text:
The Complex Case of Superiority
Daniel Takyi in Current Affairs Science & Technology on 14 November, 2018.
"One who enjoys finding errors will then start creating errors to find."
― Criss Jami
To see the issue at hand here, we must first begin by addressing the contradiction of what we'll be looking at. Criss Jami's book of aphorisms- Killosophy- brings about the above quotation that typifies the topic on the agenda- the Superiority Complex. In looking for errors, you create your own to find in others that you have already mastered. Paradoxically, the superiority complex stems from repressed and deep rooted feelings of inferiority, or a lack of self-esteem.
The contradiction is stark, that somehow we are being contained by media and societal pressures of what the perfect person should be – that in feeling inferior, we over-compensate in the opposite direction and this results in an elevated sense of self-importance. The constant challenges we face in life, whether of our own doing or due to our environment, makes us look to a false sense of supremacy to mask our innate feelings of imperfection. Whilst this may seem like a more optimistic outlook, it too comes with some serious problems.
Psychologically, the superiority complex is a defence mechanism where one's feelings of superiority counter or conceal one's feelings of inferiority. This term was introduced by Alfred Adler where he defined it by saying,
"We should not be astonished if in the cases where we see an inferiority [feeling] complex we find a superiority complex more or less hidden. On the other hand, if we inquire into a superiority complex and study its continuity, we can always find a more or less hidden inferiority [feeling] complex."
Here, Adler very clearly addresses the contradiction of the Complex in relation to its opposite condition – an inferiority complex. Adler stated that in order to understand how humans behave as they do, we must first recognise the basic human nature of how we want ourselves to be seen. Each walk of life has its own goal attached to it, our very own self-ideals – the optimal person we want to be. The way we answer how we best find our place in this world is what shapes us, it "points to the future and 'pulls' us toward what could be, what might be," (A Primer of Adlerian Psychology) and this influences our strive towards superiority. We gain an advantage by the positive way in which others see us, so we strive towards this.
A look into the abyss will find the flaws we miss
As we journey through life, we recognise which tendencies bring us closer to who we want to be. Yet Adler believed there to be no 'normal' life for people, just adequate lives until presented with a task we are not prepared for. This is when weak points emerge, these frustrate our strive for superiority, as well as fuelling our inferiority.
Adler detailed a case of objective inferiority, which is inferiority in measurable things such as height or weight, intelligence or skill. Yet this will only trigger an inferiority if it is crucial to our strive for personal superiority. If someone is good at mixed lacrosse, but your life has no care for mixed lacrosse, this will not concern you in the slightest. Now, if mixed lacrosse is of concern, but there is no problem solving solution available, we look for ways our inferiority can be made up for by excelling in another way – analogous to losing your hearing and compensating by becoming good at lip reading.
As an aside, Adler's other solution was safeguarding behaviours, which details how you justify your inability to overcome your lack of skills in this department and failure to reach your goals. The classic 'hey look over here!' whilst your friend sneaks behind and takes something off someone in a practical joke. In this scenario, your progress may have been hindered by obstacles that we claim are simply unavoidable. People may develop chronic headaches or anxiety to prevent them from taking steps forward, or may resort to distance seeking, which entails procrastination or making a small step forward before cowering back into their comfort zone.
These safeguarding behaviours only last for so long before people start seeing through our crap. Ultimately, we have the choice of addressing our issues, or withdrawing from the challenge, which results in the inferiority complex. This could be due to a self-ideal that is so unrealistic that we are always fated to failure – it no longer contributes to a healthy existence. We could be over-idealistic or too reliant on being the top of the class, too focussed on being rich when we graduate, too tunnel-visioned on the western standards of beauty. These force us to resort to safeguarding behaviour. Yet adjusting self-ideals is crucial to achieving our goals. We must cede to accepting that sometimes our ambition outweighs our talent.
It's a lonely road being a class of your own
"If a person is a show-off, it is only because he feels inferior because he does not feel strong enough to compete with others on the useful side of life. That is why he stays on the useless side. He is not in harmony with society. It seems to be a trait of human nature that when individuals – both children and adults – feel weak, they want to solve the problems of life in such a way as to obtain personal superiority without any admixture of social interest. A superiority complex is a second phase. It is a compensation for the inferiority [feeling] complex."
Adler, above, clearly states the problem of the condition: if an individual cannot be better than someone on their own merit, they will instead try to tear others down to raise themselves up to a new, higher level. Such levels cannot be achieved in terms of working towards it, as is seen by the previously illustrated safeguarding behaviours, so this coping mechanism fills the void. But by relying on the safeguarding behaviour, you trap yourself further into the cycle.
The pattern of behaviour referred to is one that allows a person to genuinely think they are superior. They build up a negative image of those amongst them, meaning another paradox: the person with a superiority complex will often appear not to conduct themselves as being superior, instead they will tell you they are. The reverse is true for the inferiority complex, in believing they're not good enough, they will often over-correct in the other direction to make up for their perceived shortcomings. The opinions of others are irrelevant, similar to illusionary superiority.
The idea of humans wanting to solve the problems of life in a way that obtains personal superiority is one that relates closely to the Superman Complex, a pressing need to save the world. This additional example of over-correcting is when a person assumes an unhealthy responsibility to save everyone, or a belief that everybody in the world is incapable of performing tasks correctly and needs your help. Whilst this may sound useful, it is inherently a negative behavioural trait because of the pressure it will put on a person, as well as the invasion into other people's lives from their, perhaps well-intentioned, interference.
There's always a rainbow at the end of it all
"The superiority complex is one of the ways that a person with an inferiority complex may use as a method of escape from his difficulties. He assumes that he is superior when he is not, and this false success compensates him for the state of inferiority which he cannot bear. The normal person does not have a superiority complex, he does not even have a sense of superiority. He has the striving to be superior in the sense that we all have ambition to be successful; but so long as this striving is expressed in work it does not lead to false valuations, which are at the root of mental disease."
The conclusion Adler reached was that the superiority and inferiority complex are two sides of the same coin: a striving for superiority and expressing that in ways that aren't necessarily true is usually due to covering up for an inferiority. Being overly keen about one's talents should not be confused for this complex, though. The natural human nature is to exude confidence when faced with a task that we are wholly competent at. In the case of the superiority complex, the person will have such a false sense of talent that they indeed believe it to be true, and that is an unhealthy manifestation of their shortcomings. They confuse their self-ideals and what they want to be with who they really are. It's more than just behaving as if you're superior, it's genuinely believing it too. The only errors you're finding are the ones you create in others rather than the ones contained in yourself.
Can skinny still be sexy?


text:
Research Area and Lines
Integration with undergraduation
Social Insertion/Enhancement Programs
Internationalization https://www.ppglit.ufscar.br/en/internationalization-1/internationalization https://www.ppglit.ufscar.br/@@site-logo/logo-ppglit-s.png
One of the strongest points of PPGLit is its vocation to internationalization since the beginning of its functioning. This aspect is the result of the professors'formation and their international insertion through the contact with foreign universities due to the presentation of work at conferences, the closer academic dialogue with researchers and specific centers and the development of foreign post-doctoral programs. To give a sense of how noticeable it is, three out of our twelve permanent professors did postdoctoral studies abroad in 2013 and/or 2014: Professor Doctor Jorge Valentim (University of Porto), Professor Doctor Tânia Pellegrini (University of Oxford) and Professor Doctor Carla Ferreira (University of Iowa). The internationalization actions of PPGLit can be understood from five dimensions: (i) Activities with foreign students, (ii) Our graduate students abroad; (iii) Research development by PPGLit professors abroad, (iv) Special projects coordinated by PPGLit professors; (iv) Cooperation pacts and agreements.
1 - Activities with foreign students – Mobility In for foreign students
Since 2014, PPGLit has participed in the international public notice PAEC of Organização dos Estados Americanos (OEA) and in Grupo de Coimbra, by offering one vacancy to Latin American students. Through this public notice, PPGLit gets applications and classifies the registered candidates and OEA defines the contemplated one. In 2015, we received the student Sonia Chacaliaza from Peru and her advisor is Professor Doctor Rejane Rocha. In 2016, we received Estefania Sepúlveda from Chile and her advisor is Professor Doctor Wilson Bezerra. It is important to mention that the number of Latin American students who have chosen UFCar as their first option has increased significantly. In 2014, there were two candidates who chose our program as a second option (since the program was not very known), but in 2016 we got twelve applications and 60% of the registered students chose PPGLit as their first option. This considerable leap is the result of the policy of approximation to the Latin American countries developed by the pro-rectory of post- graduate studies, in special Professor Doctor Guilhermo Lobos; PPGLit professors' excellent work, and the reformulation of our website.
2 - Our students abroad
Since PPGLit is a master degree program we are still not able to send our students abroad to research, but our policy is to motivate them to participate in foreign scientific events. In April, 2015, under the supervision of Professor Doctor Rejane Rocha, the students Sonia Chacaliaza, Renan Bolognin, Carlos Plácido and Nayara Meneguetti participated in the Seminar Cuestiones Críticas, in Rosário, Argentina. In May, 2016, the student Renan Bolognin presentend his work in an event at the University of Peruggia. And in August, 2016, the students Amanda Ghetti e Maíra Benedito presentend their communications in LLASA, Bolivia.
3 - Research development by PPGLit professors abroad – Mobility out for PPGLit professors and Mobility in for Foreign professor
PPGLIT PROFESSORS ABROAD:
Another important aspect for the internationalization of PPGLit is the development of research internationally. Our professors have developed their research stages abroad sometimes with their own investments, and sometimes as visiting scholars due to the funding agencies. The international engagement of our permanent professors includes: Carla Ferreira (Univ. Iowa, 2014); Jorge Valentim (Univ. Porto, 2013); Joyce Infante [2010 (Univ. Santiago; 2015 (presentation of work at Univ. Salamanca, Espanha)]; Luís Nascimento (2013, Univ. Coimbra, Portugal), Jorge Valentim (2013, Univ. Porto, Portugal); Rejane Rocha [2011 (Alcalá de Henares, Espanha); 2012 (University of Faro, Portugal, University of Vienna, Austria and University of Buenos Aires, Argentina); 2013 (Univ. Tucumán, Argentina); 2014 (Univ. Aveiro; Portugal, UNAM, México, Argentina) 2015 (Univ. Rosário, Argentina)]; Tânia Pellegrini [2013 (Univ. Oxford, Inglaterra), 2014 (Kings College, London), 2015 (Univ. Leiden, Holand)]; Wilton Marques [(2010 (Univ. Coimbra, Portugal); 2014 (BRASA/Londres)]; Wilson Bezerra (Univ. Misiones, Argentina, (2012); University of Holguín, Cuba, 2013). Professor Diana Junkes [University of Yale (2012) and Illinois (2010), (Univ. Lusíada, de Angola, Univ. Bari, Italy, presenting work in 2010) and in 2014 (Univ. Nova de Lisboa and Univ. Aveiro (board), Portugal)]. Nine out of twelve permanent professors were mentioned, in other words, 75% of our professors had at least one action abroad since 2011, the majority had two or more. In 2016, the following professors have already confirmed presence in international conferences: Prof. Carla Ferreira (USA); Prof. Rejane Rocha (Italy); Prof. Tania (USA); Prof. Wilson (Canada); Prof. Diana (Chile). From 2011 to 2016, PPGLit professor have kept dialogue with academic centers in eleven diferente countries, such as Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Cuba, USA, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Italy, England and Holand. FOREIGN PROFESSORS IN PPGLIT: On the other hand, we have also received foreign professors in our campus and since 2011 we have received foreign professors of IES. In May, 2015 PPGLit received Prof. Sara Brandellero, from University of Leiden, in partnership with UNESP of Araraquara. She presented a lecture and developed some activities with the research group Literatura e Tempo Presente/CNPq and the project Fórum de Debates, both coordinated by Prof. Rejane Rocha. In June, 2015, we had Prof. Marilia Scaff Rocha Ribeiro (Assistant Professor at Department of Romance and Classical Studies da Michigan State University) who presented a lecture on contemporary auto-fiction. In September, 2015, we got Prof. Andrés Cáceres, from University of Playa Ancha who did some academic activities due to the agreement signed in 2015. Besides, PPGLit received Portguese writer Almeida Faria for the seminar about studies on literature, II Selit. In 2014, we received Prof. Regina Aída Crespo (Universidade Nacional Autônoma do México) and Prof. Fabio Seimandi (Universidade Nacional de Córdoba in Argentina). In 2013, we got the visiting researcher Prof.Laura Lorena Utrera from Universidade Nacional de Rosário, Argentina, who gave a lesson on Horácio Quiroga and cinema. In 2012, the program received Prof. María Mercedes Borkosky, to give the lesson "Autodiscurso y Autoficción en La Escritura Francesa E Hispánica Contemporáneas".
4 - Special projects coordinated by PPGLit professors
As special programs we have: - PLI (since 2013) in which Professor Rejane Rocha is the coordinator and Professors Carla Ferreira and Joyce Infante participate as members. - Projeto de Parceria Universitária de Graduação em Língua Espanhola e Portuguesa between Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar/Brazil) and Universidad Nacional de Misiones (UNAM/Argentina), from 2011 to 2013), in which Professors Wilson Bezerra and Joyce Infante took place. - Erasmus Mundi-Europhilosofie at UFSCar (between 2013-2015) in which Prof. Luís Nascimento was the coordinator. - Idioma sem Fronteiras (ISF), coordinated by Professor Carla Ferreira, it is a governmental initiative to develop the internationalization of the public Brazilian universities through the offer of free language courses and the application of proficiency examinations, such as TOEFL.
5 - Cooperation pacts and agreements
From what was exposed it is clear PPGLit has an important role that meets to the demands of the area and to the changes in the destiny of researching in the country in favor of international dialogues. Thus, that is the reason the professors have decided to elaborate the APCN of doctoral degree program, sharing tasks and working on behalf of the social responsibility of the public university in Brazil, giving it, the deserved place literary studies should occupy in the world.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
class Mage:
    def __init__(self):
        self.name     = "Gandalf"

        self.health   = 50
        self.attack   = 25
        self.defense  = 15
        self.speed    = 10

        self.element  = "Fire"

        self.spells   = [
            "Drop Mixtape",
            "Flame Wave",
            "Unmake",
            "Kinetic Blast"
        ]

        # Remember base stats for reference later
        self.max_health    = self.health
        self.base_attack   = self.attack
        self.base_defense  = self.defense
        self.base_speed    = self.speed

        # Be aware of strengths and weaknesses
        self.strengths  = [ "Ice", "Thunder" ]
        self.weaknesses = [ "Water", "Earth" ]

    def find_weak_foes(self, enemies):
        # A weak foe is anyone who is alive and whose element is in our strengths list
        return [ enemy for enemy in enemies if enemy.element in self.strengths and enemy.health > 0]

    def find_living_foes(self, enemies):
        # Just find a living target
        return [ enemy for enemy in enemies if enemy.health > 0]

    def find_living_allies(self, allies):
        return [ ally for ally in allies if ally.health > 0]

    # Try to figure out what our allies will do on their next turn
    def anticipate_ally_moves(self, allies, enemies):
        # Find out what our allies are planning to do
        moves = [(ally, ally.anticipate(allies, enemies)) for ally in allies if ally != self and ally.health > 0]
        # Figure out what order our allies will go in, so we can try
        # to help the next person in the move chain
        moves.sort(key=lambda ally: -ally[0].speed)
        # Send back the moves
        return moves

    def anticipate(self, allies, enemies):
        # Identify any targets that we're strong against
        weak_targets = self.find_weak_foes(enemies)

        if len(weak_targets) > 2:
            # If we're strong against more than one enemy,
            # Do a group attack to hit as many enemies as possible
            return (self.spells[1], enemies)
        elif len(weak_targets) > 0:
            # if there is only one enemy we're strong against, target
            # them specifically
            return (self.spells[0], weak_targets[0])
        else:
            # By default, say we're not sure what we'll do. It's too
            # early to tell
            return (None, None)

    def make_move(self, allies, enemies):
        # Identify any targets that we're strong against
        weak_targets = self.find_weak_foes(enemies)

        if len(weak_targets) > 2:
            # If we're strong against more than one enemy,
            # Do a group attack to hit as many enemies as possible
            return (self.spells[1], enemies)
        elif len(weak_targets) > 0:
            # if there is only one enemy we're strong against, target
            # them specifically
            return (self.spells[0], weak_targets[0])
        else:
            # We're weak against remaining enemies. What we should do
            # depends on the state of our allies

            # Find out what our allies are planning to do
            moves = self.anticipate_ally_moves(allies, enemies)

            # If any of our allies are targeting a specific enemy,
            # attack that enemy's defense
            for move in moves:
                if move[1] in enemies:
                    return (self.spells[2], move[1])

            # If none of our allies are alive or none of them know who
            # they're going to attack, then we'll just attack someone
            # random
            living = self.find_living_foes(enemies)

            # See how many of our remaining allies are actually
            # targeting an enemy or are simply uncertain (it's
            # possible that the only allies left are us and a healer,
            # so we should attack in that case)
            targeting_enemy = [ move for move in moves if move[1] == enemies or move[1] == None]

            if len(targeting_enemy) == 0:
                # Nobody else is targeting an enemy (or else they're
                # all dead) We should just hit someone
                return (self.spells[3], living[0])
            else:
                # Enemies are being targeted, but we don't know
                # exactly who will be hit. Lower the defense of the
                # enemy with the highest defense
                target = max(living, key=lambda enemy: enemy.defense)
                return (self.spells[2], target)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Referred to by VMP code in the tune titles as TLY.
Tunes transcribed into ABC code by Taz Tarry.
This is a fiddler's manuscript book of about 200 tunes of all types. It includes some tunes that might indicate ability or interest in flute, clarinet, and more than a few of the marches would be very suitable for brass instruments.
"J.Cooke, Egerto.., Worsley…,"then becomes illegible on my photocopy.
rivalry, perhaps, and some roguishness.
It resides in City of Salford Cultural Services Department Archive Centre.
page adds 'Willoughby Gilbody'). It is in Manuscript.
I think it is a real link with the past.
And there it lay undisturbed until 1998.
Our thanks must go to Mr. Collier for his foresight and generosity.
Introduction by Chris Partington, VMP.


text:
The Covenant Foundation Sightline S i g h t L i n e
ARTICLE The Near Future: Digital Badging in Jewish Education
It's Sunday morning, and a Jewish tween bounds out of bed with the enthusiasm generally reserved for his Xbox or Instagram. He sets off for his synagogue's religious school, where he shares with his teacher and fellow students the latest progress he's made on a project about an aspect of Judaism — perhaps it's music, or literature, or the story of creation — that he has chosen precisely because it speaks to him.
When he finishes his course of study he won't receive a report card or grade, but a digital badge: in the simplest terms, an icon signifying his accomplishment.
Parental pipe dream? Not according to Dr. Samuel Abramovich, an assistant professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University at Buffalo (the State University of New York's flagship campus) who studies the emerging use of digital badges in Jewish and secular education.
"This is definitely the near future," said Abramovich. "Soon, I expect."
To understand the concept of the digital badge, think about the sew-on merit badges that Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts earn in areas such as camping, first aid or canoeing. Then consider a generation enticed by the prospect of earning virtual accolades in video games: "achievements," "tokens," or "badges" earned when a player advances a level or accomplishes a feat.
"You want to earn them and maybe even display them socially within your online community of game players," Abramovich said. "It recognizes your accomplishment. It's a motivator."
Digital badges may be sent to students in an e-mail, posted on an internal school website, awarded at school ceremonies or touted in synagogue newsletters. They can also be added to a student's public profile by way of a transcript or Facebook page.
In some schools, everyone must pursue a badge of their own choosing. In others, it's optional. Either way, badges recognize achievements that build on or go beyond the traditional curriculum. They can provide recognition for pursuits that are crucial but often go unmeasured, like tikkun olam or teamwork. They give students the independence of choosing a topic that piques their interest and is therefore particularly meaningful, and incentivize them to pursue that interest in creative ways, online and IRL (in real life).
"You could complete your Bar or Bat Mitzvah in a room with just a minyan, but that's not what a lot of people do," Abramovich said. "The digital badge is a micro version of that: 'Here's what I've done in my Jewish learning, in my Jewish study. Here's what I think represents me as a Jewish adult, as a Jewish person. I want to share this with you. Can you please give me feedback? And I want to see what you've done.'"
So what does a top-notch badge program look like?
"That is a very challenging question," Abramovich said. "Sometimes someone will call me and say, 'I want to create digital badges. How do you do it?' It's a little like saying, 'How do you teach math?' There are many ways to teach math."
At The Binah School (a recently-closed Orthodox girls' middle and high school in Sharon, Mass.), students earned badges in topics as diverse as kindness, yoga, cooking and the Book of Joshua.
At the Reform Temple of Forest Hills, in Queens, students in pre-kindergarten through age 13 can choose among 33 badges as part of Project 613, a popular (though optional) new program.
"Traditionally you sat in a classroom with three rows, with a teacher in front and with a textbook," said Faye Gilman, the temple's educational leader. "This takes you to sitting in a circle, sitting on the floor, sitting in a computer lab. It takes you to a conversation rather than a monologue. And the best part is that it takes you outside, it takes you to your family, it takes you to the Ellis Island museum."
"You have the opportunity to do this in school, but you also have the opportunity to say, 'Mom and Dad, let's look on the computer,'" Gilman continued. "'Let's see what other badges we can achieve. What can we do as a family to make this happen?''"
At The Epstein School in Atlanta, a digital badging pioneer, middle school students can choose among badges named after Jewish role models, including Elena Kagan and Ruth Messinger.
"This is about a child choosing to show their talents, interests and skills in a different way," said Myrna Rubel, principal of The Epstein School's middle school. "Kids choose, 'How am I going to show I earned this badge? What are the characteristics of this badge? The whole idea was to use part of their life outside of school as well as their life in school."
But Rubel cautioned against the temptation to use digital badges as yet another way to give students a "gold star" for learning a prayer or completing a task. "The whole point of this was not to make this a skill-based, 'kids who do this get this,'" she said. "We didn't want that. It's not a substitute for a test. How you make it fun, to keep kids in the game, so to speak, is a challenge." Teacher buy-in, she added, is crucial.
When it comes to digital badging programs, Abramovich agreed that so much depends on the context, the execution — and the psychology of each individual learner. A badge signifying regular synagogue attendance, for instance, could give some students a motivating extra push. But others, he said, may respond, "You're trying to badge synagogue attendance? I'm not going to go to synagogue!"
Abramovich had been studying the use of digital badges in secular education when, several years ago, he discovered that a number of Jewish institutions had begun to experiment with them in smart, interesting ways. "Who's studying this?" he wondered. "Somebody has to be capturing, recognizing and trying to understand all this work."
His research indicates promising results. "I think we are nearing a point where we can pretty reliably have some faith that digital badges can provide some benefit to Jewish education," he said.
"We need to make sure there are no negative impacts," Abramovich added. "Something that was executed perfectly can have strong positive outcomes, but if executed incorrectly can have negative impacts. Then what? How should badges be developed in Jewish education, for whom and where and when? There won't be a simple pattern."
These questions will be fodder for Abramovich's future research.
Now, he is developing a project exploring how lessons learned from digital badging in Jewish education can be applied to traditionally underserved minorities with strong cultural and ethnic identities.
"Why not apply all these lessons we're learning from digital badges in Jewish education and share them with interested groups who could then have similar benefit?" he said. "If that's not tikkun olam, I'm not sure what is."
Volume 19 —
22 Adar I 5779
The Covenant Classroom: Educating for the Heart
"There are people out there who are educating their hearts as we speak. They're getting on with the work, they're loving their kids, they're loving their students, they're loving their communities. We must retrain our vision toward those people—we must develop eyes to see and ears to hear where that love is already happening—that is worth our energy and our care and our time, to tend that love, to show that love ourselves."
—Krista Tippett, Founder and CEO, The On Being Project
29 Kislev 5779
Built On the Roots of Tradition: New Models in Jewish Supplementary Education
"There are just two outcomes that really matter: First, that students feel Judaism is the fertile ground in which they get nurtured to grow, and second, that they find Judaism joyful." Rabbi Joy Levitt, Executive Director, JCC Manhattan
16 Heshvan 5779
Contemplating Civil Discourse: The Jewish Imperative
"Civil discourse requires us to listen generously and to act as though—and to really believe—we could be open to persuasion. We each may think: 'I did not cause this situation, I am not to blame.' Yet we each have the capacity to help society turn the corner, if we honestly ask what went wrong and what we can do about it."
- Martha Minow, the 300th Anniversary University Professor at Harvard University and Joseph William Singer, Bussey Professor of Law, Harvard University
25 Iyyar 5778
Creating Community Connections
The Wow Metric of Success: Jewish Life in Bloom on the Farm: Spring has arrived, and the Jewish community is busy planting with purpose. In Vaughan, Ontario, the yellow coltsfoot and purple-blue scilla are just starting to flower at the Kavanah Garden, a half acre community garden that's part of Shoresh, the Canadian-based Jewish environmental organization that includes the Kavanah Garden and Bela Farm. Last Sunday, on "Yom Manual Labor" volunteers gathered to turn the soil, plant seeds, paint outdoor tables and participate in construction projects with the Shoresh team, preparing the garden for growing season.
12 Adar 5778
The Covenant Classroom: Inclusion in 2018
"Our Jewish community is only as strong as its ability to include all members in the fabric of Jewish life. Doing so helps each of us recognize the unique strengths we all bring to the Jewish community, and that community cannot possibly be complete until we actively and intentionally welcome each other."
-Meredith Englander Polsky, 2017 Covenant Award Recipient, Director of Institutes and Training, Matan, and Developmental Support Coordinator, Temple Beth Ami Nursery School
27 Tishri 5778
Framing Jewish Education Through the Arts
"From all of my teachers, I have grown wise." Psalms 119:99. Framing Jewish Education, a project of The Jewish Lens and supported by The Covenant Foundation, was created to engage teachers, students, and families in conversation about the value of Jewish education and to illustrate the power of great teaching and learning via a curriculum based on visual literacy and text.
A Divine and Daily Imperative
"For me, study is a divine and daily imperative; I study a page of Talmud daily so that I am not only teaching. My teaching is constantly being fed by my learning." —Erica Brown Associate Professor, George Washington School of Education and Human Development. Director, Mayberg Center for Jewish Education and Leadership, 2009 Covenant Award Recipient
1 Adar 5777
Covenant Classroom: Now is the T.I.M.E - 2017
The Covenant Classroom means something different to every educator but common goals are to motivate, engage and be inclusive of all learners. In this volume, we've collected an array of Teachings on Inspiration and Motivation in all areas of Education.
9 Kislev 5777
A Platform for Dreams and Visions for 25 Years
#ThankATeacher It has been twenty-five years since The Covenant Foundation first opened its doors, and we continue to be humbled by extraordinary Jewish educators from across North America and across the spectrum of Jewish life who have devoted their careers and considerable talents to the field of Jewish education. Now, in celebration of a quarter-century-old tradition of honoring Jewish education and educators, and to kick off a year of public engagement around great teaching, we're proud to share The Covenant Foundation voices app with you: a new digital way to give and share your gratitude.
8 Sivan 5776
The Wonder Years: Inside the Field of Jewish Early Childhood Education
"What would it look like if we bet on Jewish early childhood education for the long-term, as our tradition instructs? The task might seem large, but the reward, we know, is great (Pirkei Avot 2:15)."
Pursuing Justice
"Countless leaders have been inspired by the story of the Jewish people leaving bondage in Egypt – those whose names we know, like Martin Luther King, Jr. and those whose names we never will know, whose every-day acts of kindness and resistance fuel social change. This story, our story, has become a cornerstone of modern social justice work."
—Abby Levine, Director of The Jewish Social Justice Roundtable
5 Adar I 5776
Covenant Classroom: Now is the T.I.M.E
This is how I see a "Covenant Classroom": a place where challenging topics are passionately discussed; a place where complex ancient texts are grappled with; a place in which self- esteem grows, and motivation to learn increases exponentially because of it. An environment in which each Jewish soul is given the confidence to continue the eternal search for meaning."
—Dr. Sandra Ostrowicz Lilienthal, Curriculum Developer and Instructor at The Rose and Jack Orloff Central Agency for Jewish Education of Broward County and 2015 Covenant Award Recipient
1 Tevet 5776
Meaningful Disruptions
"When powerful, new approaches to learning are introduced through digital tools, meaningful disruptions occur along the way… When this happens, new approaches which previously seemed inaccessible, are suddenly within reach."
—Barry Joseph, Associate Director for Digital Learning, Youth Initiatives, American Museum of Natural History
7 Heshvan 5776
In Our Words: Grants in Support of Teens (1991-2015)
"The future of Jewish teen engagement can in fact be found in 3D printers, and in text-people, and in service, and outdoor education, and in anything that brings teens into contact with authentic learning experiences and passionate, caring, knowledgeable educators."
—Charlie Schwartz, Senior Jewish Educator, Director, BIMA & Genesis, Brandeis High School Programs
25 Sivan 5775
Portals to Jewish Life and Learning
Portal seems like a particularly apt metaphor for entry points into Jewish life and learning because ultimately we want those experiences to be deeply experiential and transformative. We also want them to be accessible. A portal has no toll; passage is free. At the same time, a portal is particularistic, not a generic entrance. It conveys a sense of magic, ritual, and power. Similarly, we want to convey that Jewish life is rich, layered, and meaningful beyond what is immediately apparent. We want the encounter with Jewish life to take you on a journey that is profound and surprising. And, given that each of us may enter through the same portal but have a completely different experience of what is on the other "side," the possibilities are endless.
— Judith Rosenbaum, Executive Director, The Jewish Women's Archive
Gateway to the Soul: Arts in Education
"We need a new kind of creativity in the classroom that's going to reach Jewish kids… If a teacher is imaginative, he or she is going to connect to students' hearts and souls."
—Dr. Arnold Eisen, Chancellor, Jewish Theological Seminary, Board Member, The Covenant Foundation.
What is The Covenant Classroom?
"There are four types of students... The sponge absorbs everything. The funnel brings in on one side lets it out the other. The strainer lets out the wine and retains the lees. The sieve lets out the flour dust and retains the fine flour." —Pirkei Avot 5:15
24 Tevet 5775
The Power of a Spark
"There's a misconception that a venture must depend on large grants from big donors. It makes more sense and it's more sustainable to test out an idea, and see whether it has the opportunity to make an impact on people's lives."
— Ariel Beery, founder, PresenTense
New Jewish "Texts"
I think [creating new Jewish texts] is a really good description of what we're trying to do. These days we're increasingly creating products that are intended to be shared on the web. We've felt and continue to feel that this medium, and virtual communication as a whole, is being under-tapped for its possibilities for making art.
— Reflections from Sam Ball on the New Jewish Filmmaker Project
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text:
#import "ZXDataMatrixASCIIEncoder.h"
#import "ZXDataMatrixBase256Encoder.h"
#import "ZXDataMatrixC40Encoder.h"
#import "ZXDataMatrixEdifactEncoder.h"
#import "ZXDataMatrixEncoderContext.h"
#import "ZXDataMatrixHighLevelEncoder.h"
#import "ZXDataMatrixSymbolInfo.h"
#import "ZXDataMatrixTextEncoder.h"
#import "ZXDataMatrixX12Encoder.h"

/**
 * Padding character
 */
const unichar PAD_CHAR = 129;

/**
 * 05 Macro header
 */
static NSString *MACRO_05_HEADER = nil;

/**
 * 06 Macro header
 */
static NSString *MACRO_06_HEADER = nil;

/**
 * Macro trailer
 */
static NSString *MACRO_TRAILER = nil;

@implementation ZXDataMatrixHighLevelEncoder

+ (void)initialize {
  if ([self class] != [ZXDataMatrixHighLevelEncoder class]) return;

  MACRO_05_HEADER = [[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:@"[)>%C05%C", (unichar)0x001E, (unichar)0x001D];
  MACRO_06_HEADER = [[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:@"[)>%C06%C", (unichar)0x001E, (unichar)0x001D];
  MACRO_TRAILER = [[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:@"%C%C", (unichar)0x001E, (unichar)0x0004];
}

+ (unichar)latchToC40 {
  return 230;
}

+ (unichar)latchToBase256 {
  return 231;
}

+ (unichar)upperShift {
  return 235;
}

+ (unichar)macro05 {
  return 236;
}

+ (unichar)macro06 {
  return 237;
}

+ (unichar)latchToAnsiX12 {
  return 238;
}

+ (unichar)latchToText {
  return 239;
}

+ (unichar)latchToEdifact {
  return 240;
}

+ (unichar)c40Unlatch {
  return 254;
}

+ (unichar)x12Unlatch {
  return 254;
}

+ (int)asciiEncodation {
  return 0;
}

+ (int)c40Encodation {
  return 1;
}

+ (int)textEncodation {
  return 2;
}

+ (int)x12Encodation {
  return 3;
}

+ (int)edifactEncodation {
  return 4;
}

+ (int)base256Encodation {
  return 5;
}

/*
+ (int8_t *)bytesForMessage:(NSString *)msg {
  return (int8_t *)[[msg dataUsingEncoding:(NSStringEncoding) 0x80000400] bytes]; //See 4.4.3 and annex B of ISO/IEC 15438:2001(E)
}
*/

+ (unichar)randomize253State:(unichar)ch codewordPosition:(int)codewordPosition {
  int pseudoRandom = ((149 * codewordPosition) % 253) + 1;
  int tempVariable = ch + pseudoRandom;
  return tempVariable <= 254 ? (unichar) tempVariable : (unichar) (tempVariable - 254);
}

+ (NSString *)encodeHighLevel:(NSString *)msg {
  return [self encodeHighLevel:msg shape:ZXDataMatrixSymbolShapeHintForceNone minSize:nil maxSize:nil];
}

+ (NSString *)encodeHighLevel:(NSString *)msg shape:(ZXDataMatrixSymbolShapeHint)shape
                      minSize:(ZXDimension *)minSize maxSize:(ZXDimension *)maxSize {
  //the codewords 0..255 are encoded as Unicode characters
  NSArray *encoders = @[[[ZXDataMatrixASCIIEncoder alloc] init],
                        [[ZXDataMatrixC40Encoder alloc] init],
                        [[ZXDataMatrixTextEncoder alloc] init],
                        [[ZXDataMatrixX12Encoder alloc] init],
                        [[ZXDataMatrixEdifactEncoder alloc] init],
                        [[ZXDataMatrixBase256Encoder alloc] init]];

  ZXDataMatrixEncoderContext *context = [[ZXDataMatrixEncoderContext alloc] initWithMessage:msg];
  context.symbolShape = shape;
  [context setSizeConstraints:minSize maxSize:maxSize];

  if ([msg hasPrefix:MACRO_05_HEADER] && [msg hasSuffix:MACRO_TRAILER]) {
    [context writeCodeword:[self macro05]];
    [context setSkipAtEnd:2];
    context.pos += (int)MACRO_05_HEADER.length;
  } else if ([msg hasPrefix:MACRO_06_HEADER] && [msg hasSuffix:MACRO_TRAILER]) {
    [context writeCodeword:[self macro06]];
    [context setSkipAtEnd:2];
    context.pos += (int)MACRO_06_HEADER.length;
  }

  int encodingMode = [self asciiEncodation]; //Default mode
  while ([context hasMoreCharacters]) {
    [encoders[encodingMode] encode:context];
    if (context.newEncoding >= 0) {
      encodingMode = context.newEncoding;
      [context resetEncoderSignal];
    }
  }
  NSUInteger len = context.codewords.length;
  [context updateSymbolInfo];
  int capacity = context.symbolInfo.dataCapacity;
  if (len < capacity) {
    if (encodingMode != [self asciiEncodation] && encodingMode != [self base256Encodation]) {
      [context writeCodeword:(unichar)0x00fe]; //Unlatch (254)
    }
  }
  //Padding
  NSMutableString *codewords = context.codewords;
  if (codewords.length < capacity) {
    [codewords appendFormat:@"%C", PAD_CHAR];
  }
  while (codewords.length < capacity) {
    [codewords appendFormat:@"%C", [self randomize253State:PAD_CHAR codewordPosition:(int)codewords.length + 1]];
  }

  return [NSString stringWithString:context.codewords];
}

+ (int)lookAheadTest:(NSString *)msg startpos:(int)startpos currentMode:(int)currentMode {
  if (startpos >= msg.length) {
    return currentMode;
  }
  float charCounts[6];
  //step J
  if (currentMode == [self asciiEncodation]) {
    charCounts[0] = 0;
    charCounts[1] = 1;
    charCounts[2] = 1;
    charCounts[3] = 1;
    charCounts[4] = 1;
    charCounts[5] = 1.25f;
  } else {
    charCounts[0] = 1;
    charCounts[1] = 2;
    charCounts[2] = 2;
    charCounts[3] = 2;
    charCounts[4] = 2;
    charCounts[5] = 2.25f;
    charCounts[currentMode] = 0;
  }

  int charsProcessed = 0;
  while (YES) {
    //step K
    if ((startpos + charsProcessed) == msg.length) {
      int min = INT_MAX;
      int8_t mins[6];
      int intCharCounts[6];
      min = [self findMinimums:charCounts intCharCounts:intCharCounts min:min mins:mins];
      int minCount = [self minimumCount:mins];

      if (intCharCounts[[self asciiEncodation]] == min) {
        return [self asciiEncodation];
      }
      if (minCount == 1 && mins[[self base256Encodation]] > 0) {
        return [self base256Encodation];
      }
      if (minCount == 1 && mins[[self edifactEncodation]] > 0) {
        return [self edifactEncodation];
      }
      if (minCount == 1 && mins[[self textEncodation]] > 0) {
        return [self textEncodation];
      }
      if (minCount == 1 && mins[[self x12Encodation]] > 0) {
        return [self x12Encodation];
      }
      return [self c40Encodation];
    }

    unichar c = [msg characterAtIndex:startpos + charsProcessed];
    charsProcessed++;

    //step L
    if ([self isDigit:c]) {
      charCounts[[self asciiEncodation]] += 0.5;
    } else if ([self isExtendedASCII:c]) {
      charCounts[[self asciiEncodation]] = (int) ceil(charCounts[[self asciiEncodation]]);
      charCounts[[self asciiEncodation]] += 2;
    } else {
      charCounts[[self asciiEncodation]] = (int) ceil(charCounts[[self asciiEncodation]]);
      charCounts[[self asciiEncodation]]++;
    }

    //step M
    if ([self isNativeC40:c]) {
      charCounts[[self c40Encodation]] += 2.0f / 3.0f;
    } else if ([self isExtendedASCII:c]) {
      charCounts[[self c40Encodation]] += 8.0f / 3.0f;
    } else {
      charCounts[[self c40Encodation]] += 4.0f / 3.0f;
    }

    //step N
    if ([self isNativeText:c]) {
      charCounts[[self textEncodation]] += 2.0f / 3.0f;
    } else if ([self isExtendedASCII:c]) {
      charCounts[[self textEncodation]] += 8.0f / 3.0f;
    } else {
      charCounts[[self textEncodation]] += 4.0f / 3.0f;
    }

    //step O
    if ([self isNativeX12:c]) {
      charCounts[[self x12Encodation]] += 2.0f / 3.0f;
    } else if ([self isExtendedASCII:c]) {
      charCounts[[self x12Encodation]] += 13.0f / 3.0f;
    } else {
      charCounts[[self x12Encodation]] += 10.0f / 3.0f;
    }

    //step P
    if ([self isNativeEDIFACT:c]) {
      charCounts[[self edifactEncodation]] += 3.0f / 4.0f;
    } else if ([self isExtendedASCII:c]) {
      charCounts[[self edifactEncodation]] += 17.0f / 4.0f;
    } else {
      charCounts[[self edifactEncodation]] += 13.0f / 4.0f;
    }

    // step Q
    if ([self isSpecialB256:c]) {
      charCounts[[self base256Encodation]] += 4;
    } else {
      charCounts[[self base256Encodation]]++;
    }

    //step R
    if (charsProcessed >= 4) {
      int intCharCounts[6];
      int8_t mins[6];
      [self findMinimums:charCounts intCharCounts:intCharCounts min:INT_MAX mins:mins];
      int minCount = [self minimumCount:mins];

      if (intCharCounts[[self asciiEncodation]] < intCharCounts[[self base256Encodation]]
          && intCharCounts[[self asciiEncodation]] < intCharCounts[[self c40Encodation]]
          && intCharCounts[[self asciiEncodation]] < intCharCounts[[self textEncodation]]
          && intCharCounts[[self asciiEncodation]] < intCharCounts[[self x12Encodation]]
          && intCharCounts[[self asciiEncodation]] < intCharCounts[[self edifactEncodation]]) {
        return [self asciiEncodation];
      }
      if (intCharCounts[[self base256Encodation]] < intCharCounts[[self asciiEncodation]]
          || (mins[[self c40Encodation]] + mins[[self textEncodation]] + mins[[self x12Encodation]] + mins[[self edifactEncodation]]) == 0) {
        return [self base256Encodation];
      }
      if (minCount == 1 && mins[[self edifactEncodation]] > 0) {
        return [self edifactEncodation];
      }
      if (minCount == 1 && mins[[self textEncodation]] > 0) {
        return [self textEncodation];
      }
      if (minCount == 1 && mins[[self x12Encodation]] > 0) {
        return [self x12Encodation];
      }
      if (intCharCounts[[self c40Encodation]] + 1 < intCharCounts[[self asciiEncodation]]
          && intCharCounts[[self c40Encodation]] + 1 < intCharCounts[[self base256Encodation]]
          && intCharCounts[[self c40Encodation]] + 1 < intCharCounts[[self edifactEncodation]]
          && intCharCounts[[self c40Encodation]] + 1 < intCharCounts[[self textEncodation]]) {
        if (intCharCounts[[self c40Encodation]] < intCharCounts[[self x12Encodation]]) {
          return [self c40Encodation];
        }
        if (intCharCounts[[self c40Encodation]] == intCharCounts[[self x12Encodation]]) {
          int p = startpos + charsProcessed + 1;
          while (p < msg.length) {
            char tc = [msg characterAtIndex:p];
            if ([self isX12TermSep:tc]) {
              return [self x12Encodation];
            }
            if (![self isNativeX12:tc]) {
              break;
            }
            p++;
          }
          return [self c40Encodation];
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

+ (int)findMinimums:(float *)charCounts intCharCounts:(int *)intCharCounts min:(int)min mins:(int8_t *)mins {
  memset(mins, 0, 6);
  for (int i = 0; i < 6; i++) {
    intCharCounts[i] = (int) ceil(charCounts[i]);
    int current = intCharCounts[i];
    if (min > current) {
      min = current;
      memset(mins, 0, 6);
    }
    if (min == current) {
      mins[i]++;
    }
  }
  return min;
}

+ (int)minimumCount:(int8_t *)mins {
  int minCount = 0;
  for (int i = 0; i < 6; i++) {
    minCount += mins[i];
  }
  return minCount;
}

+ (BOOL)isDigit:(unichar)ch {
  return ch >= '0' && ch <= '9';
}

+ (BOOL)isExtendedASCII:(unichar)ch {
  return ch >= 128 && ch <= 255;
}

+ (BOOL)isNativeC40:(unichar)ch {
  return (ch == ' ') || (ch >= '0' && ch <= '9') || (ch >= 'A' && ch <= 'Z');
}

+ (BOOL)isNativeText:(unichar)ch {
  return (ch == ' ') || (ch >= '0' && ch <= '9') || (ch >= 'a' && ch <= 'z');
}

+ (BOOL)isNativeX12:(unichar)ch {
  return [self isX12TermSep:ch] || (ch == ' ') || (ch >= '0' && ch <= '9') || (ch >= 'A' && ch <= 'Z');
}

+ (BOOL)isX12TermSep:(unichar)ch {
  return (ch == '\r') //CR
    || (ch == '*')
    || (ch == '>');
}

+ (BOOL)isNativeEDIFACT:(unichar)ch {
  return ch >= ' ' && ch <= '^';
}

+ (BOOL)isSpecialB256:(unichar)ch {
  return NO; //TODO NOT IMPLEMENTED YET!!!
}

+ (int)determineConsecutiveDigitCount:(NSString *)msg startpos:(int)startpos {
  int count = 0;
  NSUInteger len = msg.length;
  int idx = startpos;
  if (idx < len) {
    unichar ch = [msg characterAtIndex:idx];
    while ([self isDigit:ch] && idx < len) {
      count++;
      idx++;
      if (idx < len) {
        ch = [msg characterAtIndex:idx];
      }
    }
  }
  return count;
}

+ (void)illegalCharacter:(unichar)c {
  NSString *hex = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%x", c];
  hex = [[@"0000" substringWithRange:NSMakeRange(0, hex.length)] stringByAppendingString:hex];
  [NSException raise:NSInvalidArgumentException format:@"Illegal character: %C (0x%@)", c, hex];
}

@end


If you are seeing RSS values in the metabolic fitness trend chart that are higher than any of your runs, it might just be the way PowerCenter calculates your improvement in fitness.
If your runs happen on different days but within 24 hours (for example, an evening run and a run in the morning the next day), PowerCenter may combine the RSS values for these two runs.
Currently, PowerCenter combines all RSS for a 24 hour period based on the Universal Time Zone (basically UK time). As the timezone used to determine the 24 hour period can different than your local timezone, it can happen that your runs on separate days are combined.


text:
Product(2)
staff(21)
david griffith(3)
melanie basich(2)
Apple Reportedly Defeats GrayKey Police Investigative Tool for iPhones
Police officer Captain John Sherwin of the Rochester Police Department in Minnesota said of the claim iOS 12 was preventing GrayKey from unlocking iPhones: "That's a fairly accurate assessment as to what we have experienced."
Police Advised to Not Look at Suspects' iPhone Screens
Face ID can work against law enforcement because if police officers look to many times at the screen before the subject does, it can "force the iPhone to request a potentially harder to obtain passcode instead," according to Motherboard.
FBI Agents Compel Suspect to Unlock iPhone with Biometric Locking System
FBI agents recently forced a man to unlock his iPhone using the device's built-in facial biometric unlocking system—Face ID—according to Forbes.
U.S., 4 Other Nations Call for Lawful Access to Encrypted Mobile Device Data
Following officials' annual meeting, known as the Five Country Ministerial (FCM), it was agreed there is an "increasing gap" between the ability of police to access data and the ability to "acquire and use the content of that data" in the courts. Nations complained end-to-end encryption—used in apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram—is also used by terrorists and criminals.
Genetec Clearance Now Enables Easy Upload of Video from Phones
The new Genetec Clearance feature is designed to make it easy for the general public and private businesses to contribute to crime-solving efforts by sharing relevant video and photos from their cell phones and surveillance systems with law enforcement agencies.
Report: Police Increasingly Ask Tech Firms for Help in Investigations
A new report released by the Center for Strategic and International Studies found that "local, state, and federal law enforcement made more than 130,000 requests last year for digital evidence from six top technology companies."
New Challenges in Cyber Forensics
Today's digital investigator must learn how to extract evidence from drones, encrypted portable devices, cryptocurrency trades, and a growing range of appliances and products defined as the Internet of Things (IoT).
SCOTUS: Tracking Cell Tower Location Data Requires a Warrant
In a 5-4 vote, the United States Supreme Court ruled on Friday that police must first obtain a search warrant before examining location data — cell tower records that can show a person's movement for long periods of time — stored on a subject's mobile phone.
Supreme Court to Review Need for Warrant for Cellphone Tower Data
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court hears its latest case about privacy in the digital age. At issue is whether police generally need a warrant to review the records.
Smart Phone Apps: Extra Features
Today we throw around the term "smartphone" with emphasis on the "phone" part of the word. But our real attention should be paid to the "smart." The processing power of these devices and their capabilities go far beyond cellular telephony. And manufacturers of law enforcement technology products have taken notice.
MSAB Releases XRY Version 7.1: Captures Data from iOS 10, 1,000 New Devices, 100 New Apps
MSAB has announced the release of version 7.1 of XRY, which includes approximately 1,000 new device profiles and more than 100 new apps and enables access to data from iOS 10. The release is designed to enable customers to keep pace with the rapid proliferation of new apps and devices in the marketplace today.
Hundreds of Requests to Unlock Phones Flood FBI
At the same time the FBI was struggling to unlock the iPhone of San Bernardino terrorist Syed Farook, the agency was being inundated with requests from state and local law enforcement seeking help accessing the contents of hundreds of encrypted or damaged cellphones linked to unrelated criminal investigations scattered across the country
FLEOA Blasts Apple's Refusal to Cooperate With FBI
Following Apple Inc.'s refusal of a duly issued federal court order to assist the FBI in the procurement of data from the phones of the terrorist attackers in the San Bernardino, CA, shooting, the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association National President Nathan Catura issued the following statement.
Here's Why the FBI Forcing Apple to Break Into an iPhone Is a Big Deal
When U.S. Magistrate Sheri Pym ruled that Apple must help the FBI break into an iPhone belonging to one of the killers in the San Bernardino, CA, shootings, the tech world shuddered. Apple's CEO doesn't want to create a "backdoor" to let the FBI in.
Smartphone Case Management App
For any incident you likely use different methods to record interviews, take notes, transcribe them, write reports, take pictures and video, and then upload everything to your agency's server. QueTel's Mobile Traq lets you do all this via an app on the smartphone you already use.


Single-stage posterolateral Corpectomy and circumferential stabilization without laminectomy in the upper thoracic spine: cadaveric study and report of three cases.
Comparison of unilateral hemilaminotomy and bilateral hemilaminotomy according to dural sac area in lumbar spinal stenosis.
Brain injury due to air gun shot: report of three adult cases.
Aroma composition of floral honey obtained from Kayseri province.
Orbitocerebral injury by a knife: case report.
Initial Discectomy Associated with Aging Leading to Adjacent Disc Disease and Recurrence.
Lateral orbitotomy approach to orbital tumors: report of 10 cases.


Invited to a barbeque or a potluck but you have no idea what to bring? Well then look no further because everybody will be raving about the Bon Appetite Gourmet hamper filled with Italian and other exotic foods. The beautiful bronze-finished hamper comes filled with dipping bowls, Bruschetta Crisps, wine cheese, Parmesan snack mix, spinach dip, olive oil, red wine vinegar, wine biscuits, and basil fettuccine. it has everything in it for a great Mediterranean meal. This gift will be decorated with a handsome hand tied bow and the container can later be reused to hold special collectibles or as part of their home d̩ecor. Bon Appetite!


Sorry, but Supersafe Baby/Child Lifejacket is no longer available to buy.
The Crewsaver Supersafe has a built in safety harness, adjustable crotch and thigh straps, lifting becket and whistle. Comfortable for wearing at all times, the Supersafe is made from contoured cut form.


text:
EXTERN_C void RedirectForThreadAbort();

#define STATUS_CLR_GCCOVER_CODE         STATUS_ILLEGAL_INSTRUCTION

class Thread;
class FaultingExceptionFrame;

#define INSTALL_EXCEPTION_HANDLING_RECORD(record)
#define UNINSTALL_EXCEPTION_HANDLING_RECORD(record)
//
// On ARM, the COMPlusFrameHandler's work is done by our personality routine.
//
#define DECLARE_CPFH_EH_RECORD(pCurThread)

//
// Retrieves the redirected CONTEXT* from the stack frame of one of the
// RedirectedHandledJITCaseForXXX_Stub's.
//
PTR_CONTEXT GetCONTEXTFromRedirectedStubStackFrame(T_DISPATCHER_CONTEXT * pDispatcherContext);
PTR_CONTEXT GetCONTEXTFromRedirectedStubStackFrame(T_CONTEXT * pContext);

//
// Retrieves the FaultingExceptionFrame* from the stack frame of
// RedirectForThrowControl or NakedThrowHelper.
//
FaultingExceptionFrame *GetFrameFromRedirectedStubStackFrame (T_DISPATCHER_CONTEXT *pDispatcherContext);

inline
PCODE GetAdjustedCallAddress(PCODE returnAddress)
{
    LIMITED_METHOD_CONTRACT;

    // blx <reg> instruction size is 2 bytes
    return returnAddress - 2;
}

BOOL AdjustContextForVirtualStub(EXCEPTION_RECORD *pExceptionRecord, T_CONTEXT *pContext);

#endif // __excepcpu_h__


text:
At 28, Patricia Arquette Was A Movie Star — But She Felt Like She Was "Failing"
The Severance star was working with famed directors like David Lynch and David O. Russell. But at home, she was "being pulled in a lot of different directions."
by Samantha Rollins
Steve Granitz/FilmMagic; Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
From the outside, 1996 appeared to be a banner year for Patricia Arquette. She was newly married and fresh off of shooting a new David Lynch movie, Lost Highway. Her turn as a harried new mom alongside Ben Stiller in the David O. Russell screwball comedy Flirting with Disaster was a critical success. But ask Arquette about the year she turned 28, and the voice on the other end of the line takes a long pause.
"My life was very chaotic and sad," Arquette, 54, admits. Her relationship was rocky; her mother had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. She had a young son at home to take care of. "I felt like I was not able to satisfy even the concept I had in my own mind — which is kind of old fashioned — about how I wanted to parent and what I wanted my relationship to be like," she says. "I felt like I was kind of failing a bit in every category."
The drastic disconnect between the success in her working life and the struggles in her home life was isolating. It's a sensation that the workers at Lumon Industries, the mysterious corporation at the center of Arquette's Apple TV+ series Severance, will never experience by design: employees at the company agree to undergo "severance," a surgical procedure that literally splits their brains to divide their work and home lives so strictly that neither persona has any recollection of the other.
The project marks the reunion of Arquette with her Escape at Dannemora director Stiller, who directs six of Severance's nine episodes. It's also a throwback to when Arquette was 28, when Stiller played her onscreen husband in Flirting with Disaster. "It was fun working with Ben as an actor; it's totally different than as a director," Arquette says. "And honestly, he was so different as a director on [Escape at] Dannemora than on Severance, too." Hold on — has Ben Stiller been severed?
Below, Arquette reflects on working with crying babies, the difficulties of doing nude scenes, and splurging on multiple pairs of shoes.
Arquette in 1996. Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection/Getty Images
Take me back to 1996. How were you feeling about your life and career?
There was a lot that was happening. On one hand, everything was very exciting and I was working with the kind of filmmakers I really wanted to work with. I was working with David Lynch, this amazing filmmaker; David O. Russell, this amazing filmmaker. But I was also struggling being a mom with a young kid and I was in a relationship that wasn't really working out for anybody. My mom had been diagnosed with breast cancer and she was pretty sick and doing a lot of alternative treatments, and that was rocking my world. Emotionally, I felt like I was being pulled in a lot of different directions.
I also felt a little bit like a fraud, because when you lose people or people are sick or real trauma is happening in your life, you don't necessarily feel confident to talk about that publicly. And you're supposed to show up at these red carpet events and do your job and promote things. And sometimes it's in opposition to what's really happening in your life.
What did you learn from that time, and how have your ideas of what it means to be a parent or a partner changed since then?
My kids are grown up, so I don't really have to confront that so much in my daily life. If I was in that situation again right now, I don't know that I'd feel all that different about it. I do think I probably have very unrealistic expectations of myself. Would I be easier on myself right now? I doubt it, because I'm pretty hard on myself in general. And that goes from work all the way through every aspect of my life. I don't cut myself that much slack.
It's full circle to be talking to you about the year that Flirting with Disaster came out, given that you're still working with Ben Stiller on Severance. Are there any moments from working on that movie that stand out?
We sang a lot of Jesus Christ Superstar [on the Flirting with Disaster set] before we'd roll. It was funny because I was already a parent, but when we did Flirting with Disaster, in a lot of the scenes I wasn't written as holding the baby. But I would de facto end up holding the baby, because the baby would be crying and I was the best one to get the baby to not be crying. At first I was like, oh my God, this is so ironic that I'm holding the baby all the time. It works, I think, for the story. And as an actor, it kind of worked for me too to juggle these two things because the majority of parenting and responsibility was falling on [my character's] shoulders.
Arquette with Ben Stiller in Flirting with Disaster. Miramax
At one point, the baby was crying in the airplane [scene] and everyone was wanting to leave and it was really hot. And everyone was like, Patricia, get the baby to stop crying. I was like, Hey, hey, hey, first of all, I'm not even written in the scene to be holding the baby, but here I am holding the baby! The baby tells the truth. The baby doesn't want to be here right now. It's hot on this plane. I can't control a baby!
You were also finishing filming Lost Highway with David Lynch that year, which must have been interesting.
Part of why I did that, obviously, the number one reason was to work with David Lynch. It's also, to me, this story about looking at the sexual power of women through the eyes of this misogynist. That was very interesting to me.
I also had real phobia about nudity and I'm a very modest person. I wanted to deal with that myself and see if I could confront my own demons on that. I didn't know where that came from in me — if that was my own nature to be modest, [or] if that came to me from damage from when I was a little kid and being sexually assaulted growing up — not with my family, thank God. I kind of wanted to just be done with all of that and I also [didn't] want any of it holding me back as an artist.
Arquette in David Lynch's Lost Highway.
So did it hold you back? How did you feel after it all?
Well, it was a struggle for me the whole time. I talked to David about it and I knew that was the material, so it wasn't like I was being forced into something, but I was forcing myself into something that was not my nature. But I also was wondering what my nature was before all this influence and impact of other things. It was a deeply personal exploration.
This was a busy and difficult time in your life, but what kinds of things you did for fun, or to relax?
I think my parenting self was always going into overdrive when I wasn't working, so a lot of what I would do would be making Easter baskets and treasure hunts, [or] making Halloween costumes by hand until late at night. That kind of stuff really made me happy. It still does, honestly.
What kind of crafting makes you happy now?
I'm working with an artist. I'm making some glass projects. During the pandemic, I tie-dyed everything on Earth — sheets, towels, napkins. I was tie-dyeing my days away. I write. Those are kind of the things that are more self soothing to me.
Was there anything you splurged on at 28?
I always splurged a bit on shoes, if I'm honest. I was like, that crazy car you have costs a lot of money, but I could buy a thousand pairs of shoes or 10,000 pairs of shoes for the amount of money a car is! And shoes are like the cars for my feet.
I didn't really splurge on anything until I turned 40, and then I did buy a used Porsche. After I drove away, I was like, am I really driving a Porsche? This is so typical. I'm having a midlife crisis!
What was your biggest regret at 28?
I just couldn't figure out how to make my life work. I'd been in a series of relationships that were pretty unsatisfying, and I always felt like I was coming up short no matter how hard I tried. And I was still in that time in my life where I felt like if I just changed myself and worked harder and did more, I could fix things.
I would say, knowing what I know now, things are too hard. You can't change people and you can't fix everything by yourself. And I was pretty committed to working on and fixing and trying to change and force everything to work that didn't work.
Did the demands of fame and living in public contribute to that feeling of pressure to make things work, or to stay in your relationship? I know there's a lot of Hollywood lore around your marriage to Nick Cage.
Here's the thing. I don't even want to talk too much about that relationship because I want to give it its own privacy, and I also feel like I don't want my story to be tied down to a man's story. [But] the people pleasing aspect of my nature, which I imagine was largely taught to me by my family dynamic and the time I grew up in society, extended well into my career and to every aspect of my life. So it wasn't really about one particular relationship. It was across the board. That aspect of myself made things pretty rough.
What advice would you give your 28-year-old self?
I would say you can't fix everything. If something feels like a compromise to your values and what feels good and safe, you don't have to do it. And integrity matters. You also can't do everything for everyone. My kids have always said to me, "Mom, if there's one thing I wish you would do different, it's take more time for yourself, your friends, and have fun." So I think that I would say to myself — maybe get a little jumpstart on that putting yourself first bit.
What do you think your 28-year-old self would think of the person you've become?
I think my 28-year-old self would be like, wow, you've been through a lot. You've been through a lot and accomplished a lot and you're really happy now.
Looking back on it now, maybe without all that difficulty, you couldn't get to where you [are now]. So maybe it was all supposed to be like that — imperfect in years.
At 28, Debra Jo Rupp Was Living A Much Different '70s Show
'Ted Lasso' Season 3 Might Be Its Last
By Zosha Millman and Grace Wehniainen


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On Monday October 29th 2018 Betty Jean Jones, loving Wife, Mother, and Grandmother passed away at the age of 83 in Overland Park, KS.
Betty was born on January 2nd 1935 in Atlanta, GA. She grew up in Kansas City, MO, attended Central High School, and married Deni Marvin Jones in June of 1952. Betty retired from The Sun Publications.
Betty came from meek beginnings having been raised as an orphan her whole life. With her husband by her side they built a beautiful life together. She enjoyed traveling to extended parts of the world and driving their RV all over North America with their lab. Most of all Betty loved watching the Kansas City Chiefs. She never missed a game even scheduling her knee replacement on a bye week. She was part of the 50 yard club from the beginning and traveled to Spring training like the 12th player on the field that she was.
Betty was preceded in death by her husband Deni Marvin, her mother-in-Law Gwendola Braden, her adoptive mother Cora Osborne, her sister-in-law Joyce Maxwell, and her nephew Blake Corbley. She is survived by her three children Deni A. Jones (Ann), Denise Dickens (Tim), and Victor Wayne Jones (Linda) She had 6 grandchildren, 10 great grandchildren, and 1 great great granddaughter.
Extended family include Peter Bapal who they raised as their own son, her sister-in-law Jeanine Corbley, her nieces and nephews, and Catherine Jenkins and family.
Betty treated her friends as her family and she had two very special friends Mark Keel, and Todd Howard.
Funeral Services will be held Saturday November 3rd at 10am. Park Lawn Funeral Home 8251 Hillcrest Rd Kansas City MO 64138.


Pupils really often contact our solution with questions regarding how exactly to write a proper overview of an article that is scientific a log. That's the reason today we decided to publish a write-up with helpful details about reviews on systematic articles and monographs.
Before being posted in severe periodicals, clinical articles are evaluated. Peer review can be a part that is crucial the system for picking and approving appropriate clinical articles for book. Besides in works in support of enhancing the quality of the clinical article. At minimal two or three reviews are needed for book in journals of a top worldwide degree. In certain situations, aside from the review, they request suggestion of a respected within the industry writer.
the article is examined when it comes to its design (framework together with existence of necessary elements).
But behind the simplicity that is apparent there was often the subjective discernment for the reviewer. Therefore, as well as the accurately formal needs for planning a write-up for reviewing, it is crucial to see This process through the optical eyes associated with the reviewer himself. In addition, to understand for certain just exactly exactly what ought to be printed in the review and just how it ought to be created.
What's a review and just how to manage it?
An assessment is really a document that is certain up with a reviewer. That is a reviewer? The reviewer can be a scientist having a degree that is academic better with an educational name in area corresponding into the subject associated with article. The reviewer conducts a top analysis associated with the article being examined, evaluates this content and perhaps the article satisfies design requirements: checks from theamount of this article, checks out the annotation and collection of key words, assesses the correctness of recommendations together with range of utilized literary works, determines the relevance of this subject of this article.
In closing, the reviewer evaluates the importance, novelty, and systematic worth of the content and makes a summary it is feasible to create it in a specific journal that is scientific concerning the have to proper it in respect because of the remarks. The printed and issued review is finalized because of the reviewer and certified by the stamp for the organization or customwritings company by which he works. The publisher gets the directly to request an overview of any article, which means editorial boards of clinical journals keep consitently the originals of reviews. E-mailing an electric content associated with the review just isn't a document that is complete. Consequently, anticipate to spending some time in purchase to deliver the review that is original the editor. a adequate amount of the review is all about 3.5-4 thousand figures (with areas), which can be 1.5-2 pages in term structure with a measurements of circumstances brand brand New Roman 12 pt.
Whenever working with an evaluation to a systematic article, you will need to keep in mind that it's a document that is official which requires after of all of the guidelines. Consequently, the review must certanly be not just constant in content but in addition developed in appropriate way.


Our first two weeks here in Nathrop and Chalk Creek CG have been really cool. Joan and I have had a good time so far. Unfortunately you won't see any photos for a couple of weeks from now. For about a month we've been noticing that our PC was very slow to respond when we attempted to access our photos. After running some diagnostics and calling Dell tech support it was determined that we have a problem with the hard drive. I've backed up all our data, including our pics and the PC is being sent back to Dell for repairs. We should have the PC back in 7-10 days. Aaahhhhh....don't you just love technology.
Back to Nathrop.......we've had snow 3 mornings since we've been here, including one morning when the overnight temps got down to 5 (yes, single digit) degrees. Even with snow in the mornings, almost all of it is gone by the end of the day. It's been sunny and comfortable during the day with high temps anywhere from the low 50's to 70. Last week we were enjoying the view with snow on the car and surrounding mountains; had the heaters going inside the RV all snug and warm when we started to hear water dripping. We quickly noticed water starting to leak out from under the refrigerator. We turned off the water to the RV and started to investigate. What we found was not as bad as we thought.....the ice maker water filter (located behind the fridge in the outside access panel) had frozen and split. No problem until later in the day when the ice began to thaw. When that happened the water began to squirt out and run down the rear of the fridge. We were able to replace the filter and dry out the gallon or so of water that had leaked inside.
We've started to explore the area in the jeep and taken a couple of roads up into the mountains until we reach the snow line. Those roads lead to the high passes and we'll have to wait until late June or July before we can explore those fully (including a couple of ghost towns....yippeeee!). And we've seen herds of elk and deer. Joan has her bird feeders out and she's already started to see hummingbirds. And Iv'e been cleaning up some odds and ends maintenance items....replace toilet bowl seals and the drip guard on the shower door....new water filters outside and inside. Still on the list is installation of a Trik-L-Charge for the chassis batteries and trouble shooting the rear view camera. Wish me luck.
Last week we drove into Denver (about 2 1/2 hours away) to see the Rockies - Braves baseball game. We had great seats with 50 degree temps and plenty of sunshine. The Braves took a lead into the 9th but the Rockies tied the game 5-5 in the bottom of the inning. FREE BASEBALL! And in the bottom of the 12th the Rockies scored to win 6-5.
I've contacted the recreation departments in both Buena Vista and Salida (the towns on either side of Nathrop) and gotten my name in a pool for playing softball. There's a pick up game this afternoon and I'm hoping to meet some of the team managers and find a team to play on this summer. Wish me luck.
We've begun helping Lars and Tamara here at Chalk Creek. We've gone out a couple of days with Lars and picked up 3 truck loads of firewood. Also the office and general store were remodeled from 2 separate rooms into one large room during the off-season. We've been helping to set up and stock shelves. Joan has begun training in the office and I've been working with Lars in the CG. We are 1 of 4 workamper couples this season and the 1st to move into the CG. A 2nd couple Jack & Joyce moved from nearby Buena Vista into the CG yesterday. The other 2 couples should be here within the next 2 weeks.
On a side note. Please keep our fellow RVers and friends Rudee and Phil in your thoughts.
As anxious as we are to spend a few days in Colorado before we report to Chalk Creek, the weather forecast along our route is not the most conducive for a life long Florida driver to tackle with a 40' 16 ton motorhome towing a trailer. Therefore we decided to spend a few more days in Moab. And we had a blast doing so!
John and Pam invited us to hike Tower Arch in Arches NP with them. We met them at the park entrance and drove several miles into the park before taking a gravel road to the trailhead. The hike included some ups and downs with a total 3.4 miles round trip. And the trip was well worth it.
The arch is called Tower Arch because it looks as though there is a tower on top of it. That however is an optical illusion. The tower is actually a 'fin' rock formation immediately behind the arch. John and I explored the tower by climbing a few rocks. Standing at the base of the tower we were afforded a beautiful view of the surrounding area.
The next day we decided to go off road again and check out Long Valley. Somewhere near the end of Tower Arch hike I twisted my ankle, so Joan and I thought this would be a good chance for her to 'earn her wings' and drive her 1st off road trail. Long Valley was one of 2 trails recommended to us when we first arrived. And the recommendation was spot on. The trail pulls off Potash Road and parallels the Potash Road/Shafer Basin trail we took earlier in the week (see the previous blog entry) eventually coming out on the entrance road to Dead Horse SP. The views of needle and fin rock formations, Arches NP and the LaSal Mountains were fantastic.
No real obstacles except for a huge rock that had fallen from a cliff face and came to rest leaning on the cliff face. The trail forces vehicles to drive under the rock.
When we finished Long Valley we continued on to explore Canyonlands NP. Two great rivers converge here, the Colorado and Green Rivers merge among over 500 square miles of canyons, mesas, buttes, fins, arches and spires.
On the way out of Canyonlands Joan was feeling confident and decided she would like to drive the switchbacks we had driven a couple days earlier in Shafer Basin. This time the road was dry and I enjoyed being able to relax and view the scenery as Joan drove down. We turned around at the bottom and headed back up. Everything was going well until we started to slide towards the cliff face. Joan was paying attention to the drop off and got a little too close to the waist-deep ditch along the cliff face.
Too late....we slid until the car grounded on the frame. No serious damage, but with the chassis on the ground and both right side tires spinning freely off the ground we weren't going anywhere soon even with 4-wheel drive. Fortunately we carry a small folding shovel and I started to work building a ramp out of nearby large rocks and the dirt I dug out from under the car. 2 large blisters and 45 minutes later we were free and on our way home...with Joan driving. Joan did great and intends to continue practicing her off road driving.
The weather forecast for Friday and Saturday was for sunshine and dry roads so we headed towards Colorado. We stayed overnight in Montrose and then left early Saturday for Nathrop via Gunnison and 11,300' Monarch Pass.
The weather forecast was accurate and other than the 'pucker factor' that most motorhome drivers experience the first time they encounter high mountain passes the drive was fine. We arrived in Nathrop at Chalk Creek CG Saturday afternoon and set up in our home for the summer.
We drove into nearby Buena Vista to explore and decided to stop at a local pub for dinner. Joan has really enjoyed sampling the local beers while we were in Oregon and Nevada. The pub EddyLine brews several different beers and offered a beer paddle to allow sampling.
Joan really liked 5 of the 6 she sampled. We returned home and went to bed with another winter storm forecast for overnight.
We awoke Sunday morning with 1" of snow covering everything. Our 1st ever snowfall (other than a small snow flurry while driving through Cuba, NM last year) since we've been full-timing. Cool!
We've been doing a little more exploring of the area and I've been doing some odds and ends around the MH the last few days. Our internet access has been spotty at several of our stops so I ordered and installed the WiFiRanger Go. The install was easy and I had all 4 of our WiFi devices up and running with a 4 of 4 bar signal strength private wireless LAN within 30 minutes.
We're hoping the weather clears up so that we can take a drive to Denver and take in a Rockies game next week. Other than that we're just enjoying experiencing the mountain weather and exploring the area.
We left Lake Mead on the 2nd headed towards Williams, AZ where we had a reservation at Grand Canyon Railway RV Park (Passport America and a real nice CG). We parked next to our friends Larry and Jean. Wednesday moring we all headed up to Grand Canyon NP. I'm sure you've seen pictures, probably taken by professionals so there's not any I could add other than to introduce you to Larry and Jean.
The 4 of us spent all day Friday checking out Mesa Verde. We were still too early in the season to take advantage of some of the ranger led tours of the cliff dwellings, so we're really thinking we may stop back in September as we drive from Nathrop back to Lake Mead. We did however hike the 1/4 mile path down to Spruce House. Spruce House is not the largest of the cliff dwellings but it is the most preserved. We stopped at several of the pull offs in the park to see pit houses, pueblos and other cliff dwellings.
Saturday found us headed to Moab and Larry and Jean headed towards Colorado Springs where they will be working at Garden of the Gods CG. We checked out several of the campgrounds in Moab and found one that that had space for our rig. The week before Easter is Jeep Jamboree in Moab and the week after is spring break in many surrounding areas. As such many of the CG's did not have space until 2 weeks after Easter.
We got set up and immediately headed out for a jeep ride. Someone had suggested we try the Gemini Trail. The trail is just north of town and climbs the face of the mountain along the side of Hwy 191.
About 8 miles into the trail we came to a pull off and parked to walk down and see the twin arches. I thought these to be unusual as they don't stand above ground level; rather they were formed by a large washout on the edge of a mesa. The top of these arches are level with the edge of the mesa rim.
Sunday we drove out to Dead Horse Point State Park taking a few short excursions along the way whenever we saw an interesting looking dirt trail. Once we arrived we visited the Visitor Center before taking a short hike along the canyon rim. We found a good place to stop and have lunch.
After lunch Joan was feeling adventurous so she went out on a ledge......6' wide and 1000' above the valley floor. It offered a great overlook on the Colorado River.
Then we drove out to Dead Horse Point. The point overlooks Canyonlands NP. You may recognize this area as it is one of the most photographed areas in Moab and rumor has it scenes from the movie Thelma and Louise were shot here.
Sunday afternoon we met up with John and Pam of Oh, the Places They Go! They have been in Moab for a few days already and have been out on some great hikes. We went out for supper and had a great evening spending a couple of hours just talking and getting to know them.
Monday's weather forecast was for scattered showers so we decided not to hike, but to just drive around checking out the area. Next thing you know we're on Potash Road. We stopped at Poison Spider Trail pull off to see dinosaur tracks. We saw a couple higher up on the rocks so we climbed a little further and found several petroglyphs. Unfortunately too many previous visitors have defaced or destroyed several of the petroglyphs by adding their own graffiti.
We returned to Potash Road and continued further out to discover a mining operation. Between Moab and Dead Horse SP is a large underground deposit of potassium salt that is actively mined. Potash Road connects to Shafer Basin and crosses the mining property. We drove past the storage warehouse and the pavement ended. We drove another couple of miles and were stopped by one of the mine employees. They had been prepping an area for blasting and were just about to set off the dynamite. A few minutes later there was a big BOOM and a huge cloud of dust. We continued on and drove alongside several evaporation ponds. The salt is mined by pumping water into the underground salt deposit where the salt is absorbed into the water before being pumped to the evaporation ponds. Once the water evaporates large earthmovers are used to scrape up the salt.
During our wait at the mining site we asked about the road we were on and discovered it travesed Shafer Basin and exited in Canyonland NP. That sounded like an adventure so we continued on.
There were several locations where we were driving within 10'-15' of the cliffs overlooking the Colorado.
As we got closer to the basin wall the road became rockier and rockier and we noticed a series of switchbacks that appeared to climb a huge sheer wall out of the basin to the top of the mesa.
When we arrived at the switchbacks the adventure really began. It had been raining off and on, so we had been careful to watch for any signs of flowing water in the numerous washes we had crossed. And because it was currently raining I was concerned about the road conditions on the switchbacks.
The switchbacks climb over 1000' and were single lane. About halfway up we started to see fresh clay on the road (which was turning into mud in the rain) and the switchbacks turned into hairpin turns. I locked into 4-wheel low and tried to keep up our momentum without sliding on the slick clay.
It was a little hairy but we made it without incident. Just as we got to the top we came across the road crew that had been spreading the clay. We stopped to ask a question and found out that once it started raining they had closed the road down the switchbacks because they knew it would become almost impassable. We had passed a couple of vehicles along our way and weren't sure that they would be getting out without turning around and driving the 32 miles back across the basin to Potash Road. The clouds closed in just as we exited the switchbacks onto the paved road so we called it a day and headed back towards Moab. All in all it was a great day and we enjoyed the adventure.
We had planned to leave today, but the weather forecast is for snow along our route into Colorado for the next few days; so we think we'll stay here a little longer and wait for better road conditions before taking on the mountains.
The last few weeks have been fun and busy. 1 of the 2 maintenance techs in Echo Bay is having knee replacement surgery and that only leaves our boss Tim to run things single handed for the next 4-5 months. On top of that Tim was scheduled for training for a week and he asked us to take on a few additional responsibilities and work weekends for a couple of weeks.
We actually had a chance to go 'rock climbing' with Joan's cousin. No, we're not attaching our selves together with ropes and chalking our hands; rather we tightened our seat belts and held on for dear life as we tackled some 45-55 degree rock slopes in Brian and Theresa's modified jeep. As usual Joan would not open here eyes for the first few minutes, but she eventually woke up and had a great time. Brian modified the jeep himself and the ride we took proved what a good job he did.
We took a couple trips into Mequite, AZ and took in a movie both times we were there. We both liked The Host and Joan managed to sit through Olympus Has Fallen which I really enjoyed (way too much shoot em' up for her). We witnessed the Air Force practicing pilot ejections over Lake Mead.
We even spotted a very unusual plant and after a quick email discovered it was a Camissionia plant that has been infected with a virus. Sure looks cool though.
We met some new friends, Joe and Gay from Good-Times-Rollin. We spent a couple of days checking out Valley of Fire, Anniversary Narrows and the Botanical Cactus Garden at Ethel M Chocolate Factory.
Yes I said Cactus Garden at the Chocolate Factory. If you're ever in Vegas, check it out. It's free and well worth the time.
But I think someone once said "all good things must come to an end". Today was our last day at Echo Bay....really, no fooling. Easter Sunday was our last workday; today we spent the entire day preparing for the trip to Colorado. Joan worked on the inside and I worked on the outside. We started early and by mid-afternoon we were tired, sore and very happy with all we had accomplished. We have lots of stained glass lamps, bowls and sun-catchers that all had to be wrapped and insulated. Joan did her version of spring-cleaning while I washed the car, cleaned the front RV windows, made sure the bikes were strapped and secure and packed the basement with all our outdoor stuff.
PS....checking our blog stats the other day we noticed that we just crossed the 20,000 'views' mark. Thanks everyone.


What is the preferred way to create an app?
When following the online tutorial, why am I not getting any data?
To start this tutorial, you need access to a Splunk deployment version 6.0 or higher, either Splunk Cloud or Splunk Enterprise.
Note: If you already have access to a Splunk deployment, skip this chapter and start with Part 1: Load the tutorial data.
If you intend to download, install, and start Splunk Enterprise, this topic contains system requirements and tells you what you need to know about Splunk licenses.
You can use Splunk Enterprise on Linux, Windows, and Mac OS. For this tutorial, your computer must meet the specifications listed in the following table.
This is a snapshot of the Splunk Enterprise system requirements. See the System Requirements topic in the Installation manual.
You need a Splunk.com account to download the free trial Splunk software. If you do not already have a Splunk.com account, you need to create an account. If you already have an account, you need to log in to that account.
Create an account, or log in to an existing account.
To create an account, click My Account > Sign Up. Enter the registration information.
To log in to an existing account, click My Account > Login.
If it has been a while since you downloaded the Splunk Trial software, download the trial software again. It is possible that the Trial license converted to a Free license. The Free license has some limitations that will not allow you to complete all parts of this tutorial. See Splunk trial licenses for more information.
Identify the installer that you want use with the tutorial.
Linux Use any of the installers. 3 installers. An RPM download for RedHat, a DEB package for Debian Linux, and a TAR file installer.
Mac OSX Use the DMG packaged graphical installer. 2 installers. A DMG package and a TAR file installer.
Windows Use the MSI file graphical installer. 2 installers. An MSI file and a compressed ZIP file.
Download the free trial version of the installer for Splunk Enterprise.
Accept the license agreement and click Start Your Download Now.
When you download Splunk Enterprise for the first time, you get an Enterprise Trial license for 60 days. This Enterprise Trial license includes all of the features, but limits the amount of data that you can index each day. The daily limit is 500MB.
After 60 days, the Enterprise Trial license converts to a Free license and some of the features, such as authentication and alerting, are disabled. The Free license also includes the 500MB each day of indexing volume, but has no expiration date.
For instructions on installing, and starting the software, see the following topics in the Search Tutorial.
The next topic describes how to navigate the views in Splunk Web.
Thanks for pointing out the typo, Apcarpent. You are correct that the number should be 500MB. I've updated the topic with the correct information.
The Splunk licenses section states "This trial license entitles the server to 500GB per day indexing volume." I believe this is a typo as my copy only let me index 500MB per day.


The UK Department for International Trade (DIT) is taking 16 financial technology (fintech) companies to New York as part of a technology-focused trade mission that helps companies meet strict regulations in the finance sector.
The department is taking the UK-based small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to promote their expertise in developing software to help organisations comply with regulations – dubbed "regtech".
This is part of a DIT trade mission at New York's Empire Startups Fintech Week. It hopes to attract global businesses to its tech firms.
As a sub-segment of the fintech industry, regtech has been more in demand since the global financial services crisis of 2008, which was caused by banks behaving recklessly and led to more regulations being introduced. Today, machine learning, big data and cloud computing are helping governments and financial institutions to transform regulatory practices.
Over the same period, fintech has grown in the finance sector, with consumers increasingly taking up technology-driven financial services, which are simple to use. Regtech does a similar thing for compliance teams, allowing advanced technologies to extract, transfer and load datasets that are cluttered and tangled to create consumable information.
The DTI is working with money transfer firm Western Union to promote UK SMEs offering regtech at its Lunch and Learn session in New York.
Machine learning: As the volume of data analysed for various types of compliance increases, systems that use machine learning will become indispensable for companies' regulatory success.
Big data analytics: Regtech uses analytics tools to intelligently mine existing "big data" datasets and unlock their true potential, for example by using the same data for multiple purposes.
Cloud computing: Cloud computing offers the agility to successfully respond to changing processes. It also delivers cost-effective applications and efficient modelling of new regulatory demands, along with technology that can be upgraded easily.
Recent research from Western Union revealed that nearly one-third (30%) of UK SMEs and nearly one-fifth (18%) of US SMEs are concerned about the impact of changing international regulation and compliance.
Kerry Agiasotis, president at Western Union Business Solutions, said the trade mission was an opportunity for US firms to learn from the UK regtech industry.


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This morning we walked from Chamber's Wall to the Oyster Farm and recorded 12 Redwing, 10 Blackbirds, 4 Fieldfare, 15 Magpies, 1 Green Woodpecker, 4 Coot, 2 Golden Plovers, 3 Redshank, 1 Little Grebe, 1 Stonechat, 1 Kingfisher, 22 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 43 Mallard, 5 Shelduck, 14 Oystercatchers, 4 Turnstone, 36 Carrion Crows, 2 Snow Buntings flying towards Reculver, 1 female Red-breasted Merganser (91st) flying W, 14 Linnets, 1 Little Egret, 3 Corn Buntings, 1 Marsh Harrier and 2 Goldcrests.
Matt was also out this morning and walked from Chamber's Wall and along the railway embankment to the Oyster Farm. His highlights were 1 Firecrest (92nd) on the railway embankment, 105 Corn Buntings, 1 Water Rail (93rd) and 1 Black Swan in with the Mute Swans on the Marsh. On the way home a Merlin flew across the road near Shuart.
Tom Speller walked from Reculver to Plumpudding during the afternoon and counted 5 Red-throated Divers, 1 female Red-breasted Merganser, 61 Grey Plovers, 94 Ringed Plovers, 200 Oystercatchers, 19 Curlew, 10 Dunlin, 20 Redshank, 496 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 5 Shelduck, 45 Mallard, 1 Little Egret, 1 Great Crested Grebe and 2 Marsh Harriers. He also saw a bull Grey Seal.
Derek Smith walked from Shuart to Plumpudding between 1430 and 1700 and saw 2 Marsh Harriers, 38 Golden Plovers, 1 Barn Owl, 1 Little Owl (94th) calling, 2 Cetti's Warblers and 1 Chiffchaff.