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How a Couple of Guys Built the Most Ambitious Alien Outreach Project Ever
You might think it takes vast governmental resources to launch an extraterrestrial communication effort. Nope
Michael Chorost
The Evpatoria radio telescope RT-70 and the Long Range Space Communications Center, which were used for one of the most ambitious efforts at extraterrestrial communication.
On May 24, 1999, a large radio transmitter in the city of Evpatoria in Ukraine turned its dish to the star 16 Cygni, 70 light-years away, and emitted a four-hour blast of radio waves. It was the beginning of the Cosmic Call, one of the most ambitious efforts ever made at sending a message to alien civilizations. It wasn't a project run by NASA or some major government. It was a crowdsourced effort, put together by an unlikely team of Texan businessmen, Canadian astrophysicists, Russian scientists, and Eastern European radio engineers.
It was the brainchild of Charlie Chafer, the CEO of a Texan company named Team Encounter. Team Encounter hoped to launch a prototype solar sail, that is, a spacecraft driven by the pressure of sunlight. Its trajectory would take it out of the solar system altogether. It wouldn't be fast, taking 100,000 years just to go as far as the nearest star. Chafer wanted it to carry a three-kilogram payload with messages, photographs, and DNA samples to show any alien finders what life on Earth is, or was, like.
But 100,000 years is a long time to wait. So Chafer also decided to send a radio message to various nearby stars with drawings, texts, and songs, many of them from ordinary people. "A sort of 'we're coming' announcement," Chafer says. This became the Cosmic Call. (As it happens, the solar sail never flew, but the Cosmic Call project went forward.)
The Cosmic Call caught the attention of a Canadian astrophysicist named Yvan Dutil. He knew that a radio message would be incomprehensible to extraterrestrials without a preface explaining our number system, the makeup of our planet, the physical shapes and sizes of human bodies, and so on. In short, the message needed a primer. He contacted Chafer. "I said, Guys, I'm an astrophysicist," Dutil recalls. "I would be pleased to help you to check your messages."
But Chafer's team had no idea how to write a primer. Dutil recalls, "They said, Why not write the message yourself?" So Dutil did. He enlisted his friend Stéphane Dumas, also a physicist. Together Dutil and Dumas read Hans Freudenthal's 1960 book Lincos: Design of a Language for Cosmic Intercourse, Part I. They were the only people ever to have checked it out of the local university's library. They soon saw why: "It's the most boring book in the world," Dutil says. Freudenthal never made it to Part II.
Freudenthal had aimed to create a purely symbolic medium of communication that any species with a basic grasp of logic could understand. The book's no page-turner. But Dutil and Dumas persevered, and spent six months writing a primer. Then they needed to find a radio transmitter powerful enough to send it. First they asked NASA, which politely turned them down. Dutil got on the Web and started searching for other radio transmitters. "On this webpage was a list of all the radar astronomy experiments done before, and one of those was from Evpatoria in Ukraine," Dutil says. "I had never heard about that radio telescope. I sent a short email to the guy and said Hey! Do you think your radar would be available for SETI transmission?"
Chafer remembers it differently, with one of his employees hearing about the dish and handling the contract negotiations. (Possibly they both inquired.) Dutil recalls that the ex-Soviets were receptive to the idea: "I guess they were quite happy to get some money to operate these things, because in 1999 Russia had not recovered yet from the post-Soviet Union crash and in those times any money was good, so it was rather easy. Russia was open for business for anything."
And Alexander Zaitsev, a prominent astronomer at the Russian Academy of Science, was glad to be involved. Zaitsev had used the Evpatoria transmitter for years to study Venus, Mars, Mercury, and several asteroids. But he also had a deep interest in SETI. He agreed to oversee the sending of the Cosmic Call from Ukraine. And with that, a DIY alien outreach project was born.
Zaitsev had to exercise some diplomatic delicacy. In 1999 memories of the Cold War were still fresh, and there were tensions over how the Americans were intervening against the Serbs during the war in the former Yugoslavia. "[Evpatoria] is the middle of nowhere," Chafer says. "It's a base that was used to track Russian satellites that were used in submarine communications out of Sevastopol. It was a very highly sensitive military base."
So it was politically awkward for the Cosmic Call team visiting Evpatoria to be led by Americans. But one of Team Encounter's employees was Romanian, and one of its guests was Danish. So Zaitsev decided that the Cosmic Call team was a Romanian and Danish delegation with two American observers. Chafer recalls, "[Zaitsev] gets the gold star for making it happen. I mean, literally everybody he was dealing with had a uniform on, and here comes this Danish Romanian delegation with two American visitors."
And that's how the Cosmic Call team got to use what was, in 1999, one of the few radio transmitters in the world powerful enough to send a message to a star dozens of light-years away. The message was sent to four stars, and then in 2003 it was sent to five more. The Evpatoria transmitter's 150,000-watt output was powerful enough, SETI experts agree, to be detectable at distances of 50 to 70 light-years. The message is now on its way. If anyone is there and listening, they will get it.
It was not the first attempt to send messages to extraterrestrial civilizations. In 1974 the astronomer Frank Drake devised a short message that was sent from the Arecibo radiotelescope to a globular cluster 25,000 light-years away. In 1977 Carl Sagan and his coworkers encoded images, music, and sounds onto phonograph records and attached them to the spaceprobes Voyagers 1 and 2. It's hard to characterize these as serious attempts, though. We would have to wait 50,000 years for a reply to the Arecibo message. And the Voyager probes, which are tiny little chunks of metal drifting in space, are highly unlikely ever to be found. The Cosmic Call, though, was aimed directly at nearby stars.
And Dutil and Dumas set up a symbolic system in which information could be discussed. They wanted to be able to ask questions and provide a symbology that would let aliens answer them. This called for a new kind of message. Douglas Vakoch, a social scientist at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California and the editor of the 2011 book Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence, says their primer had "a complexity and depth that's unparalleled in interstellar messages."
It was transmitted in digital format, consisting of 370,967 bits. (A "bit" is a 1 or a 0.) The first 128 bits are ones. Then there's a long bunch of zeroes. After that it becomes more complicated.
111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111110000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000011000100010001000100010001000100010001000100010001000000000000000000000000000010100100010001000100010001001010101010100100101001100101010…
What's an alien to do with a string of numbers like that? (If you feel like decoding the primer yourself, click here. If you want to see the entire primer explained, click here. An insightful discussion of the primer is here.) Dumas and Dutil hoped the recipients would realize that the bits can be arranged in a series of pages 127 pixels on a side. The recurring long strings of 1's ought to be a clue. Anyway, arranging the first 16,129 bits into a square 127 bits on a side yields this pattern.
That's a message. And if the aliens divide 370,967 by 16,129, they will get the number 23. That will tell them, Dumas and Dutil hoped, that the message has 23 pages.
Or maybe not. What if they try to interpret the bits as a kind of speech or music, never realizing that they code for pictures? What if they don't have vision and have never imagined two-dimensional forms of representation? Or think in polar coordinates instead of Cartesian ones, so it never occurs to them to arrange the bits into squares? Or having done that, what if they can't figure out its convention of reading left to right, top to bottom? It might drive them crazy. "It's perfectly conceivable that aliens and humans will represent that same key scientific concepts in such radically different ways that we'll never understand each other," Vakoch says.
But any effort to talk to aliens is going to run this risk. Dutil and Dumas essentially threw up their hands and said, "We have to make some assumptions."
Humans might be rather confused by the first page too. It looks cryptic and eldritch, with all those strange glyphs.
In fact, the first page is extremely simple. Dutil and Dumas took their cue from Freudenthal, who had argued that elementary math is the subject most likely to be mutually intelligible to sapient minds on different planets. "Mathematics is the most abstract subject we know," Freudenthal had written, "and at the same time a subject that may be supposed to be universally known to humanlike intelligent beings."
So the first page simply establishes our number system. Its upper half lists the numbers 1 to 20 in three forms: as a group of dots, as binary code, and as a base-10 numeral. The symbol means "equals." So the line means 2 = 2 = 2. The lower half of the page lists the prime numbers 2 through 89, and the largest known prime as of 1999, which was 23,021,377-1.
The glyphs look strange because Dutil and Dumas designed them to be resistant to signal degradation. There is plenty of radio noise in space. A single flipped bit could make an 8 into a 0, or a 1 into a 7. But the glyphs are hard to confuse with each other even if corrupted by noise. As further insurance, the primer was sent three times to each target star so that each copy could be cross-checked against the others. Furthermore, none of the glyphs is a rotated or mirrored image of any other, so the message will still be intact if the recipients construct it upside down or in mirror-reverse. "Part of the genius of the Cosmic Call messages is that they are redundant," says Vakoch.
Page 2 introduces the basic operators: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Then it dips into fractions and negative numbers.
Page 4 introduces the concept of the variable, using a new character, .
The first line, translated, goes like this:
X X+2=3 X=1
This can be read as, "What is X? X + 2 = 3. X=1." is a variable, then, an inquiry. This is one of the most important aspects of the message, since with this symbol it can begin enabling discussions about abstract quantities. At the lower right-hand of the page is a graph with the labels for the X and Y axes.
Page 5 introduces diagrams explaining pi and the Pythagorean theorem. Not that they need explaining, because any species that can build a radio receiver will know them, but they can serve as a basis for further communication.
On page 11 the message shows the planets of the Solar system, with Earth identified with a particular glyph, . This is also used on several other pages in the hope of making it clear by using it in multiple contexts.
Page 14 specifies the molecular makeup of Earth's soil, water, and air, using glyphs for atoms defined on page 6 (identifying them by the number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus). It has schematic drawings of mountains and water, labeled with the main components of Earth's land, sea, and air, including nitrogen (NN), oxygen (OO), argon (Ar), and carbon dioxide (COO).
On page 15 the primer helpfully provides a picture of a human male and female.
The figures are accompanied by glyphs noting their mass and size, with their orientation in gravity shown by the trajectory of a falling object in the lower left corner. Dutil and Dumas cribbed this drawing from plaques placed on the Pioneer 10 and 11 probes launched in 1972 and 1973.
Aliens might find this page one of the more mysterious ones in the primer. Perspective diagrams are so familiar to humans that we tend to forget they are based on social conventions for representing three-dimensional figures in two dimensions. Color and shading are ignored, for example. It is an open question whether aliens would understand them. One also rather doubts that aliens would understand the lines that signify man's six-pack and the woman's hair. They might think that humans have heads topped with chitin, or always wear helmets.
Page 17 shows the nucleotides of earthly DNA.
And finally, on the last page, it asks for a reply.
There is a large glyph at the center – the same "variable" glyph introduced on Page 4. The first two lines on the upper left mean, "What is your mass? What is your size?" (The term for mass was defined on pages 6 and 7 by referencing Avogadro's number and the mass ratio of the proton and electron.) Here the glyph is being used to ask questions. It is a touching final page, saying What about you? It is an invitation to a conversation – and it offers a ready-made language in which a reply can be sent.
But the Dutil-Dumas primer was just the beginning of the message. It was followed by a medley of other materials—written messages, drawings, and photos from people around the world, many of whom had contributed small amounts of money to support the project. There was also a video by the ABC broadcaster Hugh Downs, pictures of country flags, a message from Sally Ride, David Bowie's song "Starman," and quite a bit more. What extraterrestrials would make of all this is hard to say.
The primer was sent at a very slow 100 bits per second to maximize its chances of clear transmission. (A high-end WiFi router can send about two billion bits per second.) The rest was sent at 2,000 bits per second to save time and money. Because of its slow speed, the primer is the part of the message most likely to remain readable after traveling for 50 to 70 years in a medium saturated with interstellar radio noise. It may also be the most likely to be understandable by nonhuman intelligences. It may be, in other words, that the primer effectively is the message.
In 1999 no one knew if any nearby stars had potentially habitable planets where a civilization could be living. So the Cosmic Call team did some guessing. Their target list consisted of nine stars that were, among other things, (a) similar to the Sun, (b) visible from Evpatoria, and (c) in the galactic plane. After all, if a target star is uninhabited, perhaps the next star after it will have someone at home. (Zaitsev gives the target list here.)
Today, three of those stars are known to have planets. Hip 43587, also known as 55 Cancri, is 41 light-years away and has five planets. One of them is in the habitable zone, that is, at the right distance from its star for water to remain liquid. However, it's a Neptune-sized gas giant that couldn't support life as we know it. But if it has moons, one of them might be habitable. If a moon is large enough, it can have an atmosphere just like a planet. So it's just conceivable that someone there will get the message in 2044.
16 Cygni is a triple-star system, and one of its stars, 16 Cygni B, has a gas giant that was discovered in 1996 by ground-based telescopes. It, too, might have moons. It spends part of its orbit in the habitable zone, but only part; in the rest of its orbit water would either freeze or boil. It might be that on average the temperature on a moon would stay in the liquid range, making it habitable -- but that's a long shot. The message will arrive there in 2069.
HD 190360, fifty-two light-years away, has two planets, but neither are in the habitable zone. The message will probably race past them in 2051 unobserved.
The other six stars haven't been scrutinized for planets yet. The closest star in the target list, Hip 4872, is 33 light-years away, so the signal will reach it in 2036. If anyone there is paying attention, and replies right away, we will get that reply in 2069.
But any realistic person will have to concede that it's not likely. Time and space are not on humanity's side. On Earth, uncountable millions of species have gone extinct in the planet's four-billion year history of life, obliterated by the brutal contingencies of competition, catastrophe, and climate change. Are technological species like us exempt from that rule? No one knows. But we could easily miss neighbors simply because they came and went a million years ago.
Or because they will not emerge until a million years from now. To a planet, a million years is nothing. Proportionally speaking, if Earth was a senior citizen, a million years would be less than a week of its life. Missing a next-door civilization by a million years is like never meeting the love of your life because she moved to your city a week after you left.
And even if someone is home, and has the equipment to listen, they will have to be listening during the four-hour period in which the message sweeps past them. What if their antennas dedicated to SETI are pointing somewhere else that day? Clearly, any truly serious effort at interstellar communication will have to run continuously, and on both ends.
We can but hope.
The odds of getting a reply to the Cosmic Call seem remote. But should we be shouting into the cosmos in the first place? Could it bring aliens to our doorstep who want "to serve man" as dinner?
In fact, the National Space Agency of Ukraine, as it was called at the time, was alarmed enough to stop the transmission in 1999 after the message had been sent to the first star on the target list. According to Zaitsev, the agency was rattled by the attention the message was getting from the press. "Such energetic reaction of Western mass media also was an alarming news for Kiev's officers," he says. In addition, they had been told that the transmissions were "very dangerous for terrestrials and that USA's deep space stations refused to make Cosmic Call transmission." They pulled the plug. Zaitsev rushed to Kiev to reassure the brass, and the transmissions resumed on June 30, 1999.
The science fiction writer David Brin has expressed strong objections to projects like Cosmic Call. It's not the act of messaging in itself that Brin objects to. He thinks the risks are probably small and agrees that the benefits of a reply could be immense. But the risk is not zero, he points out. Even friendly contact between cultures on Earth has led to the destabilization of the less-developed one. So consultation and mutual agreement are needed, rather than independent efforts. Brin writes, "But when that risk is also imposed upon our children – all of humanity and our planet – is it too much to ask that we discuss it first?"
The problem with having such a discussion, Brin admits, is that fear might prevail. Given the impossibility of refuting the alarmists, humanity might choose never to send a message again. If every species in the cosmos goes by the same logic, then obviously no conversation will ever get started. But a discussion would also examine the benefits, Brin thinks, and aim for a compromise approach. It would be of profound interest, he says: "Televised worldwide, it could enthrall millions and deal with every topic from physics and biology to history and anthropology -- a win-win that would doubtless benefit SETI as well."
Richard Braastad, now a writer living in Houston, was the Cosmic Call's coordinator, responsible for assembling the message and preparing it for transmission. He downplays the risks, pointing out that on Earth developed countries often help people in less-developed ones via efforts like the Peace Corps. "Our motivations as a species are more complex than the simplistic either-or choice between absolute evil and absolute benevolence that seems to dominate debates about the possible moral nature of ETIs," he says.
One might think sending messages to other stars would be a massive, expensive job. No. It isn't. The Cosmic Call was essentially a crowdfunded hobby project. Chafer estimates that it cost about $50,000 in direct costs, plus another $50,000 in indirect costs such as staff time. Much of the money came from small donations triggered by media coverage. Chafer thinks it took fewer than 20 people, all told, to create the message and send it.
But the drawback of freelance projects like Cosmic Call is that there's no institution to preserve a memory of them. The message hasn't been particularly well-archived. (Sadly, Stéphane Dumas died unexpectedly in August 2016.) It would be embarrassing if we got a reply in 2069 and no one could remember what we had sent. All of the websites that had archived it have disappeared, except for an incomplete remnant preserved here by an Internet archive. The only documents that show the primers are PDFs buried on obscure websites. The 1999 primer is here, and both the 1999 and 2003 primers are explained here.
So one of humanity's most intellectually ambitious interstellar messages, and so far the one most likely to get where it's going, was written by two people, Dutil and Dumas. There's a lesson there. If we ever receive a message from another civilization, it may not be from a committee of its august wise heads (or whatever they have instead of heads.) It may not be from their equivalent of the United Nations or United Federation of Planets. A civilization modestly more developed than ours could be using Evpatoria-class transmitters for the local equivalent of high-school science projects. In other words, Earth's long-awaited first message from aliens, if it ever comes, could basically be from a couple of guys.
Aliens Cold War Communication linguistics NASA Outer Space Russia Space Travel Texas


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Three days of monsoon rains have killed at least 90 people and damaged 1,000 homes across Pakistan as no end is in sight from rains which have killed more than a 1,000 and affected millions of people over large swathes of Asia, from Pakistan, northeast India and Bangladesh to China, Mongolia, and Japan.
Earthwindmap showing rainfall on Pakistan is off the scale.
Three days of monsoon rains have killed at least 90 people and damaged 1,000 homes across Pakistan, the country's national disaster management agency said Tuesday, as another spell of heavy rain lashed the port city of Karachi. Streets and homes were flooded with sewage water in Karachi, where the drainage and sewage systems are outdated. Of the total of the rain-related casualties, 31 deaths were reported in southern Sindh province, while 23 people died in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to the agency. It said 15 deaths were reported in southwestern Baluchistan province and eight in Punjab province. Thirteen more people died elsewhere in northern Pakistan, including three in the Pakistan-administered sector of Kashmir. The rains are expected to continue this week in Karachi, where Prime Minister Imran Khan earlier this month sent troops to help local authorities in pumping out rainwater from inundated residential areas. Every year, many cities in Pakistan struggle to cope with the annual monsoon deluge, drawing criticism about poor planning. The monsoon season runs from July through September.
A series of torrential rainfall events have been hitting Western Africa, Indo Pakistan, Bangladesh China and Japan on and off since the beginning of June. More than a thousand people have died and millions have been displaced.
Unusually heavy monsoon rainfall is driving severe flooding over large swathes of Asia, from Pakistan, northeast India and Bangladesh to China, Mongolia, and Japan. Floods have hit nearly 10 million people in South Asia, destroying crops and farmland, forcing evacuations, and killing at least 550 people in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. In Bangladesh, a third of the land has been submerged, hundreds of thousands are stranded, and more than 500,000 homes have been inundated, the UN reported. More than 100 people have died in floods and landslides in Nepal, where rapid urbanisation has also exacerbated disaster risks. Heavy rains and floods have forced some 2.7 million people in China to evacuate, according to the EU's humanitarian aid arm, ECHO. Flooding around the Yangtze River basin this year has been "unprecedented", according to the state-run news agency, Xinhua. And in Mongolia food security is becoming a pressing issue for hundreds of evacuated families after flash floods damaged key arteries, the Red Cross reported. Full story
Extreme Weather 2020

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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HomepageIsraelNews
Mike Evans: 'I Hope Israel Won't Have to Pay' for Midterm Results
NewsBlock_9AM_110818_HD1080_848.439_976.295
JERUSALEM, Israel – The results of the 2018 midterm elections shifted the balance of power in Washington, DC. The election also affected capitals around the world, including Jerusalem.
While Republicans maintained control of the Senate, they lost the house.
"There's a lot power in the House," Dr. Mike Evans, founder of Friends of Zion Museum, told CBN News. "I mean there's a lot of influence over appropriations and it's not going to be as easy for them as it has been. It's going to be a battle. I hope to God that Israel won't have to pay for it because that would be a terrible mistake."
Dr. Mike Evans, Photo, CBN News
Evans, who serves on President Trump's Faith Advisory Board, says he's troubled by the recent history of Democrats with Israel's prime minister.
"Listen they've tried that in the past. They've gone behind the scenes to try to undermine [Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu. Some of them have been presidents doing it. Bill Clinton and [Barack] Obama himself sent people in," Evans recalled. "You can be sure they'll be Democrats working with his [Trump's] own coalition to undermine him. It's not going to be an easy ride."
The next item on the agenda will likely be President Trump's peace plan.
Israeli Deputy Minister for Public Diplomacy Michael Oren believes the president will be pressing the plan "more rigorously."
Israeli Deputy Minister for Public Diplomacy Michael Oren, Photo, CBN News, Jonathan Goff
"The president has been pushing what he calls the 'deal of the century', an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord, and my assumption is that he will be pressing his peace plan more rigorously in the future," Oren said. "My own advice as a member of the Israeli government is that we study very seriously and take seriously this peace plan and try to respond to it as flexibly and openly as possible."
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority sees the election results as an opportunity.
"The Democrats in the United States are getting closer to a position that may lead eventually to a peace process in the area, whereas his [Trump's] policy has really been a very difficult one to understand," senior PA official Nabil Shaath said. "It does not get us anywhere closer to a peace process. On the contrary, I think it makes it very difficult to reach a peace process. From that position, I think the result of the elections indicate a possibility of a change in American policy, eventually."
Evans said the midterms pose a challenge to both President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu.
"There's never been a partnership this great. There's never been an opportunity this great in the whole Middle East as there is right now. And the midterm elections are a very, very difficult dilemma for both of them to face right now," Evans concluded.
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«Ethiopian Jews Celebrate Ancient Holiday, Thank God for Jerusalem


XXXTentacion broke Taylor Swift's single-day streaming record a day after he was shot and killed while leaving a motorcycle dealership in southern Florida.
According to Spotifycharts.com, the 20-year-old singer — born Dwayne Onfroy — set a new record on Spotify Tuesday for his song "Sad!" It had 10.4 million streams globally, surpassing Swift's 2017 hit "Look What You Made Me Do," which had 10.1 million streams.
The record comes on the heels of Spotify's decision to ban the rapper's music in May as part of the streaming site's new policy against hate content and hateful conduct. The move was in response to Onfroy awaiting trial for allegedly assaulting his pregnant ex-girlfriend, Geneva Ayala.
The company soon reversed that decision following a backlash from other rappers and R&B artist who said the new policy seemed to unfairly target only their industry.
"While we believe our intentions were good, the language was too vague, we created confusion and concern, and didn't spend enough time getting input from our own team and key partners before sharing new guidelines," a statement from Spotify reads in the Miami New Times.
On Thursday, a 22-year-old Florida man was arrested and charged with first-degree murder without premeditation in the rapper's death. He is being held without bond.


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Labor Laws: How a Group of Strippers in California May Save Workers Rights
By Cady McClain
Fighting for rights at work is never an easy matter. The very act of complaining about how one is being treated on the job, however unfairly, can elicit choruses of "you ungrateful whiner," or "you are threatening us all," from those who tend towards the unsympathetic. Unions, once the safe haven for heroes of the middle class, are currently mocked and shamed in the media, as if all unions are made up of characters from Boardwalk Empire. You know, mafia types with baseball bats and crooked noses. I mean, corporations, (the giant, uncontrollable, financial octopuses of our time) would never stoop so low as to take advantage of an employee. How could I even suggest such a thing?
Doesn't anybody remember Enron?
Chuckle though you may, low-wage workers, including strippers, hospitality workers, and many of those in the food service industries are often marginalized and stigmatized. The very act of stripping for money is often mocked, considered an illegitimate way to make a living and an anathema to a cultured society. The very least a corporation can do is to take care of its own. So why did a major player in the strip club industry, an industry that is bringing in about $2 billion a year, try to maximize its profits at the expense of the very commodity it uses to draw in customers?
This month, strippers at the Spearmint Rhino chain made a major step forward for those who are at the mercy of such employers. As a group, they won an unprecedented payout of $13 million dollars as a part of a class action suit that put up for investigation long held policies regarding workers rights. In addition to the payout, the club must stop charging the dancers "stage fees" for the right to work and to grant all dancers in their clubs employee status within six months.
At the heart of the issue was the question of how these workers were categorized. For years the club unilaterally classified them as independent contractors, freeing themselves from the obligation to pay worker's comp, unemployment, and health insurance. However the strippers were still treated as employees: held by the club to strict rules regarding break times, payouts to the club and DJ, as well forced tip sharing. The strippers met all the qualifications of being legal employees but were not receiving any benefits they were legally due because of the way the club was categorizing them.
So what is the big deal about being an employee? It all boils down to the "B" word: benefits, such as health and disability insurance, as well as important contributions to a retirement account. These are not "gifts," (that annoying word) these are important, legalized contributions an employer makes in order to fairly compensate their employee for their time and commitment to his or her business.
How does this affect the future of unions? Bottom line, if a group of women who are already stigmatized by society have fought for and legally won their right to benefits against a large corporate interest, then it sends a loud message to businesses everywhere: the law is listening to the worker, even the most disenfranchised one, and protecting them.
As Ned Resnikoff of MSNBC so eloquently stated, "Their victory reaffirms what should be obvious: that all jobs are work, and every industry employs workers. And even workers in non-traditional workplaces have rights."


Robots are for every one. Tech TV now host Battle Bots which is a big hit with viewers and draws crowds as big as WFB Wrestling. Many of these people get heavy into the Robot Scene and even occasionally try to impress Military People. Check out some of these Super Heavy Weight Battle Bots, every type of configuration available.
What I find most interesting to these battle bot groups is that they are literally practicing warfare at a micro-level, using flanking maneuvers, military strategy, modern day theories, and theories of nature and hunting. Why are these groups important? Well for one we have seen them as we have seen those who play computer games such as Mech-Warrior and others become as smart at tactics as those being trained in military history strategy and tactics at West point.
When we discuss the use of swarms in battle, we often think of animals, bees, wasps, etc. I think of UAV swarms and taking this to another level these Battle Bots also have been messing around with such ideas, recreating science fiction movies genres and using some pretty interesting calculations and ideas to justify their ideas. We must consider both offense and defensive ideas on this theme. Now we are already on the scene with our DARPA to build swarm ability UAVs. UAV costs for military operations. AeroVironment WASP and the hobbyist; the Q-Butterfly. You might want to google both of those items to learn more.
Should we use the same defenses we use on insect swarms for possible defense on UAV swarms? Well here are some of the things we do to prevent swarms in insects: Killing of Q-Fly and uses of DDT can give us insight as to the level of problem West Nile really is, to eradicate it completely is a huge issue.
We have had some success with the Mediterranean fruit fly. Here are some of the ground robots created for Battle Bot RoboWars.
There are hundreds of people thinking about these things day and night all with ideas and trying to better each others efforts and this competition is helping the speed of evolution of this technology.
If you study African Fire ants working together when attacking a larger prey. If you think about it there are thousands of species probably 20,000 species, we have categorized about 10,000 so far. 20,000 species of ants and they are niche specialists and if you weigh them out, they weigh the same amount as the 6.6 Billion people in the world. Using an ant concept with an exo-skeleton you have the basic idea for a Mother Ship Robot, which carries smaller robots for important purposes. And really if you take an evasion craft of the Normandy Invasion and put in many Fighters with Kevlar and helmet, is that not the same concept?
Science Fictionists have forever been developers of such ideas, but in real life we must also deal with motion and therefore we have to make sure that these little robots as well as the mothership has the proper motor, gearing, batteries, speed controllers, fuel, weapons systems.
Ants use a chemical communication system, which seems to be superior to human communication. Wasps and ants are of the same basic genome. By detecting smells and odors and CO2 they are able to home in on targets and give off chemicals to get other ants to follow their instructions. All colonies smell the same and other colonies do not smell the same. Each human has a smell as well and this smell can be used to identify people and perhaps small robots might uses chemicals to home in on and detect problems or discover North Korean's arsenal? Some ants in hot desert regions use the direction of the sun, because the odors are melted into oblivion due to high heat of the day and perhaps a pattern of light in the sky based on the spectrum of the light rays, which is used as a good navigation system. The ants stop every so often to look up in the sky and see where they have gone. They can zig zag for hours and then beeline straight to the nest at will at any time. This type of navigation is very valuable, which can be used by those robots, which will go from LA to Las Vegas and collect their million dollar prize. In Minority Report remember the Robot Ants, well so do the scientists. The ants seem to be a pretty excellent species and well adapted for our various needs in a Mothership ground based robot form. We can learn much from ants also in their bacteria fighting ability, which neutralizes poisons in animals, insects and plants. Which means we could use organic robots and the current species can solve the problems of diseases we are now experiencing.
For instance West Nile Virus. We know that certain caterpillars make noise vibrations which can be picked up by the ants as a communication system. We can use such a vibration to train ants to do what we need them to do. Therefore we do not need to create a system of communication, however using mini network sensors and mini-robots we may be able to it as good or better than the natures version. We can use these for large uses or small uses, for trucks or for mini-bots. If we learn the communication system of ants, well then we do not need weapons for our enemies, because we can have the ants take care of our needs. Even though they not in possession of a large brain, they work as network computer grid. By using these types of systems and communicating strategies we can prevent, create a defense and create an offense strategy in robots and AUVs.
Now Ants work in a NetCentric Warfare strategy, they work in teams and the teams are separate from the whole in a way yet controlled by the central control before and after each mission. It is an anarchy of teams. Let me put it this way. It runs like the FED EX model and theories of Fred Smith explained in his book; The World on Time. You should read the book, especially you should go to the midnight Memphis Sort. Air Cargo usually uses this method, which he created. Each set of ants goes out and scours the area and finds things and then they get together to bring it back. At Fed Ex they have a mission and a goal and everyone has been trained to do the job, Now then, they bring all the packages to the hub like the ants, only now Fed Ex reverses it and uses the same methodology to deliver the packages somewhere else. And like the offensive defense of the nest the ants go out together and attack the predator together. Each one of these groups working together yet separate has their own little groups and teams, just like Fed Ex and again you are going to have to read the book to understand what I am talking about with Mr. Smith's ideas on Management Theory.
I wonder if this is the natural order of things for all species on the planet and the best idea for those species to work together to be able to serve and exploit niches and accomplish tasks. 5 million years of evolution may have learned more about management than we have in our schools. Perhaps as much as we try we are not being smart about our designs? Organization is the strong point of the ants. Shouldn't we pay attention? Yes of course. Especially as we create artificial life, artificial intelligence and robots and autonomous vehicles?
Just some thoughts on reviewing the Theory of Movement, Nature and Science and the possible future technologies of Mini-Robots, Motherships, Swarm Strategies as they relate to the future. By studying nature and the movements of such well adapted and evolved species like Wasps, Ants and bees and studying their Organization and Delivery Strategies we will learn the efficiencies and possibilities to move to the next step.
Revolutionary discoveries in archaeology show that the species long maligned as knuckle-dragging brutes deserve a new place in the human story.


The Dolphins' offense, badly in need of good news, received it early this morning.
Starting receiver DeVante Parker returned to practice following a hamstring injury. He had not practiced since Aug. 1, including running sprints on the sideline while the team scrimmaged Saturday.
Parker has shown flashes of why the Dolphins drafted him in the first round but his career has been in start-stop mode the entire time, usually related to foot and hamstring problems. He missed a chunk of off-season workouts with an undisclosed problem.


Welcome to Being Cancer Network, a resource for bloggers & survivors.
I am a two-time leukemia and stem cell transplant survivor, pancreas cancer survivor, and now head and neck cancer survivor. I have been an oncology nurse for 27years. This website is meant to help cancer bloggers connect with each other.
I have been away too long and I apologize. This is the longest I have been away from the blog since I started it in 2008. My Mail program on my Mac has been on the fritz since April. I was on the phone with Apple Support yesterday when the program came back to life, at least for the Being Cancer address. I was shocked to find that several dozen folks had left messages and requests, including a family in Greece seeking advice on treating my original illness, T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia. I felt a sense of guilt as I always try to communicate with fellow T-PLL patients, as there is so little information out there on this rare cancer.
I was cancelled at the hospital today so I plan to use the time to go thru my correspondence and subsequently highlight some of the new blogs that have been created recently. I was gratified that, even in my absence, people have found Being Cancer Network to be a valuable tool. So I will be adding new blogs and gradually weeding out some of those that have been discontinued. As there are over 1500, it would take at least 75 hours to go thru them all. If you know of any software that culls inactive links, please let me know.
Briefly my own life is continuing on. A repeat CT of my abdomen showed no further sign of pancreatic cancer. A recent head CT showed no sign of additional parotid tumor. The site has healed well although the right side of my face is still numb. Good news is I no longer have to shave on that side of my face. I am due for my annual visit to my bone marrow transplant doctor but I expect no bad news there. I still work my basic part-time schedule in the bone marrow transplant clinic but have changed my status from regular to supplemental. This means I receive no benefits other than hourly wage but I can take off whenever and as often as I want.
When my wife's parents died, she and some of her siblings bought the vacation home (trailer) in a retirement community in Estero, Florida. After my last cancer diagnosis last spring I bought a sailboat and we are keeping it down there for sailing in Charlotte Harbor. I will be 68 this summer and intend to start actively enjoying these years while I still can, especially with two new diagnoses of cancer in the past two years. With my reduced commitment at work I should have more time to spend on this blog site.
Yesterday I had my 15th radiation treatment. I am halfway through, definitely the easier half. I confess I am writing this under duress. I have just spent the last hour typing out a clear, seamless narrative of my recent experience – checked and edited. I went to add a photo. For some reason lately my blogging platform has been rejecting photos as being too large. I tried to fix it, gave up, then hit my "Back" button. MY ENTIRE NEW POST HAD DISAPPEARED.
So here I go again. Sometimes the post is better the second time around. Always it is more tedious! So 15 down, 15 to go. Monday through Friday, radiation treatments have become my daily routine, my new normal. The treatments themselves have become rather boring and decidedly undramatic. Shouldn't complain though. Drama and cancer treatment is seldom a good thing. It all started a few weeks ago, my second trip to the radiation department, this time for my simulation. You say "sim" if you want to be cool. Radiation departments are frequently housed in the basements of treatment centers. The walls are lined with lead, the machinery is massive. It's heavy down there.
I am led back to the sim room. This is where the simulation CT scanner lives. I lie on the hard table. The technicians bring over a large rectangular sheet of a treated cloth mesh that has just been prepared by heating to soften the fabric. The whole thing is brought over my head and shoulders, then slowly brought down. Technicians on either side push the warm fabric around the contours of my face. It is snapped into place on the table itself. This will become my mask, fashioned specifically to my head and shoulders. It will ensure that my anatomy will be held in the same precise position and for each and every of the thirty treatments I am scheduled for.
A series of CT images are taken. All of these are then examined in the planning room by a team consisting of my radiation oncologist, a physicist, and a dosimitrist (who calculates the dose, both the total dose and the 30 fractionated doses). Radiation medicine is serious business. The radiation beam has a specific target. The official name for that target is my tumor bed, so-called since my actual tumor was removed some weeks ago my my surgeon.
My radiations beams are targeted but not quite so precise as say Cruise missiles are supposed to be. There is always "collateral damage." This is due to the nature of radiation being delivered as a beam that is continuous. On it way to my tumor bed in the area that used to contain my parotid gland, it first encounters several layers of skin and muscle. It arrives at its target with optimal strength but then continues on, passing through structures in my throat and then out thru the other side of my face. In my case five separate beams have been planned, each from a different angle, of a different intensity, and of a different duration. If all goes as planned the maximum total dose will be delivered to the tumor bed, the area that might contain microscopic cancer cells that escaped the surgeon's knife.
What does this collateral damage mean for me, the patient? In my case it means a bad case of sunburn and an increasingly sore throat. The first few weeks my face was increasingly red. Now it is shifting towards more purplish tones. Crusted areas have started to develop, especially around my suture lines. Desquamation is the medical term. Each morning I wake up to new blood stains on my pillowcase. The skin on the right side of my face is tight and a little swollen, making my face a but asymmetrical. The whole area is tender with occasional pangs in my ear and along suture lines. So far the sore throat has not interfered with eating but my voice fails me at times, dropping into a coarse, raspy whisper. My mouth is constantly dry despite an array of products from my dentist. Fatigue is becoming an issue. On Sunday and Tuesday I needed to take two naps each day, and that after nine or ten hours of sleep. Spring around our house with all our gardens is not a good time to be dealing with treatment-related fatigue.
My appointment each day is at 2:40. I drive downtown, valet park, take the elevator down to the basement, check in, get a cup of cold water, then head back to a waiting area. In two to ten minutes (this seems to correlate somewhat to how interesting is the magazine I am reading) a technician carrying my mask comes to fetch me. We go back to one of the two linear accelerator rooms. A plate to receive my mask is attached to the head of the table. The table is covered with a thin white sheet. I lay down as technicians place a foam support under my knees, then fasten me down to the table with eight plastic clips. SNAP, SNAP, SNAP… Now I am literally pinned to the table. I can blink but barely move my mouth to talk. The technicians retreat to a room next door, closing behind them a seven by seven foot, 5 inch thick lead and steel door. Remember those beams pass right through me and continue to bounce around the room.
It is right about now that my nose or ear or some other part of my face begins to itch, an itch I cannot scratch. I know that the staff and see and hear me. Music is playing. The first week I kept my eyes open and watched as the great machine rotated around my head, whirring, clicking and buzzing, and flashing red and green laser lights. Lately I just close my eyes and let my mind wander off somewhere else, not from anxiety but rather from boredom. SNAP, SNAP, SNAP… It's all over in about five minutes.
On Wednesdays I see a resident and then my doctor. I am weighed, vitals signs are taken, and an assessment of the side effects is made. This is the time to ask questions. Last week I asked how the radiation might affect the vision in my right eye. I completely lost vision in my left eye years ago after a shingles infection. We look over my treatment plan in color-coded CT sections of my head. Maybe a 10% chance of cataract development in my good eye. In a day or two the dietician will ambush me and chide me for a half pound weight loss.
And so it goes. Not bad so far for cancer treatment. Folks with head and neck cancers who also need concurrent chemotherapy have a much harder time. So far just a bad sunburn and a slightly misshapen ear. Hopefully my throat will not get so bad that I need a feeding tube placed in my abdomen. Fighting the good fight. This is what we do as cancer survivors. I don't mind the term cancer survivor because it is not so much about who I am as about where I have been.
P.S. If you want to receive notification of new posts, just click on the RSS button on the home page.
There are always two ways of looking at things. Sure I have a new cancer, my third actually, and given my medical history and the state of my immune system, perhaps not the last. After all there was a time when I did not think I would live much beyond a year. That was twelve years and four months ago. Much has happened in those intervening years, most of it good. My sons have grown into adulthood. I have four beautiful granddaughters. I have returned to cancer nursing. I started this blog. I have had the opportunity to give back, to make a difference.
And then there are these pesky problems – having my spleen and part of my pancreas removed last summer in order to avoid the transformation of precancerous nodules into malignant tumors, and now having had another temporarily disfiguring surgery to remove a dangerous high-grade parotid tumor. But it had all been good news. Both surgeries were successful – no post-op complications, clean margins. And now I am about to embark on a new chapter, going thru radiation therapy. Surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, biotherapy, stem cell transplant – I will have experienced all the common treatment modalities for cancer.This experience can inform my writing and how I relate to the larger world of cancer survivors.
The good news continued last week. First on Monday we met with my surgeon. He reported that there were clean margins. That means he thinks that "he got it all." He also excised 32 lymph nodes and there was no sign of cancer involvement in any of them. He did recommend that I go through radiation therapy as an adjuvant treatment. Even though there was no evidence of disease spread, microscopic disease may still be present. High-grade suggests a highly active tumor with a propensity to spread rapidly if it gets a foothold. He says that some of his patients elect not to go through radiation for various reasons. We tell him that we have decided to do the treatment and have an appointment with a radiation doctor the next morning. On the way home Tish makes several phone calls to various family to share the news.
On Tuesday morning we meet at the Cancer Pavilion at the IU Health Cancer Center. Radiation centers are frequently located underground or in the basement of a building. Machinery can be enormously heavy and the walls must be shielded with lead, I had previously sought out recommendations for doctors from my colleagues at work. As a patient I was able to use the valet parking service, a small treat. We took the elevator to the basement. Registration was simple, quick and painless. A male nurse took us back. It turns out that we went to college with Tish and I, although he graduated between us. As he took my vitals he shared that he was a tongue cancer survivor of fourteen years.
The next person we met was a young female resident, a doctor who has chosen radiation oncology as their specialty and is doing training under an established physician, in this case, Mark Langer. We spend some time reviewing my, at this point, rather complicated medical history. We were impressed that both physicians asked us about our own understanding of both my disease and its treatment. Too often discussions with doctors can be one-sided – the doctor asking very specific questions and the patient providing, sometimes hopefully, short, to-the-point answers.
Not surprisingly they both recommended radiation treatment, six weeks, Monday through Friday. One of my bone marrow doctors pointed out once that if you go seeking advice from a guy with a hammer, his recommendation will include using that hammer. Their main reason was the high-grade nature of my particular disease. The type of cancer I have is called mucoepidermoid carcinoma. Most times these are low-grade and behave more like a benign tumor. Mine behave like a squamous cell tumor.
I am given a folder of educational material as well as an internet source of teaching material. I give them high marks for this as patient and family cancer education is the focus of the special project that I have been working on the past year. The good news continued when he said that he did not recommend having a G-tube placed for feeding. Since there was no lymph node involvement, the radiation field will be fairly small and isolated near the corner of my jaw where the parotid gland recently resided.
I just reread my previous post. Boy, did I leave it on a somber, teasing note. I suppose we would call this post-op day # 8. I am in the waiting and recovery mode. The surgeon minimized the discomfort that I might feel – "maybe just a stiff neck" he said. The pain hasn't been that great, just nagging and persistent. I rate it at a 4-5 on a 10-point scale. Today is the first time I did not have have to take a pain pill when I got up. Using I have been taking one pail pill3 to 5 times a day. The pain seems to wander as the blood inside settles in various areas due to gravity. Wherever it has settled, it feels tight and hard. Much of my face still feels numb to the touch. No feeling at all on the outside, definite pain lurking beneath. It is my ear that gives the oddest of sensations or rather oddest lack of sensations. It is so oddly shaped, especially now since it is swollen.
I generally sleep on my side, my right side. So sleep, at least comfortable sleep has been difficult. For the first few days I daren't lay on my favored side – too painful. I tried sleeping on my back, a technique that seems to work better in hospital than at home. I have trouble hearing on the right, due to the swelling. So sleeping on my left side tends to drown out sound – generally a good thing, except when Tish is trying to talk to me.
I sometime feel a little uncomfortable when I am out, with small children running away, screaming in horror and that sort of thing. Actually it is not that specifically noticable until I point it out. The area is gradually changing color, progressing to a darker and darker shade of red. There is an oblong streak of red, creeping down my sternum as if wanting to meet up with my vertical abdominal scar left over from pancreatic surgery last fall.
I have been taking naps in the afternoon. Lately I have been working in the yard a little, pruning rose bushes. This is steady, low impact, low energy work. Except for the bend.ing over, my body might not notice it all.
I found out my surgeon only gave me a release from work for two weeks. I also found out that FMLA denied my request because, due to my six weeks off in the fall for surgery, I have not worked 1250 hours in the past twelve months. All that means if that IU Health is not obligated to hold my position while I am off work. My position was in a state of flux anyway. We moved out clinic from the hospital to the cancer center. More isolated there I can not work later in the evening. Coming in much earlier it difficult because my mother lives with us and needs pretty much constant watching over. But I am not worrying about my job now. I am past retirement age. And this may be one of those points in your life at which you need to redefine yourself.
Next week should be interesting. Monday is my 2 week surgical follow-up. My surgeon is out on spring with his family. So we are meeting with a partner. Maybe he will be more talkative. After all, I do have CANCER and we haven't talked much about that. Monday we hope to give a name to a specific diagnosis. What type of several possible cancers is this? How aggressive is my type? What will the treatment recommendations be? We know that most tumors such as mine require follow-up radiation. In some cases chemotherapy is also suggested.
It is hard to do much in the way of homework with the pathology results. But I have identified a radiation oncologist with more experience that most in head and neck cancers. So I have an appointment with him on Tuesday after own Monday meeting. We did this mostly out of impatience with waiting 2 weeks for the surgeon's recommendation. Probably more important is the need to regain a sense of control over life and disease, to try to take back my rightful place in the driver's seat of my life now under assault.
Two experts in the field have given me the same advice. Advice that I asked for but did not welcome as it brought with it a sense of gloom and general seriousness. The advice is to consider proactively having a G-tube or gastrointestinal tube, surgically placed in my abdomen. This is not a big surgery as those things go. But it is another thing done to me, another procedure. It is a medical appliance, a tan rubber tube with a stopper on the end, connecting my outside with my inside. It can be used to get part or all of my nourishment.
Even the the radiation will be very specifically focused, it will affect other cells in my mouth and throat. People getting radiation there experience throat and mouth pain, making it difficult, sometimes impossible to eat. And during this time of physical and emotional distress, sufficient calories are needed for healing. I could take a chance and wager that I will be able to successfully maintain adequate nutrition and hydration. But if I lost that wager it might mean interrupting the daily radiation therapy in order to recover for a week or so. And then might end up having to have a G-tube placed when my health, stamina, and immune system are at a low point anyway.
I may be putting the cart before the horse here. But I would rather mull over it a week before the actual discussion than be surprised during the consultation. All of this reminds me how much I prefer doing to waiting. So many things are on hold – my job, my grant, the rest of my life! What and how long with that be? Time again for redefinition, for discovering agency.


text:
package com.onextent.augie.ments;

import java.util.HashSet;
import java.util.Set;

import android.graphics.Canvas;
import android.graphics.Color;
import android.graphics.Paint;
import android.graphics.RectF;
import android.hardware.Camera;
import android.app.DialogFragment;

import com.onextent.android.codeable.Code;
import com.onextent.android.codeable.CodeableException;
import com.onextent.android.codeable.CodeableName;
import com.onextent.android.codeable.JSONCoder;
import com.onextent.android.codeable.Size;
import com.onextent.augie.AugieScape;
import com.onextent.augie.Augiement;
import com.onextent.augie.AugiementException;
import com.onextent.augie.AugiementName;
import com.onextent.augie.camera.AugCamera;
import com.onextent.augie.camera.AugPreviewCallback;

public class Histogram implements AugPreviewCallback, Augiement {

    @Override
	public void stop() {
		camera.removePreviewCallback(this);
	}
	@Override
	public void resume() {
		camera.addPreviewCallback(this);
	}

	public static final CodeableName AUGIE_NAME = new AugiementName("AUGIE/FEATURES/HISTOGRAM");
    public static final String UI_NAME = "Histogram";
    public static final String DESCRIPTION = "A live RGB Histogram drawn on the camera preview.";

    boolean hasData;
    byte[] yyuvdata;

    double redHistogramSum, greenHistogramSum, blueHistogramSum;

    final int[] mRedHistogram;
    final int[] mGreenHistogram;
    final int[] mBlueHistogram;
    final double[] mBinSquared;

    Paint mPaintBlack;
    Paint mPaintYellow;
    Paint mPaintRed;
    Paint mPaintGreen;
    Paint mPaintBlue;
    Paint mPaintWhite;

    private Draw augdraw;
    private AugCamera camera;

    final RectF greyRects[];
    final RectF redRects[];
    final RectF greenRects[];
    final RectF blueRects[];
	private boolean greyscale;
    private int hheight = 0;

	private final static Set<CodeableName> deps;
    static {
        deps = new HashSet<CodeableName>();
        deps.add(AugCamera.AUGIE_NAME);
        deps.add(Draw.AUGIE_NAME);
    }

    private RectF[] newRects() {

        RectF[] r= new RectF[256];
        for (int i = 0; i < 256; i++) {
            r[i] = new RectF();
        }
        return r;
    }
    public Histogram() {
        hasData = false;
        greyRects = newRects();
        redRects = newRects();
        greenRects = newRects();
        blueRects = newRects();
        mRedHistogram = new int[256];
        mGreenHistogram = new int[256];
        mBlueHistogram = new int[256];
        mBinSquared = new double[256];
        for (int bin = 0; bin < 256; bin++)
        {
            mBinSquared[bin] = ((double)bin) * bin;
        } // bin
        mPaintBlack = new Paint();
        mPaintBlack.setStyle(Paint.Style.FILL);
        mPaintBlack.setColor(Color.BLACK);
        mPaintBlack.setTextSize(25);

        mPaintYellow = new Paint();
        mPaintYellow.setStyle(Paint.Style.FILL);
        mPaintYellow.setColor(Color.YELLOW);
        mPaintYellow.setTextSize(25);

        mPaintRed = new Paint();
        mPaintRed.setStyle(Paint.Style.FILL);
        mPaintRed.setColor(Color.RED);
        mPaintRed.setTextSize(25);

        mPaintGreen = new Paint();
        mPaintGreen.setStyle(Paint.Style.FILL);
        mPaintGreen.setColor(Color.GREEN);
        mPaintGreen.setTextSize(25);

        mPaintBlue = new Paint();
        mPaintBlue.setStyle(Paint.Style.FILL);
        mPaintBlue.setColor(Color.BLUE);
        mPaintBlue.setTextSize(25);

        mPaintWhite = new Paint();
        mPaintWhite.setStyle(Paint.Style.FILL);
        mPaintWhite.setColor(Color.WHITE);
        mPaintWhite.setTextSize(25);
    }

    private AugieScape augieScape;

    @Override
    public void onCreate(AugieScape av, Set<Augiement> helpers) throws AugiementException {

        augieScape = av;

        for (Augiement a : helpers) {
            if (a instanceof Draw) {
                augdraw = (Draw) a;
            } else if (a instanceof AugCamera) {
                camera = (AugCamera) a;
            }
        }
        if (augdraw == null) throw new AugiementException("draw feature is null");
        if (camera == null) throw new AugiementException("camera is null");
    }

    static private void decodeYUV420SP(int[] rgb, byte[] yuv420sp, int width, int height) {

    	final int frameSize = width * height;

        for (int j = 0, yp = 0; j < height; j++) {
            int uvp = frameSize + (j >> 1) * width, u = 0, v = 0;
            for (int i = 0; i < width; i++, yp++) {
                int y = (0xff & ((int) yuv420sp[yp])) - 16;
                if (y < 0) y = 0;
                if ((i & 1) == 0) {
                    v = (0xff & yuv420sp[uvp++]) - 128;
                    u = (0xff & yuv420sp[uvp++]) - 128;
                }

                int y1192 = 1192 * y;
                int r = (y1192 + 1634 * v);
                int g = (y1192 - 833 * v - 400 * u);
                int b = (y1192 + 2066 * u);

                if (r < 0) r = 0; else if (r > 262143) r = 262143;
                if (g < 0) g = 0; else if (g > 262143) g = 262143;
                if (b < 0) b = 0; else if (b > 262143) b = 262143;

                rgb[yp] = 0xff000000 | ((r << 6) & 0xff0000) | ((g >> 2) & 0xff00) | ((b >> 10) & 0xff);
            }
        }
    }

    static private void decodeYUV420SPGrayscale(int[] rgb, byte[] yuv420sp,
    		int width, int height) {

        final int frameSize = width * height;

        for (int pix = 0; pix < frameSize; pix++)
        {
            int pixVal = (0xff & ((int) yuv420sp[pix])) - 16;
            if (pixVal < 0) pixVal = 0;
            if (pixVal > 255) pixVal = 255;
            rgb[pix] = 0xff000000 | (pixVal << 16) | (pixVal << 8) | pixVal;
        } // pix
    }

    static private void calculateIntensityHistogram(int[] rgb, int[] histogram, int width, int height, int component)
    {
        for (int bin = 0; bin < 256; bin++)
        {
            histogram[bin] = 0;
        } // bin
        if (component == 0) // red
        {
            for (int pix = 0; pix < width*height; pix += 3)
            {
                int pixVal = (rgb[pix] >> 16) & 0xff;
                histogram[ pixVal ]++;
            } // pix
        }
        else if (component == 1) // green
        {
            for (int pix = 0; pix < width*height; pix += 3)
            {
                int pixVal = (rgb[pix] >> 8) & 0xff;
                histogram[ pixVal ]++;
            } // pix
        }
        else // blue
        {
            for (int pix = 0; pix < width*height; pix += 3)
            {
                int pixVal = rgb[pix] & 0xff;
                histogram[ pixVal ]++;
            } // pix
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void updateCanvas() {

        if (!camera.isOpen()) return;

        if (yyuvdata != null && hasData) {

            updateHistograms();

            //add buffer back in
            hasData = false;
            yyuvdata = null;
        }

        if (greyscale) {
        	updateCanvas(greyRects, mPaintWhite);
        } else {
        	updateCanvas(redRects, mPaintRed);
        	updateCanvas(greenRects, mPaintGreen);
        	updateCanvas(blueRects, mPaintBlue);
        }
    }

    private void updateHistograms() {

        Canvas canvas = augieScape.getCanvas();
        int canvasHeight = canvas.getHeight();
        Size prevSize = camera.getParameters().getPreviewSize();
        int w = prevSize.getWidth();
        int h = prevSize.getHeight();
        int[] rgbdata = new int[w * h];

        // Convert from YUV to RGB
        if (greyscale)
        	decodeYUV420SPGrayscale(rgbdata, yyuvdata, w, h);
        else
        	decodeYUV420SP(rgbdata, yyuvdata, w, h);

        calculateIntensityHistogram(rgbdata, mRedHistogram, w, h, 0);
        calculateIntensityHistogram(rgbdata, mGreenHistogram, w, h, 1);
        calculateIntensityHistogram(rgbdata, mBlueHistogram, w, h, 2);

        redHistogramSum = 0; greenHistogramSum = 0; blueHistogramSum = 0;
        for (int bin = 0; bin < 256; bin++)
        {
            redHistogramSum += mRedHistogram[bin];
            greenHistogramSum += mGreenHistogram[bin];
            blueHistogramSum += mBlueHistogram[bin];
        }

        if (greyscale) {
        	//todo: ejs warning this greyscale stuff is a bad bad hack.  broken.
        	//todo: ejs warning this greyscale stuff is a bad bad hack.  broken.
        	//todo: ejs warning this greyscale stuff is a bad bad hack.  broken.
        	//todo: ejs warning this greyscale stuff is a bad bad hack.  broken.
        	//todo: ejs warning this greyscale stuff is a bad bad hack.  broken.
        	//todo: ejs warning this greyscale stuff is a bad bad hack.  broken.
        	//todo: ejs warning this greyscale stuff is a bad bad hack.  broken.
        	//todo: ejs warning this greyscale stuff is a bad bad hack.  broken.
        	//todo: ejs warning this greyscale stuff is a bad bad hack.  broken.
        	updateHistogramRects(canvasHeight, redHistogramSum, mRedHistogram, greyRects);
        } else {
        	updateHistogramRects(canvasHeight - (2 * getHHeight()), redHistogramSum, mRedHistogram, redRects);
        	updateHistogramRects(canvasHeight - (getHHeight()), greenHistogramSum, mGreenHistogram, greenRects);
        	updateHistogramRects(canvasHeight, blueHistogramSum, mBlueHistogram, blueRects);
        }
    }

    private void updateCanvas(RectF[] rects, Paint paint) {
        Canvas canvas = augieScape.getCanvas();
        for (RectF r : rects) {
            canvas.drawRect(r, paint);
        }
    }

    private void updateHistogramRects(int bottom, double sum, int[] histogram, RectF[] rects) {

        Canvas canvas = augieScape.getCanvas();
        int canvasWidth = canvas.getWidth();
        float barMaxHeight = 3000;
        float barWidth = ((float)canvasWidth) / 256;
        float barMarginHeight = 2;

        float top;
        float left = 0;
        float right = left + barWidth;

        for (int bin = 0; bin < 256; bin++) {

            RectF barRect = rects[bin];
            float prob = (float)histogram[bin] / (float)sum;
            top = bottom -
                    Math.min(80, prob * barMaxHeight) - barMarginHeight;
            top += barMarginHeight;
            barRect.left = left;
            barRect.top = top;
            barRect.bottom = bottom;
            barRect.right = right;
            left += barWidth;
            right += barWidth;
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void clear() {
    }

    @Override
    public CodeableName getCodeableName() {
        return AUGIE_NAME;
    }

    @Override
    public Code getCode() throws CodeableException {

        Code code = JSONCoder.newCode();
        code.put(AUGIE_NAME);
        code.put("greyscale", greyscale);
        code.put("hheight", hheight);

        return code;
    }

    @Override
    public void setCode(Code code) throws CodeableException {
    	if (code == null) return;
    	if (code.has("hheight")) {
    		hheight = code.getInt("hheight");
    	}
    	if (code.has("greyscale")) {
    		greyscale = code.getBoolean("greyscale");
    	}
    }

    @Override
    public void onPreviewFrame(byte[] data, Camera camera) {
        if (data == null || data.length == 0) return;
        yyuvdata = data;
        hasData = true;
        //todo: make setting to reset for every frame (perf hit) or only
        // when some other augiement was a re-paint.
        //augview.reset();
    }

    @Override
    public Meta getMeta() {
        return META;
    }

    public static final Meta META =
            new Augiement.Meta() {

        @Override
        public Class<? extends Augiement> getAugiementClass() {

            return Histogram.class;
        }

        @Override
        public CodeableName getCodeableName() {

            return AUGIE_NAME;
        }

        @Override
        public String getUIName() {

            return UI_NAME;
        }

            @Override
            public int getMinSdkVer() {
                return 0;
            }
        @Override
        public String getDescription() {

            return DESCRIPTION;
        }

        @Override
        public Set<CodeableName> getDependencyNames() {

            return deps;
        }
    };

    @Override
    public DialogFragment getUI() {
        return new HistogramDialog();
    }

    public boolean isGreyscale() {
		return greyscale;
	}
	public void setGreyscale(boolean greyscale) {
		this.greyscale = greyscale;
	}

    public void setHHeight(int h) {
    	hheight = h;
    }

    public int getHHeight() {
    	if (hheight != 0) return hheight;
        if (augieScape != null && augieScape.getHeight() > 600) return 100;
        return 50;
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


For our customers who have made a commitment to sustainability in manufacturing, we work closely with them to ensure that we are aligned with their programs.
A native of Maryland, Ashley majored in Chemistry in college and has focused on food science, regulatory and quality assurance throughout her career. She's been with Fuchs North America since 2007 specializing in domestic and international regulations.


Take a look at this 1400HP Z06 Corvette vs 1170HP Nissan GTR street race. This video will make you feel the blood in your veins start pumping at a higher level, your adrenaline rush will start skyrocketing, and the feeling of thrill and suspense going towards a breaking point.
NOS Spells End For Ram Truck!


text:
Q: Getting Integer value from Instance in Z3 My code is
def test():
    s = Solver()
    a = Int('x')
    b = Int('y')
    s.add(a*b==22)
    print s.check()
    return s.model()[a], s.model()[b]

This will print numbers, but when you see type(s.model()[a]) or type(s.model()[b]) it will give <type 'instance'> . How to cast it in a way it will return <type 'int'> ? I cannot use the return type into my code any further as it returned instance even though if you print s.model()[a] it will look like a integer but it isn't.

A: Simply use the as_long method. That is, replace the last line in your function with:
   return s.model()[a].as_long(), s.model()[b].as_long()

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Vicomte De Rheims Gisilbert Comte De Roucy Vicomte De Rheims
Gisilbert Comte was born about 0956 in Rheims, Loire-Atlantique, Pays de la Loire, France. Gisilbert Comte's father was Renaud de Roucy and his mother was Alberade De Lorraine. He had a brother and two sisters, named Hugh, Ermentrude Adelaide and Ermentrude. He was the oldest of the four children. He died about 0985 in Rheims, Loire-Atlantique, Pays de la Loire, France.
1 NAME Gilbert /De Roucy/
1 BIRT
2 DATE ABT. 965
2 PLAC Reims, Marne, France
1 DEAT
Renaud de Roucy
- b.~ 0931 in Reims, Marne, France d.15 MAR 972/973
- b.~ 0956 in Rheims, Loire-Atlantique, Pays de la Loire, France d.~ 0985 in Rheims, Loire-Atlantique, Pays de la Loire, France
Alberade De Lorraine
- b.~ 0930 in Lorraine, France d.15 MAR 972/973
Gisilbert Comte's family with Miss De Macon
They had two sons and a daughter, named Ebles I, Lietaud Sire and Judith.
Count of Rheims & Roucy Ebles I De Roucy Count of Rheims & Roucy
Ebles I was born about 0985 in Rheims, Aisne, France. He died on May 11th, 1033 in France.
Judith De Roucy
Judith was born about 0988 in Roucy, Aisnes, Pays De La Loire, France. She died about 1056.
Lietaud Sire De Marle


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For days you had been anxiously anticipating your first date with HIM. You met online weeks ago and spent time getting to know each other through cyber and phone chats. Finally you both felt it was time to take your virtual relationship to the next step. Meeting at a nice coffee house after work seemed like the perfect plan. You made a special effort to look your best and to plan your workday so as to not be late.
You were nervous but feeling positive that this, at last, could be the start of something real.The traffic was awful and you were 20 minutes late, causing you to feel rushed and a bit on edge. It was hard to tell, but he seemed a bit annoyed when you finally came face to face.
You must have been distracted by this- because you did not shake his hand or offer a warm greeting before you sat down together. The conversation seemed to get stuck on the bad traffic, your awful workload, your difficult boss and your repeated apologies for being late. You emphasized frequently that you are a fun person who is always on time. You went on to share many of your other virtues because you felt it was important for him to understand that this was not the real you- just a bad first impression.
He seemed rather quiet and perhaps a bit edgy and you noticed him looking at his watch a few times. He mentioned that he had to meet a friend later and you panicked, trying to think of more to say to change his mind. So, how did it go so terribly wrong? What did you do or not do that turned this into another dating disaster?.Does this scenario sound even vaguely familiar? If so, you may be thinking that this guy should have been more understanding. After all, everyone has bad days and it should be a given that no one can be on their "best behavior" all the time.
You may also be thinking that there was little else she could have done in the situation. After all, she apologized and then tried to communicate her feelings and explain why she was not able to relax and be herself.This situation is a great example of someone trying to think their way out of a situation, while blocking their self-awareness and shutting out the unspoken messages from the other person. In a nutshell, this woman demonstrated low emotional intelligence, even though her IQ is probably above average. In case you are wondering what the difference is between these two, you need to know what EI is. Essentially, it is a capacity to use reason to understand one's emotions and the emotions of others.
When someone possesses high EI, they demonstrate an ability to utilize their emotions to enhance thinking, perception, expression and management of themselves and those around them. It requires good self-awareness as well as awareness of what others are feeling and expressing- both verbally and nonverbally. Our emotions are usually demonstrated through the level of energy we express- and tuning into the energy changes in ourselves and those around us is a way to raise our awareness and EI.If this woman had a higher EI, how might she have handled herself differently on this first date? To begin with, she would have begun managing her anxiety before arriving at the coffee house. Perhaps she would have tried some self talk, reminding herself that getting upset about being late would have a negative impact on what she said and how she came across.
Had she worked on getting this into perspective and focused on presenting an open and positive introduction of herself, her date would (most likely) have quickly let go of any annoyance he might have been feeling at having to wait. From there they would have moved on to a pleasant discussion of how their day(s) went and other topics of mutual interest.Instead of strained silences, glances at the time, pressured conversation (that sounded like a desperate Hail Mary pass) to try to salvage the date ? there could have been laughter, great conversation, intense listening and the beginning of a new bond between them. Instead of this woman trying to tell him what she is really like, she would have shown him that person. Even if the physical chemistry was not ideal, the possibility of connecting around a shared sense of humor, good comfort level and mutual interests would have left them with the option of a second date ? and more time to explore where this could lead.When preparing for your next first date, remember to bring along a greater self- awareness and a commitment to tune into the verbal and nonverbal messages expressed by this other person.
Make an effort to observe how you interact with friends, family, co-workers and others- and ask for feedback from the people you know will be honest with you. Increasing your EI is the greatest investment you can make to ensure that all your present and future relationships will be healthy and mutually satisfying ones.
.Toni Coleman, MSW is a psychotherapist, relationship coach and founder of http://www.consum-mate.
com. As a recognized expert, Toni has been quoted in many local and national publications including; The Chicago Tribune, The Orlando Sentinel, New York Daily News, Indianapolis Star and Newsweek newspapers and Family Circle, Cosmo Style, Tango, Men's Health, Star (regularly quoted body language expert), and People magazines. She has been featured on ABC news, Discovery Health, AOL news, MSN, and Match.
Toni is also the featured relationship coach in "The Business And Practice Of Coaching," ( Norton,September 2005); and is the author of the forward for," Winning Points With The Woman In Your Life, One Touchdown At A Time" (Simon and Schuster, November 2005). From March 2005 until December 2005, she was a weekly contributing commentator (love and dating coach) on the KTRS Radio Morning Show, (St. Louis, MO).
Toni is a member of The International Coach Federation, The International Association of Coaches and The National Association of Social Workers.


text:
Industrial Fabrics Foundation
Awnings & Shades
Hardware & Rigging
Structure Basics
This page was printed from https://fabricarchitecturemag.com
Ellington looks to advance industrial textile industry
November 1st, 2017 / By: Sigrid Tornquist / Feature
"With the geopolitical challenges and opportunities the specialty fabrics industry faces, we, as an association, need to make sure that we continue to educate our members and provide them with opportunities," says Steve Ellington, president of Trivantage LLC, Glen Raven's distribution and marketing services subsidiary in Glen Raven, N.C.
Ellington, who was named IFAI's board chair in September, says, "We need to make sure that we are that conduit of information. We need to remain relevant, and be sure we're delivering value to our members."
Ellington began working in the textile industry in 1980, after graduating from Elon University in Elon, N.C., with a degree in business and accounting. He joined Glen Raven in 1983 in industrial engineering, and while working there also earned his MBA from the Bryan School of Business at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He has served as national sales manager and president of Glen Raven Custom Fabrics, Global, and in 2009 he was named to his current position as president of Trivantage.
From the early years of Ellington's career through today, he has made connecting with manufacturers a priority, and he credits those manufacturers for providing him with a good foundation and understanding of the industry. "In the sales position in custom fabrics I took in 1986, I traveled around promoting Sunbrella®, calling on fabricators and manufacturers that used our product. So I spent a lot of time with end users in the marine and awning industry at the grassroots level, which is really at the core of IFAI membership," he says. "I got to know companies ranging from small mom-and-pop companies to larger companies throughout the U.S. and internationally. It has given me a real appreciation for what it takes to get a product made."
Ellington has served on IFAI's board of directors since the late '90s and now, as he becomes chair, he's planning to continue the momentum toward growth and relevance that the board has worked so hard to gain. "There are a couple of main goals we have for the association," he says. "First, we need to continue to grow and deliver value to the membership. And second, we need to continue to support our divisions in the work they do. When you look at the diversity of the companies we represent—awning, marine, geosynthetics, advanced textiles, equipment, fabric graphics, fabric structures, narrow fabrics, military, tarp, tent, and U.S. Industrial Fabrics, as well as IFAI Canada, IFAI Japan and IFAI New Zealand—we are a strong industry, with strong member companies. Our members are doing some great things, both for the industry and their communities."
How do you think the current economy is affecting the industry?
I think we're still in a very positive economic cycle. Growth may not be to the level people would like, but the unemployment rate remains low. While that's good news for the economy, it brings challenges for manufacturers to find good, skilled employees. The Makers Division is working to build the sewing and manufacturing workforce through a partnership with the Makers Coalition Foundation. Members have the opportunity to shape training curricula in their regions and find trained, certified employees to build their businesses. The division provides a network to exchange information, solve common problems and develop mutually beneficial relationships. Each year, IFAI invests more than $8 million to advance the fabrics industry and support member companies.
In what ways are specialty fabrics industry members strengthening the industry and their communities?
We're often asked as board members what our companies are doing to make a difference. How are we giving back to our communities? I think there are several ways: 1. Our member companies provide employment and contribute to local, national and global economies. 2. The products our companies produce enhance people's lives in numerous ways, whether it's for protection, erosion control or shade, for instance. 3. Our members work to be good stewards of the environment in the types of products they produce and the ways in which they produce them. 4. Many of our member companies contribute regularly to nonprofit efforts, both locally and globally.
I think it's important for the association to highlight the good work our member companies do. The back page of Specialty Fabrics Review now highlights one member company each month that's doing something noteworthy to make a difference.
How is IFAI working toward remaining relevant to a changing industry and its new leaders?
In many of our companies the next generation is now taking leadership roles. We need to make sure we're relevant in terms of staying up to date with the latest technology so we can proactively communicate with our technology-savvy members.
At Glen Raven, we hire interns every year. This year we had 19 interns from various universities around the country. Each is given a specific project to work on. I just sat in on their presentations, and what struck me was how well-spoken, confident, prepared and eager to make their mark they were. I see this as a great opportunity for the industry.
How do you anticipate helping a membership that is diverse in terms of market segment, size, and globalization vs. reshoring efforts?
IFAI's board is always made up of a balance of suppliers, manufacturers, small companies, large companies and different market segments. Having that kind of diversity on the board is critical because our member companies are diverse.
Whether a company operates regionally or globally is definitely not a one-size-fits-all type of situation. I think each company needs to look at where their strengths are and play to those. One strategy that has worked for us [Glen Raven] is that as much as possible, no matter where the markets are that we serve, we have our manufacturing and operations in proximity to those markets.
I've had a lot of opportunity to travel during my career. Glen Raven's 1998 acquisition of the Dickson Group in France changed a lot of us at Glen Raven, both as a company and as individuals. It propelled us to be more globally attuned to what was going on beyond the U.S., and to be more culturally appreciative of different countries, people and their values and views. At the end of the day, regardless of the differences, people are essentially the same. After work, we all want to have free time to enjoy family and friends—and just enjoy life.
How do you stay connected to industry members on a personal level?
One thing I believe very strongly in is that no matter what a person's work responsibilities are, it's important to stay connected to the people working in the industry. If you live in your office you can become insulated, and that's not a good thing. By being out in the field and out in the marketplace I'm able to enjoy those friendships I've made in the industry. I've heard so many IFAI members say that's one of the great things about this association—the friendships are genuine and long-lasting. You just have to make an effort, and one way to do that is by being active in the association.
Carolyn Hajek on staying small and strong
The great escape: textile products for the outdoors
Designing for lightness in fabric structures
The specialty textiles market copes with COVID-19
Smart textile and e-textile solutions for indoor environments
One response to "Ellington looks to advance industrial textile industry"
ted thoeny p.e. says:
Draping fabrics in space provides the necessary gravity resistant shape and tension when loaded with a spray applied polymer. When inflated, uncut industrial fabrics assume a hemispherical curve also very resistant to the forces of gravity. No props of any kind are necessary to form the perfect shape. simple and inexpensive, discovered by sir Isaac newton.
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Since your infant's teeth are en route in, it's an ideal opportunity to begin dealing with them. Despite the fact that this set might be around for a brief span, their wellbeing is fundamental to your infant's gums and those future lasting teeth. Ensure your infant's new teeth get the best care. Here are some down to earth tips.
Begin cleaning your youngster's mouth even before her teeth come in. Wipe the gums off after each bolstering with a warm, wet washcloth or a hosed bit of bandage wrapped around your finger. You can likewise purchase thimble-like, delicate rubbery gadgets (they fit over your forefinger) to use for rubbing off abundance sustenance.
Once the teeth start coming in, begin dealing with them immediately. Numerous guardians figure infant teetharen't critical in light of the fact that they're inevitably supplanted by changeless ones. Be that as it may, these first teeth protect the separating for the changeless ones and help Baby bite and talk. On the off chance that they're not administered to appropriately they can rot, prompting a gum contamination called gingivitis, which can influence the separating of changeless teeth.
The principal indications of cavities in infant teeth are staining and minor setting. Putting Baby to bed with a jug of drain (or more awful, juice) is infamous for causing pits. Try not to leave your baby with a jug for extensive stretches of time, particularly in the event that you see he's never again sustaining and is simply utilizing the container for comfort.


The novel's "soundless Nothing," presented as the forced silence in Rosa's parlor of her "vanishing" voice, as well as Jefferson's earlier "tranquil and astonished earth" (6), is also Quentin's own fascinated, awestricken imagination.
I'm awestricken, though I'm controlling it rather better than I did.
Unfortunately, too many reporters already are awestricken by the opportunity.
To follow through with this religious symbolism, the awestricken McPheron brothers could be seen as coming to Victoria's hospital bedside like the magi to the stable, "watch[ing] it all and stay[ing] with her into the night.
sun, and one naturally walked softly and awestricken among them.
The more I learn about the interaction of all life-forms on the planet and the more I witness, with my own five senses, the beauty and magnificence of nature, the more awestricken I become," writes Rush Limbaugh himself.
When she was told about North Little Rock mail carrier Joe Uselton's recent gallbladder surgery, performed at Baptist Memorial Medical Center, she was awestricken and more than a little envious.


Creativity: developing unique financial solutions to my clients' complex problems.
Integrity: my clients know that they can trust me to have their interests at heart.
Education: ensuring my clients understand their goals & the path necessary to achieve them.
I value education. Especially the need for our children to have the best possible skills to prepare for the complex world of tomorrow. I focus on helping families find creative funding solutions to one of life's largest and most necessary expenses.
I believe in sharing knowledge. I speak to groups of CPAs, financial aid administrators, college admissions officers, and financial planners around the country concerning the challenge of funding higher education. I share with them my experiences in developing funding strategies for families that help them minimize the cost of college.
My wife Sharon and I have lived in Fairfield County all our lives. I have been a CPA since 1979 and I have been working in the financial planning field since 1987.


text:
Q: jquery-ui resizable issues (can't get it to work no matter what I try) I must be missing something really simple but I can't for the life of me figure out what.
Basically on the page I'm working on I've 6 divs with the same class and I need them to be resizable. I couldn't get it to work so I created a simple test page just to see if it would work there with the syntax I'm using.
I've tried to use it inside and outside the document.ready function and none of it worked.
Here's the code for what is loading and the script:
<link href="css/bootstrap.min.css" rel="stylesheet">
<link href="css/oam-white.css" rel="stylesheet">
<link href="font-awesome-4.3.0/css/font-awesome.min.css" rel="stylesheet">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="js/jquery-ui-1.12.0.custom/jquery-ui-1.12.0.custom/jquery-ui.min.css">
<script src="js/jquery-1.11.2.min.js"></script>
<script src="js/bootstrap.min.js"></script>
<script src="js/jquery-ui.min.js"></script>
<script src="js/oam.js"></script>
    <script>
    $(document).ready(function() {
        });
    $(function() {
    $('#test').resizable({
        animate: true
        });
    });
</script>

Here's a codepen
Thank you in advance for the help. Rod


Matching set of YASMIN Shoe and PHOENIX bag. Perfect for your special day, Ruby Shoo presents "YASMIN", a bar shoe with a luxurious twist inspred by glamorous art-deco. Brocade upper with matching panels in faux suede to give your special occasion that touch of glamour; buckle fastening, with an adorable duo of matching flowers set in a corsage with pearl detail.


text:
Furious Duterte calls European critics 'crazies'
Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha welcomes Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (R) at the Government House in Bangkok, Thailand March 21, 2017.PHOTO: REUTERS
NAYPYIDAW: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has described European lawmakers as "crazies" in a salty-tongued rebuttal to criticism of his deadly drug war.
Mr Duterte fired his broadside in a late-night speech on Sunday in Myanmar after the European parliament issued a resolution last week condemning "the high number of extrajudicial killings" in his drug war.
"I don't get these crazies. Why are you trying to impose on us?
"Why don't you mind your own business?" said Mr Duterte, who helms a campaign to eradicate drugs that he says are threatening to turn the Philippines into a narco-state.
Philippine police have reported killing over 2,500 people, while rights groups say there have been more than 5,000 other deaths.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have warned that Mr Duterte may be overseeing crimes against humanity, with police allegedly running anonymous death squads.
Arrest unvaccinated if they go outdoors: Philippines' Duterte
S'pore to give $82k to help those affected by floods in Malaysia and typhoon in Philippines
Troops race to deliver aid to Philippine typhoon survivors
Suzuki Cup: Philippines thump Timor-Leste 7-0 in Group A clash
Mr Duterte insisted he has not asked his security forces to break the law, although on other occasions, he has called for addicts to be killed and vowed to pardon police officers found guilty of murder. - AFP
PhilippineseuropeMyanmar


text:
Posted by: Christian Pascale
No-deal Brexit could cost car industry £55 billion
Britain's automotive sector could lose £55bn manufacturing value in five years if we leave the EU without a deal, says a new report from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
A no-deal Brexit could see UK car production drop to fewer than 1m cars per year (down from 1.3m in 2019), as new tariffs could crash parts of the industry.
The automotive industry has already faced a tough year, with COVID temporarily closing every car factory in Europe, the recession and lockdown driving down demand for cars, and tightening rules on CO2 emissions simultaneously requiring big spending. Last year, European carmakers invested £54bn in eco-friendly electric technologies.
With just a month to go until the transition period ends on December 31, the UK and EU have yet to finalise a Brexit deal, and the talks could still fall through and result in a no-deal Brexit.
Carmakers have strongly opposed a no-deal Brexit, which would add 10% tariffs to their products, pushing the cost of the average car imported from Europe up by £1,900.
Some manufacturers have warned plants could close in the event of no deal, with the PSA group saying it would move production of the new Vauxhall Astra out of the UK, and Nissan predicting that its Sunderland plant, Britain's biggest car factory, would see its business model "destroyed".
Nissan COO Ashwani Gupta told Reuters that the Japanese carmaker's UK business would "not be sustainable" without an EU trade deal. However, Nissan has denied German media allegations that it has already decided to close the Sunderland factory.
All of Britain's major car manufacturers are foreign-owned. Japanese and EU carmakers have set up production in the UK largely because of easy access to the European single market, so the industry was never going to welcome any barriers to trade. The new SMMT report predicts that even with a "bare-bones" EU trade deal, the car industry would still lose £14.1bn.
SMMT President George Gillespie – who also serves as executive chairman of Japanese car testing firm Horiba Mira – has called for a trading relationship that would work for the automotive sector. With Brexit preparations already having cost the industry £1bn, and COVID £28bn, he said carmakers should not be left paying the cost of tariffs on top of that – "especially not by accident".