text:
"""
.. module:: burpui.config
    :platform: Unix
    :synopsis: Burp-UI config module.

.. moduleauthor:: Ziirish <hi+burpui@ziirish.me>

"""
import os
import re
import codecs
import configobj
import validate

from .tools.logging import logger

class BUIConfig(dict):
    """Custom config parser"""

    logger = logger
    mtime = 0

    def __init__(self, config=None, defaults=None):
        """Wrapper around the ConfigObj class

        :param config: Configuration to parse
        :type config: str, list or File

        :param defaults: Default options
        :type defaults: dict
        """
        if defaults is not None:
            self.defaults = defaults
        if config:
            self.parse(config, defaults)

    def parse(self, config, defaults=None):
        """Parse the conf

        :param config: Configuration to parse
        :type config: str, list or File

        :param defaults: Default options
        :type defaults: dict
        """
        self.conf = {}
        self.conffile = config
        self.section = None
        if defaults is not None or not hasattr(self, "defaults"):
            self.defaults = defaults
        self.validator = validate.Validator()
        try:
            self.conf = configobj.ConfigObj(config, encoding="utf-8")
            self.mtime = os.path.getmtime(self.conffile)
        except configobj.ConfigObjError as exp:
            # We were unable to parse the config
            self.logger.critical("Unable to parse configuration")
            raise exp

    @property
    def options(self):
        """ConfigObj object"""
        self._refresh()
        return self.conf

    @property
    def id(self):
        """Conf ID to detect changes"""
        return self.mtime

    @staticmethod
    def string_lower_list(value):
        if not value:
            raise validate.VdtMissingValue("No value for this option")
        if not isinstance(value, list):
            return [str(value).lower()]
        return [str(x).lower() for x in value]

    @staticmethod
    def force_string(value):
        if not value:
            raise validate.VdtMissingValue("No value for this option")
        if not isinstance(value, list):
            return str(value)
        return ",".join(value)

    def boolean_or_string(self, value):
        if not value:
            raise validate.VdtMissingValue("No value for this option")
        try:
            caster = self.validator.functions.get("boolean")
            return caster(value)
        except validate.VdtTypeError:
            return value

    def lookup_section(self, section, source=None):
        """Lookup for a given section. If the section is not found in the conf,
        we try to search it in the comments to uncomment it.
        If it is missing from the conf and the comments, we append it in the
        conf.
        """
        ret = True
        if not self.section_exists(section):
            # look for the section in the comments
            conffile = self.options.filename
            source = source or conffile
            ori = []
            with codecs.open(source, "r", "utf-8", errors="ignore") as config:
                ori = [x.rstrip("\n") for x in config.readlines()]
            if ori:
                with codecs.open(conffile, "w", "utf-8", errors="ignore") as config:
                    found = False
                    for line in ori:
                        if re.match(r"^\s*(#|;)+\s*\[{}\]".format(section), line):

                            config.write("[{}]\n".format(section))
                            found = True
                        else:
                            config.write("{}\n".format(line))

                    if not found:
                        config.write("[{}]\n".format(section))
                ret = False
        return ret

    def section_exists(self, section):
        """Check whether a section exists or not"""
        return section in self.options

    def rename_section(self, old_section, new_section, source=None):
        """Rename a given section"""
        ret = False
        if not self.section_exists(old_section):
            return ret
        conffile = self.options.filename
        source = source or conffile
        ori = []
        with codecs.open(source, "r", "utf-8", errors="ignore") as config:
            ori = [x.rstrip("\n") for x in config.readlines()]
        if ori:
            with codecs.open(conffile, "w", "utf-8", errors="ignore") as config:
                for line in ori:
                    if re.match(r"^\s*(#|;)*\s*\[{}\]".format(old_section), line):
                        config.write(
                            "{}\n".format(line.replace(old_section, new_section))
                        )
                        ret = True
                    else:
                        config.write("{}\n".format(line))
        return ret

    def _rename_option_full(self, orig_option, dest_option, orig_section, dest_section):
        """Rename a given option and possibly moves it to another section
        :return: True if the option have been successfully renamed/moved
        :rtype: bool

        :raises ValueError: if the ``orig_section`` does not exist
        :raises KeyError: if the ``orig_option`` does not exist in the ``orig_section``
        """
        if not self.section_exists(orig_section):
            raise ValueError("No such section: {}".format(orig_section))

        orig = self.conf[orig_section]
        if orig_option not in orig:
            raise KeyError(
                "No such option in the [{}] section: {}".format(
                    orig_section, orig_option
                )
            )

        # adding the new section if it is missing
        if orig_section != dest_section and not self.lookup_section(dest_section):
            self._refresh(True)

        dest = self.conf[dest_section]
        comments = orig.comments[orig_option]
        inline_comments = orig.inline_comments[orig_option]

        # copy value and comments from orig to dest
        dest[dest_option] = orig[orig_option]
        dest.comments[dest_option] = comments
        dest.inline_comments[dest_option] = inline_comments

        # remove orig key
        del orig[orig_option]

        # save
        self.conf.write()
        return True

    def rename_option(self, orig_option, dest_option, section):
        """Rename a given option"""
        # this is useless
        if orig_option == dest_option:
            return False
        return self._rename_option_full(orig_option, dest_option, section, section)

    def move_option(self, option, orig_section, dest_section):
        """Move an option to another section, if you need to rename the option use the
        _rename_option_full function instead"""
        # useless
        if orig_section == dest_section:
            return False
        return self._rename_option_full(option, option, orig_section, dest_section)

    def changed(self, id):
        """Check if the conf has changed"""
        # don't use delta for cases where we run several gunicorn workers
        self._refresh()
        return id != self.mtime

    def _refresh(self, force=False):
        """Refresh conf"""
        mtime = os.path.getmtime(self.conffile)
        if mtime != self.mtime or force:
            self.logger.debug("Configuration changed")
            self.mtime = mtime
            self.conf.reload()

    def update_defaults(self, new_defaults):
        """Add new defaults"""
        self.defaults.update(new_defaults)

    def default_section(self, section):
        """Set the default section"""
        self.section = section

    def safe_get(self, key, cast="pass", section=None, defaults=None):
        """Safely return the asked option

        :param key: Key name
        :type key: str

        :param cast: How to cast the option
        :type cast: str

        :param section: Section name
        :type section: str

        :param defaults: Default options
        :type defaults: dict, mixed

        :returns: The value of the asked option
        """
        # The configobj validator is sooo broken. We need to workaround it...
        default_by_type = {
            "integer": 0,
            "boolean": False,
        }
        section = section or self.section
        # if the defaults argument is not a dict, assume it's a single value
        if defaults and not isinstance(defaults, dict):
            defaults = {section: {key: defaults}}
        defaults = defaults or self.defaults
        if section not in self.conf:
            self.logger.warning("No '{}' section found".format(section))
            if defaults:
                return defaults.get(section, {}).get(key)
            return None

        val = self.conf.get(section).get(key)
        default = default_by_type.get(cast)
        if defaults and section in defaults and key in defaults.get(section):
            default = defaults.get(section, {}).get(key)
        try:
            caster = self.validator.functions.get(cast)
            if not caster:
                try:
                    caster = getattr(self, cast)
                except AttributeError:
                    self.logger.error("'{}': no such validator".format(cast))
                    return val
            if cast == "force_list" and val is None:
                val = []
            ret = caster(val)
            # special case for boolean and integer, etc.
            if ret is None:
                ret = default
            self.logger.debug(
                "[{}]:{} - found: {}, default: {} -> {}".format(
                    section, key, val, default, ret
                )
            )
        except validate.ValidateError as exp:
            ret = default
            self.logger.info(
                "{}\n[{}]:{} - found: {}, default: {} -> {}".format(
                    str(exp), section, key, val, default, ret
                )
            )
        return ret

config = BUIConfig()

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Here's the stuff we found when you searched for "Without regret"
I regret you. I won't regret this.
If you Log in you could create a "Without regret" node. If you don't already have an account, you can register here.


text:
Q: Use zlib unzip gzip stream I got gzip stream looks like this.
I googled the header 31, -117, 8 should be a gzip file.
{31, -117, 8, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, -29, 22, 98, -27, 96, 80, 120, -63, -34, -59, -104, -58, -63, 44, -108, 96, 92, 99, 100, 104, 102, 104, 105, 102, 97, 110, 82, -109, -100, -97, -85, -105, -107, -105, -103, -110, -102, -101, -81, -105, 88, 80, 80, -100, -97, 83, 90, -110, -103, -97, 7, 19, -85, 49, -84, 113, -12, -53, -15, -9, 8, -12, 79, 75, 115, 77, 116, -11, 44, 72, 118, 76, -12, -15, 12, 44, -9, 118, -85, 40, -48, 118, 13, -56, -86, 74, -52, 115, 45, -73, -75, -83, 49, 52, 49, 53, 54, 50, 52, 50, 51, 52, 53, 53, 48, -111, 98, -32, 1, 0, -106, 39, -125, -109, 114, 0, 0, 0};
I think this should be a gzip file right?
Then I use zlib to unzip this file
    do {
    do {
        s->strm.avail_in = s->size;
        s->strm.next_in = s->buf;
        s->strm.next_in = (Bytef *)tmp;

        s->strm.avail_out = ZCHUNK;
        s->strm.next_out = s->zbuf;

        ret = inflate(&s->strm, Z_SYNC_FLUSH);
        //    ret = inflateInit2(&s->strm, 16+MAX_WBITS);

        if (ret == Z_STREAM_ERROR) {
            printf("ret error");
        }

        if (ret == Z_MEM_ERROR) {
            printf("ret mem error");
        }

        if (ret == Z_DATA_ERROR) {
            printf("ret data error\n");
        }

        if (ret == Z_NEED_DICT) {
            printf("ret dict error");
        }

        if (ret != 0){
            (void)inflateEnd(&s->strm);
            printf("ret  = %d\n", ret);
            return 10;
        }

        have = ZCHUNK - s->strm.avail_out;
    } while (s->strm.avail_out == 0);
} while (ret != Z_STREAM_END);
inflateEnd(&s->strm);
return s->size;

I got always an Z_DATA_ERROR. What I am doing wrong?????

A: The data is a perfectly valid gzip stream. You have not shown your whole program, so we can't help.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Apple Maps' worldview is now better than Google Maps'
It had its share of problems, but Apple Maps is back with a vengeance. Powered by some jaw-dropping 3D graphics and enjoying an aggressive multi-platform strategy, Apple is finally set to redefine our geospatial expectations – and take Google down a few notches.
Written by David Braue, Contributor on Nov. 29, 2013
It may have struggled with some quite high-profile errors in its early days, but Apple's latest improvements to its Apple Maps platform have not only helped it catch up with venerable geospatial giant Google – but will make Apple Maps far more relevant in the long term.
Those are harsh and difficult words from someone who, like all of us, has marvelled for years at the utility of the Google Maps Web service and the immersive worldwide journeys made possible through the Google Earth application. But they are a reality that bears addressing.
Google will always hold the significant achievement of bringing the literally world-changing geospatial technology to the mass market, but Apple's decision to incorporate its now-very-impressive Maps application into its Mavericks operating system reflects a significant change in the user experience that will give it far more clout in driving the standard for interactive consumer mapping into the future.
Some questioned whether including Maps in the operating system was a simply gratuitous nod to the increasing incursion of iOS user-interface tropes into the desktop Mac OS X environment.
Anyone so inclined should run up a full-screen instance of Maps on their 27-inch iMac, using Apple's Magic Trackpad to spin, zoom and fly through 3D renderings of cities around the world. It's a novelty on an iPhone, but on a 27-inch screen it's literally an adventure.
Sure, you can do much the same with Google Earth, which has been available for Macs for some time. Both will also help you find your way to new places pinpoint accuracy, exploring a broad range of maps.
Maps is uniquely important in markets such as education, where maps are an everyday part of learning (and not just in geography). As today's iPad and MacBook-wielding students become more and more accustomed to Apple Maps, they will come to believe that it is how all maps should look – and will question anything else they encounter.
In the long term, however, the overall quality and ubiquity of the Mavericks-era Maps application is going to make it the default go-to platform for most Mac users– just as it has become the default mapping app for an increasing number of iPhone and iPad users since Apple began substituting it for Google Maps.
I fully recognise that Mavericks' market share in the scheme of things is relatively small, so it will take a while before Apple Maps dominates the world.
That said, Maps is uniquely important in markets such as education, where maps are an everyday part of learning (and not just in geography) and the ability to pull up and zoom through the maps students are discussing is invaluable.
As today's iPad and MacBook-wielding students become more and more accustomed to Apple Maps, they will come to believe that it is how all maps should look – and will question anything else they encounter.
That's where Apple's vision will have really paid off – as it has already done by seeding iPads in schools to win over tablet users early in their lives.
Mavericks' long-term play: Mapping as a service
This lies at the crux of Apple's decision to move Maps into Mavericks: the company has effectively staked its claim in the idea of what I might call Mapping as a Service (MaaS).
This is the concept of providing a consistent technology platform between desktops and mobile devices that will allow applications to just assume that a certain degree of mapping capability is available with a single tap. Rather than being an optional addon, geospatial capabilities become an intrinsic part of the user experience.
Sure, Google Maps and Google Earth offer many of the same features (I should also mention Bing Maps for completeness even though it's rare as hen's teeth outside the US). It's still correct to say that Google Maps owns the Web-based MaaS world in applications where flexibility and detail count.
But if those tools are no longer the go-to platform for mapping – and most users won't know or care about their capabilities if Apple Maps is doing the trick and beautifully so – Apple Maps will come to dominate this MaaS idea by doing what Apple does: redefining it.
Easy and default access to Apple Maps will redefine users' expectations of mapping no matter how good Google's offerings. Screenshot: David Braue
From now on, the operating system will simply assume access to detailed, glorious maps is available as a core service. This means they'll be able to use OS calls to provide interactive mapping that is tightly bound to the application at hand – rather than forcing applications to jump into a Web browser for maps because there's no guarantee Google Earth is installed on a particular user's desktop.
Applications have to play to the lowest common denominator – and if the assumption is that there is no built-in mapping service on the target operating system, the application will either lose those features or find some inevitably-kludgy workaround.
This is where Google falls short: although its applications are capable, they are not bundled into mainstream operating systems in consistent ways. They may work well on both desktop and mobile devices, but people are by nature lazy and most will be more than happy with the default mapping solution on their devices rather than having to seek out and learn to use a new one.
Improvements in Apple Maps have made it beautiful, useful – and, more importantly, more accurate than ever. Screenshot: David Braue
Even Google's recent overhaul of Google Maps may fail to compete against a good-enough default option, for the same reason. Google's efforts at mapping the inside of buildings, the surface of the moon and anything anybody wants to map are certainly impressive – but if its tools aren't an intrinsic part of users' worldview, they will struggle to be more than marginally relevant.
The new problem with Apple Maps
There are problems in the fact that Apple Maps now looks so good and works so well.
First and foremost among these is the dependence on an image-serving infrastructure that – at least in Australia, where smooth access to such services relies on adequately uncongested trans-Pacific pipes – can often feel overloaded and make maps slow to appear and resolve to high resolution. I can only assume Apple will have learned its lesson from its early missteps, and continues to add capacity to prevent this from being a persistent problem.
More problematic in the long term is the fact that Google's history of basically inventing this market means that Google Earth and its highly-expandable structure – made possible through its Keyhole Markup Language (KML) – long ago made it the platform of choice for serious maps users wanting to represent information in many ways. A raft of ancillary tools, like Google's SketchUp, allow users to customise Google Maps in a range of ways.
Apple doesn't yet support KML in Maps, which limits users to seeing only the views of the world that Apple wants them to see. This will be grating for many users, but perfectly fine for many others. But if Apple wants Maps to be taken seriously in the future, it will need to figure out a way to either join the KML brigade – and to do it well enough that it's seen as more than a gorgeous toy – or, and this is the outcome I fear more, come up with its own data framework to compete with Google's.
Apple does this sort of thing all the time, and it could probably work well in the long term – especially since it would build on a MaaS platform that will be available on every Mac from now on. But in the short term, it would feed user confusion as Apple tried to shoehorn its format alongside KML and users discovered the hard way just how well (or not) the company had succeeded. It would also isolate the Mac OS X and iOS-based MaaS experience from those on other platforms.
Would users mind? Not as much as you think.
This is all esoterica compared to the use that most people have for Maps, which pretty much range from finding directions (now as possible on the desktop as on the in-car smartphone-cum-GPS-replacement) to gloriously barnstorming some foreign city in full-screen, immersive glory. Once they come to expect these capabilities are available no matter what device they're using, they will baulk at a worldview that offers anything less – or less easily.
What do you think? Are you still having problems with Apple Maps? Is its inclusion in Mavericks a good or bad thing? And: can Google meaningfully fight off its incursion given Apple Maps' increasing profile on mobile devices and Google's inability to deliver MaaS capabilities to compete?
Apple's AR/VR headset will reportedly feature unique eye, hand tracking
Google steps up work on ChatGPT rivals
Apple to delay AR glasses and focus on mixed reality headset

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Dubai Cranes launches 8 new models of wire rope hoists
Dubai Cranes and Technical Services has announced the launch of 8 new models of wire rope hoists, ranging from 3.2 tonnes to 40 tonnes in capacity, designed specifically for the Middle East Industries.
A leading manufacturer of overhead material handling equipment, specialising in advanced lifting solutions and maintenance services, Dubai Cranes and Technical Services is a subsidiary of Dubai Investments.
Manufactured using high-end European components and labelled the DXB Hoist series, the different models offer varied capacities, designed to suit customised requirements.
Dubai Cranes facilitated local procurement, designing, manufacturing and assembly of the new line-up, with the highest precision in accordance with the international standards, enabling reliable and durable crane products catering to the diverse requirements of the general manufacturing industries across the Middle East.
"The new DXB Hoist series represents the Dubai Cranes brand and the next generation of industry benchmarked equipment, offering the latest in technology, innovation, performance, durability and savings," stated the General Manager Andrew Kay.
The radical design facilitates stepless hoisting movement, making lifting seamless, precise and with enhanced control, he noted.
"The product has received rave reviews and feedback from the implementation across various industries locally and we are positive the product will serve a good fit for the diverse general manufacturing industry requirements across the Middle East," he added.
The new range of hoists are designed towards meeting specific environment requirements where the conventional design needs alterations to endure more hazardous environments.
The crane design eliminates peak rope forces and reduces the wear on reeving components and also enables smooth and accurate load positioning with total control, he added.
According to him, the newly designed main girder is the perfect fit for a runway, and the revolutionary sliding connection allows the end truck to better accommodate itself on the crane runway. The rope of the hoist requires minimum lubrication, reducing maintenance costs.
In addition to installation and commissioning of the cranes, preventive maintenance and refurbishment of the product, Dubai Cranes is counted among the companies enabling fastest spare parts delivery options - within one week as compared to standard 8 weeks with other companies, he stated.
A major player in the region, Dubai Cranes has been supplying products to the markets since 2018 and over the years has evolved as a material handling technology supplier for standard cranes up to 40 tons as well as advanced hot metal process cranes up to 500 tons.
Dubai Cranes has successfully built a strong team of experts capable of designing and executing diverse projects, meeting complex material handling processes and the company aims to continue to provide innovative products and services designed for diverse customer's specific process requirements.-TradeArabia News Service


text:
Fear fans can sink fangs into 'Four Color,' 'Eerie,' 'Walking Dead'
Posted by Captain Comics on November 4, 2010 at 1:47pm
Nov. 2, 2010 -- Halloween is over, but there's still a lot of scare fare in the Teetering Tower of Review Stuff.
Four Color Fear: Forgotten Horror Comics of the 1950s (Fantagraphics, $29.99) tops the pile, a collection of off-brand (and probably public domain) comics from before the Comics Code of 1954 (which effectively neutralized the horror genre and infantilized the medium). This book will be intoxicating to comics fans, and just a hoot for casual readers.
I suspect that most horror comics were pretty bad even before the Code – bad in the quality sense, not the gory sense (although there was that, too). But you wouldn't know it by this book, which contains the crème de la blood from the wacky, unrestrained Halloween party that was pre-Code horror comics. Editor Greg Sadowski assembles a lot of famous names here (Jack "Plastic Man" Cole, Joe "Sgt. Rock" Kubert, Basil "Lena the Hyena" Wolverton), artists that later became famous at the legendary EC Comics (Reed Crandall, George Evans, Al Williamson) and guys who were very good at aping EC Comics (Sid Jacobson, Howard Nostrand) or aping Will "The Spirit" Eisner (the Iger studio).
Speaking of EC, you won't see any stories from that publisher here, nor will you see any from Timely/Atlas (later Marvel Comics, which may have published as much as 50 percent of the total) or anything by the unique Steve Ditko. Given the book's title I didn't expect any, because those stories are the most famous – hardly "forgotten" – and are readily available elsewhere. Even so, I'm impressed with Sadowski's academic thoroughness, as he acknowledges their omission, explains why and then points to where they can be found.
My only complaint is that Sadowski's copious notes are not included with each story individually, but are instead collected in the back, forcing a lot of flipping back and forth. Still, the stories stand alone just fine without the notes, which are not always about a specific story, but instead are often general information or quotes from 1950s artists. That should still be welcome to both fans and historians, as so little has been written about non-EC, non-Atlas, non-Ditko 1950s comics.
In fact, everything about this book is welcome. What a delight to immerse one's self in the pop culture Id of the 1950s, where technology and social mores were so different – while people, in all their petty evil, were exactly the same. Funnier still is to consider how these stories, tame by today's standards, could have caused such an uproar in that simpler, buttoned-down past.
Meanwhile, Dark Horse's series collecting Warren Publishing's Eerie magazine is up to volume 4, which reprints issues from the late 1960s – when Warren's books were at their weakest. The art and stories are mostly by second-raters. But the editing is what annoys this ink-stained wretch the most, as it became simply atrocious after Archie Goodwin quit as editor around 1966. Replacement Bill Parente routinely allowed serious misspellings ("Suspence" on a cover blurb, for heaven's sake), content errors ("the smell of sulfur and brimstone," which even novice horror readers know is the same thing), erroneous homophones, jarring malapropisms– honestly, this level of incompetence wouldn't fly at a weekly newspaper.
But if you're not a copy editor – and given the awful spelling and grammar I see online – most readers may not care as much as me. If so, then Eerie Vol. 4 ($49.99) may be worthwhile, mainly for the (very) few stories by accomplished pros Goodwin, Crandall, Ernie Colon and Tom Sutton.
Moving to the modern day, the first episode of AMC's adaptation of Image Comics' The Walking Dead Oct. 31 was top flight. I'm not usually a big zombie fan, but writer Robert Kirkman's tale of survival after the apocalypse has compelling characters and intriguing storylines, punctuated by random moments of genuine horror. With some additions, Kirkman's tale has made the transition to the small screen intact, and I have high hopes for it.
So does Image Comics, which will be reprinting the original (and still ongoing) series as The Walking Dead Weekly, with an issue each Wednesday for $2.99 beginning Jan. 5. If you're in a hurry, the Walking Dead Omnibus Vol. 3 ($100) reprints issues #49-72 (so you'll have to pick up the first two Omniboo for the entire story). As the description notes, the Omnibus is big – big enough to use as a weapon against pesky zombies.
Contact Andrew A. Smith of the Memphis Commercial Appeal at capncomics@aol.com.
Comment by Cavaliere (moderator emeritus) on November 4, 2010 at 11:09pm
I can't recommend The Walking Dead enough. Yeah, I don't like swearing but I can very much understand why they characters would use such (ahem) colorful metaphors.
I recently read the hardcover with the first five issues of Creepy. I didn't like it. Not that it grossed me out or anything. The stories just weren't very good. Wonderful, amazing art for the most part but man, were the stories stinkers. The big exception were the two stories about the artificial person named Adam.
Comment by Captain Comics on November 4, 2010 at 11:24pm
Those would be the Adam Link stories, which are mildly famous. Adam Link was originally written by Eando Binder (Otto Binder and his brother, whose name starts with "E", thus E-and-O Binder) in the pulps in the late '30s and early '40s. That was pretty early for self-aware robot stories, predating Asimov and Heinlein and all those guys, which is why I guess Adam Link is well-known in SF circles. But given that they were written by the Binders, that may explain why they were better than the rest -- as you no doubt know, Otto Binder was the main writer on Captain Marvel, and later the a big gun in the Weisinger stable, creating many of the major elements of the Silver Age Superman.
As to the rest, I don't remember who was writing for Warren at the outset. The best stories in Creepy and Eerie were usually by Archie Goodwin, who may not have arrived yet for the first five issues. I'd have to check when I get home (I'm at work).
Comment by Cavaliere (moderator emeritus) on November 5, 2010 at 2:18am
Goodwin had the writer credits on several and, really, I expected better from him. It was a long, long time ago, though.
Comment by Jeff of Earth-J on November 5, 2010 at 3:08pm
Four Color Fear: I brought this home a couple of weeks ago with the intention of putting it at the top of my reading list, only to have it snatched immediately from my possession by my wife. It's funny: Tracy will not watch horror movies, but she absolutely devours all of my horror comics (not literally, of course), especially anything by EC and Warren. Speaking of which…
Eerie, Vol. 4: I think I mentioned before that I've allowed myself to fall behind on Creepy and Eerie reprints because, as succinctly expressed by Other-Jeff, "The stories just weren't very good." Tracy reads 'em, though, complaining all the way through that they aren't as good as EC. There's a reason I continue to buy them, though, and Other Jeff summed that up as well: "Wonderful, amazing art for the most part." The art is definitely better than the stories. But as Cap pointed out, these titles took an obvious and distinct dip in quality after the departure of Archie Goodwin. My advice to anyone curious about this series is to start with Creepy Vol. 1, like Jeff did. If you don't like it, fair enough, but if you do and decide to continue, as soon as it starts getting bad don't wait for it to get better.
Comment by George on November 6, 2010 at 11:45pm
"Those would be the Adam Link stories, which are mildly famous."
Adam Link appeared in a 1964 Outer Limits episode called "I, Robot," which had Leonard Nimoy in the cast (though not as Adam). It's on DVD.
I didn't know that, George! I watched Outer Limits as a kid, but of course at that time I wouldn't have known Adam Link from ... er, you know. The other Adam.
For those who reacted with alarm to the Outer Limits title, one of the original Adam Link stories was indeed titled "I, Robot." This would be in 1939 or 1940, far predating the later, better-known Isaac Asimov story of the same name. I assume the Outer Limits show adapted the original "I, Robot" -- or conflated several Adam Link stories under that name.
Does anyone know if the Adam Link prose stories are in print anywhere? I would imagine there would be some difficulty with the "I, Robot" name, since "confusion in the marketplace" is the very definition of trademark infringement. I'd be curious to see how they got around it (if they did).
Comment by George on November 7, 2010 at 12:22am
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Robot_(1964_The_Outer_Limits)
More on that episode.
Also of interest to comics fans -- the allegations that Alan Moore swiped the plot of "Watchman" from a 1963 Outer Limits episode, "The Architects of Fear." I think Moore acknowledged he may have unconsciously borrowed from it. Maybe that's why, near the end of the Watchmen movie, the camera dwells on a TV screen showing the opening of Outer Limits ("Do not adjust your TV set ... WE are controlling the sound and the picture ...")
Comment by Captain Comics on November 7, 2010 at 12:56am
How come nobody notices that Moore stole the origin of Dr. Manhattan from Dr. Solar? :)
Because Moore is o-o-oh so brilliant and every single thing he does is an independent stroke of genius.
I'm one of those weirdos who doesn't worship at the altar of Alan Moore. I like Watchmen. I love V for Vendetta. But a lot of his stuff just leaves me cold.
Comment by George on November 7, 2010 at 1:17am
Moore isn't the only Outer Limits freak out there. How about James Cameron? "The Terminator" bears suspicious similarities to two O.L. episodes written by Harlan Ellison: "Soldier" and "Demon with a Glass Hand."
So suspicious, in fact, that after Harlan's lawyers got through, video and DVD copies of "The Terminator" included the credit: "Acknowledgment to the works of Harlan Ellison."


text:
Give the Monitor
Subscribe: $11 / Month
Subscribe to the Monitor
Monitor Weekly digital edition
News & Values
Points of Progress
Author Q&As
Readers' Recommendations
Why We Wrote This
Say That Again?
Get stories that
empower and uplift daily.
See our other FREE newsletters.
Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads.
Select free newsletters:
A selection of the most viewed stories this week on the Monitor's website.
Hear about special editorial projects, new product information, and upcoming events.
Today's Highlights
Select stories from the Monitor that empower and uplift.
Every Weekday
An update on major political events, candidates, and parties twice a week.
Stay informed about the latest scientific discoveries & breakthroughs.
A weekly digest of Monitor views and insightful commentary on major events.
Every Thursday
Latest book reviews, author interviews, and reading trends.
Culture & Learning
A weekly update on music, movies, cultural trends, and education solutions.
Christian Science Perspective
The three most recent Christian Science articles with a spiritual perspective.
Seth Perlman/AP
An Illinois grocery store is well stocked with soft drinks.
Eight countries taking action against marketing junk food to kids
In response to the high levels of junk-food advertising targeting kids, some countries are taking the issue into their own hands by restricting broadcast advertising and other marketing attempts.
By Marisa Tsai Food Tank
Children from the United States view an average of one food commercial for every five minutes of television watched, according to a study from the University of Minnesota. Unfortunately, these youth-targeted advertisements focus predominately on foods high in sugar and fat, such as fast food, high-sugar cereals, sugary drinks, and candy, making it no surprise that many children are not consuming nutritious diets. In response to the high levels of junk-food advertising, some countries are taking the issue into their own hands by restricting broadcast advertising and other child-targeted marketing techniques.
According to the World Health Organization, advertisements can significantly influence food preferences and consumption. The impact is especially acute for young children under 10 years old, who tend to view ads as unbiased sources of information, making it more difficult for them to respond judiciously to marketing, found researchers from the University of Minnesota.
Furthermore, food marketers have expanded and intensified marketing efforts through a variety of channels in recent decades. "Parents' efforts to help their children eat healthily are being undermined by sophisticated promotion of junk food to children: on TV, online, at the cinema, in magazines, in supermarkets, on food packaging, and for some even at school," says Malcolm Clark, coordinator of the Children's Food Campaign, a United Kingdom-based organization that aims to protect children from junk-food marketing.
Anne Lappé, founder of Food MythBusters, a food-focused media initiative, accuses food companies of pushing cheap, addictive foods on children and teens in the name of profit. "Food corporations spend roughly two billion a year on ads specifically targeting children and teens," says Lappé in a Food MythBusters video. "No wonder pediatricians are seeing diet-related illnesses of young people alarmingly on the rise."
Some countries have pursued voluntary, industry-led pledges restricting advertising. The Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, EU Pledge, and Children's Advertising Initiative in the United States, European Union member states, and Canada, respectively, are composed of candy, fast-food, and soft drink companies who pledge to shift their marketing to healthier foods for children under 12. Critics say that these policies are ineffective since industries set the bar too low given the highly competitive marketplace. However, EU Pledge participants claim that children's exposure to television marketing has fallen 48 percent and that U.S. industry spending on child food marketing has dropped by 19.5 percent since the pledges were enacted.
Reading, writing, and paychecks. What's a teacher worth?
But governments can play a greater role in limiting the harmful public health impacts of food advertising by implementing legislation that restricts broadcasting, bans the use of cartoons and toys, or requires health warnings on commercials. This week, Food Tank highlights eight countries that have taken steps to limit the harmful impact of junk-food marketing.
Quebec's law passed in 1980 restricting junk-food marketing to kids was the first of its kind, banning fast food marketing aimed at children under 13 in print and electronic media. Fast-food expenditures subsequently decreased 13 percent. While the rest of Canada has seen a drastic increase in obesity among children, Quebec maintains the lowest child obesity rate.
Chilean law restricts advertising which targets children under the age of 14 for foods considered high in calories, saturated fat, sugar, and sodium. The regulation applies to television programs, websites, radios, and magazines directed at children or those where the audience is composed of 20 percent children or more. Likewise, these select food items may not be marketed in schools. Promotional strategies including the use of cartoons and toys are also prohibited.
Rather than setting restrictions on the amount of junk-food advertising, French authorities require that advertisements for products containing added fats, sweeteners, or sodium be accompanied by a message explaining dietary principles. One example is "for your health, eat at least five fruits and vegetables a day."
Foods high in fats, sugar, and sodium are banned from advertising, sponsorship, teleshopping, and product placement in children's TV and radio programs where over 50 percent of the audience is under 18 years old. Any advertising targeting children under 18 cannot include celebrities, and those directed to children under 13 cannot include health claims or use licensed characters. Overall, advertisements for unhealthy foods may compose up to only 25 percent of all paid advertising on all channels.
The Mexican government commission reports that their children see more junk-food advertisements than any other country, totaling 12,000 a year. The Ministry of Health has taken a series of steps to limit child exposure to unhealthy food marketing, beginning with restricting advertising of certain foods and sweetened beverages, determined by their compliance to a nutrient profile model. Restrictions apply to television programs with more than 35 percent of the audience under 13 years old, between 2:30 pm and 7:30 pm on weekdays and 7:00 am and 7:30 pm on weekends. In July 2014, the government extended the restriction to films.
The Norwegian government restricts all broadcast advertising directed specifically to children through the Broadcasting Act of 1992. In 2013, industry and government took a step further: companies agreed to a self-regulated ban on all marketing of unhealthy foods and drinks to children under the age of 16. Norway also leads a World Health Organization network of 28 countries focused on reducing marketing pressures on children.
In January 2016, Taiwan implemented unhealthy food advertising limits for kids under 12 years old. Dedicated television channels for children cannot broadcast advertisements of foods exceeding set fat, sodium, and sugar content limits from 5 pm to 9 pm. Like their Chilean counterparts, food marketers cannot promote their products with free toys at restaurants, a common practice among fast food chains.
A decade ago, the government passed a statutory ban on television advertising to children under 16 of foods high in fats, sugar, and salt. According to the UK Department of Health, children are now exposed to 37 percent fewer commercials and annual expenditures towards child-targeted advertisements have decreased 41 percent.
This article originally appeared on Food Tank.
Test your knowledge Are you a real foodie? Take our quiz!
Chocolate with less fat? Scientists make shocking discovery.
Cover Story GMO labels: The great American food fight
From the Editors Knowing the story of our food
About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of "do things that don't interest you":
"Many things that end up" being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, "have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things 'boring' simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in."
If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We're seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We're the bran muffin of journalism.
But you know what? We change lives. And I'm going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.
The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that's hard for the world to figure out. We're run by a church, but we're not only for church members and we're not about converting people. We're known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper's founding in 1908.
We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We're about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, "You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it."
If you're looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You'll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.
Subscribe to insightful journalism
https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/The-Bite/2016/0627/Eight-countries-taking-action-against-marketing-junk-food-to-kids


We would like to kick off by wishing A Very Happy New Year To All!
What a year we had in 2016, we have settled nicely into our new premesis, we were kept extremely busy with lots of new projects and we look forward to this continuing throughout 2017.
Despite being kept busy we made the time to ensure all our staff were up to date with all the training and licenses that are required within our industry. This ensures they are able to complete all work that they undertake both competently and safely.
We also put ourselves under the spotlight and gained all the accreditations that are required within the Industry. We hope this will give our customers peace of mind and reassurance that we have been fully checked and passed the criteria to gain these accreditations.
We have great expectations for 2017 and would relish the opportunity to undertake new projects and challenges, with customers both old and new.


text:
SYNONYM

#### According to
Index Fungorum

#### Published in
null

#### Original name
Meliola polysciatis Hansf.

### Remarks
null


text:
Q: How to index symbols in Rails projects with Ctags? I am using vim-scripts/ctags.vim and everything is pretty sweet except symbols. Example:
# spec/message_spec.rb
context :message_set do
  include_context :message_set
end

# spec/support/contexts/message_set.rb
RSpec.shared_context :message_set do
  # ...
end

But no matter what I do, I can't jump to :message_set definition in the file named message_set.rb from the message_spec.rb via gf or Ctrl-]. Of course I can use a fuzzy finder, but that is like doing Ctags job manually.
How to tell Ctags to index symbols in Ruby?

A: You can add symbols support to ctags with this line in ~/.ctags:
--regex-ruby=/(:["']*[A-Za-z_]*["']*)/\1/s,symbol,symbols/

Pressing gf should work with Vim's default Ruby support files (well it does here).


We invite you to discover who has made H.T. May & Sons Funeral Home - Alexander-May Funeral Home the ultimate provider of creating healing experiences in the community. This section contains the heritage, vision, and the people behind H.T. May & Sons Funeral Home - Alexander-May Funeral Home's reputation of quality, sincerity, and trust.
It gives us great pleasure to announce our relocation of the Columbia facility this April. We look forward to continued and prosperous relationships with our families and wish you all the best in the coming year.


text:
+++
date = "Wed May 27 03:52:50 UTC 2020"
title = "avocadoとGitHub Actionsを使って、Vector Drawableを最適化する"
tags = ["android", "ci", "githubactions"]
blogimport = true
type = "post"
draft = false
+++

Vector Drawableを最適化する [avocado](https://github.com/alexjlockwood/avocado)と、GitHub Actions組み合わせた話です。

## 🥑avocado🥑?

avocadoを使うことで、Vector Drawableを最適化することができます。使い方は簡単です。

```shell
avocado [file name]
```

Vector Drawableによっては、結構最適化されます。

## GitHub Actionsに組み込む

1週間単位でavocadoを実行して、PRを作るGitHub Actionsになります。

```yaml
name: avocado

on:
  schedule:
  - cron:  '0 0 * * 0'

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
    - name: Checkout
      uses: actions/checkout@v2

    - name: Setup node
      uses: actions/setup-node@v1
      with:
        node-version: '12'

    - name: Setup avocado
      run: npm install -g avocado

    - name: Run avocado
      run: find . -type f -name *.xml | xargs grep "</vector>" -rl | avocado

    - name: PR
      id: cpr
      uses: peter-evans/create-pull-request@v2
      with:
        token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
        commit-message: execute avocado
        title: 'title'
        branch: your_branch
```

Vector Drawableなファイル一覧を `find . -type f -name *.xml | xargs grep "</vector>" -rl | avocado` で取得して(もっと効率の良い書き方がありそう)、差分があれば、[peter-evans/create-pull-request](https://github.com/peter-evans/create-pull-request) でPRを作ります。
また、週に1度実行するようにScheduleを指定しています。Scheduleの記法の確認には [crontab guru](https://crontab.guru/#0_0_*_*_0) が便利です。


text:
It's news
Real Madrid pip Atletico to Copa crown with Rodrygo leading the comeback
The unknowns of France's real interests in the Maghreb
"De cara al mundo", international analysis on Onda Madrid
Gaza-Israel exchange of rockets after nine Palestinians killed
Peru on the wire: protests put constitutional order on the ropes
Friday, January 27 , 2023
The keys of the world in your hands
New technologies-innovation
Atalayar on images
Ignacio Corlazzoli: "We want to bring together 33 Ibero-American leaders with 27 Europeans in Spain"
CAF's manager for Europe, Asia and the Middle East participated in the seminar "Now more than ever, the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean, two strategic partners. Why does the EU need this alliance?
The war in Ukraine and the pandemic have dented the regional integration process necessary for the development of the continent in Latin America and the Caribbean. In this context, it is essential to strengthen international institutions as the engine of a multilateralism capable of facing the challenges of a hostile world. Such relations require a strong Euro-Latin American union, in order to build a space of unlimited possibilities to transform the region's reality.
This was the starting point of the III High Level Seminar held in the European Parliament on 29 September by the EuroAmerica Foundation and EuroLat, in collaboration with the Development Bank of Latin America - CAF -, the Inter-American Development Bank - IDB - and the Ibero-American General Secretariat.
The event was presented by Javi López, President of the EuroLat Assembly of the European Parliament; Myriam Ferrán, Deputy Director General of the European Commission's Directorate General for International Partnerships; and Ramón Jáuregui, President of the EuroAmerica Foundation.
The three experts highlighted the need to strengthen relations between America and Europe, in a context of binary logic of dispute between the United States and China, which threatens to leave Europe and Latin America in a marginal position, and turn them from 'players' into 'playgrounds'. The seminar's introducers hope that the Spanish EU presidency will give a boost to these relations.
The seminar began with a first panel entitled "Integration and multilateralism, keys to the recovery and development of Latin America and the Caribbean. Cooperation with the European Union". Ignacio Corlazzoli, Manager for Europe, Asia and the Middle East at CAF, Development Bank of Latin America, participated in the panel. He was joined by Pablo Grinspun, Ambassador of Argentina to the EU; Eric Parrado, Chief Economist of the Inter-American Development Bank; and moderated by José Ignacio Salafranca, Vice-President of the Euroamerica Foundation.
In his speech, Ignacio Corlazzoli highlighted the Spanish government's strong desire to strengthen relations with Latin America, an objective for which it can count on CAF. "We at CAF are pleased to be able to support the Spanish presidency that is coming up in the next six months. Spain has the audacity to reconvene a space for political dialogue after eight years without it. From CAF, we have proposed to take advantage of the spaces prior to the ECOFIN summit in Santiago de Compostela, where the 27 European Finance Ministers will meet. There we will bring the 33 CELAC Finance Ministers. 60 ministers. A third of the size of the International Monetary Fund", said Ignacio Corlazzoli in his turn to speak.
Corlazzoli also assured that CAF intends to submit a White Paper to the Spanish presidency of the European Union in which they want to look for ways to leverage greater resources for the region. "We want to be more ambitious and seek more ambitious answers. From CAF we want to propose something similar to what was done during the African summit: the use of the drawing rights of the Monetary Fund, talking to the European Central Bank to use a guarantee. That's 40 billion that it has between the United States and European countries. As a guarantee for climate change operations", concluded Ignacio Corlazzoli, who also reiterated his intention to be the main partner of the Spanish Presidency of the EU.
The speakers at this round table also discussed the trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, "an agreement that has given rise to an unusual situation", in the words of the moderator José Ignacio Salafranca, due to its long process that has not yet been concluded with ratification, despite being "the most important trade liberalisation pact on the planet". For the Argentinean ambassador to the EU, the differences between the Latin American and European agendas are perhaps the main obstacle. "Even when there is no difference in agendas, they are not the same priorities or urgencies", commented Ambassador Pablo Grinspun.
For his part, Ignacio Corlazzoli stressed that in those 20 years of negotiating the agreement, there has not been enough progress in the Latin American region in terms of intra-regional trade. "Although we have reduced tariffs, we have gone from 12 to 7% in that 20-year period, this is not enough and is due to the lack of agreement between the three large economies of the continent, Argentina, Mexico and Brazil". Corlazzoli assured that there is still a lot of work ahead, especially in improving global value chains.
In the second round table of the seminar, entitled "The ecological transition as a goal and digitalisation as a tool. How this transition lands in strategic sectors: agriculture, energy and aeronautics. Experience in Latin America", the speakers were Andrea Meza, deputy executive secretary of the UNCCD; Jorge Rodríguez Romero, head of unit for Global Cooperation on the Environment and Multilateralism; and Luis Cabra, head of Constituent Assembly at Airbus. The round table was moderated and presented by the Latam director of Llorente y Cuenca, Claudio Vallejo.
After a closing speech by Javier Niño, Deputy Managing Director for the Americas of the European External Action Service, a brief networking session was held between participants and attendees, many of them members of diplomatic delegations and MEPs.
CAF achieves greater financial soundness in one year
CAF promotes strategic alliances in the water sector between Spain and Latin America
Latin America and the Caribbean will raise their voices in New York with CAF's world-class event on September 19-20
Price-quality, the Iberia Group's commitment at FITUR
EnergyLOOP will install its innovative blade recycling plant in Spain with the support of PERSEO
Syria: the fear of an unattainable peace
Morocco's strategy for talent migration
Crédito y Caución expects Russia to close 2022 with a contraction of 3.3%
For Mediterranean and Atlantic leaders, it wants to be the bridge of communication, information and understanding between cultures.
Address: Calle Claudio Coello, 10. 28001 Madrid. España


text:
Jeffrey Lord
Twitter Moves to Silence Conservatives
November 2nd, 2019 4:00 PM
If one is of a certain age, one recalls the Daisy commercial.
Found now on You Tube — here — the commercial ran in the fall of the 1964 Johnson-Goldwater presidential race. Put together at the instance of LBJ aide Bill Moyers and the advertising firm of Doyle Dane Bernbach, the commercial opens with a little girl innocently plucking the petals off of a daisy, counting to ten. Midstream her voice is replaced by that of an ominous-sounding male, and her image vanishes as a nuclear bomb explodes in the famous mushroom shaped cloud. Another male voice is heard — that of President Lyndon Johnson. Says the President and then-candidate for re-election:
"These are the stakes. To make a world in which all of God's children can live. Or to go into the dark. We must either love each other. Or we must die."
The screen fades to black, with white letters appearing that read simply: "Vote for President Johnson on November 3."Then it said: "The stakes are too high for you to stay home."
The ad was run by the Johnson campaign only once, on the evening of September 7, 1964. It was run only on NBC, during the NBC Monday Night Movie. NBC was one of the only three broadcast networks in existence in the day, its audience massive. (There was no cable.) Barry Goldwater's name was never mentioned.
In fact, there was also another, less remembered, anti-Goldwater commercial that year. This one. It featured another little girl, this one licking an ice cream cone with a woman's voice in the background patiently explaining that radioactive fallout from nuclear bombs had killed lots of children. Then the woman — unseen — goes on to explain that Barry Goldwater had voted against the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which keeps radioactive strontium ninety out of ice cream. With a geiger counter loudly ticking in the background, as with the "Daisy" commercial the screen faded to black with the same ending message to vote for LBJ.
The Daisy ad, while only running once, was immediately Topic A in the media of the day and was covered heavily on the network news and the Sunday TV talk shows, run in its entirety. The media was in essence doing the Democrats' advertising work for them. There was absolutely no doubt as to the intent of the two commercials, taken either alone or together. It was to frighten voters about Barry Goldwater and lead them to believe Goldwater was so reckless that he would plunge America into a nuclear holocaust.
Goldwater himself would say this about the commercial in his memoirs.
Those bomb commercials were the start of dirty political ads on television. It was the beginning of what I call 'electronic dirt.' Moyers and the New York firm will long be remembered for helping to launch this ugly development in our political history.
Without doubt. But the key fact here is that NBC quite willingly ran the Daisy commercial. They didn't refuse it. They didn't say the commercial was a lie. They simply took it — and the money they were paid — and ran with it.
And even more to the point? Notice what the conservative Barry Goldwater did not do. He did not support the idea of restricting political ads that the target considered as a lie. Those two LBJ commercials were both flat out lies. But it is also a fact that there were Goldwater opponents aplenty who in fact believed that Barry Goldwater was a reckless man who would indeed plunge the country into nuclear war. That they were wrong doesn't negate the fact that it was believed by many.
Which is to say, in the eyes of those people the two commercials were not lies at all. They were the truth.
Which brings us back to Facebook and Twitter and their respective policies on political ads. Here is this on Twitter's decision from The Washington Post. Here's the headline:
Twitter to ban all political ads amid 2020 election uproar. The social network's decision sets it apart from Facebook, which has defended its controversial policies.
Twitter on Wednesday said it would ban all advertisements about political candidates, elections and hot-button policy issues such as abortion and immigration, a significant shift that comes in response to growing concerns that politicians are seizing on the vast reach of social media to deceive voters ahead of the 2020 election.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced the move in a series of tweets, stressing that paying for political speech has the effect of "forcing highly optimized and targeted political messages on people." The ban marks a break with Twitter's social media peers, Facebook and Google-owned YouTube, which have defended their policies on political ads in recent weeks.
"While internet advertising is incredibly powerful and very effective for commercial advertisers, that power brings significant risks to politics, where it can be used to influence votes to affect the lives of millions," Dorsey said.
Got that? Jack Dorsey is terrified that the free exchange of political speech in ads "can be used to influence votes to affect the lives of millions." (Particularly if conservatives - read the Trump campaign - advertises about illegal immigration and abortion.)
Let's be real here. This isn't about anything other than silencing conservatives.
Facebook, on the other hand, has taken exactly the opposite approach, with founder Mark Zuckerberg taking a boat load of criticism from lefties furious that he is not silencing conservatives by shutting down political ads. Good for Mr. Zuckerberg - he gets it.
But since Twitter has chosen to go down this path, the obvious question occurs. Why not do the opposite of Barry Goldwater, who never called for shutting down the liberal TV networks of the day. Why not take down Twitter altogether — just abolish it outright? Quite obviously Twitter all by itself, without any political ads, can "influence votes."
Here, for example, is the Twitter account of Senator Kamala Harris. It is instantly clear that Harris, a Democratic presidential candidate, is using her account "to influence votes to affect the lives of millions." Which is to say, she is using Twitter to influence people to vote for her.
Among the many things Harris says on her account is this: "To my Republican colleagues: is this lawless president worth betraying our democracy?"
Suffice to say, there are people aplenty, starting with the 199 House Republicans who opposed the House impeachment inquiry, who believe there was nothing "lawless" in the president's conduct. So to use Twitter's own reasoning, Harris has used her account to spread a deliberate lie.
Should Kamala Harris be banned from Twitter? If a political ad that "lies" is dangerous because it can influence the votes of millions, what about a United States Senator and presidential candidate who lies to her 3.2 million followers?
Over here is Senator Elizabeth Warren's campaign Twitter account, on which she says of her health care plan: "My plan won't raise taxes one penny on middle-class families."
This is laughable. Suffice to say there are plenty of critics out there who believe this is a flat out lie. Should Elizabeth Warren be banned from Twitter? Newsflash: Not going to happen.
Nor should it. The hard fact of the matter is that there are all kinds of liberal lies floating around on Twitter, and Jack Dorsey lets it all go by with a wink and a nod.
He should. But he needs to stop the hypocritical untruth that he is forbidding political ads on Twitter because he is so concerned about untruths influencing voters. Twitter is swamped with liberal lies and Dorsey never blinks.
What Dorsey is really about is silencing conservatives, so that the liberal media — social media and all the rest — can put out their modern day equivalents of that old LBJ "Daisy" commercial out there and, in Dorsey's own phrase again, "influence votes to affect the lives of millions." With the liberal media, as was done in 1964, doing the Democrats work for them.
Over here, Media Research Center Founder and President Brent Bozell has summed up the reality of Jack Dorsey's real motivations exactly:
To pretend Twitter is taking the moral high ground in banning political ads is laughable. Twitter sees the backlash Facebook has received for embracing free speech in advertising and with this ban, hopes to force their hand into doing the same.
A key reason organizations and individuals buy ads is to promote an issue that they cannot get covered by conventional means. We have seen how the social media giants have used their content policies to suppress conservative speech. Because of this, liberal messaging dominates Twitter and by restricting ads, Twitter can further limit the ability of conservatives to get their message heard.
By including 'issue ads' in this ban, Twitter has given itself the power to draw the lines on what is and is not 'political.' Make no mistake, this is not an easily defined space and with Twitter's history of liberal activism, conservatives should be very concerned.
And here's the irony in that Bozell statement. Brent's namesake Dad worked for Barry Goldwater, and doubtless saw the impact of the Daisy commercial close up and personal in that 1964 campaign. Along with Goldwater himself he could see just how the liberal media of the day played the game.
The technology of the media is today light years from the media technology of 1964. But as the statement of Brent Bozell of todays MRC illustrates precisely, what has not changed is that liberal media's left-wing bent, whether in 1964 or 55 years later in 2019 has not only not faded away, it has gotten worse.
Or simply put? The more things change, the more they stay the same.


He had, as we say, learnt it by heart. But why do we say that? Without going into the niceties of where memory actually resides, wouldn't it seem more rational to say that he had learnt it by head?
In fact, the expression is supposed to derive from the ancient Greeks' belief that the heart was the seat of the intellect (and in a nice etymological parallel, the word record pursues the same train of thought, deriving from the Latin word cor for heart, thus to re-heart).
But the Greeks' anatomical mistake serves as a useful reminder (in English we've got the anatomy right, you see) of something else – that most things worth remembering (not, in fact, re-member, as in reconstruct, but re-memor, Latin for mind) engage the heart as well as the head. Which, of course, is why so much that is written and spoken in the world of business is so instantly and permanently forgettable (Old English: for meaning far from or away from, plus get meaning get).
Our headcount? If all he recognises are heads, the chances are his company is not a great place to work, regardless of how successful it may be. Well, that's just a perfectly normal piece of business jargon, you might say. Maybe so, but it's still very revealing of the underlying thinking that persists in so many organisations, where – however much their leaders may assert the opposite – people are really thought of as ciphers, two-legged information processing machines.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged business language, corporate speak, emotion, headcount, heart, Memory, mind. Bookmark the permalink.


I'm going through separation from my husband. This is a making blog, so I won't dwell on it too much. But what do I do with my handmade dress made by my grandmother and worn by my mother at her wedding? Also, this is a tribute to my amazing grandmother who just turned 100 years old.


Shirt sagging on the job? Look sharp with these clever collar-fixing doodads.
Make sloppy collars a grunge-y thing of the past (read: the early '90s) with Swiss Stays™, the one-size-fits-all collar fixes that'll make even your floppiest flannel carry its weight.
Stop slouching and hit up the online store to score "Buy Three Get One Free" deals + 10% off with promo code THRILLIST on these fixes, available in brass, stainless steel, or PVC. They're an excellent alternative to upgrading your entire shirt collection, and each one can be reused approximately infinity times.


Feşteliţa village, with a population of about 3000 inhabitants, is one of the best planned communities of Ştefan-Vodă district. In recent years, a new House of Culture appeared here; there also function successfully the secondary school, kindergarten, health centre and the Centre for Public Service Delivery. The community was connected to the gas network and some parts of road were repaired. The mayor Nicolae Tudoreanu succeeded to do all these by attracting funds from development partners and mobilizing the villagers. "These successes are just a part of what we could achieve and even rapidly multiply, not only in Feşteliţa, but also in all villages of Moldova, once with the implementation of the decentralization reform", says Nicolae Tudoreanu. And it is impossible not to believe a mayor who is in his third term. His arguments are grounded on own experience, on the outcomes of some studies, but also on the experience of other European countries that he visited due to the Joint Integrated Local Development Programme, implemented by the Government of the Republic of Moldova with the assistance of UNDP, UN Women and financial support of the Government of Sweden.
One of the main problems that the mayor hopes to solve as result of implementation of the National Decentralization Strategy is the decentralization of local public finance by offering competences and resources to the local government. "A study of the Urban Development Institute showed that a local administration has over 700 competences, while the staff units to carry out these competences are only 4-5", says Nicolae Tudoreanu. "We do not have the right to establish other positions and, much less, we cannot set salaries commensurate with the effort made by the specialist. Moreover, as the local budget is formed at the moment, we, practically, cannot plan money for the development of local infrastructure. Currently, we have no interest to collect and establish taxes, because if we accumulate higher revenues from this activity, the transfers from the state budget for us are reduced. We need a budgetary mechanism that would stimulate the fiscal efforts of the local government. As long as the fiscal effort of the local government is not encouraged, the local administrations will not be interested in improving their fiscal base in the territory, and, respectively, they will not be able to develop", points out the mayor.
These subjects on reforming the public finance system are promoted during the meetings of the working group for financial decentralization. What will happen with poor communities, where from will they take money? "The new model will encourage the inter-municipal cooperation. In other words, more communities will associate to develop a joint public service, such as, for example, the waste management service. As result, the inhabitants of these villages will benefit from this, because inter-municipal cooperation will lead to the decrease of costs and even to the attraction of foreign investments in the community. An example of success could serve the school optimization reform, which was regarded sceptically at the beginning, and now people are convicted that children benefit from quality services in this way", says the mayor. Given the experience of other visited countries, the mayor says that namely inter-municipal cooperation can offer a chance for development to rural communities.
Some of the local government proposals have been already materialized in the National Decentralization Strategy, approved on April 5, 2012 by the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova. Until its application, the mayor is already testing and implementing in the community some of the principles promoted in the National Decentralization Strategy that is to provide better conditions to the villagers. In 2010, due to a grant provided by the Joint Integrated Local Development Programme, within the premises of Feşteliţa Town Hall a Centre for Public Service Delivery was created. All specialists involved in providing services to the inhabitants, such as the tax collector, cadastral engineer or archivist, were in a single room, well furnished and endowed with computers. Like this, the person is not required to knock at many doors when he comes to the town hall for a certificate or other documents.
A second ongoing project in Feşteliţa is the planning of inside courtyard of the Town Hall, so that to ensure the access for elderly and disabled people. In the village, there live 10 persons with disabilities, who, when coming every month for the social benefits offered by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, face difficulties in entering the building located 30 metres from the access road. As well, for these groups of people, there are conducted works to set up a leisure square that is to be inaugurated in spring 2012.
The mayor Nicolae Tudoreanu, being at his third term, says that he would not succeed anything without the help of the community. "All projects are focused on the contribution of the villagers, because only in this way people can be motivated to ensure the sustainability of the investments made. People are interested in developing the communities, but they need to be convinced that their money is used properly. During the first term, it was difficult for me to prove them this fact. Now it is easy. People saw that the investment they make reaches the destination", says the mayor.
In parallel with the implementation of some projects, the local administration lays the ground for other projects, which would ensure better living conditions for the villagers. Two main priorities – water supply and repair of roads – were included in the draft local development strategy for the next 5 years. The strategy was developed after the Town Hall consulted all social groups from the community. In the second half of 2011, several training sessions and meetings with the elderly, youth, intellectuals took place in the Conference Room of the House of Culture of Feşteliţa, during which the main needs of each group were identified.
The first priority that was identified was the construction of the water supply system in the central area of the community, the only part of the village where a water supply and channelling system does not exist. "We will facilitate, primarily, women's work. Ultimately, the role of social infrastructure improvement is to ease the life of woman involved both in housework and in public activity. In fact, the organized consultation meetings were attended mostly by women, men being abroad. I an convinced that involvement of women in public activities is an efficient approach, as they are, especially the ones from rural areas, more sincere, more cooperative, due to the wish to change their statute, and more accountable. When I give an indication to a woman, I know for sure that it will be executed, fact that does not always happen in the case of men", says Nicolae Tudoreanu.
The water supply and channelling system is to be open for operation by mid 2012, after which the Town Hall will deal with the accomplishment of second priority – repair of local roads. With the help of some donors, 2 kilometres of local road were paved, and the mayor hopes that the community will be the first one to serve as good example of inter-municipal cooperation, due to which the inter-community roads are repaired, namely the roads that connect Festelita to neighbouring villages. Nicolae Tudoreanu recognizes that this would not be possible without the Government support. Nicolae Tudoreanu says that mayors look forward to the implementation of the National Decentralization Strategy that will offer them more autonomy and will free the hands of the local public administration towards a sustainable development.


Quest is an original circus-theater production loosely based on Leo Tolstoy's short story The Three Questions. The protagonist asks three simple (but huge) questions, setting in motion a whirlwind journey to find the answers. Our hero and her sidekicks venture through obstacles, misinformation, slapstick fun, unexpected detours, music and songs, near crises, and amazing feats of partnership in seek of answers. Fun, funny, surprising, action-packed, deeply moving, profoundly existential – something for everyone!
There is no late seating for this show after the first 8 minutes.
The Actors Gymnasium Winter Circus will participate for a fifth year in the League of Chicago Theatres' Chicago Theatre Week February 9-19.


I really have to read more of his work. The one, my second, was just outstanding. A Red Lobster in Connecticut is closing, and Manny must manage the last day. There's a blizzard. He has relationship problems. Some employees have stopped showing up; others want to leave early. Someone has been stealing supplies. A kid throws up. An unanticipated party of 16 shows up for a retirement party. Customers complain. O'Nan, once again, just nails it. In just under 150 pages, he creates the present and past of this restaurant in such an honest and insightful way. There is an opportunity for a certain kind of ending, but O'Nan resists it without letting all of the air out of the tires.
Do you have a favorite O'Nan?


Tim Huckaby is currently focused on RIA & Rich Client Technologies like WPF, VSTO, Surface, Silverlight and Windows 7 Touch. He has been called a "Pioneer of the Smart Client Revolution" by the press.
Tim has been awarded multiple times for the highest rated Keynote and technical presentations for Microsoft and numerous other technology conferences around the world by Microsoft Corporation. Tim has done presentations on Microsoft Technologies at technology events all over the world and is consistently rated in the top 10% of all speakers at these events. Tim has done keynote demos for numerous Microsoft executives including Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer.
Great Vid! Really learned a lot & some good stories.
Hmm... how many times can I click "Comment on Post" until Firefox behaves?
Tim, you are a great story teller. I like the nauseated look on your face as you describe the language wars.
I describe it to non-technical people as if two surgeons were arguing about what scalpel to use to operate on a patient. They argue about whether 5 or 8 is better. When in fact their goal is to do no harm and save a life, not to care whether A or B was the inventor. One has a metal handle and one uses a stainless steel, but in the end, the tool doesn't matter, it is patient care which is priority.
I also love how you mention that not everyone loves Visual Studio. Some actually would rather just use a text editor. It makes me smile, I know Engineers where I work who would rather do calculus by hand than use a calculator because their brains are faster and better trained.


The Best Hostels for Backpackers, Students, and Budget Travellers in Panama.
Panama continues to grow in popularity with all types of travelers. It offers a very unique and diverse experience for visitors. There are impressive natural settings, nice beaches, and islands where you can party, snorkel, or scuba dive. Panama City offers glitz and glamour alongside history and culture.
Panama is not a particularly expensive travel destination and affordable accommodation is relatively easy to find. There are hostels in most popular destinations and each hostel has its own style and characters. Whether you're traveling alone or as a group, a hostel can be a fun and affordable place to stay.
How much do hostels in Panama cost?
An affordable and quiet hostel for backpackers and students in Panama City, Panama.
Magnolia Inn is conveniently located in the middle of the old town, Casco Viejo. The neighborhood is charming and there is a lot of historic character in the area. The hostel is located in a restored French colonial house and it retains much of its character. There are also a variety of modern conveniences available including comfortable beds, wi-fi, and air conditioning.
Although the hostel is relatively quiet, there are several common areas where guests can hang out and chat. There's also a full kitchen available and a dining room where you can enjoy your meals.
If you want to stay somewhere comfortable and in the middle of everything, then Magnolia Inn is a good option for budget travelers.
An affordable and fun hostel for backpackers, solo travellers, and groups of friends in Bocas del Toro, Panama.
Bambuda Lodge is a fun and social place to stay. If you're looking for a cool setting and a fun environment then this is a great hostel. It is a bit secluded, so you'll end up eating a lot of meals at the hostel and this can get a bit expensive. Even so, it's reasonably priced and is a nice place to stay.
The hostel also has a large pool, an on-site bar, and a restaurant. There are lots of places where you can hang out with other guests and the staff can help you organize all kinds of activities including snorkeling and hiking.
The hostel has dorms that sleep up to ten people as well as double, twin, and three bed private rooms.
A quiet and affordable hostel for backpackers, students, and budget travellers in Boquete, Panama.
La Jungla Experience is a nice option for budget travelers who want a relaxing and comfortable place to stay. The hostel is located outside of Boquete's city center, but they do have free transportation into town once a day and cheap taxis anytime. There are also bicycles available that guests can use for free. This is a quiet place to stay with comfortable beds, friendly staff, and a welcoming setting. There's a library, hammocks, and a full shared kitchen.
The staff can help you organize a tour to Los Cangilones de Gualaca, as well as other trips in the area. The hostel has dorms that sleep up to eight people and private twin rooms for visitors who want a little more personal space.


The 19mm Blueline Bilge Hose Kit contains everything you need to rig up a bilge pump into your boat. Complete with 1.5m of bilge hose, a 19mm skin fitting and all the hose clamps required to get the job done. Having a reliable bilge pump is important because if you start taking on water you either bail it out by hand, or you flick a switch and let the pump do it for you. Perfect for use in smaller boats where a small bilge pump is required. For the full range of pumps, hoses, fittings and clamps available at BCF, call into our store and talk to one of our friendly, knowledgeable staff to find the product that is right for you.


so year 2 is over. is like really over. this sem really stress me out. all the modules is just stressing me out. and with all society work and stuff. pass few weeks is crazy for me. chiong project, attend meeting, study test. wow. really very tired. almost wanna drop. but lucky i manage to pull through and here i am.
training camp ended. feel relieve. is like 1 event down. wow! another one is d&d and i will be done with everything. training camp was quite slacking. but i really thanks all SGLs help. running up and down for me is omg. i think too long nv exercise le. maybe i need to start exercising. start my running. or i will suffer for my 2.4 test. hehe.
currently no mood to do d&d stuff. shall do it tml. so damn tired. slept less than 4 hrs ytd. n previous day slept less than 4 hrs too. hahas. maybe i shall slp too.
tml attachment. need wake up at 5.30. omg. is so torture.
fri was my b'dae. wen tot sch to see the cosplayer. hehe. ppl are wearing own costume more. so when i see the entrance is like wow. hahas. take some pic. of coz kena suan by ppl as well. coz 20 le. after went out with dear. hehe. time spend were great. we eat, we walk and we talk.
went back to botanic garden. the place where we were together. alot of stupid stuff happen here. n we just talk bout it. we enjoy the breeze there. talk and listen to music. hehe. damn nice and quiet. then we head home and this time we are crazy. take all kinds of stupid picture. hahas. but is fun. wonder the ppl got say us not. hehe.
on sat, went to sch to do duty. hehe. morning is quite sian. but nvm. in the end got ppl. wee. i did a hp strap pendant for dear dear. red yea. nice right? hahas. then dear dear 2nd shift. so we went to eat. and i help the pendant for the 2nd shift. so spend the whole day at the booth. din do my plant. i wanna get catus for mama. but forget. by the time i end, the booth already close. so sad. then after tat went dinner with dear. hehe. talk a little. and home sweet home.
hahas. time pass quickly. yea. turn 20 le. not old right? rmb being ask if wanna a kids menu. so paiseh can. ans olso check my i/c when i wanna watch movie. omg. cant imagine tat. am i tat kiddy? hahas.
1) get good results as usual. but aiming for distinctions this time round.
3) hope will have more time with dear.
and today marks the 1st year anniversary for bingxin and me. hahas. he got me a present, bracelet. thanks dear. love you. i will wear it always. and a wishes for that is to make you as happy as always. and loving.
to those who send messages, online, facebook etc. thanks a lot. hehe. and for the presents. thanks huiling, sabrina, and the society people. hehe. thanks yea.
hahas. today NP open hus. involve in cosplaying. shall be the 1st and last time. i will not want to wear again. is really damn weird. walking around with the costume. but really lucky. we did oli 2hr 30 min. and then go off le. so another batch take over.
went for IS. tired. keep falling aslp. but is lucky i manage to listen what he wanna say. then went to take photos. really not in the mood. but still manage to do it. walk around.
after tat went to take stuff. meet dear dear. n saw the cosplayer. they really like it. enjoy it. they really walk around and interact. they really bring fun to it. hahas. is really different from our 1st batch. feel like some loser liddat. hahas.
anyway after tat went home. dear dear send me. n now damn tired.
time really flies. and wont wait for anyone. really really enjoy the time spend. really love u lot. and olso to my class mates, not interactive at all but this year quite good. got bbq. like finally yea. hahas.


The schedule for mandatory tuberculosis (TB) testing was updated today (Jan. 4).
All CDCR and CCHCS employees must be tested annually as a condition of continued employment.
See below for links to the testing schedule and a memo giving details of the TB testing.
You can also call the TB Testing Hotline at (877) 870-3291.


Just came back from Vietnam on Thursday. Was feeling so sick but still I could not miss this opportunity to attend Puma Evolution of Suede Finale Party at Capsquare Hall, KL. I would like to thank Miss Shannon Chow for giving me the chance. This time, I brought my sister, Jamie Yeap along with me. Hee.
My sister seldom appears in my blog because she does not really like to attend events. (Actually depends on what kind of events though. She prefers events that involve cartoons mostly. LOL!) Anyway, here's a photo of us posing with the giant Puma shoes.
Some random bloggers taking photo with the giant Puma shoes.
Sponsored by Tiger and Smirnoff, the Evolution of Suede Finale Party marks a grand celebration of the PUMA Suede's 45th year in changing the release of the future suede. That night, the event showcased the work of art of 30 artistic people whom envisioned the 2058 Future Suede and brought it to life.
We were given two beverage vouchers each to redeem our beer, vodka or soft drink at the event.
The hosts for the evening were Mr Dan and Shikara whom are the two prominent personalities in the Malaysian hip-hop scene. The night started off with an 'Evolution of Dance performance by the winners of Showdown 2011, Elecoldxhot. At the event, the top 30 designs selected from the 160 entries received for the 2058 Future Suede design contest were exhibited.
The crowd was entertained by a beatbox performance by Koujee, the winner of Malaysia's Tag-team Beatbox Battle 2011, along with a DJ battle between DJ Fuzz and H3, and an MC battle between Mio and Micwrecka. K-Town Clan later took the stage with other renowned Malaysian hip-hop artists such as CLoco, Samir Da Joint, Lady D, Waris and Juzzthin.
During the event, there was also a live graffiti by graffiti artist, Newba, as well as a live shoe designing by graffiti artists, Bee of PHBKLK, Iqbal of Fresh Kids, Carpet, Katun, and Nenok.
Live shoe designing by the graffiti artist. The one on the left is Mr Katun!!
A few shots of my sis and I taken during the event. Sis basically fell in love with the giant puma shoes.
It was kinda lucky that night. I did not expect to meet my uni coursemate. The last time we met each other was October 2012 which was our graduation day in Kampar. How time flies!
Three pairs of PUMA Suede were given out to three most creative Instagram posting with the campaign hashtags #ForTheStreet, #MY and @PUMA just before the event ended. I personally joined the contest too to see if I can win a pair of Puma Suede shoes for my sister.
And here's the photo that I have published in my Instagram with the caption: Does that belong to Big Foot?


TransForce offers steady work for Class A Drivers. Monday through Friday work schedule with start time of 6:00 AM &with an occasional Saturday to meet your work/home schedule. Our local drivers earn $19.00 an hour plus benefits. These positions do require forklift and strapping experience. You will not want to miss these opportunities. Do not forget to ask your recruiter about our benefits package with health, vision, dental, 401K & more.


The word at is an English word, which may act as a preposition.
Atlanta () is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. With an estimated 2017 population of 486,290, it is also the 38th most-populous city in the United States.
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States (a neutral country at the time) against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii on Sunday morning, December 7, 1941. The attack led to the United States' formal entry into World War II the next day.
Athens (; Greek: Αθήνα, Athína [aˈθina]; Ancient Greek: Ἀθῆναι, Athênai [a.tʰɛ̂ː.nai̯]) is the capital and largest city of Greece.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a mental disorder of the neurodevelopmental type. It is characterized by difficulty paying attention, excessive activity, and behavior without regards to consequences which is not appropriate for a person's age.
The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly to the Americas.


PM Modi led Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) rules the heart of people of North East. Time and again the people of North East have proved this by voting BJP to power.
Again this time in NC Hills (North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council) elections the people have given their mandate to development.
This is a tight slap on all faces that were trying to portray that people are not happy with the Government move of National Register of Citizens and termed it as inhumane.
In July, the Assam Government had published the much awaited final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC). There were around 40 lakh people whose name did not feature in the final draft of NRC. The main motive behind updating and publishing NRC is to separate authentic Indian citizens in Assam from illegal immigrants. NRC consists of the names of Indian citizens of Assam and the list was prepared in 1951. Since the BJP has come to power in Assam, it has restarted the exercise again.
It is a good sign for the party's acceptance and popularity between the people and shows that there is no distress among people by the move of BJP Government but it is infact the opposition which is rattled by the move of PM Modi Government as PM Modi has put an end to their practices of garnering illegal votes. PM Modi has put an end to their illegal vote bank.


Over a period of 3-years, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy has been doing R&D-activities on converting energy to heat in rock fill at a testing-unit in Hamburg. Now the company converts its findings into a real scale project. Starting in December, Siemens Gamesa will install the first full scale "Future Energy System – FES" on the Trimet SE aluminum smelter site in Hamburg-Altenwerder.
It will feature approximately 1,000 tons of rock fill which will be able to provide 30 MWh of electric energy at temperatures of 600 degree Celsius. Via a steam turbine, the heat can be re-converted into electricity. A generator rated at 1.5 megawatts will produce energy for up to 24 hours. Within this period, the system can supply energy equivalent to the consumption of 1,500 average German households or could charge the batteries of approximately 50 electric cars. Partner is the local utility Hamburg Energie GmbH. The company will test the commercial opportunities of the storage-technology in the energy markets. With the start of construction Siemens Gamesa reaches a milestone in the development of a key technology in the context of the energy transition.
In times of sunny weather and high wind conditions, renewable energies are available in large amounts – often the feed-in exceeds the grid capacities. Storage systems can help to act as a buffer between times of overload and weak production periods, which happen at slack periods and darkness. But most storage technology offer limited capacities or are not cost-competitive. The Siemens Gamesa solution under development in a project supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, offers a highly economic approach in storing energy. After having been converted to heat in rock fill, excess wind energy is stored and protected with an insulated cover. When there is a need for additional electricity, a steam turbine converts the heat energy back to electricity. The simple principle of this storage combines proven components to an innovative setup: For the conversion process of electricity into a hot air stream, it uses fans and heating elements out of mass production. The same applies to the re-conversion: Via a highly dynamic Siemens steam boiler, a standard steam turbine is operated to generate electricity at the end of the process chain.
The focus of Siemens Gamesa's R&D activities was on the insulated container to house the rock fill which is the virtual battery and the core innovation. In the research project, the team has explored the thermodynamic principles to receive a high efficiency in all processes related to the transmission to heat. A scientist of Technical University Hamburg-Harburg (TUHH) supports the project by modelling the processes inside the storage unit, which results in principles for thermodynamic calculations of the processes. All learnings will now be incorporated in the real scale FES. One of the key findings was an optimized shape of the container with the rock fill. The design of the storage container of the new project reflects this: Its round bodied shape will have a decreasing diameter at both ends, where the inflow and the outflow openings are positioned. The ferroconcrete giant will have a content of 800 cubic meters of rock-fill with a mass of 1,000 tons and will be covered with a meter thick layer of thermal insulation.
Siemens Gamesa is a leading provider of wind power products and solutions to customers around the globe. The company has installed products and technology in more than 90 countries, with a total installed base of close to 83GW. Siemens Gamesa offers one of the industry's broadest product portfolios, with both offshore and onshore technology as well as industry-leading service solutions, helping to make clean energy more affordable and reliable. The united company was created in 2017. Previously, Siemens Wind Power's history in the wind industry extends back to the early 1980s, and Gamesa's to 1994.