When Relativity Media wanted to continue its partnership with digital marketing agency TVGla but asked to extend payment cycle from 60 days to 90 days, Dimitry Ioffe immediately walked away from the account.
TVGla is not alone. This week, agency Grey has reportedly resigned its Coty account, a beauty brand known for its insistence on 120-day billing terms. Extensions on payments are not new for the advertising industry. Big ad spenders like Johnson & Johnson adopted this tactic during the recession to deal with the economic crisis, and its agency partners were willing to help, as if they had a choice. But gradually, agencies felt that they were used as banks by giant corporations sitting on piles of cash. Procter & Gamble instituted 75-day payment terms back in 2013, and Mondelez International pushed it further to 120 days, and other brands like Diageo followed suit.
Those conglomerates have been very open about using their agencies and vendors as banks to finance their revenue growth for at least 120 days. They impose new payment schedules for many reasons, like they might be in the middle of company restructuring or they might experience sluggish sales growth and need to balance their cash flow. Whatever the reason is, most agencies are still dying to work with big brands because those accounts look good on the portfolio and they can pay over time, even that means very slowly. And essentially, advertising is a relationship-based business.
And now, the problem seems to be getting worse.
For instance, Megan Harris, managing director for agency Syzygy New York, is now seeing clients want 90 days more often than not from media shops. This causes a problem as agencies need to pay for their media vendors on a 30-day cycle (Google demands it) and up to 60 days for other vendors, explained Harris. That means agencies are left liable and footing the bill for media until clients pay them, and many times clients are late on payments, she noted. The problem is agencies need to pay, on behalf of clients, for the media without having the leverage to play the same delay game.
Agencies usually combat the long payment cycle by taking out credit lines against their account receivables. For instance, Marc Becker, CEO for The Tangent Agency, usually works with his accounting team to see when receivables are going to hit the agency's bank account. Based on history, the team can pretty accurately predict when money should hit and plan ahead, he said.
But taking out credit lines takes time and eats the agency profit because of interest on the loan, said TVGla's Ioffe. So for smaller and midsize agencies, the phrase "Timing is everything" really takes on a double meaning, both in the time it takes for a client to pay and for agencies to know the timing on when to initiate various instruments of business needed to grow without too much stress on the system, he said.
For instance, if a campaign is worth more than $1 million and requires six months to finish, TVGla will want the client to pay 50 percent of the expenses upfront, 25 percent midway through and the rest upon the finishing line.
While extended payment terms are not ideal, they are not deal-breakers for some agencies. Lindsay Lustberg, partner and chief operating officer for Noble People, said that if a brand brings great creative opportunity, her agency is immediately more flexible on the money stuff overall.
But sometimes clients don't suggest to pay later — agencies offer it by themselves. During her current media agency search, Emily Kalen, senior manager of media strategy for e-commerce company Boxed, is seeing that "net-30" payment terms on retainer-based or percentage-based structures are the standard scenarios. But being lenient with payment windows doesn't necessarily give a shop a competitive edge, but pricing models do.
For instance, Kalen thinks that retainers can be arbitrary because it requires a lot of guesswork as to how much time it is going to take for each staff member. More often than not, these are poorly projected and not adhered to.


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Home Photography Hasselblad XPan (1998)
Hasselblad XPan (1998)
February 4, 2020 February 6, 2020 Photography / Reviews
This is a Hasselblad XPan, a 35mm rangefinder camera that exposes 24mm x 65mm panoramic images on regular 35mm film. The Xpan was made in Japan and was a name variant of the Fujifilm TX-1. The Xpan was an extremely expensive and high quality camera with a focal plane shutter, a modern automatic exposure system, a fully motorized film transport, and a selection of high quality lenses. In addition to true panoramic images, it can also shoot regular 24mm x 36mm images making it the first purpose built dual format 35mm camera on the market.
Film Type: 135 (35mm) Dual-Format 24x65mm Panoramic and 24x36mm
Lens: 30mm f/5.6 Hasselblad coated 10-elements + Others
Lens Mount: XPan Bayonet
Focus: Manual Focus, Variable
Viewfinder: Coincident Image Coupled Rangefinder w/ Adjustable 45mm and 90mm Framelines
Shutter: Vertically Traveling Metal Focal Plane
Speeds: B (max 270 seconds), 1 – 1/1000 seconds
Exposure Meter: TTL SPD Measured at Focal Plane
Battery: 2 x 3v CR2
Flash Mount: Hot Shoe w/ 1/125 Max Sync Speed
Weight: 1170g (w/ 30mm lens, shade, and viewfinder), 1073g (w/ lens only), 755g (body only)
Manual: https://www.cameramanuals.org/hasselblad/hasselblad_xpan.pdf
The Hasselblad XPan is a 35mm rangefinder camera which shoots unique 24mm x 65mm panoramic images. It's got a great viewfinder, an excellent exposure system, and a fully motorized film transport. Using the Xpan is a lot of fun and the image it makes look unlike any shot by any other camera ever made. Although it can also shoot regular 24mm x 36mm images, for someone to pay the astronomical prices for this camera and it's lenses, you really should take advantage of it's panoramic mode and that's the camera's biggest con, which is it's so expensive, you have to REALLY want to shoot panoramic images to fully utilize what it is good at and that's a big pill for many to swallow.
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Bonus +1 for a breathtaking viewfinder and images unlike that shot of any other camera ever
A portrait of Fritz Viktor Hasselblad, (1816 – 1893) whom the company is named after. Image courtesy, Sören Gunnarsson.
The earliest origins of Hasselblad date back to 1841, but the company that exists today as Victor Hasselblad AB does not have a straight line back to that original company. As often happens with many companies, the history bounces around a bit.
Arvid Viktor Hasselblad (1846 – 1907) struck up a friendship with George Eastman and established Hasselblad as Eastman's sole distributor in Sweden. Image courtesy, Sören Gunnarsson.
The name "Hasselblad" comes from it's original founder, Fritz Viktor Hasselblad, who in the 1830s worked as a merchant servant for his older brother Carl Henrik Hasselblad in Gothenburg, Sweden. At the age of 25, young Fritz was very ambitious and in early 1841 he left his brother's company to try and make it on his own.
On May 15, 1841, Fritz Hasselblad filed paperwork with the local magistrate to do business under the name F. W. Hasselblad and Company. Hasselblad's new company worked in the trade business, importing luxury items such as sewing machines, household articles, travel accessories and other products into Sweden.
Many years later, Fritz Hasselblad's son, Arvid Viktor had an interest in photography and on his honeymoon to London in 1885, he met George Eastman and struck a deal making Hasselblad the sole distributor for Eastman's products in Sweden.
The photographic division of Hasselblad continued to grow, and in 1908 was broken off into a separate company called Hasselblad Fotografiska AB to better meet the demands of the industry at that time. A nationwide network of shops and photo labs was created, and along with their imported goods, Hasselblad was the largest photographic goods company in Sweden, but the company wanted to set their sights even higher.
(Not So) Fun Fact: The names "Viktor/Victor" and "Fritz" were very common back then and all three of the early founders of Hasselblad had combinations of these names in their proper names making research for this article somewhat of a challenge.
Around age 20, Victor Hasselblad is seen here with a Graflex press camera. Image courtesy hasselblad.com.
In 1924, at the age of 18, Arvid Hasselblad's grandson Victor was sent to Dresden, Germany which at the time was considered the photographic center of the world. There, Victor would learn from some of the greatest minds working for the biggest companies about camera and optics design. Over the next several years, Victor took on a variety of jobs working for different companies in France and the United States, studying their designs and processes. In 1926, Victor Hasselblad went to work for George Eastman in Rochester, New York where his family's connections to Eastman gave him unique access.
Victor Hasselblad produced his first military use cameras while running his own company, Ross AB.
Eventually, Victor would return home to work for the family business, and for reasons I could not discover while researching this article, he had a falling out with his father, which in 1937 resulted in him leaving the business and starting up his own company in Gothenburg, called Victor Foto. In April 1940, Victor Hasselblad would setup a new company, called Ross AB in an old automobile shop with the intent to manufacture his first camera for the Swedish military.
The next year, Ross AB would finish it's first camera, the HK-7 which was inspired by an aerial camera found in a downed German aircraft during the early days of World War II. At the direction of the Swedish air force, Ross AB would build a number of HK-7s and a second camera called the SKa4 for use in Swedish air craft.
The Ross HK-7 was Victor Hasselblad's first camera, a military spec aerial camera for use by the Swedish air force.
In 1942, Victor Hasselblad's father and CEO of F.W. Hasselblad & Co., Karl Erik Hasselblad died. As a result, ownership of the company along with it's photographic division, passed onto Victor Hasselblad, and once again Victor was back working for his family's company.
After the war, F.W. Hasselblad & Co. would continue to produce many of the same products they had been making before and during the war such as watches and clocks, in addition to it's photographic products as well. Despite their success at wartime camera production, Hasselblad wasn't yet turning a profit on it's photographic products.
The first Hasselblad 1600 F, serial number 0001. notice the Kodak Ektar lens. Image courtesy, hasselblad.com.
In 1945 a new Swedish Automobile company called Saab would be created to build Sweden's first automobile using parts supplied by Hasselblad. At this same time, Victor Hasselblad prioritized the creation of a new line of civilian cameras. With the cooperation of Saab industrial designer Sixten Sason, in 1948 Hasselblad would produce it's first postwar camera, the 1600 F.
Hasselblad's new camera was very complex and early copies were unreliable. The company's experience at making clocks helped them to refine their camera making abilities, eventually improving the quality of early cameras. Only a few hundred of the early 1600 F models were made and despite having poor reliability, have become very desirable by collectors.
Despite their early struggles, Hasselblad learned quickly and by 1953, had an all new camera, the 1000 F which improved almost everything about the earlier model. In addition to their cameras, Hasselblad also made available a range of lenses made by the world's best lens makers including Kodak. Everything from a 60mm Distagon to a 200mm Sonnar could be purchased in a Hasselblad mount, making them very popular for professional photographers.
Hasselblad's first exposure on a major US publication came in the December 1954 issue of Modern Photography where two cameras were put through a brutal test.
Hasselblad's reputation as a camera maker received a huge boost in December 1954 when the American magazine, Modern Photography ran an in-depth test of the 1000 F. In that article, they put over 500 rolls of film through their test camera, intentionally dropping it twice, to see how it would hold up, which it did.
Hasselblads were chosen to go into space on many occasions, including this 500EL on Apollo 12, Image courtesy NASA.
In 1957, the 500 C made it's debut which would turn out to be the company's most successful platform. Variations of the 500 C continued to be produced as recently as 2013. Hasselblad cameras developed such a high reputation for quality and dependability that in 1962, NASA started using them on space flights, some even being used on the moon.
Despite their success, Hasselblads were very expensive and were not produced in great enough numbers for the company to make a huge profit off them in those early days, instead having to rely on their many other products the company produced for other industries. It wouldn't be until the early 1960s that the company was ever able to turn a profit making cameras.
Hasselblad would continue making the 500 series with multiple variants throughout the rest of the 20th century. In 1976, Victor Hasselblad would sell the company to a Swedish investment firm who in 1984 would turn the company into a publicly traded corporation. This wouldn't last long as by 1991, all public shares of the company were purchased by a single entity, effectively making them a private company again. The company would be sold yet again in 1996 to a multi-national investment banker, making them a fully international company.
The Japanese market only Fujifilm TX-1 is identical to the Xpan other than coming in a silver body. Image courtesy, Bellamy Hunt, Flickr.
In 1998, in accordance with their more "worldly" management, Hasselblad would partner with the Japanese camera maker Fuji, and sell a rebadged version of their Fujifilm TX-1 as the Hasselblad Xpan. Both the TX-1 and Xpan were 35mm rangefinder cameras that shot in a unique 24mm x 65mm panoramic format. The cameras shared the same lens mount and came with 3 different lenses. The TX-1 had a silver body compared to the Xpan which only came in black, but otherwise, the two cameras were the same. Fuji sold the TX-1 in Japan only, and the Hasselblad in every other country including the United States.
This 1999 review from Popular Photography gives a short rundown of the Xpan's specs and price.
The Xpan first went on sale in mid 1998 with a list price including the 45mm lens for $1995, which when adjusted for inflation is comparable to just over $3000 today. Although three lenses were made for the Xpan, the wide angle 30mm wasn't announced until October 1999 with examples getting into customer's hands in early 2000. The 30mm lens came in it's own special case with an auxiliary 30mm viewfinder, hood, pouch, and 58mm anti-vignetting filter. Since both the 45mm and 90mm lenses used the same 49mm filters, the 30mm required it's own filter and hood, which came in the kit. The price for the lens with all these accessories was a whopping $2500, which was more than the camera. Click here for a digital copy of a review by Michael Reichmann which first appeared in early 2000 for the 30mm lens.
This Xpan made of cake makes terrible pictures, but probably tastes great!
In 2003, a replacement TX-2 and Xpan 2 would make their debut, keeping the same basic design with only minor improvements. Both the Xpan and Xpan 2 would remain Hasselblad's only 35mm cameras.
Today, to say that the Xpan is a desirable camera is an understatement. It is expensive, does something that few others can, and even though it was not made by Hasselblad, it has one of the more desirable name plates in the camera industry. If you want an Xpan of your own, be prepared to pay…a lot.
As I write this, there are 12 of them for sale on US eBay and another dozen or so more if you look internationally all in the $4000 and up range. If you try to get creative and hope that the Fuji TX-1 is any cheaper, you'd be incorrect as they're usually even higher. Sadly, your best bet at owning an Xpan is to do what Instagram user fotodudenz did and have one made out of cake.
Do you want to shoot an Xpan?
There's a scene early in Disney's "Frozen" where the child version of Anna unsuccessfully tries to wake her older sister Elsa in the middle of the night to play, and it's not until she inquisitively asks "Do you want to build a snowman" does she have any success. While I share very little in common with the CGI animated Elsa, I shared a similar wide-eyed excitement the first time fellow collector Kurt Ingham asked me "Do you want to shoot an Xpan"?
Everything about the Xpan is designed for the 24×65 aspect ratio, including the viewfinder opening.
So of course I patiently awaited the arrival of what would be the single most expensive camera I've ever used, either film or digital. Sold prices on eBay for working Xpans easily top $3000 with a single lens, this shipment had three lenses available for it, the wide angle 30mm, the standard 45mm, and the telephoto 90mm. It's worth noting however, that the 45mm and 90mm lenses have a 35mm equivalent of 35mm and 50mm, but that gets confusing so I'll just refer to them by their stated focal lengths.
It came with the auxiliary viewfinder for the wide angle 30mm lens, lens hoods, and the Hasselblad filters that darken the center of the image slightly so as to minimize the effect of vignetting near the corners of the panoramic image. These filters alone sell for upwards of $250 each. Needless to say, this lot was going to need some insurance before I sent it back!
Like the dangers Anna and Elsa faced in "Frozen", shooting an Xpan comes with some risks as well. The first of which is the incredible worth of this camera. Panoramic photography can be a lot of fun, but it's very specialized. You have to want to shoot panoramic images and that means taking it out when you have a specific reason to. When you are carrying around nearly five-grand worth of equipment (especially that doesn't belong to you), you need to take extreme care of it. I was constantly nervous every time I had this thing around my neck.
The wide angle 30mm lens requires the use of this viewfinder to properly compose images.
Furthermore, knowing that I would only have this camera for a short time, I felt I should maximize the Xpan experience and stick with the wide angle 30mm lens. Why would you shoot a 45mm panorama, when you can fit more in with the wide angle lens, I thought to myself. The horizontal field of view of the 30mm lens is 94 degrees, which on a normal 24mm x 36mm full frame image, is equivalent to a 17mm lens.
Looking through the auxiliary viewfinder is breathtaking. The scope of the full image is unlike any I've seen before, and while it was a lot of fun, it definitely required me to rethink my compositions. I don't think the average person naturally sees in a 24×65 aspect ratio, so that took a little while to get used to.
The front mounted film speed dial is one of the few ergonomic curiosities of an otherwise well designed camera.
The good news is that the camera is very well designed, and other than the shock of looking through the viewfinder, the rest of the camera's controls are very natural and easy to use for the first timer. The camera's body is quite a bit wider than a normal 35mm cameras and feels solid in your hands. Fuji built this camera for Hasselblad and I would consider it's build quality to be on par with modern Fuji digital mirrorless cameras like the X-T20 digital mirrorless that I use to shoot all of the beauty pics for these articles.
At 755 grams with no lens, the weight of the body is kept in check due to it's aluminum and titanium construction. What parts are aluminum or titanium is anyone's guess, but I have to imagine that this camera would have been a lot heavier had other metals been used. It's heft is reasonable considering it's size, but that changes quite a bit depending on which lens you have mounted, or whether you have a hood or viewfinder attached. At it's heaviest, with the 30mm f/5.6 lens, hood, and aux viewfinder attached, the camera weighs 1170 grams, making it heavier than many TLRs.
The width of the camera, along with the layout of the controls gives the top plate an uncluttered look.
The top plate is elegantly designed with a large Xpan logo engraved into the entire left side. Since the Xpan has a fully motorized film transport, there's no need for things like a rewind knob or film advance lever. In the center is a standard flash hot shoe, which I imagine means it works with any electronic flash out there. I did not test the camera with flash, but with only a central contact point, I doubt things like TTL flash metering are supported.
On the right is the mechanical film speed dial with speeds from 8 seconds to 1/1000 plus Bulb and Auto. With the camera in Auto mode (which I am not ashamed to admit is what I used), the speed dial locks into position, requiring that you press on a central button in the middle of the dial to prevent the camera from accidentally leaving Auto mode.
The mechanical dials on top of the Xpan are refreshing and lend a professional feel to the camera.
Next is the silver shutter release button that is comfortably located exactly where your right index finger naturally falls while holding the camera. Beneath it is a small LCD screen that shows the remaining number of exposures left, and a little "P" for when the camera is in Panoramic mode. The number of exposures remaining on this screen changes depending on whether the camera is in P mode or standard mode. You can seamlessly switch back and forth between panoramic and standard images on the same roll and the exposure counter will always show you how many remain at any point.
Finally, is a dual mode dial that functions as both an over/under exposure compensation switch, and the camera's power and drive mode selector switch. There are three modes, single, continuous, and self-timer, which activates a 10 second countdown before firing the shutter.
The location of the tripod socket on the side of the camera concerns me considering the weight of the Xpan with the wide angle lens.
On the bottom of the camera, there's little to see. The words "Made in Japan" appear below the serial number and eliminate any doubt that this camera wasn't made in Sweden. Near the right side is the circular battery compartment that houses the two CR2 batteries required to operate the camera and to the right is the 1/4″ tripod socket. Although I had no need to use a tripod in my test with this camera, I'd consider the location of this socket to be one of the few design missteps of the camera. With a lens, hood, and viewfinder mounted, the Xpan tops the scales over 2.5 lbs and when mounting a camera that heavy, I prefer seeing tripod sockets in the center of the base plate, not off to the side like this.
The rear mounted LCD is screen is where you get battery status, ISO, and EV compensation.
Turning the camera to the side you're most likely to see while shooting it, you'll see a second LCD screen in the center of the rear door that shows the status of the battery, the detected ISO film speed when DX is selected, and the manual speed selected otherwise, and exposure EV compensation (if set). To the left of the LCD screen is a clear peep hole into the film compartment which allows you to see what kind of film is loaded in the camera.
This switch on the camera's left side is how you open the rear door for loading film.
To gain access to the film compartment, there is a folding door release on the cameras right side. Simply lift up on the small tab that says "Open" and press up until the door pops open.
The Xpan's film compartment is like most other 35mm cameras, just a lot wider.
The Xpan's film compartment looks like most other 35mm camera film compartments, except much, much wider. It is here where you can fully appreciate the size of the 65mm exposures that this camera makes.
To make 24mm x 65mm images, you need a 24mm x 65mm film gate.
The shutter is a pretty standard looking vertically traveling focal plane design, except once again, wider.
Film loading is from left to right onto a quick loading take up spool. Simply extend the leader of a new roll of film to the green "Film Tip" line and close the door and the camera does the rest. The first time you load a roll of film into the Xpan, it might seem like it takes a lot longer to load than most other fully automatic 35mm cameras, and that's because the Xpan uses a backwards film transport which means the camera automatically advances the entire roll of film all the way to the end of the cassette and shoots the exposures in reverse order until it gets to the beginning.
There's two advantages to this in that since exposed images are immediately rolled back into the cassette after they're made, if the film door were to be accidentally opened with film still in it, your exposed images would be already protected in the cassette, lessening the chance of ruining previously exposed images. Another advantage to this is to get a more accurate measurement of how many exposures remain on a roll of film. It doesn't matter if you use a 12, 24, 36, or even a bulk loaded roll of film, since the camera knows exactly the length of film that's loaded, it can always give an accurate number of panoramic or standard exposures remaining on the roll.
The Xpan uses a proprietary bayonet lens mount that only mounts lenses designed specifically for it.
Up front at about the 10 o'clock position of the lens mount is a circular dial for manually selecting the ISO film speed from 25 to 3200. I found the location of this dial in such a prominent spot of the camera to be a curious one considering that not only would most people leave it on the automatic DX setting, but also that the film speed can already be displayed on the rear LCD panel. I can't imagine it would have been too difficult to use one of the buttons below the LCD to be used to manually set a film speed. While this is hardly a deal breaker, I am obviously not alone in thinking this dial didn't need to be there as it was removed on the replacement Xpan II, released in 2003.
Near the 8 o'clock position around the lens mount is a release button for the bayonet mount. Like any other bayonet lens mount, lenses can be removed and reattached easily to the Xpan with a small twist of the wrist.
From the moment you hold an Xpan, you can tell this camera is a bit different from others, but it's not until you peer through the viewfinder do you really appreciate how different it is. Although there were many cheap point and shoot, and even some SLRs in the 1990s that had a switchable panoramic mode, they only used masks over a standard 24×36 image to create the panorama. Only with a camera like the Xpan where panoramic is the native aspect ratio, can you fully appreciate the format.
For starters, the parallax corrected projected frame lines and central combined image rangefinder are incredibly bright. If you're used to half century old rangefinders like I am, the difference is night and day. Even cooler, when you switch the camera to shoot 24×36 images, the frame lines automatically adjust to show the correct aspect ratio.
The frame lines in the above two images are using the standard 45mm lens. If you attach the 90mm telephoto lens, they adjust to show that aspect ratio in both panorama…
…and standard modes. But why anyone would shoot 24x36mm images on a camera like the Xpan is beyond me.
Although not shown in any of the above images, the main viewfinder also has a red exposure confirmation dot with + and – over and under exposure LEDs below the visible viewfinder image.
The Xpan does not have built in frame lines for the wide angle 30mm lens which I used primarily in my tests, so for that, you have to use the accessory 30mm viewfinder which mounts to the flash hot shoe on top of the camera. With this viewfinder attached, you still use the rangefinder in the main viewfinder for focus, and then move your eye to the 30mm viewfinder for composition. This is less of a problem however, as the huge amount of depth of field for a 30mm lens at anything but close-ups allows you to shoot like a focus free camera.
The accessory viewfinder is not parallax corrected like the main viewfinder is, so you'll need to make sure you take that into consideration with closeups.
Although a dedicated panoramic camera, the Xpan can be switched to shoot 24x36m exposures if you wish.
This switch next to the rear viewfinder opening is what switches the camera between panoramic and standard formats. Although the Xpan makes for a very capable 35mm rangefinder in standard format, I never once had the desire to shoot 24×36 images in the camera. I guess that perhaps while out in the field, if you can clearly see an image that would not benefit from a panoramic aspect ratio, you can switch back to standard in an effort not to waste film, but otherwise, I doubt it would be used much.
Fuji's lenses are designed with a very classic layout. F/stops up front, with a wide and nicely dampened focus ring in the middle.
Handling the Xpan before ever loading in any film, one thing that I was immediately drawn to was how familiar I was with the camera's controls. It is very much laid out like a classic rangefinder, with a shutter speed dial on the top plate, aperture f/stops on the front of the lens, followed by a nicely damped and wide manual focus ring. Even the viewfinder, once you get used to it's size, is familiar in the layout and use of the rangefinder. Aside from having to reprogram your "mind's eye" to see in a panoramic format, this is a camera that someone (me) could pick up for the first time, and immediately start shooting. So….what's it like to shoot?
I shot two fresh rolls of film in the Xpan while I had it. The first was Kodak Pro Image 100 which is part of their Kodak Professional lineup. This was the first ever roll of this film I had ever shot, as it's rather new to the US market, although I believe it's been available overseas for quite some time. Considering I shot this roll in the midst of summer on a bright sunny day, I figured it would do well. The second roll was plain Jane Fuji 200. A film that I have a ton of experience with.
I should point out that anyone shooting an Xpan who sends their film into a lab for processing will need to make a note on their order form identifying it as being in a panoramic format as this could cause difficulties with the cutting of the negatives. If you opt for digital scanning of your negatives, panoramic images will often incur an additional charge as well. Since I develop and scan my own film at home, this was not an issue for me.
Note: Due to the nature of the large sizes of these panoramic sample images, I strongly recommend viewing these on a desktop computer and clicking through to each image to see it full size. It will be very hard to appreciate the detail of the images on a mobile device or even a desktop computer without looking at each image full screen.
Prior to shooting the Xpan, I did some research online to read other people's thoughts of using the camera and I found a number of people who said they struggled to compose in a 24×65 frame. There are those who are so used to one aspect ratio, that their "inner eye" struggles to make good use of the additional space. This is something I've observed with many 6×6 medium format cameras like TLRs, in that I still compose them as if they were in a rectangular format, wasting space above and below my composition.
With the Xpan, I didn't experience any of the struggles that some other reviewers had with the panoramic format as it felt natural to me. The extreme wide angle nature of the 30mm lens allowed me to fit a LOT of image into each frame. I experimented with offset images like the one of the blue Chevelle and the train pic and I think they turned out really nice.
The f/5.6 30mm Xpan lens has 10-elements and cost more than the camera itself when it was new.
I even tried a number of vertical panoramic images too which I think came out great. The shot of the alley has a perspective you couldn't have achieved any other way, and in the one of the power lines, I am standing about 10 feet from the base of the structure, yet I was able to fit everything in, with space to spare.
I am not sure how many Xpan shooters try vertical panoramas, but I did notice that in almost every instance, the lack of parallax correction with the 30mm viewfinder was much more noticeable when shooting vertically. It is very obvious in the two of the crosswalk in front of the courthouse and the one from the highway overpass. In each of these shots, I tried to frame these images as symmetrically as possible yet, I clearly missed it. This might have been less of an issue with either the 45mm or the 90mm lenses, but sadly, I did not try it.
There's a small amount of irony that a panoramic camera has a large swath of empty space on it's top plate with such a small Xpan logo.
Not surprisingly, the Xpan works best with panoramic scenes such as the ones in downtown Crown Point, Indiana, the highway overpass, and the corn field images. Duuuh, you're probably thinking, of course a panoramic camera works best with panoramas! But therein lies one of the inherent weaknesses of the Xpan. This is a camera that is so good at one particular style of photography, that it feels like a waste to shoot anything else, and unless you're the kind of photographer who only shoots panoramas, the excessively high cost of this camera with it's accessory lenses is a very hard pill to swallow. I am not sure that even if I had the funds to afford everything that was loaned to me, that I would invest it in this system for something I would only rarely use it for.
This is how the Xpan looks while shooting with the 30mm auxiliary viewfinder and panoramic hood.
This is a debate beyond what I hope to discuss in this article, so coming back to the images, I was floored when I saw them. Despite having an identical vertical resolution of a normal 35mm camera, the images have a sort of medium format sharpness to them. The quality of the Hasselblad lenses are excellent. I kept the specialized "anti-vignetting" filter on the lens while shooting and for the most part there isn't obvious darkening near the corners. Lens sharpness, color rendition and all of the other common standards to which lenses are judged, were all excellent.
I don't think I struggled with composition like some other reviewers online suggested. My two biggest concerns with this camera are both a side effect of it's cost. This is a LOT of money to invest in a system with such a specialized purpose. Even if I did find myself in need of panoramic images, the thought of carrying around nearly $5000 worth of gear around my neck would constantly keep me on edge.
I am extremely grateful to Kurt Ingham for loaning me his camera, and I really did enjoy shooting it. If you find a CGI princess willing to loan you their Xpan, I absolutely recommend trying it out as there's simply nothing else like it.
Kodak No. 1 Panoram-Kodak (1900 – 1926)
Keppler's Vault 53: Two New Hasselblads
https://www.hasselblad.com/history/xpan/
https://www.photothinking.com/2019-05-23-hasselblad-xpan-xpand-the-panoramic/
https://luminous-landscape.com/hasselblad-xpan/
https://petapixel.com/2017/10/02/looking-viewfinder-hasselblad-xpan/
http://www.fototheque.com/xpan/
https://www.35mmc.com/25/06/2017/hasselblad-xpan-ii-review/
35mm / Hasselblad / Japan
Previous PostOne Hour Photo 3: Chris Sherlock
Next PostKeppler's Vault 53: Two New Hasselblads
February 4, 2020 at 9:48 am 3 years ago
Welcome back to blogging, Mike! And what a barnburner camera you picked for your first review of 2020. I'm thinking of the engineering that went into that shutter. Imagine the inertia in those yuuge curtains … and they accommodate 1/1000 second exposures. Next we need to find you a Fuji 6×17 to play with!
February 4, 2020 at 10:28 am 3 years ago
Thanks Roger! The Xpan was definitely a lot of fun and has ignited a desire to shoot more panoramic cameras. While I don't have a Fuji 6×17 in the queue, I do have one more dedicated panoramic camera that I'll get to sometime this year!
Patrick Abe
When I see "wide field" cameras like this example of "photographic unobtainium," the name "Simon Nathan" comes to mind. A long time ago, when Modern and Popular Photography magazines were the "Eastman Kodak" of the photographic press, Simon Nathan began his wide field camera quest.
He'd used 4X5 cameras to try and make "wide field" images of aircraft, buildings, etc. with an emphasis on getting a feel for the span of an object. He noted that what he ended up with was a somewhat wide image of the object swimming in the middle, with dead space above and below the subject. What to do?
His quest took him to Japan, to see if any camera company had any interest in making a custom wide field format camera. Mamiyia finally looked at the problem without disdain, and the first "Simon/Wide" was created, in what has become the 6X17 format. Nathan Simon continued to make stunning wide field images with his handbuilt camera for years, while the photographic world moved on to The Next Big
thing.
Aside from the Russian Horizon panoramic camera, the Simon/Wide format didn't take off for years, since this was a super niche product. So now it is 2020 and wide field cameras using roll film and 135 film are (sorta) common and the "how wide is it?" image can be found on Smartphone camera images. As I recall, Eastman Kodak tried the "wide filed on 135" on a disposable camera a while back, which was…wide.
It's nice to see that a "real wide field 35mm" camera exists in the world, even if it's a "Hasselblad" and commands a premium price. I've seen wide field images for years, but not details the image making device. I find it interesting that "the complete kit" has three lenses for varied magnification of the panorama, where ever it may be. Welcome back, your articles on "interesting cameras I've used or owned" along with the history behind it remind me of the days when photography wasn't digital or required Photoshop to "process images to perfection."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: MVC4 not displaying DefaultValues In my model:
[Required]
    [DefaultValue("Some text ...")]
    public string SomeValue{ get; set; }

In my view:
 @Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.SomeValue)

At start the textbox is empty, I'd like it to contain the default value.
Thank you if you can help me.

A: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/311339

[...] However, the DefaultValue attribute does not cause the initial value to be initialized with the attribute's value.

A: You need to set the value in the constructor of your model...
public class MyModel {

    public MyModel() {
        SomeValue = "Some text...";
    }

    [Required]
    [DefaultValue("Some text ...")]
    public string SomeValue{ get; set; }
}

The DefaultValueAttribute isn't for setting the value - it is for comparing it later. For example, when the model is mapped from the user input, you can check if SomeValue has been entered or not because you can check whether it is the same as DefaultValue.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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All Access One Pass login process Implementation.


Today we'd like to introduce you to Shruti Menon.
Shruti, let's start with your story. We'd love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I have been practicing yoga seriously for a little over 1 year now. I was and still am an avid gym person. But back in 2016, I developed a knee injury which didn't allow me to do any intense leg work and I was pretty adamant to make sure I keep moving, so I started looking out for other options. On YouTube, I came across some slow yoga flows that helped with injuries and that really got me hooked on the practice. After my first yoga session, I remember leaving my mat with a weird sense of triumph. I guess that's what pulled me back to the mat again and again to an extent where I started trying to find excuses to make it last longer. Today, yoga has helped me with not only confidence but also with falling in love with myself on a deeper level.
Well, what is a journey without any struggle? I practice yoga every day, some poses come easy, but there are quite a few, I do find difficult. But that's what I love about the physical aspect of yoga – it challenges me, makes me work for those poses, pushes my body to an extent where it feels good and at the same time it allows me to be playful at the moment.
If I have to talk about struggles, I would say, initially I would always compare myself with the yoga poses performed by experts. With time and practice, I did realize it was important to make my practice my own, as the physical aspect of yoga is just a tiny aspect of the practice. Our bodies are all different which makes our poses look different.
For women out there just beginning their journey, yoga is for everybody and more importantly, yoga is for everybody. Start practicing and don't make excuses. You really don't need to be flexible to do yoga, that comes with practice. Most importantly, learn to enjoy your journey without comparison.
I am a non-practicing architect based in Boston, currently focusing on Indian classical dance and yoga. I graduated with my masters from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where I met my husband of 3 years.
In many ways, the teachings and essence of yoga inspire my architectural work in many ways. I believe life is a journey of learning and somehow, I have been adept in balancing my work, my love and passion for yoga and my home – all the things that are the most important to me.
Sounds a bit cliche, but I am most proud of brands and organizations that have a purpose for the common good and not just commerce. My pride in them comes from the same space as my love for my yoga practice – which is inspiring people to do better and in the long run help our society.
Women like Oprah, Ellen Degeneres, Zaha Hadid and Sheryl Sandberg inspire me, but the one woman who inspires me in my daily life is my Mom.
She is an incredible woman that has been my rock my entire life. She's not just my Mom, she's my best friend and I don't know what I'd do without her. I always look up to my Mom because she's hard-working, dedicated, driven, caring, a fantastic cook, motivated, honest, reasonable, understanding and intelligent. I don't know how she did it but she has always managed to balance raising me with the house and a job while still making time for all those important moments.


text:
Christian Marijuana Dispensary Reconciles Dogma and Dope While Battling the IRS
Bryan Davies, owner of medical marijuana dispensary Canna Care, leads supporters in prayer before facing the Internal Revenue Service in tax court on Feb. 24, 2014.
Katy Steinmetz—TIME
By Katy Steinmetz
Early in the morning on Feb. 24, a large man with a long white beard and big cowboy hat gathered with about a dozen other people to pray outside the San Francisco branch of the United States tax court. In a kettledrum voice, Bryan Davies led the group in the Lord's Prayer before asking, "If there is any evil here, let it be sent to the lake of fire!" Then Davies strode into the federal building, where he and his wife, Lanette, took on the Internal Revenue Service in a case that could set an important precedent for the nation's rapidly growing legal marijuana industry.
At issue is a nearly $875,000 tax bill that the Davies' have refused to pay on the grounds that a 1982 law meant to prevent drug traffickers from deducting business expenses should not apply to Canna Care, their small "Christian-based" medical marijuana dispensary in Sacramento—or any other marijuana dispensary legal under state law. Even if the Davies' don't win that argument, there are legal precedents for the dispensary to get a big discount on that bill if owners can prove they're involved in two trades. So for two days of testimony, the usually staid federal tax court was given over to a detailed examination of what, exactly, constitutes a Christian cannabis business that claims to spend as much time serving the community as it does selling weed-infused lollipops.
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The idea for merging marijuana and ministry came through prayer, the couple said during testimony. They had been exposed to medical marijuana when a doctor recommended Lanette Davies' daughter use it to alleviate symptoms from a bone disease and it "made her life livable," she said. Bryan Davies became a convert after finding it helped ease an arthritic condition that affects his spine. Trying to live on Social Security benefits and short on cash, Davies says he asked God for guidance. "I got on my knees, and I prayed to the Lord," he told the court. "And God said … 'Open up a pot shop.'"
Katy Steinmetz / TIME
The Davies' set up that shop in 2005, in the back corner of a small industrial complex in a neighborhood of Sacramento called Del Paso Heights. The dispensary is marked only by an illustration of an aluminum can with the word care wrapped across the front. Inside, a security guard mans the door to a windowless lobby. A table offers pamphlets on using medical marijuana to treat chronic pain next to bibles that are given away for free. The walls are a crowded tapestry of American flags, cannabis leaves, eagles, crucifixes and the "Don't Tread on Me" gear favored by Tea Partiers (though Lanette says she's a staunch Democrat and Bryan calls himself a libertarian). In the back room, employees sell strains of weed like Hindu Kush, Green Candy and L.A. Confidential, starting at $3.95 per gram.
That work of selling dope, the couple said in response to questioning from IRS lawyers, is consistent with the dispensary's broader mission to help and heal. A patron might arrive having been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease or terminal cancer, Bryan said: "They've been told they have so much time to live … and they're angry with God." He and other Canna Care employees would often pray with those patients, they testified, in what he said was an attempt to bring them back from the "precipice." Bryan also said during testimony that he could exorcise patients who "don't realize they're hosting a demon."
Marijuana is an unlikely form of outreach to Christians. A new survey of Americans' attitudes about marijuana released Wednesday by the Public Religion Research Institute found that the majority of the 3,390 Christians polled, 52%, said they are against legalization. Opposition is strongest among Hispanic Catholics (67%) and white evangelical Protestants (61%), while lowest among Jewish Americans (23%) and the unaffiliated (27%). Robert Jones, CEO of the firm that conducted the survey, partly attributes the opposition among Christians to their view of the body "as a temple" that shouldn't be soiled with substances like illegal drugs or alcohol or cigarettes.
The Davies' use the Bible to reconcile selling marijuana with their faith, believing that cannabis was among the "seed-bearing plants" the book of Genesis says God gave man on the sixth day. "You've got to remember who created it," Bryan said recently, shortly after the dispensary employees finished their daily 6 p.m. prayer.
Prevailing in tax court will require a different standard of proof. The provision at the heart of the case is an obscure bit of federal tax code known as 280E, which states that taxpayers who are involved in drug trafficking are not allowed to deduct any business expenses—like payroll or rent or health benefits—that would be standard for other legal businesses. The law, put on the books more than a decade before any state legalized medical marijuana, has become an expensive reality for dispensaries; while medical marijuana is now legal in 20 states, and recreational marijuana is legal in two, pot is still a Schedule I controlled substance in the eyes of the federal government. And that means that regardless of state law, all dispensaries are drug traffickers as far as the IRS is concerned.
Canna Care's disputed tax bill comes from $2.6 million in business expenses that the IRS has disallowed under that code. Getting a ruling that 280E should be revisited and no longer applied to medical marijuana dispensaries, as the Davies' lawyer argued, would be a landmark decision for the burgeoning marijuana industry. But by the time testimony ended Feb. 25th, that appeared unlikely.
Throughout the two day hearing, the Davies' were rebuked for using the witness stand as a soap box and rambling rather than giving forthright answers. One of their witnesses was disallowed because the IRS had not been notified of her appearance in advance, and their lawyer could not immediately recall what "THC"—or tetrahydrocannabinol, the mind-altering ingredient in cannabis—stood for. Canna Care employees testified that they did not know how their salaries were determined or by whom. Meanwhile, other attorneys arguing related cases have expressed concerns that a ruling against Canna Care might be "very detrimental" to their efforts to see the code reformed.
A ruling from judge Diana Kroupa may not be forthcoming for at least six months. As testimony ended, Kroupa seemed to acknowledge the shift in popular opinion in favor of legal marijuana, but implied that it would have little bearing on the outcome of a case that hinges, at its core, on an interpretation of fine-grained tax law. "The court is aware that there is a trend," Kroupa said as the hearing concluded, "but the law is the law."
Exiting the courtroom, the Davies' remained upbeat. "I know what we're doing is the right thing," Lanette said, "Whether it goes for us or against us, that's in God's hands."
Write to Katy Steinmetz at katy.steinmetz@time.com.


Hard Rock Cafe Toronto and the vanishing Local legendary Burger.
I am not sure if I can be classified as a foodie, but I am on a quest to try as many types of food as I can get my hands on. Since the terms are now over and I can come out of hibernation, I have decided to continue my search for interesting food to consume. To kick off my travel season for 2017, I took a day off and decided to check out my hometown, Toronto.
I have always been searching for an excuse to visit Toronto. I have started to travel around in the past few years and it dawn on me that I didn't do my hometown justice. That was highlighted by that Chinese girl I am attempting to court, regarding how I haven't been to many places around town.
The real catalyst was an announcement on the 680 news, a local news radio station, that the Hard Rock Cafe at Toronto will be closing down by the middle of this year.
Since the time I went to Florida a few years ago, I started a quest to try every local legendary burger Hard Rock Cafe has to offer. The only requirement for me is that I will really only eat the local legendary made by a local, at the HRC in that state, town, or city.
When I started this, I had the Mac n Cheese local legendary at Orlando. A year later in Vegas, I tried the Atomic! legendary. Since the HRC at Toronto may disappear, I must try this before the Toronto Local Legendary is history. So here I am, eating a burger at HRC Toronto, two months before it becomes part of Toronto's memories.
Let me introduce the Toronto Local Legendary Burger, the Swiss Mushroom Melt legendary burger.
I was expecting Maple Syrup to be honest and sweeter than a Tim Horton's donut…. but it is actually quite refreshing! Fitting very well with the new healthier Toronto image!
The burger is pretty huge and even with no bacon, that piece of fresh lettuce at the bottom gave it a crunchy texture every time I bit into it while protecting the bun from the juices leaking from the burger.
To be frank, the burger is so big that I have to cut it up into two before I can start eating.
With some chipotle mayo for the fries, this is different from the Vegas one and definity have a different kind of T.O. Signature to it.
So, this is it, I have now tried the Toronto Hard Rock Cafe's legendary burger. What's next?


One of my lessons in business was to focus. Another important one was to only go into a new venture slowly and doing due diligence. With my entrepreneurial background, both of these were hard for me to do.
I also learned in my profession as an irrigation engineer that there were many variables that were not easy to define what caused what. Later as a sod farmer decisions were not clear cut. In having experience with 16 different ones and many managers, each manager did not want to be judged based on what another manager did in another market, climate and soil type. We went from the Big 8 comparison such as labor costs, fertilizer, seed, and irrigation to a Big 12 comparison. Then we looked at variables such as pumping depth to allow for differences for each farm. However, in the end, we made decisions based on our best knowledge as we continued to learn from over 40+ years of experience.
In the same way, deciding on funding national missions thru evaluation and inspecting results is not easy. One can start out with giving the majority to mainly fund Americans on short term or long term trips. This is the road mostly easily traveled. But the rewards are likely much less than engaging and giving to equip national mission groups.
Measuring what Matters is also very difficult. We try to determine if the national missions we support are multiplying churches based on making disciples. However, results given of both American and national mission groups can all be viewed with some skepticism. Also, after due diligence, I am less concerned about the $2,000 that may have been wasted on a national pastor than the $70,000 per year American who does not know the language nor the culture and does not always have reasonable supervision.
As discussed in this site, counting raised hands at an invitation indicates little about making disciples unless there is good follow-up. Counting baptism is more meaningful but less meaningful than counting disciples that are measured by Bible study, prayer time, church attendance and other ways. Another way may be to count churches and their average attendance.
When I was an extension irrigation engineer, we had a story of a guy named Charlie. Charlie was a county agent getting an award for his achievements. He was asked while getting the award "Charlie, what makes you so successful?" He said "I see which way the crowd is going and then run in front of it with the flag." Similarly, I see and read of American missionaries taking credit for God blessing the national missionaries' work.
Also in extension, we were very successful based on our evaluation of our own work. There is a natural tendency to justify the effectiveness of our own methods in spite of evidence to the contrary.
Many number of results are inflated. For a short term group to claim many decisions for Christ is always questionable. Discipleship requires time for discipling, usually much more than two weeks. The nationals will raise their hands to please their guests, to get the gifts presented or to add to the many gods they already believe in. Some converts are counted two or more times by whoever may give them some Biblical teachings.
The low hanging fruit for Americans is the 1,000,000 foreign students here most of which are never presented the gospel nor get into a Christian home. The other large US mission field is among the immigrants and refugees who come here with other beliefs.


text:
import numpy as np
import xarray as xr

def parameterized(names, params):
    def decorator(func):
        func.param_names = names
        func.params = params
        return func

    return decorator

def requires_dask():
    try:
        import dask  # noqa
    except ImportError:
        raise NotImplementedError

def randn(shape, frac_nan=None, chunks=None, seed=0):
    rng = np.random.RandomState(seed)
    if chunks is None:
        x = rng.standard_normal(shape)
    else:
        import dask.array as da

        rng = da.random.RandomState(seed)
        x = rng.standard_normal(shape, chunks=chunks)

    if frac_nan is not None:
        inds = rng.choice(range(x.size), int(x.size * frac_nan))
        x.flat[inds] = np.nan

    return x

def randint(low, high=None, size=None, frac_minus=None, seed=0):
    rng = np.random.RandomState(seed)
    x = rng.randint(low, high, size)
    if frac_minus is not None:
        inds = rng.choice(range(x.size), int(x.size * frac_minus))
        x.flat[inds] = -1

    return x

class Generate:
    """
    Generate random xr.Dataset ds to be benckmarked.
    """

    timeout = 600
    repeat = (2, 5, 20)

    def make_ds(self, nmember, nx, ny, chunks=None):

        # ds
        self.ds = xr.Dataset()
        self.nmember = nmember
        self.nx = nx
        self.ny = ny

        frac_nan = 0.0

        members = np.arange(1, 1 + self.nmember)

        lons = xr.DataArray(
            np.linspace(0, 360, self.nx),
            dims=("lon",),
            attrs={"units": "degrees east", "long_name": "longitude"},
        )
        lats = xr.DataArray(
            np.linspace(-90, 90, self.ny),
            dims=("lat",),
            attrs={"units": "degrees north", "long_name": "latitude"},
        )
        self.ds["tos"] = xr.DataArray(
            randn((self.nmember, self.nx, self.ny), frac_nan=frac_nan, chunks=chunks),
            coords={"member": members, "lon": lons, "lat": lats},
            dims=("member", "lon", "lat"),
            name="tos",
            attrs={"units": "foo units", "description": "a description"},
        )
        self.ds["sos"] = xr.DataArray(
            randn((self.nmember, self.nx, self.ny), frac_nan=frac_nan, chunks=chunks),
            coords={"member": members, "lon": lons, "lat": lats},
            dims=("member", "lon", "lat"),
            name="sos",
            attrs={"units": "foo units", "description": "a description"},
        )
        self.ds.attrs = {"history": "created for xskillscore benchmarking"}

        # set nans for land sea mask
        self.ds = self.ds.where(
            (abs(self.ds.lat) > 20) | (self.ds.lat < 100) | (self.ds.lat > 160)
        )

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


I feel like sometimes my blog becomes quite the drag. I also recognize that I am quite behind on posting. Since neither of these things can be fixed (or rather, I am not willing to fix either of these things) I have decided to post some pictures of things that have made my life rather enjoyable lately.
I love my roommates. I love sushi. I love girl time.
I love these girls. They are my counselors in the Relief Society. I would die without them, I'm pretty sure.
I actually quite hate Halloween, but I was forced into it this year. I'll reluctantly admit it wasn't that bad. We went with our FHE family as "Deal or No Deal." I'm sure people could have figured the banker was indeed the banker without the bag over his head; let's just say we prefer the bag.
My relief and support system. These two listen to me vent, give me advice (wanted or not) and pick me up when I'm down-regardless the situation. And, without fail, they always make me laugh.
I have a lot in life to enjoy right now.
Oh my goodness. Why am I not on this list. ;) haha just kidding. I am so happy because you are happy and these things make you...happy.


text:
Q: Is the performance of notify_one() really this bad? For the measurement below I've been using x86_64 GNU/Linux with kernel 4.4.0-109-generic #132-Ubuntu SMP running on the AMD FX(tm)-8150 Eight-Core Processor (which has a 64 byte cache-line size).
The full source code can be obtained here: https://github.com/CarloWood/ai-threadsafe-testsuite/blob/master/src/condition_variable_test.cxx
which is independent of other libraries. Just compile with:
g++ -pthread -std=c++11 -O3 condition_variable_test.cxx

What I really tried to do here is measure how long it takes to execute a call to notify_one() when one or more threads are actually waiting, relative to how long that takes when no thread is waiting on the condition_variable used.
To my astonishment I found that both cases are in the microsecond range: when 1 thread is waiting it takes about 14 to 20 microseconds; when no thread is waiting it takes apparently less, but still at least 1 microsecond.
In other words, if you have a producer/consumer scenario and every time there is nothing to do for the consumer you let them call wait(), and every time something new is written to the queue by a producer you call notify_one() assuming that the implementation of std::condition_variable will be smart enough not to spend a lot of time when no threads are waiting in the first place.. then oh horror, your application will become a lot slower than with the code that I wrote to TEST how long a call to notify_one() takes when a thread is waiting!
It seems that the code that I used is a must to speed up such scenarios. And that confuses me: why on earth isn't the code that I wrote already part of std::condition_variable ?
The code in question is, instead of doing:
// Producer thread:
add_something_to_queue();
cv.notify_one();

// Consumer thread:
if (queue.empty())
{
  std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lk(m);
  cv.wait(lk);
}

You can gain a speed up of a factor of 1000 by doing:
// Producer thread:
add_something_to_queue();
int waiting;
while ((waiting = s_idle.load(std::memory_order_relaxed)) > 0)
{
  if (!s_idle.compare_exchange_weak(waiting, waiting - 1, std::memory_order_relaxed, std::memory_order_relaxed))
    continue;
  std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lk(m);
  cv.notify_one();
  break;
}

// Consumer thread:
if (queue.empty())
{
  std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lk(m);
  s_idle.fetch_add(1, std::memory_order_relaxed);
  cv.wait(lk);
}

Am I making some horrible mistake here? Or are my findings correct?
Edit:
I forgot to add the output of the bench mark program (DIRECT=0):
All started!
Thread 1 statistics: avg: 1.9ns, min: 1.8ns, max: 2ns, stddev: 0.039ns
The average time spend on calling notify_one() (726141 calls) was: 17995.5 - 21070.1 ns.
Thread 1 finished.
Thread Thread Thread 5 finished.
8 finished.
7 finished.
Thread 6 finished.
Thread 3 statistics: avg: 1.9ns, min: 1.7ns, max: 2.1ns, stddev: 0.088ns
The average time spend on calling notify_one() (726143 calls) was: 17207.3 - 22278.5 ns.
Thread 3 finished.
Thread 2 statistics: avg: 1.9ns, min: 1.8ns, max: 2ns, stddev: 0.055ns
The average time spend on calling notify_one() (726143 calls) was: 17910.1 - 21626.5 ns.
Thread 2 finished.
Thread 4 statistics: avg: 1.9ns, min: 1.6ns, max: 2ns, stddev: 0.092ns
The average time spend on calling notify_one() (726143 calls) was: 17337.5 - 22567.8 ns.
Thread 4 finished.
All finished!

And with DIRECT=1:
All started!
Thread 4 statistics: avg: 1.2e+03ns, min: 4.9e+02ns, max: 1.4e+03ns, stddev: 2.5e+02ns
The average time spend on calling notify_one() (0 calls) was: 1156.49 ns.
Thread 4 finished.
Thread 5 finished.
Thread 8 finished.
Thread 7 finished.
Thread 6 finished.
Thread 3 statistics: avg: 1.2e+03ns, min: 5.9e+02ns, max: 1.5e+03ns, stddev: 2.4e+02ns
The average time spend on calling notify_one() (0 calls) was: 1164.52 ns.
Thread 3 finished.
Thread 2 statistics: avg: 1.2e+03ns, min: 1.6e+02ns, max: 1.4e+03ns, stddev: 2.9e+02ns
The average time spend on calling notify_one() (0 calls) was: 1166.93 ns.
Thread 2 finished.
Thread 1 statistics: avg: 1.2e+03ns, min: 95ns, max: 1.4e+03ns, stddev: 3.2e+02ns
The average time spend on calling notify_one() (0 calls) was: 1167.81 ns.
Thread 1 finished.
All finished!

The '0 calls' in the latter output are actually around 20000000 calls.


text:
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How Can Dispensaries Appeal to Female Customers?
Surprise: women like cannabis just as much as men. Maybe even more. So how can dispensaries be more inclusive and appealing to female shoppers?
byJuliet Bennett Rylah
Canna Obscura/ Shutterstock
Megan Stone, founder of cannabis retail design firm High Road Studio, has been a medical cannabis user for over a decade. Yet when she first began visiting dispensaries in California, she rarely found herself feeling comfortable or welcomed. These shops just weren't catering to her, a woman who was far from the stoner stereotypes society had long, often falsely, perpetuated.
Now, Stone helps design dispensaries with accessibility and inclusion in mind, but she's not the only one who found her early dispensary visits unpleasant. My own first dispensary experience involved a very high man watching cartoons who seemed neither interested in nor capable of answering a single question.
As reports indicate that women are getting into cannabis more now than ever before, we wondered how shops can better appeal to changing demographics. We chatted with Stone, dispensary owners, and cannabis patients/customers to find out what they look for—and what they avoid—in a dispensary.
Don't Objectify Women
Seems like a no-brainer, but a lot of women just aren't into seeing posters of women in skimpy outfits smoking joints at their local shop. That doesn't mean you can't have a sexy edge to your decor, but you can do it in a way that isn't using a women's body just to sell products. For instance, Studio City dispensary TheWEED displays work from local artists on its walls. One such artist is Los Angeles-based painter Nina Palomba, who created five fun, retro, cartoony paintings depicting her relationship with her partner, burlesque dancer Miss Tosh. They're sexy, but in a playful way that doesn't just cater to the straight male gaze.
What's on TV matters, too. Two women we spoke with said they hate going into a dispensary and seeing lewd or sexist media on the TVs. So, one tip is to play something everyone can enjoy. Some popular choices seem to be cannabis-specific channels or cooking shows. Better yet: cannabis cooking shows.
Hire Women
Many women told us they feel more comfortable at a dispensary if it's not just staffed by men, and some even prefer discussing their specific cannabis needs with women budtenders.
It's also always great to see women in managerial and executive roles, too, both in the cannabis industry and beyond. Stocking products made by women-owned companies certainly can't hurt.
Be Present in Your Community
Chrissy Hadar, Co-Founder and VP of Retail and Branding of Oregrown Industries, said one of the company's early goals was to change the perception of who a cannabis user was.
"When we first started three years ago, there was this huge misconception of what the average cannabis user looked like," Hadar said. "A lot of people thought it was this adult-child who sits in his parents' basement and plays video games. We got to thinking about how we, as Oregrown, were going to debunk that stereotype, that myth, because those aren't the people we see coming through our doors. We see doctors, lawyers, college students, mothers, fathers, educated people…But instead of telling people that, because you can tell people that all day and they won't listen, we decided to show them."
Oregrown is definitely not in anyone's basement, but out sponsoring and setting up booths at community events. This allows people at family-friendly events to encounter the dispensary in a casual way, without having to go into the store itself first.
"Women will come up, with their kids, to the booth and say, 'Hey, I've never been into your store, but I have a question.' So we're able to answer those questions on their home turf. We've seen a lot of turnover where a woman will come [into the shop] a few days later…and say, 'Someone recommended I try this topical,'" Hadar said.
Maintain a Clean, Tidy Shop
Another easy one, perhaps, but everyone we talked to said a well-lit, clean shop was paramount. Dark, dingy, disorganized shops were not likely to win a repeat visit, especially when there are so many choices that don't feel like skunky weed caves.
A Welcoming Lobby
Stone notes that every space has a place where people decompress and gather their bearings, if only for a few seconds. In retail spaces, she said it's the first 10 feet of the shop and in a dispensary, that's typically the lobby. Details like an approachable receptionist or a cozy environment can go along way in setting the stage for the rest of the experience.
For instance, Hadar describes Oregrown's space as a "homey" one, with printed benches and coffee and tea available to those who are waiting.
Display Products in a Curated, Educational Fashion
Stone advises not putting everything on the shelves at once, but instead spotlighting certain items in well-lit displays at waist or eye level. She also suggests presenting written information, including pricing and other pertinent details, alongside products so customers don't always have to ask.
Stone also notes that there should be enough space for patients and customers to browse without feeling crowded. Studies indicate that people who are accidentally bumped into or brushed by strangers are less inclined to buy and often spend less time in stores.
Spend Quality Time with Your New Customers
This one could really go for all first-time customers/patients and neophyte cannabis users, but one thing we kept hearing again and again is the need to get reliable information from people who seem happy to offer it. Make sure you employ budtenders who are willing to listen and really help clients figure out what it is that they're looking for at a dosage level that'll work for them.
Shops will also benefit from having the space to really accommodate each patient without making them feel rushed. And in thinking about accessibility, consider providing a place, if possible, for patients to sit if prolonged standing is difficult for them.
A Reasonable Amount of Discretion
Despite the increasing normalization of cannabis, Stone noted that many customers still prefer discretion.
"Can a soccer mom park in your parking lot and get to and from your door without being seen by the other mothers on her kids' soccer team?" she asked.
Yet few women are going to want to walk down a dark alley to get to your front door, and going to the dispensary shouldn't feel like trying to find an underground rave. Stone suggests balancing this with landscaping including hedges, trees, or bushes.
"Those things can provide privacy, while at the same time making the space feel more inviting, more loved, and more alive," Stone said.
Secure, But Not Too Secure
Dispensaries need to feel safe and part of that involves well-lit parking lots, entrances, and exits. Yet dispensaries with too many security measures have the opposite effect, in that they tend to make people feel like they're in looming peril. Receptionists behind bulletproof glass and gruff armed guards can make someone feel like they're somewhere they shouldn't be. At least two women we spoke with said an intimidating guard at the entrance was a big turn-off, even if that person's role was ostensibly to protect them.
Keyva King—who is working with Stone on opening her own dispensary, Royal Highness, in Palm Desert this autumn—encountered this issue when visiting various dispensaries, particularly in San Bernardino County, in the past.
"[Dispensaries felt] like holes in the wall, where either you're going to go to jail or get killed for visiting," King said. "I've been to stores with security screen doors and metal detectors and then lawn chairs for the waiting areas. I wanted nothing of that sort. I always wanted something welcoming, but not too upscale as to be intimidating."
Dispensaries can convey a more approachable image by hiring friendly security staff and, if possible, placing receptionists at counters, the way you'd find a clerk at a spa or boutique. King's dispensary is conveniently located within an existing medical complex and will have an open lobby, where guests can see the entire retail space upon entering.
Carry Inclusive Products
There are several products on the market that are meant for people with vaginas and people who menstruate. These include products to alleviate cramping and PMS and to increase arousal. Stocking these products shows that you've considered these needs. It's also a good idea to diversify the potency of your wares.
"We know that not everybody is coming in to get as high as they possibly can," Hadar said. "We're really mindful in offering a wide range of dosing. We like offering things that are low THC, maybe high in CBD—something people can use as an intro to cannabis or something to just enhance their life and the things they enjoy."
You Don't Have to Just Sell Weed
Just because you're a dispensary doesn't mean you can't sell other lifestyle products, which is something Oregrown does, too.
"When you walk into our store, it looks like a high-end retail store because we have our clothing and lifestyle brand," Hadar said. "It really does attract a lot of women because women do a lot of the buying for their families if they have a family and if not, women, in general, tend to love fashion."
Consider the End of the Experience, Too
Stone points out that many women carry purses or bags, so a place to set those items down while fishing out a wallet is desirable.
"Make sure that you don't have so many impulse items cramming your sales counter that your customers don't have a place to set their purse and the literature they likely picked up while sitting in your lobby," Stone suggested.
She also advises making sure there's plenty of space in this area for privacy.
"Women feel a lot more vulnerable about taking cash out of their wallets than men do, so you want to provide a little shoulder room in your point-of-sale station so that people feel like there's a little bit of discretion around this transaction," Stone said.
Stone also suggests stocking attractive bags to place purchased items inside, just like one might receive at any other department store or shop in a mall.
Juliet Bennett Rylah
Juliet Bennett Rylah is a Los Angeles-based journalist and Halloween enthusiast with bylines in Leafly, Los Angeles Magazine, Nerdist, Thrillist, We Like L.A., and more. Follow her @jbrylah on Twitter and Instagram.
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Candidate shall register for all subjects (whole examination) when he/she appears for the examination for the first time (during the year of admission).
Depending upon the quality, performance and the number of students enrolled, the university will identify the Examination centres from among the study centres. In addition to these Examination Centres, the University conducts examination in other Institutions also which will be notified in the examination fee circular, time table etc. If any changes are made regarding examination centres, the same will be updated on the KSOU website Supplementary examinations will have lesser number of examination centres depending on the strength of the students.
No Candidate shall be declared to have passed in any course unless he / she obtains 40% in the aggregate of term-end examination and internal assessment put together for all the subjects.
Exemption is granted in courses in which a minimum of 40% is secured.
Classification of Successful Candidates:University will declare the grade of successful candidates on the basis of the marks obtained by the candidates both in Grade and Class.
Grading System for the Programs:The following table shows the grading of successful candidates.


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Life at Hillbrook is filled with adventure, learning, and laughter - these are a few of our favorite ways to connect and grow as a community.
Each week, accompanied by the Head of School and Hillbrook's Student Council (STUCO), our community pledges allegiance to the flag, students and teachers make announcements, and our community shares news. A highlight of this weekly tradition is jokes, where students (or adults) can stand up, take a risk, and share a joke with the entire audience. This is a favorite time for families to spend a few minutes observing and enjoying the school community.
Monthly, Middle School and Lower School students connect through various events, projects, and activities, providing an opportunity for students in different grade levels to interact throughout the school year. This is a valuable experience for Middle School students to act as mentors and leaders to our younger students, and our Lower School students benefit from building meaningful relationships - that last year after year - with older peers.
Each fall, our community comes together for an evening of family games and an old-fashioned barbecue. This event, open to all families, is highly anticipated every year.
Student/Faculty Games
Interaction outside the classroom between students and teachers is a vital part of Hillbrook's integrated learning. Faculty vs. student basketball, volleyball, and softball games develop friendly competition and demonstrate school spirit.
Concerts and Performances
Students in junior kindergarten through 8th grade perform solo and in ensemble, making these performances a school favorite. Performances include acting, singing, dancing, and instrumental work. Annual performances include the Junior Kindergarten & Kindergarten Family Celebration, the 1st-4th Grade Spring Concert, the 3rd Grade Greek Play, the 3rd Grade Sound Project, the 5th-8th Grade Winter Concert, the all-school Grandparents & Special Friends Day performance, and more.
The Halloween Parade
One of the most popular events, every member of our community is invited to celebrate the morning with Hillbrook in costume. Get ready to party, because Halloween at Hillbrook promises a vibrant parade, led by the Head of School, who starts the parade in junior kindergarten, picking up every grade before gathering the entire school in the Amphitheater. A school-wide musical performance led by our music teachers follows, with help from a few 8th grade students. Countless photo opportunities abound as each grade takes the stage to show off their costumes to music.
8th Grade Recognition Ceremony
In celebration of our graduating class and honoring the way in which we know and value each student for their unique passions and curiosities, this is a memorable and bittersweet experience for our graduating class. Teachers and staff honor each student on the Amphitheater stage before an audience of peers, teachers and administrators, friends, and family. This is also where the students, who have been nominated by their own peers and teachers, are honored with Hillbrook Awards: The Hillbrook Award is given to the student who best exemplifies our Vision – to inspire students to achieve their dreams and to reach beyond themselves to make a difference in the world. This award is given to someone who has consistently pushed to reach their highest individual potential both inside and outside the classroom, and who also strives to meet the school's Core Values – be kind, be curious, take risks, and be your best. The recipient of this award returns in four years to address the 8th grade class at their graduation. The Founders Award recognizes a student whose goodwill, community mindedness and spirit, citizenship, and sense of humor enhance the life of their class and Hillbrook School.
1st-7th grade students attend and sing with and for the 8th graders and their guests on this special milestone day. The graduating class is celebrated by a selection of special guests, including the recipient of the Hillbrook Award from the graduating class four years prior.
8th Grade Musical or Play
Hillbrook tradition, the entire 8th grade class is involved in staging the show, from singing and acting to building sets, making costumes, and running lights and microphones. The annual musical is a cherished tradition that dates back to the earliest days of Hillbrook School in the 1930's.
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DUI (Driving Under the Influence) is a serious offense and if you have been charged with a DUI or driving drunk you should seek legal help at once from a DUI attorney.
Each year, states enact stronger DUI laws and more severe drunk driving penalties. You could lose your driver's license, be placed in jail and fined substantial fees. Your car insurance rates may rise and you could end up with a criminal conviction on your record that could impact your future and your employment opportunities.
Using a DUI attorney or DUI Lawyer who focuses on drunk driving defense could make a difference in the outcome of your case. This is why it is important to use 888-DUI-HOTLine to locate a qualified DUI Lawyer in your area.
WARNING YOU HAVE ONLY 10 DAYS from the date of your arrest for drunk driving in California to request an administrative hearing about your driver's license. If you do not, your driver's license will be automatically suspended.


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Q: Proving Compactness Without the Heine-Borel Theorem (Proof Verification) I'm practicing my proof-writing and was hoping you could let me know if this proof looks good. I would like to know if the proof is incorrect, if there are parts that are overly wordy/complicated, or if I'm missing some element of a proof that is helpful to see, if not strictly necessary.
The Prompt:
Let $K \subset R^1$ consist of $0$ and the numbers $\frac{1}{n}$, for $n = 1,2,3,\dots$. Prove that $K$ is compact directly from the definition (without using the Heine-Borel theorem).
My Proof:
Define a sequence $(k_n)$ where $k_0 = 0$ and $k_n = \frac{1}{n}$, so that $\cup(k_n) = K$. Suppose $\{G_\alpha\}$ is an open cover of $K$. Then $\cup_{n=0}^{\infty}B_r(k_n)\subset \cup\{G_\alpha\}$ for infinitely many open balls of radius $r$. But, for any $r$, $B_r(k_0) = B_r(0)$ will contain infinitely many elements of $(k_n)$ as shown:
$(k_n) = \frac{1}{n} < 0 + r = r \to \frac{1}{r} < n$
So, all values of $(k_n)$ where $n > \frac{1}{r}$ are contained in $B_r(0)$. Thus, $\cup_{n=0}^{\frac{1}{r}}B_r(k_n)$ covers $\cup(k_n)$ and $\cup_{n=0}^{\frac{1}{r}}B_r(k_n)\subset \cup\{G_\alpha\}$. Therefore, it is a finite subcover of $K$ and so $K$ is compact.

A: Elements that are lacking clarity in your proof:

*

*You haven't define what the $B_r(k_n)$ are.

*Reading between the lines, we can suspect that those  are open balls with radius equal to $r$ centered on $k_n$.

*Which leads to following issues: (1) an open cover maybe by something else than balls, (2) the balls may have different radius and (3) may not be centered on the $k_n$.

For a proof, I would say that if an open cover $\mathcal U$ covers $K$, then it will exists an open $U \in \mathcal U$ such that $0 \in U$. Then prove that $U$ contains all but a finite number of elements of $K$. Conclude from there.


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Security forces regain control of Iraq government building
From Mohammed Tawfeeq, CNN
Killed in the Tikrit violence was Sabah al-Bazi, a freelancer who worked with Reuters, CNN and Al-Arabiya.
NEW: 56 people are killed and 98 others are wounded
NEW: Earlier, armed militants attacked the building and held people hostage
A police chief, council members and a journalist are among the dead
Hostage Situations
Editor's note: On the blog for "BackStory," CNN journalists remember a fallen colleague.
Baghdad (CNN) -- Security forces wrested control of an Iraqi government building from armed militants who attacked and seized the location and held people hostage earlier Tuesday, Interior Ministry officials said.
At least 56 people died and 98 others were wounded when armed men assaulted and seized the building in Tikrit, the capital of Salaheddin Province in northern Iraq. Iraqi forces launched a raid to take back the building and free hostages, many of whom were killed by the attackers in the building, the officials said.
The armed militants, clad in police uniforms, clashed with the Iraqi police, and a suicide car bombing also was reported in the fighting.
Overall violence in Iraq has dropped drastically over the past three years, and the insurgency there has received devastating blows. However, Tuesday's assault shows that Iraq remains an unstable country and insurgents are still able to carry out deadly attacks.
"This coordinated attack in Tikrit bears the hallmark of al Qaeda in Iraq, and the attackers were planning to take all members of Salaheddin Provincial Council as hostages," a senior official with Tikrit police told CNN on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to media.
Among the dead are at least four Salaheddin provincial council members, the chief of Salaheddin police and a local journalist, Sabah al-Bazi.
Al-Bazi was a freelancer who worked with Reuters, CNN and Al-Arabiya, according to his cousin Mahmoud Salih, also a freelance journalist.
Salih -- who said al-Bazi died in the car bombing -- told CNN his cousin contacted him 30 minutes before he died, asking him whether he wanted to film ammunition seized by security forces.
A number of gunmen inside the building were wearing explosive vests, and at least two of the attackers detonated their vests as Iraqi security forces approached, Tikrit police said.
Dozens of employees were held hostage inside the building, which houses the provincial council and other government offices.
Local TV in Tikrit showed video of smoke rising from the building, surrounded by Iraqi security forces, and aired the sounds of heavy gunfire.
The tactics were similar to an attack on a church in Baghdad in October, when gunmen took dozens of hostages, detonated suicide belts, and killed and wounded scores of people.
Authorities in Salaheddin announced a three-day mourning period for the victims of Tuesday's attack.
A U.S. military spokeswoman said American troops "assisted Iraqi security forces with securing the site of the attack and were providing aerial observation and surveillance in support of Iraqi forces on the ground."
The United States is set to withdraw all of its troops from Iraq at the end of the year in a bilateral agreement with the Iraqi government. However, it is too soon to predict whether the United States and Iraq will negotiate an agreement to keep some U.S. soldiers there after year's end.
Elsewhere in Iraq on Tuesday, a prominent doctor was killed in western Baghdad when his vehicle exploded, officials said.
Police said a magnetic bomb had been attached to the car of Mohammed Hussein, dean of the Dental College at Mustansiriya University.
On Saturday, Zaid Abdulmonem, a college professor was killed and his wife was critically wounded when a sticky bomb attached to Abdulmonem's car exploded in central Baghdad, officials with Iraq's Interior Ministry told CNN. Two other bystanders were also wounded in that attack, they said.
Since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, insurgents and militias have targeted professors, doctors, pharmacists, engineers and intellectuals.
According to a report released by Iraq's Ministry of Human Rights, 340 university professors and 446 students were killed in the country during the worst of the violence from 2005 to 2007.
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