Drapery rod standard diameters are 3/4" and 1". The 3/4" rods are solid and have a slight steel texture to them. The 1" rods are hollow and have a smooth texture.
Drapery rod length are considered to be without the finials unless otherwise noted.
Drapery rods can be shipped up to 104" long. Drapery rods can be made to longer lengths by assembling additional rods. The drapery rods are precisely machined to give a nice seamless look to the joint. It is recommended that a bracket be placed at the joints for support.
Standard Finishes: Brushed Steel and Satin Black.
Premium Finishes: Ancient Bronze, Dark Bronze, Gold, Distressed Gold and Nickel. There is a small charge for the premium finishes. We also offer waxed metallic finishes and chemically blackened steel for some of the rods. Samples are available for a nominal fee. Custom colors can be specified for an additional fee.
All orders must be placed in writing.
A purchase order is not binding until the Purchaser has received a written Order Confirmation or Acknowledgement from Phillips Metal Works and all deposit requirements have been met.
A 50% deposit is required to initiate a Purchase Order.
All balances are due prior to initial, partial or full shipment. The client will bear any costs related to the collection of unpaid balances.
Phillips Metal Works is not responsible for any damage that occurs in transit or storage. It is the responsibility of the Purchaser (or his customer) to inspect all merchandise before signing for delivery and not any obvious damages on the freight bill. While we strive to produce accurate orders, any damages related to defects in production will be limited to replacement or repair of the defective parts.
Any claims or complaints against the seller regarding delivered merchandise must be made in writing within 10 working days of delivery. Failure of the Purchaser to make a claim against the seller in the 10 day period will constitute acceptance of the Product and waiver of claim to any apparent defects, errors or shortages.


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Q: How often does a processor check if time on a timer is up to execute a program? For example, if we program a computer to check and update some variables every 5 minutes does that mean that the computer actually checks if the condition matches (if that 5 minutes are up so it can execute a program) every tick? So that means (in my point of view) the bigger the amount of conditionals or timers or both the heavier the load on the processor even though the processor just checks if the time is up or whether the condition is match or not.
My reasoning being here that the processor can't really put some task away and forget about it for 5 minutes and then just remember about it and execute the program. It has to keep a track of time (counting seconds or ticks or whatever), keep track of timers that are currently being on and check if the time on every timer is up or not.
That makes every timer a conditional statement. Right?
So the main question is... am I correct on all of those statements or the reality is a bit different and if so then how different?
Thank you.

A: I am assuming here that you have a basic understanding of how processes are managed in a CPU
Most programming languages implement some form of wait() function, that will cause the CPU to stop executing instructions from that thread until it is interrupted, allowing it to work on other tasks in the meantime. Waiting for an interrupt does not use much of the system's resources, and is much more efficient than the polling method that you were describing.
This is a pretty basic explanation, but if you want to learn more, lookup preemptive multitasking.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Thomas Micheal Riley will perform at Pat's Hall Saturday September 8 at Pat's Hall, 406 Post Oak Road at 8 pm. The dance benefits Gillespie County Crime Stoppers. Doors open at 7 pm. Tickets are $25 at the door.


The Twitter team have created a new webpage dedicated to the open source projects they have released or contributed to.
These include the Apache-hosted, distributed database Cassandra project and the Ruby client for Cassandra, cassandra.gem. The site also lists the Hadoop platform for analysing large data sets and the project's high-level data-flow language and execution framework for parallel computation, Pig. In the Scala ecosystem, are the scala_build set of Ant tasks to aid the building of a Scala server or reusable library; and the Ostrich library for collecting and reporting application statistics from Scala.
For a full listing of the open source projects Twitter has been involved in, please see the new open source page at Twitter's official website.


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Identity politics vs. productive discourse
Campus is saturated today with "identity politics," the political phenomenon of various groups arranging themselves by their "identity." One student writer at The Harvard Crimson recently made an eloquent case for doing away with this movement.
"Identity politics makes people feel better about themselves at the expense of productive discourse," writes Michelle Gao at The Crimson.
Gao, a sophomore at Harvard and an editorial editor at The Crimson, writes frankly that she once ascribed to identity politics: "I used to believe in identity politics because it told me: You and your experience matter. Your identity gives you authority. Your beliefs can't be invalidated because your identity can't be invalidated. This logical leap was empowering to take."
She notes that one aspect of the rise of identity politics was that "non-white people decided that their non-whiteness enabled them to speak with authority on topics of race. White people could only participate when they admitted that they were less worthy of speaking."
Gao encountered a disappointing reality upon returning home, however: "At the dinner table, I was ready to proselytize why we Asians, as people of color, needed to fight institutionalized racism and support minority movements like Black Lives Matter. I was armed with my experiences and the rhetoric of how America was built on a history of racism and white superiority."
It didn't work out so well:
[It] was like I ran into a brick wall. The problem wasn't that my parents didn't know these things. They simply didn't care much about them. They emphasized their own lived experiences as Asians instead—immigrating to America in the 1980s and creating new lives in a time of arguably more open racism than that of today. They didn't have any reason to oppose whiteness and support black-led movements. White people weren't any more racist to them than black people. The trajectories that other immigrants led proved that America was a land of opportunity, even for minorities.
Under the rules of identity politics, arguing with my parents about race became essentially impossible. I could never make progress if I kept staking my correctness on being Asian and my experiences living with that identity. My parents, who had the same marginalized identity, could do the same thing. We'd be at a standstill. Admitting that our beliefs were wrong would mean essentially yielding our identity, and nobody was willing to give that up.
I realized that I had lowered the standard of conversation by opening with appeals to our race. I was not giving reasons why we should act; I was merely arguing that external factors obligated us to act. But arguments following the logic of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" make for halfhearted allyship at best.
"The best solution," Gao eventually decided, "was to deemphasize identity altogether. Appealing to my parents on the basis of race was unnecessary to the discussions I wanted to have."
"[N]o identity makes the beliefs that someone derives from their lived experience automatically more correct," Gao points out. "This is not just a logical fallacy that should be avoided on principle. In practice, it is actually a hindrance to persuading others. In a time of such polarization, identity politics makes us close ranks with the like-minded when we need to reach out."
Read the whole op-ed here.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


This set of five cards features a watercolor painting I did of a pretty hydrangea blossom from my backyard. I used a palette of soft pinks, mauves, yellows and greens. Hydrangeas are one of the loveliest autumn flowers.
My cards are printed on luxurious, Italian watercolour paper. The paper is lovely and thick and has a beautiful texture. Nice to the touch and an excellent writing surface.
This image is also available as a beautiful print.


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L'edifici del Palau Episcopal s'alça a la Plaça del Obispo molt a prop de la Catedral de Màlaga, i es construí en temps del bisbe José Franquis Lasso de Castilla, a partir de l'any 1762.

El disseny es deu a l'arquitecte Antonio Ramos, qui a la mort de José de Bada en 1756 continua amb les obres que aquest realitzava per a la catedral.

Descripció

Aquest palau és l'obra més important del seu autor i un dels millors exemples de l'arquitectura civil malaguenya. Ramos distribueix els espais al voltant de dos patis successius, agrupant al voltant del primer d'ells la zona pública del conjunt, mentre que en el segon, que està també organitzat en dues plantes, es distribueixen les dependències privades que es destinen al prelat. A un costat hi ha una escala de tipus imperial de doble tir que comunica amb la zona alta del palau.

Molt important por la seva alta qualitat compositiva és el disseny de la seva façana principal, de tres plantes d'altura, que se articula a través de parelles de pilastres simples de baix ressalt entre les quals hi ha grans buits amb balcons a les plantes superiors i finestrals a la inferior. D'un barroc classicista on destaquen els frontons rectes i corbs dels buits superiors, sobresurt en aquesta façana la seva magnífica portada-retaule que se li superposa en el centre, en tres cossos d'altura, combinant marbres en colors gris per al fons i rosa en les columnes, el nombre de les quals decreix progressivament en cada planta superior.

En ella destaca el gran balcó sobre la porta d'accés, els elegants extrems amb què es coronen pilastres i columnes, i l'escut que es mostra sobre la porta. Així mateix s'ha de destacar a l'últim cos d'aquesta portada la profunda fornícula emmarcada entre pilastres que conté al seu interior una imatge de la Mare de Déu de les "Angustias", obra de Fernando Ortiz.

A la mort d'Antonio Ramos el 1782, les obres d'aquest palau les continuà el seu successor José Martín de Aldehuela, per ventura l'autor de la balustrada de pedra amb la qual s'acaba superiorment l'edifici, afegit en un moment posterior.

Actualment part de l'edifici ha estat adaptat per a acollir la seu del Museu Diocesà de l'Art Sacre de la ciutat de Màlaga. Bé d'Interès Cultural, aquest Palau Episcopal està catalogat com a monument, segons declaració publicada en el BOJA de l'any 1991.

Curiositats
El Palau Episcopal, la Plaça del Obispo i la Catedral de Màlaga apareixen a la pel·lícula El puente de San Luis Rey (2004) com a escenari d'una ciutat del Perú colonial del .

Referències

Bibliografia

 Historia de la Arquitectura Española. Tomo 4: Arquitectura barroca de los siglos XVII y XVIII, arquitectura de los Borbones y neoclásica. Editorial Planeta; 1986.
 Guías provinciales de España: Málaga. Editorial Tania SA; 1982.

Enllaços externs
 Instituto Andaluz del Patrimonio Histórico

Edificis de Màlaga
Palaus barrocs
Palaus d'Espanya
Malaga
Béns d'Interès Cultural d'Andalusia

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


We woke up the next morning and decided to head to town to find something to eat and do some exploring. On the way into town we walked down the Boardwalk (Malecón), which is bordered on one side by shops and restaurants and the other side by ocean. On the beach, there were around 10 of the most elaborate sand sculptures I'd ever seen.
There are also some giant ears, which provided for a great photo op.
Not all the sculptures were bronze. This one was human.
The Los Arcos Amphitheater is one of the most prominent tourist attractions in and around Puerto Vallarta. Los Arcos Amphitheater is also known as Aquiles Serdan Theater and is comprised of four stone arches which have become a symbol of the city of Puerto Vallarta.
There were also a few gorgeous churches in the area. Standing proudly over the Zocalo, the city's oceanside central plaza, Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, with it's famous crown is the focal point of the skyline. It is a symbol of Puerto Vallarta known throughout the world.
There was also a smaller parish church a few blocks away.
Other sites around town included street fairs and vendors.
And cow chairs, of course.
And after all that exploring, it was time for another margarita!
By this time we were dying of heat stroke, so we headed back to the hotel for some pool time.
And a few more margaritas.
Stayed tuned for more. Tomorrow's adventure: Ziplining!
omg, I love the giant ears! I realize they're kind of creepy, but, I'm now obsessed with them.
I don't even like margaritas but I really want one right now! :) Love the pictures.
OMG, I'm just stunned by how gorgeous all these pictures are!
Sara, that cat picture is gorgeous!!
Those sculptures are amazing - and who know the architecture there would be so intricate? The church with the crown topper on the tower is incredible. What a trip!


In top place for Yard of the Month is Patricia Conroy of 2701 Iman. Her home and yard just keeps looking better and better. This is the fourth time that Patricia has placed in the finals in the last three years, having placed first in July of 2011. Check out the amazing Bermuda lawn.
Finishing second are Paul and Marie Stowers of 2505 Coxindale . The yard looks crisp and tidy and the splash of color by the mailbox is a welcoming touch. This is the fifth time the Stowers have finished in the finals since 2012.
Finishing third are Gina and Jonathan Kinlaw of 2905 Funster. The fresh green lawn and shrubs are contrasted by the vibrant purple of the tradescantia and yellow lantana. They are the new kids on the Yard of the Month block this year, but were a first-place finisher in June of 2012. Keep up the good work!
Congratulations to each of the homeowners for the consistent quality care they give to their homes and yards and thanks to Larry Deckard and Jamie Visocan who assisted me on the judging panel.
By Paul Martin in Community, General on August 20, 2014 .


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All PostsRecordingProductionMixingMasteringBusiness
Blog - Music Business Articles - Page 1
Why You're Never Going to "Make It" in the Music Industry
Learn how to overcome the roadblocks holding you back from working full-time in the music industry.
4 Tips to Find Your Place In The Music Industry
Learn how to find your place in the music industry by following your interests, making your own opportunities, and more.
How to Plan Your First Tour as a DJ/Producer
Learn how you to organize your first soft ticket sales tour as a DJ/producer. No fan base required.
5 Tips to Build a Better Brand as an Artist
Learn how to get booked more often and make more money from your music by building a better artist brand.
How to Make a Living Selling Beats Online
Learn what it takes to quit your day job and work full-time as a beatmaker.
How to Make Money From Your Music Video Haters
Learn how to profit off of your music video haters by using their comments to boost organic social interaction.
How to Turn Your Artist Project into a Business
Learn about the first step in quitting your day job and making music production your full-time career.
How to Network in the Music Industry
Learn how to make business deals, network in small and big cities, and judge the quality of business connections.
12 Ways to Afford Expensive Music Studio Gear
Learn how to afford expensive music studio equipment by making use of financial management apps, and more.
How to Properly Release Music Online
Learn how to effectively release your music by promoting it to the right people. Turn new listeners into long-term fans.
How to Make Money with Your Music
Learn how to start collecting performance royalties, mechanical royalties, digital performance royalties, and sync fees.


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Маккэ́ррон () — фамилия.

 Маккэррон, Майкл (род. 1995) — американский хоккеист.
 Маккэррон, Хлоя (род. 1997) — североирландская футболистка.
 Маккэррон, Эй Джей (род. 1990) — американский игрок в американский футбол.


A national conference that will bring together policy makers, health professionals and artists in health, arts and social policy takes place next month on 23 March 2010. The conference will explore the importance of this work in Scotland through three keynote presentations and a series of interactive breakout sessions.
All the way from Argentina, Juan Bautista Peña and Inés Sanguinetti will be providing keynote speeches. Speaking from his background in banking and experiences founding three Argentinean voluntary sector organisations, Juan will discuss his achievements developing equity in chains of value concerning poor rural communities in his speech 'To wellbeing through culture and arts: the good old track'.
Dancer and choreographer, Inés Sanguinetti's speech 'Arts within community: new scenarios for wellbeing', will draw on her experiences as Co-founder and President of Crear vale la pena [It is Worthwhile to Create], a non-governmental organisation that, since 1997, has developed a programme of social integration for youngsters in Argentina combining education in the arts, artistic production and social organisation as means to promote social and individual development.
From Art in Hospital, senior project manager Kirsty Stansfield will provide a keynote presentation entitled 'case notes', which will explore the process and place of artistic practice in a health and wellbeing context through a facilitated conversation between an artist and a doctor.
Six breakout sessions, led by Scottish arts organisations, will allow delegates to take part in discussions, performances and debates. Focussing on existing projects in Scotland, the sessions will provide an overview of activity in the sector, whilst allowing delegates to explore topics of personal interest in more depth.
The conference will be chaired by writer and producer, Penny Rae, with addresses from the Minister for Culture and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop and the minster for Public Health and Sport, Shona Robinson.
There are still a few tickets available to attend Spaces in Between. For booking and more information about the conference, visit spaces in between webpage.


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Alberto Contador tempted out of retirement for one last race with Chris Froome
Alberto Contador will take part in the Tour de France China Critérium alongside Chris Froome and other Tour stars
Nigel Wynn October 9, 2017 3:21 pm
26 August 2017 72nd Vuelta a Espana Stage 08 : Hellin - Xorret de Cati CONTADOR Alberto (ESP) Trek - Segafredo HERNANDEZ Jesus (ESP) Trek - Segafredo FROOME Christopher (GBR) Sky, Maillot Rojo Photo : Yuzuru SUNADA
Despite having only retired from professional cycling last month, Alberto Contador has been tempted to get back on his bike for one last race.
Contador will take part in the first edition of Le Tour de France Škoda China Critérium on October 29.
The Spaniard will appear alongside 2017 Tour winner Chris Froome (Team Sky), Warren Barguil (Team Sunweb), Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) and Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors).
The race is a standard criterium format, taking place on a three-kilometre circuit in Shanghai. Twenty laps of the route will give spectators the maximum opportunity to see the big stars many times over.
>>> Alberto Contador: 'I could have won all three Grand Tours in the same year'
There will be no big mountains to allow Contador or Froome to engage in one final climbing contest, but there's a relatively high chance that they will be involved in a crowd-pleasing attack or possibly be involved in the sprint finish.
The event is being been put on by Tour organiser ASO in conjunction with local organisations.
Watch: Highlights of Alberto Contador's win on stage 20 of the 2017 Vuelta a España
Contador closed out his Grand Tour career at the 2017 Vuelta a España riding for Trek-Segafredo, where he memorably won the final mountain stage of the race on the summit finish of Alto de l'Angliru.
The 34-year-old ends his career with two Tour de France overall wins, two in the Giro d'Italia and three in the Vuelta.
Chris Froome: 'Riding with the same team felt like copy and pasting year after year'
Chris Froome's 2021 programme revealed
Chris Froome skips first training camp with new team Israel Start-Up Nation


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ChrisSplaining
Let Christopher explain it...
Twitter Verification?
Why do I have to pay monthly to be verified? Does my identity change every month?
I get the idea of software subscriptions. Back in the day, you'd buy software, get a CD (or a stack of floppies if you're that tenured), install the package and away you'd go. After a while, a new version would be available and you'd either get it as part of your original purchase or have to decide if you wanted to pop a few bucks for the new version, almost always at a discounted price.
These days, most software now costs a monthly fee to use. Stop paying that fee, and some packages lock you to the current version while some go as far as to just stop working at all. That is, you get to use the software as long as you keep paying. It's almost like renting the package.
Now, in the case of something like, say, Adobe Photoshop, I can see this model as viable. Adobe regularly pushes not only performance improvements, but refinements and new features as well. Consider what the suite used to cost, including the typical 12-18 month update cycle, and the subscription comes pretty close. Adobe provides value to the. model.
On the other hand, I'm looking at a package that automates an Internet task. For the most part, the package is very static. Now and again the producers have to make a small change to adapt to changes in third party integrations, but those are few and far between. Further, they support eight platforms and charge $29.99/month for one, and $59.99/month for all of them. Those are the options. Yet knowing how this software works, the differences are almost non-existent. The configuration considers all platforms and it's just an upload task that differentiates them.
There is absolutely no value added in paying monthly for this software that not only doesn't change, but has very little differentiation and uses zero resources provided by the author. That is, it's not even a web service. It's a reasonably robust automation engine. That's it.
Further, this is the kind of package you'd use initially, and then would likely sit unused for months until you had another need for some automation. You'd be paying a monthly fee for no updates and just the option to have it available should you need it.
But people are conditioned now to pay a subscription, even for software that doesn't justify it. Thus, almost all software now carries a subscription model.
I believe this is where I say, "get off my lawn!" :-)
Something I've Noticed
Nothing helps build patience like waiting on trademark applications.
Except, perhaps, waiting on patents.
Art Predicting the Future
Have you noticed that in science fiction movies made decades ago, electric cars had a particular noise? That whining-whirring noise that everyone thought electric cars would make? And have you noticed that, sure enough, that's exactly the noise that they make now?
Maybe it's just me, but I think that's kinda cool and interesting.
Or I'm just killing time before lunch ;)
Reinforcing My Position on Open Office
My first real software development job out of college was with Microsoft. The year was 1997, and the boom was in full swing. Enthusiasm was high, parties were epic, and it was a time we've not seen since. It was also the era of "everyone has an office," and nobody really questioned it. Indeed, the only place on campus that I can remember not being this way was a large room in which something like the "open office floorplan" was used for contractors. And I remember thinking it was counterproductive, even then.
As a developer, I liked having my own space. Shelves for my reference books (and I'm still old-school that way). Some posters on the wall to set the nerdy mood. A huge white board that was all my own. It was my space, and the mindset that went with it had a direct impact on my morale and productivity. Of course, the real benefit was the door. It was open 90% of the time. Anyone could come by, and collaboration never suffered. But I could also close it, meaning that if I wanted some "in the zone" time I could have it. I could even put a sticky on the door, letting people know that I was unavailable except in emergency.
You simply can't do this with an open office plan.
Headphones are an invitation to be tapped on the shoulder. A "quick question" never is, and even when it is, pulling someone out of the zone means that quick question cost a half hour, at best. White boards are shared, so you can't keep a design up for weeks while refining it. And the chocolates on my desk seem to mysteriously disappear overnight. That one is still a mystery.
Open Office in the Age of COVID
What I've discovered, though, is that for the past 18 months, "working from home" has reinforced these beliefs and given some concrete experimental evidence to support them. So what have I discovered?
Working from home has the same issues
A private space to work provides the same benefits as an office in the building. I can close the door. I can socialize to family members that when the door is closed, I'm concentrating, and please don't interrupt unless you have to. This is generally respected in my household, with the notable exception of the cats. But cats are jerks. Working from home means I can have that private space that isn't afforded in an Open Office building. My point here being that I believe we've all experienced this, now. Has anyone, working from home, not found it better to have your own private space? Do you honestly work in the common areas all the time because the distractions are something you seek out? I doubt it.
Asynchronous Communication Works
When working from home, if someone needs you, they have to get in touch electronically. They don't get to walk over and tap you on the shoulder. Or, worse, stand there and wait for acknowledgement. But with the exception of a ringing phone (who calls unannounced these days?), all communication can be asynchronous. Emails can be read and returned in their own time box. Slack allows you to mute notifications except when urgent if you want. Even chat applications let you set your status as "busy" if you want. I wish Slack had a status called "In the Zone," but that's a feature request. I truly hope this understanding persists once we all return to the office.
Working from remote locations also works (at least for me)
I confess, I have a remote work habit that sounds ludicrous but actually functions at the highest level: I work from Las Vegas. Yes, I live in the San Francisco bay area, but, at least when the pandemic has allowed, I will often travel to Las Vegas for a week. I get a nice hotel room at my favorite center-strip resort, usally complimentary, and work from the comfortable hotel room where I have good Internet connectivity, a decent sound system, and a desk. I honestly get up at the start of the day, work without interruption, and put in a full day. My productivity is even more than at home, as there are no family members (or, as I said, cats) to interrupt, even legitimately. Meetings for the past 18 months have been on Zoom anyway, and the worst I got from those who didn't know my plans was a comment that my artificial background looked like a Vegas hotel room. In the evenings, I got good food, perhaps saw a show (nothing refreshes the mind like Penn and Teller!), and got to play some poker or roll dice. I don't really drink much, so I got up the next day refreshed and ready to go.
This may or may not work for you. You have to have the discipline to actually get the work done. For me, the enjoyment of my evenings wouldn't be there if I knew I had work piling up or people suspicious of my work ethic.
I remain of the opinion that Open Office Floor Plans are a drain on productivity and morale, and in light of 18 months of solid "work from home" data, I see no reason to change this opinion. And now I have some solid experience to back it up.
On the New Job
Day 1 of the new job: Holy crap, I have Imposter Syndrome!
Day 5 of the new job: I've seen this all before and done this all before. Holy crap, I have Dunning/Kruger Syndrome!
When that annoying thing works...
The Bit Part
There's a commercial that plays on satellite radio with a jingle that's a really annoying earworm (no, not Kars-4-kids, but just as sticky).
I am about to sign up to use the service.
Dammit! The annoying jingle worked because when I realized I needed this, it's what came immediately to mind.
I feel... icky.
Let's Be Clear...
They aren't conspiracy theories. They are conspiracy hypotheses. A theory actually requires some intellectual rigor.
So glad he can't fake it
My existential fear is that Mr. Trump will realize that all he has to do is "fake it" and lie, act the statesman, and say what he needs to say, and he will win this election. I fear he will realize that doing so won't cost him his base, as his base will welcome it and say, "you know he doesn't mean it, but the libs are making it so he has to say it, but I know he'll do what I want anyway."
So in that context, last night's debate was perfect. Let's have two more just like it.
If this guy ever got the façade skills that an intelligent narcissist has, he'd be deadly. Be thankful he doesn't.
With Great Power...
Remember, you hold, in your pocket, a small device with the sum and total of all human knowledge within its reach.
PS: You use it to argue with people you don't know and look at pictures of cats, and that's on you.
humor wisdom
Political Thought for the Day
If you want religion in schools, be prepared for all religions to have their time on stage, including the case for no religion.
If you want social media to be liable for what people say, be prepared for them to decline such liability and refuse your account.
If you want the freedom to deny a gay couple a wedding cake, be prepared to be turned away if you're not wearing a mask.
Hypocrisy is never pretty.
Coal's Demise
CNN reports America's largest coal miner just filed for bankruptcy, as expected.
So much for "Promises Made, Promises Kept," Mr. Trump. Coal is obsolete. There are so many reason to celebrate this fact. I don't even need to be pleased that you're bass-ackwards policy was a bad one and it's yet another nail in your coffin-like legacy.
Though it does kinda feel good to tick that box.
Now, if only we could put some money into broadcast power and room-temperature superconducting so that we can be even that much more efficient...
Musings from the Starbucks.
Power companies are ditching coal in favor of cleaner alternatives at a rapid pace. US power plants are expected to consume less coal next year than at any point since President Jimmy Carter was in the White House, according to government forecasts released earlier this month.
-- CNN
It's So Hard to Move On
The worst part about training a new Pandora station is when a song comes on that you love, but is quite clearly not in the genre you're trying to curate. You have to thumb-down the song, but you also really would like to hear it.
#FirstWorldProblems
Match.com's Fake Problem
UPDATE, 26 September, 2019 - The FTC is suing Match.com for just the situation I describe in this blog post!
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/25/us/match-com-lawsuit-ftc.html
Match.com has a fake problem. That is, they have a problem with fake accounts and there is a clear reason why they have, for years, refused to do a single thing about it.
security match.com scams fraud popular
Ello? Ello? Anyone There?
As will happen once or twice a year, we have a new social site that many are prematurely calling the death of Facebook. And as happens even more rarely, it appears to be getting traction towards overcoming the network effect. For those unaware, the "network effect," simply put, states that nobody will use a thing until enough people are using a thing. To overcome this seemingly catch-22 circumstance, you need a degree of interest and virality in a short period of time. It doesn't matter how good something is, if it relies on a critical mass of users, you'll have most people standing around waiting to see if anyone else jumps first, and nobody jumps.
In the case of a very few sites, if you get enough people to jump at the same time, you overcome the initial barrier. Chemistry geeks can consider this the activation energy threshold. Physics geeks can consider this the coefficient of static friction.
LiveJournal did it. Heck, Facebook did it to MySpace.
And yes, there are "tricks" to help. Artificial scarcity, for example - you need an invite to join, and you can ask for one, but you'll have to wait. Never mind that once you're in, you get 10 invites. The laws of simple math will make it clear that getting an invite from a friend should be no problem at all if you're even remotely connected. And this makes total sense to the site's owners, as it biases new signups to people who are connected. Using an invite code also gives you an initial social graph connection (to the person who invited you), thus bootstrapping the graph of the site.
In short, Ello is doing everything right.
And it may or may not matter, because once you overcome the network effect barrier, you still need to keep the users. Just ask Google+. That said, Wil Wheaton is already there. Consider that the low-threshold gating function: his presence doesn't make the site, but his absence would be a statement.
So, for right now, Ello is clean, crisp, simple, and pretty-much no better than a somewhat expanded Twitter feed. Friends/Noise has an appeal, but it's pretty basic. Many people want basic, but many more have come to rely on features that Facebook provides. Ello needs to find a way to provide these features, but in a non-cluttering way.
And, of course, the policy - transparency. You own your content. There's no curation and filtering happening. And, in an interesting (and dare I say refreshing) twist, everything is public. Anyone can follow anyone else, and all of your posts are public. It's wide open, and intended to be so from the start.
Some people have a problem with that. This morning, a friend of mine had a post on Ello, "Dear @person, please unfollow me, I only want friends here." Now perhaps @person will comply, but @person is under no mandate to do so. There's nothing my friend can do. Again, there are no private posts on your feed.
From last April: http://betabeat.com/2014/04/would-you-like-your-social-network-to-share-your-content-or-just-monetize-the-bejeesus-out-of-it/
The open question now is what Ello does with the current rush of early adopters. Will they roll out features that everyone wants and loves and maintain the elegant simplicity? Will they stick to their philosophical guns and will the fickle crowd agree? Will there be an initial rush, only to have the novelty wear off like Google+? Only time will tell. I'm keen to wait, watch, and see.
So I'm @dogberry over on Ello. Feel free to follow me.
web social
When It Comes To Equality, I'm Just Selfish
I'm going to start off with a story, which, I promise, is relevant. I am a proponent of marriage equality. I can be flippant about it and note that I feel that everyone should get to experience the pain of marriage, but that's not fair to my wife, who is one of the greatest people I know. I actually have my reasons for being in favor, which I will get to shortly. But first the story.
politics article controversy women
Why Stephen Hawking is Wrong
I've always wanted to say that ;)
Stephen Hawking is being quoted in the media as saying that the Higgs Field could wipe out the Universe. His point is that at a high enough energy, it could trigger what's called "vacuum decay," a state whereby a "bubble" of vacuum expands at the speed of light, destroying everything in its path. This could happen if the energy of the field is not constant and eventually changes or, as some media are reporting, if a sufficiently-advanced civilization were to experiment at such high energies.
To do this would require a linear accellerator, as we understand them, the size of the orbit of the Earth. Not something we're about to build any time soon.
Here's why everyone is wrong, at least about the second part: if it could have happened, it would have by now. Indeed, anything that any civilization could do to destroy the Universe would have resulted in such destruction long ago. The Universe is huge. If something could have happened, it would have. To think that in the 13.7 billion years that we think the Universe has been here NOTHING capable of destroying it has happened yet, but just might any day now is the pinnacle of self-importance. The odds just aren't there.
So relax. The Universe will be here tomorrow. I'm prepared to bet on it, in fact ;)
$#!& Happens
The failure at the Oscars demonstrates a good point to remember: $#!& Happens. My take is that after much analysis, we will find that there were duplicate stacks of envelopes on both sides of the stage, and the wrong envelope was given to the presenters (Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway). Clearly, Mr. Beatty was confused and hoping someone would notice the problem and correct it. Unfortunately, it took a little longer.
entertainment learning opinion
Linkbait Comes to Television
I spent the evening last night at an Irish Pub (yes, I know, this blog entry can just stop here) watching the Seahawks game. Remember, though I live in Silicon Valley, I'm a Seattle transplant. Go Hawks.
As I and the 50+ fans were enjoying a convincing victory, a commercial came on. It was entitled (and captioned), "The Call," and depicted a woman getting a phone call. She says hello, and her face drops as she listens, clearly being shocked at what she is hearing. I, the viewer, know only her shock - there is no indication of what's actually said.
And then the commercial ends with the call to action to go to a URL to find out what happens next.
No. Just no. Clickbait online is one thing. Doing it in a broadcast television commercial? Sorry, that's farther past a line that's already been crossed.
I encourage everyone to refuse to go to any URL presented in this manner. Please help send a message to advertisers that this simply won't work.
Oh, and get off my lawn.
idiocy gripes
Facebook to give away how magic tricks are done
Well, not really, but just as stupid. As reported by Ars Technica, Facebook is now placing a [SATIRE] tag next to links that go off to The Onion. Clearly, Facebook is ruining the fun for those of us with enough brain cells to recognize satire when we see it, and is making the presumption that most of you are idiots.
Rumor has it that next week they'll be threatening to disclose the true identity of Santa Claus to anyone under 13 who lied about their age to get an account.
Hey Facebook? You want to do a little editorializing? How about you flag all of those linkbait sites as [DOG CRAP] while you're at it? Now that would be a non-abusive use of your power.
facebook idiocy
My prediction (getting it down now)
I think the higher-ups at Facebook are just now realizing that they're facing their first real crisis. Diaspora likely gave them about a half-day of indigestion and then some good laughs. But Ello is the real deal when it comes to a threat.
That said, I predict it will not succeed as a Facebook replacement. Indeed, their founder insists that it's not intended to be such. Is that hipsterism? Probably. But he's probably also right. While they're getting 30k+ signups per hour, people are going to react like they did to Google+ - that is, they'll sign up, play a little, find that it has nothing that Facebook doesn't already have, and usage will drop off. Ello has significantly fewer features that people want. If Google+ didn't get traction, Ello won't, either.
Yes, people want to migrate from Facebook because of their policies, but this threat is likely going to be the catalyst that forces Facebook to back down on the real name issue.
For this reason, I think Facebook will weather this storm.
http://betabeat.com/2014/09/ellos-traffic-deluge-almost-caused-a-total-new-user-freeze-out-crisis-averted/
Now... want to know the issue that Ello could press that just might win it for them? Your feed. You don't want "top stories," you want everything, in order, without someone telling you what they think is relevant. You want to see it all and make that decision for yourself. That's Ello's concept of Friends/Noise and it makes sense. It's the one thing that Facebook won't back down about, and Ello could press this point.
Then again, Google+ didn't win that argument with "Circles." So maybe that won't work after all. But I think Circles were before the relevance issue came to a head.
Time will tell. But at least I'm on record so I can say I called it ;)
facebook social ello
Time to step it up, Apple
I'm an Apple guy, and while I'm not religious about it, I like that all my devices work together now and are generally portable. The UX works for me and I like having a development platform that is, under the hood, UNIX-based.
That said, Cortana kicks Siri's ass. It's not even a fair fight. What Lisa's Windows phone can do, in terms of an intelligent AI assistant is incredibly compelling.
Apple, your user experience is second to none. Now it's time to kick up the actual heft behind it. Microsoft is eating your lunch in this one, specific area. Step it up.
gripes tech
ChrisSplaining: Trump on Wisdom
I'm going to take a random quote from a book written by our current President, Donald Trump and give my opinion on it. Call it ChrisSplaining if you will. And I'll try to do one per day, or at least once per weekday (since I do like my weekends).
There are many roads to wisdom and many wonderful books to educate us on our way, but the first step is to take the time to read and learn. Wisdom will come provided you give it a chance to develop.
From "Think Like a Champion" by Donald Trump
This quote, and I swear it was picked randomly (someone else picked the page number) is particularly interesting in that it demonstrates the top problem I believe our President has when it comes to knowledge and wisdom: he suffers from the Dunning-Kruger effect. In short, DK states that those who know very little about a topic tend to think they know the most. They simply don't know what they don't know and presume that their limited knowledge is close to complete.
Mr. Trump seems to feel that true wisdom can come from simply learning an amount of raw knowledge and waiting for it to magically develop. He makes no mention of validating that your learning is complete or covers the full breadth of a topic. And he most notably fails to realize that wisdom comes more from experience than knowledge. Knowing a thing is not the same as understanding a thing.
Or, as a wise person once said, "Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, but wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad."
The danger here is in thinking you have wisdom when you do not. In a President, this danger is of the highest order.
ChrisSplaining: Trump on Brevity
Business is no place for stream of consciousness babbling, no matter how colorful you might think you're being. You will discover that you can be an effective editor by cutting out everything that isn't absolutely necessary. Knowing where you're going in your conversation by being concise is a big step toward leadership and respect. People appreciate brevity in today's world.
-- Donald Trump (Think Like a Champion)
Generally, I tend to agree with this position, but with a specific exemption - sometimes there is need and value in putting completeness over brevity. Yes, in most cases it's beneficial to refrain from wandering all over the map. On occasion, however, a presentation needs to not only be complete but redundantly complete. Some things are so important that making sure all aspects are covered, and all participants are fully understanding all the angles and options is critical. If that means an extra half hour of "yeah, I got this," I argue that sometimes it's okay.
Bring snacks.
Now, all that said, I find it ironic that this advice, like much in his short book, Mr. Trump can't seem to heed, himself. Just his twitter feed alone puts the lie to the suggestion that he takes his own advice. And if you tuned in to any of his speeches where he goes off-script, well... enough said.
ChrisSplaining: Trump on Genius
Mr. Trump seems to revel in personifying the Dunning-Kruger effect.
advice business knowledge Dunning-Kruger Trump
ChrisSplaining: Trump on Teamwork
Donald Trump speaks highly of being a team player. He's right, even if he doesn't heed his own advice.
It's time to nuke password security questions
I'll come right out and say it - password security questions are not only insecure, they're a blatant security hole. They're worse than not being there at all, and for any of a number of reasons.
gripes security


text:
Development and application of similar source method for transient acoustic holography
G. P. Too, B. H. Wu
Department of Systems and Naval Mechatronic Engineering
In the present study, a modified version of similar source method is developed to describe the transient sound pressure distribution in a planar surface. The method imports an idea from Short-Time Fourier Transform. It uses windows function to divide signal into a lot of sections. And it is assumed that every section of signal is stationary such that similar source method can be used to estimate transient sound field. Several test examples are shown to verify this approach.
Journal of Taiwan Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers
Published - 2007 Nov 1
Fingerprint Dive into the research topics of 'Development and application of similar source method for transient acoustic holography'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
Acoustic holography Engineering & Materials Science
Acoustic fields Engineering & Materials Science
Fourier transforms Engineering & Materials Science
Pressure distribution Engineering & Materials Science
Too, G. P., & Wu, B. H. (2007). Development and application of similar source method for transient acoustic holography. Journal of Taiwan Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, 26(4), 213-218.
Too, G. P. ; Wu, B. H. / Development and application of similar source method for transient acoustic holography. In: Journal of Taiwan Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. 2007 ; Vol. 26, No. 4. pp. 213-218.
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author = "Too, {G. P.} and Wu, {B. H.}",
journal = "Journal of Taiwan Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers",
publisher = "Taiwan Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers",
Too, GP & Wu, BH 2007, 'Development and application of similar source method for transient acoustic holography', Journal of Taiwan Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 213-218.
Development and application of similar source method for transient acoustic holography. / Too, G. P.; Wu, B. H.
In: Journal of Taiwan Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, Vol. 26, No. 4, 01.11.2007, p. 213-218.
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AB - In the present study, a modified version of similar source method is developed to describe the transient sound pressure distribution in a planar surface. The method imports an idea from Short-Time Fourier Transform. It uses windows function to divide signal into a lot of sections. And it is assumed that every section of signal is stationary such that similar source method can be used to estimate transient sound field. Several test examples are shown to verify this approach.
JO - Journal of Taiwan Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers
JF - Journal of Taiwan Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers
Too GP, Wu BH. Development and application of similar source method for transient acoustic holography. Journal of Taiwan Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. 2007 Nov 1;26(4):213-218.


Parmesan Crock Pot Sweet Potatoes ~ Perfect Easy, Quick Weeknight Side Dish or Holiday Side Dish in Your Slow Cooker! Packed Full of Garlic and Parmesan Flavor!
Sweet potatoes have always been one of my favorite side dishes. They are so versatile and perfect any time of year in my opinion. Not only are they my go-to potato option when I'm trying to eat slim and trim, but they are one of my favorite holiday side dishes. Every year during the holidays, I look forward to all those sweet cinnamon flavors of sweet potato casserole.
But I've recently discovered how much I like sweet potatoes on the savory side too. They really are a blank canvas, and that's what makes them so great! And putting potatoes in the crock pot has become my new thing. I had never tried a potato in a slow cooker until last year. Boy did that change things for me in the kitchen. I love that the slow cooker can cook anything from breakfast to dinner to dessert. It's a working mom's best friend for sure. My co-workers and I always talk about what new recipe we've tried in our crock pot. I can't wait to share this one with them!
This recipe is quick, easy, and delicious. The hardest part about it is peeling the potatoes. After that, it's literally throw it all in a bowl and stir. It doesn't take long for those wonderful garlic Parmesan flavors to fill your home either! Hope you enjoy!
Slow Cooker Parmesan Sweet Potatoes are packed full of garlic parmesan flavors and make a perfectly easy side dish for a weeknight dinner! Plus, they are even great for the holidays too!
Cut sweet potatoes into large chunks.
In a large bowl, mix sweet potatoes with all ingredients. Pour into a slow cooker. Cook on low for 6 to 7 hours.
*Use a slow cooker liner for easy clean up!
You can see this recipe on Julie's Eats & Treats where I am a contributor!!


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text:
2nd December, 2010, 10:37 am
PMQs is a pantomime but it's one that needs to be entertaining
By Vincenzo Rampulla / @VMRampulla
With poll results coming in showing Labour on 40% and, amongst students, 42% the question has to be whether difficult PMQ episodes like yesterday really matter? Some say yes, some say no. It is no good claiming piously that PMQs is a Westminster oddity that plays badly to the country – we all know it is one of the worst public excesses Westminster allows itself. Nor is it a case of simply taking it on the chin as a 'bad week' which won't happen again. Irrespective of your view, a British political leader needs to show their ability to command PMQs.
Yesterday's PMQs – following on from Mark's excellent analysis – shows that Cameron's strategy is to treat Ed Miliband with the same disdain he shows other MPs. Cameron has certainly changed his tune from the 'no more punch and judy' lament from his 2005 victory speech when he said:
"I'm fed up with the Punch and Judy politics of Westminster, the name calling, backbiting, point scoring, finger pointing."
So the question is how does Ed Miliband regain control in these weekly bouts and exert a particular style?
Despite Speaker Bercow's best efforts, the whole farce is getting more pugilistic. That suits Cameron who is dismissive and prefers disarming passionate questioners with a quick mocking before having to give a weak answer. The PM does not like detail in his answers but prefers to pontificate on broad ideas. He sucks in the cheers and yah-boos of his audience, which spurs him on and gives him licence. Worse still he makes sure that eager to please backbenchers pepper PMQs with subservient questions to allow him to wax lyrical against Labour.
So where does that leave Ed?
His first PMQs outing was encouraging not because we had nothing else to measure him against but because it was an excellent example of how to set the pace of an exchange and demand silence. He is at his best when he sucks out the oxygen in the room and forces the chamber to move at his pace. Those should stand out as defining aspects of Ed's approach to PMQs. He should keep that style.
Cameron's throwaway line about being the 'child of Thatcher', as Sunder has pointed out, was more performance than strategy. But a more cocky Cameron runs the danger of being painted as ideological while the electorate question whether they've been sold a political line rather than a political vision.
So it is critical that Ed Miliband starts to drive a wedge between Cameron and his party. Their constituents will be feeling the effects of the cuts and will be worried about jobs, growth and the future just like everyone else. 148 of Cameron's party are new MPs, many of them political professionals who might enjoy the cut and thrust of parliament but realise the reality of having to go back to their constituencies with bad news. They are putting a lot of trust in Cameron and his cabinet and Ed should start testing that trust.
Without their wind in his sails Cameron will then have to focus on answers and not the pantomime.


text:
Volume 105, Issue 11
Measuring functional recovery in somatic symptom and related disorders: a scoping review
Afiah Salsabila Winarizal1,2,
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9115-8705Anita Horvath3,
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9095-358XSusan M Sawyer1,4,5
1 Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne Faculty of Medicine Dentistry and Health Sciences, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
2 Fakultas Kedokteran Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta, Indonesia
3 Department of Medical Education, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
4 Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
5 Centre for Adolescent Health, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Correspondence to Professor Susan M Sawyer, Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne Faculty of Medicine Dentistry and Health Sciences, Melbourne, VIC 3052, Australia; Susan.sawyer{at}rch.org.au
Objective Somatic symptom and related disorders (SSRDs) are prevalent, heterogenous conditions that have the potential to profoundly affect normative function in children and adolescents. Yet there is little understanding of pathways to recovery. This study aimed to systematically scope how functional recovery has been measured in children and adolescents with SSRD .
Design Scoping review of primary studies.
Method Medline (Ovid) and PsychInfo were systematically searched for publications from January 1998 to April 2019. Primary studies in English that reported functional outcomes of children and adolescents with SSRD were included. Case reports and population studies were excluded. Within the tools and clinician notes, the core domains of functional outcome were identified.
Results Sixteen studies were identified that used 11 different functional outcome tools. The domains assessed within these functional outcome tools, together with the domains noted by clinicians, included physical and mental health symptoms, as well as school attendance and academic outcomes, recreational participation, impact on family and service utilisation. There was no evidence of a preferred outcome measure as only two of the tools were used in more than one study.
Conclusions The variability of tools and domains used to measure functional recovery in children and adolescents with SSRD suggests lack of conceptual agreement about what constitutes functional recovery. Continued focus on symptom measurement or mental health comorbidities risks limiting research to single types of disorder (eg, functional neurological disability) or interventions, which threatens a much needed wider research agenda around appropriate treatment, including of complex and persistent disorders.
outcomes research
general paediatrics
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2020-318955
Twitter @SusanSawyer01
Contributors SMS conceptualised the study. All authors made substantial contributions to the study design. ASW screened the studies. ASW and AH independantly extracted data from each study. ASW and SMS drafted the paper. All authors critically reviewed the paper, approved the version published and agree to be accountable for the study.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient consent for publication Not required.
Data availability statement Data are available on reasonable request. All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as supplementary information. Summary details of the reviewed studies are available in an Excel spreadsheet that details eligibility status of all screened studies and the extracted data from each of the included studies on request to the senior author.
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
Copyright © 2020 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd & Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. All rights reserved.


Want adventure and comfort on your next vacation? Make it a "luxpedition." Cycle through Europe or Asia and rest your legs in luxury hotels. Reach the trails of the Alps by river cruise and train. Or explore the wilds of South America while enjoying fine dining. Here are 11 trips that bring together some of the best active experiences and accommodations in the world.
Patagonia Excursions: Visit the Awasi Patagonia Lodge with Surtrek and explore in Chile's Torres del Paine National Park with a personal guide, selecting from excursions such as hiking to panoramic views, horseback riding beneath the towering spires or taking in the icebergs from Grey Glacier.
Alpine Cycling: On Sojourn Bicycling & Active Vacations' new tour in France, explore the dramatic landscape of the Alps by bike and stay in luxury accommodations. Start at the picturesque lake in Annecy, ride a Tour de France climb and finish at the foot of Mont Blanc in Chamonix, resting at a Relais & Chateau hotel.
Inca Trail in Style: Camp in style on a classic Inca Trail trek to Machu Picchu in Peru. After acclimatizing in luxury accommodations in Cusco, enjoy hot showers, fine cuisine in a portable dining tent, a cot to sleep on and excellent service during the guided trek through spectacular Andean scenery to the Inca ruins.
Journey to the East: Ride nearly 1,800 miles across South Korea and Japan on TDA Global Cycling's newest hotel-to-hotel tour, the Journey to the East. Pedal through modern cities and over lonely mountain roads, past temples, volcanoes, hot springs and heritage sites.
Ride, Rope, Retire: At Wyoming's 25,000-acre Red Reflet Ranch, spend the day riding horses, shooting, herding cattle and learning the ropes. Once the work is done, sit down to a gourmet meal made of beef from the ranch's butcher shop and produce grown in its garden before retiring to a luxury chalet.
Rhine and Rail: On a new itinerary from Riviera River Cruises, cruise through the Rhine Gorge to Switzerland, then travel by train into the Alps, climbing over jaw-dropping precipices aboard the famed Glacier Express. In Zermatt, explore the trails on foot or ride a cog railway to 10,000 feet.
Fly Fishing Argentina: Cast for big brown and feisty rainbow trout in Argentine Patagonia with Frontiers and stay in the new Alumine River Lodge, which offers comfort and unparalleled access to the Pilolil Canyon and numerous tributary rivers and spring creeks.
Big Sky Skiing: Rent a luxurious mountain home in Montana's exclusive Moonlight Basin community and ski Big Sky Resort's 5,800 acres of steep and deep terrain. A stay at Moonlight Basin also provides access to the private Moonlight Lodge, and Nordic skiing, snowshoeing and fat biking on snowy trails.
Biking Thailand: Cycle from Bangkok to Phuket, Thailand, with Grasshopper Adventures and take in the Gulf of Thailand, Khao Sok National Park and the Andaman Coast from the saddle, then rest at a four-star hotel, a golf resort and a beachside resort.
Siberian Escapade: Explore wild and wooded Siberia on a MIR Corporation trip in winter, when Lake Baikal freezes hard enough to travel over its surface. Dash through the taiga on a traditional troika ride, race teams of sled dogs and sweep across the frozen lake by hovercraft to sacred Olkhon Island.


"The Explorers Program" is an affiliate of the Boy Scouts of America, a one time fun, educational program for childern. But learning how to tie knots and earn first aid badges are a thing of the past, as new millitant training camps are now all the rage. The Explorers Program are training thousands of their young members, some as young as 13 years old, in counter terrorism tactics and illegal immigrant border control.


Spring is here! So I've done a little activity to get you out the house and use up some of the kids energy!
Print this page for the kids, go on a little walk and see how many signs of spring you can spot.
Flowers and trees - New flowers are a great way of spotting spring. Can you find daffodils, bluebells and tree blossom?
Birds - Listen as well as look for birds. They get louder in the spring as they call to each other. Are the birds collecting leaves and branches? They might be building a nest. Robins like to look for worms and bugs when the soil has been dug. Can you see a Robin in your garden?
Frog spawn - Have a look in a pond. Can you see any small eggs like the picture? These grow into frogs!
Queen Bee - If you can hear a buzzing it could be the queen bee looking for a good place to start her hive.
Butterfly - As the weather gets warmer you might see butterflies in your garden or at the park.
Animals - Hedgehogs start to wake up from hibernation in the spring. Can you see any in the garden? Can you see their footprints? If you're lucky to live near a farm you might see lambs in the field as you walk or drive passed.
Ducklings - When your near to a river or lake have a look for ducks. Can you see any swimming with their babies?
Aww I love this - I forgot how many wonders spring brings us. It's the season of life really isn't it? I will have to take my little ones on a walk and look-out for some of these things.


TeiIku Your illustration of him is perfect!!
Super sick armor! Longclaw looks huge (I'm talking about the sword, not the Ghost the direwolf).
I'm too used to Kit Harrington as Jon snow. Nice to see someone depicting Jon from their own mind.
I swear, I was just listening to the "House of Stark" theme, when I went to check 4 some new deviations. The first thing that caught my eye was this masterpiece of Jon Snow and his dog ! Love the youthful look !
actually I don't think it is.
no I mean it could be possible that he could come back. remember what Sam said. "I've been worrying about Jon for years. he always comes back"
yeah. even know that I don't like her because she was the reason why shireen is dead.
you know nothing! hehe love it!
*sigh. Amazing job, makes my miss them both already.
i just mean he wasn't seen that much this season. only there for gilly.
That's really the essence of Jon in this design. Really cool. Really!
Am I the only one who wants to know what happens to Ghost?


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text:
I, RICHARD PLANTAGENET: TANTE LE DESIREE
By J.P. Reedman
Historical fiction | Paperback, eBook
Janet Reedman
1471: THE BATTLE OF BARNET. He is eighteen. It is his first battle. He is wounded…he is Richard of Gloucester, the King's youngest brother. With the Kingmaker slain, Richard and his brother Edward IV go on to ultimate victory at Tewkesbury. The Old King Henry dies in 'mysterious circumstances' in the Tower and York's claim is secure…Richard wants to marry Anne Neville, the Kingmaker's daughter, but his brother George stands in his way and hides her in a London tavern… Not all the feuds are on the battlefield for the House of York! Finally finding his bride, Richard gets both the girl…and her lands! As Lord of the North, with Middleham castle as his main seat, he sets out to be York's 'especial good lord'. He is Chief Mourner at the reburial of his father, Richard Duke or York, and fares with the King to France for what he hopes will be another Agincourt, a glorious victory for England. Instead, he finds a changed Edward…and the dishonour of French bribes. The next few years bring grief when the perennially troubled George of Clarence goes mad and is executed by King Edward for treason. The Three Sons of York are no longer three, and Edward's glorious Sun in Splendour seems to be setting. With Edward's health on the wane, it is Richard's duty to take on the invading Scots alone and put the fickle Duke of Albany on the Scottish throne.
1471: THE BATTLE OF BARNET. He is eighteen. It is his first battle. He is wounded…he is Richard of Gloucester, the King's youngest brother. With the Kingmaker slain, Richard and his brother Edward IV go on to ultimate victory at Tewkesbury. The Old King Henry dies in 'mysterious circumstances' in the Tower and York's claim is secure…Richard wants to marry Anne Neville, the Kingmaker's daughter, but his brother George stands in his way and hides her in a London tavern… Not all the feuds are on the battlefield for the House of York! Finally finding his bride, Richard gets both the girl…and her lands! As Lord of the North, with Middleham castle as his main seat, he sets out to be York's 'especial good lord'. He is Chief Mourner at the reburial of his father, Richard Duke or York, and fares...
As of 2015, J.P. is the author of several novels and a number of short stories available on Kindle. STONE LORD and MOON LORD are set in the era of Stonehenge but use the Arthurian myths as a basis. J.P. lives and works within the Stonehenge landscape and has studied the neolithic and bronze age for nearly 30 years. J.P. had also returned to her medieval roots with books about Richard III, showing him as neither the Shakespearean monster nor as a sombre saint. The first of these is SACRED KING, a historical fantasy about Richard's Afterlife and return in a Leicester carpark; the second a collection of short stories called WHITE ROSES, GOLDEN SUNNES, and the third is I, Richard Plantagenet, part 1--a tale told from Richard's first person perspective with bawdiness and humour.
As of 2015, J.P. is the author of several novels and a number of short stories available on Kindle. STONE LORD and MOON LORD are set in the era of Stonehenge but use the Arthurian myths as a basis. J.P. lives and works within the Stonehenge landscape and has studied the neolithic and bronze age for nearly 30 years. J.P. had also returned to her medieval roots with books about Richard III, showing...
Part 2 out soon!
Part two of I, RICHARD PLANTAGENET will be available in early April. Richard III as King. Buckingham's rebellion. Those pesky princes! Humour and tragedy with the last of the Plantagenets.


text:
Q: Search a 2d array by one column value and return another value from the qualifying row Say I have an array such as:
$arr[] = array("id" => 11, "name" => "First");
$arr[] = array("id" => 52, "name" => "Second");
$arr[] = array("id" => 6, "name" => "Third");
$arr[] = array("id" => 43, "name" => "Fourth");

I would like to get the name correspondent to a certain ID so that I can do:
$name = findNameFromID(43);

and get, for instance, "Fourth".
I thought of using array_filter but I am a bit stuck on how to correctly pass a variable. I have seen questions such as this one but I don't seem to be able to extend the solution to a multidimensional array.
Any help?

A: findNameFromID($array,$ID) {
     return array_values(array_filter($array, function($arrayValue) use($ID) { return $arrayValue['id'] == $ID; } ));
}

$name = findNameFromID($arr,43);
if (count($name) > 0) {
    $name = $name[0]['name'];
} else {
    echo 'No match found';
}

PHP 5.3.0 and above
EDIT
or variant:
findNameFromID($array,$ID) {
    $results = array_values(array_filter($array, function($arrayValue) use($ID) { return $arrayValue['id'] == $ID; } ));
    if (count($results) > 0) {
        return $name[0]['name'];
    } else {
        return FALSE;
    }
}

$name = findNameFromID($arr,43);
if (!$name) {
    echo 'No match found';
}

EDIT #2
And from PHP 5.5, we can use array_column()
findNameFromID($array, $ID) {
    $results = array_column($array, 'name', 'id');
    return (isset($results[$ID])) ? $results[$ID] : FALSE;
}

A: I don't think I'd bother to declare a custom function for such a basic task.  Restructure the 2d array into an associative map, then attempt to access the map data with the search value as the key.  Fallback to null if the element is not found.
Code: (Demo)
$find = 43;
var_export(
    array_column($arr, 'name', 'id')[$find] ?? null
);


Teavana tea is my guilty indulgence. I love tea. Teavana is my favorite so I ordered some on Cyber Monday. I carefully selected my teas (and got a great deal, by the way) and started dreaming about enjoying my tea once it arrived.
Well, it took Teavana two full days to process my order and another four days to ship it. During my time of waiting I had this excitement about my coming package. I waited with great anticipation of the arrival of my tea.
I stalked my email to see if I had received a notification that my order had shipped. When the notification finally came I started to track the package… several times a day. I wanted to know exactly where my tea was and when it would arrive.
On the estimated day of delivery I tracked my package first thing in the morning. I just couldn't wait. When I got home from work the tea was sitting on my porch. I smiled as I took the package inside. I enjoyed every second of opening the box and looking through its contents.
I am glad to have my tea (it's my favorite), but I miss that sense of eager anticipation. I miss the feeling of knowing that something good is coming. I miss having something to look forward to.
As I think about this Christmas season, I think about all the years that the people of Israel waited for the Messiah. The scriptures are full of prophecies about his coming. I'm sure that people looked everywhere to see if there were any signs of his arrival.
I think of Mary as she awaited the birth of Christ. The angel told her that she would bear a son, the savior. Still, she had to wait nine whole months for him to be born. I'm sure she dreamed of holding him and playing with him and raising him. Then she anticipated him growing into a man and saving his people.
She, like so many others, eagerly awaited the arrival of the Messiah. She lived in anticipation and she was full of thanksgiving when she saw her hopes come to fruition.
When I hear these stories I think about my own life. God has made some incredible promises to me about my life. He has spoken to me about calling and family and destiny. Though I really hate the waiting, I have to admit that I feel a great sense of anticipation about the things that God has promised. There is something about the anticipation of something good that really makes the time of waiting much more bearable. When I get weary in waiting, it is the anticipation of something good that sustains me.
As we experience this season of Advent, let us remember the anticipation of all who awaited the birth of Christ. Let us celebrate the fulfillment of their hopes and dreams.
Let us also wait with great anticipation for the things God has spoken to us, looking forward to good things and the fulfillment of God's promises.


Marissa Nadler has become one of my favorite singer/songwriters in recent years, as her powerful voice and somber instrumental work has blown me away on a regular basis. Nadler has announced that her sixth full length album July will be released on Sacred Bones February 4th, and she has released the first single "Dead City Emily" which can be streamed below. It looks to continue all of the elements I've loved about her material in the past without sounding like a retread of previous work, and I'm excited to hear the rest.
Boston-based singer Marissa Nadler has shared the first track, Dead City Emily, off her forthcoming sixth full-length album, July, coming out on February 4th on Sacred Bones (US) and February 11th on Bella Union (ROW).
Recorded at Seattle's Avast Studio, the album pairs Nadler for the first time with producer Randall Dunn (Earth, Sunn O))), Wolves in the Throne Room). Dunn matches Nadler's darkness by creating a multi-colored sonic palette that infuses new dimensions into her songs. Eyvand Kang's strings, Steve Moore's synths, and Phil Wandscher's guitar lines escalate the whole affair to a panoramic level of beautiful, eerie wonder. Her voice, too, is something to behold here, at once clarion but heavy with the kind of tear-stained emotion you hear on scratchy old country records by Tammy Wynette and Sammi Smith. Long gone are the days when Nadler summoned images of 1960s folk singers who got lost in the woods. She is a cosmic force on July, shooting these songs to euphoric highs and heartbreaking lows.
July is the kind of release that reminds you why NPR counts Nadler's songwriting as so "revered among an assortment of tastemakers." This is a singular achievement for the artist, a record she couldn't have made earlier in her career because, as every songwriter knows, she didn't just write these songs: She lived them.


Hello and welcome to Pavers Shoes TV!
Our TV channel brings you the latest and greatest Pavers Shoes styles straight to your living room. You can find us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at our home on Sky Channel 678.
Join Debbie, Julie, Derek, John, Sheila and Linda in our relaxing shoe heaven from the comfort of your sofa. With our ranges of Fly Flot, Skechers, Loretta and vey our own Pavers and Belissimo styles, there's something for everyone.
You can easily order your favourite and must-have shoes over the phone or right here from this website.


Strong and combative, DISKONNEKTED proudly presents on his 4th studio album "Hotel Existence" a new formula that brings the band through raving breaks, deep and stuttering bass, catchy poignant vocals and electronic soundscapes. Inspired by a Paul Auster novel, the new songs reflect the general idea of the inner fantasy that promises you a better world, but becomes a cancer of unfulfilled expectations.
Apart from being an explosive intermix of styles that's never been heard before in the contemporary industrial/electro scene, 'Hotel Existence' is also an emotional quest that will shake your inner world.
You can't place DISKONNEKTED's music in one specific genre, since every challenging genre is reflected in this album: from drum 'n bass and dubstep, to floating electronics and solid EBM. A true clash of styles exploring different electronic genres and offering what might be the freshest album of the year! Fans of PENDULUM's raving breaks or the uncompromising cross-over of CELLDWELLER will be delighted to see those elements being also introduced in a modern electronic hybrid style.
The album is also released as a double-CD limited carton box edition including remixes by LIQUID DIVINE, PAUL UDAROV, ESSENCE OF MIND, PSY'AVIAH, SLEEPLESS, etc.


32 colorful puzzle. Collect them all! Beautiful ПЪЧХЮЛБ and convenient administration will not disappoint you.
You are being attacked the most unprecedented and various monsters. Your task is not podpustit them to their home base. Build towers, which will protect the base. In the future, will cost a bonus building. Good luck!
Oh, the poker. Good old game of kings! In this game there is everything to learn to play in one of its options. And artificial intelligence is, and ПЪЧХЮЛБ class.
Strategic ЖМЕЫЛБ with a full-fledged single company. Protector of the gameplay is not anything special stands out: from the player you want to just build archers and reflect the attack of monsters.
You are locked in the toy store. Choose!
So, just shoot at martyshek, but be very careful with the cartridges, because their number is limited, however, as well as time.
You fay, that sbegaet from the North Pole, avoiding and destroying obstacles.
Lad who loves coca-Cola suddenly got into the maze, help him escape, but do not forget that the lad could not live without the cola!
A colorful game Sudoku with numbers instead of animated pictures.
You are under constant bombardment from catapults the ice castle. Index - a good sight, and in case of victory, you can РТЙЛХРЙФШ nucleus or increase the protection of catapults. And then, to attack the new lock. The game will end if end on the nucleus, and the castle will not be destroyed completely.
You fly on pterodactyl, but you will interfere with the insects, and therefore you should they fling axes.
Do you have tours? Such that in the woods so for three days, not less? If so, you can easily answer the question "where to go for the needy?" and all other set game.


The smart technology that has become an essential part of our lives at work and on the go can also be used at home in a variety of innovative ways that make life easier, safer, and more enjoyable. Technology in the home ranges from functional to fantastic. At JDR, we help you discover the technology that best supports your lifestyle and we make that technology an integral element of your remodel, with expert planning, design and installation.
Are you a music lover? The simple addition of an Ipod docking station makes your listening experience more convenient and dynamic. A music fanatic? A custom- designed surround sound system may be the right choice for you. For the dedicated film enthusiast, a home theater brings years of viewing pleasure to be shared with family and friends.
Homes can be outfitted to provide the peace of mind that comes from added security for you and your family. Consider adding cameras and an intercom, or lighting systems that automatically light your garage, entryway, and all rooms leading to the center of your home as soon as you pull into the driveway, just by pressing a "hot button" on your visor.
Ambience is effortless with some of the technology available today. Lutron lighting controls set the desired mood in any area of your home at the touch of a button, with programmed settings for "entertaining mode" or "relaxation mode." Or, simply by sensing the presence of a person in the room, the environment's music, lighting and temperature can adjust according to preset controls.
Automation makes for a smarter home, one that easily adapts to individual lifestyles. JDR helps you determine how to harness the power of technology to make your home more efficient, fun and livable.
Jackson Design and Remodeling's home electronics partner shows how to catch a thief using home automation technology.


Ticket To Ride is one of my personal all-time favourite games. A turn-based board game for 2-5 players aged 8+ where players create rail routes from location to location in order to score points. The original ticket To Ride was first published in 2004, and there are now 4 different full game versions, all together selling more than a staggering 3 million copies already. There are also a host of expansion packs featuring different maps worldwide.
Until now I've only ever owned a copy of the Nordic Edition, but I've been sent a copy of the European Edition of Ticket To Ride to review, and I will also being giving one away thanks to Esdevium Games.
This is a BIG game and it has a lot of playing pieces. In fact each player starts off with a bag of 48 train carriages plus counter, train stations and gameplay cards.
Ticket To Ride can be quite daunting to look at, and sounds complicated, but actually if you just start playing, it's really easy, and my 7 year old had the hang of it after 5 minutes.
The difficult bit is as you get better and more strategic!
The board itself is immense, around 75cm x 50cm. You'll also need space around the table for each player to keep hold of their cards. The correct number of coloured Carriage Cards and Locomotive Cards are required to claim a route on the map.
All players are dealt Destination Tickets - train journeys they can try to complete for extra points, including 1 extra long route which will be very difficult to achieve. Players keep these plans secret from each other. At the end of the game the score for Destination Tickets completed is added and for those not completed deducted from a player's total.
On each turn players can choose one option from draw more cards, claim a route or, if they are feeling confident, get additional Destination Tickets.
The routes to complete your Destination Tickets may be really straightforward if you are lucky, but if you are unlucky someone will have blocked your path or you'll collect the wrong colour Carriage Cards and have to go a far less direct route.
Zagrab to Brindisi below has several possible routes. Each route you complete, whether it forms part of one of your Destination Ticket routes or not, earns you points towards your total score. The longer the route, the greater the points.
Train Stations are new to Ticket To Ride: European Edition, and mean you can exchange some points to use other players routes. It really changes gameplay and actually makes it less frustrating, as you previously would find yourself with Destination Tickets you simply couldn't complete quite often, and if they were high scoring you'd know you couldn't win.
Each player has a counter which they use to mark their score around the outside edge of the board. The game is complete when no more routes can be completed, and then scores are added up.
Ticket to Ride is fabulous for brushing up your Geography, it also requires a level of skill with thinking ahead, guessing the other player's next moves, and being sneaky enough yourself to plan routes and place carriages without drawing attention to your game plan.
Ticket To Ride is suitable for players aged around 8+. Younger players can join in as part of a team. It best suits 3 players or more, but my partner and I have spent many an hour playing alone, and enjoyed it thoroughly.
As with most games distributed by Esdevium, Ticket To Ride: European Edition is available from a multitude of outlets including Waterstones, Amazon and supermarkets with an rrp of £32.99, but at time of typing priced under £28 on Amazon.
Esdevium have a host of great family games and puzzles available this Christmas, including Smart Eggs (6+), Dobble (6+), Colt Express (age 10+), Jungle Speed (7+), Hotel Tycoon (8+), Timeline (8+), Disney Pictopia (7+), Ticket To Ride (8+), Loony Quest (8+) and X-Wing Force Awakens And Base Core Set (14+).
Ticket To Ride wasn't my only giveaway for Esdevium that Christmas, I also gave away a copy of Disney Pictopia. You can find all of my current giveaways and advice about using gleam, on my Giveaways Page.
Between Newcastle and Paris to go and put down some flowers.
I would travel between Paris and Rome. I'd love to see the beautiful French and Italian countrysides and have always wanted to visit all of the historical sites in Rome.
If I could build lines across oceans, I'd travel to where I lived in Japan so that I could see it again.
I'd love to travel from Budapest to Vienna and see the beautiful architecture and go to the Spanish Riding School with lots of lovely desserts waiting at the end.
Between Sydney & Perth, & the beautiful West Coast beaches would be waiting for me!
If there was lines over the ocean, I would love to travel to Australia to see all the beautiful animals and stunning scenery.
I would go from Wales to Dubai, to spend time with family.
I would love to travel across canada on a train, not sure who would be waiting for me when i got there, but would like my husband and children to be with me during the trip.
Leeds (nearest city to me) to Rio De Janeiro (Brazil) where i would see the famous Copacabana beach and the statue of Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado Mountain.
I would take a trip from Sydney to Cairns in Australia what a trip that would be!
I'd enjoy a trip from Seattle to Boston with a visit to the Cheers Bar waiting for me at the end!!
I would opt for Sydney and Alice Springs. I've always wanted to travel through the outback to Alice and what better way than on a train.
I would travel from the UK to Disneyland Paris where the Magic Kingdom would await us!
I'd love to take a train journey down Africa all the way to Cape Town. It would be great to go back to Cape Town, but really the journey would be a bigger deal than the destination.
New York to Texas, with JR Ewing waiting to see me off the train!!
Would love it - got a strong board game collection going on but no Ticket to Ride games *at all* !
I might do USA, east coast to west coast so NY to LA or something, or maybe do a trip across Asia.
I would go from anywhere in the UK to Florida, USA so I could take my Daughter to Disneyland without having to fly, because she hates the idea of flying.
Between Liverpool and new York to see central park.
A journey from London to Edinburgh and a nice cozy hotel in Edinburgh would be waiting for me, so I could explore the city.
Edinburgh to New York because i would love to go shopping there at Christmas!
I'd go from London to Wales, see the countryside and then meet up with some friends when I get there. I love this board game, it's so much fun! I have the app on my phone of it, but never played the original version.
I'd travel from Newport, the city closest to home, to Tokyo - so much to see!
I would travel from Exeter as it's the nearest city to me in Devon where I live and I'd go to Florence, Italy, (though I'd want to take my family with me of course) and we'd go on a tour of Tuscany, with lots of delicious Italian food waiting for us. What a wonderful dream!
I'd choose London to Indianapolis, USA and Jenn, my best "online" friend, would be waiting at the end - we've never met, so it would be incredible!
I'd travel from London to Herculaneum in Italy, I'd love to visit there and Pompeii, and have a genuine Italian feast!
Barcelona to Moscow. I would have a nice warm spa waiting at the end!
Between Sheffield & Los Angles to visit my old school chum.


text:
Q: How to Stop The existing Url is Not open the Different Tab in the Browser? I am Using Asp net mvc Application ..the Application Running Fine ..But the Problem is After Login the application it showing Some pages  i.e .cshtml page  . Here My Question Is When I Copy the Same Application Url Open in Different Tab Again it Should be ask the Login Page Again....

A: This needs to be done client side since the request to the server will not contain the information needed for this. You can use session storage to determine if the user went through the login screen. ("LogInTab" can be replaced with whatever you want to call the key in session storage) Put this java script in the login view.
<script>window.sessionStorage.setItem("LogInTab", "true");</script>

and this on each of the views that need to send the user back to the login screen if they copy the URL to a new tab (just use whatever the url is to the login page)....
<script>
    if (!window.sessionStorage.LogInTab)
    {
        window.location.href = '/Home/Index';
    }
</script>

putting it into a layout may be a good idea too

A: Get an unique session in each browser tab Link