This is "What Is Money?", section 9.1 from the book Macroeconomics Principles (v. 2.0). For details on it (including licensing), click here.
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Define money and discuss its three basic functions.
Distinguish between commodity money and fiat money, giving examples of each.
Define what is meant by the money supply and tell what is included in the Federal Reserve System's two definitions of it (M1 and M2).
If cigarettes and mackerel can be used as money, then just what is money? MoneyAnything that serves as a medium of exchange. is anything that serves as a medium of exchange. A medium of exchangeAnything that is widely accepted as a means of payment. is anything that is widely accepted as a means of payment. In Romania under Communist Party rule in the 1980s, for example, Kent cigarettes served as a medium of exchange; the fact that they could be exchanged for other goods and services made them money.
Money, ultimately, is defined by people and what they do. When people use something as a medium of exchange, it becomes money. If people were to begin accepting basketballs as payment for most goods and services, basketballs would be money. We will learn in this chapter that changes in the way people use money have created new types of money and changed the way money is measured in recent decades.
Money serves three basic functions. By definition, it is a medium of exchange. It also serves as a unit of account and as a store of value—as the "mack" did in Lompoc.
The exchange of goods and services in markets is among the most universal activities of human life. To facilitate these exchanges, people settle on something that will serve as a medium of exchange—they select something to be money.
We can understand the significance of a medium of exchange by considering its absence. BarterWhen goods are exchanged directly for other goods. occurs when goods are exchanged directly for other goods. Because no one item serves as a medium of exchange in a barter economy, potential buyers must find things that individual sellers will accept. A buyer might find a seller who will trade a pair of shoes for two chickens. Another seller might be willing to provide a haircut in exchange for a garden hose. Suppose you were visiting a grocery store in a barter economy. You would need to load up a truckful of items the grocer might accept in exchange for groceries. That would be an uncertain affair; you could not know when you headed for the store which items the grocer might agree to trade. Indeed, the complexity—and cost—of a visit to a grocery store in a barter economy would be so great that there probably would not be any grocery stores! A moment's contemplation of the difficulty of life in a barter economy will demonstrate why human societies invariably select something—sometimes more than one thing—to serve as a medium of exchange, just as prisoners in federal penitentiaries accepted mackerel.
Ask someone in the United States what he or she paid for something, and that person will respond by quoting a price stated in dollars: "I paid $75 for this radio," or "I paid $15 for this pizza." People do not say, "I paid five pizzas for this radio." That statement might, of course, be literally true in the sense of the opportunity cost of the transaction, but we do not report prices that way for two reasons. One is that people do not arrive at places like Radio Shack with five pizzas and expect to purchase a radio. The other is that the information would not be very useful. Other people may not think of values in pizza terms, so they might not know what we meant. Instead, we report the value of things in terms of money.
Money serves as a unit of accountA consistent means of measuring the value of things., which is a consistent means of measuring the value of things. We use money in this fashion because it is also a medium of exchange. When we report the value of a good or service in units of money, we are reporting what another person is likely to have to pay to obtain that good or service.
The third function of money is to serve as a store of valueAn item that holds value over time., that is, an item that holds value over time. Consider a $20 bill that you accidentally left in a coat pocket a year ago. When you find it, you will be pleased. That is because you know the bill still has value. Value has, in effect, been "stored" in that little piece of paper.
Money, of course, is not the only thing that stores value. Houses, office buildings, land, works of art, and many other commodities serve as a means of storing wealth and value. Money differs from these other stores of value by being readily exchangeable for other commodities. Its role as a medium of exchange makes it a convenient store of value.
Because money acts as a store of value, it can be used as a standard for future payments. When you borrow money, for example, you typically sign a contract pledging to make a series of future payments to settle the debt. These payments will be made using money, because money acts as a store of value.
Money is not a risk-free store of value, however. We saw in the chapter that introduced the concept of inflation that inflation reduces the value of money. In periods of rapid inflation, people may not want to rely on money as a store of value, and they may turn to commodities such as land or gold instead.
Although money can take an extraordinary variety of forms, there are really only two types of money: money that has intrinsic value and money that does not have intrinsic value.
Commodity moneyMoney that has value apart from its use as money. is money that has value apart from its use as money. Mackerel in federal prisons is an example of commodity money. Mackerel could be used to buy services from other prisoners; they could also be eaten.
Gold and silver are the most widely used forms of commodity money. Gold and silver can be used as jewelry and for some industrial and medicinal purposes, so they have value apart from their use as money. The first known use of gold and silver coins was in the Greek city-state of Lydia in the beginning of the seventh century B.C. The coins were fashioned from electrum, a natural mixture of gold and silver.
Another problem is that commodity money may vary in quality. Given that variability, there is a tendency for lower-quality commodities to drive higher-quality commodities out of circulation. Horses, for example, served as money in colonial New England. It was common for loan obligations to be stated in terms of a quantity of horses to be paid back. Given such obligations, there was a tendency to use lower-quality horses to pay back debts; higher-quality horses were kept out of circulation for other uses. Laws were passed forbidding the use of lame horses in the payment of debts. This is an example of Gresham's law: the tendency for a lower-quality commodity (bad money) to drive a higher-quality commodity (good money) out of circulation. Unless a means can be found to control the quality of commodity money, the tendency for that quality to decline can threaten its acceptability as a medium of exchange.
Checkable depositsBalances in checking accounts., which are balances in checking accounts, and traveler's checks are other forms of money that have no intrinsic value. They can be converted to currency, but generally they are not; they simply serve as a medium of exchange. If you want to buy something, you can often pay with a check or a debit card. A checkA written order to a bank to transfer ownership of a checkable deposit. is a written order to a bank to transfer ownership of a checkable deposit. A debit card is the electronic equivalent of a check. Suppose, for example, that you have $100 in your checking account and you write a check to your campus bookstore for $30 or instruct the clerk to swipe your debit card and "charge" it $30. In either case, $30 will be transferred from your checking account to the bookstore's checking account. Notice that it is the checkable deposit, not the check or debit card, that is money. The check or debit card just tells a bank to transfer money, in this case checkable deposits, from one account to another.
What makes something money is really found in its acceptability, not in whether or not it has intrinsic value or whether or not a government has declared it as such. For example, fiat money tends to be accepted so long as too much of it is not printed too quickly. When that happens, as it did in Russia in the 1990s, people tend to look for other items to serve as money. In the case of Russia, the U.S. dollar became a popular form of money, even though the Russian government still declared the ruble to be its fiat money.
The term money, as used by economists and throughout this book, has the very specific definition given in the text. People can hold assets in a variety of forms, from works of art to stock certificates to currency or checking account balances. Even though individuals may be very wealthy, only when they are holding their assets in a form that serves as a medium of exchange do they, according to the precise meaning of the term, have "money." To qualify as "money," something must be widely accepted as a medium of exchange.
The total quantity of money in the economy at any one time is called the money supplyThe total quantity of money in the economy at any one time.. Economists measure the money supply because it affects economic activity. What should be included in the money supply? We want to include as part of the money supply those things that serve as media of exchange. However, the items that provide this function have varied over time.
Over the last few decades, especially as a result of high interest rates and high inflation in the late 1970s, people sought and found ways of holding their financial assets in ways that earn interest and that can easily be converted to money. For example, it is now possible to transfer money from your savings account to your checking account using an automated teller machine (ATM), and then to withdraw cash from your checking account. Thus, many types of savings accounts are easily converted into currency.
Economists refer to the ease with which an asset can be converted into currency as the asset's liquidityThe ease with which an asset can be converted into currency.. Currency itself is perfectly liquid; you can always change two $5 bills for a $10 bill. Checkable deposits are almost perfectly liquid; you can easily cash a check or visit an ATM. An office building, however, is highly illiquid. It can be converted to money only by selling it, a time-consuming and costly process.
As financial assets other than checkable deposits have become more liquid, economists have had to develop broader measures of money that would correspond to economic activity. In the United States, the final arbiter of what is and what is not measured as money is the Federal Reserve System. Because it is difficult to determine what (and what not) to measure as money, the Fed reports several different measures of money, including M1 and M2.
M1The narrowest of the Fed's money supply definitions that includes currency in circulation, checkable deposits, and traveler's checks. is the narrowest of the Fed's money supply definitions. It includes currency in circulation, checkable deposits, and traveler's checks. M2A broader measure of the money supply than M1 that includes M1 and other deposits. is a broader measure of the money supply than M1. It includes M1 and other deposits such as small savings accounts (less than $100,000), as well as accounts such as money market mutual funds (MMMFs) that place limits on the number or the amounts of the checks that can be written in a certain period.
M2 is sometimes called the broadly defined money supply, while M1 is the narrowly defined money supply. The assets in M1 may be regarded as perfectly liquid; the assets in M2 are highly liquid, but somewhat less liquid than the assets in M1. Even broader measures of the money supply include large time-deposits, money market mutual funds held by institutions, and other assets that are somewhat less liquid than those in M2. Figure 9.1 "The Two Ms: January 2012" shows the composition of M1 and M2 in October 2010.
M1, the narrowest definition of the money supply, includes assets that are perfectly liquid. M2 provides a broader measure of the money supply and includes somewhat less liquid assets. Amounts represent money supply data in billions of dollars for January 2012, seasonally adjusted.
Source: Federal Reserve Statistical Release H.6, Tables 3 and 4 (February 16, 2012). Amounts are in billions of dollars for January 2012, seasonally adjusted.
Credit cards are not money. A credit card identifies you as a person who has a special arrangement with the card issuer in which the issuer will lend you money and transfer the proceeds to another party whenever you want. Thus, if you present a MasterCard to a jeweler as payment for a $500 ring, the firm that issued you the card will lend you the $500 and send that money, less a service charge, to the jeweler. You, of course, will be required to repay the loan later. But a card that says you have such a relationship is not money, just as your debit card is not money.
With all the operational definitions of money available, which one should we use? Economists generally answer that question by asking another: Which measure of money is most closely related to real GDP and the price level? As that changes, so must the definition of money.
In 1980, the Fed decided that changes in the ways people were managing their money made M1 useless for policy choices. Indeed, the Fed now pays little attention to M2 either. It has largely given up tracking a particular measure of the money supply. The choice of what to measure as money remains the subject of continuing research and considerable debate.
Money is anything that serves as a medium of exchange. Other functions of money are to serve as a unit of account and as a store of value.
Money may or may not have intrinsic value. Commodity money has intrinsic value because it has other uses besides being a medium of exchange. Fiat money serves only as a medium of exchange, because its use as such is authorized by the government; it has no intrinsic value.
The Fed reports several different measures of money, including M1 and M2.
Which of the following are money in the United States today and which are not? Explain your reasoning in terms of the functions of money.
"We don't have a currency of our own," proclaimed Nerchivan Barzani, the Kurdish regional government's prime minister in a news interview in 2003. But, even without official recognition by the government, the so-called "Swiss" dinar certainly seemed to function as a fiat money. Here is how the Kurdish area of northern Iraq, during the period between the Gulf War in 1991 and the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, came to have its own currency, despite the pronouncement of its prime minister to the contrary.
After the Gulf War, the northern, mostly Kurdish area of Iraq was separated from the rest of Iraq though the enforcement of the no-fly-zone. Because of United Nations sanctions that barred the Saddam Hussein regime in the south from continuing to import currency from Switzerland, the central bank of Iraq announced it would replace the "Swiss" dinars, so named because they had been printed in Switzerland, with locally printed currency, which became known as "Saddam" dinars. Iraqi citizens in southern Iraq were given three weeks to exchange their old dinars for the new ones. In the northern part of Iraq, citizens could not exchange their notes and so they simply continued to use the old ones.
And so it was that the "Swiss" dinar for a period of about 10 years, even without government backing or any law establishing it as legal tender, served as northern Iraq's fiat money. Economists use the word "fiat," which in Latin means "let it be done," to describe money that has no intrinsic value. Such forms of money usually get their value because a government or authority has declared them to be legal tender, but, as this story shows, it does not really require much "fiat" for a convenient, in-and-of-itself worthless, medium of exchange to evolve.
What happened to both the "Swiss" and "Saddam" dinars? After the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) assumed control of all of Iraq, Paul Bremer, then head of the CPA, announced that a new Iraqi dinar would be exchanged for both of the existing currencies over a three-month period ending in January 2004 at a rate that implied that one "Swiss" dinar was valued at 150 "Saddam" dinars. Because Saddam Hussein's regime had printed many more "Saddam" dinars over the 10-year period, while no "Swiss" dinars had been printed, and because the cheap printing of the "Saddam" dinars made them easy to counterfeit, over the decade the "Swiss" dinars became relatively more valuable and the exchange rate that Bremer offered about equalized the purchasing power of the two currencies. For example, it took about 133 times as many "Saddam" dinars as "Swiss" dinars to buy a man's suit in Iraq at the time. The new notes, sometimes called "Bremer" dinars, were printed in Britain and elsewhere and flown into Iraq on 22 flights using Boeing 747s and other large aircraft. In both the northern and southern parts of Iraq, citizens turned in their old dinars for the new ones, suggesting at least more confidence at that moment in the "Bremer" dinar than in either the "Saddam" or "Swiss" dinars.
Sources: Mervyn A. King, "The Institutions of Monetary Policy" (lecture, American Economics Association Annual Meeting, San Diego, January 4, 2004), available at http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Documents/speeches/2004/speech208.pdf; Hal R. Varian, "Paper Currency Can Have Value without Government Backing, but Such Backing Adds Substantially to Its Value," New York Times, January 15, 2004, p. C2.
Gold is not money because it is not used as a medium of exchange. In addition, it does not serve as a unit of account. It may, however, serve as a store of value.
A Van Gogh painting is not money. It serves as a store of value. It is highly illiquid but could eventually be converted to money. It is neither a medium of exchange nor a unit of account.
A dime is money and serves all three functions of money. It is, of course, perfectly liquid.


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JD.Com, Qihoo 360 Buy HK$491M Stake in High-Tech Mainland Property Manager
2019/07/22 by Jan Kot Leave a Comment
Tang Xuebin, founder of Colour Life
Mainland e-commerce giant JD.com and internet security provider Qihoo 360 Technology have agreed to buy a combined HK$491 million ($62.87 million) stake in Shenzhen-based residential property manager Colour Life, according to a statement to the stock exchange by the Hong Kong-listed company.
The investment in Colour Life, which provides tech-enabled property management to residents of more than 1.12 billion square metres (12 billion square feet) of housing across 268 Chinese cities, is being accomplished through a special offering of new shares.
The investment by JD.com and Qihoo 360 represents the latest bet by China's Internet giants on property industry players following a series of offline deals by e-commerce firms over the past two years.
JD, Qihoo Take Minority Stakes in Property Manager
As described in the stock market announcement, Colour Life is entering a pair of equity transactions, with the largest involving a sale of 71.15 million new shares to JD.com at a price of HK$5.22 each. The HK$371 million deal represents 5 percent of the issued share capital of the company following completion of the two share sales.
The 19-year-old property management company also noted in the statement that it has entered into a second subscription agreement with Beijing-based Qihoo 360, a provider of anti-virus systems and other security software which is controlled by Zhou Hongyi, who also serves as a non-executive director of Colour Life.
Under the terms of this second transaction, Qihoo 360 will subscribe to 22.96 million new shares in Colour Life at a price of HK$5.22 per share. That HK$120 million investment increases the software firm's stake in Colour Life from 1.54 percent to 3.05 percent following conclusion of the sale.
Colour Life explained in the statement that JD.com's share purchase will enhance the company's ability to raise funds and broaden its capital base, as well as fostering greater cooperation with the e-commerce giant in online transactions, logistics and finance.
The property manager noted many of the same benefits could be expected from Qihoo 360's investment, along with potential to improve Colour Life's security capabilities and strengthen its ability to leverage big data, IoT and artificial intelligence in its services to community residents.
Expanding Existing Partnerships
JD.com, headed by Liu Qiangdong, buys HK$371 million shares in Colour Life
Founded in 2002, Colour Life in 2014 became mainland China's first residential property manager to be listed in Hong Kong. The Shenzhen-based company focuses on providing an integrated property management platform which includes smart logistics, intelligent building management and community services.
The company has been partnering with JD.com by leveraging the e-commerce player's platform to allow Colour Life's customers the opportunity to earn rebates after purchasing property management services like cleaning the air conditioner, changing gas canisters or event fixing plumbing.
The two companies have also launched a number of pilot programs to explore further opportunities to cooperate in retail, finance and user-end logistics in smart communities.
According to its most recent financial report, Colour Life had RMB 3.61 million of revenue in 2018, up 121.9 percent from the previous year. The company's net income stood at RMB 485 million, up 51.3 percent.
JD.com first stepped into the real estate market in 2017 when the technology giant created a property section on its online retail website. Then, last October, JD.com announced a partnership with one of China's biggest housing brokers, 5i5j, to make it easier for the nearly 500,000 monthly visitors to JD.com to buy and lease homes online.
Filed Under: Finance Tagged With: Colour LIfe, JD.com, Property management, Proptech, Qihoo 360, weekly-sp
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Ronshine China Holdings Defaults on $420M Offshore Bond

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Home Institutions & structures Representative on Freedom of the Media Press statements
Press statements of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media
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Thematic area: AllDemocratizationEducationElectionsHuman rightsMedia freedom and developmentNational minority issuesRule of lawConflict prevention and resolution
Locations: AllAlbaniaArmeniaAustriaAzerbaijanBelarusBelgiumBosnia and HerzegovinaBulgariaCanadaCroatiaCyprusCzech RepublicDenmarkEstoniaEuropean UnionFranceGeorgiaGermanyGreeceHungaryIcelandIrelandItalyKazakhstanKyrgyzstanLatviaLithuaniaMaltaMoldovaMongoliaMontenegroNetherlandsNorth MacedoniaPolandRomaniaRussiaSerbiaSlovakiaSloveniaSpainTajikistanTurkeyTurkmenistanUkraineUnited KingdomUnited States of AmericaUzbekistan
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Media laws
OSCE Media Freedom Representative concerned by blocking of media outlets in Uzbekistan, urges reform to media laws and regulations
Publishing date: 17 April 2019
What we do: Media laws
Location: Uzbekistan
VIENNA, 17 April 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, today called on the authorities in Uzbekistan to end the blocking of media outlets, in order to ensure that important news and current affairs resources be made accessible to the public...
OSCE Media Freedom Representative concerned about amendments introducing liability for distribution of foreign print media without authorization in Russia
VIENNA, 16 April 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, today expressed his concern regarding the legislative amendments introducing a liability for distribution of foreign print media on the territory of the Russian Federation without the permission of the authorities...
OSCE Representative Désir and Ambassador Berton concerned about amendments to Law on Public Order and Peace in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Publishing date: 5 April 2019
Location: Bosnia and Herzegovina
VIENNA / SARAJEVO, 5 April 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, and the Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Bruce G. Berton, expressed their concerns today regarding new amendments to the Law on Public Order and Peace in the Bosnia and Herzegovina entity of Republika Srpska (RS)...
OSCE Representative publishes legal review of proposed amendments to the "Law on Free Access to Information of Public Character" in North Macedonia
Publishing date: 25 March 2019
Location: North Macedonia
VIENNA, 25 March 2019- The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, published today a legal review of proposed amendments to the "Law on Free Access to Information of Public Character" in North Macedonia. The review was previously officially sent to the Minister of Justice, Renata Deskoska.
OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media publishes legal review of amendments on the right of reply to the Slovak Press Statute, urges further changes
VIENNA, 25 March 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, today published the legal review of the draft amendments on the right of reply to the Statute on Periodic Press and News Agencies of Slovakia, which was sent to the Slovak authorities on 5 March.
OSCE Media Freedom Representative and UN Special Rapporteur welcome EU initiative to protect whistleblowers, but raise some concerns about draft directive
Publishing date: 5 March 2019
Location: European Union
VIENNA, 5 March 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, together with the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection for the right to freedom of opinion and expression, David Kaye, today welcomed in a letter sent to the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union the initiative of a new directive on protection of whistleblowers, but also expressed a number of potential concerns about the current draft text.
OSCE Media Freedom Representative welcomes landmark judgment in UK on protecting confidentiality of journalistic sources
Publishing date: 8 February 2019
What we do: Media freedom on the internet, Media laws
VIENNA, 8 February 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, today welcomed a court decision in Northern Ireland recognizing journalists' rights to protect the confidentiality of their sources...
OSCE Media Freedom Representative Désir, Head of OSCE Mission to Montenegro Daviet present legal reviews on draft media and public broadcaster laws
Publishing date: 21 November 2018
VIENNA / PODGORICA, 21 November 2018 – Two legal reviews of Montenegro's draft Law on media and draft Law on amendments to the Law on the national public broadcaster RTCG, were presented by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, and the Head of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, Maryse Daviet. The legal reviews were commissioned upon the request of Montenegro's Ministry of Culture.
OSCE media freedom representative calls for protection of journalists' right to confidential sources in Romania
VIENNA, 13 November 2018- The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, today sent a letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania expressing concern about an investigative journalism organization being requested to reveal its confidential sources, and asking for this request to be withdrawn...
Times of Malta must be able to protect confidential sources, says OSCE media freedom Representative
Vienna, 11 November 2018. Today, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir, called on all authorities to drop the request to the editor of the Times of Malta to disclose a source of information used in a report on a planned takeover of a building project, after the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) made such request to the daily newspaper.


text:
Q: Can .NET source code hard-code a debugging breakpoint? I'm looking for a way in .NET (2.0, C# in particular) for source code to trigger a debugging break as if a breakpoint was set at that point, without having to remember to set a specific breakpoint there in the debugger, and without interfering with production runtime.
Our code needs to swallow exceptions in production so we don't disrupt a client application that links to us, but I'm trying to set it up so that such errors will pop up to be analyzed if it happens to be running in a debugger, and otherwise will be safely ignored.
My attempt to use Debug.Assert(false) has been less than ideal, and I assume that Debug.Fail() would behave the same way.  It should theoretically have no effect in production, and it does successfully stop when debugging, but by design there is (as far as I can tell) no way to continue execution if you want to ignore that error, like you could with an actual breakpoint, and like it would do in production where we swallow the error.  It also apparently breaks evaluation of variable state because the debugger actually stops down in native system code and not in ours, so it's debugging help is limited.  (Maybe I'm missing some way of getting back into things to look at the variables and so on where it happened. ???)
I was hoping for something like Debug.Break(), but it doesn't seem to exist (unless maybe in a later version of .NET?), and no other Debug methods seem applicable, either.
Update: While ctacke's answer is the best match for what I was looking for, I have since also discovered a trick with Debug.Assert()--when running in the debugger--Pause the debugger, go to the code for the Debug.Assert call pending (highlighted in green because it is down in the framework code) and hit Step-Out (shift-F11), then hit Ignore in the assert dialog box.  This will leave the debugger paused upon the return of the assert (and able to continue execution as if it hadn't occurred, because it was ignored).  There may be other ways to do much the same thing (does hitting Retry do this more directly?), but this way was intuitive.

A: How about just configuring Visual Studio to pop up with the debugger even if you swallow it?
Do this:

*

*Go to Debug->Exceptions...

*Find the right exception, or add it if it's your own

*Check the "Thrown" checkbox for the exception

This will stop Visual Studio on the location that exception is thrown, not just if it isn't handled.
You can see more information here.

A: A nice trick I found is putting Debugger.Break() in the ctor of your Exception.

A: You probably are after something like this:
if(System.Diagnostics.Debugger.IsAttached)
  System.Diagnostics.Debugger.Break();

Of course that will still get compiled in a Release build.  If you want it to behave more like the Debug object where the code simply doesn't exist in a Release build, then you could do something like this:
    // Conditional("Debug") means that calls to DebugBreak will only be
    // compiled when Debug is defined. DebugBreak will still be compiled
    // even in release mode, but the #if eliminates the code within it.
    // DebuggerHidden is so that, when the break happens, the call stack
    // is at the caller rather than inside of DebugBreak.
    [DebuggerHidden]
    [Conditional("DEBUG")]
    void DebugBreak()
    {
        if(System.Diagnostics.Debugger.IsAttached)
            System.Diagnostics.Debugger.Break();
    }

Then add a call to it in your code.

A: System.Diagnostics.Debugger.Break?

A: I ran into a situation once where this didn't work
System.Diagnostics.Debugger.Break();

but this did
System.Diagnostics.Debugger.Launch();

A: If you want to have only one line of code instead of 4, wrap
#if DEBUG
       if (Debugger.IsAttached)
            Debugger.Break();
#endif

into
public static class DebugHelper
{
    [DebuggerHidden]
    [Conditional("DEBUG")]
    public static void Stop()
    {
       if (Debugger.IsAttached)
            Debugger.Break();
    }
}

and use
DebugHelper.Stop();

DebuggerHiddenAttribute has been added to prevent the debugger from stopping on the inner code of the Stop method and from stepping into the method with F11.

A: In Visual Studio 2010, hitting Retry on a Debug.Assert dialog takes you to the failed debug assertion, just as if you had a breakpoint.

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text:
Kay Hagan accepts 3 NC Senate debates
Updated: 10:00 AM EDT Jul 10, 2014
North Carolina U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan has agreed to participate in three debates - fewer than the minimum of 10 that Republican challenger Thom Tillis wanted for their fall campaign.Hagan's campaign said she accepted Wednesday an invitation from the League of Women Voters and WECT-TV for a debate in Wilmington. The campaign says she already agreed to two debates by the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters Educational Foundation.Tillis had already accepted invitations by the League and broadcasters' foundation. Hagan's debate adviser wrote Tillis saying three debates were held in the 2010 North Carolina Senate race.Tillis campaign manager Jordan Shaw says it's "totally unacceptable" Hagan wants just three debates, saying it's limiting opportunities for the public to hear them. Shaw says Hagan should compromise and agree to six.
GREENSBORO, N.C. —
North Carolina U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan has agreed to participate in three debates - fewer than the minimum of 10 that Republican challenger Thom Tillis wanted for their fall campaign.
Hagan's campaign said she accepted Wednesday an invitation from the League of Women Voters and WECT-TV for a debate in Wilmington. The campaign says she already agreed to two debates by the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters Educational Foundation.
Tillis had already accepted invitations by the League and broadcasters' foundation. Hagan's debate adviser wrote Tillis saying three debates were held in the 2010 North Carolina Senate race.
Tillis campaign manager Jordan Shaw says it's "totally unacceptable" Hagan wants just three debates, saying it's limiting opportunities for the public to hear them. Shaw says Hagan should compromise and agree to six.


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text:
Meimad
מימד
Yehuda Amital
Michael Melchior
Religious Zionism
Center-left[1]
Orthodox Judaism[2]
Most MKs
2 (1999, 2001)
Election symbol
מי
ה
Politics of Israel
Meimad (Hebrew: מימד, an acronym for Medina Yehudit, Medina Demokratit (מדינה יהודית, מדינה דמוקרטית), lit., Jewish State, Democratic State) is a left-wing religious Zionist political party in Israel. Founded in 1999, it is based on the ideology of the Meimad movement founded in 1988 by Rabbi Yehuda Amital. It was formed by dovish religious Zionists who supported the peace process and believed the National Religious Party had drifted too far to the right.[3][4]
At the national level, it was in alliance with the Labour Party, and, until the 2006 elections, received 10th spot on the Labour Knesset list. Meimad ended the pact with the 2009 election, formed an alliance with the Green Movement, and failed to win enough votes to be elected to the Knesset.
The Meimad movement was founded on 1 June 1988 by Rabbi Yehuda Amital, and included former National Religious Party Knesset member Yehuda Ben-Meir. It contested the November 1988 Knesset elections, receiving 0.7% of the vote and failing to cross the 1% electoral threshold. Eleven years later, a political arm was established, and joined the One Israel alliance that won the Knesset elections that year. Meimad received one seat, taken by Michael Melchior. It gained a second when Yehuda Gilad replaced Maxim Levy in 2002. Tova Ilan also represented Meimad in the Knesset for a brief spell in 2006, after several other Labour MKs resigned. It attracted moderates among immigrants from the English-speaking world, including Shimon Glick.[5]
In November 2008, minister and former Labour Party member Ami Ayalon joined Meimad.[6] In the same month, the party ended its alliance with Labour after being told that 10th spot on the list would no longer be reserved for Meimad for the 2009 legislative elections.
Shortly afterwards, Ayalon announced his resignation from politics,[7] and the party has formed an umbrella alliance with the Green Movement.[8]
In 2012, Melchior announced that he would not stand for election.[9]
The party emphasizes the values of many social democratic parties, except on religious issues. Meimad, like Labour, takes a center-left approach to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. However, it supports religious studies in the main curriculum of Israel's public schools, and encourages the use of rabbinical courts in addition to civil courts.
Under Melchior, the party has taken an even more left-leaning approach - both in foreign and, especially, in domestic affairs. The party has run in municipal elections in 2003, winning a number of key seats in Tel Aviv. It also ran together with Meretz party in Haifa in which it shares a seat under a rotation agreement. Shlomo Yaakov Rapaport serves on the Haifa city council representing Meimad, and is the chairman of the Haifa Aliyah and absorption committee, and the chairman of the municipal committee against alcohol and drug abuse.
↑ Ehud Zion Waldoks (2009-01-20). "Green Movement-Meimad to stress environmental issues in elections". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
↑ https://books.google.at/books?id=bmYTCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA187&lpg=PA187&dq=Meimad+%2B+Orthodox+party&source=bl&ots=9Uy-PqWZDG&sig=hNlz1FTCfuTCTZcGYp0DMcL8p0c&hl=de&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjnzPy_69PbAhWhNpoKHcR9B5oQ6AEIODAC#v=onepage&q=Meimad%20%2B%20Orthodox%20party&f=false
↑ Bernard Reich; David H. Goldberg (2008). Historical Dictionary of Israel. Scarecrow Press. p. 390. ISBN 9780810864030. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
↑ Tom Lansford (2014). Political Handbook of the World 2014. CQ Press. p. 702. ISBN 9781483333274. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
↑ Brinkley, Joel (18 October 1988). "Keys to Israeli Vote: The Orthodox and the Arabs". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
↑ Somfalvi, Attila (2008-11-17). "Ami Ayalon won't join Meretz". Ynetnews. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
↑ Gil Hoffman (14 December 2008). "Ayalon declares he is quitting politics". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
↑ Ehud Zion Waldoks (18 December 2008). "Green Movement, Meimad run together". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
↑ Melchoir, Michael (11 December 2012). "Pursuing the Meimad mission from beyond the political arena". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
Official site (in Hebrew)
Official site (in English)
Parliamentary groups in Israel
Zionist Union
Hatnuah
Joint List
Hadash
United Arab List
Balad
Ta'al
Yesh Atid
The Jewish Home (Tkuma)
Shas
Yisrael Beiteinu
United Torah Judaism
Agudat Yisrael
Degel HaTorah
Meretz
List of political parties in Israel
Modern Orthodox Judaism
Religious Kibbutz Movement
Torat Eretz Yisrael
Kahanism
Three Oaths
Third Temple
State of Judea
Mizrahi Party
National Religious Party
Hapoel HaMizrachi
Kach
Kahane Chai
B'Sheva
HaTzofe
Iton Meyuhad
Makor Rishon
Tehumin
Bnei Akiva
Hesder
Migdal Oz
Yavneh Olami
Yeshivot
Mizrachi movement
Religious Zionists of America
Zomet Institute
Gush Emunim
Kibbutzim
Hilltop Youth


text:
package petablox.analyses.syntax;

import petablox.program.visitors.IExprVisitor;
import petablox.project.Petablox;
import petablox.project.analyses.ProgramRel;
import soot.SootClass;
import soot.SootMethod;
import soot.Unit;
import soot.Value;
import soot.jimple.DivExpr;

@Petablox(name = "DivExpr", sign = "EXPR0,EXPR1,EXPR2:EXPR0_EXPR1xEXPR2")
public class RelDivExpr extends ProgramRel implements IExprVisitor {

	@Override
	public void visit(Unit q) { }

	@Override
	public void visit(SootMethod m) { }

	@Override
	public void visit(SootClass c) { }

	@Override
	public void visit(Value e) {
		if (e instanceof DivExpr) {
			DivExpr de = (DivExpr) e;
			add(e, de.getOp1(), de.getOp2());
		}
	}

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
NASA finds two 'hot Jupiters' in star cluster
US scientists have for the first time found proof that planets can form and survive around sun-like stars within dense star clusters, NASA said Friday.
Astronomers have spotted two Jupiter-like orbs in the Beehive Cluster, a collection of around 1,000 stars that appear to be swarming around a common center.
"This has been a big puzzle for planet hunters," said Sam Quinn, a graduate student in astronomy at Georgia State University in Atlanta and the lead author of the paper describing the results.
"We know that most stars form in clustered environments like the Orion Nebula, so unless this dense environment inhibits planet formation, at least some sun-like stars in open clusters should have planets.
"Now, we finally know they are indeed there," he added in a statement.
Unlike Jupiter, these gas giants are boiling hot, because they are orbiting close to their parent stars.
The finding left astronomers puzzled as they theorize that gaseous planets can't form too close to a star because they would evaporate away.
The leading explanation so far is that the planets form further out and then migrate inwards toward the star.
Given the relatively young age of Beehive stars, the newly discovered planets could help scientists flesh out the theory.
If the stars are young, that means the planets must be as well, which "sets a constraint on how quickly giant planets migrate inward," said Russel White, the principal investigator on the NASA Origins of Solar Systems grant that funded the study.
"Knowing how quickly they migrate is the first step to figuring out how they migrate."
The team discovered the planets, Pr0201b and Pr0211b, by using the 1.5-meter (five-foot) Tillinghast telescope at an Arizona observatory to measure the slight gravitational wobble the orbiting planets induce upon their host stars.
Scientists had previously spotted two planets around massive stars, but had not yet found any around stars like the sun at the center of our solar system.
[Image via Agence France-Presse]


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Wilderness Air operates the C210 mainly in Namibia, where the longer sector distances necessitate a faster aircraft. Unlike the C206, the C210 does not have a cargo pod, but the unobstructed views offered by its high wing configuration more than make up for this, allowing all passengers the best possible views below. The C210 is a popular aircraft and is an economical means of transporting groups of one to five people.


httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJS9x-HhAxI A transport STRIKE has complicated the journey to work in Madrid and Barcelona. UNIONS have made a call to travellers not to pay for their ticket in a protest against what they consider to be abusive minimum services.
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Finkelstein Platt LLP's attorneys have an in-depth understanding of the numerous, intricate issues involved in private and public construction projects. Whether representing owners, developers, design professionals, sureties, construction managers, or contractors, Finkelstein Platt LLP offers sophisticated, cost-effective construction related services in connection with contract negotiation, project trouble shooting and dispute resolution.
Assisting with structuring project teams and method of project delivery.
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In conversation with Solidarités International: Artificial Intelligence in a humanitarian context
Guy Peggram
Market Engagement Manager
Monday 13 December, 2021
Blog | blog | Innovation Fund | Middle East and North Africa | Mobile for Development | Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation | Refugees and forced migrants
Since September 2020, Solidarités International has been a part of our GSMA Mobile for Humanitarian (M4H) Innovation Fund portfolio. The Fund aims to promote innovation in the use of mobile technology to address humanitarian challenges. Solidarités International, a French NGO, assists populations affected by conflicts and violence, epidemics, natural or climate-related disasters and economic collapse. They aim to meet vital needs and are mainly active in providing Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services and providing shelter for refugees. In Lebanon, they are focussing on the Syrian refugee crisis by providing assistance to around 100,000 refugees living in the country across more than 3,000 sites. Assistance provided includes the provision of safe water and sanitation to people, keeping individuals and communities informed about services they are eligible for, conducting awareness campaigns and collecting feedback on service delivery. Providing this assistance in a widespread area has its challenges and in an attempt to address these, Solidarités International have previously made use of a standard dial-in hotline to deal with requests for services. Whilst this hotline increased effectiveness of service delivery, it has still had limitations for the users in terms of affordability and line availability.
Utilising an M4H Innovation Fund grant, awarded in 2019, Solidarités International have developed the 'SOLIS bot', a chatbot that works via WhatsApp, which acts as a two-way communication channel between refugees and Solidarités International.
The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), such as chatbots, in the humanitarian space remains relatively new and so I sat down with Francois-Xavier Dosogne, Information Management Coordinator at Solidarités International, to discuss the SOLIS project in more detail and understand how the team manages ethical considerations and mitigates any potential risks associated with this technology.
Can you explain the origins of the SOLIS bot project – why have Solidarités International chosen to develop this?
Among a population where more than 80 per cent of individuals are regularly using WhatsApp to keep in touch with their family or seek employment, the introduction of WhatsApp to bridge Solidarités International and the people it serves appeared as an opportunity too good to miss. Available 24/7 and free of charge, the SOLIS bot can handle a massive volume of information in both ways. Connected to our internal case management software, SOLIS, it stores and retrieves data at a glance. It is a new method to act as a dedicated communication channel for any user, enabling access to specific personal files or receiving notifications and updates on their service request. For Solidarités International it is also a game changer, allowing our team to provide more services and attention without overloading the capacity of our team. It opens many possibilities for various populations in need of humanitarian assistance across the world, a challenge Solidarités International is seeking to address.
What has been the impact of the bot so far?
The bot has reached a total of 18,760 requests for information or assistance since its launch in October 2020. It exchanged more than 285,000 messages with users, supporting more than 9,000 households.
Through the broadcast feature, a tool to rapidly send a message to a mass number of people, we have been able to launch several communication campaigns and were able to reach our complete list of beneficiaries (13,000 households in February 2021) in a 24 hour period to alert them of fraudulent activities occurring in their area.
We also launched a 'form' module through the bot that we are mostly using for our feedback and complaints sector. The form allows any user in the area to submit for free and 24/7, several types of feedback or complaint forms that we have adapted to a chat-bot format. Through a standard chat conversation via WhatsApp, the bot asks questions and completes the form with the user's answers. It is very useful for aid service requests that we can then follow up in a fast way. This new feature has been a great success with more than 3,000 forms being submitted since its introduction in mid-July 2021.
To assist our COVID-19 field response, Solidarités International used the same survey module to screen all households on post distribution satisfaction of COVID-19 safety kits. We sent users a request to participate in our survey, then when users had accepted the request, the bot asked five questions to enquire if the kits they received were useful or not. We were really impressed to reach 32 per cent engagement, more than 2,900 forms completed and submitted, in only two days.
Following every communication campaign, we also witness a high peak in the use of the information centre part of the bot, where users can find useful information such as vaccine eligibility criteria or local contact information.
The SOLIS bot is bridging the communication gap between ourselves and our intended audience; we can already see ease the benefit that it is having amongst the refugee populations we are working with.
Are there concerns that a chatbot offers a less personalised experience for users? Can chatbots lead to a disconnect between user and organisation?
Any digital project in the humanitarian sector must prioritise human involvement in aid action. Bots and smartphones will never replace the need for human interaction.
But in a limited resource setup, we need to make sure that available staff are prioritising refugees with the most pressing needs. By automating responses to general information requests, we can refocus workload were human interaction is most needed by providing prioritised assistance to the most vulnerable. Combined, our team and the SOLIS bot are then working together to improve and facilitate efficient connection between refugees and Solidarités International.
There is a concern amongst researchers that some human biases can be introduced into chatbots through the design of algorithms and the assumptions by coders of the needs of the users, which can impact the messages and information that is sent. Is there a way that the SOLIS bot is designed to acknowledge or avoid the potential biases in the bot's algorithm?
The Natural Language Understanding (NLU) module is the process through which the bot can interpret open phrases written or spoken by humans to identify the actual intention behind the request. For example: "Can you send me the phone number of the Red Cross please?", should lead the bot to understand that what you want is the contact information. This process uses algorithms to match any phrase with a single keyword that is linked to a specific message the bot will send as reply.
Bias may be introduced due to several reasons but they will mainly come from cultural differences and misunderstanding. This is why our 'building with the local communities' approach is so important. The bot is equipped with a real Machine Learning module, meaning that it can learn and improve its accuracy through its experience with human interaction, using their feedback ("Was this content useful?, Yes/No" for example), as a compass.
This helps the SOLIS bot store and understand an array of phrases and terminologies, meaning it has the ability to understand and respond to hundreds of ways which requests for the Red Cross contact details may be shared, in several dialect or languages. To support the bot and to try and guard against any potential biases, we've built a manual management interface where our community manager can help the bot with this learning task by manually correcting mismatch or unfound matches.
Through our Machine Learning module, with the bot's development and ability to respond being supported and enabled by thousands of users, this is how we are looking to avoid algorithm biases.
With increasing numbers of users able to register complaints through the bot, how are Solidarités International making sure they are able to respond and follow up to these complaints in a timely manner?
Through a specific API, we are able to automatically encode the requests we receive and forward these requests through to the relevant field activity manager. This enables us to automate a major part of the request process, allowing us to provide targeted, relevant and rapid assistance, saving time on having to perform administrative tasks and manually assigning requests to the relevant agent. This gives us a greater chance of responding to all of our requests in a timely manner, maintaining the level of trust that we have built up amongst our user base. To date, we have reduced the average response time for information requests from four hours and 30 minutes (prior to the SOLIS bot) to three minutes and 20 seconds.
How do you navigate the issue of cultural and/or language sensitivities?
When we originally designed the SOLIS bot, it was designed to cater specifically for the Syrian refugee population in Lebanon. One of the key pillars of our approach is to make the bot relevant to the targeted end users. This is why our very first activity was to take the needed time to design the content with the target communities through focus group discussions. We prepared it all in Arabic, making sure the wording and concepts would make sense in the Syrian dialect.
We visited many sites, checking at first what information users needed and what content they consumed in their daily lives, making sure that the language used on the bot was understood by the end users through iterative tests and feedbacks. To improve the bot's performance, we recruited a Community Manager whose role was to consistently improve the language and user friendliness of the bot by including several adjustments throughout the launch phase and the project. Part of that role was to introduce a number of different features on the bot, including Emojis, as well as voice notes registered in a dialect for people that cannot read or write. A user centric design has been crucial for the success of the SOLIS Bot.
How do you overcome the data safeguarding concerns that are often associated with chatbots?
Solidarités International has a high level of data protection and security safeguarding. Protection by design and by default are the basis of our digital projects.
By default, all SOLIS bot users are granted a high level of data protection and we make sure to guarantee these rights while using data management tools. This is why when designing the forms and the content, we pay particular attention to only collect the required data for the completion of the service, in the most anonymous possible way. The strategy is simple; the best protected data is the data we don't have.
By design, any Information Management tool we use, including the bot, must have a minimalistic approach regarding the data circulation. This means that we are looking for systems or software that, due to the way they were built, allow us to install them on local servers or download all data locally to be stored and secured by strong firewalls. We aim to avoid as much as possible, data being transmitted and stored online. The SOLIS bot is not an exception and, whilst it can be deployed in the cloud, we opted to use a local server deployment to maximise data protection.
How do you see the long term future of this project and the opportunities for scaling?
We believe that the SOLIS bot is a game changer in bridging the communication gap between humanitarian organisations and refugees. It allows people in need of humanitarian assistance to have access to support 24/7. As more users actively use the tool, providing feedback, the bot will continue to expand and improve. By designing a bot to be used via WhatsApp, a messaging platform that we know is extremely popular amongst Syrian refugees, we were able to overcome the adoption barriers that we were initially expecting. Our next goal is to develop the bot to be used via several different communication channels, including via SMS, to further increase accessibility.
The SOLIS bot is already being adopted by an additional international NGO as a way of communicating with their user base, and we are in conversations with other similar organisations. This is very exciting news for us, as it validates the work that we have done and shows that the SOLIS bot has a strong use case outside of Solidarités International. We are looking forward to collecting feedback, and we are excited that our technology is being used to build a greater community of users, whilst most importantly improving delivery of humanitarian services.
We have designed the SOLIS bot with open sourced technology, meaning that it can be used in any country and context, restricting its use to humanitarian organisations committing to comply to the sector's protection principle. The next question is, who is ready to adopt it?
The M4H-Solidarités International project is in its final stages, and we look forward to sharing more lessons from the project in the near future. To learn more about the M4H Innovation Fund and the organisations we are working alongside, you can visit our interactive map detailing all of our grantees or download the M4H Innovation Fund Portfolio (2017-2022).
This initiative is currently funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), and supported by the GSMA and its members.
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text:
Q: Inversion Counting Algorithm implementation in Python,cannot unpack non-iterable int object This is my implementation of the inversion counting algorithm using a divide and conquer approach, the problem i am having is it keeps saying there is a type error, cannot unpack non-iterable int object, in line 45, and line 10

*

*A is the unsorted list

*B is the sorted left half of the array

*C is the sorted right half of the array

*D is the merged and sorted array

*X, Y are the number of inversion in the left/right half of the array
respectively

*Z the the inversion that is scattered between B and C, so across the
middle

# count the number of inversions
def SortandCount(A:list):
    length = len(A)
    mid = length//2
    firsthalf = A[ : mid]
    secondhalf = A[mid :]
    if length == 1:
        return 0
    else:
        B, X = SortandCount(firsthalf)
        C, Y = SortandCount(secondhalf)
        D, Z = CountSplitInv(B, C)

    return D, X + Y + Z

def CountSplitInv(B,C):
    # takes 2 sorted list B C merging it into sorted list D
    # as well as counting the inversions
    # B = [1,4] C[2,3,5]
    invnum = 0
    D = []
    i = j = 0

    length = len(B)
    while i < length and j <len(C):
        if (B[i] <= C[j] ):
           D.append(i)
           i +=1
        if(B[i] > C[j]):
            D.append(C[j])
            j+=1
            invnum += len(B) - i
    if(i != length):
        D.extend(B[i:])
    if(j != len(C)):
        D.extend(C[j:])
    return D,invnum

def inversions_countin_wrapper(lst: list) -> int:
    return SortandCount(lst)[1]

A=[14,2,3]
num=SortandCount(A)
print(num)

the error is
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/Users/Algorithms/divide&conquer/inversion.py", line 45, in <module>
    num=SortandCount(A)
  File "/Users/Algorithms/divide&conquer/inversion.py", line 10, in SortandCount
    B, X = SortandCount(firsthalf)
TypeError: cannot unpack non-iterable int object

Appreciate any kind of help!!!
Please !!! Been stuck on this for 3 days (stupid ,i know) >_8<
this is the high level pesudo code i used

A: B, X = SortandCount(firsthalf)

Requires SortandCount to return two values. If the function executes to the end, it will do so. But what if it terminates early?:
    if length == 1:
        return 0

Then it only returns a 0. So there's no value for X. Which is what the error message is telling you.


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Denim, the cornerstone of every man's wardrobe, is now able to fulfill more of life's active endeavors. Bike, hike, climb, run for the train, sit on the plane – all in perfect comfort. The secret? Elastrell, a mechanical stretch polyester yarn that moves with you, dries quickly and doesn't add undue weight. The lion's share is organic cotton, but we've added a C-Zero water resistant finish (the lowest environmental impact option) to make drying even faster and stains even rarer.


Heartbeats are rarely noticeable. The heart pumps blood to the body automatically, and each pump is a heart beat. The beats are commonly not felt. Sometimes the heartbeat can be felt in the chest, neck, or even the throat. When this occurrence happens, a person becomes frightened, not knowing what is going on. The strong heartbeat that is felt is called a heart palpitation. It can feel like a fluttering, the heart pounding, or irregular beating. This sensation can last for just a matter of seconds, or for minutes. Normally, they are nothing for a person to worry about. Experiencing them for the first time may cause the person to panic.
The heart pumps blood throughout the body, giving it the oxygen and other components that it needs. The heart is composed of four chambers that are attached to one way valves. When the heart pumps the blood, it is collected in the upper chambers, and the action causes the blood the be pushed down into the lower chambers. The blood goes into the lungs, is mixed with oxygen, then circulated throughout the body. Each pump of the heart takes about a second, and people are unaware of the process that is taking place because it happens quietly and quickly.
The heart feeling as though it is skipping a beat can be caused by many factors. Sometimes a lifestyle change can be the cause. Strenuous exercise, drinking too much alcohol or caffeine, or sleep deprivation will trigger heart palpitations. Eating foods that are too spicy, using illicit drugs, and tobacco products can also cause heart palpitations. This fluttering affect can also be caused by stress and anxiety, often referred to as a panic attack. This could also cause numbness, dizziness, nausea, chest pain, and shortness of breath. Click this link.
Heart palpitations can also occur as a result of certain medications. People who take medications for asthma, high blood pressure, and anti depressant drugs could experience the sensation of heart fluttering. Anti-fungal medications, and some antibiotics will also cause this effect. People who have heart palpitations, and are taking medications should always read the label for side effects, and check with their doctor. Other causes of heart palpitations could be hormonal changes such as pregnancy, menstrual periods, and menopause. People who have a heart condition, and experience heart palpitations should could check with their doctor to make sure there are no serious complications.


Paradise just around the corner ... in Bintan!
Always wanted to experience (more of) the real Indonesia, and enjoy world-class eco, community and adventure activities between your hammock sessions?
May we welcome you to LooLa then!
The region's most exciting and diverse programs for families, schools, companies, clubs & societies, parties & weddings, summer camps, and for CSR, leadership or team bonding.
Right in Bintan's rural heartland, along its most beautiful coastal strip, you'll find LooLa, built in local style above the sea or at the beach.
Scroll down to see why LooLa is the destination of choice for Singapore schools; for families with (very young) children; and for companies, churches and clubs.
Activities and facilities – for all ages!
Family activities for young and old, at every level of challenge and fitness!
– Skywalk first, then take the leap of faith!
– Zipline: fly into our swimming pool!
LooLa classic - or the LooLa luxury eco villas?
From the year LooLa opened (2000) until now, these chalets have been a success with lovers of the outdoors. Stunningly located, there are 5 such chalets on the sea, and one land chalet with its own beach.
All chalets are made with beautiful wood from renewable resources. They feature large verandas, fans, bathrooms with sun-warmed water, and a room with either 2 or 4 beds which can sleep up till 5 people.
Back-up shower-gel, tooth-paste, and towels are provided, but otherwise please bring your own toiletries.
We wanted to show that one can build beautiful villas with modern luxuries – while staying fully eco.
Spectacularly beautiful with world-class views, these two 300 sqm, 4-bedroom villas feature large tropical living rooms, furniture hand-carved from old boat wood, natural ventilation, as well as a world-first eco aircon system: The sun freezes two giant blocks of ice during the day, and the ice then cools your room at night!
Featured prominently in the Straits Times, 28 Jan 2015, we are sure you will enjoy these villas as much as we do!
For photos of accommodation, scroll up!
We have 2 luxury 4-room eco villas, 6 "classic LooLa" chalets, plus beautiful dormitory space for adventurous groups as big as 300+ people!
Prices in Sin$ and includes accommodation, all food, water & tea and all on-site activities, i.e, all non (*) activities in the list above.
We don't do "++" : Only drinks, insurance, visa (if applicable) & transport-related costs are excluded from prices below.
We recommend coming with a group!
For as few as 10 people, our famous boat and boomnet expedition is included, as well as some other perks.
Please email us for details, and please inquire for family discounts.
Ferries. Ferries leave from Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal (TMFT) to Tanjung Pinang, Bintan. We pick you up upon arrival.
Email us to receive an easy-to-use ferry booking form.
Location. Where is LooLa ? Check the map!
Safety. No roads except our own. Shallow water near the coast. Certified staff with a century+ of combined experience. Founding signatory to Gold safety standards. Our long list of (school) clients is testament to our safety record.
Try Eco! Try (cooking) vegan or vegetarian food, make your trip carbon-positive by planting mangrove trees, give a lifetime of safe water to a local family, and more. See below or ask us how to create a holiday with a difference!
Scroll down for more info on family (and other) programs.
Flying in to Singapore/LooLa? Please consider using this great start up Eco flight search engine that will offset your CO2 emissions.
Have a look at the list of activities listed above (in text and in photos), see even more photos on our facebook site, or have a look at our videos.
Our staff will aim to let you experience our most popular activities (weather, tides and time permitting) and will explain the tentative activity plan upon your arrival.
Let our staff know if there are certain activities you don't want to miss, and they will do their best to plan them in!
For larger family groups (> 10 pax), our staff will aim to do a round of boat and boom-netting, while smaller groups can request this activity at a flat surcharge of $ 200.
For families who like the idea of making a difference to the local community, we strongly encourage you to engage in a community service project . Those families who have tried it invariably list it as one of the highlights of their stay at LooLa. Here is how it works: you typically help improve the quality of life for a single household in a nearby village, for instance by building beds, donating mosquito nets, painting the house, or (our favorite project) building a safe water garden – which gives a local family once again access to clean water, while protecting the environment at the same time. Such projects are quoted strictly at cost, typically a few hundred dollars. If interested, check here and please ask us for more info!
Unite the family members in a happy and exciting location, with no chances for external interruptions; a location which naturally guides everyone to the only option: happy play together!
That place is LooLa: there's no neighbors and no TV (unless you really beg for it 😉 ), but there's a whole lot of very enjoyable yet challenging activities that create mutual trust and bonding.
Try sailing together, and do hair-raising bungee jumps together. Or spend the night together on survivor island … the list is endless.
Simply try to get 10+ father-son pairs together, and we're a go. Naturally, mother-son, father-daugher, and mother-daugher -or whole families- are most welcome too.
A great adventure: a world of fun while building character!
We run such ongoing camps with quality partners such as Centaurs Rugby and CUFA Football. In these camps, kids don't just enjoy the fabulous LooLa experience, but they will also hone their Rugby or Football skils with the experienced coaches from our partners.
These camps also come with a social mission: to host a group of local orphans and local students at LooLa and create an experience all kids will cherish for a lifetime (organize a fun tournament, do LooLa activities together, bake pizza's together, and campfire party).
For a document with more info, click here.
To check availability and to register, please contact our partners or contact us.
Click here to read what parents say about our camps!
Team up with a world leader in sustainability!
Aiming for a world-class CSR experience?
LooLa is not just the world's #1 Eco resort (London, 2015); we were also crowned Singapore's most sustainable SME; and we are a Tripadvisor winner.
If your company is keen to see world-class sustainability in action – while having a great team bonding experience at the same time … Try LooLa!
Stay at LooLa (for those who like rustic) or stay in a hotel of your choice (including our 5-star neighbor), and let us organise a CSR program your staff shall never forget, including our signature program, the Safe Water Garden, which bring lifetime safe water to local schools and households (more details at the end of this section).
Accommodation – take your pick: from homestay to LooLa's eco accommodation to 5-star luxury!
Have a blast: try our region's most exciting team bonding activities!
We've all been there, the usual teambuilding events in fancy hotels…. Sure it's nice, but it's also forgotten the next week.
However, if your company is serious about team bonding and about having an unforgettable experience, then go for it all the way: try LooLa's hair-raising but accessible-to-all adventure activities! The Wala Wala video on our video page shows you what the hard-core team builders can expect.
Join our fast growing list of corporate guests and sponsors and discover that you can have a joyful event that is meaningful, not just on the spot, but long term as well, and allowing for happy and equally meaningful returns.
Join Rabobank, WBCSD, Singtel, Credit Suisse, Maybank, Great Eastern Life, Singtel, Damen, Citibank, Philips, Nokia, Sinarmas, Musim Mas, Borouge, AS Schneider, Geylang United, Milward Brown, Dunhill, MayBank, Volkswagen, M1, AMEX, and more SMEs than we can list!
A wide range of programs, from team and self-confidence enhancing activities to community services to NYAA trips (for groups of 15 - 400 students).
The owners of LooLa, Dr. Marc van Loo and Ms. Isabelle Lacoste, have taught at schools and universities in Singapore since 1991. Isabelle was founder and Coordinator of a 500 student strong French Language program at NTU, and is currently President of the Association of French Teachers in Singapore, as well as IB CAS coordinator at GESS. Marc was Professor of Math and Physics at a local affiliate of CalState U as well as Coordinator of Critical Thinking at NTU, and has taught mathematics, physics and TOK at ACS(I), SJI(I), UWCSEA, and GESS. He is chief editor of an authorative Cambridge University Press book on the IB Diploma (detailed educational resume is posted on this book site).
We have developed (and continue to review) LooLa together with Outdoor Ed specialists from visiting schools to ensure we continue to deliver the best educational programs this region has on offer.
This approach has made LooLa the favourite destination for overseas school trips. In 2010, for instance, we ran around 100 (!) school trips, including 8 level camps, and our regular school visitors include Singaporean schools (at Primary, Secondary, ITE, Poly and JC level) and many International schools based in Singapore – see here for a more complete list.
Character-building; Leadership; team bonding; survival; ruggedness and adventure; self-esteem, self-confidence, self-awareness; global, national and cultural awareness, appreciation of (marine) nature and local culture; programs incorporating history, economy, maths, science and eco curriculum; programs for NYAA, NPCC, TAF; and our celebrated CIPs (Community Involvement Programs, pioneered by Loola since the year 2000) – take your pick and we will personalize the program for you!
"In a nut shell, our Sec 3 camp was EXCELLENT! I have done numerous camps both locally and abroad for the full level (i.e. with over 300 pupils each time) and LooLa ranks right there at the top. I dare say that I am already thinking of camp LooLa 2008!
We encourage schools to participate in our CIP (community) programs. Do a sports or arts exchange, do a joint eco tour, build roads or beds, make a difference for orphans, install mosquito nets, adopt a local school, and perhaps the most meaningful of them all: build Safe Water Gardens! The possibilities are endless … see the next section for more!
Get involved with the community - and help the environment at the same time!
Isabelle Lacoste and Marc van Loo (the "La" and "Loo") founded LooLa in the belief that a good business can and should benefit all other stakeholders too: our local community, our staff, and our guests.
The wonderful news is that so many of our guests agree – and enthusiastically participate in our community involvement projects (see next column).
Our staff are all recruited from Bintan itself, and the vast majority is from our local kampung (village). To encourage them as business-owners, we passed the drinks business over to them – which is why drinks are the only item not included in our packages.
Our first Eco award (most inspiring Eco resort in Asia, WildAsia 2012) inspired us to embark on the next eco step towards becoming a truly sustainable business: an ambitious project to recycle all our wastewater clean back into the water table, collect most of our water through rainwater harvesting, generate all our power via solar energy, and build the world's first two eco villas where even the aircon is powered by the sun.
We are delighted to report that by January 2015, all the hardware was in place and we are now working to get the most out of the systems!
Together with a growing group of educational and business partners, we continue to optimise our eco systems. The aims: to design systems that are so good and cheap that local households can use them, and to use the systems for an engaging education program for both local and foreign guests.
For our guests who want to make their community project in Indonesia a success, there is an easy recipe: just bring a ready smile, and a willingness to experience a different way of doing things!
With the changing needs of our community, our programs change too, but to give just a few examples of projects that work very well: organize a sports and/or arts exchange, build / repair local roads, build a basketball field, place mosquito nets for villagers or help upgrade their houses –see photos below!
But most of all: help a local family to a lifelong system of safe water management: a Safe Water Garden. Please check our video page for the two videos that showcase this project, at the family and at the company CSR level, and check the CSR and school section for further info.
LooLa is proud to present local dishes with an international twist, in combination with classic family favourite meals such as (self-made!) pizza.
We'd like to call special attention to this: local plant-based (vegetarian and vegan) dishes are incredibly good, but often go un-recognised. To remedy this, LooLa is proudly offering a wide set of local plant-based delicacies, some of which are photographed below.
As a member of the global sustainable business community, LooLa believes that high standards for quality and safety are in the best interest of all stakeholders. As such, we are proud to be a part of an expert community-driven initiative to build and maintain such standards with an open source principle.
The standards at hand were initiated by a dozen of Singapore's leading practitioners from both the public and private sector, whose pooled experiences span well over a century of senior man-years. They articulated a set of high standards that reflect the best of their joint wisdom in order to serve all stakeholders, with safety and quality being paramount.
But good standards are not static.
Everyone with a stake and an interest in maintaining high quality and safe overseas trip experiences should be able to contribute.
LooLa endeavours to be part of this ongoing effort, by striving to adhere to the standards, as well as to maintain and further develop them.
Please note that we have stopped adding/updating this section since 2012, but of course Tripadvisor continues, and we're very proud of our local staff for having received the highest Tripadvisor accolades: for five years running (2013 – 2017) we're a Tripadvisor world top 1% family resort!
The guest list tables below features a partial list of our school guests (many of which come back every year!) and a partial list of publications and TV coverage of LooLa. For testimonials, see further down!
NTU + NUS + SMU + SIM !
to see details, please click on the + signs below / to close details, press another + !!
Let me start by telling how much we enjoyed ourselves in LooLa. All the activities, food and accommodation were great. On top of that, let me highlight the fact that your staff has been the best I have seen so far in my five year stint in Asia.
In a nut shell, it was EXCELLENT! I have done numerous camps both locally and abroad for the full level (i.e. with over 300 pupils each time) and LooLa ranks right there at the top. I dare say that I am already thinking of camp LooLa 2008! In greater detail, here goes: The camp site was close enough for everyone to be in close contact with each other yet spacious enough that we did not get into each other's way during the activities. The absence of mosquitoes was comforting. The tents were ingeniously built and sturdy [ note that since Jan 2010 we have beautiful dormitories for over 350 students!, the LooLa team], and provided comfortable accommodations for the pupils. The huts were adequate and the in-house shower and water closet was a great asset. The new 'hall' was splendid and became the focal point for all activities, eg. Meals, meetings, rest, assembly, games. The staff at LooLa were friendly and helpful, always seeing to our needs and making us feel right at home. Food was plentiful and good and I even had to request that the portions be reduced to prevent wastage. There was sufficient drinking water at all times. As to the Singaporean facilitators you engaged, the instructors were friendly yet firm when required. They managed to connect with the pupils from the onset and built rapport easily. They facilitated the various activities very well and constantly engaged the pupils throughout every free moment. They showed care and concern for the pupils and really put in their best to ensure that my pupils enjoyed the camp. A testimony to your operations: my pupils did not want to leave LooLa and asked why they could not stay on longer. Yes, you can ask Dul [LooLa's director] as he was there and even jokingly agreed to build a hut for them if they stayed back!
Farhana, Tanjung Katong level camp in March 2010!
I am Farhana, representing Class 3B from Tanjong Katong Secondary School and we were at LooLa from 2nd-5th March 2010. We just wish to thank you and the people of LooLa for the unforgetable experience we had. It was the best camp ever and we couldn't stop thinking of LooLa back at school! The boomnet and flying fox were amazing and is definitely what we would not have been able to do back in Singapore. Memories in LooLa we would not forget – LooLa made us all believe we could do anything and conquer great heights. It was so relaxing and was a great break from studies with the great ocean breeze. The people in LooLa were so friendly and they were so caring! They would calm us down when we were nervous and of all the camps we have been, we never had trainers that were so friendly and homely. The food was great and the accommodation was perfect! Most importantly, we all had a blast! The CIP with the orphans was awesome and very, very meaningful. Some of us even cried when we had to leave cos' LooLa was just heavenly. Our new-found family back in LooLa would always be part of us and we will be back–we want to!!
We had a great time at LooLa – this is definitely not the last time you are going to hear from us!
We had the most relaxing weekend in LooLa's! As usual, the weather there was much better than in Singapore, so we got a very good sun tan and some sun burns. For the first time in my life I was not just participating on a boat but sailing myself – I just LOVED it! It's so easy! Well, ok, we capsized twice and my friend slid in the water a couple more times but it was soo much fun! We did kayaking, enjoyed the stars, loved our chalet, its floor, the veranda – everything.
Your staff is very helpful and friendly as well. As they heard we'ld prefer a water chalet they even changed our chalet from No. 6 onshore to no 2 on the water in the evening so they even had to clean it again. Different to many other places in this region all of them feel very responsible for the guest's wellbeing and we were amazed they even followed us – by kayaks or sail boats – in a distance to ensure we would not be in difficulties. Once I lost my snorkel mask when cap sizing & immediately three of the boys helped me searching it for over 30 min. on the ground until one of them found it. I highly appreciated that and gave them a tip later. Your staff Ronny even keeps two kinds of classic music tapes for young and old couples in the car, and explained us a lot.
EtonHouse Primary school was one of the first primary schools to visit us (in 2006, after which they came back three times in a row in 2007!), and they taught us a lot about how to adapt the environment and activities to bring out the best for a school group of this age. Other than that, here is what they wrote: The kids had a wonderful time. Your staff were excellent. They were attentive to all our needs and made sure that everything went smoothly. The food was excellent; possibly the best I have ever seen in 35 years of attending school camps. Bravo! The rock wall was a big hit, and the boom netting was sensational: the kids are still talking about it!
– Andre Mevissen, in charge of 'groep 7'.
– Joice Wassink, in charge of 'groep 7' in 2009.
After successful visits every year from 2001 onwards, the ITE Bedok is planning to work together with the American School to develop LooLa's community programs further, and help building up local schools.
Hi Marc, thank you for all your help in arranging for the trip and for answering the numerous questions that I flooded your email with – the trip was a fruitful one through the incorporation of your activities and our own consultant's programme. All my students have three word to describe the entire experience – LOOLA was FUN!
I have attached a photo taken before we left LOOLA on the last day.
The UWC has visited us well over 20 times. Students went twice with telescopes for star-gazing trips (since the night sky is so clear at LooLa), IB students English did their oral exam at LooLa, and much more … As a result, UWC decided in 2004 to offer LooLa as one of their week-long grade 9 trips. Out of the more than 10 local options, parents voted overwhelmingly for 'LooLa'.
– Prior to departure, a good organization by Marc and Isabelle, the owners. They have all the experience and flexibility to answer your needs.
– a variety of sports and physical activities specially designed for team building.
'… a pleasant ride towards LooLa that brought back memories of Singapore Kampongs of the late 70s. Upon arrival we were welcomed by the friendly yet respectful staff of LooLa. We were pleased with the cosy chalets, and happy to find there is no problem with mosquitoes at all.
Our kids took an immediate liking to the telescope and the stars. Thousands of them lit up the sky and it is a real wonder. Our students even took the trouble of waking up at 4am to watch the moon rise through the telescope, and then at 7 am again to see the sun rise out of the sea! These are truly sights to behold.
The rock climbing was challenging, but there's something for every level: easy, intermediate and difficult. We also did the flying fox to into the sea. It was fun and the kids loved it. The canoeing, rafting and sailing was fun too. We did activities coupled with low rope elements which were superb for team work and confidence building. Everthing we did there was 100% safe.
The students thoroughly enjoyed their 3 days at LooLa. It opened their eyes to the wonders of nature which we so miss in Singapore. They were fascinated by the beach, the sunset and all the wonderful sights that LooLa offered them. The activities brought them out their shells as they were not conscious of their physical self, and everyone was doing all that they could to ensure everyone succeeded in whatever task was set. With the help of the wonderful staff at LooLa, the trip got even better. Thanks for a great job guys. We will be back !!
My group had a wonderful time at the resort. My students especially enjoyed the time when I brought them out during low tide to check out the marine life. We found sea cucumbers, starfishes, shrimps, various fishes (including a puffer fish), clams, crabs (hermit crabs too!) and other amazing stuff! it was the first time that my students had the opportunity to interact with authentic marine life up close. Your staff was very helpful, we enjoyed the food and the activities, and we felt very safe throughout our entire visit to Bintan. We hope to return soon!
We had a really good time at LooLa and really appreciated our 2006 Hari Raya holiday weekend. LooLa's staff is amazing: always there to help and take care of everyone, and very professional and nice with the kids! Thank you very much, we are sure to come back!
Our trip was wonderful, thanks to your hospitable staff. It was unfortunate that we did not manage to bring a larger group as the experience was truly enriching. Thank you for the arrangements to visit the orphanage which made our trip meaningful and heartwarming. Thank you for also accommodating to the needs of our Muslim students who were fasting. Meals were delicious and drinking water was plentiful.
We've fallen in love with your resort so we'll meet again next year!
Typically, there are a number of ferries in the morning, just after mid-day, late afternoon, and then again at 6 and 7 pm. Return times are similar.
To assist you making the ferry booking as easy as possible, please email us at info@loola.net to get our Ferry Booking form.
Contact us + check galleries & videos in links below!