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Home›Features›Covering the risk of bushfires
Covering the risk of bushfires
By replacing existing bare wire with covered conductors, utilities can minimise the risk of bushfires. Amokabel Australia managing director Steve Rutland explains how the technology is scaling up to combine safety with cost-efficiency.
Even though there's a relatively low likelihood of arcing or sparking on any single span of power line, these events could cause bushfires,
which represent a major risk to the public, farm animals and wildlife. Sparking and ignition can happen when a live power conductor comes into contact with vegetation or trees if a pole fails or a branch falls. Alternatively, lines can clash in high winds, creating sparks that may ignite dry grass or vegetation after falling to the ground.
And the risk is likely to grow, driven by climate change. According to the government's State of the Climate report in November 2020, we're now experiencing hotter and drier conditions than ever, particularly in the south of the country. In addition, the fire season is growing longer and more intense.
Three technologies
It's no surprise that utilities are keen to control fault currents or put in place a physical barrier to protect lines from the elements and from each other. At the same time, it's essential to maintain supply to customers. There are a number of technologies that are
currently being applied to combat this risk.
One of these is the rapid earth fault current limiter (REFCL) device. It can be deployed at substations to monitor the network constantly. If the device detects an earth fault current on one phase of a three-phase line, it will immediately open the circuit to stop feeding current to the fault. At the same time, it will maintain or boost supply to the other phases, ensuring that customers receive a continuous and unbroken power supply.
The REFCL approach has the disadvantage that it does not protect against phase to phase faults – for example sparking from clashing lines
or when a tree branch causes a short circuit after falling across multiple lines. In addition, because it is designed to detect earth faults, it can't achieve the same protection for customers served by the country's 200,000km single wire earth return (SWER) network. These drawbacks limit the potential applications for REFCL devices.
The second option is undergrounding. As it requires extensive trenching, this is relatively costly and can present practical challenges in rocky ground. However, it completely removes the risk of ignition and can therefore be very attractive for lines running through high-risk bushfire areas.
The third and final option is to replace existing bare wire overhead lines with covered conductor. Like undergrounding, covered conductor
works on the basis of creating a protective barrier around the conductor.
A study by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has found that covered conductor reduces bushfire
risk by 98%. It can be delivered at a quarter of the cost of undergrounding or even less, depending on the ground conditions. This makes it the most cost-effective solution for bushfire mitigation from electrical lines. It also boosts safety for the general public in urban areas, and for wildlife in more rural settings.
And with a design life of 45 years, it will provide a similar lifetime to bare wire. Therefore, it makes a lot of sense to upgrade when replacing time-served lines, especially in bushfire risk areas.
Specially for the Australian market
Covered conductor has been used for many years around the world. For example, Scandinavian countries need long power lines to supply remote communities in heavily forested areas. Without covered conductors, falling trees and branches would cause regular interruptions to service. They are also used in the Middle East to protect critical power lines from corrosion and erosion in sandy, hot and salty conditions. They're also used in India to protect members of the public and elephants from bare conductors.
However, the use of covered conductor in Australia has been limited as it previously relied on heavy-duty material as the protective insulation around the conductor. That made lines significantly heavier than bare wire, meaning that utilities had to upgrade their poles as well as the lines. In addition, installation was trickier due to the manual handling of the heavy cable.
Since then, a new generation of covered conductor has been developed. It uses modern high-performance insulation that is lightweight. As a
result, this new breed of covered conductor can be installed on existing poles, making it suitable for restringing.
Although other forms of covered conductor are used elsewhere, amokabel developed a special type for Australia in partnership with electrical engineering consultants Groundline Engineering. This was possible thanks to the support of research funding established by the Victorian State Government following 2009's Black Saturday bushfires.
Groundline Engineering director Ian Flatley says that the environment in Victoria is particularly harsh: "We have high ambient temperatures in some areas, as well as low temperatures in some rural and mountainous regions. We also have extremely strong UV exposure that the insulation material needs to withstand.
"The insulation material also needs to cope with abrasion that may take place when the wind rubs a line against a tree branch or tree trunk. That's a bigger problem for us than in other countries as our trees have adapted to the climate by developing bark that is extremely tough.
He adds that they chose amokabel as a partner due to their experience and flexibility to help their customers.
"They worked with us to develop a new covered conductor with three layers. A semi-conductive inner layer provides flexibility, and a high-grade electrical insulator forms the middle layer," he says.
"Lastly, a tough polymer material is used as the outer layer to withstand mechanical abrasion as well as UV radiation from the intense sunlight.
"We then delivered an extensive programme of testing at Swinburn University to check for resistance to UV, abrasion and mechanical testing. It met or exceeded all the requirements under Australian and international standards, as well as project-specific requirements."
Having completed the product development in 2016, initial trial sections have been in operation for five years. We're now seeing the number
and scale of projects grow as utilities make progress in implementing the recommendations set out in the Black Saturday Royal Commission.
United Energy was the first utility to install our covered conductor on short sections to confirm its suitability for the network. With support from Groundline, it installed lengths of around 100m in Mordialloc and Cape Schanck.
With this experience under its belt, United Energy delivered further spans in the Arthur's Seat area of Melbourne's Mornington Peninsula. Dense vegetation in this area means that it is home to some of the longest spans in the utility's network, at 270m and 330m. That elevates the risk of conductors clashing in the wind, with potential for sparking and ignition of bushfires in the wrong conditions.
And in May 2021, Powercor completed the upgrade of a total of 43km of overhead line with covered conductor near Geelong and Bendigo.
Seeing demand grow, we saw an opportunity to improve value for money, reduce lead times and provide added value for utilities. To achieve
this, we've now set up a subsidiary in Australia with the aim of establishing local warehousing. This new local office will enable us to deliver economies of scale, faster response times and better customer service.
As a result, covered conductor is now even more cost-effective for utilities that want to protect the public from the risk of bushfire from electrical grids.
Minamata Convention on Mercury to be ratified ...
Treotham releases combined CXC inserts: designed for ...


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Q: A simple "Hello World" needs 10G virtual memory on a 64-bit machine vs 1G at 32-bit? Running a simple Java program on our production machine, I noticed that this program eats up more 10G virt. I know that virtual memory is not that relevant, but at least I would like to understand why this is needed.
public class Main {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
        System.out.println("Hello World!");
        try {
                Thread.sleep(10000);
        } catch(InterruptedException e) {
                /* ignored */
        }
  }
}

Heres what top is saying when i run that little program:
  PID USER      PR  NI  VIRT  RES  SHR S %CPU %MEM    TIME+  COMMAND
18764 myuser    20   0 10.2g  20m 8128 S  1.7  0.1   0:00.05 java

Does anyone know why this is happening?
uname -a says:
Linux m4fxhpsrm1dg 2.6.32-358.18.1.el6.x86_64 #1 SMP Fri Aug 2 17:04:38 EDT 2013 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

On an older 32bit-linux machine the same program consumes only about 1G virt. The old machine has 4GB RAM, the new one 32GB.

A: The default sizes for initial heap and maximum heap are defined as a percentage of the machine's physical memory, of which a production server nowadays tends to have a whole lot.
You can choose both via the -Xms and -Xmx command line options.

A: It turns out that on a modern computer architecture that uses virtual memory addressing (where the "memory space" an application sees does not actually relate to memory that's actually physically allocated), it really doesn't matter how much of this virtual "memory space" is given to an application upon startup.  It doesn't mean that this much memory has been allocated by the system.
If an application sees a virtual address space 10GB large all it signals to the app is that it may use memory addresses up to 10GB if it wants.  However, memory is not actually allocated in physical RAM until it is actually written to, and this is done on a page-by-page basis, where a page is a 4kB section of memory.  The virtual address space, is just that - completely virtual until actually used.
Let's say an application is given 10GB of address space and it starts using some of it.  As a "fresh" - previously untouched - page of this virtual memory is first written to, the system will, on a low level, "map" this virtual page to a section of physical memory, then write it.  But that application itself does not have to worry about such details, it just acts as if it has full access to a virtual area of memory.
In the case of Java applications, it's not the application itself but Java that is allocated that address space, and Java simply requests a huge address space by default - the amount it requests is calculated relative to the physical memory size, but not because it has any need to be conservative, but just for practicality - an application is probably not going to want enough heap size to totally bring a server to its knees, so it's operating on the assumption it won't.  As I said above this does not mean that this much is "allocated" or that the system has had to expend many resources doing so.

A: It's not your program using up that memory, it's the Java VM reserving that memory, regardless of which program is loaded.

A: Virtual memory really doesn't matter to you.
The basic difference between 32-bit and 64-bit is that the address space in 64-bit is incredibly large. If 10 GiB looks like a lot to you, note that .NET on 64-bit can use TiBs of memory like this. Yet on 32-bit, .NET is much more conservative (and so is JVM) - the address space is 4 GiB total - that's not a lot.
But it's irrelevant - it doesn't matter. It's just a thing that greatly simplifies programming, and has no negative effect on the host OS whatsoever. It creates a continuous address space for the VM to use, which means that you don't have to fragment the heap (or worse, the stack, where it's more or less impossible - but those tend to be only a MiB or so) as you get to require more "real" memory. When you finally commit the virtual memory, it becomes slightly more real - at that point, it more or less has to be backed by some data storage - be it the page (swap) file or physical RAM.
The point is, the physical location of the memory isn't necessarily continuous, but that's done outside of your reach, and the mapping is generally very fast. On the other hand, having to, say, index an array, that's actually fragmented over 10 different virtual address memory blocks, that's (completely unnecessary) work.
So there you have it - virtual memory is almost free on 64-bit. The basic approach is "if it's there, use it". You're not limiting the other applications, and it saves you quite a bit of work if you do actually end up using it. But until that point comes, you've only got a reservation. It doesn't translate to any physical memory at all. You don't pay for the friends that might come tonight and sit at your table, but you still have the space for them to sit if they do come - and only when they finally come do you actually get "charged".
See this question for more information about the way Java behaves on different machines and with different versions: What is the default maximum heap size for Sun's JVM from Java SE 6?
The maximum heap size also determines the amount of virtual memory reserved, because the heap has to be a continuous address space. If it weren't pre-reserved, it could happen that the heap could not expand to this maximum value, because someone else reserved a region of address space in the place the heap has to expand.

A: Imagine you're in the document storage business. You have a small facility in the middle of the city that stores boxes of papers, and a much larger warehouse outside of town with 1000 times the space. Every box has a label on it identifying its contents.
The in-city facility is main memory. The warehouse is disk space.
A 10GB virtual memory allocation for a new process doesn't mean finding room for 10 billion boxes for a new customer. It means printing 10 billion labels for boxes with contiguous ID numbers on them.

A: This is not the amount of physical memory the application is actually using. A virtual memory used by all processes can be orders of magnitude more than the amount of physical RAM on the machine, without any obvious problems.

A: Your program is NOT using so much memory. JVM / OS is reserving that memory i.e, the limit UPTO WHICH your program can use. Also, like one of the answer clearly mentions. 32 bit and 64 bit have got nothing to do with this. 32 bit means you can access upto 2^32 physical memory locations. and 64 bit means upto 2^64.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Pleas settled with criminal court cases
The following cases were resolved in criminal court with the use of plea agreements:
Matthew Mills – assault, theft of property under $500; time served, relieved of paying obligations.
Chester B. Toler – theft over $60,000; supervised eight years probation upon release from custody, court costs, ECF of $75, restitution of $18,004.
Sam Morris – DUI, violation of Tennessee financial responsibility, simple possession of schedule II; split confinement of 83 days, unsupervised probation, fine of $1200, court costs.
Public Records -Jan. 24, 2013
CAMPBELL COUNTY PROPERTY TRANSFERS
JAN. 14 – JAN. 18
United States Housing and Urban Development, Housing and Urban Development, HUD to Benjamin Spry and Bohdana Spry; Dist. 3, $63,000.
C. E. Jack Gray and Alma Gray to Ray Bolton and Elizabeth Bolton; Dist. 1, $9,489.78.
Misty Evans to Faron Dwayen Allen; Dist. 3, $5,000.
Veltina Tackett Phillips to Don Phillips and Don Anthony Phillips; Dist. 6, $1,000.
Cindi Lee Bowers to Cynthia L. Bowers TR. and Cynthia L. Bowers Living Trust; Dist. 2, $0.
Piles of points for the Poteets
ccannon@lafollettepress.com
They both wore the same number, and now, they both belong to the same club.
Before Tuesday's matchup with the Powell Panthers, Corey Poteet joined his brother Chris in the Campbell County 1,000-point club.
On Dec. 17, during the Clinton game, Corey Poteet scored his 1,000th career point for the Campbell County Cougars.
Bucket by Byrge brings momentum for CCHS
Emily Byrge only had three points in Tuesday night's game, but there were none bigger.
During an earlier game in the season, the Campbell County Lady Cougars lost their momentum against Powell in the second half.
Campbell County gave up 19 turnovers, while only scoring 17 points in the second half.
However, a key trey by Byrge, followed by an assist for a Kendra King long ball gave the Lady Cougars the momentum they needed for a 40-34 victory Tuesday night.
Baseball squads readying for spring
The Campbell County diamond men are readying for their 2013 campaign with a new coach at the helm.
On one of the coldest days of the winter thus far, the pitchers and catchers were hard at work.
Big treys push Powell past Campbell County
The Panthers shot 60 percent from the floor, while depositing 50 percent of their three-point attempts on Tuesday night to go away with the District 3-AAA victory.
Campbell County could only manage 20 percent from behind the arc, as Powell won, 66-45.
"We just kind of ran into a buzz saw, head on," Campbell County head coach Matt Housley said. "The Payne kid, a tough kid. The first one he hit in the game, 2 or 3 feet behind the line with a hand in his face, those are just good shots."
Construction causes brief power outage Monday
Due to some work at the site of the new justice center, the power at the Campbell County courthouse had to be temporarily shut down Monday afternoon.
"They've got to cut the power off," Deputy Mayor David Young said Monday afternoon. "They told us 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., but it may not take that long."
While county employees were initially told the power would be out for two hours, it was only out for a matter of a few minutes.
Commission to consider agreement with Montclair
At Monday's meeting, the county commission will decide whether to approve an agreement with Montclair Technologies.
Grant to help the chronically homeless in LaFollette
A Department of Housing and Urban Development grant will offer help to the chronically homeless in LaFollette.
"We just have some serious needs in this community," said Phyllis Clinger, from Community Health of East Tennessee.
"People get stuck in situations they didn't plan on getting into," said Pastor Anthony Gibson, from Word of Life Church. "I don't know any homeless person who planned on being homeless. Things just happen."
Commemorative wall to be dedicated Tuesday
The Educator Commemorative Wall will be dedicated at Campbell County High School Tuesday night. The dedication will take place at halftime of the Campbell County High School boys basketball game against Powell High School.
The wall is located outside the gym, and is part of a Campbell County High School Relief Fund campaign to raise money for scholarships, CCHSRF president Logan Hickman said. Lindsay's Carpet donated the installation of the materials and labor of the wall for free, Hickman said.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
METAL · 1994
Though In the Shadows proved to be a ferocious comeback for Mercyful Fate, some of its best songs—like "Shadows" and "Room of Golden Air"—were overlooked because they took the band's vicious attack to a more textural, atmospheric place. The band's 1994 album Time gave the group more room to explore that place, especially with "Lady in Black," "The Afterlife," and the title song, an eerie incantation that incorporates harpsichord to unsettling effect. Even tunes as aggressive as "The Mad Arab" use a spacious, atmospheric production that's designed not to bludgeon listeners but to draw them into the band's environment. "Nightmare Be Thy Name," "Angel of Light," and "Witches' Dance" are three of the most definitive and catchy songs Mercyful Fate ever wrote, even as each boasts the idiosyncrasies that make the band beloved in the metal world. The album closes with "Castillo Del Mortes," which features an army of Satanic creatures doing battle over an ancient castle in Spain. While most metal bands competed over which could be the fastest and the heaviest, Mercyful Fate focused on being the most cinematic.
Nightmare Be Thy Name
Witches' Dance
The Mad Arab
My Demon
The Preacher
Castillo del Mortes
October 25, 1994 11 Songs, 47 minutes ℗ 1998 Metal Blade Records
More By Mercyful Fate
Don't Break the Oath
Return of the Vampire
Mercyful Fate Essentials
Apple Music Metal
House of God
Bark at the Moon (Bonus Track Version)
Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs
Doomsday for the Deceiver
Once Upon the Cross


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text:
Terciel & Elinor by Garth Nix
Wysyłka w ciągu 5 - 7 dni roboczych
Bestselling novelist Garth Nix returns to the Old Kingdom for the never-before-told love story of Sabriels parents, Terciel and Elinor, and the charter magic that brought them togetherand threatened to tear them apart.A long-awaited prequel to a classic fantasy series.
In the Old Kingdom, a land of ancient and often terrible magics, eighteen year-old orphan Terciel learns the art of necromancy from his great-aunt Tizanael. But not to raise the Dead, rather to lay them to rest. He is the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, and Tizanael is the Abhorsen, the latest in a long line of people whose task it is to make sure the Dead do not return to Life.
Across the Wall in Ancelstierre, a steam-age country where magic usually does not work, nineteen year-old Elinor lives a secluded life.
Her only friends an old governess and an even older groom who was once a famous circus performer. Her mother is a tyrant, who is feared by all despite her sickness and impending death . .
. but perhaps there is even more to fear from that.
Elinor does not know she is deeply connected to the Old Kingdom, nor that magic can sometimes come across the Wall, until a plot by an ancient enemy of the Abhorsens brings Terciel and Tizanael to Ancelstierre. In a single day of fire and death and loss, Elinor finds herself set on a path which will take her into the Old Kingdom, into Terciels life, and will embroil her in the struggle of the Abhorsens against the Dead who will not stay dead.
One of the greatest living fantasy writers.
I will never get enough of the Old Kingdom. Sarah J. Maas, #1 New York Times bestselling author
Series:Old Kingdom
Publisher:HarperCollins
Imprint:Katherine Tegen Books
Published:2 Nov 2021
Dimensions:229 x 152 (mm)


Black book blogger spreading my love of reading.
"You're like the sun...and I'm the stupid moon. Always chasing after you." I didn't know it was possible to fall so deeply into someone. To drown so strongly into their bottomless depths coming up for air was unfathomable. Until he comes along, with his sun-hot radiance, and eclipses the candle that is me. He's Lucifer before the fall, beautiful but the devil is in the way he looks at me. In the way his touch brands his name across every inch of my skin. His kisses possess my soul in the most sinful of ways. Maddox Moore is my beginning and my end. Protector, friend, and lover—he's become my sole religion. At his side I become fearless, in his arms I burn to cinders, and in worshiping him I lose myself and discover the person he sees in me. But nothing is forever. Moments are ephemeral. No matter how much you want something life inevitably reminds you that you can't have it. I'm damaged. He's broken. We're both covered in stains. Stains that make it impossible for us to hold onto each other.
Enter to win Signed copy of Flawed by Francette Phal!
Francette lives in Massachusetts with her amazingly supportive husband of ten years and her darling two year old son. Reading amazing books has led her to writing and she's dabbled in fan-fiction before self-publishing her own works. She's constantly thinking up new stories to write and does her best work when music is playing in the background. Romance is where she's most comfortable but she hopes to one day venture in mystery novels. She has a weakness for coffee ice cream, tropical fruits and a good glass of wine.
If you would like me to review or feature your work please visit my review policy page by clicking on the image above.
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Military Romances Galore-Happy Veteran's Day!
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Antonio Ruiz-Camacho is a managing editor at CreditCards.com His work has appeared in The New York Times, Salon, Texas Monthly, CNET en Español, and elsewhere. Originally from Mexico, he's been living in Austin since 2004. Also a fiction writer, he's the author of the story collection "Barefoot Dogs." He holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Texas at Austin.


text:
Q: How do I specify this range using a regular expression in JavaScript? I need to check if the first 6 digits of a number are from 222100-272099.
This is in JavaScript, and I'm not sure how to go about implementing it.
My initial thought was something like:
match(/^2[2-7][0-9]$/), but I'm not sure how to specify this range correctly.

A: You shouldn't really use a RegEx for that. It is better to substring the string and then compare:
const n = Number.parseInt(str.substr(0, 6), 10);
if (222100 <= n && n <= 272099) {
   // ...

A: Regular expressions are for pattern matching in strings:
Wikipedia: Regular expression
You can use JavaScript's parseInt() function to turn your 6 numeric character string into a number that can be used to do a simple greater than/less than check.
W3C: parseInt()


text:
2-Metilbutirato de metila é o composto orgânico, éster do ácido 2-metilpentanoico do álcool metanol de fórmula C6H12O2, SMILES CCC(C)C(=O)OC e massa molecular 116,16. Apresenta ponto de ebulição 115 °C, densidade 0,88 g/mL a 25 °C e ponto de fulgor 90 °F. É classificado com o número CAS 868-57-5, MOL File 868-57-5.mol e CBNumber CB5265440. É inflamável e irrita pele e olhos.

Ésteres

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


When Sandy took New York City, many places were ruined—including the multi-sport Astro Turf fields in Battery Park City. But now, over five months later, the fields have been completely restored through an aggressive team effort.
The Battery Park City Authority's new playing fields.
The fields, which enjoyed a grand opening last week, provide 83,500 square feet of playing surface and required about 750,000 pounds of Astro Turf infill to complete. Nearly a hundred people turned out in the first hour the fields were re-opened to enjoy some free playtime and feel out the newly completed fields. The opening also attracted news stations like NY1, which ran a news story special on their completion and informed viewers of the free play period.
The Battery Park City Authority is a New York State public benefit corporation that aims to keep its designated section of Manhattan up-to-date, innovative in design, and balanced between public, private, business, and residential space. Seven unpaid board members appointed by the governor manage its operation. Currently those board members include Donald Capoccia and Carl Mattone, both leaders in the real estate industry.
"Open to All" free play took place at the new fields on Thursday and Friday, April 4th-5th, while the Downtown Little League season began on Saturday morning following the annual parade from City Hall to the fields.


text:
Q: How to write html tags without triggering the page I am trying to be able to show the code

 to the user but instead of writing out what I wrote between the code tag it actually does make the page thing im genuinely trying to make a div box so is there anyway to avoid it?


Introducing the calendar is a great way to teach counting and numeral recognition. It also introduces the names of the week and months. In our classroom we would start from the first day of the month and count to the present day. Doing this activity daily reinforces counting and numeral recognition. Also, stating the name of the month and day is a great way to introduce these new terms. Later, after numeral recognition is established, teach the days of the week. Start from Sunday and read the names of the day until you find the present day of the week. This helps teach the days of the week.


text:
Digital Literary Salon April 28, 2020 July 22, 2020
Holding Up a Funhouse Mirror: Lavie Tidhar in Conversation with Robert Sharp
As part of our Digital Literary Salon, Lavie Tidhar speaks to Robert Sharp about speculative fiction, cultural appropriation, and what we can – and should – write.
PEN Transmissions is English PEN's magazine for international and translated voices. PEN's members are the backbone of our work, helping us to support international literature, campaign for writers at risk, and advocate for the freedom to write and read. If you are able, please consider becoming an English PEN member and joining our community of over 1,000 readers and writers. Join now.
ROBERT SHARP: By Force Alone is a retelling of the Arthurian Legend – less about chivalry, more about power. Can you describe the genesis of the book for us?
LAVIE TIDHAR: It really comes from studying it for the first time, and realising two things that never occurred to me. One is that it's not only entirely made up, but made up by many different (European!) writers over a long period of time. And these stories they made up are still hugely important to our modern collective unconscious. If you take the Holy Grail, for example: it's not in the original, and it actually evolves over three different versions – first a saucer of blood, then a fallen star stone, and finally the Holy Grail as we know it. And without that we wouldn't have Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, or The Da Vinci Code. So I thought that was interesting, and I couldn't resist, in the end, writing all three versions into the book.
The other thing that got me is that the story itself isn't at all about chivalry. No one's good, really (apart maybe from Galahad, and I apologise in advance for what I did to him). I realised it's the classic gangster narrative, the rise-and-fall. It's The Godfather, it's Goodfellas. And so I couldn't understand why it's always presented as a 'good' story. It's an awful story. Uther rapes Igraine to birth Arthur. Arthur rises to power through nothing more than killing off everyone else who wants to be king. Then someone younger and hungrier, Mordred, rises and kills him. But no one was writing it like that, and I couldn't understand why. So I sat down to write it myself. I was using new translations of the originals, of course, but I was also drawing on a Victorian children's book – a children's book!
By Force Alone feels prima facie different in direction to the rest of your output so far. Do you see it that way, or does it seem a natural next step?
It does feel different. There was only so much alternate-history-political-noir fiction ('Tidharian' fiction, as I've seen it called) I could do. The change actually starts with a book called The Escapement, which is coming out next year. It's the only non-political book I've ever written. It's about a father searching for a cure for his son's illness across this very weird, surrealist world. And one of the things I realised is that I can use my strength, which is that I'm not really a novelist but a short story writer; I could write the books episodically. I stupidly pitched By Force Alone to my publishers with the vague notion it could be a quartet of books, and they were surprisingly keen, so I'm writing the second one right now. But after that I'll probably go and do a big 20th Century crime novel.
A fun aspect of By Force Alone is the way you appropriate liberally from the canon of English literature and modern pop-culture. I spotted snippets of William Shakespeare, the King James Bible, Charles Dickens and Walt Whitman, and there are probably dozens of others a wider-read person would recognise. These tributes are blended with brazen allusions to The Terminator, The Wire and The Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) series. Can you talk about how this pilfering / remixing / borrowing / deployment arose, and how it serves the story?
The critic John Clute calls it 'equipoise' fiction, and he argues it's a condition of being a 21st Century writer. I will use what I can – whether it's elements of crime fiction, or historical fiction, or slice-of-life, or science fiction. I'll mix them up. Genres don't matter to me, but they do fascinate me as sets of rules or formulas or expectations, and what you can do with that. What I also realised is that the people I feel closest to are not writers but comics, going to any length for the sake of a joke. So, for me, putting in these little references is funny. Without the humour you can't see the darkness; the humour is the light. Even if, or especially if, I write about the Holocaust, as in A Man Lies Dreaming. Or about Israel and Palestine, like in Unholy Land, and throw in a detail where in this alternate reality there's a porn magazine called Zaftig (curvy, or plump, in Yiddish). Or, indeed, what I do to the poor Green Knight in By Force Alone, which I've already seen some readers really hated.
But references are also, I suppose, a remnant of Modernism. If you look at The Waste Land, it's all quotes. It's all references, and it's a great poem. Postmodernism is a big influence as well – the mixing and matching, the metafiction. And if I'm going to go on like this, I have to say I'm inordinately influenced by the work of the Russian Formalists and their ideas about defamiliarisation. They've been out of fashion for decades, though.
Many reviewers have seized on the fact that this is a post-Brexit novel with allusions to populism and xenophobia, and their hypocrisies. But the wider theme of power is crucial right now: we see it in the way Donald Trump and other authoritarian political leaders are sustained, and we see it examined in popular culture, too. The phrase 'By Force Alone' is a mantra, repeated by more than one character throughout the book. So can you talk about this aspect of the book? Was this through-line always at the core of your story?
That seems fairly obvious, but it's hardly very original, or interesting, in itself. What I actually found much more interesting is how pointless the whole thing is. They're fighting over England? Who cares! I'm naturalised now and all, but I'm not fundamentally from here, and to me that was the funny bit, that it's all so silly. You see it in the book repeatedly: you get glimpses of the wider world, and you see people like Merlin yearning to leave and get out, and being shackled to Story, as it were. I got to have a lot of fun with Lancelot coming in from the outside and having much the same point of view. That's more interesting to me than, you know, whether Henry VIII is going to divorce his wife or not.
The new book I'm working on is set after the Norman conquest. Christianity's taken over, and that in itself is fascinating. The crusades, and the power plays between Henry II and Becket – I go into that for a bit. But, again, it's more to highlight the absurdity of the whole thing. I take a great delight in, for example, all the 'genuine' Holy Foreskins that were floating around Christendom at that time. You know, I try never to make anything up because reality is always weirder.
Can you talk about what 'cultural appropriation' means to you? Are there limits on what authors can write about? Should some writers 'stay in their lane'?
This is such an exasperating topic. Because the only people who ever complain about how they can't write about stuff anymore are over-privileged writers – your sort of white generics, suddenly being called up on their crap. No one is telling you what to write, but this really is about power and privilege. Can you write about a culture you don't know and understand? Sure. Can you pull it off? Well, probably not. And the most important question really is, should you? Because why? Why do you feel the need to tell the story of marginalised people? Why do you co-opt someone else's story?
The problem isn't really with writers; it's with the whole publishing industry, which would prefer a white writer's narrative to a black writer's. We've all had rejections or heard the rejection that says we don't publish stories about (for example) Nigeria. Or we don't publish stories set in Mexico. And yet those same publishers will reject a good Mexican novel in favour of a white American writer writing – badly – about Mexico. You keep hearing the line it doesn't sell. Well, nothing sells if you don't sell it. So, you know, can you write anything you want? Sure. Should you? No, and if you do, then take the criticism and don't whine about it. Really what we need is a more diverse publishing ecosystem, and we need to recognise the bias that publishers and writers hold.
For me, I absolutely can write whatever I want, because frankly no one thinks my books sell anything anyway. I'm a writer – not a Jewish writer, or an Israeli writer, or a genre writer, or whatever other niche you want to stick someone into. But I ask myself, repeatedly: Do I have the right to do this book? I'm perfectly happy to write these British books because, frankly, the British are fair game, and making fun of them is fair game. But if I wanted to write, say, about South-east Asia, where I did live for a time – well, sure I can do it, but I'll only ever be a tourist there. Why don't I instead help promote genuine writers from South-east Asia, who have their own stories to tell? This is part of what I've been trying to do with the World SF anthologies and related projects (World SF Blog, travel fund, and book bundles) over the past twelve years. Let other people's voices be heard.
I am sick to death of this privileged nonsense about how everything is censorship and now white people can't just take what they want when they want to and get paid a lot to do it badly. Isn't it telling that they usually complain about it when they headline some international literary festival? Of course, I have to recognise my own privilege: that I'm male; that I'm white (or, you know, being Jewish, white enough); that I write in English, albeit as a second language; that, frankly, I'm sort of establishment at this point. But the nice thing is, I'm pretty obscure, so at least if I say something stupid it's not a headline in the Guardian and seven opinion pieces. I just wish some writers tried harder not to say something stupid.
There are some aspects of your work that might very well cause offence: Adolf Hitler as a London detective; Osama Bin Laden's atrocities reimagined as entertainment; and, in Unholy Land, you seem to assert – please correct me if I'm wrong – that establishing a Jewish homeland necessitates abuse of pre-established peoples. I wonder whether you've experienced any concerted pushback? Has anyone ever said of your work, 'This should not have been written'?
It's a source of grave disappointment to me that no one is ever really offended much by my work. One guy wrote a long piece for a literary magazine about how terrible I was, which was very flattering. But other than that, not really. I hope that's because I don't reduce ideas to caricatures – that they have some depth to them. Osama is really a book about loss, I guess, but the point it's making about terrorist attacks is that they are performative: made to be seen, to be news.
Adolf Hitler as a private eye, on the idea level, is terrible. I'd be mortally offended if someone else did that. The trick is to make it work, somehow. Partly, it allows me to talk about the Holocaust using the tools I have, and it also allows me, even if as a sideshow, to critique the genre that Chandler made. It has sexism and racism built in by Chandler in the same way Lovecraft baked them into cosmic horror. So, I'm talking to Chandler, but I'm also talking to Primo Levi, I'm talking to Ka-Tsetnik and Celan, I'm talking to my grandparents who survived, to my mother who was born in a refugee camp. These books come from anger, a lot of anger, I think. And then I put in some cheap jokes.
With Unholy Land, incidentally, I don't think a Jewish homeland necessitates abuse, as you put it. But I don't write about some fairytale make-believe world (well, I do, but); I'm writing about Israel and Palestine. I just put a sort of distorting funhouse mirror before it. You know, one thing I would have loved to see is more than one Jewish state in the world. That would have been very interesting. Just like there are a lot of Christian or Buddhist or Muslim states, I would have loved to see a few more Jewish ones. It abounds with alternate-history possibilities too.
I'm writing about the real world, just using fantastical elements to generate a sense of defamiliarisation – which I hope would have made that old Formalist Viktor Shklovsky happy, at least. He argued that defamiliarisation is at the root of good art. And like most writers who used genre tools, you can get away with a lot more, because as soon as you slap 'genre' on it as a label, nobody takes it very seriously anyway.
Lavie Tidhar's most recent novels are By Force Alone (Head of Zeus) and The Escapement (Tachyon), both out in 2020. He is the author of the World Fantasy Award winning Osama (2011), the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize winning A Man Lies Dreaming (2014), the Campbell and Neukom awards winning Central Station (2016), and many others. His first children's book, Fantastic Book Award nominee Candy, appeared in 2018, and first comic,  Adler, a 5-issue mini-series, is published in 2020. As editor, he published the ground-breaking Apex Book of World SF series of international speculative fiction, and he is currently a book columnist for The Washington Post.
Robert Sharp is an author and free speech activist, and was the Head of Campaigns at English PEN for 10 years. His novella The Good Shabti was nominated for the Shirley Jackson Award. He is currently reading and blogging about The Arabian Nights at A Thousand And One Recaps.
This series features voices from the 2020 programme of the English PEN Literary Salon at the London Book Fair (LBF). LBF is the global marketplace for rights negotiation and the sale and distribution of content across print, audio, TV, film and digital channels. Taking place every spring in the world's premier publishing and cultural capital, it is a unique opportunity to explore, understand and capitalise on the innovations shaping the publishing world of the future. LBF brings you direct access to customers, content and emerging markets. LBF 2021, the 50th Fair, will take place from 9-11 March 2021, Olympia London. LBF's London Book and Screen Week will run for the fourth year, with the book fair as the pivotal three-day event within a seven-day programme. For further information, please visit: www.londonbookfair.co.uk
Posted in Digital Literary Salon and Tagged collaborations cultural appropriation free speech Lavie Tidhar Robert Sharp Speculative fiction
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Daniel Gal KC
Partner, International Litigation and Arbitration
T:44.20.7519.7130
daniel.gal@skadden.com
Daniel Gal is King's Counsel. He is a solicitor advocate with extensive experience in commercial arbitration and investment treaty disputes and litigation. He has particular experience in complex multijurisdictional disputes in growth markets, in particular the Middle East, Turkey, Russia and Brazil.
Prior to joining Skadden, Mr. Gal led the strategic development of the Middle Eastern litigation practice of another major U.S. law firm. Over the course of the last 20 years, he has represented some of the world's leading companies in sectors such as telecommunications, banking and finance, infrastructure, energy, construction and technology under a variety of different rules including ICC, ICSID, LCIA, UNCITRAL, AAA and ad hoc arbitrations. He served, until recently, as one of Australia's representatives to the ICC Commission on Arbitration and, from 1998-99, served as the law clerk to the Chief Justice of Australia.
Mr. Gal sits on the firm's global Financial Oversight and Audit Committee.
Chambers UK cited sources describing Mr. Gal as "a superb advocate and a terrific tactician" who "is an absolute pleasure to work with and a creative and fast thinker." He also was named to The Legal 500's inaugural U.K. Private Practice Arbitration Powerlist in 2022 and named in Who's Who Legal: Arbitration 2021 as a Global Leader. Additionally, he has repeatedly been named to Best Lawyers in the UK and was included in Lawdragon's inaugural Global Litigation 500 list in 2021. Mr. Gal was named one of the 45 top international arbitration counsel worldwide under the age of 45 by Global Arbitration Review in August 2011. Mr. Gal has twice been part of arbitration teams that won Legal Business' International Arbitration Team of the Year award.
Representations include:
one of the world's largest construction groups in a several hundred-million-dollar ICC arbitration proceeding concerning the termination of a hydropower project in the Caucasus;
Agility in ICSID annulment proceedings commenced against the Republic of Iraq arising out of the expropriation of Agility's investment in Iraq;
DP World Plc in a bilateral investment treaty claim against the Kingdom of Belgium concerning the expropriation of an infrastructure concession;
a subsidiary of a major investment group in a series of multibillion-dollar LCIA arbitrations related to the ownership and control of one of the largest Middle Eastern telecommunications companies, and related British Virgin Islands litigation;
the trustees of Bermuda trusts with assets of approximately US$15 billion as respondent in the defence of multiple proceedings attacking those trusts, including the largest claim by value ever to come before the Bermuda Supreme Court;
a major alcoholic drinks manufacturer in a significant dispute over distribution arrangements in the U.K.;
a major U.K. alcoholic drinks manufacturer in a series of disputes on both sides of the Atlantic regarding alleged infringement of IP rights;
the government of Ras al Khaimah, UAE, in the enforcement of a multimillion-dollar ICC arbitration arising out of a concession agreement, and in the negotiation of a major new strategic infrastructure concession and related litigation aspects;
the government of South Sudan in its highly publicized and strategically important arbitration with Sudapet Co. Ltd. concerning the disputed ownership of significant oil field interests (with a disputed amount exceeding US$1 billion). Legal Business named Skadden as its 2017 International Arbitration Team of the Year for the defence of this case;
a leading international telecommunications company in a multibillion-dollar investment treaty claim against a Southeast Asian sovereign state;
Cypriot and Bermudan entities in connection with a substantial dispute arising under an English law-governed distribution agreement for alcoholic beverages in the U.K. market;
Cayman and Cypriot entities in connection with U.S. Chapter 11 restructuring of a subsidiary and advice in relation to related LCIA arbitration proceedings in London connected to former Yukos assets; and
a major Turkish construction company in connection with ICC arbitration proceedings against an African state concerning a series of high-profile construction projects.
Experience prior to joining Skadden includes representing:
a series of British Virgin Islands funds in connection with the successful setting aside of a significant arbitral award in Singapore affecting, amongst other things, the rights of those funds to receive payment under certain tranche notes;
Saudi and Bahraini companies in a multimillion-dollar claim brought by them in the English High Court alleging lawful and unlawful means conspiracy, defamation and breach of confidence;
the controllers of Brasil Telecom in their high-profile multibillion-dollar shareholders' dispute with Telecom Italia over the control of Brasil Telecom;
the Republic of Ecuador in a series of significant investment treaty disputes brought by foreign investors in the energy sector under the auspices of ICSID; and
one of Turkey's largest construction companies in a substantial dispute in ICC arbitration under three contracts concerning an iconic development in the heart of Moscow.
How Directors Can Manage the UK Supreme Court's 'Balancing Exercise' in Difficult Times
UK Supreme Court Rules in Favour of Directors in Seminal Case on Directors' Duties in 'Zone of Insolvency'
B.C.L., University of Oxford, 2001
B.Ec., LL.B (Hons 1), Macquarie University, 1997
Solicitor-Advocate (Higher Courts Civil-Proceedings)
Law Clerk, Hon. Anthony Murray
Gleeson, AC, Chief Justice of Australia (1998-1999)


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Our Learning Blog
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PORT ELLEN ECO NEWS
Port Ellen Primary
Category: Primary 67
Primary 67
P6 Engineering At The High School
On the 14th March the Primary 6's from all over the island came to the high school for an engineering day. The P7s also came. Everyone got put into groups of three by Mrs Harrison. The first one was about a roller coaster, you had to make a marble get into a cup with some type of dip or loop. Most people were successful but some weren't. The second challenge was to put your table at an angle using bricks. You had to try and make youre marble take ten seconds to go down a table. Some people added zig zags and peices of paper to try and slow down the marble. Overall the day was good and I would go back.
WW1 Letters
This term we have been learning about WW1. We have been looking at the sinking of the Tuscania and the Otranto, how the war has changed Islay and we have been looking at life in the trenches. We have also been researching our own person from the trenches in the war. I am reaserching someone called Walter Whyte. He was a Lance corporal and his regiment was the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Part of our learning we were hoping to write a letter back to the family of the person you were researching. I found out lots of very sad and interesting facts about Walter Whyte. I found out that when Walter was still in school his older brother went to war and then Walter's brother Colin went to put on the light of the lighthouse with his dad on a windy night and Colin fell into the water and his dad went in to catch him and they both drowned that night. It was very sad and a few months erlier Walter's older brother Doughald died in the war. His other older brother went to war and was allowed to go home as their mum was struggling. Then later on Walter died in the war. One of the weird facts is that when Walter was alive he was injured by a grenade when it hit his nose. The whole of our class wrote a letter to the families of their people and this is my letter to Walter's family.
Dear Mother,
I am having a spiffing time here, making some new friends and I only got injured a few times. I miss all the family very much. Well, I hope that soon enough the war will be over and I will be able to come how to see you all and in one piece. So how is the weather has it changed much from when I left. What I miss most is waking up every morning to see your warm, loving and caring smile, the lovely landscapes of Islay and exploring the island. I hope everything is spiffily good over there and everything is going very well. Have you found anyone else to go over to the lighthouse? I am extremely sorry I did not make it to the funeral I tried to explain but the Sargent wouldn't let me go. I hope that you are managing ok with all the others at home and I will be as careful as I can because I know you don't want another one of us to die.
Over here although in the trenches it is mucky, cold and full of lice and rats. Waking up every morning with rats crawling all over me and over everyone else. Itching and wriggling as the lice pinch and suck my blood. It is always a nuisance lice sucking my blood and the only way we can get rid of them is if we get the end of our cigarettes and burn them. I can't even get started with the trenches. Water up to our ankles and mud suffocating our legs as we squelch through the trenches. Slowly making our way through sludge. When it comes to night there is not even one bed to sleep in. Most of us has to sleep on the floor and over here we have to look after our self. The worst thing is that the kilts we wear attract lice. I wish so much that I was home with you and the rest of the family. The ground is mostly muck and dead bodies. The weather over here is sometimes ok but most of the time the breeze is blowing heavily against my face.
Right now I am in the battle of the Somme in France. Every two seconds BANG! Another shell comes down failing to hit us another time. The guns firing and hitting our trench. Every time another man falling, dying and in deep pain. I am scared Mother I really want to come home. Even my friends can't help some of them have died during the battle and some in the hospital beds. Sometimes it gets silence and just when I think that it stops another fire comes our way but that time it was different. My first gas attack. I got really scared. The gas came, some of the soldiers falling some chocking and drowning. I made it out alive. Just. I just can't any more I want to come home mother.
Soon enough I am hoping that I will be home and everything will be back to normal. I hope you are doing very well and I am hoping to see you very soon.
Walter xxx
Here is a piece of art I did based on my learning.
Posted on February 27, 2018 March 29, 2018
My Day At BT Murryfield
One day after rugby club we where pulled in and I was chosen to be the mascot for the Scotland Rugby Team through the Islay Minis Rugby club, which is a club for people who want to play rugby till there in s2 and then they have to go to the one in high school. On February 24th me, my dad and my grandad headed to Murrayfield to see the Scotland vs England rugby match as I was the mascot. When we got the stadium we had to meet up with the rest of the mascots to go and sit in a room and wait for some other people as they were late. When every one was in the room our parents went to there seats and we were taken into the tunnel where we waited for the game to start. When the game was just about to start the players came out and lined up. I was partnered with Stuart Hogg who was my favourite player. When we ran out we had walk forward and kneel as Princess Anne walked behind us and shook the players hand. After that we went off and went to our seat and watched the game. Where we were sitting we had the subs right behind us. After half time we back to our seats and the game started up and it started up. When England were progressing through our defence, Jamie Bhatti, another one of my favourite players, he was injured and carried off and when he came up the steps to his seat he almost fell as he had torn something in his leg. After the game we went down and had to wait till the players got ready and got changed then they came out to sign our t-shirts and other stuff. I was really thrilled that Scotland won!
Imagineers Presentation London Trip
On Saturday 18th November I went to London as a finalist for the Tomorrows Engineer competition. In the competition there were 10 finalists from all around the UK. All the finalists had to meet up in the Science Museum to present their invention in front of 4 judges and the audience. We had professional posters made to show our inventions. My invention was the Scaredy Sheep, a device that would bark like a dog and is attached to the sheeps ear so when sheep get stuck on their backs they are scared into jumping up again.
When the finalists first arrived we went down into a room where the judges were and we got to talk to them and the host so we weren't as scared to talk about our inventions in front of them. We also had to get head sets on so we could do a sound check. After the break we all went down and sat down. The first thing that happened was a balloon experiment and a bubble experiment. In the bubble experiment a lady got bubble mixture and big bubble stick. Another lady came out and got another bubble stick and each side of the room did a bubble competition. The balloon experiment was really cool because a lady put a balloon on fire and it made a REALLY loud bang.
Then the first finalists went up to present their ideas. Then we got a quick break to explore the museum. After about 15 minutes we had to go back and on my way in their was a robot called Oscar who walked into me. Oscar was a really cool robot because he speaks to you and hands out chocolates and lollipops. Finally we got into the room and sat down and then there was another quiz. Then it was lunch and after we got to have a quick demonstration on how the body digests food. It wasn't a good sight at all!
After the disgusting demonstration I had to go up and present my idea. I was nervous but excited and was proud of explaining my invention. Then the judges came out and the host announced the winner, and the winning design was an excellent hover wheelchair. We all congratulated the winner and then we got to explore more of the museum. After a long day I went back to my hotel. I really enjoyed the competition and I would like to be an engineer when I grow up. While I was there I learnt that to complete something you have to stick with it and keep trying.
The Engineer Grabber Challenge
In class we have been looking at engineering and we have been doing challenges in groups to help us feel like an engineer. For this challenge we were told that we had make a model and we were to be able to pick up an object from one metre away. First thing that we did in our groups was go off separately and make a design and label it so that we could see how it would work and what materials it needed to be made. When that was finished we got back in our groups and we decided what one that we would make. We went of and started to make our model and when we had to test it out and my group managed to pick up a water bottle from a metre away. Then when we had finished Mrs Clark decided who was the winner of this challenge and it was my group.
Rowan Morris
Farmers Feast
On Tuesday 3rd October 2017 primary 6/7 made a delicious buffet for elders in the local community. Some of the delicious food that were available: Bramble muffins, pancakes, tomato soup, egg sandwiches, oat and apple cookies, bramble and apple cakes and jam sandwiches. After everyone got welcomed and took a seat the P6/7s told everyone about the feast. While everyone ate some people from the class were on a table with each other and we had to talk to the people on our table. Soon after everyone had had a wee bit to eat the Gaelic choir sang some beautiful songs and some of the choir did poems and solos. After the Gaelic choir sang the Primary School band played some songs. The instruments that were played were the flute and the clarinet. The final thing that happened was primary 1,2 and 3 did some poems and they sounded lovely. Everyone had a great time, enjoyed the entertainment and very much appreciated our lovely foods.
Through this year P5/6/7 have been using lots of technology to help with their learning. Some people have been using technology for their Endeavour project like Rebecca, Rhys, Sophie, Rowan and Taylor.
Rebecca is doing A documentary on Islay and she is also making a website. Rebecca's website has made her endeavour better because more people will be able to see it rather than her telling them. Rebecca has already made a logo and completed 4 pages, 3 more to go. She hopes it will be completed by 31st May.
Rhys is doing Kodu for his Endeavour so everything he does is on the computer. He has completed 11 levels already and is hoping to create as much levels as possible.
For Charlie's Endeavour he has learnt about Calmac and how long it has been running and also about all the ferries and boats, and he records this in a blog.
Sophie is doing animations and has completed 10 she is hoping to complete 12 all together.
Ciaran has made a sway for his Endeavour about his Endeavour which is electricity. He has found out about what electricity is, what electrons make, how electricity travels and how fast it travels.
Rowan has made an iMovie of her performing magic tricks.
Taylor has been working on a documentary for his Endeavour, his Endeavour is on different sports you can do on Islay he has videoed himself cycling around Islay using a Go Pro.
We have used scratch with Mr Shakespeare. In scratch you can create quizzes or games and anything is possible.
Figure is an app that makes music which we have also used in class. Everyone has enjoyed using it and it has also helped us understand music a lot more like crescendos and diminuendos which has helped us learn in a more fun way.
Garageband is also another useful app you can use to make music but you can add voices into it. Eva and Natalie have been experimenting with garageband by singing gaelic songs.
There are lots of things you can do in the classroom to help you with your work and most of this is using technology and this is just some of them.
https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/ab/public/OurLearningBlog/uploads/sites/7/2017/05/IMG_2314.mov
Scottish Maths Challenge Success!
Every year Mrs Clark's class take part in the Scottish Maths Challenge, a competition where you have to complete tricky maths problems that require you to think outside the box. It is a great way to improve your maths problem solving skills and learn to apply strategies to help you work out the answers. Children can opt to take part in the challenges, and there are three sets of questions over the year. One of the questions this year was:
Colin and Tom are on a camping holiday and, at their campsite, they make friends with Fiona. They ask her when her birthday is but, being a bit of a joker, Fiona tells them only that it is one of the following;
May 14, July 12, May 15, May 18, June 16, June 19, July 15, August 12, August 14, August 16.
She then tells Colin the month of her birthday, but not the day in the month, whilst she tells Tom the day in the month, but not the month.
Immediately, Colin Declares "Well Tom certainly cannot know for sure when Fiona's birthday is."
to which Tom replies "Ah, but now I do." "And now I know when it is as well," comes back Colin.
When is Fiona's birthday? Explain your reasoning.
Quite tricky!
The children who took part have been very successful and should be proud of their perseverance and skills. Ellie and Matthew have achieved a bronze medal and Eva, Ruaraidh, Rowan, Rebecca and Kaitlyn achieved a silver medal in the competition. Kaitlyn and Rebecca missed out on the gold by one point! Well done everyone.
On Monday 20th February Port Ellen Primary School had Martin Rae in to do football coaching and sports leader training with the children. We had to do warm up activities that were very fun and active. We had to do different types of relay races in our assigned teams. We had to practice dribbling using the new more challenging skills that we had been taught. At the end we sat down and he told us different warm up activities that would help us run our clubs. Over all we thought that it was a great experience and helped improve our football skills.
My Kodu Endeavor
At Port Ellen primary school my endeavor is Kodu lab game. Kodu is a game to learn the physics of coding however ignoring writing things down like regular coding. You can do all sorts of things like build a world, create objects and robots, create hills and more. You can "program" anything as long as it is a object and make it do almost whatever you want.
For my Kodu endeavor I am doing different levels. For my first level I made a time challenge. You have three minutes to either do a hard jumping challenge or to do a race. when you complete a challenge you will be transported to the next level. In the 2nd level there will be 11 trees. 10 trees will give you a game over but 1 tree will transport you to the next level. In the next level there is a maze where there are 5 red apples and 5 black apples. The black apples give you minus 10 points but red will give you plus 10 points. Getting minus points will result in game over however getting 50 points will give you a win.
For my 4th level (which is still in development) I am making a space invaders game. there will be a light spawning in stars which will shoot at you and if you run out of health you lose. If you destroy a certain amount of stars you will win. For the 5th level I am thinking of doing a plat former level where you have to jump on blocks and try to reach the top while trying to beat a computer controlled robot which is also going to the top. It is great fun.
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Port Ellen Primary Learning Blog
Welcome to Our Learning Blog from Port Ellen Primary School, which aims to record and celebrate learning and achievement in our school. We are situated in a pretty fishing village on the Isle of Islay, off the West coast of Scotland. It is a lovely place to live in and learn in, and we hope you will enjoy reading our blog and maybe even leave a comment.
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Mobilink Microfinance Bank joins the coveted global club of ACCA Approved Employers
Farhat AliJune 18, 2021 9:23 am
Mobilink Microfinance Bank Ltd. (MMBL), Pakistan's largest digital bank, has been recognized as an Approved Employer for its outstanding employee development and training initiatives by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants), the world's leading body for professional accountants.
The achievement further cements MMBL's standing as a preferred employer in Pakistan's banking and finance industry.
ACCA's Approved Employer Program recognizes select employers globally for their high standards of staff training and development. MMBL's recognition is indicative of the organization's commitment to ensuring that ACCA members and future members have the right combination of technical, professional, and ethical skills to add value and drive the business forward. As part of the recognition, MMBL will now get exclusive access to ACCA's global network of leading employers and professionals, world-class employer resources, and award-winning thought leadership.
Welcoming the development, Samiha Ali Zahid, Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) MMBL, said: "We are thrilled to become an approved ACCA employer that will not only help us attract and retain the best talent but will also give access to ACCA's professional insights. MMBL is fully committed to nurturing its workforce through dedicated professional development programs. Our focus is to ensure a high employee retention rate through dedicated mentoring and coaching to develop our staff for effective succession and leadership roles uptake in their professional careers."
Chief Finance & Digital Officer, MMBL, Sardar Mohammad Abubakr said: "MMBL takes pride in being an employer of choice in the country. The latest recognition from ACCA is in line with our focus on nurturing a growth-oriented culture at the Bank. We are committed to fully benefitting from this opportunity to further enable and empower our valued employees. It is our employees, solely because of whom, we are who we are. Their strength and development will always be our top priority".
In his congratulatory message, Sajjeed Aslam, head of ACCA Pakistan, says: "We're really excited to welcome Mobilink Microfinance Bank to our global network of employers. Together we'll develop the future-ready talent that our country needs to future-proof businesses and advance our economy. It's also an opportunity for both ACCA and MMBL to collaborate on areas such as financial inclusion and SME development to amplify our contribution towards a better, fairer, more sustainable future for all."
MMBL, being the largest digital bank of Pakistan, is one of the leading institutions with a strong focus on the capacity building of their workforce. The bank considers its employees the most valuable asset and continues to invest in their growth and development to catalyze sustainable growth of the organization in the long run.
AUTHOR Farhat Ali
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NEWER POSTFundamental Significance of every person is by recognizing and valuing the basic human rights they are born with
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Here's an Entertainment Weekly interview with writer/director Dan Poliner. Faith and Julia talk to Dan about what inspired him to make Jack, Jules, Esther & Me. Thanks Entertainment Weekly, and thanks Sirius Radio!
Newer:JJEM on PBS / Channel 13! Older:Featured in the New York Post!


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Q: Matlab Integration of exponential function clear all
clc
syms x;
A=(x^3)/(exp(x)-1);
B=int(A,0,1)

When I run this code then it shows an expression like below
B =
log(1 - exp(1)) + 3*polylog(2, exp(1)) - 6*polylog(3, exp(1)) + 6*polylog(4, exp(1)) - limit(x^3*log(1 - exp(x)) + 6*polylog(4, exp(x)) + 3*x^2*polylog(2, exp(x)) - x^4/4 - 6*x*polylog(3, exp(x)), x == 0, Right) - 1/4
What is the polylog in the expression. But, i need one definite value, Is there any way to solve this issue so that i get a value. please anyone help me......

A: X = eps:0.01:1;
Y = (X.^3)./(exp(X)-1.0);
Z = trapz(X,Y);


Rusty Simmons Feb. 6, 2019 Updated: Feb. 6, 2019 10:54 p.m.
Cal football's offense will be fixed.
On Wednesday afternoon, complete with a 30-minute video and more than an hour sit-down interview with head coach Justin Wilcox designed to highlight the incoming recruiting class, it was the future of what has been a listless offense that got the real responses.
Cal will start a 15-practice spring session Feb. 25 with eight players who enrolled early from a 25-player class that ranks among the top 40 in the country. There wasn't much movement (Jawaun Johnson decommitted from Cal when ruled academically ineligible, and Penn State transfer Isaiah Humphries was added) from December's early-signing window.
That left Wilcox, speaking publicly for the first time since Cal threw five interceptions in a 10-7 overtime loss to TCU in the Cheez-It Bowl on Dec. 26, talking about the past more than the future.
He said he rolled into solitude for five days after the game and emerged from his video bunker to make the decision to reshuffle his offensive staff. He made offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin the quarterbacks coach to get the play-caller in the meeting room with the players making the throws, shifted quarterbacks coach Marques Tuiasosopo to tight ends, and swapped Burl Toler III to receivers and Nick Edwards to running backs.
Cal finished last in the Pac-12 in scoring (21.5 points per game), total offense (343.5 yards) and third-down conversions (35 percent). The Bears were the worst in the red zone, converting points 72 percent of the time and touchdowns 49 percent of the time.
The passing game was anemic. Cal was worst in passing yards per game (186.2), yards per completion (5.7) and yards per attempt (9.5). The Bears were first in one thing: interceptions — their 20 were eight more than second-place Colorado.
He's confident that he'll find out during practice sessions that lead to the spring game March 16. Incumbent quarterback Chase Garbers will be challenged by UCLA transfer Devon Modster and City College of San Francisco walk-on Jack Newman.
Modster and Newman are among eight incoming players who have enrolled and are eligible for spring practices, which will take place without offensive linemen Henry Bazakas and Valentino Daltoso, linebackers Nick Henderson and Evan Rambo, and defensive lineman Aaron Maldonado because of injuries.
Wilcox said Modster throws an impressive deep ball and that Newman has been highly productive. Garbers completed 61.2 percent of his passes for 1,506 yards, with 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions as a redshirt freshman while being part of a game of musical chairs last season. Brandon McIlwain is listed as an athlete, expected to contribute as a runner and receiver.


text:
Q: How to sync directory with AWS S3 using Java SDK? I came across this article https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/developer/syncing-data-with-amazon-s3/ which made me aware of the uploadDirectory() method.  The blog states: "This small bit of code compares the contents of the local directory to the contents in the Amazon S3 bucket and only transfer files that have changed."  This does not seem to be entirely correct since it appears to always transfer every file in a given directory as opposed to only the files that have changed.
I was able to do what I wanted using AWSCLI's s3 sync command, however the goal is to be able to do this syncing using the Java SDK.  Is it possible to do this same type of sync using the Java SDK?

A: There is no SDK implementation of s3 sync command. You will have to implement it in Java if needed. According to the CLI doc https://awscli.amazonaws.com/v2/documentation/api/latest/reference/s3/sync.html,

An s3 object will require downloading if one of the following
conditions is true:

*

*The s3 object does not exist in the local directory.

*The size of the s3 object differs from the size of the local file.

*The last modified time of the s3 object is older than the last
modified time of the local file.

Therefore essentially you will need to compare objects in target bucket with your local files based on above rules.
Also note that above checking will not handle --delete, so you might need to implement the logic for deleting remote objects when the local file does not exist if it is needed.

A: I've found it, it is TransferManage.uploadDirectory()

A: TransferManager.copy() might do something similar, but I do not know what behaviour is employed in case a file or directory with the same name and modification time exists on the destination server.


text:
Get the Best of London Life, Culture and Style
Champagne Life, Saatchi Gallery ★★★★★
13 Jan 16 – 06 Mar 16, 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Saatchi Gallery celebrates thirty years with an exhibition of contemporary female artists
By CW Contributor on 12/1/2016
7 CW readers are interested
Julia Wachtel Champagne Life 2014 Oil, lacquer ink and flashe on canvas 5 panels, overall: 152.4 x 472.4 cm (c) Julia Wachtel, 2014 Image courtesy of the Saatchi Gallery, London
Champagne Life, Saatchi Gallery 3 Champagne Life, Saatchi Gallery Ali Godwin
There are some annoyances about Champagne Life, the Saatchi Gallery's thirtieth birthday celebration: let's get them out of the way. The first is the intrusive branding from Pommery, the exhibition's sponsor. As soon as the deal was signed, the show's name was changed from A Woman's Hand. The new title was supposed to reflect, randomly, 'the contrast of the long, cold, lonely hours working in the studio with the perceived glamour of the art world.' We think it's probably meant to reflect Pommery Champagne.
This new exhibition is the first all-woman in the gallery's history. But walking through the galleries rooms, you're confronted with a nigh-on total lack of thematic or practical concord. The press release tries to cover tracks, blurting evasively that 'the exhibition will play an important role in approaching issues of the glass ceiling' of the art world. What? How? By plonking works by women alongside one another and pretending they have anything to do with each other, in one exhibition? No. This is patronizing, lazy and cynical. One suspects that this newfound interest in gender equality has much to do with certain details of Charles Saatchi's private life, and little to do with tackling 'the glass ceiling'. Much better, Mr. Saatchi, to make sure men and women are evenly represented in the future.
Nervertheless(es), there's much to enjoy in the way of art. We loved Sigrid Holmwood's depictions of nineteenth century Swedish peasants, exuberantly at odds with their neon colour scheme. The goat hugging woman, for example, is sheer joy.
Sigrid Holmwood Old Woman Hugging A Goat 2008 © Saatchi Gallery
Mequitta Ahuja's large canvases in room 4 depict legends and historical events, into which she inserts self-portraits and anachronisms. The resulting paintings are beguiling and mythopoeic, you want to enter the dark blue fields and forests they inhabit.
Alice's large-scale sculptures are hugely expanded objects, mummified in copper thread to create surreal and strangely beautiful objects that could be contemporary art installations or ancient relics. We love the enormous spool of thread, which appears to unravel as you move around it.
Our favourite objects of all, though, were Stephanie Quayle's sculptures. Made from clay, they're huge in size, and depict man and beast. We loved the mighty Lion-Man, with his muscular body and enormous mane at odds with his submissive genuflection, in a way which is almost erotic. And who couldn't adore the grazing cows? One resting its head on the other, they look up, alert, as though the viewer has disturbed their peace.
click for more visual arts
by Ella Cory-Wright
What Champagne Life, Saatchi Gallery
Where Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York's HQ, King's Road, London, SW3 4RY | MAP
Nearest tube Sloane Square (underground)
When 13 Jan 16 – 06 Mar 16, 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Price £Free
Website Click here for more details
Things to do in London this weekend: 27–29 January
Culture After Dark: the best museum late-night openings
London Theatre Guide: best plays on now in London, 2023
A little more...
We recommend nearby
Vardo restaurant
Orée, King's Road
Calling all Francophiles. Indulge in heavenly breads and delicate tartines at Orée, the French bakery with three sites in Kensington and Chelsea. There are plenty of culinary treats on offer here to satisfy both your sweet and savoury cravings.
La Cuisine de Bar
La Cuisine de Bar in nearby Cadogan Gardens serves a delicious selection of tartines (toasted open sandwiches) freshly made for you at the counter. The cool continental set-up eliminates the need for traditional kitchens, chefs and cutlery (you can eat with your fingers sans-problem).
Culture Whisper is your ultimate guide to the newest, most exciting cafés, bars and restaurants in London and we are sure you will love La Cuisine de Bar!
Joana Vasconcelos, Phillips Auction House
Agnes Martin, Tate Modern
Giacometti: Pure Presence, National Portrait Gallery ★★★★★
The World Goes Pop, Tate Modern ★★★★★


intermediate ballet class. It offers a unique collection of original music without singing or vocal instructions.
"CUBA - Tierra de mi corazon... I am proud to have been part of such a rich heritage of ballet, music, and art. I carry a piece of Cuba with me and impart this love and passion to every dancer and class that I teach. Designed for a Cuban ballet class (with a unique approach to combination order at the barre), this professional level Ballet Class CD is also suitable for Beginner through Advanced Levels in multiple training methods and techniques. This CD embodies my work over the past 15 years as a ballet teacher, mentor, and artist.
I would like to thank Nolwenn Collet, Jill d'Alton, Kate Gandara, iRule...Dance - USA (CharLee Hanna Rule, Artistic Director). McAllen Ballet - Rolando Pacheco, & Conservatorio de Danca do Vale do Sousa - Portugal."


The Fun Part of the day was one of our increasingly misnamed Write-Ins. grrlpup did some writing, but sanguinity and I talked about all sorts of things for hours. And as we sat in the cheery embrace of the coffee shop, the rain came back. They very kindly gave me a ride home. As I sat inside, I could hear the rain pattering on the windows; a sound I quite enjoy. The sunny spring days here are wonderful, but there's something great about being comfortably at home and listening to serious rainfall. I'd like to say I got a bunch written, but today I walked in the sun, had a sociable visit and enjoyed coming in out of the rain. I'm not complaining.


text:
Welcome To AOCC
+91-9710000903 / 91-95822 22846
About AOCC
DIRECTOR DESK
PENDRIVE CLASSES
FACE 2 FACE CLASSES
Blog post subtitle
Before Amendment
Subsidiary company or subsidiary – in relation to any other company (that is to say the holding company), means a company in which the holding company—
controls the composition of the Board of Directors; or
exercises or controls more than one-half of the total share capital either at its own or together with one or more of its subsidiary companies:
Provided that such class or classes of holding companies as may be prescribed shall not have layers of subsidiaries beyond such numbers as may be prescribed.
Explanation — For the purposes of this clause,—
a company shall be deemed to be a subsidiary company of the holding company even if the control referred to in point (i) &(ii) is of another subsidiary company of the holding company;
the composition of a company's Board of Directors shall be deemed to be controlled by another company if that other company by exercise of some power at its discretion can appoint or remove all or a majority of the directors;
the expression "company" includes any body corporate;
"layer" in relation to a holding company means its subsidiary or subsidiaries;
After Amendment
exercises or controls more than one-half of the total share capital Total Voting Power* either at its own or together with one or more of its subsidiary companies:
Earlier, the provision provides that, where the holding company holds or controls more than half of the total share capital of the other company, then the other company will be termed as subsidiary company.
But, what about the companies which are having no share capital or guarantee company. For instance, a club, where there is no share capital as club run its operations through donations, membership fess or subscriptions. Then, even if any Company is acquiring control over the club, the club will never be considered as subsidiary.
That is the major reason to introduce the amendment as the companies which were having no share capital were not considered as subsidiary in any case as the control was only prescribed by the acquisition of share capital.
But, now as the definition has been amended by introducing the word 'total voting power', the guarantee companies will also will be considered as Subsidiary Company.
CA Ankit Oberoi
You can reach to author at
www.caankitoberoi.com
Ankit.oberoi@hotmail.com
www.facebook.com/CA.Ankit.Oberoi
www.facebook.com/oberoi.07
We introduce our self as an innovative Educational and Training organization, with expertise in the field of providing Quality Education in the stream of charted accountancy (CA) &, cost and management accountancy (CMA).
ASSOCIATE COMPANIES [2(6)]
HOLDING COMPANIES [2(46)]
SUBSIDIARY COMPANIES [2(87)]
Yogesh on CA-INTER LAW (SUMMARY BOOK) -EBOOKS
Utkarsh Singh on AUDIT SUMMARY BOOK – CA INTERMEDIATE – [HARD-BOOKS]
Abhishek Rana on AUDIT SUMMARY BOOK – CA INTERMEDIATE – [HARD-BOOKS]
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aoccdelhi@outlook.com
Copyright © 2019 AOCC By Bridge Technosoft


Our Club coach is Jon Griffin and he and his team offer a full programme of coaching to help improve your game whatever level you play at.
Whether you want to fine tune your tactics or brush up on the basics, see Jon Griffin's coaching programme on the clubhouse notice board.
Junior group coaching is after school on Mondays.
Individual lessons are also available. Jon also runs Summer Tennis weeks at various venues and for all year round singles competition you can also join his Box Leagues.
We also run very popular and enjoyable junior tennis sessions on Saturday mornings throughout the school summer term, see our Junior page for more details.


text:
How rights violators keep the UN Human Rights Council focused on Israel
Rosa Freedman, University of Birmingham
Another UN human rights report has been released about Israel and the human rights abuses it perpetrates in the Occupied Territories – yet another report that highlights ongoing violations of international law and that criticises state actors and organs, greeted with yet another symbolic resolution at the UN in Geneva. And of course, all the usual suspects are up in arms.
One side says that the report is not strong enough in its condemnation; the other side cries "selectivity", "bias", "unfairness". Neither listens to the other because everyone would rather broadcast to a global public audience. And ultimately those words drown out the very real issues of Israeli violations and of how the spotlight shone on Israel is done so to shield other grave abusers from scrutiny.
The report, like so very many others, will make little practical impact. It is not binding, it sheds little new light on the situation, and it uncovers no facts that are not already widely known. It is a propaganda exercise – as is the rhetoric from everyone who is currently jumping up and down in supposedly righteous anger.
These reports, resolutions, decisions and other documents are not aimed at changing the human rights situation, but rather at propping up entrenched political narratives that make no difference to the situation on the ground.
So, why bother? The depressing answer, as ever, is for the cynical purposes of pure politics.
Gaming the system
The Human Rights Council is an intergovernmental body, which makes it political by its very nature. States that are members send government delegates to represent them rather than independent experts as are found at many other UN bodies. Government delegates represent the interests of their home states, particularly where it comes to politically sensitive or contentious issues. As far as intergovernmental bodies go, that's just the name of the game.
So of course the Human Rights Council is politicised. Countries frequently act according to national and regional political objectives rather than an idealistic stance on human rights. Indeed, that is a main reason why the body does not hold binding powers, and has little more than political sway within the wider UN system.
The easy target.
EPA/Salvatore di Nolfi
To understand those politics, it is crucial to understand the council's composition. The body's 47 seats are apportioned according to proportionate geographic representation. That means, for example, that the African and Asian groups each have 13 seats, whereas the Western European and Others group only holds seven. The dominant political bloc is the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC), whose member states span four of the five regional groups.
That means that the OIC invariably has a sizeable number of its member states sitting at the council and may also count on support from large numbers of those states' regional allies at the body. And of course, one of the OIC's main aims is to ensure that Israel is scrutinised, reported upon and held to account for its violations. Little wonder, then, that the spotlight has constantly been shone on Israel throughout the council's nine years of existence.
Of course Israel commits human rights abuses; anyone that says otherwise is either wilfully blind, ignorant, or a liar. But the fact that it commits violations does not mean that it ought to be treated in a disproportionate manner. Israel is an occupying power – as are China, Turkey, and Morocco, among others, all of whom ought to be scrutinised. Israel is a democratic state and ought to be held accountable to the same standards as other liberal democracies – or rather, they should be held to the same standards Israel is.
Israel should certainly be in the council's spotlight, but in an even-handed and proportionate manner. Yet since its creation in 2006, the council has only had one permanent agenda item that focuses on a country situation rather than a thematic or general human rights issue – and only one country that has received vastly disproportionate attention through Special Sessions, reports, and resolutions. That country, of course, is Israel.
But why is it that Israel receives that level of attention when abuses by Russia, China, Egypt, the Gambia, Kazakhstan, Zimbabwe, and so many other grave human rights abusers, are all but ignored? Why are Islamic states and their allies so determined to ensure that Israel remains on the Council's radar?
Perhaps it really does reflect a desire to liberate and end the subjugation of the Palestinian people, although many of those same states themselves hardly treat Palestinians well. Perhaps it is motivated by the urge to remove a colonial power from within their midst, although it is doubtful that many of those same states would accept 1948 borders if even that were a possibility.
It might be because a constant focus on Israel deflects attention away from horrific rights violations elsewhere in the Middle East. It might even be because Israel represents some of the worst aspects of US interference, a vestige of the Cold War.
But it's almost irrelevant why states are motivated to behave as they do; anyone who follows the Human Rights Council's work knows that its discussions about Israel are simply a part of a broader political back-and-forth. The point is that this is not just waffle. The council's myopic obsession with Israel undermines its credibility and legitimacy, which is why a sizeable minority of member states avoid getting too involved in its work on Israel at all.
All the while, the charade of progress on the Palestinian people's situation is kept up. Sadly for the victims in this case, the Human Rights Council's work on Israel does little more than provide soundbites to two opposing sides that are more concerned with their own, often unrelated, agendas than anything else.
This article was originally published on The Conversation.
Read the original article.
By Editor | July 8, 2015 | Blogging, The Conversation |
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