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Rapid Innovation - How to grow your business
Futurist Keynote Speaker: Posts, Slides, Videos	- Innovation Speaker - turn ideas into profits
Video - Innovation Awards (Globe Forum). Each Innovator has just 60 seconds to persuade the audience to back him. Chaired by Patrick Dixon, Chairman of Global Change Ltd, co-author of SustainAgility, and Innovation Coach. Interview with Johan Gorecki.
The Puzzle of Innovation
(Article on Future of Innovation by Patrick Dixon, Chairman of Global Change Ltd, and advisor to many multinationals on innovation, change management, trend spotting and related issues. Also below: INNOVATION FORUM structure, lectures and videos on Innovation)
Here is a strange paradox: many CEOs complain about lack of innovation, but their own workers often say their leaders are hostile to new ideas. That's why I find innovation workshops are often so electrifying, as they unleash all this frustrated creative power.
The first thing to do is change your culture. For example, always reward those whose ideas are used, honour them publicly, give them ongoing profile, show them why their innovation has made such a difference, and before long you are likely to see more innovations.
Give people a clear vision and focus on the problem
When people have a clear vision of where you are going, and are passionate about making it a reality, you can't stop innovation and you also encourage agility: great ideas, concrete solutions, practical down-to-earth immediate actions to get great results. You are also more likely to get huge co-operation, rapid agreement, solid effort, readiness to change and astonishing progress.
Give people space, allocate time as a team, encourage wild unusual thinking, think the "unthinkable", don't interfere, be slow to criticise an early idea, use every suggestion as a learning opportunity, expect answers may come from unusual approaches – they often do - and HAVE FUN!
People often don't bother because they don't understand the bigger picture, think the benefit is likely to be small, that someone else will do it, that there will be no demand for the idea, or because they are worried about failure and being blamed for trying something "stupid". So do make really sure your mission is clear, that people know why their work is really important.
CEOs behave differently in agile and innovative organisations. For example they may promise to respond to every e-mailed idea from anyone at any level in the organisation. Anyone whose idea is used should be regarded as a hero. It takes courage to get out there and market a new idea, risking a mistake, or that some people might think you a fool.
Innovation – focus, focus, focus
Successful global companies which grow organically rather than by buying other companies, do so by devoting most of their energies to refine what they are already doing, and develop a small number of breakthrough ideas.
Only 80 of Fortune's Global 500 companies managed annual average growth of 5% from growth of their own sales, rather than through buying up competitors. Organic growth champions such as GE, BMW, Nestle and Samsung gave their shareholders almost double the financial return than other Global 500 companies.
Concurrent innovation has been a common feature in such companies. Progress in one area triggers changes elsewhere, and provides new resources for a third area. For example, when Peter Brabeck-Letmathe became CEO of Nestle in 1997, he focussed first on making the company more efficient.
He then used the money he saved to double research and development. One of the results was Nespresso, which created a new market for portioned-coffee systems, with average sales growth of 30% over 8 years - $2.2 billion by 2009.
When GE launched Ecomagination in 2004, their first task was to cut the number of new initiatives in GE Global Research from more than 2,000 to just 80 – but each had potential for at least $100 million sales over three years.
GE sends new ideas to a review board which includes CEO Jeffrey Immelt, to assess potential and investment needed to take each one to the next stage. Usually only 8-10 are in the pipeline at any time, each sponsored by top managers and defended fiercely against budget cuts.
Half the new projects are usually to change how existing products are produced and delivered – for example combining 44 commercial finance sales teams into one. Ecomagination revenues and orders now exceed $17 billion. GE's is investing $1.5bn a year.
In the same way, Procter and Gamble focuses research and development on just 8-10 key areas and Nestle supports only the 10 most promising innovations, with progress personally tracked by their CEO.
Open Innovation – share ideas faster
All great business innovation is about doing things differently to serve customers better. Innovations often come from unique combinations of ideas, from unrelated disciplines. Cross-fertilisation is vital, yet most innovators work only with people inside their own companies, and are fiercely protective of their ideas. They may be secretive: not sharing their ideas even inside their own organisation, maybe in competition with other departments or business units.
So-called "Open Innovation" is a radically different approach, linking different groups together in a less formal way to solve complex problems faster. We see many examples of open innovation in the online world. For example, Wikipedia is an open encyclopedia, written and improved by hundreds of thousands of contributors, who give away their knowledge in order to be part of something truly great. Anyone in the world can change any sentence in a few seconds on almost any page.
Google has been using open innovation to help solve complex global challenges. They recently gave a call for "ideas to change the world by helping as many people as possible". Thousands of people from more than 170 countries submitted more than 150,000 ideas. They noticed common elements in the responses which they wove together into innovative approaches to solving some very pressing problems.
Online communities are agile, rapidly evolving, open to influence. For them, open innovation is as natural as they air they breathe. They communicate 24 hours a day at the speed of light, forming and reforming new specialist networks and interest groups, sharing common problems and finding answers together in a form of "collective intelligence".
This new generation of digital natives is already creating huge pressures on companies and governments. They trust the opinion of strangers who are part of their community far more than politicians or CEOs or marketing claims. They are punishing companies online for cover-ups, secrecy, deception, antisocial behaviour, careless acts or wrecking the environment.
"Open source" software is another example of open innovation. Anyone is able to read the computer code and to make improvements, which they can share with their wider community. The Linux operating system and Joomla website database software were developed this way.
Most innovative manufacturers are also using Open Innovation to one degree or another, whether they fully understand what they are doing or not. Life is too short to try to find answers to complex manufacturing or research problems if someone else has already developed an answer, and is willing to co-operate with your company to develop it rapidly.
Faster innovation through wider networks
Many companies get their own scientists and engineers to develop all new products from research to strategy, only contracting out very small parts of the process (if at all). In theory, such a strategy is very efficient. However, it has led to tens of thousands of "me-too" products, mere extensions of existing products. Radical breakthroughs are rare.
Take the pharmaceutical industry. The top 10 companies have research and development budgets which are as large as the combined GDP of 130 nations, yet 70% of ground-breaking new products over the last five years have been developed outside of big pharma teams, by some of the world's 4,000 small biotech companies. As a result, large pharma companies are now spending much of their research budgets buying up or licensing other people's innovations. They each had a choice: innovate more openly or die.
Pfizer used a collaborative model in their deal over the blockbuster Lipitor. The drug's creator, Warner-Lambert, partnered with Pfizer to turn a good product into a blockbuster success, using Pfizer's strong marketing and sales teams (Pfizer later merged with Warner-Lambert).
Likewise, GE has developed open innovation in partnerships with Universities. For example, they have developed a pathology scanner to digitise slide images in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre. GE is also collaborating with Eli Lilly and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre to develop new data analysis tools.
IBM is also a major supporter of open innovation, working with universities, but at the same time collects more patents each year, for its own use, than any other company. Many IBM innovations have their origins in some kind of collaboration.
Proctor and Gamble is well known as a champion of open innovation. As a result they often get to hear about innovations before their competitors. A key aim of open innovation is to position yourself as partner of choice when a smaller company is looking to sell or license an innovation or to work in partnership.
Deutsche Telekom has spun off several new start-ups, backed by venture capital, since adopting Open Innovation in 2004, when they set up Deutsche Telekom Laboratories in 2004 as a research institute affiliated to Berlin Technical University. Similar partnerships developed with Ben-Gurion University, Israel, and in Silicon Valley, and the number of researchers and scientists doubled to 300.
Apple has a closed innovation programme for hardware and basic operating of devices like the iPhone, but encourages open innovation in development of applications. Google has opened up the Android operating system to thousands of collaborators and is also encouraging open innovation in development of applications. Google is one of the most innovative companies in the world. Every employee is given a free day every week to innovate, which does not have to be confined to their own business unit.
Procter and Gamble has a strategy to harness the talents of 1.5 million scientists with relevant research who are outside the corporation, combined with the intellectual fire-power of their own 8,600 research team.
Open innovation does not always save money. It shifts the costs of innovation from an internal research and development, to legal and intellectual property teams and to business development teams.
Isolate or integrate innovation teams?
In some ways the opposite of open innovation is the black box or skunkworks approach, where an innovation team is working in isolation from the main business, protected by support from very senior leaders.
The benefit is that rapid innovation can take place without opposition from those in other business units whose very existence may be threatened if the project takes off. However, it can be hard for the rest of the organisation to feel any sense of ownership if the project takes off, which can create huge problems later on.
Take hold of the future, or the future will take hold of you.
Article adapted from SustainAgility book.
PATRICK DIXON IS AN INNOVATION AND TRENDS AUTHOR: Author of 14 books with over 500,000 in print, including latest book SustainAgility - how smart innovation will help solve the world's greatest challenges, Futurewise, and Building a Better Business – how to lead more effectively, motivate teams, drive change, and encourage rapid innovation. BUSINESS SCHOOL TEACHER: contributor to wide range of executive education programmes and MBA courses. INNOVATION DRIVER: Turning 2020 vision into practical action: longer and shorter term assignments to transform innovation, strategy and speed of change. Patrick Dixon has led / facilitated Innovation Workshops / Programmes in the following areas: health, biotech, pharma, insurance, travel, call-centres, banking, green technology.
THEME: All great innovation is about doing things differently to serve customers better, and all great leaders are passionate about innovation.
All the innovative ideas you need are probably already in the minds of your teams. The issue is how to release them right now, to turn them into profit. Right now.
So how can you drive more rapidly the next wave of innovation in your own teams, to fulfil your 2020 Vision?
STYLE AND APPROACH: Interactive, visually rich, entertaining, high-impact and provocative presentation to help set up the most important issues / themes / topics for following days. Highly customised content on innovation, developed in close collaboration with senior team, with specific links to the territories, business trends and product ranges most relevant to the 20 participants. This is a small group so the style will be informal, encouraging full participation and engagement right from the start, with optional Innovation Master Class.
PARADOX OF INNOVATION: CEOs often complain about lack of innovation, but their own workers often say that their leaders are hostile to new ideas. That is why Innovation Workshops are often so electrifying, as they unleash all this frustrated creative power.
VISION AND STRATEGY: When people have clear vision of where you are going, why it matters, and are passionate about making it a reality, you cannot STOP innovation – great ideas, practical solutions, immediate actions for great results.
CASE HISTORIES: Nestle – Nespresso; GE – Ecoimagination; Proctor and Gamble.
INNOVATION MAP: First we need to understand about how your own consumers and competitors are changing: where and why you need innovation right now.
- Product innovation – range, extensions of existing products, radical steps to better future for customers
- Packaging innovation – cost / environment saving
- Brand innovation – style / image / labelling / tone of communications
- Marketing innovation – eg new channels, social networks, mobile marketing
- Manufacturing innovation – synergies, operational efficiencies
- Logistics / distribution innovation
- Franchise / partnership innovation – new business models
- .... and so on
INNOVATORS AND INCUBATORS: create an environment to drive innovation.
- Great practical ways to generate innovative ideas from your team
- How CEOs encourage creative, innovative culture while managing risk
- How to adapt your own leadership style to accelerate innovation
- How to convert great ideas into business strategy (incubator)
- How to create strong sense of ownership with all those who matter
- Common barriers to innovation and how CEOs can overcome them
OPEN INNOVATION: how companies are using a Wikipedia-style model to solve problems rapidly using the brain-power of communities outside the corporation (crowd-sourcing). CASE HISTORIES – Google, Pfizer, IBM, Procter and Gamble, Deutsche Telecom, Apple, Roche, Nokia, Sony. What Open Innovation may mean for Coca-Cola in your country, to help solve key problems faster.
TIME FOR ACTION: Optional Innovation Master Class: (1-3 Hours - or extend to whole day)
1) Different business / team leaders share problems they need innovative answers for
2) Group selects which problem(s) to work on
3) Brainstorm possible solutions – using techniques learned
4) Evaluation and Idea Stretch
5) Next steps
Presentation Slides on Innovation and related themes
Technology Convergence - Shaping our Future. Innovation keynote presentation to South Korea technology audience. Nanotechnology, biotechnology, next generation digital, open innovation and crowdsourcing, future of manufacturing, logistics, telecommunications. What it all means for tomorrow's consumers.
Future of IT Security and Digital Change - Symantec client event - keynote to CIOs and CTOs on impact of clouds, crowds, convergence, connections (mobile) and controls needed to make it all safe. Steps that all CIOs need to take today.
Future of Manufacturing - Business Week / Siemens client event in Boston for manufacturing industry analysts. New markets and technologies in manufacturing. Impact of credit crunch. Nanotechnology and biotechnology, future of the pharmaceutical industry and space technology. Divergence and convergence. Impact of global warming, energy costs and worries about sustainability / climate change. Outsourcing, offshoring trends reversal, emerging markets as consumers and manufacturers. Innovation in manufacturing. Listen to i-pod audio and watch slides.
Future of the Pharmaceutical Industry and Health Care Trends - for ICPM - medical directors of research in Pharmaceutical companies on innovation, new patterns of health care, challenges in drug development and drug discovery. New regulations, government and insurance remuneration policies. Patient expectations and unmet needs. Over the counter therapies and prescription only treatments. Health care costs, patents, generics and manufacturing, patient safety and future of clinical trials.
Book Patrick Dixon to run an Innovation Workshop with your own team. Crack complex problems, find practical solutions, invent your future.
Global Innovators Ltd - accelerating growth of new companies with world-changing innovations, working with serial entrepreneurs
Global Innovators Ltd - how innovators change the world - ways to encourage innovation in larger companies as well as SMEs
Saudi Global Competitiveness Forum (GCF) - keys to competitiveness - global trends keynote by Patrick Dixon - Futurist keynote SLIDES
Risk Management, Innovation and Future Customer Experience in Payments Industry, banking, credit cards, keynote speaker - Futurist SLIDES
How science will revolutionise our world in 50 years - Saudi Arabia Science and Creativity Festival keynote speaker - MAWHIBA - Futurist SLIDES
Innovation in Banking Payments, Mobile Payments, e-wallets, Card Payments - managing risk - Payments Keynote Speaker - for G2 Web Services - Futurist SLIDES
Radical Innovation in Banking, Mobile Payments, e-Wallets, Card Payments, Retail Banking and FinTech - managing risk - Futurist keynote for G2 Web Services
Risk Management, Innovation and Customer Experience in Payments Industry, banking, credit cards, keynote speaker - Futurist SLIDES
INNOVATION in Saudi Arabia: Festival of Science and Creativity - MAWHIBA - Futurist keynote speaker on Saudi Arabia - SLIDES and VIDEO
INNOVATION in Health will change ALL human life. Future of Health Care, MedTech, Biotech, InfoTech and Pharma. Health Keynote in South Korea - Futurist VIDEO
Google Glass - user review by Futurist Patrick Dixon - after Keynote at USI 2014 - VIDEO
How Innovation will transform next 50 years: Infotech, MedTech, BioTech, Nanotech, FinTech, Green Tech. Keynote for Saudi Arabia government - VIDEO
Agile Innovation and Genius Ideas - Futurist Speaker- VIDEO
Smart Innovation! Release your own Genius! Fuse Great Ideas. Future of Innovation - VIDEO
How I cloned myself on stage as a "Hologram" at a corporate event with 1000 people in a theatre
Future Telcos and Digital, Cloud and Big Data - convergence, innovation, mobile customers and e-payments
Take Hold of Your Future - Innotown: Consumers and Innovation - Conference Keynote Speaker - - VIDEO
Innovation! Get Good Ideas. Change Your Future - Innovation keynote - VIDEO
Take hold of your future! Economy, Innovation, Marketing - VIDEO
SustainAgility - technology and innovation to stop global warming - $40 trillion green tech revolution. Radical Smart Rapid Innovation - to protect future environment - Futurist keynote speaker
Solving the Water Crisis: Smart Innovation - Future Water Supplies
What is Innovation? Smart, fast, radical ways to innovate
Packaging for a better world - Tetrapak Food + Drink Packaging innovation - VIDEO
4 Secrets of Rapid Innovation and Growth: keynote speaker: connect with PASSION - Develop new MODELS - Champion CHANGE
How to innovate! Secret of innovation for competitive advantage. Retail Industry examples.
How to Grow Tomatoes from Power Station C02 - Future Food - Green Tech Innovation
Green Technology Innovation Awards - 60 seconds to change the world - Green Tech entrepreneurs pitching to investors - competition Chaired by Patrick Dixon, Futurist Keynote Speaker and co-author of SustainAgility
Business Success innovation, leadership, management, marketing and motivation Business Awards
Green Technologies innovation will help with climate change
Technology Innovation: Future Trends Keynote Speaker
Convergence or Divergence - Innovation Video
Innovation - How to grow your business - keynote speaker
Show: Sort: Newest first Oldest first
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well presented.


3 Bedroom Semi Detached Bungalow For Sale in Hornchurch for Fixed Price £350,000.
Guide Price 375,000 - 400,000. A great opportunity for this three bedroom bungalow within walking distance to Elm Park high street and station.
Located 0.4 miles from Elm Park Underground station and walking distance to local bus routes. There are numerous schools nearby such as Benhurst Primary school and Abbs Cross Academy & Arts College.
This bungalow has three bedrooms, one of which has built in wardrobes and the main bedroom has a large round bay fronted window. There is a large living room and a dining room with patio doors that lead to the garden. The kitchen is at the rear of the property and there is a family bathroom with a shower/bath unit. The garden has a large patio, a good sized lawn and a garage. There is a drive at the front and a shared drive to garage.


This green Autism Awareness notepad is a cute little pad for jotting down short notes, appointment reminders, a quick note to parents, or anything you need to remember. I used adorable, colorful graphics with children and puzzle pieces to create this notepad. The notepad is 4.25″ wide and 5.5″ tall, so it's just right for short notes or lists. There are 48 sheets in the notepad, and it has lightweight cardboard backing.


Parent governors are usually parents (or have parental responsibility) of children at the school, Foundation governors appointed by Archdiocese and ensure the continuing Catholic ethos and vision of the school.
Local Authority (LA) Governors appointed by the LA on the basis of the skills they can bring to support the effective governance and success of the school.
Associate Members, whilst not Governors, provide additional expertise and perspective.
Each Governor sits on the main governing body but also is involved in a sub-committee, according to their interests and strengths. Every class has their own nominated governor to share their learning with, for example through visits or inviting them to special class and school events. Each class governor will remain with the class as they move up through school.


In a potential threat to future U.S. innovation, new international enrollment at U.S. colleges is down for the first time in more than a decade, according to a new report. It is the first hard sign that the Trump administration's rhetoric may be frightening away some of the world's best and brightest who traditionally have been drawn to settle and work in the U.S.
Why it matters: "The Chinese whiz kid, if he can find a way to America, he'll come here. If you're good, you can make a lot of money," Anthony Carnevale, director of Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce, tells Axios. "That whole set of incentives has always been tied to the immigrant stream, and we're severing that connection."
By the numbers: The findings are from the Institute of International Education's annual Open Doors report and its smaller joint "snapshot" report on international enrollment. It found that new international student enrollment dropped by 3.3% for the 2016-2017 academic year, and by a far higher 6.9% in the Fall 2017 semester. Peggy Blumenthal, IIE's Senior Counselor to the President, told Axios that it was the first time the organization had seen a drop in the 12 years it had been collecting this data.
"We don't grow talent in America," Carnevale said. "We go out and harvest talent from the rest of the world. We're basically taking ourselves out of the game." He said that global politics are accentuating the trend. ""Opportunity for talented STEM workers is increasing in the rest of the world — the two together: the rise of the authoritarian personality here and the increasing prospects for people in their own countries as the whole world turns to capitalism."
Worth noting: Blumenthal said the trend is affecting big-name schools much less than the average, especially on the coasts. The effect was much more pronounced in the Midwest and Texas, she said, especially at schools without Ph.D. programs, and at community colleges. She said, "It's happening state-by-state and institution-by-institution."
Foreign students already in the U.S. are worried: After foreign students graduate, they can stay in the U.S. for a year under the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program, and up to three years for STEM fields. A lot of OPT students hope to parlay more time in the U.S. into a highly skilled H1-B visa, and their numbers have jumped by double digits each of the last five years, with year-over-year increases of 19.1% last year and 22.6% in 2015.
What worries foreign grads is that OPT exists under an extension granted in an executive order by Barack Obama. President Trump has not mentioned OPT, but he could unilaterally wipe it off the books as part an immigration reform package. The Urban Institute's Daniel Kuehn tells Axios, "Clamping down on OPT would restrict the smooth flow of students from American schools to American companies. … It's something that could be very disruptive, and that would be a way to throw a monkey wrench into navigating U.S. immigration."


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layout: post
title:  "Visual studio 2012 all caps"
date: 2012-08-16T17:43:00+02:00
tags: visual_studio
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We are waiting for VS2012. What will impact work experience most will probably be the user interface changes as described in: Visual Studio 11 User Interface Updates Coming in RC

One thing I don't understand is the preference for all caps. The interface is riddles with them. However Richard Banks describes howto prevent VS2012 ALL CAPS menus, so there might be hope yet.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


My children love board games. I'm always looking for games that meet a few simple criteria: interesting enough that the parents don't want to poke their eyes out, simple enough that my 8 and 10 year old can follow and enjoy, and long enough that I don't have to play five times but short enough that it doesn't take all night to finish one round (ahem, Monopoly). A recent discovery hit it out of the park on all dimensions.
I have heard a lot about The Settlers of Catan, but whenever I picked up the box I was always totally intimidated by the elaborate, detailed instructions. So when I saw Catan Junior at our local toy store, I was thrilled. My 8 year old son and I unpacked it, read through the directions, and launched into play. We played for hours and hours. In fact, for a brief, shimmering window, he wanted to play Catan more than he wanted to play Minecraft.
The game, about pirates, parrots, islands, and amassing enough supplies (gold, goats, cutlasses, molasses, and wood) to trade for lairs and ships, absolutely captivated my son. I enjoyed it too. It is simple to understand but detailed enough to keep his interest, and there is enough strategy involved to keep us both focused. Catan Junior can be played with 2, 3, or 4 players, and the instructions recommend ages 6 and up. This has rapidly become our family's favorite game to play. I highly recommend Catan Junior!


Check out our ad in AM New York today. It was a fun piece to work on and allowed us to bring our design flare to our work. We still have a few dates free for the fall. Contact us at info@wisforweddings.com to talk about how we can be part for your wedding day.


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Television|Jussie Smollett Timeline: Judge Appoints a Special Prosecutor
Jussie Smollett Timeline: Judge Appoints a Special Prosecutor
The actor Jussie Smollett. On Friday a judge said a special prosecutor would review the handling of the case.CreditCreditRichard Shotwell/Invision, via Associated Press
By Sopan Deb
On Friday, a judge ordered that a special prosecutor be appointed to independently investigate charges that the actor Jussie Smollett staged a racist hate crime against himself, as well as the prosecutors' abrupt decision in March to drop the felony counts against him.
The judge's order concerned the decision by Kim Foxx, the Cook County state's attorney, to separate herself from the investigation and appoint her deputy as "acting state's attorney" to oversee the case. In a sharply critical ruling, Judge Michael P. Toomin of the Circuit Court of Cook County wrote that the decision raised "problematic concerns" because the proper procedure should have involved Ms. Foxx asking the court to appoint a special prosecutor.
[Read more about the June 21 Smollett case developments.]
Here's a timeline of how we got here.
Jan. 29: Mr. Smollett, who is black and gay, tells the police that at about 1:30 a.m., two masked men he believed to be white attacked him on the 300 block of East Lower North Water Street in downtown Chicago. The assailants, according to Mr. Smollett, hurled homophobic and racial slurs at him, put a rope around his neck and poured a chemical substance on him.
Mr. Smollett says he went home and a close associate of his reported the incident to the police 40 minutes after it happened. Anthony Guglielmi, the chief spokesman for the Chicago Police Department, later told The Chicago Sun-Times that Mr. Smollett had been hesitant to call the police because of his status as a public figure.
Law enforcement officials say they are treating the incident "as a possible hate crime." At a follow-up visit by investigators, Mr. Smollett says the attackers mentioned "MAGA country," a reference to President Trump's campaign slogan.
Several A-list celebrities, politicians and advocacy groups offer their support to Mr. Smollett. Fox, the network on which "Empire" airs, issues a statement saying the "entire studio, network and production stands united in the face of any despicable act of violence and hate."
Detectives comb through surveillance camera recordings but say they can't find images of the attack.
Jan. 30: Investigators announce the first possible break in the case: A surveillance image shows "potential persons of interest wanted for questioning" in connection to the case. The images are of two men with their backs to the camera.
At this point, the F.B.I. is already investigating a threatening letter sent to Mr. Smollett at the "Empire" production offices in Chicago the week before.
Jan. 31: Mr. Trump is asked about the incident in the Oval Office. He refers to it as "horrible" and added that it "doesn't get worse."
The Smollett family releases a statement: "Jussie was the victim of a violent and unprovoked attack. We want to be clear, this was a racial and homophobic hate crime. Jussie has told the police everything from the very beginning. His story has never changed, and we are hopeful they will find these men and bring them to justice."
Feb. 1: Mr. Smollett releases his first public statement through his publicist. It says, "Let me start by saying that I'm O.K. My body is strong but my soul is stronger. More importantly, I want to say thank you. The outpouring of love and support from my village has meant more than I will ever be able to truly put into words."
Acknowledging some skepticism about his story on social media, Mr. Smollett adds, "I am working with authorities and have been 100 percent factual and consistent on every level. Despite my frustrations and deep concern with certain inaccuracies and misrepresentations that have been spread, I still believe that justice will be served."
The Chicago police superintendent, Eddie T. Johnson, says in an interview with a local television station: "We have to remember, he's a victim. You know, so we have to treat it like he's a victim. We have no reason to think that he's not being genuine with us."
Feb. 2: Mr. Smollett appears in public for the first time since he reported the attack, performing a concert in West Hollywood.
"I have so many words on my heart that I want to say, but the most important thing I can say is, thank you so much, and that I'm O.K.," Mr. Smollett tells the crowd.
Feb. 4: The Chicago police say the people of interest have not been identified yet but they are continuing to follow up on leads.
Feb. 11: The department reacts to phone records that Mr. Smollett turned over to investigators. The police had asked Mr. Smollett for access to his phone because he had been in conversation with his manager when the incident occurred. Mr. Smollett provides the police with redacted records that they say "do not meet the burden for a criminal investigation."
Feb. 13: Two brothers of Nigerian descent, Olabinjo and Abimbola Osundairo, are detained by the authorities after landing in Chicago on a flight from Nigeria. Police officers raid their home and, according to CBS Chicago, remove items including an "Empire" script and two hats.
Feb. 14: Mr. Smollett gives his first interview about the incident to "Good Morning America," where he is adamant that he is telling the truth.
"It feels like if I had said it was a Muslim, or a Mexican, or someone black, I feel like the doubters would have supported me much more," Mr. Smollett tells ABC's Robin Roberts. "A lot more."
He also says he is convinced that the men in the surveillance images were his attackers.
"Because I was there," Mr. Smollett says. "For me, when that was released, I was like, 'O.K., we're getting somewhere.' I don't have any doubt in my mind that that's them. Never did."
The Chicago police reveal publicly that at least one of the men detained has appeared as an extra on "Empire." The department also says they "are not yet suspects." Their lawyer, Gloria Schmidt, tells CBS Chicago, "They're really baffled why they are people of interest. They really don't understand how they even got information that linked them to this horrific crime. But they're not guilty of it. They know that the evidence is going to prove them innocent. They send their best to Jussie."
The local news media releases its first reports that investigators are beginning to look at the possibility that this is a hoax, something the Chicago police dispute publicly.
Feb. 15: In a whirlwind day, the detained brothers are identified as potential suspects by police, but that night are released without being charged. Investigators announce they are no longer considered suspects but do not say why.
Feb. 16: The police say they are seeking to speak with Mr. Smollett again. Media outlets, including CNN, report that the two men have told investigators they were paid to take part in a hoax. Guglielmi says in a statement, "We can confirm that the information received from the individuals questioned by police earlier in the 'Empire' case has in fact shifted the trajectory of the investigation."
Lawyers for Mr. Smollett release a statement saying, "As a victim of a hate crime who has cooperated with the police investigation, Jussie Smollett is angered and devastated by recent reports that the perpetrators are individuals he is familiar with."
It added: "One of these purported suspects was Jussie's personal trainer who he hired to ready him physically for a music video. It is impossible to believe that this person could have played a role in the crime against Jussie or would falsely claim Jussie's complicity."
The lawyers say that Mr. Smollett will "continue to cooperate" and that they "have no inclination to respond to 'unnamed' sources inside of the investigation."
Feb 20: Fox releases a statement in support of Mr. Smollett amid reports that his role was being reduced on "Empire." Later in the day, the Chicago police announce that they consider Mr. Smollett a suspect in the filing of a false report.
Mr. Smollett is charged by the Cook County State's Attorney's Office with a felony disorderly conduct charge in connection with the police report he filed. His lawyers issue a statement, saying: "Like any other citizen, Mr. Smollett enjoys the presumption of innocence, particularly when there has been an investigation like this one where information, both true and false, has been repeatedly leaked. Given these circumstances, we intend to conduct a thorough investigation and to mount an aggressive defense."
Fox later declines to comment on the criminal charge.
Feb. 21: Mr. Smollett is arrested in the morning by the Chicago Police, who say the actor staged his own assault because he was upset over his salary on "Empire." Mr. Smollett posts bail and is released.
Mr. Smollett's legal team releases a statement saying the court system had trampled "the presumption of innocence" in a "law enforcement spectacle that has no place in the American legal system."
Support for the actor flags as some celebrities who had initially supported him take down their social media posts. President Trump tweets, ".@JussieSmollett - what about MAGA and the tens of millions of people you insulted with your racist and dangerous comments!? #MAGA."
Feb 22: The producers of "Empire" announce that Mr. Smollett's character will not appear in the final two episodes of the show's fifth season.
March 8: A grand jury indicts Mr. Smollett on 16 counts of disorderly conduct in connection with the Jan. 29 attack report, records show.
March 26: Prosecutors in Chicago drop all charges against Mr. Smollett.
"After reviewing all of the facts and circumstances of the case, including Mr. Smollett's volunteer service in the community and agreement to forfeit his bond to the city of Chicago, we believe this outcome is a just disposition and appropriate resolution to this case," the Cook County State's Attorney's Office says in a statement.
April 11: The city of Chicago sued Mr. Smollett, seeking more than $130,000 to cover the cost of a police investigation into his claim that he had been the victim of a hate crime attack. A spokeswoman for Mr. Smollett's lawyers declined to comment on the city's lawsuit, but the actor has insisted that he told the truth when he reported being attacked.
May 23: A judge in Chicago unseals Mr. Smollett's case file after a group of media organizations, including The New York Times, asked the court to make the records publicly accessible, citing a need for more transparency.
MAY 30: Documents released on May 30 suggested that soon after Mr. Smollett was charged, the prosecutors were thinking about settling the case.
JUNE 21: Judge Toomin of the Circuit Court of Cook County ordered that a special prosecutor be appointed to independently investigate charges that Mr. Smollett staged the attack, as well as the prosecutors' decision to drop the felony counts against him. The judge was addressing the decision by Ms. Foxx, the Cook County state's attorney, to separate herself from the investigation and appoint her deputy as "acting state's attorney" to oversee the case.
Eleanor Stanford contributed reporting.
Jussie Smollett's Case File Is Unsealed by Judge
Jussie Smollett's Charges Are Dropped, Angering Mayor and Police
A Look at Jussie Smollett's Career, on 'Empire' and Beyond

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


A report has warned that vulnerable adults are being let down by social workers and care providers who fail to follow the Mental Capacity Act, Community Care, reports.
"While I appreciate the complex emotional and practical decisions social workers need to make, the people they look after are still entitled to be treated fairly, and have their assessments undertaken correctly and in a timely."
For more details, visit Community Care.


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The Story of Nu Kua – Excerpt from my Novel
This blog-post is rather special since it's the first I'm writing from within Malaysia itself – the land in which my story unfolds. To mark the occasion, I thought I'd provide a short excerpt from the novel itself.
My novel tells the story of a Nyonya (mixed heritage) woman as she struggles for some of the fundamental things in life: survival – her own as well as her family's – and a meaningful identity. For my main character, whose name is Chye Hoon, the struggle for survival and the struggle for identity are linked; to find out how, I'm afraid you'll have to wait for the book!
Set in the multi-cultural Malaya of roughly 1880 to 1940, the narrative is rich in descriptions of food and places in Malaya, with historical events being alluded to as they happen. In addition, I have woven Chinese and South East Asian mythology into the narrative where possible, usually in the form of stories passed from mothers to children.
The following passages are one such example. They appear relatively early on, when the main character Chye Hoon, also the narrator, has just borne her second child. She's up early one morning to feed him when she recalls a story her own mother once told her.
© Copyright Siak Chin Yoke 2012
As I dragged myself up to feed the latest child, cradling the little one to my breast, watching him suckle greedily with the stillness of morning all around us, I finally understood the heroic efforts Mother had made, and the toll which raising us must have taken on her life.
I felt so close to her then – because I knew that I too, was doing exactly what she had done.
I had also begun to tell my children stories, just as Mother used to. It's probably because I was thinking so much about her while feeding Weng Koon one night that I suddenly recalled a tale she had told. For no obvious reason at all, it jumped into my mind and refused to go away. It was a fable so long forgotten that at first, I struggled to recollect even its bare outline.
It was the name which came back first. Nu Kua. I couldn't recall who she was, one of the goddesses perhaps. Or maybe she was more than a goddess? I tried to cast my memory back to the day when Mother had first told us her story. Slowly, the haze of years lifted, and details started to come, bit by bit; once more, I could hear Mother's lilting voice as she told us the fable, carefully enunciating every word. I remember watching the movement of her lips that day, when all of us children were sitting on the floor, looking up at her, rapt with attention.
Mother had called Nu Kua the divine mother of all humans. She said Nu Kua had come down to repair the sky a long time ago, after a great battle in which the monster Kung Kung had wreaked havoc. During this terrible battle, the earth started falling into itself, mountains were flattened, the oceans overran many lands and everywhere, there were fires which burnt night and day, raging out of control. The chaos caused the earth's points to be misaligned, and a large hole was ripped right across the sky. On seeing the destruction, Nu Kua became very sad. She knew she would have to repair the damage, for the sake of the earth's children. Holding five coloured stones in her hand, she calmed the waters, put out the fires, and repaired the sky. Then she said, 'The sky will now be blue, as an eternal symbol of hope for the children.'
I smiled as I recalled this story, because I had immediately shouted out, "But where is the hole Mother?" in a loud voice.
"It's not there anymore, Nu Kua repaired the sky."
"But where was it before she repaired the sky? Can you show me?" I asked insistently. "Maybe we can see where the sky was torn," I had added in a voice full of hope. For many weeks, I remained fascinated by the idea of a hole in the heavens; with a hand shielding my eyes from the glare, I would survey the Malayan skies, constantly disappointed that all I could see were the fluffy white clouds that floated freely above.
Filed under Novel, Nyonya, Writing
Tagged as Asian Mythology, Chinese Mythology, Malaya, Mothers, Novel, Nu Kua, Writing
My Ipoh
Usually, when people say they come from somewhere, they have a particular town in mind – somewhere they think of as home, whose very name evokes nostalgia. For me, this special place is Ipoh. Whenever I hear Ipoh (i:pou) mentioned, I feel a familiar tug in my heart. Ipoh is my family's hometown. It's the place I spend most time in when I visit Malaysia. It also happens to feature heavily in my novel – most of my story unfolds in this often overlooked town.
Ipoh is famous for many things. In this blog-post, I want to share personal reminiscences of the three Ipoh things that are dearest to my heart: its wondrous limestone hills, the Chinese temples that have been built into caves, and last but not least, one of Ipoh's best-known dishes.
I don't know how old I was when I saw the limestone hills for the first time. Like the main character in my novel, I have loved these hills from the very first. They surround the town, many covered in trees, thickly, so that they look like furry animals you want to hug. As you get closer, you can see exposed rock faces that glint pink and white in the sun. Some of the trees have grown in strange formations along rock crevices; I remember from childhood a hill which looked like the face of a man, two curves of green drooping like eyebrows and another one beneath that resembled a moustache. The lovely photograph above was taken by Boon Low, an Ipoh boy now living in Edinburgh, whose work I discovered while researching for this post.
Not only are Ipoh's hills beautiful to look at, but you can actually go right inside, into their belly! There are stretches of limestone rock into which Chinese temples have been built, visible from the main road. I was taken to one when still a small child – to the world-renowned SamPoh Tong Temple which penetrates deep inside a cave.
The visit to Sam Poh Tong was my first cave trip, so you can imagine how exciting it seemed. I remember the darkness. The air was cool and damp and musty. My mother had to hold my hand because we climbed many steps that were wet with water. We went higher and higher, up towards what looked like the ceiling of a monstrous room. There were monks dressed in saffron-coloured robes walking about, wearing simple sandals on their feet and with their heads completely shaven. The smell of incense just added to the mysteriousness of the place. I know I was wide-eyed, especially when a clearing suddenly opened up and I saw turtles frolicking in a pond. My parents bought a handful of kangkong (water convolvulus) which the creatures gobbled happily. In the distance I heard an unusual chorus of voices – monks chanting, I was told. When the main character in my novel has occasion to visit a temple inside Ipoh's limestone caves, I re-visited these caves many times. But I also called upon childhood memories and my imagination – a must, seeing that the fictional visit took place around 1914.
Another thing Ipoh is famous for is tin. In fact, this metal is what put Ipoh on the map, for until tin began to be mined on a large scale, Ipoh was just a small fishing village. With the discovery of rich tin deposits in the Kinta Valley where Ipoh is situated, the village came to life. People flooded in to seek their fortunes, and it was exactly then, in 1900, that the main character in my novel arrives with her husband.
In retrospect we know that Ipoh grew voraciously and many of the Chinese coolies who arrived to do the back-breaking, dangerous work in the mines became millionaires. But in 1900, the future of the town was far from clear. As a result, the story of the Wong family in my novel is very much intertwined with Ipoh's own story as a town (although I hasten to add that what I've written is fiction, not history). Many local landmarks have been woven into my story, which I hope will make it of interest to the people of Ipoh (known locally as Ipohites). For example, the main character's sons eventually attend the Anglo Chinese School, and this school, together with its founder and then Principal Reverend Horley, play important roles in the family's lives.
So far, I haven't mentioned food, and I couldn't possibly write a whole blog-post about Ipoh without talking about food. Whenever I'm there, the whole town seems obsessed with eating (or perhaps it's just my family, who will fight traffic from one end of Ipoh to the other for 'tastier' Chinese steamed buns or 'more fragrant' durians). With Chinese New Year coming up, this really could set me off, so I'd better be careful. I'll just tell you what I most like to eat when I'm in Ipoh: 'bean-sprouts chicken'. This dish really is as simple as it sounds, so you'll think I'm crazy unless you've tried it. It comprises a plate of steamed chicken, chopped into bite-sized pieces and lightly seasoned with sesame oil and soya sauce, together with a separate plate of bean-sprouts, also seasoned and similarly garnished with sliced chillies. What, you may ask, could possibly be so exciting about steamed chicken and boiled bean-sprouts?
Well, with Chinese food, it's often the mix of texture and taste that we look for. And with bean-sprouts chicken, it's important that neither chicken nor bean-sprouts is over-cooked. When done just right, the chicken simply slips along your tongue, releasing delicious flavours as it does so; if accompanied by a chopstick-full of crunchy bean-sprouts, the effect is hard to beat. Both chicken and bean-sprouts can be eaten on their own or gulped down with Ipoh's very own rice noodles ('hor fun' or 'kuay-teow').
Now, during my seventeen years away, I had completely forgotten about bean-sprouts chicken. My re-initiation into this spectacular dish was somewhat hard. I arrived late on a Friday evening after a week at a fancy hotel in Thailand, and my aunt and uncle took me to Ipoh's most famous coffee-shop for bean-sprouts chicken. This shop – Lou Wong – has become an institution: it serves nothing but bean-sprouts chicken, and has done so for years. It's also full every night; you have to queue unless you get there early. Now, what's important to understand is that traditionally, the Chinese focus in restaurants has been on food and nothing else – not décor, certainly not service, least of all hygiene. There was a rule of thumb that the dirtier a restaurant, the better, because it showed it was popular.
The result was that by the time we arrived at the Lou Wong Coffee Shop, a good fraction of town must already have stepped in. As had other creatures; in one corner, I was sure I spotted a cockroach on the wall. The table tops were so marked that I didn't dare rest my elbows on them. Yet the cooking smelt heavenly, and I could see the chefs in front of me, chopping their chicken with cleavers and dunking handfuls of sprouts into boiling vats of water. Not being able to resist the food, I opted to put on my sunglasses. Sometimes, see no evil works a treat.
Interestingly, there appears to be a connection between Ipoh's limestone and its delicious bean-sprouts. I'm firmly of the opinion that Ipoh's bean-sprouts are plumper and crunchier than those I've had anywhere else. And from the number of Malaysian blogs on this topic, I know I'm not alone! Now here's the connection with limestone: the bean-sprouts are grown in a part of town where the underground water is rich in limestone. Once harvested, the bean-sprout seeds are apparently watered every five hours for five days until they're judged ready (a fact I've gleaned from my Russian partner who's mad about Ipoh food).
Which brings us once again to limestone and Ipoh's magnificent hills. I still gaze at them for hours whenever I'm there, the way I used to as a child. I watch the hills in their varied moods – in bright sunshine, after rain, also when partially covered by mist. I see how they change in the middle of raging thunderstorms, when they turn blue with the darkening skies. I know no other Malaysian town with this topology or range of temperament, where the same view looks different every day. I can hardly wait to see those hills again.
Filed under Malaysia, Novel
Tagged as Anglo Chinese School, Bean-sprouts chicken, Chinese steamed buns, Durian, Ipoh, Kangkong, Limestone hills, Lou Wong, Reverend Horley, Sam Poh Tong, Tin
January 6, 2012 · 16:44
The Malaysia We've Lost
My novel, set in Malaya (now called Malaysia) is multi-layered. I've written it in such a way that a reader can enjoy it without knowing any Malaysian history. Of course, the story would be ri cher for those with some knowledge of the country. Malaysians will see more to the story than Westerners…perhaps even controversy and criticism of present-day Malaysian racial politics.
It's not intended as such; I simply wanted to tell a powerful and entertaining story. Yet, there's no denying that at the time the story begins, Malaya was more truly one country than it is today. Which is ironic, because the current Prime Minister has initiated a campaign called "One Malaysia" – 1Malaysia, supposedly to 'preserve and enhance the diversity which is our strength'. I will explain in this blog-post why the slogan 1Malaysia is farcical when used in today's Malaysia. Below, I write from my personal experience and understanding.
First, I have to tell you more about Malaysia. Let's start with where it's situated. The map below should help. Malaysia is coloured orange and comprises two parts: a western peninsula, and the northern part of Borneo (the island on the right, which belongs mostly to Indonesia). The point to note is Malaysia's strategic position. India lies to the north-west, China to the north and north-east. Siam (now Thailand) neighbours it to the north, while Indonesia lies directly south. That narrow bit of sea which separates western Malaysia from Indonesia, known as the Straits of Malacca, provides a sheltered channel for ships and is still famous for pirates.
Because of this fortuitous position, Malaysia has been at cultural cross-roads for centuries. Malays themselves are thought to have come from Yunnan in southern China. Traders from as far as Arabia also came, as did Indian princes and of course, some of my ancestors, the Chinese, who arrived in their junk-boats. Nearer home, Malays from neighbouring Indonesia migrated in regular waves, not to mention the south-bound Siamese (modern Thais) on the backs of elephants.
Many of these early immigrants settled in Malaya, which is not surprising – the land I come from is glorious, its people hospitable. It has everything: stretches of sand where palm trees sway, pristine waters always warm to the touch, but also mountains crowned in luscious green.
It's a piece of paradise on earth. As a result, new communities grew, including mixed-heritage peoples like the Nyonyas.
Then, the British came. (Though there were other Europeans before – Dutch, Portuguese, they're not important to this narrative). The British arrived in the late 1700s, but their influence reached its nadir during the late 1800s where my novel begins. Under British rule, the waves of migration – which had happened naturally in Malaya until then – were disrupted by the large-scale organised import of labour from India and China. The new workers were needed for the rubber plantations and tin mines which the British opened up.
With all this migration, you might have thought that nobody lived on these lands until the waves of immigrants arrived. Not so, because there are indigenous peoples in Malaysia– the Orang Asli (which incidentally means the 'original people' in Malay).
The racial composition of modern Malaysia is: Malay (50%), Chinese (24%), Orang Asli (11%), Indian (7%), others (8%). As with many multi-cultural societies, each community is famous for certain things – except for the Orang Asli, who have been marginalised. Malays have a refined sense of beauty; just look at their traditional dresses and houses (picture on right, below).
Indians are entrepreneurs and professionals, especially in law and medicine. As for the Chinese, well, shrewd business people who work hard, with many self-made millionaires from among the coolies who arrived during the tin years. In fact, the Chinese diaspora in Asia are called the Jews of the East, our priorities being family, children's education and business. I know quite a few who say, "Let me do my business. I don't care about politics".
With such rich heritage and diversity, Malaysia must be the perfect place to live, right? Just like in that world-famous song from the Malaysian Tourist Board ad campaign – Malaysia, Truly Asia –where people of different races dance and smile happily? Unfortunately, not quite.
In the late 60s just after I was born, a series of Chinese pogroms happened. Many Chinese were murdered. Actually as soon as I was born, I had to flee Singapore: my grandmother and her maid took me away from my parents to a safer place (near Ipoh), many hours away by train at the time. For two women travelling alone in that time of calamity, it was heroic, and I am so grateful…
And then, on the infamous day 13 May 1969, I remember my father returning early from work. He rushed up, shouting in Cantonese, "They're killing us!" "Who, who?" my mother asked, and when we heard that Malay mobs were attacking Chinese with scythes and knives, we could hardly believe it. We'd had Malay neighbours, Indian neighbours, all sorts – people who came to our house and drank from the same glasses. In fact, we were living in a predominantly Malay area then, and almost all our neighbours were Malay. We were terrified: if a mob had come to our house, we could have been killed….
No one really knows who caused the incitement which led to these so-called 'racial riots.' However soon after – in order to 'manage racial tensions' (i.e. to make Malays as rich as Chinese were), racially discriminatory policies commenced which are still in place today. Note that these policies are supposedly justified on the grounds that the Malays arrived in Malaysia before the other immigrants did. Therefore, they are entitled to 'special rights.' They've even invented a term to enshrine this quality of specialness: bumiputera, which means the Princes of the earth. (Obviously, they couldn't call themselves Orang Asli, since there were already indigenous peoples.)
These discriminatory policies have been sold as a programme of 'positive discrimination' to allow the Malays to catch up economically with the Chinese and Indians. Policy examples:
Any listed company to have at least 30% of equity ownership in bumiputera hands.
University places reserved for bumiputera, regardless of the academic performance (now modified, but still a two-tier system).
For a limited period, a certain percentage of new housing in any development reserved for bumiputera buyers, with developers required to provide a minimum 7% discount to these buyers.
There are plenty of others, but I'll be restrained here.
Such blatantly race-based policies are bound to have consequences. They have changed Malaysia – and not for the better. Races have become more separated, less friendly to each other, with a cultivated list of grudges. Nyonya culture – that colourful mix of Malay and Chinese traditions, values and beliefs which emerged through centuries of living together and inter-marrying– could never happen in modern Malaysia.
Policies based solely on race are unjustifiable for other reasons.
First, they de facto assume that Malays would be incapable of competing on merit. As a person with Malay blood somewhere down the line, my Great-Grandmother being a Nyonya, I find this insulting (as no doubt do my mixed Malay-Chinese cousins).
Secondly, who cares whose ancestors arrived first on our shores? Surely what is more important is what we can each contribute to building up our country.
Thirdly, it creates the indescribable reality that not all Malaysians are equal. Which is sad, but true. This has played a large part in making it hard for me to come to terms with being Malaysian-Chinese (evidently, though I have Malay blood, I don't have enough of it).
In the face of all this, how can we even talk of 1Malaysia?
There may well be Malaysians reading this who call me unpatriotic. Some may even say that if I don't like it, I should go 'home'. I don't know where they think my home is; China? My response would be that if they can't be criticised, they should stop pretending we have a democracy.
Especially for those who question my patriotism, I describe here what it was like for me being back in Malaysia after seventeen years away. I remember the moment well. It was afternoon when we landed. As soon as I stepped outside the airport, a blast of humid air hit me, and I felt the heat seep into my bones. It was such a familiar feeling, even after so many years, that if feelings could be painted, then that moment is forever engraved in my memory. I knew instantly that I had come home.
That moment made me realise my visceral connection with this land in which I grew up. It's my country too. I will always have this connection, no matter where I live in this world. And no matter what racist policies remain in place in Malaysia. Policies which make me feel unwelcome and unable to live here to the full. Where is home for me?
Filed under Cultural Identity, Identity, Malaysia
Tagged as 13 May 1969, 1Malaysia, Bumiputera, Chinese, Chinese pogroms, Culture, Indian, Malay, Malaya, Malaysia, Malaysia Truly Asia, Nyonya, Orang Asli


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Q: Conceptual Confusion of CORS policy and Web Browsers How can browsers see pages that do not send the Access-Control-Allow-Origin: * header?
To see a webpage, a request of some type (e.g. GET or POST) has to be made. But if the server doesn't allow CORS, how can the browser see it (as the user's computer is a different origin than the server's)?
Why do API calls (from request libraries, e.g. Volley on android) need Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *, but not browsers? If I am using shared hosting, does this have something to do with the fact that files are place in public_html?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Home Cindy Sherman
Cindy Sherman (January 19, 1954) is an American contemporary photographic artist working in the genre of staged photography. When creating her works, she used herself in roles and characters. This made her popular.
Her most famous photographic series is «Untitled Film Stills», consisting of 69 works. In this series of photographs, Cindy has shown herself as both a model and a photographer. In each shot, she presented the audience with a certain image. The heroines of the works included in this series resembled movie actresses of the sixties, playing a variety of roles: a dancer, a housewife, a businesswoman, a prostitute, a vamp woman, a simpleton, a woman close to hysterics or emphatically calm. All characters were fictional.
Another famous series of photographs is «History Portraits». These are 35 works in which she still acted as a model and a photographer all rolled into one. In this series, Cindy Sherman recreated the portrait painting of the old masters.
Also known provocative series «Sex pictures».
Cindy Sherman then decides to direct and write her only feature film, the horror comedy «Office Killer». The film did not have much success.
A series of works «Faces» — portraits of elderly, unemployed actresses posing for a photographer in the hope that these photographs will help them find work.
In the series «Clowns» with the help of makeup and clothes, she skillfully entered the image of clowns.
Further in «Portraits of Secular Ladies» we see aging women who hide the inevitable behind expensive clothes and an abundance of makeup.
Photo «Untitled # 96» sold for $ 3,890,500.
Photo «Untitled # 48» was sold for $ 2,965,000.
Photo «Untitled # 153» sold for $ 2,770,500.
In this short video excerpt Cindy Sherman talks about some aspects of her art.
Cindy Sherman took 7th place in the ArtReview rating "One Hundred Most Influential Persons in the Art World — 2011".
In 2012, a large retrospective of Cindy Sherman's work took place at the Main Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). The following series were presented at the exhibition: "Untitled Film Stills", an early mini-series "Untitled A-E" and also a documentary film "Carte Blanche: Cindy Sherman" specially filmed for the exhibition.
The Story of One Photographer: Cindy Sherman.
Cindy Sherman currently lives and works in New York.


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Today Astrology In Gujarati
When people ask if there is a connection between the stars and the earth's movements, the answer is usually yes. The planets are believed to have lines of sight and conversations with one another. These lines of sight determine how they interact with one another's energies. The same goes for standing across a room from someone will produce different energetics than if you are next to them. In this way, astrologers can be excused for making errors.
These days, the news is filled with a variety of stressful events that can impact anyone's health. Astrology can provide a sense of distance and help people deal with life's ups, downs, and challenges. For instance, astrology teaches us that the world doesn't move linearly and that it moves in cycles, and that the actors in history are archetypes.
Astrology has a long history in Britain, the United States and elsewhere, despite widespread doubts and doubts about its benefits. For example, in the early twentieth century, a famous astrologer, R.H. Naylor, worked with high-society neo-shaman Cheiro. He was routinely tapped to read the palms of famous people, including Mark Twain, Grover Cleveland, and Winston Churchill. He was also hired by newspapers to predict lives of celebrities, such as prime ministers and other celebrities.
The Babylonians had begun to divide the zodiac into 12 equal signs by 1500 BC. They also used familiar constellation names to incorporate them into Greek divination. This work led to the Tetrabiblos, which is the foundational book in Western astrology. But as the ancients adapted the ideas of astrology, the practice spread throughout the world and branched out into different countries. The most well-known of these forms are Vedic, Tibetan, and Chinese.
The Moon, meanwhile, represents our emotions, and the Sun, our self-confidence. These two planets shape our sense of security and safety. Mercury, for example, is our planet of information and communication. Venus, on the other hand, shapes relationships, art, and money. Mars, on the other hand, influences energy, sexual expression, and courage. Although these differences are minor, there are some common threads between the different zodiac signs.
Astrology is not a reliable method of divination, but it has a good reputation. Millennials may be more likely to live on the edge of skepticism than previous generations. It could be that their tendency to look to astrology is a reflection of how their lives have changed. While we can't prove the answers we get from these stars, we can take comfort in knowing that they are real, not just a projection of our hopes and fears.
The roots of astrology are found in the ancient world. The ancient world believed that the constellations and signs of the stars correlated with the lives of their inhabitants. Later, astronomy, which is the study of the planets and stars, was a separate field. By the late 17th century, this became a distinct science. It is possible to predict future events by studying the stars and planets. It can even help people make important decisions about their health.
The Sun is the most significant star in the sky. However, other celestial bodies play an important part. Mercury, Venus, Mars, and the Moon are each related to a particular house in the birth chart. These bodies move in different rates, depending on their location and time of birth. The moon, for example, can spend almost two-and-a-half days in a sign, while Mercury can spend between fifteen and sixty days.
Astrology can be a powerful tool to understand yourself and others. Basic astrology, the sun and moon, as well as the twelve houses of horoscope, is required. Once you have this knowledge, you can start to interpret the signs and understand their characteristics. You will begin to understand the world around and your fellow human beings. The key to understanding others is knowing your signs, the symbols they represent, and how they relate to each other.
Vedic Astrology Sites
Astrology 45424


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A new analysis of polling seen by The Guardian says that more than 100 UK constituencies, which backed Brexit in a landmark 2016 vote, would now vote for staying in the bloc.
The figures were produced by consumer analytics company Focaldata, which modelled two YouGov surveys of more than 15,000 people.
The findings posit that two years since the 2016 referendum, 112 out of the 632 constituencies in England, Scotland and Wales have switched from Leave to Remain, including 97 English seats, 14 in Wales and one in Scotland.
Under the Focaldata model, 341 constituencies now make up a majority of voters who want to stay in the EU (53 percent), up from 229 seats two years ago.
Growing Remain sentiment among the Labour Party voters in the north of England and Wales supposedly contributed to higher numbers of Remain-backing constituencies. The findings are expected to build up pressure on Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to reconsider his refusal to back a second vote on Brexit.
There are around seven months left for Britain to negotiate a deal with Brussels before its scheduled departure from the European Union. Prime Minister Theresa May prepares to resume talks with Brussels later this month, which stalled on the post-Brexit customs arrangements and the Irish border issue.
Britain, which is expected to leave the EU customs union after the transition period ends in 2020, wants to negotiate an agreement that would enable it to arrange its own trade deals with other countries. Moreover, London aspires to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and has rejected the EU's proposal to keep Northern Ireland within the single market, citing constitutional integrity concerns. If the negotiations don't work out, the UK faces a no deal outcome next March, which would damage the country's GDP and could cause shortages in food and medicine.


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Q: Retrieve specific preceding sibling nodes attributes Is there an XPath way of recovering directly one specific attribute of preceding sibling nodes of an XML node using an XPath query?
In the following example, I would like to retrieve the values of the alt attribute of each img nodes that precede the div element marked with the id=marker.
<content>

</content>

For this example, I want to retrieve the values 1 2 3 4.
I use the following XPath query
//div[@id='marker']/preceding-sibling::img

in order to retrieve the node list I want

As it is a node list I can then iterate on the nodes to retrieve the attribute value I am looking for, but is there an XPath way of doing it?
I would have expected to be able to write something like:
//div[@id='marker']/preceding-sibling::img@alt
or //div[@id='marker']/preceding-sibling@alt::img

but I don't even know if it is possible once you have used an XPath Axe like preceding-sibling.

A: Use:
//div[@id='marker']/preceding-sibling::img/@alt
This selects all attributes (attribute nodes) names alt of all img elements that are preceding siblings of some div element (anywhere in the XML document) whose id attribute has the value 'marker'.
In XPath 2.0 you can even obtain a sequence of strings that are the values of these alt attributes:
//div[@id='marker']/preceding-sibling::img/@alt/string()