights
Item 68(b): Protection and Promotion of Human Rights – Human rights questions, including alternative approaches for improving the effective enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms
United Nations, 31 October 2016
Statement by Mr. Menelaos Menelaou, Deputy Permanent Representative of Cyprus
Thank you Madame Chairperson.
As this is the first time my delegation takes the floor, allow me to extend our congratulations to you and the members of the bureau. My delegation subscribes to the statement delivered by the European Union and would like to add some remarks in its national capacity.
Madam Chairperson,
Cyprus is fully committed to the inclusive protection of human rights and the establishment of unconditional accountability for all human rights abuses.
Protection and preservation of the cultural heritage as an imperative for the protection of cultural and human rights is an issue my government attaches great importance. On September 30th, 2016, the Human Rights Council in its 33rd session, adopted unanimously a resolution on cultural rights and the protection of cultural heritage, presented to the Council by Cyprus on behalf of a cross regional core group.
Furthermore Cyprus is a strong advocate of strengthening the existing international legal framework including through a robust UNSC resolution applying universal limitations on the trade and transfer of artefacts originating from conflict zones with the obligation of proof of "bona-fide" trade resting upon the traders, auction houses and buyers and not the originating states.
On September 27, 2016, the International Criminal Court issued a Judgment, in Prosecutor v. Al Mahdi, in which the defendant was convicted of a war crime and sentenced to imprisonment on the basis of directing an attack on religious and historical buildings in Mali. This judgment is important because among others it shows that attacks on sites that are important to the religious life and practice of a community, regardless of whether they are historic, and regardless of when the attack took place, may be prosecuted as war crimes under the ICC jurisdiction.
Madame Chairperson,
Since 1974, the Cypriot people have collectively been denied the basic right to peaceful existence. Turkish occupation troops still remain in Cyprus. 200,000 Greek Cypriots are Internally Displaced, denied the right to return to their homes and deprived of the full enjoyment of their homes and property rights. The unlawful exploitation of the properties of the displaced, in combination with Turkey's deliberate policy of colonizing the occupied areas with more than 160,000 mainland Turkish settlers constitute an effort to further change the demographic character of the island, in violation of International humanitarian law.
Enclaved persons, still experience daily violations of their fundamental freedoms and basic human rights. Textbooks are frequently subject to censorship and teachers experience arbitrary rejections of their appointments. Vandalisms of churches and cemeteries, intimidation of worshippers, limitation in the presence of priests and arbitrary rejections of requests to conduct religious services, create further obstacles to the enjoyment of the right to freedom of religion in Cyprus.
Missing persons and their families is a humanitarian issue of major concern. More than 2/3 of the remains of a total of 2001 missing persons are yet to be identified and returned to their families. Turkey must provide full unrestricted access to all areas, including fenced military areas and provide information concerning evidence of deliberate removal of remains of missing persons. It must also launch an effective investigation in order to establish the fate and conditions of disappearance of all Greek Cypriot missing persons. Time is of the essence before the advanced age of both relatives and witnesses, renders the remaining effort ineffective and futile.
Cyprus expresses concerns at recent developments in Turkey and whilst condemning the attempted coup and expresses its support to the legitimate institutions, Cyprus underlines the need to respect democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms in full compliance with the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
Full conformity with individual human rights standards for the people of Cyprus as a whole, regardless of their ethnic origin or religion, should be an integral element of any just, comprehensive, functional and sustainable solution to the Cyprus problem. The people of Cyprus deserve no less than the full respect to their human rights and freedoms as enshrined in International Law.
Filed Under: 71st Session of the UN General Assembly, Cyprus at the UN, Policy Statements


Brookfield Residential is a multi-billion dollar nationwide home builder that has a passion for creating "the best places to call home" from the East Coast to Hawaii.
To create a presence in the Texas market for the multi-billion dollar global homebuilder Brookfield Residential designed to increase conversions that lead to new and quick move-in home sales.
We worked with Brookfield Residential to engineer a Brookfield Texas website that was intelligently designed to showcase their master planned communities and homes for sale across the great state of Texas. A key component of this project is the interactive floorplan module that we developed which allows users to browse homes for sale, explore the floorplans for those homes and add desired features at the click of a button. The module allowed for a floorplan overlay that allowed you to customize and visualize your floorplan with ease.


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From Where I Stand: "I am determined to help my children take full advantage of their rights as citizens"
Anastasia Muntyan, 28, is a Roma woman who lives in a village near Kyiv, capital of Ukraine. She moved here from her hometown near Odessa in southern Ukraine when she got married, leaving her community behind. She is now renting a small house with her husband and two children, but lives in near poverty and faces many obstacles as a representative of an ethnic minority. She recently participated in a UN Women training on the human rights of Roma Women, which helped her understand her rights as a citizen and act upon them.
Date: Monday, 19 March 2018
Anastasia Mutyan. Photo: UN Women/Volodymyr Shuvayev
I should be using my time better because I finished middle school and can read. But I got married and moved villages when I was still young so I had to find an occupation to support our family. Last year, I applied to work at a local food factory as they pay decent wages but was rejected without an explanation. My source of income now is from reselling walnuts. I buy them from a local wholesaler, crack their shells, then I resell them. It is an unnecessarily manual task that can be made easier with the help of a nut cracker, a simple automated machine, so I am saving money to buy that.
My sons are four and two years old and I want them to get an education. Otherwise they will have difficulty earning decent wages. But I haven't placed them in kindergarten yet because they are not officially registered. Registering them is difficult because I am caught between two things. If I do not continue with their registration, they will not be able to access education, medical services, and many other things; but if I leave home, I cannot clean the nuts and will lose money.
Registration can take very long. It took me over a year to update my passport picture after I turned 25. The authorities required me to update it at the place of issue, almost 500 kilometers away from my current home, impossibly far, considering that sometimes I cannot afford to go to the next village. The head of my village council helped me to resolve the situation over the course of a year, but meanwhile, I could not receive any of the benefits I am entitled to as a citizen. One of the benefits I was missing was a government stipend to improve my living conditions because my current house, although very warm, does not have running water.
But I am determined to get my children registered so that they can take full advantage of their rights, and most importantly so they can start going to school."
Anastasia Muntyan had to take two buses and travelled for over two hours to the neighboring village to participate in a group discussion on the human rights of Roma women, organized by UN Women and International Roma Women Charitable Fund Chiricli. Her story relates to the new Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG 1 on ending poverty, which seeks equal rights to economic resources, and SDG 8 which calls for sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all, particularly for women and those in precarious employment.
Women's Economic Empowerment Congress in Ukraine explores ways to support women and enhance their potential
In the words of Anna Zavertaylo: "I had to come to terms with the idea that I could lose everything…"
In the words of Elena Gorgan: "Women entrepreneurs need more learning opportunities"
In the words of Bohdana Korop: "The war showed each of us that we are much stronger and more resilient than we seem at first glance"
In the words of Anna Mazur, a Ukrainian career expert: "Economic capacity greatly affects women's confidence"


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← coasting along
turtle →
Voltaire: passing nods from the Dauphine
Thievery begins at the top? The right of kings and card sharps. He was unhappy at Versailles. He wrote to Madame Denis complaining that he was bored to death by court society and the conversation of the great. " I have," he wrote, "to deal with twenty actors, the opera, the ballet, the decorations. And for what purpose? To get a passing nod from the Dauphine." He ended by refering to Versailles as "the place that I abhor."
It began with the Duc Richelieu suggesting that it might be useful to his career if he wrote a play celebrating the marriage of the Dauphin with the Infanta of Spain and in order to adjust his verses to the music especially composed for the occasion by Pierre Rameau, he was accorded a tiny little room in the palace.
---Voltaire frequented the Café de la Régence where he played chess with Philidor and Jean-Jacques Rousseau as well as once, in 1748, having played a correspondence game with Fredrick the Great of Prussia by courier.....(1840):The Régence was established as a rendezvous for the literati of the day, under the government of the Duke of Orleans, and like Will's in London, became, from its eligible position, the haunt of the most celebrated esprits of France during the eighteenth century. Voltaire, the two Rousseaus, the profligate Duc de Richelieu, Marshal Saxe, Chamfort, St. Foix, Benjamin Franklin, Marmontel, Philidor, and Grimm, are but a few of the men of note who constantly frequented the Régence in early times. The very chairs and tables acquired name and fame from classical association; and, till quite recently, the master of the establishment might be heard commanding his attendants, in tones of pride to "Serve Jean Jacques," -- "Look to Voltaire," -- the identical tables at which this pair of philosophes were wont daily to play chess, being still at that time in existence, named from the departed great.... Read More:http://www.edochess.ca/batgirl/voltaire.html
The climax was reached when they were all at Fontainbleu playing cards in one of the salons. Madame du Chatelet enjoyed gambling, but chess was the only game in which Voltaire indulged. Nor did he relish late hours and overheated rooms. Madame du Chatelet was seated at the card table of Duc de Richelieu with other courtiers. Voltaire took a chair and sat behind her, hoping that the game would soon be over. When she had lost eighty thousand livres his patience snapped: "Why", he hissed at her, "must you persist in playing with a gang of cheats?" Realizing that his remark had been overheard and that the outrgaged courtiers would obtain a letter de cachet against him, entailing a third period of incarceration in the Bastille, he and Madame du Chatelet left the card table, hurried to their rooms where they gathered a few things together, and escaped that very night to Sceaux, where they were hidden by the Duchesse du Maine until the storm subsided.
Cezanne. The Card Players.
Why did Voltaire detest cards and gambling? Perhaps the answer is to be found :
…which (Walter ) Benjamin notes in his chapter on Gambling and Prostitution: compares the elation of the winner "with the expression of love by a woman who has been truly satisfied by a man" . It is no coincidence that he couples the type of the gambler with the type of the prostitute. For Benjamin, and for those he choses to include in his collection, The Arcades Project, gambling is erotic in nature: "'The passion for gambling thus serves an autoerotic satisfaction, wherein betting is foreplay, winning is orgasm, and losing is ejaculation, defecation, and castration.'…
---It is a wondrous thing to contemplate the notion that pivotal moments in history can hinge on the ideas and actions of a single person. It is also worth noting, though perhaps not quite as wondrous to contemplate, the fact that to this day I can't stand in front of a urinal without thinking of Marcel Duchamp. It is conceivable, I suppose, that I would similarly be reminded of Voltaire if I ever found myself standing in front of a guillotine.--- Read More:http://www.chromeneversleeps.com/?p=287
In vain did Voltaire strive to avert vengeance by writing adulatory verses to madame de Pompadour. The Queen was incensed by this tribute to her rival, and the King, feeling that his private affairs were not fit subject for public poems, was also annoyed. Realizing that punishment was coming, Voltaire drove with Madame du Chatelet to Cirey and eventually crossed the frontier into Lorraine and took refuge with King Stanislas at Luneville.
But, hardly a revolutionary, Voltaire was part and parcel of this structure of royalty in fact ultimately reinforcing its the system of oppression it exposed the contradictory nature of his loyalty;the satire which Voltaire directed against the shams and follies of his age, contrasting with his almost subservient conformity in regard to the established order, did expose him to charges of insincerity. After all, he was capable of stratagems and evasions as tortuous as those of the Pope himself. His sallies and epigrams were often cruel, and he took pleasure in shocking the feelings of ordinary men.
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The Card Players. Theodor Rombouts. Read More:http://www.liveinternet.ru/community/3860098/post145197108/
La Pucelle has often been condemned as an outrageous lampoon, and it must be agreed that Joan of Arc is not a fit subject for salacious ridicule. He was pugnacious and litigious and his quarrels with Jean Jacques Rousseau were attended by a degree of publicity which, it must regretfully be admitted, was not wholly unwelcome to him. Yet, however monkey-like may have been his gestures, jokes, and impulses, his deep and wide influence was founded on a passionate hatred of stupidity and injustice. His life-long motto, his signature tune was "Ecrasez l'infame" by which he meant a battle to the death with every form of intellectual, doctrinal or social tolerance.
Under his influence, men of letters began to question all established institutions and conventions. He was pioneer and patron of a mighty intellectual rebellion. He marks an epoch in himself.
Walter Benjamin: "It gives and takes away; its logic is not our logic. It is dumb and blind and deaf. It is almighty. It is a God. . . . It has its votaries and its saints, who love it for itself, not for what it promises, and who fall down in adoration when its blow strikes them. It strips them ruthlessly, and they lay the blame on themselves, not on their duty. 'I played a bad game,' they say. They find fault with themselves; they do not blaspheme their God." Anatole France, Le Jardin d'Epicure (Paris), Time is the great leveler of victories.
Consider Benjamin's reference to Anatole France in The Arcades Project in his Konvolute on Prostitution and Gambling:
"Well, what is gambling, I should like to know, but the art of producing in a second the changes that Destiny ordinarily effects only in the course of many hours or even many years, the art of collecting into a single instant the emotions dispersed throughout the slot-moving existence of ordinary men, the secret of living a whole lifetime in a few minutes—in a word, the genie's ball of thread? Gambling is a hand-to-hand encounter with Fate. . . . "The fascination of danger is at the bottom of all great passions. There is no fullness of pleasure unless the precipice is near. It is the mingling of terror with delight that intoxicates. And what more terrifying than gambling?" .
Read More:http://www.thelemming.com/lemming/dissertation-web/home/presence-of-mind.html
pining for the grey elysium
cabaret voltaire: an arcade project
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Castles (castelli) and medieval forts (gulas) unravel the history of another Santorini with their alleyways, houses of simple architecture and colorful walls –always gazing at the sea from where pirates would once appear.
Passing by Emporeio, it is hard to imagine that the best preserved castelli of the island is situated right at the heart of the village. Built in 1450, it was the most "commercial" castelli of all, as it was here where the market of the island was located and all product trading would take place. Walking around the alleys with the houses stuck one with the other, the low doors and the even smallest windows painted in pastel colors is the best way to get to know the architecture of a castelli and take wonderful photos. Located nearby, the Gulas of Emporeio used to operate also as a place for storing the harvest and as a dependency of the Patmos Monastery, inhabited by monks.
Tip:After swimming on the beaches of Perissa, Perivolos and Vlyhada, you can visit the nearby Emporio Castelli.
What has remained today from the castelli of Saint Nikolaos is one part of its gulas. It was built around 1450 and named after the church carved in rocks dedicated to Saint Nikolaos. It has a particularly rich history but the earthquake of 1956, that caused great disasters to the whole of Oia, also hit the castelli of St Nikolaos. However, this spot of the Oia Castle is probably the most famous site on the island. Every evening people from all over the world come to its black-reddish half-ruined walls to admire the sunset. It is exactly the same spot from where the Santorinians were keeping a watchful eye on pirates for three whole centuries (15th-18th century).
Tip:If you are not fond of crowds, avoid visiting the Oia Castle at sunset time. The view will equally reward you at all other times during the day.
It was built around 1335 and used to be called 'Punta Castelli' and 'La Ponta', which in Medieval Italian meant 'the peak'. It was donated by Nikolas Sanudos, Duke of Naxos, to the Gozadini family, who kept the gulas under their power until 1617 even though the Turks had already invaded the rest of the island. There is also a second gulas at the Castelli of Akrotiri, a bit farther from the castle-city heart. Today the Akrotiri Castelli has revived, for a Museum and Workshop of Traditional Musical Instruments have been operating since 2012, while music nights from all over the world are being organized every Tuesday and Friday (see Agenda).
Tip:Walk up to the Castelli and Goulas in Akrotiri late in the evening, particularly when there are music nights.
Although the earthquake of 1956 let its vivid marks, the Castelli of Pyrgos has retained the mystic atmosphere of its era. Being the most recent of all Castelli in Santorini, it was built around 1580. In the beginning, at its top there was a tower that was later knocked down and the Monastery of St Georgios was built in its place. The walls of the houses composed the fortified surrounding wall of the castelli, while there was only one entrance. The settlement was built upon a sequence of underground roads aimed at being used as a shelter in case the settlement would ever fall in the enemies' hands. Once Skaros was abandoned, the Castelli of Pyrgos became the capital of the island. Walking around its alleys, stopping by its churches and admiring the spectacular view over the whole island is an experience that no visitor of Santorini should miss!
Tip:No matter what time you visit the Castelli of Pyrgos, you will be enchanted by the atmosphere.
Whether looking over Skaros from some point of the Caldera or being at its top, it is hard to imagine that an entire castle-city was built on this rock with tortuous narrow cobbled streets, houses and churches. Skaros Castelli is the oldest castelli in Santorini, but today there is nothing reminding of its medieval prestige. The only testimonial for what the Castelli of Skaros looked like is a pencil sketch from the collection of Thomas Hopes exhibited at the Benaki Museum -the design of the castelli being attributed to L.S. Fauvel. It was built between 1205 and 1230, but was destroyed by the earthquake of the 17th century and gradually abandoned. The visitor today can enjoy the fantastic view offered by the location. The only structure remaining today at the spot where once the impregnable fortress used to be erected is a church dedicated to 'Virgin Mary the Theoskepasti'.
'Castelli' means 'small castle'. They were built in Santorini by the Latin colonists of the island during the period of Venetocracy (13th-16th century).
These were fortified settlements where the Santorinians would find shelter to protect themselves from pirate raids.
'Goulas' is the 'defensive fortress', the highest tower of every castelli, having a rectangular shape and many storeys. It was used both as an observatory and for defensive purposes against pirates.
Santorini had 5 Castellia and 4 Gulases.
The oldest castle is Skaros in Imerovigli and the most recent, the castle of Pyrgos village.
Saint Theodosia is considered to be the Protector-Saint of Castles. That is why at the front of every castelli there is a church dedicated to her.
Dora Monioudi-Gavala, Santorini, Society and Shelter 15th-20th century. A publication of Lukas and Evangelos Bellonias' Foundation.
Αntonis Ν. Κontaratos, Santorini, Poria sto Hrono, Heliotopos Publications, 2007.


Australian Wingless Sprint Championship history was created tonight at Sydney's Valvoline Raceway, when Joel Chadwick became the first back-to-back winner in the event's 10-year history.
After winning the previous night's preliminary feature race in impressive fashion, Chadwick, whose back-to-back wins is now five Australian Championships for the state of South Australia (adding to that tally are Chadwick's double, Todd Wigzell's pair of wins in 2012 and 2015 and Rory Button's inaugural win in 2009), started from the outside of the front row for the 2018 Australian Championship deciding feature race.
Lined up beside pole sitter and Valvoline Raceway track specialist Mark Blyton (NSW), Chadwick battled for the lead with Blyton before taking full control of the lead after a dozen completed laps. From there, he was never headed for the remainder of the 35-lap event.
Despite the best efforts from Blyton, he had to settle for second behind Chadwick in what turned out to be a career-best finish for the veteran racer in a title event.
In a feature race that impressively went 30 laps without a single caution period, there were two stoppages in the closing stages, which also included a return of the wet weather. Lap 30 saw the race brought to a halt after heavy contact between David Eggins (NSW) and two-time Australian Super Sedan Champion Peter Logue (Vic) on the main straight resulted in Logue, who had earlier won the B main, crashing into the outer tyre wall. Both drivers weren't injured but they were retirements.
As they say in motorsport, caution periods breed caution periods, and that's exactly what occurred, when three laps later, youngster and Valvoline Raceway newcomer Matthew Iwanow (WA), who was running in eighth place after qualifying fifth, spun around entering turn four and sustained race-ending damage in the process, while Anthony Tapley (SA) also spun in the incident. While Iwanow was sidelined, Tapley was able to restart at the tail of the field.
With a two-lap sprint to the chequered flag, the rain began to fall, and that certainly created yet another challenge for Chadwick as he came up to tackle the green, white, chequer. Handling the pressure of a greasy, unpredictable track surface with ease, he went on to put together two trouble-free laps and was rewarded with back-to-back Australian Championship wins.
While Chadwick and second-placed Blyton greeted the chequered flag without too many dramas, the battle for third place was certainly intense and it was only decided as the drivers raced towards the finish line. In the end, it was current NSW Champion Dean Thomas (NSW), who earlier in the race dropped back towards the foot of the top 10, who stole the final spot on the podium away from Jason Bates (NSW). Bates, the 2016 NSW Champion, was sitting third up until the final corner, when contact from behind slowed him and it allowed the defending Valvoline Raceway Track Champion to pip him for the spot.
Behind Bates in fifth was current Tasmanian Champion Luke Redpath (Tas). After starting from position 8 in tonight's feature race, Redpath showed plenty of pace throughout the weekend in what was his Valvoline Raceway debut and he was rewarded with a satisfying top-five result.
A position 13 starting Travis Millar (Vic), one of the weekend's surprise packets Andy Hibbert (Vic), current Northern Territory Champion Troy Carey (NSW) charged home from position 15, two-time Australian Champion Daniel Hartigan (WA) and impressive Kyle Mock (NSW) rounded out the top-10 finishers.
The remaining finishers consisted of Luke Sayre (NSW), Clint McLaren (Vic), Peter Granger (NSW), current Queensland Champion Daniel Flood (NSW), Glenn Wright (Qld), Matthew Symons (Vic), Luke Weel (Vic), current Victorian Champion Glenn Watts (Vic), Tapley and Michael McDonald (Vic).
Apart from Eggins, Logue and Iwanow, the only other Australian Championship decider retirement was Jeff Thomas (NSW), who had started from position 3, and retired on lap 14, due to a fuel pump failure.
Mother nature reared its ugly head during the middle of tonight's racing, when it brought the night's proceedings to a stop, due to wet weather front, for over an hour following the completion of the fourth and final round of heat races.
Earlier in the night, the heat-race wins were claimed by Peter Logue, Chris Halesworth (Vic), Carly Walsh (Vic), Watts, David Cook (Vic), Eggins, Weel and Tony Moule (Vic). In the fourth and final round of heat races, it saw seven of the eight winners reside in the state of Victoria.
In the march to the Australian Championship deciding feature race, following the rain delay, the E main was claimed by Shaun Lyness (Vic), the D-main win went the way of Leighton O'Brien (NSW), following the family's winning form was Mitchell O'Brien (NSW) who drove to victory in the C main, and the final four Australian Championship decider spots on offer in the B main were filled by Peter Logue, who drove to a hard-charging race to win ahead of fellow transferees: Wright, Weel and McDonald. The biggest incident from these last-chance events occurred in the D main, when Steve Thomas (NSW) rode out a huge wreck on lap five in between turns three and four. Although the eldest of the Thomas siblings wasn't injured, the same couldn't be said for his car which was destroyed.
Please Note: All Australian Championship results are to remain unofficial, up until engine checks are completed, which are required to be done within a 21-day period.
Appreciation Post: The entire Australian Wingless Sprint Racing committee would like to thank the drivers, pit crews, supporters, officials from the Sprintcar Association of NSW and the Valvoline Raceway team, for their wonderful efforts throughout the weekend that helped make this season's Australian Championship one of the best.
Get Social: For further AWSR information, visit their website at www.awsr.com.au or LIKE them on Facebook or Follow them on Instagram and Twitter by searching Australian Wingless Sprint Racing.


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Sneaker Wave Advisory for S. Oregon Coast; Northern Half Large Display
(Oregon Coast) – The southern Oregon coast is under an advisement for powerful and dangerous sneaker waves on the beaches, while the northern half will see some larger waves but not as significant a risk. 16-foot breakers are expected on south coast beaches in areas like Reedsport, Bandon, Port Orford and North Bend.
The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Medford issued the special statement regarding beach dangers, in effect from 10 p.m. tonight until Friday afternoon.
"The highest risk will be late tonight through Thursday," the NWS said. "The threat will be highest on west and northwest facing beaches. Waves with higher run-ups can surprise beach goers, knock them off their feet, and sweep them into the ocean. Large waves will also wash over jetties and rock outcroppings that normally stay dry."
The northern half of the Oregon coast will still witness some big breakers as well, though not quite with the same intensity as down south. In places like Newport, Nehalem Bay or Astoria, these will be cause for caution along jetties – although you should never walk on jetties no matter the conditions. Shorter beaches with cliff walls behind them, like those at Gleneden Beach, parts of Lincoln City or Oceanside, may pose risks as well.
Wave height on the northern half is expected to get around 12 feet for the next two days, but it's that long swell period – 17 seconds in some cases – that can cause an issue for sneaker waves. The longer the swell, the greater the chance for waves out to sea to pile up together and create a sneaker wave.
All of the Oregon coast is under one kind of small craft advisory or another, with somewhat heavy winds and seas offshore.
These big waves will mean decent wave watching in rocky areas, like those around Yachats, Oceanside, Pacific City or Depoe Bay. You'll need to stay far back from those basalt ledges, but you'll often get a good show of breakers crashing into things.
Ocean conditions drop down to around ten feet or less in wave height on Friday and Saturday on the northern half. However, on Sunday and Monday, wave height creeps up again to around 17 feet, which will once more bring great stormy action to coastal towns. See full Oregon Coast Weather and tide info.
Oregon Coast Lodgings for this event - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours


Maudlin, Father Stanislaus, "Understanding Native Americans through theology," Speech, 1969.
Title Maudlin, Father Stanislaus, "Understanding Native Americans through theology" Speech, 1969.
Item Description In this untitled speech Father Stanislaus Maudlin focuses on theology as key to true understanding and acceptance of Native American culture and society. Father Stan states that humans must understand each other's philosophy of life in order to understand each other. While the gap between the Indian and white societies can be great developing a mutual understanding of the theologies is crucial to positive interactions. Father Stan ends his talk with the Colonel Custer story where Colonel smokes the Sacred Pipe in the council lodge with Chief Medicine Arrow but does not heed the Chief's warning regarding breaking the peace and Custer's death.
Collection Description This is part of the larger Blue Cloud Abbey-American Indian Cultural Research Center Collection available at the Center for Western Studies. The collection houses the research center's official papers, correspondence, artifacts and other items. The collection was donated by Fr. Stanislaus Maudlin and Rev. Thomas Roznowski and also contains a large selection of photographs and negatives focused on daily life of Native Americans and the workings of Blue Cloud Abbey.


It has been a decade since water vending machines have become a part of India, providing safe and pure drinking water at economical rates. But are they really successful?
The term water ATM refers to water vending machine like that of bank ATMs, the only difference being you get water in return of money from it. Water ATM not only accepts cash but also prepaid smart cards. Usually These ATMs are built, owned and controlled by private companies but off late such ATMs have been installed by government departments also.
These ATMs are spread in various part of the India. Some of the states include Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka etc. There are various Indian and multinational companies that are involved in the business of water vending machines. They charge a nominal rate of 15 paise to 1 rupee per liter of water.
There are various international organizations like World Bank, Japan International cooperation agency and Asian Development Bank that have helped Indian government in various water rejuvenating projects.
The main aim of the water vending machines in India is to provide clean and pure drinking water to the poor and needy at nominal rates. The private companies built and operate the machines and in return benefit from them. This has reduced the financial burden of government to spend on providing clean drinking water to a great extent.
1. Provide pure water 24*7 at flexible timing as per users' convenience.
2. Provide top quality drinking water with better accountability.
3. Based on effective pay-per-use methodology reducing wastage.
4. Adaptable to various locations like schools, colleges, hospitals etc.
With so many advantages offered by the water ATM, it is bound to become the most popular instrument for making provision of drinking water for public locations, unplanned neighborhoods and locations which are unserviceable by traditional pipeline based water supply.


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Canadian Treasure Jon Klassen, author/illustrator of award-winning picture books as well as the illustrator of many great chapter books, is here! He is quick to clarify he's not going to talk about how to find your style:
How you work on something isn't the same thing as your 'style':
"Style is mysterious and shouldn't be opened, at least not by you...
Don't think about it.
Take care of the machine that makes it, so you can get better at making your work..."
Don't Think About Yourself At All
Jon recommends treating the project as something outside yourself.
Some of his favorite artists subscribe to this particular work ethic:
Agnes Martin, who says "The worst thing you can think about when you're working is yourself."
David Bowie, when asked by a reporter how cool it was to be a rockstar with a crazy successful album, said it's not David Bowie who's successful, it's the character Ziggy Stardust! Jon says Bowie needed a character first to get into his work, which let him not have to ask what would "I" do, but what would Ziggy or the Thin White Duke do.
Artist/weaver Anni Albers has this quote Jon loves:
Another great idea from Jon:
Treat your brain the way Pixar treated computer technology, do your best work with the resources you have at that time.
When first starting out, Pixar had hundreds of ideas for stories, but computer animation made everything look stilted and plastic and non-human. Instead of fighting their technology, Pixar embraced the limitations by animating things that were naturally plastic-y and clunky:
Similarly, Sendak's dummy for WHERE THE WILD HORSES ARE had tons of horse drawings in it, but Maurice hated drawing horses! So his legendary editor Ursula Nordstrom asked him what he would enjoy drawing and Maurice said he didn't know, but he liked drawing THINGS...
Jon describes how he went from being a grumpy animator who only wanted to draw rocks and chairs, to a picture book author/illustrator who enjoys creating characters outside of himself who can 'write' their own lines. Jon mentions he felt like his voice as a narrator is similar to that of a drunk P.D. Eastman, but when he thinks about the characters acting in a play—spouting their own lines, not his—he's able to take himself out of the equation and make something good.
You are not in control of almost any part of this process, Jon says, except for keeping out what you don't want in a project, chipping all that away. A book is like a child, you can shepherd it along, but it may wander off without you somewhere amazing, and that's a great thing.
Posted by Jaime Temairik at 9:53 AM
Labels: #Illustrators, #LA16SCBWI, hats, jon klassen


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WSO Testifies on Online Hate at Justice Committee
Ottawa (May 3, 2019): World Sikh Organization of Canada President, Mukhbir Singh testified yesterday before the House of Commons Justice Committee on the issue of online hate. The WSO called on the government to play its role in countering the proliferation of online hate.
Following a sharp rise in police-reported hate crimes between 2016 and 2017 many organizations, including the World Sikh Organization of Canada had called on the Government of Canada to create a strategy to counter online hatred.
In his testimony on Thursday, Mukhbir Singh acknowledged that "unfortunately, instances of hatred and violence are not new for the Sikh community… minority status combined with an outward identity which is intended to stand out has often made Sikhs a target by those motivated by hate and intolerance."
Mukhbir Singh made reference to the arrest last week of an individual for 'public incitement of hatred' following a Facebook comment in response to a news story about the record-breaking number of people who attended the Surrey Vaisakhi parade. The individual who was charged had made commented that the failure to place a pressure cooker bomb at the parade was a "lost opportunity".
In its submissions, the WSO recognized that all individuals have the right to exercise their freedom of expression, however in instances where expression may be used to threaten the most marginalized members of our society, namely women, youth and minorities, action must be taken.
The WSO proposed:
that the government consult with community stakeholders as well as social media providers respond to the threat of online.
the establishment of uniform, national guidelines and standards for the collection and handling of hate crime and hate incident data in Canada.
penalties for companies which fail to properly apply laws regarding the removal of hateful content.
training and support to law enforcement, provincial attorney generals and prosecutors to use the tools available to them under the Criminal Code such as Section 320.1. This section has not been used very often to date.
Promotion of dialogue and engagement between communities. Often hate is borne out of ignorance or misunderstanding and this may be prevented through community engagement and outreach.
government engagement with community organizations to hear their concerns about what they are seeing on the ground.
Mukhbir Singh said, "The proliferation of online hate and the link to actual attacks is worrisome and Canada must act to counter this threat with a meaningful and effective strategy. We hope that through cooperation with social media providers and government agencies as well as increased dialogue and engagement, the danger online hate poses to vulnerable groups can be mitigated."
The World Sikh Organization of Canada (WSO) is a non-profit organization with a mandate to promote and protect the interests of Canadian Sikhs as well as to promote and advocate for the protection of human rights for all individuals, irrespective of race, religion, gender, ethnicity, and social and economic status.
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Preference of specimen collection methods for human papillomavirus detection for cervical cancer screening: a cross-sectional study of high-risk women in Mombasa, Kenya
Griffins O. Manguro ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9226-09551,
Linnet N. Masese2,
Kishor Mandaliya3,
Susan M. Graham4,5,
R. Scott McClelland4,5 &
Jennifer S. Smith6,7
This article has been updated
The Correction to this article has been published in Reproductive Health 2019 16:156
Self-collection of genital specimens for high-risk types of human papillomavirus (hrHPV) detection may increase cervical cancer screening uptake. We hypothesized that women would prefer self-collection to clinician-collection of genital specimens. To test this hypothesis, and women's preference between two different self-collection approaches, a total of 199 women were enrolled in a cross-sectional study in Mombasa, Kenya.
Participants provided self-collected specimens using the Evalyn cytobrush (Rovers) stored in a dry tube and the Viba cytobrush (Rovers) stored in wet Aptima media (Hologic). A clinician also collected cervical specimens for hrHPV testing and for cytology, and performed visual inspection using acetic acid. A post-examination questionnaire assessed preferences for the different methods of specimen collection. To test the difference in proportions for each collection method, we performed an exact binomial probability test, under the null hypothesis that women would prefer each specimen-collection method equally.
Most women preferred clinician-collection over self-collection (68% versus 32%, p < 0.01). For self-collection, dry-self collection with the Evalyn brush was preferred over the wet-selection with the Viba brush (53% versus 27%, p < 0.01). There was no association between preference for self-collection and preference for a particular self-collection cytobrush.
Further research to understand and address obstacles to self-collection of genital specimens may be needed to improve the uptake of self-collection for cervical cancer screening, especially in settings with poor access to trained healthcare providers.
Testing for high-risk sub-types of human papillomavirus (hrHPV) is an effective way of screening for cervical cancer. Unlike Pap smears which have to be performed by a clinician, women can self-collect genital samples for HPV testing. Such samples often produce results that are as accurate as those obtained from clinician-collected samples.
Between August 2013 and April 2015, we conducted a study among 199 women at high risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV in Mombasa, Kenya. Our aim was to find out if the women preferred to collect their own genital samples or have samples collected by a clinician, and between two self-collection brushes, which one they would like most. Study participants performed self-collection in a private room, followed by clinician-collection and a pap smear.
More than two thirds (68%) of the women preferred to have a clinician collect the genital samples. For self-collection, majority of women (53%) preferred the Evalyn brush, which was stored and transported without any preservative (dry) compared to the Viba brush, which was stored and transported in a liquid preservative.
Further research is needed to find out reasons why women in this setting prefer to have genital samples collected by a clinician rather than to collect samples themselves, considering that self-collected vaginal samples is likely to be easier, more comfortable, less embarrassing and just as accurate as those collected by a clinician. Understanding such factors may help to scale-up self-testing, which may increase the number of women who screen for cervical cancer.
Detection of high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) in genital specimens is current being used in conjunction with (co-testing) or as an alternative to Papanicolau (Pap) smears for primary cervical cancer screening [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Testing for hrHPV in genital specimens has demonstrated significantly greater sensitivity as compared to conventional Pap smear for detecting high-grade cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia (CIN 2+) [2, 6, 7]. Additionally, women can self-collect cervico-vaginal specimens for hrHPV testing. These self-collected specimens demonstrate similar sensitivity and specificity to clinician-collected specimens for detecting high-grade cervical lesions (CIN 2+), and may improve access to screening [8]. Studies conducted in Europe, North and South America looking at the acceptability of self-collection of genital specimens for hrHPV testing indicate that self-collected HPV genital specimens were preferred compared to the conventional Pap smears for HPV screening. In the latter one study from South America, age and level of education were strongly correlated with increased preference for self-collection [4, 9]. Few studies [10, 11] have explored the acceptability of self-collection of genital specimens in Africa, where cultural and religious beliefs concerning both clinician and self-collection of genital specimens may be an important consideration. Understanding women's preference for self-collection versus clinician-collection of specimens will help to guide future interventions for cervical cancer screening.
Our study, conducted in a cohort of high-risk women in Mombasa, Kenya, assessed women's preference for self-collection versus clinician-collection of genital specimens for detection of hrHPV for primary cervical cancer screening. We also explored women's preference between two different self-collection devices, the Viba cytobrush (Rovers®, Netherlands), which required a liquid transport media, and the Evalyn cytobrush (Rovers®, Netherlands), which did not. Based on existing data, we hypothesized that women would prefer self-collection over clinician collection [9]. Due to the presumed ease of collection, we also hypothesized that Evalyn cytobrush (dry) would be preferred over the Viba cytobrush (in liquid media) for self-collection of specimens.
We conducted a clinic-based, cross-sectional study from August 2013 to April 2015. A total of 200 women participating in a cohort study of women at high risk of acquiring sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV in Mombasa, Kenya were enrolled. Clinical procedures, including self-collection of hrHPV specimens, were performed at the Ganjoni Health Centre in Mombasa. Study procedures were integrated into the ongoing follow-up procedures for the Mombasa Cohort [12, 13]. Briefly, the Mombasa Cohort is an open cohort study of female sex workers (FSWs) established in 1993 as a HIV incidence cohort. FSW are recruited from major sex work venues in Mombasa. Those interested are referred to the research clinic, located in the Ganjoni Municipal Clinic. Women are invited into this parent cohort if they are 18–45 years old, reside in Mombasa area, are self-identifying as exchanging sex for payment in cash or in kind and are able to provide informed consent. Routine cohort visits are scheduled every month. Every 3 months, the scheduled visit procedures include collection of genital specimens for Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhea nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT). For this ancillary study, we invited women whose study visits coincided with the NAAT specimen collection visit. We used convenience sampling to enroll those who agreed to participate from among those who were eligible.
Study visit procedures
A study nurse briefly introduced the study to eligible women and invited them to participate. Women who agreed to participate were referred to the study counselor, who provided further information and responded to questions. Following this discussion with the counselor, interested participants were required to provide written informed consent.
Self-collection of genital specimens was conducted in a private room at the health facility. A study nurse provided verbal instructions on self-collection procedures, after which participants performed the procedure on their own. Pictorial diagrams with detailed instructions on self-collection were also available in the room. Each woman performed self-collection using the two different specimen brushes, the Evalyn cytobrush (Rovers®, Netherlands), and the Viba cytobrush (Rovers®, Netherlands). To minimize potential bias from the order of specimen collection, women had study numbers assigned to them based on their enrollment into the study, and those with odd study numbers self-collected using the Evalyn brush first, while those with even study numbers self-collected using the Viba cytobrush first. The physical characteristics and specimen handling slightly differ between these two devices (Fig. 1). For both cytobrushes, self-collected specimens were obtained by inserting the collection brush and following the manufacturer's instructions to sample cells from the cervico-vaginal wall.
The Evalyn cytobrush (left side) and the Viba cytobrush with cryovial containing Aptima media (right side)
The Evalyn cytobrush is pink in color, and consists of a plunger containing white bristles made of polyethylene at the tip, a transparent casing, and a transparent cap. For self-collection, women were instructed to squat, pull the plunger down into the clear casing to protect the bristles, and gently insert the brush into the vagina. Next, they pushed the plunger back up to expose the bristles, and rotated the brush through five complete turns in the same direction for specimen collection. Each complete rotation was accompanied by an audible click on the device. Self-collection using the Evalyn brush was "dry," in that there was no need to place the specimens in a preservative for transportation to the laboratory.
The Viba brush consists of a blue handle and an easily removable white tip. The tip contains bristles made of similar material as the Evalyn brush. The Viba brush was provided with a cryovial containing 1 ml of Aptima media (Hologic®, USA). After self-collection, participants broke off the brush head at the tip of the cytobrush and deposited it into the cryovial containing Aptima media.
After self-collection, a study clinician performed a speculum-assisted pelvic examination, which included collection of cervical specimen for hrHPV testing. Clinician-collection of specimens was performed using a cervical specimen collection brush (Hologic®, USA). Unlike self-collected specimens, clinician specimens were collected from the endocervix. Similar to the Viba brush, clinician-collected specimens were stored in Aptima media (Hologic®, USA). After hrHPV specimen collection, the clinician performed visual inspection under acetic acid and a conventional Pap smear. All clinicians in this study had extensive training and experience in genital examination and specimen collection as part of the procedures in the Mombasa Cohort.
Post-examination questionnaire to assess women's preference
Following the clinical examinations, women participated in a structured interview using a standardized questionnaire to assess their preferences for different methods of specimen collection. For the question on self-collection versus clinician-collection, women were asked, "If you were to be tested for hrHPV infection again, how would you like the specimen to be collected?" They gave their answers as either self-collection or clinician-collection.
To assess women's preferences between the Evalyn and Viba cytobrushes, they were asked, "Which of the two brushes you collected yourself did you like best?" They were then asked to select one of three possible responses; "I liked the blue brush (Viba brush)," "I liked the pink brush (Evalyn brush)," and "I liked them both equally". To explore women's perceptions of specific characteristics of the two brushes, they were asked four questions. Their responses to these questions were graded on a 5-point Likert scale, with a range of one for "strongly agree", two for "agree somewhat"; three for "neutral"; four for "disagrees somewhat"; and five for "strongly disagree." The four questions were: "Was the brush comfortable to insert?" "Were you concerned about hurting yourself with the brush?", "Were you concerned about using the brush properly?", and, "Were the instructions for self-collection using the brush easy to understand?"
The primary aim of the study was to test the hypothesis that women would prefer self-collection to clinician-collection of genital specimens. To test the difference in proportions for each collection method, we performed an exact binomial probability test, under the null hypothesis that women would prefer each specimen-collection method equally (i.e., p = 0.50 for selecting self-collection or clinician-collection). To determine which self-collection cytobrush was most preferred, we compared the proportion of women who preferred the Evalyn brush to those who preferred the Viba brush and to those who preferred them both equally. To determine the statistical significance of this difference, we performed a one-sample t-test, with responses distributed between 0 for the Viba brush, 1 for no preference, and 2 for the Evalyn brush, testing the null hypothesis of no difference in preference (i.e., mean preference = 1.0).
Log-binomial regression analyses were performed to explore the predictors of preference for clinician collection versus self-collection. The variables tested were identified a priori through a review of the literature. We included factors associated with self-testing for other conditions (HIV) and those associated with screening for cervical cancer. These included women's age at first sexual intercourse [14], current age [15], level of education [16, 17], marital status [16], parity [15], and religion [18].
To explore predictors of preference for the dry self-collection brush, wet self-collection brush, and preference for both equally, we performed a multinomial logistic regression analysis, with no preference as the referent category. The predictors included in the models were similar to those included in our analysis of predictors of preference for self-collection versus clinician-collection. Relative risk ratios greater than 1 in this analysis indicated a higher probability of preferring the brush specified, relative to having no preference. Conversely, relative risk ratios less than 1 indicated a lower probability of preferring the brush specified, relative to having no preference. We performed chi-squared tests to explore whether there was an association between preference for self-collection and preference for a particular collection device. Finally, to better understand women's preferences for specific collection devices, we explored their perceptions about characteristics of the two brushes. Median and interquartile ranges were used to summarize the responses to each question that was graded on a Likert scale. Wilcoxon signed-ranks tests were performed to analyze differences in paired responses to each of these questions for the Evalyn brush compared to the Viba brush. All analyses were performed using STATA version 13.
Between August 2013 and April 2014, a total of 200 women were enrolled into the cervical cancer screening study. Of these, 199 (99%) participated in the post-examination interview and were included in analyses. Mean age of study participants was 37.6 years, range (30–44) and approximately half were HIV-positive (Table 1).
Table 1 Baseline characteristics of 199 female sex workers from Mombasa, Kenya
Of 199 women, 63 (32%) reported preference for self-collection compared to 136 (68%) who reported preference for clinician-collection (exact binomial probability test, p < 0.001). Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics were broadly similar between women who preferred clinician-collection and those who preferred self-collection. Univariate log-binomial regression analyses of predictors of preference for self-collection found that older age at sexual debut was significantly associated higher with preference for clinician-collection versus self-collection (odds ratio [OR] 1.10, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02–1.10, p = 0.02) (Table 2).
Table 2 Univariate log-binomial regression analyses exploring predictors of women's preference for clinician-collection versus self-collection of genital specimens
For self-collection, the Evalyn brush was generally preferred (n = 105; 53%), compared to the Viba brush (n = 50; 25%), and equal preference for both brushes (n = 44; 22%) (One-sample t test p < 0.001). We found no association between preference for specimen collection method self-versus clinician) and preference for self-collection cytobrush (Chi-square test, p = 0.69). In univariate multinomial logistic regression analyses, age, parity, comfort when using the brush and concerns of getting hurt while using the brush were significantly associated with preference for a particular self-collection method (Table 3). In multivariable analyses, increased comfort with the Evalyn brush was associated with lower probability of selecting the Viba brush (OR 0.48, 95% CI 0.32–0.71), and increased concerns about hurting themselves with the Viba brush were associated with an increased probability of selecting the Evalyn brush (OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.05–1.71).
Table 3 Multinomial regression analysis exploring predictors of women's preference for the Viba or the Evalyn cytobrush
Table 4 presents responses to questions comparing women's experience with the Evalyn and Viba cytobrushes, together with p-values from the test for differences in paired responses to each of these questions. Participants strongly agreed that instructions for both self-collection brushes were easy to understand. In terms of analyses comparing women's experience with the Evalyn and the Viba cytobrushes, for the questions, "Were the instructions for self-collection using the brush easy to understand?" and, "Were you concerned about using the cytobrush properly?" women rated both self-collection cytobrushes equally and favorably. For the question "Were you concerned about hurting yourself with the brush?" responses were more favorable for the Evalyn brush as compared to the Viba brush. For the question "Was the brush comfortable to insert?" a significantly greater proportion of women reported comfort with the Evalyn brush compared to the Viba brush.
Table 4 Median scores and interquartile range for responses to questions on experience when using the cytobrushes and p-values from the Wilcoxon signed ranks test for differences in each paired response
In this study of 199 high-risk Kenyan women participating in an HIV incidence cohort, significantly more participants preferred to have specimens for hrHPV testing collected by a clinician rather than self-collected sampling. When directly comparing the two self-collection devices, most women preferred the self-collection Evalyn brush stored "dry" to the Viba brush stored in liquid media. Women strongly agreed that both self-collection brushes were comfortable during use, and the instructions easy to follow. For both self-collection approaches, most women somewhat agreed that they were concerned about performing self-collection properly.
Women in several studies from the US and Europe reported a preference for self-collection compared to clinician-collection for hrHPV specimen collection [4, 19, 20]. A meta-analysis including eight studies from Europe and two from North America also reported that, among women who did not routinely screen for cervical cancer, compliance was better when using self-collected genital specimens as initial screening as opposed to pap smears [4]. In contrast, one study from Cameroon reported that while women found self-collection more comfortable and less embarrassing, a greater proportion of women still preferred to have genital specimens collected by a clinician (62% vs. 29%, p < 0.001) [21]. In this African population, women reported greater concerns about the reliability of results from self-collected specimens as compared to clinician-collected specimens (59% vs. 1%). Our results suggest that Kenyan women may have similar concerns about the reliability of self-collected specimens. When asked, "Were you concerned about using the cytobrushes properly?" most of the women's response was "agreed somewhat" (Table 4). This is in contrast to their responses on questions pertaining to the specific characteristics of the brushes, which were consistently very favorable. Most women, for example, felt that the self-collection brushes were comfortable to use, and instructions for self-collection easy to follow.
While the overall rating for both cytobrushes was positive, the Evalyn cytobrush was generally more preferred. Importantly, the majority of women in this study who reported greater preference for the Evalyn brush also found the cytobrush more comfortable to insert, and reported greater fears of hurting themselves with the Viba cytobrush. These two may be explained by the difference in physical characteristics of the Evalyn cytobrush. The cytobrush has a plunger, which allowed the women to pull down the bristles into the transparent casing at the point of insertion. The Evalyn brush also has wings which marks the furthest point the cytobrush can be inserted into the vagina. It is possible that these two characteristics may contribute to the greater comfort and less fears of hurting themselves when using the Evalyn brush. Additionally, women did not have to detach the tip of the Evalyn brush and insert into the liquid transport media and merely replaced the plastic cap after self-collection as the cytobrush was stored and transported dry. The finding that women reported a preference for one cytobrush over the other for self-collection is important for the potential scale-up of self-collection programs in this region. However, it is important to note that it is unknown whether women's preference for the Evalyn brush would have a meaningful impact on self-collection program coverage if only an alternative like the Viba brush were offered.
It is interesting to note that while findings from our study and the Cameroonian study [21] agree, the study populations are distinctly different. Our study was conducted in female sexual workers at a notably high risk of infection with HIV and STIs, who regularly attended clinic and had frequent pelvic examinations. In contrast, the study from Cameroon was conducted in general population with limited exposure to pelvic examinations. The parallel findings from these two distinct populations of African women may point towards a general preference for clinician-collected genital specimens among women from this region, although more research is warranted to confirm these findings.
Our study has several strengths. Few other studies in sub-Saharan Africa have evaluated women's preference between different methods of genital specimen-collection for hrHPV testing. East Africa contributes a significant burden of invasive cervical cancer globally, and reports one of the lowest proportion of reproductive-aged women having been screened for cervical cancer [22]. In addition, our study was conducted in a cohort of women at a particularly high risk for hrHPV and high-grade cervical lesions. Interventions aimed at improving hrHPV testing in this population are, therefore, likely to be of great benefit in terms of reducing preventable cervical cancer and associated mortality.
One important limitation of our study was that self-collection of genital specimens was conducted in a clinic setting. Women had to present to a health facility to conduct the self-test. Part of the challenge of cervical cancer screening in East Africa is poor access to health facilities. It is plausible that women would appreciate self-collection more if they were offered the additional convenience of self-collection at home or in another non-clinical setting. Another limitation was that this study was conducted in a group of women who were part of an ongoing cohort study in which pelvic examinations with collection of genital specimens for STI screening is routine. It is possible that the women in this population have grown more comfortable with clinical examinations compared to women in the general population.
In conclusion, our findings suggest that high-risk women in sub-Saharan Africa may prefer clinician-collection, rather than self-collection, for hrHPV testing. Areas with inadequate healthcare infrastructure, especially those with few trained clinicians to conduct pelvic examinations, would benefit greatly from scale-up of self-collection for cervical cancer screening. In this regard, education about the validity, safety and ease of self-collected specimens for hrHPV detection will be important to enhance uptake of self-collection of genital specimens for cervical cancer screening.
Following publication of the original article [1], we have been notified that another author should be added to the team of authors. The Name and affiliation details are below.
CIN:
Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia
HrHPV:
High-risk human papillomavirus
Pap :
Papanicolau smear
STI:
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We acknowledge the support received from all clinical staff at the Ganjoni Municipal clinic, Mombasa, Kenya.
Specimen collection and processing was supported by a grant from Hologic (Boston, MA, USA), and the UNC Gillings Innovation Laboratory through JSS. HPV self-collection kits were donated by Rovers Medical Devices (Amsterdam, The Netherlands). GM was a scholar in the International AIDS Research and Training Program, supported by the Fogarty International Center; NIH Research Grant D43 TW009580. RSM receives support for mentoring through NIH K24 HD88229. Infrastructure and logistical support for the Mombasa research site was received from the University of Washington & Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center's Center for AIDS Research (NIH grant P30-AI27757). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Kenyatta National Hospital, P.O. Box 91109, Mombasa, 80103, Kenya
Griffins O. Manguro
Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, P.O Box 357236, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA
Linnet N. Masese
Pathcare Laboratories, Mombasa, Kenya
Kishor Mandaliya
Departments of Epidemiology, Global Health, and Medicine, University of Washington, P.O Box 359909, Seattle, WA, USA
Susan M. Graham
& R. Scott McClelland
Institute of Tropical and Infectious Diseases, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Jennifer S. Smith
Lineberger Cancer Center, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
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GOM, RSM, JSS and SMG conceptualized the study. GOM and LNM carried out the research procedures, including clinical examination and post-examination interviews. KM analyzed specimens and was a major contributor in writing the manuscript. GOM, LNM and SMG analyzed the data. RSM and JSS reviewed the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Correspondence to Griffins O. Manguro.
The study was approved by the ethical review committees of the University of Nairobi/Kenyatta National Hospital and the University of Washington. All participants provided written informed consent before enrollment into the study.
Manguro, G.O., Masese, L.N., Mandaliya, K. et al. Preference of specimen collection methods for human papillomavirus detection for cervical cancer screening: a cross-sectional study of high-risk women in Mombasa, Kenya. Reprod Health 15, 206 (2018) doi:10.1186/s12978-018-0651-z
HrHPV
Clinician-collection


This article is for those interested in Evanced's server architecture and how it relates to ILS authentication.
All ILS authentication attempts will be made from one of these two IP addresses. The addresses are leased from AWS by Evanced so any traffic coming from them will be Evanced traffic. This allows Evanced customers to open ILS authentication ports to these two specific IP addresses ensuring that no one can access this data unless it originates from an Evanced server.
Summary: About Evanced's server architecture and how it relates to ILS authentication.
Posted - Wed, Dec 2, 2015 at 9:40 AM. This article has been viewed 2758 times.


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Q: How to output a csv file every minute while running a code on an indefinite time frame? I try to crawl a live chat on this webpage on the right side: https://www.galaxus.ch/de/wiki/2736
What code do I need to run in order to create a csv file every minute?
Currently, it is getting created at the end of the script. However, if it's indefinite, it will never get created.
Thank you for the tips

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Photographer Evan Amos' book lets you peek inside old, new, and legendary consoles so you don't have to rip yours apart.
Amos didn't initially set out to make a book peeking inside video game consoles. In fact, he first started out valiantly documenting video game hardware for Wikipedia, because if you've ever tried to look for high-quality, public domain images of consoles on there, it ain't pretty.
Remember this guy? It's 24 years old.
What took much longer was deciding on exactly what book to create. "My first idea for the book was dense and encyclopedia-ish, but after a while it was apparent that it was simply too much work for one person to create, and so the book was rebooted into its current form, which is picture-heavy with minimal write-ups," said Amos.
Amos spent a significant amount of time and money tracking down rare, older consoles, like the Commodore CDTV launched in 1991, and Tandy's Memorex Video Information System launched in 1992.
"Most of what you see in the book is what I actually have in my apartment, except for the case of super rare consoles or prototypes. Stuff that's missing from the book, like the Apple II and ZX Spectrum, are example of things that I don't have, so I wasn't able to include them.
So, having sifted through the last few decades of console history, what's been the most significant change in design, in Amos' experience?
"When you look through the book, it's a lot easier to see the various phases that consoles have gone through over the decades," he said. "The second-gen systems such as the Atari 2600 and Intellivision have lots of fake woodgrain and take some inspiration from home stereo equipment.
With so many different (and many legendary) consoles featured in the book, it's hard for Amos to pick a favorite — but he gave it a try.


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Q: JQM + Knockout and group of checkboxes I am trying to bind to a list in JQM from knockout. The data is coming across just fine and I am able to view the group of checkboxes the issue is that the checkboxes are being styled as JQM checkboxes, they are being left as regular checkboxes. Here is what I have:
HTML

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$("#orders").on("pageinit", function () {
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            console.log("after create");
        });