MERCEDES-BENZ USA - Joe Johnson to corporate development and transformation officer. He was market man- ager for the Los Angeles region of Mercedes-Benz USA.
COVISINT - Jacqui Dedo, 39, to head of sales and customer enablement activities. She had not been given a formal title at press time. Dedo was president of the Ford Value Team at Robert Bosch Corp.
Covisint is the e-business trading exchange formed by DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors and joined by Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. It is temporarily headquartered in Southfield, Mich.
Bob Reilly to senior partner and executive vice president of the division providing business services for light-vehicle original-equipment manufacturers. This includes customer satisfaction, product quality, vehicle services and other related studies. He was COO of American Isuzu Motors.
Harold Krivan, senior partner and executive vice president, will lead the division responsible for automotive supplier, commercial vehicle and aftermarket businesses. The division serves automotive component and aftermarket suppliers, medium- and heavy-duty truck manufacturers and the RV industry and also provides automotive forecasting services. Krivan was head of the company's U.S. Automotive Group operation in Troy, Mich.
J.D. Power is a global marketing information services company in Los Angeles.
MSN CARPOINT - Ruth D'Souza to general manager of Carpoint.ca, the Canadian version of Carpoint.com. She was director of business development for @Home Canada.
MSN Carpoint of Redmond, Wash., is an online car-buying service and automotive marketplace. It is a unit of Microsoft Corp.
Nick Peluso to president of the logistics group consisting of Remarketing Solutions, Service Solutions and Auction Transport Inc. He was vice president of sales and marketing for ADT.
David Young to Region One vice president of operations. He was vice president of operations for ADT.
Kelly Conger to Region Four vice president of operations. He was Eastern Regional vice president of operations for ADT.
Jack Nizza to special assistant on the General Motors account. He was national director of operations for the General Motors account at ADT.
Chuck Novince to vice president of DaimlerChrysler special operations. He was national director of operations for ADT's DaimlerChrysler account.
Michael Lasini to vice president of sales and staff director. He was ADT's director of sales.
David Nutter to vice president of reconditioning operations. He was director of logistics operations for ADT.
Jeff Lenar to vice president and general counsel. He was vice president and general counsel for ADT.
Arthur deAlba to director of architecture. He was director of architecture and construction for ADT.
Dan Dietsch to managing director of Manheim's Technical Center. He was operations manager for the ADT Automotive Tech Center.
Billy Byrd to director of Manheim's Technical Center. He was an instructor at ADT's Tech Center.
Julie Warpool to manager of software development for Manheim Interactive. She was manager of special development for ADT.
George Largay to director of communications. He was director of marketing and advertising for ADT.
Manheim Auctions of Atlanta is a unit of Cox Enterprises Inc., also in Atlanta.
CHATTANOOGA AUTO AUCTION - Mike Schmucker to general sales manager. He will continue to oversee dealer relations and also will assume responsibility for the Fleet/Lease department and all national account activity. He was the auction's dealer consignment manager.
Chattanooga Auto Auction is in Chattanooga, Tenn.
INVOICEDEALERS.COM INC. - Greg Baszucki, 35, to president. He was COO.
InvoiceDealers.com of Palo Alto, Calif., is an automotive comparison shopping service.


Back to my sweet apartment. I look at my fridge. It is full of fridge magnet souvenirs. I think it is quite messy. So I took a picture of my fridge door with full of fridge magnet before I took all fridge magnet off. Do you have something similar?
The Last Supper statue on my collection rack.
Red Knot Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 by Shingleback Australia, McLaren Vale.
Back to 28th August 2011, I have several pictures during Manchester United vs Arsenal match on TV.
This is a painting of two dancers from Bali. This painting hanging in my living room of my apartment in Taman Rasuna. Do you like it?
Tonight I watched Total Recall 2012 at the cinema. This is a remake from Total Recall 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sharon Stone. Compare with the original movie, I don't really like this movie. This remake is clinical. No mars, no mutants, no soul. However, you could watch this movie if you like Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, and Bill Nighy.
I just watched The Expendables 2 in the cinema. This is a great movie. There are some blood and gory action in this movie, however I think it's still acceptable. I like to see how great actress playing in one movie. They are Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Terry Crews, and Randy Couture in this movie. I recommend this movie for your weekend.


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Northern Ireland: Game of Thrones
August 17, 2020 July 29, 2020 / Gallivantrix / Leave a comment
Regardless of your feelings about the series finale, one cannot argue that Game of Thrones failed to leave a lasting mark on the collective TV viewing audience around the world. Even if you are not a Game of Thrones fan, I think you can still enjoy the photos and descriptions here since I'm telling my story, not JRR Martin's. I enjoyed the books a lot (wish he'd finish!) and I like most of the TV show as well, even many parts that diverged greatly from the books. However, this is not a blog about a TV show, it is about Ireland: the museum exhibit in Belfast, and the outdoor landmarks which would are enjoyable on their own, minus the CGI and regardless of their attachment to the show.
Game of Thrones Touring Exhibition: Belfast
At the time I was in Ireland, the GoT Touring Exhibition was in the TEC in Belfast. I understand that it was in Belfast from April – September of 2019. I was told that there will be some part of the exhibit which will permanently stay in Belfast due to it size, but as I write this, there's zero information on the TEC website because it's all closed due to Covid-19. Additionally, the exhibition's tour schedule is currently suspended for the same reason. I'd love to be able to tell you where to go to see it, but I can't.
Warning: there are SPOILERS. If for some reason you are living under a rock and haven't seen season 8 (or already had it spoiled for you) and still want to experience that… uh, experience, then maybe just look at the pictures or skip to the outdoor part of the GoT sightseeing.
I booked tickets well in advance because I was warned it might be sold out and we were on a bit of a schedule. There's plenty of parking at the TEC and a place to get a cup of coffee and a snack in the lobby. It was such a relief to have an indoor activity on a rainy day. I got there before opening because I wanted to be in the door before the crowds arrived. There weren't actually that many people there, but I'm still glad I went early because it was filling up by the time we left about 3 hours later.
The exhibit hall was enormous. It was divided into smaller rooms by theme and there was a suggested path to follow. There was a plethora of information about every item on display as well as knowledgeable staff everywhere, most of whom had worked on the show when it was being filmed and had personal on set anecdotes to share about the actors or scenes. Generally all of them were happy to have had the experience which made it nice to have the staff share fandom and enthusiasm.
Photos were allowed everywhere, but flash photography was forbidden and the lighting was very low, so most of my photos did not turn out terribly well, I'm afraid. Honestly, you can see wide shots of the costumes and props in the show, so the impressive part of the exhibit is being able to look at the close up details involved in the dresses, jewelry, weapons and other props that are never seen on screen, or shown for only fractions of a second. There are so many more things in the exhibit than I can show here, in part because no one wants to see that many photos and the rest because so many of my photos turned out blurry or dark or both.
The display starts by introducing the houses of Westeros and their relationships and fealty with a dazzling array of flowcharts accompanied by a variety of common or popular character costumes for the main houses.
It moves next into an area that replicates the Stark family crypt at Winterfell. I was told by the guide for this portion that these statues would not be moving on with the exhibition tour since they were too large and fragile. The room was dark and the statues lit moodily as though by torch light. It was a fun effect to walk through, but a frustrating one to photograph.
The third module gets into the further houses such as those of Dorne and the Iron Islands as well as Stannis Baratheon's unholy union with Melisandre.
The fourth section is arguably the best. It's a room full of dragon skulls, the very same ones Tyrion finds while under the palace in Kings Landing that belonged to the Targaryans of days past. I have rarely been so sad about low lighting, but it did make the skulls feel a little creepy and alive, and lived experience is always better than a photo. The skulls are seriously dinosaur sized. The smallest one could probably bite me in half, and the largest could swallow me whole. Standing up. Without opening it's jaw all the way. So incredibly cool.
Following the dragon skulls were all things Mother of Dragons. Daenerys' most iconic costumes and jewelry as well as models of the dragon eggs and baby dragons.
There's an interactive display of the temple of the Faceless Men. Arya trained there, learning deep ancient secrets of how to assassinate people and then NEVER USED THEM. *sigh The display is still cool. You can pose for a photo and have your face digitally added to the wall of faces.
Next up is the Wall where John Snow joins the Night Watch to protect the realms against the coming of the Night King and his horde of walking dead that kill all the Dothraki and then… shatter?… when Arya stabs him, not using her Girl Has No Name skills in any way… ugh. Look at the shiny costumes!
The final display is the Iron Throne in King's Landing with some of the later season costumes arrayed around it. In addition to all the beautiful set pieces and costumes, there are several interactive stations where you can pose with Arya's sword Needle, John's sword Longclaw, the Wall (a cute trick with mirrors to make it look like you're holding on to a rope for dear life), and the Iron Throne itself. You can walk both forward and backward through the display, so I was able to double back and have a closer look at a few things. All in all, a lovely experience combining museum quality displays and fantastical world building.
On the way out, one of the staff told us to keep an eye out in the parking lot for the King's Landing set. He implied that one day it might be open to the public as part of a permanent exhibit, but not yet. I tried to find any information about it online, but again, since tourism is closed, there's no telling if or when the full size set that was used to film the burning of King's Landing in season 8 will ever be a public attraction or not.
The Film Locations
A large number of the stunning landscapes of the show are part of Northern Ireland. There are scads of websites dedicated to helping people find and enjoy GoT filming locations. Many of the locations are empty fields where this or that battle was filmed, while others had significant CGI added in post production. There are specialized tours where you can play dress up and act out scenes from the show. There's even a very expensive opportunity to spend some time with the actual animals who played the Stark children's direwolves.
*The photos that follow are a mix of screenshots from Game of Thrones and my own photos of the locations I visited for comparison and contrast.*
This was probably the shortest stop and yet the most beautiful. The Dark Hedges were a popular site in Northern Ireland even before the show. They also have the honor of being one of the only locations that was not CGI enhanced and are therefore quite recognizable as the King's Road in seasons 1 and 2, as well as the place where Arya Stark escaped from King's Landing.
From the outside, the dark hedges just look like a little stand of trees in between two large fields. The short stretch of road runs through a private farm, and although the patient farmer has to put up with tourists on the public road, he also seems to have a good sense of humor about the situation. Busloads of tourists come through both on Game of Thrones themed tours and on regular tours of the area because it's famous for more than just it's show appearance. As a result, parking is scarce. There was supposedly a parking lot some distance away, but everyone simply parked on the side of the road that ran perpendicular to the hedges. There's not supposed to be any cars on the hedge road itself, but of course there are always people who think the rules don't apply to them.
It's a short stop for most tours, so if photography is your goal, you might want to go on your own. I only spent about 30 minutes there and took a lot of photos which I was eventually able to parlay into a version that makes it look totally empty! Yay, photoshop? Otherwise, it's very easy to see how true to life this set is between the show and the reality.
Downhill Demesne & Mussenden Temple
Here is the filming location of Dragonstone in Season 2. Downhill Strand is the place where the seven gods of Westeros were sacrificed by Lady Melisandre. Dragonstone was the ancestral home of House Targaryen and current stronghold of the Stannis Baratheon. The scene in question is filmed at night on the beach below, so there's no real way to see it in the show. Nonetheless, it seems that the tourism board has installed statues of the seven on the beach for eager fans to see. I didn't make it down to the beach, but rather came through the Downhill Demesne gardens and grounds. If you want to see the beach, I think the A2 road goes there pretty directly.
We entered via Bishop's Gate and enjoyed the gardens with a variety of flowering bushes and trees, water features and stonework. Following the trail, we came upon an open area where the ruins of the old manor stood. Finally, walking all the way to the cliff edge, I found Mussenden Temple. Contrary to it's name, it was never a temple, merely modeled after one. It was in fact a library. It is possible to enter the "temple" during the day, but by the time we arrived it was locked up for the night.
Dunluce (again)
I did not actually realize it at the time, since it didn't show up on my initial searches for GoT locations, but Dunluce Castle was also Pyke Castle of House Grayjoy on the Iron Islands. I had to look it up and it turns out this is one of the locations that was extreme CGI. I would say more that Dunluce was the inspiration rather than the location, but hey, you gotta start somewhere. I wrote more about Dunluce in my description of the Causeway Route.
Castle Ward
This was one of the places I was most looking forward to seeing, and turned into the greatest disappointment. It's advertised as "the real life Winterfell" and while it was technically the place where Winterfell was filmed… CGI.
In all fairness, one of the reasons I did not enjoy the stop was that we were experiencing some of the hardest and most vicious rain of the entire trip that day. Ireland kind of always rains. For some reason, I thought that was like Seattle rain which is really just heavy mist and no native Seattlite owns an umbrella (at least not for rain). I had a travel umbrella and I had rain booties to keep my shoes dry and I thought that would be enough. Mostly it was. There was one terrible soaking I got while on a ferry, but other than that, I'd been mostly dry or at least only merely damp.
Not so this day. The rain was opaque. It was as though the sky was trying to be the sea. In addition, the signage for where to go and park in the sprawling acreage of Castle Ward is not clear. I followed the signs for Winterfell and wound up in a very small parking lot which in retrospect might have been staff parking, but we were so lost by then that I just gave up and parked anyway. (Now I know we should have parked at the Shore Parking Lot, but it was not obvious in any way when we drove in that day) It turned out to still be a long walk from the trail head to the actual "Winterfell" area, and on a beautiful day, or even a merely drizzly day it probably would have been a lovely walk through the National Trust. It's still very pretty, but it was harder to appreciate while wet.
Another reason I think I was disappointed is that I've been to Hobbiton in New Zealand. There are plenty of LOTR locations you can visit there that are just unchanged landscape and like Northern Ireland, they are beautiful and worth seeing, just… not like the movies. Hobbiton, on the other hand, was purpose built (twice) for the LOTR and Hobbit movies. Although the farmer who owned the land originally didn't want permanent structures, after seeing the huge influx of tourism money, he decided to keep them after all.
Thus, walking around Hobbiton, you feel like you are THERE. I knew that most of the locations I visited for GoT were not altered for the show or for tourism, but Winterfell was so highly advertised as this great experience, like being in Winterfell, stepping into the show, that I imagined it would be at least a little like Hobbiton, and give me a sense of being at the Stark family home.
When I finally arrived at "Winterfell" I felt very let down. It looked like a reconstructed historical village, the kind that kids take school field trips to see. I expect that it was meant to be a replica of the original Castle Ward. It wasn't ugly or anything, it just wasn't at all like Winterfell.
There are a ton of pay to play style activities at the Winterfell center. You can take an archery class, an axe throwing class, rent a bicycle and tour the park while wearing a cape and a special GoT messenger bag that purportedly takes you to 20 different filming locations within the grounds, most of which are "this tree" or "that field". I don't want to diminish from anyone who enjoys this kind of experience. If that is your jam, rock on. For me, a place has to be cool for more than just being the canvas on which CGI was painted. In addition, I was traveling with an older person who simply wasn't up for lots of hikes or bikes.
I wanted to simply see the grounds and enjoy the castle. The thing is… it's not really there. The closest you come is one short tower and part of a wall that kind of look like Winterfell if you squint. In the courtyard there were a dozen or so cars and a huge tent, which made getting decent photos of the type that are shown on the website nearly impossible. This is the closest angle of any building that I found to resemble the castle on the show (show: top, reality: bottom). The resemblance is there, but the feel was lacking.
In addition to the experience selling shops, there was a small art gallery and a gift shop. I spent a long time hiding in the replica ruins of an old mill waiting for another torrent to pass long enough to walk again. The rain was so extensive that the ground was almost entirely underwater.
It just goes to show that managing expectations is extremely important. I think I would have been able to overlook the disappointment of either the weather or the failure to be anything like Winterfell, but I wasn't able to overcome them both and I left feeling profoundly damp in shoes and spirits.
Inch Abbey
Thankfully, that day I had one more GoT location to visit, and it was the ruins of an old abby, which it's almost impossible for me to feel let down by. The scene is where Robb Stark's bannermen rallied to their leader after taking victory (and Jaime Lannister prisoner) at the Battle of the Whispering Wood. While Winterfell had made the cut onto my list because of my (mistaken) belief that it would be a grand immersive experience, Inch Abbey made the list just for being old ruins.
The first traces of a sacred building on this site go all the way back to 800 C.E., although it is thought that the monestary of Inis Cumhscraigh (as it was called at the time) was mainly earth and wood, so little of it remains today. The beautiful stonework remains that makes this site stand out were not built until 1180-88. It remained an active catholic monastery until 1542 when Henry the Eighth left the Catholic church because he wanted a divorce and then forced everyone under his rule to become Church of England.
The rain had eased back significantly, and one of the local tour bus drivers even offered us spare ponchos as his passengers were offloading. The tour group was rather amusing, and seemed to be having an absolute blast. They were equipped with cloaks and replica swords which appeared to be blunt steel, not plastic or wood. The tour guide, like many of those working on GoT tourist sites, had been an extra on the show and enjoyed telling stories from being on set.
They all gathered together and, at the guide's prompting, everyone bent the knee to one lady, swords aloft and shouted "the queen in the north!", echoing the original scene in which Robb was named such for the first time, but with a nod to the fact that Sansa (at that time) had taken up her brother's title. I didn't reach the group in time to catch that pose, but I did happen to get another that shows off their costumes and props. Once the group photos were over, they had a few minutes to go and take individual poses around the ruins before being herded back onto the bus.
At one point the guide expressed a thought that had not occured to me as a fan, and I want to share that as well. I think a lot of fans were disappointed by the final battle of Winterfell because it was SO DARK (among other things, so many other things). The guide for the group that was at Inch Abbey that day had been an extra in the final battle and talked about the extreme conditions that the cast and crew worked in: not sleeping, being wet and cold all the time, running up and down over and over again until they were just physically wrecked. It was something he put a lot of work into and it was really hard for him to turn around and face the criticism online.
I still think the shows writers, producers, and cinematographers FAILED in every way for that scene, but I now I also think about all the people who didn't have any creative control, or any idea what the final product would look like who were just excited to work on such a popular and groundbreaking show. In addition, the tragedy that is season 8 has not stopped most fans from continuing to love the series, the characters, and the world of Westeros. We complain a lot online, but I think it's important to use fan voices to say thanks as well. So, thanks to all the cast and crew who worked their asses off and had no control over what happened in the scripting and editing process.
The group didn't stay long, and soon we had the ruins to ourselves and I was able to tramp around with impunity, my umbrella enough to keep the now light rain off. The ruins themselves are stunning, and I think that the rain brought out the beautiful contrast of the stones and the grass that would not have been as strong on a sunny day. The stones themselves are fascinating as you can see the remnants of interior structures long since crumbled and it was exactly the kind of film location I had been hoping to see combining real life beauty with my fandom.
Inch Abbey was the final stop on both my Game of Thrones self-tour, and the Northern Ireland portion of the road trip. We tried to go to Newgrange on the way back to Dublin, but there was a series of unfortunate events involving Germans and cars (why is it always Germans I have car problems with?) that only Lemony Snicket could possibly narrate which prevented us from doing so. I did learn that you have to go there and put your name on the wait list in person. You can't make reservations ahead of time and you can't go without signing up… so. This seems like an event that it might be easier to do with a tour group than on your own. Maybe next time? Meanwhile, I hope you enjoyed my sojourn through Northern Ireland, and I hope you'll continue to join me as the story takes me back into the south.
Antwerp: Architecture, Beer & Sewers
March 10, 2019 March 5, 2019 / Gallivantrix / Leave a comment
I will admit that the main reason I was interested in going to Antwerp is because it featured in one episode of the animated version of The Tick (a ridiculous super-hero parody from my early college years). In his nigh-invulnerable state, The Tick smashes up Antwerp while chasing some bad guy and his side-kick (not to mention the Belgian police) laments the loss of such amazing, unique, and historical architecture. It stuck with me, and when I realized that Antwerp was a viable day trip from Brussels, I decided I had to go. When I started searching around for what else I could do in Antwerp besides look at amazing, unique and historical architecture, I discovered a Sewer Tour. Who does that? Me! To the underground!!
Amazing, Unique and Historic Architecture
The architecture in Antwerp is truly stunning but so much of it is hidden by advertising and construction. Plus the streets are so narrow it's hard to get a full view of the remarkable buildings. Just the train station alone is a stunning work of art.
Given the challenges I was facing with transit and my desire to see more architecture, I decided to take a leisurely walk to my tour starting point. I got to see the market square and famous statue that I'd first seen depicted at the Mini EU. The statue is that of a Roman soldier named Silvius Brabo throwing a giant hand into the distance. The story goes that long ago a giant named Druon Antigoon was charging a toll to those who wished to cross the river. When people couldn't pay, he would cut off their hand and throw it into the water. Brabo rescued the people by cutting off Antigoon's hand in turn. Now it's the most famous statue in the whole city. Europe: Where the history lives!
I also passed by an enormous cathedral which is another famous Antwerpian landmark, however, unlike every other cathedral I've ever been too, this one charged an entry fee of 6€. I don't know what makes this place cooler than Notre Dame (free to enter), but I also didn't pay to find out.
Not to mention some of the fun and interesting street art, like this sidewalk these nappers and a life size tiger that was part of the zoo's promotional materials.
It was a longish walk and I stopped for coffee and a rest on the way. I got in trouble for sitting at the wrong cafe patio. Not big trouble just "you can't sit here because you bought that coffee from the stand with the same name as us". If I'd known, I would have bought coffee from them, but really who knew two cafe's on the same block with the same name didn't share seating? It reminded me of the waffle shop in Brussels that wouldn't let patrons use their seating if they ordered from the counter inside instead of from the waitstaff outside. Belgians are really picky about where you sit, but once you have ordered something from the correct place/person then you can sit there as long as you like.
Finally I made it to the sewer tour, but I was a little early. It took me a while to find a public place to sit and wait. There were plenty of restaurants, but I only had 15-20 minutes. You'd think I could find a bench or something, but I think Belgians hate free chairs the way that Dutch hate free water. In the end I sat on a bench that was half occupied by a street busker with an accordion. Not ideal, but I really needed the rest before another long walking tour since the heat was swelling my feet quite badly.
In the Sewers
The underground tour was great. They decked us out with boots and coveralls to protect our clothes, gave us sturdy packs to cover our own handbags/etc, and kitted us out with tour tablets that had videos for each stop explaining the history in Dutch with English (and other) subtitles. The guide was dressed more comfortably, but also probably changed at the end of his work day. He spoke English well but as I was the only English speaker on the tour I often had to remind him to translate for me, which he was totally willing to do, he just had to be reminded.
It was basically a tour of Antwerp from below. Very different from other city underground tours, De Riuens are what became canals in other cities like Amsterdam, but in Antwerp Napoleon covered them over because the smell was too awful. The sewage itself runs in pipes alongside the passages, but we still waded through brackish runoff water with compost and rat droppings in it. Good call on the galoshes and coveralls.
The tour took us around the main part of downtown Antwerp, and every so often we stopped to watch a video on our tour tablets. It was a great way to get informed about the history and to put into perspective what was going on above us, but it was also a bit difficult to watch the screen AND look around. The Dutch tourists could listen and let their eyes wander, but I had to read subtitles if I wanted the information. Only after the videos were done would the guide then add a few tidbits or answer any questions.
Along the way, between video stops, he would also pause briefly to point out interesting little bits of sewer trivia. My only complaint is that it was a bit fast for my tastes. Not walking too fast, that was almost impossible to do since we had to walk carefully, but not enough stops for photo-ops! I was the only one trying to take photos and look at details.
This is the fungus that grows like fine white hair in the rat poo.
That is the rare spider that doesn't live anywhere else in Belgium because the environment in the sewers here is so unique. (the photo is only spiderwebs because the spiders were very very small). These are the rats (couldn't get a photo of them because they ran away too fast).
Over there is the part where the church was built it so it looks nicer because they had more money than the civil government.
This is the part where they built air vents that look like chimneys from the topside because workers were dying from bad air down here.
Here's where the locks were lowered so the tunnels could be flooded at high tide rinsing them clean. That's why the walls sparkle sometimes from the salt water residue/salt crystals.
Over there is the water overflow so the human waste can stay in the smaller tubes when it rains and the water can gush out the top leaving the heavier materials (human waste) behind. Also here are the wet wipes that don't dissolve when flushed but accumulate as a kind of really gross felt. Don't flush wet wipes.
That's a secret passage the Jesuits used for who-knows-what in the past but for smuggling provisions and people during the Great War even though they were often arrested by the Germans.
Over there a stalactite it starting it's life and in a few hundred years may really amount to something. Those black clouds that churn up with every step we take in the gray opaque water, grateful for having loaner boots, that's compost. Here is where we used to let the cows out. Here's where hundreds of thousands died from disease related to unclean water. Here's how beer saved the water because breweries wanted clear beer.
Yeah… Antwerp (and probably a bunch of places) had horrible water quality that caused rampant disease and death, but nobody did anything about it until it was about BEER (or more likely about beer money). Brewers who were fed up with shitty (literally, ew) water messing up their product demanded that the city do something about it. Beer saved clean water.
Since it was another underground tour, I thought it would be cooler but it turned out to be humid and hot. I felt like I was melting inside my coveralls. Unlike other underground tours where the streets of previous versions of the city were gradually built up around (looking at you Seattle) the De Ruien's tunnels were never streets. They were canals where everyone dumped all waste until it smelled so bad it had to be covered. It took hundreds of years to go from open sewer canals to a healthy system that keeps the city, the river, and the drinking water clean today.
Despite the crazy humidity, compost water, and rat droppings, it was an incredible and unique experience that I'm glad to have had.
Antwerp Beer And Street Life
Once the tour was over, I didn't really need to worry about getting anywhere on time, so I decided to meander slowly back to the train station by a slightly different route to see more stuff. I walked down to the river to see the castle but it was sadly closed for construction.
On one of my frequent "it's too hot" breaks, I sat down to try the local beer, De Koninck, and get a plate of fries which is a huge snack or small meal depending on the size of your appetite. I don't know beer language well, you can see from the pic it's not pale even though it's called blonde. The flavor is pleasantly nutty, and not at all bitter or sour. After that I had to try a coconut beer because some guys at the next table ordered it and I was intrigued. That was one of the best beer decisions of my life, right there. Like a piña colada and a delicious beer had a love child.
There was a lot of busking in Antwerp. In the other cities I've encountered begging in droves, but here it was hordes of buskers. A new one every block, sometimes 2-3 in the same block. I especially loved a lady dressed as an oxidized statue who came to life whenever she heard a coin in her bucket. I thought she was a statue when I first saw her, and only when I paused to take a photo did I realize she was a person. She played with some little girls and blew kisses at people who gave her coins before winding down to her starting pose.
I also paused to listen to a young man sing Hallelujah soulfully, but there were more performers than I could have ever imagined outside an actual festival.
The Down Side of Street Life
The unpleasantly unique street life in Antwerp was the randos. I got approached twice by random dudes. While I was walking. Who does that? I mean, that's not how you have a conversation. It's weird and creepy. I was walking and suddenly there is a guy walking next to me trying to chat me up. Ew gross go away. I don't know if they were building up to a scam or trying to get a date or what… I can't actually imagine doing that to another human, and I talk to strangers all the time. I have never engaged anyone who is already walking unless a) we are in a tour together, or b) I'm in a great deal of distress and need help pronto.
These dudes were just chatting me up. I tried to tell them 'no thanks' as politely as I could but it took several tries, and what do you do when you're already walking and they come up and walk with you? How do you walk away? I'm already walking! Dudes, don't do this shit! It's bad enough when you come up or of nowhere at a pub or when we're sitting at a bus stop or park (also hella awkward btw), but to start walking with me made me feel hunted. It's not "being friendly". As a person who talks to strangers constantly, as a person who does randomly have conversations with dudes as well as women, I won't talk to you if you give off creeper vibes and that shit is creepy AF.
Ending on a Positive Note
Once out of range of the creepy dudes, my walk back to the station was much nicer than my walk from the station had been. By that time in the evening ¾ of the shops were closed and all the people were sitting in restaurants instead of crowding the sidewalks. I could see a little bit more of the buildings without feeling like I was going to be run down by pedestrians in a hurry.
The architecture and street performance isn't even the end of it, since there's plenty of beautiful mural art on the sides of the more modern and less interesting buildings.
Lastly, returning to the station cooled off and full of delicious beer and frites, I took a little more time to enjoy the Antwerp train station in all it's architectural glory. The station is truly a work of art. I wasn't even sad about missing out on the castle and cathedral after seeing more of that station.
If you want to watch the cartoon that first brought my attention to Antwerp, YouTube has your answer. "The Tick vs Europe"
Letters From China (Playing Tourist 2007)
October 1, 2017 September 29, 2017 / Gallivantrix / 2 Comments
In October, I'd gotten into the swing of my teaching schedule, and the oppressive heat of the summer began fading into autumn coolness, affording me the chance to spend more time exploring Beijing and other nearby sights. I took some trips on my own, and others under the supervision of the school which made arrangements to take the English teachers to the Great Wall. In the original letters, I put thumbnail links of every photo, but in this re-posting, the majority of the pictures are in the Fabcebook albums. Enjoy!
Oct 4, 2007 at 8:04pm
Another round of pictures.
The first place we went was the Lama Temple, the largest Buddhist Temple in Beijing, and home of the world's largest standing wooden Buddha statue. Last time I was here (2005), I was running low on memory space, so I only got about 6 pics, but yesterday I got tons, so hopefully you'll enjoy.
First we have the main gate, the guardian lions and a couple of monks grabbing a snack.
Next there is a secondary gate, a detailed map and history of the temple (you can actually read it if you zoom in), a nice bell, me next to another lion and one of the many buildings around, this one houses the statue that follows.
And now we see the Turtle and carvings that are in building just above.
Next is me with a prayer wheel, a kite trapped in a tree, a little girl throwing a coin for luck, a temple replica, and me with some more statuary.
Some nice trees, roof spirits, and a giant lotus statue thingy.
More lovely architecture, and in the last two you can see part of the city in the background. It amuses me to see the incongruity.
This next line is one you need to read and look at to appreciate. These six statues are large, they go in order from smallest up, and each one is further into the temple complex. The first is about 5 or 6 feet high. You can see the roof in the next two, and its a vaulted ceiling, so these are 10-12 feet or so. The fourth is over 15 feet high, the fifth is at least 2 stories high, and the last, being the largest wooden buddha in the world stands about 4 stories high. There's not much in each photo to present scale, the flowers and other decorations are to scale with the statues so they are ginourmous too.
And some parting shots on our way out.
After a hour or so of wandering around the temple, we headed over to the lake district, flopped on the first soft seat I've been on since I got here at Club Obiwan and enjoyed some tasty fresh fruit smoothies. After the rest, we headed off for a walk around the lake, punctuated by the occasional pit stop for lunch and a happy hour mojito.
On our way back to the bus station we spotted what we think was a gate house left over from when the old city wall was there.
And after a long day in the city, we took a bus with standing room only back to our home in Yanjiao to be greeted by the evening piles of garbage left behind by passing citizens and collected by duly employed street sweepers.
*(See the full day's photos in the Facebook album)
Oct 15, 2007 at 10:20pm
The school took us on a little field trip to Huangyaguan, which is a section of the Great Wall near Tianjin. It was initially built in Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577 C.E.) and later renovated and lengthened in Sui Dynasty (581-618 C.E.) and again during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644C.E.) The Great Wall is not actually one continous wall, its built in several sections, and over time those sections have been repaired or lost so its seriously broken up nowadays, this section is about 26 miles long here.
It is regarded as an 'Impregnable Pass' in Tianjin. This section is the longest restored section of the Great Wall with a length of about 3337 yards. The city at the base also contains some gardens and a museum which will be in the second post.
We went up the shorter of the two sides, and it was still quite a climb. You can see the other side in the background of many pictures, and I urge you to realize that it went all the way over the mountain and down the other side.
Anywho. We left at 9am, preparing for the 2 hr drive, and it turned out to be three, since we were stalled by a police blockade which was stopping overloaded trucks. The traffic backed up to the point that there were 5 lanes of driving on a two lane road. We passed thru many very rural spots which I almost regret not taking pictures of, but its a little scary.
When we arrived at the wall, we had lunch before beginning out climb, fairly plain local food, including what appeared to be a whole chicken chopped up in a bowl, anyway I found feet.
We started our climb in the rain, and the school cordinators rented umbrellas for us.
The beginning of the climb was easy enough, mild stairs and long flats. A nice view of the gardens below, one of which you see here, other's you'll see in the second post. We made it to the first watchtower with little trouble.
Leaving the watchtower, the climb started getting more steep. There was a pretty harsh incline and some pretty scary stairs. And of course, endless gift stands. Some of the views are looking forward, some are looking back to give perspective on how far we've come and how far we have still to go. I'm pretty sure you still can't see our final destination in these pics.
I continue to impress upon you the steepness of these stairs, we're going up a mountain here, and the Chinese take a very direct route to the top of a mountain, straight up. In this series, we made it to the second tower, or really I should say I made it, as I was rather slower than the rest of the group and paused often to take pictures.
On the way to the last tower of this section, the construction of the wall changes a bit, becoming much less even and alot more multicolored. The sun finally started coming out and I captured a fantastic example of a tourist leaving thier mark on the wall… I felt only slightly mollified that they were Spanish.
There was more up, but it got considerably rockier and there were no more towers, so most of the group settled for stopping here. I went up a bit more for some more photo ops from the top.
We then began our descent, and since the sun came out, I took a bunch more pictures, I tried not to include duplicates.
I hope you enjoyed, and again, I encourage you to take the time to look at the full size pics by clicking on them, as there are sooo many lovely details that can't be seen in the thumbnails.
Coming soon: Great Wall Part II, in which there will be pictures and descriptions of the unique gardens at the base.
(full album on Facebook)
Oct 16, 2007 at 2:47pm
Guancheng (Pass City) is the center of the Huangyaguan section. Guancheng was itself a perfect defensive project and it is also where Bagua Village (The Eight Diagrams Village) is situated. Bagua Village was built in the Ming Dynasty according to the Eight Diagrams created by Fuxi (an ancient tribal leader).
In the reparation during the 1980s, more tourist sites were built at the foot of the Huangyaguan Great Wall in Bagua Village, including Huangyaguan Great Wall Museum and the Stele Forest. Huangyaguan Great Wall Museum is the first Great Wall museum in China.
We went thru the maze at Bagua, the Museum, as well as the stele garden (yes that's how its spelled), saw a lovely miniature wall garden and the longevity garden.
The first pictures are of the bagua maze, there's a lovely yinyang on the floor at the center, and later on in the museum section, you can see a model of it as well.
Next is the Stele Garden and the miniature Wall. I didn't take pictures of the poetry on the walls, since none of you can read it, I figured we'd all rather see the wall.
Next we have the museum itself, not terribly impressive, but i've noticed that Chinese museums tend to lack the flair we're used to in the states. I mostly took landscape photos, since the displays were not to interesting, but I did take a couple of the model of the city so you can see the basic layout. And a neat door knocker.
Lastly is the Longevity Garden, which you can see in the second layout model above. It has a nice waterfall, and a reflecting pool in the shape of what may appear to be a swastika, but it really a sacred symbol of Buddhism. And while I've seen this figure in a statue before, I'm still not sure who it is, other than it seems to be someone important in Buddhist history.
Hope you enjoyed! I think my next major trip will be to the home village of one of my students this coming weekend, which should be a real adventure.
The Lama Temple was a revisit for me, but the Wall at Huangyaguan was a new experience. In both cases, the art, architecture and history of China were still new to me. This is not to say that I do not still enjoy them, but I find that once I've gotten past the big tourist bucket list, there is so much left to see. When I compare this to my trip in 2012, or even my explorations more recently, I can see the seeds of my tourism habit forming in this place: a blend of bucket list and local flavor. A good reminder as I head off to explore a new land for the Chuseok holiday this year.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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setup(
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    author_email='dave@trainca.se',
    url='https://github.com/dmclain/scrapy-heroku',
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    packages=find_packages(),
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    setup_requires=[
        'versiontools >= 1.8',
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        'Development Status :: 4 - Beta',
        'Intended Audience :: Developers',
        'License :: OSI Approved :: BSD License',
        'Operating System :: OS Independent',
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Authors: Potemkin V.V., Goltsman E.V., Kovaleva M.S.
Thyroid associated orbitopathy (TAO) occurs in patients with various diseases of the thyroid gland. The levels of episcleral venous pressure (EVP), intraocular pressure and intraorbital pressure are inter- related. There are no precise data on the change of EVP in patients with TAO.
Purpose. To evaluate EVP in patients with compensated and sub-compensated TAO forms.
Methods. Data of 41 eyes of 22 patients were enrolled into the study. The main index to be evaluated was the EVP.
Results. EVP level was significantly higher in complete venous compression in the lower- temporal quadrant in patients with sub-compensated TAO stage (p = 0.013).
Conclusion. The degree of venous outflow obstruction and the EVP level of are interrelated. Thus, the level of EVP can be used as an additional factor in assessing the severity of the disease course and the treatment efficacy.
thyroid associated orbitopathy, episcleral venous pressure.
Endocrine ophthalmopathy (EOP) is an autoimmune inflammatory disease affecting the orbital soft tissue and ocular adnexa. Its main clinical manifestations include enlargement of the extraocular muscles, increased orbital fat volume, and orbital soft tissue edema . EOP usually develops in patients with thyroid disease. The prevalence of autoimmune thyroid disorders with thyroid hypofunction in adults varies between 0.5% and 2% in different regions, and 40%–60% of these patients develop ophthalmopathy [2–4]. In 90% of patients, such ophthalmopathy is associated with toxic goiter (Graves' disease), whereas in 6% EOP occurs in euthyroidism conditions [8–11]. Less than 3% of patients with EOP have Hashimoto's thyroiditis or secondary hypothyroidism [12–15].
Currently, no unified classification system for EOP exists. In our practice, we use the classification developed by Brovkina, which describes three variants of EOP, including thyrotoxic exophthalmos, edematous exophthalmos, and endocrine myopathy. These variants are characterized by different clinical manifestations, patient complaints, and pathologic changes; however; they can convert into each other [1, 16].
Several classification systems exist to assess EOP severity, including the No physical signs or symptoms, only signs, soft tissue involvement, proptosis, extraocular muscle signs, corneal involvement, and sight loss classification (1969, 1977), Clinical activity score classification (1989), vision, endocrine, strabismus, and appearance classification (2006), and the European group on Graves' orbitopathy recommended classification (1999) . In this study, we used the scoring table developed by Brovkina for estimating EOP severity .
EOP can cause many ophthalmic disorders, such as proptosis, diplopia, orbital tissue and ocular adnexa (eyelids and ocular surface) lesions, and optic neuropathy. Increased intraocular pressure (IOP) is one of the least studied EOP manifestations. Increased IOP in a patient with EOP was first described in 1987 in the Guy's Hospital Reports of London .
The prevalence of ocular hypertension among patients with EOP varies between 5% and 24% [18–20]. Aleskerova et al. reported a 51.6% prevalence of ocular hypertension in patients with sub- and decompensated edematous exophthalmos . Increased IOP on upgaze is observed in approximately 25%–75% of patients with EOP [18, 20]. Several hypotheses describe increased IOP in such patients, including those attributing increased IOP to elevated episcleral venous pressure (EVP) caused by an increase in the orbital soft tissue volume and impaired venous outflow [21, 22], compression of the venous reservoirs (primarily of the superior ophthalmic vein) by the enlarged and fibrotic extraocular muscles , increased resistance to intraocular fluid outflow through the trabecula , genetic predisposition to glaucoma , and accumulation of mucopolysaccharides in the trabecula [23,24,26].
It is certain that EVP and IOP are closely associated with each other. It is well known that a 0.8-mmHg increase in EVP causes a 1-mmHg increase in IOP . No information on EVP changes is currently available for patients with EOP. Moreover, none of the aforementioned classifications consider EVP, although it is a potential marker reflecting EOP severity.
Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate EVP in patients with compensated and subcompensated EOP.
We examined 22 patients (41 eyes) with EOP between October 2017 and March 2018. These patients were divided into two groups: 14 patients (27 eyes) with compensated (Group 1) and eight patients (14 eyes) with subcompensated (Group 2) edematous exophthalmos.
In addition to a standard ophthalmologic examination, all patients underwent measurements of palpebral fissure height, exophthalmos (with a Hertel exophthalmometer), and EVP in the lower nasal and lower temporal quadrants. EVP was evaluated by a noninvasive method using an episcleral venomanometer EV320 (Eyetech, Morton Grove, IL, USA) fixed on a slit lamp (Fig. 1a). EVP was measured at the beginning of the examination, when the tested vein was partially compressed, and later when the vein was completely compressed (Fig. 1b).
In our study, we used a scoring table developed by Brovkina to evaluate EOP (Table 1). This table contains 14 classes, each reflecting subjective and objective conditions of a patient. This classification system allows scoring within each class (score 0–4) [1, 27]. EOP severity was estimated by summarizing all scores. Scores 0–6 corresponded to compensated, scores 12–15 to subcompensated, and scores 23–29 to decompensated EOP [1, 3].
Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS Statistics v20.0 software (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). We calculated mean values and standard deviations. Student's t-test was used to compare quantitative variables between the two independent groups. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to check the normality of data. Differences were considered significant at p < 0.05.
Patients with subcompensated EOP demonstrated significantly higher EVP with complete compression of the episcleral veins in the lower temporal quadrant (р = 0.013). In the case of partial episcleral vein compression in the lower temporal and lower nasal quadrants, and complete compression in the lower nasal quadrant, EVP was slightly higher in patients with subcompensated EOP; however, the differences were not statistically significant (p > 0.05; Table 2). IOP, palpebral fissure height, and exophthalmos grade were significantly greater in Group 2 patients (Table 3).
Note: EOP, endocrine ophthalmopathy; EVP, episcleral venous pressure.
Corneal and optic nerve lesions are the main causes of impaired visual functions in patients with EOP. Optic neuropathy, often affecting EOP patients and being one of the most common causes of vision loss, is associated not only with direct compression but also with impaired venous outflow. EVP can be used as a surrogate marker for impaired venous outflow. Our findings confirmed this statement and indicated higher EVP in the lower temporal quadrant in patients with subcompensated EOP.
Unfortunately, the described technique of EVP measurement is subjective. For example, vessel sizes selected for compression may vary, thereby affecting the examination results. Vessel size is a probable reason for the difference in pressure observed between the lower nasal and lower temporal quadrants. So far, there are no clear recommendations on the quadrants and exact vessels for EVP measurement.
Thus, EVP measurements in patients with EOP can be used to evaluate disease severity and serve as a criterion for assessing treatment efficacy. EVP measured in the lower temporal quadrant with complete compression of the episcleral vein is the most indicative characteristic in patients with EOP.
The authors declare no conflicts of interest related to the current manuscript.
Authors' contribution: V.V. Potemkin developed the research concept and study design. V.V. Potemkin, E.V. Goltsman, and M.S. Kovaleva performed data collection and processing. V.V. Potemkin, E.V. Goltsman, and M.S. Kovaleva performed data analysis and drafted the manuscript.
Henzen C. Hyperthyroidism - differential diagnosis and differential therapy. Praxis (Bern 1994). 2003;92(1-2):18-24. doi: 10.1024/0369-8394.92.1.18.
Marocci C, Bartalena L, Pinchera A. Recent progress in Graves' ophthalmopathy. Curr Opin Endiocrinol Metab. 1996;(3);417-422.
Shaarawy TM, Sherwood MB, Hitchings RA. Glaucoma. Medical diagnosis and therapy. New York: Elsevier; 2015.
Lissak B, Tazartes M, Heron E, Feldman S. Orbitopathies thyroïdiennes en milieu ophtalmologique. Presse Med. 2002;31(2):64-68.
Scott IU, Siatkowski RM. Thyroid Eye Disease. Semin Ophthalmol. 2009;14(2):52-61. doi: 10.3109/08820539909056064.
Van Ruyven RL, Van Den Bosch WA, Mulder PG, et al. The effect of retrobulbar irradiation on exophthalmos, ductions and soft tissue signs in Graves' ophthalmopathy: a retrospective analysis of 90 cases. Eye (Lond). 2000;14 Pt 5:761-764. doi: 10.1038/eye.2000.199.
Bartley GB. The epidemiologic characteristics and clinical course of ophthalmopathy associated with autoimmune thyroid disease in Olmsted County, Minnesota. Trans Am Ophthalmol Soc. 1994;92:477-588.
Burch HB, Wartofsky L. Graves'ophthalmopathy: current concepts regarding pathogenesis and management. Endocr Rev. 1993;14(6):747-793. doi: 10.1210/edrv-14-6-747.
Liddle GW, Heyssel RM, McKenzie JM. Graves' disease without hyperthyroidism. Am J Med. 1965;39(5):845-848. doi: 10.1016/0002-9343(65)90104-x.
Perros P, Cromble AL, Kendall-Taylor P. Natural history of thyroid associated ophthalmopathy. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 1995;42(1):45-50. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2265.1995.tb02597.x.
Relimpio F. Subclinical hyperthyroidism. N Engl J Med. 2002;346(1):67-68. doi: 10.1056/NEJM200201033460116.
Sieradzki I, Katra B, Mirkiewiez-Sieradzka B. Czynniki ryzyka wystapienia oftalmopatii w prsebiegy choroby Graves-Basedowa. Przegl Lek. 2000;57(6):321-323.
Marcocci C, Bartalena L, Pinchera A. Ablative or non-ablative therapy for Graves' hyperthyroidism in patients with ophthalmopathy? J Endocrinol Invest. 1998;21(7):468-471. doi: 10.1007/BF03347329.
Mourits MP, Prummel MF, Wiersinga WM, Koornneef L. Clinical activity score as a guide in the management of patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy. Clin Endocrinol. 1997;47(1):9-14. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2265.1997.2331047.x.
Gamblin GT, Harper DG, Galentine P, et al. Prevalence of increased intraocular pressure in Graves' disease - evidence of frequent subclinical ophthalmopathy. N Engl J Med. 1983;308(8):420-424. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198302243080803.
Gamblin GT, Galentine P, Chernow B, et al. Evidence of extraocular muscle restriction in autoimmune thyroid disease. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1985;61(1):167-171. doi: 10.1210/jcem-61-1-167.
Nordmann J, Lobstein A, Gherarrd JP, Levy JP. Presentation of 14 cases of glaucoma due to elevated ocular venous pressure. Ophthalmologica. 1961;142:501-505.
Vanni VF, Vozza R. Comportamento del tono oculare in vari tipidi esoftalmo. Boll Oculist. 1960;39:189-197.
Dyer JA. The oculorotary muscles in Graves' disease. Trans Am Ophthalmol Soc. 1976;74:425-456.
Manor RS, Kurz O, Lewitus Z. Intraocular pressure in endocrinological patients with exophthalmos. Ophthalmologica. 1974;168(4):241-252. doi: 10.1159/000307046.
Cheng H, Perkins ES. Thyroid disease and glaucoma. Br J Ophthalmol. 1967;51(8):547-553. doi: 10.1136/bjo.51.8.547.
Cant JS, Wilson TM. The ocular and orbital circulations in dysthyroid ophthalmopathy. Trans Ophthalmol Soc U K. 1974;94(2):416-429.
Copyright (c) 2018 Potemkin V.V., Goltsman E.V., Kovaleva M.S.


text:
Q: two linear layouts in the same screen hi im trying to design my app for both android phone and tablet. So i already had it designed but needed to redesign for scaling purposes for different screens.

This is the layout im going for.
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:id="@+id/LinearLayout"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    android:background="@color/white">

    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/linearLayout1"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:weightSum="2"
        android:orientation="horizontal" >

    <fragment
        android:id="@+id/map"
        android:layout_marginTop="5dp"
        android:layout_weight=".1"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        class="com.google.android.gms.maps.MapFragment"
         />

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/button3"
        android:layout_weight=".25"
        android:layout_marginLeft="34dp"
        android:layout_marginTop="10dp"
           android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:onClick="ClickTourismButton"
        android:text="@string/Tourism" />

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/button4"
        android:layout_weight=".25"
           android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_marginLeft="34dp"
        android:text="@string/Nearby" />
    <Button
        android:id="@+id/button2"
        android:layout_weight=".25"
        android:layout_marginLeft="34dp"
           android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="@string/Favourites" />
    <Button
        android:id="@+id/button1"
        android:layout_weight=".25"
          android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_marginLeft="34dp"
        android:text="@string/Map" />

    </LinearLayout>

    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/linearLayout2"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:weightSum="2"
        android:orientation="horizontal" >
    <TextView

        android:layout_marginLeft="10dp"
        android:layout_marginTop="5dp"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:textIsSelectable="true"
        android:id="@+id/feedupdate1" />

    <ListView
        android:id="@android:id/list"
        android:background="@color/red"
        android:layout_weight="1"
        android:layout_marginTop="5dp"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_marginLeft="10dp"/>

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/empty"
        android:textIsSelectable="true"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_marginLeft="10dp"
         android:layout_marginTop="5dp"/>
    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/feedupdate"
        android:layout_marginLeft="6dp"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_marginTop="430dp"
        android:textIsSelectable="true"/>
    <ListView

        android:id="@+id/list1"
        android:background="@color/blue"
        android:layout_weight="1"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_marginTop="430dp"
        android:layout_marginLeft="6dp" />

    </LinearLayout>
</RelativeLayout>

When i run the app the two linear layouts are on top of each other?? or the map fragment which is seen above as the black rectangle takes up all the screen??? Ive no idea what im doing wrong, ive looked through several tutorials and t seems right?
Need assistance please
thanks

<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:id="@+id/LinearLayout"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    android:orientation="horizontal"
    android:weightSum="2"
    android:background="@color/white">

    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/linearLayout1"
        android:layout_width="0dp"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:layout_weight="1"
        android:orientation="vertical" >

    <fragment
        android:id="@+id/map"
        android:layout_marginTop="5dp"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        class="com.google.android.gms.maps.MapFragment"
         />

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/button3"
        android:layout_marginLeft="34dp"
        android:layout_marginTop="10dp"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:onClick="ClickTourismButton"
        android:text="@string/Tourism" />

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/button4"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_marginLeft="34dp"
        android:text="@string/Nearby" />
    <Button
        android:id="@+id/button2"
        android:layout_marginLeft="34dp"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="@string/Favourites" />
    <Button
        android:id="@+id/button1"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="0dp"
        android:layout_marginLeft="34dp"
        android:text="@string/Map" />

    </LinearLayout>

    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/linearLayout2"
        android:layout_width="0dp"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:layout_weight="1"
        android:orientation="vertical" >
    <TextView

        android:layout_marginLeft="10dp"
        android:layout_marginTop="5dp"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:textIsSelectable="true"
        android:id="@+id/feedupdate1" />

    <ListView
        android:id="@android:id/list"
        android:background="@color/red"
        android:layout_marginTop="5dp"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_marginLeft="10dp"/>

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/empty"
        android:textIsSelectable="true"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_marginLeft="10dp"
         android:layout_marginTop="5dp"/>
    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/feedupdate"
        android:layout_marginLeft="6dp"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_marginTop="430dp"
        android:textIsSelectable="true"/>
    <ListView

        android:id="@+id/list1"
        android:background="@color/blue"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_marginTop="430dp"
        android:layout_marginLeft="6dp" />

    </LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>

one component takes up each side??
its divided in two but the map fragment takes up all of one side and the first listview takes up all of the other???

A: Try changing RelativeLayout with LinearLayout, please take a look at this link for a deeper understanding about the different types of layouts.

A: *

*Change your orientation of both child LinearLayouts to VERTICAL

*For top remove Relative and use LinearLayout with orientation HORIZONTAL
and have weightSum=2

*Now in both child linearlayout views give layout_width="0dp"  and layout_weight="1"

Example XML for you : http://pastebin.com/2MCBN9qk

A: Try using weightSum
and add your linear layouts inside a Relative layout for better positioning.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Posted by Team Donovan on Tuesday, July 25th, 2017 at 3:02pm.
Orlando is a popular area for real estate investors who want rental income because it's one of the top U.S. tourist destinations and the theme park capital of the world, thanks to Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, and Sea World. More and more holiday travelers are opting to rent vacation homes instead of staying in hotels because they are less expensive, and you often get just as good, if not better, amenities.
Location – As with any real estate purchase, it all comes down to location, location, location. If you're buying a property to do a short-term rental, you need to know which communities allow that type of rental. The city of Orlando does not. But many communities located near the theme parks do. An experienced real estate agent can help guide you to the right communities that offer the amenities you want, at a price you can afford.
Size – Many people focus on price instead of size when buying a house. But square footage needs to be taken into consideration too, especially if you plan to rent it out. If you don't get the size right, you may find yourself with a small pool of potential renters. The advantage of buying property in the Orlando area is that there is such a wide variety available – from 2 or 3 bedroom townhomes to 15 bedroom luxury villas that can accommodate large families.
HOAs – Many communities in Central Florida and Orlando belong to Homeowner Associations (HOAs). These private groups manage the services and amenities in the community, and set standards for the neighborhood's appearance. An HOA can be a benefit to a homeowner. But problems can occur when an investor purchases a property and realizes too late that the HOA does not permit any rentals at all. It's important to find out about any HOA restrictions and the fees they charge, to make sure it's worth your while to invest in a particular property.
Condition – Many investors choose to buy foreclosures so they can do any necessary repairs to get the home ready to rent, or they buy brand new homes that need few ongoing repairs. But this strategy may cause you to overlook an excellent property that needs only superficial work.
Plan on budgeting for repairs and updates. Look for properties that need sensible fixes such as new carpet, fresh paint, appliances and fans. Avoid properties that need a new roof or patio, since those items will be out of your budget, and won't help you generate larger rental income.
Price – It's natural to want to pay as little as possible for a property. You can still find some great deals in the Orlando area, although prices have been on the rise in recent months. When you find a property, and hold onto it for five to ten years, you can stand to make a decent capital gain in addition to your rental income. Consult a real estate agent with experience in the vacation home market to ensure you find a property that will appeal to holiday visitors.
Team Donovan is the leading Central Florida real estate firm that specializes in the sale of properties for use as a second home, investment or both. Don't just take our word for it. Visit our testimonials page to learn what our clients had to say about their experience with Team Donovan. When you're ready to start your home search, contact us at 407-705-2616.


text:
package mitonize.datastore.okuyama;

/**
 * OkuyamaClinet を生成するファクトリインタフェース
 */
public interface OkuyamaClientFactory {

	/**
	 * {@link OkuyamaClient}を生成する。接続先や各種パラメータは {@code OkuyamaClientFactory}の実装クラスで設定されたものを用いる。
	 * @return OkuyamaClientインスタンス(使用後はdestroyClientに渡す)
	 */
	public OkuyamaClient createClient();

	/**
	 * 確保しているリソースを解放してファクトリクラスを破棄する。
	 */
	public void destroy();
}


The Rio Grande Valley, or "The Valley," as it is commonly known, is an area on the southern tip of South Texas that separates Mexico and the United States. It is actually not a river, but a delta which was given the title of "valley" to attract early settlers. The region consists of four Counties namely Star County, Hildago County, Willacy County and Cameron County, which together are home to over a million people.
Sixty percent of the people in the Valley live in either Cameron or Hidalgo. Hidalgo is particularly populous, with more than half a million people. The county, which shares a name with its largest town, continues to thrive as more Americans come to the area to escape the winter months, and bring a lot of business to the local retail industry. This might not be the best place to move to if you are looking for non-retail work, but it is one of the best places to live and commute to neighboring cities and towns that offer even more opportunities. There are four major towns nearby that offer employment and entertainment opportunities: Edinburgh, McAllen, Mission and Pharr. These towns offer all the education facilities, health centers, and other civic amenities that other cities in the Valley do not have, and they are only a short distance away.
The Rio Grande itself is a gateway between Mexico and America. It is a town that has served our Mexican sister cities for a long time, and it remains the ideal place to live for anyone who wants to experience the best of both countries. What the Rio Grande has that most metropolitan areas in the U.S. don't have is truly affordable real estate. New Home Source has the inside scoop on all the new houses, condos and apartments being built throughout Texas' Rio Grande Valley.


text:
HomeFREEDOM'Children's Health Defense' Sends Letters to Facebook, Amazon & Google
'Children's Health Defense' Sends Letters to Facebook, Amazon & Google
March 5, 2019 This article was posted by TLB Staff FREEDOM, HEALTH, MEDIA, Spotlight 0
Children's Health Defense Sends Letters to Facebook, Amazon and Google
Contributed to TLB by: The Children's Health Defense Team
On February 14, 2019 Congressman Adam Schiff sent a letter to Mark Zuckerberg, Chairman and CEO of Facebook, encouraging him to take steps to prevent vaccine "misinformation" and advertising from appearing on Facebook. He has since also written similar letters to Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Jeffrey Bezos, CEO of Amazon.
Children's Health Defense believes it is entirely inappropriate for elected government officials to be instructing private companies to censor criticism of entire categories of pharmaceutical products. This is particularly disturbing given the outsized dependence of both political classes and media outlets on pharmaceutical industry contributions and advertising revenue.
It is absolutely imperative that critical and dissident voices are allowed to be heard. It is precisely to prevent government tyranny that the First Amendment to the US Constitution right to freedom of speech expressly guarantees.
The following letters were sent (click on the links to read each letter/PDF):
Chairman and CEO, Facebook:
CHD Letter to Mark Zuckerberg
CEO, Google:
CHD Letter to Sundar Pichai
CEO, Amazon:
CHD Letter to Jeffrey Bezos
The above published article: Children's Health Defense Sends Letters to Facebook, Amazon and Google originated on childrenshealthdefense.org and is published here by contribution with attribution to author The Children's Health Defense Team and website childrenshealthdefense.org.
TLB Editors Note: This is World Mercury Project on steroids! TLB highly recommends you click on the image below, visit this new website, and do whatever you can to help see this new forum succeed … for the sake of our children !!!
Please take the time to Sign up for free news and updates from Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and the Children's Health Defense. Your donation will help to support us in our efforts.
Disclaimer: TLBTV.com contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of "fair use" in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, health, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than "fair use" you must request permission from the copyright owner.
Adam Schiff
Jeffrey Bezos
vaccination damage
vaccine dangers
Boycott Facebook, Twitter and Google – Here's Why
Resisting the Gatekeepers of Hell: Gandhi, 'Vaccine Passports' & the Great Reset
5 Facts About the Creepy Ties Between Pharmaceutical Companies and Doctors


text:
American-Style "Democracy" Shaken to its Roots
There is a proverb that goes: "He who digs a pit for others falls into it."
The U.S. fell into this pit when it staged recently the "Summit for Democracy" that lacks justification, widely publicizing someone's threat to democracy.
It is because this summit has revealed the insidious intention of the U.S. which tried to make it as an occasion of appeasing and deceiving many countries into confrontation and the cold war that have nothing in common with democracy, with its own dire situation of democracy being camouflaged with a glittering package of "democracy".
On December 10, the spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry mentioned that the greatest threat to global democracy is posed by the country which is hell-bent on military intervention in all parts of the world while taking the liberty of interfering in others' internal affairs and imposing unilateral sanctions under the signboard of "democracy".
The Chinese Newspaper "Global Times" reported the fact that even the U.S. State Secretary admitted that the erosion of democracy occurs in the U.S. and that millions of people are suffering from dissemination of false information, racial discrimination and inequality. The media of France, Switzerland and the U.S. also scathingly denounced that the main hole of democracy is inside the U.S. itself which has been polarized than ever before and that Washington must first fix its own democracy.
Many figures from the political and academic circles in the world are of one accord in commenting that the summit was used as a gambling place and the theatre of confrontation by the U.S. administration in its unprecedented political crisis to cover up its fault, raise its prestige and publicity stunt and to justify its pressure on and confrontation with the sovereign states.
It is never accidental that the President of South Africa refused to participate in the summit after the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of his country, at an interview, had expressed his astonishment at the mention in the letter of official invitation issued by the U.S. administration that the U.S. has always supported human rights.
As was shown by the appraisal of the international society, this summit was clearly a stage of high-handedness and arbitrariness set by the U.S. to get thumbprints from the sovereign states, an important occasion of betraying the foul nature of the U.S. which tried to justify its interference and invasion of other countries under a thin veneer of "democracy".
Now the world people ridicule the U.S. that the way to saving the U.S.-style democracy is not to bluff as if it can "save" democracy of the world showing off the 4 hundred million dollars which is meagre enough compared to the vast expenses squandered on the U.S. presidential elections, but to use that money to provide a meal for its own poverty-stricken people.
The U.S. should see squarely that now is no longer the 20th century when the high-handedness, arbitrariness, interference and invasion were hailed "democracy", and that its act of hoodwinking the world by harping on about "democracy" to sustain its hegemony can no longer work.
Ko Hyok
Researcher, Society for International Politics Study


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