text:
home | metro silicon valley index | columns | cult leader
Cult Leader
Buggin': The problem with movies that witness madness
By Steve Palopoli
I HAVE NO no idea why I thought I had to see Bug. I don't like William Friedkin movies. I don't even like William Friedkin. Did you read Easy Riders, Raging Bulls? The guy is possibly Hollywood's most famous asshole. And c'mon, The Exorcist? Really? Great effects, yes, and Linda Blair was cool as hell as a child actor, but here's the question a real movie fan needs to ask him or herself: If you truly love nonconformist movies from that era—the experimentalism, the gritty realism, the complex characterizations—how can you like The Exorcist? It was a deliberate rejection of everything that was good about movies from that time—not to mention a desperate attempt to preserve God-fearing, sexually repressed conformity—and to me it's enjoyable only as pure camp somewhere between Reefer Madness and the Amityville Horror. Which is to say, not so much.
And I hate movies about people going nuts. Not because they're bad, but because if they're even marginally effective they totally freak me out. Other things like monsters and ghosts and all that can be scary, too, but they're generally fun, or at least provide some kind of rush. Mental illness is just grueling and sad. Except for supervillains and mad scientists, of course, but I think you know what I mean. Oh, and you know what else I hate? Ashley Judd's acting. Seriously, I saw Double Jeopardy eight years ago and decided that was it for me and Ashley. And don't even get me started about Harry Connick Jr.
So it's very possible I'm the last person in the world who should have gone to see Bug, Friedkin's adaptation of Tracy Letts' play about a crazy Army vet who drags a down-on-her-luck waitress into his paranoia in a motel room. It definitely got to me—not as much as say, Charles Beaumont's Brain Dead, which practically gave me a panic attack—but Bug gets pretty unhinged. I can't say I enjoyed it, but it got my attention. Mainly, though, I noticed that it has cult film written all over it. Just read what people are posting about it on the web—it's a classic case. The people who don't like it tend to go straight to ridiculous hyperbole like "worst movie ever," while its defenders instantly jump to the conclusion that anyone who doesn't like it must not "get" it. Mainly, they claim naysayers went in expecting a straight horror movie and felt let down by the lack of gore.
Certainly, I think Bug had a serious marketing problem. It would be very easy to feel misled by the trailer, especially since it's misleading in every conceivable way. (And it shows the ending just to get a spectacular action shot, which is the lowest blow in the book when it comes to trailers.) It's also true that not everyone will be down with this film. For the most part, it's a filmed stage play, more likely to be appreciated by those who enjoyed David Mamet's early movies than horror fans.
Still, I read one anonymous posting that I thought provided an interesting counterpoint for not only fans of Bug but for all cult films: "I just had to post because I think it's hilariously arrogant and elitist when I see the myriad posts saying that if you didn't enjoy the movie, then you didn't 'get it.' That really is funny. I guess you've never noticed the raw number of people out there who are saying the same things about their particular little alternative movie picks ... I mean, how could anyone possibly say that if you don't enjoy a movie, you obviously don't understand it? Don't people realize movies are a matter of personal taste? It's perfectly reasonable to assume someone saw Bug (or any other movie), understood it fully, but just wasn't entertained for whatever reason."
Of course, that's easy to say when it's not your cult movie. It certainly won't convince those who are reading all kinds of deep meaning into Friedkin's latest. I'd like to argue the finer points of all this, but I really have to go put on my tin-foil hat, before the secret government agency that has been set up to make me like Ashley Judd beams anything else into my head.
Cult Leader is a weekly column about the state of cult movies and offbeat corners of pop culture. Email feedback or your most recent sighting of black helicopters here. To check out a previous edition of Cult Leader, click to the Cult Leader archive page.


"AMBA, I always feel lime you're right there with me. The most relevant contributions you offer synchronistically show up in my e-mail. The feelings of connectedness are something I am extremely grateful to the higher power for. I really cherish…"
"I think you're a really excellent being. I keep telling myself that if I see your name on my IM panel I have to reach out to you and say so. I don't want to wait, though. So I'll just tell you. I think you're super fabulous!…"
"Hi Namaste! Wish you a Very Happy Birthday to YOU with all good wishes and God's Blessings. Every person's life is a plan of God. Enjoy this wonderful day with love & light. Tercy""
I live in Boston and I love my job.
The path to self healing opened up for me a few years back. I felt led in this direction, and insisted on following that intuition.
I'm a competent sounding board, and strive to deliver all critical assessment constructively without getting in my own way. I'm happy to share personal experiences, insights, and exchange wisdom.
Hi Namaste! Wish you a Very Happy Birthday to YOU with all good wishes and God's Blessings. Every person's life is a plan of God. Enjoy this wonderful day with love & light. Tercy"


text:
Oxford Recovery Center Gains Expansion Approval
By Mike Kruzman / news@whmi.com
A medical facility in Green Oak Township has gained site plan approval for an expansion that will more than double its size.
The Oxford Recovery Center, located at the southwest corner of Maltby and Whitmore Lake Road offers hyperbaric oxygen therapy and applied behavioral analysis (ABA)for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Representatives were before the Green Oak Township Planning Commission during their online meeting Thursday night for special land use and site plan approvals.
The existing facility already has special use approval, and though commissioners felt it should be an easy approval for the expansion, an issue came up that prompted a temporary delay in its granting. Planning Commissioner Lary Marshall pointed out a discrepancy between two sections of the township's zoning ordinance that differ between voiding the permit if action isn't taken in certain amount of time. Marshall pointed out between Section 3844e and 3844f1a that one voids the permit after one year, and the other after two. He said his opinion would be, considering the state of industry and being able to get work done under current pandemic conditions, that they may want to make an allowance and use the two-year limit in this case. He suggested at some future point in time they resolve that point of difference in the ordinance. The site's engineer was on the Zoom call and said they were anxious to get started on the project, insinuating that a possible voiding of the permit wouldn't be an issue. The planning commission still voted to direct their planner to draft the resolution to be considered for approval at a future meeting.
As for the site plan, that was unanimously approved of. Oxford will now be able to build a 35,652 square-foot expansion to their existing 31,810 square-foot facility. The project will consist of alterations to assist the hyperbaric program, while also providing a covered entry and interior environment for their ABA program which incorporates a simulated small-town streetscape. While free to start building on the site now, they can't actually use it as intended until that special land use permit passes.
Livingston County Salvation Army Extends Coats For Coats
Free COVID Mask Drive-Thru Event At Hamburg Senior Center
Lawsuit Alleges Racial Discrimination Against Local Real Estate Agents

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


High Point Homes and Interiors, Inc.
This is a contemporary home built in Kissing Camels Estates in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The exterior of the home is done in Indian flagstone. The interior of the home is finished in simple luxury.


A refreshing blend of lime, mint and hyacinth.
COMMENTS: This fragrance oil smells amazing and worked very well in cold process soap. I used a palm free high butter recipe and did a gradients design. My soap blended with the fragrance very well and the scent retention is great. It accelerated very slightly but this worked to my advantage because of the design i was doing.
"Wow. Fresh Rain that's grounded"
COMMENTS: I made this into a CP soap and it held its fragrance well! Love it!
COMMENTS: Perfect crisp clean rain scent. Reminds me of Irish Spring. Performed perfectly in cold process.
"Wasn't sure on this one!!"
COMMENTS: We tried this on a whim and really wasn't impressed when we smelled the fragrance in the bottle but gave it a try - WOW I'm so glad we did. The fragrance exploded into a fresh, clean, lovely smell. It acted great in CP soap and held its fragrance very well. We will order this again!!
"Good Fragrance for Soap and Smelly Jellies"
COMMENTS: I like this fresh scent on its own but I usually mix it with another fragrance for one of my favorite men's soaps. It's a staple. Both men & women like it.
"One of my most popular fragrances"
COMMENTS: Clean fragrance that's great for men and women.
COMMENTS: The description doesn't do this fragrance justice. While per the description of "a blend of lime, mint and hyacinth" you might think that it'll smell like old ladies and chewing gum, you'd be completely wrong. This scent screams clean and freshly showered. Think fresh running rapids or snow capped mountain vistas. This scent is positively refreshing and a delight. Behaves beautifully in CP soap, scent retention is excellent.
COMMENTS: This is my favorite scent to put in my novelty soaps. It seems to appeal to everyone. It is also clear so I can use it in the crystal clear soap base without it tinting yellow.
COMMENTS: I have to admit this is my all time favorite FO. I have a bar upstairs that is over a year old and the fragrance is still strong. Behaves well - no acceleration or ricing.
COMMENTS: I didn't read anywhere in the discription that this is a Lever 2000 type fragrance. There is nothing pure rain about it. I label my soap with the name "Fresh" but customers recognize it for what it is.
"As described fresh clean smell"
COMMENTS: Had no issues with this FO. No acceleration or heating. Holds well in CP soap. Customers like it because it's familiar.
COMMENTS: Men seem to go for this scent more than my female customers, and they say it smells like a popular soap they buy in the store (only my homemade soap is better!). It is a nice clean fresh scent. It works very well in cold process soaps - no seizing or speeding up trace.
COMMENTS: My customers really like this scent. It is a nice clean smell and not too overpowering(in my opinion). I sold half of my inventory in one weekend and will need to make more right away to keep in stock at all times. I also think it is a nice scent any time of year.
COMMENTS: This one is definitely a hit! I wanted something that was wet, without being incredibly sweet, and "Pure Rain" delivers that. I can pick out the hints of flowers and plants - although the mint is completely lost - along with a really crisp, wet smell of a rain storm! If you are looking for something that smells like a candle smell, this may not be for you, but if you want a natural, real "rainy day" scent, then this is what you have been looking for!
COMMENTS: My customers think this smell is "clean," and they love it. It is a strong scent, so a little will go far. It is too strong for me, but perhaps using less will help. I will try it again and let you know.
COMMENTS: Performed perfectly in cold process soap making. I did blend my own scent using this and 4 other fragrances and essential oils, but there was no ricing, no acceleration, and no discoloration!! Smells wonderful too!
COMMENTS: Lovely clean & crisp! Used 1 oz ppo Yogurt & honey RTCP, using 33% discount. No Acceleration or Discoloration. Stays true with no fading after 4 months. If you like Irish Spring, this is very similar but IMHO even better! Great job WSP, I'm back for a bigger bottle.
COMMENTS: This is not even remotely refreshing. It is so strong in the bottle and it smelled exactly like some sort of bug spray once soaped. I would not buy this again.
COMMENTS: This is absolutely my most-used scent! I use it for a variety of soaps from lighthouses to tractors and I always get positive comments on this scent.
COMMENTS: While I can't smell the lime, the mint, or the hyacinth, this does have the "just clean soap" scent that is reminiscent of "clean" scented soap. We like it a lot.
COMMENTS: I personally didn't like this scent at all; however, it is very strong and appeals to men and customers that aren't used to more natural scents. Very close to Lever. No soaping issues. Go light!
"Cant say much other than Love this scent"
"Was disappointed in the fragrance"
COMMENTS: I guess I paid too much attention to the name and was expecting something light and airy. What I got was a fragrance that smelled kind of like a generic, store-bought deodorant soap. Nothing special here, imho. I guess this would be good for people who LIKE store-bought deodorant soaps, but that's not why I make handcrafted soap. In every way I want my bars to reflect a unique product that you can't get in stores, so I was kind of surprised by this. Like I said, I guess I didn't pay attention to the fact that it's compared to Lever. Still, it made a BEAUTIFUL bar of soap. Slight acceleration but no discolor.
COMMENTS: All I can say is WOW! One of my favorite fragrances!!!
"Strong and a little musty smelling"
COMMENTS: I was looking for a rain scent that would capture the smell of desert rain (I live in the desert). This rain scent is a little "cologney" smelling, so it's not quite what I wanted but it's still a very nice scent. It's very fresh smelling with a little musty smell to it too. Very strong scent.
COMMENTS: This is a good clean, unisex smell. Soaps very well and only 1/2 an ounce per pound is needed for soap. The fragrance caused no problems when soaping. The fragrance sticks and smells the same in the bottle and in the soap.
"Wonderful clean scent for soap"
COMMENTS: I used this in my goat's milk cold process soap and it is one of my favorite's so far. It is such a fresh clean scent. No discoloration, no ricing and no seizing.
COMMENTS: I personally liked this scent very much, as well as many of my customers. My sister-in-law even liked it and THAT is something. It gives a nice clean rain smell which is not too overpowering. Its a good unisex scent. This scent held up very well in my soap, as well as lotions and creams.
COMMENTS: It smells great out of the bottle, and even better in the soap. I think it smells some what like Cool Water just not as strong. I like it and it was easy to work with no ricing, no seizing and no discoloring. I like it all around. Will purchase again.
COMMENTS: `Great fresh clean smell!!! love this in lotions and conditioners!
COMMENTS: I RECEIVED TWO OUNCES AS A FREE SAMPLE. IT'S NOW ON MY LIST TO ADD TO OUR SHOP AFTER THE HOLIDAYS.
COMMENTS: Love this scent. This was exactly what I was looking for, it smells nice and clean without being overwhelming. I made a batch of soaps with this and colored it with the sample pack of blue sparkle mica that was sent as a gift sample. This scent is a keeper for me.
COMMENTS: This is a very nice clean fragrance. I don't pick up on the lime in this, but this is one of my best selling men's soaps. Women love this too and I've had many women purchase this for themselves. This is a keeper for me because of the great feedback I've received.
COMMENTS: Men really like this fragrance in my MP soap. It also works well in shaving whip.
COMMENTS: If you're looking for a fragrance that smells clean, refreshing, and is unisex...this is the fragrance for you! This is my hubby's absolute favorite!
COMMENTS: I bought Pure Rain Type Fragrance Oil 434 mainly for male customers, but many ladies like it as well. I will have to re-order very soon. It is a very fresh scent. Performs well in CP soap, with no acceleration.
COMMENTS: I always sell out of this one. Great in CP soap with no acceleration or overheating. Men and women love it.
COMMENTS: This has always been a top seller for us in CP soap. Does well with men in lotion as well. Definitely a "Lever 2000" and/or "Irish Spring" type of smell. Throws great in soy. Very slight acceleration in CP for me, no discoloration. A "must have" for our line.
COMMENTS: I tried to make the CP soap light blue but it turned out purple so I called it Purple Rain. Lovely fresh smell. Good seller.
COMMENTS: Excellent fragrance for cold process and melt and pour soaps. This one sells out every time I bring it to the market. No problems with discoloration, ricing, seizing or acceleration. It's very strong, so I'd use it at around .7 oz ppo if using the cold process method.
• No ricing, seizing or acceleration.
• Best seller at markets.
COMMENTS: Another good fragrance. Performs really well in cold process soap. Doesn't seize. The men and women love this soap.
COMMENTS: Nice, clean scent that's wonderful for soap.
COMMENTS: Very popular with men and women who want a fresh, clean, "soapy" scent. This is a keeper!
COMMENTS: This is very nice in CP. No separation or seizing. Wonderful clean scent without being flowery.
COMMENTS: I have no idea how the Lever 2000 one smells, but this is the epitome of a shower fresh scent. I can't imagine anyone not enjoying this. Clean and Fresh!
COMMENTS: You could not ask for a cleaner, fresher scent than this one! I love it and so do my customers!
COMMENTS: Great Lever Type, I love this!
COMMENTS: I HAVE A BRAND NEW STORE AND MY CUSTOMERS ALREADY CONSIDER THIS ONE TO BE A FAVORITE!
COMMENTS: This smells absolutely fabulous right out of the bottle. Can't wait to get it into soap!
COMMENTS: Could not be a closer dupe and held up in CP like a champ. A winner!
COMMENTS: I purchased this for a friend and she and I both agree it smells EXACTLY like Lever soap. NICE!
COMMENTS: This fragrance is one of my top sellers! Very unisex! Very fresh & cool- like a shower!I love it!
"I love Lever 2000 scent but is there more than one version of that soap? I don't recall ever seeing a Spring version in stores and wouldn't care for a scent that smells like Irish Spring. I had hoped Pure Rain was the original standard version of 2000, but it isn't? Thanks ahead."
Staff Answer This is the only Pure Rain version we have carried. We are not sure if there are other types of Pure Rain sold by Lever 2000.


7 Did anybody verify if including the word "Drupal" in the name of drupal.SE is under an automatic license?
4 How do we maintain/improve tone of site?
2672 How to delete a remote tag?
375 How do you mysqldump specific table(s)?


USD $112.03 Avg. Saving vs. Banks ?
Whatever the reason - whether it be to fund university study, buy property, repatriate salary or profits from the sale of property, or pay for imports - it is very easy to transfer money from the US to UK . Money transfer companies must be registered on a state by state basis, but there are otherwise no restrictions on sending money to the UK, and plenty of money transfer providers.
The UK and US visa systems can be complex. Most people moving to the either country to work, however, will be sponsored by a company which will handle the process. If you are planning on moving to the UK to work and so are considering sending funds to finance this - you will need to obtain a valid visa. The UK has a points-based visa system. When moving the UK, the most common type of work visa is a Tier 2, which covers, among other things, inter-company transfers, and people with new job offers. the latter is General visa, for which there is a quota, currently of 20,700 (unless the job pays over £150,000). The Tier 1 visa is aimed at a small number of 'high-value migrants' such as entrepreneurs and investors; entrepreneurs are required to have access to at least £50,000 in capital, while investors are required to have at least £1,000,000 of disposable funds. (Income and proceeds from such investments can be sent back to the US).
If moving to the US, the most common visas are non-immigrant visas where you are either sponsored by your UK company (L class visas) or moving over to work for a US firm sponsoring you (H class visas). Students obtain F visas and there are also E class visas available for investment and entrepreneurial activities. You will need to have obtained your visa before you can start work in the US. Further details are on the USCIS website.
To open a bank account in the UK in order to receive funds, you will need proof of income and employment, evidence of a local address, and your passport. The introduction of the US's Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) in mid 2014 has made opening a foreign bank account harder, however, as the regulatory demands have become a big deterrent for the banks. FATCA requires that foreign banks, investment funds and insurers - or in some cases such as the UK, the national revenue agency - hand over to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) information about accounts with over US$50,000 held by Americans.
If moving to or establishing a business in the US, opening a bank account there, even from the UK, from which to send funds back to the UK is a little more straightforward. It may be easier, especially if you will be in a major city, to open an account with one of the larger UK banks such as HSBC or Santander, which took over Sovereign Bank in the US. Alternatively, you could open an account in the UK with one of a handful of US banks such as Citigroup and Chase which have some branches in the UK, albeit mostly in London. Once you have this account setup, it will provide you with a easy to use base for any funds earned in the UK as well as any overseas money transfers that you make from the US into the UK.
Unlike some US banks, UK banks do not charge for the majority of small transactions, such as issuing cheques and drawing money from ATMs. In the UK, most credit cards come with a chip and PIN (remember your PIN!) as opposed to many US credit cards that still require a signature when making a purchase.
The UK tax year runs from April 6 to April 5 of the following year, whereas the US tax year is a calendar year. This difference will have implications for your tax planning. There is a double tax treaty between the UK and the US but this does not mean you will be able to receive allowances on all taxable items. This is a very important area to plan in advance of moving over to the UK from the US, especially if you are considering buying a property or investing and will be transferring a significant amount of dollars to pounds and watching the dollar exchange rate.
The UK has become an increasingly attractive place for foreigners to invest in property. For some overseas purchasers this could be borne out of a desire to acquire residential property for their own and/or family's occupation, or for investment. Commercial property is also seen as an attractive investment. There are few restrictions on foreign nationals or overseas companies buying or renting property, with the main considerations being related to tax. As such, it is recommended that you engage specialist tax advice in advance of your property search, whether private residential or commercial investment, particularly if you or a company is non-resident in the UK.
The UK is the favourite destination for American studying overseas, with the total number enrolled at all levels having risen 13% since the 2008/09 academic year to 16,233 in 2012/13. American students make up 5% of all non-EU student in the UK. Postgraduate study is more popular than undergrad, but the latter is growing faster. Shorter degrees - typically three years for undergrad and one year for a Masters - means that they not only take less time but also cost less. According to a 2013 study by HSBC, the average annual cost per year of study in the UK for international students is just over US$30,000, of which two thirds is fees and the rest living costs; this compares favourably with the average total cost in the US of US$38,516 per year, and federal loans and most US scholarships can be used to fund study in the UK. Another attraction of study in the UK is both the ease of visiting continental Europe, with lots of cheap flights available. The top five UK universities hosting US students are St Andrew's, Oxford, Edinburgh, University College London, and Westminster.
A Tier 4 (General) student visa is required to study in the UK. Once you have a place at an accredited institution, the process of applying is simple, but you have to be able to demonstrate that you have sufficient savings to fund your course and cost of living. Part-time employment of up to 20 hours a week in term-time is allowed on a Tier 4 (although you can work full-time in a non-permanent role during term breaks, and pursue a sandwich course). When your course finishes, you can work full time hours for up to four months. You can also bring dependents on a Tier 4, but must be able to demonstrate sufficient savings to cover them too.
The UK is a major source of imports to the US, with the US$52.5bn worth of goods and services flowing westwards in 2013 accounting for 2.3% of total imports into the US. The UK and US have their own bilateral trade relations, but also work through the EU. When importing goods from the UK, you will need to declare your imports to customs and pay VAT and duty on them. Some goods may require an import licence. Given the volume of trade between the two countries, there are many options available when financing imports, transferring money to the UK, and organising shipping.


text:
David Abrams
EMAIL DAVID ABRAMS
Fobbit: a novel
War is hell. It can also be funny as hell.
Home of the Brave: Somewhere in the Sand
Short story anthology
Fire and Forget
The Quivering Pen
A blog about books
Grove/Atlantic
Sobel Weber Associates Inc
David Abrams is represented by Nat Sobel
For the latest blog posts, visit The Quivering Pen
Ladies and gentlemen, allow me introduce you to <I>Fobbit</I> the Cover
I feel like an impresario standing center stage beaming out at the audience, one hand on the curtain as he's about to pull it back and reveal the blockbuster opera he's been nurturing and rehearsing for the past several weeks. That's right, for the better part of a month, I've harbored a secret from you. The terrific team at Grove/Atlantic has been working really hard to find just the right cover design for my novel Fobbit. My hat's off to them for the jacket they've come up with; it can't be easy trying to illustrate a story that is one part dark horror show of the Iraq War and one part zany antics of public affairs soldiers.
I bought this last night and have started reading it. You have a nice style and as I really enjoyed MASH I am looking forward to reading this story
- Frank Zubek
Thanks so much, Frank!
- David Abrams
Thanks for Asking: "So, How Was the War?" poems by Hugh Martin
Last weekend, I took a short break from the poets laureate for a quick trip through a 28-page chapbook published last year by The Kent State University Press: So, How Was the War? by Hugh Martin. It was a quick read, but it was also an unforgettable one. Let's put it this way: if these poems were drinks, then I spent the weekend tossing fiery shots of whiskey down my gullet.
Martin is a veteran of the Iraq War and, as the title of the chapbook implies, his poems are all about war, the preparation for war, and, more pressingly, how to deal with the post-war aftermath of what happened over there.
With Billy and Louis in Baghdad
It was a hot day in Baghdad.
Okay, that's like saying "It was a rainy day in Portland." But on this particular day in Baghdad, it was really bad. As if the heat had been oven-baked. Water boiled in swimming pools. Eyeballs blistered between blinks. Dogs just lay down in the streets of al-Dora and died, not even having the will to make it to evening when it would be a relatively cool 89 degrees.
It was hot, but I was sitting in my hooch on Camp Liberty at the western edge of Baghdad oblivious to the fiery air outside the trailer. I sat on the edge of my bed, a book in my hands, my imagination in the middle of a snowstorm. I was air-conditioned by words. I was reading about winter in a novel by Louis L'Amour.
Laughter on the Battlefield
It's true, war is hell. But in the right hands—holding the pen askew at just the right angle—war can also be funny as hell. As long as there has been a military machine—and self-important leaders turning the crank which turns the cogs (soldiers)—there have been novels poking fun at armies clashing on the battlefield (and in certain Strangelovian "war rooms").
You may say, "There's nothing hilarious about people dying for their country." And you'd be right. It's not funny, and I don't intend to mock those great men and women—some of whom I knew personally—who have died during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Vietnam, World War II and all the other conflicts past, present and future. But I also believe that people need to be startled into hearing and seeing the truth—I keep going back to Flannery O'Connor's explanation of why she used grotesque humor in her fiction: "To the hard of hearing you shout and for the almost blind you draw large and startling figures." Telling a war story with comic characters large as billboards is just one way to make the truth stick.
FOBBIT has been ISBN'ed
Sound the trumpets! Load the glitter cannons! Release the doves!
Fobbit has been ISBN'ed (and yes, Mr. Grammarian, I'm verbing a noun). Yesterday, in the midst of performing my regular ego-browse of the internet (what? you don't do a daily Google search for your name?), I learned that my novel about the Iraq War has now been assigned an International Standard Book Number, which really makes this whole publishing dream feel like it just took one giant step into Realityville.
In Which I Wear My M-16 Like Jewelry
Yes, even us non-combatant Fobbit-types became welded to our weapons. They slept with us like cold metal lovers; they waited for us just outside the shower stall, ready to hand us a towel; they pulled up a chair and sat next to us in the chow hall; they clung to us like shadows. Some of us, slowly losing our minds in the sand and wind of Iraq even held long, lively conversations with our rifles.
Gambling on Love: Stewart O'Nan's "The Odds"
Tags: Words or phrases to catagorize this post for the tags section
When it comes to putting American culture under a microscope, few novelists succeed as well as Stewart O'Nan. Time after time, novel after novel, O'Nan has focused tightly on particular microbes of our society—people like you and me, to be blunt about it—and examined the foibles, the follies, and the flaws of the Way We Live. In Songs for the Missing, he turned his attention to the grief of a family whose teenage daughter goes missing; in Last Night at the Lobster, it was the disappointment of the American economic dream; in Emily, Alone, it was the solitude of the elderly. In his newest novel, The Odds: A Love Story, O'Nan puts a troubled marriage in the petri dish.
Read more at The Quivering Pen
Nursing Her Grief: a review of Mary Jane Nealon's "Beautiful Unbroken"
A friend of mine tells the story of the evening he sat in the audience at last year's Bread Loaf Writers' Conference and listened to Mary Jane Nealon read from her memoir Beautiful Unbroken: One Nurse's Life, which would be published later that year by Graywolf Press. Nealon's story of grief, loss and forgiveness in both her family history and her career as a nurse is a battering ram on the emotions. As she read from her pages, the Bread Loaf audience was visibly shaken. She read in a tone of voice that was both matter-of-fact and vulnerable. She read of how her cancer-stricken brother died when he was in his early 20s, she read of her parents' headlong plunge into sorrow, she read of the brave but doomed AIDS patients she cared for during the height of the 1980s epidemic. The audience was held in the grip of her words. No one breathed. No one blinked. It was so quiet, you could have heard a tear drop. Nealon read of difficult lives caught in the grip of profound losses, then she went deeper into these lives, and still deeper. And then she went even deeper yet. At this point, my friend let out a loud, involuntary "Oh goddamn!" It cut the tension and relieved laughter rippled through the theater.
Such is the powerful effect Nealon's words have on her listeners and her readers.
Front Porch Books: February 2012 Edition
In which I spotlight new arrivals to hit my front doorstep, courtesy of FedEx and UPS. New and forthcoming titles this month include books by Benjamin Busch, Joyce Carol Oates, Charlotte Rogan, Jenny Lawson (aka The Bloggess), Jess Walter, Glen Duncan and Johanna Skibsrud.
The Dark Side of Dickens
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Charles Dickens the Writer was a genius but Charles Dickens the Man was an asshole.
I've now reached the point in Claire Tomalin's Charles Dickens: A Life where the nasty side of his nature can no longer be denied. In fact, at one point Tomalin warns the reader: "You'll want to avert your eyes from a good deal of what happened during the next year, 1858."
On this day, the 200th anniversary of Dickens' birth, it may seem a little sacrilegious to pause in our adoration of the writer whose works, the Economist once pronounced in 1852, "are [as] sure to be sold and read as the bread which is baked is sure to be sold and eaten." It is, in fact, a little troubling to me that his bicentennial fete arrives just as I'm reading about Dickens the dick.


The Oplii platform delivers effective, innovative solutions for the oil and gas sector with four specialized products including Asset Integrity Management, Preventative Maintenance, Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) and Management of Change (MoC). Our web-based and mobile-powered solution connects and empowers your office and field workers, helping producers and service companies reduce costs, achieve operational efficiencies and drive accountability.
Comments: Peyto Exploration & Development Corporation owes much of its success to our low operating costs and lean business practices. Oplii helps us get there. With Oplii, we're able to manage equipment, regulatory requirements, projects and much more at a fraction of the price of other solutions.
We've been working with the team since 2007 and have personally witnessed this software evolve from a simple equipment-tracking mechanism into a full-fledged operations management system. Oplii really is unique in that it brings together lots of useful functionality under one umbrella - software tools that oil and gas companies would normally procure separately.
We are extremely satisfied with this solution and highly recommend it to other E&P firms.


Pharmaceutical services provider TrialCard announced today that it has entered into a partnership with OptimizeRx (OTCQB:OPRX) to integrate its coupon and co-pay offerings with OptimizeRx electronic health record (EHR) technology. OptimizeRx, which has partnerships with over 350 EHRs, will provide TrialCard with a platform to distribute patient savings offers on behalf of its pharmaceutical manufacturer clients. Estimates project that electronic prescribing volume could be as high as 2 billion prescriptions in 2016, and a 2012 Atlantic Information Services, Inc. study indicated that 80% of physicians were more likely to prescribe a drug with a co-pay savings card.
Pharmaceutical manufacturers that are currently partnering with TrialCard will now be able to incorporate the OptimizeRx service offering into their co-pay savings program.
OptimizeRx Corporation (OTCQB: OPRX) provides unique consumer and physician platforms to help patients better afford and comply with their medicines and healthcare products, while offering pharmaceutical and healthcare companies effective ways to expand awareness, access and adherence to their medications. OptemizeRx's core product, SampleMD, replaces drug samples with electronic trial vouchers and copay coupon savings that are electronically added to an e-Prescription and sent electronically to the pharmacy and is integrated within leading Electronic Health Record (EHR) platforms in the country, including Allscripts, Quest Diagnostics, Practice Fusion and over 350 other EHRs to reach over 250,000 healthcare providers. In turn, we promote patient savings and support from the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, Lilly, Novartis, AstraZeneca and many others. For more information, please go to www.optimizerxcorp.com.


text:
Church calls for justice
The newly elected president of Catholic Religious Australia (CRA), Peter Carroll, has written to the prime minister urging him "to take action to right the wrongs that have been and continue to be perpetrated against asylum seekers". CRA includes leaders of almost 150 Catholic congregations of sisters, brothers and priests Australia-wide.
On the sixth anniversary of Kevin Rudd's announcement that no person seeking asylum by boat would be resettled in Australia, Catholic Church leaders have repeated calls to bring asylum seekers from Manus Island and Nauru to Australia.
"It is a travesty that a country with the opportunities such as Australia fails to respond to the concerns raised by United Nations personnel, the Human Rights Commission, Church Leaders, medical and legal experts, children's welfare organisations and other highly principled members of the public," said Fr Carroll, who is also the provincial of the Marist Brothers in Australia.
"There is a clear loss of support for the current model, as indicated by PNG Prime Minister James Marape who wants a timetable to end asylum seeker processing and have all those involved removed from Manus Island."
Father Malcolm P Fyfe, Vicar General, Catholic Diocese of Darwin, also wrote to the prime minister. "Australia is capable of something a lot savvier and more generous than our current harsh and mean treatment of asylum seekers and refugees," he said.
"It was back in August 2012 that the expert panel on asylum seekers delivered its report. I believe it is time for another 'expert panel' to be set up on cross-party lines to review the situation and to indicate what changes can now be made to the conclusions and outcomes of the earlier report.
"The majority of people I encounter are most uncomfortable with this ongoing reprehensible phenomenon and there is a growing sense that, as Australians, we are better than this."
About 900 people are still being held on Manus island and Nauru.


With Fall right around the corner, our Bayside design experts have curated a list of trending must-have items for your home. Whether you have a large home or are living that westcoast small condo lifestyle, these pieces are meant to maximize your space!
The cooler weather makes us yearn to retreat indoors to that perfectly curated, spacious living room of our dreams. Of course, it's not always perfectly curated or spacious so we've got some solutions for the condo-owner to implement which are on trend and for small spaces this Fall 16.


text:
5 Must Read Horror Articles 29 June 2015
Look Out For… Point Hollow by Rio Youers and The Dulwich Horror & Others by David Hambling
Film Review: It Follows (2014)
"Does it deserve all of the praise lavished on it? The simple answer is both yes and no."
After an apparently innocent sexual encounter turns into something altogether more sinister, a young woman named Jay finds that she is being stalked by a relentless being that can assume the form of anyone, and that will never stop to rest in its steady pursuit of her. With this thing intent on killing her, and always on the verge of closing in, Jay calls on the help of her friends, and together they must try and find a way to stop 'it' before it is too late.
Following its debut at Cannes in 2014, It Follows was lauded by many as one of the best, scariest horror movie to hit screens in over a decade. It has been a year since that premiere, and the David Robert Mitchell written and directed chiller now makes its appearance on DVD and Blu-Ray in the UK. So, does it deserve all of the praise lavished on it?
The simple answer is both yes and no. There is plenty to commend It Follows for sure – the film's main premise of a curse that is sexually transmitted, and that cannot be stopped, but only passed on to someone else via a sexual liaison, is undoubtedly its strongest point. In a time when so much modern horror seems to be floundering for ideas, it is a simple, refreshing device that not only works well to serve as the backbone of the plot, but also as a subtext about the sexual fears that plague young adults. There is plenty to like with both visuals and soundtrack too – the cinematography from Mike Gioulakis in particular looks fantastic, aided by a good production that seems to place the film in a time period that is neither current nor retro, while a great score from Rich Vreeland (credited as Disasterpeace) only adds to an overall stylistic sensibility that strongly nods to late 70's and early 80's American horror – indeed, fans of Carpenter's Halloween will no doubt feel very much at home as we are taken down the films quiet suburban streets.
Where It Follows falls down however is in the scares department. While there is something intrinsically unnerving in the unerring way with which the supernatural 'it' stalks Jay (ably played by scream queen in the making Maika Monroe), real frights are sadly lacking overall. Far from being the 'scariest film for a decade' that many would have you believe, scares are reliant the oft-used 'quiet, quiet, LOUD NOISE' formula, and in the end it is simply not frightening for anyone apart for the casual horror film viewer. It's a shame because you can help but feel that perhaps a much more effective experience could have been had if Mitchell had explored the creepiness inherent in the 'it' character somewhat more – but as it stands things become a little stale, even verging on boring, as the film enters its muddled final reel.
Overall, there are some great moments to be had with It Follows, and fans of early 80's horror in particular will certainly find much to enjoy. Is it the best horror film of the past decade though? Absolutely not.
JASON HICKS
Starring: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Olivia Luccardi
Certificate: 15
Release date (UK): DVD 29 June 2015
If you enjoyed our review and want to watch It Follows, please consider clicking through to our Amazon Affiliate links. If you do you'll help keep the This Is Horror ship afloat with some very welcome remuneration.
Buy It Follows (UK)
Buy It Follows (US)
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thisishorror.co.uk/film-review-it-follows-2014/


Since 1984, D&M Auto Body has been the premier auto body collision repair shop for Rockaway, NJ and Morris County, NJ. Our number one focus has been complete customer satisfaction. A written lifetime warranty on all repairs is proof of our commitment to your satisfaction.
Use our free mobile estimating tool to start the estimate process from the comfort of your home. Simply follow the onscreen instructions, click submit, and we'll send you an email with your free estimate. This tool will save you a trip to our shop and help expedite the repair process. Get you back on the road faster!
D&M Auto Body works with all insurance companies to make your auto collision repair as seamless and worry free as possible. We will handle all details of the claim process and negotiate with appraisers to get you reimbursed for the highest quality repair possible.
Having your vehicle repaired at certified body shop guarantees quality and your safety. We have the most certifications of any body shop in the area. Which means you can be confident your vehicle is being repaired the way it should be.
As a manufacturer certified and approved body shop, we offer certified collision repairs of the highest quality.
These higher quality repairs protect the value of your vehicle by utilizing all factory parts and repair procedures.
Courteous and efficient service! Overall I was satisfied with the service, quality, and friendliness!
Not only was the entire experience excellent, but car was returned to me completely detailed! Awesome shop! Awesome people there!!
The shop does excellent work with a lifetime warranty! They handled the insurance company, claim checks, and rental. All I had to do was show up! You can't expect any more than that!
Dave and his staff are professional, very experienced, and very friendly! They are the best of the best! Don't waste your time going elsewhere!
They did a great job! Even delivered my car to my house - all washed and polished like it was brand new! D&M Auto Body couldn't be better! They kept me up to date and were so friendly and courteous - something you don't find much of today!
Everyone there was very nice and very professional! I would definitely use them again!
Excellent repair as always! Wouldn't use any other shop! Would recommend them 100% to anyone! I've used them for all of my family's repairs. They do a fantastic job!
I was extremely pleased and satisfied with the service provided by D&M! They did high quality work and were extremely professional!
I had a great experience from the estimate through repair completion! I will only use this shop for repairs! They're the best!


Listed Property at 15 Central Park West – Lincoln Sq.
Prudential Douglas Elliman is New York City's market leader in full servicereal estate brokerage.
With over 67 offices in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Westchester, and Long Island, it'll be too easy to find a reputable broker to work with whether you are looking to buy, sell or lease a New York City apartment.
Prudential Douglas Elliman does over $12 billion per year in sales with thousands of transactions made, so you know that you and your business will be in successful hands when you work with Prudential Douglas Elliman!
Prudential Douglas Elliman is a full service brokerage firm; we work in property management, development marketing, mortgage services, as well as property title services.
When you're ready to invest in New York City real estate or if you're looking for property management services for your Hamptons rental, look to Prudential Elliman for all of your real estate services.


Below is some material that you can reuse for your presentation.
Text for the DFAIT Open Policy session in Ottawa.
Our recent activation with World Health Organization about the Libyan Health Registry may interest them. We developed an interactive map to monitor data. We also integrated Crowsourcing possibilities where people from Libya can geolocate Health facilities on the map.


Jesus' Transfiguration in the Bible marked a significant phase in Christ's revelation as the Messiah and the Son of God. The Lord's glory was revealed not just through miraculous deeds, but in a more personal, tangible way. When Jesus transformed in appearance, his visible glory represented the presence of the kingdom of God among his people.
In the story of Jesus' Transfiguration, God commanded everyone to listen to Jesus. Do we listen to Jesus as we go about our daily life?
Many rumors had been circulating about the identity of Jesus of Nazareth. Some thought he was the second coming of the Old Testament prophet Elijah.
Jesus asked his disciples who they thought he was, and Simon Peter spoke up, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." (Matthew 16:16, NIV) Jesus then explained to them how he must suffer, die, and rise from the dead for the sins of the world.
Six days later, Jesus took Peter, James, and John to the top of a mountain to pray. The three disciples fell asleep. When they awoke, they were astounded to see Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah.
Jesus was spectacularly transformed. His face shone like the sun, his clothing was dazzling white, brighter than anyone could bleach it. He spoke with Moses and Elijah about his crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension in Jerusalem.
Peter suggested building three shelters, one for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah. He was so terrified he did not know what he was saying.
The disciples fell to the ground, paralyzed with fear, but when they looked up, only Jesus was present, returned to his normal appearance. He told them not to be afraid.
On the way down the mountain, Jesus commanded his three followers not to speak of the vision to anyone until he had risen from the dead.
Bible scholars think the likely location of the Transfiguration was Mount Hermon, a 9,200 feet snow-capped mountain, the runoff of which flows into several streams which merge into the Jordan River.
Moses represented the law and Elijah the prophets. Both heralded the Messiah. Jesus, the promised Messiah, is the fulfillment of the law and prophets and is greater than both.
Mountains in the Bible were often places of revelation. Both Moses and Elijah had seen a vision of the glory of God on a mountain, Moses on Mount Sinai and Elijah on Mount Horeb.
At Jesus' Transfiguration, the Lord appeared in his true form as the Son of God and the disciples saw his preexistent glory.
The members of Jesus' inner circle (Peter, James, and John), were eyewitnesses to the Transfiguration.
The Transfiguration is described by Matthew, Mark, and Luke, with the most detailed account given by Luke. The agreement in all three records of the incident is remarkable.
The disciples were terrified by Jesus' transfiguration because they saw a rare peek into God's invisible kingdom merging with the physical realm of earth. Jesus' glory shone through from inside him, revealing him as God in the flesh. The disciples needed the encouragement of this revelation to endure Jesus' death and their future suffering and persecution.
God the Father appeared as a cloud, a mask frequently seen in the Old Testament. His words echoed the same thing he said at Jesus' baptism. When he ordered the disciples to listen to Jesus, it meant the gospel of grace would replace the law as God's plan of salvation.
Paul wrote about the idea of transfiguration in Romans 12:2 and 2 Corinthians 4:16–17, both times referring to the inward spiritual transformation of believers. When Jesus Christ returns in glory, all of his true followers will be eternally transformed and receive a glorious, resurrected body. Thus, the Lord's transfiguration was a foreshadowing of every Christian's future metamorphosis.


FAIKA! S2:E3 – Eddie and Leandra Thompson – Radio for the People, by the People.
Brought to you by PolyByDesign the Faika podcast brings all topics to the discussion table ranging from trendy pop-media items all the way to controversial and traditionally avoided hard hitting emotional topics like injustice, abuse and cultural challenges. The easiest way to listen live is to download the "TuneIn" app and search "FCCFREERADIO" and select Studio 2b. If you miss the live broadcast you can download the link from FCCCFREERADIO.COM. PolyByDesign will also post a show link as soon as it is available after the live show is done. This is usually between 1:00 and 1:30 PM.
On January 21st Eddie Thompson Sr and his beautiful wife Leandra Thompson will be our in-studio guests. Eddie and Leandra are the owners and proprietors of the highly acclaimed Vai Hau Nui Tahitian Dance Studio. We will be talking to Eddie and Leandra about their presence at the summer festivals, up and coming dancers that are in their Halau and the future of their Dance Studio.
Eddie is also a Deputy for the San Francisco County Sheriff Department. We will talk to Eddie about how policing today is different and how social movements like Black Lives Matters and other cultural based organizations become more and more significant with their interaction with Law Enforcement.
Other topics that we will discuss will be the removal of work visas from the Samoan nation, the Government shutdown and other contemporary news stories that are on our lives newsfeeds.


OS003A is the latest development of omnidirectional sound source of BSWA. The sound source has 12 rubidium magnet loudspeakers assemble on a 280 mm diameter sphere evenly. The angle between each axes of loudspeakers exactly the same to form a regular 12-sides structure. Each loudspeaker was selected via a careful process. The special electrical connection ensures the phase synchronization of each unit and guarantees the impedance match the power amplifier. Such design and implementation lead to a stable spherical radiation sound source.
OS003A comply with ISO 140-3 (GB/T 19889.3), ISO 140-4 (GB/T 19889.4) and ISO 3382 standard. Sound source can reach 120 dB (Pink) sound power level with suitable power amplifier. BSWA provide PA700, PA300 and YAMAHA P2500S power amplifier to drive sound source.
OS003A can be place on flat surface by five rubber foot, hang in a test chamber by rings or mounted on a special tripod (option) by a supplied POM base socket. The stainless steel lifting handle makes it easy to transport and handling.
Compare to previous generation product, the new omnidirectional sound source is smaller size, lighter weight, more compact and wider scope of application. Easy to carry out reverberation time, airborne sound insulation and other building acoustics testing.


text:
package com.svbio.workflow.service;

import com.svbio.workflow.bundles.core.Requirements;
import com.svbio.workflow.forkedexecutor.ForkedExecutor;
import com.svbio.workflow.service.RequirementsProvider.ActualRequirements;
import xyz.cloudkeeper.executors.CommandProvider;
import xyz.cloudkeeper.model.runtime.execution.RuntimeAnnotatedExecutionTrace;

import javax.annotation.Nullable;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.net.URISyntaxException;
import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.Path;
import java.nio.file.Paths;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.LinkedHashSet;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Objects;
import java.util.Properties;
import java.util.Set;
import java.util.jar.Attributes;
import java.util.jar.JarFile;
import java.util.stream.Collectors;
import java.util.stream.Stream;

/**
 * Implementation of the CloudKeeper {@link CommandProvider} functional interface.
 *
 *
This class translates {@link Requirements} annotations on CloudKeeper simple modules into
 * command lines.
 */
final class CommandProviderImpl implements CommandProvider {
    private static final String DEFAULT_CLASSPATH_PLACEHOLDER = "<classpath>";
    private static final String DEFAULT_PROPERTIES_PLACEHOLDER = "<props>";

    private final List<Element> command;
    private final RequirementsProvider requirementsProvider;
    private final int memoryScalingFactor;

    abstract static class Element {
        private final String string;

        Element(String string) {
            Objects.requireNonNull(string);
            this.string = string;
        }

        @Override
        public boolean equals(@Nullable Object otherObject) {
            return this == otherObject || (
                otherObject != null
                    && getClass() == otherObject.getClass()
                    && string.equals(((Element) otherObject).string)
            );
        }

        @Override
        public int hashCode() {
            return string.hashCode();
        }

        abstract String format(ActualRequirements requirements, int memoryScalingFactor);

        @Override
        public String toString() {
            return string;
        }
    }

    static final class FixedElement extends Element {
        FixedElement(String string) {
            super(string);
        }

        @Override
        String format(ActualRequirements requirements, int memoryScalingFactor) {
            return toString();
        }
    }

    static final class FormatElement extends Element {
        FormatElement(String string) {
            super(string);
        }

        @Override
        String format(ActualRequirements requirements, int memoryScalingFactor) {
            return String.format(toString(), requirements.getCpu(), memoryScalingFactor * requirements.getMemory());
        }
    }

    static Stream<Element> replacePlaceholders(String string, List<Class<?>> extraClasses) {
        if (DEFAULT_CLASSPATH_PLACEHOLDER.equals(string)) {
            return Stream.of(new FixedElement(getDefaultClasspath(extraClasses)));
        } else if (DEFAULT_PROPERTIES_PLACEHOLDER.equals(string)) {
            return getDefaultProperties(System.getProperties()).map(FixedElement::new);
        } else {
            return Stream.of(string).map(FormatElement::new);
        }
    }

    CommandProviderImpl(List<String> command, List<Class<?>> extraClasses, RequirementsProvider requirementsProvider,
            int memoryScalingFactor) {
        Objects.requireNonNull(command);
        Objects.requireNonNull(extraClasses);
        Objects.requireNonNull(requirementsProvider);
        if (memoryScalingFactor < 1) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException(String.format(
                "Expected JVM memory-scaling factor >= 1, but got %d.", memoryScalingFactor
            ));
        }

        this.command = command.stream()
            .flatMap(element -> replacePlaceholders(element, extraClasses))
            .collect(Collectors.toList());
        this.requirementsProvider = requirementsProvider;
        this.memoryScalingFactor = memoryScalingFactor;
    }

    @Override
    public List<String> getCommand(RuntimeAnnotatedExecutionTrace executionTrace) {
        ActualRequirements requirements = requirementsProvider.getRequirements(executionTrace);
        return command.stream()
            .map(element -> element.format(requirements, memoryScalingFactor))
            .collect(Collectors.toList());
    }

    /**
     * Utility method that parses the {@code executor-classes.properties} resource and adds entries to the two given
     * lists.
     *
     *
The assembled information is required to start {@link ForkedExecutor#main(String[])} in a separate JVM.
     * This method does not add the {@link Class} instance corresponding to {@link ForkedExecutor}.
     *
     * @param requiredClasses List that all classes will be added to that must be available on the classpath of the new
     *     JVM.
     * @param optionalArtifacts List that all artifacts will be added to that are not compile-time or runtime
     *     dependencies of this project (as specified in the {@code executor-classes.properties} resource).
     */
    static void assembleClassesAndArtifacts(List<Class<?>> requiredClasses, List<String> optionalArtifacts) {
        Properties properties;
        try (InputStream inputStream = CommandProviderImpl.class.getResourceAsStream("executor-classes.properties")) {
            properties = new Properties();
            properties.load(inputStream);
        } catch (IOException exception) {
            throw new IllegalStateException(String.format(
                "Could not load resource that lists the classes needed to start %s in a separate JVM.",
                ForkedExecutor.class
            ), exception);
        }

        ClassLoader classLoader = CommandProviderImpl.class.getClassLoader();
        Set<String> artifactNames = properties.stringPropertyNames();
        for (String artifactName: artifactNames) {
            String className = properties.getProperty(artifactName).trim();
            if (className.isEmpty()) {
                optionalArtifacts.add(artifactName);
            } else {
                try {
                    requiredClasses.add(Class.forName(className, false, classLoader));
                } catch (ClassNotFoundException exception) {
                    throw new IllegalStateException(String.format(
                        "Unexpected failure to load class %s, which is contained in a code source needed to start %s "
                            + "in a separate JVM.", className, ForkedExecutor.class
                    ), exception);
                }
            }
        }
    }

    /**
     * Returns the {@link Path} to the code source of the given class.
     */
    static Path pathOfClass(Class<?> clazz) {
         try {
            return Paths.get(clazz.getProtectionDomain().getCodeSource().getLocation().toURI());
        } catch (URISyntaxException exception) {
            throw new IllegalStateException("Unexpected exception!", exception);
        }
    }

    /**
     * Returns the default classpath for invoking {@link ForkedExecutor#main(String[])} in a separate JVM.
     *
     *
This method makes a best-effort attempt to assemble the classpath and fails if it cannot do so. The following
     * constraints need to be satisfied in order for this method to succeed:
     *

     *     If a security manager is installed, it must allow calling {@link Class#getProtectionDomain()}.
     *

     *     The project providing {@link ForkedExecutor} must have been built against the same versions of shared
     *     dependencies as this project.
     *

     *     If {@code codePath} is a JAR, it will be verified that the code source in the assembled classpath contains
     *     have the same names as those in the JAR manifest. Optional artifacts (see
     *     {@link #assembleClassesAndArtifacts(List, List)}) will not be included in this sanity check.
     *

     *
     * @param codePath Path to the code source providing {@link ForkedExecutor}. If this is a JAR, then it must
     *     contain a manifest with a classpath entry.
     * @param extraClasses List of names of classes that should be present on the class path in addition to the classes
     *     referenced by the {@code executor-classes.properties} resource. The given list instance is not
     *     modified.
     * @return the default command line
     * @throws IllegalStateException if a classpath cannot be computed because of any of the reasons listed above
     */
    static String getDefaultClasspath(Path codePath, List<Class<?>> extraClasses) {
        Objects.requireNonNull(codePath);
        Objects.requireNonNull(extraClasses);

        // Artifacts that the project providing ForkedExecutor depends on, but that are not dependencies of this
        // project. Example: The SLF4J implementation. Clients of the current project should not be forced to use
        // slf4j-simple, even though ForkedExecutor's project has a runtime dependency on it.
        List<Class<?>> requiredClasses = new ArrayList<>();
        List<String> optionalArtifacts = new ArrayList<>();
        assembleClassesAndArtifacts(requiredClasses, optionalArtifacts);
        Set<Path> requiredClasspaths = requiredClasses.stream()
            .map(CommandProviderImpl::pathOfClass)
            .collect(Collectors.toCollection(LinkedHashSet::new));

        // If codePath points to a jar, we will do an extra verification step. We verify that the Class-Path attribute
        // in the Manifest matches requiredJars.
        if (Files.isRegularFile(codePath)) {
            LinkedHashSet<String> requiredJars = requiredClasspaths.stream()
                .map(Path::getFileName)
                .map(Path::toString)
                .collect(Collectors.toCollection(LinkedHashSet::new));

            Set<String> manifestJars;
            try (JarFile jarFile = new JarFile(codePath.toFile())) {
                manifestJars = new LinkedHashSet<>(Arrays.asList(
                    jarFile.getManifest()
                        .getMainAttributes()
                        .getValue(Attributes.Name.CLASS_PATH)
                        .split(" ")
                ));
            } catch (IOException exception) {
                throw new IllegalStateException(String.format(
                    "Could not read manifest of JAR file %s.", codePath
                ), exception);
            }
            manifestJars.removeIf(manifestJar -> optionalArtifacts.stream().anyMatch(manifestJar::startsWith));

            if (!requiredJars.equals(manifestJars)) {
                Set<String> missing = new LinkedHashSet<>(manifestJars);
                missing.removeAll(requiredJars);
                Set<String> unnecessary = new LinkedHashSet<>(requiredJars);
                unnecessary.removeAll(manifestJars);
                throw new IllegalStateException(String.format(
                    "Internal inconsistency detected while assembling classpath for %s. The manifest of the JAR "
                        + "containing %1$s contains the following entries that are missing from the assembled "
                        + "classpath: %s. Conversely, the following entries appear in the assembled classpath, but are "
                        + "not part of the manifest: %s", ForkedExecutor.class, missing, unnecessary
                ));
            }
        }

        requiredClasspaths.add(codePath);
        requiredClasspaths.addAll(
            extraClasses.stream()
                .map(CommandProviderImpl::pathOfClass)
                .collect(Collectors.toList())
        );
        return requiredClasspaths.stream().map(Path::toString).collect(Collectors.joining(File.pathSeparator));
    }

    /**
     * This method is equivalent to calling {@link #getDefaultClasspath(Path, List)} with the result of
     * {@code Paths.get(ForkedExecutor.class.getProtectionDomain().getCodeSource().getLocation().toURI())} as
     * argument.
     */
    static String getDefaultClasspath(List<Class<?>> extraClasses) {
        return getDefaultClasspath(pathOfClass(ForkedExecutor.class), extraClasses);
    }

    /**
     * Returns a stream containing the default system properties for invoking {@link ForkedExecutor#main(String[])}
     * in a separate JVM.
     *
     *
The system properties are intended to build a command line and are thus returned in form {@code -Dkey=value}.
     */
    static Stream<String> getDefaultProperties(Properties properties) {
        return properties.stringPropertyNames()
            .stream()
            .filter(key -> "config.file".equals(key) || key.startsWith("com.svbio.workflow."))
            .map(key -> String.format("-D%s=%s", key, properties.getProperty(key)));
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The letter by Frans Said ('Are cyclists saints?', January 27) is a sad reflection of Malta's old-fashioned obsession with the primacy of motor traffic on our roads, when the modern approach to overcoming impending gridlock and reduction of street pollution through the re-design of streets to discourage motor traffic and improve the quality of urban street life.
The aim is now to nudge people towards 'active transport' on foot, bicycle, public transport or a combination of all three, depending on distance. This has been achieved by imposing urban speed limits of 25 km/h, introducing traffic calming measures, creation of pedestrianised areas and traffic-free streets – all aimed at making walking and cycling safer.
This process started decades ago in Holland and Denmark and is now being adopted world-wide in cities as far apart as London and Bogota. These measures resulted in bicycle use becoming as natural as walking even for children and the aged. Paradoxically, this happens most readily in advanced countries with high car ownership rates.
But Said prefers Malta to remain stuck in our 1950s time warp where the only way from A to B is by car, even if it is a short distance; never mind the traffic congestion and pollution.
He insists that anybody wishing to use a bicycle must be tested, registered, insured and made identifiable because the bicycle "is a form of transport" – implying that the bicycle has as much potential for causing death and injury to others as motor vehicles, which is nonsense.
This kind of outdated thinking goes against all modern and healthy approaches to mobility.
Said graciously admits that it is "dangerous for anyone to be on our roads" but avoids defining where the danger comes from. Never mind that a child and two senior citizens were seriously injured by motor vehicles in the past week and that it is accepted as inevitable when over a dozen people are killed by motor vehicles each year.
Suggested reading for Mr Said: paras 32 - 54 in 'Health Aspects of Transport and the Urban Environment' in the Today Public Policy Institute's latest report.


text:
Trains from Lye (West Midlands) to Cosford
Lye (West Midlands)
Home Destinations Cosford Trains from Lye (West Midlands) to Cosford
Travel from Lye (West Midlands) to Cosford by train. Use our Journey Planner to access downloadable timetables, live departures and important information about upcoming timetable changes.
Train journey information from Lye (West Midlands) to Cosford
How much is a train ticket from Lye (West Midlands) to Cosford by train?
Catch the train from Lye (West Midlands) to Cosford from just £9.40 one-way when you book in advance.
How long does it take to travel from Lye (West Midlands) to Cosford by train?
Our fastest train to Cosford takes 1 hour 8 minutes. Journey times may be slightly longer on weekends or public holidays. Use our Journey Planner to access downloadable timetables, live departures and arrivals. Stay connected while on the move with our free on-board WiFi and entertainment service. Access a range of entertainment, including TV programmes, magazines, short films, news and more!
How many trains a day are there from Lye (West Midlands) to Cosford?
There are up to 35 trains per day from Lye (West Midlands) to Cosford.
Are there any direct trains from Lye (West Midlands) to Cosford?
No, it is not possible to travel from Lye (West Midlands) to Cosford direct. Use our Journey Planner to access downloadable timetables and find information on live departures and arrivals.
What time is the first train from Lye (West Midlands) to Cosford?
The first train departs from Lye (West Midlands) to Cosford at 06:00. Book your tickets in advance and enjoy a few more minutes of hitting snooze.
What time is the last train from Lye (West Midlands) to Cosford?
The last train from Lye (West Midlands) to Cosford departs at 23:04.
More trains from Lye (West Midlands)
Lye (West Midlands) to Watford Junction
Lye (West Midlands) to Lidlington
Lye (West Midlands) to Winsford
Lye (West Midlands) to Garston (Hertfordshire)
Lye (West Midlands) to Smethwick
More trains from Cosford
Cosford to Codsall
Cosford to Bushey
Cosford to Worcester Foregate Street
Cosford to Bricket Wood
Cosford to Wootton Wawen
St Albans Abbey to Colwall
Solihull to Lichfield Trent Valley
Walsall to Malvern
Stourbridge to Hartlebury
Small Heath to Oakengates
More tickets types between Lye (West Midlands) to Cosford
Anytime Day Single (1st class)


text:
Q: Call to a member function loadXML() on a non-object (PHP - PayPal) I finally managed to get an PaymentDetailResponse from PayPal, which looks like this:
    <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
    <ns2:PaymentDetailsResponse xmlns:ns2="http://svcs.paypal.com/types/ap">
    <responseEnvelope>
    <timestamp>2013-11-27T16:54:16.964-08:00</timestamp>
    <ack>Success</ack>
    <correlationId>bb7958693354</correlationId>
    <build>7935900</build>
    </responseEnvelope>
    <cancelUrl>https://www.paypal.com</cancelUrl>
    <currencyCode>EUR</currencyCode>
    <paymentInfoList>
    <paymentInfo>
.
.
.
    <useCredentials>true</useCredentials></sender>
    </ns2:PaymentDetailsResponse><br />

I'm using the following function:
function verify_paypal($payKey, $appID)
{
  global $payPalUser_Id, $payPalPassword, $payPalSig;
$headerArray = array(
'X-PAYPAL-SECURITY-USERID:'.$payPalUser_Id,
'X-PAYPAL-SECURITY-PASSWORD:'.$payPalPassword,
'X-PAYPAL-SECURITY-SIGNATURE:'.$payPalSig,
'X-PAYPAL-APPLICATION-ID:'.$appID,
'X-PAYPAL-REQUEST-DATA-FORMAT:NV',
'X-PAYPAL-RESPONSE-DATA-FORMAT:XML'
);

$url="https://svcs.paypal.com/AdaptivePayments/PaymentDetails?payKey={$payKey}&requestEnvelope.errorLanguage=en_US";

$ch = curl_init($url);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, $headerArray);

$adaptiveResponse = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);

if (!is_null($adaptiveResponse)){
  echo $adaptiveResponse;
  //check result
  $dom_document->loadXML($adaptiveResponse);
  $searchNode = $dom_document->getElementsByTagName("ack");

  if (!is_null($searchNode)) {
    $value=$Node->nodeValue;
    if (strtolower($value) =="failure"){
      return false;
    }
}

But on loadXML($adaptiveResponse); I get the following error:
Call to a member function loadXML() on a non-object

I don't see any reason why?

A: You didn't initialize (Manual)
$dom_document = new DOMDocument();

It should be initialized first and then use
$dom_document->loadXML($adaptiveResponse);

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Spurgin, E. (2012). , Hey, How did I become a Role Model? Privacy and the Extent of Role-Model Obligations, Journal of Applied Philosophy.
Young people should learn that Phelps is a proper role model when it comes to swimming, but they do not know enough about the rest of his life to believe he is a proper role model when he is not in the pool. Earl Spurgin, 2012.
Michael Phelps inspired millions this summer, as he swam his way into Olympic history. For many children and adolescents, Phelps is a supreme role model—someone whose life they admire both in the pool and out. But, as anyone who follows the news knows, not all of his behaviors are worthy of emulation. In a new article, Earl Spurgin, a Philosophy professor at John Carroll University, argues that Phelps' frailty is not the exception. Many public figures are subject to the same mistakes and lapses in judgment as the rest of us. In other words, just because Phelps is the best Olympian of all time, doesn't mean that his life is always worthy of imitation.
Because of this, Spurgin argues that we need to fundamentally change how we think about role models. Admire the athlete, rapper, actress, etc., but withhold judgment on their lives, and don't immitate them when they leave the stadium. What's more, public, athletes, performers, and others are under no particular "role-model obligations," to live their lives differently from the rest of us just because they happen to be talented in one particular domain.
Since it is unrealistic to try to convince public figures to take on virtuous behaviors, values, and stances and/or to display them consistently, young people will inevitably be disappointed.
Many athletes and performers are late teens and young adults themselves and simply don't have the life experience or judgement to serve as role models, or to fully understand how their off-stage/court/etc. lives can influence young people.
Invoking "role-model status" is often a misguided attempt to coerce or pressure a public figure into behaving in ways that are more in line with our value systems. While holding public figures to the same legal standards as anyone else is fair, role-model obligations violate their privacy and freedom to conduct their lives as they choose.
The very qualities that help one to excel as an athlete, rapper, actor, etc., (i.e., singular focus, egoism, extreme behavior, obsessive control) often render them poor role models. Many of the most popular public figures (Tiger Woods, Lil Wayne), would be disastrous role models.
FORUM: Does mentoring work in rural areas?


One of the biggest pool parties in Guangzhou, the Wet Pool Party features a colossal pool located in the center of the city. The event offers guests the chance to enjoy Guangzhou's beautiful evening scenery and dine on the most delicious snacks Guangzhou has to offer.
Some of the city's most notable DJs will be hitting the decks to keep guests bumping and grinding!
July 24, 2-11pm; RMB100 advanced order, RMB150 at the door (welcome drink included; water-proof pouch will be provided.). E Coffee.
RSVP for WET! The biggest pool party in GZ to add comments!


Village Panchayat Navelim – Village Panchayat Navelim Salcete-Goa.
Office Timings – 9.30 am to 1.00 pm and 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm (1.00 pm to 2.30 pm Lunch Break) closed on Sunday and 2nd Saturdays. Computerized copies of Birth/death certificates issued on the spot. House tax/light tax can be paid on line. Debit/Credit card payment facility available at V.P. Office for all transactions.


text:
other name 함흥시
country North Korea
Altitude 39 a.s.l.
coordinates 39° 55.8' N 127° 33.0' E
Weather North Korea
Climate Hamhung
Dec.hidden December 5 -7
Jul. July 145 28 20
Sep. September 100 24 14
Oct. October 19 7
Nov. November 11 0
Dec. December 5 -7
For the month of January, average values for station "Hamhung" were calculated from climate data measured between the years 1994 and 2005.
For the month of February, average values for station "Hamhung" were calculated from climate data measured between the years 1994 and 2005.
For the month of March, average values for station "Hamhung" were calculated from climate data measured between the years 1994 and 2005.
For the month of April, average values for station "Hamhung" were calculated from climate data measured between the years 1994 and 2005.
For the month of May, average values for station "Hamhung" were calculated from climate data measured between the years 1994 and 2005.
For the month of June, average values for station "Hamhung" were calculated from climate data measured between the years 1994 and 2005.
For the month of July, average values for station "Hamhung" were calculated from climate data measured between the years 1994 and 2005.
For the month of August, average values for station "Hamhung" were calculated from climate data measured between the years 1994 and 2005.
For the month of September, average values for station "Hamhung" were calculated from climate data measured between the years 1994 and 2005.
For the month of October, average values for station "Hamhung" were calculated from climate data measured between the years 1994 and 2005.
For the month of November, average values for station "Hamhung" were calculated from climate data measured between the years 1994 and 2005.
For the month of December, average values for station "Hamhung" were calculated from climate data measured between the years 1994 and 2005.
Climate Ji'an
Climate Changbai


text:
NEWS | Mascots set to visit Huish Park in charity challenge
09/10/2018 by Administrator
They plan to be at Huish Park, on 10th October at 12:40pm. Join them with the Jolly Green Giant.
The Mighty Mariner and Poacher the Imp will be travelling to each Premier League and EFL ground in four days along with James Whaley, who has raised over £10,000 for Demi.
Andy Carr, the Grimsby Town mascot, and Edward Brett, Poacher the Imp, will be joined by fundraiser James Whaley, who recently biked between the two clubs' stadiums raising £10,000.
They hope to raise at least another £10,000 for the young Louth girl who is undergoing cancer treatment.
Whaley was planning on taking a break from fundraising after his bike ride, but couldn't turn down this opportunity.
Whaley said: "As soon as Poacher suggested the idea, I was up for it, and we quickly got the Mighty Mariner involved.
"Since I've started fundraising for Demi, I have made some sacrifices, but it's the least I can do, It's completely worthwhile.
The journey is planned for October 8 to 11, and the JustGiving fundraising page is now open.
Grimsby mascot Carr said: "When I met Demi and her family, they had my heart instantly. If I was ever in a situation like that, I would hope people would help me.
"If we can do our bit and raise money in a fun way that will get people interested, I will be happy. We're hoping that it will capture the imagination of a lot of football fans.
The team are trying to get other clubs from around the country involved as they visit the many grounds, and the mascots are hoping to meet many of their counterparts.
The group is appealing for help with their trip, including a motorhome to make the journey easier and contributions for the fuel it will take to criss-cross the country.
Demi's condition appears to be improving following experimental treatment in America. She was diagnosed with cancer for the second time earlier this year, but recent MRI scans have given the family hope.
It is costing her family £500 to fetch medication from Poland and Texas putting a huge strain on their finances.
Their supporters have raised £79,000 of their £205,000 goal according to their GoFundMe page.
← REPORT | Bristol Rovers 2-0 Yeovil Town
NEWS | Sowunmi set for spell on the sideline →


text:
Bill Cosby Released From Prison In A Shocking Turn Of Events - Here's What Happened!
Credit: Source: globalnews.ca
Earlier today, Pennsylvania's highest court overturned Bill Cosby 's assault sentence and he was released from behind bars only a few hours after. Check out the details!
The shocking turn of events happened after the court reached an agreement with a previous prosecutor, that prevents the once-beloved actor from being charged.
RELATED: Bill Cosby Reportedly Fired Lisa Bonet After Discovering She Was Pregnant
Not only that but, he can also no longer be trialled for a third time in this case so he's pretty much a free man!
As you might remember, Bill Cosby was previously convicted to prison back in 2018 after many shocking accusations that he'd drugged and raped women came to the surface.
Previously, in late 2015, the amount of evidence unearthed by a prosecutor got the actor arrested only a few days before his 12-year statute of limitations would have passed!
RELATED: Nicole Murphy Slams Bill Cosby On Ex Eddie Murphy's Behalf
Now that the court has decided to release him, the women's rights lawyer representing dozens of Cosby's accusers, Gloria Allred, released a statement via USA Today in which she acknowledged that this decision 'must be devastating' to all his victims.
However, she wanted to make it very clear that the court's decision means, in no way, that Cosby has been found innocent of his terrible deeds.
'Despite the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's decision, this was still an important fight for justice and even though the court overturned the conviction on technical grounds, it didn't vindicate Bill Cosby's conduct and shouldn't be interpreted as a finding that he didn't engage in the acts of which he's been accused.'
Furthermore, the Montgomery County district attorney who initially convicted the disgraced actor, Kevin Steele, also shared via the same outlet that he 'now goes free on a procedural issue that is irrelevant to the facts of the crime. My hope is that the decision will not dampen reporting of sexual assaults by victims. Prosecutors will continue to follow evidence wherever and to whomever it leads. We still believe no one is above the law — including those rich, famous and powerful.'
Bill Cosby New Verdict Is Out And The Details Shock People
Posted on Jun 22, 2022 1:11 PM
R. Kelly Appeals His Racketeering Conviction
Phylicia Rashad Writes Formal Letter Apologizing To Howard University After Celebrating Bill Cosby's Release From Prison
Posted on Jul 3, 2021 1:54 PM
Marilyn Manson - 4th Alleged Victim Sues Him


Living Room - Living Room Designs 2019. Dreamy Small Living Room Designs with Multifunction Ideas. Contemporary Living Room Designs Pictures with Stylish Ideas. living room designs for small spaces. chairs. interior designs for small living room.


text:
Sprint Promises Mobile 5G in H1 2019, Signals More Job Cuts
Dan Jones, Mobile Editor
Sprint is bumping up its network capital expenditure by at least $1 billion for the coming year as it promised Friday morning to deliver mobile 5G in the first half of 2019.
Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) announced its mobile 5G plans during its fiscal third-quarter 2017 earnings call Friday morning. "We're working with Qualcomm [and others] in order to deliver the first truly mobile 5G network in the US in the first half of 2019," CEO Marcello Claure said on the call. (See Sprint Says No to mmWave, Yes to Mobile 5G.)
The CEO says that Sprint will be able to deploy mobile 5G nationwide on 2.5GHz band in 100MHz channels. "We have the spectrum to lead on 5G, and basically lead in a different way," Claure said.
Claure said later in the question and answer session that Sprint had a commitment from a "leading Korean" device vendor that it will have a 5G device ready within its 2019 timeframe. (See Qualcomm Sets Out Its 5G Stall for 2018.)
All this will mean a bump up in capital expenditure spending on the network for fiscal 2018 for Sprint, new CFO Michel Combes said. Sprint's total capex spending for fiscal 2017 will be in the $3.5-$4 billion range. Capex will hit $5-$6 billion in fiscal 2018, which starts in April 2018.
Sprint will spend to increase the number macro cell sites by 20%, and support its 2.5GHz, 1900MHz, and 850MHz bands on nearly all of its existing macro sites. Currently, around half of its macro sites have tri-band support.
The CEO added that Sprint plans to deploy more than 40,000 outdoor small cells, and "more than 1 million Magic Boxes," the wireless small cells that it uses to improve in-home coverage.
In the field, Sprint expects to update sites with multiple-antenna array hardware, or "Massive MIMO" in 2018. "Massive MIMO will serve as Sprint's bridge to 5G," Claure said. (See Sprint Says No to mmWave, Yes to Mobile 5G.)
This is because the MIMO hardware can be updated to 5G NR standard over-the-air, the CEO said.
Sprint will also leverage its partnerships with Altice and Cox Communications Inc. to expand its backhaul capabilities for LTE-Advanced and 5G. Sprint CTO John Saw chimed in briefly on the call to say that some of the capex spend could be on "dark fiber" for backhaul needs. (See Sprint, Cox Go From Patent Suit to Partnership and Altice & Sprint Ink MVNO Deal.)
Against this backdrop, Claure said there would be continuing job cuts at Sprint, including at the executive level, aiming for "a leaner and more agile company across our non-customer-facing workforce." Sprint has cut thousands of jobs during the past couple of years. (See Sprint to Take $2B Shave and Sprint, Verizon Face Reorganization, Job Cuts.)
True to his reputation as a "turnaround specialist," new CFO Michel Combes said he is looking at more ways to "decrease cost structures" at Sprint. He promised to reveal more details in the March quarter. (See Sprint Appoints Ex-AlcaLu Boss Combes as CFO.)
For the quarter, Sprint reported revenue of $8.24 billion, down from $8.55 billion a year ago. Net income for the quarter was $7.16 billion (or $1.76 per share) thanks almost entirely to tax reform gains of about $7.1 billion, compared with a net loss of $479 million a year ago.
Sprint shares are trading up $0.22 -- or 4.22% -- at $5.36 in Friday trading.
— Dan Jones, Mobile Editor, Light Reading


Bananas release ethylene, which can spoil some produce stored nearby.
If you bought green bananas from the store and want to ripen them sooner, place the bananas in a paper bag for 2 to 3 days. This will speed up the ripening process. The skin may still appear green but the flesh will be soft and sweet.
Keep bananas out in room temperature, away from high heat or direct sunlight, in a fruit bowl or on a banana hanger. Bananas will stay fresh for at least a week this way.
Once a banana has reached its peak of ripeness, you can keep them that way by putting the banana in the refrigerator. The skin will turn dark brown, but the fruit itself will remain ripe and sweet for 3 more days.
Frozen bananas are mushy when defrosted, but the sweet flavor is retained; they are great for cooking and baking. Their skin will turn brown/black, but do not bother wrapping them, just place the bananas as is in the freezer.
Home canned bananas can be stored up to 1 year; they tend to lose quality after that point.
To dry bananas, peel and cut into ¼ to ½ inch slices. Dry at 130 to 135 degrees F until almost crisp. Dried fruit can be stored 6 to 12 months at room temperature or indefinitely in the freezer.


text:
Joshua Resnick - Fotolia
Inside view of Tibco integration architecture planning
Tibco's acquisitions of well-regarded, small software specialists such as SnappyData are part of a drive toward what it calls 'connected intelligence.' CTO Nelson Petracek provides background.
They may be called technology boutiques, though some prefer the term "best-of-breed" tool providers. Whatever they are called, a parade of innovative software startups have become part of Tibco Software's portfolio.
A long-standing player in rapid-fire enterprise middleware, Tibco began a move into business analytics in earnest in 2007 by buying Spotfire. Tibco followed that up with a series of acquisitions of such vendors as StreamBase Systems, Jaspersoft, Mashery, Statistica, the former Composite Software data virtualization business of Cisco and others. The vendor's buying spree was a little diminished when, in 2014, Tibco went private and left the ranks of public companies.
For Tibco, last year's acquisitions of Scribe Software and Orchestra Networks, as well as this March's purchase of SnappyData, are part of a drive toward what it calls connected intelligence -- that is, enterprise middleware that enables operational analytics at an ever-larger scale.
We spoke recently with Nelson Petracek, CTO at Tibco, to find out how the company is riding the waves of cloud, messaging and event processing innovations on the way to next-generation integration architecture.
We've lately seen data velocity, variety and volume gain new influence in integration architecture. How does that play out as Tibco plans technology strategy?
Nelson Petracek
Nelson Petracek: When you look at some of the changes that have occurred since the days of what people called enterprise application integration, you've seen shifts. The shifts particularly are in how organizations approach where and how they want to deploy software. People are moving into hybrid cloud environments or even multi-cloud environments.
A lot of the conversation is around the speed with which you deploy new capabilities -- how you build reusable components, using APIs and API contracts to simplify how you actually integrate with different applications and systems -- [and] how you expose those to the outside world.
What was behind the thinking of Tibco's recent purchase of SnappyData?
Petracek: Well, we find that people are typically using [Apache] Spark to handle their ETL-like [extract, transform and load] workloads. But one of the challenges that we saw was in people's ability to achieve speed to access that information. With SnappyData, you represent information in such a way that you access it more quickly. It allows you to access the information in a Spark cluster -- with big data that people have collected over the years -- more efficiently.
Could you provide some context for last year's acquisition of Scribe Software? What does that bring to users?
Petracek: Scribe is really an acquisition meant to enrich capabilities in the interconnect area. It's targeted at a specific, or more focused, persona. It's not for the person that's going to be writing a Linux kernel over the weekend; instead, it is more of a model-driven approach for a different type of user.
We cover developers, but, on the other side, we wanted to focus more on not necessarily technologists, but people that still had integration requirements, people who just wanted to wire [applications] together. That's where Scribe is focused -- not on a hardcore developer, but someone who still needs to move and integrate data and systems together.
Let's look at Tibco's Orchestra Networks acquisition. Is that a move deeper into the data side of integration architecture?
Scribe is really an acquisition meant to enrich capabilities in the interconnect area ... It's not for the person that's going to be writing a Linux kernel over the weekend.
Nelson PetracekCTO, Tibco
Petracek: Yes, Orchestra has traditional master data management capabilities, but we actually see it as a much broader capability than that -- one that is useful for organizations that are realizing that they're going to have a bigger problem when it comes to metadata and reference data management.
People now worry about what information they actually collected in their big data environment -- how old it is, how fresh is, how accurate is it and where it came from. A lot of people just don't have a handle on it. They collected a bunch of data, but they don't really necessarily know what's in there, where it came from [or] how good it is.
Would you say the changes in integration architecture resemble changes going on in databases, where fit-for-purpose NoSQL databases have become common?
Petracek: Yes, we view messaging as similarly taking almost a polyglot approach, just like you see with databases. Yes, you're going to have a relational databases for certain use cases, but you will also have key-value stores, and now we're seeing a lot of renewed interest in graph databases.
Just like you're seeing all these different databases, we're seeing messaging come to include microservices capabilities and even event processing capabilities, because now people have more event-oriented information. They will need to handle streams of data that come from any source at any time.
What approach do you take to the new customers you gain, ones that weren't joint customers of yours and the companies you've acquired? How do you nurture the software you acquire?
Petracek: It's a matter of consideration for customers whenever any technologies are acquired by another organization. So, we do spend a lot of time making sure that people know who Tibco is, that we have been around a certain number of years and have a number of key customers across the globe. We need to make sure they understand what our roadmap is.
We've got our homegrown innovations, and we've got products that we've acquired, and we have an innovation lab that both use. And the lab can focus even on technology that might be further out -- things like blockchain, natural language processing and IoT.
Intelligent Data Management in Healthcare: The Iron Mountain & AWS Difference –AWS Marketplace
Data Management Strategies for the CIO –TechTarget Data Center
Resolving key integration challenges for financial applications –TechTarget ERP
Navigating Data Integration –TechTarget
Dig Deeper on Data management strategies
RPA's day has come – the intelligent evolution of a productivity bot
By: Marc Ambasna-Jones
New CEO not likely to change Tibco once merged with Citrix
By: Eric Avidon
Vista plans to acquire Blue Prism and roll it into Tibco
Blue Prism deal adds RPA to Tibco software product range
7 Ways for IT to Deliver Outstanding PC Experiences in a Remote Work World –Intel
The Well-Trod Path From Application Virtualization to People-Centric Digital ... –Citrix
Building Confidence in Cyber Resilience –Dell Technologies
Microsoft integration adds more AI to Tibco analytics... – Business Analytics
Hyperconverged Analytics continues to guide Tibco ... – Business Analytics
Hyperconverged Analytics a new experience for Tibco ... – Business Analytics


Japan is a really amazing country. Initially thought that everything must be expensive but actually could find quite a lot of cheap food to eat. Used HK15990 + 74320 yen (around HKD7580) for the whole trip in total, which means an average of HKD11785/ person. Provided that it was Christmas time and the price for hotel got up so much, we controlled our budget quite well yet enjoyed some luxurious accommodation and meals.