text:
The Museo Galileo at the International Cartographic Conference and Fra Mauro's World Map
Tomorrow is the last day of the 30th International Cartographic Conference (Florence, December 14-18, 2021), which has been organized by the International Cartographic Association and the Italian Association of Cartography in collaboration with the University of Florence, Istituto Geografico Militare, Regione Toscana, Municipality of Florence, and other cultural institutions, including Museo Galileo.
Museo Galileo coordinated the two sessions devoted to the history of cartography, which have been held on Thursday 16 and were chaired by Filippo Camerota, our Scientific Director, and by Angelo Cattaneo, CNR-ISEM researcher and a collaborator of Museo Galileo, respectively. Roberto Ferrari, our Executive Director, attended the opening ceremony in the Salone dei Cinquecento in Palazzo Vecchio on behalf of Florentine cultural institutions.
On the occasion of the Conference, the website devoted to Fra Mauro's World Map has been launched. The website was the outcome of years-long studies and research of the curators Filippo Camerota and Angelo Cattaneo, with the help of a highly qualified panel of collaborators. It has been built by the Museo Galileo in collaboration with the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, where the original map is kept.
The monumental map, created around 1450, is one of the most complete and significant representations of the world of that age, and records the geographical novelties and discoveries known in the mid-15th century. It includes over 3000 inscriptions as well as hundreds of toponyms and images of cities, temples, roads, etc.
The website—accessible in Italian, English and Chinese—makes it possible to explore Fra Mauro's Map in detail and to choose the subjects to go into thoroughly: cosmographic data, geographic coordinates, regions, towns, rivers, mounts, seas, inscriptions. Specific parts deal with subjects such as Venice's humanistic culture, the representation of the world, cosmography, the relationship between Venice and the sea, the measurement of time and space.
International Cartographic Conference


text:
Q: Convert elapsed time to numeric in crystal i got a question :
How can i convert an elapsed time like 835:0:44
to numeric for summing and average ?
 i tried things like instr and then tonumber and then avergae the outcome.
but i miss the minutes and seconds then.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Camera IconIndigenous groups who want the date for Australia Day changed have marched through Adelaide.
Indigenous groups calling for the date of Australia Day to be changed have marched at the front of the traditional Australia Day parade through the centre of Adelaide.
The small but vocal group, chanting "always was, always will be Aboriginal land" were the first of about 3500 people from 100 community groups to take part in the march from Victoria Square to Elder Park.
It was a far cry from what happened two years ago when several hundred activists blocked the route and forced authorities to call an early halt to the event.
On that occasion, one of the organisers, Latoya Rule, shaved her head to highlight the suffering of Aboriginal people.
Saturday's march was watched by about 30,000 people, with most staying on for the free concert, featuring Australian artists, and the obligatory fireworks.
Earlier on Saturday, Elder Park was also the venue for a smoking ceremony to mark the significance of the area to the local Aboriginal community.
Ngarrindjeri elder and Greens Senate candidate Major "Moogy" Sumner said the ceremony was particularly significant on Australia Day, serving to protect everyone from all cultures who participated in the various activities.
But he said his own community were no less determined to see the date of Australia Day changed.
"It's something that would be good for everybody," he said.
"Then we can come together as one nation, not separate little nations.
"So we can plan a future together."
In another first, images of Aboriginal leaders past and present also featured in a special light show set tho continue over the long weekend in the Adelaide parklands.
Australia Day Council of SA chief executive Jan Chorley said the nightly project aimed to bridge the differing views of Australia Day.
"This is a first for our state, a significant installation that infuses our understanding of Elder Park, its history and its people" she said.
Ms Chorley said the wider Australia Day celebrations in Adelaide were an opportunity to promote unity and belonging.
"This is when the city shines, when it reflects on its history, celebrates who were are as nation and joins together in a unifying and reconciled spirit," she said.


text:
package gce

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"regexp"
	"strings"
	"time"

	"cloud.google.com/go/compute/metadata"

	"gopkg.in/gcfg.v1"

	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/wait"
	"k8s.io/client-go/util/flowcontrol"
	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/cloudprovider"
	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/controller"

	"github.com/golang/glog"
	"golang.org/x/oauth2"
	"golang.org/x/oauth2/google"
	computebeta "google.golang.org/api/compute/v0.beta"
	compute "google.golang.org/api/compute/v1"
	container "google.golang.org/api/container/v1"
)

const (
	ProviderName = "gce"

	k8sNodeRouteTag = "k8s-node-route"

	// AffinityTypeNone - no session affinity.
	gceAffinityTypeNone = "NONE"
	// AffinityTypeClientIP - affinity based on Client IP.
	gceAffinityTypeClientIP = "CLIENT_IP"
	// AffinityTypeClientIPProto - affinity based on Client IP and port.
	gceAffinityTypeClientIPProto = "CLIENT_IP_PROTO"

	operationPollInterval = 3 * time.Second
	// Creating Route in very large clusters, may take more than half an hour.
	operationPollTimeoutDuration = time.Hour

	// Each page can have 500 results, but we cap how many pages
	// are iterated through to prevent infinite loops if the API
	// were to continuously return a nextPageToken.
	maxPages = 25

	maxTargetPoolCreateInstances = 200

	// HTTP Load Balancer parameters
	// Configure 2 second period for external health checks.
	gceHcCheckIntervalSeconds = int64(2)
	gceHcTimeoutSeconds       = int64(1)
	// Start sending requests as soon as a pod is found on the node.
	gceHcHealthyThreshold = int64(1)
	// Defaults to 5 * 2 = 10 seconds before the LB will steer traffic away
	gceHcUnhealthyThreshold = int64(5)
)

// GCECloud is an implementation of Interface, LoadBalancer and Instances for Google Compute Engine.
type GCECloud struct {
	service                  *compute.Service
	serviceBeta              *computebeta.Service
	containerService         *container.Service
	clientBuilder            controller.ControllerClientBuilder
	ClusterId                ClusterId
	projectID                string
	region                   string
	localZone                string   // The zone in which we are running
	managedZones             []string // List of zones we are spanning (for multi-AZ clusters, primarily when running on master)
	networkURL               string
	subnetworkURL            string
	nodeTags                 []string // List of tags to use on firewall rules for load balancers
	nodeInstancePrefix       string   // If non-"", an advisory prefix for all nodes in the cluster
	useMetadataServer        bool
	operationPollRateLimiter flowcontrol.RateLimiter
}

type Config struct {
	Global struct {
		TokenURL           string   `gcfg:"token-url"`
		TokenBody          string   `gcfg:"token-body"`
		ProjectID          string   `gcfg:"project-id"`
		NetworkName        string   `gcfg:"network-name"`
		SubnetworkName     string   `gcfg:"subnetwork-name"`
		NodeTags           []string `gcfg:"node-tags"`
		NodeInstancePrefix string   `gcfg:"node-instance-prefix"`
		Multizone          bool     `gcfg:"multizone"`
	}
}

func init() {
	cloudprovider.RegisterCloudProvider(
		ProviderName,
		func(config io.Reader) (cloudprovider.Interface, error) {
			return newGCECloud(config)
		})
}

// Raw access to the underlying GCE service, probably should only be used for e2e tests
func (g *GCECloud) GetComputeService() *compute.Service {
	return g.service
}

// newGCECloud creates a new instance of GCECloud.
func newGCECloud(config io.Reader) (*GCECloud, error) {
	projectID, zone, err := getProjectAndZone()
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}

	region, err := GetGCERegion(zone)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}

	networkName, err := getNetworkNameViaMetadata()
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}
	networkURL := gceNetworkURL(projectID, networkName)
	subnetworkURL := ""

	// By default, Kubernetes clusters only run against one zone
	managedZones := []string{zone}

	tokenSource := google.ComputeTokenSource("")
	var nodeTags []string
	var nodeInstancePrefix string
	if config != nil {
		var cfg Config
		if err := gcfg.ReadInto(&cfg, config); err != nil {
			glog.Errorf("Couldn't read config: %v", err)
			return nil, err
		}
		glog.Infof("Using GCE provider config %+v", cfg)
		if cfg.Global.ProjectID != "" {
			projectID = cfg.Global.ProjectID
		}
		if cfg.Global.NetworkName != "" {
			if strings.Contains(cfg.Global.NetworkName, "/") {
				networkURL = cfg.Global.NetworkName
			} else {
				networkURL = gceNetworkURL(cfg.Global.ProjectID, cfg.Global.NetworkName)
			}
		}
		if cfg.Global.SubnetworkName != "" {
			if strings.Contains(cfg.Global.SubnetworkName, "/") {
				subnetworkURL = cfg.Global.SubnetworkName
			} else {
				subnetworkURL = gceSubnetworkURL(cfg.Global.ProjectID, region, cfg.Global.SubnetworkName)
			}
		}
		if cfg.Global.TokenURL != "" {
			tokenSource = NewAltTokenSource(cfg.Global.TokenURL, cfg.Global.TokenBody)
		}
		nodeTags = cfg.Global.NodeTags
		nodeInstancePrefix = cfg.Global.NodeInstancePrefix
		if cfg.Global.Multizone {
			managedZones = nil // Use all zones in region
		}
	}

	return CreateGCECloud(projectID, region, zone, managedZones, networkURL, subnetworkURL,
		nodeTags, nodeInstancePrefix, tokenSource, true /* useMetadataServer */)
}

// Creates a GCECloud object using the specified parameters.
// If no networkUrl is specified, loads networkName via rest call.
// If no tokenSource is specified, uses oauth2.DefaultTokenSource.
// If managedZones is nil / empty all zones in the region will be managed.
func CreateGCECloud(projectID, region, zone string, managedZones []string, networkURL, subnetworkURL string, nodeTags []string,
	nodeInstancePrefix string, tokenSource oauth2.TokenSource, useMetadataServer bool) (*GCECloud, error) {

	client, err := newOauthClient(tokenSource)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}

	service, err := compute.New(client)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}

	client, err = newOauthClient(tokenSource)
	serviceBeta, err := computebeta.New(client)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}

	containerService, err := container.New(client)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}

	if networkURL == "" {
		networkName, err := getNetworkNameViaAPICall(service, projectID)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		networkURL = gceNetworkURL(projectID, networkName)
	}

	if len(managedZones) == 0 {
		managedZones, err = getZonesForRegion(service, projectID, region)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
	}
	if len(managedZones) != 1 {
		glog.Infof("managing multiple zones: %v", managedZones)
	}

	operationPollRateLimiter := flowcontrol.NewTokenBucketRateLimiter(10, 100) // 10 qps, 100 bucket size.

	return &GCECloud{
		service:                  service,
		serviceBeta:              serviceBeta,
		containerService:         containerService,
		projectID:                projectID,
		region:                   region,
		localZone:                zone,
		managedZones:             managedZones,
		networkURL:               networkURL,
		subnetworkURL:            subnetworkURL,
		nodeTags:                 nodeTags,
		nodeInstancePrefix:       nodeInstancePrefix,
		useMetadataServer:        useMetadataServer,
		operationPollRateLimiter: operationPollRateLimiter,
	}, nil
}

// Initialize takes in a clientBuilder and spawns a goroutine for watching the clusterid configmap.
// This must be called before utilizing the funcs of gce.ClusterId
func (gce *GCECloud) Initialize(clientBuilder controller.ControllerClientBuilder) {
	gce.clientBuilder = clientBuilder
	go gce.watchClusterId()
}

// LoadBalancer returns an implementation of LoadBalancer for Google Compute Engine.
func (gce *GCECloud) LoadBalancer() (cloudprovider.LoadBalancer, bool) {
	return gce, true
}

// Instances returns an implementation of Instances for Google Compute Engine.
func (gce *GCECloud) Instances() (cloudprovider.Instances, bool) {
	return gce, true
}

// Zones returns an implementation of Zones for Google Compute Engine.
func (gce *GCECloud) Zones() (cloudprovider.Zones, bool) {
	return gce, true
}

func (gce *GCECloud) Clusters() (cloudprovider.Clusters, bool) {
	return gce, true
}

// Routes returns an implementation of Routes for Google Compute Engine.
func (gce *GCECloud) Routes() (cloudprovider.Routes, bool) {
	return gce, true
}

// ProviderName returns the cloud provider ID.
func (gce *GCECloud) ProviderName() string {
	return ProviderName
}

// Known-useless DNS search path.
var uselessDNSSearchRE = regexp.MustCompile(`^[0-9]+.google.internal.$`)

// ScrubDNS filters DNS settings for pods.
func (gce *GCECloud) ScrubDNS(nameservers, searches []string) (nsOut, srchOut []string) {
	// GCE has too many search paths by default. Filter the ones we know are useless.
	for _, s := range searches {
		if !uselessDNSSearchRE.MatchString(s) {
			srchOut = append(srchOut, s)
		}
	}
	return nameservers, srchOut
}

// GCECloud implements cloudprovider.Interface.
var _ cloudprovider.Interface = (*GCECloud)(nil)

func gceNetworkURL(project, network string) string {
	return fmt.Sprintf("https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/%s/global/networks/%s", project, network)
}

func gceSubnetworkURL(project, region, subnetwork string) string {
	return fmt.Sprintf("https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/%s/regions/%s/subnetworks/%s", project, region, subnetwork)
}

func getNetworkNameViaMetadata() (string, error) {
	result, err := metadata.Get("instance/network-interfaces/0/network")
	if err != nil {
		return "", err
	}
	parts := strings.Split(result, "/")
	if len(parts) != 4 {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("unexpected response: %s", result)
	}
	return parts[3], nil
}

func getNetworkNameViaAPICall(svc *compute.Service, projectID string) (string, error) {
	// TODO: use PageToken to list all not just the first 500
	networkList, err := svc.Networks.List(projectID).Do()
	if err != nil {
		return "", err
	}

	if networkList == nil || len(networkList.Items) <= 0 {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("GCE Network List call returned no networks for project %q", projectID)
	}

	return networkList.Items[0].Name, nil
}

func getZonesForRegion(svc *compute.Service, projectID, region string) ([]string, error) {
	// TODO: use PageToken to list all not just the first 500
	listCall := svc.Zones.List(projectID)

	// Filtering by region doesn't seem to work
	// (tested in https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/reference/latest/zones/list)
	// listCall = listCall.Filter("region eq " + region)

	res, err := listCall.Do()
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unexpected response listing zones: %v", err)
	}
	zones := []string{}
	for _, zone := range res.Items {
		regionName := lastComponent(zone.Region)
		if regionName == region {
			zones = append(zones, zone.Name)
		}
	}
	return zones, nil
}

func newOauthClient(tokenSource oauth2.TokenSource) (*http.Client, error) {
	if tokenSource == nil {
		var err error
		tokenSource, err = google.DefaultTokenSource(
			oauth2.NoContext,
			compute.CloudPlatformScope,
			compute.ComputeScope)
		glog.Infof("Using DefaultTokenSource %#v", tokenSource)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
	} else {
		glog.Infof("Using existing Token Source %#v", tokenSource)
	}

	if err := wait.PollImmediate(5*time.Second, 30*time.Second, func() (bool, error) {
		if _, err := tokenSource.Token(); err != nil {
			glog.Errorf("error fetching initial token: %v", err)
			return false, nil
		}
		return true, nil
	}); err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}

	return oauth2.NewClient(oauth2.NoContext, tokenSource), nil
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Revolution is London's leading personal training studio.
Holborn, Brighton and Hove. They have since grown and added their 6th location.
Their old pre-TLD website didn't represent them anyway near how they should have been – and we're all really pleased with the site, a result of close collaboration between our team and theirs.
Below is a little list of why we love this client.
I wanted share a pic of the three guys who I run the Revolution franchise company with. My brother John, Giuseppe and Saran. The card in the second picture is from Lucy's school thanking us for our contribution. We have paid for a place on the end of year school trip for a child whose family are struggling financially. I wrestled with myself about whether this was appropriate to post or not but I just wanted to show the other side of business. The chance to help the local community and to make a difference is a part of what drives the four of us and indeed the whole Revolution family.
They have a very effective 12-week transformation programme which has helped many people, as proven by a multitude of "before/after" photos on their website and social media.
They are generous with their advice and share exercise, mindset, healthy living and meal tips regularly on their social channels.
We didn't have to remind them much to be active on their social media!
We even got to train with them!
In addition to working on their new website, Keren and Tam got properly involved. We joined the Revolution 40 by 40 programme. This was led by Rob Grim – one of the 4 founders.
marketing here, we did get some fantastic results.
Not only that, but Tam and Keren continue to meet weekly to do a workout in Regents Park before work – and it's one of the highlights of our week! The Revolution effect is long lasting.
Check out their new site here, and be sure to follow Rob on Instagram he's fantastic!


The event, which took place on 6 April, saw musicians fill the streets of Shrewsbury before taking over a number of venues in Frankwell during the night.
The Big Busk is held in memory of talented musician, poet and artist Ben Bebbington, who died after an unprovoked attack in 2012. It raises money for, and awareness of, Shrewsbury Ark, a centre for homeless and vulnerable people in Shrewsbury, which meant a great deal to Ben.


Edmiston Brown & Co Ltd have a Scotland wide 24/7 maintenance service both planned and reactive. We can be recognised by our distinctive branding.
To differentiate Edmiston Brown & Co Ltd from its competitors is it's longevity within the industry and repeat business from satisfied customer base.
"Edmiston Brown wish to develop harmonious and mutually beneficial working relationships with Private and Public Sector clients and constituents alike. This will result in the successful completion of quality building projects from which all parties involved may take pride, and which are constructed with the highest regard for the Health, Safety and Welfare of our combined workforces."
Edmiston Brown Limited is a property and infrastructure services solutions provider, with it's roots in the centre of Glasgow where first born in 1904 and later registered with Company House on: 01/01/1920, and continues to trade under the name of Edmiston Brown & Co Limited.
In May 1989 Charlie Riach was appointed as director of the company. In April 2009 Cameron Lister was appointed as Operations & Commercial manager of the Building & Maintenance Division and has overseen this Division grow substantially since his appointment, he was subsequently appointed as a director of the company on 1st September 2014.
We have created specially tailored services that use our core skills to add value for our clients.


Runners from St Albans School secured a top-10 finish at the World Schools Championship in Hungary.
The team, who were representing England, finished seventh out of 22 countries. Teams from Turkey, New Zealand and France took the first three positions.
The five-day event in Budapest included competitions for both school and national teams and attracted the top young runners from around the world, making it a strong challenge for the St Albans School team.
For the most senior boys, Oliver Edmond, Tom Halling and Ben Hemsi, this was a fitting conclusion to their school running career.
Year 12 student Ben Clarke led the St Albans School team home in 31st place in the 5.4km main race, with Year 11 Tom Fulton one place behind.
The three Year 13 boys followed, with Josh Avenell, a Year 9 boy running for the senior team, finishing in a very valuable 91st place.


text:
Chris Castle	in Music Modernization Act, Uncategorized	 March 12, 2018 May 17, 2018 2,358 Words
How to Fix The Music Modernization Act's Flawed "Audit" Clause
The famous old Russian proverb reminds us to trust but verify. That's been the story in the record business since the cylindrical disc. All the "modernization" in the world will not soothe songwriter's genetic suspicion of their accounting statements.
The collective to be established by the Music Modernization Act ("MMA") undertakes the obligation to handle other people's money. It quickly follows that those whose money the collective handles need to be able to verify their royalty payments from time to time. This has been an absolutely standard part of every royalty-based agreement in the music business for a good 50 years if not longer.
But like every aspect of the MMA, one has to always remember that while all songwriters may be equal, some songwriters are more equal than others. The MMA creates a two tier system–those who opt out of the compulsory blanket license by the mutual agreement of a rights owner and a digital service in the form of a voluntary agreement and those who do not. Those who do not have this opt-out right appear to receive payment directly from the collective instead of directly from the service–adding another set of hands and transaction costs. (It must be said that this group receiving payment under the compulsory blanket license will presumably also include those who currently have a voluntary license with digital services that is not renewed in future.)
The collective undertakes the responsibility of accounting should anticipate concerns of songwriters regarding verifying the accuracy of the statements and payments it renders. However, the MMA provides no supervisory oversight and in my view has a rather punitive black box clause that allows "unmatched" royalties to be paid on a market share basis to publishers, and then on to their lucky songwriters pro rata. This suggests that everyone who is in that lucky songwriter's chain, like managers, business managers and lawyers working on a percentage basis may also get a share of these black box distributions in compensation.
So on the face of it, the MMA creates a relatively large category of people who have an economic interest in the black box. You can be cynical and think that they have an interest in the black box being as large as possible (meaning the accounting controls are as weak as possible), or you can agree with five-time Grammy winner Maria Schneider that if the "lucky" songwriters actually knew that they were being paid with money that belonged to the "unlucky" songwriters, they would be angry about that unfairness. Emphasis on the "actually knew".
Or you could say, let's not go either direction–let's set up transparency and controls so that the incentives are properly aligned to create the smallest black box possible. No publisher needs the writer-relations headache of suspicious minds, and the collective should do what it can to be above reproach. Here are a couple solutions to increase the trust level: Add oversight of the collective by the Office of the Inspector General (as a quasi-governmental organand at least designated by the Copyright Office and operating under the control of the Copyright Office, and also tighten up the audit clauses in the MMA to treat songwriters auditing the collective the same as the collective is treated by the digital services.
The Inspector General
One way to make sure that the collective–a quasi governmental organization in my view–is run honestly is to make it subject to oversight review by one of the U.S. Government's many Inspectors General. Rick Carnes of the Songwriters Guild of America suggested this to Rep. Doug Collins at the University of Georgia Artist Rights Symposium in a question from the floor.
For example, the Library of Congress (currently where the Copyright Office is housed) has an Inspector General. Since the Copyright Office has a lot to do with the creation and periodic review of the collective, they could save themselves a bunch of Freedom of Information Act requests from angry songwriters by having an Inspector General review the collective annually (or better yet, in real time).
My understanding is that giving an IG jurisdiction over the collective will require some enabling legislation, but I think it's something well worth looking into. It would give the songwriters of the world a true-blue fiduciary to represent their interests as well as comfort that they had a line of appeal with some teeth short of expensive litigation.
The Inspector General is not in the current draft of the MMA, but audits are–both audits of the collective by songwriters and audits by the collective of digital music services. We'll focus on audits of the collective in this post. It should be said that under the current compulsory license now in effect (i.e., pre-MMA), songwriters get no audit right, so the fact that there is an audit right at all is an incremental improvement.
Unfortunately, the MMA's audit right still keeps songwriters away from auditing the right party–the digital services–and keeps that upstream data away from them. Plus, all audits under MMA appear to be subject to confidential treatment. I don't think there's a good reason to keep these secret. If a smart auditor finds a flaw in the collective's accounting systems, that flaw should be disclosed and there should be an automatic true up of everyone affected.
But first, let's realize what an "audit" actually is. It is a term of art in the music business and really means a "royalty compliance examination" which is solely focused on making sure that statements and payments rendered conform to the contract concerned, or in this case, the statutory requirements of the compulsory blanket license.
(It also must be said that as Maria notes, the MMA specifically exempts the collective from any responsibility for incompetent royalty accounting other than "gross negligence", which usually means blatant indifference to a legal duty or something along those lines–assuming the collective's board or employees actually have a legal duty to account correctly which it may not.)
The person conducting a royalty audit is typically not a certified public accountant as there is nothing about conducting this examination that requires a knowledge of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP"), financial accounting, or Sarbannes Oxley compliance. It is, in fact, quite rare for a royalty audit to be conducted by a CPA, and I've even had lawyers conduct an audit because the analysis involved is mostly that of contractual, or statutory, interpretation. Analysis of music industry-specific contracts is typically not part of the training of CPAs. So even if an auditor is a CPA, the skills needed to conduct the audit are typically learned through on the job training.
What is very common, however, is for someone on the receiving end of the audit to try to require the auditor be a CPA, arguably to increase the cost of the audit on the person owed money. CPAs often bill at higher rates than do royalty auditors, which creates a disincentive for audits. What is also common is for lawyers to think that every time they draft a clause about anyone conducting anything having to do with accounting, that they need to limit the person doing that examination to a CPA, because…well, because… This is what I call stupid lawyer tricks, and the CPA requirement is something that is routinely negotiated away in record deals and publishing deals if you have an ounce of leverage.
Here's the preamble of the MMA's audit clause for audits of the collective:'
A copyright owner entitled to receive payments of royalties for covered activities from the mechanical licensing collective may, individually or with other copyright owners, conduct an audit of the mechanical licensing collective to verify the accuracy of royalty payments and distributions by the mechanical licensing collective to such copyright owner
Remember–copyright owners under the compulsory are not allowed to audit the service, although the collective may audit the service. (And, of course, voluntary agreements are governed by their terms regarding audits and are not subject to the compulsory.)
Limiting the audit right to "copyright owners entitled to receive payments" means that if songwriters have an administration or co-publishing agreement, they will probably not be able to conduct an audit of the collective (even if their administrator or co-publisher is a board member of the collective). Because the audit is limited to "verifying the accuracy" of prior payments, the audit of the collective will not be able to look "upstream" to the service making the payment and may not be able to look at payments made to the collective, just the payments by the collective.
The audit shall be conducted by a qualified auditor, who shall perform the audit during the ordinary course of business by examining the books, records and systems of the mechanical licensing collective, as well as underlying data, according to generally accepted auditing standards and subject to applicable confidentiality requirements prescribed by the Register of Copyrights…
Sounds good, right? A "qualified auditor" is a defined term, however:
QUALIFIED AUDITOR.—The term 'qualified auditor' means an independent, certified public accountant with experience performing music royalty audits.
Again, I don't think that the auditor needs to be both a CPA and have experience. Experience is enough. For example, if the auditor has performed audits for members of the collective's board of directors, perhaps that would be enough.
The qualified auditor shall determine the accuracy of royalty payments, including whether an underpayment or overpayment of royalties was made by the mechanical licensing collective to the auditing copyright owner(s); provided, however, that before providing a final audit report to such copyright owner(s), the qualified auditor shall provide a tentative draft of the report to the mechanical licensing collective and allow the mechanical licensing collective a reasonable opportunity to respond to the findings, including by clarifying issues and correcting factual errors.
This clause is a problem. First, the auditor is hired–and has a professional duty–to find underpayments of royalties. That's what they look for. The auditor does not have a duty to do the collective's work for it and find overpayments. The auditor is not hired to find overpayments, they are hired to find underpayments.
The collective should hire its own accountants to review its royalty statements, and it surely will do so if it gets an audit notice. Otherwise the US Government is placing a heavy burden on the auditor and the copyright owners to look for overpayments as though the auditor played the role of a public financial accounting firm looking for accuracy on behalf of stockholders.
Plus, the requirement to force that auditor to give the collective the audit report before giving it to the people who hired that auditor is a bit much. Fair enough to meet and confer at the work paper stage to make sure there weren't inaccuracies in the analysis, but that should not place any prohibition on whether the auditor's own client can see the report first.
If this is really the role that the Government wants the auditor to play, then by all means let's make any miscalculations by the collective available to the public and publish them in the Federal Register. Let's not have the auditor's findings subject to any confidential treatment. If that brings down a host of other audits or a need to restate millions of royalty payments, then so be it. Because we are not just looking for underpayments we are searching for the truth, right?
I don't think so. And the next part of the audit clause shows why:
The auditing copyright owner(s) shall bear the cost of the audit. In case of an underpayment to the copyright owner(s), the mechanical licensing collective shall pay the amounts of any such underpayment to the auditing copyright owner(s), as appropriate. In case of an overpayment by the mechanical licensing collective, the mechanical licensing collective may debit the accounts of the auditing copyright owner(s) for such overpaid amounts, or such owner(s) shall refund overpaid amounts to the mechanical licensing collective, as appropriate.
Like so many other parts of the MMA, this is essentially an "ad terrorem" clause, or a right coupled with a penalty if it is exercised. What I think this means is that regardless of how much the underpayment might be–including both a material and nonmaterial amount–the songwriter bears 100% of the cost of the audit. The songwriter's auditor has to look for overpayments (and bill their client for that extra review), and if the auditor finds any, the auditor has to report the overpayment. The songwriter then not only has to repay that amount (whatever "as appropriate" means), but also pay for the expense of finding it.
Compare this to the rights of the collective when auditing a digital music service:
The mechanical licensing collective shall pay the cost of the audit, unless the qualified auditor determines that there was an underpayment by the digital music provider of 10 percent or more, in which case the digital music provider shall bear the reasonable costs of the audit, in addition to paying the amount of any underpayment to the mechanical licensing collective. In case of an overpayment by the digital music provider, the mechanical licensing collective shall provide a credit to the digital music provider.
So what's good for the goose is not good for the gander. When the collective is auditing upstream, the collective gets the benefit of that standard underpayment penalty. That means that the service has to pay for the cost of the audit if the underpayment exceeds a fixed percentage, in this case 10%. If there is an overpayment, the collective never has to repay the overpayment, just credit the account with an offsetting amount.
There should be no obligation on the part of the songwriter to have to find overpayments and if an overpayment is found in the normal course, it should simply be credited (which is the effect of the collective's audit clause on songwriters downstream).
Songwriters should get the same underpayment protection on audit costs that the collective enjoys.
Appointing an Inspector General and cleaning up the audit clause would certainly make the MMA more fair for songwriters than it currently is.
Let's Not Miss An Opportunity to Include Startups in the Music Modernization Act
Spotify IPO Watch: Buy High, Sell Low
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Where the Bodies Lie
Mark Lisac 978-1-926455-50-1 | 246 Pages April, 2016 Accolades!, Ebook, Mystery & Thriller, Politics
Also available as an ebook from
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD AT THE ARTHUR ELLIS AWARDS!
"Sins don't destroy people here. Dreams do."
In a small city somewhere in an oil-rich Canadian province just east of the Rockies, a political scandal has erupted: an aging cabinet minister has struck and killed a member of his local constituency executive with his half-ton truck, in broad daylight. But the premier suspects that there is more to this "accident" than meets the eye—and he wants to know the real reasons behind it before the media or his political rivals do.
Enter the premier's old friend Harry Asher—lawyer, former hockey star, self-styled intellectual, and recent divorcé—who is hired to dig into the incident. And it isn't long before Asher's investigation threatens to expose a chain of corruption that implicates many of the province's most powerful citizens—including the province's legendary now-senile premier—as well as its most cherished founding myths.
In Where the Bodies Lie, Mark Lisac (author of Alberta Politics Uncovered and The Klein Revolution) draws upon his decades of experience as a reporter at Alberta's provincial legislature to craft an absorbing debut novel—part political thriller, part fable—that opens up timeless themes of friendship, love, the inescapability of grief, the weight of history, and the nature of truth.
interview with Michael Hingston in the Edmonton Journal
Mark Lisac on How to Write a Good Mystery at kristinastanley.com
"Where the Bodies Lie is brutal, stark, evocative, and dangerously honest – just like the land it's set in. Lisac's vivid novel manoeuvres the reader along back roads where truth lives and legends die."
~ Garry Ryan, author of the Detective Lane mysteries
"Mark Lisac has written a first class thriller with a sense of realism that will leave you breathless and looking over your shoulder. Rooted in a deep understanding of politics, friendship, ambition, and grief, Where the Bodies Lie has the immediacy of true crime. A great yarn, well spun."
~ Terry Fallis, author of Poles Apart and The Best Laid Plans
"What's remarkable about this novel is how brilliantly Lisac moves from political writing to fiction. His smooth prose and fine pacing make it a pleasure to read." full review
~ Margaret Cannon, The Globe and Mail
"Why you're going to love it: Intriguingly, Lisac has been writing about the politics of a certain oil-rich Canadian province just east of the Rockies since 1979. Parts of this novel are guaranteed to ring true."
~ Kerry Clare, 49th Shelf
"Lisac's backdrop may be the political scene, but his story is in the heart of his main characters, their flaws and aspirations. He is an elegant and efficient writer and sets lovely scenes and characters, creating a murder mystery with twists and engaging characters."
~ Samantha Power, Vue Weekly
"Where the Bodies Lie seems to carve its own genre. The mystery is always present, but...reads as a man living his life while peeling back hidden truths and unexplored layers of politics and friendships that are more complicated than they appear." full review
~ Jessica McIntosh, Fort McMurray Today
"A good read..." full review
~ Nick Martin, Winnipeg Free Press
"Political junkies will devour this book..." full review
~ Matthew Stepanic, Where Magazine
"...a must-read for political watchers in Alberta."
~ Dave Cournoyer
Alberta Politics Uncovered: Taking Back Our Province


Let's go after our Dreams!
With Majin Buu now defeated and Earth at peace, the heroes have settled into normal lives, which in Goku's case means being a radish farmer. They can't get too comfortable in their new lives because more evildoers are on the horizon.
This Dragon Ball Super Pop! vinyl features Jiren the quiet and honourable fighter, who believes in strength and justice!


text:
Plate 16 from Radio-Vision Booklet
Absessed Tooth
By Ken Adachi <Editor@educate-yourself.org>
http://educate-yourself.org/tjc/plate16radiovision30jul03.shtml
The image shown below is a Radio-Vision photograph. Titled Plate No. 16, Abcessed Tooth, the original 8 x 10 photographic film was made by Dr. Ruth Drown in her Los Angeles, California laboratory. The photo shows a magnified cross sectional view of an abcessed tooth and the adjacent gum area. This image is one of twenty two Radio-Vision photographic plates presented in the 1960 booklet, Radio Vision, Scientific Milestone (http://educate-yourself.org/tjc/radiovisionbookintro30jul03.shtml). This image is not a conventional X-ray photograph. It was not made with any form of external radiation applied such as X-rays, or radio waves, or microwaves, or ionizing radiation, etc. The energy which was captured on this photo was produced by the patient and channeled into the Drown Homo-Vibra-Ray Diagnostic Instrument via the etheric continuum which permeates the universe. The photo reveals the energy produced by the etheric body, a virtual double of the physical body. The link up between the Drown Diagnostic Instrument and the patient was a dried drop of the patient's blood crystallized on a piece of blotter paper.
You can see the central portions of the tooth's roots pointing upwards in the photo below, but the tips of the roots and the lower crown portion of the tooth are outside the field of view. Dr. Drown was able to "tune in" on the abcessed part of the tooth using the Drown Homo-Vibra-Ray Diagnostic Instrument and a dried drop of blood (a blood 'crystal') from the patient. Patients were usually many miles away from Dr. Drown's office at the time she made her diagnosis and Radio-Vision photographs. They didn't need to be there because all of the patient's etheric vibratory 'signatures' are captured within the blood crystal as long as the patient remains alive. Using the same drop of dried blood, she could have tuned in on any part of this patient's body and discovered diseased organs or pathogenic organisms anywhere in the body by merely changing the dials on her diagnostic instrument and changing the vibratory tuning "rates". It's important to remember that Dr. Drown began producing these incredible cross sectional, Radio-Vision photographs in 1935, at least 40 years before the advent of CAT scans. The Drown Diagnostic Instrument was not plugged into a wall outlet. It had no wall plug. It did not use electricity to analyze, treat the patient, or make Radio-Vision photographs. The Instrument intercepted the etheric waves being radiated by the patient's body.
The description below in italics is taken directly from the Radio-Vision booklet. Other areas of this same image are also highlighted and labeled below. The top image is unlabeled by me and was scanned directly from the booklet. The other images were labeled to clarify the different tissues shown. Bear in mind that this image represents a substantial magnification of the abscessed tooth. It's also important to note that within a few months of the publication of this astounding collection of Radio-Vision photos, Dr. Drown's Los Angeles office was raided. In addition to having all of her equipment, files, records, and photos seized, Dr. Drown was thrown into jail and labeled as America's leading quack by a reporter working for a major newspaper. Life magazine ran a multi-page spread showing a shaken Dr Drown standing behind bars and denouncing her as a charlatan feeding off the desperation of seriously ill patients. The kangaroo trial which was to follow (Dr. Drown's second grueling trail courtesy of the federal government and the AMA medical mafia) was simply too much for the aging Dr. Drown to withstand and she succumbed to a stroke.
The original Radio-vision booklet measured 8.5" x 5.5". I've made digital reprints of the original booklet size, but I found that magnifying the booklet up to 8.5" x 11" really improved the detail and clarity of the photos by a substantial margin. See http://educate-yourself.org/products/index.shtml#drownbooks if interested.
"This photograph was made by tuning in on the abscess. The outline of the root of the tooth is shown by Arrows A. Arrow B shows the pulp of the tooth, with the black and dark spots blood vessels within that pulp that have been cross sectioned by the Radio-Vision Instrument. Arrow C shows a sinus of infection from the lower part of the pulp area through the gum of the patient. Arrow D shows the gum boil as a bulge in the mouth of the patient."
B) Identifying the jaw bone area. C) Pointing out the gum boundary
D) Nerve & vascular tissue in central root cavities. E) The protruding abcess gum boil
F) Infected sinus from roots to gum line G) Blood vessels in cross section


text:
Karl Frei (Regensdorf, 8 maart 1917 - Schlieren 18 juni 2011) was een Zwitsers turner.

Frei behoorde tot de Zwitserse selectie voor de Olympische Zomerspelen 1940, deze spelen werden vanwege de Tweede Wereldoorlog afgelast.

Frei maakte acht jaar later zijn olympische debuut en won in Londen de gouden medaille aan de ringen en de zilveren medaille in de landenwedstrijd.

Resultaten

Olympische Zomerspelen

Zwitsers gymnast
Zwitsers olympisch kampioen

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Reworked concretions have been significant substrates for boring and encrusting organisms through the Phanerozoic. They provide large, relatively stable calcareous surfaces in systems where sedimentation is minimal. Diverse sclerobiont communities have inhabited reworked concretions since the Ordovician, so they have been important contributors to our understanding of the evolution of these ecological systems. Here we describe reworked concretions from southern Israel where they are critical for interpreting the stratigraphy and paleoenvironment of an Upper Cretaceous sedimentary sequence. These cobble-sized concretions (averaging roughly 1000 cubic centimeters) are found at the base of the Menuha Formation (Santonian to lower Campanian, Mount Scopus Group) unconformably above the top of the Zihor Formation (Turonian-Coniacian, Judea Group) exposed in the Ramon region of the Negev Highlands. The concretions are almost entirely composed of micritic limestone, and many are exhumed cemented burrow-fills apparently from 10-20 meters of upper Zihor Formation strata removed by erosion. There are also a few cobbles of dolomitic limestone and rare vertebrate bone. The cobbles are moderately to heavily bored by bivalves (producing Gastrochaenolites) and worms (forming Trypanites), and a few have cemented oysters. They are densely arrayed in a single layer, often touching each other or only a few centimeters apart. The sclerobionts associated with the cobbles, along with their hydrodynamic arrangement, strongly suggest that these cobbles accumulated in very shallow water above normal wave base. Most of them (77%) are encrusted on their top surfaces only, indicating that they were bored in place and not later delivered to a deeper environment by submarine currents. The rest of the Menuha Formation above is a chalk with relatively few macrofossils (primarily shark teeth and oysters) and a few trace fossils (Planolites and Thalassinoides are the most common). These reworked cobbles show that the initial deposits of the Menuha Formation accumulated in very shallow water. This has important implications for the development of the Syrian Arc structures in this region, especially the Ramon Monocline.
Two cobbles in their natural setting: embedded in the chalks at the base of the Menuha Formation.
The beautiful setting south of Makhtesh Ramon. The cliff is an exposure of the resistant Zihor Formation; above it are the white slopes of the far less resistant chalky Menuha Formation. The cobbles are found at the base of the Menuha.
A figure from the manuscript itself showing a cross-section of a cobble. The "T" indicates a Trypanites boring; the "G" shows a Gastrochaenolites boring.
Thank you again to Wooster alumni Micah Risacher and Andrew Retzler and current student Will Cary for helping us collect these specimens!
Wilson, M.A., Zaton, M. and Avni, Y. 2012. Origin, paleoecology and stratigraphic significance of bored and encrusted concretions from the Upper Cretaceous (Santonian) of southern Israel. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments (in press).
SLIPPERY ROCK, PA – I've just returned from the March meeting of the Pittsburgh Geological Society. If you're in the region and you're not a member, you really should think about joining. On the third Wednesday of each month, a robust group of faculty, students, and professionals gather for a social hour followed by a tasty meal and a geo-talk. I was honored to have the opportunity to speak about my passion for basalt geochemistry and was fully impressed by the friendly, engaged audience. The questions from the students, in particular, were clever and insightful. (Attention potential employers: the PGS is your regional source for the next crop of professional geologists).
The PGS also runs field trips, and my host, Dr. Patrick Burkhart, took me on a tour of glacial features near his home institution of Slippery Rock University.
A google map image of the glacial features near Slippery Rock, PA. The numbers correspond to the images below. (Imagery from DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, USGS, USDA Farm Service Agency).
We began our trip at the Jacksville Esker (also known locally as the West Liberty Hogback or Miller Esker), which may be the best-preserved esker in Pennsylvania (Fleeger et al., 2003). The >6 mile-long esker is an elongate, sinuous ridge of sand and gravel that was deposited about 23,000 years ago by meltwater in a subglacial tunnel (Fleeger and Lewis-Miller, 2009).
Photo #1: View of the elongated ridge formed by the Jacksville Esker.
Adjacent to Jacksville Esker is Tamarack Lake, an ecologically important wetland. We viewed Tamarack Lake from Swope Road, which cuts through the esker, and noticed a school of trout in the water near the road. I imagined that they were enjoying the warm spring day.
Photo #2: View of Tamarack Lake from Swope Road.
Photo #3: Trout enjoying the warm water at Tamarack Lake.
Jacksville Esker ends in the Kame Delta, which formed in a proglacial lake. Sediment in the delta is generally well-sorted, ranging from fine sand to cobbles, and is currently being mined by the Glacial Sand and Gravel Company (Fleeger and Lewis-Miller, 2009). We didn't get to tour the quarry, but according to the field guide, mining has exposed crossbeds, ripples, and multiple foreset beds that suggest that the delta was built by a series of depositional events (Fleeger and Lewis-Miller, 2009).
Photo #4: View of the relatively flat-topped Kame Delta. The gravel mining operation is located near the center of the photo.
We saw a few other things on the trip, but I think I'll save those for another post.
Fleeger, G. M., and Lewis-Miller, Jocelyn, 2009, Stop 7: Jacksville esker, delta, lake plain, and drainage diversion complex, in Harper, J. A., ed., History and geology of the oil regions of northwestern Pennsylvania. Guidebook, 74th Annual Field Conference of Pennsylvania Geologist, Titusville, PA. p. 146-159.
Fleeger, G. M., Bushnell, K. O., and Watson, D. W., 2003, Moraine and Mc- Connells Mill State Parks, Butler and Lawrence Counties—Glacial lakes and drainage changes: Pennsylvania Geological Survey, 4th ser., Park Guide 4, 12 p.
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL–Always a happy scene. After a long dark drive through the desert early this morning, and then the adventure of Tel Aviv traffic, Melissa and I are safely in Ben Gurion airport. We had a lot of questions from security (at three levels), but were ushered through in record time. All is well, and we are anxious to get back to the USA.
A very serious problem related to the drop in the water level of the Dead Sea is the development of large sinkholes in the coastal plain. These holes develop with little warning (if any) and have caused significant damage to structures, roads and agricultural lands. They form when the salty groundwater is replaced by fresh water as the Dead Sea recedes. This fresh water begins to dissolve subsurface salt deposits, producing caverns that eventually collapse. There are over 3000 of these sinkholes now on the western side of the Dead Sea. It is increasingly difficult to plan roads and other developments when you wonder if the ground beneath is going to suddenly give out.
This is a chain of sinkholes that continues to grow. Note the circular tension cracks in the foreground. One of the issues now is whether these holes capture significant surface flows during floods, channeling still more water underground to dissolve more salt. There has been a nearly exponential increase in sinkholes, so it is likely some mechanism like this is also at work.
Noa Avni stands near an incipient sinkhole. They sometimes appear as these small, round holes. Looking inside, we could see that there is a significant room-sized cavern underneath. Soon the roof will collapse and a new mature sinkhole will appear.
Israeli geologists are under considerable pressure to predict the appearance of sinkholes and the large gullies so that engineers can either attempt to "fix" them or find other places to build infrastructure. The geological issues are very complex, though, and a significant amount of randomness exists in the systems. I'm glad I have the kind of geologist's job that doesn't involve such practical testing and high expectations.
MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–Today we saw the Dead Sea in an amazing way. Yoav is working on a project involving the siting of a new pumping station along the western shore of the Dead Sea. We had a preview of a trip he is taking on Monday with a group of government officials to discuss the environmental and geoengineering factors that should be considered during this construction. We were able to go to places rarely visited, and to have an account and analysis by a well-respected expert.
This is a Google Maps view of where we explored the shoreline of the Dead Sea. The green arrow marks our lunch spot (N31.33594°, E35.41427°). Note the thin bluish canal in the lower left running through the scale. The top end of it is where the pumping station sits today. It is pumping water into the southern evaporation ponds to be used in the Dead Sea Works mineral extraction process.
We walked down an active gully of an alluvial fan to meet the edge of the water. Its deep blue color was striking. The raised brown area in the background consists of dissected Dead Sea bottom sediments. Water levels have been dropping about one meter a year for decades now, leaving vast areas of Dead Sea mud exposed and eroded.
Melissa examining the halite crystals at the edge along the shoreline. It is very thick from the receding water levels and storm waters splashed up on shore, precipitating salt crusts.
This is the pumping station today. It must be replaced soon because the water levels are dropping rapidly, which will leave its intake systems exposed. This station pumps water to the southern evaporation ponds about three months during the summer. This is when the brines are at maximum concentration. That is Masada, by the way, in the background on the far right.
All of us who teach sedimentary geology talk about teepee structures formed when crystallization pressures expand an evaporative mineral sheet until it breaks and bends. Can there be a better example than this?
Here is another teepee structure in side view with a hammer for scale. The broken apex is visible at the top of the arch formed by crystals growing with nowhere to expand but up. I've seen these in outcrops of ancient evaporative sequences, but never in a recent situation.
Our lunch stop. We are seated on the salt looking across the Dead Sea at the beautiful mountains of Jordan. A Jordanian pumping station for their own mineral operation is just visible on the opposite shoreline.
This amazed me. There are small pocket beaches along the shoreline made of rounded grains of salt eroded by the waves of brine. The Dead Sea is forming its own beach sand and granules — all of pure halite.
The salt granules are smooth and well sorted by the beach processes. I'd love to bring some of these unique sediment home to Wooster, but the Ohio humidity would destroy it very quickly!
We had a great visit to the Dead Sea today, the lowest spot on land (425 meters below sea level). Yoav gave us an excellent tour of this Land of Salt, and the partly cloudy weather meant we could get good photographs without the usual intense glare of the salt crystals in the sun. We were also as warm and dry as we've yet been on this expedition!
MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–Yes, that Sodom. This morning Melissa, Yoav, Noa and I visited a cave formed in Mount Sodom in the Dead Sea Rift Valley. Mount Sodom is a remarkable mountain of halite (sodium chloride — table salt) with very complex internal bedding. It was formed (and is still forming) as subsurface salt was forced above ground by massive overpressure of more dense sands and gravels. It is thus an excellent example of a diapir and a salt dome. The salt extends steeply upwards with its bedding mostly vertical on the outer flanks of the mountain.
Mount Sodom has thousands of caves formed as rainwater drains through the mountains. It often forms giant vertical solution cavities and then horizontal rooms and tunnels at their bases. These caves are, like most caves, cool on the inside. The solution cavities act like reverse chimneys bringing in breezes that flow out the channels below. Very pleasant places.
Melissa on her way into the salt cave. She is walking alongside a vertical wall of pure halite.
This anticline in the salt is one of the simpler structural features. There are also overturned folds, numerous faults, and serious brecciated layers. All of these features are related to the easily-deformed salt squeezing its way to the surface.
It is impossible to do justice to these majestic solution cavities with a photograph. The white salt reflects the sunlight all too well, and the lower reaches are relatively dark. Plus this cavity is probably 200 or more meters high. I think Yoav and Noa have suitably awestruck poses here! Without them with us we would not have found this cave or had the courage to enter.


BR ex- LMS Rebuilt 'Royal Scot' 4-6-0 No. 46170 'British Legion'. — Steamline Ltd.
LRP01. An excellent model of BR ex- LMS Rebuilt 'Royal Scot' 4-6-0 No. 46170 'British Legion'. From a Gladiator kit, very well built by a top class modelmaker and finished in BR lined green with later crest by the late Les Richards. Shedplate 5A Crewe North. Fitted with Ron Chaplin double reduction gearbox and with Buhler or similar motor. Very good cab detail. I originally commissioned this model from the builder many years ago and it has spent virtually all its time with the present owner in its original box. So really it can be described as very lightly used or test run only. The prototype was a rebuild of the experimental high pressure loco 'Fury', the rebuild carried out by North British Loco Co. at Glasgow in 1935. The LMS lumped it into the 'Royal Scot' class as a matter of convenience as it was not really a 'Scot' having a unique and longer boiler which could not be exchanged with other members of the class (which also prolonged its time in works for heavy repairs). LMS engine crew described the extra power from this bigger boiler as being able to pull 'one coach more than a Scot'. It lasted until December 1962, being withdrawn from Llandudno Junction (having spent only 3 months there, it was really a Crewe loco). SOLD.


Computer claim support company The Source has clinched the contract as the sole preferred supplier for personal computers and related services for Churchill Insurance's claims settlement division.
Churchill has awarded The Source a three-year contract to repair and supply computer equipment.
It is the first time Churchill has treated computer claims separately from other white good claims.
"We have worked hard to fine tune and add value to our services to the insurance industry," said Daniel Mitchell, managing director of The Source Claim Support.
"To be selected by one of Britain's top personal lines insurers is a splendid achievement," he said.
Charles Crawford, Churchill's technical services director said The Source had been picked after proving it could meet Churchill's stringent selection criteria.
The Source said it could offer cost savings to insurers, particularly in the fast growing portable computer market.


"I always knew I was going to be rich," he said. "I don't think I ever doubted it for a minute."
"You cannot make a good deal with a bad person," Buffett reportedly told Suzy Welch, a bestselling management author and CNBC contributor.
She told CNBC it was Buffett who gave her the career advice that has helped her more than any other wisdom she's received.
"Cryptocurrencies will come to bad endings," Buffett said in Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting in 2018. "There's nothing being produced in the way of value from the asset."
He continued: "It's something where people who are of less-than-stellar character see an opportunity to clip people who were trying to get rich because their neighbor's getting rich buying this stuff neither one of them understands."


Tyler Price singled to left field.
Lincoln Hewett doubled to left center, RBI; Tyler Price scored.
Will Merriken doubled to left center, RBI; Will Smith scored.
Cameron Peters singled to right field.
Cameron Peters advanced to third on a wild pitch.
Blake Bond singled to shortstop, RBI; Cameron Peters scored.
Tyler Price singled through the left side; Blake Bond advanced to second.
Jeb Byerley to p for Fletcher Mazzola.
Will Smith singled through the left side; Jack Howard advanced to second.
Will Merriken hit by pitch; Will Smith advanced to second; Jack Howard advanced to third.
Will Salva flied out to cf, SAC, RBI; Will Smith advanced to third; Jack Howard scored.
Cameron Peters singled to shortstop.
Clayton Slater to p for Cameron Whitson.
Jack Howard singled to right field; Dean Hermanson advanced to third.
Nick Raulin to p for Jeb Byerley.
Hunter Curtis hit by pitch.
Cody Shell tripled to center field.
Will Salva flied out to cf, SAC, RBI; Cody Shell scored.
Sam Watson reached first on an error by 2b; Scott Ellis advanced to second.
Hunter Curtis singled to second base.
Sam Watson doubled down the rf line, RBI; Gavin Kandrick scored.
Ethan Delahunty to p for Nick Raulin.
Ryan Campbell pinch hit for Blake Carroll.
Brayden King pinch hit for Blake Bond.
Jacob Rodriguez singled to second base; Brayden King advanced to second.
Tyler Price walked; Jacob Rodriguez advanced to second; Brayden King advanced to third.
Ryan Campbell reached on a fielder's choice; Tyler Price advanced to second; Jacob Rodriguez advanced to third; Brayden King out at home 3b to c.
Hunter Curtis singled to second base, RBI; Ryan Campbell advanced to second; Tyler Price advanced to third; Jacob Rodriguez scored.
Lincoln Hewett walked, RBI; Hunter Curtis advanced to second; Ryan Campbell advanced to third; Tyler Price scored.
Scotty McGuire singled to right field, 2 RBI; Lincoln Hewett advanced to third; Hunter Curtis scored; Ryan Campbell scored.
Blake Carroll to cf for Ryan Campbell.
Blake Bond to rf for Brayden King.
Joseph Hoelle to p for Chenzo Scanio.


text:
Q: How to use Jackson to deserialise Array Like This? How to deserialise simple? My JSON look like:
{
"ok": 1,
"data": {
    "A": [
        {
            "brand": "Aman",
            "logo": "http://zxmall.bluedoor.com.cn/uploads/logo/61.png"
        }
    ],
    "B": [
        {
            "brand": "Base-DS",
            "logo": "http://zxmall.bluedoor.com.cn/uploads/logo/24.png"
        },
        {
            "brand": "BB",
            "logo": "http://zxmall.bluedoor.com.cn/uploads/logo/46.png"
        },
        {
            "brand": "Banane",
            "logo": "http://zxmall.bluedoor.com.cn/uploads/logo/11.png"
        }

    ],
    "C": [
        {
            "brand": "cat",
            "logo": "http://zxmall.bluedoor.com.cn/uploads/logo/78.png"
        },
        {
            "brand": "car",
            "logo": "http://zxmall.bluedoor.com.cn/uploads/logo/129.png"
        }
    ]
}
}

from [A-Z].
My code like below:
ReslutMod data = JsonUtil.jsonToMod(json, ReslutMod.class);

in JsonUtil:
public static  <T> T jsonToMod(String jsonString, Class<T> clazz) {
    if (StringUtils.isEmpty(jsonString)) {
         return null;
    }
    try {
        return JsonMapper
                .getInstance()
                .getJsonMapper().readValue(jsonString, clazz);
    } catch (IOException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
        return null;
    }
}

JavaBean:
 public class ReslutMod {
    public int ok;
    public BrandListMod data;
 }

JavaBean2:
 public class BrandListMod {
    public ArrayList<CardBrandModel> A;
    public ArrayList<CardBrandModel> B;
    public ArrayList<CardBrandModel> C;
    public ArrayList<CardBrandModel> D;
    public ArrayList<CardBrandModel> E;
    public ArrayList<CardBrandModel> F;
    public ArrayList<CardBrandModel> G;
    public ArrayList<CardBrandModel> H;
    public ArrayList<CardBrandModel> I;
    public ArrayList<CardBrandModel> J;
    public ArrayList<CardBrandModel> K;
    public ArrayList<CardBrandModel> L;
    public ArrayList<CardBrandModel> M;
    public ArrayList<CardBrandModel> N;
    public ArrayList<CardBrandModel> O;
    public ArrayList<CardBrandModel> P;
    public ArrayList<CardBrandModel> Q;
    public ArrayList<CardBrandModel> R;
    public ArrayList<CardBrandModel> S;
    public ArrayList<CardBrandModel> T;
    public ArrayList<CardBrandModel> U;
    public ArrayList<CardBrandModel> V;
    public ArrayList<CardBrandModel> W;
    public ArrayList<CardBrandModel> X;
    public ArrayList<CardBrandModel> Y;
    public ArrayList<CardBrandModel> Z;
}

I don't think is a good way. What can I do?

A: You can use a Map here.
E. g. :
class ReslutMod {
    public int ok;
    public Map<String, ArrayList<CardBrandModel>> data;

    public int getOk() {
        return ok;
    }

    public void setOk(int ok) {
        this.ok = ok;
    }

    public Map<String, ArrayList<CardBrandModel>> getData() {
        return data;
    }

    public void setData(Map<String, ArrayList<CardBrandModel>> data) {
        this.data = data;
    }

}

Where class CardBrandModel  will be like this :
class CardBrandModel {

    String brand;

    String logo;

    public String getBrand() {
        return brand;
    }

    public void setBrand(String brand) {
        this.brand = brand;
    }

    public String getLogo() {
        return logo;
    }

    public void setLogo(String logo) {
        this.logo = logo;
    }

}


I'm very pleased with this ( our second) cowhide rug. Be aware that they are a natural product. The one I received was very cream and gray. I like it though and plan to purchase at least three more for other areas in our home. The texture is simply delightful. The hide is very well tanned and is a beautiful product . I received them shipped quickly and I liked that they did not use an oversize box, so the rug didn't shift a lot inside the box while in transit. As an interior designer (retired) I can tell you this is very very well priced and a terrific product. I highly recommend.
This Grey Brazilian Cowhide Rug has a masculine character on it. Adds elegance to any room in your home or office, make it a floor accent, a table piece or even as a material for your furniture's upholstery and you can be sure to surprise your guests and family. Expected to last a very long time, these natural cowhides are tested to be durable.


text:
Lindsey Graham calls on US to admit its 'fair share' of Syrian refugees
The South Carolina senator and presidential hopeful urges for more support from the US, which has accepted only 1,500 Syrian refugees so far
Republican presidential hopeful and US Senator Lindsey Graham addresses a Newsmaker Luncheon at the National Press Club on Tuesday in Washington, DC. Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images
Ben Jacobs in Washington and Sabrina Siddiqui in Keene, New Hampshire
Tue 8 Sep 2015 16.12 EDT Last modified on Sat 14 Apr 2018 14.02 EDT
South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham became the first Republican presidential candidate to call on the United States to admit more Syrian refugees on Tuesday.
In a speech expressing his opposition to the proposed Iran deal, Graham urged the United States to take "its fair share of Syrian refugees".
The South Carolina Republican said "we should take the Statue of Liberty and tear it down" if the United States continues its current, limited policies on admitting refugees from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Graham also called on European nations to "up their game" in addressing the refugee crisis. In a pointed reference to the second world war, he said to Europeans: "It wasn't that long ago you needed someone's help."
Graham joins Democrat Martin O'Malley as only the second of 22 presidential candidates to call for the United States to admit more refugees from Syria.
Marco Rubio, another Republican presidential contender, told reporters on Tuesday he is "open" to allowing more refugees into the United States – reiterating an answer he first provided in a radio interview on Monday.
"I don't know what the right number is, but we want to be careful terrorists don't take advantage ... to infiltrate themselves among the very innocent people that would also be coming," Rubio, a senator from Florida, said after a campaign event in Keene, New Hampshire.
He added that Europe would nonetheless face the brunt of the refugee crisis and said the US should lend support to its allies.
"We should be able to offer them them assistance, in creating some places and camps where people can live and be safe while this thing works itself out," Rubio said.
The US has accepted only 1,500 Syrian refugees so far, and the White House said last week it did not anticipate any changes to its current policy.
Rubio's comments followed a town hall in which he advocated for a foreign policy driven by "moral clarity" and denounced the Obama administration for overseeing a period of global chaos that contributed to the refugee crisis in Europe.
The senator first addressed the situation in an interview Sunday with the Boston Herald Radio and expressed particular concern for Syrian Christians who have been displaced by the ongoing civil war.
"They would prefer to stay in that region, so I think a better outcome here obviously is that we have to provide for their short term," Rubio told the station. "But long term, we have to have a precise regional strategy that allows, especially the Christians to go back to their ancient cities, and their ancient populations centers, where they have been for almost 2,000 years, up until recent times."
Graham also used passionate language to denounce those in the Republican party who have followed the lead of GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump in calling for mass deportation of all 11 million undocumented migrants in the United States. A vocal supporter of comprehensive immigration reform within the GOP, Graham used powerful, personal language Tuesday to express his discontent with the rightward tilt of his party on immigration.
The South Carolina Republican, who was left to raise his younger sister after his parents died, told attendees that "when they write the history of these times, Lindsey Graham, who is from the reddest of red states, can say the following: I refused to break up families for my political benefit because I know what it's like to have your family destroyed."
Graham said that it is important for the Republican party's political future to attract Hispanic voters. Hispanic voters would be attracted to "the party of limited government, stronger military, faith-based values, but I'd have a hard time getting there if I believe you were going to deport my mother", he said.
The three-term senator is currently receiving less than 1% of the vote in national polls and is struggling even in his home state of South Carolina.


text:
Q: Explaining a concept: Does showing code early make it clearer? I guess this is a question that may interest many, so please discuss! :-)
Now, imagine you want to show people you work with a concept for future development (like a new product or a new technology you want to introduce).
Does it make sense to show code early or would you go with the PPT first? Or what would you recommend?

A: +1 to Stijn, because really, that's all that matters.
But, it really depends on what you're doing.  What is your "concept"?

*

*An API (e.g. mapreduce)?

Show the code of the API, don't waste people's time with the implementation code, that's not important - "hey, check out how I iterate over your input!  it's so clever!".  Nope.  Nobody cares.  If your API is wonderful, it will get used, nobody cares how crufty the code is to make it work.

*

*A product (e.g. facebook)?

Show the code?  Nobody cares.  Not even facebook cares (if they did, why would they use php?  I kid!).  Blow their mind with a demo of the half-complete prototype that does a few things poorly, but shows how great it can be.

*

*The implementation itself (e.g. a new std::sort routine)?

A lot of people might be interested in seeing the innards.  Especially people on SO.  So, publish the code, or a whitepaper, when you get something working.  It's not "my twitter clone is gonna be sweet, check out how cool my TruncateTo140Chars() function is!".  On the other hand, you can get quick feedback on your new implementation's approach by showing your algorithm (in code or pseudocode).  You can show benchmarks, which is better than "this code should be faster because I do one less compare with zero".

Please just prototype, get something demo'd that your Users will care about.  Only worry about the code if that's what your users want to see (It's usually not).

A: I like the no-bullshit approach of a proof of concept. Just blow them off their feet and prove that it works.

A: It depends on the audience and the nature of the product.  If the audience and/or product is considered "technical" than consider presenting code.  However, you should make it an integral part of the presentation not the entire thing.

A: I don't believe it is very useful to show your code early. "Us" technical people are always proud to show off our new technical details and ideas. However, people using the products and technologies are only interested in what they can accomplish with it. They will often not share your enthousiasm of the techniques, in this case the code.
My advice is to stick with a more general approach, explain why it's useful and how it will make their lives better. To add a car-analogy: people want to know how much horse-power it has, not how a combustion-engine works!
These implementation-details might however be interesting to your co-workers!

A: If it really isn't tech people at all, then I have found out that paper models works great.
People are scared to criticize when it has been coded, it much easier (and cheaper) to scrap a paper model then the real thing.
When showing a concept of a website/application to a non tech, draw the different pages, the login dialogs etc.
When showing a concept to a fellow developer (if he just don't get it) draw the different classes on paper and show the relations. UML could be useful here if both of you know the syntax.
Else if you got the time, I would say, blow them away with a full implementation :-)

A: I agree with rtalbot. If the audience is non-technical, perhaps future users, or your boss, I'd go with some diagrams. Perhaps Use Cases. Show them what you can do with it. If it's small, and your friends are nerdy, code up a smoke-and-mirrors demo.

A: Show customers / stake holders the prototypes early, and review the code among peers later.
Stake holders control what functionality you want to deliver (finding this out early is key to delivering something profitable / useful).
But to increase code quality, code reviews are extremely powerful if done at the right time.  My experience has been that doing this towards the end of an iteration provides the most bank for the buck.  Your mileage may vary in terms of the optimum time to perform code review (junior devs need review early and often, senior devs are usually fine until later).


text:
A third of consumers think businesses are sharing too much information and content relating to coronavirus
New research suggests six million consumers are boycotting businesses because of how and what they're communicating
One in ten people have concerns on the accuracy of information being shared by brands
Consumers are more responsive to positive news and useful information shared by businesses
Email and traditional media are the preferred channels to receive comms – with social media seriously lagging behind
Questions arising over GDPR compliance as nearly a third of people have been contacted by businesses they don't remember signing up with or haven't heard from in a long time
New data shows businesses that get their communications wrong during the coronavirus pandemic could face the public boycotting their brand.
With an increasing number of industries and companies impacted from the coronavirus pandemic, businesses are working hard to communicate effectively with their target audiences.
But according to new research, a third (32 per cent) of the UK feel they have received "too much" or "far too much" content and information from businesses relating to coronavirus. A quarter (23 per cent) of respondents find the level of communications from businesses overwhelming; a fifth said it's worrying, and one in ten are annoyed by businesses contacting them in the current climate.
The data also revealed businesses getting their communications wrong during the pandemic are likely to face disastrous consequences. According to the survey of 2,000 respondents, commissioned by Unhooked Communications, more than one in ten people have boycotted a business altogether because of the content or information they've shared.
Men are more likely to stop giving businesses their custom than women, with 14 per cent saying they'd boycotted in response to coronavirus comms, compared to 9 per cent of women.
People aged between 25 and 34 are most likely to boycott a business because of getting their Covid-19 comms wrong (20 per cent), followed by 35-44 year olds (19 per cent) and 18-24 year olds (14 per cent). Those aged 55 and over were the least likely to boycott a company (5 per cent), and 9 per cent of 45-54 year olds said they would stop buying products or services from a business if they felt communication about coronavirus was off the mark.
Additionally, one in ten people have seen businesses they don't trust sharing information they're not sure is accurate. On top of this, 28 per cent of consumers have received Covid-19 emails from businesses they don't remember signing up for or haven't heard from in a long time, raising questions about whether businesses are complying to GDPR legislation in a bid to reconnect with their databases.
A number of respondents stated they would rather receive no communications from businesses relating to coronavirus, while others said they only wanted to get information from the NHS or the Government.
In contrast, 61 per cent thought businesses were getting the level of Covid-19 comms right; 28 per cent said they were 'thankful' for businesses' content, and nearly a quarter (24 per cent) said they had been left feeling 'positive'.
Over a third (36 per cent) have seen organisations sharing 'useful' information, and over a fifth (23 per cent) have seen businesses sharing thoughtful or good news, which made them feel better about the current situation.
Claire Gamble, MD at Unhooked Communications, said: "A lot of businesses are understandably looking at how they're communicating with their customers during the global coronavirus crisis. But while consumers are responding positively to those who take the time to get their approach right, businesses that have a knee-jerk reaction are finding themselves in the spotlight for the wrong reasons.
"It's great to see that helpful content and good news is helping people to feel more positive in these uncertain times. But there's a risk that some businesses could be contributing to the panic and uncertainty. With 24/7 rolling news, social media and the situation changing constantly, businesses need to consider whether they really need to add to the noise out there.
"Before sending out comms, businesses should assess their operations first and make sure they're doing everything they possibly can to protect and support their employees, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders. If they don't, any communications they send out – even with the best of intentions – could backfire. If they do have relevant and necessary information to send out, they need to consider what and how they communicate this."
The research found the most popular channel for consumers to receive information from businesses relating to Covid-19 was email, which was the preferred choice for 37 per cent of respondents. This was followed by the media, which 30 per cent said was their preferred channel to access information.
Only 6 per cent of respondents said they liked to get the information from social media. This was followed by accessing information directly from businesses' website (5 per cent), text or instant message (4 per cent), direct physical mail (2 per cent), word of mouth from family and friends (2 per cent), and phone (2 per cent). One in ten people had no preferred channel of communications.
For further details, visit: weareunhooked.com/covid-19-comms-data
MANCHESTER CYBER TECH COMPANY DEVELOPS CORONA VIRUS DIGITAL HEALTH PASSPORT WITH VCODE®


Researchers have developed a way of using 'destructive distillation' technology to recycle old tyres into a source of biofuel.
How Can Kids Become Global Recycling Citizens?
Ahead of Global Recycling Day on 18th March 2019, children are being asked to join a huge, worldwide drive to ensure we have a sustainable planet ahead. How can you make a change?
It's awards season, we're not just talking about the Brits and the Oscars, there's awards for cars too! we take a look at some of the recent successes.
The number of diesels being scrapped compared to petrol cars in the UK is growing. Here is why so many are saying goodbye to their old diesels.


text:
Mystery Road TV series heads to BBC Four
James R | On 14, Sep 2018
BBC Four has bagged the rights to Mystery Road the TV series.
The six-part drama, based on Ivan Sen's acclaimed feature film, is a crime thriller set against the big landscapes and stunning scenery of Australia.
Produced by Bunya Productions for ABC Australia in association with all3media international, Mystery Road stars Aaron Pedersen as detective Jay Swan, who is sent to the remote outback town of Patterson for what he thinks will be a simple investigation into the disappearance of two young jackaroos.
Partnered with tough local cop Emma James (Judy Davis), their investigation will gradually unpeel the layers of the town, as Jay's ability to hunt beneath the surface reveals crimes and miscarriages of justice that stretch back into Patterson's history. In solving the mystery of the missing boys, Jay and Emma – and the town – will learn a hard lesson – that you have to be truthful about your past to understand your present, and to have any sort of future.
Sue Deeks, BBC Head of Programme Acquisition, says: "Mystery Road is set in a uniquely stark and beautiful landscape and features a cast of some of the best acting talent around. We're thrilled to be bringing this compelling and visually stunning drama to BBC viewers."
Caroline Stephenson, SVP at EMEA North at all3media international, adds: "Mystery Road is a perfect show for BBC Four – its distinct Outback setting and Australian Noir approach to the crime genre will be relished by the channel's discerning drama audience."
Written by Michaeley O'Brien (Underbelly) and directed by Rachel Perkins (Redfern Now, Jasper Jones), Mystery Road is produced by David Jowsey and Greer Simpson, alongside executive producers Sally Riley and Ivan Sen.
The series is part of a growing wave of Australia programmes making their way to UK screens, from Glitch on Netflix to Cleverman and Barracuda on BBC Three. Mystery Road will air weekly as a double-bill on BBC Four, starting from 9pm on Saturday 22nd September.
BBC Four Mystery Road
VICE box sets arrive on All 4
Netflix unveils trailer for animated series Hilda
What does the white paper mean for the BBC?... May 12, 2016 | James R
BBC iPlayer views jump 11pc in record year... February 12, 2018 | James R
BBC Director General Tony Hall to step down this summer... January 20, 2020 | James R
Classic BBC box sets head to Sky and NOW TV... March 20, 2019 | James R


text:
Words containing l, a, d
17-letters
17-letter words containing l, a, d
a philip randolph — A(sa) Philip, 1889–1979, U.S. labor leader: president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters 1925–68.
abariringa island — a coral atoll in the S Pacific Ocean, part of Kiribati: largest of the Phoenix Islands. 3.5 sq. mi. (9 sq. km).
absentee landlord — a landlord who does not live in or near a property from which he draws an income
absolute altitude — the altitude of an aircraft over the surface of the land or water below
absolute humidity — the humidity of the atmosphere, usually expressed as the number of grams of water contained in 1 cubic metre of air
absolute judgment — any judgment about a single stimulus, e.g. about the value of one of its properties or about whether it is present or absent
accelerator board — a printed circuit board added to a computer that enhances the CPU with a faster microprocessor.
accelerator pedal — a pedal pressed with the foot to make a vehicle go faster
accidental damage — damage to a person's home or its contents that occurs unintentionally during the course of everyday life
accidental injury — bodily injury that has an accidental cause, rather than being caused by a disease process or a longstanding medical condition
according to plan — If something happens according to plan, it happens in exactly the way that it was intended to happen.
accrued liability — the amount of liability accumulated at a given time but not yet paid.
acetylene welding — a type of welding that uses an acetylene torch
acetylformic acid — pyruvic acid.
acidity regulator — a substance, such as citric acid, added to food to change or maintain its pH value
activated alumina — a granular highly porous and adsorptive form of aluminium oxide, used for drying gases and as an oil-filtering material and catalyst
adaptive learning — (algorithm) (Or "Hebbian learning") Learning where a system programs itself by adjusting weights or strengths until it produces the desired output.
adenylate cyclase — an enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of ATP to cyclic AMP.
admiralty islands — a group of about 40 volcanic and coral islands in the SW Pacific, part of Papua New Guinea, in the Bismarck Archipelago: main island: Manus. Pop (whole province): 43 589 (2000). Area: about 2000 sq km (800 sq miles)
adventure holiday — a holiday that involves some physically challenging activity such as canoeing, rock climbing, etc
adverse selection — Adverse selection is a term used to describe the tendency of those in dangerous jobs or with high-risk lifestyles to want to take out life insurance.
advocatus diaboli — devil's advocate
affiliation order — (formerly) an order made by a magistrates' court that a man adjudged to be the father of an illegitimate child shall contribute a specified periodic sum towards the child's maintenance
affiliative drive — the urge to form friendships and attachments, typically prompting a person to attend social gatherings and join organizations as a way of preventing loneliness and gaining emotional security.
ahnfelt's seaweed — a red alga, Ahnfeltia plicata, common along the coasts of North America and Europe, having brownish, bushlike branches.
alcala de henares — city in central Spain, near Madrid: pop. 159,000
alexander severus — a.d. 208?-235; Rom. emperor ( a.d. 222-235)
alexandrian senna — a tropical leguminous plant, Cassia acutifolia, having yellow flowers and long pods
algol 60 modified — (language) An erratum in [Computer J 21(3):282 (Aug 1978)] applies to both.
algorithmic model — (programming) A method of estimating software cost using mathematical algorithms based on the parameters which are considered to be the major cost drivers. These estimate of effort or cost are based primarily on the size of the software or Delivered Source Instructions (DSI)s, and other productivity factors known as Cost Driver Attributes. See also Parametric Model.
alive and kicking — If you say that someone or something is alive and kicking, you are emphasizing not only that they continue to survive, but also that they are very active.
all well and good — If you say that something is all well and good, you are suggesting that it has faults or disadvantages, although it may appear to be correct or reasonable.
all-expenses-paid — (of a holiday, trip, etc) free, with everything paid for
allende meteorite — a carbonaceous chondrite meteorite that fell over northern Mexico in 1969: one of the largest recorded falls of a stony meteorite.
almanach de gotha — a publication giving statistical information on European royalty.
altitude sickness — a condition affecting some persons at high altitudes, caused by insufficient oxygen in the blood and characterized by dizziness, nausea, and shortness of breath.
altitude training — training performed at high altitude to prepare an athlete's body to cope with a reduced supply of oxygen
aluminum chloride — a yellow-white, crystalline, water-soluble solid that in its white hydrated form, AlCl 3 ⋅6H 2 O, is used chiefly as a wood preservative and in its yellow-white anhydrous form, AlCl 3 , chiefly as a catalyst.
ambrette-seed oil — a yellow oil expressed from ambrette seeds, used as a fixative in the manufacture of perfume.
american dialects — regional or social varieties of spoken American English identified by differences in grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation: principal dialect areas are now generally distinguished as Northern, Midland, and Southern
american highland — a region in Antarctica, W of Enderby Land and E of Wilkes Land: discovered 1939.
aminoglutethimide — a hormone antagonist, C 13 H 16 N 2 O 2 , used in the treatment of Cushing's syndrome and breast cancer.
ammonium chloride — a white soluble crystalline solid used chiefly as an electrolyte in dry batteries and as a mordant and soldering flux. Formula: NH4Cl
anabolic steroids — a synthetic derivative of testosterone, sometimes used by athletes to help increase weight and strength.
andreanof islands — a group of islands in the central Aleutian Islands, Alaska. Area: 3710 sq km (1432 sq miles)
andrew fluegelman — (person) A successful attorney, editor of PC World Magazine, and author of the MS-DOS communications program PC-TALK III, written in 1982. He once owned the trademark "freeware" but it wasn't enforced after his disappearance. In 1985, Fluegelman was diagnosed with cancer. He was last seen a week later, on 1985-07-06, when he left his Marin County home to go to his office in Tiburon. He called his wife later that day and has not been heard from since. His car was found at Vista Point on the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge.
angry fruit salad — (abuse) A bad visual-interface design that uses too many colours. (This term derives, of course, from the bizarre day-glo colours found in canned fruit salad). Too often one sees similar effects from interface designers using colour window systems such as X; there is a tendency to create displays that are flashy and attention-getting but uncomfortable for long-term use.
antidazzle mirror — a rear-view mirror for road vehicles that only partially reflects headlights behind
antifederal party — the party that, before 1789, opposed the adoption of the proposed Constitution and after that favored its strict construction.
antiprostaglandin — A prostaglandin inhibitor.
On this page, we collect all 17-letter words with L-A-D. It's easy to find right word with a certain length. It is the easiest way to find 17-letter word that contains in L-A-D to use in Scrabble or Crossword puzzles


text:
Home Opinions Facebook's Algorithm Revamp Could Make it the Greatest Social Media
Facebook's Algorithm Revamp Could Make it the Greatest Social Media
Hannah Maerowitz
Image courtesy of Flickr
In a Facebook post on Jan. 11, Mark Zuckerberg announced a new focus for Facebook's algorithm: facilitating meaningful human-to-human connections.
This shift in focus means fewer advertisements, cute videos of animals, and memes and demarcates a reclamation of social media's most positive function — connecting people in meaningful ways.
Facebook's announcement elicited mixed reactions from the public, including everything from joking demands for the company to refund stock investments to sincere endorsements of the platform's refocus on what many deem to be the positive potential of social media.
Certain social media platforms have a greater capacity for fulfilling this positive potential function than others. For instance, the breadth of Pinterest is reposted images; usually images of items that are available for purchase. Users design boards that are meant to reflect ideal rooms, appearances, and possessions.
On the other hand, Instagram has more potential for self-expression and connection than a more repost-based platform. Many artists use Instagram to gain traction behind their art and Instagram can give you some (albeit, handpicked) information about what acquaintances and friends are up to.
However, much of what determines the "best" social media platform is dependent upon how we use the platforms at our disposal. The same expressive power of Instagram that can be extremely positive can also be channeled into the expression of hateful attitudes or to promote unrealistic beauty standards.
Social media has the potential to spur advocacy around hot button issues; often, with change as a result. For instance, Twitter became a tool of centralized political organization during the Ferguson riots. Solidarity on certain issues can be achieved through mass expression.
Additionally, meme culture has prompted candid discussions surrounding anxiety and depression. By locating humor in suffering that was previously taboo, memes have made many users feel less invisible in their struggles with mental health.
Despite its merits, social media also has many drawbacks, including a dangerous potential to be an arm of corporations.
Facebook (and many other social media applications) can track what you look at and do within the applications. That information can be a powerful segway into feeding you advertisements.
Many social media apps are also connected to other social media apps; for instance, Facebook is connected to many of its users' Tinder and Venmo accounts. This consolidation of information can make social media platforms an irresistibly powerful tool for money-motivated exploitation.
All social media platforms have the capacity to spread misinformation. They can be a tool for verbal assault and allow people to compare themselves to others easily, both of which can have corrosive effects on self esteem. They can function as instant gratification, at the expense of more substantive interactions.
Facebook's decision to change its algorithm is an acknowledgement of the fact that social media can be used in detrimental ways and as a result, have negative effects on society. The company, along with other social media titans, faces the difficult balance of maintaining an open platform, while simultaneously protecting that platform from its high potential for abuse.
However, the responsibility to facilitate the best of social media should not and cannot be only in corporate hands. As consumers, we are partially responsible for the ways in which we use and abuse social media. We can choose to utilize its positive potential or to allow it to become a source of polarization, instant gratification, and ignorance.
We can use Facebook as a tool to connect with friends from the past or as a distraction in lectures we pay thousands of dollars to attend. Instagram can be a platform that we use to compare ourselves to others or we can use it to stay peripherally updated on people we're interested in. Deeming information we read on Twitter as fact and reacting to it as such is also a decision we can choose to make or not.
Facebook's announcement that their algorithm will be reworked to favor human connection should be applauded. Additionally, it should spark discussions about our future use of platforms. No matter how many social media platforms decide to emphasize human connection and positive potential, we as consumers have to choose to seize that.


Just Desserts Take The Cake!
Award-winning family-run Yorkshire bakers and pâtissiers, Just Desserts based in Shipley has collaborated with the world famous Belgian biscuit brand Lotus to launch a new handcrafted cheesecake.
The Lotus Biscoff® Cheesecake is aimed at the foodservice and hospitality markets.
The original and traditional caramelised biscuit, first baked in the Belgian town of Lembeke in 1932 to a secret Boone family recipe, has been used in the new individual Lotus Biscoff® Cheesecake, combining the biscuit crumb with the bakery's creamy cheesecake and finished with a marbled Biscoff® spread and a sprinkle of crumb. The product is available 1 x 16 portions.