text:
Brexit: Another Day, Another Letter: EU threatens legal action against the UK
When the history of Brexit is written, much will be made about the letters which have travelled between Brussels and London.
On 29 March 2017, the "Article 50 Letter" from the then UK Prime Minister (Theresa May) to the then President of the European Council (Donald Tusk) was carried by two UK civil servants on Eurostar (travelling First Class) at a cost of £985.50. The ultimate cost of that letter – to notify the EU that the UK intended to leave the world's largest trading bloc – will be much higher.
Today, on 1 October 2020, a letter was sent from Brussels to London giving formal notice to the UK that the European Commission believes the UK is in breach of the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement – an agreement which only entered into force on 1 February 2020. The ultimate cost and implications of this letter could also be very high in setting the tone of the relationship between the divorced partners in the coming years.
The EU is clearly concerned about doing another deal with the Johnson Government when the Johnson Government is seeking to undo the very agreement which it had negotiated and then endorsed in the last UK General Election as "oven-ready". No one wants to be seen as the turkey in this fight over the oven-ready agreement.
It is now more likely than ever that the post-Brexit relationship between the parties will be characterised by law suits and court cases in various courts and forums whether they be in the EU or the likes of the World Trade Organization.
The background to today's letter is the UK's "United Kingdom Internal Market Bill" – proposed legislation currently going through the UK Parliament - which would, the EU believes, undermine the EU/UK Withdrawal Agreement.
The EU has a point. The UK's Secretary of State for Northern Ireland admitted in the UK's House of Commons on 8 September 2020 that some provisions of the Bill would "break international law in a very specific and limited way".
If there is a breach of EU law then the European Commission is the institution which brings the case – it is the so-called "guardian" of the treaties.
Today, the European Commission has said that the UK's Bill "if adopted, would flagrantly violate the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, as it would allow the UK authorities to disregard the legal effect of the Protocol's substantive provisions under the Withdrawal Agreement".
The European Commission goes on to say that representatives "of the UK government have acknowledged this violation, stating that its purpose was to allow it to depart in a permanent way from the obligations stemming from the Protocol. The UK government has failed to withdraw the contentious parts of the Bill, despite requests by the European Union."
The European Commission believes that the UK is in breach of the commitments which the UK gave in that agreement.
The European Commission is largely relying on Article 5 ("Good Faith") of the Withdrawal Agreement. This article states the EU and the UK must deal with matters in "good faith" and refrain from any measures to jeopardise attaining the objectives of the Agreement. Specifically, article 5 states:
"The Union and the United Kingdom shall, in full mutual respect and good faith, assist each other in carrying out tasks which flow from this Agreement.
They shall take all appropriate measures, whether general or particular, to ensure fulfilment of the obligations arising from this Agreement and shall refrain from any measures which could jeopardise the attainment of the objectives of this Agreement.
This Article is without prejudice to the application of Union law pursuant to this Agreement, in particular the principle of sincere cooperation."
The UK has one month to reply to this formal notice. The Commission could then issue a "Reasoned Opinion". Ultimately, it could go before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
The UK might even – as strange as it might seem – refuse to participate in the court proceedings but that would be a very serious step indeed. The UK might argue that it has not breached the Agreement at all because the UK legislation has not yet been passed and it has certainly not entered into force so the EU was premature in its actions (i.e. arguing that the EU has acted prematurely in what might be termed an "anticipatory breach").
The case would ordinarily be heard before the EU's CJEU. It would be unprecedented in that the UK would have left the EU but would still be subject to the jurisdiction of the court. There are also procedures under the Withdrawal Agreement. Ultimately, it may be resolved politically through negotiations between EU and the UK. One could hardly see the EU agreeing easily to yet another agreement with the Johnson Government given the doubt hanging over a breach of another recent agreement. One could hear Michel Barnier adding to his "clock is ticking" repertoire by saying "once bitten, twice shy".
In a weak hand, proposing the Bill gives the UK something extra to bargain with in the negotiations but it comes at a very high price. The UK might ultimately drop the offending provisions of the Bill as part of a negotiated outcome.
If the parties do not climb down then expect the case to intensify. The EU could take a further case on the basis of Articles 5 and 10 of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland. Article 5 of the Protocol relates to Customs and the Movement of Goods. Article 10 relates to State aid. There could also be breaches of Articles 4 and 184 of the Withdrawal Agreement.
The bottom line for businesses and everyone watching this Brexit process is that we are now entering a new phase – the dispute phase. The world has seen trade wars and spats before the likes of the World Trade Organization between nations and unless a line is drawn shortly, we could see the same type of activity between the UK and the EU. This would be very unfortunate for all.
For more information on this topic please contact Dr Vincent Power, Partner or any member of A&L Goodbody's EU, Competition & Procurement team.
Date published: 1 October 2020


Taking into account the guidance from the UPU and WADP - World Association for the Development of Philately there are many Brazilian stamps that have NOT undergone the verification and registration processs and therefore should be considered as illegal issues.
It is a general consensus among Brazilian philatelists that those stamps are issued with the sole purpose of financial profit. Those stamps can not be used for postage of international mail. Additionally they are NOT included in the yearly philatelic planning neither are included in the year book sold by the postal office.
Here a link to the illegal stamps sold as "personalized stamps" (there are at least twice as many of those stamps issued but not shown in this link).


text:
Q: Cancel execuction of Observable (RxJava 1) I have created Observable with subscripiton:
private Subscription mSearchSubscription = null;

mSearchSubscription = Observable.fromCallable(() -> {
    many network requests
}).subscribe(doing sth);

When my activity is destroyed I am executing following line:
 if (mSearchSubscription != null){
        mSearchSubscription.unsubscribe();
    }

According to informations found in internet this line should cancel all code execution from this block. But it doesn't :( All network requests inside this block are wrapped Observables with subscribe so when one request is finished next one is executing and so on. As I noticed after unsubscribe is executed and activity is destroyed code inside Observable is still executing.
Is there any better way to stop it? I am using in this project RxJava1
Update:
I have MVC architecture with controller Injected into Activity. By overriding onDestroy from activity I call method in controller to unsubscribe. This is whole code. Every network request inside block fromCallable(()-> ) is like this mWebService.getSth(body parameters).subscribe(doSth) (in interface this return Observable ) . I am not expecting to stop during execution of internal observable, but stop executing this block of code, just like return. This is wrapped because of many requests needed to be executed one by one and return result to activity when everything is ready.

A: You haven't given much details on how and why you do that, so my best guess-suggestion is to use create:
Observable.create(emitter -> {
    CompositeSubscription resources = new CompositeSubscription();
    emitter.setSubscription(resources);

    if (resources.isUnsubscribed()) {
        return;
    }

    // add these if you want to cancel the inner sources
    // resources.add(

    mWebService.getFirst(/* params */).subscribe(/* postprocess */);

    // );

    if (resources.isUnsubscribed()) {
        return;
    }
    mWebService.getSecond(/* params */).subscribe(/* postprocess */);

    if (resources.isUnsubscribed()) {
        return;
    }

    mWebService.getThird(/* params */).subscribe(/* postprocess */);

    emitter.onNext(/* the result object*/
    emitter.onComplete();
}, Emitter.BackpressureMode.BUFFER)
.subscribeOn(Schedulers.io())
.observeOn(AndroidSchedulers.mainThread())
.subscribe(/* work with the data */);

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
COLIN DELFOSSE
Fulu Act
← The Last Train in Katanga
Mariophany →
Congolese performers
On Kinshasa's streets – third biggest city of the continent, artists raise awareness among citizens about the challenges the Congolese capital city is facing. In an increasingly degraded environment, these artists question the profusion of consumption goods and rubbish, recycle them into costumes. Gathered in a collective, they perform in the street, condemning societal issues: lack to healthcare, pollution, deforestation and overconsumption. By mixing urban culture and performances, they initiate a dialogue with the city's inhabitants.
The demographic explosion of this megalopolis coupled with its inhabitants increasing needs, a global economy and significant appetite for single-use plastic have led to massive import of consumption goods, generating an environmental havoc. The consequences in numbers are alarming: 13 million inhabitants generate a volume of 7000 tonnes of waste each day. Poor neighbourhoods are the most hardly stricken and inequalities reinforced.
Simple colonial small town with a population of 200,000 by the end of the fifties, the city has become the country's hub after its independence in the early sixties. Two wars and the permanent insecurity has led millions of people on the roads to Kinshasa. Beyond the urban centre, the capital city is an endless village lacking any kind of infrastructure. The Congolese state is incapable to tackle basic challenges like roads, sewage and electricity.
In these areas, these artists re-embody their city by creating contemporary myths. As for traditional masks, they are archetypes of the main environmental challenges, questioning our modernity.
D.R.CONGO
© 2023 COLIN DELFOSSE All Rights Reserved.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
<?php
/**
 * Function with lot of parameters.
 * With long description.
 *
 * @param string|null $someLongParam
 * @param bool $anotherLongParam
 * @param int $moreEvenLongerParamForAllThatRoutineStuff
 * @param float $andThereGoesOneParameter
 * @return string
 */
function thereGoesFunc($someLongParam, $anotherLongParam, $moreEvenLongerParamForAllThatRoutineStuff,
    $andThereGoesOneParameter
) {
    if ($someLongParam === null) {
        $someLongParam = 'Stranger';
    }
    return 'Hello, ' . $someLongParam . '!';
}

/**
 * Function with lot of parameters.
 * With long description.
 *
 * @param string|null $someLongParam
 * @param bool $anotherLongParam
 * @param int $moreEvenLongerParamForAllThatRoutineStuff
 * @param float $andThereGoesOneParameter
 * @return string
 */
function thereGoesAnotherFunc($someLongParam, $anotherLongParam, $moreEvenLongerParamForAllThatRoutineStuff,
    $andThereGoesOneParameter
    ) {
    if ($someLongParam === null) {
        $someLongParam = 'Stranger';
    }
    return 'Hello, ' . $someLongParam . '!';
}

/**
 * Function with lot of parameters.
 * With long description.
 *
 * @param string|null $someLongParam
 * @param bool $anotherLongParam
 * @param int $moreEvenLongerParamForAllThatRoutineStuff
 * @param float $andThereGoesOneParameter
 * @return string
 */
function thereGoesThirdFunc($someLongParam, $anotherLongParam, $moreEvenLongerParamForAllThatRoutineStuff,
    $andThereGoesOneParameter
) {
    if ($someLongParam === null) {
        $someLongParam = 'Stranger';
    }
    return 'Hello, ' . $someLongParam . '!';
}

/**
 * Function with lot of parameters.
 * With long description.
 *
 * @param string|null $someLongParam
 * @param bool $anotherLongParam
 * @param int $moreEvenLongerParamForAllThatRoutineStuff
 * @param float $andThereGoesOneParameter
 * @return string
 */
function thereGoesFourthFunc($someLongParam, $anotherLongParam, $moreEvenLongerParamForAllThatRoutineStuff,
    $andThereGoesOneParameter)
{
    if ($someLongParam === null) {
        $someLongParam = 'Stranger';
    }
    return 'Hello, ' . $someLongParam . '!';
}

/**
 * Function with lot of parameters.
 * With long description.
 *
 * @param string|null $someLongParam
 * @param bool $anotherLongParam
 * @param int $moreEvenLongerParamForAllThatRoutineStuff
 * @param float $andThereGoesOneParameter
 * @return string
 */
function thereGoesFifthFunc($someLongParam, $anotherLongParam, $moreEvenLongerParamForAllThatRoutineStuff,
    $andThereGoesOneParameter)
{
    if ($someLongParam === null) {
        $someLongParam = 'Stranger';
    }
    return 'Hello, ' . $someLongParam . '!';
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Instagram Handle :https://www.instagram.com/dhattarwalaman/ Facebook Page : https://www.facebook.com/dhattarwalaman/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/AmanDhattarwal Link to my MOM\'s cooking channel : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzVBRCN56Tq9v2Eo53vuELA Link to my new channel : https://www.youtube.
Car chase scene from the 1974 film MCQ, featuring the first air cannon rollover.
Police lieutenant resigns from the force to track down some big dope dealers involved in killing a couple of police officers. John Wayne is a force to be reckoned with when he stars as a cop who quits the force to seek revenge for his murdered partner in this high action, suspenseful drama.


text:
package com.github.missioncriticalcloud.cosmic.usage.core.model;

import java.util.Objects;

import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonView;
import com.github.missioncriticalcloud.cosmic.usage.core.views.ComputeView;
import com.github.missioncriticalcloud.cosmic.usage.core.views.DetailedView;
import com.github.missioncriticalcloud.cosmic.usage.core.views.GeneralView;
import com.github.missioncriticalcloud.cosmic.usage.core.views.NetworkingView;
import com.github.missioncriticalcloud.cosmic.usage.core.views.StorageView;

public class Domain {

    public static final String ROOT_PATH = "/";

    @JsonView({GeneralView.class, DetailedView.class, ComputeView.class, StorageView.class, NetworkingView.class})
    private String uuid;

    @JsonView({GeneralView.class, DetailedView.class, ComputeView.class, StorageView.class, NetworkingView.class})
    private String name;

    @JsonView({GeneralView.class, DetailedView.class, ComputeView.class, StorageView.class, NetworkingView.class})
    private String path;

    @JsonView({DetailedView.class, ComputeView.class, StorageView.class, NetworkingView.class})
    private Usage usage = new Usage();

    private String email;

    public Domain(final String uuid) {
        setUuid(uuid);
    }

    public String getUuid() {
        return uuid;
    }

    public void setUuid(final String uuid) {
        this.uuid = uuid;
    }

    public String getName() {
        return name;
    }

    public void setName(final String name) {
        this.name = name;
    }

    public String getPath() {
        return path;
    }

    public void setPath(final String path) {
        this.path = path;
    }

    public Usage getUsage() {
        return usage;
    }

    public String getEmail() {
        return email;
    }

    public void setEmail(final String email) {
        this.email = email;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean equals(final Object o) {
        if (this == o) {
            return true;
        }

        if (!(o instanceof Domain)) {
            return false;
        }

        final Domain domain = (Domain) o;

        return Objects.equals(getUuid(), domain.getUuid());
    }

    @Override
    public int hashCode() {
        return Objects.hash(getUuid());
    }
}


text:
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries Appears to Quote Biggie on Senate Floor
THAT IS WHY
"And if you don't know, now you know," he said after responding to a member of Trump's legal team.
Chinese Scientist Claims a Second Gene-Edited Baby May Be on the Way
Published Nov. 28, 2018 5:52AM ET
Reuters / China Stringer Network
The controversial Chinese scientist who claimed this week that he helped create the world's first genetically edited babies now says a second pregnancy from the experiment may be underway. He Jiankui claims to have altered the DNA of twin girls born this month to try to make them resistant to the AIDS virus—his announcement was greeted with skepticism and rebukes from scientists who believe it's immoral and dangerous to meddle with the genetics of unborn babies. Making his first public comments since the shocking announcement, the researcher claimed a second potential pregnancy is in a very early stage. He also defended his work, saying at a genome summit in Hong Kong that he was "proud" of altering the genes of the twin girls. The scientist also confirmed his school—Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen—was not aware of the experiment, and said that he funded it by himself.
Read it at AP


text:
C++ For Dummies, 7th Edition by Stephen R. Davis
Stephen R. Davis, CISSP (who goes by the name "Randy") lives with his wife and two dogs in Corpus Christi, Texas. Randy has three kids and two grand-kids with more on the way (grandkids, not kids). Randy develops browser-based applications for Agency Consulting Group.
To Janet, the love of my life.
Author's Acknowledgments
I find it very strange that only a single name appears on the cover of any book, but especially a book like this. In reality, many people contribute to the creation of a For Dummies book. From the beginning, acquisitions editor Constance Santisteban, project editor Pat O'Brien, and my agent, Claudette Moore, were involved in guiding and molding the book's content. During the development of the seven editions of this book, I found myself hip-deep in edits, corrections, and suggestions from a group of project editors, copyeditors, and technical reviewers — this book would have been a poorer work but for their involvement. And nothing would have made it into print without the aid of Suzanne Thomas, who coordinated the first and second editions of the book, Susan Pink, who worked on the third and sixth editions, Katie Feltman who worked on the sixth edition, and Danny Kalev, who did the technical review of the sixth and seventh editions. Nevertheless, one name does appear on the cover and that name must take responsibility for any inaccuracies in the text.
Finally, a summary of the animal activity around my house. For those of you who ...


Last summer, when it was warm (remember that? Warmth? Sunshine? Summer?) we met members of the Tyler family at Sinnissippi Gardens in Rockford, Illinois (now known as Nicholas Conservatory & Gardens) for Wendy's senior portrait session. The gardens are always beautiful in the summer, with lots of architectural features and plenty of beautiful flowers and foliage. This was a -fun- shoot. Shari and I went to high school together, so to be able to take senior portraits of her step daughter was pretty incredible.
Wendy handled the fact that I was following her around with a camera pretty well, considering. During the session, I learned more about her, her family and her future plans. Spending time with her family and her boyfriend, Keegan, rank tops on her list of things to do. She has plenty of siblings to argue with!
Kerstein, Trisha, Ravenn, Samantha, Richie, David and Christian are her siblings. Wendy is graduating in May of 2014 from Harlem High School. She wants to go to college, followed by med school and plans to be pursuing a job somewhere warm as a pediatrician.
Warmer does sound good. Good call, Wendy!
Nervous at the start of the shoot, Wendy quickly got over the jitters and is a natural in front of the camera. She's easy to talk to, smiles a lot, and has an infectious laugh.
I had a great time getting to know Wendy and spending time with the family. They are a great group of people are fun and laugh a lot. Enjoy the peeks, and stay warm for the rest of the winter. Spring will be here soon!
We are looking forward to our next senior portrait session.


iPhone X: Spending $1,000 isn't as crazy as it sounds.
Calm down, folks. $1,000 for an iPhone isn't that much.
Yes, it costs as much as a laptop. But you know you'll spend more time with it.
SAN FRANCISCO — Sorry folks, but spending $1,000 for a smartphone isn't out of line.
There are many who will be jumping at the chance to be the first on their block to have the new iPhone X, out in November with the steepest price tag we've seen to date for a major smartphone. I'm with them in feeling that it's an easy purchase.
To have the latest, and greatest, state of the art iPhone, the subject of device envy from coast to coast? We're talking $2.75 a day for a year, or $50 monthly for 20 months.
This is the iPhone after all. The device we no doubt spend more time with than our wives and husbands, children, brothers and sisters. It awakes with us in the morning, taps us into our work lives with messages from the boss and co-workers, delivers texts from our friends, amuses us with games, YouTube clips, Snapchat and Instagram selfies and photos of our latest trip. We don't have to wait for the evening news anymore — our phone delivers alert updates all day long — and who still looks at Facebook on a, gasp, computer?
More: Skip iPhone X and 8. If you need an iPhone, this is the better deal.
Some say, well gee, at $1,000 the phone is creeping up to the price of a laptop computer. Well, duh, of course. Laptop and desktop sales have been declining for years, as we spend more time on our mobile phones, which are now more powerful and full-featured. As phones have gotten better and better, naturally the prices go up as well.
I still swear by my MacBook Pro laptop. I do video, photo and audio editing every day, and mobile just doesn't cut it for me. But it's getting closer. (Thank you, Adobe Lightroom Mobile, my go-to mobile photo editor.) But I know many people who don't even bother with their computers anymore. For them, it's all mobile.
An entry-level MacBook Air, a line that hasn't been updated in some time, starts at $999, the same price as the iPhone X, and while it does have a webcam, you don't get that great mobile camera to snap all those great shots that you do with the iPhone. And the Air can't fit in your pocket.
Think about what you spend money on — an expensive dinner at a restaurant that could top $200 with friends — it's here today and gone tomorrow. Tickets to a concert or a sporting event that could top hundreds of dollars? That's just for one night.
I'm with many who weren't blown away by the new features announced for the iPhone X. I can live without unlocking the phone with my eye and wireless charging. But it doesn't matter — that beautiful OLED screen. That new camera. Gotta have it, right?
To those who think Apple is gouging us by jacking up the I-price to record levels, I say — it's a free country. Apple's in business to make money, and if it wants to sell a super premium product, more power to them. We don't have to buy it — and if we don't, watch the price tag start to tumble.
And deal alert — Apple's entry-level iPhone, the SE, is now $349, has a 4-inch screen, the latest software and a decent camera. But you can't unlock the screen with your eye. And for many people, that's just fine.
So if you're now comfortable with the $1,000 iPhone, just know this — if the plan works as well as Apple hopes, surely there's a $2,000 iPhone awaiting you around the corner.


We feel the need, the need for speed! The official licensed Top Gun Board Short Flight Suit is the perfect mix of casual comfort and iconic 80s nostalgia!! Featuring a double sided zipper and interchangeable Maverick and Goose name badges, you and your wingman will make the perfect team on Halloween night!


It's been almost one month since Hurricane Florence, the flood waters have started to recede but the devastation left behind is significant. Join us on Sunday, October 21st to help raise money to get our great community back on its feet.
The event will feature great local, live entertainment from 12 pm – 6 pm, food tastings from 12 pm – 4 pm, and a Shrimp & Grits cook-off along with tons of activities to keep the kids entertained.
Shrimp & Grits Cook-Off winners and auctions winners will be announced at 5pm.
All proceeds from the event will be donated to Waccamaw Community Foundation.


On September 10, Rep. Kevin Brady, (R-TX) highlighted the introduction of 3 bills that constitute the Tax Reform 2.0 package. This package is from Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee. None of the bills contain provisions directly impacting affordable housing or, community development. The three bills are H.R. 6760, H.R. 6757 and H.R. 6756.


Harbin Machinery Imp. & Exp. Co., Ltd. is a professional import and export comporation in China,we straight commit outself to supply the best from China.We mainly dealing in the import and export of the mechanical and electrical products,such as fastener machine,include nut former/nut maker,bolt former/nut maker,thread rolling machine,tapping machine,vibrant disk/vibrant tray and so on.and we also supply all kinds of heat treatment and furnaces.
And another important point is we know we must supply the best quality products to our guests,because we are sincerely want to establish a long terms cooperation with our customer.so we will supply the best from China you are interesting!


Even closed door medical conferences across India cherish importance of local diet influence, society follow market and media and enjoy global diet. One of the fundamental error in selection of food is to select food for taste and urge to taste non-local food.
For example: It is perfectly ok to eat Idli-Sambhar in Kerala but having same every day in Gujarati home living in Gujarat?
It is perfectly ok to eat apple in Himachal but having same in hot and humid Gujarat summer?
My common sense suggest to prefer only local diet over non-local taste-lust food selection.
For would-be mothers, it is important to maintain local diet if they wish their breast-feeding. What you eat, decides GUT microbes and in turn pass on legacy to newborn babies via breast-milk!
Your local diet is the immunity for your kid. During and after breast-feeding. And not the packaged processed food!
Educate mothers around you and help building strong Nation via strong future geneations.
Here is the interesting study looking to localization of GUT microbes of breast-feeding mothers' GUT. It supports the hypothesis that there is no alternative of local diet. All healthy diet fads are marketing gimmick or at best, suitable to local population where the diet is showing results. What is good for pregnant mother in China, may not work for same in India!
Human breast milk is widely recognized as the best source of nutrients for healthy growth and development of infants; it contains a diverse microbiota. Here, we characterized the diversity of the microbiota in the breast milk of East Asian women and assessed whether delivery mode influenced the microbiota in the milk of healthy breast-feeding mothers. We profiled the microbiota in breast milk samples collected from 133 healthy mothers in Taiwan and in six regions of mainland China (Central, East, North, Northeast, South, and Southwest China) by using 16S rRNA pyrosequencing. Lactation stage (months postpartum when the milk sample was collected) and maternal body mass index did not influence the breast milk microbiota. Bacterial composition at the family level differed significantly among samples from the seven geographical regions. The five most predominant bacterial families were Streptococcaceae(mean relative abundance: 24.4%), Pseudomonadaceae (14.0%), Staphylococcaceae (12.2%), Lactobacillaceae (6.2%), and Oxalobacteraceae (4.8%). The microbial profiles were classified into three clusters, driven by Staphylococcaceae (abundance in Cluster 1: 42.1%), Streptococcaceae (Cluster 2: 48.5%), or Pseudomonadaceae (Cluster 3: 26.5%). Microbial network analysis at the genus level revealed that the abundances of the Gram-positive Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, and Rothia were negatively correlated with those of the Gram-negative Acinetobacter, Bacteroides, Halomonas, Herbaspirillum, and Pseudomonas. Milk from mothers who had undergone Caesarian section (C-section group) had a significantly higher abundance of Lactobacillus (P < 0.05) and a higher number of unique unclassified operational taxonomic units (OTUs) (P < 0.001) than that from mothers who had undergone vaginal delivery (vaginal group). These findings revealed that (i) geographic differences in the microbial profiles were found in breast milk from mothers living in Taiwan and mainland China, (ii) the predominant bacterial families Streptococcaceae, Staphylococcaceae, and Pseudomonadaceae were key components for forming three respective clusters, and (iii) a significantly greater number of unique OTUs was found in the breast milk from mothers who had undergone C-section than from those who had delivered vaginally.
Distinct Patterns in Human Milk Microbiota and Fatty Acid Profiles Across Specific Geographic Locations.
Kumar H1, du Toit E2, Kulkarni A3, Aakko J4, Linderborg KM3, Zhang Y5, Nicol MP6, Isolauri E7, Yang B3, Collado MC8, Salminen S1.
Our results demonstrate differences in the composition of lipids and microbiota in breast milk in different geographic regions and offer a new insight to the differences in development of gut microbiota in infants in different geographic areas. The impact of mode of delivery on milk microbiota composition appears to be even more important within all geographical regions. Furthermore, our study shows distinct association between fatty acid composition and individual microbiota in breast milk, suggesting important role of lipids in shaping the microbial profile which likely one important factor influencing the infant gut microbiota development.
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text:
Alberta and Ottawa can find common ground in a scary word: 'transition'
Ed Whittingham
Contributed to The Globe and Mail
Published December 14, 2019 Updated December 13, 2019
Ed Whittingham is an environmental policy expert, former executive director of the Pembina Institute and co-founder of the Academy for Sustainable Innovation.
The final United Nations climate change conference of this decade has now come and gone – but rather than feeling united, many Canadians would be forgiven for feeling at loggerheads with one another.
On one hand, recent reports by the UN Environment Program and Canada's Ecofiscal Commission highlight the gap between what the science tells us we need to do on climate change, and how far current policy will get us. That concerns a lot of Canadians, increasingly younger ones, who rightfully worry about inheriting a mess if the world doesn't bridge the gap soon.
On the other hand, many Western Canadians are feeling beaten up as of late. The federal government chose to play catch-up on climate policy during its first term after a decade of little action by the previous government. That was the right call, but the actual implementation resulted in a lot of change over a short period for the energy industry, a period that was already difficult enough because of challenging global economics.
As a result, rather un-Canadian behaviour abounds in our country. Canadians who are normally congenial and quick to engage in thoughtful dialogue on issues are feeling anger toward compatriots in other regions. Cross-provincial dialogue has eroded to jeers, counterjeers or worse.
To their credit, governments have not sat back complacently. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland went on an extended listening tour. Multiple senior federal bureaucrats have added "defuse Western alienation" to their to-do lists. Even Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was unusually sedentary last month while playing host to umpteen premiers and mayors in Ottawa. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney even travelled to Ottawa with key ministers this week to play Let's Make A Deal around fiscal stabilization, with one eye toward the Wexiteers and their search for a charismatic leader.
What Canadians need now are quick wins and common ground. Co-investing in clean energy and oil and gas decarbonization are on the quick wins list, and are certainly going to be part of any deal that Alberta and Ottawa make. Common ground is a bit harder – but the answer may lie in professionalizing transition management.
Transition management is an emerging branch of management science. It tackles the necessary and inexorable shift to a low-carbon and socially inclusive global economy. Students and practitioners of transition management develop skills to help organizations adapt to and leverage intense social, environmental and technological shifts in our economic system.
Through consultation with a broad range of professionals, academics and students, a list of transition management competencies is surfacing. Some have to do with the ability to navigate ambiguity and uncertainty as public, private and civil society sectors respond to demands such as the climate crisis, energy poverty and the continuing technological revolution. Some involve identifying trends and how they facilitate or inhibit transition. Drivers of change span the political (think hardening borders after Donald Trump and Brexit), economic (China's rising affluence), social (urbanization in the developing world), technological (AI, drones and blockchain) and ecological (climate destabilization). Others are more inwardly focused, such as reframing and shifting one's mental models, building personal resilience, staying grounded and avoiding burnout.
Transition is a scary word for many working in mining, forestry and oil and gas, because it can come across as "transitioning me being out of a job." It is especially threatening in Alberta, where the most recent downturn has been sharp and prolonged. Some avoid the term altogether, preferring "transformation" or "evolution." Others speak of an "equitable transition," one that cannot leave workers and their industries behind.
Alberta is well placed to develop transition management as a profession. Working for Uber or Tesla may sound sexy and very transition-y, but if you want to change the world, you'll have more opportunities with major established energy firms, with their huge R&D and engineering capabilities and transition-management opportunities, from new products (advanced biofuels, hydrogen and synthetic fuels from atmospheric CO2) to new integrated energy solutions, combining renewables with natural gas or energy storage. There are opportunities in energy trading, wholesaling and retailing to help the world electrify personal mobility, decentralize generation, and connect to energy customers through apps and digitization. All this opportunity is happening at a scale unimaginable in other sectors; it's easy to forget that the Shells and Petro-Canadas of the world have daily customer volumes that would make most burger chains envious.
This progress, however, would be accelerated through industry, governments and civil society jointly demanding the creation of a new set of competencies, and for Canadian academia to formally respond. This means establishing a transition management credentialing system, and accrediting different academic programs at universities and colleges to feed into that credential. It means having a professional organization to be the guardian of the credential, as the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada, Canadian Dental Association, Canadian Institute of Management and others do for their professions.
The timing is right for this to happen. It's fruitful common ground for federal-provincial co-operation on energy and climate challenges. And it sure would be a great way to transition into a new decade.
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I give away about 4 or 5 stone to some of the bigger wingers I play against. In this module I'll share with you the tackling technique that has worked for me over 11 years of international rugby. Showing you how to use an attackers momentum to bring them to the ground, stay on top of them and execute turnovers.
I give away about 4 or 5 stone to some of the bigger wingers I play against. In this module I'll share with you the tackling technique that has worked for me over 11 years of international rugby. Showing you how to use an attackers momentum to bring them to the ground, stay on top of them and execute turnovers.
Sometimes the things that come naturally to an experienced player are succinctly and helpfully broken down into coachable parts. This is what this great little video does.
A real confidence builder for all young players, both big and small. Extremely clear.
This is a great technique. especially for smaller blokes up against big players.
Great vid by a MACHINE Defender. The only caution is to watch for lazy/tired defenders to use legs to "trip" tackle.
ALL videos keep closing off after 2.30 secs? Is there an issue here?
excellent! – really clear explanation and demonstration.
While it focuses on just one technique for tackling, it's incredibly useful for how to use that one technique. As a smaller player myself I've watched it a few times and used the technique this weekend on player twice my size who tried to fend me off, needless to say he was quite shocked when he was on the ground and was turning over the ball. Thanks for the technique.
It's short. And it's really about just one technique: Shane's preferred method for tackling runners who use the fending arm (as well as getting into position post-tackle). But that technique is helpful and is well illustrated in the practice examples.
Great video,tackling an attacker that has a good fend is very hard for some young players, I will definitely use Shane's video for my U13s teams.


Lauren Bailey is a Marketing and Business Analytics major with a minor in Sociology. In addition to being the Director of Community Service for the College of Business Honors Program Student, Lauren is a Research Team Lead in the Consumer Research Center, the Treasurer of the Ohio University women's club lacrosse team, a Consultant / Peer Mentor in the Center for Professional Communication. Lauren interned with METTLER TOLEDO, LLC in Columbus, Ohio. She plans to focus her career on Marketing Analytics or Market Research.


text:
Q: counting unique identifier and stratifying So I have a large dataset with 89 variables where multiple are unique identifiers attributing data in a relational DB. I want to see the frequency of unique identifiers as cross referenced by a second variable which is a factor?
i.e.
this does not work but is how I think would work -
length(unique(data$PID ~ data$ICD_grouping)

returning a table like
ICD_grouping        unique.PID
C43                   5
C47/C49               1
C50                   2
C56                   1
C57-C58               1
C80                   1

Sample data
 PID ICD_Grouping
1     1          C80
2   918          C43
3   919          C43
4   919          C43
5  1284
6  1285
7   550          C43
8   550          C43
9   550          C43
10  550          C50
11  920          C43
12  920          C43
13  921          C50
14  921          C56
15  921       C57-58
16  921       C57-58
17  549          C43
18  549          C43
19  922       C47/49
20  551          C43

A: I'm not entirely clear on your problem statement but provided I understood you correctly (unfortunately you don't provide sample data) we can use table. Here is a reproducible minimal example based on mtcars
table(mtcars$gear, mtcars$carb)
#
#    1 2 3 4 6 8
#  3 3 4 3 5 0 0
#  4 4 4 0 4 0 0
#  5 0 2 0 1 1 1

The output is an object of type table and shows the frequency for values for mtcars$gear (rows)  and mtcars$carb (columns). If you prefer a long data.frame we can do
as.data.frame(table(mtcars$gear, mtcars$carb))
#   Var1 Var2 Freq
#1     3    1    3
#2     4    1    4
#3     5    1    0
#4     3    2    4
#5     4    2    4
#6     5    2    2
#7     3    3    3
#8     4    3    0
#9     5    3    0
#10    3    4    5
#11    4    4    4
#12    5    4    1
#13    3    6    0
#14    4    6    0
#15    5    6    1
#16    3    8    0
#17    4    8    0
#18    5    8    1

Here Var1 corresponds to values of mtcars$gear and Var2 to values of mtcars$carb.


text:
Katoo Ole Metito (born 1973) is a Kenyan politician and former Minister for provincial administration and Internal Security in the Kenyan government. He belongs to Jubilee Party and was elected to represent the Kajiado South Constituency (Loitoktok) in the National Assembly of Kenya since the 2007 Kenyan parliamentary election. He has been a blessing to his country since he contributed several projects for the maa people and others with the help of Kajiado Governor Joseph Ole Lenku. In 2022, he intends to vie for Kajiado county gubernatorial seat after winning the UDA nominations.

Education
Katoo Ole Metito holds a B.Sc. in Microprocessor Technology and Instrumentation from the University of Nairobi and a Higher Diploma (Management of Information Systems) from Strathmore College.

Politics
Ole Metito was appointed Minister for Provincial Administration and internal security by president Mwai Kibaki on September 24, 2012, following the death of his predecessor, Professor George Saitoti slightly over three months earlier on June 10, 2012. Before that, he was an Assistant Minister for the Ministry of Regional Development, a position he had held since 2008. A Kibaki loyalist, he was also the Secretary, Political Affairs and the Chairperson of NARC-Kenya, Loitokitok Branch.
Between 2006 and 2008, he served as Assistant Minister of Youth Affairs within the Ministry of Youth and Sports.  He was the Member of Parliament for Kajiado South Constituency since 2002. Katoo ole metito will be vying for the gubernatorial position for Kajiado County in 2022.

Professional life
Outside politics, Katoo Ole Metito has served as an Administrator & Accountant for the Kenya Economic Pastoralist Development Association (2000 2001).  He has also worked for the United Nations World Food Programme as a Divisional Controller in Kenya from 1998 to 2000.  Before this appointment, he was an accountant with Amboseli Tsavo Group Ranches Conservation Association.

Katoo Ole Metito was elected in 2003 following the death of his predecessor Geoffrey Mepukori Parpai and intends to vie for Kajiado County gubernatorial seat come 2022 on a UDA ticket.

References

Living people
1973 births
National Rainbow Coalition – Kenya politicians
Members of the National Assembly (Kenya)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Fourteen-year-old Alma Singer is trying to find a cure for her mother's loneliness. Believing she might discover it in an old book her mother is lovingly translating, she sets out in search of its author.
Across New York an old man called Leo Gursky is trying to survive a little bit longer. He spends his days dreaming of the love lost that sixty years ago in Poland inspired him to write a book. And although he doesn't know it yet, that book also survived: crossing oceans and generations, and changing lives. . .


text:
-Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Fiction Author-
Charles W. McDonald Jr.
A Throne of Souls
We, the seeds of Humanity, are all the descendants of hardened criminals, fighting to survive the unmaking of A Throne of Souls…
Currently, A Throne of Souls is getting traction to the degree of somewhere between 1,500 - 3,000 hits/week. I've been astonished to see 1,000-hit days. I never expected that. Granted, that hasn't had a high ratio of downloads or readers and that I had expected. This series isn't for everyone. I wrote it for intellectual truth-seekers like me. I wrote it for people tired of the same old content being delivered by publishers. Not that single-genre content isn't great. I'm not knocking it. I'm just saying that I needed something different, something more intellectually stimulating, and I felt like I couldn't be the only one.
As of 10/29/18, I just wanted to provide an update... Yes, I am definitely writing books 4 and 5 that will conclude this series in finality. However, I want to be totally transparent too. I'm a very, very busy man and the amount of research required to write The Rise of Hope alone is going to require about as much effort, if not more, than writing the book itself. I have never tackled a novel that required anywhere near as much research as the content in The Rise of Hope.
If you thought my other novels were technically challenging, wait until you see this one! I've used the phrase "beautifully technical" to describe The Rise of Hope. What I mean by that is that I am attempting to stitch together not only the other fine-grain elements of the storyline(s), but I'm trying to help you connect the dots to see the majesty of Creation in both its symmetry and its asymmetry. The ending of the series is the least of my concerns. That part is easy because it makes complete sense to me and it "should" make complete sense to you while being simultaneously unexpected on several levels. The Rise of Hope is far more challenging to me than The Veil of White because The Rise of Hope is mainly about Earth. Why should writing about a world we know so much about be so challenging? It is precisely because we know so much (or think we know so much) about Earth that makes it such a challenge. I'm picking and choosing my battles as to what controversial and unconventional material to expose the reader to while connecting the dots and stitching together the storyline(s) and dovetailing the timeline(s) between the last two books and the previous three. The Rise of Hope and the content it's covering could easily be three to five major novels, but I'm trying to keep it to my usual <200K words. Distilling all of this content and closing out this story is the biggest challenge of my life, and I'll never attempt anything like this again! I just wanted to let you know I made a promise to you to deliver this and I'm in the process of keeping my promise. It's just not going to be easy in the slightest.
Don't get me wrong... I'm not saying that I'm through with writing after completing A Throne of Souls. I'm just saying that the complexity level on my next set of novels is going to come down a bit for many reasons. I'm anxious to start The Unholy Veil with everything I have. That will be a series of standalone novels similar to, but far better than, The Conjuring. I think you'll find my writing in that series still highly unconventional and challenging but more within the mainstream as far as genres and complexity goes.
About the map... It's really just designed to illustrate unique visitors from all over the planet. I'm not interested in tracking or stalking users and you can rest assured we're not doing that on this site. See the privacy policy page for more information. However, I thought it would be cool for readers and community members see the interest level in A Throne of Souls around the globe in real time.
Follow and Share A Throne of Souls:
© 2018 by Charles W. McDonald Jr. Proudly created with Wix.com
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Denton County, TX, USA


The Quality Inn® hotel in Leesburg lets you relax and focus on the sports tournament you came for. Conveniently located off Highways 441 and 27 near the Venetian Gardens and Lake Griffin State Park. Each guest room offers a refreshing shower, coffee maker, desk, in-room tea and coffee.


Waterloo Container is your one stop shop for all things packaging. We offer several convenient services to help you manage inventory, get your bottles packaged the way you want, and move your product from our warehouses to your door.
State-of-the-art glass printing adds to shelf appeal!
With custom packaging, your products can stand out from the others no matter where you take them.
New Faster Sleeving! We have added a high speed automated sleeve applicator to our steam tunnel line! This faster application saves us time and saves you money!
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Our European glass arrives on bulk pallets, not in boxes. Our fully automated repack department carefully inspects the bottles and packs them into cartons.
Quality at Waterloo goes deeper than our team of QC experts. Our quality department works directly with our manufacturers' quality specialists to address and resolve every quality issue and claim.
We offer a variety of services to help you with your inventory.
Our fleet of vehicles and their expert drivers are equipped to provide you fast, courteous and dependable service. Serving the Northeastern United States and Canada, we pride ourselves on reasonable service and accommodating our customers – because we succeed when you do.


Hand-painted mural for new Facebook employee office.
Hand-painted mural for Murals in the Market. Collaboration with David Silverstein, Teresa Wozniak and Scott Pipia.
Hand-painted mural for The Infatuation's 2nd annual "Eeeeeatscon" food festival.
"NBA Jam" — hand-painted mural for WeWork Dumbo Heights.
Hand-painted mural for Essex Modern City mural festival.
Pattern for WeWork's 42nd Street Shuttle and rickshaw takeovers.
Mural and hand-painted plywood sculptures for WeWork's Creator Awards. Collaboration with Fort Houston.
"Bus Stop Series" — 3 hand-painted glass bus stops.
Hand-painted rooftop mural for WeWork Raheja Platinum.
Krink marker doodles on 36" x 48" birch panels.
Hand-painted plywood installation at WeWork Montes Urales.
72" x 48" acrylic paintings for WeWork City Center.
Peace sign neon for WeWork locations in Hong Kong, Mumbai, London, Washington D.C. and New York City.
Mosaic tile floor at WeWork LaBrea.
Hand-painted mural, inspired by Los Angeles taco trucks. Collaboration with Jeremiah Britton.
Hand-painted murals for Valley Towers.
"LA" hand sign neon for WeWork, used across numerous Los Angeles locations in Culver City, West Hollywood and Century City.
"Home Is Where The Good Vibes Are" neon.
"The View is So Much Better At The Top" hand-painted floor mural at WeWork Times Square.
Elevator lobby shuffleboard design at WeWork Gastower. Collaboration with Justin Capuco.
Hand-painted "Wander" and "Curiosity" lettering in elevator lobbies.
Paint can installation. Collaboration with Grit Collective.
"Sup?" neon lettering for WeWork Pasadena.
Patterns for conference room vinyls at WeWork Tower 49.
"Hello, Goodbye" lobby neons at WeWork HQ in Chelsea.


text:
Q: Replace a repeating pattern using regex I want to replace all non quoted array keys in my source code :
$array[keyValue]

with quoted array keys:
$array['keyValue']

For single dimension arrays this regexp allows me to do this :
preg_replace('/\$([a-z-_0-9]+)(\[([a-z][a-zA-Z-_0-9]+)\])+/', '\$$1['$3']', $input_lines);

test : https://www.phpliveregex.com/p/pXc
Note all my keys start with a lower case letter.
My problem comes when I have multi dimension arrays and I want to change:
$array[keyValue1][keyValue2]

to :
$array['keyValue1']['keyValue2']

or even
$array[keyValue1]...[keyValueN]

to
$array['keyValue1']...['keyValueN']

for larger dimension-ed arrays.  Any attempt I make to match the pattern multiple times ends up matching between the first opening bracket [ and the last one ] as one match.
Edit: Reason for doing this is to avoid errors and notices like this
E_NOTICE : type 8 -- Use of undefined constant key - assumed 'key' -- at line 2

in my logs

A: Note: take care of predefined constants. This doesn't and can't ignore them.
You are in need of a continuous match using \G. Use preg_replace with the following regex:
(\$\w+\[|\G(?!\A)\[)([^]['"]+)\]

and put the following string as the substitution string:
$1'$2']

See live demo here
PHP code:
preg_replace('~(\$\w+\[|\G(?!\A)\[)([^][\'"]+)\]~', '$1\'$2\']', $str);

Regex break down:

*

*( Start of capturing group #1

*

*\$\w+\[ Match a $ then some word characters then an opening bracket

*| Or

*\G(?!\A) Start match from where previous match ends

*\[ Match an opening bracket

*) End of capturing group #1

*( Start of capturing group #2

*

*[^]['"]+ Match anything but [, ], ' and "

*) End of capturing group #2

*\] Match a closing bracket


text:
Banks set a way forward on open banking
Home News & ResourcesBanks set a way forward on open banking
The banking industry has developed a recipe for a successful open banking regime in Australia that will revolutionalise customers' banking experience and enable them to make more informed choices.
"Open banking puts power into the hands of customers, giving them unprecedented access to their own data," Australian Bankers' Association Chief Executive Anna Bligh said.
"At the click of a button, Australians will be able to directly share their transaction data with other banks or financial services. Customers can use their data to do product comparisons and get the best deal.
"Customers will also be able to feed their data into personal financial management tools to help them manage their money," she said.
"Australia's banks will fully participate in the open banking regime to provide more innovative and personalised products and services to customers," Ms Bligh said.
The banking industry's submission to the Farrell inquiry to be lodged today will:
Put forward an industry-wide model to implement open banking, one that will give customers confidence their data is being shared securely and with their informed consent.
Include a phased approach by banks to sharing data over the next two years, subject to the development of enabling legislation.
Propose an industry working group as a vehicle to get the new regime moving.
"Australia's banks have learned from the lessons overseas and as the first cab off the rank for industry data sharing will pave the way for others," Ms Bligh said.
"Eventually, data sharing will bring benefits to Australians not only in banking but across the economy in industries like telecommunications and energy," she said.
Contact: Stephanie Arena 0477 470 677
ABA welcomes new independent standards body
WA rejects bank tax
SA to face High Court challenge over bank tax


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Discussion in 'General' started by willieram, Jan 12, 2014.
Hi, I am using ISPConfig 3.0.5.3 in Ubuntu 12.04 with Dovecot and while testing some redirect rules, I could not get the mails to redirect.
So I looked onto the log and I found that the .sieve rules file is stored with root:root ownership and was unaccessible to dovecot, as when I changed ownershi to vmail:vmail (as in the rest of the files on that folder) it went ok.
Is this a bug or I should do anything on my end?
and it is working well as you can see that sieve created the svbin file successfully and the .sieve file is readable for the vmail user. Nevertheless we should change it to user vmail in case that somone want to use managesieve extension and not ispconfig to manage the rules.


Here are five things everyone needs to do before the summer is over.
There is more than 100 miles of ATV trails in this remote and beautiful area of the Roosevelt National Forest. You'll need something to carry your stuff, so check out the toy haulers in Evans, CO from thegreatoutdoorsrv.com here.
Colorado is an outdoor adventurer's paradise, and there are lots of opportunities to train with the best firearms instructors, either for hunting purposes or for protection. Look into concealed carry training in Boulder, Colorado from GunClass.com here.
The Foodie Walk is a self-guided tour around the pedestrian area of Fort Collins, featuring cuisine and culinary shops from around downtown. Get out and explore the tastes of the city! Visit downtownfortcollins.com for more info.
Isn't it time for some locally sourced produce and artisan products? Check out the Loveland Farmers Market at Fairgrounds Park for fresh food and community.
Fridays during the summer in Greely, enjoy free entertainment like street performers, sidewalk art and face painting downtown. Get more info about Friday Fest here.


Picture if you will an older woman (but young at heart of course) who has only had a smart phone for two years, who can't get a network signal to use said phone inside the house, who has no iphone or ipad and doesn't intend to get them, a woman who had serious doubts about facebook and twitter being full of time-wasting trivia. But also picture a woman who strategically waited until she was ready to go ahead with a blog she finds she loves doing, who was used to digital imaging, file sizing etc, and who could be pretty methodical when she put her mind to learning new things, in this case with a whole new language attached of dashboard, SEO, plugins you need, or don't need, ping backs, shares, likes, tweets, retweets, hashtags, GIFs, DMs, avatar, html…ad infinitum. Then what do you get? A non-techy woman with determination going on a specific journey with hardly any social media savvy.
So since I've been blogging now for around a year and since I've been facebooking and tweeting for well over seven months , and since I've actually being persuading other creatives of the value of social media, I thought it was time for me to look at the pros and cons, specifically with respect to creative people – that's people who by virtue of necessity have to spend time alone to create, who can be a wee bit sensitive, but who need to engage with others for a variety of very constructive reasons, such as support and encouragement, education, feedback, raising awareness and maybe even personal development with catharsis and creative philosophies.
So I'm going to approach it by looking at a PRO, then its related CON – here goes!
First up has to be the wealth of like-minded people you can engage with, who you can exchange views with and give your opinions on topics you're specifically interested in. People you can genuinely care about even though you've never met them. You can 'meet' people across the globe, see how things are for them where they happen to live, it opens your mind to new perspectives about creativity, as well as feeling you've found people you have so much in common with. You feel closer to the creative community beyond your doorstep – you could say you can access a world-wide tribe of creatives.
You can access too many people to give your considered attention to and you end up having to choose some over others for the sake of time. You can assume you know people quite well from their posts and tweets. But do you? Now with creative people I think we can trust a certain level of intuition about this, so we may be in a better position. After all, not many of us love self marketing, not many of us have huge egos, so that may mean we're more authentic, I'd like to think so. But just be aware, on-line 'friends' are not real friends in the real world, and what most of us put out there about ourselves is selective for a variety of quite valid reasons, such as staying safe, sparing feelings, and avoiding the dreaded trolls etc. I do worry a bit about people who bare their soul. I do appreciate it when they do, it's very brave, and they can get some amazing support which restores your faith in human nature. But it's a risky thing to do, and you have to be very well-adjusted and sure of who you are, to deal with any negativity you may receive.
The wealth of information and generosity of information from blogs is staggering. You can solve creative problems, Pinterest can give you so many stimulating ideas for creative projects, and there are so many easy to access links to more and more, leading to amazing discoveries that can enhance your creative life and your work. It's truly mind-blowing.
There can simply be too much information to process. This is what I felt very early on, before I even engaged with social media. I was wading through too much on-line information, specifically, in my case, in relation to writing techniques. I've previously written a post on 'too much information' here. Before you have really consolidated your style for yourself, too much information can derail your faith in yourself, and your trust in what you are doing and the way you are doing it. Your right side of the brain muse may walk away in a huff. What do you need her for, if you've got all this left side of the brain information? So care has to be taken not to feel overwhelmed. After all, we create in a solitary place and it's important we are comfortable there, in our own space, without the inner critic being fuelled by all the conflicting information we're looking up 'on the side'.(You may like to check out my post on the inner critic) So it's getting the balance right, and I have to work hard at this personally. I deliberately keep my writing space and laptop upstairs, just for writing, and use the computer downstairs for social media and all the other stuff.
You can reach far more people to become aware of you and your creative product, than just those in your immediate environment. And we are all actively encouraged to do this – here's me doing it too. You can network with relevant professionals and their services, especially perhaps via twitter and facebook. The world can feel like your oyster as you collect followers, likes, shares, get feedback, endorsements. It can get you and your work 'out there'.
You can spend far too much time on this networking and gaining followers. And we all know it can become addictive. There are enhanced packages out there to tempt you to pay to advertise your facebook page or product on twitter, to get yourself thousands of twitter followers, and although I recoil from it and resent those who follow me on twitter to flagrantly self-advertise, I just can't deny the usefulness of it for those running a business. But with respect to art, writing, music…what bothers me most is this: Is a prospective gallery owner, mentor, agent or publisher/producer more likely to want to handle your work because you have being very successful with your social media endeavours OR are they more interested in the actual art work? Well, we know the answer to this. So if you spend too much time on social media, at the expense of your creative work, then it's really counter productive.
Give as well as take – in other words, protect your karma.
This entry was posted in blogging, On Craft, On social media, On The Creative Life and tagged artists, blogging, community, cons, creative, facebook, feeedback, followers, friends, information, Inner Critic, networking, Pinterest, posts, pros, social media, time, tweets, twitter, writers. Bookmark the permalink.
All of this is so true! Social Media can be a positive and a negative thing. Overall, I do think Social Media is a useful tool for sharing our work and meeting new people, but it does have an ugly side. I've met some of the nastiest writers online – writers who were stuck up and felt they were the best writers ever.
Thanks, Akaluv. Yes, I kind of know the nasty ones are out there, but they are usually the ones who you can spot the arrogance oozing from – so I steer clear. I think there are quite a few on twitter! I'm glad you felt I covered the topic well – cheers!
Some great observations in there! I think with social media, it's ever changing anyway so you can only be comfortable with it for limited times before the goalposts are moved again. Facebook used to be a personal 'friends and interesting (or not) people' platform and now it's all business, politics and ads. I would disagree that online friends aren't 'real friends' though. Yes there are people who will show you a false persona but you could say the same about people you met physically too. I have met some of the most fantastic people online – I even moved to the other end of the country for one! 😉 It can be a place to open up, to lay bare your soul, it's also a place to be promised billions from a Nigerian prince who for some reason can't transfer his fortune to his own bank account but is willing to use yours.
Thanks, Predictability! Yes, when I came to thinking about the friends aspect, I was a bit torn, as I am pretty sure the people I am drawn to and recognise as kindred spirits would make friends in reality, and you're right about personas being presented in 'real' life too. It's a tricky business, but I suppose we have to develop our intuition in either scenario. One things for sure, social media can bring a wider range of people you can relate into your life than in our immediate environment. Glad it worked out for you!That's amazing. Very useful feedback, much appreciated!


Phillips Alaska Inc. had a produced water spill at Kuparuk drill site 2A yesterday.
Phillips said a six-inch production line spilled 1,200 gallons of produced water in a 1,000 square foot area of the gravel pad. The produced water was 92 percent water and 8 percent crude (96 gallons of crude).
The company said the drill site operator was able to isolate the leak, which occurred at 10:30 a.m., within three minutes, and immediately stopped all liquid flow. The spill was entirely contained on the gravel pad.
Phillips Alaska spokeswoman Dawn Patience told PNA the response team was on the site in less than 30 minutes; DEC approved the company's response and decided not to send staff to the site, she said.
Patience said the spill was caused by a pin hole in the weld on the six-inch production line.
The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation said in a 9:15 a.m. April 8 report that the cause was under investigation, but noted that a pin-size hole was observed around a fitting weld.
DEC said a "super sucker" removed snow, ice and gravel beneath the module. Approximately 14 cubic yards of contaminated snow had been removed from the site this morning and hand shovels and jackhammers were to be used to remove remaining impacted snow and gravel.
The agency said contaminated material would be transported to a waste disposal pit at drill site 1H. Once the contaminated snow melts it will be recycled. Contaminated gravel will be disposed of at the grind and inject facility.
DEC said valves were closed both in the manifold building and at the well and the flow line was depressurized and blinded until the cause is found and repairs made.


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Susan Michod (born 1945, Toledo, Ohio) is an American feminist painter who has been at the forefront of the Pattern and Decoration movement since 1969. Her work "consists of monumental paintings [which are] thickly painted, torn, collaged, spattered, sponged, sprinkled with glitter and infused with a spirit of love of nature and art," the art critic Sue Taylor has written.

After graduating with a Master of Fine Arts degree from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, Michod moved to Chicago in 1969 and joined a tight-knit community of artists which included Judy Chicago, Vera Klement, Phyllis Bramson, Margaret Wharton, Richard Loving, Robert Kushner and Nancy Spero. She taught art at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts.

In 1973, Michod co-founded the non-profit women artists' collaborative Artemisia Gallery. Like the groundbreaking A.I.R. Gallery in New York which opened just a year earlier, Artemisia was a forum for women to exhibit their art away from the male-dominated gallery scene. Judy Chicago, Miriam Schapiro, Joyce Kozloff and Nancy Spero were among the artists who exhibited their early work at Artemisia.

Michod's work has been exhibited at institutions including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, the Queens Museum, the Bronx Museum of the Arts and the National Academy in New York City, and it is in the collection of Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, and the Illinois State Museum. In addition to Artemisia, her work was also exhibited by the Jan Cicero and Jean Albano galleries in Chicago and the Andre Zarre Gallery in New York.

Work
During the 1970s, Michod began to travel extensively to Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico City and Tucson, Arizona, studying indigenous art and pottery. Her paintings incorporated the designs found in Navajo weaving and Mayan ceramics, but her work was also influenced by the bright colors and bold visual movement of work produced by Henri Matisse and Josef Albers, among others.

In 1977, John Perreault championed Michod's work when he selected it for inclusion in a groundbreaking "Pattern and Decoration" show which he curated at PS1 (now MoMAPS1) in Long Island City.

In the 1980s, Michod branched away from pattern painting toward a more surrealistic style of painting incorporating found objects like toy Tonka tractors, farming equipment (plows, etc.), hair dryers, squeegees and paneled household doors. Writing in the March 1983 issue of Artforum, the critic Judith Russi Kirshner wrote that Michod's "orchestration of two and three-dimensional fauna objects that extend the painted characters into our space recalls the mood of Walt Disney's Fantasia"; "fueled by [...] the accoutrements of domesticity and motherhood", the paintings are "populated by children's playthings and animated by a child's spirit of fantasy."

In 1997, Michod exhibited a series of paintings at the Chicago Cultural Center called "Fragile Landscapes". The paintings were based on the artist's experience living through a rare brain tumor called an oligodendroglioma that she suffered in 1992. The paintings, landscapes "dominated by a forest motif in neb-expressionist style", were hailed by the Chicago Tribune as being "repositories of feelings" in which "each of the forest pictures has a spectator who reacts in various ways to Michod's maelstrom of strokes and blaze of light. The figure is a stand-in for actual viewers, that is, a member of the audience; but it is also the artist herself serving us as Virgil did Dante in the forest of the Inferno, as a guide."

References

1945 births
Living people
American women artists
Artists from Toledo, Ohio
Pratt Institute alumni
21st-century American women