text:
Her Majesty's Civil Service
Title: Her Majesty's Civil Service
Subject: Jenny Rowe, Government of the United Kingdom, Politics of the United Kingdom, Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Monarchy of the United Kingdom
Collection: Cabinet Office (United Kingdom), Civil Service of the United Kingdom, Public Administration
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Her Majesty's Home Civil Service,[1][2][3] also known as Her Majesty's Civil Service or the Home Civil Service, is the permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that supports Her Majesty's Government, which is composed of a cabinet of ministers chosen by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as well as two of the three devolved administrations: the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government, but not the Northern Ireland Executive.
Like in various countries (example India) following a Parliamentary system, Her Majesty's Home Civil Service in the UK forms an inseparable part of executive branch of the Government of the United Kingdom. The executive decisions of government ministers are implemented by HM Civil Service. Civil servants are employees of the Crown and not the British Parliament. Civil servants also have some traditional and statutory responsibilities which to some extent protect them from being used for the political advantage of the party in power. Senior civil servants may be called to account to Parliament.
In general use, the term civil servant in the United Kingdom does not include all public sector employees; although there is no fixed legal definition, the term is usually defined as "a servant of the Crown working in a civil capacity who is not the holder of a political (or judicial) office; the holder of certain other offices in respect of whose tenure of office special provision has been made; [or] a servant of the Crown in a personal capacity paid from the Civil List".[4] As such, the civil service does not include government ministers (who are politically appointed), members of the British Armed Forces, the police, officers of local government authorities or quangos of the Houses of Parliament, employees of the National Health Service (NHS), or staff of the Royal Household. As of October 2013, there are approximately 412,000 full-time equivalent (447,000 headcount) civil servants in the Home Civil Service.[5]
There are two other administratively separate civil services in the United Kingdom. One is for Northern Ireland (the Northern Ireland Civil Service); the other is the foreign service (Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service). The heads of these services are members of the Permanent Secretaries Management Group.[6][7]
Establishment 1.1
Lord Fulton's committee report 1.2
Margaret Thatcher's government 1.3
The Citizen's Charter 1.4
Minister for the Civil Service 2.1
Head of the Home Civil Service 2.2
Permanent Secretaries Management Group (PSMG) 2.3
Civil Service Steering Board (CSSB) 2.4
Civil Service Commissioners 2.5
Political neutrality 3
Civil Service Code 4.1
Civil Service Management Code 4.2
Civil Service Commissioners' Recruitment Code 4.3
Osmotherly Rules 4.4
Directory of Civil Service Guidance 4.5
Grading schemes 5.1
In popular culture 6
External links 10
The Offices of State grew in England, and later the United Kingdom. Initially, as in other countries, they were little more than secretariats for their leaders, who held positions at court. In the 18th century, in response to the growth of the British Empire and economic changes, institutions such as the Office of Works and the Navy Board grew large. Each had its own system and staff were appointed by purchase or patronage. By the 19th century, it became increasingly clear that these arrangements were not working.
In 1806, the Honourable East India Company established a college, the East India Company College, near London. The purpose of this college was to train administrators; it was established on recommendation of officials in China who had seen the imperial examination system. The civil service, based on examination similar to the Chinese system, was advocated by a number of Englishmen over the next several decades.[8]
A permanent, unified and politically neutral civil service, in which appointments were made on merit, was introduced on the recommendations of the Northcote-Trevelyan Report of 1854, which also recommended a clear division between staff responsible for routine ("mechanical") work, and those engaged in policy formulation and implementation in an "administrative" class. The report was well-timed, because bureaucratic chaos in the Crimean War promptly caused a clamour for the change. A Civil Service Commission was accordingly set up in 1855 to oversee open recruitment and end patronage, and most of the other Northcote-Trevelyan recommendations were implemented over some years. This system was broadly endorsed by Commissions chaired by Playfair (1874), Ridley (1886), MacDonnell (1914), Tomlin (1931) and Priestley (1955).
The Northcote-Trevelyan model remained essentially stable for a hundred years. This was a tribute to its success in removing corruption, delivering public services (even under the stress of two world wars), and responding effectively to political change.
Lord Fulton's committee report
Following the Second World War, however, demands for change again grew. There was a concern (illustrated in C. P. Snow's Strangers and Brothers series of novels) that technical and scientific expertise was mushrooming, to a point at which the "good all-rounder" culture of the administrative civil servant with a classics or other arts degree could no longer properly engage with it: as late as 1963, for example, the Treasury had just 19 trained economists. The times were, moreover, ones of keen respect for technocracy, with the mass mobilisation of war having worked effectively, and the French National Plan apparently delivering economic success. And there was also a feeling which would not go away, following the war and the radical social reforms of the 1945 Labour government, that the so-called "mandarins" of the higher civil service were too remote from the people. Indeed, between 1948 and 1963 only 3% of the recruits to the administrative class came from the working classes, and in 1966 more than half of the administrators at under-secretary level and above had been privately educated.
Lord Fulton's committee reported in 1968. He found that administrators were not professional enough, and in particular lacked management skills; that the position of technical and scientific experts needed to be rationalised and enhanced; and that the service was indeed too remote. His 158 recommendations included the introduction of a unified grading system for all categories of staff, a Civil Service College and a central policy planning unit. He also said that control of the service should be taken from the Treasury, and given to a new Department, and that the "fast stream" recruitment process for accessing the upper echelons should be made more flexible, to encourage candidates from less privileged backgrounds. The new Department was set up by Prime Minister Harold Wilson's Labour Government in 1968 and named the Civil Service Department, known as CSD. The first Minister was Cabinet Minister Lord Shackleton, also Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal. The first Permanent Secretary was Sir William Armstrong, who moved over from his post as Permanent Secretary at the Treasury. After the 1970 General Election, new Conservative Prime Minister Ted Heath appointed Lord Jellicoe in Lord Shackleton's place.
Into Heath's Downing Street came the Central Policy Review Staff (CPRS), and they were in particular given charge of a series of Programme Analysis and Review (PAR) studies of policy efficiency and effectiveness.
But, whether through lack of political will, or through passive resistance by a mandarinate which the report had suggested were "amateurs", Fulton failed. The Civil Service College equipped generalists with additional skills, but did not turn them into qualified professionals as ENA did in France. Recruits to the fast stream self-selected, with the universities of Oxford and Cambridge still producing a large majority of successful English candidates, since the system continued to favour the tutorial system at Oxbridge while to an extent the Scottish Ancient universities educated a good proportion of recruits from north of the border. The younger mandarins found excuses to avoid managerial jobs in favour of the more prestigious policy postings. The generalists remained on top, and the specialists on tap.
Margaret Thatcher's government
Margaret Thatcher came to office in 1979 believing in free markets as a better social system in many areas than the state: government should be small but active. Many of her ministers were suspicious of the civil service, in light of public choice research that suggested public servants tend to increase their own power and budgets.
She immediately set about reducing the size of the civil service, cutting numbers from 732,000 to 594,000 over her first seven years in office. Derek Rayner, the former chief executive of Marks and Spencer, was appointed as an efficiency expert with the Prime Minister's personal backing; he identified numerous problems with the Civil Service, arguing that only three billion of the eight billion pounds a year spent at that time by the Civil Service consisted of essential services, and that the "mandarins" (senior civil servants) needed to focus on efficiency and management rather than on policy advice.[9] In late 1981 the Prime Minister announced the abolition of the Civil Service Department, transferring power over the Civil Service to the Prime Minister's Office and Cabinet Office.[10] The Priestley Commission principle of pay comparability with the private sector was abandoned in February 1982.
Meanwhile Michael Heseltine was introducing a comprehensive system of corporate and business planning (known as MINIS) first in the Department of the Environment and then in the Ministry of Defence. This led to the Financial Management Initiative, launched in September 1982 (Efficiency and Effectiveness in the Civil Service (Cmnd 8616)) as an umbrella for the efficiency scrutiny programme and with a wider focus on corporate planning, efficiency and objective-setting. Progress initially was sluggish, but in due course MINIS-style business planning became standard, and delegated budgets were introduced, so that individual managers were held much more accountable for meeting objectives, and for the first time for the resources they used to do so. Performance-related pay began in December 1984, was built on thereafter, and continues to this day, though the sums involved have always been small compared to the private sector, and the effectiveness of PRP as a genuine motivator has often been questioned.
In February 1988 Robin Ibbs, who had been recruited from ICI in July 1983 to run the Efficiency Unit (now in No. 10), published his report Improving Management in Government: The Next Steps. This envisaged a new approach to delivery featuring clear targets and personal responsibility. Without any statutory change, the managerial functions of Ministries would be hived off into Executive Agencies, with clear Framework Documents setting out their objectives, and whose chief executives would be made accountable directly (in some cases to Parliament) for performance. Agencies were to, as far as possible, take a commercial approach to their tasks. However, the Government conceded that agency staff would remain civil servants, which diluted the radicalism of the reform. The approach seems somewhat similar to the Swedish model, though no influence from Sweden has ever been acknowledged.
The Next Steps Initiative took some years to get off the ground, and progress was patchy. Significant change was achieved, although agencies never really achieved the level of autonomy envisaged at the start.[11] By 5 April 1993, 89 agencies had been established, and contained over 260,000 civil servants, some 49% of the total.[12]
Next Steps may always have had the ultimate goal of privatisation. Certainly, the focus on smaller, more accountable, units revived the keenness of Ministerial interest in the perceived efficiencies of the private sector. Already in the late 1980s, some common services once set up to capture economies of scale, such as the Property Services Agency and the Crown Suppliers, were being dismantled or sold off. Next, shortly after Thatcher left office, in July 1991, a new programme of market-testing of central government services began, with the White Paper Competing for Quality (Cm 1730). Five-yearly or three-yearly policy and finance reviews of all agencies and other public bodies were instituted, where the first question to be answered (the "prior options exercise") was why the function should not be abolished or privatised. In November 1991 the Private Finance Initiative was launched, and by November 1994 the Chancellor of the Exchequer had referred to it as 'the funding mechanism of choice for most public sector projects'. In 1995 the decision was taken to privatise the Chessington Computer Centre, HMSO, the Occupational Health & Safety Agency and Recruitment & Assessment Services.
The Citizen's Charter
It was believed with the Thatcher reforms that efficiency was improving. But there was still a perception of carelessness and lack of responsiveness in the quality of public services. The government of John Major sought to tackle this with a Citizen's Charter programme. This sought to empower the service user, by setting out rights to standards in each service area, and arrangements for compensation when these were not met. An Office of Public Service and Science was set up in 1992, to see that the Charter policy was implemented across government.
By 1998, 42 Charters had been published, and they included services provided by public service industries such as the health service and the railways, as well as by the civil service. The programme was also expanded to apply to other organisations such as local government or housing associations, through a scheme of "Chartermark" awards. The programme was greeted with some derision, and it is true that the compensation sometimes hardly seemed worth the effort of claiming, and that the service standards were rarely set with much consumer input. But the initiative did have a significant effect in changing cultures, and paradoxically the spin-off Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Head of the Home Civil Service
The highest ranking civil servant in the country is the Cabinet Secretary. A subsidiary title that was also held by the incumbent was Head of the Home Civil Service, who until recently was also the incumbent Cabinet Secretary and Permanent Secretary of the Cabinet Office.[13] However, following the Coalition Government of David Cameron the three posts were split from the single holder. The last person to hold all three positions together was Sir Gus O'Donnell, Cabinet Secretary, Head of the Home Civil Service and Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary, September 2005-January 2012. The postholder is responsible for ensuring that the Civil Service is equipped with the skills and capability to meet the everyday challenges it faces and that civil servants work in a fair and decent environment. He also chairs the Permanent Secretary Management Group and the Civil Service Steering Board which are the main governing bodies of the Civil Service.[13]
It was announced on 11 October 2011 that, following Sir Gus' retirement at the end of 2011, the role of Head of the Home Civil Service would be split from the post of Cabinet Secretary. There will additionally be a new, separate, Permanent Secretary to lead the Cabinet Office.[14] After Sir Gus' retirement, Sir Jeremy Heywood replaced him as Cabinet Secretary; Ian Watmore as Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary; and lastly, Sir Bob Kerslake as Head of the Home Civil Service.[15] In July 2014 it was announced that Kerslake would step down and Heywood would take the title of Head of the HCS.[16]
Sir Warren Fisher 1919–1939 also Secretary to the Treasury
Sir GCMG, CBE 1939–1942 also Secretary to the Treasury
Sir Edward Bridges, GCB, GCVO, MC 1945–1956 also Secretary to the Treasury
Sir Norman Brook, GCB 1956-1962 also Joint Secretary to the Treasury
Sir Laurence Helsby, GCB, KBE 1963-1968 also Joint Secretary to the Treasury
The Rt Hon. Sir William Armstrong, GCB, MVO 1968–1974 also Permanent Secretary, Civil Service Department
Sir Douglas Allen, GCB 1974–1978 also Permanent Secretary, Civil Service Department
Sir Ian Bancroft 1978-1981 also Permanent Secretary, Civil Service Department
Sir Douglas Wass 1981-1983 also Secretary to the Treasury
Sir Robert Armstrong, GCB, CVO 1981-1988 also Secretary to the Cabinet
The Rt Hon. Sir Robin Butler, KG, GCB, CVO 1988–1998 also Secretary to the Cabinet
Sir Richard Wilson, GCB[17] 1998–2002 also Secretary to the Cabinet
Sir Andrew Turnbull, KCB, CVO 2002–2005 also Secretary to the Cabinet
Sir Gus O'Donnell, GCB 2005–2011 also Secretary to the Cabinet
Sir Bob Kerslake 2012–2014 also Permanent Secretary, Department of Communities and Local Government
Sir Jeremy Heywood 2014- also Secretary to the Cabinet
Permanent Secretaries Management Group (PSMG)
The PSMG consider issues of strategic importance to the Civil Service as a whole, as well as providing corporate leadership where a single position is required across all government departments.[18] It is chaired by Head of the Home Civil Service[13] and consists of all first permanent secretaries and other selected permanent secretaries and directors general. This includes Malcolm McKibbin, the current Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service,[6] and Simon Fraser, the current Head of the Diplomatic Service.[7]
Civil Service Steering Board (CSSB)
The CSSB was established in 2007 and meets monthly,[19] Its role is to enhance the performance and reputation of the Civil Service by focusing on specific areas delegated to it by PSMG.[19][20] The CSSB is chaired by Head of the Home Civil Service.[13]
Civil Service Commissioners
The Civil Service Commissioners are not civil servants and are independent of Ministers, they are appointed directly by the Crown under Royal Prerogative and they report annually to The Queen.[21]
Their main role is regarding the recruitment of civil servants. They have the responsibility to ensure that all civil servants are recruited on the "principle of selection on merit on the basis of fair and open competition." They maintain a recruitment code on the interpretation and application of that principle, and approve any exceptions to it. They audit recruitment policies and practices within the Civil Service and approve all appointments to the most senior levels of the Civil Service.[22]
The Commissioners also hear and determine appeals in cases of concern about propriety and conscience raised by civil servants under the Civil Service Code which cannot be resolved through internal procedures.[22]
Northern Ireland has a separate Commission called the Civil Service Commissioners for Northern Ireland which has the same role.[22][23]
Political neutrality
The Home Civil Service is a politically neutral body, with the function of impartially implementing the policy programme of the elected government.[24][25][26]
Like all servants of the Crown, civil servants are legally barred from standing for election as Members of Parliament or any other political office.[27] Also, under regulations first adopted in 1954 and revised in 1984, members of the Senior Civil Service (the top management grades) are barred from holding office in a political party or publicly expressing controversial political viewpoints, while less senior civil servants at an intermediate (managerial) level must generally seek permission to participate in political activities. The most junior civil servants are permitted to participate in political activities, but must be politically neutral in the exercise of their duties.[27]
All civil servants are subject to the Official Secrets Acts 1911 to 1989, meaning that they may not disclose sensitive government information. Since 1998, there have also been restrictions on contact between civil servants and lobbyists; this followed an incident known as "Lobbygate", where an undercover reporter for The Observer, posing as a business leader, was introduced by a lobbyist to a senior Downing Street official who promised privileged access to government ministers.[28][29] The Committee on Standards in Public Life, also created in 1998, is responsible for regulation of contacts between public officials and lobbyists.
The increasing influence of politically appointed "special advisers" in government departments can reduce the political neutrality of public administration. In Thatcher's government, Alan Walters was an official adviser from 1981 to 1984, and again in 1989.[30] Walters criticisms "of many aspects of Treasury policy, particularly in relation to exchange rate policy" and Thatcher's refusal to dismiss him led to Nigel Lawson's resignation as chancellor in 1989.[30] Thatcher also claimed that the 1981 budget, which increased taxes during the recession and was criticised by 364 economists, had been devised by Walters.[30] In 2000, then-Prime Minister Tony Blair was criticised for appointing 20 special advisers (compared to eight under his predecessor John Major) and for the fact that the total salary cost of special advisers across all government departments had reached £4 million.[31] In 2001, Stephen Byers, then Secretary of State for Transport, was forced to resign because of the actions of his special adviser Jo Moore, who instructed a departmental civil servant, Martin Sixsmith, that September 11, 2001, would be "a good day to bury bad news"; this was seen as inappropriate political manipulation of the Civil Service.[32] In particular, under the administration of Tony Blair, the influence of two Downing Street special advisers, Jonathan Powell and Alastair Campbell, both of whom were given formal power over Downing Street civil servants, provoked widespread criticism.[33]
The current coalition Government had proposed introducing a more American style system where senior civil servants such as permanent secretaries becoming political appointees [26] however this has been dropped after it was considered that the British permanent civil service style appertains better to the government of the United Kingdom.
Civil Service Code
A current civil service code was introduced on 6 June 2006 to outline the core values and standards expected of civil servants. The core values are defined as integrity, honesty, objectivity, and impartiality. A key change from previous values is the removal of anonymity within the core values.[34] The Code includes an independent line of appeal to the Civil Service Commissioners on alleged breaches of the Code.
Civil Service Management Code
The Civil Service Management Code (CSMC) sets out the regulations and instructions to departments and agencies regarding the terms and conditions of service of civil servants. It is the guiding document which gives delegation to civil service organisations, from the Minister for the Civil Service, in order for them to make internal personnel policies.[35]
Civil Service Commissioners' Recruitment Code
The Civil Service Commissioners' Recruitment Code is maintained by the Civil Service Commissioners and is based on the principle of selection on merit on the basis of fair and open competition.[36]
Osmotherly Rules
The Osmotherly Rules set out guidance on how civil servants should respond to Parliamentary select committees.[37]
Directory of Civil Service Guidance
A two-volume 125-page Directory of Civil Service Guidance was published in 2000 to replace the previous Guidance on Guidance, providing short summaries of guidance on a wide range of issues and pointing to more detailed sources.[38]
A breakdown by department of civil servants employed in 2013.
The structure of the home civil service is divided into organisations and grades. Each Secretary of State has a Department which has executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies subordinate to it.
Grading schemes
The grading system used in the civil service has changed many times, and the current structure is made up of two schemes. All senior grades (Deputy Director / Grade 5 level and above) are part of the Senior Civil Service, which is overseen by the Cabinet Office on behalf of the civil service as a whole. Below the Senior Civil Service, each individual department/executive agency can put in place its own grading and pay arrangements, provided they still comply with the central civil service pay and review guidance.
The Senior Civil Service Grade structure[39] is:
Pay Band/Grade
Military Equivalent
Permanent Secretary SCS Pay Band 4/Grade 1 Cabinet Secretary Chief of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom)
Permanent Secretary 4/5 star, General, Field Marshal,
Admiral, Admiral of the Fleet, Air Chief Marshal, Marshal of the RAF
SCS Pay Band 3/Grade 2 Director General 3 star, Lieutenant General, Vice Admiral, Air Marshal
SCS Pay Band 2/Grade 3 Director 2 star, Major General, Rear Admiral,
Air Vice Marshal
SCS Pay Band 1/Grade 5 Deputy Director 1 star, Brigadier, Senior Captain,
Commodore, Air Commodore
For lower grades many departments overlay their own grading structure, however the across government is as below.[40]
Grade 7 Colonel, Captain, Group Captain
Senior Executive Officer Lieutenant Colonel, Commander, Wing Commander
Higher Executive Officer Major, Lieutenant Commander, Squadron Leader
Executive Officer Captain, Lieutenant, Flight Lieutenant
Administrative Officer Staff Sergeant, Chief Petty Officer and Colour Sergeant, Flight Sergeant and Chief Technician
In popular culture
The BBC television series Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister are a parody of the British civil service and its relationship with government ministers. The portrayal is a caricature of the civil service predominantly characterised through Nigel Hawthorne's Sir Humphrey Appleby. The Thick Of It is a similar BBC television series that has been called "the 21st century's answer to Yes Minister", first broadcast in 2005. The series portrays a modernised version of the interactions between the Civil Service and the Government (chiefly in the form of special advisors), as well as the media's involvement in the process. Conversely, there is a long history of civil servants who are also literary authors, who often comment on their own institutions, including such writers as John Milton, John Dryden, Andrew Marvell, Robert Burns, William Wordsworth and Anthony Trollope.
Departments of the United Kingdom Government
Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service
Colonial Service
Northern Ireland Civil Service
Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS)
^ "Scotland Act 1998 (c. 46)". Section 51(9): Published by the UK Government. 1998. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
^ "Government of Wales Act 1998 (c.38)". Sections 34(2) and 34(3): Published by the UK Government. 1998. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
^ "Civil Service Order in Council 1995". Published by the UK Civil Service Commissioners. Retrieved 16 September 2009.
^ Bradley and Ewing, p.272
^ "Public Sector Employment Statistics, Q3 2013". UK Government,.
^ a b "Membership of the Permanent Secretaries Management Group". UK Government.
^ a b "Sir Peter Ricketts, Permanent Under Secretary, Foreign and Commonwealth Office". UK Government,.
^ (Bodde 2005)
^ Sampson, p.174-5
^ Sampson, p.171
^ The locus classicus showing the difficulty of this boundary was the interview of Michael Howard on Newsnight on 13 May 1997, which pivoted on the question whether as Minister he had intervened in the detailed management of the Prison Services Agency.
^ Patricia Greer, 1994,Transforming Central Government: the Next Steps, preface.
^ a b c d "Sir Gus O'Donnell, Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service". UK Government.
^ Number 10 – Cabinet Secretary announces retirement
^ "'"Civil Service Live Network: Kerslake to head civil service with promise of 'visible leadership. Cabinet Office Civil Service Live Network. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
^ https://www.gov.uk/government/people/jeremy-heywood
^ David Butler and Gareth Butler, Twentieth Century British Political Facts 1900-2000, Macmillan 2000, p. 302
^ "Permanent Secretaries Management Group". UK Government.
^ a b "Civil Service governance". UK Government.
^ "Civil Service Steering Board". UK Government.
^ "Civil Service Commissioners website (About Us)". Civil Service Commissioners.
^ a b c "Civil Service Commissioners website (Code of Practice)". Civil Service Commissioners.
^ "CCivil Service Commissioners for Northern Ireland". Civil Service Commissioners for Northern Ireland.
^ James B. Christoph, Political Rights and Administrative Impartiality in the British Civil Service," in Canadian Public Administration, eds. J.E. Hodgetts and D.C. Corbett (Toronto: Macmillan, 1960), 421.
^ http://pa.oxfordjournals.org/content/39/4/437.full.pdf
^ a b Ministers plot end to Civil Service neutrality - UK Politics - UK. The Independent (2012-08-01). Retrieved on 2013-08-24.
^ a b Bradley and Ewing, p.279-80
^ [Chapter 7: Lobbying and All-Party Groups], Sixth Report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life
^ a b c Alan Budd (6 January 2009). "Obituary-Sir Alan Walters:Economic adviser to Margaret Thatcher, he opposed Britain joining the ERM". Guardian newspapers. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
^ The advisers: Modernisation or politicisation?, BBC News, 12 January 2000
^ Spin doctor role under spotlight, BBC News, 5 January 2004
^ Uncivil to the servants, The Scotsman, 26 February 2002
^ "The Civil Service Code". UK Government.
^ "The Introduction to the Civil Service Management Code". UK Government.
^ "The Civil Service Commissioners' Recruitment Code". Civil Service Commissioners.
^ Gay, Oonagh (2005-08-04). "The Osmotherly Rules (Standard Note: SN/PC/2671)".
^ Directory of Civil Service Guidance, Cabinet Office 2000
^ "What's in a grade?". UK Civil Service, the Cabinet Office. 1 February 2010. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
^ http://www.stabilisationunit.gov.uk/attachments/article/178/Civil_Service_Equivalent_Grades.xls
Bodde, D., Chinese Ideas in the West [1]
Bradley, A.W. and Ewing, K.D., Constitutional and Administrative Law (Pearson, 2003)
Foster, C., British Government in Crisis (Hart 2005)
House of Commons Public Administration Committee, "These Unfortunate Events": Lessons of Recent Events at the Former DTLR, HMSO 2002 [2]
Sampson, Anthony, The Changing Anatomy of Britain (Hodder and Stoughton, 1982)
Sullivan, Ceri, Literature in the Civil Service: Sublime Bureaucracy (Palgrave, 2012)
Jonathan Tonge, The New Civil Service (Baseline, Tisbury 1999)
Zifcak, S., New Managerialism: Administrative Reform in Whitehall and Canberra (Open University Press, 1994)
Site explaining what being a civil servant is all about, maintained by a senior public official, Martin Stanley
Official Civil Service website
Civil Service official Twitter feed
Civil Service Club website
Academic article on the first fifteen years of the Citizen's Charter
The National Archives - Operational Selection Policy 24 - (which lists by date issues and events from March 1974 to 2000 relating to the machinery of Government and Civil Service management the key records of which should be preserved)
Cabinet Office - official site
GOV.UK - How Government Works
Collection of civil service conduct and guidance
BBC brief on the British Civil Service - h2g2
Guardian Special Report - Civil Service
Civil service in the executive branch of Government
Technocrat
National civil service commissions
Government occupations
Civil service by country
See also: Civil service reform in developing countries
9 Downing Street (Chief Whip's Office)
Privy Council Office
First Lord of the Treasury (Prime Minister)
Second Lord of the Treasury (Chancellor of the Exchequer)
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Government Chief Whip)
Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office
Parliamentary Private Secretary
Principal Private Secretary
Press Secretary
Prime Minister's Spokesman
Policy Unit
Strategy Unit
Minister for the Cabinet Office
Cabinet Secretary
Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary
Joint Intelligence Committee
Parliamentary Counsel Office
Government Cabinet
Cabinet Office Briefing Room
Civil Contingencies Secretariat
Efficiency and Reform Group
Provisional IRA mortar attack (1991)
Plebgate (2012)
Civil Service of the United Kingdom
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London, England, Harold Wilson, First Lord of the Treasury, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Isle of Man, India, Canada, European Union, British Overseas Territories
United Kingdom, Politics of the United Kingdom, Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, Scotland
United Kingdom, Northern Ireland Executive, Sinn Féin, Democratic Unionist Party, Northern Ireland Assembly
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Jenny Rowe
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Monarchy of the United Kingdom
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text:
Album artist 408 - Robert Plant
This page lists the album chart runs of Robert Plant. The albums are listed with the most widely successful first.
# Artist Album Title Year Chart Entries
1 Robert Plant Pictures At Eleven 1982 Canada 1 for 1 week - 1982, UK 2 - Jul 1982 (15 weeks), US Platinum (certified by RIAA in Dec 1990), Billboard 5 - Jul 1982 (53 weeks) (9 weeks in top 10), Norway 17 - Aug 1982 (7 weeks), US CashBox 19 of 1982, US BB 25 of 1982, Sweden 32 - Aug 1982 (6 weeks), ODK Germany 49 - Aug 1982 (3 weeks), Holland free40 54 of 1982, UK Silver (certified by BPI in Aug 1983), RYM 190 of 1982, Xgau rating B (1982)
2 Robert Plant The Principle Of Moments 1983 New Zealand 1 for 3 - Oct 1983, US Platinum (certified by RIAA in Jan 1984), UK Gold (certified by BPI in Sep 1983), UK 7 - Jul 1983 (14 weeks), Billboard 8 - Jul 1983 (40 weeks) (5 weeks in top 10), US CashBox 20 of 1983, US BB 30 of 1983, Holland free40 50 of 1983, ODK Germany 51 - Sep 1983 (10 weeks), RYM 109 of 1983
3 Robert Plant Now & Zen 1988 US 3 X Platinum (certified by RIAA in Sep 2001), UK Gold (certified by BPI in Mar 1992), Billboard 6 - Mar 1988 (46 weeks) (10 weeks in top 10), UK 10 - Mar 1988 (7 weeks), US CashBox 12 of 1988, Norway 12 - Mar 1988 (6 weeks), US BB 18 of 1988, Sweden 18 - Mar 1988 (6 weeks), ODK Germany 48 - Mar 1988 (2 weeks), Xgau rating B (1988)
4 Robert Plant Fate Of Nations 1993 US Gold (certified by RIAA in Dec 1993), UK 6 - Jun 1993 (8 weeks), Sweden 19 - Jun 1993 (8 weeks), Switzerland 32 - Jun 1993 (2 weeks), Billboard 34 - Jun 1993 (24 weeks), ODK Germany 56 - Jul 1993 (9 weeks), UK Silver (certified by BPI in Jun 1993), RYM 133 of 1993
5 Robert Plant Band Of Joy 2010 UK 3 - Sep 2010 (16 weeks), Billboard 5 - Oct 2010 (16 weeks) (1 week in top 10), ODK Germany 13 - Sep 2010 (6 weeks), Germany 13 - Sep 2010 (1 week), Acclaim Year 55 of 2010
6 Robert Plant Manic Nirvana 1990 US Gold (certified by RIAA in May 1990), Billboard 13 - Apr 1990 (25 weeks), UK 15 - Mar 1990 (9 weeks), ODK Germany 30 - Apr 1990 (13 weeks), UK Silver (certified by BPI in Apr 1990)
7 Robert Plant Shaken & Stirred 1985 US Gold (certified by RIAA in Jul 1985), UK 19 - Jun 1985 (4 weeks), Billboard 20 - Jun 1985 (12 weeks), Sweden 33 - Jun 1985 (2 weeks), ODK Germany 57 - Jun 1985 (1 week)
8 Robert Plant Dreamland 2002 ODK Germany 19 - Jul 2002 (6 weeks), UK 20 - Jul 2002 (1 week), Norway 26 - Jul 2002 (1 week), Billboard 40 - Aug 2002 (4 weeks)
9 Robert Plant Sixty Six To Timbuktu 2003 UK 27 - Nov 2003 (3 weeks), Billboard 134 - Nov 2003 (1 week)
10 Robert Plant Lullaby And... The Ceaseless Roar 2014 Billboard 10 - Sep 2014 (7 weeks) (1 week in top 10), ODK Germany 10 - Sep 2014 (5 weeks) (1 week in top 10)
11 Robert Plant Best Of 1990 Sweden 35 - Mar 1990 (4 weeks)
In addition to the above listed albums Robert Plant also contributed to the following entries:
1 Robert Plant & Alison Krauss Raising Sand 2007 Norway 1 - Nov 2007 (30 weeks), Grammy in 2008, UK 2 - Nov 2007 (60 weeks), Billboard 2 - Nov 2007 (72 weeks) (4 weeks in top 10), Sweden 2 - Nov 2007 (29 weeks), Mercury prize 2008 (Nominated), US Platinum (certified by RIAA in Mar 2008), UK Platinum (certified by BPI in Jan 2008), Canada Platinum (certified by CRIA in Apr 2008), ODK Germany 28 - Nov 2007 (10 weeks), Acclaim Year 29 of 2007, Switzerland 32 - Nov 2007 (17 weeks), US BB 41 of 2007, Radio Caroline 263 (2007), WTMD 421, RYM 67 of 2007, Chart2000.com album 23 of 2008
2 Jimmy Page & Robert Plant No Quarter 1994 US Platinum (certified by RIAA in Dec 1994), Billboard 4 - Nov 1994 (23 weeks) (1 week in top 10), UK Gold (certified by BPI in Feb 1995), UK 7 - Nov 1994 (13 weeks), Sweden 10 - Nov 1994 (4 weeks), Switzerland 16 - Nov 1994 (10 weeks), ODK Germany 18 - Nov 1994 (16 weeks), Austria 34 - Dec 1994 (2 months), US BB 62 of 1994, France (InfoDisc) 90 of 1994 (peak 8, 8 weeks), Italy 96 of 1994
3 Jimmy Page & Robert Plant Walking Into Clarksdale 1998 UK 3 - May 1998 (6 weeks), US Gold (certified by RIAA in May 1998), Billboard 8 - May 1998 (13 weeks) (1 week in top 10), ODK Germany 13 - May 1998 (7 weeks), Germany 13 - May 1998 (1 week), Norway 13 - May 1998 (5 weeks), Sweden 17 - May 1998 (2 weeks), Switzerland 31 - May 1998 (4 weeks), US BB 101 of 1998
4 Robert Plant & The Strange Sensation Mighty Rearranger 2005 UK 4 - May 2005 (7 weeks), Norway 10 - May 2005 (3 weeks), Sweden 13 - May 2005 (2 weeks), Billboard 22 - May 2005 (6 weeks), ODK Germany 25 - May 2005 (5 weeks), Holland free40 91 of 2005, UK Silver (certified by BPI in May 2005)
Comment on the contents of the 'Album artist 408 - Robert Plant' page
Double Listing - Mighty Rearranger
#8 should be combined with #4 (under duets w/The Strange Sensation).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Samsung Invests in FOVE
By Jamie Feltham	 On Jun 25, 2015
It's been a busy few weeks for FOVE, the upcoming virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) that utilises eye-tracking technology. The company behind the kit launched a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign for the device earlier in the year, and has so far nearly doubled its $250,000 USD funding goal, sitting at $451,919 at the time of writing. There's still 8 days left before the campaign's 4th July 2015 closure but today the team has revealed that it is to receive support from Samsung, the South Korean electronics company behind the Gear VR mobile HMD.
Samsung Ventures has made an investment in FOVE. Specifics of the deal haven't been disclosed but the company notes that it will bring in additional capital and other support to help with the completion of the hardware itself. "With this new investment and from our Kickstarter community, we will work diligently in making FOVE development possible on a large scale," said FOVE CEO and co-founder Yuka Kojima said of the news. "Our goal is to further advance the virtual reality market."
It's not clear if this deal could also be the first step to incorporating eye-tracking into Gear VR. Though certainly intriguing, the mobile nature of the system may present some challenges to its implementation.
This is far from the only significant announcement FOVE has made over the past few weeks. During E3 2015 in Los Angeles, California, it announced intentions to support Valve's SteamVR system, including the Room Scale user-tracking provided by the Lighthouse device. According to the company, today's news will ensure that this integration does indeed happen, having previously been locked behind a $700,000 stretch goal in the Kickstarter campaign itself.
VRFocus will continue to follow FOVE's work in VR closely, reporting back with the latest updates on it.
FOVEVirtual RealityVRFocus
Jamie Feltham 5007 posts 24 comments
A keen writer with a love of VR and a need to bring you the latest news and features.


text:
Peter Hawes The Roman history, from the building of Rome to the ruin of the Commonwealth. Illustrated with maps and oth... Volume 5
transcribed: Hookes R. Hist 9/28/1804 10/11/1804
Peter Hawes The history of the execrable Irish rebellion trac'd from many preceding acts, to the grand eruption the 2... Volume 2
transcribed: Irish Rebellion 10/22/1804 10/26/1804
Peter Hawes Ethelinde, or, The recluse of the lake / by Charlotte Smith. Volume 2
transcribed: Ethelinda 10/26/1804 11/6/1804
Peter Hawes The fugitive of the forest Volume 2
transcribed: Fugitive Forest 11/9/1804 11/12/1804
Peter Hawes The doctrine of chances Volume 2
transcribed: Chances 11/12/1804 11/22/1804
Peter Hawes The revolutionary Plutarch Volume 1
transcribed: Revol. Plutarch 11/22/1804 11/28/1804
Peter Hawes The peasant of Ardenne forest Volume 2
transcribed: Peasant Ardenne 11/28/1804 12/7/1804
Peter Hawes Physiognomical travels, preceded by a physiognomical journal. Translated from the German of J. C. A. Musæu... Volume 2
transcribed: Physiog Travels 12/7/1804 12/22/1804
Peter Hawes The Village Pastor and His Children Volume 2
transcribed: Village Pastor 12/22/1804 1/5/1805
Peter Hawes Harrison's British classicks. Volume 1
transcribed: Harrison B Classics 1/5/1805 1/31/1805
Peter Hawes The depraved husband and the philosophic wife. Volume 2
transcribed: Depraved Husband 2/1/1805 2/9/1805
Peter Hawes The farmer's boy Volume 2
transcribed: Farmers Boy 2/9/1805 2/20/1805
Peter Hawes Popular tales Volume 2
transcribed: Popular Tales 2/20/1805 3/1/1805
Peter Hawes Astonishment!!! A romance of a century ago ... Volume 2
transcribed: Astonishment 3/1/1805 3/18/1805 6d
Peter Hawes The minstrel; or, The progress of genius. In two books. With some other poems.
transcribed: Minstrel James Beattie 3/18/1805 3/30/1805
Peter Hawes The old manor house. A novel, in four volumes. By Charlotte Smith. Volume 2
transcribed: Old M House 3/30/1805 4/13/1805
Peter Hawes Mother & daughter Volume 2
Peter Hawes Human Frailties Volume 2
transcribed: Human Frailties 4/20/1805 4/27/1805
Peter Hawes Latitia Volume 2
transcribed: Latitia 4/27/1805 5/7/1805
Peter Hawes Edgar Huntly; or, Memoirs of a sleep-walker. By the author of Arthur Mervyn, Wieland,--Ormond, &c. Vol ... Volume 2
transcribed: Edgar Huntley 5/7/1805 5/20/1805
Peter Hawes The neapolitan; or, the test of integrity. a novel. In three volumes. By Ellen of Exeter. ... Volume 2
transcribed: Neapolitan 5/20/1805 6/3/1805
Peter Hawes Hartlebourn Castle Volume 2
transcribed: Hartleb. Castle 6/3/1805 6/12/1805
Peter Hawes Anzoletta Zadoski. A novel. In two volumes. By Mrs. Howell, author of Georgina, &c. &c. Volume 2
transcribed: Anzoletti Zodoski 6/12/1805 6/19/1805
Peter Hawes Don Raphael Volume 2
Peter Hawes The white knight, or, The monastery of Morne Volume 2
transcribed: White Knights 6/27/1805 7/5/1805
Peter Hawes Odd enough, to be sure! or, Emilius in the world Volume 2
transcribed: Odd enough to be sure 7/5/1805 7/10/1805
Peter Hawes St. Clair of the isles Volume 2
transcribed: St Clair Isles 7/10/1805 7/12/1805
Peter Hawes Castle Rackrent
transcribed: Castle Rackrent Maria Edgeworth 7/12/1805 7/30/1805
Peter Hawes The works of Thomas Chatterton ... Volume 2
transcribed: Chatterton's Works 8/2/1805 8/17/1805
Peter Hawes Distrest virtue; or, the history of Miss Harriet Nelson. In which is included the unhappy story of Miss Car... Volume 2
transcribed: Distressed Virtue 8/17/1805 8/20/1805
Peter Hawes The pride of ancestry, or, Who is she? Volume 2
transcribed: Pride of Ancestry 8/20/1805 8/26/1805
Peter Hawes The vale of Conway Volume 2
transcribed: Vale Conway 8/26/1805 9/2/1805
Peter Hawes Audley Fortescue; or the victims of frailty. A novel. In two volumes. By Mr. Robinson. Volume 2
transcribed: Audley Fortesque 9/2/1805 11/4/1805
Peter Hawes The son of Ethelwolf Volume 2
transcribed: Son Ethelwolfe 11/15/1805 11/15/1805
Peter Hawes Transactions for which no related book has been identified.
transcribed: Montigues Works 11/15/1805 1/2/1806
Peter Hawes The watch tower; or, The sons of Ulthona. An historic romance ... Volume 2
transcribed: Watch Tower 12/1/1805 12/6/1805
Peter Hawes The stranger in France, or, A tour from Devonshire to Paris / by John Carr.
transcribed: Stranger in France Sir John Carr 12/6/1805 12/20/1805
Peter Hawes Œuvres de Monsieur de Montesquieu. De l'esprit des loix. Volume 1
transcribed: Montagues Works 12/20/1805 1/2/1806


text:
UK Professional Guarding Ltd
The Security Industry Authority is the organisation responsible for regulating the private security industry. They are an independent body reporting to the Home Secretary, under the terms of the Private Security Industry Act 2001. Their mission is to regulate the private security industry effectively; to reduce criminality, raise standards and recognize quality service. Their remit covers the United Kingdom.
The Information Commissioner's Office is the UK's independent authority set up to uphold information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy for individuals.
The United Kingdom Accreditation Service is the sole national accreditation body recognized by government to assess, against internationally agreed standards, organisations that provide certification, testing, inspection and calibration services.
BS EN ISO 9001:2008 sets out the criteria for a quality management system and is the only standard that can be certified. It is an internationally recognized standard that is considered a pre-requisite by most private and public sector organisations in Europe
BS EN ISO 9001:2008 requires UK Professional Guarding Limited to carefully audit our own operating procedures and hold Management Review Meetings to discuss and update our internal objectives and targets throughout the year
Copyright © 2019 | Powered by UK Professional Guarding Ltd |


text:
Q: Resizing recommendation On Google DataCloud I have set up a cluster of 24 high-memory CPUs (1 master: 8 vCPUs and 2 workers: 8 vCPUs). In the recommendation bar at the bottom of the first picture is adviced to resize the master-node to 10 CPUs, so 2 additional CPUs, because the master is overutilized. Nevertheless the graph in the first picture shows I have not been above a CPU utilization of 12%.

Additionally when I go to the VM Instances page, another recommendation is made. It is advised to resize my master-node from a high-memory one to a standard one as show in picture 2. So according to this recommendation I should size my cluster down.

Is there someone who can give me a (logical) explanation of what I should do?
I got the impression that my master and workers are not utilized at their full potential as often a lot of CPU-power is not used.

A: Unfortunately, as mentioned in this related answer Dataproc doesn't currently support live reconfiguring of the already-running Hadoop/Spark services when you resize machines through the Google Compute Engine interface. Dataproc is optimized to make it easy to run ephemeral clusters, however, so that the quick cluster deployment time allows you to easily experiment with other cluster shapes or newer Dataproc image versions.
For now, to try a new machine size you should create a new Dataproc cluster with the new settings. Looking at your historical CPU usage, I'd say the recommended upgrade from 8 cores to 10 cores probably isn't a strong enough signal as long as the brief periods of CPU overutilization don't appear to be causing any problems to your currently running jobs (in general Dataproc jobs are more likely to "overutilize" CPUs than, say, web frontend instances, and this doesn't necessarily mean you actually want more CPUs).
The recommended memory downgrade of the master seems close enough to an n1-standard-8 that if it were me I'd just try an n1-standard-8 for the master node next time I deploy the cluster rather than going so fined-grained with a custom machine type.
If you really do want to try the custom machine types, Dataproc does support custom machine types when deploying with the gcloud command-line tool. Here are the instructions for specifying custom mix of CPU/RAM in a Dataproc command.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Panaji: Some senior members of ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who are said to be dissatisfied with the decisions taken by the party recently, met at the residence of former State Deputy Chief Minister and incumbent MLA from Mapusa Francis D'Souza at his residence on Thursday and demanded overhauling of the party set up in the state.
He said his opinion was in the interest of the party and he had no personal grievance against anyone. ''It is in the interest of the party. I have no grievance against anybody,'' he said.The Goa unit of BJP has been in turmoil for over a month. Recently North Goa MP Narendra Sawaikar and State Assembly Speaker Pramod Sawant had met the former Chief Minister.
The senior party leaders are said to be upset with the recent decisions of the party like induction of former Congress MLAs Dayanand Sopte and Subhash Shirodkar into BJP and removal of Mr D'Souza from the state cabinet.
In 2017 assembly elections, Mr Sopte, then a Congress candidate, had defeated Mr Parsekar in Mandrem assembly constituency, while Mr Shirodkar, who contested on Congress ticket, had defeated Mahadev Naik, then industries minister in BJP government, in Shiroda.
Farhan Akhtar feels exhilarated after performing in Goa!


text:
Myths of the origins of the flag (Sweden)
Last modified: 2021-08-25 by christopher oehler
Keywords: sweden | historical |
by Edward Mooney, Jr.,
Myths of the origins of the flag
Historical flags (Sweden)
Colours of the flag
Colours of the flag in history
The three crowns of Sweden
There are many stories and legends surrounding the colours of our national flag.
One legend which has a very strong support holds that blue represents the lakes and the sky and that the gold or yellow represents the sun, I am not sure I subscribe to this version although it is cute as a story.
The legend which has certain historical fact states that is that on the eve of a battle one of the kings saw in the blue evening sky a yellow cross telling him that the battle would be won and he emblazoned his personal banner and of course the battle was won.
However one should note that as long as there has been written records of flags for the Swedes as a whole the colours have been the same.
Mats W. Emblad, 18 May 1999
...am I wong assuming that the Swedish flag is a (relatively) modern "dannebrog with the tre kronor colours" sort of thing?...
Having originated "only" because of a coat of arms is one of the most "solid" meanings for a flag's colours  much better than say "yellow for the gold and blue for the lakes", which could turn to "yellow for the gold and blue for the sky", once the mines are depleted and the lakes claimed to cabbage farms.
Antonio Martins, 20 May 1999


text:
Noting our many stories: the flavours, textures, colours, smells, sounds, ambiance of the experience.
Oct 21 AURA Show (Notre-Dame Basilica of Montréal)
Iliana Sergeev
On a visit to Montreal for the World Design Summit speaking engagement, Ma Cherie had a chance to come across Moment Factory's interactive and digitally-lit Montreal's Jacques-Cartier Bridge. While that delightful infrastructure can be marvelled on its own, there is another project in the company's portfolio, AURA, which, as a designer, captured even more attention from a professional perspective.
From the outside, the basilica is lit with numerous blue lights giving it a cold, extra-terrestrial feel. There is a much warmer coloured fountain with dancing water reflections right in front - adding a lively, human vibe around the historical square. A thousand or so people, waiting to get in for the show, also hyped up the atmosphere. It's worth noting that the massive lineup moved surprisingly fast.
Ma Chérie was impressed to see that such a historic religious institution invested in a brand and logo development to be elegantly used throughout all their marketing and communications materials. The handwritten script "N" and "D" initials intertwined with classy simplicity, pointing at history, but looking towards the future. Furthermore, the environmental Aura installation project was kicked off as part of the Montreal's 375th anniversary, and was brought to life by the Moment Factory team. The team had to build a 3D model to accurately capture all the intricacies of the Basilica's interior – a tremendous amount of work, even if 3D scanning was mainly used.
Upon entry, we were instructed to walk around prior to sitting down to take a look at the many smaller projections to the sides, embellishing and highlighting some of the depicted iconic scenes. As we wanted to get good and central seats for the show, we decided to leave the walking around until the end. In retrospect, we would recommend exploring the few art pieces before the show to get a taste of effects to come. The bench seats were narrow and comfy, but not for slouching.
We were glad that the show started a bit late, as people came trickling in right up to the kickoff. The initial buildup was slow and warm, soft lighting flowing gently from the top stained glass above the altar. While we assumed that there might be religious overtones, we soon had realized that the show was more nature-focused. Some effects appeared to highlight the architecture, while other motifs were full of scenic landscapes. The arched dome was used for more powerful scenes, such as the autumn leaves being blown and changing colours, and celestial skyscapes, and fluffy clouds passing by.
The level of detail was so impressive that we'd thought some walls were LED screens. Don't be fooled, - projection technology has gone a long way with the newest laser devices being capable of miraculous performance when combined with an experiential design.
There also was a more concert-like part of the show: a technology-inspired scene with projectors revealing themselves by beaming strong lights at the audience. An important part of the experience was the impressive surround sound. We thought that there was even an organ integrated into some of the tracks. The projectors beaming from all the sides and a well-tuned soundtrack worked together to create a truly submersible experience.
The main projections only engulf the front half of the Basilica's vault with just a few scenes reaching beyond. The audience is forward-oriented, and we happened to snatch the best seats right in the middle, between the altar and entrance.
This 20-minute performance was $25 a person, with two shows available at nights on the weekends, which sold out almost every show. We highly recommend it – it is a one-of-a-kind experience – a spectacle of technology and art fused in a mind-blowing feast for the eyes and ears, inside an incredible architecture landmark. Hurry in, the installation should be on for about a year, starting March 2017.
montreal, notre-dame, basilica, aura, light show, event, experience, religious, technology, projectors, LED, nature-foucsed, scenic, motifs, clouds, benches, lights
Oct 22 Aux Vivres
Oct 17 Saint-Houblon
Written by Iliana and Sergey Sergeev.
Edited by Bair Badmajapov.
#ispalette


When a visitor accesses a directory (rather than a page) on your web site, the browser typically displays the directory's index page. If no index page exists, the browser displays a list of the files in that directory. Use the Indexes interface to define how the server displays a specific directory's index to a visitor, or to disable index display for a directory.
Web Root — Begin navigation in the document root for the account's primary domain.
Document Root for — Select the domain that corresponds to the document root in which you wish to begin navigation.
To configure the interface to always open your selection from Step 1, select the Always open this directory in the future checkbox.
To navigate into a folder, click the folder icon ( ).
To navigate up one level of the directory tree, click Up One Level at the top of the list of directory contents.
To select a directory, click that directory's name.
Default System Setting — cPanel uses the default that your hosting provider defines.
No Indexing — The server does not list the contents of the directory. Browsers display a message that states that the contents are forbidden.
Standard Indexing — The server lists the directory's contents as filenames only.
Fancy Indexing — The server lists file names and additional information, such as file size and time last modified.


text:
HS2 excavation of Stoke Mandeville church to open to public
The medieval church has more than 900 years of history that will be shared at St Mary's Field Museum
Emily Craigie
A new museum at a HS2 excavation site in Stoke Mandeville is opening later this month as archaeologists dig up the site.
The Old St Mary's Church sits on the HS2 line and work is taking place to move thousands of bodies from the site, the church fell into disrepair in the late 1800s - the final person was buried there in 1908.
Forty archaeologists are working at the site in a tent the size of a football pitch and expect to uncover around 3,000 burials. The church was originally built in 1080AD and archaeologists believe their work could unearth more than 900 years of history of what life was life in the area.
The St Mary's Field Museum plans to tell the story of the role of the medieval church in the community from its construction to its decline through the ruins.
You will be able to climb up to the viewing platform for a bird's eye view across the excavations and there will also be displays and films, as well as experts available to talk about the ongoing works.
This work at the HS2 site has been ongoing since 2018 and last year it was announced that unusual stone carvings, medieval graffiti, and other markings had been discovered causing people to question whether they were sundials or witching marks.
Dr Rachel Wood, Project Archaeologist for Fusion JV, said: "The excavation of the medieval church at St Mary's will offer real insight into what life was like in Stoke Mandeville for over nine centuries. Those buried there will be remembered once again and the lives they lived over 900 years understood.
"The best way to honour the dead is to understand their stories and how they lived their lives. Ultimately, this is what the works at the site of Old St Mary's church will do, providing a lasting legacy to the present community of Stoke Mandeville."
The pop-up museum will be open to the public on Saturday, May 29 and Sunday, May 30, and at regular dates throughout the summer.
You can book tickets for the opening weekend from May 17 here and booking will end at 10am on Friday May 28. The timeslots are:
10am – 11am
HS2 - Buckinghamshire Council 'closely monitoring' Calvert concrete plant
Midsomer Murders - Midsomer named the fifth most murderous place in the country


text:
The St Botolph Building is a commercial office in Houndsditch, central London, opened in 2011 and designed by Grimshaw Architects.

It is one of a number of landmark buildings recently delivered or in development to the East of the Gherkin in the City of London ward of Aldgate, which together with the wards of Langbourn, Cornhill and Lime Street forms the centre of the UK insurance industry.

Two of the three main tenants, Jardine Lloyd Thompson and Lockton, are businesses with a substantial insurance broking component, which are therefore reliant on close proximity to the Lloyd's building and the globally-significant London market in insurance contracts that focuses on Lloyd's of London. The third main tenant, Clyde & Co, also has insurance ties as one of the largest insurance and reinsurance law firms in the world.

History
The previous building occupying the majority of the site was a modern municipal-style  office block owned by the Post Office / British Telecom with some mixed-use street level retail units including banks, a betting shop and a Thai Restaurant.

Planning permission was initially granted in 1999. Developers Minerva went on to submit two further plans for the site, including one for what would have been the City's first million+ square foot skyscraper, also designed by Grimshaw Architects. This tower was rejected, and the original permissions revived in 2006, with some revisions.

The St Botolph Building
Designed by Grimshaw Architects and developed by Minerva plc with Skanska as main contractor, the Building is notable for the blue glass spandrels, pre-fabricated escape cores and a central atrium dominated by a steel structure on which a ThyssenKrupp "TWIN" lift system  runs 16 lifts on eight tracks, a rare solution in the UK. The building's creative use of structural steel has been recognised by the British Constructional Steelwork Association's Structural Steel Design Awards.

Grimshaw Architects report that the brief was to create "a landmark building of significant architectural merit on a site that forms a key gateway to the City of London". The configuration of the central atrium and lift system affords the freeholder greater flexibility, permitting the later installation of bridges and access ways internally to meet changing tenancy needs.

The building's design and management processes include waste management and 'biomatics' to deliver a "zero to landfill" policy. Lighting throughout uses techniques including proximity detection to minimise unnecessary energy use. According to the property's managing agents CBRE, the Building has "achieved a BREEAM Very Good rating through its many sustainable design features". The City of London's Clean City Awards programme granted the building Gold Award status in January 2015.

Tenancy
The developer faced some controversy  for its strategy of releasing 100,000+ square foot properties onto a depressed market following the Credit Crunch, but full occupancy was confirmed by 2012. The top four floors are let to law firm Clyde & Co, floors 9-3 let to insurance brokers Jardine Lloyd Thompson and floors 1 & 2 to insurance brokers Lockton.

Additionally, the street level houses mixed units including a coffee bar, a gym club and a metro supermarket space, all three let and with tenants trading with both building inhabitants and the general public. Total rental yield is estimated at £30m per annum.

The developer sold the leasehold for £460m in 2013

See also

 City of London landmarks
 Leadenhall Market

References

Office buildings completed in 2010
Buildings and structures in the City of London

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
DC BAR
MD BAR
Admissions Rules
Granting Admission
Denying Admission
Other Rulings
Maryland Lawyers Act
SBLE Rules
MD Bar Process
DC Bar Process
Fit to Admit?
DC BAR ➤
Admissions Rules ➤
DC Bar Rule 46(c) Admission based on examination in this jurisdiction
(1) Place and Dates of Examination. The Committee may extend the days for examination for an applicant pursuant to a request for testing accommodations.
(2) Time to Apply and Fees.
(A) An application to take the bar examination shall be submitted in a format approved by the Committee and filed with the Director of Admissions (Director) not later than December 15 for the February examination and May 3 for the July examination unless, for exceptional cause shown, the time is extended by the Committee. The contents of the application to take the examination shall be confidential except upon order of the court.
(B) The application shall be accompanied by (1) a payment to the Clerk, D.C. Court of Appeals (Clerk), in an amount and form approved by the Committee and specified by the Director, and (2) payment to NCBE, or proof of payment to NCBE, in an amount and form specified on the application form.
(C) Late applications may be filed within 15 days from the closing dates specified in subparagraph (i) and must be accompanied by an additional, non-refundable payment to the Clerk, D.C. Court of Appeals, in an amount and form approved by the Committee.
(3) Proof of Legal Education in a Law School Approved by the American Bar Association. An applicant who has graduated from a law school that at the time of graduation was approved by the American Bar Association (ABA) shall be permitted to take the bar examination. Under no circumstances shall such an applicant be admitted to the Bar without first having submitted to the Director a certificate that the applicant has graduated from an ABA-approved law school with a J.D. or LL.B. degree.
(4) Law Study in a Law School Not Approved by the ABA. An applicant who graduated from a law school not approved by the ABA shall be permitted to take the bar examination only after successfully completing at least 26 credit hours of study in a law school that at the time of such study was approved by the ABA. All such 26 credit hours shall be earned in courses of study, each of which is substantially concentrated on a single subject tested on the Uniform Bar Examination.
(5) Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination. An applicant for admission by examination shall not be admitted to the Bar unless that applicant has also taken the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) written and administered by NCBE and has received thereon the minimum required grade as determined by the Committee. Arrangements to take the MPRE, including the payment of any fees therefor, shall be made directly with NCBE. The score received on the MPRE shall not be used in connection with the scoring of the bar examination.
(6) Examination of Applications. The Director shall examine each application to determine the applicant's eligibility and to verify the completeness of the application. If eligibility is not demonstrated, the applicant shall be permitted to furnish additional information. If the application is not complete, the needed information shall be provided upon the Director's request.
(7) Examination Identification Number. The Director shall assign an examination number to each accepted applicant. Each applicant shall be notified by the Director of the applicant's examination number and shall be furnished an admission card and a list of instructions. Further disclosure of the examination number of any applicant is prohibited.
(8) General Considerations Regarding the Examination.
(A) The examination shall be the Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) developed by NCBE. The UBE consists of a written component, consisting of the Multistate Essay Examination (MEE) and the Multistate Performance Test (MPT), and a multiple choice component, which is the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE).
(B) An applicant may request the Committee to accept an MBE score from a prior examination administration provided that:
(i) The prior MBE scaled score is not less than 133; and
(ii) The prior administration was within 25 months of the present administration.
(C) An applicant may request the Committee to accept a written component score from a prior examination administration in the District of Columbia provided that:
(i) The prior written component scaled score is not less than 133; and
(D) An applicant requesting acceptance of a score from a prior administration shall submit with the application to sit for the bar examination a score transfer form. Any score earned in a prior administration may not be used to earn a UBE score that can be transferred to seek admission in another U.S. jurisdiction. To earn a transferable UBE score, an applicant must take both the written and MBE components in a single administration of the examination.
(E) Examination booklets shall be furnished by the Committee. Computers or typewriters furnished by the applicants may be used by prearrangement with the Director.
(F) Except by permission of the Committee's representative, no applicant shall leave the examination room during the examination. Each applicant, upon leaving the examination room, shall turn in the examination materials to the Committee's representative.
(9) Computation of Written Component Scaled Scores. The raw scores on the written component shall be converted to scaled scores by NCBE in accordance with UBE policies.
(10) Determining Pass/Fail Status.
(A) An applicant taking the written and MBE components concurrently must attain a combined UBE scaled score of 266 or greater to pass the examination.
(B) If an MBE component score from a prior administration is accepted by the Committee under (c)(8)(B) above, the applicant must attain a scaled score of 133 or higher on the written component in the current administration to pass the examination. If a written component score from a prior administration is accepted by the Committee under (c)(8)(C) above, the applicant must attain a scaled score of 133 or higher on the MBE component in the current administration to pass the examination.
(C) Before notice and publication of the examination results, the Committee shall review the written component answers of all applicants who have attained a written component scaled score or a combined UBE scaled score within a specified number of points below the passing score, as determined by the Committee.
(11) Time of Notice and Publication of Results. Applicants shall be notified in writing of the results of their examination.
(A) The Director shall notify each successful applicant of his or her written component scaled score, MBE scaled score, and combined UBE scaled score, as applicable. An alphabetical list of the successful applicants shall be published with the request that any information tending to affect the eligibility of an applicant on moral grounds be furnished to the Committee. The first publication shall be at least 30 days before the Committee reports to the court. A copy of this list shall be posted in the office of the Clerk for three weeks.
(B) The Director shall notify in writing each unsuccessful applicant of the applicant's score. The notification shall contain the applicant's raw score for each question in the written component, the written component scaled score, the MBE scaled score, and the combined UBE scaled score.
(12) Post-examination Review. Each unsuccessful applicant may review his or her graded written component answers by executing and returning the review request form so that it is received by the Director by the 30th day after examination results are published. A review of the MBE is not available. The Director shall advise the unsuccessful applicant of the date, time, and place at which the written component answers may be reviewed. The review period shall not exceed three hours.
(13) Destruction of the Written Component Answers. Destruction of the applicant answers in the written examination component may commence 30 days from the date of publication of the examination results, but destruction of the written component answers of an unsuccessful applicant who takes advantage of the post-examination review procedure shall be delayed until at least 15 days after the review.
(14) Previous Failures. An applicant who has taken the bar examination or a component of the bar examination four times in the District of Columbia and failed to earn a passing score will not be permitted to take a further examination, except upon a showing of extraordinary circumstances. An applicant who has previously taken the bar examination in the District of Columbia four or more times before the effective date of this rule will be permitted to take the bar examination one additional time without a showing of extraordinary circumstances.
(15) Communication with Committee Members and Graders. No applicant shall communicate with Committee members or graders concerning any applicant's performance in the examination.
When the Maryland Board of Law Examiners, DC Bar Committee on Admissions, or any character committee questions your character and fitness for bar admission, bar applicants should retain an attorney to assist in disclosing information relevant to character and fitness, to guide them through the bar admissions process, and to represent applicants in character committee hearings and in hearings before the Court of Appeals to determine whether they are fit to practice law. Character and fitness concerns may arise in connection with prior criminal convictions, academic dishonesty and honor code violations, addictions, drunk driving, neglected debts, and a failure to disclose material information on law school applications or on bar applications. If you have a history of misconduct, traffic citations, crimes, arrests and other facts to disclose in response to the character portion of the Maryland Bar Application or the DC Bar's NCBE application, you should strongly consider retaining bar admissions counsel if you want to avoid denial of a law license and get a license to practice law. This is even true for applicants for admission to law schools as these applications ask similar questions about character. A failure to disclose facts material to your admission could result in a denial of bar admission.
By The Lawyer's Lawyers | Kramer & Connolly and Irwin R. Kramer who are responsible for the content of this informational website.


text:
Anne of Green Gables is a 1985 Canadian television drama film based on the novel of the same name by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery. The film starred Megan Follows and was produced and directed by Kevin Sullivan for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It was released theatrically in Iran, Israel, Europe, and Japan. The film aired on CBC Television as a two-part miniseries on December 1, 1985. Both parts of the film were among the highest-rated programs of any genre ever to air on a Canadian television network. On February 17, 1986, the film aired on PBS in the United States on the series WonderWorks. ... more on Wikipedia
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text:
Bienvenue dans la documentation du module Centreon AWIE !
=========================================================

Le module Centreon AWIE a été conçu pour aider les utilisateurs à configurer plusieurs plateformes Centreon Web, d'une manière plus rapide et plus facile, grâce à son mécanisme d'import/export.

A partir d'un environnement source correctement configuré, on pourra utiliser le module d'Import/Export pour recréer les objets souhaités à l'identique dans un environnement cible.

Centreon AWIE s'appuie sur les commandes CLAPI mais possède l'avantage de pouvoir les exécuter depuis l'interface graphique au lieu d'avoir à les taper dans un terminal.

Sommaire :

.. toctree::
   :maxdepth: 2

   Installation.rst
   Export.rst
   Import.rst

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
package filestore

import (
	//"bytes"
	//"encoding/hex"
	"errors"
	"fmt"
	"io"

	dag_pb "github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs/merkledag/pb"
	fs_pb "github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs/unixfs/pb"
	proto "gx/ipfs/QmZ4Qi3GaRbjcx28Sme5eMH7RQjGkt8wHxt2a65oLaeFEV/gogo-protobuf/proto"
)

type UnixFSInfo struct {
	Type     fs_pb.Data_DataType
	Data     []byte
	FileSize uint64
}

const useFastReconstruct = true

func Reconstruct(data []byte, in io.Reader, blockDataSize uint64) ([]byte, *UnixFSInfo, error) {
	// if blockDataSize == 0 {
	// 	res1, fsinfo1, err1 := reconstruct(data, nil)
	// 	if err1 != nil {
	// 		return res1, fsinfo1, err1
	// 	}
	// 	_ = fsinfo1
	// 	res2, fsinfo2, err2 := reconstructDirect(data, nil, 0)
	// 	_ = fsinfo2
	// 	if err2 != nil {
	// 		panic(err2)
	// 	}
	// 	if !bytes.Equal(res1, res2) {
	// 		println("res1")
	// 		print(hex.Dump(res1))
	// 		println("res2")
	// 		print(hex.Dump(res2))
	// 		panic("Result not equal!")
	// 	}
	// 	return res2, fsinfo2, err2
	// }
	if data == nil { // we have a raw node
		blockData, err := readFromFile(in, blockDataSize)
		if err != nil {
			println(err)
		}
		return blockData, nil, err
	} else if useFastReconstruct {
		return reconstructDirect(data, in, blockDataSize)
	} else {
		blockData, err := readFromFile(in, blockDataSize)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, nil, err
		}
		return reconstruct(data, blockData)
	}
}

func readFromFile(in io.Reader, blockDataSize uint64) ([]byte, error) {
	var blockData []byte
	if blockDataSize > 0 {
		blockData = make([]byte, blockDataSize)
		_, err := io.ReadFull(in, blockData)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
	}
	return blockData, nil
}

func reconstruct(data []byte, blockData []byte) ([]byte, *UnixFSInfo, error) {
	// Decode data to merkledag protobuffer
	var pbn dag_pb.PBNode
	err := pbn.Unmarshal(data)
	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}

	// Decode node's data to unixfs protobuffer
	fs_pbn := new(fs_pb.Data)
	err = proto.Unmarshal(pbn.Data, fs_pbn)
	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}

	// gather some data about the unixfs object
	fsinfo := &UnixFSInfo{Type: *fs_pbn.Type, Data: fs_pbn.Data}
	if fs_pbn.Filesize != nil {
		fsinfo.FileSize = *fs_pbn.Filesize
	}

	// if we won't be replasing anything no need to reencode, just
	// return the original data
	if fs_pbn.Data == nil && blockData == nil {
		return data, fsinfo, nil
	}

	fs_pbn.Data = blockData

	// Reencode unixfs protobuffer
	pbn.Data, err = proto.Marshal(fs_pbn)
	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}

	// Reencode merkledag protobuffer
	encoded, err := pbn.Marshal()
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fsinfo, err
	}
	return encoded, fsinfo, nil
}

type header struct {
	id int32
	// An "id" of 0 indicates a message we don't care about the
	// value.  As we don't care about the value multiple
	// fields may be concatenated into one.
	wire int32
	// "wire" is the Protocol Buffer wire format
	val uint64
	// The exact meaning of "val" depends on the wire format:
	// if a varint (wire format 0) then val is the value of the
	// variable int; if length-delimited (wire format 2)
	// then val is the payload size; otherwise, val is unused.
}

type field struct {
	header
	offset int
	// "offset" is the offset from the start of the buffer that
	// contains the protocol key-value pair corresponding to the
	// field, the end of the field is the same as the offset of
	// the next field.  An dummy field is added at the end that
	// contains the final offset (i.e. the length of the buffer)
	// to avoid special cases.
}

type fields struct {
	byts []byte
	flds []field
}

func (f fields) data(i int) []byte {
	return f.byts[f.flds[i].offset:f.flds[i+1].offset]
}

func (f fields) size(i int) int {
	return f.flds[i+1].offset - f.flds[i].offset
}

func (f fields) field(i int) field {
	return f.flds[i]
}

func (f fields) fields() []field {
	return f.flds[0 : len(f.flds)-1]
}

// only valid for the length-delimited (2) wire format
func (f fields) payload(i int) []byte {
	return f.byts[f.flds[i+1].offset-int(f.flds[i].val) : f.flds[i+1].offset]
}

const (
	unixfsTypeField     = 1
	unixfsDataField     = 2
	unixfsFilesizeField = 3
)

// An implementation of reconstruct that avoids expensive
// intermertaint data structures and unnecessary copying of data by
// reading the protocol buffer messages directly.
func reconstructDirect(data []byte, blockData io.Reader, blockDataSize uint64) ([]byte, *UnixFSInfo, error) {
	dag, err := decodePB(data, func(typ int32) bool {
		return typ == 1
	})
	var fs fields
	if err != nil {
		return nil, nil, err
	}
	dagSz := 0
	for i, fld := range dag.fields() {
		if fld.id == 1 {
			fs, err = decodePB(dag.payload(i), func(typ int32) bool {
				return typ == unixfsTypeField || typ == unixfsDataField || typ == unixfsFilesizeField
			})
			if err != nil {
				return nil, nil, err
			}
		} else {
			dagSz += dag.size(i)
		}
	}

	fsinfo := new(UnixFSInfo)
	if len(fs.fields()) == 0 {
		return nil, nil, errors.New("no UnixFS data")
	}
	if fs.field(0).id != unixfsTypeField {
		return nil, nil, errors.New("unexpected field order")
	} else {
		fsinfo.Type = fs_pb.Data_DataType(fs.field(0).val)
	}
	fsSz := 0
	for i, fld := range fs.fields() {
		if fld.id == unixfsDataField {
			if i != 1 {
				return nil, nil, errors.New("unexpected field order")
			}
			continue
		}
		if fld.id == unixfsFilesizeField {
			fsinfo.FileSize = fld.val
		}
		fsSz += fs.size(i)
	}
	if len(fs.fields()) >= 2 && fs.field(1).id == unixfsDataField {
		fsinfo.Data = fs.payload(1)
	} else if blockDataSize == 0 {
		// if we won't be replasing anything no need to
		// reencode, just return the original data
		return data, fsinfo, nil
	}
	if blockDataSize > 0 {
		fsSz += 1 /* header */ + sizeVarint(blockDataSize) + int(blockDataSize)
	}
	dagSz += 1 /* header */ + sizeVarint(uint64(fsSz)) + fsSz

	// now reencode

	out := make([]byte, 0, dagSz)

	for i, fld := range dag.fields() {
		if fld.id == 1 {
			out = append(out, dag.data(i)[0])
			out = append(out, proto.EncodeVarint(uint64(fsSz))...)
			out, err = reconstructUnixfs(out, fs, blockData, blockDataSize)
			if err != nil {
				return nil, fsinfo, err
			}
		} else {
			out = append(out, dag.data(i)...)
		}
	}

	if dagSz != len(out) {
		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("verification Failed: computed-size(%d) != actual-size(%d)", dagSz, len(out))
	}
	return out, fsinfo, nil
}

func reconstructUnixfs(out []byte, fs fields, blockData io.Reader, blockDataSize uint64) ([]byte, error) {
	// copy first field
	out = append(out, fs.data(0)...)

	// insert Data field
	if blockDataSize > 0 {
		out = append(out, byte((unixfsDataField<<3)|2))
		out = append(out, proto.EncodeVarint(blockDataSize)...)

		origLen := len(out)
		out = out[:origLen+int(blockDataSize)]
		_, err := io.ReadFull(blockData, out[origLen:])
		if err != nil {
			return out, err
		}
	}

	// copy rest of protocol buffer
	sz := len(fs.fields())
	for i := 1; i < sz; i += 1 {
		if fs.field(i).id == unixfsDataField {
			continue
		}
		out = append(out, fs.data(i)...)
	}

	return out, nil
}

func decodePB(data []byte, keep func(int32) bool) (fields, error) {
	res := make([]field, 0, 6)
	offset := 0
	for offset < len(data) {
		hdr, newOffset, err := getField(data, offset)
		if err != nil {
			return fields{}, err
		}
		if !keep(hdr.id) {
			if len(res) > 1 && res[len(res)-1].id == 0 {
				// nothing to do
				// field will get merged into previous field
			} else {
				// set the header id to 0 to indicate
				// we don't care about the value
				res = append(res, field{offset: offset})
			}
		} else {
			res = append(res, field{hdr, offset})
		}
		offset = newOffset
	}
	if offset != len(data) {
		return fields{}, fmt.Errorf("protocol buffer sanity check failed")
	}
	// insert dummy field with the final offset
	res = append(res, field{offset: offset})
	return fields{data, res}, nil
}

func getField(data []byte, offset0 int) (hdr header, offset int, err error) {
	offset = offset0
	hdrVal, varintSz := proto.DecodeVarint(data[offset:])
	if varintSz == 0 {
		err = io.ErrUnexpectedEOF
		return
	}
	offset += varintSz
	hdr.id = int32(hdrVal) >> 3
	hdr.wire = int32(hdrVal) & 0x07
	switch hdr.wire {
	case 0: // Variant
		hdr.val, varintSz = proto.DecodeVarint(data[offset:])
		if varintSz == 0 {
			err = io.ErrUnexpectedEOF
			return
		}
		offset += varintSz
	case 1: // 64 bit
		offset += 8
	case 2: // Length-delimited
		hdr.val, varintSz = proto.DecodeVarint(data[offset:])
		if varintSz == 0 {
			err = io.ErrUnexpectedEOF
			return
		}
		offset += varintSz + int(hdr.val)
	case 5: // 32 bit
		offset += 4
	default:
		err = errors.New("unhandled wire type")
		return
	}
	return
}

// Note: this is copy and pasted from proto/encode.go, newer versions
// have this function exported.  Once upgraded the exported function
// should be used instead.
func sizeVarint(x uint64) (n int) {
	for {
		n++
		x >>= 7
		if x == 0 {
			break
		}
	}
	return n
}


text:
Battery-free pacemakers powered by a patient's HEARTBEAT could spare the pain of replacement surgery
A new device powered by the heart could finally solve the pacemaker problem.
Some 1.5 million Americans have pacemakers implanted to keep their hearts beating steadily.
The devices are life-saving, but they don't last forever. Currently, most pacemaker batteries have to be replaced every five to 12 years, and doing so means invasive surgery each time.
Researchers at the National Key Laboratory for Science and Technology in Shanghai, China have developed a tiny device that piggybacks off the heart itself to generate energy – meaning a pacemaker battery would never have to be replaced.
Chinese scientists have created a pacemaker that doesn't need a battery because it generates energy when the beating of the heart bends it, meaning it could end pacemaker replacements
A healthy heart can keep time for itself, by way of an internal pacemaker called the sinus node in the upper right chamber.
It fires off an electrical charge some 60 to 100 times a minute, and that electrical energy sets off a series of contractions of heart muscle which in turn pumps blood throughout the body.
But as the heart ages or once it becomes diseased, the sinus node takes a hit, too, and may fail to keep the heart beating in time or at all.
Fortunately, since the late 1950s, we've been able to substitute a small, implantable, battery-powered device to send these electrical signals once the heart can't any more.
Even 60 years later, however, we haven't figured out what to do about the device's power supply, however.
Surgery to place the pacemaker and wires that feed its electrical pulses to the heart is complex, requiring doctors to open the chest cavity.
The pacemaker itself is tucked away in a 'pocket' much closer to the skin surface.
Once the battery runs out, usually only a local anesthetic is required to remove the old device and put a new, fully charged one.
Still, the procedure is an unpleasant hassle that comes with a risk of infection, and it's expensive to have done.
Depending on the pacemaker, the device itself may cost anywhere from $19,000 to $96,000, according to Costhelper – and that doesn't include the expenses for the operation.
But the new Chinese-developed device shows promise to end the procedure.
The new pacemaker accessory can actually harness the heart's beats to power a pacemaker.
The key to innovation is its flexible plastic frame, which allows the device to capture more energy from the heart than previous hard cases have done.
At the device's center are layers of piezoelectric material, which generates power whenever it is bent.
Many materials acquire an electrical charge when force is applied to them, including natural ones in our bodies.
Crystals, DNA and even bone are capable of capturing electrical energy.
The trick is to apply enough force to a piezoelectric material, then supercharge it, because, on their own, these materials don't work up all that much energy.
Scientists have long been looking to piezoelectricity as an elegant solution to recapturing otherwise wasted energy, and some have even applied it to the pacemaker before.
But, previously, other researchers have not been able to create a device that bends enough to generate sufficient power.
Now, the Chinese scientists have shown their device can fuel a pacemaker and keep a pig's heart beating.
The devices frame allows it to flex significantly with as little movement as is created by a heartbeat.
While the pacemaker itself is implanted in its usual place, near the collar bone and just under the skin, the new power device is tucked underneath the heart, where the organ's contractions bend it rhythmically.
In tests in pigs, the new pacemaker generated just as much power as a pacemaker, using a completely renewable energy source.
So as long as the pacemaker keeps the heart beating, the heart will keep the pacemaker running, in a perfect symbiotic relationship.


The Chinese are rightly demanding an apology from John Leonard, the executive director of World Swimming Coaches Association, who said Chinese swimmer Yen Shiwen's amazing Olympic performance – with which she scored successive wins in both the 400 and 200-meter individual medley races earlier this week, setting two new Olympic records and one new world record, was "disturbing," adding short after that the Chinese swimmer's feat was either "the greatest swim in history" or "something that is not correct" (implying Shiwen had taken performance-enhancing drugs to achieve such feat).
But these statements haven't been enough to quell the Chinese uproar that have taken over that country's social media to protest against the false doping allegations against their national hero. "An apology is very much required – this is a gross violation of [Ye's] reputation," said one user of the Sina Weibo microblogging service.
This is undoubtedly the behavior of a true Olympian.


text:
Ryan Pierson Joins AFC Ann Arbor
AFC Ann Arbor are thrilled to confirm the first newcomer to the 2019 roster, forward Ryan Pierson. Pierson is a local player hailing from Plymouth, Michigan, and attended high school at Detroit Catholic Central where he was named 2017-18 Michigan Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior. He will be the second Gatorade PotY to play for AFCAA, joining Alec Lasinski (2013-14 winner). From there, Pierson played at Saginaw Valley State University before transferring to the University of Detroit Mercy ahead of his sophomore season. Last season he made eighteen appearances with three starts for the Cardinals, tallying four assists in his first season on the collegiate level.
On joining the team, Pierson said, "I'm really excited about coming along and joining AFC and I'm really looking forward to the season and getting started with the team." When discussing his excitement for the upcoming season, Pierson said, "I'm most looking forward to playing at this level of soccer. I haven't yet gotten to play in the NPSL, it's been something growing up in high school I knew I'd want to play [in]. It's always something I've wanted to do, play for a top team. I'm really excited to do so."
AFCAA also had multiple alluring aspects about it. One was their status as a NPSL Great Lakes power. As Pierson put it, "I see they're always…a top team in the league. I want to play for the best team possible and get the best training in and win as many games as possible." Another was location: "Ann Arbor is also close to home so that really drew me in too so my family and friends can watch me play. And then their fans and everything like that, it seems like [there's] a really good fan base." Finally, Pierson also noted his knowledge of Eric Rudland growing up in the region, and cited UDM Head Coach Nick Deren's experience with Rudland by way of Michigan Rush as a way to trust in the AFC head man.
Given his strong freshman season with a top program at SVSU and his high school accolades – not even mentioning his unreal 32 goals and fifteen assists in just 25 games as a senior with the Shamrocks – it is no surprise that when talking about strengths, they generally center around attacking quality. Pierson described himself as "more of a 1v1 player" in general. When assessing his game further, he said, "I like to get on the flank and cut in, and also take it down the line with my left foot and get as many shots off as possible. I think going 1v1 in the final third and getting the shot off is my greatest quality, and using my speed to do that." Head coach Eric Rudland agrees with this self-assessment, saying on his new attacker, "He is a pacey winger who can cause problems for opponents in the final 1/3 of the field. We expect Ryan to make an impact for the team and be a player who can grow into our club in years to come."
Between a tough schedule with one of the top teams in NCAA Division Two and a transfer to a Horizon League Division One school, Pierson is confident that when it comes to quality of competition in the NPSL, he will not be fazed by the impressiveness of the other seven teams in the conference. "At Saginaw Valley we won the league, won the conference, and got to play against a ton of top teams there as well like Michigan and Oakland in the preseason," Pierson said. "I think from Saginaw to Detroit and now the spring season in Detroit I'm definitely playing against a lot of top talent [with] a lot of these people playing in leagues like the NPSL." The talent has been there in teams he has already played, the hope is that Pierson is going to be able to swiftly transition over against the tough competition of the NPSL.
When it comes to goals, Pierson is focused not just on personal betterment, but he is also aspirational for the team as a collective. He says, "I want to win as many games as possible and I want to score as many goals and assists and help my team contribute as much as possible to win another championship." With the culture of excellence that has been built, especially as two-time defending NPSL Great Lakes Conference Champions, the positive mindset and solid confidence within himself and his new teammates is surely a delight for fans of the club to see. Called a "good player with a bright future" by Rudland, Pierson is another positive signing for the future of the club.
About AFC Ann Arbor
Founded in 2014, Association Football Club Ann Arbor launched it's men's semi-pro team in 2015 and has competed in the NPSL since 2016. Led by Head Coach & Sporting Director, Eric Rudland, the team has found great success winning back to back Great Lakes Championships ('17 & '18) and earning US Open Cup bids three straight years (2017-2019). In October 2018, the club announced the launch of the women's side, who will be skippered by Andy "Pritch" Pritchard in their inaugural season of the United Women's Soccer national league. Owned and operated by a group of local soccer fans and entrepreneurs, AFC Ann Arbor has become a fixture in the greater Ann Arbor community.
Newer PostJames Vaughan Returns for Third Season with The Mighty Oak
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Q: Find the limit for the sum of a series with $a_k = \frac{1}{k\cdot 2^k}$ I have to find the following limit:
$$\lim_{n \to \infty} \sum_{k=1}^n\frac{1}{k\cdot 2^k}$$
The exercise also provides me with the following function definition:
$$ f_n(x) = \frac{x^n}{1-x} $$
I tried to integrate this function by parts on the interval $[0, \frac12]$ and it led me something like this:
$$ I_n = \int_0^\frac12 \frac{x^n}{1-x} \, dx = \log2 - \frac{1}{2^n} + n\int_0^\frac12 x^{n-1} \log(x-1) \, dx $$.
This seems to look like a part of my sum terms but I don't know how to finish the integration and I cannot complete the limit. Could you help me please?