Hewlett-Packard's $1.2 billion purchase of Palm means several things — but the most important ones are not about phones.
Yes, new life for Palm devices means there will be real competition in smartphones, with HP alone pushing operating systems from Google, Microsoft and now Palm (and facing competition from Apple and Nokia). The companies will aim for different market segments, like business, consumer and specialty purposes. Longer term, however, among the phones the fight will be in consumer devices.
But so-called "connected devices," more than just phones, are the future of hardware, as voice becomes one more asset. Already HP Senior Vice President Todd Bradley is talking about phones, tablets, slates and other kinds of hardware that guarantee Internet connectivity. Voice calls themselves may be disappearing into the Internet, to the consternation of the Verizons, AT&Ts and Sprints, which prefer revenues from separate voice minutes rather than connection charges.
The acquisition is also another great test of HP's ability to make tech dreams come true–in this case, Palm's dream of its operating system inside all kinds of machines. Doubtless there are plans for all kinds of new nonphone Internet connection devices inside Palm, and HP's technologists and manufacturers will have at them at first chance. In his call to analysts Wednesday, Bradley identified vertical markets like health care and education in which devices might soon appear, sold through HP's partners.
HP will also try to do what Palm could not: excite a global community of software developers for the webOS. While Bradley said Palm has 2,000 applications now, it was unable to get the kind of response from developers that Google has received for its Android OS or that Apple has received for its iPhone and iPad. According to Robison, Palm at last has an attractive set of tools for developers, and HP will begin marketing to them based on HP's scale. "Developers will go where the volume is," he said.
Elevation Partners, which is said to have acquired its Palm shares for enough to make a small profit on the Palm deal (but far less than the monster hit it hoped for) may console itself that its vision was correct, even if it lacked the scale and cash to see it through. If so, it will join an impressive crowd. In May 2008 HP bought consulting firm EDS for $13.9 billion, gaining with that the assets of a company called Opsware, originally Loudcloud, Marc Andreessen's too-early venture into cloud computing. It is now at the heart of HP's global push in the business of automating large-scale technology operations. Andreessen is now a member of the HP board and as the head of its technology committee doubtless played an important role in the Palm acquisition.
Last November HP purchased Chinese switch company 3Com for $2.7 billion, acquiring little recognized technology in powerful Internet switches that HP hopes will rival Cisco's stuff. Like Palm and Loudcloud, the Chinese company, with little brand or marketing strength, could not get what it built to sufficient scale. Which is not to say "HP can't invent." What it can do is spot opportunities, diamonds in the rough, and put them into a rigorous operational machine. At least, HP shareholders hope so.
This entry was posted in Interesting Facts, Internet, Mobiles and tagged Android OS, Apple, Elevation Partners, Forbes Media, Google, HP, Microsoft, Nokia, Palm, Todd Bradley, Voice calls on May 2, 2010 by steve virgin.
Germany, France and Britain have proposed measures against Iran for blocking foreign media broadcasts in a joint letter to other European Union members, the German foreign office said on Wednesday. In the letter, signed on behalf of Germany by Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, the countries called for the EU to take measures against Iran. The move comes after Iran has blocked numerous foreign radio and television broadcasts via satellite for several months. French daily Le Figaro reported that possible sanctions could include stopping companies such as Siemens or Nokia from delivering technologies to Teheran that allow the interception of emails or mobile phone conversations. A joint declaration could be signed as early as next week, when EU foreign ministers meet in Brussels.
This entry was posted in Censorship, Iran and tagged Blocking foreign media broadcasts, European Union, Iran, Nokia, Sanctions, Siemens on March 18, 2010 by steve virgin.
When Eric Schmidt, chief executive of Google, takes to the stage in Barcelona on Tuesday evening to deliver the keynote address to hundreds of mobile phone industry executives gathered for the Mobile World Congress the industry's biggest trade show, the message will be clear: well done, Europe, for getting mobile communications this far. We'll take it from here.
For two decades, Europe's mobile telecoms sector has considered itself to be a world leader. It had the biggest names, the technological knowhow, the most customers. Over the past year, however, that hegemony has been smashed. At a time when Europe is mired in economic turmoil and facing a demographic timebomb, one of its great hopes for fuelling future growth is slipping away.
"Europe has become the 'flyover states' of the mobile industry," says a senior European executive, referring to the disparaging term used to describe middle America by high-powered business travellers shuttling between California and New York.
His customers now care only about access to services such as Google, Facebook and Twitter on their phones, and the devices they covet are the iPhone or the latest BlackBerry, which has proved a great hit with teenagers. This year's hot handsets, the executive says, are being made by HTC, the Taiwanese manufacturer, which will use this week's show to unveil its latest devices, featuring Google's Android software. While Apple lords it over the high end of the market, China's Huawei and ZTE are creating cut-price smartphones that will democratise the mobile internet in the coming years.
Sensing the change blowing in the wind, even Microsoft's chief executive, Steve Ballmer, is turning up in Barcelona to front the software group's latest attempt to break into a market that it was once shut out of by Europe's gatekeepers, Nokia and Ericsson. As for Apple itself, the iPhone maker would never do anything so vulgar as actually appear publicly at the event, or have a stand in one of the eight exhibition halls; but its executives will be in town, holding meetings behind closed doors with suppliers and networks as it looks for more wireless partners to back its latest invention, the iPad, outside the US.
After a week in which the turmoil in Greece has shown the fragility of the eurozone and a new acronym, "Pigs", has entered the economic lexicon as a harbinger of doom, the evidence the Mobile World Congress will provide of Europe's loss of control over the mobile phone industry is a harsh blow.
It leaves European policymakers, many of whom have bought in to the idea that the future lies in the creation of innovative technologies, to pin their hopes on new areas such as green energy or fall back on old stalwarts such as biotechnology. But the green sector has yet to prove the breakout success that will give Europe its own version of Silicon Valley, while biotech has always been the saviour that never quite seems to arrive. After the dotcom crash at the start of this century, biotechnology was looked to expectantly, especially in the UK, as the next big thing. In America, meanwhile, graduates from Stanford and drop-outs from Harvard were quietly getting on with building Google, Facebook and Twitter.
The impressive lead in mobile communications that Europe once held over the rest of the world was created by the European Union. In the 1980s, when wireless communications went mass-market, America's Motorola vied with Finland's Nokia and Sweden's Ericsson for dominance of the nascent global market. Europe's players were handed the advantage when the EU officially adopted and set aside specific wireless spectrum for a digital mobile technology called GSM.
The first networks appeared in 1991 and overnight the European technology players that had helped create the standard had a huge market. Seeing its success, other countries soon adopted GSM, expanding the market for Ericsson, Nokia and others throughout the 1990s. Even America's largest network, Verizon Wireless, is switching to the super-fast version of GSM later this year. So where did it all go wrong?
"As soon as the mobile business opened itself up in such a way that internet technology could become available on mobile networks, that was the end," according to Mark Newman, chief research officer at Informa Telecoms & Media. "Maybe Europe had a chance but it blew it, in my view, because there are too many sets of interests, each so obsessed with their own sphere of influence that they could not co-operate.
The industry did see it coming. It tried several times to create a mobile internet that was not going to be beholden to the American giants. In the late 1990s, a pared-down wireless internet service called WAP was being pushed by several GSM operators. Customers, many of whom were used to dial-up internet access, were unconvinced and soon started summing up the service by replacing the "w" with "cr".
A few years later, O2 tried to create its own mobile web by importing the i-mode standard from Japan. Again, it was a dire failure. When the "true" web started turning up on the next generation of 3G phones, the operators tried to keep their customers within "walled gardens" – as they were called – creating content portals that offered customers what the operator thought was the best of the web. Usage was paltry. Having spent billions buying licences to run 3G services, the operators had to prove to investors that there was consumer appetite for mobile internet services, so they demolished their garden walls.
Ironically, the operators' initial intransigence over the mobile web brought both Apple and Google into the industry. The former saw a way of bringing the vertically integrated approach that had worked so well in music – where it controls both the device, the iPod, and the store, iTunes – into the mobile market. The latter made its move because it feared that the combined effect of Apple and market leader Nokia could shut it out of the mobile internet altogether.
In fact, Google needn't have worried about Nokia because the runaway success of the iPhone changed the game. The arrival of the 3G version of Apple's device a year and a half ago dramatically altered the mobile industry and proved that consumers, given the right device, will do much, much more than use their phone to make calls and send texts.
Nokia is still the largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world. But the Finnish giant, a former rubber boot manufacturer whose success created hundreds of millionaires and helped pull the country out of recession when the Soviet Union collapsed, has been sideswiped by the success of Apple and the encroachment of Google's Android platform. It has been forced to make Symbian, its own software platform, free to developers and handset manufacturers, as Android is, and last month took the desperate decision to give users of its smartphones free access to its satnav services to make its devices as attractive as the iPhone. Only three years ago it spent €6.5bn on the map firm Navteq but it is now effectively giving that intellectual property away as it tries to protect its market share.
The crisis into which Nokia has been plunged by Apple has pushed it into bed with another American giant, Intel. The two companies will use Mobile World Congress to announce new microchips that Nokia hopes will help it to compete with HTC's latest devices. Apple already has its own in-house chip design team, having bought fellow Californian company PA Semi two years ago.
Ericsson, meanwhile, spun its handset business into a joint venture with Sony. However, after initial success with "featurephones" based on Sony's Cybershot (camera) and Walkman (music)technologies, Sony Ericsson's share of the billion-device-a-year market has collapsed under the onslaught of Apple and BlackBerry, halving from about 10% three years ago.
But it's not all doom and gloom, says Olaf Swantee, who runs Orange's mobile operations across Europe. He reckons that Europe's big mobile phone operators, such as Orange, Vodafone and O2, have the opportunity to leverage their huge customer service bases to get themselves back into the game.
The importance of direct customer contact, whether that be through shops or call centres, was proved this year when Google launched its Nexus One mobile phone. It sold it only through its website, and those customers who had problems with the phone had to email Google, rather than talk to its network partner, AT&T. Many found themselves waiting days for issues to be dealt with.
In the race to increase revenues – not least to pay for the network investment required to deal with the traffic generated by devices such as the iPhone – the mobile phone operators have the chance to claw back money from the likes of Apple and Google, which aggregate other people's content through their iTunes and Android marketplace stores.
"Once the markets top out," says Patrick Bossert, director of strategy at global billing services expert Convergys, "and growth slows and margins get tighter, then those aggregators will be looking to solutions for local-language customer care and marketing.
It's a theme that the GSM Association, which represents all these networks, will be picking up this week as it tries to wrest some of the initiative back from Google and Apple.
This entry was posted in Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Mobiles, Motorola, Orange, Twitter and tagged Apple, Convergys, Eric Schmidt, Ericsson, Facebook, Google, Huawei, Informa Telecoms and Media, Intel, IPhone, Microsoft, Mobile World Congress, Motorola, Nexus One, Nokia, O2, Orange, Smartphone, Sony, Symbian, Twitter, ZTE on February 14, 2010 by steve virgin.
The group behind the world's most popular smartphone operating system – Symbian – is giving away "billions of dollars" worth of code for free.
The Symbian Foundation's announced that it would make its code open source in 2008 and has now completed the move. It means that any organisation or individual can now use and modify the platform's underlying source code "for any purpose". Symbian has shipped in more than 330m mobile phones, the foundation says.
It believes the move will attract new developers to work on the system and help speed up the pace of improvements. "This is the largest open source migration effort ever," Lee Williams of the Symbian Foundation told BBC News. "It will increase rate of evolution and increase the rate of innovation of the platform." Ian Fogg, principal analyst at Forrester research, said the move was about Symbian "transitioning from one business model to another" as well as trying to gain "momentum and mindshare" for software that had been overshadowed by the release of Apple's iPhone and Google Android operating system.
Finnish mobile phone giant Nokia bought the software in 2008 and helped establish the non-profit Symbian Foundation to oversee its development and transition to open source. The foundation includes Nokia, AT&T, LG, Motorola, NTT Docomo, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments and Vodafone. The group has now released what it calls the Symbian platform as open source code. This platform unites different elements of the Symbian operating system as well as components – in particular, user interfaces – developed by individual members.
Until now, Symbian's source code was only open to members of the organisation. It can be downloaded from the foundation's website from 1400 GMT. Mr Williams said that one of the motivations for the move was to speed up the rate at which the 10-year-old platform evolved. "When we chatted to companies who develop third party applications, we found people would spend up to nine months just trying to navigate the intellectual property," he said.
"That was really hindering the rate of progress." Opening up the platform would also improve security, he added.
Symbian development is currently dominated by Nokia, but the foundation hoped to reduce the firm's input to "no more than 50%" by the middle of 2011, said Mr Williams. "We will see a dramatic shift in terms of who is contributing to the platform." However, said Mr Williams, the foundation would monitor phones using the platform to ensure that they met with minimum standards. Despite being the world's most popular smart phone operating system, Symbian has been losing the publicity battle, with Google's Android operating system and Apple's iPhone dominating recent headlines. "Symbian desperately needs to regain mindshare at the moment," said Mr Fogg.
"It's useful for them to say Symbian is now open – Google has done very well out of that." He also said that the software "may not be as open and free as an outsider might think". "Almost all of the open source operating systems on mobile phones – Nokia's Maemo, Google's Android – typically have proprietary software in them." For example, Android incorporates Google's e-mail system Gmail. But Mr Williams denied the move to open source was a marketing move.
This entry was posted in Forrester Research, Google, IPhone, Nokia and tagged Forrester Research, Google Android, Ian Fogg, IPhone, Lee Williams, Nokia, Smartphone operating system, Symbian on February 4, 2010 by steve virgin.
This entry was posted in China, Financial Times, Nokia and tagged Beijing Mobiledu Technologies, China, Financial Times, Nokia, Pearson, Penguin, Wall Street English on February 2, 2010 by steve virgin.
Mobile manufacturer launches direct attack on Garmin and TomTom with free turn-by-turn direction software.
Nokia has announced that its free maps software will now include turn-by-turn directions for walking and driving. The Ovi Maps application will be compatible with 10 current handsets, including the N97 Mini, E72 and 5800 XPressMusic, and will be pre-loaded on every GPS-enabled handset sold from March 2010. The maps, in 2D & 3D, will all load onto phones either over the air or via a Mac or PC, meaning that a network connection, as is currently required for other mobile phone mapping solutions, is not necessary when they're in use as a GPS.
In association with mapping firm Navteq, which Nokia has owned since 2007, Ovi Maps will cover 180 countries, and offer turn by turn information for 74 of those, in 46 languages. Traffic data will also be available for 10, including the UK, although its use would form part of a mobile phone tariff. Preloading maps, however, means expensive data roaming charges can be avoided when abroad.
The technology is based on "vectors", rather than the traditional "bitmap" images used by other maps. This means the images, although of similar appearance, are about half the size, and can be stored and downloaded more easily. Information is included on major landmarks, which are shown in 3D, and the data also incorporates lane and speed camera guidance for vehicles, and shortcuts, such as through public parks, for pedestrians.
Launching the service, Anssi Vanjoki, Nokia's Executive Vice President, said that offering Ovi Maps free for the life of a Nokia smartphone would act as a way of differentiating the company's devices in a crowded market place, and allow them to defend higher prices than other manufacturers who did not offer similar services.
Google has indicated, for instance, that it is unlikely to offer turn-by-turn directions on its Nexus One handset when it launches in the UK. The services is available on the Nexus One in America however, and also already on some devices such as the Motorola Milestone in the UK.
Nokia's developers Forum, which the company says already includes 5 million software developers, will be encouraged to develop applications to augment the contextual search functions built into Ovi Maps. Lonely Planet and the Michelin Guide will also come pre-loaded.
This entry was posted in Google, Google Nexus One, Motorola, Nokia and tagged Garmin, Google, GPS handsets, Motorola, Navteq, Nexus One, Nokia, Ovi Maps, Tom Tom on January 21, 2010 by steve virgin.
The lawsuit, filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, follows another suit Nokia brought against Apple in October. That suit alleged that Apple infringed 10 Nokia patents by using certain wireless technologies in the iPhone. Apple filed a countersuit last month accusing Nokia of infringing 13 Apple patents.
The new suit lists seven patents Nokia alleges Apple has violated in versions of the iPhone, the iPod, the MacBook and in other products. It requests an injunction blocking Apple from further infringement and seeks related damages from Apple.
An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment. Nokia did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The latest suit was filed on the same day Nokia made similar allegations in a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission. Nokia and Apple have exchanged harsh words over the allegations.
This entry was posted in Apple, IPhone, Nokia and tagged Apple, IPhone, iPod, Nokia, Patent infringement lawsuit on January 5, 2010 by steve virgin.


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Home Mobiles Apps, Games & Google Services Niantic's Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is running a beta test in New...
Apps, Games & Google Services
Niantic's Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is running a beta test in New Zealand
Jason Murray
Niantic has announced its running a beta of its be Wizards Unite game over in the land of the long white cloud.
The company has a bit of a history of testing its games in our region – Pokemon Go saw a public release here before the rest of the world.
A public beta doesn't necessarily mean the app is close to release – we saw quite a delay between the beta tests and eventual release for Pokemon Go.
Android Police has details of the beta gameplay which, unsurprisingly, involves going places and finding things to fill in a registry, like a sticker book. There's also in-app purchases ranging up to $100 in price.
We've also heard that the game will feature some AR effects around directional portals which seems to have escaped mention thus far, as has combat or competition between players (as seen in the Play store listing) – perhaps the NZ beta test is only limiting itself to some parts of the full gameplay experience.
If you're in New Zealand, you can find the app on the Google Play store. Australian Harry Potter fans might want to spend their Easter long weekend over in New Zealand. Otherwise, you'll need to sit tight and wait.
While you're waiting for a chance to play the game, register at WizardsUnite.com or pre-register for the game on Google Play.
Source: Niantic.
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Before discovering the Nexus One, Jason thought he didn't need a smartphone. Now he can't bear to be without his Android phone. Jason hails from Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane depending on his mood and how detailed a history you'd like. A web developer by day with an interest in consumer gadgets and electronics, he also enjoys reading comics and has a worryingly large collection of Transformers figures. He'd like to think he's a gamer, but his Wii has been in a box since he moved to Sydney, and his PlayStation Vita collection is quite lacking. Most mornings you'll find him tilting at various windmills on Twitter - follow @JM77 and say hi!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


This started out as a quick response to a blog post titled Interfacing the PHP World by Lukas Kahwe Smith, but it quickly turned into a blog post of its own. I think common interfaces would be bad for PHP. I find it ironic that a comment made by Stephen is advocating a Java-like dictatorship to move PHP forward. PHP is much more successful and widely used than Java. It is Java should be learning from PHP, not the other way around. PHP is an ugly language with a mish-mash of syntax and conventions that makes the code not very pretty (especially compared to Python). PHP's only saving grace is that it actually gets things done. And luckily, for PHP, that is all that really matters. Caching, logging and http clients may seem like simple things to standardize, but the mere fact that there are so many differing implementations is proof that they are not so simple. This reminds me of the SimpleCloud framework that tries to standardize the different cloud APIs: there is nothing simple about it! Furthermore, trying to standardize things can kill innovation and creativity. I fear the community will reject a new way to do things on the basis that the code does not implement the standard PHP interfaces. The Lithium framework, which takes a very different approach to frameworks, might not even exist if these interfaces were around a few years ago. The most progress comes about when people reject or ignore the so called "truths" that surround them. The recent PHP fork is evidence of this. Forking PHP was a huge "no no" (despite the ironic fact that PHP is open source). That fork sparked both change and debate and had a positive effect. The author of the fork had tried to play by the rules setup by the PHP internals team and got nowhere. It was only when he decided to publish a fork that people (particularly those in internals) actually started paying attention. This notion of interoperability between frameworks is just like trying to achieve nirvana. It is good to try, but never truly attainable. Look at PDO, a (supposedly) "lightweight, consistent interface for accessing databases in PHP". Except that it doesn't work with any of the NoSQL databases. One may argue that PDO is for SQL databases only, except that no one even considered that fact when it was being written. Simply read http://us2.php.net/manual/en/intro.pdo.php and it makes no mention of being SQL only. It assumed that SQL was all there was at the time of writing. The SQL-99 standard was the gospel for databases. This is the danger in defining standard interfaces. The advent of NoSQL made PDO largely irrelevant. The same fate will happen to any standard interface that we come up with today. I encourage freedom the create new things. I don't want all of my frameworks playing by the same rules. If they are all using common interfaces, then we might as well merge all of the frameworks because the competition is over. Instead, let the adoption rate of the framework be the measure of success. I believe this is why PHP has been so successful. Rasmus has the courage to not try and define or predict what PHP needs. He lets the people using PHP decide what they need. This is in stark contrast to other people in internals that try to exert control of the process and define rigid rules and policies. PHP is not a purely procedural, object oriented or functional language. It is a mashup of all kinds of concepts and ideas. The cool thing is that it works.
Please Do Not Interface the PHP World by Herman J. Radtke III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License .


Parents do everything they can think of to safeguard their children. They watch out for things that could be harmful to their child and do everything they can to baby proof the home that the child lives in. Not all parents think of the potential danger that their own parked car could hold.
Most parents think that it would be a pretty rare incident to accidentally lock your child in a car, but it actually happens more often than people think. If you are ever in the situation where your child is accidentally locked in a car, don't panic, just do these things to get your child out safely.
Police and fireplace will be immediately dispatched to where you are. When you have also locked your mobile phone in the automobile, quickly find someone close by who will enable you to borrow their mobile phone to demand help. This must be treated such as a serious crisis. Especially in heat of summertime, an automobile can reach temperature ranges that are really dangerous in a matter of minutes.
2. Call a crisis Queens, NY USA Locksmith.
A crisis locksmith will be on-call and can drop everything to access you. Often they arrive prior to the law enforcement and fire section do and are usually in a position to unlock the automobile in less than a couple of minutes.
If you have access to blankets or towels, either in your house if you are at home or from anyone that is nearby if you, you should take the blanket and try and cover any windows that are allowing the sunshine in. Block as much sunlight from getting into the car in order to help keep the car as cool as you possibly can.
You do not want to begin to panic. It could cloud your judgment and you may have a difficult time making decisions. It is also best if your son or daughter stays calm which means this situation will not become a traumatic experience on their behalf. If indeed they see that you will be calm, they will keep your cool themselves.
That is information that the authorities, fire department or locksmith may choose to know. It will let you know how long your son or daughter has been around the vehicle and will offer you a good idea concerning if so when you should break the home window.
6. The very last thing you must do is give yourself a break.
Many parents will master themselves up over what happened and begin to have second thoughts about their skills as a parent. This is something that happens more often than you may think and has nothing to do with your parenting skills. Give your child a big hug and learn from the situation.


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The Muttur Polling Division is a Polling Division in the Trincomalee Electoral District, in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka.

Presidential Election Results

Summary

The winner of Muttur has matched the final country result 5 out of 8 times. Hence, Muttur is a Weak Bellwether for Presidential Elections.

2019 Sri Lankan Presidential Election

2015 Sri Lankan Presidential Election

2010 Sri Lankan Presidential Election

2005 Sri Lankan Presidential Election

1999 Sri Lankan Presidential Election

1994 Sri Lankan Presidential Election

1988 Sri Lankan Presidential Election

1982 Sri Lankan Presidential Election

Parliamentary Election Results

Summary

The winner of Muttur has matched the final country result 3 out of 7 times.

2015 Sri Lankan Parliamentary Election

2010 Sri Lankan Parliamentary Election

2004 Sri Lankan Parliamentary Election

2001 Sri Lankan Parliamentary Election

2000 Sri Lankan Parliamentary Election

1994 Sri Lankan Parliamentary Election

1989 Sri Lankan Parliamentary Election

Demographics

Ethnicity

The Muttur Polling Division has a Moor majority (61.9%) and a significant Sri Lankan Tamil population (37.0%) . In comparison, the Trincomalee Electoral District (which contains the Muttur Polling Division) has a Moor plurality (41.8%), a significant Sri Lankan Tamil population (30.7%) and a significant Sinhalese population (26.7%)

Religion

The Muttur Polling Division has a Muslim majority (62.0%) and a significant Hindu population (33.0%) . In comparison, the Trincomalee Electoral District (which contains the Muttur Polling Division) has a Muslim plurality (42.0%), a significant Buddhist population (26.2%) and a significant Hindu population (25.9%)

References

Polling Divisions of Sri Lanka
Polling Divisions of the Trincomalee Electoral District

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Salvia lyrata (lyre-leaf sage, lyreleaf sage, wild sage, cancerweed), is a herbaceous perennial in the family Lamiaceae that is native to the United States, from Connecticut west to Missouri, and in the south from Florida west to Texas. It was described and named by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.

Description
Salvia lyrata forms a basal rosette of leaves that are up to  long, broadening toward the tip. The leaves have irregular margins and are typically pinnately lobed or cut, looking somewhat like a lyre. The center vein is sometimes dark wine-purple. A square-shaped hairy stem up to  long grows from the rosette, with uneven whorls of two-lipped lavender to blue flowers. Flowering is heaviest between April and June, though sparse flowering can happen throughout the year. The leaves were once thought to be an external cure for cancer, thus one of the common names "Cancerweed". Salvia lyrata grows in full sun or light to medium shade, with native stands found on roadsides, fields, and open woodlands.

Cultivation and uses
Salvia lyrata is sometimes grown in gardens for its attractive foliage and flowers, though it can prolifically seed, easily becoming a lawn weed. Several cultivars have been developed with purple leaves. 'Burgundy Bliss' and 'Purple Knockout' are two cultivars with burgundy leaves that are deeper in color than the species. Native Americans used the root as a salve for sores, and used the whole plant as a tea for colds and coughs.

Gallery

Notes

External links
 IPNI Listing
 USDA Fact Sheet
 USDA Plant Profile
 University of Texas at Austin description

lyrata
Flora of the Eastern United States
Plants described in 1753
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus


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Snap Employees Must Work in the Office 4 Days a Week, Starting in February
CEO Evan Spiegel believes the time spent together will 'help us to achieve our full potential.'
byStephanie Mlot Nov 29, 2022
Starting in February, full-time Snap Inc. employees are expected to spend at least 80% of working hours in the social network's offices.
That's an average of four days per week—with some flexibility for work-related tasks like off-campus client meetings.
"I believe that spending more time together in person will help us to achieve our full potential," CEO Evan Spiegel wrote in a staff memo reviewed by Bloomberg. "What each of us may sacrifice in terms of our individual convenience, I believe we will reap in terms of our collective success."
The maker of multimedia messaging app Snapchat is the latest major tech company to implement a post-pandemic return to office policy. Apple employees have been working at the office three days a week since September, and Elon Musk told Twitter employees remote work was no longer allowed earlier this month.
Snap's new "default together" policy applies to personnel in all 30 global offices; the company is, however, developing an exceptions process for those requesting to work remotely.
"We've been working this way for so long that I'm afraid we've forgotten what we've lost—and what we could gain—by spending more time together," Spiegel said. "I believe that 'default together,' while retaining flexibility for our team members, will help us to accelerate our growth and deliver on our strategic priorities of growing our community, reaccelerating our revenue growth, and leading in AR."
It's not an easy time to work in technology: Like many other large companies, Snap has spent much of the second half of this year shrinking its focus and staff; in August, it cut 20% of its 6,400-person workforce as a result of reduced revenue growth.


To activate the Business Store for your Azure Tenant, you will need to have an Account with the Global Administrator permission (Source). With this account, you can go on to this Location and sign-up for the Business Store.
If you don't have an Azure Tenant yet, you will be required to create one.
You can also change the name of your private Store, so as I did. But be aware, my experience is, that if you change the name, all the apps has to be readded again (this is done automatically), which means you have to wait again around twelve hours until the apps are visible. The name will change within a hour I would like to say.
In the following screen tap on "Add a work or school account" beyond the "Account used by other apps" section, the name of the section already shows, that it could also be used within an app like the normal Store app.


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Dallas Stars Prospect Update: Is John Nyberg Ready To Play In North America?
Elsewhere, Colton Point and Joe Cecconi advance to the next rounds of the NCAA playoffs, Liam Hawel fills the score sheet.
By Derek Neumeier@Derek_N_NHL Mar 6, 2018, 2:00pm CST
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Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images
If you're a good, young European hockey player who dreams of reaching the NHL one day, deciding when the best time for you to come across the pond to North America is a difficult decision to make.
Some players come in their early teens, before they're even ready for North America's top junior leagues, while others can wait as long as their mid-20s. No two decisions are ever the same, as there are a lot of development factors to consider and a lot to think about.
All of this is probably going through Swedish defenseman John Nyberg's head these days.
Nyberg, 21, is currently playing for Frolunda in the SHL, Sweden's top hockey league. He's a regular cog on a deep Frolunda blueline, logging an average of 18:43 per game right now. On the score sheet, he's produced 12 points in 49 games, but the 6'2", 194-pound rearguard is more of a two-way defender than an offensive defensemen, using his size and a great skating stride to control the flow of play out on the ice.
He's got a pretty good thing going on right now with Frolunda, but is it time for him to make the jump to North America?
Nyberg signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Dallas Stars last May, showing that the Stars are happy with how one of their 2014 draft picks (Nyberg was a 6th-rounder) is doing. He also played in the Traverse City prospect tournament this past September and drew some praise.
Nyberg is under SHL contract with Frolunda for one more season, but SHL-NHL transfer agreements are complicated. Mattias Janmark was under an SHL contract with Frolunda for the 2015-2016 season, but wound up spending that whole year in Dallas. There may be a chance that Frolunda lets Nyberg come to North America in 2018-2019 under similar circumstances.
The Stars have a long recent track record of bringing over Swedes, with players such as John Klingberg, Mattias Janmark, Patrik Nemeth, Ludwig Bystrom, Mattias Backman and Niklas Hansson all making the jump. Will Nyberg be next?
Jacob Peterson picked up a goal and an assist in three games in Sweden's Allsvenskan league, and boy, were they both pretty.
His goal came as a 4-1 insurance goal early in the third period of a 4-2 victory over AIK, bursting into the offensive zone with speed and undressing a defender before sliding home a backhand, which can be seen at this link at the video's 1:57 mark. His assist came thanks to a similar burst of quickness, entering the OZ and sliding a backhand pass between a couple of defenders to a linemate that finished the job, which can be seen at the 0:35 mark of the video at this link.
Miro Heiskanen picked up three assists in three games, while also being up to his same old puck tricks. Heiskanen just doesn't slow down, as he's come back from the Olympics and played a couple of enormous 28-minute outings in Finland's Liiga. Most amazingly, he's currently averaging 25:07 of ice time per game, which is top among all players in the Liiga, showing just how advanced he is for his age.
Pretty slick goal in the Finnish Elite League yesterday. (Liiga) pic.twitter.com/J6nY9Izkg3
— Robert Söderlind (@HockeyWebCast) March 3, 2018
North American Junior
Colton Point and his Colgate Raiders team are off to the next round of the ECAC playoffs after defeating RPI in their best-of-three series this weekend. Colgate won the first game 3-1 and then lost the second game 1-0, but came up big in the finale, winning 2-0. Point stopped all 23 shots that he faced for the shutout and was his usual puck-stopping self all weekend, as the video below can attest. Colgate now moves on to play Clarkson this weekend.
Before the power play...Colton Point, my goodness! pic.twitter.com/aXc1isKhtN
— Colgate Men's Hockey (@ColgateMIH) March 4, 2018
Michael Prapavessis played for that RPI team and had one assist. With the loss and this being his fourth year of NCAA hockey, his collegiate career has now come to an end. An impending free agent, the question then becomes whether or not he has a future within the Dallas Stars organization. One option the Stars have before making any other decision is to offer Prapavessis an Amateur Tryout Agreement (through the Texas Stars) and see how he does in the AHL for the remainder of this season. The Stars have gone this route before with Alex Chiasson, Curtis McKenzie, Austin Smith and others, so they might want to do so again here.
Joseph Cecconi moved on to the next round of the Big 10 playoffs after the University of Michigan swept the University of Wisconsin in a pair of games. It was old-school, firewagon hockey, with both games being high-scoring affairs. Cecconi joined in on the fun, picking up a whopping five assists in two games, including on the power play and this highlight-reel gem off the rush. The Wolverines play Ohio State next.
CLIP: @Kootzy gives Michigan a 4-2 lead on the TIC-TAC-TOE play from @NikoPorikos and @JCecconi9! #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/hnhlLSonrv
— Michigan Hockey (@umichhockey) March 4, 2018
Rhett Gardner finished his NCAA regular season with a bang, scoring a pretty 3-on-3 overtime game-winning goal against St. Cloud State (the game technically ended in a tie, but the overtime helped determine playoff seeding). The University of North Dakota takes on Omaha this weekend next.
VIDEO: WINNER! Rhett Gardner scores in the 3x3 OT to give @UNDMHockey the extra point in the NCHC standings! #UNDproud pic.twitter.com/EspMVnmmZP
— UND Insider (@undinsider) March 4, 2018
Liam Hawel had one of his most productive weekends in the OHL, producing five points in three games. His game has improved a step as of late, with eight points in his past six games.
.@hawel24 on the power play to extend the lead to 2! #GoStormGo pic.twitter.com/Hkw57UCvxM
— Guelph Storm (@Storm_City) March 4, 2018
The Texas Stars had a busy week, playing in four games, finishing with one overtime win, two regulation losses, and one shootout loss.
Roope Hintz and Denis Gurianov each picked up a goal and an assist in the four games, all of which came on Tuesday's shootout loss against the Chicago Wolves. Landon Bow stopped 41 of 44 shots in that same game, and then stopped 17 of 19 in a 4-1 loss (also to Chicago) on Saturday.
Texas currently sits just outside of the playoff picture, but they're within reach of two playoff spots and have 17 regular season games remaining to leapfrog other clubs.
2018 NHL Draft Watch
Few prospects available for the 2018 NHL Entry Draft have seen their stock rise as rapidly since the fall of 2017 as Dominik Bokk has.
The German-born Bokk has been making a name for himself in Sweden this year, scoring 40 points in 34 games in Sweden's top junior league and then adding two points in 15 games in the SHL. A flashy, electrifying winger with smooth hands, he's a lot of fun to watch because of his ability to make highlight-reel plays.
German #2018NHLDraft hopeful Dominik Bokk with a great 1st pro goal with Växjö last night. Ranked 99th in @FCHockey's preliminary rankings. pic.twitter.com/GrjKUXSABA
— Janik Beichler (@JanikBeichler) November 4, 2017
Dallas Stars Prospect Stats 2017-18


An established name in modern dance with a reputation for performing sensual, articulate, and exquisitely musical works, RIOULT Dance NY performs two programs. Women on the Edge… Unsung Heroines of the Trojan War, a profound and timeless anti-war statement, features the world premiere of Cassandra's Curse with commissioned music by Richard Danielpour performed by the Uptown Philharmonic under the baton of Kyle Ritenauer. The work is narrated by guest artist Kathleen Turner on June 21, 23 and 25. The second program is distinguished by the New York City premiere of Polymorphous, a piece exploring the subjectivity of perception through movement and technology; a suite of magnificent duets drawn from some of Pascal Rioult's finest works; and fan favorite Bolero.


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The Ending Of Vincenzo Season 1 Explained
tvN/Netflix
By Jim Rowley/June 7, 2021 6:54 pm EST
Revenge is one of the oldest subjects in fiction, because it's an inherently volatile concept. All of us can understand the need for revenge. However, even when it's justified, getting revenge has a way of warping people. Can we get revenge and still remain the person we used to be? That's the question at the heart of "Vincenzo," a hit new Korean mafia drama that concluded its first season on May 2, 2021.
"Vincenzo" follows a South Korea-born mafia consiglieri named Vincenzo (neé Park Joo-Hyung), who arrives in Seoul with the goal of recovering 1.5 tons of gold stashed inside the Gemuga Plaza skyscraper, which the corrupt real-estate company The Babel Group has taken over. He teams up with an ambitious young lawyer named Han Cha-young, whose father The Babel Group has murdered.
After an action-packed 20 episodes, Vincenzo's season finale delivers not just a high body count, but a definitive answer to its central question. Sadly, it looks like "Vincenzo" won't be coming back for season 2. But there's still a lot to unpack from the season 1 finale. Here's what it all means.
Vincenzo serves up several helpings of poetic justice
The main plot of "Vincenzo" deals with the titular consiglieri's efforts to recover 1.5 tons of gold stashed inside the Gemuga Plaza skyscraper, which the corrupt real estate company The Babel Group has taken over — but it's also a show about revenge. Various members of the Babel Group have wronged Vincenzo and those close to him, and in the finale he gets revenge. Vincenzo personally orders the deaths of two of his worst enemies, and each death has symbolic implications.
First up is Myung-hee, the Zumba-loving corporate lawyer for the Babel Group with many skeletons in her closet — she had both Vincenzo's birth mother and Cha-young's father murdered. Vincenzo executes her by dousing her with gasoline and setting her on fire. When she tries to flee the flames, her movements resemble dance steps, and Vincenzo even plays Zumba music over it. Myung-hee's favorite activity gets turned against her as an instrument of torture.
Then there's the main villain, Han-seok, whose death is even more brutal. Vincenzo fires up a device he calls the "Spear of Atonement," a dental drill that will penetrate Han-seok 5mm every five minutes until he dies. Han-seok definitely earned such a brutal death after all his misdeeds. However, what's really important here is the scene's final shot: a crow pecking at Han-Seok's body.
Contrast this with Inzaghi, Vincenzo's pigeon that serves as an important symbol throughout the show, which we'll discuss below. While the gray pigeon symbolizes Vincenzo's struggle, the all-black crow indicates that Han-seok's karma is fully evil, and he's paying for it.
Vincenzo decides to become a "good" mobster...
Throughout the series, Vincenzo has been working his way through a moral conundrum — is it possible to be an ethical mobster? Vincenzo grew up in the mafia and started off the series committed to a life of crime. When he returned to Seoul to recover his gold, he found himself allied with the residents of Gemuga Plaza, the collective David to The Babel Group's Goliath. This experience gave him something like a conscience.
Vincenzo's inner conflict is symbolized by Inzaghi, the pigeon who shows up on his roof one day and decides to be his pet, much to Vincenzo's chagrin. Inzaghi is a kind of karma barometer for Vincenzo. Every time Vincenzo is rude to the pigeon, his luck turns bad. And vice versa. Eventually, Vincenzo decides to be nice to Inzaghi. The bird rewards him by gathering a flock of his bird brethren and saving Vincenzo from three assassins.
The Vincenzo-Inzaghi dynamic slowly teaches Vincenzo the benefits of kindness. In the finale, Vincenzo decides to become the "good" kind of mobster... but Vincenzo's redemption only goes so far.
Vincenzo is too far gone for redemption
After all the revenge killing, "Vincenzo" uses a one-year time jump to show where the show's surviving characters end up. Vincenzo recovers the gold and buys an island near Malta, where he takes control of the local olive fields. This signifies his ascent to the top of his profession. At the beginning of the series, Vincenzo drove past his employer's endless olive fields. Now, he has an empire of his own.
In voiceover, Vincenzo explains that he's had a change of heart — although not a full-on redemption. Vincenzo hasn't left the mafia, and he freely admits that he's a villain who doesn't believe in justice. However, he does believe in something less noble: eliminating people who are worse than him. Or "garbage," as he calls them. So, while he's not leaving his life of crime, at least Vincenzo has a moral code now.
Vincenzo's honesty isn't enough to salvage a possible relationship with Cha-young, his potential love interest throughout Season 1. After the time jump, Cha-young travels to Malta for a diplomatic mission, and Vincenzo meets her for a day. They share a passionate kiss and say how much they miss each other, but they leave a lot unsaid as well. They both understand why they didn't end up together and why they can't be together. Vincenzo might have his heroic moments, but deep down, he's a villain.


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Poetic Address to the Nation hosted by new Philly Poet Laureate
Peter Crimmins
Philadelphia's Poet Laureate Yolanda Wisher. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
This weekend, Philadelphia's poet laureate will host her first poetry event since earning this accolade. Yolanda Wisher will deliver a national Poetic Address to the Nation.
This is a gig she committed to well before she was named the city's poet laureate. The Poetic Address to the Nation public workshops were held in 100 cities across the country. The story circles prompted people to send messages they would want the next President to hear, and to describe how they feel they belong in this country; or, as the case may be, how they feel they do not belong here.
Those stories were then uploaded to a central online portal, accessed by selected poets to use as material for new work. Those poets include Cathy Linh Che, LaTasha Diggs, Denice Frohman, Ross Gay, Bob Holman, Margaret Randall, Tanaya Winder, and the current poet laureate of Los Angeles, Luis Rodriguez.
Their poems and selected stories from the story circles will be performed this weekend at the Painted Bride in Philadelphia's Old City, during an event hosted by Wisher.
"There's no one poem that can speak the state of the union. There's no one poet that can hold that voice," said Wisher. "It's really an amalgam — a stew is a good metaphor — of a lot of different voices."
Wisher, herself, is working on her own poem for the occasion. "I will hopefully finished it by Saturday," she said.
Most of the poems will be sonnets, a form with a strict structure traditionally used for poems about unrequited love. Here's a taste of what Wisher is working on:
This sonnet is a porch upon which I want to writeThis little ditty in my cityThis little sonnet for America, our union, our state, our countryThe blue bonnet and the red rage and the white liesBut I'd be so damned mad, I'd be so damned saddenedAll the time.
"I grew up on porches in Montgomery County and Philly," said Wisher. "Stoops and porches were these places of community, a stage where you could perform your identity, your family, and your community politics."
This is the second Poetic Address to the Nation, coordinated by an artist organization called the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture — which is not actually a government agency. The poems will be performed only in Philadelphia, and streamed live over the internet. Many of the participants of the story circle workshops are coordinated their own viewing parties in their respective cities.
Down the Shore
Blake Shelton joins Carrie Underwood as headliner at Wildwood beach country music festival
Carrie Underwood and Blake Shelton will headline the inaugural Barefoot Country Music Fest, set for Friday, June 19 through Sunday, June 21 on the Lincoln Avenue beach.
Artists say Philly remains on top of the tattoo world, despite changing industry
Tattoo enthusiasts may be flooding the Convention Center this weekend, but Philly's ink industry thrives year-round.
50 Black dance companies land in Philly for international festival started by Philadanco
The IABD returns to the city where it started for the 50th anniversary of Philadanco.
About Peter Crimmins
@PeterCrimmins pcrimmins@whyy.org


Now in its 33rd day, the current federal government shutdown is the longest in history. The administration and Congressional Democrats are digging in their heels and no compromise appears likely anytime soon. The Senate is scheduled to vote today on two bills: a continuing resolution (CR) to provide short-term funding (through Feb. 8) to fully open the government with no extra funds for a border wall; and President Trump's latest offer to provide temporary protections for some immigrants in exchange for $5.7 billion in border wall funds. Neither is expected to pass.
Despite appearances that these votes simply underscore an unbreakable impasse, they can also illustrate the need for better compromise, given that neither option currently on the table is likely going anywhere.
The shutdown is having increasingly negative impacts on America's small-business federal contractors and our overall economy. Not only are those prime and sub-contractors being dramatically impacted by contract delays, stoppages and cancellations, the businesses in their supply chain, their employees and their families are being hampered. Furthermore, as tax season ramps-up and quarterly filing deadlines approach, assistance available to smaller firms is nearly nonexistent. Small-business programs, such as those under the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), particularly their lending programs, will begin to experience long delays due to the absence of staff and inevitable backlog of approvals. Most economists—those both inside and outside the administration—agree that this shutdown will have a chilling effect on economic growth and could result in zero growth if it continues.
NSBA has signed on to letters urging Congress and the administration to coalesce around one of the many compromises that have been floated in order to get the government back up and running.
Additionally, NSBA leadership and our members have been featured in several news stories about the shutdown, including on Hearst Local News Programs and CNBC.
Please click here to view NSBA's official statement.


text:
Deilus fugax је врста инсекта из реда тврдокрилаца (-{}--{Coleoptera}-) и породице стрижибуба (-{}--{Cerambycidae}-). Сврстана је у потпородицу -{Cerambycinae}-.

Распрострањеност
Врста је распрострањена на подручју Европе (изузев севера), Северне Африке и Мале Азије. У Србији је ретко бележена. Први пут се спомиње у литератури 1997. године, потом се бележи 1981. године на Фрушкој гори међутим овај налаз је непроверен, а дефинитивно се присуство врсте у Србији потврђује 2019. године. Тада је забележена у Националном парку "Ђердап", потом у Специјалном резервату природе "Карађорђево" и након тога у околини Шумаричког језера (Крагујевац).

Опис
Тело је претежно сиве, бронзане или зеленкасте боје. Скутелум је густо обрастао белом пубесценцијом, а остатак тела сивкастом. Фемури, тибије и тарзуси су у основи црвенкастобраон боје. Антене су средње дужине, основе чланака такође могу бити црвенкастобраон боје. Други антенални чланак је доста краћи од првог. Пронотум је дужи него шири и угаоно проширен у средини. Дужина тела је од 6 до 11 mm.

Биологија
Животни циклус траје око две године. Ларве се развијају у дрвенастим деловима мртвих и сувих стабала и у гранчицама махунарки. Као биљка домаћин јављају се врсте из породице легуминоза (лат. Fabaceae), пре свега врсте из родова Cytisus, Sarothamnus, Calicotome, Genista и Spartium. Адулти су активни од марта до септембра.

Галерија

Статус заштите
Deilus fugax се налази на Европској црвеној листи сапроксилних тврдокрилаца.

Синоними

 Callidium fugax Olivier, 1790
 Dilus fugax (Olivier, 1790) (unjustified emendation)
 Deilosoma fugax (Olivier, 1790)
 Necydalis ceramboides Rossi, 1794 nec DeGeer, 1775

Референце

Спољашње везе

 -{R|BioLib}-

Cerambycinae


Married couples may like to think that their relationship is a unique and complex thing. But at the end of the day, it turns out that marriage is a surprisingly universal (and often hilarious) experience.
To prove it, we've compiled 30 of the funniest and most relatable marriage tweets from 2016.
"5 years ago i married my best friend, my soulmate, i love you"
"eat all the leftovers again and i will end you"
Marriage is essentially two people taking turns pushing down the top of the kitchen garbage so they don't have to take it out.
My wife is so much better looking than me that a cashier just put a plastic divider down in the middle of our groceries.
My wife & I just snoozed 2 separate alarm clocks for 2.5 hrs. This is the exact relationship I hoped for.
Wife: We need milk, eggs, and bread. Write it down.
Me: No need. I'll remember.
Wife: What did you buy?
"I was just about to do that chore that I see you're starting now"
me: Are we - stop screaming, it's just me- are we out of Cheetos?
Nothing in life can prepare you for how much of marriage is spent just listening to someone cough.
"I ate like 75 chicken nuggets today"
Me: *eating a potato chip really loudly* You should. I'm a goddamn miracle.
Just put on fancy socks and a night shirt with no food stains so I can try to seduce my husband later.
I wondered if my wife was asleep so I held my phone a foot over her face and turned it on.
Then I dropped it onto her nose.
My husband just texted me from the bathroom and asked me to bring him "A LOT more toilet paper," so yeah, the romance ain't dead people.
Wife: why are you breathing like that?
Ahh marriage. When you can be questioned for continuing to live.
Husband: Didn't you take a 2 hour nap?
Me: I spent HALF as much as YOU usually do on groceries.
Me: We have nothing to eat in this house.
Relationship status: My wife asked me what I wanted for dinner and then told me I was wrong.
Me: Wait, so it's cool for you to use my phone charger but I can't touch yours?
I'm afraid there's been a terrible accident involving all the things you asked me to do today.
Her: Put it In now!
Her: And set the timer! Im not eating burnt lasagna again!
Hey baby it's Friday night, why don't you get into something more comfortable that you can wear all weekend because we have no laundry left.
I need you to be spontaneous. Be predictable. I need intimacy. Give me my space. Load the dishwasher. Not like that.


Today we'd like to share a testimonial from a very happy customer of our Ice Arena CO & NO2 Monitoring product, the Chippewa Youth Hockey Association.
Aretas Aerial, a Canadian provider of UAV solutions and IoT Sensor and IoT Cloud platform products, announces its latest Professional UAV platform for Commercial, Industrial and Research applications. The Canadian built UAV Octocopter V1000 Drone is designed for technical payloads and provides a steady, reliable flight platform. Taking advantage of the newest high power motors and carbon fiber propellers, the large octocopter platform can carry a heavy payload such as a cinema quality DSLR, scanning LIDAR, and radiation sensors.
Monday December 7, 2015 marked a historic day for China and the world but not the kind of history to be proud of. China issued its first-ever Red Alert for the city of Beijing, this is first time they had raised the alert to its highest level since an emergency air-pollution response system was announced in 2013.
In May, the World Health Organization updated the acceptable levels of small particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and ground-level ozone. The information presented by CBC News referencing an editorial by the Canadian Medical Association Journal calls for Canada to adjust it levels saying "Canada can't afford complacency on air pollution".
Some records you don't want to break; atmospheric carbon dioxide levels exceed 400 ppm worldwide.
Pre-industrial revolution carbon dioxide levels averaged about 280 ppm. Since the original industrial revolution in the 1800's, many countries continue to industrialize. Recently, China has become the leading producer of CO2 emissions worldwide.
Particulate matter pollution may negatively affect the brain.
Particulate matter pollution has long been known to be a factor in raising the risk of stroke. Additionally a 2004 American Heart Association scientific statement on "Air Pollution and Cardiovascular Disease" concluded that exposure to particulate matter (PM) air pollution contributes to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.
Caught in the act - Stopping smoking in your non-smoking areas.
When you think about cigarette smoking what comes to mind for you? Seems there is a strong divide between those who smoke and those who don't. What rights do we all share and when does one group infringe on the rights of another?
A recent study conducted by researchers from various universities in the United States and Mexico have concluded that carriers of the apolipoprotein e4 allele gene (APOE4) showed significant decrements on attention and short-term memory when exposed to air pollutants (including PM 2.5) above the current USA standards. APOE4 is the most prevalent genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. The estimated APOE4 gene in Caucasian population is 13.7%, while estimated population with Alzheimer's that carries the APOE4 gene is 36.7%.
Heat Maps Feature Coming Soon!
All Aretas sensors have the ability to support geotagging for sensor readings. Every reading stored in our data center also has a field for geotagging. Even if each data point's geotag is not populated, the sensor location is also stored separately and correlated with the data output. Coupled with timestamp, geo tag (x,y,z) and sensor value, all available dimensions are queryable for analysis and visualization.
Numerous fixed station sensors can be visualized in 2-D, output from moving sensors can be tracked and visualized (in 3-D) and data can be queried geographically.


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Why Tell the Israeli Spying Story Now?
"Intelligence professionals have a saying: There are no friendly intelligence services," the WSJ describes former House Intelligence Chair Mike Rogers saying, on the record. While there's no way of telling — particularly not with WSJ's described "more than two dozen current and former U.S. intelligence and administration officials" sources behind it's blockbuster story on US spying on Bibi Netanyahu and other Israelis, Rogers is a likely candidate for some of the other statements attributed to "former US officials," a moniker that can include agency officials, consultants, and members of Congress.
Which is awfully funny, given that two of the people squealing most loudly in response to the story are Rogers' immediate predecessor, Crazy Pete Hoekstra, who called it a "Maybe unprecedented abuse of power," and successor, Devin Nunes, who has already started an investigation into the allegations in the story.
It is the height of hypocrisy for these men, who have been privy to and by their silence have assented to this and, in Crazy Pete's case, far worse patently illegal spying, to wail about a story that shows the Administration abiding by NSA minimization procedures they've both celebrated as more than adequate to protect US person privacy. If NSA's minimization procedures are inadequate to protect US persons, the first thing Nunes should do is repeal FISA Amendments Act, which can expose far more people than the tailored, presumably EO 12333 tap placed on Bibi, not to mention OmniCISA, which can be targeted at Americans and will have even fewer protections for US persons.
The immediate attempt by a bunch of surveillance maximalists to turn compliant spying into a big scandal raises the question of why this story is coming out now, not incidentally just after Iran turned over its uranium stockpile over to Russia and in the process achieved another big step of the Iran deal.
I'm not in any way meaning to slight the WSJ reporting. Indeed, the story seems to show a breadth of sources that reflect a broad range of interests, and as such is not — as would otherwise be possible — Mike Rogers attempting to leak something to the WSJ so his fellow Republicans can make a stink about things.
This story includes "current and former U.S. officials" providing a list of leaders they claim were detasked from spying in 2014 — François Hollande, Angela Merkel, and other NATO leaders — and those they claim were not — along with Bibi Netanyahu, Turkey's leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Of course, like James Clapper's claim that Edward Snowden's leaks forced the NSA to shut down its full take spying on Afghanistan, this "confirmation" may instead have been an effort to cover for collection that has since been restarted, especially given the story's even more revealing explanation that, "Instead of removing the [surveillance] implants, Mr. Obama decided to shut off the NSA's monitoring of phone numbers and email addresses of certain allied leaders—a move that could be reversed by the president or his successor." Obama did not eliminate the infrastructure that allows him to request surveillance (in actually, monitoring of surveillance going on in any case) to be turned on like a switch, and this WSJ article just conveyed that detail to Hollande and Merkel.
So the story could serve as disinformation to cover up restarted surveillance, and it could serve as a cue for the bogus, unbelievably hypocritical political scandal that Crazy Pete and Nunes appear to want to make it.
But I'm just as interested in the dick-waving in the story.
Some of the most interesting details in the story — once you get beyond the wailing of people like Crazy Pete and Devin Nunes probably swept up in intercepts described in the story — pertain to what NSA did and did not learn about Bibi's efforts, largely executed through Israeli Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer, to thwart the Iran deal. A key detail here is that while (it is implied) NSA destroyed most or all of the intercepts involving members of Congress directly with Bibi, they passed on (with US person identities masked) the reports back through foreign ministry channels of discussions with or on behalf of Bibi.
The NSA has leeway to collect and disseminate intercepted communications involving U.S. lawmakers if, for example, foreign ambassadors send messages to their foreign ministries that recount their private meetings or phone calls with members of Congress, current and former officials said.
"Either way, we got the same information," a former official said, citing detailed reports prepared by the Israelis after exchanges with lawmakers.
In other words, NSA might not pass on the intercepts of calls members of Congress had with Bibi directly, but they would pass on the reports that Dermer or Bibi's aides would summarize of such discussions. And according to "a former official" (curiously not described as high ranking) by passing on the reports of such conversations, "we got the same information."
Usually, but not always, according to the story.
It describes that "Obama administration officials" (which may but probably doesn't include intelligence officials) didn't learn about John Boehner's invitation to Bibi to address Congress ahead of time, even though Boehner extended that invite through Dermer.
On Jan. 8, John Boehner, then the Republican House Speaker, and incoming Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell agreed on a plan. They would invite Mr. Netanyahu to deliver a speech to a joint session of Congress. A day later, Mr. Boehner called Ron Dermer, the Israeli ambassador, to get Mr. Netanyahu's agreement.
Despite NSA surveillance, Obama administration officials said they were caught off guard when Mr. Boehner announced the invitation on Jan. 21.
According to the description of the article, this call should have been fair game to be shared with the White House as a report through the foreign ministry, but either wasn't reported through normal channels on the Israeli side or NSA didn't pass it along.
But, according to the story, the White House did get many of the details about Dermer's attempt to scotch the Iran deal.
The NSA reports allowed administration officials to peer inside Israeli efforts to turn Congress against the deal. Mr. Dermer was described as coaching unnamed U.S. organizations—which officials could tell from the context were Jewish-American groups—on lines of argument to use with lawmakers, and Israeli officials were reported pressing lawmakers to oppose the deal.
A U.S. intelligence official familiar with the intercepts said Israel's pitch to undecided lawmakers often included such questions as: "How can we get your vote? What's it going to take?"
Let me interject and note that, if the people squealing about these intercepts weren't such raging hypocrites, I might be very concerned about this.
Consider the Jane Harman case. In 2009 it got reported that NSA and FBI collected conversations Jane Harman had (probably on an individual FISA wiretap) with AIPAC suspects in which Harman allegedly agreed to help squelch the criminal investigation into the organization in exchange for help getting the Chairmanship of the House Intelligence Committee. The position, not incidentally, that all the people (save Mike Rogers, who seems to have had no problem with them) squealing about these intercepts have held or currently hold. At least according to 2009 reports on this, lawyers in then Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' DOJ considered criminal charges against Harman, but chose not to pursue them, because Gonzales — who had criminally, personally authorized the Stellar Wind program in March 2004 — needed Harman's support in advance of NYT breaking the Stellar Wind story at the end of 2005. That suggests (if these stories are to be believed) Gonzales used Harman's purported criminal exposure to get protection against his own.
Now, Crazy Pete was out of power well before these particular intercepts were described (though may have his own reason to be concerned about what such intercepts revealed), but in the same period, Devin Nunes got himself appointed HPSCI Chair, just like AIPAC was allegedly brokering with Harman. He got himself appointed HPSCI Chair by the guy, Boehner, who invited Bibi to address Congress.
And what were AIPAC and other groups — who allegedly were offering congressional leadership posts back in 2005 — offering lawmakers last year to oppose the Iran deal? "What's it going to take?" the intercepts apparently recorded.
What were they offering?
This is the reason permitting lawmakers' communications to be incidentally collected is such a risk — because it collects the sausage-making behind legislative stances — but also defensible — because it might disclose untoward quid pro quo by foreign governments of members of Congress. It is a real concern that the Executive is collecting details of Congress' doings. More protections, both for Members of Congress and for regular schlubs, are needed. But wiretapping the incidentally collected communications with foreign leaders is not only solidly within the parameters of Congressionally-approved NSA spying, but may sometimes be important to protect the US.
That's the kind of the thing the White House may have seen outlines of in the reports it got on Darmer's attempts — though the report indicates that Democratic lawmakers and Israelis who supported the Iranian deal (probably including former Mossad head Efraim Halevy, who was criticizing Bibi and Darmer's efforts in real time) were sharing details of Darmer's efforts directly with the White House.
In the final months of the campaign, NSA intercepts yielded few surprises. Officials said the information reaffirmed what they heard directly from lawmakers and Israeli officials opposed to Mr. Netanyahu's campaign—that the prime minister was focused on building opposition among Democratic lawmakers.
Which brings me to the dick-waving part. Here's the last line of the WSJ story.
The NSA intercepts, however, revealed one surprise. Mr. Netanyahu and some of his allies voiced confidence they could win enough votes.
Some of this story is likely to be disinformation for our allies, much of this story seems to be warning (both friendly and unfriendly) to those likely implicated by the intercepts. But this just seems like dick-waving, the spook-and-politician equivalent of spiking the football and doing a lewd dance in the end zone. The Israelis surely knew all the monitoring was going on (even if members of Congress may have been stupid about them), especially given the way John Kerry, as laid out in the story, raised concerns about Israeli spying during negotiations. But this line, the final reveal in the story, mocks the Israelis and their American interlocutors for assuming they had enough to offer — "What's it going to take to get your vote?"– to kill the Iran deal.
This may, in part, be an effort to get those implicated in the intercepts to exercise some more caution. But it also seems to be a victory dance, just as Russia ships away Iran's uranium stockpiles.
Originally Posted @ https://www.emptywheel.net/tag/adam-schiff/page/10/


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Home / Leadership & Management / Career Skill
Working in the Gig Economy: How to Thrive and Succeed When You Choose to Work for Yourself
Working in the Gig Economy: How to Thrive and Succeed When You Choose to Work for Yourself quantity
Categories: Business & Entrepreneurship, Career Skill, Change & Start Up, Leadership & Management, New Collection Tags: career skills, career success, self help, Thomas Oppong
There are new flexible and independent working opportunities available in the gig economy for those brave enough to seize them. It is estimated that the number people involved with the gig economy will double in the next four years. New generation workers are realizing that they can break the chains of corporate work and go at it alone. With flexible working hours, fluid work arrangements, and technology that they can leverage to their advantage, people are creating purposeful careers that fit in with their lives, not the other way around. Working in the Gig Economy is the ultimate guide to successfully navigating the new flexible world of work. This is a book that will allow you to really examine the possibilities of freelance and flexible working. Is it really for you? Do you have what it takes to stay motivated, get clients to hire you, and achieve that long-yearned for work-life balance?
Thomas Oppong is an expert in entrepreneurship and the gig economy. With this book, he takes listeners through the main pitfalls of working for themselves, including how to stay productive, how to manage your professional network, build a personal brand, and crucially how to keep the work coming and get paid on time. Working in the Gig Economy is the essential guide to having a successful and fulfilling career in the gig economy.
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MFA Fundraiser in support of Versia Harris
Barbadian artist Versia Harris has been accepted into an MFA program at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan, USA, and is having a fundraising sale of limited edition artwork to contribute to some of her costs.
Versia is an incredible artist, and she has volunteered and been an enormous help to Fresh Milk for a number of years – please take a look at a statement by Versia below, and click here or on the following image to see her available work and how you can support her!
Incipience No. 1 (edition of 5), Digital Print, 30″ x 32″
Hi Guys! Welcome to my latest fundraising effort. I've been accepted into an MFA program at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan, USA; I will start in September this year. Most of the funds for me to go have been accounted for, however, there are some extra costs that I still have to acquire. I am selling these limited edition prints to help. If you are able, please purchase one.. or two.. or all! No, seriously any support you can offer would be so appreciated. Even if you can't, I hope you still enjoy these on-screen images – I must say, though, that the physical is much better 😉
You can email me at versia.abeda@gmail.com for further details about payment methods and shipping options. All questions are welcome.
About Versia Harris:
Barbadian artist Versia Harris received her BFA in Studio Art in 2012 and was awarded with The Lesley's Legacy Foundation Award, an annual prize given to the top graduate. She has participated in seven local and international residencies in Barbados, Vermont, Curacao, Trinidad and Brazil. In 2014, Versia's work was featured in the IV Moscow International Biennial for Young Art themed 'A Time for Dreams' and was subsequently selected to be apart of the follow up exhibition MOMENTUM_InsideOut screening of 'A Time For Dreams' in Berlin. Her animation 'They Say You Can Dream a Thing More Than Once' was awarded 'Best New Media Film' at the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival, 2014 and in 2015 won Best Animation Short in the Barbados Film and Video Association awards. Her first solo show in Barbados was titled "This Quagmire". She is currently a tutor at Barbados Community College. Versia tackles perceptions of fantasy in contrast to the reality of her invented characters
Posted in: Artists, Barbados, Contemporary Art | Tagged: Barbadian artist, Barbados, Caribbean artist, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Digital Prints, Fresh Milk, Fundraising, Limited Edition, MFA, Michigan, Versia Harris
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Return to Press Room
Alexis Fermanis SIOR Senior Director of Marketing & Communications afermanis@sior.com
SIOR Snapshot Sentiment Report Shows Volatile Market & Economy Impacting Industrial and Office Conditions
WASHINGTON, DC – High rates of inflation, shifting stock markets, continued supply chain strains and skyrocketed gas prices left industrial and office brokers uneasy during the recent Society of Industrial and Office Realtors® (SIOR) Snapshot Sentiment Report, which provides feedback from hundreds of member-brokers on the performance of transactions during Q2 2022, along with their outlook for the next six months.
While still thriving, volatile conditions influenced a drop in overall confidence this past quarter, with SIORs reporting a 5.3 (out of 10) confidence in the market, down from 7.4 in Q1. While a snapshot in time, with conditions improving toward the end of Q2, both industrial and office specialists noted a drop in confidence, as well as a drop in on-schedule transactions. Industrial SIORs completed 77% of transactions on schedule, down from 84% last quarter. Office specialists completed 70% on schedule, down from 76% in Q1.
While uncertainty over the return to the office loomed at the beginning of 2022, trepidation over inflation and economic turmoil became the main topic of concern. "Consistent commentary among clients is that the future is very uncertain and a recession likely coming," notes an industrial specialist in northern California. " Another SIOR in Texas fears conditions will remain volatile until next summer, reporting that "inflation and supply chain still remain a change, that along with rising interest will cool the market in the summer of 2023."
Reporting indicated a decline in both industrial and office leasing activity in the second quarter, with 31% of industrial SIORs reporting an active leasing market, and 37% of office brokers reporting higher leasing activity. Subleasing space remains low for industrial as well, with only 4% reporting adequate or extensive amounts available. And while the return to office began in Q1, subleasing space became more available in Q2, with 51% reporting a large amount of availability, up from 38% last quarter. High vacancy also increased from 1% to 7% in the industrial sector, and 49% for the office sector (up from 28%).
Landlords continue to hold the bargaining power in the industrial sector, with 83% of SIORs reporting limited or no tenant concessions available. For office tenants, there is more promise, as only 11% of SIORs notes little to no concessions, down from 32% last quarter.
To schedule interviews with SIOR representatives or a regional member, please contact Alexis Fermanis at media@sior.com.
About SIOR (www.sior.com)
The Society of Industrial and Office Realtors ® (SIOR) is the leading society for industrial and office real estate professionals. Only the industry's top professionals qualify for the SIOR designation and adhere to the highest levels of accountability and ethical standards. Today, there are 3,600 SIOR members in 45 countries. www.sior.com
Alexis Fermanis SIOR Director of Communications afermanis@sior.com
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